Got a simple house cleaning or a real homeowner disaster on your hands?

Big or small, Aprilmarie Fields of Fields Helping Hands in Hope Mills is ready to take on the challenge.

Fields, who relocated to Hope Mills from Kentucky about four years ago, brought her Fields Helping Hands cleaning business with her and has many satisfied clients in and around Cumberland County.

Fields and her crew will tackle just about anything, from standard vacancy and residential cleaning, some commercial cleaning, all the way up to what she calls hoarding situations.

“That’s when you walk into the house and you can’t walk because there’s garbage on the floor,’’ she said. “It’s just piled up knee-high through the whole house. There are people that live like that.’’

When tackling that kind of situation, Fields has a simple solution. “You take it one room at a time,’’ she said.

She’s only had to deal with three hoarding situations in her years in Hope Mills and Cumberland County, she said. The typical job is a residential cleaning. “You go in the house and dust everything, vacuum, mop, like you would clean your own home,’’ she said.

A vacancy cleaning involves scrubbing down the walls and baseboards along with the mini-blinds, as well as pulling out the refrigerator to clean behind it. “Every surface gets wiped clean,’’ she said.

Fields also has a lot of requests from people who are connected to the military for what she calls a PCS clean. PCS stands for permanent change of station for someone who’s gotten orders to move out and relocate to a new assignment. “We do a vacancy clean so they can leave for their next station,’’ she said. Fields, who is retired from the military herself, said she also offers military discounts to her cleaning clients. 

Fields said she normally books about three weeks to a month ahead, but in emergencies like PCS situations, she can try to work a case into the schedule.

She normally works with her crew of 10 assistants from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. They will rarely work on Saturday but always take Sunday off.

Fields said she’s willing to do cleaning outside of Cumberland County, but for extended trips there need to be at least two or three homes or places to clean.

She provides free cleaning estimates. The cost isn’t based on the size of the area to be cleaned, it’s determined by just how big a mess the owner or tenant has left.

“One person’s house could be the same size as another person’s, but the other person isn’t as clean as the next person,’’ she said. “It’s by the job.’’

Fields said she’s never come across a hazardous waste situation during a cleaning job, but she’s even equipped to handle that up to a point, with protective clothing, masks and gloves as part of her traveling equipment.

If you’re interested in talking to Fields about a cleaning job, check her Facebook page at Fields Helping Hands. She’s also listed in the Yellow Pages. Her phone number is 606-425-6117.

PHOTO: Aprilmarie Fields and husband Larry

The rumors about whether or not the popular Hope Mills restaurant Robin’s on Main is moving have finally been put to rest, said owner Robin Burnum.

“Robin’s is staying,’’ she said, referring to the restaurant’s current location on North Main Street.

Burnum said she’ll be signing a five-year lease with property owner John Beasley on Aug. 1, at the same time she’ll be announcing some changes to her weekly hours and the restaurant’s menu.

Burnum thanked Beasley for offering the extended lease after he had originally considered selling the business.

“I would have hated to leave Hope Mills,’’ Burnum said. “Hope Mills has been my family for eight years, and I’ve grown a great business here.”

Now, with the new five-year commitment, Burnum said she’s ready to begin work on some much-needed upgrades to the restaurant.

The first and most important will be converting to gas for her grilling and replacing her undersized 24-inch grill with a larger model.

She’s currently getting estimates on the cost for the work to add the new grill and said they are running between $10,000 and $15,000.

She’s hopeful the process to install the new grill will only take a few days and that the work can take place during normal closings and outside of regular restaurant hours so she won’t have to close while the grill is being added.

She’d love for it to be up and running when the new lease is signed on Aug. 1 but said the work may extend into September or October.

The larger grill will allow her to turn orders around much quicker and get larger food orders prepared faster.

Robin’s can handle as many as 80 customers at one time, and during the busiest periods, Burnum said,people have to wait in excess of an hour for their food.

The business caters to the breakfast and lunch trade. Burnum said she’s tried to add evening hours, but customers just haven’t responded, so she’ll stick with what’s working.

But, she’s planning a change in hours. Come Aug. 1, the restaurant will close on Sunday and only be open Tuesday through Saturday from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Currently, the restaurant is closed Monday, open weekdays 6-2, Saturday 6-1 and Sunday 8-1.

Burnum said she’ll continue her special Thanksgiving dinner for first responders, and, once the larger grill is installed, hopes to provide other charitable meals for the community. Those plans have yet to be confirmed, she said.

PHOTO: Owner, Robin Burnum.

Meetings

For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Town Clerk Jane Starling at 910-426-4113. Most meetings take place at Town Hall or the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation center.

• Veterans Affairs Commission Thursday, July 26, 7 p.m.

• Board of Commissioners Monday, Aug. 6, 7 p.m. in the Bill Luther Meeting Room at Town Hall.

Activities

• Hope Mills Area Kiwanis Club at Sammio’s, second Tuesdays at noon and fourth Tuesdays at 6 p.m. For details, call 910-237-1240.

• Fall sports registration through July 28. $30 per child; $15 late fee after registration deadline. Season begins Sept. 8. Call 910-426-4109 for details.

• Wine-Tasting, Cheese and AppetizersSaturday, July 28, 5-8 p.m. Held at the Boarding House Tea Room, 3903 Ellison St., at the corner of W. Patterson Street across from Hope Mills YMCA. Open to the public once there is a 10-person commitment. Mix and mingle in cozy and quaint surroundings. Tasty hors d’oeuvres and vintage treasures available. Call Carla at 910-527-7455 to make reservations.

• Hope Meals Food Truck Rodeo Thursday, Aug. 2, 5-8 p.m. Live jazz, kids activities, vendors. Held in the big parking lot at Town Hall.

Promote yourself: Email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

After making it to the final eight in the state playoffs three of the last four years, the Hope Mills Boosters American Legion baseball team saw their 2018 season come to an earlier and abrupt end this month.

The Boosters lost two in a row in their first-round playoff series, one by forfeit, to end the season 7-14 overall and 7-7 in Area II play.

It was one of the earliest exits coach Mark Kahlenberg could remember for the Boosters since he began helping out as an assistant coach about eight years ago.

Kahlenberg said the team began coming apart in the final weeks of the season because of a familiar problem. Some players were on vacation, some decided not to play the remainder of the season, and others didn’t show up for games consistently.

“When everyone was there, we put a pretty decent team on the field,’’ Kahlenberg said. “We competed with most of the teams in the conference.’’

The outstanding season Terry Sanford’s team had, advancing to the 3-A Eastern Regional championship series with Wilmington New Hanover, may have hurt the Boosters in the long run, Kahlenberg said.

“When you get a team that makes that late run, plays that many extra games, we’re already two weeks into our season,’’ Kahlenberg said.

After such a long season, Kahlenberg said it was understandable the Terry Sanford players who were headed to college might want a break before reporting to school, so they chose not to play for the Legion team this summer.

Another problem for the Boosters was a sharp drop in offensive production. Will Rosser of Terry Sanford was the only Hope Mills player who batted over .300, hitting .389.

The team batting average dropped to .233 this season. After hitting 30 home runs last year, Hope Mills managed just two this season. The 2017 team had 85 extra base hits. This year’s team had 20.

Matthew Little from Cape Fear was the top Hope Mills pitcher. In 25.2 innings, he had a team-best 2.18 earned run average.

Kahlenberg said the team greatly appreciated its new association with the Massey Hill Lions Club this season.

“I had a lot less on my plate for all the home games,’’ Kahlenberg said. “They did the gate, the concessions, announcing and got ice and water for both teams.”

One big improvement the club has already made for next year is Lion Club’s purchase of an old school bus to take the team to away games. Transportation was a real problem in the playoffs as some players were involved in a car accident en route to the first playoff game at Wallace. No serious injuries were sustained, but the accident resulted in Hope Mills having to forfeit the game.

“Having transportation is exciting news for our program,’’ Kahlenberg said. “We will be able to get everyone together prior to arriving at the park.

