Governor Roy Cooper has appointed Fayetteville Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen to the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission. The Commission provides advice, counsel and recommendations to the governor, state lawmakers and state agencies on North Carolina’s military installations.

“Now is a great time to raise issues important to our current service and National Guard Members,” Jensen said. “There are more active-duty soldiers at Fort Bragg compared to any other installation across the U.S. Army.”

Jensen says she will work to prioritize the city of Fayetteville’s military interests. She will serve a two-year term on the Commission. Jensen was born and raised in Fayetteville and owns a local business.

The annual State of the Community was presented last week with leaders from Cumberland County, Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, Spring Lake and Hope Mills all talking about the past year, what's to come and their biggest challenges.

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

Cumberland County Chairman Charles Evans spoke in a pre-recorded video about Cumberland County. He said that some of the accomplishments the county had, over the past year, included creating and running massive COVID-19 vaccination sites, implementing an Emergency Rental Assistance Program, creating a new American Rescue Plan committee, creating a military food policy council to address food insecurity among military service members and their families and addressing racial injustice and diversity initiatives. Looking forward, Evans was excited to announce that several companies like Metronet, Amazon and Cargill will develop jobs locally and invest in local businesses. Other future plans include the construction of a homeless shelter, new emergency services and 911 call center and entirely replacing the Crown Theater and Arena. The biggest challenge for the county is continuing to get clean water and sewer to all areas of the county. Specifically in the area of Gray's Creek.

"Getting water to Gray's Creek and other areas of the county remains a priority," Evans said. "The county is working to partner with available Public Works Commission to have utilities serve as the water supplier at Gray's Creek."

FAYETTEVILLE

Mayor Mitch Colvin spoke live at the Greater Fayetteville Chamber about the state of the City of Fayetteville. Colvin said that the city made several investments in the community this past year. City wages have gone up to $15 an hour, over $50 million will go to the airport, a new aquatic center was built and $33 million was dedicated for public and government housing. Colvin confirmed that Amazon will be coming to Fayetteville, which will bring in an additional 500 jobs and $100 million of investment. He also announced that the Cape Fear River Trail will continue to be developed in the upcoming months. The biggest challenge for the City, according to Colvin, is getting people trained and having a ready workforce in Fayetteville.

FORT BRAGG

Garrison Commander Col. Scott Pence spoke on behalf of the ongoing work at Fort Bragg. Over the past year, community meetings about the renaming of the base have been taking place but other positives, such as Smith Lake reopening this year and new strategies from the Army to help attract, retain and enable people are just a few positive takeaways. One major renovation the installation is looking at is the creation of Liberty Trail - a 14-mile loop around Fort Bragg. That trail will open in January. One concern for Fort Bragg is that one-third of soldiers, who are usually on deployment, are now at the post — creating a demand on resources.

SPRING LAKE

Spring Lake Mayor Larry Dobbins spoke briefly about the town’s financial troubles but primarily focused on what the town needs to do in the future: restructure, rebuild, rebrand, regain trust and rebirth. Dobbins will be stepping down as Mayor later this month. Mayor-elect Kia Anthony will take his place.

HOPE MILLS

Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner spoke about that change is happening in the town. Many officials have or will retire and the town will need to find new replacements for these town figureheads. In addition, a new City Manager, who is relatively unfamiliar with the area will need support. Warner says other challenges Hope Mills faces are the replacement of roads and dealing with traffic. Overall, she says the future is bright for Hope Mills continues to grow.

Jodi Phelps has been hired by the city to replace Kevin Arata as Fayetteville’s Corporate Communications Director which is a fancy way of saying spokesperson. Arata resigned earlier this year. Phelps will work with the news media and oversee strategic communications and marketing plans.

“I am honored by this chance to serve the community my family calls home,” Phelps said. “I look forward to working alongside City leadership and staff to ensure our residents are well-informed and engaged while we collectively work to build upon the strong foundations in place.”

The city said Phelps brings more than 20 years of experience in communications, marketing and organizational leadership. She previously worked at the University of North Carolina–Pembroke, where she served as Chief Communications and Marketing Officer since 2016. Before UNC–Pembroke, Phelps served as Action Pathways Chief Operating Officer in Fayetteville.

“We believe she knows this area well, which is one reason why she stood out,” City Manager Doug Hewett said. "I’m sure she will develop beneficial relationships amongst staff, neighbors and at all levels of government.”

As the mother of three adult children, I am wired to be interested in their particular thoughts about life, and more generally, the views of their generation.

Does their generation see the world the same way I did at their ages? The answers are not encouraging. They are disheartening. A survey conducted earlier this year by UNICEF and Gallup of 21,000 people in 21 different nations throughout the world found stark differences not only between generations but between different parts of the world. My generation of Americans believed that we would be healthier and wealthier than our parents' generation, and for the most part, those beliefs have proven true. By and large, we are more educated than our parents, have enjoyed higher incomes and look forward to longer life expectancies.

Our kiddos and their kiddos are less optimistic, and some statistics bear out their thinking.

Of the six wealthiest nations in the world, including the United States, only about a third of young people believe they will be better off financially than their parents. What's more, they no longer believe that hard work alone will get them where they want to go or that everyone starts at the same place. Increasingly, they believe that family wealth and connections are significant success factors.

"On one hand, you want and need people to believe that they can make a difference in their own lives, but on the other hand, you need people to understand it's about more than just their own hard work," as Bob McKinnon, founder of a non-profit helping people understand influences in their lives says, in the New York Times. According to UNICEF and Gallup, older folks of my generation believe this as well. Moreover, many younger people believe quite rightly that earlier generations, including mine, have compromised our environment at best and destroyed it at worst.

Interestingly, these lines of thought are more prevalent in wealthier, more developed nations, most of them in the northern hemisphere. Young people in less developed countries, mainly below the equator, are more hopeful than Americans of their generation.

