CityView June 2024

Join us June 13 at Segra Stadium for the 2024 CityView Downtown Visionaries Luncheon recognizing our fourth class of those who had the foresight to help lead revitalization efforts of our downtown.

The event will include recognition of our 2024 honorees, a CSDD State of the District report by Bianca Shoneman and an update from Cumberland County on the Crown Event Center.

PRESENTING SPONSOR GOLD SPONSORS

Bianca Shoneman, president and CEO, Cool Spring Downtown District Inc.

Hank Parfitt has actively helped lead civic engagement and development downtown.

Eric Lindstrom is largely responsible for the protection of the unique look of downtown.

John Malzone has a long history of providing leadership to numerous organizations.

On the cover: 2024 Downtown Visionaries

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Inside Momma's Village Angela Tatum Malloy’s nonprofit redefines Black maternal support and advocacy for mothers.

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Architect of change Eric Lindstrom invests time, talents in city’s revitalization, returning the heart to downtown Fayetteville

John Malzone, Hank Parfitt, and Eric Lindstrom have been named this year’s CityView Downtown Visionaries In the fourth annual presentation of these awards, their innovative efforts and impactful projects have revitalized Fayetteville’s city center, making it a vibrant hub for all The award-winners will be honored at CityView's 2024 Downtown Visionaries luncheon June 13 at Segra Stadium Tickets are available at cityviewnc com Photo by Raul Rubiera 24

28 Dynamo develops downtown

John Malzone is a guiding force downtown thanks to his real estate expertise and civic involvement.

32 Men In Business Professional Profiles

36 Echoes of Hay Street Downtown Fayetteville's 110-year-old historic Kress building

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Heritage and pride Festival Park is this year’s hub for celebrations in downtown Fayetteville

Urban operation With his healing touch, the idealist with a vision Hank Parfitt is a driving force in reviving downtown Fayetteville

SPECIAL INSERT: The 2023 State of the District report

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IEDITOR’S TAKE

We have plenty of GOATs. We need a lot more champs. (And a healthy dose of passeggiata.)

BY BILL HORNER III, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

n a world of superlatives, there’s never a shortage of debates about who, or what, is the best.

The best of the best of the best, of course, are referred to as “the GOAT,” the acronym for greatest of all time. We love heroes, and GOATs provide aspirational measuring sticks for performance greatness.

But I’d argue that we, as mortals, are better served by those who qualify as champions

The CityView magazine edition you’re reading spotlights three of Fayetteville’s greatest of our time. Their respective individual greatness is measured tangibly in influence and impact. Yes, they’re GOATs. What makes them historically significant and memorable, though, isn’t what they did for themselves, but rather what they did within their respective spheres of influence to make life better — to raise the bar, to move the needle, to advance the cause, for the heart of Fayetteville.

They didn’t do it for personal gain, but for the betterment of a place and its people.

What Eric Lindstrom, John Malzone, and Hank Parfitt have accomplished has earned them CityView’s “Downtown Visionaries” honors for 2024. Reading their profiles in these pages, you’ll be struck — even if you know them — by the tenaciousness with which they strived to make their respective ideas become visible realities. They wanted the ball, wanted to make the play. Yet any scores they tallied added up to wins for Fayetteville. When others might have walked away from an opportunity to labor, Eric, John, and Hank championed the causes, and then led the charge and put hands to the work. Time and again they won the day for downtown Fayetteville, and by extension they lifted each of us — and anyone who spends time in the areas where their fruits are visible, regardless of whether they ever hear these men’s names.

So we tip our hat to Eric, for whom revitalization became a passion greater than a simple calling, and who put his expertise, his wallet, and his whole heart into the development of downtown Fayetteville to create an area where people would like to work and live. We salute John, a New Jersey transplant whose real estate chops and propensity to see things (particular physical structures) as they could be — not simply as they were — resulted in innumerable creative ways that added vitality to downtown. And we thank Hank, a healer by profession and a leader by nature, who recognized how the arts could add value and inspiration — making all of that a part of both the people and the place of downtown.

Please take time to read their profiles in the pages to come.

A serving of passeggiata

And speaking of time well spent: thinking of downtown makes me think of a tradition I’ve been reading about as my wife and I plan for a trip abroad. It goes by many names, but in Italy, it’s described as passeggiata — a leisurely stroll along the main street of a town. It’s a social ritual, often done before or after the evening meal, with delightful benefits: to see (and be seen), to aid your digestion, to indulge in some unscandalous gossip, or exchange news (or just smiles).

Properly done, there’s no real destination and no real rush.

We rarely indulge these days in what the Italians call dolce far niente, “the sweetness of doing nothing” or “sweet idleness.” We also connect with our neighbors far less than is good for us.

Try some passeggiata. June’s here. The sun sets late. Toss out the excuses and take a walk.

(And say “hi” to Eric, John, or Hank if you’re downtown — you’re likely to run into them.)

Bill Horner III is the executive editor of CityView. Contact him at bhorner@cityviewnc.com.

John Malzone, Eric Lindstrom, and Hank Parfitt will be honored at CityView's 2024 Downtown Visionaries luncheon June 13 at Segra Stadium Tickets are available at cityviewnc com Photo by Raul Rubiera

SOMEDAY YOU’LL THANK ME

You can always go downtown

BY MARY ZAHRAN

Have you ever heard “Downtown,” Petula Clark’s ode to downtowns everywhere? It was a huge hit when it was released in 1964, and I spent hours listening to the radio hoping to hear it so I could sing along. I think one reason for this song’s popularity, aside from Petula’s beautiful voice, was the promise that “things will be great when you’re downtown.” Who wouldn’t like a song with such optimistic lyrics?

The spirit of this song stayed with me through my teen years as I went downtown in my hometown of Rocky Mount to buy go-go boots and miniskirts that were all the rage. Decades later, I look back on this chapter of my life with amazement that I was ever able to fit into these clothes and that I had the nerve to wear them in public, subjecting others to my scantily clad body. My grandfather was appalled by my manner of dress, always asking me if I had forgotten the bottom half of my outfit. At the time, I thought he was hopelessly out of touch with fashion trends. I now realize he was a wise man with a wonderful sense of humor.

Those were the days when Carnaby Street, a shopping district in London, was the center of the fashion world, where celebrities like Twiggy were photographed strolling down the street wearing the latest mod clothing.

air of sophistication that was palpable. I, on the other hand, was short and full-figured (a euphemism for overweight), wore yoga pants everywhere, and generally had the look of a woman planning tonight’s dinner menu. Otherwise, we could have passed for twins.

One thing Audrey Hepburn would never have done while downtown or anywhere else for that matter was to drop all the contents of her purse while trying to figure out how to put money in a parking meter.

The first time I went downtown to meet some friends for lunch after the new parking meters had been installed, I rediscovered my inability to adapt to any changes in my routine. I had always gone downtown, found a convenient parking space, jumped out of the car, and gone about my business. This time, things were a bit more complicated.

Decades later, having left behind my hometown shops and the fantasy world of Carnaby Street, I was strolling down a street in downtown Fayetteville — which I now consider my hometown — after having lunch with my daughter. We walked slowly by the shops, taking time to stop and look in the windows to see the displays. As we passed by one window that had an especially bright reflection, I noticed a middle-aged, slightly plump woman looking straight at me. Holy mackerel! Was that my reflection I was looking at and not another woman?

How could this be? I always thought if I strolled down the street with sunglasses on, my posture absolutely perfect, someone might think I was Audrey Hepburn playing the role of Holly Golightly and gazing at the window displays in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

The only differences between us were that Audrey Hepburn was tall and slender, wore exquisite designer dresses, and exuded an

While I understand Fayetteville’s need to generate revenue to pay for city services, I didn’t know I would need a tutorial for how to use this new machine. Between searching for a pen and some paper to write down my license number and inserting cash into the slot, I managed to spill the contents of my purse.

Like the glass that tips over and spills enough water to fill an ocean, my purse released enough items to stock a drugstore. I saw tubes of lipstick, combs, tissues, cough drops, and notepads scattered all over the ground. Cursing this new machine, I gathered my things, paid for two hours of parking, and joined my friends.

It would take a lot more than a scary reflection in a window and a cantankerous parking meter to keep me from coming downtown. There are too many interesting shops and great restaurants to enjoy, not to mention Segra Stadium and the U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum. We have come quite a long way in developing the downtown area in the 41 years I have lived here.

I do have one piece of advice for shoppers: Just make sure you don’t spend too much time looking in windows, especially the ones with bright reflections. You never know who might be looking back at you.

Mary Zahran, who couldn’t fit into a miniskirt if her life depended on it, can be reached at maryzahran@ gmail.com.

Congratulations, Class of 2024!

The Class of 2024 has demonstrated remarkable strength, beginning their high school experience during a global pandemic. This year’s seniors are not just graduating; they are moving forward with impressive credentials. Many have already earned associate degrees or amassed dozens of college credits. Their post-graduation paths are as diverse as they are ambitious, spanning Ivy League schools, universities in the UNC system, community colleges, military academies, various branches of the military and direct entries into the workforce with valuable credentials.

