Melissa M. Reed is on the board of directors for the Autism Society of Cumberland County, or ASCC. Two years ago, she wanted to do something fun and exciting for the community. But she also wanted to do something different. As a result, we can now look forward to The Fayetteville Lip Sync Battle. The event will take place Sept. 30 at the Crown Ballroom, 1960 Coliseum Road.

The ASCC took inspiration from the television show “Lip Sync Battle,” which has roots in an exceptionally popular segment on the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” show. Like the show that inspired it, the Fayetteville Lip Sync Battle has quickly grown into something much bigger and more entertaining than originally expected.

When talking about the lineup of contestants, Reed said, “Even outside of their performance, they have a lot of personality.” In particular, the group from the Cape Beard Follicles of Freedom, a beard and mustache oriented club, has left an impression. Reed said, “They are doing a boy band kind of performance and really have their stage down.” They will be making artistic use of a fan, though Cape Beard wouldn’t give Reed the details of their performance.

Audience votes will decide the battles,  and the competition has already begun. Even now, the Fayetteville Lip Sync Battle website is active and allows fans to vote for contestants. A donation of $5 gives one vote for your favorite performer, and a donation of $20 gives five votes. There will also be opportunities to vote at the event, but Reed noted that if you know a competitor, you shouldn’t wait.

Competition will be fierce. A performer from Impressive Tresses Salon is slated to lip sync “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper, and Reed said, “I expect her to challenge the Cape Beard guys more than they have expected.”

After the competition is over and Fayetteville has a new lip sync champion, there will be a dance and celebration at the venue. The competition starts at 7:30 p.m. but, for those interested, there will be a VIP cocktail reception at 6 p.m. Regular tickets sell for $65 and VIP tickets for $75.

All proceeds will be used by the ASCC to help parents and caregivers with family members who have been  diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Tickets and voting will be available both at the venue and on the Fayetteville Lip Sync Battle website, www.faynclipsyncbattle.com.  Those interested in competing can call (910) 826-9100.

Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery presents “An Evening with a Champion” Saturday, Sept. 30, at  6 p.m. Allison Fisher is the woman of the hour, and she is the most accomplished female pool player in the history of cue sports.  

“Allison Fisher started at a very young age playing Snooker, and by the time she was 17, she won her first world championship,” said Jeff Martin, marketing director for Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery and Allison Fisher. “When she was in her 20s, she made a decision to pack a bag and bought a one-way ticket to Charlotte, North Carolina.”  Martin added that Fisher travels around the world and is an ambassador for cue sports.     

Allison’s story is motivational and inspiring. What motivates her?  The word “No.” Allison was only seven years old when she first picked up a cue. She was watching Snooker on TV with her dad and asked for a pool table for Christmas. She received that table and fell in love with the game. That passion drove her to pursue all kinds of awards and titles for her skills and expertise in the sport. 

A few of Fisher’s many awards include a Gold Medal, 4 World Championships (WPA), 8 U. S. National Championships (WPBA), more “Player of the Year” titles than any other sports star, 2 ESPN championships and many more major titles. 

The Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery event features dinner, Allison’s story, a trick shot exhibition, challenge matches, a question and answer session and special guests 12-year-old Joey Tate and 14-year-old Joshua Shultz. Tate and Shultz both live in North Carolina and recently earned the right to compete at a world event in Moscow.

“If you have millennials who are still living at home in their 20s and waiting on a job to arrive at the door, bring them to hear Allison speak,” Martin said. “If you have children who feel they are entitled to live with their parents and spend every waking moment on their cell phone or iPad, Allison Fisher will motivate them to put those items down.”

Martin added that we live in a world where you work hard if you are a worker, and you may not necessarily be where you want to be in life but you get by. You can either let the word “no” crush you or let it light a fire in your belly.                  

Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery is located at 195 Vineyard Dr. in Elizabethtown, North Carolina. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the website www.corkroomdining.com.

The Cape Fear Regional Theater knows how to kick off a season — music, dancing, singing and the story of a dream. A few dreams, actually. Effie, Deena and Lorrell are The Dreams, a trio of singers aspiring for fame in the Motown era. The women find that success requires compromise and may cost them their friendship.

With love lost and found along the way and some friendships broken and mended, “Dreamgirls” is a roller coaster of emotion that the talented cast handles beautifully. CFRT Artistic Director Mary Catherine Burke said the entire cast has a passion for performing. You won’t doubt that when you see the show.

The cast includes leads Nattalyee Randall as Effie White, Diamond Essence White as Deena Jones, and Stephanie Rocio as Lorrell Robinson. Kwame Remy is Jimmy “Thunder” Early, Marktavious Patton is Curtis Taylor, Jr., and Darius Jordan Lee is C.C. White. All but Patton (who played the Tin Man in last season’s “The Wiz”) are making their CFRT debut with “Dreamgirls.”

Randall brought the audience to a standing ovation with her powerful performance of “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.” Her raw emotion made me feel every bit of sadness, disappointment and anger the character was feeling. Randall’s energy was evident and definitely a highlight of the show. But it was her performance of “I Am Changing” later in the show that really displayed her talent and range. As frenzied and raw as the former song was, the latter was balanced and calm, yet gripping.

Another musical treat is when Patton, Lee and Remy lead the company in “Steppin’ to the Bad Side.” The performance, early in the show, lets us know that we are in for a talented range of vocals and fun dance moves.

Director Suzanne Agins brings the music, emotion, costumes and dance together with motion. The constant motion of the actors and props brings the stage alive with energy and excitement. With a live band onstage throughout the show, it feels like we are getting a peek backstage for the musical numbers. Although much of the story is about performing onstage, it still felt very intimate and personal.

Of special note is the work of Lighting Designer Maranda DeBusk. It happened before I realized it, but the lighting itself became a supporting character, adding not only colors and hues, but changing tone and emotion as the performers sang and danced.

“Dreamgirls” book and lyrics are by Tom Eyen, and the music is by Henry Krieger. The show is choreographed by Randy A. Davis.

“Dreamgirls” runs through Oct. 8, so get your tickets now because this is a show you don’t want to miss. For ticket information, call the box office at (910) 323-4233 or visit www.cfrt.org.

Once every hour and 12 minutes  — that’s how often U.S. military veterans kill themselves. About 20 veterans committed suicide each day in 2014 — the year for which the most recent statistics were available, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

VA Secretary David Shulkin referred to this national tragedy as “an unacceptable statistic,” in an interview with The Hill.

“We’re reaching out to community groups, to academic groups,” Shulkin was quoted as saying. “We’re trying new therapies and treatments. And I certainly hope that we can have a big impact on this problem.”

