Wow! For over two decades, our community newspaper has provided residents, visitors and guests insights into the people, businesses and organizations that invest extra time and effort into making our community unique.

Our Best of Fayetteville survey is also unique. Our dedicated readers pride themselves on making sure they are the ones who define and determine who Fayetteville’s Best of the Best are. No nominations, no ballot stuffing. Only well-defined enforceable voting guidelines have elevated the honor and integrity of the Best of Fayetteville designation.

However, the survey is not scientific. It is an informal survey, and we make no claims otherwise. However, it has proven to be highly accurate.

Following a frustrating year of staying at home, social distancing, vaccine confusion, mask-wearing, and an overall lack of social interaction, we are slowly beginning to get our lives back to normalcy. So, now, let’s celebrate!

As our faithful readers know, Up & Coming Weekly’s biggest celebration of the year is recognizing and honoring our community’s outstanding people, businesses and institutions. This year we are celebrating the occasion at the Crown Coliseum, one of our newest Best of Fayetteville sponsors.

Here is where the Best of the Best will congregate to celebrate their achievements and contributions to our All-American City.

Over the past 25 years, our community and our newspaper have changed immensely. However, the Best of Fayetteville readers survey has not. It continues to reflect the best aspects of the Fayetteville community. Annually, we receive thousands of ballots and painstakingly record the comments and sentiments of our readers.

This process allows us to get to know who, what and why they value our community members. It is these people, businesses and organizations we want to showcase and introduce to Fayetteville, Fort Bragg and Cumberland County residents as they continue to work hard year after year to improve, impact and elevate our local quality of life.

The Up & Coming Weekly Best of Fayetteville edition you are holding in your hands will serve you well throughout the year. It is a valuable visitor’s guide, service directory and cultural and event resource.

Please share it with your friends. The format and guidelines for this sanctioned, time-tested survey have been designed and audited to provide residents, local businesses and organizations the recognition they deserve for their ethics, dedication and perseverance in their quest for excellence.

Since the first ballots were counted more than two decades ago, Up & Coming Weekly has successfully told the Best of Fayetteville winners’ stories. With your votes and support, we are extremely proud to share this year’s Best of the Best winners with you. Please join me and the entire Up & Coming Weekly staff and all our 2021 Best of Fayetteville sponsors as we begin this yearlong celebration.

For 24/7, 365-days-a-year access to the Best of Fayetteville winners, visit www.upandcomingweekly.com. While you’re there, sign up for our FREE electronic subscription and receive the Early Bird edition of Up & Coming Weekly every Tuesday
afternoon.

I want to thank Mac Healy of Healy Wholesale and Jim Grafstrom of the Crown Coliseum for their help and support. I also want to thank Jimmy Keefe of the Trophy House for creating the beautiful Best of Fayetteville plaques they designed and his service as a Cumberland County Commissioner. Of course, every legitimate survey needs a competent CPA, and we have the best. Lee Utley has supported and partnered with us for nearly two decades, and his services have been invaluable.

Again, we hope you enjoy this special edition of Up & Coming Weekly. Keep it handy and refer to it often.

We sincerely thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly and supporting your only locally-owned community newspaper.

North Carolinians were horrified by not one but two school shootings earlier this month — at least I hope
we were.

The first was in Wilmington where a 15-year-old student at New Hanover High School was charged with attempted murder in the wounding of another student in his leg. Officials released few details because of the accused’s age, but his mother said the boy was new to the school and that his family had been concerned about his safety in the new setting. She said she had spoken to school administrators about those concerns.

Days later a student at Mount Tabor High School in Winston Salem was shot dead at the school, and a suspect, believed to have been a fellow student, was later apprehended.City and county authorities have been even less forthcoming with information about the second shooting in a single week, presumably because of the age of the person taken into custody.

At a time when students are just returning to classrooms after more than a year of COVID shutdowns, these shootings are shocking and deeply disturbing. Questions that pop up immediately include these.

Where did the guns involved come from and how did the shooters get their hands on them?

How did they get them into schools, supposedly safe places for learning, both academically and socially?

What should parents do when they fear their children are walking into unsafe situations when they are entrusted to others in charge of our schools?

These are questions to which there are answers, whether we like them
or not.

We may find that the shooters took licensed weapons from another person without permission. We may find they smuggled them into school in backpacks, somehow bypassing school resource officers or even metal detectors. We may find that schools have procedures for parents to voice concerns and channels to pursue if they feel administrators are not listening to them. Law enforcement officials across the nation are voicing concerns about young people and guns, among them North Carolina’s Attorney General Josh Stein. Stein has contacted Facebook regarding gun sales on its platforms, including Instagram, especially to underage buyers.

More difficult are the larger, less specific questions, these among them.

How did we become a nation whose culture embraces firearms, with all their attendant dangers and losses? How did we become a nation where my right to own a gun supersedes your right to be safe in my presence? How much more gun violence among both adults and children are we willing to tolerate?

