March/April 2024 Treasure

FLOWERS PLANTATION

March/April 2024

FLOWERS

FARMERS MARKET

Starting This April P. 6

BISCUITVILLE COMING SOON

Who's Ready For Breakfast?

P. 7

CONCERTS AT THE CROSSROADS

See Our New Summer Line-Up

7 BISCUITVILLE COMING SOON!

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CONCERTS AT THE CROSSROADS

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SITE MAP

View The East And West Sides Of Flowers Plantation

14 15 12

PILLAR AWARD Congrats Ms. Flowers!

EAST TRIANGLE YMCA Youth Soccer

SHRED EVENT & PURE GREEN OPENING

NEW HOME NEIGHBORHOODS

SINGLE-FAMILY

COPPER RIDGE - TRUE HOMES

Floor plans available from 1,680 to 3,643 sq ft with 3 to 5 bedrooms and 2.5 to 4.5 baths. Call Celina Hill at 609-634-3199 or Lauren Hemingway at 704-421-8855 for current pricing.

TOWNHOMES

NORTH DISTRICT TOWNHOMES

Flower’s

TOWNHOMES

WHITLEY CORNER - DRB HOMES

SELMA CYCLEPATHS COME JOIN THE

The Selma Cyclepaths are a cycling team that rides every Saturday from Thanksgiving Elementary School in Selma. We have two primary goals: 1. To raise money for multiple sclerosis 2. promote a healthy lifestyle.

During the months of April through September we have support and gear (SAG) backed training rides in and around Johnston County. This is a volunteer duty by one of our cyclists who will bring water and snacks to the designated rest stop for that weekend's ride and provide support for any problems that might arise on the road for the team. These summer training rides are structured so that we build up our strength to do BikeMS in New Bern at the end of the season.

We continue to ride after Bike MS with non-SAG supported routes around Johnston County. In both seasons we do midweek rides on the Neuse River Trail and/or the American Tobacco Trail. As a team we get together for many specialty rides for MS and for other charities. Please check our Ride with GPS QR for details.

We provide three different lengths of routes each Saturday (short, medium, and long). The groups are also broken down by speed: 12 mph, 14 mph, 15-16 mph, 17-18 mph, 18+.

New riders are always welcome! We appreciate the patience of the drivers in the area while we cycle to defeat MS!

SCAN

SCAN FOR WEBSITE

April - October | First Saturday of the Month

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our monthly farmers market, starting this Spring! Join us for fresh, locally sourced produce and artisanal goods, supporting our local growers and makers! Flowers Plantation Farmers Market will be held the first Saturday of each month beginning in April and running through October.

• Booths are available for vendors for $20 per a 10’x10′ spot

• The location will be behind the new flag poles in the field at the intersection of Buffalo Rd and Hwy 42

• Times will be 8am-Noon each event

• Items must be grown, or made by the vendor, no reselling of any items will be allowed

• Vendors wishing to participate must reach out the week prior to get a spot

INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING?

For more information or to apply to be a vendor please visit our website to read the full Vendor Information and Guidelines. We are also looking for volunteers to help set-up monthly! For any questions or concerns please contact Ryan Jordan, Director of Community Safety at Ryan@FlowersPlantation.com

COMING SOON TO FLOWERS

BISCUITVILLE FRESH SOUTHERN®

Who's Hungry For Breakfast?

Known as Home of the Biscuit Window Since 1966®, the Flowers Plantation, restaurant will feature a large biscuit window that enables guests to view Biscuitville’s one-of-akind biscuit-making process. In addition to this iconic feature of Biscuitville, other highlights of the restaurant include:

• Exterior features resembling a reclaimed southern barn with a tin roof, barn doors and gooseneck lights.

• Interior features combining a modern feel with southern heritage through industrial hardware, blue painted ceilings inspired by southern porches and mixed materials like wood, metal and tile.

• A large photo mural wall capturing images from the local community.

• A dual-lane drive-thru designed to minimize wait times.

