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SOME JUST LOVE... DARE TO LOVE ALWAYS
The Love Always Collection By Phillips House
Opus 2015-2016
CONCERT SERIES
The City Arts Music Center of the Greensboro Parks & Recreation Department proudly presents the Opus Concert Series, free of charge! The popular concert series showcases outstanding musical entertainment at exciting venues throughout our community. Join us!
GROUP
CONCERT DATE
TIME
Sunday, November 1, 2015
3 PM
Dana Auditorium, Guilford College 5800 West Friendly Avenue
Friday, November 6, 2015
7:30 PM
Dana Auditorium, Guilford College 5800 West Friendly Avenue
Choral Society of Greensboro Jon Brotherton, Conductor
Saturday, November 7, 2015
7:30 PM
Christ United Methodist Church 410 North Holden Road
Greensboro Percussion Ensembles Mike Lasley, Conductor
Friday, November 20, 2015
7:30 PM
Trinity Church 5200 West Friendly Avenue
Marimba Christmas Andrew Dancy, Conductor
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
7 PM
Trinity Church 5200 West Friendly Avenue
Greensboro Oratorio Singers Jay O. Lambeth, Conductor
Thursday, December 3, 2015
7 PM
Carolina Theatre 310 South Greene Street
Greensboro Youth Chorus Ann Doyle and Teresa Allred, Conductors
Sunday, December 6, 2015
5 PM
First Presbyterian Church 617 North Elm Street
Greensboro Youth Jazz Ensemble Wally West, Conductor
Sunday, December 13, 2015
3 PM
Greensboro Historical Museum Auditorium 130 Summit Avenue
Sunday, February 14, 2016
6 - 8 PM
Sunday, March 6, 2016
3 PM
Greensboro Concert Band Evan Feldman, Conductor
Saturday, March 19, 2016
7:30 PM
Dana Auditorium, Guilford College 5800 West Friendly Avenue
Philharmonia of Greensboro Peter Perret, Conductor
Saturday, April 30, 2016
7:30 PM
Dana Auditorium, Guilford College 5800 West Friendly Avenue
Greensboro Youth Jazz Ensemble Wally West, Conductor
Sunday, May 1, 2016
3 PM
Greensboro Historical Museum Auditorium 130 Summit Avenue
Greensboro Youth Chorus Ann Doyle and Teresa Allred, Conductors
Monday, May 2, 2016
7 PM
Christ United Methodist Church 410 North Holden Road
Friday, May 6, 2016
7:30 PM
Page High School Auditorium 201 Alma Pinnix Drive
Saturday, May 7, 2016
7:30 PM
Christ United Methodist Church 410 North Holden Road
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
7 PM
Friday, May 13, 2016
7:30 PM
Philharmonia of Greensboro with Special Guest: Danville Symphony Orchestra
Peter Perret, Conductor Greensboro Concert Band Evan Feldman, Conductor
Greensboro Big Band, Sweet Sounds in partnership with Canterbury School; includes dancing and music
Mike Day, Conductor Philharmonia of Greensboro, Pillow Pops Concert with Special Guest: Dance Project: the School at City Arts
Peter Perret, Conductor
Greensboro Concert Band Evan Feldman, Conductor Choral Society of Greensboro Jon Brotherton, Conductor Greensboro Percussion Ensembles Mike Lasley, Conductor Greensboro Brass Ensemble Kiyoshi Carter, Conductor
For details about the concert programs: www.greensboro-nc.gov/OPUS 336-373-2549 • music@greensboro-nc.gov • www.facebook.com/cityarts1
LOCATION
Canterbury School, Berry Hall 5400 Old Lake Jeanette Road Lindley Recreation Center 2907 Springwood Drive
Trinity Church 5200 West Friendly Avenue Greensboro Historical Museum Auditorium 130 Summit Avenue New, unwrapped toys are being collected for FOX8 Gifts for Kids.
201 N. Elm St
900 Rockford Road
802 W Cornwallis Drive
415 Sunset Drive
2800 Lake Forest Drive
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January 2016 Departments
Features 55 Winter
Poetry by Terri Kirby Erickson
56 Small Is Beautiful
By Staff Sizing up the benefits of downsizing
66 Peace of Pottery By Maria Johnson The art of Po-Wen Liu
70 Greensboro’s Art Museum
By Nancy Oakley At 75, Weatherspoon Art Museum is forever young
76 Home Wee Home
By Cynthia Adams The tiny house is having a big moment
85 Almanac
By Rosetta Fawley Pecans, apples, and singing winter’s praises
Cover photograph by Sam Froelich
9 Simple Life By Jim Dodson 12 Short Stories 15 Doodad By Ogi Overman 17 O.Harry By Harry Blair 19 Life’s Funny By Maria Johnson 21 Omnivorous Reader By Brian Lampkin 25 Scuppernong Bookshelf 29 In the Spirit By Tony Cross 33 Gate City Journal By Jim Schlosser
39 The Intrepid Traveler By Jason Frye
45 Pappadaddy’s Mindfield By Clyde Edgerton
47 A Novel Year By Wiley Cash
49
Birdwatch
By Susan Campbell
51 Life of Jane By Jane Borden
86 97
Arts & Entertainment January Calendar Worth the Drive to High Point By Nancy Oakley
1 03 GreenScene 111 Accidental Astrologer By Astrid Stellanova
112 O.Henry Ending By Nancy Oakley
4 O.Henry
January 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Art for Eyes | Eye for Arts Fine Eyewear, Artwork and Jewelry 327 South Elm | Greensboro 336.274.1278 | TheViewOnElm.com Becky Causey, Licensed Optician Find us on Facebook
Are you a candidate for a partial knee replacement? Not every arthritic knee needs a total knee replacement
M A G A Z I N E Volume 6, No. 1 “I have a fancy that every city has a voice.” 336.617.0090 1848 Banking Street, Greensboro, NC 27408 www.ohenrymag.com Jim Dodson, Editor • jim@ohenrymag.com Andie Stuart Rose, Art Director • andie@ohenrymag.com Nancy Oakley, Senior Editor • nancy@ohenrymag.com Lauren Shumaker, Graphic Designer Alyssa Rocherolle, Graphic Designer
Matthew D. Olin, MD
has been certified & master course trained for the BioMet Oxford Partial Knee Replacement since its introduction to the US in 2004. To schedule an appointment with Matthew D. Olin, MD to determine if this surgery is for you. Call: 336.545.5030
Dr. Olin specializes in anterior hip replacement surgery, partial & total knee replacement surgery, in addition to revision hip & knee replacement surgery.
Contributing Editors Cynthia Adams, Harry Blair, Maria Johnson Contributing Photographers Lynn Donovan, Amy Freeman, Sam Froelich, John Gessner Contributors Jane Borden, Susan Campbell, Wiley Cash, Tony Cross, Clyde Edgerton, Terri Kirby Erickson, Rosetta Fawley, Jason Frye, Evan Goldfarb, Sara King, Brian Lampkin, Meridith Martens, Ogi Overman, Jim Schlosser, Astrid Stellanova David Claude Bailey, Editor at Large
O.H David Woronoff, Publisher Advertising Sales Marty Hefner, Sales Director 336.707.6893, mhefner@ohenrymag.com
Scan to watch an interactive video of a partial knee replacement.
Hattie Aderholdt, 336.601.1188 • hattie@ohenrymag.com Lisa Allen, 336.210.6921 • lisa@ohenrymag.com Amy Grove, 336.456.0827 • amy@ohenrymag.com Circulation Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488 Advertising Graphic Design Dana Martin, 336.617.0090 • dana@ohenrymag.com Subscriptions 336.617.0090 ©Copyright 2016. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
For more information about Dr. Olin and surgery visit www.GreensboroOrthopaedics.com
6 O.Henry
January 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Building To Meet The Coming Demand
Ruined by Quiet By Jim Dodson
Every January, a dear friend slips
away for a three-week retreat into silence and stillness, holing up in a seaside motel somewhere on the Florida coast where he doesn’t know a soul. There he fasts, walks the beach morning and evening, reads nourishing books and practices the art of silence learned years ago from a stay at the Kentucky monastery where mystic Thomas Merton lived and worked. He returns in early February thinner, happier and spiritually refreshed by his “trip to nowhere,” as I’ve heard him describe his ritual.
The wise among us have long known the value of such a disappearing act, a journey within that clarifies mind, body and soul. In a world that’s indisputably louder and more distracting than ever, something is always competing for our attention — bills to pay, jobs to finish, candidates hurling insults, terrorists hurling bombs, shouting car salesmen, an Internet that never sleeps, even in the background cacophony of music in restaurants and lawn mowers on Sunday morning. All rob us of something essential. It’s what an ancient Sufi poet I admire called “the silence that speaks” and the Book of Common Prayer calls “the peace that passeth all understanding.” To be still and silent, advise the Psalms, is to know God. Chinese sage Lao Tzu insists that stillness reveals eternity. In his recent book The Art of Stillness, a lovely little volume, veteran travel writer Pico Iyer relates how a three-day stay at a Benedictine retreat changed his life. “It was a little bit like being called back to somewhere I knew, though I’d never seen the place before,” he writes. “Spending time in silence gave everything else in my days fresh value. It felt as if I was slipping outside my life and ascending a small hill from which I could make out a wider landscape. It was pure joy.” I wish I had the time and discipline of Pico Iyer and my contemplative friend, but I probably don’t. And yet, thirty years ago a remarkable winter of stillness and silence transformed my life. I’ve never been quite the same since. On the heels of seven fast-paced years working for the oldest Sunday magazine in the nation, covering politics and social mayhem across the New South, never pausing to take a vacation and nearly working myself into an early grave, something made me turn down a dream job in Washington, D.C., and move to a bend in Vermont’s Green River, where I got myself a golden pup from the local Humane Society and set up housekeeping in a tiny solar cabin heated only by a woodstove and the light of the Northern sun. I swapped chasing politicians and prosecutors for walking silent snow-covered roads with my dog and showshoeing over to my landlords’ house for weekend suppers and conversation. They were aging hippies who’d gotten rich selling
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Simple Life
chemical toilets to vacationing New Yorkers. Every supper they served tasted a little bit like sautéed boxwood shrubbery, though I’m pretty sure it was healthy for you. They were, in any case, lovely people fully committed to making a better world and matching up their young tenant far from home with suitable female companionship. With no TV, phone or radio, I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about the point of being alive, marveling how I’d dropped into such a peaceful winter wonderland that allowed me to feel in charge of my own life and let me sleep better than I had in years. My journalism friends were sure I’d “dropped out” to become a hermit. I probably read or reread fifty books that snowy winter of 1984 — the collected works of Yeats and Frost, all of John Updike’s novels, some Shakespeare, the Bhagavad Gita and even George Orwell’s 1984 just to see how the world he envisioned worked out. Though I spent my days working as the senior writer for a legendary New England magazine called Yankee — writing stories that spoke to the soul and soothed the beast that had grown up in the years gone before — it was the silence and stillness I found in every day that changed my life and maybe even saved it. That spring, after ice out, I found myself a secondhand Orvis rod and taught myself to fly-fish. I also picked up a used set of good golf clubs and began knocking the rust off my long-neglected golf game at an old club in Brattleboro where Rudyard Kipling reportedly played while finishing his work on the just so stories. Most of these self-tutorials were done solo or with my dog and a kindly universe for companions, a volume of Yeat’s poetry or E.B. White’s essays tucked into my fishing vest or golf bag. The sounds I heard were often just those I made or nature’s own instructions — crackling fires, water running over stones, songbirds and wind, the soft crunch of my LL Bean boots on a snowy road at dusk. Even the excitement of the quadrennial New Hampshire primary failed to knock a dent in my newfound love of stillness and silence. A string of leading candidates all passed through Yankee’s colorful red barn in Dublin (N.H.) but only served to remind me how grateful I was to have found a very different kind of life in the nick of time. One quiet morning that autumn, a beautiful young woman wearing wellworn saddle shoes brought me my office mail. She was the new intern, a recent Wellesley grad and country girl who grew up in Maine. Our first date was on election night. She asked me who I voted for and I told her Walter Mondale. This was untrue. Owing to my quiet life, I had actually forgotten to register and vote but probably would have voted for Ronald Reagan. I never told her this until after we were married. She’d guessed as much already. We moved to the end of road in the salt marsh north of Boston. It was so peaceful there, a world shaped by time and tides, a great place to think and write and even get married. There was an older gentleman who lived across the tidal creek. I often saw him at his easel overlooking the marsh. He would wave and I would wave back. We never actually met. But we knew each other just the same, befriended by nature’s silence. As newlyweds we moved to Maine and bought land for a house on a hilltop January 2016
O.Henry 9
Simple Life
226 S. ELM STREET • GREENSBORO, NC 336 333 2993 OscarOglethorpe.com
of birch and hemlock, just off the abandoned town road, surrounded by a silent forest. Our firstborn arrived during a January blizzard. We were living in a cottage on Bailey Island at that time, waiting for spring to start building. The cottage had a 30mile view of the coast. The sea wind never ceased. Tourists vanished. There was the sound of boats rocking in the tiny harbor, masts pinging. The house we built was a simple saltbox design. I did most of the interior work myself, laying plank floors from a New Hampshire barn and building cabinets. My grandfather was a master cabinetmaker, the quietest man I ever met. I felt as though I was channeling his spirit. It was the absolute stillness of that house that I loved most, especially on frigid winter days. Sunlight would flood its rooms and make the golden hemlock beams gently crack as if sighing. The silence was deep, a living presence. It ground my soul like a spear, as the poet Sidney Lanier once described it. That house produced plenty of other great sounds over the next two decades — laughter from children and dinner guests, guitars being played, the soft scratch as a pencil marked the latest growth spurt on the door frame of the utility room, twenty years of our annual solstice party on the longest night of the year. I built a massive English garden around that happy house, assuming we would live there forever. I even made a special philosopher’s garden with a wooden bench where, after yardwork, I loved to simply sit and listen to absolutely nothing but the birds Sometimes I still dream about that house, that garden, that quiet place in the forest — wishing, I suppose, that I could go back and hear those sounds again, feel that golden winter silence, simply be there for a while. But as Pico Iyer reminds me in his fine little book, the greatest gifts of silence and stillness remind us that “what feels like finding real life, that changeless and inarguable something behind all our shifting thoughts, is less a discovery than a recollection.” Not long ago, after taking my daughter and her buddies out to supper in their busy but charming Brooklyn neighborhood, I commented to my wife that even I might be able to live there, given its smalltown feel. Wendy grew up just outside New York City, attended college and worked there years before she became my second wife. She patted my arm. “I’m sure you could, honey. I’d give you three full days.” She knows me well, ruined by the quiet of other worlds. Last autumn she and I went to the mountains two weekends in a row just for the solitude and November light. This winter we hope to slip away to the peace and quiet of a cottage tucked into the dunes on the Outer Banks, hoping no one but the wind will know we’re there. OH Contact editor Jim Dodson at jim@ohenrymag.com.
10 O.Henry
January 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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January 2016
O.Henry 11
Sh ort Stories
Get a wild hair — or several — on January 30 at Elm Street Center, this year’s venue for the Big Hair Ball, presented by the Guild and Junior Guild of Family Service of Greensboro. With the beguiling theme of the Masquerade, the popular and fancy, er, do encourages you to let your hair down with food, music and cocktails, while admiring outrageous locks and fashions in full view on a catwalk. But all is not folly(cles): The Big Hair Ball raises money for Family Service of the Piedmont, whose programs counter family threats, such as unemployment and substance abuse, and strengthen family bonds? Tickets: safeandhealthyfamilies. com/bighairball.
Water Wings Awe-drey
It doesn’t get any more urbane: Two of filmdom’s greatest style icons, Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, playing a reluctant fashion model (honest!) and fashion photographer, respectively. Throw into the mix Kay Thompson, best known as the children’s author of the Eloise books, in the role of a — ahem — tough-as-nails magazine editor, along with George and Ira Gershwin’s score all set in Paris, and you’ve got Funny Face. It was Hepburn’s first musical and a showcase for her balletic training — and one of many hits for the film’s director, Stanley Donan, whose credits by the time of the film’s release in 1957 included On The Town and Singin’ In the Rain. Fluff and farce? Well, what better antidote for the post-holiday blues? Catch it at the Carolina Theatre on January 12, and you’ll agree, as one of its songs goes: ’S Wonderful. Tickets: (336) 333-2605 or carolinatheatre.com.
Literally. Now that O.Henry has extoled the pleasures of bird watching on land each and every month, how about taking to the water to observe our fine-feathered friends who are in town for the winter? On January 10 and 24, starting at 3 p.m., Greensboro Parks and Recreation is offering hour-and-a-half pontoon boat rides on Lake Townsend for just $7 per person. Dress warmly, and if you have any, bring binoculars (though Parks and Rec will provide you with a pair on request). In past Januaries, visitors to the Piedmont have been piping plovers, red-necked phalaropes, white-rumped sandpipers and even Mississippi kites. If you miss January’s dates, not to worry: More tours are scheduled for February 14 (Are you paying attention, lovebirds?) and 28, and March 13 and 27. Reservations: (336) 373-3741 or greensboro-nc.gov/lakes.
Tickled Pinchas
Or rather, “tickled by Pinchas,” meaning, violin strings, which fairly sing at the touch of virtuoso Pinchas Zukerman’s bow. Joining the Greensboro Symphony and maestro Dmitry Sitkovetsky for the “Pinchas Zukerman Gala” (January 28 and 30 at Dana Auditorium), the two-time Grammy Award–winner will perform a MasterWorks program that’s a mix of passion — Mendelsohnn’s Hebrides Overture — and poignancy — Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor. Wrapping up the evening, Zukerman and his wife, cellist Amanda Forsyth, will play Brahms’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor. Encore! Encore! Tickets: (336) 3355654, extension 224 or greensborosymphony.org.
12 O.Henry
January 2016
Worth the Drive to Winston-Salem
Joining the likes of Leon Russell and Preservation Hall Jazz Band who have previously headlined “Crossroads@SECCA014,” a concert series at Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, is Phil Cook (January 22). The Wisconsin-born singer/pianist/banjo player/ known in these parts as a band member, alongside brother Brad, in the experimental group Megafaun, has embraced the roots/Americana wave in his latest album Southland Mission. Twangy, bluesy, rockin’ — whether in up-tempo songs, such as “1922” or meandering ones, such as “Great Tide” — Cook might as well be strumming your heartstrings as his banjo’s. Just try to resist tapping your toes to his music and if you can, well . . . get your pulse checked. Tickets: secca.org. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Photography by Albion Associates
Tress for Success
Scratch and Sip
If you’ve never experienced a vertical tasting (please, no jokes on drinking wine until you’re horizontal), Grove Winery and Vineyards near Gibsonville plans to host one on Saturday, January 23. “Visitors can taste the same wine from different vintages,” says winemaker Max Lloyd. “It basically lets you taste the difference in the weather from year to year.” Earlier in the month, (January 9 and 10), Grove plans to discount all its wines and merchandise during a “scratch and dent” sale, with some wines going for as little as $2.99 a bottle, though the wine itself is identical to that in other bottles. “When the bottling line get’s going too fast, mistakes are made,” Lloyd says. Fourteen of Grove’s wines took medals in the 2015 N.C. State Fair Wine Competition, hosted by the N.C. Wine and Grape Council. Grove’s Estate Nebbiolo, Reserve Cabernet and Reserve Malbec got the gold. Info: (336) 584-4060 or GroveWinery.com
Vida pour Tea Allyson Meyler & Lindley Battle. Art: the University of Miami. ©1964 Fernando Botero. José Mijares Collection of Lowe Art Museum.
Ogi Overman Now that the holiday season has drawn to a close … wait a second, the holiday season never draws to a close. If you’re a concertgoer, music lover, seeker of sounds, it only shifts gears. And, just think, you won’t have to hear “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” on the radio again until, oh, the day after Halloween.
• January 8, Haw River Ballroom: How many acts can be equally popular in both New Orleans and MerleFest? Probably one — Donna the Buffalo. And while you’re at the HRB, tell Greensboro’s favorite Hammond B3 player, David McCracken, hello.
Las Artes
The period between 1919 and 1979 produced a dynamic engagement between North, South and Central America, as artists, scholars and expatriates traversed the United States, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Peru. Starting January 30, the creative results of this blending of cultures will be on view at Weatherspoon Art Museum, host to Pan American Modernism: Avant-Garde Art in Latin America and the United States. Curated by University of Miami’s Lowe Art Museum, the exhibit reveals a distinctly Latin take on Modernism through the lenses of Mexican Muralism, the female figure, Abstract Expressionism, photography and geometric abstraction. Info: weatherspoon.uncg.edu.
• January 9, Mack and Mack: Three classically trained young ladies playing old-time string band music flawlessly and with a flair defines Harpeth Rising. It’s been coined “chambergrass” for good reason. Seating is limited, so get there early. • January 16, Blind Tiger: There
Tea Totally!
Baby, it’s cold outside, so have a cuppa and something to soothe your stiff — and chapped — uppa at Vida Pour Tea. Tucked along the warren of shops on State Street, the tearoom is an oasis of calm and an ideal refuge from a busy day. Owner Sarah Chapman and crew can fix you a chai latte, or soothing cup of ginger-laced pear or lemon verbena (“a good pick-me up,” she offers). She makes about seventy-five blends from black, white and green teas cultivated in China, Sri Lanka, Africa and Japan, many of them custom concoctions for the likes of Ten Thousand Villages or Greensboro Historical Museum, all of them fair-trade teas. Nibble on vegan and gluten-free biscotti in the lounge upstairs (but be careful to “watch your steep,” the sign says), or browse among the infusers, locally crafted spoon rests and tea-infused lip balms — and enjoy the dolce vita at Vida. Info: www.vidapourtea.com.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Ogi Sez
are only a handful of guitarists who can play so many styles with such precision as Keller Williams. And, making it even better, his exuberance and love for his craft are contagious. He’ll knock you down and stand you back up again.
