TABLE OF
CONTENTS

THE GRAPEVINE '00

IMPORTANT
INFORMATION

12/28/00
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (sorry we missed out on the snow.) I also hope you were able to check out the outdoor Nativity at the Presbyterian Church. If you missed it, go to the Western Carolina Center light show. You need a little tradition. Or at least try the Barus Pond Loop.  ;o)

Did you see the partial solar eclipse Christmas Day at around noon-thirty?  I knew about it, but got so caught up in the Christmas Spirit and family-thing I forgot to look. Nobody blinded, I hope.

Looks like more of those scooters came via Santa's sleigh. I still can't figure out why they are suddenly more  popular than skateboards. You can't do tricks and you look kind of silly riding one (my opinion.) Can't you just picture leather jacketed scooter gangs terrorizing Valdese?

For all those who argued that last New Year's wasn't the end of the millennium, here's your chance. Live it up next Sunday.

To all of you, have a safe and happy New Year. See you on the other side! (2001)

12/18/00
OCP's "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" was a success drawing an estimated 400 people during its run. Next year's schedule is set so get your season tickets today!

I apologize for not updating E.B. basketball regularly, but the schedule is hard to keep up with (unlike football) and I often don't realize they played. I've asked the "Voice of the Cavaliers" Chuck Moseley to e-mail me results after the game so maybe I  can keep up better.

Don't forget the Waldensian Presbyterian Church's outdoor nativity scene this week. Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

12/13/00
Don't miss the OCP production of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" Thursday through Sunday. It's one Christmas special you don't have to check TV Guide to find. And no ads!

I want to apologize for not knowing that Myra's Little Italy was open. I've been out of touch with Mr. Earp lately but when I saw him last week, he showed me around. It looks pretty nice, but it's an eclectic atmosphere. Sports memorabilia, a Cracker Barrel-type gift shop, and an Italian menu and setting. I hope it succeeds. He's only opening on Friday and Saturday evenings for now but it can be reserved for parties.

If you remember, last January, I boxed up a Winnie The Pooh stuffed doll and sent him with someone to Walt Disney World, where she would give him to a stranger. That stranger would spend a day or two with the doll, send me a picture and some information about them and their community and their time with Pooh, then send him to someone else. I would then post these travelogues on a special page on the site so we could track him. Well, it looks like Pooh's lost his way. I haven't heard from him since he left and neither has my friend. Say a prayer for our little wayfarer this holiday season. Humanity has disappointed us.

If I don't post again before Christmas, have a Happy Holiday, and keep the Spirit in you!

12/04/00
I hope you didn't have too much trouble shoveling out from that six inches of snow that blanketed Burke County. ;o)  Boy the weathermen really blew that one!

The annual Christmas Parade was a big hit as usual, with Leon Guigou as the Grand Marshall. I didn't get to the Western Carolina Center parade, but I'm sure it was a success, as well. For some reason they let the kids out of school early to see it, even though it started at 3:30. The lights at the Center are now on for your enjoyment and I think someone is offering hay rides.

Mark your calendar for December 20th & 21st at either 6:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. for the annual live-action Christmas scene at the Waldensian Presbyterian Church. The kids (and adults) in the play volunteer their time for this performance and deserve a big crowd.

11/29/00
Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. It sure was a busy one.

The street lights are up and Santa is back atop the Old Rock School. The parade is Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. My advice: shop online; unless like like crowds and traffic jams.

Got an e-mail from Ellen Schultz at Valdese Elementary School on their new playground. I'm going to post it here because they need donations to help fund it. It will also be a public facility.

"I am a member of the Valdese PTO board and we have taken on a project to build the elementary school a playground.  Part of the playground will be structured for slides, climbing and tunnels (mostly targeted toward K - 2).  The other portion is a fitness/obstacle course that features somewhat challenging activities for all age groups.  The facilities will also be available for public use as they will be located close to the old high school football field and walking track. We can not get any funding from the school county office for this project, so the PTO is funding strictly through fundraisers and donations, which I might add are tax deductible. I realize there has been a lot of focus on the clock tower and "bubble" for the pool, but we are pushing hard to get this project funded and built by the beginning of next school year."

