I came to OsteoStrong after a fall and their staff has helped me strengthen my bones and regain my confidence. I’m golfing again and riding my bike.
I have been going to OsteoStrong for about 6 months. Definite improvement in my balance and strength. Everyone is supportive and friendly. Looking forward to my next scan to see what improvements have been made in my bones.
Anyone with Osteopenia or Osteoporosis
Anyone
Deconditioned
Anyone with balance and fall risk
Individuals experiencing poor posture
Anyone in need of post-physical therapy strengthening
Where Community and Active Living Meet
Introducing Penick Village’s Newest Expansion, designed to elevate your way of living.
Comfortable Living Spaces: Step into comfort with our beautifully designed Independent Living residences, each thoughtfully crafted to provide you with a home that’s as comfortable as it is stylish.
Village Pavilion: In our state-of-the-art wellness building, you can engage in various activities, including Pickleball, personal training, and an overall focus on your health and wellness.
Comprehensive Healthcare: The Terrace, our health services building, enhanced and renovated, providing exceptional personalized care tailored to your needs.
Welcoming Community: Enter through our updated Welcome House, a space designed to safely welcome you, and your guests, into our community.
Penick Village invites you to join our community, where we’re not just redefining retirement living, we’re elevating it to new heights.
Learn more about our community , where you have the freedom to focus on your wellness and relationships while living life to its fullest . Contact us today. Call (910) 692-0300 , email info@penickvillage1964.org , or scan the QR code to learn more.
September 2025
Thanks to your support, we have won: Best of The Pines 2024 #1 Dealership Service Department. Schedule your appointment today to experience #1 Service
Volume 21, No. 9
David Woronoff, Publisher david@thepilot.com
Andie Stuart Rose, Creative Director andiesouthernpines@gmail.com
Jim Moriarty, Editor jjmpinestraw@gmail.com
Keith Borshak, Senior Designer
Alyssa Kennedy, Digital Art Director alyssamagazines@gmail.com
Emilee Phillips, Digital Content emilee@pinestrawmag.com
Campbell Pringle, Design Intern
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jim Dodson, Stephen E. Smith
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
John Gessner, Laura L. Gingerich, Diane McKay, Tim Sayer CONTRIBUTORS
Jenna Biter, Anne Blythe, Tom Bryant, Susan Campbell, Bill Case, Tony Cross, Brianna Rolfe Cunningham, Mart Dickerson, Bill Fields, Tom Maxwell, Mary Novitsky, Lee Pace, Todd Pusser, Joyce Reehling, Deborah Salomon, Scott Sheffield, Rose Shewey, Angie Tally, Kimberly Daniels Taws, Daniel Wallace, Ashley Walshe, Claudia Watson, Amberly Glitz Weber
ADVERTISING SALES
Samantha Cunningham, Advertising Director 910.693.2505
Kathy Desmond, 910.693.2515
Terry Hartsell, 910.693.2513
Erika Leap, 910.693.2514
Christy Phillips, 910.693.2498
Ginny Trigg, 910.693.2481
ADVERTISING GRAPHIC DESIGN
Mechelle Butler, Scott Yancy PS
Henry Hogan, Finance Director 910.693.2497
Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488
Tonnie Nester, Distribution Specialist SUBSCRIPTIONS 910.693.2488
OWNERS
Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels III, David Woronoff In memoriam Frank Daniels Jr.
145 W. Pennsylvania Avenue, Southern Pines, NC 28387 www.pinestrawmag.com
Moore County’s Most Trusted Real Estate Team!
SEVEN LAKES NORTH • $415,000 106 FOX RUN COURT
Attractive 3 BR / 2 BA lakefront home on Lake Ramapo in 7LN! Situated nicely on a 0.36-acre lot, the interior has been thoughtfully updated and has an open concept layout with hardwood flooring throughout. Enjoy beautiful water views from the back deck!
SEVEN LAKES NORTH • $375,000
144 CARDINAL LANE
Quiet 3 BR / 2 BA WATERFRONT home on Big Juniper Lake offering privacy and tranquility for the discriminating buyer. Home has been almost totally renovated and is priced for a quick sale! Don’t miss this opportunity to own a beautiful home on the water!
CARTHAGE • $230,000
3406 ALIBIRD LANE
Beautiful two-story 3 BR / 2.5 BA Townhome in Carriage Place subdivision. The main level offers an open concept living area flowing into a contemporary kitchen, while the upper level hosts all 3 bedrooms and two full baths. Perfect for an investment opportunity or a place to call home!
SOUTHERN PINES• $439,500
176 STARLAND LANE
Well maintained 3 BR / 3 BA golf front condo located on the 16th fairway of Longleaf course! The main level has an inviting open-concept plan with amazing golf views, two full baths and primary and secondary bedrooms! Upstairs there is a 3rd bedroom with full bath and additional space for a 4th bedroom or a flex space.
SEVEN LAKES WEST • $425,000 139 HARRELL ROAD
Amazing WATERFRONT lot on Lake Auman! This half-acre lot near the cul-de-sac on a quiet street recently perked for a 4-bedroom home. This is a great opportunity to build your dream lake front retreat!
PINEHURST • $349,000 TBD BOND STREET
0.83-acre residential lot located within the historical district of Pinehurst in the desirable Linden Clos community with transferable PCC membership!
VASS • $312,000 633 LILAC LANE
Charming 3 BR / 2 BA home located on a quiet side street in beautiful Woodlake! This home offers privacy and a welcoming atmosphere both inside and out. From the newly remodeled kitchen to the cozy dining room, this home combines modern comforts and timeless charm throughout!
PINEHURST • $479,900 450 SPRING LAKE DRIVE
PINEHURST • $155,000 20 KILBRIDE DRIVE
Beautifully wooded 1.24-acre lot in prestigious Pinewild CC. This would be a perfectly private homesite in this wonderful golf community!
IN MOORE COUNTY REAL ESTATE FOR OVER 20 YEARS!
New construction underway in Village Acres! Twostory 4 BR / 2.5 BA home with open living area on main floor and all 4 bedrooms and 2 baths on upper level.
Moore County’s Most Trusted Real Estate Team!
SEVEN LAKES WEST • $710,000 114 ANDREWS DRIVE
Lovely 3 BR / 2.5 BA custom all brick, single level home with an open floorplan. Both the living and dining rooms are filled with natural light, and the bright sunroom is the perfect spot to relax! Home has been meticulously maintained with quality upgrades throughout.
SEVEN LAKES NORTH • $551,500 161 SHENANDOAH ROAD E.
Nice 3 BR / 2 BA lakefront home on Lake Sequoia in 7LN! Enjoy beautiful water views from the bright Carolina room that opens to a generous two-tier back deck. Needs some TLC, but this is a great opportunity to own a lakefront home!
PINEHURST • $579,900 1265 MORGANTON ROAD
Beautifully crafted 3 BR / 2.5 BA new construction! The layout is an open concept design on the main level while all 3 bedrooms are located on the upper level along with 2 full baths.
UNDER CONTRACT
PINEHURST • $967,000 24 MCMICHAEL DRIVE
Delightful 3 BR / 3.5 BA GOLF FRONT home in desirable Pinewild community. Situated along the first fairway of the Holly course, enjoy sweeping golf views from almost every room. Transferable Pinewild membership!
UNDER CONTRACT
SOUTHERN PINES • $1,050,000 1655 FT. BRAGG ROAD S.
Beautifully maintained 6 BR / 4 BA home on a private 2.5-acre lot. Home has lots of space with Oak flooring throughout. Outside there is a large backyard, a covered porch and a patio perfect for entertaining or just relaxing.
PINEHURST • $685,000 12 SARCLET COURT
Attractive 3 BR / 2.5 BA home in serene cul-desac in Pinewild CC. Sitting on 2.08 acres this home offers both comfort and accessibility, all on one level. The layout is spacious with generously sized rooms and beautiful maple floors flowing throughout the main living area.
Beautiful 4 BR / 3.5 BA GOLF FRONT home located on the 13th fairway of the Woods golf course. The home is spacious with thoughtful design throughout with a great open-concept kitchen complete with granite countertops, soft close drawers and farmhouse sink!
SEVEN LAKES WEST • $575,000 181 JAMES DRIVE
Well maintained 3 BR / 3.5 BA brick home situated on a double lot with enhanced privacy. Inside there is an abundance of natural light, hardwood flooring in the main living area and a bright Carolina room with spacious back deck perfect for enjoying the tranquil views!
PINEHURST • $539,900 1269 MORGANTON ROAD
Beautifully crafted 3 BR / 2.5 BA new construction! Designed with an open concept layout, all 3 bedrooms are located on the upper level along with 2 full baths while a beautiful Carolina room perfect for morning coffee or just relaxing completes the main level.
Gone East
How a love affair that never happened changed my life
By Jim DoDsoN
September may be the ultimate month of change.
As summer’s lease runs out, the garden fades, and days become noticeably shorter and sometimes even cooler, hinting at autumn on the doorstep. After Labor Day, summer’s farewell gig, in 39 percent of American households — those with school-age kids — the days bring new schedules and an accelerated pace of life.
Just down the street, a dear neighbor’s firstborn is settling into her dorm at Penn State University. Her mom admits to having tender emotions over this rite of passage.
I know the feeling well. I remember driving both my children to their respective universities in Vermont and North Carolina, sharing stories with their mother on the way about their growing up and marveling how time could possibly have passed so quickly. Without question, dropping my kids off at college was a ritual of parting that stirred both pride and emotion.
On a funnier note, September’s arrival reminds me of my own unexpected journey to East Carolina University half a century ago. On a blazing afternoon, my folks dropped me off at Aycock dorm, now Legacy Hall, with my bicycle, a new window fan and 50 bucks for the university food plan.
Not surprisingly, my mom hugged and kissed me, and wiped away a tiny tear; my dad merely smiled and wished me good luck. He also looked visibly relieved.
“You made the right decision, son,” he said. “I think you’ll really enjoy it here.”
The previous winter, you see, I fell hard for a beautiful French exchange student at my high school named Francoise Roux. During the last few weeks before she headed home to France, we had a two-week courtship that included long walks and deep conversations about life, love and the future.
I was too nervous to kiss her. Instead, on the last night before she flew away, sitting together by a lake in a park, I played her a traditional French lullaby on my guitar, an ancient song her father sang to her when she was little. During the drive back to her host’s residence, we even discussed the crazy idea that, when I graduated in the spring, I might forego college in America for the time being in favor of finding a newspaper job in France so we could stay together.
As we said goodbye under the porch light, she leaned forward and gave me our first — and last — kiss.
It was a sweet but improbable dream. Yet, having won Greensboro’s annual O. Henry Writing Award the previous spring (and consumed far too much Ernest Hemingway for my own good), I decided to skip applying to college and seek a job in Paris. Touting my “major” writing award and one full summer internship at my hometown newspaper, I brazenly applied for a job as a stringer for the International Herald Tribune’s Paris bureau.
Amazingly, I never heard back from the famous newspaper. Come middle May, still waiting for a reply, I was having lunch with my dad at his favorite deli when he casually wondered why “we” hadn’t yet heard from the four colleges I’d applied to for admission.
“Actually, Dad,” I said, “I didn’t apply to them. I have a better plan in mind.”
I sketched out my grand scheme to spend a year working in Paris, where I would cover important news stories and gain valuable life experience in the same “City of Lights” that he fell in love with during the last days of World War II. I mentioned that I was waiting for a job offer from the International Herald Tribune
He listened politely and smiled. At least he didn’t laugh out loud. He was an adman with a poet’s heart.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain pretty French girl named Francoise, would it?”
“Not really,” I said. “Well, a little bit.”
He nodded, evidently understanding. “Unfortunately, Bo, you will have to get a draft number this September. And if you get a low number and aren’t in a college somewhere, you might well be drafted. That will break your mother’s heart. How about this idea?”
He suggested that I simply get admitted to a college somewhere — anywhere — until we could see how things panned out with the draft. There were rumors that Nixon might soon end it. Until then, a college deferment would keep me from going to Vietnam.
Reluctantly, I took his advice and applied to several top universities. None had room for me, though UNC-Chapel Hill said I could apply for the spring term. Too late to be of use.
On a lark at the end of May, my buddy Virgil Hudson said he was going down to East Carolina University for an orientation weekend and invited me to tag along. I’d never been east of Raleigh.
On our way into Greenville that beautiful spring afternoon, we
passed the Kappa Alpha fraternity house, where a lively keg party was happening on the lawn. I’d never seen more beautiful girls in my life. Young love, as sages warn, is both fickle and fleeting.
“Hey, Virge,” I said, “could you drop me off at the admissions office?”
The office was about to close, but the kind admissions director allowed me to phone my guidance counselor back home and have my transcripts faxed. I filled out the form and paid the $30 admission fee on the spot, leaving me 10 bucks for the weekend.
By some miracle I still can’t fathom, ECU took me in.
The first thing I did on the September morning before classes got underway was get on my bike and ride due east toward New Bern. As a son of the western hills, I simply wanted to see what this new, green countryside looked like.
The land was flat as a pancake and the old highway wound through beautiful farm fields and dense pine forests. A couple hours later, I stopped at a roadside produce stand to buy a peach and had a nice conversation with an older farming couple who’d been married since the Great Depression.
I had no idea how far I’d pedaled. “Why, sonny, you only have 10 more miles to New Bern,” the old gent told me with a soft cackle. I got back to my dorm room after dusk — having fallen in a different sort of love.
There was something about this vast, green land with its rich, black soil and friendly people that quietly took hold of my heart.
My freshman year turned out to be a joy. My professors were terrific, and my new friend and future roommate was a lanky country
kid from Watts Crossroads, wherever the hell that was. His name was Hugh Kluttz.
We are best friends to this day.
Having “gone east and fallen in love,” as my mother liked to tell her chums at church, I became features editor of the school newspaper — artfully named The Fountainhead — where I wrote a silly column that undoubtedly shaped my writing life.
In 2002, upon being named Outstanding Alumni for my books and journalism career, I confessed to an audience of old friends and university bigwigs that “going east and becoming an accidental Pirate turned out to be the smartest move of my young life — one I indirectly owe to a beautiful French exchange student I never saw again.”
Funny how life surprises us. A few years ago, out of the blue, I received a charming email from Francoise Roux, wondering if I was the same “romantic boy who once played me a lullaby on his guitar?”
We’ve exchanged many emails since then, sharing how our lives have gone along since that first and last kiss under the porch light. Francoise is a devoted grandmother and I’m about to become a first-time grandfather around Christmas. Soon enough, I'll be playing that old French lullaby to a new baby girl, marveling alongside my daughter and her husband as they embark on their own, uncharted journey. PS
Jim Dodson’s 17th book, The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim Travels the Great Wagon Road, is available at The Counrty Bookshop.
45 CHESTERTOWN DRIVE - FOREST CREEK
Elegant home overlooking Tom Fazio’s South Course, featuring reclaimed heart pine, European stone, Rutt Cabinetry, Waterworks fixtures, wine cellar, and expansive stone patio with fireplace.
$2,950,000 - GOLF FRONT
55 PALMETTO RD - OLD TOWN
Stunning views of Pinehurst No. 2 fairways, just 0.2 miles from Village shops and events. Features 5 bedrooms and 5 baths.
$2,295,000
1335 MIDLAND ROAD – KNOLLWOOD HEIGHTS
Large lot with private pool, recently renovated kitchen and modern first floor Master Suite. Numerous renovations and upgrades. In-ground pool on two acres with private gardens.
$1,595,000
30 MEDLIN ROAD - OLD TOWN
New Old Town Pinehurst home with open floor plan, game room, main-level master, fenced yard, and walkable access to school, fields, and playground.
$1,395,000
14 DUNGARVAN LANE – NATIONAL
Immediate Golf Membership. Perfectly situated on the 8th fairway, overlooking both the 7th and 8th fairways with panoramic views.
$850,000 - PENDING
41 SHAW ROAD SW – OLD TOWN
‘While-a-Way Cottage’ in Old Town Pinehurst offers over an acre of privacy, rich history, and a stunning 2020 full renovation. $2,900,000 PENDING
1512 LINDEN ROAD – 5 ACRES
Secluded 5.5-acre estate with luxury pool, spa, outdoor kitchen, cedar pergola, fire pit, and exquisite longleaf pine surroundings.
$1,599,000
185 CHEROKEE ROAD – OLD TOWN
Historic ‘Concord Cottage,’ steps from Pinehurst Village, beautifully renovated with original millwork, heart pine floors, fireplaces, screened porch, garage, sauna, and timeless charm.
$1,450,000
535 DONALD ROSS DRIVE - PINEHURST
Custom brick home, large open sun filled rooms, hardwood floors, deck, Large full basement, private. $915,000
180 PINE VISTA DIVE – PINEHURST
Ideal golf getaway or full-time home with stone fireplace, floor-to-ceiling windows, custom bookshelves, and transferable Pinehurst Country Club membership. $415,000
PinePitch
Hop & Sing
When American painter Edward Hopper felt blocked he would devour pulp crime novels and private eye stories or spend entire days at the cinema watching film noir. In partnership with the Arts Council of Moore County, the Exhibition on the Screen series at the Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines, features Hopper: An American Love Story, on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Then, at the end of the month, the series continues with John Singer Sargent, renowned as the greatest portrait painter of his era. Showtimes at the Sunrise are Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m., and Thursday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. For more information and tickets go to www.sunrisetheater.com.