Marjorie Jackson A. B. Wilkins High

Genna Horne

Cape Fear High

Talon Alexander

Cross Creek Early College

Cameron Bebeau

Cumberland Academy (6-12)

O'Shea Shephard

Cumberland Int'l Early

College

Meredith Wenthur

Cumberland Polytechnic High

Jayla Foxx

Douglas Byrd High

Bryan Tillman E.E. Smith High

Maleia Leigh Gray's Creek High

Alexandra Zitterich

Jack Britt High

Elizabeth Gross

Massey Hill Classical High

Madison McDaniel

Pine Forest High

Khedrae McDowell

Reid Ross Classical High

Heaven-Alexa Parker

Seventy-First High

Emily Haynes

South View High

Victoria Morrison

Terry Sanford High

Jayla Harper

Westover High

FAMILY MATTERS

Drink up, Buttercup

BY CLAIRE MULLEN

Idon’t really recall drinking a whole lot of water over the course of my childhood. I do, however, distinctly remember the two-liter bottle of Pepsi that had its own designated spot on the kitchen counter in my family’s home, and was perpetually replenished.

There were also copious amounts of Lipton tea, brewed fresh by my Mama every single evening, and poured into a ceramic pitcher, already half-full of white sugar, that was passed around the supper table without fail.

In the hot summer months, we kids would come inside from playing only long enough to ration the powder from one packet of grape Kool-Aid between four plastic cups. We’d plop in a few ice cubes, fill our cups to the brim with sink water, guzzle our concoction, and venture back outside.

And then there were the special occasion drinks: cherry and Coke swirled Icees from the gas station as a reward for a good report card; root beer floats to accompany popcorn on family movie nights; eggnog at Christmas time; syrupy fruit punch at friends’ birthday parties; special reserve ginger ale for sick days; and, much to the delight of a 10-year-old girl eager to join the ranks at the grown-up’s table for dessert on Thanksgiving, “coffee” (a mug of sweetened milk with a splash of joe).

my elementary-aged children and their peers — take their hydration. Water receptacles travel with them everywhere, much like security blankets in stainless steel form.

If you see anyone under age 15 out and about, I can almost guarantee that there is a Hydro Flask, Yeti, Stanley, or trademark green-andorange Gatorade squirt-top bottle somewhere on their person.

My 7- and 10-year-olds get thirsty on the 2.9-mile drive to Harris Teeter. They keep water cups on their bedside tables, their bathroom counters, and maybe another one stashed somewhere else in case of a dehydration emergency on the long journey from the upstairs to our kitchen. They have designated personal water containers for dance, soccer, school, and baseball. It’s a phenomenon, really.

But water? The life-sustaining liquid that makes up roughly 60% of our bodies, significantly impacts our sleep, energy level, cognition, and mood, regulates our body temperature, improves digestive and muscle function, flushes out toxins, etc.? Nah.

I truly do have a hard time bringing to memory times when I drank any significant amount of water during my first 18 years of life, aside from the few sips from a paper Dixie cup I’d take after brushing my teeth, a couple swigs from the communal cooler during halftime of a soccer game, or gulps of lukewarm H2O from the rusty nozzle of my grandparent’s garden hose. Never once do I recall taking a water bottle along with me to school or any extracurricular activity.

Twenty years later, I’m happy to report that I survived, against all odds, years of long-term water deprivation. In fact, although I still haven’t kicked my two-cups-a-day coffee habit or my occasional hankering for a cold Diet Coke, I’ve developed into quite the faithful water drinker.

Am I consuming the recommended eight glasses a day? Probably not. But, it’s safe to say that the daily mealtime sweet tea has been replaced.

And these days, I marvel at how seriously the next generation —

I recently listened to my own daughter plead her case as to why it would be perfectly reasonable for us to purchase as one of her Christmas gifts a (non-leak proof) virally trending $45 tumbler, heavy enough to double as a dumbbell, able to contain the same amount of water that I consumed in my entire childhood, and unable to fit in any of the compartments of her backpack. I had to take a pause.

When I asked her why she felt like it would be a good idea to blow through a good chunk of our gift budget on a glorified cup, she responded without pause, “Because, Mom! It will help me to drink more water, and water is super important for basically everything about your health.” Who can really argue with that?

And so, these days, my 4th grader hauls her gargantuan Stanley water bottle around with her basically everywhere. She faithfully fills it each morning with crushed ice and filtered water, and replenishes it when she gets home from school, and again at dinnertime, sometimes even adding fancy touches like lemon wedges, mint leaves, or cucumber slices.

While I still don’t quite get the whole trendy water bottle craze, I have to admit that if I had a thirst that needed to be quenched, a gulp of rust-tinged, tepid hose water would have a mighty hard time holding a candle to a 30-ounce insulated tumbler full of citrusinfused, ice-cold, reverse osmosis H2O.

The moral of my story is this: drink your water, people. All the cool kids are doing it. It’s apparently super important for basically everything about your health.

Claire Mullen, who firmly believes that while water is good for your body, sweet tea is good for your soul, can be reached at clairejlmullen@gmail.com.

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DOWNTOWN MATERNAL EMPOWERMENT

Inside Momma’s Village

Amid health disparities, Angela Tatum Malloy’s nonprofit redefines Black maternal support and advocacy for mothers, babies in the heart of downtown

BY TERI SAYLOR | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHARI WELLS

Angela Tatum Malloy rolls up her sleeves to reveal tattoos written in curling cursive on each arm. One reads “determination” and the other reads “persistence.”

“This two-word mantra is what I live by and it serves as a reminder to people that I’m not leaving until I do what I set out to do,” she said on a spring afternoon in her downtown Fayetteville office.

As the founder and executive director of Momma’s Village, a nonprofit collective devoted to maternal care, Angela is

determined to improve health outcomes for Black mothers and their infants through breastfeeding education and doula care. She is also training a network of lactation consultants and doulas to reach more women who need maternity support.

Launched just eight years ago, Momma’s Village is already making a difference in the lives of new mothers and is a vibrant presence in Fayetteville’s colorful downtown scene.

“We are building a cohort of women who want to practice birth care in their communities,” Angela said. “This is not me doing it alone, many others are helping

advance our mission.”

One of those women is Regine Lesane. Regine was already well into her pregnancy in 2022 when she realized she needed support. As a first-time mom, she didn’t know what to expect and felt she wasn’t getting enough information from her health care provider.

Angela Tatum Malloy is the founder and executive director of Momma’s Village

Jasmine Johnson provides toddler nutrition advice to Regine Lesane at Momma's Village

“Angela and my other doula, Jasmine Johnson, prepared me for the delivery of my daughter, Jordyn, and helped with her birth,” she said. “I was in my third trimester when I learned about Momma’s Village, and my experience was kind of rushed but I learned a lot.”

Today, Jordyn is an energetic 18-monthold toddler with an engaging personality. On a warm day in April, she was happily blowing kisses to anyone available to catch them and blow them back.

Regine, 30, became so enamored with Momma’s Village that she has become a certified doula, too. She has contracted with the UNC Health System and is preparing to start working in Moore and Cumberland counties. But it’s not just her personal experiences that drew her in. Regine has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in health care administration and is a certified medical assistant at Cape Fear Medical Center.

For Regine, her work with Momma’s Village is just the beginning.

“Since I am already working in the medical field, I plan to take my doula certification a step further and become a midwife,” she said.

It started with breastfeeding support

Angela, 54, admits she hated science in school and never imagined she would forge a career in health care. Instead, she turned to business and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Fayetteville State University, focusing on accounting.

In a roundabout way, it was Angela’s own experience as a mom to five children that led her to become a doula, starting with her oldest daughter, who was having problems breastfeeding her newborn. Despite receiving guidance from Angela, her daughter visited a lactation consultant who gave the same advice that Angela had provided.

That visit sparked an idea.

Angela joined a local support group for Black women who breastfeed and discovered she had a talent for sharing her expertise. She enrolled in the Pathway 2 Lactation Consulting Training Program at the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute at UNC where she studied and passed an exam to earn an International Board of Lactation Consultants credential.

“I knew Angela was going to be a mover and a shaker, and I knew she was going to do great things in her community,” said CGBI director Catherine Sullivan. “When she started Momma’s Village, she offered a Pathway 3 [Mentorship] program to train others in her community to become certified lactation consultants.” Then Angela took her education program one step further.

“I’ve always had a goal to be the central hub of knowledge and information about Black women breastfeeding, and I started getting calls asking if I offered doula services,” she said. “But I didn’t know what a doula was.”

She learned a doula is a trained professional who provides information as well as physical and emotional support to pregnant women before, during, and shortly after childbirth to help them have a healthy and gratifying experience.

After receiving doula training through HealthConnect One, a national organization that offers education and support for community birth workers, Angela began providing full birth care services. She began training other doulas in 2018.

Community doulas fill health care gaps

Today, Momma’s Village provides community-based doulas who perform all the typical birth care services, and help new mothers navigate other local resources, such as mental health support, food needs, transportation, and childcare.

She also focuses on helping local communities alleviate high maternal and infant mortality rates, preterm births, and other issues, like racial disparities and implicit biases in health care services, which disproportionately impact Black mothers, according to a study published by MDPI’s scientific, peer-reviewed journal Healthcare. Studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that in 2021, Black women had a significantly higher likelihood of dying during pregnancy or right after giving birth than white women in the U.S. The maternal mortality rate for Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 26.6 deaths among white women.

Their babies don’t fare much better. Mortality rates for Black newborns are 10.6 deaths per 1,000 births, compared to 4.36 deaths

per 1,000 births among white babies, according to the CDC. Prenatal care is key to improving these statistics, said Dr. Jennifer Green, director of the Cumberland County Department of Public Health. But compounding the problem is the shortage of OB-GYN providers.

“Physician shortages delay prenatal care for women, and we’ve had lots of conversations with the folks at the hospital, our doula providers, and the Cumberland County Partnership for Children, around how to address this challenge our community is facing,” Green said. “Doulas can be a big part of improving maternity health outcomes in communities because we know women who have a doula are more likely to get prenatal care.”