Still no more word on Myra's Little Italy. They're missing the Christmas rush.

There's also a new store: Serendipity on Main Street. I haven't been there yet, but I think it's a little-of-everything store. I'll add it as soon as possible.

11/06/00
The new antique store/mall opened last week on Main Street beside Expressions. I just looked in the window, but they seemed to have some interesting stuff. The big stink seems to be over the Town's paying their rent for several months.

The pool (aka - The Jimmy C. Draughn Aquatic and Fitness Center - what a mouthful) had an open house this weekend with an Olympic swimmer giving a clinic. I'm not sure how they got her, but it's nice to see Valdese getting a little good publicity.

Don't forget to vote early and often tomorrow!

10/23/00
It's that time of year again. The smell of dead leaves and the crunching sound they make as you drive across them in your driveway. And of course we can't forget the big orange trash bags on everyone's front lawn. Makes me glad I live in the woods. Just rake 'em into the forest.

Not sure if people can swim inside yet. I don't think so, though. Just the swim team for now. Click here for a picture of the interior of the new swimming pool "bubble."

Got an e-mail from a Waldensian friend in Germany concerning the flooding in Italy. To view it, click here. A catastrophe like this kind of put things like a clock tower into perspective doesn't it?

Apparently Printmasters has sold or merged. Don't know the new name yet, but Chip Cooper and his father are involved.

The antiques store is progressing quickly. They've already got some stock up and the interior has been fixed up nicely.

No more John Lafferty updates for a while. Apparently he's out with mononucleosis.

10/15/00
The OCP Talent Showcase is now off. There were not enough acts and coordinators to put the show together.

Swimming apparently will not be available until later. Keep checking back for updates.

The building beside the Mexican dry goods store is being renovated to house an antiques store. Looks like Valdese is making some downtown progress.

I went into the bakery last week and was shown some of the changes in the production area. It used to be that you walked through a door from the offices and were immediately in the "heart" of production. You could hear the machines going and see the shipping department. Now it's like walking in a hallway on the Starship Enterprise. Eerie and sterile. I miss the old days.

10/08/00
The dedication of the new swimming pool cover has been postponed indefinitely. To my knowledge, swimming will still begin on the 14th, however.

The clock tower location has been moved from the area between the Rock School and the Family Dollar parking lot to the front lawn on the western side of the School. This is a much more reasonable location and won't block the view of the School from the road.

Old Colony Players is having a make-up Talent Showcase on Saturday, October 28th. for the one that proved to be a disaster last Spring. We are working on having a Halloween costume contest for kids during intermission and letting the audience judge the winner. If you're interested, contact the OCP office at 874-0176 or by e-mail.

9/25/00
Got some pictures of the Pool bubble the other evening. Click here for one and here for the other.

Sorry to hear about Town Manager Jeff Morse's son, Michael. If you didn't hear, he died of unknown (at this time) causes shortly after a football game at Heritage Middle School. He was 13 and a tailback. Our condolences go out to the Morse family.

Jay Pascal managed to post bond and is once again in town. Don't know when his trial is.

9/19/00
I spoke too soon yesterday. We got an inch of rain overnight. 

The "bubble has been inflated at the Swimming pool. I'll post a picture as soon as possible.

Larry Earp's new restaurant is progressing well. Shouldn't be too long before it's open. Click here for a picture.

I've noticed a security guard car parked on Janavel Avenue above the Bakery overnight. I've also heard that there are cameras everywhere and guard stations. You'd think it was a prison.  Maybe it is.

Mark your calendars for "Roots & Promises" at the Old Rock School on Saturday and Sunday. It's the story of Genesis in a musical format.

9/18/00
Well the Tropical storm off the coast has only given us clouds. They look like rain, but nothing beyond drizzle so far. It has cooled things down, though.

The town is losing one of it's largest users of water & sewer, a company I hadn't even heard of--The Valdese North Carolina Company which you may "know" as Island Textiles or OMS, behind Jack-B-Quick. It's a dye company that contributed heavily to the Town's budget. It remains to be seen if utility rates for private citizens will rise or whether the corporate customers will assume the load.

