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CHRISTMAS STORIES TO TEll In THE dARk Authors, scholars discuss a forgotten holiday tradition of telling scary stories at Christmastime

THE INCLUSION PROJECT P. 4 www.yesweekly.com

DAVID MOORE

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DECEMBER 23-29, 2020 VOLUME 16, NUMBER 52

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PHOTOS BY AND COURTESY OF VANDERVEEN PHOTOGRAPHY

5500 Adams Farm Lane Suite 204 Greensboro, NC 27407 Office 336-316-1231

CHRISTMAS STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

Fax 336-316-1930 Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com EDITORIAL Editor KATIE MURAWSKI katie@yesweekly.com Contributors IAN MCDOWELL JOHN RAILEY MARK BURGER

Holiday shoppers, when subjected to Andy Williams’s 1963 hit “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” momentarily wonder what SCARY STORIES from the lyrics have to do with “tales of the glories of Christmases long ago.”

In the land of Dickens, Shakespeare and the BBC, the answer is “a lot.”

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DISTRIBUTION JANICE GANTT KYLE MUNRO SHANE MERRIMAN ANDREW WOMACK We at YES! Weekly realize that the interest of our readers goes well beyond the boundaries of the Piedmont Triad. Therefore we are dedicated to informing and entertaining with thought-provoking, debate-spurring, in-depth investigative news stories and features of local, national and international scope, and opinion grounded in reason, as well as providing the most comprehensive entertainment and arts coverage in the Triad. YES! Weekly welcomes submissions of all kinds. Efforts will be made to return those with a self-addressed stamped envelope; however YES! Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. YES! Weekly is published every Wednesday by Womack Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. First copy is free, all additional copies are $1.00. Copyright 2020 Womack Newspapers, Inc.

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From the “Virtual Village” to his new endeavor, “THE INCLUSION PROJECT,” one Winston-Salem-based musician has been on a mission to unite people through music amid this deeply divisive year. Dale Cole started up The Inclusion Project, a 200-member Triad-based music collective that lives on a public Facebook group, with a goal of encouraging members to work with other musicians they wouldn’t usually collaborate with.

5 DAVID MOORE is well known in Winston-Salem for his Southside Rides, which puts newly released offenders, like he once was, to work in its car body shop. Now, he’s expanding his scope... He has renewed focus on an initiative of his foundation, Project M.O.O.R. E., the second word standing for Mentoring Our Own and Rejuvenating the Environment. Next month, with the start of the new year, Moore plans to transform an old frame house just off Martin Luther King Drive.

7 Henry Grillo, a teacher and administrator at the University of the North

Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) for over 35 years and interim dean of the School of Filmmaking since 2019, will retire at year’s end. His successor, named earlier this month, is someone already familiar with the position: DALE POLLOCK, the dean from 1998-2006. Pollock, who continued to teach at the School of Filmmaking until retiring earlier this year, will assume the duties of interim dean for the spring 2021 semester, while a permanent dean is sought.

10 The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is pleased to announce that five individual properties across the state have been added to the NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES. The following properties were reviewed by the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee and were subsequently nominated by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer and forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register for consideration for listing in the National Register.

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‘The Inclusion Project’ encourages collaboration in the Triad music community

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rom the “Virtual Village” to his new endeavor, “The Inclusion Project,” one Winston-Salembased musician has been on a mission to unite people through Katie Murawski music amid this deeply divisive year.

Dale Cole started up Editor The Inclusion Project, a 200-member Triad-based music collective that lives on a public Facebook group, with the goal of encouraging members to work with other musicians they wouldn’t usually collaborate with.

“We are looking for new, original content,” Cole wrote in a recent email. “We are so blessed with the amount of talent we have in the Triad area, but most people only work with a few people that they are already familiar with. We hope by having our members work with other people it will increase creativity and congeal our area into one major music community.”

Cole noted that even though the two biggest creative hubs in the Piedmont-Triad area (Greensboro and Winston-Salem) are only a 30-minute drive away, musicians from these cities have seldomly worked together.

“We want to introduce the known-

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Dale Cole and his son, Lindsey, playing together for the first time in Band II musicians in our towns to those in our surrounding area,” Cole wrote. “You have heard of the Philly-sound or Austin, and even the Athens, Georgia, [sound]— but we have the ability here to create the Piedmont sound.” Cole wrote that ever since the state-mandated gathering restrictions were imposed, “pretty much ending live music, a lot of musicians are antsy and need a way to express their creativity.”

“I have, with the help of Steven Jones and the Virtual Village, put together three music compilations titled, ‘Beyond The Mask’ series,” Cole wrote. “These were songs submitted by local singersongwriters and the money raised went to help [displaced] service industry folks. We also funded three scholarships for Providence, and are now working with HOPE of Winston-Salem to help fight hunger.

Lead MicroStrategy Developer in Greensboro, NC: Design, develop and evolve presentation objects, reports and dashboards for delivery of BI solutions to meet business needs. (1) Master’s + 2 yrs. exp.; OR (2) Bachelor’s + 5 yrs. exp. Email resume with cover letter to Truist Bank: Paige Whitesell, Paige.Whitesell@Truist.com Applicants must reference req#010.

With the success we had with The Virtual Village, I wanted to go a step further and actually encourage each of us to work out of our comfort zones. The response has been great, and we are starting to receive the first submissions.”

Cole has even contributed his own submission to the project, which is a song he wrote called, “A High Maintenance Woman (Don’t Want No Maintenance Man).”

“As the title suggests, the song is about a lady that has been afforded the finer things in life, and a blue-collar man that is infatuated with her,” Cole noted. “I have a band called Gypsy Soul that I love working with, but it’s always a challenge and exciting to work with others— it’s a totally different energy.” And as a blue-collar maintenance man himself, Cole said writing this song came easily.

