The building, gutted. The roof, collapsed. Rubbish spilled from the gaping windows, a grim testament to the fire’s destructive power.
Early Monday afternoon, though the flames had been extinguished, visible damage from the fire that decimated Kinlaw’s Supermarket Saturday night remained. Much of the building was reduced to rubble — a charred shell of the bustling meat market that has been a staple of east Fayetteville for years.
For more than four decades, Kinlaw’s Supermarket, located on Sapona Road in east Fayetteville, has been feeding the Fayetteville community and supplying fresh meat to customers and catering services to local businesses.
Tommy Kinlaw and his brother Bobby founded the meat market in 1979, and expanded the business to include a restaurant a few years later, Kinlaw’s Welcome Grill. Kinlaw said the restaurant serves about 6,000 people a week, despite only being open for two meals a day and being closed on weekends.
The weekend fire, which lasted several hours Oct. 19, was caused by an electrical short in the building, Kinlaw said. The fire ultimately required about 2 million gallons of water to extinguish. Fire crews dumped about 4,000 gallons a minute for the first eight hours, through Saturday night and into Sunday morning, Kinlaw said. The Fayetteville Fire Department finished work at about 1 p.m. Sunday, he said. No one was injured from the fire.
Kinlaw said he had been “anxious at first,” about the fire — which news had woken him up after about an hour and a half of sleep — but felt reassured by the love and support the store has since received from the community and a large group of loyal customers. Kinlaw’s son, Travis Kinlaw, runs the day-to-day operations at the store.
“We had to cut the phone off in my son’s pocket, my one that runs the store over here, Travis, he was getting 28 texts a minute and he couldn’t handle it because there was so many people wanting to talk to him,” Tommy Kinlaw told CityView. “He just had to stop it for a little bit because there are so many decisions that are critical to this moment.”

Strong community support
A few long-time shoppers dropped in and out of the parking lot across the street from Kinlaw’s on Oct. 21, taking pictures of the building ruins. One woman told CityView she had shopped at Kinlaw’s for 40 years, and couldn’t believe what she’d seen on the news earlier that Monday morning — she had to come out to see it herself.
A longtime employee, Jack Muzquiz, pointed out the various pieces of black debris from the fire in the parking lot: a charred onion, a tin can, a plastic bottle, even a Kinlaw’s business card on the ground.
Other passersby who identified themselves as friends and family of the Kinlaw’s stopped by to offer condolences. Adding to the scene on Monday, city contractors, who were performing routine road maintenance unrelated to the fire, sprayed a tack coat onto Sapona Road, the same street where Kinlaw’s is located. Waylon Nobles, an engineering inspector for the city who happened to be overseeing the roadwork, told CityView he had done some concrete projects for the Kinlaw’s over the years, and described them as “really good people.” Nobles said he had been a regular shopper at the market, too.
“It’s a shame it happened,” he said, gazing at the large pile of rubble and blackened walls of the former meat market. “It’s very sad. I hope they rebuild because they did a lot for this community right here. Gave a lot of people jobs.”
“Your heart sank when you saw it,” Nobles added.
Kinlaw’s is known for providing employment opportunities for those with no other place to turn, such as former prisoners looking for jobs and to re-enter the community. The business also regularly feeds people who cannot afford food, according to Kinlaw and community members.
“We feed a lot of people, and sometimes we have to feed people that can’t feed themselves,” Kinlaw told CityView.
That also includes strangers. Kinlaw said, the business was able to put together a feast for the family of a woman with intestinal cancer. The woman has four children, he said. Her friend had reached out to Kinlaw’s and asked if they could help provide a meal, Kinlaw said.
“We did it the other night and all the children and the grandparents just broke down and cried,” Kinlaw said. “They said, ‘[We] couldn’t believe anybody loves us so much.’ We don’t know them. They don’t know us. But they ate a great supper.”
The show must go on
Kinlaw’s is not wasting any time getting back to business as usual.
“We’ve got a total plan already in place,” Kinlaw told CityView on Monday.
Kinlaw said the restaurant, spared by the fire, opened for business on Oct. 22 but he estimates the grocery store will not be open again until next August. The business has already found a builder, Kinlaw said, and they expect to complete the project in 10 to 11 months. Now, Kinlaw is waiting on the business’s insurance company to give the go-ahead to start the rebuilding process.
Kinlaw said his family plans to rebuild the market in the same location, with the hope of expanding it to be closer to the restaurant by purchasing the vacant building that currently separates the market and the restaurant.
“And we’re making a personal offer on that … building right between us that’s been vacant for years and it needs to be torn down,” Kinlaw said. “But I would like to put the store there and then we’d have the whole place to park. But we’ve got a lot of things going on. It’s happening really fast.”
Kinlaw, a deeply religious man, turned to his faith in the wake of the destruction. He said he had woken up early that Monday morning, at 3:30 a.m., with a message from God about his family’s troubles in the form of a psalm.
Standing in the parking lot of the restaurant Monday, he pulled out his Bible from his truck, an old-fashioned copy, bound in leather, and read the scripture aloud. He recited Psalm 41:1–3, verses describing how God blesses and protects those who are kind to the poor.
“But my word confirmed the fact that he’s going to take care of it,” Kinlaw said. “The song … ‘He’s got the whole world in his hand. He’s got me and you, too.’ I believe that with all my heart.”

The Public Works Commission plans to build its third solar farm by its sewer treatment plant in Grays Creek near Rockfish Creek and the Cape Fear River.
The PWC’s board voted unanimously on Wednesday to hire River City Construction of Washington, North Carolina, to build the farm for $6.49 million. River City was one of four companies that bid on the project, according to agenda materials from Wednesday’s meeting.
The bid is now subject to final approval by the Fayetteville City Council. The city owns the PWC.
The 4.875-megawatt Rockfish Solar Utility Station is to be built off N.C. 87 South on Tracy Hall Road next to the Rockfish Creek Water Reclamation Facility — a sewer treatment plant near where Rockfish Creek enters the Cape Fear River, according to PWC bid materials.
The total budget to build and open the Rockfish Solar Utility Station is $8.95 million, PWC spokesman Gavin MacRoberts told CityView. It’s expected to open in late 2025 or early 2026, he said.
Growing solar capabilities
The Rockfish solar farm is part of a larger effort by the PWC to expand its solar generation operations. The PWC has one farm, and including the Rockfish farm it plans to build three more.
Here are the details on the other solar farms, from the PWC’s website and provided by MacRoberts:
• Community Solar/Battery Storage. The PWC’s first solar farm opened in 2019 next to the natural gas powered Butler-Warner Generation Plant in the Eastover area. It generates up to 1 megawatt. The PWC plans to expand this farm. The size and date of the expansion are not yet determined.
• Gillespie Solar Photovoltaic Utility Station. This $3.4 million, 1.9-megawatt solar farm will be the PWC’s second solar farm. It is under construction at 3858 Gillespie St., where the Sally Hills Farms horse stable used to be in the Southview area between the Fayetteville Regional Airport and Hope Mills. It’s due to open in early 2025.
• Carvers Falls Road. “Engineering is underway for an additional solar farm off Carvers Falls Road,” MacRoberts said. This is on the north side of Fayetteville off Ramsey Street near Interstate 295. Construction is to start after the Rockfish solar farm is complete. It will be the PWC’s fourth solar farm. The estimated cost has not yet been determined.
The PWC provides electricity to customers in and around Fayetteville. It buys most of its power at a wholesale price from Duke Energy Progress. Its natural gas Butler-Warner plant is only activated during periods of peak demand and generates electricity for Duke during those periods, officials have said.
The existing solar farm by the Butler-Warner plant supplies power to the PWC’s customers, not Duke, MacRoberts said, as will the new farms.

