The 4th of July isn’t the only celebration happening in Fayetteville this month. There is also an exciting 4th Friday on July 24. The evening is full of free art, live entertainment and all of the wonderful shops downtown open late for the celebration. Downtown Fayetteville is full of diverse businesses, so there is something for everyone. 

The Arts Council celebrates 4th Friday with the opening of a new exhibit. Point of View is an invitation for local photographers to display their talent. 

“It’s a treat to kick-off our new year of exhibitions with a show of this caliber. We’re asking photographers to give us their best shot. This juried show will feature exceptional photography in a variety of themes and subject matter,” Mary Kinney, the marketing director said. 

Submitted works will be juried with $1,000 in prizes available as awards. There is no required topic or style for this show. The only requirement is that the photographers come from specific counties: Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Fort Bragg, or Pope Army Air Field. Works will include black and white, color and digitally manipulated pieces. 

“This is a regional show,” Kinney says, “Since this is an open call across a wide region, we have no way of predicting how many works will be entered. In our last juried photography exhibition, 53 pieces by 35 artists were selected for the show.” 

The Arts Council is located at 301 Hay St. and will be open from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.theartscouncil.com or call 910-323-1776.

Fascinate-U is a museum designed specifically for children. The exhibits mimic real life experiences and invite them to explore the future in a safe environment. All the exhibits are intended to be touched and interacted with, which makes for an experience unlike any other traditional museum. On 4th Friday, admission into the museum is free, and it is open late. As an added bonus, there is also a free craft for kids to build and take home. This month the craft is a fish! 

Fascinate-U is open from 7-9 p.m. The museum is located at 116 Green St. For more information, visit www.fascinate-u.com or call 910-829-9171. 

After exploring the shops or having a wonderful dinner at one of the many amazing restaurants downtown, a relaxing way to end the day is reclining in Festival Park and soaking in the free music. On The Border, a tribute to the Eagles and Brittany Marie, a country and classic rock performer are playing. Gates open at 5 p.m. and the entertainment begins between 7 and 7:30 p.m. The concert will last until 10:30 or 11 p.m. No outside food or beverages are allowed. This event is a fundraiser for the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival and it is presented in partnership with R.A. Jeffreys, a distributer of Budweiser. For more information, visit www.faydogwoodfestival.com/p/Events/211 or call 910-323-1934. Festival Park is located at 335 Ray Ave. Patrons are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets to sit on. 

The Fayetteville SwampDogs are proud to partner with the Fayetteville Walk to End Alzheimer’s to present the Bringing Memories Home Safe Night at J.P. Riddle Stadium on Wednesday, July 29. This is the first year that the team has partnered with the Walk to End Alzheimers and it is something that they are really excited about.   

For that very special night at “The Swamp” the SwampDogs will wear one-of-a-kind purple jerseys, which will be auctioned off on the concourse to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.  Fans can place bids online for their favorite player’s jersey for one week in advance of the game, with bidding closing at 4 p.m. on game day then re-opening at 6 p.m. on the concourse when the gates open.

“Almost all of us know a relative, loved one or friend who has been touched in some way by this terrible disease,” said SwampDogs Operations Director Caroline Villegas. “I’m proud that as an organization, with the help of the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, we can do our part to find a cure.”  

According to The Walk to End Alzheimer’s website, “The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide, this inspiring event calls on participants of all ages and abilities to reclaim the future for millions. Together, we can end Alzheimer’s disease, the nation’s sixth-leading cause of death.” 

The mission of the walk is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for
all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.

In addition to the special night coming up at “The Swamp,” the SwampDogs will host the Fayetteville Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Sept. 12 at J.P. Riddle Stadium. You can register today for the walk as either a team or as an individual at alz.org/walk.

“Being involved in the community is part of the fabric of what we do as an organization, and we’re very excited to start this new partnership with the Walk to End Alzheimer’s,” said SwampDogs General Manager Jeremy Aagard.

The Fayetteville SwampDogs are in their 15th season playing in the Coastal Plain League. The SwampDogs are one of the most successful franchises in the league’s history, making the Petitt Cup Playoffs eight times in the past 10 seasons, reaching the championship round three times. The SwampDogs boast 90 alumni taken in the draft and have produced six players who have gone on to play in Major League Baseball including slugger Mark Reynolds and David Aardsma.  

For more information on the Fayetteville SwampDogs, visit their team website at www.goswampdogs.com and follow us on Twitter @GoSwampDogs and like us on Facebook at Fayetteville SwampDogs Baseball. Where baseball is fun!

The hottest road race in the south brings back the heat with the 9th Annual Run for the Redroad race on Aug. 1. As of this writing 100 participants have signed up and hundreds more will eventually sign up. Running, among many other outdoor activities, not only keeps you healthy, but also brings awareness to the American Red Cross.

“The Highlands Chapter of the American Red Cross covers a large area of North Carolina. The Red Cross has helped many people in the area and we need to support them as well,” said Julio Ramirez, race director. 

The Red Cross has sprung into action to help those in need helping individuals and families in Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke and Sampson counties for more than 90 years. 

There are three entry categories in the race: the 10K, 5K and a 1-mile race. Cash prizes are up for grabs by the winners of the 10K and 5K run. To encourage participation among families, the 1-mile run is open to children, making this an event for all ages. 

The 10K first place award is $100; the second place award is  $70; and the third place is $50. The first place winner of the 5K will win $75; second place, $50; and third place, $50. All age groups will receive medals.

Last year’s race raised $12,000  with sponsorships and the help of the Fayetteville community. All donations are given to the American Red Cross.

“I am a second time leukemia survivor,” said Ramirez. “Staying positive and surrounding myself with people has helped me overcome my illness. Last year I ran the 5k; this year I won’t be running, but I love directing and helping out the Red Cross.” 

Running and walking is a cheap way to optimize your physical activities. There is no equipment needed or expensive clothes, the only thing needed is your body. Your heart and legs, of course, do most of the work, but the end result is rewarding.  

When people see the American Red Cross, no matter in what context,  it brings hope. Since 1881, the Red Cross has helped people throughout the world. Redcross.org defines the work of the Red Cross as: responding to “approximately 70,000 disasters in the United States every year, ranging from home fires that affect a single family to hurricanes that affect tens of thousands, to earthquakes that impact millions. In these events, the Red Cross provides shelter, food, health and mental health services to help families and entire communities get back on their feet. Emergency communications, training, support to wounded warriors and veterans, and access to community resources help an average of 150,000 military families and veterans annually. Each year, nearly 4 million people donate blood through the Red Cross, helping to provide more than 40 percent of America’s blood supply. Each year, more than 9 million Americans participate in our training programs, including first responders, educators, babysitters, and people who want to be prepared to help others in an emergency.”

The Run for the Red is on Aug. 1 at Festival Park from 7a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The 10K starts at 7:15 a.m., 5K at 7:20 a.m., with the 1 mile run at 8:35 a.m. Find out more at www.redcross.org/nc.

The first time it sank into to me that people from other parts of our nation see Southerners as somehow different I was a college student visiting friends in New York City. 

Feeling as sophisticated and worldly as only an undergraduate can, I was chatting up an appealing young man, also a college student, but at a school in New England. As our conversation drew on, he finally said, “May I ask you a personal question?” Curious and intrigued, I responded, “Of course.”

“Do all you people drink soda for breakfast?”

And to think I imagined he would ask me for a date!

He asked the question as if  “you people” — that would be us Southerners — were specimens in a lab or critters in a zoo, but he did have a point.

I have known a number of fellow Southerners who get their morning jolt of caffeine from an ice cold Coke or Pepsi, including one of my oldest friends who now takes hers in diet form. I have not; however, encountered anyone from “somewhere else” whose first morning sip is of carbonated soda. I suspect that fellow had never heard of grits.

This youthful memory flooded back to me recently when I stumbled upon what appears to be a collection of all things Southern on Pinterest, an online site with far more images than words. Some of the Southernisms were sappy —“The South: Where love, family and tradition are the sugar in our tea,” some trite — “North is a direction. The South is a lifestyle” and some right on target — “Say what you want about the South, but you don’t hear about people wanting to retire in the North.”

My favorites, though, go to my own experience as an — almost —lifelong resident of eastern North Carolina where people say things that make no sense to people from somewhere else.  Pinterest lists these — “Oh my heavens!,” “Thank you kindly,” “Goodness gracious!,” “I do declare!, ”Lord have mercy!,” Hush your mouth!,” “Oh, my stars!,” “Slower than molasses,” “Gimme some sugar!,” “Hey, ya’ll,” “Heavens to Betsy,” “Hold your horses,” “Sweet as a peach” and my all-purpose favorite, “Bless your heart.” It can be intended kindly or can be a veiled barb, as in “That Margaret has put on weight, bless her heart!”

My eastern North Carolina grandmother used all those words as well as a few others. I was in college before I realized most people have never heard of a teewiddie, a word my grandmother said often to her seven grandchildren. It was generally used in this context: “Margaret Dawson, don’t  you ever tell me another teewiddie!” Not even my friends from Georgia and Texas knew that one.

Being Southern is more than language, though. The way we see the world is strictly our own, as Julia Sugarbaker, a saucy Southern character played by Dixie Carter on the CBS sitcom Designing Women,said. Julia had a great deal to say on many topics, and this is one of my favorites. “I’m saying this is the South. And we’re proud of our crazy people. We bring ‘em right down to the living room and show ‘em off.  See, no one in the South ever asks if you have crazy people in your family. They just ask what side they’re on.” 