Diara Fitzgerald, 26, lives in Moore County and is the mother of two daughters ages 3 and 16 months. After giving birth to her oldest daughter, she was having trouble breastfeeding, and her pediatrician referred her to Momma’s Village for lactation support.

“Angela taught me different positions to help make my baby comfortable,” Diara said. “I learned about how to pay attention to my baby’s feeding cues and that breastfeeding should not be a stressful situation.”

Diara is now using those instructions to help her feed her younger daughter and credits Angela for helping her understand the role of maternal health.

“I would say wherever you are in your journey, you’ll be heard and accepted at Momma’s Village,” she said.

Last March, Angela’s own daughter Taylor Johnson, 30, gave birth to her fifth child, a baby girl named Nori. Angela was Taylor’s doula. Taylor suffers from postpartum depression and says she can’t imagine what she would have done without doula support when she returned home after Nori was born.

“It makes a difference to actually have someone available to give you a break and help you when you feel overwhelmed,” Taylor said. Taylor, who has completed her doula training and plans to open a practice when Nori is a little older, has her eye on becoming a nurse.

Immersed in downtown culture

With Momma’s Village, Angela is an engaged member of Fayetteville’s business community, always seeking new resources, opportunities for partnerships, and ways to promote healthy moms and babies.

She’s part of a monthly task force with the Cumberland County Department of Public Health to establish connections in the community, facilitate childbirth and breastfeeding classes, and participate in community health fairs.

She is also active in the monthly “Coffee with the Mayor” meetings, an initiative started by Mayor Mitch Colvin, which brings nonprofit organizations together and opens avenues for collaboration.

On Aug. 26, 2019, Mayor Mitch Colvin proclaimed the City of Fayetteville as a Breastfeeding Friendly City and in 2022, Colvin proclaimed the week of March 29 through April 4 as Community Based Doula Week. A native of Fayetteville, Angela says she loves the downtown community and rarely misses an opportunity to participate in downtown happenings, ranging from wine walks to 4th Friday events and festivals.

Momma’s Village occupies offices on the second floor of a historic building on the corner of Hay and Donaldson streets. The space resembles a spa, featuring soft lighting, original artwork, and

Angela performs an oral exam on 7-week-old Nori Sanchez before assisting Nori's mother Taylor Johnson with nursing advice

comfortable furniture. One room is devoted to baby services, and another is an apothecary where Angela sells vitamins, organic ciders, and syrups, including her popular elderberry syrup, a powerful antioxidant, used to bolster the immune system. It’s an inviting place where mothers are welcome to nurse their babies and change diapers.

“The downtown businesses have been wonderful in supporting me,” she said. “Anytime we sponsor an event, our fellow business owners help advertise it, support our work, and make downtown a real community.”

Molly Arnold, owner of the colorful Rude Awakening Coffee House on Hay Street, applauds Angela’s zeal and willingness to speak up on behalf of women.

“I think her dedication to the welfare and health care for pregnant Black moms is vital,” Molly said. “It’s great having her downtown, where she shares her clients with the rest of us.”

She recalls a Halloween event a few years ago that featured a pumpkin decorating contest. Angela decorated her pumpkins and arranged them so the large ones appeared to be nursing the small ones.

Last January, Angela joined the 100 Professional Black Women in Black photoshoot to celebrate Fayetteville’s ranking as the sixth best place in the U.S. for Black-owned businesses.

And in 2023, she was named USA Today’s Woman of the Year in North Carolina.

A powerful organization for the community

Mary Hinson, a Fayetteville relationship counselor and owner of Live Well Counseling Solutions, is part of the Momma’s Village community. She provides mental health counseling for new moms and works through her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, to provide support in other ways, including advocacy.

Mary calls Momma’s Village a powerful and transformative organization for the community. She supports efforts to enact state and federal laws that would make life easier for expectant mothers, such as expanding Medicaid to cover services like doula care and lactation support, establishing and funding a Maternal Mortality Prevention Grant Program, and establishing implicit bias training for health

care professionals who work in perinatal care. Legislation has been introduced in the N.C. General Assembly’s 2023-24 legislative session to support these services.

Mary says collaborating with Angela and Momma’s Village makes her feel stronger and more knowledgeable.

“I can go to her or tap into her resources for support, just like she can come to me for help locating mental health services for her clients,” she said. “More hands make

the work lighter, and I’m always a big fan of collaboration.”

Diara Fitzgerald has joined fellow Momma’s Village clients Regine and Taylor in completing doula training and is working toward starting her own practice. All three moms personify how Angela’s work is paying off.

“I feel like I’ve come full circle,” Diara said. “Angela has become an important part of my story.”

Join us June 13 at Segra Stadium for the 2024 CityView Downtown Visionaries Luncheon recognizing our fourth class of those who had the foresight to help lead revitalization efforts of our downtown.

The event will include recognition of our 2024 honorees, a CSDD State of the District report by Bianca Shoneman and an update from Cumberland County on the Crown Event Center.

PRESENTING SPONSOR GOLD SPONSORS

Bianca Shoneman, president and CEO, Cool Spring Downtown District Inc.

Hank Parfitt has actively helped lead civic engagement and development downtown.

Eric Lindstrom is largely responsible for the protection of the unique look of downtown.

John Malzone has a long history of providing leadership to numerous organizations.

John Malzone, Eric Lindstrom, and Hank Parfitt will be honored at CityView's 2024 Downtown Visionaries luncheon, June 13 at Segra Stadium. Photo by Raul Rubiera.

Architect of change

Eric Lindstrom invests time, talents in city’s revitalization, returning the heart to downtown Fayetteville

BY JAMI MCLAUGHLIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAUL RUBIERA

As any architect knows, it takes a dream, a vision, and a plan to design buildings. And eventually it takes the wherewithal to actually begin construction.

That’s where Eric Lindstrom started to help shape downtown Fayetteville into what it is today. As one of the first movers and shakers in the revitalization of downtown, Eric enlisted friends and colleagues in renovating buildings, and even got on ladders himself to help transform dilapidated and crumbling shells of buildings into functional and attractive structures with award-winning designs.

Without Eric, downtown may not have the Cameo Art House Theatre, the Robert C. Williams Business Center (which replaced the historic LaFayette Hotel), or any of the other renovated buildings that now line Hay Street and the district’s adjacent streets. Eric’s vision and knowledge has helped the buildings spring back up to life through his architecture firm SfL+a Architects and his personal journey to purchase and renovate downtown buildings.

For his efforts, Eric is being recognized June 13 as one of CityView Magazine’s 2024 Downtown Visionaries honorees.

A true visionary

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, Eric moved to Fayetteville in 1992 after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As he considered staying in Fayetteville, the notion of playing a role in revitalizing the city’s core began to percolate, even though at the time downtown featured plenty of abandoned and boarded-up buildings.

“Friends thought I had lost my mind,” he recalled. “When I first came to Fayetteville, I was directed with a route that did not have me going through downtown despite my known love for downtown areas. It was just the way it was then.”

During Eric’s first weekend in Fayetteville, he met John Malzone, Bill and Dawn Hester, and others who were working on buildings downtown.

Eric Lindstrom will be honored at CityView's 2024 Downtown Visionaries luncheon June 13 at Segra Stadium. Tickets available at cityviewnc.com.

“I met John as he was working on Person Street and he took me up on a rooftop to meet the Hesters who were working on another building on Hay Street,” Eric said. It also was then that he saw the first building he would buy two years later at 240 Hay St. in 1995, across from what is now the Cameo Art House Theatre and Rude Awakening Coffee House on Hay Street.

At the time, Eric says he was the first one to put glass back in the storefront windows during the renovation of his first building. He brought other architects to Fayetteville, like Chris and Nasim Kuenzel, with whom he partnered to renovate the Cameo in 1998, and Gordon Johnson, who designed the overlook, the Wyatt Visitors Pavilion Complex and the Children’s Tower at Cape

Fear Botanical Garden, along with the Fayetteville Area Transportation Museum Annex. Both the Kuenzels and Johnson started their own firms in Fayetteville.

Making legislative change

Eric was also responsible for drafting significant City of Fayetteville ordinances that had a huge impact in protecting downtown buildings in Fayetteville from disrepair and neglect, and allowing residents to live downtown.

“It was around 1994 and residential living was not allowed downtown,” Eric said. “I went before the city council and they removed the barriers so we could create lofts and living spaces downtown.”

Other significant elements that Eric helped draft were the “Boarded Up Windows” and “Demolition by Neglect” ordinances that allowed the City of Fayetteville to cite property owners for abandoned structures. The “Boarded Up Windows” ordinance that passed around 1999 gave property owners three to six months to take boards off the windows, he said, and even galvanized metal barn tin roofing off storefronts.

“This created a new face for downtown,” Eric said.

He said around a third of properties downtown had changed hands by that point.

“That’s when new investors such as the Parfitts and others came in,” Eric said. “It was a fine of $100 a day if they didn’t take down the boards and siding off, and some of the old owners didn’t want to deal with the work needed when downtown had been neglected for so long.”

Eric also said that was when the City of Fayetteville and the Public Works Commission wanted to bring in light fixtures that were not appropriate for the historic downtown revitalization efforts as they would not reflect the design and character of the district. Although the street poles would have brought functional light, they would not have created the visual interest and aesthetic appeal for the downtown revitalization plan, Eric said.

“We created a downtown streetscape plan and the lights were done on Person Street with the same fixtures from Hay Street,” Eric said. “We made design guidelines for downtown.”

Eric and his partners Chris and Nasim Kuenzel renovated the Cameo Art House Theatre in 1998

The design guidelines took into account the historical architecture of the district and included site and setting instructions with rules for lighting, signage, and paving as well as exterior changes for paint, color, building materials, and storefronts.