• January 26, Carolina Theatre: If Harlem hot jazz, Fats Waller slide piano, a top-shelf brass section and a Billie Holiday-esque vocalist are your thing, The Hot Sardines are the answer to your prayers. Tonight is the night for Puttin’ on the Ritz and headin’ downtown. • January 27, Greensboro Coliseum: OK, admit it. Aren’t there times when you pine for your long hair (or any hair), your cigarette lighter held high, and your index finger and pinkie salute? Well, guess who’s coming to town? Def Leppard, Styx and Tesla. Rawk out, brothers and sisters. January 2016
O.Henry 13
Doodad
Returning to His Roots Paul Brown brings Across the Blue Ridge back home
Photograph by David Bragger
I
f you try to list all of Paul Brown’s credentials — radio host, record producer, archivist, musician, news director, journalist, historian, impresario, photographer, storyteller, etc. — you’re sure to miss at least one or two. There’s one, though, that best describes the proud legacy he’s been building for decades— “musicologist.” In fact, most of those familiar with his life’s work would call him a musicologist’s musicologist. Brown’s strong suit is listening to and explaining music through the prism of culture, socio-economics and geography so that others appreciate its rich history. Most (but not all) of Brown’s work has centered on the southern Virginia-northwest North Carolina area of the Appalachian Mountains, long a hotbed of traditional music. Scouring the area’s backwoods and backloads for hidden gems, Brown has spent hours cataloguing and preserving the music he has discovered so that it is preserved for future generations. By age 10 Brown had already picked up the banjo and soon after, he tucked a fiddle beneath his chin. Studying banjo under the legendary Tommy Jarrell, he was soon befriended by many of Surry County’s most illustrious pickers. By the time he began chronicling and making field recordings of many of the area musicians, he was on a first- name basis with them. That, naturally, led to his first radio job with WPAQ in Mount Airy. By the late 1980s he had amassed such a library that he formed his own radio show on WFDD (88.5 FM), the local Public Radio station affiliate at Wake Forest University. Little by little, his homegrown program, called Across the Blue Ridge, earned him the reputation as one of the most knowledgeable authorities on old-time music in the country. After more than a decade hosting the wildly popular show, Brown made a career move to NPR in Washington, D.C., where he hosted, among other things, Morning Edition. Then, in 2013, he had heart surgery. While recuperating, Brown, along with several other longtime NPR broadcasters, accepted a buy-out offer to help the network balance its budget. On December 20 of that year, after fourteen years at NPR, he signed off the air and moved back to Winston-Salem. Immediately he was inundated with job offers, one of which came from WFDD to come back “in some undetermined capacity.” But eventually discussions got around to relaunching Across the Blue Ridge. “I had no intentions of doing it, and put them off for a year and a half,” says Brown, 61. “Finally, I said if we can raise enough funds to cover a weekly show that’s held to very high standards, I’ll consider it. So, we came up with an arrangement [which includes an Indiegogo campaign], and here we go.” The show will debut Saturday, January 2, at 8 p.m. Additionally, Brown is going to produce a live monthly concert at Muddy Creek Music Hall, just up the road in Bethania. Of the renewal of Across the Blue Ridge, he says, “I’m hoping to get into a little more depth and really bring listeners in touch with the people who make the music, and get some historic connections in there. We’ll be connecting the past, present and future. I’m really excited about the possibilities.” — Ogi Overman The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 15
© 2015 Pandora Jewelry, LLC • All rights reserved • PANDORA.NET
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O.Harry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 17
Life’s Funny
Droning On, and On, and On By Maria Johnson
It came up at an athletic booster club meeting a little more than a year ago.
A drone had been spotted hovering over the high school fields as kids practiced in the afternoon. Parents arched their eyebrows with concern. Could anyone see who was operating the drone? Nope. Someone joked about shooting down the spy. Everyone laughed, and the talk moved on. But you could tell that drones — small, remote-controlled, airborne cameras — had flown into the collective consciousness as an everyday article, not just an instrument of the military or police. After that, I started noticing drones, which look like toy helicopters with four propellers on top. I spied one dipping and flashing over a City Market event in downtown Greensboro. I saw another one lingering over the J.C. Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, recording the work of someone high in the boughs of a pine tree. That time, I heard the drone before I saw it floating in the treetops. It sounded like a swarm of giant mosquitoes. A few months ago, my neighborhood’s website featured a picture of a drone lying on a woodpile. “Anyone missing a drone?” said the post. “Yes, my son is looking for his drone, and this looks very familiar,” someone replied. When drone sales soared this past Christmas, I decided to learn more. I asked my teenage son to find a source for me. Within minutes, he texted me a number for Jess Washburn. Jess, you might be surprised to know, is not a teenager. Not chronologically anyway. He’s a 51-year-old dad, a successful salesman and a respectable citizen — generally a mature fellow. But it doesn’t take long for his 13-year-old self to emerge when he starts talking about flying his drone. “I love it. It’s unbelievable,” says Jess. “Every time I fly it, people come up and they’re like, ‘That’s crazy!’” Jess, who grew up flying gas-powered model airplanes guided by wires, and, later, remote-controlled gliders, began droning in October 2014 after some friends gave him a Phantom 2 Vision as a birthday present. “They knew I liked toys,” says Jess. His drone experience was very different from his other flying adventures. First of all, Jess says, when you’re flying a drone, you get a live picture of what the drone sees, usually via a cell phone that’s loaded with a special app and mounted to the controller. Another difference: With old-school hobby planes, you were guaranteed catastrophe if you let go of the controls. Drones are harder to crash. Set the controls down, and a drone will loiter in mid-air. Hit the “return home” button, and a drone will land a few feet from where it took off. That doesn’t mean that drones are uncrashable. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
One night last spring, Jess flew his first drone over Bogue Sound just to see what he could see. The drone slammed into the water. Jess didn’t bother to fish it out, knowing the components were ruined by salt. Lesson: “You definitely don’t want to drink and drone,” says Jess. He shelled out $1,000 for a new Phantom. That one was in the repair shop as we talked. It’d had a close encounter with a tree while Jess was shooting a video for a friend with a lawn service. Lots of businesses use drones to market their work from a bird’s-eye view. But there are fun applications, too. Skiers and wind surfers use drones to make thrilling videos of each other. Pleasure boaters launch drones to comb beaches for interesting sights. Last summer, Jess and his wife went sailing with Jess’s twin brother and his girlfriend. There they were, skimming along the edge of St. Barts in the Caribbean when Jess and his brother, Jordan, saw a photography session with swimsuit models on the beach. “Go get the drone,” said Jordan. Jess deployed the aircraft as ordered. He draped a towel over his head to cut the glare on his phone screen while his brother navigated. “Go left. Go right. Drop down. Drop down more.” Suddenly, Jordan was shouting. “Pull up! Pull up!” The drone had clipped the top of the photo crew’s tent. Scantily clad people scattered in all directions. Within seconds, a dinghy sped toward the Washburns’ sailboat. “A French guy was like, ‘What zee hell are you doing?!’” says Jess. The brothers apologized. The French guy left. The Washburns were humbled. But happy. “We got some great video,” says Jess. By the way, remember the drone that was hovering over the high school athletic fields back in the fall of 2014? I asked Jess about that. “Uh . . . I’m pretty sure was me,” he said. It turns out that Jess was across the street, standing on the dam of a nearby lake, learning how to fly his birthday present that fall. Later, the school’s principal saw a video that Jess made for an alumni club project. “Can you fly that thing into the stadium during a football game?” she asked. Jess was psyched by the idea. He could see buzzing the home side with a banner that said, “Make some noise.” But by the time football season rolled around, he decided against it. He remembered the stink that was raised a couple of summers ago when someone steered a drone into the Carolina Panthers’ game, violating NFL and FAA rules. Plus, as he had learned one balmy morning on the water, a guy could get into trouble flying too close to zee crowd. OH Want to see a cool picture of a hawk dive-bombing Jess’s brother’s drone? Go to ohenrymag.com Maria Johnson can be reached at maria@ohenrymag.com. January 2016
O.Henry 19
Meet Ryan Childrey, just one example of the successes that began here at Greensboro College.
Meet
Ryan Childrey. He’s Greensboro
Ryan works as an officer with the Greensboro Police Department, a job he loves. He also operates his own small business, which led him to enroll in the Bachelors in Business Administration program at GC. Ryan wasn’t looking for a career change or a promotion. He wanted practical knowledge that would help him make his small side business successful. And he needed a program that would allow him to work around his demanding schedule with the police department. “The program was geared toward a working adult, with evening and weekend classes,” he says. “My professors were experienced in various business fields which helped me gain practical knowledge.” Wherever life takes him, Ryan is unmistakably and uniquely qualified to meet the next opportunity head-on.
Uniquely Located, Uniquely Greensboro, Uniquely You! Greensboro.edu
The Omnivorous Reader
Carefully Taught
A writer examines the roots of his own bigotry
By Brian Lampkin
Writer Jim Grimsley was
born in Grifton, North Carolina, in 1955 and was raised in Pollocksville, N.C. These Eastern North Carolina towns still exist, if barely. Pollocksville’s 2010 census listed the population at 311 souls. How I Shed My Skin: Unlearning the Racist Lessons of a Southern Childhood (Algonquin Books, 2016, $16.95) is Grimsley’s memoir of growing up in isolated, rural Jones County in the tumultuous era of school integration, and race is the primary focus. But as is always the case, poverty and education complicate the picture. Grimsley’s growing awareness of his homosexuality further adds to the unique experience of reading this faithful reimagining of the 1960s in North Carolina.
Any memoir of childhood — especially one written by a man in his 60s — comes up against some obvious problems. How does a writer trust memories that have been altered by time and were always subjectively understood in the first place? A memoir can only be the writer’s particular take on the times, but Grimsley is well aware that his “photograph” of 1968 Pollocksville will look different from any other child’s picture. Furthermore, Grimsley provides dialogue between the various students and friends that he cannot possibly remember verbatim. Several times in the text, and even in the acknowledgements before the memoir begins, Grimsley raises the issue of memory: “While these years of my life are distant, they remain vivid and present in The Art & Soul of Greensboro
my mind, in some ways more so than events that are more recent. Conviction that one’s memory is correct means little, of course. But my aim is to tell a story that is largely my own, and I believe I have come close to the truth.” He is also clear that the dialogues are “reconstructions.” The questions for the reader become: Why should I accept this writer’s version of the past? Why is this white man’s recollection of racism valuable? Wouldn’t the accounts of the black students’ experience provide a better understanding of how racism functioned? The single most remarkable aspect of How I Shed My Skin is Grimsley’s insistence on looking at racism from the inside out. In this book, racism and racist behavior are always owned; Grimsley uses “I” (and “we” when referring to his white family or white community) whenever he describes the instances of bigotry or prejudice. This is a refreshing change from books that look at racism as the problem of other people’s behavior. Grimsley makes it clear that he was the racist, that his family and community mistreated and hated black people, that the problem of racism was centrally located in white attitudes and behaviors. In 1966, the “Freedom of Choice” era brought three black girls to the public school in Pollocksville, and much of the memoir tracks the way Grimsley remembers how Violet, Ursula and Rhonda were treated. Very early in that school year, Grimsley openly called Violet a “black bitch,” and so began his understanding of the reasons why he needed to shed his racist layer of skin. But how did that layer of skin develop? No one is born with it, and Grimsley unpacks the way the unspoken power of a community informs the behavior of its inhabitants. “Nobody ever told me why blacks and whites had to go to separate schools,” Grimsley writes, “use separate restrooms and keep a distance from one another . . . Yet the knowledge of those truths had come into me in spite of the silence.” Surely Grimsley’s developing understanding of his own outsider status helped him overcome the silently enforced understanding of race. From an early age, he was much more comfortable with the company of girls (at first, this was explained away by his hemophilia which prevented him from January 2016
O.Henry 21
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The Omnivorous Reader playing contact sports), and this separation from the posturing of adolescent boys gave him some room to look at his attitudes. He also developed, slowly, a kind of friendship with Violet (Violet joined Grimsley at an event for the book release in Jones County in 2015) and the other girls that exposed the blatant lies of racism. By ninth grade, in 1968, Grimsley had come to understand how bigotry was working, and he knew he either “would learn to be a better bigot” or “learn to stop being a bigot at all.” He says he had “two paths. I had a choice to make.” That clear moment of conscience might be the necessary moment missing from the white community surrounding Grimsley at that time. How I Shed My Skin clearly documents how the author was able to make the leap out of his skin, but probably offers no clear path for how others might do the same. In the last chapter, called “Change,” Grimsley looks at how things have or have not changed. “Good people taught and still teach racism to their children without a second thought,” he writes, and the complicating factor is Grimsley’s understanding that these are indeed, at some level, “good people.” These are “his” people, and they care for their children and care for their neighbors in all the ways “good” people might, but still “we teach that when people are different from each other, one is better and the other worse.” Furthermore, we avoid teaching the real history and “refuse to face what that made of us, the whip hand we became.” It is Grimsley’s use of “we” and “I” that finally makes this book so compelling. He leaves no room for doubt about how his community worked at the time of school integration because he always places himself in that community. A black friend in 1968 points out to Grimsley how terribly a huddle of white boys were behaving. She asked, “You see your people, don’t you?” He replied: “Those are not my people.” But Grimsley knows that they were and still are. He eventually made a break from the racism expected of him, but it took many more years of self-examination and experience, and Jones County is still a deeply ingrained part of him. Grimsley is best-known as a novelist and his books include Winter Birds, Dream Boy and My Drowning, which won the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writers’ Award. The paperback of How I Shed My Skin is due out in February of 2016, and look for Grimsley as he reads at various locations throughout the state. OH Brian Lampkin is one of the owners of Scuppernong Books in Greensboro.
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Scuppernong Bookshelf
One For the Road Books that examine our dangerous obsession with alcohol
In his book How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World (Penguin Group, 2014, $18) science writer Steven Johnson argues that the 18th century cultural shift from a morning ale to a morning jolt of coffee ushered in the Age of Enlightenment. We all were no longer sloppy or sleepy by noon, but now energized to reinvent the world together. French writer Honoré de Balzac drank fifty cups of coffee a day, but he wrote entirely too much. Hemingway knocked off writing early every day so he could begin his day’s real work: alcohol consumption. If you were to have a drink every time someone got “tight” in The Sun Also Rises, you’d be dead drunk before the first dead bull.
After the excesses of the holiday season, January is a good time to assess the role of alcohol in our lives and on the writing and reading of books. Is alcohol a beneficial and often necessary lubricant for writers? Or did alcohol ruin Faulkner, Kerouac, Cheever, etc. and rob us of so many great books and stories. Can both be true? The Art & Soul of Greensboro
The Drunken Spelunker’s Guide to Plato, by Kathy Giuffre (John F. Blair, 2015, $26.95), is a fast-reading romp through the world of 1970s basement bars and the supposed lowlifes who inhabited them. Josie is the novel’s guide through the cave of booze, bands and late nights, armed with Plato and a family of misfits gathered out of the cigarette-smoke-filled gloom. Purely and simply, a good time. But it’s all fun and games — until it’s not fun and games anymore. Hailed by critics as “a masterpiece of psychological precision” and “the only truly unflinching book about an alcoholic,” the 1944 novel The Lost Weekend, by Charles Jackson, catalogs a five-day alcoholic binge through New York City that includes petty theft, pawn shops, broken faces and a trip to detox. Seventy years later, Jackson’s book remains one of the most important contributions to addiction literature. And speaking of John Cheever, his daughter Susan Cheever has written another book on alcohol and its often destructive force. Drinking in America: Our Secret History (Twelve, 2015, $28) chronicles the role of alcohol in the Kennedy assassination, the McCarthy era, Watergate and many other pivotal American moments. Cheever can be a bit scolding, but no one should begrudge the children of alcoholics their distaste for spirits. Drinking is also fun, right? After all, Prohibition didn’t work for a reason. Matthew Rowley’s Lost Recipes of Prohibition: Notes from a Bootlegger’s Manual (Norton, 2015, $27.95) uncovers a Manhattan doctor’s secret journal of remarkable Prohibition-era concoctions. Part history, part guide to good drinking, Lost Recipes is a cocktail-lovers’ delight. But for the wine-drinking millennial, try Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack’s Wine Folly — the Essential Guide to Wine (Avery, 2015, $25). January 2016
O.Henry 25
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Originally authors of an award-winning wine blog, Puckette and Hammack introduce a hip approach to wine education using clever graphs and visuals. Wine Folly focuses on successful wine and food pairings, and the useful fundamentals of choosing a great wine. With just enough wine science, maps and geography to keep things interesting, Wine Folly reminds readers that wine doesn’t need to be snobbish — wine can be fun. It’s a long way from Trader Joe’s Two Buck Chuck to a $3,000 bottle of Napa Valley Screaming Eagle Cabernet. But Napa has not always been the home of America’s priciest wines. Author James Conaway traces the social and industrial history of the region in two books: Napa: The Story of an American Eden (Houghton Mifflin, 1990, used copies widely available) and The Far Side of Eden: New Money, Old Land, and the Battle for Napa Valley (Houghton Mifflin, 2001). Both are good reads for those who enjoy a bit of history with their Screaming Eagle Cab. What are the best things to drink while reading? It varies from book to book. One, of course, has to begin with champagne when opening The Great Gatsby, but eventually you’ll turn to bathtub gin before you end up rumpled and sweaty, with rot-gut whiskey. Whiskey is pretty much the norm for Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade. You’d never catch them drinking anything as fragrant and flowery as gin. So, for The Maltese Falcon and The Long Goodbye, it’s whiskey. Bourbon for Faulkner, a sour mash, even though Faulkner himself was fond of his mint juleps. Hemingway . . . well, you should already be drunk before you pick him up. Let’s end this romp through the world of inebriation with some controversy. In his book The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease (Public Affairs, 2015. $26.99), renowned neuroscientist and professor of developmental psychology Marc Lewis, takes on a giant of the alcoholism recovery industry — the disease model. Lewis attempts to show why treatment based on the disease model so often fails, and how a working knowledge of the realities of brain plasticity could assist in retooling treatment procedures and increase the likelihood of achieving lasting recovery. “You have to be always drunk,” Baudelaire says, “But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk.” We’re drunk on reading, and as addictions go, it’s safer than most. OH Scuppernong Bookshelf is written by Brian Etling, Shannon Jones, Brian Lampkin, Steve Mitchell, Dave White and Deb White. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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In The Spirit
New Sensation Make local spirits part of your New Year’s resolutions, and choose them straight from the distillery
By Tony Cross
Photograph by John gessner
Any avid gym rat
will tell you that January is the worst time of the year to go to a fitness center. It’s not because we (I’m one of them) have quadrupled our calorie count on holiday cookies and it’s all we can do to get ourselves back into the swing of things. No. It’s because every January there are those who make a resolution to get in shape. They infiltrate the gym taking over equipment, forgetting to wipe down that sweaty bench and leaving free weights on the ground for me to trip over. I used to be that person, until I learned proper etiquette and worked hard month in and month out. Therein lies the problem: A majority of the “resolution” folks will only be there for that month, maybe two months max.
How many of you have prognosticated your dispiriting failures as soon as they came out of your mouths? Been there, done that. But, today I’ll throw an idea out there that you should get behind: This new year, try local spirits. I know that some of you are accustomed to drinking your Maker’s and ginger or Tanqueray and tonics; no foul there. Well, maybe for vodka-soda imbibers (don’t get me started). Just as craft beer has emerged across the U.S., craft distillation of liquor is on the rise. How much so? There are three distilleries within an hour’s drive of my home in the Sandhills. And I’ll have to make my
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
own New Year’s resolution to add miles to my car and check out two new Triad distilleries: Sutler’s Spirit Co, and Broad Branch Distillery, both of which opened in Winston-Salem last year. They will soon be joined by a third, Greensboro Distilling Co, scheduled to open its doors this month. The reason for so much activity? On October 1, 2015, House Bill 912 was signed into law, allowing the sale at a distillery of one bottle per person per year of a spirit that’s listed in the North Carolina ABC system. Before this law passed, the only way to purchase a bottle of liquor was from a stateowned ABC store. While this might seem miniscule to some, TOPO Distillery Spirit Guide and partner Esteban McMahan calls this a “big step. One of the things that we were struggling with before the passing of the law was the conversion rate from people that would come to the distillery saying they would’ve bought bottles if they could’ve, and then saying, ‘I’m definitely going to buy one the next time I go to the ABC,’ but then not buying one.” The new law allows us to purchase a bottle straight from the facility where it’s produced, take it back home, enjoy it, and then purchase the next one from your local ABC. If your closest store doesn’t carry it, they can order it for you; with enough of us demanding these great spirits, they will become a mainstay on the shelves. Remember, you get one per year. Visit the distilleries and find a favorite. That’s a much more worthwhile resolution. “No’Lasses” Sorghum Rhum Fair Game Beverage Co., Pittsboro Sweet sorghum is a grain in the Poaceae family (the same as sugarcane) and can grow up to three times the size of a human. Keeping with the agricole tradition, juice is pressed from the sorghum and fermented with sorghum syrup. Distiller Chris Jude makes a damn fine Southern version of Rhum agricole; the juice and syrup distill in an alembic copper still and January 2016
O.Henry 29
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In The Spirit
then age in used bourbon and new American oak barrels. Mellow vegetal and burnt sugar notes make this a great sipper. I had the honor and pleasure of serving No’Lasses at a private release party early last year.