“This gives us more time together as a team and to talk baseball. I can’t thank the Massey Hill Lions Club enough for what they have added to our program.’’

Looking ahead to next season, Kahlenberg said he plans to reach out to the schools that the Boosters will draw from to gauge player interest and get firm commitments from players.

“We’ve got some work to do,’’ he said.

PHOTO: Mark Kahlenberg

This summer, the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex introduced a new traveling exhibit, “An Unlikely Refugee: The story of a python named George” to Fayetteville. The staff at the museum were more than happy to hold and feature an exhibit to help relay a true story of a snake, the Vietnam War and Fort Bragg. This exhibit will be on display through Dec. 2.

The tale of George the Burmese python starts in 1963 when a U.S. Special Forces soldier rescued it from being the next meal of Cambodian mercenaries in Saigon, Vietnam. After the python was rescued, Master Sgt. Dewey Simpson and his soldiers brought it back to the camp, making the snake an unofficial pet and mascot, before taking her back stateside for a short stay at Fort Bragg due to the dangerous environment.

George became the idol of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh for 25 long years after her move there, where thousands of children and adults got to see her up-close and personal. George the python played a significant role and made a huge impact on the children who came to see her during field trips to the museum at the time. The python’s presence educated a lot of visitors about her species, home and the realities of war at the time. And this is only a small fraction of the beloved python’s story.

“An Unlikely Refugee: The story of a python named George,” a recent graphic novel, inspired the exhibition. Written by Morrow Dowdle and illustrated by the author’s husband, Max Dowdle, the novel tells the tale of war, life and other themes – all from the perspective of the python. The novel touches on a lot of themes with the tale of George, some darker than others, all the while remaining entertaining.

The exhibition features illustrations from the graphic novel as well as information panels about George and her species, the Burmese python. It also includes some informative panels regarding George’s habitat and her journey from Vietnam to Fort Bragg before making her way to her final home in Raleigh.

Several guests attended a special reception for the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex Saturday, July 7. Those guests included the authors of the graphic novel; Jamie McCargo, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ exhibit design curator; and Dana Gilooly, head of the NCMNS Museums Grant Program.

George’s exhibition is on display until Dec. 2. The Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex is located on Arsenal Avenue in downtown Fayetteville. Admission is free, and George’s exhibition and more can be seen during regular operating hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday; and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.

For more information, call 919-807-7300 or visit the museum’s site: www.museumofthecapefear.ncdcr.gov.

Saturday, Aug. 4, at 9 a.m., radio hostess Rev. Felicia Thompson will host the Free to Be Me Empowerment Symposium at Simon Temple AME Zion Church. Thompson is partnering with FTM, Inc., a nonprofit organization designed to help people realize their full potential through the help and knowledge of Jesus Christ. This year’s symposium, which is themed “Free to Soar,” will encourage men and women to recognize what holds them back, break free from those things, and move forward to achieve their dreams and aspirations while being free to be themselves.

This empowerment symposium was inspired eight years ago by a discussion Thompson had with a pastor’s wife who Thompson hosted on her radio show. Her show is, like the symposium, titled “Free to Be Me.” Thompson started her show to encourage, inspire and inform her listeners and the community, so the symposium was a natural progression of that goal. She said she wants to help the community “realize their gifts and talents, and network with one another. Then, there is nothing we all can’t do as a community in Cumberland County together.”

This is the second annual empowerment symposium. The keynote speaker will be Pat Smith, wife of football player Emmitt Smith. Guest speakers include Cheryl Fortune, an up-and-coming gospel singer; Gina V. Hawkins, Fayetteville chief of police; and Dr. Deon Faillace, the first female general surgeon in Fayetteville.

Each woman has experienced adversity in various aspects of her personal or professional life and will share stories of how she went through those challenges and came out stronger on the other side.

In between speakers, guests will get a chuckle from comedian and host Chris Petty. There will also be light hors d’oeuvres, several giveaways and a vendor showcase for guests to browse. The event also gives attendees a chance to network and meet new people.

At noon on Thursday, Aug. 2, Thompson’s weekly radio show, “Free to Be Me,” which airs on WIDU 1600AM, will have a special treat for listeners. During the live show, Thompson will give away free tickets for the empowerment symposium and will host a few of the event speakers, giving listeners a teaser of the discussion topics to come that Saturday. Previous guests and speakers will also call in during the show to talk more about the previous and upcoming symposium.

“I pray that after leaving the Free to Be Me Empowerment Symposium, people feel more free and more liberated to be who they are in operating their gifts and talents,” Thompson said.

She has high hopes and prayers that every attendee will feel more empowered, encouraged, inspired and informed. She said she hopes that when they leave they go out into their communities and be themselves, refusing to be held back from achieving every goal they set for themselves in their personal and professional lives.

To learn more, or to register for the event, visit www.revfelicathompson.com.

“Cumberland County schools have a lot of potential for academic achievement and improved graduation rates as well as the overall social welfare of students.” These are the words of Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr. in an exclusive interview with Up & Coming Weekly. Connelly takes responsibility for the governance of 87 schools and 50,000 students as the new traditional school year gets underway.

Cumberland County Schools made up the fourth largest school system in North Carolina until Winston-Salem Schools took over that position a few years ago. Connelly was chief of staff of the public schools of Wake County, the largest system in the state.

“The challenges are the same. It’s just a matter of scale,” he said.

Cumberland County and its school system have been in a no-growth posture for decades – unlike Wake County, which has grown beyond the county government’s capability to keep up when it comes to new schools. Some local officials have noted that lack of growth has eliminated the need for expensive new school buildings.

“We hope that changes in time,” Connelly said. “We want to be optimistic for what the future holds.”

Connelly hopes to develop what he called a strategic plan to improve academic outcomes for students and strengthen the organizational structure for faculties and staffs.

“We want to make sure our students can communicate in a global society,” he said. “It’s more important today for students to be able to interact with their peers.”

Connelly said he will get to know the community by taking part in a “listening tour” at seven locations around the county.

Connelly is a long-time clergyman as well as an educator. He has served as senior pastor of Saint Augusta Missionary Baptist Church in Fuquay-Varina for 18 years. That’s one-half of the 36 years he’s been in the ministry. He said the Board of Education is aware of his dual occupations and has encouraged him to continue his work with the church.

He promotes public education from the pulpit. The church’s June/July newsletter noted that the College Foundation of North Carolina is an excellent way to map out each year of high school and make plans to graduate with post-secondary and career-related options. Students should create an account to start receiving the benefits of this education tool, the program stated.

If confirmed by the Senate as secretary of Veterans Affairs, Robert Wilkie will have to deal with VA hiring practices and the over-prescribing of anxiety drugs. A new report from the nation’s leading veterans group said these issues may be undermining efforts to combat suicide among veterans.

The American Legion just released a 20-page report soon after the VA came out with its own report showing little change in the veterans suicide rate in recent years.

“VA has implemented numerous successful initiatives and programs,” the Legion report stated. “However, as an average of 20 veterans a day continue to take their own lives... much more must be done.”

“The prime directive is customer service,” Wilkie said. He told a Senate committee the VA should be an industry leader in opioid intervention and suicide prevention. Wilkie grew up in Fayetteville and has held several top positions in government. He has repeatedly stated his opposition to privatization of the VA, whose budget has quadrupled in the last 20 years and stands at more than $188 billion. That makes it the second-largest agency in the federal government behind only the Department of Defense.

Of concern to Legion officials are significant staffing gaps at VA medical facilities across the country. Department officials have acknowledged more than 30,000 full-time vacancies, particularly problematic shortages in specialties such as mental health care.

American Legion leaders blame those shortfalls in large part on “the tedious hiring process” in the federal bureaucracy and urged more outreach and research into ways to improve the recruiting and retention process.

About 74,000 veterans live in the 19-county area of Southeastern North Carolina served by the Fayetteville VA.

“The shortage of employees can lead to overworked staff, poor patient experiences and lower quality of care,” the report stated. Keeping veterans in the VA care network has resulted in a significant decline in suicide, the report added.