Over the next couple of years, you’ll hear a great deal about the 250th anniversary of our country’s founding.
In July 2026, Americans will cheer the semiquincentennial — best add that word to your spelling list — of the Declaration of Independence. Even before that, however, we’ll witness other semiquincentennial celebrations: of the April 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord that ignited the Revolutionary War, of the June 1775 battle of Bunker Hill that forced the British to take the rebellion more seriously, and of battles of Moore’s Creek Bridge here in North Carolina (February 1776) and Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina (June 1776) that, together, frustrated Britain’s original scheme for subduing the southern colonies.
These and many other consequential battles preceding the Declaration of Independence deserve commemoration. I plan to do my part with a series of columns on the Carolinas’ contributions to the war effort.
But as John Adams memorably argued in a letter written nearly two decades after his presidential term, the American Revolution didn’t start with a musket shot.
“The Revolution was effected before the war commenced,” Adams observed. “The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people.”
Quite so. That’s why we don’t mark Independence Day as September 3, 1783, when British and American diplomats signed the Treaty of Paris that officially brought the Revolutionary War to a close.
Nor do we date the country’s start as October 19, 1781, when General Charles Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown.
Americans had to win a war to secure their independence, yes. But they were already a self-governing people before the war’s end. Indeed, they were a self-governing people even before the Continental Congress voted in 1776 to approve the Declaration of Independence produced by its brilliant drafting committee of Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.
Among the intellectual battles that produced the American Revolution so described by John Adams, that revolution of hearts and minds, was an event that occurred right here in North Carolina 250 years ago during the week of Oct. 23. And the revolutionaries who won it wore no blue uniforms and carried no muskets.
The ladies of Edenton wore dresses.
On October 25, 1774, Penelope Barker called together 50 other female residents of the colony’s former capital on the Albemarle Sound. They met in the home of Elizabeth King to discuss the work of North Carolina’s First Provincial Congress, which had met in August in New Bern, and America’s First Continental Congress, which had just concluded its session in Philadelphia.
Both congresses had opted to use economic means, not military means, to compel the British Parliament to remove its tax on tea.
The fundamental issue wasn’t financial. Americans were, relatively speaking, lightly taxed. But they insisted the power to tax lay with their own colonial legislatures, not with Parliament. Allowing faraway politicians to levy taxes to fund royal governors would make Americans vassals, not citizens.
Penelope Barker and her friends agreed. At what came to be called the “Edenton Tea Party,” they pledged not to purchase tea or other goods from Britain until it rescinded its illegal dictates. The women were “determined to give memorable proof of their patriotism,” calling it a duty “not only to our near and dear connections” but “to ourselves.”
This was one of the first political events led by American women — and it was far from play-acting. There was real danger. Penelope’s husband Thomas Barker was in London at the time, serving as essentially North Carolina’s lobbyist to the British government.
Other signatories’ husbands played key roles in public affairs on both sides of the Atlantic. Over the ensuing months, the cauldrons of revolution churned, bubbled, then boiled over. When war broke out, Thomas Barker fled to France, only managing to return to Penelope in 1778.
So, let’s all raise a toast to the ladies who met in Edenton 250 years ago to strike a blow for liberty. Just don’t toast them with tea.

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).

(Photo: A memorial bronze teapot in Edenton, NC commemorates the 51 women who protested the British Tea Tax. This was different than the Boston Tea Party in that the protestors in Edenton refused to purchase tea and other British goods.... And they were all women. Photo by Alyson Hansen)

     Fayetteville and Cumberland County are growing. The extension of Interstate 295 is bringing in
new businesses and people into the area. The latest addition is the Everhome Suites Hotel
Fayetteville which is conveniently located right across the parking lot of the Amazon
Warehouse, at 1720 Convoy Lane. Adding to the growing businesses staking claim right off the
highway, Everhome Suites is a part of the Choice Hotel family which also includes the Comfort
Inn.
     A brand-new build, Everhome Suites Fayetteville, is only the fourth of its kind. A modern and up-
to-date hotel, Everhome brings you “closer to home” even when you’re away. The hotel features
6 unique room styles, including wheelchair-accessible options, most of them being on the
ground floor for more accessibility.
    All rooms feature a kitchen with cups, plates, silverware, a coffeemaker, and a stove. Guests
have various options, depending on the needs and length of their stay. Those needing more
room can opt for a suite, which breaks the living and sleeping space into two separate rooms.
Even in the standard rooms, there is a sitting area for guests to enjoy or use for work. Everhome
has spared no expense when it comes to providing comfort for everyone. As part of their
commitment to providing a comfortable space to everyone, there are select rooms that are
equipped with Audio-Visual Door Alerts for the Hearing Impaired. These rooms have buttons on
the outside that when pressed blink the lights within the room, alerting guests with hearing
impairments that someone is at the door. Accessibility doesn’t stop there. Along with specially
equipped rooms, including those with larger turn radiuses and lower countertops, there is also a
working lift at the heated pool that will be open year-round unless weather dictates otherwise.
     Along with a pool, the outside patio area hosts 2 propane grills and a fire pit for the enjoyment of
the guests. This area is perfect for unwinding outside after a long day of meetings or work.
From the moment you walk through the door for check-in, Everhome has everything you need at
your fingertips. Need to grab a snack or a quick bite on the way out for the day? Stop in the
marketplace located onsite. Guests can shop for cereal or grab a fresh cup of coffee, all with the
convenience of self-checkout. Pet owners can enjoy the small grassy dog park area on one side
of the hotel. The hotel also offers a meeting room that can be set up to accommodate a range
of events, from a Monday morning meeting to training. For those who work out, Everhome
guests can feel the burn on one of several pieces of equipment, in a space with wall-to-floor
mirrors, a sanitation station, and a full wall window overlooking the dog park area.
     Whether you are staying for a day or 10, Everhome Suites Fayetteville is the newest premier
hotel in the area, with daily rates as low as $60. Have an organization or business that often has
people traveling into town? Everhome Suites would be your go-to for booking your out-of-town
guests or employees. For more information on special rates or contracting, contact Melanie
Parker, Director of Sales, at 910-491-9507 or email at mparker@hotelmc.net.

Nestled above the FTCC Bookstore, the All American Veterans Center provides many resources to students in the military and veteran communities. Since 2014, the All American Veterans Center has served the veteran population on campus with the respect and dignity veterans earned while valiantly serving our country. Staffed with a combination of dependents, members who are still serving, and work-study students who have recently transitioned, the All American Veterans Center has an in-depth understanding of the unique challenges faced by military families.
One of the main roles of the AAVC is to certify student enrollments with the Department of Veterans Affairs. All students using a VA educational benefit at FTCC are required to submit appropriate documentation and have their files reviewed by a School Certifying Official before it is manually uploaded to the VA for payment. FTCC has over 2,000 students utilizing VA benefits every semester, and that number is growing exponentially every year.
One of the more exciting experiences at the AAVC is the Warrior Wednesday event that takes place during the fall and spring semesters. Providing resources to the veteran and military community is something the AAVC takes pride in, and every other Wednesday, veterans can find a different opportunity presented inside the Veterans Services office. Many of the presenters include Veterans Bridge Home, Wounded Warrior Project, The Cohen Clinic, and even benefit specialists from the VA.
In addition to these events, the AAVC has continuously organized veterans resource fairs over the past year with plans for more events in the future. With over twenty participating vendors, these events have been an overwhelming success and are scheduled at FTCC’s Fayetteville campus, making it easy for the veteran student population to attend.
The FTCC All American Veterans Center has taken pride in having a Military Friendly® designation for several years. Being awarded a Military Friendly® badge means that FTCC goes above and beyond for the military and veteran community. By accepting credits awarded through military service, providing a designated study and lounge space for veterans, and having knowledgeable specialists who can assist with the processes of attending college, there’s a reason FTCC was ranked in the top ten for Military Friendly® schools for 2024.
FTCC is dedicated to serving those who have served our country. With a designated space for veterans and dependents to find the support they need, resources offered to assist with many challenges, and knowledgeable staff to guide veterans every step of the way, FTCC is well equipped for the ever-growing population of veterans in the Fayetteville area. By creating a welcoming and informative environment focused on student success, FTCC is the school to choose for veterans and dependents alike.

The origins of Día de los Muertos can be traced back to indigenous Aztec culture, where rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors had been practiced for at least 3,000 years.
The Aztecs believed that death was a natural part of life's continuum, and they honored the deceased by placing offerings at tree stumps, which were considered sacred.
These early celebrations were not somber occasions but rather a vibrant celebration of life and death, reflecting the belief that the dead continued to exist in a different realm and could visit the living during special times of the year.
When Spanish colonizers arrived in the 16th century, they brought with them Catholic traditions, including All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. To integrate indigenous practices with Catholic customs, the Spanish moved Día de los Muertos from the summer to November 1 and 2, aligning it with these Catholic holidays.
This adaptation allowed the indigenous people to continue their rituals in a form that was acceptable to the colonial authorities. Over time, the blending of these traditions resulted in a unique cultural fusion that characterizes Día de los Muertos today.
Central to the celebration of Día de los Muertos are various traditions and symbols that have deep cultural significance. One of the most important elements is the ofrenda, or altar, which is meticulously decorated with marigolds, photos of the deceased, and personal items such as favorite foods and drinks.
Marigolds, known for their vibrant yellow and orange colors, are believed to attract the spirits of the deceased with their strong scent. Calaveras, or sugar skulls, are also a popular symbol, often decorated in bright colors and used as treats or decorations.
These elements collectively create an atmosphere of joy and reverence, honoring the lives of those who have passed away.
Today, Día de los Muertos is celebrated with a blend of ancient and contemporary practices. Families prepare elaborate ofrendas at home and in cemeteries, and communities come together for parades, music, and dance. Traditional dances like La Danza de los Viejitos (the dance of the old men) and La Danza de los Tecuanes (the dance of the jaguars) are performed, adding to the festive atmosphere.
Costumes and makeup are also a significant part of the celebration, with many people donning La Catrina-style makeup to honor the iconic skeletal figure that has become a symbol of the holiday. Through these activities, Día de los Muertos continues to evolve while preserving its core essence of celebrating life and death.
While Día de los Muertos is primarily celebrated in Mexico, its influence extends to other parts of the world. Countries in Central America, Brazil, and Spain, as well as Mexican-American communities throughout the United States, also partake in the festivities, each adding their own unique touches to the celebration.
In these regions, you might find variations in the types of foods prepared, the styles of altars, and the ways in which people honor their deceased loved ones.
Despite these differences, the underlying theme remains the same: a joyous celebration that bridges the gap between the living and the dead.

