Charlotte Magazine February 2022 by Morris Media Network

A Library Overdue p. 14

Kids’ Clothes for Many Colors p. 20

McColl Center Puts ‘Artists First’ p. 17

What’s Next for

NASCAR

FEBRUARY 2022

charlottemagazine.com

HO BUY AW TO CHAR RT IN LO p. 27 TTE

on Morehead

Bridgewood Property Company is carrying on its tradition of building awardwinning communities and offering elegant retirement living, now available for discerning Charlotteans. The Village on Morehead, currently under construction, will offer an exceptional experience for those seeking epicurian inspired cuisine, engaging programs and seminars, rejuvinating wellness facilities, and a sophisticated community to call home. Located on East Morehead, the community offers convenient access to everything you already know and love. Be one of the first to learn more and receive exclusive project updates by calling us at (704) 831-8000 or contacting us at info@bridgewood.us.

727 E. Morehead | Charlotte, NC 28202 | www.villageonmorehead.com

A NOVEL PLACE

Chapter 2

Away We Go S

un-drenched days crossed paths with sapphire shores in the rearview.

What had forever been off-limits was now open range. On this epic coast, three bright-eyed and bushy-tailed explorers could cut loose along the breaks.

Discover seasonal offers on vacation rentals & more at CrystalCoastNC.org

CONTENTS CHARLOTTE / FEBRUARY 2022 / VOL. 27, NUMBER 2

Features 50

RACING REIMAGINED NASCAR’s culture, so central to Charlotte’s, roars into another new era BY STEVE GOLDBERG

THE OTHER TRACKS Big tracks like Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway get most of the attention, but the heart and soul of auto racing lie in local tracks BY STEVE GOLDBERG

60 POLE POSITION

Racing star Tim Richmond died in 1989 but left a unique public image and—maybe—a private part of himself

BY GREG LACOUR

Plus 64 ON THE COVER: Young and old enjoy racing at the Bank of America Roval 400. Photograph by Logan Cyrus.

BOLD STROKES Designer Ashley DeLapp infuses a bland Myers Park cottage with flashy colors, vibrant patterns, and unique textures BY TAYLOR BOWLER

ON THIS PAGE: Designer Ashley DeLapp mixes bold colors like this blue Stanton area rug with lavender drapes from Zinc Textile and purple Phillip Jeffries grasscloth wallpaper. Photograph by Dustin Peck. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

Closets byDesign

Imagine your home,

B E A U T I F U L LY O R G A N I Z E D.

4 0 % O F F P L U S F R E E I N S TA L L AT I O N Schedule a free in-home design consultation. | 704-741-8013 | closetsbydesign.com

02 22 CONTENTS IN EVERY ISSUE 6 From the Editor 8

Connect

You Are Here

PETER TAYLOR (2); CHRIS EDWARDS; RUSTY WILLIAMS

THE GUIDE 84 Seen The city’s best party pics

14 THE BUZZ 11 Life Lessons Meg McElwain clears a path to meet children’s mental health needs 14

Community CEO and Chief Librarian Marcellus “M.T.” Turner initiates a long season of change at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

THE GOOD LIFE 17 Arts McColl Center tries to establish a fixed identity

Style Denise Butler designs apparel and accessories that represent children of color Room We Love A gender-neutral man cave Building History The original McCrorey YMCA wins designation as a historic property

FOOD + DRINK 33 Now Open Mariposa serves global cuisine in uptown 36

Local Flavor The father-son duo behind Kellys’ Community Kitchen

Bite-Sized News Foodie tidbits on a small plate

On the Line Dilworth Tasting Room’s bar manager Alejandro Ibanez

Hot Listings Homes with fabulous fireplaces

Recipe Anika Rucker’s Strawberries and Cream Pound Cake

Playlist The best things to do and see this month

Restaurant Guide Romantic restaurants for Valentine’s Day

FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

F RO M T H E E D I TO R

Nothing can break the chain that links Charlotte and racing. But time and change can make that sucker bend THE INSPIRATIONS for our motorsports package, which begins on p. 50, were two photos whose subjects should be kept far, far away from each other. Our lifestyle editor, Taylor Bowler, discovered the first photo last year in NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick’s Instagram feed. It’s of Harvick’s daughter, Piper, age 3 at the time, beside a motorized buggy and clad in a child’s racing suit with her name emblazoned on the belt. She scowls, projecting that time-honored racin’ rebel ’tude: Don’t you mess with Piper. It’s the cutest dadgum thing you’ve ever seen, and it suggests where the sport is going. If racing—with its tradition of sons who follow their fathers’ tire tracks—can accommodate Danica Patrick, why not Piper Harvick? The other photo, which ended up as the official poster for a 1987 NASCAR allstar race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, illustrates where NASCAR was during another period of change, nearly 35 years ago. In particular, it appears to illustrate the late driver Tim Richmond’s degree of commitment to, er, transparency. Or does it? Did he really do that? Just what is it, then, if it’s not what a legion of snickering fans believe it is? We didn’t want to conduct some sort of forensic examination of the image, as if it were a still from the Zapruder film, and render a conclusive ruling on whether the object in question is … that. I doubt it’s possible anyway, and, sorry, I’m willing to devote only so much time and eyeball stamina to inspecting the thing. The point isn’t the poster, or Piper. It’s that NASCAR, and the kids who’ll grow up to be the next generation of fans, are the inheritors of a particular history—it’s the only sport I know that developed from the act of resisting arrest—that will stay with the sport, even as it makes room for women, people of color, and movements and people we can’t imagine yet. Could you have predicted, a decade ago, the conflicting phenomenon that is Bubba Wallace? He grew up as country as can be in Cabarrus County. But after the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, he felt the need to honor both Floyd’s memory and a side of himself he hadn’t really explored. Traditionalists gave him hell for that, and for the infamous “noose incident” at Talladega. A little more than a year later, Wallace returned to Talladega and won, becoming only the second Black man to win a Cup Series race and the first in 58 years. (Google “Wendell Scott” if you’re curious.) And he did it on behalf of a team co-owned by Michael Jordan. We named Wallace a 2020 Charlottean of the Year not just for the public stand he took for Black lives but for what else he represents: that next turn in a track that started with moonshiners in the hills and ran to the place where Piper Harvick accessed her inner Intimidator. We’re nowhere near the checkered flag, either. —Greg Lacour

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

Volume 27, Number 2

FEBRUARY 2022

morrismedianetwork.com

www.charlottemagazine.com

PUBLISHER Allison Hollins ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Andy Smith ADVERTISING SALES ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Gail Dougherty, David Hughes ADVERTISING SERVICE COORDINATOR Tonya Ray EDITORIAL EDITOR Greg Lacour LIFESTYLE EDITOR Taylor Bowler ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tess Allen COPY EDITOR/FACT-CHECKER Allison Braden CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Allison Braden, Cristina Bolling, Steve Goldberg, Tom Hanchett, Amanda Pagliarini Howard ART & PHOTOGRAPHY ART DIRECTOR Jane Fields CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Daniel Coston, Logan Cyrus, Adam Fenwick, Rick Hovis, Herman Nicholson, Dustin Peck, Peter Taylor, Rusty Williams CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS Shaw Nielsen DIGITAL CONTENT COORDINATOR Kendra Kuhar

Charlotte magazine 214 W. Tremont Ave., Suite 303, Charlotte, NC 28203 CONTRIBUTORS Email editor@charlottemagazine.com for writer’s guidelines. Unsolicited photographs, illustrations, or articles are submitted at the risk of the photographer/artist/author. Charlotte magazine assumes no liability for the return of unsolicited materials and may use them at its discretion. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

877-248-9624 ADVERTISERS For advertising information and rates, please contact us at advertising@charlottemagazine.com. A Publication of MCC Magazines, LLC a division of Morris Communications Company, LLC 735 Broad Street, Augusta, GA 30901

MORRIS MEDIA NETWORK PRESIDENT Tina Battock VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS Scott Ferguson DIRECTOR OF MANUFACTURING & PRODUCTION Sherry Brown ACCOUNTING MANAGER Veronica Brooks CIRCULATION BUSINESS MANAGER Michelle Rowe MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, LLC CHAIRMAN William S. Morris III CEO Craig S. Mitchell

COURTESY, KHI MANAGEMENT

IN THE TURN

Your Best Source for Residential Real Estate

EASTOVER OFFICE

SOUTH OFFICE

2330 Randolph Rd. Charlotte, NC 28207

7810 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. Suite 103 Charlotte, NC 28277

Connect

ONLINE EXTRAS, EVENTS, AND CONVERSATIONS

REACT

Responses to the December issue of Charlotte magazine (Ed.: We put WSOC reporter Joe Bruno on the cover for our 2021 Charlotteans of the Year issue.) Joe (Bruno) deserves the cover! How many people were able to get vaccinated due to his stellar outreach? Thousands!!! Just hoping he has been able to get some more sleep now Tweet from @DugginsBetsey The number of Charlotte area residents (including me) who’ve gotten vaccinated bc of (Bruno’s) twitter alerts of vaccine slots #vaccinehunter Tweet from @JarrettHurms (Bruno’s) dedication (to) reporting on board meetings is very impressive, youre one of the few twitter handles I regularly visit for local news. Thank you! Tweet from @DaveKapka To: “Michelle Castelloe,” p. 28 Love this store!! So many fun things to look at and perfect for gift giving. Nice staff too!! Facebook comment by Dan Culp To: “A Look at Christmastime in Uptown Charlotte: Then and Now,” p. 32 Uptown Charlotte at night was such an exciting place back then, Christmas was even more exciting. Facebook comment by Bill Vita I think I like 1940 better Facebook comment by Melissa Huskins

This is my absolute fave pic ever. Whyyyyy did we destroy and tear down all this? Imagine how gorgeous uptown would be like this again. I realllllly wish Plaza Midwood could create this though. The old historic district on Central is perfect for it! Instagram comment by @jenkedwards To: “Christmas Cheers!,” p. 46 Eleven Lakes Brewing Holidaze Ale is also a must try! Facebook comment by Alissa MG To: “The Stuff We Carry,” p. 72 Thanks to the team at @CharlotteMag for giving me the chance to write about my dad, his old motorcycle jacket, and how an ex-archaeologist in Charlotte is helping me remember him. Tweet from @JesseSoloff I’m sad I never got to meet my father in law. But I love hearing stories about him from @JesseSoloff. His latest @CharlotteMag essay is about one special way he’s keeping his dad’s memory alive. Tweet from @katieperalta Love this! I lost my dad in July and this has gotten me thinking about how to meaningfully repurpose some of his “treasures.” Thank you for sharing! Tweet from @DrAmandaMcGough

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

I’ve been thinking about my dad a lot lately. @JesseSoloff nicely captures the importance of the things we carry: “Memory is an exercise. Sometimes, the little things we hold on to, the stuff, is the weight we need to carry to fight off forgetting.” Tweet from @rmathieson To: “Charlotteans of the Year,” p. 76 An amazing honor right here. Thank you very much. I am humbled and blessed by this. Thank you Instagram comment by @gregjackson704

ON THE WEB Want more to read? Check out these popular stories on charlottemagazine.com. 1. The Continuing Tradition of Charlotte’s Greek Restaurants 2. Streaming Films, TV Shows Shot in Charlotte: December 2021 3. Room We Love: A Kitchen in Foxcroft

What a huge honor to be listed among such influential people. Thank you Instagram comment by @seejossiebake Congratulations to all! What a well deserved honor! Instagram comment by @pkokbrooks WOW thanks to @CharlotteMag! Someone rightly pointed out earlier that I am hyper sensitive about my restaurants. I am. We’ve had to fight thru a LOT of adversity to get here, so if I’m a little defensive at times, apologies. But to be acknowledged for this. I’m very grateful Tweet from @PatWhalenNC

Charlotte magazine’s tablet edition is available via the Apple Newsstand and at magzter.com.

Love Where You Live. BRUNCH & LEARN: You’re Invited to Meet Aldersgate THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3 | 10:30AM

Pop the champagne! Discover the financial differences and benefits of nonprofit vs. for-profit retirement communities, and everything Aldersgate has to offer. Enjoy mimosas and a delicious brunch. Attend solo or bring a friend!

Wine & Dine A VALENTINE’S AFTERNOON DELIGHT AT ALDERSGATE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14 | 2PM

Join us for tasty bites with complimentary wine pairings in a group setting. Space is limited. RSVP to get your name on the list!

Located on hundreds of acres, Aldersgate is an age 62+, entrance-fee, non-profit Life Plan Community that offers a variety of living options and amenities, including six dining venues, an indoor pool, salon and spa, wood shop, dog park, gardening, wooded trails and a picturesque lake. Plus, we deliver a top-rated, award-winning full continuum of care. RSVP or schedule a tour at AldersgateLiving.org or (704) 246-3236.

3800 Shamrock Drive, Charlotte, NC 28215

H U N T ER S V ILLE A LDER SGAT E SOU T H M I NS T ER

When tomorrow...

becomes today.

Caring for someone with acute medical needs can feel overwhelming. When faced with difficult decisions about your loved one’s care, our hospice house teams are there to support you today and each day after.

Be sure to ask for us by name. Levine & Dickson Hospice Houses are exclusively for patients of Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region.

To find out more: 704.375.0100 | www.hpccr.org

INSIDE: LIFE LESSONS / COMMUNITY

BUZZ

THE

WHAT MATTERS NOW IN THE CITY

LI F E L E SS O N S

MEG McELWAIN Mitchell’s Fund founder clears a path to meet children’s mental health needs

RICK HOVIS

BY AMANDA PAGLIARINI HOWARD

MEG McELWAIN’S SON MITCHELL was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2012, when he was 3 months old, and he died just after his second birthday in early 2014. Within a few months of his diagnosis, McElwain, a longtime marketing professional, started Mitchell’s Fund to help other families of critically ill children. At first, Mitchell’s Fund operated under the Novant Health Foundation and concentrated on helping families with day-to-day expenses. But in 2019, McElwain established it as a separate nonprofit, and its mission gradually evolved to fund counseling for children with terminal or life-threatening illnesses and their families. Through her grief, and long before Mitchell’s death, McElwain did something else remarkable: She shared her and her family’s experience through social media and conversation to “pull back the curtain” on the reality of pediatric terminal illness. She hoped her openness would let people who have suffered similar losses know that others in the community shared and understood their pain. On Feb. 27, which would have been Mitchell’s 10th birthday, McElwain and Mitchell’s Fund board members plan to officially open a counseling center

Meg McElwain founded Mitchell’s Fund in 2019 to help families of children with terminal or lifethreatening diseases. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

THE BUZZ for the children the organization serves. Called Mitchell’s House, it will provide therapeutic and mental health support for siblings of terminally ill children. Medical crises inflict damage on family members, too; 20% to 30% of parents and 15% to 25% of children and siblings endure persistent traumatic stress reactions that impair their ability to function, according to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. McElwain, 47, continues to speak about her own mental health struggles. Her words are edited for space and clarity. I WAS 16 YEARS OLD when I first began to have feelings of anxiety and depression. I grew up in a small town in Mississippi where there were no therapists or mental health services, and the need for such was considered taboo. When my mother had to take me to a different town to find support, it was a shameful secret whispered about within my own family.

AFTER GRADUATING, I moved to Charlotte, where I knew no one, to start my first real job. I had a plan for my life, and for many years, those plans unfolded just as I had intended. I got married, started my own marketing firm, and when I was ready to have children, I got pregnant right away with my first son, Frank. IN 2012, I GAVE BIRTH to another healthy, vivacious boy, Mitchell. On the afternoon of his baptism, when he was 3 months old, I noticed bruising on his legs. The next day, I took him to the pediatrician, where a blood test showed that he was anemic with an extremely high white blood cell count. We were sent to Novant’s Hemby Children’s Hospital, where he was diagnosed with infant acute lymphocytic leukemia and given a 40% chance of survival. We began treatment right away.

CHILD CANCER TREATMENT is intense and traumatizing. Everything in my life fell by the wayside: my other son, my marriage, my business. Mitchell wanted his mama and looked to me for comfort. I had to stay calm and upbeat, but I was in a war zone. Mitchell had to be on so many medications just to function, and he cried constantly. Because of all the chemotherapy, I had to wear masks and gloves just to change his diaper, and I had to do so immediately or his bodily fluids would burn his skin.

families with sick children in the hospital, I knew early on that Mitchell’s Fund would do something in the mental health space eventually. But when we started, we helped in the most immediate and obvious way we could, which was to provide financial assistance to families who were in the hospital caring for a child with a terminal illness. When you have a sick child, the day-to-day bills do not stop. How is a parent supposed to choose between going to work or holding their child’s hand at their hospital bedside?

I SHAVED MY HEAD about a year into Mitchell’s treatment. At the time, I insisted it wasn’t a breakdown, but it was. I was so tired of people telling me that I was so strong. I watched a baby girl on life support dying right in front of me, and it profoundly shocked me. I wanted to shock people the way I was shocked. People needed to see what I was seeing and understand the depth of devastation.

AFTER 184 DAYS in the hospital, 75 blood transfusions, and 417 chemotherapy treatments, I went from praying to God to heal my child to begging God to take him. There was relief in the ending of my child’s suffering. But the constant stress and adrenaline I had been living in gave way to total darkness.

WE STARTED MITCHELL’S FUND while Mitchell was still living, simply as a vessel to take in all the generosity being bestowed upon us by our church family and community of friends and neighbors. Bearing witness to the trauma of other

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, my mission was truly just to survive. I would get up, get Frank off to school, then crawl back into bed and hide under the covers and let the hours tick by. Right after the first anniversary of Mitchell’s death, I had to be hospitalized. I was in so much pain. All I kept thinking was that if I went up to the

COURTESY MEG McELWAIN; RICK HOVIS

DESPITE MY QUIET, personal struggles, I was very popular and enjoyed a big social life at Ole Miss. I saw a doctor who diagnosed me with ADHD and was having me try different medications. That, combined with college drinking and partying, made for a messy combination, and I ended up having to be hospitalized for 10 days during my junior year. I found some solace there, hearing other people talk openly about their feelings, and realized my “problems” weren’t so bad.

(Above) Mitchell at a year old in 2013 with his older brother Frank, then 4. (Right) McElwain and Frank in December at Myers Park United Methodist Church. “My son Frank,” she says, “has endured so much.”

attic and hung myself, that the minute my neck snapped, the pain would be gone. But I was committed to survival, if for no other reason at that time than to care for my living child. I called my grief counselor and asked her to call one of my friends to come get me.

he had a mother drowning in grief for several years. His elementary school years were extremely tough. Thankfully, he had wonderful teachers and school counselors who were equipped to support him, but the other kids and their families weren’t as understanding.

I WAS TOLD EARLY ON that when you have a sick child, you’ll see the best and the worst in people. There were people close to me who completely disappointed me, and then there were casual acquaintances who floored me with their kindness. When a child is sick, for other people, it is like watching a movie. And when that child dies, it’s like the movie is over, and people go home. It’s not fully real for them. And that’s normal. People don’t know what to say. You want to know what to say? Just say, “I love you.” Even if you’re not that close, even if it feels awkward.

GRIEF IN CHILDREN comes out in outbursts. Frank struggled with his emotions and with learning how to express himself for a while. Kids made fun of him. One day on the bus, one of his peers accused him of making his brother up entirely just for attention. Our family was already pretty isolated in our grief, but I fought as hard for Frank as I had for Mitchell. I stood up and (fought) for that child with other parents, and that isolated us more. The other kids had no understanding for what Frank was going through, and their parents were unwilling to believe in their own children’s cruelty.

MY SON FRANK has endured so much. He had to take a back seat to Mitchell’s treatment, then he lost his brother, then

FRANK HAS REALLY INSPIRED the work and focus of Mitchell’s Fund and our new counseling center, Mitchell’s House,

moving forward. The needs of a sick child overwhelm a parent’s capacity to care for siblings, and siblings often have no mental health support during the most traumatic time in their lives. Utilizing art, play, and talk therapy, Mitchell’s House will be a space for siblings to grieve, express emotions without judgment, and process difficult diagnoses. The therapists there are focused on reducing their trauma and helping them learn stress management, emotional regulation, and balancing the reality of fear with the necessity of hope. SOME PEOPLE are a little scared by my ability to set boundaries in my life today. I spent so many years in darkness, I am totally committed to living in light for me and my child. Resilience is not a place. You don’t achieve it. It’s something you constantly work towards. Or as they say where I’m from, just try to keep it on the road and not run in the ditch.

AMANDA PAGLIARINI HOWARD is a writer in Charlotte.

Carolina Digestive Health Associates has been providing excellent, compassionate gastroenterology care in the greater Charlotte area for 35 years. Our goal is to provide our patients, referring physicians, and community with the highest, most comprehensive quality of gastroenterology care. We have served the Charlotte metropolitan area for over 35 years. We have 13 accredited gastroenterologists that provide service at 8 conveniently located offices; as well as 5 award-winning endoscopy centers accredited by AAAHC. CDHA participates with all major insurance carriers.

Appointments: Call 704-372-7974 or schedule online CarolinaDigestive.com 8 convenient locations in the Greater Charlotte area

Belmont 1105 Spruce St, Suite 101 Belmont, NC 28012

Charlotte 300 Billingsley Rd, Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28211 Concord 1085 NorthEast Gateway Ct, Suite 280 Concord, NC 28025 Untitled-10 1

Davidson / Lake Norman 705 Griffith St, Suite 205 Davidson, NC 28036 Matthews 1450 Matthews Township Pkwy, Suite 460 Matthews, NC 28105

Monroe 1663 Campus Park Dr, Suite D Monroe, NC 28112 Pineville 10620 Park Rd, Suite 102 Charlotte, NC 28210

University 8220 University Executive Park Dr, Suite 100 Charlotte, NC 28262 11/17/21 9:08 AM FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE 13

THE BUZZ

CO M M U N I T Y

RETURN POLICY

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library CEO and Chief Librarian Marcellus “M.T.” Turner in the second-story Great Hall of the Main Library uptown, before a mural that local artist Osiris Rain painted in November to mark the library’s closing.