Most Southern families have some version of — shall we say, eccentrics? One of ours was a cousin who was so enraged by the power company in his part of eastern North Carolina condemning some of his property for power lines that he hopped into his tiny plane and dropped leaflets berating the utility all over that part of our state. When he could no longer pilot his plane, he set up a flatbed trailer along a busy highway, decorated it with Christmas lights and railed against the hated utility with a megaphone to passing vehicles. 

And who can forget the famed Savannah hostess who made it into John Berendt’s’ bestseller, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil? So sought after were invitations to her parties that guests gathered outside her home before the events, waiting for her to throw open the door to share her beautifully decorated home and scrumptious food and drink. She did just that one Savannah evening clad in her bathrobe. She calmly explained to her assembled guests that she had been so busy preparing for the party that she simply did not have time to get dressed herself and invited them to “Come on in.” 

I know a number of women in Fayetteville who might do exactly the same thing.

North Carolina novelist Clyde Edgerton put it this way. “Because I was born in the South, I’m a Southerner. If I had been born in the North, the West or the Central Plains, I would just be a human being.”

It is not that Southerners think we are better than other people.  It is just that we really understand when we hear someone say, “I I’m not from the South, but I got here as quickly as I could.”

Everyone seems to be weighing in on the Market House dilemma caused by local Attorney Allen Rogers who obviously cares more about advancing his own career and reputation within the “grievance community” then advancing dignity, peace, tranquility and honor to tens of thousands of residents in an otherwise proud Fayetteville community. 

It’s sad, but, unfortunately, Rogers is that one crab at the bottom of Fayetteville’s bucket that possesses the notion that it is safer and much better to be on the bottom always struggling to get to the top than to actually accept the responsibility for being at the top and getting out. 

You know the story: As the good Fayetteville crabs (our community) try to elevate themselves out of the bucket to move up and on to greater opportunities, prosperity, solid careers, happiness with brighter and more rewarding futures that one single crab (Rogers) grabs hold and regardless of the tireless achievements of his constituents, he is capable of pulling them all back relentlessly into the bottom of the bucket where he is comfortable and accommodating. Then, the process starts all over again. Needless to say, without any future progress.

This is the type of divisiveness that is pulling this community apart. Actually, it is this kind of divisiveness that is pulling the nation apart with the majority of citizens already thinking that America is heading in the wrong direction. 

But, when did this abrupt turn in direction begin?

Well, some think it started with rock and roll music. Some think it was when prayer was removed from the public schools. Others think it was when President Bill Clinton and his cronies changed the definition of “sex” in order to mask his tryst with the young intern Monica Lewinsky. Or, was it when we unofficially changed the definition of the word “illegal?” It’s so easy for politicians to parse words and reinvent the meaning of words.

Unfortunately, this practice of strategic word manipulation has led to other changes in definitions that have helped to pave the road to corruption and deceit turning it into a dysfunctional super-highway for local, state and national discontents and opportunists like Rogers who has used the tragic deaths of nine innocents in South Carolina to advance his station locally.

Shame on Mr. Rogers.

Me? Personally, I think America started in the wrong direction when unethical lawyers began using national and local media advertising to advance their businesses. Chasing ambulances became old school when they figured they could encourage and coerce the average citizen to sue at will.

Social Security, disability claims, workman’s comp, auto accidents, hurt feelings, hot coffee, etc. Many personal lives and good businesses continue to be ruined by unscrupulous lawyers either suing or threatening to sue someone. Win or lose, a lawyer always get paid and, in almost all cases advances himself or his cause.  

So, why is America heading in the wrong direction? Could it have anything to do with the fact that 53 percent of our U.S. Senate are lawyers? And, the House of Representatives have a whopping 160 lawyers or 37 percent  of their 435 members???

Hmmmmm. Don’t expect the situation to get much better anytime soon. In the meantime, I say drop the Market House as the City of Fayetteville icon.

Don’t disrupt this community by making it a divisive issue. After all, generations of intelligent Fayetteville residents regardless of color, nationality or religion will understand that history is history and as such cannot be altered, changed or erased. The Market House is and, will always be, a National Historic Landmark of major historic significance to the formation of North Carolina and the United States. And from its center, Mr. Rogers, you can both see and hear the ambulances.

Thank you for reading the Up & Coming Weekly.

Over the past few years, food trucks have become wildly popular; however, the idea of a mobile restaurant providing a quick meal dates back to the days of cowboys right after the Civil War. Chuck Wagons, as they were called, cooked meals for hungry cowboys all across the Wild West. The tradition evolved with technologies and cities. Soldiers in training on Fort Bragg’s ranges call them Gut Trucks, but that’s isn’t the reality of today’s food trucks. Today, modern food trucks are a trendy and exciting way to grab a gourmet meal on the go. 

Last year the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival put Fayetteville on the map when it comes to Food Truck Festivals. 

“Our organization is ready to do for Fayetteville what Fayetteville is ready for. People compare Fayetteville to Raleigh all the time, and we are like them, so our organization wants to gain recognition for putting on that level of event,” said Carrie King, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival executive director. “We have the means and last time it was so successful. We’ve created an event that you want to be there for. We’ve made a name. This year we’ve had so many vendor applicants that we have had to turn people away. We’ve had the opportunity to be very selective. People will love it, we have some great trucks participating.”

The event has evolved to more than a food truck festival, this year’s iteration is The Dogwood Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival sponsored by Budlight.  King says, “We will also have 10 craft beers. There are some domestics available, but it is mostly craft beers.” 

Near the beer on the stage at Festival Park, an interactive DJ will spin music for entertainment. 

Craft beers are a perfect accompaniment to all of the fantastic food trucks that are at the center of the festival. 

“We want to keep it around 25 to 27 trucks. It keeps the event fair and balanced without any duplication. It is easier to manage and you have to remember that the quality of food that these trucks serve is gourmet,” explained King. “It isn’t a quick process and they can’t serve unlimited quantities like at the Dogwood Festival. We want to keep it around 25 to make it more manageable for everybody — customers and vendors.” 

Though the last Food Truck Festival was an incredible success, it was the very first event of its kind that the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival organized, so it was not without its challenges. This festival promises to be even better thanks to experience. 

“Oh absolutely, the last festival gave us a lot of insight on how to do things differently. This time we have everything confined to Festival Park. The food trucks are parked abound the perimeter and the beer is in the middle. It is much more user-friendly. We also have a map of all the approved vendors,” King said. “Last time we underestimated the amount of people who would show up. Now we are more prepared with trash removal and the lines are more cohesive, so a line from one truck won’t merge with a line from another.“

Admission is free, but for those unwilling to wait in lines, there is an alternative. 

“The trend in the industry is that if the festival starts at 1 p.m.. the trucks can’t sell at all before then. In Durham and Raleigh people may stand in line for hours before it even starts. But we have something that they don’t, the opportunity to be contained. We are all fenced in. So we are selling 100 Dine & Dash tickets. They can get in an hour before the festival starts. This is for the serious foodies,” King explains. 

These passes are available for $6 at www.faydogwoodfestival.com. 

Besides creating an incredible event for the community, this festival also serves as a fundraiser. Proceeds from the Dine & Dash Passes and from the craft beer will go to the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival. Admission is free. The Dogwood Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival is on July 19 from 1-6 p.m. at Festival Park. Festival Park is located at 225 Ray Ave. For more information, visit www.faydogwoodfestival.com or call 910-323-1934.

The Gilbert Theater is well-known for its up and coming presentations that not only showecase local actors from the community, but also works that are written by local playwrights. In its upcoming event, the Gilbert combines those two unique characteristics to bring the NextStage Playwright Festival to the stage Wednesday, July 22 through Sunday, July 26.    

“It is a festival that consists of six short plays and they span comedy, tragedy and drama,”  said Robyne Parrish, artistic director of the Gilbert Theater. “Three of the playwrights are from North Carolina and the other three playwrights are from New York.” 

Parrish added that there are professional actors, directors and writers from New York who are coming in to work with community actors to join forces to do half new New York plays and half new North Carolina plays. 

The purpose of the festival is to allow community artists to work with artists in the business outside of the community. 

“It is an educational tool for me to mix them together and let them learn from each other,” said Parrish. “It is a learning experience for the artists from New York because they are coming from the big city and it is a huge learning experience for the local people who can gain all of this experience from the working artist.” 

Part of the mission of the Gilbert Theater is to create and support new plays. The six plays are;

Cold but Soft by Brian Adam Kline, Miller’s Point by Evan Dridenstine, Tin Church by Robyne Parrish, Sweet Stormby Scott Hudson, The Mentor by Webb Wilcoxen and Sticks by Grant Harris.         

Cold but Softis a dark comedy about a family who will go to any length to keep their dead grandmother around. Miller’s Point is about love, lost and finding a new path in life.  Most of the action takes place at Miller’s Point which is a location for necking couples. Tin Church is about family, guilt and buried secrets. Sweet Storm is a love story that transcends all odds. It features a couple in which the woman is paralyzed. The Mentor is about an eccentric writer who will stop at nothing to become famous. Sticks is about a bunch of rowdy teenagers who get in some mischief. 

“These are very edgy out-of-the-box contemporary plays. There is not a lot of opportunity to see shows like this in our area,” said Parrish. “I would hope that everyone would come out and see something new and different and to see some really amazing artists at work.”                                      

Show times are July 22 at 7 p.m.; July 23 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; July 24 at 7 p.m.; July 25 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and July 26 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Buy one regular priced ticket and see any performance all week or any day. Tickets are $16 and can be purchased online at www.gilberttheater.com or call 678-7186 for more information.   

Sweet Tea Shakespeare has returned to its roots with the next performance of the season, The Tempest. This classic Shakespearean play is a combination of some of the master playwright’s best works. Jeremy Fiebig, the director, describes the performance, “The Tempest is both very funny and very moving. It’s got the best elements of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, but also some of the darker plays as well. Like a lot of Shakespeare, there’s music, dance and other fun bits throughout.” 

