SENC SPRING EDITION

SE SPRING 2019

North Carolina INSIDE THIS ISSUE: HELPING TO SAVE SOME FEATHERED FRIENDS SPECIAL NEEDS TEAMS HIT A HOME RUN TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME IN FAYETTEVILLE SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY : MYTH OR TIME-HONORED TRADITION?

P U P PI ES & P RIS ONERS Convicts and canines team up to change lives

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Editor’s Note

A Southern springtime

SE North Carolina www.sencmag.com Issue No. 18

Staff / Credits / Contributions PUBLISHER Jim Sills EDITOR Abby Cavenaugh PRODUCTION/GRAPHIC DESIGN Lara Garvin Jillian Williams Content & Photography Abby Cavenaugh Trevor Normile Michael Jaenicke Michele Sundstrom Jay Bucksot CONTRIBUTING Writer Annesophia Richards Advertising Jillian Williams Alan Wells CIRCULATION Lauren Guy SUBSCRIBE: Four issues (one year) $19.95 plus tax lguy@ncweeklies.com CONTACT senc.ads@nccooke.com senc@nccooke.com 1.910.296.0239 ON THE COVER Editor Abby Cavenaugh took this shot of Millie and her trainer, Greg Petronis, waiting their turn to strut their stuff at the New Leash on Life graduation at Pamlico Correctional Institution in Bayboro on Feb. 13.

SouthEast North Carolina Magazine is a publication of the Duplin Times and APG Media of Eastern NC. Contents may not be reproduced without the consent of the publisher.

Springtime in Southeastern North Carolina brings to mind blooming azaleas, the crack of baseball bats in the park and for those of us who are animal lovers, a long walk with the dog in the (hopefully warm) sunshine. We’ve got all that and more in this issue.

It’s been a challenge, but I’ve finally been able to do a story I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now — the New Leash on Life program in Pamlico County, in which inmates train shelter dogs. The first graduation I was scheduled to attend got postponed because of Hurricane Florence. The second one, I ended up unable to attend due to travel conflicts. The third time was a charm, and I finally made it out to Bayboro for the 39th graduating class of the New Leash on Life program in February.

It’s a good thing, too, because the very next day, Pamlico Correctional Institution had an electrical fire, causing all of the inmates to be transferred to other correctional facilities, and all of the dogs that were participating were sent back to their respective rescue organizations to be adopted without receiving their training.

The New Leash on Life program is now on hold for the next four months, due to the fire.

There’s also a similar program in Pender County, called Pawsitive Partners Prison Program, which was started

by Monty’s Home founder Barb Raab.

Regular contributor Annesophia Richards headed to Burgaw for an inside look at this life-saving initiative. Not only are the dogs saved from being euthanized, but we’re pretty sure the inmate trainers get a new life, as well.

Another animal-saving organization, the Cape Fear Parrot Sanctuary, which was featured in our Winter 2018 issue, graces our pages once again. We’re spreading the word about a fundraiser to help the parrot sanctuary purchase land so that they can more easily and effectively care for these colorful feathered creatures.

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North Carolina

What would springtime be without baseball? We’ve got two features related to America’s favorite pastime this issue. First up is Special Needs Baseball, an organization that was founded to give those with special needs the opportunity to play the game, without judgments or restrictions.

Special Needs Baseball started in New Bern, and has since spread to Jacksonville and Duplin County, with other leagues possible in the future.

Resident sports nut Michael Jaenicke takes us inside Fayetteville’s gorgeous new baseball stadium, which is scheduled to open in April. One look at this place and you’ll be singing “Take me out to the ballgame” for sure.

Putting the “South” in “Southeastern North Carolina,” Trevor Normile examines the term “Southern hospitality,” and whether it’s a myth or reality.

We’ve got our usual off-the-wall Snapshots, too, and in this issue’s “Folk” column, I look back on the days of segregation in the South, and sadly, how little has changed since then.

So, grab yourself a slice of home-baked pie, some sweet tea and pull up a rocking chair. We hope you enjoy all we have to offer this spring!

Abby Cavenaugh, Editor (and four-legged BFF Cinnamon)

SINCE A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, HERE ARE SOME SELECTED PHOTOS OF DESTINATIONS TO VISIT IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA ON INSTAGRAM

#southeasternnorthcarolina #southeasternnc

Follow us @se.north.carolina

Southport I really never stop daydreaming about places I’ve never seen, but today I am grateful for where I am. #lovethelifeyoulive #home #northcarolina #ncwaterways #southportnc #southeasternnc #northcarolinaliving @_wandafree_

Oak Island Our new Sunday afternoon routine.

Very happy we moved to Oak Island. #southeasternnc #southeasternnorthcarolina @mumartin686

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Wilmington A late in the season winter annual installation that we made happen. #helleborus #pansy #viola #southeasternnc @flowerpowerdesignco

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Guides to the Good Stuff Join us on social media for insider tips from Southeastern North Carolina natives...

@SENorthCarolinaMagazine

SENCMAG.COM Our staff conceived this publication with a very basic idea in mind: to highlight interesting people, places, and events in Southeastern North Carolina in a way that honors the history and idiosyncratic spirit of the region.

Want your photo featured?

Simply post photos of what you love about Southeastern North Carolina on Instagram and use the hashtags at the top of the page!

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Contents

SPRING 2019

Features

EXTRAS

Your region’s source for entertainment, food, festivities, lore and more!

14 A New Leash 28 Special Needs

Baseball

On Life Individuals with special needs now have a chance to take part in America’s favorite game.

Two unique training programs for dogs offer both canines and convicts a second chance at life.

22

Cape Fear Parrot Sanctuary

This parrot paradise is hosting a fundraiser to help more efficiently and effectively rescue and care for macaws, cockatiels and other petsturned-sanctuary-residents.

22

36

Fayetteville’s New Stadium

Spring means baseball and Fayetteville is joining in on the fun!

42

Decoding Southern Hospitality

Is Southern hospitality merely a marketing ploy or a true way of life?

We investigate.

28

10

Playdates

Keep your spring schedule open for these events. From concerts to food festivals, there’s plenty to do this season!

13

SnapshotsMore celebrities donate to hurricane relief

33

Snapshots- Sun Dogs

Hurricane Florence recovery continues ... and so do relief efforts.

Is it a rainbow? An angel? No, it’s a sun dog!

What is it ? What makes it appear in the sky?

50

Folk: We’ve come a long way... or have we?

For a while there, racism and divisive behaviors had subsided. Now, they seem to be back. With a vengeance. Or were they ever really gone?

42

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Play Dates Wilson Center at Cape Fear Community College

Wilmington • Tickets at capefearstage.com/ 910-362-7999

The Wilson Center at Cape Fear Community College is conveniently located on Third Street at the northern entrance into downtown Wilmington. The performance venue features a 1,500-1,600 seat performance theater that can accommodate Broadway productions, concerts, symphonic performances, recitals, symposiums and other events. The spring schedule is especially stellar, featuring well-known and award-winning Broadway musicals, iconic music acts from the 1980s and ’90s, and much more.

• Jersey Boys, March 19-20, 7:30 p.m.; $40.50-95. The true story behind Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is explored in the Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Jersey Boys. Follow these legends from the streets of New Jersey to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a musical that, as the song says, you won’t be able to take your eyes off of.

• Chicago, March 29, 7:30 p.m.; tickets sold out. Known as the legendary rock and roll band with horns, Chicago was recently named fourth among the highest charting American bands in Billboard charts’ history. Chicago is also the first American rock band to chart Top 40 albums in six consecutive decades. They were inducted into the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – on their first nomination.

• Air Supply, April 12, 7:30 p.m.; $39.50-88. Australian band Air Supply scored the fastest-selling single in the world, “Lost in Love,” in 1980. They followed that with “All Out of Love,” which climbed the charts even faster.

Their subsequent singles would go on to sell more than 10 million copies. The trademark sound of Russell Hitchcock’s soaring tenor voice and Graham Russell’s simple yet majestic songs created unique music that is still known as some of the greatest love songs.

• Rick Springfield, April 25, 7:30 p.m.; $36-95. The creator of some of the finest power-pop of the ’80s, a Grammy winning singer, songwriter and musician, Rick Springfield has sold 25 million albums and scored 17 U.S. Top 40 hits, including “Jessie’s Girl,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” and countless others. His latest album, “The Snake King,” finds him exploring the blues side of pop and rock ‘n roll.

• Boyz II Men, May 31, 7:30 p.m.; $46-125. The trio holds the distinction of being the best-selling R&B group of all time, with an astounding 64 million albums sold. And the reason is abundantly clear: for the past two decades Boyz II Men have given fans a rich catalogue of hits filled with smooth harmonies and enduring themes. And for Boyz II Men the hits just keep on coming—the group continues to craft new albums and bring their legendary act to stages across the world.

SE Pick

N.C. Azalea Festival Various Locations — Wilmington

Apr

3 -7 WED-SAT

Spring in Southeastern North Carolina has come to be synonymous with Wilmington’s Azalea Festival. The annual five-day festival, held every April, attracts around 100,000 people each year.

