Entertainment

Beats & Eats Vol. 2 returns as community celebration

Details

Tuesday, 05 August 2025

Written by Jamie Bishop

The Fayetteville Metro Alumni Chapter and the Fayetteville Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. are inviting the community to gather once again for a one-of-a-kind celebration of unity, music, and flavor. Beats & Eats Vol. 2, the city's premier food and music festival, will return to Festival Park on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Designed to bring together families, neighbors, small businesses, and music lovers, this end-of-summer event offers a day of rhythm, culture, and connection in downtown Fayetteville. With expanded entertainment, diverse food vendors, and activities for all ages, Beats & Eats is more than just a festival; it’s an intentional effort to build community and uplift the next generation.
“Beats & Eats isn’t just about good food and great music,” said James Wilson, Chairman of the event and Keeper of Exchequer of the Fayetteville Alumni Chapter. “It’s about who we are as a city, diverse, creative, and committed to one another. We want people to leave this event feeling full, not just from the food, but from the experience.”
This year’s event focuses on family-friendly fun, featuring live DJs, line dancing, and a dedicated kids’ zone called Frank Summer Lanes. This space was named in honor of Brother Frank Summers, a devoted member of the fraternity who left a legacy of serving youth with compassion and joy. The children’s area will include hands-on games, inflatables, learning stations, and space for families to relax and enjoy the festivities together.
“Our goal was to make this event safe, inclusive, and welcoming to everyone,” said Lionel Taylor, Social Committee Chairman. “We expanded the event footprint to involve not only the local Greek-letter community but also neighborhood clubs, auxiliaries, and grassroots organizations.”
Taylor, who has overseen many of the advertising elements, says the social planning committee emphasized accessibility, safety, and family connection throughout the process.
“We want people to know they’re not just attending an event, they’re helping us shape the cultural heartbeat of this city,” he said.
Attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy a diverse range of food options throughout the park, featuring everything from comfort food classics to sweet treats and innovative cuisine. Local vendors and food trucks will serve up dishes that represent the diverse palate of Fayetteville’s population, giving guests plenty of options to explore.
In addition to food and entertainment, the festival also serves a greater purpose: giving back. Proceeds from Beats & Eats Vol. 2 will directly support the Fayetteville Alumni Chapter’s Kappa League/Guide Right program, which provides mentorship, leadership training, college prep, and scholarships to young men in the Fayetteville area.
“We see this festival as a tool to invest in the future of our youth,” said Dr. Rodney McCrowre, Vice Polemarch of the chapter. “The energy of the day carries forward in the form of educational access, personal growth, and lifelong mentorship for our Kappa League participants.”
Reddick Mack, who helped organize the entertainment lineup, emphasized the spirit of celebration that defines the day.
“We’ve created an atmosphere where every generation can enjoy themselves. From the dance floor to the food tents to the kids' zone, it’s a space where people feel they belong.”
While the event is free to the public, sponsorship and VIP tent packages are available through Eventbrite, offering enhanced experiences for families and organizations who wish to support the event at a deeper level. The festival grounds at Festival Park will be set up with hydration stations, shaded seating areas, and plenty of space for dancing, dining, and connection.
As the summer winds down and the back-to-school season begins, Beats & Eats Vol. 2 offers the perfect moment to come together, reflect, and move forward—stronger as a community.
“This is how we close summer with joy, intention, and unity,” said Wilson. “Grab a plate, bring your loved ones, and help us celebrate everything that makes Fayetteville home.”

Hunting for hidden treasure at Clark Nature Center: A geocaching and letterboxing adventure

