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CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL ADMISSIONS INFORMATION SESSIONS FALL 2024
n Saturday, Nov. 9, from 11 a.m. to Noon – IN PERSON*
n Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. (EST) – VIRTUAL
To register for in-person or virtual sessions, scan this QR code. For more information, visit law.campbell.edu
*CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL Room 105, 225 Hillsborough St. in downtown Raleigh
Located in downtown Raleigh, Campbell Law School offers its students unmatched networking, externship, and learning opportunities that equip them with superb professional skills and prepare them for purposeful lives of leadership and service.
n Juris Doctor
n Patent Law Certificate (online or in-person)
n Dual-Degree Programs (within Campbell)
n Dual-Degree Programs (with North Carolina State University) law.campbell.edu
@campbelllawschool
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— Ariel Chenworth, Marketing Manager
This year, give a gift that lasts beyond the holidays. With a personalized storage solution from California Closets, you’re giving joy, peace, and a beautiful, clutter-free life. WALTER Magazine readers will receive $500 o their minimum purchase of $2,500 at California Closets.
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Raleigh’s Village District
EDITOR’S LETTER
Cirque
Pops
About halfway through checking in the guests for our WINnovation event in September, I grabbed a name tag, looked up and exclaimed, “Hey!” to my dermatologist. It was a bit of a surprise to see her outside of the exam room, but it was fun to share our takes on the event when I went in for my annual skin check a few weeks later.
A couple days later, I took my oldest daughter for her first orthodontist appointment. When the orthodontist walked in, she and I both did a doubletake. “I feel like I know you from somewhere,” she said. “Me, too…” I responded. We couldn’t figure it out, so we continued on with the appointment.
But as soon as I got back to the office and opened up my computer, there she was: she’d been a guest at WINnovation, too! I had a nice photo of her with two others on my screen, waiting for review for The Whirl. I shot her an email to close the loop, and we were glad to have made the connection.
The week after WINnovation, we held another event, our Book Club with Valerie Bauerlein. Once again, I was manning the check-in, and a couple walking in gave my name tag a closer look: “Ayn-Monique! We met your parents on a cruise to Antarctica!” Sure enough, I texted my parents later in the evening and they remembered
meeting Jim and Laura Alexander. These three in-person connections came on the heels of two email connections made over previous weeks: with one woman, we figured out that our dads had been college roommates; with another, we discovered we’d been on rival field hockey teams back in Arlington, Virginia (though we missed each other by about 10 years).
But these things happen all the time in Raleigh! One time, I tried to introduce friends from separate spheres who, unbeknownst to me, had shared an apartment during grad school. I’ll show up at a party where I don’t think I’ll know anybody and bump into one of our contributors. At the parent orientation for my oldest daughter starting middle school, I recognized folks from work, sports, music lessons… And I’m not even from here!
We joke about “Small Raleigh” and how everybody seems to know each other — but I love it, and I hope that even as Raleigh grows, it holds onto its small-town feel.
Ayn-Monique Klahre Editor
Left: Me with Laura and Jim Alexander at our Book Club event. Right: The WALTER team at WINnovation — Julie, Anna Marie, Cristina, Addie, David, Anna Beavon and me.
Private Wine Storage Concierge Memberships
EDITORIAL
Editor
NOVEMBER 2024
AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com
Creative Director
LAURA PETRIDES WALL laura@waltermagazine.com
Associate Editor
ADDIE LADNER addie@waltermagazine.com
Contributing Writers
Catherine Currin, Jameela F. Dallis, Jim Dodson, Mike Dunn, Colony Little, David Menconi, Liza Roberts, Katherine Snow Smith, Helen Yoest
Contributing Poetry Editor Jaki Shelton Green
Contributing Copy Editor Finn Cohen
Contributing Photographers
John Hansen, Juli Leonard, Travis Long, Taylor McDonald, Forrest Mason, S.P. Murray, Joshua Steadman
Inquiries WALTER OFFICE 984-286-0928 info@waltermagazine.com
Address all correspondence to: WALTER magazine, 421 Fayetteville Street, Suite 104 Raleigh, N.C. 27601
Interns
Samantha Pressly, Anna Marie Switzer
WALTER is available by paid subscriptions for $36 a year in the United States, as well as select rack and advertiser locations throughout the Triangle. Subscribe online at waltermagazine.com/subscribe
For customer service inquiries, please email us at customerservice@waltermagazine.com or call 984-286-0928.
WALTER does not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
Please contact Ayn-Monique Klahre at ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com for freelance guidelines.
Owners
JACK ANDREWS, FRANK DANIELS III, DAVID WORONOFF In memoriam FRANK DANIELS JR.
This month, share your gratitude through fun benefit events, find sporty ways to enjoy the outdoors and learn a little something new.
PICTURE PERFECT Happy 90th birthday to William B. Umstead State Park! The park’s more than 5,000 acres of winding streams, rock formations and pine and hardwood forests are aglow in autumn tones in November. Each year, The Umstead Coalition holds a photo and illustration contest and exhibition to showcase the park’s natural beauty. Amateur photographer Greg Hamlyn’s shot Moss Rock (shown here) won first place in the Plants and Scenery category in 2024. “I find that some of the best photographic opportunities are during the ‘worst’ weather, like rain and fog,” he says. “That’s when the woods show a different kind of beauty.” On the day Hamlyn took this photo, it had just rained. “Everything was very green, and the air and water temperature created a beautiful haze over the water,” he says. The contest will start taking entries for its 2025 contest in January, and it’s open to all skill levels. Learn more at umsteadcoalition.org — Addie Ladner
Greg Hamlyn
THEATRE IN THE PARK PRESENTS...
DATEBOOK
list of things to see, do and experience this month.
by ADDIE LADNER
ART BASH
Nov. 9 | 6 - 10:30 p.m.
Show up for the arts in style at Artspace’s annual Art Bash fundraiser. Writer Colony Little and arts advocate Debbie Robbins will serve as honorary co-chairs for an evening that’s part auction, part dance party. The halls will be filled with art for sale as part of the gallery’s 12×12 Artspace Member Showcase, as well as its latest exhibition, FRESH, a showcase of statewide talent juried by Jessica Orzulak of the Asheville Art Museum. There will also be a site-specific creation by Dana Lynn Harper, a nationally renowned sculptor and installation artist. The annual Live Art Bid will offer guests a chance to collect art from established and up-and-coming makers. “The pieces for sale are from some of the most highly regarded artists across North Carolina — and Artspace has played a role in each of their careers, whether it was through
DOUBT, A PARABLE
Nov. 1 - 3 | Various times
Catch the last few productions of Raleigh Little Theatre’s Doubt, a Parable, based on the novel by John Patrick Shanley. The drama, which examines the contradictions of religion and its crossover into the political world, won a 2005 Tony award for Best Play and the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Set in 1964 at the St. Nicholas Church School in the Bronx, the story follows a devout nun who becomes suspicious of a beloved priest — and is faced with the moral decision of how far she will go to unearth his scandalous behavior. $31; 301 Pogue Street; raleighlittletheatre.org
our residency programs, exhibitions or studio space,” says Artspace creative director Annah Lee. After the auction, it’s time for music, entertainment and something sweet from Videri Chocolate and The Cupcake Shop. From $150; 201 E. Davie Street; artspacenc.org/art-bash
OLD NORTH STATE STORYTELLING FESTIVAL
Nov. 1 - 2 | Various times
The Cary Theatre and the North Carolina Storytelling Guild are hosting a two-day festival for sharing untold stories from our state in various live forms, from spoken word to music. Cary-based Peg Helminski, an award-winning public speaker, author and mentor, will host the festival. The lineup features six unique storytellers who will do three showcases over both days, including Lipbone
Redding, a Tarboro-based singer, songwriter and guitarist, and Linda Gorham, a performer known for her captivating renditions of fairy tales and Greek stories. Purchase single-day tickets or a festival package that gets you into three storytelling showcases. From $18; 122 E. Chatham Street, Cary; oldnorthstatestorytellingfestival.com
FROM EDENTON TO CONGRESS
Nov. 1 | 1:30 - 5 p.m.
The Friends of the North Carolina Archives are hosting their annual gathering on a historic date: the 250th anniversary of the Edenton Tea Party, which took place in 1774. This event was one of the first documented female-led political protests, and it took place not too far from here in
All information is accurate as of press time, but please check waltermagazine.com and the event websites for the latest updates.
DATEBOOK
PADEREWSKI PIANO FESTIVAL OF RALEIGH
Nov. 2 - 10 | Various times
Since 2014, Raleigh-based Dr. Alvin Fountain II, honorary consul of the Republic of Poland for North Carolina, has organized a concert series to honor Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a Polish linguist, orator and statesman who was active in the late 1800s and early 1900s. “Paderewski was instrumental in helping Poland regain political independence in 1918 and signed the Treaty of Versailles as both its prime minister and foreign minister,” says Fountain. The festival is a series of concerts: the first two at the North Carolina Museum of Art, the second two at St. Mary’s School. Featuring performances by pianists Eric Guo, Gabriel Bortnowski and Michal Szymanowski, the concerts will feature classical music from Paderewski’s era, including pieces by Chopin and Beethoven. In addition to being a politician, Paderewski was a popular musician who first gained fame in Paris in 1889 and performed
on more than 20 separate tours in the United States, more than in any other country. “He was the greatest and most renowned pianist of his era. We work at maintaining his importance as a musician, statesman and remarkable philanthropist,” says Fountain. From $30; multiple locations; paderewski-festival.org
fer signing opportunities. From $56; 2 E. South Street; martinmariettacenter.com
SCHENCK FOREST TRAIL RACE
Nov. 2 | 8:30 a.m.
Support Haven House of Raleigh, a nonprofit that helps local youth in need, with a unique running challenge inside the Carl Alwin Schenck Memorial Forest. The 6.2-mile trail consists mainly of a single-track route that winds throughout the forest, crossing streams and bridges, and along the sandy banks of Richland Creek. This race is hosted by FreyHealth24, a local event company that puts on various community and charity races. From $55; Reedy Creek Road; search “Schenck Forest” at runsignup.com
CITY OF OAKS MARATHON
Nov. 3 | 7:20 a.m.
the colonial town of Edenton, North Carolina! The protest was in response to the British Parliament’s passing of the Tea Act and the high taxes on English teas and other goods. Held in the auditorium of the State Archives of North Carolina building, this virtual and in-person event will celebrate trailblazing North Carolina women and their political milestones, examine selections from the state archives and conclude with a tea party reception. A highlight of the symposium will be historian, environmental scientist and author Marion Deerhake’s discussion about her research on Eliza Jane Pratt, the first woman to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Congress. Free; 109 E. Jones Street; ncdcr.gov
AN EVENING WITH DAVID SEDARIS
Nov. 2 | 8 p.m.
David Sedaris will visit his native Raleigh to talk about his forthcoming book, Happy-Go-Lucky. The best-selling author and comedian will also share never-before-heard writings, conduct a Q&A session with the audience and of-
Perhaps Raleigh’s best-known race, the Martin Marietta City of Oaks Marathon draws thousands of participants each year. With a full marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k, there are options for all skill levels. Starting on Glenwood Avenue, the race path offers a fun way to see the city on foot. It starts downtown, crosses North Carolina State University’s campus and meanders through Dorothea Dix Park. The race will benefit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. From $50; 400 Glenwood Avenue; cityofoaksmarathon.com
AUTUMN TEA
Nov. 3 | 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Make a day of exploring special exhibitions
Venice and the Ottoman Empire (through Jan. 5, 2025) and Samurai: THe Making of a Warrior (through Feb. 2, 2025) in the East Building of the North
Paderewski
Carolina Museum of Art. Before or after, take advantage of its Autumn Tea events series, perfect for brunch or lunch. For a fixed price, enjoy a sampling of artisan herbal and black teas with seasonal tea sandwiches, savory canapes and other accoutrements. $75; 2110 Blue Ridge Road; ncartmuseum.org
LIVE ANIMAL FEEDINGOCEAN HABITAT
Wednesdays & Fridays | 11 a.m.
We might be landlocked, but the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has a 10,000-gallon aquarium that offers an ocean habitat for species like lobsters, balloon fish, grunts and French Angelfish. Take your future marine biologist to the museum on Wednesdays and Fridays this month to watch the live feeding of the Our Changing Oceans aquarium at the Nature Research Center. Walk-ups are welcome and the Living Collections
staff will be available for questions during the feeding. Free; 11 W. Jones Street; naturalsciences.org
PARADIGM POETRY
Nov. 7 | 6 - 9 p.m.
Paradigm Poetry, a poetry collective based in Raleigh with a mission to make poetry a bigger part of the Triangle’s culture and arts scene, will be performing at Gallo Pelón Mezcaleria downtown. Take advantage of the chance to order from the restaurant’s special menu while listening to nine emerging poets recite their words. Free to listen; 106 S. Wilmington Street; gallopelon.com
ERNANI IN CONCERT
Nov. 10 | 2 p.m.
Voyage back to 16th-century Spain to witness a love triangle unfold at the North Carolina Opera’s premiere performance of Ernani at Meymandi
Concert Hall. Jakob Lehmann will conduct the piece (performed in Italian with English supertitles) with a seasoned cast that includes awardwinning soprano Leah Crocetto and Italian tenor Giorgio Berrugi. “This rarely-performed Verdi gem is packed with passion, betrayal and high-stakes political intrigue, all set to some of the composer’s most thrilling orchestrations,” says Angela Grant, director of marketing at the North Carolina Opera. “Prepare for a night of operatic drama at its finest.” From $24; 2 E. South Street; ncopera.org
P!NK LIVE 2024
Nov. 11 & 12 | 7:30 p.m.
So raise your glass if you want to jam out to longtime pop artist P!nk. Known for her empowering, feel-good lyrics and punk influences, Alecia Beth Moore Hart, aka P!nk, has been a chart-topper in the music scene since
SOUTHERN SMOKE FOUNDATION DINNER
Nov. 20 | 6 p.m.
