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 APRIL 30 - MAY 6, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM The Dogwood Festival is Fayetteville's best kept secret, But it shouldn't be. Congratulations are in order to Carrie King and the Dogwood Festival Committee under the direction of 2014 Chairman Brian Moore, who pulled off another successful event on a beautiful and near perfect weekend. Tens of thousands of residents and visitors came to Fayetteville and enjoyed the entertainment and festive sights and sounds of Spring in Cumberland County. As good as it is, this award-winning event still has much untapped potential and King and her committee should not stop seeking par excellence. One area of improvement that they should cultivate next year is marketing, branding and community awareness. We have an award-winning festival, so why not flaunt it — especially, within the confines of our own county. The Dogwood Festival should lobby the city to allow city and county-wide installation of banners, signs and flags promoting and celebrating the event. Honestly, this is no time for us to be shy. Besides, with everyone quick to point out Fayetteville's flaws, crime statistics and social blemishes, we should take every opportunity to positively market and promote the Fayetteville community, its residents and quality of life. The entertainment this year was again excellent and activities for the young and old abundant. My personal favorites were: The 2014 Miss Fayetteville Dogwood Festival, where local youth compete to represent our community throughout the state and region. The Hogs & Rags Motorcycle Rally. Now in its ninth year, Fayetteville's Mayor Nat Robertson, and his wife Kim, led 325 vehicles in this year's 225 mile rally that raised more than $15,000 for local community charities. It is the most fun a person can have on two wheels. Last, and certainly not least, the near perfect finale to a wonderful Dogwood Festival weekend was The Festival of Keyboards presented by the Snyder Memorial Baptist Church Concert Series. This free concert showcased some of the most remarkable local talent as eight pianists under the direction of Snyder Music Academy director, Joy Cogswell, performed flawless arrangements featuring spiritual, patriotic and ragtime numbers. The visual of four grand pianos played in unison added to the experience. The Keyboard Festival played to a full house of diverse and grateful residents. Grateful for the Dogwood Festival, grateful for our local leadership and grateful for our community. Does it get any better than this? It can, and it should. In the meantime, let's bang the drums loudly, promoting the positive aspects about our hometown. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. The Dogwood Festival: Fayetteville's Best Kept Secret by BILL BOWMAN STAFF INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS OFFICER Jerred Sanders accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/ OFFICE COORDINATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street 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 infor- mation 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 per- son. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly. COMMENTS? Bill@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Calendar............................................ 12 Concert.Connection......................... 15 Election.Guide...................................17 Free.Wheelin'.Feelin'........................ 27 Classifieds......................................... 28. Horoscopes/Advice.Goddess.......... 30. Games............................................... 31 High 71° Low 50° Partly Cloudy 7 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Monday May 5 Tuesday May 6 High 69° Low 47° Mostly Sunny 24 / Thursday May 1 High 71° Low 50° Partly Cloudy High 74° Low 51° Mostly Sunny High 73º Low 52º Partly Cloudy Friday May 2 Saturday May 3 Sunday May 4 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910.354.1679 High 75º Low 51º Partly Cloudy 3037-G Boone Trail Drive Fayetteville, NC 28306