CityView September 2025

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OCTOBER 9, 2025 • 6 PM - 9 PM AT THE CAPE FEAR BOTANICAL GARDEN

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PROCEEDS BENEFITING THE NEWS FOUNDATION OF GREATER FAYETTEVILLE

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• Well Child Visits

• Sick Child Visits

• Vaccine & Immunization Schedule

• 2023-2024 Guide to the Flu

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• Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Vaccines & Immunizations

• ADHD Testing & Treatment

• Asthma Symptoms & Treatment

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• Urinalysis

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Jose Buenaseda, MD, FAAP

Leamor Buenaseda, MD, FAAP

Sreelekha Sashidhar, MD, FAAP

Christine Arnold, CPNP-PC

Melanie Pitts, DNP, NP-C

Beverly de La Rosa, CPNP-PC

Danielle Trigg, CPNP-PC

Rachelle Olson, FNPC

Ashley Monroe, PA-C

Sarah Lewis, PA-C

LOCAL JOURNALISM NEEDS

SEPTEMBER 2025

Publisher Kyle Villemain

Magazine Editor Valeria Cloës

Editorial Assistant Maydha Devarajan

Contributing Editor Katie Kosma

Director of Operation & Sales Talmadge Rogers

Administration & Operations Coordinator Caitlin Malson

Social Media Manager Grace McFadden

Graphic Designer Annette Winter

Sales Team Leader

Dawn Denham

Photographers

Israel Anta

Andrew Kornylak

Jeremy Markovich

James Throssel

Sharilyn Wells

Matthew Wonderly

Tony Wooten

Contributing Writers

Jeremy Markovich

Sharon Moyer

Claire Mullen

Trey Nemec

Diane Parfitt

Teri Saylor

Tim White

Claudia Zamora

Distribution

Jennifer Baker

Wayne Robinson

10 Farm life reimagined

Where over 300 acres in the North Carolina Sandhills countryside become an escape, Sweet Valley Ranch opens its doors to overnight guests.

18 ‘Umoja = Unity’

With unity as its driving force, the Umoja Festival returned for its 33rd year in late August, celebrating Black and African American culture, arts and history.

26 A view of Carver's Falls

The largest waterfall between North Carolina's foothills and the ocean sits just outside of Fayetteville. The only easy way most people can get a good look at it? From a zip line.

32 Road to recovery

Cape Fear Valley Health’s Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services give patients a new lease on life as they recover from lifesaving heart procedures.

On the cover: The Cape Fear River Trail. Photo by Matthew Wonderly

The entrance to Sweet Valley Ranch at 2990 Sunnyside School Road in Fayetteville. Photo by Tony Wooten

EDITOR'S TAKE

Goodbye, summer. Hello, fall!

BY VALERIA CLOËS

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been so thankful to finally get a break from the sweltering heat of this year’s summer.

And as the leaves turn yellow, orange and red, I’ll be cozying up with a warm drink, a soft sweater and this year’s “Fall in Fayetteville” magazine.

CityView ’s September issue reflects on end-of-summer festivities and gives a glimpse at the months to come, highlighting new features at a beloved local ranch and exploring other activities to enjoy this fall.

On Aug. 23, the Umoja Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating Black and African American culture, arts and history, held its 33rd Annual Umoja Festival at Seabrook Park. The group that created the “Wall of Honor” mural on the corner of Langdon Street and Murchison Road works with Fayetteville State University’s Sapphire Dance Team, E.E. Smith High School’s marching band, the Magnificent Marching Machine, Cape Fear Valley Health and others to bring a day of unity.

If you were hoping to have an autumnal staycation, we’ve got just the place for you. Across town, off Interstate 95, a 300-acre plot of land opened its doors to overnight guests earlier this year. Sweet Valley Ranch now offers four cozy cabins to stay in for extended visits. Fred and Anita Surgeon’s ranch and story is filled with family heritage, love and dedication to the land.

Originally published by North Carolina Rabbit Hole, a newsletter exploring the state by journalist Jeremy Markovich, the next story takes us on a journey outside Fayetteville to Carver’s Fall and the zip line adventure park above it. Like Markovich points out, the summer heat can make exploring the area uncomfortable, but with the cooling temperatures of fall, now’s the perfect time to sight see.

Cape Fear Valley Health’s Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services and HealthPlex give patients a new lease on life as they recover from lifesaving heart procedures. Hear from two patients and the director of cardiopulmonary rehab & vascular health about how their services make an impact in a sponsored feature. Senior Columnist Bill Kirby Jr. takes us to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum and the iconic old Virginia live oak tree, the Liberty Tree, along Hay and Hillsboro

streets. ASOM held an event on Aug. 16 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the tree and unveil its permanent historical marker.

Our columnists this month explore what fall reminds them of: The first thinks of the upcoming municipal elections and past voter turnout. Another remembers a multitasking mishap and how she’s slowing down from the daily grind this season. Our bilingual columnist previews the 47th International Folk Festival on Sept. 2627 and its Fiestas en la Calle celebration, which includes a special Latino Show. The last invites you to fall in love with the Marquis de Lafayette as the nation continues to celebrate its 250th anniversary by recommending six books about Lafayette.

Our September To-Do List is sure to keep you entertained this month with events at Cape Fear Botanical Garden, the Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville Technical Community College, Methodist University and so many other places.

Were you at the Arts Council of Fayetteville/ Cumberland County for the Opening Reception of Where the Wild Becomes Divine art exhibit on Aug. 1? We may have spotted you for this month’s Seen @ the Scene.

Thanks to this month’s magazine, my fall bucket list has grown — I hope yours has, too. And I’m looking forward to stepping outside, enjoying the crisp fall air and exploring everything Cumberland County has to offer.

Thank you for reading!

Editor’s note: An earlier version of the “Camp HEAL” feature in the August 2025 “Back to School” magazine incorrectly attributed Morgan Casey as the photographer. The photography was contributed by Rockfish Camp and Retreat Center. The article has been updated with the correct photography credit. CityView apologizes for this error.

Valeria Cloës

Magazine Editor

For comments, questions, feedback, or to submit story ideas, email vcloes@cityviewnc.com.

Cape Fear Botanical Garden

Photo by Sharilyn Wells

Fall marks municipal election season

BY TIM WHITE

Fall is early this year. I’ve got a big smile on my face when I say that.

Really, it’s almost like we skipped August and went straight to September. The weather’s still warm, but the scorching stuff seems mostly behind us.

So we’re all free to plunge into our favored fall nostalgia. Maybe it’s about high school or college football for you. Or fresh apples — and cider — from the nearest orchard. Maybe you just can’t wait for Halloween. Or perhaps it’s enough just to see the leaves turn color — the swamp maples, sumacs and sweet gums that I see on my daily walks with the dogs were already flashing some red by August’s second week, even before the asters and goldenrod make their first appearance. Some of the migratory birds — thrushes and whip-poor-wills, to name two — have already left town for their farther-south winter quarters. And it’s time to stack some wood for the firepit and the fireplace.

All those things are on my fall hit parade. And there’s one more, one where it appears I don’t have much company: local politics. It’s municipal election season, and I’ll be asking the same question I ask in every oddnumbered year: Will anybody care?

In these politically troubled days, I’m hearing variations on this question a lot: Will democracy survive?

I’m pretty confident that the answer is “yes!” But I’m also confident that it won’t survive on the strength of voter turnout, especially in years when there are no statewide or national candidates on the ballot. For those elections, democracy has been unconscious for decades. And I don’t see any harbingers of a resurrection.

Voters in Fayetteville and the rest of Cumberland County’s municipalities will go to the polls for a primary election on Oct. 7 and then make their final decisions on

Nov. 4. Well, a few of them will. Most will stay home or otherwise find a way to avoid their civic responsibilities.

How do I know that? I’ve watched those elections for more than 25 years now. And when I arrived in town back in 1999, it was already a long-established pattern. Most voters just don’t care about municipal elections.

Why? Perhaps our elected officials have given us the reason — too many things never change. Too many problems don’t get solved. Too many goals get missed. And then when problems get fixed and goals are hit, many of our leaders don’t make sure everyone knows about their success — an odd thing for a politician, I know.

Or maybe it’s just that in this busy town, where so many people hold down multiple jobs and try to raise families, there just isn’t time.

Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is abysmal.

According to State Board of Elections statistics, in the 2023 primary, 10,751 voters showed up at the primary polling places. That’s 8.4 percent of nearly 128,000 registered voters at that time. And the municipal elections in November did only a little better at drawing participation.

Even though the voter rolls had improved by nearly 25,000 residents, turnout was only 13.3 percent. The increase in voter registration did little to improve the numbers of people showing up.

Remember, 2023 was not an anomaly. The voter turnout was typical, normal, and just what we should have expected.

Why? Gubernatorial and presidential elections are raucous, gaudy, attention-capturing events.

