On the Line

ON THE LINE WITH GREG WILLIAMS and JAMIE BARNES

The What The Fries guys, who met as roommates 16 years ago at Johnson & Wales University, serve Charlotte’s best loaded fries from their food truck

BY TAYLOR BOWLER

GREG

Age: 34

Family status: Single with a 2-year-old daughter, Gabby

Hometown: Columbia, S.C.

Currently lives: Fort Mill

Favorite sports team: Dallas Cowboys

Why are fries such a good foundation for a meal? You can do so much with them. Everybody loves fries, so you can’t go wrong.

How long was What The Fries a dream, and why did you put your business on wheels? Six years ago, we started talking about it a er we tried a Food Network show that didn’t work out. We did catering for a while. It took a year to get the truck, so we’ve had the truck about ve years now. We nally hit our stride over the last two years.

What’s been your biggest kitchen fail? The goat fritters we tried when we rst started weren’t a big winner. People weren’t really ready for that (laughs). We tried banana ketchup, but we didn’t keep that one around either. What’s one ingredient you always have on hand in your kitchen? Shrimp, always, and Yum-Yum sauce (a secret sauce also available by the bottle). We make about four or ve gallons a week.

What’s one dish you nail every single time? Hibachi fries or the steak-and-shrimp are just like clockwork now.

What shoes do you wear in the kitchen? Air Max.

What’s your favorite restaurant in Charlotte? Leah & Louise.

What’s your favorite adult beverage? Jack Daniel’s, straight.

What’s next for the What the Fries? We’re scouting locations for a brick-andmortar location right now, so we’re hoping to have a permanent spot soon. It’ll be called What The Fries, too, and we’ll still have the food truck. It’ll be the same concept, but a little bit more, like milkshakes, maybe more seafood, and some local beers. Chefs Jamie Barnes (left) and Greg Williams have sold loaded fries from their What the Fries food truck for the past five years.

JAMIE

Age: 39

Family status: Wife, Alicia; 9-year-old daughter, Lily; 6-year-old son, Levi

Hometown: Newport News, Virginia

Currently lives: Lake Wylie

Favorite sports team: Kansas City Chiefs

Why do food trucks remain so popular? A lot of food trucks have more leeway to be creative. We can change our menus a lot, sometimes daily, and we have a lot of open space to do a lot of di erent things.

How do you come up with your food combinations? We’re both fans of hibachi restaurants and Asian dishes. So we substitute out rice with fries and put our own twist on it with the Yum-Yum sauce.

What’s your most popular fry dish? The steak-and-shrimp hibachi fries, followed by lobster mac and cheese.

Any happy accidents that made it on the menu? The bread pudding tots. We had a lot of bread le over from an event, so we made blueberry bread pudding, and it sold out, so we’ve been doing it ever since. Now we change it every week.

What’s your favorite thing to cook? Seafood. I love searing sh and scallops.

What shoes do you wear in the kitchen? Birkenstocks, my kitchen slip-ons.

What’s the hardest part about running a food truck versus a restaurant? It’s a lot, man. Loading up the truck every day, traveling with the food, being on time, worrying about the maintenance of the truck. As summer rolls around, there’s the heat element in the truck, too, with the space con nements. At any time, there’s three or four of us in a 10-foot space.

What’s your favorite restaurant in Charlotte? Uptown Yolk. It’s great every time.

What’s your favorite adult beverage? A whiskey sour.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Taco Bell.

Interior designer Amanda Swaringen’s client commissioned two paintings by Curt Butler from Shain Gallery. The oil and encaustic canvas paintings, titled Charlotte Cityscape I and II, measure 48 by 48 inches and ank the client’s replace.

How Charlotte Collects Art

A local ne art consultant talks with pros about what they’re seeing BY LAUREN PIEMONT

Ed.: Lauren Piemont spent several years in Charlotte galleries before becoming a freelance art consultant in 2019. Below, she shares what she’s learned about the scene.

“WHAT KIND OF ART is Charlotte collecting?”

This question is just one window into the state of the cultural sector. I recently spoke to longtime gallerist Jerald Melberg, interior designer Amanda Swaringen, Charlotte-based artist Arthur Brouthers, and a local art preparator who will remain anonymous about what art patrons in this city buy and sell.

Charlotte’s art scene has grown with the city, particularly in recent history. Melberg points to the opening of the Mint Museum’s uptown location in 2010 as one major turning point “expanding the museum’s reach” and in uence. An institution on Randolph Road in Eastover, a few miles from uptown, suddenly had a physical presence in the city center. Until the 2000s, the Mint was Charlotte’s only art museum. The development of the Levine Center for the Arts campus over the past decade—the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture opened in 2009, the Bechtler and the uptown Mint in 2010—drastically altered the landscape.

Melberg, who’s operated his own gallery since 1983, says he’s thankful the city is sophisticated and large enough to accommodate three art museums and support an art-buying market. “Everyone has a place and a role,” he says. Otherwise, he says, he would not survive in a growing pool of ne art galleries. In the past decade alone, SOCO Gallery, LaCa Projects, and others have opened, but they don’t pose a threat to one another. Melberg represents titans of art history like Wolf Kahn, Robert Morthwell, and Romare Bearden; SOCO Gallery in Myers Park sells out many of its contemporary art shows, which highlight mid-career and rising stars. Museums don’t sell art like galleries do, but each provides a point of entry for the other. The addition of residency programs, including uptown’s McColl Center and Goodyear Arts at Camp North End, o er more direct relationships for visiting and native creators.

Designers like Amanda Swaringen work with that network of local galleries. As founder of Carolina Design Associates, she helps her clients design their new homes, o en from the ground up—and that includes the purchase of art. Swaringen frequently nds pieces at Anne Neilson Fine Art and Shain Gallery as well as SOCO and Sozo Gallery. As seen in the rooms that accompany this story, Swaringen’s intimate relationship with clients allows her to nd work by local artists that suits their personalities. She says about 75 percent of the art used in her rooms is local.

“Some people will say, ‘Bring me art,’ and then we pick it based on that client’s personality and needs, and needing to mix the media in the home,” she says. “Some clients are way more involved, and we sometimes actually send them to the galleries themselves to see what they like for options. When I rst started in 2002, from what I was seeing, art was just more conservative and traditional in Charlotte. It has evolved into there being so

(Opposite) Untitled, a 24-by-32-inch collage painted on canvas in 1990 by Esteban Vicente (1903- 2001), from Jerald Melberg Gallery. (Below) Poppy by Iruka Maria Toro, acrylic on paper (72.25 by 65.25 inches), 2019, from LaCa Projects.

(Above) Maybe Tomorrow by Summer Wheat, acrylic paint on aluminum mesh (68 by 94 inches), 2019, from SOCO Gallery.

(Above) Awake, 2019, a 36-by-72-inch, mixed media-on-wood Arthur Brouthers work that sold at a gallery in Sweden. (Right) Brouthers’ The Truth, 2020, 8-by-10-inch mixed media on paper, is available for sale.

many more artists, and the industry exploding. Galleries have expanded, too, especially during the past 10 years. I’m sure social media is also a major part for people nding new art and artists they like.”

Still, Swaringen says, her team relies on the knowledge that exists inside of these venues: “We can’t be as knowledgeable as a gallery, and we have to rely on the galleries to give us options that are great for a home. We work together to nd the right t.”

Sources I spoke to for this essay describe Charlotte’s art market as conventional and conservative, but there are signs of change. The art preparator, who installs dozens of works in private homes every week, says tonal paintings—which focus on color harmony in a light, neutral palette—are popular right now. Increasingly, buyers prefer abstraction to representational work. Swaringen says abstract work, in particular, is popular here. Still, my sources say, buyers still shy away from art with a political bent or socially challenging subject matter.

