Entertainment

Spend spooky season in Downtown Fayetteville

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Tuesday, 01 October 2024

Written by Sheila D. Barker

Witches Night Out
Get ready to kick off the spooky season with a bang at the Witches Night Out: Wine Crawl on Oct. 17 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. This event, hosted by the Downtown Alliance, invites you and your friends to dress up as witches and embark on a wine-tasting adventure.
Starting at A Bit of Carolina located at 306 Hay Street, you’ll gather under a tent to begin your crawl. The full moon will illuminate your path, making for an unforgettable night filled with wine, laughter, and perhaps a few spooky surprises.
The Witches Night Out: Wine Crawl is set to be an enchanting experience, thanks in part to the full moon that will cast a magical glow over Downtown Fayetteville. As you sip on various wines, the ambiance will be nothing short of spellbinding.
Whether you’re a wine connoisseur or just looking for a fun night out with friends, this event promises to offer a unique blend of spooky and sophisticated. Who knows what kind of mystical occurrences you might encounter under the full moon.

Boo-ville
The spooky fun continues with Boo-ville, happening on Oct. 18 and 19 from noon to 9 p.m. Xscape Factor Escape Room, located at 136 A Bow Street, has been transformed into a haunted wonderland, perfect for families and thrill-seekers alike. Boo-ville will feature ghost story tours that are sure to send shivers down your spine. Each tour will last about an hour.
Gather your bravest friends and make this special spooky-themed event the highlight of your spooky season.
With two fantastic events happening in Downtown Fayetteville, this October is the perfect time to embrace all things spooky. Whether you’re sipping wine under the full moon or enjoying eerie stories at Boo-ville, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Be sure to follow the Downtown Alliance Facebook page for updates on these two events and future events here: https://www.facebook.com/fayDTA

(Photo courtesy of Downtown Alliance Facebook Page)

Head out to Ole Mill Day for some seasonal fun

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Tuesday, 01 October 2024

Written by Sheila D. Barker

Ole Mill Day is back in Hope Mills, marking its 21st year with a celebration that has become a beloved tradition in the community. This event promises a day filled with activities that honor the rich history of Hope Mills. Sponsored by the Hope Mills Police Foundation, this event is not just a festival but a celebration of community spirit and togetherness.
Held at 5788 Rockfish Rd, the event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19. The festival aims to bring families and friends together for a day of fun, food, and festivities, all while supporting the local police force and their families.
The Kids Corner at Ole Mill Day is sure to be a hit with the little ones. From a petting zoo to a Mobil barn, pony rides, and bouncy houses, there is something for every child to enjoy. These activities provide a safe and entertaining environment where kids can interact with animals, enjoy rides, and burn off energy while parents relax and take in the festivities.
The event promises to be a memorable experience for children, making it the perfect family-friendly outing. Parents can watch their kids have the time of their lives while also participating in the various activities and attractions available.
No festival is complete without delicious food, and Ole Mill Day is no exception. A variety of food trucks will be present, offering an assortment of snacks, sweets, and meals to satisfy every palate. Whether you’re craving something savory or sweet, you’ll find plenty of options to choose from.
Don’t miss out on the fresh-squeezed lemonade, a refreshing treat that will keep you cool and hydrated as you explore the event. With so many food choices available, you’re sure to find something that delights your taste buds.
One of the highlights of Ole Mill Day is the opportunity to meet local author Moriah Chavis, who wrote “Heart of the Sea.” Festival-goers can chat with Moriah and learn more about her work, adding a literary element to the day’s activities.
In addition to meeting the author, attendees can enjoy live music from Eclectic Soul and tunes from DJ PB Productions. Whether you want to line dance, shag, or simply sit back and relax, the musical performances will add to the festive atmosphere and provide entertainment for all ages.

List of participating businesses, vendors & food trucks
Neat Knack Organizing Solutions
PB Productions
Just-Threads-Embroidery
West of the One Creative dba SWS Customs
Dirtbag Ales Brewery and Taproom
Reeves Funeral Home
Whimsical Wooden Boutique
Carolina Craft Barn
Miles Apart Custom Creations
MAGIC BY DAVID Petting Zoo and Mobil Barn
VFW 10630 - Bryce H. Swindle
Crescent Moon
Chick-Fil-A, 3101 N Main St., Hope Mills,
The Yinzers Truck
Artist Village
Vee’s Seoul Kitchen Food Truck
House Charming Design
Wild Bow Yonder
The Stitcher’s Hive
Tarheel Quilters Guild
Typcees’ Lemonade
T2T
The Sugar Shack Mobile Ice Cream
Eclectic Soul
Scentsy by Alisa Bulloch
Pampered Chef by Tai Cunningham
Mary Kay by Jennifer Seaman
Southview Crafting Sisters by Jenny Stewart Hixson
HIS RADIO 90.1
Hope Mills Commissioner Dunk Tank
The Stitcher’s Hive
DeMarie Jewelry by Denise Siracusa
Mikes Wood Creation by Mike Siracusa
The Front Porch Southern Decor
Cumberland First In Families
Darlene Hardin’s Crocheted Items