But governors and presidents don’t have nearly the real impact on a community that a mayor and City Council can exert. The taxes on your house? The quality of police and

The Cumberland County Board of Elections office. Photo by Tony Wooten

FAMILY MATTERS

A multitasking mishap

BY CLAIRE MULLEN

I used to think that the ability to multitask was an art form. A special talent. A gift from God bestowed upon those adept at maximizing every waking moment of their day by tackling anything and everything all at once.

And for most of my increasingly busy life, I have been a master multitasker, and this skill has served me very well. Writing a college term paper in the midst of helping my roommate select the perfect outfit for a date while also chatting on AOL Instant Messenger with my sister back home? Easy peasy.

Throwing together a pot of vegetable soup, calling out spelling words, mopping the kitchen floor, administering Benadryl, and Googling “mysterious rashes kids get after playing with homemade slime,” all at once? Just another day.

Simultaneously getting a few miles in on the elliptical, making a grocery list on my phone with the help of Siri, catching up on current events via the TV news (on mute, with subtitles), while listening to a podcast called, “Let’s Slow Down”? No problem.

However, on a recent afternoon, my perfect track record of multitasking mastery came to a quite frightening (and rather odorous) halt.

Fueled with just enough caffeine to induce the exact amount of mania necessary to accomplish everything, I set out to tackle my to-do list for the last half of my day. My children had been at summer camp since morning, and I had a beautiful 30-minute window at home between an appointment and time to leave to pick them up.

I thought ahead to dinner. A cobb salad would be a simple thing to throw together, and if I went ahead and prepped a few ingredients, I’d have more time to spend with the kids when they got home from camp, as well as fold the growing mountain of laundry.

I chopped some lettuce, sliced a cucumber, tossed a handful of cherry tomatoes in the colander for a rinse, and put four eggs in a saucepan on the stove. I could set the burner on high, cover the eggs with a lid, and then turn them off as soon as they came to a boil, leaving them to come to a perfect hard-boiled consistency as the stovetop slowly cooled.

In the remaining 20 minutes before pick-up departure, I started another load of laundry, packed up three cabinets’ worth of dishes for an upcoming cabinet paint job, and

decided to call a friend to break up the solitude of doing chores in an empty house.

As I folded T-shirts and we chatted, I glanced at the clock and realized I was getting dangerously close to being late for camp pick-up. I threw the makings of my salad in the fridge, grabbed my purse, and switched our phone call over to Bluetooth in my car. I drove 30 minutes from my house to Camp Rockfish in Parkton in heavy traffic, and waited 10 minutes in the pickup line as I wrapped up our conversation before my children hopped into the car.

On the drive home, I half-listened to my son and daughter enthusiastically recount tales of losing a shoe in the muck on the mud walk, winning an intense game of Gaga ball, and surviving a close call with a large wasp. While they spoke, I also did a mental run-through of what still needed to be done for dinner when we got home. Veggies? Check. Rotisserie chicken to top the salad? I should call my husband to remind him to pick one up on the way from work. Eggs? Eggs!!

My throat felt like it was beginning to close, and my stomach did a somersault. I was on under-construction Gillis Hill Road, a solid 20 minutes from my house, in stand-still, 5 o’clock traffic, when I realized that I had forgotten to turn the burner off. The burner that was still turned on the highest setting, occupied by a small saucepan containing four eggs and just enough water to cover them, with the lid still on.

No sooner had I come to this gut-wrenching conclusion than my phone began to ring and ding at the same time. A call from my husband, and an alert from our smoke detector, which is linked to my phone. I clicked on the blinking hazard-sign icon on my phone and read, “The air quality in your home is extremely low.”

Knowing that my husband had probably just received the same message, I switched over to his call and answered with, “I KNOW, I KNOW! Our house is BURNING TO THE GROUND! I left eggs boiling on the stove on high for ALMOST AN HOUR, and I am stuck in TRAFFIC!!!”

The chaos that ensued involved a frantic phone call from me to my neighbors, who, by divine intervention, happened to be at home; a simultaneous phone call from my husband to his best friend who also lives in our neighborhood, and our mutual request for whomever could get there first to

assess the damage and call the fire department if needed. I stayed on the phone with my neighbor while she and her husband rushed two doors down to our house. I did not consider it to be a good sign that as soon as she let me know she had successfully keyed in our code to unlock the door and gotten in, the next thing I heard was a lot of coughing and sputtering.

Through her labored breathing, my neighbor was able to give me a play-by-play of her heroic husband making his way through our smoke-filled house: He grabbed a dish towel, wrapped it around the scorching handle, and ran the pot that now contained nothing more than billowing smoke, eggshell remnants and black soot out our back door. At the same time, our friend — who happened to be out for a jog when he received the SOS call from my husband — sprinted around the corner and down our driveway.

I still do not know how that pot did not catch on fire, but I do know why it almost did. I was trying to do too much. Overloading myself with a laundry list of tasks that was clearly too lofty. Overachieving to the point of being distracted, frenzied and downright negligent. I had gone from efficient to careless.

That evening, after my husband and I rushed home to assess the damage, open every window and door, set up air purifiers, thank our friends profusely, and calm the hysteria of our daughter — who had taken to the far corner of our yard with a chip clip on her nose, proclaiming that our

house was going to smell like “farts and eggs” forever — we threw in the proverbial towel.

We forgot the multitude of other things we had planned for the evening, sat on the front porch, and ate Chick-fil-A sandwiches straight out of the paper bags. No distractions, no interruptions, no multitasking. Just sitting, eating, talking and laughing together, in retrospect, at how we narrowly avoided an egg-stra big disaster.

It has been two months since my multitasking mishap. Our house is finally smelling somewhat normal. As far as I know, I still hold the world record for the hardest hardboiled eggs of all time. I have learned to set an alarm on my phone anytime I start anything to boil. Our friend says he still has not run a faster mile than he did getting to our house that day, and probably never will.

My husband and I like to joke that while homemade salad almost leveled our home, takeout Chick-fil-A has never failed us. I have learned, the hard (boiled) way, to try my best to focus on one thing at a time, rather than 10, because while accomplishing a lot in a little time may seem great for the daily grind, slowing down is most definitely good for the soul.

Claire Mullen can be reached at clairejlmullen@gmail.com.

Farm life reimagined

Where over 300 acres in the North Carolina Sandhills countryside become an escape, Sweet Valley Ranch opens its doors to overnight guests

BY SHARON MOYER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONY WOOTEN

TThe red antique tractor sitting proudly at Sweet Valley Ranch, a 300-plus-acre farm in Fayetteville, tells a story that stretches back generations.

It belonged to the ranch owner’s grandfather, a sharecropper who worked his own land out of necessity, loaning that same tractor to neighbors when times got tough.

Today, that tractor stands as a monument to how far love can carry a family and how the value of community spans generations.

And the love at the heart of Sweet Valley Ranch starts between Fred and Anita Surgeon, the owners of the ranch, and their acres of Cumberland County countryside. What began as a USDA-licensed meat processing farm has evolved into a ranch where 350-plus animals thrive alongside thousands of visitors who discover its magic each year.

Sweet Valley Ranch offers everything from ATV adventures to haunted attractions and luxury cabin retreats, the ranch’s newest offering.

“We never imagined opening our private spaces to the public,” Anita admitted. “But when people kept asking, ‘How can we stay here?’, we realized that sharing these spaces meant sharing our family’s story.”

Newest

feature

Their Farmhouse Retreats — cabins where guests can stay overnight on the property — started welcoming guests seeking connection over convenience earlier this year.

Queen’s Landing (sleeps four), Bear and Whitetail Cabins (sleep six each), and cozy Elk Cabin (sleeps five) offer guests the chance to experience farm life while surrounded by 350-plus animals, from Highland cattle to

peacocks to Aldabra tortoises.

When Sweet Valley Ranch needed guest accommodations, Fred didn’t hire contractors; he bought a sawmill, used timber from their land and felled wood from a 2017 logging operation. Every beam in Queen’s Landing Log Cabin grew from the soil where guests now sleep.

“It’s named in honor of my wife,” Fred said with unmistakable adoration. The cabin represents everything their partnership has built: something beautiful, functional and rooted in the land.

The area around Queen’s Landing tells its own love story.

“I remember trying to select the area on the farm where to put Queen’s Landing, and I chose that area because there was a lot of beautiful wildflowers and overgrowth,” Fred recalls.

“This is more than just a place to sleep, it’s a place to

connect,” Fred emphasized. “We want families to unplug, slow down and experience farm life comfortably while right in the middle of the action.”

But success isn’t measured in acres or attendance — it’s measured in lives touched.

“I would like to be remembered for what we did for other people, not what we have,” Fred said. “Before Anita, it was the next business deal, the next ... how can I make money? But she flipped the script.”

