• Nov. 15 Historic Preservation Commission meeting at 5 p.m. at the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center. The purpose of the meeting is to review guidelines for the commission.

• Nov. 20 Public hearing for Case No. P17-40 at 7 p.m. at the Town of Hope Mills Regular Meeting. The meeting will be held in the Bill Luther Board Meeting Room in the Town Hall at 5770 Rockfish Rd.

• Nov. 20 Audit Finance Committee special meeting at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall Board Room to discuss the fiscal year 2017 audit.

• Dec. 7 Multimodal Congestion Management Plan Public Meeting No. 2 at Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center from 6-8 p.m. Open house starts at 6 p.m., presentation starts at 6:30 p.m. Several potential transportation alternatives will be presented to address transportation issues in Hope Mills. The Hope Mills Board of Commissioners may be attending the meeting, and there could be a possible quorum.

To learn more about the study, visit www.HopeMillsPlan.org. For more information, contact Joel Strickland of the Fayetteville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization at jstrickland@co.cumberland.nc.us or (910) 678-7622.

Paradise Acres presents Christmas in Paradise Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings from Thursday, Nov. 30 through Saturday, Dec. 23, from 5-9 p.m.

“Christmas in Paradise is a 12-acre park, and we are going to have it decorated inside and outside,” said Shane Taylor, owner of Paradise Acres. “We have been out here for 33 years, and
for the last five years, we have been aiming to do something different like this so that we can invite the public to Paradise Acres.”

Taylor added that they have been doing private events, so it was decided to open to the public to be able to serve and allow people to come out and enjoy Christmas.

The event will include Santa Claus, a train ride, marshmallow roasting, a holiday buffet, local entertainment, a children’s playground, Christmas lights and inflatables. “A bonfire will be set up outside to roast marshmallows,” said Taylor. “We will have an outside section where we will sell fried moon pies, Oreos, Brunswick stew, hot chocolate and apple cider.”

Taylor added that Santa Claus will be onsite and it is free to take selfies with Santa. Every night there will be live entertainment featuring performances by two bands and local students.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association of North Carolina. “My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease years ago, and we are taking care of her now,” said Taylor. “We will have a couple of boxes set up so that you can give directly to the Alzheimer’s Association, and we will also give back a percentage of the proceeds at the end of Christmas.

“We just want people to feel free to come out and enjoy our family-friendly venue during the holiday season.”

Admission is free. Reserved seating for large groups is available. The buffet dinner is from 5–9 p.m. The cost is $14 for adults and $8 for children 10 and under. The train ride is $2 and the in-
flatables are $1. Paradise Acres is located at 1965 John McMillan Road. For more information, call (910) 424-2779.

Have you ever wanted to attend college but felt as if your disability prohibited you from accomplishing your academic goals? If you answered yes, now is the time to pursue your educational dreams. Fayetteville Technical Community College renders its services to students who require accommodations based on mental, emotional or physical impairments through its own Disability Support Services Office.

The DSSO is an exclusive entity within Student Services at FTCC and, as a renowned equal opportunity learning and educational institution, takes great pride in assisting students online and on campus who have disabilities. The academic rigor of curriculum courses does not change based on the diagnosis or disorder of the student. The services and accommodations provided by the department are implemented to promote fairness within education. The purpose of quality education is to retain knowledge and to foster career opportunities through a mastery level of academic retention.

FTCC policies and procedures, which can be found on the FTCC website, comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is essential to FTCC that its students do not undergo discrimination or exclusion from participating in college events and programs and that they are not denied curriculum or non-curriculum educational activities and opportunities based on any form of a medically diagnosed disability. All prospective students applying to FTCC arewelcome to visit the DSSO to obtain information before enrolling into programs offered at FTCC. The team will be glad to answer any questions regarding ADA compliance and services provided to the public. When applying to FTCC, future students are provided with information about where and how to apply for disability services. Once a student submits the proper documentation through the DSSO, accommodations will be granted immediately.

The DSSO promptly sends accommodations to faculty members after the student completes required procedures. It is later the student’s responsibility to follow a simple step-by-step process to renew accommodations for each semester. The appropriate documents to receive and to maintain academic accommodations consist of a valid medical evaluation that must come from a licensed psychological or medical provider within the last five years. If students cannot provide required medical information, some temporary services may be determined and arranged on a case-by-case basis.

Those receiving services provided by the DSSO should have no concern about their data being vulnerable to public exposure, as the department responsibly guarantees secure, ethical and legal protocols for protecting students’ welfare. Students’ medical information is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and is considered confidential.

The DSSO is located at the Tony Rand Student Center, Room 127. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time so that we may respond to questions or concerns regarding student accommodations, ADA compliance or professional assistance. At FTCC, student success is our No. 1 priority. We look forward to working with you.

Thanksgiving weekend, The Heart of Christmas Show will bring a spectacularly choreographed and elaborately costumed show to the Crown Coliseum. The show has one goal: giving fayetteville children a platform to use their singing and dancing talents to raise funds for other local children in need. Showtimes are Nov. 25 at 1 and 7 p.m. and Nov. 26 at 3 p.m.

Fayetteville native Laura Stevens, creator of The HOC Show, said the show’s 19-years-and-counting popularity came as a surprise; it was never intended to be more than a one-time event. It started when Stevens, who gives vocal performance lessons out of her home, decided to take a group of her students to the Great American Gospel Fest in 1999 at Alabama Theatre in Myrtle Beach. “I just wanted them to be able to have other experiences vocally and performing-wise,” she said.

The girls performed under the moniker Voices of the Heart. They had only existed as a group for one year. It was their first time at a competition, and they were the first group to push the envelope by performing gospel music with choreography. Out of 267 acts from all over the U.S., they won first place in the nationally televised event.

Though Voices of the Heart has not returned to any competitions since – Stevens said that’s not the group’s purpose – that win did encourage her to view the show as a legitimate offering the
Fayetteville community could enjoy.

“Now let’s turn and do something good with this,” she remembers telling her girls. She decided to put the show on at the Crown as a fundraiser in which 100 percent of the proceeds would benefit local organizations that work with children. “I never intended for it to go on this long – never – but it has because the response was so great,” she said. “The first time we gave away Money, it was only $8,000.... Well, that’s a totally different story today.”

To date, The HOC Show has raised over $700,000 and donated all of it to organizations like Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation’s Friends of Children, the Child Advocacy Center, the Autism Society of Cumberland County, Agape Pregnancy Support Services, Falcon Children’s Home and Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina.

Though homegrown in the truest sense of the word, The HOC Show boasts the quality and professionalism of a big-city production. It’s one of the best-attended shows at the Crown every year, and it’s got costume, prop and scene changes that put it on par with New York City’s Rockettes. Voices of the Heart, which today is comprised of five girls, is joined onstage for over 30 acts put on by 36 performers ages 6 to 18. These 36 performers include, in addition to Stevens’ vocal performance students, dancers from Elite Dance Center.

“Seriously, I have people from New York stop by and say, ‘I haven’t seen a show in New York like this. This is amazing,’” Stevens said. “We have just raised ourselves up right here in little ole’ Fayetteville. We have people come in from Virginia, Florida, Myrtle Beach, Raleigh – from all over.”

Some acts, like the manger scene in the second half of the show, are too special and important to ever be changed much, Stevens said. But she does implement at least a few new songs each year, and this year’s show has been significantly updated with never-before-seen numbers.

New acts include a segment from “Elf: The Musical,” a ’50s-themed holiday medley, a performance of “Light a Candle,” new quartet and quintet songs, an adorable rendition of “I Want a
Hippopotamus for Christmas” from the younger cast members and a finale based on the Rascal Flatts version of “Joy to the World.” Also new in the second half is a number that explores the
way the virgin Mary must have felt when she first found out she was pregnant.

“The song shows her turmoil and her coming to an understanding that God was with her every step of the way,” Stevens said. “The way it’s going to come across is just really, really beautiful.”

Stevens said one of the best and most common comments she hears from audience members is that during the show they forget, and afterward can’t believe, that all the performers are so young. “W.C. Powers from Powers Swain Chevrolet said, ‘It’s CPR for Christmas,’” Stevens said.

