“The Diary of Anne Frank” runs at the Gilbert Theater from May 26 to June 4. Many people are familiar with the story. The diary records the experiences of the 13-year-old Anne Frank and her family who hid from Nazis in the Netherlands. 

The book captures the daily experiences the family lived during the two years they spent trapped in an attic. At times it is difficult to read and the ending is jarring, but this story offers an invaluable glimpse into the human experience of some of the darkest times in human history from the eyes of a hopeful young girl. 

Despite the heavy premise of this work, it is not all about death and destruction and it most certainly is not a relic of the past. World War II is over, but many of the problems the Frank family grappled with are still very relevant today. The story is tightly focused on a single family in a small period of time, but they deal with universally relevant human themes. “Everyone should see this play.... It is still relevant to today’s climate, politically and socially. It’s about love and hope,” Director Brian Adam Kline explained. 

Taking a book and adapting it to the stage can be very difficult, but live productions can make stories much more personal and real. Seeing a person act out emotions and situations adds a layer of immediacy that printed words can fail to capture. 

Transforming “The Diary of Anne Frank” into a live production is particularly difficult, in part because of the delicate historical nature of the show. “As a director, I have tried to approach this play with great attention to detail.  It was so important to me to do this right. This play is not just an adaption of the diary but also a historical memorial to Anne, her family, her housemates and the victims of the Holocaust. This production has always been for them,” Kline said. 

The amount of time and effort that everyone at the Gilbert Theater has put into creating a respectful and accurate production of The Diary of Anne Frank is astounding. “I spent a year of research on the diary, the history, the people and the environment,” said Kline. “I contacted the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and they were so vital in my exploration of this world. I had to get it as close as I could. We used photographs to match the colors of the house, costuming and hair. With the long task of preproduction, finding the best actors and crew, production challenges seemed to be smoother,” Kline added.

The biggest challenge the production has faced is in spacing. The Gilbert Theater is smaller than the Anne Frank House, but creative use of space has allowed the cast and crew to maintain the integrity of the story and the history. 

Perhaps the smaller space will enhance the audience’s feelings of personal involvement and help the production’s themes hit home. Tickets can be purchased at www.gilberttheater.com. 

When the afterglow of spring is long gone, daylilies spread rainbows of color through the summer garden. From late spring to frost they are the stars, but they are not temperamental stars. They are hardworking, strong-growing contributors and the easiest to grow of all decorative perennials for Sandhills gardens. 

One of the best ways to get to know daylilies is to visit the local American Hemerocallis Society accredited show. The event will be Saturday, June 3, on the top floor of Berns Student Center at Methodist University. 

Since daylilies come in just about every color except true blue and in heights from a foot tall to over five feet tall, a gardener can find a cultivar for any place in the garden that gets five to six hours of sunlight. 

They thrive in hot summers, so they are a good choice for our Sandhills landscapes. They tolerate some drought but fare better and produce more blooms if they get at least an inch of water a week. 

Most daylily flowers are round with fairly wide petals. There are also spidery flowers with narrow petals and sepals; unusual forms with petals and/or sepals that twist, fold, or curl; and doubles that can look somewhat like a peony or like one flower sitting inside another one. 

Flower sizes range from just over an inch to over 15 inches for some of the spiders. There are more than 80,000 registered daylilies in an incredible array of color, form and size — something for every niche in the garden.

For best performance of your daylilies, prepare a bed with good soil that has organic material incorporated for good drainage. A soil test can give guidance about what type of fertilizer to use and how to amend the soil for proper pH and nutrients. 

Daylilies are usually sold bare-root with leaves cut back to reduce transpiration, or loss of water vapor.  A good way to plant is to soak the roots (daylilies don’t have bulbs) for a few hours and then put the plants in the ground in the late afternoon. Do not soak for more than a day.

Dig a hole, mound the dirt up in the center of the hole and place the plant so that the crown (where root and leaves meet) is no more than an inch below the soil with the roots reaching down into the soil. Fill the hole with the soil you dug out. Water the plants well and cover the soil with about two inches of mulch or compost. This will give the plant several hours to acclimate before the heat of the next day.

To learn more about daylilies, join a local club and the American Hemerocallis Society. Visit local growers to see plants that grow well in your area. 

Sandhills Daylily Club meets on the fourth Thursday of the month from February through October.  The usual meeting place is Friendship Baptist Church, 3232 Davis St., Hope Mills; but we do occasionally meet at other venues. We start at 6 p.m. with a potluck meal and the speaker starts about 7 p.m. Visitors are welcome. 

To enter flowers in the June 3 show and win awards, the flowers must be on the registration table by 10 a.m. The show will be open to the public from 2 until 4 p.m. Starting at 10 a.m. there will be short presentations on topics like hybridizing daylilies, planting and care of daylilies, herbal recipes, air layering, and companion plants. Plants for sale will be available at 12:00 p.m.  To learn more about daylilies, visit www.daylilies.org.

Gun violence is a serious issue that affects families and the communities they live in. One of the ways the Fayetteville Police Department battles this is by connecting with the community with fun events that allow people to get to know each other — and police officers. 

Outdoor movies are one way to do this. Fayetteville Police Department’s Operation Ceasefire presents “Family Movie Night” on Friday, June 2 at Rivers of Living Water Church of God. The church is providing a hot dog meal at 7:30 p.m.  and the movie will begin at 8:30 p.m. 

“This is our 10th anniversary of Ceasefire Movie Night and what we do is take our movie nights out into the city and the county,” said Lisa Jayne, Operation Ceasefire program coordinator. 

“If we notice there is a spike in gun activity and crime in that area, we will look to go into that area during the calendar year and people also request for us to come to their location.” Jayne added that the purpose is for kids to come out and do a gun pledge. 

They also offer free gun locks to parents and show a PSA before each of their movies about gun and gang violence. Parents are given pamphlets about warning signs that may indicate their child may be in a gang and who to call if they have that concern.   

The event will feature a kiddie train, a fire safety house, health screenings by Cape Fear Valley, health and wellness resources, a rock wall, a bounce house, K-9 demo, the fire truck, police vehicles, games, popcorn, drinks and officers on site to answer any questions participants may have.                 

This is part of the Ceasefire approach to combating gun and gang crime through suppression, intervention and prevention. “This is one of our community outreach prevention measures,” said Jayne. “We have our EKG program, which is educating kids about gun violence in the Cumberland County Schools System that we teach to all seventh graders and just finished up a third year with that.” 

Jayne added that they have taught over 20,000 students the program and since they initiated the program, violent crime for that age group has gone down by 3 percent. 

“We look forward to meeting new faces and having the community come out and enjoy the evening,” said Jayne.       

Admission is free. Bring a chair or blanket to enjoy a free movie under the stars. In the case of inclement weather the movie will be held inside. The church is located at 1764 Bingham Drive. For more information call Lisa Jayne at (910) 433-1017.  

“(It’s) sad, but if someone wants to shoot their way in and start firing off shots they could. This could happen anywhere and unfortunately has,” said Kim Robertson, principal of Elizabeth Cashwell Elementary School on Legion Road. 

She was responding to a question about how her school would react to an active shooter on campus.  Robertson said all aspects of her building layout and student/staff contact information is cataloged in a computer. 

Principals and the police can access that information at any time. Thirteen real-time cameras are installed at Elizabeth Cashwell School and are monitored at the safety office. 

“We have to have a plan for such an occasion, and we share it with the safety office and staff,” Robertson said. Her school has a crisis response team equipped with walkie talkies. “Almost daily I have an issue that requires a response, but nothing like a serious threat of danger,” she said. 

“In the event of an active shooter, principals follow our crisis management procedures, which include our lockdown procedures,” added Associate Superintendent Tim Kinlaw. Policy requiring sheltering in place should such an instance occur is set by the Cumberland County Board of Education. 

State law doesn’t address active shooter scenarios. There is a statute that deals with the importance of fire drills: “It shall be the duty of the principal to conduct a fire drill during the first week after the opening of school and thereafter at least one fire drill each school month, in each building in his charge, where children are assembled. 