For guest Latasha Murray, a Robeson County resident, something magical happened when she turned off Interstate 95 near Fayetteville and drove just a few miles to Sweet Valley Ranch. The city noise faded, tension melted away and suddenly, she remembered what it felt like to breathe deeply.

“I didn’t have to drive far to get everything I needed,”

Sweet Valley Ranch now offers overnight stays at their Farmhouse Retreats cabins.

The Queen's Landing cabin sleeps four people.

Sweet Valley Ranch's owners, Fred and Anita Surgeon, stand on the porch of their Queen's Landing cabin.

Sweet Valley Ranch's Queen's Landing cabin kitchen

Sweet Valley Ranch's Queen's Landing cabin

reflected Latasha, who recently stayed at Queen’s Landing. “I found the perfect getaway without the hassle of longdistance travel.”

Another new feature, an event space called The Sweet Spot, is coming to Sweet Valley Ranch in the spring of 2026. It will host its first event: Fred and Anita’s celebration of love.

In addition to the overnight stays, Sweet Valley Ranch offers year-round attractions that transform with the seasons. Fall brings Backwoods Terror Ranch, where the peaceful farm transforms into one of the area’s largest outdoor haunted experiences, featuring six mazes and a quarter-acre cemetery.

Guided Farm Tours are offered during other events. But for those who feel more adventurous, golf cart rentals let guests explore at their own pace, discovering hidden corners or following trails. Three stocked ponds offer world-class fishing for bass, catfish and brim, and some retreats allow casting right from the porch.

Hills & Thrills ATV adventures provide guided tours across diverse landscapes. Seasonal events include Dinosaur World, with 35-plus life-size animatronic dinosaurs, and the winter Festival of Lights, which transforms the entire property into a glittering wonderland.

Love, family and animals

The love story between Fred and Anita Surgeon began in the early 2000s, but their shared understanding runs much deeper. Both carry the soil of rural North Carolina agriculture in their blood.

Fred is from Greensboro, where his grandfather worked as a sharecropper, and Anita is from the Red Springs area, where she spent summers harvesting crops on local farms as a young girl.

“We both had an interest in helping people,” Fred explains. “We’re kindred spirits when it comes to wanting to help people.”

When they met at their job, Fred immediately knew Anita was special.

“I look at my life as ‘B.A.,’ Before Anita, and ‘A.A.,’ After Anita,” Fred said. “If you had a graph and you charted my life, you would see it’s been a complete transformation since Anita came into my life.”

After five years of marriage, they started their business venture in 2016 and opened Sweet Valley Ranch to the public in 2020.

What makes their love story remarkable isn’t just romance; it’s the way Anita embraced Fred’s wildest entrepreneurial dreams. Most wives might balk when their

Every beam in the Queen’s Landing cabin grew from the soil where guests now sleep.

husbands come home wanting to buy a zebra, a camel or a 20-foot dinosaur. Anita saw the possibility.

“She was extremely supportive and encouraging of me, not just in the Sweet Valley Ranch venture, but because I’m an entrepreneur and we have other businesses,” Fred explains. “It’s not every day that you come home and tell your wife I want to buy a zebra.”

Their approach to family extends far beyond blood relations. Three employees have worked with them for 18 years; over time, more than eight family members have been part of their business operations.

Ashley, Fred’s 23-year-old daughter who lives in Texas, spends every summer at the ranch with friends.

“Anita would have one of her nieces come over, all about the same age,” Fred remembers. “All of our summers were packed with adventure.”

Anita, who never had biological children, has become “mom” to many.

And perhaps nothing captures Sweet Valley Ranch’s spirit better than the relationships between the Surgeons and their animal family.

The incredible menagerie includes quarter horses, Angus cattle, llamas, pot-bellied pigs, macaws, fainting goats, miniature horses and strutting peacocks.

One of the most unique experiences a guest can have is “Hanging with the Highlands.” This experience offers a private and up-close encounter with the gentle Highland cows.

Each animal represents the Surgeons’ conscious choice to create a place where humans reconnect with the natural world. The reptile house, Aldabra tortoise enclosure and elaborate aviary systems demonstrate a deep commitment to animal welfare and education.

Honoring the heritage

Legacy and family history live in everything the Surgeons do at Sweet Valley Ranch. Fred’s grandfather wasn’t just working the land but building a community and lending his tractor to neighbors who needed help.

That spirit of mutual aid flows through Sweet Valley Ranch today, where families find affordable getaways.

“My grandfather was a sharecropper,” Fred explains. “The tractor was used not just by us, but also in the community, because we would loan it out.”

Anita’s agricultural roots run just as deep.

“My grandfather was a sharecropper too,” she shares. “We had community people who worked on chicken farms and cucumber farms. As a young girl, getting on the farm was my summer thing.”

Their shared understanding of farm life, born from necessity, not luxury, keeps them grounded. While they now welcome guests who come for recreation, they never forget that for their grandparents, farming meant survival.

“How proud our ancestors would be that this tractor is part of what we’re doing,” Fred reflects. “It can be so inspirational.”

Sweet Valley Ranch's Bear Cabin

Sweet Valley Ranch's Bear Cabin bedroom. The cabin sleeps 6 people.

Sweet Valley Ranch's Bear Cabin living room

Another way the Surgeons honor their family is through a 20-foot lighthouse replica on the property that honors Fred’s Aunt Mary, who ensured the family could travel to North Carolina’s Lost Colony and other historical sites. Like everything at Sweet Valley Ranch, it connects past to present and personal history to shared experience.

“A lot of things we do kind of look back at our family,” Fred explains. “In every decision that we have made, whether with our business or personally, we always kind of check ourselves to make sure it aligns with our beliefs.”

Looking ahead

At Sweet Valley Ranch, Fred and Anita hope every moment provides a reminder to visitors that the best adventures often lead not to distant shores but to a deeper appreciation for the beauty surrounding us daily.

“We’ve been able to touch a lot of lives,” Fred reflected. “We’ve been able to make a positive difference in a lot of lives.”

And, as Latasha discovered, sometimes the most profound experiences happen closest to home.

“There’s something to be said for being able to pack light and arrive refreshed instead of exhausted,” Latasha noted. “I could focus on relaxing instead of recovering from travel.”

At Sweet Valley Ranch, love isn’t just the foundation; it’s the daily practice that turns a working farm into a place where families reconnect and city visitors remember the peace from watching Highland cattle graze in Carolina sunshine.

This land has become a place where others find joy, rest and renewal. It’s a story that keeps growing, one guest, one animal, one act of generosity at a time.

Sweet Valley Ranch Farmhouse Retreats is now accepting reservations. Visit sweetvalleyranchnc.com or call 844-622-3276. Fall activities, including Backwoods Terror Ranch and seasonal farm tours, are available through November.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sharon Moyer, a native of Muskegon, Michigan, moved to Fayetteville in 1987 and has lived here since. Sharon works as the community engagement administrator at the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County.

Sweet Valley Ranch staff Melode Dickerson, Fred Surgeon, Anita Surgeon and Jerry Surgeon

COMMUNITY

‘Umoja = Unity’

With unity as its driving force, the Umoja Festival returned for its 33rd year in late August, celebrating Black and African American culture, arts and history. The creators of the festival, the Umoja Group, have left their mark on the city

BY TREY NEMEC | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES THROSSEL

UUnity. Depending on which version of a dictionary you thumb through, you may find different descriptions of the word. Some define it as the state of being whole. Others describe the inverse: the quality of not being multiple, separate or fractured. Though there may be several, somewhat roundabout, avenues to the root of the word, its meaning is universal: To be united. To work together. To make things better for the collective.

The principle of unity is a connecting force spanning language, country and culture. In Spanish-speaking

Caribbean lands like Cuba and the Dominican Republic, “unidad” is the word of choice; In Haiti, you’ll hear “inite” in Haitian Creole or “unité” in French; In Kiswahili, or Swahili, spoken in Kenya, Tanzania and other east African countries, the word is simple and strong — umoja.

For one Fayetteville group, umoja — or unity — is the driving force.

The Umoja Group, a Fayetteville-based educational, cultural and charitable nonprofit organization, has dedicated its efforts for more than 33 years to promoting

The Wall of Honor depicts many notable local figures and celebrates these individuals’ contributions to unity, leadership, civil rights and community uplift.

Dorothy Watkins Fielder, Umoja Group co-founder, stands in front of the Wall of Honor.

“the positive history, arts and culture of Africans, African Americans and Caribbeans,” according to the group’s mission statement. Through yearly festivals, community service projects and scholarship opportunities, this group works to create community bonds and highlight the impact that comes with being united by sharing these rich cultural ties.

