Here is the Sandhills Athletic Conference all-conference girls basketball team as chosen by the league’s head coaches.

Coach of the Year: Ronshau Cole, Pinecrest

Player of the Year: Kenyan McLaughlin, Pinecrest

First team:

Pinecrest — Sara McIntosh, Malika Dailey, Kelly Clark, Zykra Blue

Lumberton — Madison Canady, Rachel O’Neill

Seventy-First — Taylor Allen, Amira Coles, Nyielah Nick

Jack Britt — Ashara Hayes, Kaya Goldsby

Richmond Senior — Jakerra Covington.

Hoke County — Klya Locklear.

Scotland — Asjah Swindell, Nadia Leak

Purnell Swett — JaiLeana Deese

Photo: Ashara Hayes

Here is the Sandhills Athletic Conference all-conference boys basketball team as chosen by the league’s head coaches.

Coach of the Year: Ben Snyder, Pinecrest

Player of the Year: Brion McLaurin, Seventy-First

Team:

Seventy-First — Demauriea Nickleson, Xavier Howard, Trevon Bell, Thomas Hendricks

Pinecrest — Bradlee Haskell, Zion Bailey 

Richmond Senior — Xavier Pettigrew, Rodrick Newton, Nygic Stroman

Lumberton — Jordan McNeill, Kwashek Breeden

Hoke County — Jaquantae Harris, Elijah Harris

Jack Britt — Kean Keys

Scotland — Garrett McRae

Purnell Swett — Darriante Parker

Photo: Brian McLaurin

Here is the Patriot Athletic Conference boys all-conference basketball team as chosen by the league’s head coaches.

Coach of the Year: Jimmy Peaden, Pine Forest

Player of the Year: Miles Ray, Pine Forest

First team: Cinque Lemon, Overhills; Traymond Willis-Shaw, Westover; Jaylen Siermons, E.E. Smith; Marquell James, Cape Fear; Adrian Elliott, Pine Forest

Second team: Marviere Smith, Douglas Byrd; Antonio Dupree, Gray’s Creek; Xavier Marsh, Westover; Jay Hickman, Terry Sanford; Tyron George, Westover; Yates Johnson, Terry Sanford

Honorable mention: Christian Locklear, South View; Davis Molnar, Terry Sanford; Lexus Fasce, Overhills; Christian Crockett, Gray’s Creek; Erwin Montgomery, Pine Forest; Felix Davis, South View; Ky’Ron Kelly, Terry Sanford

Photo: Miles Ray

Meetings

For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Town Clerk Jane Starling at 910-426-4113.

• Fayetteville-Cumberland County Human Relations Commission Thursday, March 14, 5:30 p.m., Luther Board Room, Town Hall

• Board of Commissioners Monday, March 18, 7 p.m., Luther Board Room, Town Hall

• Mayor’s Youth Leadership Committee Monday, March 18, 6 p.m., front conference room, Town Hall

• Lake Advisory Committee Tuesday, March 19, 6 p.m., Parks and Rec Center

• Aquatics Feasibility Committee Wednesday, March 20, 6:30 p.m., Luther Board Room, Town Hall. This meeting will be held for the purpose of exploring potential partnership opportunities for an aquatics center.

Activities

• Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Senior programs at the Parks and Recreation Center. The Senior programs for people ages 55 and older who are residents of Cumberland County have resumed. The rec center was closed in mid-September after Hurricane Florence. Various activities are now back and are scheduled Monday through Friday throughout the day. For details on times and days, check the schedule at www.townofhopemills.com, call the rec center at 910-426-4109, or email Kasey Ivey at kivey@townofhopemills.com.

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

Promote yourself

Email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

Gregory Dickerson spent 21 years in the United States Air Force learning about firefighting and fire inspection. Now, he’s bringing some of that knowledge to Hope Mills as local volunteer.

Dickerson was recently honored by the town as its Volunteer of the Month for a variety of activities, including work with the Hope Mills Community Emergency Rescue Team, serving meals at Hope House, working with neighborhood community watch groups and helping out at the local nursing home.

Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner praised the work of Dickerson and volunteers like him, saying they provide countless hours of work in the community on a regular basis.

“We are so fortunate to have volunteers that donate their time and expertise,’’ Warner said. “Recognizing the Volunteer of the Month is our way of thanking them publicly. Our volunteers share their Hope Mills pride in the work they do.’’

Dickerson feels the most important thing he brought with him from his years in the Air Force was the ability to help people in need, whether they were involved in a vehicle accident or a house fire. “You’re helping people get better or try to limit the damage if they do have a fire,’’ he said.

With both a background in firefighting and a degree in emergency management, Dickerson has used his military experience to lead basic training classes for the Hope Mills community emergency response team. He provides expertise in disaster preparedness, firefighting and rescue techniques.

“It was my way of taking the knowledge I have received over the last 30 years and putting it to use in a small community,’’ Dickerson said. “Every little bit volunteers can do alleviates the town from having to pay extra money, whether it’s having police officers to work overtime or things like traffic control at Hope Mills Lake.’’

At last year’s lake celebrations, Dickerson and other volunteers worked with a Hope Mills police officer to provide traffic control. The volunteers saved the town the extra cost of putting additional police officers to work. “That’s one of the ways we can give back,’’ Dickerson said.

Another benefit of volunteer work, Dickerson said, is the volunteer can set his or her own pace and doesn’t have to cope with the stress that can come from having to show up daily for the same job. “The stress level is very minimal as a volunteer,’’ he said. “I don’t have to do it today if I don’t feel like it, but if there’s a need, I do it.’’

Another area where Dickerson’s expertise is valuable is in his work with the Red Cross to inspect and install smoke alarms in private homes.

“We work hand-in-hand with the Red Cross in Hope Mills,’’ he said.

A major push is coming in the months ahead to install smoke alarms in neighborhoods that show a history of fire risk. May 4, Dickerson and other volunteers working with the Red Cross will install some 1,000 alarms in Lafayette Village off Hope Mills Road.

Fire prevention and safety aren’t Dickerson’s only volunteer activities. As a lifetime member of the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Dickerson regularly spends time at local nursing homes.

“One day I may be in that nursing home,’’ Dickerson said. “I want someone to come and see me. I don’t want to be left alone.’’

He sees the nursing home visits, as well as working with neighborhood watch groups and serving meals at Hope House, as different ways of giving back to the community.

He views the watch groups as a way to stop trouble before it gets a chance to start. “We try to help each other out and be good neighbors,’’ he said.

Dickerson estimates he volunteered about 303 hours total last year. He’d like to get some younger people involved in the volunteer program in Hope Mills.

“It helps you through your high school days, maybe even (in) getting scholarships for college,’’ he said.

He’d like to see the volunteer program in Hope Mills grow and resemble one in Plymouth, a small town in the northeastern part of the state that he visited recently for the annual North Carolina Community Emergency Response Team Conference.

Dickerson said Plymouth has about 4,000 citizens and they seem to almost work as a unit when it comes to volunteering. “When they need something, they work together,’’ he said. “You see a sense of achievement. It was made better by the amount of people that put effort into it.’’

Dickerson has found a simple goal in volunteering that works for him and that he suggests others try. “Enjoy what you’re doing, whether you’re paid or unpaid,’’ he said. “Try to get satisfied doing it.’’

Photo: Gregory Dickerson estimates he volunteered about 303 hours total last year.

The Easter Bunny will pay an early visit to Hope Mills this year. Local families will get the opportunity to enjoy breakfast with him, and it won’t be rabbit food on the menu.

The Hope Mills Parks & Recreation Department will offer Breakfast with the Easter Bunny on Saturday, April 6, at the recreation center’s main building on Rockfish Road.

The event is similar to the Breakfast with Santa held last December, but now that the recreation center has been repaired following hurricane damage last fall, the event will move back to the recreation center after being temporarily held at the main Hope Mills fire station.

Meghan Freeman, special events programs assistant director for the town, said Breakfast with the Easter Bunny in Hope Mills dates back 10 years or more.

Freeman said the event is another of the town’s efforts to give families with children a chance to enjoy fun quality time together. Last December’s Breakfast with Santa was a big success, and Freeman is hoping for similar results with Breakfast with the Easter Bunny.