Paws for the Cause
The Woofstock fundraiser to help upgrade Martin Park for man’s best friends is Saturday, Sept. 20, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Memorial Park, 210 Memorial Park Court, Southern Pines. There will be music, contests, food trucks and vendors with doggy and people stuff. For information call (910) 692-7376.
All Art, All Day
Frank & Judy
The Sandhills Repertory Theatre pairs
Ol’ Blue Eyes with the woman who made Oz famous in Sinatra & Garland: The Concert That Could Have Been, on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 2 p.m.and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 21, at 2 p.m., at the Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. For info go to www.sunrisetheater.com.
Hold on to your palette knives on Friday, Sept. 5. Southern Pines Parks and Rec will be celebrating Art Day at the Downtown Park from 5 – 7 p.m. Drop off a canvas or create one on the spot depicting what you love about S.P. Cost is $2. Best in show will be displayed in conjunction with Autumnfest in October. For information call (910) 692-7376. Also from 5 – 7 p.m., the Artists League of the Sandhills will hold an opening reception for an exhibit featuring the best in show and first place winners of the June 2023, ’24 and ’25 judged shows. The prize-winning art will be on display at 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: www.artistleague. org. And also in the mix, the Arts Council of Moore County opens “Entanglements” from 6 – 8 p.m. displaying the works of Jo Tomsick, Josiah King and Luke Huling. The exhibit at the Campbell House, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines, hangs until Sept. 26. Call (910) 692-2787 or visit www.mooreart.org to learn more.
All That Jazz
The Virginia MacDonald Quartet with MacDonald on clarinet, Bruce Barth on piano, Mark Lewandowski on bass and Maria Marmarou on drums performs on the lawn at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines on Sunday, Sept. 28 beginning at 2 p.m. For information go to www.weymouthcenter.org.
25 or 6 to 4
Take the Wayback Machine and listen to the Chicago tribute band Chi-Town Transit Authority on Friday, Sept. 19, from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. If You’re Feelin’ Stronger Every Day, tickets begin at $35. For more information and, honestly, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? go to www.sunrisetheater.com.
Comedy Series
Writer, performer and comedic actress Erin Foley headlines the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center’s comedy series on Monday, Sept. 22, from 7 – 8 p.m. in the Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Among her many credits, Foley has been on Chelsea Lately, Curb Your Enthusiasm and co-starred in the cult classic movie Almost Famous She is the host and creator of Herlights, a podcast with over 300 episodes dedicated to covering women’s sports. For information and tickets go to www.ticketmesandhills.com.
First Friday
John “Papa” Gros is a New Orleans artist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter, and you get to hear him perform for free on the First Bank Stage on the grassy knoll next to the Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines, on Friday, Sept. 5, from 5 – 9 p.m. Y’all know the drill. The music doesn’t cost a dime but the beer requires both money and the appropriate age. Leave the four-legged friends at home. For more information go to www.sunrisetheater.com.
Moore Treasures
The Shaw House Heritage Fair and Moore Treasures Sale begins on Friday, Sept. 12, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Shaw House, 110 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines. There will be collectibles, pottery, jewelry, art, antiques, vintage books, toys, glassware and on and on. The Heritage Fair, benefiting the Moore County Historical Society, continues on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with vendors, food, live music, old-time craft demonstrations and farm animals tame enough for petting. For information go to www.moorehistory.com.
Live After 5
Too country for rock and too rock for country, the high energy Charlotte band Bourbon Sons supplies the sound for Live After 5 from 5:15 – 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12, at the Village Arboretum, 375 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. Bring chairs, blankets and your toe-tapping boots. There will be food trucks and kids’ stuff, too. For info go to www.vopnc.org.
AT LISI MARKET
Photograph by Matthew Gibson
The ones who outperform
Scarlett
Christine
Maureen
Joy
Tracy Gibson
Keith Harris
Rachel
Laurie Kornegay
Ross Laton
Christian McCarthy
Melody Bell McClelland
Meredith Morski
Lesley Dacko Pacos
Caitlin Richardson
Brenda Sharpe
Kate Shinkwin
Elizabeth Webster
Virgo
(August 23-September 22)
Perhaps this will come as a shock: You don’t have all the answers. Let the mystery ignite your passion this month. Let it be juicy. Let it break your snarky gremlin of an ego. When Mercury guides your focus inward on Sept. 2, mind the negative self-talk as you strive toward new growth. On the 19th, Venus will shine a spotlight on unrealistic expectations. Take note. And on the 21st, the new moon and solar eclipse spell new beginnings. But not without a pickle of an ending.
Tea leaf “fortunes” for the rest of you:
Libra (September 23 – October 22)
Inhale and lengthen the spine; exhale and gently twist.
Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)
Taste as you go.
Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)
Just say what you mean.
Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
Lace up your dirt-kicking boots.
Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
It’s time for a new novel.
Pisces (February 19 – March 20)
Deep clean the fridge, stat.
Aries (March 21 – April 19)
Bring your journal along.
Taurus (April 20 – May 20)
Three words: Almond oil, darling.
Gemini (May 21 – June 20)
Your only job is to listen.
Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
Someone needs a salt bath.
Leo (July 23 – August 22)
Sign up for the workshop. PS
Zora Stellanova has been divining with tea leaves since Game of Thrones’ Starbucks cup mishap of 2019. While she’s not exactly a medium, she’s far from average. She lives in the N.C. foothills with her Sphynx cat, Lyla.
For over 40 years, Mid State Furniture has been a destination for quality furnishings and personalized service. Now, we're proud to welcome you to two locations:
For over 40 years, Mid State Furniture has been a destination for quality furnishings and personalized service. Now, we're proud to welcome you to two locations:
For over 40 years, Mid State Furniture has been a destination for quality furnishings and personalized service. Now, we're proud to welcome you to two locations:
For over 40 years, Mid-State Furniture has been a destination for quality furnishings and personalized service. Now, we‘reproud to welcome you to two locations:
For over 40 years, Mid State Furniture has been a destination for quality furnishings and personalized service. Now, we're proud to welcome you to two locations:
Carthage – Our original showroom , featuring timeless, high-end furniture, curated collections, and design services.
Carthage – Our original showroom , featuring timeless, high-end furniture, curated collections, and design services.
Carthage – Our original showroom , featuring timeless, high-end furniture, curated collections, and design services.
Carthage – Our original showroom , featuring timeless, high-end furniture, curated collections, and design services.
Carthage – Our original showroom , featuring timeless, high-end furniture, curated collections, and design services.
Aberdeen – The new Vintage Outlet , where you’ll discover unique, high-quality pieces and incredible finds—25–75% off.
Aberdeen – The new Vintage Outlet , where you’ll discover unique, high-quality pieces and incredible finds—25–75% off.
TWO LOCATIONS
Aberdeen – The new Vintage Outlet , where you’ll discoverunique, high-quality pieces and incredible finds — 25–75% off. Inventory is refreshed weekly!
Aberdeen – The new Vintage Outlet , where you’ll discover unique, high-quality pieces and incredible finds—25–75% off.
Inventory is refreshed weekly!
Aberdeen – The new Vintage Outlet , where you’ll discover unique, high-quality pieces and incredible finds—25–75% off.
Inventory is refreshed weekly!
Inventory is refreshed weekly!
Inventory is refreshed weekly!
For over 40 years, Mid State Furniture has been a destination for quality furnishings and personalized service. Now, we're proud to welcome you to two locations:
Carthage – Our original showroom , featuring timeless, high-end furniture, curated collections, and design services.
QUALITY
Aberdeen – The new Vintage Outlet , where you’ll discover unique, high-quality pieces and incredible finds—25–75% off. Inventory is refreshed weekly!
Photograph by Matthew Gibson
Horrors at Sea
The sordid tale of the Zorg
By Stephen e . Smith
A few chapters into
Siddharth Kara’s
The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery, you might consider putting the book aside. After all, we live in a world fraught with grievance. Why burden ourselves with crimes committed 245 years ago?
The answer is obvious: Ancient injustices are the source of contemporary injustices. Cruelty begets cruelty. So you’ll likely continue reading The Zorg, despite the graphic inhumanity it depicts.
Kara is an author and activist who studies modern slavery. He has written several books on slavery and child labor, including the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Cobalt Red, and he has much to tell us in his thoroughly researched and skillfully crafted narrative of the Zorg massacre, which serves as a disturbing yet obligatory lesson for contemporary audiences.
In late 1780, the Zorg, a Dutch ship, set sail for Africa’s Gold Coast to take on a cargo of Africans to be sold in the New World. Such slaving enterprises were common. It’s estimated that more than 12 million captive human beings were transported on 35,000 voyages between the 16th and mid-19th centuries, so the Zorg was unusual only in the exceptional misfortunes that befell its crew and captive cargo.
After reaching its initial destination in Africa, the Zorg was captured by British privateers, and the ship was loaded with more than 440 enslaved humans, twice the number it was equipped to carry. The British captain, who had little experience commanding a slave ship, and his crew were ill-prepared to make the journey; nevertheless, they set sail for Jamaica. Poor seamanship, faulty navigation, rough seas, and a lack of food and water plagued the enterprise. The Zorg missed Jamaica and had to retrace its journey. The human cargo suffered greatly, sickness took its toll on the crew, and the ship’s water supply ran low. Eventually, the crew had to decide who would live and who would die.
The first to be tossed overboard were the women and children, followed by the weaker male captives. It was a heartless and brutal business, and 140 human beings were sacrificed for the “greater good.”
Such atrocities were not uncommon in the slave trade. Still, Kara’s graphic, novelistic description of these events is compelling without being gratuitous. The massacre of the innocent Black captives will be disturbing for anyone unfamiliar with the horrors of the Middle Passage, and those readers schooled in the inhumanity of the slave trade will find themselves moved to a new level of compassion. Kara’s skills as a writer and his deft storytelling bring history to life, and readers with any sense of empathy will react with genuine horror.
But the story of the Zorg doesn’t end there. When the captain, crew and surviving slaves found their way to Jamaica, the slave trading syndicate that had financed the voyage made a claim against the insurers of the enterprise, hoping to recoup the value of the human cargo that had been jettisoned. A trial followed, and a jury found that the murder of Africans was legal — they were simply a commodity — and the insurers must pay. Each lost slave was valued at $70, about the price of a horse.
Still, the controversy might have faded from memory — what was the loss of a few African captives? — but it was soon learned that the Zorg had arrived in Jamaica with a surplus of fresh water that had been taken aboard during a storm at sea. With the water supply replenished, the crew continued to dispose of the weaker captives so they might obtain more insurance money — in other words, the captain and crew committed insurance fraud. The verdict was appealed, and a protracted legal battle ensued between the insurers and the trading syndicate. The resulting public uproar catapulted the sensational story onto the front pages of
September at Weymouth Center
England’s most prominent newspapers, transforming what might have been an insignificant controversy into a protracted struggle that would end the English slave trade with the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which in turn ignited the abolitionist movement in the United States. It would take the cataclysmic Civil War to decide the matter in America.
Slavery may be outlawed in every country, but it persists. According to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery (2022) from Walk Free, the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration, 49.6 million people live in modern slavery in forced labor and forced marriage, and roughly a quarter of all victims of modern slavery are children. The concept of slavery — the notion that a dominant culture or race remains superior to a once enslaved race — has not been purged from our hearts and minds.
For readers who aren’t interested in history but are fascinated by horrific tales, The Zorg fits the bill. The Russian writer Maxim Gorky, who knew something about imprisonment and slavery, understood our fascination with the terrible. “I know of genuine horrors, everyday terrors,” he wrote, “and I have the undeniable right to excite you unpleasantly by telling you about them in order that you may know how we live and under what circumstances. A low and unclean life it is, and that is the truth. . . . one must not be sentimental, nor hide the grim truth with the motley words of beautiful lies. Let us face life as it is.”
At the very least, Kara’s skillfully crafted narrative will leave readers wondering how future generations will perceive the inequities and struggles of the tragic times we live in.
The Zorg will be available online and in bookstores Oct. 14. PS
Stephen E. Smith is a retired professor and the author of seven books of poetry and prose. His most recent book, The Year We Danced: A Memoir, is the recipient of a 2025 Feathered Quill Book Award.
FICTION
September Books
NONFICTION
The Last Assignment, by Erika Robuck
It’s the fall of 1956 and award-winning but often-maligned combat photojournalist Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle works for the International Rescue Committee — started by Albert Einstein during the Second World War — to bring the plight of the world’s war refugees to the attention of the American people. Still grieving the death of her mother, just two years after the death of her father, and in the midst of a prolonged and painful separation from her philandering husband, Dickey identifies deeply with displaced people — particularly women, children and orphans. After a refugee rescue goes wrong, Dickey finds herself imprisoned in a Soviet camp, and it’s there that a flame is lit deep inside her to show the world what war really means. Her journey places Dickey in the most perilous of dangers where she realizes that, in trying to galvanize support to save oppressed peoples, she is saving herself.
Saltcrop, by Yume Kitasei
In Earth’s not too distant future, seas consume coastal cities, highways disintegrate underwater, and mutant fish lurk in pirate-controlled depths. Skipper, a skilled sailor and the youngest of three sisters, earns money skimming and reselling plastic from the ocean to care for her ailing grandmother. But then her eldest sister, Nora, who left home a decade ago in pursuit of a cure for the world’s failing crops, goes missing. When Skipper and her other sister, Carmen, receive a cryptic plea for help, they must put aside their differences and set out across the sea to find, and save, Nora. As they voyage through a dying world both beautiful and strange, encountering other travelers along the way, they learn more about their sister’s work and the corporations that want what she has discovered. The farther they go, the more uncertain their mission becomes: What dangerous attention did Nora attract, and how well do they really know their sister — or each other?
Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave: My Cemetery Journeys, by Mariana Enriquez
Fascinated by the haunting beauty of cemeteries since she was a teenager, Enriquez visits them frequently on her travels around the world. When the body of a friend’s mother who was “disappeared” during Argentina’s military dictatorship is found in a common grave, Enriquez begins to examine the complex meanings of cemeteries and where our bodies come to rest. She journeys across North and South America, Europe and Australia, visiting Paris’ catacombs, Prague’s Old Jewish Cemetery, New Orleans’ above-ground mausoleums and the opulent Recoleta in her hometown of Buenos Aires. Enriquez investigates each cemetery’s history and architecture, its saints and ghosts, its caretakers and visitors, and, of course, its dead. Fascinating and spooky, weaving personal stories with reportage, interviews, myths, hauntology, personal photographs, and more, Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave reveals as much about Enriquez’s own life and unique sensibility as the graveyards she tours.
The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed and Happiness, by Morgan Housel
Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Investing, personal finance and business decisions are typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Fox and the Mystery Letter, by Alex G. Griffiths
Fox has a mystery to solve — and a friendship to fix! In the dense forest, in a lonely cottage, there lives Fox. Fox is perfectly happy all by himself until one day, a letter arrives: “Dear Fox: I know how much you enjoy puzzles. I bet you can’t resist this one . . . Head to the forest path to begin your journey. From an old friend.” Fox doesn’t need any mysterious puzzles or adventures . . . still, it can’t hurt to look at the first clue. Of course, one clue leads to the next. Fox follows arrows in the mud; notes taped to trees; swirling smoke signals; a map from a bottle; and gifts from fellow animals — on the trail of a friendship that once was. (Ages 3-5.)
A Spoonful of the Sea, by Hyewon Yum
On her birthday, a girl is presented with a bowl of miyeokguk — seaweed soup — instead of the cake she wants. As she stirs her soup, her mother tells her how mothers eat it after giving birth and how it is served on birthdays to honor them; about haenyeo — women who dive into the ocean’s depths to harvest shellfish and seaweed; and how, many mothers ago, a pregnant haenyeo saw a whale eating seaweed after giving birth and tried it after having her own baby — creating a tradition that would continue for generations of daughters to come. In her picture book Yum has crafted a luminous and heartfelt celebration of motherhood, heritage, and the deep-rooted connection between women and nature. (Ages 4-8.)
Henry Is an Artist, by Justin Worsley
Henry is a dedicated artist, a master sculptor, and . . . a dog. Each day on his walks to the park, he leaves his new “art” for people to admire. But his sculptures keep getting tossed in the garbage without even being noticed! That is until, one day, when someone quite unexpectedly falls in love with his work and, at last, Henry has his moment to shine. This truly unique picture book about creativity, perseverance, and, well, poop, is a hilarious ode to undiscovered artists everywhere. (Ages 4-8.) PS
Compiled by Kimberly Daniels Taws.
Texas cattlemen know bulls... but what about housing trends in North Carolina?
By Bill FieldS
Guiding Lights
To the ones who lay the foundation
Amid some recent decluttering — well, to be honest, plain old rummaging through the contents of a castaway cardboard box obtained from the ABC store that had sat for years in the closet of my childhood home — I found a letter to my mother from my first-grade teacher at East Southern Pines Elementary, Alice Caddell.
“It has been a joy to teach Bill this year,” Mrs. Caddell wrote. “He is a very intelligent boy, and I am expecting great things from him. Bill has been so good to share his books and toys with us. We do appreciate it. I shall miss Bill next year.”
Two thoughts immediately came to mind upon reading the handwritten message:
1). The dusting powder Mom gave Mrs. Caddell at the end of the 1965-66 school year must have been of the highest quality.
2). I peaked way too soon.