Prodigal Southerner Marcellus “M.T.” Turner prepares to lead the library system through a long season of change

WHEN HE ARRIVED from Seattle in April 2021, Marcellus “M.T.” Turner encountered boxes already packed and ready for the big clear-out. Even months later, when the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library closed its uptown main branch to the public, the work had only just started: More than 140,000 books, periodicals, rolls of microfiche, and other library items had to move into storage or temporary locations. And that, Turner says, wasn’t even the hard part. “I think the mental dynamics of it all wreak greater havoc on you than the actual getting in and doing,” Turner, the library system’s CEO and chief librarian, says in November as movers continue to collect boxes. “To sort through things to determine what has a useful life, what needs to go to permanent storage versus what goes to temporary storage until we

come back, packing up offices, going down the hall and saying, ‘Hey, this is yours. Do you want it back? Or do you want me to do something with it?’ Everything that I think any typical person encounters when they move, we face tenfold.” But Turner, 58, faces a pair of deeper complications—the lingering effects of COVID, of course, but also his hiring in the midst of perhaps the most profound shift in the library system’s history. The main library, at 310 N. Tryon St., closed in preparation for a new, $100 million building initially scheduled to open in 2024 but now expected for late 2025. A library has occupied that location for 119 years; much of the current building dates back to 1956, although the library system expanded and renovated it in the late 1980s. The new library will reflect the library system Board of Trustees’ vision of a

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

modern space that welcomes everyone, including homeless and unemployed people who use it for daytime shelter and to look for jobs. In keeping with reimagined libraries throughout the United States, it’s designed not only for books but with extensive areas for digital learning, meetings, events, a café, and collaborative “makerspaces.” Turner has jumped into the project midstream and with little difficulty; the library board’s vision for the main library in Charlotte matches Turner’s governing philosophy for libraries in general. “Some of the things that I’m hopeful will get traction involve how we can become a more socially conscious library, so that we make sure that everyone feels welcome when they come in our doors,” he says. “We are one of the largest library systems in the state, and we have respon-

RUSTY WILLIAMS

BY GREG LACOUR

COURTESY ROBINSON-SPANGLER CAROLINA ROOM, CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY (2); RUSTY WILLIAMS

sibilities to deliver services and address some of the issues that our cities and counties face. … I feel the library is ready.” TURNER TOOK THE CHARLOTTE JOB in part because he missed the South. He was born in Mississippi and grew up mainly in Clinton, just outside Jackson. He earned a master’s degree in library science from the University of Tennessee and worked in library systems in Illinois, New Jersey, and Colorado before the Seattle Public Library hired him as its chief librarian in 2011. In Seattle, Turner began to implement some of the ideas that, when the Charlotte library system hired him a year ago, led Board of Trustees Chairman Joe Helweg to refer to him as “a respected voice in the national conversation about the future of libraries.” Under his leadership, the Seattle library instituted a hot spot lending program that allowed anyone with a library card to obtain wireless internet access for as long as three weeks. Another program allowed anyone to stream—and library patrons to download—music from more than 200 Seattle artists for free. Not long after he took over in Seattle, the system made a change that Turner has replicated in Charlotte: eliminating overdue fines, which in Seattle allowed 51,000 patrons to once again check out books, DVDs, and other materials. “Libraries everywhere are doing that,” Turner says. “What you uncovered is that a lot of times, people had fines on their records that they incurred when they were kids through no fault of their own; the parents moved them, they lost the book in transit to the new home, the parents didn’t ever bring the book back to the library. And so eliminating that barrier just opened up the world back to them.” Those and other initiatives helped the Seattle system win the Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service five-star rating, its highest, for 10 years straight. In 2020, the system won a prestigious Gale/Library Journal Library of the Year designation for its community outreach and focus on social equity, which continued under COVID restrictions. “Turner has helped the Library pivot, no matter the circumstances, to meet the needs of our public,” Seattle Board of Trustees President Jay Reich said in a news release, “and he has done so even while carefully planning for an eventual reopening of our buildings.”

The Main Library’s most recent renovation was finished (above) in June 1989. The entrance in December 2021 (below).

SO, IN A WAY, it’s odd for Turner to have arrived in Charlotte just in time to shut a library down. Until the new one opens, patrons can visit temporary locations at Founders Hall (100 N. Tryon St., Ste. 290); the First United Presbyterian Church fellowship hall (406 N. College St.); or any of the system’s 19 other branches (see cmlibrary.org for details). Even with the closing, and even though COVID has hindered Turner’s ability to establish connections in the larger community, he’s already demonstrated that this version of the library system won’t operate under the same rules. The elimination of overdue fines, which applied to more than 150,000 cardholders with balances of at least $10, took effect in July. Within a few weeks of his first day, Turner made another change: He did away with a program that allowed patrons to pay for early access to sought-after releases. “It was an unfair practice to allow some people access to the book by paying for it

when others couldn’t,” he says. “So, eliminate that barrier so that everyone’s on an equal playing field.” Lionizers of fiscal or personal responsibility or both might object that the library’s lenience might encourage mistreatment of public property and place a burden on taxpayers. (County commissioners agreed to add $600,000 to their 2021-22 budget to cover unpaid fees.) Turner believes that the benefits of broad access to the library and its resources, especially for those who need it most, far outweigh the liabilities. The belief is a cornerstone of the ethos he trusts will get him and his staff through the next four years, even with books in boxes. “All the physical grunt work is a challenge,” Turner says, “but once you know what to do with something, that’s the key.”

GREG LACOUR is the editor. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

FUN AROUND THE CLOCK. JUST AROUND THE CORNER. The Charlotte region’s new favorite stop is Catawba Two Kings Casino. Enjoy 1,000 of your favorite slot machines, and our newly-added electronic table games. Like our jackpots, the excitement at Two Kings is only growing. Slot some time in your day for real casino thrills.

Open 24 hours a day | TwoKingsCasino.com 538 Kings Mountain Blvd. Kings Mountain, NC 28086

Exit 5 on I-85

Must be 21+ to play. Please play responsibly and within your limits. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, assistance is available by calling or texting the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700.

GOOD LIFE

INSIDE: ARTS / STYLE / ROOM WE LOVE / HISTORY / REAL ESTATE / ENTERTAINMENT

THE

MAKING THE MOST OUT OF LIVING HERE

ART S

Work in Progress

With a revamped brand and mission, McColl Center tries— again—to establish an identity in a fast-evolving community

Artists-in-residence, like multimedia storyteller William Caballero, hone their craft at McColl Center, where visitors can witness the complex process of making art.

COURTESY, CHRIS EDWARDS

BY ALLISON BRADEN

AMONG CHARLOTTE’S ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, McColl Center stands apart. In 1995, Bank of America bought an uptown Presbyterian church, which had languished after a fire destroyed the interior in 1984. The bank teamed up with the Arts & Science Council to refurbish the interior and opened the space as an artist residency, then called the Tryon Center for Visual Art, in 1999. The residency program has since become a prestigious destination for artists from all over the world to refine their craft and burnish their résumés. But the organization has struggled to find its niche among Charlotte’s marquee arts attractions. For a while, towering banners on the façade proclaimed, “ART INSIDE.” Arrows pointed toward the entrance. You could live here for decades without discovering what lies behind those doors. “We have always served artists, both local and national, but we’ve done it in a very particular way,” says Jonell Logan, McColl Center’s vice president and creative director. “And the building hasn’t been accessed by as many people as possible.” Logan joined the nonprofit in November 2020 after stints at the Gantt Center and New York City’s Whitney Museum of Art and The Studio Museum in Harlem. Her hiring is part of a slate of changes intended to root the center more deeply in the community, a challenge it’s wrestled with for more than two decades. In September, McColl Center announced that it would rebrand and complement the flagship residency with locally focused pro-

FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

THE GOOD LIFE

McColl Center has rebranded three times since 1999, when it opened in a refurbished Presbyterian church uptown.

think, of creative folks because they can’t afford to live here.” The pandemic gave McColl Center’s leadership the opportunity to think hard about what they can provide—and what they can’t. “We can’t do housing. That’s just not in our wheelhouse,” Logan says. “But we can create these affordable spaces for artists to work.” Nine new subsidized studios will give local artists a temporary, community-centered creative home and provide access to hard-to-get equipment, including a 3D printer, laser cutter, and woodworking and welding tools. The studios, available for one-year terms with an option to renew, are intended as way stations, part of the center’s goal to reach a wider swath of emerging local artists. The last couple of years have shone a piercing light on institutional equity efforts. Logan says diversity has been a priority at McColl since its inception, long before she joined the team, but its task now is to expand that effort to undergird everything the organization does. The experience there, for artists, visitors, and staff, must go beyond optics and metrics, especially in a city known for squashing upward mobility. “If we’re inviting in all these different people,” she says, “how do we ensure that it is a space that is comfortable and respectful and open to all of these different perspectives and experiences?” So far, that’s meant hiring staff that reflect the city’s demographics, paying artists a living wage, seeking authentic relationships and nontraditional partnerships, and designing programs with an eye toward groups long left out of Charlotte’s mainstream arts conversation. Celebron-Brown points to a paid high

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

school internship program and weeklong summer intensives, which let youth dive deep into a particular medium. “We are placing those young artists first,” she says. “We don’t endeavor to be a day care. We endeavor to support budding artists.” Charlotte’s legacy art museums—the Bechtler and the Mint—display finished work. The messy, frustrating, humanityaffirming process of making art is obscured behind a gauze of soft light and careful curation. McColl Center shows finished artwork, too. But step through its wooden doors, and you’re also likely to glimpse the creative process in action. A studio door is open? The artist is available for conversation. “You’re able to interact with artists and their practice,” Logan says. “You get to see how they make a thing, you get to ask questions. Your relationship with the artist isn’t always facilitated by us.” This is the root of creative community, a place where artists and visitors feel welcome to swap ideas and experience the art that comes of the exchange. McColl Center makes a home for artists in flux and belongs to a city on the cusp. In this town, everything is a work in progress. The center’s third rebranding in two decades testifies to that. “There is this desire, I think, to identify what is unique about who we are and what we do as a city and as different communities in the city. … There’s this recognition that there are things that are great and there are things that we can do differently in order to benefit the communities that we serve or that live here,” Logan says. “And I think McColl is doing the same thing.” ALLISON BRADEN is a contributing editor.

COURTESY, McCOLL CENTER

grams. In a press release, McColl Center President and CEO Alli Celebron-Brown said, “Our renewed vision keeps our artist residency at the heart of McColl Center, while creating new programs and opportunities that respond to the needs of Charlotte’s creative community and open our doors to more local artists.” The principle behind these programs is the ethos that will guide the center in this new phase: artists first. This isn’t the first time the organization has changed tack. Two years after it opened, the Tryon Center for Visual Art was rechristened McColl Center for Visual Art to honor its leading patron, former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl. In 2014, the center dubbed itself McColl Center for Art + Innovation and introduced “innovator” residencies. Since 2005, the center had been home to the Innovation Institute, spearheaded by then-CEO Suzanne Fetscher and dedicated to bringing artists and business leaders together “to apply the creative process to corporate problem solving.” Less than a year after Fetscher’s 2017 retirement, the Innovation Institute closed. The evolution makes sense: Charlotte has changed fast since 1999. Local arts organizations have to keep up. Great art lives at the vanguard of human experience, but its institutions have gained a reputation for dawdling in the back ranks, reluctant to examine how they’ve walled themselves off from the poor and racial minorities, intentionally or not. To remain relevant and connect to their communities, these legacy players have to adapt. Now, Logan says, “when you look across the discipline and across these arts organizations, they’re really embracing change. Because the only way that you remain sustainable is to change and to grow intentionally.” McColl Center’s identity is intertwined with Charlotte’s banking legacy, but art and big business make for an awkward intersection. While the Innovation Institute tackled problems faced by business, this latest iteration pivots to address problems caused by Charlotte’s mushrooming growth. “We’re a banking city primarily, so how do you reconcile both of these really big perspectives in one space?” Logan says. “And I’m also really aware that, with our city’s expansion and building, oftentimes artists are the ones that suffer. And so there is this real loss, I

live the life you dream of

This is what life is supposed to feel like. When you aren’t held back. When you have a health partner that doesn’t just treat part of you, they care for all of you. Offering the best care, for a more full life.

THE GOOD LIFE

ST YL E

Denise Butler

The Cocoa Cutie founder designs apparel, home decor, and accessories that represent children of color BY TAYLOR BOWLER PHOTOGRAPHS BY HERMAN NICHOLSON

ABOUT SEVEN YEARS AGO, Denise Butler’s niece wanted a tutu for her fourth birthday. “I always call myself the ‘extra auntie’ because I don’t have kids,” she says. “I wanted to buy a whole outfit with a little brown ballerina, but I didn’t see anything I was looking for. There were no Black mermaids or gymnasts or dancers. If I did find it, it was a very stylized product or design, or too mature. In the Black community, stuff is too stylized, or kids are sexualized too young.” Butler decided to create the outfit herself, and she hand-painted a ballerina on a T-shirt with fabric paint and glitter. It was a big hit with her niece’s friends, and she realized she might be on to something. She saw an opening in the market—not just for children’s clothing but for backpacks, towels, and other accessories that incorporate Black and brown faces. At the time, Butler was on sabbatical from a decadelong career as a chemist. She’d worked for Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, and Schaeffler

and recalls sitting in many boardrooms where she was the only Black woman. The 43-year-old native of Johnston, South Carolina, knew how important it was for children of color to see images of themselves in a range of careers. She also knew there had to be a way to get more representation. “I was trying to decide if I should go back to the chemistry department,” Butler says, “but I couldn’t get this idea out of my head.” She brainstormed with her mom, a preschool teacher, and landed on the name Cocoa Cutie. “I was always a doodler and took art classes in college but never considered myself an artist,” she says. “I was afraid to put it out there and see what people would say. I would start doing it, then stop, put it away, and eventually pick it up again.”

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

When Butler and her husband moved to Charlotte after a brief stint in Memphis in 2016, she began to research how to put her images on products. She discovered Happy Kat Candles & Gifts, a store at Northlake Mall that carries handcrafted work by local artisans, and sold a few of her backpacks, blankets, and T-shirts there. “Parents would come to me and say, ‘My child does this,’ and ask me to create something for them,” she says. “That’s how I got so many characters.” Butler uploads drawings from her digital sketchbook into Sketch, a vector program that allows her to adjust details and skin tones. She categorizes her characters by fantasy, sports, and careers and regularly adds new ones she doesn’t see represented at big box stores. She uses local and overseas manufacturers for

Butler's collection includes lunch totes, shirts, duffel bags, and pillows.

large orders and a print-on-demand service for personalization on custom items. “I try to keep some things here, but I’m very particular,” she says. “I use a North Carolina-based manufacturer for linens and swimwear, but my bag company is overseas.” Her most popular design is her original Cocoa Cutie Afro Puffs, which incorporates four girls with different skin tones. “It wasn’t even supposed to be a design,” she explains, “but whenever I do samples, I put four girls on there to show all the skin tones to customers. I wear the shirts and carry the bags around to check their durability for at least six months before I put them on the website. Everyone loved that design, and it’s become my most popular T-shirt.” Since she launched Cocoa Cutie’s website in 2018, Butler has added lunch totes, stainless steel tumblers, shower curtains, and duvet covers with children of all different skin tones. “I started this for the African American community, but I got customers that are Asian and Hispanic,

too,” she says. “It’s not what I planned, but that’s what ended up happening.” Cocoa Cutie isn’t limited to little girls, either. She makes duffel bags for dance and gymnastics, as well as drawstring backpacks with images of male basketball players, wrestlers, and taekwondo athletes. Boy characters also come on sleeping bags, hooded towels, and face masks. This month Butler will launch Active Cuties, which incorporates more skin tones, and she hopes to do a subscription box with an educational component for kids. “I come from a family of teachers, and I’m married to a teacher, so I’d love to offer more crafts and activities,” she says. Her most personal character to date, though, is the chemist. “I had to bring it back to me,” she says with a laugh. “Visuals are powerful, and kids need to see themselves doing the things they aspire to be.”

TAYLOR BOWLER is the lifestyle editor.

Private Events | Craft Wines | Family Owned Kings Mountain, NC | VeronetWine.com

Veronet Wine Feb22.indd 1

FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE 21 12/15/21 8:48 AM

THE GOOD LIFE

RO O M W E LOV E

Game On

ALEXIS WARREN’S CLIENTS bought their Matthews home to make more room for their three young children, and the finished addition above the attached garage closed the deal. They wanted to transform the space into an aboveground “man cave” as a 40th birthday gift for the husband. It would need a wet bar, dual tap kegerator, and plenty of seating to host friends on game day. “The homeowners love the Prohibition era,” Warren says. “Since (the room) is separate from the house and has its own stairwell, they wanted it to feel like you’re walking into a speakeasy.” —Taylor Bowler

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

COURTESY HEATHER ISON

Alexis Warren designs an elevated, gender-neutral “man cave” in Matthews

PREGAME The homeowners had already replaced the brown carpet with hardwood flooring, so Warren’s next move was to install plumbing for the wet bar. She painted the walls School House White by Farrow & Ball and had the team at New Life Building Supplies install custom cabinetry. The white-tile backsplash and countertops came from Harkey Tile & Stone and the adjustable barstools from Pottery Barn. “It was really important to have that L-shaped counter,” she says. “The room had a loadbearing pillar that we couldn’t remove, so all the furniture had to fit around this weird angle.”

MAKE ROOM Because of space constraints, Warren had Beth Barden of designPOST Interiors make a custom sofa that left enough room for a table with four chairs. “They love to play cards, so they really wanted a game table and room to play darts,” Warran says. “But that dual tap kegerator—that was honestly the biggest part of this. They wanted to have multiple beers on tap, but the first (kegerator) wasn’t the right size. Sometimes the smallest projects can be the most difficult.”

GO BIG Warren found the red, patterned area rug from Chinoiserie Squirrel, a vintage pop-up. “You’d think a moody, darker-colored rug or cowhide would fit in a man cave, so it’s an unexpected pop,” Warren says. The custom Roman shades have “a really nubby texture that pulls out the blues in the plaid pillows.” She added staggered floating wood shelves above the wet bar and chose oversized brass hardware for the kitchenette. For the vaulted ceiling, she installed a brass chandelier with leather shades from Four Hands. “The wood, brass, and leather,” she says, “all those details pull it together.” FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

THE GOOD LIFE

B U I L D I N G H I STO RY

Brooklyn’s Last Stand The original McCrorey YMCA, a cornerstone of the long-gone Black neighborhood, wins designation as a historic property

ONLY A HANDFUL of buildings survived the bulldozing of Charlotte’s Brooklyn neighborhood in the 1960s. One of four that remain—and the last to win local historic designation—is the original McCrorey YMCA at 334 S. Caldwell St., a community hub for the Black neighborhood until urban renewal forced it and many of its patrons to move. The old Y, long vacant, won historic designation in 2021 from the CharlotteMecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission. The designation means that the commission could, if need be, delay demolition for as long as a year. But the owner, a private developer, hasn’t announced any plans. One hopes the building will share the happy fate of the three other survivors, all landmarked and handsomely renovated: Grace AME Zion

Church and the adjacent Mecklenburg Investment Company office building on South Brevard Street, as well as the Second Ward High School Gymnasium on East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The McCrorey Y opened in 1951, not just as a place for physical exercise but also an active community builder. That strain ran deep in the DNA of the Young Men’s Christian Association movement. In an era when many youngsters were leaving rural life to try their luck in America’s burgeoning cities, YMCAs offered classes, club meeting rooms, and educational programs as well as “manly” athletics. But Charlotte’s white YMCA, like others in segregated America, excluded Black people. So African Americans started their own organization. Charlotte’s first Black YMCA, in 1880, was a col-

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

lege branch at Biddle University, now Johnson C. Smith University. A separate branch opened in 1897. It offered activities in borrowed spaces and rented a building in Brooklyn in 1937. Brooklyn was the bustling center of Black life in Charlotte. Deed restrictions barred Black residents from Charlotte’s new “streetcar suburbs” starting around 1900. So African Americans established churches, schools, shops, offices, and more—their own city-within-the-city— in Second Ward, what’s now the area that surrounds the Government Center. Houses sprang up, some owner-occupied but many built cheaply by absentee landlords. Residents of every economic level mingled in the streets. For decades, Black advocates had yearned to vacate the YMCA branches in

COURTESY TOM HANCHETT

BY TOM HANCHETT

R E AL E STAT E

COURTESY, JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY, INEZ MOORE PARKER ARCHIVES (2); COURTESY

(Opposite) The original McCrorey YMCA at South Caldwell and East Third streets was a Black community hub in now-vanished Brooklyn. The United Way of Central Carolinas, which had owned the building for decades, recently sold it to a private developer. The name honored the Rev. H.L. McCrorey (left), longtime president of Johnson C. Smith University. (Below) A program from the building’s opening and dedication in 1951.

borrowed and rented spaces and move into a Y built to be a Y. They used postWorld War II prosperity as leverage and convinced white Y leaders to join them in raising money for a new building. Highly respected architect Louis Asbury, who designed Myers Park Methodist Church and the old courthouse on East Trade Street, drew up plans for a twostory structure in the moderne style. The clean-cut design projected a nononsense, forward-looking appeal. It honored the Rev. H.L. McCrorey, JCSU’s president and the city’s foremost Black leader in the mid-20th century. He secured impressive endowments that transformed Biddle University into JCSU and developed the suburb of McCrorey Heights out of his concern for Black life off campus. The McCrorey YMCA opened April 15, 1951, with speeches, prayer, and song. White leaders, including Charlotte Pipe & Foundry CEO W. Frank Dowd and real estate developer J.H. Perrin, and institutions like Wachovia Bank had endowed meeting rooms. Black social clubs and the Prince Hall Masons had paid to furnish and decorate offices and public spaces. All attendees joined voices in the hymn “How Firm a Foundation,” and McCrorey himself gave the benediction. The McCrorey Y quickly became a community hub, promoting civil rights as it championed healthy living. The NAACP met there. Jackie Robinson spoke at a fundraiser. When African Americans sued to desegregate Charlotte’s public

Hot Listings

Warm up by the fireplaces in these cozy homes. —Tess Allen

10007 MICHAEL CROSSING DRIVE $394,900 NEWELL Enjoy an open floor plan, a spacious kitchen with stainless steel appliances, and a large fenced yard in this newly remodeled home. A double-sided stone fireplace between the living room and patio connects the indoor and outdoor living spaces. 4 BD, 2.5 BA, 3,008 sq. ft., Century 21 Providence, century21.com

golf course in 1951, the McCrorey Y offered golf classes in anticipation of victory—which came with a court ruling four years later. During the sit-in protests of the early 1960s, Mayor Stan Brookshire went there to take part in community discussions. Then came urban renewal. Federal grants promised “slum clearance” in Brooklyn. But the bulldozers destroyed everything, the good along with the bad: 1,007 families displaced, 216 businesses closed. With no one left nearby, the McCrorey YMCA reluctantly departed in 1969 for Beatties Ford Road, where it flourishes today. BUILDING HISTORY is a monthly series that highlights Charlotte’s historic buildings. Tom Hanchett, a local historian since 1981, is the author of Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte and former staff historian at the Levine Museum of the New South. Follow him on Twitter at @historysouth.