Around two-thirds of young people below the equator believe that they will be better off economically than their parents have been and that the world is becoming a better place with each new generation. They are more likely to believe that they have control over their lives through hard work and education. As Kenyan Lorraine Nduta, 21, put it in The Times, "we do not get to choose our families or social status, but that has never been a hindrance for anyone to succeed... In fact, I think when you have less, it fuels you to seek more. The power to change any situation lies with us — hard work, consistency and discipline."

It isn't easy to imagine such sentiments coming from many young Americans in 2021.

Every generation from time immemorial is formed by its times, its culture, its geography and an individual's circumstances. Every generation believes itself unique, and the hope for a better life for the next generation still exists, even if it seems to be slipping from the grasp of some in certain parts of the world.

What stands out in this survey is that the traditional American Dream, long a standard for both Americans and people in other nations, needs some work.

It remains true that hard work and education can lift young people, but the cynicism and anxiety surfacing in our young people is worrisome.

Local politicians interested in running for office can now officially file their intentions to run. Offices open for filing include the 4th U.S. Congressional District, N.C. General Assembly, Cumberland County Board of Commissioners (at large and District 1), Sheriff, Clerk of Court, District Attorney, District Court Judge, City of Fayetteville Mayor and City Council.

Sen. Ben Clark, Rep. John Szoka, former Fayetteville mayor Nat Robertson, former police officer Christine Villaverde, high school teacher Denton Lee, DeVan Barbour IV and Cumberland County Commission Chairman Charles Evans have announced they are all running for the 4th U.S. Congressional District seat.

The Fayetteville Mayor seat will also be contested. J. Antoine Miner, Nyrell Melvin, Efrain "Freddie" Delacruz and Franco Webb have all announced that they will run. The current Mayor, Mitch Colvin, announced last Friday that he will run again for the Mayor seat.

Sen. Kirk deViere announced that he will seek re-election to the Senate District 19 seat for a third term. Rep. Diane Wheatley also announced her intention to file for re-election for the 43rd District of the NC house.

Filing ends at noon on Dec. 17 at the Cumberland County Board of Elections. The primary will be held on March 8.

The Community Police Advisory Board is closer to being finalized and should start in the new year. The board's mission is to provide recommendations to the City Council, City Manager and Police Chief to improve the quality of policing in Fayetteville in a cooperative effort between the community and the police. 

Fayetteville City Council members finally voted to select a new commissioner for the Fayetteville Public Works Commission.

Last Monday night, City Council selected Retired Col. Don Porter to serve as the new PWC commissioner. He was supported by Councilmembers Johnny Dawkins, Larry Wright, D.J. Haire, and Christopher Davis. Mayor Mitch Colvin also voted in Porter’s favor.

Porter is a retired Military Logistics Specialist and served 20 years as an Executive Director of Economic Development in Hoke County and the City of Raeford. In his application, he says that he believes that city-owned water and sewer is good not just for citizens but also for business recruitment.

Porter was initially recommended to the position by the city’s Appointment Committee last month. City Council was split on the decision and kept delaying the vote. Porter's term is expected to end on Sept. 30, 2025.

Only a few weeks until showtime, the main room at Charlotte Blume School of Dance is packed and abuzz with energy. More than forty dancers stand, in fifth position, the floor a mixture of soft and pointe shoes, legs extended, and arms outstretched with delicate fingers pointing toward the ceiling.

The room is small but warm, a far cry from the thirty-degree weather outside. Upon each call from one of their instructors David Alan Cook, the dancers shifted positions in unison — a dance so precise it looks as if they are pulled by strings. Along the walls of the room are nutcrackers, candy canes, tin solider hats and pictures of Christmas lore — all relics of Clara’s fantastical dream, and fifty-one years of tradition. In the back sits the head of the mouse king, crown and all, awaiting his on-stage debut.

At Charlotte Blume School of Dance and throughout Fayetteville, it’s time for “The Nutcracker.”

Just beyond the dancers plays a video of Pepta's “The Nutcracker.” The dancers strive for precision. They match their movements against Pepta's dancers. In the studio, the only sound that can be heard is the soft, shallow pattering of feet on laminate floor. The dancers lightly glide to the tape on the floor that marks particular fractions of the stage. Their bodies remain angled out toward the audience. They check their position, readjust and do it again and again. This will continue dozens of times.

“We’ll run the same two minutes for an hour to get it right,” Dina Lewis, the school’s executive director, says as she watches her dancers’ arms and feet. Lewis says they’ll tell the girls to pretend they are holding pennies between their knees for their bourrée.

“We say it because quarters are too big.”

Technique, according to Lewis, is why students come to this dance group.

The music stops, and just like that, the current dancers run “off stage” and others run on to take their place.

“Dancers, you have to pay attention while you are working on the stage,” Cook says, his shoulders held back and feet held in position. Like an orchestra leader, he brings his attention to different areas of the room, tightening the dance and congratulating dancers on their hard work. In the other corner, Emalee Smith, another instructor, is perfecting the dance of some of the older dancers.

The dream continues.

In many ways, so does the dream of Charlotte Blume. Blume passed away in 2016. “The Nutcracker Ballet” is a legacy of sorts for the North Carolina State Ballet and for Charlotte Blume School of Dance. Blume started “The Nutcracker” in 1959 and it has run every year since, with the exception of last year. It is a legacy that is now kept alive by Lewis, the executive director for the school and the President of North Carolina State Ballet.

Lewis talks of Blume fondly and reverently like a maternal figure whose ghost is welcomed to haunt the school. Each part of this play, for Lewis and other dancers who knew Blume well, keeps her alive.

“Each set has a piece of her in it … we have pieces of her that we make sure is [on] that stage.”

In 2020, like much of the world, this version of “The Nutcracker” did not go on.

