The First Baptist Church will host its annual “Christmas Day of Love” on Dec. 5 from noon to 2 p.m. to pass out free groceries and serve hot meals to members of the community.

Volunteers from the church will also provide a bag of non-perishable grocery items, said Rev. Fredrick Culbreth. The items are ones that can be prepared in a kitchen or consumed without preparation, if a person is homeless.

Culbreth said the hot meal provided will include turkey, ham, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, bread and more.

The food was donated and/or collected by members of the congregation and Second Harvest Food Bank.

The church members and volunteers will be observing COVID-19 precautions like social distancing, wearing a mask and gloves. They will also provide masks to visitors who do not have them.

“When they come through, we will first give them their hot meal in a to-go container, and then hand them the smaller grocery bags, so they can carry those out,” Culbreth said. “If it's a nice day, we'll set up outside and, if not, then inside our gym and only bring in five people at time, we’ll serve them, and make sure they go in one way and exit out another.”

The “Christmas Day of Love” is the last major mission event the church has scheduled for this calendar year. Culbreth said they usually do their last give-away during the holiday season before members get too busy or go out of town.

“This is an annual event, and there’s people in the community that know about it and look forward to it,” he said.

The church hosts many food give-aways and other events throughout the year, other missions include serving meals to first responders and such. Culbreth said it is important to keep hosting these events while dealing with the pandemic and First Baptist is determined to continue such events.

“Just because COVID is here doesn't mean there's any less people in need, actually there are more people in need,” he said.

The Church is hoping to reach between 200 and 250 families with the “Christmas Day of Love” event.

“We just wanted to let the community know that we’ve been thinking about them,” Culbreth said.

For more information on First Baptist Church located at 302 Moore St. in Fayetteville, visit www.1st-baptist.com.

Pictured: Volunteers from the First Baptist Church in Fayetteville work to prepare last year's "Christmas Day of Love" food give-away. The 2020 event will take place on Dec. 5 with chruch members offering a hot meal and a take-away bag of groceries. (Photo courtesy First Baptist Church)

Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy has directed Arlington National Cemetery to reverse course and allow the annual wreath laying at graves by Wreaths Across America. Cemetery officials had said that the annual December wreath laying would be canceled because of COVID, sparking an “outpouring” of concern to cemetery officials, as well as to Wreaths Across America, said Karen Worcester, executive director of the organization.

Through public donations and volunteers, the nonprofit has placed more than 2 million veterans’ wreaths at more than 2,000 cemeteries nationwide, including those in Fayetteville, for nearly three decades.

The most well-known of those locations is Arlington National Cemetery, where the tradition started in 1992, and Wreaths Across America has had a “collaborative, good relationship” with cemetery officials for 29 years, Worcester said. There won’t be thousands of volunteers this year, and they’re working with cemetery officials on the logistics.

“We don’t know what this will look like, but we do know we will meet the challenge,” she said. As for the other cemeteries across the country, conversations are ongoing with those cemetery officials, and the organization has asked that volunteers adhere to local regulations.

In some cases, the events may be limited online. In some places, there will be “drive-through” events where people will be handed wreaths. “It’s been a difficult year, and we didn’t want to have another disappointment,” Worcester said. After having developed various options over the last seven months to use at any level of COVID mandate, her team “jumped into action” and had a discussion with the cemetery’s leadership team.

Worcester said they were contacted by people from all walks of life, asking what they could do to help. Some were angry, some were indignant, some were “very, very sad,” she said. “There are no bad guys. Everybody is trying to take care of everyone,” she said. Through this adversity, Worcester is hoping the attention will be an opportunity to share the organization’s mission throughout the year, which is to remember, honor and teach.

Worcester’s husband Morrill began the tradition in 1992, after founding the Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine. That year, the company had a surplus, and he saw it as a way to honor veterans with wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery. He was inspired by Arlington cemetery when he visited there as a 12-year-old. Worcester read a message from her son Michael, who wrote that remembering the fallen service men and women can’t become one of those “used to be activities” that fade away because of the pandemic.

“Do you think for one moment that any of the brave men and women would have thought twice before running into battle?” he wrote. “Why would it even be an option to take a year off from remembering and honoring them?”

The annual City of Fayetteville curbside loose-leaf collection is underway and will continue through Feb. 19.

During the collection period, residents can rake leaves and pine straw to the curb for pickup. City crews collect loose leaves by zip code. Leaves and pine straw can also be bagged or containerized for regular weekly collection.

During loose leaf season, free trash bags are available at recreation centers and fire stations. Large, brown roll-out carts can be purchased for $53 and can be delivered for a small fee. When purchased, the carts become the property of the residents.

The zip code collection schedule is available at www.fcpr.us/facilities/administrative/leaf-season-pickup or residents may call 910-433-1329.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has established a COVID-19 County Alert System to give individuals, businesses, community organizations and public officials a tool to see how their county is faring and to make decisions about actions to slow the spread of the virus.

The color-coded system uses metrics provided by the White House Coronavirus Task Force and North Carolina’s key metrics to categorize counties into three tiers: Yellow (significant community spread); Orange (substantial community spread); and Red (critical community spread). Cumberland County is currently Orange with a 14-day average of 259.9 cases per 100,000 and 8.7% positive cases.

For more information on the COVID-19 County Alert System visit https://governor.nc.gov/news/north-carolina-introduces-covid-19-county-alert-system.

From 1954 through 1961, Art Linkletter produced a marvelous television series called “People are Funny.” If that show were still on television today it might be titled “People are Foolish.” Almost daily there are reports of new cases of the coronavirus all over the world. Despite the warnings to stay out of crowds and always wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, and use disinfecting tissues on anything you touch, some people who don’t like being told what they can and cannot do refuse to follow these life-saving rules. People who willfully refuse to use plain old common sense are not only harming themselves and their families, but they are also a definite threat to those of us who are cautious and follow sound advice from medical doctors.

If you come near someone who sneezes, you need to run away from them as quickly as possible, because a single sneeze is so powerful it can travel as far as 200 feet. This is about two thirds the distance of a football field, and about the distance between your house and four houses down the street. It is foolish to attend ball games, bowling alleys, bingo games, or any other places where there are a large number of people. It is similar to going into a building that is on fire, because there is a good chance you will be burned.

Last summer many foolish college students refused to wear face masks as they crowded the beaches and had a good time being close to their friends. A few days later, many of these students tested positive for the coronavirus. Some schools that opened this fall had to quickly close because both teachers and students tested positive for the virus. Some churches that refused to follow sound medical advice also had to close when members of their staff and congregation became deathly sick with the coronavirus. As long as people refuse to use logic and obey simple rules, we will continue to see an increase in the coronavirus pandemic. It is also unwise to attend family gatherings this holiday season, because you never know who in your group might be carrying the virus that could so easily infect you and your family. Because the coronavirus is rapidly increasing all over America, the CDC recommended that we should avoid traveling for Thanksgiving, because it could greatly increase the spread of the virus. Risky behavior in November could affect us all [in a worse way] in a month – around Christmas time.

