CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/31068
p ublisher CLOSE CALLS O ur May/June issue is the start of summer. This time of year is special for our city. We have the third annual 31 Day Salute leading up to Memorial Day to honor the brave soldiers who make up a large part of our populace. This will be a month-long celebration to express our thankfulness for the military’s presence here. We learned just how valuable that presence is during the recent tornado disaster in Cumberland County, when many service members in our community stepped up to help the victims of the terrible storms. Their service to our nation is always obvious when they help around the world, but we often overlook the mass of soldiers, alongside civilians, who help their neighbors here every day, and especially after the disaster of April 16th. We often take for granted the blessings of the Lord when these things happen in our city and our lives. I was especially blessed on the day of the tornados. I was in Cary for a statewide junior tennis event with my 12-year-old grandson. Saturday had been an ominous-looking weather day. The tournament had several weather delays and my grandson was originally scheduled to play at 10:30 a.m. but his match was postponed until 3:30 p.m. I checked the weather forecast and saw this daunting weather system moving towards Cary. The tournament director immediately suspended play for the rest of the day. We jumped in the car to head back to Fayetteville in order to dodge the incoming storms. We passed though Holly Springs at 2:50 p.m. just as the storms approached. We took a route that the locals call the Fuquay-Varina bypass, on Piney Grove Road out of Holly Springs. According to news reports the next day the tornado hit Piney Grove Road in Holly Springs at 2:55 p.m. As we entered Fayetteville on Ramsey Street, my grandson looked out the window and saw a funnel cloud to the right of the highway. We passed the Goodyear plant at about 3:45 p.m. and it was starting to rain very hard. We made it to my home in Haymount to find that all the lawn furniture had been overturned by the wind, but the brunt of the storm had passed. According to news reports the next day, the Ramsey street area was hit at 3:55 p.m. We missed two major disasters by just 5 to 10 minutes. When we passed both areas the next morning going back to Cary to finish the tournament we saw all the damage and we thanked God for sparing us. How blessed we were. And by the way, my grandson won third place in the tournament by winning the consolation division on Monday morning. Have a great summer and be sure to stop by our brand new website www. cityviewnc.com. You will enjoy all the new content we have added with an entirely different look.CV Correction: Bo Thorp is the artistic director of the Cape Fear Regional Theater. Our April issue incorrectly identified her as the owner 12 | May/June • 2011