There were 71 suicides among men and women on active duty, 20 suicides of reservists and 31 National Guard suicides in the first quarter of 2017, according to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office. Officials are evaluating a series of factors that have been developed as a profile. Suicide risk factors include being male, Caucasian and having psychiatric trauma, said Dr. Craig Bryan, executive director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah.

Fort Bragg authorities typically do not publicly acknowledge soldier suicides. “(Department of the Army) holds those records and does not allow each installation to release them,” said Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum. The media section of Bragg’s Public Affairs Office routinely releases news of what it describes as unspecified deaths on post. Army authorities use a news release template. Media inquiries are referred to Army Criminal Investigation Command Headquarters where news outlets are told the cases are under investigation.

“We readily admit that our death investigations take time due to our thoroughness and the fact that we investigate all deaths to a standard of homicide,” said Chris Grey, chief of public affairs for the Army Criminal Investigation Command. Routinely, confirmed suicide deaths are added statistically to quarterly reports of the DSPO.

For both post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, “part of the issue is not necessarily combatrelated,” Dr. M. David Rudd, the co-founder and scientific director of the National Center of Veterans Studies, told Fox News. He cited the “stress of being in the military during wartime,” saying there’s an intensified operations pace for those both deployed and at home.

Military men and women who enlisted since 2001 have known they would likely be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The military, Dr. Keita Franklin, director of the DSPO, explained, has been trying to distance people at risk of suicide from methods that could be used to harm them like by giving them gun locks. Most military suicides involve personallyowned weapons, Franklin said. “We’re not trying to restrict their weapons,” she added, instead stressing that it’s a risk reduction method. Other resources available include the website Military OneSource, military family life consultants, a peer support line and embedded behavioral health providers for units.

Treatment facilities are also an option. Cognitive behavioral therapy is “the gold standard” Franklin explained, which “helps people kind of unpack their current beliefs. What’s right for one person isn’t right for another.” The therapy involves 12 sessions instead of years of treatment. In a study published in 2015, active-duty Army soldiers at Fort Carson, Colorado, were given either regular treatment, or regular treatment along with cognitive behavioral therapy. Rudd, Bryan and others found that soldiers in CBT were approximately 60 percent less likely to attempt suicide during follow-up than soldiers in treatment as usual. A Military Crisis Line is available for service members and veterans who can also text for help. Service members and veterans can also participate in online chats with Veterans Affairs responders.

The Hope Mills area produced this year’s Cumberland County Teacher of the Year — Leslie Seals. To be eligible for selection as a teacher of the ear, the State Board of Education requires that a person must hold a Standard Professional 2 license, be employed full-time and spend at least 70 percent of his or her time in direct instruction of North Carolina public school students.

Locally, candidates are selected by their schools. “Each school selects their nominee differently, e.g., faculty vote, principal choice, etc., but state eligibility criteria must be met,” according to Cumberland County Schools representative Renarta Clanton Moyd.

Once a teacher is selected at the school level, his or her name is submitted for districtwide judging. “Each teacher of the year candidate, usually about 86 of them, submits a portfolio for review and is interviewed by a team of three attendance area judges and a facilitator,” Moyd added.

Winners from each attendance area are selected, and those 10 candidates are interviewed by a panel of five judges, among them the current local teacher of the year and principal of the year, plus community partners and selected retired educators. Once a county winner is determined and announced at the annual banquet, the winner’s name is submitted to the NC Department of Public Instruction for competition in the region, and then the state.

County Commission Chairman Glenn Adams led off State of the Community speeches by cautioning those in attendance to “not believe everything they read or hear in the media.” Moments earlier, in an interview with Up & Coming Weekly, Adams said essentially the same thing while defending disagreements county government has with the city of Fayetteville. Adams characterized them as discussions, but later in his address, he admitted that “there are disagreements.”

Mayor Nat Robertson alluded to Adams’ remarks, saying, “We are not always compatible, but we are respectful.” He noted Fayetteville is ranked No. 1 in the state and eighth in the nation in fiscal strength among 116 American cities with a population of more than 200,000, according to the Fiscal Health Index compiled by the California Policy Center.

Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner spoke of the town’s battle following Hurricane Matthew to deal with floods that briefly cut the town off from the rest of the county. Noting that Hope Mills is famous for water, she said contractors were pouring cement for the new Hope Mills Lake dam as she spoke. Warner said she hoped the town would be able to impound water for the lake by Election Day.

Other speakers represented Spring Lake and Fort Bragg. Board of Education representation was noticeably absent.

PHOTO: Mayor Nat Robertson

Early voting for Fayetteville’s 2017 municipal election is underway. Early primary voting ends Saturday, Oct. 7. There’s one ballot for the citywide primary race for Fayetteville mayor. There are also primary races in six of the city’s nine city council districts.

Primaries are necessary for those races where there are more than twice the number of candidates for a given office. They include council districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7. In districts 2, 3 and 5, incumbents are not seeking re-election. District 5 Councilman Bobby Hurst is retiring. Districts 2 and 3 incumbents, Kirk deViere and Mitch Colvin, are running for mayor. So, there will be at least three new members of the council come December.

Citizens who are not registered to vote may register during the early voting period if they show documents that list their current names and addresses in Cumberland County. A list of acceptable documentation is available online at co.cumberland. nc.us/elections.aspx. Early voting is held at only one location, the Cumberland County Board of Elections Office at 227 Fountainhead Ln., Fayetteville.

Teacher of the Year

The announcement of the 2018 Cumberland County Schools’ Teacher of the Year was made during an annual dinner where 86 candidates for the honor had gathered. Rockfish Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Leslie Seals was the winner. During her eight years in the classroom, she has also taught students in Richmond and Beaufort counties.

“When we create a real difference in a student academically, emotionally or behaviorally, I feel we have accomplished what is sometimes not recognized by others but is more valuable to the future of our communities and world than a test score,” Seals said.

She was influenced to become a teacher by her mother and stepfather, who were both former administrators in Harnett County Schools. Seals likes to use small-group instruction to help “create a real difference” and meet the needs of each student.

“My students know I care when I meet with them... I am also able to see the needs of my students more clearly when working with them in small groups,” she said. Seals earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from East Carolina University. As the 2018 Teacher of the Year, she received: $300 and flowers from Cumberland County Schools; $300 from the Communities in Schools of Cumberland County; a one-year car lease from Powers-Swain Chevrolet; a commemorative customdesigned Teacher of the Year ring from Jostens; an engraved clock from Herff Jones; and an award from the Cumberland County Board of Education.

Beaver Dam Fire Protection

Imagine a fire station with no firefighters. That’s been a persistent problem for the Beaver Dam Fire Department for years. The rural Cumberland County fire department built a second station and equipped it to serve the large district better but could not afford to staff it. The district is considered low wealth because of its rural tax base. The problem was “a lack of volunteers during daytime hours,” said Assistant Cumberland County Manager Tracey Jackson.