“Come to The Heart of Christmas Show and get away for a few minutes. Remember what Christmas was like when you were young.... That’s the magic of (the show). It will definitely take to you to a place about the real meaning of Christmas and the fun of Christmas and the joy and outreach. I don’t think there’s an element of Christmas that (the show) doesn’t touch.”

Perhaps it’s the way the Christmas spirit is at work behind the scenes that makes the performances shine so brightly. The school-aged performers sacrifice every Saturday from Labor Day until the show at the end of November – about two and a half months – to rehearse.

“The children understand that they’re raising money with their talents to help children who are not as fortunate,” Stevens said. “When you see them performing, you see this is a group of young
people who are energized about life and about what they’re doing.... That’s going to carry them into adulthood, (the idea that) we’re here for each other, and this is something (they) can do at a very young age. I hope and pray... they will always have that energy and passion to do something good for somebody else because they can and are willing to.”

Stevens’ backstage crew is comprised of parents who take a week off of work to help pull curtains, fix costumes, paint, build props and do hair.

“Who takes vacation time to work a show?” Stevens asked. “It’s strengthening bonds as all these families do this together. I don’t have people pulling the curtains who don’t care. Nobody’s getting paid.”

Also behind the scenes are the hundreds of local sponsors who make the purchase of costumes, props and the rented stage possible. “We are so lovingly supported by this community,” Stevens said. “They’re there every year because they love the show, even when their business is tight financially.”

The combination of local roots, altruistic motive and top-notch quality is what makes The Heart of Christmas Show an annual event to enjoy and take pride in for families in Cumberland County
and beyond.

“Support the show; come and see,” Stevens said. “Once you come once, you’re going to come again.... This is Fayetteville’s own shown. Look at the outreach; this is a show Fayetteville can truly be proud of.”

Visit www.heartofchristmasshow.com to purchase tickets for The Heart of Christmas Show on Nov. 25 and 26.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." – Luke 6:31

The CARE Clinic was established in 1993. It’s run by volunteers – staff members, doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, dental assistants, pharmacy assistants, chiropractors, social workers and nutritionists. The clinic relies solely on donations, grants and whatever monies fundraisers bring in. The CARE Clinic offers free health care to eligible uninsured, low-income adults who live in Cumberland County and the surrounding area. Serving selflessly to keep their community healthy, the clinic volunteers provide basic medical care, dental extractions, chiropractic care, lab tests, diagnostic tests, pharmacy service, health education, community resource information, social services are referrals to specialists.

Meet Kimberly. Originally from Ohio, she’s called Fayetteville home for more than three decades. Making a living as a server in local eateries meant Kimberly did not have medical insurance. That wasn’t a problem until she started having trouble with her teeth. As a server, Kimberly’s smile is a big part of her job, so much so that it can impact her earnings. When the pain became unbearable, she knew she had to do something about it. A friend told Kimberly about The CARE Clinic. She decided to see if they could help her.

The team there extracted her tooth, giving Kimberly immediate relief. “This place is awesome! You are very welcoming and have been very wonderful to me,” Kimberly said.

Meet Angela. When Angela moved to Fayetteville in 2014, she moved into an apartment. Two years later, Hurricane Matthew came through, and, like so many in the area, Angela’s place was flooded. Shortly after that, Angela and her children started getting sick – so sick that Angela sent her children to live out of state while she figured things out. She did some digging and learned that there was black mold growing in her apartment. Having no insurance, Angela turned to The CARE Clinic and found the medical care she needed.

“The CARE Clinic is the only place to see me. I just want to say thank you to The CARE Clinic for everything,” she said.

For the volunteers at the clinic, doing a good deed is often its own reward. Sometimes, there are other forces at play, though.

Dr. Brandt Wood has a strong faith and volunteers because he believes in doing what he can to make a difference. “I began volunteering as a way to give back to those in need, to do God’s mission here on Earth,” Wood said.

Wood is an OB/GYN at Fayetteville Woman’s Care. He received his medical degree in 1997 from Des Moines Medical University. Wood completed his internship and residency at Christiana Care Hospital in Newark, Delaware, in 2002. The Woods moved to Fayetteville in 2004 when Wood joined Fayetteville Woman’s Care. Wood’s desire to help people is strong. Before putting his skills to use at The CARE Clinic, he started a Medical Mission Team that traveled to Dominica and Romania.

While the services at the clinic are free, donations are what keep the lights on and the doors open. Running a high-quality clinic is a massive undertaking. You don’t have to be a medical professional to make a difference. Volunteers are welcome, as are monetary donations. Learn more about The CARE Clinic and how you can help at www.thecareclinic.org.

The CARE Clinic is open Tuesday and Thursday and the second and fourth Wednesday of the month from 5:30-8:30 p.m. by appointment only. Call (910) 485-0555 to make an appointment or to learn more.

Fayetteville’s new city council is set to be sworn in next month. Mitch Colvin’s election as mayor came despite being outspent two-to-one and being characterized by Mayor Nat Robertson as unfit for office. There will be two fresh faces, and two former members will return to council. Newcomers include former councilmen D.J. Haire and Johnny Dawkins, who will represent Districts 4 and 5 respectively. Tyrone Williams and Tisha Waddell will represent Districts 2 and 3. Incumbents Ted Mohn, Bill Crisp, Larry Wright, Kathy Jensen and Jim Arp won re-election.

Elsewhere in Cumberland County, Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner won a fourth term by defeating Keith Bowen. Mike Mitchell, Meg Larson, Jerry Legge, Pat Edwards and Jessie Bellflowers will comprise the new town board of commissioners. Mitchell was the leading vote-getter. Incumbent commissioner Bryan Marley lost his bid for re-election.

Warner observed that the three newcomers have been involved in civic affairs for some time. Mitchell is a former mayor pro tem. Bellflowers is chairman of the town Lake Advisory Committee, and Larson has been a political observer. Commissioner Jerry Legge will serve his seventh term. Also in Hope Mills, 57 percent of the 1,000 voters favored a ballot issue authorizing the on-premises sale of malt beverages.

Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey retired. Mayor Pro Tem Larry Dobbins becomes the new chief executive. Incumbent Aldermen James O’Garra, Fredricka Sutherland and James Christian remain on the board. Political newcomers Jackie Jackson and Sona Cooper fill out the five-member board of aldermen. In Stedman, Martin “Mardy” Jones was elected mayor. Jon Wayne Mosley and Paul Pirro won election to the board of commissioners.

In the newly-incorporated town of Eastover, Charles G. McLaurin won his unopposed election for mayor. Retired educator Lawrence Buffaloe, Bruce Sykes and Randy Lee were elected to the town council.

In Wade, longtime mayor Joe Dixon was unopposed. Johnny Lanthorn, Kenny Griffin, Ray Edwards, John Nunnery and Johnny Sawyer will serve on the board of commissioners.

Marie Butler will stay on as mayor of Linden. Barbara Denning, Larry Overby, Bobby Garner, Ronnie Maness and Frances Collier were elected to the Linden Board of Commissioners.

Willie Burnett was re-elected mayor of Godwin. Town commissioners include Donald McIntyre, George Cooper Jr., Ronald McNeil and Darold Dugger.

And in Falcon, Clifton Turpin Jr. was re-elected mayor. Wiley Clark, Jerry Lucas Sr., Rayford Dunning and John Gipson were elected to the board of commissioners. Gipson was a write-in candidate.

Fayetteville airport gets a makeover

A multimillion-dollar renovation of Fayetteville Regional Airport is underway. It’s the first major makeover of the local airport in more than 30 years, although smaller improvements were made in 1999, 2003 and 2006. Renovations will begin with the demolition of the original Concourse A, which is still in use. It was built in 1969. The replacement Concourse A will include two second level jet bridges with a ground-loading gate to provide direct service access to aircraft.

