SALISBURY the magazine - Summer 2017

HE L OF CHIL PIN D G FA MILI REN MI TA LI RY ES

Operation Toy Soldier is a nationwide not-for-profit program that supports our military and their families. Please help North Carolina military families by donating new and unwrapped toys.

Drop off at Powles Staton Funeral Home the entire month of July.

P.O.Box 248 913 West Main Street • Rockwell, NC 28138

(704) 279-7241

www.PowlesFuneralHome.com Authorized Licensed Provider of

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S A L I S B U RY T H E MAGA Z I N E

SALISBURY SATURDAY t h e

m a g a z i n e

PUBLISHER - Greg Anderson

greg.anderson@salisburythemagazine.com

EDITOR - Mark Wineka

July 15, 2017

mark.wineka@salisburythemagazine.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR -Andy Mooney andy.mooney@salisburythemagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR - Jon C. Lakey jon.lakey@salisburythemagazine.com

EDITORIAL Josh Bergeron

josh.bergeron@salisburythemagazine.com

Elizabeth Cook

elizabeth.cook@salisburythemagazine.com

Deirdre Parker Smith

deirdre.smith@salisburythemagazine.com

Rebecca Rider

rebecca.rider@salisburythemagazine.com

Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburythemagazine.com

ADVERTISING Joel Honeycutt

joel.honeycutt@salisburythemagazine.com

Karen Hurst

karen.hurst@salisburythemagazine.com

Malynda Peeler malynda.peeler@salisburythemagazine.com

Shanna Pruett

shanna.pruett@salisburythemagazine.com

Jason Slusser

jason.slusser@salisburythemagazine.com

PRODUCTION Director-Sharon Jackson

sharon.jackson@salisburythemagazine.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Susan Baker

susan.baker@salisburythemagazine.com

Lisa Jean Humphrey

lisa.humphrey@salisburythemagazine.com

CONTRIBUTORS Kristi Craven, Andie Foley, David Shaw, Nancy Shirley, Wayne Hinshaw, David Stevenson Jr. Project Manager -Len Clark len.clark@salisburythemagazine.com

On the web:

www.salisburythemagazine.com

Photo credit: Terie Shaver Price

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/salisburythemagazine

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To subscribe, contact

sales@salisburythemagazine.com

Salisbury the Magazine P.O. Box 4639 Salisbury, NC 28145-4639 Value $3.99 Published 9 times / year

MAIN STREET

MUSIC FOOD CRAFT VENDORS KIDS ACTIVITIES FIREWORKS NEW THIS YEAR!

CHINA GROVE MAIN STAGE IN HANNA PARK Visit us at ChinaGroveNC.gov and follow us on Facebook for schedules andS Umore info. 3 M M E R 2 017 g

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S A L I S B U RY T H E MAGA Z I N E

F E ATUR E S Summer 2017

38

Hitting the bottle

Local folks give their artistic takes on Cheerwine.

46 100 and counting

Here’s Cheerwine by the numbers.

On this page: Cheerwine is a dark cherry drink, so it took quite a bit of backlight to produce this fiery glow.

On the cover: Cheerwine bottles seem to be marching toward the soft drink’s next 100 years.

— Photos by Jon C. Lakey S U M M E R 2 017

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INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

D E PA R T M E N T S

18 IN EVERY ISSUE Editor’s Letter p.7 | Bookish p.9 | Through the Lens p.10 Events Calendar p.76 | The Scene p.79 | Salisbury’s the Place p.90

FOOD

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Cherry smash Food is fine when you add Cheerwine.

WELLNESS

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T H E A RT S

18

Works like a charm Jewelers turn local treasures into keepsakes.

Senior court Group finds morning tennis a hard habit to break.

REMINISCE

68

Faith like a rock Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church has a solid history of 150 years.

AT H O M E

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Home again Take in the Hall House, and you become part of the family.

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American Solutions for Bus. . . . . . . 74 Anne/Roland Furniture . . . . . . . . . . 53 Baker’s Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Bangkok Downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Bare Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Barnhardt Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Cabarrus Comm. Health . . . . . . . . . 55 Cabarrus Eye Center . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Caniche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Carolina Beverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Carolina Golf Mart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Catawba College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Cathy Griffin-Century 21 . . . . . . . . . 57 CHS-Primary Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 City of Salisbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Courtyard Marriott . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Critters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 D.C. Chem Dry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Dairy Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Distinctive Naturescapes . . . . . . . . . 74 Downtown Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 DSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Embellish Boutique . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 F&M Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Faith Farm Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . 59 First Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Godley’s Garden Center . . . . . . . . . 52 Granite Knitwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Greystone Salon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Hearing Solutions of NC, PLLC . . . . 54 Hood Theological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Hydraulic Depot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 K-Dees Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 J.A. Fisher Co., Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Landis Plumbing & Heating . . . . . . . 74 Laurels of Salisbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Lazy 5 Veterinarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Lexington Medical Center . . . . . . . . 84 Lora Belle Baby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Meals on Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Medicine Shoppe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Merle Norman of Salisbury . . . . . . . 66 NC Transportation Museum . . . . . . 34 North Hills Christian School . . . . . . 75 Old Courthouse Theatre, Inc. . . . . . 27 Par 3 Life, Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Powles Staton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Rowan Animal Clinic . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Rowan County Parks . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Rowan/Kannapolis ABC Board . . . . 44 Sacred Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Salisbury Emporium . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Salisbury Wine Shop . . . . . . . . . 37, 75 Skinny Wheels Bike Shop . . . . . . . . 37 South Main Book Co. . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Stitchin’ Post Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Stout Heating & Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Strategic Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Superior Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 The Candy Shoppe on Main . . . . . . 37 The Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 The Gables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 The Perfect Smoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Timeless Wigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Tom’s Carpet Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Town of China Grove . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Towne & Country Century 21 . . . . . 56 Transit Damaged Freight . . . . . . . . . 72 Trinity at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Trinity Oaks Retirement Center . . . . 45 Viva Wellness Boutique & Spa . . . . 31 Wallace Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Windsor Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Yatawara Gynecology . . . . . . . . . . . 57

summer 2017

EDITOR’S LETTER

Cheerwine, you had us at the first sip

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or two straight years, my oldest son, Sam, had one of those summer jobs you dream about, and you never had to remind him what a good gig it was. He knew. With a different college buddy each summer, he traveled through the Southland handing out free Cheerwine at places such as shopping centers, concerts, community festivals and on the beaches.

Sam and his friends also took photos and wrote a blog about the people they met along the way. Make no mistake, it’s pretty easy to meet folks when you’re handing out Cheerwine. The headquarters in Salisbury made sure various distributors were ready to load up the college kids’ van when they came rolling in for a new stockpile and another place to spread the cheer, so to speak.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, much of this issue is dedicated to Cheerwine, the Salisbury soft drink which is celebrating its 100th birthday. It’s fair to say a true North Carolinian loves at least three things: basketball, barbecue and Cheerwine.

The “Nectar of Tar Heels,” Cheerwine is known for its wild cherry flavor, fizziness, sweetness and for how well it goes with different foods, especially barbecue.

The Cheerwine story includes five generations of the same family who have guided the company for an entire century. That’s remarkable in itself. Cheerwine also is a tale of incredible brand loyalty. It seems once you’re hooked, you’re hooked for life.

A transplant from the North, I personally became a Cheerwine devotee many years ago when I was walking the golf course at Corbin Hills on a hot summer day. I’ll never forget how a fountain Cheerwine over crushed ice quenched my thirst back at the clubhouse,

and I became a true believer then.

Years later, I even entered the Miss Cheerwine contest, and the company named me the honorary winner. But that’s another story, and one you should not tell your children.

In celebration of Cheerwine’s birthday, Salisbury the Magazine is giving you a quick 100 nuggets of information about the soft drink, which will have a downtown celebration in Salisbury May 20.

We also put out a call for Salisbury artists to give us their takes on Cheerwine, and we received a wide range of things to share — from photographs to paintings to drawings to even Cheerwine-inspired fish.

Cheerwine is a pretty delicious ingredient in all kinds of food, and Deirdre Parker Smith offers some Cheerwine recipes for barbecue sauce, cupcakes and sangria you might want to try yourself. Andie Foley goes behind the scenes at Windsor Gallery in Salisbury and reveals how the shop makes intricate, locally inspired charms that even include a vintage Cheerwine can and bottle.

Mark Ritchie, retired chief executive officer of Carolina Beverage Corp., tells us what it was like growing up as a Cheerwine kid.

David Shaw writes his first article for Salisbury the Magazine and takes us down to the courts at Salisbury City Park, where a steadfast group of guys have been playing tennis three mornings a week for decades.

Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church is a lot older than Cheerwine and is celebrating its 150th birthday this year. You’ll see just how historic this church is, and speaking of history, few Salisbury houses are more celebrated for their history than the Hall House on South Jackson Street.

Hall House docents share some of their inside scoop on the house, and you’ll learn a lot about Dr. Josephus W. Hall, who was a surgeon for the Salisbury Confederate Prison.

There’s one more footnote to my son’s connection to Cheerwine. The summer after he graduated from college and before he took an internship with the Hartford Courant, he and some other newspaper interns were flown out to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln for some pre-instruction.

Imagine Sam’s surprise when he went to a dining hall on his first day, and one of his soda fountain choices was Cheerwine. He introduced his fellow interns to the bold red drink and discovered once again it’s easy to make friends when you’re handing out Cheerwine, even in Nebraska. S

Mark Wineka, Editor, Salisbury the Magazine

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Salisbury, North Carolina

CHEERS TO

Great things only get better with age.

100 YEARS!

Catawba is proud to share town-gown ties with a true legend and a Salisbury hometown classic!

Catawba has historic ties to Cheerwine through the family of Cheerwine founder, L.D. Peeler. L.D. Peeler’s son, Clifford, was a longtime member of and chaired the Catawba Board of Trustees. L.D. Peeler’s granddaughter, Dr. Shirley Peeler Ritchie, was a 1952 Catawba alumna and also served on the College Board of Trustees.

For the past several years, Catawba’s Admissions Office has hosted an annual Cheerwine Day on campus. At the event, prospects get a “taste” of both the college and the iconic beverage.

Salisbury, NC 1.800.CATAWBA

#catawbacollege

This fall Cheerwine Day at Catawba is set for

November 4, 2017. catawba.edu/admissions

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by

deirdre parker smith

From myth to mystery to better science

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une brings a plethora of goodies to book stores, making it hard to choose what to tell you about first. Since it’s summer, you can pick up plenty of mysteries, lots of love stories and new books from big names.

Christopher Tolkien has compiled pieces from his father J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings to create “Beren and Lúthien,” about a mortal man and an Elfen princess who appeared in “The Silmarillion” and “The Lord of the Rings.”

Aragorn sings their sad tale in “The Lord of the Rings.” In “The Silmarillion,” Tolkien told their entire story.

Beren is praised for his brave deeds; the two beget half-elves. In the pantheon of Middle Earth, Lúthien is a first cousin of Galadriel and great-great-grandparent to Arwen, who also weds a mortal, the same Aragorn.

For a debut novel, “Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore” has a title that’s hard to pass up. Author Matthew Sullivan cleverly sets the action in motion when a bookstore patron commits suicide and his favorite store clerk tries to put the pieces of the dead man’s puzzling life back together. Clerk Lydia inherits Joey’s possessions, finding disturbing and inexplicable images in his books that reveal he was a young man on the edge, and something else — what could it all mean?

Lee Child has edited an anthology of stories by thriller writers, “MatchUp,” with contributors that include Child, Kathy Reichs, Diana Gabaldon, Michael Kortya, Charlaine Harris, John Sandford, Christopher Rice, Nelson deMille and Lisa Scottoline.

John Grisham will publish “Camino Is-

BOOKISH

land,” blending a heist from Princeton’s Firestone Library’s vault, a bookstore owner who makes his money from the sale of rare books and a struggling young novelist who goes undercover (a little punny, no?) to infiltrate the world of rare book collectors.