Clearly — and thank goodness — Mrs. Caddell never compared notes with math teachers I had further down the line when the work was more complicated than adding and subtracting the wobbly numbers I’d formed with a thick pencil on wide-ruled paper. My score on the math portion of the SAT was the equivalent of getting blown out 56-7 on a Saturday afternoon in September. If she had seen that, she might have reconsidered her praise for a boy who had let classmates play with his G.I. Joe and Matchbox cars.
Even if it has been a long time since you’ve been in a classroom, recollections of the good and the bad come flooding back this time of year.
You certainly recall the places where you learned. In my case, that meant nine years of elementary and middle school on the campus between New York Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in Southern Pines, three years at Pinecrest High School, followed by four years (plus a summer session) at UNC-Chapel Hill.
What you learned? Of course, from cursive to typing, “Run, Spot, run!” to “Emilio y Enrique están aquí.” Montpelier and Pierre were state capital challenges for those of us who grew up taking field trips to a museum or prison in Raleigh. Attempting to dissect a frog in 10th grade biology wasn’t nearly as much fun as chasing tadpoles. My world view broadened upon discov-
ering there are bodies of water in America that make Aberdeen Lake look like a puddle.
But the people we learn from linger most vividly in memory. No one goes through a dozen or more years of school without experiencing at least a few teachers whom you’d rather forget, people ill-suited for the profession going through the motions, more eager for the last bell of the day to ring than even some of their least-motivated pupils. I had a college journalism professor who thought small, throttling my ambition — it didn’t work — instead of feeding it.
Fortunately, those types of individuals are outnumbered by their more skilled and passionate brethren who regardless of personality possess the gift to inspire as well as instruct, whose command of a subject and enthusiasm for it rubs off. That kind of talent results in a student chasing knowledge long after a final exam in a particular course.
Since I didn’t go to kindergarten, Mrs. Caddell got me off on the right foot, and Mrs. Robbins was just as kind and good at her job in second grade. My sixth-grade teacher, Miss Hall, had a gift for making you want to learn, to show off by making excellent grades. In the ninth grade, Spanish teacher Jeanette Metcalf enthusiastically guided me through my introduction to a foreign language.
At Pinecrest, Karen Hickman (journalism) and Eloise Whitesell (English), got me off on sound footing when I was trying to learn how to string sentences together. Once I began taking courses in the School of Journalism at Carolina, Jan Johnson did a great job teaching the basics, although I’m glad none of my early newswriting efforts from J-53 are archived for anyone to see. In a couple of advanced courses I took later, professors John Adams and Richard Cole, true scholars of the craft, were demanding yet nurturing. And regardless of what level or subject someone is teaching, that is an unbeatable combination. PS
Southern Pines native Bill Fields, who writes about golf and other things, moved north in 1986 but hasn’t lost his accent.
Story and p hotograph By tony CroSS
Mia Khalifa
There are many alternatives to cocktails and alcoholic beverages these days. I’ve tried plenty, but the ones containing kava have captured my heart.
Kava is a plant native to the South Pacific, traditionally used for its calming and euphoric effects. The active compounds, kavalactones, are found in the root of the plant, which is typically ground, soaked and strained. It’s not much to look at — when ready for consumption, kava has a brownish, muddy appearance. On its own, the flavor is earthy and root-like, a bit of an acquired taste. I was introduced to drinking kava on a date at Wana Navu Kava Bar in Fayetteville. I was familiar with the plant as a supplement but had never consumed it as a drink. Looking at the cocktail menu, I was floored by the variety of intricate blends of ingredients and the bold names for the drinks. Wana Navu owners Chloe Benhaim and Casey Fox helped me navigate the menu, offering a quick history of the root and explaining the effects of various ingredients.
Some drinks are combined with vitamins, kratom, or Delta-9, making for a highly personalized experience. I settled on a drink from their “Kavafornication” category, which features cocktails built on a kava base and infused with functional ingredients like B6, B12, L-theanine and ashwagandha. My go-to? The Mia Khalifa — a blend of those very ingredients, plus hibiscus flowers and lemongrass. The kava flavor is still present, but beautifully balanced. Did I mention these drinks contain zero sugar, carbs or calories? I ordered another. And then another.
Last year, Chloe and Casey opened a second location, this time in Sanford — what they proudly call their “Feel Good Bar” — which has quickly become my local stomping ground. PS
Tony Cross owns and operates Reverie Cocktails, a cocktail delivery service that delivers kegged cocktails for businesses to pour on tap — but once a bartender, always a bartender.
Get in your car and take a trip to Wana Navu Kava Bar at their Fayetteville or Sanford locations and place your order.
Flavorful Fungi
To forage or not to forage
Story and p hotograph By roSe Shewey
Manymoons ago, my mom would — in my memory, at least — merrily skip along the wooded trails of my childhood, wicker basket in hand, humming a little tune while foraging for mushrooms in the later months of the year. We children usually followed along curiously while my dad trailed behind us, ever so doubtful about my mom’s undertaking. And I don’t blame him.
Hunting for wild mushrooms is serious business. Looking at guidebooks that list edible mushrooms together with their toxic doppelgänger, I find myself squinting at the images to spot the difference and still am uncertain. Sadly, I did not pick up on my mom’s traditional knowledge of identifying wild mushrooms. Much like my dad, I have internalized the old adage “when in doubt, throw it out.” Or rather, when in doubt, don’t even touch, let alone add, the ’shrooms to your basket.
Just because you don’t forage for mushrooms doesn’t mean you’re condemned to a life of grocery store portobellos, as tasty as they can be. Thanks to the ever growing number of independent mushroom farmers, we now have access to a wide variety of fungi — even in, and certainly outside, the produce aisles.
As a quasi-flexitarian — someone who eats meat only occasionally — I adore mushrooms as the quintessential meat substitute. With their meat-like texture and plenty of umami (savory flavor) mushrooms have always been, and always will be, my favorite ingredient in vegetarian dishes. PS
German native Rose Shewey is a food stylist and food photographer. To see more of her work visit her website at suessholz.com.
Mushroom and Chestnut Stroganoff
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
6 ounces chestnuts, cooked and cut in half
16 ounces mushrooms, such as oyster, maitake, shiitake or cremini, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup sherry
1 tablespoon flour, such as all-purpose or arrowroot
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1/4 cup crème fraîche (optional)
8 ounces cooked pasta, such as egg noodles or rotini
Parsley or chives, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add one tablespoon of olive oil and gently toast the chestnuts until they are fragrant and golden, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer chestnuts to a bowl and set aside. Without adding any more oil to the skillet, begin sautéing mushrooms. Do not crowd the pan and work in batches, if necessary. Cook mushrooms until they start releasing their juices. Allow juices to evaporate and continue to cook briefly while stirring until mushrooms turn golden brown. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add two tablespoons olive oil to the skillet and sauté onions for 4-5 minutes; add garlic and smoked paprika. Continue to cook for another minute. Add sherry and allow to cook off. Stir in flour, add broth, salt, pepper and mustard, and continue to stir. Bring sauce to a simmer, then add chestnuts and mushrooms and cook until sauce is reduced by about half, approximately 8-10 minutes. Take off heat, stir in crème fraîche, if using, and serve with pasta. Garnish with parsley or chives.
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Oh, I Can Make That!
Andrea Jones tailors the Pines
By Jenna Biter
Brasspicture lights illuminate a wall of black and white photographs. One shows a vintage Courier sewing machine. Another shows the workspace of a white-haired tailor in Modena, Italy. He’s mid-stitch with a garment beneath his hands.
Andrea Jones’ father lived in Modena for a year or two, and he captured the scene at his daughter’s request. She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have an Italian craftsman inspiring her from the wall of her tailoring shop in Southern Pines.
Jones opened Andrea Marie Tailoring last July. Within the month, she’d already served six brides, and filled and refilled an industrial clothing rack with incoming and outgoing alterations. A year later, she’s even busier.
“I need to wipe this down because I had a bride in here last night,” Jones says. The alterations platform glitters like a diamond. “She had sparkles.”
She smiles at the beautiful mess and resolves to sweep it up later. Her auburn curls swing out as she turns on a dime, walks
past the Italian tailor and makes an immediate right between the check-in counter and a bench upholstered in denim.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Jones says, surveying her space. Her buoyant tone suggests she’s more excited about what’s to come than hung up on what hasn’t.
Thousands of clients burdened by pants too long or too short, a bridesmaid’s dress in need of “some work” or a thrifted suit that seemed like a good idea at the time have made a beeline for the back left corner of Belvedere Plaza. Oversize, golden letters spell “TAILOR” above black double doors. Welcome to Andrea Marie Tailoring.
The space was originally part of the historic Belvedere Hotel in Southern Pines and more recently housed a tattoo parlor. Sewing machines and spools of thread have replaced the tattoo guns and permanent ink. Though different, the hum of machinery drones on.
A typical week might include sewing on rank for promoted soldiers, mending holes in well-loved denim and nipping in a bridal bodice.
“My two loves right now are suiting and bridal,” Jones says, trying the combination on for size. “I like the juxtaposition of those two different worlds.”
After living in the Sandhills for seven years, Jones decided to bring her more than two decades of professional tailoring experience to her very own shop. The decision was a lifetime in the making.
“To be honest, I just couldn’t afford to go out and buy new clothing,” Jones says, remembering her humble beginnings. Her mother, Rosaline, taught her how to make the dresses she couldn’t afford to buy. With a needle in hand and knowledge in head, she threaded her way through school, constructing her own homecoming and prom dresses. She didn’t need a fat wallet to purchase the latest fashions by Gucci or Prada; all she needed was lookalike acid-green lace, a sewing machine and the muscle memory in her hands.
“It feels like a superpower,” Jones says with a laugh. “Oh, I can make that!” She slices her finger through the air like Fairy Godmother conjuring Cinderella’s glittering gown out of sooty rags. In a world where so much is done by swiping and typing, there is something almost magical about the physical work of the hands.
Jones nurtured her superpower while studying at Brigham Young University, where she spent off-hours working in the school’s tailoring department.
“I knew I had some skills, so I applied for that, got the job, and they taught me everything,” she says.
“Everything” was a lot to learn.
“We’re talking hundreds of suits coming in at all times,” Jones says.
She altered wedding dresses for brides, mended uniforms for the university and even fielded the occasional head-scratcher. “Some guy came in one day and asked, ‘Can you put a zipper in my turtleneck?’”
The pace was high, and Jones was an achiever. She worked her way into management and eventually supervised students just like herself. After marrying and having a baby, she bid goodbye to the department, and the young family bounced around the country as military families do.
“I’ve worked with whoever I could, whenever I could,” she says.
Jones worked long hours at dry cleaners, created custom bridal gowns, altered vintage clothing for herself, designed dresses for manufacture, built a community with other home sewists, and started social media channels to share her know-how. She even sells her own home-sewing patterns online through her company, Mark Patterns. If it involves a needle and thread, fabric or clothing, Jones has probably tried her hand, or she’ll be getting to it soon. PS
Jenna Biter is a writer and military wife in the Sandhills. She can be reached at jennabiter@protonmail.com.
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Our dental hygiene team has over 100 years of cumulative experience. Each year they are educated on the latest discoveries in dental health and on how to apply this new information to improve patient oral health. Their knowledge and expertise is vital when it comes to educating and instructing patients on the importance of dental health and how each patient optimizes their dental health for improved longevity.
A Musical Life
Creating space for art to thrive
By tom m axwell
Seminal producer, songwriter and musician Mitch Easter remembers the intersection where he was stopped when Big Star’s power pop masterpiece “When My Baby’s Beside Me” came on his car radio in the 1970s. “It just sounded so great,” Easter says. “The thing is, mainstream radio stations avoided stuff with guitars back then. You heard a lot more electric pianos and Carpenter-types. So, when you would hear a rock song like that — with all these great sounding guitars — it really popped out.”
Big Star was a short-lived Memphis band that left a lasting legacy. Easter thinks his local Winston-Salem FM station played them for a couple of weeks almost by accident. “Radio stations were more independent back then,” he says, “and I think somebody took a shine to that song.”
Those two weeks would help shape the rest of Mitch Easter’s life. Big Star had such an effect on the young musician that in 1978, he and two friends went to Memphis to meet their idols, even though the band had broken up several years previously. “Somewhere along the way we’d been given information about how to find (co-founder) Chris Bell,” Easter says. “So we went out there and hooked up with Chris. He was working at Danvers, this roast beef place that his parents owned. We passed a note back from the cashier and this guy came out, like, ‘Who’s looking for me?’”
Bell took them to Sun Studios, where former Big Star frontman Alex Chilton was making a record. “I don’t think Chris and Alex had seen each other in a while. So, it’s cool if we were some kind of icebreakers.” Bell would be dead before the year was out, killed in a car accident a couple of days after Christmas. He was 27.
Soon after his Memphis trip, Easter followed other musician friends to New York. “We were all big fans of the punk scene coming out of New York,” he says, “even though none of us were really punk rockers per se. It was a proper music scene. There were little labels popping up, and there was Trouser Press and New York Rocker magazines.”
Easter planned to open a recording studio in New York. He had a keen interest in recording technology and by this time had racked up considerable experience experimenting in his
parents’ basement with reel-to-reel multitrack tape machines. “I remember very distinctly reading in an electronics magazine a description of what really happens in the recording studio and laughing it up because it was completely mysterious to me,” he says. “I used to imagine that on the early Beatles things when George Harrison was playing acoustic and then there was a solo, I thought somebody threw him an electric guitar really fast and he started playing it.”
That New York life wasn’t meant to be. In his own words, Easter “chickened out” and moved back to North Carolina, but the Triad had changed. Original bands were forming left and right; local college stations were playing post-punk bands like the Buzzcocks; and a cool new club called Fridays opened up in Greensboro. “It was really a pizza joint,” Easter says, “but they had the new-type rock bands play on the weekends. It was full of the kind of kids that I saw in New York. The other thing I observed was people dancing. It was like it had been rediscovered.”
In short order, Easter addressed his quarter-life crisis by opening a recording studio named Drive-In Studio, because it was situated in his parents’ two-car garage in rural Winston-Salem. One of his early bookings was a weekend spent recording demos with a young band out of Athens named R.E.M.
“There was this big split back then,” Easter says. “A lot of the recording studios were still operating on the fumes of disco — and the fumes were pretty strong. So, there was a vibe that the bands did not dig about ‘real’ recording studios. Maybe in New York and London these punk bands were working in nice studios, but there wasn’t anything like that here. There were either real funky garage studios or the big studios. The perception of Drive-In was that this was a studio oriented for you, which it kind of was. It was really humble.”
Happy with their demos, R.E.M. soon returned to make a proper record. In 1982, Easter produced their dazzling debut EP (extended play), Chronic Town.
Meanwhile, Easter was writing, singing and performing with his own group, a power-pop trio named Let’s Active, which he
formed with then-girlfriend Faye Hunter and drummer Sara Romweber, sister to Chapel Hill rocker Dexter. In 1983, Easter co-produced R.E.M.’s first full-length Murmur and wrote pure pop gems with Let’s Active, like “Every Word Means No,” issued on the band’s debut EP Afoot
This, then, became Mitch Easter’s busy musical life for the next decade. Along with R.E.M.’s sophomore album Reckoning, he produced visceral power pop records with bands like X-Teens, Game Theory, The Connells, Velvet Elvis and Love Tractor. Let’s Active carried on making albums until its dissolution in 1990, an act that led to newly formed groups from nearby scenes in Chapel Hill and Raleigh.
Drive-In Studio closed in 1994, when Easter opened a new “residential” studio near Kernersville called Fidelitorium. “I’m a great supporter of making records in bedrooms and all that kind of stuff,” Easter confided, “but there’s a thing about going to a dedicated space that’s really useful. It focuses your effort, especially with a group. A lot of people need to get away from their house.”
And there’s art in the studio beyond the music. “The other thing that dawned on me is that you take a whole lot better pictures in a proper studio, right?” Easter says. “I love those electric Dylan-era pictures from Columbia Studios in New York, those great black and white pictures of big rooms that don’t have much in them but very cool looking musicians. You could only do that in a proper studio. I’m sorry that these big places are going away
because they were very romantic to me.
“Even uncool studios were important because if they hadn’t existed, you might not have had that unbelievable scene in Boogie Nights, when they want their tapes back and they haven’t paid for them. I just hope that the big places don’t totally go away or only do soundtracks for epic blockbusters. There’s a meeting place thing about a proper studio that’s kind of beautiful.”
Easter, a portrait of the artist as an older man, will turn 71 in November. “It’s funny about music,” he says. “You’ve got a long trajectory of possibilities. Little kids can be really good at music in a certain mechanical way, and sometimes they’re pretty expressive, too. I might have played the best when I was in my mid-30s, but I have more sense about it now. When your fingers do a bunch of stuff, that’s great, but maybe you’re not thinking about it quite enough, or you’re doing too much. The thing that’s so cool about pop music is there is a place for all those stages. It’s funny that rock music has finally allowed people to be old. It’s a really wonderful thing in these everything-is-falling-apart times to think that there is good stuff to do throughout your life when you’re a musician.” PS
Tom Maxwell is an author and musician. A member of Squirrel Nut Zippers in the late 1990s, his most recent book, A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene 1989-1999, was published in 2024.
1010 Old US Highway 1 Southern Pines NC
NEW YORK BUTCHER SHOPPE
“After
You are Cordially Invited to The Carolina Philharmonic’s 16 Annual Gala A Fundraiser for Music Education in Moore County
Experience the joy that The Carolina Philharmonic’s exceptional music education programs have brought to over 22,000 Moore County children.