There is one small difference between the two events. While Breakfast with Santa offered a meal and a chance to meet with Santa Claus, Breakfast with the Easter Bunny will be followed by an Easter egg hunt at the Hope Mills Municipal Park fields 1 and 2.

While tickets to the breakfast are $6, the egg hunt is free. Anyone can come to the hunt, but attendance at the breakfast will be capped at the first 200 tickets sold.

The breakfast runs from 8:30-11 a.m. and has a menu that includes pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon and juice.

The Easter egg hunt, following the breakfast, has an age limit from 1 to 10, Freeman said. When the hunt begins, she said, the youngsters will be divided up in three different age groups.

Children ages 1-3 will begin hunting for the eggs at 11:15 a.m. The 4-6 age group will start at 11:30 a.m. Children ages 7-10 will hunt beginning at 11:45 a.m.

The children ages 1-3 will begin hunting on Field 1, with the children ages 4-6 going on Field 2. After the first group has finished, additional eggs will be hidden and the final group of children ages 7-10 will hunt on Field 1.

Freeman said plastic eggs will be used that will contain either candy or, in some cases, small prizes.

In the event of rain, the egg hunt will be moved indoors to the recreation center gymnasium.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how many people are going to come out,’’ Freeman said. “At a lot of events recently, our numbers have increased. Hopefully, we’ll continue the trend.

“I think it brings the whole community together. It’s a great plus for us. You can’t beat it.’’

Reservations and advanced payment for tickets are required for the breakfast. The deadline to sign up and pay is Monday, April 1. Children ages three and under will be admitted to the breakfast free of charge but must still be registered.

For further information about Breakfast with the Easter Bunny or the Easter egg hunt, contact the recreation department at 910-426-4109.

Tire clock, get it? It is the beginning of riding season. You see motorcycles out swarming the town like bees, and you are ready to ride. You, my friend, are ready to ride. But before you jump on that bike, take 10 minutes and make sure your bike is safe and ready to be ridden.

Check your personal safety equipment. Make sure you have your helmet, preferably a full-face one. I know that is touchy subject, but if you’d seen some of friends’ faces after accidents, you might feel differently. If you are not sure if a full-face helmet is for you, look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Aren’t I worth it”?

Continuing on. Make sure you have good eye protection, a padded motorcycle jacket, gloves, pants (padded or leather) and motorcycle boots.

I know these things are not cool, but if you can afford a bike, you can afford good safety gear that will provide plenty of protection and airflow.

Now it’s time to check the actual bike. To help make sure you remember what to do, some smarty-pants came up with the acronym of T-CLOCK.

“T” is for TIRES & WHEELS. Check their condition and air pressure. During the winter, air molecules compress and air leaks out of tires. You do not want to have a blowout because you missed a 10-minute stop at a gas station. If your tires are worn, cracked or dry-rotted, then get new tires before you ride. Motorcycle tires are not cheap, but that little bit of rubber is the only thing that keeps you from hitting the pavement.

“C” is for CONTROLS. Check levers, cable, hoses and throttle. On the throttle, check its condition and look at the pivot points. For the rest, check the condition and routing of each. Make sure everything moves freely, has no interference and does not pull when you turn the handlebars.

“L” is for LIGHTS. The battery should be in good condition (no acid), held down and fully charged. If you have a vent tube, make sure it is not clogged. The terminals should be clean and tight, and electrolyte levels should be full.

Check the lights and reflector lenses. Make sure they are clean, that the bulbs are working and that the wires are not frayed or chafed. Check the routing of your wiring, too. This will help prevent a short in the electrical system. Check the headlamp; look at the aim of the light and adjust if needed.

“O” is for OIL. Check the engine oil and fluid levels. The bike should be warm when you do this. Be sure you are on your center stand and/or make sure the bike is level. This may require a friend. Check the hypoid gear oil. This includes transmission, drive and shaft fluids. Check the hydraulic fluid. This includes your brakes and clutch. You can see this in their perspective reservoir and sight glass. Check your owner’s manual to make sure you change as things recommended. Check for leaks on all. Look at the ground. If you see where something has leaked, check the gaskets, housings, seals, master cylinders, calipers, tanks, pipes, lines, fuel taps and carbs.

“C” is for CHASIS. Look at the frame’s condition. Check for cracks at gussets or accessory mounts and look for paint lifting. Check the steering head bearings and swing arm. Check the suspension, forks and shock(s). Make sure they have a smooth travel, equal air pressure/damping settings and that the linkage moves freely and is lubricated. Check your chain and belt. Check for tension at the tightest point and lubrication (note: DO NOT lubricate belts). Check the sprockets. Make sure the teeth are in good shape and mounted securely. Check all fasteners, clips and cotter pins. Make sure they are tight. Check for missing or broken bolts, nuts, and cotter pins.

“K” is for KICKSTAND. If you have a center stand, make sure there are no cracks and that it’s not bent. The retention springs should be in place and working correctly. For a side stand, make sure there are no cracks and that it’s not bent. Make sure the safety cut-off switch or pad, if so equipped, is working properly.

One way to help ensure you see all of this is to clean your bike. I like to use Honda’s High Performance Spray Cleaner and Polish. This lets me put my hands on every spot on the bike. I check for any loose bolts and give my bike a great look.

Be safe and enjoy your ride.

If there is a topic you would like to discuss, email me at this address: motorcycle4fun@aol.com.

RIDE SAFE!

Why would anybody want to spend months walking from the South Carolina coast up through the Piedmont to present-day Charlotte and then back east to the North Carolina tidewater?

There are two good reasons, one from more than 300 years ago and the other from modern times.

First, in 1700, a newcomer to North America named John Lawson made this long trip to explore and learn about unfamiliar lands. He made the trip on foot because there was no better way to travel through the endless forests of backcountry Carolinas. Setting off from Charleston, he was accompanied by several Englishmen and Indian guides. The notes he took became the basis of a book, “A New Voyage to Carolina,” first published in 1709 and still a classic for its rich descriptions of flora and fauna and the conditions of the native peoples who populated the areas he visited.

The more recent traveler, writer Scott Huler, made the long walk because he wanted to follow in Lawson’s footsteps. He said he looked for a modern book that explained where Lawson went and compared it to what is there today. When he found that it had not been done and that no one had even retraced Lawson’s journey, he thought, “That’s for me!”

Of course, Huler could have made the trip of several hundred miles in a day or two in a car on modern roads. But he wanted to go slow, seeing today’s landscapes and peoples at the pace Lawson traveled.

He shares his travels in a new book, “A Delicious Country: Rediscovering the Carolinas along the Route of John Lawson’s 1700 Expedition.” It was released by UNC Press March 4.

Like most other readers of Lawson, Huler is impressed with Lawson’s descriptions of and attitude about the native populations. Lawson visited Sewee, Santee, Sugeree, Wateree, Catawba, Waxhaw, Occaneechi and Tuscarora Indians. Huler writes, “He (Lawson) stayed in their wigwams, ate their food, trusted their guides. And he emerged with their stories, for some of which he is the only source in the world.”

Lawson, Huler continues, “documented native communities, buildings, agriculture, hunting, dance, trade, and culture through eyes clear, thorough, and respectful. Lawson depicts the natives as fully human—not some subspecies perceived only in comparison to European settlers.”

Lawson’s words were, “They are really better to us than we are to them.”

But Lawson found the native populations to be in a precarious situation. “The Small-Pox and Rum have made such a Destruction amongst them, that, on good grounds, I do believe, there is not the sixth Savage living within two hundred Miles of all our Settlements, as there were fifty Years ago. These poor Creatures have so many Enemies to destroy them, that it’s a wonder one of them is left alive near us.”

Traveling Lawson’s route through the rural Carolinas, Huler found a surprising and discouraging similarity. The rural and small-town landscapes are littered with empty manufacturing plants, corporate farms and forests, empty main streets and deserted houses. Three centuries after Lawson, Huler found that “our world would teeter: a way of life dying in the countryside, implacable new forces once again balancing an entire civilization on a knife edge.”

Setting aside this discouraging report, Huler’s adventures and misadventures on the road entertain and inform. He is the best type of tour guide, one who is well-informed but not at all pompous. His wry, self-deprecating sense of humor helps his serious medicine go down smoothly.