At least one nonfiction book should be fun, as well as educational. “If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?” by Alan Alda, subtitled, “My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating.” It draws on his work as an actor, on improvisation, science and storytelling. He developed new and better ways to communicate after his years as host of “Scientific American Frontiers,” and hands out tips on how to relate to family, friends, doctors, business people and more.

Sherman Alexie, who has a loyal group of readers, takes on grief in “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir.”

When his mother died at 78, Alexie wrote 78 poems and 78 essays, included family photographs and delved into raw, funny, profane, angry, tender memories of growing up dirt poor on an Indian reservation with his alcoholic parents.

Other intriguing works coming in June are Arundhati Roy’s “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” and Roxane Gay’s “Hunger: A Memoir of (my) Body.” Gay brings insight to her struggles with body image and food.

Roy, author of the prize winning “The God of Small Things,” takes the reader deep into the lives of its “gloriously rendered characters, each of them in search of a place of safety — in search of meaning, and of love.” S

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THROUGH THE LENS

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by kristi craven

In late March, a stormy sky gathers above a public telephone in China Grove.

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FOOD

Cheerwine cupcakes

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CHERRY picking

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Food is fine when you add Cheerwine.

Written by DEIRDRE PARKER SMITH Photography by JON C. LAKEY

I

f you just can’t get enough Cheerwine, or if you want that flavor in other parts of your life, a simple search for Cheerwine recipes yields some familiar and some not-so-familiar results.

You’ve probably had a slice of Cheerwine pound cake or made a batch of Cheerwine ice cream.

Have you added Cheerwine to your favorite barbecue sauce? Or used it to make icing?

Garden & Gun magazine published a recipe for Cheerwine Vinegar Pie in 2013. Sounds like that wouldn’t be too hard, but if you read the recipe, you’ll find you have to make Cheerwine vinegar first.

That recipe requires you to make a SCOBY, or symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Then you have to age it for weeks, then check the pH, then, well, it goes on quite a bit.

We decided to stick to simple things you can do with a bottle or can of Rowan County’s favorite soft drink.

Instead of making a cake, use Cheerwine to flavor cupcakes. We found a popular trend of mixing boxed cake mixes with 12 ounces of soda — no other ingredients necessary — for a super easy cupcake.

If you need a glaze or sauce for pork, try a simple sauce with Cheerwine and ingredients you have in the house anyway.

We also found a tempting recipe from Food Network star Alton Brown for Cheerwine sangria, something he tasted at Durham’s Mateo restaurant.

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FOOD

Cheerwine works well as a barbecue sauce.

For the simplest pleasure of all, make yourself a Cheerwine float on a warm summer day, after the grill is put away and the sun begins to set. Sweet refreshment. No recipe needed. Take out a tall glass, add two or three scoops of vanilla ice cream. Pour a cold Cheerwine over all and enjoy.

We tried adding room temperature Cheerwine to the ice cream and it foamed up into a sort of outer space sculpture, which was fun, but hard to eat.

You might want to add Cheerwine to the glass first, then your ice cream. It’s all about the fizz.

CHEERWINE BARBECUE SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

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• 1 cup ketchup

• 12 ounces Cheerwine at

• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 1/8 tsp. cherry flavor (optional)

• 1 cup Cheerwine

• ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper • ½ teaspoon dry mustard

room temperature

• maraschino cherries

For the frosting:

• 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar

• 4 cups Cheerwine

For the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Use soon or cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to one week.

• 2-3 cups powdered sugar

CHEERWINE CUPCAKES

• 1 box white cake mix

• 1 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners, spray lightly with cooking spray and set aside.

Whisk together cake mix, Cheerwine and cherry flavor until combined. Pour into prepared pans about two-thirds to three-fourths full and bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely. Do not add any of the in-

A Cheerwine float is a delicious, refreshing treat.

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FOOD

gredients listed on the cake mix, just the dry mixture and the Cheerwine.

Meanwhile, boil the 4 cups of Cheerwine down to 1/2 cup liquid in a saucepan. It will be like a syrup. Cool completely.

In a stand mixer, cream butter and 2 cups of powdered sugar on medium speed. Slow speed to low and incorporate Cheerwine reduction. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, adding additional sugar if needed to achieve desired consistency.

Pipe onto cupcakes and top each one with a maraschino cherry.

CHEERWINE SANGRIA • 1 bottle of red wine (Rioja is good)

• 4 ounces triple sec or any orange liqueur • 2 ounces brandy

• 1 tsp. cherry bitters

• 4 ounces frozen peaches, chopped

• 4 ounces frozen mango, chopped

• 8-10 basil leaves, roughly torn into

large pieces • 1 large orange, halved, then quartered • 1 orange, halved and thinly sliced • 2 (12 oz.) bottles or cans of Cheerwine, chilled

Stir the first seven ingredients together in a large pitcher and chill at least four hours, preferably overnight.

When ready to serve, skim the basil off the surface with a spoon or small strainer.

Divide the fruit from the pitcher into eight large wine glasses and top with 4 ounces of the wine mixture, followed by 3 ounces of Cheerwine.

Finish by squeezing an orange quarter into each of the glasses and garnish with an orange slice.

Drink and repeat — responsibly, please. S

SHOP • DINE • STROLL www.downtownsalisburync.com • 704.637.7814

June 2nd 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM GALLERY GALLOP

Showcasing Downtown Salisbury Galleries and Artists Come to Downtown Salisbury for an evening of late night shopping and dining.

This event will feature a trolley tour of Salisbury’s many galleries and businesses.

Enjoy live music on the sidewalks, food and free family fun.

June 3rd 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

SATURDAY ART FESTIVAL

Showcasing Downtown Salisbury Galleries and Artists Enjoy art vendors throughout the streets, live art demonstrations, food trucks, music, and lots of activities for kids.

BUT DON’T LEAVE WHEN IT’S OVER! Pops at the Post kicks off at 5 PM. This is sure to be a great weekend in Downtown Salisbury!

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Dan Nicholas Park www.dannicholas.net

6800 Bringle Ferry Road, Salisbury, NC 28146 •704-216-7800 or 1-866-767-2757

Rowan Wildlife Adventures Nature from the inside out.

2017 JUNE EVENTS

BEAR FEEDING EVERY SATURDAY & SUNDAY Location: Wildlife Adventures Time: 2:00pm (weather permitting) MEET THE ANIMAL EVERY SATURDAY & SUNDAY Location: Wildlife Adventures or Nature Center Time: 3:00pm (weather permitting) 2017 SUMMER READING KICK-OFF Rowan Public Library is hosting its annual Summer Reading Kick-Off at Dan Nicholas Park. Families may register for RPL’s summer reading program and take part in fun, hand-on-crafts and activities. FREE for all ages.

Date: June 3rd • Time: 11:00am-2:00pm “SCHOOLS OUT” FISHING TOURNAMENT June 12th-16th – Register at the concession stand. Prize goes to the student that catches the largest fish. It will be a whopping good time.

Ages: 5-18 NIGHT PROWL NATURE PROGRAM AT THE CAMPGROUND June 17th – Meet at the campground shelter.

Time: 9:00pm GEM MINE - FATHERS DAY WEEKEND June 16th-18th – Fathers get $2.00 off any bucket bought at the mine and 30% off all men’s jewelry. Ask before you buy or price will be too high.

NATURE CENTER HERP PROJECT Become immersed in Herpetological studies and field research by collecting, analyzing and documenting native species. Participation by application.

Dates: June 19th-22nd Age: Rising 9th thru 12graders • Maximum of 10 students.

Mike Lambert 704-216-7833 Michael.Lambert@rowancountync.gov ANIMAL ADVENTURE CAMP June 26th-30 – Have fun learning about native North Carolina animals.

Time: 9:00am-4:00pm Registration begins March 1st Ages: Rising 4th graders - rising 8th graders • Maximum of 15 campers Registration accepted with full payment Cost: $100.00 - Lunch and beverages provided.

Pre-registration required. Limited Space. Payment by cash, check or credit card Mike Lamber 704-216-7833 or email Michael.Lamber@rowancountync.gove Brooke Wilson 704-216-7834 Brooke.Wilson@rowancountync.gov

Don’t forget to visit our other exciting parks…

Ellis Park

3541 Old Mocksville Road Salisbury, NC 704-216-7783 Has everything to offer a family looking for an eventful and rewarding day, including an equestrian arena.

Eagle Point Nature Reserve 665 Black Road Salisbury, NC 28146

Sloan Park

550 Sloan Road Mt. Ulla, NC 28125 704-637-7776

Whether it is a wedding, Spending time with family or educating the children about nature, we have the facilities and programs for you.

Dunns Mountain

Nature & Historical Preserve Dunns Mountain Road SUMMER Salisbury, NC

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THE ARTS

Kirsten Reynolds makes charm jewelry in the likeness of local structures and icons at Salisbury’s Windsor Gallery.

Architects in miniature Jewelers turn local treasures into charms.

Written by ANDIE FOLEY | Photography by JON C. LAKEY

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ew aspiring architects plan to use their time and talents to replicate existing buildings. At least Kirsten Reynolds didn’t — but she’s made quite a name for herself doing just that.

Reynolds’ recreations are much more than exact copies. Rather, she transforms life-size items into beautifully intricate one-by-one inch square miniatures called Your Hometown Charms.™ These duplicates are cast in pre-

cious metals and available for purchase at Windsor Gallery Jewelers.

Together with her mother, Carol Rabon, Reynolds recreates local treasures like Salisbury’s Fame (the Confederate monument), the three-story and many-windowed Catawba College Administration Building and more. The pair also accept orders for custom designs.

Jewelry, it seems, is in Rabon’s blood.

The Rabon family tree includes the Horahs, a wellknown 18th and 19th century family of silversmiths from Salisbury. The family also has ties to Koch Jewelry in Bartenbach, Germany, though Rabon herself reports falling into jewelry more from necessity than training or interest. She was working as a preschool educator when her husband began manufacturing natural nugget jewelry in the 1970s.

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THE ARTS

A finished charm of a historic home on Fulton Street contrasted to a photograph of the home.

“I just needed to be in the business, so I learned everything the hard way,” she said with a smile.

Reynolds’ story is much the same. “(Jewelry making) wasn’t really my passion, but I did learn a skill,” she said. “I can take that skill anywhere and do anything. If somebody can show me a picture I can make it.”

The completed pieces on display at Windsor Gallery Jewelers give merit to Reynolds’ assertion. Pieces include Cheerwine bottles, beloved holes-in-the-wall like Hap’s Grill, adored and grandiose churches and local historical homes.

Some 90 percent of these pieces are completed entirely by hand. The remaining 10 percent, generally pieces with lettering or intense de-

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tail, are designed and molded through CAD, a computer-aided design software. The rest of the process — casting, clipping, tumbling and polishing — is done the old-fashioned way.

“We decided years ago that when we’re doing historic pieces, it’s nice to have it handmade instead of computer designed,” Reynolds said.

“The houses and the buildings weren’t made by a computer, so we thought it’d be a nice way to pay homage to the historical buildings.”

Much like building a house, the process of creating a charm is tedious, time-consuming and multi-stepped. To begin, an original “master wax” is carved from hard wax, a process that can take anywhere from four to 15 hours depending on the intricacy of the piece. Next, a

mold is made, which is used to cast the charm in precious metal. Reynolds and her mother bring efficiency to this process by using a wax tree: a branching system of molds used to cast multiple charms at once.

The pair entered into this process of custom-carved charms in the early 1990s. Their first charm was in the likeness of St. John’s Lutheran Church, and was a gift from the pastor to his wife as they moved on from their cherished church home.

Interest in Reynolds’ and Rabon’s work spread organically, with contacts and orders coming in from friends and strangers alike.

Local celebrity clientele includes names such as Elizabeth “Liddy” Dole, former U.S. senator

Wax molds of charms before they are cast in silver.

and Boyden High School classmate of Reynolds’ father.

Dole owns a collection of Your Hometown Charms,™ including Boyden High (now Salisbury High School), the Red Cross building and her own home.

