A former girls basketball coach at Terry Sanford High School was arrested Tuesday, Jan. 10 on charges of taking indecent liberties with a student, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Thurston Jackie Robinson, 60, is charged with nine counts of sexual battery and six counts of taking indecent liberties with a student, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.

Robinson is being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center under an $18,000 secured bond, the release said. His first appearance in court is set for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11 at the Detention Center.

More charges may be forthcoming, the release said.

According to a Cumberland County Schools spokesman, Robinson's coaching contract with the district has expired.
He was the varsity girls coach from May 4, 2020, to Aug. 1, 2022. He also was a volunteer coach at E.E. Smith High School from 2019 to 2020.

“We take this situation very seriously,” school district spokesman Lindsay Whitley said in an email Tuesday. “The safety and well-being of our students are always top priorities. Mr. Robinson’s status as a non-faculty coach was not renewed for the 2022-23 school year. When allegations of inappropriate conduct were brought to our attention, we suspended discussions about renewing Mr. Robinson’s contract while law enforcement investigated.”

According to Whitley, Robinson had no other duties at Terry Sanford High.

An interim coach, Roger “Dale” Paschall, is now leading the Terry Sanford girls team.
Whitley said in his email that Cumberland County Schools routinely conducts extensive background checks on non-faculty coaches.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Sgt. J. Mcleod at 910-677-5548 or CrimeStoppers at 910-483-TIPS (8477) or http://fay-nccrimestoppers.org.

Health care in Cumberland County and surrounding communities takes a quantum leap Jan. 13 when Cape Fear Valley Health unveils the $33 million Medical Education Center & Neuroscience Institute.

You can see for yourself.

A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at the five-story center on Owen Drive and adjacent to Melrose Drive at Cape Fear Medical Center. Facility tours are scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., including Simulation Center demonstrations.

“In this facility, Cape Fear Valley Health is going to cultivate a new generation of physicians to transform the landscape of health care in southeastern North Carolina,” Mike Nagowski, chief executive officer of Cape Fear Valley Health, says in a news release. “Our country is facing a serious physician shortage, with a quarter of our region’s rural communities lacking doctors in many critical specialties. The Center for Medical Education & Neuroscience Institute will build our capacity to serve more patients, address physician shortages and ensure that we can continue to provide exceptional care to all our patients.”

Groundbreaking for the building was Jan. 14, 2021.

“The physician residents will transform health care in this entire region,” Nagowski was saying Monday. “Fifty percent of our residents have decided to stay. This will allow us to attract and train the very best. This takes us to a different level, and this Medical Education Center will be among the best in North Carolina.”

The total cost of the center includes design, construction, medical equipment and furniture, according to Sabrina Brooks, vice president of the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation.

According to the health system, funding included contributions from the state, including $15 million secured in 2022 by the Cumberland County legislative delegation of Marvin Lucas and Diane Wheatley and former legislators Billy Richardson, John Szoka, Kirk deViere and Ben Clark; Campbell University; the Duke Endowment; the Thomas R. and Elizabeth E. McLean Foundation; the Cape Fear Valley Health Volunteer Auxiliary; Cape Fear Valley Health Executive and Vice President Leaders; the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust; Systel Business Equipment; Tony and Ann Cimaglia; Jay and Charlene Wyatt; the Armstrong, Riddle and Williams families; Dr. Wes and Lucy Turk Hollis Jones; and Dr. David and Jenna Abbes Schutzer.

Funding also came from the Golden LEAF Foundation as part of the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation's "Caring for the Future" fundraising campaign — led by co-chairs Virginia Thompson Oliver and Tony Cimaglia — that raised $7.85 million.

“Having been involved with the CFV Health Foundation for many years, I am inspired and very excited with the forward movement of the Medical Education Center & Neuroscience Institute,” Tony Cimaglia says. “Our new state-of-the-art facility will greatly aid the positive growth of medical care advancements and assistance to the ever-growing growth of the Fayetteville area health care needs; recruitment of much-needed area neurologists to assist with the ever-increasing situations of area residents requiring their services and treatment; and with the adequate space and provisions provided for the training of 300-plus doctors in their areas of specialty residency.

“All of this will dramatically impact the future of medicine in Cumberland County and surrounding areas and give hope and closeness of available treatment options. I am pleased to be a small part of this much-needed venture at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, and I have prayers and high hopes for the continuing success of medical advancement in our area meeting the needs of so many of us.”

Ryan Aul is president of the foundation’s board of directors.

“At the foundation, when the hospital has a project to promote a stronger, healthier community, we are there to fundraise for it,” he says. “This particular project will allow Cape Fear Valley Health to continue, and indeed expand, its ability to provide training for much needed physicians for rural communities in North Carolina. Many of these residents will stay in our communities and provide high-quality medical care to those we love.

“The added neuroscience facilities are an incredible recruiting tool. We have amazing physicians at Cape Fear Valley Health, and this new facility will allow us to better care for those with neurological ailments.

“The impact of this new building is profound in so many ways — economically and in improving health care in our community,” Aul says. “I am so proud of how our community philanthropists stepped up and supported the project. Cape Fear Valley Health is an important asset to our communities, and all our donors truly stepped up to enhance the value of that asset. We are so grateful.”

Floor by floor

The center is 120,000 square feet, the health system says, and will provide surgery; emergency and trauma treatment; labor and delivery; and intensive care training.

The first floor will feature the Ellison Auditorium, a flexible space that seats 500 in one large space or can be divided into three smaller spaces, according to Brooks, of the health foundation. It also features state-of-the-art audiovisual capabilities to accommodate a learning environment. The floor includes a food court that will open later in the year. The first floor connects to the medical center and includes outdoor seating and bricks inscribed with messages from donors to the project. The auditorium is named in memory of Elizabeth Ellison McLean and made possible by the generosity of the Thomas R. and Elizabeth E. McLean Foundation.

The second floor will house offices of the Medical Residency Program and administration, a conference room, multiple classrooms, and teleconference rooms.

The third floor includes the state-of-the-art Simulation Center for medical residents and clinical teams to train in all areas of health care. It includes a resident lounge, study and exercise room.

The fourth floor is space for future growth.
The Neuroscience Institute is located on the fifth floor for expansion of treatment of neurological conditions.

“We are very fortunate to recruit high-quality surgeons and neurologists,” Nagowski says. “This facility will match their clinical capabilities.”

Dr. Charles Haworth is director of neurology for the health system. He welcomes the top-floor institute.

“It’s going to be sort of a visible headquarters,” Haworth says. “Kind of a landmark. It gives a sense of purpose. Before, we were tucked away in a little house on the corner. The whole idea of everything going in that building is a new chapter in the ongoing saga of the hospital. I’m hoping this will be a drawing card to draw other young neurosurgeons here to keep up the good and quality work we have established. It’s just taking things to another level. It’s an evolution.”

The name of the institute will be announced Thursday evening, according to Nagowski.

‘A teaching hospital’

Cape Fear Valley, in partnership with Campbell University’s Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine, launched its first postgraduate residency program in 2017 with a mission to recruit and retain doctors who would continue to practice in this region, according to the health system. The program has grown to include seven more residency programs and two fellowships at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

There are now 274 residents in the health system and 130 medical students. The new facility will house these residency programs and more as the programs continue to grow.

Dr. Don Maharty is vice president for medical education at Cape Fear Valley Health.

“Studies show that 50% of physicians typically go into practice within 50 miles of the location where they complete their residency, and we saw that play out with our first graduating class of residents at Cape Fear Valley last year,” Maharty says. “Studies also show that health outcomes are higher in the areas surrounding a teaching hospital. Since we launched our first residency program in 2017, we have grown to over 300 approved positions in 15 residency and fellowship programs, with plans to keep growing.”

The Medical Education Center, he says, will make a significant and profound future for health care.

“This new building will impact our community for years to come through the projected increase in physicians and specialists who choose to continue their professional careers in our region and in our health system,” Maharty says. “Additionally, the residency program is expected to add more than 900 new jobs and generate nearly $580 million in economic impact in the region over the next 10 years.”

Epilogue

So, there you have it: a quantum leap for health care in this and surrounding communities to include Bladen, Columbus, Harnett, Hoke, Moore, Robeson and Sampson counties.

“We are grateful to all of the people,” Mike Nagowski says, “who have donated so generously to this facility.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.

Fayetteville Symphony is back with another event! On Saturday, Jan. 21, Fayetteville’s very own Symphony Orchestra and the voices of First Presbyterian Church will be performing in the church’s sanctuary at 102 Ann St.

The performance will start at 7:30 p.m. and last for one hour with no intermission.

