TABLE OF
CONTENTS

THE GRAPEVINE '02

IMPORTANT
INFORMATION

03/30/02
I don't expect many visitors today, but I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Easter and to remind them that though presents and colored eggs are a great way to celebrate with your children, please remember the true reason for the season. So enjoy "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown," (as I will) but remember, that it's really much more.

If you do have kids (ten or under,) get them to the Legion Hut at 2:30 p.m. for an egg hunt. Over 1,400 eggs will be hidden on the grounds and some offer prizes. Bring your own basket and have a great time.

Some miscellaneous news: Jolly & Sons Hardware has a new sign that looks nice. He is also slowly moving into the equipment rental business. First up - aerators (pull-along and self-propelled) just in time for Spring yard work. Apparently the old Brinkley Lumber Company Building and the building Huffman's Better Homes are in have been sold by Jim Brinkley. This doesn't mean that new tenants will be moving in, but I'll keep an eye on things. The old Lumber Company building currently houses a fabric shop.

Be sure to catch Old Colony Players' production of "The Secret Garden" beginning next Thursday.

Finally, be on the water watch beginning April 8th. The Valdese Fire Department begins servicing the fire hydrants which could bring some dirty water into your home plumbing. Anyone experiencing a dingy water is asked to let their faucets run for a short period of time to allow the problem to correct itself.

03/22/02
Still no word on the shoe outlet or what's to become of the old Hardee's building. I do, however, need to clear up some confusion on the radio station. The sale is not final as of today. It is still awaiting FCC approval. I have been told that there probably won't be any major changes in the station or the programming, but this is not a certainty. The purchase is part of a two-station package that includes another station in Charlotte. The Charlotte station is the more attractive of the two in terms of buying appeal and will probably receive the majority of the new owner's attention (if the sale goes through.) Please do not call WSVM. Nobody at the station is part of the sales transaction and has little information to provide at this time.

On a similar note, please do not contact Town Hall with questions about my survey. It is called "Town Survey" because it's about the town, not because it is sponsored by the town. Rest assured, all the information you provide is completely confidential. As I've said before, the only reason your name is requested is to prevent duplicates and to award the prize if we ever get enough responses to make the survey valid.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have made the position statement for Citizens for a Drug-Free Valdese available on this site. If you would like to view their opinions, click here.

If you would like to see a map of the proposed new Town Council wards, click here. The map was scanned from a newspaper, so I must apologize for the poor clarity. If I can get a color map, I will post it in place of the current map.

I spoke with Councilwoman Oxentine last evening at Mrs. Pascal's receiving and she informed me that the Town wasn't sure when it could hold the vote on alcohol sales with the budget cutbacks making money tight. The town literally can't afford to finance an election at this time and it could be September before a vote can be held. The School Bond vote, however, is still scheduled for May.

I have to stick in this final note. Even without Bobby Knight, I'm not a big Indiana fan. But it sure was nice to see Duke go down last night. Go Maryland! Fear the Turtles!

03/15/02
Sorry for the delay in updates. I've been trying to finish my business taxes (due today) and haven't had a chance to work on the site.

Still no word on plans for the old Hardee's building, though I've heard a lot of support for the notion of a KFC/Taco Bell combo store which would bring some things no one else in Valdese offers as a primary menu item. Tricon, which owns those two restaurants also now owns A&W and Long John Silvers. Wouldn't that be an interesting combination?

I guess just about everybody who enjoys basketball has caught March Madness by now. It's unusual not to see UNC in "The Big Dance," but seeing some other North Carolina schools do well is nice. If you missed it on the Front Page, Martin Ides, formerly of East Burke, closed out his collegiate career leading his Davidson Wildcats, seeded 13th, to a near upset of Ohio State, who was seeded 4th. Martin had a solid season for Davidson and though the NBA may not be in his future, a basketball career in Europe is not out of the question.

