TABLE OF
CONTENTS

THE GRAPEVINE '07

IMPORTANT
INFORMATION

10/15/07
There's a lot going on in Valdese over the next few months with many of the events taking place at the Old Rock School. Beyond the School's activities, Halloween is approaching and, once again, ghosts, ghouls, and fairy princesses will take to Main Street in "Treats in the Streets" on October 31st, from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Valdese Merchants Association. A best-costume contest will take place at the Old Rock School at 5:30 p.m. and the Valdese "Youth Council" will have a booth to hand out candy and literature. According to the VMA, four hundred children "trick-or-treated" Main Street last year in the event.

One item that will require follow-up on my part is the proposal by the VMA for wireless internet access along Main Street (from Childrens' Park to McDonald's.) This was mentioned by Rick McClurd of A&M Sound Systems at the VMA meeting on September 20th. He told members that wireless internet access is currently available at the Old Rock School for Gardner Webb students and that through grants and partnership with private businesses, wireless access could be made available along Main Street within the next six months.

Saturday, October 27th is the last VMA downtown yard sale. To reserve space, call 879-8824. The yard sale begins at 8:00 a.m and lasts until the final seller goes home.

09/24/07
Wow. So much time has passed since the last update. I decided to start a new page so you couldn't see that it was a three month gap between posts. Since late June, we've had a Festival, water restrictions, summer has ended, and school has started back (now with three high schools in the county.)

I don't know how many people link their grocery store "rewards cards" to schools, but it looks as if this may be something you have to redo each school year. I know mine was registered, but when I went to the Harris Teeter website, I had to relink the card. Valdese Elementary had only two participants for $.84 of earnings this year. Rutherford College was worse with only one participant and $.52 of earnings. I'm sure that Food Lion operates the same way, so if you have a card with them and would like to support a local school (or other organization) you should visit their website and update your information.

Here's an update on the survey I've been running for a few years. I don't think I have enough responses for it to be statistically valid, but it's interesting to see some of the results. Currently, the most popular attraction is a virtual tie between the three most prominent--the Waldensian Museum, the Trail of Faith, and Waldensian Heritage Wines. The favorite restaurant is Myra's, though I should mention that Butch's BBQ and Dew Drop Inn are not on the list because they came after the survey started. Since this isn't a scientific study, I probably should add them to the options. People are still in favor of alcohol sales in Valdese, though the margin has narrowed a bit to 58% for and 42% against. Nearly 79% of respondents are in favor of a theater and would pay an average of $4 a ticket. 73% would like to see rail service return to Valdese (which I will mention later) and 35% listen to WSVM. As usual, the three new stores people would like to see focused primarily on restaurants.

Though there is no guarantee of passenger train service ever returning to our area, the possibility of a depot continues to grow. The town is looking seriously at constructing a multi-use facility (a depot for catching the train and a section that could be used for town purposes or leased to a private business.) The town would be responsible for only ten percent of the project cost, with the remaining ninety percent coming from a state grant.