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/561314
AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 UCW 9 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Our community is known from afar primarily for two things, depending on age and where folks are from. My parents knew of Fayetteville in the 1950s as a popular travel stopover between New York and Florida. My first visit to Fayetteville was in the early '50s. We stayed in a motel on U.S. 301 long before the I-95 bypass was built east of the city. My dad planned the trip from upstate New York to Vero Beach, Florida, in such a way that we would stay the night here. Sixty years later, tens of thousands of travelers are still staying the night in Fayetteville annually. Our community is just as well-known by a lot of folks as home of Fort Bragg and Pope Army Airfield. Soldiers have been coming here, most of them unwillingly, for decades. I was one of them in the early '60s. I arrived at Fort Bragg in 1962 from duty overseas. I left the Army the following year, and having met my late wife here, decided to stay. Well, actually she decided that. We had three children and later adopted a fourth. I've spent most of my adult life in Fayetteville and don't regret a moment of it. I like Fayetteville for what it is … a proud military community. I don't understand why some want to make it something other than what it is, always has been and always will be. They speak of the local economy as being too dependent on Fort Bragg. Duh! Sure, our people could use more jobs, more recreation and entertainment amenities. And that's where we should focus our energy. But Fayetteville will never be something other than a bedroom community for Fort Bragg. There's nothing wrong with that. It is what it is. Let's leverage the military and be the very best Army town in America. Evidence suggests Cumberland County hasn't grown much since the turn of the century. The permanent civilian population has been stagnant for 15 years … at something more than 300,000. It has grown at an annual pace of 5 percent while other metropolitan regions of North Carolina have grown at much faster rates, according to the Fayetteville Regional Chamber. The federal government's commitment to Fort Bragg has been impressive. Millions upon millions of dollars have been spent on the physical plant and it has become "Pentagon South" with the arrival of Forces Command. Three dozen general officers are now assigned here. The active-duty Army component stands at 45,000 soldiers, along with 2,800 airmen and other service members. According to the Fort Bragg Public Information Office, nearly 15,000 civilians work on post, not counting the 6,000 contractors who work there. The best evidence that Greater Fayetteville has not grown at the pace many officials had hoped is that this small city does not offer the amenities Atlanta did for the military and civilian men and women who came to our area when Fort McPherson, located adjacent to Atlanta, Georgia, closed down. The impact of the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Act backfired on Cumberland County for lack of the amenities that hundreds of military and civilian personnel were accustomed to in Georgia. Higher ranking officers and their families chose Moore County to live. Others found Harnett and Hoke Counties inviting because of lower tax rates. That should have reaffirmed to all what Greater Fayetteville is, but some still hold out hope with unrealistic expectations. The truest barometer of economic stability and dependence on Fort Bragg is the retail and service sec- tors. Taxable sales have grown dependably over the years to more than $3.5 billion annually. That's a lot of disposable income thanks to the military. And it's being spent in Cumberland County. As proof of the fact that ours is a transient community, 44 percent of the county's 132,000 housing units are occupied by renters. My fondest hope is that local government will focus on bringing new jobs and recreation opportunities to the community. County government can start by replacing the 1,000 jobs it chose to reject out of a misguided belief that Cumberland County was too good for Sanderson Farms. The city can continue to develop recreation ame- nities with realistic objectives that the people will sup- port when a bond referendum is put to a vote. Accepting Who and What We Are by JEFF THOMPSON JEFF THOMPSON. Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Prizes will be awarded to the top three Bra's with the most votes for the following categories: Show Me the Ta-Ta$$ • People's Choice • The Gallery Favorite! Registration & Submission Fee: $10 per Bra * $5 per Vote Decorated Bra Submissions begin on Monday, September 28 through Friday, October 2, 2015. ~ All Decorated Bras must be turned in at 208 Rowan Street by 4:00 pm. If you or your business would like to submit a BRA for this event Contact: Karla Allen Cell: (910) 489-3469 • Office: (910) 484-6200 • Email: Karla@WomensViewNC.com Fayetteville's Women's View Magazine Presents Fayetteville's Women's View Magazine Presents It's sure to be an Uplifting experience!!! Artful Bras Against Breast Cancer Exhibit & Auction Tuesday, October 6, 2015 - 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm Location: Gallery 208, 208 Rowan St., Fayetteville, NC. All proceeds to benefit the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation and its Friends of the Cancer Center In an effort to promote breast cancer awareness "Artful Bras" are submitted fully decorated as original works of art. Each Bra is unique, entertaining, humorous and beautiful. Artful Bras will be created to memorialize one who has been lost to breast cancer, in honor of a breast cancer survivor or as a message of strength and hope to those brave women who battle this horrible disease. All Bras will be on display at Galley 208, and on our FaceBook page. Artful Bras Against Breast Cancer Exhibit & Auction Tuesday, October 6, 2015 - 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm Location: Gallery 208, 208 Rowan St., Fayetteville, NC. All proceeds to benefit the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation and its Friends of the Cancer Center In an effort to promote breast cancer awareness "Artful Bras" are submitted fully decorated as original works of art. Each Bra is unique, entertaining, humorous and beautiful. Artful Bras will be created to memorialize one who has been lost to breast cancer, in honor of a breast cancer survivor or as a message of strength and hope to those brave women who battle this horrible disease. All Bras will be on display at Galley 208, and on our FaceBook page.