Two James Beard Award-nominated chefs from North Carolina have teamed up to raise funds for Hurricane Helene recovery. Wilmington-based Dean Neff, who is known for his elevated fish fare, will partner with Triangle-based Preeti Waas, who serves dishes inspired by her Indian heritage at Cheeni in Durham. The meal will be family-style and include a to-go dessert auction celebrating pastry chefs in areas hit by the storm. The funds raised will go toward individuals in the hospitality industry affected by the storm through the Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit that supports workers in the food and beverage sector during times of crisis. $150; 202 Corcoran Street, Suite 100, Durham; cheenidurham.com
her first record, Can’t Take Me Home, was released in 2000. Country-pop performer Maren Morris and international DJ KidCutUp will open for her at the recently renamed Lenovo Center (formerly PNC Arena) for two back-to-back shows. From $130; 1400 Edwards Mill Road; lenovocenter.com
RUBY CELEBRATION
Nov. 15 | 7 - 10 p.m.
The nonprofit Arts Access North Carolina is dedicated to making sure the arts are inclusive and accessible to individuals living with disabilities. “From our early days of providing venues with wheelchairs for patrons to collaborating with arts organizations to increase awareness of accessibility services, to now, with our gallery, this is the heart of our work,” says executive director Eileen Bagnall. To celebrate its 40th year, the organization is hosting a celebration with live
and silent auctions, entertainment and the premiere of Forty Years of Stories, a documentary about the organization, at Marbles Kids Museum. Food will be provided by Mitchell+Casteel catering. $75 for a single ticket, $125 for two; 201 E. Hargett Street; artsaccessinc.org
BEAS ANNUAL LUNCHEON
Nov. 15 | 11:30 a.m.
CAM Raleigh will host its 11th annual Betty Eichenberger Adams Society (BEAS) luncheon this month with a theme of “the art of friendship.” The afternoon will bring together women committed to championing CAM’s mission of inspiring community through contemporary art. Guests will enjoy lunch and dessert, along with champagne and wine, and hear remarks from sculptor Holly Fischer. Fischer’s work is included in the Raleigh Fine Arts Society’s NC Artists Exhibition, a juried selection of 70 works currently on view at CAM. All proceeds benefit CAM’s programming and community initiatives. From $100; 409 W. Martin Street; camraleigh.org
MINDFULNESS IN THE MUSEUM: YOGA IN THE GARDENS
Nov. 20 | 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
NC State’s Gregg Museum of Art + Design is tucked within a peaceful garden, just off bustling Hillsborough Street. In addition to its exhibitions, the museum offers a host of wellness
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programs, including Mindfulness in the Museum, a free yoga series done in partnership with the nearby Alexander Family YMCA. Enjoy this chance to participate in a gentle yoga class in a natural setting before the weather gets too cold. Bring your water, a mat and an open mind. Free; 1903 Hillsborough Street; gregg.arts.ncsu.edu
CARMINA BURANA
Nov. 21 - 24 | Various times
O Fortuna! Famed composer and choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett (known for her narrative-driven choreography work in films such as Footloose and Bewitched) offers a modern spin on Carl Orff’s dramatic, familiar score. Set on Wall Street, TaylorCorbett’s ballet tells the story of a life transformed with a lottery win. The Carolina Ballet will be accompanied by a live orchestra and the North
Carolina Master Chorale. From $28; 2 E. South Street; carolinaballet.com
RALEIGH CHRISTMAS PARADE
Nov. 23 | 9:30 a.m.
Head downtown for the City of Oaks’ kickoff to the holidays, presented by Shop Local Raleigh. Bundle up and pack hot cocoa and lawn chairs to watch the largest holiday parade in the Southeast. The parade starts at the corner of St. Mary’s and Hillsborough Streets, heads for the
State Capitol, then winds down Fayetteville and ends on McDowell. Don’t feel like getting out that day? Set up in front of the television to catch the festivities on ABC11. Free; downtown Raleigh; grma.org/christmas-parade
WESTON ESTATE
Nov. 29 | 7 p.m
Self-proclaimed as “ya aunties favorite boyband,” this five-member R&B group has local origins and is playing at The Ritz this month as part of its Superbloom tour. After getting its start in the Triangle with two NC State students, Weston Estate has now amassed over half a million monthly listeners on Spotify. With music that effortlessly blends genres, the group has become known for its energetic performances. Make sure to catch this band at their hometown show. From $48; 2820 Industrial Drive; ritzraleigh.com
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COFFEE with Character
These neighborhood cafes offer distinctive spaces to enjoy a caffeinated beverage
by CATHERINE CURRIN
Raleigh’s caffeine scene offers something for every palate and preference — and as the city grows, new cafes have popped up to serve their neighborhoods, each with a personality of its own. Little Native Coffee on S. Person Street is one of those spots. Co-owners Ashley and Cory Strickland signed a lease on their tiny space at the height of the pandemic and finally opened earlier this year. “It was worth the wait,” says Ashley. “We hope we’ve created a coffee experience and aesthetic space that embodies an intentional pause and reflective moment in your busy daily routine.”
No, we’re not abandoning the beloved coffee spots that paved the way (like Cup A Joe, Morning Times, Sola Coffee and 42 and Lawrence, among others), but it’s nice to have more options when you’re looking to shake up the remote-work routine or meet up with a friend. Here are some newish spots to check out.
321 COFFEE
321 Coffee’s mission is to use its coffee shops to bridge the employment gap for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities by providing career opportunities to this typically underemployed population. Lindsay Wrege, along with Michael Evans, launched the brand in 2017 and opened its first location at the State Farmers Market in 2019. That was followed by a stand-alone cafe on Hillsborough Street in 2022 and a third location, on NC State’s Centennial Campus, this September. Coffee beans from 321 can now be purchased at local Whole Foods Markets, and each bag features an uplifting message and story of an employee. You can even bring the 321 coffee cart to your next corporate event! Market Shoppes at NC Farmers Market, 1209 Agriculture Street; 615 Hillsborough Street or NC State Centennial Campus, 930 Main Campus Drive; 321coffee.com
With locations in Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington and Ocean Isle Beach, Drift recently expanded inland, adding two locations in the Triangle that capture the same sunny, seafoam-schemed ambiance as its coastal outposts. The cafe concept offers a full brunch and lunch menu, plus coffee, wine and cocktails. Its menu has healthy drinks like the Super Green, a blend of veggies, ginger, mango and coconut water, or heartier options like the breakfast burrito or Nutella French Toast. Michael Powell, a co-owner along with his brother, Ben, recommends the Biscoff Stack: buttermilk pancakes with Biscoff spread and cookie crumbles. (For something on the savory side, he recommends the Crispy Potato Brekkie.) “We are committed to modern wellness as our mission and an integral part of our daily lives,” says Michael. “We’re excited to bring that essence to Raleigh.” 3510 Wade Avenue; driftcoffee.kitchen
IRIS COFFEE LAB
Coffee aficionados will be right at home at Iris Coffee Lab. Located on Tucker Street, just off Glenwood South, the minimalist coffee shop hosts a variety of community-oriented events, including tastings and brewing classes. Their menu includes rotating specialty coffees from both local roasters and all over the world, so even a pour-over can offer a different flavor profile from one day to the next. If you want something fancier than classic coffee, consider the crowd-favorite Cherry Marzipan Latte. There’s also a full-service breakfast and lunch menu featuring Union Special Bread. 725 Tucker Street; iriscoffeelab.com
IDLE HOUR COFFEE
Idle Hour Coffee in Five Points is often buzzing with business meetings and catch-ups with old friends. Inside, you’ll find a melange of casual booths and tables; outside, bright-yellow bistro tables create
an inviting city-cafe feel. Idle Hour makes a point to feature local businesses like Tepuy Donuts (make sure to order ahead!) and showcases work from rotating artists on its walls. Try one of the house-made syrups, like Lavender Honey or Pistachio, or the chai from Tin Roof Teas in your next latte. 1818 Oberlin Road; idle-hour-coffee.square.site
THE LEFT HOOK COFFEE
After two years of pop-ups in downtown Raleigh, The Left Hook Coffee found a permanent home inside Gussie’s on W. Morgan Street in February, where it offers an eclectic, welcoming atmosphere to enjoy a coffee or breakfast sandwich. The coffee bar is finished in wood paneling and topped with plants, and a woodsy mural adorns the walls. They roast their own coffee weekly and pride themselves on being small but mighty. “We may be the smallest coffee bar in town,” says owner and operator Kristin Kulik. “Smallest
DRINK
space, team and roasting program. But we try to do a lot with a little by making as much as we can in-house and roasting fresh coffee in small, controlled batches.” Keeping with the small theme, Kulik says the menu’s signature item is the Baby Boy Latte (B.B.L.), an iced latte with a double shot of espresso and Left Hook’s housemade Brown Sugar Vanilla Syrup. 927 W. Morgan Street; thelefthookcoffee.com
LITTLE NATIVE
A quaint oasis off the bustle of S. Person Street, Little Native Coffee wants Raleighites to remember its roots. “Since this space is one of the few original — native — buildings left in the area, it felt like the perfect opportunity to play up nature and build a brand around the nuanced ‘little native’ things we often take for granted,” says Ashley Stickland. The tiny shop is outfitted in dark hues and leather benches, with exposed brick and copious plants adding to the ambi-
ance (there’s also a casual outdoor seating area). While they make their own syrups in-house (try the Salted Honey!), Ashley sources pastries from Crummy Hunters and features local coffee roasters. “There are so many incredible coffee roasters and we love to explore them all. Right now, we’re brewing Larry’s Coffee and Black & White,” Ashley says. “We hope the space we’ve created inspires a deeper meaning in the discussions you’re having and the work you’re doing while here!” 426 S. Person Street; drinklittlenative.com
PINE STATE COFFEE
Within its shared space with fitness outfitter Runologie, Pine State Coffee is a great place to work solo or make a new friend at one of its community tables.
They also have an expansive covered patio scattered with barstools and patio tables. Pine State offers some pastry options daily, but be on the lookout for frequent pop-ups to grab a heartier breakfast. Prefer to drink your coffee at home? Pine State roasts its own beans and sells them wholesale across town, plus in store and for local delivery. 1614 Automotive Way; pinestatecoffee.com
Get it on VINYL
Pour House expands its music ecosystem with a small-batch record press
by DAVID MENCONI photography by TAYLOR MCDONALD
Pour House Music Hall co-owners Adam and Lacie Lindstaedt will tell you that the only thing that got them through the big pandemic shutdown was their record shop. They opened it upstairs in the venerable downtown Raleigh space in 2019, and selling records online made survival possible during the dark days of 2020 and 2021.
In the process, however, they noticed that a surprising amount of the vinyl records they sold had been pressed overseas. Getting stock could take months, even years. And that led to another new Pour House venture.
“Looking into our other options,” says Adam, “it felt like a natural segue for us to go into widget-making.”
That was the genesis of Pour House Pressing, the Triangle’s only full-scale record-pressing operation and one of just a handful statewide. It’s a boutique operation with Adam running the floor as the “Party Boss” and Lacie as client manager or, as she describes it, “Organizational Freak — an advocate for the endangered art of the phone convo.” Almost all of their clients are area performers selling their own records themselves, at gigs or through independent record stores.
“We don’t want to be pressing a million copies of Rumours,” says Lacie, referencing the Fleetwood Mac best-seller. “We want to be here for the local acts. There are gigantic plants that can put out 50,000 records a day, and that’s where Taylor Swift should go.”
Overhearing the name of everybody’s favorite pop star, 5-year-old Desmond Lindstaedt’s ears prick up and he asks if they’ll be pressing records for her.
“No, Desmond,” Lacie tells her son with a laugh. “We’re not gonna make a Taylor Swift record. We’re here for the independents.”
Pour House Pressing occupies a former taxidermy warehouse in an industrial park about 5 miles east of their nightclub on Blount Street. Getting it started took a do-it-yourself crash course in industry infrastructure, years of work and planning, plus hefty business loans.
Although vinyl is a vintage format, pressing records is a complicated, detail-oriented process that requires both boiling-hot and cold water, as well as precise timing on the pressing machines. The plant’s operations began in the spring of 2024 on two presses, one automatic and one semi-automatic.
Pour House’s current capacity is 1,400 records per eight-hour shift, with orders ranging from 100 copies up to several
Adam and Lacie Lindstaedt
MUSIC
thousand for bigger jobs. A range of extras are available, including gatefold covers and rainbow colors on the vinyl itself.
“We recommend at least 300 because your return on investment is so much better,” says Adam. “At 100, you’re looking at more than $20 apiece. At 300, it costs about one-third that per copy.”
Among the local acts who have had records pressed at Pour House are rock bands Jack The Radio and PKM and rapper/poet Shirlette Ammons, who enthused that it’s “awesome to have a quality vinyl pressing plant right here in our backyard.” Phonte Coleman of Little Brother/Foreign Exchange even came in to press a few copies of his latest release himself.
“I admire how much time they’ve put into this,” says Coleman, whose 2024 EP Pacific Time 2 sold all 300 copies through preorders in less than a day. “Pressing vinyl is an artisanal craft, like blacksmith-
MAKING
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All thanks to the Raleigh Police Foundation – our advocate to promote better services for public safety and improve the workload of each officer.
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Jeff Burgess
Parts of the record pressing process.
ing. If you don’t pass it on, the art form is lost.”
For many years, vinyl records were the industry-standard format, before yielding to cassettes in the 1980s and compact discs in the 1990s. When major labels shut down their pressing plants, the format nearly died.
Online streaming is the focus these days for the Taylor Swifts and Beyoncés of the world, but vinyl has come back as the physical format of choice. CD sales have declined enough for vinyl records to have outsold them in 2022 for the first time since 1987. That leaves Pour House in a solid position.
“The club, store and pressing plant are all part of the same ecosystem,” says Adam. “You can play a show at Pour House, record it, press it and sell it at our record store. Now we’re involved in three different career elements.”
Still, long-term sustainability will be a challenge. Adam puts Pour House Pressing’s monthly break-even point at almost $100,000, and that’s without either Lindstaedt taking a salary yet.
“We’re still running on the fumes of last year’s tax refund,” Adam says. Nevertheless, it’s an exciting business to be in.
“We’ve never made a hiring announcement, and we still have 300 resumes on file,” says Adam. “A lot of teachers and doctors are looking to get out of their jobs. It’s a cool thing. But it’s still a factory, manufacturing plastics, and you have to get it just right.”
Gothebeyondexpected.
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Packaging up an album.
a closer LOOK
Take time to admire the abundance of fall color — and the intricate beauty of a single leaf
Owords and
photographs
by MIKE DUNN
ne of the benefits of living in our part of the world is the change of seasons. Winter showcases the beauty of our forests’ skeletons, spring brings the flush of new life and summer highlights nature’s abundance. Autumn is a season of completion, where plants and animals prepare for the end of the year. I enjoy this predictable change; it grounds me to our place in the woods. I have trouble picking a favorite season.