Friday, October 3rd, 2025 5:30-8:30PM • The Pinehurst Fair Barn
Festive Live & Silent Auctions • Open Bar • Black Tie Optional • Valet Parking $175 Per Person/$1200 Per Table of Eight
Experience the Joy of Exceptional Music
THE CAROLINA PHILHARMONIC’S 2025/2026 CONCERT SEASON
Join Maestro Wolff and the Philharmonic and guest soloists for an evening of Classical Masterworks
HOLIDAY POPS - Friday, Dec. 5, 7:30pm & Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, 3pm Matinee Ring in the Holidays with beloved holiday favorites played by The Carolina Philharmonic and Broadway star Michael Campayno
THE WIZARD OF OZ - Saturday, January 24, 2026, 3:00pm & 7:30pm
See the seminal Hollywood classic come to life with the incredible score powered by our very own Carolina Philharmonic in not one, but two powerful performances.
MASTERWORKS - Saturday, February 28, 2026, 7:30pm
Join Maestro Wolff and the Philharmonic and guest soloists for an evening of Classical Masterworks.
SIDE BY SIDE - Saturday, March 28, 2026, 7:30pm
Join us for an inspiring evening as Maestro David Michael Wolff leads the Philharmonic alongside the prodigious talents of The Carolina Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Chorus, featuring young guest artists.
MASTERWORKS - Saturday, April 18, 2026, 7:30pm
Join Maestro Wolff and the Philharmonic and guest soloists for an evening of Classical Masterworks.
BROADWAY LIGHTS - Saturday, May 16, 2026, 7:30pm
Be enchanted by the timeless allure of Broadway hits performed by two captivating stars.
All concerts are at our home venue, Owens Auditorium, BPAC, Sandhills Community College.
Old Barns & Buildings
Tier 3 Winners
The Sandhills Photography Club was started in 1983 to provide a means of improving members’ photographic skills and technical knowledge, for the exchange of information, and, by club activity, to develop membership potential and public interest in the art of photography. For meetings and information visit www.sandhillsphotoclub.org.
Tier 3, 3rd Place: Fixer Upper by Dale Jennings
Tier 3, 1st Place: Left Behind by Donna Ford
Tier 3, 2nd Place: Urban Decay by Pat Anderson
Old Barns & Buildings
Tier 2 Winners
Tier 2, 2nd Place: We're Closed by Jacques Wood
Tier 2, 3rd Place: Ruins of Knossos by Cathy Locklear
Tier 2, 1st Place: Looking Into the Past by Susan Bailey
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Tier 1, 1st Place: 1876 Victorian by Phillip Lewis
Tier 1, 2nd Place: Fill Er Up by Cindy Murphy
Tier 1, Honorable Mention: Death of Tobacco by Mary Bonsall
Tier 1, 3rd Place: Teton Treasure by Patti Cifelli
Wrap and Roll
Judging a Hershey’s Kiss by its cover
By deBorah Salomon
These days, given world trade issues, where products originate has become a political issue. Halloween and Christmas won’t be the same if tariffs outprice merch made in China, where neither holiday is celebrated but manufacturing, even with shipping, costs less than producing the stuff Stateside.
Pondering that reminds me of how the Industrial Revolution brought about factories filled with machines that turned out never-dreamed-of products. Some resulted in humorous truisms like, “You can’t put the toothpaste back into the tube.”
How it got there in the first place? Some clever fellow designed and built an assembly line performing a series of functions that turned a flat piece of metal into a tube filled with paste.
These literal “machinations” made mass production possible . . . and a lotta engineers rich, since each product required the design and production of its own machine. Some machines became famous in their own right — like Hershey Kisses, wrapped on a conveyer belt the size of the Jersey Turnpike at the rate of 20,000 a minute at the Hershey, Pennsylvania, factory.
Ever wonder how Oreos are assembled? Are the round wafers identical, top and bottom? The Nabisco website isn’t exactly forthcoming, fearing patent infringement, I guess. At the rate of 400 billion a year in myriad varieties, their machines are calibrated for uniformity. The three-step process turns the chocolate or vanilla wafer on its back, releases the vanilla filling, adds the second wafer. No overhang tolerated. Temperature keeps the filling from oozing out . . . but how is that temp maintained in a factory?
Any malfunction in the process results in the loss of thousands of cookies, which must be converted into the crumbs populating ice cream, yogurt, pie crusts, maybe toothpaste.
I still haven’t figured out how frozen green peas get into plastic bags without spilling all over the factory floor. Another packaging puzzler: the sodden pad that comes between chicken parts and the
polystyrene tray. Do we pay for this run-off weighing half a pound?
The most fascinating mechanical wonder is the machine that makes individually wrapped slices of orange processed “cheese.” Betcha never noticed that packages are labeled American “slices” or “singles,’’ not “cheese,” because their formula does not conform to government standards. Unfortunately, Americans value wrappings and convenience more than the flavor of natural cheddar, which melts nicely but develops mold if not properly wrapped and stored. Grilled cheese lovers are squeamish about trimming specks of mold — another quirk for the French to mock.
By the mid-20th century, packaging rendered a brand or product instantly recognizable. Oatmeal still comes in cardboard cylinders, maple syrup in glass jugs with handles, eggs in sectioned boxes. Mayonnaise jars are the same shape, but plastic. The glass originals still deliver soup to a sick friend. Better pasta sauces and a few fruits still come in canning jars with metal twist lids, priced accordingly. Occasionally I see a tall, tin saltines container. In the past, these monoliths enjoyed rebirth as crayon bins. Or Lego storage. The kids made little magnetic Scottie dogs creep up the sides.
Am I the last granny to remember Velveeta bricks in wooden “crates” with sliding tops? Or individual serving yogurts in half the flavors but with snap-on lids?
I still wonder why granulated sugar comes in paper bags, which absorb enough moisture to allow hardening into a brick.
As with mayo jars, I try to reuse containers with secure lids instead of buying new ones at the $1.25 store. For years, the best were 32-ounce Food Lion house brand semi-opaque sherbet containers with a tight lid, perfect for stacking homemade chocolate chip cookies for the flight north to my grandsons. Then FL changed the size and material.
Darn. Took me forever to find a replacement, this time at Lowes Foods: 54 ounce Kemps sherbet, with a secure lid and room for extra cookies.
But first somebody has to eat 54 ounces of sherbet.
Wild strawberry’s the best. PS
Deborah Salomon is a contributing writer for PineStraw and The Pilot. She may be reached at debsalomon@nc.rr.com.
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not be imagining things. Typically, late summer is when I receive a report or two from hosts who have glimpsed a rare pale-colored hummingbird. Birds in unusual plumage tend to be noticed and, given the network of bird enthusiasts I am familiar with, reports of unusual hummingbirds find their way to my phone or computer pretty quickly.
White hummingbirds include both leucistic (pale individuals) as well as true albinos (completely lacking pigment). Gray or tan hummers are more likely than full albinos. Light-colored individuals have normal, dark-colored soft parts such as dark eyes, feet and bills. Albinos, on the other hand, are very rare. These snow-white birds sport pink eyes, feet and bills, and have been documented fewer than 10 times in North Carolina. To date, only three have been banded and studied closely in our state.
It isn’t unusual for people to think they are seeing a moth rather than a hummingbird when they encounter a white individual, not realizing that these beautiful creatures are even possible. In fact, we know very little about white hummingbirds. Opportunities to study these unique individuals are few and far between. What we do know is that they
tend to appear in July or August as young of the year and do not survive into their second season. White feathers are very brittle and likely cannot withstand the stress of rapid wing beats and long-distance migration. Another very curious characteristic is that all these eye-catching birds have been females. So, it’s likely that this trait is genetically sex-linked.
The first white hummer I managed to band was a creamy bird in Taylortown, over 20 years ago. She was an aggressive individual that roamed the neighborhood terrorizing the other ruby-throateds. The first true albino I documented was in Apex, and that individual was even more aggressive; chasing all the other birds that made the mistake of entering her airspace. To have a chance of studying a white hummer, I must get word of it quickly before the bird heads out on fall migration. I have missed more than one by less than a day.
Just recently I heard about a white hummer in the Triangle area. Excited, I followed up and received permission to try to band the bird. She was mixed in with dozens of other hummingbirds using feeders and flowers on a rural property outside Chapel Hill. Although it took two tries, I was able to get her in-hand. This beautiful hummer was very pale, but had some gray in the tail as well as some tan marbling on the back. Her eyes, bill and feet were still the expected black color.
I hope to hear about another of these tiny marvels before all of the hummingbirds in central North Carolina have headed south. Each one is so unique. PS
Susan Campbell would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photos. Her email is susan@ncaves.com.
Beating the Heat
A conversation in the shade
By tom Bryant
The sun seemed to be stuck,
hanging right at the top of the tree line as if to say, “You think it’s hot now? Wait, there’s another three hours of daylight, and I’m gonna make it a smoker.”
Shadows had moved away from my shady spot at the edge of the pines, so I decided to truck it to the barn for some libation and conversation. I could see from a distance I was not alone in escaping the heat.
It was Labor Day and the opening of dove season. The usual group was invited for the festivities: a barbecue, good company and a dove shoot that opened the season for a bird hunter.
We seem to forget that early September in North Carolina sometimes rivals the middle of July in heat. But you get used to it. I remembered other dove shoot occasions when the heat was bearing down and the doves didn’t fly until that persistent sun settled a little lower behind the trees.
The boys from Slim’s put the hunt together. Boys meaning longtime customers who used Slim’s country store as a meeting spot to catch up with news from around the neighborhood.
We were hunting a field I was familiar with. Many years before, our Ducks Unlimited group had used the same acreage for our annual hunt after all the festivities celebrating DU the weekend before. The field remained basically the same, about a hundred acres of cut-over corn, maybe too big for our little group to cover, but most of us were there for the camaraderie, not
necessarily to shoot doves, though we were convinced that doves were the best eating in the bird wild game repertoire.
I stopped by the truck on the way up to the barn, unloaded my shotgun, stuck it in the back and pulled out the old camp chair I keep in the rear cargo area with my cooler.
“Well, just ask Bryant,” Johnson said.
I picked out a shady spot under the tin overhang of the old tobacco barn, leaned back against the ancient log walls and said, “Ask Bryant what, old friend? You know I will reply even if I don’t know the answer. But with my plethora of knowledge, it’ll be good.”
The good old boys had a chuckle, and Johnson followed up with, “You were in the newspaper business forever, even owning one. How come they’re vanishing like ripe persimmons in the middle of possum country?”
If anything, Johnson had a way with words.
“It’s simple,” I replied. “Check out that smartphone you’ve got in your back pocket.”
“It’s in the truck. I don’t carry that fool thing with me everywhere I go.”
“Good for you, Johnson. But let’s see how many of us have that ‘fool thing’ on our person.”
Five out of the seven of us had phones. I was like Johnson. Mine was in the truck.
“Well, they’s good in emergencies, like if old Andy over there . . . ” and he pointed at Andy, who was dozing, his head lolling a bit. Andy perked up, saying, “What are y’all talking about?”
“Like I was saying,” Johnson replied. “If that old geezer over there went out to the far end of the dove field, tripped and shot himself in the foot, he could use his phone to call for help.”
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“Speak for yourself,” Andy said, “And I ain’t a geezer. I’m just a little older than you, as I recall.”
“Technology,” I said, reaching in the cooler for a bottle of water. “That was the final nail in the old coffin. Your phones, your computers, and above all else, the internet ushered in the demise of newspapers as we once knew them. But . . . ” I paused for effect, “there was one other thing that shut the industry down, including the big boys. Newspapers you would have thought would be here forever. Gone. And the reason?” I stood up and grabbed a ham biscuit from the communal cooler that Johnson had put together the evening before.
“What?” Andy said. “What?”
“Money, greed and the unalterable knowledge that the business has been here forever and that’s where it will remain.”
Johnson said, “You’ve been in the newspaper business a long time. What’s your reasoning the industry failed so fast?”
“Hey, guys,” I said, “we here to shoot birds or talk about newspapers?”
“It’s still too hot. The birds aren’t gonna fly until almost sundown. Give us your opinion, Tom. I’ve been reading the N&O for nigh on 40 years, and now they don’t even publish it anymore.”
“OK, OK. Here’s what I think, the short version. I started in the business right out of the Marine Corps, just married and a student at Elon. I worked part time catching the press, then moved into the circulation department, then the advertising section as an ad executive. After a while they made me the advertising director. The years I spent doing those jobs convinced me that a medium-sized monopoly newspaper in a small metropolitan area almost has a license to print money. They were extremely successful.”
“If they were a money-making machine, why did they fall so fast?” Johnson asked.
“Just because they were so good at what they did. The big boys came in and bought them all, and then promptly killed the goose that was laying all those golden eggs. They called it economy of scale or something like that. They consolidated all the ancillary efforts to their home
base, fired all the old-timers, the folks who had been working at the papers for a long time and had built up a good base of pay, and put the squeeze on expenses, so much so that to get a few more pencils or note paper, a multitude of requisitions had to be filled out in duplicate. They didn’t realize that their cost-cutting was cutting them right out of business.”
I got up, stretched and checked out the spot on the field where I would hunt. It was still a scorching afternoon although the sun was slowly dropping behind the pines. The boys were unusually quiet as I stood there looking to the tree line.
Even I was surprised that I was so depressingly down on the business I had dedicated my life to. But there was one redeeming piece of information I felt compelled to relay to the good old boys. I turned and stood there like a schoolmaster preaching to his wards.
“Boys, there is one great promising revelation I’m gonna tell you about. For the last 10 years of my career, as y’all well know, I worked for a group of people who were not afraid to spend a little money to revise the way we did business. It was led by a young fellow who worked hard and smart. He created a business plan that is now the envy of the industry. This gentleman saw exactly where newspapers were heading and decided to get off the train that was rapidly approaching the destroyed bridge. I can hear him right now saying, ‘If anyone in our community wants local news, they will come to us.’ Now, with the newspaper doing well, with four magazines in major markets and a statewide business magazine, he doesn’t rest on his laurels. He’s always planning.”
I folded up the old camp chair.
“OK, enough of the lecture. I see birds moving, and I’m gonna make for my corner. Y’all be careful, and Andy, make sure you take your phone in case you shoot yourself in the foot.”
The boys laughed and headed out in the field. PS
Tom Bryant, a Southern Pines resident, is a lifelong outdoorsman and PineStraw’s Sporting Life columnist.
The U.S. Kids Catapult
A stepping stone to the top
By lee paCe
There is a chance by the time these words hit your mailbox or coffee table that Ben Griffin of Chapel Hill will be teeing it up at Bethpage Black in the 2025 Ryder Cup. At the end of July, he was within reach of an automatic berth for the American team or being a captain’s choice by Keegan Bradley by virtue of his breakthrough year — solo victory in Fort Worth, team win in New Orleans and a total of eight Top 10 finishes, including the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.
And if not this year, another, perhaps.
Whatever success, including and beyond making a Ryder Cup team, that the 29-year-old might enjoy, he can look back to three years from 2009-11 competing in the U.S. Kids summer competitions in Pinehurst as a bedrock to his development:
2009 — Ninth place in the age 13 division.
2010 — First place in the 14 division.
2011 — First place in the 15-18 division.
“Ben had quite a run in Pinehurst,” says his dad, Cowan Griffin, who caddied for his son all three years. “It was a perfect environment to learn what competitive golf was all about. You were around class acts. The U.S. Kids produced a young man that respected his opponent, was courteous and kind, you treat each other fairly. You’re honest. It promotes just a slew of great traits for your future. That’s exactly what it did with Ben.”
More than a decade later, with his son among the elite of the PGA Tour, Cowan thinks back on that three-year run and enjoys the reflections. He chuckles at the memory of taking Ben to Pinehurst No. 6 in 2009 and having no idea that parents generally caddied for their children in U.S. Kids events. He dashed to
the Belk store in Southern Pines for shorts, sneakers and golf shirts. He remembers Ben asking — and Cowan refusing to answer — where Ben stood through 16 holes in the final round in 2010 at No. 8, then being gratified to see the boy refocus, birdie the par-5 17th and win by one. He marvels at having watched Ben’s creative recovery shots on No. 2 in collecting the older boys’ division title in 2011.
“Ben was a real gritty player, and if he got in any trouble, he could manipulate his hands and make the ball hook or cut or go straight up in the air, almost like Phil Mickelson-type hands,” Cowan says. “Anywhere he was, he had an answer. "
As the U.S. Kids Teen World Championship was hitting its 20th anniversary in Pinehurst in early August 2025, Ben Griffin was an hour away, teeing it up on the PGA Tour in the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, shooting four rounds in the 60s and finishing in a tie for 11th. He was seventh on the money list with $8.1 million.
That’s an amazing story for someone who inhaled the game of golf until their mid-20s, chucked the dream for a year in 2020 to enter private business, and a year later came back with a new set of priorities, and a refreshed game and mindset.
“It’s been an incredible journey, but since I’ve come back to golf I’ve put my mind to being one of the top players in the game, getting into the majors, getting into contention and winning on the PGA Tour,” Griffin says. “I’ve checked a lot of those boxes now, but I have to continue to keep the pedal down.”
Griffin was a golfer from near infancy. Cowan got into golf because his father, Douglas, loved the game, and he outfitted young Ben with a set of clubs as soon as Ben could walk. He was smitten from the beginning.