A “safe” market stunts local artists’ growth and buyers’ incentive to acquire their work. “In general, not just in Charlotte, people do not acquire art with their eyes,” Melberg says, sharing a favorite adage. “They acquire it with their ears.” A market that accepts only a narrow style has to look further to nd it. To stay in business, galleries have to sell what buyers want. To expand, they have to guide buyers beyond their established preferences to new ones. It’s a tough balance. You won’t nd Charlottebased Arthur Brouthers on a local gallery’s roster of represented artists. He’s achieved international recognition, having made appearances at Art Basel Switzerland and Aqua Art Miami during Miami Art Week. But he got his start with an exhibition at the Sozo Gallery in 2012. “I think gallery representation is important,” he says, “because it is a way to move up in the art world.” But he’s at his career midpoint, and he no longer needs to display his work in local galleries. Brouthers represents himself in Charlotte “IN GENERAL, and maintains representation at galleries in New York and Dallas. In Charlotte, he uses

NOT JUST IN his marketing background to attract collectors and place work in group shows, while his out-of-town galleries secure chances to CHARLOTTE, exhibit abroad. This means several local venues at a time can expose varying audiences to

PEOPLE DO his work, and he can build relationships more freely with collectors. Breaking the con nes of a conservative marNOT ACQUIRE ket requires “hanging in there and doing what you want instead of worrying about what

ART WITH other people want to see,” he says. “If you stick with it, it turns into a trend.” Our challenge as a city is to retrain our artis-

THEIR EYES. tic eye with a focus on honing personal taste. How? Go out and look. Look at the greats of art history, contemporary artists of interTHEY ACQUIRE national acclaim, your local galleries’ o erings, and always note what local artists create.

IT WITH The more art you see, the more you begin to understand what you see, and the more readily you can identify quality—and most imporTHEIR EARS.” tant, what speaks to you. Art is many things to many people, but the most thrilling thing it —JERALD MELBERG, GALLERIST can be is a personal message.

(Above) Black With No Way Out (1983) by Robert Motherwell (19151991), lithograph (15 by 37-3/4 inches) on white Tyler Graphics handmade paper, from Jerald Melberg Gallery.

HOME WE LOVE MIXED, NOT Designer Inna Kovalinskiy mixes periods and styles to bring elegant modernity to an outdated Fort Mill home MATCHED

BY TAYLOR BOWLER PHOTOGRAPHS BY KATHERINE ELENA PHOTOGRAPHY

(Below) In the entryway, Kovalinskiy added panel boxes above and below the chair rail and installed the wallpaper inside the boxes.

The bookshelves display vintage and new treasures, like original letterpress prints by local artist Bethany Cochran. French-inspired and modern isn’t a typical style mash-up in the South. But it’s the look Inna Kovalinskiy’s clients were a er when they hired the designer to transform their one-story cedar home in Fort Mill. They’d seen the designer’s previous work and knew this wouldn’t be your grandmother’s take on French country. “When I think of French-inspired design, I don’t think of ceramic roosters or heavy toile curtains,” Kovalinskiy says. “I think of intricate moldings and ceiling medallions … gilded mirrors, marble, elaborate replaces, and elegance.” But all that opulence can overwhelm a room, so she o sets it with modern elements to give the space “a visual break” with clean, sharp lines.

When they began the renovation in early January, Kovalinskiy started with the drab, beige entry room, which would set the tone for the rest of the house. To compensate for the low ceilings, she added a base cap six inches from the crown molding along the perimeter of the ceiling to give the illusion of more height. She put in panel boxes above and below the chair rail and installed Great Wave Bloom wallpaper by Milton & King in the boxes. “It’s a Japanese Ukiyoe-inspired design,” she says. “If you look closely, you can see the owers are actually waves with little boats inside.”

(Top) Kovalinskiy installed charcoal cabinets, brass hardware, and quartz countertops for a modern aesthetic. (Right) The homeowners needed a practical space that worked as both laundry and pantry. (Below) An oversized bar with cabinets on both sides provides additional kitchen storage.

(Le ) The vintageinspired doorknob is from Emtek Hardware. (Below) The dining room got a classic shaded velight and a circular table from Rove Concepts.

She integrated some French-inspired pieces like the Louis XV side tables with a modern six-light satin brass chandelier from Linea Lighting. Kovalinskiy’s most daring design choice, though, was to punch up the walls and built-in bookcases with a show-stopping Santorini Blue from Sherwin-Williams.

In the dining room, Kovalinskiy continued the molding and panel boxes, added a classic shaded ve-light, and refreshed the walls with a coat of Snowbound by Sherwin-Williams. She replaced the old rectangular table with a circular table from Rove Concepts to allow enough clearance to the pantry and laundry room while still comfortably seating six.

The laundry room, which doubles as a pantry, got new cabinets, blue mosaic ooring, a chandelier, and open shelving. To balance the busy blue oor pattern, Kovalinskiy chose black ceiling height cabinets to create the illusion of more height. For a touch of warmth against all the cool colors, she added pops of brass hardware.

One of the more dramatic changes to the home was the transformation of the dingy, dated living room replace. Kovalinskiy removed the old stone, built a wall extension, and installed slate tiles and a new wooden mantel. The ceiling medallion brings a vintage vibe to the space, and the gallery wall of photos taken by the homeowner adds a touch of whimsy. To keep the palette cohesive with the entry and dining room, Kovalinskiy nished the room with dusty blue drapes.

She says the biggest challenge was the kitchen, where the crew took down a load-bearing wall between the kitchen and living room. Then her team built an oversized bar with cabinets on both sides for additional storage. In the kitchen, charcoal cabinets, brass hardware, and Cambria quartz countertops give it a modern edge.

With the three-month transformation complete, Kovalinskiy describes the home as both fresh and classic. “The contrast of styles works so well, respecting the classic in uence while embracing what’s new,” she says. She also proves that Parisian and modern not only go together, they belong together.

From the ASHES

Three months after renovating their Myers Park craftsman, an electrical fire forced a family to strip their home down to the studs and rebuild

BY TAYLOR BOWLER

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOE PURVIS

For the informal family room and dining area, designer Bridget Gasque incorporated accents like long nickel bowls from Global Views, a moss planter from NDI, and artwork from Paragon.

On January 5, 2019, Tina Trabucco and her husband, Matt, came home from their sons’ basketball games to nd their house engulfed in ames. “When we tried to get in and rescue the dog, we couldn’t see past the smoke,” Tina recalls. “It had risen upstairs, got into the HVAC, the duct work, and it collapsed the kitchen where it all started.” Sadly, their 15-year-old dog Bailey didn’t make it out alive, and a er a six-week investigation, they determined their dishwasher caused an electrical re. The smoke damage was so extensive that they’d need to strip the home down to the studs and rebuild.

The master bedroom is out tted with furniture from Restoration Hardware and window treatments and pillows from Kashmir Fabrics.

The master bathroom’s tub and plumbing xtures came from Ferguson.

It was a particularly tough blow for the Trabuccos, who just three months earlier had completed a renovation to their 1950s cra sman. They’d upgraded the entire master suite and relocated a fourth bedroom to make the house more functional for their family, which includes sons Colin, 7, and Tyler, 9. The idea of starting all over was daunting, but abandoning this home was never an option. On May 1, a er they’d closed the investigation and settled up with the insurance company, the Trabuccos started construction on their house—again. They used the same team that had done their previous renovation, Chris Belcher of CasaForte Builders and Bridget Gasque of Lo us Design. “Having a team that already knew the quirks and eccentricities of my house was huge,” Tina says. And this time, she says, they could “take one big swing at the house” and make it what they’d wanted all along.

All of the carpets and oors and most of the drywall had to come out, and the house got new windows and doors. Gasque redesigned the oorplan to include new kitchen and bathroom layouts and expanded the master bedroom to create a suite with a larger bathroom and two walk-in closets. They also built a mudroom where there wasn’t one before and closed o an existing lo to create a bonus room for the kids. They relocated the laundry room to the second oor and turned the existing laundry room o the kitchen into a walk-in butler’s pantry with a wine fridge Tina had always wanted.

(Left) Walker Woodworking installed custom cabinetry in the mudroom to hold backpacks, shoes, and sports gear. (Below) The upstairs bedrooms have a neutral palette of soft grays and tans. (Bottom) Gasque accented the formal dining room with a Dash & Albert rug and a chandelier from Circa Lighting.

(Above) Quartz countertops from AGM Imports and rope weave barstools from Orient Express Furniture are polished, yet durable enough for everyday use.

The main living areas got a complete overhaul, too. The previous owner had done an addition that le the rst oor with di erent ceiling heights, so they raised the ceiling from 8 to 12 feet in the kitchen and added structural beams. The team at Walker Woodworking installed custom cabinetry in the kitchen and butler’s pantry, as well as lockers and drawers in the mudroom to hold the boys’ backpacks, shoes, and sports gear.

With the exception of some master bedroom furniture that survived the re, everything in the house is new. Gasque, who describes the style as transitional, out tted the home with new furniture, lighting, xtures, window treatments, and artwork. “It gave us a blank canvas,” she says. “This time we gave it a refreshed, modern look.”