Meghan Woolbright, the marketing and office manager at Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, said, “Jubilate Deo is the fourth concert of our season and we’re excited for our community to hear it!”
You may wonder, “What is the Jubilate Deo and where did it originate?” Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo brings to life the global aspect of the traditional Psalm 100 text, “O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands,” by setting it in seven different languages and drawing from a wide spectrum of musical influences.

Each movement combines some characteristics of its language group’s musical culture with the composer’s own musical language.
Movements include liturgical Latin, intertwined Hebrew and Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Zulu, Spanish, Song of the Earth, and a closing movement combining several of these languages with English.

The result is a stunning global celebration of joy, as all the earth sings as one, “Omnis terra, jubilate!”

Tickets for this event can be purchased at www.fayettevillesymphony.org.

Adult tickets are $32 and seniors 65 or older pay $25 for a ticket. If you are in the military, previously served, or you’re a Cumberland County Schools employee, your ticket would also be $25. College student tickets are $8 and child tickets are $5.

For more information, visit www.fayettevillesymphony.org.

Editor's note: Founded in 1956, the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra is a professional, regional orchestra whose mission is to educate, entertain, and inspire citizens.
Praised for its artistic excellence, the Symphony leads in the cultural and educational landscape for Fayetteville and our southeastern North Carolina region.

So long, Fort Bragg. Hello, Fort Liberty.

The Naming Commission process is now over and the names of bases, posts, ships, streets and more named after Confederate soldiers will change.

On Jan. 5, William A. LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, directed all DOD organizations to begin full implementation of the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense recommendations.

LaPlante acted at the end of a 90-day waiting period that began after the Naming Commission released its third and final report in September. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III accepted the renaming recommendations in September.

The services and other DOD agencies have until the end of the year to complete the process. Retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard chaired the congressionally mandated Naming Commission. The commission's mission was to provide removal and renaming recommendations for all DOD items "that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America."

While Army bases are the most conspicuous examples, many installations have street names or buildings named after Confederates. Even Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia has a large Confederate Memorial, which is now being disassembled. The Navy will rename the cruiser USS Chancellorsville, which commemorates a Confederate victory, and the USNS Maury — named after a U.S. Navy officer who resigned his commission to fight for the Confederate Navy — will also be renamed. Battle streamers commemorating Confederate service will no longer be authorized.

Some Army bases, established in the build-up and during World War I, were named for Confederate officers in an effort to court support from local populations in the South. That the men for whom the bases were named had taken up arms against the government they had sworn to defend was seen by some as a sign of reconciliation between the North and South. It was also the height of the Jim Crow Laws in the South, so there was no consideration for the feelings of African Americans who had to serve at bases named after men who fought to defend slavery.

All this changed in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. Many people protested systemic racism and pointed to Confederate statues and bases as part of that system. Congress established the commission in the National Defense Authorization Act of fiscal 2021. Then-President Donald J. Trump vetoed the legislation because of the presence of the commission, and huge bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress overrode his veto.

The commission issued its first report in May 2022, which addressed renaming Army bases. The commission finished their mission on Oct. 1 and there was a 90-day period for public comment. That has now expired and the renaming of the bases may proceed apace.

Fort Benning, Georgia, will be renamed Fort Moore after Army Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia Compton Moore. Moore commanded U.S. forces in the first large-scale battle of the Vietnam War. His book — "We Were Soldiers Once…And Young" was made into the 2002 movie We Were Soldiers.

Fort Gordon, Georgia, is renamed Fort Eisenhower after General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, the leader of the liberation of Europe in World War II, and the 34th president of the United States.

Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, is renamed Fort Walker after Dr. Mary Edwards Walker — the first woman surgeon in the Civil War, and the only woman awarded the Medal of Honor.

Fort Hood, Texas, is renamed Fort Cavazos in honor of Army Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a Hispanic American hero of both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Fort Lee, Virginia, is renamed after two soldiers and will become Fort Gregg-Adams. Army Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg was an African American soldier who rose from private to three-star during a career in military logistics. Army Lt. Col. Charity Adams was the first African American officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in World War II and led the first African American WAAC unit to serve overseas.

Fort Pickett, Virginia, is renamed Fort Barfoot in honor of Army Tech Sgt. Van T. Barfoot, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions with the 45th Infantry Division in Italy in 1944.

Fort Polk, Louisiana, is renamed Fort Johnson to commemorate Army Sgt. William Henry Johnson. Johnson was a member of the famous Harlem Hellfighters that fought under French Army command during World War I. Johnson belatedly received the Medal of Honor for an action in the Argonne Forest of France where he fought off a German raid and received 21 wounds in the hand-to-hand fighting. President Barack Obama awarded Johnson the medal in 2015, long after the soldier died in 1929.

Fort Rucker, Alabama, is renamed after Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J. Novosel. The chief was an aviator who flew combat in both World War II and Vietnam and received the Medal of Honor for a Medevac mission under fire in Vietnam where he saved 29 soldiers.

Finally, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, is renamed Fort Liberty.

Few individuals in American history have made an impact as sizable as Martin Luther

King Jr. King wore many hats throughout his tragically short life, from minister to activist to scholar, leaving behind a legacy that is worthy
of celebration.

Though King was assassinated before he even reached his fortieth birthday, his life was filled with many notable events. Many of those events positively affected, and continue to affect, the lives of millions of others.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University notes that the following are some of the major events of King’s life.

January 15, 1929: Now commemorated annually as Martin Luther King Jr. Day (in 2023, the holiday is observed on Monday, January 16), January 15 marks the day King was born in 1929. King was born in Atlanta, where his father was a pastor at the Ebenezer Church.

September 20, 1944: Despite being only 15 years old, King begins his freshman year at Morehouse College. King was only a high school junior in 1944, but he was admitted to Morehouse College, where his father studied for his ministerial degree, after passing the school’s entrance exam.

August 6, 1946: King’s letter to the editor of The Atlanta Constitution is published. The letter reflects King’s belief that Black Americans are entitled to the same rights and opportunities as White Americans. King’s father later admitted this letter was the first time he and his wife recognized their son’s “developing greatness.”

February 25, 1948: Following in his father’s footsteps, King is ordained and appointed assistant pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in his hometown of Atlanta. June 8, 1948: King earns his bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Morehouse College.

May 6-8, 1951: King graduates from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He delivers the valedictory address during the graduation ceremony.

June 18, 1953: King marries Coretta Scott near the bride’s family home in Marion, Alabama. Coretta Scott King would also become a vocal activist, advocating for peace and gay rights and expressing her opposition to apartheid in the 1980s. She would not remarry after her husband’s assassination.

June 5, 1955: King earns his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University.

December 5, 1955: King becomes president of the Montgomery Improvement Association after the organization is formed at the Holt Street Baptist Church. MIA is formed in response to the arrest of Rosa Parks five days earlier after she refused to vacate her seat for a white passenger.

January 27, 1956: A threatening phone call late in the evening inspires King to carry on with his activism.

January 30, 1956: King’s home is bombed while he is elsewhere delivering a speech. His wife and daughter are not injured in the blast.

January 10-11, 1957: King is named chairman of what becomes the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which was an organization of southern black ministers working together to combat segregation.

June 23, 1958: King and other leaders meet with U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington, D.C.

September 17, 1958: Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story is published. It is King’s first book.

September 20, 1958: King survives a stabbing during a book signing in Harlem, New York. During a surgery after the stabbing, doctors remove a seven-inch letter opener from King’s chest.

April 16, 1963: King writes his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in response to criticisms of the Birmingham Campaign, a collective effort on the part of the SCLC and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) to combat segregation in the Alabama city. The letter becomes one of King’s most famous writings.

August 28, 1963: King delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

January 3, 1964: King is named “Man of the Year” by Time magazine.

December 10, 1964: King receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

March 17-25, 1965: King helps to lead civil rights marchers from Selma to Montgomery.

June 7, 1966: King and other leaders resume James Meredith’s “March Against Fear” from Memphis to Jackson, Mississippi. Meredith
was unable to continue after he was shot and wounded.

April 3, 1968: King delivers his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” as he returns to Memphis to lead a peaceful march of striking sanitation workers.

April 4, 1968: King is shot and killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He is buried in Atlanta five days later.

The Gilbert Theater is offering three separate stage combat classes in January for anyone in the Fayetteville area — whether they are part of the theater community or not.

The instructor of the class, Madeline Murphy, says the workshops build on top of each other, but could also be taken separately. No former knowledge of stage combat is needed to take the classes.

“Any skill level can benefit from this, but it’s mostly for people who have never experienced this before and even if you have, it will be really fun to come in and relearn the basics and go back to fundamentals,” Murphy said.

The first workshop on unarmed fighting was successful. The second class, scheduled for Jan. 14 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., will focus on knife fighting techniques.
In that workshop, students will learn how to safely perform a variety of prop knife maneuvers in a choreographed fight. This includes cutting drills and patterns, disarms and basic handling of a knife in the context of stage combat.