The  play opens July 16.

The play follows the sorcerer Prospero, who is bitter over the loss of his royal title. Stranded on an island, he causes a storm that wrecks another ship on the island. In classic Shakespearean fashion with all sorts of hijinks, love and conflict ensues before a grand wedding and cathartic ending. 

“For me, the play is about leaving where you came from and then trying to go back to that place. It’s about creating a new home and finding your old one. I’ve been involved with a couple of other productions of this play, so revisiting the play now reminds me of those people and those times in my life. I think of them very fondly,” Fiebig explained. “I’m fond of a lot of different Shakespeare plays, but The Tempest has always resonated on a deep level with me.”

While the story may seem outlandish, full of magic and evil spirits, it manages, as all of Shakespeare’s works do, to touch a universal and timeless truth of humanity. 

“I think audiences will identify with the play. There’s something for everyone — clown-like figures, spirits, villains, parents, children, music, dance, you name it — but it’s the story about reconciliation and hatred and forgiveness that I think will really speak to audiences,” Fiebig said.

Sweet Tea Shakespeare is an incredible mix of talent and classic southern hospitality. The performances are engaging and, despite the challenge of an outdoor setting, immersive. 

“There’s a massive shipwreck, magic, wild people, evildoers, spirits and music — and in our production, a lot of these things will immerse the audience in the world of the play,” Fiebig said. 

Framing the productions are opportunities for the community to grow. Sitting on the lawn of a beautiful 19th century Poe House, enjoying fantastic theatre and a tall glass of sweet tea in the cool summer night is a perfect evening by any standard. 

“As is usual with our shows, audience members can come early for music, food, beer, wine and fellowship. We sport a really relaxed environment that’s much more like going to a great party than it is like going to a play,” Fiebig said. 

The Tempest takes place on the grounds of the E.A. Poe House, which is located at 206 Bradford Ave. The show runs July 16 through 19 and July 23 through 26 at 7 p.m. Refreshments and live music begin at 6:15 p.m. Tickets must be purchased on-site and are $12. For more information or to reserve tickets call 910-420-4383 or visit
 www.sweetteashakespeare.com. 

Our names are important. 

They signal our age, race, ethnicity, nationality and other subtle messages in the picture each of us presents to the larger world. For example, my maternal grandmother was Margaret Regina — her father was Austrian, and I was named in her honor. Margaret was also the 23rd most popular name for girls born in the 1950s, according to the Social Security Administration, which has tracked the rise and fall of baby names since the late 1800s. By the 2000s, Margaret had fallen to the 137th slot, which should give you some info about me. So should the fact that Margaret has been a common first name for baby girls in England since the 11th century.

My childhood was populated with children with names not unlike Margaret, solid and traditional. I do not remember anyone with what I thought of as a creative name, except for one Haymount Elementary classmate named Durema and a woman my age whom I have recently met named Dreama. Would love to know the stories behind those names! 

Today’s parents are much more creative than my parents’ generation apparently was.  A quick read of birth announcements in local hospitals has turned up such gems as “Tamale” and “Chandelier” and one name which had the numeral “8” in it. This is America, of course, and we are blessed to be able to name our children whatever we choose, including whatever we make up to assure that our special little one really is unique. Yes, I have seen “Unique” as a name as well.

I cannot help but think that we do our children no good turn by being too creative. Teachers cannot always spell what we create, other children cannot always remember it, and the workplace — when our Precious Jewels get to that point, is not always kind to or tolerant of creative names. Research indicates that given the same skill set, Jane’s career will advance more readily than Jan8te’s. In the interest of full disclosure, two of the Dicksons’ Precious Jewels have unusual first names —albeit family ones, and I know those names have required explanations from them since their earliest school years. Would I use those names again? Yes, but I doubt I would push the naming envelope any further.

Historically, our last names have been less creative, because they are generally passed down from one generation to the next. In Western cultures, women have also generally adopted their husbands’ family name, though that is not the case in all cultures. Today, we are getting creative on last names as well.

Upshot, a data-driven analysis venture of The New York Times, tells us that more women are keeping their “maiden,” or birth surnames, when they marry than at any time in American history. Early equal rights activist Lucy Stone created a sensation and became famous by declining to take her husband’s name in 1855, and it has been an issue for women ever since. In the turbulent 1970s, an era some call the “Ms. Decade,” about 17 percent of American women decided to hold on to what they had instead of taking hubby’s name, a decision that was political to many. That number fell during the more conservative 1980s and ‘90s. Upshot reports that fully 20 percent of today’s brides keep their names, though for less political reasons. Today’s brides marry later, and many have a professional identity they do not want to change. 

Whatever the reason, keeping one’s name also reveals something about that woman. More affluent women living in urban areas are more likely to do so than women living in other areas. Ditto for women with advanced degrees and for Asian and Hispanic women. Jewish women are more likely to keep their names than are Catholic women. Even so, most American women do adopt their husbands’ last name. Says Penn State sociologist Laurie Scheuble, “The pressure is huge. This is the strongest gendered social norm that we enforce and expect.”

Then there are those of us who simply do our own thing. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who adopted the Clinton full time only when her husband ran for President, uses all three names, and I sign my checks with all of mine. Other women hyphenate their own name with their husbands’ names, so that when Jane Jones marries Steve Smith, Jane becomes Jane Jones-Smith. Rarely does Steve do anything other than remain Steve Smith.  Occasionally, both people in a couple decide to abandon both their names in favor of a new one altogether or come up with some merged version of both their names which they both then adopt. Few couples seem to have the nerve to do what Marco Perego did when he married actress Zoe Saldana. He became Marco Saldana!

My thought is that most of us are better off with names that fit us like comfy shoes, not like 6-inch stilettos. In all likelihood and however we acquired them, they will be with us for the long haul. Better that we wear them and not they us.

Snyder Music Academy has a Kindermusik program that is primarily instructed by Joy Cogswell, who is also the director for the Snyder Music Academy. Recently her excellence as a Kindermusik instructor has been recognized. 

“The award that I received is the Kindermusik Maestro Producer award,” Cogswell explained. “This places my program in the top 5 percent of Kindermusik Programs internationally. It is based on the quality of the program and the number of children that it reaches. It is my privilege that in the last 15 years I have gotten it every year. It is especially great for us to have our program recognized and for people to know that if they come to us they get the best.” 

Music can play a huge role in development, especially at an early age. Kindermusik creates a unique program that uses music to target specific developmental needs. 

“Research has proven that the earlier kids are introduced to music the better they do in math, reading and academically. When you come into a class for the kids it looks just like a fun but everything in the program is written with a purpose. If we do something with a steady beat in the music it will help when kids walk or bounce a ball or with anything that requires a steady beat within their bodies. There is a lot of encouragement to read and we work with colors, animal sounds, many things that it is important to learn in early childhood,” Cogswell says. 

She provides a more specific example of how Kindermusik assists infants and children in development, “Bounce and Cuddle, which is our class for infants, from birth to 15 or 16 months may have you dance with your baby, do a turn and then reverse the turn. The reason for this is brain development. The motion is fun but it also helps to develop the brain and small motor skills it is not just about music, it is about the whole child. These classes also provide a unique opportunity for relationships. They are designed for parents or grandparents and children to attend together and can help to strengthen bonds. “

In addition to her Kindermusik classes at the Snyder Music Academy, Cogswell also strives to assist underprivileged children. 

“I always try in my program to reach children who wouldn’t otherwise receive it. It is a privilege to work with the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority. We offer these programs to kids whose parents line in the Housing Authority every Tuesday for four years. It is one of my favorites and it is a wonderful opportunity. It is our privilege to do it next year,” she says. 

Every child deserves the head start that Kindermusik can provide. 

For more information on the Kindermusik program visit www.kindermusik.com/about, www.snydermbc.com/music-academy/kindermusik or call 910-484-3191. Snyder Music Academy is held in Snyder Memorial Baptist Church located at 701 Westmont Dr. 

Basically, most of us spend about one third of our day sleeping and ideally, the rest of  our day working and playing. Yes, working at an actual job and playing (leisure time spent enjoying life) expending our “natural energies.” This  represents a normal healthy and balanced lifestyle for most Americans. At least it used to be that way. 

Today, I’m not so sure. 

The options for expending these “natural energies” seem to become limited adding credence to that old adage and cliché “an idle mind is the devil’s playground.” This harsh reality sits here in Fayetteville where jobs, summertime activities and recreational facilities are extremely limited and local crime continues to escalate resulting in needless deaths from violence with random shootings spiraling out of control. A sad and almost common weekly occurrence. This is causing major concerns among residents, businesses, community/civic leaders and local elected officials. 

Despite the talent and diligent efforts of our hardworking police force and cognizant police chief. They alone are not the “end all” and “be all” to this serious community situation. Our elected officials must take quick, stern and serious action. No doubt they too, are dedicated and hardworking; however, they need to stop the rhetoric by putting “band aids” on these rising tragic situations and start taking serious action to curb this tragic trend plaguing our community. 

How? First, by implementing programs that could consume all that “natural energy” I mentioned. More jobs would work!  I come from a generation (Baby Boomers) where work ethic was a natural way of life. A job and hard work was viewed with a sense of pride and accomplishment. You worked hard  instinctively to raise and care for your families. We were too busy to get into trouble. Besides, staying on the right side of the law was a valued virtue.  

We worked hard and we played hard and in between we slept. This being the case, when looking at the problems we are experiencing today in our local community, i.e. rising crime rates, increasing shootings and murders and high unemployment, it becomes pretty obvious what we are lacking. 