When twenty 6- and 7-year-olds were gunned down nearly a decade ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, millions of Americans thought, “Surely, murdering kindergarteners will shock us into facing the magnitude of our gun violence problem, something no other developed nation on earth faces.”

But that did not happen.

The carnage, both small and large, continues in churches (Charleston, South Carolina), in concert venues (Las Vegas), in schools (far too numerous to enumerate), in businesses, in homes, on roadways and hiking trails. It happens to people of all ages, from infants to the elderly.

Name a place in the United States, and odds are that someone has been shot there — or will be.

Often the shooter is someone disaffected from his community and/or family, striking out at people he believes have wronged him somehow. Some times he is taking aim at strangers for reasons known only to himself.

Whatever the situation, it is increasingly apparent that Americans have lost our capacity to be shocked by violence — that the lives lost and the people who took them are now part of the wallpaper of our culture, even when they are too young to have their names made public.

My guess is we feel that way until it happens to someone we love.

Cumberland County Schools recently received the "Outstanding Website" award from the 2021 WebAwards.

The webstie was evaluated based on its design, ease of use, copywriting, interactivity, use of technology, innovation and content. A judge lauded the website for excellence in every category.

"The amount of diversity of the families within the school system (military market/federally connected) with 75 countries and 89 languages is a challenge to master... WELL DONE!"

Since 1997, the WebAwards have been recognized as the premier industry-based Website Award program in the world.

The WebAwards include sites from 97 industry categories which go head-to-head with other sites from their categories.

Check out the district's award-winning website here: https://www.ccs.k12.nc.us/.

Members of Fayetteville Academy’s BRAVE (Bringing Real Adolescent Voices Empowerment) club recently held a book drive to benefit Connections of Cumberland County and the Fayetteville Police Department Foundation.

Books for both children and adults were collected. The children’s books were donated to the Fayetteville Police Department Foundation and will be shared with the FPD Youth Services Unit. Some of the books will be given to children who are victims of abuse and some will be shared with the Human Trafficking Division for juvenile victims.

The books for adults were donated to the single women’s Day Resource Center operated by Connections of Cumberland County.

The BRAVE club has a service focus and works to spread kindness and acceptance among the Fayetteville Academy student body and the community with different activities throughout the year working to promote a welcoming and supportive environment while giving back to the community.

Fayetteville Academy is an independent, college preparatory school that encourages students to achieve their full potential by offering exceptional opportunities in academics, fine arts and athletics.

Pictured left to right are: Officer Sway Rivera, seventh grader Austin Taylor, Capt. Todd Joyce and Sgt. John Benazzi. (Photo courtesy Fayetteville Academy)

The City of Fayetteville has vacancies for some advisory boards and commissions including the Board of Advisors for the Woodpeckers Capital Reserve Account, the Fayetteville-Cumberland Economic Development Board, Joint City and County Appearance Commission and the Stormwater Advisory Board.

Applications will be accepted through Oct. 13. All qualified applications will be presented to city council’s appointment committee.

City Council is expected to approve new members at its meeting in November. Applications can be made at www.fayettevillenc.gov. Residents should click on city council, scroll down to boards and commissions, and click on vacancies.

WoofStock, Fayetteville Animal Protection Society’s pet fundraising event, is slated for Friday, Oct. 1 from 6 to 10:30 p.m. It will take place at Cape Fear Botanical Garden. There will be dinner, drinks, live bands, swag to take home and a few new surprises will be featured.

Fayetteville Animal Protection Society, Inc., or FAPS, is the only Cumberland County no-kill, non-profit animal shelter supported by volunteers, grants and individual contributions. FAPS receives no state or federal funding to operate and relies solely on the community to support its mission in rescuing and successfully placing companion animals in their forever homes. Currently, there are 79 animals housed at the facility that need to be adopted.

While stores, restaurants and businesses came to a halt due to COVID-19, there was still a need for safe havens for animals. Despite missing out on their normal fundraising efforts and major changes in operating protocols, FAPS has continued to give second chances to discarded and abandoned pets in our community. Jackie Peery, Executive Director of FAPS said, “2020 was a difficult year financially without our major fundraiser. WoofStock is very vital to FAPS’s mission.”

In lieu of WoofStock, last year FAPS hosted an online silent auction. “We got a lot of stuff for the auction,” Peery said. “It was a great to have something of no value to you be something that someone else could use.”

COVID-19 also affected people at the organization. FAPS was not open to the public and staff hours were reduced. Volunteers helped out.

“This is WoofStock’s ninth year,” Peery said. “Five hundred people are expected at WoofStock this year.” Proceeds help FAPS to continue their mission to not only spay/neuter, vaccinate and microchip each pet, but also provide food, shelter and veterinary care while under the care of FAPS.

The event is strictly for adults. As much as all involved love their pets, they will not be at the event. If you want to adopt an animal, the hours the facility is open to the public is Friday from 1-5 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. FAPS will operate by appointment Tuesday-Thursday.