Chuck Moseley, Director of Community Affairs for Valdese, and I have tossed around the idea of a Founder's Day Festival, to be held May 29th, in honor of the 1893 founding of Valdese. It would be held on Massell Street, which runs in front of the Boy Scout Hut and along the railroad tracks. We were looking toward a more crafts-oriented festival without the rides and commercial vendors (like organizations and businesses) that are allowed in the annual Waldensian Festival. We'd like to know what you think and if you have any suggestions. E-mail me at rostan@valdese.com or Chuck at rock@ci.valdese.nc.us with your comments.

It's still pretty quiet on the "alcohol" referendum, though Citizens for a Drug-Free Valdese has scheduled a meeting for next Tuesday at Valdese First Baptist Church. I've spoken with Farrell Street, who is the organization's Vice-Chairman and will be posting some of their views on the issue in the near future. Remember, the Discussion Board is available for anyone wishing to express his or her views in a civil manner.

03/07/02
A request from our esteemed Valdese High School chronicler, Mrs. Louise Johnson-Barrett was made regarding her impressive alumni book. She would like for anyone who thinks that he or she may not be in her alumni database or whose address has changed to please contact her and provide her with up-to-date information. She wants to have all the information updated by July. Send the following information: name, address, city, state, zip; spouse name, year of graduation, and telephone and e-mail address to raylou@imagineave.com. She is holding off on further sales of her book until the update is complete and hopes to have it ready by this year's Festival.

The Discussion Board has found a few new users and, not surprisingly, the alcohol issue quickly arose. There has been little public attention drawn by either side of the issue and I have heard that the no-alcohol group (Citizens for a Drug-Free Valdese - 03/10/02) is waging a "stealth campaign." Where it will mostly consist of phone solicitations and driving their voters to the polls. The pro-alcohol group seems content to leave it up to the voters' will. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be quite the hotbed that Kannapolis became during its recent vote.

Note: I just figured out how to create the categories for the Board so some messages may be miscategorized initially.

I would like to also invite anyone who is interested, to become a "columnist" on this site. If there is a Valdese-related topic that you have a good knowledge of, and you would like to post regular articles about this subject, just e-mail me.  I will reserve the right to edit content, but will never add anything and will always let you know of what I want to change before it is posted. The only changes I could foresee making would be if there is something that might be directly harmful to another person in the town. I realize I myself might have crossed this line before, but am striving to eliminate any such slips.

03/02/02
The speed limits have fallen on a number of town streets, including a reverting of Mineral Springs Mountain Road to 35 mph within city limits. As you are well aware, it is very difficult to stay close to 35 going down that hill, so watch out for speed traps.

An interesting thing happened at Lowes Foods this evening. As I was standing in the checkout line, a man and his wife asked one of the cashiers where he could get beer. He was told to go about five miles east to the Food Lion in Morganton. Makes you wonder how many people will take all of their grocery shopping to a store that sells beer. In other words, will people buy their regular groceries in Valdese and go out of town just to get beer? Or do they just get it all at the store in Morganton?

A few more Town Surveys have been rolling in and I hope you will consider filling it out. The ideas and feedback have been very helpful and some patterns are developing.

In the process of restoring a house to sell, I have had several discussions with Mr. Jolly of Jolly & Sons Hardware and he's been very helpful with his suggestions. I've also learned a bit of his future plans and they seem to be quite beneficial to Valdese. He's in the early stages of renting equipment such as aerators, paint sprayers, scaffolding, and other things that you only use occasionally and can't justify purchasing. It's a pain to drive to the other side of Morganton to rent these items. The Jollys really seem to love our town and are taking an active interest in its future. Here's hoping some of our other, older retailers who've become a bit complacent, follow their example.

I should add that Mr. Jolly gave me a hard time over the comment I made in December's Grapevine that I had looked in his window (before he was officially open) and I saw more gifts than hardware. I can now attest that he has a wider selection of hardware than gifts and should have about everything you could need.