Biscuitville Fresh Southern® will open its newest location this spring at the Flowers Plantation community. Known for its Fresh Southern flavor and authentic Southern food, Biscuitville is a family-owned business with more than 75 locations across North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. Since opening its first location in 1966, Biscuitville has been committed to sourcing its ingredients from local and/or family-owned partners.

Biscuitville’s guests at the Flowers Plantation, location will enjoy the taste of Biscuitville biscuits that are made with just three simple ingredients: flour, buttermilk and shortening.

• An enhanced beverage area with expanded drink options, including Salisbury, N.C.-based Cheerwine®.

• Proudly serving Community Coffee, a family-owned and the nation’s top retail coffee brand since 1919.

• Conveniences such as free Wi-Fi and electrical access.

Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, Biscuitville serves scratch-made biscuits baked fresh every 15 minutes. In July 2023, Biscuitville was voted the nation’s Best Fast Food Breakfast & Best Regional Fast Food restaurant in the 2023 USA Today Readers’ Choice 10Best contest. Biscuitville serves guests from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. For more information about Biscuitville Fresh Southern®, visit the company’s website at Biscuitville.com.

SITE MAP

SUMMER LINE-UP

THE EMBERS

FEATURING CRAIG WOOLARD

Sunday | May 19, 2024 | 4-7pm

The Embers featuring Craig Woolard are truly one of the finest entertainment experiences of our lifetime. Come to their show and they will put JOY in your step, LOVE in your heart and BEACH MUSIC in your soul! The Embers featuring Craig Woolard consider the genre of Beach Music as “music with a memory” and have been creating lasting memories since its inception in 1958.

BAND OF OZ

Sunday | September 22, 2024 | 4-7pm

The Band of Oz is one of the most successful groups in the Southeast, and continues to get the very best reviews from the top people in the entertainment business. The band now features a full horn section to total a dynamic eight-member group.

SPARE CHANGE

Sunday | August 18, 2024 | 4-7pm

Spare Change, based in La Grange, NC, is one of the Southeast's most well- known and respected party bands. Their diverse playlist makes them an instant crowd sensation. From rock, country, beach, funk, rap, current Top 40 hits, and classic rock, Spare Change is sure to play a favorite of all persons attending.

PILLAR AWARD WINNER

Rebecca Flowers

Her father, Percy Flowers, would not give up on the dream of being successful, unwilling to let obstacles like only having a fifth-grade education get in the way. He began purchasing land in Johnston County in the 1920s and amassed more than 4,000 acres of farmland for cotton and tobacco.

And when Rebecca Flowers, a former school teacher, began developing the land in 1978 for what is now the Flowers Plantation — a massive planned community full of homes, commercial space, schools, walking paths and more — she put her head down and pushed to accomplish her goal of transforming the historical family farm into a historical community.

“I inherited that genetic trait of just not being willing to give up,” Flowers says.

And more than 45 years after first putting forth the Flowers Plantation, Flowers is still blazing ahead with plans to enhance the community and to make it a mainstay in North Carolina for decades and centuries to come.

FIELD OF DREAMS

When Flowers first started to pitch the Flowers Plantation, Johnston County did not have any zoning ordinances in place — making the task to build such a large community even more difficult.

“The mere size of the community is enough to challenge anyone,” Flowers says. When she and her land planner, Lewis Clark from the from the N.C. State University College of Design, went before the Johnston County Board of Commissioners decades ago, Flowers says he warned her that “you’re going to have to do this without a whole lot of help” and that she may never see the whole project through.

"PERSEVERANCE RUNS IN REBECCA FLOWERS’ BLOOD."

That willingness to stick to it has made the Flowers Plantation the transformational community it is today. Touting more than 3,000 acres and 6,000 homes, thousands of additional residential units are on the way. So, too, is a new district that will boast more housing, restaurants and commerce. With its sheer size and current and future amenities, the Flowers Plantation has greatly contributed to Johnston County being one of the fastest-growing counties in the state.

“He said, ‘Do you understand with the magnitude and the acreage that there’s a possibility this is not going to happen in your lifetime?,’” Flowers recalls. “And he was talking about completion. I never thought about that. And I swear I think I’m going to see it.”