“I was always told to ‘write what you know,’” Cole added. “I asked my friend and co-founder of The Camel City Revelators, Rick Gustaitis, to join me. The Revelators was a weekly music series that Rick and I help every Sunday at The Liberty Arts and Coffee House in Winston-Salem. We would have our friends join us and raise money for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. ([This series] was put on hiatus last March). Rick and I got the song into a workable format, and I then approached the rest of the ensemble, who all agreed to help record.”

Cole calls this outfit, Dale Cole and Com-

munity Service, and it is composed of Cole on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Gustaitis on lead guitar, Paul Schuh on bass, Matt D’Amico on drums, Jack Gorham on the keyboard, and Shelly Stevens on backing vocals. Cole mentioned that Tyler Nail recorded this song for them at his home studio and that Chad Nance would be shooting a music video for the song.

“I know of several groups that are in the process of creating content for us— it really is exciting to think about,” Cole said of The Inclusion Project. “I have a couple more songs that I have written and will be recording in the next few weeks. The first is called, ‘We Ain’t Family If We’re Still Talking,’ and it’s about dysfunctional families and the interaction between siblings. It will have a Sun Records-type feel to it, and joining me in the studio will be Terry VunCannon on lap-steel guitar, Todd Phillips on the stand-up bass, Steve Worley on drums, along with a couple of others. We will be recording this at Earth Tones Recording Studio in Greensboro with Benjy Johnson.”

Looking toward the future, Cole hopes The Inclusion Project helps cement the various Triad artists into one cohesive and collaborative music scene. Cole wrote that the collective is working with Chris Roulhac at WQFS College Radio 90.9, and noted that most content would be aired on Roulhac’s weekly radio program, The North Carolina Show.

“I am hoping that when we are allowed to perform again I may be able to do a live fundraiser to showcase this material,” Cole wrote. “There are so many incredible musicians and songwriters here that no one knows about, and we just want to shine a little light on these people. I am not sure when we will be allowed to perform again live, but [The Inclusion Project] is a great way to promote creativity and give the musicians an outlet to focus on their craft.” !

KATIE MURAWSKI is the editor-in-chief of YES! Weekly.

Her alter egos include The Grimberlyn Reaper, skater/ public relations board chair for Greensboro Roller Derby, and Roy Fahrenheit, drag entertainer and self-proclaimed King of Glamp.

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join?

Cole wrote that any local musicians wanting to join can do so via Facebook by searching for the public group, “The Inclusion Project.”

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East Winston man continues giving back with new program David Moore is well known in Winston-Salem for his Southside Rides, which puts newly released offenders, like he once was, to work in its car body shop.

Now, he’s expanding his scope, trying to John Railey reach at-risk youth before they make the costly mistakes he Guest and so many others Columnist made. In this holiday season, here is the story of a man who gives back year ’round.

We could use a lot more visionaries like him.

“It’s all about trying to build a better community, and letting these young folks know that’s a cool thing,” More, a towering man of 60, said.

He has renewed focus on an initiative of his foundation, Project M.O.O.R. E., the second word standing for Mentoring Our Own and Rejuvenating the Environment. Next month, with the start of the new year, Moore plans to transform an old frame house just off Martin Luther King Drive into a spot where youth can gather, learn and dream, charting plans for careers with on-site training in barbering, cosmetology and music. Moore, who has a track record for getting things done, understands the people he is trying to reach. A natural leader who is charismatically plainspoken and streetwise, he has been there.

Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) has named Moore one of its Community Scholars and given Project M.O.O.R.E. an Economic Mobility Opportunity Award. Alvin Atkinson, CSEM’s Associate Director, said, “Everybody in East Winston knows David and his compassionate record for reaching people at whatever stage they are and helping them reach their full potential.”

Moore and his initiative are in sync with key themes of CSEM’s work: tapping into the abundance of talent and hope in Eat Winston and helping residents break down barriers that have too long thwarted upward economic mobility. Toward that end, CSEM’s work has included supporting efforts to help parolees re-enter the workplace, most recently with research

by CSEM Fellow Douglas Bates. Moore’s Southside Rides, which includes a thriving body shop here and in Charlotte, has long emphasized such re-entry efforts.

His new initiative, Project M.O.O.R.E., WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

aims to reach youth before they commit serious crimes. He identifies with them, including the peer pressure and home tensions they face, some with parents missing in action. Moore spent his first years in Bermuda with his mother, never meeting his father until he moved to Winston to live with family when he was 12.

After graduating from North Forsyth High School, he went to work at Hanes Dye and Finishing. He learned auto bodywork at Forsyth Technical Community College and opened his own shop.

On the side, he began selling marijuana, moving it in increasingly larger quantities, having it driven in from Mexico by car.

“Then we got so cocky we were having it mailed in,” he said. In 1999, he had a package mailed to the home of a favorite niece, Cassandra Jones. She had sickle cell anemia and Moore helped support her. He was going to pick up the package at her house.

She was not involved in the drug business and didn’t know what was in the package, Moore said. He got busted and she was detained. Detectives threatened to go hard on her, Moore said. To save her, he confessed to trafficking in drugs.

Cassandra, who was never charged, told Moore, “God’s got you now.” She died while he was in the Winston-Salem jail waiting for his case to be adjudicated.

Moore, shaken to his core, re-embraced the Christianity of his youth as he went to state prison for two years. He mentored other inmates. Soon after he got out, he set up Southside Rides Foundation, a nonprofit. “I went through challenges, doors slammed in my face, and all I wanted to do was help,” he said “Ex-offenders aren’t built where you can get a $50,000 loan and start your own business.” His wife, Linda, stood by him, just as she did when he was in prison. He secured grants from the city of Winston-Salem, gradually making Southside a success. Thirty-seven of the men who have been in the program have opened their own body or car shops, Moore said.