What are we lacking? The two most obvious factors are general recreational facilities and job employment opportunities. Two issues that our community leadership spends a lot of time talking about; however, for the most part, fail to act on except superficially. Recent examples are Sanderson Farms and the allocation of public funds for the building of two neighborhood swimming pools. Sure, these pools will provide several hundred neighborhood residents temporary summertime enjoyment; however, tens of thousands of Fayetteville and Cumberland County residents would benefit more appropriately from investing taxpayers money in the expansion of citywide and county parks and recreation facilities and services. 

The same holds true with jobs and employment. We need to do more to encourage business and economic development in Fayetteville. The point is, except when we are sleeping, everyone has natural born energy. Traditionally, these natural-born energies were consumed in healthy and productive ways mostly by working and playing hard. It stands to reason that if we want to lower crime rates, build safe communities, enhance the image of our community and increase our quality of life, we must provide those services and activities that will keep these natural-born energies directed in the most positive of ways. Without adequate jobs, recreational facilities and programs that serve to enhance an individual’s pride and self-worth, there will continue to be no future prospects for our young people.  

Consequently, they will direct their natural-born energies in the most self-destructive manner. Dropout rates will rise, unemployment will escalate as will violence and crime at all levels. It will take real leadership in the future to reverse this trend.

As we enter this 2015 election period let’s graciously thank those who sacrifice their time and expertise to our community while encouraging them to address the “big issues” in our community by looking at the “big picture” and implementing long-term, permanent solutions for the good of our community. This is the only way Fayetteville will be able to survive and move forward. Agree? 

Thank you for reading the Up & Coming Weekly.!

There is more to Africa than the tragedy and strife portrayed in the news. Isabella Effon is looking to show Fayetteville the brighter side of her native continent. On July 11, the community is invited to attend the Inaugural African World Peace Festival in downtown Fayetteville. Effon invites to the community to come learn about the many differences (and similarities) in the African cultures. 

“We want to educate our children, and the Fayetteville community, and let them know it is a continent with a lot of resources. Not all of it is war-torn like the images on TV,” said Effon. 

The day kicks off at 8 a.m. with the African World Peace 5K. Same day registration starts at 6 a.m. Runners can also register online. The race starts at 8 a.m. on Bow Street. 

“We will provide snacks after the run,” said Effon. “This is the Africa World Peace Festival. We bring all the African nations together, which makes it unique. It is a nonprofit and we have joined other nonprofits that do the same thing to bring awareness and unite community.

At 2 p.m., don’t miss the parade of nations on Person Street as the entertainment and educational portion of the festival gets underway.

Other events include storytelling, music, dancing and more.

 “We have a lot of tales and a few storytellers who will tell exclusively African folktales,” said Effon. “We will have breaks and activities for kids doing things that include African-themes and village where children can go and learn about different dialects and countries in Africa and things like that.”

Effon noted that African influences are seen worldwide in food, clothing, music and more. That is one of the things that makes this a great fit for Fayetteville’s international community. Taste of West Africa on Person Street will offer a special menu for the festival. 

“There are many, many Africans in Turkey and Italy and all over the world so the other restaurants downtown definitely have a place in this celebration,” she explained.

 If the festival grows as planned, there will be additional food vendors as the event size increases. 

There are too many people in Fayetteville who miss out on all of the goodness going on downtown and Effon sees this as the perfect opportunity to change that. 

“This is my passion. I like my culture. I love diversity and I love to bring awareness into the community.” 

Performances are an added flare to the festival with featured artists from Africa including the Ivory Coast and Senegal and local performers including the Fatback Band and more. A ceremony honoring American soldiers of African descent is also scheduled. The music portion of the event runs from 2-6 p.m.

As a nonprofit, the African World Peace Festival is partnering with Loving Hands International, a public nonprofit, humanitarian charity organization serving underprivileged communities in the U.S. and Africa, promoting and implementing development programs in quality healthcare, education advancement, agricultural productivity and socio-economic advancement to improve overall quality of life of the poor and needy. Proceeds from the African World Peace Festival benefit Africa’s humanitarian needs and local community needs, as well. Donations of nonperishable food items will be accepted at the festival.

Find out more by calling 728-2186 or 779-2375.

Fayetteville supporters of the arts were introduced to a large body of work by mixed-media artist Leslie Pearson last year when Fayetteville Technical Community College invited Pearson for a one-person show, Works of Spirit. I was immediately enthralled while walking among sepia-stained representational images on yards of see-through fabric suspended from the ceiling. Also included was a separate work of suspended orb-like forms. It was apparent Pearson has a gift for combining tangible physicality with the intangibility of something remembered. 

If you missed her exhibit last year, on July 14, visitors to Gallery 208, at the corporate offices of Up and Coming Weekly,  can view a new body of work by Pearson titled Remember When and also meet Pearson. For this exhibit Pearson has selected mixed-media encaustic paintings and small sculptural book forms. Never descriptive or decorative, Pearson has an exceptional talent for conjuring remembrances by layering meaning through medium and image, medium and object. 

Pearson is interested in stories, memories and the communicative power of material. Her statement clarifies meaning and process for visitors to the exhibit: “For the showing at Gallery 208, I’ve gone back to what I’m interested in — the history of things and stories. I treasure all the family photos and ephemera that have been passed down to me. I’ve gone back to these items as a starting point for many of the pieces that I am exhibiting. Conceptually, my work revolves around themes of memory and identity formation but visually I’m inspired by the natural world, particularly the effects of time on the environment. For example, I’m always drawn to aged and eroded objects, old buildings, and walls with peeling paint. I often go for walks and take pictures of things other people might not notice; I use these as references for some of the colors and textures that come out in my paintings.”

Two encaustic paintings in the exhibit, “Siblings” and “A Story Unfolds,” exemplify ways in which Pearson intentionally obscures her narratives. In “Siblings,’ Pearson breaks the pictorial space into units; two portraits are presented in dissimilar ranges of closeness, vertical bands are filled with text, the layers of encaustic medium blurring the surface. Viewers are left to look closely to decipher ethereal meaning through the layers of beeswax on the surface.

In comparison, a solitary woman is present in the work titled “A Story Unfolds.” The woman is balanced in the picture plane by large negative shapes and limited amount of blurred text — she is located in an abstracted environment. Pearson obscures the woman in a manner which results in the figure becoming more abstracted than in other images in the exhibit; the figure becomes part of the abstracted space around her. 

Visitors to the Gallery 208 opening will get to meet Pearson and hear her briefly talk about her work. A well-traveled individual, she recently moved to the Fayetteville area, is a prolific artist who exhibits nationally and internationally, is an arts educator and an arts advocate. Her achievements are lengthy, highlights of which signify the magnitude of her art experiences and give insight to the talent of an artist who lives in the area. 

Some of Pearson’s educational and professional experiences include earning a bachelor’s in fine art from Southeast Missouri State University in 1998. There, she was heavily involved in community-arts programming as the Assistant Director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri and co-curator of Gallery 100 and the Lorimier Gallery in Cape Girardeau. She earned a master’s in museum studies at Newcastle University in England in 2000 and completed an internship at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland, United Kingdom. In 2011, she earned an MFA in textile design at East Carolina University’s School of Art and Design in Greenville, North Carolina, where she taught textile classes and worked as a studio assistant in the textile department.

Her teaching experience is too long to list, yet her most recent experiences include workshop instructor/lecturer for Integumentary Experiments in Fiber in Australia and the guest artist to create wire sculpture in Wilmington, North Carolina. Two residencies include No Boundaries International Art Colony on Bald Head Island, North Carolina, in 2014, and Arrowmont Pentaculum: Five Medias, One Forumat Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 2015. 

From an extensive list, Pearson’s most recent solo exhibitions in North Carolina include Works of Spiritat Fayetteville Technical Community College Art Gallery in 2014; The Visual Word at Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury; Continuum at the Page Walker Arts Center in Cary; and Speak, Memory, a mixed-media installation at the Hanover Gallery in Wilmington.

Gallery 208 is committed to hosting exhibitions by inventive and professional artists who enrich the visual art landscape locally and regionally. The exhibit, Remember When, introduces a “multimedia artist who utilizes many fiber based materials, processes and techniques to create sculptures, installations, encaustic paintings and handmade books in which she explores themes of memory and identity.” The public is invited to attend the opening reception and meet the artist on July 14 at Gallery 208 between 5:30–7 p.m. For those who cannot attend the opening, the exhibit will remain up through early September 2015. Before or after attending the opening or exhibit, Pearson’s work can be viewed on her website: www.lesliekpearson.com/

Gallery 208 is located at 208 Rowan Street. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday –Friday. For information on this exhibit, call 910-484-6200 or visit the website to read the digital version of the magazine at www.upandcomingweekly.com.

On Sunday, July 12, at 3 p.m., a unit monument will be dedicated for the 824th Quartermaster Company (Air Delivery), U.S. Army Reserve, at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in downtown Fayetteville. 

This monument will honor the military service of all past, present and future members of the 824th Quartermaster Company. Since 1945, the 824th has been a part of the national defense forces, including overseas service during World War II. Since 1963, the mission of the 824th has been parachute rigging and logistical air delivery of supplies/equipment to combat units.

The 824th is based at the U.S. Army Reserve Center at Fort Bragg. For 70 years, this unit has trained with active duty, USAR and National Guard forces throughout America and worldwide. In recent years, soldiers of the 824th have been deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. As a Quartermaster unit with an airborne rigger mission, the 824th is somewhat unique in the Army Reserve. It is the only USAR unit of its type, based at Fort Bragg.

This monument will be the first one on the grounds of the Army’s Airborne and Special Operations Museum, identified for an Army Reserve unit. This is also the first unit monument at the ASOM, to a specific Parachute Rigger unit.

