WALTER Magazine- May/June 2020

MAY/JUNE 2020

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MEET THE

Glammas!

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TED KIEGIEL LESSONS FROM A GOLF PRO MIX IN PLACE MAKE-AT-HOME DRINKS HONORING VETERANS CATE EDWARDS ON MOTHERHOOD

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DEPARTMENTS

Volume VIII, Issue 8

Bob Karp (GOLF); Eamon Queeney (LIBERATION STATION)

MAY/JUNE 2020

32 OUR TOWN 26

SUMMER SIPS

28

GIGS: More Than a Pro Talent, connections and kaizen drive renowned golf pro Ted Kiegiel

32

SHOP: Nurturing a Narrative A brush with history inspires a book platform that empowers

34

36

GIVERS: Class Act Students take a bake sale to the next level to provide supplies to teachers Q&A: Writing From the Heart Carrie Knowles releases two very different books

38

THE USUAL: A Place for Patriotism A Memorial Day flag ceremony

42

NOTED: Wings Cate Edwards on the lessons her mother quietly passed along

IN EVERY ISSUE 16

Letter from WALTER

20

Contributors

21

Your Feedback

22

Happening Now

66

The Whirl

72

End Note: Friendly Competition

28 On the cover: Robyn Alexander from Age: The Grandmother Project; photography by Jillian Clark

10 | WALTER

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$WKNF 4GPQXCVG 2TGUGTXG allurehomesnc.com

Bob Karp (SIGN); courtesy Meredith College (DOLL)

FEATURES

58

52 12 | WALTER ALTER

44

GLAMMAS A photo shoot with the grandma set

by Andrea Rice photography by Jillian Clark hair & makeup by Jessica Davis

52

BEYOND FASHION Meredith College’s class dolls capture more than sartorial change

by Lori D. R. Wiggins

58

THROUGH THE LENS City scenes in COVID-19 times

by Ayn-Monique Klahre photography by Bob karp

Wake Remodeling

Apex Location 123 North Salem Street 919.363.6990

Raleigh Location 6616 Fleetwood Drive Appointment Only

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LETTER FROM WALTER

The WALTER edit team working remotely to create this issue.

LOVE

Your Carpet

W

e planned this issue in February—then March rolled in with COVID-19, and the city as we knew it shut down. As the businesses, arts and restaurants we normally cover closed or adjusted their services, we rethought this magazine time and again. Our calendars are clear for the foreseeable future, so we replaced the usual events in Happening Now (pg. 22) with readers’ letters of gratitude to the people who make a difference in their lives. Like many others, we’re tightening our belts, so we combined the May and June issues (don’t worry, you’ll get an extra issue later this summer!) and instead of printing this issue, you’re receiving it in digital form. And we’ve doubled down on our efforts to offer frequent, fresh web content as an antidote to the worrisome news. We hope that our stories have kept you buoyed and inspired by our community. Please do check them out, if you haven’t been to our site lately.

It has struck me that this period of staying at home has frequently made me feel more connected to my community, family and self rather than less. I’ve spent evenings chatting with friends on FaceTime instead of just liking their photos on Instagram. I’ve spent slow, sunny afternoons reading Nancy Drew to my daughters with no birthday parties or soccer games to rush off too. Carving out time for myself led to a rededication to long jogs and yoga before the rest of the house wakes up.

I hope to hold on to these things once our city is back in action—because we are going to be very busy reconnecting with all the neighbors, restaurants and museums we’ve been missing once we get through this!

That thread of connection, near and far, runs through this issue. Victoria ScottMiller inherited a story that drove her to create her business (pg. 32). In his career as a golfer and pro—most notably for hometown hero Webb Simpson—Ted Kiegiel’s life has intersected with many of the greats (pg. 28). The men from the American Legion Post 6 spend the Saturday before Memorial Day celebrating fellow soldiers, a tradition S.P. Murray has photographed for years in memory of her own grandfather (pg. 38).

Cate Edwards realizes that her mother gave her all the tools she needed to be a parent before she passed away (pg. 42). Meredith College honors each graduating class with a unique tradition that, after more than a hundred years, shows how these women have weathered wars, changing social dynamics and more (pg. 52).