We should be very thankful that there is now a vaccine that could make us immune to this terrible virus that is now overflowing our hospitals and causing us to be confined to our homes. Although the new vaccine , which is said to be about 95% effective, may soon be available, it may not be available to everyone until many months later. Just because there is now a new vaccine, should not make anyone become less cautious about following the rules and guidelines recommended by medical doctors. We can never be too careful. There is an old saying that “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We definitely should continue wearing masks, and staying away from people until the coronavirus is totally eradicated.

The reason many people continually do things that help spread this deadly virus is the fact that they are extremely bored. Many people have no interest in anything but watching the garbage that is now on many television programs as they fill their bodies with junk food that will cause them to gain lots of unwanted weight. All they like to do is overeat, sleep and watch television when they could be doing constructive things like reading a good book, cleaning their house, watching educational television. They could greatly help other people, especially their elderly friends, who would enjoy a telephone call from them to cheer them up during these depressive times. That phone call could also improve the outlook of the caller. When we help other people, we also help ourselves. We should also spend some time in prayer for those who have the virus and for the families of those who have died from it.

Right now, you are probably asking yourself, “Would a Werewolf by any other name smell as sweet?” If you weren’t asking yourself that question after you read the title to this column, may I ask why not? Werewolves get the short end of the stick, perhaps because they won’t play fetch, or more likely due to societal discrimination against the Werewolf community. Today’s essay will try to bridge the gap between Werewolves and humans.

Chico Marx once asked “Why a duck?” in the Marx Brothers’ 1929 movie "Cocoanuts." Groucho said something to Chico about a viaduct. This led to a long conversation about ducks totally ignoring the plight of Werewolves. This is a clear example of concern for ducks overriding microaggressions against Werewolves. Why not “Why a Werewolf?” instead of ducks. Groucho and Chico both owe Werewolves an apology and substantial reparations. If you shoot a Werewolf with a silver bullet, does he not bleed? If Shylock in Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice” had changed a word he could have been talking about Werewolves when he said: “Hath not a Werewolf eyes? Hath not a Werewolf hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions …. If you prick us, do we not bleed. If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”

Today’s column is a defense of Werewolves, as discriminated a carbon-based life form as there ever was one. Let us consider the origin of the species of Werewolves. Werewolves were not always Werewolves; they began as people until something happened. That event that changes a human into a Werewolf is called Lycanthropy. According to Greek myth, a King named Lycaon foretold Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Lycaon tried to feed a human flesh pizza to Zeus at a picnic. Zeus got wise to Lycaon’s plot before chowing down and refused the pie. Zeus was not amused and turned Lycaon and his sons into the original Werewolves.

Zeus didn’t stick around forever so other events had to turn people into Werewolves. According to Mr. Google some of the most common ways you can become a Werewolf are by being bitten by one, some people are born Werewolves (e.g. Jeffrey Epstein), or drinking rain water from the foot print of a Werewolf. A person dumb enough to drink rain water from the foot print of a Werewolf probably lowers the collective average IQs of all Werewolves. Such a person probably thinks that the gross jellylike substance on top of Vienna sausages straight from the can is a taste treat. This demonstrates the old saying, “There is no accounting for taste, said the old lady as she kissed the cow.”

Even if you are smart enough not to drink water from the footprint of a Werewolf you are not safe. Recall the immortal poetry from the Lon Chaney Jr. movie “The Wolfman” which advises: “Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night/ May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the Autumn moon is bright.” You can wear a mask. You can get a wolfsbane vaccine. You can socially distance from Werewolves. But none of these precautions can protect you when the wolfsbane is blooming and the full moon is shining. This column is slated to stain newsstands on 2 December. The November full moon was on 30 November which means the moon is still shining bright. The Werewolves will be out in full force when this Up & Coming Weekly hits the streets. As one final gift from the year of Our Lord 2020, the last full moon of 2020 will be on December 29th. The December full moon is called the Cold Moon. Werewolves are covered with fur so the cold doesn’t bother them. Be careful on the 29th.

As a public service, we do not wish to leave you without a remedy in the event that you are turned into a 2020 Werewolf. There are certain things one can do to reverse the curse of the Werewolf. Kindly jot these down on a sticky note and affix it to your refrigerator in the event that Lycanthropy comes to your door. Making a poultice of wolfsbane and wearing it around the neck can sometimes reverse Werewolfery. Exorcism by a Board Certified Veterinarian can often reverse a person’s transmogrification into a Werewolf. Strapping a Werewolf patient to a chair and forcing them to watch 24 hours of daytime television almost always destroys the Werewolf virus. Unfortunately, the cure of watching daytime TV can be worse than the disease of Werewolfery. Most former Werewolf patients after 24 hours of exposure to the drivel from daytime TV lose at least 50% of their IQ. Post TV therapy, the former Werewolf is not good for much of anything other than being used as home plate in a Little League baseball game.

In defense of Werewolves, I do not want to leave the impression that everything about being a Werewolf is unpleasant. Consider the immortal words of the late, great Warren Zevon in his song "Werewolves of London" — “He’s the hairy handed gent who ran amuck in Kent/ Lately he’s been overheard in Mayfair/ You better stay away from him/ He’ll rip your lungs out Jim/ I’d like to meet his tailor/ AAOOOO Werewolves of London, AAOOOO/ Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen/ Doing the Werewolves of London/ I saw a Werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s/ And his hair was perfect.”

So, if you need to upgrade your fashion sense, meet the Queen, and get a perfect hair cut despite the Rona, becoming a Werewolf may be the right career step for you.

Thanksgiving 2020, more than many others, brought not only food for the body but food for the mind.

As my small group of immediate family gathered, we opened all the doors and windows and stayed outside as much as we could. We dispensed with long held traditions, tucking into fried chicken instead of roasted turkey and dressing. I missed Thanksgivings of my childhood at my grandparents’ house, filled with wonderful smells and swarming with cousins. I missed Thanksgivings with my own family and those we think of as family, tables laden with potluck foods from many different households and traditions. I missed those who were not with us because they are no longer here, and those who could not be with us because of the pandemic raging unchecked throughout our nation.

At the same time, I am deeply grateful for those who were at our table and for our health, for friends from all parts of my life who continue to enrich the world in so many different ways, and for vaccines on the horizon to shut down the plague of 2020. I am thankful for the bone-tired health care workers who continue to care for their fellow Americans, some of whom believe COVID-19 is a hoax and who refuse to take precautions. And, I pray the families and friends of the more than 262,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 will find peace and hope in the coming days.

I am thankful for all Americans that democracy has prevailed over authoritarianism in our nation.

It is hardly news that the United States has become critically hardened and partisan, with people in both camps barely understanding what the other says, rendering our nation a political Tower of Babel. There are many reasons for this — the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots, educational disparities, niche media which preach to their own choirs among them. This intolerance among Americans continues to damage our nation and our standing in the world.