“We sat home last year watching 'Nutcracker' on TV like everyone else did,” Lewis said.

But in December 2020, around Lewis’s birthday, she received a card from a little girl who played a mouse in “The Nutcracker” just the year before. The note, which wished Lewis a happy birthday, also said, “all I want for Christmas is for "Nutcracker" to come back.”

When February came around, Lewis said the company was short of funding for the play due to all the closures during COVID-19. She and the board decided that regardless of the funds, 2021 needed

“The Nutcracker.” The community needed “The Nutcracker.”

“There’s a little mouse that we all need to thank … one I just couldn’t say no to.”

The little girl's note is now posted on Lewis’s mirror at home. The little girl has since moved with her family due to the military. Lewis says a lot of what she learned and embodies now comes from Charlotte Blume. It’s all about giving back, she says. While a mouse helped her bring back the beloved play, Blume has always been at the heart of it.

“You just feel like you owe it to Charlotte to continue this.”

Charlotte Blume School of Dance will hit the stages Dec. 11 at the Crown Theatre. There are 69 dancers in this year's production, from ages 5 and up. Each year, Lewis says, the choreography changes slightly to keep students and the audience engaged. This year, she tried to keep unification at the center of the play.

At the end of the day, Lewis sits back and looks at the pictures of “her kids,” handwritten notes from students and pictures of Charlotte and smiles when she speaks about this year’s production of “The Nutcracker.”

“When the picture comes together … [it’s] magical. It’s the coolest thing. I get chills thinking about it. I think Charlotte is going to be proud of us. She’s going to be pretty happy.”
Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for military and $10 kids ages 3-16. Kids under 2 are free.

Across town, in the top portion of Countryside Gymnastics is Leslie’s Dance Academy. Leslie Dumas, owner and executive director, sits among plastic storage containers of all shapes and sizes that house different costumes and props for her production of “The Nutcracker.” She sits, waiting on dancers to arrive. Her dancers, too, are preparing to go on stage and perform “The Nutcracker.”
Dumas has been running this version of “The Nutcracker” since 2000 when she took it over from Ann Clark, who owned another studio in town. Both Clark and Dumas trained with Charlotte Blume. Dumas trained with Charlotte Blume from a young age until 18.

For “The Nutcracker,” she collaborates with other studios in town, through The Dance Theatre of Fayetteville, to bring all their dancers together to perform the play. Last year, much like Charlotte Blume School of Dance, her company didn’t perform “The Nutcracker.”

This year, Dumas wasn’t told they could have their traditional stage at Methodist University until the end of September. This gave Dumas and the other studios two months to prepare the show.
She said this year they’ve had to make some changes in how they traditionally run it due to all the changes from COVID-19.

“We didn’t do an audition. I usually do most of the choreography, but I let other studios pick what they want to choreograph.”

On Nov. 21, the collective group had their second full group rehearsal, just a week and a half before the performance. For Dumas and others, this is about the collective and anyone who wants to be a part of the play can “come in.”

“It’s supposed to be fun.” Dumas relates the overall experience to the fun and chaos of the party scene at the beginning of the play.

As she talks, young dancers arrive and come to greet her. She smiles, asks about something personal to each and then they run off to get into dance clothes.

Dumas is set on getting the show to stage and bringing the dancers together.

“It’s going to be what it is after a COVID year of nothing,” Dumas says. “Everyone has to understand that perspective. The world stopped in March of last year. There was no dance, no gym, no nothing.”

The Dance Theatre of Fayetteville will perform the Nutcracker December 3-5 at Methodist’s University’s Huff Concert Hall. Tickets will be $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Kids ages 5-17 will be $5 and kids ages 4 and under will be free.

The City of Fayetteville will be requesting $20,000 to repair the property at 242 Hay St. They would like to use the money to power wash and repaint the exterior of the property. They would also like to rebuild the balcony structure using composite decking, install composite handrails, replace the rotted door and door frame to the balcony, repair rotted wood on the window frame closest to the balcony door and repair cracked tile at the front.

Since the location is part of a historically protected area, they will only be fixing what is rotted or broken and repainting the building in the original colors.

Members of the public have until Dec. 13 to submit written comments to the Economic and Community Development Department at City Hall about the
project.

Diane’s Vintage Market was previously located at the site but closed in October of 2019.

Many folks ask me about the correct spelling of the holiday. Confusion comes because the holiday’s name is in Hebrew, which uses an entirely different alphabet that includes sounds not found in English. The first letter has a guttural sound like the German achtung, so some people use CH while others opt for the closest sound in English, the letter H, to avoid people mistakenly thinking it has the English CH sound.

Additionally, depending on where you’re from, some Jews pronounce the final vowel as AH while others say OH. Also, when transcribing the name into English some do it based solely on sound while others try to parallel Hebrew spelling. In Hebrew, it ends with the equivalent of a silent H (like in Sarah), so some spell it in English ending with an H and some without. This all results in many legitimate renderings of the name into English.

Chanukah (my preference) means dedication or rededication and refers to the rededication of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem following its purification upon recapture from the Syrian army 2186 years ago. It celebrates the miracle of the successful revolt of a rag-tag force of faithful Jews, hiding in caves and frequently using guerilla tactics against their powerful overlords, who had prohibited the practice of Judaism and introduced pagan sacrifice into the holy Temple.

Because the Jews celebrated the rededication of the Temple by belatedly observing the eight-day biblical festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles), Chanukah was established as an annual eight day celebration of this miraculous preservation of Judaism. A legend, told hundreds of years after these events, relates that reluctant to delay the rededication of the Temple for the eight days necessary to acquire the special olive oil required for the sanctuary’s Menorah (a seven-branched, continually burning candelabrum), they lit the only pure oil they had found – a single day’s worth. Miraculously the Menorah burned for eight days until new oil arrived.