“We called him ‘Little Ben’ around the club,” says Rick Brannon, the Chapel Hill Country Club head golf pro from 1983 to 2017. “I can remember him on the range at 5 years old. He had a set of hand-me-down irons that were an inch longer than standard. The golf club was bigger than Ben almost. He had a motorcycle grip early on because that was the only way he could hit
those long clubs.”
The talent he wielded at Pinehurst with U.S. Kids evolved over the years. Competing for East Chapel Hill High, Griffin won two state 4-A titles. And he shot 61 in the Dogwood Amateur at Druid Hills in Atlanta.
There was never any question about
where Griffin would play collegiately (both of his parents are UNC grads), and he was in the Tar Heels’ starting lineup all four spring seasons from 2015-18. After leaving college, Griffin bumped around the various “minor league” tours, traveling to Canada, Latin America and across the U.S. on the Korn Ferry Tour. Then COVID-19 hit in the spring of 2020, and the golf season on the PGA Tour and all the satellite circuits were cancelled. Griffin was in debt to his sponsors and had nowhere to play.
“I wasn’t making any money,” Griffin says. “I wasn’t able to pay my own rent without help from parents, and health insurance, whatever it might be. I was 24, 25 at the time, and I was like, it’s a point in my life where I don’t want to have to rely on my parents for anything.
“It wasn’t necessarily like I disliked golf or anything. I still loved it. I was actually getting better. I felt like I was doing some really good stuff with my coach. But financially, I was in such a big hole. I didn’t see myself digging a way out of it.”
That’s when Griffin decided he was
Ben and dad Cowan in 2011 U.S. Kids on No. 2
GOLFTOWN
done with professional golf. He landed a job in early 2021 as a residential mortgage loan officer with Corporate Investors Mortgage Group in Chapel Hill and began working each day at the company’s headquarters at East 54, just a couple of hundred yards from the 16th hole at Finley.
“When I stepped away from golf, I was completely done,” he says, adding he envisioned golf as being a weekend distraction and a way to help his professional career with client golf.
As the summer of 2021 wore on, he started having second thoughts. His grandfather died on July 15, and the obituary included a reference to his love of golf. Doug Griffin’s motto was “hit them long and straight.”
Soon after, Griffin was driving to work one morning and absentmindedly turned onto Finley Golf Course Road instead of into the East 54 complex.
“I wasn’t thinking that much about golf at all, but these little signs kept popping up,” Griffin says. “Reading my granddad’s quote made me realize my dreams are on the golf course. I’d lie awake in bed and say, ‘Do I need to chase this dream one more time?’”
Griffin decided that he did. He has never looked back.
Lord Abbett CEO Doug Sieg organized an investor group to underwrite Griffin’s return to traveling the tour, and that November, he shot 71-74-64-71 and tied for 29th at Korn Ferry Tour Q-School. That locked up Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2022 (no more Monday qualifying), where he finished eighth in points to get a PGA Tour card for 2023.
“It’s easy to get caught as a mini-tour golfer, stuck like, man, this is so hard, my back is against the wall,” Griffin says. “So instead of that mindset, I had a more forward-thinking mindset of I’m already one of the best players in the world. I just have to go out there and prove it.”
They’ve known of that potential around Pinehurst for more than a decade. PS
Lee Pace has written about the Pinehurst experience for more than three decades. Write him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him @LeePaceTweet.
Hopper: An American Love Story (with lecture at Arts Council)
Thursday, September 4
2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
John Singer Sargent: Fashion & Swagger
Tuesday, September 23 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 25 7:00 p.m.
Frida Kahlo (with lecture by Prof. Fran Gertz) Wednesday, October 8 2:00 p.m. Thursday, October 9 7:00 p.m.
On the Way Home
from my father’s funeral, a mime is performing on the corner, laid out on the concrete like a corpse, pulling herself up with an invisible rope as if hope were a cliff to climb, then levitates over a pretend chair as if preparing to eat, drinking an empty glass of air, her palms bringing into being the nuanced shape of bread to be broken. I sit on the edge of a scrap of plywood, a makeshift seat, perch as if on a ledge heeding the gravity of all the unsaid. Everything her eyes imply is about the last meal I shared with my father.
“Do you hear me?” she hints with her hands that have become her voice, her frown a phrase, a black drawn-on tear a lost syllable, then, as though life were something tangible, sets up an imaginary ladder, points to a nebulous cloud she intends to reach, waving goodbye as she begins to climb into the sky.
— Linda Annas Ferguson
Linda Annas Ferguson's novel, What the Mirrors Knew, was released in August.
t’s a slight squeak of the wooden gate that welcomes me to the garden, but once I step inside, the sounds shift. There’s a gentle breeze rustling the leaves, creating a soft whisper. The garden’s colors and textures blend with its aromatic smells and birdsong. It’s a soothing symphony, all mine for a few sacred minutes at dawn.
Nature has always been an escape for me, keeping me centered even in the most challenging of times. When I was young, I filled the hours in a woodland and creek, teasing polliwogs, rockhopping and chasing the delicate butterflies flitting among the wildflowers. Then, I’d seek my secret sanctuary, an ancient white birch tree, snuggle into its curved hollow and listen as the wind in its branches whispered.
Immersive experiences, such as those youthful pursuits, connect us to nature’s wonders. We are hard-wired to find them engrossing, soothing and a powerful tool for healing. Gardens are particularly well-suited to tap into those connections in health care settings where life-challenging and life-threatening events are amplified.
Healing gardens engage the senses and foster those connections. They are designed with a passive involvement approach that allows visitors to be present and absorb the elements of nature, without structured activities and programs.
It was the long and exhausting experience of caring for their loved ones in the hospital that motivated Dr. Lynda Acker and Cassie Willis to approach the Foundation of FirstHealth with a vision to construct a healing garden on the regional hospital system’s Pinehurst campus. Acker and Willis were longtime gardeners, and it was their vision and design, supported by the community’s love for the concept and philanthropic spirit, that brought the Healing Garden oasis to life in 2012.
Located behind the Clara McLean House, the public garden is meticulously designed, expansive and mature. On any given day, it might host a patient undergoing treatment at the hospital, a medical provider taking a break, or a garden club enjoying the season’s blooms. Its beauty and tranquility instill a sense of calm and peace.
Upon entering the Healing Garden through its rose-laden moongate, a visitor is immediately greeted by the sound of birdsong. This auditory experience, combined with the garden’s visual beauty, creates a tone that sets the stage for a peaceful and engaging journey. The meandering, curved stone paths encourage exploration and curiosity about what lies around the next turn.
Small seating areas, including an intimate Lutyens bench in the Cottage Garden surrounded by mophead hydrangeas and roses, invite visitors to linger. The replica of a 15th century English
stone dovecote serves as the visual and functional centerpiece of the garden.
The bounty of unusual trees, including a mature loquat, towering snowball viburnum, Chinese elms and vitex, adds a sense of curiosity. Beds of showy Japanese anemones and Mexican petunias add bursts of color. At the same time, sensory stimulation is offered by new dawn climbing roses, daisies, native salvias, herbs and a grey owl juniper that smells like a Christmas tree.
Many plants possess unique features that make them a natural conversation starter. One morning, as I was guiding our weekly volunteer work session, I was approached by a visitor intent on learning more about the plant he held in his hand.
“Can you please tell me the name of this?” asked 76-year-old Harlan Devore, holding out a weed.
“Chickweed,” I said.
“The Latin name, please?” he asked.
Embarrassed, I replied, “I don’t know.”
It was the beginning of our friendship, made in the garden. Devore, a retired military officer and science teacher for 20 years, was a patient undergoing treatment for cancer and staying at the Clara McLean House.
“I grew up loving plants because my mom did and she always used a plant’s Latin name, so that’s how I know plants, not by the common name,” he told me. Using a lot of show-and-tell, we discussed weeds in two languages. He met many of the garden’s volunteers and then asked if he could pull the weeds when he had spare time.
“Sure, if you’re OK with the work. It would be greatly appreciated,” I said, and showed him where we stored our tools and the debris bins.
When I returned a couple of days later, I found three 32-gallon bins full of weeds. Later that week, Devore asked if he could join the garden volunteers every week. He believes that active physical involvement with the garden enhanced his healing while instilling a sense of usefulness and accomplishment — and he made new friends who share his love for it. Today, he’s in remission, spending time with his family, volunteering for numerous organizations, kayaking on a local lake and, of course, pulling weeds at home.
“You reflect on your life, but sitting by the garden’s waterfall reading and listening to the birds took my mind off my worries,” he says of the garden. “I felt absorbed into nature, and that helped me relax.”
Gardens and natural spaces enrich both the body and the soul. When you view nature, you become embraced by its tranquility and beauty. It’s a welcome distraction, especially if you're grieving. The gardens on the FirstHealth Hospice and Palliative Care campus opened in 2015 and were conceptualized with nature in mind, recalls Acker, who, with Sally DeWinkeleer, designed the peaceful space. With its carpets of densely planted, vibrant flowers and plants, the gardens provide patients, families and caregivers a place for rest, reflection and engagement with nature.
“We considered the individual needs of those who will benefit from this space,” explains Acker. “They need relief from the stressful conditions and long hours in Hospice House. The gardens and the outdoor sitting and walking areas provide respite at any time of the day or night.”
In addition to the beautiful flowers and serene atmosphere, the gardens feature a single-path labyrinth shaded by white Natchez crape myrtles. The labyrinth serves as a therapeutic tool, encourages mindfulness, and is designed to help individuals navigate the complex emotions associated with grief and loss.
“It's a meditative experience, a reflection of your journey,” says DeWinkeleer, who lost her mother before working on the project. “It was a powerful and safe way to help me process my grief.”
A small pond was placed at a corner across from the Hospice House, where its mesmerizing movement and gentle sound offer a calming space to passersby.
One of the most poignant scenes at the gardens happens in early spring, when the grounds present a breathtaking display of thousands of cheerful daffodils. As the sun crests the horizon at dawn, its golden light illuminates the fields of daffodils, symbolizing hope, rebirth and new beginnings.
The healing gardens at FirstHealth of the Carolinas, includ-
ing two of its newest at the Cancer Center, are lovingly cared for by community volunteers, many of whom have spent years tending them. These dedicated individuals aren't just nurturing plants — they are creating an environment where patients, families and staff find peace and serenity during some of life’s most challenging times.
“When I saw how many people found comfort in this garden, I knew I had to be part of it,” says Melanie Riley, a volunteer at FirstHealth’s Cancer Center, which opened in 2023. Riley had just begun the 13-week Extension Master Gardener program with the Moore County Extension Service when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After reviewing the options, she elected a double mastectomy, and days later, passed her final EMG exam. After her recovery, she began volunteering at the Cancer Center’s Healing Gardens, co-designed by Acker and the building's architect.
“Working here among those with cancer, as well as survivors, gave me a sense of control over my health and emotions,” she says. Now cancer-free, Riley says her experience in the garden was not only life-enhancing, it became life-rebuilding. She cherishes her mornings working in both the lobby-level and rooftop healing gardens.
“Patients and their caregivers come out to the garden for an uplifting distraction from their concerns,” she says. “I’ll introduce myself as a cancer survivor and offer them an encouragement stone that’s engraved with an uplifting message.”
That small stone is often the conversation starter, as they share their experiences. “It’s such an important validation for them to know another has made it through,” says Riley, reflecting on her own turbulent passage through the disease. “Then, I’ll notice a shift in their mindset. They are calmer and will ask about the flowers and plants, as well as the little bugs they see. They leave their worries for a bit and depart with a brighter perspective and a smile.
“It’s magical when they step into the nature of it all.”
Time spent in green spaces has a profound and positive impact on our lives. Whether it’s birdsong, a gurgling stream or the wind blowing through the tall trees, nature provides joy and comfort. Listen closely, as it whispers, “All is well.” PS
Claudia Watson is co-leader of The Healing Garden at the Clara McLean House on the campus of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital.
MAKING ’SHROOM FOR A NEW METHOD OF FARMING
By EmilEE PhilliPs
In the dark basement of a sprawling farmhouse, a mother and son work daily — and meticulously — tending to colorful bunches of oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms. Like the natural mushroom systems that grow underground, the labyrinthine basement is laid out in intricate patterns, a maze of rooms, each dedicated to its own phase of cultivation.
The rhythmic routine of misting, monitoring humidity and harvesting is as much art as it is science — a quiet but steady labor rooted in patience and precision only to be broken up by the laughter of a family joke.
In a home that sits on 200 acres of farmland that has been in the family for three generations, Candice Graham and Jonathan Bumgarner have converted their basement into Cranes Creek Mushrooms, breathing new life into empty space.
There is something profoundly grounding about a family farm. In the fast-paced, everchanging landscape of modern life, the farm represents a constant — a space where the rhythms of nature dictate the pace of life, where the priorities shift from instant gratification to patience. It’s about cultivating a lifestyle that prioritizes sustainability, where food is grown with
intention, animals are raised with care, and the land is honored as a precious resource.
Graham inherited the farm from her mother, who wasn’t a farmer herself but had a vision for her children’s future. In an act at the intersection of hope and business, she arranged for 322 pecan trees to be planted that, one day, would tower over the land
and provide an additional revenue stream to sustain the farm. Though still young, some of her trees are beginning to produce, her promise literally coming to fruition. Determined not to see the land broken up and sold off, the family had to get creative. They decided to take a leap into the unknown with mushroom farming. Aside from pecans, neither Graham nor Bumgarner had dabbled in agriculture before. “You take one step forward and three steps back with farming,” Graham says. “There’s a lot of education and research involved.”
Their first summer was trial and error. Beginning outside in a barn, they quickly learned the unpredictability of the effect natural climates can have on fungus farming — an experience that resulted in a complete do-over and driving them inside and underground. One way to bypass the natural limitations of mushroom farming, such as seasonality, is through indoor farming, which allows for year-round production and more control over the finicky crop. Now Cranes Creek Mushrooms produces a variety of oyster mushrooms, including black pearl, elm, chestnut, king trumpet and blue. From start to finish the process takes about two to three months. Lion’s mane — especially prized for tinctures and unique dishes — takes even longer, requiring about five months to grow. The longest part of the process is the preparation and sanitation of everything.
“It’s a very sterilized process, which is ironic considering how much mold mushrooms produce,” Bumgarner says with a chuckle. The operation begins by soaking wheat grains to use as a breeding ground for the mushroom spores to colonize and repro-
duce, building vast networks of their root-like structures, called mycelium. Then the spawn is placed into large biodegradable bags and formed into blocks. The blocks are monitored closely after spores are added. These blocks are then arranged on rows of shelves in one of the converted basement rooms, where the mushrooms grow mostly in the dark, changing color from brown to white to nearly black, and then back to white again. In the wild, this part of the journey would happen underground.
“If it gets just one little germ in it, it multiples,” Graham says. If at any point in the process something appears wonky, the entire bag must be discarded. It’s survival of the fittest for these fungi. “You have to keep an eye on them every single day,” she says.
In another room, the next phase begins in large inflatable tents equipped with zippered doors and climate control. This “fruiting” space is lined with shelves of carefully arranged grow blocks that sprout with alien-like forms. Mushrooms thrive in humidity, but the temperature must be carefully managed. “A lot of people think mushrooms grow in the dark, but they actually crave light,” Graham says.
The family works in the tents wearing masks to avoid inhaling too many spores in the confined space. “A lot of it is about the tedious little things,” Bumgarner says.
“None of the labor is hard; you just have to keep an eye on them. It’s like having little babies,” Graham says.
resembling the mythical abominable snowman. Despite the growing buzz around their potential health benefits, Graham and Bumgarner are often surprised when people haven’t heard of lion’s mane. Graham takes tincture droplets daily, which she believes improves memory and reduces inflammation. For them, mushrooms aren’t just a culinary ingredient; they’re a form of nature’s medicine.
The two are also experimenting growing rieshi mushrooms, which are thought to help aid relaxation. “Everyone needs to relax more,” says Graham. Mushroom-based products like mushroom coffee have been gaining popularity in recent years, but Bumgarner believes tinctures are the way to go. “They’re more potent, pure, and taste better,” he says. Cranes Creek Mushrooms soak their mushrooms in pure vodka to make their tinctures.
Just days after the fungi begin emerging from the mycelium bags, they’re ready to harvest. For Bumgarner, the most satisfying part is twisting off a large clump of mushrooms, a small and crisp snap accompanying the plucking. Oyster mushrooms sprout in delicate clusters, their soft, fan-shaped caps unfolding in shades of pale cream or dusky blue-gray, like the soft brushstrokes of a watercolor painting. The bushels vary in size, resembling bouquets of flowers.
Just as mushrooms seemingly pop up out of nowhere, so too has their rise in popularity. With growing awareness of their health benefits, mushrooms were named “Ingredient of the Year” by The New York Times in 2022. At the Moore County Farmers Market in Southern Pines, Graham and Bumgarner regularly set up their booth with a selection of oyster mushrooms, lion’s mane and mushroom tinctures, all far from your average white button mushroom. They take the time to educate the curious about the complexities of mushrooms, whether for cooking or as tinctures. “We’re met with a lot of curiosity,” says Graham. Every week, it seems, the duo find themselves explaining the benefits of lion’s mane mushrooms with their distinctive, almost otherworldly appearance — long, white, hair-like tendrils
Oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms are seldom found in traditional grocery stores. In many ways, they are a quiet luxury, accessible to those who shop with intention at places like farmers markets and co-ops. Their luxury isn’t due to high cost or rarity, but rather their shelf life, which makes them less suited for conventional grocery store environments.