What's going in the "Affordable Antiques" building?  Well, apparently another fast-food restaurant (as if we needed one.)  Anne-Marie Baker, the owner of the building, has rented it to Papa John's pizza who in addition to paying a premium will make some improvements. I like Anne-Marie, but another restaurant?

The OCP production of Nunsense went well. Approximately 360 people turned out over the four nights, though Thursday was somewhat sparse.

Wondering what the codes for East Burke records on the right of the screen are? FB=Football, SC=Soccer, GTn=Girl's Tennis, BTn=Boy's Tennis, VB=Volleyball. Sorry, but every time I check the News Herald, the Boy's Tennis isn't listed. Maybe it hasn't started yet, the EBHS web site doesn't list it either.

9/04/00
Sorry for the long layoff, it's been busy.

The Festival went over very well, some say a record crowd turned out. The weather was good for this time of year and the crafts seemed to be a notch above the usual fare. Unfortunately, the News Herald continued to shun everything Valdese (though they had pictures of ex-editor Bill Poteat and that kid from Freedom) and didn't post the race results so I had to enter them manually. To view them, click here.

Try to get by to see Nunsense, the OCP production September 14th - 17th. The organization could use a good audience and it promises to be a good musical comedy. Keith Smith is directing.

Word is that Jay Pascal may be in over his head. I think they're considering having him committed.

Hope you like the new site look. E-mail me with any feedback. It's still an evolving process.

8/01/00
The fireworks were a big hit on July 4th. Supposedly some 4,000 people showed up to watch after the ceremonies down at the Trail of Faith.

I found an interesting feature at Amazon.com that lets you see what certain demographic or regional groups are buying. I looked up Valdese, but there wasn't a listing. There is one for Morganton however, click here to view it. You can also see what music they are buying and which DVDs. It's kind of a neat way to see what our neighbors are interested in. I'll keep checking to see when Valdese gets listed.

Don't forget the Festival on August 12th. It should be a good one, and the weather hasn't really been all that hot and humid this year. Let's hope it stays that way.

I'm working on a new look for the site, so please forgive any broken links or other problems (and let me know about them.)

6/15/00
It's Hot! We need rain!

Well today is the big dedication of the "new" swimming pool. You'll remember last year's official dedication ceremony was postponed due to the near-drowning incident. It's scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and will be followed by a swim meet with Forest City. This is the Valdese Swim Team's 30th year.

The new restaurant is finally open. Named Downtown Cafe, it looks to offer the standard fare of sandwiches and side dishes. Much like Uptowns does in Morganton, I suppose. Don't know yet if the sourdough bread will be available.

Earthgrains closed the cake department several weeks ago and is turning it in to locker rooms and offices. I think they might be expanding the retail store as well.

The consignment shop that opened across from Myra's has cleared out. After learning that the building was condemned, they took their inventory and disappeared. Of course their inventory was made up of other people's belongings.

The clock tower project is getting closer to realization with almost two-thirds of the money needed having been raised. My opinion doesn't count, but I think there are other things Valdese needs more.

5/29/00
Ouch. This has been about my longest period of neglect for posting updates. Well things are happening here in Valdese. Larry Earp is remodeling the L&M Produce building and making it into more of a country store. The name will likely change too. I suggested Wyatt Earp's General Store, but he wasn't too sure.

Kids are just about out of school and ready to begin terrorizing our streets with skateboards and in-line skates. You've been warned.

This year's festival will be the 25th and we're looking for an extra special event. 

We had a near brush with a tornado last Friday. Actually it hit about fifteen miles west of us, between Marion and Morganton. But even in Valdese, the sky was pretty dark and ominous.

4/03/00
A lot of changes in downtown. A restaurant is moving in to the old Main Street Cafe location. Apparently the Kitchen Manager from Uptown's in Morganton is opening a similar restaurant here. Sounds promising. Also, Expressions (the framing store) has moved into a larger building and expanded their inventory.

Things also seem to be moving along on the Whistle Stop for the tourist train as Jeff Morse and Jim Hatley met with organizers in Asheville last week to discuss the plans. It's still a year or two away but the planning process is beginning.