A bit of bad news to report, at least from my perspective. WSVM has been sold. As I've mentioned before, I was kind of hoping to buy it and make some changes that would make it more of a community-focused station, one that you'd listen to at work and in the car. Less canned music and more talk and discussion. I don't know the new buyers, but I hope if they do make changes, they will be for the good of the community.

02/26/02
A correction on last week's posting concerning the 20:02, 20/02, 2002 comment. It actually will happen again, in 2112 at 11:12 p.m. on December 21st when the European date/time will be: 21:12, 21/12, 2112. Sorry for the confusion, and if you plan to be alive then, you'll be celebrating without me.

Check out the new Discussion Board, that I've added at the bottom of the Important Information column on the right. It's an opportunity for everyone to discuss issues that affect Valdese. I will monitor this board as closely as possible, but I have to ask that everyone please be civil and if your debate gets too heated, please take it to e-mail.

I added a Classes page to list all the classes, besides Gardner Webb, being taught in town. If you are teaching a class and would like to list it on the site, just e-mail me with the details.

02/20/02
By now you may have seen the "Valdese Value Days" paper put out by the Valdese Business Association. If so, perhaps you could tell me why they put the Hungarian flag on the front. Perhaps to honor that large contingent of Valdese citizens with ancestors from Hungary? There are probably one thousand Valdese flag front license plates in our area and they somehow forgot that the flag is green-white-red in VERTICAL stripes? Come on. I also noticed that the articles inside all say "courtesy of www.valdese.com." A little courtesy would have been nice in asking before they were used.

East Burke has advanced both teams into the second round of the NW4A tournament and a disturbing fact was brought to my attention. The conference is charging WSVM $50 per game to do a broadcast, arguing that it keeps people from going to see the game, and therefore buying tickets. This is absolutely ridiculous. I listen to the games because I am a friend of Chuck Moseley's and I prefer listening to games on radio. I do the same with college sports. But this isn't keeping me from going to the game. If the game were not on radio, I simply wouldn't know who won until the next day. And since the News Herald covers the game, wouldn't that keep me from going also? WSVM can retaliate though. They can charge $50 a school to announce school closings. List the schools individually and that's several hundred dollars each day they're closed.

This evening, at 8:02 p.m., take notice and pray the world doesn't end. It's a once-in-a-lifetime, tell-your-grandkids event. The (military) time will be 20:02 on 02/20 in the year 2002. 2002,0220, 2002. The French invert the month and day so for them, it is 2002, 2002, 2002. This can never happen again because there aren't 30 hours in a day (30:03 will never occur unless the Earth's rotation slows dramatically.) Watch for Elvis and huge, fiery comets!

02/17/02
Tomorrow, the East Burke Cavaliers basketball teams begin their conference tournament as a third seed. The tournament is being played at Freedom High School in Morganton. Listen to WSVM for the broadcast.

There's a rumor circulating that Larry of Myra's Catering has purchased the former Hardee's building and that a Wendy's is coming into the building. I don't know if the rumors are tied together, but he has denied both. If you think about it, why would he be bringing in a competitor? If he did buy the building, he would probably just use it to run catering jobs from or store equipment.

A correction is due on the alcohol vote to take place at the May primaries. Apparently, the three issues will appear separately on a single ballot: On-premises beer and wine sales, off-premises beer and wine sales, and an ABC store. This makes much more sense and allows those who support beer and wine but not the idea of an ABC store to vote only for what they support.

02/13/02
A short update today...

You saw the headline on the Front Page about the proposed park with skating facilities. This is long overdue in my opinion. I have nothing against our youth, but they really should not be skating along the sidewalks of Main Street. I had considered suggesting they build skateboarding ramps, etc... on top of the bowling alley. We used to have a putt-putt course there, why not skateboarding?

As I mentioned before, the town is in a critical budget situation and will be making some cuts, some of which might affect us as citizens. I hope we will all be considerate and understanding of the town and it's administrators. This situation is not their fault and you can be assured that they will make every effort to continue to provide you with the high quality service you've come to deserve. Try to help out if you can. Contact Town Hall and ask what we as citizens can do to help cut costs and save money for our town. If we can each do a small bit, perhaps together, we can make a difference.