This year’s event will be no different, with legendary country singer Hank Williams, Jr. headlining the musical entertainment with a concert on Friday night, April 5. Other acts performing include Tyler Farr and Frank Foster, along with a performance of “Damn Yankees” at Thalian Hall starting April 5. There will also be garden tours, a parade, the coronation of Queen Azalea, art shows, parties, a waterfront street fair and so much more. For a full listing of all Azalea Festival events, or to purchase tickets to the concerts or other festival happenings, visit the website at ncazaleafestival.org/.

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Carolina Strawberry Festival Friday, May 3 • 6-11 p.m.

Saturday, May 4 •10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Downtown Wallace

may

3-4 FRI-SAT

The Carolina Strawberry Festival has quickly become one of the premier events in Duplin County, attracting thousands each year to downtown Wallace in celebration of a locally grown, mouthwatering crop, strawberries. There will be arts and crafts vendors, a Little Miss Strawberry pageant, carnival rides, and of course, plenty of fresh strawberries and strawberry treats! Musical entertainment is scheduled to include The Johnson Boys, The Band of Oz, Heartsong Tribal, Chocolate Chip & Company, and the Catalinas. More information and a detailed schedule of events can be found at www.carolinastrawberryfestival.com.

APR

27 SAT

Mutts Gone Nuts

2 & 7 p.m., Thalian Hall Wilmington • Tickets from $15-$36

If you love dogs, comedy and want to promote the adoption of rescue animals, “Mutts Gone Nuts” is the show for you! Expect the unexpected, as canines and comedy collide in a smash hit performance that’s leaving audiences everywhere howling for more! From shelters to showbiz, these amazing mutts unleash havoc and hilarity in a stunning, action-packed, comedy dog spectacular, featuring some of the world’s most talented fourlegged performers. Tickets at www.thalianhall.org.

may

10 FRI

8 p.m.

Crown Theatre, Fayetteville • Tickets $37-87

Comedian Ron “Tater Salad” White first rose to fame as the cigar-smoking, scotch-drinking funnyman from the Blue Collar Comedy tour phenomenon. Over the past 15 years, he has been one of the top grossing stand-up comedians on tour in the country. www.crowncomplexnc.com/events/detail/ron-white-1.

may

3

Madea’s Farewell SE Pick Play Tour 8 p.m., Crown Coliseum Fayetteville • Tickets: $48-113

FRI

Tyler Perry’s most beloved character, Mabel “Madea” Simmons, will be ending her 20-year run with a farewell tour. The mouthy, grey-haired senior citizen who started Perry’s rise to fame will make one more return to the big screen in “A Madea Family Funeral,” released on March 1. The film will conclude the series of 10 movies that have starred Perry as what he describes as “exactly the PG version of my mother and my aunt.”

Madea is also hitting the road in what is being billed as “Madea’s Farewell Play Tour,” which will take over the Crown Coliseum on Friday, May 3. Tyler Perry’s “Madea’s Farewell Play Tour” will be his 21st stage play. The play will also star Tamela Mann, David Mann and Cassi Davis Patton.

Tickets are on sale now at www.crowncomplexnc.com/events/detail/tyler-perrysmadeas-farewell-play-tour.

springtime entertainment in bloom!

Dogwood Festival April 26-28 Downtown Fayetteville

Bites & Blues April 13, 5 p.m.

Morehead City Waterfront

Enjoy “bites” from locally-owned restaurants while listening to blues music on the Morehead City A fun-filled three-day weekend in Festival waterfront. At the end Park and downtown Fayetteville, the Dogwood of the night, attendees will choose their favorite Festival features entertainment of all genres, “Bite Of The Nite.” The winning restaurant will arts and craft vendors, street performances, and delicious food and beer. Detailed information and receive the prestigious White Plate and a monetary prize. Second and third place restaurants will also a full schedule of events can be found at receive prizes. Details and ticket information at www. www.faydogwoodfestival.com. ncseafoodfestival.org.

plus...

Pleasure Island Seafood, Blues & Jazz Festival

• April 13-14, Ft. Fisher Air Force Recreation Area, Kure Beach The 25th annual Pleasure Island Seafood Blues & Jazz Festival is being billed as “The Year of the Woman,” featuring internationally known blues artist Ana Popovic, Grammynominated Danielle Nicole (winner of Blues Blast Magazine’s 2018 Best Contemporary Blues Album) and the Allman Brothers-inspired Heather Gillis Band. Enjoy the Arts & Wine Garden, shopping for crafts, listening to music, and fine wine tasting. Children will stay entertained for hours as they enjoy performers, face painting, educational exhibits, inflatables and much more in the Kidz Zone. Call 910-4588434 or visit www.pleasureislandnc.org.

Brunsco Battlefield May 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Teams of six or more will compete for the title of Brunsco Battlefield Champions in games like Giant Pictionary, cornhole, bucket ball, three-legged race and more. At least one team member must be employed by the Chamber member business being represented. More info: brunswickcountychamber.org/brunscobattlefield/.

FILL UP AT FUN FOOD FESTIVALS!

Blue, Brew & Que • March 30 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Dupllin County Events Center, Kenansville

The Blue, Brew, & Que Festival will feature some of the best bluegrass music, N.C. craft breweries, and barbecue around. Be sure to bring your lawn chairs and have your ID to receive your commemorative glass. Call 910-275-0008 or visit www.bluebrewandque.com.

N.C. Pickle Festival • April 12-13 5-10 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Mount Olive Festivities kick off Friday night with all-you-can-handle carnival rides from 5-9 p.m. for $12, live music, a chili cookoff and the Cuke Patch 5K Glow Run. The fun continues on Saturday with a pickle eating contest, the Tour de Pickle bike race, more live entertainment, vendors and much more. Info at www.ncpicklefest.org.

BBQ Fest on the Neuse • May 3-4 Downtown Kinston This annual festival in downtown Kinston will include lots of barbecue, food competitions, arts and crafts, a wine garden, children’s activities and plenty more. Amusement rides will also be available from 2-11 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. Visit kinstonbbq.com for more information.

Food Truck Derby at Poplar Grove • May 4 4-8 p.m., Poplar Grove Plantation A food truck derby will be held on the front lawn of the plantation to benefit The Stables’ Equine Rescue Program. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. There will also be a beer and wine garden, and the Folkstone Stringband will be playing on the front porch pathway. More info at poplargrove.org/festivals/food-truck-round-up/.

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SE Snapshot

SE PICKS: More celebs who have given back

North Carolina

Celebrity support for hurricane survivors continues to pour in

North Carolina-based stars haven’t forgotten devastation caused by Florence

S

ix months may have passed since Hurricane Florence devastated portions of Southeastern North Carolina, but those who are still suffering the effects from the storm haven’t been forgotten.

Vivian Howard, who graced our Summer 2018 cover, announced in late January that she’d raised nearly $65,000 specifically for hurricane survivors in Jones County.

In October, Howard, who owns Chef and the Farmer restaurant in Kinston and was the host of the PBS series “A Chef’s Life,” began selling T-shirts that read “Country as Cornbread,” with the proceeds going to help the people of Jones County.

In her original post on Facebook about the fundraising effort, Howard wrote, “Just 30 miles from here, Jones County, N.C. was badly battered. The national news didn’t make it there as Jones County is rural with 20 percent of its residents living below the poverty line. It’s a place that can be easily overlooked. Many of these people didn’t have much before the flood and now they have nothing. Join me in raising money to help these families rebuild and begin again.”

She added that Florence’s effects will linger for a long time in larger towns like Wilmington, New Bern

Last issue, we featured two home-grown celebrities (Michael Jordan and James Taylor) who have given millions to Hurricane Florence relief. A few more are pitching in!

Julius Peppers The Carolina Panthers star, who recently announced his retirement, partnered with the Foundation For The Carolinas to establish the Julius Peppers Hurricane Relief Fund. He started the fund with his own $100,000 donation.

Also, more quietly, he donated hundreds of $50 Walmart gift cards to hurricane survivors just before the holidays. www.fftc.org/PeppersFund

The Women of ‘One Tree Hill’

Chef and the Farmer owner and host of PBS series “A Chef’s Life” Vivian Howard sold these “Country as Cornbread” T-shirts to aid Hurricane Florence survivors in Jones County, raising nearly $65,000.

and Morehead City, but, she wrote, “those places have a voice and a unified effort to rebuild. Jones County is way, way off the beaten path with no city to share its story.”

Howard’s fans clearly heeded her call to help, and the cornbread T-shirt sales raised a total of $64,797.39, which the well-known chef said she planned to donate to the North Carolina Community Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund.

“Thanks to all you cornbread loving, T-shirt-wearing folks for acting and shopping out of empathy,” Howard said. “Our combined positive will is immeasurable.”