She used a neutral palette of so grays and tans for a relaxing vibe. In the kitchen, she chose o -gray cabinetry and accented it with the walnut island and beams. The hardwood oors got a dark walnut nish, and the walls are Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter. She opted for quartz countertops instead of marble for more durability, and rope weave barstools from Orient Express Furniture that could stand up to everyday use.

For furnishings, she incorporated stain-resistant Crypton fabrics and indoor and outdoor area rugs. The formal dining room, guest bedroom, and master suite got custom window treatments courtesy of Kasmir Fabrics, and Gasque accented the home with a mix of moss planters, glass bowls, and wall décor from Paragon and Soicher Marin Fine Art.

In September 2019, nine months a er the re, the Trabuccos moved back into their new old house. They also welcomed a new puppy, Gunner, into the family. “It was so stressful; it took hours upon hours to sort out,” Tina says, “but we ended up on the right side of this.”

TAYLOR BOWLER is lifestyle editor for this magazine.

ByEMILY ETHRIDGE Illustration ByELEANOR SHAKESPEARE

Only a few in his hometown know the name: Trezzvant Anderson. He wasn’t much for self-promotion. But Anderson was a crusading journalist in the South during Jim Crow, and his work exposed discrimination against Black people long before what we think of as the civil rights era. Eight decades later, another Black man is telling Anderson’s story, which recasts the legacy of someone we do remember. In an age when we’re all reconsidering what we thought we knew, Willie Gri n is digging in a forgotten corner, and what he’s uncovered is news to us

ILLIE GRIFFIN, A SOFT-SPOKEN, BESPECTACLED HISTORIAN, has talked nonstop for more than an hour and rarely glanced at his notecards. Behind him, in the back room at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille, a projector displays a series of old newspaper clippings, photos, a chart or two, all about an area of history—Black history in particular—that’s been largely overlooked. The subject of this evening’s presentation to a local history and philosophy club is the Double V campaign, an e ort led by a Pittsburgh newspaper during World War II to honor Black servicemembers and call for the full integration of Black people into American society, including the military.

Gri n is the sta historian at the Levine Museum of the New South, a Charlotte native, and a civil rights scholar whose research focuses on the untold history of his hometown. His talk wouldn’t seem to promise a dynamic presentation—a former teacher, Gri n just clicks through dozens of slides, explains each, and sometimes wanders into tangents—but he keeps the attention of 21 people, mostly in their 60s and 70s. I look around the room on this Thursday night in September 2019 and half-expect the crowd to be dri ing o . But their eyes are xed on Gri n, with his neatly trimmed beard and wooden bead bracelet. Several club members have pushed their dinner plates aside to make space on the long table to take notes. No one glances at a phone or starts a side conversation.

About ve minutes in, a er an overview of the roots of the civil rights movement in the 1930s and ’40s, Gri n clicks to a black-and-white photograph of a man who’s central to his presentation tonight, to Charlotte’s civil rights history, and to the research Gri n has done over the past decade. The man in the photo wears a pinstriped suit, tie, pocket square, and thin mustache. His name was Trezzvant Anderson.

Anderson was born in Charlotte in 1906 and lived much of his life here. For most of his 56 years, Anderson worked as a journalist and, in the age of Jim Crow, uncovered example a er example of discrimination against Black people at a time when few dared tell those kinds of stories. He went on to write and publish a book, Come Out Fighting: The Epic Tale of the 761st Tank Battalion, 1942-1945, about the rst all-Black tank battalion in U.S. Army history. Gri n, who found out about Anderson by chance during his research, believes Anderson is one of the most important and unsung civil rights gures of the 20th century.

“He never pushed himself out there. He never wanted to be the person in front. It was always about other people’s stories,” Gri n tells me. “He wrote in-depth stories that history did not capture.”

Gri n, 45, wants to make sure history captures Anderson’s story. He’s writing a biography about Anderson, tentatively titled Come Out Fighting, an expanded and revised version of his doctoral thesis from UNC Chapel Hill; it’s scheduled for publication late next year by Vanderbilt University Press. As the Levine Museum’s historian since 2018, Gri n travels throughout the city and tells Anderson’s story as part of a larger inventory that the South, and Charlotte in particular, are conducting of its own complicated, o -forgotten past.

“Here is somebody who is turning over new information that nobody has known about before,” says Robin Brabham, the founding head of the Special Collections Department at the UNC Charlotte library, who invited Gri n to speak to and join the history club. Brabham adds that even though he’s studied local history for decades, he’d never heard of Anderson either until Gri n told him. “It just seemed like an opportunity to sort of spread the gospel.”

Trezzvant Anderson’s hidden history—and that of the city and region where he lived and worked—illuminates a priceless reward of any historical research: the enrichment of our understanding of the present. History is about not only what happened but also the lessons we can draw from what happened, and what the people and events we choose to remember say about what we’ve become. One of the chief subjects of Anderson’s crusading journalism was a white man, Paul Younts, who unlike Anderson is remembered in Charlotte— but in a way that sanitizes the story of who he was and what he did. Gri n, a Black man who grew up o Beatties Ford Road, the traditional boulevard of Black Charlotte, has chosen to exhume the true histories of both men in an era when we’re all reexamining the interplay of race and history. What he’s uncovered has shaped our history, and his own.

At Dilworth Neighborhood Grille, Gri n uses Anderson’s story as a springboard to discuss the Double V campaign and how its promise, the idea that Black veterans had earned their respect as full citizens, went unful lled. Gri n wraps it up a er an hour. Then members, in observance of club tradition, ask questions and share their takeaways from the presentation. This takes another 45 minutes. Most members remark that the main thing they’ve learned is this: Trezzvant Anderson existed. They’d never heard of him.

Trezzvant Anderson began his career in journalism and activism in the late 1920s, not long a er he dropped out of Johnson C. Smith University and around the time he landed a job with the federal Railway Mail Service, which took an o cial photograph of Anderson in 1938 (right). Anderson later served as a war correspondent in Europe and followed the rst all-Black tank battalion in U.S. Army history. He published a book, Come Out Fighting, about the 761st Tank Battalion (bottom).

EITHER HAD I, a Charlotte native who grew up in the Mallard Creek area. My father, who’s lived in Charlotte for nearly 50 years, met Gri n in spring 2019 and told me excitedly that I should meet and talk with him about his research into my hometown’s civil rights history. Over the next year, Gri n and I talked about Anderson and civil rights in Charlotte four times—three in person, the last via Zoom a er COVID-19 sent us all home. Gri n resembles his research subject in at least one respect: He’d much rather tell the stories of others than his own. Even though Gri n speaks in public frequently—his job at the Levine Museum requires it—he’s not comfortable in anyone’s spotlight. Over the course of our discussions, Gri n repeatedly asked me to minimize his presence in the story you’re reading. I told him I’d do my best. But, unavoidably, all the information about Anderson in this story comes from Gri n’s research. Gri n’s story matters, too, and not just because of the work he does. Gri n grew up in Lincoln Heights, on Charlotte’s west side, part of an area de ned by the three highways that fence it o from the rest of the city: Interstates 77 and 85 and the Brookshire Freeway. As a child, and later as a student at East Mecklenburg High School, Gri n lived alongside local civil rights leaders and didn’t know it. Neighbor Allegra Westbrooks was the rst Black public library supervisor in North Carolina; Gri n mowed her lawn. Another neighbor, Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, co-founded what became the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture,

founded Charlotte’s Head Start program, and served as the rst chair of the Afro-American and African Studies Department at UNC Charlotte.

Gri n’s maternal grandfather, Fred Gri n, helped integrate Charlotte’s white-dominated trucking industry in the early 1960s when he insisted on working as a freight checker, a position inaccessible to Black men at the time. Gri n didn’t learn about the social signi cance of his own grandfather until graduate school. “Seeing him among those other important individuals really hit me—that I had a lot of work to do to understand my own place in history, and my own responsibilities and legacy that were le for me,” Gri n told this magazine in 2018. “So it was at that point when I really jumped head rst into trying to understand as much about Charlotte’s local history as I could.”

Another of Gri n’s key grad school revelations came from a book: Timothy B. Tyson’s Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power,published in 1999. Williams was an NAACP chapter president in Monroe who ed to Cuba and hosted a radio show on Black politics and music that could be heard as far away as Los Angeles. Gri n had grown up believing that Charlotte was a quiet oasis during the ’50s and ’60s, far removed from the marches and violence in cities like Birmingham, Memphis, even Greensboro. Now his eyes widened, and he thought, There was no way in hell that nothing was going on in Charlotte, and this guy was happening right here in Monroe!