For Lawson, his explorations and the reports about them opened the door to prominence and high positions in the young colony. That success came to a sudden end in 1711 when he was captured and executed by the Indians he had so greatly admired and praised.

Military Friendly is a company that assesses quality for military-related issues. VIQTORY is a company that creates resources for people exiting military service. The two companies announced in January that Fayetteville Technical Community College ranked No. 1 in the Top 10 Gold Category College Award for large community colleges for 2019-2020.

FTCC’s All American Veterans Center, located on Fort Bragg Road on the Fayetteville campus, and its new dedicated staff are working around the clock to ensure that veterans who wish to use educational benefits receive positive experiences at FTCC.

The full-time and part-time staff at the AAVC works hard for veteran students by providing oneon- one support to help them maneuver the multistep enrollment process. The staff is committed to helping students accomplish this enrollment as efficiently as possible.

The center’s staff includes school certifying officials, or SCOs, and is comprised of a diverse group that includes those who have served our country in the Air Force, Army and Navy, as well as civilians.

SCOs audit students’ courses and information to submit information to Veterans Affairs for processing benefits. FTCC proudly has more than 2,000 students using some form of VA benefits to complete associate degree, certificate and diploma programs of study.

Another recent change at FTCC and in the Veterans Services Office involves a new online system for electronically filing student documents. Students submitting paperwork to FTCC can now do so via the school’s website, www.faytechcc.edu.

This means veteran students can now submit the new Veteran Student Intake Form online along with other important documents, such as the DD-214, commonly known as a Certificate of Eligibility.

Students can receive help submitting the form at Thompson Library. They can also submit the online 

Students also enjoy an open-door policy at FTCC and at the AAVC, providing veterans quick, easy, on-the-spot access to an SCO who can assist with questions.

The AAVC provides students with a place to study, to conduct research and to interact with fellow veteran students. The Student Veteran Association holds monthly meetings at the center and invites students to express concerns and share experiences with fellow veteran students and staff members.

Students can even enjoy coffee or tea in a relaxed environment while they complete school assignments at the AAVC.

FTCC invites veterans who are interested in attending college to visit the AAVC, email vso@faytechcc.edu, or call 910-678-8395. It is an honor for the AAVC staff to serve our veterans and respond to their questions and needs to make a positive difference for them.

The Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Association of Cumberland County presents its fifth annual spring symposium this month. The event has sold out the past two years and as a result has moved to the Ramada Plaza on Owen Drive. It takes place Saturday, March 23, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

This year’s speakers, Tony Avent and Carol Reese, are at the top of the East Coast horticulture circuit.

Avent is the Indiana Jones of horticulture. He’s a curator, breeder, columnist and creator of Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden, both in Raleigh. His talks are titled “Hot Plants in Cold Places” and “Our Fine Textured Friends — The Magical World of Ornamental Grasses.”

Reese, a nationally known speaker, columnist and extension horticulture specialist at the University of Tennessee, blends gardening with her quirky humor. She’s offering talks titled “Beyond Azaleas” and “Sex in the Garden.” Yes, you read that correctly.

Come to the Ramada Plaza to hear these speakers and enjoy visiting vendors and gathering information. Avent will end with a brief but exciting auction of some interesting plants he grows.

This event raises scholarship funds for horticulture students at Fayetteville Technical Community College. It also supports the North Carolina/Cumberland County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers in their effort to educate residents in state-approved horticulture practices.

Registration, which is currently in its “late” phase, costs $60. To register, visit Eventbrite.com and search “Master Gardener Spring Symposium 2019” in Fayetteville. Or, make a check out to CCEMGVA and send it to Lynne Grates, Treasurer, 301 East Mountain Dr., Fayetteville, NC, 28306.

For further information, call 910-261-1091 and ask for Judy Dewar.

When the power bill arrives every month, most people don’t think about what PWC, Fayetteville’s hometown utility provider, does not just for its customers but for the community and for the environment, too. Now is the time to find out. Friday, March 22, from noon-9 p.m., and Saturday, March 23, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., PWC will host its 5th Annual Power & Water Expo at SkyView on Hay.

Upon arrival, the first 500 visitors will receive a reusable tote. Carolyn Justice-Hinson, PWC spokeswoman, said that by the time people leave, their totes are filled with educational and useful items. These include fat-trappers, tree seedlings, LED energysaving light bulbs and other energy and water conservation tools. Attendees can register to win a $100 bill credit, too.

There will also be a drawing for a smart thermostat, which Hinson said is one of the best tools available to help manage utility bills.

The expo is also an excellent time to learn about upcoming billing changes. “Because we are going to change to time-of-use electric rates in May, this is a great time for customers who want to learn more about how it works and how they can take advantage of the lowest rates,” Hinson said.

Hinson sees this as a great opportunity for the community to get to know PWC and the people who work so diligently to keep Fayetteville’s lights on. She invites the community to come and get answers to their questions about all aspects of PWC.

“The cool thing is that we have employees from all over the company that volunteer to come to this, and they know the basic information about conservation and our programs,” Hinson said. “And they really enjoy interacting with people.”

There will be PWC representatives from the customer service department as well as conservation specialists, utility workers with equipment to show off, system protection employees, engineers and field service workers. This gives attendees the opportunity to learn about almost every aspect of PWC and its reach. Hinson encourages people to chat with the representatives and ask questions.

Several other organizations will be represented as well, including Sustainable Sandhills, the city of Fayetteville’s Stormwater program, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

“The idea behind that was looking at organizations that we work with and that offer value to our customers,” said Hinson. “When they come, it gives them a place to interact with the public, and it showcases our partnerships we have year-round.”

Action Pathways will also be at the expo to talk about its weatherization program and how it can have a significant impact on home utility bills. Cape Fear Botanical Garden will be at the expo, too. “They have a waterwise garden,” said Hinson. “We’ve partnered with them for 20 years.”

Radio stations Bob FM, Sunny, WKML, and Old School Jamz will be on-site throughout the event.

PWC has a long reach, to include Fayetteville Technical Community College, which will also participate in the expo. “We will be promoting in partnership with FTCC its new line worker program,” said Hinson. “(We want to) help promote that as a career opportunity. Additionally, people will be able to talk to line workers.

“As we continue to expand, there are always different types of jobs in the utility industry we will be looking to fill.”

While the event is free, Hinson suggests paying it forward and bringing a nonperishable food donation for the Second Harvest Food Bank food drive.

This is a family-friendly event, so bring the children. For more information, visit www.faypwc.com/pwcexpo.

Cape Fear Regional Theatre’s production of “Trumbo,” running through March 17, is not an easy play to review. The show’s program contains two pages of historical context and another two-page glossary to help orient theatergoers. There is no stage, no script and no action. To understand what plot there is, it helps to be a student of American political history. That said, “Trumbo” is a compelling drama.

Spanning the period from 1947-1960, during which time capitalism and communism were locked in a pitched battle for global ideological dominance, the play tells the story of Dalton Trumbo, a highly successful, award-winning Hollywood screenwriter who ran afoul of the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee.

Written by Christopher Trumbo, Dalton’s son, and ably directed by CFRT Artistic Director Mary Kate Burke, much of the show’s dialogue is taken straight from Dalton’s prolific correspondence between friend and foe alike. The juxtaposition in those letters between the noble and the mundane is both brilliant and spellbinding.

We meet Dalton for the first time as he defiantly takes on his HUAC interrogator only to watch his defiance dissolve into irritability as he pens a longwinded complaint to the phone company.

The audience is held rapt during the reading of a high-minded moral defense — with implications for our current political climate — only to dissolve in laughter minutes later as Dalton writes his college-bound son a hilariously ribald piece of fatherly advice.

The role of Dalton is played by Larry Pine, whose screen credits include “Bull,” “House of Cards,” “Madame Secretary” and “The Good Wife,” among many others. Pine plays Trumbo as an unfailingly erudite curmudgeon who manages to hold onto his sense of humor as the world shifts beneath his feet and he plunges from fame and fortune to impecunious infamy, dragging his family along with him.

That Dalton’s family unfailingly supported him is made evident by the role of his son Christopher in the play, who acts as the glue that holds the entire performance together. Played with endearing diffidence by Michael Tisdale, whose credits include “Law & Order” and “Third Watch,” Christopher provides the context for his father’s story and helps the audience see beyond the bluster to the man he loved.