2317 PROVIDENCE CREEK LANE $1,800,000 PROVIDENCE PLANTATION This recently renovated three-story home opens into a two-story foyer, great room, and formal dining room. Curl up by slate-tiled fireplaces in the living room, primary bedroom, and walk-out basement in the colder months, and relax on the screened porch and covered patio when it warms up. 5 BD, 4.5 BA, 6,036 sq. ft., Real Living Carolinas Real Estate, reallivingcarolinas.com 400 N. CHURCH ST., UNIT 213 $979,000 FOURTH WARD Designed by architect David Furman, this open-concept, industrial-style condo has two stories of marble terrazzo tile floors, light wood built-ins, and tons of natural light. In the living room, an oversized woodpaneled fireplace makes the expansive space feel cozy. 3 BD, 2.5 BA, 2,982 sq. ft., Church Street Realty, churchstreetrealty.com 6609 ANTRIM COURT $309,900 YORKMOUNT This classic brick home has a second-story loft, an updated kitchen with granite countertops and navy cabinetry, and a spacious two-car garage. A three-sided brick fireplace anchors the open-concept main level. 3 BD, 2.5 BA, 1,732 sq. ft., Offerpad Brokerage, offerpad.com Homes available as of Dec. 2, 2021. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

THE GOOD LIFE ART S + E V E NT S

The Playlist THE BEST THINGS TO DO AND SEE THIS MONTH BY TESS ALLEN

Comic Relief FORTUNE FEIMSTER: 2 SWEET 2 SALTY Charlotte-born-and-raised comedian, writer, and actress Fortune Feimster got her start on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2010 before going on to write for Chelsea Lately, star on The Mindy Project, and make appearances on shows like 2 Broke Girls, Glee, Drunk History, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and The Simpsons. She co-hosts a comedy show called What a Joke with Papa and Fortune on Sirius XM and, in 2020, debuted Sweet & Salty, a hit one-hour Netflix special. Catch her live FEB. 5-6 at Knight Theater—just a cool half-hour or so from her home in Belmont—as she delivers new material. Feb. 5, 7 & 9:30 p.m.; Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m., Knight Theater. Tickets: $20-$75, carolinatix.org JEFF DUNHAM: SERIOUSLY!?

Back At It

Big names return to the stage You’re at your first big post-COVID show. You start crying. Are they tears of joy, or the result of the overwhelming social anxiety you’ve developed after nearly two years of semi-solitude? You don’t know, but you don’t care; you’re just happy to be back at it. Andrea Bocelli Friday, Feb. 11, 8 p.m. Tickets starting at $82.50, ticketmaster.com

Eric Church: The Gather Again Tour Saturday, Feb. 26, 8 p.m. Tickets starting at $49, ticketmaster.com

Dua Lipa: The Future Nostalgia Tour Wednesday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m. Tickets starting at $45, ticketmaster.com

Eagles: Hotel California Tour Monday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m. Tickets starting at $129, ticketmaster.com

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

NICOLE BYER On her podcast Why Won’t You Date Me?, now in its fifth year, Nicole Byer calls up old flings to interrogate them about why they dumped her. She’s also hilariously saucy as the host of Netflix’s comedy-reality baking competition Nailed It!, for which she’s received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She’s made guest appearances on shows like 30 Rock, Family Guy, The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Simpsons; last year, she began co-hosting Wipeout alongside John Cena. FEB. 17-19, multiple showtimes, The Comedy Zone. Tickets: $25$40, cltcomedyzone.com

HUGO COMTE

Dua Lipa: The Future Nostalgia Tour comes to Spectrum Center on Feb. 16.

You’d think people would be creeped out by a guy who says he keeps his friends in his suitcase. But folks pay good money to see ventriloquist and comedian Jeff Dunham perform. In addition to his 13 years of touring (he’s broken world ticketsale records for a standup comedy tour), he’s also made numerous appearances on shows like The Tonight Show, Comedy Central Presents, and Late Show with David Letterman. Now, after taking “the year off that nobody wanted,” Dunham is back for his tour Jeff Dunham: Seriously!? alongside his curmudgeonly collection of puppets— Peanut, Walter, José Jalapeño, Bubba J., and Achmed the Dead Terrorist. He’s also introducing Walter’s grandson, Url, who lives in his parents’ basement and doesn’t know much more than what’s on his smartphone. FEB. 10, 7 p.m., Spectrum Center. Tickets: $52, ticketmaster.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

HOW TO BUY ART IN CHARLOTTE BURT REYNOLDS ONCE SAID that “the more the art dominated my life and my house, the more the house became a home.” The late thespian may seem like an unlikely source for visual art wisdom, but that fact just further underscores my point: Great work enriches the lives of anyone in its vicinity, and it becomes part of your family. Lucky for us, there’s plenty of it available in Charlotte. The area has more than 20 commercial art galleries and even more regional art fairs, each with its own collecting community, diverse roster of artists, reflected periods of art history, and price points. (Though in considering that latter attribute, I have two words for you: “installment plan.”) I spent several years covering the industry locally and nationally. Over time, it became apparent that dealers and buyers aren’t the only key players. There are logistics companies—framers and handlers ensuring your precious acquisition is safely transported and displayed. And though great galleries also educate visitors, there are no better venues for exploring what you love than museums.

Contained within these pages are different representatives of visual art’s many arenas. The listings that come before those profiles are a sampling of what you’ll find just within uptown Charlotte. You might be surprised to see what’s in those 2 square miles, and as you begin your journey there, you’ll find the city’s commercial galleries occupying neighborhoods like Cotswold, Myers Park, Elizabeth, and beyond. A more sprawling look at all of it, including galleries, framers, handlers, museums, arts councils, and residencies can be found at charlottemagazine.com/visualart. Charlotte’s an ideal city for jumping into the world of art collection. To end, a quote from a more plausible source than The Bandit: “Collecting means enjoying the pursuit of things you wish to live with, admire, enjoy, or study.” That’s Charlotte gallerist Jerald Melberg, who has been a leader in the cultural sector for more than 44 years. “Pursuit” is the perfect word for it, as the fun starts right here.—Andy Smith, associate publisher

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

UPTOWN VISUAL ART RESOURCES MUSEUMS

FOUNDATIONS/COUNCILS

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

Arts & Science Council

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture

Foundation For The Carolinas

UNC Charlotte Center City’s Projective Eye Gallery

SouthEnd ARTS

VAPA Center

RESIDENCIES/COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING

ENTERTAINMENT VENUE

420 S. Tryon St. bechtler.org

551 S. Tryon St. ganttcenter.org

The Mint Museum Uptown 500 S. Tryon St. mintmuseum.org

Levine Museum of the New South 200 E. 7th St. museumofthenewsouth.org

222 S. Church St., Ste. 300 artsandscience.org

220 N. Tryon St. fftc.org

229 S. Brevard St. Southendarts.net

Arts+

CONSULTANCIES

345 N. College St. artsplus.org

Arcadia Art Consultancy

The Brooklyn Collective

721 N. Tryon Street, Belltower Suite arcadiaartconsultancy.com

229 S. Brevard St. brooklyncollectiveclt.org

McColl Center

721 N. Tryon St. Mccollcenter.org

320 E. 9th St. coaa.charlotte.edu

700 N Tryon St. vapacenter.com

Portal Charlotte 14 S Tryon St. portalclt.com

And that's just uptown!

Head to charlottemagazine.com/visualart for a regional view.

JERALD MELBERG GALLERY

Jerald Melberg Gallery was founded in 1983 and is proud to celebrate 38 years as dealers and consultants to private, public and corporate collections. Representing artists and estates from all regions of the United States, Europe and South America, the gallery offers museum quality works of art for acquisition and maintains extensive collections of artists’ work in the gallery storerooms. We have been privileged to work with prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery, the Butler Institute of American Art and the Mint Museum, among others. Artists of national and international acclaim are featured in a continuing series of exhibitions in the gallery. Among the artists and estates represented are Romare Bearden, Christopher Clamp, Raul Diaz, Ida Kohlmeyer, Robert Motherwell, Roland Poska, Donald Sultan and Brian Rutenberg. Works of art have, for centuries, been the primary form of man’s recording himself, others, the human condition and one’s surroundings. It is our singular goal to eliminate the intimidation factor surrounding an art gallery, to take the mystery out of a gallery visit but not the mystery out of the art. If we can help “open the door” to the wonders of how art amplifies one’s life experience and, at the same time, provide works of art to enjoy at home or in the workplace each day, we have achieved success. Monday to Friday 10 to 6 Saturday 10 to 4

JERALD MELBERG GALLERY 625 South Sharon Amity Road Charlotte, NC 28211 jeraldmelberg.com

Exhibiting Works Of Art With A Particular Visual Poetry, A Spiritual Quality and An Inner Integrity That Transcends The Ordinary

January 15 - February 19 Lee Hall The Quarry Paintings February 26 - April 9 Robert Motherwell Paintings, Paper, Prints: A Survey April 16 - May 28 Donald Sultan Poetic Bloom

625 South Sharon Amity Road Charlotte, NC 28211 704.365.3000 Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-4 gallery@jeraldmelberg.com www.jeraldmelberg.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

THE MINT MUSEUM

sta lished in as orth arolina’s first art m se m, he int se m is a leadin , inno ati e c lt ral instit tion and m se m of international art and desi n ith two locations int se m andolph in the heart of asto er and int se m ptown at e ine enter for the rts on o th r on treet the int oasts one of the lar est collections in the o theast and is committed to en a in and inspirin mem ers of the local, re ional, and lo al comm nit int se m ptown ho ses the internationall renowned int se m of raft esi n, as well as o tstandin collections of merican, odern ontemporar , and ropean rt int se m andolph ho ses collections that span more than , ears of h man creati it from aro nd the world, incl din the ancient mericas, ceramics and decorati e arts, fashion, and ropean, frican, and sian art n e r ar , the int re eals a reinstallation of the int’s raft esi n alleries at int se m ptown the first in o er ears thro h its new installation raft in the a orator he cience of a in hin s raft in the a orator is the first installation in the o theast to explore how craft artists and desi ners se science and math concepts when creatin wor s of art

MINT MUSEUM UPTOWN AT LEVINE CENTER FOR THE ARTS 500 S. Tryon Street Charlotte, NC 28202

mintmuseum.org 704-337-2000

MINT MUSEUM RANDOLPH 2730 Randolph Road Charlotte, NC 28207

SOUTHEASTERN WILDLIFE EXPOSITION (SEWE)

Mint Museum Feb22.indd 57

c rates a collection of fine art from some of the most talented wildlife painters and sc lptors in the nation xplore the aller online to find a new piece of art, learn more a o t the artists and disco er the inspiration ehind their wor lan a isit to the ine rt aller , located in harleston lace otel, in e r ar to shop o r premier wildlife artwor in person he eat red rtist is lia o ers and her eat red aintin is titled olden i ht olden i ht depicts a trio of swans as in in the warm s nli ht with one stretchin its an elic win s o ers’ ori inal paintin will e a aila le at a ction d rin the i nat re ala and ale, e r ar , ith an on oin foc s to rin renowned wildlife and sportin art to harleston, also welcomes a new artist, athleen nph , as the pecial est rtist ar orton, the eat red rtist, will exhi it an encore od of wor ith the artists present and en a in with collectors d rin wee , people often refer to the connections and relationships made here in harleston, shared ohn owell, xec ti e irector elie e the opport nit to iew the collections lia, athleen, and ar as we ather a ain d rin will e a memora le occasion for s all n rida , e r ar , artists will create ori inal pieces li e d rin the ic raw peed c lpt in the ine rt aller at the harleston lace otel or in in their desi nated exhi it space, each participatin artist will ha e st one ho r to create a piece from start to finish li e a ction will ta e place after where attendees can id on the wor s

1/3/22 10:36 AM

SOUTHEASTERN WILDLIFE EXPOSITION P.O. Box 20635 Charleston, South Carolina 29413 843-723-1748 sewe.com | sewe@sewe.com

Golden Light

JULIA ROGERS 2022 Featured Artist Available at Auction 2/17/22

SEWE 2022 40 years in the making For 40 years, Charleston has hosted one of the most beloved events in the Southeast. SEWE is a celebration of the great outdoors through fine art, live entertainment, and special events. It is where artists, conservationists, collectors, and sporting enthusiasts come together to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle and connect through a shared passion for wildlife. This Is SEWE.

February 17-20, 2022

Charleston, SC

sewe.com

OPENS FEBRUARY 12, 2022 MINT MUSEUM UPTOWN Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things examines how artists meld creative ingenuity and the preciseness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Featuring more than 100 works made of glass, wood, ceramics, metal, and other materials, the installation explores the technical aspects behind the beauty of the objects and celebrates the reinstallation of the Mint’s Craft + Design Galleries.

mintmuseum.org CRAFT IN THE LABORATORY: THE SCIENCE OF MAKING THINGS IS GENEROUSLY PRESENTED BY MÜLLER CORPORATION AND THE CRAFT & TRADE ACADEMY. GENEROUS INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY BETH AND DREW QUARTAPELLA, MARY ANNE (M.A.) ROGERS, ANN AND MICHAEL TARWATER, AND ROCKY AND CURTIS TRENKELBACH. CRAFT IN THE LABORATORY IS ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS. THE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE IS SUPPORTED BY THE JOHN AND ROBYN HORN FOUNDATION. SPECIAL THANKS TO STARWORKS CERAMICS FOR HAND CRAFTING MATERIALS TO HELP ENHANCE THIS MINT MUSEUMORGANIZED EXHIBITION. IMAGE: PATRICK NORGUET (FRENCH, 1969– ), CAPPELLINI (ITALY, 1946– ). RAINBOW CHAIR, 2000, ACRYLIC, 31.5” X 15.125” X 19.5”. GIFT OF LARRY BRADY. 2019.92.3. PHOTO: BRANDON SCOTT

FOOD DRINK

INSIDE: NOW OPEN / LOCAL FLAVOR / BITE-SIZED NEWS / ON THE LINE / BEST BITES / RESTAURANTS

EXPLORE THE TASTES OF CHARLOTTE

Pork Belly Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps come with kimchi slaw, roasted peanuts, and sweet mirin sauce. N OW O P E N

THE WORLD ON YOUR PLATE

Mariposa gathers dishes from around the globe and serves them under the lights of uptown

YOU’RE WALKING DOWN TRYON STREET as the sun sets over uptown. The office buildings and high-rises, which look like cement blocks by day, light up, and their windows twinkle like Christmas lights. At the top of the Mint Museum’s grand staircase is a new restaurant everyone’s buzzing about, and you’ve snagged a coveted reservation.

BY TAYLOR BOWLER PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

FOOD+DRINK

Mariposa’s dining room is adorned with prism chandeliers, velvet couches, and murals by local artist Owl.

MARIPOSA 500 S. Tryon St. mariposaclt.com Hours: 5-10 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

Mariposa—Spanish for “butterfly”— opened in October, and it’s one of those places that makes you want to don high heels or a button-down shirt and have a proper date night. It replaces Halcyon, the farm-to-table restaurant that closed in December 2020, and got a sexy makeover with prism chandeliers, velvet couches, and murals by local artist Owl. The team behind Mother Earth Group, which also owned Halcyon, created a menu to match their new theme. They call it a “multicultural culinaria,” inspired by founder Jill Marcus’ travels around the globe.

Brad Grubb is the master maître d’ and a level 3 sommelier, and he says his goal is for you to try something new. If you normally order prosecco, try the Aix en Provence cocktail ($16) with gin, lavender syrup, and sparkling white wine. If you prefer wine, allow Grubb to recommend a Spanish Txakoli or Grecian Assyrtiko. Their namesake wine, Mariposa, is a Chilean red blend and a nice alternative if you like a robust cabernet in winter. Executive Chef Jonathan Moore, who also led the kitchen at Halcyon, traded “farm-to-table” for “world-to-table.” The

Executive Chef Jonathan Moore (below); Chipotle-Crusted Short Ribs (bottom) with aji sweet potatoes and chimichurri.

Ceviche Aguachile (top); Candied Apple with vanilla white chocolate mousse, apple compote, and a graham cracker crumble (above).

Don’t leave without trying: The Gullah Paella ($35) with crisped Carolina gold rice pilaf, andouille and chorizo sausages, Gulf shrimp, oysters, soffritto, and saffron.

menu begins with “small shareables.” Try the Crispy Hot Chicken Skins ($10) for some Southern flavor, the Ceviche Aguachile ($13) for a Peruvian kick, and the Lamb Belly Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps ($16) for a taste of Korea. A party of four with a hearty appetite can start with three or four shareables and have plenty of room for two larger plates. The “large shareables” include Chipotle-Crusted Short Ribs ($38), so tender you don’t need a knife, and Piri Piri Chicken ($18), marinated in a tangy cilantro-lime sauce. If you order only one large plate, though, get the Gullah Paella ($35), a heaping skillet of crisped Carolina gold

rice pilaf, andouille and chorizo sausages, Gulf shrimp, oysters, soffritto, and saffron. And if you find your order was too ambitious, bring the rest home for an encore meal tomorrow, because you’ll regret it if you miss dessert. Pastry Chef Sam Carrasquero-Chappelle developed a “sweet conversations” lineup of shareable confections. The Coconut Semifreddo ($8), a kind of frozen mousse, tastes like a tropical vacation, with chocolate coconut, tamarind, mango, and dulce de leche. The Manjari Torte ($8) looks like an edible present: a perfect cylinder of pistachio cake wrapped in a layer of Manjari chocolate, topped with namelaka cream

and whipped mascarpone, and garnished with raspberries, mint leaves, and edible flowers. It’s the kind of decadent dessert you order on your birthday and dream about for the rest of the year. Your meal is winding down, but you’re not ready for the evening to end. So you order another glass of Mariposa and pretend you have nowhere to be in the morning. That’s the thing about restaurants like this. They invite you to shake off the day, settle in on a velvet couch, gaze out the floor-to-ceiling windows, and take in the glittering skyline. TAYLOR BOWLER is the lifestyle editor. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

FOOD+DRINK

Aiden (center) and Brendan (right) Kelly from Kellys’ Community Kitchen, with Liam (left), who often helps his dad and brother collect and distribute food.

LO C AL F L AVO R

PREP SCHOOL

The father-son duo behind Kellys’ Community Kitchen occupies a niche in Charlotte’s nonprofit ecosystem that soup kitchens won’t touch: the safe repurposing of leftovers BY TAYLOR BOWLER PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER TAYLOR

EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD Aiden Kelly was a sophomore at Pine Lake Preparatory in Mooresville when he came up with the idea for Kellys’ Community Kitchen. He wanted to recover unused ingredients and surplus food from restaurants and redistribute them to people in need. He hoped to go into the public health sector someday, and this seemed like a good place to start. Aiden’s father, Brendan, who paid his way through college working in restaurants, was thrilled to help. His job with Bank of America provided a comfortable lifestyle for their family, and they’ve always prioritized giving back to the community. “(Aiden’s) bright enough to realize that he’s very fortunate,” Brendan says. “We’re very environmentally minded, but we eat out a lot and waste as much food as anybody else. Sometimes you forget to tread lightly on the earth at a household level.” They discovered, per the USDA, that 40% of all food in America goes uneaten. Food goes to waste at every stage of production and distribution, from farmers and manu-

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

facturers to retailers and in homes. The Mecklenburg County Health Department classifies more than 150,000 people in metropolitan Charlotte as “food insecure,” which means they lack consistent access to enough food for every person in their household. “Access to food is a basic human right,” Aiden says. “I can’t make people take a vaccine, but this is one area in public health where I can make an impact.” In early 2020, they decided to start in their own backyard—literally—and approached River Run Country Club, near their home in Davidson, about letting them recover excess food from their restaurants. They wanted to focus on uncooked foods, like veggies that weren’t attractive enough to serve the country club diners or proteins that were thawed or par-cooked and couldn’t be saved. They would pick up the food, take it home, and cook meals to package and distribute. But they quickly discovered how hard it would be to carry out this good deed. River Run Country Club didn’t want to be held

BITE-SIZED STO R I E S

Foodie Tidbits on a Small Plate Brendan (left) and Aiden, shown here at UNC-Charlotte, recover an average of 150 pounds of uneaten food each week.

liable if the Kellys weren’t safe guardians of their food. Organizations like Loaves & Fishes, which recently merged with Friendship Trays, didn’t want prepared food because they can’t be sure each meal has been cooked or stored properly. Loaves & Fishes distributes only nonperishables and grocery items like cheese, milk, and eggs people can use to prepare their own meals, says Sue Bruce, the organization’s marketing director. So Aiden did some research and learned they’d need to set up Kellys’ Community Kitchen as a nonprofit. If they became a 501(c)(3), the Kellys and their donors couldn’t be held liable if someone got sick after eating their food. It took several months to file the paperwork, though, and COVID continued to rage. When Aiden and Brendan picked up again in 2021, River Run had cooled to the idea of their food recovery program, and as restaurants struggled with supply shortages, there wasn’t as much leftover food. That’s when Aiden got the idea to target colleges. He found plenty that were willing to help, but most didn’t have a surplus of raw ingredients to donate, and food pantries like Second Harvest were already scooping up dry goods. What they did have, though, was leftovers. So Aiden and Brendan changed their approach and partnered with Belmont Abbey College and UNC Charlotte dining services to take their excess prepared food. But soon, they encountered yet another hurdle: They were taking in far more food than they could safely and quickly repackage or store in their home. “Plus, our target

audience had been Tent City,” Aiden explains. “We were going to truck the food down there on Saturdays and hand it out, but then they got shut down.” Instead, they got commercial catering bags and coolers and trucked the food to FeedNC, a Mooresville-based food pantry that takes in excess perishables to cook, serve, or package. Today, the Kellys estimate they rescue an average of 150 pounds of food a week, and on any given afternoon, UNCC’s dining hall might have 100 pounds of leftovers or 500 loaves of bread they can’t serve. Brendan and Aiden pick it up, pack it in coolers, load it into their trunk, and deliver it to FeedNC. “Right now we don’t cook anything,” Aiden says. “We’re just the connector because we’re willing to do the dirty work.” They haven’t given up on the idea of cooking and serving in the future. Aiden’s 16-year-old brother, Liam, wants to pilot a household-level service in their Davidson neighborhood by going door to door to collect produce and perishables to cook and package. “A lot of people don’t want to talk about this stuff, but these aren’t just people under the I-277 bridge,” Aiden says. “They’re in our backyards and can’t get their nutritional needs met.” “We’re just reallocating resources,” Brendan adds. “We meet plenty of resistance. … But what’s weird about diverting unused food from the landfill and into somebody’s belly?”