Try No’Lasses in a classic daiquiri: 2 oz No’Lasses 3/4 oz fresh lime juice 1/2 oz simple syrup (2:1) Combine all ingredients in a shaker and add ice. Shake hard and strain into a chilled coupe glass. “Eight Oak” Carolina Whiskey TOPO, Chapel Hill Distilled from 100 percent wheat, this whiskey ages in eight combinations of three oaks (one American and two French) and toasts (one has a high vanillin content). Using styles and techniques that winemakers have practiced for the past century, this method gives Eight Oak a persona far superior to those whiskeys aged only using American oak barrels. On the palate, notes of vanilla, oak and toffee give this USDA Organic whiskey its unique toasty flavor. Try Eight Oak with ice. I enjoy this whiskey neat, but I think the flavors really open up when a little dilution is brought into the fold. The larger the cube the better; you don’t want over-dilution to happen. Also, use distilled water if possible. “Conniption” American Dry Gin Durham Distillery, Durham Old school meets new school distillery methods in the newest gin from the area. Cardamom, angelica, juniper and coriander are added to a custom 230 liter German copper pot still. The botanicals are vapor infused, leaving the gin crisp and clean. The second step involves individually vacuum distilling the more sensitive botanicals (cucumber and honeysuckle) at room temperature. While maintaining freshness, these botanicals are then blended with the gin in specific proportions. Cucumber, orange citrus, juniper and honeysuckle all unfold on the palate from this extremely clean botanical gin. Try Conniption in an Illmatic: 1/2 tsp. Absinthe 1 1/2½ oz Conniption Gin 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice 1/2 oz simple syrup (2:1) Swirl½ tsp. of Absinthe in a chilled coupe glass. Discard the rest. Combine remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake hard. Strain into the coupe. Add fresh lemon zest. Drink. Smile. PS Tony Cross is a bartender who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 31
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It ain’t easy battling Battleground, Cornwallis, Lawndale and Westover Terrace
By Jim Schlosser
The Confounded Confluence in early days: Battleground Avenue (foreground); Lawndale Drive ( upper left); and Benjamin Parkway (upper right).
Adam Fisher says take his word
for it, “Every city has its crazy traffic pattern. This is Greensboro’s.”
He’s hovering over a map of the city’s best example of asphalt gone wild. You know the place. It’s where Westover Terrace, Battleground Avenue and Lawndale Drive slam into each other. The streets are flanked on one side by the Lawndale Shopping Center, which was almost out in the country when it was built in 1948. On the other side, current businesses include Outback Steakhouse, the Battleground Inn and Fink’s Jewelers. In the middle of this maze of pavement festers a weedy, rusty railroad track, with flashing lights and bells that haven’t shone or sounded for decades. From the stools in the shopping center’s Lawndale Drive-In (which claims to be the city’s oldest bar and which eons ago offered curb service) afternoon beer drinkers can watch through windows as 60,000–70,000 cars miraculously crisscross and dodge one another, converge, merge and emerge from a tangled spaghetti of streets, railroad tracks and pedestrian crosswalks. One Greensboro woman says she positively forbids her mother, an occasional visitor from out-of-town in her late 70s, to drive through the Lawndale-Battleground-Westover traffic configuration. The daughter finds detours for Mom. Some of the heaviest traffic comes from U.S. Highway 220, which begins in Rockingham, N.C., and ends in Waverly, New York. Anyone heading to points northwest, including Summerfield, Madison or Mayodan, will probably take 220, which came into being in 1926. Until then Battleground Road, as it was then called, was a quiet, rural, two-lane thoroughfare, the purpose of which was to get locals to outings at Guilford Courthouse National Park — or Battleground, as the street and park came to be called. Traffic from the enormous commercial and residential development that has taken place in the northwest quadrant, especially around Lakes Jeanette, Higgins and Brandt, with the attendant apartment complexes and strip shopping centers that have sprung up all along the route, streams through the Battleground-Westover-Lawndale interchange on the way into or out of downtown Greensboro. A few years ago, planners, in a blue-sky exercise, asked themselves what they might do about the interchange if money were no object. “We concluded,” Adam Fisher says, “that in order to move any more traffic in this area would require some pretty massive structures/bridges to separate the major conflict points. Or: “We could put the roadways underground in a tunnel and repurpose the ground space as a park/greenway.” The exercise’s conclusion? The Art & Soul of Greensboro
“All very expensive.” Such an undertaking, he says would be Greensboro’s equivalent of “The Big Dig” in Boston. In that project, completed in 2007, Interstate 93, which barreled through Boston’s center, was put underground, in a tunnel 3.5 miles long. Project cost? About $14.6 billion. The coming together of Battleground, Lawndale and Westover has long been a thorn in the side of Greensboro residents. Burke Davis, a journalist for the Greensboro Daily News in the 1950s and Civil War historian, once dubbed it “the Great Lawndale-Battleground Labyrinth.” My moniker for the chaos between Pembroke Road on the south and West Cornwallis Drive on the north? The Confounded Confluence. Of course, that might make drivers think of another similar-sounding, if choice and vulgar word that might better describe the place: “The Effluent.” Oddities abound in the Confounded Confluence. For instance, the Battleground Inn, despite its name, actually stands on Westover Terrace. Westover becomes Battleground just past the inn. Traffic coming from the opposite direction on Lawndale and Battleground crisscrosses in the middle of the Confluence at the railroad tracks, instead of meeting at a conventional intersection. Though confusing to out-of-towners, it works for tens of thousands of vehicles a day. And the stretch of pavement carrying Battleground and Lawndale through the crisscross is apparently nameless, neither Battleground nor Lawndale. (Harry Blair Boulevard has a certain ring to it. Or maybe Schlosserstrasse.) Some of us remember when it didn’t have stoplights, and to go north on — whatever you choose to call it — you had to yield to traffic oncoming from your left. Going north, Battleground doesn’t become itself again until it reaches West Cornwallis Drive and southbound until it reaches Banking Street. Northbound Lawndale keeps its name from the time it starts at Sunset Drive, where the street sign clearly says “Lawndale,” until it ends way in the northern reaches of Greensboro. But southbound Lawndale shares space with Battleground through the Confounded Confluence until Lawndale reaches Banking where Battleground takes over. Another quirk: Even though West Cornwallis Drive is very much a part of the Confounded Confluence, you can’t turn left onto it if coming from the north on Battleground. Out-of-towners and new drivers have to learn to turn left off Battleground onto Fernwood Drive, before they get to West Cornwallis, then right on Lawndale, which intersects with Cornwallis. Right and left turns are permitted. But please! Don’t block the intersection, the road signs implore, and good luck heeding that imperative: If you do turn right, you’ll likely end up blocking the intersection anyway, given the short stretch between the turn and the next January 2016
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Gate City Journal
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January 2016
stoplight. Coming from the opposite direction, to get from Westover Terrace to Lawndale, forget it, unless you don’t mind several turns. After Westover becomes Battleground turn right onto West Cornwallis, cross the railroad tracks, pass Lawndale (unless you want to risk an illegal left turn) and take the first left on Fairfield, then a left on Rosecrest, which leads back to Lawndale. Whee! The Confounded Confluence requires lots of explaining. (Local lore has it that an engineering student at N.C. State tried to explain it as an assignment to a disbelieving professor.) Above all else, motorists must stay on the alert. But somehow each day all these cars and trucks get through the place without too much clashing of metal. Though it ranked No. 5 in the Top 20 in the Engineering Division’s 2012 Traffic Congestion Report, the Confounded Confluence didn’t even make make the department’s list in its Traffic Safety Report, published the same year, that ranks intersections according to frequencies of crashes, fatalities, types of injuries and property damage. Fisher says worse traffic accident hot spots can be found all around Greensboro. “I think, the city has done a good job with traffic lights and turn lanes,” he says, predicting a drop in traffic flow when the new U.S. 220 around Greensboro (part of Greensboro’s northern loop) is completed in a few years. (That’s the project with the huge concrete pylons through a swamp on both sides of Battleground between New Garden Road and Drawbridge Parkway.) Motorists may not like the traffic glut, but retailers love the area. Northwest quadrant residents are among Greensboro’s most affluent. One of the city’s poshest subdivisions, Irving Park, starts right behind Lawndale Shopping center. Martha Scruggs, whose florist shop has been in Lawndale Shopping Center more than sixty years has conflicting feelings about the traffic, which she has seen go from meager to major. She finds the traffic patterns annoying, but she’s grateful that all these vehicles bring her and others customers. “It has always been an ideal location,” she says. The car and truck buildup in front of the center first got traffic experts’ attention in 1954 when a discussion was held on the topic. The first engineering sketch of what the Confounded Confluence would look like appeared in the newspaper in 1959. It became a reality by the early 1960s, although traffic had not reached anywhere near what it is today. For years, Westover Terrace carried the least amount of traffic. Until the late 1960s, Westover started at West Market, crossed Madison Avenue (now West Friendly) went down a steep hill and over a rickety bridge over North Buffalo Creek. It proceeded up a hill (the local Soapbox Derby was held on it) that passed Greensboro Senior High (now Grimsley) and Brooks Elementary (now Brooks Global Studies School). The street entered an industrial area that included a fire station with an engine that was hand-cranked. For a short period, the first public housing in Greensboro was on Westover Terrace: rows of barracks removed from the old World War II Army Base off Summit Avenue and converted to temporary apartments for veterans. Westover became a major street when the city tore down the old bridge over Buffalo Creek and rerouted the street over what quickly came to be known as “Fool’s Folly” Bridge, a few feet to the west. The bridge got its name because the city built it years before it was actually needed. It was a bridge with no roads connected to it. A wise guy from Senior High took a bucket of paint and inscribed Fool’s Folly on the side. The city, however, knew what it was doing. It was waiting for the right time to connect Westover Terrace and Aycock Street at the new bridge. Aycock used to intersect at grade with West Friendly and West Market near the old Ham’s Restaurant (now Mad Hatter). The city decided to lower Aycock so it passed under Market and Friendly and joined Westover Terrace at Fool’s Folly Bridge. To the north, Westover was cut through a cow pasture and linked with Battleground. These changes brought more traffic headed in the direction of the Confounded Confluence. About this time, the city radically changed Battleground Avenue before it reached the Confounded Confluence. Until then, Battleground started at the Duke Power substation and Benjamin Parkway veered northeasterly. It The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Gate City Journal
stopped at Wendover Avenue, which was being extended from its old terminus at Northwood Street all the way to Greensboro ’s western limits. This section of what used to be Battleground was renamed Grecade Street on one side of Wendover and Battleground Court on the other. Battleground Court became a ramp to bring Wendover traffic onto Battleground and eventually into the Confounded Confluence. To replace the Battleground that became Grecade and Battleground Court, the city built a new, four-lane, divided road that displaced a black community, a barn loaded with antique horse carriages and a construction company’s equipment yard. The new Battleground section quickly filled with commercial buildings on both sides. More recently, developer Marty Kotis bought the big Carousel movie theater on the stretch, got gallons and gallons of paint and rebranded it Red Cinemas. Kotis has a long-range vision of transforming the east side of Westover Terrace between Mill Street and Pembroke Drive into a shopping/dining/entertainment complex. These businesses have added more traffic to the Confounded Confluence, as has Green Valley Road. Green Valley Road goes through the middle of the old, much-missed golf course. The editor of this publication, Jim Dodson, learned to play golf and three-putted greens where cars and trucks wound their way through what was once affectionately called the “Valley.” In 1948 came the building of the Sears Mail Order Plant on Lawndale Drive. At its peak, it probably employed at least 1,000 people and its connected buildings — constantly being added onto — constituted the largest structure under one roof in North Carolina. Sears employees, of course, added to the traffic in the Confounded Confluence. So did Greensboro residents driving to the mail-order plant to pick up packages and to shop for bargains in the open-to-the-public employees’ store (nicknamed “the scratch-and-dent store” for its deals on slightly damaged stoves and fridges). By the 1960s, Battleground Avenue was saturated with businesses all the way to Rice Toyota, which was just beyond where Cone Boulevard crossed Battleground and became Benjamin Parkway. Today, Battleground is jammed with businesses all the way and slightly beyond Horse Pen Creek Road, which is close to Summerfield. The town has become a bedroom community to Greensboro. That, in turn, brings more cars to the Confounded Confluence as people commute to and from work. Think of the dysfunction in the Confounded Confluence if the railroad tracks that split the space had stayed active with trains. The last regular daily freight train from Greensboro to Mount Airy ceased in the 1970s, which accounts for the rust and the trees and weeds growing between the rails. After the 1970s, about the only time a train went through the Confounded Confluence was to take surplus boxcars to be stored on the tracks across Lake Brandt. The rails were once part of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad, completed in the 1880s, from Wilmington to Greensboro and on to Mount Airy. It later became the Atlantic and Yadkin Railroad, running from Sanford to Mount Airy. Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern) bought the line many years ago. As a lover of trains, I was heartbroken when Southern Railway quit running the daily freight that rattled slowly over tracks put down in the 1880s. I often jumped in my car at the Lawndale Shopping Center and followed the train out to Stokesdale. When I was a boy, my friends and I, all of whom lived in the Westover Terrace Apartments, played beside the tracks on Mill Street, between Westover and Battleground. A switcher locomotive, nearly always a steam engine, puffed out from downtown to bring rail cars to the Sears Plant and to Curtis Candy Company, Ready Mixed Concrete and Hitchcock Beverage Company, a beer distributorship. In the early afternoon, the switcher would pull into a siding. Up the tracks at Pembroke Road, the Mount Airy freight train, also pulled by a steam engine, waited for the switcher to get settled in the siding. The freight would then come down the tracks headed for the A&Y freight yard just off The Art & Soul of Greensboro
A Step in the
Right Direction
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January 2016
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Gate City Journal
Hamburger Square downtown. These tracks brought granite from the North Carolina Granite Corporation in Mount Airy to build, among other things, the iconic Nathanael Greene Monument at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in 1915. The park once had a depot, called “Battleground” on the timetable. By the 1980s, the only Norfolk Southern left on the tracks was the Chandler Concrete switcher that used the maze of sidings left by Sears to turn around so the locomotive was pointed toward downtown. That practiced stopped in the 1990s, but the switcher continued visits to Chandler until the concrete company moved this year and its Mill Street plant was demolished. That leaves an unused railroad bed from the old Sears plant — now the site of the Target Shopping Center on Lawndale — to downtown. The rail bed will become part of the A&Y Greenway. A major section is already in place from the south side of Cone Boulevard to Bur-Mil Park beyond Lake Brandt. The city built an expensive tunnel to take bikers and hikers under Cone Boulevard. It may require a tunnel or two for the A&Y Greenway to get through Confounded Confluence. It would be dangerous for hikers and bikers — or any pedestrians — to mingle with the cars and trucks in this caldron of chaos. But the expense of building the A&Y Greenway is important to Greensboro’s livability in the eyes of those who been working on the greenway, section by section, for years. Dabney Sanders, the project manager for the Downtown Greenway for Action Greensboro, says the design process has already begun on extending the greenway from Markland Drive (which leads into the Target Shopping Center) to connect with a completed greenway section at Spring Garden Street near Blandwood Mansion. She says designers are also doing traffic analysis, surveying and intersection evaluations to make suggestions on how this section of greenway will best work.
“I would just add that this transition from railroad tracks to greenway is incredibly important and exciting for our community,” says Sanders in an email from Action Greensboro, a nonprofit sponsored by six local foundations that seek to improve livability, enhance the education system and encourage young professionals to stay in Greensboro. “Its completion will connect downtown to the amazing trails system that exists northwest of the city,” she says. “It will provide an alternate means of transportation, provide a beautiful and safe place to recreate, and will spur pedestrian and bicycle-friendly and -oriented businesses, which will greatly enhance our overall quality of life in this community.“ In the meantime, the Confounded Confluence will continue to annoy. No part of Battleground Avenue is easy driving, except one. If you want a place where traffic is so light you could sunbathe on the asphalt (don’t really), go to Battleground’s beginnings downtown near the intersection of North Greene and Bellemeade Streets. There, you turn right onto Battleground off of Greene, and in the two-block trajectory that curves around past Odd Fellows and Undercurrent, before Lindsay Street and beyond that, the Smith Street Diner, you’ll see little traffic because the road is so out-of-the-way. Most downtown drivers reach Battleground from Eugene Street or the Smith Street/Fisher Avenue split, near Green Hill Cemetery. That’s where tenseness sets in. Hands clutch the wheel tighter and rearview mirrors get adjusted. Drivers know that they are in heavy traffic to the Confounded Confluence, where it only gets worse. OH For Jim Schlosser, Editor Emeritus of O.Henry, writing about the Confounded Confluence was almost as maddening as driving it.
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12/4/2015 11:56:21 AM
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Gate City Journal Et in Arcadia Ego
Before the march of “progress,” many long-time Greensboro residents can remember calmer and less noisy days in the Confounded Confluence. People in cars passing what was Bill Lindley’s Esso on Battleground near Sunset could holler out the window of their un-airconditioned cars, “What say, Calvin!” Calvin was an iconic attendant at the station. He would stop what he was doing to wave back. The station is still there but has evolved into a convenience store under different owners. Westover Terrace until the early 1950s came to a dead-end at a cow pasture at Pembroke Road near what is now the International House of Pancakes, aka I-HOP. A trace of the cow pasture remains in the form of a tiny park, whose width stretches from Westover up to the railroad tracks by the historical marker for Camp Stokes, the Confederate prison for deserters and Union soldiers during the Civil War. If only the public could stop and smell the roses. Problem is, they’ll be hard pressed to — unless they find a parking space across Pembroke at I-HOP and dodge traffic to get to the park, which came about mainly through spunky Alma Pinnix and the late Bill Craft. They were Greensboro’s Johnny Appleseeds, private citizens who took it upon themselves to get their hands dirty to improve public spaces. The little park contains a barely legible sign honoring Pinnix. She also landscaped the entrance off Cone Boulevard to Page High School. The city responded by naming the street in front of the school Alma Pinnix Drive. Bill Craft was similarly acknowledged with a park bearing his name. It occupies a wooded oasis on Blair Street not far from the Dover Road home where Craft, his wife Joanne and nine children lived for many years.
Today, Green Valley Road enters the intersection from the west and becomes Pembroke, as you cross Westover and Battleground by the I-HOP. But Green Valley was once a nameless gravel road that led a short distance to the clubhouse of Green Valley Golf Course. Westover motorists had to turn right at the dead end, take Pembroke across the railroad tracks and turn right or left to get on Battleground and right on Battleground to get to Lawndale. Cows really did populate the pasture. Passengers on the Westover Terrace bus watched the animals from their seats, while the bus parked beside the dead-end barricade waiting to start its journey back downtown. On the other side of the cow pasture, on the road that is now a combination of Westover and Battleground, Stark Dillard, then president and founder of Dillard Paper Co., owned a horse farm. His large stone house stood facing Battleground where it intersects with West Cornwallis. Each Saturday, shoppers at Lawndale Shopping Center could look across Lawndale, the railroad tracks and Battleground and watch people saddling and mounting horses for trail rides in the woods and meadows to the west. The land later became the back nine holes of Green Valley Golf Course (now gone in favor of an office park). After awhile, the area became too crowded for Stark Dillard. He moved his family and horses to Sedgefield. His land along Battleground and Westover was developed with business, including in the early days a construction company, a chicken hatchery and City Motors, which sold Nash and Rambler automobiles. The Elks Club occupied the old Dillard Home. The house was later torn down and Fink’s Jewelers now occupies the site.
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O.Henry 37
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January 2016
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
The Intrepid Traveler
True Mountain ‘High’ Our man of adventure falls — literally — for the charms of winter sports in the Carolina mountains
By Jason Frye
duck through his legs and never once fall off the Magic Carpet.
“Any of y’all nervous?” asks our instructor. Clad head to toe in GoreTex gear, goggled up, and totally at ease on his skis, he already knows the answer this ragtag bunch of ski newbies will give. One look at our outfits — rented ski bibs and some of us wearing so many jackets we don’t have full use of our arms — was all he needed. We chuckle a little, try not to fall over. “Well, you picked the right ski instructor today,” he says. “I’m a pastor and I put in a good word with someone,” he points skyward with one fat, glovecovered finger, “just a few minutes ago, so I think you’ll all do just fine.” With that, he launches into the instructions. Hold the poles like this. Crouch and lean forward like so. To turn, push this way. To slow down, turn your feet like this. It’s easy; he has us laughing at ourselves and at each other. The group I’m with starts to get the hang of it and we tackle the Bunny Slope with a growing sense of boldness. Then one of our ranks topples off the Magic Carpet, the conveyor belt that takes us from the bottom to the top of the learners’ area. Then we see the kids. Three of them with an instructor sporting his very first beard. These kids, they zip and zoom, go backwards,
Highest of the High The South, in general, is not known to be a ski destination. Sure, you can see a madman UNCW professor cross-country skiing the beach in a YouTube video, but by and large, the South does not a ski resort make. Except here in North Carolina. North Carolina’s ski resorts, few they may be, are the highest this side of the Rocky Mountains. Three of the state’s eight ski areas are over a mile high; the next highest in the East is in West Virginia. All but two of our resorts are higher than Vermont’s lauded Killington Ski Resort. The steep, challenging slopes of Beech Mountain Resort, as well as their brewery, bunny slope and freestyle terrain park stand at an elevation of 5,506 feet, much higher than the 50-foot Sugarloaf sand dune in my home county. On the morning we’re to hit the slopes, we stop off at Fred’s General Mercantile, a combination grocery store, ski shop and restaurant in the town of Beech Mountain, right about a mile high. As your elevation increases, the temperature decreases, keeping Beech Mountain cooler than surrounding towns by six degrees or more. In winter it’s cold here, brutally so, but in summer it’s quite
Your prayers are appreciated.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 39
The Intrepid Traveler pleasant, so pleasant the town’s only clocked in above 79 degrees a few times, reaching a balmy high of 81 degrees. I Faced An Icy Death So You Don’t Have To That sounds a lot more dramatic than what really happened, because what happened was this: I took a ski lesson and didn’t fall on the bunny slope, then I tried, along with a pair of fellow novices, to ski to the lift to the slope where little kids were shredding (or whatever one does on skis); the slope getting to the ski lift to the actual slope was more than I could handle and I tried to turn, forced a snowboarder to dodge the human missile named Jason Frye, spun, skied backwards for a dozen yards (I was impressed), and fell. I decided this was not the death I was meant to die, so I went to the brewery in the ski village and had a couple of beers.
