Today we venture into a darker corner of the forest of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Consider the story of Faithful Johannes, a servant who went beyond the call of duty. Once upon a time, an old King was on his deathbed (likely purchased during the Labor Day Mattress sales). He called his faithful servant Johannes to his side for final instructions. He told Johannes to guide his son through the royal castle, showing him everything except for the room which had a portrait of the Princess of the Golden Roof. If the Prince saw the portrait, he would fall in love with her and bad things would follow. The King then expired. On the castle tour, the new King demanded to enter the forbidden room. When the new King saw the portrait of the Princess of the Golden Roof, he fell in love and passed out.
On regaining consciousness, the King demanded to be taken to see the Princess to woo her. Johannes told him that the Princess loved everything gold and that might tempt her to marry him. The King had his goldsmiths fashion a ton of gold into beautiful objects. They loaded the golden trinkets in a boat. They disguised themselves as merchants and sailed to the Princess’ country. Johannes took a sampling of the trinkets to the Princess. She wanted to buy the whole lot. She went to the boat and became dazzled by all the golden objects. The King ordered the ship to sail away without telling the Princess. When she finally realized they were far at sea, she demanded to be taken home. The King refused, telling her that he loved her. She was so smitten by the gold, she agreed to the marriage.
Johannes had the ability to understand bird language. While on the deck, Johannes heard two seagulls talking about troubles to come. Gull #1 said when the King gets her home, a horse will run up to meet them. The King will get on the horse, which will carry him away forever. Gull#2 said the only way to prevent that is if someone takes a pistol and kills the horse, but he cannot ever tell why he did it or his legs will turn to stone up to the knees. Gull#1 said if the King does get to the castle, he will find a wedding robe that looks like it was made of gold and silver. When he wears the robe, it turns to Sulphur and will burn his body to a cinder. Gull#2 said to prevent this, someone will have to throw the robe on a fire to burn it up but never tell why. If he tells, his body will turn to stone up to his heart. Gull#1 said at the wedding, the Princess will turn pale and die when the dancing begins. Gull#2 said to prevent this, someone will have to bite the Princess, draw 3 drops of blood, and spit it out. Then the Princess will return to life. If the person tells why, his whole body will turn to stone.
All of these things happened. Johannes performed his life-saving tasks. The King got really torqued off because Johannes would not give his reasons. He ordered Johannes to be executed for his insolence. At the gallows, Johannes used his last words to explain why and how he saved the King. Then he turned to stone. The King spiraled into grief at what he had done. He put the statue of Johannes in his bedroom and wept whenever he saw it.
Time passed and twins were born to the King and his Queen. One day when the Queen was away, the King looked at the statue and said “If only I could bring Johannes back to life.” The statue suddenly spoke and told the King, “If you cut off your children’s heads and sprinkle the blood on me, I will come back to life.” The King freaked out but did so. The statue came back to life, though the children were dead. The King was devastated by grief. Johannes then put the children’s heads back on their bodies. The children came back to life as if nothing had ever happened.
When the Queen came back from church, the King told her that he brought back Johannes to life by killing their twins. The Queen was horrified but agreed that they owed it to Johannes to do so since Johannes had been so loyal. At that, the King brought out Johannes and the twins, much to the relief of the Queen. And they all lived happily ever after.
Author’s note: No horses, servants, wedding robes, Princesses, or twins were harmed during the composition of this column. You are now free to roam about the forest.

(Illustration by Pitt Dickey)

Cumberland County will have seven early voting locations ahead of the November 3 election, the N.C. State Board of Elections decided. None of them will be in Spring Lake.
The state election board’s decision followed disagreement between the five-member Cumberland County Board of Elections over early voting sites. The three Republicans wanted seven locations; the two Democrats wanted eight, with one of them in Spring Lake.
Spring Lake Mayor Kia Anthony criticized the decision to exclude her town from early voting this fall.
“Our residents deserved better than what they got today,” she said via text message.
In-person early voting for the midterm election will run October 15–31. Voters may also vote early by mail starting in early September.
Spring Lake is a town of 11,252 as of 2025, according to the U.S. census, surrounded by Fort Bragg and Carver’s Creek State Park in Cumberland County’s northwest corner. It has about 5,700 registered voters.
Under state law, when a county Board of Elections fails to reach a unanimous decision on early voting days, hours, and locations, the state Board of Elections makes the decision. This summer, the Cumberland County Board of Elections was among 20 of the state’s 100 county boards that failed to reach unanimous decisions. The state board took them up on Thursday.
Linda Devore, the Republican chair of the county elections board, and Democratic board member Irene Grimes each made their case to the state board.
Devore said too few voters use the Spring Lake early voting site to make it worth the $35,000 expense of operating the site. In 2022 and 2024, early voting was conducted in the Spring Lake Multipurpose Community Center on Ruth Street.
In 2022, the most-recent midterm election, about 45,000 Cumberland County voters used in-person early voting, Devore said.
“Of those who voted early—the 45,000—only 1,200, or 2.5% of those, voted at the Spring Lake site," she said.
It cost the county about $30 per ballot in Spring Lake, Devore said, versus about $4 per ballot for the rest of the voting sites. Grimes countered that county elections staff set up a contingency fund to cover the cost of eight voting sites. Spring Lake’s early voting numbers have been low, she argued, because it hasn’t been used consistently enough or long enough for voters to develop a habit of going there.
“The numbers will not be exorbitant or something to write home about,” Grimes said. “However, Spring Lake is relatively isolated in the northern part of our county. The voters up there deserve a site to vote.”
Among the other seven early voting sites in Cumberland County, the nearest one to Spring Lake will be Smith Recreation Center on Slater Avenue by Fayetteville State University. It’s about a 15-minute, 9-mile drive along Murchison Road from the middle of Spring Lake.
The state Board of Elections voted 3-2 in favor of the Republican, seven-site plan for Cumberland County. Republicans Francis X. De Luca, Stacy “Four” Eggers IV, and Angela Hawkins voted for Devore’s plan. Democrats Jeff Carmon and Siobhan O’Duffy Millen voted against it.
Anthony thanked Grimes for bringing Spring Lake’s case to the state board meeting in Raleigh.
“She laid out a clear, fact-based case for why our community needs an early voting site,” the mayor said. “What is frustrating is that the need was clear. We have residents who depend on having that access close to home, and today the majority of the State Board decided that was not enough.”
In Cumberland County, early in-person voting runs October 15 through October 31, but not on Sunday, October 25. Weekday hours will be 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Saturday hours will be 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday voting will be 2–5 p.m. on October 18.
The early voting sites are:
• Cliffdale Recreation Center, 6404 Cliffdale Road, Fayetteville.
• East Regional Library, 4809 Clinton Road, Fayetteville.
• Smith Recreation Center, 1520 Slater Ave., Fayetteville.
• Kiwanis Recreation Center, 352 Devers St., Fayetteville.
• J.D. Pone Recreation Center, 2964 School Road, Hope Mills.
• Stoney Point Recreation Center, 7411 Rockfish Road, Fayetteville.
• College Lakes Recreation Center, 4945 Rosehill Road, Fayetteville.

Kudos to the Greater Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and CEO Nat Robertson for presenting the most important and relevant event of the year: Fayetteville and Cumberland County's State of the Community Luncheon, which took place at the Crown Coliseum Complex on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
It featured an impressive lineup of speakers, including Congressman Richard Hudson and North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek. Each speaker delivered a fact-driven, relevant message to the hundreds of businesses and organizations in attendance. However, the most significant message running through the entire event was that Fayetteville and Cumberland County have many wonderful, energetic, economically driven projects and achievements benefiting our community—yet the news that our region is growing and thriving economically doesn't seem to be getting out.
Kirk deViere, Chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, did an excellent job of defining that problem: "Stop defending Fayetteville and Cumberland County, and start describing it."
He was right on the mark. We must stop allowing other people and communities to define our narrative. Up & Coming Weekly took on that task 30 years ago and has been successful doing just that. From Cape Fear Valley Health System to Public Works Commission, Fayetteville Technical Community College, Methodist University, Fayetteville State University, the entire arts and cultural community and dozens of local nonprofit organizations, we have been proud to tell Fayetteville’s stories.
Believe me, these stories are important, and we are not doing a good enough job telling them. This requires a true multimedia effort—we cannot simply rely on social media or what I call "winking in the dark," where we check a box to make an announcement. We need to rally around broadcasting our achievements, accomplishments, and the good things happening in this community. We need to start defining who we are and stop letting outside agencies and communities define our narrative.
Below is Kirk deViere's impactful message. You should read it and heed it. He makes a great point. The leadership he provides, along with our other dedicated city and county leaders, makes all the difference in how we will define Fayetteville, Cumberland County and our future for generations to come.
Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly, Fayetteville's hyper-local community newspaper.
—Bill Bowman, Publisher
Last year, I quoted Tony Chavonne's challenge to our community from 25 years ago: "It's time to roll up our sleeves and improve our community's economic health." But I left out the second half of his sentence. He also said we must work "to restore our rightful place as an economic influence in the region and the state."
Tony gave us two assignments. Roll up your sleeves. And take your place.
For 25 years, progress has not always happened at the pace we hoped for. We have faced real challenges. Population growth flattened.
Median income lagged behind our neighbors. Investments in infrastructure and schools did not always materialize. For a long time, the word people used to describe Cumberland County was potential.
But potential is the word you use for a place that is not moving. What we are experiencing now in Cumberland County is momentum. Over the last two years, our county has begun to look very different from the Cumberland County of decades past. In just 24 months, we have:
• Opened the first new independent medical school in North Carolina in 40 years, a partnership between Methodist University and Cape Fear Valley Health.
• Welcomed a $26 million Army innovation outpost at Fort Bragg.
• Emerged as a statewide leader in cybersecurity workforce development, with Fayetteville Technical Community College leading the Carolina Cyber Network.
• Connected the XVIII Airborne Corps with Fayetteville State University for research and training.
• Attracted a major drone manufacturer that chose Cumberland County for its U.S. production facility.
• Begun construction on FCEDC's Defense Innovation Center to connect industry with local skilled talent.
• Broken ground on 325,000 square feet of industrial space in our Military Business Park, developed by an out-of-state firm investing on speculation.
Meanwhile, Cumberland County is investing three-quarters of a billion dollars in our public school system and a quarter-billion dollars in water and sewer infrastructure. We have also lowered the tax rate, making us more competitive for business and lighter on the families who live here.
Individually, any one of these achievements would merit a ribbon cutting, a photo op, or a press release. Taken together, they become something far more significant.
They become an ecosystem. Education. Research. Health care. Cybersecurity. Defense technology. Advanced manufacturing. Infrastructure. And one of the most consequential military installations in the world.
These are the elements beginning to connect here. And that matters, because companies are no longer looking simply for land or a building. They are looking for talent, research partners, testing environments, supply chains, and communities capable of helping them move from idea to testing to production.
Cumberland County is becoming that kind of place. There is one word that describes what all of this creates. Signal. Signal is not what a community claims about itself. It is what a community can prove when industry and opportunity come looking.
I see this every time I travel for this county. In Raleigh. At conferences. Across the table from companies. People are surprised by what is happening here. Not because they disagree with it, but because the Cumberland County in their heads is years out of date.
Our reputation has not caught up with our reality. That is something every one of us can help change. A press release from Cumberland County is not the signal. You are.
Nearly everyone reading this will sit in a room this year where Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, or Cumberland County comes up. You may be the only person there who can describe what is actually happening.
So describe it. Start with our challenges. We have them, and we all know what they are. Then explain what we are doing about them. Talk about the investments being made, the new medical school, the expansion at Fort Bragg, the innovation emerging from our colleges and universities. Share the stories of companies choosing to invest here and the infrastructure being built to support what comes next.
We do not have to oversell Cumberland County. We simply have to tell our whole story.
For too long, we have allowed others to tell that story and define our narrative. It is time the rest of this state, and this country, heard it directly from us.
My son Grey is nine. In 25 years, he will be 34, building his career and perhaps deciding where to raise a family of his own. He, along with every child in this community, will inherit the decisions our leaders are making today. The schools we build. The infrastructure we invest in. The industries we attract. The opportunities we create. And the reputation we leave behind.
I want them to inherit a Cumberland County that did more than talk about its potential. I want them to inherit a county that realized it.
That work is happening right now. We are focused on building a community that competes for the best talent, investment, and innovation. A place where ideas become companies, where technology moves from concept to capability, and where the talent connected to Fort Bragg strengthens a thriving private-sector economy beyond its gates.
A Cumberland County ready to take its rightful place as an economic influence in this region and this state. Cumberland County has momentum, and the rest of North Carolina needs to know it. They do not just need to hear it from me. They need to hear it from all of us.
Let's roll up our sleeves. Let's stop defending Cumberland County and start describing it. And let's take our place.