If you’re interested in being a part of Ole Mill Day, there are several ways to get involved. Vendors are still being accepted until Oct. 10, with spaces available for $75 and $125 for food trucks. This is a great opportunity for local businesses, crafters, and resource providers to showcase their products and services to the community.
Applications can be found on the Hope Mills Police Foundation Facebook page or picked up at the Hope Mills Police Department at 5788 Rockfish Rd. For more information, potential vendors can call 910-424-4497. Whether as a vendor, volunteer, or attendee, your participation helps support the local police force and contributes to the success of this cherished community event.

FTCC educates, inspires at Youth Dental Health Fair

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Tuesday, 01 October 2024

Written by Anna White

“It’s like an educational, dental party!” Jessica Jones said of the upcoming event sponsored by United Way’s Youth Growth Stock Trust. When kids walk into the room, they’re greeted by a tooth fairy mascot, a superhero tooth mascot, and students distributing fresh produce from a fruit stand.
“A lot of the kids can’t wait to bite into an apple, or even bite into a pepper,” she chuckled. “They’re so excited to get their hands on something.”
The event starts with a momentum that Jones, a Dental Health Educator and full-time faculty member at Fayetteville Technical Community College, hopes will continue after the fun. Now in its third year, the fair continues to focus on prevention.
“If we can reach the kids and teach [them] at an earlier age in life, the habits tend to stick and grow with them through adulthood,” she said.
While the event is geared toward kids in pre-K through 5th grade, all ages are welcome. Kids start by receiving a goody bag and then visit a series of presentation stations that offer engaging activities. With a parent or guardian’s permission, they can get a plaque sample taken and analyzed under a microscope. They’ll learn about brushing, flossing, and proper nutrition — all practices that can help maintain dental health for a lifetime.
At each station, they participate in a short pre- and post-education quiz consisting of three simple questions. These questions solidify what they’ve learned, and help volunteers gauge whether their teaching strategies are working. Questions focus on topics like pH of beverages, tooth anatomy, oral bacteria, sugar bugs and oral care.
Jones shared data from past years indicating that the presentations shape the kid’s comprehension of dental health significantly. In 2022 they saw cavity formation awareness increase from 68% to 97% and plaque formation awareness increase from 52% to 87%. In 2023 they saw similar improvements: the pre and post-test results for the question, “What should you do after you drink an acidic drink?” saw scores jump from 65% to 87%. Jones anticipates those trends will continue at this year’s fair.
Dental Assisting and Dental Hygiene students serve as volunteers and presenters at the fair and simultaneously get to fulfill required community outreach hours.
“It gives the students an opportunity to kind of step outside of their comfort zone and see in real-time the difference that they can make,” Jones shared.
She said that students seem to love interacting with the community, identifying needs, and putting their skills to use. Often, they didn’t know that the needs existed and consequently, walked away with a renewed sense of purpose in their work. Jones said that seeing their realization is touching.
In keeping with the event’s focus on community service, they will also highlight dental cleaning and x-ray appointments available at Fayetteville Tech’s Dental Clinic. Parents or guardians interested in scheduling an appointment can sign up for free at the fair, where the typical $5 fee will be waived.
According to Jones, parents seem to enjoy themselves just as much as the kids do. Visitors of all ages dancing with the mascots and posing in the 360 spinning photo booth last year confirmed that.
“My little one, at just three years old, enjoyed himself so much, and if I’m being honest, I did too,” was one parent’s perspective.
“There’s something for everybody,” Jones affirmed. “It’s a Saturday morning. It’s not too early, it’s not too late. Bring [your] little ones!”
The Fair will be held Oct. 19, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tony Rands Student Center at Fayetteville Technical Community College, 2220 Hull Road.