To encourage more such entrepreneurship, Moore recently gave four graduates of his program stipends of $1,000 each.

As he revamps Project M.O.O.R.E, he brings to bear all the lessons he’s learned through Southside Rides. The project will serve 15 youth, 14 -to 19-years-old.

Each session of the program will last six months. Laptops will be on site, and the participants will be required to do schoolwork, in addition to their job training. The barbering and cosmetology will be interesting to students, Moore said, and the music side will be especially so.

Participants can make their own videos for YouTube and other venues. “What kid wouldn’t want to learn the music part of it?” Moore asked.

As an added incentive, qualified students will be able use donated dirt bikes for limited times, and, if they graduate from high school, get to keep them.

He will insist on parental involvement.

“That helps me to help the kids,” he said.

Two of Moore’s friends, Sonia Young

and Dennis Davis, will be the on-site managers.

The three of them will try to teach the program participants to believe in themselves. “I learned to do it. They can too,” Moore said. “And my niece Cassandra, she’s always looking down on me from above.” !

JOHN RAILEY, raileyjb@gmail.com, is the writer-inresidence for CSEM, www.wssu.edu/csem.

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Moves like a dog’s tail Sicilian erupter Not too swift Slack-jawed feeling Question to an unknown caller Portable grill See 38-Down Start of a riddle In favor of Downhillers, e.g.

“— -haw!” (rodeo yell) Magazine agent’s success Total failure Riddle, part 2 Run — (buy drinks on credit) Title for Lancelot Sleep study acronym Big vases Riddle, part 3 Cab Calloway catchphrase Lovingly, to a musician Common folks Similar to Actor Kilmer Peppery Boxer Clay, later Riddle, part 4 PC combo key Water, in Vichy A, in Italy “Zip- — -Doo-Dah” Riddle, part 5 Author Rand Fall Classic mo.

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Half-pint End of the riddle — Stone (hieroglyphic discovery) Gretel’s brother Metal source Painter’s undercoat A Gershwin brother Riddle’s answer Sci-fi author Stanislaw Email, e.g.

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With 22-Across, spaced out “If — a Hammer” Mouselike animal 1970s Chevy “Curses!”

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Vie for the love of Lurches from side to side For a spell Generous type It’s west of Colombia Bursts (with) Of the past Ski cottage Like pop flies Co.’s top dog Hall’s pop partner Slightly built Admiral Graf — (German warship) Mao — -tung Sugar-name suffix Big rabbit feature Peak: Abbr.

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Head of the class: A time of transition at UNCSA School of Filmmaking

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enry Grillo, a teacher and administrator at the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) for over 35 years and interim Mark Burger dean of the School of Filmmaking since 2019, will retire at Contributor year’s end.

His successor, named earlier this month, is someone already familiar with the position: Dale Pollock, the dean from 1998-2006. Pollock, who continued to teach at the School of Filmmaking until retiring earlier this year, will assume the duties of interim dean for the spring 2021 semester, while a permanent dean is sought.

“While we are sorry to lose such an accomplished administrator in Henry Grillo, we are happy that he is taking the next step and wish him the best in his retirement,” UNCSA Provost Patrick J. Sims said. “Henry has an astonishing four decades of experience in teaching and higher-education administration. As testament to his leadership, his tenure at UNCSA has been marked by firsts: He was the first to hold the title of associate dean, the first administrative fellow, and the first director of the Faculty Enrichment Center.”

And, Sims added, “I am very lucky to have coaxed the incredibly accomplished Dale Pollock out of retirement to serve as interim dean for the remainder of the academic year, as we continue our search for the next permanent dean of the School of Filmmaking. We could not be more excited to welcome Dale home and look forward to his leadership in our nationally ranked School of Filmmaking.”

For 25 years, Grillo taught at the UNCSA School of Design & Production. As assistant dean and director of graduate programs, he oversaw the growth of the MFA program from four to 10.

In 2010, he became associate dean of the film school, where he helped inaugurate new graduate programs, oversaw the design and construction of the New Media Building, and provided infrastructure for a 42% rise in enrollment during that time.

Both Grillo and Pollock have received WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

Dale Pollock and Henry Grillo both the UNCSA and UNC Board of Governors awards for Teaching Excellence.

When Pollock stepped down as dean in 2006, he became an associate professor of cinema studies. He was the first recipient of an endowed fellowship established in his name at the film school, and holds the titles of Distinguished Scholar and Emeritus Professor. For his inestimable effort in bringing the RiverRun International Film Festival to WinstonSalem, he was recently recognized by the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County with its annual award for his contributions to the arts community.

Needless to say, the the 2020 academic year at UNCSA was unlike any other, yet Grillo and Pollock both acknowledge the tireless efforts of staff and students to continue forward in their creative pursuits.

“We have been able to continue to make student films and deliver all of our classes, so we have been able to significantly reduce the impact,” Grillo said.

“When all this is history, the film school will continue to thrive and innovate, which has already helped us to continue to climb in the school rankings.”

(Just last month, the film music composition program at UNCSA was ranked 12th in the world by The Hollywood Reporter, up from 16th the year before.)

“UNCSA certainly faces challenges due to the temporary shutdown of performance opportunities and filmmaking,” Pollock said, “but it’s impossible to stifle artistic expression, and there are protocols in place for the film school to still make films, which we’re doing. I believe the School of the Arts will emerge from this trial stronger than ever.”