TYBER CREEK PUB, a South End mainstay for more than two decades, will close its location at Tremont Avenue and South Boulevard in early 2023 to make way for a mixeduse high-rise. The Irish pub will reopen in a new, 4,500-square-foot space on the same site in 2025. Two years after he closed THE PEOPLE’S MARKET on East Boulevard, Cory Duran will reopen in the former Earl’s Grocery space on Elizabeth Avenue. Look for the food counter and bottle shop to open in spring 2022. Chef Duke Kroger will open CINDER in South End this summer. Expect open-fire cooking, tasting menus, and a cocktail lounge with a bourbon bar. Greg and Subrina Collier will reopen their popular breakfast spot, UPTOWN YOLK, in a 2,800-squarefoot, ground-level retail space at Vantage South End this spring. The restaurant will have an expanded food menu, coffee program, and full bar. —Taylor Bowler

TAYLOR BOWLER is the lifestyle editor. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

FOOD+DRINK O N T H E LI N E W I T H

ALEJANDRO IBANEZ

Dilworth Tasting Room’s bar manager brings a New York sensibility to Charlotte’s cocktails BY TAYLOR BOWLER Age: 33 Hometown: I was born in Colombia and moved to New York when I was 18. Currently lives: Indian Land, S.C. Favorite sports teams: I follow Real Madrid Soccer Club and my local team in Colombia.

Where does your interest in cocktails come from? After a few years at Employees Only, they put me behind the bar, and I had no idea what to do (laughs). I just followed whatever the bar manager said. But I slowly started getting up to speed. I was surprised by the way they executed drinks. Everything was just eyeballing, but they were so precise. I started tasting all the cocktails and read Bartending 101 to learn all the techniques and recipes. What brought you to Charlotte? I was in New York until the pandemic hit. I worked for a few months after we reopened, but realized I needed to move on. I chose Charlotte because my oldest brother lives here, and I saw a lot of potential with the cocktail scene. How did you land at Dilworth Tasting Room? I was getting unemployment benefits in New York, and I needed to prove I had income to get a lease. My brother told me DTR was looking for bartenders, so he talked to the owner. Jaffer (Kovic) gave me that letter of employment, and I started work the day after I moved here. Tell me about your cocktail program. They had a pretty good drink menu when I got there, but a lot of them were overly sweet. In New York, they’d say, “make me something not too sweet.” But I listened to people about the Southern palate and how they like sweet tea and sweet drinks. So I started making sweet drinks, and people loved it. I try to stay away from too much sugar and use fresh juices like beets, which are very sweet. But it’s a new palate down here.

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

THE TOUGH STUFF Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate Beer or wine? Beer Coffee or tea? Coffee Cake or pie? Cake Manhattan or mojito? Manhattan Charcuterie board or glazed nuts? Charcuterie Lobster roll or egg roll? Lobster roll Comedy or drama? Comedy Street eats or sit-down? Sit-down More money or more free time? More money Facebook or Instagram? Instagram

What do you think is an underappreciated flavor? Lemongrass. What’s your favorite food and cocktail pairing? I’ve been a vegetarian for 16 years and recently started incorporating chicken again. So a roasted chicken with a classic daiquiri. The citrus cuts through the juicy, garlicky oils of the chicken. What’s the most creative cocktail you’ve ever made? It’s called “The Cleanse,” with rosemary and beet cordial, rye whiskey, ginger, and lemon juice. Once you say beets, people are skeptical. But it was a really good summer cocktail. Any drink trends you’re watching? Molecular bartending. What’s your adult beverage of choice? Negroni. Any drinks you won’t touch? A White Russian—or anything with cream. What do you like to do outside of work? I just visited the Whitewater Center. I get bored at the gym, so outdoor things like extreme sports, I’m into. What’s your favorite restaurant in Charlotte other than your own? Stagioni. What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Chocolate. Any rules to live by in a bar? If you’re not smiling, you’re not doing your job.

COURTESY

How did you get started in the hospitality industry? My main goal when I started was to be a server. I started washing dishes because of the language barrier. Then I took English classes and got moved to front of house. My uncle was a chef at Employees Only (a Prohibition-style cocktail bar and restaurant in the West Village), and they were looking for a food runner, so I started there when I was 19.

R EC I P E

Anika Rucker’s Strawberries and Cream Pound Cake AS PASTRY CHEF at Little Mama’s, Anika Rucker makes classic desserts like cannoli and tiramisu and a steady rotation of seasonal treats like her Strawberries and Cream Pound Cake. Here’s her recipe for the sweetheart-themed dessert, available at Little Mama’s this Valentine’s Day. —Taylor Bowler INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

BUTTERMILK ICING

3 cups sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

½ cup buttermilk

12 ounces softened butter

2. Grease a Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Splash of vanilla extract

6 eggs

3. Cream sugar and butter together until light.

⅛ cup lemon juice

3 teaspoons baking powder

4. Incorporate eggs one at a time, scraping the sides.

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

5. Sift baking powder, flour, and salt together.

5 cups powdered sugar

6. Add half of the dry ingredients to butter mixture, mix well, add buttermilk and vanilla, mix well, add remaining dry ingredients, mix well.

1 teaspoon salt ¾ cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

7. Fold in strawberries and pour batter into Bundt pan. 8. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour.

2.5 ounces freeze-dried strawberries

9. Let cake cool slightly before flipping onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Buttermilk icing (see sidebar)

10. Once cool, drizzle buttermilk icing on top.

1. Whisk buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon juice together in a bowl. 2. Sift salt and powdered sugar over wet ingredients. 3. Whisk until smooth.

T H E STO RY B E H I N D. . .

COURTESY; PETER TAYLOR

YAFO Kitchen’s Israeli Hot Chicken Sandwich YAFO KITCHEN’S EXECUTIVE CHEF, Shai Fargian, serves fast-casual Mediterranean street food, like chicken shawarma, falafel, and cauliflower with tahini, all day. One afternoon about five years ago, when the Israeli-born chef was working at the FS Food Group chain’s Central Avenue location, he got hungry. “I was sick of everything on the menu,” he says, “so I walked over to Midwood (Smokehouse) and grabbed a bun and made myself a sandwich with our chicken schnitzel and some red schug (a Yemeni hot sauce).” It was good, so he offered a taste to Remy Thurston, FS Food Group’s marketing director. “(Remy) said it was like an Israeli hot chicken sandwich,” Fargian says. “As soon as we finished it, I went and made two more.” Farigan made just a few tweaks: He slathered the panko-crusted chicken in spicy red schug and topped it with tzatziki and purple cabbage slaw. Once he found a vendor for the buns, he added the Israeli Hot Chicken Sandwich to the menu. “This was at the start of the Nashville hot chicken frenzy,” he says. “It became so popular, we never took it off the menu.” —Taylor Bowler FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

FOOD+DRINK

R E STAU R ANT S

Made For Each Other Romantic restaurants for you and your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day

IT’S THE MONTH OF LOVE, which means it’s a great time to splurge on an intimate dinner at one of Charlotte’s most romantic restaurants. Whether you want a multicourse tasting menu with white tablecloths and candles or a pink cocktail and heart-shaped dessert at a trendy rooftop bar, we’ve got your date night covered. —Taylor Bowler

SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR A FULL DIRECTORY OF RESTAURANT LISTINGS.

PETER TAYLOR (3)

Sea Level NC serves a Lobster Roll, Paella, and a variety of oysters (above). The Stanley’s menu includes a rotation of farm-to-table dishes like their Pork Chop (below). Peppervine’s 7,800-square-foot interior (left) has a mezzanine lounge,10-seat bar area, and glass-enclosed wine display.

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

F E AT U R E D R E STAU R ANT

McNINCH HOUSE 511 N. Church St. 704-332-6159

THE RESTAURANT has a longstanding reputation for its five-course tasting menu and award-winning wine pairings, but it’s also the most popular place for marriage proposals in Charlotte. Maybe it’s the antique silver and fine china on each table, or the edible flowers that adorn your poached pear salad. Whatever the reason, this restored Victorian-era house sees someone on bended knee 40 to 50 times a year.

The McNinch House (top) serves an upscale tasting menu in a historic Queen Anne-style home with Victorian-era colors and furniture (above). Entreés include New Zealand Lamb served with Carolina rice (left).

CUSTOMSHOP

131 N. Main St., Davidson 980-231-5000 Chef Joe Kindred, a James Beard Award semifinalist, serves homemade pasta dishes and creative small plates in historic downtown Davidson.

THE FIG TREE RESTAURANT

SOUL GASTROLOUNGE

1601 E. 7th St. 704-332-3322 Feast on elk chops and lobster tail paired with award-winning wines in a 1913 bungalow.

THE STANLEY

1961 E. 7th St. 980-299-2741 Chef Daniel Wheeler’s menu focuses on seasonal produce and a robust cocktail program. COURTESY THE McNINCH HOUSE (3)

KINDRED

1601 Elizabeth Ave. 704-333-3396 Owner and Executive Chef Trey Wilson uses top-notch, seasonal ingredients to create fresh takes on American cuisine in a hip, rustic atmosphere.

DOT DOT DOT

4237 Park Road, Ste. B 704-817-3710 Stefan Huebner’s creative cocktails may be the main attraction at this members-only speakeasy, but the saffron risotto with foraged mushrooms will convince you to stay for dinner.

1500-B Central Ave. 704-348-1848 Expect to wait a while at this no-reservations spot, known for small plates like pork belly tacos with compressed watermelon and a rotating list of craft cocktails.

BAR MARCEL

3920 Sharon Road, Ste. 160 980-237-1919 Share a plate of beef carpaccio or truffle and herb frites—but order a flatbread for yourself.

DOGWOOD SOUTHERN TABLE + BAR

135 Levine Avenue of the Arts, Ste. 100 704-800-5680 Come for the raw bar but stay for bartender Brittany Kellum’s drinks—then splurge on a slice of cheesecake.

GOOD FOOD ON MONTFORD

300 S. Tryon St., Ste 100 980-209-0941 The uptown restaurant is modeled after a French brasserie, and Top Chef alum Jamie Lynch serves French classics like Steak Tartare, Crispy Duck Confit, and Boeuf Bourguignon.

1701 Montford Drive 704-525-0881 Bruce Moffett’s small-plates bistro unites a variety of influences and flavors on one menu, and each dish is worth ordering.

VANA

4620 Piedmont Row Drive, Ste. 170B 980-283-2333 Chef Bill Greene serves a rotation of artistic small plates with unexpected pairings, like Thai Pork Spare Ribs and tuna tartare with yuzu.

1440 S. Tryon St., Ste. 100 980-819-5913 Chef Michael Noll serves a blend of tapas and shareable plates in this open-kitchen spot with a wood-fired theme.

FIN & FINO

4905 Ashley Park Lane, Ste. D 704-910-4919 Get a table for two and sip a cocktail in the dimly lit dining room, or have a seat at the chef’s counter and watch them prepare your meal.

BARCELONA WINE BAR

101 W. Worthington Ave., Ste. 110 704-741-0300 Choose from more than 400 wines, and nosh on Spanish- and Mediterranean-inspired tapas and charcuterie boards.

FAHRENHEIT

222 S. Caldwell St. 980-237-6718 Located on the 21st floor of Skye Condos, Chef Rocco Whalen’s restaurant is the place to sip cocktails, eat oysters, and see the city twinkle.

PEPPERVINE

LA BELLE HELENE

SEA LEVEL NC

129 E. 5th St. 704-412-2616 Sip a romantic libation like the Strawberries and Cream cocktail, and order a tray of raw oysters for a little aphrodisiac.

FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Now is the time to Reclaim Your Rhythm and take back control of your physical health and mental well-being!

“

“This February, we are uniting for American Heart Month to help women Reclaim Their Rhythm to live longer, healthier, fuller lives. Because losing even one mom, sister, friend or neighbor to cardiovascular disease is one too many. When women come together, there is nothing we can’t achieve. It’s time to get moving, wear red to raise awareness and take those steps to improve your own health in 2022.” — Sheila Jordan Co-chair for Go Red for Women Movement Chief Digital Technology Officer, HONEYWELL

“

“ Since the onset of pandemic, deaths from heart disease and stroke have risen and one in three women report lower emotional wellness. Join our Go Red for Women movement and learn to reduce stress levels, end unhealthy habits, lower blood pressure and empower ourselves to improve our mental and physical well-being.” — Angela Yochem Co-chair for Go Red for Women Movement EVP, Chief Transformation & Digital Officer, NOVANT HEALTH

GO RED FOR WOMEN’S MISSION • Go Red for Women® is the American Heart Association’s signature initiative to raise awareness that heart disease is women’s greatest health threat and to empower them to take action to lower their risk. Since 2004, Go Red for Women has had a profound impact on women’s health and continues to be a champion for women. • The American Heart Association recently noted an alarming decline in awareness that cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women – and too many women, particularly our youngest most diverse women, remain unaware. • 1 in 3 women are dying from cardiovascular disease. Losing even one woman is not an option. Spread the word. Save lives. Let’s Go Red.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

WOMAN OF IMPACT CLASS OF 2022

Sponsored by

THE NOMINEES

Our nominees are bringing together their own networks to form an impact team, set a goal, explore fundraising resources, and have the greatest impact possible on women’s health and our community. Together, we can be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Sign up for this year’s Woman of Impact campaign. Recruit your team. Work with us to build a plan. Contact Katherine Long, Director of Development at Katherine.Long@heart.org.

Lexi Andresen Extended Stay America

Laniece Blackmon EY

Meghan Jupiter Slalom

CIRCLE OF RED MEMBERS Stephanie Alger Keli Alvarado Dr. Adelle Anthony-Williams Carl Armato Christi Armato Clarence Armbrister Jim Arnold Pam Austin Marcia Avedon Dr. Kristin Black Wendi Boddy Peggy Brookhouse Dr. Sandra Burke Drew Cawthorne Ray Chinn Dr. Bruce Cohen Elizabeth Cohen Patty Comer Angela Cureton Annette Davidson Al de Molina Donna de Molina Erika Duncan Lauren Dungan Erin Dunlap Frank Emory

Tiffany Eubanks-Saunders Linda McFarland Farthing Kiely Flanigan Regina Fleenor Dorlisa Flur Misti Fragen Dr. Gail Griffin-Carter Chris Hart Rasha Hasaneen David Head Kim Henderson Sandra Holub Heather Howlett Lois Ingland Sheila Jordan

Amy Kazmierczak Lia Keel Kathryn Kissam Amy Kochan Paula Kranz Shauna Latshaw Katherine Lockhart Betsy Mack Jacqui Macleod Leah Maybry April McDonald Nancy McNelis Lori O’Keefe Amy Pack Paula Parker Theresa Payton Jenni Rahrig Courtney Ramey Rochelle Rivas Chandler Root Denise Root Niki Curci Scott Susan Shepherd Kim Sloat Pam Smith Gary Sobba

MONICA GALLOWAY PHOTOGRAPHY

Back Row (L-R): Paula Kranz, Angela Yochem, Lois Ingland, Annette Davidson, Megan Turner, Heather Howlett, Rochelle Rivas, Lauren Dungan Front Row (L-R): Jim Arnold, Kathryn Kissam, Pam Austin, Jennifer Winstel, Angela Cureton, Allison Stunja, Drew Cawthorne Debbie Stewart Cheryl Stiegler Allison Stunja Tracey Tozier

Megan Turner Clint Watson Roseann White Colleen Winslow

Jennifer Winstel Angela Yochem As of 12/15/2021

MAKE MOVES TODAY Together we can change the statistics and help women create the healthy habits they need to have their best chance at life.

THANK YOU TO OUR 2022 GO RED FOR WOMEN SPONSORS Go Red for Women is Nationally Sponsored by

Community BP Kiosk Sponsor

Heroes of Heart Sponsor

Life is Why Sponsor

Heart of Gold Sponsor

Live Fierce. Life is Why Sponsor

Women of Impact Sponsor

CPR Sponsors Dr. and Mrs. Bruce and Elizabeth Cohen

STEM Goes Red Sponsors

DO YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED? Scan this QR to find out how to volunteer, donate or participate.

Go Red Campaign Sponsors

Amazon • Businessolver • Levvel • Stratifyd Ally Financial • Charlotte Hornets Foundation • Fortalice/Theresa Payton in honor of Maeve Payton and Yolanda Major • Hearst Service Center Larson & Toubro Infotech Ltd • Piedmont Natural Gas • Publix • The Rivas Family Foundation As of 12/15/2021

http://charlottencgoredluncheon.heart.org • #CLTGoRed

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

You’re only as good as your health. On the following pages, find great ways you can de-stress, recharge, and regroup to be a better you. From spa treatments to cosmetic procedures, treat yourself to the best.

BEAUTY& WELLNESS GUIDE TO YOUR HEALTH

The Skin Center By Charlotte Plastic Surgery

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CAROLINA FACIAL PLASTICS The top aesthetic destination of the south, Carolina Facial Plastics is led by double board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Jonathan Kulbersh. With his team of cosmetic experts, a fully accredited surgery center, and a private recovery retreat all located in the heart of SouthPark, Carolina Facial Plastics is known for unparalleled and natural looking results exclusively for the face. While focusing 100% on cosmetic treatments for the face, patients rave about the meticulous attention to detail at Carolina Facial Plastics during procedures such as rhinoplasty, facelift, blepharoplasty, and facial implants, as well as Botox® and fillers. Among his many awards and honors, Dr. Kulbersh has been chosen as a Top 100 RealSelf Doctor four years in a row, is included in the RealSelf Hall of Fame, and a three-time Charlotte Magazine’s Best of the Best Award recipient. Along with Dr. Kulbersh, our Carolina Facial Plastics team is comprised of aesthetic specialist, Heather Bryant, MPAS, PA-C, Courtney Whitley, FNP-C, Amanda Piligian, PA-C, and medical aesthetician, Terri Edson, as well as an entire back and front office team providing a level of expertise not found anywhere else in the Carolinas. Our mission is to proCarolina Facial Plastics Feb22.indd 1

Terri Edson, Aesthetician - Heather Bryant, MPAS, PA-C - Jonathan Kulbersh, MD - Courtney Whitley, FNP-C - Amanda Piligian, PA-C

vide both surgical and nonsurgical aesthetic techniques designed to make aesthetic improvements and rejuvenations that harmonize with your natural beauty. Dr. Kulbersh believes it’s an honor and a privilege to serve as your doctor, and he treats his patients with the same care and respect he would give his own family. “Our goal at Carolina Facial Plastics is to help people create the best versions of themselves,” he says. “This is what we consider an excellent and natural result. At Carolina Facial Plastics, everything that we do is all about you.” Remarkable Results, Exceptional Care. CAROLINA FACIAL PLASTICS 6817 Fairview Road Charlotte, NC 28210 704-275-3172 Carolinafacialplasticsurgery.com

1/3/22 10:58 AM

DERMATOLOGY LASER & VEIN SPECIALISTS OF THE CAROLINAS Dermatology Laser & Vein Specialists of the Carolinas (DLVSC) is the Carolinas’ premier dermatology and cosmetic surgery practice, offering innovative treatment options for general dermatology, Mohs skin cancer surgery, varicose vein treatments, laser/cosmetic surgery, and cutting-edge research studies. With two office locations in Charlotte and Pineville, the award-winning practice focuses on providing excellence in skin care, from the management of complex skin rashes and skin cancer to surgical and non-surgical full-body cosmetic treatments. DLVSC offers a general dermatology department, vein/vascular treatment center, cosmetic operative surgical suites and over 50 FDA-approved lasers and energy-based devices. “Our goal is to offer the latest in advanced medical and surgical dermatologic care for all our patients,” says Dr. Gilly Munavalli, medical director and Founder. Every procedure is performed or supervised by a worldclass team of experienced, board-certified physicians: Dr. Gilly Munavalli, Dr. Payman Kosari, Dr. Hayley Leight, Katherine Daley, PA-C, Aaron Blackmer, PA-C, Amber Blair, PA-C, and Rachel Yang, NP. “Our team of expert physicians and highly trained staff skillfully craft tailored treatment plans; Derm_Laser_Beauty Feb22.indd 2

recommendations are designed especially for each patient’s lifestyle, budget, and goals,” Dr. Munavalli says. DLVSC also has a fully-staffed cosmeceutical retail store that offers physician-grade skin care products in a personalized, boutique shopping experience. DERMATOLOGY LASER & VEIN SPECIALISTS OF THE CAROLINAS Charlotte Office: 1918 Randolph Road/Ste. 550/Charlotte, NC 28207 Pineville Office: 10660 Park Road/Ste. 4150/Charlotte, NC 28210 704-375-6766/carolinaskin.com

12/27/21 11:58 AM

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

DENISE ANTONACCI SALON There are a few tried-and-true places savvy women turn to whenever their tresses are in need of a makeover. Places where the quality of services is simply unbeatable. Denise Antonacci Salon is one of those places. Here, stylists dole out masterful cuts and colors that continue to receive rave reviews, such as “Best Women’s Hair Salon, Best Blowouts and Best Scalp Massage” from Charlotte Magazine’s recent 2021 BOB awards, making Denise Antonacci Salon one of the most sought-after hair salons in the Charlotte community. The salon is the brainchild of master colorist and stylist extraordinaire Denise Antonacci, and its friendly, professional staff delivers service that are a practice in perfection. The beautiful, spacious interior feels more like a trip to the spa. Its top tier team is known for creating classic, clean cuts with a focus on craftsmanship and an eye toward current style ideas. Every stylist uses the highest quality products and the latest innovations to deliver top results. Committed to delivering excellence in both boutique structure and services, the salon draws both a sophisticated clientele of Who’s Who in Charlotte as well as on a national

scale because of their flawless colors, precision shapes and glamorous styles. That’s not surprising given their mission is to make people look and feel their best. Word on the streets of Charlotte? When you deserve only the very best—Denise Antonacci Salon is the place to provide it. DENISE ANTONACCI SALON 4810 Ashley Park Lane, Suite B Charlotte, NC 28210 704-362-6005 Antonaccisalon.com • IG: Deniseantonaccisalon

Denise Antonacci Salon Feb22.indd 1

12/16/21 3:19 PM

CHARLOTTE PLASTIC SURGERY Charlotte Plastic Surgery is the only practice to win Charlotte magazine’s coveted BOB Award for “Best Plastic Surgery Practice” and it’s no wonder—with seven decades of jaw dropping transformations under our belt, we have thousands of satisfied clients in the Charlotte area and beyond. Our five highly skilled, board-certified plastic surgeons are nationally and internationally ranked, and even travel the country training other physicians on the latest treatments and cutting-edge techniques. And if our surgeons’ shining 5 star ratings don’t say enough about their dedication to exceptional patient care, just talk to your friends – chances are they’ve been here or know someone who has. However, our greatest accomplishment is the satisfaction of our many loyal clients who trust in our proven results and dedicated care so much, they choose us to help them feel their very best. At the Skin Center by Charlotte Plastic Surgery, with over 77 years of combined Provider experience, we know it’s not the syringe of filler, vial of BOTOX, or type of chemical peel that makes the treatment; what matters is the technique, expertise, and up-to-date training that creates the most natural end result. Whether it’s Body Contouring, Laser Skin Resurfacing, or a Non-Surgical Facelift, we pride ourselves in having the safest and most effective technology that delivers the results you’re looking for. From advanced technique training to learning new

treatment enhancements, we continually hone our skills to make sure your results are selfie-worthy. The Charlotte Plastic Surgery team works with the providers at The Skin Center to provide a comprehensive approach to your concerns, including non-surgical, minimally-invasive, and surgical solutions. From various skincare product lines, injectables, and non-surgical body contouring all the way to Tummy Tucks, Rhinoplasty, and Breast Augmentation, we’ve got all the tools in our toolbox to exceed your expectations. When you choose Charlotte Plastic Surgery, you bloom.