The female cast members of the television series, “One Tree Hill,” which was filmed in Wilmington for all nine seasons, joined together to create a Crowdrise fundraiser for hurricane relief. To date, they raised more than $61,000 through the sale of “To North Carolina With Love” T-shirts. www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/capefearlesschallenge/onetreehillwomen

The Avett Brothers World-renowned folk rock band, the Avett Brothers, who also happen to be North Carolina natives, hosted a benefit concert for Hurricane Florence survivors in November. The event, held in Greenville at East Carolina University’s Minges Coliseum, raised more than $325,000.

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Photo/Michele Sundstrom Trainers that are part of the Pawsitive Partners Prison Program in Pender County reunite with their dogs after Hurricane Florence forced evacuations throughout the area.

Prison programs give inmates — and dogs— a ‘New Leash on Life’ Story: Abby Cavenaugh & Annesophia Richards The graduates enter the room with little ceremony. There’s no pomp and circumstance, really, but all eyes turn on them as soon as they walk in.

They’re well-behaved, respectful, if a little nervous. It’s obvious they’re well educated, and deserve the diplomas they’re about to receive.

They’ve worked hard for the past eight weeks, and they’re ready for their reward — a new home, a new family, a new “leash on life.”

As of Feb. 13, the most recent New Leash on Life (NLOL) gradua-

tion at Pamlico Correctional Institution in Bayboro, 234 dogs had been saved from animal shelters in Pamlico, Duplin, Wayne and Craven counties, where they likely would have been euthanized if not for the Pamlico Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Oriental, and Austin Veterinary Outreach and Rescue (AVOR) of North Carolina, based in Beaufort.

The program has saved numerous inmates at Pamlico Correctional as well. The men, all convicted felons, have found a new life, bonding with

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and training the dogs that are part of the program. The trainers work with the dogs for eight weeks, teaching them basic obedience, tricks and agility exercises. The training prepares the dogs for their new homes, and gives the prisoners something productive to do as well.

The same is true of countless inmates at Pender Correctional Institution in Burgaw, who have been training dogs as part of the Pawsitive Partners Prison Program (PPPP) since 2008. Now in its 11th year, PPPP matches five shel-

ter dogs with five inmates during an eight-week training program. The dogs are pulled exclusively from the Pender County Animal Shelter due to its status as a kill shelter.

PAMLICO ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY (PAWS) & AUSTIN VETERINARY OUTREACH AND RESCUE OF N.C./NEW LEASH ON LIFE Every eight to 10 weeks, the New Leash on Life program starts anew at Pamlico Correctional. Or, at least it did, until Hurricane Florence delayed things for a few months and a fire on Feb. 14 at the prison put the program on hold for another four months.

At each graduation ceremony, six dogs meet their new families, receive their certificates, and six new dogs come in to start their training. Usual-

ly, the participants include three from PAWS and three from the AVOR. “We are constantly talking with the people at the animal shelters,” says PAWS member Sue Ward. “We’re always on the lookout.”

The dogs are selected due to their temperament and trainability, says NLOL program coordinator Jackie Schmidt. “What we try to do is, we tell Mrs. [Vonita] Bass, the coordinator on the prison side, what the dogs’ strengths and weaknesses are, and then we match them to a trainer.”

Some of the dogs are nervous or hyper when they come into the prison for the first time, many of them having come from abusive situations.

“Once the new ones come in, they will immediately start bonding with their trainers,” Schmidt explains. “If they don’t establish that bond quickly,

it will fail.”

“We look for a good match for the program,” says Kristin Cobb of AVOR. “The dogs need to be trainable, or maybe need some confidence-building.

This program’s great for that.”

Carolyn “Muffin” Schmidt is one of several volunteers who foster the dogs in order to get them ready for the NLOL program. “It takes a volunteer group on the outside [of the prison] to run it,” she says. “If it wasn’t for Jackie, this wouldn’t exist.”

Muffin adds that when Jackie first brought the idea for the program to the PAWS group, they said, “Sure!” The superintendent of the prison was willing, and NLOL got its start in Pamlico.

“They stay with us [fosters] for three or four weeks, and then we bring them here for the eight weeks of training,” Muffin says.

Left, Braxton’s trainer Bradley Francis tries to get the energetic dog to focus during his New Leash on Life presentation.

Right, Inmates sometimes have a tough time saying goodbye to the dogs they’ve trained, bonded with and rehabilitated over an eight-week period in the Pawsitive Partners Prison Program in Pender County.

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh

Photo/Michele Sundstrom Photo/Barb Raab SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 15

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh Above, Higgins jumps over an obstacle as his trainer Dennis Fessler looks on.

At the New Leash on Life graduation, all of the dogs showed off what they learned over their eight weeks of training. Below, Millie and her trainer, Greg Petronis, often prayed together as part of their bonding.

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh

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Of course, since the fire in February, the dogs are staying in the foster homes for a longer period of time, until they find their forever homes.

“This program wouldn’t continue without the help and understanding of the staff here,” Jackie says of Pamlico Correctional. “[Superintendent] Mr. [Barney] Owens has been extremely understanding and accommodating, dealing not only with the corrections side, but also with the program side.

Ms. Bass has been wonderful, too, and they’re both fairly new, but they were thrown into the deep end with us, and they’ve been great.”

The 39th graduating class of PAWS’ and AVOR’s New Leash on Life program were: Braxton, “the class clown,” so to speak, a black lab mix; Ducky, a Nova Scotia Duck Trolling retriever who came to PAWS about 20 pounds underweight; Millie, the only girl of the group, a white Spitz mix who came to PAWS after being born in a puppy mill in Vanceboro; Higgins, a terrier mix with high energy; Tango, an Australian Shepherd mix who started out afraid of his own shadow; and, the puppy of the group, Linus, a Dachsund who loves his blue blanket.

“These dogs have been abandoned, forgotten and unloved,” Jackie told the adoptive families at the graduation on Feb. 13. “Some of them were afraid of people. These trainers have made it possible for these dogs to learn. They desperately needed homes, and I know every one of you will love them and care for them until they pass on.”

After the dogs met their new families and got to know them, the trainers took them outside for a break, and the new families and volunteers had a lunch. Following the lunch, the trainers and their dogs returned, and performed tricks and demonstrations of agility and obedience.

Once the trainers and the dogs received their certificates, the dogs were released to their new families and said goodbye to their inmate trainers.

Sometimes, the trainers get attached, and the goodbyes are tough. “These are

felons; I mean, some of them have done some really awful things,” Muffin says.

“But they come to love these dogs, and it changes their entire lives.”

MONTY’S HOME/PAWSITIVE PARTNERS PRISON PROGRAM In 2005, Barbara Raab received news no dog owner wants to hear — her golden retriever, Monty, had a life-threatening heart tumor. Not only was Monty a beloved pet, but in his six short years of life had also served as a therapy dog, canine actor, and held numerous AKC obedience competition titles. Raab couldn’t imagine life without him, and she spent the next 18 months turning to her connections and friends in the dog world for guidance and support in such a difficult time. Her ultimate loss inspired Raab to open Monty’s Home, an organization offering assistance, resources, and compassion for those struggling with the death of a pet.

During those years, Raab spent a lot of time with other dog enthusiasts discussing the overpopulation problem and high euthanasia rates in shelters. She realized that for many of the dogs, a bit of training would go a long way toward fixing behavioral issues.

“We knew that if we could only help train these dogs, they’d stay in homes longer. We didn’t have a lot of time ourselves, but it dawned on us that people who actually do have a lot of time are inmates,” says Raab.

Pender Correctional Institution welcomed Raab’s idea, and in May of 2008, Monty’s Home received state approval to build onsite kennels and begin the Pawsitive Partners Prison Program (PPPP).

“We use a 19-step temperament test to make sure the dogs we choose are social and can be handled without any aggression issues. We also check to see if they have any issues with food guarding or being around children, the things that are going to happen in a home,” says Raab.

In order to become a trainer, in-

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh Adopted

Archer Adopted

Moss Adopted

River

Koda

Meet the New Kids on the (Prison) Block Once a class graduates from the New Leash on Life program, a new class comes in. These dogs were scheduled to begin their eight-week training after the Feb. 13 class graduated from Pamlico Correctional Institution. Unfortunately, at 2 a.m. the day after the graduation, the prison had an electrical fire. There were no injuries to any people or canines, but the fire resulted in a complete loss of any electric functions at the prison for at least four months. All of the inmates were transferred to other institutions, and the dogs were returned to PAWS and Austin Veterinary Outreach and Rescue for adoption. The New Leash on Life program is currently on hold, and the dogs are being fostered until they find their forever homes. A new NLOL class will start once the prison is up and running again.

To adopt these or any other dogs (or other animals), visit www.austinvetoutreach.com/adoptions/ or www.pamlicopaws.net.

