Greensboro shaved-ice truck indulges in sweet flavors, nostalgic vibes
BY SAYAKA MATSUOKA PG.
It Was All a Dream @ Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts (W-S) 9 a.m.
It Was All a Dream will be on view in the Main Gallery at Milton Rhodes until Aug. 26. The exhibition celebrates the 40th anniversary of The Enrichment Center and highlights artists with physical and mental disabilities that challenge the norm. Find more information at intothearts.org/dream
Basement Legends @ Stock + Grain Assembly (HP) 7 p.m.
Rock band Basement Legends will bring down the house during this no-cover live music perfor-
by MICHAELA RATLIFF
Public
@ Prestige Barber College (GSO) 6 p.m.
Join the Greensboro NAACP for a discussion surrounding transparency in policing, public safety and use of force cases with community leaders, organizations and others. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.
Shadowgrass with Into The Fog @ Cohab.Space (HP) 7 p.m.
Shadowgrass combines influences from each member’s background to create a fresh bluegrass sound that “branches outside the bounds of traditional music while maintaining traditional instrumentation.” Visit the on Facebook to
Movie Under the Stars: Mean Girls @ Summerfield Farms (Summerfield) 7 p.m.
Head to Summerfield Farms for a movie screening that’ll be so fetch. Enjoy Mean Girls, grab dinner from the food truck on site and enjoy the night’s featured cocktail, “You Can’t Sip With Us.” Visit the event page on Facebook for a list of what and what not to bring, the refund policy and more information.
Find
I’m a nerd.
Specifically, an Asian nerd. But it wasn’t always this way.
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COVER:
Kelli Freitas and Rikki Cruz started Whims last year after being inspired by shaved-ice businesses of the Deep South.
Courtesy photo
Design by Aiden Siobhan
decode and unlearn those toxic, internalized racist notions. And a few weekends ago, I shed a new layer.
by Sayaka MatsuokaA few weekends ago, I bought a wig and an outfit, made some accessories and went to my first anime convention. And it was awesome.
As a child, I grew up surrounded by Japanese culture within the safety of my home. I consumed tons of Studio Ghibli films (Nausicaa is my favorite) and watched countless Japanese TV shows.
But on the outside, at school, and eventually at work, I never talked about it.
In fact, I actively avoided people who shared those interests for the longest time because of my own internalized racism. I thought people who liked those things were weird, strange, nerds.
But I was one too!
I didn’t watch anime (except for Sailor Moon and Pokemon because come on). I didn’t play video games. I didn’t read manga.
In the last decade I’ve worked to
To
Walking around Otakon in Washington DC’s huge convention center, I was surrounded by thousands of nerds dressed up as characters I adored. There goes Viper and Killjoy from Valorant and there’s Yor and Loid from Spy x Family!
When I saw ones I admired, I ran after them to ask to take photos. Others stopped me for photos, too.
It seemed like every single person at the convention felt comfortable in who they were. What they were wearing. What they loved. They were nerds, and they loved it. They were proud, even!
It’s one of the few times I’ve ever been in a space that so fully embraced a specific part of my culture in a way that made me feel seen and comfortable too. Like it was okay to like those things.
So yeah, I’m a nerd and I’m going to continue doing nerd things.
I’ve finally started watching anime in the last five years (send me recommendations!), I play video games (maybe too much?) and I’m going to cons now.
And at 31, it’s nice to continue growing.
I’m a nerd, and I’m going to continue doing nerd things.
My whole concept has always been one of hospitality. You come to Mary’s and get a hug and a kiss. Everything is just very close.
— Mary Haglund, pg. 12PRODUCED BY THE DOWNTOWN WINSTON-SALEM PARTNERSHIP downtownws.com
Joe Lopez let loose a small sigh of relief on Aug. 4 after a judge ruled in his favor in an ongoing civil lawsuit last week.