Editor's Note: Kirk deViere is Chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners.

(Photo: Kirk deViere addresses the attendees at the State of the Community Address held by the Greater Fayetteville Chamber on Aug. 25. Photo courtesy of Cumberland County NC's Facebook page)

The month of August typically marks the official start of election season for contests that are decided on the first Tuesday in November. In the 2026 election cycle, with less than 70 days until the general election and early voting on Oct. 15, political enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating the campaign ramp-up. However, some individuals are dreading the entire process: campaign signs, commercial ads, rallies and opponent attack tactics. Understandably, they would like just to cast their votes and move on.
This election is called a midterm because it does not coincide with the presidential election cycle. Much attention is focused on the U.S. Senate and Congressional races, as they determine control of Congress and influence the agenda of the current presidential administration. In this case, it’s President Donald Trump, a polarizing figure. Arguably, there is a lot at stake, and I won't suggest one side of the political spectrum is better than the other; that's a personal choice for each voter. We will wait and see which candidates emerge and, hopefully, do so honorably.
While national races attract much attention, local elections, such as at-large school board seats and board of commissioners' seats, are equally important. The Cumberland County Commissioner District One seats were decided in the primary, with the Democratic nominees guaranteed positions due to the lack of Republican opposition. Cumberland County Commission District 1 is drawn to ensure Black voters have their preferred candidate. County racial dynamics have changed, and a set-aside district especially for Blacks may no longer be necessary, but that's a discussion for another time.
Over a dozen candidates are competing for one of the three at-large seats on the school board. This race is likely to be very competitive and could significantly influence school policy in Cumberland County for years to come.
Downtown on Dick Street, the Cumberland Board of Commissioners at-large race has similar implications. In both races, citizens must decide whether Cumberland County is heading in the right direction or if a change is needed. There's no doubt that a lot is at stake. The key question remains: will voters support the status quo, or will they choose to continue down the path led by the current majority on the board of commissioners, chaired by former city councilman and state senator Kirk deViere?
There can be no argument about the importance of this local vote. Your vote will shape the future of Cumberland County. North Carolina is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation; however, Cumberland County's growth is behind our peer counties in terms of where individuals are choosing to work and live.
Acknowledging our Tier 1 status as a poor community is not a slap against our legislature; rather, it's an admission that there is much work to do and that it will take the whole community's effort to change the dynamics. We are good, but we can be great. We have a lot of talented and resourceful citizens, so it might appear that we have the right people on the bus, just not in the right seats.
Let's make it happen.

“What’s it about, Danny?”
The question came during the drive from a country home near Wamego, Kansas, to a small family farm about thirty minutes away. The ride had become routine. If I dozed off, the sound of gravel popping beneath the tires as we left I-70 and headed south on Snokomo Road was sure to wake me.
For a 13-year-old city kid, farm chores still felt like an adventure. My cousin Memory, a schoolteacher, had invited me to spend the summer with her and her husband, Tom, a Vietnam veteran who had returned to the quiet of his family’s farm south of Paxico.
Memory and I had met only a few months earlier. I have a complicated family history, so much of that summer was spent getting to know one another. The conversation that day began with a simple question.
“What kind of music do you like?”
Easy enough. I told her I liked rock music.
But in true schoolteacher fashion, she wanted me to think a little deeper.
“What do you consider rock music? Which bands do you like? Name one song. What are some of the lyrics?”
Then came the question that changed things:
“What’s it about, Danny?”
I had chosen a song widely considered an antiwar protest anthem. The trouble was, I had never considered what that—or any other song—was actually about. I could sing along, recite the lyrics, and air-guitar through the inevitable solo. But I had never stopped to consider the meaning of the words.
I didn’t know it then, but her question would shape the way I listen, choose, and regard the power of music to motivate, encourage, unite, or console.
I also learned that songs aren’t always as simple as they first appear. The same lyrics may be understood differently depending on the listener, sometimes even by the artists who wrote and recorded them.
But Memory’s question still matters. What’s it about?
That is a good question to ask about more than music. It belongs in our conversations, entertainment, ambitions, and habits. What is this saying? Where is it leading me? What is it teaching me to admire, excuse, fear, or desire?
We often believe we are merely listening, watching, or passing the time. But what we repeatedly welcome into our minds shapes how we see the world, and eventually, how we live within it.
Scripture tells us to guard our hearts because everything we do flows from them. That doesn’t mean fearing every message around us. It means becoming discerning.
Years later, I remain grateful that my cousin didn’t simply tell me what to think. She cared enough to teach me how to listen.
Perhaps that is part of our responsibility to one another, especially to those coming behind us. We can give them rules, or help them ask better questions. We can tell them what to avoid, or patiently teach them to recognize what is true, beautiful, and pleasing to God.
Sometimes one thoughtful question, asked with genuine care, can continue doing its work for a lifetime.

Movement Minister Stephanie Brown Kegler returns with her 10th annual Health & Fitness Cancer Awareness event for a weekend of celebrating and supporting those with cancer.
Kegler owns Dancing Without Sin Fitness, enabling Christians to break a sweat while listening to music they enjoy. The DWS Health & Fitness Cancer Awareness event brings that familiar fun while raising funds for a nonprofit cancer charity. The event was established because of Kegler’s family history of cancer and her desire to assist others.
“Everyone’s affected by cancer one way or another, whether you have it, whether it’s a family member, co-worker, friend, neighbor. I was affected a lot with my family, so I felt like, they say there’s no cure, but I can at least raise money to help the charities that are giving back to those with cancer,” Kegler said. The fitness and health focus stems from the knowledge that nutrition and exercise benefit cancer warriors at different stages of their journeys.
All proceeds will go to the Raleigh-based organization 1ofUs, which financially assists women undergoing gynecologic cancer treatment.
“Ray Thomas at Bronco iRadio station, he has a connection with 1ofUs,” Kegler said. “I had reached out to him because he definitely supports — usually breast cancer every October, and he talks about it on his radio show.”
Kegler chose 1ofUs due to their focus on helping patients after treatment, such as paying rent for those who can’t return to work. Previous charities have reported how the money from Kegler’s events has benefited specific individuals or gone toward procuring wigs, providing transportation to doctor appointments and paying patient bills.
“Fayetteville has a very giving heart. Any kind of compassionate events, not just my event, they always want to be a part, so it’s been fantastic in that aspect,” Kegler said.
As this is a milestone occasion, this year’s festivities encompass both Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12.
Prepare to dance on cancer’s head at the Club DWS Fitness Party on Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Blissful Alchemists on 414 Ray Ave. The night will feature fan-favorite line dancing from DWS fitness instructors. Adult tickets are $25, and tickets for kids ages 10 to 15 are $12. They will remain on sale online until Sept. 7; after this date, attendees pay at the door.
Several vendors will be attending Club DWS, including Pink Mantis, 9Round Fitness, Ballard Bling Boutique and Fizz, Scrubs & Suds.
On Sept. 12, the Cancer Ball will run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Palace on 1418 Clinton Road. It honors cancer warriors through songs, praise dancing and inspirational speeches; poetry will be read by Myra Clark and Kimberly Rochelle, who also read at Kegler’s 2019 Cancer Ball. Tickets are $85 and will remain on sale until Sept. 7.
Buy your tickets on the DWS website at https://www.dancingwithoutsin.com/event-details-registration/10th-annual-health-fitness-cancer-awareness.
Sponsors make everything possible. Those who want to support can choose from tiers ranging from $100 to $1,500 or pick their amount through the “Cancer Donator” tier.
Some who have already contributed their funds and talents include Club DWS venue sponsor Brittany Campbell, Cancer Ball decor sponsor Renee Elder, Club DWS decor sponsor Ayana Washington and Military Impact Sponsor Danice Langdon with Blue Star Families of the Greater Fayetteville Region.
This annual get-together proves the strength of community when people come together to do good and have a nice time.
“There’s plenty to do in Fayetteville; you just have to support,” says Kegler.
Secure your tickets or become a sponsor through the DWS website, or contact Kegler at dancingwithoutsin@gmail.com or 910-703-7075 for more information.

Mark your calendars and get ready to gear up for an unforgettable evening of community, camaraderie, and compassion! On Saturday, Sept. 5, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., The Hive of Hope Mills will host the much-anticipated Sound Sensory Therapeutic Playhouse Autism Awareness Car & Motorcycle Show. Located at The Hive of Hope Mills at 3414 Bullard Street in Hope Mills, this event promises an exciting lineup of high-powered engines and incredible vehicles, all coming together to support a truly vital cause.
Hosted by Sound Sensory Therapeutic Playhouse, this event is far more than a typical automotive display—it is a community movement. While spreading autism awareness is essential, this show goes a step further by actively promoting autism acceptance, deep understanding, and inclusive play for children and families.
Sound Sensory Therapeutic Playhouse and Sound Sensory Therapeutic Preschool serve as safe, welcoming environments where children of all abilities can learn, play, develop, and thrive. By bringing people together through a shared passion for cars and motorcycles, the event highlights the crucial message that every child deserves a space where they feel seen, valued, and celebrated. Families impacted by autism will find a warm, supportive network reminding them that they are never alone.
Attendees of all ages can look forward to an evening filled with family fun, community fellowship, and vibrant energy. Highlights of the event include:
• Impressive Vehicle Showcase: Explore a stunning array of classic cars, custom rides, and powerful motorcycles.
• Family-Friendly Activities: Enjoy entertainment, games, and engaging experiences designed for guests of all ages.
• Vendors & Local Resources: Connect with local businesses, community organizations, and specialized resources dedicated to supporting families.
• Trophies & Entertainment: Celebrate standout rides and enjoy live entertainment throughout the evening.
The Hive of Hope Mills is proud to partner with Sound Sensory to bring this meaningful event to life. Dedicated to serving as a gathering hub for the area, The Hive believes strongly in standing behind causes that uplift local youth and families. Partnering with Sound Sensory aligns perfectly with their mission to build a more connected, compassionate community.
Whether you are a devoted auto enthusiast or simply looking for a fun Saturday evening out with the family, your presence helps drive change. Car clubs, motorcycle groups, veterans, first responders, local businesses, and community members are all invited to roll up and show their support.
Every participant makes a difference, and every ride contributes to a more inclusive future. Bring your family, invite your friends and join in the fun. For those wanting to add their cars to the show, vehicles can be registered at https://www.soundsensory.shop/
Sponsors and vendors are still being accepted. Call 910-229-2699 for more information. Donations are also accepted.
Together, we can work so every child is included, accepted and empowered. This is a free event to attend.