“Fire drills shall include all pupils and school employees, and the use of various ways of egress to simulate evacuation of said buildings under various conditions, and such other regulations as shall be prescribed for fire safety by the Commissioner of Insurance, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. A copy of such regulations shall be kept posted on the bulletin board in each building.” 

“Monthly fire drills are required with a report sent to the Safety Office each month,” Robertson confirmed. “Our principals follow Board policy regarding fire drills. We have not received any reports from the County or City Fire Marshals stating that fire drills have not been conducted according to state fire code requirements,” added Kinlaw.

“Tornado drills are also required when notification comes that we are to do one,” said Robertson. During a tornado outbreak across the south in April 2011, Benjamin Martin Elementary School at 430 N. Reilly Road, in Fayetteville, was so badly damaged that classes couldn’t be held there for the rest of the school year. Fortunately, the tornado touched down on a Saturday. 

Robertson said local principals are reminded near the end of a school month if drills haven’t been performed and documented. “The fire marshal conducts random checks to see school reports annually,” she added.                      

Photo: Kim Robertson, principal of Elizabeth Cashwell Elementary School 

“We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.” 

—Milton Friedman

Cumberland County Manager Amy Cannon is recommending an 8.2 cents increase in the county’s ad valorem property tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1. 

When rural fire district and recreation taxes are added, the total tax rate for residents living in unincorporated areas of the county would come to 98.45 cents. That doesn’t include stormwater, solid waste, refuse, recycling fees or auto privilege taxes, some of which may also go up. 

Cannon is proposing an eight-dollar increase in the solid waste fee paid annually by homeowners. Property owners in cities and towns do not pay fire district taxes. Some towns ask their residents to pay recreation taxes; some do not. All the municipalities add their ad valorem property tax rates ranging from 15 cents per hundred in Falcon to just shy of 50 cents in Fayetteville. 

Cannon determined the revenue-neutral tax rate to offset tax revenue losses in the county is 78.2 cents. The losses amounted to $4.8 million.  

Cannon applies the term “revenue neutrality” to the county’s total tax base. But depending on individual residential or commercial values, actual taxes paid will be anything but neutral. Among North Carolina’s eight largest metropolitan areas, Cumberland County stands alone in a decline of property values. “Locally, we continue to struggle with weak economic conditions,” Cannon stated in her budget message. 

She noted that sales tax collections were down significantly from 2008 to 2011. But they’ve been trending at pre-recession levels since then.  Looking back, the manager cited “limited natural growth in property tax values over the last ten years.” Nowhere in her budget document does Cannon mention that the Cumberland County Tax Administration Office spotted an apparent downturn in property values immediately following the previous revaluation in 2009, which became a trend. 

Cannon told county commissioners earlier this year she didn’t begin taking that into account until about 2014. “Our local economy is very sensitive to troop deployments,” Cannon noted. She did not mention that redeployments from battlefields to Fort Bragg routinely result in positive economic surges. She said there has been an estimated loss of 5,000 personnel since 2012. 

Cannon is proposing nearly $6 million in expenditure reductions. Forty-one full-time positions and 49 part- time jobs would be eliminated. Thirty-seven of the positions are vacant. Significant budget cuts are proposed in human services, except those mandated by state law. There will be cuts in the hours of operation of county libraries but none will be closed. Funding of so-called non-governmental outside agencies will be cut in half, and no new agencies will be accepted for funding. 

County Commission Chairman Glenn Adams adjourned the meeting immediately following Cannon’s presentation. Commissioners began a series of budget workshops May 30. They’re prepared to meet through June 14 if needed but must adopt the FY18 budget by July 1.

Photo: Cumberland County Manager Amy Cannon

War in Korea

It’s been six decades since hostilities ended on the Korean peninsula. The threat of a resurgence has never been greater than now, and some Fort Bragg soldiers would be among the first thrust into combat. 

The military has taken a back seat to the State Department as U.S. officials push diplomatic and economic measures hoping that, with the help of China, the North Korean regime of Kim Jong Un can be persuaded to stop its provocations. 

If diplomatic efforts fail and a conventional war ensued, experts agree the scenario would involve massive amounts of U.S. and South Korean forces in a war that could drag on for many months or longer. At a recent press conference, when asked by reporters about the current tensions with North Korea, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said, “If this goes to a military solution, it’s going to be tragic on an unbelievable scale.”  

Military Times has constructed a detailed overview of what war on the Korean Peninsula would be like, based on interviews with current and former military officials as well as intelligence assessments of North Korea’s military capabilities. 

In the opening hours, U.S. officials would alert Marines on Okinawa to begin heading toward the fight. Back in the United States the call would go out to the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to launch its brigade combat team of paratroopers. 

A battalion of America’s Global Response Force is poised to deploy within 18 hours. The balance of the assigned 82nd brigade combat team would be “wheels up” within 96 hours. Experts predict heavy initial casualties among U.S. and South Korean forces. 

“Anybody that assumes this could be knocked out in 30 days would be dead wrong,” said retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling. “There would be literally thousands, tens of thousands, some say more than 100,000 civilian casualties.” 

Rural Fire Department Revenue Deficits

This year’s downturn in Cumberland County property values has had a significant impact on rural fire departments. Municipal fire departments are supported through ad valorem property taxes, which can be adjusted as needed. 

Volunteer departments are sustained by local fire district taxes also based on property values. Property owners in the county pay a fire tax of 10 cents per hundred dollars of valuation over and above regular property taxes. In the fiscal year ahead, the fire tax levy will not yield as much revenue as in the past. Twelve of the county’s rural fire departments will come up $265,000 short in lost revenue. The loss will severely impact rural-most departments which operate on small budgets. 

Larger ones, like Pearces Mill Fire Department south of Fayetteville, would lose as much as $44,000 in fiscal year 2018, according to Fire Chief’s Association President Freddie Johnson. “We can tighten our belt and get by,” said longtime Pearces Mill Fire Chief Ronnie Marley. “But the long-term solution is not as hopeful.” 

County Manager Amy Cannon is proposing to dip into the association’s surplus to provide each rural department at least one-half of their revenue shortfalls. “In the long term, there needs to be a very thorough review of fire department funding,” said Cannon.

Downtown Fayetteville Field of Honor

Fayetteville’s Airborne & Special Operations Museum is again honoring service members, veterans and their families with Field of Honor American flags on the parade ground between the museum and the North Carolina Veterans Park downtown. The annual tribute, sponsored by the Fayetteville Downtown Alliance, features hundreds of American flags, which can be purchased and dedicated to honor special people in the lives of those making the purchases. Arrangements can be made at the museum’s gift shop. “The flags will be flown through the end of this month,” said Paul Galloway, President of the Museum Foundation. 

Downtown Parking May Change

It may not be long before parking meters return to Hay Street downtown. City Council wants to encourage people to park in the four-story parking garage on Franklin Street. That’s one idea the city is considering to make up for the loss of dozens of spaces in the center of the city when the minor league baseball stadium is built. 

Another idea is a second, but smaller, parking deck — this one behind City Hall. City Manager Doug Hewett revealed that suggestion in his proposed FY18 city budget. Some members of City Council note the underutilized parking garage on Franklin Street is two blocks from City Hall and could easily be utilized by city employees. “There is a serious parking problem that is going to get worse,” Councilman Bill Crisp said. Many of the parking spots being lost to progress are near the Amtrak railroad station where City Hall employees normally park. 

Fayetteville Physician named to Public Health Commission                                             

Dr. J. Wayne Riggins of Fayetteville has been appointed by Governor Roy Cooper to the North Carolina Commission for Public Health. The commission consists of 13 members, four of whom are elected by the North Carolina Medical Society and nine who are appointed
by the Governor. 

Dr. Riggins is a practicing ophthalmologist. He graduated from F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in 1993. He completed his residency at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and currently practices at Cape Fear Eye Associates. Riggins is affiliated with Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and Highsmith-Rainey Specialty Hospital.     