Windsor Gallery Jewelers’ portfolio of custom charms quickly grew due to local renown and success. Their gallery is now quite impressive — as it is ever-growing.

Reynolds also has graciously worked alongside area nonprofits, for example, with Phil Goodman, president of Kannapolis History Associates. This organization, dedicated to preserving the history of Kannapolis, releases a new landmark charm annually for organizational fundraising efforts.

Today, Reynolds has taken over the majority of the custom charm carving, though she has a hand in most things around the shop as well. She does most of the jewelry repair work, custom designs other pieces of jewelry using CAD, and does all the casting and polishing at the store.

Though Reynolds’ education is not formal, it is continuous. Reynolds has taken several different classes over the years, though she claims her skills were learned more through trial and error. Now years removed from that dream of architecture, she would change little about her career path excluding this lack of college-centered learning.

THE ARTS Her specific regret? Not taking the metals course at East Carolina University.

“I would take a one- to two-week class, come home, practice, take another class, practice — that kind of thing,” she said, then continued with a laugh, “I didn’t go to college to learn this. ... My school was the school of doing.”

Reynolds jokingly refers to herself as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, but the quality of her work suggests she has mastered plenty. Apart from her miniatures, she also enjoys creating hard-fired enamel pieces, sometimes collaborating with local artists. She’s created several collaborative enamel pieces with local artist Cara Reische, sculpting vessels for the painter to fill as she sees fit.

For this passionate, born-to-be-jeweler, her craft is a constant presence in her life, and it is catching. Her husband, with his own career at UPS, handles the shop’s custom engraving. The husband and wife are

also growing their own generation of craftsmen.

Reynolds is the mother of two, a 13-yearold boy and a 11-year-old girl. For her son, metalworking is a bloodborn interest. He attends Charms of a monthly blacksmithing Cheerwine can and lessons in Mooresville with Cheerwine his father, and Reynolds bottle. has hopes to set him up a forge at home. Practice and diligence, she says, are what any true artist needs to embrace his or her art.

“You can always find something you don’t like about a piece,” Reynolds said. “If you stop in the ugly duckling stage, it will never get finished. You just have to keep going. ... It does get better.” S Andie Foley was a spring intern at the Salisbury Post and is a recent graduate of Catawba College.

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The lattice ironwork from St. Louis gives the Hall House a distinctive look.

Coming

HOME Take in the Hall House, and you become part of the family.

Written by MARK WINEKA Photography by JON C. LAKEY

N

ot long ago, when Terri Jones moved to Salisbury from Raleigh, she wanted to become involved in the city’s rich history. In Raleigh, Jones had served as site manager for the Mordecai Historic Park.

“This is in my blood,” Jones says. “I had to find another historic house to haunt.”

She learned of the Dr. Josephus W. Hall House museum at 226 S. Jackson St. and soon found herself sitting in the south parlor with Anne Lyles, the head trainer if you will, of Hall House docents.

Jones’ eyes took in wondrous furnishings in the parlor and realized in talking with Lyles what she was seeing was on par with every other room in the Hall House. The chandelier, now electrified, was a gas fixture when it was shipped in from Philadelphia in 1859.

Sliding pocket doors separated the parlor from the dining room behind Jones. The furniture was beautifully gothic. The mirrors had a distinct Italian styling, reflecting influences from when Dr. Hall lived in Europe. Lace curtains on the 10-foot-tall front windows were at least 100 years old.

The room held a gold-framed portrait of Henrietta, Dr. Hall’s first wife. On one side of the room stood an 1860 Henry Gaehle piano from Baltimore, a displayed receipt for which showed it cost Hall $380.

A table in the middle was set for tea, with the original cups and saucers from the Hall family. Barbara Upright, a Historic Salisbury Foundation volunteer devoted to the Hall House, had left fresh cut flowers in the middle of the table.

From top: The wallpaper in the dining room is typical of the prints chosen throughout the Hall House; A Civil War Colt pistol and a powder flask; Bells over gas lights kept smoke from blackening the ceiling.

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AT HOME

An original, patched portrait of Dr. Josephus W. Hall in the main entrance. Did Union soldiers slice it with their swords?

On another table were stuffed birds in a wildlife scene under glass. It didn’t take long for Jones to realize the Hall House was a special place.

“It was like coming home, from the first moment,” says Jones, now an enthusiastic docent for the Hall House. “You just become part of the family.”

James Bevels says he and other docents love the house, and he thinks it’s because there was a lot of love and happiness in the Hall family, four generations of whom lived here before Historic Salisbury Foundation bought it in 1972.

From all accounts, Bevels adds, Dr. Hall himself was a generous, kind, approachable man who never denied medical treatment to anyone.

If the Hall House were haunted by ghosts, Bevels says, they would be friendly.

The 1820 Hall House, a distinctive Salisbury landmark with its decorative ironwork facade, can be appreciated on many levels. With its furnishings, the house reflects both antebellum and Victorian periods. Civil War history can be told with Dr. Hall as a focal point, given his role as the surgeon for the Salisbury Confederate Prison.

Stockton Hall, son of Dr. Hall, probably slept in this upstairs bedroom.

Above: The south parlor: At left, Henrietta Hall’s portrait hangs over an 1860 piano from Baltimore. Below: A corner of the lone downstairs bedroom.

Below right: The original painted ceiling of the entrance hall.

Historic Salisbury Foundation also has used the house to display some important artifacts in the city’s history. A desk at which eventual President Andrew Jackson studied law in Salisbury sits in the wide hallway upstairs.

A 1790 “square” piano and its original stool that belonged to Salisbury author Frances Fisher, who went by the pen name Christian Reid, occupies a corner in the north parlor. A similar piano is in Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Bevels says. This room also holds an 1850 legislator’s desk and chair from Raleigh.

There’s an original, patched portrait of Dr. Hall in the entrance hall — was it sliced by swords of Yankee soldiers as family lore suggested? Upstairs hangs a copy of Hall’s pardon from President Andrew Johnson for his role

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Above: Rowan craftsmen probably built this bed around Civil War times. Right: The French cream set is thought to have come back with the Halls from Paris. Below right: The main entrance hall.

in serving the Confederacy as a prison physician.

A framed receipt for the St. Louis ironwork also is on display upstairs. The signature lattice, which gives the house a New Orleans feel, cost $125 in 1859. The painted ceilings of both the entrance hall and the upstairs hall are original conversation pieces.

Outside, worthy of a story all its own and a must-see during any visit, is the circa 1825 restored dependency — a former slave quarters and kitchen once serving this large home.

The grounds also hold a cannon, the barrel of which was saved from the infamous Confederate prison after it was burned by Gen. George Stoneman’s men. Mary Cowan, Dr. Hall’s second wife, planted the boxwoods bordering the front sidewalk.

The story passed down for generations is that Mary “kindly demanded” soldiers of Stoneman’s cavalry to keep their horse from “nibbling and trampling” her boxwoods, and the men obliged, moving their horses a block away to Mrs. Mock’s fenced-in yard.

Bevels and Gavine Pitner are veteran Hall House docents.

They have been giving Hall House tours for close to 10 years, immersing themselves in the history of the house and family 30

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Clockwise from top left: The square piano that belonged to Frances Fisher; docents James Bevels, Terri Jones and Gavine Pitner; the Halls’ upstairs bedroom; A legislator’s desk (circa 1850) in the north parlor; the painted ceiling in the downstairs hall; and a chandelier in the south parlor.

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AT HOME

and finding they have to hold back information on the casual tours.

“We try to keep ourselves from getting too long-winded,” Bevels says.

On OctoberTour, for example, visitors hear the “tip of the iceberg” about the Hall House, and Bevels and Pitner often encourage them to return on less hectic days to spend more time.

“There is so much here,’” Jones says. “... You learn every time you come in.”

Could it be something as glorious as the Hall House is not appreciated for the treasure it is? Many of the docents think so. They often serve as guides for lifelong Rowan Countians visiting the house museum for the first time.

“People who live here take their own history for granted,” Jones says. “They don’t explore their own backyard.”

So many of the furnishings — the furniture, silver, china, linens, portraits, books and more — stayed with the house because they were passed down through the generations, daughter to daughter. The docents have a theory that daughters are better stewards of a family’s keepsakes than, say, daughters-in-law.

When Historic Salisbury Foundation purchased the house in 1972, it bought the works.

“Almost everything in the house was chosen by the family to be where it remains,” Jones says.

The Halls’ original four-post bed stands in their upstairs bedroom, and all the children born in this house were birthed in that room.

The bedroom also includes an “English convenience,” a fancy chamber pot, that is. Next to the bed is a marble-topped washstand and a slop jar on the floor for the dirty water. A timeline of names, starting with Dr. Hall, is scrawled onto the back inside wall of a wardrobe.

The house has eight fireplaces, thanks to the double chimneys on both sides of the house added by Hall. “He’s the one responsible for the very extensive remodeling of this house,” Bevels says.

The home was constructed originally as classrooms for the Salisbury Girls Academy, funded largely from the proceeds of a lottery.

It was supported by the Salisbury Thespian So-

ciety, and tuition was a hefty $75 a year. The school lasted only five years, and the theatrical society disbanded in 1825.

The house was sold as a private residence to Rebecca Troy and her half-brother, businessman Maxwell Chambers.

Jones says Troy, a wealthy widow, was a woman of great taste, reflected in the reproduction French wallpaper in some of the rooms. Maxwell Chambers, who had been sharing the house with his sister, married and moved to a home down the street. Troy herself wed in 1840 and also moved, selling the house and its entire block to C.B. Wheeler.

Sheriff N.S.A. Chaffin of Davie County came to own the house, but he rented it out until Hall purchased the property in 1859.

Born in 1805, Hall was a native Rowan Countian whose family lived near the South Yadkin River. His father was a planter who owned a saw mill and operated a ferry. John Hall, Hall’s grandfather, had settled in this area, coming down the Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia.

John Hall was listed as a medical doctor during the Revolutionary War and reportedly was at Gen. Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown.

Josephus Hall had attended the boys academy in Salisbury. At 23, he decided to become a physician and packed his belongings on horseback and followed roads originally blazed by Daniel Boone to Kentucky.

He received his medical diploma, which is displayed on a north parlor wall, from Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. E.S. Todd, father of Mary Todd Lincoln, is one of the college trustees who signed the diploma.

Graduating in 1830, Hall stayed in Kentucky, practicing medicine in Frankfurt and Louisville. He married Henrietta Stockton of Bowling Green, Ky., in 1836, and they “honeymooned” in Europe for three years. Hall continued his medical studies in both Paris and London.

Back in the States, Hall had a hand in starting a medical school at Kemper College, just outside of St. Louis, but a disagreement led

him to accept a job as a professor and lecturer at the University of St. Louis Medical College from 1841-49.

In 1846, he was elected president of the St. Louis Medical Society, the first medical society west of the Mississippi River.

Josephus and Henrietta Hall had four children, but only two, Henrietta and Stockton, would survive into adulthood. The first-born daughter, Josephine — a portrait of her hangs in the north parlor — and Hall’s wife, Henrietta, died in 1849 when a cholera epidemic hit St. Louis.

Josephine was 9; Henrietta, 31. Hall’s first son, Henry, had died when he was nine months old.

Hall returned to Salisbury as a widower with two young children in 1851. Bevels says Hall made most of his wealth from buying and selling property in St. Louis, and when he returned to Salisbury, he mainly dealt in real estate.

Historians give Hall some credit for the early development of downtown Salisbury. “He didn’t fall off a potato truck,” Bevels says.

In 1853, he married Mary Cowan, who was wealthy enough to own slaves. The Halls lived with Mary’s parents until they bought the Jackson Street house in 1859 for a price of $3,500. They eventually purchased the whole block, and the site included stables, a carriage house, the slave quarters and farm animals.

In 1861, the Confederacy commissioned Hall as a surgeon for the prison. He also served as a physician at the various wayside hospitals for the sick and solidly supported and filled the role of chief surgeon for the Confederate General Hospital, which Bevels says was located near today’s Long Street and Bringle Ferry Road.