On Aug. 2, US District Judge Loretta Biggs released an order denying requests by former Greensboro police officer Matthew Hamilton and his attorneys to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought by Lopez after Hamilton shot and killed his son, Joseph Lopez, while he was unarmed in 2021.
Among the motions put forth by Hamilton and his team, which include attorney Amiel Rossabi, were requests for qualified immunity and public official immunity for Hamilton, as well as a stay on the case. All motions were denied by Biggs on Wednesday.
As Triad City Beat has reported, Lopez was shot and killed by former officer Matthew Hamilton on Nov. 19, 2021 after Lopez was located in the shed behind a home. Subsequent body-camera footage released last year found that Lopez was unarmed and Hamilton shot him after a police dog was sent into the shed to draw Lopez out.
In June 2022, Lopez filed a civil rights lawsuit against both Matthew and the Greensboro Police Department. A separate criminal proceeding is also in progress after a grand jury indicted Matthew on June 6, 2022 with the crime of manslaughter.
In the order from Wednesday, Biggs responds to Hamilton’s request for qualified immunity, a doctrine in which “government officials are shielded from liability for civil damages so long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights within the knowledge of a reasonable person.”
In many cases, qualified immunity is used by police officers who use excessive force to avoid civil damages. It does not apply to criminal charges or prosecutions.
In this case, Biggs noted that Hamilton is not entitled to qualified immunity because “shooting Lopez was a constitutional violation.”
Namely, Biggs notes that “it should be obvious to any reasonable officer that shooting an unarmed and unthreatening person who is not trying to flee immediately after releasing a police dog on him is a use of excessive force
under the general prohibition against shooting unarmed, non-dangerous suspects.”
The second request by Hamilton involves the concept of public official immunity.
In North Carolina, public officials “engaged in the performance of governmental duties involving the exercise of judgment and discretion” enjoy immunity from personal liability,” according to Biggs’ decision.
However, “public official immunity may be pierced if it is proven that an officer’s conduct was ‘corrupt or malicious’ or ‘outside of and beyond the scope of his duties,’” Biggs writes.
“Public official immunity is unavailable to officers who violate clearly established rights,” she states.
Lastly, Hamilton asked for a stay on the case because there is a criminal proceeding taking place at the same time. A stay is when a court order is paused so it doesn’t go into effect. In this request, Biggs declined Hamiton’s request, noting that “any stay imposed in this case that depends on the criminal case reaching some resolution will cause a substantial delay.”
‘I’m seeing some justice now’
Lopez, reached by phone on Aug. 4, told TCB that after more than a year of legal back and forth in the civil suit, that he is starting to feel hopeful.
“I’m seeing some justice now,” he said.
While the pain of losing his son, who is buried at the cemetery where Lopez works as the manager, will never cease to exist, Lopez said that some of it has eased.
Lopez, who talked to his son on the phone everyday when he was alive, told TCB that he visits his son’s grave every morning when he gets to work to talk to him. After clocking out, he visits his son once again to say goodnight.
“It’s been the same routine since he was a baby and I continue doing it,” Lopez said.
Reached by phone last week, Lopez’s lawyer Flint Taylor — who also represented the family of Marcus Smith, who was hogtied by Greensboro police and died in 2018 — said they were “gratified” by Judge Biggs’ decision.
“We’re very happy that she’s cleared the way for us to be able to go forward now without any limitations to pursue the case and to get some modicum of justice for Joe Lopez and his family after this completely unjustified shooting by Hamilton,” Taylor said.
Now, Taylor said that they are waiting for the city, which is named in the civil suit, to produce written discovery and documents. After that, they’ll take testimony from Hamilton and some of the officers who were on the scene when Lopez was shot. They’ll also take evidence and deposition from supervisors and others in the police department, Taylor said.
“Now the path is clear to proceed not only against the city for their practices and policies that underlie the shooting but against Hamilton himself,” Taylor said.
When asked what Lopez is seeking in damages in the civil suit, Taylor said he hopes a settlement, similar to the Marcus Smith case, comes about. In February 2022, that case was settled for $2.57 million after nearly four years of litigation.
