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DEPARTMENTS 11 The Nature of Things By Ashley Wahl
15 Simple Life
FEATURES
18 Short Stories 20 Short and Sweet
51 Quarantine Haircut
By Jim Dodson
Poetry by Steve Cushman
By Ogi Overman
52 O.Henry About Town
21 Tea Leaf Astrologer
A photo essay starring a troupe of O.Henry’s most theatrical characters
By Zora Stellanova
23 Life’s Funny
62 O.Henry's 10 for 10
By Maria Johnson
Our 10-word short story winners
26 The Creators of N.C.
66 A Visionary Perspective
By Wiley Cash
31 The Omnivorous Reader By Stephen E. Smith
35 Scuppernong Bookshelf 39 Home by Design By Cynthia Adams
41 Book Excerpt By Bland Simpson
43 Birdwatch
Ten questions for a handful of Gate City visionaries
75 Southside Reimagined By Maria Johnson Transforming Greensboro one office — and vision — at a time
81 Almanac
By Ashley Wahl
By Susan Campbell
45 Wandering Billy By Billy Eye
99 Events Calendar 112 O.Henry Ending By David Claude Bailey
6 O.Henry
Thanks to the support of our loyal advertisers, O.Henry remains a coveted gift to our community month after month. As we celebrate 10 years as the “Art and Soul of Greensboro,” we acknowledge the advertisers who have been with us from the beginning with a golden “10 years” seal. A special thanks to Katie Redhead, also an original advertiser, for sponsoring our anniversary cover. And to all of our advertisers: Deep and heartfelt gratitude for your patronage!
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
M A G A Z I N E
Volume 11, No. 11 “I have a fancy that every city has a voice.” 336.617.0090 111 Bain Street, Suite 334, Greensboro, NC 27406 www.ohenrymag.com PUBLISHER
David Woronoff Ashley Wahl, Editor awahl@ohenrymag.com Jim Dodson, Visionary-at-Large Andie Rose, Creative Director andie@thepilot.com Lauren M. Coffey, Art Director Alyssa Rocherolle, Graphic Designer
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The Nature of Things
The Next Chapter A celebration of life’s endless twists and turns
By Ashley Wahl
A novelist I know and admire once
compared his writing process “to driving at night with the headlights on.” I laughed because I knew exactly what he meant — that a story never reveals itself all at once — and because life seems to unfurl that way, too. When I met Alan, for instance, we were both dating other people. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that, six years later, we would exchange rings and vows over the rush of a tumbling mountain creek. But a few weeks back, on a bright and unseasonably brisk Friday in September, that’s exactly what we did. It seems the best stories surprise even the writer. Which brings me to another twist. Perhaps you know that I returned to Greensboro in 2020 when Jim Dodson, my mentor of 12 years, announced he was ready to pass on the editor’s torch and take on a less demanding role with O.Henry. Prior to relocating, Alan and I were living in Asheville, where we both felt a sort of mystical attraction to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Regardless, I was excited to come back to the place I called home during my undergraduate studies at UNCG and again during this magazine’s infancy. Fortunately, Alan was up for the journey too. Having been a part of O.Henry’s launch in 2011, you can imagine my delight to land at the helm of a magazine that had continued to evolve and yet, nearly a decade later, remained devoted to expressing its playful, authentic nature through the voices and
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
lenses of a truly incomparable bunch of contributors. And as for Greensboro? I was awestruck. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, the creative and resilient spirit of the Gate City was palpable. That O.Henry had become a trusted fixture here was a pure reflection of this city’s deepest values. What I didn’t know when we moved here was that the mountains would draw us back so soon — just over a year later, as it turns out. And what a year it’s been. During my sojourn in Greensboro, I’ve had the great privilege of reconnecting with dear friends and former colleagues, discovering new favorite haunts, writing about inspiring people and places, making new friends and once again being a part of a celebrated literary magazine that people swear that they read cover to cover. Moving here was no mistake. Of this I’m certain. But a cue from our namesake: not all stories are meant to be long. As you’re reading this, O.Henry is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and settling into its new digs at Transform GSO, a shared workspace located within the historic Gateway Building at 111 Bain St. Simultaneously, my new husband and I are packing up our Fisher Park home to begin our next chapter together . . . a couple hundred miles west. Naturalist John Muir said it best in a letter to his sister in 1873: “The mountains are calling, and I must go.” I don’t know where the winding road will guide us next, but I trust the journey. And as for this magazine: Twists are a part of its DNA. Happy anniversary, O.Henry. Thanks for the grand adventures. May your next decade continue to reawaken the spirit of William Sydney Porter with fathomless beauty, wonder and joy. OH Contact former editor Ashley Wahl at mystical_ash@protonmail.com. O.Henry 11
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Simple Life
Time and Remembrance
As the honeybee takes its final drink, bittersweet memories arrive and depart
By Jim Dodson
I’ve been thinking about time
lately. How quickly it comes. How quickly it passes.
An excellent example of this phenomenon is O.Henry magazine, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, a moment of reflection in a 200-plus-year-old city whose lifespan stretches from the days of the American Revolution to the dawn of the Digital Space Age. If I may be bold enough to speak on behalf of my talented colleagues — our generous owners and contributing writers, gifted artists, photographers, designers and tireless sales folks who handcraft this magazine every month with equal parts passion and creativity — we as a staff are deeply grateful to have earned your loyal support and steadfast readership over the years. As we embark on the next decade of life, you will see an observance of this milestone in our pages this month, stories that celebrate our past, present and future hopes for the historic Gate City we call home. In the process, we are also embracing inevitable change by saying a reluctant goodbye to Editor Ashley Wahl, my longtime protégé and the original senior editor of this magazine, who begins her new married life with husband Alan in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ashley’s gracious return one year ago began the process of allowing me to hand off the editor’s baton as part of my plan to refresh the magazine with new voices and ideas, a natural 10-year evolution that will see both of us remain fully engaged contributors to the magazine we love. As part of this process, beginning with the December issue, we are thrilled to welcome Mary Best onboard as O.Henry’s new editor, a talented veteran of magazine editing whose love of writers and fine storytelling makes her the ideal choice to carry the magazine forward. In the meantime, November is a month of remembrance. We The Art & Soul of Greensboro
begin by celebrating Hallowmas, the Feast of All Saints known and unknown. In the middle of the month we’ll remember veterans for their sacrifice and wind up November by giving thanks for the abundance of the Earth and ties that bind. The good news this holiday season is that families may finally be able to gather in person to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, though collective reflection upon the millions worldwide who are no longer with us this year reminds us of life’s precious brevity. Speaking of such, the other afternoon, cheered by the sudden arrival of autumn light and a breath of welcome coolness, I noticed a small honeybee having a drink of water from an old bird bath I’ve kept filled on account of our lingering summer. Recently, I placed a circle of small stones at the water’s edge to prevent thirsty bees from falling in and drowning. Until my wife informed me that drowning is a genuine threat to the invaluable life of bees, I never gave passing thought to how a simple drink of water could be so perilous. In ancient times, bees were considered symbols of order and immortality. The wax they produce found its way into candles used in religious ceremonies, their honey sweetened and preserved food. Coins from the fifth century featured images of bees, held to be among nature’s most magical creatures. Modern science, in fact, confirms what ancient observers believed about bees — that they have a mysterious yet highly refined way of communicating with each other that enables them to find the hidden nectar of flowers and construct honeycombs from thousands of symmetrically perfect hexagons, mathematical structures reminiscent of the six-pointed stars that form the Flower of Life. “Because bees feed on the nectar of flowers,” writes symbologist Adele Nozedar, “and fundamentally on sunlight, they are agents of transmutation, making something from nothing, mystical creatures that are able to foresee the future.” This belief, she adds, may explain why beekeepers since the late Middle Ages have followed the tradition of speaking to their honeybee hives, conveying news O.Henry 15
Simple Life of the household, particularly of births and deaths, and the broader life of the community. Between us, I lost track of time watching this lone honeybee pause to refresh. Either five minutes or the better part of an hour drifted by. The bee was in no hurry and neither was I, both taking our own sweet time as the clock of another year winds down, though his days are ten thousand times shorter than mine, a bittersweet reminder to get on with things that need to be done. As I watched him hop from stone to stone, I wondered where he might be headed and how much time he has left to fulfill his purpose. A male honeybee lives anywhere from one month to seven weeks, on average, and suddenly it was autumn. I felt a stab of sadness for my thirsty friend, but he rose into the air, hovered for a moment, then flew away. My impression was that he knew exactly where he was headed and why he is here. Isn’t that the greatest lesson of being alive? Remembrance often comes with bittersweet memory. Still sitting where the honeybee left me, I randomly opened an old leather journal — ironically embossed with the Celtic Flower of Life, purchased years ago in a Dublin book shop — where I keep a record of travels, eccentric thoughts, favorite quotes, overheard comments, mildly blue jokes and notes on my garden, only to be stopped by a line I wrote two days before Thanksgiving last year. For the first time ever, due to COVID distancing, none of our grown children could make it home for the holiday. That was disapFIND ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
pointing enough — a moment we expected to eventually come in time as their busy lives expanded — but the unexpected loss of our sweet and lovable golden retriever, Ajax, a gift to my wife for our 10th anniversary, was a devastating blow. Due to a swift malady that came out of nowhere overnight and left us no choice but to humanely put him down, a kind lady vet came to the house to administer relief as he lay calmly on his favorite couch, gazing out the window at the yard where he loved to romp with the kids. He was such a big kid himself, I called him “Junior.” After I carried Junior’s body out to the doctor’s car, I sat at the top of my office steps by the garage and watched the beautiful light of a perfect autumn afternoon leave the world as peacefully as my friend Ajax had just done. The mighty white oaks around us had shed most of their leaves by then, though a few last ones filtered to earth in the golden light. I heard children’s voices just yards away, playing tag, squeals of terrified delight. Junior would have loved that. I looked up and saw a red-tailed hawk cruising over the treetops, tilting to the west as if turning toward home. I wondered what he saw from 200 feet closer to heaven. Perhaps an old dude sitting at the top of his steps, grieving for his friend who brought such joy into the world. It’s probably about time I let my grief for Junior go. The light in the eye grown dim, wrote Walt Whitman, shall duly flame again. Though I doubt that will happen just yet. OH Jim Dodson is the founding editor of O.Henry.
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Short Stories Clap if the Spirit Moves You
Drumming and dancing and an all-black cast? Jesus, Mary and Joseph, yes. Poet and playwright Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity will all but shake the walls of The Barn Dinner Theatre from Friday, November 13, through Tuesday, December 23. With its foot-stomping gospel songs and soul-stirring folk spirituals, this riveting retelling of the Christmas story has been inspiring audiences since its Off-Broadway debut in 1961. The following year, when it first appeared at the Festival of Two Worlds at Spoleto, Italy, a New York Times reporter described congregations of worldly theater patrons fervently clapping and singing along — “and insisting on curtain call after curtain call.” Little wonder this show sells out early each year. As for the all-you-can-eat Southern-Style buffet? Can we get a Hallelujah? The Barn Dinner Theatre, 120 Stage Coach Trail, Greensboro. Info: barndinner.com.
Art of Betrayal
Although “time-bending, darkly comic world between heaven and hell” sounds like a fairly apt description of our present reality, it also sets the scene for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot — a contemporary drama with raw language and the kind of shock factor that’s sure to offend someone’s Bible-thumping granny. The UNCG School of Theatre invites you to join the Purgatory party this month at the Pam and David Sprinkle Theatre (402 Tate St., Greensboro). Where else can you mingle with Mother Teresa, Mary Magdalene, Sigmund Freud, Satan and the New Testament’s OG sinner? Performances run November 4–14; Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. On-demand streaming November 18–20. Box Office: (336) 334-4392. Info: vpa.uncg.edu/theatre.
18 O.Henry
This Box is Meowing
Carolina Classic Holiday Movies are here (and some of you have yet to polish off the leftover turkey). Here’s the holly, jolly lineup for this month: November 28 – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 7 p.m. Because Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold. That’s why. November 29 – Miracle on 34th Street, 7 p.m. Spoiler alert: Santa is real. November 30 – Elf, 7 p.m. Discover the best way to spread Christmas cheer — and where the reindeer get their magic. Tickets are $7. Doors and box office open at 6:15 p.m. See website for COVID protocol and a B-O-G-O offer for essential workers. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com.
Pop Goes the Concert
Broadway big name Matthew Morrison — generation Glee know him as Mr. Schue — is bringing the p-o-p and fizzle to the Greensboro Symphony for a POPS concert on Saturday, November 6, at 8 p.m. Morrison, who starred in the original cast of Hairspray, has been nominated for Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe awards for his work on stage and screen. He can dance, act and sing with the best of them. Don’t miss the chance to experience his high-range pipes live with the GSO. Tickets start at $35. Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: tangercenter.com/events. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Ogi Sez Ogi Overman
Next month we’ll be saying, “Wow, is it Christmas already?” But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Rather, let’s just say, “Wow, is it Thanksgiving already?” Criminy, I’m barely over Halloween. Let’s just pretend every day’s a holiday and celebrate by going to a concert.
Urban Indian
If you’ve been reading this year’s One City, One Book selection, There There, then you know what author Tommy Orange means when he describes himself as an “urban Indian.” As in, leave the feathered headdress and other stereotypes at the door. Born and raised in Oakland, Ca., Orange is the son of a white mother and Native father and an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma. There There, his debut novel, is one of The New York Times “10 Best Books of the Year,” a Pulitzer Prize-finalist and Winner of the Pen/Hemingway Award. An Evening with Tommy Orange takes place on Thursday, November 18, 7 p.m. at The Terrace (Greensboro Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd.); free admission. Additional OCOB programming includes a Native American storytelling and stone-carving workshop, storytelling crafts, indigenous hip hop, a lesson on natural navigation, a conversation on community gardens, a powerful discussion on the misrepresentation of native women and a film offering 21st century Native American perspectives. Y’all come. Info: library.greensboro-nc.gov/books-media/one-city-one-book.
All That Glitters
If there were but Seven Wonders of The Gate City, then surely the Greensboro Science Center would be one of them. And that’s before the holidays when a shimmering light show joins penguins, Bakari the okapi and a host of life-size dinosaurs. This year’s Winter Wonderlights promises to be “bigger, bolder and brighter” than ever, expanding to transform Revolution Ridge (the center’s 11-acre zoo expansion) into a glittering, prismatic dreamscape. From November 6 through January 2, experience GSC’s dancing fountains, twinkling carousel, enchanted Forest of Light and a host of wild and wintry adventures. Tickets: $16.50 (children and seniors); $24.50 (adults). Free for children 2 and under. Greensboro Science Center, 4301 Lawndale Dr., Greensboro. Info: greensboroscience.org.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
• November 10, The Ramkat: When alt. country became a thing back in the mid-90s, three groups vaulted to the top in my book: Wilco, Two Dollar Pistols and Drive-By Truckers. Of the three, I must admit that Drive-By Truckers was always my fave, even before Jason Isbell’s stint from 2001-’07. They’re keeping the genre alive, God bless their little hearts. You bet I’ll be in Winston for this. • November 14, High Point Theatre: After two
COVID-induced cancellations, the third time’s gotta be the charm for A.J. Croce. Don’t expect a clone-tribute act of his late father Jim’s material, though. Sure, the hits will be covered, but A.J. is a virtuoso pianist who’s toured with the likes of B.B. King and Ray Charles, and he is a top-shelf songwriter and has 10 albums to his credit. This will be well worth the wait.
• November 19, Greensboro Coliseum: When this show was announced, I almost passed out from joy. Both of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters on the same bill — James Taylor and Jackson Browne. I’m literally counting down the days. If I never see another show, my life will be complete after this one. • November 20 & 21, Tanger Center: I think
I’m seeing a pattern develop here. When a genuine legend with a rabid fan base comes to the 3,000-seat Tanger, it needs to be a two-nighter. No doubt, Sting falls into that category. He could probably sell out several shows, so if you want to be one of the 6,000, you might want to order ASAP.
• November 27, Carolina Theatre: OK, so we
really are celebrating Christmas already. But with this supergroup ensemble, comprised of past members of the Temptations, the Miracles and the Capitols, A Motown Christmas would be a treat any season of the year. Hey, getting a little head start on the holidays seems quite in order. We deserve it. O.Henry 19
Short and Sweet
Brotherhood
A night to remember with Tim and Danny Carter By Ogi Overman
When Danny Carter was wheeled
into Springers bar off Randleman Road, the SRO crowd posed for selfies with him and treated him like the prodigal son. While grown men fought back tears, some women didn’t even try.