Details

Tuesday, 05 August 2025

Written by Anna White

The thrill of hunting for buried treasure is an adventure that humans will probably never tire of. Some find it in their local thrift store, others in traveling the world, and still others find it in intellectual pursuits.
Russell James, Park Ranger at Clark Park and Nature Center, found it in the forest. An avid geocacher and letterboxer, James is leading an upcoming program at the park that combines nature with exploration, teaching adults and kids the navigation and puzzle-solving skills necessary to enjoy both geocaching and letterboxing.
“I like having them learn about something they’ve never heard of before,” James said.
According to Letterboxing North America, “Letterboxing is an intriguing 'treasure hunt' style outdoor activity. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places (like parks) and post clues to finding the box online on one of several websites. However, clues to finding some of the most highly sought boxes are passed around by word of mouth.”
The site explains that there are 60,000 active letterboxes listed on their website alone.
What’s inside the boxes? Usually, a logbook, a hand-carved rubber stamp, and an ink pad. Finders carry their logbook and stamp, and when they find a letterbox, exchange stamp imprints - leaving an imprint from their stamp in the letterbox logbook and an imprint from the letterbox stamp in their logbook.
Letterboxing primarily depends on written clues. While geocaching shares the concept of hidden, weatherproof, physical containers, they are instead found using a set of coordinates and the contents of the boxes are not limited to stamps.
According to geocacheadventures.org, “geocaching began when selective availability was removed from the Global Positioning System on May 2, 2000, making GPS navigation available for public use. A few days later, geocaching was born by Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant in Oregon, who wanted to test the new accuracy. He hid a container in the woods near his home and posted the coordinates on a website. Within just a few days, the container had been found by two people and the activity of geocaching had been born,” the site explains.
When explaining the main distinctions between how letterboxes and geocaches are found, James says, “It’s kind of like the difference between primitive skills versus technological skills.”
He compares letterboxing to an “old-time, pirate movie” type of experience, while geocaching relies on more advanced skills —either traditional orienteering skills combined with a handheld GPS, or newer options like the Geocaching app.
He personally enjoys introducing people to letterboxing the most. It’s an adventure he’s enjoyed with his own family over the years, a hobby that brings them close to nature.
“We’ve found some unique parks by doing letterboxing,” he shared.
The process of hunting for both letterboxes and geocaches, he believes, can help people increase their observational skills and enjoy their environment more.
“I think finding these new areas, or finding something unique in nature that you don’t quite see all the time, is great,” he shared. “You may walk by something all the time, but you don’t notice it until you’re actually looking for it.”
He enjoys using the event as an opportunity to teach people more about nature, too, by incorporating cues like “look for the shiny magnolia leaf” into his letterboxing clues, which enable attendees to identify a Magnolia leaf whether or not they’ve seen one before.
The event will start with an introduction to both geocaching and letterboxing and then move on to DIY stampmaking. Attendees will learn about designing a stamp and transferring the design to a rubber surface. Next, they’ll carve their design using the appropriate tools so that it’s ready to leave a unique impression in the next logbook they find. A creative himself, James said he was “looking forward to seeing everybody’s creativity.”
After the introduction and stamp making, they’ll hit the trails. James says he has designed the experience to make the letterboxing and geocaching dependent on each other. Geocaches will include clues to find the next letterbox and vice versa. Always looking for ways to make the hunt more engaging, some of the clues will even include queries that participants have to answer correctly before moving on to the next clue.
“I’ve got these worst-case-scenario survival things on there, like how to eat a lizard,” James said of the queries.
The event is introductory level, will not be overly strenuous, and James says it’s suitable for ages 8+.
“I'm hoping to get more beginners,” he said.
Attendance is $5/participant for the event, which will be held Aug. 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Clark Park Nature Center located at 631 Sherman Drive. Learn more at https://www.fayettevillenc.gov/Parks-and-Recreation or their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/fcprnature