We hope you enjoy this issue, and we wish our best to you.

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Ayn-Monique Klahre Editor

VOLUME VIII, ISSUE 8

EDITORIAL

PUBLISHING

Editor AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE

President ROBYN TOMLIN

Creative Director LAURA PETRIDES WALL

Advertising Sales Manager JULIE NICKENS

Assistant Editor ADDIE LADNER

Senior Account Executive & Operations CRISTINA HURLEY

WALTER is available by paid subscriptions for $25 a year in the United States, as well as select rack and advertiser locations throughout the Triangle. Subscribe online at waltermagazine.com/subscribe

Editorial Assistant KATHERINE POOLE

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For customer service inquiries, please email us at customerservice@waltermagazine.com or call 919-836-5613.

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Address all correspondence to: WALTER Magazine, 421 Fayetteville St., Suite 104 Raleigh, NC 27601

Contributing Writers

Circulation JERRY RITTER BRIAN HINTON

CATE EDWARDS, MELISSA HAWSON, COURTNEY NAPIER, STEVEN NORTON, ANDREA RICE, RACHEL TAYLOR, CHARLES UPCHURCH, LORI D.R. WIGGINS

Contributing Photographers JILLIAN CLARK, BOB KARP, S.P. MURRAY, EAMON QUEENEY

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MAY/JUNE 2020 Published 10 times a year by The News & Observer Publishing Co. A McClatchy Company

WALTER does not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Please contact Ayn-Monique Klahre at ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com for freelance guidelines. © The News & Observer. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the copyright owner.

MAY/JUNE 2020

JILLIAN CLARK /

COURTNEY NAPIER /

P HOTO G R A P HE R Clark is a Raleigh-based editorial and portrait photographer and an advocate for people with Trichotillomania. She grew up in Durham and came up with the idea for the photo shoot featured in Glammas.

“This series was born out of frustration with seeing a lack of representation in the beauty and fashion industry of mature women, as well as wanting to give grandmothers of all ages specifically an experience in front of a lens that they may not necessarily have otherwise. Age: The Grandmother Project seeks to cherish the individuality of each grandmother above beauty.”

W R I TE R Napier is a journalist and writer from Raleigh. She is the founder of Black Oak Society and editor of BOS Zine. Her work can be found in INDY Week and Scalawag Magazine, as well as on her blog, COURTNEY HAS WORDS. Her spouse and two children are a daily source of love and inspiration. “My introduction to Victoria ScottMiller was algorithmic magic—we became instant friends. We both understand the power of having Black stories in print, an heirloom for the next generation. The story of Liberation Station is not just a story to tell, but a story to hold.”

BOB KARP /

ANDREA RICE / WR I T ER

P HOTO G R A P HE R Karp is a documentary photojournalist. Before moving to the area last year, Karp spent 30 years as photographer, editor and multimedia producer for Gannett NJ Press Media Group. Karp lives in Cary with his wife, Claudia, and their dog, Bodhi. “Shooting after the start of the quarantine was in many ways similar to other disasters I’ve covered, like 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy. There’s a sense of sadness, fear of the unknown and uncertainty about what could possibly be next. The people I shot were very guarded, unsure of whether a smile would be inappropriate. But soon I found they were happy to chat (albeit 6 feet apart), and comforted to see another person.”

Rice is a writer and editor in Raleigh, by way of Brooklyn, who covers health, wellness and lifestyle.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, INDY Week and Yoga Journal, among other publications.

Rice is a yoga and meditation teacher who has taught at national yoga festivals, international retreats and at local institutions like The North Carolina Museum of Art. Her book, The Yoga Almanac, was published in March 2020. “Learning about the remarkable women featured in Glammas was a bright light in my life during a period of uncertainty and isolation. Jillian’s stunning photography inspired my efforts to convey the message behind this authentic piece of visual storytelling: there is beauty in everyone.”

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YOUR FEEDBACK @waltermagazine We love seeing our community enjoying WALTER! Tag us in a photo with your issue of the magazine with #wearewalter and you just might find yourself on our pages!

ABC11’s anchorman John Clark stays in the news, even from the comfort and safety of home.

“Her Mother and I are obviously proud parents, but we are also very appreciative of the author, photographer and WALTER magazine for preparing and publishing this feel-good story during these most unusual times.”