Students are asked to bring a “knife” to practice with. It can be anything the approximate size of a knife that isn’t actually sharp, for example, a paint mixing stick.
The third and final workshop, scheduled for Jan. 28 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., will be about sword fighting. Students will learn the basics and fundamentals of performing a safe stage version of a classic combat style.

This class includes cut patterns and drills, parries, and both basic and creative handling of a broadsword. Everyone will get an opportunity to work with a real professional-grade prop steel broadsword.
Students are asked to bring a “sword” to practice with. It can be anything the approximate size of a sword that isn’t actually sharp, for example, dowel rods.

“At the end of every workshop, we are going to have a short little scene that everyone will have learned. It will have a few basic combat moves for each discipline in one scene,” she said. “So, they can take that home and have a nice little package, tied up with a bow to wrap it up, so they can practice in their own time and improve on.”

Students must be 18 and older and there is a limit of 20 students per class. These workshops are a part of its adult theater education program, which Tammy Woody, the education director at Gilbert Theater, runs.
The program offers fun and informal workshops for those who are new to the theater, and for those who make a living performing in the theater.

“We’ve had a few shows that we’ve done over the past couple of years that have had quite a few scenes in them, and I just thought it would be a good way for some of our regulars and also just anybody in the surrounding area that is interested in it,” Lawrence Carlisle, the artistic director of the Gilbert Theater, said. “I think it's a cool idea for the arts community here in Fayetteville.”

Those who are interested in signing up for the remaining two classes can register at www.gilberttheater.com. The cost of the classes is $40 each. All of the classes will take place at the Gilbert Theater.

Let there be joyful hearts.

And hymns of joy there were on this day of celebration for the life of Joycelyn “Joy” Walden Cogswell, the retired pianist at her beloved Snyder Memorial Baptist Church on Westmont Drive. No need for tears, she would tell us.

“I am home,” Joy Cogswell would have us know. “I am home, with my Lord and savior, where heaven’s streets are lined in gold, and with God’s mansions with many rooms, and one just for me, just like the Bible told me so.”

No need for sad faces, she would tell us. No need for sorrow. Every pew was filled Saturday, Jan. 7 in this church, circa 1949, from the lower sanctuary to the balcony above that looked down on the altar, where for 47 years parishioners found Joy Cogswell at the grand piano every Sunday until her retirement in 2018.

“I believe God gave me a gift to be able to share his love through my hands,” Joy Cogswell said in 2018 before playing a final time for the Sunday service. “That’s always been my goal: to have people not look at me, but to hear what God is trying to say to them through the music.”

She was a presence every Sabbath and dressed in her Sunday best. Her dark hair always coiffed, with every strand in place. She never missed a cue. She never missed a key. She never missed a note. Her fingers flowed gently and fluidly across the keyboard, and the sole of her shoe along the foot pedals, too. She accompanied every soloist, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and choral voice, from “Amazing Grace” to “How Great Thou Art” to “Holy, Holy, Holy” to “It Is Well With My Soul” to “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” to “There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in This Place.”

She played for weddings and brought brides down the aisle. She played with such reverence for farewells of congregation members called home. And the church’s annual “Singing Christmas Tree” for 40 consecutive years, and at Carnegie Hall in the last year of Joy Cogswell’s life.

“What struck me most about her was her genuine humility in spite of the fact that she was so gifted,” the Rev. John Cook, the church’s retired minister, would say Tuesday, after learning that Joy Cogswell succumbed to her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. “She was one of the greatest blessings to our congregation in our church’s rich history.”

Joycelyn “Joy” Walden Cogswell died Monday evening, Jan.2. She was 75.

“I love you,’” Bob Cogswell would say in her final moments. “I love you.”

She would leave him, holding her husband’s hand.

Sunlight breaking through

“We are here today to celebrate the life and presence of her ministry,” Richard Suggs, the church’s minister of music, would say. “She was a gifted musician and educator. She played with heart and wanted to usher in the Holy Spirit in a powerful way from her heart’s relationship with God.”

Joy Cogswell, he would say, had and left a “musically and spiritual fingerprint” in the sanctuary. There was a hush in the congregation as recordings of Joy Cogswell’s customized arrangements of “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” “Jesus Loves Me” and “It Is Well My Soul” played in remembrance of her musical talent.

Her music resonated.

Her legacy was alive.

“She blessed us in so many ways,” the Rev. David Hailey, senior pastor at Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh, would say. Joy Cogswell often played piano at the Wake County church. “Her amazing gift of music had a way of bringing all of us a little closer to God. We are here to worship, and this is what Joy would have wanted. To be here for the glory of God.”

Soloist Barbara Lawson later would sing “The Majesty and Glory of Your Name,” as Lawson had done so many times before with Joy Cogswell in accompaniment. And a granddaughter would lean on a grandfather’s shoulder. Sunlight from an overcast day would break through the church windows as Barbara Lawson sang.

Giles Blankenship would offer “The Lord’s Prayer” a cappella, and Bob Haynes would later lead the sanctuary in the church’s adopted hymn of “There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in This Place” as every man and woman and child held one another’s hands.

“It was Bob and Joy’s wish that we sing it today,” Haynes would say, “like only Snyder can.”

Sara Barefoot, who donated a kidney to Joy Cogswell on Dec. 10, 2007, would sing “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me” near the end of the service.

“I don't go a day without thanking God for her,” Cogswell once said. “I've always wanted a sister, and I have one now.”

Barefoot’s presence Saturday was poignant.

Steadfast in her faith

“Things were not always easy for Joy,” Suggs would say.

Still, her faith led her along life’s way.

“Joy believed that loving others is what really mattered,” he would say. “The world lost a gifted musician this week. But she was more than a musician. We will never stop grieving today.”
But we can handle our sorrow “by holding one another a little closer. Joy, we thank God for every remembrance.”

Joycelyn “Joy” Walden Cogswell was the little girl who grew up on the east bank of the Pearl River in Columbia, Mississippi, and found the love of the piano from age 5 under her musician mother’s eye.
“My love of music came naturally to me,” Joy Cogswell once said.

She would attend Florida State University and earn her degree in music education with a piano principal degree and also find the love of her in Bob Cogswell, a young law school student. They married Sept. 19, 1970, and found Fayetteville and Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in 1971, where Joy Cogswell would direct the youth choir and become the pianist in 1974.

Over the ensuring 47 years, she would leave an indelible mark teaching music to not only church youths and children but to aspiring piano students throughout the community, including at Methodist University and Fayetteville Academy.

“Joy lived a life of gratitude,” the Rev. Hailey would say. “She was grateful for her friends, and if you were Joy’s friend, she loved you. Joy was thankful to God for all her friends she ever met along her way. Joy had an amazing life. She never stopped being grateful and never lost sight of God’s amazing grace.”

Epilogue

No need for tears, Joy Cogswell would have wanted us to know, in this sanctuary where she told so many for almost a half century there was a “sweet, sweet spirit in this place,” where Joy Cogswell loved and counted her blessings all of her days. No need for sad or solemn faces. No need for sorrow.

“I am home,” Joy Cogswell would have us know. “I am home, with my Lord and savior, where heaven’s streets are lined in gold, and with God’s mansions with many rooms, and one just for me, just like the Bible told me so. I have touched the face of God. And it is glorious.”

This month marks 94 years since the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. and 36 years since we have had a federal holiday dedicated to the highest values embodied by his legacy. Several of his speeches have gone down in the annals of American oratory.

I would like to reflect on one passage from an address he gave on Feb. 10, 1966, at Illinois Wesleyan University and how it complements a teaching from a medieval Spanish sage of my faith tradition — Rabbi Moses son of Nachman, more widely known as (Moses) Nachmanides.

Midway through this talk, Dr. King critiqued those who claimed that “legislation can’t solve the problem that we face in race relations because you can’t change the heart. And so we must rely on education to solve the problem and not even look to any legislation. Now I guess there is some truth in this, at least a half-truth. We realize that if the problem is to be solved ultimately, if we are to have a truly integrated society, men and women must rise to the majestic heights of being obedient to the unenforceable. And I would be the first to acknowledge that. So it may be true that you can’t legislate integration, but you can legislate desegregation. It may be true that morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless. It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, religion and education will have to do that, but it can restrain him from lynching me. And I think that’s pretty important also. And so that while legislation may not change the hearts of men, it does change the habits of men.”

Coming from a faith tradition that puts great emphasis on the spirit, here Dr. King opines that there is yet a necessary place for the law, at least as an interim measure, even a regrettably excessive one.

Traditional Judaism, of which Nachmanides was certainly a part, finds much of its expression through the idea of Torah — understood here not merely as the Five Books of Moses, but expansively as Jewish law generally — as detailed guidance in how to translate the values of Judaism, that is its spirit, into specific, concrete daily behavior.

