The annual exhibit of Public Works, at the Fayetteville Arts Council, opened 4th Friday in April and can still be viewed by visitors to the Art Center on Hay Street. Sponsored by the Public Works Commission, 144 works of art fill the gallery walls or are on pedestals. Works on the walls are stacked on top of each other due to the successful outpouring of artists in the area.
    The annual exhibit is a way for anyone to participate in a 4th Friday gallery exhibit and show art enthusiasts what they can do. The exhibit demonstrates the vast subject matter and styles that artists in the area choose to work in and the variety of media they use.
    One of the more unusual mediums was by Adriana Zsilinska. The work titled Terra Nostra is on silk and is a remarkable use of a batik technique, in which the artist draws on the fabric with colored pens to create interesting linear elements.
    Knowing it is an open exhibit — anyone who has their work framed with a proper hanging system can participate — makes the exhibit a mix of work from professional and amateurs (even some very young, creative children are exhibiting). Doesn’t matter to me what the age, I just look for work that is strong in design or composition, evokes meaning and is skillfully constructed.
    The age of the artist or the style, it doesn’t matter; a truly successful work stands out on the wall. A good example of this is the work titled Sissy and Sara by a very, very young artist named Sara Tringo. How did the child know to pick the color of lavender to paint the figure on top of the dense colors in the background? At such a young age, did Sara know she was creating depth and pictorial space? (I feel confident in saying she did not know her childlike-style of image making has influenced great works of art by artists like Jean Dubuffet and others.)
    What are some of the conditions for a strong work? First and foremost, there has to be a figure-ground relationship of some kind taking place. In other words, the background shouldn’t just be a backdrop that doesn’t relate to what is painted in foreground.
    Michelle Wilson and Lucille Benoit both have small paintings in the exhibit and have painted the traditional still life as a subject. Both artists have a keen sense of how important the space behind the objects is in creating spatial structure through the use of color and half tones.
    Wilson’s painting is a still life of an artist’s brush placed horizontally across a table and somewhat inside an open box. Benoit’s painting is a small still life titled Nancy’s, and is a painting of a grouping of objects — garlic and onions. Both artists seem to have an understanding of how to create form with color and how to set up a successful composition.
    Knowing when a work is complete can be difficult. Not knowing when the piece is finished can result in it being overworked. Does the artist overwork a painting or drawing because they, perhaps, do not have an understanding of the underlying form they are trying to construct? More doesn’t always mean better. Craftsmanship is always an issue; a well-crafted work shows a certain amount of competence in using the medium — avoiding too many unnecessary details?{mosimage}
    Kids at Play by Leroy Robinson is a good example of how a painting can be left minimal in detail and is still a strong work. His acrylic painting of two silhouetted figures in the foreground is in contrast to an arrangement of colorful pattern, an abstract cityscape in the background. His color choices create a rhythm in the work that directs our eye across the surface of the painting.
    Rose Ann San Martino’ painting, Driveway, is an excellent example of using a lot of detail in a painting, but it works. Her purple and black painting consists of the bottom of a car in the top right corner of the painting, leaving two-thirds of the painting in a purplish color with text covering every square inch — horror vacui at its best (artists fill the entire surface of an artwork with ornamental details, figures, shapes, lines and anything else the artist might envision).
    Then there is always the pitfall of over-framing. If the work is behind glass, then it needs a matt to protect the work from the glass or Plexiglas; the borders of the cut matt shouldn’t be too skimpy to create a sense of the work being squashed in the frame. You should never see the frame first, always the work first. So, a provincial frame on a contemporary work just doesn’t work.
    The Wee Pumpkin Patch King by Abigail Wilson is a fanciful, tiny sculpture in black and white clay of a whimsical figure. Small in scale, about 5”x 6”. Wilson framed her capricious figure in a black shadow box on a black matt. The framing is a visual support for the work and remains subordinate to the very tiny man and the essence of what the odd figure exudes.
    Content — what is the work about? Content is not the same as subject. The subject of the work can be described in terms of something representational; is it a cat, a dog, a person, etc. Content evokes something about the subject — is it expressive, political, transcendental and many other essences.
    {mosimage}In Joy Tringo’s painting, Trapped Within the Mind: Tribute to Jonah’s Autism, is an excellent example of how you don’t need descriptive painting to evoke a feeling or to give the viewer insight into an experience. Colorful and joyous, the swirls and circular space balls fill the background, the pattern of puzzle pieces decorate the egg shape of the body. Two references to time are in the painting, an otherwise joyous work is unsettling as the animated figure wears a necklace with the word “help” on the necklace charm.
    Other important elements which are the underpinning of good work is a successful composition and using color effectively and structurally. Is the color local or expressive, does it create form and/or space? Is color (with all its complexity) actually used to create structure in the work?
    Stanley Croteau uses color to evoke an emotion in his oil painting, Don’t Lose Your Balloons. Medium in size, Croteau uses color to entice us to look at his work. The brilliant color used to describe form emphasizes the uncertain meaning behind the portrait of an individual turning into an angry clown face. Very emotional and well painted; Croteau uses the psychological as his artistic mace.
    Size is not an issue. Sara Tringo’s little painting is very small, about 7”x 9”. Pamolu Oldham has two small collages that are very political and well designed. In her collage, What Child Is This?, Oldham shares her views about the state of politics by placing a cutout head of President Bush on the shoulders of a child. The child is a well known icon and is interpreted as the Madonna and Child; the letters A.K.A. can be read across the space above Madonna’s head.
    I can’t write about the exhibit and not mention some of the sculptures in the gallery. The works are in two categories: the serious stone carving by Kyle Sonnenberg and the fun fabricated junk sculpture made from the recycled material.
    Sonnenberg’s carvings are well crafted. He selects his stone to reflect meaning in each sculpture, like the brick red and white color of alabaster in his carving, The Shop Girl’s Broken Heart.
Dan Brady will make you chuckle with his lighthearted fabrication of Mr. Coffee and Java. The figure is made of tubing, cans, plastic, small athletic shoes and two coffee cups as eyes. Java looked sort a like an animal to me — fabricated all in the spirit of having fun.
    Daniel Mattox created a similar pleasurable experience with found objects; his sculpture titled Reindeer is made out of metal parts, solid and open forms to express a joyful interpretation of a favorite seasonal animal. The interpretation by Mattox and Brady will certainly delight any visitor to the exhibit, of any age.
    Lots to look at and there is still time to see Public Works; the exhibit will remain in the Art Center until the third week of May. For information call 323-1776.