“The school has a way of grabbing your heart and not letting go,” Grillo said. “It’s a phenomenal place and it has been a joy and an honor to be a significant part of its growth and development. The arts are essential to civilization and to the health of mankind; the UNCSA is doing its share of keeping our town, our state, and the artistic community healthy and growing.”

Pollock said being asked to return as dean “certainly came as a surprise, but I am dedicated to the School of the Arts, so I didn’t feel I could say no. I am glad that I’m able to help for this short transitional period. I have nothing to do with the search for a new dean, other than to be as helpful as possible when they are selected. We expect to have someone in the position by the summer.”

“We’re so lucky that Dale is willing to step in and steer the ship for the next semester,” Grillo said. “Both his history as a former dean and more recently as a faculty member will be valuable as the school navigates challenges it will face in the spring semester. These are difficult times, to say the least, and having Dale’s wisdom and experience will be extremely valuable in the months to come.”

Pollock is also working on a self-explanatory nonfiction book titled “Dreams Are the Only Reality: A History of the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts,” which should be published in late 2021 or early 2022 by the University of North Carolina Press.

Kevin Thomas, long-time film critic for the Los Angeles Times, has a history with Pollock that dates back to the 1970s, having met when the latter reviewed films for Variety. A few years later, Pollock joined the staff of the Times – during

which he was nominated for a Pultizer Prize and wrote the much-acclaimed biography “Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas” – then left to work with producer David Geffen before embarking on his own producing career, with A Midnight Clear (1992) and Set It Off (1996) among his notable films.

From reviewer to reporter to film executive to film producer to film-school dean, “it’s an incredible arc,” Thomas observed.

“They’re all distinct, yet they’re all connected. He’s had a remarkable career.”

Thomas wouldn’t have predicted Pollock to become a teacher, much less the dean of a film school, but isn’t surprised he succeeded.

“That’s the kind of person Dale is. He’s very diligent and a very hard worker. From what you’ve told me, what I’ve read, and the films I’ve seen, the school has a fine reputation – and deservedly so.”

In 2008, Thomas reconnected with Pollock when he attended RiverRun as a juror, and was bowled over by the festival, which he called “really well-done and well-run, and very filmmaker-friendly.”

That Pollock is returning – from retirement, no less – to resume the position of School of Filmmaking dean, even on an interim basis, “says a lot about the loyalty that Dale has to the school and that the school has to Dale,” Thomas said. “These are tough times. But I think it’s terrific.” !

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2020, Mark Burger.

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[NEWS OF THE WEIRD] SIGN OF THE TIMES

Superstitious residents of Naples, Italy, experienced what some see as a bad omen on Dec. 16, according to Reuters, when the dried blood of the Chuck Shepherd city’s patron saint, San Gennaro, failed to liquefy when put on display. The saint’s dried blood is contained in a vial that is brought out three times a year in the city’s cathedral, where faithful Catholics pray for it to become liquid in a phenomenon known as the Miracle of San Gennaro. But after hours of praying and a special mass in the afternoon, the blood remained dry.

Scientists have no explanation for why the substance in the vial sometimes liquefies and sometimes doesn’t, but Naples’ Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe told his flock not to be too concerned: “If something needs to melt, it is the hearts of people.”

ONLY IN CANADA

Police in Sarnia, Ontario, arrested two suspects after they allegedly broke into

the wrong house on Dec. 11 and offered to pay damages after they realized their mistake. CTV reported that residents of the home were watching television when two unnamed 27-year-old men broke through a door, one holding a hammer, and demanded money they claimed was owed to them. They apologized and left the home after discovering their error, according to police, who quickly apprehended them.

LIKELY STORY

Barry Joseph Watts told police in Fort Dodge, Iowa, that he had been walking by the building police found him in on Dec. 15, pulling on doors to see if they were unlocked and “entered the property to get warm,” according to the police report, “but after spending some time looking around the building, he decided to start taking items.” Watts told officers he had taken gold teeth and a laptop from a dental business, but police also found cash, a $5,000 digital camera and burglary tools on him, including a screwdriver and a flashlight. KCCI reported authorities also found five doors damaged. Watts was arrested and held at the Webster County Jail.

SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED

Twenty-year-old Kaleb Kleiss was arrested in Clearwater, Florida, on Dec. 12 after a witness saw him driving with the barrel of an AR-15 rifle sticking out the driver’s side window of his 2016 Volkswagen, The Smoking Gun reported.

Kleiss, who was intoxicated, according to arrest affidavits, told officers he carries the gun for self-defense because he’s “seen crazy stuff since moving to Florida.”

When police tracked him down, Kleiss was standing next to his car outside a laundromat, with the assault weapon “displayed carelessly ... on the dashboard ... in plain view of everyone walking by the store,” police said, and the gun was “loaded with a full magazine and a round in the chamber.” Kleiss was charged with drunk driving and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon.

BAD DOG

An unnamed “pug-like” dog was found at the wheel of a family’s van after it plummeted into a ditch on Dec. 9 in North Grenville, Ottawa. The Ottawa Citizen reported that police determined the owners had left the dog in the running car, and it probably bumped the gear shift into

reverse, causing the van to slowly back up as the driver ran alongside, trying to get in.

“Of course, the dog wasn’t charged,” said Grenville County police acting Sgt. Anne Collins.

HORSING AROUND

A 25-year-old Russian man identified as Vasily was out with friends on the evening of Dec. 9 in St. Petersburg when he encountered two women riding a horse through the streets and decided he wanted to pet the horse, Fontanka.ru reported. He said the rider offered him a carrot to give to the horse, but “the horse turns sharply to me and bites!” -- taking off a chunk of Vasily’s nose, then spitting it out. The missing piece was retrieved, and doctors were able to sew it back into place, but they expect there will be scarring. Vasily denied the police report of the incident that claimed he was drunk and tried to kiss the horse. !