Nonetheless, Nachmanides taught the idea that it is possible for one to be a “scoundrel within the limits of the Torah.” Despite believing that Torah was given by a perfect God, Nachmanides nevertheless maintained remarkably that it is possible to follow all the technical requirements of Jewish law while still flouting its spirit.

A clever individual, while still managing to avoid crossing any legal lines, even the boundaries of God’s Torah, can find ways to egocentrically serve oneself immorally at the expense of others.

As a rabbi I certainly believe in the mandate of my tradition to live a life imbued with Torah. Accordingly, I appreciate the lesson from Rev. King that law is often necessary.

Still, I think it is also important to learn from Nachmanides that our behavior will never be thoroughly righteous unless our conformity to the law also comes from a place of sacred values.

Officials with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission recently awarded the Lawrence G. Diedrick Small Game Award to both an individual and organization whose actions have significantly and positively impacted North Carolina’s small game populations and the hunting heritage associated with small game.

Kathryn Rand Booher of Rocky Point and the Wake County Wildlife Club were the two recipients honored with the 2022 award.

Booher’s actions and financial support have contributed to bobwhite quail conservation, including habitat improvements, greater public access, education and advocacy. She is a strong financial supporter and active volunteer of the Southeast North Carolina Chapter of Quail Forever and the South Carolina Bobwhite Initiative. She’s the liaison between the SENC and the Wildlife Commission, and with her assistance the agency created 7,000 acres of “Quail Trails” on Holly Shelter Game Land in Pender County. The trails have improved access to and the management of early succession habitat, which has enhanced small game hunting opportunities and benefited many non-game species.

Booher has overseen efforts to manage a longleaf pine forest through thinning and prescribed burns on over 340 acres of her family’s land. The direct impact of this work has improved both the habitat and the quail population. Leading by example, she has encouraged other private landowners to effectively manage their own property to enhance habitat for bobwhite quail.

G.W. Atkinson, Heather Hill and Jim Hudson of the Wake County Wildlife Club accepted the award on behalf of their 165 members who have worked tirelessly for decades to promote wildlife conservation. As a leader in conservation education, the WCWC has impacted young people who have gone on to pursue careers in the wildlife field and created conservationists with an appreciation for the natural world by highlighting the critical role that sportsmen and women play in the conservation of our wildlife resources.

Best known for hosting the Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh, the club’s impacts reach well beyond the annual big game event. Specifically, the club hosts countless workshops aimed at hunter safety, wildlife-associated recreation, education and diversity in hunting. The WCWC is also the primary non-governmental supporter of the Fur, Fish and Game Rendezvous held each year at Millstone 4-H Camp in Ellerbe. The club offers scholarships to send teenagers to this unique weeklong camp. Since 2014, they have sponsored 30 campers each summer.

In addition to monetary support, club members volunteer as instructors to make this camp a success. The club’s efforts provide opportunities for many young adults to attend camp who otherwise may not be exposed to fishing, hunting and shooting sports.

In 2020, club officials updated the forest management plan for their 191-acre Durham County property to include commercial thinning, pre-commercial thinning and prescribed burning. These initiatives will better educate visitors about the importance of habitat management and will also improve habitat for small game on the property.

The Small Game Award is named in honor of Lawrence G. Diedrick of Rocky Mount, who served as a Wildlife Commissioner from 1993-2001. Commissioner Diedrick promoted efforts to address declining populations of bobwhites, and other species dependent on early successional habitat. Subsequent to his death in September 2002, a group of Commissioner Diedrick's friends made memorial contributions to the Wildlife Endowment Fund to support an annual small game award in his honor. The Wildlife Commission created this prestigious award in 2003. Nominations for the 2023 award will open March 1, 2023.

Editor’s note: Since 1947, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has been dedicated to the conservation and sustainability of the state’s fish and wildlife resources through research, scientific management, wise use and public input. The Wildlife Commission is the state regulatory agency responsible for the enforcement of fishing, hunting, trapping and boating laws and provides programs and opportunities for wildlife-related educational, recreational and sporting activities.
To purchase or renew a fishing, trapping or hunting license and renew a vessel registration, go online at www.ncwildlife.org. 

According to multiple media reports, there will likely be major efforts during the 2023 session of the North Carolina General Assembly to raise and reform teacher compensation and enact other public-education reforms while also expanding the state’s school-choice programs.

Are such initiatives inconsistent? Not at all. One can be in favor both of improving public schools and of giving more parents a wide range of educational options. Indeed, I am strongly of the opinion that these policies are mutually reinforcing.

For starters, even a welcome and net-beneficial change in how North Carolina funds public schools and pays teachers won’t please everyone. That’s impossible. Offering dissatisfied parents or educators alternatives such as magnets, charters, or lab schools can act as a safety valve to defuse tensions while also best serving the individual needs of students.

At the same time, increasing parental choice and competition in education tends to make public schools more responsive and effective, not less so. That’s what a growing body of empirical research suggests. A recently published study of Ohio’s primary voucher program, for example, found that the academic performance of students in public schools was “significantly higher” than it would have been in the absence of vouchers.

Earlier this year, a team of scholars from Northwestern, Emory, and the University of California-Davis released their own study of tax-credit scholarships in Florida. This program provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits to companies that donate to organizations that, in turn, give parents vouchers for private-school expenses. Their study, published in the journal EducationNext, examined the effects of the resulting competition on Florida’s public schools.

“Our analysis finds consistent evidence that, as the scholarship program scaled up, academic and behavioral outcomes improved for students attending traditional public schools,” the researchers wrote.
In districts with the most school competition, students scored 14.5% of a standard deviation higher in reading and math. Their suspension and absence rates also improved when compared to those
in public schools facing less competition.

“Our findings from this long-lasting early program show that in Florida, at least, it seems that a rising tide of competition has lifted many boats,” the professors concluded.

There are dozens of other studies of competition’s effects on public education. Some have found benefits smaller than those in Florida and Ohio, to be sure, and a few found no benefits at all. But when scholars examine the overall effects across the country, they generally find them to be positive.

Anna Egalite, an education professor at North Carolina State University, published a review of the data some years ago in the Journal of School Choice. Of the 21 scholarly studies she examined, nearly all found a positive effect of competition on public-school performance.

More recently, University of Kentucky professor John Garen looked at the relationship between school-choice policies such as vouchers and education savings accounts (ESAs) and average state scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. He found “strikingly large test score gains” for states with school choice. “Though per-pupil spending on K-12 has a positive effect on test scores,” Garen wrote, “its magnitude is very small and is swamped by the effect of having a voucher or ESA program.”

I realize longtime skeptics of the state’s choice programs will be sorely tempted to reject this evidence. And I realize activists who’ve tried for years to hitch the school-reform wagon to the Leandro-litigation horse are loath to give up their belief that only by appropriating billions of additional dollars to district-run public schools can North Carolina meet its obligation to provide the opportunity for a sound, basic education to every child.

But they really ought to rethink their strategy for 2023 and beyond. In the midterm elections, voters essentially unhitched that litigation horse from the wagon. There will be no court-ordered financial settlement of Leandro. Forget it.

If you seek significant pay raises for teachers, signal your willingness to couple them with school-choice expansions. That’s a package that might actually pass the General Assembly.

Editor’s note: John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His latest books, “Mountain Folk” and “Forest Folk,” combine epic fantasy with early American history (FolkloreCycle.com).

Welcome back and Happy New Year to both of my readers. Mr. Science dropped by to unravel yet another mystery of the physical world. Today we shall examine one of the great scientific questions — Why do we have cotton candy? What is cotton candy? How can one get it out of his or her hair? Let us begin.

January is Treasure Your Teeth month. As we all know, you only have to floss the teeth you want to keep. In keeping with our dental hygiene theme, we learn cotton candy was invented by a dentist. Credit for inventing this culinary delight goes to William Morrison, DDS who in 1897 with the help of his buddy John Wharton, a candy maker, brought forth on this continent a new candy, conceived in sugar, and dedicated to the proposition that Americans will eat anything sweet.

The trigger for the birth of this sticky sensation was the 1908 World’s Fair which was held in Saint Louis. World’s Fairs attract lots of hungry people. The Google Machine reports over 20 million people attended the World’s Fair during its 1908 run. The average fairgoer has 32 teeth, 20 million attendees times 32 teeth calculates to 640 million cavity prone teeth. A dental bonanza.
In keeping with his dental background, Dr. Morrison originally called his candy creation fairy floss. At some point, perhaps to deflect people from making the connection between fairy floss and increased dental income, they changed the name to cotton candy.

Dr. Morrison cyphered he could generate two income streams from cotton candy. The immediate source of revenue would be sales at the World’s Fair. The secondary and more long-lasting income stream would be the cavities generated in unsuspecting prospective dental patients whose ingestion of his sticky sugar sensation coated their teeth forming the perfect medium for Mr. Tooth Decay to flourish.