Fun for a purpose

Since 1992, the Umoja Group and a number of community members have been packing Seabrook Park, located near Fayetteville State University, with vendors, dance troupes and community resources for their annual Umoja Festival. The celebration of culture and togetherness has been a source of pride and reconnection in Fayetteville, and its impact has only grown stronger since the group gained its official 501(c)(3) designation in 2005.

From Fayetteville State University’s Sapphire Dance Team to E.E. Smith High School’s marching band, the Magnificent Marching Machine, the Umoja Festival is filled with exciting performances from local artists. Between the whirling colors of dance clothing, the sweet, brassy ring of trumpets and trombones, and unique souvenirs and food from local vendors, the day is filled with music, culture and life.

The event takes about a year to organize, Umoja Group Director Wanda Wesley told CityView, meaning the group has to gear up for the next iteration of the festival almost as soon as the current one is through. Alongside this festival, the group also hosts a yearly Kwanzaa Festival in late December, and a Malcolm X Forum event each May.

“It’s a process,” Wesley said. “A labor of love.”

While the Umoja Festival has a show order to ensure that artists are able to share their craft with the crowd, Wesley said there are opportunities for talented attendees to perform as well. She said, should there be a lull in the festivities, you might be handed a microphone.

Beyond the performances and vendors, the festival offers resource opportunities for attendees. One aspect of the festival that organizers are especially proud of is their Health Fair. Beginning as a partnership with Cape Fear Valley Health in 2010, the Health Fair doesn’t just bring tables with brochures about health care resources, but actual white-coat-clad doctors who can perform an array of medical screenings for festivalgoers. Set up inside Smith Recreation Center, adjacent to Seabrook Park, the Health Fair offers free screenings for blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels, pulmonary lung function and more.

Umoja Group members told CityView that the Health

Umoja Group members Darcy “Ghana” Fielder, Wanda Wesley, Dorothy Watkins Fielder, Cassandra Standifer and Ramon Huggins.

E.E. Smith High School’s marching band, the Magnificent Marching Machine, performing on Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Umoja Festival.

Wanda Wesley, director of the Umoja Group, presents Wawa Tiote, president of Fayetteville State University’s Sapphire Dance Team, with the Umoja Festival Scholarship on Aug. 23.

Fair component of their festival was greatly supported by the late Cape Fear Valley Health employee, Darvin Jones, a TV and radio journalist turned marketing professional.

Jones, who passed away in 2022, was the voice of the Cape Fear Valley Health initiative “Take Charge of Your Health,” which focuses on reducing health care disparities, especially among the African American community in Cumberland County.

Jones is largely credited for raising awareness about health conditions like cancer, diabetes, sickle cell anemia and heart disease in the community through his work, and was at the forefront of the Covid-19 vaccine response in the African American community when the pandemic struck in early 2020, several employees of Cape Fear Valley Health said in a 2022 column by Bill Kirby Jr.

When he passed in 2022, the Umoja Group established the Darvin Jones Scholarship, awarding $1,000 each year to a Fayetteville State University student pursuing a health care-related field. The 2025 installment of this scholarship was awarded to Wawa Tiote, president of Fayetteville State University’s Sapphire Dance Team, at this year’s 33rd Annual Umoja Festival, which took place on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Through a day of dance, food, culture and resources, the

Umoja Festival brings the Fayetteville community together with both celebration and intention.

“It’s fun for a purpose,” Wesley said.

A storied journey

Dorothy Watkins Fielder, a founding member of Fayetteville’s Umoja Group, smiled as she recalled the early days of the organization. The year was 1988, and a group of Fayetteville residents banded together with a distinct mission. They wanted to help young people learn about and develop pride in their culture and history.

“We kind of loosely organized people of like minds,” Fielder said. “People who knew about their history as Black people.” That “loosely organized” group felt that they could be a source of learning for the youth of their community.

“We felt that we should pass on our knowledge and give our experiences to young people,” Fielder said with a subtle nod. “They need experiences. They need activities. They need to be inspired.”

While working as a school social worker at both Reid Ross Classical School and E.E. Smith High School, Fielder said her main responsibility was making sure children came to school and didn’t drop out.

Through her work, she noticed that some students didn’t

Dorothy Watkins Fielder was honored with the Key to the City of Fayetteville during the Umoja Festival, recognizing her passion and devotion to the community.

Festivalgoers at the 33rd Annual Umoja Festival enjoy the Magnificent Marching Machine's performance on Aug. 23.

The Wall of Honor near Fayetteville State University is a landmark to the community. Celebrating African heritage, resilience during the Jim Crow era, and many community members who built a strong foundation through education, hard work, and unity.

want to be at school, especially those who lacked an outlet like sports or music. Instead of lobbing a football or practicing their instruments, Fielder noticed a different talent in these children — they were artists.

With a corps of 25 students, a team was formed. TEAM Club, an acronym for “Together Everyone Achieves More,” focused on community service projects, getting children involved in bettering their community. In 1993, TEAM Club took up a new project. They created the vibrantly painted

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

“Wall of Honor,” an iconic Fayetteville landmark that brightens the corner of Langdon Street and Murchison Road to this day.

With each piece carefully chosen and painted by students, the medley of murals on the Wall of Honor serves as a reminder of Black history. The wall depicts scenes that stretch through time, from life and culture in Africa, to the journey through the Middle Passage, which forced enslaved people to America, to the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement

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The wall also serves as a local history book, honoring leaders in Fayetteville, both past and present, including Jeannette Council, a Civil Rights activist and longtime Cumberland County commissioner, Patricia Timmons-Goodson, the first Black woman to serve on the N.C Supreme Court, N.C. Music Hall of Fame Honoree Bill Curtis, and rapper and producer J. Cole, and many others.

“We know about all the people that are national leaders,” Fielder recalled her students saying. “But we want to honor our people here. You know, our parents, our grandparents.” She told CityView that the hyper-local impact she saw when the community’s young people saw their loved ones on the wall was a rewarding experience.

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In 2019, Fielder, alongside coauthor Marian Tally Simmons Brown and photographer Donna Fielder Barnes, published Wall of Honor: A Celebration of Fayetteville’s Everyday Heroes. The 34-page book depicts the art of the Wall of Honor and immortalizes the stories

portrayed in every brush stroke. Since its creation, the Umoja Group and the broader community have maintained and contributed to the Wall of Honor, and that maintenance never stops. Umoja Group member Darcy “Ghana” Fielder told CityView that the group plans to have the wall covered in mosaic tile in 2026, preserving Black history and the legacy of local leaders for many years to come.

Staying local, thinking generational

Over the years, the Umoja Group has received offers to expand its work and take it beyond Fayetteville, but with community impact at the heart of the organization, Wesley said that there’s been a conscious effort to keep the Umoja Festival local.

“We chose to stay in the community because we wanted it to be community based,” Wesley told CityView. She explained that keeping the festival in Fayetteville allows for easy access to attendees and honors the local history that inspires young

people in the area, helping them to build a sense of pride in themselves, their neighbors and their personal history.

Umoja Group member Ramon Huggins said that teaching young people about their own history and local leaders is paramount.

“Knowledge of self and community is always important,” Huggins said.

While the Umoja Festival is on a mission to stay local, they excitedly invite anyone who wants to participate in the festivities, from near and far. Group members said they regularly have attendees from out-of-state, from Georgia to Kentucky and beyond. With this festival serving as an annual homecoming of sorts, the Umoja Group sees the event as a time of family and reunion. They said it’s a proud moment when they see people who may have attended the festival as children grow and flourish in the community.

“The way I see it,” Wesley said, “as individual communities get stronger and you connect the dots, the city gets stronger. The county gets stronger.”

Through collective work, resourcesharing and unwavering support of each other and the community, the Umoja Group aims to help uplift the area as a whole.

“Umoja is to be united in all things,” Darcy “Ghana” Fielder said, reciting the group’s definition of unity.

“To work together as a family, as a people, as a nation for the common benefit of every member.”

No matter what language, word, spelling or definition you prefer — inite, unité, unidad or umoja — the act of unity is a daily choice for the benefit of all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trey Nemec is a reporter for CityView. He is a Fayetteville State University alumnus, and holds a bachelor's degree in communication and media studies.

The wall also serves as a local history book, honoring leaders in Fayetteville, both past and present.

RECREATION

Carver's Falls: A Waterfall You Can Only See From Above

The largest waterfall between North Carolina's foothills and the ocean sits just outside of Fayetteville. The only easy way most people can get a good look at it? From a zip line.

BY JEREMY MARKOVICH

Carver’s Falls, just outside of Fayetteville. Photo and caption by Jeremy Markovich/North Carolina Rabbit Hole.

by North Carolina Rabbit Hole

From left: Me, Chris Tryon, and Kemp Burdette on Carver’s Creek in 2016.

Caption by Jeremy Markovich/North Carolina Rabbit Hole.

Photo by Andrew Kornylak as published in North Carolina Rabbit Hole.