The demolition by neglect ordinance to hold property owners accountable for repairs and maintenance was needed after the boards came off the windows.

“If a building was collapsing on itself, we had to figure out a way to protect the building and motivate others to help,” Eric said. “We were putting it all out there. People were investing.”

Revitalized downtown events scene

Eric served on the city’s Historic Resources Commission for eight years. He was also on the boards for the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County and the Cape Fear Regional Theatre for several years.

Deborah Mintz, former executive director of the Arts Council of Fayetteville/ Cumberland County, met Eric 30 years ago when she was the associate director at Cape Fear Regional Theatre. She says Eric came here as a young architect and fell in love with the community.

“He saw extraordinary potential here,” Deborah said.

Deborah said the office space on Burgess Street that Eric’s business SfL+a Architects built was so impressive that the Leadership Fayetteville classes of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber put it on their tour. Leadership Fayetteville is a nine-month professional leadership and development program, which engages participants in experiences that help them become better community leaders.

“It was one of the coolest spaces around and showed how wonderful an adaptive reuse space could be. It was built out of the original gym of the FILI Armory,” Deborah said of what Eric and his associates did with the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry Armory. “We said it was a perfect example of if you dream it, this is what could happen.”

Eric was one of the early business owners to contribute to the expansion of 4th Fridays, which brings thousands of people downtown every month, she said.

“When we started 4th Fridays, it was just art galleries,” Deborah said. “But he allowed for further density of creative experience when he offered up his walls to hang art and

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opened his doors for refreshments. This is one small example for someone who has done so much. He said, ‘I love it and I love what it can be.’

“He put his expertise, wallet, and whole heart into the development of downtown Fayetteville,” she said.

And Eric’s legacy doesn’t just include the Cameo Art House Theatre. His work as an owner and design director with SfL+a Architects has helped shape other parts of downtown, including Festival Park, Market Square, the internationally award-winning parking deck on Franklin Street, and the Huske Hardware House brewing company.

“If our firm hasn’t renovated it, we’ve walked through and done a site plan,” Eric said.

Eric’s social impact

Jan Johnson and Pat Wright, owners of Moonlight Communications, SkyView on Hay, and the Rainbow Room, also laud Eric’s influence on downtown.

“If you see it downtown and it’s cool, then Eric probably had a hand in it,” Pat said.

Jan said she and Pat were inspired by Eric’s work and his love of historic preservation.

“The reason we bought our building [Rainbow Room] is he promised to hold our hands the entire time,” Jan said. “He partnered with us every step of the way.”

Pat and Jan eventually won three Carraway Awards of Merit through Preservation North Carolina for the restoration of the Rainbow Room and Hotel in 2003 and SkyView on Hay in 2016. A third Carraway Award of Merit was for their documentary “After the Dust Settles” in 2008.

They say it was Eric’s willingness to show his renovated building to anyone who wanted to see it, his loft, and his shared knowledge and expertise that not only helped them, but also others, make downtown a better place.

“His campaign was to get people to work and live downtown,” Jan said.

Eric and his husband Kennon Jackson met in Washington, D.C., 16 years ago and have made a home in the loft renovated by Eric. Jackson serves as the chief of staff at the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, where Eric also served on the board for several years. Eric also chaired the first downtown Public Arts Committee for the

first three years.

Eric’s latest project is “Act 2” for Cape Fear Regional Theatre, which will add more space and capacity for a growing number of productions, camps, and classes. The new addition to the theater will include two new education studios, an updated lobby with a coffee shop/bar, and a rooftop cabaret space, its Managing Director Ella Wrenn told CityView. It’s breaking ground this month.

“We knew when we started sketching the theater that we first wanted to make the lobby more welcoming, then I suggested taking advantage of the roof and it grew from there,” Eric said.

Cape Fear Regional Theatre Artistic Director Mary Kate Burke calls Eric a phenomenal artist and the vision behind the new facility.

“His eye, his knowledge of the arts, his thoughtful and methodical approach to design, and, most importantly, his dedication to the arts and the nonprofit community are unparalleled,” Mary Kate said. “It is truly a gift to be able to imagine and envision something where it doesn’t exist, but it’s remarkable to make those visions come to fruition.”

It is the experience of seeing those visions come to life that Eric considers part of his greatest works. Among his myriad accomplishments, renovating a park gazebo in a neighborhood of his old hometown of St. Petersburg is one of the things he is most proud of in his career.

“As an architect, it is more than just buildings,” Eric said. “It’s seeing a new quality of life. That gazebo now houses Santa every Christmas and more. It’s making a difference.”

He feels the same way about SfL+a Architects sponsoring the fireworks display at A Dickens Holiday celebration, which brought a backdrop to the candlelight procession and became a tradition for the annual event.

Eric said he is looking forward to what is coming next with a new generation of business owners bringing fresh ideas for downtown.

“Being here in Fayetteville has given me so many opportunities,” Eric said. “It has been fun to come up with things that are new and being able to think creatively. Everything changes and change is good.”

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Urban operation

With his healing touch, the idealist with a vision and retired doctor Hank Parfitt is a driving force in reviving downtown Fayetteville

BY GARY MANGUM | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAUL RUBIERA

Hank Parfitt is an idealist. He’s also pragmatic and a man of vision.

Hank, a Durham native, came to Fayetteville in 1982 and joined Dr. William Jordan at Fayetteville Urology. As a physician, Hank cared for his patients, but also developed a desire to do more in the community.

“The people in Fayetteville I found to be warm and incredibly generous,” Hank told CityView. “We discovered downtown and saw a spark of life.”

In the 1990s, he and his wife Diane Parfitt began playing a role in revitalizing downtown Fayetteville, opening City Center Gallery on Maxwell Street in 1999.

They didn’t take baby steps. They jumped in head first.

They moved to Hay Street in 2003 and renamed the business “City Center Gallery & Books” after doing a complete top-to-bottom restoration of an 1890s building that last housed Sally’s Wigs. In 2014, they began living in an apartment upstairs.

By 1999, Hank was serving on the steering committee that founded the city’s Downtown Development Corporation. In 2000, he helped found the Downtown Alliance, a merchants’ organization promoting historic downtown Fayetteville. He also helped create A Dickens Holiday, a long-lasting local tradition, with former Arts Council of Fayetteville/ Cumberland County Executive Director Deborah Mintz, that same year. In 2005, he joined the Lafayette Society, an organization honoring the Marquis de Lafayette, for whom the city is named; he served as president from 2010-22.

On June 13, Hank, 75, will receive a CityView Magazine Downtown Visionary Award, an honor that recognizes people who have made a difference in Fayetteville’s downtown community.

A passion for downtown

“Like most people, you don’t do it for the reward,” said Hank, who retired as a physician in January 2015. “You do it because you care about it. You have a passion for whatever it is.”

Others see that passion.

Hank saw downtown’s potential, said Deborah, who was with the Arts Council for 25 years, the last 17 of which as executive director.

“As a doctor, he decided that he was going to heal our downtown,” Deborah said.

Determination is another trait.

Hank's proudest accomplishment as former president of the Lafayette Society was the makeover of the Lafayette statue in Cross Creek Linear Park.

Pat Wright is co-owner of Groundswell Pictures, which she founded with Jan Johnson in 2014 and is located on the same block as City Center Gallery & Books. Pat characterized Hank as someone with a “never-say-die attitude.”

“What makes him a visionary is that he could see through the broken glass and envision what it [downtown] could be,” Pat said. “We’ve just always been enthused by his tackling of any job. His energy never wavers.”

How his downtown efforts started Fourth Friday, created by Deborah and the Arts Council, was the first downtown event that drew Hank’s attention.

“There were only about four or five venues,

but you could go from one to the other and have wine and walk on the street under the streetlights and feel safe,” Hank said. “The main thing is you would feel like, ‘Wow, this is kind of like a city.’ We said, ‘This is so cool and we want to be a part of it.’”

Fourth Friday has morphed into much more, Hank said.

“Over time businesses opened up and people saw opportunity and we started seeing a change in the demographics,” Hank said.

The crowd got younger, more diverse, and more vibrant.

“You no longer had to wait for 4th Friday for a busy weekend downtown,” he said.

As more businesses settled downtown, Hank and his friend, Dr. Franklin Clark,

were among those who created the Downtown Development Corporation (DDC), a now desolved organization that helped downtown’s early development. Clark suggested that the downtown business owners needed to band together, Hank said.

So they began recruiting other downtown stakeholders to form the Downtown Alliance.

“He said they need to be organized so they can have a voice,” Hank said. “So I took the suggestion seriously and walked around and knocked on doors and basically visited every single business downtown and invited everyone to join us, to be a part of the revitalization.”

In its first year, the Downtown Alliance had 80 members, he said.

Hank and his wife Diane in their apartment above City Center Gallery and Books.

A Dickens Holiday

Another major success was A Dickens Holiday, which he and Deborah developed as a way to bring shoppers downtown on the day after Thanksgiving as an alternative to the malls. A Dickens Holiday, developed with the help of Arts Council staff, Downtown Alliance merchants, and numerous volunteers, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

“The whole point was the arts can be a stimulus to economic growth,” Hank said. “Well, in that first year, there were 4,000 people downtown.”

It’s what Hank considers his most meaningful volunteer accomplishment.

“The most important thing about A Dickens Holiday is the magical way it makes ‘A Christmas Carol’ come to life in our downtown,” he said. “Everywhere you turn, you see examples of kindness, good cheer, and respect for one another on that day.”