CHARLOTTE PLASTIC SURGERY 2215 Randolph Road Charlotte, NC 28207 704-372-6846 Charlotteplasticsurgery.com

SHED YOUR PROBLEM SKIN. Bring out the healthiest version of your skin at Dermatology, Laser & Vein Specialists of the Carolinas. Our elite staff plus state-of-the-art, upscale facilities create the premier dermatology practice of Charlotte. Offering: • Full range of dermatology services • Skin Cancer Center offering Mohs Surgery • Comprehensive Vein Clinic • Complete Cosmetic Services • Aesthetic Skin Services

CarolinaSkin.com | 704-375-6766 | Two convenient locations: Charlotte & Pineville

NASCAR, a sport associated with Charlotte since the 1940s, enters another new era— with updated cars, a refreshed and more diverse fan base, tire tracks in the digital space, and a long and eventful history BY STEVE GOLDBERG PHOTOGRAPH BY LOGAN CYRUS

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

The Bank of America Roval 400, Charlotte Motor Speedway, October 2021.

RACING REIMAGINED

FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

COURTESY, NASCAR

HE HIGH-PITCHED ECHO of 550-horsepower V8 ment but what drivers, owners, and fans look like, their engines bounces off the glass of the suites at Charlotte ages and genders, and the attitudes they hold about issues Motor Speedway. Thousands of empty grandstand like race, social change, and the direction of the country. seats line the front stretch as high-performance race cars, The sport developed from moonshiners’ high-speed many nondescript except for the numbers on their sides, twists and turns as they eluded federal agents during dive in and out of the turns and accelerate down the backProhibition in the 1920s and ’30s. Even as it evolved stretch on an unusually warm late-November day. into a national corporate entity in the ’80s and ’90s, it It’s another test session for the Next Gen stock cars of retained a good bit of that rebel spirit—represented by NASCAR’s Cup Series, the highest level of stock car racing. the Confederate battle flag, until recently a common sight These new versions of the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet in the infield—and the white, Southern men who typiCamaro, and Toyota Camry, which drivers will begin to cally gravitated to it. race at the start of the 2022 season, represent the latest But now, the sport’s footprint is expanding to include stage in the evolution of the stock car. They’re designed others. As in the nation, some long-timers bristle at to be less expensive than their predecessors—and safer, the changes. So when NASCAR President Steve Phelps too—with modifications to the chassis, bodies, and interunveiled the new cars at the Park Expo in Charlotte in May 2021, he emphasized that what drove this latest turn was a nal parts. desire to appeal to fans, all fans, regardless of race, gender, The cars that will whip around the track at places like Charlotte, Daytona, and Talladega starting in February or ZIP code. “Truly,” Phelps said, “this car is for you.” Nowhere is this evolution more meaninghaven’t been truly stock—that is, factoryful than in Charlotte, where NASCAR ran its assembled and unmodified—since 1966. They’re designed to race. But the Next Gen first speedway race for stock cars in 1949. It’s NASCAR’s Next Gen cars look more like their street-car cousins, the host city for the Coca-Cola 600, one of the cars, unveiled at cars anyone can buy at a dealership. That’s Cup Series’ signature races, and the site of the the Park Expo in Charlotte in May on purpose. sport’s Hall of Fame. The fans will or won’t 2021. From left: The sport as a whole, including the culture roll with the changes, but a good many new Chevrolet Camaro, that surrounds it, has changed significantly things will start where they always have, from Toyota Camry, in recent years—not just the cars and equipthe people who sit behind the steering wheel. Ford Mustang.

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

JARED C. TILTON/GETTY IMAGES

ERHAPS MORE THAN ANY OTHER, “From there, that’s when the desire Charlotte native William Byron drives Hendrick Motorsports’ racing is a sport in which sons came to go see a race in person,” he tells No. 24 Chevy, which Jeff me in December. “And then as soon as follow their fathers. Chase Elliott Gordon made famous that happened, I was hooked. I just loved won the 2020 Cup Series championin the 1990s. Unlike his predecessors, Byron learned ship 32 years after his father, Bill Elliott. the sport.” When Byron was 6, his father, to drive on the digital iRacing Original NASCAR driver Lee Petty won Bill, a wealth management adviser, platform. Byron, says Kyle three titles. Then his son Richard won asked him and his sister where they’d Petty, is “one of the smartest seven, and Richard’s son, Kyle, followed like to take a day trip. His sister chose kids I’ve ever talked to.” him onto the track, as did Kyle’s son the mountains. Byron picked a race at Adam, who was killed in a crash in 2000, Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. His at age 19. (Adam Petty is believed to be mother, Dana, wasn’t crazy about the the first fourth-generation professional athlete in the hisidea—she imagined her boy in the stands, pelted by crash tory of American sports.) debris—but she gradually got used to it. Ned Jarrett and son Dale became the third father-son “I would beg my dad to go to races, and we would go to the Charlotte races every year,” he says. “And then, from champions. Famous names like Allison, Baker, Busch, that, it turned into going to Bristol and Darlington and all Earnhardt, Flock, Labonte, and Waltrip, among others, have belonged to NASCAR families of fathers, sons, grandthe local races, and I went to one Daytona 500 when I was sons, brothers, and nephews. Family lineage is a support probably 11 … One thing led to another, I guess.” beam for NASCAR’s deep attachment to tradition. Byron ran a kart race at 13 and, the next morning, woke That’s one reason why racing now strikes some tradiup and realized he’d be devastated if he never got another tional fans as something they can’t quite recognize: Star chance to race. At 15, he won the summer U.S. Legend Car drivers are seemingly coming from everywhere, with little competition at Charlotte Motor Speedway. By 2018, he or no familial tie to the past. Take 24-year-old William was in a Cup car for Hendrick Motorsports, finishing 23rd Byron, a Charlotte native and Country Day alumnus, who overall. The next year, he improved to 11th. In 2021, Byron won his second race in the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead, drives the No. 24 Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports—the same car made famous by four-time champion Jeff Gordon. Florida, then rattled off a string of 10 top-10 finishes. He As a kid, Byron never raced karts or tinkered with completed the year with 20—12 in the top five, including motors in the backyard. He learned how to race on the three in second place. digital iRacing platform, akin to what the Air Force uses to “William Byron is going to be a great, great race car driver. That’s one of the smartest kids I’ve ever talked to in train jet pilots. (NASCAR ran virtual races on iRacing when COVID shut the tracks down.) What first caught Byron’s my life,” Kyle Petty says. “I think William has shown that eye, at age 5, were the colorful paint schemes of die-cast there’s more than one way to get here.” replica race cars. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

LOGAN CYRUS

tion for the 28-year-old driver. No one N OCT. 4, 2021, on the track Bubba Wallace (center) with fans at the Roval 400 in in the history of the sport had traveled at Talladega Superspeedway in October. Less than a week Alabama, cars crashed all around through anything like the racial minefield before, Wallace had become Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Camry. A car in of 2020, when, moved by George Floyd’s only the second Black driver, and the first in nearly six front of him whirled and threw parts. murder at the hands of a police officer in decades, to win a Cup Series Minneapolis, Wallace had publicly voiced Wallace, who’d navigated another kind race when he won the his support for Black Lives Matter and of pileup a year earlier, eased through YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. racial justice. the wreckage and acted like a kid on a Carowinds thrill ride. Then he took dead aim at one of NASCAR “Whoo-wee! Let’s go!” he exclaimed culture’s totems. “My next step would be to his crew over the radio. His crew chief to get rid of all Confederate flags,” Wallace asked him if he’d been hit. Confidently, Wallace responded: told CNN in June 2020. “No one should feel uncomfort“Negative!” able when they come to a NASCAR race. So, it starts with Rain had already delayed the start of the YellaWood Confederate flags. Get them out of here.” A few days later, 500 by a day, and officials had called four caution periods astonishingly, NASCAR did. Its presence, the organization during the race on a wet track. Wallace made his way to announced, “runs contrary to our commitment to providthe lead. Then the rain really started to come down, which ing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, led to another wreck and a fifth caution, at lap 118 of a our competitors and industry.” scheduled 188. Wallace knew that if it kept raining, offiWallace has become one of NASCAR’s most celebrated cials might call the race—with him leading the pack. On figures, behind the wheel for a racing team co-owned by the radio, Wallace’s crew heard him implore the sky: “Rain Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. But Wallace’s father, like William Byron’s, has never been a driver; although like hell, baby! C’mon!” His crew huddled around the pit box under tarps and he encouraged his son’s dreams, Darrell Wallace Sr. owns umbrellas. Then they heard the voice of Tim Bermann, the an industrial cleaning company. And Bubba Wallace’s event director for the Cup Series: “The 23 is our winner. success and profile do seem to signal more room for Driver and crew to victory lane.” people of color in a traditionally white sport—even as owners. Jordan is one thing, but last year, Nashville-based It was Wallace’s first Cup win and only the second by a Black driver; the first, by Wendell Scott, was in Jacksonville, Trackhouse Racing announced a new member of its ownFlorida, on Dec. 1, 1963. The timing seemed like validaership group: the rapper Armando “Pitbull” Pérez, who

said he’d been a racing fan since he saw Days of Thunder, Though rare, female drivers have a longer history in the 1990 Tom Cruise movie filmed mostly in the Charlotte racing than you might think. On June 19, 1949, Sara Christian finished 14th of 33 drivers in the first stock race at area. Trackhouse’s driver is Mexican-born Daniel Suárez. the old 3/4-mile Charlotte Speedway off Little Rock Road. NASCAR’s tried—with limited success—to attract racial The next month, at Daytona, she was joined by Louise minorities and women since 2004, when it began its Drive for Diversity (DFD) program, which offers training courses, Smith and Ethel Mobley; the latter finished in 11th place. internships, and other opportunities. Wallace emerged The most recent of the 16 women who have raced at from the program, and in 2020, so did 19-year-old Rajah the Cup level is, of course, Danica Patrick, who competed Caruth, a Black man whose story is a kind of hybrid of for five full and two partial seasons. While she did win Wallace’s and Byron’s. Caruth, from the Washington, D.C., an IndyCar race in Japan in 2008, her top achievement in NASCAR was a pole position at the 2013 Daytona 500, area, is the son of a communications professor at Howard where she finished eighth, one of her seven top-10 finUniversity and was the first DFD participant with a backishes. But the attention Patrick brought to the sport might ground in iRacing rather than, well, racing. “Man, I’m proud of Rajah,” Wallace said in October hook a young woman we don’t yet know who’ll change the sport forever. 2021 during the NASCAR Diversity Awards ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. It was only three days after Wallace’s victory at Talladega, and Caruth had finished third in a minor league race a few months before. “He had N OCT. 10, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted the Bank of America Roval 400, an annual Cup race a hell of a run.” NASCAR’s inclusion efforts, along with the Confederate since 1960, in front of a crowd that filled most of flag ban, have spurred some initial signs of interest in the 79,000-seat venue. It was a welcome return for fans who couldn’t attend the 2020 version en masse; although racing among younger and more diverse fans: A pair of NASCAR was the first sport that allowed events after research firms polled a sample of 1,000 Americans in COVID restrictions began in March 2020, only 6,600 fans late June 2020, about two weeks after the flag ban, and found that 73 percent of fans under 40 had a more posiwere allowed to attend the 2020 Roval. tive impression of NASCAR. More than a third of Black As the 39 drivers roared around the 2.28-mile course, respondents said they were more likely to watch a race. their cars displayed an array of sponsors that included Older fans, predictably, tended to disapprove of the flag M&M’s, Insurance King, and FedEx Office. Those aren’t the ban. “NASCAR is making the right moves in positioning kinds of sponsors whose logos once adorned the sport’s themselves for their long-term future,” car hoods. In the old days, they were one of the researchers said, “even if it mainly, and logically, auto-related. (The means some short-term losses.” NASCAR’s No. 5 Chevy driven by Roval 400—and, Women have driven in own research in 2021 shows, among other eventually, Cup Series—champion Kyle NASCAR for longer than things, that new race attendees are twice Larson of Hendrick Motorsports did carry you might imagine, going back to the organization’s as likely than in previous years to be the URL of Hendrick Automotive Group.) founding in the late 1940s. younger than 35. Then Winston signed on in 1971, and the Below, Danica Patrick Those new fans may yet see Rajah Caruth company sponsored the Cup Series until greets fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway before win a Cup race. But another question hangs cigarettes were no longer a viable sponsor. the Bank of America 500, over the sport: Will the day come when a But Winston’s success enticed other a Sprint Cup Series race, in woman does? major brands: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and October 2015. Mountain Dew; Budweiser and Miller; McDonald’s and Burger King; Tide and Clorox. Over the past couple of generations, sponsors have adjusted to changing technology and taste. Nextel succeeded Winston as the overall Cup sponsor in 2004, then Sprint, then Monster Energy, owned in part by Coca-Cola, in 2016. The Cup Series adopted a tiered, multisponsor model in 2020. It’s not only the sponsorships that evolve; as with everything else in the 21st century, NASCAR’s social media presence continues to rise. NASCAR adopted a

COURTESY, NASCAR

Continued on page 83 FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

THE BIG TRACKS, like Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway, get most of the attention. But the heart and soul of auto racing lie in local tracks, which run on weekends before a couple of thousand, or even just a few hundred, fans in the most intimate fossil-fueled venues. Kyle Petty calls these events the Friday Night Lights of racing, on small tracks that establish the most personal connection among racing, racers, and fans. “You watch two guys run 30 laps door-to-door at Hickory. They beat, they bang. They do it every Saturday night because they’re the two best drivers there. Chances are they get mad at each other. Chances are their crews scream at each other sometimes. But a lot of times, an hour or two after the race, you’ll see them sitting on the hoods of their pickups drinking beer. “And you know why you’ll see them there? Because you’re a fan. You come down out of the grandstand. You can walk across the racetrack. You can go touch the car, see the car, see the driver, touch the driver, talk to the driver, and you experience everything about what the sport is.” Petty, who raced in NASCAR’s Cup Series for three decades, is the grandson, son, and father of storied stock car racers, so he’s spent plenty of time at all kinds of racetracks, whether in the car or the stands. He likens the experience of seeing up-and-coming drivers at small tracks to catching Bob Dylan in a dive bar before he became famous: “That’s where you saw Dale Earnhardt Sr. for the very first time, but you didn’t know it when you saw him. You just liked the way he drove; you just liked what he did. He was a nice guy. Good guy. You talked to him. And eventually, he became Dale Earnhardt.” They’re all over the country, in small towns where crews from ESPN and Fox Sports don’t often show up. Here are five, within an hour’s drive or so from Charlotte, that offer more intimate experiences than you’d get at a Cup race.

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

Other Tracks The

Hickory Motor Speedway opened in 1951 and still hosts races like the CARS Tour Throwback 276, shown here in 2019.

Racing built its foundation at small-town tracks like these—which still offer fans a chance to see tomorrow’s stars and cars By STEVE GOLDBERG Photograph by ADAM FENWICK

FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

Cherokee Speedway 153 Speedway Road, Gaffney, S.C.

The action at this 3/8-mile dirt track is intense enough to earn it the nickname “The Place Your Mama Warned You About.” It’s just off I-85 (Exit 96), about 50 miles west of Charlotte, and since 1957, it’s hosted various Late Model, Sprint Car, DIRTcar, Street Stocks, and Monster Truck events every year from February to late November. General admission is $15, but $30 gets you into the pits, and kids 12 and under get in free (prices could vary for other events). Contestants in the Short Track Super Series modified race at Cherokee Speedway in May 2020.

Hickory Motor Speedway 3130 Highway 70 SE, Newton

Drivers lined up their machines for the Honeywell Home Throwback 276 at Hickory Motor Speedway on July 31, 2021.

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

It’s been nicknamed “the birthplace of NASCAR stars” for a reason. “There is no sport,” Petty says, “without Hickory.” Hickory winners include Hall of Famers Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, Jack Ingram, and others who should be Hall of Famers, like Ralph Earnhardt. NASCAR doesn’t keep records this detailed, but it’s likely that every driver who’s hoisted a Cup race trophy in the last seven decades raced at Hickory at some point.

The dirt was paved in 1967, and the track is now .363 miles, which keeps the action tight and fierce for as many as 13,000 fans. Though its varsity days are long gone, Hickory is still used as a venue for NASCAR’s club racing division; the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series); Pro All Stars Series South Super Late Models; and the CARS Tour, with late model and super-late model touring series cars.

ADAM FENWICK PHOTOGRAPHY (2)

NASCAR was founded in 1949. Hickory Motor Speedway, off Exit 128 on Interstate 40, opened two years later as a half-mile dirt track. Two years after that, in 1953, the NASCAR Grand National Series—now the Cup Series—raced there; Hickory hosted the series for 19 years until new sponsor Winston dropped all races of less than 250 miles after the 1971 season. It still held what’s now the Xfinity Series until 1998.

U.S. Legend Cars

5555 Concord Parkway S., Concord OK, this is more small-track racing than racing at a small track—it’s held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But these summer races are worth checking out. Drivers race more affordable roadsterstyle cars to keep expenses down and open the field to more competitors. Current Cup stars Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and others have used Legend racing as a springboard to the bigger, pricier series. A young fan climbs out of a Bandolero car manufactured by U.S. Legend Cars International, a subsidiary of Charlotte-based Speedway Motorsports Inc. These entry-level racers are designed for drivers as young as 8.

Millbridge Speedway 6670 Mooresville Road, Salisbury

LOGAN CYRUS; COURTESY GOPRO MOTORSPORTS; KARA C PHOTOGRAPHY

This little 1/6-mile dirt track in Salisbury has been around for more than 25 years and gained traction as a proving ground for young racers. The progeny of Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Kyle Larson have competed there, and there’s always a chance you could see Cup drivers Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, or Chase Elliott on a busman’s holiday, sliding their midget cars around the red clay oval in 30-lap feature races when they’re not gunning for NASCAR glory. Outlaw karts at Millbridge Speedway in March 2021.

GoPro Motorplex

130 Motorplex Drive, Mooresville This karting venue is less a spectator venue than an experiential “get-behind-the-wheel-and-put-thepedal-to-the-metal” thing. Still, friends and family come to watch competition among kids who may still have training wheels on their bikes. The track at GoPro Motorplex. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

Lori Rice and The Poster, Lancaster’s BBQ, Mooresville.

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

Racing rock star Tim Richmond died in 1989 but left a unique public image and—maybe—a private part of himself BY GREG LACOUR PHOTOGRAPH BY HERMAN NICHOLSON

FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

ORI RICE GREETS YOU at the hostess station. She’s originally from Pennsylvania, something you immediately figure from her Philadelphia Eagles shirt. But she and her family live in Mooresville, one of NASCAR’s sacred cities, and she’s worked here at Lancaster’s BBQ since May. Lori’s a big NASCAR fan, and she could hardly have found a better place to work than Lancaster’s, a former gas station that displays scads of racing memorabilia: car parts and miniatures, driver’s suits, helmets, posters. You ask about The Poster. Everybody knows about The Poster, right? Where is it? She doesn’t know. One of her fellow hostesses does. It’s not far, just down a corridor that leads to the dining area, on the wall between a pair of driver’s suits. Lori doesn’t get what’s special about The Poster, even though it displays a group of 20 superstar drivers, practically every stock car racing icon you could name from the time: Yarborough, Parsons, Waltrip, Wallace, two generations’ worth of Pettys and Allisons, and the original Earnhardt on one knee—front and center, where he usually planted his flag. Look, you tell her. She looks. Nothing. Keep looking, you say. Second guy from the left, in the Folgers suit. She looks. Still nothing.