This first phase of the terminal renovation willcost $17.6 million in federal, state and airport funds. The bulk of it, nearly $14 million, is part of an estimated $30 million in Federal Aviation Administration grants awarded the airport by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Renovations will also include replacement and relocation of the restaurant, which will be designed to primarily serve flight passengers.

The total project is tentatively divided into three phases. Additional value engineering must be completed to determine final project costs, said Airport Director Brad Whited. The Fayetteville Regional Airport services 500,000 customers annually. This portion of the renovation project is expected to take 18 months. The travelers will not be affected by the work.

Firefighting danger

Municipal and rural firefighters deal with hazardous situations each time they respond to alarms. Some fires are preventable and should never have occurred. A case in point was a mobile home fire off Wildwood Drive in West Fayetteville last week. It was the third fire in the trailer since early summer.

“The mobile home was the subject of a fire in July with minor exterior damage,” said city spokesman Nathan Walls. The blaze on July 1 gutted the mobile home, rendering it uninhabitable, said Fire Marshall Michael Martin.

Firefighters returned to the Lafayette Plantation Mobile Home Park the next day to extinguish a blaze that apparently was rekindled from the day before. Utilities were pulled at that time, Martin said.

“Structures determined to be dangerous are set for hearings, and subsequent orders to repair or demolish them may be issued,” Walls said. “We initiated a substandard building hearing and subsequent order to repair with a compliance date of Jan. 23, 2018.”

The city’s governing council must eventually issue the order to remove the burned-out hulk. Last week, the trailer flared up again, and was fully engulfed in flames when first responders from Fire Station 12 arrived.

“This doublewide was vacant... and because of the previous fires, a defensive attack was used to gain control,... which provided for a safer entry to confirm no one was present,” said Battalion Chief David Hargis, who was the fire scene commander. Hargis said none of his firefighters were hurt.

A look at city committees

Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson started installing committees soon after he took office four years ago. Since then, he’s established several standing committees of council members.

When Robertson served on city council in the 1990s, the body had a few working committees. So far, the mayor has created eight committees. Robertson appointed himself to five of the small groups, which number from three to five members. Three committees are hybrid groups to include PWC representatives. One also includes a county commissioner.

Robertson appointed Mayor Pro Tem Mitch Colvin to four committees and named him chairman of two of them. Councilman Bill Crisp sits on five committees. Councilmen Chalmers McDougald and Larry Wright have one committee assignment each.

Whether Mayor-elect Colvin will continue the practice remains to be seen. There’s a ninth committee, but it’s been around for nearly 10 years and determines citizen appointments to various municipal boards and commissions. It was the only standing committee prior to Robertson taking office.

The other groups deal with such issues as the parks and recreation bond spending, the baseball stadium, city-county emergency communications, fleet maintenance, city-county sales tax, Shaw Heights annexation, gateway beautification and city auditing.

Combatting addiction one step at a time

A small Moore County firm may have a solution to part of the country’s ongoing opioid epidemic. DisposeRx Inc. of Southern Pines has developed a compound that, when combined with water, virtually destroys unused and unwanted prescription drugs. It becomes a biodegradable goo that makes the meds impossible to use. And, they can be thrown in the trash.

Taking prescription opioids non-medically is considered one of the ways people get addicted to drugs. Unwanted or expired prescriptions are an easy source for those wanting to abuse medications, according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

“Our passion is to find a way to stop this cycle of addiction,” John Holaday, the company’s co-founder, said. His concept is to include a packet of DisposeRx with each prescription when it’s picked up from the pharmacy. It only costs $1.50. Ten thousand of the packets have already been distributed.

In North Carolina, more than 12,000 people died from opioid-related overdoses between 1999 and 2016, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. “It’s important to get these drugs out of circulation,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., whose district includes Southern Pines.

Passing of a true public servant

Hope Mills has lost a longtime town commissioner. Mayor Pro Tem Robert “Bob” Gorman Sr., 71, died Nov. 4. Gorman served on the Town Board of Commissioners for 14 years. He was a 24-year Air Force veteran.

“He really was a great man,” said Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner, who regarded Gorman as a close friend and professional colleague. Gorman was a native of Wilmington and later lived in Asheville before settling in Hope Mills.

In his book “Jesus, Interrupted,” Bart Erhman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said, “Within three hundred years Jesus went from being a Jewish apocalyptic prophet to being God himself, a member of the Trinity. Early Christianity is nothing if not remarkable.” Erhman is an atheist and is considered one of the leading scholars in New Testament studies. Through his class, he serves as an “evangelist for atheism,” seeking to convert Christians to skepticism and atheism. Professors and scholars like Erhman are why the church needs Christian apologetics.

Christian apologetics is simply the methods and means of defending the Christian faith. In 1 Peter 3:15, believers are commanded to be ready to provide an answer for their faith. We call this “doing apologetics.”

The goal of Carolina College of Biblical Studies’ first lecture series, “The Defending the Faith Conference,” was to help believers develop a robust understanding of some of the basic ways to defend their faith as well as help believers grapple with some of the most common arguments against Christianity.

This conference featured world-renowned apologist Dr. Norman Geisler, who has written over 100 books on the subject (that is about 70 more books than Erhman has published). Other leading apologists, including some of CCBS’ own alumni and faculty, also presented and dialogued to serve the church by helping believers contend for the faith once and for all handed down to the saints (Jude 3).

Geisler addressed the inerrancy debate and why the topic is of the utmost importance for believers. A discussion followed regarding how believers can know that they know the meaning of Scriptures in a world that believes truth is entirely subjective.

The conference also offered eight unique breakout sessions covering topics like the historicity of the resurrection, answering the problem of evil, dealing with postmodernism, understanding the reliability of the Bible and more. Each breakout session was offered twice to allow attendees the chance to attend half of the breakouts and both plenary sessions. That way, everyone could attend the breakouts that would benefit them the most.

The speakers had a lay-audience in mind and sought to offer practical advice and information to help equip the saints in evangelization, teaching and responding to the challenges of culture and anti-Christian rhetoric. This conference was a wonderful opportunity to receive world-class training and build a foundation for further studies in how to defend the faith.

To learn more about CCBS’ upcoming lectures, visit www.ccbs.edu.

Last May, just after the N.C. High School Athletic Association Board of Directors voted to use MaxPreps rankings when putting together this year’s state high school playoff brackets, I spoke with Patty Evers. Evers represents our region on the board, serving as girls’ basketball coach and athletic director at East Bladen High School.

She didn’t support using MaxPreps and had strong reasons as to why.

“I’m not for a ranking system in high school,’’ she said. “How do you give somebody a ranking?’’

She cited last year’s girls’ basketball season as an example. Jacksonville Northside was consistently ranked ahead of her East Bladen team by MaxPreps. “We met them in the regional and beat them by 17,’’ Evers said. “How do you know who’s good and who’s not? Who’s going to do all that research?’’

Another problem Evers has with rankings, and one that impacts Cumberland County: how do you rank teams in a split conference, which has schools of different classifications?

In a split league, Evers noted, you have to play schools not the same size, and if you’re among the bigger schools in the league, that’s a liability. It’s also a liability if you’re in a big conference like the Patriotic Athletic and many of the teams on your schedule that you’re forced to play are considerably weaker.

“Look at your geographic area,’’ Evers said. “We’re not going to travel three hours to beef up our schedule because we can’t afford the gas.’’

So how should the NCHSAA address the problem? First, I’d do away with MaxPreps rankings. I don’t think strength of schedule is fair in a high school setting when schools are locked into playing teams they have no choice over playing.

I have no problem with ranking teams by overall records, but let’s take the whole record, no dropping games for any reason.

When you seed, seed conference champions first, then everybody else by records.

I also think you’ve got to stop showing too much preference to split conference teams that don’t win the conference title. Set a minimum win total to qualify for the playoffs, like the NCAA does for bowls. If you don’t make it, then use a bye or give it to a deserving wild card that didn’t qualify otherwise.

I hope this issue is addressed quickly and fixed before we disappoint many more teams.

The record: 79-22

I made a strong rebound from the disaster of 4-4, going 6-1. The season record is 79-22, 78.2 percent.