Legion officials also sounded alarms over VA physicians’ use of benzodiazepines, a class of antianxiety drugs that includes Xanax and Valium.

“Over 25 percent of veterans newly diagnosed with PTSD are still being prescribed harmful and potentially deadly amounts of medications,” the report stated.

The report also recommended further outreach by the VA to veterans with other-than-honorable discharges. Last year, VA officials offered emergency mental health intervention to those veterans for the first time. It also suggested more exploration of alternative mental health therapies such as “acupuncture, yoga, meditation and martial arts” for struggling veterans.

Wilkie said that if confirmed, he would carry out the mandate of newly passed legislation that calls for expanding private health care for veterans. But, he said, private care would not replace VA, a longstanding fear among Democrats.

At his confirmation hearing, Wilkie cited a raft of “administrative and bureaucratic” issues he said he has seen firsthand during the weeks he served as acting VA secretary. He said he would fix them by modernizing the agency’s cumbersome medical appointment system. Wilkie was appointed to the interim post in March.

To contact the Veteran Crisis Line, dial 1-800-273-8255 and select option 1 for a VA staffer. Veterans, soldiers or their families can also text 838255 or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for assistance.

The Salvation Army is accepting applications from individuals and families who are in danger of experiencing a cooling-related crisis this summer. Limited funds are available, and households are served on a first-come, first-served basis.

The program is administered by the Cumberland County Department of Social Services, but applications are made at the Salvation Army at 310 Dick St., Fayetteville, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Benefits cannot exceed $600. Households meet income eligibility if the total household income is equal to or less than 150 percent of the current poverty level. Each household will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if there is a cooling crisis. Once a crisis is determined, an applicant will be evaluated for assistance through other emergency assistance programs.

Additional information is available at the Salvation Army at 910-483-8119.

Additional Fort Bragg gate is planned

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is seeking public feedback on its proposal to widen and extend Odell Road in Spring Lake to relieve traffic congestion at Fort Bragg.

The Army plans to build an additional access control point on Reilly Road near Odell Road. By extending and widening Odell Road to serve Fort Bragg’s new gate, NCDOT anticipates congestion on Bragg Boulevard will be reduced during commuter times.

Odell Road would be extended from N. Bragg Blvd. (N.C. 24/87) to Reilly Road on post. NCDOT would add lanes in some spots along Odell Road to provide the entire roadway with four travel lanes. A raised median will be added along the road as a safety measure.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2020. The department of transportation will accept comments on the proposal through Aug. 9 at 919-707-6023.

Human trafficking arrest

A collaborative law enforcement investigation has broken up an eastern North Carolina human trafficking ring. Fayetteville Police detectives along with members of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Durham County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies executed several warrants at local massage parlors. They included Sunshine Studios on Hope Mills Road, Red Rose Studios on Cliffdale Road and Numi Day Spa Durham.

“The offenses occurred between January of 2017 and July of 2018,” said Fayetteville Police Sgt. Shawn Strepay.

Owner Angel Ming Lin, 46, of Winston Salem, was charged with promotion of prostitution and keeping a place for prostitution. Lin was apprehended in Raleigh and is being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center on a $1 million secured bond.

Strepay asks that anyone with information regarding human trafficking contact Fayetteville Police.

Alcohol consumption is rising in the military

A recent Department of Defense Health Related Behaviors Survey indicates binge drinking has increased among service members. About one-third of service personnel surveyed met the criteria indicating possible alcohol use disorder, with 30 percent reporting that they binge drank in the past month. The figure was higher among Marines, 42 percent. The rates were down from a previously reported survey from 2011.

This report came as beer and wine sales will be authorized at military commissaries. Until now, alcohol has been sold only at post exchanges.

“One of the big success stories has been the emphasis on cigarette smoking,” said Sarah O. Meadows, Rand Corporation co-principal investigator for this report. For the first time, cigarette smoking in the military has declined to the point that it’s now lower than rates in the general population, according to the report. Overall, 13.9 percent of those surveyed indicated they are current cigarette smokers, which is down from the 24 percent in the 2011 survey.

Defense officials have taken a number of steps to reduce smoking in the military, such as increasing the prices of tobacco in military stores, limiting areas where smoking is allowed and launching an extensive education campaign about the dangers of smoking.

Summer Camp Assistance

Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation has received funding support from the Cumberland Community Foundation and Florence Rogers Trust to operate summer camps at local parks. The Clark Park Nature Center, Lake Rim Park and Mazarick Park will share $8,000 in grants to help defray the cost of supplies and equipment. The camps are entitled “Outdoor and Summer Adventures,” “Growing Up Wild,” “Tiny Trailblazers” and “Survival Camp.” They are provided each summer by the joint parks and recreation department.

When Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Helsinki this week, it might have been useful if they had had a written contract to reference their previous understandings. No such written contract exists, but if it did, it might read like this imaginary July 2016 letter from Putin to Trump:

In consideration of mutual objectives and the actions set forth below, we agree to work with you during the pending election and afterwards to make the world better by fostering improved relationships between our countries, each of us undertaking the following:

1. We will influence the election in your favor by actively and creatively using our social media capabilities to diminish support for your opponent and create a drumbeat of negative disinformation about her.

2. Using our intelligence-gathering resources and contacts, we will secure inside information about your campaign opponent and will release it at the best times to secure the maximum negative results by embarrassing the candidate, her staff, and her party, thereby destroying confidence and diminishing support for her.

3. We will provide your campaign with other negative information about your opponent for you to use as you see fit.

4. We will continue to keep secret any damaging information about you that we have collected over the years. We plan to provide this assistance without requiring specific items or actions from you in consideration for our belief that your victory and your administration would be better for both countries. However, we confirm to you our hope that upon the success of your campaign you will endeavor to give attention to the following:

1. You would use your best efforts to remove sanctions and restrictions that have been unfairly applied against us in retaliation for our actions that were necessary to protect our people and our economy and to respond to aggressive threats from your country and its allies. We understand that the efforts with respect to restrictions will have to be done delicately and over time. But in light of the harm they unnecessarily cause our people and our economy, we hope you will be diligent.

2. We hope you will understand and respect actions we have taken or may take to protect the rights, safety and aspirations of people in adjoining countries that were formerly under our control and who are bound to us by common language and heritage. Specifically, you will understand the necessity for our retention of sovereignty over such historic territories that have recently come under our control. In addition, we hope you will prepare your country to understand the justification for our actions.

3. In exchange for our agreement to permit the reunification of Germany in 1990, your country and its allies promised that NATO would refrain from expanding into Eastern Europe. That promise was broken. As a result, NATO’s military infrastructure has encircled our country. Almost every one of NATO’s actions in regions close to our country is aimed at thwarting our interests. Your historic skepticism about NATO puts you in a position to explain to the American people the importance of dealing with this unnecessary threat to our country. We expect you will help bring about changes that reorient NATO to eliminate its threat to us.

4. You will respect and cooperate with our anti-terrorist efforts in Syria and other Middle East countries.

5. Understanding that it is in the interest of both our countries to deal with the European countries on a nation-to-nation basis, we expect you will support our efforts to lead Western European countries away from the dominating and counterproductive trade and economic blocs. These blocs work against both our countries’ aspirations to make favorable trade and other arrangements with individual nations. We hope you will help us break up these detrimental attachments.

Agreed: July 2016

Real conversation once graced the societal landscape of America. It has become a relic held onto by a few people who know the great value of real conversation. For me, it is the experience where people exchange ideas, provide information or seek to convince others of an issue position on which they disagree. It can even occur when talking about topics of no importance. What makes real conversation is that it is conducted with civility, thought and respect on the part of all participants.

We have come to a time in America when real conversation hardly ever shows its head. Look around. Turn on a television or radio and see the reports of protests and confrontations resulting from conditions that should be addressed through real conversation.