Jackson

Toby

SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 17

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh The New Leash on Life graduates demonstrate that they can learn their place and stay, even when other dogs and humans are nearby. Clockwise from left, Linus, Tango, Higgins and Millie.

mates must apply to the program before each incoming group of dogs. In addition to five primary trainers, two secondary trainers are chosen as backups in the event a primary trainer is released or receives a disqualifier such as an infraction. Raab says many of her trainers have remained in the program year after year and are very experienced in what they do.

“It’s a lot of work for these guys who have to be down in the kennels early in the morning and late at night.

They work five or six hours a day, seven days a week,” says Raab. “But the ones who really love dogs and really get into it stick with us, and they’re very talented.”

In addition to behavioral training, the responsibilities of the inmates also include feeding, cleaning kennels, giving medications, grooming, and bathing. Each day

is spent practicing lessons, teaching basic commands and skills, exercising the dogs, and socializing them inside the buildings so the dogs get accustomed to life indoors.

Monty’s Home holds classes for the trainers every Thursday morning, during which time volunteers check in to see how everyone is progressing. The training method used is positive reinforcement, meaning the inmates use rewards and praise instead of force or corrections with their dogs.

“A lot of these dogs have been abused and abandoned, so they have to be taught to build confidence and trust again. They don’t need anyone yelling at them. We’re also teaching the inmates that you don’t need punishment or brutality to get what you want, you can get it just by communication,” says Raab.

While each seven- to eight-week pro-

18 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

gram is underway, Monty’s Home processes applications for families interested in adopting. Raab and her volunteers take all five dogs out of the prisons for several meet and greet events at nearby pet stores.

“Families who have put in an application and have been approved come to meet the dogs and find one that they like,” says Raab. “Then we schedule a home check, and then if that goes well we take a deposit to hold the dog. Every dog comes with a bag of goodies, their food, crate, harness, leash, collar, is microchipped and up to date on shots.”

At the completion of each program, Monty’s Home invites the selected families to the graduation ceremony held at the prison. The inmates get the chance to show off what they’ve taught their dogs, including any special tricks they’ve been working on together. Then each family is

Kinston-Lenoir County

invited on stage to take the leash from the trainer, shake hands, and thank them for a job well done.

“We give our families the address of the inmate so they can write to them, send pictures and updates of the dogs and share funny stories. The inmates love it, because some don’t even have families doing that. Some of our trainers get very attached and emotional at graduation, and we encourage that. They’re human beings, and to care about another animal like that shows compassion.”

The benefits of PPPP for the inmates are infinite. The trainers learn valuable vocational skills that can be useful in finding employment once released.

Many trainers have gone on to work in jobs in veterinary offices, grooming salons, and animal training facilities. Even for the inmates who have no hope of release, their experience in the program has increased their confidence, self-esteem, and has given life a purpose.

“I have absolutely no doubt that my time in this program has been a clear defining point in my life,” says inmate Michael M. “Not because of anything that I was able to teach some dogs, but because of what some dogs were able to teach me.”

Tony J., also a trainer for PPPP, adds, “I do not have to look forward to my release ‘one day’ to experience the joy of life. Nor do I have to wait to have a meaningful life that is full of purpose and is measured by personal growth. All of that is here right now. ... Every day I walk down the kennels, ‘one day’ is right there with a goofy smile, wagging tail and spinning in circles.”

Dale Frederiksen began volunteering with Monty’s Home in 2013, and now serves as a board member and the prison program coordinator.

“When you first see these dogs in the shelter they’re so broken, and then we take them to the prison, and seven weeks later you see that dog get handed over to a new family. It’s just the most wonderful thing in the world,” says Frederiksen.

“I love to see how much the inmates really care about their dogs. It’s just a winwin situation for everyone.”

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Cape Fear Parrot Sanctuary launches fundraising campaign to buy land Story: Abby Cavenaugh Photos: Abby Cavenaugh & Trevor Normile Not far outside the town limits of Beulaville, near the Duplin-Jones County border, there’s a place in the country that’s home to 272 parrots, who range in age from 20 years old to 62.

There are the tiny ones, the cockatiels, and then the giant ones, the ones that spring to mind when you think of the word “parrot,” the colorful, often very vocal, macaws.

All of these nearly 300 parrots are cared for by Ces Erdman of Wilmington, who started the Cape Fear Parrot

Sanctuary in 2013.

Erdman said he’s had parrots since he was 3 years old. “My parents always had birds growing up,” he said. “There are tons of pictures of me with a bird on my shoulder as a kid.”

He started the sanctuary after having the realization that, in his words, “Parrots are bad pets.”

“They’re loud, obnoxious and destructive,” Erdman said. “But I love them, and I don’t want them to die, so I created a place where they’re able to

22 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

live happily.”

When in a cage in someone’s home, they often suffer from boredom and depression. “They’re supposed to fly and forage,” he explained. “Here, we make it more natural for them.”

The Cape Fear Parrot Sanctuary is made up of long rows of large open-air aviaries, which simulate parrots’ natural habitat as much as possible, allowing them to fly and move around.

Many people have parrots for a few years, but then try to rehome them,

Photo/Trevor Normile Cape Fear Parrot Sanctuary founder and owner Ces Edrman with one of the 272 parrots that populate the sanctuary outside Beulaville. The Sanctuary occupies five acres of land.

SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 23

Photo/Trevor Normile which is almost always unsuccessful, Erdman said. “They’re just usually not happy in homes,” he explained. “They just don’t handle rehoming well.”

The long lifespan of a parrot also makes them hard for a family to keep as a pet.

“It’s an unrealistic goal to have a parrot for its entire lifespan,” he said. “The big ones live 50-60 years, and even the small ones can be up to 30 or more. Most of the birds here are at least 20.”

Parrots have come to the Cape Fear Parrot Sanctuary from all over the country, from Maine, Michigan, Missouri and many other states. There are only eight sanctuaries in the entire United States, Erdman said, and they are all well-hidden— on purpose.

It’s not a zoo, after all. It’s a place de-

signed for the parrots to thrive, and survive. They’re kept in large cages with plenty of room to fly around and forage for their food, as intended.

The Cape Fear Parrot Sanctuary has been leasing its land since it was opened in 2013. However, Erdman said, now, he has the chance to purchase the land for a cost of $25,000 for the five acres the sanctuary currently sits on.

Owning the land as opposed to leasing it would allow for needed upgrades and repairs to be done more easily.

“We could do more permanent things,” Erdman explained. “Like for the mud that’s here now, from all the rain, we could bring in dirt to fill that in, and fix the drainage problems.”

The sanctuary is also adding a care-

24 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

taker, who will live on-site in a singlewide mobile home, in the spring.

“She’ll be able to live here, and feed and water the birds,” Erdman said.

Erdman currently lives in Wilmington, and commutes to the sanctuary often to care for the birds.

The fundraising campaign is being conducted mostly through social media, Erdman said. You can find the sanctuary on Facebook @CapeFearParrotSanctuary.

Donations are being accepted through PayPal, using the email address CesNC1978@gmail.com, or you can mail a check to: 6515 Old Fort Road; Wilmington, NC 28441.

SE

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh

Photo/Trevor Normile SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 25

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Players with special needs find a league of their own Story: Abby Cavenaugh Every spring, throughout the land, the thwack of bats striking the ball and the cheers that follow can be heard from every ball field there is. Up until 2003, many in Southeastern North Carolina were excluded from America’s favorite pasttime. That all changed during a prayer meeting at a church in New Bern.

“My youngest son, Jacob, was born with special needs (at this time he was a little past his third birthday),” recalls Jay Bucksot, founder of Special Needs Baseball. “We also had a young man that attended church with us that had special needs. These two, along with a good friend of mine, was where the idea came from.”

Bucksot’s friend, who was at the prayer meeting with him, has Tourette’s Syndrome. This friend told him that as a child, he was not allowed to play baseball. “The only reason was because he made people feel uncomfortable,” Bucksot says. “He told me his story and then told me that he had wished that there was something like a baseball league where kids with disabilities could play. He didn’t know if it was just a crazy idea, or if it was something that God was putting on his heart. I told him that the worst thing we could do was not try. If God wanted us to do it, then it would be successful.”

And successful it has been. Special Needs Baseball started out with 30 athletes. Now, it averages around 150 athletes, playing on four fields throughout New Bern. In 2010, the baseball league expanded into Jacksonville, which averages around 50 athletes. Finally, in 2018, Special Needs Baseball expanded again, moving in to Duplin County. The first game, held in Albertson in October 2018, had a total of 32 players. After starting out with 30 athletes in its first year, Special Needs Baseball now has 235 athletes in Craven, Jones, Pamlico, Lenoir, Duplin, Onslow, Beaufort and Carteret counties.

Special Needs Baseball of Duplin County is planning to try a “mini” spring season this year, in Wallace.

Their regular season is eight games in

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh Ryan Griffin was all smiles after he got the first hit in the first Special Needs Baseball of Duplin County game in October. Kurt Kildow assisted Ryan around the bases.

28 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

the fall. New Bern has an eight-game spring season, while Jacksonville has an eight-game fall season.

