TCB Oct. 5, 2016 — The Beer Issue

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point triad-city-beat.com October 5 – 11, 2016

10 coolest beer names

The 2016 Beer Issue PAGE 6

Brewer of the Year

PAGE 16

FREE

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Designing beer labels

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October 5 — 11, 2016

What becomes of the broken-hearted

UP FRONT 3 Editor’s Notebook 4 City Life 6 Commentariat 6 The List 7 Barometer 7 Unsolicited Endorsement

by Brian Clarey

NEWS 8 Development would displace working-class neighborhood 10 Second officer quits, police association slams council 12 HPJ: City HR director: Term ‘white supremacy’ equivalent to N-word

OPINION 14 Editorial: The new ‘Chosen One’ 14 Citizen Green: Step back from the abyss 15 It Just Might Work: Craft soda 15 Fresh Eyes: Remembering my niece, the right way

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COVER 16 The 2016 Beer Issue

24 Art: Foothills’ secret iconography

CULTURE 21 Food: George Lopez’s personal touch, new twist on Cuban food 22 Music: Futurebirds fly where the wind don’t blow so strange

SPORTSBALL 26 Hoop dreams at Swarm tryout

CROSSWORD 27 Jonesin’ Crossword

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

28 West 27th St, Winston-Salem

ALL SHE WROTE 30 The most interesting man in the world

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Hearing what the city said to her about ‘white supremacy’ being equivalent to the use of the term ‘n*****,’ that was shocking, disgusting and an absolute step backwards for the city of High Point.

— Winston-Salem Urban League President James Perry, in High Point Journal, page 12

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 • Office: 336-256-9320 BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey

ART ART DIRECTOR Jorge Maturino

PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach

SALES DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING Dick Gray

brian@triad-city-beat.com allen@triad-city-beat.com

jorge@triad-city-beat.com

dick@triad-city-beat.com

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR Eric Ginsburg

SALES EXECUTIVE Lamar Gibson

SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green

cheryl@triad-city-beat.com

eric@triad-city-beat.com

triad-city-beat.com

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

CONTENTS

CONTRIBUTORS Carolyn de Berry Nicole Crews Stallone Frazier Anthony Harrison Matt Jones

Cover art by Theresa Rizzuto. Visit spoonflower.com/ profiles/trizzuto to see more of her work!

lamar@triad-city-beat.com

SALES EXECUTIVE Cheryl Green

jordan@triad-city-beat.com

He’s nearly grown — sometimes I can’t believe how much so. And because his eyes are nearly level with mine, because he’s prone to bouts of long silence that can give the illusion of contentment, because for a 16-year-old he can seem so… wise… I sometimes forget he’s just a kid whose life has barely begun.

Try telling that to him, reeling as he is from what looks like his first case of real heartbreak.

I know what it feels like, I told him. Everyone does — none of us will make it to full-grown adulthood without knowing the deep ache that grows like a dark bloom when we offer ourselves in full to another human being and the feeling is not reciprocated.

Music helps, I told him. The sad stuff. And your friends will help you get through it.

I ran through the list for him of the girls and women in my past who put me through the shredder — the ones I can remember, anyway — and the lessons each one imparted to me along with the sweet sorrow.

I told him what I myself did not realize until I was in my twenties: That there are eligible women everywhere — everywhere! — and that none of them are perfect, but many of them are perfectly nice and still others will bring him to that elevated state of consciousness that we call “love.”

Every heart worth knowing And I told him has had a little seasoning. that it can be kind Every life story is filled with of fun sorting loves gained and lost. through the list.

But still his moon eyes linger, his shoulders slump. It’s not the sort of thing he can be talked out of.

So I respect the process. Every heart worth knowing has had a little seasoning. Every life story is filled with loves gained and lost. And every relationship we have reveals more to us about the curious nature of the beast that is love.

He’ll snap out of it the same way the rest of us did, I told him: so gradually he won’t even notice it until one day someone else catches his eye.

Until then, I’m afraid there’s nothing left for him to do but wallow in this new kind of emotional pain that he’s just starting to suspect is part and parcel of the human condition. He is just a kid, after all. But he’s coming along just fine.

EDITORIAL INTERNS Naari Honor intern@triad-city-beat.com

TCB IN A FLASH DAILY @ triad-city-beat.com First copy is free, all additional copies are $1.00. ©2016 Beat Media Inc.

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October 5 — 11, 2016

THURSDAY

CITY LIFE October 5 – 11

Hornets vs. Celtics @ Greensboro Coliseum Complex (GSO), 7:30 p.m.

The Boston Celtics come to town to play against North Carolina’s own Charlotte Hornets in a preseason battle of skill and technique.

Tickets can be purchased through hornets.com, ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster outlets, or at the Greensboro Coliseum box office.

Bible reading @ First Friends Center (GSO), 6:30 p.m.

Wess Daniels and William Rogers embark on a four-week Bible study group that will take a look at how poverty, oppression and empire intersect in the Bible. The first session in the seminar is “The Religion of Empire.” For complete details on the seminar, see First Friends Center’s’ Facebook page.

FRIDAY Pottery pop-up @ Center for Visual Artists (GSO), 6 p.m.

The Cultural Arts Center pays homage to the potters responsible for the uniquely designed bowls utilized in the Urban Ministry’s annual Feast of Caring. For the opportunity to engage with the artisans who help feed the soul through aesthetics, visit the Pottery Pop-up for the feast’s Facebook page.

Creature-themed art show @ Tattoo Revival (W-S), 7 p.m.

Behind every good tattooists lies artistic skill that goes beyond the needle. Tattoo Revival turns its walls into a gallery space for 17 local artists that have created 17 fascinating creatures for a different type of art show sure to blow the mind. Additional information can be found on Tattoo Revival’s Facebook page.

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Necro Nectar @ Delurk Gallery (W-S), 7 p.m.

Just in time for the season where the macabre is appreciated, the Delurk Art Gallery hosts an exhibit that explores the realms of hell, the beauty of darkness and exposes the mind to images once used to evoke fear that are now presented for admiration. More information about the event can be found on delurkgallery.com.

by Naari Honor

BLM against HB2 @ International Civil Rights Museum (GSO), 4 p.m.

QPOCC presents “Toilet Training,” a video documentary collaboration between transgender video maker Tara Mateik and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project that exposes the travesties endured by those who choose to use bathrooms based on their identified gender. For more information on the presentation that will share the stories of queer and trans people suffering and fighting against NC HB2, visit the BLM against HB2: Documentary and Screening Facebook event page.

triad-city-beat.com

SATURDAY

Birds in a Row @ the Garage (W-S), 8 p.m.

Amplifier presents the eclectic musical stylings of Birds in a Row from France, accompanied by Frameworks of Florida, Durham’s own Greaver, and Weak Wrists of Asheville at the infamous Garage. For more information, check out the Garage’s Facebook page.

Slasher @ Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance (W-S), 8 p.m.

What happens when a mom goes psycho and tries to ruin her daughter’s movie debut in B-level slasher flick due her feminist beliefs? Several cliché situations that will probably make this comedic horror and awesome must-see staged reading. For more information about the event, check out wstheatrealliance.org

SUNDAY Pet spook fest @ Northwood Animal Hospital (HP), noon While kids are just beginning to hunt for that perfect costume, parents of those cute and cuddly pets have been planning the perfect Yoda and Princess Leia-inspired costumes since last year (speaking from experience). Join the Northwood Animal Hospital for its animal festival and show off those crazy costumes while simultaneously helping homeless fur babies. More information can be found at northwoodah.vetstreet.com.

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October 5 — 11, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball

Everyone loves choice but not at the expense of the system which is taking care of the vast majority of our students [“Charter school proponents take aim at school board incumbents”; by Jordan Green, Sept. 28, 2016]. My main concern is with charters being run by for-profit companies. Mixing profit with public education is very problematic on so many levels.

Charter schools are basically private schools being run with our tax dollars. They were started about 25 years ago to experiment with new educational approaches. They were first intended to seek out low-performing students and ignite their interest in education and then collaborate with what they learned with existing public schools. Those noble intentions, however, have been replaced with profit-making systems. Charter schools are supposed to be non-profit but can be run by corporations who can make a profit.

Among other things, those corporations do not have to pay property taxes on their school because it is a public school.

Are you still with me?

If charter schools are going to use public money they ought to be held by the same standards, but they are not. Many teachers do not have to be certified, they do not have to test, they don’t have to bus children, and they do not have to service students with special needs.

Charters are siphoning funds from our public schools who educate everyone, including children who speak other languages and children who have special needs.

All She Wrote

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It’s not fair to students who remain in our underfunded public schools.

If people like “choice,” we have a wonderful model of choice in our public schools and they are called magnet schools, such as Early College, Middle College, and the School of Science and Technology.

Therefore, as I said at the onset, mixing schools for profit with public education is very problematic.

Lois L. Bailey, Greensboro Editor’s note: Bailey is an independent candidate for Guilford County School Board in District 5. Bailey could not be reached for the story referenced above.

Police should work for the people

It doesn’t surprise me that a police officer would receive a promotion while being investigated for police brutality [“Officer Cole promoted amid police investigation”;

by Eric Ginsburg; Sept. 27, 2016]. The case involving Officer Travis Cole is a good example of why all police officers should wear body cameras, and all government personnel records should be available to the people. Who do the police work for?

Do they work for the police chief, city manager or a police union? They certainly don’t work for us. I have a radical idea.

Police officers are supposed to serve and protect the people. Why not put the police under the control of the people? We pay their salaries, bonuses, pensions, and even give them a paid vacation when they kill someone. Shouldn’t they work for us?

Chuck Mann, Greensboro

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10 coolest Triad beer names

by Naari Honor 1. Zinzendorf Grizzette — Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company (W-S) The name of a beer can sometimes be just as unique as its flavor. Hell, sometimes the names are just fun say or are intriguing enough to make you want to try the beer for its name alone. Here’s one: Zinzendorf Grizzette a nice black raspberry tart rye brew.

2. The Beet Gose On — Small Batch (W-S) Who created the better song with this title, the Whispers or Sonny and Cher?

Side note: This would also be a perfect way to get a momma’s boy or daddy’s girl to eat their veggies at the young age of 40. This music themed veggie infused brew utilizes red beets and coriander to provide a “lactic acid tartness.”

3. Dead and Berried — Foothills Brewing (W-S) See what they did there? This brew contains a load of Oregon blackberries that help to level out the hints of coffee flavor of the stout that had the pleasure of aging gracefully in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels.

4. Sexual Chocolate — Foothills Brewing (W-S) There’s no denying it — there is just something sexy about chocolate, and this particular brew oozes sex appeal with its cocoa infused espresso, molasses and sweet toffee-smoky-looking self.

It doesn’t hurt that the name derives from the band in Eddie Murphy’s hilari-

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1212 Grove Street, Greensboro, NC 27403

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ous Coming to America, either.

5. Boarrior IPA — Pig Pounder Brewery (GSO) “Boarriors, come out to play!” All of the beer names here nod to the brewery’s title, including this one that makes me think of the classic flick The Warriors. This malty rebel IPA is said to have some bite, and is made with Warrior hops.

6. Hoofenweizen — Pig Pounder Brewery (GSO) This hoppy wheat ale is just fun to say. Try saying it three times fast. Maybe take a swig of the seasonal brew to really get the giggles going.

