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 bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Crowe stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com hal@upandcomingweekly.com Michelle Schumacher michelle@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Laurel Handforth officemanager@ upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Mary Catherine White accounting@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Jhana Lewis, Erinn Crider, Karen Poppele, Heath- er Griffi ths, Beth Solzsmon-Carpenter–––––––––––– 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. MARKETING/SALES Hal Nunn ASSOCIATE EDITOR Stephanie Crider PUBLISHER Bill Bowman INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN by JANICE BURTON For more than a year, many Fayetteville residents have been involved in the planning of Heroes Homecoming. At one point, it seemed the whole thing would go up in smoke when the national media caught wind of a possible scandal via The Fayetteville Observer. Fortunately, organizers weathered the storm and kept the event on track. And now that the 10 days of celebration are past, here's the question: Was it a success? In my opinion, the answer is a resounding yes! I admit to having a vested interest in the event. As I have mentioned before, my father is one of those Vietnam veterans who were not celebrated or welcomed when they returned from doing their duty. He is one of those veterans who woke up in a cold sweat, screaming from dreams he never shared. So the idea of letting these men know their sacrifi ces were not forgotten was important. With that being said, my family and I jumped right into the festivities. My father, who has never wanted to talk about Vietnam, made a trip down to visit during the opening days of the Heroes Homecoming. He smiled a lot as he saw his fellow vets wearing hats denoting their service. He got a little misty when I pointed to the fi eld of fl ags at the Airborne and Special Operation Museum and told him that one of those fl ags was in honor of him. At the ASOM, we ran into my friend and co-worker, Lt. Col. Glenn Thomas. When I introduced him to my father, I noticed that my dad stood a little straighter as Thomas thanked him for his service. So from a very personal perspective, the event did what it was intended to do. But it also did it from a wider perspective. And no where was that more apparent than on Saturday at the Veterans Parade. Hay Street was lined with people ready to welcome the Vietnam vets home and to show their thanks. Because I wanted to be sure to have a good viewing spot, we got there almost an hour before the parade started. We were not alone. As we set up our camp chairs, hundreds of other families from our community were doing the same. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Friday Saturday November 17 November 18 November 19 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Thursday Across the street from us, a little boy — no more than 5 or 6 — was decked out in an Army uniform. He had an American fl ag gripped tightly in his hand and he practiced his salute in preparation for the parade. After the parade, he was never still. He waved his fl ag, his marched, he saluted. To our left, a young couple helped an elderly gentleman to the street's edge. Cane in hand, he waited as they sat up a camp chair for him. He seemed as excited as the little boy across the street. I happened to notice that he, too, was wearing a hat denoting his status as a veteran. He had served with the 101st Infantry Regiment in World War II. As he sat down in his seat, the chair began to wobble. The young couple quickly realized it wouldn't hold him. I jumped from my seat to offer him my chair. For me, it was an honor to give this man, this member of the Greatest Generation, my seat. It in fact made me quite weepy. My friend Karen, whose grandfather, also a World War II veteran, died recently, shared a sentimental moment with me. Those moments grew as the parade began. People in the parade, noting his hat, saluted the old gentleman. One man jumped off his fl oat to come over and shake his hand. He would carefully salute them back. Tears rolled down his cheeks. At that moment, I thought nothing could make this event any better. I was wrong. Toward the end of the parade, a contingent of Vietnam veterans came marching down the street. As they passed, people came to their feet clapping and cheering. The looks on those veterans' faces were priceless. They smiled, they waved. I saw several of them saying thank you to the people cheering for them. I'm not sure if the organizers of the event were able to share that moment. I hope they did. For in that moment, even though it was only for that group of veterans, a healing started. Our heroes fi nally had their homecoming. JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? janice@upandcomingweekly.com CalCall 910.354.1679l 910.354.1679 Sunday Monday November 20 November 21 Calendar ........................................... 14 Concert Connection ........................ 18 TV ..................................................... 20 Movie Review .................................. 21 Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 22 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 23 Classifieds ........................................ 24 Games .............................................. 26 Was Heroes Homecoming a Success? Tuesday November 22 High 65° Low 44° Partly Sunny High 67° Low 43° Sunny 4 UCW NOVEMBER 16-22, 2011 High 69° Low 47° Partly Cloudy Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. High 70° Low 44° Scattered Showers High 64º Low 39º Mostly Sunny High 63º Low 39º Mostly Sunny WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 24 24 / 7