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/908170
4 UCW NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@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, Erica Walls, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Paul Hall, Lau- ren Vanderveen SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. 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 information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly wel- comes 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 person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Dancers on the cover: Front row, L to R: Mikeala Burney, Helen Steffan, Sophia Lewis Back row, L to R: Marissa Morris, Cai Davis, Ella Lewis, Laura Jones Cover art/Various ads with art graphics designed with various elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. (910) 484-6200. A message for Sara by BILL BOWMAN FayetteNam is a term that qualifies as history when it comes to defining Fayetteville as a community. I feel compelled to send this message to my longtime friend, Sara Vanderclute, after read- ing her heartfelt article in the Nov. 24 edition of e Fayetteville Observer titled "FayetteNam: e slur that will not die." Very few people have contributed more to the quality of life of this com- munity than Sara. She wears her love for Fayetteville and Cumberland County on her sleeve. Sara's outlook and perspectives are always pos- itive, and her loyalty to our city and county has never been in doubt or compro- mised. For as long as I have known her, Sara has been a woman of principle, a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, a consum- mate community activist, a volunteer and a talented writer and editor. She's served this community in many capacities, including as a Cumberland County School Board member. My message to Sara is this: When it comes to the moniker "Fayette- Nam," stop trying to combat it! ousands of men and women came through Fayetteville via Fort Bragg during the Vietnam War era – I was one of them – and the experience was not always a pleas- ant one. Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands of people who have passed through our fair city. What you end up with is an indelible "brand" that is not going away – FayetteNam. So, why not embrace it for what it is? History. Pure and simple. FayetteNam is a term that qualifies as history when it comes to defining Fayetteville as a community. Many things point to this. Over a decade ago, I observed that we – members of the Fayetteville com- munity – were reinforcing and perpetuat- ing this haunting moniker by continually talking about it as a negative feature of the community. We introduced the term FayetteNam to those who were unaware of our past. Whenever a person, group or organization like the Greater Fayetteville Chamber or Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corporation presents programs or speeches intended to promote or showcase the Fayetteville community and the prospects we have for a prosperous future, the presentations are usually preceded by reminding the audi- ence of Fayetteville's questionable past. ey bring up FayetteNam – the notori- ous 500 block, the prostitutes at the Prince Charles Hotel, and Rick's Lounge. ey re- call the many fights that broke out on Hay Street between drunken teenage soldiers hours before they were shipped 3,000 miles overseas to fight a war they didn't under- stand in a country they'd never heard of – Vietnam. at was Fayetteville then. It's history. at is not what Fayetteville is now. We are a military community. We have a past, and we have future – an extremely bright future. It would serve us well to embrace our history and use it shape this future. e progress we have made in the last two decades is inspiring. However, if you were not living here 20 years ago, how could you appreciate this progress? is is why many of the people who come to Fayetteville through their business or the military decide to make it their perma- nent home. It's because of who we are now. It's because of the tireless efforts of so many who fought to make this a better, stronger community. ose who choose to call Fayetteville home love what the area has to offer.. ey've sought out the goodness that resides here. ey love the arts, culture, schools, weather, shopping, restaurants and, most of all, the people, all of which make up our community. I encourage everyone, including Sara: When you encounter the term "Fayette- Nam," don't fight it. It is part of who we are. But do take the opportunity to let people know what you love about Fayetteville and the wonderful community it has become. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. HIGH 63 LOW 33 HIGH 65 HIGH 58 HIGH 60 HIGH 62 HIGH 69 LOW 35 LOW 45 NOVEMBER 30 DECEMBER 1 DECEMBER 2 DECEMBER 3 DECEMBER 4 DECEMBER 5 Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Sunny Sunny Mostly Sunny LOW 43 LOW 41 LOW 35 Fa ye t t e N a m is F a y e tt e NO W !