There’s something new around nearly every corner. Across the area, new businesses are opening their doors, bringing fresh places to eat, shop, gather and explore while adding to the community’s ever-changing landscape. Here’s a look at some of the businesses that have recently joined the neighborhood.

THE SHOE
FSU, 1200 Murchison Rd.
uncfsu.edu/campus-life/dining
The Shoe is an outdoor hub that can accommodate up to six food trucks, offering a rotating lineup of dining options to Fayetteville State University Students.
Students starting in the Fall 2026 semester will be able to use their campus meal plan funds to purchase food from participating food trucks. Conveniently situated adjacent to the residential quad, the space has also been designed as an outdoor social gathering spot for students, staff, and visitors.
Food truck schedules, hours and meal plan instructions can be found on their website under Dining Options. Weekly or daily vendor lineups will be shared on Instagram and Facebook via @FSUBroncos.

BLANC COFFEE ROASTERS
417 Hay St.
910-302-1296
https://www.personalbestcoffee.com/
Blanc Coffee Roasters isn't new to Downtown Fayetteville, but it's now in a larger location. Originally located at 103 Person Street, next to Sweet Palette, they have now moved to 417 Hay Street. This new location puts them closer to Segra Stadium and expanded seating.
While beloved for its minimalist charm, the smaller space limited seating. Their larger space also allows for an enhanced roasting setup. Focusing on small-batch single-origin coffees, this gives them more capacity for their in-house roasting operations, bean distribution, and retail sales space.
Although they are in a new space, their core philosophy remains the same: using ethically sourced beans and roasting in-house. Their menu still highlights meticulously crafted pour-overs, classic espresso options, and house-made seasonal syrups.

BULAVARD KAVA LOUNGE
5855 Yadkin Rd.
910-491-0079
https://blvdkava.com
The Bulavard Kava Lounge opened its doors in March 2026 and is an upscale, non-alcoholic botanical bar and gathering space. Non-alcoholic and alternatives to traditional nightlife have grown in popularity over the past couple of years, and Bulavard Kava Lounge is the perfect blend of both as it brings South Pacific kava culture to Yadkin Road.
The interior is dark, with moody lighting and velvet lounge seating paired with street-art-inspired graffiti murals and neon accents—the perfect relaxed environment for remote work, social gatherings, or late-night hangouts. Beverages are prepared using the traditional methods of kneading noble kava root powder in cold water and served in traditional coconut shells.
The menu features traditional kava shells, house-crafted flavored kava mocktails, loose-leaf teas and herbal botanical brews.

THE VENDOR LOFT
5472 Trade St., Hope Mills
ww.facebook.com/thevendorloftllc
Opened since June 27, The Vendor Loft is a collective boutique market and retail space in historic downtown Hope Mills. The space was created to give independent local artisans, makers, and small business owners a permanent storefront to sell their products.
The space features a wide variety of products, including homemade crafts, custom home decor, boutique apparel, local artwork, artisanal candles, gift items and seasonal goods. The Vendor Loft is situated on Trade Street and in a prime location for shoppers strolling downtown Hope Mills and its nearby shops and eateries.

Keep An Eye Out For….

TEXAS ROADHOUSE
Sandhills Gateway Projects at Gillis Hill & Raeford Rd.
A second Texas Roadhouse has been announced for the Sandhills Gateway project, a scheduled 35-acre mixed-use development, at the intersection of Gillis Hill and Raeford Rd. The development is planned to have restaurants, retail, and residential areas. The area has recently been cleared, and construction is underway. There has not been any announcement as to the projected date of completion.

Fall is right around the corner, and it brings with it football season. One of the best fall traditions is gathering friends, grabbing some food, and cheering on your favorite team. When you are looking for a wall of big screens, a plate piled high with wings, and a lively crowd to celebrate every touchdown, this list of local sports bars is ready for game day.

KICKBACK JACK'S
5081 Morganton Rd.
910-223-7676
www.kbjacks.com
Kickback Jack's is a lively, contemporary neighborhood sports tavern and grill that is designed specifically for game-day viewing and social gatherings. They cover NFL Sunday games, college football, NBA, college basketball, MLB, NHL hockey and NASCAR. With their large-screen, high-definition TVs that are strategically placed throughout the entire dining area, you won't miss any of the action.
They also offer a full menu that features classic game-day food including scratch-made wings, burgers, pizzas and seafood, with over 20 beers on tap and local craft brews.

BUBBA'S 33
500 Westwood Shopping Ctr.
910-223-2601
www.bubbas33.com
Bubba's 33 is a high-energy, family-friendly sports restaurant known for its scratch-made comfort food and sports viewing setup. The restaurant is a spacious, open-concept design that caters to sports enthusiasts, families and large groups. Dozens of large-screen TVs line every wall while broadcasting everything from NFL games to college football and other regional sports.
A dedicated dining room is set up for families, with an energetic sports bar area with a full-service bar. Their food menu pairs perfectly with any sport and features fresh ingredients made in-house, including beef burgers, hand-tossed pizzas, wings and seasoned fries. An expansive draft and cocktail selection complements your meal with a wide range of ice-cold beers on tap, as well as signature cocktails.

MAC'S SPEED SHOP
482 N. McPherson Church Rd.
910-354-2590
www.macspeedshop.com
Mac's Speed Shop is the place to go for slow-smoked barbecue, craft beer, and to watch live sports. Mac's doesn't feel like a typical sports bar, offering a high-energy, open-air environment with plenty of TV screens and top-tier comfort food.
Whether you sit in the main indoor bar area or choose to sit in the spacious outdoor patio, you won't miss any game action on the multiple large flat-screens that are strategically placed in both areas. The menu goes well beyond your standard pub grub and features award-winning pulled pork, brisket, wings and burgers.
They also feature a dozen local and regional craft beers on tap, domestic favorites, drink specials, and signature cocktails.

NOVA RESTAURANT & SPORTS BAR
5900 Yadkin Rd.
910-868-5559
www.novarestaurantfay.com
Nova is a casual neighborhood sports lounge that offers a relaxed hangout space that is focused on watching sports, interactive games, and nightlife. Their multi-purpose environment blends classic sports bar amenities with lounge entertainment.
There are several large flat-screen TVs set up around the bar and seating areas for prime sports viewing. The space also includes pool tables, music, and a dedicated cigar lounge area. Their menu serves all the great sports bar staples, including wings, burgers, and sandwiches.

TWIN PEAKS
1891 Skibo Rd.
910-500-6090
www.twinpeaksrestaurant.com
Twin Peaks is a sports lodge designed with sports fans in mind. It features a warm, cabin-inspired atmosphere paired with immersive game-day viewing setups, set up so that every seat in the house has a great sightline to live sports.
Dozens of high-definition flat-screen TVS stream all the major sports, including NFL, college football, NBA, fight nights, and racing. Enjoy the game with a draft beer poured into a 29-degree ice-cold frosted mug. Their menu offers beloved comfort food such as wings, burgers, smoked meats, flatbreads and other shareable game-day appetizers.

CAROLINA ALE HOUSE
161 Glensford Dr.
910-860-1114
www.carolinaalehouse.com
Carolina Ale House designs an extensive audio-visual setup with a spacious layout built especially for live sports entertainment. Featuring over 50 high-definition TVs throughout the venue, ensuring great game visibility from every table, booth, and seat. There is a main dining room, expansive bar, and an open-air patio area.
Their diverse tap and beverage selection includes over 60 beers, both national brands and regional craft brews, and local North Carolina favorites. The game day menu includes sports bar staples, including jumbo wings, craft burgers, pizza and other shareable appetizers.

GROUP THERAPY PUB & PLAYGROUND
1906 Skibo Rd., Ste B
910-222-7574
www.grouptherapy.fun/fayetteville
Group Therapy Pub & Playground combines sports viewing with interactive entertainment in their multi-zone sports setup. Their outdoor courtyard and patio area features a large projection screen used for major game-day watch parties, including NFL games and championship events.
Inside, the central bar area is surrounded by high-definition flat-screen TVs that stream major sports broadcasts and game feeds. Group Therapy's menu is perfect for game viewing and sharing, featuring shareable appetizers, burgers and other handheld snacks. The highlight of their beverage setup is a 36-tap pour-your-own tap wall. You can pay by the ounce or pour sample sizes or full pints of craft beer, ciders or domestic beer.

RUDINO'S PIZZA & GRINDERS
3350 S. Peak Dr., Hope Mills
910-423-5555
https://rudinos.com/
Rudino's Pizza and Grinders is located beside the Millstone 14 theatre in Hope Mills and is known for its relaxed, welcoming game-day environment. Built as a hybrid family restaurant and casual sports tavern, it is a great laid-back venue to watch live sports.
The main sports bar and dining room are surrounded by high-definition screens that broadcast NFL matchups and regional sports. Their outdoor patio is also a great hangout on game day. Their menu does not disappoint with oven-baked grinders, pizza, calzones and wings. Their beverage selection includes draft beers on tap from regional craft breweries, domestic brews, and seasonal selections. Cocktails and wine options are also available.

HALFTIME HANGOUT SPORTS BAR
2080 Club Pond Rd., Raeford
910-248-6141
www.halftimehangoutsportsbar.com/
Halftime Hangout Sports Bar is a veteran-owned, family-operated neighborhood sports restaurant designed to bring a dedicated game-day go-to. The venue provides a fan-friendly environment with flat-screen TVs broadcasting major live games and watch-party events. Their kitchen features classic sports bar staples, elevated with a signature Louisiana-style flavor, including gumbo, catfish and Po' Boys.
They serve a full selection of cold beer on tap, craft cocktails, and game-day recipes designed to pair perfectly with their food.