© 2020 Chuck Shepherd. Universal Press Syndicate.

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National Register adds 5 North Carolina historic places

RALEIGH, N.C. – The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is pleased to announce that five individual properties across the state have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The following properties were reviewed by the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee and were subsequently nominated by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer and forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register for consideration for listing in the National Register.

“These historic places are part of North Carolina’s rich and diverse story, and they need our protection,” said Secretary Susi H. Hamilton, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “The National Register is a vital tool in the preservation of our state’s historic resources, and North Carolina has long been a leader in the nation’s preservation movement.”

The listing of a property in the National Register places no obligation or restriction on a private owner using private resources to maintain or alter the property. Over the years, various federal and state incentives have been introduced to assist private preservation initiatives, including tax credits for the rehabilitation of National Register properties. As of Jan. 1, 2020, over 3,933 historic rehabilitation projects with an estimated private investment of over $3.043 billion have been completed.

Blue Bell Company Plant Greensboro, Guilford County, listed 11/27/2020 The Blue Bell Company Plant exemplifies both early to mid-20th-century development of the textile industry in Greensboro and a state-of-the-art 1920s open-plan factory. Constructed in three major phases for the Blue Bell Company, founded by Charles Crump Hudson at another location in 1904, the plant comprises a 1921 building with a 1924 addition and a 1927 wing. The building served as a factory and the headquarters for Blue Bell, one of the world’s largest overall manufacturers during the 20th century and, as such, an important contributor to Greensboro’s economy as a manufacturer, employer, consumer of goods and services, and taxpayer. Most of the workers hired at the plant were women, provided an opportunity at a time when factory work was scarce for females. As an example in Greensboro of a 1920s factory with a reinforced concrete and steel strucYES! WEEKLY

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Blue Bell Company Plant tural system, low-pitched gable roof, and multi-light steel industrial sash, the Blue Bell Company Plant is locally important as a largely intact example of its era’s progressive, fire resistant industrial design.

Melrose Hosiery Mill No. 1 High Point, Guilford County, listed 11/3/2020 Melrose Hosiery Mill No. 1 possesses local significance under Criterion A due to its industrial importance and Criterion C as a representative example of industrial and commercial architectural design in High Point during the 20th century’s second quarter. Established in 1922 by brothers Robert Thomas Amos and Charles Lee Amos, the concern was High Point’s second-largest hosiery manufacturer for much of its history and a driving force in High Point’s economy until its 1971 closure. Melrose Hosiery Mill No. 1 remains a cohesive collection of largely intact 1922-1956 buildings that display the evolution of industrial and commercial design during that period. The 1924 factory and dye house and 1928 and 1931 additions are characterized by heavy-timber and steel post-and-beam interior structural systems, load-bearing brick exterior walls, double-thickness wood and concrete floors, and kalamein doors, all typical in early-20th-century fire-resistant industrial architecture. Large multipane steel sash with hoppers, long roof monitors, and skylights provided ample light and ventilation. The 1928 and early 1950s additions incorporate structural-steel fram-

ing systems frequently used during the mid-20th century. The 1928 storefronts, enlivened by classical and Art Deco stylistic elements, variegated patterned brick with cast-stone accents, prismatic and leaded-glass transoms, copper cornices, and brick and ceramic-tile kneewalls, exemplify the Commercial Style.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, listed 11/5/2020 St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, constructed between 1928-1929, meets Criterion C for listing in the National Register for its local architectural significance as a monumental and richly detailed late Gothic Revival-

style church reflecting Winston-Salem’s “Era of Success.” It is also architecturally significant as the work of an architect of national prominence, Ralph Adams Cram. Cram designed St. Paul’s sanctuary with massive sandstone columns, slate and marble floors, wood-beamed ceilings, stained-glass windows, and rich wood carving throughout the chancel.

With its south wing and floors beneath the sanctuary, the church was planned to provide for all the needs of the congregation within one building. In 1957, architect Luther Lashmit designed an education building that was minimally attached to the north side of the church. During the years 2002 to 2005, that addition was

Melrose Hosiery Mill No. 1

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St. Paul’s Episcopal Church remodeled and enlarged according to designs by Marianna Thomas Architects.

However, the topography of the site was used to advantage, and the size of the addition was minimized in relationship to the church, as was its physical connection to the church.

Trenton Cotton Mills Gastonia, Gaston County, listed 11/3/2020 Trenton Cotton Mills, Gastonia’s oldest extant textile mill, is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of Industry for its role in the development of Gastonia and Gaston County’s textile industry. Following the establishment of the Gastonia Cotton Manufacturing Company by G. W. Ragan in 1887, Gastonia soon became a hub of textile manufacturing in North Carolina. Trenton Cotton Mills, established in 1893 as Gastonia’s second textile mill and also organized by Ragan, experienced immediate and continuing success that led to expansion with a second mill on the property in 1900 and later substantial additions in 1922 and 1954. Trenton Cotton Mills began contributing to Gaston County’s renown for production of combed yarns ca. 1910 when the company added the machinery necessary to convert to production of this high-quality yarn. The mill retains a relatively high level of historic integrity that conveys all major period of the operation’s growth. Its period of significance begins in 1893 with the completion of Mill No. 1 and ends in 1972 when the mill ceased operations.

H.B. Sugg School Farmville, Pitt County, listed 11/9/2020 The H. B. Sugg School is significant under Criterion A at the local level in the areas of Education and Ethnic Heritage: WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

H.B. Sugg School Black. The school complex has evolved on site from 1922 to the 1960s prior to its closure in 1999. The H. B. Sugg School’s history reflects many themes common to African-American education in North Carolina. These themes include white philanthropy, the initiative taken by the community to procure the resources needed for a good education during the Jim Crow era, the investment in facilities during the equalization period through integration, and ultimately the closure of the school.

