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TABLE OF | THE GRAPEVINE '99 | IMPORTANT | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| 12/30/99 We're getting a new business in the old children's clothing store. I think it's a custom doll maker who had a store in Morganton. But we still need more. Much more. Church Street seems to be nearing completion. The replacing of the water line took more time and trouble than anyone expected. I feel for the residents who had to suffer through the outages and unpaved roads for so long. The Town assures its citizens that all departments are Y2K compliant and there should be no service interruptions. Happy New Year!
12/20/99 But seriously, the town, while decorated to the hilt, is hemorrhaging businesses. The children's clothing store is gone, Sarina, at The Communication Experts, says she may have to close by the end of the year, and the framing shop is rumored to be closing. It's going to take some serious effort to revive downtown. We really need to play on the tourism angle and freshen up the look. Be sure to catch the Waldensian Presbyterian Church's outdoor Nativity scene on the 21st & 22nd at 6:00pm & 7:00pm. The annual event now has a re-recorded narration and some repainted props. It promises to look better than ever.
11/13/99 Elsewhere Valdese just keeps rolling along. The Trail of Faith has put up its Christmas lights, but I don't think they're lighting them yet. A few new businesses have opened or are in the process of opening. An employment agency (Express Personnel, I think) and a "doll" store, as I understand it are in the "lower" block on Main Street. I just learned while biking around town that Mr. Glen Yoder has a street named after him. It's actually a small circle that is used for picking up kids at the elementary school, but what better place? He was my principal for my first six years of school and was and is a great person.
11/02/99 Apparently Jim Jacumin has purchased the old Puffs building from Ken Ross and has plans to collect monthly payments from investors to lure in a business. The investors would then share in the proceeds from this business. I'm skeptical and don't believe anyone would be willing to invest too heavily in an endeavor over which Mr. Jacumin had ultimate control. But then again, there's the Trail of Faith. Auto Zone is now open on nights and weekends which must mean they still have work crews in the building during the daytime. There's a rumor that the First Union branch in Valdese is to be closed. I had heard that one in Hickory and Lenoir would, but this is new to me. If you've heard anything definite, e-mail me. Again, I apologize for my infrequent updates. I just found out that I haven't updated the Old Rock School events since August. As a member of the Old Colony Players board, I feel obligated to encourage you again to support this organization's actors and actresses by attending the plays. This December, we will be staging Charles Dickens', A Christmas Carol. Check the OCP page for details.
9/30/99 Auto Zone now has inventory inside. It looks like it won't be much longer... If you read this quarter's Town newsletter, you'll see that Valdese has been named a Whistle-stop on a new Salisbury to Asheville train route that's due to begin in a few years. While nothing is definite, Town Manager Jeff Morse hopes that we can reconstruct the old Train Depot in its original form. A nice nostalgic touch for tourists. The election is just over a month away and the Mayor's race is Jim Hatley vs. John "J" Pascal. It's sad to see that more people weren't interested in succeeding Mayor Draughn but perhaps they didn't want to be cloaked in his shadow.
8/10/99 If you haven't been to see the Outdoor Drama yet, go. The music is the best it's been in years and you really owe it to yourself to see it before the next millennium. So take a fan and a seat cushion and enjoy a great show. School started back this week to the dismay of many kids and the delight of many adults. Valdese Elementary scored a 92.3% on the latest ABC testing scores, an increase of almost two percentage points over last year, and received another "School of Excellence" rating. Congratulations Tigers!
7/21/99 I'm aware that this site hasn't added much lately. It's hard to get the time with all this other stuff I've become involved with recently. I promise, however, to at least keep this page regularly updated and to try to get more of our local businesses and organizations posted.
6/24/99
6/18/99 The Friday night concerts seem to be going well, though the largest benefactor is Myra's as all the attendees trek down for an ice cream after the show. There's no other businesses other than Valdese Video to draw anyone in the evening. Get ready for fireworks! July 4th promises to be another big celebration in Valdese this year at the Trail of Faith. Beginning at 2:15 p.m. and running through 9:15 p.m., there will be a wide variety of activities at the Trail.