But I’ve learned that there is one season that captures the attention of many of my fellow North Carolinians. In late October of one of my first years working at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, I was scheduled to do a teacher workshop at a school in Asheville. As I had done during an earlier workshop there, I drove out and planned to find a
hotel room after the session at the school. But when I showed up at the hotel where I’d previously stayed to request a room, the clerk told me they were full. When I asked about nearby hotels she could recommend, she laughed and said, “Hon, there isn’t a room available for 50 miles around here. It’s leaf season!” I ended up driving back home that night with a new appreciation of the power of fall colors.
But why does this color change take place? It’s a mechanism to stay healthy through spring.
The woody portions of trees and shrubs, as well as next year’s buds, are adapted to withstand the cold and drying conditions of winter, but tender leaf tissues would freeze. So trees have adapted by either hardening their leaves to the cold (like evergreens) or by dropping them altogether
Left: Pignut Hickory tree. Right: Fall colors in the mountains.
(like oaks). In preparing to do so, those leaves undergo changes in their chemistry that lead to vibrant colors.
You may remember from your school days that leaves produce food for the tree through a process known as photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is the critical pigment that drives this process and gives leaves their green color. During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down. With the shortening day length in autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and ultimately stops. Other pigments essential for photosynthesis that were present in the leaves all along now become visible. These pigments are what we see as the changing leaf colors. Their concentration and vibrancy depend on a variety of factors, including temperature and moisture, that can cause variations in the intensity and timing of the fall color spectacle.
Somewhat surprisingly, in the woods around here the change began months ago with the leaves of species like Painted Buckeye turning red and yellow and then dropping as early as July. The dominant Tulip Poplars are next, first shedding some yellow leaves in August before the entire tree turns golden in October. The bright scarlet color of Black Gum appears here and there in August and September. In most of the Piedmont, our full show of color usually runs from late October through mid-to-late November. In our mountains, the color peaks from late September to late October, with our highest elevations, like Mount Mitchell, showing the earliest color change.
Most leaf watchers prefer the mountains for the grand show, where the elevation provides vistas of mountain sides covered in a carpet of color. But this miracle can be appreciated on any scale. We have a large Pignut Hickory at the top of our driveway that glows in bright yellow-orange colors in early November by the afternoon light streaming through the treetops. Every time I open and close our driveway gate, I marvel at this magnificent tree.
Sometimes, a smaller example of plant artistry catches my eye. One early Novem-
ber, a single branch of a maple tree on a misty morning in the mountains grabbed my attention. The rich colors contrasted with the starkness of the gray mist and the surrounding trees, most of which had already dropped their leaves.
Even a single leaf can create a memory. One afternoon in the yard years ago, the late afternoon sun low on the horizon, a shaft of sunlight shot through our woods and illuminated a single Red Maple leaf from behind. The backlit leaf caught my eye from several feet away and I moved closer. What I saw through my macro lens was a bold painting by nature’s hand, highlighting the textures and patterns of a leaf’s last moments.
I started noticing other leaves backlit by the golden light, each revealing
intricate details that I had missed before. When magnified, the network of veins resembles high-altitude photographs of cities with extensive neighborhood roadways (the smaller interconnected network of veins in leaves called venules) connected by an interstate system (the midrib and side veins). This living grid acts like a highway system transporting water, minerals and nutrients to and from the leaf. Blemishes on the leaves look like large developments scattered among the travel corridors.
While we wait for our Western North Carolina neighbors to be ready for leaf watchers to return in force, take this fall to tune in to the small wonders all around us. You’ll be amazed at the beauty found in a single leaf clinging to a twig.
Clockwise from top left: Leaf close-up showing network of veins and venules; Sassafras leaves; Winged Sumac; Tulip Poplar.
With all there is to see and do in Orange County, it’s easy to feel like there’s never enough hours in the day. Thankfully when you’re here, the fun continues at night. Cozy up with your drink of choice at one of our cocktail bars, dance the night away at a club, or see a local band take the stage. Let curiosity lead you here, after dark.
visitchapelhill.org/ things-to-do/nightlife
GARDEN TAKE STOCK
“To me, November can be just as beautiful as spring,” says horticulturist, landscape architect and artist Preston Montague. “You have the autumn foliage, but then things like asters are blooming and birds are visiting.” To make the most of this gorgeous, chilly month in Raleigh, here are his top tips for home gardeners.
SHINE
Now is the time to assess your supplies. “Wash garden gloves, sharpen and shine tools, and clean and check on your pots for any cracks,” says Montague. Take stock of things like bird seed, potting soil and other supplies you might need to refill.
SNIP
When trees and woody shrubs like azaleas go dormant, Montague says it’s time to give them a prune. “They might look lifeless above the ground, but pruning will encourage their roots underground to keep growing, especially now when the ground moisture is high,” he says. Just resist the urge to trim back every dead branch and dried bloom left over from the end of summer and early fall, says Montague: “Those patches of vegetation offer habitats for beneficial wildlife like honey bees and moths who love to burrow down in the hollows of dried stems.”
SAVOR
If you planted cool-season vegetables back in September, by now you should have some ready-to-harvest broccoli, cabbage and carrots — enjoy! After picking your fall bounty, Montague suggests starting a second round of cool-season greens like Swiss chard and kale: “They’re so easy and quick to grow this time of year, and they add a nice layer of color.” —Addie Ladner
BEAUTY EVENY WITH GLO DE VIE November 9, 11-4PM
MELISSA NEPTON TRUNK SHOW November 14-16
MARIA PAVAN TRUNK SHOW November 21-23
December 5-7
CHARLES & CLOVARD TRUNK SHOW December 6-7
ALGO OF SWITZERLAND TRUNK SHOW December 12-14
Cultural Devotion
An ancient Indian dance form is alive in the Triangle
by LIZA ROBERTS
When Kajal Parmar was 8 years old, she made a decision that would shape her young life.
The Raleigh girl devoted herself to mastering an ancient and intricate Indian dance form known as Bharatanatyam.
Now 16, Parmar, a daughter and granddaughter of Indian immigrants, says the physical and artistic challenge appealed to her. “But it was also a way for me to learn about my cultural heritage,” she says. Parmar understood that the course of study would be intense, requiring hours
of practice every week and a commitment to representing the dance’s cultural and historic legacy through expressive danceled storytelling and technically precise movements. She knew the challenge would stretch well into her teenage years, but even as a child, she was determined to try. “My mother had completed it, so that definitely motivated me,” says the Cary Academy junior.
The Bharatanatyam is a spiritual and reverential practice with a 3,000-year history and roots in the Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu, a state in South India, though today the dance form is taught and practiced throughout the country. Bharatanatyam expresses spiritual and religious themes with three styles of dance: a highly technical form known as nritta; an expressive, stylized type known as nritya; and a dramatic storytelling variety called natya. At its essence, the art form is an act of cultural devotion.
Parmar’s mother, Shefali Parmar, encouraged her pursuit, as did her Indianborn father, Vaibhav Parmar. In the process, the young Parmar became one of hundreds of Triangle-area Bharatanatyam students. It’s a growing number, reflecting a near-doubling of the Indian-American population in the area over the past decade.
According to the national organization Indian American Impact, North Carolina’s Asian American population has surged by 68 percent since 2014 to 440,000, with Indian Americans making up the largest proportion of that number. Most of the state’s South Asian population has settled in the Triangle and Charlotte areas; in Morrisville, for example, people from India and other Southeast Asian countries today represent 36 percent of the population, the town says.
As the population has grown, the number of local students of the Bharatanatyam has also expanded. Even so, very few students anywhere pursue it the par-
Kajal Parmar dancing the Bharatanatyam.
TRADITIONS
ticularly intensive way that Parmar did. Instead of becoming part of a large class that culminates in a group performance, Parmar chose an individual, traditional form of training with a guru over many years that culminates in a solo, five-hour version of the performance known as a Bharatanatyam Aragentram.
Eight years and countless hours of practice hours later (including two weeks of study in India), Parmar’s childhood decision came to fruition last February in a formal performance. She danced alone on the stage for five hours, accompanied only by an orchestra flown in from India for the occasion.
More than 500 of her friends and family, most beautifully dressed in saris and other traditional forms of Indian clothing, filled The Clayton Center’s auditorium for the event. They joined the dancer, her parents, and her grandparents, Jayprakash and Niranjana Parmar and Ramesh and Kala Patel, for a traditional dinner afterward.
The performance marked not only Kajal Parmar’s mastery of the art form, it formed a rite of passage, a coming of age and a celebration of her family’s culture and tradition. It was also the culmination of her many years under the tutelage of
Karnataka Kalashree Guru Smt. Supriya Desai, a renowned dancer and choreographer who has taught hundreds of dancers in the area for more than 30 years.
“I replicate exactly how we do it in India,” Desai says. The teacher was able to focus solely on Parmar after two dancers she had been studying alongside dropped out during the pandemic. “Everyone else had stopped, but she continued,” Desai recalls. “She understood, and her parents understood, what it takes.”
She danced alone on the stage for five hours, accompanied only by an orchestra flown in from India for the occasion.
training on Cary Academy’s varsity cross country team with providing her with the necessary physical stamina to fuel her dance training: “My aerobic capacity helped in the long and difficult dances, and I believe dance helped in my running, too. Mentally, it helped me through races and runs. They went well together.”
In her student, Desai found a kindred spirit. “People call me a perfectionist, but I’m hard on myself,” Desai says. “I always try to be a better version of myself. Kajal is similar to that. She wants to do better.”
What it takes, the teacher emphasizes, is more than a time commitment. “It’s very tough and intense,” Desai says. “We have no deadlines. We work on it and we work on it. We build our stamina. We build our skills. I didn’t let her compromise. I made her tough.”
Parmar says the process was worth it. “My teacher was very strict, with a traditional teaching style, but I accepted the challenge,” Parmar says. She credits her
As Parmar’s several-hour performance unfolded, her drive, athleticism and artistry were called on in equal measure.
“It was very satisfying after many years of looking forward to it,” Parmar says, “But it was definitely not the end. I want to keep dancing. Not as intensely, but I want to continue what I’ve been learning. When I go to college, I want to continue performing this kind of dance.”
RedDot Studios
Left: Parmar dancing with an orchestra flown in from India. Right: Parmar and her teacher, Karnataka Kalashree Guru Smt. Supriya Desai.
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EARTH is at the CENTER
Christina Lorena Weisner’s art explores new frontiers
by LIZA ROBERTS
Christina Lorena Weisner’s art emerges from her deep connection to the earth, to its systems and rhythms, its elements and mysteries. She studies the planet like a scientist and discovers it like an explorer, venturing to its far ends to record its extremes in person, to live within its phenomena. She turns her insights into art she hopes will inspire awe for our planet’s grandeur and empathy for its vulnerability.
Her latest fascination is the North Pole, where she spent two weeks immersing herself last spring with an expeditionary art and science residency called The Arctic Circle. “I can only describe it as the most impactful experience of my life,” Weisner says. “I’ve been interested in water for a long time, and I wanted to immerse myself into this landscape of glaciers in order to better understand it.”
The expedition’s ship, which carried 30 fellow resident artists and scientists, took Weisner and others to the Svalbard Archipelago by outboard Zodiacs twice a day, always surrounded by “a triangulation of guards with guns” to protect them against polar bears. While ashore, Weisner planted an orange safety flag in the icescape, making it a recurring motif in her photos. She also used a drone to shoot video from above and collected plastic.
“You’re in a land that you know is changing, you’re looking at a glacier that might not be there in 100 years. You’re looking at history,” she says. That history was evident in other ways, too, like a massive pile of whale bones left behind by 19th-century whalers and the detritus left behind by scientific explorers of that time. “There were many instances where I was thinking of human history as it relates to geological time,” Weisner says.
courtesy of Christina Lorena
Images from Sea Marks, Exhibition Shot, 2023
The trip “was the catalyst for a whole new body of work,” says Weisner, who is headed back next May. That work includes still photography of that mythic frontier, sweeping video and installations that incorporate pieces of plastic she collected in and around Svalbard. Recently, her work was in Surface and Undercurrents, a group show at Dare Arts in Manteo, and this month she is part of a group exhibit at Emerge Gallery & Art Center in Greenville. Next April she will be featured in a group show at Central Connecticut State University on climate change in the Arctic, and in June her work will be exhibited in a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Arlington, Virginia.
A native of Richmond, Virginia, Weisner says she can trace the beginnings of her work as an artist to a job she had with Nag’s Head Ocean Rescue in her early 20s. When she wasn’t saving swimmers, she stared out at the ocean for 10 hours a day. “I would watch the sun move across the sky and the moon come up,” she says. “I was very aware of these bigger processes — these large-scale movements, like waves coming over from the coast of Africa — that we’re not often aware of.”
Other little-seen influences in her work come from her wide-ranging education, which includes an MFA from University of Texas at Austin and separate undergraduate degrees in both world studies and fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. The interplay between humans, time and the planet has long been a theme in her work. As a former competitive swimmer and regular runner and biker, she experiences the world in a visceral way, creating art that is informed by the way we live within the world and the way the world lives with us. From her home in Kitty Hawk (she’s soon to move to Duck, two Outer Banks towns away), Weisner rides a bike or runs along the beach every day to note its transformations. “It’s the same beach, but it’s completely different, the water color, the form of the waves, the temperature of the wind,” she says. Sometimes she finds objects to incorporate into sculpture as she goes. Waves and wavelengths — audio, seismic and light — all inspire her. A meteorite impact crater in Southern Germany was the subject of sculpture and installation art she created with the Fulbright Grant she was awarded in 2013; she used seismometers to record earthquakes as part of a Mint Museum installation in 2018.
Arctic Circle: Emergency Signal Flag: Finding North
“I’m still a process-oriented artist, it’s about openness to material and play, not taking my work too seriously... and not being too pigeonholed.”
— CHRISTINA LORENA WEISNER
One early morning in March 2022, I had the chance to witness her in action. On the shores of Kitty Hawk Sound, I watched as she zipped up her wetsuit, assembled a series of floating sculptures and waded with them into the frigid waters. The sun wasn’t fully up, the air was barely 40 degrees and the art she was wrangling was bigger than she was. Weisner took it all in stride. In a matter of minutes, she’d glided 50 yards from shore and her art was floating all around her.