Most of the attendees had grown up with the music of Danny and brother Tim, aka the Carter Brothers, but had not seen Danny in the five years since he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a brain disorder that can lead to delirium and death. A procedure helped, but then Danny suffered a stroke, which robbed him of his ability to walk. And play guitar. (But not to sing.) Since then Tim had been taking care of Danny and their mother, Hazel, for whom they’d built a cabin adjoining their home and recording studio in Ridgetop, TN. She passed away last December, and shortly afterward Danny told Tim that he’d like to move back home to High Point. After a seemingly endless array of long-term care issues, Tim
finally found a facility in High Point that seemed well suited for his brother’s needs. At last Danny had found a home, was being visited regularly by a host of old friends and was progressing well with his therapy. Then, with no warning, Tim was told that unless he came up with $15,000, they would have to find a nursing home for Danny. Hence the six-band benefit concert, organized primarily by Shiela Klinefelter, notorious for such altruistic endeavors. “I had to come up with the money almost overnight,” says Tim. “We’ve about recouped it now, but it’s hard to know what his longterm needs might be.” But the real bonus? “He needed to know how many friends he’s got and how much they care for him. He just needed to see them.” Finally, it was time for the Tim Carter Band to hit the stage. With one extra member. A mic was set up in front of the stage and Danny took his place behind it. And, yes, he remembered every lyric and hit every note. This time, grown men didn’t even try to hide their tears. OH
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Tea Leaf Astrologer
Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)
Watch a garden spider mercilessly swaddle its prey in silk and see if you aren’t vaguely reminded of your favorite Scorpio. Dark and mysterious by nature, it’s little wonder that the presence of this powerful water sign tends to make people feel a bit uncomfortable. But those who know and love this brooding and morbidly sensitive being will tell you that their wrath is justifiable: Their every action is rooted in their fierce loyalty to truth and those dearest to them. This month, Scorpios will be asked to take stock of their emotional baggage. Heavy, isn’t it? The new moon is a good time to let go.
Tea leaf “fortunes” for the rest of you: Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21) Have you heard of therapeutic shaking? It might counteract all that fidgeting. Capricorn (December 22 – January 19) It won’t be a cakewalk, but there will be music. Aquarius (January 20 – February 18) You’re overthinking things again. Draw yourself a bath and relax. Pisces (February 19 – March 20) A seesaw only works if you’re willing to cooperate. Aries (March 21 – April 19) The prize is the box itself. Taurus (April 20 – May 20) Regression isn’t a good look for you. Dust yourself off and keep going. Gemini (May 21 – June 20) Temping, isn’t it? Do what you want. It’s really only karma. Cancer (June 21 – July 22) Wear the pink ones. Leo (July 23 – August 22) There’s no such thing as a free puppy. Read that again.
Enjoy The Ride
Virgo (August 23 – September 22) Let’s put it this way: The bubble needed to be burst. Libra (September 23 – October 22) Neat and tidy isn’t always an option. OH
Zora Stellanova has been divining with tea leaves since Game of Thrones’ Starbucks cup mishap of 2019. While she’s not exactly a medium, she’s far from average. She lives in the N.C. foothills with her Sphynx cat, Lyla. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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O.Henry 21
6
th Celebration
Life's Funny
Et Tu, Tofu? Adventures in curd-based cooking
By Maria Johnson
Lately, I’ve been eating a plant-based diet.
“Don’t you mean vegetarian?” a meat-based reader might say. Here, I would split hairs — in the way only a plant-based person would — and say, “No.” First of all, “plant-based” is a hipper term than “vegetarian,” which sounds so . . . Moosewood (see Moosewood Cookbook, a vegetarian standard published in 1974). Also, I think “plant-based” sounds more flexible. To me, it means my diet is mostly plants, but it also leaves room for the fact that if you waved a Ruth’s Chris petite filet, seared medium, under my nose, I’d probably bite your fingers off to get at it. Granted, it’s a slight distinction, but accuracy is important to me. It’s also accurate to say that most of the time, I don’t miss meat. All of which brings me to tofu, a protein-rich staple of many people who eat plant-based diets. Tofu is bean curd. Smooth, white and gelatinous, and it’s sold in chilled squares. Imagine clammy, chalky Jell-O, minus the flavor. Not a great sales pitch I know, but there you have it. Tofu is what I would call a member of the blah food group — think grits, rice, potatoes, couscous — which is to say that when it’s cooked right and dressed up to the point you don’t recognize it, it can be really good. My fave local Asian restaurant — shout out to Timmy and the crew at Thai Corner Kitchen #2 — fries up some mean tofu cubes: golden brown and chewy, they’re the perfect sop for whatever scrumptious sauce they’re swimming in. Inspired, I started playing around with tofu at home, adding it to The Art & Soul of Greensboro
stir fries and curries with favorable results, meaning that my husband and my hound, a reliable food taster, ate it without complaint — and also, I think, without the knowledge that they were eating tofu, but that’s beside the point. The point is, I started wondering if I should serve a tofu turkey for Thanksgiving, not as a replacement for the Pilgrim kind, but as an option, along the lines of serving both pumpkin and pecan pies. After all, we’re likely to have a vegan and several plant-leaning folks at the table this year, and I thought it would be nice to give them — us — more choices. To that end, I started reading reviews of store-bought tofu turkeys, which, thank goodness, aren’t molded to resemble turkeys, à la Spam lambs. Rather, they favor meat roasts. Lump-like and comforting. The best-known brand offered an oblong product called “a plantbased holiday feast,” which received an average of 4.1 out of 5 stars from 47 reviewers. Their opinions ran the gamut. “OK. SO . . . I can eat a whole one by myself. These little sh*ts are hella delicious,” wrote Christie R. That sounded good. Ish. If one could get the imagery out of one’s mind. Michelle S., who doesn’t put much stock in punctuation, was slightly less sanguine: “Its OK a lil on the cardboard side.” As a hostess, I was hoping for a lil more. “I like their vegetarian sausages,” declared Jaismeen K., managing to confuse everyone. Rachel T., however, was clear. “This is perhaps the most disgusting thing I’ve ever put in my mouth, and I mean that’s saying a lot for me,” she wrote. So many questions for Rachel. Maybe, I thought, I should make a tofu turkey from scratch O.Henry 23
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Life's Funny instead. SO — as Christie R. would say — I dredged up a recipe for a trial run, ran to the store, and commenced to sweating some tofu, which means wrapping the blocks in a dish towel, laying heavy objects on top of them and bleeding out the liquid — pretty violent stuff in plant-based circles. Then, per the recipe, I mixed the tofu with lots of herbs and spices, shaped it into a dome, hollowed out a well, packed in the stuffing, capped the well and brushed that baby with a glaze made of soy sauce, spicy mustard and red wine. An hour later, I pulled it from the oven. It smelled great. It looked like an asteroid. I cut into it. The stuffing was recognizable. The tofu was more mealy than meaty. I summoned the husband and the hound. “I kinda like it,” Jeff said, several forks in. “Really?” I squeaked, chewing slowly. “Yeah, I didn’t think I would,” he said. “But I do.” He went for seconds. God love him. I held out a piece to Rio. He sniffed it and left the room. I thought so. I blamed myself. Then I blamed the recipe, which felt better. Later, I was searching The New York Times cooking app for another version, when I ran across this question-and-answer column by food editor Sam Sifton: Q: How does one cook a tofurkey? I’m having some vegetarian guests for Thanksgiving this year. A: One does not. The point of vegetarian food is not to make meat out of vegetables. One makes vegetables and calls them by their proper names. And if one can’t make a turkey to place alongside them, or if one needs a vegetarian main course, one’s way is clear. One makes really big beets. To find Sam’s Really Big Beets recipe, search “No Tofurkey for You (and Other Thanksgiving Cooking Advice)”. You can thank me later. OH Maria Johnson is a contributing editor of O.Henry. Email her at ohenrymaria@gmail.com.
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The Creators of N.C.
Rising STARworks Art from the Ground Up
By Wiley Cash • Photographs by Mallory Cash
The town of Star is the artistic
center of North Carolina. I mean that — literally — in that Star is the geographic center of the state. And I also mean it figuratively, as the town is home to STARworks, where artists from around the world have been working in fire arts like glass blowing and ceramics since 2005.
“We love to set stuff on fire around here,” says STARworks executive director Nancy Gottovi, who, in a single decade, led the transformation of an abandoned hosiery mill into a destination for artists from around the globe. In 1993, a nonprofit called Central Park NC formed when leaders from six Central Carolina rural counties came together with
26 O.Henry
a common vision of creating a sustainable economy. The group formed an initiative to focus on art as a way to capitalize on the natural and cultural assets of the rural spaces located between the urban centers of Charlotte and the Research Triangle. That was when Nancy Gottovi began asking herself questions about what a working artist truly requires. “They need to have a really good space to work with good equipment,” Gottovi says. “They also need a community of other artists to feed off of. And they need a way to make a living.” In 2005, Gottovi and Central Park NC found a space — nearly 200,000 square feet of space, to be exact — when they accepted the donation of a former hosiery mill in Star that had been abandoned in 2001, leaving more than 1,000 local residents unemployed. Enter STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise. In the early days, the organization was grossly understaffed and overwhelmed by the nearly four acres of aging factory it had inherited, but Gottovi soon realized that in order for the fledgling organizaThe Art & Soul of Greensboro
The Creators of N.C.
tion to survive, the building itself had to start generating income. “Our biggest asset is this amazing space,” she says. “We needed to get the best artists we could find and then set them loose in the building.” The artists Gottovi invited set about creating glass pumpkins as one of the first ventures to raise capital to sustain the organization. Suffice it to say that it worked, and that Gottovi proudly witnessed the former factory evolve into an artistic and cultural center where artists gathered and forged both creations and community. Now, over a decade later, glassblowers at STARworks regularly create and sell as many as 3,000 glass pumpkins each fall. And each holiday season, they make and sell thousands of Christmas ornaments. The economic model at STARworks could be described as self-sustaining. The organization offers paid internships to glass artists, who earn hundreds of hours of experience in a field that is often cost-prohibitive to those just starting out and who might not be able to afford their own studios and equipment. In turn, the The Art & Soul of Greensboro
interns work to create the pumpkins and ornaments that are sold each year while also having the time, space and materials to pursue their own projects. The interns also gain valuable experience as mentees while working side-by-side with professional artists from around the world who come to STARworks as residency recipients and visiting artists. An onsite gallery provides space to showcase and sell individual artists’ work. While interns and established artists come from around the world, visitors are just as likely to discover a group of local students dabbling in glassblowing and ceramics. Some of the students who continually benefit from their experiences at STARworks are the young men from nearby Eckerd Connects, a juvenile justice program for youth ages 13–17. Gottovi continually finds the young men from Eckerd to be the most interesting and curious young people she has encountered in her years at STARworks. According to Gottovi, working with fire and glass is a little dangerous, but these young people are comfortO.Henry 27
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The Creators of N.C. able navigating a certain amount of pressure in their lives, and glassblowing in particular teaches them how to work in a team and rely on other people to create a piece of art. It is an affecting experience for many of the young men, born out by the fact that several returned to STARworks as formal apprentices. STARworks is not just creating space for artists. It is also sourcing the medium from which art is made. Recognizing the region’s long history of both brick-making in central North Carolina and pottery in nearby areas such as Sea Grove, Gottovi saw an opportunity to take advantage of the organic materials surrounding them. While spending time in Japan after graduate school, Gottovi met a Japanese potter who had a degree in ceramic material engineering, and years later she invited him to come to Star to start a clay business. He took her up on the invitation, and now STARworks is selling the best clay in North America, one of the only manufacturers creating potter’s clay from indigenous sources. The program is both a financial and educational boon. While selling clay to potters and sculptors all around the world, interns at STARworks have the
opportunity to learn about the process of finding, digging and making quality clay, which Gottovi compares to “eating artisan baked bread if you’ve only ever eaten white.” One of the most consistent challenges that STARworks has faced is where to house its artists. “Housing is the biggest challenge in a small community of only 800 people,” Gottovi says. But, just as she has done since the early days in the abandoned mill, Gottovi is finding solutions. The organization takes out year-long leases for artists in rental homes in the area, and an old boiler building on the property is being considered for future renovation for onsite housing. One cannot help but think about Gottovi’s early consideration of what artists need: space, community, support. Whether in the studio, in the local community or in the earth itself, all the ingredients are here, and STARworks is right in the middle of it all. OH Wiley Cash is the Alumni Author-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. His new novel, When Ghosts Come Home, is available wherever books are sold. UN DE RC ON TR AC T
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O.Henry 29
THEY RISE, YOU RISE. UNCG students and graduates are both the fabric and fuel for our region’s growth. With more than 95,000 alumni in North Carolina – 39,000 of those within 25 miles of campus – UNC Greensboro and its grads have real-world, everyday impact. They are the health professionals who care for our families, the teachers who educate our children, and the new leaders who energize our businesses and our communities. These successful, inspirational people will invest in UNCG’s engine of progress for the Piedmont Triad and beyond. Light the Way: The Campaign for Earned Achievement is UNCG’s bold campaign. With a $200 million goal, it will transform UNCG as we strengthen student access, academic excellence, and the tremendous impact of our University.
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Omnivorous Reader
Comrades in the Wilderness A solitary woman and a red fox
By Stephen E. Smith
Literary agents and ac-
quisition editors who read early drafts of what would become Catherine Raven’s bestselling Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship must have wondered what niche the book might fill. Memoir/autobiography? Not exactly. Humanities/social sciences? Not really. Spirituality/self-help? Probably not.
