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.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/98322
STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown ltmcmd01@aol.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverly@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE & DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth officemanager@ upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Reinhardt accounting@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Karen Poppele, Heather Griffiths ––––––––––– 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 ........................ 18 TV ..................................................... 20 Movie Review .................................. 21 PUBLISHER'S PEN Fayetteville: The Next 10 Years by BILL BOWMAN Exciting things are happening in Fayetteville. Just for clarification, when I use the term Fayetteville, I'm not just talking about downtown proper or the property surrounding city hall. I'm talking about all of Fayetteville. No matter which way you cut it, we are one community and each and every citizen has a right, if not the obligation, to weigh in on how he or she wants to see the community evolve, grow and develop. Recently, the City of Fayetteville gave us all that opportunity when it launched an aggressive marketing and awareness campaign to showcase a decade of progress and gather input from citizens to update the 2012 Renaissance Plan. Using radio, newspapers, email, twitter, Facebook and Up & Coming Weekly, Downtown Development Manager Jami McLaughlin did a yeoman's job in getting the word out about the opportunity for citizens to share their ideas on what amenities they wanted in their city; how they want to see it grow; and what opportunities or quality-oflife options would they like to have and enjoy in the future. Unfortunately, I fear many might have missed that opportunity because like Rip Van Winkle, they slept through the last 10 years, which were the most exciting this community has seen in more than a half century. That's right. Right now the City of Fayetteville is in the process of updating the Renaissance Plan, not recreating it. Sadly, there is a group of people who nodded off for 10 years and woke up to find nearly a billion dollars spent on enhancing our infrastructure, developing new business and bettering our community. According to the city, nearly two-thirds of the money poured into the city was from private investment. That being the case, I ask you, where will we be in the next 10 years? We have been given an opportunity to influence what our city will look like. Last week the city hosted a unique program and workshop series. It was called the Storefront Studio and there, for two whole days, you could actually view the original 2002 Renaissance Plan and take part in providing ideas for new initiatives that will take us to 2023. This exhibit was opened and well staffed from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. McLaughlin was there, r Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Thursday December 13 Friday December 14 4 High 59° Low 41° Partly Cloudy Sunday December 16 Saturday December 15 UCW DECEMBER 12-18, 2012 High 59° Low 43° Sunny Victor Sharp, community development director for the city was there, as was Bill Grimes of Studio Cascade, the consulting firm hired to head up the project. In full force, professional and knowledgeable, they were on hand to take suggestions, explain priorities, generate creative ideas and gather valuable input. In the evenings, on both days, they even conducted detailed workshops so citizens would understand the full scope of the process. So, I ask, did you know about this project? And, if not, why not? Did you go to any of the workshops or events? If not, why not? If you haven't already figured it out, if the City of Fayetteville is doing its job, you, as a citizen, must do yours. No one here lives in a vacuum. We must dilute and minimize the polarizing effects of ward politics. We must stop wallowing in anger over delayed sewerline hookups, concrete medians and forced annexation — none of which contribute to your healthy, happy lifestyle or quality of life. Come on folks! Life goes on and surely it is worth living. Please, for the first time ever, I am asking everyone who lives in this community and is reading this newspaper to do yourself a huge favor. Think about where you want to be in 10 years. Think about your 8-year-old son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter. In 2023, that child will be graduating from high school and will have to make decisions on where he or she wants to live, work and play. What decision do you want them to make? This is your chance. Take it. There is still time. Let's look to the future and help our leaders build a community that we all want for ourselves and for future generations. Here is my closing gift to you: Go to www.surveymonkey. com/s/XSHD837 and take a short survey about your feelings and vision about Downtown Fayetteville. Thank you for BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, Up & reading Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? editor@ Coming Weekly. upandcomingweekly.com. 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