The main observance of Chanukah is the home lighting of an eight-branched Menorah each evening to publicize the ancient miracle of Judaism’s survival. A single light is kindled on the first night, adding one more each night, until eight are burning at the end.

Honoring the legend of the oil it is customary to eat fried foods during Chanukah, such as potato pancakes and jelly donuts. Chanukah gift-giving mostly originated in America so Jewish kids wouldn’t feel jealous of their classmates’ Christmas gifts. There is no requirement to give any, much less, eight gifts.

Chanukah shifts on our calendar because for religious purposes Jews follow a lunar calendar (although the periodic addition of leap months keeps the Jewish holidays aligned to the same season).
Finally, Chanukah is considered a minor Jewish holiday, because it does not originate in the Hebrew Bible, but in the later books of First and Second Maccabees. That makes it comparatively less significant than the biblical festivals like Passover. It receives oversized attention in America because of its proximity to Christmas.

Editor's Note: Chanukah runs this year from the evening of Sunday, Nov. 28 through the evening of Monday, Dec. 6.

Four red, white and blue coaches have been placed in service. Four more are on the way, according to Fayetteville Transit director Randy Hume. He said the change was made to bring the transit system in line with the city’s new color palette.

The City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, plus nine businesses and civic partners, have launched an intensive project to develop a community-wide branding campaign to create an updated and unified approach to make known the area’s strengths, assets, diversity, vision and potential.

Another eight new buses are expected to be delivered after the first of the year. The cost of FAST buses is provided primarily by the Federal Transit Administration. 18 citywide bus routes are operational.

The Cumberland Choral Arts began in 1991 and are now celebrating their 30th anniversary. Sandy Cage, the President of the Board of Directors for the CCA, says they are still the best-kept secret in Fayetteville.

They are a community group that welcomes anyone to join. They don’t do formal auditions, rather they do voice placements. They hold several performances in a non-COVID year.

One of their annual traditions is to perform the Messiah, a classical work by George Frideric Handel that is best known for its “Hallelujah” chorus. The CCA will be partnering up with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra for the second performance in a row to present the piece to the community, just in time for Christmas.

“I think there are people in the community who look forward to this every year,” Cage said. “There are some who say that it's not Christmas yet until they come and hear the Messiah.”

The annual tradition started at Fort Bragg but grew and is now performed for the majority of the Fayetteville community.

While COVID-19 did shut down CCA performances for close to two years, some positives did come out of it.

The CCA continued to post virtual performances on their social media pages and one of their videos went viral.

“We are extremely excited because last year when we couldn't do our normal concerts, we ended up doing virtual pieces, and our artistic director, Michael Martin, worked to put those together and one of them was noticed online and we received an invitation to sing at Carnegie Hall in May,” Cage told Up & Coming Weekly.

Cage explained that the composer of the piece is having a musical festival at Carnegie Hall, and because the composer noticed their cover of the piece online, the CCA has been invited to participate. There will be 32 performers going to New York to participate in May.

"We never dreamed anything like that could ever happen, so that invitation was quite a shock but a wonderful one. We are really looking forward to it,” Cage said.

The future of the CCA is looking bright as more people attend and join the choral group.

“We are looking forward to growth in our group, more people singing, more people attending our concerts and possibly sponsoring our own music festival,” Cage said.

She also tells Up & Coming Weekly that there are plans to possibly hold a European tour in the next couple of years.

The upcoming concert, Messiah, is free to attend and no reservations are required. However, they are asking audience members to wear masks during the event.

The concert will feature four soloists, one being a local school teacher - Leigh Montague.

Montague is a Fayetteville native and attended Pine Forest High School. She graduated in 2008 and attended UNC Pembroke. She currently teaches at Cumberland County Schools and has done so for the past nine years.

The community concert will take place at Cedar Falls Baptist Church. Doors will open at 2 p.m. and the concert will start at 3 p.m. on Dec. 5.

Cumberland County Commission Chairman Charles Evans has set his sights on higher public office. He says he will run for the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina’s revised 4th District. The 4th Congressional District is newly drawn with no incumbent. The district includes all of Cumberland, Sampson, Johnston Counties, most of Harnett County and a small fragment of Wayne County.

“This district is home to Fort Bragg and the county that's home to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base,” Evans noted. “As a veteran, I understand what military families and personnel need and will be their number one ally in Congress."

Evans has served on the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners for the past 11 years and previously served on the Fayetteville City Council from 2005-2009. He is affiliated with the Democratic party.

Sen. Ben Clark and Rep. John Szoka have also announced that they will be running for the seat. Szoka will be running against former Fayetteville mayor Nat Robertson and former police officer Christine Villaverde for the Republican primary. Clark and Evans will run against each for the Democratic primary.

The holidays are upon us and the Cape Fear Botanical Garden will be bringing in crowds with Holiday Lights in the Garden. This is the eleventh year that the event has been held.

“We started preparing in July … staff members have been working out in the Garden one to two days a week to prepare for BOO-tanical and Holiday Lights,” said Meghan Woolbright, marketing coordinator, Cape Fear Botanical Garden.

Holiday Lights in the Garden include more than one million lights displayed throughout the botanical gardens. More than simply walking through the lights, there are activities for everyone. Cape Fear Botanical Garden’s glowing light maze is constructed with cool white lights.

“Our team hit the ground running with the light maze construction and it was a huge hit for BOO-tanical [event] this year and we're sure it will be for Holiday Lights as well. It'll be like your own winter wonderland,” Woolbright said.

Santa will also be on the scene ready to hear requests from children. Joining Santa, the Grinch will also be found among the lights.

Visitors may purchase photos with Santa, but selfies with the Grinch are free.

Visitors are invited to enjoy dinner and snacks from local food trucks to include Howell N' Dawgs, Hollywood Java, Household 6 Catering, and Gloria's.