Still, Taylor acknowledges that no amount of money will bring loved ones back. Instead, justice looks like the city changing its policies and acknowledging Hamilton’s indictment on the criminal side.
“I would think in this case, that the city would make amends not only financially, but recognize as the state’s attorney has by indicting him, that this was egregious wrongdoing by an officer of the Greensboro Police Department,” Taylor said.
Currently, the city of Greensboro is paying for defense for Hamilton in both the civil and criminal case.
“It’s obviously extremely disturbing that these patterns of police use of excessive and deadly force continue not only in Greensboro, but across the country,” Taylor told TCB. “That’s why we have brought the city itself into the case as a defendant because they have failed to adequately address these issues.”
As TCB has reported, two people were killed by Greensboro police in June of this year.
Rossabi, who was reached by phone last week, said that he had “no comment” for this piece.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said last week that she had not yet had a chance to read the order.
n response to the civil suit, Hamilton and his lawyers have argued that Lopez had intent to burglarize the resident or harm someone. However, in the order from last week, Biggs stated that those arguments are “pure speculation” and that trespassing charges are consistently treated as “minor offenses.”
Biggs goes on to state that Hamilton’s arguments are “not persuasive” and that just because an officer can’t see someone that it “justifies shooting them” and that “the law of the Fourth Circuit requires much more than a fear of a possibility of a threat to permit use of deadly force.”
She also states that Hamilton shot Lopez immediately after ordering a police dog to attack him. “Even if Officer Hamilton had initially felt threatened by a man hiding in the back of a garage and refusing to come out, there was no reason to think that Lopez still posed a threat to officers while being attacked by a police dog,” Biggs notes.
Biggs also states that look at the pleadings, “the Court finds that Lopez is not alleged to have been actively resisting arrest or attempting to flee from officers. He is alleged to have been hiding in the back of a garage and refusing to come out until it was ‘safe.’ There are no allegations that he said anything abusive to the officers, that he made any verbal threats, or that he took any actions suggestive of violence. Officers knew where he was and that he was not going anywhere.”
Now the path is clear to proceed...
by Sayaka Matsuoka and Gale Melcher
In the last two months, two people have been killed by members of the Greensboro Police Department. According to GPD policy, “police officers are required to record interactions using their body-worn camera when responding to calls for service and conducting proactive policing activities.” That, once again, has brought up the issue of how and when police body-camera footage can be released to the public.
During the public comment period at the Aug. 2 city council meeting, activist Del Stone asked members of council if they would request to release body-camera footage in the shooting of Ernesto Ruiz from June 20.
“I want to bring up an issue that is relevant statewide as much as it is locally in Greensboro,” Stone said. “Recent judicial rulings have upended the process for North Carolinians to request police camera footage…. To your knowledge, has anyone requested the police video footage from the night Greensboro police killed Ernesto Ruiz on June 30?.... Will you commit to requesting the footage as you have in the past?”
To that, Mayor Nancy Vaughan responded that the city waits until the State Bureau of Investigation finishes their process to get involved. Assistant City Manager Trey Davis responded by stating that the police chief “automatically requests” for video footage to be released for “critical incidents.” But in the last few years, the law that dictates how, when and to whom police body-camera footage can be disclosed or released has undergone significant changes. That includes changes for members of city council and police departments.
ost of the law talks about disclosure of footage. This means making “a recording available for viewing or listening to by the person requesting disclosure.”
Release of footage, on the other hand, means to “provide a copy of a recording” which is how media or governmental entities typically republish footage for public viewing.
Petitioning the court has typically meant filling out a form and sending it to the court to request something.
Filing an action or filing a civil action means filing a lawsuit. This is more involved than petitioning the court.
s the law is currently written, body-camera footage is not public record and can only be viewed by or disclosed under specific circumstances as follows:
IMMEDIATE DISCLOSURE: If the footage depicts a death or serious bodily injury, a personal representative of the deceased, the injured individual or a personal representative, such as an attorney, on behalf of
the injured individuals must fill out a notarized form and send it to the law enforcement agency, which will then petition (by filling out another form) the court within three days for disclosure of the footage.
