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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Scares Up Fun Downtown by AMANDA JENKINS Halloween is right around the corner, so while you're carving your pumpkins, decorating your house and putting the fi nishing touches on your costume, go online and purchase your tickets to the 8th Annual Historic Hauntings in downtown Fayetteville. The hay ride will depart from the Transportation Museum and Annex every Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the third and fourth weeks in Oct.(October 20-22 and 27-29). "We have a wagon that leaves every half hour starting at 6:30 p.m. all the way up until 9:30 each evening." says Carrie King, executive director of The Dogwood Festival. The Historic Hauntings tour consists of an hour hay ride that takes you through downtown Fayetteville to some of the city's most haunted locations. "What we do is not only tell you stories and tales of mayhem and murder, but we also represent things that are historically accurate," explained King. "So not only are you getting the scare factor, but you're also getting real fi rst-hand accounts of events that have shaped our community and our history." "We change the tour every year so the patrons are not going to hear the same ghost stories that they heard on the wagon last year," she noted. Some of the stops this year will include Liberty Point, the The Gilbert Theatre has also provided the Historic Hauntings tour with actors and re-enactors who will assist in bringing some of Fayetteville's ghosts and spirits to life. Bruce Daws, the city's historian, will be an onsite narrator at the Transportation Museum sharing some of his spine-chilling and bizarre stories about railroad accidents. "Some of our stories are really interesting, stuff that you're not going to read about in a history book," says King. This event is open to the general public and the admission is $15 per person. to pay." King added, "If there's a hiney on the hay you have This event can be child friendly, but it is up to the parent's Cross Creek Cemetery and the Transportation Museum. Each year the tour will take the patrons through the Cross Creek Cemetery and share stories about how some of the residents of the graveyard got there. This year, The Dogwood Festival takes it a step further and will have the patrons get off of the wagon and walk through the cemetery by torchlight. "We try to bring in those creepy little elements so you can really catch the eeriness," says King. Fall Into Work Job Fair Set by KAREN POPPELE If you are looking for employment in today's diffi cult market, this fair may offer just the ticket — and it's free! The Cumberland County Department of Social Services (DSS), in partnership with other community agencies and businesses, is holding its Fall into Work Job Fair on Wednesday, Oct.12, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Crown Expo Center. More than 100 employers are expected to attend the job fair, and employment opportunities span several fi elds, including business, education, government, food service and hospitality, childcare, customer service, distribution, healthcare and more. "It is free," said Robert Relyea, employment coordinator with the DSS. "Anybody seeking a job is welcome to come to this. It doesn't matter where you're from. In the past, we've talked to people from all over the Southeast." "Work First started in 1996, and Gov. (Jim) Hunt wanted all 100 counties in North Carolina through the DSS and Work First program to do an event like a job fair," Relyea said. "So we did ours, and probably had one of the most successful in the state. Fayetteville Tech was our original partner; in fact, we held the fi rst one at Fayetteville Tech because at the time, we didn't have our facility set up. We probably had about 45-50 vendors (employers), and we might have had around 1,200 people come through it, which was big back in '96. We had a much better economy. We decided to keep doing it, and we started doing them here at the agency." Over the years, the agency has held more than 20 such events. The original fair took place in March, and after its positive outcome, the DSS offered another fair in the fall, which was also successful. For 10 years, the agency and its partners offered two fairs a year. Their success contributed to the growth and eventual move of the fair to a larger venue at the Crown Expo Center. "We used to have them down here at the DSS," said Relyea, "but we basically outgrew our area. Parking became a bad issue, so DSS decided we better fi nd a bigger location for the event. And we went from having around 70 or so vendors per event and really having them squeezed together to having 100- plus with plenty of room." The job fair now takes place once a year, and the numbers of attendees 8 UCW OCTOBER 5-11, 2011 and partners have increased as well. Fayetteville Tech has remained a partner, joined by the City of Fayetteville Community Development Department, Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. and Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce and business sponsors Fayetteville PWC and Hardee's restaurants. This year's turnout is expected to be at least comparable to last year's. "Last year, 4,700 people come through the event," said Relyea. "This year, we're hoping to be as helpful, although it would be nice to see fewer people. That might mean the economy is a little bit better off. We're probably going to see around the same number. Things don't seem, job wise, a whole lot better than they've been in the last year. " And with competition keen for jobs, Relyea offered several valuable points for jobseekers: •Bring plenty of résumés and pens, as no resources for making copies exists. •Prepare a brief statement about yourself. Employers can spend only a few minutes with each applicant. The more concise you can be with what you have to offer, the better off you'll be because you'll give the employer that important information right off the top. •Talk to vendors and understand what you need to do next. Understand each vendor's hiring practice so you will know what to do. •Make sure to get a vendor's name, address and business card. When you leave the job fair, immediately write a thank you note to each vendor for spending time talking with you. •Dress well –– neat and presentable. Look representative of the type of jobs you're going to apply for. If that means a coat and tie, that is what you should wear. Avoid large jewelry; be really conservative in dress and accessories. For more information on a great opportunity to meet many potential employers, call (910) 677-2222 or (910) 677-2177 or visit www.ccdssnc.com/ Job_Fair.htm. KAREN POPPELE, Contributing Writer, Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM The Historic Hauntings tour consists of an hour hay ride that takes you through downtown Fayetteville to some of the city's most haunted locations. discretion and if the child is easily scared or not. "The cemetery will be pitch dark and the stories are true, so it depends on your child's scare-factor level," says King. All of the proceeds from the Historic Hauntings tour go to Bruce Daws to help preserve historic Fayetteville and Cumberland County, and to the Cross Creek Cemetery to help repair some of the old headstones that have been there since the early 1800s and those that have been vandalized throughout the years. "We defi nitely don't spare any details as far as making sure everything that we're talking about is accurate and putting on the best show for the dollar," says King. Also, make sure to buy your tickets online ahead of time because they sell out fast, and show up early so that the wagon doesn't leave you alone in the dark! For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the website at www. faydogwoodfestival.com/historic-hauntings. AMANDA JENKINS, Contributing Writer, Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Historic Hauntings