Up & Coming Weekly

December 06, 2022

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 DECEMBER 7 - 13, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MANAGING EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Lee assistanteditor@upandcomingweekly. com ART DIRECTOR Courtney Sapp-Scott art@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Isaiah Jones graphics@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITERS Alyson Hansen Ashley Shirley Kathleen Ramsey Jason Brady Chayenne Burns Laura Browne Katrina Wilson Jyl Barlow INTERN R. Elgin Zeiber CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dr. Hank Parfitt, John Hood, Michael Futch, Michael Smith, Cynthia Ross, Dan Debruler COVER Design by Courtney Sapp-Scott Photo by Rachel Larue, courtesy Arlington National Cemetery. MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Paulette Naylor 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. 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. Association of Community Publishers PUBLISHER'S PEN A Dickens Holiday is back by DR. HANK PARFITT Hosted by the Downtown Alliance and the Fayetteville History Museum at "Franklin Square," where the Victorian- era train station served as a fitting back- drop, this time-honored tradition was attended by a diverse crowd that num- bered in the thousands. And in the spirit of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," it was a joyous crowd greeting each other and expressing goodwill towards one another all day long. Like any good event, the public seldom sees all the hard work that goes into its making. My purpose in writing this is to shine a little light on some of the folks who did the work on this beloved down- town event. And I do so not in any official capacity, but merely as a citizen who has long believed in our downtown's future. Elaine Kelley, an Alliance board mem- ber, and owner of Turner Lane, called me soon after my op-ed piece in the Aug. 28 Fayetteville Observer, in which I questioned the Arts Council's decision to cancel A Dickens Holiday. Her board had voted to do Dickens themselves! She asked if I would help, since I had been a part of the event since its founding. I told her I would, but it seemed impossible! After all, we had less than 90 days for an event that is normally 10 months in the planning. In our favor, the Alliance had co-hosted it for its first 20 years and most of our volunteers were still around. We agreed that she should chair the event and that I would round up the volunteers and sponsors and track down the popu- lar performers from past years. Downtown Alliance leaders — Elaine, Robin Matthews, Molly Arnold — and the History Museum's Heidi Bleazey and Emily Sussman, rolled up their sleeves and showed what leadership is all about. Perhaps it is no coincidence that so many of the successful downtown businesses are woman-owned and operated! Elaine Kelley especially deserves a big shoutout, even though she has resolutely refused any recognition. She worked on Dickens with uncommon passion and energy, even closing her business at times to devote a whole day to contacting vendors and performers and City depart- ments. She assembled a team of market- ers, headed up by Betsy McEl- wee. She was on the ground as "Central Command" during the event itself. Without Elaine, we would not have had A Dickens Holiday this year. Period. And the volunteers! eir importance to an event with so many moving parts is para- mount. If you were downtown on the day after anksgiving, much that you saw and enjoyed was the work of volunteers — the London Bobbies, the poor street urchins selling flowers, the "coachman's assistants" on the carriage rides (ank you, Scouts from Troop 747), the English Country Dancers, the musical entertainments by the Fayetteville Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Sinfonietta, the Cross Creek Pipes and Drums, Father Christ- mas, and even Queen Victoria herself. I cannot possibly name them all! And there were innumerable people who worked behind the scenes, like the folks from the Salvation Army manning the hospitality room for volunteers and per- formers. Volunteers even helped deco- rate the train station and surrounding grounds on the day before anksgiving. Eighteen — that's 18 — very generous sponsors gave the Downtown Alliance the financial wherewithal to stage such an event. e DTA is an all-volunteer as- sociation of downtown merchants, prop- erty owners, and residents, and receives no funding from the City or County or any government agency. When asked, each and every sponsor said without hesitation "Yes" and "How much do you need?" Take a look at the Alliance website www.faydta.com to see the list of sponsors. Please patronize their places of business if you can and give them a big "ank You" when you see them. While online, look at the Alliance's Facebook page to see some amazing pictures from Dickens. So yes, A Dickens Holiday is back! e marvelous sights and sounds, the diverse crowds and performers, and the fun and relaxed shopping were all there. It is still exactly what its founders — the Arts Council and the Downtown Alliance — imagined it to be 23 years ago. e Arts Council should be proud of what it started. It is my hope that the Downtown Alliance will continue the tradition. Now, in the words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us every one!" DR. HANK PARFITT, Owner, City Center Gallery & Books. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910- 484-6200. Carriage rides, sponsored by Cool Spring Downtown District, were sold out two weeks in advance. Scouts from Troop 747 were able coachman's assistants. (All photos this page courtesy Hank Parfitt) Above: Two young ladies demonstrate their curtsies for Queen Victoria. Below: Miss Fayetteville Dogwood Festival congratulates one of the successful flower salesgirls.

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