By now, you are probably asking yourself, “Self, how is cotton candy produced?” Does it fall from the skies like sugary manna? Is it sweetened blown right insulation? Is it millions of sugar-coated black widow spider webs? All of these concepts are plausible. However, Mr. Science explained that the boys invented a machine that heated sugar and spun it around like Mercury orbiting the Sun. Thus, fairy floss, alias cotton candy, was born.

All this talk about cavities takes us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear in the 1950s and 1960s when toothpaste ads roamed free across the fruited plains of American TV. Who can forget Gardol’s invisible shield in Colgate toothpaste? This miracle secret ingredient guards your breath while it guards your teeth. The Gardol ad demonstrated its worth in protecting your teeth from cavities by showing a guy standing behind an invisible shield that stopped a baseball from conking him in the head.

Colgate Dental Cream with “just one brushing would remove 85% of decay and odor causing bacteria, leaving you with a cleaner, fresher mouth all day long.”
Stripe tooth paste featured cheerful red stripes perking up an otherwise boring white toothpaste. According to the jingle, Stripe had “Hexa, Hexa, Hexachlorophene.” The FDA banned Hexachlorophene for oral use in 1972 due to its carcinogenic qualities. Hey, nobody is perfect.

Gleem was advertised for those on the go people “who can’t brush after every meal.” Too lazy or too busy to regularly brush your teeth? Gleem was the toothpaste for you.
Using the right toothpaste guaranteed romance, marriage, children, eternal happiness and a white picket fence. A lady of the female persuasion who used Ipana toothpaste knows “Her breath is kissable-clean.”

Close-Up toothpaste aimed for the ladies with the slogan “Bangles and beads might catch his eye. But a brilliant Close-Up smile and fresh Close-Up breath might even capture his heart.” Colgate played the bad breath card with an ad that said “if it’s kissin’ / You’re missin’ Check up on your breath.” The ad featured a woman looking forlornly at her feller who is frowning in her direction. She has him in a head lock but he ain’t buying what she is selling. Clearly her breath has put the kibosh on romance.

Crest toothpaste added to Milady’s anxieties by its series of “Look Ma, No Cavities” ads featuring happy children holding up report cards from their latest dental checkup. If Mom didn’t buy the right toothpaste, she would clearly be a failure as a mother. She would be shunned by polite society due to her offspring’s cavity filled mouth. The shame. The shame.

Finally, the burning question posed in the first paragraph must be resolved. How to get cotton candy out of one’s hair? Unfortunately, there is only one way to get rid of cotton candy infested hair; use a low yield tactical nuclear weapon to blast the offending confection out of your follicles. Otherwise, you will meet Saint Peter covered in a sticky pink cottony film.

Talented public and private high school players across Cumberland County are gearing up to go head to head at the 3rd Annual MLK Dream Jam Basketball Tournament on Jan. 14 and 16. The tournament will again be hosted by Terry Sanford High School.

Karl Molnar is the Head Coach of the Varsity Boys team at Terry Sanford, and organizer of the MLK Dream Jam. When asked about last years Dream Jam, he says, “It went very well! Both have been very successful and the turnouts are always good. The competition level is amazing, which is kind of why we started the tournament, because there’s so much talent right here in Cumberland County and it’s kind of spread out between the public and private schools.”

Twenty teams will participate in this year's tournament. Eight girls teams will challenge each other on Saturday, Jan. 14, and 12 boys teams will compete against each other on Monday, Jan. 16.
Cumberland County is special when it comes to how connected our communities are with each other. Talent intertwines here in Fayetteville, and Molnar enjoys getting the kids together in the gym, knowing they’re together already outside of it.

“They all grow up in the same neighborhoods with each other. We don’t get to have public and private schools play throughout the season too often, so it makes for a good event to play your buddy on the other team.”

Up & Coming Weekly got a chance to interview some of Molnar’s top Varsity players during a Tuesday morning practice, during the school's Christmas break.
One player in particular, Brady Barns Jr., returned to Terry Sanford this past fall semester as a Junior, with hopes of rebuilding with his friends and returning to what makes basketball fun again.

Brady says, “I had a good opportunity to play with a big AAU team in Jersey for a couple of years, but I never really got to play with my friends, so I wanted to come back to fill the pieces and be with them.”
Brady continues,” I remember after I came back from Jersey, I came to our first couple of tournaments. I knew everybody, I played with them growing up, I’ve trained with them. We all worked out together.”

When it comes to girls basketball, coaches and players agree there could be a lot more attention placed on these young ladies. The numbers for younger girl players around the city are low, and less girls games are being played this tournament.

Miya Giles-Jones, a Senior on the Varsity girls team at Terry Sanford, and one of the top players overall in the state, is hopeful for the young talent in the city, and even feels like the girls games are more exciting to watch.

“There should be a way bigger spotlight on the girls, there’s a lot of young talent out here that a lot of people don’t know about. You have to come out and see it for yourself. If you have a good team and good talent, it’s always fun to watch, we should get the same respect as the boys.” Miya says.

When talking to Roger Paschall, Head Coach of the Varsity girls team at Terry Sanford, he feels that more events focused on girls basketball would help grow the girl basketball scene in the city.

“We played in a showcase in the beginning of the year [2022], but it was teams from all over the country,” Paschall said. “If we can do some individual girl showcases locally, that would be great. It’s important for late elementary and early middle school girls, to come see teams like ours play, and be exposed to this kind of talent”.

With the Terry Sanford girls team winning the Winter Classic, and their sights set on the state championship, they hope to use the Dream Jam as a stepping stone to grow stronger as a team and show how much more they can achieve.

“North Carolina is considered a hoop state,” Molnar said. Fayetteville itself, is home to a lot of great basketball talent; the two most notable being Dennis Smith Jr., and J. Cole. Smith, who played for Trinity

Christian, a private school in Fayetteville, now plays in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets.
J. Cole, who played for Terry Sanford, public school and home of the Dream Jam, the rap artist, never gave up on his hoop dreams after college and recently played in the BAL for the Rwanda Patriots and for the CEBL Scarborough Shooting Stars.

With a couple of Fayetteville’s biggest stars being from a private and public school, Up & Coming Weekly wanted to see how the players used that as inspiration.

A Junior on the Varsity boys team, Johnathan Higgins-Simmons says, “They both showed that there are different ways you can make it out the city. With Cole, he grinded, and put the work in on and off the court. If they can take that motivation for being a dog on and off the court, they can achieve their dreams.”

Organizers agree that, from the coaches to the players, everyone is looking to the MLK Dream Jam to bring the community together and give the proper exposure to all the young talent that Cumberland County has to offer.

Carlos Craig, a Senior at Terry Sanford says, “This tournament is showing that public and private schools can keep up with each other. It’s not about one being better than another, it’s all good competition.”

The 3rd Annual MLK Dream Jam will be held at the Terry Sanford Gymnasium. For those planning to attend, tickets can be purchased at the door.

Doors open on Saturday at 10 a.m. and tickets are $10 for the day. Monday’s match ups start at 8:15 a.m. and are $12 for the day. Four games are scheduled for Saturday and six games are scheduled for Monday.

Miller’s Crew food truck, Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop and other vendors will be on site to provide food and refreshments.

This January, the American Red Cross and Pro Football Hall of Famer and blood donor Peyton Manning are asking people to score big for patients in need — while getting a chance to win a trip to Super Bowl LVII in Arizona — by giving blood or platelets.

The start of the new year marks National Blood Donor Month — a time to celebrate those who generously roll up a sleeve to keep blood products stocked for hospitals providing critical care. As the busy holiday season winds down and the threat of severe winter weather and seasonal illness cases continue to rise, January can be a tough time for donors to make and keep appointments.

Step off the sidelines and resolve to donate blood or platelets. To book a time to give, visit RedCrossBlood.org, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, or call 1-800-RED CROSS (733-2767).
In partnership with the National Football League, those who come to give blood, platelets or plasma Jan. 1-31, will be automatically entered to win a trip for two to Super Bowl LVII in Arizona, including access to day-of, in-stadium pre-game activities, tickets to the official Super Bowl Experience, round-trip airfare to Phoenix, three-night hotel accommodations (Feb. 10-13), plus a $500 gift card for expenses.

To lead the offense against a potential winter blood shortage, Manning invites the public to join him in helping save lives.

“If everyone does their part and we collectively commit to donating blood, we can stack up more wins for hospital patients who are counting on us. A single individual is certainly impactful, but a whole team of people coming together to donate has an even greater effect.”