That is why I and millions of others are profoundly thankful for the brave and principled Americans who did the right thing in recent weeks, who despite heavy political pressure put country before party. They deserve recognition. Among them are elections officials in many states who stood up for and certified unbiased, untainted and accurate voting totals despite unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud, of which no proof has been cited. In addition, both state and federal judges in several states dismissed such unsupported legal claims, allowing accurate vote counts to prevail. Only a handful of politicians showed such courage, notably Utah’s Senator Mitt Romney, who stood up for a fair election, when most others, including North Carolina’s two Senators, apparently checked their spines in a Capitol closet.

It is meaningful to note that Abraham Lincoln established our American Thanksgiving. It harkens back a meal shared, at least apocryphally, by Pilgrim settlers and Native Americans in what is now Massachusetts in 1621. The official holiday itself dates from 1863, when Lincoln declared a national day of Thanksgiving. He did so in the midst of the American Civil War, at a time when the tide was slowly turning in favor of the Union. The next year, he proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, writing that God “has been please to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of the civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence to the cause of freedom and humanity, and to afford us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions.”

In other words, Lincoln established Thanksgiving to celebrate the America’s democracy.

We celebrate the same blessing in 2020.

Note: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, some featured activities may change or be canceled. Please check to ensure the event will be held as scheduled.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now the holiday season is officially here. Christmas trees, holiday lights and decorations abound around every corner. But what is there to do? Lots, if one knows where to look. So, grab the keys, get in the car and see the sights.

Ready to see some lights? Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation is proud to announce a COVID-19-safe Christmas in the Park event this season. The holiday lights extravaganza is coming to Arnette Park, 2165 Wilmington Highway Dec. 6-10, 13-17 and 20-22, 6-9 p.m. nightly excluding Fridays and Saturdays. Participants are asked to remain in their vehicles to drive-thru the park to enjoy the sights and sounds of Christmas. Admission is free for the event. Visit www.fcpr.us.

Each year, the Cape Fear Botanical Garden features Holiday Lights in the Garden, a self-paced holiday lights garden tour through a beautiful garden setting. The lights are featured on weekends Dec. 3-23 from 6-9 p.m. nightly. The whole garden will be lit with lights and transformed into a winter wonderland, featuring Santa Claus, s’mores, entertainment and more. Additionally, CFBG keeps a full calendar of daytime offerings for kids so parents can bring their children for outdoor activities and education. Be sure to check out the new children's garden and learn about plants and animals while spending a day together in nature. Find out more details at www.capefearbg.org.

Another traditional drive-thru favorite is the Lu-Mil Winery Festival of Lights at 438 Suggs-Taylor Rd. in Elizabethtown, just south of Fayetteville. For $10 per person, you can see miles of beautiful lights amid outdoor scenery. The event will be 6-10 p.m. nightly Dec. 17-23 and Dec. 26-28. For more information visit https://lumilvineyard.com

For onstage holiday entertainment, the Gilbert Theater presents "The Carols," a witty musical telling the Carol sisters' story as they struggle to get the town's annual performance of "A Christmas Carol" off the ground. The men are off fighting in the war, but the show must go on! Performances are Nov. 27-29 and Dec. 4-6 and 18-20. Go to https://gilberttheater.com/ to get the scoop.

The Cape Fear Regional Theatre's famous "Best Christmas Pageant Ever” will not be produced this year, but be sure to check out the theater’s new winter camp for ages 8-14, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Go to https://www.cfrt.org/ for more information.

The Rotary Club Annual Christmas Parade scheduled for Dec.12 has been canceled. Not to dampen the holiday season, the Rotary Clubs of Fayetteville are organizing another thrilling event to replace the parade. The members have decided to take Santa on a tour throughout select neighborhoods because, “if the kids can’t see Santa in the parade, why not take Santa to them?” This will hopefully soften the disappointment from the canceled parade.

Following a melted snowman cocoa from The Coffee Cup downtown, make your way to the 1897 Poe House for a historical take on the holidays. The 1897 Poe House will be decorated for Christmas through Jan. 9, 2021. Learn more at www.capefear.ncdcr.gov.

For out-of-town fun, enjoy holiday events a short sleigh ride away over in Lee or Moore counties. The Temple Theater in Sanford is performing the holiday classic, "A Christmas Carol" Dec. 3-20. The ghostly visits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come transform the curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge from greedy and selfish to sympathetic and caring. The classic tale weaves a story showing viewers the importance of kindness and generosity in the true spirit of Christmas. See www.templeshows.com. Lace-up those running shoes, grab some antlers and get ready for Moore County's 14th Annual Reindeer Fun Run Dec. 1-14 this year a virtual event. Register and complete your race at any time during this period. Go to https://reindeerfunrun.com/ for a few pedestrian-friendly course suggestions.

No matter the day, Fayetteville and the surrounding area have many holiday activities for families and singles. Now is the time to start planning the festivities.

This article also appears in the December issue of Womens View magazine.

Pictured:(Left) Christmas light displays are being modified to comply with COVID-19 restrictions for mask wearing and social distancing. Visitors will remain in their vehicles as they drive through the Christmas in the Park light display at Arnette Park. (Right) There are light displays in Fayetteville and in surrounding areas like this one at Lu-Mil Winery in Elizabethtown.

We have liftoff. With this week's celebration we launch into a season which leaves no one untouched. We'll soon be orbiting a planet inhabited by events affecting people of all walks of life. The calendars of families, individuals, churches, office places and retailers online and local will soon be dominated by deadlines and an unmatched annual intensity.

This is an understandably joyous time for many. The odd mix of nostalgia and an anticipation of new and better things to come bubbles over amid the lights, the festive decorations and friendly gatherings working in harmony to usher in a sense of excitement. Stores and online shopping carts are filled with people sending black ink to the bottom lines of ledger for businesses of every kind, and the gifts we've secretly collected for months begin to find their way inside boxes and new hiding places behind colorful wrapping paper.

Others, though, enter the winter holiday season girded with whatever emotional armor is necessary to ward off the conflict between how familiar everything feels and a knowledge it will never be the same. Though the seats may be full, there's an empty place where a well-loved someone once sat. For some it's a spouse, parent or child. For others a sibling or a best friend. After weeks, months or even years of learning new ways to navigate old routines they find themselves in a season filled with activity and the expectation of a smile that's become hard to muster.

On the brink of the holiday season wrapping up a year that's brought more than it's share of strangeness, the promise of the familiar seems particularly inviting this time around. And within days of the first turkey being properly thawed for its date with a Thanksgiving oven, we arrive to find state officials urging smaller gatherings as Triple-A reports record numbers of people planning to hit the road in search of congregation.

The typical feast, with its photogenic place settings, kids gathered around a table of their own, and a big city parade on the television in the other room may be more an underground celebration this year. A celebration we hold, but don't talk about for fear of being chastised by those who would accuse us of being irresponsible.

