CityView Magazine

publisher's note I From the greens to the courts t is August and the end of summer is fast approaching. This issue of CityView is about community, something our magazine has been about since day one. We share stories about life in our city and county that you will not read elsewhere. Speaking of community, stories in this issue are about people who make up the fabric of Cumberland County, from Stedman to Eastover and in between. With summer soon to pass, I was thinking about my childhood compared to my grandchildren's during summer months. When I was growing up my summers were consumed with playing golf. I played every day and went to numerous tournaments across the state from June to August. My first tournament was at the age of 10 in Raleigh. It was a big event and kids from all over eastern North Carolina were there. Because this was such a tremendous tournament, the News and Observer in Raleigh covered the competition. I had a good opening round in the 10-year-old "Pee Wee" division and was actually interviewed. My quote became kind of a legend back home. The reporter asked me if my father taught me how to play, I said, "No it was my mother, and I started playing before he did." As expected, I was kidded about that for years. These tournaments I played many summers ago were a means to a lifetime of friendships with people I met and competed against. After the "Pee Wee" division, we grew up and played high school and college golf against each other. About 10 years ago, 20 of us from all over the state got together for a weekend of golf in Southern Pines. It was a fun gathering 40 years later to play golf and reminisce of days gone by. My grandsons are experiencing similar summers like I had years ago, but their sport is tennis. It is much more focused and organized than junior golf 50 years ago. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) sanctions junior tournaments all over the USA, with North Carolina as one of the biggest states in junior tennis. My grandsons are 14 and 10 and dare I say…they are quite good! Marshall III has been playing competitive tennis for four years. My youngest grandson Griffith has been competing in tournaments for three years. Although they have been playing for a relatively short time, both are ranked in the Top 30 in the state in their respective age groups. In fact, almost like a professional tennis player, Marshall III played in events for 12 straight weekends from March until June. He played in tournaments all over the Southeast from the Carolinas all the way down to Georgia. I celebrated my 64th birthday in Wilmington July 14th and was given a great present when both my grandsons won their age divisions in a USTA Level 3 tournament played there. They are experiencing the same kind of summer I had fifty years ago, playing competitive sports and meeting kids from all over the South they will know for years to come. I am excited for them and we have all been blessed by God. Correction: In our July/August issue, in the "BikeFriendly Community" story, the name is Mike Thompson of Cross Creek Cycling Club. 10 | August • 2013

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