6/1/99 Sunday brought devastating news to Valdese as we lost Mayor Jimmy Draughn to an abdominal aneurysm, suffered as he attended the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. Mayor Draughn was a close friend and respected by everyone in the community. He will be sorely missed and difficult to replace. We are in the midst of a dry spell that has really browned the grass, but so far, the heat hasn't burned the people yet. Of course it's still spring for a few more weeks. The festivities for July 4th are being planned, with a repeat of fireworks and food at the Trail of Faith. Hopefully it will be finished by this year's celebration. I'll try to keep you informed.
4/29/99 Anyway, Valdese is really starting to look nice as the flowers have bloomed and the weather as been spring like. (Except for the three straight days of rain we've had as I write this.) Being associated with planning the Waldensian Festival, I can tell you that it's a lot bigger job than you might imagine. This year's festival promises to be one of the best yet (you hear that about every annual event, don't you) due to the hard work of Chuck Mosely and Evelyn Bounous. "The Odd Couple" as I like to call them put a lot of time and effort into ensuring that the visitors have an enjoyable experience and leave with a good impression of Valdese. I'll post updates on the Festival as it draws nearer.
4/19/99 Anyway, I have been corrected by Town Planner Larry Johnson on the auto parts store supposedly coming to Valdese beside the McDonalds. It is, in fact, an AutoZone and not Advance as I had previously stated. However, the dirt has yet to move so there's no guarantee that anything will ever happen. Anyone looking for a special way to treat their mother on Mother's Day should consider the OCP performance of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite. It's a 3:30pm matinee on Mother's Day at the Old Rock School. We're working on a special give-a-way to mothers who attend such as a flower or some other meaningful token. But come for the play, it promises to be a good one. If anyone has suggestions for improving the site, please let me know. Especially if there are any legibility problems, images not appearing, or broken links. I want this site to run as cleanly as possible and to be something of which Valdese can be proud.
3/30/99 Jack B Quick reopened a few weeks ago, but I forgot to mention it. It now has more pumps and a huge covered area that can handle tractors (the 18-wheeler kind.) Among other improvements, it will surely be easier to get in and out of. Also, it's now a Phillips 66 station instead of Conoco. Starting in May, Valdese will be encouraging its citizens to come back to town on Friday evenings by providing live entertainment suitable for families and seniors. Hopefully downtown businesses, seeing potential customers walking about town, will stay open later and bolster the "Valdese Nightlife." Details are still being worked out, but I'll keep you posted.
3/17/99 I received an e-mail from one visitor who felt that I was not doing proper justice to Valdese, that my web site was crude, and that Valdese deserved better. I replied that this is basically a hobby site and not a commercial enterprise, but he didn't seem to care. Anyway, I can accept constructive criticism, and if any of you have some ideas for things you'd like to see on this site, please e-mail me. On a side note, you may be interested in knowing something about yourselves. I track some of the usage statistics for this site and have presented some of the more interesting results in the table below. I'm not sure if the visitors/ day statistic is correct. I get different numbers from different sources.
FYI - Here's an interesting tidbit you can think about. If the population density (people per square mile) of Valdese were the same as that of Hong Kong, our population would be 1,368,828. That's more than San Diego, Dallas, or Detroit. Don't you just love small towns.
2/22/99 The potential buyer of the Main Street Cafe has backed out, so the restaurant is once again up for sale. I'd like to see a good deli-style restaurant move in. Something mid-scale, between another fast-food place and a steak house (which we will probably never get, especially in a dry town.) If you're interested, I'll put you in touch with the sellers. They aren't asking much, and it's furnished. I've put forth a suggestion to Jeff Morse (town manager) to create a time capsule specific to Valdese, to be buried this New Year's Eve. If you have any worthy suggestions on items to include, e-mail them to me and I'll pass them along.
2/4/99 The most enduring rumor of late has been that an Advance auto parts store will be moving into the lot beside McDonalds. This rumor has been circulating for quite some time, but I'd like to see us get a larger auto parts supplier nearby. Our latest new business is a Hispanic dry goods store that moved in downtown. To be honest, it'll be interesting to see how the community accepts them. I haven't yet been in, but I've been by a few times and plan to put them on this site in the near future. The Historic Valdese Foundation has plans to construct a large clock tower in the parking lot of the Old Rock School. It would be financed through donations, but I really don't think we need this particular monument. There's so many more suitable uses for our resources. Keep checking back to this page. I'll try to keep it updated as much as possible. And feel free to e-mail me questions about rumors you may have heard. I'll try to answer them or post them if appropriate.
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