7. Chocolate Milk — Joymongers (GSO) Once upon a time, being able to grab a chocolate milk to accompany the rectangle pizza before the cafeteria ran out was the highlight of a school lunch.

Blending chocolate with beer is nothing new, but it’s hard not to love the name of this milk stout.

8. Hypothesis of Failure — Gibbs Hundred (GSO) This concoction came about as a result of a freak accident, which probably means that this aromatic light body tropical fruit IPA is amazing because accidents usually lead to the most beautiful creations.

9. F ox-in-the-Morning — Gibbs Hundred (GSO) There are so many ways to run with this that it may be best just to leave the name here and walk away from this peppery aromatic farmhouse ale.

10. B lueberry Cobbler Belgian — Brown Truck Brewing (HP) While blueberry cobbler may be a common indulgence, five pounds of blueberries per barrel is sure to exceed any dessert lover’s expectations.

90

70

50 40

20 10

39%

Foothills

11%

Small Batch

9%

Natty Greene’s

All She Wrote

41%

Liberty

Shot in the Triad

30

Crossword

60

Sportsball

80

Culture

New question: What’s the worst Halloween candy?

Vote at triad-city-beat.com.

Cover Story

Readers: Despite the feelings of our editors spelled out above, Liberty ranked first with this one, garnering 41 percent of the vote. Foothills came in not too far behind with 39 percent to place second, but Small Batch (11 percent) and Natty Greene’s (9 percent) didn’t do too well. Congrats to Liberty Brewery & Grill, High Point’s first brewpub!

by Naari Honor I believe that there is a perfect place to do everything. A perfect bar to enjoy a great bourbon.

The ideal bookstore to sit on a floor and read an engaging book for hours on end. Even a special place to listen to music. What makes these places special, at least for me, aren’t extravagancies bought or preplanned, but a character that evolves within the space over time.

The Garage in Winston-Salem is one of those type of places. A venue with the sole purpose of providing the community with a place to listen to music that seems to have collected a whole lot of character throughout its years of existence.

On the front wall of the building is an area used to post signs of visiting bands and venue events.

On my recent visit only one sign hung from the space but it was surrounded by more staples than one could accurately count. Although the board was nearly void of posters, the staples told a story of their own; numerous bands had graced the stage of the former auto garage.

Underneath the board a ginormous set of google eyes are affixed to the wall. One eyeball is stuffed with parts of a deck of cards. My vivid imagination pictured a group of guys playing a quick hand before going on stage that they never were able to get back to.

Inside of the Garage you won’t find a huge selection of tables or an air conditioner, but these aren’t bad things. There’s a fan the size of a windmill that does an excellent job in keeping the space cool and windows plastered with graffiti that stay open throughout the night. If you’re at the Garage you are coming to hear music, so standing shouldn’t be an issue, but there are a few places to sit if you must.

Every inch of the space is covered with some type of artwork whether it’s aged gas station signs, a Mattel Brothers sign that hangs from the ceiling, the “Wall of Art” behind the bar, the mixture of stickers, canvas and framed pieces or an old cigarette machine posted up against one of the walls.

Even the bathroom intrigued me with its carved out nooks, throne dresser combo, and original art.

The true beauty about the space is that the image it produces is the vibe it delivers as well. No two customers were alike, which carried over to the staff and bands that graced the stage.

It felt good to be able to relax and rock out to live music like no one was watching. What’s even better is to have that perfect venue that truly cares about the music and providing a home for it to thrive.

Opinion

Jordan Green: Natty Greene’s used to be one of my go-tos, and I’ve eaten lunch a time or two at Foothills, but it’s been awhile for both. My most recent experience is celebrating my 40th birthday at Small Batch. I ate an amaz-

Eric Ginsburg: I’ll step into the fray on this, in part because I think the ranking is clear. Small Batch definitely belongs at the top for taste and creativity, trailed not far behind by Foothills. Liberty is next, and Natty Greene’s comes after that, which is why I’m looking forward to the brewery’s forthcoming concept that could easily catapult it to the top of this list.

The Garage

News

Brian Clarey: I don’t think it’s even a real competition.

While I’ve choked down plenty of Natty’s food and have been sort of enamored of Foothills’ fish & chips, Small Batch has taken the Triad bar-food scene to a new level, well beyond cheese fries and potato skins. As far as brewery food goes, I have to give it to Small Batch.

ing sandwich recommended to me by Eric Ginsburg, but unfortunately I can’t remember any of the ingredients — probably because my friends were plying me with drinks.

I’m probably not qualified to participate in this poll based on my limited recent experience — I don’t think I’ve eaten at Liberty — but that’s the best I’ve got.

Up Front

Welcome to the 2016 Beer Issue, where we’re taking the opportunity to talk about all things related to local beer, even the food. We’re looking at Foothills, Liberty, Small Batch and Natty Greene’s for this one, since food trucks, delivery and snacks don’t count. If they did, we’d have to consider everyone, including Joymongers, which just announced a delivery partnership with Smith Street Diner and Hoots where Eric Ginsburg has had food delivered from the Porch. It couldn’t be easier to order food at Preyer, where there’s a window into Crafted: the Art of Street Food, walking outside at Brown Truck and Gibb’s Hundred to a food truck isn’t exactly difficult and Pig Pounder partners with owner Marty Kotis’ joints across the road.

triad-city-beat.com

Best brewery food in the Triad?

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October 5 — 11, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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NEWS

Proposed development would displace working-class neighborhood

by Jordan Green

The proposed West End Marketplace Plaza — an ambitious project that includes a hotel, specialty grocery store and bottle shop, restaurant, offices and retail, and high-end housing — would displace about 85 low-income families in an obscure area near BB&T Park.

Even longtime Winston-Salem residents may not be aware of a quiet residential section of the city tucked away at the southwest corner of Peters Creek Parkway and Business 40.

The conventional frame houses that populate the neighborhood — largely built between 1905 and 1925 — have been subdivided several times, and many of the low-income residents rent by the week.

There are two ways into the neighborhood: By turning off the side street used to access Filly’s Gentlemen’s Club from Peters Creek Parkway and traversing a bridge across Business 40 from the leafy haven of the Historic West End Neighborhood. By a quirk of the city’s eccentric street alignment, the 25 or so houses that make up the neighborhood flank West Fourth Street. Known primarily for its vaunted Restaurant Row, the street runs due west from downtown and then winds through the West End before veering sharply to the left, past the Burke Street commercial area and plunging southward across the expressway.

Daniel Donathan, a real estate broker with offices near BB&T Ballpark, envisions something else at this obscure tail-end of West Fourth Street: an 8.3acre complex of condos and apartments, with office and retail space, a restaurant, a bank, a combined specialty grocery-store and beverage shop, and a parking garage — all anchored by an eight-story hotel.

“We’ve done some generic studies and looked at some templates across the Eastern Seaboard to see what can and can’t be done,” Donathan said. “There’s positive economic development, basically looking at the housing situation, the need for retail, the growth around the ballpark and the availability of that property on a major thoroughfare.

West Fourth Street, which runs down the middle of an area slated for demolition, is the tail-end of a major downtown thoroughfare.

Location, location, location — it has a tremendous location.”

Donathan said he has the property for the proposed West End Marketplace Plaza under contract. All but three of the 30 parcels are owned by the Crawford family, who maintain a rental office in the center of the neighborhood.

For the deal to go through, city council would have to approve a rezoning from residential to general business. If that happens, the housing — currently valued at an aggregate of $2.0 million on the tax rolls — would be demolished.

Donathan said the current estimate for the potential new investment is $64.5 million.

The state Department of Transportation has signed off on a new street with access to Peters Creek Parkway in the central portion of the development near the proposed hotel, Donathan said.

The request comes before the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning Board on Oct. 13.

Councilman Dan Besse, who represents the neighborhood, takes a skeptical view of the proposal, although he said he’ll try to look at written submittals and listen to testimony with an open mind. He said he’s only heard from

JORDAN GREEN

three constituents, none of whom live in neighborhood slated for demolition.

One email came from a resident of the nearby Ardmore neighborhood, while two others came from constituents in the West End, which is represented by Councilman Jeff MacIntosh.

“I’ve discussed the idea with Jeff MacIntosh a couple months ago,” Besse said. “We agreed that an intense, new development in that location on a planning basis is not a good idea.” Besse said his reservations are twofold.

“The traffic complications would be serious, especially to the West End neighborhood,” he said. “Access on Peters Creek Parkway where it comes out is going to be problematic. It’s already complicated by the renovation of Business 40, which is going to put more traffic on Peters Creek Parkway. It risks adversely affecting the dense separated-home environment in that section of West End. And it would completely displace quite a bit of what is scarce affordable housing in that area.”

The residents who would potentially be displaced are not among Besse’s more vocal constituents. He said he made it a point to canvas the street during his most recent re-election

campaign three years ago — his fourth since he first ran in 2001. “I knocked on several doors,” he said, “and didn’t get a lot of response.”

Jamie Shawn Reeve, one of the residents, said it’s hard to contemplate finding housing as affordable as what’s currently available on West Fourth Street.

“There’s going to be a lot of families put out,” he said. “These are places that rent for $600 to $700 a month, utilities included. That’s pretty good. You can’t find that anywhere else. A lot of people don’t have anywhere else to go. A lot of people will be moving away.”

The 24 houses on the street are subdivided into three or four units each, and a cinderblock apartment building lists 12 units on the tax rolls, potentially displacing about 85 families.

The site plan for the proposed development calls for 144 residential units. Donathan said that although the final decision depends on financing, he estimated the apartments would rent for $900 to $1,250, while the condos would sell for $250,000 to $350,000.

The developer said he plans to submit a relocation plan to the city, although he declined to provide specific details of how it would work.

“Some of them are long-term tenants, and some of them come and go,” he said. “It’s not like a standard residential area — I don’t want to be derogatory. I can’t relocate ’em and put ’em in a thousand-dollar apartment.

We can set aside 5 percent, maybe 10 percent for affordable housing, but that’s still not going to get us there. I’m working on a relocation plan to relocate them to the Ardmore area, to help them find housing where rents are somewhat comparable.”

The proposed West End Marketplace Plaza project comes on the heels of an announcement last year that the family that owns the Cloverdale Apartments and Ardmore Terrace plans to tear down 350 units of affordable housing and replace it with a mixed-use development in the Ardmore neighborhood near Baptist Hospital. Besse previously

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Cover Story

despite the pleas of elderly and disabled residents who said they had nowhere else to go. Prior to the vote council members discussed the fact that many of the residents would be faced with paying off delinquent utility bills or would have to pay utility deposits as high as $150 if they didn’t hadn’t previously maintained an account.

“You had apartments that — my understanding was they were experiencing 50-percent vacancy — they were not well kept up,” Besse said, explaining his support for the rezoning. “We were already dealing with serious problems that raised questions of suitability of that housing that made it a closer call.

I will say that that case came to us before most of us had been slapped in the face by the extent of the affordable housing crunch. It was an early sort of yellow-flag case.

“If that same decision came to us this year, it would be closely scrutinized,” he added. “I remember at that time I was looking at statistical information that was available about what seemed to be very decent affordable housing within a close area. That pool might shrinking.”

triad-city-beat.com

lived in the apartments and said they constituted the single largest concentration of affordable housing in the Southwest Ward. He moved out of his apartment so he could advocate for the residents as an elected official without a conflict of interest. In February, Besse announced a compromise in which the owners would set aside a small fraction of the new housing for affordable units.