In addition to the farmers market, you can find Cranes Creek Mushrooms in gourmet dishes from local restaurants such as Ashten’s and Elliott’s on Linden. For Bumgarner, nothing beats the simplicity of sautéing mushrooms in butter. He and his mother agree that lion’s mane has a more unique texture, almost chicken-like, with a flavor that is difficult to explain to someone who has never tasted it. “It’s meatier,” he says. “One of the most interesting things I’ve learned about mushrooms is that you don’t get any of the benefits, other than fiber, unless you cook them.”
Graham says the shared mother and son moments are one of the most rewarding parts of their business. “We get a lot of family time. We can tease and talk and work.” As someone passionate about eco-friendly practices, Graham was thrilled to learn about the benefits the mushroom spawn blocks could bring to the soil on the farm.
Along with mushrooms, Graham and Bumgarner have added quail and chickens to their operation, knowing the extra minerals and nutrients from the spent mushroom blocks can aid the overall health of the animals on their property. “We are trying to get to the point where the farm supports itself,” she says. “I also have to stay busy or I’m not happy.”
More than a business, Cranes Creek Mushrooms is life underground, a labor of love, fueled by family. PS
Emilee Phillips is PineStraw’s director of social media.
The Ladder
Fiction and illustration
By daniEl WallacE
She kept the ladder hidden against the far side of the house, on its side, behind an array of shrubbery and a small pyramid of partially charred firewood. It was a metal ladder, and heavy, yellow and blue, and picking it up involved several challenging moves — lifting, leaning, pushing, and prying it into its sturdy inverted V. Harder now than ever but still doable. The hinges adjoining the two sides of the ladder sometimes stuck, and with her bare hands she had to thwonk them until they were perfectly straight. The meaty part of her palm had been pinched more than once during the course of this procedure; her Saran Wrap-thin skin roughly torn like a child’s scraped knee. All this happened at night, in almost complete darkness, the only light from the dim bulb in the laundry room, casting a soft, milky glow through the dusty windows onto the thorny leaves of a winterberry. Once the ladder was open she shook it, made sure the ground was level. Usually she’d have to adjust it, moving the legs this way and that a few times before it felt secure. Then she climbed, step by step, testing her balance on each flat rung, falling into a worry that made her take special care not to slip or get her slacks caught on anything. It was especially dangerous when she got to the very top, where it was written in serious, Ten Commandant letters: THIS IS NOT A STEP. Here there was a sharp metal protrusion, the final test that she had, so far, nimbly passed. She got on her knees on the step that wasn’t, and with her forearms on the shingles drug herself onto the sloping edge of the roof, turned herself around, and sat breathing. She brushed the dirt off her forearms. Another breath and she was fully there.
This is what she did for her cigarette, the only one she allowed herself, once a night every night, for almost all her adult life. She didn’t even have to hide it anymore, because there was no one here to secret it from. But it had become a part
of who she was, a tradition she could not and would not and did not want to end until she couldn’t make the climb. It was necessary. It was her spot, her perch. There was no great view to be had, really, just the cross-the-street neighbors, a young couple in the modest, red-brick split-level, their lives ahead of them, as they say, as if all our lives weren’t ahead of us, some just farther along than others. Sometimes she could see them — the Shambergers? — as they moved from room to room, miniature people, busy as little ants. It was like watching a movie from a thousand feet away. She smoked, and the smoke rose and quivered from the red and orange coal into a dreamy cloud, then off into a dreamy nothing. But most of the smoke was inside her, in her lungs and her blood. It made its way to her brain and she felt lighter, lighter. She felt like she could follow the smoke if she wanted. The cigarette didn’t last very long, never as long as she wanted it to, but always time enough to review the plot points of her life, the highlights, good and bad, the husband and the children and now the grands, the cars, the planes, the ships, the glam, and the struggle, the love, the sex, so much of it really it didn’t seem fair that one woman should have it all. So much. But every night she climbed the ladder’s rungs and sat here, here on top of the world, smoking, she wondered what it meant that out of all of it, out of every single second she remembered, this was the best, the very best, the moment she lived for, surrounded by the invisible world beneath the moon and long dead stars, sharing her own light with the dark. PS
Daniel Wallace is the J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his alma mater. His latest book of short fiction, Beneath the Moon and Long Dead Stars, was published by Bull City Press in Durham, North Carolina, and is available wherever fine literature is sold.
California Goes Carolina
By dEBorah
With charm, art and a dash of fun
salomon
Photogra Phs By John gEssnEr
Some houses come with their own histories. Others conform to their residents’ tastes and lifestyles. A very few built by builders or interior designers for personal occupancy showcase materials and expertise. This one began with a sad event, then blossomed into a happy ending.
Randy Boyd, an interior designer based in California’s Laguna Beach and Palm Springs, had been friends with Joyce Reehling, a New York-based TV, film and stage actress, for more than 30 years. Joyce and her husband, Tony Elms, retired to Pinehurst in 2008, where their contributions to the arts community have been significant. When Tony died in 2024, Randy visited Pinehurst to support Joyce. He and partner Mark Stine, liked what they saw: a pretty little town filled with interesting people involved in worthwhile activities. Some but not all were retirees. They were looking to relocate and saw much to like beyond Pinehurst’s reputation for golf.
“We fell in love with the village, the charm, the people,” Randy says.
Finding the right living space was a major factor, given Randy’s profession, which he planned to continue pursuing. The shoemaker’s children, after all, mustn’t go barefoot. He and Mark shared similar tastes. Neither pined for historic Pinehurst properties, a good thing since most Old Town Taras and Georgians are spoken for. Better a bright, breezy Camelot that Randy could transform
with ideas gained as an antique dealer, the kind who scours France and sends back shipping containers full of fascinating stuff.
How about two handsome armoires, one shelved for shoes, a rustic pine grandmother clock and statuesque lamp bases? But all the right stuff is just the beginning. Randy nods “yes” when asked if hanging photos and paintings isn’t an art itself: height, layout, subjects, frames. He measures and draws, then mocks up on the floor. Originality counts, like a bedroom wall hung with portraits of men, likely 19th century, with facial hair and pensive expressions.
“The guy in the middle reminds me of Poirot,” Randy says. “He makes me smile.”
Another bedroom pays homage to Randy’s mother and grandmother, their nearly life-sized portraits dominating intersecting walls. Color, even white, adds excitement, like the filmy white “veils” hanging off tall bedposts; the overstuffed quilt where two big dogs sleep; blankets woven with multi-colored threads; a chair upholstered in lime green, others covered in line drawings of rabbits on a white background — all different, all unusual, related only by their unpredictability.
Both bathrooms required gutting.
One returned papered in rich jewel-toned leaf shapes, the other in staccato black and white.
Variety, tempered by surprise, rules. Art, formal or not-so, needs an airy, well-lit display venue. At 2,300 square feet, this semi-detached brick unit with 13-foot salon ceilings, an eyebrow front door and British-themed neighborhood signage fit the couple’s furnishings. Mature trees, a reprieve from longleaf pines, manicured boxwoods and weathered brick exteriors give a settled appearance, while two walled terraces anchored by olive oil jug planters expand entertaining space.
Randy and Mark purchased the unit, hired a contractor, rented an air B&B for the duration and got to work. The project took less than a year. They, along with their two pups, moved in May, along with Randy’s business, Thurston Boyd Interior Design.
Each room showcases several pieces or a collection. In the living room, Lucite shelves hold bright Chinese roof tiles in the form of warriors protecting the property. In ancient times, quality of workmanship symbolized wealth and social status. Balancing their artistry, a contemporary sofa and simple painted wood coffee table face the proscenium opening into the dining room, where four paintings (by Mark’s niece) of flowers in vases suggest, in brilliance and style, Van Gogh sunflowers or a mixed bouquet by Cézanne. Hung against wallpaper that wriggles with life, they are anything but “still.” A massive, intricately carved desk, perhaps Asian, offsets the colors, as does a gathering of spiderwebby landscape prints.
The kitchen, small but efficient, locates the gas range top on a center island. Almost bare countertops and blue-grayish cupboards impart Shaker plainness interrupted only by a collection of whimsical ceramic pitchers aligned on a pantry shelf. A sideboard with a built-in frontal wine rack resides here.
Opposite the kitchen is a dining area — a touch more formal than a breakfast nook — that opens out onto a patio, where a life-sized alliga-
tor, carved from wood, lurks among the planters. Throughout, carpet and tile were replaced by stained hardwood, knotty and laid randomly.
Nothing here blares California, but nothing screams Old Pinehurst, either — the house lacks a name or a resident ghost. It blends practicality with charm, fine art with a dash of fun, all the trademarks of “Pinehurst Now,” where wine-tastings, farmers markets, walking tours, pickleball and food festivals fill out calendars.
“People are so friendly,” Mark says. “It’s like we’ve lived here for years.” PS
From bestselling author Erika Robuck comes the perilous and awe-inspiring true story of award-winning photojournalist Dickey Chapelle as she risks everything to show the American people the price of war through the lens of her camera.
This event will include a talk from the author, a Q&A with the audience, and an opportunity to have books autographed.
You have the option to purchase the paperback book with your ticket. Books will be also available for purchase at the event.
Chance
to Harmonize
September 9 at 12:00 PM
The remarkable story of a hidden New Deal program that tried to change America and end the Great Depression using folk music, laying the groundwork for the folk revival and having a lasting impact on American culture.
Registration is free. We will send a link to the conversation on the morning of the event.
ALMANAC September
By a shlEy WalshE
September is the letter you don’t see coming. The one you will memorize. The thorn and the balm for your aching heart. Dear one, summer writes in florid longhand. This won’t be easy. I love you, and I must go.
Your head spins. You can smell her on the pages, in the air, on your skin — the spicy-sweet amalgam of pepperbush, honeycomb and night-blooming jasmine. You steady yourself and keep reading.
Her tone is as soft as lamb’s ear, gentle as butterfly, warm as field mouse. Still, your heart feels like an orchard floor, each word a plummeting apple. Not just the fruit wears the bruise. You can never lose me, she writes. Close your eyes and feel me now.
Sunlight caresses your face, chest and shoulders. At once, you’re watching a movie reel of summer, recalling the riot of milkweed, the tangles of wild bramble, the deafening hum of cicadas.
Picnics and hammocks. Daydreams and dragonflies. Puffballs and palmfuls of berries. It’s all right here.
When you open your eyes, you notice a lightness in your chest — a shift.
Yes, a yellow leaf is falling. But, look. Wild muscadine climbs toward the dwindling sun, singing silent vows in golden light. You can chase me if you wish, she writes, her script now hurried. Or, you can be as fruit on vine: purple yet unbruised, ripe with sweetness and steadfast as the seeds you hold within you.
Bird Candy
If you think our flowering dogwoods put on a show in early spring — striking white (or pink) bracts popping against the still-leafless woods — just wait until month’s end, when its ripe berries bring in waves of avian passersby.
Of course, there are the usual suspects: mockingbirds and jays; woodpeckers and warblers; cardinals, catbirds, thrashers and thrushes. But if you’re lucky, those clusters of brilliant red berries could conjure migratory wonders such as the scarlet tanager, the rose-breasted grosbeak or even a rowdy troupe of cedar waxwings to your own front yard.
According to one online database (wildfoods4wildlife. com), the flowering dogwood berry ranks No. 29 on the “Top 75” list of wildlife-preferred berries and fruits. While blackberries top the list, flowering dogwood ranks above persimmon, plum and black cherry (note: ranks were determined by the number of species that eat said fruit, not by its palatability). If curated by tastiness — or mockingbird — sun-ripened figs would have surely made the cut.
Lucky Charms
On Sept.19, three days before the Autumnal Equinox, look to the pre-dawn sky to catch a thin crescent moon hovering ever close to brilliant Venus. Although a lunar occultation of the Morning Star will be visible from Alaska and parts of Canada (that’s when the moon passes directly in front of the planet), we’ll witness a conjunction more akin to charms dangling from an invisible chain.
To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall.
— Ann Patchett
HOME MAKEOVER
Find inspiration for your next home makeover project in the following pages. Whether you’re looking to beautify the inside of your home or add a touch of luxury to your outdoor living, this portfolio of local resources will help you enjoy the place you call home.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Kenny Patterson, Owner/Operator
exclusive homeowners across Moore County, Emerald Painting, Inc. is the premier choice for those who expect nothing less than perfection. We deliver a refined painting experience — where meticulous craftsmanship, premium materials, and an uncompromising attention to detail elevate your home’s beauty and value.
Stamped Concrete | Pavers
Spectacular. Affordable.
No mess. No stress. Just a beautiful, functional kitchen. Our 1/4’’ Solid Wood Cabinet Refacing saves time and hassle, and saves up to half the cost of custom cabinet replacement.
- Premium 1/4” solid hardwood facing
- Amish-crafted new solid wood doors
- Custom made and expertly installed
- Huge selection of woods, door styles and finishes
- Stone countertops, undercabinet lighting, storage solutions, and more!
- Completed in less than one week!
• Variety of plants, shrubs, trees, perennials and annuals
• Inside store for garden and landscape supplies
• Bulk & Bagged mulch, topsoil and gravel
• Decorative river rock, �lagstone, boulders and pavers
• All Bulk and Large Landscaping Materials located at Main Location
“Wonderful! Trim Time absolutely had everything we were looking for — river rock, small boulders, trees, and grasses. Prompt and professional customer service and delivery. They de�initely take a customer-focused approach in their business. A pleasant and welcome experience all the way around. Plan to visit them for our future landscaping needs.”
• Hardscape and Softscape
• Sod and Turf
• Landscape Lighting and Irrigation Repairs
• Mulch, River Rock and Grading
“Jonathan Ashburn is exactly what you want in a landscaper. He has fair and reasonable prices, is courteous, listens and does exactly what he says he will do and has a great team to back him up! We are very happy with our new SOD, plantings and French drains! The yard looks great and we will use them again! Highly recommend!
PS. We like his nursery too and bought some additional plants there as well! Thank you again!!”
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c l e a r l y , a n d a e o n t i m e ! L o c a l r e f e r e n c e s a r e a v a i l a b l e . G i v e u s a c a l l f o r a f r e e c u s t o m q u o t e !
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V i e w o u r N E W
P r o j e c t G a l l e r y !
V i e w o u r N E W
P r o j e c t G a l l e r y !
To add an event, email us at pinestraw.calendar@gmail.com
arts & entertainment
Although conscientious effort is made to provide accurate and up-to-date information, all events are subject to change and errors can occur! Please call to verify times, costs, status and location before planning or attending any events.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
BRAIN FITNESS. 10 - 11 a.m. Adults 18 and older are invited to enjoy short relaxation and brain enhancement exercises, ending with a mindfulness practice. Eve Gaskell will be the instructor. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
EDUCATIONAL TRAINING. 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Adults 55 and older can receive educational training on anxiety disorders. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
BOOK EVENT. 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Join The Country Bookshop for a discussion with Erika Robuck, author of The Last Assignment: A Novel of Dickey Chapelle. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
SENIOR TRIP. 7:15 a.m. - 3:15 p.m. Adults 55 and older can travel the pristine Shallotte River Swamp and get up close and personal with the natural environment. Lunch at Pelican’s Perch after. Cost is $52 for residents and $72 for non-residents. Info: (910) 692-7376.
LUNCH BUNCH. 11:30 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to dine on different cuisines each month at area restaurants. Carpool with friends or meet at the restaurant. Dining locations will be chosen the week before. Info: (910) 692-7376.
OPENING RECEPTION. 5 - 7 p.m. The Artists League of the Sandhills will exhibit the best in show and first place winners from the June 2023, 2024 and 2025 judged shows. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: www. artistleague.org.
COMMUNITY ART DAY. 5 - 7 p.m. Help Southern Pines Parks and Recreation celebrate Art Day. Drop off or join in to create a beautiful canvas depicting what you love about Southern Pines. Canvas signs will be displayed on street signs in conjunction with Autumnfest. Cost is $2 per canvas. Downtown Park, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
Movie: Dogman
Friday, September 5, 7:45 p.m.
Downtown Park, Southern Pines
FIRST FRIDAY. 5 - 9 p.m. John “Papa” Gros brings his New Orleans sound to the First Bank Stage in the greenspace beside the Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www. sunrisetheater.com.
OPENING RECEPTION. 6 - 8 p.m. The Arts Council of Moore County presents Entanglements, works by Jo Tomsick, Josiah King and Luke Huling. Artwork will be on exhibit through Sept. 26. Arts Council Galleries at Campbell House, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 6922787 or www.mooreart.org.
OUTDOOR MOVIE. 7:45 p.m. Grab a blanket or folding chair and bring the family to a showing of Dog Man. Concessions will be available for purchase. For all ages. Free of charge. Downtown Park, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
QUILTS OF VALOR. 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Quilts of Valor meets to create lap quilts made especially for veterans. If you sew, bring your machine; if you don’t sew, you can iron or cut out fabrics for new designs. This is a free program. Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 U.S. 15-501, West End.
AEROSPACE EXPO. 9 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. This twoday expo includes an air show, fly-in, seminars and STEM instruction. The event continues through
KIDS’ SATURDAY. 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Families are invited to a monthly themed craft event to socialize and get creative. Geared toward ages 3 - 10. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642 or www.vopnc.org.