The play ends with an unflinching, yet humorous, summing up of the cost of hewing to one’s convictions.

Whether Dalton was a martyr or a menace depends upon one’s political persuasion. But politics is a pendulum that swings both ways — which should make respect for First Amendment rights a matter of universal concern. That this has not always been so is what makes “Trumbo” an important piece of theater. Burke and CFRT are to be commended for bringing it to town.

Showtimes and ticket information are available from the CFRT box office at 910-323-4233. The box office is open Tuesday-Friday from 1-6 p.m. and one hour before showtimes. Learn more at www.cfrt.org.

Photo:  “Trumbo,” starring Larry Pine (right) and Michael Tisdale (left), is at CFRT through March 17.

March 23 is the 82nd day of the year. On that day 25 years ago — March 23, 1994 — 24 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division died in the aftermath of a collision of a C-130 cargo plane and an F-16 fighter jet at Pope Air Force Base, now known as Pope Army Airfield.

One hundred other soldiers were badly injured in a fireball that erupted when the jet crashed onto Green Ramp and into a transport aircraft.

Five hundred troops had gathered in preparation for a routine training jump. Units on the day’s manifest were the 82nd Airborne Division’s 504th Infantry, 505th Infantry and 782nd Support Battalion (Main), as well as the XVIII Airborne Corps’ 525th Military Intelligence Brigade and 159th Aviation Group (Combat) (Airborne).

The soldiers at Green Ramp were engaged in a variety of activities in preparation for the jump. Just after 2 p.m., the F-16D Fighting Falcon collided with the C-130 Hercules transport while both tried to land at Pope. The Hercules touched down safely. The F-16 pilots ejected as their plane plummeted to the ground. It crashed and slid across the tarmac into a parked C-141 Starlifter.

Both planes exploded, spewing 55,000 gallons of fuel onto Green Ramp. A massive debris-filled fireball, described by some as 75 feet in diameter, roared through the staging area. Capt. James B. Rich, the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade’s logistics officer and a primary jumpmaster, had just finished rehearsing duties with the jumpmaster team.

Rich said in an April 1994 interview that during the ordeal he felt “fully exposed.” The sensation of the “intense heat of the fireball as it passed over … was like being in a microwave with the temperature getting hotter and hotter.”

He said he “expected to burst into flames.” Actually, the captain’s backside was on fire.

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 504th Airborne Infantry Regiment, who attended the jumpmaster’s review while sitting on the ground, jumped up and scattered in several directions after the explosion. Some of them ran toward the Jumpmaster School training area. Others bolted toward a fence, and still others tried to race behind mock doors of a training device. Some found safety. Most did not. The soldiers who hit the ground and rolled fared better than the troopers who ran. Those who escaped injury went to the aid of the less fortunate, many of whom were on fire.

General officers who later became legendary military leaders were among those in charge that day. Then-Lt. Gen. Hugh Shelton, the commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, praised the quick and impromptu response of the soldiers and rescue teams after the explosion. “When fear sets in, training takes over,” Shelton was quoted as saying in the Fayetteville Observer-Times, Mar 31, 1994.

One month before the accident, the 504th Infantry had to simulate evacuating dead and wounded soldiers during maneuvers at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. “Most of the things... (at the crash site) were exactly what we had trained for there,” said then-Lt. Col. Stanley A. McChrystal, the battalion commander.

Proud of the heroes of Green Ramp, the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, Maj. Gen. William M. Steele, said in an interview in April of ’94 that “It was soldiers saving soldiers.” Soldiers did “anything they could do to care for their buddies that were more seriously injured.”

From the mid-1970s well into the 1990s, downtown revitalization was a significant concern and topic of public discussion in Fayetteville. Newspapers, radio and TV carried sobering reports about the death of retail business downtown. Sears, J.C. Penney, Belk and numerous small shops had abandoned Hay Street. Cross Creek Mall and nearby strip malls became Fayetteville’s retail sales hub, serving south-central North Carolina.

The opening in 2000 of the world-class Airborne & Special Operations Museum changed everything. Business investors and local government took a renewed interest in the heart of the center city.

Today, less than 20 years later, businesses along Hay Street and the surrounding innercity streets yield more property tax revenue than the mall does. That was a surprising revelation by consultant Steve Auterman of Urban Design Associates of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. “You ought to be building more of what is getting you the best return,” he said.

Auterman provided Fayetteville City Council an initial conceptual report of ways his firm believes Fayetteville’s downtown can be transformed into a vibrant business, entertainment, residential and government complex. He gave the council a detailed report Mar. 4.

Auterman foresees a physical transformation of the downtown area, which he said extends far beyond Hay Street. He noted that the recent reconstruction of W. Russell Street can be utilized better, saying that only about 10,000 cars a day travel the six-lane road.

He added that on-street parking and bike lanes could easily be carved out along Russell Street. It would be one way of addressing the need for more parking availability.

“Make the best choices — not the easy choices,” was Auterman’s theme for almost every recommendation he made. “Increased value and vibrancy are the desired outcomes,” he added. 

With the new Rowan Street railroad overpasses nearing completion, the consultant said improving downtown gateways will foster in-town living and improve mobility. Auterman envisions a downtown residential neighborhood but emphasized the need for updated zoning, which now limits progressive residential growth. Modern design standards, he said, would help stimulate investments.

“It’s important that our decisions are critical and include well-planned areas,” said District 2 Councilman Dan Culliton. His district includes downtown.

Auterman said the real estate that City Hall and police headquarters occupy is valuable, but they should be relocated in the city center. Some Council members have considered the southern tip of Murchison Road as a potential location for city offices.

Urban planners believe that downtown expansion should occur east and south of the Market House. A performing arts center envisioned by county government could be built on Person Street. One location that’s been suggested is the former Greyhound Bus station property. Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said the next step for Urban Design Associates is to bring City Council specific ideas about how the city should implement downtown revitalization.

The North Carolina Board of Elections has set the dates for new elections that will decide the country’s last unsettled congressional race from 2018. The “redo” 9th Congressional District primary election will be held May 14, with the general election tentatively set for Sept. 10.

If no candidate wins more than 30 percent of the vote in the primary, a runoff election will be held Sept. 10, with the general election pushed back to Nov. 5. The 9th District runs from Charlotte to rural Bladen County.

Cumberland County is divided between the 8th and 9th Districts. The state elections board twice refused to certify the November 2018 election results because of concerns about tampering with absentee ballots. The Republican candidate, Mark Harris, has decided not to continue his quest for Congress. Democrat Dan McCready will seek the U.S. House of Representatives seat.

The board of elections ordered a new election when it determined that public confidence had been undermined “to an extent that a new election is warranted.”

Acting Cumberland County Schools superintendent named

Dr. Mary Black, associate superintendent of student support services for Cumberland County Schools, is serving as CCS acting superintendent while Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr. receives medical treatment. Connelly Jr. has a cancerous tumor in his jaw and is undergoing treatment for it but continues to serve as his schedule allows, he said. Connelly Jr. added that the prognosis is good and that he is maintaining a positive outlook. 

Feb. 28, the county school board approved the appointment of an acting superintendent to serve as needed until Connelly Jr. recovers and returns fully to work.

County schools’ proposed FY20 budget

Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr. recommended a local budget for the upcoming school year of $89 million. The county Board of Education received the recommendation at its finance committee meeting March 5. The budget requests an increase of $8.9 million in local funding from the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners. In North Carolina, school boards do not have taxing authority.

Connelly’s overall recommended budget for the school system is $508.8 million, which includes state and federal funding. It proposes a pay increase of 3-5 percent for some staff members.

“To adequately address the needs of the whole child, and plan for the success of all students, we must increase the number of social workers, school counselors and school nurses that serve our students,” Connelly Jr. said in a prerecorded video presentation. 

Cumberland County’s pupil population has not grown in many years. It remains at approximately 53,000 students.

Local tuberculosis case being investigated

The Cumberland County Health Department is investigating a confirmed case of tuberculosis involving a person at Village Christian Academy on S. McPherson Church Road.

The health department was notified about the confirmed case last month and is required by law to conduct an inquiry following North Carolina TB Control Program protocols.

The private school’s administration is working closely with health officials to take appropriate action. Officials said there is a select group of people who may have been exposed to the disease.