Rocky Mount at Terry Sanford – As D.K. Sports Page co-host Trey Edge noted earlier this week, good things have happened to Terry Sanford when the Bulldogs met Rocky Mount in the state playoffs. Let’s see if that will take place again.
Terry Sanford 28, Rocky Mount 14.

West Carteret at E.E. Smith – The big problem for the Golden Bulls this week is shaking off the disappointment from a tough loss to Terry Sanford and focusing on the playoff challenge ahead. If Smith plays like it’s capable, they should be headed to the second round.
E.E. Smith 24, West Carteret 12.

South View at Jamestown Ragsdale – Ragsdale has a rich tradition, going back to the '70s when they battled East Bladen to a 16-16 tie in the state title game in Elizabethtown. I’d like to pick South View, but I think this will be a tall order for the Tigers.
Ragsdale 21, South View 14.

Cape Fear at Hillsborough Orange – I’m hoping that Orange takes the 11th-seeded Colts lightly. I’m also hoping that some of Cape Fear’s numerous walking wounded, like quarterback Justice Galloway-Velazquez and running back Zaire Boykin, are going to be able to suit up and play Friday.
Cape Fear 22, Hillsborough Orange 20.

Raleigh Millbrook at Jack Britt – Millbrook was the top Raleigh football power back in the day before all the newcomers stole the show. The Wildcats aren’t the same program they were back then, and I think the Buccaneers can pull off a win at home.
Jack Britt 24, Raleigh Millbrook 21.

Westover at Southern Nash – This will be a good experience for the Wolverines, even though I don’t think the outcome is going to be especially positive.
Southern Nash 30, Westover 12.

Seventy-First at Durham Jordan – Once again, the Falcons get the short end of the stick and have to travel to play a team with a record worse than theirs. The reward, however, should be a first-round playoff win for Duran McLaurin’s team.
Seventy-First 21, Durham Jordan 7.

Other games

Charlotte Latin 24, Trinity Christian 20.

Village Christian 29, Harrells Christian 14.

Alexia Cross

Gray’s Creek

• Senior

• Cross country/soccer/track

Cross has a 3.92 grade point average.

She is active in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Student Government Association, National Honor Society, Girls Expecting More Success, Future Farmers of America, Art Club and Thespian Honors Society.

She is also her school’s yearbook editor.

Michael Wright

Terry Sanford

• Senior

• Football

Wright is an offensive lineman with a 5.0 grade point average.

He is active in Student Government Association and also plays baseball.

The banner hanging on the soccer field fence listing the state championships won by the Fayetteville Academy boys’ soccer team is going to have to be updated. Again.

The Eagles brought home title No. 16 recently when they defeated Coastal Christian 3-1 for the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 2-A title.

Since the string of championships began with the first one in 1984, that’s an incredible average of a state title just shy of one every two years.

Nine of those championships were engineered by one coach, Andrew McCarthy, who took over the program in 2001. McCarthy has been aided by another former Eagle head coach, Jimmy Maher, who now serves as McCarthy’s assistant.

Talking with players from this year’s team, it’s easy to see the respect and admiration they have for the coaching duo that has guided this school to unprecedented success.

“They know everything about soccer,’’ said Marcos de Paz, a senior and the leading scorer on this year’s Eagle team. “We just have to look at them and learn.’’

Julian Barbaro said the work of McCarthy and Maher goes far beyond practice. “They’re always motivating you to be the best you can, like giving us extra things like summer workouts starting in June,’’ he said. “They give us everything they possibly can, which leads to big things.’’

Drayton Smith said it’s a two-way street for the players, who want to perform to the best of their ability to please their coaches. “They are just great people,’’ he said. “You want to play to the best of your ability just for them. Making them happy makes you extremely happy. They are great people on and off the field.’’

Goalkeeper Carter Boliek thinks what makes McCarthy and Maher a great team is they know how to balance work with play. “They know when it’s time to joke around and have fun,’’ he said. “But when it comes to practice, it’s all business. And when it comes to games, it’s all business.

“We can still have fun, but they really take it seriously, and I think it translates into the team taking it seriously and us giving our best effort.’’

With nine state champions to his credit, McCarthy – like all coaches – hates the question about how the current team stacks up against his previous ones, but he still tried to give a good answer.

“We’ve certainly had more talented teams,’’ he said, “but from the beginning, there was always potential. It was definitely a together group, and the team chemistry was very good.’’

McCarthy agreed with the players that the relationship he has with Maher is important.

“We’ve known each other for 20 plus years,’’ he said. “I have the utmost respect for him, and he has the utmost respect for me.’’

That includes the ability to question each other and offer critical advice. “I think it’s a comfort level of being able to tell each other things,’’ McCarthy said. “I trust him implicitly.’’

If there was a turning point to the season, McCarthy thinks it came after a tough overtime win late in the season against Cape Fear Academy. “That was the last game going into the playoffs,’’ he said. “That week, practice was not good the first two days, and we had a meeting about it.’’

McCarthy said some of his past teams might not have been able to get over that hurdle, but this team did.

“We rallied well and really got together,’’ he said. “We were playing really well in the playoffs.’’

One player McCarthy pointed to as a key to the good chemistry on the team was newcomer Hudson Zeisman. “He’s a fun-loving kid who’s also a leader,’’ McCarthy said.

McCarthy added that leadership as much as anything is critical to that mysterious thing called chemistry. “Sometimes when you try to create team chemistry, it backfires. You’ve got to let it flow and monitor it and try to make a few subtle suggestions. But the key is good leadership. The team chemistry normally takes care of itself.’’

The Eagles lose some key seniors like de Paz and Boliek, but McCarthy is optimistic about 2018.

“We’re always excited,’’ he said. “We feel it will be a good year again.’’

PHOTOS: Top: The Eagles are adding another year to the banner. Bottom: L-R: Drayton Smith, Marcos de Paz, Coach Andrew McCarthy, Carter Boliek, Julian Barbaro

When it comes to high school athletics, I’m old school and make no apologies for it. During my years at Swain County and later West Rowan, you lived in a community and you attended the school where your home was.

Fast forward to the 21st century. Yes, I know, times are different. Kids, and more often their parents, are driven to look for the best deal, the best opportunity.

Sometimes it’s for a good reason, like improved educational opportunities. But when it’s solely for sports, especially basketball, which seems to be the prime game where it’s done, I tend to raise an eyebrow as to why. They move around from school to school to find the best athletic situation for a youngster they think is the next LeBron James.

I had a great conversation recently with Homar Ramirez Jr., head of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association. He shared this observation with me: “It’s just a matter of the climate of athletics as a whole, the expectations of our coaches, expectations parents have on their kids, and I’d call those unrealistic. But that’s not unique to us.’’

He’s absolutely right. It goes to the highest levels of sports, like the NBA, where we see the top stars congregating to one team.

Michael Wilbon, who appears on the ESPN show “Pardon The Interruption,” nailed it recently when he talked about this trend of stars flocking together. He blamed it on what he called “massive egos and the AAU mentality.’’

I couldn’t agree more. It’s all about individual stardom and glory. Sports is supposed to be about teamwork, pulling together, all the oars rowing in sync, no matter if the arm doing the rowing is heavily muscled or a little flabby, or if the skin on that arm is black, white, red or yellow.

Maybe it’s time for the parents who have their kids on the superstar track to skip high school sports and just let their children play for AAU teams, where the big concern is working on your dunks and your crossover and looking good for the college coaches, who rarely darken high school gyms anymore.

Let’s leave high school athletics for the kids and coaches who work hard, play together, develop teamork and other skills that will serve them well in life.

• Congratulations to a number of Cumberland County baseball stars who have either signed college offers or will shortly.

Heading the list is Terry Sanford’s Christian Jayne, who will commit to East Carolina in a ceremony today in the media center at Terry Sanford.

Jayne is enjoying an outstanding year as the quarterback for Terry Sanford, but baseball is his first love.

Last season he was 4-0 with a 1.21 earned run average. He had 18 strikeouts in 17.1 innings.