Upcoming blood donation opportunities in Cumberland County include:

Fayetteville

• Jan. 11: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., ABC11 Together FTCC Tony Rand Student Center, 2220 Hull Road.
• Jan. 17: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., K9 Social Club of Fayetteville, Fayetteville Urban Ministry Youth Location, 601 Whitfield St.
• Jan. 25: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., GAF and Superior Distribution, 3700 Murchison Road.
• Jan. 30: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity inc, 1200 Murchison Road, Rudolph Jones Student Center Room 242

Hope Mills

• Jan. 24: 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., YMCA Hope Mills, 3910 Ellison St.

To donate blood, simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit www.RedCrossBlood.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or enable the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device to make an appointment or for more info.

All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in.
Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states, weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass® to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, before arriving at the blood drive. To get started, follow the instructions at www.RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App.

Whitaker Small Farm Group, Inc. is seeking veterans and their dependants interested in learning how to grow and maintain edible and inedible plants.

The 18-month program aims to help soldiers transition from the military world to a lush environment of green lawns, healthy gardens, thriving houseplants and tasty produce.
Initiated in the fall of 2021 by Charles Whitaker, President and C.E.O. of Whitaker Small Farm Group, Inc, the Veteran Farming Program offers military personnel and their spouses an opportunity to learn a new trade, subsidize their income and grow a healthy respect for the care and maintenance of their yards.

WSFG, Inc., which has historically invested its time and resources in supporting emerging farmers and those socially disadvantaged, developed this program — their first aimed specifically at veterans — as a step toward creating opportunities otherwise unavailable to this population.

Whitaker, who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than 30 years, knows the value of being able to work the land and is committed to creating no-cost access to the skills that enrich lives and grow communities.

"Many times veterans exit the military, and they aren't quite sure as to what they'll do with their futures," Whitaker shared. "This project offers them another window to look through."

Up & Coming Weekly also spoke with Nancy Olsen, Air Force veteran and chief instructor of the program, about the desired outcomes for the project and the importance of horticulture.

Horticulture, an aspect of agriculture, involves the small-scale maintenance and production of both edible and inedible plants. It can cover the cucumbers that just won’t grow in the backyard or the Peace Lily that refuses to thrive. Horticulture, as a practice, can be a relaxing way to pass the time, or integral to putting food on the table.

“This kind of program is important for anyone with a yard or even a houseplant,” she said. “I teach people how to grow different types of plants and how to make them grow correctly to the best of the plant's ability.”
Raised on a 4000-acre farm-ranch in Kansas, Olsen has farming and horticulture in her blood. Her father, a farmer, and her mother, a homemaker, taught her how to treat the earth with respect and patience in order to reap the benefits of its bounty.

“I guess growing up on a farm, I found a love for the land at a young age,” she shared. “When I was just a kid, I had a huge garden, and that was my first job. My mother would buy me all the seeds, use what she needed to feed the family, and I got to sell everything else. I was maybe nine or ten, and I’d haul my wagon and sell whatever was growing to the little ladies in town.”

The pride that comes from being able to grow food to eat or food to sell is a feeling Olsen hopes to offer those who participate in the program. Though she left that Kansas ranch long ago, the lessons learned there have fueled a life-long passion and a career. Olsen, who has both a bachelor's and a master's degree in horticulture, has shared her knowledge and experience with students at North Carolina State University and Sampson Community College. She has a great deal more knowledge to share.

The grant-funded Veteran Farming Program is free for participants; still, it offers valuable information, hands-on experience, and useful tips from an industry insider. Even for those not interested or unsure about their fitness for farming, the program also exists for those who just want a nicer lawn — a cause for which Olsen is in full support.

“To me, everyone should have a nice yard,” she offered. “It’s just something nice to go out and enjoy. Most people abuse their yards and land — I want people to appreciate and work at having nice plants around their houses. I want to share how to get the most out of their yard, no matter how much or how little they have.”

While “Best Yard on the Block” is a noble pursuit, the project does offer other incentives for those a bit more serious about a life or career in horticulture. The program is split into three six-month sessions, with six monthly class meetings. Each class typically lasts around four hours and focuses on agricultural technology, theory and food production.
Participants are given a travel allowance to get to and from training and a small amount for expenses. Additionally, students can use the skills and knowledge gained toward work-experience credit when applying for an F.S.A. (Farm Service Agency) loan.

For V. Williams and his wife, the program has been invaluable, particularly during this time of continued inflation which has seen over a 10% increase in produce in the past year. With a garden full of collards, eggplants, tomatoes, and other tasty vegetables — he had nothing but good things to say about the program.

“I retired with disabilities, and I signed up for something to do to get out of the house,” he said. “I wanted to start growing my own vegetables instead of relying on the grocery store.”

“The class gives a lot of information about the plants themselves, and once you know the basics, it's easy. During this last growing season, we grew about $13,000 worth of produce. It can be hard work — but the confidence it gives you goes a long way.”

The program has already started for January, but Olsen hopes that won't be a deterrent for those interested in signing up. This month's meetings have focused on inoculating mushroom logs with mushroom spores, but — the more, the merrier.

“People are always welcome,” Olsen assured. “Just come on in, and we'll educate as we go.”

The program is free for military personnel, veterans, and military spouses.

For more information about the program and Whitaker Small Group Farms, Inc., visit www.whitakersmallfarmgroup.com/, email at c.l.w.whitaker@comcast.net or call 919-412-4132.

Let’s take a culinary trip across North Carolina. Our leader will be food expert and retired UNC-Chapel Hill professor Marcie Cohen Ferris. Our guidebook will be her latest book, “Edible North Carolina.”

For many years I traveled across our state searching for old-time country cooking eateries and simple barbecue restaurants, places where locals meet to catch up with community news.

Ferris and the group of food experts she assembled for her book have taught me that I missed a lot about our state’s foodways. They are changing and there is a growing awareness of conflicts between the goals of low-cost food productions, fair compensation of food workers, and protection of the environment.

Ferris’s experts show how the state’s food scenes are changing. They explain the challenges that will face those who work for food equity and justice.

For instance, food writer Andrea Weigl explains how some barbecue restaurants have been transformed from modest places serving ‘que and a handful of sides and sweet tea to restaurants with “full menus with appetizers and desserts, table service, cloth napkins, a full bar and even valet parking.”

Back to the coast where Harkers Island advocate Karen Amspacher explains how the state’s commercial fishermen work to meet the demands of customers “who want fresh, local, sustainable seafood.”
She worries that “campaign contributions, lobbyists, and media campaigns assure well-funded recreational user groups that allocations of finfish in particular, a public-trust resource, will be dedicated to those who have the time and money to fish for leisure rather than those who fish for a living and provide North Carolinians with the state’s best, freshest seafood.”

Durham chef and Saltbox Seafood Joint restaurant owner Ricky Moore was recently named Tar Heel of The Year by The News & Observer. He supports Amspacher’s efforts, and believes that local, seasonal fish taste superior, offers more diversity, and, most important, supports North Carolina fisherfolk.

“My guests at Saltbox want to know where to purchase their seafood. My advice is to go to your local fish market. At your neighborhood restaurants, do they serve regional fish? Where do they source their fish? Do not assume that all North Carolina restaurants get their seafood from our coast. Ask questions. What part of the North Carolina coast does the seafood come from? Is the fish in season? How do they acquire their seafood, where and when and from whom?”

Former UNC Chapel Hill and current Emory University professor Melinda Maynor Lowery takes readers to Robeson County where her Lumbee Indian kin introduce us to fried cornbread and collard sandwiches, food traditions they share with non-Indian rural neighbors.

Durham resident and N.C. State community food system outreach coordinator Shorlette Ammons “grew up Black and Country, and honestly, I have never had a strong desire to be anything else.”
Her description of the annual hog killing contrasts with the “environmental cost of industrial hog farming.” Struggling “to work effectively within institutions that historically perpetuated racial injustice requires a fair amount of soul searching,” she says.

But, she continues, “Food, farming, family, freedom--and the audacity to confront the contradictions they muster--are inherent to our history these stories are weighted by ancestry and remembrance, like the heaviness of wet tobacco leaves.”

These examples and many others demonstrate how Ferris’s authors give recognition to North Carolina’s admirable food resources and the challenges that accompany them.

My dear friend Joy Cogswell has passed but leaves a legacy of extreme devotion to God, her family and her music. Bill Kirby of CityView Today has known Joy for decades. You will find his wonderful heartfelt perspective on Joy on page 10. His article first appeared online Jan. 3. What follows is my perspective.

Joy, a stunningly beautiful woman with exceptional God-given musical talent, touched and influenced thousands of lives during her 45-year career at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church. The Bowman family represents three of those lives.