Before working on this column, I was watching Peter Strzok testifying in a joint hearing before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees. Strzok is the FBI agent who exchanged texts  with Lisa Page, an FBI attorney, that spoke harshly of then-presidential-candidate Trump and his supporters. Because both of them were involved with the Hillary Clinton and Russia collusion investigations, there is some concern that their actions in those investigations might have resulted from bias against Trump, the candidate.

In my estimation, the hearing was a horror show that did absolutely nothing by way of getting to the truth. There was pure partisanship, anger, grandstanding by committee members, arguments and so on. All of the elements were present that make real conversation impossible.

The “attack mode” of verbal exchange is pervasive. This is especially true in this age where many Americans apparently believe any grievance justifies a protest, even when doing so invades and disrespects the space of others. Consider what is happening to the president and to individuals who work in his administration. The following summaries of incidents are recorded in an article by William Cummings titled “The list of Trump White House officials who have been hassled over administration policy.”

The article states:

• “From spokeswoman Sarah Sanders’ expulsion from the Red Hen restaurant to a Senate intern shouting the “f-word” at the president, a number of Trump administration officials have been disrespected or hassled by political opponents in recent days.

• Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., urged activists to continue hounding Trump Cabinet members wherever and whenever they find them.

• Demonstrators converged on the home of White House adviser Stephen Miller in downtown Washington Monday to denounce Miller’s role as one of the architects of the administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy.

• The Department of Homeland Security secretary was confronted with chants of ‘Shame!’ as she tried to dine at an upscale Mexican restaurant in Washington amid the uproar over the administration’s policy of separating migrant families accused of illegally crossing the southern border.

• Pence, who has never really been considered an ally of the LBGTQ community, was greeted by a display of rainbow flags by many of his new neighbors when he first moved to Washington as the vice president elect.

• The president’s adviser and eldest daughter was called a ‘feckless (expletive)’ by comedian Samantha Bee during a monologue on Bee’s TBS show ‘Full Frontal’ about the separation of migrant families.”

The quotes above refer to actions against Republicans. In an ongoing attempt to be balanced in my thinking and writing, I googled “conservative verbal attacks on liberals.” What came up were more articles talking about liberal attacks on conservatives. The resulting picture is one where it appears that most verbal attacks, and similar actions, are directed toward conservatives. However, the lack of real conversation is fed by all sides and by people of various affiliations and ideologies.

Maybe part of our reason for discarding real conversation is due to our having lost sight of how it looks and of the tremendous positive impact that is possible from it.

A sermon I heard in February 2018 has stuck with me because what was presented reminded me of the powerful possibilities in real conversation. The preacher was Rev. Stephanie Bohannon. Until June 2018, she was the associate pastor at First Baptist Church (Anderson Street) in Fayetteville. The sermon title was “Grace is Found at the Well.” The Scripture basis is John 4:4-26, 39. This is the account of Jesus, in Samaria, talking with a woman at Jacob’s well.

Much of what Bohannon shared from this account can help us reclaim real conversation. Jesus is resting beside this well in Samaria. Being Jewish, it was unexpected that he would be in Samaria, because Jews did not associate with Samaritans. Productive conversation sometimes requires that we go to places and engage in circumstances that might be uncomfortable.

A Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water. Jesus asks her to draw a drink for him. She expresses surprise that a Jew would ask a Samaritan for water. This is where Jesus says, in verse 10, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water” (HCSB).

In response, the woman wants to know how he would draw water, given that Jesus does not have a bucket. Her question not only reflects thought, but shows her willingness to respectfully probe this comment by Jesus. Notice the respectful tone of this exchange. This condition of thoughtfulness, reasonable questioning and respectful tone are almost always absent from conversations addressing difficult issues of our time. These elements are essential to real conversation.

Then Jesus tells the woman to call her husband. She responds that she has no husband. Jesus says (verse 17), “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband. For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.’” Some contend that Jesus was condemning the woman’s relationship. However, another likely explanation is that he was establishing his position in the thinking of this woman. Apparently, when Jesus, without knowing her, spoke accurately to the woman’s marital situation, she was able to recognize something special in him. She sees him as a prophet and goes on to question Jesus regarding places of worship. Real conversation requires conducting oneself in a fashion that invites respect and the expectation of productive discourse.

Verses 28-30 give the result of this real conversation: “Then the woman left her water jar, went into town and told the men, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?’ They left the town and made their way to him.” This was the very positive result of real conversation.

Bohannon closed by saying that, despite her story, Jesus offered that woman grace, love and acceptance. Even when we disagree, if we can, in our conversations, employ the elements exhibited by Jesus and this woman, while adding grace, love and acceptance, amazing results are possible.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

Karl Merritt’s opinion piece in Up &Coming Weekly’s June 27 edition is an attack on my native country, Canada, despite his claim “to share what I hope is productive and accurate thinking through of this US/Canadian tariff dispute.” The information he provides does appear to be accurate, but only to the extent that it corroborates his point of view... any information that would be favorable to Canada he pointedly refused to address.

The dairy product dispute is an example of Mr. Merritt’s unbalanced views. Canada may have restrictive tariffs to protect her dairy industry; however, Mr. Merritt fails to mention what are the actual economics of that trade, and is money not “where the rubber meets the road” where any trade is concerned? A report by Brookings, dated June 13 of this year, revealed that in 2017 the United States exported $792 million worth of dairy products to Canada and imported $149 million from Canada. That works out to an over 500 percent trade imbalance in favor of the U.S. Mr. Merritt and President Trump chose not to make that information public. Why?

Regarding the steel issue, Mr. Merritt again fails to provide all the pertinent information.

The U.S. produced and imported the amount of steel reported by Mr. Merritt; however, it also exported more than 12 percent of the domestic production. Why, if steel is a national security issue, does the U.S. export any steel? By not doing so would it not lessen the dependence on imports? And, yes, Canada is the leading producer of steel imported by the U.S. at 17 percent – but note that Mr. Merritt avoids telling readers that the U.S. provides 60 percent of Canada’s imported steel.

It is also revealing that Mr. Merritt fails to mention that the United Steelworkers Union opposed imposing tariffs on Canadian steel. Those who should most benefit from steel tariffs are opposed to including Canada as a tariff target. Ms. Holly Hart, the Union’s legislative director, said that the decision to impose tariffs on CANADA “is unacceptable and calls into question the design and direction of the administration’s trade policy.”

Mr. Merritt then goes on to attack Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for possessing the same attribute that he (Mr. Merritt) praised Donald Trump for possessing, understanding “that his first responsibility is to the citizens” of his country, Trump the U.S., Trudeau Canada. Mr. Merritt even repeats the characterization of the Prime Minister made by the president when he called the Prime Minister “dishonest.” May I remind Mr. Merritt that Donald Trump himself publicly admitted to lying to Justin Trudeau about U.S./Canada trade.

For Trump to call the Prime Minister “dishonest” is like the kettle calling the pot black, EH!

And then there is the national security issue, which caused Mr. Merritt to write that “his (Trudeau) dismissal of our (U.S.) national security concern does not reflect serious consideration of that concern.”

And yet, the aforementioned United Steel Workers Union legislative director, Ms. Hart, stated that “our history shows that there is no stronger ally and partner on national security than Canada.” The reality is that Canada and Canadians (although some of them reluctantly) acknowledge that the national security of Canada depends upon the national security of the U.S. Since World War II, our two countries have partnered to constantly address those mutual national security concerns. Fort Bragg is one example of that partnership with a Canadian general serving as a Deputy Commander of the 18th Airborne Corps.

Prime Minister Trudeau correctly stated that Canadians have stood sidebyside with Americans throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. He mentioned World Wars I and II, Korea, the Gulf, and Afghanistan. He could have included Viet Nam. During the Viet Nam era, tens of thousands of Mr. Merritt’s fellow Americans did all they could to avoid the draft and military service as if the military was the U.S.’s 20th-century version of Europe’s medieval bubonic plague. At the same time, thousands of Canadians came to the U.S. and voluntarily enlisted with the U.S. Armed Forces. The service of Canadians in Viet Nam is remembered and honored by the Canadian Viet Nam Veterans Memorial in Windsor, Ontario. The memorial includes a monument on which is inscribed the names of Canadians killed in Viet Nam while serving as U.S. soldiers, marines, airmen and seamen. Those names can also be found on the Viet Nam Wall in Washington, D.C. The reality is, Mr. Merritt, that the blood of Canadian volunteers helped to pay for the national security of the U.S. just as the blood of American volunteers helped to pay for the national security of Canada during the early years of World War I and II, prior to the official entry of the U.S. into those two wars.

