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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20 UCW NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Hope Mills News & Views OPINION ERICA WALLS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? hopemills@upand- comingweekly.com. (910) 484-6200. Celebrating Christmas in Hope Mills by ERICA WALLS Join Santa at the Hope Mills Christmas Parade Dec. 2 and for breakfast Dec. 9. Photo courtesy of www.visitfayettevillenc.com. Graduates of the Hope Mills Citizens Academy 2017-02 session display their certificates of completion. Well, now that anksgiving is over, we can relax and enjoy Christmas. It's the most won- derful time of the year! How do you celebrate Christmas? Do you travel? Is your home the gathering place for friends and family? Do you do like I do and bake to your heart's content? Do you put up the tree and decorate on anksgiving? ere are many ways to celebrate and enjoy our savior's birth. Everyone has their own traditions. Some make homemade presents. Some ride around and listen to Christmas music while looking at the different decorations and lights. Some volunteer to help feed the less fortunate. Some donate clothes and/or money. Some eat … and eat and eat. (You can't blame them – the food is just too good!) e Town of Hope Mills has traditions as well. Santa will be making a special stop to our humble town to kick off the holiday a bit early. Beginning Dec. 1, the town will begin celebrat- ing with Christmas on Trade Street from 6-9 p.m. e celebration continues with Christmas in the Village and the Hope Mills Christmas Parade Saturday, Dec. 2, at 3 p.m. Right after the parade, there will be a Christmas movie to enjoy along with free hot chocolate and cook- ies. You also can ride the train. On Friday, Dec. 8, Seniors (55+) can enjoy a Christmas banquet at the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Who doesn't want to enjoy a tasty breakfast with Santa? Saturday, Dec. 9, from 8:30-11 a.m., join Santa for breakfast at the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center. If you can't make it, no worries. Santa won't be heading back to the North Pole until after he eats dinner and dances with us all Saturday, Dec. 16, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. is is the first of my wishing you a Merry Christmas! Enjoy the parties, the food, the decorations and most of all, the fellowship with family and friends. For more information on the events, call the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center at (910) 426-4109 or visit their Facebook page. ERICA WALLS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? hopemills@upand- comingweekly.com. (910) 484-6200. A special town hall meeting by ERICA WALLS Monday, Nov. 20, was a special date to remember for the town of Hope Mills. is meeting was unlike others. In her usual manner, Mayor Jackie Warner called the assembly to order, and then Michael Mathis from Mission Field Ministries prayed the invocation. During the prayer, we could all sense it. We could feel it. Mathis lifted the mayor and the commissioners up in prayer. He prayed for our humble and growing town of Hope Mills. He prayed for our first respond- ers and their families. He prayed for America. And he prayed for the family and friends of Mayor Pro Tem Bob Gorman, who passed away Nov. 4. One could feel the differences put to the side to come together as a community of business leaders, town leaders, veterans and citizens so we could remember and celebrate Gor- man's leadership and contributions to our town. ere was an extra sense of community pride when Alizdair Ray was presented his Certificate of Recogni- tion for being selected as a panelist at the 62nd Bien- nial Conference as a North Carolina Student Library Ambassador. is young man is on the right path for a bright future and will represent Hope Mills in a tremendous way. Warner then gave a heartfelt speech about Gorman's impact on the community and her life as her friend. She recalled how sincere he was when he would call to check on her if she had a bad day. She credited Gorman and his wife, Marian, for always thinking of her. With gratitude, she then presented Marian, his children and grandchildren a proclamation and a plaque to honor Gorman for his dedication and service to the town of Hope Mills as commissioner and mayor pro tem. Gorman was an advocate for citizens knowing about what goes on behind the scenes in Hope Mills. He was proud of and enjoyed the Hope Mills Citizens Academy so much that he went through it twice – the first time on his own and the second time with his granddaughter, Katie, even though he was not a registered student in the course. e students from the 2017-02 session had their graduation ceremony and were presented plaques. ere were a total of 18 students. ey learned about local government, inspections, the police department, fire department, the Parks and Recreation Center and much more. e citizens of Hope Mills for this session included: Lamikka Bell, Sherhondia Blanks, Grilley Mitchell, Richard Cox, Kenjuana McCray, urston Plumley, Winnie Golden, Marie Callendar, Christine Cox, Katie Hawkes, Larry Jenkins, Michael Mitchell, Jo Lynn Mitchell, Oscar Taylor, Derrick White, Patricia Edwards, Allen Miller and myself, Erica Walls. As I learned about Hope Mills through the Citizens Academy, I had the pleasure of getting to know my classmates and their roles within the community. Dur- ing the course, Gorman told me that even though he was told it might be best to retire because of his health, it was not in his heart to do so. He told me that his passion was for the town and to help the people in this com- munity and that he felt more productive when he was able to just that. It was an honor to meet him. He set an example of determination and passion when it comes to doing what was best for the town of Hope Mills.