Up & Coming Weekly

Motorcycle Ride Helps Kids Learn to Fish by JOY KIRKPATRICK Yes, you read it right — an upcoming motorcycle ride will help kids learn to fish! On Sunday, June 13, riders from across the region will embark from the Crown Coliseum headed to the USS North Carolina in Wilmington. The Ducks Unlimited Bike Ride will have riders on all types of motorcycles and trikes, gathered together to support the mission of Ducks Unlimited, the world’s leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation. Proceeds from the ride support the work of the Ducks Unlimited chapter here in Cumberland County. Specifically, the ride will help fund the groups annual Green Wing Adventure. The annual David Varnedoe Green Wing Adventure provides an opportunity for 700 area children to go fishing and learn about conservation. The event takes place in mid-September each year at the John Pechman Fishing Center. “Last year we took more than 700 kids fishing and our goal is 800 this year,” said M.L. Core, Chairman of the Cumberland County chapter of Ducks Unlimited, adding that one day is devoted entirely to children from the Falcon Children’s Home. “The GreenWing program is for kids age 17 and younger. It teaches them not to pollute our wetlands and to appreciate the natural habitats of America’s waterfowl,” he added. Each child receives a rod and reel, T-shirt, hat, tackle box, a year’s membership to GreenWing and a year’s subscription to Puddler Magazine. According to ride chairman Bernard Vann, the Ducks Unlimited Bike Ride helps pay for all those rods and reels. Registration for the ride will be from 7:30 to 10 a.m. The ride will be escort- ed by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department and will depart from the Crown Coliseum at 10 a.m. Upon arrival to the USS North Carolina Battleship in Wilmington, riders will be treated to a party at Battleship Park. The full meal will include Bar-B-Q pork, home cooked by David Collier of Collier Farms, and Bar-B-Q chicken, provided by Kinlaw’s Supermarket, as well as a live band to entertain the crowd with Beach music and hits from the ‘50s and ‘60s, according Vann. There will be a break along the route on 421 about 10 miles from Clinton. Those who participated last year will notice that the date of the ride is much earlier than last year. “We moved the ride up to June, instead of August, on account of the heat. We’re trying to have it when it’s not quite so hot,” explained Vann. “Last year we had 122 riders, a real good turnout for that time of year.” The $45 registration fee entitles the biker to receive a T-shirt, door prize drawings and meal, as well as a chance at the Ducks Unlimited 12-gauge Shotgun drawing. Additional riders are $25 and they will also receive a shirt, meal and chance at the door prizes. The T-shirts feature original artwork designed by artist Jimmy Norris. Cars and trucks are welcome to participate in the ride as well. Ducks Unlimited is a nonprofit organization made up of almost all volunteers. According to Core, there are 132 chap- ters in N.C. and they raise several million per year. “It’s one of the only nonprofit organizations in the U.S. where 98 percent of the money actually goes towards preserving wetlands. Only 2 percent is used for administration costs,” said Core. “Out of 132 chapters in the state, Cumberland County was number one in sponsors and participation in 2009. And our program was in the top 100 in the nation — we actually ranked 28 in the U.S.” Tickets for the Ducks Unlimited Bike Ride can be purchased in advance at several area locations including: Steel Dreams, Chrome Custom Cycles, M&M Leather, Prestige Automotive Service, and Cape Fear Harley Davidson, all in Fayetteville, The Shop in Hope Mills, Holly’s Grill in Autryville, and Jamie Deese in Pembroke. For more information, contact Bernard Vann, the ride chairman, at 624-6252 or M.L. Core at 988-2444. JOY KIRKPATRICK, Associate Publisher COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com Gladiator, Circa 12th Century England Robin Hood (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS Robin Hood (140 minutes) tries way too hard to live up to the promise of an exciting new Robin Hood legend, but fails to deliver any real substance to back up the potential suggested by years of media buzz. Waaay back in 2007 there was this really cool script circulating. The new script featured a heroic sheriff of Nottingham facing off against a less than noble Robin Hood, both in love with Maid Marian. A few Hollywood- style tweaks later, the sheriff of Nottingham is trapped between loyalty to the throne of an unpopular ruler and an outlaw attempting to gain rights for the people of England. After yet more adjustments, a sassy young upstart named Robin adopts the identity of the dead sheriff of Nottingham for some reason and does some Robin Hood stuff. You know what? If Director Ridley Scott had gone with any of these three ideas, we might have a Robin Hood movie worth adding to the canon. Instead, at some point he said to himself, “Gosh, we could be innovative and challenge popular ideas OR we could take these fresh new perspectives and rewrite them until they end up as just one more standardized, sexist Robin Hood tale.” Guess which option he went with? Much like the far superior Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves the film opens during the last years of the Crusades. Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) is kind of opinionated and has issues when people don’t agree with him. Unfortunately, he also has issues with people who agree with him too much, so Robin (Russell Crowe) ends up in a bit of sticky wicket when his opinion is solicited. Following all this radically innovative character development, we are introduced to Lady Marian (Cate Blanchett) and her father-in-law Walter (Max von Sydow). The duo are under pressure from the sheriff of Nottingham to pay more taxes, and are losing their crop to the weird, half- naked, masked orphans of the Greenwood (Sherwood Forest, by any other name.) The plot thickens, as apparently jerky Prince John (Oscar Isaac) is too busy working out his Oedipal complex to realize his right hand man Godfrey 20 UCW JUNE 9-15, 2010 (Mark Strong) doesn’t have his best interests at heart. Thrown into this mix are some French dudes and a lot of back room dealing and back- stabbing. After a bit more plot development, lots of drinking, a few half-naked peasants, and several battle scenes, Robin, Marian, and the Merry Men are more or less in the same place, along with Friar Tuck (Mark Addy). At this point, some random sol- diers start attacking the peasantry in the name of John, which is under- standably upsetting to all the nobles. Fortunately, Robin is a fabulous ar- cher, capable of wooing a lady and in- spiring the masses in a single breath. He is oh-so-manly. Marian is really quite lucky that a big strong man is around to solve her problems and prevent her from experiencing any au- thentic character development. The film lumbers its way towards a dramatic Braveheart style battle, set on the beaches and featuring sweaty dudes in armor. At the very moment the audience believes that Marian is going to find her feminist redemption, Robin steps in and saves the day. Overall, it wasn’t a bad action movie; it just wasn’t a par- ticularly outstanding Robin Hood movie either. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer

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