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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STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS OFFICER Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/ OFFICE COORDINATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Cynthia Spears cynthia@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street 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 welcomes 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. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. INSIDE Calendar. .......................................... 14 . Concert Connection......................... 21 TV...................................................... 18 Movie................................................ 19 PUBLISHER'S PEN Are We Losing Local? by BILL BOWMAN A prosperous local economy is almost at our fingertips; however, it is extremely ineffective and, in many cases, destructive. Brand, if you are a fledgling organization or local merchant trying to being defined as who you are, what you are and what you stand establish and maintain a profitable small business in Cumberland for cannot be defined on the Internet. This pertains to people, County, you just may have to reach a little further. organizations and businesses. Doug Peters, president of the Fayetteville Here is a case in point, which happened Area Chamber of Commerce, understands the very recently. Deborah Mintz, president of importance of promoting and supporting local the Fayetteville and Cumberland County independent businesses. Small business is the Arts Council, and I hosted 25 members of cornerstone of a strong and enduring community the Chamber of Commerce's Leadership and local economy. Bringing awareness to what Fayetteville. Our task for the day was to give local communities have to offer is the key to them a brief introduction to the arts, history developing a vibrant local economy. This was one of and cultural venues that can be found within the motivating forces behind the recent Shop Local our community. Deborah and I have been doing campaign staged by the Chamber of Commerce. this as a team for nearly 20 years. We take great Becoming familiar with our local community pride in showcasing these venues. Our guests reaches far beyond just doing business locally. Our are always pleasantly surprised at the quantity As 21st century human beings our heads residents are becoming involuntarily detached from of quality venues our community has to offer. and eyes are constantly focused on our the very community in which we live. Even more amazing was how many of these computers, iPads and iPhones. This is most evident to those of us who folks, many of them Millennials, were totally work in the media industry. We can attest to unaware and out of touch with the community. the growing trend that people are not familiar with their local How can that be? surroundings and that small businesses are going out of business at Full disclosure, these people were participating in Leadership an alarming rate. Why? Because we have been lured into the 21st Fayetteville to learn about the community. But, some participants century infatuation with the Internet, online services and social have lived here in Fayetteville and Cumberland County for 10, 15 media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. As 21st century and 20 years or more and were not aware of some of the basic human beings, our heads and eyes are constantly focused on community arts, entertainment and cultural gems at our disposal our computers, iPads and iPhones. Consequently, we know like the Dogwood Festival, Cape Fear Regional Theatre, Cape Fear more about what's going on halfway around the world then we Botanical Garden, the FireAntz hockey team or the fact that we have do right here in our own backyard. not one, but two, symphony orchestras. Fortunately, the Internet is not the be-all-and-end-all solution There is no real excuse for this except to realize that the Internet, when it comes to developing awareness and communication iPhones and iPads are robbing us of our sense of community. especially in our own local community. Granted, social media Finding the good stuff takes effort and with effort comes reward. has its place in our society; however, one must be aware that it I invite all of our readers to take the time to get to know our is gradually deteriorating our involvement and intimacy with our community. You won't find it on the Internet. You need to put family, friends and local surroundings. down your phones, open your eyes and look at all that is around Why? Because involvement and intimacy take time and effort it. Fayetteville has much to offer and one of its best to develop. The Internet and all its addictive facets for knowledge offerings is the warm and open people who call it and entertainment allows us to live in the moment. In reality, the home. Get to know them. Enjoy our community. Internet is just another media source that can complement any You might just be BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, Up & Combusiness or organization by providing information. However, when surprised. Thank it comes to establishing credibility, touting the quality of your you for reading Up ing Weekly. COMMENTS? product or service or actually developing your brand, and Coming Weekly. editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Thursday December 19 Friday December 20 4 DECEMBER 18-24, 2013 High 71° Low 57° Mostly Cloudy Saturday December 21 High 71° Low 62° Rain Call 910.354.1679 Sunday December 22 24 / High 64° Low 47° Mostly Cloudy Free Wheelin' Feelin'........................ 22 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess.......... 23 Classifieds......................................... 24 Games............................................... 26 Monday December 23 Tuesday December 24 High 72° Low 47° Rain High 65º Low 39º Partly Cloudy High 56º Low 35º Partly Cloudy 7 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM