Good Reads

Preschool/Toddler Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch Written by Alyssa Satin Capucilli Illustrated by Pat Schories

There’s no better way to get your little ones into the spirit of autumn than with this classic. Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch is one of many in the series, but I received this as a gift after my first child, and there hasn’t been a child in my family (immediate or extended) who hasn’t enjoyed Biscuit’s adventures since. Read as the little girl takes her “sweet puppy” to find the perfect pumpkin for a jack-o’-lantern and see Biscuit discover some exciting surprises. “Woof, woof!”

Elementary School Dinosaur Club: The T. rex Attack Written by Rex Stone

I don’t know what it is about fall, but it always gets me in the mood for dinosaurs. I must have taken some field trips to dinosaur parks in the fall when I was in school. Thankfully, you don’t have to be close to real dinosaur fossils to experience the prehistoric creatures. Dinosaur Club: The T. rex Attack is the perfect book for the young (and old) aspiring paleontologist in your family. Part of a series of books, the story follows Jamie and Tess who find a secret entrance into a world of dinosaurs. While fictional, the book is filled with dinosaur facts, timelines and maps to satisfy all your dinosaur cravings.

Picture Book

Sloth & Squirrel in a Pickle

Written by Cathy Ballou Mealey Illustrated by Kelly Collier

Squirrel wanted a bike, so he and his friend Sloth went to the store. “Squirrel dashed ahead. Sloth followed behind. Way behind.” As Squirrel and Sloth work as pickle packers to earn enough money to buy the bike, they learn valuable lessons on teamwork, perseverance and the benefits of bringing different qualities to a friendship. This is one of those stories that just makes you smile.

Adult The Messy Lives of Book People Written by Phaedra Patrick

When the infamously reclusive bestselling author Essie Starling passes away suddenly, her one dying wish is to have her house cleaner (and only friend) Liv finish her last novel. As Liv begins the daunting task, she discovers a surprising connection with the late author, one that will inevitably change her life as well as the ending of the book. Oh, it’s a book I didn’t want to end! This would make a wonderful gift for yourself or someone you love.

Middle School

The Length of a String

Written by Elissa Brent Weissman

A sweet book of discovery, The Length of a String shares the story of Imani—an adopted Black girl who lives with her Jewish family in Baltimore—whose one wish for her bat mitzvah is to find her birth parents. As her big day approaches, Imani discovers a journal written by her great-grandmother, Anna, who recently passed away and begins reading of Anna’s journey fleeing Nazi-occupied Luxembourg during World War II. Imani soon finds many parallels of Anna’s life with her own.

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Good Reads

by Darcy Connor

Rogue Rescue

A second chance for bully dogs

Story by Greg Girard Photos by Amanda Jakl and courtesy of Fontana Palmer

Goose was found collapsed at a nearby farm, bloodied and scarred, his left eye damaged and beyond repair. Willa was found in a woman’s yard, struggling to walk, emaciated and with infected head wounds. A toenail was ripped out of her right front paw and it’s believed she was used as a bait dog, meaning a dog whose mouth is tied shut, usually with duct tape, and is used to increase the aggressiveness of fighting dogs. Violet was found locked in a trailer, starving to death with her six puppies before being rescued.

These are just a few stories from the journal of Fontana Palmer, founder of Rogue Active Duty Animal Rescue (R.A.D.A.R.), a nonprofit organization that specializes in saving bully dogs from dogfighting and abuse.

It is estimated that around 16,000 dogs die each year in dogfighting. A single fight can last hours and ends when one dog is killed or is too injured to continue fighting. As reported by the Humane Society, in describing the details of one particular dogfight, a convicted dogfighter wrote, “Miss Rufus spent most of the rest of the fight on her back and Bandit broke her other front leg high up in the shoulder, as well as one of her back legs, in the knee joint. The only leg she didn’t break, she chewed all to hell. She had literally scalped Miss Rufus, tearing a big chunk of skin off the top of her head alongside one ear.” Seeing the transformation of these dogs, you can see it in their eyes. There’s just no other feeling. I get chills. They know, every dog I’ve visited, that I’ve pulled from a bad situation, they know me, and it’s like, you know that they know. ”

Fontana Palmer, founder of Rogue Active Duty Animal Rescue, which specializes in saving bully dogs from abuse and dogfighting, with Barbie and Bug.

Rogue Rescue

Bully dogs, which include Pit Bulls, Bulldogs, Boxers and Bull Mastiffs, are often the breeds of choice for dogfighting because of their fierce loyalty to their owners and their strength. Dogs used for fighting are often raised in isolation, spending most of their brief lives tied to a heavy chain and conditioned to fighting with the use of steroids and other drugs to enhance muscle mass and aggressiveness.

Palmer began witnessing this firsthand when living in Macon, Georgia. A reservist on orders eight months out of the year, and with an activeduty husband, she was stationed at Robins Air Force Base, where she kept finding stray dogs.

“It’s a big area for dog fighting,” says Palmer. “And we just kept finding these dogs with injuries, on the side of the road, outside our boxing gym one day. I found three puppies on the side of the road once and, after a while, my husband said we have to do something, we can’t keep paying for all this stuff.”

Palmer had been volunteering at a local shelter and thought, I can start my own rescue. So in 2017, she established R.A.D.A.R., bringing it to Moore County when they moved here three years ago. R.A.D.A.R. will try to help any dog that needs saving, but Palmer has focused on the bully breeds because her first dog Ammo, who she’s had for 13 years, was saved from a fighting ring.

“I’ve always been kind of the underdog, believe in fighting for the underdog thing,” she says. “And it’s these cases that we’ve seen, they’re just brutal.”

But the breed, when raised humanely, can be just as loving as a labradoodle. After years of bad press and the common use of bully breeds for fighting, Palmer says her mission is now balanced between saving and rehabilitating bully breeds and educating both the public and future owners of the breed.

“If you Google pit bull or bully breed now, it still says a dog known for its ferociousness. So a big part is education along with saving the dogs. Because you have a powerful breed, you have a bigger responsibility, to the dog and the community, to train it, to keep it on a leash.”

In the five years since its inception, R.A.D.A.R. has found homes for 104 dogs,

Broken legs, bites, malnutrition, neglect, these dogs are raised to kill or be killed. Rogue Active Duty Animal Rescue takes the dogs in, treats their emotional and physical needs and then works to find a safe, caring home.

Above images are of Maple. She was found walking down the road dragging a 22-pound logging chain. She was adopted by the Palmer family.

Below is Roman. He was a junkyard dog pulled from the shelter kill list. He is now a certified service dog for a veteran in New York.

Rogue Rescue

which Palmer modestly notes isn’t that significant, explaining they’re not a rescue that “flips dogs” or tries to find a home immediately.

“It’s not that big of a number compared to other rescues. One, because I have a full-time job and kids, but also because, at minimum, we keep a dog for two weeks. Minimum decompression time is two weeks, because a dog in a shelter or a dog in a stressful environment does not have the same personality. And dogs that are injured or sick, we keep longer. We don’t even count the time for those dogs because that wouldn’t be fair. So, I say quality over quantity, but really I just feel like I have such a big responsibility to make sure that these dogs we adopt are a good representation of the breed and the rescue.”

Palmer says the long-term plan is to find a for-profit shelter that can help fund the expenses of the rescue. Food and vet bills are its greatest costs, and, right now, the average rescue costs upward of $900, depending on the condition of the dog.

“It used to cost around $250 per dog, maybe up to $400 if we put them through a full training course, but the cost just keeps going up. I’m not getting money back at this point. We refinanced our house. I’ve had to scale back because costs have gone up so much, which has been hard. That doesn’t stop me from hearing people say, if you don’t come get this dog, I might kill it. So, there’s a human aspect to rescue.

“I used to go to every call. I was six months pregnant and I’d put my slippers on and I’d go get it. And now I have to just realize that you can’t save every dog.”

The goal, of course, is to find a loving home for each dog. Today, Palmer has two foster families that help the dogs acclimate to life in a home before being adopted, but she says the need is much greater, hoping that someone who reads this will consider fostering. It takes time and patience, but the reward is worth it.

Palmer says: “I guess passion is the biggest thing, right? Fulfillment. I like my job. I like being in the military, and it gives me structure. But it doesn’t always give me fulfillment. Seeing the transformation of these dogs, you can see it in their eyes. There’s just no other feeling. I get chills. They know, every dog I’ve visited, that I’ve pulled from a bad situation, they know me, and it’s like, you know that they know. And knowing that a dog is in a good home, you can sleep well at night.”

For more information on R.A.D.A.R., visit facebook.com/rogueactivedutyanimalrescue. SP

haunted places

Depending on your viewpoint, the fact our area is relatively devoid of spooky sites is either a good thing or a bummer. Granted, we do have our share of ghost stories—the Holly Inn and Theatre Building in Pinehurst have noted some strange appearances over the years—but nothing that would bring an international group of ghost hunters to our sandy home.