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

The biggest project on the horizon for the Flowers Plantation is the North Waterfront District. Planned for the intersection of Buffalo Road and N.C. 42 East at Flowers Crossroads, the new district will bring condominiums, waterfront restaurants, a hotel, retail and more. The addition to the Flowers Plantation is scheduled to be completed in 2025, and Flowers described it as the “icing on the cake” for the community.

“That is something I have dreamed of,” she said. “It will be the business goal of a lifetime.”

Flowers is working with Lamar Wakefield, a senior vice president and national practice leader for mixed-use at architecture firm Nelson Worldwide. Locally, Wakefield helped spearhead the Fenton development in Cary, a nearly $1 billion 92-acre mixed-use development. Nationally, he designed projects such as the Battery Atlanta and Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia.

“He’s got (in his designs) this beautiful, huge, sprawling group of restaurants all in one building, with balconies on the water,” Flowers said. “It’s just amazing. We are so fortunate to work with him.”

On top of the Waterfront District, Flowers believes there will be a distillery in the planned community at some point in the future. Flowers said that for her twin sons, it has been a “lifelong dream” to have a distillery, “and that’s why we’ve traveled all over the country looking at them.”

“I think that would be just a great, fantastic experience,” she said. “And it would take a lot of perseverance.”

LEAVING A LASTING LEGACY

As she looks back on what she has accomplished over the years, Flowers has no regrets about how she has proceeded with the Flowers Plantation.

“THERE IS LITTLE IF ANYTHING I WOULD CHANGE OR HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY.”

Flowers said that the Flowers Plantation has already had a “serious” impact on the growth of Johnston County, which was the fastest-growing county in North Carolina between 2010 and 2020. The county’s population grew from 168,878 residents in 2010 to 215,999 residents in 2020, according to estimates from the United States Census Bureau — a growth of nearly 28 percent.

The Flowers Plantation has played a big role in that growth. Flowers said the community has close to 6,000 homes presently, with 2,000 more homes to come. And over the course of the next decades and beyond, Flowers hopes to see that residents who live in the Flowers Plantation and visitors who come to one of the largest planned communities in the region continue to enjoy the land that has been in her family since the early 20th century.

“The greatest legacy I hope to leave 100 years from now is the continuation of the quality of life and happiness of the people who live here,” Flowers said.

The Waterfront District

EAST TRIANGLE YMCA

YOUTH SOCCER LEAGUE

The East Triangle YMCA offers two separate coed youth soccer leagues for kids age 3 through age 1 2. One takes place at the East Triangle YMCA, one takes place at Christ the King Church. Volunteers coach our teams, and all kids play. All YMCA sports leagues emphasize teamwork and fair play. Teams meet once a week, and the season runs for eight weeks.

CHRIST THE KING CHURCH EAST TRIANGLE YMCA

1082 Amelia Church Rd, Clayton, NC 27520 120 Flowers Pkwy, Clayton, NC 27527

SEASON DATES:

March 25 - May 22

DIVISIONS:

U4 - Monday Nights | 6:00-7:00pm

U6 - Tuesday Nights | 6:00-7:00pm

U9 - Wednesday Nights | 6:00-7:00pm

U12 - Thursday Nights | 6:00-7:00pm

CONTACT:

Ryan Killen | ryan.killen@ymcatriangle.org

SEASON DATES:

March 19 - May 16

DIVISIONS:

U4 - Monday Nights | 5:00-6:00pm

U6 - Tuesday Nights | 6:00-7:00pm

U9 - Wednesday Nights | 5:00-6:00pm

U12 - Thursday Nights | 6:00-7:00pm

CONTACT:

Daniel Balogh | daniel.balogh@ymcatriangle.org

Join us for a Community Shred Event, sponsored by the Flowers Plantation Community Safety Division as a way for residents to securely dispose of their sensitive documents! Join us on Saturday, April 13th from 12-2pm at the new parking area on HWY 42 beside the Percy Flowers Store. This will be an on

site shred day where the shred truck will be there from 12p-2p. Staff will unload your vehicle and put it in the shred truck to be disposed of on site. Contact Ryan Jordan, Director of Community Safety, for any questions/concerns: Ryan@FlowersPlantation.com

GRAND OPENINGSuccess!