“In the cities and metro areas nationwide we’re seeing a trend toward more expensive housing, and especially in areas that are revitalizing like center-city Winston-Salem there is an accompanying movement toward more expensive housing,” Besse said. “Sometimes, but not always, that more expensive housing displaces existing housing that is more affordable…. That’s something we’re trying to get a handle on locally, and something many other communities are struggling with.”

Four years ago, city council unanimously voted to approve a rezoning that resulted in the razing of the West Side Apartments to allow a developer to build the high-end Edge Flats across the expressway from Baptist Hospital,

Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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October 5 — 11, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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Second officer quits, police association slams council action

by Eric Ginsburg

In the aftermath of Greensboro City Council’s release of police body camera footage from the Dejuan Yourse incident, the second officer involved in Yourse’s arrest resigns and the Greensboro Police Officers Association releases a scathing letter aimed at council.

The Greensboro Police Officers Association released a fiery five-page letter signed by attorney William L. Hill last week blasting Greensboro City Council members’ actions around the Dejuan Yourse case, calling it “the political grandstanding of some of our council members” and concluding: “In their handling of this incident, some members of the city council violated more rules, regulations and state laws than any of the officers involved; who is going to hold them accountable?”

City Attorney Tom Carruthers said in an Oct. 1 email to council that “Attorney Hill’s disparaging comments are misplaced and have not contributed to the necessary dialogue” on the case.

The letter capped a week that began with an explosive special council meeting, where the public first saw police body camera footage from then-officers Charlotte N. Jackson and Travis B. Cole. Just two days after council released footage of Dejuan Yourse’s arrest, Jackson resigned, following Cole’s lead — he quit a month earlier.

Jackson, who was only known publicly as female Officer CN Jackson at the time, resigned on Sept. 28, according to police spokesperson Susan Danielsen.

Police Chief Wayne Scott explains the specifics surrounding the Dejuan Yourse incident and subsequent investigation last week.

Internal police investigations into the handling of the incident found that then- officer Travis Cole violated four of the department’s directives in his June 17 interactions with black resident Dejuan Yourse, including excessive force. Cole resigned on Aug. 19 before the department announced its findings, and Chief Wayne Scott said at a Sept.

26 press conference that an investigation into Jackson’s use of force was still ongo-

ERIC GINSBURG

ing. He added that he hoped it would be completed in about two weeks.

Little is known about former officer Charlotte Jackson, though parts of her personnel file made available to Triad City Beat show that she was hired in 2010 and had most recently been promoted in 2014 to the rank of Police Officer II. There are no other promotions, demotions or suspensions listed in the information provided by the

Greensboro Police Department. Danielsen provided a photo of Cole, which is available on TCB’s website, but has not responded to requests for a photo of Jackson.

In contrast, Cole is already well known in Greensboro for the Scales brothers’ case in 2014, which later led to a formal apology from the city and a $50,000 settlement. Cole received a one-day suspension without pay for the incident.

Cole is white, and based on the released police footage, Jackson appears to be white as well. Yourse and the Scales brothers are black.

Further complicating matters, the department promoted Cole on Aug. 1, 2016 along with “all of his other academy graduates” to Police Officer III, a bump that comes with a salary increase from $46,592 to $48,067, Danielsen said. The promotion and automatic raise came weeks after the June 17 Yourse incident and the subsequent internal investigation that began almost immediately.

After TCB uncovered Cole’s promotion, City Manager Jim Westmoreland announced on Sept. 28 that effective immediately, he was ordering a 30-day hold on “the promotion of any officers directly involved in the incident and events involving former police officer Travis Cole or in the investigative process.”

Shortly afterwards, the Greensboro Police Officers Association published a

Timeline of events June 17: Incident with Dejuan Yourse occurs, investigation begins almost immediately.

Aug. 19: Cole resigns before either investigation concludes.

July 20: Yourse calls the department to complain about how he was treated, according to Chief Wayne Scott.

Sept. 20: Greensboro City Council votes to release footage from the Yourse incident.

Aug. 1: Officer Travis Cole is promoted and given a raise.

Aug. 9-10: Chief Scott allegedly becomes aware of incident and video. Cole is placed on administrative leave with pay, and a second, criminal police investigation is opened.

incident and investigations on hold for 30 days.

Sept. 29: Lewis Pitts and Nelson Johnson deliver letter to council calling for an independent panel to investigate the department’s handling of the case.

Sept: 26: Body camera footage is released at a special meeting, council votes to pursue greater consequences for Cole including possibly preventing him from serving as an officer again.

Sept. 30: Greensboro Police Officers Association releases scathing five-page letter.

Sept. 27: TCB uncovers Cole’s Aug. 1 promotion.

Oct. 10: Approximate date on which internal police investigation into Jackson’s behavior regarding Yourse incident is expected to be completed.

Sept. 28: Officer Charlotte Jackson resigns. City manager puts promotions of those tied to the Yourse

Oct. 1: New state law limiting release of police body camera footage takes effect.

also includes a detailed version of the Yourse incident, including the claim that “both officers reported that they felt Mr. Yourse grabbing for items on their duty belts” and the assertion that both officers sustained injuries.)

Some members of council criticized the decision to hold up the promotions, according to Facebook posts by Councilman Tony Wilkins. But many residents expressed outrage after learning of Cole’s promotion, saying it further deteriorated community trust in the department and only heightened the need for police accountability and reform.

In a letter delivered to council last week, former lawyer Lewis Pitts and the Rev. Nelson Johnson renewed the call for an investigation by an independent panel, citing Cole’s promotion as an example of just how awry the process had gone. Theirs were among the calmest voices in the room at council’s special meeting last week demanding greater transparency and accountability, as dozens of activists disrupted the meeting and expressed little to no faith in council or the department. Despite what some council members described as significant progress around police accountability recently, attendees weren’t buying it, and given the letter from the police officers association, many officers wouldn’t call current affairs “progress” either.

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letter arguing that council didn’t protect Jackson’s “right to a fair disciplinary process, which is afforded to her by city policy, state and federal law” and that as a result of some council member’s actions at the meeting, “Officer Jackson was tried in the court of public opinion, without any regard to actual facts.

“After all of this, our city leaders still felt that Officer Jackson could still get a fair disciplinary hearing,” the letter continues. “Unfortunately, Officer Jackson disagreed. Believing that her fate had already been decided by city leaders, Officer Jackson resigned from the department that she loved and the city that she served with distinction. To the detriment of our community, she became collateral damage for others’ political gain.”

The letter also states that on Sept. 28, the department planned to promote 17 employees but said that four are being stalled by Westmoreland’s order.

“These are four officers who have had impeccable careers and earned their promotions,” the letter reads. “They now have to put their careers on hold to allow some of our city leaders to continue to pander to the special interests of some who want to take part in the national rhetoric of police corruption.”

(Visit triad-city-beat.com to read the full letter from the Greensboro Police Officers Association, which

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Acclaimed author and journalist Michael Pollan (left) visits Guilford College’s farm ahead of his Bryan Series talk last week.

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October 5 — 11, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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HIGH POINT JOURNAL

City HR director: Term ‘white supremacy’ equivalent to N-word

by Jordan Green

The city of High Point acknowledges in a federal court filing that its human resources director admonished Al Heggins that using the term “white supremacy” was equivalent to the racial slur n***** as a basis for an initial disciplinary action that led to the former human relations director’s firing.

The city of High Point has acknowledged that its human resources director counseled a department head that the phrase “white supremacy” was equivalent to the racial slur n***** during a meeting to discipline her for “inefficiency in the performance of her job duties and poor judgment.”

The admission comes in an answer filed by the city on Sept. 16 to a civil suit filed by former Human Relations Director Al Heggins alleging that the city, City Manager Greg Demko and Deputy City Manager Randy McCaslin engaged in employment discrimination and created a racially hostile work environment. Heggins was eventually fired at the culmination of a series of disciplinary actions after organizing a “Black and Blue” forum to promote dialogue about police/community relations in March 2015.

While denying that the city subjected Heggins to a hostile work environment, violated her civil rights or otherwise engaged in any unlawful activities, the city admits that McCaslin and the city’s human resources director met with Heggins 11 days after the “Black & Blue” forum “and verbally warned plaintiff about “inefficiency in the performance of her job duties and poor judgement.”

The city also admitted that a day earlier Demko and the city’s communications officer met with Heggins “to discuss her department’s communications and to discuss protocol for all city communications going forward.”

At issue was a flier sent out by Heggins, who is black, to publicize a March 28, 2015 event at City Hall headlined “Black & Blue: A Conversation Between the African-American Community and the High Point Police Department.”

The program included a presentation

by Barbara Lawrence, a professor at

Guilford College who holds a law to a request for comment for this degree and formerly served as a story. transit police officer in New York The Winston-Salem Urban City. The flier included a descripLeague recently hosted two tion of Lawrence’s presentation community-police town halls with the heading, “Police Acthat shared the heading “Black countability & Citizen Oversight: & Blue” with the event that got A Framework for Dismantling Heggins in trouble in High Point.

White Supremacy and EstabThe Winston-Salem Police Delishing Real Justice in the 21st partment participated in the town Century.” halls, which were funded by the The city admitted in its recent United Way of Forsyth County, court filing that the human the Winston-Salem Foundation resources director, Angela and the Z. Smith Reynolds FounKirkwood, “counseled” Heggins dation. during the April 8 meeting “that Perry said he sees an irony using the term white supremacist in the fact that Heggins’ role in was as offensive as calling a black organizing a dialogue on police/ person a n*****.” Kirkwood is community relations led to her not named as a defendant in the dismissal.

COURTESY PHOTO Al Heggins lawsuit.

“It was her job to host these Heggins alleges in her lawsuit kinds of conversations,” he said. ‘n*****,’ when they say there’s some that “McCaslin had no reaction, “It’s pretty peculiar that they equivalency, when they don’t see that and sat mute which plaintiff construed would prevent her from doing so.” this is a smoking gun in a discrimination as [his] tacit approval of the director of Given the history of the police being case or they don’t realize that they have human resources’ outrageous stateused to suppress black people’s civil and made the case for Heggins.” ment.” human rights in the United States, Perry Perry responded with open laughter James Perry, president of the Winsaid it’s incumbent on city government to the city’s stated objections to the term ston-Salem Urban League, said the to promote a dialogue in which people “white supremacy.” city’s admission helps make the case feel free to express anger and frustra“Hearing what the city said to her that racial hostility fed into Heggins’ tion. about ‘white supremacy’ being equivfiring, whatever other reasons might be “One of the goals in the ‘Black & alent to the use of the term ‘n*****,’ put forward in support of the decision.

