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.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/370207
4 AUG. 27 - SEPT. 2, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Finally, Historic Downtown Fayetteville is beginning to "get it" when it comes to building excitement and inviting Cumberland County residents and visitors to experience and enjoy the uniqueness of Fayetteville's downtown community. Build it and they will come. Well, they will also come if you invite them. And, marketing, advertising and promoting Downtown Fayetteville as a fun family destination is the best and most effective way to keep Downtown as a vibrant, must–visit option. The newly formed Downtown Fayetteville Restaurant Association, in collaboration with the Downtown Alliance and Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, presented a very impressive 4th Friday this past weekend. Yes, there was fun and excitement in the air – mostly from seeing new faces enjoying many new places. This very cool scene made the warm August night stimulating and enjoyable. This was Downtown Fayetteville at its best. There was music, food, fun, art and entertainment. What more could you ask for? Well, maybe one or two things… It is puzzling that with so much time, effort and money going into this event, why so many businesses were closed and not participating. Go figure. Hundreds of invited guests walking past your storefront from 5 to 9 p.m. ... and you're CLOSED! Not necessarily the way to go about promoting and developing a successful business – or showcasing a vibrant downtown. The fact is, there are still too many vacant buildings, empty storefronts and closed businesses that present a telltale contradiction to the vibrant image we want to project. Also, as it appears now, the Downtown Fayetteville experience is hard to explain or define. The Downtown Alliance and the newly formed Downtown Fayetteville Restaurant Association's inaugural event, the Small Plate Crawl, added fun and purpose to this 4th Friday experience. However, the overall event seemed to lack an identity or theme. People were wondering … "Is this an arts event? Music event? Food event?" There needs to be a cohesive theme, group, organization or purpose to pull all the venues and elements together to create a definable and marketable Downtown/4th Friday brand. This would address my third observation – that we are losing our attractive side street venues. Hay Street is getting all the traffic and action while there is little to draw people to the unique shops and businesses along Maxwell, Donaldson and Franklin Streets, where these establishments also have much to contribute. To me, this last 4th Friday event in Historic Downtown Fayetteville marked a new beginning of creating and branding downtown Fayetteville as a fun family destination where we can consistently and proudly showcase our city, not just on special occasions, but every night of the week. This was an excellent start. Congratulations! Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. High 92º Low 72º Thunderstorms Downtown Small Plate Crawl Serves Up Hot Dish by BILL BOWMAN STAFF Calendar.......................................12 Concert.Connection....................16 Free.Wheelin'.Feelin'...................18 Horoscopes/Advice.Goddess.....19. Classifieds....................................20 Games..........................................22 INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN High 93° Low 71° Sunny 7 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Monday September 1 Tuesday September 2 High 93° Low 71 Sunny 24 / Thursday August 28 High 94° Low 72° Sunny High 95° Low 75° Isolated Thunderstorms High 92º Low 72º Thunderstorms Friday August 29 Saturday August 30 Sunday August 31 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910.354.1679 PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@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 Aurora Alexander aurora@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com Cindy Cramer Blanchard Cindy@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. The Small Plate Crawl added extra fun and excitement to 4th Friday.