Honoring Lafayette

Hank is part of another celebration being planned for Fayetteville in March 2025: the Bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour of 1824-25 when the French hero of the Revolutionary War, whose role as a major general helped the Continental Army defeat the British, toured the United States.

Hank is chair of Fayetteville’s Bicentennial Committee.

“[Lafayette] was hugely popular because he was a worldwide symbol of liberty, justice, and equality,” said Hank, who is the first vice president of the American Friends of Lafayette, a national organization based at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. “In the big cities, crowds were over a hundred thousand that came out to see him. Imagine what the population was then compared to now. That’s like rock star numbers, Taylor Swift numbers.”

The celebration begins in New York in August 2024.

“[Hank] is really, really impressed with the ideals of the Marquis de Lafayette,” said Gwenesta Melton, a retired rheumatologist and president of the Lafayette Society. “He preaches it and he absolutely is energized to help foster wonderful, positive things for the city.”

Hank said his proudest accomplishment as former president of the Lafayette Society was the makeover of the Lafayette statue in

Cross Creek Linear Park on Green Street. The statue of Lafayette wasn’t very accessible, he said. So the Lafayette Society installed a brick stage around the front side of the statue in 2013 and a brick performance stage around the other side in 2021.

“The park is downtown, and it is a lasting contribution that will benefit all the citizens in the city and Cumberland County for many years to come,” he said. “It’s literally transformed Cross Creek Park into a welcoming space.”

A partnership

Hank’s biggest supporter is his wife of 54 years, Diane. They have two grown children, Nicole and Matthew.

Diane, 78, has been a pediatric nurse, nurse educator, and volunteer.

“Diane’s been right there with me. She very willingly embraced everything I’ve done downtown,” Hank said. “She has tremendous experience in the volunteer world, which I did not have.

“As a surgeon, you’re not working with volunteers, you’re working with paid professionals. She really helped me learn how to negotiate the volunteer world.”

Fayetteville’s future

As for Fayetteville’s future, Hank sees promise.

A proposed new performing arts center along with a downtown hotel would be “a winning combination,” he said.

“Our greatest need is an individual or an organization dedicated solely to

economic development in the downtown,” Hank said. “So much of what you see in downtown Fayetteville now is a result of the foundational work by the Downtown Development Corporation and the Downtown Alliance working together with the city during the decade after 1999.

“And vital to that were private citizens willing to invest their savings in a downtown business,” he said. “However, we no longer have a DDC or any other organization directing downtown’s development in a purposeful way.”

Success starts with people, Hank said.

“Trying to get everybody pulling in the same direction can be extremely challenging,” Hank said, emphasizing the respect he has for his fellow downtown business people who are passionate about the city and want to do what they can to improve it

“They’re idealistic. I’ve always been a sucker for idealists,” he added.

Those fellow business owners can count on Hank.

“His passion for downtown is so apparent,” said Elaine Kelley, owner of Turner Lane, a gift shop on Hay Street. “He will not ask someone to do something that he won’t do himself.”

Or as his wife Diane says, “He hasn’t slowed down a bit.”

And he has no plans to.

“We love Fayetteville,” Hank said. “It has been a great place to raise a family. And moving downtown may be the best thing we ever did.”

Dynamo develops downtown

From soldier to city savant, John Malzone is a guiding force downtown thanks to his real estate expertise and civic involvement

BY EMILY BROWN | PHOTOGRAPHY RAUL RUBIERA

It was a parade by definition. But all the pomp and circumstance, all the bells and whistles and frills one might expect from a Christmas procession were conspicuously absent from the 1971 promenade through the streets of Fayetteville.

John Malzone, a self-described Yankee who’d moved to the South only a few years before, took notice.

“It was pathetic,” he said, recounting that early ’70s edition as not much more than a few pickup trucks, with Santa perched inside the bed of the last in line.

“It was really anemic, to say the least.”

John expected better, wanted more — and determined his hopes would not be dampened the next time Yuletide cheer was to take center stage in the heart of Fayetteville.

“I gotta tell you, I was embarrassed,” he told council members and the others in attendance at that Fayetteville City Council meeting in January 1972.

The response was immediate, and unexpected.

“Think you can do better?” he recalls one of the council members asking.

John kept the volley alive.

“Yeah,” he answered.

The city’s leaders took John, an unsatisfied New Jersey transplant — a young man without a prestigious title or list of significant accomplishments at the time — at his word. The Christmas parade would become his responsibility, his project to plan and execute.

Over the next several months came all the meetings and phone calls, all the pitches and pleas for participation that foreshadowed the lifestyle John would assume.

Deal-making and connecting with members of the community and with Fayetteville’s stakeholders became his specialty. Add in his natural penchant for seeing potential in people and places (real estate, in particular, is one of his fortes), his still-active involvement in numerous civic organizations, and his love for downtown — what he calls “the heart of the community” — and John’s influence in the area has expanded exponentially over the last five-plus decades.

John, as a result, is one of CityView Magazine’s 2024 Downtown Visionaries honorees. He joins Eric Lindstrom and Hank Parfitt as this year’s recipients, and will be recognized during an event June 13.

John Malzone will be honored at CityView's 2024 Downtown Visionaries luncheon June 13 at Segra Stadium. Tickets available at cityviewnc.com.

A stir-crazy former soldier

The United States Army had its say in John Malzone’s career path in the 1960s. A perhaps smarter-than-average student, John, now 75, ventured out to Iowa to begin a college stint when he was just 15 years old. But when means started running low and he needed to leave school, he was no longer protected by a student deferment, and the draft met him back in New Jersey. A move to Fort Bragg in 1968 following basic and

Advanced Individual Training elsewhere, and a one-year tour in Vietnam, followed.

Then, ready to settle down, John proposed a plan for his recently expanded family, including his new daughter — who still serves as “the best deal I ever got from the government,” he joked, with a bill for her delivery coming in at “like $2.68.”

“I told my wife [Shirley], I said, ‘Let’s stay in Fayetteville,’” he explained.

“She looked at me and she said, ‘Huh?’

“I said, ‘I think it’s gonna be a nice place to raise a family, and I think it’s gonna be a good, solid community.’”

Before long, he started playing roles to make that prediction ring true.

Two weeks of “time off” followed his military exit before he found a job working for the prominent Fayetteville Fleishman family and their clothing stores in the downtown area, which served as his initial step into the goings-on of downtown Fayetteville.

The “Type A” man kept reaching from there, ultimately earning licenses to buy and sell stocks and insurance before garnering a real estate license.

The last of the three, it turned out, was his ticket to becoming one of downtown’s influential voices.

‘I got involved’

Early on in his new career venture, residential sales was John Malzone’s focus. A property management company and commercial real estate sales later were added to John’s batch of business undertakings.

Meanwhile, John started networking via his membership in the Downtown Merchants Association, which came about as the result of his real estate work.

He “met a lot of people” (like the heads of Fayetteville’s JCPenney and Belk), he said, and learned from those influential men that “if you worked hard” when it came to civic engagement, “it could be good for you.”

“So I got involved,” John said.

The Fayetteville Christmas Parade was his first big project. In the 1980s, he became the mastermind of the city’s Dogwood Festival, which celebrated its 42nd year in April.

John also helped put together the inaugural Parade of Nations, held during the International Folk Festival, and served as its announcer for more than 40 years.

A longtime master of ceremonies for A Dickens Holiday as well, John always was entirely in his element during the event centered in the area he’s been so fond of for decades, according to one of his colleagues, Robin Matthews.

“His personality just totally shines,” said Robin, owner of Hay Street store A Bit of Carolina and a co-member of the Downtown Alliance board with John.

Other examples of the importance John has placed on downtown can be seen in his

John visits Anstead's Tobacco Co , one of his many investment properties

“John knows everybody downtown and everything, all the history of it, and he’s awesome at sharing the history of it.”

– Robin Matthews

work with the Olde Fayetteville Association, an organization dedicated to downtown development, and the years he spent helping form and then serve as vice chair of the Historic Resources Commission, the latter of which came about after he spoke up again to share his hopes for the area.

“I told the city council — ’cause I have opinions — I told them we need to take care of our downtown,” John said. “People don’t go to Europe to see new buildings; they go to Europe to see old buildings.”

For years he highlighted those relics for the public by giving tours of downtown, as well.

“John knows everybody downtown and everything, all the history of it, and he’s awesome at sharing the history of it,” Robin said.

And John’s real estate work in the area serves as more proof of his continued commitment. He now owns the Fleishman building, where he first was introduced to downtown when he worked for that family’s retail business, and is said by the Downtown Alliance to have had a hand in selling, leasing, or planning three-fourths of downtown’s properties.

“What I always used to tell people is downtown Fayetteville is the heart of the community. I was selling downtown when nobody was selling downtown, nobody wanted to come downtown. ... My love was downtown,” said John, who also takes seriously his desire to advance local businesses that have set up shop there, whether by connecting the right people at the right time or by drawing on his own business or real estate expertise.

If ever Josh Choi, Hay Street’s Winterbloom Tea owner, needs advice, for example, John has picked up the phone and been more than willing to help.

“‘Hey, man, if you need anything, give me a ring,’” Josh said, explaining conversations he’s had with John, who also helped Josh negotiate the lease for Josh’s new speakeasy-

style bar in Haymount.

Robin echoed that sentiment, saying whenever she needs the opinion of someone who knows well how downtown operates, “I always go to [John]” — a man she can trust not only because of his success, but also because he’s a “real person” willing to be honest about both what mistakes he’s made and what he’s done well over the years.

“He cheers you on,” Robin added, “and wants you to be successful.”