None of this, though, is reason for despair. None of the weird we bundle under the notion of “2020,” not the feelings of loss or loneliness, and certainly not any state or local mandates to keep it small. None of it should outweigh our love for one another or our hopeful outlook this year. The thanks we give on Thanksgiving can still be given. The joy we celebrate and love we share at Christmas can still be celebrated and shared. The One we offer thanks to is still there, and always will be. Let's walk into this season together — whether we're across the table or across the country — and realize what a gift we are to one another.

The Carolina Civic Center Historic Theater, located in downtown Lumberton, continues to present virtual concerts that have been pre-taped on its stage while the theater is closed to in-person audiences due to COVID-19 social gathering restrictions.

The next concert is by the all-female bluegrass group Sweet Potato Pie and premieres Thanksgiving evening, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. The concert can be viewed on the theater’s Facebook page.

It is conducted in partnership with the Robeson County Arts Council as part of its annual Bluegrass on the Blackwater series. This performance was filmed on the stage at the Carolina Civic Center Historic Theater.

These performances were originally scheduled as part of its 2020-21 season, and continue the theater’s commitment to programming during the ongoing pandemic and its related audience restrictions for performance centers.

These virtual performances are premiering on the theater’s Facebook page at “Carolina Civic Center Historic Theater” and subsequently are shared on its web site at www.carolinaciviccenter.com.

The theater’s previous “Spotlight on Local Talent” Performance Series (eight installments) also can be viewed on its web site. This performance is partially underwritten by a grant from the Robeson County Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council.

Sweet Potato Pie has been entertaining audiences for nearly two decades with their classy blend of Americana, bluegrass, country and gospel music mixed together in a style they call “sweetgrass.”

Radio and TV are well acquainted with their “angelic” vocals from appearances on PBS, the Food Network and worldwide radio broadcasts. Hailed as the “Lennon Sisters of Bluegrass,” their show revolves around their beautiful three-part harmonies, hard driving instrumentals and down home humor. With classic songs from Patsy Cline, Bill Monroe, The Judds and many more along with their chart topping original songs, the audience is in for a sensational night of family entertainment.

The group includes co-founding and last original member Sonya Stead, guitar; Crystal Richardson, banjo; Sandy Whitley, bass; Katie Springer, fiddle; Tori Jones, fiddle; and Madeleine Baucom, guitar. All of the women are from North Carolina.

For more information of the group visit www.sweet-potato-pie.com/

While the concert is free, a donation link will be available to help support artist fees and production costs.

To view the concert visit www.facebook.com/Carolina-Civic-Center-Historic-Theater-166667200079609

Pictured: Sweet Potato Pie will perform on stage at the Carolina Civic Center Historic Theater on Nov. 26. The show is part of an on-going series of virtual concerts from the 2020-21 season adapted in response to COVID-19 restrictions.

Let’s begin with some statistics from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention:
1. Thirty-four million people in the United States have diabetes.
2. More than 88 million adults in the United States have pre-diabetes.
3. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in United States.
4. In the last 20 years, the number of adult cases of diabetes has more than doubled.
5. Thirty-eight percent of people with diabetes were physically inactive, which means they get less than 10 minutes a week of moderate, vigorous physical activity.

Risk factors for diabetes include:
1. Being overweight. Eighty-nine percent of people diagnosed with diabetes are overweight or suffer from obesity.
2. Being over the age of 45
3. Having a parent, brother or sister with Type 2 diabetes
4. Having gestational diabetes (during pregnancy)
5. Being African-American, Hispanic or Native American
6. Having fatty liver disease

Now that you have the statistics, let’s make it personal. All of the complications from diabetes are preventable, which means that a person should never have to end up on dialysis, lose a foot, have a heart attack, a stroke or go blind, because of their diabetes. It does not have to happen.

The key is to get your blood glucose under control. Getting tight control of your blood glucose goes beyond being compliant with the medications that your medical provider has prescribed. It is also doing your part and monitoring your blood sugar as directed by your provider, as well as making good decisions about what you eat.

This is a disease that has a direct correlation between the sugars/starches that you consume. We all have to make better choices in our diets, consuming more protein and low-carbohydrate vegetables rather than high carbohydrate starches such as rice, potatoes, pasta, corn and bread, all of which breakdown to sugar.

The goal for most females is no more than 30-45 grams/meal of starches and no more than 15-20 grams for snacks. For males no more than 45-60 grams/meal of starches and again no more than 15-20 grams of carbohydrates for snacks. But what does that really mean? Although this is a little over simplified, it means that approximately 1/2 cup serving of most starches are equivalent to 15 grams. We should not consume more than 2-4 1/2 cup serving of starches per meal depending on whether you are a female or male. If you are still hungry with 1/2 cup of these starches, then eat more protein or non-starchy vegetables to get full and do not go back for seconds of rice, potatoes, pasta, corn or bread.

The other important fact is blood sugars go down naturally with exercise. You do not have to have a gym membership or fancy equipment, it can simply be walking. Our bodies are designed to move. Walking briskly for 30 minutes, five days a week will lower your blood sugars naturally as well as provide the added benefit of losing fat which is important with diabetes. The greater the amount of body fat, the more insulin resistant a person becomes, the less the body is able to use its own insulin to lower your blood sugar.

If you are the person who cooks for your family or does the grocery shopping, remember that you have the biggest influence on habits of eating that last throughout one’s life.

Obesity has become an epidemic in our country and we are seeing this more and more in our children. It is not that you can't eat bread, corn, pasta, rice and potatoes with diabetes, but it is learning how much you
should eat.

The high carbohydrate drinks such as sodas and juices, however, are not an option. One can of soda often has more than 45 grams of sugary carbohydrates, which is more than a meal's worth of sugar. It is healthier to get the nutrients from foods rather than to drink sugar with no nutritional value. This is the same for the simple sugar such as snack cakes and other non-healthy snacks.

Lastly, everyone probably knows someone who has had something horrible happen as a result of uncontrolled diabetes. This does not have to be you.

Know that you have control over the outcomes for your diabetes. When you have done your part with your food choices, exercising, checking your feet, and following up for your annual eye exam, your healthcare provider will do the rest with appropriate medications.
Call 1-844-735-8864 for assistance with managing your diabetes with the help of a SeHealth primary care provider who can refer to an endocrinologist or diabetes educator if needed.

The season of gratitude and giving is upon us. It is dark by dinner, there is a chill in the air (some days), and downtown shops are announcing their events for holiday shoppers. We’ve all had to adjust to a “new normal” in 2020 — we accepted a scaled-down version of a ‘Dickens Holiday,’ and didn’t make too much of a fuss about the cancelled Rotary Christmas Parade. 

There is still one vestige of “life before COVID” that we can take advantage of in Fayetteville. We can celebrate the Christmas season with Victorian flair at the annual Holiday Jubilee at the 1897 Poe House on Dec. 6 from 1-4 p.m.

The Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex invites the public to attend this holiday event featuring a concert by Fayetteville’s own Coventry Carolers.

The Coventry Carolers perform seasonal Victorian Christmas songs in realistic period costumes. The members have more than 150 years combined choral experience in the U.S. and abroad.

The Coventry Carolers will perform at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. The Christmas concert takes place on the front porch of the Poe House and each set lasts approximately 30 minutes. Visitors are asked to bring their own chair, wear a mask and social distance. Seating will not be provided. Admission to the concert is free.

The 1897 Poe House will be open for the Holiday Jubilee from 1-4 p.m. and decorated for a Victorian Christmas providing a beautiful backdrop for this festive event. Visitors may view the first floor only, which includes the parlor, sitting room and dining room, for a small donation of $2 per adult and $1 per child ages 5-12. For the Jubilee, occupancy will be limited to 15 people in the house at one time, masks are required and social distancing guidelines will be enforced.

The 1897 Poe House, part of the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex, reopened for guided tours in November with tours offered at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. On these days, visitors must check in at the Museum of the Cape Fear lobby to sign up for the tour. Tours are limited, masks are required and social distancing guidelines will be enforced.

The 1897 Poe House will be decorated for Christmas from Nov. 28 through Jan. 9, 2021. Although the Poe House and Museum of the Cape Fear will be closed for Thanksgiving Nov. 26-27, they will reopen on Nov. 28.

This project is supported by the Arts Council and contributions from businesses and individuals, and through grants from the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources.

Matching funds are being provided by the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex Foundation, Inc.

The Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex, located on the corner of Bradford and Arsenal avenues is currently open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The museum operates under the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, within the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Admission to the museum is free.

For more information about the museum, the Poe House or the Holiday Jubilee visit https://museumofthecapefear.ncdcr.gov/

With mere weeks left in this God-awful year of 2020, there is some positive news to digest.

While there is still much we do not understand, we have learned a lot about COVID-19. We know it is spread largely through respiratory contact, and that some infected people spread the virus but show no symptoms and are not ill themselves. This knowledge focuses our behaviors and activities.

In addition, not one but two, pharmaceutical companies report better than 90-percent efficacy of their newly developed COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Anthony Fauci and other infectious disease experts are heartened, as the rest of us should be.

We have a long way to go until either one or both become publicly available, probably first to health care providers, then to high-risk populations, and finally to the general public. When my turn comes, I will be in line for sure, both to protect myself and also those whom I love and who love me. Experts say we are looking at spring or summer of 2021, at best.

Between now and then, the holidays loom. These are occasions when we traditionally gather with family and friends for both festivities and religious observances. The holidays form our most cherished moments and our collective memories. At a time when we want and need to be together, many of us will not and should not do so.

The United States and much of the rest of the world are staring down a third, and perhaps the deadliest, pandemic surge so far. Unlike earlier surges clustered in metro areas like Seattle and New York City, the virus is now everywhere in our nation, rampaging through previously unscathed rural areas across our nation and occupying more hospital beds than ever before. Communities where residents felt safe no longer are. While certain populations, including seniors, remain at higher risk, the virus has become an equal opportunity invader, striking younger people, including some children. Sadly, the United States passed a quarter of a million COVID-19 deaths last week.

Looking back over this dreadful year of COVID, two complicating factors jump to the forefront. Most nations have some national public health system, but the United States leaves public health to individual states. That means that each state has reacted differently and without coordination, and most state systems are woefully underfunded. The lack of a national public health structure has allowed the virus to spread freely among states under lockdowns, like New York was, and states with few restrictions, like those in the Midwest where the virus now rages.

In addition, millions of Americans have been afflicted with magical thinking, some of them in the highest decision-making positions. Despite the human and economic carnage wrought by COVID, deluded Americans assert the virus is a “fraud,” that divine intervention protects them, that face coverings are a political choice not a public health necessity, or some other inexplicable and unsupportable fantasy. Such thinking and behavior has given the virus free range to spread rapidly and widely. The United States leads the world in infections and deaths when we should be leading the world in the other direction.

Our 2020 holidays will be like no others. As we “gather” in small groups or electronically, it will be with empty seats at our tables — some of them permanently, and the knowledge that it did not have to be this way. All we can do now is take care of each other as best we can as we pass through this dark winter and await the vaccines.

The Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program, or C-STEP, housed in the office of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, seeks to admit, identify, enroll and graduate high-achieving, low-to-moderate income students transferring to UNC-Chapel Hill from partner community colleges.

Fayetteville Technical Community College’s C-STEP program began in 2011. Each year, two cohorts of students — a group of first-year FTCC students and a group of second-year FTCC students — participate in C-STEP.

FTCC students Halona Dantes and Anjali Saji attended FTCC’s open house during summer 2019. Both young ladies arrived in Fayetteville the day before the open house event. Both students are from India where their mothers, who are nurses, participated with a recruiting agency for nurses to allow their families to emigrate from their home country to the United States. Neither student nor family knew each other before their arrival in Fayetteville.

“My parents sacrificed a lot for me, and the thought of having a chance to better myself with the educational opportunities within the United States is what motivated my parents to make the move,” Dantes said.

The process for Dantes' parents to leave Kuwait and Saji’s parents to leave Bahrain began in 2018 and was not an easy feat.

Dantes said, “The process is hard and intense, and I wanted to do well in college because of all the advantages my parents were trying to afford me with.”

Each family had to complete a compilation of tests and exams in English and score proficiently in each area to pass. They also had to complete and pass an interview. At the time, they did not know that both mothers would end up working as nurses at Cape Fear Valley Hospital.

After applying and being selected to C-STEP, both students quickly adjusted to the program and made friends with their cohorts.

Saji reflected on that early period: “I was really scared, and I had a fear about coming from abroad and being accepted," she said. "However, my cohort group was very accepting and welcoming. The fear I had about making friends vanished because I got to make friends through class engagement and various other components that the program provides.”

Each student exudes the embodiment of what it means to be a C-STEP student. Each student has goals, accountability, strong character and a desire to achieve and give back to the community.

The C-STEP program requires interested students to earn their associate degree at a North Carolina Community College and then transfer to Carolina to complete their studies. Once a student completes a degree at FTCC, he or she is guaranteed admissions into Carolina.

But the advantages offered to C-STEP students go far beyond providing them with admission into UNC-Chapel Hill. C-STEP is an all-encompassing program that allows students to gain extensive knowledge of the Carolina campus, meet key individuals who will be of aid when they arrive at Carolina, and receive an opportunity to learn and grow with like-minded individuals who become far more than just peers.

Saji summed up her motivation to succeed: “How could I not do well in my classes? My parents have given up and sacrificed so much to give me a better chance.”

For more information about FTCC and C-STEP, please contact the author, the FTCC C-STEP Progam Director, at
nelsonl@faytechcc.edu.

