Nov. 16 - Dec. 6, 2023
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Among our many blessings Compiled by ANNETTE JOYCE At this Thanksgiving season, we continue our annual tradition of asking our readers what they are most thankful for. While most of them offered similar themes, they also offered some unique perspectives on life’s many blessings. Here’s what they had to share… “As a mom with a teenage son, I am so thankful for his friend group. These kids are kind, caring and always have each other’s backs. They are all very unique, from personality to nationality. They talk and goof for hours, they listen to each other, cry together and pick each other up. It’s so important for them to have others they can count on, and especially for our son, who is an only child. “I am blessed to have these kids in my life, too, and am happy to have them over one at a time or all six at once. I am their ‘Uber,’ their safe person, their other mom. “Take the time to get to know your kids’ friends and be there for them when they can’t be with their parents or are afraid. I always wanted to be
IN THIS ISSUE New ABC store on the horizon on N.C. 68....2 News in brief......................................................3 Oak Ridge council meeting, Nov. 2.............8 Stokesdale council meeting, Nov. 9...........10 Summerfield council meeting, Nov. 14......12 Community Calendar..................................16 Welcome to our new advertisers................18 Honoring our veterans..................................19 NWO Kids’ Korner...........................................22 NWO Business & Real Estate.........................23 Congrats ORPT & To the Moon and Back...24 Mortgage rates up, housing supply low...28 Students, Scouts celebrate Veterans Day...30 Grins and Gripes............................................ 31 Classifieds.......................................................34 NWO On The Go.............................................40
the house all the kids hang out at. I am happy to have them.” Julie Surprenant, OAK RIDGE “I am most thankful for a loving wife, great kids and two fabulous grandkids, Finley, 4, and Quinn, 2. We are very blessed.” Mark Brown, SUMMERFIELD “I have always had a close family and miss my parents daily, but especially during the holidays. Every year, we laugh about the time my mother made a chocolate pie and put smoke flavoring in it instead of vanilla – really nasty taste! “We miss my husband Jay’s mom, whose cranberry salad is like no other. She shared her recipe, but it’s never going to be as good. ...continued on p. 37
Challengers dominate Summerfield, Oak Ridge municipal elections Newcomers pledge greater transparency, fiscal responsibility by CHRIS BURRITT NW GUILFORD – Summerfield and Oak Ridge voters unseated all but one Town Council member seeking re-election last week, as challengers campaigned on pledges to listen to voters more closely and spend taxpayer money more wisely. In Summerfield, disagreement over how to prevent the possible de-annexation of developer David Couch’s nearly 1,000 acres dominated campaigning in the weeks leading up to the Nov 7 election. Incumbents Reece Walker and Jeff Davis finished in fourth and fifth place out of the eight town council
candidates vying for three open council seats. Last month, Walker, Davis and council member John Doggett voted in favor of a text amendment to the town’s development rules to accommodate Couch’s plans for apartments and other higher-density housing on his 978 acres. Summerfield Mayor Pro Tem Lynne Williams DeVaney emerged as the top vote getter among the eight council candidates, after voting against the text amendment a month earlier. “The message was clear that people oppose de-annexation, but they also oppose the Oct. 5th text amendment,” said Jonathan Hamilton, elected along with another newcomer, Heath Clay, and DeVaney. “People do not want to see Summerfield compromised by overdevelopment,
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