He was also one of the county’s top hitters with a .373 average, leading the county in hits with 31. He had seven doubles, two homers and drove in 17 runs.

A trio of Jack Britt players signed last Friday. Brennen Herbert chose Appalachian State, Nick Lee picked Wake Tech and Brendan Shea chose Peace.

Herbert batted .337 with 29 hits and 25 RBIs.

Lee was 3-4 as a pitcher with a 1.43 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 44 innings.

Shea was 1-3 as a pitcher with a 4.33 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 21 innings.

Homa Ramirez Jr. is starting his third year as executive director of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association.

He recently paid a visit to Fayetteville and was a spectator at Fayetteville Academy’s semifinal round game in the NCISAA 2-A soccer tournament.

While there are no major issues confronting the NCISAA at the moment, Ramirez said growing the association would be a welcome improvement.

“We have 93 schools in our association,’’ he said. “Parity is a good thing, but when you don’t have a lot of teams, you tend not to have that depth in the playoff experience.’’

In a perfect world, Ramirez would like to see membership increase to 120 schools, which would be a good fit with a plan to expand from three classifications to four. “A four-class system would not only be competitive, but more well-rounded,’’ he said.

There have been some complaints made about the outside influence being exerted in some sports in the NCISAA, notably AAU basketball. Ramirez is aware of the concerns and said the organization’s handbook is regularly revised so the rules and processes of the NCISAA are clearly understood.

“When red flags are raised, we make the phone calls, and we visit the schools,’ he said. “We investigate if that’s the term you want to use. But a lot of the situations that come about are hearsay, and there’s not a lot you can do with that.’’

While he doesn’t think these problems are rampant in the NCISAA, he said the organization has to be realistic. “Are their people pushing the envelope?’’ he said. “We have concerns about that. But it’s not the majority by any stretch.’’

Ramirez is looking to a couple of pilot programs that are designed to increase participation opportunities for member schools.

In football, two schools in the northeast corner of the state, Northeast and Hobgood, will be allowed to combine their athletes to field a football team. “We want to assess it to see if it’s a good experience and if we want to offer it to schools looking to start a program,’’ he said.

Another pilot program in basketball will have every boys’ and girls’ team in the state qualify for the postseason.

“We want to give these young people a chance to see what happens on the field,’’ he said.

Another big change for the association is the relocating of its headquarters from Asheville to the metro Charlotte area at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“People can come to the state office and we’ll show them our history that we’re proud of,’’ Ramirez said. “We’re also more centrally located for our member schools.’’

PHOTO: Homar Ramirez Jr., NCISAA executive director

It’s hard to earn the title of “classic,” and even more so to be labelled a cult classic. Can a story and its characters withstand the test of time? Find out on Nov. 11 at the Crown.

“Dirty Dancing” is one of a very few stories that can and has. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the original film’s premiere. It was a commercial success and a pop culture phenomenon that managed to reinvent itself onstage decades later.

“Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage” will have an exclusive one-night show at the Crown Theatre Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

According to Broadway World, what began in 2001 as an eight-week staged workshop in Manhattan was parlayed into a sensation in its own right. The official stage premiere at the Theatre Royal in Australia in 2004 sold more than 200,000 tickets in a six-month run. Its five-year run at London’s West End is the longest-running production in the theater’s history. The highest advance sales in European history occurred when “Dirty Dancing” premiered in Germany in 2006.

But what’s even more special for Fayetteville is that one of its own has been cast in the North American tour.

Nickolaus Colõn, born and raised in Fayetteville, plays Billy Kosteki (Johnny’s cousin). Colõn started taking acting classes at the age of 7 at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, where he would continue to perform for 10 years. He went on to graduate from the renowned University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a degree in drama in 2015.

When asked what it was like returning to his old stomping grounds with a huge company at his back, Colõn said, “I almost cried when I saw the touring sheet. You can’t ask for something more than that. It’s not about fame. It’s not about fortune. It’s just about this. I get to come back and make a career out of performing these amazing stories, especially for my hometown.”

This being the fourth year of the North American tour, there’s both old and new blood in the production. Sarna Lapine, fresh off of directing Jake Gyllenhaal in “Sunday in the Park with George,” is its new director. She is joined by the show’s original music supervisor, Conrad Helfrich, and choreographer Michele Lynch. Along with the classic songs from the film, several more than that. It’s not about fame. It’s not about fortune. It’s just about this. I get to come back and make a career out of performing these amazing stories, especially for my hometown.” This being the fourth year of the North American tour, there’s both old and new blood in the production. Sarna Lapine, fresh off of directing Jake Gyllenhaal in “Sunday in the Park with George,” is its new director. She is joined by the show’s original music supervisor, Conrad Helfrich, and choreographer Michele Lynch. Along with the classic songs from the film, several morepieces have been added to the set list.

Eleanor Bergstein, who wrote the screenplay for the film, has also been at the helm of the stage adaptation since the start. In an article for Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer, Bergstein said, “This is the summer that Martin Luther King made his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, and that was very important to me, because three months later, (Robert) Kennedy is assassinated. This is the last summer that you believed you could reach out your hand and change the world.”

Bergstein had also described her desire to not disappoint fans of the movie with a subpar stage adaptation.

Colõn insists audiences are in for something different. His character Billy, for example, is best known in the film as the guy carrying watermelons with Baby as she sees real dirty dancing for the first time. But in the play, Billy actually has his own love interest with another counselor, Elizabeth, on the grounds. Billy is white, Elizabeth is black, and it’s 1963.

“That was a pretty big deal for a young white guy to be falling in love with a black girl,” said Colõn. “So Eleanor has added this whole other subplot and so much more. People will always love the movie, but they’re going to love the show even more because they’re going to get so much more out of it.”

This incredible persistence to really portray the cultural and social moment of the 1960s has been echoed by many outlets that have seen the musical. Critics have also raved that “Dirty Dancing” is nostalgic fun with electric dance numbers to rival the original film.

Colõn said, “It’s one of those things where the movie has such a specific, fond memory in basically everyone’s heart in America. It’s either a first kiss or a first date. It’s (someone saying)oh, I learned how to dance because of this … The first night, we finally had our first crowd and they were lively and fun. Then Johnny comes up and he’s like ‘Nobody puts Baby in the corner,’ and the whole crowd goes wild, and every night that’s the one thing that you can guarantee will happen.”

Get tickets while they last at  www.crowncomplexnc.com.

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

• Nov. 4 - 12 Cumberland County’s display of Missing Man Tables The public is invited to tour these tables, thank the businesses participating and – most importantly – honor our MIA/POW soldiers. Visit  www.heroeshomecoming.com for details.

• Nov. 8 Veteran Movie Extravaganza  Millstone 14 on Camden Road in Hope Mills will honor veterans by presenting an evening of military-themed movies. The event is free for veterans and their families. The event begins at 4 p.m., and space is limited. Call  (910) 354-2124 for more information.

• Nov. 10 Building Dedication Ceremony by VFW Post 10630 honoring retired CW4 Edwin S. Deaver, former Hope Mills mayor and commissioner.

• Nov. 11 Veterans Day event at VFW Post 10630 3-5 p.m. Call (910) 424-4555 for details.

• Dec. 2 Hope Mills Christmas Parade starting at 3 p.m. at Hope Mills Middle School and ending at Rockfish Elementary School. Call (910) 426-4109 for details.

• Dec. 2 Christmas in the Village directly after the Hope Mills Christmas Parade. Free train rides, hot cocoa, cookies, a visit with Santa and an outdoor Christmas movie at the Hope Mills Town Hall, 5770 Rockfish Rd. Call  (919) 426-4109 for more information. 

• Dec. 9 Breakfast with Santa at Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center from 8:30-11 a.m. $6 per person. Menu includes pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs and juice. Call  (910) 426-4109 to RSVP no later than Nov. 27.

• Dec. 16 First Annual Dinner and Dance with Santa at Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. $20 per couple, $10 per additional person. Call (910) 426-4109 to RSVP no later than Dec. 4.

