Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 22 UCW SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2019 Hope Mills News & Views Meetings For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Town Clerk Jane Starling at 910-426-4113. Most meetings take place at Town Hall or the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center. • Veterans Affairs Committee, ursday, Sept. 26, 6 p.m., Parks and Recre- ation Center. • Heritage Park Master Plan, General Public Kickoff, ursday, Sept. 26, 6 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center • Festival Committee, Monday, Oct. 7, 6 p.m., Town Hall, Front Conference Room. • Board of Commissioners, Monday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m., Luther Board Room, Town Hall. • Historic Preservation Commission, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 5 p.m., Parks and Recreation Building. Events • Miss Hope Mills Cotton Pageant, age 3-9 years, Friday, Sept. 27, 6:30 p.m., Jack Britt High School. • Miss Hope Mills Cotton Pageant, ages 10-22 years, Saturday, Sept. 28, 6:30 p.m., Jack Britt High School. • Food Truck Rodeo, ursday, Oct. 3, 5-8 pm., Hope Mills Municipal Com- plex. • Good2Grow Farmer's Market, Saturday, Oct. 5, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., between Town Hall and Parks and Recreation Building. • Ole Mill Days, Saturday, Oct. 5, Noon-6:30 p.m., Town Hall, Municipal Park Complex Promote yourself: Email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com. CALENDAR NEWS EARL VAUGHAN JR., Senior Staff Writer. COMMENTS? EarlUCWS- ports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638. Family fun focus of Ole Mill Days by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Ole Mill Days, the annual Hope Mills community festival that celebrates the town's rich history as a mill village with a wide vari- ety of family-related activities, returns at the slightly earlier date this fall of Saturday, Oct. 5. Meghan Freeman, assistant director of programs and events for the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Department, said the change in the date was made to avoid a conflict with Fayetteville's annu- al Dogwood Festival. "Historically it's been toward the end of October,'' Freeman said of Ole Mill Days. "We looked at the cal- endars for surround- ing areas and it didn't seem like there were any big, big events that would be a conflict.'' Freeman said the event is a way for families to enjoy the community and see the assortment of fam- ily-related activities the town has to offer that day. "There are a lot of activities for the kids as well as vendors and food trucks,'' she said. Hours for most activities at Ole Mill Days will be from noon until 6:30 p.m. Interactive events for the children will be from noon until 4 p.m. One new feature of the event will be a 105-foot inflatable zipline. There will also be a bungee trampoline. The traditional petting zoo will also be fea- tured. Provided by It's A Zoo Life, the zoo typi- cally includes a lemur, an alpaca, a kangaroo, a mini-horse, a goat, a sulcata or spurred tortoise, a capybara (the world's largest rodent), a mara (a rabbit-like animal), a fennec fox (a small fox with big ears) or a llama. The selection of animals varies due to availability from week to week, Freeman said. Ole Mill Days will coincide with the town's final monthly Good2Grow Farmer's Market of the year, which will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. For the adults, Dirtbag Ales will sponsor a beer garden. There will be two live bands performing, Upscale N Casual at 1:30 p.m. and Rivermist at 4:30 p.m. Upscale N Casual primarily features smooth jazz. Rivermist performs classic rock and is described as a variety party band. They have been voted Best Local Band for the last three years in Up & Coming Weekly's Best of Fayetteville survey. An annual feature of Ole Mill Days will be the reunion for the millworkers from Hope Mills. It will be hosted at Town Hall from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Primary parking areas for the event will be at Rockfish Elementary School across the street from the Town Hall and Municipal Park com- plexes, as well as behind Fields 4, 5 and 6 at Municipal Park, as well as the public library. Tables and chairs will be provided, but the pub- lic is welcome to bring its own portable chairs Freeman said. Those planning to attend should not bring cool- ers or alcoholic beverages. All of the activities will be free of charge, excluding the things being sold by the vendors and the food trucks. For any questions, contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 910-426-4109. Ole Mill Days, the annual Hope Mills festival, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 5.