—Bill Drake, father of artist Jean Gray Mohs

@waltermagazine www.waltermagazine.com

WALTER 421 Fayetteville St., Suite 104 Raleigh, NC 27601

.

S H A R I N G G R AT I T U D E

the devoted helper MARION DUNN A lead volunteer at pay-what-you-can restaurant A Place at the Table, Marion Dunn treats his role as if it were his job.

“He comes in almost every day without even being asked. He just walks in and starts taking the trash out, doing dishes, whatever the staff needs. He shows up in 20 minutes every time we call, no matter what. He supports our staff however they need it. This guy is the real deal.”

—Maggie Kane, founder of A Place at the Table

A school girl receives clothes from Assistance League of the Triangle member Chris Ciaverella

N

ormally, this space is filled with festivals, concerts, fun-runs and other outings-about-town. But as of press time, there were no events on the horizon (but check our site—we'll be updating the calendar there). So we decided to shift our focus to what’s actually happening now: we're feeling gratitude toward the people who make the City of Oaks such a great community. Inspired by the wonderful organizations we cover regularly, we asked our readers to nominate the people in their lives that they’re thankful for, so that we can share those stories. From teachers to tradesmen to the volunteers who make beloved establishments tick, here are ten thank-yous for their kindness. —Addie Ladner Is there someone in your life that you'd like to thank? Tell us at waltermagazine.com/featured/nominate-a-giver/

22 | WALTER

the stylist with compassion JOANNA VANAUKEN “A few years ago, my cousin was diagnosed with cancer. She went in to see Joanna at her salon, Hair Psychology.

My cousin wanted to cut her hair short before the chemo started making it fall out. Joanna spent a lot of time and care on my cousin—and then refused payment.

This is how she became my hairstylist. I haven’t seen anyone else since.”

—Catherine Nguyen, client

Courtesy Assistance League of the Triangle (GIRL); Maggie Kane (DUNN); Carol Fisher (VANAUKEN)

Happening

Jemore Davis (JAKED); courtesy Lanier McCree (MCCREE); Karen Swain (NCMNS); Courtesy Assistance League (ASSISTANCE)

MAY/JUNE

the skill-sharer BARRY JAKED Behind the big screen of many local theaters in town, you’ll find Barry Jaked. He’s a master electrician and sound engineer whose unique expertise is highly sought after in the theater community.

“Barry shows up at all hours of the day and night to help us and numerous other theatres in the area get their shows up and running with a set of skills that almost no other artist in the theatre has. All of us can sweep, take tickets, write thank you letters and help with mailings—but precious few can fix a short in a wire.”

—Jerome Davis, Burning Coal Theatre Artistic Director

the above-and-beyond neighbor LANIER MCCREE While McRee might be publicly recognized for her position at the Governor's office, to her neighbors, she is just that: a neighbor.

“She gives extravagantly in small, personal ways that no one is likely ever to know about. If it means driving a warm coat across town to a stranger on a cold night—fine. Fostering a litter of puppies in a pandemic? Yep. With Lanier, ‘giving’ is done with both pragmatism and love, grit and grace. It's a reflection of her character, and a challenge to the rest of us to pay attention to the needs around us.”

—Susanna Klingenberg, neighbor and friend

the citizens of science NCMNS VOLUNTEERS Behind the globe of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, around 450 dedicated volunteers help make it what it is today, providing directions to exhibits, giving tours of the living conservatory and more. Last year, they collectively gave more than 65,000 hours of their time to the museum, an equivalent of more than $1.6 million in services. Some have been volunteering for an upwards of 40 years. “These dedicated residents, members and supporters are our best ambassadors and our greatest recruiters of volunteers when they aren’t in the museum. Their passion for our organization is woven into their actions both internally with visitors and externally within their networks. They help us accomplish a huge variety of duties and we could not operate without them!”