    {mosimage}A sure sign that summer is on its way in Fayetteville is the arrival of Fayetteville After Five. This third Thursday event brings the community together in a celebration of art, music and fun. What could be more fun?
Sponsored by the Fayetteville Museum of Art and some of its community friends (Cumulus Broadcasting, Distributors of Bud Light, The City of Fayetteville, The Fayetteville Observer, Up and Coming Weekly and Time Warner Cable), the event is fun for the whole family.
    As in years past, the event will feature food vendors and adult beverages. The Young at Art Tent, which allows children of all ages to engage in hands-on activities and art projects FREE of charge. The Visual Artist Tent will feature artists creating on-site as well as displaying and offering for sale unique, hand-crafted items. So it’s more than just music and dancing — it’s educational, it’s cultural — heck, let’s cut to the chase, it’s just fun.
    The kick-off event, slated for Thursday, May 15 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. at Festival Park will feature the beach sounds of the Craig Woolard Band. Those new to the area might be asking themselves what is this “beach music” and even a bigger question — what’s the shag? We’ve got some answers for you.
    Certain regions in the country are linked with certain kinds of music. You think New Orleans and jazz pops into your mind. You think Seattle — grunge. You think Memphis — Elvis-style rock ‘n’ roll. Nashville — country. You get where I’m going with this? You think North and South Carolina and beach music should (after you spend some time in the two states) and will pop into your head.
    Beach music is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.The styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues, reggae, rockabilly and old-time rock ‘n’ roll. It’s music that reaches deep down inside you and gets you on your feet, which, by the way can’t stand still. Your feet literally start itching to move — and that’s where shagging comes into play. The shag is the state dance of North and South Carolina. It’s a close cousin to swing dancing — but there isn’t as much throwing in the air and the steps are a little more low key. The shag is more of a shuffle than a bop. It’s something best done in the sand — but Festival Park will do just fine.
    So, now that you know what beach music is, and you know how to dance to it, you need to know that when it comes to beach music, the Craig Woolard Band is beach music royalty. For 27 years, Woolard was the front man for the Embers, perhaps the premier beach band in the land. When the band broke up in 2006, Woolard found himself in an odd place. He still had a love and passion for music — but no one to play it with. Thanks to a group of great friends and fans, Woolard found his way and formed a new band. The band has been entertaining countless thousands for the past couple of years and has quickly earned its place in the Beach Music Hall of Fame.
    The band’s latest release, Come and Get This, is heating up the airwaves. The CD has produced several hits and has people hitting the floor any time it’s played. Woolard and company are favorites on and off the beach. They can frequently be found playing events like Fayetteville After Five, or more recently, fraternity and sorority parties across the state. Woolard plays the kind of music that makes you long to dig your toes into the sand and grab your favorite guy or gal and hit the dance floor.
    Woolard is a Fayetteville favorite. He has been performing since he was 14 years old, and has become quite the showman. He explained that he isn’t content until the audience is having as much fun as he is. And, well, since he loves what he does, Fayetteville After Five is looking to be one jumping place.
Woolard and his band are committed to giving his audience more than their money’s worth. When you attend a function with the band they don’t just want you to watch, they want you to be caught up in the fun!
    And while beach music may have been born in the Carolinas years ago, its appeal, and so the band’s appeal, really doesn’t have any boundaries. Children and adults love the band and its music — so introduce your kids or your grandkids to some classic beach sounds at Fayetteville After Five.
    Don’t forget — it’s free, it’s at Festival Park and it’s going to be fun!

So You Want to Shag                                                                                                                                        by STAFF REPORTS

    So, you’re new to the area and you keep hearing about this thing called the “shag.” No it’s not a hairstyle and it’s not British slang. The shag is a form of swing dancing that evolved from the jitterbug and jump blues of the big band jazz era and originated along the strands between Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Wilmington, during the 1940s. It is most often associated with beach music, a genre of rhythm and blues-based songs that lends itself to this dance form. According to Bo Bryan, a noted shag historian and resident of Beaufort County, the term was coined at Carolina Beach. Today, the shag is a recognized dance in national and international dance competitions held across the United States.
    In the dance, the upper body and hips hardly move as the legs do convoluted kicks and fancy footwork. The man is the center of attention and the woman’s steps either mirror steps of the man’s or a sort of marking time while he does spins and other gyrations.
    The shag is the state dance of North Carolina and South Carolina, and is still popular among residents of both states. Thousands of people are members of shag clubs throughout the region. Fayetteville has its own Shag Club. The clubs meet on a regular basis and throw some of the best parties around. Dancing reigns at the parties — where people are only too happy to show off their fancy footwork.
    Most shaggers make a the spring and fall pilgrimage to Ocean Drive at North Myrtle Beach to participate in the annual SOS, a veritable shaggers paradise. For one weekend, OD is filled to overflow of dancers going from club to club — places like Duck’s and Fat Harold’s (no, we’re not making these names up) and the holy of holies — the OD Pavilion — for a weekend of dancing that is the staff history is made of.
    So, grab your weejuns, get a partner and head down to Festival Park. If you don’t know how to shag, someone will be glad to teach you — and if that fails, simply grab a partner, swing them around and shuffle your feet — you’ll get the hang of it.

 Contact Janice Burton at: editor@upandcomingweekly.com

    In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the theme song Happy Days Are Here Again to jump start his presidential campaign and lift the country’s spirits on the heels of the Great Depression.
    Each member of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners may very well be humming the same tune after voters approved a 1/4 cent sales tax increase last week that will generate about $8 million for the county to help pay for a new public library and health department, as well as cover other costs.
    The sales tax referendum was approved by 30,817 votes to 20,246 — 60.4 percent to 39.6 percent. This was a much higher turnout of Cumberland County voters than usual, and some commissioners say Democratic presidential nominees Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had a huge say in the sales tax approval.
“I expect the turnout was because of the presidential election,” said Commissioner Diane Wheatley. “I was a little concerned that some just came out to vote in the presidential election and didn’t know what the tax was about.” {mosimage}
    Dr. Jeannette Council, vice chairman of the board of commissioners, also gave a shout-out to Hillary and Barack for the passage of the sales tax increase.
    “I think one of the reasons we got this passed was because of the large turnout of voters,” said Council. “And I absolutely think the interest in Obama and Clinton was the reason for the turnout.
“I am ecstatic about the passing of the sales tax,” added Council. “It means we can meet our budget for the year. We were facing a shortfall.”
    The county faced a $4 million budget shortfall if the tax had not been passed. While the new sales tax does initially add up to about $8 million a year in extra revenue for the county, the overall numbers come to $4.8 million a year, as the tax increase included an incentive to lower property taxes by 2 cents — which most of the commissioners, including Wheatley, believe was a key selling point for the approval of the tax increase.
“This will give the property owners some relief,” said Wheatley. “It will also help fund the new health department, which we desperately need, and the new public library to be built on the same location as the new elementary school planned for the western part of the county.”
    The new health department will be on Ramsey Street adjacent to the Department of Social Services, and will be a three-story, 108,000-square-foot building.
    The planned public library will actually be a part of the campus of the planned elementary school, something that is fairly unique for North Carolina, said  Sarah Vanderclute, director of public information for Cumberland County.
    “It’s not completely unheard of to have a public library and a public school in the same complex, but it is rare,” said Vanderclute.  “Our spirits are very high and we are very pleased with the vote. It is a major plus for the county and it will help us build the kind of county we want.”
    According to Vanderclute, the health department will cost $28-$30 million, while the library will be $6-$7 million.
    Breeden Blackwell, chairman of the commissioners, cited three reasons for the approval of the tax increase: the voter turnout; the work of the Cumberland County Citizens for Fair Taxes, which raised about $40,000 for billboard ads and performed various other campaigns in support of the sales tax; and the decision by the commissioners to lower property taxes.
    However, Blackwell said he had initial concerns about the approval of the tax as the voting went late into the night.
    “I was there until the final returns came in,” said Blackwell,”and we worried when those first returns came in. But it turned out all right.”
    While the commissioners and folks involved in the county government were overjoyed, not everyone heralded the sales tax increase.
    James and Bonnie Craven, who live just off Hwy. 87 in the western part of the county, said it will cost them more in a time of economic uncertainty.
    “We don’t own property, we rent,” said Bonnie Craven. “So it’s just going to cost us more to buy the things we need when we go shopping. We just might have to go over the county line into Bladen County for some things we need.”
    The 1/4-cent tax increase would amount to about a penny on a $4 dollar purchase, or 25 cents on a $100 purchase. The tax would not be applied to food purchased at a grocery store.                                                          Election night was a double win for Commissioner Kenneth Edge, who not only saw the approval of the sales tax, but won the District 2 Democratic primary and will face three Republican challengers in November.
“It’s just a great honor for me,” said Edge. “Obviously, the voters have confidence in what I’ve done for them and the county, and they have confidence I will continue to do a good job as commissioner.”