As I was waiting to speak with a business owner, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable in beholding the scene before me. There was a male with his pants so far down that he had to stand with his legs apart to keep them from falling around his ankles.  His boxers were showing in all their faded glory. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but my eyes were not beholding any beauty whatsoever.

Towns and cities in various states across this great country of ours have adopted ordinances that will allow local police officers to fine anyone who openly and blatantly exposes underwear that causes offense to others. According to www.nydailynews.com, in April of 2013,  Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, adopted the ordinance with an 8-1 vote. Towns in Georgia and Florida followed suit in hopes of making people aware of the image they are portraying. 

What is that image? What comes to a person’s mind when he or she sees someone that has difficulty walking because of sagging pants? What do employers believe? 

Well, as someone who sees this on a daily basis – along with the rest of the U.S. – I find that sagging pants makes one look unkempt.  Wearing pants in such a way creates the image of someone who does not care about the future or reaching goals and has an “I don’t care” attitude about life in general.  

I could be sadly mistaken. But as a professional and a business owner, I could not allow that in my business. As a mom, I really don’t want it around my children – especially my son, who is now 16. Thank goodness he despises the trend. As a woman, I find it offensive when I walk into a public area and a male is all but exposing himself. 

Has society as a whole conformed our way of thinking when it comes to the sagging pants being appropriate? Or is it really true that common sense is still around and no one cares to see someone else’s underwear in public? I prefer the latter.  I like to believe I am capable of forming my own opinion. 

Where did it begin?

We have all heard the story that this fad began in the prison system as a way for a prisoner to let other inmates know he was “available” or that he was already “taken.” According to www.Snopes.com, that is false. But can we believe Snopes – considering their most recent downfall? Either way, it is a horrible stigma to have attached to a fad. And helping popularize this fashion atrocity are pop culture idols such as Justin Beiber, Lil Wayne, The Game and many others.  Please note the coincidence that these people have either served time in jail or prison.

The Risks

According to a 2011 article from www.hiphopandpolitics.com, wearing pants below the posterior can lead to problems such as severely bad posture, hip degeneration, lower back problems, bunions, life-long knee misalignments and erectile dysfunction.  

What if an emergency happened and the guy had to run? I’m extremely curious as to how he would make it out of a burning building. Hopefully, he’d survive.

On a positive note, if someone wearing sagging pants commits a crime, he is much slower, allowing the police to catch him. According to www. christianpost.com, in 2013, a robber in Brooklyn, New York, punched a woman in the face and stole her cellphone. He was easily caught because his sagging pants caused him to trip when the pants fell to his ankles.

Will the cities and towns of Cumberland County ever adopt an ordinance prohibiting sagging pants like the one in Louisiana? Who knows? Not much is being said, and now it is basically a personal issue for those of us who are against the sagging pants.  We will have to agree to disagree. Maybe it does come down to the cliche of “To each his own.”  I just know that my “own” wears pants that buckle or button above the hips.

When is the last time you thanked a veteran for serving and sacrificing? This is the time of year when we, as Americans, are given an opportunity to show our gratitude to those who have served and are currently serving in our military. America was founded upon the lives of those who fought for the freedoms that we partake of every day. We have been in numerous wars and have lost many soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors. And it’s not just the ones who serve or who have served that sacrifice. The families and loved ones sacrifice also.

Each veteran has a story to tell, whether he or she fought overseas or remained to protect the homeland. Each signed the anticipated “dotted line” and knew there was a chance they would be called away and not make it back home.

The American military has been met with honor and appreciation when returning from all wars since King George’s War (1744-1748). All except the veterans of the Vietnam War. These veterans, like all veterans, did as they were told – going overseas to fight a war at the behest of the president and Congress. When they returned, they were met with disdain, anger and physical abuse such as being spat on and kicked and beaten. Some chose to move overseas and are still there to this day because of the lack of respect from the country they diligently served. For the ones who returned, they have struggled to gain the respect they rightfully deserve.

Richard Maury joined the Army in 1965 and served in Vietnam. He explained how every unit was responsible for helping the local community’s orphanages, hospitals and other civilian facilities. Maury recounted how a young Vietnamese mother was carrying her baby and decided to use herself and her child as suicide bombers. Maury has post-traumatic stress disorder and can easily empathize with fellow military servicemen and women. He gives credit to his wife for standing by him and loving him throughout the healing process. He, along with countless others, suffers from the effects of Agent Orange – the toxic chemical the U.S. government used to kill the foliage in the jungles. This chemical caused a lot of health issues with the troops – including cancer.

Maury has dedicated much of his life to helping other veterans. He is a member of several veterans’ associations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Association of Vietnam Veterans of America. While living in Colorado, Maury helped to bury over 20 Vietnam veterans a week due to suicide. Many of these veterans were loners. Maury believes there is great opportunity within Hope Mills to grow awareness of veterans’ needs.

James Clark joined the Army in 1968 and was shot at while circling over Saigon while landing for his first tour. He was on a small jet that carried 260 people. He was warned to “get out fast” and go straight to the bunker. He served two tours in Vietnam – 26 months total.

Clark also has health issues caused by Agent Orange. He said, “I’ve had 15 things wrong with me at one time or another, and every one of them is Agent Orange-related.”

Although he has dementia, Clark can vividly remember the details of his time served. When asked if he lost any of his comrades, he broke down in tears. He was proud to serve. His father served, and his son followed in his footsteps. As a collector of American Eagle statues, his home is beautifully decorated with numerous statues with the American symbol wrapped in the U.S. Flag. Clark is also a member of the VFW.

Michael Grilley was a military planner during the Gulf War. He served one tour as a soldier and the rest as a civilian as a government contractor. Grilley retired as a Sgt. 1st Class. He trained soldiers before they headed to war. He made sure that they knew what to do, how to do it and when to do it. He spoke of how enemy fire was not the only thing that kept a soldier from coming home, but how failure to respect equipment took lives. “My fear was that if I (wouldn’t) train you properly and you leave here and not be prepared to go to battle,” Grilley said.

He knew he was the last one to give instruction before the soldiers left, and he took that to heart. “I wore that uniform with pride. Every time I put it on, I was proud,” Grilley said. He, Maury and Clark are on the board for Heroes Homecoming in Hope Mills, which raises awareness of Vietnam veterans, those declared missing in action and prisoners of war and explains the importance of respecting the sacrifices that the military make daily. The initiative also helps organize placement for the “Missing Man” tables on display throughout the community and so much more. Grilley is also a member of the VFW.

Whether you agree with war or not, veterans deserve our respect. They don’t just sacrifice time. They sacrifice health. They sacrifice limbs. Some sacrifice their lives. Many never made it home because they were declared missing in action or were taken as prisoners of war.

When you see Old Glory waving in the breeze or spot an eagle flying high, remember that those symbols represent the men and women who have given so much for us to enjoy our freedoms. On this Veteran’s Day, thank a veteran. He or she would appreciate it.

It was an honor to speak with these gentlemen – these soldiers who provided a way for my family and myself to be able to do what I do every day … live in freedom.

“The bottom has fallen out of the Republican Party.” So wrote Fort Worth’s Star-Telegram columnist Cynthia Allen last week.

“Well,” she continued, “not the bottom exactly. More like the middle.”

She was writing about Texas, where the far-right-wingers are driving moderates out of the party. “So-called Republican ‘moderates’ have been living on borrowed time. They are vestiges of an era when compromise was a hallmark of good policymaking.”

She had harsher words for Texas Democrats, who, she said, “drove out every member of their party who didn’t adopt the agenda of the far left.”

If Allen lived in North Carolina, she might say the same things about both of our major parties. They are forcing out the moderates who are uncomfortable with their parties’ unwillingness to accommodate compromise and less strident approaches. “It’s a sad state of affairs,” Allen wrote. “We need the middle.”

About divisiveness within two parties nationwide, the Pew Research Center last week issued a report that confirmed major challenges for the political middle. “Nearly a year after Donald Trump was elected president,” the report begins, “the Republican coalition is deeply divided on such major issues as immigration, America’s role in the world and the fundamental fairness of the U.S. economic system.”