• After the law enforcement agency petitions the court, a judge conducts a review of the recording and must decide within seven business days to immediately disclose the full footage, to immediately disclose with editing or redaction, disclose at a later date with or without editing or to refuse access.
• The head of the law enforcement agency, any law enforcement employees captured in the recording, the investigating agency, the district attorney and the party requesting the footage will be notified and given an opportunity to be heard at any proceeding.
GENERAL DISCLOSURE: If the footage doesn’t depict death or serious injury, anyone whose image or voice is in the recording, a personal representative of an adult person whose image or voice is in the recording, a personal representative of a deceased person whose image or voice is in the recording, or the representative of a minor who is captured in the recording may fill out the form to ask to view footage.
• Once the form is received, the law enforcement agency must disclose portions of the footage that are relevant or notify the requesters of their decision not to release footage to them within three days
• If a request is denied, the requester can appeal to superior court for review.
• The head of the law enforcement agency, any law enforcement employees captured in the recording and the district attorney will be notified and given an opportunity to be heard at any proceeding.
urrently, the only people who can request release of footage without filing a civil action are people eligible for disclosure. This means people for whom the “immediate disclosure” or “general disclosure” requirements apply. Those who are eligible under disclosure can fill out a form and petition to have the footage released.
For everyone else, body-camera footage can only be released to a member of the general public (this currently includes city council) if they file a civil action, aka a lawsuit, in Superior Court.
As of February of this year, the NC Court of Appeals issued rulings that have made the release of footage more complicated. Prior to the ruling, a member of the general public or a member of city council could petition the court to release body-camera footage by filling out a form. However, the ruling in In Re: Custodial Law Enforcement Agency Recordings by Judge Jerry R. Tillett in Pasquotank County Superior Court, changed the rules and noted that a petition using the form didn’t constitute “an action” and was thus insufficient.
Now, anyone not eligible for disclosure asking for release of footage must file a civil action aka a lawsuit
When a civil action is filed, the following entities must be notified:
• The head of the custodial law enforcement agency;
• Any law enforcement agency personnel whose image or voice is in the recording and the head of that person’s employing law enforcement agency; and the district attorney
• The law enforcement agency can also release recordings to a district attorney or to other members of law enforcement for various purposes including prosecution and training.
• When a civil action is filed, the Superior Court must conduct a hearing in such an action “as soon as practicable,” and subsequent proceedings must be accorded priority by the trial and appellate courts.
Here are the items the court will consider to decide whether or not to release the footage:
• Release is necessary to advance a compelling public interest.
• The recording contains information that is otherwise confidential or exempt from disclosure or release under state or federal law.
• The person requesting release is seeking to obtain evidence to determine legal issues in a current or potential court proceeding.
• Release would reveal information regarding a person that is of a highly sensitive personal nature.
• Release may harm the reputation or jeopardize the safety of a person.
• Release would create a serious threat to the fair, impartial, and orderly administration of justice.
• Confidentiality is necessary to protect either an active or inactive internal or criminal investigation or potential internal or criminal investigation.
• There is good cause shown to release all portions of a recording. If the court determines that there is reason to release the footage, they do not have to release the full video. Instead, the law states that “the court shall release only those portions of the recording that are relevant to the person’s request, and may place any conditions or restrictions on the release of the recording that the court, in its discretion, deems appropriate.”
According to a blog post by UNC Public Law and Government Professor Shea Denning, under the new court rulings from February, even police departments that want to release footage must now go through civil action.
In that instance, the city, on behalf of the police department, would file an action against itself (being both plaintiff and defendant), pay the filing fee, serve a civil summons on itself and provide notice of the action to the appropriate entities. Then a superior court judge would make the decision whether or not to release the footage.