People with prolonged, frequent or close contact with someone who has TB are at high risk of becoming infected. The disease has an estimated 22 percent infection rate, according to the World Health Organization.

The Cumberland County Health Department did not say whether the infected individual is a student or an adult. With the proper treatment, TB is almost always curable.

WebMD says doctors prescribe antibiotics to kill the bacteria that cause the disease. Patients with TB must take medications for six to nine months.

For questions or concerns regarding exposure, contact Duane Holder, interim health director for the county health department, at 910-433-3600.

Local government public relations

The county of Cumberland, the city of Fayetteville and nine partner organizations have launched a project to cultivate communitywide branding. The idea is to better communicate the community’s strengths, assets, diversity and vision.

The Fayetteville Cumberland Collaborative Branding Committee is leading this effort and includes representatives from the city, county, Tourism Development Authority, Vision 2026, Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and other agencies.

The FCCBC commissioned North Star Destination Strategies of Nashville, Tennessee, to help create a new community brand, apparently designed to replace History, Heroes and a Hometown Feeling.

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not around,” said Will Ketchum, president of North Star. “Branding is what you do to change or refine that message.”

In any human enterprise as complex, varied and challenging as education, we shouldn’t expect a great deal of consensus, much less unanimity. Politicians, educators, parents and citizens debate education policy constantly — not only because it is of crucial importance to our shared futures but also because the field simply contains many highly debatable questions.

Whether paying teachers extra if they obtain graduate degrees will make them more effective is not among those debatable questions, however, at least not anymore. In the vast majority of cases, the answer is no. Pay bumps for teachers with graduate degrees is cost-ineffective. If you seek to improve student learning, such a policy isn’t worth pursuing.

Over the past three decades, scholars have published more than 100 studies in peer-reviewed academic journals testing the proposition that possessing a graduate degree makes one a better teacher, all other things being held equal. In more than 80 percent of the empirical studies, researchers found no relationship between graduate degrees and measurable teacher effectiveness.

Of course, that does leave room for a few studies finding a positive association (as well as a few finding a negative one). Even for the positive studies, though, the finding is often narrow. There is a handful of studies showing that when teachers possess graduate degrees in the subject they teach, rather than in education, their students may benefit. But this evidence has mostly to do with graduate-level mastery of math or science, not with degrees in any and all subjects.

In a rare and praiseworthy occurrence of evidence- based policymaking, the North Carolina General Assembly decided several years ago to end the state’s pay supplements for graduate degrees. Lawmakers decided instead to reform the teachersalary schedule so that pay rose with gains in teaching effectiveness, which occur disproportionately in the early years of a teaching career, while also offering bonuses for exceptional performance.

In addition, an increasing number of North Carolina school districts are pursuing the flexibility to adopt new compensation systems that pay teachers more for assuming advanced teaching roles. We may also see greater differentiation as teachers get paid more based on hard-to-staff subjects and hard-to-staff schools, although political resistance to such common-sense practices — which are common in other professions — remains significant.

As North Carolina and other states continue to iterate and innovate, some promising teacher-pay reforms will pay off. Others may prove ineffective or even counterproductive. Policymakers should always be willing to subject their ideas to evaluation in realworld settings, which are inherently more complex than the models used to craft legislation.

Does that principle sound reasonable? If you think so, keep in mind that you are obligated to apply the principle consistently. If you pounce on every adverse finding to savage an education policy you dislike, yet insist that North Carolina restore pay supplements for graduate degrees because “it just makes common sense,” you are being grossly inconsistent.

But what about that narrow finding about students benefitting from teachers with advanced math or science degrees? Couldn’t North Carolina reinstate pay bumps for those special cases?

In theory, yes. In practice, it’s neither necessary nor workable. It’s unnecessary because if obtaining such a degree will improve teacher performance, we can capture the effect of that by rewarding the performance itself — measured however you like, by value-added test scores or principal evaluation or student surveys or some combination — rather than the acquisition of the degree.

Moreover, the distinction will never stick. When a few state lawmakers filed a bill this year to restore the pay bump, they extended it to all academic subjects. The North Carolina Association of Educators then welcomed the bill only as a first step to restoring the supplement for all graduate degrees, including those in education (which represent a large majority of the degrees at issue).

Restoring pay bumps for graduate degrees would be a triumph of special-interest pressure over sound policy, of image over substance, of hope over experience. North Carolina shouldn’t backslide. It should move forward.

When Ben Franklin offered that bit of advice from Poor Richard, he may have been thinking about the Knights Templar. Today, we climb into the Way Back Machine with Mr. Peabody to visit Medieval Times between the 1100s and the 1300s. Back then, knighthood was in flower. The Crusades were all the rage for the cool kids in Europe. Yep, it’s another history lesson from the thrilling days of yesteryear, even before the Lone Ranger rode the range.

Come with us now to the year 1118, when a French Knight named Hugh des Payens founded the Knights Templar. Hugh was chilling in Jerusalem, Israel, which was chronically jabbed by the local Moslems. Hugh decided to found an order of religious warrior monks to take up arms to protect travelers heading to the Holy Land. He started his own army, the Knights Templar.

De Payens was like Col. Walter E. Kurtz in the movie “Apocalypse Now.” Kurtz was way out in the Cambodian jungle refusing to take orders from his commanders and sowing destruction according to his plans. The general who sent Captain Willard to terminate Kurtz’s command described Kurtz as follows: “He’s out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct. And he is still in the field commanding troops.”

Two hundred years after the Templara were founded, King Phillip IV of France felt the same about the Templara.

De Payens was a good organizer. He started with nine knights. By the time the Knights Templar reached its maximum size, there were tens of thousands of Templara organized into a standing army. No less an authority than the internet reports, the Templara had more than 15,000 Templar houses spread across Europe in the 1300s. The Templara project was to protect pilgrims heading from Europe to Jerusalem and to protect Jerusalem from the Moslems.

Pope Urbanus declared the first crusade in 1095 to keep Jerusalem out of Moslem hands. That crusade went pretty well. The crusades that followed, not so much. In the third crusade, the Templara threw an air ball and were defeated soundly by the Moslems, who were playing on their home court.

The Templara regrouped and still had the strongest army in Europe. They concluded that crusading wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. They needed a new line of work. Naturally, they decided to go into banking. Recall Woody Guthrie’s famous line: “Some will rob you with a six gun/ And some with a fountain pen.”

The Templara figured getting killed by Moslems wasn’t as financially rewarding as banking by robbing folks with a fountain pen. They came up with a system of banking by accepting deposits that allowed everyone from kings to serfs to borrow and send money from one location to another. This made the Templara enormously rich. They had more money than most kings. Everything was dandy for a while. What could go wrong?

If you have a lot of money, other people may think they ought to have your money. Enter King Phillip IV of France.

Phil was always warring with other kings. Wars cost money. Phil went to his local Bank of Templara and borrowed a potful of money. Borrowing money is fun. Paying it back is not so much fun. If you borrow money from the Russian mafia, they will expect you to pay it back, otherwise bad things may happen to you. It was no different in the Middle Ages.

Phil borrowed a ton of money from the Templara, who incidentally had an army. They expected him to pay it back. Phil really didn’t want to pay it back. This presented a conundrum. What to do?

Phil devised a strategy. He sent out his army to arrest all of the Templara at once and charged them with heresy. Like the FBI raiding Roger Stone’s house, Phil put the Templara on double-secret probation. He sent out his troops to arrest all the Templara in the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 13, 1307. This was an unlucky day for the Templara. Since then, Friday the 13th has gotten a bad rap.

After some enhanced interrogation techniques, the Templara confessed to all sorts of gruesome things, including heresies and bad manners. Their property was seized. Phil’s war debt to the Templara was cancelled. You don’t have to repay heretics, particularly dead or imprisoned heretics.

The Templar Grand Master was Jacques de Molay. After some not-so-gentle questioning by the Inquisition, he admitted to everything. Jacques spent about seven years in prison before he was finally slowly burned at the stake for his alleged crimes. Before leaving this mortal coil, Jacques laid a mighty curse on King Phil and Pope Clement IV, telling them they would all die within a year and a day of Jacques’ death. Sure enough, Phil and Clement both expired within the time limit set by Jacques.