Mr. Merritt, I was one of those Canadian volunteers. At the age of 18 I rode on a bus from Toronto, Ontario, to Buffalo, New York, and enlisted with the U.S. Army (January 1969). Less than a year later, I arrived in Viet Nam and spent 15 months with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, 14 of those months incountry.

Mr. Merritt, where was Donald Trump when you and Canadians were serving your, and his, country? Oh yes, he was one of those Americans who dodged military service.

– Michael Fleming

Editor’s note from Karl Merritt – I greatly appreciate this response to my column in that it exhibits the kind of positive dialogue called for in this week’s column titled, “Real Conversation: A Relic.”

– Karl Merritt

We’ve all heard the old proverb, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” In a lot of cases, this means the problem talked about most loudly or the issue causing the biggest headache usually gets fixed first. I’ve found this to be true in Congress, and it’s why I’ve continued to be a loud – and persistent – advocate for issues important to our community.

Last week, we got a little grease. The House of Representatives passed the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2019 (H.R. 6147) which included a provision I secured to address the maintenance backlog for unpaved roads in the Uwharrie National Forest.

If you’ve been to this state treasure or you live in the area, you’ve seen how difficult it has been to maintain the roads through the Uwharrie Forest. Over the years, the roads have become severely eroded from travel, age and elements – causing tremendous problems for visitors and residents alike. In 2014, I successfully got Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to repair part of the roads after they sustained tremendous damage, but it continues to be an issue as more gravel has washed away.

More than just a headache, it’s a real safety issue when first responders can’t reach people in emergencies. I’ve been on these roads after storms, and there’s no way fire trucks and ambulances can access these roads in bad conditions. That’s unacceptable and one reason why I’ve worked hard over the years to advocate on behalf of the Uwharrie National Forest and its upkeep.

My provision brings much-needed attention to this issue by having the Forest Service work with the local community to identify priority projects. In addition, the funding bill included additional funding for the U.S. Forest Service’s Capital Improvement and Maintenance account – $50 million above last year’s levels. This program provides funding to pave national forest roads like the ones in the Uwharrie National Forest.

As your voice in Congress, I will continue to work with local, state and federal stakeholders to make sure the Uwharrie National Forest has the best tools, resources and funding to maintain forest roads. While there is still more work to do, I am more confident than ever that we will finally be able to get this issue resolved once and for all.

When it comes to issues facing our district, I will always be a prominent voice in discussions. It’s exactly why my casework team works tirelessly at our three offices across the district to assist you, and it’s why I travel the district meeting with folks every spare moment I have.

That’s also why I’m bringing prominent federal officials to the district to see and hear firsthand what’s impacting our lives. In fact, in the next few weeks, I’m planning on having the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program travel across the district to talk about resources we need to combat the opioid epidemic and get our rural communities more access to high-speed broadband internet.

Connecting our communities with federal officials in Washington is a critical part of my role as your representative, and I will continue being the squeaky wheel for our district’s priorities.

I’m surprised there has not been a TV network created just to accommodate what seems to be an overwhelming proliferation of incivility in America. There are literally dozens of networks that create programing about topics of every kind. There are programs about food, yoga, weird science, smoothies, exercise equipment, cars, trucks and gardening. I could go on, but you get my point. This being the case, it seems reasonable to have a network that could house channels that find companies willing to sponsor shows that disseminate insults, accusations and indictments with such authority that no one dares challenge the content for fear of retribution.

Watching TV, especially the news and news-related shows, is like viewing the world after it became infected with a terrible virus.

More and more, we seem to be subjected to behavior and media sound bites that are uncharacteristically and unjustifiably cruel, negative and combative. For the life of me, I cannot identify when decent, God-fearing Americans became so insensitive to and intolerant of each other’s rights, feelings and opinions. When did respect, courtesy, manners and politeness go out of fashion in America? When did logic, common sense and the art of compromise fall by the wayside along with respectable conversation and thoughtful debate?

I guess a more critical question should be: How can we get it back?

I refuse to think that this is not possible, even though we are subjected to senseless and hateful behavior daily.

To my point, set aside for one moment your religion, race and personal political convictions. None of these things will matter if the America we live in, the nation that grants and allows us to enjoy those “unalienable rights,” collapses under the weight of ignorance, unbridled greed and crazy ideological self-aggrandizement.

And, that’s all happening right now across this country. Imagine America, no, better yet, imagine Fayetteville without a police or sheriff’s department. With no EMS or fire department. Imagine a Fayetteville totally void of law enforcement and first responders. Imagine a Fayetteville where no one had to work to earn a living but had unrestricted access to other people’s possessions and personal property.

With no law enforcement, there would be no jail or justice system. No laws. No rules. What would remain? A community of chaos overrun with criminals, murderers, rapists, child molesters and drug dealers – all having unrestrained access to everything you hold near and dear. I’m not talking about money, personal possessions, land or buildings. I’m referring to those constitutionally protected unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those are the things that really matter, not red states, blue states, votes, money or power. Hate speak, intolerance and bad behavior are no different or more acceptable today than the refusing of four young black protesters at a lunch counter at a Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth store in 1960. Do we as Americans really want to go back there? I think not.

So, what’s the solution?

I have no idea.

But, I do know this: We all would be better off remembering and practicing the golden rule. As a noun, it means “a principle implemented or followed to assure success.” Biblically, it has a more relevant meaning. It’s the willingness to love thy neighbor as thy self. We are all faced with injustices, injuries, disappointments, betrayals and frustrations. Handling these situations and loving those who we believe to be the source of the anguish may be the first step back to civility. We need to have patience and take the high road when facing adversity. We must harness our anger and need for retaliation. The golden rule would remind us to be tolerant and to seek peaceful solutions to problems. Ever since we were children, we have been told to follow the golden rule. Well, today that advice is as relevant as it ever was. Probably even more so. God bless America!

Thank you for reading the Up & ComingWeekly.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben White on Unsplash

Fort Bragg is home to many of our nation’s veterans. Many of them have sacrificed and shed blood for our country. Often, they have spent their adult lives serving. These heroes and their families deserve our thanks, and the Sandhills Purple Heart Dinner is designed to do just that. The Sandhills Purple Heart Committee presents the second annual Purple Heart Dinner Saturday, Aug. 18, from 5-8 p.m. at the Crown Complex Charlie Rose Agri-Expo Center.

The event is open to the public and offers the rare opportunity to sit among dozens of heroes and hear their stories – and let them know just how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice. The focus of the dinner is to honor and thank Purple Heart recipients as well as Gold Star mothers and families of service members killed in action.

The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving with the U. S. military. It is a heart-shaped medal within a gold border containing a profile of General George Washington. Above the heart appears a shield of the coat of arms of George Washington (a white shield with two red bars and three red stars in chief) between sprays of green leaves. It was established by George Washington in 1782 as the Badge of Military Merit. The Purple Heart’s order includes the phrase “Let it be known that he who wears the military order of the Purple Heart has given of his blood in the defense of his homeland and shall forever be revered by his fellow countrymen.” It truly is a badge of honor, one most would not set out to earn.

“We want the community that the military lives and works in to honor the sacrifices that the military have made, whether it’s a Purple Heart because you’ve been wounded in action, a Gold Star mother who has lost a child, or if you are a family member of someone killed in action,” said Laura Downing, Gold Star mother liaison and a major with the Fayetteville Police Department. “It’s all military branches – Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force. We recognize all wars and actions taken anywhere.”

The dinner is inclusive, and the inaugural event was well-received. “Last year, we had individuals who fought in World War II, Vietnam, Korea and Operation Enduring Freedom,” Downing said.