Visitors can also warm themselves with hot cocoa and s’mores.

Entertainment will be scheduled on select evenings and free crafts for children will be provided.

There will be live entertainment including the Fayetteville Technical Community College Jazz-Orchestra Ensemble, Highland Brass Players from Snyder Memorial Baptist Church, Fayetteville Jazz Orchestra, Gilbert Theater GLEE, Berean Baptist Choir, and Champion Davis Saint – Amand.

If visitors have last-minute Christmas shopping they can check items off their list in the Garden Gift Shop, which will be open each evening.

Parking will be free but it is limited. On Dec. 17 and 18, Holiday Lights visitors can park downtown and ride the Can-Do Coldwell Banker Trolley to the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens; tickets to ride will be $5 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

The trolley will be picking up and dropping off between Cool Springs Downtown District office and Cape Fear Botanical Garden every 20 minutes.

A Member Preview Night is scheduled for Dec. 2, which will be free to all Cape Fear Botanical Garden members and they can welcome one guest at normal admission price. Members can pay for guest tickets at the Garden Gift Shop.

For more information or to purchase tickets visit https://www.capefearbg.org/event/holiday-lights-in-the-garden-2/

What can you say about a 17-pound potato named Doug? That he was beautiful? That Doug loved Mozart and Bach? That he would make a lot of vodka? Who knows if a Big Potato loves music? To find out the truth, Mr. Science went all the way to New Zealand to investigate the strange case of the world’s largest potato. An excellent article in The Guardian by Eva Corlett brought Doug to the attention of the world.

Once upon a time, Colin & Donna Brown lived a quiet life in Hamilton, New Zealand puttering their days away in their garden. The greatest problem they faced was keeping Peter Rabbit away from their carrots in the manner of Mr. McGregor. Unbeknownst to them, Colin was about to make a discovery that would bring them to the attention of the world. Colin was weeding his garden when his hoe hit something large and solid underground. Colin had struck Doug. Ms. Corlett’s article reports Colin said: “Donna this must be one of those white sweet potatoes that we grew because some of them grow massive out here.” After giving the object the old taste test, Collin realized he had unearthed a giant white potato.

What do you do with a giant potato? You give him a name that suits his personality. Thus, Doug the Giant Potato was christened. Colin said: “We put a hat on him. We put him on Facebook, taking him for a walk, giving him some sunshine. It’s all a bit of fun. It’s amazing what entertains people. It’s fair to say our veggie garden can get a bit feral. There are some parts of the garden you need to pack a lunch and advise your next of kin before heading to.”

Colin reports they had not planted potatoes for two or three years deepening the mystery of Doug’s origin. Could Doug have been seeded by aliens like the pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Was Doug part of an interstellar plot to take over the Earth one French Fry at the time? The potato soup thickens. Might Doug be the vanguard of an army of giant intelligent tubers bent on seeking revenge against humanity for the transmogrification of millions of their Earthly relatives into potato chips, hash browns, mashed potatoes, twice-baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, potato casserole, baked gnocchi, tater tots, Shepherd’s pie, or potatoes au gratin?

Ponder the facts about potato consumption and beware. If there are intelligent Space Alien Potatoes across the universe it’s easy to see why they would consider the Earth to be the archenemy of potatoes. Mr. Google reports that the average person eats about 110 pounds of potatoes a year. The National Potato Council reports that in 2020 about 42.7 billion pounds of potatoes were produced and eaten each year. That is no small potatoes. If Intelligent Space Potatoes are able to get those potatoes to unite and throw off their chains, no human is safe. We are all doomed to fall to an attack of Killer Potatoes.

But there is hope. The Guinness Book of World Records reports that the largest Pre-Doug potato was found in England in 2011 weighing about 10 pounds. Doug is clearly the King of Potatoes. Fortunately, Doug at this point seems content to amuse New Zealanders and not take over the world. Humanity’s best bet to stave off Killer Potatoes is appeasement by recognizing their accomplishments to show we can be their friends. Consider some of the great potatoes of history: Mr. Potato Head reigned supreme as a toy in the 1950s. The most famous dog in beer ad history was the late great Spuds MacKenzie. Every August 19th is National Potato Day. Great days in Potato History include 2000 BC when the Incas first planted potatoes as a crop. In 1536 the Spanish Conquistadores invaded Peru and took back the first potatoes to Europe. Thomas Jefferson first served French fried potatoes in the White House in 1802. In 1885 Van Gogh painted his famous picture The Potato Eaters immortalizing the role that potatoes play in nutrition. In 1995 NASA launched potatoes into orbit making them the first veggies grown in space. The list goes on and on.

The greatest episode of the Andy Griffith show combines Aunt Bea’s pickles, kindness, and potatoes. Clara has won the best pickles at the county fair for eleven years. It’s a big deal for Clara. Barney and Andy make a fuss over Aunt Bea’s pickles even though her pickles are terrible. The guys switch out her pickles for store-bought dills not knowing Aunt Bea has decided to enter them in the county fair. At first, they think it would be funny for Aunt Bea to win with store-bought pickles. Then Clara talks about how much winning the best pickles means to her since her husband passed away. Andy and Barney then have to eat all store-bought pickles so Aunt Bea will enter her own terrible pickles and lose to Clara. Clara wins the contest. Andy closes by saying: “What’s small potatoes to some folks can be mighty important to others.”

But if flattering potatoes doesn’t work, Doug and Donna have saved the Earth. They wrapped Doug in plastic to preserve him and plan on making him into vodka.

Cumberland County school bus drivers will share in additional system-wide bonuses being provided by the board of education. The school board decided on Nov. 17 to give the school district’s 6,000 full-time employees $1,000 bonuses in December and again in May. Local bus drivers have been demanding better pay and have staged protests recently. More than 100 buses were idled two weeks ago because of a "sick-out" staged by drivers.