So, what have we learned today? There is more money to be made in banking than in being the guys who fight wars. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can rent it. If you borrow money, you better pay it back. Ben Franklin was right.

U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., stunned her Senate colleagues and her fellow Americans last week by revealing at a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee that a superior officer raped her during her 26 years of service as an Air Force fighter pilot.

Her disclosure comes on the heels of a similar admission in January by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, that she was raped while she was in college and was later abused physically and emotionally by her husband. U.S. Rep. Kate Porter, D-Calif., has also said she was a victim of domestic abuse during her marriage.

Make no mistake. McSally was the first woman to fly as an Air Force fighter pilot, hardly a job for the faint of heart of either gender. McSally, Ernst and Porter have also made their ways to the highest level of our government, elected by millions of Americans to represent their interests in Congress — also not responsibilities for the faint of heart.

In other words, these women and millions of others less well-known are not people we would think of as likely victims.

At the same time, they are also not unusual. McSally said in interviews that she did not report the assault at the time because she did not trust the system. She was correct in her assessment. When she began talking about her experience, she said, “I felt like the system was raping me all over again.”

Ernst and Porter also began speaking about their experiences long after the fact.

Ours is a military community, and it defies reason to imagine that women — and some men — who are our friends and neighbors have not experienced sexual assaults. Such assaults are notoriously difficult to prosecute because they occur in private and involve “he said, she said” evidence in which the perpetrator says sex was consensual and the victim says it was not. The mostly male military culture coupled with its hierarchical structure mean that many victims make the same choice McSally made not to report what happened to them. Someone reading these words may well have made the same decision, often out of fear of career-changing retaliation.

There are some positive signs, though. The Defense Department claims reporting is up by 10 percent across the services. The change is even more dramatic at our nation’s service academies, where reports of sexual assaults are up 50 percent. Disclosures by victims like these women in Congress and other public figures also shine light on such crimes and encourage other victims to come forward.

Also, slow-as-molasses Congress is taking such assaults more seriously. Led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., now a candidate for president, lawmakers have removed the statute of limitations on assault and rape cases, criminalized retaliation against people who report such crimes, and mandated dishonorable discharges of dismissal of service members convicted of sexual assault or rape.

Efforts to remove sexual assault cases from the military decision-making chain of command and put them directly in the hands of military prosecutors have thus far failed but could be reintroduced as spotlights continue to shine and get brighter.

It is clear that McSally, Ernst and Porter felt alone with their experiences, as do victims in our community. There is help.

Rape Crisis Volunteers of Cumberland County has assisted people in need of support since the late-1970s. The phone number is 910-485-7273. The National Domestic Violence hotline does the same at its website or by calling 800-799-7233.

If it can happen to Martha McSally, it can happen to us, to our mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends and to men we love.

Photo:  U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., was the first woman to fly as an Air Force fighter pilot. She recently revealed that she was raped by a superior officer while serving her country. Photo by Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons

Editor’s note: Publisher Bill Bowman cedes his usual column space to Earl Vaughan Jr. this week. Vaughan Jr. talks from a personal perspective about an issue plaguing Hope Mills leadership.

I’ve known Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner since she was the cheerleading coach at Douglas Byrd High School years ago. 

Warner was one of the first cheerleading coaches at that time who pushed the envelope for her young charges. She sought to have them treated as athletes and fought for opportunities to help them get better at what they did.

As often is the case when someone tries something new, there were those who pushed back, sometimes hard. Warner played by the rules, but whenever possible, she got those rules to change. Today,mcheerleading is officially recognized as a sport by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association and even has its own championship competition.

So, where am I going with an editorial talking about Warner and her cheerleading days?

Well, she’s living them again in her relationship with the current Hope Mills Board of Commissioners.

Ever since she was elected mayor, Warner has worked to promote the town of Hope Mills, to improve the quality of life for both its citizens and its businesses, and to be an ambassador for the town.

I asked her for a copy of her schedule of duties as mayor for the last couple of months, and I got exhausted just reading the list. She’s attended countless meetings and official events, representing the town, boosting its image and networking with other political leaders in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

And that’s just her elected job. She also owns and operates a small business and is a grandmother of five, which at times calls on her to be a caregiver to small children in her family while their parents are working.

There’s a faction on the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners that seems to think Warner can’t handle all that work. So, they keep using rules and loopholes and other bits of sleight of hand to continue whittling away at the responsibilities Warner has to cope with.

Even though Warner was involved in the fight to restore the Hope Mills dam about as long as anybody, the board decided not to let her travel to Seattle, Washington, when the restored dam won a national award.

And since the board didn’t want Warner to have to worry about voting on decisions regarding town property, they passed a rule that all five members of the board have to vote on property issues, which means Warner will never get to cast a vote. 

They didn’t want her dealing with the headache of appointing members to certain committees, so the board recently voted to take that responsibility away from Warner, too.

And after Warner worked out a deal with the University of North Carolina at Pembroke to put some attractive artwork designed by UNCP students around town, no one on the board took the time to renew the deal to fund the art, since I guess they didn’t want Warner worrying about it taking up too much space.

It seems the board may finally be running out of things to take away from Warner, so in the spirit of former late-night comic David Letterman, I’ve got a “Top 10” list of things they might consider to put her completely at ease.

1. Construct a wall around her house. That way, she won’t be able to get out and do all those community-related things she does to boost the image of Hope Mills.

2. Build a garage for her at town hall, lock her car in it and don’t give her the key. This is in case she gets over the wall.

3. Force local businesses to relocate and get new phone numbers, then change street names so she can’t find them anymore to reach out for possible community partnerships.

4. Erect a “She’s Not Here” sign at town hall so people won’t bother her. Make sure said sign meets the newest, often-redrawn, sign ordinance.

5. Keep her from moving all her clocks ahead for daylight saving time. Then conduct all board business before she shows up for the meetings.

6. Since Warner can’t vote, let her present a monthly award for most uncooperative board member with a framed picture of the dam when it was still broken, since it’s hard to fix problems when elected officials can’t find it in themselves to work together.

7. Use some of that extra revenue from the distribution of county sales tax money that Warner helped negotiate with the Mayor’s Coalition to send her on an extended vacation.

8. Since she’s got a teaching background, set her up to teach a local course about ethics. The board members who skipped the earlier countywide ethics training that Warner helped organize can be the first students.

9. Close the mayor’s office, since the mayor can’t vote anyway. Fill it with copies of the decisions this board has made in the name of cutting Warner’s mayoral reach.

10. Finally, in case you haven’t figured it out, I’m kidding. Save one thing. Stripping Warner of mayoral authority isn’t good for her or the town of Hope Mills. Instead of being petty and power hungry, this board should work with her, not against her, for the benefit of everyone.

Besides, she’s not going anywhere.

Photo: Mayor Jackie Warner

The Child Advocacy Center, a charitable nonprofit organization that serves local victims of child abuse and their families, is gearing up for the Third Annual Fayetteville’s Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown. This spring fundraising event, held at the Crown Center Ballroom, takes place Saturday, March 23.

The 2017 and 2018 shows both sold out, bringing in nearly $40,000 each year. Those proceeds assisted in the various education and prevention programs offered by the CAC in partnership with other community resources. In fiscal year 2018, the CAC served 686 children.

For the Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown, 14 teams of local law enforcement, business owners, health care workers, school system employees and interested community members put together their best acts and give the audience a show like no other.

Julia Adkins, chairperson for the event, said the medleys and group act mash-ups are the most popular. “There were some great acts,” she said of the past two years. “The Michael Jackson mash-up and ‘Pitch Perfect’ tribute were phenomenal. The law enforcement group had props in their performance, and it was fantastic.”

Each year, the acts have evolved into bigger performances, and team slots have filled up faster. Seventyfive percent of the teams in 2018 were returning teams from 2017.

The teams compete to be crowned Top Fundraiser, People’s Choice and Fayetteville’s Ultimate Lip Sync Stars.

Twenty-year radio announcer Gayle Nelson and Cape Fear Regional Theatre Public Relations Director Michael Thrash will emcee this year’s show. Local actress Nicki Hart, local attorney Tim Edwards, District 12 judge Toni King and local singersongwriter and producer Kyng Bea will serve as judges.

