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TABLE OF | THE GRAPEVINE '06 | IMPORTANT | ||||||||||||||||||||
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12/05/06 The parade took place under near-perfect weather conditions, thanks perhaps in part to WCNC meteorologist Larry Sprinkle being named grand marshal. A thick crowd lined Main Street to enjoy the bands, floats, sirens, and parade participants as well as to catch candy (and bread, courtesy of Sara Lee.) Don't miss "A Christmas Carol," this year's Christmas production by Old Colony Players. It would take quite a performance to match the attendance and income numbers of the last production, "The Wizard of Oz." Especially when you consider that there are two fewer performances with this "one weekend only" production. But it promises, as always, to be an enjoyable evening (or matinee.) The Waldensian Presbyterian Church has set the date of it's annual outdoor Christmas scene for Wednesday and Thursday, December 20th and 21st at 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. At Monday's town council meeting, East Burke High School senior Jenny Burris made a presentation about her senior project which was to hold a Swimathon and Parents Night Out fundraisers to raise money to help families who can not afford to pay the participation fees for recreation department activities for their kids. Her two events raised a total of $550 for the fund. The Settings at Lake Rhodhiss will be using the building formerly occupied by Valdese Auction Gallery as a sales office. Expect a host of improvements to both the interior and exterior in the near future as the office begins to take shape. The town is leasing the building from owner Edith Gardner and then subleasing it at the same rate to The Settings. The contract is for a two year lease with an option for a third year and an option to purchase the building at any time for $100,000. The Christmas lights on Main Street are a topic of conversation, but not just for how they light up downtown and help usher in the season. Also of note is that many of the stars are missing. According to Interim Public Works Director Brian Duckworth, a number of the timers that attach to the top of the lamp post and turn the "star" on were missing when the decorations were unboxed this year. It was too late to order replacements (at $125 each) when the shortfall was discovered, so they simply skipped some poles so that the decorations would still reach both ends of town. The town also faces a bit of a dilemma concerning the street lights. Presently, it costs $7 per light each month to rent/lease the lights from Duke Power. However, when the current contract expires in eight years, the rate will leap to $48 per light per month--a nearly 600% increase. The town council has decided to go ahead and explore its options and have an alternate plan prepared when the contract ends. And finally, a special congratulations to this year's Rotary Club "Service Above Self" award recipient, Hugh Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher is well-deserving of this honor.
11/06/06 Old Colony Players had one of it's most successful performances in its history with it's recent production of "The Wizard of Oz." While I do not have the attendance figures, it grossed over $10,000 in its six performances. Figure an average ticket price of $7 and you can guesstimate that about 1,400 people came to see the production, or several hundred each night. It's next performance will be "A Christmas Carol" in December. Businesses along Main Street continue to come and go. Better Homes has closed its doors after (I believe) over fifty years in business. Curves is moving from its current location in the Trail of Faith offices to the old Janie's Outlet building beside the town parking lot. Also in that building will be a Dance Studio. Valdese Auction Gallery has also closed its doors. The Christmas Parade is not too far away, falling on December 2nd this year. To be a part of the parade, contact Jennifer Draughn at the Old Rock School at 879-2129. Like last year, the grand marshal will not be a local person. The Valdese Merchants Association, who stages the parade, is in contact with one of the Charlotte television stations about providing a Marshal. Speaking of Christmas, you can get a jump on shopping this Saturday at the Old Rock School with the Christmas in November Craft Show. It will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The Valdese Rotary Club hosted its annual pancake breakfast this past Saturday at the Valdese Elementary School cafeteria. By all accounts, it was another successful year for the breakfast. The rerouting of Berry Avenue appears to be more than halfway complete with the curbing and much of the grading finished. East Valdese Baptist Church has not yet begun work on the old parking lot, but the new one across the street has a layer of what appears to be crusher run now. I assume they plan to eventually pave the new lot, but perhaps are waiting to do both lots at once. I'm going to discontinue updating the obituaries. It's a very time consuming process to wade through the listings on the News Herald's website and pull out the Valdese residents. I would encourage anyone who wants to monitor this information to bookmark http://www.legacy.com/Morganton/Obituaries.asp and use the calendar section on the page that allows you to search by last name or date. The Jimmy C. Draughn High School Athletic Association will host a BBQ fundraiser this weekend at Heritage Middle School. Plates are $20 for adults, $10 for ages 5-12, and free for under age 5. It was also announced on Monday that the school's mascot will be the Wildcats, a slight nod to the Tigers mascot used by Valdese. There will be a new set of commercials on Charter cable featuring Valdese and its local merchants. The format for the one-minute commercial includes information about local attractions and spotlights three businesses in each commercial. The proposed development on Lake Rhodhiss, called The Settings at Lake Rhodhiss, will be fully annexed into the city limits of Valdese, effective January 1st. The town will be applying to the USDA for a loan for $1.5 million to cover the expense of running water and sewer. Since this project is not considered an asset (like a Town Hall building) by the USDA, it will require voter approval. The town is seeking financing from the USDA because it will be at a lower interest rate than would be other sources of financing. The town is already committed to getting the $1.5 million loan from some source, the vote (if passed) will merely allow it to get a better interest rate. Proceeds from the increased tax base and the water and sewer usage are expected to cover the interest and principal on the loan. The town will be sending out information regarding the project and the vote, scheduled for May of 2007. There will be a public information meeting at the next Town Council meeting on December 4th. Approximately 650 homesites are planned for The Settings.