‘Great fun’

When it comes to the laundry list of titles, duties, and roles John Malzone has played across the last 50-plus years, that desire to find success himself and see others succeed has extended beyond the confines of downtown to the Fayetteville area as a whole, too.

In the 1980s, John was part of a group that sold the National Civic League on the idea that Fayetteville deserved to be named an All-America City. That award — which recognizes civic engagement, collaboration, inclusiveness, and innovation, according to the NCL website — was the first of four

All-America City awards Fayetteville has received, more than any other place in North Carolina.

He also has served on Fayetteville’s Kiwanis Club, Cape Fear Regional Theatre, and Cape Fear Valley Health boards — all products of John’s philosophy in life that “if you have an opportunity, you go for it.”

And in nearly all of his descriptions of his tenures with those groups, one phrase kept coming up: “That was great fun.”

Great fun because he met “wonderful people” who were part of his journey to the level of influence in the area he now enjoys, and because they all had an eye on leaving a “lasting impact on the community.”

And although this visionary — who says his “mind is still 18 years old, so I still dream about the future” — still is dedicated to doing more to advance that community, on the rare occasions John does slow down, he is able to reflect on just how significant a mark he’s left.

“My wife would say, ‘Very few people can look over their shoulder and see the results,’” John said, “and I’m very fortunate that I see the results.”

Richard Johnson

Men in Business

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Dr . Hershey Bell METHODIST UNIVERSITY

Shortly after announcing the groundbreaking partnership between Methodist University and Cape Fear Valley Health to bring a new school of medicine to Fayetteville, MU hired Dr Hershey Bell as the founding dean of its new College of Medicine

“Dr. Bell brings to the position a wealth of knowledge, experience, energy, and passion for improving the quality of care through a more integrated approach to medical education and treatment,” said Dr Stanley T Wearden, president at MU

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910-630-7000 | methodist.edu 5400 Ramsey St , Fayetteville, NC 28311

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Richard Johnson is an experienced professional in construction and remodeling with over 20 years in the flooring industry and a decade specializing in granite In 2014, he founded Creative Stone, a comprehensive home remodeling service offering flooring, countertops, painting, cabinetry, and complete bathroom or kitchen renovations Richard is dedicated to handson management, regularly visiting job sites and fostering strong customer relationships, ensuring top-notch quality and satisfaction in every project

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Pavan D . Patel – Willow Group Investments

Pavan Patel — a devoted family man, business owner, and community advocate — has made significant contributions through various leadership roles on multiple county, city, and nonprofit boards and committees.

Patel was born in New York City, but has called Fayetteville, NC home since 1996, when he started Kindergarten at Alma Easom Elementary A graduate of Terry Sanford High School, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Babson’s F W Olin Graduate School of Business He shares his life with his wife of eight years, Dr Amruta Bahekar, and their two dogs, Mika and Copper

Patel began his real estate career during his undergraduate years, purchasing a rental property in Cumberland County and obtaining his brokerage license In 2013, he launched Willow Group Investments, where he serves as owner and CEO His portfolio includes leadership roles in the hospitality industry with Hilton and Marriott hotels, as well as ownership of five Tropical Smoothie Cafes in the region and strong investment and development in the commercial real estate space — creating over 100 jobs in Cumberland County In 2020, Patel launched Willow Equity, a boutique investment and consulting firm which operates in the tech, finance, healthcare, and real estate sectors

A track record of servant leadership is evident in Patel’s accomplishments, such as earning the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America and being named to The Fayetteville Observer’s 40 Under 40 list at age 30

Patel’s commitment to community service has been steadfast since his youth He has served on the Methodist University Foundation Board, chaired the board for Spring Lake United, and participated in the Fayetteville Millennial Commission (now Fayetteville NEXT) He has also been a member of the City of Fayetteville’s Zoning Commission for three years, currently serving as its chair for the second consecutive year

Additionally, Patel is vice chair of the Cumberland County Tourism Development Authority and is an active member of the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County’s board of trustees, where he serves on the Executive Committee and as the organization’s treasurer

Patel’s cultural heritage is a priority, and he proudly serves as president of the Southeastern North Carolina Asian Indian Association (SENCAIA)

Looking ahead, Patel states, “I feel a lifelong commitment to responsible servant leadership and sustainable community development, and I’m always eager to bring a young entrepreneur’s talents to the table to continue investing in our county’s future ”

pavan@willowequity.com | 910-273-6864 (m)

Alberto Smith

OTREBLA’S TAILORING & HABERDASHERY

Alberto Smith is Fayetteville’s only tailor for formalwear He moved to Fayetteville in 1972 and has been in business here since 1973. His first location was on Murchison Road He moved several times before settling at the Wooten Building in Haymount in 2007. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, he came to the United States and obtained his formal education and training in tailoring in Washington, D C Because of his expertise, outgoing personality, and extraordinary skill set, he has acquired a loyal following He can alter a favorite suit or dress or make a new one

910-323-0264 | otreblas com

1218 Fort Bragg Road, Fayetteville, NC 28305

Power Giving

Charles Smith

CHARLES SMITH ASSOCIATES

For more than 55 years, Charles Smith has designed homes for builders and families across Cumberland County and the Southeast He founded Charles Smith Associates in 1967 and has creatively designed 15,000plus homes for 41 builders His residential designs grace Fayetteville’s neighborhoods and extend to Hilton Head Island and Myrtle Beach A Fayetteville native, Smith excelled in high school football and competitive golf, and his father worked in roofing Smith honed his design skills at East Carolina University, Fayetteville Technical Community College, and Georgia Tech Dedicated to fulfilling clients’ dreams, Smith has a commitment that remains unwavering amid changing home trends Charles Smith Associates provides hometown connections, exceptional service, and five decades of experience.

910-484-5924 | www csaplans com 907 S. McPherson Church Road, Fayetteville, NC 28303

Benjamin Stout

BEN

STOUT

CONSTRUCTION

Ben Stout, president of Ben Stout Construction, leads his team by focusing on empowering their growth, developing systematic approaches and hiring the best team members. He also enjoys creating family-friendly developments through his development company, Stout Land Development LLC.

His p ersonal recognition in cludes serving as president of the Home Builders Association of Fayetteville, serving on the North C arolina Hom e B uilders A ssociation n ominating committee (2022), serving as former chairman of the Fayetteville City Zoning Commission and serving as chairman of the Fayetteville Stormwater Advisory Board.

Stout is a graduate of the University of Georgia. He enjoys spending time on the beach, coaching and teaching his children through th eir various activities.

910-779-0019 | benstoutconstruction.com 222 Maiden L ane, Fayetteville, NC 28301

Ben Chambers

JERNIGAN-WARREN FUNERAL HOME

Robert Thomas TOWNSEND REAL ESTATE

Meet Robert Thomas, part of a dedicated duo with Above Par Real Estate Partners, guiding clients through real estate transactions with compassion and expertise. He is always going the extra mile with integrity and reliability to ensure your move is smooth and stress-free

Robert, a Fayetteville native and U S Navy veteran, spent 30 years serving our community with the Fayetteville Fire Department Leveraging his military background, Robert understands long distance military moves and eases clients throughout the transition by offering consistent support His hometown knowledge helps match clients with their ideal neighborhoods

Robert’s commitment to service and unwavering enthusiasm is key to successfully representing his clients in the process Helping them make decisions that align with their goals ensures an effortless real estate experience in the community he proudly calls home.

910-977-0640 realtorrob64@gmail com www . aboveparrealestate . com

Ben Chambers is president and general manager of Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home He and his mother, Lucy Warren Chambers, are the third- and fourth-generation owners of the business

Chambers started working in the family business during college and became a full-time employee in 2009 after he graduated from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington with a degree in business management He then attended Fayetteville Technical Community College where he received a degree in funeral directing He became general manager in 2015 and the majority owner in 2020

Chambers sits on the board of directors of the Fayetteville Police Foundation and on the board of directors of the Fayetteville Technical Community College Foundation

Chambers understands success in any career requires dedication and professionalism, but his work requires patience, compassion, and attention to detail He has continued to adapt the business to the ever-evolving world in which we live, and his dedicated staff of funeral professionals has over 150 years of accumulated experience. Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home prides itself on serving each family with dignity, compassion, and care and is dedicated to continuing to serve its community the way it has for nearly a century 910-483-1331 | www jerniganwarren com 545 Ramsey St , Fayetteville, NC 28301

HISTORICAL LEGACY

Echoes of Hay Street

Tracing the evolution and influence of downtown Fayetteville's 110-year-old historic Kress building, starting as a department store

BY JASON CANADY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONY WOOTEN

In 1896, Samuel H. Kress, a one-time former teacher and stationery store owner, was struck by an ingenious notion.

He’d realized the old wooden structures from America’s Victorian age were coming down. America was rebuilding, and reshaping to fit the new century. F.W. Woolworth’s newest invention, for example, of the five-and-dime store, was prospering. Kress wanted in.

A lover of art and architecture, Kress envisioned his own chain of stores, but stores that were consistent in design and showcased the beauty of neoclassical architecture. By 1905, Kress started an architecture

firm, spread out a map, and shared his vision with his in-house architect George Mackay.

The beautification of America’s “Main Street” was happening, and Kress wanted his stores in prime locations. Kress planned for locations across North Carolina, including Asheville, Durham, Salisbury, Goldsboro, Gastonia, Greensboro, and Wilmington. Kress pointed to a strategic city in Cumberland County with a main street named Hay. Just like that, Kress’s new 5-1025 cent store — later called the Kress store — was coming to Fayetteville and would pen its own chapter in the city’s history.