Graduation exercises occurred all over the country in May and early June. Several million high school students completed high school. For them it was the culmination of 12 years of schooling. Hundreds of thousands of others graduated from colleges and universities. Their degrees represent years of hard work, sacrifice on their part and often sacrifice on the part of others.

Regardless if it was a high school diploma or a degree from a university, graduation marks the completion of a prescribed program of study. It also means the graduates are transitioning to the next phase of their lives. Carolina College of Biblical Studies recently celebrated its 40th commencement with 30 men and women earning degrees. 

The degrees earned were varied. They included Associates and Bachelors of Arts degrees in Biblical Studies as well as Associates and Bachelors of Arts degrees in Leadership and Ministry. 

Additionally, several students received one of the six minors CCBS offers, which are in Pastoral Ministries, Biblical Languages, Apologetics, Christian Education, Biblical Counseling and Intercultural Studies.

Rightly, we celebrate our graduates’ accomplishments. They persevered through a rigorous course of study and most have many other responsibilities such as family, work and ministry in their local church. Now that they have graduated, we cheer them on to lead and/or launch healthy ministries worldwide. A few of this year’s CCBS class of 2017 include:

A military wife stationed, along with her husband and children, in a country in Europe. Through CCBS’s online degree programs, she began and completed her degree without ever having been to our Fayetteville campus. God will continue to use her as she ministers to her family and to other military personnel and people in her community far from North Carolina.

A young pastor from the Sanford area. He leads a healthy growing Hispanic congregation in Lee County. His congregation often partners with other churches in that area to ensure that others who have not heard the good news of Jesus’s offer of life have an opportunity to hear the life changing message.

A seasoned pastor who, before enrolling at CCBS, had no formal theological training. Sensing a need to fill this void, he enrolled at CCBS while simultaneously launching a new church as well as volunteering to be a chaplain for a local high school football team. He persevered and is now one of our
newest graduates.

These are only three of our recent graduates. There are 27 others in this year’s graduating class. Each one has a unique story and set of circumstances. 

Yet in some ways, they all share at least two things in common. A few years ago, they all sensed the need for a biblical education and their personal need to know God better and God’s word, the Bible, more thoroughly.

The other thing they all have in common? They all, despite challenges, refused to quit. They tenaciously did the work and now have finished their course
of study. 

Perhaps it’s time for you to begin the enrollment process too? All 30 of these men and women did and now are graduates.  

On Monday, America will pause to honor and remember the patriotic men and women who sacrificed their lives in support of our liberty.  Here in North Carolina, more than 11,000 men and women gave their lives in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.  

As we remember the fallen and thank the veterans in our community, I am also humbled and grateful to meet the next generation of American heroes who are volunteering to defend America.  

So far this academic year, 17 students from North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District have received prestigious appointments to West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

• Jake Dean of Waxhaw received a rare double-appointment to both West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy.  He has always dreamed of serving his country, and now he’ll face a tough choice between two outstanding opportunities.

•  Luke Johnson of Charlotte received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.  He ranks near the top of his class, displays tremendous leadership and excels in calculus.

• Caroline Horne of Weddington launched two charities, served in student government and was captain of the soccer team. This fall, she’ll be a West Point cadet.

• Erin McCullagh of Charlotte attended a U.S. Naval Academy swim camp in elementary school and never forgot their culture of respect.  She’ll join them in Annapolis this fall.

• Nick Derrico of Charlotte received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, which he’s dreamed of attending since he was nine.

• Will Kern of Waxhaw spent the past four years watching his brother face the many challenges of cadet life at the U.S. Air Force Academy and was never deterred. He now has his own appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

• Sumi Vijayakuma, a high school student from Matthews who also serves as a Physics Teaching Assistant at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, received a prestigious appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.

• Coby Kurtz of Waxhaw, who founded a high school designated driver group to combat drunk driving, received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

• Sam McGee of Charlotte always felt “safe and secure thanks to the United States military” and wants to give back. He received an appointment to West Point.

• Manny Riolo of Charlotte will follow his Marine Corps grandfather, Navy grandfather and Air Force father with his appointment to the U.S. Air
Force Academy.

• Stephen Harold of Waxhaw will follow his father, brother, grandparents, uncles and aunts into a life of military service. He received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

• Coleman Johnson of Waxhaw has a life goal of doing everything within his power to preserve America for the next generation.  He received an appointment to West Point.

• Elizabeth White of Charlotte received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.  She has demonstrated a passion for helping those around her improve and succeed.

• Quinn Schneider is an Eagle Scout from Cornelius, a member of the Civil Air Patrol, and a Black Diamond-level snow skier.  He received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.

• Eyan Bowers of Mooresville received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.  His ambition is “to serve this country I know and love.”

• Luke Miller, a varsity wide receiver from Mooresville, has learned the importance of teamwork and hopes to apply those lessons as a military officer. He received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

• Lelyand Cathey of Matthews has persevered.  When he didn’t receive a nomination in 2016, he worked hard to further prepare himself, culminating in this year’s appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

One of the best parts of my job is helping outstanding local students achieve their dream of attending a U.S. Service Academy. These are dreams that involve immense sacrifice, as students are committing at least nine years of their lives in defense of our freedom and way of life.  

In April, more than 300 local students, parents and teachers participated in “Service Academy Days” I hosted in Charlotte and Fayetteville. If you missed the events and would like to learn more about the rigorous nomination process, please call my Charlotte office at 704-362-1060.

To the families of those who died in service to our nation, we extend our deepest sympathy and gratitude. To the veterans who served, we extend sincere appreciation and an offer to assist you with issues involving the VA. To the students entering U.S. Service Academies or enlisting, we say thank you and congratulations.

Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) is Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance, and serves on the House Financial Services Committee, with a special focus on supporting small businesses, community banks, and credit unions.

Photo: Jake Dean of Waxhaw received a rare double-appointment to both West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

I was amused last fall when a friend shared plans for her family’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Hers is an eastern North Carolina clan, with growing ranks of young adults who are recent college graduates and who see the world in terms of diversity, openness and helping others reach their potential. Couple that with a platoon of older relatives — aka grumpy old white guys — who voted to “Make America Great Again,” and you can see where this is headed. Remember that Thanksgiving was barely two weeks after the dreadful 2016 election, and wounds on both sides were fresh and tender.

My friend decided to weather Thanksgiving by placing a sign on her kitchen island announcing a “Politics-Free Zone” and threatening to eject offenders from the family gathering.  

I chuckled and congratulated my friend on her ingenuity and assured her that this, too, shall pass.

Wrongo!  

The division and rancor in American life has not improved.  It may be worse than ever.

North Carolinian and humorist Celia Rivenbark devoted a recent syndicated column to our inability to talk about our divides that come from political affiliation, class, race, education, age and all sorts of other things.  

Rivenbark reported that political talk was banned — or at least attempts were made — at several gatherings she recently attended.  This included one where the hostess allowed political conversation until a certain guest arrived, at which time guests were instructed to put a sock in it.

Rivenbark, whose columns are celebrated for both their humor and Southern flavor, reacted this way: “This conversation ban is harder for some of us to adhere to than others. While I’m happy to spend way too much time dissecting the crumbling relationship between real New York housewives Ramona and Bethany, it’s weird to be told what you can and can’t talk about.”  

She was just warming up.  Here is more:

“One day soon, restaurants and bars will be segregated. The hostess will greet you with, ‘Politics?’ or ‘No politics?’ so your conversation won’t offend like stale cigarette smoke did back in the day.”

All of this is silly, of course, but the reality of our national political and social acrimony is anything but. Both sides are convinced of their absolute correctness.  Both sides have arms crossed protectively over their chests and are staring down the other side.  

Congress gets nothing accomplished because members are loath to talk across the partisan aisle and those of us in the hinterlands are in much the same shape.

I cannot speak for Celia Rivenbark, but it occurs to me that we could all benefit from some professional counseling. Across our nation, bazillions of counselors make their livings by helping people, often family members but also others, learn how to talk to each other about difficult issues.  