Daughter Henrietta Hall, who would have been close to 20 years old, supposedly watched the Union’s burning of the prison and Confederate supplies on Main Street from the top veranda of the Hall House.

During their occupancy at the end of the war, rent-paying Union soldiers were said to take up half the house; the Hall family, the

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“From my understanding,” Bevels says, “they became quite good friends.”

The north parlor’s carpet is laid in strips. In late Victorian times, only the strips of carpet that were worn were the ones replaced. Many of the home’s ornate light fixtures were originally gas, when Salisbury was one of the first five cities in the state to have gas lighting.

Bevels points out the glass bells on top of some of the light fixtures. The bells were an attempt to keep smoke from blackening the ceilings, which are 12 feet high downstairs and 14 feet upstairs.

The downstairs bedroom includes a walnut bed that is thought to have been made by Rowan County craftsmen in 1859. The room also includes the lace wedding handkerchief of Mary Cowan.

The dining room showcases the Hall family’s

crystal, china and silver. The silver-on-copper serving platter is from Sheffield, England. A French cream set goes back to Henrietta, the first wife, and is probably from Paris. A Japanese silk partition reflects daughter Henrietta’s love of travel to the Orient at the turn of the century.

The name “Mary” is etched into a window pane of an upstairs door leading onto the veranda. Sentimental Victorian women liked to take the diamonds from their rings and etch their names into glass, the docents say.

The south upstairs bedroom in the front is considered daughter Henrietta’s room. She painted the artwork on the fireplace screen.

There’s a portrait of Fan, one of Henrietta’s seven children, and the toys in this room were brought down from the attic, which was added onto the house in the early 1900s.

The back bedroom on the same side is

thought to have belonged to Stockton, who at 16 and against his father’s wishes, rode off to join the Confederate fighting. Stockton eventually prospected for gold out west, lived many different places and would never have a close attachment to his father or the Salisbury house.

But back to the south parlor, where Jones first talked to Lyles about the Hall House.

On one of the parlor tables sits a photograph of Dr. Hall’s great-granddaughter Mildred Seaber lying in state in 1990. She was the last Hall descendant to live in the house before HSF’s purchase, and she had asked for her viewing to be in the cherished home, in the south parlor.

You can bet her ghost is friendly. S The Hall House is open March through December from 1-4 p.m. Saturdays and 1:30-4 pm.

Sundays and by appointment. It also has an annual Christmas Eve candlelight tour.

From one Rowan County original to another CONGRATULATIONS, CHEERWINE! Thanks for a century of great taste.

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Above: John Morehead, an artist known for his fishy take on things, created this ‘Centennial Fintennial’ for Cheerwine’s birthday. The head is made from old ceiling tin; the eye, a cast metal star. The Cheerwine logo comes from a metal sign. The wooden body is the mirror frame from a wooden dresser. The tail includes more ceiling tin, which holds a vintage Cheerwine bottle cap, old enough that it still has the cork seal in it. Victor Wallace spied this fish on Facebook and bought it for his friend, Cliff Ritchie, the president and CEO of Cheerwine Bottling. ‘I was delighted to know that it would stay in the Cheerwine family,’ Morehead says.

Left: Connie Loflin Peninger found Cheerwine lends itself to bright colors, and she brought those together in this acrylic painting of a table setting incorporating Cheerwine bottles, flowers and cherries. Cheerwine, which Peninger still loves to drink, has been an integral part of her whole life. ‘I could tell you 100 Cheerwine stories,’ she says. One of Peninger’s favorites is the time her son asked her to be his date at a son-and-daughter dance at Knollwood Elementary School. She was thrilled, but she soon realized her son was only excited about the dance because it would include a Cheerwine fountain. Peninger belongs to the Carolina Artists group, and she says Carolina Beverage Corp. has been a strong supporter of the artists and her church throughout the years.

Cherries

jubilee

Readers submit artistic creations with a Cheerwine twist.

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Rebecca Jennings, who has a booth at the Salisbury Emporium, promises she will be making more Cheerwine Christmas wreaths when the holiday rolls around this year. Her Cheerwine wreath last Christmas went to a buyer from Charleston, S.C., and Jennings has saved a lot of older and newer Cheerwine bottles for future wreaths. ‘I already have another made up with a redbird,’ she says. Born and raised here, Jennings says she is a lifelong connoisseur of Cheerwine. ‘Cheerwine and a barbecue sandwich is the best,’ she says.

o mark Cheerwine’s 100th anniversary, Salisbury the Magazine put out a call to local artists, photographers, craftsmen and the public at large to give us their examples of, well, Cheerwine art.

Use Cheerwine as their Muse, we asked.

You’ll see the results on the following pages, and it turns out to be quite an eclectic collection of people’s takes on Cheerwine — from John Morehead’s “Cen-

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tennial Fintennial” to Rebecca Jennings’ handcrafted Cheerwine Christmas wreath.

This was not a contest. We accepted pretty much everything submitted, although space limitations kept out a couple of items. One thing most of the participants had in common was a love for Cheerwine as consumers.

“I have fond childhood memories of Cheerwine,” Jennings said. “I remember in the early 1970s my

Left: Bill Smith of Kannapolis calls this ‘Friday, Waiting on the Cafe Crowd’ On a recent Friday, Smith spoke to an older man in Sylva, who was waiting for Lulu’s Cafe to open, and he noticed the Cheerwine backdrop to the street scene. It’s acrylic and ink on canvas and measures 18-by-24 inches.

Below: Sydnie Barber says she did this Cheerwine-inspired piece as a project for Graphic Design 1 at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

It is in the Bauhaus style.

Sydnie is a graphic design student at RCCC.

parents taking a friend and me to Myrtle Beach. Back in those days, soda fountains were common in pharmacies — a nice place to sit for a cold drink while waiting for a prescription to be filled.

“My friend and I — we were maybe 9 or 10 years old — stretched ourselves up on the barstools at the counter of what I think was an Eckerd Drug Store. We both thought we were big stuff, sitting on a bar stool about to ask for a CheerWINE. “The emphasis on WINE.” The girls ordered their Cheerwine and were immediately told the drugstore did not sell alcohol.

“We snickered and explained to them that Cheerwine was what we always ordered in our hometown and it was OK for kids to drink.”

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Above: Taylor Baker, who graduated in May from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College with a two-year degree in fine art, took this photograph last October. The 1937 Chevy truck is parked in front of the Cheerwine-painted wall sign off East Fisher Street in Salisbury. While this photograph was shot with her digital camera, Baker says a similar print from film has been on exhibit at the Clearwater Gallery. Asked if she is a big fan of the soft drink, Baker says, ‘I’m going to have to say I’m a moderate Cheerwine drinker.’

Left: John Buford, who painted this watercolor, has a good beach story that goes with Cheerwine, and it goes back to his high school graduation in 1976.

He and some just-graduated buddies from Salisbury High spent a week in Myrtle Beach, and as youngsters did back then, they drank beer on their vacation. But when they tired of beer, they longed for Cheerwine, and one of the guys, Jeff Smith, drove all the way back to Salisbury, bought two cases of the soft drink and drove all the way back to Myrtle Beach. The guys also had been talking about the deliciousness of Cheerwine to some girls they had met at the beach from Ohio. ‘We gave them some to take to Ohio,’ Buford says. ‘I bet that was some of the first Cheerwine in Ohio.” Buford only recently started painting again — something he enjoyed doing in high school art class. You can understand how Buford will always associate Cheerwine with the beach.

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The store didn’t offer the Cheerwine fountain drink they wanted, and the girls settled for a “witch doctor,” a combination of several sodas mixed together.

“I think Cheerwine will always bring out the kid in me,” Jennings said.

You hear that time and time again with Cheerwine. The soft drink has strong brand loyalty that stays with many people a lifetime. You’ll see some of that passion in the next few pages.

So sit back, relax and drink in Cheerwine as a fish, Cheerwine in the abstract, Cheerwine as advertisement and much more.

— Mark Wineka, editor

Queena Provoid, a lifetime artist and graphic designer by training, offered this different take on Cheerwine.

‘I just wanted to do an abstract picture,’ she says.

Those are waves of Cheerwine crashing against the brick walk at left, and the stars in the sky are ‘C’s for Cheerwine.

Provoid opted for cherries instead of people. On the right is a family of cherries crossing the street.

Provoid, who lives in Salisbury, used pencil, colored pencil and ink.

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Andrea Brown bought a plastic bottle and a can of Cheerwine at a local gas station, and it took the longtime artist only about an hour to provide this celebratory watercolor of one of her favorite soft drinks. ‘I love Cheerwine and Mountain Dew,’ she says. ‘They’re my two favorites.’

Brown belongs to The Carolina Artists organization. ‘I usually do pets and landscapes, which is what I’m working on right now,’ she says.

Opposite, near: You will notice right away that Terry Randall Jr.’s artistic take on Cheerwine spells ‘Cheerwine’ incorrectly, but Randall wanted to leave it the way it is. And he might have something. “Cherrwine” is the way a lot of people say the

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name of the soft drink. NASCAR is one of Randall’s favorite things to draw, so Cheerwine in a racing scene seemed like a natural for him. But Randall, 45, also is asked to draw religious subjects, buildings, babies, ‘you name it,’ he says. Randall is a full-time volunteer at the Hurley Family YMCA, where some of his other artwork is displayed.

Opposite, far: Patricia ‘P.J.’ Carter was the artist and photographer who designed and painted this tribute to Cheerwine’s 100th anniversary.

Carter went with a Diet Cheerwine bottle and its no-fat, no-sugar contents, making it in her estimation the ‘Queen of All Drinks.’ The model in this piece is Elizabeth ‘Libby’ Kyles, 16. S

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Ready, set,

Cheerwine The Salisbury soft drink is a century old, and here are 100 things that bubble to the surface.

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This sign at the Rowan Museum reflects one of the many marketing slogans Cheerwine has used through the years.

— Photo by Kristi Craven

1.

The Lenoir News Topic once ran a story about Caldwell County’s oldest resident, a 96-year-old woman. She attributed her long life to drinking Cheerwine every morning, followed by several draws on her corncob pipe.

2. The late Clifford Peeler, who headed Cheerwine for a good 60 years, said if he were marooned on an island and had a choice between Cheerwine and water, he’d choose Cheerwine. “Understand,” he said.

“I don’t knock water — I drink some of that, too. But you get tired of water.”

3. Cheerwine sold for 5 cents a bottle until the mid 1930s, then went up to 6 cents.

4. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, RC Cola, Mountain Dew and Cheerwine have something in common: All are soft drinks born in the South.

5. Sen. Jesse Helms liked Cheerwine.

6. Where servicemen and women go, so does Cheerwine. The soft drink has been sent to those serving in every war since World War II. 7. In the 1950s, a king-size bottle of Cheerwine was 8 ounces.

8. Cheerwine Punch, a favorite at parties and over the holidays, is two parts Cheerwine and one part unsweetened pineapple juice.

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Some of the older Cheerwine bottles and packaging in the days when Carolina Beverage Corp.’s products included Cool Moon and Caravan fruit-flavored drinks (far right). Seen in back is a portrait of Cheerwine founder, L.D. Peeler.

9. The “L.D.” in Cheerwine founder L.D. Peeler stood for Louis Daughton Peeler. He had been a successful grocer and hotel owner before (and after) getting into the soft drink business.

10.

Newspaper columnist Jerry Bledsoe on the Cheerwine founder: “Somebody should erect a statue of Louis Peeler for his service to humanity.”

11. President George Bush drank Cheerwine when he attended the Faith Fourth of July celebration in 1992.

12. In 2003, an affiliate of Stordalen Mweraluann gained an exclusive license to bottle and distribute Cheerwine in Norway.

An old Cheerwine drink machine sits in the corner of the Rowan Museum.

— Photo by Kristi Craven

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13. Cheerwine announced plans in 1994 to build a plant in a free-enterprise zone of China’s Guangdong Province. It didn’t pan out.