The problem, some experts say about this new process, is that it makes it more difficult to have footage released.
“With a lawsuit, also comes rules of civil procedure and all of the other logistics that a lawsuit involves,” said Beth Soja, a Charlotte media lawyer.
It also adds a potential burden to requesters because of the increased need for legal counsel.
“It does make it more likely for someone requesting the footage under Subsection G to need an attorney,” she said. “I think that’s the reality of what the change means…. I think it’s definitely more daunting for non-lawyers to attempt to get access to recordings under Subsection G.”
Plus, civil proceedings take longer than a petition (filing a form) would.
Typically, once a “complaint” or a civil action is filed, the defendant has 30 days to respond by filing an “answer,” but an additional 30 days could be requested as well. That means that after a person files an action to have footage released, it could take 60 days for a decision by the court to be made.
In an email to TCB, Mayor Vaughan stated that Greensboro City Council will continue to petition state lawmakers to make police body-worn footage and dash cam video more readily available and transparent. Council has added the issue to their Aug. 25 legislative agenda in which they bring up issues to lawmakers.
“Quicker (unedited) release and greater transparency is supported by GPOA (Greensboro Police Officers Association), the Police Chief and the Police Chief’s Association,” Vaughan wrote.
Still, with the most recent changes to the body camera law taking place in 2021, it’s unlikely that the legislature will take up the issue any time soon. “It doesn’t appear that the legislature will make changes this session,” Vaughan added.
Last Friday, July 28, News & Record reporter Kenwyn Caranna was covering juvenile court inside the Guilford County Courthouse, which is a thing that reporters do every day.
But on this day, according to reporting by the N&R, District Court Judge Ashley Watlington-Simms cleared the courtroom for what the paper calls “a particular matter.” This is the judge’s right: juvenile cases, because they involve minors, are sensitive, and records from these cases are confidential. But they are open to the public, and reporters are allowed to take notes. It’s a pretty big part of the job.
Then, well after the fact, the N&R says the judge issued a gag order on Caranna and seized her notes from the day. This she is not allowed to do without first holding a hearing, during which the reporter is entitled to representation by a lawyer.
Under pressure, Caranna gave up her notes. Now the N&R has requested a hearing to have the gag order vacated and her notes returned.
These are the facts of the case, left now for the lawyers to sort out. But the incident underscores a disturbing trend for news media in North Carolina and elsewhere.
We shouldn’t have to hire lawyers just to do our jobs, the most important of which is letting people know what government agencies like city
councils, county commissions and the courts at every level are doing in our name. Courtrooms, particularly, are public spaces. And though there are a few rules on covering them — no phones, recording devices or no cameras, as well as other security measures in courtrooms across the United States — there is no rule against taking notes during proceedings in open court, which was what Caranna was doing. Had they let Caranna call her editor before seizing her notes, and if that editor was me, I would have advised her to keep her notes and let the chips fall where they may. I would have further informed her that, no matter how it played out after that, it would be fantastic for her career. Reporters consider it an honor to go to jail for things like protecting sources, shielding documents or otherwise defending their rights — and privileges! — as members of the Fourth Estate.
But that is neither here nor there.
Now, TCB stands in solidarity with Caranna and the N&R in their quest to report the news to the people, and we implore every media outlet in the state to join us in voicing our dissent to her treatment on that day.
We shouldn’t have to hire lawyers to defend us for doing our jobs. And we expect judges, law enforcement and government agencies to be at least as knowledgeable about the First Amendment, and the protections enshrined therein, as we are.
We stand in solidarity with News & Record reporter Kenwyn Caranna.
by Sayaka Matsuoka
The first time Kelli Freitas and Rikki Cruz turned on their shaved-ice machine, a chunk of ice almost took one of Freitas’ teeth out.
“I think we had an existential crisis the first time we turned it on,” Freitas says, laughing. “We didn’t realize it was so complicated.”