08/29/06 As you are well aware, since the last update, we've had the Fourth of July fireworks, the outdoor drama, the Waldensian Festival, Family Friday Night Concerts, and much more--as is typical for summers in Valdese. Beyond that, we've seen the long-overdue resurfacing of Main Street take place during the wee hours of the night earlier this month. It was a little like waking up to an unexpected snowfall. One morning, there was suddenly a fresh strip of asphalt running down Highway 70 in Valdese. After a few more mornings, the entire street was repaved (though I believe there is one more layer that remains to be put down.) It is so quiet and hole-free now, it's almost eerie since everyone had gotten accustomed to the "thump" of tires hitting the potholes and uneven manhole covers. To recap some of the events that occurred since the last grapevine posting, the Fourth of July fireworks were spectacular, but also spectacularly long this year. The show was scheduled for roughly twenty minutes or so but was stretched to forty-five minutes. That might have been fine except they used the same amount of fireworks so there were gaps between launches and a lot of single bursts versus the multiple bursts found in previous years. You know its running long when children aren't complaining when the parents are walking them back to the car halfway through the show. I suspect next year will be back to the usual twenty-minute show. The outdoor drama, "From This Day Forward" had good attendance this year with only one rain-out that I'm aware of. After years of promises, Old Colony Players finally named the outdoor amphitheater in honor of the writer of the drama, Fred Cranford. The next Old Colony Players performance will be The Wizard of Oz, beginning on October 13th. The temperatures for the Festival were perfect. Unfortunately, they came with one of the rainiest Festival mornings anyone I've spoken with can remember. The Great Waldensian Footrace was run mostly in a shower and it just kept falling until early afternoon. By that time, most people apparently had made other plans for the day so attendance was considerably down from previous years. Finally, if you're wondering, the new planter boxes along Main Street were a suggestion by the town's Arbor Beautification Committee and were set up and maintained by the Public Works Department. They are a definite improvement to downtown.
06/07/06 The meeting began with the Valdese Youth Council proposing a concert on Saturday, June 17th from 7:00 until 11:00 p.m. in the Wachovia Bank parking lot. The final band list was not yet determined, but they intend to use local bands who appeal to a younger audience. Some changes to the town's zoning ordinance were proposed and approved, including: allowing schools in M-1 (manufacturing) zoning districts--this was done to accommodate the new high school which is being built behind Carolina Mills former building; parking lots associated with a facility must be within a reasonable distance of that facility, lighting for parking lots should not impose on the neighbors' property, and parking lots adjacent to a residential area must have a buffer. For complete details regarding the changes or any questions, contact town planner, Larry Johnson at 879-2124. The budget was a big topic at the meeting with the obvious loss of industry and state shared revenues, the town once again faces some financial challenges. The property tax base has declined four percent over the last several years--primarily due to the loss of industry, and the money the town once received from state shared revenues such as the inventory tax has been replaced by a half-cent sales tax which does not generate the same level of funds. The town examined cutting services, staff, funding to local agencies, and other options and was still falling short of a balanced budget. Therefore, it came down to a tax increase or an increase in the solid waste pickup fee. The waste-pickup fee was chosen since it would have less of a financial impact on the citizens. The new fee will be eight dollars a month but the date it will start was not discussed. The town is also considering contracting its solid waste pickup service with GDS, who already picks up the recycling. There will also be an 5% increase in water/sewer for industrial customers. Residential customers will not be affected by this increase as they have already had a $5/month increase that began in May. June 26th is the public hearing for the budget and is also the date of the July meeting. Boy Scout Troop #193 will no longer be setting up the flags on major holidays as membership has declined. The task now falls upon troop #192. The town has decided that it would like to have a flag on each side of Main Street, between each streetlight from Morganton Street to Eldred Street, which would be about ninety total. It is hoped that the Valdese Merchants Association will support this event with a fundraiser for the troop's efforts. Plans are to have all the flags purchased and ready to install by July 4th. The Valdese Recreation Department will be establishing a fee for its athletic programs of $20 to cover costs like replacing equipment. They will be contacting local organizations, such as the Rotary Club to cover the costs of any child wishing to participate who can not afford the fee. Recreation Department Director Tim Rhoney stressed that no child will be prevented from participating due to an inability to pay the fee--something will be worked out so that everyone can participate. Every few months, the discussion of when will Main Street be paved arises. Well at this Monday's council meeting, Town Manager Jeff Morse had somewhat of an answer. Sometime in August. Hopefully, this will take place after the festival because no vendor is going to want to sit on hot, fresh asphalt for eight hours. The manhole covers will also be raised to be flush with the new street level.
05/24/06 The Outdoor Living Show will run from 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Meanwhile, in the town parking lot, adjacent to Wachovia Bank, there will be a community yard sale from 8:00 a.m. until noon. Other activities scheduled in the parking lot include:
Also on Saturday, Waldensian Heritage Wines will be hosting the Founders Celebration Annual Bocci Tournament. Teams consist of four players and it will be a double elimination process. Check-in is 8:30 a.m. and the tournament will begin at 9:00 a.m. Trophies will be presented to 1st and 2nd place teams. All teams must be registered before the day of the tournament. This tournament is limited to twelve teams so register early to ensure a great time! For further information and registration call 828-879-3202. On a slightly different topic, Marchalle Causby, who owns Giovanni's with her husband, Randy, is looking for memorabilia from and information about the "Tea Room." Anything you have relating to the history of the building where Giovanni's is now located please contact Marchalle at: mwcausby@burke.k12.nc.us.
05/05/06 As mentioned previously, the American Legion Post #234 is hosting a Memorial Day ceremony beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Memorial Day. Randy Brinkley is scheduled to speak and the East Burke Band will play. There will be a social hour from 9:00 until 10:00 a.m. Next Saturday, May 13th, is the annual Postal Carrier Food Drive. You can leave your donated (unopened) food at the post office on Rodoret Street or at your mailbox.
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