Blue’ forum [in Winston-Salem] is to that was shocking, disgusting and an Prior to leading the Urban League, repair the relationship between the absolute step backwards for the city of Perry served as executive director of African-American community and the High Point,” he said. the Greater New Orleans Fair Houspolice department,” he said. “In some Bernita Sims, the legal redress chair ing Action Center, where he litigated ways, it’s to create one where there of the High Point NAACP, said the housing discrimination cases. Perry hasn’t been one. The most important organization has adopted a formal ressaid employment discrimination cases history lesson for folks is to recall that olution in support of Heggins’ lawsuit are often more difficult to prove than when African Americans were protestand has met with the police department housing cases because of the challenge ing for basic civil and human rights, to promote dialogue. of isolating for race to establish that a the police department was used as a “We want to work to make sure that white person would have been treated weapon against them. This was a period lines of communication remain open differently. when black folks were treated inhuand we want to make sure that policing “Most of the time the employers manely in many different ways. When in High Point takes into consideration won’t admit they said something that the government sought to reinforce that the opportunity for training police officlearly indicates there’s been a discriminhumanity, the weapon they used was cers on racial diversity,” she said. Sims inatory environment in the workplace,” the police department. The distrust that was elected mayor in 2012, and resigned he said. “One of the things that’s really is there, starts there. Then it continues in 2014 before pleading guilty to a interesting here is that in admitting this to the modern day and is exemplified in felony worthless check charge related to statement it seems to me that either Ferguson, Baton Rouge, Charlotte and a family estate settlement.

High Point doesn’t realize that when city after city in the deaths of AfriDavid L. Woodward, a lawyer with they say using the term ‘white supremcan-American men at the hands of the Poyner Spruill law firm in Raleigh who acy’ is the same as calling a person police department.” is representing the city, did not respond

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concerns of the black community as it relates to policing our neighborhoods.

Opportunities to build trust, confidence and transparency are continuing to be missed. Al Heggins is becoming the city’s whipping post, and at the same time has become another voice for equality who is being shut down.

History will show her to be a people’s champion, an advocate for equality for all.”

triad-city-beat.com

Pastor Brad Lilley, who spoke at the March 28, 2015 “Black & Blue” forum in High Point, expressed frustration in a Facebook message to Triad City Beat that the city is unwilling to hold a dialogue about police/community relations.

“It was our hope that much good would come out of those talks and the gap could have been bridged,” he said.

“So here we are still needing to bridge the gap, still needing to address the

Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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October 5 — 11, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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OPINION EDITORIAL

The new ‘Chosen One’ Trump haters and New York Times readers — not much mutual exclusivity there — were delivered a sweet autumn treat on the morning of Oct. 1: an exposé demonstrating that the Republican candidate for president of the United States lost nearly $1 billion in a single year, 1995, and postulating that the devastating hit has enabled him to live in this country without paying taxes for the next 20 years.

But like most news about the orangutan, it served only to enrage those who were already enraged at the man and force his supporters to find new and creative ways to justify their adulation of him.

The groundswell that’s lifted Trump has gone well beyond mere political support — they seem to look at the man in the same way Rush Limbaugh once described Obama supporters, referring to him as the “Chosen One”: a kind of messianic hero worship.

Of course, no one ever referred to the first black president as the “Chosen One” except for the mocking voices from Limbaugh and his ilk, save for the rapper Nas in a 2010 MTV spot.

But many, many Trump supporters — and even the man himself — seem to believe that once he ascends to the presidency he will acquire almost superhuman powers that will transcend the delicate military and economic balance keeping our country — and the world — in check.

Behind his string of broken microphones, he’s floated ideas like renegotiating our country’s debt without affecting its credit rating, establishing a “punishment” for women who terminate pregnancies, neutralizing the press, nuking North Korea and looking into the do-ability of cyber.

There’s audacity here, to be sure, and also hope, in that Trumpers seem to believe that, in the Donald’s world, all of these things would be possible.

So small matters like a billion-dollar business loss and manipulation of the tax code do nothing to besmirch the reputation of the man among the faithful.

And their blind trust in the Trump fantasy — in which rich people who game the system are brilliant — is equaled only by their disdain for reality-based mechanisms like the New York Times.

Recycle this paper.

CITIZEN GREEN

We need to step back from the abyss In this presidential election season awash in vitriol, insult, hyperbole and fear largely thanks to Donald Trump, recent episodes of police abuse have left people’s nerves completely raw, as the demands of reform

by Jordan Green proponents collide with conservative white backlash.

While completely justified, the anger has taken on a viral quality, with public awareness of black men dying at the hands of the police reaching critical mass, and then moving episodically from Baton Rouge and suburban Minnesota to Tulsa and then to Charlotte. The same day Charlotte police officers swarmed over Keith Lamont Scott and killed him in the presence of his distraught wife, Greensboro City Council wisely voted to release a video of a Greensboro police officer brutally attacking Dejuan Yourse and dragging him from his mother’s porch.

The public outrage about Yourse’s treatment — again, completely justified outrage — has manifested in online comments by some that are intemperate and vitriolic. My colleague, Eric Ginsburg’s excellent coverage of the Yourse incident, exploring the internal investigations into the actions of officers Travis Cole and Charlotte Jackson, attracted a phenomenal level of interest. Referrals from national websites tracking stories about police abuses helped two of the stories rack up a combined 26,000 page views in just a few days. One poster, identified as Riot50000, commented that he hoped Micah Johnson, the former Army reservist who killed five police officers in Dallas, “finds” Cole’s “entire family,” adding, “Psychopaths respond to one thing only — death blow [sic].” Another poster, arguing in support of the police, responded that he hoped that police officers who have killed black men “find you and put savages like you down.”

Unfortunately, some of the comments stayed up on our site for as long as three days, and we’ll have to do a better job in the future of vetting reader responses to ensure that our digital home remains a place for respectful dialogue. These comments, which contribute to a climate of violence, are clearly unacceptable.

The fact that some hold no inhibition about promoting violence points to a worrisome trend in our national discourse. No political stance based on denying the humanity of one’s adversaries holds any hope for a future worth fighting for. Conversely, any movement with a holistic vision must leave open a door for the conversion of the oppressor, for eventual reconciliation and a society where the dignity and worth of all are upheld.

The “war on drugs” declared by President Nixon in 1971 — encouraging police to view citizens as enemy combatants — set the foundation for the dehumanizing rhetoric that has recently exploded with the backlash against Black Lives Matter. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a speaker at the Republican National Convention and one of the most extreme voices against police reform, called the protesters in Charlotte “subhuman” during a Sept. 21 appearance on Fox News. As noted before in this space, Clarke has previously written in an op-ed piece published in the Hill: “This is a war, and Black Lives Matter is the enemy.”

When anyone is reduced to the status of an enemy, it stands to reason that they should be liquidated and crushed. No one holds respectful dialogue with enemies.

While not as inflammatory as some of his other comments, Trump’s response to the Charlotte protests essentially served to stoke the fears of his white supporters for political gain. After two days of violence, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told supporters in Pittsburgh: “If you’re not aware, drugs are a very, very big factor in what you’re watching on television.”

That would probably be news to the most militant protesters as well as those who advocate nonviolent direct action: People involved in the illegal drug trade tend to be politically apathetic and mainly interested in flying below the radar. But the unmistakable message to Trump’s conservative white supporters is that the nation needs a strong leader to tamp down on “urban disorder.”

Not that we don’t need real reform — laws to ensure public access to police video, accountability so that officers who violate the public trust are prosecuted for murder, better training to sensitize police about implicit bias and teach them to deescalate confrontations — but the quality of the discourse matters, too.

In that sense, Hillary Clinton’s visit to Charlotte on Sunday hit the right note. While acknowledging that black children have to fear for their safety and security in ways that white children don’t, Clinton insisted on upholding the worth of both people in the black community and police officers.

“Being stronger together with this common vision means rejecting those forces that try to pit us against each other,” she said. “We can acknowledge that implicit bias still exists, not just in police departments but throughout our country, without vilifying police officers.”

Black lives matter was never an exclusive claim; as a slogan, it emphasizes the value of black lives in particular because repeated incidents of black men dying at the hands of the police and the almost complete lack of justice and accountability says otherwise.

Craft soda

News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

Charles Wood’s “Fresh Eyes” together. What about the soul who cried inconsolably when her [“Fresh Eyes: Victoria’s overdose,” autistic cousin was bullied at the Dan River? Or the little girl

by Charles Wood, Sept. 14, 2016] who routinely confronted her cousin’s tormentors. Victoria had seemingly learned nothing beyond a huge heart. She was fearless. how to take advantage of the sad The tents built in our houses. The pretend pediatrician story of my beautiful, talented and diagnosing the cat at age 5. Listening to the soothing rain in troubled niece Victoria. This time the cabin with the tin-roofed screened porch, coloring books he got his name in print — good for and art supplies scattered on the floor. She liked to make

by Judy Adair you, Charlie. things, beautiful pieces of art, silly drawings, handmade paper, During Victoria’s life, I repeatedly refused to take her to his sun catchers, dreamcatchers, photos of the world as she saw place. I couldn’t stop her from going but I damn sure wasn’t it. Each attempt more refined as she practiced her art. I have going to be a part of taking her to what in my mind was like many, many of these stories, too. She was once the little girl ex“Mother Superior’s,” the heroin den in Trainspotting — a place plorer, once a young woman of the world — kind, mean, funny, where addicts were free to self-destruct, overdose and somedifficult, easy, sober, reasonable and totally messed up. There times die. Mother Superior was the supplier and had a habit, are many stories and everyone who knew Victoria has many to and perhaps there was no supply or economic gain here, but tell — she was memorable.

Victoria was not part of the heroin scene before this person’s Five years have passed and we miss her every single day. We name kept cropping up on a regular basis. I am in no way implyhave all beaten ourselves for not doing more, not being able ing that her habit started there — it didn’t — but once on that to stop that terrible day. Some days I can convince myself that road, his was the place she wanted to go.

Victoria was hell-bent on dying and there really wasn’t anything There are so many stories to tell about Victoria and that day left to do. Other days I wonder if I had just tried one more time and everything that led up to it, some of them maybe… just maybe… she’d still be here. beautiful, some of them cruel. I could tell you I’m not the only one. Nothing frigging ever about the scene that late afternoon in front worked — I still go back and forth and wind up I dream of her of his apartment — all of us locked out. We sick to the pit of my stomach. Every story about laughing and wanted to see her just one last time. I was there an addict dying or recovering brings me back crying, but mostly to Victoria, but so does driving down Walker with her mother, her father, uncles, aunts, her friends — all drained of color, exhausted from of her being here. Avenue remembering her pointing out the the emotional rollercoaster we’d been on for lions and elephants unbelieving that I didn’t see so long just to now face the end we all feared them, too. No one thought like Victoria — no — the end of Victoria’s self-destruction — our one laughed like her — no one loved like her collective nightmares collided on that late summer afternoon. and no one broke our hearts like she did. I cherish my memories There’s the story of watching her grandparents collapse at — all of them. I dream of her laughing and crying, but mostly of the news of her death. An uncle who literally stalked College her being here.

Hill on a nightly basis looking for her, hoping to find her safe, The author’s “Fresh Eyes” learned nothing, and even inferred preparing to rescue her if not. The stories of the mourners sadthat he’s just the same as he was then. Where’s the self-reflecly passing through her art exhibit in agony and shock, coaxing tion in your fresh eyes? each piece to tell us just one more story.

There’s my flare of anger, but really I have hope for Charlie.

