Embracing the future, celebrating the past…

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

A few years ago, North Wilkesboro was designated as a “Main Street Town” by the North Carolina Main Street Program.  This designation allows the city to receive a varied assortment of assistance from the North Carolina Main Street Center in Raleigh, including areas of design, restoration and revitalization.  Also, technical and training help is available.

The theme of the 2005 Main Street Conference, which was held last weekend in historic New Bern, was “Embracing the Future—Celebrating the Past.”  It was an informative, well run event, bringing people together from across the state to share ideas and successes and to work together for a better North Carolina.  The awards reception and dinner portion of the conference was held at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, a beautiful facility situated on the Neuse River.  As a matter of fact, by the time the meetings were over, New Bern had emerged as something of a poster child of how to run a vital and successful Main Street program.

My wife, Laura, and I attended the conference as guests of Historic Downtown North Wilkesboro and its director, Melissa Smithey, and we were very proud to be honored by them and to receive an award as Main Street Champions.  The award itself was for an assortment of Downtown activities, and specifically for work on our 911 Main Street building, and the Ebenezer’s Attic next door.  Many of you, of course, know the Attic as the old Spainhour’s building.

 The meeting was very educational.  At the beginning of the awards ceremony, we heard from the N.C. Secretary of Commerce, Jim Fain.  He emphasized his and the Main Street programs pride in the “get it done” attitude of the people of North Carolina, people who were, as he said, “…not content to sit around and wait on a white knight.”

After Secretary Fain had concluded his remarks, various Main Street groups were showcased aided by a very effective power point presentation. The examples were all impressive, but one which stuck in my mind was the Marion, North Carolina Police Department.  The citizens there took a 60’s looking concrete and stucco bank branch which had been abandoned, and increased it’s size several fold and completely changed the look of the building to better reflect the downtown in which it is situated.  And, it was not just buildings and building improvements that were singled out for praise.  Uptown Lexington, Inc. was given the award for the best fund-raising effort for their “Piggies go to Market Auction,” which had sponsors underwrite the varied decoration of pigs to be later sold at an auction which looked like pure fun—as well as profitable.  This, of course, promoted the area’s most popular claim to fame, barbeque, and, for my money, should have gotten the marketing award as well.

Throughout the presentations, before during and after photographs were displayed, showing what can be done with vision, effort and imagination.  I truly believe everyone who attended that evening went home with a renewed faith in possibilities.

We were seated at a table with a group of folks from Clinton.  Of course, we swapped stories of projects we were involved in or knew about.  I told them in great detail about the Post Office/Library, which was recently renovated into the new location for the Wilkes Art Gallery here in North Wilkesboro.  I feel it is about as good an example of a public/private partnership as there is around, and took particular pride in describing the galleries efforts to preserve as much as was possible of the architectural and historical significance of the Depression era building.  An addendum to that comment, is sincere my personal appreciation for their willingness to remove the things they could not use with care, therefore preserving everything from old maple doors to skylights so they might useful in another project — another day.

Another Wilkes project I pointed out with pride was the preservation of the old Wilkes County Courthouse to be the Wilkes Heritage Museum.  If ever there was a win-win project, this is it.  It saves a historic building, and creates an educational tourist destination.  Incidentally, the heritage museum has produced a beautiful, full color, fifteen-month calendar they are currently selling for only $10 each.  One flip through that beauty and you’ll be a historic preservation fan, too.  Speaking of Wilkesboro, the downtown area is quickly becoming a destination for antiques with Angela Gambill’s English Cottage, Randall Woodruff’s Great State Auction House, Tammy Dinardo’s Heritage Heirlooms, and, the newest addition to the group, Joe Campbell’s Wilkesboro Antique Mall in the old Gray Brother’s building.  All four of these businesses are within a rock’s throw of each other.

There are many more examples of people working hard to preserve the history of the towns and the county of Wilkes, and I commend them all.  Programs like North Carolina Main Street have come a long way toward making the general population aware of the need to preserve our history and heritage, and projects like the art gallery and the heritage museum are watershed examples of people working together for the good of all.

 We are very proud of our building on Main Street in North Wilkesboro, as well, and plan to host a couple of receptions and open houses in March to celebrate our Main Street award and the anniversary of “the fire.”  We look forward to seeing each and every one of you and sharing our vision of restoration and revitalization.

 Ours has always been a county of entrepreneurs and far-thinking people, but change is inevitable.  If, occasionally someone forgets who brought them to the dance, just find another partner.

 I am proud to call Wilkes County home.

 

Oh, no, it’s a typo!

By CYNTHIA LINVILLE

Record Staff

Nothing gets to a writer more than spotting a typo – after it’s been printed and distributed to their audiences, of course.

 “Oh, no!” they breathe. “I can’t believe I didn’t catch that.”  Then they imagine all their readers pointing at the mistake and having a good laugh about it. 

