noted. On the Move
United Way of Chatham County welcomed Daisy Butzer as its
impact manager in May. Daisy serves as the facilitator of the Chatham Housing Collective, a United Way program that was formed in 2021 and serves residents in need of housing support thanks to the help of more than 70 human service providers and volunteers. Floral Expressions of Chapel Hill
announced July 27 that owner Ginger Roper has retired and turned the business over to her daughter and partner, Alicia Springfield. Alicia’s leadership ushers in a new era of increased classes, art shows and community events at Floral Expressions. Hunt Recycling cut the ribbon on its new Moncure location June
8 during a celebration with the
Chatham Chamber of Commerce.
PHOTO BY CHERYL LITTLETON
The event was held in conjunction with Hunt Recycling’s monthly plant swap, and
30
attendees enjoyed a bounce house, a food truck and hayride-style tours of the operations facility. Siler City Wash Inc. purchased a car wash for $3.4 million, transforming Rocket Wash Siler City Inc. into Tiki Express Car Wash. The new business, located on a 0.8-acre outparcel of the Siler City Walmart Supercenter, is the second Tiki Express – the original location continues to run in New Bern, North Carolina.
Read All About It
W. A. Polf celebrated the
publication of his short story collection, “Not the Same River,” with Atmosphere Press. Ordinary characters across all 15 stories face extraordinary circumstances and must reflect on the power of choice to influence their changing futures. Chatham Community Library
Coordinator Amanda Girelli and
Wren Memorial Library Branch Manager Tabatha Weaver
installed four youth literacy centers in Siler City through a grant from the State Library of North Carolina. Each library was stocked with a fresh supply of books in English and Spanish for youth of all ages. C H AT H A M M AG A Z I N E
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024
what we've heard around our towns Compiled by IZABELLA COUNTS
Amanda and Tabatha hope that these centers, such as the one created at The Hispanic Liaison, will improve reading accessibility and by adding convenience for local families. Thirty-five readers toured Chatham County on May 16, exploring various sites that inspired Marjorie Hudson’s newest novel, “Indigo Field,” a haunting tale of grief, revenge and reckoning in the rural South.
Clyde Jeanette Shore celebrates the release of her second book, “Chicken Bridge Road,” with a signing party and Q&A at McIntyre’s Books on Sept. 14. The novel is a work of historical fiction based on the true story of Jeanette’s mother, a woman whose survival in the face of domestic abuse changed the history of women’s rights in the rural south.
In Other News
Full Stack Plumbing Company Inc. hosted a food drive with CORA,
a nonprofit dedicated to fighting food insecurity in Chatham County, June 17-28 to continue the work toward a shared goal of building a community without hunger. Collegiate agricultural partnership N.C. Cooperative Extension hired Chatham Charter School graduate Dalton
Suits as its new livestock extension agent for the Chatham County Center in June. Dalton will utilize
his bachelor’s degree in animal science to lead programming duties in livestock, equine, field crop and forages work, plus serve as the county pesticide coordinator and provide consultations for area residents and producers. The Chatham County Board of Commissioners approved the county budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which prioritizes education and public safety, and PHOTO COURTESY OF MARJORIE HUDSON