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Wednesday, 10 December 2025
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Written by Anna White
Ladies Lift night is standard fare at Gracefully Fit LLC. A high-energy evening of team-style training, it’s a recurring event that sells out every time, attracting fitness enthusiasts who can’t resist breaking a good sweat and the sisterhood Gracefully Fit LLC is known for. This year, their impact is expanding.
Announced as “the biggest Ladies Lift Night in history,” the Super Bowl-themed evening is about lifting not just weights, but those who need a helping hand. Through the launch of their Lift Her Initiative, Gracefully Fit LLC has partnered with a local women's shelter. Connections of Cumberland County will receive 10% of every ticket sold to support their mission of providing safety, stability and resources for women in crisis and victims of domestic violence.
Additionally, individuals and organizations can give women the chance to attend Ladies Lift Night through the new “Buy a Ticket for Her” initiative.
Behind the event are Grace Bex and Charlotte Robinson. Bex, a military spouse, mother of three, and personal trainer, is the founder of Gracefully Fit LLC. Robinson, co-founder of the T.J Robinson Life Center, serves youth, veterans, seniors, and at-risk populations at her multi-sport and wellness facility, where the Jan. 9 Ladies Lift Night will be held.
Bex’s fitness journey began after a long history of chronic illness and a particularly challenging pregnancy. During her postpartum weight loss journey, family and friends saw her progress and started reaching out, asking what she was doing.
Always trusting that God had a greater purpose in her suffering, Bex took a leap of faith and became a Certified Personal Trainer through Auburn University’s American College of Sports Medicine. Ladies Lift Nights were a favorite even when Gracefully Fit LLC was located in Bex’s home gym. When Bex opened a permanent location in Fayetteville in December 2024, she fought unexpected battles to secure the location. That fight connects her to co-host Charlotte Robinson.
“She and I have very similar yet different stories,” Bex said of Robinson. “We’re both female entrepreneurs. She’s black, I’m white. I’m young; she’s what I would call a bit more seasoned than I am. She’s faced a lot of adversity in trying to open her facility. She fought for over 10 years to actually get it open. I fought for 115 days to be able to get the keys to my space and everything. So I guess all around this event embodies us empowering women in the community with what we’ve built and trying to give back.”
The evening starts with a 30-minute bootcamp. Described as an explosive, high-energy, team-style training that’ll get your adrenaline pumping, Bex still describes it as modifiable and suitable for all ability levels. Then comes a 30-minute MixxedFit dance and fitness mashup, and finally a 30-minute CIRCL Mobility stretching routine.
Lest attendees think the night is winding down as they take a breath and stretch out, the Half Time show is gearing up.
“We have a little dance crew coming out to do a dance routine. And then, one of the coolest things I’ve seen come from this initiative, we have someone from Group Therapy who has stepped up. She’s a survivor of domestic violence and sex trafficking, and she’s stepped forward and wants to speak at the event. She’s going to speak during the halftime show,” Bex explained.
“That, for me, is a full circle moment. Having started this event to really give back to Connections of Cumberland County, it is now giving women a platform and a voice who have experienced domestic violence.”
Attendees can grab swag bags filled with items from women-owned businesses across Fayetteville, event T-shirts—which come free with admission—win prizes, shop local vendors, and enjoy incredible food throughout the evening.
Pre-sweat or post-sweat, grab a photo with your besties at the photobooth. But more than anything, Bex says, come and find a tribe of women who are there to empower you.
“Whatever walk of life you’re in, this event is for you,” she shared. “You don’t have to have a background in fitness; you don’t have to know anybody to come. You can just come, and I guarantee you’re going to leave knowing at least 10 ladies.”
Bex and Robinson say they embody one message: women rising together—lifting each other physically, emotionally and socially.
“It’s going to be a night where women can step away from normal life, find community, sweat it out a little bit, and just have some fun.”
Purchase tickets online at begracefullyfit.com. Ladies Lift Night: Strength Bowl MMXXVI will be held Jan. 9, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at T.J. Robinson Life Center at 4221 Black Bridge Rd, Hope Mills.