This much is certain: Whatever nook the book occupies, a careworn copy of Walden is already there. Like Thoreau, Catherine Raven wandered into the wilderness “to live deliberately, to confront the essential facts of life, and see if she could not learn what it had to teach.” At the age of 15, Raven escaped her abusive parents who, she claims, wanted her “to disappear.” She eventually landed a job as a ranger in the National Park system. She was homeless, living in her car on a piece of remote land in Montana while putting herself through college and graduate school, where, as she frequently reminds the reader, she earned a Ph.D. in biology. She built a house in Montana and taught the occasional college class, all the while avoiding her fellow human beings. Then she met the fox. Every day at 4:15 p.m. a red fox visits Raven’s property. His arrival quickly becomes the central focus of her otherwise uneventful life, and she begins to structure her activities around his visits. She reads to him from Dr. Seuss and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince (a fox plays a central role in the story). She observes his every movement and speculates as to his motivations. She keeps track of his nutritional needs (he has an appetite for voles), his mating habits, the kits he helps raise, and his interaction with the surrounding fauna, especially two magpies who she names Tennis Ball and Round Belly, and bluebirds, deer, bats, eagles, elk, feral
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
cats, etc. And she details the local flora — fescue, mustard, cheat, mullein, sunflower, Russian thistle, rabbitbrush, knapweed, sagebrush, wild rye, bluestem, wheatgrass, sow thistle — with equal purpose, producing a litany of zoological annotations liberally sprinkled with a biologist’s vocabulary. (Readers utilizing a Kindle will appreciate the handy “Dictionary” function.) The fox never exhibits what might be interpreted as affection and doesn’t approach within petting distance. But Raven’s isolation leads her to imagine a relationship has developed between her and the animal. Her friends, few though they may be, remind her that her academic training forbids anthropomorphizing the fox, but the regularity of his visits and his attention to her human affectations lead her to project a personality onto the fox. “I tried to imagine when Fox and I first became more than just two itinerant animals crossing each other’s paths. . . . Maybe the relationship had developed so smoothly that I never doubted that all was as it should be, or maybe it had developed rapidly enough to keep me perpetually confused. . . . I had barely enough social intelligence to understand that adults, least of all trained scientists, don’t go around treating wild foxes as if they had personalities.” Raven’s narrative doesn’t collapse into a mawkish “Lassie” story, but it approaches, especially in its conclusion, a sentimentality that is tempered only by her scientific training. Because she accepts that communicating with a wild animal is not the same as conversing with her friends and that her relationship with the fox is in no way tantamount to a human friendship, she remains uncertain as to why the attachment has developed or what lessons she might draw from her limited interaction with the fox. In fact, Fox and I might be read as a rationalization for Raven’s bond, real or imagined, with the fox. As beautifully written as her memoir is — and certainly Raven’s prose occasionally rises to the level of poetry — she never truly resolves the ambiguities that are central to her life with the fox. Predictably, the moment arrives when Raven senses that the fox’s O.Henry 31
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trust in her is almost complete. On a moonlit night, she is waiting outside for his arrival and notices the fox’s “wispy, translucent fur in the light” as he trots directly to her front steps. “I stepped away from the door, and four round and fluid kits rolled past me. Fox moved off to the side, leaving me surrounded by little leaping foxes. Close enough to touch, they were tumbling around me like acrobats while my hands sprung up in surprise. I focused on two tussling kits, and everything around them homogenized into a blur.” All such animal tales have an obvious and inevitable conclusion, and it’s not spoiling the ending to reveal the fox’s fate. Wildfire rips through Raven’s corner of Montana, and she flees for her life. She returns to find that her house has survived but that the fox and his kits are nowhere to be found, gone up, one would suppose, in smoke, possible victims of global warming. “Nature is cruel,” she writes, “that’s a trope masquerading as a paradigm, in the sense that a carpetbagger might masquerade as a charlatan.” Raven blames herself, enjoying the selfpity that accompanies the probable death of the fox, noting that he might have fled to safety with his vixen and the four kits, but that he waited for her to appear: “I imagined him upright on his hind legs and pressing his nose into my front window like he used to do. I could see him standing with his ears drawn back until his ankles shook and then skipping backward to regain his balance. His last memory of me was an empty house.” Although Fox and I is nonfiction, Raven uses fictional techniques to tell her story and includes chapters written from the fox’s point of view. Though occasionally afflicted with the dictionary disease, her style is fluid and lyrical and is a joy to read, propelling the reader through her intermittent pedantic ramblings. More to her credit, she doesn’t burden the reader with timely political insights or lessons learned. Readers are left to their own conclusions. She simply tells the story of a lonely woman’s encounter with a red fox in the wilds of Montana. OH Stephen E. Smith is a retired professor and the author of seven books of poetry and prose. He’s the recipient of the Poetry Northwest Young Poet’s Prize, the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Prize for poetry and four North Carolina Press Awards. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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Scuppernong Bookshelf
A Heaping Helping Giving thanks for this season’s bounty of new releases
Compiled by Shannon Purdy Jones
It’s fitting that we’ll all gather together
later this month to celebrate the year’s bounty, because this season, the publishing world’s cup runneth over. Between delays due to COVID and printing holdups throughout the year, we’re seeing an unusual abundance of amazing books being released in the final months of 2021. Since we’re likely to see more delays in reprints for these hot titles as we near shopping season, now’s the time to reap the harvest of these marvelous new books, sure to please everyone on your list. Feeding the Soul (Because It’s My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom by Tabitha Brown (William Morrow & Co, $27.99) Before Tabitha Brown was sharing her delicious vegan meals and compassionate wisdom with millions of followers around the world, she was an aspiring actress who, in 2016, began struggling with undiagnosed chronic autoimmune pain. Her condition made her believe she wouldn’t live to see 40 — until she started listening to what her soul and body truly needed. In this life-changing book, Brown shares the wisdom she gained from her own journey to support others in creating a life rooted in nonThe Art & Soul of Greensboro
judgmental kindness and love. Drawing from personal anecdotes, this down-to-earth book is built around the catchphrases her fans know and love, including “That’s your business” and “Like so, like that.” You’ll even find a few easy vegan recipes sprinkled throughout. No Cure for Being Human: (And Other Truths I Need to Hear) by Kate Bowler (Random House, $27) We all know, intellectually, that our time on Earth is limited. What would we change if we knew it viscerally? Kate Bowler was 35 when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. Before she got sick, she saw life as an endless horizon of possibilities. Now she is forced to look at life with a new perspective, making the most of the time she has left. Anecdotes range from the hilariously absurd to the seriously painful. Breaking down time into segments, trying to live in the moment, weighing the meaning of work, and learning to discover what “enough” feels like, Kate asks one of the most fundamental questions of existence: How do we create meaning in our lives as we race against the clock? When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash (William Morrow & Co, $28.99) When the roar of a low-flying plane awakens him in the middle of the night, Sheriff Winston Barnes knows something strange is happening at the nearby airfield on the coast of North Carolina. But nothing can prepare him for what he finds: a large airplane that has crash-landed sideways on the runway with no signs of a pilot or cargo. When the body of a local man is discovered — shot dead and lying in the grass near the crash site — Barnes begins a murder investigation that will change the course of his O.Henry 35
Opus 2021-2022
FREE ADMISSIOn!
Donations are encouraged.
All concerts begin at 7 pm. Visit www.creativegreensboro.com for venue-specific COVID-19 protocols.
CONCERT SERIES
NOVEMBER 7
Choral Society of Greensboro A Shakespearean Serenade The Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre at Well-Spring 4100 Well Spring Dr.
NOVEMBER 21
Alejandro Rutty & Philharmonia of Greensboro The Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre at Well-Spring 4100 Well Spring Dr.
DECEMBER 4 Lorena Guillen Tango Ensemble & ALLL
Van Dyke Performance Space 200 N. Davie St.
NOVEMBER 14 The Polk Duo & Greensboro Big Band
The Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre at Well-Spring 4100 Well Spring Dr.
DECEMBER 1
Choral Society of Greensboro Handel’s “Messiah” Carolina Theatre 310 S. Greene St.
DECEMBER 11
Greensboro Concert Band Gail Brower Huggins Performance Center, Greensboro College 815 W. Market St.
Special support provided by:
www.creativegreensboro.com
@CreativeGreensboro
I
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life and the fate of the community that he has sworn to protect. As rumors and accusations fly, long-simmering racial tensions explode overnight, and Barnes, whose own tragic past has followed him like a ghost, must do his duty while facing the painful repercussions of old decisions. In the process, he discovers within himself how the nobility of an ordinary man can triumph amidst terrifying, extraordinary circumstances. In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain by Tom Vitale (Hachette Books, $30) Anthony Bourdain’s passion for and genuine curiosity about the people and cultures he visited made the world feel smaller and more connected. Despite his affable, confident and trademark snarky TV persona, the real Tony was intensely private, deeply conflicted about his fame and an enigma even to those close to him. Tony’s devoted crew knew him best, and no one else had a front-row seat for as long as his director and producer, Tom Vitale. Over the course of more than a decade of traveling together, Tony became a boss, a friend, a hero and, sometimes, a tormentor. Nearly two years after his death, In the Weeds takes readers behind the scenes to reveal not just the insanity that went into filming in some of the most far-flung and volatile parts of the world, but what Tony was like unedited and off-camera. From the outside, the job looked like an all-expenses-paid adventure to places like Borneo, Vietnam, Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya. What happened off-camera was far more interesting than what made it to air. The more things went wrong, the better it was for the show. Fortunately for the viewer, everything fell apart constantly. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Harper, $28.99) In this stunning and timely novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Awardwinning author Louise Erdrich creates a wickedly funny ghost story that begins on All Souls’ Day 2019 and ends on All Souls’ Day 2020. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted by the store’s most annoying customer, Flora, who died on All Souls’ Day and won’t leave the shop. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration (which she spent reading with murderous attention), must solve the mystery of this haunting during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation and furious reckoning. The Sentence is rich, emotional and as profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written. Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon (Delacorte Press, $36) The past may seem the safest place to be . . . but it is the most dangerous time to be alive. . . Outlander’s Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1746, and it took them 20 years (and nine books ) to find each other — in the North Carolina backcountry. At last, Jamie and Claire have been reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children somewhere in the mountains of North Carolina on Fraser’s Ridge — a seemingly impossible dream come true. But as the Revolutionary War creeps ever closer to their doorstep, the family’s safety is once again at stake. OH
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O.Henry 37
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Name Calling
Home by Design
Garden hacks of a different nature
By Cynthia Adams
My friend Pratt,
choking back laughter, rings me up and tells me he created a monster.
He is talking about his sister, Brenda. “She’s become this plant snob,” Pratt drawls. A plant snob? “Somebody obsessed with plants and their names,” he answers. Understand that this is a man who directed community design and preservation at the University of Georgia and knows a thing or two about plants himself. It’s possible he, too, may occasionally be accused of being a snob on some topics, I gently remind him. Pratt shifts gears. “It gets worse,” he sighs heavily. What follows is not about snobbery. The topic is cancel culture. “Listen, what I called to tell you about is that my sister’s in a garden group and their Facebook blog was hacked.” Who hacks a garden blog? “Someone who knows plants and is funny, that’s who,” Pratt nearly howls. “You should read it.” “The hacker claimed to have made new rules and guidelines for the club and posted them.” Give an example, I prod. “For one, the new rule was the members had to adhere to botanical names.” He pauses to snort. “They totally bought it and went crazy.” Hacker struck paydirt! This set off a fracas for the entire bunch of Louisiana Gardeners. “Then there’s this whole long post about how Wandering Jew is a politically incorrect thing to call a plant,” Pratt chokes. “It should only be referenced by its botanical name.” That’s pretty good, I admit. A merry prankster had riled up the sensible clog-and-shovel crowd. Apparently garden clubbers tend to resist taking the low ground, with no taste for mucking in the dirt — at least, not online. But some wanted to take the fight outside. It was an entertaining thought, that. “Then someone proposed Roaming Descendent of Abraham could be an alternate but appropriate name,” he adds, barely able to
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
talk for laughing. We chortle. War on! A club member immediately fumed about how offensive that name, Roaming Descendent of Abraham, would be “to their Jewish step-grandmother-in-law.” Was that real — or a fresh hack on new soil? A Louisiana gardener, deeply upset, announced she would no longer even write the slandering name for the Southern favorite that proliferated in hanging baskets. She preferred “to never again mention WJ.” She suggested the plant could be referenced by the alternate name, “Purple Heart.” Purple heart? The name for an important war medal, the trickster interjected. “As politically incorrect as it seems, Purple Heart may be another name, but my whole life we’ve called it Wandering Jew.” She continued, digging herself into an impossible hole: “I never considered it a slur on the Jewish people — just the name of a plant. Like Irish rose.” “And then someone else in her garden club reflects upon the Christmas cactus and whether that name ought to be used either,” Pratt inserts. “What about, say, a Hanukah cactus?” Another gardener had posted archly. We both digest this. “And then there’s a whole series of comments about Irish roses,” Pratt says, laughing so hard he wheezes. “The beauty was, there were no obscenities posted. It was just funny. Like some elderly, retired botanist with time on their hands had done it.” A retired botanist who also had the time and ability to hack a site? That’s bloody work, I point out. “Yes, true,” Pratt concedes. Send me the link, I beg. Instead, he forwards screen captures from his sister. I read through, wiping my eyes. Members swiftly blocked one another after being mocked online. Allow this to register: This. Is. A. Garden. Club. Later, Pratt texts again, and I can sense his disappointment. “Looks like all the controversial posts have been deleted.” I sigh with a mixture of regret and appreciation for the infinite jest of the Louisiana Garden Club hacker. OH Please don’t hack Cynthia Adams, a contributing editor of O.Henry. O.Henry 39
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40 O.Henry
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Book Excerpt
Just Waiting for the Rain to Pass An excerpt from the N.C. Literary Hall-of-Famer’s new release
By Bland Simpson
Once,
after a walk up to some stores on the edge of the Greensboro neighborhood where his family lived, a good friend of mine — Jim, let us say — was strolling on home. The time was just before 2 o’clock, and a sudden summer rainstorm drove him to run up onto a stranger’s porch to wait till the storm blew on through. He had been on the porch for only a few moments, though, when the front door opened and a man in a dark suit smiled sympathetically at him and welcomed him into the house saying, “We’re so glad you could come.” A coffin lay within, set upon a stand, surrounded by flowers and several dozen men and women, darkly dressed mourners. “Did you know him very well?” the man who had opened the door asked the astonished Jim, who said: “No. No, I didn’t, not very well at all, really.” “Well, then, you’re all the kinder to have come.” Among the mourners, Jim took his place, or a place, as a home service then proceeded. He listened to the prayers, the homily, the weeping, sang along with the hymns, and simply made his peace about going right on along with the event into which he had stumbled. He would slip away as soon as the funeral was over, as soon as he could. This, though unusual, was not too high a price to pay for getting out of a hard summer rain, after all, and not getting drenched. He could manage. Right after the service, as the real talk and visiting began, Jim moved slowly but deftly for the front door, and, just as he got to it, the man who had brought him into all this caught Jim’s arm and said earnestly, “Thank you.” The Art & Soul of Greensboro
“Well, thank you too,” said Jim. “It meant a lot to me to be here.” They both nodded at each other, and as Jim reached for the front-door knob, the man said: “You will come to the cemetery with us, won’t you?” The cemetery. He had not thought of that. “Well, no, I . . . don’t have a car,” Jim said. “I walked here.” “Oh,” the man said, “that’s no problem. You may ride with the family. Everyone will come back here after the burial.” Suddenly Jim felt trapped: in over shoes, about to be in over boots. How could he drift away now? The man still held his arm, tightly. He saw that he was going to have to play out the whole ritual with them, and now he was finally beginning to mourn for real. “I—” “Good,” the man said. “We’ll leave in another ten minutes or so.” Not till Jim had gotten into the car to which he had been assigned, and the strangers he was among started talking about the family plot and who was already buried there and the lovely oak trees and the old white-clapboard church and the way there, did he fully learn what he had walked himself into on that rainy day. The graveyard where the deceased was bound lay peacefully in southside Virginia, beyond the green rolling hills through which now they slowly drove, a line of cars all with lights on, toward a lonely churchyard just over 100 miles away. OH From NORTH CAROLINA: LAND OF WATER, LAND OF SKY by Bland Simpson, photography by Ann Cary Simpson, Scott Taylor, and Tom Earnhardt. Copyright © 2021 by Bland Simpson. Used by permission of the publisher. www.uncpress.org O.Henry 41
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Birdwatch
Turkey Time A surprisingly wily wild bird
By Susan Campbell
Shorter days and cooler nights have
many of us thinking about the holiday season. Thanksgiving is not that far off — and that means turkey. Most of us look forward to feasting on the tender meat of this domesticated, large member of the fowl family. But its wild ancestors are a far cry from the bird we prepare on the fourth Thursday of November each year.
Anyone who has had the opportunity to taste a “real” turkey will tell you that there is no comparison. But hunters who pursue the wild birds are far more often skunked than successful. Turkeys seem to have a sixth sense when being called or decoyed in. Fooling one of these birds to get it within range is one of the biggest challenges bird hunters (or photographers, for that matter) face. The wild turkey was very nearly our national bird. It is, in fact, the only bird species native to the United States. Benjamin Franklin nominated the turkey for this honor but it lost in Congress, by only one vote, to the bald eagle back in the late 18th century. Although the cultivated variety is completely white, skittish and not very bright, forest-dwelling turkeys are glossy black, wary and rather agile for a bird with a wingspan of over 5 feet. They are typically found in mature forests with clearings but take advantage of open fields as well. Turkeys forage on a variety of food, including The Art & Soul of Greensboro
insects, small berries, seeds and buds. Interestingly, one of their favorite fall foods, acorns, are often abundant in our part of the state. Individuals are well known to associate in large flocks of 50 or more birds. In the early spring, older males will attract and attend to and defend a flock of several females. At this time, they can be heard gobbling and strutting in their characteristic puffed-up posture. Only during the early part of the breeding season, in April and May, are the birds solitary. Once the chicks hatch and reach about 4 weeks of age, hens will gather together with their young and form new aggregations. In the early 1970s, there weren’t many more than a million turkeys on the landscape. Persecution and habitat alteration had resulted in dramatic reduction in the population. Now, throughout not only the United States but parts of southern Canada and northern Mexico, there are seven times that many. Here in the Old North State, turkeys can be found in almost every county. In recent years, both the Triad and Triangle have experienced an influx from the Uwharrie Mountains in the west as well as from the inner Coastal Plain to the east. It is not surprising that these big birds show up to take advantage of seed around bird feeders and forage in grassy vegetation along our roadways, as well as looking for tender vegetation and insects in agricultural fields across the area. So, keep your eyes peeled — you, too, may spot one, or more, of these majestic birds here in central North Carolina. OH Susan Campbell would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photos. She can be contacted at susan@ncaves.com. O.Henry 43
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Wandering Billy
Content May be Graphic How discovering artist Christopher Williams was sort of a perk of the job
By Billy Eye Toward the end of middle school we went on a field trip to Virginia to go whale watching. I don’t remember any of us seeing anything through the rain-smeared windows of the cabin. Most of us were sitting in the boat, drinking hot cocoa. But it was a trip where we got to stay in a hotel with our friends, away from parents, so that’s what mattered. I didn’t do much, certainly didn’t climb across balconies to sneak into girls’ rooms or sneak alcohol into my room like some of my peers (and one of my roommates). I don’t know what the chaperones expected, as there was zero chance they’d be able to monitor all of us. I’d like to think we were innocent as my son is approaching the age I was, but I know from the stories that a lot of that innocence was long gone. — An excerpt from The Letter Journal
One afternoon, while tending bar
at Parts Unknown: The Comic Book Store, I happened upon a 5-by-5-inch graphic novel that blew me away with its raw, emotionally charged storyline. The Letter Journal is one man’s illustrated tale about growing up in Greensboro, leaving for college and becoming a working artist and father — all the while plagued with depression and gut-wrenching insecurities. Which The Art & Soul of Greensboro
pretty much describes the trajectory of every true artist I’ve ever come in contact with. This book drills into where those feelings of inadequacy originate, wrapped in a deeply personal narrative.