The Sandford House, a part of Heritage Square located at 224 Dick Street, has had several residents and owners from the time it was built in 1797. The Daingerfield family is one of the more interesting families to live in and own the home. Father John E.P. Daingerfield and his son Elliot have a fascinating history and artistic legacy, whose influence spans from the Civil War to celebrated contributions in American Art.
The Early Years: John E.P. Daingerfield and the Civil War
John E.P. Daingerfield, a former Confederate Captain, has an intriguing historical background deeply rooted in the Civil War era. Daingerfield was Acting Paymaster at the Harpers Ferry Armory during John Brown's 1859 Raid, where he was taken hostage but not injured. On June 10, 1861, he joined the Confederate States Army and was transferred to Fayetteville as munitions and manufacturing equipment were relocated to the Fayetteville Arsenal.
During his service, he was appointed military paymaster and storekeeper by Maj. John C. Booth, commanding officer at the Fayetteville Arsenal. These roles were prestigious within the Army, and Daingerfield served in the 2nd Battalion Local Defense Troops, commonly called the Arsenal Guard. His firsthand account of John Brown's Raid was later published in The Century Magazine in June 1885, providing a unique perspective from a prisoner's standpoint.
Elliott Daingerfield: From Fayetteville to New York
Elliott Daingerfield, the son of John E.P. Daingerfield, was born in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and raised in Fayetteville. He also kept a vacation retreat nestled in Blowing Rock, NC.
Unlike the landscape artists before him, he chose to paint from memory instead of observing nature firsthand. He believed this approach infused his art with a deeper sense of spirituality, as it was filtered through the lens of his imagination.
His artistic journey began in earnest when he moved to New York at the age of 21 to study art. Elliott's time in New York marked the beginning of his significant contributions to American art. His early works and teaching experiences laid the foundation for his future success and recognition in the art world.
In the late 1890s, Daingerfield gained recognition for his paintings of religious subjects, including a notable mural in the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in New York City. His growing reputation culminated in his election to the National Academy of Design as an associate member in 1902 and as a full member in 1906.
The legacy of the Daingerfield family continues to be celebrated in modern times, particularly through the works and influence of Elliott Daingerfield. Considered one of North Carolina's most prolific artists, Elliott's contributions to American art remain significant. His works are still admired for their visionary style and religious themes, which have left a lasting impact on the art community.
The South Parlor of the Sandford House, known as 'The Daingerfield Room,' displays Elliott Daingerfield's painting 'Angel of Beauty,' among other artifacts. Visitors can walk through the historical home and gain insights into the lives of the Daingerfield family, their contributions to American history and art, and their lasting impact on the cultural heritage of North Carolina.

(Photo: Midnight Moon, a painting by Elliot Daingerfield. Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum via Wikipedia)

Sweet Valley Ranch is again getting into the spirit of the season, this time with their annual haunted tour known as Backwoods Terror Ranch.
The legend of Backwoods Terror Ranch begins with Dr. Frederick Surgeon. In 1895, Dr. Surgeon was fired from a plastic surgery practice in Greenwich, Connecticut. His drive to find eternal youth brought him to the North Carolina countryside, right outside of Fayetteville.
It was here that he continued his extreme medical experiments, and the Fayetteville medical community welcomed his breakthroughs in animal splicing. His Fayetteville colleagues didn't realize his experiments encompassed more than animals.
Backwoods Terror Ranch began scaring attendees in early October, but the fun continues at the ranch from Oct. 25-27, and Oct. 31-Nov. 2. Each night, the haunting experience begins at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at their website at https://backwoodsterrorranch.com/tickets/
This year, Backwoods Terror Ranch will have three separate attractions.
"The Dystopian Abyss, the Haunted Trail that will leave you questioning your sanity," the website boasts, is a trail taken throughout the ranch's back woods property. A covered wagon pulled by a tractor will take attendees to the start of the trail, where the fun begins. "Lost souls" lurk in the shadows, waiting to surprise unsuspecting guests. Individual tickets to the Dystopian Abyss are $25.
The second attraction, the Slaughterhouse, showcases gory experiments conducted by the infamous Dr. Surgeon.
"This abandoned abattoir is home to a host of horrifying haunts, each more terrifying than the last," according to the website. Individual tickets for this attraction are $15.
The final attraction, and new to Backwoods Terror Ranch this year, is called the Sunnyside Asylum. Surgeon Manor, a "grand ghostly mansion," is full of ghostly surgeons and patients for guests to encounter throughout their tour. The Asylum was Dr. Surgeon's cover story for the screams coming from his property. Individual tickets for the asylum are $15.
For those wanting to partake in all three attractions, an all access pass can be purchased for $45. VIP tickets are also available for $60. VIP ticket holders get to skip the lines and head straight into the terrifying twists and turns of Sweet Valley Ranch's Backwoods Terror Ranch.
Backwoods Terror Ranch can be visited at 2990 Sunnyside School Rd. in Fayetteville. For more information about Sweet Valley Ranch and their programs, call 833-787-4368.

(Photo: The Sunnyside Asylum at Backwoods Terror Ranch is the latest attraction to the popular haunted house. Photo courtesy of Backwoods Terror Ranch Facebook page)

WIDU 1600AM is a locally owned, community radio station. Owners Wes and Sandra Cookman have been the people and the passion behind the airwaves. Providing AM radio programming for Cumberland County, WIDU is “your station for inspiration and information,” with seven days of live shows, podcasts, and a generous mix of inspirational and gospel music. Listeners can tap in for their morning motivation daily from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. For the latest on community events and initiatives, the Wakeup 9 a.m. segment features community voices like pastors, law enforcement, and organizational leaders. Saturday and Sunday are dedicated to giving local churches a broader voice and platform to spread love and Christian education. After a five-year hiatus, mainly due to COVID-19, WIDU is finally bringing back its grand 2-day anniversary celebration at the Crown Expo Center and the Crown Coliseum.
Festivities kick-off on Thursday, Oct. 24 at noon with the Women’s Empowerment Luncheon at the Crown Expo Center, 1960 Coliseum Drive. This event is aimed at bringing area women together to encourage and empower each other. Headlining this year’s event is Memphis Gospel artist Jekayln Carr. Tickets are $49 and can be purchased at https://bit.ly/4ePFvjG
The first day of celebration ends at Kingdom Impact Global Ministries (2503 Murchison Rd) with the talent show to rival all talent shows, Carolina BEST. Starting at 6:30 p.m., this talent competition brings out the best and most promising artists in the area. This year’s competition will feature 16 contestants competing in 5 categories (Solo, Youth, Quartet, and Choir/Ensemble).
They will all be vying for the coveted title of Carolina BEST, an award that crowns the best of the best among the contestants. The winner of this year’s competition will receive $1000 and the opportunity to open ceremonies on Friday. Judging this year’s competition are Award-winning Gospel singer Kim Burrell, Le’andria Johnson, third season winner of BET’s Sunday’s Best, and last year’s Carolina BEST winner and “No Ordinary Worship” artist, Kelontae Gavin.
Gavin will perform a mini-concert before the winners are announced. Tickets are $20-$50 and can be purchased online at https://bit.ly/3NxHw8i
WIDU is a point of inspiration for the community, so it’s only fitting that anniversary festivities include prayer and fellowship over a meal. The WIDU Prayer Breakfast starts at 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Crown Expo Center. Gospel singer Kim Burrell will perform and prolific Atlanta Pastor Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant will deliver the message for the morning. Tickets are $49 and can be purchased online at https://bit.ly/4faQHam.
Ending the festivities on Friday at 6 p.m. will be the WIDU Anniversary Celebration, the area’s premier gospel concert. Coming back after a five-year hiatus, this year’s lineup is packed with big names.
“Get ready to be enthralled by a diverse lineup of artists at the WIDU Anniversary. We will hear the soulful Pastor John P. Kee & the New Life Community Choir, the powerful Le'Andria Johnson, the talented Pastor Tim Rogers, the spirited Doc McKenzie & The Hi-Lites, Fayetteville's own McDonald Sisters, and The Mickens. This year we have something for everyone. Join us as we celebrate 66 years of community radio on WIDU.”
Tickets can be purchased at https://bit.ly/4dUA3L4.