Starting pay for bus drivers in the school district is $12.21 an hour. A new state budget proposal includes a provision that the minimum hourly wage for non-certified school employees be raised to $13 this year and to $15 in the 2022-23 fiscal year. The state sets the baseline for pay in public schools, and some counties “supplement” those wages.
The Cumberland County school district used to have a competitive supplemental package, but education officials say they are falling behind.

"Determining the full cost (local, state and federal) of adjusting our minimum hourly salary to $13 or $15... is extremely complicated and if conducted internally could take an inordinate amount of time that we do not have given the state of the labor market," a memorandum released by the board said.

Drivers say they are frustrated over a stalemate between the Cumberland County Board of Education and the county commissioners. The Board of Education develops the budget, but county commissioners provide the funding.

"If you raise the pay for just one group, then you have many other groups within the district that did not get that same consideration," said Clyde Locklear, associate superintendent of business
operations.

Many North Carolina school districts are struggling to hire and retain workers because of low wages and working conditions many complain about. More than a third of Cumberland County Schools, 50,000 students, depend on bus services to get to school.

In the tradition of Charles Dickens’ classic short story, “A Christmas Carol”, the annual A Dickens Holiday is a Victorian-era holiday shopping and entertainment celebration held in historic Downtown Fayetteville. A Dickens Holiday is intended to encourage the community to shop and support local businesses during the holiday shopping season.

This is the twenty-second year that the Arts Council of Fayetteville, through support from the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and the North Carolina Arts Council has planned the event. Vendors line both sides of Hay Street selling a diverse range of goods from hand-knit scarves to metal sculptures, local honey to flavored popcorn — the artisans offer unique products. Shoppers can grab one-of-a-kind gifts to put under the tree.

Vickie Toledo used to be a patron, now she is a vendor, The Crafty Rooster. She has been a patron for 16 years and a vendor for four years.

“I love the theme and the people who dress up. It makes it so much more fun than a holiday craft fair,” said Toledo. “It's a craft fair in the era of Dickens, with all the characters from A Christmas Carol, carriage rides and cider, a beautiful candle-lit march down Hay Street and more. It’s a blast.”

A Dickens Holiday is considered the kickoff event for the holiday season bringing together the best that Fayetteville has to offer. Each year, thousands of onlookers join in the Hay Street festivities.
Following guidance from the Cumberland County Health Department and in light of COVID-19, the Arts Council’s Board of Trustees has taken a cautious approach to this year’s celebration by encouraging social distancing and offering a lower density of crafters, artists and vendors for the event. Also due to COVID-19, the Dickens candlelight procession to the Market House and firework display will not take place this year.

There will be street performances by Michael Daughtry, David Nikkel, Coventry Carolers, Highland Brass Ensemble and others. In addition, there will be festive holiday performances by the English Country Line Dancers, a solo violinist, Gilbert Glee, a magician, Highland Brass Ensemble, a stilt walker, Oakwood Waits Double Ensemble, Anthony Sutton and Friends, Fayetteville Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Alpha Omega Dance Academy’s ballet excerpts of "The Nutcracker."

Characters from “A Christmas Carol” including Father Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge, the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Christmas Future, Jacob Marley, London Bobbies and the Cratchit family with Tiny Tim will be ambling around downtown, mingling with the spectators. This is Eric Hoisington’s fourth year participating in A Dickens Holiday by playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge.
“I am a huge fan of Charles Dickens and have read all of his novels, so it’s amazing to see Fayetteville town’s people once again exposed to the quaintness of Victorian times and the drama inherent in 'A Christmas Carol' while played out by various town-thespians,” said Hoisington. “I walk up and down Hay Street in a bad mood, trying to terrorize the crowd with the depravity that is Ebenezer Scrooge.”

There are memories to be made at the event including Victorian horse-drawn carriage rides on Hay Street, and Dickens photo cut-outs and a holiday selfie station. The event is free and dog-friendly, though owners should check if animals are allowed inside establishments. A Dickens Holiday event will be held on Nov. 26, from 1 – 8 p.m.

In the next few weeks, Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West will hold informational sessions for people who think they may qualify to be lawfully expunged. An expungement clinic will be held in the Spring of 2022 where local attorneys, the public defender’s office, and Legal Aid of NC will assist individuals in having their records expunged. So, what in the world is expungement? To “expunge” is to “erase or remove completely.” In the law, “expungement” is the process by which a record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed from state or federal records.

An expungement order directs the court to treat a criminal conviction as if it had never occurred, essentially removing it from a defendant’s criminal record as well as, ideally, the public record. It is important to clarify that expungement is not “forgiveness” for committing a crime — that is a legal pardon. Likewise, pardons are not expungements and do not require removal of a conviction from a criminal record. When a criminal record is expunged, the public record of the arrest, charge, or conviction is deleted.

Notice is also sent to a range of government entities, such as the sheriff’s office or police department that made the arrest and the division of motor vehicles. These agencies are directed to purge their records relating to the arrest, charge, or conviction. For most purposes, it’s like the legal proceeding never happened. However, confidential records are retained after expungement. These records are available under very limited circumstances, such as when a judge considering an expungement application wants to know whether the applicant has been granted an expungement in the past.

Who should be expunged?

"It's someone whose license has been suspended for at least 5 years due to unpaid fees on a minor traffic offense that has already been adjudicated such as a stop sign offense, speeding ticket, expired registration," West said.

Fayetteville criminal justice activist Demetria Murphy said the economic treadmill is exactly what stops people from getting their licenses again.

"Someone who goes from making $8 or $9 who now can go and work for a distribution center and have their regular driver's license back...puts them in a position to actually win," Murphy said.