Do you want to hear about the horrible night before rehab, I hope he can reflect rather than on that particularly awful day, her pacing and screaming at me for hours? Or how about instead to all of the days he had with Victoria. She left a huge showing her pictures of the accident she was in weeks earlier impact on everyone she knew. What has he learned from her and the forced trip to the scene where yet another addict drove life? How has her absence left his own life less rich? How can them through a fence piercing her bladder? I wanted Victoria he use his experiences with her to improve himself, his relato know that she was in danger — I wanted her to care that she tionships with others, with society? What can he do to help was in danger. someone else not crawl into the vortex she did? How can he Do you want to hear about my sister? She’s a constant help them up, not down? advocate in pain then and now. Do you know what losing her Charlie, as a writer, as an artist, can shift his perception, beautiful only child has done to her? Those are the stories I change his point of view and wax poetic about my niece. If he really don’t want to tell but they’re a part of understanding how makes that shift, his nightmares will fade and then perhaps his much we lost that dreadful day. art will mature. Quit revisiting the stale, lifeless end. Look again; Or would you prefer to hear about the good times? Her if you can’t find a better perspective… look again. infectious laugh and wild imagination. You should have seen those Mediterranean blue eyes pop large and wide open out of Judy Adair lives in the Triad with her husband and daughan icy river pool she fearlessly leaped into. She was beautiful! ter, works as a business systems analyst for an international Or how proud we were on graduation day and how we celenon-profit human development organization and writes about brated her great success, talent and the promise of our future people and topics that impassion her.

Up Front

The people closest to me know that I no longer drink alcohol— and the people who have been around me the

by Brian Clarey longest know exactly why that is the case.

It’s true that I once had a love for strong drink that rivaled my affection for just about anything else this planet can produce. And while I have no regrets about the life I once led or the choice I made almost five years ago to change it up, I sometimes feel a pang of remorse that I missed the Triad craft beer movement to which this annual issue is dedicated.

It’s not just the beer: I also sometimes miss hanging around in bars, which is how I spent most of my youth. And I want to participate in the spate of new brewery openings that always seem to be… well, brewing.

So I go to these places, thankful that they have something for me to drink besides chlorinated soda from the gun or canned juices poured over ice. Hoots Roller Bar makes me craft sodas using house infusions. I can get pour-over coffees at Preyer, and sometimes Gibb’s Hundred has these cool sodas they get from Durham.

But for the most part, I’m out of luck.

What I’d have the beermakers do is steal a page from the Abita Brewery in Louisiana, makers of the very first microbrews I ever loved. Besides Turbodog and Jockamo IPA, Abita also produces a fabulous root beer that I would love to be sipping on instead of a club soda with a lime squeeze.

Lots of brewers are getting into the soda game: Stevens Point in Wisconsin has a soda operation, of which its Sprecher Root Beer is the bestseller; Oskar Blues, whose Old Chubb was once a personal fave, offers a soda line; as do breweries in Texas, Idaho, Georgia and Washington state.

None of the local beermakers have latched onto this trend, but I believe it would work. I for one would be a sure-fire customer — though I probably won’t be drinking 10 of them per visit.

Remembering my niece, the right way

triad-city-beat.com

IT JUST MIGHT WORK

FRESHER EYES

15

by Eric Ginsburg

The 2016 Brewer of the Year In one of our most popular reader polls of the year, Triad City Beat readers selected Calder Preyer of Preyer Brewing in Greensboro as the 2016 Brewer of the Year. The contest was close, with Ian Burnett of the new Brown Truck Brewing in High Point ranking a close second, followed by the Third City’s other brewmaster Todd Isbell, who’s held down Liberty Brewery & Grill for years (and who later passed Preyer and Burnett in the online poll, though we’d already hit our print deadline last week).

There are two main takeaways from the results: You cannot overlook High Point when it comes to craft beer, and while Preyer Brewing is one of the Triad’s newer breweries, it’s already a powerhouse.

We wanted to know more about the beard behind the brew at Preyer, where the taproom offers everything from a popular red IPA to a magnificent gose sour beer, as well as frequent one-off specials and some of the most comfortable taproom seating in the Triad.

Here’s what Calder Preyer had to say for himself.

TCB: When did you get into brewing?

Calder Preyer: I liked to drink beer [laughing]. I decided I wanted to make it, got a homebrew kit for Christmas when I was 22 and just went from there.

Cover Story

October 5 — 11, 2016

The 2016 Beer Issue

TCB: Do you remember the first beer you made?

CP: Some kind of IPA that I badly scorched the malt and it ended up being more like a hoppy brown ale. It was from a kit. I was pleased with it but I’m sure if I were to try it today, I would be horrified.

Another year in beer, and there’s more of it being made around here than ever. Plenty has changed on the local scene in 2016 so far — the opening of Brown Truck Brewing in High Point and Joymongers in Greensboro, added bottleshops, countless beer releases and three brewmaster changes affecting Foothills, Natty Greene’s and Pig Pounder.

Before the end of the 2016, we’ll see the opening of Wise Man Brewing in downtown Winston-Salem, and we recently learned about plans for a new brewing concern called Good Creature hoping to drop anchor in the heart of Greensboro. There’s been no apparent progress on the launch of Mansfield Brewing in the Gate City, but more than enough other things happened on the Triad beer scene in 2016; more on that later.

Regardless of how much you know about local beer, the 2016 Beer Issue is for you. That’s because we’ve broken it down so newbies can quickly come up to speed and snobs can flex their knowledge.

16

TCB: What’s the most enjoyable thing about being a professional brewer?

CP: Just that it’s such a different mix of so many different skills. I get to be creative you know, when I’m making the recipes, but there’s also a lot of physical labor, the process of brewing. And I also get to use problem-solving skills when you know, like the glycol chiller broke or the keg washer broke. It’s just a wide range of different skills and things that I do every day. It’s not tedious and monotonous and I’m doing something different every day and I get to use lots of different parts of my brain and my body. Nobody tells me to cut my hair off [laughing].

TCB: What’s the worst part?

CP: Just the fact that, you know, I’m not just a brewer at a brewery but a small business owner and the president of a small business. A lot of the stuff I deal with is that kind of thing. Bills, all the accounting, all the things that go on with trying to run any kind of small business is something that we deal with and just going through that small business struggle can be rough. The first few years of a small business can be tough. I never get despondent when I’m in the brewery working but sometimes when you’re sitting there writing check after check paying bills you’re just like, “Ugh, there’s a lot of money going out.”

Readers voted Calder Preyer (above) as the best head brewer in the Triad for 2016. Ian Burnett at

triad-city-beat.com

t Brown Truck in High Point came in second when the polls officially closed.

ERIC GINSBURG

17

October 5 — 11, 2016 Cover Story

TCB: What doesn’t the average beer drinker understand about the job of a brewmaster?

CP: I think just how much cleaning. How physical it can be. I said that it’s not tedious and boring but that’s in the sense that every day is different. There are a lot of tedious, boring things that you do in a brewery that we do a lot. We clean a lot. I don’t think the average beer drinker understands how much we clean, and how physical the job can be when you’re brewing a double batch and, you know, when you have a really busy week in your brewing schedule and at the end of the week, you can barely move. I often say I’m a glorified janitor.

At a big brewery that’s often not the case for the head brewer; they have cellar men cleaning tanks and all that kind of stuff. And I do have two assistant brewers now, so….

TCB: Do you have a favorite of your beers?

CP: Really I tend to drink a lot of our new stuff. I think our gose is a really well executed beer, I think our gose’s really solid. I wish I could drink more of it but it gives me heartburn [laughing]. The beer we put out [Sept.

29] is really good — that New New Citra Fresh Hop Pale Ale. I really just tend to drink whatever’s new and not very high alcohol because I’ve got two young kids and I work all the time and barely ever sleep.

TCB: What are Preyer Brewing’s most popular brews?

CP: Our Lewis & Crunk West Coast-Style IPA. Our gose does really well too, and being as we just went through summer, our wheat beers. You know, we do have a regular wheat, we have a strawberry wheat, we do fruity wheat beer and stuff so those always do well, too.

TCB: Is there a beer you’re looking forward to brewing that you haven’t yet?

CP: We’re going to do an imperial cream ale eventually. It’s Nicole’s.

Nicole Preyer: Eric, I’ve been asking him for that beer for more than 10 years. Ten years.

CP: [Laughing] Imperial cream ale is something we’ll probably be doing soon.

NP: Mind Your Nanners will be an imperial cream ale with banana-y flavor.

CP: I want to get a barrel-aging program going, I’m just not a big bourbon barrel guy, so I’m just trying to find the right barrels for what we want to do, what we want to accomplish. Do something a little different.

TCB: What’s coming soon at Preyer?

CP: We’ve got a single-hop, sour-mash pale ale with an experimental hop variety that I’m brewing today [Sept.

30], an imperial oatmeal stout, we’ve got the return of our pumpkin imperial stout next week, and I think that’s everything that’s new for October right now. We made a pumpkin-spice beer with some extra wheat beer

18

Assistant brewer Leah Adams helps Calder Preyer with clean-up duties.

that we had and we’re calling it Basic. Basic American Wheat [laughing].

TCB: What do you think is next for the craft beer scene in the Triad?

CP: In the Triad? I think we’ll continue to see more breweries opening. I would hope, at least. I’m always happy to see more breweries opening because more people drinking craft beer is more customers for us, too. We don’t see it as a competition kind of thing. I think in the Triad we’ll see more breweries opening.

TCB: And what about beyond the Triad, what’s next for craft beer?

CP: It’s tough for us to answer because it’s kind of like we’ve had our blinders on, just working on our own little, tiny slice of things. Everyone in the craft beer industry is always worried about whether there’s a bubble, and whether there’s going to be some kind of shakeout with breweries. I don’t think there necessarily will be yet.

It’s just going to get tougher for a small, independent craft brewers to really stand out and make sure people know you are independently owned, to get eyes on

ERIC GINSBURG

your product because shelves are crowded. It’s tough to get taps. You’ve got to work that much harder to sell your beer, but otherwise I think with all these breweries there’s a great diversity in the market in terms of what products are available. It’s certainly never been a better time to be a craft-beer consumer.

It’s been hard for me to pontificate much about what’s coming though. We’ve just had our heads down, noses to the grindstone, doing our own thing getting off the ground and up and running.

TCB: Anything you want to add?

CP: I’m a head brewer, not a brewmaster. Brewmaster as a title, it means a lot.

TCB: Is that just you trying to be humble or is there a meaningful distinction?

CP: Um, both [laughing]. I mean, I’ve only been at pro brewing for two years now. I’m definitely not the best brewer on that list. I was very humbled and pleased to have won the poll, but I’m definitely not the best brewer that was on that list, in my mind. But we are constantly striving to make a better product here.

Winston-Salem

Foothills — 638 W. Fourth St., 3800 Kimwell Drive, foothillsbrewing.com The Camel City’s longest standing brewery is the second largest North Carolina-based craft brewery, with a downtown pub and a tasting room and production facility complete with a lab on the southern end of Winston-Salem. Earlier this year, head brewer TL Adkisson took over as brewmaster at Foothills.

Hoots — 840 Mill Works St., hoots-

public.com Billing itself as a working-class kind of bar, there’s always some good, cheap beer available at Hoots. But the brewery/ bar located inside West End Mill Works recently added a cocktail menu and added various events, including karaoke. Try the darker beers here.

Small Batch — 241 W. Fifth St., smallbatchws.com Besides being the smallest of the breweries in the Triad’s cities, Small Batch is unique in other ways, like being connected to the burger joint next door and having the best website of them all — it says exactly what’s on tap and how much is left.