Democrats have a shade different stage of divisiveness. “The Democratic coalition is largely united in staunch opposition to President Trump. Yet, while Trump’s election has triggered a wave of political activism within the party’s sizable liberal bloc, the liberals’ skyhigh political energy is not nearly as evident among other segments in the Democratic base. And Democrats also are internally divided over U.S. global involvement, as well as some religious and social issues.”

The Pew report helps explain the power of the extremes in each party. Core Conservative Republicans on the right and Solid Liberal Democrats on the left “make up an even larger share of their partisan coalitions when political engagement is factored in.

“While Core Conservatives make up about a third of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents overall (31 percent), they constitute a larger proportion of politically engaged Republicans (43 percent).”

Similarly, the Pew report says, “Solid Liberals constitute by far the largest proportion of politically engaged Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Solid Liberals make up a third of all Democrats and Democratic leaners – but close to half (48 percent) of politically engaged Democrats.”

Thanks to their more-active participation, far-right Republicans and far-left Democrats have moved their parties away from the middle and toward the fringes.

Officeholders in the middle of the Republican Party face competition from Steve Bannon’s support network and others on the fringe. One of them, moderate Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, announced his retirement earlier this month, as did U.S. Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Republicans on the fringe may be celebrating, but Cynthia Allen mourns, “While the fight may be futile for politicians like Straus, Flake and Corker, the only way they have a chance of improving the odds for their team is by staying in the game. Instead, they are abandoning the field, and everyone loses.”

Democrats have similar challenges. The middle may be bottoming out of their party, too. Long-time moderate Democrats with pro-business, free trade and socially conservative views wonder if they are still welcome.

What are the pathways for those in the unwelcome middle of both major parties, other than following the route out of politics shown by Straus, Flake and Corker?

Allen, who recognizes the need for a strong middle in both parties, wants the disaffected to stick with their parties and fight it out against their parties’ controlling fringes.

Although it has been more than 150 years since Americans organized a major new political party that competed for control of the national government, today’s disappointed middle in both parties may see this possibility as their only alternative to dropping out.

With the national debate about tax reform heating up, you’ll be hearing a lot about the difference between marginal and average tax rates. It’s an important distinction – and the concept doesn’t just apply to taxes. Postsecondary education is another area where the “fallacy of the average” often rears its problematic head.

To put it simply, what is true “on average” does not necessarily provide useful guidance about what will happen, or what one ought to do, in a particular case.

You experience this difference all the time, even if you don’t realize it. In sports, for example, Jones may be a better player than Smith in general. But if the other team plays Brown, Smith matches up better than Jones, so the coach makes a substitution.

In business, the distinction is critical. The average cost of producing a product is usually different than the marginal cost of producing the next unit of that product because of up-front costs, limited capacity or efficiency gains that come from experience.

To apply the concept to tax policy, it’s important to understand that if income taxes, for example, have a significant effect on the individual decisions of employers, employees, investors and consumers, the effect typically occurs on the margin, not on average. If I work harder, add a second job, add a new product line or make a new investment, how much of the new income can I expect to lose to taxes? This future tax loss may be much higher than the tax burden I already shoulder.

I mentioned that a less-familiar application of the principle can be found in post-secondary education and training. Fortunately, two American Enterprise Institute scholars, Mark Schneider and Rooney Columbus, have just produced a fascinating study that illustrates the effect in the education markets of three states: Florida, Texas and Tennessee.

On average, students who pursue and earn bachelor’s degrees certainly do have higher lifetime incomes than those who earn associate degrees, who in turn make more money than those who get post-high school certificates, who in turn make more money than those whose formal education ends with high school.

But these relationships between averages don’t necessarily mean that any specific person would be better off economically by foregoing community college or the working world and enrolling in a university. Circumstances matter. Some young people who don’t go on to universities have concluded quite properly that they aren’t likely to succeed there – either because of academic preparation, distance from home or preexisting responsibilities. You can’t assume that the population of those already university-bound is equivalent in every relevant respect from the population of those who aren’t – or that any differences are purely matters of finances that can be eliminated by larger subsidies.

More importantly, students don’t get an “average” bachelor’s degree. They get degrees in particular subjects from particular schools. It turns out that there is a very wide variation in post-graduation earnings, a variation that is masked by “average” lifetime incomes.

For some careers and individuals, it makes more sense to pursue less-expensive education or training at community colleges. One report estimated that 28 percent of holders of associate degrees have higher incomes than the median income of those with bachelor’s degrees.

In their own study, Schneider and Columbus looked at careers with the highest rates of return on investment. Many of them required community college, not university training, such as allied health and electronics technicians in Florida, fire protection and quality-control experts in Texas and automotive technicians and computer-assisted designers in Tennessee.

Boosting personal incomes and the overall economy aren’t the sole purposes of higher education or even the most important ones. I think the study of arts and sciences has great intrinsic value (although it need not occur in expensive campus settings). For many young people deciding what to do after high school, however, career preparation is a high priority. They shouldn’t let the fallacy of the average obscure what North Carolina’s ubiquitous and impressive community colleges have to offer.

Every year, the Sts. Constantine And Helen Greek Orthodox Church offers the greater Fayetteville area a delicious spaghetti meal. And every year, thousands show up to partake. Nov. 15 marks the church’s 59th Annual World’s Largest Spaghetti Dinner and Greek Pastry Sale. This muchloved tradition lasts just one day, but it’s worth attending.

During the early years, the spaghetti dinners were dine-in affairs, serving about 400 meals each year. The event has grown so much that eating in is no longer an option, but still, thousands turn out to pick up the piping hot pasta in to-go boxes.

While the community is always eager to support this delicious endeavor, it’s a huge effort on the part of the Greek congregation as well. Dozens of church volunteers come together to make a couple of tons of pasta and 900 or so gallons of meat sauce – all topped with 200 or so pounds of grated Parmesan cheese – for their friends, neighbors and community.

Head chef Tony Kotsopoulis started helping with the dinner in 1989. By 1993, he was running the kitchen for the event along with the generous help of many volunteers. There is a lot that goes into making the dinner and pastry sale a success year after year. The planning, the prepping, the cooking and the serving all take time and energy. But as cars line up and the boxes of spaghetti start heading out the Hellenic Center doors, it becomes worth it. Few events receive this kind of support from the community, and that’s not lost on the volunteers who twice a year pull together to embrace Fayetteville. The other occasion is the Greek Festival, which takes place each September.

The delicious pasta is reason enough to support the spaghetti dinner, but the Greek pastry sale that happens alongside this event has a strong following, too. For anyone with a sweet tooth, the pastries are a treat not to be missed.

While the dinner and pastry sale is a boon for the community, it’s about more than filling stomachs with a hearty meal. The proceeds benefit local nonprofits that help people in this community. The beneficiaries change from year to year, but the generosity of the Greek congregation does not.

The spaghetti dinner and pastry sale runs Nov. 15 from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Hellenic Center at 614 Oakridge Ave. Tickets cost $7 and can be purchased at the door. Call (910) 484-8925 for more information.

The Campbellton Youth Chorus, a choral music group, has no affiliation with any school or church. The organization is dedicated to fostering music literacy and giving children a lifelong love for music. As its website states, this group is open to “youth ages 9 to 14, regardless of school affiliation, ethnicity, socioeconomic background or religion.”

The group’s artistic director, Donna Jo Mangus, said, “It’s really a community choir and the only youth community choir in Cumberland County.”

The idea for a diverse, music-centered youth choir came from the Cumberland Oratorio Singers, a local adult symphonic choir of which Mangus is a member. The connection works well for both groups, providing the Campbellton Youth Chorus opportunities to sing three times a year as the opening act for Oratorio Singers concerts. Once a year, the youth are even given the opportunity to sing in a joint performance with their parent choir and learn about large group performances.

Those performances are in addition to the youth chorus’s three yearly concerts and other events. Mangus said the youth choir sings, “secular, sacred and patriot music.” She added that this spring they will also sing pop songs and some show tunes.