40 O.Henry
All This Snow Can’t Go To Waste The next day, we visited another ski resort, Sugar Mountain. I opt for tubing over skiing. Tubing is something I know. When I was growing up in West Virginia, my dad would bring home an inner tube from a coal truck tire and we’d over-inflate it, douse it with Pam cooking spray, and shoot down the mountain for as long as the snows held. These tubes are a little different. Wrapped in a nylon skin with handles on top and a hard plastic bottom, they careened down a set of tracks Sugar’s ski wizards had built. It was a quick, fun ride, but nothing so burly as the let’s-plunge-over-thathill rides of my youth. It was just my speed. And so, like a little kid, I tubed and tubed, got tired and cold, had a hot cocoa. While enjoying our hot cocoa, a few of us decided to try something new: snowshoeing. I was cold and a little wet from some snow that made its way past three layers of jackets and under my collar, but the Eagle Scout, adventure-book-reading, White-Fang—loving part of me spoke up. “You live in the South,” it said, “when will you have another chance to snowshoe?” Next thing you know, I’m strapping myself to a pair of contraptions that look like the snowshoes I’d imagined as a kid, but they were so much more. We learn to walk in them, clomping through the snow, feeling the shoes swing about on our feet, several of us taking to the wide-stanced, loping gait quite easily (as it turns out, I can walk like a Sasquatch quite well). We dig the tiny set of claws on the bottom into an icy slope to practice going up and coming down and we all fall once, then we set off, walking along December 2015
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
A HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM THE TRIAD’S LUXURY HOME MARKET LEADER I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the great people that I and my team have had the privilege of working with this year. Whether selling your home or helping you find your new home, you have all been delightful to work with. I appreciate the fact that you chose me and my team out of all the other Realtors available to help you. Thank you for making our 2015 such a successful year. As we move into the new year I wish health, prosperity and happiness for everyone. I also wish for our country and the world around us to heal, for everyone to embrace peace, respect and goodwill towards their fellow man, to understand that all lives matter and that we are put on this earth to have a positive effect. Everyone at Tom Chitty & Associates wishes all of you our very best in every way. Happy New Year everyone!
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O.Henry 41
The Intrepid Traveler the edge of the ski slope. I’ll admit it, skiing was scary, well, skiing — inasmuch as I skied — was scary, but this, walking at the edge of the slope with snowboarders schussing by in a neon blur and skiers hurtling downhill just a foot or two away, was downright unnerving. After a few minutes I fell into a rhythm, just like in hiking, and the sound of the snow machines fell away and it was just me and the snow, the crunch and squeak of my footfall, the gentle clack of the snowshoes with each step. We hiked up the mountain, rested and watched some snowboarders try to execute ambitious tricks, then retraced our steps and returned to the lodge. Even though all I did was ride an inner tube and go for a short walk, I was exhausted and I wanted nothing more than a shower and a disco nap. Dinner that night — a beer tasting and wood fired pizzas at Boone’s Lost Province Brewing Company — delivered all those electrolytes I was missing and filled me with hot bread and cheese, so I went to bed a pretty happy camper.
“Cancer crashed my wedding. And was an uninvited guest on my honeymoon. Cancer stole my normal. But the people who treated my cancer stole it back for me.” Like any new bride, Laura Kilpatrick planned her wedding to the smallest detail. What she didn’t plan for was a diagnosis of cervical cancer. With an indomitable spirit and the dedicated caregivers of the Cone Health Cancer Center she not only survived, she conquered. Meet Laura and some of the people who helped her at exceptionalcare.com.
What I Learned
Winter in the mountains is not like winter on the coast. When I arrived it was one degree and there was a 35 miles per hour wind blowing. That’s deadly cold and my wardrobe is ill-prepared for that sort of weather. Skiing is not a sport I can take up as a 38-year-old man. I tried skiing once in high school, but that trip was mostly about drinking cheap beer and trying not to get caught than it was about skiing. There’s something special in the combination of a frosty brew and a foot of snow on the ground. Every beer I tasted, from Beech Mountain Brewing Company, Lost Province and Appalachian Mountain Brewing, was made somehow more perfect by the snow and cold outside. Even though I wasn’t Mount Everest high, I still got ice in my beard. Ice in your beard is hard to get out. Whether you ski or not, the North Carolina mountains in winter are worth the trip. Between tubing, snowshoeing and the cozy heat of a mountain cabin, you’ll find plenty to do and plenty to keep you coming back. If you don’t ski but want to learn, our resorts are the perfect place to build and hone those skills. And if you ski but haven’t for a long while, these are some good places to knock off the rust. OH
Exceptional Care. Every Day.
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42 O.Henry
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
The Intrepid Traveler
Daniel Clarke-Pearson, MD Gynecologic Oncologist, Cone Health
Treat the now, pave the way for what’s to come. This health care philosophy is embraced by Dr. Daniel Clarke-Pearson, MD, a gynecologic oncologist with the Cone Health Cancer Center. When his patient Laura Kilpatrick Stay: Pinnacle Inn Resort (www.pinnacleinn.com) Fairfield Inn & Suites Boone (www.marriott.com) Eat: Fred’s General Mercantile (www.fredsgeneral.com) Lost Province Brewing Co. ( www.lostprovince.com) Mile High Tavern (www.milehightavern.com) Drink: Beech Mountain Brewing Co. (www.beechmountainresort.com) Appalachian Mountain Brewery (www.appalachianmountainbrewery.com) Do: Ski Beech (www.beechmountainresort.com) Sugar Mountain (www.skisugar.com Appalachian Ski Mtn. (www.sppskimtn.com)
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January 2016
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O.Henry 43 12/11/15 12:26 PM
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Pappadaddy’s Mindfield
Blue Apron Special By Clyde Edgerton
My buddy Charlie Garren and I
are visiting Beaufort, North Carolina, staying in a waterfront condo, our boat docked outside. We’re supposed to be fishing — but it’s a cold and wintry night.
“What do you think about staying inside and cooking up that Blue Apron meal?” I ask. “Great idea,” says Charlie. Blue Apron is a fad you may know about — meals shipped by UPS, uncooked, in a large cardboard box. Ingredients are packed inside the box with ice that will last, I’m guessing, up to thirty days in the Sahara Desert. Illustrated directions are included, written on a laminated piece of paper. These instructions say — now remember this — 10-minute prep, 25 to 35 minutes to cook. “Charlie,” I say. “Let’s time this. I’m a little suspicious.” “It’s seven thirty-five,” he says. “I’ll keep time.” Our meal is shrimp and cheesy grits with collards and green tomato chutney. From the refrigerator I get the eleven ingredients, individually wrapped in eleven separate packages: 1 1/8 pounds shrimp 1 1/4 cups yellow grits 4 ounces Monterey jack cheese 1 bunch collard greens 1 green tomato 1 yellow onion 1 ounce pea shoots 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons golden raisins 1 tablespoon light brown sugar 1 tablespoon Cajun spice blend
Illustration by harry Blair
Remember I said individually wrapped? I wrestle, pinch, pull, scissor, blowtorch, and sledge-hammer open each individual package. Next come six steps for completion of the meal: 1. Prepare the ingredients 2. Make the cheesy grits 3. Make the chutney 4. Cook the collard greens 5. Add the shrimp 6. Finish and serve your dish Each step is followed by a paragraph of instructions. People. When I finish step one, prepare the ingredients, we are 25 minutes in. I will not write out directions for each of the six steps, but listen, I’m at the end of step ONE on a meal that is supposed to take ten minutes to prep and it’s already 8 p.m. Charlie is looking for pots and pans in this strange kitchen, and I’ve been reading these little paragraphs aloud, and we have begun to laugh. Here what The Art & Soul of Greensboro
step one — prepare the ingredients — says: Wash and dry the fresh produce. In a medium pot, combine 5 cups of water and a big pinch of salt; heat to boiling on high. Think about it — how long is that going to take? Grate the cheese. It keeps crumbling. The only grate we can find is full of holes that are each the diameter of a hair. Core and medium dice the tomato. Peel and small dice the onion. Remove and discard the collard green stems; slice the leaves into 1-inch-wide strips. This is a mess of collards, y’all. Picture yourself doing all that. What I’m thinking is that the directions meant ten-minute preparation if you have a large church choir to prepare everything all at once. I say to Charlie, “What?! Remove and discard the collard stems?” I then look ahead to number four (of the six steps), which is “Cook the collard greens.” Here’s what it says: In the pan used to make the chutney, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high until hot. Add the collard greens, remaining onion and 1/4 cup water; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes, or until the collard greens have wilted and the onion has softened. I keep having to jump from step one to step four to step two and then to step three. I say, “Cook these collards for 5 to 7 minutes?! My lord. My mamma cooked collards all day.” I do not remove and discard the collard green stems. No way. That would take another twenty minutes at least. Charlie, behind me, at the electric flat-top stove, is trying to figure out how the eyes work. He burns himself. Then back on step two, I realize I need to stop to do step three, else we will be forty-five minutes in before we even think about what to do with the collards and beyond that, I’m not sure which number I’m on now. Charlie comes over, reads, and says, “It looks like you have to cook everything in a pan that has already had something cooked in it — and we only have clean pans.” That sets us off again. Laughing. I lose the spice mix under the collards and then find it. Charlie says the cheese is grated so thin he can’t see it. “The stove fan sucked it up,” I say. We don’t remove the grits from the heat soon enough. Smoke. Now we’re supposed to set the grits aside “in a warm place.” We are silly laughing. Charlie puts the grits in the oven, then comes over and finds a brown raisin among the golden ones and wonders if we should discard it. At the end of the chutney cooking we are supposed to find another “warm place.” For the chutney. We sit down to eat at about an hour and a half in, at just after 9 p.m. I say, “I’m looking forward to breakfast — to cracking open one egg, frying it. Then cracking open another one and frying that one.” Charlie says, “I’ll do some toast.” OH Clyde Edgerton is the author of ten novels, a memoir and a new work, Papadaddy’s Book for New Fathers. He is the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at UNCW. January 2016
O.Henry 45
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro 12/16/15 3:17 PM
A Novel Year
The First Time Again Good words and friendly advice from one who has been there
By Wiley Cash
My friend Taylor Brown’s new novel,
Fallen Land, is now available wherever books are sold. It’s about an endangered couple on horseback heading south through the burned-out landscape in the wake of Sherman’s march. It’s a great book that has been compared to novels by Cormac McCarthy and Charles Frazier. It was released on January 12, so there’s a good chance you’ve already heard of it.
But at this moment, January 12 remains in the future. Right now, as I take down the notes that will eventually comprise this article, Taylor and I are eating lunch at SeaLevel City Gourmet in Wilmington. It’s midNovember, almost two months before the official release of Fallen Land. The copies of the novel that sit on the shelf at a bookstore or library near you are not yet printed. On this November afternoon, Fallen Land is a book that doesn’t quite exist, even though Taylor thought it was over and done with the minute his editor accepted the final revision. “That’s what surprises me,” Taylor says. “I spent years writing this book, and I’m still waiting for people to read it. No one’s read it but my agent and my editor.” My mouth is full of a spicy California roll, but if it weren’t I would tell him that what he’s just said isn’t quite true. I’ve read it, and I wrote a blurb for the cover that says something to the effect of “Holy moly, this book is great.” Critics from Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Booklist have read it too, and they all gave it starred reviews, the industry version of my “holy moly” praise. But I understand what Taylor means, and I know how he feels. My agent sold my first novel, A Land More Kind Than Home, in November 2010; it was published in April 2012. What does one do with the time between the final revision and publication day? Start a new book? Figure out ways to promote the book that’s about to be released? Worry? If you’re Taylor Brown, you do all three. Taylor didn’t start writing a book after he completed his novel. He started and finished two books, and both of them have been sold to the same editor who purchased Fallen Land. If he wanted an indication of how his work and career are being projected by his publisher, he’s been given the best indication he could have ever received. The editor was wise to invest in Taylor; not only is he a talented writer, but he’s also a hustler. He’s already visited with dozens of independent booksellers across the South, introducing himself and handing out review copies of Fallen Land. Commonly referred to as a galley or an advanced reading copy (ARC), a review copy is the pre-publication version of a book that’s specifically printed for booksellers, reviewers and bloggers. It’s how the industry is made aware of books a full season before their release. Most writers The Art & Soul of Greensboro
hoard their review copies, or they hand them out to family and friends. Taylor gave his copies to booksellers who hadn’t yet heard of his novel. They’ve heard of it now, and their readers will hear of it soon. But even with all he’s done to keep busy, Taylor has still found time to worry. “Writing a book is a very private, personal experience that becomes a very public offering,” he says. “Soon, anyone could read my book and have opinions of it. That never crossed my mind while I was writing it. It’s terrifying.” What can also be terrifying is the specter of the book tour. Writers have varied opinions on the topic. Some say tours boost sales. Others say they’re a waste of time. I’ve heard one seasoned writer say that he believes book tours are designed to humiliate authors. I decide it’s best not to tell Taylor about the first event of my first book tour, a Wednesday afternoon reading at a public library in Huntington, West Virginia, a rapt audience of four people, three of whom were librarians who worked at the library. The fourth attendee was a former student of mine who was there to witness the tragedy of my career firsthand. I try my best to give Taylor advice that will lift his spirits: Don’t read your reviews, aside from the good ones. If you read bad reviews, lie and say you didn’t if anyone asks. Say, “No one reads reviews anymore,” then hide your tears. Pack your toothbrush, deodorant and a change of clothes in your carry-on luggage. My luggage was lost when I flew to an event in Portland, Maine. I showed up at the bookstore in a T-shirt and a baseball hat. It was February. In Maine. During the book tour, if you’re staying on an air mattress in a friend’s basement, be sure to leave the air pump plugged into the electric outlet. You never know when that air mattress is going to need a little juice during the night. Always ask people how to spell their names before you sign their books. There are a lot of Aimees and Elisabeths and Ashlees out there. We finish our lunch, pay the bill, step out into the bright November sun. The afternoon is warm. “There’s a lot more to writing books than just writing them, isn’t there?” I say. Taylor pulls his sunglasses out of his breast pocket, puts them on. “That’s true,” he says. “I never imagined any of this — promotion, book tours, public speaking — when I was sitting at my desk, writing a book that I thought no one would ever read.” “Are you afraid of this ever feeling like a job?” I ask. “No,” he says. “There’s too much mystery and magic in the act of writing for any of this to ever feel like a job. I have to remember that.” I agree with him. It’s the best advice I’ve heard all day. OH Wiley Cash is a New York Times best-selling author whose second novel, This Dark Road to Mercy, was released last year. He lives in Wilmington. January 2016
O.Henry 47
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Birdwatch
Golden-crowned Kinglet Greater numbers of the winter visitor are calling Carolina home
By Susan Campbell
Unless you are a bird watcher with a
really discriminating eye, the tiny golden-crowned kinglet might totally escape your notice. That’s especially true if you get senior discounts and have lost the upper range of your hearing: The call of the golden-crowned, though very high pitched, tends to be thin — and anything but loud. What’s more, these little birds, not much bigger than hummingbirds, scurry about in the thickest of habitats but most often frequent treetops, where they constantly scour needles, leaves, buds and bark for insects.
The golden-crowned kinglet gets its name from the small but striking crown of yellow and orange feathers on the very top of its head. This colorful crest is bordered with black at the “eyebrow,” giving it a very distinct and rakish appearance. Otherwise the bird is a bit on the drab side, grayish underneath with an olive back, wings and tail. Kinglets are slight and shaped rather like chickadees and flit around just like chickadees. Unlike chickadees, though, they never use cavities for nesting or roosting. Even in the coldest weather, they are found in the open. Golden-crowneds are remarkable in that they huddle together on winter nights to keep warm: a behavior not known to occur in any other North American species. This strategy allows them to survive temperatures down to
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
-40 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition to all the fluffy plumage covering them, they have a single feather that’s specially adapted to cover and protect each of their nostrils. During the summer months, golden-crowned kinglets hang out in the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada. They prefer spruce and fir forests for breeding. Their deep cup nests are concealed near the tops of trees, close to the trunk where overhanging needles provide at least some protection from the elements. Pairs are monogamous and males share in feeding the young. It is interesting to note that in recent years the species has been expanding southward, using similar habitat at high elevations in both the Eastern and Western United States. This expanded breeding ground — and their propensity to raise two broods of up to eleven young per season — means these little birds are gaining a wider footprint. And the fact that these birds that now breed at lower latitudes do not tend to migrate means Carolinians have an excellent chance of seeing them. Although their close cousins, the ruby-crowned kinglets, can be seen using feeders and water features at this time of year, golden-crowneds do not typically cotton to such human hospitality. Your best bet for catching a glimpse of one or two of these elusive but stunning creatures would be to seek out a low-lying area such as a bog or lake with thick, low vegetation. The thickets along the trail on the backside of Reservoir Park in Southern Pines or the south side of Salem Lake in Winston-Salem are good spots to try your luck. Even though they never seem to stop moving, once you know what to look and listen for, the odds of finding one any time in the next few months should be pretty good! OH Susan would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photos. She can be contacted by email at susan@ncaves.com, or by calling (910) 585-0574. January 2016
O.Henry 49
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January 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Small Returns
Life of Jane
Why everything seems larger in memory of childhood haunts
By Jane Borden
We remember traumatic events more
strongly than mundane occasions, and researchers know why. In dire situations, the brain’s neurons fire impulses in unison, thereby making stronger connections, and searing a snapshot of the experience into the brain. This is why I so clearly recall the first time I returned to Irving Park Elementary, where I had been a student until the fifth grade. When I visited, years later, I discovered that the school had shrunk. The desks were now tiny, water fountains miniature, and hallways under the control of a villain whose evil plan made the walls and ceiling slowly close in around my ever enlarging frame. The trauma, of course, was the realization that I was growing up. This, in ninth grade.