Both Beaver Dam fire stations are located off NC Highway 210 not far from the Cumberland/Sampson/Bladen County line. County Commissioners, at the urging of Fire Commissioner Jimmy Keefe, agreed to provide the Beaver Dam department a $75,000 budget supplement to staff its Turnbull Road station with two firefighters cross-trained as EMTs. The funding will get the department through the balance of the fiscal year. The Joint Public Safety Task Force is studying potential ways of permanently solving the funding problem.

Sunday Brunch with a Beer

Cumberland County Commissioners have approved a local ordinance allowing restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages as early as 10 a.m. on Sundays. The North Carolina General Assembly gave cities and counties the authority to adopt local bills. The ordinance is identical to one passed earlier by Fayetteville City Council.

Commissioners had to take the matter up a second time because the initial vote was required to be unanimous. It was not. Commission Vice-Chairman Charles Evans voted against it. On second reading, a simple majority was all that was required. Evans voted no again, but it didn’t matter. Most bars and restaurants in the county are in Fayetteville, but eight of them are in unincorporated areas. The ordinance also allows grocery stores to sell beer and wine Sunday mornings.

Sprint Joins Cumberland County Schools at Phone Fair

Sprint and the Cumberland County School system are teaming up to participate in Sprint and the Sprint Foundation’s 1Million Project.

Participating local high school students will receive 1,180 free smartphones or laptops and free wireless service as part of an initiative to help close the homework gap. Seventy percent of high school teachers assign homework to be completed online. More than 5 million families with children do not have internet access at home. That’s why Sprint created its 1Million Project.

CCS is one of eight school districts in North Carolina taking part in the project. The 2017-18 school year marks the first year of the five-year initiative involving more than 180,000 students in 1,300 schools in 30 states. In each of the next five years, hundreds of thousands of high schoolers who lack internet access at home will benefit from the 1Million Project.

Congressman Pittenger Opens Fayetteville Office

Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., unpacked boxes and hung pictures in his permanent Fayetteville office. It’s on the third floor of the J.L. Dawkins Federal Building and post office on Green Street. The facility had been closed since October because of flooding from Hurricane Matthew. “We are excited to finally unpack,” the congressman said. “At the same time, we recognize there are still families in Cumberland, Robeson and Bladen Counties waiting for necessary Federal Emergency Management Agency or HUD assistance to rebuild or repair their homes.” 

Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., though constituents are encouraged to call ahead as staff will regularly be out of the office at community meetings. For more information, call Jake Cashwell at (910) 303-0669 or email him at jake.cashwell@mail.house.gov.

It’s that time again and yes I am running for re-election as Mayor of Hope Mills!

I pledge to continue to give my all and best for our community.

Proud, Strong, Determined and Dedicated:

STRONG in Governmental stability — using tax dollars wisely and balancing our budgets.

STRONG in Accountability and transparency in our governmental process.

STRONG in preservation of traditional family values.

STRONG in Public Safety and security.

PROUD of Progressive direction, while keeping community traditions that give Hope Mills its small town family atmosphere.

PROUD of Community Involvement in suggestions for our town direction and growth.

PROUD of establishing our Gateway signs of our town.

PROUD of our Sidewalk plan and goals to make Hope Mills a walk-able community.

DETERMINED to provide responsible, accountable town government and leadership.

DETERMINED to develop Strategic Planning for future growth.

DETERMINED to preserve our town History and Traditions.

DETERMINED to listen to our community voices and react to our community input.

DEDICATED to completion of a long awaited restoration of our Hope Mills Lake.

DEDICATED to preservation of our History through completion of our museum and Heritage Park.

DEDICATED to planned recreational opportunities at former Hope Mills Golf Course. I value your support and vote.

Why am I running for city council. to reduce the tax burden and ordinance laws on the private property owners. The property owners are the ones that are paying for these parks and recreation and the high paying salary of the top employees of Fayetteville. Also to reduce the corporate taxes and regulations on local business. To help bring to the area high paying jobs. The one thing the city council and mayor know how to do is to grow the local government, rise your property taxes and create more ordinance laws to off set property taxes thru fines,  for the last 10 years. But have wasted your tax dollars on things like baseball fields and parks. That have nothing to do with your quality of life, like high paying jobs.  I am not seeking pay or donation for the city council seat to make Fayetteville a better place to live for private property owners and business.

Thank you city council district 2.

PHOTO: Ted Donovan

I have seen the future in California. It comes wreathed in clouds of smoke. On a recent fact-finding trip to the Left Coast, we spent one night in Mendocino, a beautiful small town on the northern California coast. The main cash crop in Mendocino County seems to be marijuana. For the record and any DEA agents, let it be known that I did not try anything stronger than coffee out west.

Mendocino has a long relationship with pot. It was immortalized in the song “Mendocino” by the Sir Douglas Quintet in the late 1960s. Sir Doug serenades his girlfriend by warning her about “Fast talking guys with strange red eyes/Have put things in your head/And started your mind to wonderin’/Please stay with me in Mendocino.”

After visiting a town I like, I will read the local newspaper online for a while after I get back. The local paper announced that a neighboring town, Willets, is going to host the first ever Mendocino Cannabis Job Fair. The job fair is to have 25 to 30 employers/ exhibitors to allow the employers and job seekers to network. A survey of more than 40 local pot farmers found that the jobs they most needed to fill were those of trimmers and farming/gardening laborers. The jobs on the pot farms are mostly seasonal, part-time gigs and will be paid as independent contractors.

Other jobs that the pot farmers were seeking to fill include “sales/ marketing, accountants and bookkeepers, administrators, executive assistants, delivery drivers, chefs, human resources, retail budtenders, extraction technicians, lab technicians and security.” I learned a new word, “budtenders,” which I surmise is the cannabis equivalent of a bartender.

California is serious about legalized recreational marijuana. Proposition 64 passed last year with a Jan. 1, 2018, effective date for the issuance of state licenses for recreational pot sellers.

In San Francisco, the coming Pot Apocalypse is in full evidence as shown by billboards and ads on the sides of buses in the city by the bay. The pot ads are quite colorful. The ads remind me of the golden days of cigarette advertising wars. Korova is a brand of legalized pot that has an ad showing a threeeyed cow wearing a rakishly angled derby hat.

One Korova ad boasts that its product has “Unrivaled potency. Medicate responsibly.”

Flow Kano brand pot aims for snob appeal. It is a San Francisco brand that proclaims, “That’s cannabis, the California way.” Flow Kano provides “organic, sustainable, small batch, boutique marijuana strains from independent pot farmers in the Emerald Triangle.”