The Zenaida Cranford Mentor Mentee Mentorship Program’s inaugural St. Croix cultural exchange connected Fayetteville girls with peers through leadership, service and mentorship that continued beyond the summit.
One strong characteristic of leadership is seeing a problem, knowing the solution and not waiting for someone else to provide it.
That lesson became real in St. Croix when a Fayetteville girl, who arrived expecting to participate in the Girl, Ignite Your Fire! Teen Summit & Cultural Exchange, noticed an adult volunteer had been pulled away from the registration table. She saw the gap, knew what needed to be done and stepped in, welcoming fellow attendees, taking names and handing out packets.
No one had trained her for the role. She had simply listened, observed and understood enough to act when the moment called for it.
For Zenaida Cranford, that moment was a glimpse of exactly what she wants young girls to discover: confidence in who they are, the ability to connect with others and an understanding that leadership is something they can put into action.
That vision traveled across the water this summer when Cranford, a St. Croix native, brought a seven-member North Carolina delegation from Fayetteville to the island for the inaugural June 1-6 summit. There, they joined 38 girls from St. Croix for leadership development, wellness, community service and cultural exchange.
But Cranford’s goal went far beyond taking girls somewhere new.
She wanted them to experience what could happen when they stepped outside what was familiar and built relationships with girls whose lives could look both different from, and surprisingly similar to, their own.
For Cranford, St. Croix was a natural place to begin.
Not only is she from the island and familiar with its culture, but as summit partnerships developed, she began discovering unexpected connections between St. Croix and North Carolina.
People they encountered had military ties, including connections to Fort Bragg, and Cranford also noticed similarities between the communities through agriculture.
Cranford said those connections continued appearing throughout the planning and summit experience, reinforcing just how much the two communities had in common.
She also made sure the Fayetteville girls did not spend the week only with one another. Younger participants were placed in the summit’s Sparks group, while older girls joined the Flames, mixing them with St. Croix participants in their age groups.
At first, Cranford said, the Fayetteville girls were nervous and stayed close together. By the second day, they were beginning to move outside those familiar circles.
The exchange also gave the girls a chance to compare educational opportunities. St. Croix participants talked about options available through universities in the Virgin Islands, while Fayetteville girls explained early college opportunities available in North Carolina.
“It gave them an opportunity to expand their portfolio, expand their network, relate to other girls their ages, at the same time exploring different cultures and identities,” Cranford said.
Those conversations were part of her larger plan: Every experience needed to teach something. That intention extended to community service.
During a beach cleanup, the girls collected six bags of trash from the West End, including debris hidden deeper within vegetation that some local residents said they had not realized was there.
Sometimes a fresh set of eyes sees what familiarity can overlook.
But Cranford did not want the girls to walk away saying only that they had picked up trash. Community partners helped them understand how waste can make its way into the ocean, harm marine life and ultimately affect a food source the community depends on.
“It’s not just about picking up trash,” Cranford said. “What is the meaning behind picking up trash?”
“Everything we did was tied into an educational purpose,” she said.
The impact of the summit did not stop when the Fayetteville delegation returned home.
During a speed-style mentor-mentee matching session, girls rotated through eight-minute conversations with mentors and later selected their top choices. Cranford said 36 girls in the Virgin Islands were ultimately paired with mentors for continued relationships.
Girls also exchanged phone numbers and social media information, and some of those connections have continued beyond the summit.
For Cranford, that continuation matters because the trip was never meant to be a one-week experience that ended with a flight home.
“When we give kids an opportunity, especially our teenagers, they will take advantage of the opportunity, as long as the opportunity is good,” she said.
Cranford said opportunities like these can give young people room to discover their identities, gifts and talents while building networks that can stay with them as they grow.
She wants Fayetteville residents to be proud of the teenagers “we are raising together as a collective city.”
Girl, Ignite Your Fire! is part of the work Cranford leads through the Fayetteville-based Zenaida Cranford Mentor Mentee Mentorship Program, which serves girls ages 12 to 17 through mentorship, leadership development, wellness and community engagement.
The free program maintains an open-door policy throughout the year and meets three times a month.
But for Cranford, the larger measure of success may be what happens when no adult is standing nearby giving instructions.
It is the girl who sees the open registration table and steps in.
The girls who look beyond the visible edge of a beach and find what others missed.
The young women who travel somewhere unfamiliar, build relationships, serve and return home with a broader view of who they can become.
Those are the girls Cranford wants Fayetteville to see — not simply as participants in a program, but as part of what the city is producing in its young people today.
For more information about Girl, Ignite Your Fire! Or the Zenaida Cranford Mentor Mentee Mentorship program, visit https://www.facebook.com/ZCMMMP

(Photo: Participants with the Girl, Ignite Your Fire! summit in St. Croix pose for a photo during a beach cleanup. Photo courtesy of the Zenaida Cranford Mentor Mentee Mentorship Program)

In their mission to advance and promote local businesses and build a strong, prosperous community, the Greater Fayetteville Chamber has been making some major changes. Two of those changes are their recent move to Skibo Road and the creation of a new Business Training Center.
In the last week of May, the Chamber completed their move to 1636 Skibo Rd., to a new facility with around 3,600 square feet of working space, a notable upgrade from their previous 1,400-square-foot office space at Bronco Midtown. The goals were to offer a bigger, more dynamic business facility to accommodate increased membership and to give every staff member their own office area. The organization has gone from 600 members to about 1,200, making it one of the largest Chambers in the Carolinas.
“The Chamber has been looking for a new, larger location where each of our staff could have a dedicated office to work from,” said Nat Robertson, CEO and president of the Chamber. “The Greater Fayetteville Chamber currently has a staff of eight focusing on our Advocacy, Education and Networking events. It was a priority for our Board of Directors to locate the office in a location that was visible and easy to find, for our members to visit and attend events. We were also looking for an office that could be used as a venue for our business education programs.”
The Business Training Center is dedicated to hosting programs and expert speakers that serve the needs and interests of both Chamber members and the community itself. The new location offers two classrooms for such programs, one with a capacity of 20 individuals and the other with the ability to hold 85.
Offerings that members can participate in include business education classes called Success Seminars, a business advice podcast called “Inside the Chamber Vault,” and the Fayetteville Young Professionals program. FYP is a relaunch of an existing initiative that was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Robertson, it will be returning on Thursday, Oct. 22 and is for members ages 21 to 40.
The Chamber’s new location is central to the business community, making participating in Chamber events easier for business owners.
The relocation and establishment of the new center were brought to life through a partnership with the Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union and donor contributions to the Greater Fayetteville Chamber Foundation.
“We are fortunate for a strong partnership with Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union, which owns this location. Their Board of Directors and our Board of Directors thought this would be a good fit for the Chamber. A lot of it was timing and strengthening partnerships; that’s what our Chamber is great at,” said Robertson. The donors’ names have been posted on the wall of the Business Training Center to acknowledge the roles they have played.
The Chamber has put other advancements in motion this year to provide the best possible services for their members. In late April, they transitioned membership platforms, switching from ChamberMaster to GrowthZone to continue expanding their membership without experiencing operating system limitations. This change gives Chamber members a more efficient platform for communication, enhanced profile management and a better overall user experience.
“When making the decision to move platforms, we wanted to offer our members better connectivity and information about what we are doing for them,” Robertson said. “Our old system was a good one, but this one offers better back-end features and allows our members to be more interactive with our programs.”
Every year, the Chamber hosts over 150 events and programs to allow business owners to network and gain valuable resources that help keep their enterprises thriving. Some of their regularly occurring events include the Chamber Coffee Club, Member Orientation and Toastmasters. These programs serve a range of needs for Chamber members, including strengthening their public speaking skills, enabling them to brainstorm and exchange ideas and helping them become involved in committees.
The Chamber holds numerous larger events and celebrations alongside their recurring programs. Here are this year’s Signature Events.
State of the Community 2026
Held on Tuesday, Aug. 25 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., this annual event gathers Fayetteville and Cumberland County leaders, including Mayor Mitch Colvin, to discuss the current state of the community and plans for continued improvement. It was open to nonmembers and hosted at the Crown Expo Center at 1960 Coliseum Drive.
Eighth Annual Valor Public Safety Awards
This awards ceremony recognizes first responders throughout Fayetteville and Cumberland County, honoring them for their bravery and initiative as local heroes. It will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 9 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The location is Manna Church at 5117 Cliffdale Road.
Candidates Forum
The Candidates Forum platforms state representative and county commissioner candidates, allowing them to share their views and keep voters in the know. It will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 13 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Fayetteville Technical Community College on 2201 Hull Road.
Greater Carolina Rock ‘N’ Boil
The annual Oyster Roast is a networking event that allows business owners to enjoy good food and make connections with their fellow Chamber members. In addition to the oysters, attendees can chow down on barbecue and a Lowcountry boil. The event will be held at Segra Stadium at 460 Hay Street on Thursday, Oct. 22 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The last two quarters of the year will bring many events to keep members learning and engaged, benefiting their personal and professional development. “We continue to focus on our members, providing programs and resources that benefit small and large businesses,” Robertson said. “From our Consumer Protection Division to ENGAGE Magazine, we recognize that we are here for our members.”
To learn more about upcoming programs from the Chamber, call 910-483-8133 or email info@faybiz.com. You can also visit them in person next door to the Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union and near the intersection of Yadkin Road.

(Photo: Nat Robertson, CEO and President of the Chamber, said, "It was a priority for our Board of Directors to locate the office in a location that was visible and easy to find, for our members to visit and attend events.")

As Americans mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is easy to picture 1776 through its famous names and defining moments: Thomas Jefferson and his quill, George Washington commanding the Continental Army, the ringing words of the Declaration, and a collection of colonies preparing to become a nation.
But history was also happening around dinner tables and campfires. The people living through the American Revolution still had to answer an everyday question familiar to us: “What’s for dinner?” The answer depended greatly on who you were, where you lived, and, increasingly, whether you were at home or marching with an army.
There was no single American diet in 1776. Food varied according to geography, season, wealth, and access to ingredients. Colonial cooks worked primarily with foods that could be grown locally, raised on farms, caught, hunted, preserved or imported.
Cornmeal appeared frequently in American kitchens, as did wheat and other grains. Beans, peas, squash, root vegetables and seasonal fruits supplemented meals, while pork was especially valuable because it could be salted or smoked for later use. Fish and seafood were important in coastal communities.
Food preservation shaped the colonial table. Without refrigeration, families relied on drying, smoking, salting, pickling, and preserving foods so they could survive beyond the growing season. Meals could therefore look quite different from the carefully arranged dishes we might prepare today for a Revolutionary War-themed dinner. For many Americans, food was first and foremost practical. For the men serving in the Continental Army, it became a matter of military necessity.
In 1775, the Continental Congress established an official ration for soldiers. The allowance gives us a surprisingly detailed picture of what military leaders believed a soldier needed each day. A Continental soldier's ration included:
• 1 pound of beef, ¾ pound of pork or 1 pound of salt fish per day
• 1 pound of bread or flour per day
• 3 pints of peas or beans per week, or an equivalent amount of vegetables
• 1 pint of milk per day, when available
• ½ pint of rice or 1 pint of Indian meal, or cornmeal, per week
• 1 quart of spruce beer or cider per day, with molasses provided as an alternative
Camp life made food considerably less appetizing than the official ration might suggest. Soldiers stationed in garrisons could have access to freshly baked bread, fresh meat, fruits and vegetables. Soldiers in the field were more likely to encounter durable foods that could survive transportation: salted beef or pork, dried peas and hard bread often known as ship's biscuit.
Ship's biscuit was about as basic as food could get. Made primarily from flour and water, the hard crackers were designed for durability rather than flavor. Soldiers generally prepared their own food. Men were organized into small groups called “messes” and shared cooking equipment. A camp kettle might serve six soldiers.
Although meat could be roasted, boiling meat and other ingredients together in a kettle was practical and required relatively little equipment. The result could resemble a simple stew or soup made from whatever ingredients happened to be available.
Supplying thousands of men before railroads, refrigeration, canned foods or modern highways was enormously difficult. Food had to be purchased, collected, preserved and transported by wagon over poor roads while armies continually moved. Salt shortages created another problem. Salt was essential for preserving meat and fish, making shortages of it a threat to the entire military food supply.
Conditions could become desperate. During the Valley Forge encampment, soldiers were officially supposed to receive bread, meat or fish, peas or beans, milk and beverages, along with weekly allowances of butter and vinegar. In reality, the army's supply system struggled to provide them. George Washington warned Congress in December 1777 that without major changes to the commissary system, the army faced three possibilities: starvation, dissolution or dispersal in search of food.
That enormous gap between the ration prescribed by Congress and the food actually reaching a soldier may tell us more about eating during the Revolution than any surviving recipe.