"One Sip Too Many" Murder Mystery at North South Brewery

Details

Tuesday, 05 August 2025

Written by Lena Simmons

“Look, Deputy Lawson, I have nothing to do with all of this. I was just having a beer, minding my own business until this woman sat down next me and said, ‘can you help me…She did not even finish her sentence. The next thing I know she is lying on the deck. I do not know who she is or why she sought me out.” Seems like I have heard this story before. You have a nasty reputation of people dying around you.” —Behcet Kaya, Treacherous Estate, Jack Ludefance, #1
Join the North South Brewery and J.J. Brown Production Company for the "One Sip Too Many" Murder Mystery event on Aug. 15 at 2765 Custer Avenue. Check-in time is at 7 p.m. and the mystery begins at 7:30 p.m. This event is more than a mystery murder event; it is the launch of a new brew exclusive to North South Brewery. Advanced tickets are required for the event. The ticket prices are $35 for solo sleuths and $55 for a duo. Food and beverages are available for purchase. Advanced ticket purchases and information are available at jjbrownproduction.com.
The sponsors of "One Sip Too Many" are North and South Brewery and J.J. Brown Production Company. The company offers exciting murder mystery parties at public and private events.
The North South Brewery was born from a passion for homebrewing, which led to creating, enjoying, and appreciating every beer style. Owners James and Alicia Orlando grew up in New England, but family and military service brought them to Savannah, GA, according to the North South Brewery website. Ten years later, the military moved them to Fayetteville. James started homebrewing in 2011 in Savannah with just a bucket and a stovetop, and now blossomed into a full-fledged brewery and taproom.
The flagship beers available are 1.21 Gigahops, -IPA, Haze Girl Haaaaze-Hazy IPA, Cold Winter Cabin-Stout, Grain Juice-Kolsch, Sweet Fraulein-Hefeweizen, Czech Czech, One Two-Czech Pilsner, and Lager Than Life- Light Lager. They offer wine, ciders, seltzers, and non-alcoholic beverages. The taproom is open Sunday, noon to 8 p.m., and Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Dogs are welcome.
The first toast is raised…and then…. the story begins. The brewery is full of secrets, and guests are part of the investigation. The Top Detective wins a trophy, a certificate and two free tickets to a future J.J. Brown Production event.
Please purchase tickets in advance at jjbrownproduction.com. Food and beverages are available for purchase.

North View Lanes' Family Food Trucks and Fun Nights

Details

Tuesday, 05 August 2025

Written by Katie Herring

It’s not news that over the past several years, food trucks have become an increasingly popular option for food sales. For those in the food industry, it offers a simpler, less expensive way to open a food business than opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant. In 2023, Fayetteville took a big step forward in the food truck industry with the opening of the Haymount Truck Stop, a food truck court and bar on Hay Street.
It was an instant hit and continues to be a popular spot to grab a quick lunch, go out for a unique dinner experience, or spend an evening out with friends.
The popularity of the Haymount Truck Stop did not escape the notice of Leila Scarborough and the team at North View Lanes, a family-owned bowling alley at 5307 Ramsey Street. They decided that their big, open parking lot was the perfect setting to allow food trucks to set up, offering an additional option to sell their wares and bringing more variety of food options to the north side of town. So, on June 5, North View Lanes welcomed its first food trucks, and it has been a hit ever since.
Here’s the arrangement: North View Lanes, located directly across from Methodist University on Ramsey Street, hosts a total of three food trucks at a time, every Friday and Saturday. Due to limitations imposed by city ordinance, that is the most they can have at one time.
However, the managers like the arrangement; they want to keep the event fairly small to ensure that it is a beneficial experience for the food trucks. There is no cost to the food trucks.
The parking lot is large enough for trucks with trailers to stay connected, and there is still plenty of parking for customers. They arrange to have two savory food trucks and one sweet food truck each Friday and Saturday evening, to provide variety and choice for customers, as well as an opportunity for dessert.
Food truck customers are welcome to come into the bowling alley and make use of their seating area, air conditioning, and restrooms, whether or not they are bowling. Of course, a meal from a food truck plus a round or two of bowling make for a great weekend outing!
In the weeks since Family Food Trucks and Fun Night kicked off in June, North View Lanes has hosted a wide variety of food trucks, some of whom have been well-established for years and others who are just getting started. Their lineup has included a wide array of food, including burgers, soul food, tacos, and empanadas, just to name a few.
Sweet Frog is always a favorite, but there are lots of other dessert food truck options to enjoy as well: D’licious Icys, The Sugar Shack, and Baby Freeze, for example.
On Aug. 8, North View Lanes will be the setting for a ribbon-cutting for a new dessert food truck, Sprinkle Me Pink. Described on their Facebook page as a “mobile dessert experience,” Sprinkle Me Pink will offer handcrafted cheesecake, cake slices, and cookies.
The ribbon cutting will take place at 5:30 p.m., and customers can get dinner from Yummy Hibachi or Abby’s Empanadas before digging into their dessert from Sprinkle Me Pink. Or, go straight for dessert!
If food truck owners are interested in getting in on the fun at North View Lanes, they can reach out via email to northviewlanes@hotmail.com. Spaces are fully booked for August, but they are still taking reservations for September and October. Customers are encouraged to track which food trucks will be coming to North View Lanes on their Facebook page, which announces each week’s offerings. North View Lanes' Family Food Trucks and Fun Night offers a win-win for both local food businesses and the Fayetteville community, where good food and family fun come together.

(Graphic courtesy of North View Lanes' Facebook page)