We are left to wonder if Flow Kano is gluten-free. Its advertising campaign is on 75 buses and 200 billboards. One Flow Kano ad shows an arty picture of green mountains with the words, “Appellations, Boutique Genetics, Exclusive Varieties.” Sounds like an ad for a fine wine. You should hold up your pinky while smoking a Flow Kano joint.

A less classy but more direct billboard from Green Life Recreational Marijuana announced, “Got Weed? 9 miles ahead, Left on Easy Street.” A mysterious ad for pot with only one word, “Dispensary,” shows a beautiful, fully-clothed young woman lying back with her eyes closed and a Mona Lisa smile, surrounded by a marijuana fronds. It is clear that her use of Dispensary marijuana has taken her far from the mundane world of toe fungus, North Korean nukes and The Donald.

Whatever she is thinking about, it is clear that Dispensary pot, like Calgon, has taken her away.

I can hardly wait to see the marijuana television ads. Jesse Helms will be turning over in his grave. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be having a prolonged hissy fit. If those two things happen, legalized pot can’t be all bad.

As a beer ad once told us, “This bud’s for you.” Smoke ’em if you got ’em.

Students get graded. Employees get reviewed. US Presidents get ranked, and in their case, it all depends on who is doing the ranking. Liberals will have one list with a president like Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson toward the top, and conservatives will have an entirely different one, likely favoring Ronald Reagan.

Blessedly, more neutral groups also rank US Presidents, and C-Span, the “just-thefacts, ma’am” network covering our federal government, has conducted three presidential Historians Surveys, one in 2000, one in 2009 and one in 2017.

No need to wait by your phone for the next survey, as you and I are not likely to get a call. Those doing the ranking are more than 90 writers and historians at leading colleges and universities throughout the nation, including Douglas Brinkley and Larry Sabato, both of whom comment on presidential issues often in various media.

The academicians rank presidential effectiveness from 1-10 on measures including Public Persuasion, Crisis Leadership, Moral Authority, International Relations, Relations with Congress and Pursued Equal Justice for All. Each category carries equal weight in the rankings. Sitting presidents are not ranked, meaning that George W. Bush did not show up in the 2000 survey, and Barack Obama was in neither the 2000 nor the 2007 survey. Donald Trump is not ranked at all.

So, who are C-Span’s experts’ top  presidents?

Abraham Lincoln was No. 1 all three years, which is not surprising since he is the president who saved the Union. George Washington, the father of our country, was No. 2 in 2009 and 2017, although Franklin Roosevelt claimed that spot in 2000, a ranking he earned by leading us out of the Great Depression and shepherding the Allies through World War II.

Roosevelt was a solid No. 3, followed by his cousin Theodore Roosevelt at No. 4. Dwight Eisenhower was No. 5 in 2017, but lower in earlier years. Harry Truman also placed at No. 5 and 6, followed by Thomas Jefferson, a solid No. 7. John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Lyndon Johnson and Woodrow Wilson rounded out the top 10 in all three surveys.

After that, the presidents are mostly “historical” in the sense that we know them only from books, along with several more recent White House residents. Barack Obama ranks highest among recent presidents, coming in at No. 12 this year. Bill Clinton is ranked 15, 15 and 21. George H.W. Bush receives 20, 18 and 20, while his son George W. Bush received much more modest No. 33 and 36. Our only other father-son presidential team was more closely ranked. John Adams received 19, 17 and 16, while his son, John Quincy Adams, was respectably nearby at 21, 19 and 19.

Bringing up the rear are presidents most of us would not know if they walked in our front doors. These include John Tyler, Warren G. Harding, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson (born in Raleigh in
1808 and a tailor by profession) and James Buchanan.

None of this is surprising.

The presidency of the United States of America may be the most challenging job on earth, but the men who have held it have been chosen for all sorts of reasons having little to do with their own capabilities. And, like any job, some people are better at it than others. Also, being at the right place at the right time plays a role. Franklin Roosevelt established work programs to see Americans through the Great Depression, but many a historian believes that it was his unwavering, sunny optimism that carried people through those dark days. These are among the reasons Lincoln, Washington, and Roosevelt consistently rank in the top five, and whatever-their-names-were are consistently at the bottom.

It is also true that historians revise their thinking over time, and individual presidents rise and fall in the rankings as time puts their achievements, or lack thereof, into perspective. John F. Kennedy was a popular president, in part because of his youth and attractive family, but over time his presidential star has tarnished a bit. Although he is in the top 10 in the C-Span surveys, other scholarly surveys have ranked him in the middle of the pack or below. Two-termers have more time to get a handle on the job than one-termers, and top-rated Franklin Roosevelt served three terms and change before a constitutional amendment limiting presidential service to two terms. Conversely, two-termers have more time to bungle the job, but no finger pointing here. Several presidents died so early in their terms as not to be ranked at all.

Not a historian? Then whether you or I love or loathe a president makes no difference. These historian assessments are performance reviews, not popularity contests.

I can hardly wait for Donald Trump to get his reckoning — er, ranking.

More and more I hear comments from ordinary citizens about how frustrated they are with Washington and our “do nothing” Congress. Their frustration and disappointment are warranted. With Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, their lack of communication, cooperation and progress in advancing major legislative initiatives only amplifies the lack of leadership and vision provided by our nationally elected officials. It also exposes their misplaced priorities of putting their personal and political agendas above the health and welfare of the Americans they represent.

Of course people are frustrated and scared. And because leadership — both good and bad — comes from the top, I’m afraid this kind of selfish and self-centered governance is having a negative trickle-down effect on North Carolina, our city and our county.

Case in point: the serious situation we have in our community and in eastern North Carolina concerning GenX, C8 and other various and potentially harmful pollutants threatening our local drinking water and the health and future of the Cape Fear River.

Both the Republicans and Democrats are accusing each other of playing politics with these serious issues when they both are. Shameful. This begs the question: When will the needs and concerns of the citizens be addressed? We’re talking about drinking water here! We’re talking about leadership that is systematically cutting environmental funding and protection and knowingly and willingly creating their own Flint, Michigan, style catastrophe.

Water is the lifeblood of human existence, and our General Assembly in Raleigh is playing a game of “political gotcha.” This politics over people scenario is sad and scary. One pathetic example of this comes with the introduction House Bill 56, which Governor Cooper recently and rightly vetoed. Among other things, HB 56 would appropriate a measly $435,000 to locally research the possible dangers of chemical pollutants like GenX contaminating the Cape Fear River and our drinking water. This would have come in place of the $2.6 million Cooper requested to purchase equipment, hire scientists, chemical experts and professional researchers to pursue testing in the quest of finding out the true cause and source of the contamination in an effort to protect the health and welfare of North Carolina citizens and the future of the Cape Fear River.