The largest of the three pieces of art with her that morning was one she’d attached to her outrigger kayak and towed 275 miles down parts of the Eno and Neuse Rivers and through the Ocracoke Inlet in 2019, recording audiovisual information and environmental data (including a panther sighting) along the way. Two smaller works included discarded beach chairs from one of her regular oceanside jogs.
Her approach with every subject, Weisner says, is to embrace what she doesn’t know and to let her new knowledge as well as her material guide her.
“I’m still a process-oriented artist,” she says. “It’s about openness to material and play, not taking my work too seriously… and not being too pigeonholed.” She thrives when she can employ all of her senses in the making of her art, especially work that involves nature. And she loves making connections across time and place.
When the polar vortex winds of 2022 washed an old canoe up on the side of the road near her house, for instance, she picked it up and brought it home. “It had beautiful layering on it,” she says. “The water had rotted holes into it. I think it had been submerged in the sound for a couple of years.”
The fact that winds from the Arctic dislodged it and brought it to her North Carolina shore fascinated her, she says, and that canoe has become part of her latest Arctic-inspired installations. “No place is an isolated place,” says Weisner. “Everything we do — everything that happens in one geographic location — impacts other geographic locations.”
The Sacred Month
A time to go inside
by JIM DODSON illustration by GERRY O’NEILL
Long ago, I decided that November is the most sacred month. To my way of thinking, on so many levels, no other month holds as much mystery, beauty and spiritual meaning.
The gardener in me is always relieved when the weather turns sharply cooler and there’s an end to the constant fever of pruning and weeding.
Once the leaves are gathered up and everything is cut back and mulched for the winter, the bare contours of the earth around me become a living symbol — and annual reminder — of life’s bittersweet circularity and the relative brevity of our journey through it.
The hilly old neighborhood where we
reside boasts mammoth oaks and sprawling maples that shelter us in summer and stand like druid guardians throughout the year, season after season. Of course, there is a risk in living among such soulful giants of the forest. Every now and then, one of them drops a large limb or, worse, topples over. Still, we care for them and hope they don’t fall on us.
Speaking of “soul,” no month spiritually embodies it better than November.
All Souls’ Day comes on the second day of the eleventh month, a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed observed by Christians for centuries. The day before All Souls’ is All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day or
the Feast of All Saints, a celebration in honor of all the saints of the church, whether they are known or unknown. Every four years, the first Tuesday that follows the first Monday of November is Election Day, a day considered sacred by citizens who believe in the right to vote their conscience and practice democracy. Congress established this curious day of voting in 1845 on the theory that, since a majority of Americans were farmers or residents of rural communities, their harvests would have been completed, with severe winter weather yet to arrive that could impede travel. Tuesday was also chosen so that voters could attend church on Sunday and have a full
day to travel to and from their polling place, arriving home on Wednesday, just in time for traditional market day.
Like daylight saving time, some critics believe “Tuesday voting” is a relic of a bygone time, requiring modern voters to balance a busy workday with the sacred obligation of voting. (I fall into the camp that advocates a newly established voting “holiday weekend” that would begin with the first Friday that follows the first Thursday of November, allowing three full days to exercise one’s civic obligation, throw a nice neighborhood cookout and mow the lawn for the last time.)
While we’re in the spirit of reforming the calendar, would someone please ditch daylight saving time, which totally wrecks the human body’s natural circadian rhythm? Farmers had it right: Rise with the sun and go to bed when it sets.
Next up in November’s parade of sacred moments is Veterans Day, which arrives on the 11th, a historic federal
holiday that honors military veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. It was established in the aftermath of World War I with the signing of the Armistice with Germany, which went into effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. In 1954, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day at the urging of major U.S. military organizations.
November’s gentler sunlight — at least here in the Northern Hemisphere — feels like a benediction falling across the leafless landscape, quite fitting for a month where we go “inside,” literally and figuratively, to celebrate the bounty of living on Earth. In the Celtic mind, late autumn is the time of the “inner harvest,” when gratitude and memory yield their own kind of fertility.
“Correspondingly, when it is autumn in your life, the things that happened in the past, the experiences that were sown in the clay of your heart, almost unknown to you, now yield their fruit,”
wrote the Irish poet John O’Donohue. First celebrated in 1621, Thanksgiving was decreed “a day of public Thanksgiving and Prayer” on Nov. 26, 1789 by George Washington. It was proclaimed a national holiday on the last Thursday of November by Abraham Lincoln. Finally, during the Great Depression in 1939, it was moved to the third Thursday of the month by Franklin Roosevelt to extend Christmas shopping days. But for most folks, the observance of Thanksgiving embodies, I suspect, many of the things we hold sacred in life: the gathering of families, memories of loved ones, lots of laughter, good food and friendly debates over football and politics.
I give extra thanks for Thanksgiving every year — especially the day after, when some who hold Black Friday a sacred ritual disappear. That’s when I’m free to enjoy a “loaded” turkey sandwich and take a nice long nap by the fire to celebrate my own favorite holiday.
Homes That Tell A Story Of Your Life
Sally Williams, Owner & Principal Designer
The Bounty of Occasion
by JAMEELA F. DALLIS
illustration by LYUDMILA TOMOVA
Table set with anticipation for shared reflection, Prosecco, and the ruby-colored vintage saved for this very occasion of full-throated laughter and annual embraces — this is family: found, chosen, and born into
The fervent negotiation for who will slice, shuck, or shovel — The swell of Patti LaBelle, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker or Nat King Cole, guitar riffs, and “Stairway to Heaven” — we find ways to come together tracing fingers over ribbons and butcher’s twine unraveling opinions and spaces beneath the weight of conversation
The sweet, home-like scent of bourbon pecan pie and arguments about “pee-can” and “puh-kahn” and the aunts who wear diamonds on every finger and patent leather stilettos
And sometimes there’s a place for the ancestor, a sacred setting rimmed in gold or red, and we open our hearts to the miracle of love, we savor embraces and smiles we encounter once a year
We launder linens, dust off the crystal, oil our butcher blocks, and then we wait to toast new loves, old loves, renewed loves, and the bounty of occasion: roasted oysters harvested the day before, golden she-crab soup, and impossible rum cakes, and elaborate tiramisu
Rosemary bundles and needles everywhere — the dog barking at flocking swallows falls silent with the offer of an abnormally large bone
Bliss, joy, and hope fill the room thick — it’s a kind of invited breathlessness that settles into deep-belly rubs, fought yawns, and lower-back caresses
and this is love — deeply rendered and felt like fat cradling tender parts and this is love — found, chosen, birthed and held, fed and called upon
Jameela F. Dallis, Ph.D., is a multidisciplinary writer, curator and scholar. Her published work includes poems, interviews, arts journalism and literary scholarship in Honey Literary, The Fight and the Fiddle, Our State and elsewhere. Her first full-length poetry collection is forthcoming from River Books in 2025.
With Figulina, David Ellis and Samantha Taylor have created a space that showcases their love of sharing food with friends
shaping TRADITIONS
Thanksgiving 2024
by CATHERINE CURRIN photography by FORREST MASON
Figulina chef David Ellis and artist Samantha Taylor cooked their first meal together on Thanksgiving in 2015, soon after they met for the first time. The two — who’d connected earlier that year as they’d been traveling separately across the U.S. — decided to meet in Portland, Oregon, for the holiday, as Taylor was planning to move there.
A Beaufort native, Taylor grew up with a traditional American Thanksgiving, but it was Ellis’ first, since he grew up in Great Britain. “Dave was super intrigued and excited to not only experience some traditional dishes, but also contribute a few of his own,” says Taylor.
The two combined heritages and made sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, turkey roulade, crispy duck-fat potatoes and a medley of roasted carrots and multicolored beets. It was enough food that they had to share. “What started out as a Thanksgiving for two turned into a Thanksgiving for two plus a few of my new neighbors, plus some newly acquired British friends,” laughs Taylor.
For Ellis, the meal felt similar to his hometown tradition of the Sunday Roast. “A lot of British staples lend themselves to Thanksgiving quite seamlessly — Yorkshire puddings, for example, are the perfect vessel for mashed potatoes and gravy,” he says. Ellis had moved to the U.S. from England after years of training in French and British kitchens. He’d originally studied music technology, but once he started working in a kitchen, he fell in love with the process. “The kitchen quickly became my second home,” Ellis says. “I loved the culture, the banter, the community, the craft.”
Since that first meal, the couple, who are now married, has lived in Melbourne, Australia, New Zealand’s South Island and England. They finally settled in Raleigh in 2019 to be closer to Taylor’s family. She focused on her art, teaching classes online and in-person, and Ellis took a job as a cook at Poole’s Diner, moving up the ranks to chef de cuisine. “But inevitably, I found myself
building my own restaurant in my mind,” says Ellis. “I just needed to land on a concept.”
Making pasta became a passion project for Ellis during the pandemic. “I became really obsessed,” he says. Coincidentally, Taylor had given him a pasta sheeter attachment for their Kitchenaid in Christmas 2019, a few months before everything closed down. The pandemic brought the couple a lot of uncertainty, but Ellis also found himself with a lot of extra time on his hands. “I’d had a go at handmade pasta at a variety of points in my career, but I finally was able to really play around with it,” Ellis says. “I love the hyper-
“Pasta is the perfect vessel to apply a variety of flavors representing the seasons and reflect the best flavors of our state and the South.”
–SAMANTHA TAYLOR
tactile and rustic nature of manipulating dough and the therapeutic nature of creating repetitive shapes.”
When longtime Raleigh restaurant Humble Pie closed its doors in 2023, the two realized it was the perfect spot to start their own restaurant, with Ellis as head chef and Taylor as creative director. “There isn’t another building like this in Raleigh,” says Ellis. “We love the bones of the place.” The menu would reflect what they liked to make and how they entertained at home: pasta, but with Southern and English influences, and a more family-style type of dining. Ellis first remembered experiencing a concept similar to his vision at pasta bar Fiorella in Philadelphia while visiting the city:
“We ordered seven different pastas for the table and shared. I thought that this was a really cool way to eat and experience a menu.”
For longtime Raleigh residents, walking into Figulina from the boisterous patio off S. Harrington Street may bring a wave of nostalgia, since they kept the general layout, as well as the checkered floor and triangular barstools tucked around the cozy wooden bar that have been there for more than three decades as part of Humble Pie. To make the space their own, Taylor played up the location’s quirky architectural charm, adding her talents and a “playful maximalist” tone to the decor. “The space is by default industrial, with those airy warehouse-high ceilings and exposed beams, but we took loose inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement and my own illustration style to incorporate heaps of pattern and off-kilter botanicals,” says Taylor.
Copious art covers the walls, and potted fig trees fill empty corners. For the bar area, Taylor painted a Great Blue Heron scooping up fish on the wall and hung handmade ceramic pendants from Ellis’ hometown of Stoke-on-Trent over the countertop. Taylor drew whimsical flowers, food and drink to illustrate the menus and establish the tone for the meal: upscale and quirky, handmade but high-end.
Figulina boasts a pasta-heavy menu, accompanied by creative appetizers and a handful of desserts. “We’re a pasta bar, but not an Italian-American restaurant like people might be used to,” says Ellis. “You can go for comfort dishes like tagliatelle bolognese or a creamy carbonara, but also try something totally new.” Ellis incorporates North Carolina influences and his own heritage into the dishes, like his soda bread with lamb rillette and a brisket pasta dish topped with collard chow-chow. “Pasta is the perfect vessel to apply a variety of flavors representing the seasons and reflect the best flavors of our state and the South,” says Taylor.
The menu is paired with an extensive
SAVORY SIDES
Clockwise from top left: Mixed lettuces with parmesean and panko; duck fat potatoes; braised mustard greens; heirloom carrots.
cocktail, wine and aperitivo list handpicked by Jeff Bramwell, the restaurant’s wine director. After years as the beverage director for Matt Kelly’s Mateo and Mothers and Sons, Bramwell is leaning into his affinity for Italian wine at Figulina. “The restaurant really has a neighborhood feel — it’s elevated, but super comfortable,” he says. “With a list of around 30 wines, I honed in on the best of the best that still felt approachable.” For aperitivi and digestivi, Bramwell curated a selection of more than 50 strong liqueurs that can cut through the richness of a pasta-heavy meal and offer guests a chance to slow down. “It has a romantic vibe to it,” he says. “Enjoy a vermouth and soda, relax before you get your dinner started, and then think about what you want to eat and drink.”
Near the bar, the sprawling community table (repurposed from Humble Pie’s kitchen) invites guests to meet each other or offers a spot for a large group to enjoy a meal together. Just beyond it, a giant window showcases the chefs making pasta from scratch at a long stainless-steel counter.
The name Figulina derives from the Latin word for “a potter’s workshop,” but also comes from the word figura, which means to shape or form. It’s partly a tribute to Ellis’ hometown of Stoke-onTrent — a village famous for its ceramics that’s home to fine china makers like Spode, Wedgewood and Burleigh — but also to that pasta-making process. “Manipulating clay is not so dissimilar to manipulating dough,” says Taylor. “We think of pasta as so much more than just flour and water — every shape has a unique origin story.”
One of Ellis’ favorite pasta shapes, for example, is the Corzetti. “This shape dates back to the Middle Ages, in the Liguria region of Italy. It was created by texturing small, hand-cut coins of pasta with hand-carved, wooden stamps,” he says. “This pasta is believed to have been mostly served to nobility or the wealthy during special events and feasts. And the embossed design also helps sauces cling better to the surface of the pasta.”
Recently, the two carved out a corner
of the restaurant for a shoppable provisions section, which includes a table, shelves and a few coolers offering curated take-home goods for entertaining. “As we were figuring out ways to best use this space, offering a market of sorts made sense,” says Taylor. Guests (whether they’re dining there or not) can purchase fresh pasta, tapered candles, delicate serving dishes and specialty items to fill out a charcuterie board, like cherries, chocolate or tinned fish — all things you’d find on their table at home. “We love a good dinner party!” says Taylor. “If we’re hosting, we’re creating fun tablescapes and putting out our favorite wine, olive oil, snacks and spreads.”