Finally, you may not have noticed, but I added a Recipes page for anyone to contribute a favorite recipe that has Valdese roots. It doesn't have to be Waldensian, but needs to be from someone who lives or lived in Valdese.

02/11/02
As a result of a state-level budget shortfall, cities and towns throughout North Carolina will have revenue sharing funds withheld. For Valdese, this means a loss of nearly a quarter-million dollars it had planned for in its recent budget. Where the required cuts will come from is uncertain at this time, but it is also possible that the money will be withheld next year as well.

Spring has returned, calling upon everyone to break out the shorts again. This winter has been one where you can't put away your "summer" clothes because a day after a snow, it might be seventy degrees! Very disconcerting, but at least we haven't had a rain shortage. Yet.

I'd like to encourage everyone who hasn't already to please fill out the Town Survey, especially in light of the recent alcohol referendum. It's not really the Town conducting the survey, it's my personal survey, the results of which will be tabulated and possibly presented to the town in statistical form. I'll remove the name requirement and can assure you that it is completely confidential. I don't have any personal interest in your answers and rarely even mentally associate the name with the answers. So click and vote! It's your duty as a citizen of Valdese.

The topic of a third high school (see Other Valdese Headlines) brings up some interesting athletic issues about which I am not fit to discuss authoritatively.

There are about 3,700 students in East Burke and Freedom together. If you add a third high school, that would drop enrollment to about 1,200 per school and, I think, drop them all to 3-A, disrupting the Northwestern 4-A conference. Chuck Moseley is going to try to address this possibility during the East Burke-Freedom basketball game on Friday so tune in to WSVM for the scoop and to support your Cavaliers.

02/04/02
Warning! This posting contains a biased point of view, but reports the facts from the February 4th Town Council meeting as the happened.

Prior to the opening of the meeting, Mrs. Oxentine was installed onto the Town Council in her late husband, Richard's, seat.

The first two items on the agenda for the Valdese Town Council meeting could fill this page and took approximately two hours to cover.

First was the motion to have a referendum to allow on-and-off premises beer and wine sales and an ABC license in Valdese. Unless I heard wrong or Mr. Hatley misspoke, these items were to be voted on together, not independently, which seems strange.

The floor was opened to speakers from both sides of the issue. Mr. Carlton Caruso, Jr. quickly presented the case supporting the referendum, appealing primarily to the business and financial side. Following his speech, opposing voices were given up to thirty minutes to voice their concerns. Rev. Tim Horldt was the first of three or four local ministers to come out in opposition of the "alcohol" vote. They were accompanied by several other citizens who expressed similar concerns of what allowing beer and wine sales might do to the "Mayberry" aspect of Valdese. I support the vote, but don't care to have an ABC store in town, and am not certain whether some of those opposed have taken the time to consider that it's just a few miles to go buy alcohol and will Valdese have any more or fewer alcoholics just because of the availability of alcohol within its town limits? One funny comment came from one of the speakers who noted that there are laws regarding how close an ABC store can be placed to a church and that with the number of churches in Valdese, there aren't too many options.

I admittedly poke fun at our big sister, Morganton, from time to time, but have not noticed its community becoming a "den of evil" or suffering from a rash of crime and alcohol-related accidents. It seems to me that if a person wants alcohol, they will get it, no matter how far they have to go and, to a point, how much it costs. Much like cigarettes. But the issue is now up to the voters to decide during the May primaries after a 3-2 council vote (Mrs. Oxentine and Mr. Passmore, against.) I'm sure the turnout will be enormous and you'll be hearing a lot from both sides until that day.

The second issue hit close to home and dealt with the Holly Hills annexation. A few properties near the entrance of Holly Hills were to be zoned B-2 or general/commercial business if annexed into the town limits. If the town elected not to annex the properties, they would remain in the county, be zoned R-1, and would have to be taken to the county for rezoning.