Under North Carolina law, a person whose record has been expunged generally does not have to disclose the arrest, charge or conviction on job applications, applications for housing, and in other settings where a criminal conviction may have a negative impact. Prospective employers and educational institutions can’t require applicants to disclose expunged entries. In fact, North Carolina law specifically protects people with expunged criminal records from perjury and similar charges relating to failure to disclose an expunged record. Employers who violate this law can be fined.

North Carolina law provides for expungement of a wide variety of arrests, charges and convictions. In some cases, expungement is available only to people who were under a certain age at the time of the crime. Other expungements are available regardless of age. The best source of information about whether your arrest, charge, or conviction may be eligible for expungement is an experienced Fayetteville criminal defense attorney. For more information, contact the District Attorney’s Office at (910) 475-3010 or at Cumberland.DAExpugements@nccourts.org.

The Council on Criminal Justice issued a report earlier this year that shows the number of homicides in the U.S. during the first half of 2021 increased by 16% compared to the same period last year. The number of homicides in 2020 compared to 2019 rose by 25%, according to an FBI preliminary report. It was the largest increase since the FBI began releasing annual homicide figures in the 1960s. The spike in violent crime came as the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the country.

This year’s murder rate in Fayetteville is unprecedented. As of Nov. 17, 43 people were killed by others. Arrests have been made in 33 of the cases. That exceeds the highest annual homicide number by 12.

“There is no one answer to what’s going on,” Police Chief Gina Hawkins told Up & Coming Weekly. “There are so many guns in our community.”

She says that people are impatient having been locked away in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hawkins said that unlike previous years, homicides here are city-wide.

“In Fayetteville, the number one reason for murder was drug-related robberies,” Hawkins said, noting that murder is almost impossible to prevent.

Light Up the City: A Holiday Decoration Celebration is coming to the Cool Springs Downtown District. The event is free for all who wish to attend or participate and encourages shop owners to decorate their windows for the holidays.

The idea is to bring residents downtown to view the lights and decorations. The decorations turn downtown Fayetteville into a decoratively lit winter wonderland. It is ideal for taking photos and making memories.

Last year, 35 businesses, restaurants and downtown museums took part in the event.

It is a great way to fill downtown Fayetteville with holiday spirit. Some locations are decked out with Christmas trees, others strung up lights and lots of places put up garland.

People can take a self-guided tour downtown. A map will be available on the Light Up the City: A Holiday Decoration Celebration Facebook event page (facebook.com/events/262093505957203) highlighting the establishments that are taking part in the event.

Maps of businesses taking part in the Light Up the City will also be available at 222 Hay St. beginning Dec. 1. The event will take place from Dec. 1 – 31.

Letters to Santa will also return with this event and there will be a giant five-foot red mailbox in which children can send their Christmas lists and Santa letters to the North Pole. The “Direct to the North Pole" mailbox will be located outside of the Cool Spring Downtown District's office at 222 Hay Street.

Just next door downtown visitors will also find the Holiday Alley, a photographic urban holiday oasis designed to spark joy and filled with holiday lights and decorations.
Families can visit and take photos in the alley.

“Last year, we saw hundreds of families come, enjoy the holiday decorations and take photos of their children at the photo stations,” said Lauren Falls, director of marketing and events for the Cool Spring Downtown District.

This is the third year Light Up the City: A Holiday Decoration Celebration will be held and it is the second year patrons can mail a letter to Santa and visit the
Holiday Alley.

Businesses are invited to sign up for the event by visiting this link, forms.gle/2YDiUgAZYu7PTfRq5. They must have decorations up by Dec. 1. They may decorate their storefront or inside their business to qualify and share the event link on their social media pages.

Pedestrians checking out the many lights can vote for the Viewer’s Choice Award, the best display in participating businesses.

The window voted best dressed wins $250.

“Last year, we had around 500 people vote for the Light Up the City Viewer's Choice Award poll and the winner for last year was the United Way of Cumberland County,” said Falls.

In addition to the businesses that have decorated, there will be a 14-foot tree decked out in holiday finery. The community tree will be located at 301 Hay St., in front of the Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County building and will likely be a prime spot for visitors to take photos.

It has been two years since the virus we now know as COVID-19 began as a stealth incubation in Wuhan, China before exploding onto the world stage. It has since taken 5.1 million lives, almost 800,000 of them in the United States and nearly 19,000 of those in North Carolina. None of us remain untouched by the pandemic, whether we have lost someone near and dear or whether we feel merely inconvenienced by COVID-19 restrictions.

The second year of holiday celebrations affected by the virus is now upon us. Experts and regular folks alike are realizing COVID-19 will be with us for the long haul and thinking about how we are going to live with it. The Dicksons, all thoroughly vaccinated and feeling fortunate to be so, will gather for Thanksgiving with a handful of family and friends in a way we did not last year. We will take precautions — knowing that everyone except a 2-year-old is vaccinated, and we will stay outdoors as much as we can, both cooking and eating. While we and millions of other Americans are indeed choosing to gather, we are also thinking about how to go about our lives knowing that COVID-19 is not the raging pandemic it once was but it remains a very real threat. We are going to learn to live with COVID risk. We will learn to accept it the same way we accept the risk of riding in vehicles of all sorts, participating in sports and engaging in other once-routine activities. So, what will that look like in our daily lives?

People in Asian counties have long worn face masks in public, because of both various illnesses and air pollution. Many medical experts expect Americans to do so for the foreseeable future in public places such as grocery stores, cabs, buses, planes and in gatherings of people we do not know.

People will likely continue working remotely at least some of the time and communicating electronically, in part because of health concerns and because we have discovered its convenience.
We are now able to ponder our lives ahead because while the United States remains less vaccinated than other developed nations, about 65% of us have had at least one shot and 60% have had more than one. That means that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is going down, especially in more vaccinated communities.