The machine, a pricey Japanese contraption, was actually a lot harder to manipulate than either expected when they first started Whims, their shaved-ice business.
“It’s very nuanced,” Freitas says. “There’s so many technical settings; it’s very manual.”
“It has to be on the right way, spun with the blade at the right angle,” Cruz adds.
“There’s a lot of moving pieces,” Freitas says.
The idea started out simply enough.
Freitas, who grew up in Texas, spent summers of her childhood in WalMart parking lots indulging in shaved ice. And no, not the kind at the local gas station that comes in the form of an Icee or a snow cone.
“Our shaved ice is so soft,” Freitas says. “It’s snow-like.”
In fact, the crystals shaved from the ice are so small that the texture comes out closer to ice cream than a slushie. And that results from the way the ice gets manipulated.
“You have to make your own block ice,” Freitas explains. “You have to get your own, you can’t just buy a bunch of ice cubes.”
That’s something the two had to learn through trial and error.
“We had bought the machine, but we had never made shaved ice before,” Freitas says. “And we had decided this was going to be our product.”
Freitas’ love for shaved ice comes through in her enthusiastic descriptions of their business. Cruz, who admits she’s an Enneagram 2, got caught up in Freitas’ passion, too, and Whims was born… well, kind of on a whim.
Originally, the two friends, who have known each other for more than a decade, wanted to start a coffee business. But in the last year, they noticed a bunch of new coffee shops opening in Greensboro. So they pivoted.
“I had pitched this idea [of shaved ice] to a lot of people to see if they would let me do a business with them,” Freitas says. “This dream would
have lived in my head until I died if Rikki hadn’t come around; I loved thinking about and dreaming about it.”
At the time, the two had full-time jobs — one working in corporate America and the other as a social worker — but the idea of a whimsical shaved-ice business loomed large in their minds.
They bought an old milk truck off of Facebook Marketplace for $2,000 with some of their COVID-19 stimulus money and started to upfit it for their new business.
So what if they didn’t know anything about making the product?
“We needed something fun and joyful,” Freitas says. “It’s an approachable product, and we love the nostalgia piece of it.”
After figuring out the mechanics of the machine, they moved on to flavor development.
Freitas, who loves reading cookbooks for fun, began looking for inspiration from cocktails and other recipes.
“That’s been the story of all of this,” she says. “Just saying, ‘Yes,’ and figuring it out piece by piece. So if we can do it, you can too!”
Some of the truck’s most popular flavors include creamy lemonade, coconut mint lime (Freitas’ favorite), sweet cream (Cruz’s favorite) and cold brew with cream. They also offer what they call “classic” flavors that draw from the traditional shaved ice found in Texas like blue raspberry, bubblegum and sour grape. Of course, it wouldn’t be as fun without toppings. Options include sweetened condensed milk — a favorite in Texas — sprinkles, gummy bears and chocolate sauce.
In the fall, they’ll offer flavors like chai tea latte, frozen hot chocolate and spiced apple cider with the option of a housemade pumpkin-spice drizzle.
Being mothers to little kids, the fun flavors offer a kind of simple enjoy-
Kelli Freitas and Rikki Cruz started Whims last year after being inspired by shaved-ice businesses of the Deep South COURTESY PHOTO“
“ We needed something fun and joyful
ment, the two say. But the clientele isn’t just children.
A few weeks ago, Freitas says she remembers serving an older gentleman who ordered the sweet cream flavor after a bit of skepticism. After taking his first bite, tears welled in his eyes.
“He said, ‘This was my grandpa’s sweet cream,’” Freitas recalls. “It immediately took him back to being with his grandpa.”
Since unveiling their truck to the world last June, the duo says interest in Whims has grown. They currently do pop-ups at local parks and businesses. Being a mobile entity has helped the duo feel like they’re more involved in the community, they say.
When Cruz’s home suffered a house fire last year, dozens of Whims’ supporters began dropping off supplies for her family.
“We never would have known them without Whims,” Cruz says.