Bruce Daws, retired former director of the Fayetteville History Museum and historic

property manager, said the Kress building on Hay Street was a big deal for the city as it was Fayetteville’s first department store, and a sign that Fayetteville was growing.

“It’s at a pivotal location,” Bruce said. “It’s on Hay Street at the intersection of Maxwell Street.”

According to an article in The Fayetteville Observer, the building was completed in 1914.

“The early 20th century marked the coming down of a lot of the older buildings and many newer buildings going up, so, the Kress building is caught up in that period and a forerunner of the later 1920s buildings,” Bruce said.

The Kress building has endured gracefully and embodies the timeless elegance of craftsmanship and design

The Kress 5-10-25 cent store building was strategically placed. Businesses were moving down Hay Street further from the Market House.

“The location was big for business,” Bruce said. “It was at one time considered to be all-important to be at the Market Square, but by the time the Kress building was built, you had the U.S. Post Office with its neoclassical style opposite of the Kress.”

The post office was built in 1910. Today, the building houses the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. The wooden-framed Atlantic Coast Line, now the Amtrak depot, was rebuilt in 1911.

“So, you had a cluster of important buildings right in one spot,” Bruce said. 1914 was a banner year for Fayetteville: George Herman Ruth Jr. earned his name “Babe” Ruth during Baltimore Orioles’ spring training; and Orange Street School laid its foundation, which then became E.E. Smith High School in 1927.

As Fayetteville’s main street grew, businesses adjusted to the fluctuation of downtown shoppers.

“In 1914 the Market House established a lounge, designed so shoppers who traveled up and down Hay Street could stop, put their bags down, and relax,” Bruce said. “By 1915 the national chain Kress department store was in full swing and many of the shoppers [roaming Hay Street] could have come from Kress.”

Remembering Kress department store as an employee

Today Pat Hall, former Kress department store employee, is 90 years old, but in 1950 she was 16 years of age when she landed her first job at the department store.

“Back then Kress was where a lot of teenage girls started their retail careers,” Pat said. “I rode the city bus from Hope Mills to Fayetteville and it took all day.”

Pat worked the jewelry counter and went through Kress’s retail training before being allowed to run the cash register and her own counter.

Though the name of her supervisor who trained her slips her mind today, Pat still remembers the manager — “a petite woman with black hair,” as Pat described, who worked there for many years — and her meticulous training.

Pat Hall was 16 years of age in 1950 when she landed her first job at Kress department store She worked the jewelry counter and perfume and went through Kress’s retail training before being allowed to run the cash register and her own counter

“We didn’t have electronics back then, or digital calculators. You had to know how to count change to run that cash register,” Pat said. “My assignment was the jewelry counter and perfume. I particularly remember Blue Waltz Perfume was really popular.”

Pat said hairnets were also popular because ‘50s hairstyles required them. Hall also remembers that, while the jewelry looked luxurious, they weren’t made from real diamonds, matching today’s style of costume jewelry. She added they were “cheaper” than the ones made nowadays.

“Regarding hair supplies, we didn’t have the things we have today, like hair dressings, hairspray, and gel,” she said. “It was mainly mirrors, brushes, combs, hairpins, and hairnets.”

By the 1950s, Fayetteville’s main street was alive with activities and in full shopping mode.

When Pat took lunch, she would explore,

visiting the surrounding stores herself. By then, Hay Street had much to offer shoppers with its department stores, movie theaters, services, cafes, and a variety of food.

Pat worked only one summer at Kress but can describe the department store well.

“I remember the floors were polished wood and always very clean,” Pat said. “They impressed on us to dust the counters every morning and keep everything very neat. They were meticulous about that.”

She recalled there were two entrances, and “when you walked through the door, there were long aisles straight down the building with counters on either side and in the middle,” where employees sold from, she said

“You could stand at the front and see all the way to the back,” in the shape of an “inverted ‘L,’” she said. “At the back, there were counters that ran parallel with the wall

where they kept items like toys and ironing boards.”

Some in Fayetteville remember the Kress store as a place to get food, especially hot dogs and ice cream. But Pat said at that time they didn’t sell food.

Over the century, uses for the Kress building have changed and, at one time, came close to being demolished. Samuel H. Kress’s department store empire operated between 1896 and 1955 and peaked at 264 stores spread across 29 states.

The building today still holds a commanding presence on the corner of 229 Hay St. next to Rude Awakening Coffee House. It houses the Lumbee Guaranty Bank and has been restored and repurposed in the last several years.

Like Fayetteville, the Kress building has endured gracefully and embodies the timeless elegance of craftsmanship and design. It is rooted deep in a proud history, holding firm through change and whatever may come its way.

Right, the Kress store in 1960 Below, a vintage postcard shows the Kress store on the far right of this view down Hay Street

Connecting People to Christ with Compassion

Sr. Pastor Raul N. Wallace is a visionary, dynamic leader, and a man of wisdom and integrity. He received his ministerial license in 1992 and was ordained as Senior Pastor of Divine Call Ministries, Inc. in Fayetteville, NC September 2021 under the leadership of Bishop Geoffrey Dudley, New Life Interdenominational Church, O’Fallon, IL.

Pastor Wallace graduated in 1982 from Hartford Public School in Hartford, CT. After that, he went on to serve 25 years in the United States Air Force, retiring in 2010. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Clinical/Counseling Psychology from Methodist University, Fayetteville, NC, and an Associate in Applied Science Degree from the community college of the Air Force.

He is the author of his first publication, “Milk for Babes: Strong Meat for Grown-Ups.” Also, he is a notable recipient of the John L. Levitow Award, the highest award for enlisted Professional Military Education in the Air Force.

He has accomplished and continues to pursue the following achievements in the community:

FEBRUARY 2024

Fayetteville/Cumberland County Human Relations 2024 Religious Leader Award Recipient

AUGUST 2023

He is compassionate and kind-hearted: In August 2023, he led his congregation in sponsoring 50 children from Falcon Children’s Home to attend a Woodpecker’s baseball game. This event for the recipients was organized by Pastor Wallace to reflect God’s love to children who may never see an expression of caring otherwise.

2023 – PRESENT

Volunteer Faith in Action Leader with the Fayetteville Police Department: He is a leader who supports positive views and helps defuse stigma surrounding policing within the community.

2022 – PRESENT

Divine Call Ministries Outreach Leader: Organize and distribute non-perishable food items to feed 35+ families in the community monthly.

2018 – PRESENT

Active participant in the monthly “Coffee with the Mayor” information sharing sessions with community leaders, mayor, and clergy to discuss current events in the community and

work, and play.

2014 – PRESENT

Volunteer Chief Judge with Cumberland County Board of Elections: He is an advocate for early voting and encourages the community at large to understand the importance of casting their votes. He ensures registered voters are adequately informed and prepared to cast their votes by consistently providing up-to-date NC Board of Elections voter information.

2010 – PRESENT

Member of WIDU Pastors Coalition: He participates in leading weekly prayer sessions with other pastors, addressing the needs of our community, nation, and the world.

2015 – 2020

A volunteer youth counselor for the Great Oak Youth Development Center

2011 – 2020

Volunteer for the Cumberland County Schools student mentorship program. Mentored young men from an early age through their high school years, motivating them to set, pursue, and achieve college education goals.

working together to make Fayetteville a great place to live,

HOMEFRONT

Shades of inspiration

BY ARIA SPEARS

Iam cloistered in dusty pink azaleas and magenta Japanese maples, only minutes from the spark of clarity I need. I’ve felt stuck, lately. I feel stopped in a holding pattern, ever hovering without resolution. Over time, I’ve learned a change of routine and scenery can electrify creativity. I decided to take the risk. Relocating my walking routine downtown, I start the day with eyes, heart, and mind wide open.

The morning breeze holds on a little longer while I luxuriate in the garden oasis of the Curate Essentials porch. Jasmine mingles with my lavender latte. Clicking through the company site, I learn this building housed military families during World War II. Feet away from herbs growing lush in garden boxes, I wonder if families planted a Victory Garden here, the World War II wartime practice meant to free up agricultural resources. I think of my grandfather, a munitions driver in multiple wars and of my grandmother accepting his retirementtime proposal, a man 20 years her senior. I remember the hot sun warming the top of my head as she would round her hands around backyard tomatoes, pressing and turning

them for signs to pluck. As the morning heats up, my mind slows down. I am ready to begin my walk.

I park and make my way to Freedom Memorial Park at 111 Bragg Blvd., a downtown gateway. The park site informs viewers of its purpose to “reflect on the lives of the Fallen and remember their service to our country.” The park heralds specific names. I sit for a moment at the Vietnam Memorial. Reading the names, I slow in solemnity amid bustling downtown streets. Cars pass, business continues. In the quiet, I consider how many families in Fayetteville still feel the silent loss of names carved here.

In the same spirit, I walk across the street toward the North Carolina Veterans Memorial Park at 300 Bragg Blvd., near the U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum. Locating the entrance, I walk in beneath a cathedral chorus of chirping birds above me, intermingling with quiet engines on the road. Turning, I am met with dark stone pillars and mirrors, covered in casts of hands raised signifying the no-turn-back moment of a service member and family’s story: the swearing-in. From signs, I learn

this memorial holds soil from all of North Carolina’s 100 counties.