—Cindy Bogan, NCMNS Volunteer Coordinator

the thrifters ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF THE TRIANGLE You'd be surprised to learn just how much is behind the little charity shop on North Market Drive in Raleigh. A to Z Thrift Store is supported by a group of 100 women who put the shop's proceeds directly back into the community through a variety of programs they started themselves. Last year, that meant 1,350 teddy bears delivered to kids in local emergency rooms, 33 students receiving scholarship money for college totaling over $141,000 and tons of food delivered to families in need. "Between the devotion with which my fellow members serve—from the thrift shop to scholarship evaluations to the Operation School Bell clothing program—and the quality of the work they produce, any CEO would be delighted to have a workforce as productive as this."

—Cindy McCarty, Assistance League of the Triangle member MAY/JUNE 2020 | 23

the couple who cares FELIX LYOKO AND NICOLE BISHISHA

the role model JOE DE MURO

Co-pastors of Shiloh Restoration Church, Felix Lyoko and Nicole Bishisha came to the United States in 2013 as refugees, so they know from experience how hard it is to build a life in a new land.

Now, the couple dedicates their lives to helping local Congolese as both social workers and pastors. “They work tirelessly engaging with and on behalf of their community as tenant advocates, finding jobs, housing weekly worship, Bible studies and more.

They do all this while parenting six children, ages five to 20. Right now, they are diligently making sure members of their community are safe, have food and housing during the COVID pandemic.”

The Emmaus House is a nonprofit that provides safe and affordable housing for men recovering from substance dependency. Its executive director, Joe De Muro, uses his own story and strength to help the men that come through the house's doors. “His dedication is personal and heartfelt. He’s available to address concerns 24 hours a day, giving the men a valuable resource in the hazardous transition time from long-term rehabilitation facilities to independent living. Joe models behaviors that are essential to a healthy and productive lifestyle: responsibility, selflessness, compassion, goal setting, acceptance and honesty.

Joe willingly shares his personal trials, allowing others to see that substance dependency is not a death sentence, that we can and do get better. The way Joe interacts and reacts to the world is from a position of caring and understanding. For me, I can think of no greater role model.”

—Reverend Kim Wyatt, friend

—Danny Beasley, colleague and Emmaus House staff member

D I A MOND S , E S TAT E

AN D

A NT IQUE J E W ELRY • L OO SE D I A MOND S OF A L L S H APE S AND S I Z E S • C E RT I FI E D A PPR AISAL S • E XPERT J E W ELRY R EPAI R S W E B UY D I A MOND S , G OL D AND P LAT I NUM

3 4 5 S . W I L M I N G T O N S T R E E T | 919 . 8 3 2 . 3 4 61 | R E L I A B L E J E W E L R Y . C O M

TK (LYOKO/BISHISHA); courtesy Emmaus House (DE MURO)

Happening NOW

Courtesy Maria Yeager (YEAGER); Kimberlee Cotney (JACKSON)

MAY/JUNE

the dedicated teacher MARIA YEAGER Maria Yeager has taught pre-K at Cathedral School for 29 years— meaning more than 500 students have started their schooling with her unique blend of kindness, structure, fun and infinite patience. Most recently, parents were impressed with how she wouldn’t let the COVID crisis stand between her and her students. “My youngest is missing her right now. However, Mrs. Yeager is far exceeding my expectations on how to continue to engage 4- and 5-year-olds. She’s created weekly packets, set up Zoom meetings, storytimes and daily lesson plans. She is working long hours every day as we all adjust to distance learning. These kids haven’t missed a beat.”

the kind stranger MICHAEL JACKSON

"This March, we went to the Sheetz on Corporate Center Drive in search of ice cream for my mother-in-law, who was soon to pass away. My daughter and I put the container of soft-serve on the counter, along with a few other items. The young cashier, Michael, began cheerful banter, ‘So, no toppings for you?’ Wearily, without making eye contact, I answered, ‘No, not today.’ He rang up our purchases and announced our total, which didn’t include the ice cream. ‘It's on me,’ he said quietly. When I questioned him, he said, "’I saw your hospice nametags.’"

—Martha Thorn, customer

-Candace Hughes, parent

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O Our

Sip, sip, hooray! We tapped local drink gurus to share their favorite summer drinks to make at home.—Melissa Howsam

THE SOUTHSIDE RICKEY Duke Campbell Head Barman at Dram & Draught It’s a modern classic! It requires minimal ingredients, it's easy to make and it's simple to substitute the mint for any other herb, based on your tastes. It's light and refreshing, tart, citrusy (one lime should be enough). No herbs or lime juice? Throw some Tang in and it’s great.”