This issue really raised an unnecessary stink among many of the Holly Hills residents who have not taken the time to approach the property owners and ask them about any planned or potential uses for the land. In essence, they wanted full veto power over what could and could not be put on the property and were opposing the annexation. Part of the problem seemed to be the timing of this issue appearing and the aforementioned "alcohol" issue. I would imagine that they all envisioned an ABC store popping up at the entrance to Holly Hills (especially after the comment made above.)

Knowing the property owners, I can say with certainty that such a business was NEVER considered and that something along the lines of a steak house was the most likely prospect. Anyone who has seen the property has to admit that it is not a proper place for a house, out in the middle of a field on a busy highway. They also neglected to take into account that the property owners also live in Holly Hills and would be impacted just as much as themselves. Sharon Marlow, a realtor in Morganton who lives in Holly Hills, got especially snippy with yours truly after the issue was settled and stormed off after a few snide remarks. Perhaps if she got to know her neighbors a little better, she would be a little more understanding of their desires. You'd think a realtor, of all people, would understand that the property in question is much better suited to a commercial business than homes. I assume she just wants the property to remain vacant so the neighborhood kids can trash it on their dirt bikes and ATVs.

Anyway, Councilman Harold Passmore withdrew a previous motion to annex the property and made a new motion to not annex the land. It passed unanimously.

01/29/02
Well, I've solved the mysterious "ride" that appeared in the Lowes Foods shopping center. It's a pony ride / carousel. One of those things they hook ponies to and have them walk in a circle. A cashier at Lowes said that it was $5 a ride, but I don't know how long a ride lasts. She thought it would be there through the week, but didn't know where he had come from.

Apparently all is well with WSVM. I still don't know what happened, but they were back on the air for the next East Burke game.

The weather here, as it seems to be everywhere in the south recently, is unusually warm. The weathermen all smile and talk about how nice it is, but none seem to acknowledge that it is not supposed to be this warm and that just maybe it's not a good thing. If we are 10-15 degrees above normal now, what if that carries through the summer? Will they still be smiling when it's 100-110? I actually had a housefly in my house yesterday. Flowers and trees are going to start budding and then die if the weather returns to normal.

In case you missed it, Community Affairs Director Chuck Moseley and OCP's business manager, Knolan Benfield, were on a morning talk show on 1290-AM promoting this year's outdoor drama. Apparently, talk radio is listened to in some markets. Mr. Benfield reported that he had a number of calls asking about the show and wanting tickets shortly after the broadcast.

I failed to mention this earlier, but look to see some speed limit reductions on some of our roads. Police Chief Danny Barus brought it to the attention of Town Council that though the town-wide speed limit was 35mph, many vehicles were traveling 40-45mph. I'm sure the Council was stunned to learn of such lawlessness in our town. The following is taken directly from the minutes of the December Council meeting:  Councilman Chip Black made a motion to adopt a citywide speed limit of 25- mph, maintain the 35-mph speed limit on the main thoroughfares (Carolina, Eldred, Laurel, Church, Lovelady and Main Streets) and to reduce the speed limit on Eldred Street from 45 to 35 mph. The motion was seconded by Councilman Passmore and the vote was 4 – 1 with Councilman Morrow casting the descending vote. Heh, we all knew Mr. Morrow was a speed demon, didn't we?

Skateboarders beware. The Town has received complaints about the skateboarders zipping along the Main Street sidewalk and onto business property. The Council is looking into how Morganton handled a similar problem.

I'll leave you with an issue you probably know more about than me. The Town is also receiving complaints about Charter Communications new cable structure and how subscribers of the basic package are getting fewer channels at a higher rate. Mayor Hatley has decided a letter should be written to Charter alerting them to the dissatisfied customers. I have a feeling that those customers have already expressed their feelings to Charter and were looking to the Town to put some muscle behind them. We'll see how it comes out.