African-American educator Herman Bryan Sugg’s leadership from 1918 when he began teaching in a predecessor building to his retirement in 1959, was largely responsible for the continued investment in the school and the high quality of education provided.

About the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s official list of buildings,

Trenton Cotton Mills

structures, objects, sites, and districts worthy of preservation for their significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture. The National Register was established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 to ensure that as a matter of public policy, properties significant in national, state, and local history are considered in the planning of federal undertakings, and to encourage historic preservation initiatives by state and local governments and the private sector. The Act authorized the establishment of a State Historic Preservation Office in each state and territory to help administer federal historic preservation programs.

In North Carolina, the State Historic Preservation Office is an agency of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Dr. Kevin Cherry, deputy secretary of Archives, History, and Parks, is North Carolina’s State Historic Preservation Officer. The North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee, a board of

professionals and citizens with expertise in history, architectural history, and archaeology, meets three times a year to advise Dr. Cherry on the eligibility of properties for the National Register and the adequacy of nominations.

The National Register nominations for the recently listed properties may be read in their entirety by clicking on the National Register page of the State Historic Preservation Office website.

About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina.

NCDNCR’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state’s history, conserving the state’s natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.

CDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please visit www.ncdcr.gov. !

PRESS RELEASE was generated by writers from The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources— not by YES! Weekly staff DECEMBER 23-29, 2020 YES! WEEKLY

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Actors David Sitler and Lee Spencer portray Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghost of Scrooge’s former business partner Jacob Marley in Triad Stage’s 2016 production of A Christmas Carol, directed by Sarah Hankin

PHOTOS BY AND COURTESY OF VANDERVEEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Christmas stories to tell in the dark: Authors, scholars discuss a forgotten holiday tradition of telling scary stories at Christmastime

F

or some Americans, the spirits most associated with December are the ones used to spike punch and eggnog.

Others may think of Ebenezer Scrooge’s Ian McDowell nocturnal visitors and wish that “onepercenters” really Contributor could be supernaturally terrorized into becoming decent human beings. Holiday shoppers, when subjected to Andy Williams’s 1963 hit “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” YES! WEEKLY

DECEMBER 23-29, 2020

momentarily wonder what “scary stories” from the lyrics have to do with “tales of the glories of Christmases long ago.”

In the land of Dickens, Shakespeare and the BBC, the answer is “a lot.”

The English custom of telling scary stories on the longest and darkest nights of the year was born at a time when people feared not only ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties (and real dangers like wolves and robbers), but endured the freezing nights that lasted more hours than a person could sleep. As anyone who’s sat around a campfire or bonfire knows, the human imagination delights in conjuring sinister forms out of the dancing shadows cast by crackling flames.

“A sad tale’s best for winter,” says the

boy prince Mamillius in Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, teasingly threatening to tell his mother Hermione “one of sprites and goblins.” But the tradition is older than Elizabethan drama, wrote Dr. Heather Hayton, Professor of English and director of the honors program at Guilford College, in a recent email on about her favorite Christmas ghost story.

“I’m going to sound too much like a professor, but hear me out. Mine is actually Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This 14th -century Middle-English story begins and ends with Christmas feasts (one year apart). The story, however, includes a beheading, a knight lost in haunted woods, some sexual shenanigans involving a married woman, shapeshifting monsters, and plenty of guilt that haunts

the survivor. There is a fantastic movie version coming out that stars Dev Patel, called The Green Knight.”

For Hayton, the seasonal setting is essential to the tale. “I think many Christmas stories are about loss, nostalgia, and letting go of the Old so we can look forward to the New.” Several of the earliest known examples of published Christmas ghost stories are found in Round Our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, printed in 1734 by the London publisher Fenwick. Attributed to “Dick Merryman,” the one-shilling pamphlet boasts a lengthy subtitle: Wherein is described abundance of fiddle-faddle-stuff, raw-heads, bloodybones, buggybows, and such like horrible bodies, eating, drinking, kissing & other

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diversions, witches, wizards, conjurers, and their merry pranks, fairies, spectres, ghosts & apparitions, a right merrie tale, the story of Jack Spriggins and the enchanted bean, curious memoirs of Old Father Christmas.

Chapter 5, “of spectres, ghosts and apparitions; the great Conveniences arising from them; and how to make them,” begins with the tale, “Of a Terrible Ghost.”

In it, “Mr. Thomas Stringer, a Gentleman of Good Fortune,” falls in love with “the greatest Beauty in his Country.” While she accepts his gifts of gold and jewels, and enters into “a sacred Pledge of their mutual Affections,” she cheats on him with other lovers. Heartbroken, Thomas Stringer “so poisoned himself.”

This traditional Christmas story concludes with dismemberment and a fart joke.

But a few Nights later, what a terrible Figure did he make her Bed-Chamber! His hair was nothing but Serpents, his Lillywhite hands and his pretty little Feet were become like Eagles Claws, he crawled like a Toad along the Floor, croaking as he went, and glaring Eyes with Horror in their Looks; he had a Light all about, as if he was red hot.

The Lady was all affrighted by his ghastly appearance, while the Toadshaped Creature was crawling up the Bed, and then kissing her with his ugly Mouth, spit Venom in her Face, and then in a hideous Voice hollowed out, Now I have caught thee, and will be revenged; after which the Ghost with his Iron Claws tore her to Pieces, and sent her Scraps to the Devil, as just Reward for her Treachery.