PRESENTATION. 10:30 a.m. Join Liz Z. Pardue for an hourlong presentation about the history, people, places and stories that make North Carolina weird and wonderful. Pardue is a seasoned storyteller and published author who directs historical ghost tours in Fuquay-Varina. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.sppl.net.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
GOLF TOURNAMENT. 8 a.m. The Fairway for Futures Golf Tournament benefits the Sandhills Children’s Center Music Therapy Program. Cost is $125 per player. Carolina Trace Golf Club, 2100 Country Club Drive, Sanford. Info: www.tinyurl. com/sccfutures.
WRITING GROUP. 3 p.m. Are you interested in creating fiction, nonfiction, poetry or comics? Join the Sunday Afternoon Writing Group to connect with other writers and artists, chat about your craft, and get feedback about your work. All levels welcome. Zoom only. Info: lholden@sppl.net.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
PHOTO CLUB. 7 p.m. Sandhills Photo Club’s monthly meeting presents “Beyond Still Life,” by Betsy Wilson. The presentation will focus on still life photography. Guests are welcome. Sandhills Horticultural Center, Ball Visitors Center, 3245 Airport Road, Southern Pines. Info: www.sandhillsphotoclub.org.
BIRTHDAY BASH. Throughout the week of Sept. 8 – 14, kids and families are invited to drop in anytime for crafts, birthday-themed activities, and festive fun celebrating the 30th anniversary of the opening of the library’s Connecticut Avenue location. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.sppl.net.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
HATHA YOGA. 10 - 11 a.m. Adults 55 and older can increase flexibility, balance, stability and muscle tone while learning the basic principles of alignment and breathing. You may gain strength, improve circulation and reduce chronic pain practicing gentle yoga postures and mindfulness. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
CANVAS ART AND ALCOHOL INK. 11 a.m.
- 12 p.m. Adults 55 and older can enjoy this step-bystep tutorial with canvas art or try alcohol ink on tile. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
AARP TALK. 12 - 12:30 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to join AARP for a fraud talk. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
TECH TIME. 11 a.m. Join a walk-in tech time to get hands on help with tech questions. Whether you’re new to computers, want to learn more about your smartphone, or want to learn how to use your eReader, staff will guide you. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: jmilford@sppl.net.
BOOK CHAT AND CHILL. 5:30 p.m. Wind down with a relaxed evening of bookish conversation. Bring a book to chat about, or one to swap, and enjoy great company, good vibes, and plenty of literary inspiration. James Creek Cider House, 172 U.S. Route 1, Cameron. Info: mhoward@sppl.net.
MAHJONG CLASS. 6 - 8:30 p.m. For adults 18 and older. Learn how to play mahjong during this four-week class, ending Oct. 8. Cost is $60 for residents and $84 for non-residents. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
CORNHOLE. 12 - 1 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to work on that aim and have some fun with friends. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
MOORE TREASURES. 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. The Shaw House Heritage Fair and Moore Treasures Sale features collectibles, pottery, jewelry, art, antiques, vintage books, toys, glassware and much more. The sale will continue on Sept. 13 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Shaw House, 110 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines. Info: www.moorehistory.com.
MAHJONG CLASS. 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. For adults 18 and older. Learn how to play mahjong during a four-week class, ending Oct. 10. Cost is $60 for residents and $84 for nonresidents. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
Opening Reception Entanglements
Friday, September 5, 6-8 p.m. Arts Council of Moore County
FALL PICNIC. 12 - 2 p.m. Adults 55 and older can enjoy a fall picnic with Southern Pines Parks and Recreation in Sanford. Pack your own lunch and take in the stunning surroundings of this undiscovered gem. Cost is $3 for residents and $5 for non-residents. Info: (910) 692-7376.
LIVE AFTER 5. 5:15 - 9 p.m. Enjoy the music of Bourbon Sons, kids’ activities and food trucks. Bring chairs and blankets. Free event. The Village Arboretum, 375 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. Info: www.vopnc.org.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
CRAFT DAYS. Children and families can come by the library to work on fun, hands-on crafts at their own pace. Crafts are designed for children in grades K-5 and their families. This is a self-guided activity. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www. sppl.net.
COMMUNITY YARD SALE. 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Enjoy shopping 30 - 40 individual outdoor booths offering everything from handmade crafts, modern tools and electronics, vintage and antique collectibles
and even an assortment of everyday household items or clothes. A food truck will be on-site. The Bee’s Knees, 125 N.C. 73, Pinehurst. Info: www. facebook.com/BeesKneesPinehurst.
HERITAGE FAIR AND SALE. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. The Heritage Fair offers unique vendors, food, live music, and demonstrations of old-time crafts, treasure sales and farm animals for petting. Admission is $2. Children 12 and under are free. Shaw House, 110 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines. Info: www. moorehistory.com.
CONCERT. 6 - 9:15 p.m. Gary Roland and The Landsharks Band perform a tribute to Jimmy Buffett. Cooper Ford, 5292 U.S 15, Carthage. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
STEAM. 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Elementary-aged children and their caregivers are invited to learn about topics in science, technology, engineering, art and math and to participate in STEAM projects and activities. This month we are using balloons for the library’s birthday. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
BRAIN FITNESS. 10 - 11 a.m. Adults 18 and older are invited to enjoy short relaxation and brain enhancement exercises, ending with a mindfulness practice. Eve Gaskell will be the instructor. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
BINGO. 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to play 10 games of bingo. Cost is $4 for residents and $6 for non-residents. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
BOOK CLUB. 2 p.m. The James Boyd book club meets with this month’s selection, 1984, by George Orwell. The Great Room at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.weymouthcenter.org.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
GENERAL MEETING. Women of the Pines will have their first general meeting at Forest Creek. The guest speaker will be Leighanna Davis, director of outreach from Dreams 4 All. Forest Creek Golf Club, 100 Forest Creek Drive, Pinehurst. Info: www.womenofthepines.org.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
SENIOR EXCURSION. 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. Adults 55 and older can explore Linville Caverns. Cost is $46 for residents and $64 for non-residents. Info: (910) 692-7376.
BEYOND THE BASICS. 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. For adults 18 and older. Learn more about the game of mahjong. Cost is $24 for residents and $34 for non-residents. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE. 6:30 p.m. This month’s speaker will be author and historian Jim Morgan with a presentation on “Civil War Officers in the Service of Egypt.” Meeting starts at 7 p.m. Open to the public. Civic Club, corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and Ashe St., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 246-0452 or mafarina@aol.com.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
LIBRARY PROGRAM. 11 a.m. Did you know you can get free eBooks, audiobooks and magazines using the Libby app and your library card? Come to our “Introduction to Libby” program to learn all about using Libby. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: msilva@sppl.net.
CONFERENCE. 1 p.m. Join “Rooted,” a transformative three-day retreat designed exclusively for women in the field of nature-based education. The Haven, 945 Boys Camp Road, Cameron. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com.
CONCERT. 7 - 9 p.m. The Sunrise Theater hosts the Chicago tribute band Chi-Town Transit Authority. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.
September 20, 10:00 a.m. - 2 p.m. Memorial Park, Southern Pines
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
WOOFSTOCK. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Enjoy music, dog contests and events, food trucks and vendors offering services for dogs and people alike. Admission by any monetary donation. All proceeds will be for upgrading Martin Park for our furry friends. Memorial Park, 210 Memorial Park Ct., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
STORYTIME. 10:15 a.m. Saturday Storytime is our once-a-month program for children from birth to
~Amy Natt
age 5. Join in for stories, songs, rhymes and smiles where caregivers and young children can interact and explore the fun of language and early literacy. There are space constraints for this indoor story time. This month’s theme is Baby Disco! Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.sppl.net.
Losing yo ur religion?
CONCERT. 2 - 4 p.m. Enjoy the Sandhills Repertory Theatre production of Sinatra and Garland: The Concert That Could Have Been. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.
EATS, BEATS AND BREWS. 5 - 9 p.m. The food truck rodeo is back offering a variety of local vendors. There will be live entertainment and fun activities for kids. The Village Arboretum, 375 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. Info: www.vopnc.org.
You may be seeking a Faith Community that: embraces diversity and celebrates the inherent worth and dignity of every person, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, or background.
Find it with us!!
DANCE CLUB. 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Join Carolina Pines Dance Club to dance swing, shag, ballroom, Latin and line dances. Cost is $10 per person. Given Outpost, 95 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 331-9965.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Sandhills meets every Sunday at 10 AM at 1320 Rays Bridge Road, Whispering Pines
Flutterby Festival
Saturday, September 27, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Village Arboretum, Pinehurst
1st Sunday of every month is pot -luck breakfast. All are Wel come . www.uucsandhills.org www.facebook.com/uucsandhills
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
TEEN BOOK CHAT. 5 - 6 p.m. Share your favorite books, discover new ones and connect with other teens who love to read. Bring a favorite book to show others or just bring yourself. Enjoy a discounted coffee courtesy of Swank. For ages 13 and older. Swank Coffee Shoppe, 232 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Registration is encouraged. Info: www.sppl.net.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
LIBRARY PROGRAM. 3:30 p.m. At The Library After School (ATLAS) is an after-school program for children ages kindergarten through second grade who enjoy activities, crafts, stories and meeting new friends. This month learn about the different military badges worn in our area during the Civil War and make your own badge. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl. net
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
WELLNESS CLASSES. 10 - 11:30 a.m. Adults 18 and older are invited to learn about different educational topics to improve the mind, body and spirit. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
Where open minds and open hearts come together in a spirit of love and respect.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Sandhills, where open minds and open hearts come together in a spirit of love and respect.
Come be a part of a community that encourages personal growth, social justice, and compassion.
Come be a part of a community that encourages personal growth, social justice, and compassion .
Join us at 1320 Rays Bridge Road, Whispering Pines every Sunday at 10 AM
Embrace diversity, foster connection, and journey with us toward a more compassionate world.
All l a re e w ellccom e – come as you are, and let's grow together!"
Come as you are, and let’s grow together!
1st Sunday of every month is potluck breakfast.
1st Sunday of every month is pot -luck breakfast. www.uucsandhills.org www.facebook.com/uucsandhills
AND
Effortless Elegance Every Season
New Arrivals Daily
MOORE COUNTY FARMERS MARKET
TWO WEEKLY MARKETS
Facility Courtesy of the Town of Southern Pines
THURSDAYS
604 W. Morganton Rd (Armory Sports Complex) Southern Pines, NC 28387 9 am to 12:30 pm | YEAR ROUND
SATURDAYS
Downtown Southern Pines 156 SE Broad Street. So Pines, NC 28388 8am to Noon | March 8 thru Nov. 22, 2025
For more info on vendors & special event closures please visit: www.MooreCountyFarmersMarket.com
SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
CONCERT. 7 p.m. The Sandhills Community College Music Department presents Dr. Elliot Frank, classical guitarist. McPherson Theater, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info: www.sandhillsbpac. com.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
SENIOR SHOW AND TELL. 10:30 a.m. Take a trip down memory lane and share a piece of your past with others at a Senior Show and Tell. Share memories, celebrate stories, and make new friends. If you’d like to present an item or story, register in advance by calling the library or visiting its website. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: mhoward@sppl.net.
SPOOKYWOODS. 5 - 10:30 p.m. Start the Halloween season with the Spookywoods event at the Kersey Valley Haunted House. For ages 13 - 17. Cost is $51 for residents and $71 for non-residents. There will be a food stop on the way up. Buses depart from the Rec Center at Memorial Park, 160 Memorial Park Ct., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
FLUTTERBY FESTIVAL. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Celebrate butterflies and other pollinators with a day of family fun and educational activities. There will be live music and refreshments. Village Arboretum Timmel Pavilion, 105 Rassie Wicker Drive, Pinehurst. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
JAZZ. 2 p.m. The Virginia MacDonald Quartet performs on the Weymouth Center lawn. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.
UPCOMING EVENTS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2
TAG SALE AND RAFFLE. 2 - 5 p.m. Shop the White Elephant Tag Sale and Raffle for gently used furniture, art, household items, jewelry, toys, sports equipment, home baked goods and more. There will be raffle prizes and a silent auction. The tag sale continues on Oct. 3 from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Oct. 4 from 8 - 11 a.m. Proceeds benefit Sacred Heart Church Ministries and Moore County charitable organizations. Event sponsored by Women of Sacred Heart and the Knights of Columbus. Founders Hall, N.C. 211 and Dundee Road,
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3
HIGHLAND GAMES. 5:30 p.m. The Scotland County Highland Games begin with the Highland Fling, which is free and open to the public. The event continues through Oct. 5 with multiple demonstrations and activities. John Blue House, 13040 X-Way Road, Laurinburg. Info: www.carolina-
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4
FAMILY FUN SERIES. 5 - 6 p.m. Enjoy the BPAC
family fun series for ages 5 and up, featuring Reggie Rice. Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com
WEEKLY EVENTS
MONDAYS
WORKSPACES. 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. The Given Tufts Bookshop has a pop-in co-workspace open on Mondays and Thursdays in the upstairs conference room. Bookshop floor and private meeting room by reservation only. Info: www.giventuftsfoundation. com.
WORKOUTS. 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to get their workout on. Open Monday through Friday. Cost for six months: $15/ resident; $30/non-resident. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
CHAIR YOGA. 9 - 10 a.m. For adults 55 and older. Help offset body aches encountered with desk work. This is an accessible yoga class for bodies not able to easily get up from and down to the floor. Do standing or sitting in a chair. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
SENIOR FITNESS. 11 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to a TruFit gym class to improve strength, mobility and flexibility. Douglass Community
Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
RESTORATIVE YOGA. 12 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Practice movements that may help alleviate pain and improve circulation and well-being. Bring your own mat. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
GAME ON. 1 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Come and enjoy games like cornhole, badminton, table tennis, shuffleboard, trivia and more. Each week there will be a different activity to keep you moving and thinking. Compete with friends and make new ones all for free. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
TAI CHI. 1 - 2 p.m. This simplified form of tai chi, composed of 24 postures or moves, is an introduction to the essential elements of tai chi and is a short form of the Yang-style 108 moves. The program continues through November 12. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Enjoy games of bridge with friends. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
TUESDAYS
PLAYFUL LEARNING. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Come for a drop-in, open playtime for ages 0 - 3 years to interact with other children and have educational playtime. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.
BABY RHYMES. 10:15 a.m. Baby Rhymes is specially designed for the youngest learners (birth2) and their caregivers. Repetition and comforting movements make this story time perfect for early development and brain growth. There will be a duplicate session at 10:45 a.m. An active library card is required. Dates this month are Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.
GAME DAY. 12 p.m. Enjoy bid whist and other games all in the company of great friends. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
CHESS. 1:30 - 5 p.m. Join a chess group, whether you have been playing for a while or have never played. This is a free program. Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 U.S. 15-501, West End.
LINE DANCE. 4:45 p.m. Put on your dancing shoes and line dance. This free program is for be-
ginners. Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 U.S.15-501, West End.
WEDNESDAYS
CHAIR AEROBICS. 10 - 11 a.m. For adults 55 and older. Put on your boogie shoes and jam. Get fit partying up a sweat to great music through the ages. Stand and chair dance to this energizing, lowimpact aerobic workout. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
BRAIN BOOST. 10 - 11 a.m. Test your memory while creating new brain connections. This is a free program. Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 U.S. 15-501, West End.
KNITTING. 10 - 11 a.m. Learn how to knit or come and enjoy knitting with other people. This is a free program. Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 U.S. 15-501, West End.
BABY STORYTIME. 10 - 11 a.m. Have fun developing the foundation for your baby’s later reading with stories, songs and play. Open to parents and caregivers of infants from newborn to 24 months. Moore County Library, 101 W. Saunders St., Carthage. Info: (910) 947-5335.
LEARN AND PLAY. 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Enjoy an open play date with your toddler or preschooler
where there will be developmental toys and puzzles as well as early literacy tips on display for parents and caregivers to incorporate into their daily activities. Dates this month are Sept. 3, 10, 17 and 24. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.
SENIOR FITNESS. 11 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to a TruFit gym class to improve strength, mobility and flexibility. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
PIANO. 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Join Flint Long to play piano or just listen. This is a free program. Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 U.S. 15-501, West End.
LINE DANCING. 12 - 1 p.m. Looking for new ways to get your daily exercise in? Try line dancing. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
CHAIR VOLLEYBALL. 1 - 2 p.m. Adults 55 and older can get fit while having fun. Free to participate. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. Enjoy games of bridge
with friends. All materials included. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
DANCE. 2 - 2:30 p.m. Instructor Maria Amaya introduces dance fitness in a class designed for adults 55 and older who want to gently and gradually increase cardio function, mobility and balance and have fun at the same time. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
LINE DANCING. 2 p.m. The town of Vass will host line dancing for seniors every other Wednesday. Cost is $5 per session. Vass Town Hall, 140 S. Alma St., Vass. Info: www. townofvassnc.gov.
TAI CHI. 2 - 3 p.m. This simplified form of tai chi, composed of 24 postures or moves, is an introduction to the essential elements of tai chi and is a short form of the Yang-style 108 moves. The program continues through November 12. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
LIBRARY PROGRAM. 3:30 p.m. At The Library After School (ATLAS) is an after-school program for K - 2nd graders who enjoy activities, crafts, stories and meeting new friends. Dates this month
are Sept. 10, 17 and 24. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net
TAI CHI. 6:30 p.m. Learn tai chi. There is no age limit and the classes are open to the public. Cost is $10 per class. Seven Lakes West Community Center, 556 Longleaf Drive, Seven Lakes. Info: (910) 400-5646.
THURSDAYS
WORKSPACES. 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. The Given Tufts Bookshop has a pop-in co-workspace open on Mondays and Thursdays in the upstairs conference room. Bookshop floor and private meeting room by reservation only. Info: www.giventuftsfoundation.com.