LORI LOOKS CLOSER.

charming, handsome, drawl-less, mischievous, supremely talented driver from Ohio who, heaven and Valvoline forbid, had made his name in open-wheel racing at Indy: Tim Richmond. The old guard dipped snuff and drank cheap beer. Richmond drank champagne in nightclubs. The old-timers wore jeans and overalls. Richmond wore Armani suits. Old-timers went home to places like Kannapolis; Dawsonville, Georgia; and Owensboro, Kentucky. Richmond kept an apartment in Manhattan and lived on a boat in Fort Lauderdale. In the flash and MTV-fueled fame economy of the ’80s, Richmond looked and acted more like a rock or movie star than anything NASCAR was used to. (A few years later, in Days of Thunder, an actual movie star, Tom Cruise, would play a character loosely based on Richmond.) “NASCAR had never had a cosmopolitan driver,” says Deb Williams, a longtime racing journalist who lives in Concord. “(Richmond) was always wide open, don’t-challenge-me, wasn’t afraid of anything. The women adored him, and the men were jealous of him.” Richmond broke through in 1986, the year when even his fiercest competitors were forced to concede that, Armani or not, he was one hell of a driver. Driving the No. 25 Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports, he won seven Winston Cup races and finished the season third in points, behind only Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip. But late that year, Richmond fell ill and was hospitalized—for what he publicly announced was pneumonia. He did not tell the public, or anyone in NASCAR, what had made him so vulnerable to infection. He came back in the spring, seemingly recovered. He posed with 19 other drivers for a photo that NASCAR used for its official poster distributed to fans at The Winston, now the annual All-Star Race, at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 17, 1987. Richmond came in third. (Earnhardt won thanks to a maneuver racing fans still revere as the “pass in the grass.”) The next month, Richmond dramatically won back-to-back races at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania and Riverside International Raceway in California. After the race at Pocono, he told reporters he hadn’t seen the finish line as he crossed it because his eyes were filled with tears. They were Richmond’s last victories. NASCAR barred him from racing at the Daytona 500 in February 1988 because of what the organization said was a failed drug test. He could race, NASCAR officials said, only if he submitted for review the medical records from his hospitalization. Richmond refused. He never raced again. By then, it was becoming clearer that what was wrong with Richmond had nothing to do with drugs. He died in a hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 13, 1989, at age 34. Ten days later, his doctor finally admitted to the public what a lot of people had already guessed: Tim Richmond had died of complications from AIDS. Six years after that, a former model and beauty queen from Charlotte named LaGena Lookabill Greene, who had dated Richmond, went public with a stunning story: She had AIDS, she’d contracted HIV from Richmond in 1986, and she believed Richmond knew at the time that he was sick.

HER EYES WIDEN. OK, you say. The five guys kneeling? The one at far left? That’s the late Neil Bonnett. Look behind his right ear. Lori looks closer. Her eyes widen. “Oh. My. God.” IN 1987, NASCAR was navigating a change of seasons. Stock car racing had been a good ol’ boys’ sport, having come down from the Appalachian hills and hollers in the 1930s, and even in the ’80s, it clung to its rough roots. Virtually everyone—from team owners to drivers to crew members—had emerged from the Southeast, and the sport was thought of mainly as a regional passion. But by the ’80s, NASCAR’s leaders and sponsors sensed that stock car racing could draw the eyeballs and dollars of people throughout the United States. It was the first stirring of the explosion in popularity, and revenue, that would come in the ’90s. But at the time, the old-timers still harbored some resistance to change—and into this arena, in 1981, swaggered a

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

AP PHOTO/DOUGLAS PIZAC

NO ONE ASSOCIATED with NASCAR wanted to discuss much about Richmond’s death, or the messier aspects of his life, as the sport’s profile swelled during the ’90s and 2000s. To the extent that Richmond was remembered, it was as a kind of racing version of James Dean or Jimi Hendrix, a gifted star who flamed out too soon. But that photo and poster from 1987 had stuck in some minds, certainly those at NASCAR and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, which had sponsored The Winston race in Charlotte. No one I spoke with for this story could say for sure who first noticed what was unusual about it, or when. “My memory is that it was a long time—weeks,” says Roger Bear, who led the team under RJR that handled promotion for the race. “I heard On June 21, 1987, about it in the office.” It looked like a Tim Richmond won typical NASCAR promotional photo. the Budweiser 400 at You had to examine it closely to notice Riverside International anything odd. Then you couldn’t Raceway in California. It was his last Winston notice anything else. Cup victory. He died What’s established is that NASCAR of complications from and RJR fixed the “problem” and reisAIDS in August 1989, age 34. sued the poster. But an indeterminate number of original posters still float around—no one knows how many—and the internet age ushered in a small market for collectors to sell their copies, sometimes labeled “uncensored,” on sites like eBay and Etsy for as much as $250. If you’re curious enough to look but not buy, copies hang on the walls of at least three Charlotte-area establishments: Lancaster’s, Big Daddy’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar in Mooresville, and the Thirsty Beaver in Plaza Midwood. In 2010, more than two decades after Richmond’s death, ESPN aired a documentary about his life and career as part of its 30 for 30 series. Tim Richmond: To the Limit, directed by Charlotte filmmaker Rory Karpf, rekindled fans’ interest in Richmond’s story, and by then, the public impulse to shy away from the subject of AIDS had diminished. “That’s when I saw a change,” Williams says, “people not feeling like they had to be concerned about talking about Tim Richmond, and what he did, and what a phenomenal driver he was, and the pranks he pulled, and things like that.” The 30 for 30 episode doesn’t mention the poster. But it gave the denizens of Reddit and NASCAR message boards something new to chew on. The popular racing podcast Dinner with Racers devoted a two-part episode—2 hours, 50 minutes total—to the subject in December 2019: Did he, or didn’t he? You can Google Richmond’s name and run across passionate arguments from people certain that he did it and people certain that he didn’t. It was a cane, the latter say. It was his thumb. (If that’s what it was, Kyle Petty observed on the podcast, Richmond had a “big damn thumb.”) It was a trick of the light. Except that there’s no evidence I could find that Richmond used a cane in the spring of ’87, although he was photo-

graphed with one at Daytona in ’88, when he was on site and hoping NASCAR would let him race. And if it was a trick of the light, well, that’s some trick. With the caveat that no one will ever know for sure—the only person who does is long gone—there seem to be a couple of convincing arguments that Richmond didn’t do what The Poster suggests he did. For one thing, the photo was taken after his nearfatal case of pneumonia, when he was desperately trying to reestablish himself in NASCAR. That meant enough to reduce him to tears when he won at Pocono in June 1987. Under those circumstances, would he really have assumed that much risk? For another, most driving suits are one-pieces, which zip up from the crotch to the neck. It’s hard to tell whether the suit Richmond wore in the photo was a one- or two-piece, with the top separate from the bottom. If it was a one-piece, he couldn’t have just unzipped the fly, as with a regular pair of pants. “That’s an excellent point,” says Williams, 67, who’s written about NASCAR for more than 40 years. Then a thought occurs to her. “You know, I’m just wondering, in looking at it more closely … if maybe he had his driving gloves with him, or some other gloves, and that some fingers on his gloves—?” But it’s just another theory, interesting to consider but unprovable. And boy, that sure does look like an open fly that exposes some gray material along with the other thing. “I’ll put it to you this way: I don’t know for certain that he did,” Williams says. “But knowing the type of prankster he was and knowing his personality, I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like that.” Stock car racing has always been a sport that tolerates, even encourages, a certain level of juvenile behavior. But it was hard for anyone I spoke with to imagine that any of those 20 guys would have let it all hang out for an official NASCAR photo— with one exception. “I knew Tim really, really well, and he wasn’t above doing that,” Roger Bear says. “That is something Tim would do.” He chuckles. “He was one of a kind.” AT LANCASTER’S, Lori remains in a state of mild shock. “I’ve seen people stop and look at that poster,” she exclaims, “but I never knew why!” Jeff Lancaster—who opened the place the same year Richmond had his breakout season—says he acquired the poster in the early ’90s and put it on the wall when he had that section built in 1998. “I used to have stacks of those things,” he says. “Back then, it wasn’t that big a deal.” It is now. Customers, he says with a laugh, “gravitate to that poster—mostly women. You know what’s going on.” Your work here is done. You have made Lori’s day. “I can’t wait to tell my husband and son,” she says as she walks back to the hostess station. “Thank you so much.” GREG LACOUR is the editor. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

BOLD STROKES Designer Ashley DeLapp infuses a bland Myers Park cottage with flashy colors, vibrant patterns, and unique textures By TAYLOR BOWLER Photographs by DUSTIN PECK PHOTOGRAPHY

Prior to the renovation, the homeowners rarely used their formal living room, but now, they use the bright, colorful space every day. DeLapp mixed and matched a number of patterns and textures including the Zoffany drapery fabric, the terra cotta rug, and the green velvet bench. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

The breakfast nook (left) has built-in banquette seating and cabinets painted the same color as the kitchen island. A mustard-colored ILVE range determined DeLapp’s color palette for the kitchen (below).

rchitect-turned-designer Ashley DeLapp has the rare ability to visualize a whole-house renovation as soon as she surveys a job site. “I look at things more as volume than as just the surface,” she says. “I can picture rooms with walls down before it ever happens.” If a client gravitates toward a particular color or palette, she’s already combed her mental catalog of fabric and wallpaper samples to design the interior. DeLapp is the owner and lead designer of Ashley DeLapp Interior Design, and her style blends midcentury modern, Hollywood regency, and eclectic. She uses an audacious mix of bold colors, patterns, and textures—and it’s not for everyone. But her fearless approach is what prompted the owners of a 4,000-square-foot home in Myers Park to hire DeLapp to reconfigure their kitchen. DeLapp describes the homeowners, who have two school-aged children, as fun and avant-garde. “The wife’s parents are from Portugal, so she had gorgeous rugs from Europe,” she says. “She wanted more personality in the house and was definitely not afraid of color.”

The homeowner loved a mustard-colored ILVE range she’d had custom made in Italy, so DeLapp built her palette around that anchor piece. She added a geometric tile backsplash, Regina Andrew pendant lights, and barstools with magenta faux leather cushions. To break up the monotony of the white cabinetry, she painted the kitchen island in Sherwin-Williams’ Rainstorm. “After that, she kept hiring me to do other rooms in the house,” DeLapp says with a laugh. Over the next year, DeLapp tackled the primary bedroom, formal living room, landing space, home office, powder room, and their daughter’s bedroom. “(The floor plan) wasn’t very functional, and they didn’t use a lot of their spaces, so we blew the first floor wide open,” she says. She turned a small dining room off of the kitchen into a breakfast nook with built-in banquette seating and cabinets painted in the same color as the kitchen island. The Regina Andrew molten glass chandelier adds some drama, while the floral wallpaper, chair cushions, and pillow fabrics make it feel like a good space for a garden party. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

DeLapp repurposed a built-in armoire and made an upholstered bench in the corner of the primary bedroom (above). For the formal living room (left), DeLapp integrated lamps and side tables the homeowners already had with new pieces.

For the primary bedroom, DeLapp used the homeowners’ upholstered bed with nailhead trim and a yellow bird painting as inspiration for the decor. She added a blue Stanton area rug and lavender drapes from Zinc Textile, punched up the wall behind the bed with purple Phillip Jeffries grasscloth wallpaper, and covered the ceiling in a textured gray wallpaper from Designers Guild. “(The homeowner) was hesitant about wallpaper on the ceiling,” DeLapp says. “They aren’t super high, and she was afraid the room would be too dark, so she needed a little convincing.” In the corner, DeLapp created an upholstered bench out of a built-in armoire the homeowners wanted to remove. “Since they’d just refinished the floors, they didn’t want to redo them again,” she says. “I had a local company make a curved, upholstered back for it. Now it’s a glorified bed for their dog,” she says with a laugh. “But it was a way of using what we had without ripping it out and patching the floors.” The home office, which had previously been a guest room, got Dura Supreme cabinets and a custom green lacquer countertop. DeLapp used taupe Phillip Jeffries grasscloth for an accent wall and an ikat-patterned fabric from S. Harris for the Roman shade. “People just want a pretty place to be in with plenty of natural light,” she says. “Nobody wants to work in a dark hole.”

At the top of the stairs, DeLapp turned an unused space into a teen lounge for their daughter. She installed a Dovetail pendant light and blue ikat wallpaper by Lindsay Cowles. “Most of the wallpaper I do is big, bold patterns,” DeLapp says. “Even if it’s grasscloth, it’s a bold color; not gray or beige. To me, wallpaper is a different way to give personality to a space that paint just can’t do.” An abstract black-and-white area rug from Jaipur Living complements the accent wall, and the turquoise velvet lounge chairs from Cove add another dimension to the blue motif. The formal living room was the last part of the project, and DeLapp says it’s her favorite space in the home. “It was very dark, and now it’s full of light, and you can see through to the backyard,” she says. “Everywhere you look, there’s something pretty.” She mixed and matched patterns and textures, including the Zoffany drapery fabric; the stripe, flamestitch, and geometric chair pillows; the terra cotta Loloi rug; and the green velvet bench. “There’s a lot going on in that living room, but it all works because the colors are harmonious,” she says. “As long as you keep a consistent palette and balance the scale of the patterns, it will blend well in the end.”

TAYLOR BOWLER is the lifestyle editor. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

2022 FIVE STAR

Wealth Managers Who will be named?

Find out in a special section inside the September issue. To share your opinion, go to

fivestarprofessional.com/wmconsumerfeedback

VOTING SCHEDULE:

Best of SHOPPING + SERVICES + WELLNESS: Jan. 24-Feb. 6

Best of MEDIA + CULTURE + ENTERTAINMENT: Feb. 7-20

Vote at CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM ABOUT THE BOB AWARDS: Since 1998, we’ve published our annual Best of the Best list in the May issue to help readers navigate the city’s dining, shopping, wellness, and entertainment options. The list is comprised of voters’ choice winners and the top picks from our Charlotte magazine editors.

S P E C IAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE

2022

THE ANNUAL LIST OF TOP ATTORNEYS

SELECTION PROCESS Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process.* The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel. We limit the lawyer ratings to those who can be hired and retained by the public, i.e., lawyers in private practice and Legal Aid attorneys.

LEARN MORE

QUESTIONS?

SuperLawyers.com/SelectionProcess

SL-Research@thomsonreuters.com

*U.S. Pat. No. 8,412,564 DISCLAIMER: The hiring of an attorney is an important decision that should not be based solely upon the advertising or listings in this magazine. Super Lawyers does not certify or designate an attorney as a specialist, is not a title conferred on individual lawyers, and is not intended to communicate that lawyers selected will achieve better results upon the advertising or listings in the magazine.

visit SuperLawyers.com Search for an attorney by practice area and location, and read features on attorneys selected to our lists.

TOP 25 CHARLOTTE

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

AN ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF THE LAWYERS WHO RANKED TOP OF THE LIST IN THE 2022 NORTH CAROLINA SUPER LAWYERS NOMINATION, RESEARCH AND BLUE RIBBON REVIEW PROCESS.

Cooney, III, James P., Womble Bond Dickinson, Charlotte

Miller, Jr., John R., Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte

Culp, Heather W., Essex Richards, Charlotte

Owen, C. Melissa, Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte

Davis, Edward B., Bell Davis & Pitt, Charlotte Fialko, Christopher C., Fialko Law, Charlotte Foster, Debra L., Debra L. Foster, Charlotte Grier, III, Joseph W., Grier Wright Martinez, Charlotte Harrington, Robert E., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Hatcher, J. Gregory, Hatcher Law Group, Charlotte James, Jason B., Bell Davis & Pitt, Charlotte

Powers, Bill, Powers Law Firm, Charlotte Rayburn, Jr., C. Richard, Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte Richey, Alice Carmichael, Alexander Ricks, Charlotte Riopel, Mark D., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Thompson, Glenn C., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Van Kampen, Joshua R., Van Kampen Law, Charlotte

King, Jr., C. Bailey, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Charlotte

Wester, John R., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Kutrow, Bradley R., McGuireWoods, Charlotte

White, Martin L., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

Largess, S. Luke, Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte

Wright, III, David C., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

McDowell, Valecia M., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

S-2

SUPERLAWYERS.COM

Where do I start my search for an attorney? The Super Lawyers® list is comprised of the top 5% of attorneys in each state selected via a patented process that includes independent research, peer nominations, and evaluation. The answer is SuperLawyers.com

Wyatt, III, James F., Wyatt & Blake, Charlotte

ATTORNEYS SELECTED TO SUPER LAWYERS AND RISING STARS WERE CHOSEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCESS ON PAGE S-1.

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 Alternative Dispute Resolution ...................... S-3 Antitrust Litigation .......................................... S-3 Appellate ......................................................... S-3 Banking............................................................ S-3 Bankruptcy: Business ...................................... S-3 Bankruptcy: Consumer.................................... S-3 Business Litigation .......................................... S-3 Business/Corporate ........................................ S-4 Civil Litigation: Defense .................................. S-5 Civil Litigation: Plaintiff ................................... S-5 Civil Rights ....................................................... S-5 Construction Litigation ................................... S-5

THE ANNUAL LIST BY PRIMARY AREA OF PRACTICE

The list was finalized as of July 13, 2021. Only attorneys who data verified with Super Lawyers for the current year are included on the list that follows. All current selections and any updates to the list (e.g., status changes or disqualifying events) will be reflected on superlawyers.com. Names and page numbers in RED indicate a profile on the specified page. Phone numbers are included only for attorneys with paid Super Lawyers or Rising Stars print advertisements.

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Criminal Defense ............................................. S-6 Criminal Defense: DUI/DWI............................ S-6

Hicks, Christopher A., Hicks Law, Charlotte

Criminal Defense: White Collar ...................... S-6 Elder Law ......................................................... S-6

Horn, III, Carl, Attorney at Law, Charlotte Owens, Jr., Raymond E., Higgins & Owens, Charlotte

Eminent Domain ............................................. S-6 Employee Benefits............................................S-7 Employment & Labor .......................................S-7 Employment Litigation: Defense .....................S-7 Employment Litigation: Plaintiff .....................S-7

Environmental Litigation ................................ S-8 Estate & Trust Litigation ................................. S-8 Estate Planning & Probate ............................. S-8 Family Law....................................................... S-9 General Litigation...........................................S-10 Government Finance ......................................S-10

SUPER LAWYERS Moore, III, Lawrence C., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

APPELLATE

Insurance Coverage........................................ S-11 Intellectual Property ...................................... S-11 Intellectual Property Litigation...................... S-11 Land Use/Zoning ........................................... S-11 Mergers & Acquisitions .................................. S-11

Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense ........................................................S-12 Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff ........................................................S-12 Personal Injury Products: Defense ................S-12 Professional Liability: Defense ......................S-12 Real Estate .....................................................S-12 Securities & Corporate Finance .....................S-12 State, Local & Municipal ................................S-12 Tax...................................................................S-12 Workers’ Compensation.................................S-12

Schilli, David M., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Thompson, Glenn C., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Thompson, Judy D., JD Thompson Law, Charlotte Wright, A. Cotten, Grier Wright Martinez, Charlotte Wright, Richard S., Moon Wright & Houston, Charlotte

BANKRUPTCY: CONSUMER SUPER LAWYERS Badger, David R., David R. Badger, Charlotte Cordes, Stacy C., Cordes Law, Charlotte Culp, Heather W., Essex Richards, Charlotte Pg. S-2

BUSINESS LITIGATION SUPER LAWYERS Adams, Michael G., Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte Bridgmon, Charles J., Bray & Long, Charlotte Brown, A. Todd, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Charlotte

Odom, III, Preston O., James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte

Chase, Nathan, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

RISING STARS Hinman, Travis, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Buchan, Jr., Jonathan E., Essex Richards, Charlotte Capitano, Todd, Erwin Capitano & Moss, Charlotte Davis, Cary B., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Davis, Edward B., Bell Davis & Pitt, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Derr, Tricia Morvan, Lincoln Derr, Charlotte Doerr, Adam K., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

BANKING

Durham, Joshua B., Bell Davis & Pitt, Charlotte SUPER LAWYERS Robinson, S. Graham, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte RISING STARS Sides, Matt, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, Charlotte

Edwards, Zipporah B., Offit Kurman, Charlotte Erwin, Lex M., Erwin Capitano & Moss, Charlotte Evans, Jason D., Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, Charlotte Fennell, Richard B., James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte Fuller, III, Robert W., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Personal Injury General: Defense .................. S-11 Personal Injury General: Plaintiff................... S-11

Parrish, Felton E., Alexander Ricks, Charlotte

SUPER LAWYERS Jones, M. Duane, Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, Charlotte

Health Care.....................................................S-10 Immigration .................................................... S-11

Miller, Jr., John R., Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte Pg. S-2

Love, Jr., Kenneth, Karrenstein and Love, Matthews

ANTITRUST LITIGATION

Entertainment & Sports .................................. S-8 Environmental ................................................. S-8

Martinez, Michael L., Grier Wright Martinez, Charlotte

RISING STARS Lluberas, Luis M., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

SUPER LAWYERS Dunn, Steve, Miles Mediation & Arbitration Services, Charlotte

Creditor Debtor Rights .................................... S-6

Johnson, R. Keith, R. Keith Johnson, Stanley

BANKRUPTCY: BUSINESS SUPER LAWYERS Cooper, Langdon McIlroy, Mullen Holland & Cooper, Gastonia Cox, Jr., Robert A., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte

Fulton, Ross R., Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte Gardner, Jared E., Gardner Skelton, Charlotte Gibson, Ronald L., Ruff Bond Cobb Wade & Bethune, Charlotte Green, Bonnie K., The Green Firm, Charlotte

Durham, Albert F., Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte

Hardymon, Glen K., Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte

Eades, David L., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

Harrington, Robert E., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Pg. S-2

Esser, IV, William L., Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte Grier, III, Joseph W., Grier Wright Martinez, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Houston, Andrew T., Moon Wright & Houston, Charlotte

Hennessey, IV, Edward F., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Henriques, Mark P., Womble Bond Dickinson, Charlotte CONTINUED ON PAGE S-4

SUPER LAWYERS NORTH CAROLINA / CHARLOTTE 2022

S-3

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 BUSINESS LITIGATION SUPER LAWYERS CONT’D FROM PAGE S-3

Higgins, Sara “Sally” W., Higgins & Owens, Charlotte Houck, Pearlynn G., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte James, Jason B., Bell Davis & Pitt, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Jarrell, Douglas M., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte King, Jr., C. Bailey, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Krisko, Jonathan C., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Kutny, Mark R., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Kutrow, Bradley R., McGuireWoods, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Long, Jeffrey A., Bray & Long, Charlotte Lord, Harrison A., Lord Law Firm, Charlotte Marcus, Robert R., Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Charlotte Mauney, Gary V., Mauney, Charlotte, 704-562-8442 McDowell, Valecia M., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Pg. S-2 McLoughlin, Jr., James P., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Mehta, Kiran H., Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, Charlotte Merritt, Mark W., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Moss, Jr., Joseph W., Erwin Capitano & Moss, Charlotte Nebrig, Mark A., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

S-4

SUPERLAWYERS.COM

Ogburn, III, Thomas L., Poyner Spruill, Charlotte Richey, Alice Carmichael, Alexander Ricks, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Ross, Adam L., James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte Spears, Harold C., Caudle & Spears, Charlotte Welch, Gary J., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Wester, John R., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Pg. S-2 White, Martin L., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Wilder, Jr., Raboteau, Wilder Pantazis Law Group, Charlotte Wood, Jr., Fred M., Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, Charlotte Wright, III, David C., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Pg. S-2

Krueger-Andes, Matthew W., Fox Rothschild, Charlotte McTier, Ty, Redding Jones, Charlotte Nitto, Amanda Pickens, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Peacock, Tyler B., Gardner Skelton, Charlotte Raab, Christopher P., Caudle & Spears, Charlotte Raja, Nader S., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Shook, Benjamin E., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Staples, Christian H., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte Vennum, Liz, Hull & Chandler, Charlotte, 704-375-8488 Pg. S-5

BUSINESS/CORPORATE

RISING STARS Chase, Emma M., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

SUPER LAWYERS Gilbert, Heath, Baucom Claytor Benton Morgan & Wood, Charlotte

Church, Brian L., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Hannum, Christopher E., Culp Elliott & Carpenter, Charlotte, 704-973-5320

Farley, William J., Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, Charlotte Ferguson, Russ, Womble Bond Dickinson, Charlotte Garber, Lucas D., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte Garella, Kiel, Garella Law, Charlotte Holtgrewe, Matthew M., Erwin Capitano & Moss, Charlotte Hutchins, Sarah Fulton, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte

Hull, Nathan Myers, Hull & Chandler, Charlotte, 704-375-8488 Pg. S-5 Kean, Warren P., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte Rayburn, Jr., C. Richard, Rayburn Cooper & Durham, Charlotte Pg. S-2 Thurman, William D., Thurman Wilson Boutwell & Galvin, Charlotte RISING STARS Agans, Justin, Spengler Agans Bradley, Charlotte

ATTORNEYS SELECTED TO SUPER LAWYERS AND RISING STARS WERE CHOSEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCESS ON PAGE S-1.