Greensboro

Gibb’s Hundred — 117 W. Lewis St., gibbshundred.com Home of a gold medal from the Great American Beer Festival for its ESB, Gibb’s Hundred is part of downtown Greensboro’s rising South End area, next to Greensboro Distilling and across from the forthcoming Boxcar bar & arcade. Check out the patio, or all the board games.

Joymongers — 576 N. Eugene St., joymongers.com The Triad’s newest brewery is also home to one of its veteran brewers, Mike Rollinson, formerly of Natty Greene’s.

Rollinson has already cranked out a dizzying assortment of beers, from standard to strange, but all of them are good.

Natty Greene’s — 345 S. Elm St.,

1918 W. Gate City Blvd., nattygreenes. com Greensboro’s oldest brewery is best

known for its downtown pub and yearround beers, but what it’s doing with sour and aged beers is particularly interesting.

Look for special offerings at the pub as well as bottle releases and events at the Bunker near the Greensboro Coliseum.

Brian Carter is the new head brewer at the pub, while Scott Christoffel — who oversaw the main production — left for Sugar Creek Brewing this year.

Pig Pounder — 1107 Grecade St.,

pigpounder.com No other local brewery specializes in English-style ales, and Pig Pounder won gold earlier this year at the World Beer Cup for its Boar Brown. Owned by developer Marty Kotis, this pink brewery is now run by head brewer Blake Allison.

Preyer — 600 Battleground Ave., preyerbrewing.com Make sure to read the Q&A with head brewer Calder Preyer, named the head brewer of the year for 2016 by our readers, to learn more about this brewery on the north end of downtown, located next door to Crafted: the Art of Street Food.

Intermediate: What’s new

The most noticeable changes to the Triad’s beer scene this year came in the form of two new breweries, but there are other important developments that keen observers still might have missed.

Women played a more pronounced role in beer around here, which is especially important for an industry so dominated by white guys. We highlighted a couple, including Leah Adams who is the assistant brewer at Preyer, Tiki Adkisson who runs Foothills’ lab and Kate Weigand who helps run Bestway’s legendary beer wall.

We covered the reboot of a local Girls Pint Out chapter, a group led by Sarah Stephens and Carmen Allred that aims to create a community around beer for women. But there are other important stories we didn’t get to, including other women who have a hand in the brewing process, like Joymongers’ assistant brewer Christina Hobbs Worley. We hope the trend continues, and that the beer scene here isn’t so white by the 2017 Beer Issue.

Other noteworthy trends emerged in 2016, too; Preyer and Joymongers introduced crowlers to the Triad, and Wise

Man intends to follow suit. The 32-ounce to-go containers are sort of like a growler in a can, requiring less cleaning time and longer shelf life. Joymongers even printed up shirts claiming, “32 is the new 40.”

As sour beers rose in popularity, so did their availability in the Triad, including ones with fruits or vegetables like Hoots’ black raspberry grisette and Small Batch’s beet gose. Liberty released a Berliner weisse, Pig Pounder put out a basil saison and Gibb’s Hundred let me brew a similar beer, except with mint. If Pig Pounder is selling a sour, you can pretty much find one anywhere these days.

Insiders could rattle off dozens of other changes since the 2015 Beer Issue, but as far as the highlights, there’s only one more major shift — the arrival of Tap Hopper Tours. The bus-based company transports hop heads around Greensbeero, stopping at various breweries and occasionally a bottleshop or the new Greensboro Distilling. It’s the first of its kind in the Triad but similar to existing operations around the state, and the owners intend to expand to the surrounding area in short order.

triad-city-beat.com

The Beginner’s Guide to Triad Beer

High Point

Brown Truck — 1234 N. Main St., browntruckbrewery.com People in High Point are very excited about the city’s second brewery — as they should be. Brown Truck’s Ian Burnett ranked second in our head brewer poll, and when I went to check the brewery out, I found Liberty brewmaster Todd Isbell grabbing a pint.

Liberty — 914 Mall Loop Road,

libertybreweryandgrill.com The longstanding brewery and restaurant in High Point has been a go-to for locals and High Point University students for more than a decade. But brewmaster Todd Isbell really knows what he’s doing; he’s a brewing instructor, actually, and makes consistently excellent beers.

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October 5 — 11, 2016 Cover Story

Advanced: A pop quiz for local beer geeks

Time to take the test! For some of you, much of the preceding elements of the Beer Issue are a rerun, covering well-trod territory that you’re all too happy to tell your friends you already knew. But how many of these questions can you answer correctly?

1. Let’s start easy. Name the newest brewery in each of the Triad’s cities.

2. Name three Triad brewmasters.

3. Which brewery sold a special release called Dead & Berried this year?

4. Name the three breweries closest to the Triad’s three cities.

5. Which breweries are located next door to distilleries?

6. N ame all the Triad breweries that serve food on site (meaning a dedicated kitchen, not snacks, delivery services or food trucks).

7. Name three kinds of hops.

8. Which brewery operates a second location called the Bunker?

9. Lots of local breweries are close together, but which two are closer than any others?

10. Name a local homebrew club.

The Triad Beer Trail Challenge

When Wise Man Brewing opens soon, the Triad cities will be home to 11 breweries. We’re issuing a challenge. Each month for the next year, go to a different brewery and try a beer you’ve never had before. Cut out this calendar and mark down your progress. You can use the 12th month as a pass, or if you want to challenge yourself, check out another brewery nearby. We recommend Four Saints in Asheboro, Kernersville Brewing Company or Red Oak in Whitsett.

October 2016

December 2016

Brewery:

Brewery:

Brewery:

Beer tried:

Beer tried:

Beer tried:

Rating:

Rating:

Rating:

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

Brewery:

Brewery:

Brewery:

Beer tried:

Beer tried:

Beer tried:

Rating:

Rating:

Rating:

Bonus: W hich brewery appeared on the cover of our 2014 Beer Issue?

Bonus: Hoots Answers: 1. Joymongers in Greensboro 2. Dave McClure, Derek Meyn, TL Adkisson, To dd Isbell, Ian Burnett, Brian Carter, John Priest, Calder Preyer, Mike Rollinson and Blake Allison are all correct answers.

3. Foothills 4. Kernersville Brewing, Four Saints and Red Oa k.

5. Hoots in Winston-Salem and Gibb’s Hundred in Greensboro.

6. Foothills, Natty Greene’s, Liberty and Small Batch.

7. Multiple correct answers, though Foothills’ Hop of the Month program should make this easier.

8. Natty Greene’s 9. Preyer and Joymongers 10. High Point HOPS, the Winston-Salem Worthawgs or the Battleground Brewers Guild

20

November 2016

April 2017

May 2017

June 2017

Brewery:

Brewery:

Brewery:

Beer tried:

Beer tried:

Beer tried:

Rating:

Rating:

Rating:

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

Brewery:

Brewery:

Brewery:

Beer tried:

Beer tried:

Beer tried:

Rating:

Rating:

Rating:

Winner:

George Lopez’s personal touch, new twist on Cuban food

by Eric Ginsburg

Up Front

T

News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

aste of Cuba is not your typical restaurant. In fact it’s not really a restaurant at all.

There’s a counter, yes, and fresh food is sold here, but owner George “Bolo” Lopez conceives of his business as more like catering on demand. Maybe like hiring a personal chef without the commitment, or in a simpler sense, a carryout joint. It’s possible to show up unannounced and order some of Lopez’s trademark Cubinis — think Cuban sandwiches crossed with sliders — but there’s no guarantee he’ll be there, or be ready.

And if you’re angling for some of his baked chicken empanadas, forget it; call ahead or be prepared to wait, because these hot pockets take at least 30 minutes in the oven.

But as Lopez will tell you when you meet him, and maybe more than once, he’ll cook for you any time.

Leaving the club late and hankering for some of his pinwheel Panini wraps with ham, Swiss, pepperoni, spinach, homemade roasted peppers and a five-cheese blend? Call him up. Have family coming into town and want to score some of his ropa vieja stewed beef and vegetable dish, and maybe some Cuban flan to go with ERIC GINSBURG George Lopez puts together his cilantro hot sauce/marinade with about a dozen vegetables in it. it? Lopez will be ready even if you need to pick it up at 3 a.m., he insists. driving tractor trailers to floral decorating. injuries, pausing only to make a wisecrack or amorous To eat at Taste of Cuba, the southwestern Greens“I’ve got a résumé from hell,” he admits, having remark to his girlfriend Cheryl Andre standing nearby. boro spot also known as Baby Bolo’z, is to experience bounced all over the country and spending time locked The first time I showed up at Taste of Cuba, I a piece of Lopez, and not just through his cooking. The up. “There’s nothing I can’t do.” managed to catch Lopez moments before a planned former Jersey boy who spent about a decade in prison Now he’s determined to work for himself. The move grocery run. Insisting it was no trouble, he ushered my in Colorado is quick to share stories about himself over is partly practical, given his employment history, friend and I inside, sharing stories from his past while the counter as he prepares food, even with complete criminal record and bad knees that would make regular prepping his incredibly affordable Cubano and chicken strangers. hours a challenge. But it’s also a principled one, Lopez cordon bleu wraps for us to share. As we ate, Lopez He’ll point to a crutch built for a child that’s hanging says — he could probably land a job in a kitchen makbrought out some Mountain Dew in champagne glassup and share the story of being hit by a car at age 7, or ing someone else’s uninspired recipes, but you want es, and threw in his French vanilla flan for dessert. mention that he starred as an extra in the music video the person making your food to be happy and to use I didn’t mention that I worked as a food writer, for “Trespass” by Ice-T and Ice Cube for the 1992 action high-quality ingredients and methods, he says. After only mentioning that my friend Marianne suggested film by the same name. Lopez isn’t shy to talk about all that he’s been through, including medical crises I check him out. That’s just how Lopez is, rolling out his time in prison, where members of the Mexican and deaths in the family, Lopez feels like he owes it to the welcome mat and worrying about the future later.

Mafia, Aryan Brotherhood and Gangster Disciples sat himself to keep pushing.

He’s proud of running his own legitimate business as together to eat his cooking — guards and the warden “I refuse to give up,” he says. “I love what I do. an ex con, he says, and just wants to share wholesome, even asked to try his creations, he says. He’ll tell you Later he adds, “I’m here for a reason. I want to see healthy Cuban food with the people around him. about the extensive injuries and setbacks he’s suffered, what the outcome is.”

After all, he says, this is the food he makes for himabout the battle to take care of his parents and longLopez painted the inside of a small Pinecroft Road self too, and he swears by it. time girlfriend, but he’ll also crack jokes and talk about storefront bright orange, a hue vibrant enough to fit his philosophy on cooking. in at a Syracuse football game. It He’s not sure if his food qualifies matches the T-shirt he’s wearing as Cuban fusion exactly — Lopez Pick of the Week Contact George “Bolo” today under his apron decorated is Cuban, but he learned to cook Remembering Hong Kong House with hot peppers. Both of his knees Lopez at 908.577.7539 or from Italians, worked in multiple Book signing & food tasting @ Gibb’s Hundred Breware in braces, and he’s thinking Jersey pizza places and puts his visit tasteofcubacafe.com ing Company (GSO), Saturday, 8 a.m. about rubbing some of his sauce on own touch on everything he makes. to try some of his delicious Guest Chef Sel Mpang cooks up Asian-inspired them to see if it will relieve any of He’s trying to make food as healthy cuisines created by famous local chef and restaucooking, much of it Cuban. the pain. as possible — no frying, no fake rateur Amelia Leung while cookbook author Karen Lopez is the kind of person ingredients, no salt — and people McClamrock shares recipes from the legendary whose personality can fill a room, are responding, coming in for his Hong Kong House. For more about the book signing with a commanding yet kind presence and an endlessly flavorful hot sauce that features cilantro and about a and foodie event, visit the Hong Kong House Facetalkative nature.