14. The exact combination of flavors in the Cheerwine formula is a closely held secret.

Carolina Beverage Corp. hired John Leslie as a chemist in 1950 to develop an improved cherry flavor for Cheerwine, though it has remained as true to the original as possible through the first 100 years.

15. In 1913, L.D. Peeler and 99 other Salisbury investors bought stock in a branch of Maysville Syrup, a Ky. company that made a soft drink called Mint Cola. It was first produced in the basement of Peeler’s wholesale store.

16.. The Salisbury Mint Cola group soon broke away from the struggling Maysville parent. L.D. Peeler became president of the new company.

17. In 1917, during the sugar shortage of World War I, a flavor salesman from St. Louis persuaded L.D. Peeler to eliminate some of the flavorings in Mint Cola and substitute an over-

This former Cheerwine plant at 324 E. Council St. was the company’s headquarters for close to 50 years. — Photo by Jon C. Lakey.

riding — and sweet — cherry flavor from almond oil. Cheerwine was born.

18. Why did L.D. Peeler call it Cheerwine? It was bubbly and had the burgundy color of wine. It also was said to make people smile.

19. Innes Street Drug (on South Main Street) sells officially licensed Cheerwine merchandise and also has a Cheerwine-only soda fountain offering drinks, floats, slushies and shakes.

20.

The Mint Cola Co. erected Salisbury’s first electric sign on its building near the Salisbury depot.

21. Early on, Mint Cola was bottled in the morning and cases of the carbonated soda were delivered by horse and wagon in the afternoon.

Mark Brincefield’s April 26, 1992, editorial cartoon in the Salisbury Post pokes fun at a Wall Street Journal story suggesting Cheerwine’s name and its teen-oriented ads were ‘attracting scrutiny from federal regulators and criticism from anti-alcohol activists.’ It was a short-lived investigation.

22. By 1924, Cheerwine was outselling Mint S U M M E R 2 017

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Above: These empty cases were stacked in the Cheerwine warehouse in 1980.

Below: a Cheerwine thermometer. — Photo by Jon C. Lakey

Above: A Cheerwine bench at the Rowan Museum has been signed by the people who have visited the museum.

Left: An old Cheerwine bottle with a short-lived paper label is on display at the Rowan Museum. — Photos by Kristi Craven

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Cheerwine founder L.D. Peeler stands next to one of the early Mint Cola and Cheerwine delivery trucks.

Cola and became popular enough for L.D. Peeler to change his business to the Cheerwine Bottling Co. The Cheerwine trademark was registered in 1926.

23. Cheerwine first used eight-sided bottles with cherries embossed in the glass. Government rules later allowed only juices to have fruit embossed in bottles. Cheerwine replaced its cherry bottles with a paper label in 1923, but within a couple of years ditched the paper label.

24. Our State magazine in 2013 identified Blake Schooley of Albemarle as possibly Cheerwine’s biggest fan. At the birth of his children, he handed out Cheerwine bottles instead of cigars. He once drank as much as two six packs of Cheerwine a day, collected memorabilia for years and managed a Cheer-

wine-themed website.

25. L.D. Peeler converted a former whiskey distillery into a Mint Cola bottling plant around 1920. The Cheerwine bottling plant and headquarters would operate at 324 E. Council St. for almost 50 years.

26. In 1982, Shane Smith, a Frisbee champ from Salisbury, drove an 11-foot-tall, 10-foot-diameter Cheerwine can at shopping centers and in parades all across North Carolina. The can had three taps for Cheerwine on its exterior and was powered by a 14-horsepower tractor.

27. Beginning in the 1930s, Cheerwine pursued new soda ideas, leading to the release of Cheerwine Ales and Caravan sodas, whose flavors ranged from peach to root beer.

28. Caravan Ginger Ale was offered for the first time in 1931.

29. D.G. Whitfield, a railroad employee from Charlotte, won the first prize of a Chevrolet car in the Caravan Ginger Ale contest, also in 1931.

30.

Caravan drinks, marketed as an oasis of refreshment, remained in Cheerwine’s lineup of beverages until being discontinued in the early 1980s.

31. When Cheerwine arrived in Richmond, Va., in 1986, columnist Steve Clark of the Richmond News Leader wrote, “Forget Richmond’s building boom, people. The arrival of Cheerwine is real proof the city is on a roll.”

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Cheerwine drivers and their trucks.

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32. Clifford A. Peeler became head of Cheerwine when his father, L.D., died in 1931. He would serve as president, board chairman and treasurer of Carolina Beverage Corp. and Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling for decades to come. He also was secretary-treasurer of the Yadkin Hotel from 1932-78.

33. The late Clifford Peeler was a conservative businessman, a byproduct of his guiding the company through the Depression and World War II. When asked in 1980 about going national with Cheerwine someday, Peeler who was 76 at the time, said, “Col. Sanders was 80 years old before he went national.

What’s your hurry?”

34. Peeler had a master’s degree in business from Columbia University.

35. A 1932 Salisbury Post article describing Cheerwine: “It has the delightful mellowness of old wine combined with the stimulating

sharpness of wild cherry.”

36. During each year of the Depression, Clifford Peeler was able to guide the company to a profit.

37. Introduced in the late 1930s, “Kolowine” represented Cheerwine’s foray into making a standard cola. It didn’t last long.

38. Cheerwine once sponsored a six-member women’s professional cycling team.

39. For its first 65 years, Cheerwine did 90 percent of its business in Piedmont and western North Carolina.

40.

Clifford Peeler once reflected on the sugar shortage during World War I that led to Cheerwine’s creation: “Sugar got to be a product you couldn’t get. The seas were guard-

ed too much by the Germans, and you couldn’t get sugar. They tried to make soft drinks out of molasses and honey. They practically ruined the business. Right around 1917, the business practically got to nothing.”

41. Carolina Beverage Corp. owns the Cheerwine brand and manufactures the concentrate to make it. Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling is one of the chief distributors for the soft drink.

42. Cheerwine was first produced in 6- and 61/2-ounce bottles.

43. Cheerwine is the official soft drink and sponsor of the National Barbecue and Grilling Association.

44. The Salisbury soft drink is now available at retailers or through distributors in 47 states, not counting Hawaii, Vermont or Wyoming.

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A picture of President Obama drinking a Cheerwine hangs in the Rowan Museum.

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45. During World War II, Clifford Peeler corresponded with his Cheerwine employees who were fighting overseas.

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46. Cheerwine has been used as a key ingredient in pound cake, cupcakes, barbecue sauce, cobbler, poke cake, caramel corn, hand pies, Cheerwine vinegar pie, cheesecake, ham glaze, doughnuts, ice cream and other concoctions. Plenty of Cheerwine recipes are on the company’s website.

47. Type in “Salisbury” on the Cheerwine website, and it will lead you to 15 different businesses.

48. Cackalacky makes the official Cheerwine dipping/grilling sauce and marinade.

49. Clifford Peeler was dedicated to his community. He served on the Catawba College Board of Trustees for 62 years and was a member of Salisbury Civitans for 75 years. At his death he was the longest serving member of Civitan International in the world. Peeler served three terms as a Salisbury city councilman, including a term as mayor.

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“If you don’t want the sugar, we’ve got a diet version,” Clifford Peeler said once. “We say: ‘You put it on your lips, not on your hips.’”

51. “I had one salesman who drank a case of it every day,” Clifford Peeler also recalled of an employee’s love for Cheerwine.. “Every time you saw him, he had a bottle at his lips.”

52. Peeler’s grandsons Cliff and Mark Ritchie were hired by the company in the 1970s; Cliff, in 1978 to manage the Greensboro distribution warehouse; Mark, in 1979 as a field representative for franchises. They

eventually took over the company’s leadership.

53. Cliff Ritchie, the president and chief executive officer today, represents the fourth generation of the family working for Cheerwine. His daughter, Joy, director of marketing, and son Carl, a district manager, are the fifth generation.

54. Cheerwine moved to its present Salisbury headquarters off Jake Alexander Boulevard (next to Rowan-Cabarrus Community College) in 1967.

55. 7,291 people attended the Oct. 1, 1967, open house for the new Cheerwine headquarters and bottling plant.

56. The new 35,000-square-foot plant in 1967, replacing the one at 324 E. Council St., more than tripled production capabilities.

57. When Bob Dole held a barbecue fund-

raiser in Salisbury for his presidential campaign, Cheerwine was his drink of choice for the event.

Ritchie, served as plant manager and senior vice president of both the concentrate-making and bottling companies.

58. In the 1980s, a period when Cheerwine started to expand, the company doubled its business in five years.

63. Raymond Ritchie worked for the company from 1954 to 1992 and also supervised marketing during some of those years.

59. From 1957 to 1989, Cheerwine placed its bottles in a “basket of good cheer” six pack.

64. Mark Ritchie’s description of Cheerwine for a writer once: “It’s a wild cherry soft drink that has other flavors blended to give it a bold, rich taste.”

60.

Cool Moon, Carolina Beverage Corp.’s popular citrus drink, was introduced in 1975. It remained in production until the early 2000s.

61. Clifford Peeler initially wanted to call Cool Moon “Moonshine,” but the name already was trademarked by someone else.

62. Raymond Ritchie, C.A. Peeler’s sonin-law and the late father of Cliff and Mark

65. The old Cheerwine bottling plant on East Council Street was donated to Downtown Salisbury Inc. The building was converted to 10 commercial and residential condos in 2000.

66. Cheerwine began selling Blue Mist water in 1994.

67. When the Tennessee Volunteers played

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in the 1998 Orange Bowl against Nebraska, the bottled water the Volunteers had on the sidelines was Blue Mist.

Drug Administration mandate altered the red food coloring at one point, and the oil-based flavors of 1917 gave way to modern chemical compounds.

68. Cheerwine didn’t have a distribution agreement into the state of Tennessee until 1993.

73. Cheerwine in a glass bottle maintains its original cane sugar recipe.

69. In 1999, the descendants of L.D. Peeler bought out non-family shareholders who had held 13 percent of Cheerwine’s privately held stock.

74. Clifford Peeler remained chairman of the company until his death in 2000 at age 96.

75. Peeler is an inductee (posthumously) into the Beverage World Soft Drink Hall of Fame.

70.

Krispy Kreme introduced a limited edition Cheerwine creme-filled doughnut in 2010 and sold more than a million in a month. Cheerwine and Krispy Kreme more recently combined to offer Cheerwine Kreme soda.

71. Columnist Jerry Bledsoe once said: “One problem with bottling Cheerwine is keeping it in the bottle. By nature, it likes to

76. For its first 60 years, Cheerwine was sold only within a two-hour drive of Salisbury.

The top N.C. cities for consumption then were Salisbury, Statesville and Hickory. foam.”

72. Cheerwine has tried to keep its formula as close to the original as possible. A Food and

77. For years, the only place to buy Cheerwine in Atlanta, the home of Coca-Cola, was Dusty’s Barbecue. Cheerwine finally marched into Atlanta convenience and grocery stores in

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78. “Not drinking Cheerwine with your barbecue is kinda like not putting slaw on your sandwich,” said Linda Thompson, a N.C. native and owner of Dusty’s Barbecue, who had served Cheerwine for 16 years before its official arrival in Atlanta. “Word kind of spread, and we kept carrying it. ... We made a lot of believers out of a lot of people.”

79. Cheerwine sponsored NASCAR driver Morgan Shepherd in the Grand National Series.

80.

In the 1990s, Cheerwine beat Coca-Cola in Rowan County Superior Court after Coke sued Cheerwine for breaching a distribution contract in 22 western N.C. counties, costing Coke $6.7 million in profits.

David topped Goliath.

Cheerwine sponsored NASCAR driver Morgan Shepherd in the Grand National Series. A model of his Ford Thunderbird stock car sits behind glass at the Rowan Museum. — Photo by Kristi Craven

81. N.C. Labor Secretary Cherie Berry once told Salisbury Civitan members about

taking Cheerwine with her to Michigan when she lived for a time in that state. “I sort of in-

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troduced that product in the West,” she said.

ent” marketing campaign.