(Photo: Performers at the 2016 WIDU Anniversary event sing for the crowd at the Crown Arena.)

The newest exhibition at Gallery 208 brings together many of the artists who have been a part of the gallery’s history during the past ten years. Chronicles of Time: A Retrospective Exhibition is the last exhibit of the 2024 season, opening Oct. 22, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Visitors to the exhibit will experience the ongoing discourse on the role of image and object-making that is taking place by 18 artists. The exhibit is a celebration of 16 artists who have exhibited before and two artists exhibiting at Gallery 208 for the first time. The artists in Chronicles of Time: A Retrospective Exhibition all contribute to the larger dialogue taking place in visual art today.
Visitors will see a painting hanging next to a digitally generated image, a mixed media alongside a photograph. The mix allows for comparisons, to observe common themes or differences in an artist’s approach — deepening our engagement with the artwork and the possibilities of art and creativity.
There are other advantages of a large group exhibit. We are able to compare and observe common themes or differences in what artists choose to focus their work on. Emerging and mid-career artists are exhibiting with established artists — providing an accessible and affordable way for collectors to discover new talent and acquire unique pieces.
Johanna Gore and Shane Booth are examples of an emerging artist exhibiting with a professional artist. Gore, a young artist, has explored identity in the last two years with a series of self-portraits. The work titled Life Mirrors Reality is a blurred digital image floating between the mark-making above and below the portrait.
Gore’s self-portrait hangs next to established artist Shane Booth — an artist known for his years of investigating the self-portrait as a theme in his work. Both artists are exhibiting portraits that hang next to each other in the gallery. Looking at the two portraits, we see the influences of very different historical and cultural experiences between each portrait.
Not all art is a self-portrait. But for many artists, their unique perspectives, preferences, and worldview can be interpreted as reflecting the artist’s identity and, therefore a self-portrait. Leslie Pearson is such an artist who imbues the work with her love of nature, the cycle of life (skeletal remains), and a fascination with our ecosystem.
In the exhibit, Pearson is showing small handmade books. In Pearson fashion, part of a bone or a lock of hair is submerged in a clear epoxy window on the surface of her hand-sewn books. Thick in depth, the books are journals for the owner to take notes in a work of art - each page is part of the greater aesthetic of the functional, abstracted, sculptural book form.
Dwight Smith and Vicki Rhoda both bring the self-portrait to their work. You cannot separate the artist from the image. Smith is exhibiting a small mixed media and is known for his large abstract paintings with references to African and African American symbols.
In Elizabethtown, North Carolina, Vicki Rhoda grew up with a church named Lula’s Temple located across the street from her house. Her recent body of relief prints interprets her memories of the pastor of Lula’s Temple. Rhoda shares her experiences in the print titled Lula’s Temple: Redemption.
One of two digital artists, Jonathan Chestnut used technology and AI to explore known texts. Chestnut’s print titled Genesis 3:24 is an interpretation of a quote: "So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Using technology, AI, his drawing and digital skills, Chestnut is creating new visual interpretations on an old subject religion.
Abstracting nature is a theme by two artists: Katey Morrill and Callie Farmer. Farmer has shifted her interest in capturing the beauty of nature to abstracting it in graphic patterns of color and shapes. Morrill is exploring “the process of abstracting observed landscapes by emphasizing southern terrain patterns through color and shape.
Beauty is a theme we still see in a contemporary art world filled with conceptual art and spray paint. Jaden McRae is exhibiting a pencil study of an aged cherry tree in front of a building and its set of stairs. In the drawing titled Nappy Canopy, McRae reduces his subjects to value and planes.
Beverly Henderson is another artist who brings her love of nature as a subject. In the exhibit, Henderson is showing a mixed media work that explores not only the beauty of nature, but the potential of the unseen.
Titled Unconditional Love, Kyle Harding brings the beauty of childhood in a photographic portrait of her daughter Savannah with one of her large dogs. Throughout the years Harding’s two children are a perfect subject to capture the magic and fleeting essence of childhood. In this image, Harding has captured the ineffable: “the joy we experience from unconditional love and trust.”
In contrast, Angela Stout’s portrait painting titled Self-Embrace is filled with a sense of angst, but it also evokes beauty. Not only is it painted beautifully, but as Stout shares: “we can find beauty in the midst of despair.”
Leslie Pearson and Skylor Swann are the only two artists exhibiting three-dimensional works. Swann’s ceramics contrast with Pearson’s organic books. Swann’s recent work has shifted from his well-known organic forms, delicate tendrils emerging from protruding surfaces. His new work is the opposite. Beautifully crafted, the work is a play on minimalism and the everyday object. Made out of clay, Swann has created the illusion of an opened paper bay, standing upright, the open end reveals the negative space of the interior of the bag.
The two artists who have never exhibited at Gallery 208 are Adrienne Trego and Bobbe Garcia. Trego is a fiber artist exhibiting a triptych titled Entangled: Mycelium, Veins and Roots. Visitors will see how Trego uses different colored threads as her medium and focuses on nature and detail. The artist stated: “my work concentrates on the minute, the detail, the minuscule patterns, which we are interconnected in their own forms and with the larger world.”
In the long list of artists, Bobbe Garcia’s prints are another example of a fresh interpretation of beauty and nature around us. Her compositions of patterns and color move across the surface of her paper, reminding us of the patterns of color that can be lost in a moment when the light changes.
A refreshing exhibit, Gallery 208 welcomes the public to view the Chronicles of Time: A Retrospective Exhibition. The gallery is located at Up and Coming Weekly, 208 West Rowan Street in Fayetteville. Gallery hours are Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The exhibit will remain until Dec. 11. For more information call 910-484-6200.

(Photo: Jonathan Chestnut print titled Genesis 3:24 is a piece using both AI and Chestnut's drawing skills.)

“In southeastern North Carolina, amongst the pines, swamps, and dark waters of the Lumbee River, you will find the heart and homeland of the Lumbee People. The ancestors of the Lumbee came together in the shelter of this land hundreds of years ago - survivors of tribal nations from the Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan language families, including the Hatteras, the Tuscarora, and the Cheraw.” (from https://www.lumbeetribe.com/history-and-culture) The rich culture of the Lumbee Tribe is a part of the fabric of this region of North Carolina and has been for centuries. This culture - music and dance, the stories, the clothing and jewelry, the traditions handed down for generations-is preserved and shared by The UNC Pembroke American Indian Heritage Center and the Museum of the Southeast American Indian.
North Carolina has the highest American Indian population east of the Mississippi River, and the Lumbee Tribe is the 9th largest tribe in the nation, out of more than 500 different tribes. The Lumbee people are known as the People of the Dark Water, so-called because of the dark waters of the Lumbee River. Their tribal lands span the areas now known as Robeson, Hoke, Scotland, and Cumberland Counties, one of the largest geographical areas of tribal land in the region.
In honor of American Indian Heritage Month in November, the American Indian Heritage Center will present The Lumbee Tribe Cultural Showcase at Givens Performing Arts Center on Nov. 7. During two performances, students in kindergarten through 8th grade from Robeson and surrounding counties will see performances of traditional dances, people wearing traditional clothing, jewelry, and headdresses, telling stories significant to the Lumbee tribe. However, they will also learn about the significance of those aspects of the Lumbee culture. Hosted by John Oxendine of the Lumbee Tribe, students will learn why these pieces of the Lumbee culture are important, and what they mean to the people who perform them as well as to those who see and hear them.
Tribe members will perform many kinds of dances: fancy shawl dance, shuffle dance, war dance, Woodland style dances, and more.
One type of dance that students will see is called a jingle dance. Jingle dances originated with the Ojibwa tribe in the early part of the 20th century. In these dances, young women wear a jingle dress: a dress that has multiple rows of metal cones that make a jingling sound as the women dance. It is believed that this sound drives away sickness and that jingle dances are dances of healing. The dances are accompanied by drums and singing.
The significance of the drums used in these performances is also an important part of what the audience will learn at the showcase. The drums are more than just musical accompaniment for the dancing. For example, is believed that the water drum, called this because it is hollowed out and has water in it, was given to the Lumbee’s ancestors by animals to help drive away sadness and depression.
Headdresses are another important part of the Lumbee culture. Tribe members wear various different types of feathered headdresses and there is an explanation of the meaning and significance of those pieces: how they became part of the Lumbee culture, what they signify, and how it is believed that they affect the people who wear them.
It is believed by many American Indians, including the Lumbee people, that thunderstorms were to be respected and revered. Tradition dictates during a thunderstorm, you should be quiet and respectful, not talking, laughing, playing music or even cooking or taking a shower. Aspects of the Lumbee culture and traditions such as these are part of what is shared in the Cultural Showcase program.
The showcase will also talk about the history of the Lumbee people, and the history of struggles among American Indians. Host John Oxendine explains that in the not-too-distant past, the dances that are such a significant part of Lumbee culture and spiritual beliefs were not legal to perform. Until the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed in 1978, fines could be imposed for the performance of these dances.
These elements, and many others, will make up the Nov. 7 event at Givens Performing Arts Center. While this event is specifically for invited audiences made up of elementary and middle school-aged children, it is just one event produced by the American Indian Heritage Center in Lumberton, NC. This organization provides “cultural, social and academic program[s] for American Indian students as well as educational programming for non-Native faculty, staff, and students.” (https://www.uncp.edu/academics/american-indian-heritage-center)