Imagine an arena full of partisans from both sides listening to on-stage, big-screen counselors intoning, “Repeat after me. ‘I respect you even if I violently disagree with your politics.’” With luck, there could be a tearful group hug at the end of the counseling session.

A ridiculous thought, I know, but I also know our nation is struggling with what kind of country we want to be, and we are not going to resolve this if we cannot communicate with those who disagree with us. 

It would help if our political leaders could be our role models for reaching out to the other side, but that seems unlikely if you watch the chattering classes on television. Name-calling in public and in private is more popular than actual conversation.  My fantasy would be a grass roots movement not unlike Moral Mondays or the Tea Party where we all begin talking to each other honestly and without anger.

In the meantime, Rivenbark, the mother of a young adult daughter, seems to have her own strategy for handling “Politics Free Zone” friends who clearly make her want to do exactly the opposite.

“A well-intentioned host wagging his finger and saying ‘No political talk tonight’ makes me want to do crazy stuff like say ‘Pass the parsley potatoes and tell me what’s the worst thing a mother could hear. It’s ‘Mom, I have a second date with Bill O’Reilly tonight.’”

A growing outcry contends that there are far too few black firefighters in the Fayetteville Fire Department. The argument is that when the Fayetteville population is 41 percent black and 45 percent white, it is unacceptable that only 2.7 percent of the department’s employees are black. I agree with those who say the percentage of black employees does not have to equal the black percentage of the population, but aiming for higher representation is a reasonable goal.

What troubles me is the approach being employed by some who are spearheading efforts to rectify this condition. Among these is The Fayetteville Observer newspaper. I contend the newspaper is pursuing an approach that represents unfairness to some individuals, demonstrates a failure to present the whole story and contributes nearly nothing of worth to improving black representation in the fire department.

I recently read a Fayetteville Observereditorial titled “Our View: FD needs to solve its hiring problem.” To me, the point was that the Fayetteville Fire Department alone has responsibility for solving the problem outlined above. My thought was: Here is more of the thinking that government is responsible for solving every problem citizens encounter.

 That seems to especially be the thinking with regard to Black Americans. Consequently, the pressure is now on City Manager Doug Hewett and Fire Chief Ben Major to get the number of black employees dramatically increased. My life experiences say there are conditions to be considered over which these men have no control. 

Among these are the level to which parents are involved in encouraging young people to seek opportunities for advancement; the extent to which prospective employees have seen a positive work ethic modeled; and the value candidates assign to educational endeavors. Telling government to, in and of itself, “solve its hiring problem” is, in my estimation, unfair because neither these men nor anybody else in government can fix these external conditions. Further, they would probably put their jobs in jeopardy if they violated the rules of political correctness and raised these considerations as I am doing here.

Further, the Observer editorial makes the following statement after a paragraph ending with “…overwhelming whiteness of the department sends a message that will be interpreted by many in this community and beyond as discrimination.”

Fire Chief Ben Major says it’s not so, and the fact that he’s the city’s first African-American fire chief gives him some credence. But only some. He’s been chief since 2011 and six years should be enough time to see the numbers, analyze the reasons and make some changes.

First, the lead-in to the quote regarding Chief Major is the usual default racism narrative. That is, for anything that seems unfair to Black Americans, immediately blame it on racism. No need to think it through, gather and thoroughly examine facts and ask the hard questions that might point to any amount of responsibility in the black community. 

Second, because the chief is black, there is apparently the expectation that he has the power to just make this right and, given that he has not fixed in six years what is a problem across the nation, lay the blame at his feet. 

In an effort to get the full story, I talked face-to-face with Chief Major. I wanted to know what has been done and is being done to increase the number of blacks employed by the department. Here is some of what I gained from that conversation:

• The Cumberland County Schools Fire Academy is an ongoing program at E.E. Smith High School. It offers a challenging program of study for students interested in a career in the Fire Service: college- level classes leading to an Associate degree or Baccalaureate degree through Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC) and Fayetteville State University (FSU). 

It features a unique partnership between FTCC, FSU, Western Carolina University, The City of Fayetteville Fire Department, Cumberland County Fire Department, Fort Bragg and E.E. Smith High School. It also offers training at the Fayetteville Fire Station on the campus of FSU.

Recognizing the need for attention to soft skills, such as interviewing and dressing for an interview, instruction in these areas is now being provided.Students who complete all phases of the academy are certified in all but two required areas. Since graduates of this academy routinely did not meet the 19-year-old minimum age requirement for joining the Fire Department, the minimum age was lowered to 18. The Academy Director is Patricia Strahan, who has spent 30 years in firefighting.

• The Langdon Street fire station was built across from FSU as part of a plan to have students study fire science at the university and intern at the fire station. This arrangement did not fully materialize because the fire science curriculum is only taught online.

• Applicants for employment take an agility and written test. The order in which these tests are given may change from one recruitment process to another. Those who pass the first test then take the other. During the most recent recruitment process, the written test was administered first. 

All applicants who passed the written test advanced to the physical agility test (PAT). The top 80 scores from the written test that also passed the PAT were interviewed. The remaining applicants are kept on an eligibility list. They would be scheduled for interviews if the listing of 80 from the first round of interviews is exhausted. 

• Four workshops were held for applicants in the most recent hiring process. Two provided an introduction to the application process and the other two went over sample test questions from the written test. A booklet of sample test questions was also given to attendees and a PAT course was set up for them to practice. Attendance at these workshops was less than hoped for. Similar workshops will be held leading up to the next application period. 

• A sample test booklet is also made available online for purchase by applicants who do not attend a workshop.

• There is an established Diversity Recruitment Committee that is diverse by way of race, gender and ethnicity. This committee reviews results of the hiring process in an effort to fine-tune, and where necessary, to ethically gain greater diversity in the department. 

• Over several years, the department has used four different companies as a source for written tests. A primary reason for changing companies was to, as far as possible, ensure fairness in the test used. The current test supplier is Firefighter and Police Selection, Inc. The link www.fpsi.com/about-fpsi/ gives information on the company.

These points from my conversation with Chief Major present a man who is, within the bounds of what he controls, working on this issue in a thoughtful and impressive fashion. 

My conclusion is that what is needed from others is thoughtful, honest and non-political addressing of relevant conditions beyond the scope and responsibility of government.

Too often, and to the detriment of Americans, issues that cry out for thoughtful attention and resolution are met with actions that produce tension, societal inertia and no productive resolution. 

I hold that the manner in which less than acceptable diversity in the Fayetteville Fire Department is being addressed by The Fayetteville Observer and some individuals of influence is a prime example of this process at work — that is, tension, societal inertia and no productive resolution. 

Only as citizens recognize the destructive nature of this process and challenge it will we produce needed change in the multitude of issues and conditions demanding attention.

Photo: Fayetteville Fire Chief Ben Major.

Legends Pub is a special place. If you’ve ever been there, you know that walking through the door is like coming to the very best kind of family reunion. The laughter, the camaraderie, the feeling of acceptance … these are the elements that keep people coming back. 

Within the walls of Legends is an even more tight-knit group: The Gypsy Women. Through deployments, divorce, tragedy, illness as well as graduations, weddings, babies  and everything else life has thrown at them, the Gypsy Women have stood together, looking out for each other and for those around them. 

They’ve shared life’s joys and tragedies — together. It was in this spirit of sisterhood that the first Spring Fling was born 21 years ago. Every year since then, Legends Pub Owner Holly Whitley and the Gypsy Women have hosted the Spring Fling. It’s a time for fun, food, games, motorcycles and more. 

But it is also a time for helping others. In the event’s history, it has raised tens of thousands of dollars and helped individuals and organizations alike. This year, the event falls on June 9-11. Proceeds benefit the North Carolina State Veterans Home.

Kick off the weekend on Friday, June 9, with pool, music and fun at Legends Pub. 