The more he found, the more he looked. He started by looking for the moment when activism came to town, and to him, that meant one thing: “protest in the streets.” Historian and Charlotte native Davison M. Douglas, now the dean of William & Mary Law School, had written brie y about an unnamed Charlotte-based journalist for The Pittsburgh Courier, a Black weekly newspaper. In 1940, the journalist had led Johnson C. Smith University students in a march to protest the local post o ce’s employment practices. Gri n began asking around: Who was that?

Gri n’s grandfather, a minister in Charlotte for 30 years, connected him to people he could interview for his master’s thesis at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Of the more than two dozen people Gri n interviewed, only two remembered Anderson: Reginald Hawkins, a rebrand local activist and the rst Black person to run for North Carolina governor; and James F. “Jim” Richardson, a JCSU alumnus and postmaster who served for 10 years in the General Assembly in the 1980s and ’90s. (Richardson died in 2003, Hawkins in 2007. A er Richardson’s death, Congress renamed the post o ce on Beatties Ford Road a er him.)

Hawkins told Gri n that the journalist was a Charlotte native named Trezzvant Anderson, who had recruited him to help organize the student march against the post o ce. Gri n began to drop the name with his other interview subjects. When Gri n did that with Richardson, the older man’s face lit up. “Now, boy! That’s who you should be asking about,” Richardson replied. “Trezzvant Anderson was the civil rights movement.”

NDERSON ATTENDED JCSU but dropped out in 1927. He’d written for the student newspaper, and although he had gotten a good job in another eld, he wanted to continue his work as a journalist. The Charlotte Post, the city’s established Black-owned newspaper, hired Anderson soon a er he le school.

It was a time when newspapers relied heavily on correspondents, who would le dispatches that o en took the shape of opinion pieces or outright calls to civic action; the professional standard of facts-only reporting took hold in American journal-

Willie Gri n, the sta historian at the Levine Museum of the New South, grew up along the Beatties Ford Road corridor, the historic main avenue of Charlotte’s Black community and where Trezzvant Anderson grew up as well. The city plans a streetcar line to connect the corridor by rail to the city center. Gri n began researching Anderson in graduate school.

ism only a er World War II. The barrier-free approach to newspapering t perfectly with a phenomenon that would grow in the decades to come—a string of Black-owned newspapers that concentrated on issues important to the Black community and unabashedly stumped for their concerns.

The late ’20s were the early years of the Great Migration, when hundreds of thousands of Black people le the farms and plantations of the Deep South for factory jobs in the large, industrial cities of the Northeast and Midwest. Black newspapers in cities like Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis fed a market hungry for information about the places they’d le , cities that relatives had moved to, and issues central to Black people’s lives then and now: racial discrimination and just compensation for their labor.

Anderson had landed a job with the Railway Mail Service, a branch of the Postal Service that processed mail and shipped it throughout the country by train. The work provided him with a good monthly paycheck, $154, and required him to work only 10 to 12 days a month, which gave him the perfect pretext to work as the Post’s “roving reporter” throughout the Southeast. Anderson’s route usually took him from Washington, D.C., to Atlanta to Knoxville, Tennessee, and all the cities and towns along the way.

Anderson, who was young and unmarried then, would deliver the mail, stop in a city or town for a few days, nd a story of interest to Black readers, and send dispatches back to the Post. Within three years, his missives from the South appeared in prominent Black papers throughout the country, and he held sta positions at the Associated Negro Press, The Norfolk Journal and Guide, The Carolina Times, and The Afro-American, the renowned Baltimore-based paper founded in 1892.

He kept riding from place to place and reporting on discrimination against Black people, especially in their search for jobs and economic opportunity, as the Great Depression gripped the country. He reported on a lynching in Tarboro in 1930. In 1932 in New Orleans, he wrote about a protest of Mayor Thomas Semmes Walmsley’s e orts to prohibit anyone not registered to vote—which meant, overwhelmingly, Black people—from holding jobs as longshoremen, a vital occupation in the South’s leading port city. Several hundred Black residents attended the protest, and even white newspapers and political leaders spoke out against the measure. But the mayor enacted the ban, and nearly 2,000 Black longshoremen lost their jobs.

Anderson’s work was dangerous. White business interests of the day frequently targeted Black publications, and Anderson was concerned enough to sometimes write under pseudonyms. “There would be e orts to intimidate me, or perhaps even lynch me,” he once told his editors, “should my name appear over the story.” Yet he kept at it throughout the 1930s, balancing his journalism with the RMS job, which provided money and mobility.

In 1939, Anderson convinced the publisher of The Carolina Times, the venerable Black-owned paper in Durham, to open an o ce in Charlotte and hire him to sta it. The Times did. Anderson also continued to write for The Afro-American— which turned out to be the vehicle he used to report on the discriminatory practices of Charlotte’s postmaster, a prominent civic leader whose name still takes up public space in this city: Paul Younts. RIFFIN ALREADY KNEW THAT ANDERSON had stirred up something that involved the Postal Service. Some of the interview subjects for his master’s thesis had mentioned it. Richardson had told him that Anderson wrote about discrimination in the Postal Service’s Charlotte o ce and organized the 1940 student protest in response.

Richardson and Gri n’s grandfather, the trucking pioneer Fred Gri n, were members of the Charlotte Black Shriners chapter, one of numerous and in uential Black fraternal organizations that formed during segregation. During his research, Gri n learned that in the ’50s, Anderson had exposed the misdeeds of leaders in another of those organizations, the national Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World, and that the Elks likely would have “blackballed” anyone who crossed them. It was the rst time Gri n had considered the possibility that it wasn’t just entrenched white interests that had buried Anderson’s legacy.

In 2008, while Gri n worked on his doctorate at UNC, he learned about a trove of Anderson’s personal papers at the Atlanta University Center Consortium’s Robert W. Woodru Library. The consortium consists of four historically Black colleges and universities, including Morehouse College, where Gri n earned his bachelor’s degree in history with a concentration in African American studies in 1999. A fellow doctoral student, researching Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., had come across Anderson’s name and a reference to the papers.

Among the papers in Atlanta, Gri n discovered a 1941 letter from Kelly Alexander Sr.—then the Charlotte NAACP chapter president and later national NAACP chairman—that recommended Anderson for the presidency of the national postal workers’ union. The year before, Alexander wrote, armed local NAACP members had protected Anderson a er midnight in his home on Beatties Ford Road against “car-loads of whites, probably Ku Kluxers,” who were responding to “the recent Post O ce investigation.” The reference eventually led Gri n to write the Postal Service to request any records they’d kept on Anderson. He expected a few pages that detailed his employment history, maybe his mail routes.

What the Postal Service sent Gri n in 2010 was a 200page dossier that covered all 14 years of Anderson’s employment—and spelled out how Anderson learned of Younts’ discrimination against Black employees and job candidates, how Anderson’s reporting led to Younts’ conviction of a federal crime, and postal o cials’ reactions to them. Gri n was ecstatic. As far as he knew, no one else had the records. No one else even knew to look for them.

“I mean, shit, I was blown away,” Gri n says now. “I already knew Anderson was pretty important, but when I got those papers—‘Whoa. Damn. This is it. This is what I really needed. This is the gold mine. This is the jackpot.’”

Younts wasn’t just the postmaster in Charlotte. He was a popular and well-connected real estate broker and developer mentioned o en as a potential political candidate. In the ’20s, Younts developed at least seven of the 12 homes on the 2000 block of Lyndhurst Avenue in Dilworth—single-story, Cra sman-style bungalows, six of which remain standing today. His real estate business took the lead in developing Park Road Shopping Center, which opened in 1956. He served as president of the

Charlotte Chamber of Commerce in 1957. The same decade, as a state highway commissioner, he shepherded the widening of Wilkinson Boulevard and directed state funds toward the expansion of I-77, one of the highways that divided Gri n’s neighborhood from the rest of Charlotte.

In 1961, Younts ran the North Carolina Trade Fair, and The Charlotte News named him Man of the Year. When he died 10 years later, The Charlotte Observer wrote: “Few big things got done in Charlotte over the past 40 years that Paul Younts didn’t have a hand in.”

Decades before, as postmaster, Younts had also refused to hire Black people as mail carriers or promote them to those positions because, he argued, white mail carriers wouldn’t work with Black ones.

Anderson had a head start on his own research. A longtime employee of the Railway Mail Service, Anderson knew all about racial discrimination in federal civil service jobs. Some of it was expressed through policies with thinly obscured racial motives, like a requirement that job applicants submit a photograph, which allowed managers to hire based on race.