Funds are raised via ticket sales, pay-to-vote and raffle tickets. Standard table tickets cost $50, and VIP table tickets cost $75. Both options grant access to a social hour at 6 p.m., which includes hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. The show starts at 7 p.m. and includes an intermission with desserts.

The VIP ticket additionally includes wine at the table, one vote ticket and one raffle ticket. Purchase tickets online at capefeartix.com or in person at the Crown Center Box Office, 1960 Coliseum Dr.

At the show or in advance online, audience members can vote for their favorite act for $1 per vote. Raffle tickets are also available for purchase prior to the show or in person; they are one for $5 or five for $20. This year’s prizes include a 50-inch Smart LED TV, an Apple watch with GPS, a karaoke machine and more.

To learn more about this event and the CAC, or to purchase votes or raffle tickets early, visit www.CACFayNC.org.

You can help

Here is a brief list of ways you can volunteer your time at the Child Advocacy Center, located at 222 Rowan St. in downtown Fayetteville. Applications for volunteer slots will open in late April. To see a longer list or to learn more, visit www.CACFayNC.org.

A CAC wish list follows.

Office:

• Answer phones

• Put information packets together for families

• Prepare educational workshop materials

• Help send out mass mailings

• Help with the Therapy Dog Program

• Get trained to lead prevention workshops

• Adopt the flower pots in front of the building

Development:

• Participate in fundraising events

• Increase opportunities for financial giving to the CAC

Marketing:

• Get trained to join the Speaker’s Bureau and share about the CAC at presentations to community civic groups, church groups, etc.

• Seek opportunities for publicity for the CAC in our community Community Coalition:

• Serve alongside other concerned citizens to find ways to promote child abuse awareness and prevention in our community

CAC wish list:

Therapy dogs, washable dry erase markers, sharpie markers in various colors, juice boxes, individually wrapped snack items for children, comfort blankets, children’s magazines, paper rolls for easel, canned soda, powdered creamer, sugar, coffee, hot and cold drink cups, paper plates, gift cards to grocery stores or office supply stores, 8 1/2 x 11” copy paper, parent magazines, Lysol spray, air freshener

Bill Boyette isn’t the type of coach who spends time trying to find good things in the losses on his schedule. But after guiding his Fayetteville Academy boys basketball team to this year’s North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 2-A state championship, he had to admit that a loss to Cape Fear Academy on Feb. 8 may have done his Eagles more harm than good.

The Eagles ended the season 27-3 and finished No. 2 in the entire state of North Carolina among both public and private schools, according to the MaxPreps rankings.

Boyette points to that defeat in the championship game of the Coastal Rivers Conference tournament at Harrells Christian Academy as a key to the season. It was the fourth time the Eagles and Cape Fear Academy had met each other, with Fayetteville Academy winning the three previous games.

“They are an awfully good team and we knew it was going to be a battle,’’ Boyette said. His team lost the third meeting 42-40. Boyette felt the Eagles got a timely message with the defeat.

“I sensed a little complacency on our team,’’ he said. “I could see we were happy where we were.’’

At the time, the Eagles were riding an 18-game winning streak and were headed to the playoffs, almost certain of the No. 1 seed in the 2-A field.

“There’s a lot of pressure when you’re on a winning streak,’’ Boyette said. “We pointed toward the one-and-done aspect of the postseason. We went back and talked about why we lost that game. We didn’t do anything different at the next day of practice, realizing we had to play four quarters of basketball every single game or we would be going home.’’

The Eagles did just that in their run to the 2-A championship. After a first-round bye, the Eagles rolled through four opponents with little trouble, the closest margin a 55-40 win over Northside Christian in the state semifinals.

“We just thought it was imperative we got off to great starts,’’ Boyette said of state playoff stretch. He didn’t feel the Eagles did that in the state semifinals and finals as the Eagles found themselves behind in both.

As has often been the case for Boyette championship teams, defense played a role in the victories. “I’m a man-to-man coach,’’ Boyette said, referring to his philosophy of playing defense. “Ironically, as it worked out, we went zone from the second quarter on in the semifinals. It worked wonders.’’

In the title game, the Eagles faced another familiar foe, Wayne Country Day School. Boyette recalled the rematch with Cape Fear Academy in the conference tournament and just mentioned to his team once that they’d be facing a team they’d already beaten twice in the regular season.

After the Eagles beat Northside Christian in the semifinals on Friday, Boyette said several of his players stayed around to watch Wayne Country Day in its 75-67 win over Freedom Christian in the semifinals.

“They got the idea it wasn’t going to be a matter of (just) stepping on the court,’’ Boyette said.

After a slow start in the title game, the Eagles took advantage of their height in the second half, pounding the ball inside to 6-foot-8 Emmanuel Izunabor and 6-foot-5 Williams Onyeodi. Izunabor scored 26 and Onyeodi added 18 as the Eagles took the third boys basketball title in school history with a 64-45 win over Wayne Country Day.

Boyette has a long history of making key adjustments at halftime and watching his team pull away in the third quarter. This time, he just had to remind them what their original game plan was. 

He told them they had done nothing in the first half to execute the game plan of pushing the ball inside and taking advantage of their height.

“Early on in the third quarter, Emmanuel got some big hoops inside,’’ Boyette said. “We were getting stops on the defensive end. You could see our confidence growing, and you could see Emmanuel’s confidence growing.

“We just pumped it inside the entire third quarter, and that was the difference in the game.’’

Boyette had his team in a zone for the entire second half, and even he admitted that, like his team, he had to make adjustments. “It’s something I’m not accustomed to doing,’’ he said of using the zone, “but maybe the good Lord was telling me I’m a little stubborn in my ways. He showed me a different route and it worked to our advantage.

“We were very effective in the zone. I felt it was a huge key.’’

Izunabor ended the season strong for the Eagles after a long period of learning under the guidance of Boyette. “Emmanuel is a heck of a talent,’’ Boyette said. “There were days I was awfully tough on Emmanuel. He’d be the first to tell you it always seemed like the coach was calling his name.’’

Boyette said all the time he spent pushing Izunabor paid off. “He reached the ultimate,’’ Boyette said. “He was at his very best the last two games of the season. I couldn’t be more proud of him.’’

Izunabor, a native of Nigeria, said playing for Boyette was tough, like learning the fundamentals of the game from the beginning.

“He helped me a lot,’’ Izunabor said. “I had to take advantage of it.’’

Izunabor will be one of 10 seniors Boyette loses to graduation, leaving Boyette with only two players from this year’s team returning next season.

“I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world,’’ Boyette said of the big group that is departing. “It’s hard to say what’s going to happen.

“We’ll have to go with what we have. Hopefully we’ll get some guys that want to make the move to Fayetteville Academy. Good Lord willing, we’ll get some guys.’’

Fayetteville Academy wasn’t the only team from Fayetteville that advanced to the finals of an NCISAA championship game this season.

In 1-A boys, Greenfield School defeated Northwood Temple Academy 68-67. Northwood, led by University of Louisville recruit Josh Nickleberry, finished 20-14.

In 3-A boys, Carmel Christian beat Village Christian Academy 65-64. Village ended the year 22-13. 

Other Fayetteville teams that advanced to the semifinal round in the NCISAA playoffs were Trinity Christian School (21-10) in 1-A boys, Freedom Christian (12-17) in 2-A boys, Village Christian (22-13) in 3-A boys, Trinity Christian School (16-6) in 1-A girls, Fayetteville Christian (26-2) in 2-A girls and Village Christian (19-6) in 2-A girls.

Do you remember the important North Carolina connection to “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” one of America’s most loved novels?

The book was written in North Carolina. Although its author, Betty Smith, based the novel on her experience growing up in Brooklyn, New York, she wrote the book in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As a struggling divorced woman with two children, she found work at the university until Harper & Brothers published her bestselling book in 1943.

It usually happens the other way, with the Southern writer moving to New York to write. So you would have to think that this Brooklyn to North Carolina story is something special, one not likely to happen again.

Surprise! It happened again Tuesday, March 5, when Smith’s publisher, now HarperCollins, released “A Woman Is No Man,” Etaf Rum’s debut novel. 

Like Smith, Rum based her novel on her life growing up in Brooklyn. Like Smith, the divorced Rum moved to North Carolina. Like Smith, she had two children. Like Smith, she found work in higher education — in Rum’s case, community colleges near where she lives in Rocky Mount.