While this is the second dinner of its kind locally, it is not a new concept. “There are already several Purple Heart dinners that have been held around the state for years,” said Downing. “Wake Forest is in their 10th year, and Charlotte has done it one year.”

Downing added that it is appropriate and especially meaningful to have a dinner in Fayetteville, considering the large military population here. “I think they were tweaking the other one before they brought it here because they knew this was going to be a much bigger event because of our population,” said Downing. “Last year, it was a huge success and there were military servicemen being honored from 20 years old to 80 years old.”

“A lot of our Purple Heart recipients have never been recognized – especially by the community,” said Michael Johnson, chair of the Purple Heart Dinner.

Johnson added that the organization has received requests from other cities like Goldsboro, Winston Salem and others.

“Many Purple Heart recipients don’t make it to the first dinner because they are reluctant and don’t know what it is really about, or they think they have to speak or something like that,” said Johnson. “Once the word gets out about the first one, the second one is generally larger than the first.”

At the event, each Purple Heart recipient – and their families, if they attend – are greeted. Families are escorted to their table. There is a private reception before the dinner just for the Purple Heart recipients. “It gives them a chance to sit and talk with each other about their experiences,” said Downing. “This is a safe environment, and there is a photo op for them to get their picture taken.”

After the reception, the recipients are escorted by Junior ROTC Cadets into the main hall where dinner is served. “We have something called a ‘Walk of Honor,’” said Johnson. “Cadets in full uniform march out, and they have sabers. As each Purple Heart recipient comes out, they walk through the saber salute, and we announce who they are, where they served, what branch (they were in) and where they received their Purple Heart.”

Several attendees have more than one Purple Heart. Some have had as many as five, six and seven Purple Hearts.

“Last year, we had two Medal of Honor recipients present the gift that we have at the end of the saber salute when they come out,” said Johnson. “This year, we will have another Medal of Honor recipient to do that, and that means so much to a Purple Heart recipient.”

Johnson added that this is a big part of the evening. “Instead of having celebrities or politicians come and speak, we chose to make this about the veterans, so we don’t have a keynote speaker.”

Part of that is because not every Purple Heart recipient had a ceremony where they received their Purple Heart Medal. Johnson said, “A Purple Heart recipient who is a friend of mine said that the way he received his medal was he came back from the field in Vietnam and found it on his bunk, because in the fog of war, when you come back to base, you only have a few hours before you go out again. Again, most Purple Heart recipients have never been thanked by the community.”

There are at least 476 Purple Heart recipients in the Fayetteville/Fort Bragg area. Reaching them all and having them all at the dinner may take time, but that is the goal. “Last year we had 160 Purple Heart recipients, and this year we have 69 so far,” said Downing. “We would love to have 200 recipients this year – that would be ideal. … This is the community’s way of saying thank you to Purple Heart recipients, and they do not have to pay for this; it does not cost them anything. Nobody that works on this event makes any money. We are all volunteers.”

What the volunteers hope to see is a big turnout from the general public. You don’t have to know or be related to a Purple Heart recipient to attend. “We really want the community to come and buy a ticket to eat a meal with a hero,” said Downing.

Sponsorships are available. For more information on that, contact Sarah Reid at 910-709-2858 or sandhillsphdinnersponsorships@gmail.com.

There are three RSVP options on the website, www.sandhillsphdinner.com. The “Purchase Tickets” button is for the general public to purchase a ticket that will include a meal. The “PH RSVP” button is for Purple Heart recipients to let the event organizers know they will be attending. There is no cost, but registration is required so the veteran can be honored in the “Walk of Honor.” The “GSM RSVP” button is for Gold Star Mothers to register to attend the event.

Ticket price for the public is $25. For more information, call 910-438-4100.

One of the responsibilities that parents take most seriously is protecting their children from injury, whether it is buckling seat belts in a car or wearing a helmet while riding a bike. When their kids become teenagers and want to participate in sports or other activities, parents do everything they can to keep their sons and daughters from getting hurt.

But not all injuries are caused by a twist, fall, collision or accident. Many are caused when young athletes repeat the same athletic activity so often that muscles, ligaments, tendons and bones don’t have time to recover – especially among middle school and high school students. These injuries can end promising careers, cost families tens of thousands of dollars, squash dreams and literally change lives.

Examples include elbow and arm injuries to teenagers who play baseball or softball all year long, shoulder injuries to year-round swimmers, wrist and elbow injuries to gymnasts and stress fractures to soccer players.

The culprit, most often, is what’s commonly known as “sport specialization,” the process of playing the same sport all year long with the goal of either gaining a competitive edge or earning a college scholarship. It involves intense, year-round training in a single sport.

Research shows that sport specialization is putting teenage athletes at risk. According to a study commissioned by the National Federation of State High School Associations and conducted by researchers from the University of Wisconsin, high school athletes who specialize in a single sport are 70 percent more likely to suffer an injury during their playing season than those who play multiple sports.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says much the same. It reports that “overuse injuries” (injuries caused when an athletic activity is repeated so often that parts of the body do not have enough time to heal) are responsible for nearly half of all sports injuries to middle school and high school students.

There is a solution. Young athletes should be encouraged to play multiple sports.

When student-athletes cross-train, they work different muscle groups and joints, which, in fact, results in better overall conditioning. They also develop a new set of athletic skills like hand-eye coordination, balance, endurance, explosion and agility that are transferable to their primary sport. It’s no coincidence that 30 of the 32 first-round picks in the 2017 National Football League draft played multiple sports in high school.

Parents can play a key role in preventing these overuse injuries by encouraging their kids to play multiple sports rather than pushing them to specialize in one sport. They will have more fun, will be less likely to suffer burnout and will actually become better athletes.

E.E. Smith came within one win of a worst-to-first turnaround in football last season.

Deron Donald’s Golden Bulls tied for last place in the old Mid-South 4-A Conference in 2016, only to finish in a tie for second place in the Patriot Athletic Conference last season, going 9-4 and earning a first-round state 4-A playoff win over West Carteret.

“We want to continue what we’ve started,’’ said Donald.

Smith will be hard-pressed to repeat the performance this year as the Golden Bulls were seniorheavy in 2017 and suffered major graduation losses.

“We had a big senior class and they all played vital roles in our success,’’ Donald said. “Right now we’re trying to find some true leaders, people that can carry the torch and keep it going in the right direction.’’

Among the biggest departures was versatile quarterback Xeavier Bullock, who earned a scholarship at Fayetteville State University. He was one of two 2,000-yard passers in the Patriot Conference last season, throwing for 2,165 yards and 22 touchdowns with only five interceptions.

The heir apparent to Bullock at quarterback is senior Angel Holden. Holden saw limited action last season, getting a chance to play quarterback when Bullock was briefly sidelined by injury. Holden completed eight of 15 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown while throwing no interceptions.

“His approach and offseason preparation has been excellent,’’ Donald said of Holden. “We hope he can be the leader we know he can be and keep it going in the right direction.’’

Smith’s top returner at any position is the talented Toshiro Spivey, wide receiver. Spivey had 37 catches for 612 yards and five touchdowns a year ago.

“We’re counting on him to do a lot of good things for us,’’ Donald said.

Spivey said he’s already been working with Holden during the spring to improve the chemistry between the two. “He can move, and he throws the ball very well,’’ Spivey said of Holden.

As for the whole team, despite the graduation losses, Spivey thinks the Golden Bulls learned a lot from the experience of going from 3-8 to 9-4 in one year.

“The key thing is the foundation is already laid,’’ Spivey said. “It’s all about building on it.’’

Although the Golden Bulls will be young this season, Spivey thinks the team will make up for lack of experience with a bundle of speed and overall athleticism.

By the time fall workouts officially open in a couple of weeks, Spivey is hopeful Smith will be cohesive. “I want everybody to know what we’re doing, what we’re fighting for,’’ he said, “everybody in one accord, one mindset.’’