According to Special Needs Baseball’s Facebook page, “We are a Christian organization that wants to show God’s love through simple things in life (like baseball).

“No matter who you are, or what you may or may not be able to do, God loves you, and you are important to him.”

In fact, many churches provide volunteers and food for the games.

So, obviously, individuals with special needs can play baseball or any other sport; they just need the opportunity to do so with others who are at or near their same skill level, and volunteers who can help guide them if they need it.

When asked why he chose baseball, as opposed to basketball or football or some other sport, Bucksot replies, “I find it funny that we are doing baseball, actually. My friend from the church meeting loves the game of baseball. I, on the other hand, cannot stand the game! However, I love being a part of Special Needs Baseball, as well as being involved in my son’s baseball experience.”

Besides, what’s more all-American than baseball? “It’s also a sport that most people in America can relate to,” Bucksot says. “And the cost of playing baseball is much less than that of some sports.”

“We often don’t give people with a disability enough credit... Especially if their particular disability is rather severe. But then you see an individual who has to be assisted while walking up to the plate for the first time in his life.” –Jay Bucksot There are no winners or losers in Special Needs Baseball. Everyone gets a chance to hit the ball, and run the bases — or be wheeled around the bases, if need be.

“We are not competitive,” Bucksot says. “So we will not, at this time, fill that need for some people. Also, we can get loud and have a lot of activity going on. For a very few, this has been somewhat of a sensory overload. But we do try to figure out how to get the most people to play.”

It’s called baseball, but actually, the ball is softball-sized and is rag-filled.

A batting tee is also used when needed,

for the younger players. The games last about an hour, and lunch is served following the Saturday morning games.

“Special needs” is defined on Dictionary.com as “(in the context of children at school) particular educational requirements resulting from learning difficulties, physical disability, or emotional and behavioral difficulties.”

Bucksot’s definition is a bit simpler than that. “Someone that has some mental and/or physical difficulty in doing things that ‘society’ has labeled as normal,” he says. “It is a vast subject, and as hard as we try, we don’t meet the needs of everyone.”

Photo/Jay Bucksot The Special Needs Baseball team in New Bern gives a hats-off at one of their games. Jay Bucksot started the group in 2003, and it has grown from an initial 30 players to more than 235 in eight counties.

SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 29

Some of the Special Needs Baseball players have autism, others have developmental disabilities, Down syndrome, birth defects ... it runs the gamut.

While most of the players are children ages 3-18, Special Needs Baseball of Duplin County coordinator Brandy Moulton said the league is open to anyone with special needs of any age. “It’s not limited to just kids,” she said. “We have one player that’s in their 50s, and I believe Jay has one in their 70s.”

“We often don’t give people with a disability enough credit,” Bucksot says. “Especially if their particular disability is rather severe. But then you see an individual who has to be assisted while walking up to the plate for the first time in his life.

He is unable to verbally communicate like the rest of us. And then he holds his bat, and points over the left field fence, just like Babe Ruth in the 1932 World Series. You know that this kid has much more going on than you realized.”

For instance, Ryan Griffin of the Pin Hook community got the first hit and first run of Duplin County’s first game. Griffin has a severe form of spastic cerebral palsy that requires him to be in a wheelchair and receive full-time care from a nurse and his grandmother. When Ryan got the first hit in Special Needs Baseball of Duplin County, the smile on his face didn’t disappear for the rest of the game.

“It is such a blessing to even be in this atmosphere,” Moulton said at that game.

“I wish that I could tell you the number of times that I have been told, ‘Next to Christmas, this is our child’s favorite time of year!’,” Bucksot says. “Or, the number of times that I have had moms and dads cry watching their child get a chance to play baseball. Then, [there was] a mom crying so hard as she was trying to sign her son up to play, that I had to throw her form away because it was too wet and fill out a new one myself.”

With those kinds of reactions, it’s no wonder that Special Needs Baseball has grown so astronomically over the years.

The expansion into Jacksonville started because of a then-16year-old young lady, Claire Harris Bristow. “She had heard of us and

Right, Brandy Moulton helps little Analia get ready to hit the ball during the first Special Needs Baseball game in Albertson.

Special Needs Baseball founder Jay Bucksot of New Bern served as the pitcher for much of the game. Below, Jobe Alvis, one of the coordinators of Special Needs Baseball of Jacksonville, hangs out with Chase during an event.

30 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh

Photo/Jay Bucksot

Photo/Abby Cavenaugh Above, Colt Kennedy was excited as he ran the bases at the Special Needs Baseball game in Albertson last October. Below, Special Needs Baseball founder Jay Bucksot, right, talks with his counterparts in Jacksonville, Jobe Alvis, left, and Brandy Moulton of Duplin County.

Photo/Jay Bucksot

wanted to do something like it in Jacksonville,” Bucksot says. “We met with her and got things started. Very shortly after meeting with Claire, we met up with some friends of ours, Jobe and Gayle Alvis. They also live in Jacksonville. We were telling them about our program and they fell in love with it and became an integral part of it. Claire has since graduated, married and moved away. But Jobe and Gayle are still doing a wonderful job in Jacksonville.”

The Jacksonville league snowballed over to neighboring Duplin County.

“They heard about what Jacksonville was doing and they invited Jobe over to speak at a support group,” Bucksot says. “One of the ladies that volunteered for the support group felt a burning desire to start up a league there.”

That lady was Brandy Moulton.

Special Needs Baseball will probably continue to expand. Bucksot said he tried to get a league started in the Havelock area a few years ago, but it didn’t pan out. “I am still interested in doing that,” he says.

“However, it takes meeting the right person. Someone that wants to do something like this. Someone that has a real desire.”

Bucksot has spoken with people in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, Texas and other parts of North Carolina about Special Needs Baseball as well.

“My main goal in speaking to people is not necessarily to spread SNB across the nation (although that would be pretty cool). It is to let them know that if I can do this, just about anybody can.”

For more about Special Needs Baseball in New Bern, contact Jay Bucksot at specialneedsbaseball@ embarqmail.com, Facebook @SpecialNeedsBaseball, or call 252-6712507.

The Jacksonville league can be found on Facebook at Special Needs Baseball of Jacksonville, N.C., or by calling Jobe Alvis at 910-389-7293.

For more information about Special Needs Baseball in Duplin County, like the Facebook page, @ SNBaseballDC. Brandy Moulton may be reached at 252-560-6029.

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CAROLINA REMAINS IN JAMES TAYLOR’S MIND RY FLORENCE AND THE BURGEONING OYSTER INDUST ANTIQUES: A STEP INTO SENC’S PAST HAPPY HOLIDAY MEMORIES IN THE MAKING

SE Snapshot

SE PICKS: Strange lights

Is it a partial rainbow?

An angel? Jesus?

Nope. It’s a sun dog!

A

s I was driving home after work on a recent Monday afternoon, I noticed a strange light in the sky. It was multicolored, like a rainbow, but was definitely not the usual arching shape of a rainbow.

Instead, to be honest, it kind of looked like an angel or something.

I wondered briefly if maybe it was Jesus coming back.

It faded after a few minutes, as the sun began to slip below the pines.

And then I forgot about it for a little while. I’d snapped a pic on my phone, so when my sister reminded me of it the next day, I decided to head to the ever-reliable Internet to see if I could find an explanation.

What do you know? There is an explanation. And it wasn’t Jesus.

The first explanation called it “a circumhorizontal arc,” which is apparently caused by sunlight shining through tiny ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. According to the website, Newsflare.com, it “appears like a glowing ball of multi-colored bright light in the sky.” Yep. That was it.

Later, a friend told me they’re more commonly known as “sun dogs.” That’s a lot easier to say than circumhorizontal arc. Trusty Wikipedia says: “Sun dogs typically appear as a pair of subtly colored patches of light, around 22 degrees to the left and right of the sun, and at the same

A circumhorizontal arc, more commonly known as a “sun dog.”

altitude above the horizon as the sun.

They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but are not always obvious or bright. Sun dogs are best seen and most conspicuous when the sun is near the horizon.”

The history of sun dogs is fascinating. They’ve been recorded, starting with Aristotle and continuing throughout the centuries. Aristotle said that “two mock suns rose with the sun and followed it all through the day until sunset.” He added that “mock suns” are always to the side of the sun, never above or below, most commonly at sunrise or sunset.

I didn’t notice whether there was one on the other side of the sun that day.

In any case, I hope I see one again someday. It was a pretty awe-inspiring sight. Even if it wasn’t Jesus.

—Abby Cavenaugh

Ball lightning Turns out “great balls of fire” might be a real thing.

According to the BBC, in 2012, a team of researchers were measuring lightning in a storm-prone region in China. Suddenly a ball of light appeared in front of them. It burned white and then red for a few seconds before vanishing. The researchers discovered that the ball of lightning had a very earthly source: soil.

When cloud-to-ground lightning strikes the ground, it can vaporize minerals in the soil. Those vaporized minerals, combined with oxygen in the air, can create the orange glow that the researchers recorded.