01/23/02
It's not quite the strangest thing we've seen here in Valdese, but at the eastern end of the parking lot of the Lowes Foods shopping center, someone has erected a small, carnival-style ride. It's one of those things that looks like a spider and spins around and goes up and down. It's not completely assembled and no one I've talked with knows what it is there for.

Still no clarification on when Sean Harklerode is to appear on "Beat The Geeks." I'll let you know as soon as I hear something definite.

Here's a potentially troubling bit of information. Tim Barus was preparing to call the East Burke-Freedom basketball game Tuesday when he called WSVM to establish the hookup for his broadcast. Instead of an answer, he received a "This number has been disconnected" message. I know the radio station is operating on thin margins, but if they are unable to pay the phone bill, there could be major problems. Hopefully, this is just a mixup (as the phone company is quite adept at doing) and isn't an issue. The bad part was having to listen to Freedom's crew broadcast the game on 92.1FM.

I received an e-mail from an old classmate (EBHS-1987) wondering if there was sufficient interest to have a reunion this year (#15.) If you are a member of this class and would be interested in a reunion, please e-mail me. If you know someone who graduated in 1987, see if they are interested and have them let me know.

01/18/02
Well, I didn't realize that they would wait until the next Monday to have to governmental holiday for Martin Luther King day. I also was misinformed about Sean's appearance on "Beat The Geeks." It was not on yesterday, as I listed in the cover story on the Front Page. I went to the Comedy Central web site and found the schedule. Someone that looks to be Sean is scheduled for Tuesday, January 21st. I guess he was just doing the taping on Thursday. I apologize if you had set your VCR and got some movie called, "French Kiss."

I have an update on the  dinner theater. The play is sort of a behind-the-scenes look at several women and their thoughts just before a production is taking place. They each perform monologues alone on stage and some are funny, some sad, etc... It sounds a little like "A Chorus Line," except that it is ALL monologue and not a mix with the full cast. Also, the dinner will be roast beef with the appropriate side dishes and iced tea. This year, they will be serving on flatware and using silverware, rather than the lower-budget fare last year.

The man who was bringing in the shoe outlet into the old post office building is apparently having second thoughts. I don't know if it's an economic issue or something else, but hopefully it will work out for him to open the store. We're on a small roll with new retail businesses and it would be great to keep it going.

The Valdese Tourism Commission is looking for a person to coordinate all tourism related activities in the town of Valdese. This would be a salaried position and the person would probably report to a board of directors comprised of persons affiliated with each of the major attractions: The Waldensian Museum, The Old Rock School, The Waldensian Heritage Wines Winery, The Trail of Faith, and Old Colony Players. I think someone from the town council should also be on the board, though that would create an even six people and might result in tied votes. Of all the boards I've been on, however, I've never encountered a tied vote and very rarely have heard anyone vote against the majority.

Finally, if any of you have registered at classmates.com (and if not, I hope you will,) and were graduates of Frances Garrou High School, Louise Johnson Barrett (author/publisher of the Valdese High School alumni book, available at the Valdese Co-Operative Store) would like for you to check your listing and also list yourself as a graduate of Valdese High School. There also appear to be people who graduated in 2000 listing themselves as graduates of Valdese High School. I think this might because it asks for the city you graduated from and most people interpret this to be the city you lived in when you graduated. Since East Burke doesn't appear when you enter "Valdese," they just choose the closest match. Hey, after a year, we all forget that East Burke was in Icard, right? Anyway, please consider signing up at the site. The basic membership is free and you are only charged if you want access to other people's addresses.

01/14/02
A happy Martin Luther King day to everyone out there. And a congratulations to Sean Harklerode for his being selected to appear on "Beat the Geeks" (see the Front Page cover story.) Sean was a year behind me at East Burke and a pretty good friend, at least an at-school friend. He always was a bit "geeky," but then so was I, I suppose. I lost track of him after hearing he went to Chicago to work with Second City. Best of luck to you, Sean, in the game and in your pursuit of an acting career. I'm sure he is campaigning hard to get into the third Star Wars film.