Protecting our environment, rivers and water supply should not be a partisan issue. Another example of North Carolina’s politics over people approach is the request to repeal the 2009 ban on plastic bags on the Outer Banks, overruling the objections of local leadership. The Dare County Board of Commissioners, Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce and dozens of area towns and municipalities wrote letters to protest the repeal resolution, citing many tangible and successful beautification and environmental outcomes.

Why would the politicians so blatantly go against the people’s wishes to maintain the plastic bag ban? Answer: Politics before people. The North Carolina Retail Merchants Association is a powerful lobbyist and a big donor to those in political office in Raleigh. Why not throw them a bone to keep the money flowing, even if means betraying a trust or knowingly destroying the environment?

I’ll close with this: If our North Carolina leadership cannot come together to protect our rivers, wells and drinking water, they are not protecting the people. So, I wouldn’t spend too much time being concerned about fracking, coal ash, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, global warming or North Korean missiles. Without clean drinking water, it won’t matter.

Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

Ritika Shamdasani

Terry Sanford • Junior • Tennis

Shamdasani has an unweighted GPA of 3.94.

She is proficient in four languages, has studied

computer programming and is active in

the Terry Sanford Student Government Association.

She ranks in the top five in her class.

Saurav Mall

South View • Senior • Soccer

Mall is a member of the Key Club, the Academy of Scholars,

the National Honor Society and Tiger Stripes.

He has an unweighted GPA of 4.0.

Fayetteville Academy athletic director Chip Bishop was recently honored for his years of service to the school when he was named the winner of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association Chuck Carter Athletic Director of the Year Award.

Bishop is only the fourth recipient of the honor, which is named for the retired longtime head of the NCISAA.

Bishop was hired as basketball coach at Fayetteville Academy 36 years ago and was elevated to athletic director 22 years ago by former head of school Ben Crabtree.

He now oversees a total athletic program that offers a variety of sports for boys and girls from the high school to the middle school level, all under the same roof at the school sandwiched between Morganton and Cliffdale Roads.

Bishop said the responsibility involved with running the athletic program has grown over the years because the student-athletes likely spend more time on the Academy campus than they do at home.

“They might leave home at 7 a.m. and return at 9 or 10 p.m. at night if they have a game,’’ Bishop said. “We have a lot of responsibility, me as an athletic director and also our coaches, to guide and direct these young people.’’

Bishop said the parents of Academy student-athletes have high expectations for the school, both athletically and academically, and he feels that has increased the challenge of the job.

“Fifteen years ago I might have told you coaching was more demanding,’’ he said. “It’s not even close anymore.’’

But Bishop doesn’t see it as a burden.

In fact, he feels the combination of academic and athletic success available to students at the Academy makes him glad to work there.

Unlike some in his job, Bishop said he relishes chances to work closely with students at the school and not just leave that task to his coaches.

“I think I have a good relationship with the majority of the young people at the school,’’ he said. “Being a small school, it enables you to get to know the young people better.’’

Bishop thanked his family, wife Beckie and daughters Jenna Graves and Megan Bishop, for being helpful and supportive and making it possible for him to “survive’’ the job.

Looking to the future, Bishop hopes to continue the school’s tradition of academic and athletic success. “It sometimes complicates things, but we’ve proven you can do both,’’ he said.

PHOTO: Left to right: Chip Bishop; Chuck Carter who the award is named for; and Beckie Bishop, Chip’s wife.

During her days as a cheerleader at Terry Sanford, Keely Warren has memories of being on the sidelines on wet Friday nights, cheering at one of the dirt tracks that surround the majority of senior high football fields in Cumberland County.

They’re not pleasant.

“When there’s mud on the track, that kind of messes things up for you,’’ said Warren, who went on to cheer at East Carolina and served one season as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes Storm Squad. Complicating the problem was the frequent use by schools of golf carts and other small vehicles to deliver various equipment to the sidelines.

“They would leave huge divots in the track,’’ she said. “That’s a safety precaution for us.’’

It’s still a worry for Warren, who teaches English at Cape Fear High School and assists head coach Michelle Johnson working with the school’s cheerleaders.

“I don’t want my girls to be at risk in those spots of a rolled ankle,’’ Warren said.

Another problem is the large mats the cheerleaders drag out to the track for football games. “They’re expensive and already getting dirty with the sand,’’ she said. “I didn’t want to deal with a wet, stinky, muddy mat.’’

Woes of the cheerleaders are just another reason county high school athletic officials would love to get their tracks fitted with rubberized surfaces. Currently only three county tracks are equipped that way: Pine Forest, Reid Ross Classical School and New Century Middle School.

South View has a paved track while the other senior highs are still dirt.

The problem is the money to make it happen is hard to come by. Vernon Aldridge, student activities director for the Cumberland County Schools, said the cost of a  rubberized track is from $150,000  to $200,000.

About 10 years ago, the budget for capital improvements for the county schools was slashed from $9 million to $3 million annually.

“We haven’t gotten anymore money from the state,’’ Aldridge said. “As far as athletic capital outlay, I get $75,000 a year for 24 schools. That doesn’t go far.’’

Schools have to look elsewhere for the money, and unless they catch a break like Cape Fear did, paying for a new track is tough.

Matt McLean, Cape Fear athletic director, said the school will soon start construction on its track thanks to a couple of generous donors.

Over the past year, Cape Fear got separate $75,000 donations from the Rachel Horn and Grayson F. Bean fund and the Billy and Faye Horne fund, McLean said. That money was used to upgrade the school’s weight room and will pay to start the work on the track at Cape Fear, with McLean hopeful the school can get additional funding next year.

McLean said a track is essential to the total school program as it is used in physical education classes as well as for competition and offering people in the community a place to walk and run.

“Being able to have (the surfaced track) for students and teachers  is important,’’ McLean said. “It’s  a classroom.’’

Aldridge and McLean said city and county government officials have talked with the schools and are willing to explore options for trying to make surfaced tracks at all the schools happen, but so far no one’s found an answer.

“Right now we don’t have the funds,’’ Aldridge said. Which means Warren and her cheerleaders will be seeing more mud puddles and divots in the near future.

“I don’t think we should second-guess something that would be a safer alternative,’’ Warren said.

PHOTO: Keely Warren, Assistant Cheerleading Coach at Cape Fear High School.

Two games into his first season as head football coach at Jack Britt High School, Brian Randolph was searching for answers.

The Buccaneers started 0-2 and were sputtering offensively, with one touchdown in two games. They were moving the ball but couldn’t seem to find the end zone.

So Randolph tried a trick in practice after the loss to Terry Sanford.

“We put a big emphasis on finishing,’’ Randolph said. “We started everything from the 20-yard-line going in. Every time you touched the ball you had to score.’’

