Up & Coming Weekly

August 17, 2021

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 AUGUST 18-24, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com PRODUCTION MANAGER/ GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Elaina J. Martin REPORTER Jeff Thompson 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, Crissy Neville COVER Tammy Thurman, Shari Fiveash, Linda Carnes-McNaughton and Peace Shepard Easton –––––––––––- 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 Army Airfield, 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 Women crushing mediocrity encourage and inspire others to do the same by APRIL OLSEN 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU AUG 19 FRI AUG 20 SAT AUG 21 SUN AUG 22 MON AUG 23 TUE AUG 24 88 72 87 71 87 72 88 72 88 71 84 70 Thunderstorms Thunderstorms Thunderstorms Thunderstorms Thunderstorms Partly Cloudy Association of Community Publishers My earliest memory is of my mother taking my 2-year-old hands and physically showing me how to pick up the pretzels I had just poured out on the floor. e image is as clear in my mind as yesterday's lunch. My mother guided my hands over the piles of pretzels, scooping up bits and pieces, as I resisted with a tod- dler's fury. ere would be many more lessons for me about taking responsibility for my actions, and many more times when my mother would remind me that my actions have consequences. Some of the lessons would be about something as simple as cleaning up my own messes. Others would be life altering decisions that would affect not only me, but my family as well. rough the early years, my mother guided me and shared her own experiences. As I grew older, ventured out on my own and started a family, my mother en- couraged and supported my decisions but continued to hold me responsible for my choices. She reminded me of- ten that my son was watching me, that my actions would influence him. During my own upbringing it was an accepted truism that I could accom- plish anything I set my mind to and was willing to sacrifice for. My sister and I were brought up to take care of ourselves, not to rely on a mate to complete us or support us financially. at ingrained independence has cer- tainly brought me some trouble, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Our mother and father never speci- fied what was women's work or what a man was supposed to do. ey lived it. Both my parents cooked and cleaned. Both did laundry. My mom looked after us when dad was at work. My dad looked after us when mom was taking night classes. From their examples, my sister and I felt comfortable following our own paths, making choices for ourselves. My sister became a special education teacher. I got a degree in journalism and joined the Army. Although a recruiter told me "they don't let girls in Special Forces" when I was 15, I went on to spend half my Army career serving in Special Opera- tions units in the U.S. and overseas. I've been the only woman in the room when serious decisions were being made. I've felt the pressure of voicing my concerns when mine was the lone dissenting opinion. I've felt the relief of having my voice heard and respected. I've felt the pride that comes from a job well done. at pride is the result of hard work and accompanied by a re- fusal to accept mediocre efforts. In the military, mediocre ef- forts are frowned upon, to say the least. Likewise, on the civil- ian side, it is hardly news that mediocre efforts rarely meet with real success, the lasting kind that inspires others. Starting with my own mother, I've been fortunate in my life to have several exam- ples of women crushing medioc- rity and living by example. ese women do not accept the status quo, or let someone put them in a "woman's place" in their edu- cation, home or work life. I feel blessed to have been able to help motivate a few young women and men to achieve their own goals by not settling. Being the editor of Up & Com- ing Weekly, I've come across many stories of amazing women crushing stereotypes and refusing to allow mediocre standards to slide. ese women push their own limits and in- spire others, both men and women, to do the same. ey accept nothing less than their own best effort to achieve their goals. We are honored to be able to showcase a few of these women in this week's magazine. So, grab a snack — maybe a bag of pretzels — and enjoy reading this issue of Up & Coming Weekly. Many of our examples of women (and men) crushing medioc- rity come from our own families. APRIL OLSEN, Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com 910-484-6200.

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