It’s a common experience, one you, readers, have surely known, when what once loomed large becomes irrevocably small. It would happen again. My family used to ride bikes, my sisters on training wheels and I in a bucket
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
seat perched behind Dad, to Gilligan’s Island, a famous North Carolina tourist destination. For this major outing, we traveled for hours, it seemed, then turned off the main road, and huffed through brush to a river. In the middle of it stood Gilligan’s Island, an imposing rock jutting from the rushing water. Then, only if conditions were safe, we navigated a treacherous, mazelike path of wet stones to reach the monument, where one could pass an afternoon investigating formations and flora. In fact, we biked three and a half blocks, 0.4 miles, from my parents’ house on Carlisle to the greenway between Nottingham and Blair. A few dozen feet from the road is a small creek, and at one spot, a handful of rocks crosses the narrow stream. If you take a running start and jump, this rocky path becomes redundant. I called Mom to ask her about Gilligan’s Island and she said, “What do you mean, ‘tell you about it’? It’s just a stream and it has rocks in it.” She’s right. I visited the spot several years ago and couldn’t even distinguish which of the rocks had been the destination and which the path. My sisters had chosen the name Gilligan’s Island, not Rand McNally. It is not the smallness of these revisited spaces that saddens me, though, as I’m drawn to the cramped and compact. As a child, I enjoyed sitting on the floor of my 2’ x 5’ clothes closet. I pulled in coloring books and toys and a lamp to light my play, although this made it too hot to keep the door shut. But opening it would have defeated the purpose. Yet I had few ways to entertain myself in the dark. This was one of my life’s first great conundrums. I also liked to climb into cubbies at school. And once, as a toddler, when I went missing, my parents, after combing the house and growing increasingly alarmed, finally found me sitting in the fireplace. I still think fireplaces January 2016
O.Henry 51
Life of Jane
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December 2015
look like perfect cave settees. I also enjoy caves in the earth. Often I’ve thought of the time capsule Irving Park Elementary made during my tenure there: each item resting snugly in its place, boxed together tidily, waiting patiently for future students. At the time I wished for everyone to have a time capsule in which to rest. To a degree, all children enjoy tight spaces. Building forts isn’t only about construction. One of my first apartments in New York was a repurposed dental office. My bedroom was carved out of what had previously been a foyer, my mattress stuffed into the narrow doorway entrance. There were no windows. It suited me perfectly, perhaps because, at 23, I was still a child. But also because small spaces make me feel safe. One of the principles of feng shui is to position beds against a wall, facing a door. This edict traces its roots to threat awareness: You want to see someone coming. Similarly, small spaces provide fewer places for assassins to crouch. And yet, even though some are tantalizingly tiny, the spaces from my youth still bum me out because when I revisit them, the magic is no longer in residence. For example, it’s best I don’t return to Four Seasons Town Centre, which was once the most magical place imaginable. It held this status in part because visits were rare on account of its great distance from home. Google Maps tells me it would be a 13-minute drive. Distance aside, however, I doubt the Piercing Pagoda has maintained its grip on my psyche. Those cubbies at school are just holes in the wall. And if Mom hadn’t eventually trashed my own time capsule, from an assignment accompanying the official school capsule, its contents would surely disappoint. A Milli Vanilli cassette tape is not an artifact for a museum. Milli Vanilli is best preserved in Halloween costumes. And so, for a couple dozen years, I never re-entered the playhouse in the backyard of my parents’ house. As a child, I passed hours there, sweeping and pretending to cook and clean at the miniature stove and sink inside, never fearful of an assassin entering the pint-sized door. Mom and Dad won it at a fundraising auction for the Greensboro Day School (which I briefly attended before my sisters and I switched to public schools). Brooks Lumber built it in the backyard. It is roughly 6’ x 6’ — larger, I believe, than that New York foyer apartment — with a couple of small windows on either side of the door. My sister Tucker recalls that opening and closing those windows was the house’s chief source of entertainment. By the time I was a teenager, I only regarded it while walking the dog through the backyard: Oh yeah, the playhouse. Then it would disappear The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Life of Jane again in plain sight. I never reopened the door, perhaps out of fear for what I’d find — wary both of what might be living or rotting behind those windows and also of the idea that terror could exist without my knowledge, that one is able to ignore what’s under her nose. And so, weeds grew by the door, dust collected in its windows’ sills, and, fall after spring after fall after spring, it fell into the daily duties of the forgotten. Last year, after forty-one years of residence, my parents sold the house on Carlisle Road. My sisters and I came home to celebrate one last long weekend inside it, and to help Mom and Dad pack up. The grandchildren came too, and without trips to a park, the Science Center or the Children’s Museum to entertain them, they were relegated to the yard. One afternoon — while I bravely tackled one of the most important packing duties, the delicate placement of items from the refrigerator into my belly — my nephew Borden ran into the kitchen from the back door and asked, “Want me to show you this house I found outside?” “Yes!” I responded, excited to participate in whatever make-believe dwelling he’d invented in the bushes. Borden’s older brother lifted his head from his game console, so I asked, “Franklin, do you want to come too?” “Is it just the playhouse?” he inquired with the withering boredom only an older sibling can pull off. Ahh, I thought, the playhouse: of course. Suddenly I was surprised they were only finding it now. Perhaps my sisters and I had forgotten it enough for two generations. “I want to come!” shouted Victoria, their younger sister. “Have you seen it before?” I asked her. “Yes,” she replied. “But I don’t think you have.” I laughed to myself for a moment. Then I decided she was right. So I trudged through the backyard with them and crouched through the door of my own time capsule. No dead animals. No rotting wood. Hardly any decay at all. The miniature clapboard shack looked exactly as it always had. Tiny metal pots rested on the stove, and the knobs still turned on the painted wooden sink. The red bench, painted with Sesame Street characters, no longer fit my frame, but I snapped several photos of my nephew and niece seated on it. To my surprise, the magic was in there too. I think Borden and Victoria had carried it in with them. My niece and nephews also love Gilligan’s Island. OH You can find Greensboro native Jane Borden, author of I Totally Meant To Do That, at JaneBorden.com or via twitter.com/JaneBorden The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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O.Henry 53
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January 2016 Winter Blooming with cardinals and coated with ice, the slim branches of a birch tree sag, its trunk a frozen sliver against the silvery sky. Yet, the sun is creeping over the hill, and a doe, spindle-legged and shivering, makes her way across a field. Creaking like wooden stairs, the stiff grass yields to whatever moves through it — the deer, a man’s heavy boots, the North wind — spring. —Terri Kirby Erickson
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January 2016
O.Henry 55
Small Is Beautiful Sizing up the benefits of downsizing
N
ot long ago, my wife announced she wanted less of us to love. This was simply her charming way of announcing that, effective immediately, we were adopting wiser diets and more exercise for the New Year, all designed to slim us down and make us healthier and happier. I’ll admit I’ve learned to love this idea of “living smaller,” as one of our ecominded millennial sprouts recently remarked — especially as the principle now seems to find application in various other aspects of our busy lives. In a world where diminishing natural resources and an ever-endangered ecosystem are up against the gospel of mass consumption and surging populations, goodness knows someone’s got to start slimming down if the poor planet’s going to survive. In our case, wife and me, what started with simple seasonal “purges” of clothing closets and unused household appliances and such eventually morphed into a wholesale downsizing that — on the cusp of being true empty-nesters — provided a surprising feeling of personal liberation and the satisfaction of learning that less really can be more. Not long ago, we began a long-awaited search for the perfect house in Greensboro, hoping to find the ideal midcentury home with loads of character and fewer spaces to have to take care of. Speaking purely for myself, a quaint cottage with a big overgrown garden for me to potter around in would suffice quite nicely. In some ways, we’re going back to the future, part of a vanguard finding greater meaning in smaller objects and fewer things. In 1950, after all, according to the U.S. Census, the average size of new American home was a mere 983 square feet, occupied by 3.4 residents. Last year, the average new house in America topped 2,600 feet for the first time, an all-time high — with only 2.6 souls rattling around in all those rooms. Only a couple nervous years removed from the burst real estate bubble of the Great Recession, McMansions may no longer be the symbol of naked upward American mobility but the one-percenters among us are still inclined to build new houses bigger than ever. The rest of us, on the other hand, are discovering there is, indeed, beauty in thinking small — and living that way. On a recent idle afternoon at the (rather small) World Headquarters of O.Henry magazine, to this point, news that spectacularly engineered “small houses” are — you’ll excuse — a rapidly growing phenomenon in 2016, got us wondering what other small gems are just waiting out there to be discovered. Miniature portraits, pint-sized rooms, fabulous small plates, pickleball, nine-hole golf and miniature champion horses topped the list of our curious favorites. For the record, we also contemplated a staff walking tour of A&T State’s spectacular Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, where the tomorrow is being orchestrated by very brainy types on the atomic, molecular and supermolecular levels. They are creating exciting new applications that may further revolutionize everything from the delivery of medicine to the telekinetic use of mobile phones. Unfortunately, a single nano turns out to be one billionth of a meter in size, which means we’ll simply have to take the brainy types at their word that we’ll all soon be living even smaller and happier than ever. We probably wouldn’t have seen any nanos anyway. — Jim Dodson
Mini Me: Petite Portraiture
Larry Richardson, Greensboro collector and Anglophile, acquired the first of his more than 150 miniature portraits during a junket to Britain. “It was 1981, the first year I was traveling for my parents’ business, antique-buying in England. I became fascinated after my mother pointed them out to me. She said, ‘These are undervalued, and you need to look for them.’” Richardson grew enthralled. “I was in Warwick, England and bought my first pair in one of the antique stalls.” The profiles of a bridal couple in Colonial India were 250 years old. He visited London’s Victoria and Albert Museum to learn more about his new obsession. He learned that early profile miniatures evolved into detailed portraits executed in perfect scale. Here, Richardson discovered how great portrait artists of the 18th century, including Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, produced minute replicas of larger works. “If it was a woman and her husband, she would give him a miniature that he would carry with him as a remembrance of her so he wouldn’t forget her. Likewise, he would do the same and leave a portrait with her.” It wasn’t necessarily about vanity, he says. “Maybe he got on a ship and went to China for trade — their expeditions might last a year.” Miniatures were commonly painted upon wafers of ivory, with minute brushes. “Brushes made from two hairs from a horse’s tail!” Richardson exclaims. Stylistically, the most valuable miniatures are typically framed in oval bronze or 18-karat gold frames with ormolu hanging rings under a convex glass. Detail and scale is perfect. Souvenir miniatures, mass-produced for the wealthy during grand tours of Europe, are less valuable than commissioned ones. “Sometimes now, the miniature portraits are worth more than the large portrait. I’ve got one Gainsborough — it isn’t signed by him, but I was told it was of the school of Gainsborough . . . so it’s attributed to him.” Over twenty-four years, Richardson has quested for miniatures throughout the world. “I’ve bought them in Hungary, Germany, France, Spain, England, Scotland, Italy, Brazil and Argentina. I’ve bought them in the Deep South — in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia — and in North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Connecticut — all up and down the Eastern Seaboard.” Miniatures are scarce — and American ones are most coveted. Yet Richardson still dreams of owning a Joshua Reynolds miniature. “The miniatures are the things I’m proudest of owning. Now I cannot buy them. When I bought them I paid $50-100. Now they are $5, 6, 7 — even $10,000. I call them my redneck IRA. And the collection doesn’t take much space. It’s intriguing. You always feel you own a piece of history.” — Cynthia Adams
Small Plates: Killer of Apps
A friend who endlessly ribs me about wanting to taste everyone else’s food gave me what he regarded as a gag gift — a telescoping fork that spans the zone between my food and yours. I instantly thought it was a brilliant invention and drove my wife and friends crazy with it — until I discovered small plates. They’re made for sharing because — 1) If you eat the whole plate, or 2) Like someone else’s better than yours, or 3) Simply want a second helping — ordering another plate is no big deal. In case you missed it, though, there’s been a lot of grousing about small plates. A friend complained about how it was a way that restaurants can get away with an “upcharge” on what could have been an appetizer. She insists she doesn’t see the difference between appetizers and small plates. Then don’t order them, I say. “Very few small plates really lend themselves to sharing,” says Pete Wells, the author of “The Big Problem With Small Plates” in The New York Times. Hey Pete. Order a second one, says I. Especially since you’re on an expense account. Your big problem solved by little old me. Over the last few weeks, a few of the more serious eaters at O.Henry have been scouring Greensboro for small plates. Here are some of our favorites. One caveat, though. Like appetizers, small plates are seasonal. If you absolutely have your heart set on eating one of these, call first to make sure it’s featured. If it’s not, insist that it be revived. — David Claude Bailey
Gia, 1941 New Garden Road, Suite 208, Greensboro (336) 907-7536 or www.drinkeatlisten.com Gia’s subtitle spells out the restaurant’s emphasis in order: “Drink. Eat. Listen.” No shame they’re in a rustic Italian-inspired setting where the drink menu is hip and extensive. Pair your sips with inventive bites such as golden egg salad ($6), a soft-boiled egg dunked in egg, flour and panko crumbs, deep-fried and tucked into a nest of frisée (curly endive), sprinkled with crispy prosciutto and is drizzled with a balsamic reduction. Gia’s plates make tasty sidecars to business confabs, celebratory toasts or gabfests after shows at the Brassfield Cinema or Guilford College’s Dana Auditorium. For those who enjoy a drink and dessert, all hail the tiramisu. — Maria Johnson Green Valley Grill, 622 Green Valley Road, Greensboro, (336) 854-2015 or www.greenvalleygrill.com Oh, Green Valley Grill’s small plate of truffled fries ($6.95), how do I love thee? Let me count the ways and whys. I love thee with all abandon for thy sizzling grace. I love thee freely for thy tempting come-hither aroma. I love thee purely from the width of thy crunchy exterior to the breadth of thy pulpy essence, still wrapped in crinkly tater skin. I love thee for the piping hot vessel in which you are nestled. I love the funk of thy Parmesan shavings and the garlicky tang of thy lime aioli. With finger-licking relish, I love thy tiny, ultra-crispy shoestring slivers. By sun and candlelight, I love thee to the depths of thy black truffled soul. I love thee from the first salty nibble to thy last morsel, with which I mop my dish for cheesy snippets. As the shadow of age casts its pall upon me, I love thee more and more, at lunch and dinner and after dinner. And, if God so choose, at a table laid with ale and wine among angels. — David Claude Bailey
Photograph from Gia
Gia’s Golden Egg Salad
Fishbones, 2119 Walker Avenue, Greensboro, (336) 370-4900 or fishbonesonline.net It’s easy to feel jaded when it comes to chicken wings, but Fishbones avoids the doldrums with its Asian-inspired sweet chili wings ($5.25). Granted, this stools-studded, neighborhood bar specializes in seafood, but the chef has clearly mastered the familiar canvas of the chicken wing, choosing meaty specimens and frying them just right to develop a tasty crust without sacrificing moisture. What really makes these wings soar, however, is the house-made chili sauce, a sweet, spicy and intriguingly heady combination whose recipe is something of a trade secret. Served with a side of scallion-lemongrass dressing, these wings are comfort food for the adventurous eater — and a great option for landlubbers who don’t care for seafood. — Evan Goldfarb
Photograph top right from craftedart of street food. Photograph right from Mrashall Free House
Los Gordos Mexican Cafe & Restaurant, 2505 Battleground Avenue, (336) 617-4155 or losgordosmexicancafe.com After taking in the hodgepodge of Mexican mementos and Texan A&M regalia dotting the walls at Los Gordos, consider ordering the stuffed avocado as an appetizer ($5.49). A whole, plump avocado is halved, stuffed with your choice of chicken, beef, or shrimp, and encased in a thick layer of cheese before being coated in panko and fried to a delicate crisp. Forget about Fabergé, this golden egg is a treasure in its own right, served nesting blissfully atop a bed of cumin-scented rice. Comfortably shared by two, devoured by three or fought over by four, this is what mozzarella sticks dream of being when they grow up. — Evan Goldfarb Melt Kitchen and Bar, 2270 Golden Gate Drive, Greensboro (336) 6174664 or www.meltkitchenandbar.com Melt with its hip modern, angular and spare decor, has lots of “starters” in the $6–10 range — butternut squash dip, Korean BBQ wings or fish tacos, served with avocado, cilantro, red-cabbage slaw and a mango-habanero sauce. But consider getting a half panini with a side for $8. My hands-down house favorite is their savory crab panini served on locally made sourdough. Paired with a side serving of their decadent duck-fat fries, it’s by no means small, but they happily box up leftovers for taking home. — Cynthia Adams The Marshall Free House, 1211 Battleground Avenue, Greensboro (336) 792-1999 or marshallfreehouse.com The prize for the largest small plate easily goes to The Marshall Free House, where, for $12.95, you get a ramekin of Lamb Poutine in the state’s most over-the-top faux London pub. For the uninitiated, poutine is a classic Québécois dish, described by Saveur as a “savory collage of French-fried potatoes, beef gravy and squeaky-fresh cheese curds [a fresh, mild cheese product].” The Free House version ups the ante with a generous portion of lamb, blobs of rich Cheddar cheese curds and onion gravy ladled over a huge mound of hand-cut French fries. In the small plate arena, which often focuses on “less is more,” here’s an instance where more is a whole lot more. — David Claude Bailey Marshall Free House’s Lamb Poutine
Crafted Art of Street Food’s Ramen Crafted Art of Street Food, 600-C Battleground Avenue, Greensboro, (336) 265-8859 or www.eatatcrafted.com While traveling with a group of chefs from NYC’s Culinary Institute, I was amazed when the group routinely ordered everything on every menu. At Crafted Art of Street Food, however, I was sorely tempted to order every single small plate on the menu — reasonably priced at $3–7. In the end, we ordered enough of them to attract the notice of neighboring diners. I like it hot. My wife, Anne, does not. The fiery Korean meatballs ($6), cooled off with a gingery cucumber relish and a mound of rice, warmed the cockles of my tastebuds. While admiring what she termed the steam-punk grunge decor, Anne concentrated on a bowl of ramen ($7), anchored with four slices of buttery, slow-cooked pork belly and a “tea egg.” Enlivened with fresh scallions, cilantro and jalapeño, along with pickled daikon and carrots, it was a soup with a salad in it, surprisingly sweet and sour. Would that family harmony was always so easy. — David Claude Bailey Tessa Farm to Fork, 3929 Battleground Avenue, Greensboro (336) 7631256 or www.tessagreensboro.com No contest. Tessa Farm to Fork, one of the newest players on the Greensboro fine dining scene, wins the prize for Best Adaptive Use of a Former Waffle House. Open since October, the restaurant is a visual treat, expressing farmhouse chic with sage green tones, corrugated metal banding, thoughtful landscaping and creative signs (see pitchfork at entrance). Heck, even the fence around the dumpster is attractive. The kitchen — which trumpets fresh, locally sourced ingredients — is making its mark with offerings like crab cake fritters ($10) on a bed of polenta with asparagus spears and homemade chow-chow. The three hefty fritters make it a nice appetizer to split or a small plate for crab lovers who understandably don’t want to share. — Maria Johnson
Photographs by Sam Froelich
Small Horses, Big Hearts
With her soulful brown eyes, mop of graying hair and distinctive black-andbrown facial markings, her name is, aptly, Dreamy. She’s 24 years old, a greatgrandmother and grand old dame in the world of miniature horses, the matriarch of four generations of a bloodline that’s produced several national — and world grand champions. “She’s a sweet thing who will live out her days here on the farm,” explains Merry Black, pointing out — in order of their proper succession — the mares who calmly loiter nearby: Heartache, Witchy Woman, Jlo and the quite photogenic young Booty. At this moment on Black’s Brookhaven Farm in Summerfield, eight more “minis” are also in residence, two of which are expected to foal in spring and one of which has been sold and is headed to a farm in the Netherlands. “Europeans have always had a passion for miniature horses and Shetland ponies,” she points out, explaining how in the coal mines of Britain, Germany and other nations miniature horses and Shetlands were bred with powerful legs and strong necks that made them ideal for pulling coal carts through narrow passages. According to some equine historians, it was a short trot from below ground to showground as European nobility eventually began cultivating small horses as family pets, owing to their typically high intelligence and docile personalities. “All of that is true and then some,” says Black. “That’s why they’re ideal for introducing children to horses and are even used as therapy horses because of their gentleness. Once you’re around them, it’s easy to fall in love. Because of their small size, they’re much easier to care for and you don’t have to have nearly as much land.” She smiles adding, “They’re still horses and you have all the same kinds of responsibilities as with a regular-sized horse — just on a much smaller scale. Their sweet natures are a bonus, small horses with big hearts.” Black’s own love affair started at age 8 when she rode her first conventional horse in her hometown of Atlanta. Her grandfather was the celebrated golfer Bobby Jones, her father the selfsame Bill Black of Greensboro’s Cadillac dealership. “I grew up down in Atlanta riding everything — dressage, hunters and jumpers, show horses of every sort. I even eventually moved to Kentucky and worked on horse farms thinking that was what I wanted to do with my life.” She moved to Greensboro in 1980, bringing her horse with her. “I didn’t have that much land at the time — just an acre-and-a-half — but decided my horse needed a companion,” Black recalls. She found one through an ad in the newspaper. “I bought the horse without knowing a thing about him, the little horse had a terrible temper — what was I thinking?! Eventually I sold him,” Black continues, “But miniatures continued to fascinate me.” In 1998 she tried again, purchasing a couple more minis at a production sale in Advance. “That was the beginning,”she says. Since that time, Black has foaled more than seventy mares and has become a fixture on the miniature horse show circuit thanks to Dreamy and her kind. Seven world champions and a recent pair of American Shetland Pony Congress champions have come from Brookhaven Farm. The Triad, Black explains, is home to the East Coast Miniature Horse Club and something of a — er — small hotbed of mini horse-lovers. Even as the new year loomed, she was busy preparing to foal a couple of newbies in late winter and early spring and was already thinking about upcoming clinics and the East Coast Spring Fling down in Williamston that takes place in April — not to mention the little horse soon headed to the Netherlands. “I’m really just a mini horse midwife,” Black adds with a fairly big laugh. “But it’s a life I love.” — Jim Dodson
Photographs courtesey of the High point Museum.
Meredith’s Minitures from the High Point Museum. Above: “Taos House”, Left “Monet’s Kitchen.”