It apparently worked. In the next game against Gray’s Creek, the Buccaneers hit a number of big plays early and rolled to their biggest offensive output of the season, a 41-12 win.

“That motivated us to finish drives,’’ Randolph said.

A week later against Southern Lee, Britt used its new confidence to rally from a 10-point deficit against the Cavaliers and pull away for a 38-24 win.

“We came into the third quarter and kicked off to the end zone, got a touchback and a safety in two plays, then on the first offensive play we scored,’’ Randolph said.

“Those guys showed me and the other coaches they want to win and are not accepting defeat, which is always a great thing,’’ he said.

Britt had an open date last week, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. It gave the team a chance to savor its two-game win streak and begin to focus on the start of conference play in the tough Sandhills Athletic Conference.

Britt’s respite will be short-lived as the Buccaneers return to play Friday at home against their former coach, Richard Bailey and his Scotland team that was the preseason choice to win the conference.

Two players Randolph will be counting on heavily against the Scots are center Marcus Sanders-Johnson and linebacker Erick Martinez.

Sanders-Johnson may seem undersized for the position at 5-feet-9 and 215 pounds. “He’s one of the strongest and most aggressive players we have,’’ Randolph said. “He has eight pancake blocks.  He’s an awesome player and leader on our team.’’

“We’ve definitely picked it up in practice,’’ Sanders-Johnson said. “We’re working hard, grinding  and stuff.’’

He added it’s been a boost around school when classmates tell the players they’re doing a good job. “It keeps our confidence up as we get ready for Scotland,’’ he said.

Randolph said Martinez has recorded 41 tackles and two sacks in four games. “He’s really aggressive and a hard worker,’’ Randolph said. Like Sanders-Johnson, Randolph called Martinez a  great role model.

When the offense was having its problems in the first two games, Martinez said the defense didn’t get down on them. “We had their back,’’ he said. “We knew they were going to pick it up. We had to get them right.’’

Martinez said the key to continuing playing the way the Buccaneers are now is simple. “We just have to stay focused,’’ he said. “Focus on our jobs, keep doing what we’ve been doing and try to adjust to Scotland.’’

Randolph added that winning by itself cures a lot of problems. “It’s a whole lot better going into the conference 2-2 instead of 0-4,’’ he said. “We have some momentum, if we can keep that going through the bye.’’

PHOTO: Head Football Coach, Brian Randolph, from Jack Britt High School.

A monument to a treasured past came down in Chapel Hill last week. No, the Silent Sam statute of a Confederate soldier still stands. The lost monument came from the death of 94-year old Dickson Phillips, the former UNC Law School dean and longtime judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Phillips’ distinguished career spanned an era of important changes. His role in facilitating those changes and helping us adjust to them makes his passage monumental.

But his death also brought to a close an important North Carolina institution known as the Class of 1948 Study Group. More than 70 years ago in the winter of 1946, a group of World War II veterans enrolled in the class of 1948 at UNC Law School. They formed a study group that had a positive influence on North Carolina’s history in the second half of the 20th Century.

Phillips was an important member of the group that also included William Friday, president of the UNC System for more than 30 years and host of UNC-TV’s “North Carolina People;” Bill Aycock, beloved chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill; William Dees, chair of the university’s governing board; John Jordan, former state senator and also chair of the university’s governing board; and Terry Sanford, North Carolina governor and Duke University president.

Before his death, William Friday talked about the Study Group on UNC-TV in response to a question from Don Curtis, who asked Friday why he decided to go to law school after the war. “Well, you get into an experience like that war put us all in, you were thrown with so many different people from all over everywhere, not only (the) United States, but foreign countries. And you realize how much you need all the education you can get. I came back here with Terry Sanford and Bill Aycock and John Jordan and William Dees and Dickson Phillips, a legendary group of people. We all went straight through and stuck together ever since, worked on things in this state.”

The members of the Study Group spent the rest of their lives supporting each other’s efforts to serve the state. Philips and Sanford were law partners before they took on public positions and remained close through the years. Friday persuaded Aycock to take on the chancellor’s job when he would have preferred to continue teaching law. Each was ready and eager to help each other and to serve the state.

Speaking to a group of lawyers shortly before his death, Friday explained how the members of the Study Group were part of the World War II veterans that Tom Brokaw described as The Greatest Generation. Friday said, “We grew up in the depression, and after four years in the military, we knew we were the lucky ones that got to come home … and we just decided to contribute.”

Then, Friday looked out over the group of lawyers and said that North Carolina lawyers, like the ones in the Study Group, were part of a profession with a long tradition. “There is an added ingredient. We must do something extra to leave this place a little better.”

About them and other returning World War II veterans, I wrote a few years ago: They came back from the war with more maturity, energy, confidence, practicality, open-mindedness, discipline, love of country and competitiveness than any generation our country has ever seen. Then the country gave them advanced educational opportunities never available to so many Americans before. With that mixture of healthy traits and education, they caused an explosion of economic growth that underpins our country’s continuing prosperity and success.

The veterans of World War II are a generation to cherish, to thank and to learn from. With Dickson Phillips’ death, the Study Group’s living monument has come down.

PHOTO: William Friday, Dickson Phillips, William Aycock, John Jordan and William Dees, all members of the Class of 1948 Study Group.

The Fayetteville Technical Community College Financial Aid Department is excited to share some updates with you. Our goal is to make your financial aid application process understandable so that you can use financial aid to help you achieve your educational goals. By providing information from the Department of Education on financial aid news and from FTCC on our current services, we hope to educate current and prospective students about the options they have for help with financing.

Federal Financial Aid Updates:

• The 2017-18 Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the correct FAFSA version to use for the current school year (fall 2017, spring 2018 and summer 2018 semesters). Students should use 2015 tax information when completing the FAFSA. The 2017-18 FAFSA marks a change since it is the first FAFSA to use two-prior-year tax information. This means students will use year-2015 tax information on this FAFSA and save year-2016 tax information for the 2018-19 FAFSA.

• The 2018-19 FAFSA will be available in October. Students can apply for financial aid for the 2018-19 school year early and use year-2016 tax information to complete this FAFSA. We encourage students to file their FAFSA applications this fall for next year to allow plenty of time to supply any needed documentation. 

• Many students will be excited to hear that the Department of Education has announced the return of yearround Pell Grant funds beginning with the summer 2018 semester. Formerly, students who had attended full-time in the fall and spring semesters on Pell Grant funds did not have any Pell Grant eligibility remaining in the school year for the summer semester. Starting with summer 2018, however, eligible students who have not exhausted lifetime eligibility for Pell Grant funds will have the opportunity to use Pell Grant funds in the summer — even if they have already attended full-time during fall and spring.