Pictured:  (Left) Halona Dantes and (Right) Anjali Saji.  Both are students in FTCC's C-STEP program.

This holiday season the Gilbert Theater presents its newest Christmas production, “The Carols,” starting Nov. 27.

“The Carols,” with its classic 1940’s style comedy set during World War II, is a story about the three Carol sisters who run the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post and are struggling to put on their annual “A Christmas Carol” production while facing another dilemma — the lack of men in town due to the war.

“So they decide they're going to cast all women, then put an audition notice out, nobody shows up but this surprise guest,” Director Robyne Parrish said. “This one dude, Melvin, shows up and he's not quite right but he's all they've got, so they hire him on and they put together one of the most ridiculous ‘Christmas Carols’ of all time.”

She describes it as a sweet, feel-good movie about family, loss and hope. The production shows the sisters struggling to put on their show with just four people, said cast member Evan Bridenstine.

“It seems impossible for quite some time but then they perform and that's the act two,” he said. “The songs are great, none of them are those you've heard, most of them have that ear-worming quality that gets in your head and stays for a while.”

Bridenstine, who plays the character of Melvin, described the production as funny, yet having a seriousness to it, due to the times it's set in.

Parrish said the themes for the hour and 45-minute show are family, ‘there’s no place like home,’ and a kind of Christmas carol in disguise.

The Artistic Director for the theater, Lawrence Carlisle, described the show as something on a lighter note that is needed during current times.

“The Carols” will run three different weekends: Nov. 27- 29, Dec. 4-6 and Dec.18-20. Patrons can purchase tickets on the website. Tickets start at $16 but the theater offers discounts for military, students and first responders. There will be a military appreciation day with tickets being $10, Carlisle said.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the theater, which usually holds about 100 people, has had to cut down capacity to 25. There will be temperature checks for patrons, a requirement for masks and contactless entry with use of electronic tickets.

On Nov. 28, the first Saturday show, there will be a masked performance where the actors will wear face shields to accommodate patrons who don’t feel comfortable with mask-less actors, Parrish said.

Despite continued concerns with the pandemic, the Gilbert continues to produce local entertainment even as it struggles, Carlisle said. Having to reduce audience capacity, buying additional cleaning supplies and rearranging how they do things has been interesting, he said.

Parrish said the theater already operates on a small budget where about 50-75% of the annual budget comes from ticket sales.

“It wasn’t going to work for us to just go in the dark for a year, and wait for a vaccine,” Carlisle said. “To not have any shows at all, you know, we would have just gone out of business.”

Since a lot of people can’t be with family this holiday season due to the pandemic, Parrish said attending a show can be a way for them to feel like they’re a part of something.

“If you’re looking forward to a little bit of joy during the holiday season and a little opportunity to escape and just smile … this show will allow people to escape, for a little while, from all that we are going through right now,” she said.

For more information on “The Carols” and Gilbert Theater, visit www.gilberttheater.com/index.php

Pictured: Cast members of "The Carols" rehearse for the musical scheduled to open Nov. 27 at the Gilbert Theater.

Before running for President of the United States, billionaire real estate investor and developer Donald John Trump was probably most notably known for co-authoring “Trump The Art of the Deal,” which enjoyed a 13-week run on the coveted New York Times bestseller list.

In this book co-authored by Donald Trump and journalist Tony Schwartz, Donald Trump is portrayed as the great deal maker, and a man able to negotiate and navigate the complicated road map to bring parties together to formulate some of the greatest business deals.

It was on this premise that in 2016, candidate Donald Trump ran for the U.S. presidency. He ran on the premise of being able to bring the most diametrically opposed world leaders, politicians and industries together in order to “Make America Great Again,” and to once and for all “Put America First.”

Donald Trump’s “Put America First” agenda quickly turned one of the most beloved businessmen in America into one of the most hated world leaders of all time. Although Donald Trump is probably most notably known for his co-authoring of “The Art of the Deal,” his presidency may be most notably known for the Democrat-written global stage play known as “The Art of Steal.”

This global “stage play” is loaded with a cast of political leaders from around the globe. From America to Russia, and from North Korea to Ukraine, “The Art of the Steal” is performed on a world stage and produced by a full array of mainstream media outlets.

Filmed on location at the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, “The Art of the Steal” is guaranteed to take not just your breath away, but your votes as well.

During the 2020 election blockbuster, Democrats activate their plan to steal the 2020 election using tools that range from collusion to impeachment, civil unrest to a global pandemic, and from unsolicited mail-in ballots to dead voters.

All these twists and turns have contributed to what former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the lead characters in this political saga, notably called the “most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics.”

This intriguing storyline is riddled with communism, Marxism, and good old-fashioned American patriotism.

Due to all of the plots and schemes embedded in this expose of political correction, manipulation and scandal, the release date of this epic has been postponed from Tuesday, Nov. 3 until a later date to be determined. Stay tuned for a Supreme Court version of this global spectacle complete with dissents and opinions from the high court that are guaranteed to satisfy the hearts of one side of the country and infuriate the hearts of the other half.

J. Antoine Miner Sr. is a retired Army Chaplain Assistant and a wounded combat veteran. When he is not writing satire, he serves as the Executive Director of the EMPACT One Foundation.
EMPACT One Foundation is a local organization dedicated to providing needed resources, programs and services to individuals, families and communities most in need. Through donations and community outreach, E1F strives to make a lasting impact in the lives of the people they serve in the community.

The family of a fallen 82nd Airborne Division Paratrooper got the keys to their new ‘Hero Home’ on Veterans Day. Operation Coming Home unveiled the new house in Wake County earlier for the family of the late Sgt. 1st Class Elis Angel Barreto Ortiz of Morovis, Puerto Rico.

He was killed during combat operations September 5, 2019, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Barreto’s widow and young children moved into the house Nov. 11 during a ceremony presented by Operation Coming Home and other organizations which built the home in Wendell for the family.

“We are proud of him and his sacrifice,” said Barreto’s widow Legna Aponte.

“This house means hope, it’s healing and it’s an honor because it’s built because of my husband.”

Sgt. 1st Class Barreto was considered a hero by his compatriots. One of the soldiers who served with him in Afghanistan called him a great leader. “It was my first deployment, and I just built a relationship with him,” said Domenic Canzano. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side. Lou Reed left us with that bit of wisdom before he checked out in 2013. If you feel that 2020 has followed Lou Reed’s advice, you pass Go and collect $200. This year has the Rona, stock market vertigo, mass unemployment, political masks, and the late great Presidential election. If 2020 were a TV character it would be George Costanza in the scene where he is trying to convince his date he is a troubled soul so she will sleep with him. George tells her: “I’m disturbed. I’m depressed. I’m inadequate. I’ve got it all.” 2020 has got it all. As Larry David would say, you might think things were pretty, pretty bad. But it could be worse. It can always be worse. Never, ever under any circumstances say: “Things can’t get worse.”