Contact Tim Wilkins: tim@upandcomingweekly.com

    {mosimage} From blinking cocktail glasses to quick lube offers, Fayetteville’s roadways play host to a veritable cornucopia of signs, whose growth until 1997, were virtually unregulated. On May 5, The Fayetteville City Council got a first look at a proposed new sign ordinance designed to further regulate signs on the city’s roadways.
    Jimmy Teal, the chief officer for planning, presented the proposed ordinance to the council during its monthly work meeting. The sign ordinance is based on a similar ordinance in Cary. Cary, the seventh largest metropolitan city in the state, is known for its controlled growth and planning. In 1971, Cary adopted zoning and other ordinances on an ad-hoc basis to control growth and give the city structure. Passing a Planned Unit Development zoning ordinance to accommodate population growth related to the growth of Research Triangle Park, Cary’s local government placed a high value on creating an aesthetically pleasing town. A PUD allows a developer to plan an entire community before beginning development, thus allowing future residents to be aware of where churches, schools, commercial and industrial areas will be located well before such use begins.
    Fayetteville is putting a new emphasis on the aesthetics of the city and on planning in general. Teal said as the city moves forward with the Unified Development Ordinance, it is looking at all aspects of city development. The UDO does not address signs, Teal explained, so the council directed city staff to pull together information on sign ordinances and bring a proposal to the table. Teal said the staff took a look at sign ordinances from across the state. A recent study by the City of Winston-Salem rated municipalities on their ordinances — Cary was the most restrictive, while Fayetteville was one of the least restrictive. Teal said the city’s goal probably is to fall somewhere in the middle of the two, but used the Cary ordinance as a starting point.
    “The ultimate goal is to make Fayetteville a more attractive city,” said Teal.
    While the proposed ordinance deals with three types of signs — pole signs, wall signs and ground signs — the main concern is on pole signs. Pole signs are a fixture in the city, particularly along thoroughfares like Yadkin Road, Bragg Boulevard and Ramsey Street. Teal pointed out that in these heavy commercial areas, pole signs have been placed on relatively small lots and are located one after the other. Under the proposed ordinance, both the number and size of pole signs will be regulated. The Cary ordinance does not allow any pole signs. The current Fayetteville ordinance allows businesses to have three kinds of signs: a pole sign, no more than 25 feet high, with 150-square-feet of copy space; a ground sign, no more than 8 feet high, with 150 feet in copy space; and a wall sign.
    Under Fayetteville’s proposed ordinance, pole signs will only be allowed on major thoroughfares, which will be designated by the council. Only one pole sign will be allowed per site. The maximum copy size is down to 50 feet and the maximum height is down to 17 feet, with a 10-foot minimum. Roads not designated as thoroughfares would not be allowed to have any pole signs at all.
    For the city’s purpose, a thoroughfare is a road with more than four travel lanes and a turn lane. Teal said people looking for a business would be looking across four or five lanes of traffic and might have difficulty seeing a ground sign.
    The council discussed the amount of time businesses would have to bring their signs into compliance if the ordinance is adopted. The planning staff recommended a five-year amortization period for pole signs, three years for wall signs and two years for ground signs. If a business’ sign is not in compliance, they must take the sign down and pay a permit fee to construct a sign to replace it. Councilman Charles Evans suggested waiving the permit fee if businesses bring their signs into compliance during the first year of the amortization schedule.
    Another key point in the ordinance is defining what is and what a ground sign isn’t. When the first sign ordinance was passed in 1997, many portable signs were converted to ground signs by anchoring them into the ground. Under the new ordinance, these converted ground signs will not be allowed.
City Manager Dale Iman said the ground signs were the “most egregious” offenders. “The portable signs that were allowed to be converted — signs that are propped up, signs with lights burned out — these are all problems that the ordinance will address and by addressing those it’s a major improvement in our city,” said Iman.
    Teal said between 75 and 80 percent of the businesses in the city will be affected by the ordinance if it is approved. Councilman Keith Bates urged the council to seriously consider adopting the ordinance noting that failure to adopt the ordinance would result in “playing 40 years of catch up again.” Bates said failure to act on the proposal would result in future councils looking back and saying the council should have done something about it.
    In other business, the council also took a look at billboards, with the staff bringing a proposed ordinance to ban the placement of any new billboards within the city limits. The transfer ordinance will remain in effect, under which sign companies can replace one sign as long as they take one sign down. There are currently 180 billboards in the city limits.

Contact Janice Burton at: editor@upandcomingweekly.com 

    When I was a little girl, I really did not know about what we now think of as “four letter words.” Words were just words, and we used them to communicate, and most of the ones I knew were fair game to be used in conversation. I was aware, though, that words are powerful and that there are some words polite people do not use, even though I was a tad foggy on exactly what those words might be. My mother had a unwritten list of words my sister and I should not say — a list, which for reasons never explained to me, included the word “nasty.”
    To this day, I still cringe a bit when I hear that word used.
    Another word not in favor was “lie.” In our family, “lie” was rarely used. Instead, we were admonished not to tell “fibs.” My maternal grandmother, from whom my own mother undoubtedly inherited some of her ideas about language, used an even more creative word than “fibs.” I no longer remember my infraction, but I will remember until my last breath the feel of my grandmother’s large hands holding my then small face with her eyes close to mine, saying, “Margaret Dawson, don’t you ever tell me another teewaddy!” {mosimage}
    I love that word, and my own children were cautioned on a regular basis about the dangers of teewaddies.
Unlike my mother, though, I find “lie” to be a plain, strong, and useful English word. Everyone understands that to lie is to be deliberately untruthful. An error of fact is not a lie. It is a mistake. A lie is something the person telling it knows is not true and tells it anyway.
    The problem is no one wants to fess up to telling lies, so many of us, most obviously people in public life, try to cover such lapses by saying     we “misspoke.”
The first time I ever heard anyone use that word at all was then-Presidential Press Secretary Ron Zieglar covered for his boss Richard Nixon by saying the president had “misspoken.” I remember thinking at the time, “Sounds like a teewaddy-fib-lie to me!”
    Writing in the New York Times magazine last week, columnist William Safire makes just this point after a reader e-mailed to ask, “Perhaps you can explain the difference between misspeaking and lying.”
We all know the difference in our hearts. Misspeaking is when you call your friend the wrong name, when you mistakenly tell your colleagues the meeting is Tuesday when it is really Wednesday, when you reference Australia when you were thinking about Austria.
    Lying is when we say or write something to mislead or deceive someone else, knowing full well what we are doing. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, “a lie is a lie is a lie,” and there is no getting around that fact whatever the reason it has been told.
    I find it fascinating how many people misspeak during political seasons. Several presidential contenders have acknowledged, almost always after being called out on the matter, having misspoken about something. This seems to be a way to say a vague and squishy “mea culpa” without having to say “I told a whopper.” Writing in The New Yorker magazine recently, Hendrik Hertzberg described misspeak as “a word that is apparently thought capable, in its contemporary political usage, of isolating a palpable, possibly toxic untruth, sealing it up in an airtight bag and disposing of it harmlessly.”
    My own experience is that people are smarter than that. We often know when someone, particularly a public figure, is telling us a tale under the banner of misspeaking. Late night comedians make their livings telling us jokes about just such linguistic clean-up attempts.
    My question is why do we let misspeakers get away with it?Why do we allow others to dress their untruths in language that tries to make them look less tainted than they really are? Why do we allow language to be used as wrapping paper for something decidedly unattractive and possibly dangerous?
    Whatever I told my grandmother all those years ago, whether I deliberately lied or whether I simply got mixed up about something, is lost in time. Either way, she was having none of it. We dealt with more than a few teewaddies and fibs as my children were growing up, but if one of them had ever told me he or she “misspoke,” I would have been beyond suspicion and on to conviction.
    All of us see and hear misspeakers in public life, be it government, business, professional or social. We encounter them in our individual lives when they cannot quite bring themselves to say they fibbed and use language to pretty up the situation. It is human nature, and it can be silly, annoying, deeply ingenuous, or thoroughly deceitful and dangerous, depending on who is doing it.
I think of it as putting lipstick on the pig.