The Town Council is not rushing to name a replacement for councilman Richard Oxentine, who passed away last Christmas Eve. It may be the March council meeting before anyone is named. It is possible they are waiting until the planned redrawing of the council districts takes place, but I don't know if a timetable has been set for that, either.  Strangely, according to a News Herald article, the replacement will complete the remainder of Mr. Oxentine's term, rather than remain until the next election. I guess this is to keep the terms among council members staggered and not have too many up for reelection in a given year.

If you enjoyed last year's Old Colony Players dinner theater, a second helping is on its way at the end of this month. There will be three performances, January 31 and February 1 & 2 and seating is limited to seventy-five persons so reservations are required. This year's play, "Talking With..." features an all women cast and one can only imagine the plot. Call Old Colony Players at 874-0176 or e-mail them at ocp@hci.net for more details.

Looking back at my previous postings, I realized that I haven't given my evaluation of the new theater in Morganton. I took my parents to see "Lord of the Rings" (excellent, by the way) shortly after Christmas. The theater is pretty nice, but a bit garishly decorated in the lobby. I didn't try the nachos or hamburgers, but they were there on the menu. The auditorium was the type where you walk to the front, then back up to your seat. There are a few rows in " the pit" that require you to look up at the screen, but very few people were down there. The seats, touted as being "rockers" actually were more like a taco shell. The bottom came up and the back reclined rather stiffly. They weren't uncomfortable, but just don't expect a Laz-Z-Boy recliner. The cupholders (which I didn't use) were a novel feature. My only other complaint was that the lights never got really dark. I guess this is a safety measure, but I think the movie has more impact when you don't see all the heads around you. Was it worth the $4.75 matinee price? This movie was--it was three hours. Would I pay $7 for a movie? Well, that's what you'd pay in Hickory at the Carmike theater and Morganton is more convenient. But I don't go to many movies (about one a year) and can't really judge. I am surprised that they went with seven screens. They are doing well now, but can they make it through the movie dry season? Time will tell, but I hope they survive.

01/10/02
Good news for those anxious church members at Cornerstone Baptist, who have waited seemingly forever for the asphalt and curbing to be laid at their new facility on Lovelady road. It looks as if work on the parking area has finally begun and that, given favorable weather, they could be in for Easter service, if not sooner. I know they've been getting antsy and are eager to enjoy the new building.

Former East Burke basketball player Martin Ides is playing well and often for the Davidson Wildcats. I think he may be starting and is getting a lot of playing time. Speaking of East Burke, both the boys and girls teams are off to great starts as they enter the early stages of conference play. It would be nice to see both make the playoffs.

According to Mr. Jim Jacumin, the delay on his "Heritage" building on Main Street is in part due to some confusion by building inspectors. If I remember correctly, the building was approved, but the form submitted did not approve it. Anyway, it appears that red tape and Murphy's Law have held back the opening. Mr. Jacumin said that he would like to have about ten craftspeople in the facility and has about seven currently. The glassblower he had retained had surgery that unfortunately put her out of commission. I'm not sure whether the upstairs has been rented yet.

Here's a thought. We need a business incubator somewhere in town. If you don't know what I mean, it's a somewhat modular building that can be rearranged into several smaller offices with various sizes. These offices are rented to area professionals and people who need an office, but not an entire building. There are sometimes central locations with items like copiers and fax machines that are shared by all occupants, but this is not always necessary.

The Old Rock School is kind of like an incubator, except much larger and with facilities (like the auditorium) that most of the business occupants don't need. My thinking is that we use this incubator for our realtors, surveyors, contractors, etc... and free up some Main Street buildings for retail business. Most people who are "power shopping" don't go from clothing to lawyer's office to antiques, if you see what I mean. It's a little like having the grocery store's floral department right between the dairy and the butcher. The incubator would not be isolated and out of the way, either. Perhaps the old Frances Garrou High School...

