Up & Coming Weekly

4 UCW NOVEMBER 11-17, 2009 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Kirkpatrick editor@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Tabitha Kidd tabitha@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Suzy Patterson suzy@upandcomingweekly.com –––––––––––––– GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Soni Martin, D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, Bob Cogswell, John Hood, Shanessa Fenner, Erinn Crider, Shannen Dill, Karen Poppele, Takeema Hoffman –––––––––––– 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 infor- mation 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 per- son. 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. STAFF Internet Directory ............................ 12 Calendar ........................................... 18 Concert Connection ........................ 25 TV ..................................................... 26 Movie Review .................................. 28 Movie Schedule ............................... 29 Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 30 News of the Weird ........................... 31 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 31 Classifieds ........................................ 32 Games .............................................. 34 Dining Guide .................................... 35 INSIDE A Really Bad Week by JANICE BURTON JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN At this time last week — it's now Sunday night — I could not have begun to imagine what last week had in store for our community or our nation. Probably no one else could have either. I, personally, did not know the Maxwell family. Nor did I know the families of the soldiers slain and injured at Fort Hood, or the families of those killed and injured in Florida. But, for the fi rst two, I defi nitely have an af- fi nity, a connection of sorts. As I read about the tragedy here in Fayetteville, I marveled at the number of people this event impacted. It was only later in the week, that I realized the impact it had on my own church fam- ily — especially the children who grew up with and knew the Maxwell children. Most of us will never know the heartbreak of the friends and families involved, but if we've learned anything from this situation, it is to be open. To know that people — even those who we think have it all — have problems. They need help. They need understanding. They need a community of people who care enough to become involved, and who sometimes suffer for that involve- ment. Our collective hearts have broken time and again for the Maxwell family, and for those who are left to pick up the pieces. As a community, we must embrace those hit the hardest by this tragedy. We must do what our community does best — wrap our arms around them and let them know they are loved. And, we must in a thousand different ways, help them pick up the pieces and if need be, help them carry them. That's what the soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood must also do. Much like in the days after 9/11, I cannot wrap my mind around the idea that a soldier would set out to deliber- ately hurt his comrades in arms. But we've seen it here years ago — early one morning during physical training when a solider unleashed his weapon on a formation. We didn't under- stand it then, and we don't understand it now. For those of us not in the military, we can- not know or truly under- stand what it means to literally put our lives in another person's hands. These soldiers do it day-in and day-out while they are deployed. They depend on the soldier to their left and the one to their right to keep them safe. They share a bond that few will ever know. And at Fort Hood, that bond cracked as their fellow soldier stood on a table and gunned them down. Like our community, the soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood, and at Army posts around the world, are also in a state of disbe- lief. We read, not with morbid curiosity, but rather with a need to understand all of the news reports. Was this man, in fact, mentally ill or did he simply hate our country? Did he hate his fellow soldiers? Was he part of something larger? That fear, more than anything, keeps me awake at night. Beyond cracking the bond of broth- erhood, the bullets that rang out at Fort Hood also cracked the illusion of safety that residents there felt, and also that residents here feel. The Secretary of the Army has urged military posts to take a closer look at their security, to become more vigilant. But how can you protect against something or someone you are trained to depend on? How can you plan for an evil that never should have been? We are asking that question in our homes here as well. All-in-all, last week was a really, really bad week. People have asked how to fi nd sense in all that has happened, and there is none. Answers will come and we might understand the how, and we may eventually understand the why ... but that doesn't mean it will make sense. I, personally, am looking higher to fi nd some sense of peace, of comfort, of security. As I sit writing this, my child is tucked safely in his bed. From my offi ce, I can hear the steady rhythm of his breathing. Would that every parent had that peace of mind right now. Last week taught us as a community, and as a nation, that safety is sometimes an illusion, and that we have to take still moments, like the one I have now and cherish them. More importantly, we have to do our best to create more of them.

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