He’s as animated as the color of the dozen vegetables. book page or gsofarmersmarket.org. walls, still bouncing around despite his knees and past Lopez has worked just about every kind of job, from

triad-city-beat.com

CULTURE

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October 5 — 11, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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CULTURE Futurebirds fly where the wind don’t blow so strange

by Jordan Green and Naari Honor

D

aniel Womack lost himself in the excitement of putting a new set of strings on his acoustic guitar as the Athens-based band Futurebirds loaded their gear into the Garage.

The Georgia-Tennessee football game was streaming over the Winston-Salem venue’s sound system, and Womack looked up and smiled as Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason made a 47-yard clutch pass to teammate Riley Ridley who made the touchdown, putting Georgia ahead with 10 seconds left in the game. Thomas Johnson, one of the band’s three songwriter-vocalist-guitarists, paused in front of the stage, leaped and punched the air in exaltation as the announcer said, “This one will live for the ages in Athens if they can actually win this game.”

Then, a “hail Mary” pass from Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs to wide receiver Jauan Jennings put Tennessee over, 34-31. “The Georgia fans are in shock,” the announcer said. “They thought they’d won this game.”

Womack pulled out a brand-new A string, wound it through the low-E position, and clipped it. Then, realizing his mistake, he threw his head back and laughed. He pulled Futurebirds, who played the Garage on Oct. 1, take football losses, wasted strings and delayed releases in stride. NAARI HONOR off the useless A string. Trimmed to length, it was now too short for its natural position.

Womack got up to retrieve another pack of Alabama — over the next three weeks that was initially to continually change up to keep things interesting strings. booked in support of a new EP. manifested in reworking of older material. They transRelaxing in the green room after sound-check, John“Forces outside of our control pushed back the EP,” formed “Battle for Rome,” a banjo-tinged Americana son took the snatched victory in stride. said Johnson, displaying the equanimity of a college anthem from Hampton’s Lullaby that features Johnson “We’re used to it,” he said. “There’s four seconds left football fan used to sudden reversals. “That’s why it’s a on lead vocals, into a five-alarm rager, while “Yur Not on the clock — you know, there’s still time to lose.” random kind of in-betweener show.”

Ded” from the same album went from a dirge-like Since the release of their 2010 full-length debut, When Futurebirds hit the stage at 11:30 p.m., they psychedelic desert epic to a rousing power-pop song Hampton’s Lullaby, Futurebirds has evolved from a opened with one of their new songs, a trance-like that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a Big Star folk-Americana act through a reverb-laden country mediation by Womack called “For Your Love,” while album. phase into a full-frontal rock-and-roll band. Rathanother new song, tossed out in the first handful of The members of Futurebirds have accepted the label er than cycle through those three phases, they’ve numbers, nailed a mixture of sadness and catharsis in “psychedelic country” because it captures the dichotmanaged to incorporate all of them into a sound that a squall of distorted guitar reminiscent of Neil Young omy of rootedness and weirdness in their music, but showcases rich vocal harmonies, an explosive live act & Crazy Horse. Signposting the loose, wild energy to King said they wouldn’t want the term to become a replete with rousing guitar interplay and an increasing come in the show, a female audience member yelled to limitation. Johnson added that he doesn’t necessarily strong brace of new songs. With the release of Hotel Carter King, one of the band’s three songwriter-vocalembrace the stoner connotation of the label. He said Parties a year ago, they pared down their sound and ist-guitarists, as he introduced the third song: “I want he considers Futurebirds “a song-based band,” explainbrought the vocals to the forefront, in contrast to the to pinch your butt.” ing that every song should be strong enough to sound lush instrumentation and heavy reverb on its predeBy midnight, the crowd had thinned significantly, cessor, Baba Yaga. Now, the band is on the cusp of with many of the fans who had turned out to see Pick of the Week releasing a new batch of material. two local acts debuting new material departing. The One last musical shebang “I don’t know if it’s a change in direction,” Johnson members of Futurebirds didn’t seem deterred, showing Glen David Andrews @ Fourth Street between Cherry said. “I think in a lot of ways we like to feel like we’re all themselves to be all the more resolute about putting and Marshall (W-S), Sunday, 3 p.m. trying to get better, to hone in on the sound. We feel on a great show for the rabid fans who stuck around Second Sundays on 4th closes its series with the really strongly that our last record was the best yet, so and danced with drunken abandon. One of them, who soulful funky rock and roll stylings of New Orleans we’re always just trying to get better.” had been staggering moments earlier, became so inmusician Glen David Andrews and Victoria Victoria, The Oct. 1 show in Winston-Salem was part of a spired that he climbed on his friend’s shoulders before a local R&B gospel band, on the rise. More informastring of dates across the Southeast — a sweep from the sound tech intervened. tion can be found on sso4.com.

Virginia, through the Carolinas and into Georgia and The band’s ability to read its audience, or maybe just

Cover artist

Theresa Rizzuto

Up Front

Futurebirds to tackle it with a hippierockers-trying-their-hand-at-honkytonk approach of the Flying Burrito Brothers or New Riders of the Purple Sage. Instead, stripping down to the loose, chaotic impulses of a bar band in ragged glory, they throttled the song like Thin Lizzy might have — a demonic boogie performed on a satellite on collision course with a meteor.

A band equally comfortable in the murky past and the hazy future, Futurebirds proved their sound is a moving target.

triad-city-beat.com

complete played on a single guitar or piano without additional instrumentation or production.

Johnson said all the varied strands of Futurebirds’ music create a Southern sound as a composite.

After closing with a rousing rendition of the melancholy “Hotel Parties,” Garage owner Tucker Tharpe delivered PBRs to the band. Opening a can and raising a toast, King introduced the encore, a cover of the truck-driving anthem “Six Days on the Road.”

A staple of country-rock bands in the early ’70s, it would have made sense for

News Opinion Cover Story

Check out Theresa’s shop on Spoonflower (spoonflower. com/profiles/trizzuto), a local, North Carolina site that custom prints indie designs onto fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap (you can also upload and print your own design). Don’t miss her beer design, crafted from the painting she did specifically for the cover of Triad City Beat’s 2016 Beer Issue.

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24

CULTURE Foothills’ secret iconography

by Brian Clarey

W

inston-Salem’s oldest brewery wasn’t always named Foothills, says Kyle Webster, who was there from the beginning.

He worked at the time for an agency, Shapiro Walker Design, that started on the brewery’s account from the time it was barely a gleam in Jamie Bartholomaus’ eye.

“We were throwing around names like ‘Blue Chip Brewing,’ ‘Torch,’ which later became a beer I think,” he says. “At one point they were considering calling themselves ‘Pilot Mountain Brewing.’ That later became Pilot Mountain Pale Ale. I think there were about five or six names we looked at, and ‘Foothills’ is the one that stuck.”

Though he grew up overseas — moving from Pakistan to Singapore to Taiwan, then Cyprus and France — he came to UNCG to study painting, and also because he had loved visiting his grandparents who lived down the road in Raleigh.

He switched to a design major at the last minute — “I was too nervous about graduating with a painting Kyle Webster modeled the design for People’s Porter after Foothills owner Jamie Bartholomaus. degree,” he says — which is how he found himself, in 2003, charged with creating the look for a new brewcause we have this design vocabulary that we can go ery. back to. It’s like putting on an old pair of jeans for me.

There were some considerations for the design: The I know that brand; I know Jamie; I know his personalgraphics needed to be bold, and able to be reproduced ity and I know his taste. And I know enough to make small enough for a tap handle and big enough for a everything consistent with what came before it.” poster. The color palette would be limited, so that He still lives in Winston-Salem, where he teaches T-shirts could be made. drawing classes at UNC School of the Arts and shep“Every project, you have these parameters laid out herds his sprawling career. from the get-go,” Webster says. “I think it’s a little Webster’s body of work as an illustrator has earned harder to look at a blank piece of paper and do somehim gigs at some of the nation’s foremost alternative thing from scratch.” weeklies — the Stranger in Seattle, San Francisco’s SF For the Foothills logo itself, he kept it simple with a Weekly and other New Times papers among them. foot, a beer glass and the letter F. He turned the logo “I have lots of love for altweeklies,” he says, “behe had made for Pilot Mountain — a stoic mountaineer cause they helped me start my career as an illustrator. with the outline of the landmark described in his hat — When I had about 20 altweeklies giving me work every and converted it into the pale ale logo. week I was able to quit my design job.”

He’s done dozens now for the core brands, seasonal Just last week he turned around a piece for the Wall releases and the IPA of the Month offerings, and each Street Journal for an article about an orchestra playing one, he says, has a little twist.

Led Zeppelin tunes. He drew Robert Plant slinking out “I’m always hiding something in the art,” he says, of a French horn. “either a nod to the title of the beer or something that “I draw a lot for books and magazines,” he says. “I do hints back at the brand, with logos and identities. I consult the F.” with companies about making That stylized F can be seen in Kyle Webster’s illustrations, better digital art software and I reverse in a lock of hair on the altweekly covers, Photoshop create digital art tools for other Jade IPA label, and in the grill artists as well. brushes and beer labels can of the old truck on the Hopjob “[My career] is kind of a weird IPA, and in the breastplate of beviewed at kyletwebster.com. thing to explain,” he says. “I the warrior princess who reps used to just say, ‘Illustrator,’ the Baltic Porter. The owl on the but to do so much stuff it’s hard to pin down. I never XXX Foothills Stout has three Xs worked into its feathhave a good one-sentence answer for what I do, like at ers. The Torch Pilsner Viking has flames worked into his a party.” beard — “It’s also a portrait of my dad,” Webster says But if they’re serving Foothills beer, he can just point — and the label for People’s Porter is actually a portrait at the label. of Foothills founder and CEO Jamie Bartholomaus.

“Now it’s easier than it used to be,” he says, “be-

Webster gave the Torch viking a fiery beard.

Kyle Webster

COURTESY PHOTO

Pick of the Week Out at the Movies International LGBT Film Fest @ UNCSA’s ACE Theatre Complex (W-S), Thursday-Oct. 9 This year’s festival is packed with a plethora of goodies, including screenings of 12 feature-length movies and eight movie shorts, filmmaker Q&As and nightly filmmaker receptions. For detailed information on show times and screening locations, visit outatthemovieswinston.org.

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October 5 — 11, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

26

SPORTSBALL

T

You either got it or you don’t. And even if you do, you gotta have that special something.

The Greensboro Swarm, the newly established D-League team for the Charlotte Hornets, held an open tryout on

by Anthony Harrison Sunday. Ballers from up and down the Eastern Seaboard, from Florida to Maryland, filled the three-court gym of UNCG’s shiny new rec center as climbers scrambled up challenges on the 54-foot rock wall and fencers parried in the room next door.