The Letter Journal is written and illustrated by Christopher Williams, whose family moved to The Gate City from Florida when he was a child in 1986. After attending App State in 1998, Williams moved to Durham, where he lives today. “It’s not standard comic-book fare,” Williams explains, “especially in that it’s not strictly sequential.” But experimental? Absolutely. Drawing from personal experience, the artist mused, “What if I just start attaching different images to paragraphs of a story?” Which brings us to the aforementioned whale-watching trip. “Would it be safe to say that you have a permanent case of teen angst?” I venture. Williams laughs. “I have maybe an evolving sense of angst,” he says. “I thought that it would go away at some point . . . But yeah.” As for the inspiration for The Letter Journal? “John Porcellino makes a comic called King-Cat,” Williams says. “He’s been publishing that for, I think, 30 years, and it covers a lot of what he’s been through. Also, Adrian Tomine published a book last year that covered his experiences as a freelance artist, and that really resonated with me.” Williams has published ten graphic novels in two-and-a-half O.Henry 45
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46 O.Henry
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Wandering Billy years. Most of them come with a suggested soundtrack to help bring the reader “into the kind of mood that I want them to be in to experience the book.” For The Letter Journal, he recommends the song “Claws” by post-rock/post-hardcore band Shipping News. Radio, one of Williams’ latest books, was made possible with support from a Durham Arts Council grant. “If I had the opportunity to go and speak with my younger self, what would I say? How would I handle that?” he says, speaking to what sparked it. “My son, Seamus, is in eighth grade now. I was thinking about what it would be like to be my son’s age.” Williams’ family still resides in Greensboro. “I’ve started taking my son around town and showing him around. ‘This is my old high school, Page. That’s where the art room burned down . . .’” Wait, what? “The story that I had heard was that someone broke into the school and tried to burn it down. And the art room was in the middle of the campus, so they set it on fire. It meant the art students had to go to the library for a semester. It didn’t affect anybody else.” During the lockdown, Williams concentrated on creating books. But his real passion, his raison d’être is creating gig posters for bands playing at Cat’s Cradle, the iconic music venue in downtown Carrboro. Truthfully, his posters are some of the most amazing designs I’ve ever seen. (Keep in mind that in a previous life I was tasked with creating artwork for big budget Hollywood blockbusters. I’ve worked with some of the biggest names in illustration and photography. Williams’ work is right up there with the best.) What makes these posters so remarkable is that for the longest time they were strictly silk-screened, not fashioned from pixels. “When I started, I thought computer art was going to be a fad,” Williams told me. “And I was like, ‘No, no. That’s nice that people are using Photoshop. That’s not my thing. That’ll go out of style.’” Instead, he would draw and letter everything by hand, creating color separations with sharpies on tracing paper. “A couple of years ago, I started to change things up by going completely in a different direction and began collaging illustrations digitally. Now it’s a mix.” Since 2003, he’s personally screened around 1,000 works of art for Cat’s Cradle. Imaginative, fluid designs for seminal musical artists like The Get Up Kids, Superchunk, Pedro the Lion, Holy Ghost Tent Revival and The Lemonheads. “I’ll get contacted by The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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O.Henry 47
Wandering Billy
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48 O.Henry
Cat’s Cradle with a list of bands that are coming through. And I’ll email back, ‘Hey, if no one is doing that band, I really want to do it,’” Williams says. One of my faves is a poster for singer/ songwriter Conor Oberst: a rollicking juxtaposition of Calvin and Hobbes-like imagery, conveying a zany joy that stands in stark contrast with the performer’s melancholic but melodious musings. “It’s important to me, and I know it’s important to Frank [Heath] — the owner of Cat’s Cradle — that there’s this visual representation of an event,” Williams says. “That someone can go and have this great time — maybe it’s their first date or something — so they rip the poster down off the wall of the club and put it up in their house and have this thing that they can always remember.” Improbably, he recently created a series of 12-page screen-printed “short story” event posters. “It’s fun to try and line all that up, so the pages are lined up exactly.” Williams continues: “With not having a lot of gig posters [last year], it’s been a nice way to challenge myself in a new way.” Christopher Williams’ books, T-shirts, skateboards and 100 or so vintage band posters are available at his publishing company, plasticflame.com. Spend an hour immersing yourself in what amounts to a timeline of cutting-edge musicians who provided the soundtrack for a couple of generations at least. OH Billy Eye, who wrote a bi-monthly column covering the East L.A. music scene from 1980–83 (the source for his book, PUNK), is OG — Original Greensboro. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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O.Henry 49
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50 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
November 2021 Quarantine Haircut I’ve had hundreds of haircuts over the years but never one as intimate as the one Julie gave me yesterday, mid-quarantine, and my hair standing up and out of control and when she could take it no more she said sit down, Bozo. I happily complied, always eager for her touch. She stood over me cutting, clipping, and buzzing and I could feel her legs on mine, her forearm brushing my ears. But it wasn’t the physical touch as much as the proximity, breathing the same air like we used to do back when the sight of each other would result in clothes flying through the air, naked bodies moving together in rhythm, but this was a haircut, scissors, a misused beard trimmer, a memory of what was once there. When she asked why I was crying, I said Some hair must have irritated my eyes, and she didn’t press, only wiped it away, said you’re a fool and she was right once again.
—Steve Cushman
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 51
Above: Mary Mig McEntire and Brian Kilpatrick
52 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry About Town Photographs By Lynn Donovan and Bert VanderVeen
PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN DONOVAN
T
he spirit of William Sydney Porter, aka O.Henry, is alive and well in the city he once called home. In fact, on a recent autumn morning, several of his characters were spotted downtown wandering around in a world that must have been deeply familiar and yet perplexingly futuristic. Where were the streetcars? The wide-brimmed hats and spatterdashes? And what on this green and spinning planet was a selfie? Well, folks, they would soon find out. “The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate,” quoth O.Henry. That’s for sure. Please enjoy a few snapshots from their whimsical escapades about town.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 53
C
an a lady get a drink around here? A pumpkin spice what? Sure. While two oat-milk lattes are being whisked to frothy perfection behind the bar of The Green Bean coffee shop, this gossipy pair discovers that they have scored front row seats to the best peoplewatching on the block. Would you look at that hemline! How deliciously scandalous! How utterly cosmopolite! 54 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
PHOTOGRAPH BY BERT VANDERVEEN
Above: Dex Davison and Ralph Davison The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 55
56 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
PHOTOGRAPH BY BERT VANDERVEEN
Above and right: Lee Kirkman and Pam Wheeler
O
PHOTOGRAPH BY BERT VANDERVEEN
f all the places they could go, who knew that the road of destiny would lead this pair down Elm Street to a place called The Selfie Spot? Inside, a wild and glittering world of vignettes beckoned. Jim pulled out his gold pocket watch to check the time, then shrugged. “What does it matter?” he said to Della, who gave her glorious locks a playful toss before asking the bright-eyed lady behind the counter, “What’s an iPhone?”
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 57
58 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN DONOVAN
Above: Mary Mig McEntire, Stephen Hale, Pam Murphy and Brian Kilpatrick
S
omething about the old Fordham’s Drug Store made the O.Henry troupe feel both dizzy and elated. It was almost as if it was déjà vu all over again. As if this place were somehow a part of them. And was anyone else suddenly craving a soda?
W
PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN DONOVAN
hat happens if you miss the train? Something called Blue Duck. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it — but do hold on to your hat.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 59
W
A special thanks to An O.Henry Celebration: Stories & Song — formerly 5 By O. Henry — for breathing O.Henry’s short stories to life through its theatrical vignettes year after year. Stay tuned for September 2022 performances at WellSpring’s Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
PHOTOGRAPH BY BERT VANDERVEEN
ell, well. Look who got caught canoodling in The Selfie Spot’s ball pit. Or is that, in fact, a time machine?
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 61
O.Henry’s 10 for 10 Our 10-word short story winners
B
ack in January, we announced a short story contest in honor of our namesake, William Sydney Porter. As in, really short. “Tell us a story in 10 words,” we challenged, adding that winning entries would appear in our 10-year anniversary issue. And here we are. It turns out you can say a lot with just 10 words. Many readers responded with short stories that surprised and delighted us in ways we could not have imagined. Although it was nearly impossible for us to agree on winners (and please don’t ask us to rank them), the following are among our staff favorites. Thanks to all the clever souls who played along.
Kathy Ross of Danville, Virginia, is a reading and English tutor who spends weekends with her husband in search of coffee, vintage books and issues of O.Henry in and around Greensboro.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Tom Black lives in Southeast Greensboro, where he is spending his retirement reading and fishing.
Mia Malesovas is a lifelong learner and educator who lives in Summerfield.
Born in Greensboro, Mike Cecil now lives in Summerfield where, retired, he writes and creates. He recently mastered the art of cooking in cast iron and says he can also make the perfect hard-boiled egg.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Kay Cheshire retired from the medical field and lives in Greensboro.
April Pilhorn of Browns Summit is an explorer who appreciates all things art and nature. She is a collector of moments, not things.
John Adamcik lives in High Point with his wife, Jeanneen, and family. He is a part-time minister who works in HR for a nonprofit human services agency.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 65
A VISIONARY PERSPECTIVE A lot can happen in 10 years. This city — and magazine — are living proof. Greensboro’s past and present have graced our pages over the last decade. Heading into our next 10 years, we decided to ask a handful of Gate City visionaries 10 questions, including their hopes and dreams for what Greensboro might look like 10 years from now. We’ll let them do the talking.
arold L. Martin Sr. has served as chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University since 2009 and is the first alumnus ever to hold the position. Martin was heralded as an education and business thought leader in TIME magazine’s 2020 edition of The Leadership Brief. In 2019, he was honored by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund with the Education Leadership Award, and in 2017 he was named America’s most influential Historically Black Colleges and Universities leader by HBCU Digest. In 2015, Martin was named to the EBONY Power 100 list alongside some of the nation’s most prominent African American thinkers, artists, government officials and business leaders. Under his leadership, A&T has emerged as the top-ranked historically black public university in the nation. OH: What was it like growing up in Winston-Salem? HM: Often I refer to the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” I lived in that village — it was both protective and supportive. Our school, Carver Consolidated School, was segregated. I began Carver in first grade and ultimately graduated in the last senior class before the school became integrated. Carver was a critical part of our community. OH: What role did your parents play in determining your path in life? HM: Our parents were not able to get a college education themselves. They grew up in large families — each came from a family of 13 children — and they were poor. My father was a Baptist minister, so there were high expectations for the behavior of my brother, sister and I. Our parents were highly committed to the three of us going to college — no exceptions. OH: Why did you decide to attend North Carolina A&T State University? HM: One of my most influential teachers — my high school basketball and tennis coach — had graduated from A&T and my brother and sister already were students. But I had a basketball scholarship to at-
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tend Ohio Wesleyan University. During my senior year at Carver, my father’s eyesight was failing due to glaucoma, and I met this beautiful young woman. At the last minute, I told my coach I did not want to go away. He drove me to Greensboro and I applied to A&T. OH: The 1969 “Greensboro Uprising” led to gunfire between protestors, police and National Guard troops, leaving an A&T student dead. How did this affect you? HM: It was such a traumatic event that schools let out early. My brother was in his sophomore year at A&T and my sister was a freshman. When they came home, they talked about the event around the dinner table in profound ways — the fear they had, the military presence was unlike anything they’d ever seen. It was the year after Martin Luther King had been killed, so our talks were buttressed by an ongoing conversation about civil rights, social justice and, ultimately, trust that education was going to be the difference-maker in our futures. At the same time, there was a push to close all the black high schools in Winston-Salem and bus black children to white schools to integrate them. There were demonstrations and protest marches. I participated in those marches, much to my parents’ consternation. OH: Were you quick to realize your high school sweetheart, Davida, would be your life partner? HM: Our relationship began to shape everything about the two of us. When she came to A&T, we both began to take maximum course loads, so we could graduate early. The summer before my senior year, we made the decision to get married. To our surprise, our parents said “OK,” and my mother-in-law even asked, “Why did you wait so long?” OH: Did you feel any reluctance moving from teaching into administrative leadership? HM: I did. When I was offered the deanship, I realized that I would not be able to teach and advise students directly. But I realized as dean my influence would be on shaping the environment, building the right culture, recruiting the talent and enhancing the academic quality of programs. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
OH: You’ve been called an education and business leader in national magazines and recognized as one of the area’s most admired CEOs. How do you explain that? HM: The toughest person I ever had to please was my mother. She was intolerant of poor performance — even on the modest things, like sweeping the floor or working in the yard. Interestingly, I have been drawn to that type of person throughout my career. All my significant mentors were demanding as hell. I have been so blessed as a result of the passion I feel for what I do. I appreciate the recognition, but it does not define the work I do each day. OH: How do you hope your sons and grandchildren will remember you? HM: I want them to remember me as a committed and devoted father. We have three grandchildren, and we just learned that our younger son and his wife are expecting twins, so we’re over the moon about that.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BERT VANDERVEEN
OH: In 2020 A&T received a gift of $45 million, the largest in the university’s history. Is that the beginning or the end of the story? HM: Very much the beginning. We continue to grow in enrollment, quality of students and investments in research. We’re turning out STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] graduates in large numbers, along with agriculture scientists, teachers, nurses and social scientists — individuals in high demand nationally. OH: What do you see for A&T and Greensboro in the coming decade? HM: New jobs are emerging in STEM and technology, but there is global competition. Consequently, we must position ourselves to attract these jobs to our region. Our university is an integral part of creating that culture. I’m excited about what that means for the future. OH — Ross Howell Jr.