Thank you to everyone for joining us for the Grand Opening of the new Pure Green Juice & Smoothie Bar! Give them a visit | 48 Flowers Xrds Wy, Suite 102

THE COY FLOWERS MEMORIAL DOG PARK

COMING SOON!

We are excited to be bringing the community a dog park over the next few weeks. The "Coy Flowers Memorial Dog Park" will be located directly beside Petco and be an area for residents to be able to bring their dogs and enjoy some running around while being convenient to shopping for all their companions needs. The dog park is being named after Mr. Percy Flowers

National multi award winning Fox Hound Coy.

THE PERCY FLOWERS' HOUNDS

The Walker hounds of Joshua Percy Flowers were once the "main event" behind the Percy Flowers Store. There were hundreds in a large dog kennel on the square of green space between the lake and Buffalo Road.

From the 1930's through the 1970's, leisure time for Mr. Flowers was consumed with the breeding and raising of fine Walker foxhounds that the speed and drive of the chase were priority. Young hounds were carefully monitored to determine if the genetics were those that warranted more puppies of the same sire and dam.

Coy Flowers was his prize and was loved enough to be buried in the family cemetery with a granite marker that bears his photograph. Coy Flowers was the sire of hundreds of hounds through the years. Each year our family traveled to any destination in the state as well as the United States to attend field trials. The North Carolina State Hunt held in Laurinburg, NC in October 1967, was one that will be remembered always by our family. He placed seven of ten total awards and won both the derby and the all-age, the first time that had ever happened in a North Carolina State Hunt.

As a child, sometimes he would wake me at 4 a.m. to go hunting. We would drive behind the store, open the gates of the kennel, drive the truck in and load the hounds and off we

would go to a destination. The truck bed was a two story cage and the sight of black, white, and tan ran together for a few seconds while the hounds bounded out of the cage. Very shortly after that, the high squeal of their mouths would pierce the sunrise and still of the woods and those back country dirt roads.

My dad had a theory about life which strongly hinged on every person having a hobby to relieve his worries, stress and work overload. He used to say that "A Man Without a Hobby is Lost." His hobby was the chase of the hounds. He spent fifty years of seventy nine years enjoying the chase. It was a great past time, and in looking back it becomes so obvious that those daybreak events in his pickup truck were wonderful memories in the making.

WALKER WOODS

This tract is the south portion of the 610 acres that was originally known as the Dr. Battle A. Hocutt Farm. Delma and]. Percy Flowers purchased it on January 2, 1943.

Through the years from 1943 until 2000, this land continued to be farmed for tobacco and cotton. This farm was the best for growing crops of all the 4000 acres Mr. & Mrs. Flowers owned. During the late 1950's a family originally from Russia sharecropped with Mr. and Mrs. Flowers and lived on that tract. When crops were not being grown ( during the months of

October through April), Mr. Flowers ran his Walker foxhounds in the wooded areas. This was his best location to hear the hounds run, as it was quite large and isolated from traffic. The road now known as Old Murphey and part of the Neuse River Parkway ( which was then Motorcycle Road) was a dirt road with very little traffic except those farming the land. Mr. Flowers only hunted with Walker foxhounds. The Walker hound was named after a gentleman named Walker Woods.

Rebecca Flowers owns a book written about the Walker hound and autographed to Mr. Flowers by Walker Woods. Mr. Flowers won hundreds of trophies through the 1940's to 1980's with his hundreds ofWalker hounds. In 1965, he placed seven of ten winners at the National Field Trt.fi.

In 1982, when Mr. Flowers died, over three hundred Walker hounds were auctioned at the large kennel then located immediately behind the Percy Flowers Store. Mr. Flowers had expressed his wishes to his wife and daughter that they be auctioned in this manner. He knew that the bloodlines that he had worked so well through over thirty years would become mixed and would deteriorate. One hound, Mark Dawson, sold for $2500, and even the youngest puppies brought up to $300 each. This community is dedicated to the memory of all the hunts enjoyed here by Joshua Percy Flowers and his Walker foxhounds.