82. Some slogans used by Cheerwine through the years: “It’s Good and Good for You,” “For Health and Pleasure,” Drink Three and See,” “Next Time, Drink Cheerwine,” “On All Occasions, It’s Good Taste,” “It’s Full o’ Good Cheer,” “Smile,” “Deliciously Different,” “Seek the Unique,” “A Thirsty Choice” and “Refreshing!”

86. During the Rowan 250 Fest, the “Cheerwine Parade of the Century” was held in downtown Salisbury April 11, 2003.

87. Cheerwine lovers can order the soft drink online and have it shipped to them.

83. Cheerwine’s advertising campaign in 1996: “Cheerwine — It’s a Carolina Thing.”

89. An 85th anniversary story on Cheerwine ran under the headline “Sweet Burp of Youth.”

84. A red-and-white zebra was Cheerwine’s mascot/symbol for a 1990 advertising campaign with the “Seek the Unique” slogan.

85. In 1999, Billy Crawford of Salisbury won a cherry red 1966 Plymouth Valiant convertible in a Cheerwine sweepstakes, linked to the company’s “Now That Would Be Differ-

88. Cheerwine launched its website — cheerwine.com — in 1997.

90.

After Coca-Cola introduced its Cherry Coke in 1985, sales in existing Cheerwine territories went up 25 percent in 18 months.

91. Cheerwine Swirl Ice Cream was intro-

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S A L I S B U RY T H E MAGA Z I N E

duced in Food Lion stores in 2002. Soon to follow were sherbet, pops, ice cream bars and cream bars.

92. Cheerwine bought the franchise rights for its frozen slush machines in 1996.

93. The total operations under the umbrella of Carolina Beverage Corp. and Cheerwine employ 450 people.

94. The Grammy-nominated Avett Brothers have partnered with Cheerwine to provide an annual charity concert called the Legendary Giveback. To date, the concerts have raised $200,000 for at least five charities.

95. Two locally iconic soft drinks — Cheerwine and Sun Drop — recently came together when Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling Co. bought Sun Drop Bottling Co. of Concord and its franchise rights. The deal allows Salisbury-based Cheerwine to distribute Sun Drop

in Rowan, Iredell, Cabarrus and Stanly counties.

96. President Barack Obama enjoyed a Cheerwine at the Mast General Store in Boone during a stop there on Oct. 17, 2011.

97. Diet Cheerwine today is sweetened with Splenda and has no aspartame.

98. The Rowan Museum at 202 N. Main St., Salisbury, has a yearlong exhibit dedicated to Cheerwine and is selling Cheerwine merchandise.

Half of the sales revenue goes to support the museum’s programs, as well as 50 percent of the sales from the museum’s new Cheerwine drink machine.

99. The Rowan Museum exhibit has placed a Cheerwine bench in front of a large back window, and the company is encouraging all visitors to sign the bench and have their pictures taken with it.

100.

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WELLNESS

Social networking Senior group finds morning tennis a hard habit to break.

Written by DAVID SHAW Photography by JON C. LAKEY

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R

eid Leonard pops open the trunk of his vintage ’96 Cadillac and a boyish smile engulfs his 90-year

old face.

“Look at this,” he beckons from an adjacent parking spot at the City Park tennis courts. “This is how much I love this game.”

David Keck takes his second serve in a match. Three times a week, guys in the Senior Tennis Program get together at the City Park courts.

Scattered about the spacious trunk are a couple of state-of-the-art rackets, a dozen or so partially filled tennis ball tubes and assorted gear. These are the tools of the trade for what he calls the Senior Tennis Program, a thrice-weekly get-together where Leonard’s group of septuagenarians and octogenarians — he’s the only nonagenarian — convene for 90 minutes of light exercise, camaraderie and gentle ribbing among friends.

“We’re active old-timers who want to play tennis,” says Leonard, a well-known aficionado rarely seen without his powder blue UNC ballcap. “But it’s more than that. We’re joking all the time. Before my last birthday, someone asked if I was going to keep playing after 90. I said, ‘Sure, but these lasers you’re putting past me, they don’t count anymore.’”

At an age when most former athletes are doing something associated with a couch and a remote, Leonard and his group wake up with the roosters and hit the courts.

He seems to carry the sunshine around in his back pocket as he coordinates the STP’s Monday-Wednesday-Friday morning social. The program started around 1980 — Leonard can’t pinpoint the exact launch date — and has grown in popularity, if not numbers.

“There’s 19 names on the list,” he says, producing a small, 4 x 4-inch paper roster. “But usually it’s eight or so who show up regularly. We reserve two courts from the Salisbury Rec Department and play rotating doubles. After you serve, you take a seat on the sideline, then rotate back in and go around the court.”

It certainly isn’t competitive tennis, but boys will be boys — even the ones who routinely blow out 75, 80 or 90 candles on their birthday cakes. Listen to Bob Tannehill, a retired local pediatrician who turns 89 in December: “We’re all very kind to each other and share a lot of laughs,” he says. “But some of us are more serious than others. I myself don’t like to lose, but I seem to lose a lot.”

Tannehill, who serves as the group’s unofficial contact person, has been showing up for a decade or so. He was invited by former members Floyd and Cullen Lentz in the 1980s, but didn’t come aboard until 2007.

“I belonged to the indoor court,” he explains. “I had opportunities to join, but didn’t. What I love most about it now is the exercise and the fellowship. It’s a habit that’s hard to break, a habit all of us have. When you don’t play for a while, you really miss it.”

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WELLNESS

John Heath and Bob Tannehill play in a rotating doubles match.

Leonard estimates about 50 players have participated over the years, including married couples and off-the-street walk-ins.

“Some of the details are fuzzy,” he concedes.

“But I remember one fella who was driving by and stopped his car. He came over carrying his racket, hoping we’d ask him to play. We said sure — and we had another friend.”

Another familiar face doesn’t have a last name.

“We have this guy who lives in New York,” Leonard expounds. “He comes through on his way to Florida. He has a long name, which I can’t remember, but his first name is Tony. We call everybody by their first names.”

Leonard is better at reciting anecdotes than remembering names. “I remember one fella called and said, ‘I’m 55. Can I get a game?’ I said, ‘That’s fine, as long as you don’t mind getting whipped by an 80-year old.’”

They come from near and far for a game with STP members. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. John 62

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Jeff Saleeby, left, and Reid Leonard. Leonard, 90, is one of the founding members of the group and organizes the schedule.

Above: Dana Nordine from China Grove and Jim Dalton from Harrisburg watch a game and comment on the action. Left: Fred Bachl, from Salisbury, serves the ball. Below: David Keck lines up a return.

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John Heath, Bob Tannehill and Jeff Saleeby convinced Carson High school tennis player Hunter Smith to join them because they were needing another player for doubles.

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Heath relocated from Oxford, N.C., in the late 1980s and became a regular.

Dana and Luann Nordine are from Alaska while Butch and LuAnn Grambow hail from Michigan. For local flavor, secure a match with 72-year old Jeff Saleeby, a 1963 Boyden High School graduate and a semi-regular since ’99.

“My only claim to fame was I played the longest match in Salisbury or Boyden High School history,” he crows. “And I lost it. And when I did, it cost us the match and caused us to have a losing record that year. They were all overtime sets and this guy from Thomasville beat me 16-14 in the last set.”

The STP places little or no confinements or restrictions on its members. There’s Carl Sachtleben on the list, the retired pastor from St. John’s Lutheran Church, who apparently still covers a lot of ground.

“I’ve seen him take off for a ball and run into a fence,” says Leonard. “He’s in good shape, one of the younger guys. We don’t mind playing the younger guys.”

Among the youngsters is David Keck, another retired minister and a 12-year follower from Mooresville. He once tried to form a similar, racket-swinging club in his hometown. “But it didn’t work out,” he says now. “I like this group better, anyway. They’re ugly like me and half of them can’t play that good.”

The program’s kid brother is 55-year old Steve Williamson, a Catawba graduate who got involved in 2014. A North Carolina-to-Texas-and-back transplant, he’s happy to have a seat at the big-kid’s table.

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Dana Nordine runs down a ball that left the court and landed in the nearby flowerbed.

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WELLNESS

Jim Dalton arrives at the courts.

“These people are an inspiration to me,” he says. “They’re out here hitting tennis balls at 80 years old. That gives me something to look forward to. At least I’m on the list. I’m in the phone book. When you come here, every day’s a memory.”

Among their fondest is of late friend Scotty Mitchell, a founding member and former Catawba tennis coach, who died three years ago at age 90. “He was a wonderful guy,” says Tannehill. “A story-teller. He’d come to the court prepared to give you some information about something, like a walking encyclopedia. We miss having Scotty around.”

Saleeby concurs. “He’d refer to us as the old guys, even when he was 89,” he says with a warm smile. “But he left us with one priceless quote.

He said the greatest test of true skill in tennis is singles — and therefore must be avoided at all costs. That’s why we’re all doubles players.”

Mitchell’s name is still on Leonard’s roster, along with a few others who have passed on. “This is our list, our legacy,” he insists.

It’s an impressive legacy that deserves to persevere, and new players are always welcomed.

“I’ll keep coming back,” says Keck, “because if I miss a day, I really miss it. I don’t even mind the half-hour drive to get here. Of course, no one’s ever offered to help pay for my gas. It’s that kind of group.” S David Shaw covers sports regularly for the Salisbury Post. This is his first story for Salisbury the Magazine.

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Standing on

PRAYER Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church has a rock solid history of 150 years.

Written by MARK WINEKA Photography by KRISTI CRAVEN

t the groundbreaking for the “new” Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in 2004, construction consultant Matt Robertson brought the Rev. Nilous M. Avery II a bucket of stones.

He asked Avery to make sure each member of the congregation received a stone over which to pray — pray for the church’s ministries, the workers and overall safety for the $1.25 million project, Robertson instructed.

Avery gathered up all the stones later and when the foundation was poured, the stones were mixed in with the concrete. Avery still likes to think of the symbolism it holds for the Mount Zion congregation.

“We’re standing on prayer, literally,” Avery says today.

Later this summer, Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church will celebrate its 150th birthday. It’s the second oldest African-American church in Rowan County — First Calvary Baptist is a year older — and as with First Calvary, its founding pastor was the Rev. Harry Cowan, a former slave.

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Rev. Dr. Nilous Avery II has been the pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church for over 20 years.

Rev. Nilous M. Avery II outside his church.

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Today’s Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church

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Audience members hold hands and sing ‘We shall overcome’ during the celebration to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Mount Zion Baptist Church on North Church Street in January of 1986.

— Salisbury Post file photo by Wayne Hinshaw

Cowan is considered the father of African-American Baptists in Rowan County and North Carolina as a whole.

He served as Mount Zion’s first pastor from 1867 to 1891.

In more modern history, the late Rev. S.R. Johnson, pastor at Mount Zion from 1974-91, founded the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. community service 40 years ago. By what is now established tradition, the community services are always held at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist on the Sundays before the Monday MLK holiday.

Johnson and Mount Zion members also became heavily involved in establishing the Human Relations Council and the annual MLK Breakfast.

Avery says Johnson received death threats back in the early days of the MLK community services. And just months after Avery became the official pastor of Mount Zion, the church held

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its 1993 MLK community gathering and welcomed Dr. J. Donald Ballard as guest speaker.

As he drove through the streets of Salisbury that day trying to find the church, Ballard happened upon a Ku Klux Klan rally on the courthouse steps.

“But I’m happy to report,” he told the cheering, standing-room-only crowd at Mount Zion later, “that I see more people here than I saw at the courthouse.”

Today, Avery is serving the back end of his four-year term as president of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. The convention, as with Avery’s church, is 150 years old.

The presidency means Avery is often on the road, visiting small Baptist

The Rev. S.R. Johnson, who was pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist from 1974-91, stands in front of the 1907 church on North Church Street in this photograph from 1986.

— Salisbury Post file photo

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churches throughout the state. When he ran for office, Avery relied on this campaign slogan: “Embrace the Past. Enhance the Present.

Envision the Future.”