Rhonda Gee created Girls A.L.I.V.E. after seeing firsthand how isolation can affect neurodivergent girls. Now the organization is building a Fayetteville presence shaped by the needs and voices of local families.
Imagine being a parent and watching your daughter begin to remove herself from friends and family. She goes to school, comes home and heads straight to her room. And you know that much of what is pushing her away from the world is connected to something that makes her different — something she cannot simply turn off or change.
That was Rhonda Gee’s experience as she watched her daughter, Daniella, struggle with exclusion and bullying before eventually beginning to isolate herself. Gee found herself asking where girls like her daughter could go to connect with others who understood them and what they were experiencing.
That question became the doorway to Girls A.L.I.V.E. NC.
A.L.I.V.E. stands for Awareness, Love, Inclusion, Voice and Empowerment. Of those five words, Gee said inclusion most closely captures the need the organization exists to address.
“The problem that Girls A.L.I.V.E. is addressing, and the gap we’re trying to fill, is that isolation,” Gee said. “A girl can have a therapist. She could have accommodations at school, and she could have a supportive family, and she can still be lonely.”
Girls A.L.I.V.E. serves neurodivergent girls ages 10 to 18, creating opportunities for connection outside the clinical, educational and family supports that may already surround them.
That need for inclusion has extended beyond the organization’s Raleigh-Durham-area community.
Gee said families from Fayetteville and the Fort Bragg area had already been making the drive to attend Girls A.L.I.V.E. programming and interest meetings. In response, the organization began exploring how to create those same opportunities closer to home for Fayetteville families.
Jessica Taylor, a Girls A.L.I.V.E. parent from the Fayetteville area, was among those making the trip. Gee said Taylor saw a need locally and has since begun helping build community relationships and support the organization’s developing Fayetteville presence.
That growing interest led to a July 25 community interest meeting in Fayetteville. Creating an inclusive space begins with something simple: asking the girls what they actually like.
Girls A.L.I.V.E. uses interest forms to learn about the girls and incorporates those interests into activities and programming. Rather than asking them to change themselves to better fit an existing environment, the organization works to create an environment that has room for who they already are.
Gee recalled meeting one girl whose particular interest was raccoons.
“She just loves raccoons,” Gee said. “She wanted to find someone that could identify with her interests — like a raccoon lover, or someone that loves animals as much as she does.”
At Girls A.L.I.V.E., girls are encouraged to openly share the things that interest them while connecting with others who bring passions of their own.
“We try to just provide those safe spaces where girls can feel comfortable and safe in their interests without being ridiculed or made fun of,” Gee said.
Those spaces can include art and painting, bead-making, friendship bracelets, identity sessions, vision boards and social-emotional learning activities. The activities give girls something to do together, but the larger goal is creating opportunities for relationships to grow.
Gee has seen evidence of that connection in what the girls themselves say.
At the Fayetteville interest meeting, she spoke one-on-one with an autistic girl who uses a wheelchair. As the girl interacted with others in the room, she told Gee what she hoped to find.
“I just want to find other girls that are like me,” she said.
Another girl regularly approaches Gee with a hug and tells her, “I love Girls A.L.I.V.E.”
When the girl was asked what she wanted to do after high school, Gee said she answered that she wanted to remain with her Girls A.L.I.V.E. family.
The program currently serves girls through age 18, but Gee hopes girls who age out will eventually return as mentors, allowing those who once received support to help support younger girls.
Sometimes the strongest confirmation comes through parents.
Gee recalled a mother sharing what her daughter, Macy, said after participating in Girls A.L.I.V.E.
“I finally found a place where I fit in.”
Gee said it confirmed that what she hoped to create was happening.
The message from Fayetteville families has been similarly consistent. Gee said the girls and parents who attended the July 25 meeting wanted more opportunities for friendship, connection and interaction with girls who share similar experiences and interests. One attendee also expressed a desire for greater awareness surrounding autism, something Gee said Girls A.L.I.V.E. may be able to help address.
The Fayetteville presence continues to take shape. Gee said Taylor is helping develop community relationships and local activities, with museum visits among the programming already planned. Families interested in participating or learning more can contact Girls A.L.I.V.E. for registration information and upcoming opportunities online at www.girlsalive-nc.org
Gee has heard from parents whose daughters come home from school, go directly to their rooms and remain disconnected from other children and friendships. Girls A.L.I.V.E. is making room for something different.
And perhaps its impact is summed up best by Macy’s words:
“I finally found a place where I fit in.”

The sounds of drums and singing and the movement of dancers will once again bring Native American traditions to life in Fayetteville during the 2026 Running Water Powwow. The annual cultural celebration returns Friday, Sept. 4, and Saturday, Sept. 5, at 200 Indian Drive in Fayetteville. Open to the public, the two-day gathering invites Native and non-Native community members to experience a weekend centered on dancing, singing, fellowship, and the sharing of cultural traditions.
Organized by the Running Water Organization, the Running Water Powwow brings together Native dancers, singers, drum groups, artisans and community members from throughout the region. For organizers, the gathering is about more than competition and entertainment. The Running Water Powwow committee works to create educational opportunities centered on Native American traditions while encouraging cultural exchange with the greater community. Throughout the weekend, visitors will have an opportunity to experience competitive dancing, powerful drum performances, and other family-friendly activities. The event also provides a gathering place where songs, stories, and traditions can be shared across communities and generations.
This year's head staff includes MC JD Moore and Arena Director Brad Locklear, with sound provided by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Tehya Maiden will serve as Head Lady, and Darian Bemo will serve as Head Man. Junior Head Lady is Giuliana Raineri-Smith, with Cristian Martinez serving as Junior Head Man. Josh Gibbs will serve as Head Judge. Scuffletown Society will serve as the Host Drum.
Competitive dancing will include participants across a wide range of ages, from the powwow's youngest dancers to its elders. Dancer registration categories include Tiny Tots, ages 0 to 5; Juniors, ages 6 to 12; Teens, ages 13 to 17; Adults, ages 18 to 49; and Golden Age, ages 50 and older. On Friday, Sept. 4, gates open at 8 a.m. Dancer registration begins at 4:30 p.m., followed by Grand Entry at 7 p.m. The celebration continues Saturday, Sept. 5, with gates opening at 8 a.m. Dancer registration begins at 9:30 a.m., and Grand Entry is scheduled for noon.
Grand Entry is traditionally one of the most visually striking moments of a powwow, bringing dancers into the arena together and formally beginning that portion of the gathering. For visitors attending a powwow for the first time, it can provide an opportunity to see the variety of regalia, dance styles, and generations represented within the Native community.
While experienced powwow attendees will find plenty that is familiar, organizers are also extending the invitation to those who have never attended one before. Dancers, singers, vendors, photographers, families, and first-time visitors are all welcome to take part in the weekend. That openness reflects one of the central purposes of the Running Water Powwow: creating a place where Native traditions can be celebrated within the community while also providing opportunities for others to learn, listen, and experience those traditions firsthand.
In a region with deep Native American roots and a vibrant contemporary Indigenous community, gatherings such as the Running Water Powwow demonstrate that these traditions are not simply pieces of history. Through the drums, dances, songs and people who gather in the circle, they continue to be practiced, shared and passed from one generation to the next.
The 2026 Running Water Powwow takes place Sept. 4-5 at 200 Indian Drive in Fayetteville. Admission is $10, and the event is open to the public. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578607749176.

Kids across Spring Lake, Fayetteville and the surrounding areas who love music and the arts are welcome to join Jam Sessions, hosted in the Spring Lake Recreation Center at 245 Ruth St. every Friday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. These free sessions are open to anyone in the 6th grade and up (ages 11 and up) and allow participants to nurture existing artistic skills or discover new ones through faith-based mentorship.
Kenneth Hill is the Jam Sessions director, but he has also played many other roles in his life, including working as a licensed associate pastor and a juvenile court counselor. Creating Jam Sessions arose from a combination of his spiritual, military and youth counseling backgrounds and the musical throughline that has persisted across his life. He learned the drums as a child and played in the Grambling College Marching Band and the Army band.
“One morning I was praying and everything — Jam Sessions. The idea about Jam Sessions popped in my head,” Hill said.
The mission of the Jam Sessions program is to “cultivate creative excellence, character and community through mentorship, fine arts and faith-based programming for youth and families in underserved communities.”
The program has received major support from the Recreation Center’s supervisor Zefrim Lewis, also known as Coach Z, who was the “driving force” behind providing the necessary facilities for the youth to perform and learn in. Sessions began on March 6 and will continue as long as there are kids eager to get involved.
“No matter where you’re coming from, we’re just looking for people who want to come and participate with anything that we have going on here,” Lewis said.
As a free Community Fine Arts and Mentorship Program that has also recently gained 501(c)(3) status, Jam Sessions focuses on more than music. It allows young learners to get acquainted with different and unique forms of art, such as praise dancing, miming, poetry and drama. Those with an interest in communications can also prime themselves for the radio and TV fields through debate teams, public speaking opportunities and podcasting, all made possible by the media center provided by Lewis.
Through this communal experience, the young learners have developed and refined their skills, leading to the creation of their own band: JAMZ (pronounced Jam-zee). The musical outfit has already performed publicly at the Recreation Center’s Juneteenth celebration and Spring Lake’s First Friday on Main on Aug. 7. They have more First Friday performances scheduled through November, which they will balance with the return of the school year and other activities. JAMZ performs a range of music, covering artists like Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson and Coldplay.
“I’ve seen kids, through his mentorship, just totally transform,” Lewis said. “When we heard them play at Juneteenth, it was really my first time hearing them play, and it was mind-blowing.”
Several of the band’s members started with little or no knowledge of how to play instruments but quickly built their skills through Hill’s flexible mentorship style.
“What I do is let them come in and explore. I don’t teach them,” Hill said. “I teach them about music, about chord progression and all of that type of stuff, but I don’t give piano lessons, I don’t give drum lessons. I just expose them to it.”
Hill’s vision of providing access to creative arts instruction in a safe and affirming environment has made him an excellent leader to both youth and adults.
“He’s the right guy to get it done. We call him the Terminator — the Terminator is the person who makes sure he gets the job done, and he stops at nothing,” said Lewis.
He has also invested his own money in the instruments available at Jam Sessions, in addition to receiving donated instruments and sound equipment from the community, such as drum sets, guitars, and keyboards.
“I don’t look at money first. I look at the need first, and then I ask God to provide,” Hill said.
Jam Sessions exemplify a foundation of faith without requiring a specific denominational framework, so young learners can feel empowered to believe in themselves and believe in God’s purpose for their lives in a way that’s comfortable for them. Lewis believes this program has the power to spread to a national level over time.
In alignment with that goal, Hill said, “My desire is not just to come in and jam every Friday — which is good — my desire is to even have satellite programs.”
These satellite sites would allow youth living farther from the Spring Lake and Fayetteville areas to still benefit from program values such as creativity, accountability and excellence within their own communities.
For more information on how to get your kids involved in this program, reach out to Hill at 980-229-3425 or Coach Z at 910-443-1350.