NNine years ago, when I was paddling down the Cape Fear River, our group stopped for lunch in Fayetteville. That’s a little bit misleading, actually, because if you’re on the water, there aren’t many restaurants that sit within easy view of1 the 146 miles of river between Lillington and Wilmington. What we actually did was pull up on a bit of sand that was sticking out from the mouth of Carver’s Creek, just south of the I-295 bridge. After we finished the sandwiches we’d packed, we paddled up that creek for just a little bit just to see what was back there. We didn’t go too far. After all, we had a lot of miles to put in before sundown.

Turns out, we missed quite a bit! There’s a whole waterfall up that creek!

I finally got to see it last weekend, thanks to my son’s Boy Scout camping trip to ZipQuest. It’s an adventure park with eight zip lines with a bunch of staircases and Temple Of Doom-style bridges. What’s it like to be along on a camp out when the daily temperatures are above 90? Not comfortable!

North Carolina’s you’re allowed to travel on any navigable waterway, thanks to the old public trust doctrine (We’ll get into this a little more in an upcoming newsletter). What’s navigable? According to both law and court rulings, any waterway that you can canoe or kayak in is navigable, which makes streams, creeks, and rivers on private land into public highways. Can you you get out on the shore? Nope! Can you stand up on the muddy bottom?

Probably not!

Hence, as long as you’re floatin’, you ain’t trespassin’. But it’s also unclear whether we would have encountered thick brush, fallen trees, or extremely shallow water along the way. The waterfall is nearly a mile up Carver’s Creek from the Cape Fear River. There’s a great chance that we would have found something blocking our way.

You can’t just roll up to Carver’s Falls to have a casual look, but that wasn’t always the case. The falls were named for Samuel Carver, the dude who received the waterfall and the 640 acres around it from King George

It is, according to the ZipQuest folks, the largest waterfall between North Carolina’s

foothills and the Atlantic Ocean.

That said, the whole thing is built to go over Carver’s Falls, a 150-foot-wide, two-story-tall waterfall that sits at the confluence of two creeks. It is, according to the ZipQuest folks, the largest waterfall between North Carolina’s foothills and the Atlantic Ocean. It’s one of the rare places where bald cypress grows next to mountain laurel. It’s a little bit shocking to see, honestly. When you drive around Fayetteville, things feel mostly flat, since most of the city lies just past the fall line that separates the Piedmont from the coastal plain. But there are some pretty big bluffs out there around the rivers and streams, and Carver’s Creek sits much lower than most of the surrounding area. Thanks to the zip line course, you can get a great bird’s eye view of it.

So, what’s it look like at ground level? Unclear. Because you really can’t get down there anymore.

There’s nothing nefarious afoot here. The waterfall and the 55 acres of property its sits on have been owned by the Bryan family since the 1963. They wanted to figure out how to keep it undeveloped and make a little money from it, so they got a contractor from Michigan to build a zip line course in 2009. “The beauty of it is we were able to preserve the land and share the land with the community at large,” owner Russ Bryan told the Fayetteville Observer in 2020. You can zip above the falls, but there’s not a public trail to the bottom.

There is, potentially, a way to get there, though. If we’d kept paddling up that creek back in 2016, we would eventually have reached the falls without trespassing. In

II in 1735. “There is little known about the use of Carver’s Falls,” states the ZipQuest website, which isn’t entirely true. It was once referred by local newspapers as “the mecca of Fayetteville picnickers.” One short story in the Fayetteville Weekly Observer in 1904 noted a moonlight picnic at the falls with a little bit of lament. “Carver’s Falls is a beautiful sylvan retreat, especially pleasing in the calm hours of the evening, under the light of the moon,” it states, “and yet there are hundreds of people in Fayetteville who have heard of, but have never seen, Carver’s Falls.” It was later owned by John Oates (not that John Oates), who would throw big parties at the falls. One, in 1921, attracted 500 people who consumed more than 1,000 ice cream cones (it was July). That same year, the local sheriff destroyed three moonshine stills nearby.

Still, the land was always private, but opened up occasionally with the benevolence of whoever owned it at the time. In 1930, Oates talked about donating the falls to the state to create a public park, but it apparently never came to be. Carvers Creek State Park, which sits to the northwest and doesn’t include the falls, wasn’t formally created until 2005.

In 1963, a state lawmaker and car dealer named Norwood Bryan bought the land in order to preserve it. He also continued to lease part of it out to the local Girl Scout organization, which used it as a camp for decades. In 1969, as the Kelly-Springfield Tire Company was getting ready to build a plant to the north, the scouts and others were able to get the stream reclassified so the tire factory couldn’t

Carver’s Falls, with an adventure bridge high above.

Photo and caption by Jeremy Markovich/North Carolina Rabbit Hole.

was once diverted through a

use the water. The plant had to discharge its waste into Fayetteville’s water treatment system instead. That kept a large amount of potential pollution out, and allowed the scouts to keep swimming at the bottom. (It’s not all that dirty even though the water, our zip line guides told us, always looks brown at the bottom and yellow as it goes over the falls.) In 1995 came another threat: The construction of I-295. Bryan pushed to move the highway further away from the falls as to not destroy the natural beauty of the place. Preservation didn’t mean opening the falls to everyone, though, and Bryan wasn’t exactly forthcoming about the exact location. In a 1995 article, the Charlotte Observer left them off of a map at Bryan’s request.

During his time as a state representative from 1966 until 1974, Bryan took up any number of environmental causes. He was also an Eagle Scout, and his sons and grandsons were also involved in scouting. Hence, our local Scout troop was able to camp next to an old mill, up above the creek. It was lovely, even though it was hot. But it’s still

pretty private. You can’t just show up and go traipsing around for free.

Waterfalls feel a bit sacred. Humans have been drawn to them forever. Hence, they feel like they should be public things, preserved for the benefit of everyone. A bunch of waterfalls are in state and national parks. Soco Falls is just off of the roadside near Cherokee. You can walk behind Dry Falls in Jackson County. Over time, several of them, like Carter Falls near Elkin, have transferred into public hands and are accessible by trail. Others, like Cobweb Falls and Mitchell Falls (where Mt. Mitchell’s namesake fell to his death in 1857) are very private and not open to you and me. And this state has a long history of cool things—Grandfather Mountain and Chimney Rock—being privately owned but publicly accessible, provided you paid an admission fee (Those two were eventually turned into state parks).

That said, waterfalls are built different. Most are hidden back in the woods or behind mountains. Many take effort

An old mill dating from the 1920s sits high above Carver’s Creek. How could it be water-powered if it’s nowhere near the water? The answer: The creek

canal high above the waterfall. Photo and caption by Jeremy Markovich/North Carolina Rabbit Hole.

to reach. Photographers swoon over pictures of them. People love to swim at the bottom of them. The view, the sound, and the vibes make any hike to them, no matter how hard, worth it. But it’s understandable, especially in an era where natural places get loved to death, that not every amazing landmark should be open to anyone at any time. Part of the reason the Bryans created a zip line was to allow people to enjoy nature without trampling it. Hence, Carver’s Falls fall into an in-between area between public and private. You don’t get to visit on your own terms. But you can paddle in the water below if you put in the effort. You can pay to zip along above. And if you’re lucky, you can camp nearby and do the thing that people have been doing for generations: Sit down, have a picnic, and look at the view.

1. An edit to the initial story: The Riverside Restaurant in Lillington is the only restaurant you can see from the Cape Fear River (It was Howard’s BBQ when we paddled it in 2016). But reporter Paul Woolverton informs me that there are two restaurants near the river in Fayetteville: Melvin’s at Riverside and Deep Creek Grill, which are both right up from the Person Street bridge. They’re not on the water, per se, but reasonably close enough to pull up and walk to if you know they’re there. Hence, I’ve changed this to “within easy view of”. I also slightly tweaked part of the headline, since there are two smaller waterfalls in Cumberland County. One is on the Cape Fear River Trail in Fayetteville, the other is in Clark Park. Again, this followup comes from Paul, whose work you should read at CityView NC. Regret the error!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeremy Markovich is a writer, producer, podcaster and journalist based in North Carolina.

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Road to recovery

Cape Fear Valley Health’s Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services give patients a new lease on life as they recover from lifesaving heart procedures

BY TERI SAYLOR | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONY WOOTEN

BBill Pollitt had a heart attack 23 years ago and remembers it like it was yesterday.

“I woke up one Saturday morning about 6 o’clock, and I was making coffee and suddenly I felt a strange pain up here,” he said, rubbing the right side of his neck. “And I wondered, what the heck is that?”

At first, he thought he had pulled a muscle or had a random crick in his neck, but the pain started to get worse. He swallowed a couple of aspirin, and his wife drove him to the emergency department at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

“As soon as I got there, I had a heart attack,” he said. “The pain was intense, and fortunately I was already on a gurney when it happened.”