In 2002, Joy became Snyder’s Music Director and head of the Snyder Music Academy. Even though she worked with many adults, it is incalculable how many young people owe their musical careers and success to her, too. I first met Joy at Methodist University in 1986 when we took our son Grady, then four years old, and enrolled him in her Kindermusik class. She was terrific at working with young children. She transformed the entire room into a symphony of love and patience as she gently transferred her passion for God and music in a way that would change their lives. We have always credited Joy’s influence on Grady as the genesis of his successful musical and theatrical career. A career that has carried him to Broadway and around the world, singing and dancing with Joy’s same enthusiastic penchant for dedication and creativity. She was the Musical Godmother of all her students and loved following their careers and celebrating their successes.

After Grady graduated from Kindermusik I had little contact with Joy until I started Up & Coming Weekly in 1996. By this time, her reputation as a highly gifted pianist was commonplace, nearing celebrity status. That year she recorded and released her music on several cassette tapes that I willingly helped her market and promoted during the Fayetteville Junior Leagues' Christmas Holly Day Fair. Several years later, as Director of the Synder Music Academy, we discussed how unfortunate it was that the children she taught had few opportunities to showcase their talents. So, together we created a youth ensemble with a singing, dancing, and educational mission called: The Kidsville Kids! These young people and Kidsville’s Truman the Dragon became ambassadors for our literacy and educational resource, Kidsville News! We publish and provide Kidsville News! free of charge to Cumberland County and Fort Bragg teachers, parents and children K-5th grades. For years, this enthusiastic troupe sang and danced their way into the hearts of children and adults, promoting reading, education, and fun-healthy lifestyles. Joy was on the board and past president of the nonprofit Kidsville News Literacy and Education Foundation. Because of this talent pool, Joy took a leap of faith and decided to produce the children’s opera, “Tom Sawyer.” It was performed on the banks of the Cape Fear River. This was an ideal location for this outstanding performance. “Tom Sawyer” was a huge success, and Cogswell's children's opera became the first and only to be performed in Cumberland County.

Joy came to Fayetteville in 1970 following her husband Bob, who got stationed at Pope Air Force Base. Like many others who arrive in our community temporarily, they found themselves enthralled with our friendliness and southern hospitality and found it hard to leave. The folks at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church had much to do with that. That church played a significant role in Joy and Bob's life. She called their Snyder family of nearly 50 years one of the most loving congregations she has ever known. And Bob is no doubt her biggest fan and advocate. In an interview with U&CW several years ago, she admits her career would not have been possible without her husband. “He has been so supportive; he even joined the choir and orchestra to see me. He has been my biggest supporter our whole marriage,” she said. “I love him dearly.”

Those who knew Joy loved her dearly, and will miss her sweet and gentle spirit. However, we are all better off having had her in our lives. For me, her memory will be unforgettable, and I'll take solace in the fact that she made this a better community and world to live in. Her memory and influences will live on in the thousands of people she touched during her 50-year career and 75 years on this earth. So, move over Beethoven, and listen.

That heavenly sound you hear is our girl, Joy.

Winter sports season is wildly popular. Sports such as basketball, hockey, swimming and track and field attract talented student-athletes each winter, making the season one of the most fun times of year for kids, their families and their classmates.

During the winter sports season, student-athletes can take various steps to ensure they’re ready to compete.

Ensure your academics are in order. Students must maintain a minimum grade point average to be eligible to compete. The winter sports season tends to overlap semesters in many school districts, so students preparing for the coming season must make sure their grades are good enough to allow them to compete, even if their sport begins mid- to late-semester. Students can work with teachers, coaches and academic advisors to ensure their grades won’t compromise their eligibility.

Schedule your physical. A preseason physical exam is mandatory to compete in may scholastic sports, so student-athletes or their parents should schedule their exams early so they can compete for a spot on the team and, if they make the team, play once the season begins. Physical exams also can shed light on any issues that may require medical treatment prior to the start of the season, so the earlier students get their exams, the more quickly they can address any issues that may compromise their ability to compete.

Speak with the coaching staff. Coaches may or may not conduct exit interviews upon the completion of a season. Such interviews can be a great chance for student-athletes to learn about what they can do to improve during the offseason. Student-athletes who didn’t get an exit interview or those who simply want a refresher can contact their coaches in advance of the season to discuss what they need to do to make the team and/or improve on last season’s performance.

Get in shape. Multi-sport athletes may already be in shape to compete, which can ensure the transition from fall to winter sports season goes smoothly. Student-athletes who don’t compete in fall sports can use fall as a time to get back in game shape. Start gradually to reduce your risk of injury, ramping up as the body reacclimates itself to physical activity.

Winter sports season is a fun time of year for student-athletes. Preparing before the season begins can ensure student-athletes compete at their highest level in the months ahead.

Are you an art lover? If so, come check out the Cumberland County High School Juried Art Exhibition. This public event will be hosted by Fayetteville Technical Community College.

“The High School Student Art Exhibition reflects Cumberland’s heritage as an arts community and showcases our county’s strong school art programs,” says Katharine Morrill, Director of the Art Gallery at Fayetteville Technical Community College’s Paul H. Thompson Library.

Morrill went on to say, “High school students throughout Cumberland County will exhibit original works of art showcasing their creativity and artistic talent. The exhibition will be reviewed by esteemed juror Kayla Coleman, director of the nationally acclaimed Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh. She will also serve as the curator for the Arts Center’s Spring Exhibition.”

The Cumberland County High School Juried Art Exhibition will launch on Jan. 20 and run through Feb. 24. The opening reception will be on Feb. 2 from 4 to 6 p.m. The awards ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. that day. The Art Gallery is located in the Paul H. Thompson Library on the Fayetteville Technical Community College campus.

Contestants of the Art Exhibition can come in first, second, or third place. First place goes to the Juror’s Choice for best submission among Cumberland County students. Second place will go to the Juror’s Selection for Best in Show. Third Place will go to the artist who has received the most votes by the public.

Visiting Author Lecture Series

FTCC will also host an “Artist Talk” with Sherrill Roland this month as part of the Visiting Artist Lecture Series.

Roland was formerly incarcerated for a wrongful conviction and since his release and exoneration, his art has been exhibited on a national platform regarding his experience with the justice system. During the lecture, Roland will talk about his artwork and the evolution of “The Jumpsuit Project,” which aims to raise awareness of the social issues of mass incarceration.

Roland's artwork has been exhibited nationally in cities such as Los Angeles and New York.
The lecture is free and open to the public. This event will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Tony Rand Student Center Multi-Purpose Room.

For more information on the High School Art Exhibititon or the Roland lecture, visit www.faytechcc.edu.

The Spring Lake Board of Aldermen is expected to declare almost two dozen vehicles and pieces of equipment surplus when it meets Jan. 9. The surplus items will be sold on govdeals.com.

Interim Town Manager Jason Williams, who also serves as the town fire chief, said in order to sell the property it must no longer be needed for government use and it must be declared surplus by N.C. general statute.

Williams has spent the last few weeks looking into missing cars and at broken equipment that has been neglected while trying to find opportunities to replenish the general fund.

“We have also had cars that have been sold years ago, some of them for scrap that still had titles,’’ Williams said. “It’s unclear why we still had the titles, but we are documenting and moving forward. Some of what I’ve found is waste that can be sold.”

The vehicles include vans, trucks and even a dump truck that have been out of commission for several years. Other pieces of equipment include a woodchipper, bush hogs, rollers, mowers and a leaf vac.

Earlier this year, Alderman Marvin Lackman said he would like to see items like the wood chipper and roller replaced with better equipment to help beautify the town.

Williams said one of his priorities has been to help clean the town and update equipment for staff in order to pay attention to the details of town buildings, streets and parks.

“Declaring surplus hasn’t been done in a while, but we can use the money to replace equipment or help build the general fund back up,” Williams said.

The board also is expected to discuss unattended donation boxes and parking semi-trucks and 18-wheel trucks in residential neighborhoods.

Alderwoman Sona Cooper will be addressing both issues. Cooper said donation boxes have become a nuisance and contribute to the blight throughout the town.

According to Williams, most of the current donation boxes are on private property and lots.

“What (we) will have to do is look at eliminating or restricting donation boxes within town limits,” Williams said.

The board will look at sample ordinances, including one from Folsom, California, to address donation boxes. The sample ordinance would require anyone wanting a donation box to get a permit from the town and would limit the types of donations.

The other possible ordinance change is to restrict semi-trucks on residential roads, which, according to Cooper, causes potholes on residential streets, which were not constructed to support heavy vehicle traffic.

According to the information on potholes included in the agenda packet, potholes are caused by weather conditions such as a freeze-thaw cycle and rain as well as heavy vehicles, or trucks with multiple axles, which cause surfaces of pavement to collapse.

The board also is expected to go into closed session citing the N.C. general statutes for attorney-client privilege and personnel.

The board meets at 6 p.m. at the Spring Lake Town Hall, 300 Ruth St.

The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Jan. 10 is scheduled to get updates on its priorities, including the establishment of a county water supply system.