Church member Marilyn L. Moore says the theme could apply these days to Mount Zion Missionary Baptist. Avery agrees.

“We’re becoming mission-minded again,” Avery says. “We’re getting more community-based again.”

When asked how he would describe the Mount Zion of today to an outsider, Avery says the church has an open door. It doesn’t want members to feel boxed in, he adds. Instead, they should feel free to be themselves, while evolving into people who love others and love God. “We love people,” Avery says. “We have a relationship to all walks of life.”

When Avery preached his first service at Mount Zion in 1992, 23 people attended at the old church at 413 N. Church St. About half of those, Avery says, were in the choir.

Mount Zion was going through a big tran-

The Reverend Harry Cowan (Jan. 20, 1810March 11, 1904) served as Mount Zion’s first pastor from 1867 to 1891.

sition at the time. Johnson had passed away, as had some important members of the congregation. Others had become disgruntled.

Avery said he spent a lot of time developing

and smoothing over relationships, teaching, sharing and being patient.

Avery also brought members back into the fold through his sermons.

“Preaching is his passion,” Moore says.

Today, Mount Zion Missionary Baptist has 460 people on its roll.

Avery had been an educator and was serving as an assistant principal in the Asheville City Schools when he was offered the Mount Zion call. He remembers the conversation he had with his pastor father before accepting the position.

His dad told him it was a well-established church, full of nice people. There was potential there to build on, and Avery’s father, who had known the Johnsons, said S.R.’s widow, Eva, would support him.

“It just felt right,” Avery says. “It was God’s call. It was a leap of faith.”

Avery is one of only seven pastors Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church has ever had.

The others after Cowan were the Rev. H.R. Minifield, the Rev. John Washington, Dr.

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”

— Rev. Nilous M. Avery II

Fisher R. Mason, Dr. William M. Wyatt, Johnson and Avery.

Mason was the pastor in 1907 when the congregation built its church at 413 N. Church St. It replaced Cowan’s original church, which was destroyed by fire. The 1907 church was rededicated in 1976 after a significant remodeling, and in 1986, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Still standing, the church holds an

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1880 pipe organ built by Steele and Turner of Springfield, Mass. The organ arrived to the congregation as a used piece in 1912, and the congregation spent $2,500 in 1979 to restore it.

Avery says the pipe organ still works, but it is not used by the present church leasing the old building from Mount Zion. In 2004, the Mount Zion congregation built its present place of worship at the confluence of Clancy, Shirley and Julia streets, not far from the former Salisbury Mall.

In all, the church has about 15 acres in this area.

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space for its ministries. “We had a vision of what we wanted to be as a community-based church,” Avery says.

The biggest challenge was persuading senior members a move was in the church’s best interest. They had lived their whole lives going to the church in downtown Salisbury Avery was surprised at how accepting the older members were. “It was full steam ahead then,” he says.

Dedicated in December 2004, the present church building includes a multi-purpose area (Family Life Center) used for worship and as a fellowship hall. The facility also includes classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, a recreational area, nursery, computer lab and good-sized kitchen.

The church’s music program encompasses men’s, women’s, children’s and mixed choirs.

Avery says the next project on the horizon could be construction of a separate worship center and the purchase of additional land.

At Sunday worship, Moore says, the smells of country cooking pervade the church. Back in the kitchen, members have been making meals that will be delivered to homebound senior citizens after the service.

“A way of giving back,” Avery says.

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EVENT CALENDAR

june-july 2017

Rain did not spoil the 12th Annual Salisbury Symphony Pops at the Post concert in downtown Salisbury last year. This year’s event is June 3. — Photo by Jon C. Lakey

JU NE 1

Thursdays on Main • Veterans Park, Kannapolis Diamond Shaped Daylight is featured in this Thursday on Main lunch, a series of free performances under the oak trees of Veterans Park.

Lunch is available, or those attending may bring their own. Performances are from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Other Thursday lunches will be held June 8 (Soundbarrier), June 15 (Nita B & Her Soiree) and June 22 (Stella Rising).

JU NE 2-3

Gallery Gallop Art Festival • Downtown Salisbury Gallop to each art gallery with friends and family while eating and shopping downtown.

June 2, from 5-9 p.m.; June 3, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

JU NE 3

D-Day Remembrance • Price of Freedom Museum 76

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June-July 2017 Upcoming events in the Salisbury-Rowan area The Price of Freedom Museum (Weaver Road, China Grove) and Piedmont Military Vehicle Preservation Association are hosts for the D-Day Remembrance from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. At 10 a.m., a ROTC color guard will raise the flag and Eva Millsaps will sing the national anthem. The museum will be open all day with military vehicles, weapons and demonstrations arranged by war era.

J UNE 3

Pops at the Post • Downtown Salisbury 5 p.m., tailgate party with Salisbury Swing Band on the South Church Street side of the Salisbury Post, then at dusk, the 13th annual

Pops at the Post free concert with the Salisbury Symphony and Friends. The symphony plays from the Post’s loading dock. Go to salisburysymphony.org for information.

J UNE 3

Concerts in the Park • Village Park, Kannapolis The Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Department offers these free concerts. Bring blankets and lawn chairs. Make your own picnic or buy from the concession stand. All six concerts during the summer will be from 7-10 p.m. Performers June 3 are 38 Special; June 17, Confederate Railroad; June 30, Charlotte Symphony; July 15, Trial by Fire and On the

Border; July 29, Too Much Sylvia; and Aug. 12, Diamond Rio. Fireworks will be included June 3, June 30 and Aug. 12.

JU NE 8

Thursdays on Main (Evening) • Veterans Park, Kannapolis This evening series of concerts is held on the second Thursday in June, July and August from 6-9 p.m. Performers include June 8, Jim Quick and Coastline; July 13, Blackwater Rhythm & Blues Band; Aug. 10, Tim Clark Band.

JU NE 10

Cleveland Lions’ Breakfast • Lions’ Den, Cleveland 7-10 a.m., Cemetery Street. Money raised supports the visually impaired and other humanitarian projects. Call 704-278-2252 for information.

JU NE 10

Antique Car Display • Gold Hill Village Historic Gold Hill will be host for a display of vehicles from the Hornets Nest Region of the Antique Auto Club of America from 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

JU NE 10

Kannapolis Cruise-In • Downtown Kannapolis The Kannapolis Cruise-In is a great event for car lovers of all ages. Held on the second Saturday of each month from March to November, the Cruise-In runs from 1-7 p.m. and brings in hundreds of show cars each time.

JU NE 10

Movies in the Park • Salisbury City Park Enjoy a night under the stars watching your favorite movies. Opening entertainment starts at 8 p.m., and the movie each night will start at 9. Don’t forget a blanket or chair. Concessions will be available. Movies scheduled include June 10, “Aladdin”; June 24, “Home”; July 8, “Penguins of Madagascar”; July 22, “The Good Dinosaur”; Aug. 5, “Minions.” In case of rain, movie dates are moved to the next day (Saturday).

This year’s Dragon Boat Festival on High Rock Lake is July 29. — Photo by Wayne Hinshaw.

J UNE 13

J UNE 17

• China Grove Roller Mill The History Club of Rowan Museum Inc. will meet at the historic roller mill in China Grove at 7 p.m. Open to the public. Learn about the history of the mill and the lives of the many individuals who created a lasting impression in the China Grove community. Light refreshments. The mill is located at 308 N. Main St., China Grove.

• Main Street, China Grove Meet in China Grove, grab a bite to eat and check out the cool cars on Main Street from 3-7 p.m.

Flour Power

JUNE 15-17 AND 22-24 ‘Big Fish’

• Lee Street theatre William Bloom is a young man at the deathbed of his father, Edward Bloom, and William is trying to reconcile memories of his father with the person he really is. He always saw Edward as an irresponsible liar, but comes to understand his dad’s exaggerations and their roots in reality. Show times, 7:30 p.m. For more information: 704-310-5507 or leestreet.org.

J UNE 17

Tall Tales Festival • Gold Hill Village Come to Historic Gold Hill and enjoy storytellers offering tall tales and more at various sites and shops from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Cruisin’ the Grove

J UNE 19- 23 Colonial Camp

• Rowan Museum For elementary school students. 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Each day, campers explore the history of Rowan County by visiting local sites. Each camper will have the opportunity to create a journal, practice quilling, cook over an open fire, dip candles, make paper and more. Call 704-6335496 to register. Price: $150.

J UNE 22

History on Tap • Morgan Ridge Brewery Explore Salisbury’s past from 6-8 p.m. by visiting some of the city’s most intriguing historic properties. Sponsored by Historic Salisbury Foundation. History on Tap also will be held July 27 and Aug. 24 at places to be announced later.

J UNE 24

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EVENT CALENDAR

june-july 2017

• N.C. Transportation Museum Local and regional fire departments and fire truck collectors combine in this huge gathering of antique and classic trucks, firefighting equipment and demonstrations from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. One of the largest assemblies of fire trucks in the state. Adults, $6; seniors, firefighters and veterans, $5; children, $4. The museum is in Spencer.

JU NE 24

Salisbury Pride Festival • Downtown Salisbury The seventh annual festival will be held from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Go to www.salisburypride. com/festival-2017.html for more information.

JU NE 24

Music at the Mural • West Fisher Street Enjoy free music near the downtown mural close to Go Burrito! Show is from 8-11 p.m.

JU NE 24

Stories under the Stars • Kannapolis Library Doug Berkey is featured at this Stories under the Stars, a unique literary performing arts event at the library from 7-9 p.m. On July 22, Piedmont Dance Theater performs.

JU NE 26

Realtor Golf Tournament • Country Club of Salisbury The Salisbury/Rowan Association of Realtors will hold its 12th annual Captain’s Choice Golf Tournament. Check-in, 11 a.m.; lunch, noon; start, 1 p.m. Two divisions: open and Realtor. Team registration is $275, and individual players, $70. Contact Morgan Harper at 704-636-1811 for more information.

JU NE 27-J ULY 4 Faith Fourth of July

• Faith Legion Park A week of entertainment — live music, rides, food and contests — 6-11 p.m., leading up to the 10 a.m. Faith Fourth of July Parade and largest Independence Day celebration in North Carolina. Fireworks at 11 p.m. July 4.

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J UNE 30

J ULY 15

• Village Park, Kannapolis 7 p.m., symphony plays an “Independence Day Celebration.” Free concert. Go to kannapolisnc.gov for more information.

• Downtown China Grove 9 a.m.-11 p.m., 36th annual festival. More than 200 colorful booths line Main Street.

Grab some good food, listen to live music, view antique tractors and more. Fireworks finale. For more information: chinagrovenc.gov or 704-857-2466.

Charlotte Symphony

J ULY 1

Military through the Ages • N.C. Transportation Museum Salute our nation’s military history at an exhibit of military equipment, transportation and uniforms during this themed walk through time, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

J ULY 1

Music at the Mill • China Grove Roller Mill Grab a bite to eat, shop in China Grove, then listen to music under the cafe light from 7-9 p.m. at the roller mill on North Main Street.

J ULY 10- 14

Colonial Camp (middle school) • Rowan Museum Daily activities involve delving into the history of Rowan County with tours of downtown Salisbury, basket weaving and learning about Colonial living. Students will experience Colonial cooking at the Old Stone House, explore a cemetery after dark and spend a night at the museum. Hours are 9 a.m.-2 p.m. otherwise.

Call 704-633-5496 to register. Price: $160.

J ULY 13- 22

Farmers Day

J ULY 20- 23, 27-29 ‘Pride and Prejudice’

• Lee Street theatre Sparks fly when the spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets the single, rich and proud Mr. Darcy.

Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice? Shows at 7:30 p.m. July 23rd performance is a 2:30 p.m. matinee. Adaptation by Jenny Hubbard, based on the book by Jane Austen. A production of Center for Faith & the Arts and St. Thomas Players. For more information: 704-310-5507 or leestreet.org.

