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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4 UCW OCTOBER 28-NOVEMBER 3, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen april@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Keyuri Parab REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Pitt Dickey, D.G. Martin, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Crissy Neville ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200 FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN Publisher Bill Bowman is out of town this week and yields this space to the Editor who reflects on being an Ameri- can during election season. What a great country we live in. No matter what problems our citizens face, waking up in America is still a privilege, and recognized as such around the world. Rightfully so. I am not saying we are perfect. As a nation, we make mistakes, but we work hard to recover and make amends. We have the freedoms to speak our minds, to voice our concerns, to petition government for a redress of grievances. We can vote for our leaders. We have freedoms and rights in this country unknown to much of the rest of the world. Even in 2020, there are millions around the world who don't enjoy the freedom to even complain about their leaders. During my service in the Army, I saw women and girls in other countries be counted as property and treated as sec- ond-class. I've seen girls being fed scraps after the men are finished eating. On mul- tiple occasions foreign men have tried to buy me from my American male soldiers. Once, the sum of 30 goats was offered to marry me. at was a fair price for my age, size and appearance, according to a Green Beret I was working with at the time. After seeing how some women are treated elsewhere, I just can't jump on a bandwagon and scream about the oppres- sion of women in America. But I do sup- port other women who choose to do just that. You see, I believe that in this country, even when we disagree with what people are 'demanding' we can still listen and be civil. Allow each other to be heard. It is the American way. And no matter what some are trying to convince us in the current campaign, come January, we will have a peaceful transfer of power, if a transfer is what our citizens vote for. If we vote to keep President Trump in the White House, then Vice President Biden will not be jailed or executed. We don't do that to political rivals in this country — no matter what some voices out there are screaming right now. e screaming seems to be drowning out common sense on both sides of the political aisle. ere is so much vitriol and so many unsubstantiated accusations, it is increasingly difficult to sift through the noise or have any kind of substantive conversation. Unfortunately, most media organizations are not even disguising their own agendas. In my role as editor of this publication I've attended multiple political rallies to hear both sides at multiple levels so that we can present as much accurate informa- tion to our readers as possible. I attended the President Trump rally and I met Dr. Jill Biden at a function for veterans and military families. I attended an event for Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest, candi- date for North Carolina Governor. I spoke with candidates for other state offices, one a fellow military veteran. At other events I've met and chatted with candidates on both sides of the aisle, ranging from lo- cal school board to NC State Senate and House. ose that I encountered at these events were great Americans. Some shared my political views, some did not. In years past, as a soldier, I met Vice President Biden and President Obama. Before that, I met Presi- dent Bush. I was equally honored to meet each one, whether I voted for him or not. I don't have to agree with everything they say or stand for. I don't have to like them. But I do respect that they each had given of themselves to serve the rest of us. It is an appreciation that some only allow when it is their candidate. More and more people are forgetting, or neglecting the fact, that we are more alike than we are different. Our views on political topics may vary, but as Americans, we all usually want what is best for our country and the rest of the world. We want to help those less fortu- nate than ourselves. We want equality and social justice. We want communities to thrive. We want to protect the planet. We want to end wars. Of course, how we go about these goals is different based on political views and sometimes religious views. But, in the end, all we can hope for is that we never stop trying even if we have to scream. It is the American way for people to voice their opinions, to want better for ourselves and our neighbors. No matter who wins the presidential election, America will continue to be a beacon to the rest of the world because of what the office represents, not who sits in it. e office represents the great people of this country, Americans who are good, generous, decent people who refuse to stay quiet when we perceive injustice — it is who we are, it is the American way. Election season noise does not define America by APRIL OLSEN 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU OCT 29 FRI OCT 30 SAT OCT 31 SUN NOV 1 MON NOV 2 TUE NOV 3 75 55 70 52 66 51 68 50 68 46 65 47 AM Showers PM Showers Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny APRIL OLSEN, Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com 910-484-6200.