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 Bradley, Daniel Vincent, Spengler Agans Bradley, Charlotte

Martin, Ben, Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte

Correll, Jr., B. Alexander, Caudle & Spears, Charlotte

Kliebert, Kate, Kliebert Law, Charlotte Rugani, David, Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

Rose, Whitaker Boykin, Rosenwood Rose & Litwak, Charlotte

Dantinne, Kenneth, Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte

Temple, Jordan D., Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte

Rosenwood, Erik M., Rosenwood Rose & Litwak, Charlotte

Jesson, Edward A., Jesson & Rains, Charlotte

CIVIL LITIGATION: DEFENSE

Skufca, Ronald A., Skufca Law, Charlotte, 704-376-3030 Pg. S-2

SUPER LAWYERS Bolster, Jeffrey S., Bolster Rogers, Charlotte

RISING STARS Bimbo, Steven Allen, Smith Terry & Johnson, Charlotte

Boutwell, John D., Thurman Wilson Boutwell & Galvin, Charlotte

Burchette, Carl J., Rosenwood Rose & Litwak, Charlotte

Kirk, Kimberly J., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Poplin, Ashlee, Cotney, Charlotte Robertson, Jr., R. Lee, Robertson & Associates, Charlotte Trimmer, Daniel S., Skufca Law, Charlotte, 704-376-3030 Pg. S-2 CONTINUED ON PAGE S-6

Garofalo, Mel J., Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, Charlotte Stiles, Ned A., Stiles Byrum & Horne, Charlotte RISING STARS Litwak, Nancy, Rosenwood Rose & Litwak, Charlotte Majestro, Anna, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, Charlotte Nguyen Worthy, Mica, Cranfill Sumner, Charlotte Stull, Tyler A., Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, Charlotte Thomas, Lee M., Martineau King, Charlotte, 704-247-8520 Walsh, Austin R., Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, Charlotte

CIVIL LITIGATION: PLAINTIFF RISING STARS Caudill, Bo, Weaver Bennett & Bland, Matthews Conner, Brittany, DeVore Acton & Stafford, Charlotte Hocutt, Adam, Dozier Miller Law Group, Charlotte

CIVIL RIGHTS RISING STARS Brown, Alesha, Justice In Action Law Center, Charlotte Chambers, Cheyenne N., Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte Littlejohn, Jr., Micheal L., Littlejohn Law, Charlotte

CONSTRUCTION LITIGATION SUPER LAWYERS Ahlum, Greg C., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Burchette, Robert L., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Carson, B. David, Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Finegan, Daniel J., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Hamilton, David B., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte James, Tracy Thompson, Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Lautenschlager, Kenneth T., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Lax, Andrew W., Forrest Firm, Charlotte SUPER LAWYERS NORTH CAROLINA / CHARLOTTE 2022

S-5

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 Parton, Corey V., Parton Law, Charlotte

CREDITOR DEBTOR RIGHTS SUPER LAWYERS Tarr, Andrew W.J., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Cromwell, Brian S., Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte

Remington, K. Brandon, Remington & Dixon, Charlotte

Fialko, Christopher C., Fialko Law, Charlotte Pg. S-2

Stowe, Ryan, Stowe Law Firm, Salisbury Stump, Ryan, Randall & Stump, Charlotte

Glaser, Jr., Richard S., Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte

Williams, Lance, Minick Law, Charlotte

CRIMINAL DEFENSE

Owen, C. Melissa, Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte Pg. S-2

CRIMINAL DEFENSE: DUI/DWI

SUPER LAWYERS Corbett, III, Robert Kelly, The Corbett Law Firm, Charlotte

SUPER LAWYERS Laughrun, II, George V., Goodman Carr Laughrun Levine & Greene, Charlotte

Davis, James A., Davis and Davis, Salisbury, 704-639-1900 Foster, Jr., Mark P., Foster Law Offices, Charlotte Greene, Michael J., Goodman Carr Laughrun Levine & Greene, Charlotte Heroy, W. Rob, Goodman Carr Laughrun Levine & Greene, Charlotte Pfeiffer, Sonya, Rudolf Widenhouse, Charlotte Randall, IV, Samuel J., Randall & Stump, Charlotte Rawls, III, Eben T., Rawls Scheer Clary & Mingo, Charlotte

Powers, Bill, Powers Law Firm, Charlotte, 704-342-4357 Pg. S-2 RISING STARS Lee, Aaron, Law Office of Aaron R. Lee, Huntersville Olsinski, Justin C., The Olsinski Law Firm, Charlotte Shook II, Ronald, The Law Offices of Ronald J. Shook, Gastonia

Wyatt, III, James F., Wyatt & Blake, Charlotte Pg. S-2

ELDER LAW RISING STARS

CRIMINAL DEFENSE: WHITE COLLAR

Tin, Noell P., Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte

SUPER LAWYERS Blake, Jr., Robert A., Wyatt & Blake, Charlotte

RISING STARS Ames, Ryan, SeiferFlatow, Charlotte, 704-512-0606 Pg. S-8

Brackett, Jr., Martin L., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Mills, Miranda, Roberts Law Group, Charlotte

Rudolf, David S., Rudolf Widenhouse, Charlotte

Engel, Nicki, Collins Elder Law Group, Charlotte

Scheer, Anthony G., Rawls Scheer Clary & Mingo, Charlotte

Davis-Woods, Salena J., Davis Woods Law, Charlotte

Rauscher, Claire J., Womble Bond Dickinson, Charlotte

Cogdell, Jr., Harold W., The Law Offices of Harold Cogdell Jr., Charlotte Cooney, III, James P., Womble Bond Dickinson, Charlotte Pg. S-2

EMINENT DOMAIN SUPER LAWYERS Odom, Jr., Thomas L. (Tommy), The Odom Firm, Charlotte RISING STARS Murray, David W., The Odom Firm, Charlotte

Kudos to Our 2022 Super Lawyers

WE CAN ADVISE ON:

and Rising Stars Honorees

Catastrophic Injuries

Members of Our Complex Litigation Team

Construction Defects Gary W. Jackson Hoyt G. Tessener

Business Disputes Accounting, Medical, and Legal Malpractice Defamation Sexual Abuse Claims Civil Rights Class Actions Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices

Chris Bagley

Gary Jackson

Hoyt Tessener

Selected to Rising Stars Consumer Law

Selected to Super Lawyers Six categories; including Class Actions and Mass Torts

Selected to Super Lawyers Six categories; including Personal Injury - General

Our litigators have 200+ trial verdicts in their combined careers and 1 10 recoveries of at least $1 million since 2019.

Antitrust Cases Defective Drugs and Products Whistleblower (Qui Tam) Wrongful Death Bad Faith Insurance Claims Employment Rights and Disputes Environmental Contamination Nursing Home Abuse

866.900.7078 | www.farrin.com Each case is unique and must be evaluated on its own merits. Prior results do not guaran r tee a similar outcome.

S-6

SUPERLAWYERS.COM

for unique situations.

ATTORNEYS SELECTED TO SUPER LAWYERS AND RISING STARS WERE CHOSEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCESS ON PAGE S-1.

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 EMPLOYEE BENEFITS SUPER LAWYERS Adams, II, Norris A., Essex Richards, Charlotte Coffin, Jonathan T., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Colbert, Lois, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, Charlotte Tyson, Bryan, Marcellino & Tyson, Charlotte RISING STARS Matesic, Rachel, The Sasser Law Firm, Charlotte Walton, Caitlin, Essex Richards, Charlotte

EMPLOYMENT & LABOR SUPER LAWYERS Adams, III, G. Bryan, Van Hoy Reutlinger Adams & Pierce, Charlotte Adams, Julie K., FordHarrison, Charlotte Edwards, Bartina L., The Law Office of Bartina Edwards, Charlotte Everett, Kerry B., Everett Law, Charlotte Finlon, Kristen E., Essex Richards, Charlotte Flatow, Mathew E., SeiferFlatow, Charlotte, 704-512-0606 Pg. S-8 Fosbinder, Julie H., Fosbinder Law Office, Charlotte Gardner, Nicole L., Gardner Skelton, Charlotte Gustafson, Marc E., Bell Davis & Pitt, Charlotte Huber, Susan M., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Huckert, Tamara L., Strianese Huckert, Charlotte Hughes, N. Renee, Ascension Law, Charlotte Johnson, Charles E., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Kelly, Patrick E., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Kromer, Sarah J., Sarah J. Kromer, Charlotte

EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION: DEFENSE RISING STARS Cleys, Kevin, Littler Mendelson, Charlotte Lewis, Gwendolyn W., Lincoln Derr, Charlotte

Maloney, Margaret B., Maloney Law & Associates, Charlotte

Mullikin (née King), Mary Fletcher, Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

McGinnis, Karin M., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

Wooten, Virginia, Cranfill Sumner, Charlotte

Noble, Laura L., The Noble Law, Charlotte Rainey, Richard L., Womble Bond Dickinson, Charlotte Van Kampen, Joshua R., Van Kampen Law, Charlotte, 704-247-3245 Pg. S-2 Vincent-Hamacher, Angelique R., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Wood, Stacy K., Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte Wright, Jr., Julian H., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte RISING STARS Adams, Joshua, Jackson Lewis, Charlotte

EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION: PLAINTIFF SUPER LAWYERS Elliot, R. Michael, Elliot Morgan Parsonage, Charlotte Fuller, Trevor M., The Fuller Law Firm, Charlotte, 980-326-5200 Pg. S-9 Gresham, John W., Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte Largess, S. Luke, Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte Pg. S-2

Burchette, Kathleen D., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

Sharpe, Jenny L., J Sharpe, Charlotte

Herrmann, Sean F., Herrmann & Murphy, Charlotte

RISING STARS Henson, Andrew, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, Charlotte

Hinson, Philip A., Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, Charlotte Negus, Sarah H., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Summey, Tory, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte

Lyon, Daniel C., Elliot Morgan Parsonage, Charlotte CONTINUED ON PAGE S-8

SUPER LAWYERS NORTH CAROLINA / CHARLOTTE 2022

S-7

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION: PLAINTIFF RISING STARS CONT’D FROM PAGE S-7

Murphy, Kevin P., Herrmann & Murphy, Charlotte Spyker, Jennifer D., Maloney Law & Associates, Charlotte

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS SUPER LAWYERS Caldwell, Jr., Stokely G., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Zanoni, Melinda Morris, Apollo Sports & Entertainment Law Group, Charlotte, 704-334-7741 Pg. S-10 RISING STARS Alston, Alonzo M., McAlpine, Charlotte

ENVIRONMENTAL SUPER LAWYERS Griffin, III, Thomas N., Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte RISING STARS Sherlock, Emily S., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

ESTATE & TRUST LITIGATION SUPER LAWYERS Anderson, Michael F., Anderson Law Firm, Charlotte Chandler, Lynn F., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte Lindley, Trey, Lindley Law, Charlotte RISING STARS Munn, Satie, Lindley Law, Charlotte

ESTATE PLANNING & PROBATE SUPER LAWYERS Carpenter, John J. (Jody), Culp Elliott & Carpenter, Charlotte, 704-973-5343 Daniel, Stephanie C., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte

Jones, Christopher J.C., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte King, Carl L., Culp Elliott & Carpenter, Charlotte, 704-973-5337 Lewis, David T., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte McBryde, Neill G., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte Nesbitt, Andrew L., Nesbitt Law, Charlotte Norvell, Holly B., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Oesterreich, Tanya N., Oesterreich Law, Concord Perrin, Christian L., Christian L. Perrin, Charlotte Royal, Heidi E., Heidi E. Royal Law, Charlotte Shealy, J. Darrell, Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Siler, N. Lucille (Lucy), Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

Farris, Ray S., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

Van Hoy, Bradley T., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

Fenninger, Cynthia T., Orsbon & Fenninger, Charlotte Foster, Debra L., Debra L. Foster, Charlotte Pg. S-2

ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION RISING STARS Romanzo, Melissa, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Charlotte

Henninger, Jr., Joseph B. (Josh), Joseph B. Henninger, Charlotte

SUPERLAWYERS.COM

Holding, Jr., Graham D., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Davies, Janice L., Davies Law, Charlotte

Griggs, Julie Zydron, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

S-8

Hickmon, James E., North Carolina Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law, Charlotte

Hattenhauer, Paul M., Culp Elliott & Carpenter, Charlotte, 704-973-5336

RISING STARS Dean, Benjamin E., Culp Elliott & Carpenter, Charlotte, 704-372-6322 Feller, Danielle R., Daly Mills Family Law, Statesville Forneris, John, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Jaffa, Brooks, Cranford Buckley Schultze Tomchin Allen & Buie, Charlotte Long, Jr., John J., Stewart Law, Charlotte

ATTORNEYS SELECTED TO SUPER LAWYERS AND RISING STARS WERE CHOSEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCESS ON PAGE S-1.

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 Morris, Jeffery J., Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte

Riopel, Mark D., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Pg. S-2

Faircloth, Candace S., Collins Family Law Group, Monroe, 704-286-6881 Pg. S-10

Nodar, Danielle, Jesson & Rains, Charlotte

Self, David K., Family Law and Mediation, Cornelius

Patterson, Erin B., Erin Patterson Law, Charlotte

Foard, Dominique (Missy), SeiferFlatow, Charlotte, 704-512-0606 Pg. S-8

Rains Jesson, Kelly, Jesson & Rains, Charlotte

Sellers, Leigh B., Touchstone Family Law, Charlotte

Reed, Amanda, The Law Office of Amanda M. Reed, Concord

Smith, Tonya Graser, GraserSmith, Charlotte, 704-626-6795 Pg. S-11

Frost, Kyle A., Offit Kurman, Charlotte

Sodoma, Nicole Heiden, Sodoma Law, Charlotte

Garon, Danielle, Hatcher Law Group, Charlotte

FAMILY LAW SUPER LAWYERS Arnold, Matthew R., Arnold & Smith, Charlotte

Soni, Ketan, Soni Brendle, Charlotte Stephens, Richard D., Dozier Miller Law Group, Charlotte Stepp, Donna, Stepp Law Group, Monroe

Blair, Jr., Robert S., Essex Richards, Charlotte

Trosch, Eric C., Conrad Trosch & Kemmy, Charlotte

Burt, Laura B., Wofford Burt, Charlotte

Watts, Rebecca, Collins Family Law Group, Monroe, 704-289-3250 Pg. S-10

DeJesse, Jr., Paul A., Hatcher Law Group, Charlotte Dilman, Deborah L., Southpark Family Law, Charlotte

Webb, Richard M., Jones Childers Donaldson & Webb, Mooresville

Foley, Ashley C., Cordes Law, Charlotte Gajewski, Chelsea, Sodoma Law, Charlotte Gaudio, Kaylan, Collins Family Law Group, Monroe, 704-286-6881 Pg. S-10 Gilbert, Katie, Rech Law, Charlotte Griffin, Jordan Marie, Leitner Bragg & Griffin, Monroe Guardipee, Stephen, Hatcher Law Group, Charlotte Hamrick, Rachel Rogers, Tom Bush Law Group, Charlotte Harrawood, Tara A., Marcellino & Tyson, Charlotte

RISING STARS Adkins, Christopher, Adkins Law, Huntersville

Hefner, Penelope L., Sodoma Law, Monroe

Blood, Anna, Blood Law, Waxhaw

Hatcher, J. Gregory, Hatcher Law Group, Charlotte Pg. S-2

Horton, P. Doughton, Sodoma Law, Charlotte

Bolling, Tiffany J., Law Office of Tiffany J. Bolling, Charlotte

King, Irene P., King Collaborative Family Law, Charlotte

Houston, Christine, Collins Family Law Group, Monroe, 704-286-6881 Pg. S-10

Bonomini, Ashley, Sodoma Law, Cornelius

Keenan, Jacqueline, Adkins Law, Huntersville

Clark, Sarah R., Skufca Law, Charlotte, 704-376-3030 Pg. S-2

Kirby Stage, Julia, Marcellino & Tyson, Charlotte

Feit, Jonathan, James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte Gunter, Dorian H., Sellers Ayers Dortch & Lyons, Charlotte

Lehnhardt, Dana B., Lehnhardt Price Family Law, Monroe Lewis, Lauren V., Essex Richards, Charlotte Morris, Gena G., James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte Patterson, Rhonda L., The Patterson Law Office, Charlotte

Crowder, Ashley A., Arnold & Smith, Charlotte Cubit, Amanda, Dozier Miller Law Group, Charlotte Dixon, Jennifer K., Remington & Dixon, Charlotte Easterling, Lindsey, Easterling Law, Matthews

Holladay, Brett, Miller Bowles Cushing, Charlotte

Krueger-Andes, Carolyn, Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Larson, Dara Duncan, Duncan Larson Law, Charlotte CONTINUED ON PAGE S-10

SUPER LAWYERS NORTH CAROLINA / CHARLOTTE 2022

S-9

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 FAMILY LAW RISING STARS CONT’D FROM PAGE S-9

Lawrence, Rebecca J., Freedom Law | North Carolina, Charlotte LeBlanc, Anna Gray, Offit Kurman, Charlotte LeBlanc, Kyle W., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte Marquez, Andria D., Marcellino & Tyson, Charlotte McCleary, David M., Dozier Miller Law Group, Charlotte McCrary, Dustin S., The Law Office of Dustin S. McCrary, Statesville Melvin, Christine M., Hatcher Law Group, Charlotte Meredith, Eric S., Jetton & Meredith, Charlotte, 704-333-1114 Pg. S-12

ERIC S. MEREDITH JETTON & MEREDITH, PLLC Charlotte • 704-333-1114

www.jettonmeredithlaw.com Moen, Lynna, Moen Legal Counsel, Charlotte Moore, Jennifer P., Marcellino & Tyson, Charlotte Routh, Kelly R., Routh Law, Charlotte Smith, Sherrie C., Helms Robison Lee & Bennett, Monroe Stacy, Meg, Daly Mills Family Law, Statesville Tabrizi, Isla, Collins Family Law Group, Monroe, 704-289-3250 Pg. S-10 Van Vynckt, Meghan A., Cordes Law, Charlotte Viera, Theresa, Modern Legal, Charlotte Voss, Alexa M., James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte

At Collins Family Law Group, we understand family law matters are sensitive in nature and encompass complex legal issues. That is why we strive to utilize our extensive legal knowledge in combination with compassion and unwavering dedication to help clients achieve positive outcomes and successfully navigate the legal process.

Walle, Danielle Jessica, Marcellino & Tyson, Charlotte Watkins, Angela M., Leitner Bragg & Griffin, Monroe Williams, Leigh Anne, Southpark Family Law, Charlotte Willink, Mallory A., Conrad Trosch & Kemmy, Charlotte REBECCA WATTS*

ISLA TABRIZI**

CANDACE S. FAIRCLOTH**

Wright, Amanda M., James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte

It is our goal to guide clients through these difficult times by providing them with the very best legal services to protect their futures.

Yates, Kathryn E., Easterling Law, Matthews

With more than 165 years of combined legal experience, the attorneys at Collins Family Law Group are dedicated to serving North and South Carolina in all areas of family law and estate planning, including divorce, child custody, alimony, wills & trusts, probate, appeals, and much more.

SUPER LAWYERS Hinson, Jr., Edward T., James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte

Our team is comprised of 14 talented family law and estate planning attorneys.