 The 824th Quartermaster Company (Air Delivery) has served America from World War II to the present day. Activated in England in 1945 as the 4552nd Quartermaster Service Company, it was inactivated in Germany in 1946. 

The 824th was reactivated in North Carolina as an Army Reserve unit in 1947. It has served in various roles; Service and Supply, Graves Registration, Laundry and Bath and as a Military Police Company. In 1963, the unit became an Aerial Delivery Company (Parachute Rigger). The unit trained in Sanford, North Carolina, before relocating in 1968 to Fort Bragg. During the Cold War, the unit’s mission was to provide parachute and air drop support. Most training was limited to quarterly jumps and a two-week annual training exercise, with Team Spirit in Korea from 1984 to 1986, as one of the unit’s more notable exercises. The unit includes many career fields needed to accomplish air delivery missions. 

After the Cold War ended in 1989, the 824th established a Direct Training Agreement with Special Operations Command Atlantic to provide air delivery and parachute support. The 824th participated in enhanced training missions throughout the Caribbean, Bermuda and Key West. Training opportunities continued to expand for the 824th in Canada, Germany, Greenland, Italy and with U.S. Special Forces in Puerto Rico and Antigua. A detachment of the 824th supported the 1990 D-Day Ceremonies in Normandy, France. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991, the 824th deployed a detachment of 50 personnel to provide parachute rigging and air-drop support to XVIII Airborne Corps in Saudi Arabia. 

Following Desert Storm, the 824th continued to support active missions. Beginning with operations in the Balkans and Southwest Asia, the 824th provided detachments in support of air drop missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Members of an 824th detachment deployed to Afghanistan during the Glob¬al War on Terror received the Meritorious Unit Citation. 

The keynote speaker at this event is Maj. Gen.l Margaret Boor (USAR), Commanding General of the 99th Regional Support Command, USAR, based at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Maj. Gen. Boor is a resident of Fayetteville..

Find out more at http://www.asomf.org.

Good things last and Up & Coming Weekly’s Best of Fayetteville readership survey is celebrating its 18th year paying tribute to Fayetteville’s Best of the Best. It is a prestigious award bestowed once a year to the best people, businesses and organizations that have contributed overwhelmingly to defining excellence in service, workmanship and contributions to the quality of life of the Fayetteville and Cumberland County community. It’s an honor that is marketed, advertisedand promoted all
year long.

The  September 16 Best of Fayettevilleedition of Up & Coming Weekly will serve throughout the year as a priceless newcomer’s guide, service directory and recreation and cultural event resource. Every page is touting with confidence the Best of the Best of what the Fayetteville community has to offer.  

The rules, format and guidelines of this sanctioned, time-tested survey are stringent to secure and maintain the integrity of the program. These rules are time tested, monitored and audited to provide residents, local businesses and organizations
 the recognition and tribute they deserve for
 their dedication and perseverance in their quest
for excellence.  

Every category winner has achieved the highest level of excellence in what they do; and for 18 years we have willingly told their stories, acknowledged their accomplishments and even revealed their secrets. All, without a single regret.  

No ballot stuffing here, no popularity contest or dubious chances to sway the end result. Each winner is distinguished in its own unique way. There is no faking it when the community selects you as the Best of the Best. This means that you are preforming at the highest level of excellence as recognized by your peers. After all, in a competitive world and tight economy, only the best survive and they deserve your business.

In building a better community, leaders know that success must be built on a sound foundation. In this case, the foundation is the community’s best people, businesses and organizations, all striving for extreme excellence. So, this being the case, mark up a ballot today and send it in or go online to www.upandcomingweekly.com and vote. Invite your friends to vote. Remember, the Best of Fayetteville is a year-round celebration! 

Speaking of celebrations, Up & Coming Weekly is also celebrating our 20th anniversary. Can you imagine the award party we will have this year? Stay tuned for the details. In the meantime, thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.  We love you all!  

Vote.  Vote.  Vote. 

Ryan Patrick Kishbaugh was passionate about life. He was a well-rounded and accomplished athlete; a generous and giving volunteer in the community; and a remarkable scholar. When he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s  Lymphoma during his senior year of high school, Ryan stayed optimistic and fought hard. He did his best to lead a normal life while battling to secure his future. On Jan. 3, 2003, Ryan died from complications of a bone marrow transplant. During his illness, he wrote a book called Run Because You Can – My Personal Race with Cancer. The book is an open and personal look at the struggles and triumphs Ryan experienced during his bought with cancer. Ryan touched and inspired many in his short time on this Earth, and his friends and family celebrate Ryan and everything he meant and still means to them whenever they can. On July 25, the 2015 Ryan Patrick Kishbaugh Memorial Golf Tournament offers a fun-filled day of golf and fellowship in memory of Ryan. 

Dr. David Kishbaugh, Ryan’s dad, puts on the event every year and he is confident that Ryan would approve. “He would try to downplay his  role in it but he would approve and be happy that we try to engage family, friends and community in order to make a difference. The key is he did not want his battle to end with him and it is a key factor in why we try to make the golf tournament bigger and better every year. We want to touch more people, involve more people so that eventually the battle with cancer becomes routine and survival rates soar.”

Kishbaugh is motivated by Ryan’s words … the words he wrote the day of his diagnosis. “Today I found out that I had cancer … my battle with cancer is only beginning; I believe that it will be a long, hard-fought struggle, but I will overcome, I will survive. And this will be a story of hope for others, not only kids with cancer, but the world as well. I have a premonition that this story will not end in me, but will carry on, above and beyond myself and will bring hope. I refuse to let cancer get the best of me; I will not allow it. I have made the choice to not just be another victim of cancer, but to be more. I know I will be victorious. Even if it kills me, cancer will never break me. It will never win.”

What started as an event for friends and family to get together and reminisce and share a day in Ryan’s memory has grown into an annual fundraiser that benefits the Carpe Diem Foundation and through that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of Ryan. The greens at Gates Four play  host to this year’s tournament. 

The renovated 18-hole championship golf course includes both new bent-grass greens and renovated bunkers. The traditional style pine tree-lined fairways were designed in 1967  by acclaimed golf course architect Willard Byrd in 1967 and were redesigned in 2011 by  by Kris Spence who is a leading golf course architect in design and restoration. The state-of-the art USGA-specified greens are a blend of A1/A4 bent grass. This combination provides an optimum putting surface 12 months a year. 

The day starts with registration and some time on the practice range. Both  open at 7 a.m. The tournament opens with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. The format is Captain’s Choice. Each player will receive a swag bag, as well. There will be snacks provided during registration and beverages will be avaialbe throughout the event. The tournament concludes with lunch and an award ceremony. Individual golfers and teams are welcome.

“We have Hole-in-One, longest drive, closest to pin and putting contest this year,” said Kishbaugh. ”Sammio’s is doing food. Moe’s is providing chips and salsa for post-golf and beverages are from Healy and for the third year, Dirtbag Ales will set up a booth.”

This year’s tournament includes several side events that include a putting contest sponsored by Carolina Imaging, a Hole-in-One contest sponsored by Events 2 America and a raffle sponsored by the Carpe Diem Foundation. There is a nominal charge for each event.  

The raffle is a 50-50 and winners do not have to be present to win. Tickets will be available before the tournament at the RPK Center. Cost is $5 each or 5 for $20. The pot is typically $700-800. 

Golfers can participate in the putting contest for a small fee. They get one putt and the three best putts in the preliminary round get a chance to putt-off after the round is played. The winner of the putt-off then gets one chance to sink a 60-foot putt for $2,500.The top three get consolation prizes. 

Events to America runs a $10,000 Hole-in-One Challenge. Golfers can participate in this contest for a small fee. Participants receive prizes for participating and they will split $10,000 with the charity (Carpe Diem) if they get a hole-in-one. 

Corporate sponsors can compete for the tournament trophy and the company and player names will be added to the trophy. The trophy will then remain in the possession of the winning team until the 2016 tournament when it will again be up for grabs. Online registration includes a 1-year subscription to Golf Digest (a $10 value).

Kishbaugh looks forward to the tournament each year, as do many of the participants because so many of Ryan’s friends come and participate.

“It is fun seeing friends and family reconnect.Some of the kids don’t see each other except at the tournament and it is great to see them get together again,” said Kishbaugh. “I am also humbled by how much community support we get from individuals and companies. Some have been helping since the beginning, others have heard about us and come out just to be part of things.” 

Nongolfers can make a difference by donating to the cause. Proceeds benefit the Carpe Diem Foundation. Since its inception, the foundation has raised more than $30,000. The majority of monies raised go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The mission of the Foundation is to:

• Help provide college scholarship assistance to student athletes with a chronic medical condition.

• Support other charitable organizations (such as LLS)

• Promote and help fund education and research for the treatment of chronic illnesses, especially those that affect young adults. 

Find out more about the tournament, or register to play at http://2015rpkmemorial.com.

Daughters of Christ Ministry, Inc. is hosting the Freedom in Christ Christian Conference for Women on Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Freedom Christian Academy Auditorium.      

“This is a time for Christian women to come together and get their cup filled back up with superior biblical teaching, spiritual refreshment, great fellowship and lots of fun,” said Audrie Sifuentes, president of Daughters of Christ Ministry, Inc. “It is a time for adult women to receive back into their heart what they have poured out into the lives of other people.”

 The conference features four talented speakers who will give unique perspectives to freedom in Christ. Dr. Jeff Isenhour is the senior pastor of Arran Lake Baptist Church. He is best known for his evangelistic heart and humor as he communicates to every age group. 

Dr. Chris Dickerson is the dean of online studies and professor at Carolina College of Biblical Studies. He has spent 16 years in vocational pastoral ministry. 