All the while this was doing, the Candle, which stood on the Table, burnt Blue, which gives me room to think that a bad Ghost and a bad Stink are the same thing; for a bad Stink will make the Candle burn Blue as a bad Ghost – and then I awaked in a fright.

One hundred and ten years later, the man who was then the most popular

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author in the English language wrote A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. This 110-page novella was released on Dec. 19, 1843. Despite its huge success, it initially earned Charles Dickens little money. He had paid for its being printed in a slim and elegantly designed book with color illustrations by John Leech, and priced at five shillings ($33.38 in 2020 dollars). Although all 6,000 copies had sold out by Christmas Eve, the printing cost had been very high and Dickens’ profit very low. He netted about 600 pounds, 500 of which he spent suing other publishers for the pirated editions that sprang up after his had sold out.

Many film and T.V. adaptations soften and sentimentalize his story— although the 2019 FX mini-series with Guy Pearce and Andy Serkis goes ridiculously far in the other direction, with Scrooge demanding sex from Bob Cratchit’s sobbing wife in exchange for money to pay for Tiny Tim’s medicine, just to prove that everybody has a price and there’s no such thing as decency.

Re-reading it this season, I found myself vividly reminded of how genuinely scary it is at times, but also how funny (sometimes in a very dark way), and how concerned it is with social justice.

The writer Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods, Coraline and Sandman, and co-author of Good Omens (which he adapted and produced as a 2019 mini-series for Amazon Studios and the BBC), agrees. Gaiman, who has several connections to the Triad – he has increased international awareness of the Marcus Smith case, and his youngest daughter attended Wake Forrest — recently emailed YES! Weekly the following statement: “I was fortunate in that I got to perform A Christmas Carol from Dickens’s prompt copy of the book at the New York Public Library. I read it dressed as Dickens. I don’t think I had understood A Christmas

Actors Lulu Picart and David Sitler portray The Spirit of Christmas Present and Ebenezer Scrooge for Triad Stage’s 2016 production of A Christmas Carol directed by Sarah Hankin

DECEMBER 23-29, 2020

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Carol before I did that. It’s a work of fury and of redemption. I don’t honestly know if there is a real tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas, or if it’s something that Dickens created, but I love that it now lurks in the back of our minds. The Solstice and time of year is terrifying. I was just on Skye [the largest and northmost island of the Inner Hebrides off the coast of Scotland], where the night ends at 10 in the morning and begins again at 3 in the afternoon, and if ever it was a time of the ghost stories, it is now.”

The comic book artist and writer Mike

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Mignola, who created Hellboy, also told YES! Weekly of his deep love for A Christmas Carol. As one might gather from his work, Mignola is drawn to the dark and horrific, and he loves the spectacularly grim ghost stories of M. R. James, which were written to be read aloud each Christmas Eve to the boys at Eton, where James was Provost. There is no redemption in James’s work, nor, despite his Anglican faith, any moral lesson, and his “ghosts” are typically as monstrous as the crawling thing from Round Our Coal Fire (which was reprinted in the 19th

century, and which James may have read as a boy, as his own ghosts and demons are often toadlike).

Despite Mignola’s attraction to monsters, his favorite ghost is Jacob Marley.

“Christmas in the one holiday I’m actually sentimental about, so Marley’s act of kindness from beyond the grave, trying to get Scrooge to change his ways and lamenting his own failure, for me, is just perfect. It is creepy (appearing on a door knocker and then wrapped in chains) but also sad. And when it comes to ghosts (especially at Christmastime) I love sad.

All my favorite Christmas music is also dark and churchy and sad.”

But there’s some deeply frightening moments, too, including when Marley proves to Scrooge that he really is “dead as a doornail.”

At this the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise, that Scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon. But how much greater was his horror when the phantom, taking off the bandage round his head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast!

Despite what you may have read online, the handkerchief tied around Jacob Marley’s head does not indicate he died of an infected tooth. It’s a makeshift chinstrap, securing the jaw in place. Corpses, which were often kept in Victorian parlors before burial, had heads bound this way, both in order to keep dead jaws from being fixed agape when rigor mortis set in, and from flapping open when muscles lost integrity. If this was not done, bodies would deteriorate with mouths wide open, resulting in the archaeological phenomena known as “screaming mummies.”

Of all the adaptations of the classic story, the shock of this moment is best depicted in the 1971 American T.V. adaptation by the great animator Richard Williams (Who Framed Robert Rabbit?), which despite being only 25 minutes long, manages to be amazingly faithful to its source. (It can be viewed for free on YouTube.) But “a Ghost story for Christmas” need not be set during that season.

Many of the spooky tales that Dickens either wrote himself or purchased for the Christmas issue of his weekly magazine All the Year Round never mention the holiday. Henry James’s novel The Turn of the Screw, which was the basis for the Netflix mini-series The Haunting of Bly Manor, begins as a ghost story told on Christmas Eve, long after its events allegedly happened, but story does not take place in December. Susan Hill’s frightening 1983 novel The Woman in Black, which has been adapted as a terrifying

play and 1989 British T.V. movie (and, less effectively as a 2012 film), is also framed a story told at Christmas, but does not take place then.

So, you can be perfectly traditional by merely reading or watching a ghost story this week— no matter when it takes place, and here are a few choices: A story that absolutely terrified me as a kid is F. Marion Crawford’s “The Upper Berth,” first published in the 1886 edition of Unwin’s Christmas Annual, which takes place on a steamship and concerns a horribly solid ghost squeezing in through a porthole. It’s in many anthologies of classic ghost and horror stories, and available for free online as a Project Guttenberg E-Book. There’s Kelly Link’s “The Specialist’s Hat,” a subtly frightening and very modern haunted house story that Link first wrote while she was earning her MFA in Creative Writing at UNCG, and which can be read on her website.