Saturday, June 10, is the Scott Sather Memorial Run. The first bike goes out at noon. Sather was a regular at Legends. He was assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, an elite Air Force operations unit assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command at Pope Army Air Field. Sather was killed in Iraq on April 8, 2003. 

“He was one of our dearest friends and a loyal customer,” said Whitley. “Scott supported everything we did and was always there when we needed help with something. Losing him was a real blow for us. He touched so many lives.” The Scott Sather Memorial Run is a part of the Spring Fling every year.

 “He was the first airman killed in Iraq,” Whitley added. “It took over 11 years to get his memorial into Freedom Memorial Park. The monument well describes who Scott was.”

Sunday, June 11 is the bike show and rodeo. Whiltley said this is a fun way to end the weekend, relaxing with friends.

In addition to donating proceeds to the NC Veterans Home, one of the ways Whitley aims to help the NC Veterans Home is by providing toiletries and other necessities. Like everything Whitley does, it’s going to be fun. “We are filling brown paper bags with things like toothpaste, shampoo and body wash. 

“We are going to ‘sell’ the bags at the Spring Fling so people can ‘adopt’ a veteran when they purchase the bags. They can write a personal note on the bags and really make a veteran feel special and let them know they care,” Whitley explained. Legends will donate them to the NC Veterans Home. She added that Legends will also accept donations for the home to include things like packages of new socks, sweaters and sweat pants.

Legends Pub is filled with both active duty service members and veterans on any given night, and the choice to support those who served seemed natural, Whitley said. 

So many of the Legends family, several of them service members and veterans, have ended up on “the wall” at the back of the bar. This wall is adorned with photographs and memoriabilia honoring those lost to war, to illness, to accidents or to unfortunate circumstances. And in true Legends style, the wall is a place in the bar where memories are recounted and adventures and hijinx relived.

Located on Cochran Avenue, the N.C. State Veterans home is certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and works in conjunction with the Department of Veterans Services to provide comprehensive 24-hour care to aged and infirm veterans. 

The NC Veterans Home provides services that include dietetic programming; hospice; I.V. therapy; laundry; medication management; memory support unit; occupational therapy; oxygen therapy; pain management; pharmacy; physical therapy; recreational activities; religious services; short-term rehabilitation; speech therapy; tracheotomy; volunteer services; and wound care management.

Come out to the Legends Pub Annual Spring Fling to honor and to celebrate those with us and those passed with a crowd that’s sure to make you feel at home. Call Legends at (910) 867-2364 for more information. 

Poetry is a form of expression that requires creativity and skill. Slam poetry adds extra layers of difficulty because it requires the poem to be memorized and verbally expressed, and it’s a competition. 

Poets verbally present an original work and a panel of judges rates the performances. This sort of competition started in 1984 in the Jazz clubs of Chicago when American poet Marc Smith started experimenting with types of poetry performances. Since then, poetry slams have increased in popularity. There are now national and international competitions that celebrate this unique art form every year. This year, local poets received an invitation to one of the world’s premier slams.

There is only one youth poetry slam team in Fayetteville: The Poetic Pathos Slam Team. The group has performed all over Fayetteville and Hope Mills. It is a student club based out of Gray’s Creek High School. The club was started four years ago by coach Joel Mayo. Recently the group was invited to participate at Brave New Voices, which is an international slam poetry festival and competition. Only 50 teams are invited to participate from around the globe every year. 

Brave New Voices was created by Youth Speaks, Inc in 1998. Youth Speaks, Inc. was founded in 1996 by James Kass and is based out of San Francisco. Its mission is to create safe spaces and challenge young people to “find, develop, publicly present and apply their voices as creators of positive societal change.” The organization brings together art education and civic engagement in unique, evolving and relevant ways. The Brave New Voices festival is an extension of this mission.  

This year the festival takes place July 19 through 22 in the Bay Area. The young participating poets will have the opportunity to participate in workshops, slams, showcases, community service and civic participation events. 

The festival is not only an opportunity for the team to perform and bring a global spotlight to the arts in Fayetteville. This is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the growing artists on the team to hone their craft at an event specifically designed to encourage and empower them. They will also be able to bring all this passion and learning back home to Fayetteville. 

This festival is obviously an incredible opportunity. The big challenge is the funding. The Poetic Pathos Youth Slam Team is a new team and they don’t have the funds to send 5-6 members and their coaches to the competition. They are asking for the community’s support with a Gofundme page. 

They need $2,000 for registration fees by June 1, and $7,000 overall to fund transportation, registration fees, housing fees and food for
the trip. 

To donate and to support the growing artists in our community, visit https://www.gofundme.com/poeticpathosBNV. There is no more direct way to support the arts.  

Devon Pratt

Terry Sanford • Cross country/track/soccer • Senior 

A versatile athlete, Pratt has a grade point average of 4.0. He was named Athlete of the Year in the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference. In the fall he ran cross country and played soccer in the same season. He plans to attend Wingate.

Allie Lambert

Gray’s Creek • Softball • Junior

Lambert, a member of the Bears’ state-playoff qualifying softball team, has a grade point average of 4.5.

Terry Sanford ended its final season in the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference in style by winning the league’s Wells Fargo Cup for overall athletic excellence.

The Bulldogs had to fend off a strong challenge in the spring from perennial cup rival Union Pines in order to take the award as the final margin of victory was only 110.5-109.0

Terry Sanford was the overall winner in the fall and winter sports seasons and led Union Pines 82-66 heading into spring. Union Pines took three team championships in spring: girls’ and boys’ track and boys’ golf.

Terry Sanford matched Union Pines in total spring titles with championships in baseball, girls’ soccer and boys’ tennis.

Other team titles Terry Sanford won this year were a share of girls’ tennis with Union Pines, girls’ golf and girls’ swimming.

Other final scores were Lee County 87, Gray’s Creek 82.5, Southern Lee 81.5, Westover 46 and Douglas Byrd 35.5.

This fall, the battle for the Wells Fargo Cup should get interesting as Terry Sanford joins the bulk of the Cumberland County Schools in the new 4-A/3-A Patriot Conference which will include Overhills and all the county schools except Seventy-First and Jack Britt. Britt and Seventy-First are moving to the Sandhills Conference.

• You’ll read elsewhere in this issue of Up & Coming Weeklyabout the start of the season for the Hope Mills Boosters American Legion baseball team. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for American Legion baseball, getting my first taste of it when I went to high school at West Rowan and was exposed to the perennially strong Legion program in Rowan County.

I followed the Hope Mills Legion team often in my early years as a sports writer at the Fayetteville Observer, and have fond memories of a storybook season in the 1980s when a scrappy Hope Mills team made it to the championship series with that same Rowan County bunch I grew up with.

I mention Legion baseball because in recent years it’s been on the wane in our area, and only through the commitment of State Legion Hall of Fame coach
Doug Watts has the sport survived locally.

There is much more competition for the Legion team these days with minor league baseball returning to the area and the college summer league team that plays here.

I’d suggest if you have the time, drop by South View High School some night this summer and catch a Legion game. These are local kids, some of whom just might be playing college or pro baseball themselves one day. It’s worth your time to give them some support.

When it comes to summer baseball traditions, there’s none older or with stronger local ties in Fayetteville and Cumberland County than American Legion baseball.

State American Legion Hall of Fame coach Doug Watts has been a part of the tradition stretching back over 50 years. He’s stepped aside from active coaching, but is still involved and was on the sidelines working hard last week when the Hope Mills Boosters team convened for its first practice session of the season at South View High School.

Watts is officially listed as the athletic officer for the Boosters, but he’s turned head coaching duties over to Mark Kahlenberg, who has a staff that includes Randy Nalls, Cecil Combs and former Boosters player Logan Haines.

They will have played their season opener at Wallace on May 22 by the time this story runs, but they start the year with a five-game road swing and don’t play their first home contest at South View until June 7.

As always, there are some changes for the Boosters this season, the biggest being they have dropped Terry Sanford as one of the schools they draw players from and added Pine Forest. 

Returning to the fold are players from Jack Britt, South View and Purnell Swett.