Other times, the racism was more direct. In 1939, a Black man named John T. Richmond, who was applying for a mail carrier job in Charlotte, earned a high score on his civil service exam. Younts stuck him in a job as a postal custodian, someone who maintained and cleaned post o ces—essentially a janitor. Anderson, who still maintained a residence in Charlotte, found out about the Richmond a air—and about Paul Younts—through his connections in the Postal Service. Anderson decided to write about Richmond and Younts in his column, “News and Views of the Postal Service,” which ran in The Afro-American. He thought enough bad publicity might force Younts to change his ways. If not, the press might catch the attention of federal authorities.

Gri n found precious evidence of Anderson’s campaign in his Postal Service documents and in the archives of The Carolina Times and The Afro-American. In September 1939, Anderson wrote to Emmett J. Scott, the former chief aide to Booker T. Washington and a prominent gure in the Republican Party: “I am trying to bring pressure to bear upon the Postmaster to make him change his attitude, and give us this carrier to avoid trouble in 1940 … and if we get this one, we are going to yell for more, later on.” Younts ignored the pressure, which compelled Anderson to turn it up.

In his columns, Anderson called on Black Charlotteans to take to the streets. He announced a mass meeting at Second Ward High School, where several hundred attendees committed to a get-out-the-vote e ort “to vote against anything or anybody favored by Younts.” He also recruited prominent Black political leaders, including Thurgood Marshall, Claude Barnett, and Mary McCloud Bethune, to write to Younts about the Richmond case.

He submitted an open letter to the Observer to bring Richmond’s story to the attention of white residents. The letter ran on a Sunday, and Anderson wrote that every Black minister in the city “will pray a special prayer upon the conclusion of his sermon” for Younts to promote Richmond, the father of six children. “If pleas to God, Himself, from the pulpits of my people cannot cause us to receive this favor,” Anderson wrote, “then our hearts will be heavy tonight.”

OUNTS CONTINUED TO TRY to ignore the problem away. Gri n found a letter from Younts to U.S. Senator Robert Reynolds in which Younts explained that Richmond should be happy he got hired at all. “There is no one,” Younts wrote, “who feels more kindly toward the colored race than I.” In June 1940, a er he’d ignored Anderson’s appeals for months, Younts traveled to Washington, D.C., to try to get Anderson red from the Railway Mail Service. Two months later, the “car-loads of whites” began to roll past Anderson’s home.

Unintimidated, and with election season approaching, Anderson decided on a di erent angle of attack. He knew Younts had been using his employees to try to deliver the Black vote for his preferred candidates. Younts threatened to re Black postal workers if they didn’t solicit votes, count and check ballots, and take certain voters to the polls. Younts also oversaw a local congressman’s campaign and toured the state with Postmaster General James Farley, who was challenging President Roosevelt for the Democratic presidential nomination. All of this activity violated the Hatch Act, which Congress

CHARLOTTE TAKES TO THE STREETS

Charlotte has a deeper history of activism during the civil rights movement than is generally acknowledged. (Le to right) In spring 1960, students marched to protest segregation at movie theaters, lunch counters, and hotels ( rst two photos). A decade later, citizens took to the streets again (latter two photos) as a school desegregation case wound through the courts.

had passed the year before, a law that limited the political activities of federal employees and protected them from political coercion in the workplace.

Working with Hosie Price, a Black lawyer from Winston-Salem, Anderson noti ed the O ce of Postal Inspectors, the Civil Service Commission, and the FBI about Younts’ practices. In October, he broke the news in The Carolina Times that all three agencies were investigating Younts, and just before the November election, he published details of the case and a full list of the federal charges. Younts became one of the rst people ever indicted under the Hatch Act. In 1941, he pleaded no contest and was ned, and the Postal Service red him. Younts was called up to active Army duty later that year.

The detested photograph requirement didn’t last, either. On November 7, 1940, two days a er his reelection and a week a er Younts’ indictment, President Roosevelt revoked it by executive order. Anderson wrote in “News and Views” to thank Roosevelt “on behalf of the 20,000 colored postal workers.” Two weeks later, having accomplished his goal, Anderson discontinued the column. Anderson lost his RMS job in 1941, having caused too much trouble for the Postal Service. But he continued to write for The Carolina Times until 1943, when he enlisted in the Army and served as an overseas correspondent in Europe, where he embedded himself with the 761st Tank Battalion he later wrote about in his book. HIS SUMMER, inspired by the George Floyd demonstrations that swept the country, monuments fell like rain: three statues of Confederate soldiers on the N.C. Capitol grounds; a monument to former vice president, slave owner, and ardent racist John C. Calhoun in Charleston; the famous statues of Confederate generals on Monument Avenue in Richmond. Charlotte’s are less conspicuous, but they’re there. Some carry the name of Paul Younts.

A sign at the North Carolina Welcome Center o Interstate 77 just north of the South Carolina line identi es Paul Younts, a longtime Charlotte civic leader, as a general, which he never was. Trezzvant Anderson’s reporting helped lead to Younts’ 1941 conviction for violating the federal Hatch Act, which protects federal employees from political coercion in the workplace.

Or, curiously, “General” Paul Younts. If you’re northbound on I-77, a large green N.C. Department of Transportation roadside sign less than a mile north of the South Carolina line identi es the stretch of interstate as “General Younts Freeway.” The DOT approved the name in 1965. Nearby, along the exit to the North Carolina Welcome Center, stands another sign, which appears to be a silver-and-black historical marker. It reads, “General Paul R. Younts Expressway. Honoring a distinguished business, civic and military leader. Member of North Carolina Highway Commission 1961-1965.”

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Charlotte several times. On May 30, 1963, King spoke at the Charlotte Park Center (now the Grady Cole Center) to students from six Black high schools at convocation (le ). On September 21, 1966, he returned to Charlotte to speak to more than 3,000 people at JCSU (below, right) about moral action and his opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.

The sign isn’t o cial. The N.C. Historical Highway Marker Program, administered by the state government, places its silver-and-black signs at historic sites throughout the state. But when I contact its o ce, a spokeswoman tells me no one with the program knows who put the Younts sign up or when.

Paul Younts was never a general. He did serve in the Army, enlisting shortly a er the outbreak of World War I, then served as state commander for the American Legion of North Carolina. From 1944-46, he commanded an Army personnel depot in Greensboro. When the Korean War began in 1950, Younts’ name circulated as the prospective commander of a National Guard artillery base in North Carolina, according to the Greensboro History Museum, which keeps ve boxes of his papers. That post was usually held by a brigadier general. But military authorities decided Younts would have to take advanced artillery courses at Fort Sill in Oklahoma to earn his star.

“Believing that a second appraisal of his record later would result in a more favorable outcome, Colonel Younts declined to act on the Board’s recommendation,” according to the museum’s website. “Nevertheless, he decided to serve as commanding o cer of the IV Corps Artillery in North Carolina on an interim basis. When it became apparent that the Board would hold fast to its original decision, Younts requested that he be relieved of his command.” The museum calls its collection the “Col. Paul Younts Papers”—colonel, not general.

Nonetheless, Younts certainly allowed people to refer to him as a general. The Charlotte Observer began his 1971 obituary this way: “The General will be buried Wednesday.” Younts, a white man with cachet, celebrated a distinction he never earned. Trezzvant Anderson, a Black man whose reporting led to Younts’ dismissal as postmaster and a nding that he’d violated federal labor law, is hardly remembered at all. N JANUARY, the day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Willie Gri n speaks to about a dozen people in a choir room at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. The 130-year-old church occupies a 9-acre campus on Beatties Ford Road, near where Trezzvant Anderson once lived. Gri n says one of the questions people ask him most frequently is, “What would have happened if King had come to Charlotte?”

In fact, he tells the group, King visited Charlotte several times. In 1963, 10 days a er Johnson C. Smith students had marched in uptown to protest segregation, King spoke to the graduating seniors from six local Black high schools and urged them and civic leaders to keep pushing for integration.

As Gri n lists the high schools, a few people in the crowd add, “West Charlotte, West Charlotte, too!”

Gri n focuses on a man in the crowd who wears a blue suit with no tie. “You were there?” he asks.

“I was there,” the man con rms with a nod. Later, to me, the man declines to identify himself.