The key for everyone will be gaining maturity quickly, Donald said. “There’s no one area of concern,’’ he said. “We’ve just got to grow up and grow up fast.’’

PHOTO: Toshiro Spivey

A group of student-athletes and chaperones from Cape Fear High School was among the 258 student-athletes from all over North Carolina participating in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame’s Salute To Student-Athlete Program earlier this year.

The program recognized students from across the state and exposed them to the many positive lessons to be learned from North Carolina’s outstanding sports heritage.

Those attending from Cape Fear included student athletes Mark Burks, Jaylen Hudson, Matt Raynor, Walker Brittain, Amelia Shook and Taylor Melvin. The chaperones included Amey Shook and Kelly Melvin.

A total of 39 different schools from 21 different counties across the state were represented by the student-athletes who attended the program.

The two-day event included a special reception and attendance at ceremonies where the newest class of inductees to the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame were inducted at the Raleigh Convention Center. On the following day, the student-athletes toured the state’s hall of fame exhibition at the North Carolina Museum of History and participated in a seminar involving some of North Carolina’s most celebrated sports figures.

Speakers at the seminar included former UNCChapel Hill basketball star Phil Ford, former professional football star Jeff Bostic and a special panel discussion featuring several members of the induction class.

The student-athletes were invited to sign up for Hall Pass, a free program that offers special opportunities. Each Hall Pass member receives interesting information about the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame and the state’s sports heritage, including a monthly newsletter and special features in advance before the general public. Any student athlete can sign up to become a Hall Pass member by visiting www.ncshof.org and clicking on Hall Pass.

N.C. Sports Hall of Fame members being inducted this year included golfer Donna Andrews, former major league baseball player Scott Bankhead, Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek, former Duke football star Wes Chesson, champion surfer and basketball standout Mindy Ballou Fitzpatrick, football coach and administrator Bill Hayes, college baseball coach Mike Martin, major league umpire Joe West and Charlotte Hornets executive Fred Whitfield.

Posthumous inductees were high school coaching legends Jack Holley and Paul Jones, tennis standout Laura DuPont, former major league baseball players Hal “Skinny” Brown and Jakie May, and former N.C. State baseball all-American Chris Cammack of Fayetteville.

PHOTO: L to R: Dr. Jerry McGee, Lilly Terwilliger, Mark Burks, Jaylen Hudson, Tyler Britt, Amelia Shook.

David Tepper, new owner of the Carolina Panthers, met with the media last week after the sale of the team was finalized.

One of the subjects he discussed was a desire to see the Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium host state high school championship games.

Charlotte hasn’t hosted a football final since 1987 when Garner beat Charlotte Harding 40-21 at Memorial Stadium.

I don’t have a problem with moving some state football finals to Bank of America Stadium, but not at the expense of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association ending its relationship with Duke, Wake Forest, NC State and UNC to hold championship games at their stadiums.

The NCHSAA has eight football title games each year. The question would be who plays where.

With Winston-Salem (Wake Forest) and Charlotte in the mix, you’d have two venues that would qualify as western in orientation. One thing that could enter into the equation is seeding. You could give “home” field preference, East vs. West, for the finals to whoever is the higher seeded team.

The big plus with eight games, if you use all five venues every year, is two venues will only get a maximum of one game. Not having to share a stadium for a second game would be nice for the competing schools.

It’s an offer worth exploring, and I thank Tepper for making it.

On another note – congratulations to Jarvis Cobb, who has been named the varsity boys basketball coach at Douglas Byrd High School. Cobb comes to the Eagles after serving as junior varsity coach at Hoke County. In addition to coaching basketball, Cobb will teach career and technical education at Byrd.

A long-awaited sidewalk project has started along Rockfish Road in Hope Mills. The only problem is it will create traffic congestion along the busy road that goes past major town buildings during the roughly two months the project will be in progress.

Mayor Jackie Warner said it’s been about five years since the town got the initial grant to pay for the sidewalk that will cover about 1,100 feet alongside Rockfish Road near Town Hall and the Hope Mills Recreation Center.

Most of the funding for the sidewalk came from a grant from the Department of Transportation, which Warner said was the first DOT grant Hope Mills had ever received.

Unfortunately, there have been multiple delays with the project since its approval, from paperwork problems to engineering issues to having a tough time finding a contractor, as too many projects repairing damage caused by Hurricane Matthew were in the works.

There was a time the town even considered giving the grant money back because of a possibility the sidewalk could be constructed and then Rockfish Road might one day be widened, forcing destruction of the new sidewalk.

Warner said the town finally decided not to return the grant money and to use it for the purpose it was received.

The sidewalk is part of a long-range goal to connect the Rockfish Road area with South Main Street and eventually Trade Street.

Warner said the eventual aim is for people to be able to walk all the way from the area around Town Hall and the Recreation Center down to Hope Mills Lake and the Trade Street businesses.

This ties in with the town’s multimodal congestion program, which is aimed at making the whole Main Street area pedestrian-friendly with more sidewalks and bike trails, giving the public more options for getting around so they can leave their cars at home and hopefully reduce vehicle traffic.

Warner said it was easy to apply for the initial grant for sidewalks on Rockfish Road because of the neighborhood it was located in.

“The number of kids that live in the neighborhood can walk to school or have access to the school, library and gym (at the recreation center),’’ she said.

Hector Cruz, who heads up public works for the town of Hope Mills, said the construction crew is aiming to have the sidewalk done by mid-August, but he indicated he wouldn’t be surprised if it takes longer than that.

Barring any major complications, Cruz said, the construction work will take place from around 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and traffic will be reduced to one lane while the crews are out.

The major problem that will slow the work down, aside from weather delays, is the large amount of underground utilities in the area, including gas, fiber optics, water and sewer.

“They are marked, but when you start digging, you find something else,’’ he said.

He said the crew encountered fiber optic cables a couple of weeks ago that were marked, but the marking didn’t indicate how far below the ground they were. That forced the digging to stop, and an engineer had to be brought in to sort the problem out.

Another problem will be that portions of the sidewalk will require the installation of storm drains. “It’s a matter of getting curb, gutter and sidewalk built,’’ Cruz said.

Meetings

For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Town Clerk Jane Starling at 910-426-4113. Most meetings take place at Town Hall or the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation center.

• Parks and Recreation Advisory Monday, July 23, 6:30 p.m.

• Board of Commissioners Monday, July 23, 7 p.m. at Town Hall in the Bill Luther Meeting Room.

• Appearance Committee Tuesday, July 24, 7 p.m.

• Veterans Affairs Commission Thursday, July 26, 7 p.m.

Activities

• Hope Mills Area Kiwanis Club at Sammio’s, second Tuesdays at noon and fourth Tuesdays at 6 p.m. For details, call 910-237-1240.

• Fall sports registration through July 28. $30 per child; $15 late fee after registration deadline. Season begins Sept. 8. Call 910-426-4109 for details.

• Wine-Tasting, Cheese and Appetizers Saturday, July 28, 5-8 p.m. Held at the Boarding House Tea Room, 3903 Ellison St., at the corner of W. Patterson Street across from Hope Mills YMCA. Open to the public once there is a 10-person commitment. Mix and mingle in cozy and quaint surroundings. Tasty hors d’oeuvres and vintage treasures available. Call Carla at 910-527-7455 to make reservations.

Promote yourself: Email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

It was an idea first floated by Chris Rey, the former mayor of Spring Lake, when he became chairman of the Cumberland County Mayors Coalition about five years ago. Rey’s dream was to have a countywide meeting of all of the elected officials, from city and county government up to those serving in state office in Raleigh.

Next month, that dream will finally come to pass when county leaders meet Thursday, Aug. 9, at the Crown Complex ballroom for ethics training and an economic development presentation.

The August meeting was the brainchild of Cliff Turpin, mayor of Falcon, who currently chairs the Mayors Coalition. Vice-chair Jackie Warner, the mayor of Hope Mills, said Turpin made the countywide meeting a project when he first took over as chairman.

“It was brought up that we have to go for ethics training and each municipality goes at their own chosen time,’’ Warner said. “Some municipalities don’t go together and don’t hear the same things.’’