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Wednesday, 10 December 2025
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Written by Dr. Shanessa Fenner
The Fayetteville Rotary Club and Rotary International present the 26th Annual Fayetteville Rotary Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m. in downtown Fayetteville. The route will begin at the back of the Cumberland County Courthouse and end on Winslow Street.
“The Fayetteville Rotary Christmas Parade has always been a community staple and brings out everyone from all walks of life,” said Brandon Price, chair of The Fayetteville Rotary Christmas Parade committee. “It is the one time of year where all families from everywhere come downtown to witness all of the floats, marching bands, Christmas music, big jeeps, and kings and queens.”
The Fayetteville Rotary Club was founded in Fayetteville on May 1, 1920. The Rotary International Club was founded in 1905 in Chicago by attorney Paul Harris. The term “rotary” comes from the practice of early members who rotated their weekly meetings among their different businesses. Harris and his friends would get together at each other’s businesses and talk about what kinds of things they could do in the community.
“For example, if I put my resources with your resources and a couple of other people’s resources, then no one person has to do everything if we all do something,” said Price. “Over time, this has taken on a different meaning and has come to be community leaders coming together every week, and we invite people from the local community to the meeting to tell us what is going on in the community and how we can improve it.”
Price added, “That is the purpose of Rotary, which is business leaders and community leaders coming together to serve together and to do service before self.”
The 2025-2026 theme for Rotary International is “Unite for Good.” It emphasizes bringing people together to work towards positive change and addressing global challenges. The theme encourages members to unite across backgrounds, strengthen connections and collaborate on service projects to create a meaningful impact worldwide.
“I call Rotarians quiet heroes because they don’t usually promote all the things that they are doing,” said Price. “They just do the things that need to be done.”
The parade, which has been a holiday tradition since 1999, will feature Rotary International District 7730 Governor Andrea Young, Mayor Mitch Colvin and his wife, City Council members, county officials, city personnel, local library mascots, dance groups, local marching bands, motorcycles, horses and jolly old Santa Claus.
The highlight of the parade is the high school marching bands.
“All of the Fayetteville High School marching bands are participating, and this year we will also have Lumberton High School and Hoke County High School marching bands,” said Price. “Most of these high schools are award-winning high schools, and I would be remiss if I did not say that one of the most well-known bands from our local community that always helps us wrap up the parade is E. E. Smith High School’s Magnificent Marching Machine.”
He added, “It is super exciting when E. E. Smith’s band performs; it is must-see TV. Not everybody can make it to a high school football game, but everybody gets to come out to the Rotary Christmas parade.”
The Fayetteville Rotary Club started a new tradition this year by selecting an individual and a community organization to lead the parade. This year’s grand marshal is the recently retired and prominent Roosevelt Pratt, Jr. and the Salvation Army of the Sandhills.
“Mr. Pratt is the former band director of E. E. Smith for 28 years and has played an integral role in so many kids going to college and becoming a part of bands all across the country,” said Price. “Twenty-seven of his graduates have gone on to become drum majors at their respective HBCU schools, and we are very excited to honor his legacy, the work he has done to draw attention to musicianship, and we believe in giving people their flowers while they are still here.”
It is imperative to have top-notch security at the parade, especially to prevent accidents.
“A couple of years ago, accidents took place in a couple of parades in North Carolina. We beefed up security every single year, working together with the City of Fayetteville, the city police, and the Fayetteville Jeeps Club,” said Price. “They have a ton of jeeps that will come through, and they have somehow become the staple part of the parade because we send jeeps two by two behind every walking entry to protect that entry from any loose or runaway cars.”
Price added, “This is one of our ways that we try to target safety as a main issue for our walking groups to include our bands.”
It takes a lot of moving parts to plan a parade, and Price enjoys every moment of the process.
“This will be my 5th year chairing the parade committee, and every year I say that I am not going to do it next year,” said Price. “Something will happen at the parade that makes me see that this is why we serve, and my goal is for all the little boys, little girls and their families to come out and have a good time for that two-hour window and for everything to be close to perfect.”
The parade is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.fayettevillerotaryclub.org.
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