That made us start thinking, just where are the spookiest places on Earth? What kind of specters are haunting our realm? We did a little research and came away with some truly frightening places. Visit them if you dare!

Hoia Baciu Forest in Romania is known to be the spookiest woods on Earth.

Some believe the forest is a portal to other worlds.

Hoia Baciu Forest, Romania

Yup, this forest is, you guessed it, deep within the Transylvania region of Romania. Believed to be the most haunted forest in the world, it is known as Romania’s Bermuda Triangle. The forest has been the source of all kinds of strange occurrences, from ghosts and apparitions to UFOs and portals to other realms.

The woods are named after a shepherd who wandered into the trees more than a century ago with his 200 sheep and was never seen again. Since then, many more disappearances have been reported, with people simply vanishing. A 5-year-old girl was lost in the forest only to reemerge five years later wearing the same clothes she was lost in and having no memory of her time away.

Locals never enter the woods, and those who do brave the forest report feeling anxious and agitated, as if someone is watching them. Electronic devices are known not to work, voices are often heard and strange lights have been seen coming through the trees.

Even the vegetation is strange, with trees growing at weird angles and one mysterious clearing right in the middle of the forest.

Ancient Ram Inn, England

Built on a pagan burial ground, this nearly 1,000-year-old inn boasts up to 20 spirits haunting its halls. The land is intersected by two “ley lines,” or straight alignments drawn between various historic structures and prominent landmarks. Some believe these ley lines have high spiritual energy and it just so happens the lines intersecting at the Ancient Ram Inn lead to Stonehenge.

Constructed in 1145, the inn first housed workers who were building St. Mary’s Church. During the building of the church, streams were diverted and many believe this opened up a portal to dark energy and spirits, thus beginning centuries of hauntings.

In 1968, John Humphries bought the inn and made it his residence. The first night, Humphries claims he was grabbed and dragged across the room by a “demonic force” after going to sleep. Other hauntings include a witch who was burned at the stake near the church in the 1500s and the discovery of children’s bones underneath the staircase with ritualistic daggers scattered among the remains.

Bhangarh Fort, India

Legend has it that this abandoned fortress in the desert built in 1573 was cursed by a sorcerer after being rejected by an adored local princess named Ratnavati. Tales of Ratnavati’s beauty and kindness spread throughout the area, ultimately reaching a tantric priest known to delve into black magic. Knowing she would never fall in love with him freely, he cast a spell on a bottle of perfume Ratnavati’s maid purchased for her. The princess learned of the priest’s plan and smashed the perfume bottle on the ground in front of the priest, instantly turning the bottle into a boulder and crushing the priest. Before he died, the priest cursed the princess,

her family and the village around the fort. A year later, a neighboring tribe defeated the Bhangarh and killed the princess.

The fort has been considered cursed and haunted ever since. It’s believed no one in the village near the fort can be reborn, based on their Hindu religion, and any villager who tried to build a home near the fort would find that the roof would collapse mysteriously. Guests are allowed to visit the site, but not after sunset.

Catacombs, Paris

If the idea of touring an underground labyrinth with the bones of more than six million people stacked in creepy designs doesn’t freak you out, then the ghosts and haunting stories of the Parisian tunnels will.

During the Middle Ages, the ground around Paris was speckled with limestone quarries that were used to build the great cathedrals of France. As the city grew and expanded above these excavated tunnels, the weakened ground gave way and

The bones of more than 6 million people are buried in the Paris Catacombs and there are about 200 miles of tunnels.

Some claim, when you visit at night, voices from the walls beckon you to venture deeper into the tunnels until you're lost forever.. buildings began collapsing. At about the same time, Paris was running out of space to bury the dead, with burials tainting drinking water and making people ill. So Parisians decided to start moving the buried remains to the former quarries, not only solving their cemetery challenges but also fortifying the weakened ground above. The bones of the dead were carried to the catacombs at night so as not to offend the citizenry.

Descending the stairs to the catacombs, visitors are greated with the sign: Arrete! C’est ící l’empíre de la mort, meaning “Stop! This is the empire of death.”

Voices are often heard throughout the tunnels and the haunting of Philibert Aspairt is well-known. During the French Revolution, Apsairt became lost in the tunnels and his body was not discovered until 11 years later. His ghost is believed to haunt the tunnels, particularly every Nov. 3, the anniversary of his disappearance. SP