Pint-Sized Quarters
Whatever you do, don’t call them dollhouses. Those are toys, meant to be played with, whereas miniature rooms serve distinct purposes, as three sets of them in the Triad illustrate. Meredith’s Miniatures, High Point Museum To see true miniatures, built on the standard 1:12 scale, head to the High Point Museum for a look at “Meredith’s Miniatures,” installed in its permanent collection in 2011. Fashioned by Meredith Slane Michener, a native of High Point, the thirty rooms are nothing short of spellbinding given their detail and complexity. Michener’s interest in the art started, ironically, with a dollhouse that she built as a way to bond with her grandchildren and grew into an obsession that began in 1990 and lasted fifteen years. Michener took classes in constructing the
rooms, finding inspiration from her travels, her friends and her family. “They are the story of my life,” she says. A lot of people are always copying a room. That just didn’t interest me.” An exception is “C’est Si Bon,” a reproduction of a room from her childhood home, much of it filled with fine miniature furniture from an artisan in Philadelphia. There is “Monet’s Kitchen,” patterned after the real thing in Giverny, “Old Salem,” inspired by the Moravian restoration in Winston-Salem and “Taos House,” a living room appointed in Southwestern style. What’s unusual about many of Michener’s works is the illusion of more than one room. “I liked doing a room off a room, or scenery off a room,” Michener says. “Noteworthy,” is a music room revealing two additional rooms visible through its tiny doorways. The added depth has the effect of a stage set, leaving the viewer to wonder about the action occurring “off-stage.” And that, really is the point of all the rooms: to tell a story. In “It’s Christmas,” for example, Michener
The Zenke Models, Greensboro Historical Museum Rotating in and out of a permanent display on the mezzanine level of the Greensboro Historical Museum are twelve models by Otto Zenke, Greensboro’s premier interior designer from 1937 until his death in 1984. They reflect his signature aesthetic, the elegant Regency period mixed with contemporary accents, and, says Jon Zachman, curator of collections, likely example of Zenke’s “being creative and exploring as a designer.” Zenke created about half the models when he was working for B. Altman & Co. in New York and built six more after he moved to Greensboro in 1937; they were displayed at the Morrison-Neese Furniture Co. on Greene Street before the designer went out on his own with Otto Zenke Inc. in 1950. The remarkable feature about the rooms is that they are larger in scale than most: one-and-a-half inches to a foot (instead of the standard one-inch-to-one-foot or 1:12). “My suspicion is he did that to set himself apart from the commercially available stuff that miniaturists and others could access,” Zachman offers, adding that miniatures had gained popularity in the 1930s with the Thorne miniature rooms, now a part of the collections at the Chicago Art Institute. Equally fascinating are the simple materials Zenke used to construct the models: wood, glue and fabric. “Books” in bookcases are merely painted blocks of wood; an elegant “bamboo” frame around a mirror is made of toothpicks. “A lot of it is sort of that trompe l’oeil,” Zachman observes. “It’s not so much a three-dimensional illusion. He’s really able to trick your eye and make things seem realistic.” The Serta Bedroom Collections, High Point University “I was unaware of this ‘treasure’ sitting at the back of the museum and quickly said, ‘yes,’” recalls John Turpin, dean of Design at High Point University, remembering the offer from the university’s first lady, Mariana Qubein, to acquire a series of miniature bedrooms from High Point’s now-defunct Doll and Miniature Museum in 2012. Now housed in the Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. Library in HPU’s Norton Hall, the bedrooms are the handiwork of Gene Kupjack, an artist who had worked on the Thorne miniatures in Chicago. He designed the bedrooms for Serta, which used them as displays in bedding stores and department stores across the country, to sell mattresses. The fifteen rooms are divided into two sets: The Imperial Collection, made in 1968, recreates the private bedchambers of royalty — Queen Elizabeth, Louis XIV, an Egyptian pharaoh. Beds of America (1976) is a history of bedding used in the United States: wooden beds, Murphy beds, beds stuffed with cotton, corn husks and other natural fillers. Turpin marvels at Kupjack’s craftsmanship apparent in such details as candelabras and bedside picture frames. His personal favorite is “Bedroom of Tomorrow,” the artist’s vision of a room in 2076, replete with a television placed between two posters of the bed and curiously, a spinning wheel. Turpin surmises, that Kupjack is “making a personal statement on our inherent relationship with handcrafted objects (much like his with the rooms).” Turpin uses the models as a teaching tool for HPU’s design students. He had groups of them study the models before proposing floor plans to HPU’s board for their own miniature room. The point of the assignment was “to emphasize the complexity of interiors and the difficulty in orchestrating all of the various components into a harmonious whole,” Turpin explains. He adds that seeing an entire room in miniature “provides a unique opportunity to view a space in a manner that is essentially impossible in the real world. We experience privileged views from angles above and beyond the standard eye level.” — Nancy Oakley
Photographs Courtesy of the Greensboro Historical Museum
explains in a museum video that Santa has laid his clothing out for the big night; in another scene, there’s evidence that St. Nick has finished his rounds with a, ahem, final round as evidenced in a tiny empty liquor bottle. In addition to buying miniatures, Michener, with a background in needlepoint design, created the miniature paintings, wallpaper and flooring adorning her rooms. She would use unexpected items, as well — a charm from a bracelet, steel wool, a thimble — and references to her family. In one, a Lilliputian photograph of Michener and her husband graces a side table. Each room took about four to ten months to complete, and the process was allconsuming. Refusing social invitations and phone calls, Michener usually completed about two rooms a year before deteriorating eyesight forced her to abandon her art. But, she says, “I’m thrilled to have done it. And thrilled to have it in the High Point Museum where it belongs.”
The Zenke Models from the Greensboro Historical Museum. Top to bottom: Bedroom study, Entryway, Library.
Resembling a scaled-down version of tennis with flecks of badminton and table tennis, pickleball is growing quickly, like a cucumber vine in sunshine, all over the country, including the Triad. Played indoors or outdoors, the game is staged on a court that’s roughly half the size of a tennis court. Players use paddles that resemble overgrown table tennis paddles. The ball is essentially a wiffle ball, and the net is similar to a badminton net that’s been lowered to 34 inches in the center. The equipment recalls the origin of the game. Pickleball was born on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in 1965 when two golfing buddies, just home from a round and desperate to occupy their families, tried to start up a game of badminton. They were short on equipment, so the duffers lowered the badminton net, grabbed a wiffle ball and some table tennis paddles and improvised a sport on the spot. The name derives from “pickle boats,” the slowest boats in rowing contests. Apparently, early pickle ball teams reminded one inventor’s wife, who was a competitive rower, of the motley crews on pickle boats. Fifty years later, the sport has a governing body — the U.S.A. Pickleball Association — and tournaments nationwide, including junior events. In late August, players from all over the country showed up for the Greensboro Summer Pickleball Classic. For routine play, you’ll find four courts bustling on the hardwood at the Greensboro Sportsplex on Tuesdays and Thursdays. High Point offers games several days a week at the Oakview and Morehead recreation centers. The Gateway YWCA in Winston-Salem opens its courts three days a week. Nonmembers pay $12 a month to play. Pickleball is cheap to play — usually costing no more than a dollar or two for a couple of hours of doubles at public venues — and provides a vigorous workout without requiring the court coverage of tennis. “It’s a fast-paced sport, but it’s not as hard on your body,” says Greensboro’s Bonnie Hensel, 64, a tennis player who picked up pickleball a couple of years ago. She and her doubles partner Gwen Deyton, a former tennis player who’s also 64, have medaled at several state tournaments. — Maria Johnson
Photographs by Sam Froelich
Pickled
Photograph by Sam Froelich
Nothing So Fine as Playing Nine
Golf is ailing. As a spectator sport, it’s growing in popularity, but as an enjoyable physical activity, it’s fading. Only fourteen courses opened in 2013, compared with 157 that closed. There are many reasons for this. For one thing, it’s hard for middle-class kids to take up the game. Imagine you’re 10 years old and you tell your dad you want to take up golf. Your dad says OK and that you’ll need some clubs, a bag, some balls and tees, some lessons and a course to play on. Oh, and you won’t be allowed on the course on weekends, or on weekdays before dark. Your next question would be can you just have a soccer ball? Another reason interest in golf has reached anemic levels is that those who do play the royal and ancient game aren’t playing as much anymore. Let’s face it: If you have a job, your best opportunities to tee off are likely limited to weekends. On a typical Sunday in Greensboro, a slow round on a crowded course takes most of the day. And when you add lunch and an after-round beer, you’ve spent $50 to $100. Maybe you’ll just watch some golf on TV. Or . . . Play nine. There’s nothing sacred about eighteen holes. For decades now in Scotland and Ireland, a round was based on the number of holes on a given golf course — anywhere from five to twenty-something In 1764, the Old Course at St. Andrews went from twenty-two to eighteen, and eventually everyone else followed suit. There are hundreds of beautiful and challenging nine-hole courses in Scotland, but not so many on this side of the Atlantic. And in Greensboro, apart from some par 3s, there is but one: the venerable Gillespie Park. However, many eighteen-hole layouts in the area allow — and even encourage — nine-hole play. The benefits of playing nine are many. A nine-hole round of two hours or less is easy to fit in before or after work on summer weekdays. It costs less. You don’t get tired. And best of all, your significant other might not feel as “widowed,” as if you’d played eighteen. Most area courses have nine-hole rates. Just ask at the pro shop. Bryan Park doesn’t currently offer nine-hole rates, but encourages nine-hole play by offering “rain checks.” Before your round, you pay the eighteen-hole rate. Then after playing nine, you turn in your receipt and receive a “rain check” for half the amount. So by using your “rain check” each time you play nine you are only paying for nine. According to General Manager Kyle Kolls, they are working on ways to increase interest in playing nine holes, if, for some reason, you cant play eighteen. Playing nine sometimes makes a lot of sense. It’s good for your health and the health of the game. — Harry Blair OH
Lo res Photograph by John gessner
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Peace of Pottery
The brilliant, earthy art of Po-Wen Liu By Maria Johnson
he space within. That’s what you need to visualize in order to understand Po-Wen Liu’s pottery, or, as he likes to call his pieces, sculpture vessels. “Usually, sculpture is about the space surrounding the sculpture,” he says, “but a sculpture vessel is about the space within the vessel.” Viewers will have a chance to mentally crawl inside Liu’s latest works during a solo exhibition at UNCG’s Gatewood Gallery this month. The vessels on display are a departure for Liu, in form and in method. Tall and thin, shaped like wings and cylinders, the new pieces were cast in molds, not thrown on a wheel. Some of the works will be hung on walls. Still, Liu says, the good stuff’s inside. “They’re like seed pods,” he says, smiling. It’s a different way of thinking about space and art, one that’s foreign to the American obsession with the exterior, one that whispers of a different culture. Liu, pronounced lee-OH, traces his sensibilities to his native Taiwan. Growing up in an agricultural area, he drew and painted landscapes for school contests. “Whenever I did, I would get first place,” he says. “It was encouragement.” The future took shape, too, in the hours that he and his cousins played around his uncle’s ceramics factory, a bakery of roof tiles, water jars and bricks. “I was fascinated with the process,” Liu says. “How can clay, so soft, become fired and hard and so useful?”
Photographs by John gessner
T
Three Eaves Pagoda
Clockwise starting upper left: White Stupa, Philosopher’s Pillow, Green Stupa, Floating Dream, Floating Dream Blue
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The question prompted him to study ceramics at a vocational university. For three years, he worked for a high-end porcelain company. His customers urged him to go to the United States for more opportunity. He landed here at age 21. He met his Korea-born wife, Eun-Hee Maria Lim, at the prestigious Rochester Institute of Technology, where they studied art. Over the next few years, they collected enough degrees to fill a sculpture vessel — an M.F.A. in ceramics for him, a doctorate in art education for her. They followed Lim’s career to UNCG, where she’s an associate professor and program coordinator for Art Education. Liu worked his way into the pottery scene, shaping clay — and the thinking of artisans across the Piedmont. He taught ceramics at UNCG, at Greensboro College and at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory. Casual students took his wheel-throwing classes at the Art Alliance of Greensboro and the Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston-Salem. Everywhere he went, the soft-spoken Liu pried open minds with the idea that the space inside pottery can be a retreat for the mind and just as important as what’s on the outside. “I feel the space within the vase can bring me a sense of peace,” he says. Many of his works recall layered pagodas and Buddhist stupas, mound-like buildings that contain tombs and meditation rooms. Liu leans toward traditional Celadon colors — blues, greens, yellows and grays — but he also plays with iron oxides and the oxygen levels inside kilns to produce glossy blacks and bold reds. For the upcoming show, he rolls out dark blues and greens with light edges to suggest motion. His inspiration came from surrealist Giorgio de Chirico. “I learned about him in my art history class,” says Liu, a father of two, who’s still boyish at 45. “His painting comes back to me.” This month, Liu will make yet another departure. He will move to China to manage a ceramics study center in Jingdezhen City. “It’s the capital city of porcelain in the world,” he says. “It’s a unique place that can offer an experience that other places cannot.” Come January, we’ll be left to roam the Gatewood Gallery and ponder the space within. And the space without. OH The Works of Po-Wen Liu will be on display from January 11–31 in UNCG’s Gatewood Gallery, Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pieces in the exhibition are for sale along with others in the gift shop at Greenhill Gallery in Greensboro. Info: http://www.uncg.edu/art/exhibitions/gatewood.html The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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Philip Pearlstein, Female Model in Red Robe on a Wrought Iron Bench, 1972. Museum purchase with funds from Burlington Industries, 1972.
Deborah Kass, Cindy Sherman, 1995. Museum purchase with funds from the Benefactors Fund and the Carol and Seymour Levin Acquisition Endowment, 2001.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Greensboro’s
Art Museum At 75, Weatherspoon Art Museum is forever young By Nancy Oakley
Vvvvv
Nick Cave, Sound Suit, 2011. Museum purchase with funds provided by a challenge gift from Bob and Lissa Shelley McDowell and matched by other individuals in honor of the Museum’s 70th Anniversary, 2011.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
T
he balloons may have dropped since the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, but at UNCG, the party is just getting started. On January 7, with Martha Bassett crooning Swing Era tunes and revelers cutting a rug, Weatherspoon Art Museum will host a First Toast in honor of its seventy-fifth anniversary. There’s much to celebrate. For one, says Nancy Doll, Weatherspoon’s director, “We’re the oldest art gallery in the university system. And the second oldest in North Carolina after the Mint [in Charlotte].” Who would have guessed, in 1941, that a small exhibition at the newly opened Woman’s College Art Gallery would give rise to one of the most respected contemporary art collections in the Southeast? It all began with the vision of Gregory Ivy, the first head of WC’s Art Department, a working artist and strong proponent of Modernism. “He thought it important for people to see and experience the art of their time,” Doll explains, “since art reflects so many things that are going on in a society and a culture, even politics.” Nurturing Ivy’s vision was Elizabeth McIver Weatherspoon, sister of WC president Charles Duncan McIver, art educator and an ardent supporter of the gallery, though she would not live to see its opening. And then there were the local supporters. “A lot of people gravitated to Greensboro for various industries here,” Doll observes. “Not only textiles, but insurance, and some of these people were used to larger cities where they had access to a lot of art. That’s why the community has been involved from the get-go.” She points to corporate donors over the years, such as Ciba-Geigy that evolved into Syngenta, Jefferson-Pilot (now Lincoln National) and ghosts of others past — Burlington Industries and Bluebell Foundation, for example — whose contributions helped build Weatherspoon’s stunning permanent collection. Numbering nearly 6,000 pieces, its holdings include the likes of Max Ernst, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Helen Frankenthaler, Eva Hesse, Alexander Calder, Robert Rauschenberg —“art that makes you think, and think some more,” as the museum’s promotional material remind visitors. That’s not to say all of Weatherspoon’s seventy-five years have been rosy. World War, budget January 2016
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Richard Mosse, Taking Tiger Mountain, 2011. Museum purchase with funds from the Joseph R. Morton Acquisition Endowment, the Warren Brandt Acquisition Endowment and by exchange, 2012. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
cuts and displacement (due to the deterioration of its original site, the old McIver building) intervened. It would be 1989 before it would find a home on the corner of Spring Garden and Tate Streets in the Anne and Benjamin Cone Building. Named for the former industrialist and Greensboro mayor Benjamin Cone and his wife Anne, the building is itself a reminder of the museum’s strong ties to its hometown. During the museum’s burgeoning years, Cone’s great aunts Dr. Claribel and Etta Cone donated seminal works by Matisse, Picasso and other early 20th-century artists to the collection. Community will be the focus of the yearlong celebration of Weatherspoon’s birthday. “We’re trying to have a bigger presence in town,” Doll says. She cites the placement of banners downtown and a partnership with Casa Azul of Greensboro, a local organization that promotes Latin American art and culture. It will enhance a series of programs related to an upcoming exhibit from University of Miami’s Lowe Art Museum, Pan American Modernism: Avant Garde Art in Latin America and the United States (January 30 through May 1). The exhibit will have “legs” with a
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January 2016
Gregory D. Ivy, Stones, Shells and Bones, c. 1950. Gift from the Estate of Naomi W. Ivy, 1989. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Alison Saar, Compton Nocturne, 1999. Museum purchase with funds from the Benefactors Fund, 1999.
Judith Shea, Urban Francis, 2000-2002. Museum purchase with a bequest from Leah Louise Tannenbaum and funds from the Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation given in her memory; additional funds provided by the Burlington Industries Endowment and the Weatherspoon Art Museum Acquisition Endowment, 2007. John Graham, The Yellow Bird, c. 1930. Museum purchase with funds from Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, 1970. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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Tom Otterness, The Frieze, 1982. Gift of Sarah and Jack Warmath in honor of her parents, Sarah Ford and Henry Worsham Dew, 1991.
B. J. O. Nordfeldt, Chicago, 1912. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. W.S. Weatherspoon in memory of Mrs. Elizabeth McIver Weatherspoon, 1969. book discussion of Isabel Allende’s House of Spirits at Greensboro Public Library, a performance from Lorena Guillén Tango ensemble and a screening of the Oscar-winning animated feature, Chico & Rita. And that’s just one exhibit. Others will spotlight Weatherspoon’s collection, particularly, Decade By Decade : Art Acquired in Its Time (October 1 through December 23), which will focus on the museum’s major acquisitions in each of its eight decades. Along the way, expect input from Preservation Greensboro, Guilford Green Foundation and Triad Stage, plus a fall film series. “We’re trying to get out there and have a bigger presence, and further impress upon the community what a resource we are — not just to a campus, but also to Greensboro,” Doll says. “There aren’t many cities of this size, with universities of this size, with a museum collection of this caliber.” Yet another reason to break out the champagne and strike up the band a second time. In the fall revelers will be at it again at a seventy-fifth anniversary gala, paying homage to what Doll refers to as “Greensboro’s Art Museum.” OH
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
William Bailey, Still Life with Bottle, Bowl and Eggs, 1970. Museum purchase with funds from North Carolina National Bank and the Smith Richardson Foundation, 1971.
Henry Ossawa Tanner, Mary, c. 1908. Gift of Helen Fondren Lingle in memory of her husband Kendall Ide Lingle, 2002.
Magdalena Abakanowicz, DYBY, 1993. Museum purchase with funds from the Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation in honor of Leah Louise Tannenbaum, 2000.
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John Williams works container magic at Camp Tiny House, his tiny kingdom in Kernersville.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Story of a House
Home Wee Home The tiny house is having a big moment By Cynthia Adams Photographs by Amy Freeman
T
iny houses — whether tree houses, converted shipping containers or even wee micro pods — have seized the television airways and the imagination of HGTV viewers, eager to watch how to shoehorn a life into very little space. Popular TV shows depict what it means to live in 1,000, 500, 400 or even fewer square feet. With every inch claimed for essentials, there is scant room to spare for books, artwork or any nonessentials. So if you think tiny houses are the domain of millennials, think again. When John Williams presented the program “Camp Tiny House — Less is Best” at the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden in Kernersville late last summer, the majority of his audience appeared to be gray-haired and green-minded. Hybrid cars were not an unusual sight in the filled parking lot. As more than a hundred attendees entered the auditorium, they seemed eager to hear Williams on the subject of the ultimate downsizing experience. And when Camp Tiny House of the Triad, the Kernersville-based company run by Williams and his partner, Kelly Rigsbee Mattocks, exhibited at the High Point Market in October, market-goers enthusiastically filed through two repurposed shipping containers that were less than 400 square feet in size. “How cute!” a buyer exclaimed as she perched on the steps, peering inside. The sheer smallness of scale inspires wonder. As a kid growing up in Iowa, Williams played in tree houses. As a retiree, Williams has parlayed child’s play into work, inspiring others to embrace small houses on wheels. His partner, Mattocks, has four acres in Davie County where she is putting together a tiny house community. Perspective is everything. So is social action, Williams says. “What about decent affordable housing for people who don’t desire to live in oversized homes?” he said in an interview for the website Tiny House Expedition. “One of my ideas has been to create mini-tiny
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Less is more to millennials who believe the best things in life are small, sustainable and (nearly) free.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Steve Hollingsworth fabricates a container for Freeman Kennett Architects in High Point. Fabricators transform a shipping container from a cheerless, windowless box into a home.
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January 2016
O.Henry 79
house communities in acreage neighborhoods where it might work with a small group of people pooling resources.” Williams doesn’t mince words; he is serious about using every inch of living space, and he has taken to renting out rooms in his conventionally sized Kernersville home. He has become a statewide prophet for the downsizing, less-is-more movement. But do most of us have what it takes to shrink our footprint to this degree? “My personal goal is to be off-grid, no mortgage, poor and happy,” he posted on another website earlier this year. “Urban Homesteading may best describe all of my efforts. Like the movie Field of Dreams, ‘Build it and They Will Come’ — I’m doing just that!” The takeaway from Williams’ message to his audience? Timing is on the side of those interested in living sustainably, because Home Tiny Home is having a very big moment. Camp Tiny House of the Triad is what the Iowa native has dubbed his experiment in housing sustainability. Williams is a former educator who has long been interested in tinkering with houses and permaculture. And he says the small house movement is exciting for him — he loves working with the movement, and he’s certain that the world needs it. He chuckles and says the idea has found traction among those who, though they’d never even think about living in a mobile home, end up embracing a house a third of the size, saying, “I’m King of the Hill!” Problem is, municipal zoning laws have not always shared this enthusiasm. Some towns are more accepting; others have strict zoning that has left wanna-be-small homeowners building something that is a hybrid of sorts in their own backyard. For instance, if a tiny residence is built on pontoons, or an axle, or a boat trailer — in other words, if the structure can be towed — then owners can circumnavigate tougher restrictions. For example, a house built upon a pontoon is technically a boat. Although that boat can remain in your yard, it isn’t subject to zoning laws. “If you have a trailer or RV, you can remodel it. It’s still an RV,” Williams explains. A 40-footlong converted school bus is also exempt from code. Williams builds a deck above to extend the living area, but it is still “a bus conversion with a top deck.” Otherwise, tiny home builders have to meet all the code regulations applying to site-built homes. “Sustainable Simplicity” is the name of a Greensboro meet-up group that attracts many who wish to find a way to live with less square footage and less expense, and even seek more fun. The label itself is all about “practical prepping without the Doomsday stuff,” explains Williams, push-
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
With room for a puppy! Joe and April Marzullo and daughter Sophie in their Camp Tiny House residence are happy converts to the joys of tiny house living.