    Only rarely does Hollywood come up with a perfect movie title. Zombie Strippers is just such a title. Zombie Strippers is the most beautiful movie title ever unearthed by Hollywood. I am not a sensitive type, but the title is so profoundly elegant that I teared up when I heard it. The title perfectly captures the essence of its movie to the extent that you almost don’t have to go see it because the title tells you what is going to happen.
    Zombie Strippers dethrones Dude, Where’s My Car? as the former King of all Movie Titles that don’t require you to see the movie to enjoy it. I am humbled in the presence of the title Zombie Strippers like a member of the faithful seeing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the first time. What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason to be able to come up with a title like Zombie Strippers. The title soars far above mortal man arching across the firmament of the heavens like a comet outshining the sun.
    {mosimage}The movie trailer is available for all to see online. I commend it for your viewing pleasure and personal edification. The trailer features the following immortal dialogue discussing the existential intersection of the undead and adult entertainment: “They are good girls.” “They are strippers.” “ They are zombies.” “No, they are zombie strippers.”
    The movie stars John Englund, who played the late great never-say-die Freddie Kruger in the Nightmare on Elm Streetmovies. John Englund is the Al Pacino of horror movies.
    Zombies often get a bad rap. It is refreshing to see dancing zombies portrayed as full-fledged members of the artistic community. Zombies are one of the last ethnic groups that the mainstream media disparages with impunity. There is no Zombie Liberation Front protecting the interests of our undead brothers and sisters. Zombies are typically stereotyped in a very negative light as inarticulate, mindless, brain-eating creatures. Big deal. Show me someone who is perfect. What gives the living the right to criticize zombie culture as inferior to our own? As Bill Shakespeare would say, “Hath not a zombie hands, organs, senses, passions, fed with the same food as a human is? If you prick a zombie does he not bleed?” Well, perhaps that is a poor example. Zombies eat the hands and organs of humans. If you cut a zombie, he doesn’t bleed because he has no circulatory system.
    Instead of disparaging zombies, we need to bring them into the mainstream of American life. A society that is inclusive of zombies and recognizes and celebrates their special talents is a society that honors diversity. We are exhausting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we mainstream zombies, we can make them part of our nation’s armed forces. Send a battalion of zombies to Sadr City and take names. Our zombies could wipe out Muqtada al-Sadr’s dudes in a battle that would make You Tube stand on its head. The al-Qaeda types can’t kill zombies because they are already dead. The only part of a zombie that is vulnerable is the brain. Haliburton can make zombie-sized Kevlar helmets to cover the brains of the zombie battalion. Our zombies would clean up the Middle East quicker than you can say “Mission Accomplished.”
    Closeted Zombies already walk among us. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia is clearly a judicial zombie. He just told 60 Minutes that people should get over the Bush versus Gore Supreme Court decision that appointed Bush as President in 2000. The Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor is clearly a clerical zombie, devouring the spotlight and Obama’s presidential campaign instead of human flesh. The oil companies are economic zombies, devouring the American economy with ever increasing gasoline prices. All these closeted zombies need to brought in from the cold. Zombies should be nurtured and loved so that their hostility toward the living is changed to empathy.
    One bright morning, zombies and humans will link arms and sing Kumbaya together. The undead will lie down with the living. America will once again become the shining city on the hill. Dead and undead will sing together in perfect harmony.

    This is being written before North Carolina’s Tuesday primary and will be published a week later. The outcome of our state’s presidential primary will, for the first time in a very long time, matter. It is indeed refreshing to live in a state where our votes can affect the process of determining who will be the leader of the free world. It would be further refreshing if we as an electorate could be regarded as an astute and highly analytical group whose support could only be won by cogent argument and carefully developed thesis. By Wednesday morning there will be great joy in someone’s camp. I hope it will be in Senator Obama’s. He has been honest in his statements and respectful of those whose attention he draws.
    Alas however, it is politics as it has always been in at least one camp. One of the most egregious examples of the “tell them anything and they will buy it” school of political stumping is Hillary Clinton’s spoonful of sugar federal gasoline-tax holiday scheme. The idea is founded most undoubtedly on the proposition that American taxpayers are hopelessly stupid, particularly those of us living in North Carolina and Indiana.{mosimage}
    Take a deep breath and consider the plan. The federal government temporarily removes the highway fund tax of 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline. Whew. Now we are back to $3.39 per gallon. Pack up the SUV and off to Yellowstone. Driving is affordable again.  Bless you Mrs. Clinton and may your tribe always occupy the White House as it has already for eight years. Now for a reality check. The average family car (and we are dealing with averages here not exceptions) is driven about 12,000 miles per year and manages about 20 miles per gallon. That works out to be 50 gallons per month or a savings... ta da of $9.20 per family per month. Wow. So for three months the price of a fast food combo, maybe three packs of cigarettes, a movie ticket or a six pack of brewskis is going to make life worth living again for the American public.
    I guess the worrisome aspect of this plan to lure votes is that Mrs. Clinton and her managers believe that we, the voters, are just too dumb to see through it. This is a latter day version of Marie Antoinette’s “let them eat cake” suggestion. Of course, she paid for that ill-advised comment with a severed head. Mrs. Clinton goes on. The gasoline tax not collected would then be replaced by nicking the oil company’s profits to restore the estimated $9 billion lost from the highway trust fund. Not so bad, but doesn’t that require an act of Congress? Doesn’t she know that, what with her experience and everything? It gets worse. She also wants to spend the money not collected to research bio-fuels. This may be a shell game, I am not sure, but do count how many times Mrs. Clinton is shuffling this same bedraggled $9 billion.
    So we get the connection. Collect $9 less in taxes from each American family per month for three months, give it the old Washington money hide-and-seek and presto it is new money from taxes not collected for more research on a terrible idea. You read that correctly. That is what she has said and what she is saying, more money to study how to convert cropland to fuel land. Ethanol from corn and biodiesel from beans are ideas that are creating serious consequences on the world food supply. Mrs. Clinton wants to do more cropland conversion. With her vast experience and compassion she should be less enthusiastic about subsidies for ethanol producers and more for families paying 25 percent more for food in just one year because of the ethanol craze. 

{mosimage}They’ll be puttin’ on the ritz at the Temple Theatre in Sanford, May 29 through June 22, as a production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ comes to town.
The musical, first performed in 1978, features the songs of jazz great Fats Waller. The musical also has been a stepping stone for such major performers as Nell Carter, Irene Cara and Debbie Allen.
Waller reached his fame in the ‘20s and ‘30s and is perhaps best known for two songs that are featured in the musical — title track Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Honeysuckle Rose.
The musical has a cast of five actors and a seven-piece band. It has won many honors, including Tony awards for Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Nell Carter).
Peggy Taphorn, artistic director for the Temple Theatre, says the production has been in the works for months, featuring some nationally known talent behind the scenes.
“It’s going to be a great show because we have great people working on it,” said Taphorn. “We have a great director in Ray Kennedy, a great cast and our musical director Jan Powell is awesome.”
Powell, who has been the Temple Theatre’s musical director for a year, says Ain’t Misbehavin’ is one of the most technically difficult projects he has worked on in his 40-year career in the theater... mainly because of the musical proficiency of Waller.
“It’s really, really hard,” said Powell. “Fats Waller was a great, great musician — a classically trained musician who sort of fell into jazz.
“This is the first time I’ve worked on a production of this musical,” said Powell, “but from the first time I saw it I wanted to be a part of it.”
Powell is playing the piano himself. Other instruments in the band include drums, bass and a horn section.
He has praise for both the theater and the young cast.
“I love the Temple,” said Powell. “I think it’s one of the great, undiscovered gems in North Carolina. Despite seating more than 300 people, it still has an intimate feel.
“And this cast is so good,” added Powell. “They’re extremely young, but they all sing and dance very, very well.”
The five members of the cast are Christopher Berry, who plays Ken; Terren Wooten, who plays Andre; Brittany Carrie as Armelia; Cindy Hespedales as Charlane; and the role of Nell is performed by Mitzi Greshawn Smith.
Berry, who is a recent graduate of North Carolina A&T, has an impressive background in theater, having participated in productions of Smoky Joe’s Cafe, A Christmas Carol, Raisin in the Sun and Dreamgirls. However, he says he is as excited about performing in Ain’t Misbehavin’ as any other musical he’s been involved in.
“I think it’s going to be great,” said Berry. “The director, Ray Kennedy, has an excellent reputation in the theater world, and the rest of the cast is awesome.”
Berry, a native of Westbury, N.Y., has never performed at the Temple Theatre, but he’s looking forward to his run in Sanford.
“I think the people are really in for a great show,” said Berry. “The music and choreography of Ain’t Misbehavin’ just fits together so well. It’s been a lot of fun working on it.”
The performance schedule is 2 and 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 29; 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m. on Sunday. The production runs through June 22 and tickets are $16 and $20. There will be a dress rehearsal on May 28 that is open to the public for $5 per person.
“We’re hoping to get people who have never been to a musical interested in the theater with the dress rehearsal,” said Taphorn, “and get the folks who go to the dress rehearsal to come back for the real thing.”   