01/07/02
The snow is gone and the temperatures are threatening to reach the 600s before the week is done. Did you enjoy winter?

Still no word on a new football coach for East Burke. Rumor has it, though, that Steve Spurrier of the Florida Gators may be coming. He has said he is looking for a program that needs rebuilding and that has a strong booster program. He's coached in North Carolina before (at Duke) and loves golf. Sounds like a perfect fit! All we have to do is come up with the $5 million he's likely to get by joining the Carolina Panthers or some other NFL team.

I've been getting some pretty good feedback on the Town Survey. Keep those responses coming. You're helping to make Valdese a better community.

I'd also like to apologize if anyone has seen messages with links to pornography or adult sites on the guest book. These are the result of "spammers" out there who somehow are able to automatically post messages on all the guest books. I try to check it regularly to delete the unwanted messages, but there is no simple solution, beyond removing the guest book, which I do not wish to do.

A short update on the bulletin board that the Downtown Revitalization Committee was planning in the town parking lot beside First Union. It seems to have met with some "analysis paralysis," where what was once a simple concept is now being engineered to nuclear fallout standards. The structure will not be built by the East Burke carpentry class, as originally thought, but by a contracted company. The timetable is still unclear, so just hold on.

01/03/02
Welcome to the new year!!! Sorry I'm late. Beyond having other distractions, my phone line was cut by the people installing the new water line in Holly Hills and I was unable to access the internet (or make phone calls, for that matter) for a few days over the weekend and early this week.

This first posting for 2002 finds our little town under 3" - 4" of the white powdery stuff we were looking for a little over a week ago. As of this evening, it has been a very cooperative snowfall. By that, I mean it was a beautiful, wet snow that cleaned up easily and allowed for some good sledding, snowman making, etc... Now we face the possibility of some VERY cold temperatures that could create ice from the melting and packed-down snow. That's the ugly reality of snow. We like it when it's falling and being nice. We don't like it when it makes trouble.

2002 promises to be an interesting year for Valdese. As you are now aware, Councilman Richard Oxentine passed away Christmas Eve (one of the worst days, in my opinion, for that to happen.) Now the Mayor (I believe) must appoint a representative from Mr. Oxentine's Ward, which is the Crow Hill area of Valdese. I don't know many people in that area so I can't make any guesses as to who might be the interim councilman, but when I hear some names begin to arise, I'll pass them along. I'm leaving Mr. Oxentine's picture on the Government page until the replacement is named. I've been told it may be March before an announcement is made.

I apologize to anyone who's been following Chuck's Press Box for updates on East Burke sports. Mr. Moseley was tied up with the Old Colony Players Christmas play and then holiday events and he basically just didn't have time to do updates. In fact, he wasn't able to broadcast some of the games. Here' hoping we can get him back on a regular schedule soon.

In keeping with a full disclosure policy, I have to mention our own John Lafferty's performance as punter for UNC in its 16 - 10 Peach Bowl victory over Auburn on New Year's Eve. John (a junior) had eight punts for an average of just under forty yards, including three that stopped inside the Auburn twenty yard line. He also completed a pass on a fake punt for a thirteen yard gain and a first down. Fortunately, his one mishap didn't lead to the horrible outcome that it might have, had things gone differently. Late in the fourth quarter, John mishandled a snap deep in UNC's end of the field and had to fall on the ball, giving Auburn excellent field position. UNC held a 16 - 3 lead at the time. Auburn scored fairly quickly to make the score 16 - 10 with just over a minute to go (and had no time outs left.) The Auburn onside kick, however, was captured by UNC who then went on to run out the clock and preserve the win. In hindsight, I guess John just wanted to make the game exciting and had heard that the Peach Bowl was annually the closest of all the bowl games with an average spread of under nine points. He wanted to uphold the tradition. Anyway, aside from that one incident, John played a great game under the national spotlight and should be congratulated if you see him. Ask him about the fake punt, not the mishandled one, since perhaps it helped lead the team to victory.