Weaving between these pillars, rushing water grows louder. The words “Commitment,” “Honor,” and “Sacrifice,” come into view. Among the sculptures, gentle-rolling fountains contrast against the rivets, stone, and metal. One can’t help but feel this is a place to mark pivotal beginnings and endings, a place to decide, remember, and reflect. Walking through the “Service Grotto,” I find myself surrounded by translucent blue sheets of water, trickling over the words of the Constitution preamble on the left and the face of a star-composed service member on the right. The shade and soothing sounds, the sign says, symbolize, “respite from the heat, excitement and chaos” of service life. I next arrive at the park’s center, to looming steel and stone. In the middle reads a quote from the Liberty Point Resolve from June 20, 1775: “We shall go forth and be ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to secure her freedom and safety.” The larger-than-life steel stars mirror viewers’ reflections, compelling them to consider their place within this legacy. Maneuvering to a boardwalk, I nestle onto a smooth wooden bench. Leaves shelter me from the rays. Wind whisks across the pond. Two pigeons coo and rustle in the grass near the water and reeds. A willow slowly weeps. I take in the details of this contemplative oasis. I sought sparkling inspiration, a jolt of electricity to jumpstart my creative battery. Instead, I found within a burning ember and slow-burning coals fueled by history.

After circling the grounds, I trek back past the museum grounds to my car on Hay Street and pass the sprawling, centuries-worn, live oak. Starting the ignition back into daily life, I hold an adage in mind that some attribute to French preacher Hyacinthe Loyson: “Blessed are those who plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.”

Aria Spears is a writer, communications professional, and civic leadership enthusiast. With a master’s degree in nonprofit and civic leadership, Aria can be found exploring cities, persuading people to join local civic boards, and sharing her book “The Community Mapping Journal.” When it comes to active-duty military family life, she believes that joy makes us strong.

The U S Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum sits downtown at 100 Bragg Blvd. It debuted its temporary exhibit 'Opening the Vaults: Treasures of the Fort Liberty Museums' on March 13 and runs until Dec 29 U S Army Reserve Command photo by Sgt Natalie Pantalos

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FESTIVALS: HERITAGE AND PRIDE

Festival Park is this year’s hub for celebrations in downtown Fayetteville with the third annual Juneteenth Jubilee: Their Wildest Dreams kicking off the summer, followed by PRIDEFEST 2024! Both celebrate the rich cultural history and diverse community spirit of our city.

The first Juneteenth was celebrated more than 150 years ago, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Today, communities across the nation mark the day as one to uplift African American history and culture and the contributions of generations that came before.

It’s the basis, festival organizers say, for Fayetteville’s Juneteenth Jubilee, which returns to Festival Park (335 Ray Ave.) on June 15.

The city of Fayetteville and Cool Spring Downtown District (CSDD) will host the event from 1 to 9 p.m. to both commemorate June 19 — when enslaved people in Texas were

informed of their freedom by Union soldiers in 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed — and celebrate the idea that “we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.”

That’s the phrase Ashanti Bennett, the CSDD’s director of special projects, kept coming back to as the organization entered the planning phases for this year’s edition of the jubilee, headlined by Pierce Freelon and Skip Marley.

“I look around at the accomplishments of Black Americans across the country and the globe, not to mention the inspiring excellence right here in Fayetteville, the barriers that we continue to break, the leadership and advancement of the culture, and the joy we continue to express even in the face of turmoil,” Bennett said in a news release. “I can’t help but reflect on the wonder and pride that our ancestors would feel if they could see us now.”

Two weekends later on June 29, also at Festival Park, Fayetteville PRIDE will

be hosting its fifth annual PRIDEFEST 2024! from noon to 6 p.m.

The organization inaugurated the festival in 2018, which was attended by 1,500 people, according to the Fayetteville PRIDE’s website. The organization saw a boom in attendance just one year later with 5,000 festivalgoers at Festival Park. After a two-year break, PRIDEFEST broke its record with 6,000 attendees in 2022.

This year, Fayetteville PRIDE hopes to continue the tradition, serving its mission “to instill pride, celebrate unity, and embrace diversity and inclusiveness in our LGBTQ+ community and allies, and to provide a support network and educational advocacy group dedicated to increasing awareness and acceptance.”

For more information on Juneteenth Jubilee: Their Wildest Dreams, visit visitdowntownfayetteville.com/ juneteenth-fayetteville-2024/, and for more information on PRIDEFEST 2024! visit facebook.com/fayncpride/events.

Praise Party in the Park in celebration of Juneteenth, June 6, 2022

Photos by Tony Wooten Pride Festival, June 25, 2022, at Festival Park Photos by Sharilyn Wells

THE TO-DO LIST

Here are just some of the things happening in and around Fayetteville this month. For more events and additional information, visit www.cityviewnc.com/calendar. Email cityview@cityviewnc.com to share your event with us!

JUNE 5

Summer Reading Program:

Liberty’s 1st Birthday Party Thockmorton Library

R. Miller St. BLDG 1-3346, Fort Liberty liberty.armymwr.com

JUNE 6

Fayetteville-Cumberland Co. Arts Council 50th

Anniversary Celebration

Cape Fear Botanical Garden 536 North Eastern Blvd. wearethearts.com

DOWNTOWN VISIONARIES

JUNE 6

Vision Board Workshop

Prima Elements Holistic Wellness Center 124 Anderson St. eventbrite.com

JUNE 7

Coffee Flights & Trivia Just Love Coffee Café 2737 Freedom Parkway Drive chamber.faybiz.com

JUNE 13

CityView's 2024 Downtown Visionaries Luncheon Segra Stadium

400 Hay St. cityviewnc.com

JUNE 14

Army Birthday Bowling

Dragon Lanes

Rock Merritt Ave. BLDG 4-2374, Fort Liberty liberty.armymwr.com

JUNE 15

Financial Literacy Tour

Spring Lake Public Library 101 Laketree Blvd., Spring Lake distinctlyfayettevillenc.com

JUNE 15

Juneteenth Jubilee Festival Park 335 Ray Ave. distinctlyfayettevillenc.com

JUNE 15

Father’s Day Weekend Crab Feast

John D. Fuller Sr. RAC 6627 Old Bunce Road eventbrite.com

JUNE 16

Deployed Dads Father’s Day Cornhole Tournament

The Twisted Grape 54 Melody Lane, Cameron eventbrite.com

JUNE 20

Succulent Planting Workshop & Full Moon Meditation Prima Elements Holistic Wellness Center 124 Anderson St. eventbrite.com

JUNE 20-23

Trucks Gone Wild 2024 at the Wreck Yard

Black Ops Paintball 2555 Custer Ave. Distinctlyfayettevillenc.com

JUNE 27

Homecourt: A Conservation with Coach Roy Williams Felton J. Capel Arena Fayetteville State University chamber.faybiz.com

JUNE 29

PRIDEFEST 2024! Festival Park 335 Ray Ave. facebook.com

Buddy Baseball

PHOTOS BY TONY WOOTEN

Buddy Baseball game at Massey Hill's Recreation Center took place Saturday, May 4. The Woodpeckers sponsored the baseball field construction at the recreation center.

Melony and Mike Woodford

Jordan Ellis and James Edwards Wesley Ross

Jeffrey and Violeta Gomez

Aiden Groover

Willie Gatling, Joshua Bethea, Kendrick Gatling, Nicky Porter, and Cheryl Gatling

Angela Libreros and Violeta Gomez

Exquisite Living & Meticulous Design

3 GENERATIONS OF HOME BUILDING

Over 70 Years of Homebuilding Excellence

CHRISTMAS TOUR home

Friday, Dec. 8 from 5-7 PM Saturday, Dec. 9 from 10 AM - 5 PM

Discover your dream home in our collection, where luxury meets comfort and functionality. Our homes, set in vibrant communities, are designed to cater to your every need, offering a blend of elegance and practical living. Find the perfect space to call home, grow, and make lasting memories. Your ideal lifestyle awaits.

Our Christmas Home Tour is in two of our neighborhoods, the first two weekends in December on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

We are offering interest buydowns starting as low as 4.5% buydown for the 10 move-in ready models during this Christmas Parade of Homes Tour.

• Luxury Amenities

• Intricate Details

• Fully Customized

• Chef Kitchens

You are invited to celebrate the season with the Floyd Christmas Open House. Come see the exquisitely, decorated homes and all of our latest features.  Pick up your gift from under our tree and enjoy a glass of eggnog while sharing holiday food, fun, and cheer with us.

Scan for information

• Spa Bathrooms Phone: 910-237-5026 | Email: GregFloyd@FloydProp.com | www.floydproperties.com

Where Your Children Come First

www.kidsfirstpedsraeford.com

Kids First Pediatrics of Raeford and Fayetteville has created a professional and caring medical environment for infants, children, adolescents and their families. We provide complete pediatric and adolescent care.

Pediatric Services We Provide Check Ups, Sick Child Visits & More in Raeford and Fayetteville

• Well Child Visits

• Sick Child Visits

• Vaccine & Immunization Schedule

• 2023-2024 Guide to the Flu

• School, Sports, & Camp Physicals

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Vaccines & Immunizations

• ADHD Testing & Treatment

• Asthma Symptoms & Treatment

• Breastfeeding Support

• Urinalysis

• Strep and Mono Screen

• Vision and Hearing Tests

910.848.KIDS (5437 ) 6415 Brookstone Lane, Ste. 101 Fayetteville, NC 28314 Mon. to Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 910.306.KIDS (5437)

Mon. to Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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

Cinthia Follrod, CPNP-PC

Rachelle Olson, FNPC

2694 NC 24-87 Cameron, NC 28326

Mon. to Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

910.500.KIDS (5437) 2035 Valleygate Dr., Ste. 101 Fayetteville, NC 28304 Mon. to Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 910.677.0007

Brookstone office only 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Saturdays for sick/urgent appointments, established patients only.

9 a.m. – 7 p.m. (910) 615-1220 Health