Contact Tim Wilkins at: tim@upandcomingweekly.com    

    This weekend, families across the nation will spend time honoring mothers. Countless cards, bouquets of flowers, breakfasts in bed and spa treatments will be purchased or made, and on Sunday morning mothers (no matter where they are) will smile appreciatively and say, “Thank you, that’s just what I wanted” — even if the eggs are burned, the flowers came out of the front yard and the card is colored in crayons and smells of paste.
In our community, many mothers have great reason to be celebrated.
    They are the mothers who leave their children in someone else’s care, put on their boots and sling their weapon to stand a line in defense of our freedom. They watch their children grow via the Internet and photos. They can’t be there to hold their children when they are sick, because they are holding a wounded comrade. They see school plays and projects via camcorders. They are the mothers who sacrifice spending birthdays and Christmas with their children, so that others can do so.
    There’s another set of mothers who sacrifice as well. They are the mothers who carry the load of their families while their husbands are deployed in support of our nation. They are the mothers who spend countless hours ensuring that their children do not worry too much about their dads. They are the mothers who tell their children their dads will be just fine, and after they put them to bed either cry themselves to sleep or don’t sleep at all because they are too worried about their spouses.
    They are the mothers who volunteer to be T-ball and soccer coaches — even though they don’t know what they are doing — because it’s important to their children. They are the mothers who spend all day at work, only to go home to cook dinner, do homework, mow the yard, pay the bills and climb into a lonely bed. And then, they get up the next day and do it all over again.
    Military wives and soldiers (who are mothers) are some of the strongest women I’ve ever met. They put on a brave face and do what needs to be done — even though their hearts jump into their throats every time the phone rings or someone knocks on their door or they receive a deployment notice.
    They are never too busy to help a friend out — even though their hands are already filled to overflowing, and when it gets to be too much, they have a quick cry, which usually ends in laughter, and get back up on their feet.
I’m proud to be in their number. Unlike some military wives, I had a head start. I was raised in a military family. I saw my mother carry the load. I watched her stretch a dime until it screamed, keep five children spit and  polish clean, keep an immaculate house and be the first one to go visit or take care of someone who was sick. I learned from her example.
    I look at my hands now, and I see hers. My mother’s hands were always busy (with five kids how could they not be?). No task was too unimportant to be seen to, and no event unworthy of notice. No lesson was too small for her to take the time to teach her children. Lessons on hard work, compassion, independence, faith and love were not only spoken, they were seen in her everyday life.
    She died shortly after I turned 18. I often think about all the times she was both mom and dad — and how easy she made it all seem. I wonder what she would think about me.
    I see my hands, which look so much like hers, but I’ve yet to see the grace hers carried in their every move. But if I’m lucky, when my son looks back, maybe he will remember them that way.

    Contact Janice Burton at: editor@upandcomingweekly.com

    {mosimage}Fayetteville will see an explosion of red, white and blue on May10-27 as more than 1,500 American flags fly at Festival Park and the Airborne Museum (extending all the way to Freedom Memorial Park) in honor of our Veterans — retired, active duty and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
This galaxy of stars and stripes is a result of Fayetteville being named the host city for the 2008 Field of Honor, which is going on in conjunction with the 8th Annual Glory Days Festival.
  Each flag measures three-feet-by-five-feet and will fly eight feet above the turf in perfect rows, with a yellow ribbon affixed to each flag pole. Set-up will begin May 9 and take just one day, but, according to Suzy Hrabovsky — one of the organizers of the event — it’s an idea that’s been a year in the making.
    Hrabovsky says individuals and corporations have paid to sponsor the flags; in fact the demand has been so high to sponsor a flag that Hrabowsly said an additional 300 flags were ordered when the original goal of 1,200 was surpassed. Individuals paid $25 to purchase a flag and the aforementioned yellow ribbon will bear the name of the flag’s sponsor as well as the flag’s honoree.
    And for each flag there is a story behind the stars and stripes  — often heartbreaking.
    “Flags have been bought by parents and spouses of victims, even children,” said Hrabovsky. “A father{mosimage}{mosimage} died in a helicopter crash.
    “One of the ladies I talked to bought a flag because she was excited that her son was coming home,” said Hrabovsky. “In a lot of instances, flags were purchased in honor of soldiers who are coming home.”
Hrabosky says folks have called from all over the country to sponsor a flag — there was even one call from Russia.
    All proceeds from the flag sponsorships go to Fayetteville Cares — a local organization that provides assistance to military personnel and their spouses before, during and after deployments.
    “It’s a great organization,” said Hrabovskyy. “If a military spouse needs money for an emergency or a soldier is in trouble, Fayetteville Cares is there for them.”
    The flags will be set up on May 9 by an army of volunteers, including 100 Boy Scouts led by Mike Archer.
On May 10 at 11 a.m., there will be a dedication ceremony at Freedom Memorial Park. The dedication will include music, a color guard, the Pledge of Allegiance, and speakers made up of state and local officials, as well as the military. The color guard band will finish things off by playing The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
The dedication kicks off the Glory Days Festival; this year’s theme for the festival honors military vets of the Vietnam War. Events include: A classic car cruise-in at Festival Park; a bake sale; live music at Festival Park; the N.C. State Cyclists Criterion Championship; The Fayetteville Swampdogs baseball team; ‘Patriot’s Crit’ on Hay Street; a Sunday Movie in the Park featuring, showing Good Morning Vietnam (May 25); which will feature free admission and free popcorn; a vintage military equipment and gear exhibit; carriage rides; foods, arts and crafts, and concessions.
    “This is just our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the men and women in the military who protect us,” said Hrabovsky, “and the ones who never made it home.”