FTCC Financial Aid News:

• The FTCC Financial Aid Office is located in Room 2 of the Tony Rand Student Center at the Fayetteville campus. Normal operating hours during the school year are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, we are open on Tuesdays until 7 p.m. to accommodate students who work during the day. Tuesday evenings are a great time for students to speak with a financial aid technician, and we would love to serve more students during this time.

• The Financial Aid Office has launched a new campaign — All Techs on Deck Financial Aid Nights — to educate students about financial aid processes. We held our first All Techs on Deck night Aug. 1. Students watched a demonstration on how to access their financial aid information in self-service, enjoyed snacks and drinks and spoke one-on-one with technicians for assistance. The next All Techs on Deck night will be coming soon; watch the FTCC website for details.

• FTCC has multiple fall semester class start dates, and it is not too late to file the 2017-18 FAFSA and start fall classes! Remember, the 2017-18 FAFSA pertains to the fall 2017, spring 2018 and summer 2018 semesters, and many fall 2017 classes are still available.

Visit us at the FTCC Financial Aid Office at the Tony Rand Student Center, and let us help you start your financial aid application process and journey at Fayetteville Tech.

• Sept 25 Notice of public hearing on piers, dock and Bulkhead Ordinance. 7 p.m. in the Hope Mills Town Hall, 5770 Rockfish Rd.,  Room 120. For more information, call (910) 4264113 or visit www.townofhopemills.com.

• Sept. 25 Notice of public hearing on Business Registration Ordinance. 7 p.m. in the Hope Mills Town Hall, 5770 Rockfish Rd., Room 120. For more information, call (910) 426-4113 or visit www.townofhopemills.com.

• Oct. 1 Cruise – Into – Paradise at Paradise Acres, 1965 John McMillan Rd. Come out and bring your shiniest car, motorcycle, truck or even tractor to display while enjoying BBQ, fried chicken and the fixins. Kids will love the train ride, jumping castle and playground. Free admission, food prices ranging from $2-8. Details: www.paradiseacres.biz or (910) 424-2779.

• Oct 7. Peace, Love and Walk in Hope Mills. Meet at 3770 Rockfish Rd. Contact ALMS HOUSE at (910) 425-0902 for details.

• Oct 9. Hope Mills Area Chamber of Commerce Monthly Luncheon 12:30 p.m. at Hope Mills Parks and Recreation, 5770 Rockfish Rd.  $10 per guest.

• Oct 13. Kiwanis BBQ Fundraiser in the grassy area between the Hope Mills Main Street
Wal-Mart and Food Lion across from gas station.  10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monies raised will go toward ALMS House, Shop-with-a-Cop, Bicycle Presentation for Terrific Kids, Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland County, Boys and Girls Homes of Lake Waccamaw, and many other community services.  Call (910) 426-7256 for  more information.

• Oct. 20-21 Ole Mill Days Festival Celebrate the Mills Way! Ole Mills street dance from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20. Saturday, Oct. 21 runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Municipal Parks 1 and 2. Family fun to include: tractor pull, kids’ corner, movie night, food, vendors, craft vendors, and a Mills workers reunion.  Details: (910) 429-4109.

• Oct 21. Hope Mills Area Chamber of Commerce’s Chili Cook-off as part of Hope Mills Ole Mills Days from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. in the Municipal Ball Park, 5770 Rockfish Rd.

• Nov. 4-12 Heroes Homecoming V at the Hope Mills Public Library. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 4 is the first day of a 9-day ceremonious event to honor veterans. On this day, the focus will be on Vietnam Veterans. Visit www.heroeshomecoming.com for more information. The event is free and open to the public.

Hope Mills is a beautiful town. It has a beautiful recreation center and park. It has an awardwinning fire department. It has a police station that engages with the community through programs like “Shop with a Cop” for children. And the people — We have awesome people in our town. They are giving and supportive. Some of those people help maintain this wonderful town. The question is, how much do you know about our town leaders, fire department, police department, recreation center, etc?

There is so much information, true.  But it is important to know about the town in which you reside.  The best way is through the Hope Mills Citizens Academy. It’s held every Thursday until Oct. 19. Classes begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall. 

The Hope Mills Citizens Academy will teach you about its first responders and the infrastructure of the Hope Mills police and fire departments. You will also learn about the duties of our mayor, commissioners, town manager and town attorney. They all play vital roles that help maintain the safety and the growth plan of our town. They even make plans that affect details like how our traffic will flow. 

The Citizens Academy also provides information about the local library and recreation center. Each one has different programs that pertain to all citizens. In addition to what I’ve mentioned, so much more about our town will be taught.

This isn’t your ordinary Citizens Academy where you sit and listen and possibly get sleepy. Oh no. This one is interactive. Remember the field trips in school? That’s right. We get to go on field trips. We will go to the fire department and the recreation center, just to name two destinations on the list. Deputy Town Clerk Deborah Holland believes in hands-on learning and wants each student to remember what he or she learns by seeing it first-hand.

It’s worth investing your time in this program. Hope Mills is a town of approximately 16,000.

It’s important to know which organizations provide what programs that will benefit its citizens. It’s important to know who your government leaders are and what vital roles they play to help maintain our town. 

Whether you have recently moved to Hope Mills or have been here your whole life, Hope Mills Citizens Academy will help you. For more information, visit www.townofhopemills.com.

The Hope Mills Kiwanis Club is full of members who volunteer their time to help with local schools and nonprofits in order to benefit children and families who are in need. I had the pleasure of being Kiwanis Club Treasurer Jan Spell’s guest to the club’s monthly meeting at Sammio’s. Each member who attended welcomed me with a warm embrace — not the side hug from strangers. No. These generous people each greeted me with a loving hug that let me know they care about this community and giving back. They are passionate about their commitment to this community. 

The Hope Mills Kiwanis help with ensuring children have school supplies. They help the ALMS HOUSE of Hope Mills feed over 400 children each week. The list of generous and compassionate deeds is continuous. 

With 31 members thus far (and counting), the Hope Mills Kiwanis Club has grown three-fold, and it’s looking for more members. Each member I met comes from a different career background. Teacher. Commissioner. Military. Retiree. And now myself — a marketing consultant/writer. 

The Hope Mills Kiwanis Club has a full agenda that keeps its members busy and also entertains, feeds and — most importantly — gives back to the community. The Kiwanis will be in full support of the “Peace, Love and Walk” presented by Members Credit Union, which benefits the ALMS HOUSE in Hope Mills.  Donations made to the walk-a-thon will go towards helping those in Hope Mills who have incomes below the poverty level. For more information, visit www.memcu.com/ peace-love-walk or call Delores or John at (910) 425-0902. The walk will be on Oct 7.

Also, everyone knows that North Carolina loves its barbeque. On Oct. 13, the Kiwanis Club will host a BBQ fundraising event. Proceeds from this event will go towards providing for the Kiwanis-connected school clubs, those less fortunate and other service projects. 