Another thing you should know about writers – they seldom see their own mistakes.  Their eyes and brains are not on the same wavelength, so to speak. They often read the words as they were intended and not as they actually appear on a monitor or a piece of paper.

After repeatedly proofing my previous column Big Bob Comes out of the Closet, my eyes failed to catch that in one of my sentences I had typed “tired” when I meant to say “tried.”  I wish I could say that this was my only published mistake, but I’d be lying. There have been others, and there will probably be future ones, as well.  Although I’ve never been properly diagnosed, I suspect a tad of dyslexia resides in my genetic make-up.  

Various how-to articles have advised writers to do a final proofing by reading the piece from the end up to the beginning.  I don’t know if this actually works, and since I already have reversal issues, I imagine this tactic would completely spin me around.

One of my friends, Tracy Cameron, is a natural-born proof-reader.  She’s good, no doubt about it.  Not too surprisingly, this is both a plus and a minus in our friendship.  When I turn a piece over to her, I know she will find every possible error; thus saving me from public embarrassment. Somehow, though, I can’t help feeling like I’m in grade school again.

A few of her editorial remarks might include: “Comma not needed… use a better word…too many spaces here… not enough spaces there…use italics… start a new paragraph…”  

Gee, and I thought I was doing so well.  With my bubble thoroughly burst, I go make the changes. After all, no one said a writer’s life was an easy one.   Regardless, we plug away, placing word after word, sentence after sentence, and paragraph after paragraph.  Only God knows why – but, it seems we have something very important to say and share.

We are like artists – only we have deadlines.  Even though we’d prefer perfection, we often have to display our art, whether it is ready to be displayed or not.

So pass me some more of that humble pie; it helps a writer grow while keeping his or her ego firmly in-check. 

 

Season of Winter Part 2

By CASEYANNIE

We are in the depths of winter right now and this seems to make us yearn for spring to come.  We fuss about having to put on our coats and sweaters to leave the house.  The fuel bills are rising.  The joys and business of the holidays are memories.

What is left, is, getting all those boxes of decorations put back in the attic and still trying to find a place for that hideous statue that Aunt Ellen sent. (okay you are right it already has been consigned to the hideous statue closet but that closet needs a wholesale throwing away effort anyway.)

This is the time of year that I secretly love.  There is no big deal thing coming up and is way early to plant the garden and the house is in okay shape since cleaned really well before Christmas.  I have things in the freezer that are already cooked.

Now its time to kick back and enjoy this way too short season.  I call it Winter Part 2.

First thing to do was call all the gang together and go to lunch to discuss ideas for hanging out and where we should do the most of it this year.

It was decided that this was way too serious a consideration to be made in a fast way ,so ,we adjourned to the house for dominoes and a serious discussion on the subject.  This quickly degenerated to a laugh fest that would do credit to comic relief for farm aide. First, we had to decide what snacks we wanted to have right now this minute.  Naturally, the very next thing was whose car was in the wrong driveway last weekend. Of course there was a lot of "what was she thinkings?" and "Can you believe I said that’s?" 

Then had to go to the subject of whose family members were the craziest.  I think that session of one-up-manship was won by one lady who was telling us all about her mom in law insisting that the green food in her fridge was perfectly okay, if the green was removed from the outside . Well maybe, it was the one where Uncle Joe had gone fishing one sunny day and came home wet to the skin and insisted that the fish had pulled him into the lake. On the other hand perhaps, was the one where Aunt Bert insisted that she was descended from Sri Lankan royalty and those were her relatives being swept out to sea.  Does this mean we are all doomed to the gene pool that spawned these revelations? 

It must, considering that we then all had to confess that we had "re-gifted" some of the things stashed in the hideous statue closet.  After all the young couples in the family had to start their own closets sometime and we might as well help them out on that endeavor.  Turns out that one of us even gave her doctor a particularly ugly thing that had resided in her closet for years.  Her idea is that if she gives it outside the family then it won't come back to her one day.  Hummm, she might be onto something here.  We could do this with those parties that require gift giving during the Christmas season!  The ideas here are endless. Must pursue this and see what happens.  I just might get a new closet to use for useful stuff like all that sports equipment that is no longer used. 

Naturally, reality had to set in before long when it became time for the husbands to be coming home for dinner.  The subject of the meeting was tabled for the next time. Oh yes the domino game was enjoyed also. Just not sure who won.

Note: Hubby was not thrilled with the left over sandwiches and crackers and cheese for his dinner but he was a real trooper and did not say a word.  I did notice that he was in the kitchen, later in the evening, cooking an egg.  I returned the favor and did not make a big deal out of the mess left in the kitchen.  Was a good trade off.

Hope to be back next week and hope all of you have taken note of the new email address.........  caseyannie2@sbcglobal.net