Chaplain (Colonel) Ran Dolinger has served 29 years as an Army chaplain and recently served as garrison chaplain at Fort Bragg, N.C.  \He has served three tours at Fort Bragg and  calls it home. 

Mrs. Vicki Stephenson is the teaching leader of the Fayetteville evening women’s class of Bible Study Fellowship International. She teaches more than 200 women each week, trains 25 leaders and oversees the first-12th grade Bible study program. 

“Come hear amazing life testimonials to the healing, hope and help God brings, and visit the prayer room, as needed, during the conference ,” said Sifuentes. “There will be two gospel skits including a dramatic monologue and gospel perspectives from humorous life experiences.” 

Sifuentes added that a special surprise includes a professional painter who will do a painting in front of
the audience. 

Lunch is provided both days along with light refreshments in the morning and afternoon. There will be door prizes and vendors on-site. 

“Entertainment will be provided by highly talented musical artists,” said Sifuentes. “Nina Garces is the song leader and one of the soloists, along with Kim Jeffreys and Suki Wolf. Kim Usher will provide special piano selections both days.”   

Tickets are $65. Limited scholarships are available. Registration is open until July 16 with limited seating. If you would like to be a sponsor of the event you can donate goods or services that can be used by the women in attendance. Freedom Christian Academy is located at 3130 Gillespie Street. Doors will open at 8 a.m. Friday and close at 5 p.m. and will open at 8 a.m. Saturday and close at 4:30 p.m. 

To register online for the conference using your credit or debit card, visit the Support Us tab at www.daughtersofchristministry.org or call (910) 425-7574. You can also register via mail with a check or money order to Daughters of Christ Ministry, Inc., P.O. Box 48282, Cumberland, NC 28331.  

Working under the slogan, “Entertainment for the Soldier, by the Soldier,” the Army Soldier Show taps into a unique style of performance intended for a unique audience. Living  life as a soldier or part of a military family is challenging, and maintaining morale is a must. The Soldier Show is not only intended to create a fun and positive experience for the soldiers, their families and the community, it is also a way to showcase some of the best things that the Army has to offer: incredibly talented and dedicated people working together to achieve a positive but challenging goal. Don’t miss the Army Soldier Show as it rolls into town on July 11 and 12.

This yea’rs production, “We Serve” explores the foundational element of what it means to serve, in and out of uniform, as well as how our country in return serves them. It is this “Soldier for Life” aspect that instills the strength of character of soldiers and the Army, which are exemplified in its core values: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. 

The 2015 U.S. Army Soldier Show honors the Army’s conintued service, resilience and strength. It celebrate the nation, Army families and communities that serve and support service members.

While Broadway and the Army may seem like a strange combination at first, but at the hands of talented performers and organizers it is incredibly engaging and entertaining. These talented performers just happen to be soldiers themselves. The Soldier Show is just one of the many ways that the Army showcases its varied and incredible members. Soldiers stationed all over the nation who love to perform are invited to audition. The process is incredibly strenuous and many soldiers audition, but only the best are invited to join the show. 

Despite the competitive nature of the auditions, the real work doesn’t start until the after roles have been cast. The entire process of creating a fantastic show is challenging; there is no easy part. Performers spend months refining and perfecting their performances in rehearsals. Then after months of preparation, they travel the nation between May and September to perform. That much travel is a challenge for anyone. It is particularly difficult when there is an expectation to maintain a certain level of performance, but The Soldier Show participants have proven their excellence year after year. 

A successful show requires a tremendous amount of work both on stage and behind the scenes. That can pose a particular challenge for traveling shows like this one. Constantly changing venues makes it difficult to prepare for shows technically. The Soldier Show helps to combat this common problem by being self-contained. The technicians are also soldiers and they train and travel with the show just like the performers. They also undergo a selection process as strict and strenuous as the performers, but having your own crew is a necessity for a traveling show. Having people that are so familiar with the show travel with it makes it easier to change things for any specific venue they are performing in. Every member of the crew needs to know the show inside and out, in order to be comfortable and competent in new circumstances.

The Soldier Show performs in Fayetteville on July 11 at 7 p.m. and July 12 at 2 p.m. at the Crown Theatre. The Crown Theatre is located at 1960 Coliseum Dr. There are no tickets. The 90-minute high-energy song and dance show is free and seating is first come first serve. Doors open one hour before the show time and it is open to the public. 

For more information visit http://www.armymwr.com/soldier-show.aspx

Everyone knows where our downtown is, but do we know what downtowns are and why they matter? Whether the downtown streets are named Hay or Franklin or Old, what they represent is universal. Our downtown is our economic engine, the center of our arts and cultural opportunities, and the heart of the community. 

Our historic downtown tells us not only who we are but also who we were and how that past help shaped us. We do not go to sprawling suburbs, shopping malls or restaurant rows to learn about our past, to explore our culture or to discover our identity. Our downtown is the place of shared memories where people still come together to live, work and play. It doesn’t belong to us but to our history and our future. Those here today are blessed with the opportunity to enjoy, to cherish, to protect and
 to develop our downtown for tomorrow’s generations. 

The Downtown Alliance has long been committed to the continued nurture, development and promotion of our downtown as a vibrant destination. Effective with the upcoming fiscal year, the City of Fayetteville will contract with the Downtown Alliance for business development, design improvements and coordinated marketing for the downtown area. The new structure supports the city council’s strategic goal for a vibrant downtown. 

The work plan has been developed as a roadmap to guide the activities and resource allocation of the Downtown Alliance for the fiscal year 2015-2016. It includes the delivery of services to all property owners, businesses and residents in the area. Plans include the hiring of two staff members and the full-time staffing of the offices at 222 Hay Street to serve as a one-stop point for information about downtown Fayetteville. The board of directors will be restructured to reflect the broader mission. The organization will conduct quarterly meetings and prepare activity reports for review by the city. All downtown property owners that contribute to the MSD funding will be engaged with the development of plans for the downtown area and in leading the professional staffing and volunteers charged with implementing them. In addition, the Downtown Alliance will serve as the liaison among downtown property owners, businesses and residents and the City of Fayetteville. 

The Downtown Alliance will build on the successes we’ve enjoyed over the past year that saw the development of a vacant building ordinance, a revision of the downtown sign ordinance, a coordinated marketing campaign that promoted downtown Fayetteville as economically and culturally vibrant destination, the creation of a downtown community watch group, several new design and appearance standards for the downtown area and many successful events that showcased downtown like the Small Plate Crawl and Loft Tour. 

The Downtown Alliance’s annual meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, at Marquis Market on Person Street at 6 p.m. All supporters of downtown are invited to share in updates of the 2015-16 Plan of Work and learn about opportunities to get involved to unite the community to promote and advocate for business, residential, and cultural life in the heart of our city.   

Please visit our website  at  www.visitdowntownfayetteville.com for more information about these exciting changes, read the recent press release and review the FAQs section where we plan to address any questions and follow us on the downtown Facebook page as we embark on this exciting journey together.

Like millions of other sad Americans, I cannot keep my mind away from the horrible event at the Bible study class in Charleston, known
as the “holy city,” a reference, in part, to its many churches.  

Our national distress and revulsion are clear.  

The mass murder of innocents has struck a chord in us unlike its grisly predecessors. Among the millions thinking about this violent attack are thousands also writing about it — in various publications and online with almost universal and righteous condemnation. Millions of words have spilled forth and will continue to do so, addressing the innocence of the victims, the youth and life inexperience of the presumed shooter and the proliferation of guns and gun violence in our culture unlike, as President Obama so rightly pointed out, any other developed nation. Given much note, as well, is the tearful forgiveness bestowed in court on the young man in custody by victims’ families. How, we ask ourselves, could the families be so generous only hours after losing loved ones to senseless and inexplicable violence?

None of us understand why our country continues to experience targeted and gross violence aimed at strangers with whom the shooters have no connection and, thus, cannot target individually. I do not pretend to understand any of it, but certain aspects stand out to me.

Young men, guns and the Internet do not mix well.   

Developmental researchers tell us that the human brain, especially in men, is not mature until the person is in his or her mid-20s. Think of incidents since the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, including the mass murders by gunfire at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, a Colorado movie theater, a first-grade classroom in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, at the Boston Marathon, and, earlier this year, in Chapel Hill.  

Except for the Chapel Hill shooting, the killers were young men in their teens or early 20s, angry and isolated if not actually deranged.  

We must ask ourselves how and why our society is producing, even nurturing, young men who kill indiscriminately in movie houses and on city streets and sometimes with distinct targets as in Wisconsin
and Charleston.  

Why and how does our culture grow such young men and provide them the easy means to commit mass-murder? Mass-murders atrocities will not diminish until we acknowledge and find answers to our questions.

Part of the answers — in my mind, at least — is figuring out how we, the American people, have come to think of people not like ourselves as “the other.”

My photograph appears at the bottom of this page and reveals me the way I think of myself, as a late middle-aged white woman. You may not know anything else about me, but chances are that readers will make assumptions about me and my life based on that photo, and for some, I will be “the other.” Part of this is human nature, but we in America at this point in our history seem to have taken “otherness” to new heights. People who are not like us are “them.”

People of another color than our own are “others.” So are people of different religious beliefs and traditions, so are people who dress differently, whose path to our nation was unlike our own and people of different economic situations.

People somewhere along the sexual spectrum different than our place are routinely ridiculed.

Public school supporters may be suspicious of private school supporters and vice versa.

People who cannot live without guns think the gunless are nuts and vice versa. Ditto for only English speakers and those who speak one or more other languages.

Ditto for Fox News and MSNBC fans, for Democrats and Republicans, for documentary and reality show watchers for University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina
State fans.