  Contact Tim Wilkins: tim@upandcomingweekly.com 

 

    If you’re looking to support the Special Forces and be in good company while rocking out, then you’ll want to check out the legendary band Bad Company, which is headlining the 3rd Annual Special Forces Association (SFA) Benefit Festival on May 31 at Festival Park.
    In addition to Bad Company, featuring lead singer Brian Howe, there will be at least six other bands rocking the festival, including Ethan Hanson, Stronghold, Super Drive, Donnaha Station, Motorjunkie and Falling in Two.
    {mosimage}Formed in 1973, Bad Company was a “supergroup” comprised of former Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs, and singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke, both previous members of Free. Among the group’s biggest hits are Can’t Get Enough of Your Love and Feel Like Making Love.
    The group disbanded in 1982; in 1984, the two existing members of Bad Company — Kirke and guitarist Ralphs — picked Brian Howe to replace Rodgers as the lead singer.
    Since Howe joined the band, Bad Company has sold 19 million albums and produced such hit singles as Holy Water, If You Needed Somebody, No Smoke Without a Fireand How About That.
    All the other bands playing at the festival hail from North Carolina, including Fayetteville’s own Ethan Hanson.
But the festival is more than just music, says organizer Jim Sawyer, president of Chapter C of the Special Forces Association.
    “We’ve called it a concert in the past few years, but it’s definitely a festival now,” said Sawyer. “We’ve got something for everyone.”
    In addition to the music, the festival features North Carolina’s own master of mystery, Captain Jim the Magician; the Geico No. 7 race car; the Cape Fear Harley Davidson drag motorcycle; food vendors running the gamut from seafood to ice cream to hamburgers; merchandise vendors; a juggler roaming the crowd;  a bike show — for bikes with motors — and for kids, bikes without motors; face painting and, two beer tents.
    There will also be a special display by Blackwater USA, which is providing a large, armored truck of the type used in Iraq.
    All this for $20 at the gate — $17 if you get your ticket at ticketalternative.com.
And did we mention it’s for a good cause?
    “After we pay expenses, all the money goes to the Special Forces Association Scholarship, Tribute, and Benevolent Funds,” said Sawyer.
    The SFA Scholarship Fund awards money via an essay contest to the surviving children of  Special Forces soldiers killed in action to finance the child’s education; the SFA Tribute Fund provides immediate, one-time cash donations to widows of fallen Special Forces soldiers killed in action; the SFA Benevolent Fund provides case-by-case financial grants to wounded Special Forces soldiers to help them during their rehabilitation, prepare handicap home modifications, and assist with unforeseen emergency expenses.
    Sawyer says he’s hoping for a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000.
    “It’s our biggest show ever,” said Sawyer, “which means we have to raise a lot of money to pay for Bad Company and our other expenses.”
    To sweeten the pot for attendees, the festival is offering a raffle for a 2008 Chevy Colorado pick-up, a Fender Stratocaster with amplifier and a Smith and Wesson .45-caliber handgun. Plus, your ticket earns you a shot at various door prizes — last year, the SFA awarded more than $2,000 in door prizes.
    To honor our fighting men and women, SFA is donating 200 tickets to injured soldiers at Womack Army Medical Center — one ticket for a wounded soldier and one for a guest or caregiver.
    The festival kicks off at 11 a.m. on May 31 and will end after Bad Company leaves the stage, which Sawyer estimates will be around 10:30 p.m.For more information, check out http://www.festivalsandevents.com/featurefestival.php?lid=8633 or http://www.ticketalternative.com/Events/172.aspx
 

   Contact Tim Wilkins: tim@upandcomingweekly.com

“I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.” — Don McLean

    A couple of generations have sang along to the lyrics of American Pie, but few may realize that the lyrics are actually talking about Buddy Holly — an American rock icon.
    Holly, a Texas native, began his career playing bluegrass, but after seeing an Elivs Presley show in 1955, he turned his attention to rock ‘n roll. And he never looked back.
    In the time span of 18 months, Holly became one of the most influential musicians on the rock ’n roll landscape. His life was cut short when a plane he was traveling in crashed in 1959 — the day the music died.
The Cape Fear Regional Theatre is celebrating the life of Buddy Holly in its river show — Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, playing at Campbellton Landing May 9-25.
    {mosimage}“Buddy died when he was just 22,” said Bo Thorp, the CFRT’s artistic director. “It is so interesting to look at a man who rose that much fame in just three years. He was a ‘my way’ kind of guy. Radio wanted him to play country, but he wanted to play rock ‘n roll – so that’s what he did.”
    Thorp said the production is a lot like a big rock concert. She said that the music, which is used to tell the story, is the music that many people grew up with. “There’s not a song that’s going to be performed that people are not going to know,” she said. “It’s the fabric of a lot of people’s lives.”
    For Baxter Clement, a professional actor and musician who resides in Southern Pines and has the starring role, Buddy Holly’s life is the ultimate rock ‘n roll story. “Elvis came before Buddy, but they were all part of the same thing,” said Clement, who knows a little about rock ‘n roll having been a guitarist in a few bands, and having toured extensively. “It’s remarkable that he had 20 number one hits in that short span of time,” he said. “He broke a lot of barriers down — including racial ones. I’ very glad to be a part of telling the story.”
    Performing in the river show is a first for Clement, who has spent much of his career on Broadway. He noted that he was told up front to bring his allergy medicines, but he’s looking forward to the experience. Clement said that any time you are on stage, you are compelled to give your best. “The excitement that comes from performing, whether it is for 4,000 people a night on Broadway or 400 people at the river show, generates the same energy,” he said.
    For 71st High School drama teacher Mike Jones the river show is also a first; however, he has performed several times at the CFRT. Jones will be play “The Big Bopper” Richardson, who toured with and was killed in the same plane crash as Holly. Jones said the show is “coming together and it’s going to be great.” He likened the relationship between Holly, Richardson and Ritchie Valens to that which has developed between the performers at the CFRT.             “The relationship between the character is very touching,” he said, explaining that he and the cast were forming close working relationships as well.
    He likens the play to a rock ‘n roll festival. “Their deaths were such a touching and traumatic thing,” he said. People loved them then, and they still love them today. They love their music.”
    If you want to take part in this musical extravaganza, you can purchase tickets to dinner, which begins at 7:30 p.m. or tickets for the show only which starts at 8:30 p.m. Tickets Range in price from $14 to $27. The show opens on Friday, May 9 and runs Thursday — Sunday through May 25. For more information, call 323-4233.

    Contact Janice Burton at: editor@upandcomingweekly.com 

    Mona Powell is a woman of determination. In 1996, she thought it would be a great idea for women who own small businesses to get together and form a network to help each other out. One of the network’s goals would be creating greater exposure in the community for their businesses. Just as tenaciously as she established her own business, Color Me Angel, Powell went about establishing an event by women business owners, for women business owners. In its ninth year, W.O.M.E.N. (Women Owned and Managed Enterprising Networks) expo is slated for May 9-10 at Cross Creek Mall. The event’s focus hasn’t changed much over the ensuing years — it’s still geared toward helping small business women gain exposure for their businesses, but it’s also a celebration of women, and its annual timing around Mother’s Day makes it even more special.
    “We are celebrating mothers,” said Powell. “It’s a tribute to mom — we’re celebrating women as mothers, who are also business owners.”
    There will be more than 67 women-owned businesses participating in the event. Powell said the vendors will be distributed throughout the mall. Women will be showcasing their businesses and will be supporting the day-long celebration by offering door prizes and sponsoring several fun events slated for the afternoon.
“We have all sorts of fun events planned for Saturday,” explained Powell. “We have a mother/daughter lookalike contest, a dance team contest and a scavenger event.”
    These events have become signature events for the expo. Last year, so many people signed up to participate in the events, that there had to be two to three iterations just to let everyone participate.
    “The dance contest is great,” explained Powell. “It’s a mother/daughter team dancing to their favorite music. Last year, the youngest contestant was only 16-months-old, but she was shaking it.”
    The scavenger hunt is a great way for moms and their daughters to spend time together. It actually starts on Thursday afternoon, and participants have until 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon to collect everything on the list and bring it to the stage, which is located in the food court.
    This isn’t your average scavenger hunt. Last year, participants were required to find things like a cattail, a picture of the smallest house they could find, an eight-track tape and a 1942 Sears and Roebuck Catalog. Two people found that catalog.
    “It’s a lot of fun for the family,” said Powell. “The younger team members have to ask what some of the things are. We had one girl call last year and ask what an eight-track was.”
    Lists can be picked up at the mall’s customer service desk on Thursday afternoon or can be downloaded from www.colormeangel.com.
    The big event of the day is the crowning of one lucky mother as Queen for the Day. To enter your mom in the contest, you have to write a 100 word or less essay on why your mom should be treated like a queen. The winning mom will be notified in advance, and the coronation will take place at 2 p.m. The lucky mom will win a $500 gift pack including spa treatments and dinner.
    Powell said she has been getting calls all week from people who want to participate, and she only sees the event growing. She noted that the event kicks off with a social for the vendors on Thursday, and runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday.
    “We take Sunday off because we need time to celebrate,” she said.
    For more information, visit the Color Me Angel Web site at www.colormeangel.com.