aura Way, CEO of ArtsGreensboro since 2019, says she learned about development, community building and, most importantly, “about putting your money where your mouth is” from no less than banking icon Hugh McColl (one of North Carolina’s top visionaries) when she was a vice president at Charlotte’s McColl Center before heading the GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art. “I love art, she says. “But I am not a curator. Not an expert on who’s a rising star, or why.” An M.B.A. and prior experience made her a hand-in-glove fit for ArtsGreensboro, where she helped develop the Greensboro Cultural Arts Master Plan, a “roadmap” created in 2018 for the city’s cultural and creative future. OH: What’s your hope for the arts in Greensboro? LW: My hope for Greensboro is the arts are not a “nice-to have.” They are recognized as a “need-to have” — for the love of art, how [the arts] play a role in education and health, bring people together to form common bonds, revitalize our economy and make our city and county a destination and model for excellence. OH: Can you tell us about yourself and what you hope to accomplish? LW: I arrived here in 2009 to interview as the director of GreenHill, staying with Dabney and Walker Sanders for a week. If you were open to being welcomed, people wanted to welcome you. [After being hired,] I stayed in the same house in Fisher Park, and it has been my neighborhood. On New Year’s Eve, 2015, I met my boyfriend [developer Andy Zimmerman]. We’re a good couple. He always says, “Do it like you mean it.” Andy wants his imprint to be something special — he’s actualizing it through redevelopment. I want my imprint to be a more creative, vibrant city, where people feel they have a home here and make a good living. OH: How can ArtsGreensboro help accomplish that? LW: We need to incentivize people to stay here, move here. The Arts Council was founded to support the EMF, the Symphony and Carolina Theater 60 years ago. People didn’t think about anything outside that. It wasn’t in the gestalt of the times. OH: You’re unusual in that you have an M.B.A. and found your way into art organizations. Can you speak to that? LW: Even though I studied economics, I sat in religion and philosophy O.Henry classes, and they required you to look at everything through the 68
liberal arts lens. We have too many small, emerging organizations that don’t have the capacity to grow. And fewer organizations of color that have no capacity without significant investment. One study found their budget sizes are significantly smaller than in benchmark cities. Everyone deserves access to art. But what I’ve learned over the last two-and-a-half years at ArtsGreensboro is that we have to be careful how we define art. Art is based in Eurocentric traditions that are primarily white. Art takes different connotations, and it is developed in different ways OH: Can you discuss the arts in a city walloped by a pandemic? LW: When the pandemic set in, I saw a clear path. It allowed us to lean in and say we can effect change. We launched an artists’ emergency fund and raised $100,000 immediately. We’ve never lived through anything like this pandemic. [Given my background,] I can do the research, crunch the numbers, look at the data. Working with Steve Colyer [of Greensboro Bound], we ascertained the median hourly salary of people working in arts, entertainment and recreation was $11.47. People cannot survive on that! We need a stronger creative sector. If you can’t support creative artists, what’s the point of having organizations? OH: What did you learn from the pandemic? LW: The pandemic made me more reclusive. I focused on Andy and my dog, Gravy. Andy bought an RV and we went camping. We took the RV on the Nantahala. At Christmas, we went to the coast. Both of us are public people. But Andy is very interested, very involved with others. I’m more private. My Sunday morning routine, if up at 7 a.m. and alone, is to have a long hike with Gravy. We’ll go to Starbucks and get a coffee for me — Gravy gets a Puppuccino. OH: What are you reading? Watching? LW: I don’t sleep — get maybe 4–5 hours a night, which I’ve learned since getting a Fitbit. I think a lot about work. I listen to The Daily. I like podcasts. I watch Jon Stewart. OH: What were the first 10 years of your life like? LW: Most of my memories of my first decade before my parents divorced involve my [six] siblings. It was sort of disjointed, and uncertain. So, I invented my own little world. And I became quite insular. My father remarried, and we all moved with him to Syracuse, N.Y. In fourth grade I got rheumatic fever. That wasThe theArt year stabilized. &when Soul ofI Greensboro
PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN DONOVAN
A year of being nurtured. A year of no drama. It shaped my ability to be with myself and self-isolate. That year shaped who I am today. OH: What would you tell your 10-year-old self? LW: Someone told me I wasn’t smart enough; I wouldn’t amount to much. . . . It stuck with me. But I would probably tell my 10-year-old self that it is OK to love and trust. I do love people. I realized growing up in a big family that each of us has our own reality. We compartmentalize our childhood. Later in life, it’s hard to decipher what was our own internal myth. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
OH: What do you think Greensboro will look like in 10 years? LW: In 10 years, [I hope] we are a more connected community — where our college and university students see themselves staying here, our streets and neighborhoods are safer and the talk of failing schools is behind us. And art and creativity are abundant and authentic. And then I will retire. OH —Cynthia Adams O.Henry 69
n unabashed lover of Greensboro, local theater maven Donna Bradby has owlish vision that swivels easily from past to future — hers and the city’s. At 59, she summons images from her childhood in Greensboro’s Cumberland Courts assisted housing community, then pans to modern-day scenes of artistic activism on Elm Street. With the practiced eye of a storyteller, she relates them with the frisson of someone who knows her way around the stage. She comes by her creativity honestly: Off the clock, her mother was a gospel singer, her father, an actor and musician. Following suit, Bradby is an adjunct professor and director of marketing for the theatre arts program at N.C. A&T State University. She’s also the executive director of the homegrown Touring Theatre of North Carolina, and on the board of Triad Stage. “I feel so connected to this city as an artist, as a woman, as a creator,” she says. “I’m so grateful that this is where I live.” OH: Can you reflect on the last 10 years in Greensboro? DB: Greensboro, to me, takes some heavy hits around race. People thinking that we’re ignorant, that the political climate in Greensboro is in turmoil. All of these things, to a certain extent, are true. But on the other hand, we’re resilient. We will change.
smart.” And if you told us different, we didn’t understand that. She could see good in a serial killer. She always found something good in people. OH: Fast-forward to the last 10 years of your life. Can you share an experience that has affected your personal growth? DB: This story I’m about to tell you is funny, but it’s not funny. When I was in junior high school at Mendenhall, I had a bully. She was an African-American young lady, and that was a tough time for me. Even though I came home to a safe space, I was in that teenager, awkward I-don’t-know-who-I-am stage. I attempted to kill myself with pills because of the bullying. I was so frightened. I said if I ever saw her (the bully) again, as an adult, I was gonna jump on her . . . I ran into her a little over a year ago at the bank. I thought, “OK, it’s going down in the bank. Should I take my earrings off? Should we do it in the parking lot? Security, get ready.” We locked eyes. She came up to me and said, “Donna, you look so pretty. We’re so proud of you. I’ve never been to see one of your plays, but we read about you in the paper.” My ego kicked in. I hugged her and kissed her. I think we exchanged numbers. Then, when she walked out the door, I said to myself, “Damn!”
OH: So in the past 10 years, there’s been an ongoing tug of these forces in Greensboro, many of them racial? DB: Yeah, and I don’t think that’ll ever end for us. . . . There will always be some kind of racial tension or divide. And then 10 people will come together and say, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to be together.” And a year later, 12 more people will say, “I get it.” I think all relationships have a push and a pull. We can co-exist. We don’t have to agree on everything. We don’t have to be best friends.
OH: There it was, right? DB: I shoulda kicked her ass. What was wrong with me? But she embraced me. It was weird. It was one of the weirdest experiences that I’ve had in the last 10 years.
OH: What are some memories from the first 10 years of your life? DB: I did arts camp at Windsor Center and at Lincoln school. I went to Mt. Olivet AME Zion Church, and I still belong. That’s the first place I ever took a creative dramatics class, in the fellowship hall, and it really shaped me. I loved third grade at Porter Elementary. Mrs. Quillian was the teacher. That was the year we learned cursive. I was the only little black girl, and there was one little black boy in the class. I do remember racial slurs, but I was always clear about who I was. I always came home to a safe space.
OH: And how did you reckon with that experience? DB: She was a part of who I am now — the courage I have now, the boldness I have now. . . . I believe everyone comes into your life for a reason, good, bad or indifferent, and I want people to know you can get on the other side — and there’s another side to it.
OH: Who was instrumental in that? DB: My Aunt Annie Ruth was my favorite person. She used to say, “Other families are jealous of our family. We’re so good-looking and
OH: What shifted for you? DB: My spirit just opened up. I think everybody wants to be embraced. I always wanted to be friends with her.
OH: What do you see in Greensboro in the next 10 years? DB: I see more innovative artistic things happening. I think there’s a tide of more corporate support for the arts here. On the political scene, I think we’re going to be at the center of what’s happening next in a way that’s going to change policies around voting. When you look at the civil unrest and the civil rights in this area — and you look at the people on our city council — the up-and-rising new people who want to make a political stand and have a voice — I think there’s going
PHOTOGRAPH BY BERT VANDERVEEN
to be some coming together, some unity. I believe in this city. People like to worry about how long it took for something to happen. It’s happening! Jackson Library (at UNCG) just did an exhibit on gay bars in Greensboro. Come on! I love you, Greensboro! When George Floyd was killed, our artists went downtown and created murals. I believe chaos has to happen. I don’t mean bad chaos. I mean chaos in a way that’s going to wake us up, that’s going to hit us in the face and bring us home. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
OH: If you were the director of a play called
“Greensboro,” where would you shout “cut” and where would you shout “action”? DB: I would shout “cut” at the Woolworth’s sit-ins (1960), then I would take up action during Black Lives Matter (2020) because I think they are pivotal points for this city. It’s the same story, give or take some specifics. It’s the same because we took action, we rose up, we were at the forefront, we were bold, we joined the nation. Even the people who don’t believe in it weren’t quiet. OH —Maria Johnson
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f you can’t spot him by his Santa Claus beard and ever-present hat — a straw fedora in the summer and a broad-brimmed black lid in the winter — you’ll know him by the lively blue eyes and rollicking laugh that make 73-year-old Max Carter appear to be much younger than he is. A fixture in Greensboro’s Quaker community, he retired from Guilford College in 2015, capping a career of leading campus ministries and religious studies. His specialty: Speaking truth to power. His life is full of examples, from Carter’s own conscientious objection to the Vietnam War and his role as a peacemaker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — he visits the West Bank city of Ramallah annually to bring enemies face to face — to his persistent lobbying of local government to support a Quaker Heritage Community. Since retiring, he has written three books and is working on a fourth. He teaches for the Shepherd’s Center of Greensboro and for N.C. State’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Fun fact: When Carter was a freshman at Ball State University in Indiana, he lived on the same floor as David Letterman, then a junior. “He didn’t have the time of day for us mere frosh,” says Carter. “At least my beard is longer than his is now.” OH: What do you see when you look ahead for Greensboro in the next 10 years? MC: In so many ways, this city represents speaking truth to power. If we could only bottle it, it could be a gold mine. OH: An example? MC: We used to take Guilford students to the Underground Railroad Tree on campus to tell the story about 12-year-old Levi Coffin confronting 85-year-old David Caldwell. Levi Coffin was not yet the president of the Underground Railroad. He was a farm boy of minimal education. This was about 1810, and David Caldwell was the guy in North Carolina. He started the first college and the first Presbytery. He was Princeton educated. He was a patriot of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Caldwell was an enslaver, and he was going to send his slave Edie to Charlotte to be domestic help for their son, who was just married, which meant she would be separated from her husband and family. She took her newborn infant and ran away. They went to Levy Coffin’s family’s farmhouse on Horse Pen Creek, and they were taken in. Little Levi heard this story, and he couldn’t imagine that a minister of the gospel would do this. He said, “I’ve got to confront David Caldwell.” If he blew the whistle on his parents, they could be arrested, and he could be an orphan. But in Quaker culture, if you have a concern that’s rooted in truth, you’re supported. So his parents said, “Sure.” This kid walked seven 72 O.Henry
miles from his home, confronted David Caldwell, and talked him out of it. It’s a remarkable story. OH: What are some modern examples of this kind of courage? MC: This city has done that with February 1, 1960 [the start of the Woolworth’s sit-ins]; with the Underground Railroad; with getting Josephine Boyd Bradley to integrate Greensboro Senior High, now Grimsley. She was recruited by Quakers to do that. OH: How much of Greensboro’s present-day personality is influenced by the Quaker presence in our history? MC: It has a lot more bearing than we talk about. Williamsburg and Old Salem have capitalized on far less. Could you imagine a walking tour here, where you go from a mass grave of British and American soldiers, to the origins of the Underground Railroad, to the history of integration? My limited vision for a Quaker Heritage Community could be, with the resources of the city, turned into a remarkable tourist attraction. OH: We have a feeling that your vision of historical tourism does not include a Quakerland with an Underground Railroad roller coaster ride. Or does it? MC: We used to joke about that: Six Flags Over George Fox [a road through Guilford College], but no. It would violate Quaker simplicity. OH: Can you reflect on the last 10 years of your life and the significant experiences that have affected your growth? MC: I retired in 2015, and when you reach a culminating point like that, you look back. People say, “Oh, you’re an institution, you’ll be remembered forever,” and all of that kind of stuff. No. Campus cultures change every three years. There were about 25 different programs I began in my 25 years at Guilford. All but one has disappeared. As I reflected on that with a colleague, he said, “When I was there, I thought ‘I’m creating a future for this college,’ and I’ve now realized I was creating a wonderful present for myself.” That has been a great solace. OH: What can you tell us about the first 10 years of your life? MC: My first 10 years of life were spent on an Indiana dairy farm. My father died of a brain tumor when I was 5, leaving my mother with three boys and pregnant with the fourth on an 80-acre farm. My memories are farm work. Herding cows, milking cows, working in the garden, helping with hay, silage, and perfecting the ability to get under a hen and grab all the eggs you can and get out before your hand is pecked off.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
OH: Can you think of a formative experience that helped to make you who you are? MC: I started school at age 5. I was making Ds and Fs. I was not into it. A substitute teacher said take your papers out and design a Christmas tree, bring it up to me for approval of your design, then color it in. It was the first thing I’d gotten excited about. I made this design and decorated it and put Christmas presents under it. I colored it in. I took it up to Miss Allie and showed it to her, kind of expecting a pat on the head. She looked at me and said, “You didn’t get approval for this first, did you?” I said “No,” and she ripped it into shreds and tossed it in the trash basket.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BERT VANDERVEEN
OH: And? MC: It ruined me for about eight years of education. OH: Is this why you became comfortable with being anti-authoritarian? MC: Yes. And that’s why I could never tear up, in any way, student papers. I can see every moment of that first-grade experience. I could never do that to a student. I was probably easier than I should have been as a college professor. OH The Art & Soul of Greensboro
—Maria Johnson
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Southside Reimagined Transforming Greensboro one office — and vision — at a time By Maria Johnson Photographs by Amy Freeman
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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T
hirty-three-year-old Dan Brown, founder of one of Greensboro’s newest start-ups, Precise 3D Scans, has just moved into a new office, and he has lots of ideas about how to make it his own. Slide a bookcase against one wall. Hang a couple of motivational posters. Prop some photos of his wife and 3-year-old son on his laminate desk, which came with the space, along with an ergonomically correct chair. There isn’t room for much more. The space is roughly 6-by-7 feet and industrially chic with bright white walls, concrete floors and fluorescent lights overhead. But at this stage, Brown, who started his one-man business in the spring of 2020 — yes, that spring — doesn’t need much more, aesthetically speaking. What he does require is an affordable place to work outside of his home, a place where he can drill down, for about 10 hours a day, in his specialty: making 3D virtual tours of apartments, stores, schools and the like. At the moment, his MacBook Air is propped open, next to a couple of crinkly plastic water bottles and his earbud box. He’s finetuning an interior view of the Nike House of Innovation in Paris. Yes, that Nike. And that Paris. Whenever he wants, he can open the glass door of his office — the wall facing the hallway is entirely glass — to mill around with other entrepreneurs, swapping small talk, pinging ideas and harvesting support as he goes. His neighbors include writers, real estate agents, architects, techies and Mayor Nancy Vaughan, who’s using the space for her re-election campaign.