(The Lumbee Tribe Cultural Showcase will help to teach students about the Lumbee and other native peoples' traditions at the Givens Performing Arts Center. Photo courtesy of GPAC)

For the second year in a row, the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal will highlight noteworthy healthcare workers in the Fayetteville area at their Health Care Hero Awards.
“Our area’s healthcare providers do so much for so many and, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to shine a light on the heroes in our area,” said Faith Hatton, Editor of the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal and emcee for the event.
She says they intend to honor those making an impact on healthcare by:
• Giving members of the health care community a chance to connect in a fun, relaxed atmosphere.
• Celebrating individuals who go well beyond expectations to provide excellent care for our community.
• Awarding scholarships to up-and-coming members of the health care community.
Anyone can nominate a healthcare worker from Cumberland, Hoke, or Harnett Counties for an award. Nominators fill out an online form describing the nominee whose work and impact they find inspiring. There are nine award categories: Lifetime Achievement, Community Achievement, Health Care Executive, Innovation in Health Care, Physician, Nurse, Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant, Unsung Hero, and Volunteer.
Judges then consider each nominee and choose three finalists in each category except Lifetime Achievement, in which they directly choose a winner. Judges include sponsors, healthcare leaders, and representatives from healthcare organizations.
After the finalists are chosen, Greater Fayetteville Business Journal will publicize their names and stories on November 1st in preparation for the awards ceremony. The final winner in each category will remain unannounced until the awards ceremony, when those who originally nominated the winners may share a few words as winners are announced and awards are presented.
Last year’s Lifetime Achievement winner was Dr. Ashok Jain of KidzCare Pediatrics. According to the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal, he shared this perspective on his professional practice, saying, “The day I opened my practice, I put it on my website in bold, ‘I will take care of any patient who walks into my office.’ Any child who is sick, I will take care of them. Whether they have money or no money, insurance or no insurance. I don't care, I will take care of a sick child.’”
Hatton explained that over the past two years, the Journal has received stories from people who worked alongside or were helped by the individual they nominated — sometimes receiving life-saving care from them.
“We have considered so many incredible stories of sacrifice and healing; it’s incredible the impact these healthcare workers are making, not only on a wide scale but individually as well,” she described.
Hatton praised the finalists and winners for their humility, saying, “No one who is announced as a finalist is expecting any praise for the hard work they do. These people see the nitty gritty of humanity every day and they’re just trying to heal and help people.”
She described an outpouring of love and respect at last year's event, which saw over 200 attendees. This year will be held at a larger venue, the Cape Fear Botanical Garden.
The event is from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 7, and attendees can expect a cocktail hour and dinner with a presentation of awards. Tickets are limited and can be purchased for $75 at fayettevillehcheroes.com.

(2023 Lifetime Achievement winner Ashok Jain, MD of KidzCare Pediatrics (center) and his team gather for a group photo with GFBJ Publisher Marty Cayton (front right) and Editor Faith Hatton (center right). Photo courtesy of GFBJ)

It’s 2024, and being a senior is not what it used to be. Long gone are the days of sitting in the house and watching Matlock and The Bold and the Beautiful reruns. The new generation of 60 and over is taking the world by storm and living their best lives way past retirement.
The new senior lifestyle can be attributed to an increased awareness of how diet and movement affect age, the world’s changing view of what age looks like, and the “silver fox” modeling movement that has highlighted the beauty and fierceness of aging. While senior centers used to be communal spaces for seniors in the area, more and more events and destinations are creating spaces for seniors to do more than chair yoga.
Southern Lux JeepHers, a local nonprofit run by Jeep Wrangler owners and enthusiasts, in partnership with Jacquelyn Washington-Brown, is hosting the Silver and Gold Sassy Senior Pageant on Nov. 2 at the John D Fuller Recreation Center, located at 6627 Old Bunce Rd, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The pageant will highlight women who have reached their “Age of Elegance” (60 years and older).
“It is an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the gracious lady who best exemplifies all senior Americans' dignity, maturity, and inner beauty,” according to their website.
Participants are from Cumberland and Hoke County and a portion of the proceeds will go to initiatives in these counties that look to “increase the quality of life for seniors.” Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online at https://bit.ly/405jTv8.
“Dare to Dream, Dare to Dazzle, Blaze the Runway” is this year’s theme and the personification of what the pageant is looking to accomplish, to give “Age of Elegance” women an opportunity to show off their style and talent. Contestants will be judged in evening wear, fitness, and “sassy strut”. Pageant organizers are excited to show the community the beauty and sophistication of the seniors in the community while supporting participants.
“We intend to empower pageant participants through wellness education, enhanced community connections and networking, mentoring, and increased access to resources and partnerships,” they said.
First, second, and third place will be crowned and receive a cash prize. The fun doesn’t stop once the pageant ends. The after party is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring door prizes and heavy hors d’oeuvres and is open for contestants and attendees. It will be an afternoon and evening of elegance and fun thanks to the amazing individuals and groups who have given their time to putting this event together.
Southern Lux JeepHers is a nonprofit started by Southern Lux JeepSistas, a local Jeep club. The organization “strives to foster a supportive environment for women in the Jeep Wrangler community through Jeep ownership education and training, off-roading events, and volunteer projects that strengthen the bond between Jeep owners and the broader community.” The organization’s board is comprised of US Armed Forces veterans, retirees, and women committed to their community. The organization was built on core values: compassion, diversity and inclusion, humility, integrity, impact, collaboration, and empowerment. For more information about this great organization, visit the website at https://southernluxjs.org/.