(Photo: Children join in on Jam Sessions at the Spring Lake Recreation Center. The weekly get together teaches children about music. Photos courtesy of Kenneth Hill, Director, Jam Sessions)

This September, the Lafayette Society will bring a piece of Fayetteville’s Revolutionary history to life with its Fall 2026 Lafayette Lecture, exploring the Liberty Point Resolves and the community effort to preserve their story. Christopher Thrasher of the Lafayette Society said this year’s program is particularly meaningful because it showcases a partnership among the Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville Technical Community College and members of the community.
The Liberty Point Project brings together historians, librarians, filmmakers and FTCC students who are working to tell the story through a book, documentary film and educational materials.
“The project’s focus on promoting Lafayette’s enduring values through a unique community partnership right here in Fayetteville is exactly the kind of work that the Lafayette Society strives to promote,” Thrasher said.
The Lafayette Society is an educational and philanthropic organization that works to keep the Marquis de Lafayette’s ideals relevant today.
“We promote the Marquis de Lafayette’s enduring values of liberty, tolerance, and equal rights for all,” Thrasher said.
The organization puts those values into action through educational programs and by raising money to support students at Methodist University, Fayetteville State University and FTCC.
At the center of this year’s lecture are the Liberty Point Resolves, a statement signed by local residents in 1775 declaring their determination to defend their community against abuses by the British government. While many signers still hoped reconciliation was possible, they insisted that the rights of the colonists be respected. Many later put those principles into action, taking up arms and fighting with Patriot forces at battles including Elizabethtown and Moore’s Creek.
Thrasher said part of the reason the Liberty Point Resolves are less widely known than other Revolutionary-era documents is that the document was lost for years after being misfiled. By the time it was rediscovered, many histories of the American Revolution had already been written without it.
Two speakers will help bring that history and the process of preserving it to life. Joseph Westendorf, Local and State History Manager at the Cumberland County Public Library, is the lead author of The Voices of Resolve: The Patriots of Liberty Point, published by the University of North Carolina Press. He will be joined by PBS film producer Frank Boring, a 2021 Telly Award winner, The Great Experiment: Colorado State University.
“The lecture will help attendees understand the Liberty Point Resolves, but more importantly, it will help people understand how they can transform their ideas into a book and a film, just like the members of the Liberty Point Project have,” Thrasher said.
For Thrasher, one of the most compelling aspects of the Liberty Point story is that its participants were not larger-than-life historical figures.
“The signers were imperfect people with difficult lives,” he said. “They didn’t all agree on everything; they made mistakes, but despite their flaws they risked everything to make the world a better place.”
That message is particularly relevant as the nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of American independence.
“History inspires us to do better,” Thrasher said. “The issues have changed, but the principle remains.”
For Thrasher, that connection between the past and present is one of the most important messages of the lecture.
“I hope attendees will be inspired to honor the legacy of Liberty Point by getting involved in our community and promoting Lafayette’s enduring values of liberty, tolerance, and equal rights for all,” he said. “America, like history, is a process and we still have work to do.”
He hopes the Liberty Point Project will extend well beyond this year’s lecture. The group is already researching its next book and discussing another documentary.
“This isn’t just about the Liberty Point Resolves,” Thrasher said. “It is about building an organization which will preserve and share local history for many years to come.”
The Fall 2026 Lafayette Lecture will be held September 8 at noon in the multipurpose room of the Tony Rand Student Center, 2220 Hull Road, at Fayetteville Technical Community College. The event is free and open to the public. The best way to keep up with the Lafayette Society is to follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lafayettesociety/

The Fayetteville Public Works Commission (PWC) was honored to welcome North Carolina State Senator Tom McInnis and North Carolina State Representative Diane Wheatley to Alderman Road Elementary School on Friday, August 14, 2026, to celebrate the successful completion of the Gray's Creek Water Main Extension Project, connecting Alderman Road Elementary School and Gray’s Creek Elementary School to PWC’s award winning public water system and recognizing the transformative impact of the State's investment in the community.
The visit highlighted the project's significance to Gray's Creek residents, students, and businesses while recognizing the North Carolina General Assembly's commitment to expanding access to safe, reliable, regulated drinking water. Through a partnership between Fayetteville PWC and Cumberland County, the General Assembly provided $12 million in state funding to design and construct the initial phase of the project.
The completed project extends PWC's public water system to Gray's Creek Elementary School, Alderman Road Elementary School, and surrounding areas, providing customers with drinking water that meets or exceeds state and federal water quality standards. The new infrastructure represents a long-term investment in public health, environmental stewardship, and the continued growth of the Gray's Creek community.
"This project represents far more than the installation of new water lines, it reflects our shared commitment to protecting public health, investing in critical infrastructure, and improving the quality of life for the Gray's Creek community," said Timothy Bryant, CEO/General Manager of Fayetteville PWC.
"Simply put, this community deserves quality drinking water, and I am proud of the work PWC did to get the two schools connected. This is about our students, our teachers, and our support staff members' safety and well-being. I am looking forward to coming back and seeing more of the Gray's Creek community connected to PWC's water system, exactly what a thriving community needs." said State Senator Tim McInnis
Originally announced in 2024, the partnership between PWC and Cumberland County was established to provide a long-term public water solution for residents affected by Gen X contamination in private wells while ensuring area schools and future customers have access to high-quality drinking water. Construction began in late 2025 and has now been successfully completed.
“We appreciate the partnership of Fayetteville PWC, our state leaders and everyone who helped make this important project possible for our schools and community,” said Dr. Eric C. Bracy, superintendent of Cumberland County Schools (CCS).
The Gray's Creek Water Main Extension Project demonstrates what can be accomplished through collaboration among local and state leaders committed to investing in infrastructure that serves both current and future generations.
"Being able to get the funding to bring clean drinking water to the students and school staff in Grey's Creek is one of the accomplishments that I am most proud of. I will continue to work to bring clean water to all our communities. Thank you to Fayetteville PWC and Cumberland County Schools for this important partnership." said State Representative Diane Wheatley
PWC remains committed to delivering safe, reliable, and sustainable utility services while supporting the continued growth and well-being of Cumberland County. As an award-winning utility and long-time participant in the Partnership for Safe Water, PWC continues to invest in infrastructure that protects public health and provides customers with exceptional drinking water quality.

(Photo: Kevin Coleman, Cumberland County Schools associate superintendent, left; Timothy Bryant, PWC CEO-GM; Tom McInnis, NC State Senator; Diane Wheatley, NC State Representative; Richard King, PWC Board chairman; and Dr. Eric C. Bracy, Cumberland County Schools Superintendent, pose for a photo on Aug. 14 at Alderman Road Elementary School. Photo courtesy of PWC)

American demographers and I are among millions of others worried about our nation’s declining birth rate, and we should be. Women in the United States are having babies at a rate of 1.6 babies for women of childbearing age, well below the replacement rate of 2.1. What growth we have is coming largely from immigration, which is also declining through political actions. Demographers speculate that the number of Americans will begin declining in the 2050s.
Clearly, our overall baby population is statistically waning, even if you have a little one hollering in your household who loudly disputes that.
Not so at the other end of the age spectrum.
Baby Boomers, Americans born between 1946 and 1964, are swelling the ranks at the other end of the demographic snake.
Writing in The Dispatch, Eli Kronenberg cites statistics outlining the imbalance between old and young. Almost a third of Americans are now over 55 years old, with the median now almost 40, up from 35 in 2001. Life expectancy has increased slightly, up from 78 to 79, but our national birthrate has fallen a full 22-percent over the same period, 2007-2024. By 2031, all Boomers will have reached official retirement age of 67, becoming eligible for Medicare and Social Security, our nation’s large entitlement funds.
I know. There are a lot of numbers to digest, but their implications are stark.
Our nation spends tremendous resources on our senior citizens, far more than we do on families and young children. With declining numbers of children and young people and seniors edging out of their productive years and into entitlements, it will become more and more difficult for fewer working people to provide Social Security and Medicare to growing numbers of seniors.
Economists have long forecasted slowing economic growth because of this growing imbalance.
Hard questions loom in the coming years.
Do we shift our nation’s resources to younger Americans even if it means reducing entitlements to seniors? Are childcare, paid parental leave, public education and other services for young families more or less important than senior entitlements? Should entitlements for wealthier seniors be reduced even though they have paid into entitlement programs? Should the retirement age be raised as Americans live longer? Should wealthy Americans be taxed at higher rates to support both young families and aging seniors?
All of these are both legitimate questions with no clear answers and questions that are often addressed in opposite ways by Democrats and Republicans, historically resulting in sustained stalemates and increasing disparities. Americans on both sides of the political spectrum should be encouraging our representatives to begin tackling this situation not based on political ideologies but on pragmatic and quantifiable needs. Yes, young families need help with childcare and other services so parents can be productive workers. And, yes, seniors have been productive workers and paid into entitlement programs and deserve support in their retirement years, though some means testing may be necessary.
The only clear truth here is that fixing this imbalance in our national economics is a burning imperative getting hotter by the year.
It is not going to be an easy fix, but we cannot move forward without trying.

Earlier this month, the voters of Missouri decisively defeated a constitutional amendment authorizing an end to the state’s income tax. It was an overwhelming defeat — 17% for, 83% against — for a ballot measure that failed in urban, suburban, and rural counties alike.
Did this event just set off a progressive counteroffensive against 15 years of state-level tax reform across the country? That’s no academic question in North Carolina, a leader in the tax-reform movement. Through legislation, not referendum, the General Assembly has slashed tax rates on personal and corporate income while broadening the tax base, broadening and reducing the sales tax, and reforming other taxes. Our use of revenue triggers to phase in tax changes has become a national model. And lawmakers have placed a constitutional amendment on the North Carolina ballot that will have the effect of limiting future property-tax increases.
Does the vote in the Show Me State portend a similar result in the Tar Heel State? Nah. I expect the property-tax amendment to pass, albeit not by a comparably overwhelming margin.
Missouri voters don’t love taxes generally or the income tax specifically. But on fiscal matters, they are conservative with a small “c,” as are our own voters. Capping future increases in property tax is a very different ask than abolishing an entire form of taxation, especially when voters are being asked to do so without a clearly laid out plan to fund core public services some other way.
There was a plan, to be sure, and in broad outlines it conformed with prudent reform principles. The purpose of taxation is to finance public services, not to engineer economic or social outcomes. It is best accomplished by applying a single marginal rate to a properly defined tax base. To do otherwise is to create disincentives to work, save, and invest, and to violate the principle of proportionality; if you are, say, three times better off than I, you ought to pay three times as much tax.
Although total income might seem like the proper tax base, it is not. If you tax the principal of an investment, the money used to buy equities or build factories, then you have already reduced the future stream of income by that percentage. To tax the resulting dividends or capital gains is artificially to make consumption more attractive than investment.
In Missouri, the plan was to phase out the income tax in favor of a sales tax more broadly applied to all goods and services sold at retail. Okay, but to accomplish that would require taxing medical care, legal representation, banking, and other services sold by powerful interest groups that will fight tooth-and-nail against it. That’s why broad-based sales taxes are extremely rare. When Missourians were told that, in practice, their sales tax might shoot up north of 10%, they got antsy. What if some future governor and legislature reintroduced an income tax on top of a skewed and costly sales tax? Or a failed sales-tax reform led to budget deficits and fiscal chaos?
In other words, “grand bargain” strategies for tax reform are risky. They contain lots of moving parts, some easier than others to sell or maintain. They change established systems and practices that may not comport with abstract principle but around which households and businesses have long structured their daily operations. Ideological opponents can readily identify these risks, exaggerate them into guaranteed calamities, and then partner with spending lobbies and special-interest groups to destroy the grand bargain, as just happened in Missouri.
There are alternatives. Regarding North Carolina’s tax code, my John Locke Foundation colleagues recommend that the General Assembly index the standard deduction to inflation, remove long-term capital gains from the tax base, and attempt to expand the sales tax to other retail services only after fully exempting business-to-business transactions (which are not, of course, retail sales).
Tax reform succeeds to the extent it is sustainable and retains public confidence. North Carolina has the right approach.