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Tenants — they’re called “members” here — share conference rooms, printers, business supplies, a reception desk and an airy common area with modern furnishings, low-light plants and a long wooden bar with ready-made coffee, an espresso machine and beer on tap. “I’m a really social person,” Brown says, his eyes smiling over his paper mask. “But for the most part, when I’m here, I’m really siloed in. This building has been wonderful.” A place to burrow in — as well as a place to socialize and experience “happy collisions” with people in different fields — is just what Andy Zimmerman and his business partner Ken Causey had in mind when they soft-opened a second location of Transform GSO, a co-working office space, in the trendy Southside district of downtown Greensboro in September. Last month, they celebrated the 22,000-square-foot expansion — inside the old Blue Bell textile mill at the corner of South Elm and Bain streets — with an official opening and more explanations of the co-working model. “It’s kind of like a coffee shop where the coffee is free, but you pay to be here,” says Causey, Transform’s techie-in-chief. Zimmerman continues: “A lot of co-working spaces are real estate businesses. Not that we’re not, but first and foremost, we’re a community. That’s our total drive. We wanted to create our own community of entrepreneurs.” The latest Transform site, sporting a new entrance at 111 Bain Street, joins a smaller sister location, the former HQ Greensboro, which opened at 111 Lewis Street, one block away, in 2014. Already, Transform on Bain has leased two-thirds of the 52 work spaces, with rents stretching from $1,550 a month for the largest The Art & Soul of Greensboro
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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rooms, suitable for five or six people, to $20 for a day pass that covers access to the common area and bottomless coffee. Potential members can choose from nine packages, each with different perks. Leases run for 12 months versus the five-year terms that are standard for many commercial properties, and all Transform members can use the shared spaces at both sites, including a lushly landscaped area and vegetable garden maintained by the Greensboro Permaculture Guild. “Members can come and pick a tomato. Honestly, anyone can come and pick a tomato,” Zimmerman says. O.Henry magazine recently moved its office to Transform on Bain. Zimmerman explains the draw for many small businesses. “The only rhyme or reason is the cool spaces, the flexibility and the collaboration,” he says. “I’m not sure there’s another place in Greensboro that has these components in a critical mass.” Zimmerman says it’s his favorite story: how he came to buy the 100,000-square-foot Gateway Building, an L-shaped colossus that housed the Blue Bell Co. offices and textile plant at 620 South Elm Street through most of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, the plant wove denim and sewed it into overalls that were popular with railroaders on the nearby Southern Railway. Production shifted to military uniforms during World War II. Most of the factory workers were women. Civic powerhouse Betty Cone owned the building — then called the Old Greensborough Gateway Center — by the time it caught Zimmerman’s interest. He called her in 2016. “I know it’s not for sale, but if it ever is, I’d be interested,” said
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Zimmerman. “You’re right — it’s not,” said Cone, “But I know about your work.” Six months later, Cone called Zimmerman. “Are you still interested?” she said. “Yes,” said Zimmerman. “When can you meet?” “How about now?” offered Cone. A couple of hours later, the transaction was sealed, face-to-face, with a verbal agreement. “We made a deal the old-fashioned way,” says Zimmerman. “We dotted the ‘i’s’ and crossed the ‘t’s’ later.” Zimmerman added the property, which Cone had sectioned into offices and studios, to a half-dozen other parcels he owned in Southside, but there was one hitch: He wasn’t sure what to do with his new acquisition. “Ready, fire, aim — that used to be my way,” Zimmerman says, poking gentle fun at himself. Gradually, he and Causey decided to expand the co-working venture that was operating on Lewis street. With the help of general contractor R.P. Murray, they ripped out drywall and low ceilings, uncovered 55-pane factory windows that had been blocked by bricks or concrete blocks, and installed new electrical, HVAC, plumbing and motion-sensitive lighting systems. They also brought in gigabit fiber optic cable, assuring the ability to live stream and download large video and audio files. The first stage of the makeover, inside the brick wing that faces South Elm Street, opened in 2019. Centric Brands, a New York-based designer of clothing and accessories, moved in. The rest of the Gateway Building — including the stucco-clad leg The Art & Soul of Greensboro
that houses the common area of Transform and all of a wedding and corporate event space called Elm & Bain — was delayed by COVID and finally brought online in September. “This is a community we’re creating here — work here, play here and hopefully live here,” says Zimmerman, who fondly recalls Green’s Supper Club on U.S. 29 north of Greensboro and wants to make Elm & Bain the home of a monthly Southside Supper Club with live entertainment and catered multicourse meals. “I personally have graduated from standing shoulder-to-shoulder to listen to live music,” he says. Zimmerman also plans to develop 240 apartment units across Gate City Boulevard with parking to support both the apartments and the Gateway/Transform complex. The busy intersection is already home to Union Square Campus, a health sciences education building operated jointly by Cone Health, UNCG, N.C. A&T and GTCC. “We’re breaking down the silos that have existed here in Greensboro for a long time, hopefully with The Gateway and Transform Greensboro being at the heart,” Zimmerman says. No one would wish a pandemic on anyone, but COVID-19 hasn’t hurt his team’s dream. “The demand for remote employment has gone up so much,” says Transform GSO’s executive director Kaitlin Conover. “We’re having a lot of people coming in because they’ve been working from home. This gives them a break, a respite.” That’s the case for Dan Brown, the 3D entrepreneur. He started his business last year, soon after he and his wife, The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Madeline, moved from New Jersey to Greensboro for her job in the office of student retention at N.C. A&T. When COVID hit, both of them were working from home, occasionally with Madeline’s mother trying to babysit their son in the background. “If he knew I was there, it was ‘Daddy, daddy, daddy, can I get some fruit snacks?’ and when I didn’t respond, it was, ‘DADDY, CAN I GET SOME FRUIT SNACKS?!!’ I said to myself, ‘This can’t work.’” In June 2020, Brown started camping out at the Greene Street office of Collab, a hatchery for entrepreneurs fostered by Launch Greensboro, an arm of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. “It was one of the best moves I’ve ever made, especially for the networking and connecting,” he says. When Launch Greensboro moved into the new location of Transform GSO, a dozen Collab inhabitants, including Brown, followed. “The whole ecosystem — it’s been a continuation of the excellence I’ve experienced from day one,” says Brown. “I’m grateful to have a space to work out of. I like to get out of the house and go somewhere. I’m an extremely routine-oriented guy.” To that end, he’s adding one more item to his list of office decorations: frosted peel-and-stick window film to cover the glass door of his stall and make the space more private. “I know myself,” he says. “I need to put the blinders on and zone out.” OH Maria Johnson is a contributing editor of O.Henry. Email her at ohenrymaria@gmail.com. O.Henry 79
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D OW N TOW N G R E E N S BO R O . O R G
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Pass the Gravy
A L M A N A C
November By Ashley Wahl
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ovember is the rush of wind through leaves, the rush of leaves through wind, a cradle song before a long night’s sleep. In the garden, the unblinking statue has seen it all before, will see it all again: birds, here and gone; the explosion of color; the great release; the withering; the nothingness; the sweet and glorious rebirth. Today, light feels soft and precious. The air is cool. The garden statue, barnacled from yet another sleepless year on watch, holds a stone bird in cupped hands — the weight of the world; the burden and the gift of the silent witness. As tree limbs bend and sway on high, leaves and squirrels scatter across the earth in dramatic bursts. Soon, when the wood frogs sleep, the roving cat will make its way from the rose bed to the back porch, press its paw against the glass panel door, give up its wanderings for a place by the hearth. The crickets play their final tune as the snake enters brumation. In its quiet meditation, the statue sees and hears what most do not. It knows that summer’s light is still here, pulsing within all living things; that spring is autumn’s waking dream; that there is magic in the heart of winter’s stillness. A whirl of golden leaves descends. An aster blooms. And in the fading autumn light, a pregnant doe plucks freshly planted bulbs, nibbles dwindling grasses, steps boldly toward the night. The statue neither smiles nor frowns. It simply watches, listens as the world goes quiet.
Autumn’s color show does not stop at the swirling leaves. Inside, where golden milk simmers on the stovetop, the spectacle continues. Behold a rainbow spread of roasted beets and carrots. Collard greens flaked with red pepper. Cranberry-pear chutney garnished with orange peel. Come Thanksgiving, add warmth and color any way you can. We all know it: The mashed potatoes need the contrast. Despite how you serve them — smooth and creamy; handmashed and skin-on; loaded with garlic and butter — there’s no denying that mashed potatoes remain a holiday favorite. Unlike green bean casserole, which Campbell’s introduced in the 1950s through their Cream of Mushroom soup, mashed potatoes have been a Thanksgiving staple since the 1700s. Sure, add a dollop of sour cream and a little cheddar. Or fresh rosemary from the kitchen garden. Just don’t go messing up a good thing.
Hold the Dairy
How to make vegan mashed potatoes? Two words: vegan butter. And as for vegan gravy? Ditto. Sub pan drippings for nutritional yeast, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, onion powder and the like. There are dozens of recipes out there. No need for the vegan you love to go without.
I love to see the cottage smoke Curl upwards through the trees, The pigeons nestled round the cote On November days like these . . . — John Clare, “Autumn”
O.Henry 81
GUIDE TO GIVING
O.Henry magazine is pleased to present the 2021 Guide to Giving. As you begin planning for the holidays, please give some thought to how you can help those that are working to make our community a better place to live. The O.Henry magazine Guide to Giving is a sampling of charitable organizations in our area that rely on annual fundraising. This year, when fundraising events are not possible, your donations are more important than ever. With your help, be it monetary or hands-on, we can support their missions and have a hand in bettering Greensboro. We thank the local businesses that made our Guide to Giving possible through their sponsorship. To learn how your business can sponsor the 2022 edition, please call 336-617-0090.
2823-C, Spring Garden St, Greensboro, NC 27403 336.285.9067 www.arcbarks.com
info@doxiebyproxy.org www.doxiebyproxy.org Established 2019
Established 2011
MISSION STATEMENT
MISSION STATEMENT
Officially...arcBARKS are preservative-free dog treats made by bakers with special needs. Our dog treat company operates as a job training and enrichment program founded by The Arc of Greensboro, Inc. The Arc is a nonprofit devoted to enriching the lives of individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.
We are a foster home based rescue accepting shelter intakes and owner surrenders from NC. We try to counsel and offer advice to owners considering surrendering their dachshund as a way of keeping pets in loving homes to prevent the burden on rescue.
HOW TO DONATE
HOW TO DONATE
For online donation please go to arcBARKS.com and click the “donate” button at the top or bottom of the page. For a check write arcBARKS as the recipient and send to the address above.
We accept donations in the following ways: Venmo - @Alison-Schwartz-21 • PayPal - info@doxiebyproxy.org Mailing Address: PO Box 9671, Greensboro, NC 27429-9671 Facebook Donations • AmazonSmile
KEY FACTS
KEY FACTS
• Founded to fill need for post high school options for adults with intellectual disabilities. • Envisioned as a self-funding program that provides enrichment and training in a functioning dog treat bakery.
• We have rescued and placed 600+ dogs with over $450,000 on veterinary bills. • 100% of our intake and adoptions are within 3 hours of Central NC.
This ad made possible by All Pets Considered
Check Out the Self Dog Wash at our Sedgefield Location!
$20 for self dog wash includes everything except the dirty dog! 2614 Battleground Avenue • Greensboro | 336.540.1400 www.AllPetsConsidered.com | www.facebook.com/AllPetsConsidered The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 83
200 N. Davie Street, Suite 201 Greensboro, NC 27401 336.373.7523 www.artsgreensboro.org Established 1960
MISSION STATEMENT
WHO WE SERVE
To elevate the arts through awareness and promotion; to amplify the impact of the arts on building a strong and thriving community; to support the arts through grants, shared services, and professional development.
ArtsGreensboro provides grants and other resources to artists and arts organizations, supports arts integration in schools, and unifies our city through the power of the arts.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER
• In March 2020, launched the Greensboro Artist Emergency Relief Fund raising over $100,000 for our creative citizens in need • Lobbied Guilford County and State of North Carolina to access CARES funding for arts and culture organizations, distributing over $1 million to organizations facing economic hardships • Introduced a shared service program to provide bookkeeping services to small and emerging arts organizations
Volunteer opportunities and student internships are readily available. Email development@artsgreensboro. org for more information.
HOW TO DONATE Support for ArtsGreensboro and the annual ArtsFund can be made online at artsgreensboro.org through a one-time donation or by establishing a monthly recurring gift.
KEY FACTS:
This ad made possible by an anonymous sponsor
WHEN YOU SUPPORT THE ARTS
Creivy Haens
Invest in Greensboro's Creative Economy for a vibrant and equitable future for all. artsgreensboro.org | #artsgso
84 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
200 N Davie St, Box 8 Greensboro, NC 27401 336-333-2220 www.choralartscollective.org | www.belcantocompany.com www.greensboroyouthchorus.org Established 2021
MISSION STATEMENT We envision a community that celebrates excellence, diversity, and lifelong participation in choral music. Our mission is to create engaging, inclusive, and entertaining choral experiences for all.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER Assisting as an usher, planning our annual gala, serving on our board of directors – There are many ways to help: ChoralArtsCollective.org/volunteer
HOW TO DONATE Your donation of any amount – from a $5 one-time gift to a $5,000 season sponsorship – supports local choral performances and music education for all ages. ChoralArtsCollective.org/support
WHO WE SERVE Whether you are new to choral music, a casual listener, or a dyed in the wool choir fanatic…whether you’re a student, a working professional, or savoring your retirement…whether you are just learning to read music, are a serious amateur, or have been singing professionally for years…we have the ensemble or concert for you. We strive to create accessible and lifelong sources of enjoyment, fulfillment, and artistic expression for all, regardless of age, education, experience, or background.
KEY FACTS: • The Choral Arts Collective is the new home of Bel Canto Company and Greensboro Youth Chorus. • Greensboro Youth Chorus is registering new students for January, grades 2-12. • Gate City Voices – a new opportunity to sing with Bel Canto - is seeking singers for this spring. • Bel Canto celebrates their 39th Season and a return to live concerts this December.
This ad made possible by an anonymous sponsor
Bel Canto Company
December 4 & 6 • Christmas at Canterbury * Saturday, 8pm | Monday, 7:30pm | Phillips Chapel at Canterbury School Sponsored by River Landing at Sandy Ridge
December 5 • The Night Before Christmas Sunday, 3pm (Free) | Van Dyke Performance Space February 12 • Amore Gala & Fundraiser Saturday, 6pm | The Colonnade at Revolution Mill Sponsored by Arrowhead Graphics
April 9 & 11 • Fill My Heart With Song * Saturday, 8pm | Monday, 7:30pm | Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre at Well•Spring May 14 • All Things Bright and Beautiful Return Saturday, 3pm (Free) | Venue TBD May 21 & 23 • Gate City Voices * Saturday, 8pm | Monday, 7:30pm | First Presbyterian Church Sponsored by Well·Spring
* Concert included in Bel Canto Subscription Season
Tickets at choralartscollective.org/tickets or 336.333.2220.
PO Box 14608, Greensboro, NC 27415 336.632.1400 www.chsnc.org Established 1902
WHO WE SERVE
MISSION STATEMENT To promote the right of every child to a permanent, safe, and loving family.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER www.chsnc.org/about/volunteer
Children and families in all 100 North Carolina counties in need of foster care, adoption, family preservation, and education services so that children can thrive. CHS helped more than 23,000 clients last year, with a statewide staff and offices in 10 cities across North Carolina.
KEY FACTS: • Since our founding in 1902, CHS has placed more than 16,000 children with nurturing adoptive families. • We help parents be the best that they can be by providing critical tools and resources for them to build stronger families. Whether that means doing whatever we can to keep families intact and healthy, or finding the right match to create new ones through foster care and adoption.
HOW TO DONATE • 800.632.1400 • www.chsnc.org/donate-today • Contact Caitlin Stay, cstay@chsnc.org, 336-369-3781
This ad made possible by Truliant
DNA optional. Love guaranteed. November is National Adoption Month. Please consider fostering, adopting or just learn more at chsnc.org.
Federally insured by NCUA.
86 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
122 North Elm, Suite 301, Greensboro, NC 27410 336.691.1268 www.cisgg.org Established 1988
WHO WE SERVE
MISSION STATEMENT The mission of Communities In Schools is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER Call us at 336-691-1268 or sign up at cisgg.org or find us on FaceBook
Communities in Schools serves students in grades K-12 at participating Title 1 schools. We serve over 2500 students annually.
KEY FACTS: • • • •
We have served over 48,000 children and families at 22 schools. 99.5% have stayed in school while enrolled in our services. 98.1% of enrolled seniors have graduated. CISGG is a United Way strategic partner.
HOW TO DONATE Donations are received at our website, www.cisgg.org, or directly at Communities In Schools 122 N. Elm St., Suite 301, Greensboro, NC 27401
This ad made possible by UBS Financial Services Inc.
Making a difference IIn nvveessttiin ngg iin n eed du uccaattiioon n ffoorr G Grreeeen nssb boorroo''ss cch hiilld drreen n John M. Aderholdt John M. Aderholdt Vice President--Wealth Management Vice President--Wealth Management 336-834-6952 336-834-6952 john.aderholdt@ubs.com john.aderholdt@ubs.com
Mark Aderholdt, CFP®® Mark Aderholdt, CFP Wealth Strategy Associate Wealth Strategy Associate 336-834-6918 336-834-6918 mark.aderholdt@ubs.com mark.aderholdt@ubs.com
Ann Roberts Ann Roberts Client Service Associate Client Service Associate 336-834-6961 336-834-6961 ann.roberts@ubs.com ann.roberts@ubs.com UBS Financial Services Inc. UBS Financial Services Inc. 717 Green Valley Road 717 Green Valley Road Suite 250 Suite 250 Greensboro, NC 27408 Greensboro, NC 27408 ubs.com/fa/johnaderholdt ubs.com/fa/johnaderholdt Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ in the U.S. ©UBS 2020. All rights reserved. UBS Financial rdbseIrnFcI.NoRwAn/Ss IPthCe. cDe-rUtiBfiSc-a1tC io2nEm rk3s CFP and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ in the U.S. ©UBS 2020. All rights reserved. UBS Financial SCeerrvtiicfieesdInFcin. aisncaiasluPblsain dn iaerry Boof aUrdBSofASGt.an Mdeam A2aB SThe ervicArt es In& c. iSoul s a suof bsid iary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC. D-UBS-1C2EA2B3 Greensboro O.Henry
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336.365.2334 www.dylanshearts.com
PO Box 191 Summerfield, NC 27358 www.thehaleygravesfoundation.com Established 2012
MISSION STATEMENT
WHO WE SERVE
Mitigate unnecessary pain & suffering in animals that cannot access veterinary treatment because of financial constraints facing their owners. In allowing the animal to remain in the home rather than be surrendered for care, we help perpetuate the bond between the animal and their human companions.
Dogs and cats that come from High kill shelters in NC. We also take in owner surrenders and assist with medical cases when we can.
HOW TO DONATE Donations can be mailed to Dylan’s Hearts at 3508-A Gaston Road, Greensboro, NC 27407 or made through our website, www.dylanshearts.com under the Donate button. Our online donations are made through PayPal.