But men like him are the kinds of people Gri n says he’s working for. So much of the energy in discussions about monuments and symbols and ags boils down to a battle over history, whose stories are remembered or forgotten, distorted or embellished. The George Floyd protests can be seen as a largescale heart’s cry from people usually written out of our national narrative that they and their stories matter. Finally, a er more than a half-century, and a er one historian’s decade of dogged research, Trezzvant Anderson’s story has a chance to be told.

“The next movement will be a personal movement, a movement within ourselves. Us coming to our own reality and making up our own minds,” Gri n tells me. “Learning from history, and then deciding, and becoming better people.”

2020 CHARLOTTE

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGERS

These days, it takes a village to manage your nancial world. Whether it is managing your assets with a wealth manager, navigating the ever-changing tax landscape, sorting out your estate and succession planning or picking the right life insurance, nding the right team can be a daunting task. In fact, many consumers have a hard time guring out where to even begin. Sometimes, a few simple questions can put you on the right path. Asking professionals what makes working with them a unique experience can help you understand how they work and if their style meshes with your own. This is a great place to start! Five Star Professional uses its own proprietary research methodology to name outstanding professionals, then works with publications such as Charlotte magazine to spread the word about award winners. Each award candidate undergoes a thorough research process (detailed here) before being considered for the nal list of award winners. For the complete list of winners, go to www. vestarprofessional.com.

RESEARCH DISCLOSURES

In order to consider a broad population of high-quality wealth managers, award candidates are identi ed by one of three sources: rm nomination, peer nomination or prequali cation based on industry standing. Self-nominations are not accepted. Charlotte-area award candidates were identi ed using internal and external research data. Candidates do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the nal lists of Five Star Wealth Managers. • The Five Star award is not indicative of a professional’s future performance. • Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. • The inclusion of a professional on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the professional by

Five Star Professional or Charlotte magazine. • Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any professional is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected professionals will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future. • Five Star Professional is not an advisory rm and the content of this article should not be considered nancial advice. For more information on the Five Star Wealth Manager award program, research and selection criteria, go to vestarprofessional.com/research. • 1,488 award candidates in the Charlotte area were considered for the Five Star Wealth Manager award. 134 (approximately 9% of the award candidates) were named 2020 Five Star Wealth Managers.

DETERMINATION OF AWARD WINNERS Award candidates who satisfied 10 objective eligibility and evaluation criteria were named 2020 Five Star Wealth Managers. Eligibility Criteria – Required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative. 2. Actively employed as a credentialed professional in the financial services industry for a minimum of five years. 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review. 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal firm standards. 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation Criteria – Considered: 6. One-year client retention rate. 7. Five-year client retention rate. 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered. 9. Number of client households served. 10. Education and professional designations. Regulatory Review: As defined by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not: been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; been convicted of a felony. Within the past 11 years the wealth manager has not: been terminated from a wealth management or financial services firm; filed for personal bankruptcy; had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them (and no more than five total pending, dismissed or denied) with any regulatory authority. Five Star Professional conducts a regulatory review of each nominated wealth manager using the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website. Five Star Professional also uses multiple supporting processes to help ensure that a favorable regulatory and complaint history exists. Data submitted through these processes was applied per the above criteria; each wealth manager who passes the Five Star Professional regulatory review must attest that they meet the definition of favorable regulatory history based upon the criteria listed above. Five Star Professional promotes via local advertising the opportunity for consumers to confidentially submit complaints regarding a wealth manager.

FIVE STAR PROFESSIONAL

Proprietary Research Process

Nomination of Candidates Three sources of nominations: – Firm nominations – Peer nominations – Prequali cation based on industry credentials

Regulatory Consumer Complaint Review All candidates must demonstrate a favorable regulatory history.

Candidate Submission of Practice Information Candidates must complete either an online or over-the-phone interview.

Evaluation of Candidate Practice Candidates are evaluated on 10 objective evaluation and eligibility criteria.

Firm Review of Award Candidate List All candidates are reviewed by a representative of their rm before nal selection.

Finalization and Announcement of Winners

2020

Financial Planning

Susan O. Brown · Wells Fargo Advisors Ryan Marshall Dantinne · SA Stone Wealth

Management Chad M. Mangum · Blue Wolfe Financial Maria M. Ochoa · Maria M. Ochoa Financial and Insurance Services Page 3

All award winners are listed in this publication

Brice R. Oldham · Carroll Financial

Associates Page 3

Investments

John Burke Balcerzak · A4 Wealth Advisors Greg Scott Bennett · BluHawk Wealth

Management Thomas J. Berger · Merrill Lynch William M. Byron · Byron Financial Page 2 Larry Cabrera · Morgan Stanley Albert Chen · Course Management

Investment Advisors, LLC Randal J. Cokeley · Ameriprise Financial

Services, LLC James E. Larsen · Wells Fargo Advisors David Bradley Nifong · LPL Financial Patrick Carey Owens · Wells Fargo Advisors Dorothy H. Yandle · Triad Advisors Page 3

Byron Financial, LLC

Photo 9.5” wide by 5.6” high at 300 dpi. Maximum of 12 people.

6

YEAR WINNER

Left to right: Stephanie Snyder; Six-year winners Josh Mayor and William M. Byron; Melissa Weber; Megan Sorlie; Christina Acker

An Independent Investment Advisory Firm

∙ Providing an innovative approach to wealth management for more than 30 years ∙ Exclusive investment model based on research data ∙ Transparent, disciplined and globally-diverse investment approach

6100 Fairview Road, Suite 1150 • Charlotte, NC 28210 Phone: 704-442-4402 info@byronfin.com • www.byronfin.com

Founded in 1986, Byron Financial, LLC is an independently owned and operated Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) rm. We focus on understanding our clients’ entire nancial picture to provide innovative and creative solutions and meet their wealth enhancement, transfer and protection goals. By o ering a higher level of personalized service and analysis, we carefully work to determine each client’s current and future cash ow needs while addressing various areas of advanced planning, such as estate, tax and charitable giving. Byron Financial has access to an exclusive investment model based on 44 years of research data available to a select group of RIA rms. Our investment approach is transparent, globally diverse, tax-e cient, disciplined and cost-e ective. All client assets are held with one of the largest custodians of RIA assets in the United States: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. or TD Ameritrade. It is our goal to develop an unbiased, objective wealth management plan that gives clients the highest probability of reaching their goals so they can devote more time to personal endeavors.

Investment Advisory Services o ered through Byron Financial, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor. An Independent Wealth Advisory Firm. CRD 1914017, 141893. Securities o ered through M Holdings Securities, Inc., a Registered Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Byron Financial, LLC is independently owned and operated. Advisory services are only o ered to clients or prospective clients where Byron Financial, LLC and its representative are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. No advice may be rendered by Byron Financial, LLC unless a client service agreement is in place. Byron Financial, LLC is independently owned and operated.

Wealth Manager Award Winner

The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser rm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As de ned by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a ne; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints led against them and/or a total of ve settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a nancial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a nancial services rm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Ful lled their rm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the nal list of Five Star Wealth Managers. Award does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. Once awarded, wealth managers may purchase additional pro le ad space or promotional products. The Five Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by Five Star Professional or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future. For more information on the Five Star award and the research/selection methodology, go to vestarprofessional.com. 1,488 Charlotte area wealth managers were considered for the award; 134 (9% of candidates) were named 2020 Five Star Wealth Managers. 2019: 1,346 considered, 129 winners; 2018: 1,342 considered, 104 winners; 2017: 949 considered, 132 winners; 2016: 873 considered, 227 winners; 2015: 1,822 considered, 277 winners; 2014: 6,776 considered, 409 winners; 2013: 1,694 considered, 280 winners; 2012: 1,083 considered, 267 winners.

Dot Yandle

CPA, PFS

Dot Yandle Financial Services, LLC

Head and Shoulders photo 3.6” wide by 3.8” high at 300 dpi

9

YEAR WINNER

∙ Retirement income planner ∙ Trusted wealth advisor

8037 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 300 Charlotte, NC 28226 Phone: 704-543-0690 d.yandle@dyandle.com dyandle.com

Can You Retire? Let’s Evaluate Your Future Today!

∙ Focus your wealth journey ∙ Unparalleled service

Dot Yandle is known for her unwavering passion for listening to clients and helping translate their wants, needs and values into the financial life and legacy they imagined. This is accomplished by providing balanced advice, using innovative industry solutions for retirement, investment and estate planning and using tools designed to grow and protect your hard-earned money. Dot has extensive wealth management and tax experience acquired from over 20 years in the financial industry.

Securities and Advisory Services offered through Triad Advisors Member FINRA/SIPC. Dot Yandle Financial Services, LLC is not affiliated with Triad Advisors, LLC.