Fayetteville Technical Community College broke ground on Oct. 1 on the second construction phase at the Dr. J. Larry Keen Regional Fire & Emergency Training Complex. The ceremony marked eight years of ongoing developments on the 30-acre campus that have improved and expanded FTCC’s training capacity.
Vincent Lewis, Director of Fire Rescue Training at Fayetteville Technical Community College, said leaders initiated the development of the complex in 2016 after Hurricane Matthew. At that time, the Cumberland County Commissioners and Cumberland County Fire Chief’s Association identified a need to expand training opportunities for fire departments in Cumberland County and the surrounding regions.
Until then, FTCC didn’t have its own training facility and depended on other training facilities in the area. Planners spent time traveling the country to look at different facilities as part of the design process, and as a result, Phase 1 of the training complex opened on Sept. 19, 2022.
Phase 1 included a 24,000-square-foot classroom building with seven classrooms, administrative offices, and locker rooms; a bay with fire trucks for entry-level firefighter training; a four-story technical rescue tower for teaching rope rescue; a four-story burn building built to reflect commercial or apartment buildings; confined space rescue trenches; and a Cumberland County Emergency Services Memorial that honors fallen Cumberland County service workers.
In December of 2023, FTCC’s swift water rescue training center opened, which Lewis called Phase 1.5 of the training complex developments.
The swift water rescue facility is one of only three of its kind in the United States. Its indoor tank measures 40 feet by 80 feet, making it the largest of all three. It boasts 140,000 gallons of water, ten pumps, and the ability to generate a 28-mile-per-hour flow. Any swift water training can be conducted there, except training using powerboats.
Lewis shared that the swift water rescue facility was not part of the original plan. With time, the need was identified and funding was available, leading to its addition. He added that it has seen over 900 students come through its doors since January of this year. Swift water rescue students have hailed from Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida.
“We’re kind of pulling from all over the country,” he explained.
Phase 2 will see the expansion of the burn building sites with a two-story live-burn apartment-style tower, designed to reflect popular garden-style apartments and a one-story residential live-burn building in the style of a 2000 square foot ranch, which Lewis referred to as the most common style of house in America.
It will also include a permanent location and support buildings for an aircraft live-burn simulator and a 500-square-foot flammable liquids pit, which can function with the aircraft simulator or be used separately to teach ground cover or flammable liquid spill firefighting techniques.
Lewis says they’ve seen various agencies use the training complex, including fire departments, EMS rescue squads, law enforcement agencies, military personnel, and industrial complexes. He said the development of this facility means the college is essentially self-sufficient when it comes to training, whereas previously, they depended heavily on local fire departments to provide training equipment like trucks, hoses, and ladders.
He hopes the ongoing developments will continue to attract trainees from inside and outside the region and expand enrollment in FTCC’s related programs, given the unique variety of training experiences they can offer.
Upon completing Phase 2, they will start offering classes related to aircraft fires and work with airports nationwide that want to conduct initial and recertification fire training there. He also cited the variety of burn buildings in one location—from single-family to apartment to commercial—as a rare opportunity, saying,
"There are very few places, I think, in the country that have that variety, and that's really exciting,” Lewis said.
Lewis encouraged the community to find FTCC Fire, Rescue and Swift Water Training on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FTCCFire/ and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ftcc_fire/ to keep up with the construction developments and the training that first responders receive there.
The final phase of the Dr. J. Larry Keen Regional Fire & Emergency Training Complex should open in August 2025.

The Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine has received official candidacy designation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, an important benchmark as the school aims to change the future of healthcare in the region.
The LCME, which is the recognized accrediting body for medical education programs leading to MD degrees, informed Methodist University of its decision on Wednesday — moving the proposed School of Medicine from an “applicant” designation to a “candidate” designation. The decision will lead to a site visit from the LCME in the spring of 2025 before it reviews and votes on preliminary accreditation for the School of Medicine as early as the fall of 2025.
A preliminary accreditation would allow the School of Medicine to begin recruiting students as it aims to welcome its first cohort in the summer of 2026 — pending approvals by both the LCME and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
“This is a significant milestone for the Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine," said Dr. Stanley T. Wearden, president of Methodist University. “By granting this candidate status, the LCME is saying that they believe we are moving towards what is necessary for accreditation. This shows Methodist University and Cape Fear Valley Health have the necessary resources to begin a medical school in our community.”
The decision comes on the heels of a historic groundbreaking for the School of Medicine in September as construction began on the school’s new $60-plus-million, five-story facility on the western edge of Cape Fear Valley Medical Center campus along Village Drive.
Cape Fear Valley Health is building the 127,500-square-foot, 200-room facility that will feature learning centers, state-of-the-art classrooms, community and multi-purpose rooms, student lounges, a commons area, virtual anatomy laboratory, fully-equipped standardized patient lab, conference rooms, entrance plaza, and a courtyard.
“We’re excited to have reached LCME candidacy," said Mike Nagowski, CEO of Cape Fear Valley Health. "This brings us closer to training future physicians who will serve and improve the health of our community. It reflects our team’s hard work, and we’re looking forward to next steps.”
Once formally accredited, the Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine will have a longstanding impact on the community with more than 250 new jobs and graduating physicians each year (initial class of 64 students with an anticipated growth to over 100 students per class in the coming years).
The school will combine the expertise and resources of both institutions to provide students with unparalleled educational and clinical experience while creating opportunities for students to learn in a collaborative and innovative environment, with access to cutting-edge technology in the brand-new facility.
The School of Medicine has a growing list of faculty and staff, who have had a major hand in the LCME process.
“This is a testament to the faculty and staff who’ve been working diligently to prepare all of the necessary materials for this submission, including curriculum, student support services, faculty affairs, financial services, and IT infrastructure," said Dr. Hershey Bell, founding dean of the School of Medicine. "We were able to achieve this significant milestone because of them.”

(A rendering of the new Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine. Image courtesy of Methodist University)

NCDOT Seeks Public Feedback to Widen a Fayetteville Road
Public meeting will be Oct. 24
State transportation leaders are inviting the public to review and comment on a proposal to widen the entire two miles of Fisher Road in western Cumberland County.
The open house will take place on Oct. 24 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the gymnasium of John Griffin Middle School. People may drop in at any time to review preliminary design maps, ask engineers questions and submit comments.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is planning to widen the road between Strickland Bridge Road and Bingham Drive to four lanes with a raised median. In anticipation of traffic growth, the project will ease congestion and lessen the risk of crashes. Most of this congested road, which is home to two schools, currently has two lanes.
Proposed project highlights include:
• Construction of a multilane roundabout at Fisher & McKinnon Farm roads to improve traffic flow and safety.
• New sidewalk and multi-use path to accommodate school children, bicyclists and other pedestrians.
As part of this widening proposal, the department plans to construct reduced conflict intersections at several subdivisions that conjoin with Fisher Road. When built, drivers exiting the subdivisions will be redirected into turning right; if they wish to go in the other direction, they may use a dedicated lane a short distance away to safely turn around.
This design, however, will allow drivers on Fisher Road to turn left at some of the side roads that connect to the subdivisions.
Those who cannot attend the meeting can contact the project team via fisherrdwidening-cumberland@publicinput.com or 984-205-6615; enter project code No. 10723. Alternatively, people may go to this NCDOT public in-put site to submit comments and see other information about the proposed project
Comments received by Nov. 8 will be considered toward the final design.
NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this meeting. Anyone requiring special services should contact Lauren Putnam at lnputnam1@ncdot.gov or 919-707-6072 to make arrangements.
People who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

Courthouse Parking Lot Closing Oct. 23 for Crown Event Center Groundbreaking
County shares parking options for Courthouse patrons
As Cumberland County prepares to break ground on the Crown Event Center project, the County will officially close the parking lot in front of the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse effective Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m.
In advance of this closure, County officials encourage the public to take note of alternative parking options available near the Courthouse and in the surrounding area.
The primary parking area for Courthouse visitors will be located behind the First Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville, accessible via the driveway located in the 200 block of Person Street. This lot is available for both County and Courthouse employees and the public conducting business at the Courthouse on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
ADA accessible parking will continue to be available directly behind the Courthouse, and the drop-off lane will remain available for use in front of the Courthouse. Visitors using the Person Street lot can access the Courthouse using the front entrance, although the most direct and accessible entry point will be located behind the Courthouse near the ATM.
The County advises visitors that the County parking lots adjacent to the Historic Courthouse at 130 Gillespie Street, and Veterans Services at 301 E. Russell St., are reserved for employees and visitors of those facilities. Using these lots for Courthouse parking will limit access for those needing to use these services.
The County has also designated the County-owned gravel lots at 334 Person Street and 125 S. Kennedy St. for public use at no cost.
For additional parking options in the downtown area, the City of Fayetteville offers a detailed map on their website www.fayettevillenc.gov/our-city/community/getting-around/downtown-parking.
In November 2022, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners selected the parking lot in front of the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse as the site for the new Crown Event Center, which is set to open in Spring 2027. On Sept. 16, the Board approved a contract amendment with the project’s Construction Manager-at-Risk, TA Loving/Metcon, to begin sitework and demolition.
The Board has also approved a contract for design of a new parking deck to be constructed directly behind the Courthouse and Law Enforcement Center.
This deck will provide sufficient long-term parking for various County construction projects in the area, making up for any displaced parking and accommodating future growth. The parking deck is expected to be complete in 2026, prior to the Crown Event Center's opening.
For more information on Courthouse parking, visit cumberlandcountync.gov/courthouseparking. For more information on the Crown Event Center project, go to cumberlandcountync.gov/crowneventcenter.