For Thanksgiving, they make food that melds Southern and British traditions, plus shortcuts they’ve learned from entertaining together. “Making a Turkey Roulade versus roasting a full bird is a guaranteed way to get a perfectly cooked and flavorful turkey component without the risk of it being too dry,” Ellis says. “And it slices up for the perfect Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich.” Their menu includes European favorites like a Pithivier, a French pie with beautiful layers of puff pastry stuffed with duck confit, sweet potato puree and a filling of ground porksherry soaked golden raisins. And to complement the turkey, there’s bread sauce, a rich, traditional British gravy. “It’s made from stale bread, seasoned milk, onion and spices,” says Ellis. “It’s super creamy, comforting and often served as a side dish with roasted poultry, particularly turkey or goose. We love a recipe that combats food waste!”
In recent years, the two have celebrated Thanksgiving on the coast with Taylor’s family, but they’re always sure to gather with friends as well. “We always attend or host Friendsgivings and like to contribute some kind of British component,” says Taylor. “Even as someone from outside of the U.S., it’s easy to get behind this family and food-centric holiday,” says Ellis. “Getting together at the table with loved ones and good food is what it’s all about.”
Turkey Roulade
BRINE
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 gallon water
2 oranges, sliced
10 sprigs thyme
10 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
STUFFING
4 ounces unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 bulb fennel, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon sage, chopped
8 ounces ground pork
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup dried cranberries
4 ounces panko breadcrumbs
TURKEY ROULADE
1 boneless turkey breast
16 to 18 slices prosciutto
1 batch Stuffing
INSTRUCTIONS
1. To make the brine, place all brine ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer. Take the pot off the heat and transfer the brine to a container, then refrigerate. Once the brine has completely cooled, submerge the turkey breast in the brine for 12 hours.
2. To make the stuffing, add the butter to a pot over medium-low heat, sauté the prepared onion, celery, fennel and garlic until soft.
3. Add the thyme and sage. Once the herbs are fragrant, add the ground pork, then salt and cook until browned all over.
4. Add the dried cranberries and panko breadcrumbs. Chill stuffing until ready to use.
5. Once the turkey has brined for 12 hours, remove from the brine and pat as dry as possible. Remove any skin from the turkey breast.
6. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the turkey on a cutting board between two pieces of plastic wrap. Use the flat side of a meat mallet to pound the turkey until it is an even half-inch thickness.
7. Spread the stuffing on the prepared turkey, leaving a half-inch border all around. Starting with a short side, roll breast into a log. Place seam side down on a baking sheet.
8. Drape prosciutto slices over the turkey breast, overlapping slightly to cover completely. Use kitchen twine to tie in 2-inch intervals.
9. Roast Turkey Roulade uncovered until a meat thermometer placed in the middle reaches 165°F; this should take around 45 minutes to 1 hour. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
EURO INFLUENCE
Clockwise from top left: Yorkshire puddings; roasted beets; Battenburg cake; Pithivier, a French pastry with a savory filling.
Wine Picks
Figulina wine director Jeff Bramwell shares his favorite wines to enjoy at the Thanksgiving table. All can be found at The Raleigh Wine Shop.
ADAMI PROSECCO ‘GARBEL’ “Bubbles pair with everything, and Adami is one of the great, classic producers of really good Prosecco,” says Bramwell. “Dry, but fruity enough to please all palates.”
SARTARELLI VERDICCHIO DI CASTELLI DI JESI CLASSICO 2022
This wine is bright and crisp with an ocean-spray saltiness that shows off its coastal origin. “If you’re serving a crowd, you need some affordable wines, and Verdicchio is my favorite value out there for white wine,” he says.
GIOVANNI ALMONDO ROERO ARNEIS ‘BRICCO DELLE CILIEGIE’ 2023
This wine has crisp green pear and white peach notes, with enough weight to stand up to all the diverse flavors on the table, says Bramwell: “I drink more Arneis than any other white grape, and this is arguably the best one out there.”
NERVI-CONTERNO ROSATO 2023
A serious, complex rosé from one of Italy’s greatest winemakers. “Thanksgiving is not complete without rosé!” he says.
“This supremely elegant Sangiovese has beautiful red fruit and gentle tannins that won’t overwhelm the diversity of flavors on the Thanksgiving table,” says Bramwell.
Roasted Beets
WHIPPED RICOTTA
12 ounces ricotta, well drained
1 teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup water
SMASHED BEETS
3 pounds beets
2 pinches sea salt
2 pinches black pepper
6 sprigs rosemary
10 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
INSTRUCTIONS
1. To make the whipped ricotta, add the drained ricotta, salt, extra virgin olive oil and water to a food processor and process for five minutes. The end product should be extremely smooth and creamy. This can be made several days in advance.
2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Add the beets to a roasting pan and add water to come halfway up the beets. Cover the pan with foil and roast for an hour to 90 minutes. The beets should be very tender. Use a fork to test for doneness; you shouldn’t feel any resistance as you get to the center of the beetroot.
3. Drain the beets; once cool enough to handle, peel them using a kitchen towel to hold them.
4. Slice the beets horizontally into roughly 1-inch thick wedges. Lightly press on the beets with a sturdy plate or pan to crush them, but keep intact.
5. Add beets to a roasting pan with the crushed garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar. Toss well to coat all over.
6. Roast for 15 minutes, then flip the beets and roast for an additional 10 minutes.
7. To serve, smear a large dollop of whipped ricotta around the edge of a large bowl and pile the beets in the center. Top with lightly toasted sunflower seeds and rosemary, if desired.
Find more recipes on waltermagazine.com.
Shared PASSION
Over the decades, Lynn and Jim Swanson have created a layered, colorful garden that features many varieties of Japanese maples
by HELEN YOEST
photography by JULI LEONARD
Autumn light behind a Japanese maple in Lynn and Jim Swanson’s back yard.
Jim and Lynn Swanson in the backyard of their Wood Valley home.llection.
For nearly 40 years, Lynn and Jim Swanson have lived in a spec home they bought in Wood Valley. While the house itself was beautiful, it was the lot they both fell in love with: just over an acre of land, encircled by old-growth trees. Through decades of work, they’ve transformed the garden into a perennial delight. It’s marked by its vast collection of Japanese maples — 250 of them, situated throughout their lot — and layers of daphne, hydrangeas, dogwoods and ferns. When they bought the 1.3-acre lot, there wasn’t much there. “There were some shrubs lined up along the foundation, but no other added plants,” says Lynn. But to the Swansons’ good fortune, the lot hadn’t been clear-cut. “There were several mature pines and oaks on the property, which attracted us to the lot,” Lynn says. “But there were no natural areas created around groups of trees, they were just surrounded with about 15,000 square feet of grass!”
And to their further good fortune, they had a neighbor with a green thumb, Kathy Sill. “I remember how excited I would get when Kathy would call to say she was dividing things; do you want any?” says Lynn. “I would come home with things Kathy shared, trying to remember every word she said about the plants and how to care for them until I could get home and write it down.”
Over time, Sill became Lynn’s plant mentor, guiding her in understanding the height and width of plants at maturity to make long-term plans for the yard. “I remember on one of her visits to my yard when I had just started planting shrubs. She looked at some plants I’d put in and asked if I knew how big those shrubs would get — I didn’t,” says Lynn. So Sill took her around the corner to her yard to get a sense of the mature version. “It was a first and lasting lesson on giving a plant the room it needs,” says Lynn. Lynn started by working on the foundation plantings within her large property. “I dutifully pruned the builder’s plants along the front of the house. Most of them were holly, and I originally kept them as green meatballs,” she says. As
she got more adventurous, she trimmed a pair of what she thought were Carissa hollies flanking the front porch, shaping them into lollipop forms. A few years later, she discovered her mistake when she decided to swap out the original foundation plants for a more interesting selection of shrubs. “I found plant tags at the base of plants, and they were not just little evergreens, they were Setsugekka camellias,” she says. “I’d been pruning off their flowers all along!”
Slowly, Lynn started to learn to build a garden, sometimes making mistakes along the way. “I still remember bringing home my first $100 worth of plants, thinking I’d made a great purchase, and they practically disappeared in the yard!” she says. “But Jim always told me, Don’t add those up! Some things are better not to know!”
She also took time to visit different gardens to get inspiration. “A garden reflects the gardener; they are all so interesting, with so many different styles,” says Lynn. “Seeing how plants are sited and displayed within their vignettes, you start to learn what make good companions, keeping in mind how in time you might extend your own planting.”
Her husband helped as an enthusiast and partner. “I love the garden, I appreciate the garden, but Lynn is the gardener,” Jim says. In the early days of the garden, Jim traveled a lot for work. “But he’d come home and ask if I wanted to get a glass of wine and show him what I’d been doing in the garden,” Lynn says. “Having an interested spouse and walking through it together was magic.”
Along the way, Lynn’s love of gardening turned into a career as a garden designer. The couple each independently became fans of Japanese maples, too. Lynn had been using them in her clients’ designs, and Jim, on a work trip to Atlanta, visited a colleague’s garden, where he was shown the Shishigashira Japanese maple, along with an intertwined red and green maple. “Until then, I hadn’t realized there was such a variety or noticed how interesting they were,” Jim says.
They started adding these unique trees to their landscape and now have 250
of them on the property. “Most of the Japanese maples, 225 of them, are of the species most people recognise as Japanese maples — including Acer palmatum, Acer shirasawanum and Acer japonicum — the ones that have the small, deeply cut leaves in colors from greens to burgundy to orange,” says Lynn. The other 25 are various other species of maples, like the ones with beautiful yellow to red fall color often used along Raleigh’s streetscapes or as specimens in a home garden. “I enjoy seeing the great variety available,” says Lynn.
Their passion for Japanese maples grew to the point where they joined The Maple Society of North America, a nonprofit organization that promotes the culture, conservation and awareness of maples, including Japanese maples. They took their first trip to its annual conference, which alternates between the East and West Coasts, in 2015 when it was held in Oregon. “We enjoyed meeting growers and other enthusiasts, visiting gardens displaying maples and growing knowledge about maples,” says Lynn. Lynn was invited to join the board of The Maple Society in 2021, where she was involved in planning its annual meetings. “Lynn has been largely responsible for the success of our annual conferences,” says Bill Hibler, the president of the Maple Society of North America. In the fall of that year, the Swansons started the Southeast regional interest group for the society, which gathers a couple of times a year. “So far, we’ve had meetings in Raleigh, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia,” says Lynn. In addition, the Swansons have opened their home and garden for visitations, local meetings and as a site for a grafting class. “Their efforts have been instrumental in increasing our membership in the area,” says Hibler.
Nearly 40 years after starting their garden, the Swansons have steadily reduced the lawn to under about 2,000 feet, replacing it with their plantings. “I believe in grass as a condiment, a place for your eyes or feet to rest between beds,” says Lynn. In addition to maples, the Swanson garden is filled with many
“Most of the Japanese maples, 225 of them, are of the species most people recognize as Japanese maples... the ones that have the small, deeply cut leaves in colors from greens to burgundy to orange.”
— Lynn Swanson
types of plants, including juniper, hardy chrysanthemum, ferns and a pair of mature Wolf Eye dogwoods flanking an entrance into the woodland garden that look great spring through fall. “I especially like the variegated Maejima daphne and hydrangeas, but I always seem to have a new favorite,” says Lynn. Currently, she’s loving her snakebark maple. “I bought it when it was dormant, admiring its interesting striated bark. But when it leafed out, it had the most beautiful variegation, and I was immediately charmed,” says Lynn.
And the routine of strolling through the yard together, a tradition that started in its earliest days, continues today. “Walking through the garden, especially in the spring when leaves are emerging, allows us to notice the detail and variety,” says Jim. Agrees Lynn: “I love quiet walks in the morning to see how everything is doing and listen to the birds.”
Lynn and Jim continue to be active in the Maple Society of North America and the Southeast regional meetings, and Hibler says the pair are among their “greatest supporters.”
But of course, Lynn says, a garden is never done: “Even now, I am planting a new bed with a variety of shapes, colors and textures.”
The Swansons’ garden is spectacular in fall, showing off their extensive collection of Japanese maples, along wtih other plantings. lection.
Raleigh’s
Governor Morehead School has been changing lives for visually impaired children since 1845
opening doors of HAPPINESS
by KATHERINE SNOW SMITH photography by S.P. MURRAY
Eight-year-old Allison Bolivar seems reluctant to release her father’s hand. It’s time to line up for the opening ceremonies of the annual Braille Challenge at the Governor Morehead School in Raleigh, which takes place in February, and she’s a little nervous.
Bolivar is one of 21 children from across the state competing in a day of proofreading, spelling, reading comprehension and deciphering charts. Bolivar came from Robeson County with her parents just for the event, like eight other families who traveled across the state. The other 12 competitors live on campus.
Since 1845, children have been letting go of a parent’s hand to venture into an unknown world at this school for the visually impaired, which was first called the North Carolina Institution of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind. The name was changed to honor Gov. John Motley Morehead in 1964. The school currently instructs 45 students and boards 42. The children they serve range in age from 5 to 21 and hail from as far west as Newton and as far east as Edenton. Students never pay to attend the school, which is supported largely by private donations and some state funding.
The Ashe Avenue campus, 2 miles from Pullen Park, is dotted with red brick buildings centered around a small garden with a bronze bust of Helen Keller, a quote from whom is etched in both Braille and traditional letters: “When one door of happiness closes, another one opens.”
A door of happiness opened wide at the school for one of its most famous alumnus, six-time Grammy winner Ronnie Milsap. According to Milsap’s 1977 biography, Almost Like a Song, when he was born blind in the mountain town of Robbinsville, his mother thought it was a punishment from God and wanted nothing to do with him. His grandparents raised him until he moved, at age 5, to this school, where his musical talent budded.
Another alumnus, North Carolina mu-
sical legend Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson, credited the school for exposing him to classical and jazz music and for nurturing talent his family already seeded, according to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
Another
alumni, North Carolina musical legend Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson, credited the school for exposing him to classical and jazz music and for nurturing talent his family already seeded,
according to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame .
Bolivar also has an inclination for music and is learning to play the guitar at church. Her confidence isn’t as strong 95 miles away from her hometown of Shannon, population 246. But when MC Susan Patterson announces Bolivar’s name, the girl is the first to make her way beneath the “Tunnel of Canes,” with a shy smile that turns up ever so slightly toward her thick, dark bangs. Akin to a military arch of swords, the ceremonial tunnel is formed by almost 20 GMS teachers and employees from the State Library of North Carolina’s accessible services division.