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ing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose as he invites his audience to join the discussion. “The little kid in us is coming out, building these spaces and places.” He smiles. This seems especially true when it comes to adults building tree houses as alternative dwellings. Tree houses are subject to interpretation, and planning departments may or may not submit them to stricter scrutiny. Smaller ones are usually fine. But when Williams set out to build a larger one, the tree house under construction fell under zoning codes and was subject to inspection. He counsels others on navigating the procedures and regulations of planning departments and has continued finding ways to go ever smaller. Williams even builds “sleep boxes”— 4’ x 8’ spaces with kitchenettes. But his biggest interest involves advancing the cause of tiny building and creating permanent communities. He cites RV parks that are converting into “eco-villages” that allow for permanent conversions. One such example is in Flat Rock, where Williams says they are selling lots and park model homes (pre-designed and built homes, much like kit houses of an earlier era), all turn-key. These communities will have a homeowners’ association like any other neighborhood. Williams is pleased that they will become permanent communities — and while the living area may be small, he feels the social dynamic can be huge. Williams is now working on a 16-acre project in Davie County, and another in Raleigh. In October, he helped prepare two tiny houses created from shipping containers for display at the urging of Furniture/Today, the High Point Market Authority and the City of High Point. The two homes were displayed prominently on Commerce Avenue and were staged with furnishings from market exhibitors. In press reports, Tom Conley, president and CEO of the Market Authority, said he was “thrilled” with the display, adding that “HGTV has a huge hit with their tiny houses show, and it is important that the industry be able to see and touch this phenomenon.” The two containers were heavily trafficked by market-goers, who realized the
potential for furnishings adapted to tight urban spaces, as well for tiny home buyers. Meantime, Williams continues pushing the tiny house movement forward with an ever-expanding list of new ideas. “We don’t have a business plan,” Williams says. “The good Lord has just blessed us.” So every month, he heads to Chapel Hill to help the green but uncertain “get off the fence and do something besides just talk.” He has meet-ups with Charlotteans in the Ikea parking lot just off I-85. Why Ikea? “It’s where they have lots of ways to Ikea-size a house.” He is also working with Coral Point, a gated tiny home community on High Rock Lake in the Lexington area. But he refers to “pocket neighborhoods” within existing communities as gaining popularity. “Winston-Salem has been very progressive in working with this,” Williams says. He is partnering with a North Carolina-based modular-home contractor, Rockwell Building Systems, to design and manufacture park models that can cost $35-40,000, says Williams. Tumbleweed tiny houses — the cute cottages people post on Pinterest — cost under $20,000 if finished with upcycled and recycled materials. A container conversion, however, costs $5,000 and upwards depending upon the finishes and refinements. Fabricators can cut windows and doorways into containers in order to make them homey and less boxy. There is yet another option, which is small and affordable for those who are priced out of the conventional market: micro pods. Micro pods are what Williams terms as anything from a “little sleep cube to a shed.” Sleep cubes? Sheds? Sure, he says. “You can build something small and very entertaining for about $3,000.” A home for $3,000 is a very big idea: Think small. Then think smaller. OH Cynthia Adams is fascinated by hobbits, wee-small houses and shrinking our footprint.
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January 2016
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Life & Home • Luxury Overnight Accommodations • 4 Diamond Rated French Restaurant • Wedding & Reception Garden & Ceremonies Help a child to survive and succeed Mentor volunteers needed to help an elementary child for 30 minutes a week: To have them read to you, perform a 2 minute math drill, spelling drill and discuss their Work Conduct Contract (W2c)
Annual Group Trips to France Burgundy 6/19-6/28/16 • Bordeaux 7/3 -7/12/16
1. Volunteers start school background check by going to https:/www.gcsvolunteers.com 2. Then Contact Peeler elementary school counselor, Mr. Sampson (336) 370-8270 3. Review website www.LFLV.org to learn about YELP-lv
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 83
Wishing you a very Happy New Year!
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84 O.Henry
January 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
By Rosetta Fawley
Pecans and Apples January is named for the Roman god Janus, he of the double face looking forward and back. A gateway month, it heralds in the New Year for the West. For the gardener January means taking a leaf from Janus’s book (he must have been able to read two at once, but one is just fine for the mere mortals among us) and looking back through last year’s garden notes in order to start planning and planting for this one. The winter sun may seem a warm luxury in the garden this month, but remember that when spring arrives that welcome warmth will turn to steam-cooker heat. If you felt a bit exposed last summer and would like some more shade, consider beginning your 2016 garden by planting pecan trees. Native to America, the pecan tree provides gorgeous, dappled shade and, come late fall, pecans too. Plant two varieties to ensure cross-pollination and a high nut yield. Cultivars such as Stuart and Kiowa are popular in the South and will produce nuts even when young. Bear in mind that you may find yourself in a pitched battle with the squirrels in the early years. As the trees age there will be enough for your family and the tree rats. Wait until the soil has thawed to prepare your pecan site. Dig a hole deep enough for the roots. Pecan roots are shallow — keep the hole wide and ensure the soil is well-prepared with a good mix of winter compost. When returning the soil, put the topsoil into the bottom of the hole. If your pecan has a graft union, make sure you don’t bury it when you’re planting. Young trees need good watering and careful pruning for the first few seasons. Keep an eye out for disease and grubs. Consult with your garden center or county extension agent for the most appropriate treatments, particularly if you’re eating the nuts. Plan ahead — remember to invest in a hammock for the summer months and a good cookbook for the fall.
If you’re reading this in the early part of the month, then it’s still Christmas. The celebration of Twelfth Night takes place on January 5 or 6, depending on whether you count the festival of Christmas from Christmas Day or December 26. Worried you haven’t taken your Christmas decorations down? Don’t be. The belief that they should be down by Twelfth Night is relatively modern. In fact, you can leave them up all this month till Candlemas, which is February 2. Don’t forget to wassail your apple trees. This tradition grew from the pagan orchards of southern and western England. On Twelfth Night or Old Twelfth Night (January 17) it’s important that you organize a party in your orchard, or around your tree, depending on the extent of your garden. It goes without saying that hot hard cider must be drunk to the trees’ health. It should also be poured over their roots and cider-soaked toast hung in the branches for the trees’ guardian birds. There must be singing too. At the end of the party everyone should howl and fire guns into the air to deter evil spirits. It all sounds quite Southern, really. Apple Tree Wassail (Somerset, Traditional) Old apple tree, we’ll wassail thee And hoping thou wilt bear. The Lord does know where we shall be To be merry another year. To blow well and to bear well And so merry let us be. Let every man drink up his cup And health to the old apple tree. (Spoken) Apples now, hat-fulls, three bushel bag-fulls, tallets ole-fulls, barn’s floor-fulls, little heap under the stairs. Hip Hip Hooroo (3 times)
But welcome, be it new or old, The gift which makes the day more bright, And paints, upon the ground of cold And darkness, warmth and light!
The one, with bridal blush of rose, And sweetest breath of woodland balm, And one whose matron lips unclose In smiles of saintly calm.
O’erlay the amber violet’s leaves, The purple aster’s brookside home, Guard all the flowers her pencil gives A life beyond their bloom.
Without is neither gold nor green; Within, for birds, the birch-logs sing; Yet, summer-like, we sit between The autumn and the spring.
Fill soft and deep, O winter snow! The sweet azalea’s oaken dells, And hide the bank where roses blow, And swing the azure bells!
And she, when spring comes round again By greening slope and singing flood Shall wander, seeking, not in vain, Her darlings of the wood. From Flowers in Winter, by J.G. Whittier
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January 2015 Pop Art
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January 2–3 BYE, BI-(ENNIAL). Last chance to see profs’ artworks at 2015 UNCG Department of Art Faculty Biennial. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 334-5770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu.
Monster Jam
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January 2–April 30 SMOKIN’ ACES. The 125-year history of the HPFD is on view at All Fired Up: A Look Back at Organized Firefighting in High Point. High Point Museum, 1859 East Lexington Avenue, High Point. Info: (336) 885-1859 or highpointmuseum.org.
January 2–February 28 MOVING. Movement is the inspiration for In Motion, a collaboration between Weatherspoon and UNCG’s Department of Kinesiology. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 334-5770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu.
January 5–15 WINTER WONDERS. The work of North Carolina artists is in full force at Winter Show. Greenhill, 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 333-7460 or greenhillnc.org.
January 2–31 TOP POP. Haul it to Warhol, Lichtenstein and more at Pop Art: 20th Century Popular Culture as Muse. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 334-5770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu.
January 7 AUTHORS, AUTHORS. 7 p.m. Meet Okla Elliott, poet, novelist and translator of Blackbirds in September, a volume of poetry by wartime poet Jürgen Becker and Raul Clement, Elliott’s collaborator on The Doors You Mark Are Your Own. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro.
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January 2016
Fiored-Up!
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Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. January 8 (THE OTHER) JERRY’S KIDS. 9 a.m. Bring a canned donation for Backpack Beginnings (backpackbeginnings.org) and pay a mere $2 admission to honor Greensboro Children’s Museum co-founder Jerry Hyman. Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 North Church Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 5742898 or gcmuseum.com. January 8 & 9 MONSTERS, INC. 7:30 p.m. Gr-a-a-a-ave Diggerrrrr! Crushhhhhhstationnnn! See your favorite big rigs in action at Monster Jam. Greensboro Coliseum, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800)745-3000 or ticketmaster.com. January 9 PAL JOEY. 6:30 p.m. Joey Barnes headlines The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January Arts Calendar
Chili Challenge
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the Jazz Series. O.Henry Hotel, 624 Green Valley Road, Greensboro. Info: (336) 8542000 or www.ohenryhotel.com/jazz.htm. January 9–April 17 ENVIRO-ART. The beauty, fragility, diversity of — and threats to — Mother Nature take center stage in Reclaiming Nature: Art and Sustainability. Weatherspoon Art Museum,
500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 3345770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu. January 10 THE PAST SPEAKS. 3 p.m. Lamar DeLoatch of the Piedmont Triad Chapter, Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society, explains how private plantation records needn’t be avoided but used as tools for
Guilford Militia Encampment
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African Americans’ ancestral research. High Point Public Library, Morgan Room, 901 North Main Street, High Point. Info: (336) 883-3637 or ncroom@highpoint.gov. WINNING IN MEMPHIS. 7 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.) Hear some tunes for a good cause: Helping the winners of Piedmont Blues Preservations Society’s solo/duo/
1410 Westover Terrace #100-C | Greensboro, NC | 336.383.1717 | sales@badaxeboutique.com
www.badaxeboutique.com The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
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January Arts Calendar band and Youth Challenges travel to the next level of competition: the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. Blind Tiger, 1819 Spring Garden Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 272-9888 or theblindtiger.com.
Food & Dining
AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 3 p.m. Meet journalist Justin Catanoso, who will present “The Pope and Climate Change: A Talk on the Paris Climate Change Meetings.” Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Meet Charles Rodenbough, author of Martinville. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. January 13 AUTHORS, AUTHORS. 7 p.m. Meet poets Alice Osborn and Karol Neufeld. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. January 14 LIBERAL ARTS ADVOCATE. 7 p.m. Meet Robert D. Newman, the newly appointed director and president of the National Humanities Center. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. January 15 AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Meet Adrian Rice, author of Hickory Station. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. January 16 HEE-HAW. 7:30 p.m. In the tradition of Spike Jones, Weird Al Yankovic and They Might Be Giants (well, maybe not), The Raging Idiots are country-inflected comedians. See ’em and weep — with laughter. Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 333-2605 or carolinatheatre.com.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January Arts Calendar January 16–April 17 FIORE’D UP! Admire Firework Drawings, the colorful works of Falk Visiting Artist Rosemarie Fiore. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 334-5770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu. January 17 WORD UP! 3 p.m. Listen to a reading from Writers Group of the Triad. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. January 18 HOOP-LA. 12:30 p.m. Watch nuthin’ but net from rising basketball stars at the MLK Day North Carolina Scholastic Classic. Greensboro Coliseum, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 7453000 or ticketmaster.com.
January 20 DUKE OF DENIM. 10 a.m. Evan Morris of Hudson’s Hill, a Greensboro establishment that sells new and repurposed old denim clothing, will give a talk on overalls at a Museum Guild Meeting. High Point Museum, 1859 East Lexington Avenue, High Point. Info: (336) 885-1859 or highpointmuseum.org. January 23 JAZZ VOICES. 6:30 p.m. The Quintessentials, a local jazz a capella group, offer up Gershwin, Latin tunes and more. O.Henry Hotel, 624 Green Valley Road, Greensboro. Info: (336) 854-2000 or www. ohenryhotel.com/jazz.htm. SOLID COAL. 8 p.m. Country hitmaker John Anderson (“An Old Chunk of Coal”) will be singin’ and “Swingin’” with Logan Brill. Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 333-2605 or carolinatheatre.com.
Treasures | Antiques | Consignments
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
ARM AND HAMMER 10 a.m. He doesn’t always pump iron, but when he does, he prefers High Point Museum. The world’s most interesting blacksmith returns. High Point Museum, 1859 East Lexington Avenue, High Point. Info: (336) 885-1859 or highpointmuseum.org. January 24 CHILI-AX! 8 a.m.–Noon. For just $5, treat yourself to variations of chili made with local ingredients, from grass-fed beef to venison at the Fifth Annual Chili Challenge. Greensboro Farmer’s Curb Market, Harvest Room, 501 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 373-2401 or gsofarmersmarket. org. January 25 A GOLDEN DAY. 4 p.m. Author, historian and journalist Peter Golden will discuss and sign his latest novel, Wherever There is Light, which illustrates the role of AfricanAmerican colleges in the rescue of GermanJewish professors from Nazi oppression during World War II. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library, UNCG, Greensboro. Info: uncgfol.blogspot.com.
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Irving Park
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90 O.Henry
January 2016
1860 Pembroke Road 336.617.5665 radianceyogagreensboro.com
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January Arts Calendar January 26 FISHIN’ MUSICIANS. 8 p.m. The Hot Sardine Club performs 1920s- and 30s-style, New Orleans jazz. Yahuh! Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 333-2605 or carolinatheatre.com. January 27 SPOT-IFIED. 7 p.m. Hold the hysteria — or not, as British heavy metal band Def Leppard brings down the house. Greensboro Coliseum, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 7453000 or livenation.com. January 27–February 14 RACY. Catch Triad Stage’s production of Vrooommm!, Janet Allard’s play about the first female NASCAR driver. Hanesbrands Theatre, 209 North Spruce Street, Winston-Salem. Tickets: (336) 272-0160 or triadstage.org.
G-EAZY LISTENIN’. 7 p.m. Hip Hop and R&B rule the day, thanks to G-Eazy, who brings his “When It’s Dark Out Tour” to town. Greensboro Coliseum, Special Events Center, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 745-3000 or ticketmaster.com. January 28 PLAYTIME. 8 p.m. Hear a reading of a Fringe Festival play. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. January 28 & 30 GAD ZUKES! 8 p.m. World-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman shares the stage with Dimitry Sitkovetsky and Amanda Forsyth at “Pinchas Zukerman Gala,” featuring a program of Mendelsshon, Bach and Brahms. Guilford College, Dana Auditorium, 5800 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 335-5646 ext. 224 or greensborosymphony.org.
Irving Park
January 29 PETER AND THE WOLFGANG. 8 p.m. Enjoy Sitkovetsky & Friends Chamber Series concert, “Mozart and Tchaikovsky.” UNCG School of Music Recital Hall, 100 McIver Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 335-5456 ext. 224 or greensborosymphony.org. January 30 TRICORNED TROOPS. 10 a.m. See a maneuvers by of the Guilford Militia Encampment, a Revolutionary War re-enactment group. High Point Museum, 1859 East Lexington Avenue, High Point. Info: (336) 885-1859 or highpointmuseum.org. WHEEL HOUSE. 7 p.m. Beware of the dirt bikes: Amsoil Arenacross roars into town. Greensboro Coliseum, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 7453000 or ticketmaster.com.
Irving Park
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 91
Anue Ligne • Alison Sheri • Bel Kazan • Elana Wang JP Mattie • Linea Domani & More
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92 O.Henry
January 2016
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
AUTHORS, AUTHORS. 7 p.m. Meet writers Steve Cushman and Jonathan Kevin Rice. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. January 30–May 1 LATIN (ART) LOVERS. See murals, female figures, abstract works and more from seventy artists featured in Pan American Modernism: Avant-garde Art in Latin America and the United States. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 334-5770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu.
WEEKLY HAPPENINGS
Read And Feed
Tuesdays at the Greensboro Children's Muesum
Mondays BUZZING. 10 a.m. Your busy little bees engage in a Busy Bees preschool program focusing on music, movement, garden exploration and fun in the kitchen, at the Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 North Church Street, Greensboro. Preregistration: (336) 574-2898 or gcmuseum.com.
State Street
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January Arts Calendar TALK IS CHEAP. Noon. Apprenez l’art de la conversation française. Pardon our French and join French Table, a conversation group. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. Tuesdays READ ALL ABOUT IT. Treat your little ones to storytimes: BookWorms (ages 12–24 months) meets at 10 a.m.; Time for Twos meets at 11 a.m. Storyroom; Family Storytime for all ages meets at 6:30 p.m. High Point Public Library, 901 North Main Street, High Point. Info: (336) 883-3666 or highpointpubliclibrary.com. READ AND FEED. 3:30 p.m. The Edible Schoolyard combines literature and cooking for 3- to 5-year-olds with Book and Cook, featuring Apple Farmer Annie, with spelt and apple cookies (1/12); Rain Makes Applesauce, with . . . what else? Applesauce (1/19); and Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli, with white bean dip and broccolis trees (1/22). Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 North Church
State Street
State Street
January 2016
O.Henry 93
Rare, One-of-a-kind Art and Antiques for Every Price Range
January Arts Calendar Street, Greensboro. To register (336) 5742898 or gsoedibleschoolyard.wordpress.com/ classes/. PICKIN’ AND GRINNIN’. 6 until 9 p.m. Y’all come for Songs from a Southern Kitchen— live music at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen, 1421 Westover Terrace, Greensboro. Info: (336) 370-0707 or lucky32.com/greensboro_music.htm.
For over 40 years, we have specialized in estate settlement. Don’t let your items sell for less than they are worth. Come see us today.
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MUSSELS, WINE & MUSIC. 7 until 10 p.m. Mussels with house-cut fries for $15, wines from $10–15 a bottle and live music by Evan Olson and Jessica Mashburn — at Print Works Bistro, 702 Green Valley Road, Greensboro. Info: (336) 379-0699 or printworksbistro.com/live_music.htm. ONCE UPON A TIME. 2 p.m. Preschool Storytime I convenes for children ages 3–5. Storyroom, High Point Public Library, 901 North Main Street, High Point. Info: (336) 883-3666 or highpointpubliclibrary.com. Thursdays TWICE UPON A TIME. 11 a.m. Preschool Storytime II convenes for children ages 3–5. Storyroom, High Point Public Library, 901 North Main Street, High Point. Info: (336) 883-3666 or highpointpubliclibrary.com.
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Dr. Steve Lucey, M.D. Orthopaedic Surgeon
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Many Thanks to our Patients for trusting us with their Orthopaedic needs!
ALL THAT JAZZ. 5:30 until 8 p.m. Hear live, local jazz featuring Neill Clegg and special guests in the O. Henry Hotel Social Lobby Bar: Clinton Horton with Neill Clegg and Dave Fox (1/7); Brenda Morie with Neill Clegg and Dave Fox (1/14); April Talbott with Neill Clegg and Dave Fox (1/21); Chuck Johnson with Neill Clegg and Dave Fox (1/28). No cover. 624 Green Valley Road, Greensboro. Info: (336) 854-2000 or www.ohenryhotel.com/jazz.htm. JAZZ NIGHT. 7 p.m. Fresh-ground, freshbrewed coffee is served with a side of jazz at Tate Street Coffee House, 334 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 275-2754 or tatestreetcoffeehouse.com.
Greensboro 200 W. Wendover Ave.
p. 336.333.6443 f. 336.333.6441
94 O.Henry
January 2016
Most appointments within 24 hours
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Randleman 148 Pointe South Dr.