Wealth Manager Award Winner

Maria M. Ochoa

Financial Advisor

Head and Shoulders photo 3.6” wide by 3.8” high at 300 dpi 6100 Fairview Road, Suite 1142 Charlotte, NC 28210 Phone: 704-371-8570 maria@mochoafinancial.com www.mochoafinancial.com

5

YEAR WINNER

Maria M. Ochoa Financial and Insurance Services

Maria M. Ochoa, CLU®, ChFC® is proud to once again receive the distinguished Five Star Professional Wealth Manager award. As a five-year winner, this award is a testament to her outstanding dedication and service to her clients in helping them to achieve their financial planning and asset protection goals. As a leading financial adviser, Maria is fully committed to the highest standards of ethics, professionalism and service and can be counted on for providing objective and personalized support. She takes the time to fully understand her clients’ goals and objectives before recommending a course of action and is proud to be a financial partner for the long term.

Maria M. Ochoa, CLU®, ChFC®, Registered Representative offering securities through NYLIFE Securities LLC Member FINRA/SIPC, A Licensed Insurance Agency 704-371-8500, 6100 Fairview Road, Suite 400, Charlotte, NC 28210. Maria M. Ochoa, CLU®, ChFC®, Financial Adviser offering investment advisory services through Eagle Strategies LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser Maria M. Ochoa Financial and Insurance Services is not owned or operated by NYLlFE Securities LLC or its affiliates.

Wealth Manager Award Winner

Brice R. Oldham

Chartered Financial Analyst®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

Head and Shoulders photo 3.6” wide by 3.8” high at 300 dpi 4521 Sharon Road, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28211 Phone: 704-553-8006 boldham@carrollfinancial.com www.carrollfinancial.com

5

YEAR WINNER

The Best Interest of the Client Is the Only Interest That Matters

∙ Family fi nancial planning ∙ Retirement planning

∙ Business succession ∙ Investment management

I have over 15 years of experience guiding families and businesses just like yours through comprehensive nancial planning. My approach focuses on understanding the values, priorities and goals of every client. It is my mission to provide ongoing, thoughtful advice to all clients with the best possible service. I am a 2016 – 2020 Five Star Wealth Manager award winner.

Registered Representative of and securities offered through Cetera Advisor Networks, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Carroll Financial Associates, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Carroll Financial and Cetera Advisor Networks are not affiliated. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S.

Wealth Manager Award Winner

Wealth managers not only off er advice, but they also guide you through the process of managing your money and investi ng it for you.

The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser rm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As de ned by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a ne; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints led against them and/or a total of ve settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a nancial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a nancial services rm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Ful lled their rm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the nal list of Five Star Wealth Managers. Award does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. Once awarded, wealth managers may purchase additional pro le ad space or promotional products. The Five Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by Five Star Professional or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future. For more information on the Five Star award and the research/selection methodology, go to vestarprofessional.com. 1,488 Charlotte area wealth managers were considered for the award; 134 (9% of candidates) were named 2020 Five Star Wealth Managers. 2019: 1,346 considered, 129 winners; 2018: 1,342 considered, 104 winners; 2017: 949 considered, 132 winners; 2016: 873 considered, 227 winners; 2015: 1,822 considered, 277 winners; 2014: 6,776 considered, 409 winners; 2013: 1,694 considered, 280 winners; 2012: 1,083 considered, 267 winners.

THE CRYSTAL COAST

Eighty-five miles of gleaming Atlantic Beaches only begin to tell the story of North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. Dangling like a strand of delicate pearls along the Southern Outer Banks, the authentic “coastal experience” features waters of crystalline purity bordering sandy, sparkling beaches.

From eccentric history steeped in legendary tales of swashbuckling pirate adventures and ghostly encounters, to a famed diamond lady lighthouse and exotic wild horses roaming freely, boundless exploration awaits.

To understand the real coastal experience is to feel the tranquil sea breeze, to stroll historical streets of a quaint maritime village and to dine on “fresh from the docks” seafood at a waterfront bistro.

Home to “The South’s Best Small Town” by Southern Living magazine and “The No. 1 National State Park Beach,” by USA Today, it is both a place and a state of mind representing a departure from the ordinary and arrival at the extraordinary.

Suiting every lifestyle and budget, vacationers to the coast will find an array of deluxe digs ranging from quaint seaside cottages and charming B&Bs, to no-frills bungalows and mammoth beach houses known locally as “sandcastles.”

THE CRYSTAL COAST Plan your trip at crystalcoastnc.org

VISIT NC’s THREE PEAKS

Take a road trip to the center of the three most popular and exciting peaks in North Carolina. Sitting between the oldest mountains

of Grandfather Mountain, the tallest peak east of the Mississippi Mt. Mitchell and the largest naturally growing rhododendron garden in the world atop Roan Mountain, this area is full of hundreds of trails, and hikes to breathtaking views.

Explore from your basecamp in the mountain communities of Little Switzerland, Spruce Pine, and Bakersville, directly in the center of the Three Peaks. Just two hours from Charlotte, you will find the serene solitude and natural surroundings you are seeking in a mountain getaway but still close to home.

You can enjoy local experiences like gem mining, river tubing, horseback riding, fly fishing and one of the country’s best arts communities. Make this the year you check the Three Peaks off of your bucket list! Make plans for a one-of-akind authentic mountain getaway with your family and friends.

VISIT NC’S THREE PEAKS Plan your trip at ThreePeaksNC.com or call 828-765-9483

MONTAGE PALMETTO BLUFF

Located between Hilton Head, SC and Savannah, under a hour dri e fro harlotte you ll find Montage Palmetto Bluff. With 20,000 acres of pristine Lowcountry terrain, Palmetto Bluff encompasses walking trails, two vibrant villages, an array of shops and eight delectable restaurants. Upon arrival, most guests surrender their cars and leisurely make their way around the property on the main mode of transportation, bicycle.

This unparalleled coastal setting adorned with 100-yearold oak trees and 32 miles of waterfront has an abundance of space to relax and enjoy the great outdoors. Miles of serene fresh waterways allow for aya ing electric oats and fishing The surrounding tidal estuary of the May River provides ample roo for oating aya ing and fishing a ongst the resident population of Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. On land there are no shortage of activities, Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf, tennis, croquet, pickleball, 13-station sporting clays course, archery, air ri e and a world class a ontage are ust the eginning

With this bounty of activity there are also a variety of accommodations to choose from, guest rooms to cottages to Village Homes allow for varying degrees of privacy and space. Wrapped in the warmth of southern hospitality, a getaway to Montage Palmetto Bluff will leave you with a lifetime of memories.

MONTAGE PALMETTO BLUFF

Plan your trip at montagehotels.com/palmettobluff or call 855-264-8705

EXPLORE LOWCOUNTRY LUXURY ON KIAWAH ISLAND

Ashort drive from Charlotte, just beyond Charleston, South Carolina, is a destination like no other. Whether it’s a dream beach vacation along our 10 miles of pristine coastline or a golf getaway at our world-renowned courses, a road trip to the natural beauty of Kiawah Island awaits you.

Immerse yourself in endless relaxation and pleasurable pursuits as you explore the storied Lowcountry. The Resort’s exclusive shoreline is yours to discover—whether strolling with the surf lapping your toes, bicycling perfectly-packed sand or paddling along scenic saltwater marshes.

Golfers enjoy favorable seasonal temperatures and rates, and the opportunity to play the famed Ocean Course, home of the 2021 PGA Championship. From the moment you step onto the storied greens, you are nestled into awe-inspiring surroundings to play the rounds of your life.

When it’s time to unwind, experience pampering and amenities beyond compare with grand accommodations in The Sanctuary, a Forbes Five-Star, AAA Five-Diamond hotel offering panoramic Atlantic Ocean views—or stay in a private Resort Villa or Home that provides serene seclusion in your home-away-from-home.

When you are ready for an escape, we will be pleased to welcome you to a travel experience you wish would never end.

KIAWAH ISLAND GOLF RESORT Plan your getaway at kiawahresort.com or call 866-469-4399

SOLVING CHARLOTTEANS’ HOME OFFICE & ORGANIZATION WOES

ocally owned losets y esign offers free consultations for custo ho e offices organi ation syste s and other storage solutions for a functional stay-at-home lifestyle.

The kitchen table isn’t cutting it anymore. aura ansic le o wner of losets y esign says her company has helped countless families with new home organi ation needs since co anies and schools ha e introduced remote working.