There will be a variety of food at the event. Little Taco will be making taco boxes. Also, hot dogs and sausages will be available. A baked potato bar will also feed attendees. Dirtbag Ales is a sponsor. They are donating 3 beers – Blood Orange Kolsch. Old-Brew Mocha Porter and Crispy Boiz Seltzer - included with the ticket price. It is an open bar, but tips are appreciated. There will be fun activities with lawn games such as corn hole and Jenga.
There is no dress code. Some people wear tie-dye etc. Don’t have anything tie-dye? There will be a station where attendees can dye their own shirt.

All CDC social guidelines will be followed. While there will be indoor seating, WoofStock will primarily be outside. Tables will sit four to six people and will be spaced out to meet social distancing guidelines. With its groovy attitude and laid-back atmosphere, WoofStock is an event with a cause which is to continue to help our community’s homeless animals find forever homes.

Check out FAPS on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fapspet or on their website at www.fapspet.org for more information on WoofStock
and FAPS.

Pictured: The WoofStock fundraiser for FAPS is scheduled Oct. 1. (Photo courtesy FAPS)

Watching the news with its escalating daily death count from the ravages of the Rona got me to thinking about mortality.

Dionne Warwick sang: “What’s it all about Alfie/ Is it just for the moment we live/ What’s it all about/ When you sort it out, Alfie.” Since Alfie is not available, I will explain one of the mysteries of life, the little matter of death.

Class, open your laptop. This will be on the final exam. If you are reading this blot on world literature, by definition you are alive. However, at some point you will slip off this mortal coil and break on through to the Other Side. As the late Jim Morrison once said: “No one gets out of here alive.” It is unclear if Jim is aware he remains popular.

Our version of human beings is called Homo Sapiens. Mr. Google reports that Homo Sapiens appeared about 50,000 years ago. The Population Reference Bureau estimates since the appearance of Homo Sapiens about 107 billion people have lived.

Currently, the world population is estimated to be about 7.6 billion people. That means that roughly 100 billion people have already died giving us a ratio of 15 dead people for every living person today. So, death is pretty common. As Elaine once said to Jerry Seinfeld in another context, death has been done to death. We should not be surprised when it happens.

Poets, philosophers and song writers have all grappled with the concept of death. Let’s take a look at some of the colorful ways four famous people have gotten into Charon’s boat and crossed the river Styx into the land of the dead. Why did Casper the Friendly Boy have to die to become Casper the Friendly Ghost? Some questions do not have answers.

Our old friend and Greek playwright Aeschylus departed in a colorful manner. Aeschylus was a famous dude in his time. He was born around 525 BC. He is generally credited as being the father of Greek tragedy. He wrote about 80 plays with only seven of his plays surviving. An oracle told Aeschylus he was going to be killed by something falling out of the sky. Being a cautious sort, Aeschylus social distanced from the sky by mainly staying indoors. Fate will not be cheated. When your time is up, it’s up. One day in 456 B.C., Aeschylus broke his rule against being outside and went on a walkabout. Bad idea. Aeschylus was bald (another reason I like him, he is the godfather of all bald men). While he was out walking, an eagle flying overhead mistook his bald head for a rock. Ordinarily an eagle with presbyopia is not a danger to humanity. But this particular eagle was carrying a tortoise in his claws. Eagles have figured out how to get to the good stuff inside the tortoise shell by picking up the critter and dropping it on a rock below. The tortoise shell cracks open and voila! It’s tortoise tartar for the hungry eagle. The eagle dropped the tortoise on Aeschylus’ bald head. Lights out for the father of Greek tragedy.

Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881 in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Various legends have grown up about Billy and the number of people he killed. His burial site has been vandalized so many times by souvenir hunters that a metal cage had to be built around it to keep the fans from destroying his tomb stone.

Singer Dave Stamey sympathetically channels Billy’s ghost and sings an excellent song about Billy’s death called “The Skies of Lincoln County”. The chorus goes: “And the skies of Lincoln County were as blue as blue could be/ And the sun that shines on you, well it used to shine on me/ And I knew the smell of wood smoke and I liked the taste of beer/ The only difference now, is I’m not here/ I’m in New Mexico and it’s 1881.” I commend this song for your listening pleasure. We will all join Billy one day and miss the smell of wood smoke.

The late great song writer Warren Zevon wrote a cheery little ditty called “Life’ll Kill You” in which he ponders the mystery of death. I saw Warren perform in Chapel Hill at the Cat’s Cradle when he was not well. He suggested to the audience that avoiding the doctor was not a good plan. His song included the lyrics: “From the President of the United States/ To the lowliest rock and roll star/ The doctor is in and he’ll see you now/ He don’t care who you are/ Some get the awful, awful diseases/ Some get the knife, some get the gun/ Some get to die in their sleep at the age of a hundred and one.”

So what have we learned today? Life is fleeting. Enjoy it. Do you know what happens the day after you die? Everything. Politicians promise. Traffic jams. Lunch is eaten. Birds fly. People get married. Socks get lost. The only difference is you’re not there.

Pictured: Aeschylus' time was up when an eagle flying overhead mistook his bald head for a rock.