Britt and Swett both had great years, Britt sharing the Mid-South 4-A regular-season title with Cape Fear and Swett winning the Southeastern 4-A regular-season championship.

A handful of players is back from 2016, including D.J. Bishop of Jack Britt along with Landon Harris and Andrew Sabalboro of South View.

Kahlenberg was excited about a turnout of over 20 players at the first practice. “We have 13 pitchers who are also listed as position players,’’ Kahlenberg said. “Having 13 pitchers is very important. We’ve never had 13 to start the season.’’

One of those pitchers is Jacob Austin from Pine Forest, son of Methodist University baseball coach Tom Austin. Austin’s not sure if he’ll be just a pitcher or a daily position player, but he’s excited about the opportunity.

“Every team we play will have college-level pitching,’’ Austin said of the Legion schedule. “There are no patsies.’’

He hopes to work on command of his curveball during the summer. “It’s been in and out the whole year,’’ he said.

Two players from Jack Britt Kahlenberg is counting on are Zachary Knapp and Gavin Wheeler. Knapp, like Austin, is also a pitcher.

“It gives me the opportunity to work on my skills and play with a bunch of guys I know are the best of the best,’’ Knapp said. “I just want to keep getting better in every aspect of the game.’’

Here is this year’s Hope Mills Boosters schedule. Home games are at South View High School. All games begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted:

May 22 – at Wallace; 26 – at Wilmington Post 545; 29 – at Wilmington Post 10.

June 2 – at Whiteville (West Columbus High School); 4 – at Jacksonville (doubleheader, 3 p.m.); 7 – at Wallace; 14 – at Wilmington Post 10; 17 – Wilmington Post 545 (doubleheader, 3 p.m.); 21– Jacksonville; 23 – at Wallace; 25 – Morehead City (doubleheader, 2 p.m.); 30 – at Wilmington Post 10

July 1 – Whiteville (doubleheader, 3 p.m.); 2 – at Morehead City (2 p.m.); 5 – State playoffs open. 26 – State final 8, at Pitt Community College, Greenville.

There’s an air of anticipation, but more than a little concern as Cape Fear High School holds spring football conditioning workouts after the best season in
school history.

Coming off a 15-1 record that included the school’s first-ever conference football title and trip to the state 4-A championship game, there are plenty of reasons to be excited.

But the reason for concern is quickly made evident when you arrive at the practice field and see star quarterback Justice Galloway-Velazquez wearing a walking boot on his left leg.

The boot is the result of recent surgery to repair an assortment of injuries to his left ankle. The worst was a torn ligament he suffered in the Eastern 4-A finals against Scotland. There were also pieces of cartilage left in his ankle from a previous injury, plus tissue and bone damage from his freshman year.

“They cleaned all that up and said I’ll come back 100 percent,’’ Galloway-Velazquez said. There’s an outside chance once the boot comes off in about a month and he finishes rehab he could take part in the closing stage of summer workouts. “The healing process is coming along faster than I thought,’’ he said.

Still, don’t be surprised if the Cape Fear staff plays things cautiously and holds him out until the official start of summer practice on July 31.

Meanwhile, though he can’t work out, Galloway-Velazquez is showing up at practice during the spring conditioning period. “I’m a leader on and off the field,’’ he said. “Me being out here while I’m injured shows a lot to them and means a lot to me.

“I can contribute not only by wearing a helmet but by just being a standby, helping out with
the coaches.’’

Cape Fear suffered some key graduation losses, especially among Galloway-Velazquez’s corps of receivers, but he doesn’t think that means Cape Fear won’t field another good team.

“We’re going to be different, but people should be prepared for a good game,’’ he said. “We play to win, and we play Cape Fear football. We’re always going to have a hard-nosed, hitting team and good scoring offense.’’

Cape Fear coach Jake Thomas said the approach to the season is the same with Galloway-Velazquez on the sidelines for now. “We’re still putting in the same plays,’’ he said. “We’ll have to make adjustments until he
gets back.’’

The biggest gaps the Colts need to fill are at receiver, on the offensive line and the secondary, Thomas said. “We feel like we have the best group of leaders in our program that we’ve had,’’ Thomas said. “It’s always good when you have to build around those senior leaders.’’

One thing Thomas knows will be different this season is Cape Fear will be a marked opponent after beating every school it faced from the Eastern half of the state.

The Colts will also be dropping to 3-A and joining the new 4-A/3-A Patriot Conference. It includes former Mid-South Conference rivals Overhills, South View and Pine Forest, still 4-A schools, new fellow 3-A school E.E. Smith, plus former members of the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference Terry Sanford, Douglas Byrd, Gray’s Creek and Westover.

“I’ve stressed to these guys they’re going to have a target on their back after the season we had,’’ Thomas said. “It’s going to be tougher to make it along that same type of road.’’

Most adults will make many changes during their working lives. At FTCC, there is a valuable resource students can use to help them decide where to go for career guidance. 

Many students enter college feeling overwhelmed about where to start or what to focus on first. The JOBS Center at FTCC specializes in administering career assessments to help students uncover the education, training and specialized tasks needed for individualized careers. 

The career assessments match skills and interests and motivate students to think about how well-suited they might be for a particular career. Assessments also provide a blueprint for identifying strengths, options and possibilities and can help safeguard students from pursuing a career that may not be the best match for them. And the nice thing about taking a career assessment is that there is no need to be worried about right or wrong answers, as there are no wrong answers!   

Career Coach is another resource used to help students make better career decisions as well as match students’ interests with programs offered at FTCC. FTCC offers over 230 programs leading to the award of an associate degree, certificate or diploma. For students who wish to continue studying at four-year colleges and universities, FTCC offers college transfer degree programs that aid in completing the requirements for a bachelor’s degree and beyond.

Coming into the JOBS Center can help alleviate one of the greatest drawbacks to career assessments: belief that the result is the “solution” to all career woes. Without professional guidance and the right preparation beforehand, a person may risk wasting a great deal of time and effort on pursuing a career path that doesn’t suit them. 

At the FTCC JOBS Center, we know choosing a career path can be challenging and many questions can flood a student’s mind before making the right choice. Students may ask themselves questions: “How much education is needed for a particular career? How much money will it take to earn the education? How long will it take? How much money will I earn in a particular career? What is the job outlook for my career?” 

For students or potential students who are asking these questions, get started on the right track and visit the JOBS Center at the Tony Rand Student Center located at the Fayetteville campus of FTCC in Room 128. Study for an exciting career in health care, business, computer technology, engineering and applied technology, public service or general education. Registration for summer and fall classes is currently underway.  

You can make the smart choice for your education at Fayetteville Technical Community College and quickly be on the path to a new beginning in life, regarding your career. The FTCC JOBS Center staff will be happy to assist you in your search for the perfect career.

The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra presents its fifth annual Symphonic Salute to the U. S. Armed Forces on Sunday, May 28, 7:30 p.m. in Festival Park located in downtown Fayetteville.  

“This is our fifth year doing this and it is a concert to honor all of our armed forces that have fought for this country. We want to remember them,” said Julia Atkins, FSO director of artistic operations and marketing. 

“The idea originated from a conversation between the Army Ground Forces Band of Fort Bragg and the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, and we thought it would be great to do a collaborative project during the Memorial Day weekend.” Atkins added that this is the first year the symphony is doing this on their own because the band is no longer in existence.

The concert will be conducted by Dr. Timothy Altman. He is UNC Pembroke’s music department chair, a professor of trumpet and Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra’s principal trumpet. 

“The music will be a mix of classical and pop and obviously patriotic music as well,” said Atkins. “We are going to do several marches and we will open the concert with ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’”  

Atkins added that the orchestra will play a few John Williams tunes, patriotic songs and an older tune titled “A Salute to the Big Band” for some of the older veterans. “The Armed Forces Salute” will be played, a song tied to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and the Coast Guard. Typically when this song is played everyone who is a part of the armed forces or has a family member in the armed forces will be asked to stand when they hear their service song being played.      