Editor’s Note: John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His books Mountain Folk, Forest Folk, and Water Folk combine epic fantasy with American history (FolkloreCycle.com).

Discussions surrounding older adults and health often focus on seniors' physical health. That's understandable, as age-related issues affecting the body can add up over time, making it vital that seniors emphasize a physically active lifestyle that can reduce their risk for an assortment of medical conditions.
But mental health also is an important consideration for older adults, many of whom may be struggling. Anxiety is one mental health issue that affects a significant percentage of older adults. A 2024 study published in the Journal of General and Family Medicine noted that the global prevalence of anxiety symptoms among older adults is 28 percent. That means nearly one in three older adults is experiencing symptoms of anxiety. With so many seniors potentially confronting anxiety, it can be helpful to older adults and their loved ones to learn about the condition, its causes and its signs and symptoms.
Defining anxiety
The National Council on Aging notes that anxiety is a natural response to many life stressors. But when anxious feelings overwhelm an individual and make daily life more difficult, a person may be experiencing an anxiety disorder. According to the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP), anxiety disorders cause feelings of fear, worry, apprehension, or dread.
What distinguishes anxiety from an anxiety disorder?
The American Psychiatric Association notes occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. But occasional anxiety comes and goes rather quickly, whereas an anxiety disorder is marked by a more persistent level of anxiety that's harder to control. In addition, an anxiety disorder can affect how people interact with others, how they work, and even their overall well-being.
Are there different types of anxiety?
Yes. The AAGP notes that anxiety may be a specific phobia in which a person harbors an intense and irrational fear of a place, thing or event. Social anxiety is another type of disorder that occurs when an individual feels overwhelmingly anxious and self-conscious in the typical social situations people encounter each day. Generalized anxiety disorder is marked by constant worry even when there is little or nothing to cause concern. These are just some of the various types of anxiety.
What causes an anxiety disorder?
The AAGP notes a number of factors can contribute to an anxiety disorder, including:
• Extreme stress or trauma
• Bereavement and complicated or chronic grief, which may be of particular concern for older adults dealing with the death of a spouse or a longtime friend
• Consumption of alcohol, caffeine or drugs, including prescription or over-the-counter medication
• A separate medical condition or illness
• Neurodegenerative disorders, such as dementia
How do I know if I or a loved one is experiencing an anxiety disorder?
Seniors are urged to speak to a health care professional if they feel they are overwhelmed by anxiety. Family members also can learn to look for signs of anxiety disorder, which the AAGP notes include:
• Excessive worry or fear
• Refusing to engage in routine activities or being overly preoccupied with routine
• Avoiding social situations
• Excessive concern about safety
• Physical symptoms such as a racing heart, shallow breathing, trembling, nausea, and/or sweating
• Difficulty sleeping or poor sleep
• Muscle tension, feeling weak and shaky
• Hoarding, which the Cleveland Clinic notes is a distinct mental health condition but also a sign of an underlying anxiety disorder
• Depression
• Self-medication with alcohol or other central nervous system depressants, including benzodiazepines and barbiturates
There are many ways to treat anxiety disorders in older adults, so seniors should not hesitate to open a dialogue with a health care professional if they feel they are dealing with excessive anxiety. More information can be found at aagponline.org.

A $12,500 Grassroots Arts Project Grant is helping Artist Village Community Theatre take significant steps forward during its 2026-27 season, including exploring new theatrical genres, creating more opportunities for young performers, and taking a production beyond the traditional stage.
The Hope Mills-based nonprofit received a grant from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County to support its upcoming season, which includes three productions, including Witches!? In Salem!?, The Toys Take Over Christmas and a youth production of Peter Pan. The funding will help cover artist and technician expenses, licensing, production materials, venue costs and marketing.
For Artist Village Executive Director Teresa Davis, the season represents an opportunity for the community theatre to stretch beyond what audiences have seen from the organization in the past.
“In the past, our productions have generally fit into well-known genres, with shows such as War of the Worlds, It’s a Wonderful Life, Dracula, Peter and the Starcatcher, and Nunsense,” Davis said. “Our previous seasons have also primarily been designed for adult actors, even when youth roles were available.”
This year, Davis said Artist Village wanted to step outside that model by exploring new genres and expanding its approach to casting and theatre education.
“It felt like the right time for Artist Village to grow, experiment and create opportunities for a broader range of artists and audiences,” she said.
That growth is being made possible in part through the Grassroots Arts Project Grant program. The Arts Council launched the program as part of a restructuring of its grant funding, with grants supporting smaller-scale arts, culture and history projects in Cumberland County. Funding for the program is supported in part by the North Carolina Arts Council Grassroots Allocation and the National Endowment for the Arts Grants for Art Projects program.
Davis said the $12,500 investment is particularly important because of the scope of what Artist Village hopes to accomplish this season.
“This season is ambitious for Artist Village in many ways, including financially,” Davis said. “We simply could not tackle a season of this scope without the generous grant funding we have received.”
The three productions are expected to provide artistic opportunities for approximately 60 artists and technicians from Hope Mills and the surrounding Sandhills area.
Something wicked, and funny, comes to Hope Mills
The season begins in October with Witches!? In Salem!?, a dark comedy by New York playwright Matt Cox set against the backdrop of the Salem Witch Trials.
The production examines the accused, accusers and bystanders caught in the hysteria while using humor and history to explore fear, conformity, power and injustice. It is also new territory for Artist Village.
“This dark comedy, written by New York playwright Matt Cox, is Artist Village’s first real dive into comedy, and certainly our first exploration of dark comedy,” Davis said.
Adding to the atmosphere will be the venue. The production will be staged at the historic Thomas Campbell Oakman Chapel, located along Hope Mills Lake at 3715 S. Main Street.
“The combination of the location, the subject matter, and the unexpected humor of the play creates something we believe will captivate both our actors and our audiences,” Davis said.
Artist Village’s website describes the production as “edu-tainment,” using an eighth-grade student guide to take audiences through the events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials.
Taking Christmas on the road
For the holidays, Artist Village will present Patricia Clapp’s The Toys Take Over Christmas, a family production about a hardhearted toymaker whose nearly magical creations long to leave his workshop and experience Christmas with children.
The story introduces audiences to characters including Tina, a fashionable doll; Sunny the rag doll; a wooden soldier; a timid clown and an assortment of other toys working to change their creator’s heart. But the holiday production will also mark another first for Artist Village: the theatre plans to take the show on the road.
“This production will also mark our first step into ‘tour life,’” Davis said.
Artist Village hopes to bring the production to a Hope Mills-area school and an assisted-living audience in addition to offering public performances in December.
Giving young people the theatre
The spring portion of the season represents perhaps the largest expansion of Artist Village’s educational mission. For the first time, the theatre’s spring production will be dedicated specifically to middle and high school students with Peter Pan Youth Edition.
The production will offer young participants more than the chance to perform. Artist Village plans to structure the experience as a theatre workshop in which students can learn about choreography, costumes, props, scenic design and the fundamentals of directing.
The goal is to introduce young people to the many ways they can participate in theatre—not just the roles audiences see under the stage lights. Auditions are planned for January 2027, with additional information expected near the end of 2026.
Artist Village Community Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to entertain, inform and educate youth and adults while enriching the cultural life of the community through the arts. The organization emphasizes inclusiveness, participation, quality and collaboration, with a vision of becoming a significant cultural asset in the Hope Mills area.
For Davis, however, the impact of the new season and its grant funding reaches beyond what happens onstage. Artist Village hopes performances will bring people into Hope Mills, where theatergoers may also visit local restaurants, shops and other businesses. At the same time, Davis hopes the season encourages cultural appreciation and artistic development.
“Most importantly, we want people to see that the arts belong to everyone,” Davis said. “Whether you are nine or nearly 80, whether you have years of experience or have never stepped on a stage, there should be a place for you in the arts.”
That philosophy extends to people who have no desire to perform. Artist Village relies heavily on volunteers for everything from set construction and sewing to greeting audiences and selling concessions.
“I always say that if you can operate anything from a paintbrush to a power tool, we have a need for you at Artist Village!” Davis said. “Whether you want to perform, build a set, sew a costume, sing, usher, volunteer or simply share our programs with a friend, there is a place for you,” Davis said. “We hope to see you in the Village!”
While financial support makes productions possible, Davis said community participation remains the organization's most valuable resource. Artist Village currently brings together a variety of participants, creating a place where people with different backgrounds, experience levels, and abilities can participate in the arts.
Before the curtain officially rises on the new season, Artist Village will invite the community to help support its upcoming productions with a pre-season murder mystery dinner theatre fundraiser Aug. 21–22. Set in October 1776 amid the turmoil of the American Revolution, the interactive mystery takes guests to the Beacon Tavern on the Massachusetts North Shore, where a spy has infiltrated the resistance and a suspicious colonist who is close to uncovering the culprit is killed before he can reveal the spy’s identity. Tavern guests must then unravel the clues, identify the killer, and bring the spy to justice.
The evening includes dinner featuring salad, meat or vegetarian lasagna, dessert, and soft drinks, with a cash bar available. Taking place at the Arts XL building at 214 Burges Street, all the proceeds will help Artist Village meet the costs of producing its 2026–27 season. For more information or tickets, visit their website at https://ww.artistvillagehm.

(Photo: Actors with the Artist Village pose for a photo in costumes for their 2025-26 production of Nunsense. The company will be performing three new productions for this next season. Photos courtesy of Artist Village)