For something very recent, and both creepy and warm-hearted (and partially set during the holidays), try Suyi Davies Okungbowa’s excellent 2019 story, “The Haunting of 13 Olúwo Street,” which can be read for free online, or listened to in a reading by the author, at the Fireside Magazine website. Of course, there are also the Triad’s allegedly real hauntings.

Dan Riedel, who owns Carolina History and Haunts with his wife Bridgette, told YES! Weekly that “We have been mentioning for years that the telling of ghost stories is actually a tradition in many cultures during this season.” While it’s too late to book one of their tours for Christmas, they are conducted yearround (and currently, in proper social distancing small groups), and visit such sites as Hamburger Square and M’Coul’s in Greensboro, and Grace Court and Rosenbacher House in Winston-Salem.

Tour gift certificates can be purchased online.

As to why ghosts are more associated with Christmas in the United Kingdom than in the United States of America, Triad resident Jessica Cale, an author and historian who conducts ghost tours and founded the addictive Dirty Sexy History website, has a theory: “Ghosts are more accepted in places where Christian fundamentalism isn’t as prevalent. In the U.K., pretty much everyone believes in them, but it’s not a big deal because it’s a more secular country, so the literary tradition is more influential on the culture than any kind of spiritual beliefs about the afterlife.” !

IAN MCDOWELL is the author of two published novels, numerous anthologized short stories, and a whole lot of nonfiction and journalism, some of which he’s proud of and none of which he’s ashamed of.

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last call

[THE ADVICE GODDESS] love • sex • dating • marriage • questions

FLEE BITES

I broke up with my boyfriend because he didn’t prioritize our relationship and wouldn’t commit.

He now wants to get back together and has been sending me cards and letters for weeks. Is it foolish to give him another shot? —Red Flag?

Amy Alkon

Advice Goddess

A man who’s all, “Forget the Tinder randos! I need you!” is a man whose sexual freedom means less to him than being with you. It’s basically like a lion knocking on the door of the zoo: “Got a cage for me?”

Still, it’s natural you’re giving his pleas to get back together the side-eye: “Hmmph. So...I wasn’t good enough for you before, but I’m suddenly good enough for you now?!” However, his unwillingness to commit may have had little to do with you.

There’s this myth that you just need to find “the right person” and then you and Senor Perfecto ride off into the sunset together to Happily Ever After. In fact, clinical psychologist Judith Sills explains that you need to find not just the right person, but the right person at the right time: when both you and he are ready to commit. “Readiness” doesn’t strike lightning bolt-style; it develops. It’s a psychological shift that acts as a “catalyst for commitment”: for the intimacy, vulnerability, and

responsibility for another person that commitment entails.

Evolutionary psychologists David Buss and David Schmitt observe that having sex can ultimately cost women vastly more than it costs men: nine months of pregnancy plus a squalling kid to feed versus a teaspoon of sperm plus a wave goodbye. So, for men, “a short-term sexual strategy” — casual sex with a variety of women — has “reproductive benefits,” allowing them to leave more descendants carrying their genes (in contrast with a “long-term sexual strategy,” commitment). However, which strategy is optimal for an individual man or woman is context-dependent. Contexts that motivate a man to commit include wanting a family, a meaningful partnership, and/ or a “highly desirable woman” who can afford to put her foot down: “Relationship or bust, Bob.” Chances are the “foot” scenario is behind your previously blase Bob’s transformation (probably along with how we don’t always realize what we have until we’ve lost it). Tell him something soon — either that you’ll hear him out or that it’s over. If it’s the latter, knowing now will allow him to go out with dignity — before he scrapes bottom on chick flick lines to poach for his letters and decides begging for love can be genderfluid: “I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”

when the relationship’s new. But about a year in, I stop wanting to have sex, even when the emotional part of the relationship is good. Why does this happen, and is it preventable? —Dismayed Over time, everything gets old. Even men and women who are into the freakiest sex eventually look over at their partner all, “Ugh. Not another night of the same old-same old in the sex dungeon.”

Where men and women tend to differ is in their motivation for having sex once they’re in a relationship. There’s an assumption that, in relationships, women’s sexual desire will work just like men’s — that is, rise up out of nowhere (like teenage boys’ inappropriate erections). Sexual medicine specialist Rosemary Basson, M.D., finds that this “spontaneous hunger” to have sex is a thing for women in the initial dating stage and for some women in relationships, especially if they and their partner are apart for a few weeks.

But many women in long-term romantic partnerships stop having the physical craving to get it on — the urge for sexual “release.” However, they might still be motivated to have sex for other reasons,

like to feel close to their partner. Unfortunately, like you, they and their partners often assume their sexual desire is dead and gone. But Basson explains that a woman’s desire is probably arousable,meaning triggerable. (It just needs waking up.)

In practical terms, if a woman who wants to want sex starts making out with her partner, she’s likely to get turned on. This becomes the springboard to her feeling that physical urge to have sex.

However...this assumes she was seriously attracted to him to begin with and didn’t just succumb to advice to be “open-minded” about a great guy she found sexually meh. Initially, excitement over what’s new (new guy!) is often mistaken for the excitement of finding somebody hot. However, if actual attraction wasn’t there at the start, there’ll be nothing to revive once the early sexual disbelief — “How do you even do that? Are you double-jointed? In Cirque du Soleil?” — erodes into “Cirque du So Tired Of This.” !

GOT A problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com) © 2020 Amy Alkon Distributed by Creators.Com.

ALL NIGHT YAWN

I’m a 32-year-old woman with a pattern of getting into relationships and then not wanting to have sex. I’m really into sex

answers [CROSSWORD] crossword on page 6

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