The choir is in its third year and second full season and is already scheduled to perform Nov. 10 at Saint Patrick Catholic Church; Dec. 16 at Anderson Street First Baptist Church; and March 1-3 they will be in Greensville as part of the 2018 Piedmont Invitational Children’s Choir Festival.

Also, the chorus will perform in a joint concert with the Cumberland Oratorio Singers at Haymont United Baptist Church April 27, and in July they will participate in the Independence
Day symphony concert at Festival Park.

Those interested in inviting the chorus perform for events, as well as those parents who would like to have their child join the Campbellton Youth Chorus, should send an email to Mangus at DonnajoMangus@gmail.com.

The chorus practices once a week, and yearly dues are $90 for what Mangus says is “almost like a private group singing lesson.” Interested children are not required to have any vocal experience or education. The group is devoted to inclusivity and music, so the only requirement is a love of singing.

More information about the group’s mission and their performance schedule is available at  www.campbelltonyouthchorus.org.

Vision 2026. Cool Spring Downtown District. A new artistic director for Cape Fear Regional Theatre. A new music director for the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. These recent initiatives and changes reflect a growing, collective thought: Fayetteville is ready to grow, and that growth requires collaboration.  

Successful entrepreneurial collaboration is the message of Charlie Brock, keynote speaker for Methodist University’s third annual Reeves School of Business Symposium and Awards Dinner. The dinner will held Thursday, Nov. 16, at Embassy Suites Fayetteville/ Fort Bragg from 6:30-8:30 p.m. In addition to the keynote speech and dinner, seven awards will be presented to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in Fayetteville’s business community.

Pam Bierman, MU Center for Entrepreneurship instructor and co-organizer of the event, said this night is not only relevant to award recipients and those already entrenched in the business community.

“Entrepreneurism is everywhere, and I believe there’s a budding entrepreneur in each one of us,” she said. “I think a lot of people have had dreams of what they would like to do, but they don’t know how to do it.”

That’s where 20-year veteran entrepreneur Brock comes in. His speech for the night is titled “Transforming Cities through Innovation and Leadership.” Bierman said she first heard Brock speak at a regional pitch competition for students in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“A couple of things struck me about Charlie that I thought would be perfect for having a keynote here,” she said.

First was the evidence of Brock’s success in his own city – and how the mechanisms of that success could apply to Fayetteville. “Chattanooga has been transformed over the last 20 years,” Bierman said. “Twenty years ago, it was … really a rough city, a lot of problems with drugs and gangs. Some prominent members of the community decided to take back the community and make it a safe, prosperous and enjoyable place with a high quality of living. (Brock) was one of those people.” Through Brock’s work in organizations like Launch Tennessee – of which he is the president and CEO – early-stage investment in Tennessee has increased 100 percent, and Chattanooga now boasts the fastest internet and smartest electric grid in America.

“He’s very involved in developing what I would call entrepreneurial ecosystems throughout Tennessee,” Bierman said. “I kind of parallel Chattanooga to Fayetteville. We’ve really seen a need for better collaboration; we’ve got little pockets of it but not necessarily orchestrated at a higher level. … He’s doing that, and we want to know how to do that. He’s not only working with legislators in trying to have state legislation that’s business-friendly, he’s (also) mentoring, trying to create incubators and accelerators and those kinds of programs that help businesses get started.

“(He’s) an exciting person who is doing and has been doing what we want to do in Fayetteville.”

The seven awards of the night will honor community leaders who, like Brock, have laid and are laying the groundwork for the change their city wants to see, Bierman said. These awards are Alumni Business Person of the Year; Entrepreneur of the Year; Business Person of the Year; Greater Good Award; SmallBusiness Excellence Award; Silver Spoon Award; and Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.

“A lot of people attend to see the award winners,” Bierman said. “We make people wait until the end, because it’s kind of the climax of the event.”

Attendees will get to learn about each awardwinner’s work, ideas and passions in short videos that will play as recipients make their way onstage.

Tickets cost $75 each. To register or to learn more, visit www.methodist.edu/rsb-symposium.

PHOTO: Keynote speaker, Charlie Brock

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of death in Cumberland County. One out of 10 North Carolinians are diagnosed with diabetes, and one out of five may have diabetes and not be aware that they have it. Better Health presents its fifth annual Red Apple Run for Diabetes Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Medical Arts Center at 8:30 a.m.

“This is a fundraiser for Better Health and our charitable programs. We want to help raise funds to support the programs that we offer to the community,” said Amy Navejas, executive director of Better Health. “But at the same time, we really wanted to have something that was applicable to what we believe in and what our mission is – and that is health.” Navejas added this event was the perfect opportunity to combine the two by presenting an opportunity for individuals to get out and get active.

The run features three races: a 5K run, a 10K run and the fun run. “This is our fifth Red Apple Run, and we will have a little something for everybody at all different levels,” said Navejas. “We are going to have the 10K run, which goes through historic Haymount, a 5K run, and we will also do a one-miler called the Haymount Hill Climb.”

Navejas added that the one-milers will get participation ribbons and the others will receive medals for first, second and third place winners in their age categories.

A DJ will be on-site as well as a variety of healthy food.     

The event is called the Red Apple Run for Diabetes because one of Better Health’s biggest programs is its diabetes management program. “In this program we offer clinics in our office three days a week where individuals can come and meet with a nurse and get educated on different topics related to diabetes,” said Navejas. “We bring in guest speakers, and we try to be very thorough. We also have diabetic supplies that we can offer for low-income clients, and we check blood sugar.”      

Diabetes is a complicated condition, and often people need that extra support. “It is hard to manage diabetes on your own, and we want to help individuals to get better at doing that and give them those tools to help work with their doctor,” said Navejas. “Our goal is to raise $23,000. We are excited and look forward to an outpour of community support.” 

Registration for the 5K is $25, the 10K is $35, the fun run is $20, and it is $15 for children ages 10 and under. Prices go up after Nov. 9. Free screenings for diabetes are available at Better Health’s weekly clinics.

For more information, call  (910) 483-7534.

At a recent meeting, Cumberland County Commissioners indicated they were prepared to settle an issue that has confounded Fayetteville City Council for weeks. Commission Chairman Glenn Adams said at a meeting of the joint 911 Task Force that the county had agreed to let the city operate the planned $30 million center. But, the financial formula was changed by county officials when they agreed to let the city run the facility.

Deputy City Manager Kristoff Bauer and Assistant County Manager Tracy Jackson have been the principle negotiators. Bauer said Jackson’s position is constrained by the board of commissioners.

“We do a disservice to the citizens of our community if we don’t move this thing forward,” Adams said. Commissioners want funding percentages for the center’s operation to be based on the pro rata share of population between the city and county. All parties agree it comes down to a 64/36 population split with Fayetteville shouldering the larger share.

“This is as close as it’s ever been,” said City Manager Doug Hewett, referring to the back and forth between agencies.

The details are contained in a 16page interlocal agreement that the jurisdictions have yet to agree on. The agencies aren’t far apart on percentages of operational expenses. But a city council subcommittee continues to propose that the cost of construction be based on calls for emergency services, not the formula the county has proposed. An acceptable formula the council subcommittee agreed to would cost the city $7.8 million with the county’s share being $5.2 million.

“We’re bending over for that,” Committee Chairman Bobby Hurst said. “We could play hardball, but we can iron this out with the county,” he added.

The subcommittee, comprised of Hurst, Councilwoman Kathy Jensen and Mayor Nat Robertson, voted 3-0 in favor of both funding formulas. The local governing bodies hope the State 911 Board of Directors will award local government $15 million toward construction of the communications center, which would be built on cityowned property off Fields Road.

There are still some ambiguities in the proposed agreement, noted Bauer, such as the structure of the communications center’s advisory governing board. However, all parties are in agreement that the city and county managers would have final responsibility for decision-making.

A grant application to the state for partial construction funding must be submitted by the city of Fayetteville no later than Dec. 15. An application submitted two months ago was turned down because the agreement outlining which local government would be the lead entity was not included in the application. In counties where joint centers have been established, such as Wake and Guilford, the cities of Raleigh and Greensboro were designated as the lead agencies with operational responsibility.