GENERAL LITIGATION

KAYLAN GAUDIO**

CHRISTINE HOUSTON**

Martineau, Elizabeth A., Martineau King, Charlotte, 704-247-8520

GOVERNMENT FINANCE

*Super Lawyers Honoree **Rising Stars Honoree

NORTH CAROLINA: DILWORTH • WEDDINGTON • MONROE • BALLANTYNE • LAKE NORMAN SOUTH CAROLINA: FORT MILL • CHARLESTON

PH: (704) 289-3250 | FX: (704) 625-7451 S-10

SUPERLAWYERS.COM

Loebsack, Chris, Loebsack & Brownlee, Charlotte

collinsfamilylaw.com

SUPER LAWYERS Robertson, Allen K., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

HEALTH CARE SUPER LAWYERS Garver, III, John B., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

ATTORNEYS SELECTED TO SUPER LAWYERS AND RISING STARS WERE CHOSEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCESS ON PAGE S-1.

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 IMMIGRATION

Goldfarb, William K., Law Offices of William K. Goldfarb, Monroe

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Grimes, Elizabeth G., Grimes Yeoman, Mooresville

SUPER LAWYERS Garfinkel, Steven H., Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm, Charlotte

SUPER LAWYERS Morrice, John A., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte

Gordon, Alan S., Gardner Gordon, Charlotte

RISING STARS Harasimowicz, Craig, Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

Kallianos, Chris M., Warren & Kallianos, Charlotte

Litwak, Brian, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte

Mingo, Amanda A., Rawls Scheer Clary & Mingo, Charlotte

Little, Hannah F., Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm, Charlotte Miller, George N., Dozier Miller Law Group, Charlotte RISING STARS Molner, Colleen F., Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm, Charlotte Snyder, Benjamin, Charotte Immigration Law Firm, Charlotte, 704-944-3239 Pg. S-12

Groninger, Ann, Johnson & Groninger, Charlotte Heroy, J. Alexander, James McElroy & Diehl, Charlotte

Sample, Wade B., Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

Monnett III, Charles G., Charles G. Monnett III & Associates, Charlotte

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: DEFENSE

Moore, Jon R., Brown Moore & Associates, Charlotte Robinson, William C., Robinson Elliott & Smith, Charlotte

RISING STARS Campbell, Clay A., Marcellino & Tyson, Charlotte

Warren, C. Jeff, Warren & Kallianos, Charlotte

Thie, Douglas, Clawson and Staubes, Charlotte

INSURANCE COVERAGE SUPER LAWYERS DeGeorge, R. Steven, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte RISING STARS Campbell, Christopher, McAngus Goudelock & Courie, Charlotte Fulton, Joseph W., Martineau King, Charlotte, 704-247-8533

Knox, H. Edward, Knox Law Center, Denver

RISING STARS Adler, Derek P., DeVore Acton & Stafford, Charlotte

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: PLAINTIFF

Anderson, Nicholas, Curcio Anderson Law, Matthews

SUPER LAWYERS Anderson, Richard L., Sumwalt Anderson Law Firm, Charlotte

Baddour, Helen S., Johnson & Groninger, Charlotte

Chandler, R. Michael, Hull & Chandler, Charlotte, 704-375-8488 Pg. S-5

DeVore, IV, F. William, DeVore Acton & Stafford, Charlotte

Connette, III, Edward G., Essex Richards, Charlotte

Harman, Michael C., Harman Law, Huntersville

DeVore, III, Fred W., DeVore Acton & Stafford, Charlotte

Mann, Courtney, Law Office of W. Daniel Grist, Charlotte

Brooks, Whitney, The Olive Law Firm, Charlotte Clayton, Sean, Karney Law Firm, Charlotte

Dressler, Brett, Ayers Whitlow & Dressler, Charlotte

CONTINUED ON PAGE S-12

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SUPER LAWYERS Ladenheim, Matthew J., Trego Hines & Ladenheim, Huntersville

TONYA GRASER SMITH

McDermott, Rick, McDermott IP Law, Charlotte Nipp, John C., Additon Pendleton & Witherspoon, Monroe

FAMILY LAW

Schwartz, Jeffrey J., Schwartz Law Firm, Charlotte RISING STARS Clements, Carla, Womble Bond Dickinson, Charlotte

Selected to Super Lawyers

Harasimowicz, Rebeca Echevarria, Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION SUPER LAWYERS Allan, Albert P., Allan IP Litigation, Charlotte Grimes, J. Douglas, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Charlotte Higgins, John P., John Higgins Law, Charlotte Sneed, Jason M., Sneed, Davidson

LAND USE/ZONING SUPER LAWYERS Merritt, Keith J., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte

Tonya Graser Smith is a North Carolina board-certified specialist in Family Law and Founder of GraserSmith, PLLC. Tonya brings more than a decade of family law experience, a steady presence and a strong desire to help clients through one of their most difficult chapters with grace, peace and integrity. Tonya’s focus is to be a steadfast advocate for everyone of her clients. Tonya listens, counsels and commits to exceptional representation every step of the way. Tonya recognizes each client’s journey is unique, and the legal service and support provided must be specialized. Divorce is not simple. Family matters are not simple. Tonya provides her clients with expertise when they need it most.

GRASERSMITH, PLLC 223 East Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28203 PH: (704) 626-6795 | Tonya@grasersmith.com

grasersmith.com SUPER LAWYERS NORTH CAROLINA / CHARLOTTE 2022

S-11

S P E CIAL ADV E RT ISIN G SE C T ION

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE 2022 PERSONAL INJURY RISING STARS CONT’D FROM PAGE S-11

Fisher, Jr., Walter D., Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, Charlotte

Elliott, Jr., W. Curtis, Culp Elliott & Carpenter, Charlotte, 704-973-5328

Pahlke, Paige L., Brown Moore & Associates, Charlotte

Goldberg, Jon, Alexander Ricks, Charlotte

Horowitz, Steve C., Ascension Law, Charlotte

McDermott, Gary T., McDermott Law, Waxhaw

Lincoln, Erik C., Lincoln, Charlotte

Sheriff, Timothy A., Crumley Roberts, Charlotte Springs, Molly, Springs Law, Charlotte Woodyard, Alex, Law Offices of William K. Goldfarb, Monroe

PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: DEFENSE SUPER LAWYERS Stevenson, Scott M., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte RISING STARS Barfield, Timaura, Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte Reynolds, Terence S., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte

Merlin, Daniel A., Alexander Ricks, Charlotte Sink, Caroline Wannamaker, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte Sistrunk III, George W., Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte RISING STARS Faircloth, Randall W., Regent Law, Charlotte Hanson, Mark J., Alexander Ricks, Charlotte Hodge, Will, McMillan, Charlotte Ihrie, J. Parker, King & Spalding, Charlotte Mufale, Amber N., McMillan, Charlotte

SUPER LAWYERS Brown, R. Kent, Brown Moore & Associates, Charlotte Elam, William H., Elam & Rousseaux, Charlotte, 704-343-0000 Pg. S-4 McGee, Sam, Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte Mitchell, Ronnie M., The Mitchell Law Group, Charlotte Stafford, Troy J., DeVore Acton & Stafford, Charlotte RISING STARS Berthold, Matthew C., Charles G. Monnett III & Associates, Charlotte

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SUPER LAWYERS Bernanke, Seth M., Law Office of Seth M. Bernanke, Charlotte Bollinger, Jr., Bobby L., The Bollinger Law Firm, Charlotte

O’Brien, Simon John, Bray & Long, Charlotte

Kadis, Jeffrey A., Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, Charlotte

Sawyer, Sarah, Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin, Charlotte

Pantazis, Annemarie, Wilder Pantazis Law Group, Charlotte Shankle, Margaret, Shankle Law Firm, Charlotte

SECURITIES & CORPORATE FINANCE PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: PLAINTIFF

RISING STARS Buckner, Elizabeth, Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte

SUPER LAWYERS Bryant, Patrick S., Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte RISING STARS Zajac, Jared, King & Spalding, Charlotte

STATE, LOCAL & MUNICIPAL SUPER LAWYERS Keeton, Lori R., The Law Offices of Lori Keeton, Charlotte

TAX SUPER LAWYERS Culp, Jr., William R., Culp Elliott & Carpenter, Charlotte, 704-372-6322

Sumner, H. Randolph, Mullen Holland & Cooper, Gastonia Sumwalt, Mark T., Sumwalt Anderson Law Firm, Charlotte Sumwalt, Vernon, The Sumwalt Group , Charlotte Ussery, Andrew R., McAngus Goudelock & Courie, Charlotte RISING STARS Ayers, Christian, Ayers Whitlow & Dressler, Charlotte Hedgepeth, Michael F., Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, Charlotte Mehta, Viral V., Mehta & McConnell, Charlotte Simmons, Jerri J., Cranfill Sumner, Charlotte Spake, Marcus, Stewart Law Offices, Charlotte Walker, Lauren, Sumwalt Anderson Law Firm, Charlotte

PERSONAL INJURY PRODUCTS: DEFENSE SUPER LAWYERS Meckler, Steven A., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte

SORTED ALPHABETICALLY

Selected to Rising Stars

ERIC S. MEREDITH

PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY: DEFENSE SUPER LAWYERS Holmes, Jr., Harold D. “Chip”, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, Charlotte RISING STARS Stacy, Megan M., Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, Charlotte

REAL ESTATE SUPER LAWYERS Arado, Frank E., Katten Muchin Rosenman, Charlotte Buben, Jr., John R., Johnston Allison & Hord, Charlotte Efird, Scott, St. Amand & Efird, Charlotte Ellis, Benjamin H., Culp Elliott & Carpenter, Charlotte, 704-973-5326

S-12

SUPERLAWYERS.COM

JETTON & MEREDITH, PLLC

216 North McDowell Street Suite 110 Charlotte, NC 28204 Tel: 704-333-1114 Fax: 704-335-0448 ericmeredith@jettonmeredithlaw.com www.jettonmeredithlaw.com

Selected to Rising Stars

BENJAMIN SNYDER

CHAROTTE IMMIGRATION LAW FIRM

205 Regency Executive Park Drive Suite 510 Charlotte, NC 28217 Tel: 704-944-3239 Fax: 704-288-3923 bens@charlottelaw.net www.charlottelaw.net

FAMILY LAW

IMMIGRATION

Eric S. Meredith is a founding partner of Jetton & Meredith, PLLC, who, with his partner, established the law firm in 2009. Mr. Meredith focuses his practice on cases related to divorce and family law. Previously selected to North Carolina Rising Stars in 2012 and 2015-2022, Mr. Meredith graduated from North Carolina State University and Elon University School of Law.

Benjamin A. Snyder is a North Carolina State Bar-Certified Immigration Law Specialist and partner at Charlotte Immigration Law Firm. Mr. Snyder manages Charlotte Immigration Law Firm’s employment and investment-based immigration practice. His work includes preparing and filing nonimmigrant visa petitions and applications, as well as employment-based immigrant visa matters, including PERM based EB-2 and EB-3 petitions, EB-1 petitions for multinational executives and managers, outstanding researchers, or those with extraordinary ability, EB-2’s with National Interest Waivers (NIW), EB-5 entrepreneur petitions, and EB-4 petitions for religious workers. Mr. Snyder has experience representing individuals, families, and businesses in virtually all manner of immigration matters.

ATTORNEYS SELECTED TO SUPER LAWYERS AND RISING STARS WERE CHOSEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCESS ON PAGE S-1.

RACING REIMAGINED CO NT I N U E D F RO M PAG E 5 5

more extensive, data-driven approach to digital marketing in 2018, and last year, its overall audience share for 2021 rose among millennials and Gen Z as it fell among Baby Boomers and Gen X. The sport’s Gen-Z social media followership grew 15% from 2020, according to NASCAR-commissioned research in 2021, and NASCAR also became the first sports league to launch an official server with the online chat app Discord, where more than half of its reported 250 million users are younger than 24.

COURTESY, NASCAR: ISC ARCHIVES/CQ-ROLL CALL GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGE

ET EVEN WITH all the activity on the web, the most visible changes are happening to the machines on wheels. When NASCAR was born in 1948, drivers raced the same Fords, Chevys, Dodges, Plymouths, Pontiacs, and Hudsons that ferried fans and families to the speedways. Sometimes drivers, too. Lee Petty borrowed a Buick to drive from his home in Level Cross, just south of Greensboro, to Charlotte for the first Strictly Stock race in 1949. Legend holds that he may not have told the owner of the Buick that he would also be racing it. Halfway through the race, Petty rolled the Buick, and he had to hitch a ride back home. The rules originally called for participating cars to have a stock frame, a body with the doors strapped shut, and a heavy-duty rear axle to keep them from flipping. They also required seat belts, optional in passenger vehicles until 1968. But then the sport got bigger, and the cars got faster. “They didn’t really become ‘race cars’ until the mid-to-late ’60s, when they started building specific frames,” Kyle Petty, Lee Petty’s grandson, tells me in the fall. Before then, when Kyle was a boy, Chrysler “would bring a car hauler and unload some cars. There would be three cars, like the ’66 or ’67 Plymouth Fury. They would just unload them, and my mom would drive one, my grandma would drive one, and one of them they would turn into a race car. And if they wrecked the race car, too bad. Then my mom or my grandma was going to lose theirs because they had to turn the second one into a race car. That didn’t

happen very often, but the accomplishment Lee Petty was the patriarch of a four-generation stock it did happen.” of developing a new car racing family. (Above) You can see the evolurace car,” says Marcus Petty, in the No. 42 Plymouth, tion since the ’60s along Smith, the president outpaces Johnny Allen (11) and Speedy Thompson (94) the Glory Road display and CEO of Speedway in the second Daytona 500 at the NASCAR Hall Motorsports, which in 1960. Junior Johnson won, owns racetracks around of Fame. Gradually, as and Petty came in fourth, just behind his son Richard. the country—includdecades passed, bench ing Charlotte Motor seats, glove compartments, headlights, and Speedway, where it’s working door handles headquartered. “It’s disappeared, and additional steel tubing been just a huge undertaking and really and other safety measures for drivers impressive to see everybody’s pulled began to show up. The largest and loudtogether.” est cry for driver safety came after the The fans, as always, are the intended death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. at Daytona beneficiaries. “This is a proactive move in 2001, when Earnhardt crashed into a by NASCAR,” Kyle Petty says, “to put a retaining wall and suffered a fatal skull product on the track that, as you move to the next generation of fans, they can fracture. Within months, the sport had mandated specialized restraints, like the say, ‘Oh, yeah, I understand that car.’” HANS device, to prevent drivers’ heads A generation ago, in 1997, former from whipping violently in crashes. Charlotte Motor Speedway President and The improvements curbed driver CEO Howard “Humpy” Wheeler told me about a late-’70s Charlotte Chamber event deaths, the most important thing, but they came with an aesthetic price. By the at which he spoke. On his way out, thenGeneration 5 car, used in NASCAR from North Carolina National Bank Chairman 2007 to 2012, vehicles were homogLuther Hodges Jr. gave Wheeler a gag gift: enized, with a common body and chasa can of Pabst Blue Ribbon, a pair of white sis across all manufacturers. Fans could socks, and a trucker hat. “As I was getting tell the difference only from the decals. in the car to leave,” Wheeler recalled, “I The seventh-generation car, which will thought, Man, have we got a long way to make its debut this season, has given go, ’cause that’s what these people think of manufacturers greater latitude to replius out here.” cate the look and feel of their distinctive Not anymore, and there’s no way to street cars. know where NASCAR will end up in a “It is just a monumental task that generation or two. That’s its appeal: It never takes its foot off the pedal. NASCAR has undertaken, and it’s one that we’ll look back on in a year or five years and really have an even better STEVE GOLDBERG is a longtime journalist and sports writer who lives in Charlotte. appreciation for the challenge and FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

PART Y P I C S

Seen

Photographs by DANIEL COSTON

Upcoming Calendar of Events Submit your event online at charlottemagazine.com/things-to-do, and look forward to seeing more from these: FEBRUARY 2/11 Blue Skies Bash: A Friend- & Fund-raiser in The Barrel Room at Triple C Brewing Company 2/12 15th Annual Cupid’s Cup 5K & 1-Mile Walk in Myers Park 2/12 4th Annual Wendell Scott Legacy Gala at NASCAR Hall of Fame 2/12 Everything will BE fine, Come be my Valentine at The Ballantyne

ANNA SUI OPENING RECEPTION

Mint Museum Randolph 11/19/2021

1. Grazia Walker 2. Michael Gallis, Berhan Nebioglu 3. Terry Hudson, Kurma Murrain 4. Anna Sui

2/25 Wish Ball at The Westin

JERSEYS & JEWELS

benefiting Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte Bank of America Stadium 11/13/2021

1. Heather Liebler, Michelle Henderson, Selah Henderson 2. Brittany Adler, Amy DeVore, Della Stafford 3. Cristina Oesterheld, Javier Oesterheld 4. Joan Sweeney, Bob Sweeney, Les Miller, Rosalynn Miller, Denise Cubbedge 5. Alex Anderson, Buddy Clayton 6. Patrice Duff, Jeremy Duff

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

S.O.S. GALA

benefiting Foundation For Tomorrow Founders Hall 11/12/2021

1. Renee Poteat, Kevin Brungardt, Samuel Brungardt 2. Scott Mattei, Ashley Anderson Mattei, Stephen Wilson 3. Allyson Colaco, Jennifer Everett 4. Lisa Wilfong, Stephanie Guffman, Shelley Wilfong, Kellen Seymour 5. Meghann Gunderman Sehorn 6. Patrick Bartels, Heather Bartels 7. Roy Morejon, Nehal Morejon

YOUNG AFFILIATES OF THE MINT FALL BALL

Mint Museum Randolph 11/20/2021

1. David Sauers, Elizabeth Warren 2. Tyla Cox, Drew Taff 3. Billy Morse, Amorette Reid 4. Chelsea Ravitch, Abigail Buckner (co-chairs) 5. Kevin Jolin, Meredith Jolin

Continued on next page FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

The Collector’s Room by Beau Monde 11/22/2021

1. Mickey Kidwell, Kevin Weiker 2. Robyn Albaum, Bill Evans, Todd Albaum 3. Chad Rice, April Rice 4. Dr. Yele Aluko 5. Gary Michel

33RD ANNUAL CHARLOTTE TURKEY TROT

benefiting Samaritan’s Feet 11/25/2021

1. Events include a Tot Trot, 1-mile run, and 5K and 8K races. 2. Friends and family gather near SouthPark Mall, where the race begins and ends. 3. Samaritan’s Feet founders Manny and Tracie Ohonme at the start line. 4. Nearly 8,000 runners crossed the finish line.

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

Charlotte magazine (ISSN 1083-1444) is published monthly by Morris Communications at 214 W. Tremont Ave., Suite 303, Charlotte NC 28203-5161. Entire contents Copyright © 2022 by Morris Communications. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Periodicals postage paid in Charlotte, NC and additional offices. To subscribe, renew, or change address, go to www.charlottemagazine.com or write to: Charlotte magazine, 214 W. Tremont Ave., Suite 302, Charlotte NC 28203-5161. Subscription rate $19.95 for one year (twelve issues). For renewal or change of address, include the address label from your most recent issue. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Charlotte, P.O. Box 433237, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9616. Unsolicited photographs, illustrations, or articles are submitted at the risk of the photographer/artist/author. Charlotte magazine assumes no liability for the return of unsolicited materials and may use them at its discretion.

DANIEL COSTON (4); ANN KOEHLER (4)

ANNUAL CHEF CHALLENGE FOR HEART BALL KICKOFF

NATIONAL PHILANTHROPY DAY

Hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Charlotte chapter The Collector’s Room by Beau Monde 11/18/2021

1. Kirsten Sikkelee, Justin Perry 2. Ohavia Phillips 3. Banu Valladares, Manolo Betancur

DANIEL COSTON (3); COURTESY

CROSSWORD

BY ANDY SMITH

ANSWERS can be found online at charlottemagazine.com/crossword. FEBRUARY 2022 // CHARLOTTE

YOU ARE HERE Each month, we throw a dart at a map and write about where it lands. LOCATION: 11501 Bain School Road, Mint Hill

11501 B AIN SC H MINT OOL ROAD, HILL

Reminders and Redeemers

THE HUM of landscaping equipment cuts through the chilly afternoon air as workers beautify a marble columbarium. I’m in a courtyard of Philadelphia Presbyterian Church in Mint Hill, where the church places the cremains of members. Just yards away, tombstones from more than 200 years ago, so weathered you can no longer read their etchings, stretch up from the ground. Founded in 1770, Philadelphia Presbyterian—named after a church identified in the Book of Revelation—is one of the oldest churches in Mecklenburg County. Its original chapel building, built in the

1820s, bears painful physical reminders of the nation’s past: Mismatched bricks indicate a now-closed doorway slaves used to attend services, and the opening to the balcony where they were forced to sit still looms in the sanctuary. Today, about 550 members worship in a larger, more modern building. They focus on how their faith can enrich their community today, says the Rev. Dr. Herbie Miller, the church’s senior pastor and head of staff. Philadelphia Presbyterian boasts a bustling preschool and a packed activities and outreach calendar. Members work with the con-

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2022

gregants of Blair Road United Methodist Church to fill backpacks of food for 85 families; the backpacks go home with children from three local schools every Friday. The church hosts The Bulb, a food pantry, twice a month, when families in need can collect fresh produce instead of cans. “Being a very old, historic church is great, but we don’t ever want to get complacent. We want to be forwardlooking,” Miller says. “How can we be a blessing to the community around us?” —Cristina Bolling

SHAW NIELSEN; CRISTINA BOLLING

The members of a historic church in Mint Hill serve their community in the shadow of its history

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE. ENDLESS OPPORTUNITY. MUSIC

BUSINESS

Best Value Schools 2020

Best Online Bachelor’s, U.S. News & World Report 2021

#1 in the U.S.

#1 in N.C.

COMPUTER SCIENCE

Best Colleges U.S. News 2022

NURSING

Top 3 in N.C. U.S. News 2022

APPAREL DESIGN

Top 5 -South fashion-schools.org 2020

Welcome to a place where classes are small and resources many. Where professors are accomplished researchers and dedicated mentors. Where a campus tucked between trees is walking distance to a charming downtown. And where 20,000 ambitious students are being shaped into the change-makers our world needs.

go.uncg.edu/future

4521 Sharon Rd, Charlotte, NC 28211

(704) 532-9041

Ofﬁcial Jeweler of the Carolina Panthers

Charlotte Magazine February 2022

Articles inside

Restaurant Guide

On the Line

You Are Here

Recipe

Bite-Sized News

Local Flavor

Community

Connect

Style

Building History

Hot Listings

Life Lessons

Arts

Now Open