Food trucks will be on site from R. Burgers, Charlie’s Ice and Babann’s Southern Fried Chicken.  “The event continues to be a huge success and it draws in 3,000–4,000 people each year,” said Atkins. “Please arrive early because parking is a challenge.”   

The concert is free and open to the public. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs to sit on. Chairs will not be provided. In the case of inclement weather the concert will be moved indoors to Huff Concert Hall at Methodist University. 

For more information call (910) 433-4690 or visit www.fayettevillesymphony.org.   

The Fayetteville Kiwanis Club presents their 66th annual Talent Night Showcase on Saturday, June 10, 7 p.m. at Cape Fear Regional Theatre. 

“This has always been one of the premiere fundraisers of the Fayetteville Kiwanis Club and it probably has one of the longest traditions,” said Bill Bowman, publisher of Up & Coming Weekly. “To be able to sustain a children’s cultural program for that long is absolutely amazing and something that we cherish.” 

Bowman added that Kiwanis Club opens the event up to all children in Cumberland County in kindergarten through 12th grade. He also said the club feels it is important that children have a venue to showcase their talents because these kids work hard, go to music lessons and train, but they have very few opportunities to really showcase their talents. 

About 20 years ago the Cape Fear Regional Theatre became a partner in the event. Since then, students not only get a chance to perform — they get to do it onstage at the Cape Fear Regional Theater. 

The categories are preschool–2nd grade, 3rd–5th grade, 6th–8th grade and 9th–12th grade.  

Two new classical divisions have been added this year. There will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd place  winners and $2,000 in cash, trophies and scholarships will be awarded. 

The overall winner will receive a trophy and $200. The first place winner in each division will receive a trophy and $100. The second place winner in each division will receive a trophy and $50. The third place winner in each division will receive a trophy and $25. 

Four music scholarships of $150 each will be awarded for voice, strings, piano and band instrument.

The proceeds from ticket sales will be used to support local Kiwanis projects for children. “All the money we raise goes back into this community to help children’s initiatives,” said Bowman.  Some of those initiatives are Terrific Kids, Reading is Fundamental, Every Kid a Swimmer and many more.

“What has been amazing is there have been dozens upon dozens of kids from Fayetteville that perform on the stage in the Kiwanis Talent Night show that have gone on to do great things,” said Bowman. “Those children have been Miss North Carolina, performed in Carnegie Hall, obtained jobs with the Boston Philharmonic, performed on Broadway and other accomplishments.”

To register for the event, visit www.fayettevillekiwanis.org/talent/ or pick up an application at the Up & Coming Weeklybuilding at 208 Rowan St., Wendy’s restaurants or from your music, art or dance instructor. 

Auditions will be on Saturday, June 3 at the Honeycutt Recreation Center. The audition cannot exceed 3 1/2 minutes. You will be contacted about your audition time. The deadline for submitting applications for auditions is June 1. 

Tickets cost $7 and will be available at the door. For more information, contact Bill Bowman at (910) 391-3859.  

There is always something fun to do at 4th Friday. The art openings, historical exhibits, music, shopping,  activities, great dining experiences; what’s not to love? 

On May 26, The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County opens one of its most popular exhibits — the “Public Works” exhibition. What makes this exhibit so special is that all of the art in the show is by local artists from Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, and Scotland Counties, Fort Bragg or Pope Field.  

The Fayetteville Public Works Commission sponsors the   community-wide exhibit. Attendees are invited to vote for their favorite pieces. The “People’s Choice” winner will receive a gift basket and the winners of the online virtual vote will receive prizes from the Arts Council. Many of the pieces will be available for purchase as well. The exhibit will be on display through July 22. Visit www.theartscouncil.com for more information.

Each month, the Downtown Alliance plans fun, themed activities for 4th Friday. This month, the theme centers around the Field of Honor, which is sponsored by the Alliance and the Airborne  & Special Operations Museum Foundation.  

The Field of Honor, located at ASOM and the NC Veterans Park, is a living display of heroism that flies as a patriotic tribute to the strength and unity of Americans. Find out more at www.ncfieldofhonor.com.

Cape Fear Studios offers another option to view the work of local artists with its 27th Annual Members’ Exhibit. The show includes pottery from visiting artist Ben Owens. There will be a reception from 6-9 p.m. 

At Headquarters Library, enjoy big band music from Second Time Around. Favorites include pieces by Glenn Miller, Les Brown and more. The band will also perform music from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s from 7 to 9 p.m.

Children will enjoy a visit to Fascinate-U Children’s Museum where they can creats spring flowers and explore the museum from 7-9 p.m. for free.

The Market House opens for 4th Friday with different exhibits throughout the year. This month, the exhibit is all about banking. Take in the exhibit and enjoy the view from  upstairs from  6 to 10 p.m.  The banking exhibit is in addition to the permanent exhibit, “A View from the Square: A History of Downtown Fayetteville.”

Of North Carolina’s six largest cities, only Fayetteville does not offer public transportation service on Sundays.  

Even the smaller cities of Asheville and Wilmington provide bus service on the Sabbath. The Fayetteville Advisory Committee on Transit has recommended that City Council begin limited Sunday service, but City Manager Doug Hewett did not include it in his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Overall, bus ridership has declined over the past year, reversing a growth trend. Charlotte and Greensboro have also seen declines. “We believe our ridership has been impacted by low gasoline prices,” said Transit Director Randy Hume.

In their continuing support of transit service, several City Council members told Hewett they would like to see Sunday service worked into the new budget. Transit Director Hume suggested that initial service on the Sabbath include 10 bus routes. He said the advisory committee considered bus ridership on Saturdays to project likely Sunday use. A study found that 1,241 patrons would likely ride buses on Sunday compared to 3,244 Saturday riders. Average ridership weekdays is 5,816, said Hume.

Sunday service, even in an abbreviated format, would require four-and-a-half months of preparation if approved by City Council. Additional operators, supervisor time and maintenance staff would be required, said Assistant Transit Director Kelly Blazey.  

“We will need time to get through the hiring process, provide training, update our printed materials, hold any necessary public meetings regarding the changes and advertise the changes,” she added. FAST estimates it would cover 34 weeks of service in FY18. On an annualized basis, officials estimate total costs for limited bus service on Sundays would be nearly $336,000 with $152,000 funded by passenger fares and grants. The remaining $183,00 would have to come from the general fund. And, $30,000 could be shifted from operating grants to provide additional support for Sunday service. If approved by City Council, buses would run on the following routes:

Route 3        Cedar Creek Rd.

Route 5        Ramsey St.

Route 6        University Estates / Bragg Blvd. / Cross Creek Mall

Route 7        Savoy Heights / Robeson St. / Raeford Rd.

Route 8        Southern Ave. / Owen Dr. /CFV Med Ctr.

Route 12      Murchison Rd. / University Estates

Route 14      Downtown / Eutaw / Cross Creek Mall

Route 17      West Fayetteville / Cliffdale Rd.

Route 18      Skibo Rd. / Hollywood Heights

Route 15      Cross Creek Mall / Glensford Dr. / CFV Med Ctr.

Times will vary by half an hour or so from route to route, but would be available from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. And FASTtrac transit service would be available on all of the above routes. 

New Fayetteville Military Healthcare Facility

The Fayetteville Rehabilitation Clinic is a new joint venture between Womack Army Medical Center and the Fayetteville VA Medical Center. The clinic provides expanded access to physical therapy, speech-language pathology and occupational therapy services for VA and Department of Defense enrollees in the greater Fayetteville area. 

“This clinic is an excellent example of how patients can benefit when we as the VA and DoD consolidate our efforts in support of service members, former service members and their families,” said Col. Lance Raney, commander of Womack Army Medical Center. 

The joint initiative allows the Army and VA to work together to promote efficient and cost-effective resource-sharing ideas, officials said. “One of the constant challenges we face is increasing access to care for a steadily growing patient population,” said VA Medical Center Director Elizabeth Goolsby. The 10,000 square-foot facility offers rehabilitative care and services. Staff includes eight physical therapists, three occupational therapists, one speech-language pathologist and 13 therapy assistants. The Fayetteville Rehabilitation Clinic is located at 4101 Raeford Rd.