You, of course, can think of many more “thems” and “others” and may even have some of your own. Our lists of “others” and “thems” now seem endless, and we are dividing and damaging our own nation and our own culture. We are separating ourselves from each other, and in this divisive process, we are spawning mass murderers.

No one, least of all I, has an answer to how we slipped away from Francis Bellamy’s unifying words embodied in our pledge of allegiance to our flag, “…one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

As we prepare to celebrate the 4th of July, I hope I live long enough to see the civility and respect implicit in that concept return to
our nation. 

I have spent much of this past week trying to avoid the news — but that has been impossible. There has been too much going on for me not to pay attention, as is the case with most Americans. It has been a week of mourning, a week of hope and depending on where you sit, a week of sweeping change in our nation.

Much ink and many talking heads have analyzed the events of the past two weeks ad nauseum. And then the social media pundits have put their spin on it, much of which has done nothing more than alienate people and confuse the real point of all of the discussions. I had thought to hold my peace and discuss none of it, which I have successfully done up to this point. I find that I cannot do that anymore, so, for what it’s worth, here is my two cents worth on one of the subjects.

I have long had a love affair with Charleston. It started long before I ever stepped foot on its historic streets, and probably stemmed from books I read when I was younger. Charleston has always been, in my mind, the jewel of the South. I frequently have the argument with friends that Savannah is Charleston’s dirty cousin. To me, the city lacks the grace that has always been part and parcel of Charleston.

The first time I visited Charleston, I was house-sitting for a college friend of mine. Her family was, for lack of better words, from the old-money South. While, in college, I attended her brother’s wedding. It was my job to pick up her mother’s nanny,  an elderly African-American woman, whom had always been a part of her life. She was as much family as any that attended the wedding–something that a lot of people won’t understand. There was a very real familial connection. 

But I digress. For my friend’s wedding present, her parents bought her a house on the battery. It was quite a chore for me, a starving reporter at a small-town newspaper, to go take care of her house and dogs while she vacationed at Martha’s Vineyard. During my seven days there, I walked every street, turned every corner and visited every historic building in the city. I fell in love; a love which I later shared with my husband.

When we feel the need for some “us time,” we head to Charleston. We walk the same streets, meet many of the same characters and visit the same places. There is a grace and hospitality that flows from the people — people of all colors. You can have the best conversations on the streets and, if you take the time, meet the best people. We do both.

That’s why I was not surprised by the reaction of the people of Charleston to the evil that visited their city. For them to act in any other way would have blind sided me. The people of Charleston are gracious. They have seen the worst that men can do to each other, and they weathered that storm and passed the lessons they learned down through the generations. 

I watched horror-stricken as the news broke of the shooting. Mass shootings are unthinkable, but for it to happen in a house of worship is beyond believable. The very act is evil, but for it to happen in a church is perhaps evil incarnate.  And for it to happen because someone doesn’t like the color of someone’s skin is sickening–beyond belief.

Having been raised in a military family, I was raised around the United States. We lived and worshipped with people of all races, colors and beliefs. None of that ever mattered to us. They were our friends and neighbors. If you were to visit my home today, you will find the same kind of mix. 

Many of the people I consider family are people who do not look like me. My son’s godfather is an African-American. Many of my baseball moms, whom I spend countless weekends with, and with whom I laugh and love greatly, do not look like me. But we are a family - we are the Rebel Nation. 

Many people are more comfortable around people who are like us. For me, being like me means that you are probably smart; that you have a broad world view; that you have an open heart; an open mind; are extremely loyal to those who deserve it; and understand that the only inflexible thing about me is my love for my family and my love of God. 

With that being said, it was not surprising to me that the people of Charleston, and particularly the people of  the Charleston church, reacted the way they did. They reacted not with hate, not with ignorance or closed minds, but rather out of love, forgiveness and an understanding that evil walks this earth and manifests itself in the lives of people — sometimes even our neighbors.

I mourned the deaths of my Christian brothers and sisters who were killed while worshipping. But I rejoiced in the response of their friends and families. I rejoiced in the actions of the people of Charleston who rallied around them, who wrapped their arms around the church and even around the confused, angry young man who listened to the hatred spewed on television and social media.

America has many faults and we have become an angry and divided populace, but we can love. We can rise above. That’s the America I love. That’s the America that Charleston showed us we could be. Let’s take that lesson to heart. Let’s let the diversity that made us great, bring us back together. There are no others. There’s only us, and we will rise or fall together.

I have loved magazines since I realized they existed. 

My childhood home subscribed to several, among them LIFE and LOOK, both now long gone, along with TIME and Newsweek, which tried to weather the Internet age by morphing into who knows what. The one slick vestige of my childhood that still arrives at my door with relentless regularity is the much-treasured New Yorker, a publication which has cut edges since it was born in 1925. 

Also in the mailbox are Our State, Garden and Gun, the always-glamorous Vanity Fair, Yoga Journal, along with various trade, professional and special interest publications, and the occasional fashion mag. 

Some get read. Others do not. I often feel guilty loading my City of Fayetteville-issued blue recycling can.

One that almost always makes the cut is The Atlantic, an American magazine first published in 1857. Always smart and current, it focuses on politics, foreign affairs, the economy and cultural trends and has won more National Magazine Awards than any other monthly. It also boasts a terrific website with provocative stories that do not appear in the actual magazine and hard-to-resist — at least for me — archived pieces.

One of those is “The 100 Most Influential Figures in American History” chosen in 2006 by what The Atlantic describes as “10 eminent historians.” The list is, of course, highly subjective, which made me think about who I would have put on such a ranking, dead or alive.

Here at the historians’ top 10 and how they describe them, beginning with number one.

Abraham Lincoln. “He saved the Union,
freed the slaves and presided over America’s second founding.”

George Washington. “He made the United States possible — not only by defeating a king, but by declining to become one himself.”

Thomas Jefferson. “The author of the five most important words in American history: ‘All men are created equal.’”

Franklin Roosevelt. “He said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,’ and then he proved it.”

Alexander Hamilton. “Soldier, banker and political scientist, he set in motion an agrarian nation’s transformation into an industrial power.”

Benjamin Franklin. “The founder-of-all trades — scientist, printer, writer, diplomat, inventor and more; like his country, he contained multitudes.”

John Marshall. “The defining chief justice, he established the Supreme Court as the equal of the other two federal branches.”

Martin Luther King. “His dream of racial equality is still elusive, but no one did more to make it real.”

Thomas Edison. “It wasn’t just the light bulb; the Wizard of Menlo Park was the most prolific inventor in American history.”

Woodrow Wilson. “He made the world safe for U.S. interventionism, if not for democracy.”

Obviously, this top 10 list includes only men, mainly political ones, most of them from the more distant past, and I get that. Men have been totally in charge until the last part of the 20th century, and it is not really possible to assess and understand the relative importance of most living people or the more recently departed. Only time can tell us how Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama will remembered.

Only one living person, Bill Gates, made the list. He came in at number 54 and is described as the John D. Rockefeller of the Information Age, meaning that he has both made a gigantic fortune and is giving it away.

Only nine women made the list, most of them for supporting the rights of women or of black Americans. They are Elizabeth Cady Stanton (#30), described as one of the first great American feminists, a supporter of social reform and women’s right to vote; Susan B. Anthony (#38), also a feminist and supporter of women’s equality under the law; Harriet Beecher Stowe (#41) who “inspired abolitionists;” Margaret Sanger (#51), a champion of birth control and the freedom that came with it; Jane Addams (#64), described as the “secular saint of social work;” and Betty Freidan (#77) who wrote a book about unhappy housewives and “inspired a revolution in gender roles.” The three other women are Rachel Carson (#39) whom the historians called “the godmother of the environmental movement;” Margaret Mead (#81) who taught us about the anthropology of other people; and Mary Baker Eddy (#86), who founded a religion, Christian Science.

I do not believe that women’s contributions to our nation clock in at merely 9 percent.

There are some names among the 100 that many of us will have to Google — John Dewey, John Brown, Robert Oppenheimer, Horace Mann, Samuel Gompers and Enrico Fermi. We can also quibble about some of the rankings. Is Walt Disney (#27) with his “unmatched influence over childhood,” more important than James D. Watson (#68), who discovered DNA, the “code of life?” Are P.T. Barnum (#67) whose “taste for spectacle paved the way for blockbuster movies and reality TV” and Sam Walton (#72) who promised “’Every Day Low Prices’ and we took him up on it” really more influential than Ralph Nader (#96) “who made cars safer and 30 years later made George W. Bush President?”

Did the 10 eminent historians nail it or are they living in ivory towers?

As summer gets in full swing, local children and teens are spending more time out of doors. For many of them, that means time at local parks and athletic fields. For some, it means the start of summer practice for school athletic teams or weekends spent traveling around the state to participate in athletic tournaments.

For parents, that means hectic schedules, carpools, evenings spent sweating on the sidelines and cheering their favorite teams. It also means money, a lot of money for registration fees and countless bottles of Gatorade and water and the ubiquitous sunflower seeds.

I am one of those parents whose child is busy on multiple fields throughout the week. Currently, in the mornings he is hitting the high school weight room as part of the summer conditioning for fall football. He is also hitting the batting center to work on his hitting to improve his baseball game and our weekends are spent driving to baseball fields around the state for him to play in tournaments designed to bring players to the attention of college scouts. Throw in Wednesday night and Sundays spent at church and you can see that our summer is pretty well spent.

That’s our choice. A choice we make to keep our child engaged. To keep him focused on improving himself not only physically, but emotionally and mentally. All of these games are both mental and physical. They are also emotional — and that goes for parents as well. 