Doctors performed a cardiac catheterization, a minimally invasive procedure that calls for inserting a thin catheter into a blood vessel and guiding it to the heart. Cauterizations can diagnose heart problems and can also open blocked arteries.

The procedure showed that plaque inside an artery had caused Pollitt’s heart attack, and he underwent a bypass procedure, which went smoothly, he said.

“I arrived at the emergency department that morning, at about 6:30 a.m., and by noon, I was out of surgery with the bypass, and everything was fine,” Pollitt said.

Afterwards, he began a rehabilitation regimen, starting with simple slow walks and gentle exercise under the supervision of his doctors and Rae Ashley, director of cardiopulmonary rehab & vascular health for Cape Fear Valley Health.

Eventually, Pollitt graduated to the HealthPlex of Cape Fear Valley Health.

At 65,000 square feet, HealthPlex is Fayetteville’s largest fitness and wellness center and serves both patients going through rehabilitation programs and the general public.

Ashley, who has both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in exercise science, started his career in

cardiopulmonary rehabilitation in 1987. He’s been with Cape Fear Valley Health for 23 years.

He says his career has been rewarding, and he has built long-term relationships with patients like Pollitt.

“When you get to work with patients for a long period of time, you share their success,” Ashley said. “Bill’s been exercising here for over 20 years.”

At Cape Fear Valley Health, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation is a medically supervised program designed to help patients with cardiovascular or pulmonary disorders improve their overall health, physical function and quality of life.

The rehabilitation center, located in the rear of Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, offers clinical services and has a small gymnasium, where Ashley says, a team of doctors, nurses and exercise physiologists lead patients through what they call “phase two” of their recovery from surgical procedures.

“In phase two, they come to the cardiopulmonary rehab center three days a week for 12 weeks,” Ashley said. “We hold a graduation ceremony after 36 sessions.”

Then the patients have the option of continuing their exercise regimen at HealthPlex in an open-ended program and aim for three workouts a week, Ashley said. There are a variety of membership levels, and in addition to cardiac rehabilitation, the facility offers group exercise, aquatic therapy, tailored fitness programs and other amenities. A trained staff, including medical professionals and an exercise physiologist, is on site.

People of all ages, even up to 96, enjoy taking advantage of HealthPlex, Ashley said.

At 92, Nancy Broadwell visits HealthPlex as often as she can. But she recently injured her knee, and her doctors advised her to rest and heal before resuming her regular exercise routine.

“Healthplex has been very good for me, and I’ve stayed in pretty good shape because of it,” she said. “I’m just having a bad time right now because of my knee.”

Bill Pollitt works out at the HealthPlex of Cape Fear Valley Health.

Cardiac rehab maintenance nurse Meg Morrozoff

Director of cardiopulmonary rehab & vascular health Rae Ashley

Morrozoff takes Pollitt's blood pressure during his workout.

At 65,000 square feet, HealthPlex is Fayetteville’s largest fitness and wellness center and serves both patients going through rehabilitation programs and the general public.

In 2003, Broadwell had heart bypass surgery, successfully completed her rehabilitation and started exercising at HealthPlex. She recently had aortic valve replacement surgery and says she is recovering well. She enjoys exercising and looks forward to returning to the HealthPlex.

“I walk, participate in group exercise, and work out on the machines,” she said. “Staying active has kept me going very well.”

In addition to heart attacks, bypass procedures and valve replacements, patients arrive in cardiopulmonary rehab with a variety of conditions, including an individual who had undergone a heart transplant.

“Even major diagnoses can bring individuals into cardio rehab for recovery, and they do benefit from it,” Ashley said.

While physical activity may play a big role in recovering from cardiopulmonary problems and procedures, there is often more to fitness. At Cape Fear Valley Health, patients also receive nutritional advice from a dietician and stress management through counseling, Ashley said.

“Our team works together in a multidisciplinary approach,” Ashley said.

Regular visits to HealthPlex also provide a social outlet for people, which is important for their overall health.

Pollitt says he has made lifelong friends with both patients and staff, including Meg Morrozoff, a staff nurse, and Mary Rister, an exercise physiologist. Both have been working at HealthPlex for over 20 years, nearly as long as Pollitt has been exercising there, and they feel like family to him.

Mike Prevatte, Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society (CFARS) member, notes who he contacted with the handheld ham radio and responds back during a February amateur radio club competition.

“I have seen Mary through the birth of three kids and

now she’s a grandmother,” Pollitt said. “And both Meg and Mary have seen me through a shoulder replacement, two knee replacements and bladder cancer.”

Pollitt’s cancer was caught early, during a routine physical, and he’s made a full recovery.

An Army veteran who moved to Fayetteville from Maryland, Pollitt and his wife Patti owned The Pollitt Selection Framing Gallery in Fayetteville for almost 40 years before closing the shop in 2016.

Despite his heart attack and bout with cancer, Pollitt has enjoyed an active lifestyle, kayaking and hiking, including in the Grand Canyon. He doesn’t pursue those activities any longer, but he has been a master gardener for 27 years and enjoys volunteering at the Cape Fear Botanical Garden as much as he can.

“I’ve had excellent care, and my health hasn’t slowed me down at all,” he said.

He has his team at Cape Fear Valley Health to thank for that.

To learn more about Cape Fear Valley Health’s Cardio/ Pulmonary Rehabilitation Services, visit capefearvalley. com/services/cardiopulmonary-rehabilitation-services.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Teri Saylor is a freelance writer based in Raleigh.

HealthPlex of Cape Fear Valley Health

THE KIRBY FILE

Living landmark

Old downtown oak has stood as ‘silent witness’ to the life and times of Fayetteville

BY BILL KIRBY JR.

TThe old Virginia live oak tree along Hay and Hillsboro streets by the Airborne & Special Operations Museum has weathered everything from tropical storms to hurricanes and has stood vigil over downtown for more than two centuries.

The stories, if you only can imagine, it can tell about city history dating back to the June 20, 1775 Liberty Point Resolves, signed at the apex of Bow and Person streets in protest against Great Britain during the American Revolution.

“This iconic Virginia live oak, located in downtown Fayetteville, is believed to have been a silent witness to local history 250 years ago, when the Liberty Point Resolves were supposedly posted by local patriots opposing King George’s rule,” said Renee Lane, executive director for the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation.

Lore has it that signers of the resolves posted the document on the old tree for townspeople to know that we were a people who stood for freedom and independence, and the tree’s part in that liberty is scheduled to be told

Virginia live oak at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum in downtown Fayetteville.

Photo courtesy Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation

at 8 a.m. Saturday in celebration of the U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary, commemorating the establishment of the Continental Army on June 14, 1775.

Charles Allen with Green Biz Nursery & Landscaping, according to a published report, said in 2016 the oak is likely more than 200 years old and also said there is “a good chance it was there” in 1775.

“Receiving an America 250 NC grant award, along with assistance from the Le Marquis de Lafayette Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, made it possible to give the Liberty tree this permanent recognition,” Lane said. “The ceremony will feature proclamations, guest speakers and the unveiling of the new historical marker. Following the ceremony, attendees can enjoy Camp Flintlock, where colonial reenactors will offer hands-on activities in the museum’s Reflection Garden.”

Both events, according to a news release, are free and open to the public.

Fayetteville City Council Member Lynne Bissette Greene is scheduled to read a proclamation on behalf of the city, according to Lane. Kirk deViere, chair of the Cumberland Board of County Commissioners, is scheduled to read a proclamation on behalf of the county. Charles Broadwell, former publisher and editor of The Fayetteville Observer, will be there to tell about the lineage of the tree to include its place in the newspaper’s history.

The U.S. Army XVIII Airborne Corps on Fort Bragg also is hosting National Airborne Day, scheduled for 9 a.m. at the ASOM.

“It is a day of celebration with the museum’s 25th anniversary,” Lane said, “and the 85th anniversary of the first U.S. Army parachute jump.”

An 11:30 a.m. proclamation reaffirming a partnership between Fort Bragg and surrounding communities while honoring the military airborne heritage, according to a news release, will feature Lt. Gen. Gregory K. Anderson, commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps,

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A permanent marker on the 250th anniversary is most appropriate,” says Renee Lane, executive director of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation, and where a historical marker is scheduled to be unveiled in celebration of the U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary commemorating the establishment of the Continental Army on June 14, 1775.

and Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

A tree and a newspaper

The newspaper, circa 1816, was purchased in 1923 by William J. McMurray, and the northern newspaperman decided to move its offices from Green Street to Hay and Hillsboro streets, where the old Virginia live oak stood.