HOW TO MAKE IT Shake 2 ounces Sutler's gin (made in North Carolina!), 1 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice, 3/4 ounce simple syrup and 5 fresh mint leaves with ice. Strain into an icefilled glass. Top with soda water to taste/fill.

COFFEE TONIC Kyle Hamlin Barista at Jubala Coffee When it starts getting warm out, I love to make a refreshing and straightforward Coffee Tonic. The bright carbonation from the tonic mixes with the sweet, acidic flavor of the coffee to create a beautifully cohesive drink that's perfect when summer hits. You can use espresso or cold brew for the coffee, both taste great. I make my own tonic (it’s made with a mixture of cinchona bark, juniper, cardamom and allspice—which is why it looks yellow), but any high-quality tonic water from the store should do just fine!”

HOW TO MAKE IT Pour 5 ounces of tonic water over ice. Top with 1 ounce cold brew concentrate (or 1 shot of espresso) and lemon peel to garnish.

26 | WALTER

STRAWBERRY DAISY Kyle Erkes Cocktail Director at C. Grace North Carolina strawberries are my favorite thing about Raleigh spring and summer. Grab a bushel when they hit the farmers market and use them to amp up an underrated classic. I'm never gonna work hard to drink at home—but this strawberry syrup is just so easy to make and works better than muddling whole berries into a drink. Combine it with some dank local gin from Durham Distillery, and you get a drink that's bright, dry and is gonna get you where you're going real quick.”

Courtesy Dram & Draught (CAMPBELL); Owen S. Jordan (HAMLIN); courtesy Little City Brewing (MOLINARO); Charlie Allen (ERKES)

HOW TO MAKE IT Shake 1 ½ ounces Conniption Navy Strength Gin, ½ ounce Cointreau, ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice and ½ ounce Strawberry Syrup (recipe below) with ice; strain into a cocktail glass. Optional: Garnish with candied strawberries.

Strawberry Syrup Recipe: Chop a few strawberries, throw them in a jar, and cover them completely with sugar. Give the jar a shake and put it in the fridge overnight. No need to measure anything, the sugar will pull juice from the strawberries, and excess sugar will settle to the bottom. Just strain out the liquid.

Keep refrigerated and add it to literally anything.

(Visit our website for the Candied Strawberries recipe.)

SPICED DAIQUIRI Chandler Molinaro Beverage Guru at Little City Brewing I love a traditional daiquiri; but when I'm in my own home, I like to put my spin on the classic and have fun with it. With the temperature rising, there is no better way to combat heat stroke than with fresh citrus, delicious rum and sugar. This little cocktail can pack a punch that will keep your mind off the heat. My go-to rum is Caña Brava Reserva Añeja (when you can find it); otherwise, I love their Silver, too. The palate is pure fresh sugar cane juice and citrus, with notes of dark chocolate balanced with molasses, cacao butter, vanilla and hints of allspice and cinnamon, which pairs perfectly with 18.21 Spiced Honey simple syrup.

To make this a classic daiquiri, add fresh squeezed lime juice.”

HOW TO MAKE IT Shake 1 ½ ounces Caña Brava Reserva Añeja (or another high quality rum), ½ ounce 18.21 Spiced Honey simple syrup and ¾ ounce fresh lime juice over ice; strain into a coupe glass.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 27

GIGS

MORE THAN A PRO Talent, connections and kaizen have fueled Ted Kiegiel’s steady success as a golfer and mentor

by CHARLES UPCHURCH

B

efore Raleigh’s Webb Simpson became one of the world’s top professional golfers—before he was an All-American at Wake Forest University, even before he was a star high school player at Needham B. Broughton High School—he 28 | WALTER

photography by BOB KARP

was a slight youngster with a natural gift, learning the game at the Carolina Country Club. It was there, perhaps led by fate, perhaps by golf’s divine providence, that he met the club’s young pro, Ted Kiegiel.

Did Master Webb know that his new coach, a native Long Islander who

ventured south to turn professional, was mentored by the eminent George Fazio and possessed a pedigree honed at Augusta National Golf Club? Did Kiegiel know that the eight-year-old kid with the butter-smooth swing would one day hoist the U.S. Open trophy?

