NOTED.
WHAT WE’VE HEARD AROUND OUR TOWNS ... ON THE MOVE
ARTS & CULTURE St. Julia Catholic Church in Siler City observed the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a large multi-day celebration honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe, in December 2020 with a caravan of cars and trucks that visited homes and neighborhoods around Siler City, Snow Camp and Ramseur. Families and individuals joined Father Julio Martinez in scripture reading and prayer as he spoke outside their homes.
Franklin Gomez Flores
was sworn in on Dec. 7, 2020, as Chatham County’s first Latino commissioner. Franklin, 26, defeated incumbent Andy Wilkie in the District 5 race. He has served on the Chatham County Planning Board for a year and a half. An immigrant from Guatemala, Franklin ran for county commissioner to help be a voice for Siler City’s Hispanic community. Franklin is the first commissioner from Siler City in nearly 20 years. Reelected commissioners include Mike Dasher and Karen Howard. Mike was also elected as the board’s chairperson, and Commissioner Diana Hales was appointed as the board’s vice chairperson.
The Chatham Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council distributed NC CARES for Arts grants in December to 10 local arts councils and nonprofit arts organizations. The recipients include Abundance North Carolina, Chatham Artists Guild, Clapping Hands Farm, EbzB Productions, NC Arts Incubator, Pittsboro Youth Theater, StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance, The Alliance and WildesArt. Each organization received a portion of some $87,000 to help curb the financial effects that COVID-19 had on their organizations.
as the head swim coach at Jordan-Matthews High School, her alma mater, in December 2020. She replaced her father, Lewis Fadely, and now coaches her younger sister, Jennah Fadely. Jennah is the school’s top swimmer and an All-American who finished half a second short of a gold medal in the 100yard breaststroke in February 2019 at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 1A & 2A state championships.
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Superintendent Dr. Derrick Jordan left Chatham County Schools to join North Carolina Superintendent Catherine
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
Compiled by Nella Rouse
Truitt’s staff at the state’s Department of Public Instruction in December 2020. Derrick served as superintendent for Chatham County Schools for seven years and was named the Regional Superintendent of the Year for the Piedmont Triad Region in 2018. Dr. Randy Bridges, Orange County Schools’ interim superintendent since June 2019, became Chatham County Schools’ interim superintendent on Jan. 11. GIVING BACK
Morgan Fadely took over
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2021
and Moya Hallstein started Robin Hood’s Kitchen in November 2020. The organization creates meals using local farmers’ leftover produce and distributes these meals through organizations like Chatham Outreach Alliance. Danielle and Moya connected with Sarah Sligh and Angelina Koulizakis of Angelina’s Kitchen who offered up the kitchen in the restaurant for use to support the organization’s efforts. Together, the team collects food donations and cooks them to be sent out to Chatham families every Monday evening. Danielle McComas