Old Colony Players is working with Valdese Elementary to produce Schoolhouse Rock, Jr. a musical based on the old Saturday morning Schoolhouse Rock cartoon shorts. It's very entertaining and worth a look. The final performances are this Saturday night at 7:30pm and next Sunday at 3:00pm.

3/02/00
Looks like the pool "bubble" is a go. The town will be offering memberships to help offset the associated costs such as staff, maintenance, etc... No decision on prices yet.

Spring has definitely sprung in Valdese, the Bradford pear trees are in full bloom and the town has been replanting the flower boxes throughout town. Now if we could only do something about all this trash on and around the streets...

Come see Tom Sawyer at the Rock School if you get a chance. It's the first production of the season for Old Colony Players and should be a good one.

2/16/00
Well it's the in the mid-60s and feeling like spring outside. Just your typically unusual February day in Valdese. A lot has been happening lately. The Puffs building renovation is still moving along and now that Mr. Jacumin has sold J.E.M.C.O. he will likely spend more of his time focusing on this effort and the Trail of Faith.

I went to a Downtown Revitalization Committee meeting last night at the Old Rock School. It was interesting, but unfortunately, most of the attendees were not Valdese merchants. Mr. Hawkins of Hawkins Antiques was there and a few others, but there were many who should have been there but weren't. They know who they are.

Speaking of Mr. Hawkins,  I'd like to see him move into one of the buildings on Main Street, but he seems content with the old Home & Garden building near the interstate. I guess there's greater visibility and the potential for drive-by traffic.

Old Colony Players is selling prints of Valdese for $35 as a fund raiser. Click here to view a sample. Season Tickets are also available for $25.

Here's a thought to anyone involved in the Piedmont & Western Railroad Club. When Valdese gets its Whistle Stop on the rail line and constructs a replica of the first train depot, maybe the club could move their model to a building next to the depot so tourists getting on and off the train could see it. They could probably even get a modest admission fee.

My Winnie-The-Pooh project isn't going very well. He started his journey at Walt Disney World and has since vanished. I'll probably get a ransom note any day now.

1/17/00
Our first snow/sleet/slush of the season, just shy of a month in. Yesterday, kids were riding skateboards on Main Street in short sleeves (with the day of for MLK) and today they're off again on sleds. If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute.

Construction work has resumed on the Puffs building, behind the closed entrance. It'll be nice to see something come out of that once-worthless building.

I've also heard that the Refour House at the Trail of Faith is finally to be completed. It seems that money has been donated specifically to finance the completion. I've been curious what the guides say when they get to that station on the tour. "This is an example of a house being built."? The sad part is that the house had already been built once, but had to be taken down and moved to keep things in chronological order on the tour.

If you have an hour or so to kill and haven't already done so, try to take a tour of the winery. I've been twice -- the second to get pictures for a project I'm working on -- and It's really interesting to see how they can make wine out of equipment McGuiver would have been proud of. Joel Dalmas is a real character (in the best way possible.)

In case you missed it, the vacant Town Council seat has been filled by Susan Stevenson. It's not surprising that every newspaper that ran an article on her appointment headlined the fact that she was the first female councilperson, something she's trying to downplay. Do you really think that Council meetings are going to look to her for the "female" perspective or to give decorating advice? They selected her based on qualifications and the belief that she would bring fresh ideas to the table.

1/03/00
Well we made it through the Y2K rollover without any apparent problems. It was pretty quiet actually.

Just before Christmas, I saw Jim Jacumin and another man going through the old Puffs building. Hopefully it means he's ready to start finishing the reconstruction process.

Just heard from a reliable source, Nancy Page, that First Union is not in danger of being closed (I mentioned a rumor in my 11/02/99 posting.) Mrs. Page is in charge of the Valdese branch, so she should know.

For those of you who haven't heard, the Waldensian Presbyterian Church is considering some major expansion/renovation to its facilities that would run several million dollars. This is a point of contention among its members, many of whom think the expansion unnecessary considering that attendance rarely fills the existing sanctuary. Some supporting the expansion feel that the current building is squeezed for classrooms and needs shower facilities and a new kitchen. I fall on the side of prudence and would rather see us make better use of what we have and I really can't see any practical use for showers except for the extremely rare occasion of housing flood/hurricane victims, etc...