In addition, COVID-19 treatments are becoming more effective, meaning that this virus may eventually be just another illness and not one that takes over our lives.

Increasingly, experts are saying COVID-19 could become like seasonal flu, an illness no one wants and can be successfully vaccinated against.

All of which is to say that we are not going to wake up one morning to headlines screaming, “COVID-19 eradicated forever,” that is a dream not likely to come true.

The poet T.S. Eliot wrote that the world would end “not with a bang, but with a whimper.”

Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist Jennifer Nuzzo has the same thoughts about COVID-19. As Nuzzo told the Washington Post recently, “It doesn’t end. We just stop caring. Or we care a lot less... I think for most people, it just fades into the background of their lives.”

I look forward to that day, even if it means I mask up from time to time.

Elected officials and staff of Fayetteville and Cumberland County could learn a great deal about cooperation and teamwork from our present Cumberland County delegation. Congratulations are due to our Cumberland County Legislative Delegation Chairman, Rep. Billy Richardson, Sen. Kirk deViere, Sen. Ben Clark, Rep. John Szoka, Rep. Diane Wheatley, and Rep. Marvin Lucas for the passing of North Carolina's first budget since 2018. For months they worked together diligently for one primary purpose, to do the right things to better the quality of life for the residents of Cumberland County. Serving the citizens of Fayetteville and the other eight municipalities was, and should always be, the highest of all priorities. Today, we are fortunate to have dedicated local leadership representing us in Raleigh, and they have done just that. As a result, last week, Gov. Roy Cooper signed off on a state budget and infrastructure bill that has been long over overdue. Anytime you can bring home over $402 million to your community, one must give credit where credit is due. It was only through hard work, compromise and cooperation that they accomplished this. The projects and programs funded by the new budget will impact the Cumberland County community for decades. The teamwork demonstrated by our bipartisan leadership resulted in the passage of a budget that will significantly impact Carolinians from the mountains to the coast. It targets the state's infrastructure needs in health care, K-12 education, broadband water restoration, community colleges, universities, medical research and much more. The tax policy portion of the budget is pro-growth, lowering the personal income tax and lowering the corporate income tax rates.

In addition, military pensions for North Carolina Veterans will no longer be taxed thanks to Rep. John Szoka, the primary sponsor of HB 83 and signed on to by Rep. Diane Wheatley. According to Szoka, this will make North Carolina more attractive to military retirees from all over the country. Specifically, it will aid in attracting and retaining retirees here in Cumberland County. Another budget highlight and a huge win for our local community was the allocation of $59.6 million for the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center. Another example of fantastic teamwork, cooperation and perseverance by project Chairman Mac Healy, Mary Lynn Bryan, and members of the Center's board of directors who pursued an endeavor that is good and beneficial for the entire community. This state-run venue will bring hundreds of thousands of visitors and guests and millions of dollars into our community annually. What's not to like about that?

This bipartisan leadership is the kind of leadership that needs to be replicated locally in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. We have an election coming up soon after the first of the year. We should be looking for and voting for candidates who want to cooperate to better the circumstances of the city and county citizens. We need honest and trustworthy leaders who understand the detriment that municipal and community silos have on the progress of a growing community. Sure, we are moving forward in our development but not at the pace we should be because the cooperation and teamwork amongst our city, county and influential community organizations are only evident in fruitless sound bites. We now have a herculean opportunity to negotiate the $402 million earmarked for Cumberland County into a formidable "can do" community. Our Raleigh delegation has set the near-perfect example of what is accomplishable through teamwork and cooperation. We must encourage and demand that our local city and county leaders do the same. We need action, not empty words. We need to keep those traits in mind when we vote for our future leaders.

Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

The holiday season is always an odd time for me. I love to give gifts, but I don't really care to add to the collection of unwanted gifts. In my home, we often talk about trusting God to meet our needs. That doesn't mean we stand on the shore and watch for our ship to come in. We work hard to make sure we've done all we can to provide for our family and others, but still, we trust God.

Sometimes I'll pray and ask for specific things — you know, a particular amount of money, favorable diagnosis of a car problem — and I suspect you do too. Nothing wrong with that, but there's truly more to having your needs met than having stuff go your way. It may be as simple as being content with where you are and what you have.

My wife and I must be on the same wavelength concerning contentment. We have a little chalkboard in our kitchen where we'll write a recipe or date night idea, but recently I walked into the kitchen and saw these words: “What if God has already provided?” That stopped me. And the thought has haunted me for weeks. What if, in my quest for more and better, I've overlooked what I already have? It's caused me to take stock of my time, talents and resources. It's even changed the way I pray, and how I look at pretty much everything.

Discontentment runs rampant in our culture, and today I want to offer you three choices you can make in your life that can lead you to genuine, biblical, lasting contentment.

First, seek contentment as a lifestyle. Choose it. Acknowledge that you would not be happier if you had more. You wouldn’t be — you’d likely be more miserable. God’s Word contains clear warnings for us: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25.)

Second, learn to say, “I have enough.” Let those words reign in your home. Push back from the table and say, “I’ve had enough.” When money comes your way — a surprise bonus from work, an inheritance from your great uncle, even finding $50 in your coat pocket — resist the cravings for more.

Lastly, settle it. Here’s a challenge — choose a lifestyle; don’t let your income dictate your lifestyle. Choose a comfortable level of living that meets your needs, and don't compromise that with more spending when more income arrives. If you don’t choose a lifestyle, this culture will choose one for you, and by default, it will be the lifestyle of living beyond your means. Be counter-cultural. Be radical.

Be others oriented. Let enough be enough. Learn from the examples of those around you (both the contented and the covetous.) You'll save yourself some heartache and know the joy of a truly contented attitude.

More does not equal happier. I promise. And remember this from Philippians 4:19 — “My God will supply every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”