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/795843
4 UCW MARCH 8-14, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Leslie Pyo leslie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Keri Dickson keri@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@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 pub- lication consideration, but assumes no respon- sibility 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 distrib- uted 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 person. ©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. 4 UCW DECEMBER 28 - JANUARY 3, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 2017. Believe me, I'm ready. Judging from all the calls, emails and countless social media posts, our readers had a very Merry Christmas. And, for the most part, residents throughout Fayetteville and Cumberland County are excited about the future prospects in store for our community. And we should be. The seeds of growth, economic development and a better quality of life have all been planted. Now, city and county leadership need to take aggressive and affirmative action to make sure these local life-changing projects stay on track. Elected officials and city and county staff all need to be at the top of their game. Initiative, hard work and leadership will be vitally important in the months to come. In the words of the late General George S. Patton Jr.: "Lead me, follow me or get the hell out of my way." This should be the battlecry and motto adopted countywide. It will be interesting to see who steps up. One thing is for sure, Fayetteville is a community full of opportunity. The challenge is knowing how to capitalize on it. So, my hope for the New Year is that aggressive leaders will seek out the people, businesses and organizations that can help us realize our dreams, thus contributing to this growing vibrant community. Here are just a few of the organizations poised to take this community to new heights, starting with your favorite weekly community newspaper: Up & Coming Weekly Chamber of Commerce City of Fayetteville County of Cumberland FTCC CEED Reeve's School of Business Fayetteville Economic Development FSU Entrepreneurial Center Better Business Bureau These are just to name a few organizations ready, willing and able to help take our community to new heights. In other words, the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community has the will and all the resources necessary to help individuals and businesses develop, strive and survive, along with the willingness to "help those who help themselves." 2017 is going to be an exciting and awesome year. So, buckle your seat belts folks, because, if executed properly, our progress will be fast and furious. And, you can count on us to be right in the center of it. Happy New Year! And, as always, thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. PUBLISHER'S PEN Fayetteville and Cumberland County Heed These Words: "Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of the way!" by BILL BOWMAN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sara Smith art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Keri Dickson keri@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@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 pub- lication consideration, but assumes no respon- sibility 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 distrib- uted 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 person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast December 29 AM Showers December 30 Partly Cloudy December 31 Sunny January 1 Mostly Sunny January 2 Partly Cloudy January 3 PM Showers THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY HIGH 64 HIGH 52 HIGH 47 HIGH 53 HIGH 44 HIGH 54 LOW 42 LOW 30 LOW 32 LOW 35 LOW 35 LOW 43 BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. – General George S. Patton Jr. General George S. Patton Jr. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast March 9 Sunny March 10 Mostly Cloudy March 11 Partly Cloudy March 12 AM Showers March 13 Partly Cloudy March 14 PM Showers THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY HIGH 75 HIGH 75 HIGH 62 HIGH 54 HIGH 58 HIGH 69 LOW 47 LOW 43 LOW 34 LOW 44 LOW 43 LOW 40 No doubt about it! The inaugural Dr. Seuss Parade and Family Fun Day, which celebrated Read Across America and was held Saturday in Spring Lake, was a huge success. Tad Davis, Spring Lake's town manager, was glowing with pride at the way the Spring Lake community turned out to support this significant reading and educational awareness celebration. Davis agreed that the organizing of the "first anything" is always a challenge, but, once the commitment was made and the foundation was laid, everyone was on board for making it a success and growing it year after year. My personal "cat in the hat" is off to Kristy Sykes, owner of Kameo Events, who took the initiative to create and coordinate the Dr. Seuss Parade and Family Fun Day and the Dr. Seuss Dinner and a Book Birthday party that was held Thursday before the parade. She worked closely with Davis and Spring Lake Parks & Rec Manager Sam Jones with an end result that shows much future potential. One of Saturday's highlights for me was meeting North Carolina's first lady, Kristin Cooper, who served as the parade's grand marshal. An avid supporter of teachers, literacy and education, her warm, enthusiastic and congenial personality fit perfectly into the excitement of the Dr. Seuss celebration. I was impressed. For her to give up her Saturday to come to a Cumberland County municipality to bring attention to this worthy cause speaks volumes of her and Gov. Roy Cooper's commitment to teachers, children and North Carolina education. Even though she was welcomed graciously by Town Manager Tad Davis, Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey, State Representative Marvin Lucas and Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Dr. Frank Till Jr. However, I was surprised and disappointed that more Fayetteville city and county elected officials and community business leaders were not on hand to meet Ms. Cooper and welcome her to Cumberland County. Especially those involved with the Cumberland County Democratic Party. Another glaring absence was that of the Cumberland County Association of Educators. It was rumored they were hosting another reading-related event in Fayetteville but attempts to find out the where and when were unsuccessful. In any case, they missed a perfect opportunity to showcase their organization and the community. So did the Spring Lake Chamber of Commerce, whose absence was conspicuous during both the parade and the Family Fun Day. Local community events of this nature are, in most cases, sponsored and supported by the local Chamber of Commerce and affiliated businesses and organizations. Well, thankfully, many Spring Lake businesses did step up to participate. The newly reopened Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union led the way as the events title sponsor. Bill Drewry, Bragg Mutual's marketing and development manager, was very pleased with the first-year outcome and turnout of over 3,000 attendees. "This is a very special event for us," he said. "And we are very excited about the first-year participation. This event was perfect for us because our credit union serves both Spring Lake businesses and families. The Town of Spring Lake has done a superb job supporting us here at the Credit Union and in making sure the Dr. Seuss Parade and Family Fun Day was a fun, exciting and successful family event. We'll be back next year!" But how do you measure the success of a first-time event like this? Do you consider the number of people attending? The number of marching bands or parade floats? How many cartoon character mascots are running around doing silly things? Or maybe the number of food trucks willing to set up in the parking lot? My point is that no doubt some people may have shown up Saturday morning with expectations and in anticipation of seeing something spectacular like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. And, I'm also sure some folks showed up not even aware of the Read Across America initiative or knowing what the Dr. Seuss connection to reading and education is all about. And I'm sure they were disappointed. To this, I say, "Too bad, so sad!" Here is the reality of it: You measure the success of an event like this by the faces, smiles and laughter of the children themselves. This event was not conceived or designed to appease, please or impress adults. It is a program for children. Organizers wanted to showcase the community. They wanted children to have fun, read more, study more, be more loving and sensitive toward others, do good deeds and practice good character traits. Those who have the unappreciative audacity to be critical of the parade size or the number of participating costumed characters or parade floats just "don't get it!" Period. Again, Congratulations, Spring Lake. You did it! Kristy Sykes, you da girl! Nice work on the event and a very, very special thank you for bringing North Carolina's first lady, Kristin Cooper to our community. What an honor. So, like Bill Drewry said, "We'll be back next year." Thank you for reading our community newspaper. Spring Lake Welcomes N.C. First Lady and Dr. Seuss by BILL BOWMAN Mayor Chris Rey Welcomes First Lady Kristin Cooper to Spring Lake. Pictured left to right: CC Schools Superintendent Dr. Frank Till Jr., First Lady Kristin Cooper, SL Mayor Chris Rey, State Rep. Marvin Lucas