Rum’s Palestinian immigrant family and neighbors in Brooklyn in the 1990s and 2000s are not the same as Smith’s families, whose roots were in western Europe.

Still, both books deal with women’s struggles to make their ways in families and communities dominated by men.

The central character in the first pages of Rum’s book is Isra, a 17-yearold Palestinian girl whose family forces her into marriage with an older man, Adam. He owns a deli and lives with his parents and siblings in Brooklyn. Adam and Isra move into the family’s basement. Isra becomes a virtual servant to Adam’s mother, Fareeda, who pushes the couple to have children. She wants males who can make money and build the family’s reputation and influence. When Isra produces only four children, all girls, she is dishonored by Fareeda. Adam beats her regularly. The central character of the second part of the book is Deya, Isra and Adam’s oldest daughter. Because Adam and Isra have died, Fareeda raises the children. Following the community’s customs, when Deya is a high school senior, Fareeda looks for a Palestinian man for her to marry. Deya wants to go to college, but she is afraid to bolt her family and the community’s customs. She knows of women who have stood up against male domination and then faced beatings and even death.

“A Woman Is No Man” is fiction, but it is clearly autobiographical. As such, Rum explains, the book “meant challenging many long-held beliefs in my community and violating our code of silence.”

“Growing up,” she writes, “there were limits to what women could do in society. Whenever I expressed a desire to step outside the prescribed path of marriage and motherhood, I was reminded over and over again: a woman is no man.”

She writes that “what I hope people from both inside and outside my community see when they read this novel are the strength and resiliency of our women.”

“A Woman Is No Man” will stir readers for other reasons, too.

Its themes of conflict between a drive for individual fulfillment and the demands of community and family loyalty are universal. Readers who have given up some life ambition because it conflicted with a family or community expectation will identify with Isra and Deya. So will those who have lost family ties when they breached community norms.

The author’s well-turned and beautiful writing makes reading a pleasure.

Finally, her careful, fair-minded, sympathetic descriptions of complicated and interesting characters give the story a classic richness.

Whether or not “A Woman Is No Man” becomes a best-seller and attains the beloved status of “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn,” it will, in the view of this reader, surely be a widely appreciated treasure.

Photo: Etaf Rum

Fayetteville City Council has funded another outdoor swimming pool. The Lake Rim Aquatic Center will feature a kiddie pool plus a six-lane competition pool. Lake Rim Park is off Old Raeford Road on Fayetteville’s west side. Tentative plans are to build the pools on the park soccer field, according to the city.

M & E Contracting of Fayetteville received the $2.4 million contract. City Council formally adopted the construction contract without discussion Feb. 25. The project was agreed to several months ago.

The Lake Rim Aquatic Center will be the city’s fourth public swimming pool — the third since 2015. The others are Chalmers Pool at Seabrook Park on Slater Avenue, Bates Pool at College Lakes Recreation Center and Westover Pool off Bonanza Drive. The new Lake Rim Park facilities are being funded through regular capitol development appropriations, not the $35 million Parks and Recreation Bond referendum of 2016.

The city had been playing public pool catch-up since 2015 when it had but one pool. At the same time, Fort Bragg Family & Military Welfare Recreation operated five swimming pools on post, two of which are indoor facilities.

Under the leadership of former mayor Nat Robertson, the city decided to develop at least three pools and seven splash pads. Four splash pads are already open and a fifth is under construction. Fayetteville officials said attendance at city pools has increased by 40 percent since 2016.

As part of the aforementioned Parks and Recreation Bond issue, a multipurpose aquatic and senior center and fieldhouse were initially proposed. But the $28 million project was scrapped, according to Parks and Recreation Director Michael Gibson. It would have included a large indoor multi-use aquatic and senior center. Would-be features included an indoor pool, fitness room, racquetball courts, indoor track and playing surface and community meeting space.

Jerome Najee Rasheed, known in the music business simply as Najee, is set to perform at Fayetteville State University’s J.W. Seabrook Auditorium the evening of Saturday, March 16. Najee is a musical pioneer; he released many of his jazz and R&B hits before smooth jazz was solidified as its own genre. “Smooth jazz didn’t exist until the (19)90s,” he said. “When I came out in ’86, they created a separate billboard chart. There was a billboard jazz chart and a contemporary jazz chart, and I charted on both.”

Najee has been immersed in music his entire life. “My first exposure was through my mother,” he said. “She was an avid jazz listener. It was just part of the household musical experience — she listened to everything from R&B to jazz to Latin music to classical music.”

Najee’s childhood interest in music transitioned into a career shortly after he graduated high school. He went on tour with his brother Fareed in the band Area Code at the age of 18. “We toured all over the world with the USO for about a year,” he said. “Then my mother told me that I had to go to school and get a job.”

Najee’s early experience prepared him for success later on. After attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, Najee began performing with more big names in the industry. “When I couldn’t afford to go to the conservatory, my daughter and I went to New York (City) and got hired by Chaka Khan,” he said. “We toured for a year playing with her, and I signed in 1986 to Capitol Records.

“Since that time, I’ve worked with people like Prince and Quincy Jones.”

Najee released his first album, “Najee’s Theme,” in 1986. An immediate success, it received a Grammy Award nomination for best jazz album.

That trend of success continues. “Of my first four albums, the first two went platinum, the two after that were certified gold,” he said. “After that, it was actually Prince who convinced me not to sign to a label.”

Najee has collaborated with a handful of major artists, including Stevie Wonder, Freddie Jackson, Al Jarreau and George Duke. “The beautiful thing about all of that is I was fortunate enough to see the human side of it,” he commented.

“When you’re around it, they’re just like everyone else — they like to laugh, they like to have fun,” Najee said, specifically speaking about performing for President Jerry Rawlings of the Republic of Ghana at the White House during the Bill Clinton administration.

Najee hesitates to pick favorites when it comes to his performances, but he does admit to a few shows being particularly memorable. “I have many of those,” he said. “When Nelson Mandela was president of South Africa, he remarried and sponsored three concerts in South Africa. I was a guest along with Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan; we did this major, beautiful concert on his (Mandela’s) behalf.”

Though that event was nearly 21 years ago, Najee still remembers Mandela fondly. “What he did was a gift to the nation,” he said. “The highlight of it all was to have lunch with him in the presidential residence. He was such a nice and gracious man; you felt like you were sitting there with your father or grandfather.”

After 23 years in the music industry, Najee still tours the world and releases new content. “We’ve been on the road since last year: Europe, Africa, the United States,” he said of himself and his band. “We are touring now — I’m on a smooth jazz cruise with all the major artists.

“Fortunately, at this stage in my career, I choosem what I do. I’m having fun now.”

Najee’s 17th album, “Poetry in Motion,” is a tribute to his collaboration with two outstanding artists: Al Jarreau and Prince. Najee recalls his time with these and other artists as positive learning experiences.

“Les Brown once said that people grow through people and projects, and for me that’s been certainlytrue,” Najee said of his evolution as an artist. “Every situation I’ve been blessed to go into, I’ve been fortunate to take something from that experience.”

Despite his success in the industry, Najee is humble and thankful for what he does. “No two daysare alike,” he said. “My life is just not that bad, trust me — I have nothing to complain about, and I’m very grateful to be doing what I do.”

Aaron Singleton, personal relations representative for the Seabrook Performance Series at FSU, talked about the excitement Najee is bringing to the community. “We are so pleased to bring an artist at the caliber of Najee to Fayetteville,” he said. “(His) appearance is creating a lot of buzz around town.”

Najee said the audience can look forward to a wonderful and diverse experience. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Fayetteville,” he said. “I’m looking forward to meeting some new people, some students on campus that are musicians. We do that (bring people on stage). I don’t know who’s available as of yet, but I have friends around town who might surprise you.”

For the setlist, Najee plans on incorporating a variety of songs. “We perform things that I’ve recorded over the years... and we toss in the newer stuff as well,” he said.

Steve Mack, budget director at FSU, is thrilled to welcome Najee back to North Carolina. “I’m certainly looking forward to it. I’ve seen the great Najee many times — I take advantage of every opportunity I get,” he said.

Najee performs March 16 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at FSU’s J.W. Seabrook Auditorium, located at 1200 Murchison Rd. For tickets, and to learn more, visit www.uncfsu.edu/najee.