Right now if you are reading this drivel, you are on the planet Earth. Despite some short comings here and there; plague, famine, wars, and mischief caused by the thirty-eight Horsemen of the Apocalypse, things could be worse. You could be on the newly discovered Hell Planet K2-141b. The astronomer buddies of K2-141b just call it K2 so we will too. Thank goodness for schadenfreude. I am comforted by the knowledge there is a planet where things are much worse than they are on Earth. It is a character flaw on the part of your writer to enjoy the misery of another planet but that’s life.

Right now you are probably asking yourself, “Self, what is wrong with K2? Should I be adding it to my list of things that wake me up at 3:00 a.m.?” Take a little interstellar voyage on the Starship Peabody to visit K2. Pack a lunch as it is hundreds of light years from Earth. K2 is what the scientists at the Royal Astronomical Society call a Lava Planet. That does not mean it is composed of Lava, the Hand Soap made with pumice that comes in the bright red package. No Sirree, Bob. K2 has oceans made of molten lava. The same kind of lava that comes out of volcanoes in Hawaii into which virgins are thrown to appease the Gods to insure a good cocoanut crop. K2 has the kind of toasty lava that makes the pizza burn on the top of your mouth from an oven fresh pepperoni pizza look like child’s play.

K2 is consistent. Its ocean, atmosphere, and continents are all made out of rocks. When it rains on K2, it rains rocks not violets. It’s so hot there when the lava ocean evaporates and the residue cools off in the atmosphere it rains back down as rocks. Singing in the rain would not be too much fun on K2. Gene Kelly could not sing many lyrics before he would be pounded into mush by the rhythm of the falling rain. K2 is a bit breezy with winds blowing over 3000 miles an hour. If there are any answers blowing in the wind on K2, not even Bob Dylan could find them. Like Earth’s moon, the orbit of K2 only allows one side of K2 to face its sun. The sunny side of K2 is about 5400 degrees Fahrenheit. The always dark side of K2, with apologies to Pink Floyd is minus 328 degrees.

Fortunately, Earth’s rock and roll super stars have been trying to warn us about K2 for many years. It is no coincidence that such singers as David Bowie and Elton John would know about a planet where it rains rocks. After all they are rock stars.

David Bowie warned us about K2 way back in 1969 in his song Space Oddity. Gentle Reader, be warned. If you were Major Tom and Ground Control choose you to visit K2, you have lost the space lottery. Somebody in the upper echelons of NASA does not like you. Once you got close enough to be caught in K2’s rock rain bad things would happen. “Ground Control to Major Tom/ Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong/ Can you hear me Major Tom? / Can you hear me Major Tom?” At that point Earth with all its faults would look pretty good.

Elton John also tried to warn us about K2 in his song Rocket Man. Elton gets all space suited up and does his pre-flight rituals. In his heart he knows something isn’t right about the mission. Supposedly he is going to Mars, but like the book of Revelations, the song is in code. He is not singing about Mars. He is singing about going to K2. He is “the rocket man burning out his fuse up here all alone/ Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids/ In fact it’s cold as Hell/ And there is no one there to raise them if you did/ And all this science I don’t understand/ It’s just my job five days a week./” Because this song is in code, when Elton sings about Mars being cold he is really talking about K2 being hot. You have to read between the lines. It’s a secret message from the Illuminati.

So, what have we learned today? Once again, almost nothing. I apologize for wasting your time on our literary celestial trip. But know this, Grasshopper, things on Earth are not nearly as dire as they are on K2. We have our own Little Rocket Man in North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un. He is bad enough, while he does have nuclear weapons, but he has not yet mastered turning the ocean into a sea of fire even though he frequently threatens to do so.
Put on a happy face. It’s not going to be 3400 degrees tomorrow. Like Little Orphan Annie says, “The sun will come out tomorrow.” Happy Thanksgiving to us one and all.

Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins has publicly conceded that morale is low among officers while turnover is high.

“Morale is low. It’s low for a lot of different reasons,” she told City Council recently. “But we still are resilient. We are still doing our job.” She did not elaborate as to why she believes morale is on the decline, but she also said retention of police personnel is a problem.

The FPD’s authorized strength is 434 sworn officers. The current turnover rate is 10% or 43 vacancies. Hawkins said 391 officers are currently on the payroll. Turnover rates and morale are linked. According to the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, the average nationwide turnover rate of law enforcement officers is 10.8%.

Fayetteville patrol officers work 12-hour shifts. Hawkins told city council that many employees no longer think of police work as a 20-or-30-year career. Law Enforcement wages are higher than Fayetteville in many North Carolina cities. The chief has noted that that retention is a problem because Fayetteville cops earn a starting salary of $38,000 a year. Salaries in North Carolina’s top five municipal police agencies are: Greenville $50,666; Raleigh $47,741; Smithfield $45,645; Jacksonville $45,597 and Apex $45,066.

Falcon Children’s Home, located in the town of Falcon in eastern Cumberland County, has about 100 employees who serve over 80 youth of all ages. Since 1909, FCH has been providing a home for children who, for whatever reason, are unable to live with their parents. FCH has directly or indirectly touched an estimated 15 thousand lives through its various programs and foster care
licensing.

Since 1949, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, visitors kick off the season of giving by donating much needed commodity items and monetary gifts that help FCH stay operational throughout the year. The annual Harvest Train is one of the most important days of the year at FCH. Along with gratitude, visitors usually watch a stage production by the children, caregivers and teachers at FCH. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, FCH will not be able to conduct the usual Harvest Train parade and production.

This year, in lieu of the parade, FCH presents “All is Bright Christmas Lights,” a drive-thru lights show on the campus Nov. 19-21 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. nightly with a live nativity. Staff will be present to direct visitors and guests through the lights and to give out FCH keepsake mementos to those who come through and drop off donations.

The tour is free, and while donations are appreciated, they are not required to attend the "All is Bright Christmas Lights" event.

Visitors can begin at 7569 N. West Street in Falcon and turn the vehicle radio to station 89.5 FM and listen to the sounds of the season as well as greetings from ministry leaders. At the end of the tour, visitors can stop at the brick warehouse and drop off commodities and donations. There will be a decorated box for each cottage so visitors can bring bagged candy for the students as well as a secured donation box for checks and/or monetary donations. Total monetary donations will be announced during the virtual program on Nov. 24. In keeping with COVID-19 guidelines, visitors are asked to remain in their vehicles. FCH staff will assist in unloading donations.

On Nov. 24 at 7 p.m., supporters of FCH can see a pre-recorded showing of the Harvest Train 2013 program “The Two Trees” on Facebook. The story follows the life changing experience of two teenage boys as they work at Ed’s Christmas Tree Lot. Their lives are forever changed by the events that occur there. The story echoes the sentiment found in Jeremiah 29:11, which reads, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Top commodity needs this year include: canned goods, paper towels, toilet paper, 13-gallon size trash bags, ethnic hair products, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, hand soap, disposable take out trays and breakfast cereals. Routine needs include: socks, bath towels, twin size comforters, pillows, diapers of all sizes. To donate larger items, call FCH at (910) 980-1065.