    Contact Janice Burton at: editor@upandcomingweekly.com

    The Cumberland Oratorio Singers hope to make beautiful music with their new conductor, Michael Martin.
Adding a new front man is a very big change for the COS, which has been led by the same conductor — founder Alan Porter — for its entire 17-year existence. Porter recently retired as conductor, though he plans to stay on the COS’s board of directors.
    Martin, a native of Maine, will start in the fall. He is the assistant professor of music and director of choral activities and music education at Methodist University; he brings a wealth of experience in various fields of the performing arts to the COS.
    “I’ve been a choral director of several community groups,” Martin said. “Different kinds. I conducted a rather large choral group of 120 and I built that up from 35 while in New England. I also directed a semiprofessional group set up by audition.
    “And, I conducted men’s barbershop chorus, sang for 18 years in professional barbershop quartets,” said Martin, “and had the chance to travel all over the U.S. and Europe singing with them.”
    Martin is excited about the opportunity to make the COS even bigger and better, though he came within a whisker of not getting the job.
    “They didn’t contact me,” said Martin. “I saw that they were having auditions for a director, so I poked around for a bit and I found that they had already done a search and they had settled on two people they were going to audition.
    “So I talked to Fouad Fakhouri (conductor for the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra) and mentioned to him my background and he said I need to be part of that, that my experience was the direction they wanted to go.”
    And that experience certainly interested the FSO’s board of directors.
    “He (Martin) just stood out with his experience and knowledge,” said Porter.
    Porter said he is stepping down for various reasons, even though his love and passion for the COS has never wavered.
    “It’s my baby,” said Porter, who retired from Methodist University six years ago and now lives in Kure Beach. “But it’s quite a drive from Kure Beach and I was making it every day. And with the cost of gas, it gets very expensive.”
    Plus, added Porter, “I was ready for some new blood with new ideas and more energy.”
    Porter says Martin will take the COS in new directions and, hopefully, build up its membership and audience. Porter says over the course of its existence, the COS has averaged between 55 and 60 members a year. And he says the reaction to the COS has been positive in Fayetteville, even though he says it’s tough for such a specialized group to make it in a military town.
    “It’s always had a loyal group of followers,” said Porter,“and there’s quite a talent pool here in Fayetteville — we simply want to increase the numbers of the members and the audience.”
    Martin’s plan to increase the size of the COS and its fans includes advertising and playing various venues. He also says that more people in Cumberland County need to be exposed to the choral group.
    “My plan is to do shows in as varied a setting as possible,” said Martin. “We need to travel; this is a large area, so I would like to do maybe an established concert once a year here (Methodist University). But the rest of the concerts are fair game. I want to find venues around the county. This is the Cumberland Oratorio Singers, so people from Cumberland County should be in the group.
    “And I think them staying in one place doesn’t work,” added Martin, “So my thinking is maybe taking one month and have a Monday rehearsal in Hope Mills, a Monday rehearsal in Spring Lake, another Monday here (Methodist University) and have them advertised so people can come.”
    Martin also wants to expand the repertoire of the group, adding new music while still keeping the old standbys such as the always popular community Messiah sing.
    “I just want more people to be exposed to this wonderful music and to make it the best,” said Martin.

    Contact Tim Wilkins: tim@upandcomingweekly.com

    Since last fall, the Homebuilders Association has taken the lead in welcoming the soldiers and airmen from Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base home. Operation Welcome Home is designed to bring the soldiers and their families together for one big fun event that gives the community the opportunity to show them exactly how much they care.
    The fourth iteration of Operation Welcome Home is slated for Saturday, May 10 at 7 p.m. at the Crown Coliseum. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division will be honored at a Fayetteville Guard arena football game.{mosimage}
    Billy Hylton, the president of the Fayetteville Homebuilders Association, said the organization will once again be{mosimage} purchasing 5,000 tickets for the soldiers and their families. In the past, events have revolved around Fireantz hockey. This is the first Operation Welcome Home football game. The Fayetteville Guard, Fayetteville’s arena football team, will be taking on the Augusta Colts. To date, the Guard has a 1-4 record.     So come cheer on the soldiers and the home team.
    Throughout the evening, the soldiers and their families will be honored in a number of ways, including the presentation of a special coin to each soldier.
    Hylton said the homebuilders took on this event to recognize the importance of the military in our community and the respect the community has for their dedication and sacrifice. Each of the preceding events has had record attendance, but has yet to be a sellout. Hylton hopes this event will be the sellout.
    “We’ve been talking with the 82nd command for some time and they are excited about participating and being a part of this event,” he said. “We want all of the soldiers to come out to the football game and have a great time.”
Commanders of the 82nd will be on had to welcome the soldiers home and to share in the evening with the community. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the game can be purchased at the Crown Box Office, and range in price from $8 for children up to $32 for adults.

    Contact Janice Burton at: editor@upandcomingweekly.com

    While many of the county’s movers and shakers showed up at the Crown Coliseum to officially celebrate the organization’s naming of Paul Beard as its president and chief executive officer, his attention was not focused on the county’s leaders. Instead, it was focused on the current and former employees of the Crown.
    Beard, a lifelong resident of Cumberland County, began working at the Crown in 1995  when the facility was under construction. He worked his way up through the Crown organization, serving in a number of roles. Along the way, his hard work and dedication to his fellow employees earned him a lot of supporters. And they were all on hand on Thursday, April 24, to celebrate with him.
    “I’m especially pleased to see a lot of my fellow co-workers here,” said Beard. “They had a great love for this place and they still have a love for it. It means a lot to me to have you here. You have mentored me, helped me along the way and coached me to help me get here.”
    Beard also acknowledged the work of the Crown Center Commission, the board that has oversight of the facility.{mosimage}
    “Their commitment is long-term and day-to-day,” said Beard. “They spend a lot of time with us; embracing us and what we want to do. They are key to helping us succeed.”
    Chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Breeden Blackwell noted that Beard was “the right man at the right time” for the Crown. He noted that Beard was more likely to brag about his staff than to tout his own success, but that his performance speaks for itself.
    And it is that success over the months Beard has served as interim CEO which made him the logical choice for the job. Since Beard took over the helm of the organization earlier this year, the coliseum has had five sold-out shows, and set a revenue record for the month of March.
    While the commission is quick to give accolades to Beard, he turns it back to his staff.
    “We could not succeed without the staff in this facility,” he said. “The staff here can overcome any obstacle — and they do it with a spirit of cooperation.”
    One of Beard’s first tasks after assuming responsibility for the coliseum was to write a new mission statement. He said he gathered the key leaders at the facility and they hammered out the mission statement. The statement centers around Beard’s idea of how the Crown’s customers and staff should expect to be treated. It also talks about raising the bar of the Crown’s fiscal performance and the way it is seen in the community.
    “We are building partnerships with the people in the community,” he said. “The Crown Center is an integral part of our community. The days when it was seen in an adversarial role are over.”
    {mosimage}While Beard is busy looking to the future — talking about expanding the facility and adding a hotel either on the campus of the facility or nearby — he hasn’t forgotten about its past. He in fact wants to embrace it. On May 19, the organization will rededicate the auditorium in honor of the men and women of the armed services. Later this year, the organization will rededicate the Charlie Rose Agri-Expo Center and its ties to our county’s farming community.