Renee Paschal, the interim county manager, and various department heads managing the priorities will make the presentations at the board’s agenda session, scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse. The session is slated for Room 564.

In a memo from Paschal to the board, she reminded commissioners that in November the idea of a “90-day priority session” in early January was discussed among the board chairman, vice chair and former County Manager Amy Cannon.

Among the priorities that commissioners will get updates on include:

• Preliminary FY 2022 fund balances
• Classification and compensation
• Water supply development
• Solid waste disposal options
• Crown Event Center
• Homeless shelter
• ARP and broadband
• Sales tax distribution method
• General fund major revenue update
• Debt models
• Governmental services complex
• Rhodes Pond
• Internal priorities

According to Paschal, the priority session’s first goal is to give commissioners updates on major projects the she and her staff are actively managing and to offer realistic expectations for what can be accomplished in the next 90 days.

The second goal is for the board to confirm these priorities and provide guidance to the staff whether to work on other priorities between now and March 1.
 Among the goals is the establishment of a county water supply system to address the contaminated private drinking water wells in the Gray’s Creek community and other areas affected by the seepage of contaminants from the Chemours plant off N.C. 87 near the Cumberland and Bladen county line.

Identifying a groundwater supply source has been the first phase of developing the proposed Cumberland County water system. Thereafter, groundwater resources will be developed to supply drinking water to residents with contaminated wells.

“Funding is being sought from all possible sources for the initial phases of source water development,” according to a draft of the presentation that has been provided to commissioners.

The next steps through March include:

• Issuing a request for proposals for the required property acquisition,
• Issuing a request for qualifications for hydro-geological services, and
• Notification of grant status for a water supply study.

Amanda Bader, the county’s Environmental Resources manager, is scheduled make the presentation on the proposed county water supply, as well as on another priority presentation: the future of the Cumberland County landfill on Ann Street. Bader has made several presentations to the commissioners stating that the landfill is expected to only last another eight years.

Delores Taylor, Community Development director, is scheduled to update commissioners on the homeless strategic plan, to include the status of the proposed county homeless shelter. The county is waiting for geo testing and soil boring results, which will allow the county to choose a location.

Tye Vaught, county chief of staff, is expected to update commissioners on the spending of Cumberland County’s American Rescue Plan allocation of $65,168,690. The federal dollars can be used to cover eligible costs incurred between March 3, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2024. However the money must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and expended by Dec. 31, 2026.

Under the ARP program, the county also is looking to expand broadband into under served areas of Cumberland County. The project is a partnership with the state of North Carolina’s Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT grant).

Through a competitive “request for proposal” process, the county has chosen Brightspeed as its vendor and allocated $1,000,000 for the project. The county is also looking to expand broadband beyond the GREAT grant initiative.

Debra Shaw, the county’s budget and performance manager, is scheduled to again update the commissioners on how the county and its municipalities split local sales taxes; whether on an ad valorem or per captia basis. Since 2003, the county has been in an agreement with its towns and cities to split the sales tax on a per capita basis. However, the agreement expires on June 30.

The current per capita distribution mostly benefits municipalities. While the county’s sales tax shrinks, its state and federally mandated responsibilities remain the same. Counties may change the method in April; the new method goes into effect 14 months later.

County staff wants to prepare commissioners for a decision on how sales taxes are distributed in Cumberland County. If the board changes the current method, it must vote to do so in April and send a resolution to the state within 15 days of adopting the new distribution method. Another option for the board is keep the current per capita distribution method but renegotiate the split with the municipalities.

The county estimates its loss in fiscal year 2024 at about $9.6 million, based on per capita method without an agreement.

Amendments to the city’s solid waste ordinance will be considered by the Fayetteville City Council on Monday, Jan. 9.
The council will meet at 5 p.m. at City Hall. At a Dec. 5 workshop meeting, the council asked the city staff to provide additional information on proposed amendments that address service limits, enforcement and other ordinance revisions.

The goal, according to the agenda for Monday’s meeting, is to “deliver consistent, predictable, financially responsible solid waste services that promote a safe, affordable, healthy and resilient community.”

Daniel Edwards, assistant director of public services who oversees the solid waste division, will speak to the council on topics including service limits of household carts, recycling carts, yard waste, limb pickup and service on private streets.

“That’s everything we’re going to talk about in a nutshell,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he will seek council members’ direction on solid waste issues.

“This is what we’ve been saying we need to do to be more efficient, better practices compared to peer cities," Edwards said.

“It’s basically just how many carts do we want to pick up from a household? How many carts we’re going to pick up for recycling? How many combinations of containerized material (do) we want to pick up for yard waste per household?” he said.

“For the private streets, the ability … to have a resident put that material on a regular street so we don’t have to go down some of these roads,” he added.

“That’s kind of where we’re going.”

Edwards said the last time the ordinance was amended was in 2013.

A man was killed Sunday afternoon, Jan. 8 in a shooting on Nutmeg Place, the Fayetteville Police Department said.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting just before 1:30 p.m. on the 3500 block of Nutmeg Place, the Police Department said in a release.

They found 20-year-old Julian Wright inside a home with a gunshot wound, the release said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The preliminary investigation revealed the individuals involved were known to each other and were inside Wright’s residence,’’ the release said. “An interaction between the individuals led to Wright being shot.’’

The Police Department’s Homicide Unit is investigating.

The Hope Mills Board of Commissioners on Monday, Jan. 9 is expected to receive the final report from the group working on the town’s overlay zoning initiative.

The board meets at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.

Thomas Lloyd and Associates has been working with town staff on the overlay initiative.

Commissioners adopted amendments to the Hope Mills Zoning Ordinance at the Dec. 5 board meeting. Those amendments concluded a six-month process that included three work sessions, consideration from the Cumberland County Joint Planning Board, final approval by the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners, and a moratorium that sunset on Dec. 31, according to a memo from Thomas Lloyd and Associates.

The firm plans to present its recommendations to the board for updates to the Southwest Cumberland Plan. The Southwest Cumberland Plan is the town’s planning guideline for development, according to Mayor Jackie Warner.

Warner has previously said it was time to revise the plan because of the town’s unprecedented growth.

According to the memo from Thomas Lloyd and Associates to the board, Hope Mills is one of the fastest growing municipalities in the southeastern portion of the state.

“The commercial growth, scattered along major entrance corridors, has led to a saturation of certain commercial uses which don't fit in with the overall harmony of the town and aren’t compatible with the desired vision for future development,’’ the memo states.

The update for the Southwest Plan would call for “the prevention of uncoordinated commercial strip development,” according to the memo.

The town hired the firm to help develop an overlay zoning policy after the town experienced a saturation of similar businesses. Overlay zoning is a regulatory tool that creates a special zoning district over existing zoning. It can include additional or different regulations that apply within the district.

Last year, the board implemented a six-month moratorium that restricted certain businesses from filing a business permit.

Businesses which specialize in motor vehicles parts and accessory sales; motor vehicle repair shops or bodywork; and tobacco stores and smoke shops were some of the businesses affected by the moratorium. The moratorium ends on Jan. 18.

Other business

The board also is expected to discuss amending the town charter to alter the terms served by the mayor and the Board of Commissioners to four-year staggered terms and setting a date for a public hearing.

According to a resolution of intent in the agenda package, “At the regular municipal election in 2023, there shall be elected five members of the town board to fill the seats of those officers whose terms are then expiring.

“The three members who receive the highest number of votes shall serve a four-year term, while the remaining two members elected shall serve a two-year term. Thereafter, in the 2025 election, there shall be elected two members of the town board to fill the seats of those officers whose terms are then expiring.

“The two commissioners elected in the 2025 election shall serve four-year terms. In each election after 2025, board members shall be elected to fill the seats of those officers whose terms are then expiring and shall serve four-year terms in staggered biennial elections.’’

The Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations Commission is seeking nominees for its 2023 Community Awards, according to a news release from the city.

The awards recognize “dedicated residents and organizations who are committed to the well-being and the promotion of positive human relations” in Fayetteville and Cumberland County, the release said.

Nine awards are presented annually in these categories: youth; humanitarian; lifetime achievement; individual; industry and business; educator; military; religious leader; and organization.

The deadline for nominations is Jan. 17, the release said.
Nomination forms are available on the city’s website under the "Human Relations" tab.
Award winners will be recognized at a luncheon at 11 a.m. Feb. 15 at Cape Fear Botanical Garden, 536 N. Eastern Blvd. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the Human Relations Department offices at 225 Ray Ave., Suite 100. Tickets must be purchased by Feb. 8, the release said.

The money raised will support the higher-education scholarships for high school seniors.

More information is at https://www.fayettevillenc.gov/city-services/human-relations-4154 or by contacting the Human Relations Department at 910-433-1698 or DionaCurtis@FayettevilleNC.Gov.