OPEN MIC COMEDY. 8–9:35 p.m. Local pros and amateurs take the mic at the Idiot Box, 348 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 274-2699 or idiotboxers.com.
p. 336.799.4433 f. 336.799.4436
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January Arts Calendar Fridays THE HALF OF IT. 5 p.m. Enjoy the handson exhibits and activities for half the cost of admission at $4 Fun Fridays. Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 North Church Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 574-2898 or gcmuseum.com. Fridays & Saturdays NIGHTMARES ON ELM STREET. 8 p.m. A 90-minute, historical, candlelit ghost walking tour of Downtown Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 905-4060 or carolinahistoryandhaunts.com/information. Saturdays TO MARKET, TO MARKET. 7 a.m. until noon. The produce is still fresh and the cut fleurs still belles. Greensboro Farmers Curb Market, 501 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro. Info: gsofarmersmarket.org. IMPROV COMEDY. 10 p.m. on Saturday, plus an 8 p.m. show appropriate for the whole family. The Idiot Boxers create scenes on the spot and build upon the ideas of others, creating shows that are one-of-a-kind — at the Idiot Box, 348 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 274-2699 or idiotboxers.com. Sundays HALF FOR HALF-PINTS. 1 p.m. And grown-ups, too. A $4 admission, as opposed to the usual $8, will allow you entry to exhibits and more. Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 North Church Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 574-2898 or gcmuseum.com. MISSING YOUR GRANDMA? 3 p.m. until it’s gone. Tuck into Chef Felicia’s skilletfried chicken, and mop that cornbread in, your choice, giblet gravy or potlikker. Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen, 1421 Westover Terrace, Greensboro. Info: (336) 370-0707 or lucky32.com/fried_chicken.htm. To add an event, email us at ohenrymagcalendar@ gmail.com by the first of the month prior to the event
902 Norwalk Street, Greensboro, NC The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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336.274.1573
•
www.hajocagreensboro.weebly.com January 2016
O.Henry 95
lafont trunk show
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96 O.Henry
January 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Worth The Drive to High Point Heaven on Earth
If, like French Benedictine Dom Pérignon, you’ve been “drinking stars” to ring in 2016, put down your champagne glass and catch a buzz looking at the real thing. Every Friday, the Cline Observatory at GTCC’s Jamestown campus invites the public to come to a free astronomy session, weather permitting. (Check the observatory’s Twitter feed, which appears on its website, observatory.gtcc.edu, to see if it’s open.) “We get a range of people,” says Cline’s director, Tom English. “Our students come; we get students from High Point University, astronomy hobbyists and people who’ve never looked through a telescope before.” You can gaze at a sequence of objects selected by the person who's sched-
uled to run Cline’s 24-inch reflecting telescope, housed under a dome — one of the largest in North Carolina — or peer through any of its smaller telescopes set up outside. During a session, visitors will “look at lots of things,” English says. The Andromeda Galaxy, double stars, NGC 457 aka the “E.T Cluster,” (named for its resemblance to the titular character of Stephen Spielberg’s popular 1982 film) or Neptune and Uranus, for example. In January, English anticipates brighter skies emerging. “You get clear, crisp nights and the constellations are dazzling,” he notes, “particularly the Orion nebulae,” (personal favorite), “And Jupiter is starting to come around.” Though the format of the viewing sessions is fairly open, English and his colleagues try to make something as vast and distant as the heavens more human. “I might mention how a star lost its light thirty-eight years ago and then ask a viewer, ‘And how old are you?’” he offers. “Or people try to use their cell-phone astronomy apps to try and stump me — and can’t do it,” he adds. These digital tools, he says, are a good way to learn the constellations, “as long as you put down the phone. It’s not hard to learn the sky,” he maintains. “You just have to look at it a lot.” And when they do? “The fact that I’m showing people something for the first time is so cool,” English says. “There are majestic things that take your breath away.” In March, Cline will host Tri-Star, a Triad-wide astronomy fair, featuring guest speakers and displays for both hobbyists and novices. At press time, English and his colleagues were planning programming for the observatory’s participation in the North Carolina Science Festival, scheduled for April. It’s all part and parcel of Cline’s mission of public outreach. As English says, “Nothing makes me happier than sharing the universe with people.” —Nancy Oakley
Practicing Commercial Real Estate by the Golden Rule Bill Strickland, CCIM Commercial Real Estate Broker/REALTOR 336.369.5974 | bstrickland@bipinc.com
www.bipinc.com The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 97
Featuring Artist Bill Walsh
Save the date for the
Gala
Arts & Culture
LESSONS FOR LIFE
to benefit The Music Academy of North Carolina
Featuring Artist
Bill Walsh
336-274-2426
251 N. Greene Street
www.MartinsFrameandArt.com
Saturday, 5 March 2016, 7 pm 900 Revolution Mill Dr., Greensboro Performances by artist faculty and friends, distinguished alumni, and merit scholarship students Silent Auction Beer, wine, and heavy hors d’oeuvres Cocktail Attire
www.musicacademync.org/events/gala 1327 BEAMAN PLACE GREENSBORO, NC
336.379.8748
Admission is free.
www.GreensboroHistory.org
336.373.2043
98 O.Henry
January 2016
130 Summit Avenue Greensboro NC 27401
Hours Tues - Sat 10 - 5 Sun 2 - 5
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Arts & Culture
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 99
Area Schools Directory School Name Caldwell Academy
2900 Horse Pen Creek Road Greensboro, NC 27410 (336) 665-1161 www.caldwellacademy.org
Canterbury School
5400 Old Lake Jeanette Road Greensboro, NC 27455 (336) 288-2007 www.canterburygso.org
Greensboro Day School 5401 Lawndale Drive Greensboro, NC 27455 (336) 288-8590 www.greensboroday.org
Greensboro Montessori School 2856 Horse Pen Creek Road Greensboro, NC 27410 (336) 669-0119 www.thegms.org
High Point Friends School 800-A Quaker Lane High Point, NC 27262 (336) 886-5516 www.hpfs.org
Focus
Grades
A classical Christian school emphasizing the liberal arts, mentoring Preschool relationships, and integrated studies. -12th Offers excellent fine arts and athletics programs. Extended-day and tuition assistance available.
A PreK-8 Episcopal School with strong academics and a focus on educating the whole child - mind, body and spirit. Extended day and financial assistance available. Guilford County’s premier PreK-12 college preparatory school with challenging academics, focus on honor and values, providing unsurpassed resources and outstanding teachers. Our mission is to develop the intellectual, ethical, and interpersonal foundations students need to become constructive contributors to the world.
Enrollment Students: Faculty 860
PreK–8th
380
PreK– 12th
800
Authentic, accredited Montessori school using research-based curriculum, which Toddler includes a hands-on, multi-disciplinary (18 mo.) approach to learning. Students study –8th grade Environmental Education, Spanish, Art and Music year-round.
High Point Friends School instills academic excellence, self-confidence and leadership skills through experiential Preschool learning, extracurricular activities, and –8th service learning opportunities for students in Preschool – 8th grade.
250
170
9:1
8:1
8:1
Noble Academy
3310 Horse Pen Creek Road Greensboro, NC 27410 (336) 282-7044 www.nobleknights.org
Our Lady of Grace School 201 S. Chapman Street Greensboro, NC 27403 (336) 275-1522 www.olgsch.org
The Burlington School
1615 Greenwood Terrace/ 408 W. Davis St Burlington, NC 27215 336.228.0296 www.theburlingtonschool.org
only independent preschool through 12th grade school guided by Quaker faith and Preschool practice, and built upon the long-held –12th standards of rigorous and extraordinary Friends schools. A K-12 independent school that specializes in working with students with an ADHD/LD diagnosis. Strong academics along with athletics, music, art, and drama are offered. Academic excellence with faith and family values. New programs include 3 year old class, STEM for Middle School and differentiated learning (PACE, AU Inclusion).
284
K–12th
175
3 years old to 8th grade
250+
The Burlington School is the only Preschool 3-12 independent school in Alamance County, with a mission for excellence in Preschool academics, arts and athletics. With rigorous th college preparatory coursework and a robust 3 - 12 indexed tuition program, The Burlington School provides an accessible, inclusive environment for all students.
270
Open to all qualified students based upon academic records, admissions testing, personal interview, and teacher recommendations. Requirements vary per grade level but include: application, teacher evaluation forms, developmental assessment or classroom visit, transcripts from current school. Admission on a rolling basis. Begin accepting applications in the fall for admission to the following school year. For complete details, please visit www.greensboroday.org
Under 3 Meet with Admissions years 6:1; Director. Classroom visit Elementary and teacher assessment (for & Middle students age 3 and older.) School 10:1
Tuition $7,500$9,900
$5,350 (PreK) $15,250 (K-8)
$6,385 $21,700
$7,860-15,180
14:1
Admission is based on academic records, placement $1,750-$5,500 testing, and teacher (Preschool); recommendations. A $8,286 (Lower); classroom visitation is also required prior to admittance. $8,733 (Middle)
8:1
Admission on a rolling basis. Begin accepting applications in the fall for admission to the following school year. For complete details, please visit www.ngfs.org
New Garden Friends School New Garden Friends School is the Triad’s 1128 New Garden Rd 2015 Pleasant Ridge Rd Greensboro, NC 27410 (336) 299-0964 www.ngfs.org
Admission Requirements
8:1
12:1
9:1
Students need to have an average to above average IQ score and a diagnosis of ADHD and/or learning difference (we recognize CAPD) and a current psych-ed evaluation. Admission on a rolling basis.
Application form, school transcript, current preschool teacher assessment, immunization form and admissions screening test. Admissions requirements: Open to all qualified students based upon academic records, admissions testing, teacher recommendations, application and teacher assessment.
$4,800-$18,800
K - $14,000 Grades 1-12 - $18,400 $19,200 $3,000 $7,860
(see website for special programs)
$1,000 $16,975
Special Advertising Section 100 O.Henry
January 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Area Schools Directory School Name
Grades
Focus
The Piedmont School
815 Old Mill Road High Point, NC 27265 (336) 883-0992 www.thepiedmontschool.com
St. Pius X Catholic School 2200 N. Elm Street Greensboro, NC 27408 (336) 273-9865 www.spxschool.com
Wesleyan Christian Academy & Childcare 1917 North Centennial Street, High Point, NC 27262
(336) 884-3333 FAX: (336) 884-8232
www.wesed.org
A wonderful K-10 independent school dedicated to providing an outstanding educational environment for students with an ADHD/LD diagnosis. Strong academics enhanced by music, art, drama, and athletics.
Catholic elementary/middle school emphasizing Christian values and academic excellence in a nurturing environment.
Enrollment Students: Faculty
K–11th
PK–8th
Wesleyan Christian Academy has been providing an exceptional K-12 Christianbased, college-preparatory education for 45 years. We offer championship athletics, an award-wining performing arts program, resource and enrichment courses for learning disabilities, and a full-day childcare and preschool program.
Westchester Country Day School Westchester Country Day is a college preparatory school teaching and 2045 N. Old Greensboro Road guiding students in grades PK-12 High Point, NC 27265 to strive for excellence in moral and (336) 869-2128 ethical conduct, academics, the arts, www.westchestercds.org and athletics.
PK–12
th
PK–12th
75
428
1,000
425
Admission Requirements
6:1 word Enrollment is on a rolling study, basis. Requirements include language an average to above average arts, math. IQ, and either an ADHD 12:1 all other diagnosis or another subjects. diagnosed learning disorder.
15:1
19:1
16:1
K-8 applicants must participate in a standardized assessment conducted by ABC Educational Services, Inc. Please visit www.spxschool.com for more information or contact the admissions office at 336-273-9865 to schedule a campus tour.
Acceptance is based off of report cards, previous standardized test scores, teacher recommendations, admission testing, a principal interview, and available space.
Admissions is on a rolling basis. Please visit www.westchestercds.org for more details or call the admissions office at (336) 8224005 to schedule a tour.
Tuition $16,840 Grades 1-10, $13,925 Kindergarten. NC grants available.
$5,400$7,980
$9,180 $10,725
$2,375 $16,320
At NGFS, our Quaker-guided approach strives for a balance of all the things that matter. Our mix of academics, arts, and athletics blends in-school study with experiential learning. In order to develop critical thinking and communication skills, our teachers strike a balance between presenting information and supporting each student’s curiosity and individual research. And by providing an environment that encourages interaction, introspection, and personal growth, we live what we teach. Balance matters. Call now for more information and a campus tour. 1128 New Garden Road
TheNGFS.OHenry.January2016.FINAL.indd Art & Soul of Greensboro
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1
Greensboro, NC 27410 • (336) 299-0964
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www.ngfs.org
Preschool through Grade 12
January 2016
O.Henry 101 12/2/15 8:18 AM
Come For A Visit! Drop by with your child for Cookies & Cocoa and an informal tour of PreK-4th grades, Sunday, Jan. 24, 3-5pm, Berry Hall Rising 5th-8th graders and parents are invited to Meet the Middle School on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 6:30pm, Ketner Science & Technology Center Canterbury School is a PreK-8 Episcopal day school. 5400 Old Lake Jeanette Rd. Greensboro, NC 27455 336-288-2007 www.canterburygso.org
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102 O.Henry
January 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Becky Saunders, Mamie Brown
GreenScene
Linda Hall, Rachel Tatum, Caroline Raper
Center United Methodist Church’s 89th Anniversary Brunswick Stew Summerfield NC Saturday, November 7, 2015 Photographs by Lynn Donovan
Tracy Kinney, Celeste Morris
Terry Craig, Eric Pearson, Keith Bradley Vicki & Bill Taylor, Linda Henderson
Billie Morton, Trumilla Futch-Morris Alan Williamson, Clyde “Mac” McCranie, David Garrett Denise Richmond, Kathleen Taylor
Gordon Knowles, Clark Ouzts, Kevin Raper, Cecil Donahue Brenda Redmon, Dottie McCall, Peggy Craig
Annabelle Raper, (Celeste Morris, in back), Grace Kinney
David & Mandy Cummings
Mildred Wilson, Linda Reeves
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Cecil Donahue, Joyce McCranie
January 2016
O.Henry 103
Alla D’Salon New York
to
GreeNsboro
Bringing Exclusive Madison Avenue training and experience to the Triad
Alla Campanella m aster stYlist
Online BOOking
www.alladsaloN.com
104 O.Henry
January 2016
|
bY PhoNe: 336.455.0480 The Art & Soul of Greensboro
GreenScene Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project UNC-Greensboro University Libraries 18th Annual Luncheon Saturday, November 14, 2015
Linda Jones, Carol Ivey Sarah Greenlee, Juanita Jamison Johnson
Photographs by Lynn Donovan
David & Mary Bernheim, Matthew Peek, Denise Champion
Kristina Johnson, Meagan LaBossiere, Dien Truong Jada Jones, Janice Farringer, Yona Owens, Amber Mathwig
Eli & Elizabeth Nhambure
Isaiah Lee, Joseph Little, Alexus Childs, Jordan Morris, Rafael Pineda Dot Rechel, Therese Strohmer, Ann Fisher Kim Burns, Christy Mullen
Charlotte Clinger, Bernie Donato, Nancy Terry, Neneth Zink
Taryn Yudaken, Terry Borja
Betty Carter, Beth Ann Koelsch
Gail Horn, Mitzi Manning, Barbara Wike
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Kat Stephenson, Carolyn Shankle
January 2016
O.Henry 105
MAGAZINE
O.Henry magazine is a complimentary publication supported by our advertisers. Please consider patronizing these businesses, services and nonprofit organizations and tell them that you saw their ad in O.Henry magazine.
Index of Advertisers
Why go to a Big Box Store?
We Service What We Sell & Offer Personal Attention
FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED SINCE 1955
2201 Patterson Street, Greensboro, NC Mon-Fri: 9:30am-5:30pm | Sat: 10am-2pm | Closed Sunday 336-854-9222 | www.HartApplianceCenter.com
106 O.Henry
January 2016
1618 Wine Lounge About Face Cosmetics & Day Spa Air Fun Trampoline Park AL Holliday Estate Sales Alla D’Salon Angie Wilkie, Allen Tate Realtors Area Modern Home Area School Directory Badaxe Boutique Barber Center for Plastic Surgery Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Yost & Little Realty Bill Strickland, Brown Investment Services Blockade Runner Brixx Pizza Burke Manor Inn Burkely Rental Homes C Distinctive Eyewear Canterbury School Careful With The China Carolina Bank Carolina GroutWorks Carolina Vein Specialists Carolyn Todd’s Fine Gifts & Clothing Carriage House Antiques & Home Decor Cheryl David Chesnutt-Tisdale Team, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Yost & Little Realty City of Greensboro Cone Health Country Kennels Crafted, The Art of Street Food Crafted, The Art of The Taco Cruise Planners Damian Fisher, Master Fitness Trainer Diane Thompson, Allen Tate Realtors Diva’s Bridal & Boutique Dolce Dimora Downtown Greensboro Animal Hospital Dr. Graham Farless, Family, Cosmetic, & Implant Dentistry Dr. Scott Welch, Cosmetic & Family Dentistry Du Jour Fashion Earnhart Optical Encore Extra Ingredient, The Fearrington Village Feathered Nest, The Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery First Baptist Church Frank Slate Brooks, Tyler Redhead & McAlister Real Estate Friends Homes West Gibsonville Antiques Glass & Stone Goodwill Industries of Central NC, Inc. GreenHill, Artquest Greensboro College Greensboro Farmers Curb Market Greensboro Historical Museum Greensboro Montessori School Greensboro Orthopaedics, Dr. Matthew Olin Green Valley Grill Hajoca Hart Appliance High Point University Home Instead Hospice & Palliatave Care of Greensboro House of Eyes Imperial Koi Irving Park Art & Frame Katie Redhead, Tyler Redhead McAlister Real Estate Kickin’ Clouds
32 97 54 89 104 44 46 100, 101 87 14 IFC 97 15 88 83 104 96 102 46 BC 84 22 91 54 27 109 2 42, 43 89 40 40 82 84 23 48 34 110 52 48 97 92 54 104 31 90 24 97 17 30 89 84 38 99 20 104 98 102 6 8 95 106 7 50 26 50 50 99 3 IBC
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January 2016
Kim Mathis, Allen Tate Realtors Koshary LaRue Restaurant Laster’s Art Laura Redd Interiors Lillo Bella Linnea’s Boutique & Vera’s Threads Lora Howard Loving Scents Lucky 32 Marion Tile & Flooring Mark Brande, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Yost & Little Realty Martins Art & Frame Melissa Greer, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Yost & Little Realty Melt Kitchen & Bar Meridith Martens Merle Norman Michelle Porter, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Yost & Little Realty Mike Axsom New Garden Friends School Opulence of Southern Pines Oscar Ogelthorpe Eyewear Outback Steakhouse Pandora Party Chick & Paper Patterson Carpets Patty Yow, Tyler Redhead & McAlister Real Estate Pest Management Systems, Inc. Piedmont School, The Pinehurst Resort Polliwogs Children’s Boutique Positano Potbelly Sandwich Shop Priba Furniture Printer’s Alley Printworks Bistro PTI Radiance Yoga Studio & Boutique Randy McManus Designs Re-Bath of Greensboro Rennaissance Center for Cosmetic Surgery & Wellness Reto’s Kitchen & Catering Saint Mary’s School Sally Millikin, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Yost & Little Realty Schell Bray PLLC Attorneys & Counselors at Law Schiffman’s Serendipity by Celeste Sheree’s Natural Cosmetics Shoppes on Patterson, The Sports Medicine & Joint Replacement Stifel Talley Water Taste of Thai Taylor’s Discount Tire The Music Academy of North Carolina Theodore Alexander Outlet Tom Chitty, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Yost & Little Realty View on Elm, The Vivid Interiors Waban Carter, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Yost & Little Realty Weatherspoon Art Gallery Weezie Glasscock Well Spring Retirement Community Westminster Presbyterian Church Yamamori, Ltd. YELP •
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
GreenScene
Sharon Hightower, Constance Vinson
Julie Irby, Alexis Wilhelm
VF Jeanswear’s first Annual Jeansboro Day Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Photographs by Lynn Donovan
Zac & Amy Rau, Thanh Ho, Quint Kellam, Valtracy Delley Embrie Wrighten, Crystal Ward, Brittany Fuller, Debbie Tunnell, Meghan Horton
Amber Kapas, Kerrie Rogers, Brandy Nash, Jennifer Rose
Leslie Atkins, Holli Fogleman Phil McAdams, Ritchie Russell
Alisa Locklear, Marasia Moss, Grace Thompson
Leigh Satalino, Marian King, Theresa Spencer, Althea Hall (Children’s Museum - Grant Recipients)
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Bri Nowak, Colleen Murray
Rudy Olivo, Julie Emmons
Jamal Fox, Nancy Vaughan, Andy Zimmerman, Cecelia Thompson
January 2016
O.Henry 107
GreenScene Well-Spring Retirement Community Christmas Tree Decorating Contest Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Photographs by Lynn Donovan
Ellen & Bill Linton
Elizabeth & George Burfeind Emily Rector, Betsy Seaton
Becky Mertz, Mary Archie McNeill, Kitty Heath Betty McNairy, Jim & Joan Armstrong
Lisa Bunch, Christie Kiser Linda Carlisle, Pam Barrett
Candy Gessner, Beverly Cooper, Lorraine Neill
Courtney Dabney, Brook Wingate Roberta & Sidney Cutbill
Ray Farlow, Sally & Alan Cone
108 O.Henry
January 2016
D.C. & Shirley Thompson
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Let’s make a Move in the New Year Starmount Forest
Irving Park
Latham Park
3101 Madison Avenue
2317 Danbury Road
1215 Hill Street
Rare to find classic white brick, two-story home on large corner lot with great custom details. $499,000
Don’t miss this one in Irving Park / Browntown location with main level Master Bedroom! $319,000
Charming 3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath home in the heart of Latham Park. $319,900
Stone Gables
Starmount Forest
White Horse
Chesnutt - Tisdale Team
Xan Tisdale 336-601-2337
5433 GGO Drive
3504 Kirby Drive
3214 Bridle Creek Ct.
Rare to find classic white brick, two-story home on large corner lot with great custom details. $499,000
This great brick Ranch is in pristine condition and is move-in ready! $249,500
Great home with freshly painted inside and new carpet. $174,900
Kay Chesnutt 336-202-9687
Xan.Tisdale@bhhsyostandlittle.com Kay.Chesnutt@bhhsyostandlittle.com ©2016 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.
FlyFromPTI.com The Art & Soul of Greensboro
January 2016
O.Henry 109