MOORE COUNTY FARMERS MARKET.
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. The year-round market features “producer only” vendors within a 50-mile radius providing fresh, local and seasonal produce, fruits, pasture meats, eggs, potting plants, cut flowers and local honey. Crafts, baked goods, jams and jellies are also available. Market is located at the Armory Sports Complex, 604 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines.
GIVEN STORY TIME. 10 a.m. Bring your preschooler to enjoy stories, songs and activities. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road,
Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.
BALANCE AND FLEXIBILITY. 10 - 11 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to enjoy a class to help reduce the risk of taking a tumble and increase the ability to recover if you do. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
MUSIC AND MOTION. 10:15 and 10:45 a.m. Does your toddler like to move and groove? Join Music and Motion to get those wiggles out and work on gross and fine motor skills. For 2 - 5 year olds. An active library card is required. Dates this month are Sept. 4, 11, 18 and 25. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.
GENTLE YOGA. 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to unwind, recharge and find peace in their week. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
CHESS AND MAHJONG. 1 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Bring a board and a friend. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
IMPROVERS LINE DANCE. 3 - 5:30 p.m. Put on your dancing shoes and line dance. This is a
free program. Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 U.S. 15-501, West End.
LITTLE U. 3:45 p.m. Little U is Southern Pines Public Library’s preschool program for children ages 3 1/2 – 5 featuring stories, songs, rhymes and activities that explore the world of books, language and literacy. Little U is a fun and interactive program designed to help preschoolers develop early literacy skills in preparation for kindergarten and beyond. Dates this month are Sept. 4, 11, 18 and 25. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 6928235 or www.sppl.net.
TRIVIA NIGHT. 7 - 9 p.m. Enjoy a beer and some trivia. Hatchet Brewing Company, 490 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.hatchetbrewing.com.
FRIDAYS
AEROBIC DANCE. 9 - 10 a.m. Join this lowto-moderate impact class with energizing music for an overall cardio and strength workout for adults 55 and older. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
JAM SESSION. 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Do you like to play an instrument, sing or just listen to music? Join a free music jam session. Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 U.S. 15-501, West End.
TAP CLASS. 10 - 11:30 a.m. For adults 55 and older. All levels welcome. Cost per class: $15/ resident; $30/non-resident. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
SENIOR FITNESS. 11:30 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to a TruFit gym class to improve strength, mobility and flexibility. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
QIGONG. 1 p.m. Classes consist of chair and standing movements that can help soothe achy feet, tight hips, low back pain and ease restriction in mobility. For adults 55 and older. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
FARMERS MARKET. 1 - 6 p.m. The Monroe Street Farmers Market offers locally grown produce and raised meats, honey, breads, pastries and more. Quida’s Food Truck Park, 310 Monroe St., Carthage. Info: monroestreetmarket310@ gmail.com.
BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. Enjoy games of bridge with friends. All materials included. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.
SATURDAYS
MOORE COUNTY FARMERS MARKET. 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. The market features “producer only” vendors within a 50-mile radius providing fresh, local and seasonal produce, fruits, pasture meats, eggs, potting plants, cut flowers and local honey. Crafts, baked goods, jams and jellies are also available. The market runs through the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Downtown Southern Pines, 156 S.E. Broad St., Southern Pines.
SANDHILLS FARMERS MARKET. 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. The Sandhills Farmers Market features many of the area’s farms, nurseries, bakeries, meat and egg providers, cheesemakers and specialty food producers. The vendors are on site at Tufts Memorial Park, 1 Village Green Road W., Pinehurst through Oct. 5. For more information visit: www.moorefarmfresh.com.
SUNDAYS
CABIN TOURS. 2 - 4 p.m. The Moore County Historical Association’s Bryant House and McLendon Cabin can be toured with a docent on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. Admission is free. Tours run through October. Bryant House, 3361 Mount Carmel Rd., Carthage. Info: (910) 6922051 or www.moorehistorycom. PS
Monday through Saturday from 8:00am to 5:00pm 476 Hwy 74 West, Rockingham, NC 28379 @honeybeebridalandboutique 910.387.9216 Full collection of bridal, bridesmaids, mothers, jewelry, shoes, accessories and tuxedo rentals.
CATERINGQ
Culinary Masterpieces, Tailored to Your Event’s Needs
Potters' Pumpkin Patch Trail in Seagrove
featuring aerobatic demonstrations and military performances. September 6th & 7th at the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport. www.skyhighexpo.com
Celebration of
culture. Held Saturday, September 27th on Main Street. kuumba-nc.com Celebration
and culture. Held Saturday, September 27th on Main Street. kuumba-nc.com Celebration of our rural roots. Saturday, Oct.11th at the NC Rural Heritage Center.
rural roots. Saturday, Oct.11th at the NC Rural Heritage Center. $5 for adults. Free for children 6 and under. johnblue -cottonfestival.com
Celebration of our rural roots. Saturday, Oct.11th at the NC Rural Heritage Center. $5 for adults. Free for children 6 and under. johnblue -cottonfestival.com Exciting air show featuring aerobatic demonstrations and military performances. September 6th & 7th at the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport. www.skyhighexpo.com
African American heritage and culture. Held Saturday, September 27th on Main Street. kuumba-nc.com
Diane Johnson / Best of Show 2024
-
An exhibit featuring the art of Best in Show and First Place winners from our June 2023, 2024, and 2025 judged shows. Exhibit hangs through 9/26.
September Classes
Travel Sketching with Watercolor-Ashleigh Corsino-Monday, September 8, 10:00-2:00 $52
Beginning Pastel-Kathy Petz-Tuesday, September 9, 1:00-4:00 $46
Basics and Beyond with Alcohol Ink-Pam Griner-Thursday, September 11, 10:00-3:00 $66
Fibers and Beyond-Connie Genuardi-Friday, September 12, 10:30-3:30 $60
The Qualities of Light and Color-Aaron Donovan-Monday, September 15, 10:00-2:30 $48
The Ancient Art of Weaving-Connie Genuardi-Monday, September 22, 10:30-3:30 $60
OWENS AUDITORIUM, BRADSHAW PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, PINEHURST
DVOŘÁK: NEW WORLD SYMPHONY
THU, SEPT 25 | 7:30PM
Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor
Samuel Almaguer, clarinet
Barber: Essay No. 2
Copland: Clarinet Concerto
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
HOLIDAY POPS
WED, DEC 10 | 7:30PM
Sophie Mok, conductor
Timeless carols and spirited renditions of festive favorites—sure to delight audiences of all ages!
Concert Sponsor: Penick Village
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
THU, JAN 29 | 7:30PM
Dvořák: Serenade for Strings
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik
CLASSICAL FAVORITES
THU, APR 23 | 7:30PM
Sophie Mok, conductor
Familiar melodies and timeless classics with your North Carolina Symphony.
CARLOS MIGUEL PRIETO | MUSIC DIRECTOR
CARLOS MIGUEL PRIETO
Dr.
SandhillSeen
Arts Council of Moore County
Campbell House, Southern, Pines
August 1, 2025
Photographs by Diane McKay
Kay Snyder, Betty Barber
Bill & Linda Hamel
Donna May, Jackie Rosenblum
Bobbie & Pat Dewar
The Mattocks Family
John Bowman, Emily Whittle, Diana Staley, Larry Allen
Mary Korzick
Jeff Sanger, Sharon Stoeber
Doug & Carol Gradwohl
Lynn McGugan
Gretchen Moore
Lydia & Jonathon Plummer, Rebekah Eklund
Exhibition Dates: September 5-26, 2025
Gallery Hours: Weekdays / 10a to 5p Sat., September 20, 2025 (12-2p)
Monday, October 6, 2025 | 7:30p Sunrise Theater
SETH WEINSTEIN (pianist, conductor, composer) has been a classical and theatre pianist in New York for more than 20 years. He has been the musical director and composer of OffBroadway musicals, and toured internationally with Fosse and The Phantom of the Opera. For this concert, Seth will perform The Chagall Suite, his piano piece inspired by Marc Chagall’s artwork and commissioned by Chagall scholar and lecturer, Vivian R. Jacobson, and her late husband, Ralph, in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary.
This concert will feature projected images of Chagall’s artwork to accompany Seth’s unique piece, The Chagall Suite
Call for Tickets: 910-692-2787
www.MooreArt.org 482 E. Connecticut Ave. Southern Pines, NC
SandhillSeen
Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities
July 26, 2025
Photographs by Diane McKay
Greg & Kendall Berry Holly, Ian & Emmy Cregan
The Dorenbusch Family
Marcia & Don Bryant
Rick & Cinda Dedmond
Eric, Bobbi & Tex Martin, Justin & Noelle Romy
Severine & Jeff Hutchins
The Red Clay Ramblers
SandhillSeen
Jim Dodson Book Event
Weymouth Center
for the Arts & Humanities
July 22, 2025
Photographs by Laura Douglas
Eric & Melanie Harper
Susan Schwarz, Debbie Sisk
Fred Sewrey, Susan Brown, Cathy & Ron Johnson Beth & Sam Walker, Betty Barnett
La'Wana & Preston Abernathy, Mike & Sharon McDonald
Dale Frye, Debbi Ferguson
Bruce Leary, David Conard, James Carpenter, Lydia Conard
Donna Buchan, Elaine Van Vliet, Karen Reese May
Kent Black, Moses, Burton Perham Al Springer, Elaine Van Vliet
September PineNeedler Contronyms
ACROSS
1. ____Newton
6. Aspersion
10. Carve in stone
14. Magical symbol
15. Zero, on a court
16. 100 cents
17. Accustom
18. “No More I Love ___”
19. I'm gonna ____my hair so I won't need a ____.
20. Coils of yarn
22. “Guilty,” e.g.
24. “Malcolm X” director
25. Bounce back, in a way
27. Fishermen
29. Causing embarrassment
33. Ring digit
34. I will ___the door so he won't
35. Biblical birthright seller
37. Bee Gees brothers
41. Alkaline liquid
42. Begin (hyph)
44. “... ___ he drove out of sight”
45. English exam finale, often
48. Abound
49. Watch your step while you’ re away, Don't___on your____.
50. Court ploy
52. Spiny-finned bottom-dwelling fish
54. Dental fusion
58. Knowing, as a secret
59. Calendar abbr.
60. “___ I care!”
62. More crazy
Across 1. ____Newton
66. Allergic reaction
68. Soon, to a bard
6. Aspersion
70. Dirty look
10. Carve in stone
71. Hawaiian tuber
72. Bananas
14. Magical symbol
15. Zero, on a court
73. African antelope
16. 100 cents
74. High-five, e.g.
17. Accustom
18. "No More I Love ___"
75. I have to___the tree before I ___it.
76. Force units
19. I'm gonna ____my hair so I won't need a ____.
DOWN
1. Egyptian fertility goddess
20. Coils of yarn
2. Make, as a putt
3. Chill
22. "Guilty," e.g.
24. "Malcolm X" director
4. Most ethereal
5. Grip
6. Sneaky
25. Bounce back, in a way
7. Aerial maneuver
27. Fishermen
8. Throat dangler
29. Causing embarrassment
9. I ____the question, however, I___my answer.
33. Ring digit
10. Common Market inits.
62. More crazy
36. Development areas
11. Ballerina fabric
34. I will ___the door so he won't ____
35. Biblical birthright seller
66. Allergic reaction
12. Bygone maker of town announcements
13. Aspirations
38. European capital
39. Soft cheese
9. I ____the question, However, I___my answer.
68. Soon, to a bard
70. Dirty look
40. Aug. follower
10. Common Market inits.
43. Certain Arab
71. Hawaiian tuber
37. Bee Gees brothers
21. Cowers
46. “Is that ___?”
11. Ballerina fabric
72. Bananas
41. Alkaline liquid
23. All excited
26. Attack
42. Begin (hyph)
44. "... ___ he drove out of sight"
47. Exercise with poses
73. African antelope
28. “Fantasy Island” prop
29. ___-bodied
45. English exam finale, often
12. Bygone maker of town announcements
49. How most music is performed
74. High-five, e.g.
51. Dark rock
13. Aspirations
30. Word before and after “will be”
75. I have to___the tree before I ___it.
31. Brews
48. Abound
21. Cowers
53. Voted off, on a bygone TV talent show
76. Force units
32. Like some communities
49. Watch your step whileyour awayy., Don't___on your____.
50. Court ploy
52. Spiny-finned bottom-dwelling fish
54. Dental fusion
58. Knowing, as a secret
59. Calendar abbr.
60. "___ I care!"
Down
1. Egyptian fertility goddess
Sudoku:
Fill in the grid so every row, every column and every 3x3 box contain the numbers 1-9.
2. Make, as a putt
3. Chill
4. Most ethereal
5. Grip
6. Sneaky
7. Aerial maneuver
8. Throat dangler
Puzzle answers on page 130 Mart Dickerson lives in Southern Pines and welcomes suggestions from her fellow puzzle masters. She can be reached at martaroonie@gmail.com.
23. All excited
26. Attack
28. "Fantasy Island" prop
29. ___-bodied
30. Word before and after "will be"
31. Brews
32. Like some communities
36. Development areas
38. European capital
39. Soft cheese
54. Mine entrances
40. Aug. follower
55. Nickel, e.g.
43. Certain Arab
56. African capital
46. "Is that ___?"
57. Asia___
47. Exercise with poses
61. Central points
63. Indian bread
49. How most music is performed
64. Coastal raptor
51. Dark rock
65. Cincinnati baseballers
67. Bounce
53. Voted off, on a bygone TV talent show
69. Nancy, in Nancy
54. Mine entrances
55. Nickel, e.g.
56. African capital
57. Asia___
61. Central points
63. Indian bread
64. Coastal raptor
65. Cincinnati baseballers
67. Bounce
69. Nancy, in Nancy
The Cup Runneth Over
By Jim moriarty
Fall is always football, but every other September, it’s the Ryder Cup, too.
My first Ryder Cup was 1983 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. With a nod to the South Florida heat index, that one was played in mid-October, though since then, every Ryder Cup on this side of the pond has — at the very least — begun in September. The Ryder Cup wasn’t always the spectacle it is today and surely will be at Bethpage Black on New York’s Long Island, where the Americans will try to reclaim the trophy they lost two years ago in Italy.
When it was in Pinehurst in ’51, they paused the matches (in those days between the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland) to go to the UNCTennessee football game in Chapel Hill. Sam Snead, a man often governed by pocketbook issues, took advantage of the day off to do a paid exhibition. At PGA National in ’83 there were probably more people scurrying off in their golf carts to play the other courses than there were watching the matches. Rory McIlroy once described the Ryder Cup as an “exhibition” until he played in one. “Hell of an exhibition, isn’t it?” his teammate Graeme McDowell asked McIlroy as the victorious Europeans sprayed each other with Champagne in 2010, as if Wales wasn’t already soggy enough.
Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin were the captains in ’83. The U.S. had won 11 of the previous 12 Ryder Cups, the lone exception coming in 1969, when the teams tied with the U.S. retaining the cup. That was the year Nicklaus set the sportsmanship bar, conceding Jacklin’s putt on the 18th. The putt was long enough to engage the nerves but short enough that neither thought Jacklin would miss it. Nicklaus believed the tie was a fitting end. Why even take the chance? He picked up Jacklin’s coin.
At PGA National, the two sides went into the Sunday singles tied 8-8. The first match out that day was Seve Ballesteros, the Masters champion, against Fuzzy Zoeller, who had a green jacket of his own and a back brace to ease his pain. When the hobbled Zoeller won four straight holes from the 12th to the 15th, the match came to 18 all square. Both players drove into thick Florida rough. Zoeller’s second found the fairway. Ballesteros could barely advance his ball, hacking it forward 20 yards into a deep
fairway bunker 250 yards from the green. Advantage America. Zoeller might squeeze a whole point from Europe’s most dominant figure. I was a few yards away when Seve pulled out his 3-wood. My first thought was that he was certifiably insane. No way was he clearing the lip with a 3-wood. Then he hit one of the greatest single golf shots ever struck in these biennial matches, a high cut to the front edge of the green. Zoeller hit a 2-iron to 10-feet. Fuzzy missed and Seve got up and down to give each team a half point. Nicklaus called Ballesteros’ 3-wood “the finest shot I’ve ever seen.”
The Americans defeated the Europeans 14 1/2 – 13 1/2 as lightning flashed on the horizon. One of Seve’s teammates on the ’83 side was Nick Faldo, who just happens to do one of the finest Seve impressions in the civilized world. The European locker room was a somber place after the narrow loss. They’d given it all and come up short. In bursts Seve. “We must celebrate!” Faldo says in his best Ballesteros lilt. “This is a victory for us!” Seve was right, of course.
The next year Europe broke the string of losses by winning at The Belfry. At the team celebration afterward, the wives began singing their own version of “America,” from West Side Story. “We’re going to win in America! We’re going to win in America!” And all the boys joined in. “That was a great moment,” says Sir Nick. And win they did, at Jack’s place in Ohio.
Since losing in Palm Beach, Europe has won 12, lost 6 and tied one, good enough that year to retain the cup. The U.S. will be favored at brutish Bethpage. The New York fans will be obnoxious; the traffic on the Long Island Expressway will be horrendous; but don’t underestimate the defenders. They still know how to sing. PS
Jim Moriarty is the Editor of PineStraw. He can be reached at jjmpinestraw@gmail.com.