Cumberland County Joins Lights Out for Bird Migration
Each spring and fall, millions of migrating birds pass through North Carolina, primarily during the night. To help ensure their safe journey, Cumberland County is proud to announce its participation in the Lights Out initiative to protect these vital migratory birds.
Beginning Oct. 17, and through Nov. 30, between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., all non-essential lighting in County facilities will be turned off nightly. Bright lights can disorient nocturnal migrants, leading to dangerous collisions with buildings.
With migratory bird populations declining, reducing light pollution is a crucial step in mitigating these risks.
In addition to safeguarding wildlife, this initiative will also lower energy costs and align with the County’s sustainability goals, supporting our commitment to environmental stewardship.
Residents and businesses are encouraged to join Cumberland County in this effort by turning off non-essential outdoor lights during the migration period. Here are some simple recommendations:
• Close blinds and curtains and ensure office spaces are darkened before leaving for the day.
• Turn off exterior lights, especially those that are upward-facing, and interior lighting from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
For more information on the Lights Out initiative, bird migration forecasts, and the latest research, please visit the BirdCast website at birdcast.info.

This close to the Presidential election things are looking grim. Negative commercials abound. Each side accuses the other of being the Anti-Christ. Had enough talk about childless cat ladies, Nude Africa, crazy liberals, Cat-kabobs, and fake news? Fear not, keeping with the grim nature of our times, here is a Grimms’ Fairy Tale to ease your mind from the constant demands for money from your favorite candidate.
Today we visit the story of He Who Must Not be Named – our pal Rumpelstiltskin. There is a pattern in Fairy Tales, wherein someone kites a check that a third person must cash or suffer ugly consequences. Today’s story is no different.
Once upon a time, there was a poor Miller with a beautiful daughter. One day the Miller ran into the King at a local Trader Joe’s. The Miller was anxious to make a good impression. He did what anyone would do. He told the King that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The King, who had been bored up to that point, perked up his ears at the thought of free gold. He told the Miller to bring her to the castle to spin some straw into gold. The Miller realized he committed a major party foul but had no choice except to deliver his daughter to the castle.
The King took Miss Miller to a room stuffed with straw. He told her unless she spun all the straw into gold by morning she would be killed. This put pressure on Miss Miller as she had no idea how to spin straw into gold. Like many Fairy Tale Maidens, she wept piteously. Suddenly a Short Dude unlocked the door and inquired why she was crying. She explained her problem to him. He said if you give me something I will do the job. She gave him her necklace which started him spinning straw into gold. When the King came by the next morning, the room was filled with gold. Kings tend to be greedy. This King was no exception. He took her to a larger room filled with more straw, telling her: “Spin it into gold or die in the morning.”
Her weeping resumed. Short Dude showed up again. He asked for a bribe and Miss Miller gave him her ring. “No problem!” said Short Dude spinning it all into gold. The King was tickled to death with the new gold. He took her to a giant room filled with straw and told her if she spun it all into gold, he would marry her to make her his Queen. When Short Dude showed up this time, she had nothing left to give him. Short Dude told her if she gave him her firstborn child, he would spin all the straw into gold. She promised to do so to avoid death and gain Queendom.
The King married her and about a year later she gave birth to a bambino. Sure enough, Short Dude showed up demanding the child. The Queen wept again, begging him not to take the child. He told her if she guessed his name in three days she could keep her child. She sent a messenger to scour the Kingdom for odd names. On the first day, she guessed Casper, Melchior, or Balthazar (Extra Credit: these are names of the 3 Wise Men). Wrong! On the second day, she guessed Pickleburster, Hankydank, and Mustardplaster. All wrong. Panic set in. She sent out her messenger one last time. He came back with a story about seeing a Short Dude dancing in the woods singing: “One more day and then she’ll see/ The Royal child belongs to me! / Water, earth, and air, and flame/ Rumpelstiltskin is my name.” The Queen was happy as a clam on hearing this.
Short Dude showed up the next day demanding his name. The Queen messed with him, guessing Tom, Dick, and Harry. Finally, she asked him if his name was Rumpelstiltskin. Short Dude went into a Freak Off worthy of P. Diddy. He shouted: “The Devil told you that!” He was so mad he stomped his right foot into the ground all the way up to his waist. Then he took his left foot in his hands and tore himself in half. Ouch! Yikes! & Gross!
So, what have we learned about names today? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. I went to the desert on a horse with no name. My name is Puddin-In-Tane, ask me again and I’ll tell you the same. To quote Mick Jagger: “Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste. Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name.”

(Illustration by Pitt Dickey)

Kudos to Dogwood Festival board chair Andrew Porter, long-term senior volunteer Jackie Tuckey, and the many residents and volunteers trying to save and preserve the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival for future generations.
This has very little chance of happening if Dogwood leadership continuously ignores the apparent tenets of success. Their newly hired Executive Director, Jim Long, tendered his resignation on October 9th after only ten days on the job. This should have been a wake-up call to the DF board that "all that glitters is not gold. "
Long lasted longer than I predicted and should never have been hired. Obviously, minimal vetting was done on this candidate's talent, capabilities, and successes.
I'm not Mr. Obvious; on Oct. 1, the Dogwood Festival committee announced the hiring of Long as their new executive director and touted with exuberant enthusiasm his qualifications as a promotions and events manager with a wealth of knowledge of the entertainment industry and the Fayetteville community. He may have provided the Dogwood board with a resume complete with a long, impressive list of experiences, but it's doubtful that a long list of successes accompanied it.
And, if Long's tenure with the Fayetteville Motor Speedway, with its history and local reputation as an entertainment venue, is his primary connection to the Fayetteville/ Cumberland County community, a red flag, not a checkered flag, should have gone up immediately.
Moving forward, there is a path to success if the Dogwood Festival committee focuses on returning to the basics. I've been involved with, participated in, and have knowledge of the Dogwood Festival since it was Sunday on the Square in the '80s, and our major annual DF fundraiser was Cowchip Bingo. This was decades ago, and yes, Fayetteville has changed, but the people have not.
For the Dogwood Festival to succeed, it must return to the basics. It needs:
Leadership. They need to hire someone with enthusiasm, dedication, personality, knowledge of the industry, and integrity.
Someone who can navigate the community, exuberate excitement, and restore confidence in the community's longest-running, free, fun, family outdoor entertainment event.
The Board. The Festival needs a robust and dedicated working board emphasizing the word, working. This board should have representation from all municipalities in Cumberland County, including Fort Liberty, with volunteers who are motivated, willing, and able to support the Executive Director while ensuring all aspects of the Festival are inclusive and diverse.
Lastly, but no less important is that we, as a community, must make an exerted effort to dismantle those legendary and crippling self-centered silos that are maintained and fortified by the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, the Convention & Visitors Bureau (Distinctly Fayetteville), Chamber of Commerce, the Arts Council, Downtown Alliance, and Cool Spring District.
These organizations have to unite for the betterment of the community and start working together, communicating and collaborating. Otherwise, the Dogwood Festival, and any other major local initiative with the intent of creating a positive image of Fayetteville or contributing to a higher quality of life, will be challenging to achieve.
Last year's Festival was successful with a redefined definition of success. By any standard, it was Dogwood Festival lite. Hopefully, the Festival's management can return it to its former prestige as North Carolina's number 1 FREE Outdoor Festival.
However, it will be determined by the people, businesses, and organizations that care about this community more than they do about themselves. The Silos must go! Jus sayin.
Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

(Photo: The 2022 Dogwood Festival saw people from all over Cumberland County and beyond visiting downtown Fayetteville. Photo courtesy of the Dogwood Festival's Facebook Page)

Self-care used to be an afterthought, a peaceful moment in the Starbucks line, an extra 5 minutes of idling in the car after pulling in the driveway, but luckily that has been changing. Now, self-care is a planned spa day, a trip to the salt cave or a trip to the salon. Gone are the days of feeling rushed through activities that should be relaxing and a break from the routine. Samel’s Beauty Lounge is Fayetteville’s newest and first holistic salon specializing in curly hair. Centrally located at 314 Hay Street, Samel’s is a full-service salon, offering hair and nail services including haircuts, coloring, hair extensions, pedicures, and manicures. The salon also offers specialized scalp disorder services for those who suffer from psoriasis, hair loss, eczema and more.
Owner Samel has spent her entire life in the industry. Her father was a barber and business owner. Her salon journey started during COVID with the opening of her salon, Vibras Suites above Antonella’s Italian Restaurant. The opening of her namesake beauty lounge is the culmination of her hard work and passion for those who suffer from scalp disorders.
“I specialize in curly hair and scalp disorders. I am a certified Trichologist who treats scalp abnormalities. I love rebuilding and restructuring the hair from the inside out. While customizing each service to my clients, from color to hair extensions,” Samel said.
Samel’s Beauty Lounge is truly a unique experience from the moment you walk through the door. As the first holistic salon, the salon takes a whole-body approach to beauty services. Samel explained, “Samel’s Beauty Lounge is here to open up the doors to a new world. Wellness is our signature. As pioneers when it comes to treating the scalp and its abnormalities, we also take pride in being the only holistic salon in the area. By treating each guest that comes into our establishment like the whole that we are, by only using clean and non-toxic products. We take pride in providing excellent services that will add value to you as a person from the moment you come in. Our services are rooted in love, and integrity, by pointing the guest towards the direction of living intentionally and understanding the purpose of what we do. We educate the guest on services provided and the why behind them…At Samel’s Beauty Lounge, we want the community to experience something that they might have never experienced before. Our services are tailored to each guest's needs. Even though we expanded from the suite to a storefront space, Samel’s Beauty Lounge is devoted to offering that 1 on 1 attention that each guest deserves. It is more than just a hair or nail appointment. It is an experience and worth it to try it for yourself to understand the concept of it.”
Samel couldn’t do it alone. She has a staff of highly talented and amazing individuals, who are ready to serve the community.
“We count on five amazing employees at the moment who provide excellent services, from our front desk to each specialist/ service provider,” Samel said. From a small suite over a restaurant to a storefront space downtown, Samel’s Beauty Lounge is a dream come true, a dream that Samel not only owes to herself but some magnificent individuals.
To book an appointment visit https://squ.re/483IkeD or call 910-491-1264.