St. Elmo’s Fire Again, a phenomenon that inspired a classic song (and movie) has been explained.

For centuries, sailors saw the blue bolts of St. Elmo’s Fire coming off the masts of their ships.

Again, lightning is the likely cause. When a thundercloud forms, there’s a palpable difference in the electrical charge between the cloud and the ground. The field can be intensified by pointed objects, like a metal pipe or the mast of a ship. The gases then can give off a glowing, bluish light.

Brown Mountain Lights The Brown Mountain Lights have been legendary for more than a hundred years.

Despite being witnessed and documented by so many, there is still no tried-and-true explanation for the lights.

The lights could be the aforementioned ball lightning, or a result of natural gases rising from the mountain.

In 2016, researchers from Appalachian State University captured the lights on video. But they still can’t say with any degree of certainty what causes them.

SE SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 33

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Ball Park Bliss

New stadium in All-American City offers baseball, hot dogs, economic stimulus Story: Michael Jaenicke The skyline of the All-American City has a new look.

The curtain will drop on Fayetteville’s $38 million minor-league stadium at an April 13 ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Houston Astros’ Advanced-A affiliate — the Woodpeckers — will be the main attraction on opening night three days later, starting off a 70-game home showcase this season against Carolina League opponents.

The team played its games the previous two seasons at Campbell University in Buies Creek, a stolen base away from its now-permanent home.

The City of Fayetteville and the Astros, who won a World Series title in 2017, signed a 30-year lease to return baseball to the city of 205,000, which includes thousands of Fort Bragg military families.

Fayetteville’s history with baseball goes back to the early 1900s but ended 31 years ago.

Heck, George Herman Ruth even got his “Babe” nickname in 1914 by hitting towering home runs in Fayetteville’s Cape Fear Fair Ground Field and as a result of his “social affairs.” Ruth, who was the first home run king in MLB, was signed at age 18 to play for a Baltimore team that

36 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

was playing an exhibition game in Fayetteville. The game was a stop along the way to the spring training facility of the Orioles.

Baltimore manager Jack Dunn legally adopted Ruth to ensure he would stay with the Orioles; that and Ruth’s playful nature about elevators in the Lafayette Hotel led to the nickname “Dunn’s Baby,” which became “Baby,” and finally “Babe.”

Fayetteville is banking on Segra Stadium bringing another noteworthy superstar to town and also providing an economic boost to the city.

Its location could not be better,

and is a huge step in the city’s downtown renovation project and another stroke to erase the “Fayette-Nam” image of the past.

The ball park is now the four-star attraction in a downtown that also features the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, Festival Park, N.C.’s Veteran’s Park, and renovation of the Prince Charles Hotel, a timepiece from yesteryear that surrounds restaurants, pubs, breweries and other social venues, and shopping.

City officials say about $65 million in private investment is being spent around the stadium.

About $12 million of that is traced to the Prince Charles, a project that is renovating the signature hotel into condominium apartments.

The Big South signed a three-year deal to play its conference tournament in Segra Stadium. Other events that go beyond baseball and sports in general will also be taking to the ball park.

The stadium is located just down the road from Cape Fear Regional Theatre, in the historic Hay Street section of Fayetteville. It is in a valley that is surrounded by the Prince Charles, train station and a fenced-in section of land, which has left everyone in the dark as to its appearance

Fayetteville’s Segra Stadium Scoreboard Notes:

• MLB Affiliate: Houston Astros • Team name: Woodpeckers • League: Advanced-A Carolina League • Ribbon Cutting: April 13 • First Game: April 18 vs. Carolina Mudcats • Stadium capacity: 5,292 • Stadium cost: $38 million • Home games in 2019: 70 • Average ticket price: $12 • Fayetteville population: 205,000 • Ticket info: (910) 339-1989 or www.fayettevillewoodpeckers.com

outside of artist renderings.

Yet it’s hard to imagine the facility being anything less than glowing with glitter from the past and spiced with modern conveniences.

Fayetteville may have hit a grand slam after years of swings and the taking of seemingly well-planned outside-the-strike-zone pitches to gov-

ernment leaders in charge of funding major projects.

“Our ticket sales have far exceeded our expectations,” said Mark Zarthar, team president. “What that means is that the community is excited for baseball to come to downtown Fayetteville, and it also shows that the community believes in our vision for

SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 37

the downtown.”

Vice President and Marketing Director Austin Schwartz said average

ticket prices will be $12, which he said curbs the cost of a family going to the game.

“It’s a very affordable experience, probably comparable to seeing a new movie, and our concessions are not nearly as much, nor is the ticket price compared to a Major League game.”

And the Astros think they can bring a big-league/hometown atmosphere to Fayetteville.

The Astros’ big focus on Fayetteville is two-fold, says longtime Fayetteville Observer sports writer Sammy Batten.

Internet photos 38 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

“Houston is looking at this as a place to develop players, hence the long lease and while they certainly want to make money, they are concerned with that aspect of its operation,” Batten said.

Batten said some in the greaterFayetteville area clamored for a team and this stadium for decades.

“Having a minor league team and a stadium has long been the goal but the county and city leaders could never agree on the funding,” he said. “The other teams that were here played at Riddle Stadium for the short term, but the dream and

plan has always been to build a stadium.”

The dream could look even more dreamy to many fans. He says it’s a win-win for all parties involved.

“It’s going to be every bit as good as it looks,” Schwartz said. “There’s an excitement level on our part and an equally or greater excitement level from people from the area.

“We’ve had strong ticket sales, strong group sales and a buzz about everything from the team to the stadium to how it fits into the downtown plan.”

Most of the Woodpeckers’ opponents in the Carolina League have North Carolina bases. Others are located in Virginia and Delaware.

Built in in-state rivalries in the Southern Division include the Carolina Mudcats (Brewers) in Zebulon, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs), Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox) and Kinston’s Down East Wood Ducks (Rangers).

The Indians (Lynchburg Hillcats) also field a team in the division.

Fans of other MLB teams can see up-and-coming players during games against Northern Division teams — Kansas Royals (Wilmington, Del.), Boston Red Sox (Salem, Va.), Baltimore Orioles (Frederick Keys) and Washington Nationals (Potomac Nationals).

While all but two clubs have bigger stadiums than the Woodpeckers, the difference is just a few hundred seats.

Kinston’s Grangier Stadium, an older structure, is the smallest at 4,100.

So how have professional teams in the past fared in Fayetteville?

The Buies Creek club went 80-57 and won the division title last season. The ’Stros were 74-61 (.532) the previous season.

The Fayetteville Generals (19871996) had a 710-682 mark for a .510 winning percentage. They were South Atlantic League champs in 1995.

The Generals’ roster included future Hall of Famer Travis Fryman and MLB players Gable Kaper and Frank Catalanotto.

The Cape Fear Crocs (1997-2000) had two winning seasons (80-61 in 1998 and 75-65 in 1990) and a .510 winning percentage.

Those three organizations compiled a collective record of 1,249 wins and 1,078 losses for a .516 mark.

The Fayetteville Highlanders, who played in the Class D Eastern Carolina League, date to 1928, and the city has had other incarnation of minor league baseball in the 1940s through the 1980s.

About 80 percent of the stadium’s construction went to local and Small Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contractors.

Segra, an independent fiber bandwidth company, also moved part of its business to Fayetteville.

Batten said the Astros need to reach the military population and pull out all the right promotional programs to make sure the attendance is acceptable.

“Seventy games is a lot of games to put people in the seats,” Batten

said. “So they’ll need plenty of big events and things going on to draw them into the stadium. But that’s possible.

“No team that has been here has really ever hit the military population. I would think that would be a key in terms of long-term success.”

Fayetteville, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the state, is also the largest city in Southeastern North Carolina. About 15 percent of residents have military ties.

And even the great Bambino had an affection for the three-time AllAmercan City.

After going yard he was quoted as saying: “I hit it as I hit all the others, by taking a good gander at the pitch as it came up to the plate, twisting my body into a backswing and then hitting it as hard I as I could swing.”

Ruth later said, “I got to some bigger places than Fayetteville after that, but darn few as exciting.”

Baseball fans and city leaders might agree with MLB’s first worldrenowned slugger.

SE

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Decoding Southern hospitality Story: Trevor Normile It has made an impression on me, coming up in the rural part of North Carolina, that role of myth and group identity in the southern countryside is particularly tied to one particular concept, that this part of the nation is more somehow hospitable than others.

It is not accurate to state that other parts of America lack hospitality. One only need ask a New Yorker for directions to Penn Station for proof, so proud are Manhattanites of their urban orienteering.

However it is true, as far as I know, that other American peoples lack the southernness associated with our particular alleged form of hospitality, and do not give it away quite as freely. It is that mystery on which this publication was, in part, drawn up.

As a non-native, an “institutionalized” southerner who arrived in sunny Dixie as a child, I detect in this place a certain carefree spirit, for good or bad. It is in the way the place-names feel in my mouth and in every slow back-road driver.