At a certain age, you have to sit back and watch your kids learn some hard lessons. Unlike T-ball, not everybody plays and not everybody wins. Sometimes, a lot of the times, kids can’t see the reason behind a coach’s decision (heck, sometimes I can’t), but they have to listen and hopefully, learn from the experience. Parents, too. Coaches, too.

Coaches, of all flavors, are unsung heroes who are changing lives for good or ill. It’s a big responsibility and it is so important that they realize the impact they have on the lives of the young men and women they are coaching. They can create a champion or they can turn a kid off sports completely. It all has to do with why they are coaching.

For some, coaching is a way to relive their own glory days on the field. They are the coaches who are playing for titles, who are focused not on infusing a love of the game and teaching the fundamentals, but rather the “win at all cost” coaches. These are perhaps the most dangerous people to allow into your child’s life. These coaches don’t look at the potential a child has, rather where he or she is right at that moment, not who they could be if they developed, if they were coached. 

These are the coaches who yell, assign blame and give up on their team when they are not performing. They are the ones the other coaches shun. You should shun them, too. Winning isn’t the only thing.

For others, coaching is about sharing a passion. It’s about teaching skills and watching with pride when a kids “gets it.” These are the coaches you want. These are the ones who your child is going to love long after he or she stops competing. These are the coaches who are going to change your child because they not only believe in them, they enjoy them and they love them. 

I count my child lucky to have had several coaches who are of this caliber. They want the best for the player, even when they don’t win - Especially when they don’t win.

Two such coaches are at Gray’s Creek High School. One is the football coach, David Lovette and the other is the baseball/assistant football coach, Jeff Nance. 

Lovette is a no-nonsense kind of coach. When you are practicing, you are practicing. When he asks you to do something, it’s because he wants you to learn something. He sees the potential in his boys and he pushes them to reach it. He doesn’t break them. He has a dry sense of humor, and quick smile. He is quick to praise his players and also to correct them. He is about building men of honor; however, a winning season is okay, too.

Nance is always smiling. He knows his players. He enjoys them. He is quick to crack a joke, but quicker to teach. We have been spending time with Nance lately working on my son’s hitting. For months, people have been telling and yelling at my son about his swing. He heard them. But he didn’t understand what they were saying. Within five minutes of being in the cage with Nance, he not only got a lesson in physics, but also learned how to correct his mechanics. Not because Nance yelled, but because he taught by example. That “aha!” moment was a joy to see.

I also saw Nance in action during the last baseball season. In a parent meeting, he explained that if he saw one of his players messing up, he would call home. He straightforwardly told the parents assembled that evil was walking the halls of area high schools and it wanted their kids. He was going to do his part to keep that from happening. And he did, much to the dismay of some players. 

But here’s the thing with Nance, he will work his players hard, and at the end of practice, he will give them a hug and he usually says, “I love you, buddy.”

 And, he means it. Every time. His players get that, and they are changed. 

The Revolutionary War lasted from 1775-1783. It was about a year into the fight that delegates from the 13 colonies met in Philadelphia and voted for America’s independence from Britain. 

The delegation struggled with the decision, but on July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted for independence. Two days later, on July 4, the delegation adopted the Declaration of Independence. It was another eight years before the fighting stopped, but it is the 4th of July that America claims as her birthday. In the minds of many Americans, if there is anything worth celebrating it is freedom and independence.
This year there is no shortage of events at which to celebrate.

N.C. Symphony Present Concerts In Your Community and Fireworks

Each summer the N.C. Symphony performs free concerts across the state as part of its Concerts in Your Community series. The concerts are a way for the symphony to give back and, as the state’s official symphony, a way to make its music available statewide. On July 1, don’t miss the Independence Day concert at Festival Park. This year, the symphony has invited the Cumberland Oratorio Singers to perform, as well. 

“We take the stage at 7 p.m. and have a set that includes patriotic music and slices of Americana,” said Maureen Yearby, the marketing and publicity spokesperson for the Cumberland Oratorio Singers. “It is an opportunity to perform for the community we love and is a real indication that Cumberland Oratorio Singers has come a long way these past five years.”

Following the  Cumberland Oratorio Singers, the N.C. Symphony performance includes favorites that are sure to touch the hearts of patriots and rousing classics that will leave hearts pounding. Some favorites that are featured include Root’s “The Battle Cry of Freedom” and Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” plus selections from the Civil War era. The symphony performs at 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public. End the evening with a fireworks display that is fitting for patriotic celebration of American independence. Find out more at www.ncsymphony.org.

America’s Favorite Game

Known for their summertime fireworks extravaganzas, the SwampDogs pull out all the stops when it comes to celebrating America’s birthday. It’s the team’s biggest event of the year and one that should not be missed. On Friday, July 3, the Honoring America Fireworks Tribute is presented by Hendrick Chrysler Jeep Fiat and USAA. 

“This is the best fireworks show Fayetteville has to offer during the summer, and is a memorable show for the whole family,” said Assistant General Manager/Voice of the SwampDogs Joe Vasile.

Celebrate in Spring Lake

Spring Lake is celebrating with a 4th of July Festival on Main Street. This family-friendly event features live entertainment, a kid’s zone, water activities, a car show and food and craft vendors. The celebration takes place at
 the Spring Lake Chamber of Commerce and  runs from noon until dark. Call 497-8821 for more details. 

Join the Fun in Hope Mills

Hope Mills looks to celebrate the 4th of July with a Party in the Park at Hope Mills Municipal Park. But first, the day starts with a good, old-fashioned parade in downtown Hope Mills. The parade starts at 10 a.m. Party in the Park starts at 4 p.m. and will include family-friendly games, vendors and live entertainment. Find out more at www.townofhopemills.com, www.hopemillschamber.com or by calling 426-4107.

A Patriotic Celebration at Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg’s 4th of July celebration takes place on the Main Post Parade Field. The event includes plenty of events and activities to keep attendees busy all afternoon and well into the evening. 

The parade field opens at 1 p.m., for those who are serious about staking out great spots for the concerts and fireworks. Kiddieland and food vendors open at 3 p.m. The program officially starts at 5 p.m. with a performance by Easton Corbin. 

From 6-6:30 p.m., all eyes are on the skies as the U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s  Black Daggers free fall from the sky. Up next is Randy Houser, who will perform until 7:45 p.m. Senior commander remarks and sponsor recognition follows. 

If you have ever attended the Fort Bragg celebration, then you know you will not want to miss the flag ceremony and 82nd Division All American Chorus’ rendition of  The National Anthem followed by a three song set by Patten and Goff. 

At 9 p.m., enjoy the music of the 82nd Division All American Band  featuring the “1812 Overture” (including the canon). The magic hour is 10 p.m., when fireworks begin to light up the sky over the home of America’s finest. 

Guests are encouraged to arrive early because heavy traffic is expected. No pets, glass bottles or grills. A complete list of prohibited items is available at www.fortbraggmwr.com/july4th. Tent rentals are available but must be reserved in advance. Find out more at www.fortbraggmwr.com/tent-city. There are no tent rentals on the day of the event. The 2015 Fort Bragg 4th of July Celebration is free and open to the public. Find out more at www.fortbraggmwr.com.

The Fayetteville SwampDogs’ season is well underway, and as usual fans have been flocking to “The Swamp” for the best family fun and entertainment Fayetteville has to offer. This week is set to be another exciting week, as the SwampDogs host four games.

The fun kicks off on Wednesday, July 1, with Opening Night Part 2: The Salute to Sequels as the Dogs take on the Wilmington Sharks at 7:05 pm. Help the SwampDogs kick off the second part of their schedule by tipping their hats towards the great “Part Twos” in history. It’s also Social Media night, so follow the SwampDogs on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for special deals at the ballpark.

Friday, July 3 marks the return of the Honoring America Fireworks Tribute at “The Swamp” presented by Hendrick Chrysler Jeep Fiat, USAA and Disaster One.  Everyone knows that the best fireworks in Fayetteville are at “The Swamp” on the third, so don’t miss your chance to experience the extravaganza that everybody is sure to be talking about! This game is sold out every year, so make sure to reserve your tickets early so you don’t get shut out.

The SwampDogs return home on Monday, July 6 for College Rivalry Night and Guaranteed Win Night! If the SwampDogs don’t win against the Lexington County Blowfish, all fans in attendance receive a free general admission ticket to the next home game at “The Swamp.”

That next home game is on Tuesday, July 7 on Superhero and Villain Night!  Come to the game dressed as your favorite superhero or villain to see whether good or evil will triumph and win the day.

With these great games coming up this week, and the weekly promotions of Cornhole Mondays, Scavenger Hunt Tuesdays and Ladies Night Wednesdays, “The Swamp” is sure to be packed this week as the SwampDogs
chase a birth into the Petitt Cup Playoffs once again.

To reserve your tickets for these games — or any remaining SwampDogs game this season — contact the Fayetteville SwampDogs’ business office at 910-426-5900 or stop by in person at J.P. Riddle Stadium, located at 2823 Legion Road 

in Fayetteville.  

With single game tickets starting at just $6, and a Family Four Pack — comprised of four general admission tickets, four hot dogs, four bags of chips and four small sodas — a $56 value costing only $35, the SwampDogs are an affordable night out that can’t be beat.

For the most up-to-date information on the SwampDogs, including our upcoming schedule, player bios and more, slide down to the online home of the SwampDogs, www.goswampdogs.com. On social media, the SwampDogs can be found on Twitter and Instagram at the handle @GoSwampDogs, and on Facebook like the official team page, Fayetteville SwampDogs Baseball. These are all great sources to help keep you connected to your favorit boys of summer.  

A SwampDogs game is where baseball is fun, and we want to see you out at
“The Swamp.”