Warner said a plan was developed to bring all the county’s elected officials, from mayors to board members to state representatives, together for the ethics training.

Warner said the idea is to show that all the municipalities and state and county government representatives are unified and want Cumberland County to flourish.

“The conversations we’re having are some of the best conversations we’ve had since I’ve been mayor,’’ Warner said. “It’s amazing all the mayors can sit down and talk about each community, but we can also talk about Cumberland County as a whole. We’ve not done that before.’’

Warner said the ethics training was planned well in advance so as many elected officials from the county as possible could clear their schedules and make sure to be able to attend.

Warner hopes the Mayors Coalition has set an example for others who will be attending the meeting by checking loyalty to a particular political party at the door.

“I’m coming as Hope Mills mayor, not as which party I belong to,’’ Warner said. “Working together for Cumberland County, we’ll all benefit. The Mayors Coalition has set the example for that. We are a mix of all parties, and what’s happened is we’ve been able to work not only together but effectively.’’

The ethics training that will be part of the meeting next month is required by state law. Newly elected representatives get training geared especially for them while those who’ve been re-elected get a refresher course.

The ethics sessions will be led by two live presenters, Frayda Bluestein and Norma Houston of the University of North Carolina School of Government in Chapel Hill.

Warner said it’s important for local government leaders to hear the same ethics presentation.

“If we’ve all sat down and listened to the same training, we’ll come away hopefully with the same set of values,” she said.

The ethics topics cover a variety of areas, Warner said, from conflict of interest to open and closed meetings.

“This is the accepted way you should be doing things,’’ Warner said. “With the public eye on us all the time, I think people need to be aware of what they can or can’t do or what they should do.’’

Warner said ethics is about learning how to perform the job with the greater good in mind and not just performing political favors for the people who helped get you elected.

“I have to make good decisions and our board has to make good decisions based on the whole city,’’ Warner said. “This ethics training shows you’ve got to make good decisions based on things you know are right, not on those tugs you’re being pulled by.’’

The training also deals with situations when an elected leader should recuse himself or herself from a vote because of a possible conflict of interest. But Warner said there’s also a lesson to be learned about not wanting to vote.

“You can’t arbitrarily say ‘I don’t want to vote for this,’ unless there’s a conflict of interest,’’ Warner said.

Warner said she’s glad the upcoming ethics session will have live presenters so people can ask questions and everyone can hear the same answers.

“The big reason for us getting this group together is so we can all meet each other and start thinking about a unified county, working together instead of in isolation,’’ she said.

PHOTO: Hope Mills Mayor, Jackie Warner.

With temperatures reaching well into the 90s, enjoy the summer with a little fresh air – and a lot of aquatic adventures. From epic water slides to relaxing river cruises, Cumberland County offers countless alternatives to your backyard pool in the way of affordable waterside fun.

Home of the famous Tarzan Swings, Jump Tower and Master Blaster Slides, Fantasy Lake is the perfect place to find a little adventure. While the children cruise down the mellow Banana Slides, sit back and relax in one of several porch swings over the lake or grill out at one of three picnic areas on-site. Let your little ones discover Fantasy Land, a smaller version of Fantasy Lake perfect for elementary school-aged children. Fantasy Lake is located at 5869 Permastone Lake Rd. in Hope Mills. Tickets are $10 for ages 3-10 and ages 60 and up or $16 for ages 11-59.

For a carefree day on the water, try a boat ride on the Cape Fear River. Captained by U.S. Coast Guard Commander Freddie Mims, these cruises come in 2-, 4- and 8-hour packages and vary in price depending on group size. Military and senior discounts, not to mention free rides for children under the age of 12, make these daytrips the perfect getaway for your family. Call 910-709-1758 for tickets and information.

Grab your life jacket and test out your kayaking skills on the great Cape Fear. Cape Fear River Adventures in Lillington offers kayaking and canoeing, white water kayaking, rafting and lazy-river tubing. Enjoy a trip lasting anywhere from an hour to two days, or take a group of 12 or more on a teambuilding retreat. Open seven days a week mid-May through August, trips vary in cost according to the amount of time spent on the water. Call 919-495-5555 to reserve your trip.

Waldo’s Beach features a family-friendly water park, fishing area and year-round RV campground. This exciting recreation area offers a variety of activities, to include waterslides, a lazy river and a shaded picnic area. The campground offers power and free Wi-Fi, not to mention hot showers and coin laundry machines to help you clean up after a long day at the pool. Daily water park tickets are $10 for ages 10 and under and $12 for ages 12 and up. Camp rates are $38 for a day, $245 for a week and $565-$595 for a month. Waldo’s Beach is located at 6742 Waldo’s Beach Rd. in Fayetteville.

Fayetteville has several public pools that are open through Labor Day. Head over to Chalmers Pool at 1520 Slater Ave. to enjoy a six-lane lap pool, water playground and an open wading pool. For your little ones, try the Splash Pad at Kiwanis Recreation Center at 352 Devers St. The Keith A. Bates, Sr. Pool at 4945 Rosehill Rd. features a kiddie pool, a six-lane lap pool and a 24-foot enclosed water slide. The Westover Aquatic Center is located at 266 Bonanza Dr. and is home to an 8-lane competition pool, a water slide and a wading pool.

The Spring Lake Outpost offers daily kayak adventures along the lower Little River. Veteran-owned and open seven days a week, the Outpost offers short-route trips, which are 3 miles long and take two hours to complete, and long-route trips, which are 6 miles long and take 4 hours to complete. Alternative adventures, such as Sunset Paddles and “Slo Glow,” are also available. Walk-up on the weekend or reserve your weekday trip at www.springlakeoutpost.com.

PHOTO: Fantasy Lake in Hope Mills is home to the famous Tarzan Swings, Jump Tower and Master Blaster Slides.

The Career Development Center at Fayetteville Technical Community College is a place where curriculum and continuing education students, as well as individuals in the community, receive assistance in searching for and securing employment.

The CDC benefits individuals by offering services such as job searches, career assessments, seminars, job fairs and information sessions with employers. The CDC also refers individuals to the Human Resource Development Employability Lab for additional assistance with services like resume writing, interviewing and improving workplace soft skills.

The CDC also hosts employer seminars. The seminars consist of specific employers coming onsite at FTCC and talking with students about what it is that they are looking for in job candidates for their companies. The employers discuss the different skills, training and/or education needed in order for candidates to be ideal for a specific position within a company. Employers also often set up a Q&A forum where students can ask their own questions to employers.

A great tool that the CDC uses to assist employers as well as individuals is the College Central Network. Employers utilize the CCN database to post company information and available positions as well as recruit candidates for employment. Students utilize the database to post their profiles and resumes and view available positions posted by employers. The ultimate goal of this database is to meet the needs of students and employers by housing helpful information.

Another function of the CDC is collaborating with the different departmental areas and assisting with job fairs throughout the semester. Job fairs are an excellent way for students to meet with employers in their field of study. Students benefit from attending job fairs through opportunities to network, gain exposure and, in some cases, conduct on-the-spot interviewing.

The CDC is located inside the Center for Business and Industry building at the Fayetteville campus, Room 135, and the hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FTCC is currently registering students for fall classes in both curriculum (transfer) and corporate and continuing education (non-transfer) programs of study. Curriculum fall classes begin Aug. 20, and the class schedule for fall programs of study in corporate and continuing education is available at www.faytechcc.edu.

The class schedule lists all the available programs and classes along with information about class start dates, cost, course description, location and more. From the home page of FTCC’s website, click “Corporate and Continuing Education” and then “Class Schedule” to see the broad range of programs available this fall.

Visit with FTCC staff members face to face at our Fayetteville, Spring Lake or Fort Bragg campus locations for assistance with class registration, program selection, counseling and more.

We look forward to opportunities to welcome new students, and we always enjoy seeing students return to FTCC for new learning experiences. Enroll in a class this fall and experience for yourself why FTCC truly is the smart choice for education.