So we peel this back. Southern hospitality is a concept everyone has heard of, but is it so easily defined in this age? Does it still exist?

Does it still endure, even as the news of the day is shared not on the porch but on the Internet? When the fast food feeding troughs spoon the gravy faster than grandma ever could? When politics and religion and abortion and the comfort one feels with one’s own genitals became par for public discourse? When the justice of a moment, a feeling or a term, is defined by the environment in which it was conceived, not for the purpose it serves here and now?

When was the last time you left your door unlocked? The last time

Photo/Google Images

“I might as well do as Kant suggested, identify its first maxims here. Maybe then they can become universal laws, rather than cheap ideals of the past.” you invited a stranger inside?

Bless our hearts.

I believe a homogenizing America is killing Southern hospitality, so I will attempt declassify it for the rest of you. I am surely not the first to write on this topic but in light of America today, I feel compelled to write anyway.

By identifying its foundation, it follows that decoding that mystery may finally put down its southernness for good. Once we determine our boundaries, and assuming that the mystery is solved and Southern hospitality becomes free for all to enjoy, I might as well do as Kant suggested, identify its first maxims here. Maybe then they can become universal laws, rather than cheap ideals of the past.

Alphie and Louise Edwards were our closest neighbors when my

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family moved to the Old North State. We lived on one of those country highway offshoots with turkey-houses and hog-houses down in the fields, and peoplehouses up by the road. The Edwardses — all of the people on that road — treated us very kindly as neighbors and probably put up with more noise from us kids than they were due.

There was just one problem. At age 11, having come from a very different part of America, I absolutely could not understand a word Alphie said for the first year or two.

He was a gentleman, well-regarded and kind, but he was born country and stayed that way until the day he died.

Alphie of course is not Mr. Edwards’ first name. “Alphie” is a hypocorism of the name “Alpha.”

So it is fitting that Alpha Edwards, the quiet country gentleman in suspenders and a John Deere hat, relaxing on the porch with his Chihuahua dog, embodies the first foundation of Southern hospitality, that it is a universal language, and so I did not need to understand his drawl to feel welcome when visiting his home.

If a language is universal, in the way that music or slapstick comedy is universal, then everyone would know how to understand it.

It is a paradox because while what makes up Southern hospitality is known only to those who live in this culture, most know it instantly when they see it from outside.

If you feel hospitality and the sun on your neck south of Richmond, it is Southern hospitality.

Correct? Or is there more to it?

The second foundation: it has also been accorded to those of different races and varying levels of religiosity. As recently as January I confirmed this through field work.

It was at a black Baptist church when a Winston-Salem college president was given a basket of non-alcoholic wine (again, Baptist church) and barbecue sauce as a parting gift from the congregation.

If non-alcoholic wine and barbecue sauce in a wicker basket is not Southern hospitality, then the Oak Ridge Boys had better move to New Hampshire.

And yet more paradoxes lie within. I think I have never even heard a Southerner even use the words “Southern hospitality,” suggesting it is a term applied to the South, rather than championed by it.

There is plenty that ties people of all races together in the South, in particular, this part of North Carolina. Sports. Hurricanes. Fried chicken. Grandma, retrieving a switch.

In fact, if Southern hospitality in this age has one shining progressive quality, it is that it seems, at least at this moment, to transcend

Photo/Metro Creative

race. If a white boy walks into a black church, he will be offered all the respect accorded the congregation and if a black couple visits a white church they will be offered food from a Corningware dish like everyone else.

No church is perfect and prejudices most certainly still endure in America, but in my firsthand experience, it is the truth for the most part.

That being said, the problem is that Southern culture still has a very large, very ugly asterisk next to its notation in American history, one which I am no apologist of.

In his book “The Southern Hospitality Myth,” University of Massachusetts professor Anthony

Szczesiul writes that Southern hospitality was likely born from the ability of white plantation owners to entertain guests while the slaves did all the work.

It’s easy to be generous when it’s not your gift to give, after all.

The popular image of the gallant South is a pecan pie cooling in the window of a majestic farmhouse, peeking out down a lane of trees. The genteel antebellum man welcomes a stranger-guest in the lane with the pomp accorded an old friend. Except out back are the slaves, actually making it happen.

Of course Szczesiul comes to his conclusion on the second page that Southern hospitality is a myth and works backward from there (if that

SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 43

Photo/YouTube

were true, why is it that telling a passing stranger hello is more likely to be met with a friendly response in, say, Clinton, North Carolina, than a town of similar size in Connecticut?).

While the plantations were very real, historians know that most southerners subsisted on the small produce stand and the pigs in the mud out back. It wasn’t the slave owners who took up arms against the Union after all.

So are we to believe that the reputation of an entire region was built from the oft-quoted less-thantwo percent who owned servants, and then endured for another 200 years?

Others have argued that Southern hospitality, conversely or paradoxically, is an appendage of Christian tradition, to treat one another generously, as Christ would have wanted, that any stranger walking down the road or sleeping on a park bench could be an angel sent down to monitor mankind.

Pew researchers released a study in 2015 that documented a continuing decline in American re-

“Music, NASCAR, sweet tea — Southern Hospitality itself — the culture of the South has been packaged and sold for decades.” ligiosity. Predictably, they found that the religious “nones” group is continuing to grow.

In the West, the unaffiliated make up the biggest portion of the population, 28 percent, if you divide Christians into subsets of Catholics (23 percent) and “evangelicals” (22 percent). They don’t specify if “evangelicals” is used as a sanitization of “WASPs,” or if it

44 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

refers to all Protestants.

The Nones are gaining ground.

In the last five years, the West’s unaffiliated rose seven percent (to 28 percent). Increases were also seen in the Midwest (22 percent, up six percent), the North (25 percent, up eight percent) and the South (19 percent, up six percent), according to Pew. Interestingly, while the South is at the lowest rate of religious non-belief, it is not markedly more religious than the Lutheran-Catholic Midwest. I’ve heard about the Cheese Heads. Is there a such thing as Midwestern hospitality?

Dig into the study’s appendix and you find that the margin of error for the unaffiliated is 1.4 percentage points; 3.7 points for atheists. So, if the Nones are gaining ground, would it follow that Southern hospitality, if it is an appendage of religion, would be disappearing?

Perhaps.

Neither the slavery theory nor the religious theory can be totally dismissed. It is part of the incongruous nature of the South that for all its religiosity, human trafficking

Photo/Metro Creative

at one time supported its institutions, and for all the religious people in other parts of the country, it’s the South that played host to both the Scopes Trial and the critic Mencken (if you count Baltimore as a Southern city).

And despite the fact that the old plantations had long been turned into museums and B&B’s, the South remained genteel. Allegedly.

Third: Good manners are to be accorded anyone, whether in the home, on the street corner or in business. To quote a Mississippian who was large in girth and spirit, “my ancestors would come up out of the grave and get me” if I sat

down without offering a woman a chair.

Fourth: At its heart, Southern hospitality is only one detail in the larger picture of Southern culture.

It is not a Mason jar of sweet tea or a slice of pie. Southern culture is more than just eating things that make you insulin resistant.

It is the fact that if a hungry child winds up at the neighbor’s house and asks for pie and tea, she will probably get them.

It is not the rich, propped up by the less-fortunate in the fields and sheds, showering ill-gotten gifts on their friends. It is a regular person offering a jumpstart to a dead car

battery in a parking lot, an all-night hog roast to pay a neighbor’s hospital bills, the willingness to speak and be spoken to in line at the Piggly Wiggly. Maybe they don’t really have the time or the means, but like the poor widow’s donation at the temple, perhaps that is what makes it valuable.

Nobility has no place in the United States, or at least it shouldn’t. It’s part of what brought our people here in the first place.

In any case I believe Southern gentility to be a discount version of nobility, just diluted enough to be palatable.

In fact, I like discount nobility.

SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 45

Visit Elizabethtown and “Enjoy the Experience” “The mystery is solved. Southern hospitality is not a fat woman with a drawl in a polka-dot muumuu offering a stranger dessert.”

I like it when the average person has just enough time and desire to help. I like that I can ask a stranger a question without getting screamed at. I like that to be a big fish in the South, you don’t have to eat very many smaller fish first.

Southern hospitality is not a myth, but it probably will be, soon.

As the South becomes more like the rest of America, the rest of America becomes more like the South as well. Music, NASCAR, sweet tea — Southern hospitality itself — the culture of the South has been packaged and sold for decades.

And as outsiders pour into places like Charlotte and Atlanta, is it any wonder they’ve lost their original flavor? The rural tourism bureaus can’t get enough, either. Since the fabric plants shut down and the tobacco disappeared, tourism efforts have stepped up in the rural South, but will never amount to very much in the way of jobs.

And now the unholy hordes of vampiric ambulance-chasing lawyer hacks have smelled blood in the meat industry’s waters, so let’s hurry up and get those Dollar Generals built to give our kids something to do when they grow up.

