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/934128
JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 6, 2018 UCW 21 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Hope Mills News & Views Activities at Hope Mills Parks and Recreation: 5770 Rockfish Rd. • Open gym is closed until further notice. • Game room is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. • Skate park hours through March 31: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. • Oldies music every first and third Friday, 6 p.m., free. • Senior programs 55 plus: Various activities for seniors are available Mon- day through Friday at the recreation center. For specific times and events, go to townofhopemills.com and follow the links to Hope Mills Parks and Recreation. • Senior Valentine's Day Luncheon Wednesday, Feb. 14, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Free, but sign-up required. Only 100 seats available. You must be registered with Hope Mills Parks and Recreation to attend. Main dish, drinks and entertainment will be provided. Please bring a side dish to share with your peers. Call 910-426- 4109 or visit the front reception desk to register. To cancel, call at least two days in advance. • Social Knitting and Crocheting Fridays, 10 a.m.-noon, Small Activity Room. ose planning to attend must provide their own supplies and projects. • Hope Mills Youth baseball and indoor soccer registration is open through Feb. 28 and ends at 4:30 p.m. daily. Baseball ages 5-14, instructional soccer ages 5-8, indoor soccer ages 7-12. Eligibility cut-off date for baseball and indoor soc- cer is May 1. Proof of address and birth certificate are required to register. Call 910-426-4105 for more information. • Hope Mills Youth wrestling registration is open until Feb. 2 for ages 6-12. Practices are held at Brower Park. Matches are held at Myers Recreation Center March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31. $30 per child. Proof of address and birth certificate are required to register. Call 910-426-4105 for more information. Promote yourself To have your business, organization or event included in this section, email us: hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com. e Future Farmers of America arboretum at South View High School is about to get a major upgrade and offer a direct benefit to the community. Erin Yoest, first-year agri- culture teacher at South View, landed a $5,000 grant for the school's arboretum from North Carolina State University. e money will be used to expand South View's arboretum and eventually grow vegetables that will be given to the needy in the community. Yoest, 23, is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University who joined the faculty at South View eight months ago. She has a degree in agriculture and exten- sion education and has been interested in agriculture since she was a youngster. "We had a few show pigs and we got involved with 4-H as soon as we could,'' she said. "When I went to high school, I knew I would be part of FFA. My interest in agriculture grew from there.'' South View offers three courses in agriculture – agriscience applications and Horticulture I and II. Yoest said the courses cover plant sciences, ag- ricultural engineering and mechanics, and a little animal science and environmental science. She learned about the grant opportunity from N.C. State last September and had to submit an ap- plication that included a project outline, timeline, goals and objectives, and a budget. She has clear plans for how to spend the $5,000 the school was awarded. "We're going to be getting new tables for one of our greenhouses to make it a safer environment to work in,'' she said. "Now they have wooden tables and they are starting to dry rot.'' e rest of the money will go to purchase a drip irrigation system for the school's edible arboretum. Yoest said drip irrigation is a more efficient way to irrigate the arboretum than using traditional sprin- klers. "You're reaching the soil a lot better,'' she said. "It's educational as well as efficient.'' She's also hopeful that the school will be able to use the arboretum to raise money for the school's FFA program. She said there are about 16 4-by-4- foot plots of soil in the arboretum that she would like to rent to the community. "We'll start with the staff and faculty at South View High School and Middle School,'' she said. "We'll eventually open it to the community to come and rent lots.'' Yoest plans to start planting tomatoes, peppers, okra and corn, plus a variety of vegetables they already have seeds for. How fast the various crops grow depends on nor- mal growth rates for each and how cooperative the weather is during the spring and summer. Some of the vegetables will get a jump-start by be- ing planted in the school greenhouse in February. "We could have some stuff ready by early summer,'' Yoest said. "Other things like corn, watermelon and pumpkins will be more toward the end of the summer.'' A final decision on exactly how the vegetables grown will be distributed to those in need hasn't been made, Yoest said. One possible idea is to part- ner with Second Harvest Food Bank, she said. e issue will be settled once the arboretum is closer to producing actual food for distribution. EVENTS South View High School FFA arboretum lands major grant by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS EARL VAUGHAN JR., Senior Staff Writer. COMMENTS? EarlUCWS- ports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638. Erin Yoest, first-year agriculture teacher at South View, landed a $5,000 grant for the school's ar- boretum from North Carolina State University. Above: Blackberry and blueberry bushes at the SVHS FFA arboretum. Below: e pergola at the SVHS FFA arboretum.