The Last Change of Command

The 1st Sustainment Command (1st TSC) hosted a change of command ceremony for its new commander, Maj. Gen. Flem B. Walker Jr., and outgoing commander, Maj. Gen. Paul C. Hurley Jr., at the Fort Bragg Ritz-Epps Physical Fitness Center. 

The ceremony marked the last change of command for the unit. It is being reassigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky, as part of Army restructuring. The 1st TSC provides a critical sustainment support mission to the Army and multinational forces in the U.S. Central Command. Formerly known as COSCOM, the 1st TSC was originally designated to support Fort Bragg’s XVIII Airborne Corps.

Bridge Replacement Near Hope Mills

A 54-year-old bridge north of Hope Mills will be replaced. The Department of Transportation awarded a $729,221 contract to S&C Construction of Wilmington. The bridge is on Crystal Springs Road over Buckhead Creek, and was built to design standards that are now considered obsolete. It also has weight restrictions, which limit the types of vehicles that can use it. The new bridge will not have those restraints. Work on the project will begin next month and is expected to be completed by Dec. 1.

Citizen Survey Underway

Greater Fayetteville United is conducting a county-wide survey this month to measure trust, communication, interest and engagement in politics and national affairs. Group involvement, giving and volunteering, faith-based engagement and quality-of-life indicators are also part of the survey. It’s administered by a nationally-recognized consultant funded by grants from the Cumberland Community Foundation and the City of Fayetteville. 

The consultant is contacting approximately 4,000 randomly selected Cumberland County residents. “This project will provide the data we need to establish a benchmark and empower residents and local agencies as we work to build a stronger community and strengthen bonds,” said Dr. Darl Champion, president of Greater Fayetteville United. The results of the survey will be used to tackle local issues such as poverty, racism, trust, crime, homelessness and lack of civic engagement. GFU will reveal results of the survey at a community forum in the fall. 

No VA Hotline, Yet

Four months into his presidency, The Military Times reported Donald Trump’s White House has not set up a promised hotline for veterans’ complaints that he vowed would speed up reforms at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The idea was part of a 10-point plan unveiled last July. 

The hotline, Trump promised at a July 26 rally, would ensure that “no complaints would fall through the cracks …this could keep me very busy at night, folks.” The 10-point VA plan was recently removed from Trump’s campaign website along with a host of other pledges from last summer and fall. The president also pledged to create a commission “to investigate all the fraud, cover-ups, and wrongdoing that has taken place in the VA.” No such commission has been announced. 

Run for the Legend

The Airborne & Special Operations Museum will hold its 10th annual 5K/10K Run for the Legend on Saturday, June 3, at 8 a.m. All donations and proceeds from the event support the museum’s operational and educational programs and activities. USA Track & Field sanction the Run for the Legend. The certified course begins and ends on the Hay Street side of the museum. The top three men and women in each race receive trophies. 

Registration is available online at www.active.com and at the museum; it costs $20 in advance and $25 the day of the race. Strollers, wagons, and well-behaved, leashed dogs are permitted, but will be asked to start in the rear of the race.

Hit:Congratulations to Fayetteville’s 35th annual Dogwood Festival, possibly the best ever, recognized as among the top outdoor family events in the south.

Miss: Why are three city streets that connect Grove Street with Person Street inaccessible because bridges are out? The Ann Street bridge has gone without repairs for so long that it’s overgrown with a thicket of trees.

Hit:Thank you to the City of Fayetteville’s Budget staff for its comprehensive evaluation and understanding of the $200 million FY18 operating budget. Staff answered virtually every question council members brought up regarding the proposed FY18 budget, all of which helped councilmen and woman to keep the budget in perspective.

Miss:Cumberland County is not taking action on declining local residential property values when the problem was first recognized eight years ago. Now, Fayetteville and Cumberland County comprise the only metropolitan area in North Carolina where property values have gone down.

Hit: Kudos to business developers for building out most of the remaining commercial property along the south side of Skibo Road. Every new business adds to the tax base and takes some heat off
home owners.

Miss:Too many rules and restrictions confuse residents when they dispose of yard debris. Many people have no idea what they’re supposed to do. Pine straw and leaves are being raked to the curb and left there, sometimes for weeks, for the city to pick up. 

Hit:Fayetteville’s Airborne & Special Operations Museum was named one of the top military museums in the country. It’s truly a world-class museum.

Miss:City officials continue to allow a dozen ugly and smelly garbage cans to illegally block downtown Fayetteville’s Old Street and mar the beauty of the historic area.

Miss:Dear drivers in Fayetteville who think an amber traffic light means speed up to get through the intersection before the light turns red: You’re wrong! Green to amber means caution … slow down and prepare to stop.

Hit: Thank you, City of Fayetteville, for repaving streets in the Montclair neighborhood that were literally worn out when they were used as a detour during the years that Glensford Drive was being widened between Raeford and Morganton Roads. 

Last week I posted on social media that our city and county elected servants ought to review their proposed budgets together … in one room, sitting across the table from each other. I’m thinking if they sit down and compare what each is proposing, they can get a better understanding of what their proposed budgets will do to people they represent.

I got a lot of likes from the people — the voters, but nothing from our elected servants. I can understand that. They are a bit skittish about this year’s budget. To be fair, they are in a world of hurt. Reports are that most taxable property values in our county went down about 7 percent. So, each penny of property tax on $100 worth of property yields fewer tax dollars for both our city and county. And while you and I reduce our spending when money gets tight, the government doesn’t operate that way.

So, the county and city plan to raise their respective property tax rate to what government budgetcrats call “revenue neutral.” That means the rate will go up just enough to get the county and city the same amount it would have gotten before property values plummeted: from 74 cents to 78.4 cents for the county, and from 49.95 cents to 52.66 cents for the city. But then the county will add another 3.9 cents to pay for increases in this year’s budget, bringing the total county rate to 82.3 cents for every $100 worth of taxable property.

And don’t forget, the city manager also proposes to raise fees for collecting your garbage, recyclables and yard trash from $44 to $48, and stormwater fees from $45 to $51. Stormwater fees are supposed to be used by the city to alleviate flooding during heavy rains. That’s another subject all together.

But here is the kicker. Not everyone’s residential property value decreased. The revenue neutral hike will increase rates for those who didn’t see a drop in their property values for whatever reason. County commissioners and City Council members need to consider this hiccup in their budget decisions.

For example, let’s take a $150,000 house whose value did not change. The property tax increase that is supposed to be “revenue neutral” will increase the combined city and county property tax by $171.50.

My property value increased 1.3 percent. I thought it a fluke … an anomaly. I called five friends to check their revaluations. Three of the five had an increase larger than mine. One who had a decrease in his residential property value saw a 28 percent increase in his business property value.

Get this. His commercial property consists of three parcels. Two saw a significant increase in value that resulted in the 28 percent spike. The third parcel, which the state plans to take for a road widening project, decreased in value. That means the state will buy that parcel for a much lower price. I’m sure that was purely coincidental.

We can’t figure out why three of the five people in my social circle had their property values increase when all I’m hearing is about how property values decreased. I’m sure the more people I call, the more will probably say their property values decreased.

But I was curious, and so I headed to the Cumberland County Tax Record website to compare 2016 to 2017 property values in my neighborhood. Here is where it gets weird.

One neighbor’s property value decreased by $1,000. Two other neighbors’ property values increased by 3.1 and 1.4 percent. All the houses are within a stone’s throw of each other, and all were built around the same time.

Here’s the weirdest part: One house that has been in structural and aesthetic decline for several years increased in value by $4,000. The owner abandoned the house earlier this year. It’s an eyesore that guards the entrance into our small community. We reported it to the city, and they slapped a sign on the garage door asking the owner to clean the property. Did I say the owner abandoned the property? Go figure.