Consider that Washington, D.C. is a Southern city by definition, and was once one by character as well. It’s a city that no one likes to claim, not anymore, and probably the only national capital that, if invaded a foreign power, fully half

its national citizenry would shrug and reply, “good.”

In some circles, the reaction would be the same if it happened in Raleigh.

Finally, hospitality has much to do with space. It is physical proximity as currency. Your neighbors are not upon you, so they don’t mind if you shoot at coyotes at night and you don’t mind if they rev their motorcycle on Sunday.

When it is time to interact, you invite them in, because they have saved up such a surplus of physical closeness that they have earned the right to cash some in with you.

Of course people are curious about each other, so the lack of physical proximity means there is often a pair of eyeballs behind the blinds peeking out, an excited exchange of gossip at the local post office. On balance it’s not really a bad trade.

So there it is. The mystery is solved. Southern hospitality is not a fat woman with a drawl in a polkadot muumuu offering a stranger dessert. It’s not a patronizing way of remembering the slave days. It’s not edible nor is anyone here quite sure what it is, so take my observations above all with a grain of salt.

It’s almost as if someone down the line figured out that life is a little easier when you give people their space and take an extra moment to speak kindly with them, even if you don’t really have the time.

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Visit White Lake and discover your next affordable vacation!

SHOP • DINE • VISIT • RETIRE WWW.ELIZABETHTOWNWHITELAKE.COM

May 17 & 18 at Goldston's Beach

910-874-0285 and tourism28337@embarqmail.com

www.whitelakewaterfestival.com

SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 47

Duplin County’s Original

Farm Equipment Dealer

Count On Us!

...Still Number One For Sales and Service!

KENANSVILLE

EQUIPMENT CO., INC.

Bush Hog

110 N. NC 11 Hwy. ● Kenansville

910-296-0777

Open Mon.-Fri. 7:30 am-5:30 pm; Sat. 8-noon

Pink Hill, NC

Clegg Grady, Owner

Your Hometown Pharmacy handling all your healthcare needs.

107 West Broadway • Pink Hill, NC 28572 Ph: 252-568-3161 • www.realopinkhill.com 48 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

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North Carolina

Our corner of North Carolina offers much more than just scenic beauty...

Here are some great places you can appreciate for the good food, good times, history, and old-fashioned SENC hospitality!

travel WARSAW

VISIT THE

P lanner LENOIR COUNTY

ONSLOW COUNTY

DUPLIN COUNTY VETERANS MUSEUM It speaks well of the commitment to preserving freedom that this museum seeks to remember with great pride. The museum focuses on those from Duplin County that served in the military. There is not a branch of service that is not represented in one way or another.

The CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center offers state of the art exhibits that invite visitors to larn about the ironclad gunboat. The Confederate Navy launched the Neuse in al ill-fated attempt to gain control of the lower Neuse River and the occupied city of New Bern.

SEE OUR AD ON PAGE 3

www.nchistoricsites.org/neuse

Country Store & Restaurant We offer multiple venue locations for everything from family cook-outs to elegant weddings. We have a large covered shelter, a large banquet room, and The Barn.

The Barn is our newest upscale venue for weddings and other events.

Thursday & Friday 4:30-8 p.m Saturday 4:00-8 p.m.

1600 Haw Branch Rd. Beulaville 119 E. Hill St. Warsaw, NC 293-2190 for hours of operation DUPLINCOUNTYVETERANSMUSEUM.COM

GOLDSBORO

See the world’s only full-size replica of a Confederate Ironclad.

Call for Details 910-324-3422

www.cssneuseii.org

www.mikesfarm.com

SEE OUR AD ON PAGE 47 3

LENOIR COUNTY

Kinston-Lenoir County

Visitor & Information Center Offering

HIGH QUALITY BOOTS for the whole family!

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! Mon-Fri: 10am-7pm Sat: 9am-6pm Sun: 1pm-5pm

4070 US-70, Goldsboro NC 27534 (919).778.2452

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

“Make us your first stop in Lenoir County”

BEULAVILLE

No matter how you slice it...

PIZZA VILLAGE Is Still Beulaville’s Favorite Restaurant!

101 East New Bern Rd., Kinston, NC 252-522-0004

Kinston-Lenoir County

Parks & Recreation Department

Daily Lunch Buffet, Monday ~ Saturday

2602 W. Vernon Ave., Kinston, NC

811 W. Main Street 910-298-3346

252-939-3332

SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 49

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North Carolina

We’ve come a long way... or have we?

D

Story by Abby Cavenaugh

uring a recent trip to an antique store, I saw an artifact from the past that really bothered me. In fact, I was kind of shocked to even see that it still existed. I’d never seen one in person before. It was a set of signs. One read “Whites only” in all caps, and the other said “Coloreds this way.” I’m sure we have many readers who clearly recall the days of segregation. I was lucky enough to come along well after schools were as diverse as the populations surrounding them. I had black friends growing up. I still have black friends. And Hispanic friends. And Muslim friends.

Quite simply, it seems silly to me that we were ever so divided.

Then again, we still are divided, aren’t we? Our president wants to build a wall along the southern border of the country to help curb illegal immigration. I follow a journalist and activist, Noor Tagouri, on Instagram, who happens to be Muslim and wears a hijab. She recently visited Wingate University near Charlotte and received death threats, and people said they were afraid to send their children to see her speak, because “they might not make it out alive.”

Thankfully, her appearance went off without a hitch, but what kind of a world are we living in when people are so discriminated against and/

or feared that they have to have extra security to fulfill a speaking engagement?

And then, there’s the Black Lives Matter movement. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I highly recommend “The Hate U Give.” Yes, all lives matter, of course. And that’s exactly the point. Black men are a lot more likely to be shot and killed by police, many times simply for being black and driving their vehicle. How often do you hear about an unarmed young white man being shot and killed by police? So, in effect, many black people feel that their lives don’t matter as much as a white person’s. Can you really blame them?

“The Hate U Give” is a fictional story, but it’s played out so many times in real life, all over the country.

A few years ago, I remember actually having the thought that racism had died down a bit. The reality is that it hasn’t. In fact, it’s gotten much worse.

And it has never, ever made sense to me, to judge an entire population for the actions of a few. We don’t start hating white men every time there’s a mass shooting involving an “unstable lone wolf.” Yet, if an Islamic terrorist bombs a building, we immediately cast the blame on every single Muslim on the planet. If a young black man is found guilty of dealing drugs, he’s a “thug” and for that matter, so is every other young black man. At least in many people’s eyes. Why don’t you hold the same standard to young white drug dealers? Do you cross the street to avoid a white teenager because a

50 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | SPRING 2019

white boy makes meth? Or shoots up his school?

I recently wrote a story for the Duplin Times, our sister publication, about the integration of schools in the 1960s. It was absurd to me that black students were sent into white schools early, so that white students and teachers “could get used to them.” What’s to get used to? They’re people. We all bleed the same. We all learn the same.

There are good black people, there are bad black people. There are good white people, there are bad white people. There are good Muslims, there are bad Muslims. There are good Hispanic people, there are bad Hispanic people.

In the end, aren’t we all just people?

I wish I could get that through to some people. Especially those who call themselves Christians, but then spout off some of the most vile hate you’ve ever heard. Do you think Jesus would turn away a young black man? Even if he was a drug dealer? Do you think Jesus would build walls to keep certain people out? Or would he open his arms and welcome them?

As one of my favorite Christian artists, Mandisa, sings: “We all bleed the same. We’re more beautiful when we stand together. If we’re gonna fight, let’s fight for each other. If we’re gonna shout, let love be the cry.”

Amen, sister.

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Kornegay Insurance We’ve Got You Covered... In Eastern NC

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www.kornegayinsurance.com SPRING 2019 | WWW.SENCMAGAZINE.WORDPRESS.COM | 51

Life insurance is more than a policy, it’s a promise.

(910)296-1486 www.ncfbins.com Matt McNeill LUTCF Agency Manager roy.mcneill@ncfbins.com

Teddy Bostic

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Agent Kenansville

Agent Kenansville

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nicholas.bell@ncfbins.com

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Agent *North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. Beulaville

Agent Beulaville

*Farm Bureau Insurancelynn.mobley@ncfbins.com of North Carolina, Inc. doug.pierson@ncfbins.com *Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co., Jackson, MS *An independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

Elvis Tucker Agent Beulaville elvis.tucker@ncfbins.com

Duplin County Farm Bureau

308 N. Main Street • Kenansville, NC 28349 151 Crossover Road • Beulaville, NC 28518 THIS ARTWORK CANNOT BE ALTERED, REVISED, RESIZED OR REBUILT BEYOND CHANGING THE AGENT PHOTO OR CONTACT INFO. CONTACT MADGENIUS WITH ANY QUESTIONS AT COOP@MADGENIUSINC.COM

(910) 296-1486 (910) 298-8400

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www.ncfbins.com *North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. *Farm Bureau Insurance of North Carolina, Inc.; *Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co., Jackson, MS *An independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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