J ULY 24- 28 Civil War Camp

• Rowan Museum For middle schoolers. 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Experience a week of living during the Civil War. Campers will be mustered into Union and Confederate troops, study the history of the war and relive the life of a soldier through 19th century life skills, cooking and medicine, as well as marches, drills, military maneuvers and more. Call 704-633-5496 to register. Price: $150.

‘Bring It On’

JULY 27-30 AND AUG. 2-5

• Norvell Theater A youth theater production of Piedmont Players, “Bring It On” is a hilarious, universal story with a colorful assortment of characters, an exciting fresh sound and explosive choreography with aerial stunts. The Norvell is located at 135 E. Fisher St. For information: 704-633-5471 or PiedmontPlayers.com.

‘Tom, Dick and Harry’

• Meroney Theater A Ray Cooney comedy about three brothers, one attempting to adopt a baby with his wife and the other two trying to help but failing miserably. Meroney Theater is located at 213 S. Main St., Salisbury. For information: 704633-5471 or PiedmontPlayers.com

J ULY 15

J ULY 29

• Knox Middle School 8 a.m. Pre-registration, $20; day-of registration, $25.

• High Rock Lake Fourth annual dragon boat races and festival at the Shrine Club. Local companies, community groups and associations race as teams. For information: rowanchamber.org. S

5K for the Salisbury Greenway

Dragon Boat Festival

harvey book launch

THE SCENE

Above: Sue Day Whitley, left, and Julia Jenkins wait for Kristy Woodson Harvey to sign her book. Below: Luanne and Chip Short.

Kristy Woodson Harvey signs books while her son, Will, smiles at the crowd. Husband Will looks on and talks with a couple who are waiting for a signed book.

Kristy Woodson Harvey BOOK LAUNCH

Nancy Hart Stanback, mother of author John Hart, has author Kristy Woodson Harvey sign a copy of Harvey’s new book.

Mary Margaret Ellis and her mother, Ann Lindsey Ellis, talk with author Kristy Woodson Harvey about writing, which Mary Margaret is interested in.

South Main Book Co. in Salisbury was the scene as Kristy Woodson Harvey signed scores of copies of her new book, “Slightly South of Simple.” The book is the first in a trilogy for the Salisbury-grown author who now lives in Beaufort, N.C.

Ola Rutledge, left, is Kristy Woodson Harvey’s grandmother. Mother/daughter Melissa Fesperman and Josie Fesperman are excited to get Kristy to sign their book.

— Photos by Deirdre Parker Smith

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THE SCENE

fashions for a cause

Above: Jenna Cook models a dress from 3 Jem’s Boutique. Right: Anna Brindle shows a design from Winsome Hanger.

Right: Donna Beaver from Attractions on Main.

Below: Dr. Tommy Thompson models a tuxedo from Thread Shed.

FASHIONS for a cause

The 19th annual Fashions for a Cause was the place to see emerging spring trends in men’s and women’s wear. The show, held each year in the Catawba College Crystal Lounge, benefits the Community Care Clinic. Co-chair Mary Goodman said she expected the amount raised to approach $20,000.

Joyce Goodwin served as the other co-chair.

— Photos by Wayne Hinshaw

Left: Delores Thomas models a design from Anne’s.

Right: Ashley Currin shows off a dress from Anna Craig.

Far right: Jordan Johnson from Winsome Hanger.

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fashions for a cause

THE SCENE

Above: Kim Edds models fashions from Anna Craig.

Right: Patti Osbourne shows a design from Attractions on Main.

Above: Graham Corriher sports a suit from Thread Shed. Right: Molly Shelton shows a design from The Stitchin’ Post.

Lauryn Davis models a design from A Perfect Dress. Left: Jane Hartsell shows off a dress from Anne’s.

Claira and Charlotte Misner with fashions from Lora Belle Baby.

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THE SCENE

hurley park spring celebration

Above: Connor, Jay and Joe Koontz.

Right: Russ Stevens, Carol Worthy, Lois Latimer, Bella the dog and Acey Worthy

Hurley Park Spring Celebration Lollie Streiff and Nancy Eason

The 30th annual Hurley Park Spring Celebration included refreshments from Cheerwine, activities such as the Soap Bubble Circus and carriage rides, artwork from Carolina Artists, the Salisbury Symphony Musical Petting Zoo, an Arbor Day tree-planting and live music from the Salisbury Swing Band. — Photos by Mark Wineka

Above: Willis and Terry Donelson.

Left: Sara, Wanda, Lucas and Chris Peffer

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hurley park spring celebration

THE SCENE

In front: Zander Horn, BellaDonna Ritchie, Clarissa Reynolds and Aleiah Martin. In back: Sarah Dunlap and Amber Covington.

Above: Myeanjell Cameron and Kaycee Castor Left: Lizz Johnson, Jane Ritchie and Anne Scott Clement

Left: Sutton Waller, Marlene Spencer and Spencer Waller.

Right: With Salisbury Symphony: Lynn Bowes, Jordan Warren and Hunter Safrit.

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THE SCENE

s t . j o h n ’s d i n n e r a u c t i o n

Above: Haley Sims, Juliana Anderson.

Right: Caroline Houpe, Carsyn Parrott, Grace Faller and Faith Faller

St. John’s Dinner Auction Evelyn Medina and her sister, Sandra Robles

St. John’s Lutheran Church held its 11th annual Dinner Auction to support the youth’s planned mission trip this summer to Guatemala, so the dinner had a Guatemalan theme, thanks to the Medina family and Mean Mug. The evening included dinner, rows of tables for the silent auction and a live auction with many big package deals.

— Photos by Nancy Shirley

Robert Sullivan, Caylyn Westburg and Callie Kirchin Front row: Caroline Colwell, Quinnlan Watson, Callie Kirchin and Caylynn Westburg. Back row: Maggie Dees, Maddie Eudy, Anna Grace Woolly and Julie Kenny (hidden).

s t . j o h n ’s d i n n e r a u c t i o n

THE SCENE

Above: Katherine Sullivan, Sydney Sims and Olivia Kyles. Right: The St. John’s youth served up a Guatemalan meal for auction participants.

Above: Jennifer, Katherine and Corey Gebhardt look over some of the silent auction items. Right: Before the crowd poured in, the fellowship hall at St. John’s Lutheran Church stands ready with silent auction items and dinner tables for a Guatemalan menu.

Left: Krista Woolly and Harold Mollinedo check in a bidder.

Right: Harrison Parrott, David Holden, Tate Houpe and Charles Langlais

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THE SCENE

a night at the cirque

Above: Jay Whittington and Margaret Wilson Foust.

Right: A performer executes a handstand in the middle of the room.

A Night at the

CIRQUE Lee Street theatre presented “A Night at the Cirque,” a live theater and dinner experience with Cirque De Vol of Raleigh as the performing troupe.

The black-tie gala benefited Lee Street theatre and its educational programs.

— Photos by David Stevenson Jr.

David Garling, Samantha Haspel and Frank Labagnara

Beth Sowers and one of the night’s actors.

Jon Palmer and Cara Reische Caroline Graham, Shelia Iago, Leann Livengood and Megan Casper

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a night at the cirque

THE SCENE

Above: Alex Kinney, Dottie Abramowski and Gary Kinney. Below: One of the night’s colorful performers.

Performers float on a trapeze above the Lee Street dinner crowd.

Left: Nicole Emerson and Ed Whitney Below: Dan Mikkelson, Jimmie Moomaw and Winnie Mikkelson.

Shari Graham and Ashley Currin

Left: Jayne Helms and Andrea Bryant Davis.

Right: Patrons could stop by this woman’s table dress for several appetizers.

Glenn Ketner Jr. and Dr. Joel Goodwin

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THE SCENE

pass the plate

Above: Tim Messinger and Christy Cline Below: Susanna Hollingsworth and Sara Lee

From left: Scott Duffy, David Bowles, Kelly Cochrane, Karen Safrit, Jack Catier, Charlie Green

PASS THE

PLATE for RHM

Susan Jones, Scott Jones, Cheryl Marsh, Eric Marsh. Below: Martha Bostian and Bev Mitchell.

More than 200 people attended Rowan Helping Ministries’ annual Pass the Plate fundraiser at Catawba College’s Crystal lounge. The $100,000 goal of Pass the Plate represents 7 percent of RHM’s budget.

— Photos by Josh Bergeron Karla Foster and G. Perry Leonard III

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civitans’ spaghetti dinner

THE SCENE

Civitans’ Spaghetti Dinner The Salisbury Civitan Club ladled out hundreds of pounds of spaghetti along with its special sauce during the club’s annual fundraiser, which served both lunch and dinner meals. The event was held at the Salisbury Civic Center.

— Photos by Mark Wineka Betsy Rich, Jim Baird and Buddy Farnan

Vicki Rhyne and Ron Boyer

Jane Smith Steinberg and Elaine Howle

Zelda Pardue and Nicole Boyer

Left: John Sofley and Mark Lewis. Above: Evans Ballard and ‘Spaghetti King’ Nathan Dickert

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SALISBURY’S THE PLACE

Growing up as a Cheerwine kid had its rewards, challenges petition. I learned early on that I was going to have to earn any money I would have, so am part of the fourth generation of L.D. Peeler, the I did my chores to get my allowance. While we were fortunate to always have what we founder of Cheerwine. His son Clifford Peeler was my needed, we certainly didn’t have much extra grandfather, and Shirley Peeler Ritchie was my mother. so I was similar to all the other children in school.

While I don’t really know, I imagine that my first taste As a teenager in the summers, Daddy would take me to the plant to work, like he of Cheerwine was via a pacifier dipped in a glass full just so did with Cliff ahead of me. It was hard to my parents could properly christen me. Our family photos get out of bed even earlier than on school mornings and to work alongside grown confirm my earliest memories of everyone having a bottle men, but I did like getting my paycheck at of Cheerwine as part of picnics and birthday parties and my the end of the week just like them. I learned how to work together to get the job done, grandmother serving Cheerwine punch at Christmas. and we all had mutual respect. Sometimes I got the raw deal of having to do the dirtiest jobs like cleaning out the returnable bottles before they went into the washer for saniMy father, Raymond Ritchie, worked for Street and it included the offices as well as tizing, or cleaning the bathrooms. But that’s my grandfather as the vice president and the warehouse that the delivery trucks drove what comes with being the “new man” on manager of the bottling operations at what into. I had to be really careful to the crew. we all called “the plant.” During my first stay out of the way of the forklifts These lessons all served me well grade attending Frank B. John Elementary, that moved around all the time when I came back from college to Daddy would sometimes take my brother taking bottles back and forth. The work for my grandfather along Cliff and me to school on his way to work in plant moved when I was 10 into a with Daddy and Cliff. Being the company’s red sedan with the Cheerwine new building with all new equipraised in the Cheerwine busidecal on the doors. He would then go on to ment, and I was amazed to learn ness gave me the foundation I pick up some of the production employees that it filled bottles faster than a needed to connect with many after dropping us off. machine gun could shoot! other families in the soft drink I remember as a young boy visiting the Growing up in the family that business so Cheerwine could beby plant and watching the bottles come out created Cheerwine had many specome part of their systems and MARK of the bottle washer onto a conveyor chain cial moments, but it also came grow to what it is today. I’m RITCHIE that took them into a filling machine. The with some challenges. It was speproud to be a Cheerwine kid machine first poured in the syrup and then cial to be known as a friend who always had and along with Cliff to see that continuing the carbonated water and put a cap on the Cheerwine at home for anyone to enjoy and through his kids. S bottle. whose mom would bring it to school for speThe bottle then moved to a tumbler that cial occasions, but also challenging as I got Mark Ritchie retired from Carolina Beverturned the bottle upside down to mix the teased for being a rich kid because my family age Corp., the makers of Cheerwine, in 2007 syrup with the carbonated water. It was faswas part of the Cheerwine family. after 27 years, which included 15 years as cinating, and I would be mesmerized watchThis second part wasn’t true at all because president and chief executive officer. He is now ing the many bottles go down the line. The Cheerwine was a very local brand in an ina certified Spiritual Director, life coach, small plant was in the big building on Council dustry dominated by some really big comgroup leader and consultant to nonprofits.

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