To find out more about how to be involved with FCH or donation needs visit https://www.falconchildrenshome.com/ or www.facebook.com/FCHFS. To learn more about the Harvest Train and this year's "All is Bright Christmas Lights" visit www.harvesttrain.com.

‘A Dickens Holiday’ holds a special place in the hearts of many area residents. Locals look forward to coming together and kickstarting the holiday season with this festive event in downtown Fayetteville. Like so many other traditions in 2020, this year’s event will be a little different due to the pandemic, but participants will still be able to enjoy the beloved event inspired by Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

“This is the 21st year we are doing this festival, usually it happens the day after Thanksgiving,” said Antonio Renteria, director of operations for the Arts Council of Fayetteville.

“It started off as a way to bring traffic from the mall area to downtown and focus on those small businesses. It grew from there,” he said.

Instead of a one-day event, this year’s celebration is titled ‘In the Spirit of Dickens,'” and also offers events on the two weekends before Thanksgiving with musicians and other performers.

“We’ll have some carolers out there and cut outs to bring the holiday season even sooner,” Renteria said.

The holiday may look different this year, but the Arts Council is using the opportunity to return the focus to supporting downtown merchants, he said.

Merchants will be doing different specials leading up to the main festival on Nov. 27. The festival won’t have the usual fireworks or the candlelight procession. Also absent this year will be the arts and crafts vendors set up in the downtown area.

“These are some things that we are not doing to mediate some of the larger crowds,” Renteria said. “We are encouraging merchants to bring out holiday gear and come out of their shops and decorate,” he said. “We’ll have the Fayetteville Orchestra, and different actors, like Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Past, walking up and down the streets.”

This year’s festival will be a combination of efforts with the Arts Council and Cool Springs Downtown District to provide a unique shopping experience.

What we do plan to do is still support our mission of combining the arts in support of our local business and restaurants, that will also allow us to help support our local artists that have been out of work since March, said Robert Pinson, interim president/CEO of the Arts Council.

“The idea is that you may not know exactly what is happening downtown, but you know that there is something fun to see and do and shop, or a great restaurant for lunch or dinner,” Pinson said.

Some of the other attractions downtown for the festival will include Coventry Carolers, local adult and youth musicians from Fayetteville Symphony, brass quartets and Dickens character actors from the Cape Fear Regional Theatre.

“One of my favorite things that we are doing, and I am glad we are getting a chance to do it again this year, is the ‘Gingerbread Community of Hope’ … a gingerbread house competition,” Renteria said. The competition is open to the public, there’s no cost to enter, and you can go online to sign up, he said.

The Encore Academy will display entries in their windows beginning Nov. 23, Pinson said.

“The houses will be up that Monday before and stay up the whole week, so people can come downtown, look at them, scan the QR code and vote on the ones they like,” Renteria said. “It’s a public competition so the community really gets to come out and decide which is the best one.”

The winner of the competition will receive a $250 prize and will be announced the weekend of the event.

The Fayetteville Area Transportation Museum will be doing story time for children and there will be horse drawn carriage rides, said Metoya Scott, public relations manager for the Arts Council.

Like every other year, attendees and visitors are encouraged to dress up in Dickens-themed or Victorian clothing, and a guide to the dress code is available on the Arts Council’s website, Renteria said.

The Arts Council will stream certain events live on the festival’s event page on Facebook for those who don’t feel comfortable coming downtown due to the pandemic.

“For me the biggest thing you’re coming for … is getting to see the carolers and Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past, walking around and really just get you into that holiday spirit,” Renteria said.

The event will end the evening of Nov. 27 with the lighting of the community Christmas tree in front of the Arts Council.

“If you're looking for a way to forget about 2020 a little bit, then get outside and enjoy the holiday season for the pure sake of it just being the holidays," Renteria said. “This is definitely the time to come out and do it and leave with a smile on your face.”

For more information about ‘In the Spirit of Dickens,' visit https://www.theartscouncil.com/feature/dickens-holiday

No doubt, as Americans, we cherish the right to have our voices heard. Currently, with the anger and contention surrounding the 2020 elections at all levels of government, these voices are not only numerous, but they are also loud, angry and obnoxious, and drowning out humanity's reason, logic and any hope of conciliation.

Three unfortunate examples are what is happening in Portland, Minneapolis and, most recently, in Washington, D.C. during the Trump support rally. Rioting, looting, assaults, destruction of personal property, and for what purpose? With the devastation in downtown Fayetteville on May 30th still fresh in our memories, we cannot let this happen again to our community of Fayetteville. However, it very well may unless we trust our local leaders and hold them responsible for the health and welfare of all our citizens.

The first step in suppressing conflict and avoiding confrontations is to identify and tap down the flashpoints. Local media is a significant flashpoint in our community and plays a substantial role in dividing our community. Fayetteville has no local TV station to keep us informed or to showcase the city, which is an embarrassment for a community of this size and stature. This leaves us with a daily newspaper that is anemic. It's a decent vehicle for the distribution of fliers and inserts but mostly serves up negative, biased liberal content that is as relevant, frequent and stale as two-day-old bread.

Unfortunately, local talk radio station WFNC "doubles down" and regurgitates verbatim the newspaper's partisan content, avoiding any sense of fairness, responsibility or journalistic integrity. Lastly, there are the self-serving opportunists who take advantage of Fayetteville's current racial, civil and political circumstances to second guess our leadership. Some wish to be recognized as radical activists or social icons. Others want to establish political power, while others seek notoriety, fame and celebrity status by claiming they speak for the masses. Regardless of their motives and rogue actions, these independent voices cause confusion, mistrust, dissension and misinformation among the ranks of local residents.

The future of the iconic Fayetteville Market House is the most critical and volatile decision facing our community. Representing both history and heritage, there are passionate feelings on all sides regarding its future. Should it be left as is? Torn down? Repurposed? We'll see what the future holds. In the meantime, as the local weekly community newspaper of record, we are subject to many diverse perspectives. This is why we are advocating that citizens be tolerant and patient while the Mayor, City Council and the committees they have appointed evaluate the options available that will best serve the city and its citizens.

During this time, tapping down the aggressive and hostile rhetoric concerning the future of the Market House will go a long way in making sure it doesn't become an explosive racial issue. Currently, movements, protests and petitions on both sides of the controversy are incredibly premature. Communication, education, awareness, patience and empathy are essential here. We must hear from the entire community and let the process work to a conclusion fairly judged on its merit. It would be unconscionable for anyone to use the Market House circumstance for personal political advancement before the current leadership concludes their study.

These are volatile times, and trust is at a premium. No one wants to see our community torn apart on any single issue. Let's be patient and give the Mayor and current leadership a chance to perform without interference. In the process, it will become evident who the real leaders are looking out for all the citizens of Fayetteville. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.