    Contact Janice Burton at: editor@upandcomingweekly.com

    The Fayetteville Area System of Transit, or FAST, has been at the center of recent conversations by the Fayetteville City Council. On Monday, May 28, that conversation included many of the riders of the system, as local citizens packed the council room to oppose a proposed increase in rider fares. The council listened to their voices, voting against raising the fares, and instead committing to raising the per capita expenditure on the system to that of other systems in the state.
    The transit system has been under fire for quite some time due to its aging fleet, scheduling woes and customer service. Last fall the city received a report citing problems in the system, which included its lack of funding. Fayetteville’s system is funded at a little more than $9 per capita — half that of similar systems in the state.
    At the recent meeting, the council voted to raise the per capita spending over the next three years to bring it in line with the other systems in the state. The council additionally approved an additional $5 tax on all vehicles within the city limits, and voted to fund the system with an additional $100,000 in the upcoming budget year.
    Citizens on hand for the hearing on rate increases loudly applauded the move by the council as a step in the right direction. Prior to the action, the council heard a litany of complaints against the system. Speakers talked about the lateness of the buses, their poor upkeep and maintenance and the lack of improvements.
    The call for increased fares came as the new transit director, Ron Macaluso, sought to bring the system’s staff up {mosimage}to par. Macaluso presented a plan earlier this year to hire seven new positions, which he said would be key in getting the system on the right track. The positions included a training supervisor and dispatchers. Macaluso said that the current supervisory staff spends its time dispatching, so they cannot be out on the road checking on routes. The proposed hiring actions resulted in an increase of more than $400,000. To meet that increase, Macaluso recommended the rate hikes and the tax increase on personal vehicles.
    When questioned whether the hiring of the new positions would result in immediate improvements to the system, Macaluso noted that the changes would not be immediate. The council, nor the audience, was comfortable with that answer. Macaluso said the addition of five new buses this fall would, in itself, create an improvement in the system because they would be clean and would not have the maintenance problems of the older buses. He argued that the hiring of the new staff was the building block for improvements within the system.
    Councilmen Robert Massey, D.J. Haire and Charles Evans were firm in their belief that more improvements had to come quickly. To ensure those changes, Mayor Tony Chavonne pushed the council to make the commitment to up the per capita spending and to form a Blue Ribbon Commission to study the issues and make recommendations to improve the system.

    Like many Americans, I am trying to raise my consciousness about my own impact on our earth and how to lessen it. I am trying to be thoughtful in my use of resources and in my disposal of what is left. In short, I am trying to get greener.But it is not that easy. I know that the car I drive is a heavy, gas guzzling disaster. Sometimes I try to justify this to myself by noting that it does get better mileage on the highway and that I feel safe in it, but it still uses way too much fuel, a reality which is also getting my pocketbook’s attention about once a week at the gas pump. I will be more practical with my next purchase of a vehicle, but the current one is not quite three years old, so it will probably guzzle away with me for several more years.The Dickson household does recycle, and we are proud of that, but it, too, takes some time and effort. We bag newspapers, magazines, and the endless slick catalogues which come in the mail. A large plastic bin in a utility closet holds empty glass and plastic containers until it is full to overflowing. Then it is off to the Ann Street landfill to deposit the recyclables, a chore that takes some time and effort and is not all that pleasant. The recycling situation should be a bit less burdensome once the city of Fayetteville’s program begins this summer, but it will never be as simple as the “ungreen” option of simply tossing everything in the trash.{mosimage}
      All the blessed rain of late has eased the drought conditions across North Carolina, including in our area, but I am trying not to return to my unthinking use of water. I now understand far better than I did before the drought that water
      I have come to view shopping as a conservation challenge as well. Like many women, I do most of the shopping for our household, grocery and otherwise, and I am increasingly dismayed by the extravagant, luxurious waste in packaging. I recently bought a package of small appliance batteries, which came on a cardboard backing with a hard plastic shell as are many other consumer products. Bottles of various liquids are packaged in boxes. The reasons for all of this packaging are varied, but they often include ease of packing and shipping and a desire to make the products more difficult to conceal and steal.  But what happens to all that fancy packing. Consumers, you and I, generally throw it away and it winds up in our landfills.
      Bagging our purchases is another issue. Do you prefer paper or plastic? Neither is environmentally sound, and both also wind up in our landfills. For my birthday last fall, my children gave me two large canvas tote bags, which I keep in the gas guzzler to carry my purchases from the store. They work just fine, and I feel good about doing what people in Europe and other parts of the world have done for decades.  I see more and more people doing the same thing, and I take great satisfaction in seeing that many stores now offer such bags for sale to their customers at relatively modest prices instead of providing only paper or plastic. My only problem has been remembering to take my own bags into stores, and more than once I have had to walk back into a parking lot to retrieve them.
      Someone much greener than I has some other environmentally friendly and easy suggestions. Unplug appliances that you are not using.  This is helpful to the pocketbook as well. Turn your thermostat down in colder weather and add a layer of clothing. In the summer, crank it up a bit and take off a layer. This, too, is helpful to your pocketbook. Compost fruits and vegetables from your kitchen.  This can be a tad messy, but it will help your plants. Read newspapers and magazines on line, thereby saving a few trees. This is not my natural inclination because I love the feel of what I am reading in my hands, but I find myself doing this more and more, especially for a quick peek at the morning news. It probably is the way of the future.
       With Mother’s Day creeping up on us, these are ways to love your mother č Mother Earth.

Dear Editor:
Thanks Everyone!
    I’m taking this opportunity to say thank you for all that came out Monday (4/28) to speak in support not to raise our bus fares. Over the last few weeks my fellow councilmember’s and myself have received emails, phone calls and had street conversations from citizens concerning this subject.
    I think it’s a plus when citizens can come together and let their elected officials know just how they feel. I applaud some of the media (WIDU) for reporting their (bus riders) views. I was also impressed to hear and see several pastors from our community. They came; out some brought many of there(sic) members and they spoke loud and clear. (I would love to see this more often)
    After all of the speaking, our city council did the correct thing by not raising the bus fares and I was very thankful of that. I think this was the very best decision and I went home feeling good about our vote. Sometimes we the strong have to bare(sic) up the weak, so thanks Fayetteville City Council & citizens of Fayetteville we did the right thing. We have along ways to go on improving our transit system, but we are now moving aggressively forward.
D. J. Haire,Fayetteville City Council

Dear Editor:
    I am part of the Bark for a Park dog park committee in Fayetteville. We have been working with the City of Fayetteville for over a year to bring a dog park to Fayetteville. The city has a five-acre site on North Eastern Blvd. for our use but it needs enclosing. Our group has been tasked with raising funds for the fencing. The Parks and Recreation Department will maintain the park once it is operational. We have raised about one-third of the estimated $30,000 needed for fencing and have built community support for the project. People all over the county are straining at the leashes for this to become a reality!
     I live near Haymount and can certainly understand the desire to have a dog park near enough to walk to, such as the one Keith Phillips (April 23-29 edition) envisions at Rowan Park. However, the city’s chosen location across from the Cape Fear Botanical Garden would serve even those across the river.
     We would welcome the support of the dog lovers who want a dog park at Rowan Park. With your energy, we could bring a good-sized dog park to Fayetteville even sooner. We think that once we get one park open, there will be much demand for others in other parts of the county, perhaps even in existing city/county parks.           

{mosimage} The Fayetteville Animal Protection Society is supporting us, enabling use of their 501C3 nonprofit status for tax-deductible donations. Please join our efforts by calling us at 484-6619 or by mailing a check to FAPS, P.O. Box 58195, Fayetteville, NC 28305. Write “dog park” on the memo line of your check.
Judy Stoddard