“Scholars, best of luck to you,” says GMS principal Matthew Mescall after all students are introduced. “I hope you enjoy the competition, but more importantly, I hope you enjoy each other’s company.” Fifty competitors with highest scores from around the country will go on to compete in the Braille Challenge Finals in Los Angeles this summer,
Clockwise from left: Five students at the Governer Morehead School in the 1950s; the entrance to the school; Braille writers; a bust of Helen Keller; a sculpture on the grounds.
including one Raleigh teenager, Reese Blum.
“You get to make a lot of new friends,” Blum says as she leaves the Braille Challenge and begins climbing a tree on the school’s campus. “I made a really good friend there who’s not from here. I’m still going to go to support her and she’s going to go to support me even if one of us doesn’t make it as a finalist.”
Hopes of making friends eased the pain when Susan Patterson left her Robeson County home at age 10 in 1966 to live at the Raleigh school. Because she was Black, she attended Governor Morehead’s school for African Americans on
North Carolina was the first state in the nation to start a school for visually impaired Black children in 1869 after the Civil War, but wouldn’t fully integrate it until 1977.
Garner Road, 5 miles south of the Capitol Building. North Carolina was the first state in the nation to start a school for visually impaired Black children in 1869, after the Civil War, but wouldn’t fully integrate it until 1977.
“Being a child, I really was kind of excited,” Patterson says. “I thought to myself: more friends!” She wasn’t completely blind, but Patterson didn’t start attending school in Lumberton until she was 8 and was behind her grade level when she arrived in Raleigh. The many largeprint books at the Governor Morehead School, smaller classes and specialized teachers opened a whole new door.
“I caught up fast. In fact, I skipped some grades,” she says.
Patterson was among the first Black students to integrate the school’s main campus on Ashe Avenue in 1967.
“I remember wondering why these people didn’t say anything to us or
acknowledge us,” Patterson recalls of the white students on campus. “But then as I got older, I thought, well, we didn’t really do anything to acknowledge them. I guess it took some getting used to, sharing your school with people you don’t know. After it all settled down, some of us became the best of friends with each other.”
Patterson is a key organizer for annual Governor Morehead School reunions, which often include a tour of the old Garner Road school that now houses the State Bureau of Investigation. She went on to earn her associate’s degree in early childhood education at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte and worked as a house parent at the Governor Morehead School for 28 years until she retired 12 years ago.
She’s seen many changes at the school. One of the best, she thinks, is that it now sends four buses across the state every weekend to transport students home and back. For many decades, most children stayed on campus throughout the school year, even during holidays, because their parents couldn’t afford a bus ticket home.
“I can remember getting that bus ticket to Lumberton for $3.30 about once a month so I could go home,” she says. “I could call my parents, too, but some people didn’t even have phones at home so they didn’t talk to their family that whole year.”
It was hard, but the independence students gained and are still gaining at Governor Morehead School is as important as their academics, Patterson says.
“I stress to sighted people when you’re talking about blind people, concentrate on our accomplishments, not our limitations,” she says.
Scenes from the Braille Challenge at Governor Morehead School in February 2024, including the walk through the “Tunnel of Canes” during the opening ceremonies.
Visual artist
MARTHA THORN follows her intuition to build her colorful, energetic paintings
by COLONY LITTLE photography by JOSHUA STEADMAN
What’s first legible in Martha Thorn’s work is color: layers of vibrant, abstract shapes that emerge from soft shadows rendered in acrylic and spray paint. In a piece titled Into the Ether, for example, ribbons of cerulean, olive and aqua mingle with sharp shards of white and ghosts of gray, a cacophony emerging from a background of concentric boxes.
“I’ ll typically start by covering the canvas, just to get rid of the white,” Thorn says. From there, the Raleigh-based artist begins to add layers through various mediums and techniques: spray-painting one layer, dripping acrylic paint onto another, pouring paint and tilting the canvas to create a marbling effect. Each layer of the work is in conversation with the next. “I’m always reacting to what I did last,” she
says. “There’s a lot of back and forth until I decide a piece is finished.”
Thorn grew up in Charlotte within a family that had an eye for classical art. Her mother studied art history, both of her grandmothers were artists and one of her great-uncles was a professional portrait artist. But it was an encounter with a surrealist painting in grade school that opened her eyes to a new form of expression. “I saw an image of Paul Klee’s Twittering Machine, and I was mesmerized,” she says of the painting, in which black-ink birds offer a jarring contrast to their watercolor-soft background. “It was so fresh and new and different from anything I’d ever seen.”
Thorn explored painting in an abstract expressionist style through her teens, incorporating drips of acrylic and spray paint inspired by a school trip to graffitifilled New York City in the 1980s. When she was accepted into the art program at Western Carolina University, she opted
to pursue graphic design to find a more financially reliable use for her talents. While in school, she met her husband Jeffrey, whose work in the technology industry moved them throughout the Southeast and Texas before settling in Raleigh more than 30 years ago.
Between moves, work and raising a family, painting was a hobby for many years. “Because I had so many other plates spinning in the air, it just wasn’t the main focus,” Thorn says. But as her three children got older, she was able to secure time and space to create more fervently, applying for grants to jumpstart her practice, including one from the United Arts Council to convert her garage into a studio. In 2008, Thorn participated in her first group show, at the Visual Art Exchange, where Lump Gallery co-founder Bill Thelan awarded her a second-place prize in the juried exhibition.
Through that experience, Thorn dis-
Artist Martha Thorn builds her paintings by taping off sections as she adds layers of acrylic and spray paints.
covered a nurturing, supportive community of artists who, like her, were beginning their professional art careers with guidance from the VAE. “That was the jumping-off point for a lot of people,” she says. “I was good friends with Sarah Powers, Brandon Cordrey [both former directors at VAE] and other staff there who would encourage me to apply for grants and other opportunities.”
Thorn continued to paint out of her garage until four years ago, when she secured a studio at Anchorlight. There, she says, she has found an equally nurturing and challenging community with artist neighbors whose styles and approaches differ from her own.
One fellow Archorlight artist is figurative painter Clarence Heyward. “Martha and I come from completely different walks of life, but our interests in art — color, technique and style — and our curiosity about different perspectives is the glue that holds our friendship together,” says Heyward. “Our conversations range from newly found paint colors to what’s for dinner to political debates, and our impromptu critiques help each of us make our studio practices stronger.”
Thorn recalls a recent “spirited” debate with Heyward about a certain shape, bunny ears, that kept repeating in her work. “Clarence always calls me out! He said, What are those? I just quickly made something up,” Thorn laughs. “In reality, I didn’t know why the ears came to me or what compelled me to incorporate them. He let it go that time, but often he’ll continue to question me until I can articulate why I used a certain shape or color.”
But days after that encounter, the origin of the shape revealed itself: a black ceramic mug in her kitchen cabinet, which featured a tiki-inspired floral pattern that echoes the bunny ears on her canvas. “This coffee cup was my husband’s,” she says, sharing that she lost Jeffrey in 2023 after a long battle with ALS. “I use the word ‘intuition’ a lot because I try not to filter too much into what I’m doing, but I’m constantly absorbing images that have meaning to me and reiterating them in my work.”
While caretaking for Jeffrey, Thorn
“I use the word ‘intuition’ a lot because I try not to filter too much into what I’m doing, but I’m constantly absorbing images that have meaning to me and reiterating them in my work.”
— Martha Thorn
placed painting on hold, but in the last year she’s found herself creating work that expresses her feelings and memories from their time together. One example is a piece titled Tear. On a vibrant plane of canary yellow, emerald green and shocking pink shapes, black pillars and symmetrical chartreuse lobes — those bunny ears, set on their sides — resemble butterfly wings. On close inspection, there are two black tears embedded between the ears. “That was the first piece I completed after Jeff died,” she says. “I don’t want anyone to look at my work and say, oh, that’s about death, I like to keep things more open. But oftentimes the meaning of my paintings become clear after they’re completed.”
Earlier this year, Thorn participated in the No Boundaries International Artist
Residency on Bald Head Island, a cultural exchange program that brings artists from around the world together with North Carolina residents to collaborate, network and produce work. “The work that I’m doing now is distilled from that experience,” she says. “With my husband’s death, I think about nature a lot — how we’re made, what happens after we die — and it all comes into play in my work.”
Thorn’s non-didactic approach, combined with her process of creating layers in her paintings, allows for multiple entry points to the work. And her reliance on intuition gives Thorn the freedom to express how she experiences the surrounding world: “These paintings are a metaphor for all the layers within me.
Clockwise from top left: Recent work by Thorn: Super Moon, Untitled Red and Pink, Night Grass and Embodiment. Opposite page: Thorn in her Anchorlight studio.
We proudly invest in women
Bank of America supports the economic empowerment of women at our company, in our communities and around the world. We partner with organizations to provide 1.3 million hours of training to more than 135,000 women entrepreneurs, along with access to capital to help them build their businesses..
Within our company, women make up over 50% of our global workforce — and we continue to recruit, develop and help them succeed within our organization.
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Kari Stoltz President bankofamerica.com/thetriangle
Guide to GIVING
As you begin planning for the holidays, please consider how you can help the organizations that are working to make our community a better place to live.
The following pages offer a sampling of nonprofits in our area that rely on annual fundraising. With your help — be it monetary or hands-on — we can support their missions and have a hand in bettering Wake County.
The WALTER Guide to Giving is made possible through sponsors from our local business community.
A Lotta Love
ALotta Love creates safe, dignified and uplifting spaces at homeless shelters, Crisis Centers and Children’s Homes in order to alleviate the trauma of homelessness. The organization transforms institutional rooms by adding new bed linens and pillows, cheerful artwork, new towels and shower curtains, fun rugs and lighting, and much more, providing shelter guests with a sense of home and much-needed psychological safety at a difficult time. A Lotta Love’s trauma-informed design to North Carolina’s homelessness problem is innovative, groundbreaking and profoundly impactful.
Since 2014, A Lotta Love has helped over 25 North Carolina organizations turn bedrooms and communal areas into comforting respites that offer guests a sense of safety, comfort and hopefulness. Their work does more than just bring a smile to the faces of unhoused people — it also has real-life results. According to recently published psychological research, 96% of A Lotta Love makeover recipients felt more respected and dignified, and 63% reported increased feelings of safety.
Community support allows A Lotta Love to expand their work, giving more local shelter guests safe and cozy places that allow them to rest, recover and recharge as they work towards self-sufficiency. A donation of...
• $25 provides new pillows for shelter residents to sleep on after a long day
• $50 gifts a toiletry kit for a family moving into a shelter
• $100 supplies new mattress protectors and sheets for a family’s room
• $250 offers decorative touches for a worn-out communal living space in a shelter
• $600 allows a full-bedroom transformation, including minor repairs and all the comforts of home that the recipients can take with them when they move to more stable housing
Help A Lotta Love bring change to our community. ♥
alottalove.org PO Box 4331 Chapel Hill, NC 27515
info@alottalove.org
@alottaloveinc on Instagram
CAM Raleigh
CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM
The Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh (CAM), a non-collecting museum located in the heart of the Warehouse District, serves as a vital link between the community and contemporary art. Through groundbreaking exhibitions, engaging educational programs, and immersive cultural experiences, CAM inspires creativity at all ages. This inclusive space invites everyone to connect meaningfully with the art of today.
At the heart of CAM is the Betty Eichenberger Adams Society (BEAS), a vibrant membership group open to all who identify as women, dedicated to igniting a passion for contemporary art and expanding CAM’s impact across the Triangle. BEAS draws inspiration from the late Betty Eichenberger Adams, an artist, activist, and arts educator who championed CAM Raleigh and the arts throughout North Carolina. With their contributions accounting for one-fifth of CAM’s operating revenue in 2023, BEAS members continue to bring this vision to life and are set to replicate similar financial success in 2024. Additionally, as champions of female artists in the community, their contributions have paved the way for CAM to commission a new mural by local multidisciplinary artist Taylor White, set to be unveiled in the coming months. Together, BEAS members are not just supporting art; they are creating a vibrant legacy that celebrates creativity and empowers future generations.
If you are a woman looking to connect with and support contemporary art and arts education in the Triangle while satisfying your sense of adventure and curiosity, then you belong with the BEAS. Join this group of forward-thinking women through CAM’s website, then attend the 11th annual BEAS Luncheon on November 15 to get a taste of the insider opportunities that come with membership, like behind-the-scenes access to artist studios and private art collections, as well as bespoke travel excursions exploring the contemporary art scenes in major U.S. cities. Looking for other options to support CAM? Make a tax-deductible donation of $25, $50, $150 or more to help keep the Triangle connected to visionary contemporary artists from around the world and ensure CAM exhibitions remain free for everyone. ♥
camraleigh.org
409 W. Martin Street Raleigh, NC 27603
919-261-5920
beas@camraleigh.org
BEAS BACKGROUND
Betty Eichenberger Adams is an extraordinary example of a visionary who embraced contemporary art wholeheartedly. As an artist, activist, and arts educator, she was one of the first advocates and supporters of CAM Raleigh and a bold arts advocate in North Carolina. The society honors her legacy as an artist, arts educator, and community leader.
Children’s Flight of Hope
Children’s Flight of Hope (CFOH) ensures that distance and the cost of travel are not barriers to care for children in need. Together with its donors and partners, CFOH helps ease the emotional and financial burden of families, paying for airline flights for children and caregivers every time they travel for specialized care — no matter how far, no matter how often.
In just two years, the impact of CFOH has more than doubled, and by year’s end they expect to provide 2,800 life-changing flights for children in need. Since its humble beginnings over 30 years ago, the children of North Carolina have remained at the heart of the mission at CFOH, making our state the #1 served. By volunteering your time at an event or in office, or making a one-time or ongoing donation, you become a lifeline for children in need, bringing hope to families when they need it most. To learn more and to donate, visit www.childrensflightofhope.org. ♥
childrensflightofhope.org
751 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 130 Raleigh, NC 27607
919-466-8593 connect@cfoh.org
Frankie Lemmon
FRANKIE LEMMON SCHOOL & DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER
Since 1965, Frankie Lemmon School (FLS) has opened its classrooms to young children with special needs, nurturing their potential long before the world caught up to the magic of early intervention. With a 5:1 ratio of certified teaching staff to students, full-time speech and occupational therapists, free meals with Individual Nutrition Care Plans and the use of Total Communication — using sign language, visuals, verbal and augmentative communication devices — FLS provides children with a first-rate education fit for discovery and exploration.