They came from all walks of life — black, white, Latino, Asian. They ran the physical spectrum from ripped to lanky, long to rotund. Trash talkers, team players, ball hogs, pickpockets, sharpshooters, slamma-jammas running all kinds of drills, some I’d neither seen nor heard of — sprints, skips, jogs, lunges, suicides, the Spiderman, the Karaoke — all contributing to the cacophonic symphony of screeching sneakers on hardwood.

Yet they were all united in a common goal: Make the team for the outside shot at an NBA contract.

Supporters followed them the way a supply chain trails an invading army. Mothers, fathers, lovers and friends formed cheerleading corps for one-man teams.

Trainers and coaches tagged along as well, and once they recognized my motive, they wasted no time in pimping their protégés.

“Hey, you a photographer or a journalist?” they’d ask me. “I got a player you should write about. He’s been playin’ pro ball in the Philippines, real pro ball. These other guys, they got the talent, but him, he’s got a demeanor superior to these guys. Just watch ’im.”

And I’d watch ’im, alright, and he was good, surely.

He was in great shape; he had the look of blind ambition in his eye. And he could pull up, pump fake, fade away, contest the shot, sacrifice the body against the charge, slash and drive. But there were another couple dozen of him skittering around in the talent pool of 200 others, and even the ballers with some of the best-looking shots, the biggest ups, wouldn’t make the

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Hoop dreams at Swarm tryout final cut.

Because some got it, and some don’t.

Swarm head coach Noel Gillespie, a former assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns, laid out what he wanted from his potential recruits.

“I’m looking for role players,” Gillespie shot out to the assembly in short bursts with only the slightest pause between clauses, like suppressing fire from a machine gun. “I’m looking for how you pass the ball to the other man, not step back, iso, pulling up for the shot.

“Don’t be a hero,” he continued. “We’re all in this together. That’s playing basketball.”

Gillespie rambled out his team-play rants with the fervor and intensity of an evangelist, repeating that final phrase as a revival preacher might implore his congregation, “Can I get an amen?”

And he captivated his audience, and they believed in him, answering with applause.

The sidelines of the three-court gym burst with young men all clapping together as their scrimmaging teammates ran their medley of drills. They clapped even when the nervous among them jumped the gun and drilled before the whistle, when they lost the ball on the left-to-right cross, when they couldn’t throw their hands high enough while running suicides.

Sure, some had it and some didn’t, but at that point, nobody had much over anyone else.

What I saw were players almost equally talented, strong on O and D; if deficient in one, making up for that lack with surplus on the other side. Even if their jump shots thunked off the back of the rim, they might follow up on the rebound and dunk the ball. And the short or slight among them who might get stuffed on the drive could swish from downtown at will.

Twenty teams soon scrimmaged in half-court pickup games, both in the main three-court gym and the smaller, two-court gym downstairs adjacent to the swimming pools.

“This is the classroom session,” Gillespie announced before the skirmishes began. “We’re not gonna pass and stand — this is position-less basketball. Instead of dancing with it, things are gonna flash. That’s playing

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basketball.”

Every player scrapped and fought for each possession, thudding to the floor after going up for the rebound, slashing into opposing players crowding the key in vain attempts to show off their agility.

They threw themselves into the fray because, to them, the game is everything, and they were not throwing away their shot.

I overheard Justin Ramsey, a 6-foot-11-inch, 31-yearold veteran of Virginia Union University in Richmond, outside of the two-court gym.

“I was working out with the [Orlando] Magic, but they were looking for top picks outta college, and I’m like, ‘You got someone right here, ready to go,’” he lamented.

Ramsey had driven four-and-a-half hours from Chesapeake, Va. to try out for the team.

“I’ve just been trying to keep playing, because once you stop, that’s it,” he said.

The talent pool reflected the grim reality of the fractional chance that even great players face when aspiring to play ball for money, but they all remained enthusiastic.

“It’s not the guys who score the most points, who grab the most rebounds,” Gillespie said. “It’s the guys that talk, the guys who hustle, the guys who play to the whistle.”

That’s the special something — intangible, un-coachable basketball IQ and self-discipline.

Pick of the Week Buzz City in Tournament Town Boston Celtics @ Charlotte Hornets (GSO), Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

You read that right. The Charlotte Hornets host the Boston Celtics at the Greensboro Coliseum for this preseason matchup. Both teams finished the 2015-16 regular season with a 48-34 record, the best finish for Charlotte in years; the Hornets also forced the Atlanta Hawks into a seven-game series in the NBA playoffs. Should be fun. Visit nba.com/hornets for more details.

‘One 800’ freestylin’ for puzzle #800!

by Matt Jones Across

48 Wide-bottomed glass 50 Island castle on Lake Geneva 51 Tidwell’s agent, in a 1996 film 52 “Purple drank” component 53 Science that may study migration 54 Like a blue jay

Down

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EVENTS

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1 Some hotels 2 Company that burns down at the end of “Office Space” 3 Country on the Strait of Gibraltar 4 1968 hit for the Turtles 5 Photoshop feature that remedies some flash effects 6 Table linens 7 Go over 8 A few pointers to check during an exam?

9 Tripping 10 McDermott of “American Horror Story” 11 Oscar-winning role for Julia 12 CX-5 or CX-9, e.g.

13 IUD component 14 Some ceremonial dinners 25 Shipmate of Hermes and Fry 26 Analog computers once used for trigonometry 28 Ester found in vegetable oils and animal fats 30 Strong position until 2014

31 “Hell if I know” 32 Fact-finder’s volume 33 Friend’s address in Acapulco?

34 Nestle Purina Petcare line 35 Org. that recognizes the Ricoh Women’s British Open 36 “If You’ll Let This Fool Back In” singer Greenwood 39 Perform perfectly 40 Part of a late-night noise complaint, maybe 41 Lamented loudly 44 Longtime NHL left wing Bob 49 Reunion de la familia attendee 50 300

Up Front

1 Versifier, archaically 6 Pharisee whose meeting with Jesus inspired the phrase “born again” 15 Florida lizard 16 Still 17 Not going anywhere 18 Docked 19 Right a wrong 20 Comedian with an eponymous show on Adult Swim 21 Trap bait 22 Busted 23 Show on Showtime, for instance 24 Officially approved, as a campus 26 Numerical IDs 27 Shape-saving inserts 28 Bond maker 29 Birth announcement abbr.

30 Roman numeral that almost spells a man’s name 31 Reed evoked in “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” 35 Bridges in Hollywood 37 Hebrew song whose title is a repeated name 38 Dove 42 “When ___ Lies” (R. Kelly single) 43 Corrupt person 45 Drab 46 Support system?

47 51-Across player

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Satday, October 8 @ 8pm

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Crossword

Answers from previous publication.

Magpie Thief

©2016 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

(336) 698-3888

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Taking trampolines to the next level at the Dixie Classic Fair.

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336-375-1880 • Taylor’s Auto Sales • taylorsautosales.com 09 Nissan Maxima

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10 Chrysler 300

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13 Volkswagen

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15 Dodge Dart

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M

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ALL SHE WROTE

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by Nicole Crews

30

e: Mother, I know you don’t like to share, but I’d really like to give my friend Christina that furry, conical ski hat you bought in Austria in the ’50s. She’s the only person I know who could pull it off. Plus she has a vintage coat that matches it and she’s heading to Sundance.

Mother: Are you admitting that you can’t pull it off?

Me: Totally.

Mother: Well considering that this is the first time you’ve ever asked me to bequeath a vintage wardrobe to a friend rather than selfishly coveting it for yourself, I’ll say yes.

Me: You won’t regret it. She will honor it, like I do.

Mother: I know I won’t. You have excellent taste in friends.

When I first met Christina Calabria, she scared the bejesus out of me. I was fairly new to Greensboro, fresh out of college and she was a late-bloomer coed with a biker boyfriend and gorgeous, tough-girl look that made Chrissie Hynde look like a Chi Omega. She possessed an attitude that made bouncers a moot point at the dive bar where she slung cocktails. I skirted around her big personality for a long time — in fear of not only an ass-kicking, but also of having to emerge from my crab-like shell. She seemed like the kind of woman who would call you out on… well, being a woman.

Then I think the universe decided that our paths needed to cross and, wow, have they been crossing ever since.

It’s funny to remember realizing that yet another superlative in her roster was that she is always, almost annoyingly, nice.

Yep, there’s nothing that pisses another female off more than meeting a beautiful woman and realize that she’s not the b**** they had wanted her to be.

I’ll never forget one of our first in-depth conversations. Christina sought me out because I had sojourned to Spain as an undergrad on two separate stints with the UNC system, lived with a family in Madrid and attended classes at Universidad Complutense. She interviewed me Oriana Fallaci-style and extracted more details from my experience than I even remembered from my journey. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Madrid and lived with the same family. And like I said, our lives have been intertwined ever since.

When I lost my mother this summer, she was the first person at my house the morning after for a “walk it off” hike through the cemetery. She, of course, wore

The most interesting man in the world (Editor’s note: This column originally ran on Oct. 7, 2015)

a diaphanous, tie-dyed maxi dress with sandals while the rest of us were in vomity T-shirts, working-girl sneakers and soccer-mom shorts.

So when she called to let me know her dad Joe (my dad was also a Joe) had passed, my heart and pen went out to her.

Christina: Will you help me with the obit?

Me: Duh, I do my best work with the dead. Want to meet for lunch tomorrow to go over the details?

Christina: Sure. Heading to “Burning Dad” at 11:30.

Things you say out loud when planning a funeral: “Do you think the bag pipe player can do ‘Ave Maria’?”

Me: Bwahahaha!

The celebration of life took place on Hurricane Joaquin weekend as friends packed the room at the Green Bean in downtown Greensboro. Red wine flowed as Christina took the mic and toasted, roasted and boasted the life of Joseph Francis Calabria, 81, the Philly native who followed his kids (Christina and stepson Beau Calabria) south after retirement.

Like Christina, Joe was an adventurer at heart. He lied about his age at 17 to join the United States Air Force and served as an airplane mechanic during the Korean War. Upon his return to Philadelphia he studied

engineering at Villanova and Penn State universities, respectively, and graduated at the top of his class. He began his aerospace career at General Electric, later to become Lockheed Martin, where he served as a chief engineer and was actively involved in the invention and implementation of global positioning systems until his retirement.

A natural bon vivant, Joe was a passionate sailor, jazz enthusiast, gardener, world traveler, sportscar aficionado and lover of women. He was married to Bunny Wells, the mother of his children, from 1963 to 1983 and an active bachelor in the years hence.

“He was the most interesting man in the world,” says Christina, “He bought Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Ferrari.

Rubio [international playboy Porfirio Rubirosa] gave it to her and she couldn’t drive a stick. He actually sold it to buy my parents’ first house!”

Me: You know it’s legend that his other former lover Doris Duke had his legendary penis enshrined. I mean Rubio, not your dad.

Christina: Hahahahaha!

Me: We can leave that detail out. That’s what editors are for.

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Join us for a night of haunting festivities and voting registration at Oscar Oglethorpe! There will be poisonous potions, “finger foods,” and a spooktacular selection of specs guaranteed to send shivers down your spine!

In addition, we'll be assisting with voting registration.

The election is coming up fast. Your vote matters so let’s make it count!

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31

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