No. Such are the mysteries of golf and the alchemy of the game. But in 1993, there was Kiegiel, 30 years old when he took the job at the venerable Raleigh club, a bastion of the city’s old guard, with a respected but shopworn tradition. Today, in his 27th year as the club’s Director of Golf, he is one of the most respected teaching pros in the country, having turned CCC’s golf reputation, and its junior program in particular, into one of the nation’s finest.

Kiegiel grew up in Southampton, New York, showing early promise as a fiercely competitive junior player. His game continued to progress, and after college, he went on to pursue a pro career. When he relocated to Florida in the early 1980s to fine-tune his game, he found work at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta. The club was co-founded in 1970 by former PGA Tour pro George Fazio, who also designed the course. Fazio, who built a notable career as a golf course architect together with his nephew Tom Fazio, became a trusted father figure to Kiegiel.

As Kiegiel set his sights on playing the PGA Tour, Fazio, who had once battled Ben Hogan in a playoff for the 1950 U.S. Open title, placed a thumb on the scale of fate. “Mr. Fazio told me he knew about an opening for an assistant pro position that I might be interested in,” said Kiegiel. “He said if I wanted the job, he would put in a good word for me there.”

The place was Augusta National.

Kiegiel laughs when he recalls his response: “I told him I’d need to think about it overnight.” Soon, he drove down Magnolia Lane for the first time, headed for an interview at the most storied golf club in America. For eight years, Kiegiel served as first assistant professional at Augusta National, helping to manage golf operations, giving member lessons and playing a major role during the Masters Tournament. The names engraved in the lexicon of the game became the backdrop of his workday—Rae’s Creek, Hogan Bridge, Amen Corner, Butler Cabin—and the hallowed 18, each christened as if by nature’s decree: Tea Olive, Juniper, Azalea, Firethorn.

In the company of Augusta’s exclusive membership, whether helping the chairman of a publicly traded company adjust his draw around the Eisenhower Tree, or walking nine holes with Jack Nicklaus, Kiegiel carried with him the words of George Fazio. “He said play with heart, be courageous when your game falters, and trust your instincts,” says Kiegiel.

He credits those words for helping to reinforce his kaizen approach to golf, and his mantra for life.

Kaizen—the Japanese practice of consistently making small, incremental changes that yield extraordinary improvement over time—was also a concept that attracted Kiegiel to martial arts. The correlations to golf were plain: the disciplined alignment of mental and physical energies, the combination of elegance and explosiveness, the collaboration of the conscious and unconscious mind. As Kiegiel mastered the game of golf (he is

a Callaway Master Staff Professional), he also reached the advanced level of 8thdegree black belt.

The overlay of Eastern-oriented constructs with the mechanical and psychological demands of golf inspired Kiegiel to write. His book, Balanced Golf: Harnessing the Simplicity, Focus, and Natural Motions of Martial Arts to Improve Your All-Around Game, has been recommended reading for his students since 1999. For junior players, internal balance and discipline are key areas of focus.

Webb Simpson was the model subject for Kiegiel’s cerebral, even spiritual approach to golf. His father, the late Sam Simpson, cultivated in his son genuine respect for the rules, customs and sporting traditions of the game. With this foundation, and the unwavering constants of faith and family, the groundwork was laid for the making of a champion.

Armed with uncanny shot-making MAY/JUNE 2020 | 29

ability and a cool-headed temperament, Simpson learned from Kiegiel golf’s most hard-won lesson: how to play the game without the game playing you. Throughout his rise to prominence, including three state championships at Broughton, a number-one national high school ranking, ACC Freshman and Player of the Year honors, three All-American seasons, Ryder Cups, Presidents Cups and PGA Tour wins, Ted Kiegiel has been there, as a trainer, as a confidant, as sensei.

Simpson was 26 when he won the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. It was June 17, 2012, Father’s Day. Sam Simpson’s health began deteriorating soon afterward. He passed away in November of 2017. Six months later, with his mom Debbie watching from home, Webb Simpson won The Players Championship at Sawgrass for his first title in four years. It was Mother’s Day. Alchemy, indeed.