The 2024-2025 school year marks 60 years of Frankie Lemmon School. Today, FLS serves nearly 100 children, ages 2 to 7, each school year. Last year, FLS expanded its services to include elementary school ages for the first time in its history with a first-grade classroom. With 80% of Frankie Lemmon’s budget coming from private fundraising, donor generosity is the lifeblood of the school. When you give to Frankie Lemmon, you’re joining hands with its staff to uplift children, empower families and build a brighter tomorrow. ♥
frankielemmonschool.org
331 Carl Sandburg Court
Raleigh, NC 27610
919-821-7436
marsha@frankielemmonschool.org
Methodist Home for Children
No child asks to be born into abuse or neglect. No child asks to be hungry or ignored or endangered. But every year, close to 20,000 cases of child maltreatment are uncovered in North Carolina. It’s our mission to protect and nurture children and make families stronger.
W hat started as an orphanage in 1899 has evolved to provide the best in evidencebased services for children and families. We provide safe, stable homes where children can thrive and live to their full, God-given potential.
We don’t just remove kids from bad situations — we break destructive cycles. We do this through foster care, adoption, family preservation and reunification, group homes for court-involved teens and more. Your support can have a huge impact: just $25 can provide bedding for a baby born addicted to drugs, while $500 can be an apartment deposit for an 18-year-old leaving our care.
We work so children and families have the hope and the skills they need to build healthy, self-sufficient and productive lives. ♥
mhfc.org 1041 Washington Street Raleigh, NC 27605
919-754-3625
giving@mhfc.org
North Raleigh Ministries
North Raleigh Ministries wants everyone in the community to be able to meet their basic needs so they can thrive. Unforeseen crises and financial hardship can easily affect one’s ability to do small but important things, like putting breakfast on the table or stocking toilet paper. North Raleigh Ministries helps ease those burdens by offering immediate support through their food pantry, guidance and support from certified case managers, along with transformative programs that address the root causes of their hardship.
Through its certified Healthy Food Pantry and programs like Healthy Kids and The Journey Program, this nonprofit has helped nearly 100,000 people over the last 20 years. Its solutions-focused and evidence-based programs equip and empower families and individuals to go from a place of survival to one of stability. Its programs are provided for free in both English and Spanish.
Help North Raleigh Ministries with its mission by donating food items at their Crisis and Development Center or gently used clothing and household items at their Thrift Shoppes. You can also volunteer your time in their Thrift Shoppes, food pantry, or Crisis Center. Financial donations help them continue to serve those in need. Supporting North Raleigh Ministries means supporting your neighbors, too. ♥
northraleighministries.com
2809 E. Millbrook Road Raleigh, NC 27604
919-844-6676
info@northraleighministries.com
Note in the Pocket
Note in the Pocket provides quality clothing to homeless and impoverished children and families with dignity and love, addressing the problem of clothing insecurity in the Triangle. By providing clothing, Note in the Pocket ensures that children are better prepared for social, emotional, physical, and academic success because they no longer lack basic clothing resources. They can then arrive at school dressed for academic success. Since 2013, Note in the Pocket has clothed over 61,200 individuals, and this year, their goal is to serve 11,500 children and adults.
Support for the community is crucial for Note in the Pocket’s success. A one-time donation of $25 provides a child a warm coat, and a monthly donation of $100 provides clothing and shoes for six children. Gently-used clothing and shoes of all sizes can be dropped off at several locations across the Triangle. Volunteers are also transformative — from clothing drives to onsite shifts to the Teen Board, there are opportunities for everyone. ♥
Wake County Location 4730 Hargrove Road Raleigh, NC 27604
Durham Location 1010 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway Durham, NC 27713
Raleigh Police Department Foundation
The Raleigh Police Department Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is dedicated to advancing public safety initiatives and promoting police support for a safe and thriving community. Thanks to the many generous donations to the Raleigh Police Department Foundation, positive change is taking root within our community. Your contributions are fueling vital initiatives aimed at enhancing public safety and empowering our officers to better serve and protect Raleigh residents through providing our team access to first-rate education, state-of-the-art technology and innovative programs.
Since 2022, the Raleigh Police Department Foundation has raised over $4 million to purchase much-needed equipment while also fostering community engagement that brings officers in closer touch with the citizens they serve. Every dollar raised is used to support the goal of preserving and improving the quality of life in our community. From funding youth programs to providing essential resources for law enforcement, your donations make a tangible difference in creating a safer, stronger and more
raleighpolicefoundation.org
P.O. Box 18283
Raleigh, NC 27619
info@raleighpolicefoundation.org
Raleigh Rescue Mission
For over 60 years, Raleigh Rescue Mission has been a beacon of hope in Wake County, providing support and services to those experiencing situational homelessness. Committed to transforming lives, the Mission offers safe housing, meals, access to counseling services and job training to help individuals and families regain stability and independence. Recently, Raleigh Rescue Mission launched a capital campaign for The Garden, a new campus for women and children in Knightdale. This innovative facility will provide trauma support and long-term transitional housing for 350 to 400 people at a time, creating a neighborhood that will foster relationships and opportunities.
There are many opportunities to get involved with Raleigh Rescue Mission. A gift as small as $2.79 can provide a nourishing meal, and a gift of any amount can work towards the development of The Garden. Volunteers are also crucial to the Mission’s function; there are roles for everyone. Lead as a Jobs for Life Mentor and work closely with a client, package and deliver meals, or read and play with children. Your support enables Raleigh Rescue Mission to transform lives for generations. ♥
raleighrescue.org 314 E. Hargett Street Raleigh, NC 27601
919-828-9014
info@raleighrescue.org
Realtor Giving Network
The Realtor Giving Network harnesses the collective giving power of Realtors in order to prevent and end homelessness and transition families to stable housing. Developed by the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors (RRAR), this network of professional Realtors invests in unhoused people by giving grants to local housing nonprofits.
Within the network’s lifetime, the RRAR Realtor Giving Network has furnished 100 apartments for families recovering from homelessness, installed 306 window A/C units for seniors and invested $500,000 in housing nonprofits.
For the RRAR Realtor Giving Network, a little goes a long way.
• Your $25 donation gives bed linens for a child leaving a homeless shelter.
• Your $50 gift houses a family for a week.
• Your $100 contribution provides household supplies for a foster teen moving into their first apartment.
Support your neighbors by volunteering at RRAR Realtor Giving Network events and spreading the word as an ambassador. ♥
rrargivingnetwork.org 111 Realtors Way Cary, NC 27513
heathert@rrar.com
RALEIGH
SAFEchild
S TOP A BUSE F OR E VERY CHILD
The heart and soul of SAFEchild’s mission is embedded in the agency’s name, Stop Abuse For Every child. Our bold mission addresses our community’s urgent need to prevent and eliminate child abuse through intervention, treatment and educational services that ensure the safety and well-being of all children.
The SAFEchild Advocacy Center, a core component of SAFEchild’s child-centered and family-focused facility, coordinates the assessment, evaluation, investigation and prosecution of the most severe cases of child abuse in Wake County. All healing services that children need — forensic interviews, medical care, advocacy support and referrals for counseling — are provided by experienced child abuse prevention professionals in one, safe location — at no cost.
SAFEchild also offers educational programs as a resource for parent support, providing options and tools to help them create nurturing environments for their family and positive relationships with their children.
From 2023-2024, SAFEchild’s Funny Tummy Feelings program empowered over 12,500 first graders to protect themselves from physical and/or sexual abuse. Nearly 1,000 children were positively impacted by SAFEchild’s parenting programs, and more than 800 caregivers were empowered to break the cycle of abuse. Additionally, more than 440 children were evaluated for reported concerns of abuse and neglect by our children’s advocacy center team. SAFEchild can now evaluate more than 60 children per month, with less than a five-day wait for services.
Donors and volunteers offer SAFEchild’s most important support. SAFEchild needs to raise more than $3,000,000 annually to provide all of its services to the community at no cost. The demand for SAFEchild’s services grows each year, and your generosity enables SAFEchild to fund essential current and future programmatic growth. Less than $25 per month can change the trajectory of a child’s life. Sustaining SAFEchild’s mission is sustaining the well-being of the most vulnerable in our community!
To help sustain SAFEchild’s mission during this season of giving, please visit safechildnc.org/donate. ♥
safechildnc.org 2841 Kidd Road Raleigh, NC 27526
919-743-6140
cderonja@safechildnc.org
SPCA of Wake County
SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
Headquartered in Raleigh, the SPCA of Wake County works to save both pets and people in crisis in more than half of North Carolina’s counties. Through the creation of a humane community, the SPCA hopes to inspire and change the lives of people and pets through care, adoption, education and protection. Both a shelter and an animal welfare agency, SPCA works tirelessly to keep families and pets together through various programs, including disaster relief and response efforts, youth education programs, spay/neuter assistance programs and economic support for preventive care and necessary pet vaccines. In 2023, the SPCA of Wake County rescued over 3,500 homeless pets and operated two separate euthanasia-free animal shelters. Animal intake efforts are particularly focused on shelters where the risk of euthanasia is high. SPCA strongly believes in the commitment to saving every animal taken in, and will never euthanize a pet due to lack of space.
Taking in such a large number of animals could not happen without the help from community members like you. Last year alone, volunteers provided over 15,000 hours of service, each hour being essential to the daily functioning of the SPCA through activities such as animal care, administrative support, behavior enrichment and adoptions. The SPCA’s foster program is also vital in the success of the organization. Through this program, volunteers provide specialized care to animals who are not yet fit for adoption due to illness or age. Almost one-third of incoming animals are fostered for a temporary period of time.
You too can become involved in helping further the amazing impacts of SPCA. Whether you choose to adopt a pet, donate a gift of support or take part in one of countless volunteer opportunities, your help is greatly appreciated and necessary in transforming the lives of people and pets in your community. ♥
spcawake.org
200 Petfinder Lane Raleigh, NC 27603
919-712-2326
spca@spcawake.org
Southeast Raleigh Promise
Southeast Raleigh Promise leads Raleigh/Wake County’s first Purpose-Built Communities model, a place-based partnership initiative that focuses on advancing outcomes in the areas of housing, education, health and community wellness, and economic vitality in Southeast Raleigh. Its Purpose-Built Communities campus, the Beacon Site, was developed through strategic partnerships and is scheduled to be completed by spring 2025. When completed, it will be home to the SE Raleigh YMCA, SE Raleigh Elementary School and early-learning center, and 120 affordable rental homes in the Beacon Ridge Apartments, among other community services.
By supporting Southeast Raleigh Promise, you are investing in programs and services that directly impact the more than 275 residents who call the Beacon Site home and 350+ students who attend Southeast Raleigh Elementary. Your investment will enable Southeast Raleigh Promise to successfully break ground on its first smallscale affordable housing development, which will provide 25 units of income-aligned rental housing in residential neighborhoods within its area of impact. ♥
serpromise.org
1425 Promise Beacon Circle, Suite 214 Raleigh. NC 27610
919-523-8351
contact@serpromise.org
WakeMed Foundation
30 YEARS OF COMMUNITY, COLLABORATION, AND CARE
This year, the WakeMed Foundation marks 30 years of service and an unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of patients and families. As the philanthropic partner of WakeMed, the WakeMed Foundation has a longstanding history of supporting the healthcare needs of our community through initiatives that save, change, and improve lives every day.
From fostering innovative programs and approaches to care, to addressing health equity and cultivating skilled caregivers, philanthropic funds have reshaped access to healthcare in Wake County and beyond. Donor support allows the Foundation to provide the innovation capital to build healing environments, explore advanced therapies and treatments, and empower the people we serve to take charge of their health.
Th irty years into its mission, the WakeMed Foundation continues to harness our community’s generous spirit and collaborate with donors to make an even stronger impact.
Now, we are working to transform how mental health care is delivered. WakeMed partnered with Wake County in 2023 to reopen WakeBrook. Our next step is to establish an innovative WakeMed Whole-Health Campus in Garner. Built on the principle that mental health and physical health are deeply intertwined, the campus will include a 150-bed Mental Health & Well-Being Hospital.
Your generosity will allow the WakeMed Foundation to continue to support lifesaving services across our community. Learn more at wakemed.org/giving. ♥
wakemed.org/giving 3000 New Bern Avenue Raleigh, NC 27610 919-350-7656 foundation@wakemed.org
Wake Tech Foundation
The Wake Tech Foundation believes in making an education possible for anyone in our community who wants one — so that our region remains the best place to live and work in the world.
Individual donors, corporate partners, employees and friends of all kinds fuel our mission. Your support plays a crucial role in Wake Tech’s efforts to train and educate our community for both the demands of today’s workforce and the opportunities that lie ahead. With the support from donors like you, we were able to award $993,355 in scholarships in the 2023-2024 school year, supporting 2,027 scholarship recipients. Of those scholarships, 146 were the first in their families to attend college, 45 were single parents and 41 were veterans.
Wake Tech Reach Partners is one of our newest initiatives. The Reach Partners Program acknowledges the strength and resilience of our partner organizations and the youth and adults they serve, such as Communities in Schools of Wake County, The Hope Center at Pullen, Dorcas Ministries and Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County. To deepen our community support, Wake Tech will provide a guaranteed level of funding for youth and adults who complete a Reach Partners’ program to attend Wake Tech.
Let’s make a difference together! Reach Partners are organizations that partner with Wake Tech to ensure their clients and members have access to educational opportunities from high school and beyond. Wake Tech is raising funds now to ensure all 2025 Reach Partner candidates have the option to make Wake Tech the first step in their academic journey. Each Reach Partner will nominate their graduate(s) for a minimum scholarship award of $1,500 a year for a maximum of 3 years (6 semesters at $750 per semester) while at Wake Tech.
Donate today to ensure scholarships are available for these amazing students! ♥
Wee Care Children’s Enrichment Program provides a free preschool education for economically disadvantaged children, equipping them with the social, emotional and cognitive skills and confidence necessary to succeed in kindergarten. Research shows that early childhood education results in long-term economic and educational benefits, and Wee Care believes that every child deserves the opportunity to flourish, regardless of their family’s economic status. Over the past 17 years, Wee Care has had 6 classes complete the 3 year program touching the lives of more than 70 children and their families.