(Photo courtesy of Samel's Beauty Lounge)

The Oval Ballroom, originally part of the historic Halliday-Williams House in Fayetteville, was the scene of a tragic and mysterious event in 1849. On that fateful evening, Alexander C. Simpson was served a dessert of syllabub and coffee by his wife, Ann K. Simpson, in the presence of two witnesses. The room, now a freestanding structure with octagonal architecture and elegant plaster cornices, would soon be etched into the annals of local history for a far more sinister reason.
Shortly after consuming the dessert, Alexander fell gravely ill. Medical examinations later revealed that he had been poisoned with arsenic. This shocking revelation sent ripples through the community, forever linking the elegant Oval Ballroom to a tale of deceit and death.
Who Was Ann K. Simpson?
Ann K. Simpson was a woman whose life would become engulfed in controversy and notoriety when she became the first woman tried for murder in Cumberland County. Little is known about her early years, but she gained infamy after being accused of murdering her husband, Alexander C. Simpson.
Described by some as charming and by others as calculating, Ann's character became a focal point of intense scrutiny.
After Alexander's death, Ann was thrust into the spotlight, facing allegations that would later extend beyond North Carolina. Her life took a dark turn when she was accused of murdering her third husband while living in Minnesota. During that trial, the mysterious death of her second husband was also brought into question, painting a grim picture of a woman with a potentially deadly pattern.
Ann K. Simpson's trial for the murder of her husband Alexander was a sensational affair that captivated Cumberland County. The courtroom was packed with spectators eager to witness the proceedings, as the case had all the elements of a dramatic story: love, betrayal, and death.
Despite the damning evidence of arsenic poisoning, Ann was acquitted of the charges. The trial left the community divided, with some believing in her innocence and others convinced of her guilt. The acquittal did little to quell the rumors and suspicions that swirled around her, leaving a lingering sense of unease in the air.
The case of Alexander C. Simpson's poisoning was fraught with conflicting evidence and rampant speculation.
The key piece of evidence was the presence of arsenic in Alexander's system, but how it got there and who was responsible remained hotly debated. Ann's defense argued that there was no direct proof linking her to the poison, while the prosecution painted a picture of a calculated murder.
Witnesses provided varying accounts of the events leading up to Alexander's death, further complicating the narrative. Some speculated that Ann had long planned the murder, while others suggested that she was being framed. The lack of definitive evidence left the mystery unresolved, inviting endless theories and conjecture.
The aftermath of the Simpson case left an indelible mark on the community of Fayetteville. Ann K. Simpson's acquittal did little to restore her reputation, and she eventually moved to Minnesota.
Her subsequent conviction and execution for the murder of her third husband cast a shadow over her earlier acquittal, leading many to reassess their opinions of her involvement in Alexander's death.
The Oval Ballroom, a symbol of elegance and refinement, became a macabre landmark, forever associated with the chilling tale of arsenic poisoning.
The story of Alexander C. Simpson's untimely death continues to intrigue and haunt those who delve into the annals of local history, serving as a grim reminder of the darker side of human nature.

(Photo: The Oval Ballroom, a freestanding round structure at Heritage Square, is the site of the alleged poisoning of Alexander C. Simpson by his wife, Ann K. Simpson. Ann was convicted of killing her third husband in Minnesota, drawing the death of Alexander into question. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Cape Fear Botanical Garden is celebrating the spooky season with Halloween at the BOO-tanical Garden.
This event, presented by Cape Fear Valley Health, will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 24, and 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Oct. 25-27. Thursday, Oct. 24 is also Dog Night. Leashed dogs will be welcome into the garden. In addition to having furry friends join in the fun, garden goers will get the added benefit of additional candy stations courtesy of ERA Strother Real Estate.
This year's BOO-tanical theme is "Art Unearthed." The Botanical Garden "Boo Crew" will be wandering around the garden dressed as iconic sculptures and painters. These artists will share spooky stories and hands on activities.
The Botanical Garden will be full of candy stations, animations and photo opportunities. A costume contest, sponsored by Kids First Pediatrics, will be held nightly.
Light displays will be set up throughout the garden to create a spooky and magical atmosphere, and the garden will be decorated in hand carved jack-o-lanterns. Participants are encouraged to bring flashlights, as the garden paths may be dark.
Candy stations will be set up throughout the garden for some pre Halloween candy collecting. A limited supply of bags will be available for a fee at the garden, but it is encouraged to bring your own candy bag for goodies.
Tickets for non members ages 11 and up are $12 in advance, $25 for walk ups. Garden members ages 11 and up are $10 in advance, $20 for walk ups. Ages 3 to 10 are $7 in advance, $15 for walk ups. Kids under 3 are free.
Dogs do not need a ticket on dog night, and will be allowed in the garden for free. Remember, dogs are only allowed on Oct. 24.
This event does sell out, and walk ups aren't always available. Tickets can be pre purchased at https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/26840/cape-fear-botanical-garden
Tickets are non refundable.
For opportunities to sponsor a Candy Station, contact the garden at blewis@capefearbg.org.
The Cape Fear Botanical Garden is located near the Cape Fear River, two miles from Downtown Fayetteville. Built in 1989, the garden provides classes and events throughout the year in addition to year round blooming plants. Members of the garden have access to exclusive events.
The Botanical Garden helps to preserve the local floral and fauna by maintaining the Heritage Garden, featuring gardening structures from 1886.
For more information about the garden, how to join, and how to volunteer, visit https://www.capefearbg.org/about-us/.

(Graphic Courtesy of Cape Fear Botanical Garden's Facebook Page)

Halloween's origins can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated on Nov. 1. This Gaelic festival marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, often referred to as the 'darker half' of the year. The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.
On the night of Oct. 31, they celebrated Samhain, a time when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. Hearth fires in family homes were left to burn out while the harvest was gathered, and after the harvest work was complete, celebrants joined Druid priests to light a community fire.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated Nov. 1 as a time to honor all saints, merging some of the Samhain traditions with the newly established All Saints’ Day. The evening before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallows' Eve, which eventually transformed into Halloween.
All Saints' Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain with bonfires, parades, and people dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. This convergence of pagan and Christian traditions laid the groundwork for the modern Halloween celebration.
The celebration of Halloween was limited in colonial New England due to the rigid Protestant belief systems. However, it was more common in Maryland and the southern colonies, where different European ethnic groups and American Indian traditions began to blend.
Early American Halloween festivities included 'play parties,' public events to celebrate the harvest where people would share stories of the dead, tell fortunes, dance, and sing. Ghost stories and various types of mischief were also common during these celebrations.
In the second half of the 19th century, America saw an influx of new immigrants, particularly the Irish fleeing the Irish Potato Famine. These immigrants helped to popularize Halloween nationally. Americans began to adopt European traditions such as dressing up in costumes and going house to house asking for food or money, a practice that evolved into today's 'trick-or-treat' tradition.
Young women believed that they could divine the name or appearance of their future husbands through various Halloween rituals involving yarn, apple parings, or mirrors. The tradition of trick-or-treating likely dates to the early All Saints' Day parades in England, where poor citizens would beg for food and receive pastries called 'soul cakes' in return for praying for the family's dead relatives.
Today, Halloween is a widely celebrated holiday characterized by costumes, trick-or-treating, and various festivities. It has become a significant part of popular culture with haunted houses, horror movies, and themed parties becoming common ways to celebrate.
Modern Halloween is a blend of ancient traditions and contemporary practices, reflecting the holiday's rich history and its evolution over time.