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 UCW JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 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 SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Paul Hall 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 publi- cation consideration, but assumes no responsibil- ity 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 person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Cover art designed with various elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. Gregory Gorecki was a young boy living in Poland when the Germans invaded in 1939. Even as his country was ravaged and the unspeakable became his reality, young Gregory's spirit yearned for freedom. By the time he was a teen, the Russians ruthlessly ruled his homeland, quelling ambitions and crushing dreams in the name of socialism. He was bright and ambitious: a trapped bird ensnared in a world void of freedom and personal choice. And freedom was all Gregory wanted, really — freedom to be the very best version of himself. Gregory's days were filled with hard work and drudgery. At night, he and his brother plotted their escape and dreamed of better days. ey quietly planned for every pos - sible scenario, vowing that one would not leave without the other. ey knew their de- parture would mean hardship and govern- ment retribution for their loved ones and that consequences would be harsh should they be found out. e years passed, and Gregory became a physical therapist. Freedom presented herself to the Gorecki brothers in 1960 at the Summer Olympics in Rome. ey were approved to travel to the Olympics with the Russian competitors. Gregory and his brother were in their 40s now and well-established professionals. Without a whisper to their colleagues or even a parting message for their loved ones, they reached for Lady Liberty's hand and never looked back. e two hopped a train to Vienna and made their way to America only to learn their Soviet training and credentials were meaningless. Gregory had to start over. And he did. With great success. Only this time, it was on his terms. He built his practice to his standards and settled in the San Francisco Bay area. He not only helped those in need; he also brought jobs to his community. He traveled. His kitchen was filled with the freshest produce, the choicest cuts of meat, the finest liquors. He embraced and em - bodied everything great about the Ameri- can dream. He came with nothing and worked hard. He never said no to an op- portunity — even the exhausting and ugly ones. He faced adversity, fought the odds that were so greatly stacked against him and found success. Happiness. Freedom. Gregory's daughter is my best friend. We've spent countless hours pondering what makes him tick. What drove him to reject everything he knew — even suc - cess behind the Iron Curtain — in favor of chasing a dream? Why was he willing to risk everything he'd built to embrace the unknown? How could he have been so sure that freedom would taste even sweeter than he'd dreamed? Gregory and millions like him remain a powerful example of the very best of this experiment we call America and all she has to offer. His passion for personal freedom and his drive to succeed and give back to the country that removed his shackles are what fuel the American Dream. He heeded the call to freedom and took seriously the responsibility that comes with it. is great country is filled with people like Gregory Gorecki. As we prepare to celebrate America's birthday, this seems the perfect time to give a nod of deep respect and appreciation to them. To the rebels, the risk-takers, the entrepre - neurs, the dream-chasers, the laborers, the scholars and everyone else who loves and has loved this country enough to give beyond themselves to keep the American Dream alive: ank you. Let Freedom Ring by STEPHANIE CRIDER HIGH 91 LOW 72 HIGH 89 HIGH 92 HIGH 90 HIGH 93 HIGH 93 LOW 69 LOW 74 LOW 74 LOW 75 LOW 75 JUNE 29 JUNE 30 JULY 1 JULY 2 JULY 3 JULY 4 Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy PM Showers PM Thunderstorms PM Thunderstorms Scattered Thunderstorms 65% Humidity From war-torn Poland to Vienna's 1960 Olympics to San Francisco, Gregory Gorecki chased the American Dream around the world.