(Photo: Dental health professionals stand with the tooth mascots at the 2023 Youth Dental Health Fair. Photo courtesy of Jessica Jones, FTCC)

Use HipCamp to explore Fayetteville, Cumberland County

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Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Written by Erin C. Healy

Campers know that sites tend to fill up early. Because of that, you need to be a meticulous planner. If you’re an inexperienced camper or you tend to let days unfold in less regimented ways, it can be intimidating or frustrating to make camping arrangements, especially if you’re required to check in by a certain time. YouTube videos can instill confidence for first timers, but virtual input is a double-edged sword. Consuming content tricks your brain into thinking you’ve been camping when you haven’t left your house. Numerous camping apps can help you plan a real camping trip but there is one that can be ideal for day trips, close-to-home weekends, explore-your-city excursions and camping test runs. It’s HipCamp and it’s a fun alternative camping app that’s free to download.
That’s not to say the app doesn’t have issues. It’s not easy to navigate and communicating through it can be a challenge, but despite those flaws, you can find some unique and affordable places to spend time with your family and friends. Rates range from under $30 for a tent site to over $100 for lodging. Try the website if you find the app challenging. HipCamp is AirBnB for campers; it matches campers with property owners who have available campsites. You enter your destination and research the nearby listings. Some may offer everything from car and tent camping to electricity, water and pump-out services for larger rigs to permanent structures. Read each camp’s listing carefully. For instance, most allow pets, but some charge a per-pet fee.
Fully understand the reservation policy of each camp. Some hosts are understandably strict about allowing refunds for unused reservations. All payments and refunds are made through HipCamp, and hosts can opt for lenient, strict or very strict reservation policies. Understand it from the hosts’ perspective. They block out the days of your stay, and if you cancel, they lose the revenue and don’t have sufficient time to attract other campers in your place.
If you have the acreage, you can become a HipCamp host with nothing but accessible land. You might do even better if you run water, provide a bathroom and shower and perhaps offer trash disposal. You could install cameras to monitor your land and manage your campground remotely. This allows you to take your own vacations or allow campers on your vacation property while you run things from your primary residence. If you live onsite, you can request people call prior to their arrival and that they arrive by a certain time. This is the great thing about HipCamp; it allows for both campers and hosts to set up specifications that fit their individual needs.
Here are three nearby HipCamps to get you started. When you make your reservation, you’ll be charged a HipCamp fee that goes for the upkeep of the app and customer service.
Cedar Creek Campground at Elease, White Oak
30 Acres with 14 Sites for RV or Tent
This wooded campground is neat as a pin. Plantings are protected, the stone road and site entries are pristine, the single bathroom is clean and well-stocked and the shower has plentiful warm water and a curtained changing area. Sites are set up for car and tent camping, self-contained RVs and larger rigs that need water and pump-out service. Plenty of long country roads surround for pretty rides, or head into the city to take in all the food, art, history or entertainment that appeals to you. However, this might be the ideal HipCamp for simply staying in camp. Michael is welcoming and helpful; you’ll see him out cleaning and improving the grounds regularly. Firepits and picnic tables are at each site, and there are well-maintained walking trails for gentle hikes that might be perfect for young children.
Legacy Farms Leisure Area, Lumber Bridge
43 Acres with 4 Sites for Tent, RV or Lodging
This farm will make horse lovers smile. Owner Liz has bred horse standouts in the dressage and jumping arenas, and she and her husband knock out the endless chores a farm requires. Visitors will be treated to idyllic vistas of beautifully kept horses in endless turnouts, sheds and stalls.
Your bathroom is in the barndominium tack room. The tent sites offer a wooden platform to set up on, fire pits and best of all, samples of Liz’s homemade goat cheese and jelly. Liz is your go-to person if you want to learn about making jams and jellies, goat cheese and goat husbandry. Maybe combine your stay with one of her classes.
The couple are fun and welcoming hosts. Because of the nature of being around horses that can weigh in the neighborhood of 1,000 pounds, you will be asked to sign a waiver to be on the property. Liz owns some of the horses; some are boarders. Ask her which ones you can pet and teach children how to approach those velvety noses and creatures with eyes on the sides of their head.
Lindsay Grapes, Rockfish
30 Acres, 1 Site for RV or Tent
This is a beautiful little pick-your-own vineyard. The day I visited I had the place to myself. The instructions say to meet and greet the owner, but that didn’t happen on my visit.
Be comfortable with everything from handholding to open pastures without marked sites. It could be the owner wishes they could greet every camper, but perhaps were out when I arrived. It could also be that I didn’t want to knock on the doors of multiple outbuildings and disturb privacy. I was grateful for the portable toilet. Check out surrounding activities for both pros and cons to a camp.
For instance, I love motorcycles, so a Saturday night at a nearby motocross track sounding like a hoard of mosquitoes was music to my ears. You wouldn’t necessarily think of a racetrack going together with a vineyard, but perhaps such a HipCamp offers a way to please both members of a couple or provide something for differing interests in an extended family.

(Photo: Legacy Farms Leisure Area in Lumber Bridge is a horse farm with 4 sites for tents or RVs for those who want to camp near a working horse farm.)