KEY FACTS • Over 1,500 applications for Veterinary Expenses Assistance received. • 2,200 Memorial and Honorarium donations acknowledged
HOW TO DONATE Venmo: @thehaleygravesfoundation, Through our website, Facebook fundraisers, Amazon Smile, In person donations can be dropped off at All Pets Considered under our name.
KEY FACTS We are Foster based. We can only take in the number of animals that we have fosters for. We do not board our animals they all live in a home. Check our FB for all adoption events. FB: @HaleyGravesRescue IG: @HaleyGravesRescue
This ad made possible by All Pets Considered
GIVE OUR ONLINE ORDERING AND FREE LOCAL DELIVERY A TRY!
29 years for pets and their people. 88 O.Henry
2614 Battleground Avenue • Greensboro | 336.540.1400 www.AllPetsConsidered.com | www.facebook.com/AllPetsConsidered The Art & Soul of Greensboro
2300 Scalesville Rd, Summerfield, NC 27358 336.643.6383 www.summerfieldfbc.com Established 1860
MISSION STATEMENT To make disciples who reach UP to God, IN to the church, and OUT to the world.
OUR VALUES Gospel-centered worship • Fervent prayer Multigenerational fellowship Intentional discipleship • Service in ministry Missional Living
WHO WE SERVE By God’s grace we strive to be a multigenerational, gospel-centered, disciple-making church family reaching Summerfield and beyond for the cause of Christ. We actively serve our community through our weekly food pantry and our quarterly feeding of the homeless. Our multigenerational ministries serve all ages including children, youth, adults, and senior adults.
PLEASE JOIN US TO Worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30pm. For Sunday evening and Wednesday evening schedules, please visit us online at www.summerfieldfbc.com.
HOW TO DONATE www.summerfieldfbc.com/give
This ad made possible by Merle Norman
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 89
2800 E. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro, NC 27401 336.373.2199 www.GreensboroBeautiful.org Established 1968
WHO WE SERVE
MISSION STATEMENT To conserve and enhance the beauty and ecology of our community through public and private cooperation.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER Email us at GreensboroBeautiful@gmail.com, or visit us online at GreensboroBeautiful.org to see all our volunteer opportunities, and how you can get involved.
HOW TO DONATE
Greensboro Beautiful’s work brings beauty and a high quality of life to all of our families and children in a very lasting way. Trees and other plantings make Greensboro beautiful, litter cleanups keep Greensboro beautiful. And the impact of Greensboro’s gardens goes beyond physical beauty -- they contribute to education, environmental conservation, health and recreation.
KEY FACTS: • Developed each of Greensboro’s 4 public gardens with private donations from the community; host free family events in each garden annually. • Conducts annual tree plantings in parks, neighborhoods, and public areas. • Conducts 3 community litter cleanups each year.
Online at GreensboroBeautiful.org
This ad made possible by Guilford Garden Center
Need Fall Color?
Shop our Online Store at guilfordgardencenter.com
We specialize in unique, native, and specimen plants.
701 Milner Dr. Greensboro 336-299-1535 guilfordgardencenter.com
200 N. Davie Street, Box 10 Greensboro, NC 27401 336-335-5456 GreensboroSymphony.org Established 1959
MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (GSO) is to enrich the cultural life of Greensboro and surrounding areas through the development, promotion, and maintenance of a program of quality music and music education. Its primary vehicle for the conduct of these activities is the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, which presents concerts, special events, educational opportunities, and related activities.
HOW TO DONATE Support can be made by visiting GreensboroSymphony.Org or calling 336.335.5456.
WHO WE SERVE Thousands of Greensboro Symphony patrons witness the magic of our Masterworks, POPS, Holiday, Chamber, Rock, and Family concerts annually, and more than 1 million local children have experienced an in-person concert since our inception in 1959. We provide weekly music classes to Headstart Programs in 5 counties and Beginning String lessons at Peck and Cone Elementary Schools. We have three Youth Orchestras, ensemble visits to every elementary school in Guilford County and full-orchestral concerts for elementary students in 4 counties, plus programs at area retirement homes, juvenile detention centers, and CaringSound at Cone Hospital.
KEY FACTS: The Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts is our new home! • We employ 77 Professional Musicians. • Our Music Director, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, is a highly visible ambassador to Greensboro and throughout the world.
This ad made possible by Blue Denim Real Estate
8106 Southerland Dr, Browns Summit, NC
Classical styling and classical music never go out of fashion. BLUE DENIM REAL ESTATE PROUDLY SUPPORTS THE GREENSBORO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA!
BlueDenimRealEstate.com
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
MARK & KIM LITTRELL REALTOR®, Brokers, Owners Mark 336-210-1780 Kim 336-210-9294 Info@BlueDenimRE.com
O.Henry 91
Habitat Greensboro 1031 Summit Ave, Suite 2W-2 Greensboro, NC 27405
ReStore Locations 3826 W. Gate City Blvd Greensboro, NC 27407
336.275.4663
2190 Lawndale Drive Greensboro, NC 27408
Habitatgreensboro.org Established 1987
MISSION STATEMENT
HOW TO DONATE
Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope.
Every donation helps build safe, stable, and affordable housing. Donate securely online at: Habitat Greensboro.org. Habitat Greensboro is also grateful to accept donations of gently used home furnishings for our ReStore. To schedule a donation pick-up, please visit our website, or call 336.851.2929.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER Volunteers are at the heart of each Habitat home. Whether at our ReStore or on the build site, every volunteer is helping families build a foundation for a brighter future. Visit habitatgreensboro.org/volunteer to learn more.
WHO WE SERVE Habitat Greensboro works toward our vision of a world where everyone has a safe and affordable place to live. Partnering with low-income families who have a demonstrated need, an ability to pay an affordable mortgage, and a willingness to partner, we help families achieve the strength, stability, and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves.
KEY FACTS: • Habitat Greensboro has helped more than 500 families achieve their dream of homeownership.
This ad made possible by generous Habitat Greensboro donors.
every gift builds homes, communities, and hope habitatgreensboro.org 92 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
3310 Horse Pen Creek Rd., Greensboro, NC 27410 336.282.7044 www.NobleKnights.org Established 1987
WHO WE SERVE
MISSION STATEMENT Noble Academy empowers students with learning differences to pursue their highest potential within a comprehensive, supportive educational environment.
WHY WE MATTER We develop self-advocacy skills. We develop reading and math confidence. We develop social skills and we bring back a student’s love for learning.
HOW TO DONATE
Students in grades 2-12 diagnosed with ADHD and learning differences or experiences difficulties with attention, processing speed or memory, auditory processing, executive functioning, reading, math, or writing, and academic fluency, who meet our admission criteria.
KEY FACTS: • • • •
8:1 student/teacher ratio 100% graduation rate 1/3 of families receive tuition assistance or grants/scholarships from NCSEAA. Accreditations from SAIS-SACS, IDA, and a Wilson® Accredited Partner.
Donations are received at our website, www.nobleknights.org or directly at Noble Academy to the attention of Chere Flowers.
This ad made possible by After Hours Veterinary Emergency Clinic
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Experience convenient, around-the-clock
veterinary care at our highly competitive general practice prices. 5505 West Friendly Ave. Greensboro, NC
Call: 336-851-1990 24 HOUR Veterinary Care on Your Schedule
PO Box 13136, Greensboro, NC 27415 336.272.5003 www.PreservationGreensboro.org Established 1966
MISSION STATEMENT We build thriving communities by protecting and renewing our historic and architectural treasures.
WHO WE SERVE Greensboro and surrounding communities in Guilford County
KEY FACTS: HOW TO VOLUNTEER Simply call our office or email us from our website to help with gardening, salvages, or events!
HOW TO DONATE
• Preservation Greensboro educates and advocates for historic structures in Guilford County. Have a question about your building? Give us a call! • Blandwood Museum features an original mid-19th century decorative arts collection. • Architectural Salvage recycles vintage building elements such as fireplace mantels and hardware. Visit the store to shop for beautiful treasures from the past.
Visit our “Donate” page on our website
This ad made possible by Melissa Greer
Your Home, Your History Proud to Support
No home means more to me than yours. 336.337.5233 | MelissaGreer.com
94 O.Henry
A member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates, LLC.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
8653 NC-65, Stokesdale, NC 27357 336.288.7006 www.reddogfarm.com
336.288.9944 www.tgrr.org Established 1995
Established 2006
MISSION STATEMENT
MISSION STATEMENT Red Dog Farm Animal Rescue Network is dedicated to providing superior rescue care and foster housing to a diverse population of both domestic and exotic animals, while helping them find their forever homes.
Triad Golden Retriever Rescue, Inc. (TGRR) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, humane treatment and placement of homeless Golden Retrievers, and to the education of the public about the breed.
HOW TO DONATE
HOW TO DONATE
We are 100% privately funded. To help support our animals or the farm, please consider donating at reddogfarm.com. Thank you for your support!
Visit our web site tgrr.org and click on DONATE button to donate on line, send a check, or buy from companies affiliated with TGRR.
KEY FACTS
KEY FACTS • We have helped over 4,000 animals including more than 55 species find loving and forever homes. • Our 21 acre farm facility is meant to be a permament home for staff and volunteers, a place for some animals to rest thier head before moving on to a foster or forever home.
• We receive dogs from private owners, lost dog turn-ins, and local animal shelters. • TGRR makes every effort to place each dog where the home situation and lifestyle seem most closely matched to the needs and personality of the individual dog.
This ad made possible by All Pets Considered
$20,525
Rounded Up So Far In 2021 for Local Charities! through September 2021
Each month we choose a different local charity partner. WHEN YOU OPT TO ROUNDUP YOUR INVOICE TOTAL 100% IS DONATED TO OUR MONTHLY LOCAL CHARITY PARTNER.
Bonefactor and Generoskitty Subscription Boxes $29.99 ($60+value) monthly. A portion of each box is donated to our monthly local charity partner.
2614 Battleground Avenue • Greensboro | 336.540.1400 www.AllPetsConsidered.com | www.facebook.com/AllPetsConsidered The Art & Soul of Greensboro
O.Henry 95
518 North Elm Street Greensboro, NC 27401 336-275-7896 www.SanctuaryHouseGSO.com Established 2002
MISSION STATEMENT The mission of Sanctuary House is to facilitate the recovery and rehabilitation of adults with serious mental illness in Guilford County so that they may achieve and sustain satisfying, meaningful roles and lives in the community.
WHO WE SERVE We serve adults with severe and persistent mental illness in Greensboro and surrounding communities in Guilford County.
KEY FACTS
HOW TO DONATE
• Member programming includes: Supported Employment, Personal Care, Residential Services, Psychosocial Rehabilitation, and our Sweet Success Bakery. • Since inception, members of Sanctuary House have earned over $2.3M in competitive wages and have an employment rate of almost 4X the state rate. • Since 2003, there has not been a single incident of suicide among members who have been in programs with Sanctuary House. • Less than 1% of active Sanctuary House members have re-entered the hospital.
For donations and stock transfers - if needed for stock transfers they can contact Mary Kate Farley Donation - https://sanctuaryhousegso.com/donate/
TO INQUIRE ABOUT SERVICES Call Kayla Martin, Intake Coordinator, at 336-275-7896 Ext. 103
HOW TO VOLUNTEER We have volunteer opportunities that are seasonal and event specific. Contact us at 336-275-7896 and request to speak with Michelle Felt.
This ad made possible by Hanes Lineberry
102
Thank you, Greensboro, for your support since October 1919! At we celebrate our 102nd anniversary and look forward to year 103, Hanes Lineberry believes this will be our best year ever. The past two years have been extraordinary learning experiences, and we enter our next year smarter and better equipped to handle the needs of our clients. As local funeral experts, we strive to build long lasting relationships with every family we meet. We welcome your ideas and customize services to honor your family’s traditions. From all of us at Hanes Lineberry Funeral Services, thank you for reaching out to us during your times of need.
515 N. Elm St. Greensboro, NC 27401
96 O.Henry
336.272.5157 | www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com
6000 Gate City Blvd. Greensboro, NC 27407 The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Greensboro Distribution and Nutrition Education Center: 2517 Phillips Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27405 Established 1982
MISSION STATEMENT To provide food assistance through a network of partners, while educating and engaging our communities in the elimination of hunger and its causes.
Headquarters: 3655 Reed Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27107 336.784.5770 www.SecondHarvestNWNC.org
WHO WE SERVE Second Harvest is a vital community resource, providing food and services for a network of 430+ food assistance organizations serving Greensboro, Guilford County, and 17 other Northwest North Carolina counties. Each year, together, we provide 40.5 million meals for neighbors in need.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER Whether you are helping us sort food or build large pallets of dry goods, or helping out in our gardens or offices, your time helps to set the table for local families. Visit SecondHarvestNWNC.org/volunteer.
HOW TO DONATE With every $10 you give, Second Harvest can provide up to 70 nutritious meals. Make your gift at FeedCommunityNow.org.
KEY FACTS: • Second Harvest partners with 101 food assistance programs serving Guilford County. • 78% of the food provided by our Guilford Country partners comes from Second Harvest. • Together, we provided more than 9,173,594 meals for Guilford County families last year.
This ad made possible by an anonymous sponsor 1 10/6/21 9:49 PM
2 pg. horizontal 8" w x 4.625 h.pdf
S U S G N I R B D FOO
r e h t e g o T
Together, we can bring food & hope to our neighbors this holiday season.
FeedCommunityNOW.org
1500 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro, NC 27405 336.378.6600 www.UnitedWayGSO.org Established 1922
MISSION STATEMENT
WHO WE SERVE
Improve lives and create thriving communities by mobilizing and uniting the caring power of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Our strategy to end local poverty serves families and individuals living with low incomes in the greater Greensboro community. Through our network of strategic partners and at our Family Success Centers, people have access to holistic services that help them learn new skills, land jobs, and more!
HOW TO VOLUNTEER
KEY FACTS:
To learn about volunteer opportunities, follow us on social media, drop by our office, give us a call, or visit www.UnitedWayGSO.org/Volunteer.
HOW TO DONATE UnitedWayGSO.org/Donate, Text “BG” to 41444, Cash App $UWGG, or drop off a check – we accept it all!
• Did you know? In the greater Greensboro community, there are over 57,000 people living in poverty. In Greensboro, 1 in 4 kids are living in poverty. • The federal government defines poverty as a family of four earning $26,500/ year. Many four member households need to earn around $60,000 to meet only their most basic needs without assistance. • With the help of thousands of diverse citizens, we recently launched a community-inspired and developed BOLD Goal: As a community united in equity and lasting solutions, 3,000 households in greater Greensboro will leave generational poverty by 2030.
This ad made possible by TowneBank
Serving Others. Enriching Lives.
For more than two decades, TowneBank has been helping the people we serve conceive, achieve, and secure their visions. We’re proud of our community and committed to doing all we can to make it stronger... now and in the future.
Member FDIC | TowneBank.com
98 O.Henry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
November 2021
Little Big Town
11/
4–5
Although conscientious effort is made to provide accurate and up-to-date information, all events are subject to change and errors can occur! Please call to verify times, costs, status and location before planning or attending an event.
November 1–28 PIECES OF NOW, BUT LATER. National award-winning exhibit, Pieces of Now: Murals, Masks, Community Stories and Conversations, has been extended. See it while you can! Free. Greensboro History Museum, 130 Summit Ave., Greensboro. Info: greensborohistory.org/event.
November 3 BIG SHOT DRIVE-THRU. 5–7 p.m. Diary of The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Casablanca
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a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney celebrates the release of his newest novel with a meet-and-greet. Book purchase and tickets required; $15-30. Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 N. Church St., Greensboro. Info: scuppernongbooks.com/ event. READING THE WORLD. 7–8:30 p.m. Reading and discussion of The Years, the personal narrative of French author Annie Ernaux. Free; registration required. Scuppernong Books, 304 S. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: scuppernongbooks.com/event.
November 4 STORIES & STONES. 6–8 p.m. Join author Freeman Owle for the Stories of the Cherokee Nation and Stone Carving Workshop, part of
Running of the Turkeys
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the One City, One Book community read. Free. Greensboro Central Library, 219 N. Church St., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov. TRIFLING. 7–8 p.m. Reading and discussion of The Sum of Trifles, a memoir by Julia Ridley Smith. Free; registration required. Scuppernong Books, 304 S. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: scuppernongbooks.com/event.
November 4–5 LITTLE BIG TOWN. 8 p.m. The award-winning country music group performs downtown for two nights only. Tickets: $29+. Steven Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: tangercenter. com/events.