Tight quarters for the whole family means your space needs to work with you not against you a ing sure e eryone s ite s ha e a dedicated s ot ee s the lace tidy and frustrations low an ic le says hether you re aching for an ergono ically correct ho e office for re ote wor s aces a ho e gy or yoga roo or you si ly need s arter organi ation and etter storage losets y esign has a custom solution for your household. etting a custo solution for your s ace is si le too losets y Design offers free in-home consultations so a designer can conceptuali e the s ace and draft a lan for you an ic le assures that all health and safety recautions are eing ta en with in ho e a oint ents e ta e our res onsi ilities to ser ice the harlotte co unity ery seriously she says ur designers all wear as s during their isit to your ho e and ractice social distancing dditionally the installers wear as s and ooties on arri al and their ans are e ui ed with disinfectant and disinfectant wi es so e erything is thoroughly cleaned when o s are finished irtual a ointments are also offered for customers more comfortable with that option. an ic le and her usiness artner ric o ened losets y esign in harlotte years ago ery custo organi ation unit layroo storage syste and re ote wor s ace solution is roduced in losets y esign s s uare foot showroo in orth harlotte gi ing harlotteans a truly ho egrown sanity sa ing roduct

CLOSETS BY DESIGN

704-588-7272 Charlotte.ClosetsByDesign.com

SHEA CUSTOM

Shea Custom offers customized Shea Homes’ plans on your homesite; we build throughout the Charlotte metro area. Our goal is not to deliver just a custom home, but a custom experience. We offer everything from extensively modifying our plans to make them suit your needs, appointments with our skilled design team, to demolition and land preparation. Customers may utilize our regularly updated 3,900 square foot design studio, which showcases kitchens, baths, flooring, and numerous other selections. We also have fixed pricing contracts. We put our national buying power behind us, which allows us to offer extremely competitive pricing for all of the high-end custom options you desire. Visit our website to learn more or contact us to make an in-person or virtual appointment.

SHEA CUSTOM

704-602-3333 | SheaCustom.com

JONES HOMES USA

Now’s your chance to live in luxury, just minutes from the city! Jones Homes USA is proud to announce its newest community, Bent Creek, located in Indian Land, South Carolina. Here you can choose from one of se en exce tional oor lan designs ranging from more than 2,700 heated square feet to almost 4,500 heated square feet. These outstanding ho es feature standard inno ati e designs that are sure to o en your eyes to what a state-of-the-art home can be. he co unity also features the finest in conte orary li ing with a luxury clu house fitness center co unity ool ex ansi e wal ing trail and a newly o ened dog ar nterest in this co unity is uilding uic ly as homebuyers discover a nature lover’s paradise with all of the con eniences of a ig city close at hand. Homes here start in the $400,000s. Jones Homes USA is part of the Emerson Group, a premier international real estate development company that has built many communities in the United States, the United ingdo and ortugal since the co any s ince tion in hey are dedicated to creating outstanding co unities for today s fa ilies and offering ho es with inno ati e designs exce tional luxury a oint ents and the latest energy features and ho e technology

JONES HOMES USA

Thomas Jason Austell

MML Investors Services

Taylor Taylor Barden

Morgan Stanley Henry N. Barringer

Alpha Financial Advisors Richard Louis Bean

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Scott M. Bowman

Wells Fargo Advisors Jeremy D. Bryant

Prosperity Capital Advisors John Gordon Burns

Wells Fargo Advisors Stephen Edson Bush

Capital Investment Advisory Services Kristopher Wayne Carroll

Cetera Advisor Networks

Russ Bennett Cearley

SignatureFD Nathan Lowell Cherniss

Wells Fargo Advisors Stan Michael Ciotoli

Merrill Lynch Dwayne L. Clendaniel

LPL Financial

Michael Wayne Climer

Wells Fargo Advisors Terry Colen

LPL Financial

Michael Preston Cox Lombard Advisers

Gerald G. Craig

Carolina Planning Consultants, LLP Gray Keneston Daus

Wells Fargo Advisors Christopher Wayne Davis

Wells Fargo Advisors Kenneth R. Davis

Investment Advisors

Michael Christopher Davis

Wells Fargo Advisors Danny Joseph DeBorde

Merrill Lynch Thomas J. Donahue

The Pinnacle Financial Group Edward R. Doughty

Epic Capital Wealth Management Scott Patrick Ellis

Wells Fargo Advisors Michael Eric Fayed

Cambridge Investment Research Jeremiah Connor Fitzpatrick

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Eric Thomas Fritz

Capital Investment Advisory Services Arthur Frank Goins

Suntrust Investment Services

Kelly Graves

Carroll Financial Associates

Elizabeth Gregg LPL Financial

Ann Reilley Gugle

Alpha Financial Advisors Timothy Bryant Hamilton

The Pinnacle Financial Group Bud David Hedstrom

Carroll Financial Associates

David Anthony Henkel

Wells Fargo Advisors William Louis Herford

Exclusive Financial Resources

Robert B. Higgins

Fulcrum Capital Partners Joshua E. Holby

Wells Fargo Advisors Hseng Wei Hsiang

TIAA

Barbara Ann Huffman

Wells Fargo Advisors Charles Robert Jones

Wells Fargo Advisors Christopher Bernard Kemper

Fulcrum Wealth Advisors

Walter Kennedy IV

Suntrust Investment Services

John Benjamin Lipe

Robert W. Baird & Co. Megan Lynne Lokitis

Alpha Financial Advisors Patrick Long

Suntrust Investment Services

David Manlove

Wells Fargo Advisors Philip Richard Manz

Wells Fargo Advisors Jenny Martella

Modera Wealth Management Jason Mayer

Wells Fargo Advisors Joshua Scott Mayor

Byron Financial William Travis McCollum

Robert W. Baird & Co.

Judith Irene Mohr

Milestone Advice Group R. Alexander Mones

R. Alexander Mones Wealth Management Richard Robert Norkum

WealthPlan Financial Group April Marie Oliver

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Allan S. Oxman

Kestra Advisory Services Mark C. Pfeffer

Wells Fargo Advisors Kevin Dean Phillips

Robert W. Baird & Co.

Michael Paul Phillips

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Heath I. Prior

Prior Wealth Planning Anthony Bernard Prudhomme

Morgan Stanley Joel William Queck

Wells Fargo Advisors Jordan John Raniszeski

Wells Fargo Advisors James D. Rice

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Gwynne Stuart Richards Pfeifer

Morgan Stanley Geoffrey Neil Roberts

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Scott Daniel Robinson

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Alison Rowe Rowe

Robert W. Baird & Co.

John F. Ryan Jr.

IC Advisory Services Christopher Mark Senvisky

Wells Fargo Advisors Scott Daniel Serfass

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Cheryl J. Sherrard

Clearview Wealth Management Mary Sherrill Ware

Wells Fargo Advisors Gavin Young Shuck

BB&T Secirities

Kyle David Sikes

Dempsey Lord Smith Harry Buchanan Smith

Robert W. Baird & Co.

Shane P. Snively

Abiding Wealth Advisors Daniel Todd Sperow

Wells Fargo Advisors Jennifer Kay Sperry

Merrill Lynch Don Gus Stamas

Defender Capital Kellen Scott Taylor

Carroll Financial Associates

William L. Trahan

Carroll Financial Associates

Edwin Horace Wadsworth

TLG Advisors

Robert Kelly Weaver

Weaver Wealth Management Mary Weeks Fountain

Sterling Capital Management Brandon Robert Whelan

Morgan Stanley

Certi ed Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certi cation marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with ame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certi cation requirements. The Chartered Financial Consultant credential [ChFC®] is a nancial planning designation awarded by The American College.

The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser rm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As de ned by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a ne; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints led against them and/or a total of ve settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a nancial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a nancial services rm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Ful lled their rm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the nal list of Five Star Wealth Managers. Award does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. Once awarded, wealth managers may purchase additional pro le ad space or promotional products. The Five Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by Five Star Professional or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future. For more information on the Five Star award and the research/selection methodology, go to vestarprofessional.com. 1,488 Charlotte area wealth managers were considered for the award; 134 (9% of candidates) were named 2020 Five Star Wealth Managers. 2019: 1,346 considered, 129 winners; 2018: 1,342 considered, 104 winners; 2017: 949 considered, 132 winners; 2016: 873 considered, 227 winners; 2015: 1,822 considered, 277 winners; 2014: 6,776 considered, 409 winners; 2013: 1,694 considered, 280 winners; 2012: 1,083 considered, 267 winners.