McMurray turned over the publication in 1924 to his brother-in-law, Charles S. Wilson, who became publisher, according to published reports. When Wilson died in 1949, his brother-in-law, Richard M. Lilly, became publisher. After Lilly’s death in 1971, his son-in-law, the late Ramon Yarborough, became publisher.

Under Yarborough’s leadership,

The Fayetteville Observer-Times and The Fayetteville Observer realized phenomenal success, which included a daily circulation upwards of 70,000 and Sunday circulation of 85,000.

“When the family sold the downtown properties to the city for the construction of the ASOM in 1998, we intentionally held out the parcel with the tree on it,” said Tony Chavonne, general manager of the newspaper from 1992-2004 and who later served four terms as city mayor (2005-2013). “And Mr. Yarborough and the family committed to continue to maintain and protect it, even after the ASOM was built.”

The oak tree adjacent to the train depot was as sacred to Ramon Yarborough as the old Goss printing press behind the downtown executive newspaper and editorial offices. And as sacred as the KBA offset printing press after the newspaper offices were relocated to Whitfield Street in 1977.

“Fayetteville Publishing Co. donated the corner plot with the old oak tree to the ASOM Foundation after the sale of the newspaper business in 2016,” said Broadwell, publisher and editor of the newspaper from 2000-2016 until the newspaper was sold to GateHouse Media, a national media chain. “The oak tree and the restored Liberty Point building on Person Street had remained part of our downtown footprint for decades after the newspaper relocated to the Massey Hill neighborhood and later sold our former Hay

Street building to make way for the museum.

“Over the years my cousin Ray Yarborough would help keep the massive oak in good trim whenever we would get a call from the museum or the city that one of its lowhanging limbs had snared an unsuspecting pedestrian.

“I learned more about the history of the tree thanks to the writing of Roy Parker Jr., no doubt with help from our staff librarian Daisy Maxwell, and also from Matt Leclercq,” Broadwell said about Leclercq, a reporter who wrote about the Virginia oak and who later became the newspaper’s executive editor. Leclercq was succeeded by the late Lorry Williams, who led the newspaper until resigning to become managing editor for our CityView Magazine and CityView Today digital publication.

Epilogue

The old Virginia oak has stood the test of time as “silent witness” to our downtown from the Cool Spring Tavern and Gen. Marquis de Lafayette’s visit in 1825 to the Great Fire of 1831 and the Great Flood of 1945, to the soldiers celebrating a Friday night payday in the pubs and bars, to the “ladies of the night” perusing Hay Street, to the 1980s’ transformation of Hay Street’s 400 and 500 blocks, to the civil rights protests of the early 1960s and the 2020 unrest at the Market House, to the tropical storms and hurricanes, which came our way.

And not to forget the Liberty Point Resolves.

“After years of working with Mr. Yarborough and seeing the keen attention he paid to the care of this tree, a permanent marker on the 250th anniversary is most appropriate,” Renee Lane said. “Now, the public can read about the history and lore behind this beautiful Virginia live oak.”

The stories the old oak could tell.

“Fayetteville’s strongest roots are there on the corner near the museum and the train station downtown,” said Charles Broadwell, nephew of Ramon Yarborough. “It’s such a great tree — really a living landmark.”

Bill Kirby Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent 49 years as a newspaper editor, reporter and columnist. He can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.

Ramon Yarborough

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International Folk Festival

BY CLAUDIA ZAMORA

There is something profoundly special about taking the streets to reclaim public space with music, flavor, laughter and community.

Fiestas en la Calle, part of the 47th International Folk Festival, is more than a celebration. It is a declaration of belonging during Hispanic Heritage Month.

For one day on Saturday, Sept. 27, sidewalks in downtown Fayetteville turn into rivers of joy. Families in colorful hats, children darting between flags and bubbles, drums echoing

in the distance like a heartbeat. Everything that makes our culture visible: food, dance, language, warmth, unfurls without restraint in the heart of the street.

Because yes, the street can be home too. A home when it is filled with empanadas and piñatas, with smiles and games. When the booths do not just offer food but also stories. And when moving from one stand to another feels like traveling from country to country without ever leaving North Carolina.

International Folk Festval 2018

Photo by Matthew Wonderly

This year, Fiestas en la Calle brings even more vibrancy to Festival Park with a special Latino Show from noon to 6 p.m.

The stage will come alive with a rich lineup of performers who carry the rhythms, colors, and heart of Latin America.

From folkloric dance troupes to salsa, bachata and live drumming, the music will become a passport to diverse traditions and unforgettable energy.

Families will also find joy in the Kids Zone, a space dedicated to laughter, games and creativity where the youngest can play, paint and dream while the music flows.

And of course, no fiesta is complete without sabor — flavor. Food trucks serving the best of Latino flavors will fill the park with aromas and stories. From empanadas and tacos to refreshing aguas frescas and sweet homemade desserts like flan! Every bite becomes a memory.

Here, the entire community takes center stage. Artists, entrepreneurs, moms selling homemade sweets, kids drumming for the very first time. Everything vibrates with soul.

And the most beautiful part is that it is not about impressing. It is about sharing.

Fiestas en la Calle reminds us that you do not need a stage to be part of the show.

All it takes is showing up, opening your heart, and letting identity speak for itself.

See you en la calle.

Claudia Zamora is an Argentinian writer, mental health and wellness coach, and director of the Sí! Spanish Immersion Institute at El Centro Hispano. She has lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, since 2011.

2025 FAYETTEVILLE, NC

‘Fall’ in love with Lafayette

BY DIANE PARFITT

“You, Sir, have been the stedfast friend of liberty, in every period of your life. In youth, you fought the battles of freedom; in age, you advocated the rights of man.” — Judge John Toomer from his welcome address to Lafayette on March 4, Carolina Observer, March 10, 1825.

Around this time last year, the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour, a national celebration, had just kicked off in New York City, so I wrote about some books on Lafayette for the September issue. This year, we're celebrating the 250th anniversary of our nation’s birth. It is impossible to talk about that without also talking about Lafayette and his role in our founding. So, here are six additional books worthy of your attention. Any one of them will help you understand why we are so lucky that Fayetteville was named after this hero of the American Revolution — a man who went on to become a worldwide symbol of liberty, justice and equality. My husband Hank Parfitt, past president of the Lafayette Society, was my inhouse consultant for this review.

1. Marquis de Lafayette and the French by Christine Dugan, (Grades 4–8)

Let’s start with our young readers and the leaders of tomorrow! This book includes primary source images, letters, photographs, newspaper articles and maps to introduce students to the extraordinary life of the Marquis and his relationship with George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. There are interactive challenges that will help readers learn more about the Marquis and France’s influence on the American Revolutionary War.

2. Lafayette and the American Revolution by Russell Freedman, (Grades 5–6)

Students can learn about the life of the French Marquis before he became a hero in the American Revolution. Born into wealth and nobility, he was a strong-willed teenager who defied the King of France to make his way to America to help us win the fight for freedom and liberty. He was granted a commission as major general by the Continental Congress, but quickly won the respect of his fellow officers. He played a pivotal role in the war and even convinced the French government to support the American patriots by sending troops, ships and money.

3. For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette, and Their Revolutions by James R. Gaines

Author James R. Gaines provides a detailed portrait of the close relationship between George Washington and Lafayette.

Washington bestowed an uncommon degree of trust and independence upon this young Frenchman, who fought as an American Major General in the Continental Army, and whose humility and willingness to learn belied his wealth and noble birth. This is an excellent book for readers to brush up on the history of the American Revolution and also understand a relationship that was vital to America gaining total support from France in order to win her independence. To some historians, the relationship between these two men almost seemed like a father-son relationship. That bond continued afterwards in their letters, as Washington cheered on Lafayette for attempting reform in France’s monarchy and, at the same time, worried about his safety as the French Revolution became more and more violent.

4. The Marquis: Lafayette Reconsidered by Laura Auricchio

Laura Auricchio’s book, published in 2014 and featured in The New York Times and other publications, is one of the very best books about Lafayette after the American Revolution. Its North Carolina debut was here in Fayetteville during the Lafayette Birthday Celebration that year.

In The Marquis, Auricchio reexamines Lafayette’s role on the world stage, especially during the tumult of the French Revolution, and why he is not as popular in his home country of France. Although he returned to France from America in 1781 as a national hero, by 1791, he had to escape to Austria to avoid almost certain guillotining. His attempts to find a middle ground between the radical Jacobins and the nobility earned him the enmity of both. Auricchio has given us a book that is both readable, informative and relatable. As she noted in an interview with the publisher in 2014, “Lafayette deserves to be commemorated in marble, but my book aims to depict him as a man of flesh and blood.”