“It’s connected me way more to Greensboro than I ever have before,” Freitas adds.
Whims recently expanded their menu and rolled out “whimsicles,” which are exactly what they sound like — housemade popsicles. To accommodate, they are currently raising funds via Indiegogo to purchase a flash freezer and push cart. In the future, they hope to build a walk-up shack. But mostly, they’re taking their business one block of ice at a time.
“I am living my dream,” Freitas says. “And it’s in the form of a shaved-ice truck.”
Learn more about Whims by following on Instagram at @whims.gso.
Cynthia J. Giles sold her restaurant to Mary Haglund under two conditions: 1. The Art-o-mat, a vintage cigarette vending machine repurposed to dispense cigarette pack-sized art, stays in the building and 2. Haglund must continue Giles’ tradition of hosting monthly art shows. Haglund agreed and set up shop in the space on Brookstown Avenue in Winston-Salem in 2000, renaming it Mary’s Of Course.
The restaurant became a creative’s sanctuary almost immediately, featuring drag brunches, fashion shows and other events being hosted there, too.
How to Feed an Artist, a feature-length documentary by filmmakers Zap McConnell and Cat Rider, explores Haglund’s journey and takes an in-depth look at the relationships between the restaurateur and the surrounding community of artists and service-industry workers. The idea of combining art and food makes sense because according to McConnell, artists tend to have firsthand experience with food service.
“If you are in film or dance or you’re a visual artist or musician,” she explains, “you’ve more than likely have had to supplement your income working in a restaurant.”
Mary’s Of Course was no exception; Haglund would hire local artists to work there, including McConnell.
The documentary came to life during a conversation that Haglund and McConnell were having on mutual friend Liz Simmons’ porch. Simmons, a local artist who has worked as a server, will appear in the film.
In 2010, the restaurant relocated to Trade Street under a new name, Mary’s Gourmet Diner. But the plastered walls made it impossible to continue the tradition of monthly, interchangeable art shows, so Haglund sought a lasting solution.
“She went out and got five of her favorite artists and commissioned us to make permanent art pieces in that restaurant,” McConnell recalls.
Haglund insisted that the artists creating the pieces, as well as the process of moving to a larger eatery, be filmed for a documentary she wanted to create
one day. This footage, in addition to interviews with Haglund, former employees and community artists make up How to Feed an Artist.
The documentary is being created in partnership with Storyocity, a video production company, and is currently in the pre-production phase. The co-directors have been busy with crowdfunding efforts, aiming to raise $50,000 for creative development and production of the film. They also needed footage when applying for grants, so they recorded events Haglund hosted, like a one-day Mary’s Gourmet Diner pop-up held this past April at Mojito Latin Soul Food in Winston-Salem, the diner’s former location.
“She never got to have closure during the pandemic; We scrambled to get our equipment and interview customers and film that whole experience,” McConnell says.
In 2020, the temporary-turned-permanent closing of Mary’s was met with disappointment and sadness from the community. In a video posted to Facebook in May of that year, Haglund further explained the closure, citing an unwillingness to be a takeout restaurant, safety concerns for employees and customers and the inability to maintain her close-knit vision of the restaurant.
“My whole concept has always been one of hospitality,” Haglund says. “You come to Mary’s and get a hug and a kiss. Everything is just very close.”
The film is planned for a release in September 2026.
McConnell first began filmmaking a decade ago, when she was introduced to and instantly fell in love with the fluidity and grace of dance on film. When Haglund remembered this, she asked her friend for help.
“Mary reached over and grabbed my arm with little teardrops in her eyes, and she gave me that puppydog look and sincerely asked me if I would help her with the film,” McConnell says.
How to Feed an Artist is McConnell and Rider’s third project together, the first two being short dance films. McConnell chose Rider to co-direct as she also has a personal tie to restaurant work.
“She also paves her way in life in between all her gigs in the film industry by working at a bakery,” she says.