There are many hands-on opportunities to volunteer with Wee Care, like making hot nutritious lunches, being a classroom helper, chaperoning field trips, joining its governing board, being a substitute, writing grants and joining our fundraising team. Monetary donations are also greatly appreciated, as they contribute toward teacher salaries, field trips, nutritious food, transportation and operational costs that help keep the program running. ♥
weecareinc.org
2209 Fairview Road Raleigh, NC 27608
984-298-4484
laurie@weecareinc.org
Women’s Center of Wake County
The Women’s Center of Wake County provides guidance and housing to single women experiencing homelessness by emphasizing safety, stabilization and transformation. In 2024, The Women’s Center will serve more than 2,000 women and provide over 40,000 meals. Through The Women’s Center’s community partnerships and housing interventions, nearly 100 women connected with The Women’s Center have been housed this year! There are multiple ways to help The Women’s Center house single women. A monetary donation of $600 provides one woman with lifesaving services like a safe place to stay during extreme weather, case management, and breakfast, lunch, and to-go meals for an entire year. Donations of time and clothing are also vital to the work at The Women’s Center. Volunteers help provide meals each day and organize important donations, including new underwear and gently used clothing, that enable The Women’s Center to serve the growing population of single women experiencing homelessness. ♥
wcwc.org 2200 New Bern Avenue Raleigh, NC 27610 919-829-3711
info@wcwc.org
THE WHIRL
WALTER’s roundup of gatherings, celebrations, fundraisers and more around Raleigh.
Book Club
On Sept. 18, WALTER hosted Book Club with Valerie Bauerlein to celebrate her new book, The Devil at His Elbow, a true-crime story about the Murdaugh murders. WALTER founding editor Liza Roberts interviewed Bauerlein about the research that went into the book, then the audience participated in a lively Q&A and book signing. Thank you to our presenting sponsor Campbell University Law School, as well as our supporting sponsors, Gallery C and Main & Taylor Shoe Salon. Special thanks to Theatre in the Park for providing this venue, as well as to our partners Alphagraphics, Attended Events, Green Front Furniture, The News & Observer, If It’s Paper, Trophy Brewing, Under the Oaks Catering and Westgate Wine.
To have your event considered for The Whirl, submit images and information at waltermagazine.com/submit-photos
Virginia Strickland, Catherine Currin, Sylvia Jurgensen
Betty Jackson, Allen Jackson, Carolyn Ponte, Lisa Bauerlein
Valerie Bauerlein, Brent Simpson
Back row: Susan Bowser, Deb Fox, Sara Warren. Front row: Julie Nickens, Diane Chinnis, Karen Clemmer, Cathy Calloway
WINnovation 2024
On Sept. 13, WALTER hosted the tenth annual WINnovation at The Umstead Hotel & Spa, an event that celebrates female leadership through storytelling.
The evening kicked off with workshops on professional development led by Amanda Lamb with Stage Might Communications, Amy Gerhartz with a Higher Way of Living, and Melissa de Leon with Melissa de Leon Styling. During cocktail hour, guests were able to take head shots with photographer Terrence Jones.
The WINnovation talks took place during a three-course dinner in the ballroom. Kari Stoltz, president for Bank of America of the Triangle, and Dianne Bailey, managing director and national philanthropic strategy executive for Bank of America, kicked off the program with a conversation about women leading philanthropic giving.
This year’s program shared stories and wisdom from speakers Francie Gottsegen, president of the North Carolina Courage; Yvette Holmes, CEO of Southeast Raleigh Promise; visual artist
Precious D. Lovell; Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson; and Dr. Denise Young, director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Thank you to our presenting sponsor Bank of America, supporting sponsor Diamonds Direct and workshop sponsors Wegman’s and Campbell University Law School, as well as table sponsors North State Bank, Synergy Spa, Duke Fuqua School of Business, Dress Code Style, Closets By Design and the City of Raleigh.
John Hansen
Francie Gottsegen, Yvette Holmes, Estella Patterson, Denise Young, Precious D. Lovell
Milburnie Fishing Club in Raleigh, N.C.
Mary Ann Ottaviano, Tessa Kitko
Dianne Bailey, Kari Stoltz
Sierra Stubblefield, Wendy Artis, Alex Moore, Liz Pechiney, Jenna Johnson, Virginia Parker, Sarah Williams, Katherine Poole, Leigh Kempf, Robin Kennedy
Betsy Brady, Mary Morgan Keyser, Brooke Poole
Graham Satisky, Kathy Brown, Jennifer Chase, Maribeth Geraci, Sara May, Holly Crosby
Alex Moore, Liz Cantino
Top row: Connie Shipman Newsome, Mallory Underwood, Grace Roede, Meredith Chilausk, Sha Hinds-Glick. Bottom row: Ariana Benbenek, Vesna Benbenek, Laura Clark
2024 Weymouth Wonderland: A Season of Stories
DECEMBER 7 & 8:
Wonderfest & Market
10:00-5:00 pm
Tour the Boyd House decorated for the holidays, buy holiday decor in the Holiday Shoppe, grab a treat and a warm drink from our Bake Shoppe, visit Santa, shop local vendors and artisans and more!
See the Boyd House decorations from December 9 - December 27.
THE WHIRL
A TOAST TO THE TUDOR MANOR
The Tudor Manor in Budleigh East hosted an event on Oct. 2 to celebrate a collaboration between Green Front Furniture and Legacy Custom Homes. Inspired by the elegance of Bridgerton, the event featured the unveiling of a Parade of Homes entry designed by Frazier Home Design and crafted by Legacy Custom Homes.
Scan the QR code for tickets and additional information!
555 East Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines, NC
Rachel Cole Byrd
Bintu Sherif, Cindy Stranad, Jaclyn Parks
Amy Gamber, Leigh Holmes, Paige Denning
Chris Dean, Zachary Chapman, Meaghan Hedrick
SEPTEMBER SHOW OPENING
ArtSource Fine Art hosted friends and family on Sept. 12 for its September Show Opening highlighting three artists: Susan Hecht, John Erickson and Fen Rascoe. The party was held at its gallery in North Hills.
RALEIGH’S PREMIER WHITE GLOVE DELIVERY SERVICE
JK Transportation has been providing white glove delivery services to the RaleighDurham area since 2020. We partner with Interior Designers for full installations. We offer shipping and receiving in our climatecontrolled warehouse.
or email us to get your
Sharon Tharrington, Nancy McClure, Mary Ammons, Beth Love
Phil Haskins, Lacy Rollins, Nancy McClure, David Haskins
John Erickson, Susan Hecht
Lucy Sigmon
THE WHIRL
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
On Oct. 8, the Boys & Girls Club hosted the Breakfast of Champions to encourage support of the organization and the 3,000 children it serves in the community. Ralph E. Capps was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Boys & Girls Club is expanding its ninth location in Johnston County.
On Sept. 25, Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors hosted an event to showcase local artists and raise awareness and money for Designed for Joy. Exeter Builders partnered with the RRAR to curate art to fit in this Parade of Homes house.
BLOOM BASH
Custom florist 1 Blossom 2 Bloom celebrated its grand opening at Boxyard RTP on Sept. 28 with a lively Bloom Bash event. Guests enjoyed an afternoon filled with fun and floral magic, including specialty cocktails, a permanent jewelry station, flower crown making and designing bouquets.
Handmade in our Raleigh studio
Providing immediate employment for women in crisis.
AM-3
Adanna Omeni
A.J. Walton
Raleigh Acorn Bell Ornament
Anita Klagge Getter, Kenneth Gwynn, J. Kenneth Edwards, Tom Quinn, Heather Thompson
Kayleigh Bain, Sarah Edmondson, Heather Thompson
Guests at the event
GENERATIONS
MAKING RALEIGH SMILE SINCE 1899
Our patients receive state-of-the-art care in a warm, professional, safe and friendly environment. We welcome new patients!
To celebrate 10 years of La Maison Home Boutique, owner and lead designer Martha Schneider and her team hosted some of their favorite people for a party. Artist Bill Tansey of New York City and the Hamptons joined to showcase his beautiful artwork.
courtesy
La Maison
Top row: Gaye Keck, Stephanie Poole, Eleanor Connor, Martha Schneider, Bill Tansey, Graham Satisky, Maggie Adams, Martha Hice. Bottom row: Colby Harvey, Avery Swayne, Becky Evans, Allison Henry, Mary Grace Teachey, Tracy Finnegan
Bill Tansey, Martha Schneider, Mary Beth Zärhringer
Karen Bensch, Martha Schneider, Ashley Segrave
Julie Burris, Christina Valkanoff
CAM ARTIST DINNER FEATURING SAMANTHA EVERETTE
On Sept. 5, CAM Raleigh hosted an evening of art, dining and discussion celebrating photographer Samantha Everette. Everette discussed her latest exhibition, Crowning Glory, which highlights the strength and beauty of Black women through the art of hair braiding. Virginia and Co. provided the catering and all guests received a unique print signed by the artist.
Guests at the event
Matthew Boes, Paul Baker
Corey Leak, Samantha Everette, Courtney Napier
Samantha Everette
ISSUES PER YEAR 1 YEAR $36
2 YEARS $60
3 YEARS $80
“What more could they ask for?”
- Sir Walter Raleigh
GIVE A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION TODAY
THE WHIRL
COFFEE AND CULTURE
On Sept. 19, United Arts of Wake County celebrated our vibrant arts community with its annual Coffee and Culture event. Attendees enjoyed breakfast while networking, experiencing the power of the
Freddie Lee Heath, Robert Taylor, Jeremy Tucker, Nate McGaha
Chanda Branch, Mark Steward, Matt Calabria, Freddie Lee Heath, Alexandre Esteves
Freddie Lee Heath, Bo Reece, Jeremy Tucker, Jenn McEwen, Mark Steward
THE WHIRL
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
If the success of the third annual Southeast Raleigh Home Preservation Volunteer Event is the gauge, then three is a charm for the partnership between Southeast Raleigh Promise, Rebuilding Together of the Triangle and Wells Fargo. On Sept. 26, dozens of volunteers made critical repairs at homes in two established Black neighborhoods in Southeast Raleigh, ensuring homeowners are more safe and comfortable at home.
Corey Branch, Benjamin Young, Brad Thompson, Anthony Pope, Courtney Crowder
Yvette Holmes, Suzie Koonce, Dan Sargent
Amber Harper, Lisa Serree, Julie Hampton
Jacqueline Wilson, Christina Archible,
FOOTPRINTS OF THE SEASON GALA
On Sept. 13, the community gathered at The Bradford in support of Note in the Pocket’s mission to end clothing insecurity for children in Raleigh and Durham. Enough money was raised at the Footprints of the Season gala to clothe nearly 1,700 children and families in need. Executive director Dallas Bonavita unveiled Note in the Pocket’s plan to release a free starter guide to assist similarly-focused organizations, and mayors and representatives from Morrisville, Apex, Durham, Raleigh and Zebulon joined to support this initiative.
WAKEMED CHILD LIFE TEAM RECOGNITION
The team of Child Life Specialists at WakeMed Children’s Hospital recently received national recognition for their incredible work to support young patients and their families, making a hospital visit a more comfortable experience for all. The Starlight Children’s Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to improve the mental well-being of children navigating serious illnesses, presented its Golden Hero Award to the entire Child Life team at WakeMed Children’s.
November 19th 5 PM to 8:30 PM & November 20th 9:30 AM to 2 PM For more info and to purchase lunch tickets, visit www.one.bidpal.net/hhbazaar @humbleheartbazaar
Jillian Knight Photography
Krista Coley, Amanda Honeycutt, Dallas Bonavita, Dana Kadwell, Courtney Hopper, Sarah Horne Starnes, Lucy Liu Harmondy, Hannah Smith
Lauren Meyer, Sarah Leary, Jenny Sullivan, Meghan Sanger, Ally Snowden, Julie Van Veldhuizen, Austin Cromwell
Art & Soul of Raleigh
Syretta Hill, Dallas Bonavita
Smedes York
Connected Carolina
Folks in the Triangle step up after Helene
by ANNA MARIE SWITZER
From Harkers Island to Sylva, my world includes someone from every part of the state. I’m a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and each semester, I learn about a new small town where a fellow student grew up in.
That’s what brings the destruction of Hurricane Helene so close to home. It’s not just seeing devastating images of places that I love — the camp where I spent summers searching for crawfish, the trails that I explored with my little brother — but the impact on my family, friends, classmates and professors.
That sense of connection to the mountains is felt deeply here in Raleigh. “There has been an outpouring of support for Western North Carolina — folks in the Triangle are extremely generous,” says Amy Dominello Braun, chief communications officer for the Raleigh-based North Carolina Community Foundation. The NCCF will use its Disaster Relief Fund to support a long-term recovery process that will span “not just months, but years,” she says.
The generosity of North Carolinians has impressed folks outside of the state, too. “This was by far our largest project, double our second-largest,” says Alex Clark, the executive director of Operation Airdrop, a Texas-based organization that uses volunteer pilots to provide rapid relief to communities impacted by natural disasters. By gathering donations at local businesses like Raleigh Brewing Co. and Andia’s Ice Cream and mobilizing Triangle volunteers to transport them, Operation Airdrop delivered more
than 1.2 million pounds of supplies to remote areas in the 10 days following Hurricane Helene. “There’s no way we could have done it without the help of North Carolinians,” he says.
Jess Reiser, CEO and co-founder of Asheville-based Burial Beer Co., says the support from the Triangle has been “overwhelming in an incredible and heartwarming way.” Through support of their Raleigh taproom and online beer sales, Reiser hopes to “maintain a heartbeat” that will sustain their 130 employees and other small businesses in the area. “These have been the hardest weeks of my
life, but we’re committed to supporting the passion, creativity and talent of the people that make Asheville Asheville,” Reiser says.
Rebuilding Western North Carolina will be an ongoing effort, but if any state can do it, it’s North Carolina. “Even after national attention moves somewhere else, we will be there,” says Braun. Here in the Piedmont, we’ll be shoulder to shoulder with our neighbors, helping them rebuild.
Courtesy of The News & Observer
/ Travis Long (GUITAR) and Jadyn Watson-Fisher (WATER)
Above: Ian Downes strums his guitar while taking a break from cleaning up in downtown Marshall, NC. Right: North Carolina State University defensive end Davin Vann, left, and his brother Rylan, an offensive lineman, help collect supplies at Close-King Indoor Practice Facility.
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