5. Lafayette and the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell

In true Sarah Vowell style, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States gives us an accurate but irreverent telling of our nation’s fight for independence, and the idealistic young French nobleman determined to be a major player in that fight. Despite her somewhat outlandish portrayal of events — or possibly because of it — this book is a delightful way to learn about our history and the origins of its national identity. Her chapters on Lafayette’s Farewell Tour and the over-the-top enthusiasm with which he was welcomed are particularly relevant in view of Fayetteville’s recent celebration on the bicentennial of the tour, which drew visitors from all across North Carolina and from 8 different states.

6. Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825 by Auguste Levasseur

This is a detailed journal kept by Lafayette’s private secretary on his Farewell Tour of the United States in 1824-25. President James Monroe had invited the “Hero of Two Worlds” — a nickname given to Lafayette — to return to the country he helped found so that he could see its progress for himself. Editor Alan R. Hoffman, president of the American Friends of Lafayette, has provided us with the first translation of the entire journal into English. Levasseur gives the reader a remarkably clear vision

of life in America in the early 1800s — the climate, commerce and other characteristics of the states and cities they visited.

This book provides eye-witness accounts of Lafayette’s visit to all 24 states, and readers will enjoy looking up their hometown or places they have visited. A perfect companion to the book is a beautifully illustrated 18-month calendar that conveniently lists Lafayette’s whereabouts on every day of the year, available only at City Center Gallery & Books or online at friendsoflafayette.org. Although its “expiration date” is Dec. 31, the calendar remains a handy, quick-reference source and provides 18 beautiful images from some of America’s most famous artists.

As we begin the fall season in the month of September, let us celebrate Lafayette’s birthday while also learning more about him and his contributions to our freedom. There is no better time to do that than now, as we prepare to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Diane Parfitt owns City Center Gallery & Books in downtown Fayetteville. She can be reached at citycentergallerybooks@gmail.com.

THE TO-DO LIST

Here are just some of the things happening in and around Fayetteville this month. Scan the code with your phone for more events, additional information and to post your event on our website. Events are subject to change. Check before attending.

Sept. 8

Community Hurricane

Readiness: Weather the Storm with Confidence

Hope Mills Community Library 3411 Golfview Road, Hope Mills cumberland.librarycalendar.com

Sept. 9

Clark Park Nature Story Time: Leaves

Clark Park Nature Center 631 Sherman Drive cumberland.librarycalendar.com

Sept. 11

Family Art Night: Nature Wall Hangings

Cape Fear Botanical Garden 536 N. Eastern Blvd. capefearbg.org

Sept. 13

Mopars of Fayetteville 8th Annual First Responders Car, Truck, & Bike Show Crown Complex 1960 Coliseum Drive crowncomplexnc.com

Sept. 13

Football: Methodist University vs. Guilford

Monarch Stadium, Methodist University 5400 Ramsey St. methodist.edu

Sept. 16

Volleyball: FTCC vs. Lenoir CC

Horace Sisk Gymnasium

Fayetteville Technical Community College, 2208 Hull Road faytechcc.edu

Sept. 17

Free Haircuts! By FTCC’s Barbering Students

Tony Rand Student Center

Fayetteville Technical Community College, 2220 Hull Road faytechcc.edu

Sept. 18–21 and 25–28

Romeo & Juliet

Sweet Tea Shakespeare

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church 1601 Raeford Road sweetteashakespeare.com

Sept. 19–21

Women’s Tennis Fall Invitational Clayton Tennis Center Methodist University, 5400 Ramsey St. methodist.edu

Sept. 20

Total Eclipse of the Chart Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra

Seabrook Auditorium 1200 Murchison Road fayettevillesymphony.org

Sept. 20

North Carolina Taco Festival

Golfview Greenway 3644 Golfview Road, Hope Mills distinctlyfayettevillenc.com

Sept. 20

Heritage & Harvest Bourbon Showcase

Cape Fear Botanical Garden

536 N. Eastern Blvd. capefearbg.org

Sept. 20

2025 Sista Soul Fest NC

226 The Warehouse, 226 Donaldson St. distinctlyfayettevillenc.com

Sept. 20 & 21

Fayetteville Greek Festival 2025

Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 614 Oakridge Ave. distinctlyfayettevillenc.com

Sept. 22

Sip and Stroll

Lake Rim Park, 2214 Tar Kiln Drive fayettevillenc.gov/Parks-andRecreation

Sept. 26 & 27

47th Annual International Folk Festival

Arts Council of Fayetteville/ Cumberland County

Hay Street/Festival Park wearethearts.com

Sept. 26

4th Friday

Cool Spring Downtown District Downtown Fayetteville visitdowntownfayetteville.com

Sept. 27

World Ballet Company: Cinderella Crown Theatre, 1960 Coliseum Drive crowncomplexnc.com

Sept. 27

Football: FSU vs. Virginia State

Luther Nick Jeralds Football Stadium

Fayetteville State University 1200 Murchison Road fsubroncos.com

Sept. 27

Concert in Your Community!

Dvorák: New World Symphony

North Carolina Symphony Huff Concert Hall

Methodist University, 5400 Ramsey St. ncsymphony.org/events

Sept. 30

Volleyball: Methodist vs. Meredith Riddle Center

Methodist University, 5400 Ramsey St. methodist.edu

Sweet Tea Shakespeare Theater members perform during CityView's Food, Wine, and Art event at the Cape Fear Botanical Garden on Oct. 10, 2024. Photo by Tony Wooten

SEEN @ THE SCENE

Where the Wild Becomes Divine Opening Reception

The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County hosted an opening reception for the Where the Wild Becomes Divine art exhibition by artist Lady Natalia Perez Lozano at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1. Photography by Israel Anta of Cumberland Photos.

Want CityView at your event for Seen @ the Scene? Email us at cmalson@cityviewnc.com.

Zulay Lozano and Lady Natalia Perez Lozano

Carlos Tolentino and Danielle Vines

April Mata

Willie Wright

Angie Castro

Pam Carver and Curtis Carver

Lady Natalia Perez Lozano

Chanthini Sims

Samel Artiga

Rei-Launya Amsterdam and Alexandria Grady

Bob Pinson

Jalisa McCullough and Tequilla Washington

Meghan Bjerke and Jose David Ospina

Carlos Castilla and Megan Kenny

EARLY BIRD TICKETS THROUGH SEPT. 11

PRESENTS CITYVIEW MAGAZINE’S

FOOD, WINE & ART

OCTOBER 9, 2025 • 6 PM - 9 PM AT THE CAPE FEAR BOTANICAL GARDEN

Enjoy food and wine while strolling through the Cape Fear Botanical Garden and experience the magic of theater, dance, music and art.

Coordinated by the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County along with Cape Fear Botanical Garden SCAN FOR TICKETS

PROCEEDS BENEFITING THE NEWS FOUNDATION OF GREATER FAYETTEVILLE

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Husband and wife, Andre and Karen, fought cancer alongside each other. Naturally, cancer was a challenge, but Cape Fear Valley Cancer Center made sure they had everything they needed along the way.

Husband and wife, Andre and Karen, fought cancer alongside each other. Naturally, cancer was a challenge, but Cape Fear Valley Cancer Center made sure they had everything they needed along the way.

Husband and wife, Andre and Karen, fought cancer alongside each other. Naturally, cancer was a challenge, but Cape Fear Valley Cancer Center made sure they had everything they needed along the way.

“Cancer changes you, but it’s not the end of your journey,” said Andre.

“Cancer changes you, but it’s not the end of your journey,” said Andre.

“Cancer changes you, but it’s not the end of your journey,” said Andre.

Today, both Andre and Karen are cancer free and back to doing the things they love, like cooking and singing at their church.

Today, both Andre and Karen are cancer free and back to doing the things they love, like cooking and singing at their church.

Today, both Andre and Karen are cancer free and back to doing the things they love, like cooking and singing at their church.

Cape Fear Valley believes you shouldn’t have to travel far for cancer care. With two locations in Cumberland County and one in Harnett County, you’ll have access to the care and the support you need close to home.

Cape Fear Valley believes you shouldn’t have to travel far for cancer care. With two locations in Cumberland County and one in Harnett County, you’ll have access to the care and the support you need close to home.

Cape Fear Valley believes you shouldn’t have to travel far for cancer care. With two locations in Cumberland County and one in Harnett County, you’ll have access to the care and the support you need close to home.

Each of our cancer centers offers both medical and radiation oncology services and meets high-quality standards. We also offer supportive cancer services, including nutrition counseling, social services, art therapy and more.

Each of our cancer centers offers both medical and radiation oncology services and meets high-quality standards. We also offer supportive cancer services, including nutrition counseling, social services, art therapy and more.

cancer

Hear their full story and learn more: capefearvalley.com/cancer

Each of our cancer centers offers both medical and radiation oncology services and meets high-quality standards. We also offer supportive cancer services, including nutrition counseling, social services, art therapy and more.

Hear their full story and learn more: capefearvalley.com/cancer

Hear their full story and learn more: capefearvalley.com/cancer