McConnell’s relationship with the film is especially intimate since she’s been friends with Haglund for more than 30 years. The two first met while working at the now-closed Rainbow News & Café in Winston-Salem where Haglund was the head cook and McConnell waitressed while attending UNC School of the Arts.
“Throughout the years, she always wanted to open her own restaurant, and I made a pact with her that I would help her do that if she was ever able to,” McConnell explains.
Through the film, the directors highlight Haglund’s position as a staple in the art community and the lifelong relationships she’s built by serving a menu of fresh food from local ingredients, eclectic artistry and lots of love.
To McConnell, the film is her own token of appreciation to the restaurants and community artists that have supported her, and she wants viewers to acknowledge the large impact small businesses can make.
“For me it’s a love letter that says ‘Look at these family-owned restaurants and how much they can do in your community,’” she says.
Support How to Feed an Artist at gofund.me/19d4b041. Learn more at howtofeedanartist.org.
Mary Haglund of Mary’s Gourmet Diner stars in the forthcoming documentary How to Feed an Artist
BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
Pool life at Pinetop Sports Club.
by Matt Jones
LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS: Across
1. Amorphous shape
5. Sound system setting
9. Malia Obama’s sister 14. Clue weapon
15. Friend, in France
16. Up to 17. God with a war chariot 18. “Cheerio!”
19. Job for 24-Across
20. Emptying and refilling freezer trays, perhaps?
23. Longoria of “Desperate Housewives” 24. Game show figures
25. Headline about an exonerated kitchen appliance?
31. Kool-Aid, e.g.
32. La ___ Opera House
33. Up to now
37. “What’s ___ for me?”
39. Abu Dhabi dignitaries
41. Get up
42. Aquarium fish
44. Heptathlon unit
46. Image file extension
47. Run away, but end up locking lips?
50. Blood partner?
52. Former WWE rival
53. Buyer’s remorse sound?
59. Impressive layout
60. “Believe ___ Not”
61. Staff member?
63. “Filthy” riches
64. House of Havana
65. Meeting method
66. Islamic scholars
67. Literary whaler
68. A as in A.D.
Down
1. Maidenform product
2. “Footloose” actress Singer
3. Oil org.
4. Make an appearance
5. 1989 Prince song for a movie soundtrack
6. Key of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, briefly
7. In ___ (as found)
8. Black, Red, and Yellow, among others
9. Call to court
10. Genealogical discovery
11. Time on a job
12. Clues
13. Math subj.
21. Alamo competitor
22. Not just any
25. Bypass
26. Creeping plant
27. Go offstage
28. Given a title
29. Bartender’s garnish
30. Symbol above the 6
34. Island nation near Tonga
35. Nile biters
36. Bylaws, briefly
38. Commercial forest area
40. Alaskan entree
43. “That too”
45. Dash gadget
48. Weird Al’s first movie
49. Angola’s unit of currency (the holiday ends in the double letter)
50. Discussion group
51. “Blood Wedding” playwright
Federico Garcia ___
54. 12-point type
55. “Industry” state
56. Painter Bonheur
57. Any time now
58. King’s Scholars institution
59. Boxing champion Laila
62. Music genre for Fall Out Boy
‘A Lack of Publicity’ — two key letters are missing.© 2023 Matt Jones © 2022 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)
Join Triad Local First on Sunday, October 8th for Blue Jeans, Bourbon, and the Blues!
Sunday, October 8th from 4:30pm to 9:30pm at The Gardens at Gray Gables
Dancing | Food | Silent Auction
Cigars | Bourbon Tastings
Music by Mama and the Ruckus, Chef is Brian Dicey of Starmount Country Club, Cigars by Silver Smoke
Join us as we celebrate local chefs, farmers, breweries, wineries, distilleries and all things food and drink! In addition to partaking in some delicious, seasonal, fresh, local foods and beverages you will be supporting those in the Triad food-beverage industry.
Tickets on sale now at triadlocalfirst.org