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Calendar November 5 GIMME A BEAT! 6:30–9:30 p.m. Join Healing Earth Rhythms for a community drum circle every first Friday of the month. Drums available to borrow. Free. Center City Park, 200 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: greensborodowntownparks. org/calendar. LOS ANGELES AZULES. 8 p.m. Cumbia meets electronic music. Tickets: $39+. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: greensborocoliseum.com/ events.
November 6 Pumpkin Smash
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November 4–7 & 11–14 JUDAS. Set in a time-bending, darkly comic world between heaven and hell, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot reexamines the plight of the infamous biblical betrayer. Rated PG-13; face coverings required. Tickets: $15. (On-demand streaming beginning November 18). Pam and David Sprinkle Theatre, 402 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: vpa.uncg. edu/theatre.
November 5–6 PRIME MOVERS CONCERT. 7:30–10 p.m. Original choreography by UNCG School of Dance majors. Live stream option available. Tickets: $7-15. UNCG Dance Theatre, 1408 Walker Ave., Greensboro. Info: dance.uncg.edu.
November 5–7 HOLIDAY MARKET. Kick off the holiday season at this Christmas extravaganza. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Tickets and info: greensborocoliseum.com/events.
PUMPKIN SMASH. 10 a.m. until noon. Launch, hammer or slingshot your expired pumpkins. Pulp will be used as compost in local community gardens. Free. Lake Brandt Marina, 5945 Lake Brandt Rd., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov (click on “Events”). PIGSTOCK. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The Rotary Club of Greensboro’s annual cookoff. In other words: a day of smoked BBQ, beer and bluegrass. Live music by Never Too Late, Hot Wax & The Splinters and Briar Patch). Proceeds benefit the Children of Vietnam. Tickets: $30-40; free for children 12 and under. Shooting Star Horse Farm, 5624 Davis Mill Rd., Greensboro. Info: secure.givelively.org/ event/children-of-vietnam/pigstock-2021 BACKCOUNTRY HOLIDAY. 10 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Join costumed interpreters to see how they prepared for the holiday season in the 18th century. Free. High Point Museum, 1859 E. Lexington Ave., High Point. Info: highpointmuseum.org. FULL HEN HOUSE. 7–8:30 p.m. Spend the evening with Red Hen Press authors Deonna Kelli Sayed, Beth Gilstrap, Khalisa Rae and Sebastian Matthews as they share works of poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction. Free; registration required. Scuppernong Books, 304 S. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: scuppernongbooks.com/event. SOUTH COMEDY SHOW. Comedians DC Young Fly, Karlous Miller and Chico Bean live on-stage. Tickets: $36+. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: greensborocoliseum.com/events. HE’S GOT POPS. Broadway and Glee star Matthew Morrison takes the stage as part of
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Greensboro Symphony’s POPS concert season. Tickets: $35+. Steven Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: tangercenter.com/events.
November 6–January 2, 2022 WINTER WONDER LIGHTS. 5:30–11 p.m. Brighten your nights with a holiday light show. Tickets: $14.50+. Free for ages 2 and under. Greensboro Science Center, 4301 Lawndale Dr., Greensboro. Info: greensboroscience.org.
November 7 UNDER JERUSALEM. 1–2 p.m. Under Jerusalem author Andrew Lawler discusses the tombs, tunnels and trenches of the Holy City. Free; registration required. Scuppernong Books, 304 S. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: scuppernongbooks.com/ event. FIRST OPUS. 7–8:30 p.m. Creative Greensboro’s annual Opus Concert Series features “A Shakespearean Serenade” by The Choral Society of Greensboro. COVID-19 vaccination and face coverings required. Free; donations accepted. Well-Spring Theatre, 4100 Well Spring Dr., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov (Click on “Events”).
November 8–14 MILITARY APPRECIATION AT THE ZOO. In celebration of Veterans Day, all military will receive free admission and $2 off admission for up to six accompanying guests. Valid military or veterans ID required. North Carolina Zoo, 4401 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro. Info: nczoo.org/events.
November 9–14 BROADWAY IS HERE. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical tells the inspiring, true story of King’s rise to stardom. Tickets: $29+. Steven Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: tangercenter.com/events
November 10 POETRY CAFE. 6–9 p.m. The Youth Cipher Series continues with kids’ open mic for music, poetry and art, hosted by Josephus Thompson III. Free; registration required. Caldcleugh Multicultural Arts Center, 1700 Orchard St., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov (click on “Events”). The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Life & Home
Calendar November 11–13
Celebrating with you
SOME ENCHANTED EVENING. 7:30 p.m. A musical based on the popular Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune. Free; tickets required. Gail Brower Huggins Performance Center, Odell Place, Greensboro. Info: www.greensboro.edu/ events.
AT HOME
this Thanksgiving.
November 12 DR. BACON. 8:30 p.m. Appalachian Funk-Rock at the Crown. Standing room only. Tickets: $12/ advance; $15. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com.
Our caregivers make it possible.
November 12–13 FALL DANCES. 7:30–10 p.m. A concert featuring choreography by UNCG School of Dance faculty and guest artists. Live stream option available. Tickets: $7-15. UNCG Dance Theatre, 1408 Walker Ave., Greensboro. Info: dance.uncg.edu.
1515 W Cornwallis Drive, Suite 100 Greensboro, NC 27408
Phone: 336.285.9107 Fax: 336.285.9109
November 12–13 & 19–21
email: info@1stChoiceHomeCareInc.com
FLORA & ULYSSES. After getting sucked into a vacuum cleaner, a (now) hairless squirrel is rescued by Flora, a 10-year-old girl. Tickets: $15. Taylor Theatre, 406 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: vpa.uncg.edu.
PUMPKIN PROWL. Celebrate autumn with this annual pumpkin enrichment for wild animals. Pumpkin-themed refreshments for purchase during the event. Animal Park at the Conservators Center, 676 E. Hughes Mill Rd., Burlington. Tickets and info: animalparknc.org/events. WE ARE STILL HERE. 3–4:30 p.m. Nora DialStanley presents her film, Leaving Home, Building Community: Triad Native American History, Presence and Continuance, as a part of the One City, One Book program. Discussion to follow screening. Free. Glenn McNairy Library, 4860 Lake Jeanette Rd., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov. AMERICAN SIREN. 6 p.m. & 9 p.m. Colorado songwriter Emily Scott Robinson performs two evening shows. Tickets: $20. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com. BOOK LAUNCH. 7–8:30 p.m. Stephanie Grant discusses her coming-out story and memoir The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Visit
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online @
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Calendar Disgust with fellow author David Keplinger. Free; registration required. Scuppernong Books, 304 S. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: scuppernongbooks. com/event. WORLDWIDE THEATRICS. 7:30 p.m. Enjoy the music of All Together Now!, a globally produced fundraiser to benefit local theaters. Tickets: $20+. Hanesbrands Theatre, 209 N. Spruce St., Winston-Salem. Info: ltofws.org. TRAVELLIN’ MAN. 7 p.m. Lynyrd Skynyrd brings down the house in their Big Wheels Keep on Turnin’ Tour. Tickets: $35+. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: greensborocoliseum.com/ events.
November 13–14 & 19–21 OVER THE RAINBOW. The Community Theatre of GSO presents its 26th annual production of The Wizard of Oz. Tickets: $10-30. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com.
November 13–December 23 BLACK NATIVITY. Enjoy the Nativity in a new light through Langston Hughes’ gospel musical. The Barn Dinner Theatre, 120 Stage Coach Trail, Greensboro. Tickets and info: barndinner.com.
November 14 SECOND OPUS. 7–8:30 p.m. Creative Greensboro’s Opus Concert Series features The Polk Duo and the Greensboro Big Bang. COVID-19 vaccination and face coverings required. Free; donations accepted. Well-Spring Theatre, 4100 Well Spring Dr., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov (Click on “Events”).
November 16 CASABLANCA. 7 p.m. The Carolina Classic Movie series presents Casablanca. Tickets: $7. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com. WOMEN OF SHIN HANGA. 8 p.m. Nozomi Naoi, assistant professor of Art History from YaleNUS discusses Japan’s radical social and political changes in the early 20th century. Virtual event; registration required. Free. Info: weatherspoonart.org.
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November 17 LONG-RIFLE MAKERS. 10 a.m. The High Point Historical Society will host Greensboro-native Michael Briggs to discuss the Davidson School’s long-rifle makers. Free. High Point Museum, 1859 E. Lexington Ave., High Point. Info: highpointmuseum.org. IN THIS MOMENT. 6:15 p.m. Hard rock in the ‘Boro. Tickets: $29.50/advance; $42. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: greensborocoliseum.com/ events.
November 18 THERE THERE. 7–8:30 p.m. Spend an evening with Tommy Orange, Native American author of Greensboro’s One City, One Book selection for 2021, There There. Free. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: greensborocoliseum.com/events. HNAC CAFE. 5:30–6:30 p.m. Engage in a colloquium-style discussion on disability and wellness with local college professors. Borough coffee drinks and pastry coupons provided for attendees. ASL interpreter available. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart.org. HOW DO I LOOK. 7–7:45 p.m. A student-led edition of the HDIL series where attendees discuss the ways personal experiences and knowledge shape how we view life and art. Virtual event; registration required. Free. Info: weatherspoonart.org.
Travellin’ Man
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November 19–20 B.F.A. DANCE THESIS. 7:30–10 p.m. A concert featuring original choreography by senior B.F.A. Dance students. Live stream option available. Tickets: $7-15. UNCG Dance Theatre, 1408 Walker Ave., Greensboro. Info: dance.uncg.edu.
November 20
November 19
GSO HALF. 8:30 a.m. This year’s Greensboro Half Marathon features two fast, flat loops — perfect for a mile fun run, 5k and virtual options also available. Registration: $20-80. Info: triviumracing.com.
ALL-STARS. James Taylor and His All-Star Band are joined by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jackson Browne. Tickets: $60.50+. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: greensborocoliseum.com/events.
OPEN HEARTH. 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Costumed interpreters cook a traditional fall harvest meal over an open hearth. Free. High Point Museum, 1859 E. Lexington Ave., High Point. Info: highpointmuseum.org.
CAST YOUR VOTE. 7–8 p.m. Michael Graff and Nick Ochsner discuss their book, The Vote Collectors, the “true story of scamsters, politicians and preachers behind the nation’s greatest electoral fraud.” Free; registration required. Scuppernong Books, 304 S. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: scuppernongbooks.com/event.
TURKEY TOSS. 1–5 p.m. Take part in the inaugural Turkey Toss Cornhole Tournament. Open to all ages, single elimination. Registration: $10/team. Keeley Park, 4110 Keeley Rd., McCleansville. Info: greensboro-nc.gov (Click on “Events”).
November 20–21 CHEERSPORT. 8 a.m. The national all-star cheer The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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A Friday afternoon miscellany of curated stories, whimsies, curiosities and blithe entertainments
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Calendar competition takes Greensboro by storm. Tickets: $10; free for children 12 and under. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: greensborocoliseum.com/ events.
40. Country Park, 3905 Nathanael Green Dr., Greensboro. Info: junction311.com.
November 26
DESERT ROSE. 8 p.m. (11/20) & 7 p.m. (11/21). Sting in concert. Steven Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Tickets: $145+. Info: tangercenter.com/events.
SETH WALKER. 8 p.m. Contemporary Americana artist performs songs from his most recent album, Are You Open. Tickets: $25/advance, $30 door. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com.
November 21
November 26–28.
THIRD OPUS. 7–8:30 p.m. Creative Greensboro’s annual Opus Concert Series features Alejandro Rutty and the Philharmonia of Greensboro. COVID-19 vaccination and face coverings required. Free; donations accepted. Well-Spring Theatre, 4100 Well Spring Dr., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov (Click on “Events”).
ARTS & CRAFTS. The Craftsmen’s Christmas Classic Art & Craft Festival features the works of hundreds of artists and makers across the U.S. Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Tickets and Info: greensborocoliseum.com/events.
November 25
MOTOWN CHRISTMAS. 8 p.m. World-class vocals from famous Motown groups, such as The Temptations, The Miracles and The Capitols. Tickets: $44-54. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene
RUNNING OF THE TURKEYS. 8:30 a.m. Family Fun Run; 9:15 a.m. 5K. Registration: $20-
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
November 28
St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com. NATIONAL LAMPOON. 7 p.m. Kick off the Carolina Classic Holiday Movies series with National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Tickets: $7. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com.
November 29 MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET. 7 p.m. The holiday edition of Carolina Classic Movies continues. Tickets: $7. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com.
November 30 I KNOW HIM! 7 p.m. Carolina Classic Holiday Movies presents Elf. Tickets: $7. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com.
To add an event, email us at
ohenrymagcalendar@gmail.com
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ONE MONTH PRIOR TO THE EVENT.
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Arts & Culture
THE FALL SHOW NEW WORKS BY KEVIN RUTAN FRIDAY NOV 12TH 11-5
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November 17 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. McKenzie Brothers! Cash Bars! Guys, you’re welcome, too!
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Arts & Culture HOLIDAY ORNAMENT SALE
December 4 - 18, Online Sales Begin December 6 RSVP required for Saturday visits. Masks Required. More than 2,500 Glass Ornaments Available Handblown by STARworks Glass Artists 100 Russell Drive, Star, NC 910.428.9001 • www.STARworksNC.org
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Business & Services
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O.Henry Ending
The Naked Truth
How I really feel about birthday suits
By David Claude Bailey
scolds as we leave the beach at Zahara de los Atunes, a shoreside village on the Atlantic west of Gibraltar.
“What?” I shoot back. “We just left a beach where a third of the women were topless, and you want me to put my shirt on?” Sarah explains that no one in Spain with any couth goes shirtless on the streets in beach resorts — or anywhere else in public, except bathing venues. Here in the states, I can jog down the street shirtless without anyone blinking an eye (though they might look the other way, given my physique). Only in nudist colonies (like the one outside of Reidsville you read about last month in O.Henry) do women and men go around in their birthday suits. But, oh, those sexy Europeans. Each time my wife, Anne, and I come back from visiting our daughter in Spain, my hiking buddies are envious of my basking in the Mediterranean sun surrounded by bare-breasted beauties. “Did you take any pictures?” they ask. Back in the spring, only a few days after Spain lifted their COVID ban on American tourists, I dipped my toes in the water at a nude beach. Anne, Alice and I were visiting Sarah on the Spanish island of Mallorca. We had driven to a remote beach near S’Albufera, a vast marshland preserve on the east coast. When I set off for one of my notoriously long walks, Sarah said, “Dad, you’ll probably see a lot of nudists. Try not to stare.” In fact, Sarah knew I had stopped fixing my gaze on nude sunbathers several years ago, not because I was tired of seeing stunningly trim and attractive examples of the human anatomy, but because of something she’d told me: “Maybe you’ve noticed that a lot of kids under the age of three don’t wear swimming suits over here. Nudity and toplessness are ways for adults to recapture those carefree, early experiences of being unencumbered with clothes, of feeling the sun and saltwater all over them.”
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Walking down the undeveloped stretch of sugar-white sand, I saw moms, dads and kids building sandcastles without the advantage of any clothes. Elderly couples sunned together in the altogether. Single men and women walked and talked and swam unclad without appearing to me in the least bit sexy. In fact, the women wearing string bikinis seemed to be making a much more tantalizing fashion statement. A final au naturel, European-style, story. Some years ago, when nudism and the topless thing were brand new to Anne and myself, Sarah took us on a long hike. We were on the coast near Llucalcari (pronounced in Catalan “You Call Car-ee”), a village named for its once sacred woodland grove. A friend had told Sarah about an enchanting beach accessible only by a primitive, handmade ladder of grapevines and driftwood. “It’s a favorite haunt for nudists,” Sarah told us. At the end of several hours of hiking, I eagerly scrambled down the vines and headed down a narrow path toward Homer’s wine-dark sea, only to encounter three nude 20-something women. They were headed back up the path to a spring where water poured from the hillside. We passed within inches of one another and I couldn’t help but notice their outstanding anatomical features — covered in dark purple mud that they’d smeared on themselves from the hillside as a self-administered spa treatment. I stood to the side to let them pass and smiled. They smiled back, a sticky, purple vision from head-to-foot, with only the whites of their eyes and teeth shining comically. As they passed, we all broke out in giggles. “Given my experience in Spain,” I tell my hiking friends, “nudism in Europe is not all it’s cracked up to be.’” OH David Claude Bailey is a contributing editor of O.Henry. Although he doesn’t offer details, he claims the purple mud does, in fact, work wonders. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
ILLUSTRATION BY HARRY BLAIR
“Dad! Put your shirt on,” my daughter
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