As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, we will have opportunities to explore the people, struggles, and ideas that helped shape both the state and the country. Through the America 250 NC initiative, a series of traveling exhibits is making its way to museums, libraries, universities, and historic sites across the state, including several stops in Fayetteville and surrounding communities. From the experiences of people living in colonial North Carolina and the fight for independence to the evolving meaning of civil rights and who has been included in the promise of “We the People,” the exhibits offer visitors a chance to explore 250 years of history close to home.
Making Our Voices Heard: North Carolinians Fighting for Civil Rights
This exhibit looks at the long struggle to make the promises of American democracy apply to more North Carolinians. Rather than concentrating only on nationally famous civil-rights figures, it tells the stories of seven North Carolinians: Gertrude Weil, Henry Owl, Joe Lewis, Abraham Galloway, Ronald Mace, James Hunter and Willa Player.
Their stories demonstrate different ways people challenged injustice through petitioning, protesting, organizing, education, advocacy and civic participation. The larger themes include civil rights, freedom, democracy, civic responsibility and the ability of individuals to bring about change. The physical exhibit consists of ten banner panels.
Local opportunities: This exhibit is at The Museum of the Cape Fear now and will run until Aug. 31. It will also be at Fayetteville State University, from Sept. 14 to Nov. 23, and Raeford-Hoke Museum, from Dec. 7 to Feb. 22, 2027.
When Are We US?
This may be the broadest and most thought-provoking of the exhibits. Rather than treating American history as a finished story, it essentially asks: At different moments in history, who counted as part of “We the People”?
The eight-panel exhibit explores North Carolina history through immigration, integration, fundamental rights, emancipation, and voting rights. It uses historical documents, photographs/images, and recordings held by repositories around North Carolina and elsewhere.
That means visitors have the opportunity to encounter history through primary sources rather than simply reading a modern narrative about what happened. Some of those sources in the exhibit contain outdated or offensive terminology, which the exhibit acknowledges with a content warning.
Local opportunities: It comes to Fayetteville State University Sept. 15 and will be open until Nov. 23, followed by the Raeford-Hoke Museum Dec. 1 to Jan. 11, 2027.
People of Colonial North Carolina
This exhibit focuses on the people who actually lived in North Carolina during the Revolutionary era, emphasizing that there wasn't a single universal "North Carolina experience" of the Revolution.
Different communities faced very different choices involving freedom, loyalty, survival, identity, and political allegiance. Using maps, rare documents and illustrations, the seven-panel exhibit examines how the Revolution affected ordinary people's lives and the sometimes conflicting paths different groups took during the conflict.
This exhibit serves as a useful counterpoint to traditional Revolutionary War exhibits because the emphasis isn't simply on generals, battles, and famous Founders. It asks visitors to think about what the Revolution meant to the varied people living in colonial North Carolina.
Local opportunity: This one is coming to Cumberland County Public Library April 13, 2027 to June 23, 2027.
Forging a Nation: The American Revolution and the Path to Independence
The nine-panel exhibit traces North Carolina's role in the creation of the United States, beginning with protests against British rule and moving through the Revolutionary War and ultimately toward the creation of the Constitution.
It incorporates maps, historical documents, and everyday objects to show how North Carolinians experienced this transformative period. Importantly, the exhibit doesn't portray nation-building as something accomplished only by famous political leaders. It emphasizes the roles of ordinary people, conflict, political ideas, and personal conviction in shaping the state's Revolutionary history.
Local opportunities: It will come to Cumberland County Public Library Feb. 2, 2027 to April 13, 2027
March to Kings Mountain
This exhibit follows the Overmountain Men and their journey toward the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain during the American Revolution. Through maps, documents, and images of artifacts, the four-panel exhibit explores why these men decided to fight, what occurred during the battle, and the lasting significance of the Patriot victory.
Kings Mountain is particularly interesting because it allows visitors to look at the Revolution from the perspective of the Southern Campaign rather than concentrating on the better-known events around Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.
Local opportunity: This exhibit is scheduled for the Moore County Historical Association from April 16, 2027 to May 28, 2027.
With five America 250 NC traveling exhibits making stops in Fayetteville and surrounding communities, residents have a rare opportunity to experience the full collection without traveling far from home. Together, the exhibits span stories of revolution, independence, citizenship, civil rights and the ongoing effort to define the ideals of American democracy. As the country commemorates its 250th anniversary, visiting these exhibits offers more than a chance to learn about the past; it is an opportunity to come face to face with the people, documents, and stories that shaped North Carolina and the nation, and to consider how that history continues to influence the America we know today. For more information on these traveling exhibits and their local stops, visit https://www.america250.nc.gov/traveling-exhibits#WhenAreWeUs-543.

(Photo: America 250 NC has several traveling exhibits celebrating North Carolina's role in the independence of the United States of America. Photo courtesy of America 250 NC Facebook's page)

Karl Merritt has never seemed interested in writing the easy piece.
His books and opinion columns have dealt with faith, family, marriage, race, politics and the direction of the country. Some readers have agreed with him. Others have not. Merritt has learned to live with both.
For the former Fayetteville resident, writing is less about pleasing an audience than saying what he believes needs to be said.
“I simply write about what I believe God and circumstances call me to,” Merritt said. “Sell or not sell. I believe my calling is to write what I write.”
That conviction has been shaped by a life that moved through military service, ministry, business, and authorship.
Merritt spent 21 years in the Navy; an experience he said gave him a deeper appreciation for the United States and the sacrifices required to sustain it. Later, as an assistant pastor and pastor, his Christian faith became central to how he viewed the world and how he approached difficult subjects.
Those experiences eventually found their way onto the page.
His first book focused on his father’s life, preserving the story of a man shaped by hardship, faith and perseverance. Merritt later wrote about a marriage that endured for decades, using the relationship as a lens through which to examine commitment, partnership and lessons learned over time.
His writing then moved more directly into commentary.
Merritt said he has become increasingly willing to address topics others might avoid, particularly race. He rejects the idea that Black Americans must automatically accept the conclusion that America is fundamentally racist.
He calls that expectation “the rule of blackness.”
“Given that I am black, what I call ‘the rule of blackness’ requires that I agree and proclaim that America is a racist nation,” Merritt said. “I do not adhere to the rule.”
That position has made his writing controversial, especially among readers who see racism as a continuing and measurable force in American life.
Merritt’s argument is rooted heavily in his own experience and worldview. That makes it personal, but it also raises an important journalistic distinction: one person’s experience can help explain a perspective, but it cannot settle the larger question for everyone.
That tension is part of what makes Merritt worth profiling.
He is not difficult to understand because his views are unclear. Quite the opposite. He says exactly what he thinks, and he understands there may be consequences.
According to Merritt, those consequences became especially noticeable during the latter half of his years in Fayetteville.
He described his 21 years in the city as two very different periods. Early on, he felt accepted within the Black community. Later, he said, that changed as his public comments and writings moved away from what he believed others expected him to say about race and racism. He recalled being criticized, dismissed, and verbally attacked, but said he refused to soften his views to regain acceptance.
Merritt also said his time in Fayetteville sharpened his concerns about the direction of the country. In his view, too much public debate has become centered on race, grievance, and political manipulation, while issues such as family, faith, work ethic, and personal responsibility receive less attention.
Readers may challenge that interpretation, and some certainly will.
But Merritt’s writing has never depended on broad agreement.
He sees storytelling as a tool for making a point, not simply recounting an experience.
“I don’t tell stories for the sake of telling stories,” he said. “I use a story to make a point, clarify a thought.”
That philosophy runs through all three of his books.
Whether he is writing about his father, marriage, public policy or race, Merritt’s work is grounded in the belief that stories should lead somewhere. He wants readers to examine their own lives, question assumptions and decide what they believe.
His answer to what he hopes readers carry away from his books is simple: understand the circumstances of your life, seek God’s direction and do not give up.
Merritt no longer lives in Fayetteville, but the city remains part of his story.
It was where he served, wrote, worshipped, argued, lost relationships and tested his convictions in public.
That history explains much of who he is as a writer today.
You may agree with Karl Merritt.
You may disagree with him.
He has spent enough years writing to know both reactions are possible.
What matters to him is that the conversation happens at all. For more information or to purchase his books, you can contact Karl at https://www.karlmerritt.com/about-karl/

(Photo: Author Karl Merritt. Photo courtesy of Karl Merritt)

The Hope Mills nonprofit is building an inclusive hub where special needs families can find trusted resources, community and new possibilities.
You ever have that relationship where you share those inside things? The joke only the two of you get. The little thing that may not make sense to anyone else, but between you, it works.
Ryan Cretens has one of those things with his older brother Tyler, who is on the autism spectrum.
Tyler has a habit of calling out, “Yeah, yay,” and somewhere along the way, Ryan started calling it right back. It became their call-and-response, something that might look a little quirky from the outside but, between two brothers, needs no explanation.
“It’s just our thing,” Ryan said.
Ryan grew up watching people notice Tyler’s differences and sometimes stop there. Later, the difference in opportunity became harder to miss.
Ryan went away to college, played collegiate athletics on scholarship and moved into opportunities that continued his growth into adulthood. When he returned home, Tyler was still there, without work and without many of the same opportunities Ryan had experienced.
Ryan began asking: What if Tyler had been given more chances to pursue sports, higher education, employment, relationships or other experiences so many people take for granted?
“There is purpose there,” Ryan said of Tyler and others in the special needs community.
Ryan’s recognition of what Tyler had not been afforded eventually became something bigger than their relationship.
“Everybody has quirks, right? You have quirks, I have quirks, we’re all human at the end of the day,” Ryan said.
And as human beings, we all want connection: the opportunity to participate, belong and access the people and places that help us move forward.
For some families within the special needs community, resources may exist, but finding them can still be difficult. For Ryan, the missing piece
was often connection.
That connection he had learned to build with Tyler became part of something larger: helping special needs individuals and their families connect with people, resources and opportunities around them.
Ryan founded KWIRKZ in 2019, and it became a nonprofit in 2021. Today, the Hope Mills organization describes itself as “an inclusive hub for the special needs community.”
Even the unconventional K is intentional. Ryan wanted something that looked different enough to make people stop and wonder why. The spelling asks for the same thing KWIRKZ asks of the community: recognize what looks different, get curious about the why and look deeper.
KWIRKZ is working toward five pillars: social connection, education, employment, transportation and housing.
That starts with social connection.
“Let’s lead with some fun,” Ryan said.
The Hive of Hope Mills gives those connections a physical place to happen. Located at 3414 Bullard St., near Hope Mills Municipal Park, The Hive combines a food truck park with event and community gathering space.
The partnership grew out of a relationship already there. Kevin Grant, owner of The Hive and a family friend, had watched Ryan developing KWIRKZ and approached him several years ago with an idea of his own.
Grant envisioned a food truck park that would also serve as a place for community to gather, and he saw KWIRKZ as a natural part of that vision.
When The Hive opened, Ryan had a physical space where the mission could happen face to face.
According to Ryan, a Kick It for KWIRKZ event there drew roughly 70 to 75 people. Other events have included Bowling with Friends and Fishing with Friends, where Ryan has watched parents talk, exchange information and find others who understand their challenges.
“This is the mission happening in real time,” Ryan said.
That is where “inclusive hub” stops being website language and becomes a tangible community.
Ryan’s next step is making that same access easier beyond a single event or location.
Think about what most of us do when we need to find something quickly. We reach for our phones. We search. We open an app.
Ryan wants KWIRKZ to become that kind of resource for the special needs community.
KWIRKZ is developing an app designed to connect parents and guardians with resources while allowing organizations, employers, schools and service providers to connect back to families.
Ryan does not envision another static directory. He wants a trusted hub, what he described as a “conduit” for connections, where people can find what they need without piecing information together from scattered sources.
The app is intended to do digitally what KWIRKZ events already do in person: put people who need one another in the same place.
That includes other nonprofits.
Ryan sees organizations serving similar communities sometimes operating in silos, particularly when fundraising and grant funding enter the picture. But he does not see another nonprofit serving the special needs community as competition.
“We’re not trying to recreate the wheel,” Ryan said.
Instead, he wants KWIRKZ to build what he called the “connective tissue” among parents, guardians, nonprofits, businesses and other resources, allowing each organization to maintain its identity while helping families reach services and opportunities already available.
KWIRKZ is not trying to own all the dots. It is trying to connect them.
Beyond social connection, Ryan continues exploring how partnerships could strengthen the employment, transportation and housing pillars.
And this is where that unconventional K comes back into play.
KWIRKZ looks different on purpose. The unexpected spelling makes people pause. It invites the question: Why?
“The first step to growth is recognition,” Ryan said.
At first glance, someone may notice another person’s quirks. KWIRKZ asks them not to stop there: notice, get curious and make the connection.
For Ryan, KWIRKZ begins with getting people to notice what looks different. Its larger purpose is making sure they do not stop looking there. For more information about KWIRKZ, visit https://www.kwirkz.net/

(Photo: KWIRKZ, based out of Hope Mills, is an inclusive hub for the special needs community. Photo courtesy of KWIRKZ's Facebook page)