The schools have different clubs depending on the ages of the child. For elementary students, the K-Kids Club participates in service projects around the community that benefit not only those in need, but the children themselves. Children in middle school and junior high will have a chance to engage in service projects and will also learn about and improve self-esteem and grow in leadership. The Key Club is for high school students who desire to give back and want to learn more about being a leader. Circle K is the university-level club and also claims to be the largest leadership organization in the world.

One of the best things about Kiwanis is that it does not leave anyone out. Adults with disabilities also have an opportunity to give back through service projects in the Aktion Club. The Aktion Club is the only service club where these individuals can learn more about leadership skills. 

Contact the Kiwanis of Hope Mills at (910) 426-7256 for more information about becoming a member.

Have you noticed how our town is growing? Have you noticed that it’s growing for the better? Think about it. Hope Mills is a bustling town of approximately 16,000 people. We live, work and go about our daily lives in a fashion unlike most cities and towns. Other towns and cities may be nice and have  fancier malls, skyscrapers and the like. That’s great. But they don’t have that hometown feel. 

You know, the feeling you get when you walk into Sammio’s and know they have been a staple within the community for over 20 years. Or what about Big T’s at Hope Mills Lake? Summer isn’t summer without a Sno-Ball from there. Robin’s on Main is another one. The list goes on. 

No matter how much we grow or how fast, the people of Hope Mills stop and say hello when you see them at Wal-Mart. They’ll help you change a tire if you get a flat. Offer to pay and they refuse. They’ll let you cut in line on Main Street because they know the frustration of the construction right now. They pay it forward when you are in line at one of the fast food restaurants. 

They love and appreciate the U.S. Military. Our veterans are a beautiful and wonderful part of our town and have helped to create the history of Hope Mills by passing down their stories.  

And our first responders are some of the best in North Carolina and, dare I say, the nation. You can ride down Main Street, or any street for that matter, and see the local police department and/or the fire department checking on various things throughout the day to ensure our safety. They’ll wave at you from the fire truck or the cruisers and give a smile of reassurance that they are on top of things. 

Hope Mills comes together in times of crisis. Hurricane Matthew is a prime example. During the hurricane, many homes were flooded and many families lost so much. We came together via neighbors, first responders, churches and local nonprofits to help provide for these families.  

Aesthetically, yes, we are growing. Our streets are changing. We have new businesses. We have new families. We lose terrific citizens every day also — whether to a change of location or a sad loss such as our former Mayor Al Brafford. But through it all, the citizens of Hope Mills, while encouraging economic and population growth, maintain the heart of a small town that welcomes you and invites you to church or to special events and believes in feeding and providing for those in need.

Change is inevitable. But Hope Mills is true to its word when it calls itself the place “Where Families Live and Grow.”

The Gilbert Theater is known for its eclectic seasons. No two shows are similar; instead, they reach many different demographics within Fayetteville. To kick off the 2017-18 season it has a truly unique show running from Sept. 22 to Oct. 8.

“‘Evil Dead: The Musical’ is based on the original Sam Raimi film that was released in 1981,” Matthew Overturf, the Gilbert’s artistic director, said. “A group of college students travel for a spring break getaway to a creepy cabin in the woods. There, they find a mysterious book, which when read unleashes horrors and hilarity beyond imagination. It’s a fun, campy send up of the original film.”

As the show is based on the Raimi film, there are many tongue-in-cheek references that are recognizable to fans of the film. That said, seeing the original film is not necessary to enjoy the show, as it has a fun and engaging story of its own. “Evil Dead: The Musical” is based on a horror movie, but it’s not the same as watching a horror film. “Horror can definitely be intimidating for some,” Overturf said. “But I want to be clear that this isn’t just a horror musical, it’s a funny and hilarious show with some horror and gore mixed in. If you are a fan of ‘Rocky Horror,’ you will enjoy ‘Evil Dead the Musical.’ One other important thing to note is that this is definitely not a show for children. This campy, raunchy, horror tale is full of fun and hilarity for adult audiences. Leave the little ghouls at home on this one.” 

The show is challenging in many ways. The actors must walk a thin line between comedy and being deathly serious. There is also a musical aspect of the show that may present a new challenge to many. It covers several different musical styles, but it has a strong focus on rock, which requires a certain vocal quality that is not prominent in live theater. There are also tremendous technical aspects to this performance.

“This is a highly technical show,” Overturf said. “From a severed hand and head (to) phenomenal makeup and costume changes, this show presents some unique challenges. This will definitely be an interesting show for audiences that love the spectacle of great effects.”

The rest of the Gilbert season features performances of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Venus in Fur,” “Antigone” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

“I truly am excited for every show this season,” Overturf said. “We are offering a vast array of options for Gilbert audiences, and I think that people will not be disappointed. In my first full season as artistic director, my hope and desire was to bring a season that hearkens back to the types of shows audiences expect from the Gilbert while also bringing new and innovative works to the stage. I firmly believe this season does that.”

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.gilberttheater.com.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People presents its 29th Life Membership Banquet Friday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m. at J. D. Fuller Recreational Complex. The theme is “Steadfast and Immovable.” The event includes a meal, and entertainment will be provided by Bertha Elliott and her sisters.

“This is an annual event and fundraiser that we have each year, and we honor the NAACP life members that have just received their plaques for the year,” Jimmy Buxton, Fayetteville Branch president of the NAACP, said. “We also like to honor those who are already life members.”  

The keynote speaker is Reverend Curtis Gatewood. He is the past director of HKONJ, which stands for Historic Thousands on Jones Street. Gatewood has an organization called “Stop Killing Us,” which references black people being killed and gunned down by the police.

Buxton emphasized that the plight of Black America has gotten worse. “We are now going back into the ’60s, and if you take notice, you have an Attorney General appointed by 45, whose name I will not say, and has taken the laws that were passed years ago and going back to reestablish those laws to try to keep blacks and minorities back,” said Buxton. “The most important thing is coming up in 2018, which is the election. If we don’t get people out to register and vote the people out who are now making our laws in the state and federal government offices, we will be back to living like the 1950s and 1960s because they are determined to take us back and take this country back.”        

The NAACP’s office space was destroyed last year by Hurricane Matthew, and the organization lost everything. “We are hoping to fill this place up, and it seats 500,” said Buxton. “We are starting back new in the office, and we are hoping that we can get as many people to come and buy a ticket and take part (in) this fundraiser.” Buxton added that in order to fight against racism, it takes money, and right now is the time for everybody to help keep this fight going.

Doors open at 5 p.m. Ticket cost is $45 for adults and $25 for youth ages 17 and under. For more information, call (910) 484-6166.