One of the most iconic photographs in sports shows Ben Hogan in 1950, hitting a fairway shot at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia. Hogan went on to outlast the local favorite, George Fazio, to win the U.S. Open. Merion was where Bobby Jones won the U.S. Amateur in 1930, his fourth victory in what was then golf’s first-ever Grand Slam. Three years later, Jones helped design and open a new club called Augusta National.

When Ted Kiegiel left Augusta to become head golf professional at Carolina Country Club, he brought a little of that magic with him. You see it in students like Simpson and PGA Tour winners Grayson Murray and Chesson Hadley from Raleigh, in LPGA Tour competitors and nationally ranked juniors, amateurs and college players who have flourished under Kiegiel’s watch. You sense it in members who have witnessed the kaizen, reinvigorating a proud golf legacy more than a century old.

Out on the practice range, in the shadows of native pines, framed by columned verandas, a young grasshopper swings gracefully, tuned in, balanced, waiting for the master.

30 | WALTER

5 Tips from Ted Kiegiel The Carolina Country Club pro shares how to perfect your golf game. #1 PRACTICE WITH PURPOSE Each time you head out to the golf course, have a plan. Choose any club and focus on one skill for 50% of your time. Divide this time into block and simulated practice. Block practice is hitting one club, 50 shots, focusing on swing corrections. Simulated practice is hitting one shot to one target, changing angles, 50 times. Step behind, check aim lines and walk into your setup, simulating how you play on the golf course. #2 DIAL IN YOUR BAG Be sure every club in your bag is well-suited to your game. It’s your responsibility to have 14 clubs you enjoy hitting, as opposed to avoiding. Have the proper equipment and know the distances of each club.

If you’re unsure, schedule a fitting session with a PGA Professional—you may be hitting a club that doesn’t fit your game. #3 PERFECT YOUR SCORING SHOTS Two key scoring shots that can lower your scores—ranging 30-80 yards— are classified as flighted and floater. The flighted, a lower-flying shot, requires the simplest swing motion. Address the ball with the grip end of the club just in front of the ball. Take your backswing halfway back and swing through to a similar position on the follow-through. Your left arm (for right-handers) is parallel to the ground for the backswing and the right arm is parallel to the ground at the finish. For the higharching floater, the ball position needs to move up toward your front foot. Take a long backswing and finish into a normal complete position. A slow backswing and a slightly quicker downswing, accelerating through, will elevate the ball. #4 WORK TOWARD PUTTING EFFICIENCY Focus your time on speed control and start line. Putts break the most when the ball loses pace near the hole. A high percentage of putts break very little in the first third. Account for green speed as you determine the necessary pace. To improve your aim, practice the “gate” drill: On a relatively flat six-foot putt, place two tees into the green, 12 inches in front of your ball allowing a 4-inch gap. Putt in blocks of 10 and review your results. Four out of 10 puts you in the 40% category. Keep at it and get your success rate above 80%. #5 TUNE OUT THE NOISE This is about your mindset. Where is your attention? Distractions can hamper your ability to hit quality shots. Each shot has an analytic and athletic stage. Analytics involve determining aim line and distance.

Your mindset then needs to shift into an athletic, spontaneous function. Walk into the ball, get comfortable with your setup, rotate your head toward the target, then back to the ball. and within two seconds, begin your backswing. No inner conversations allowed. This is golf at its highest form.

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Nurturing a NARRATIVE A family heirloom compels Victoria Schott-Miller to champion authors of color

by COURTNEY NAPIER photography by EAMON QUEENEY 32 | WALTER

hat would you do if you held a link to the humanity of a near-mythical figure in history? Through a serendipitous series of circumstances, Victoria Scott-Miller came to possess such a treasure, and it set the course for her future in an unexpected way.

Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, the Scott family lived a life surrounded by art and beauty. Father Victor Scott was a freelance photographer, plugged in to the opulent lifestyle of famous friends like Lena Horne and Al Jarreau. These relationships were exciting, but also opened him up to the world of drugs. By 1986, he and his wife, Pamela, had just celebrated their daughter Victoria’s first birthday and were expecting their second daughter, Jessica. If they were going to survive as a family, they had to make a drastic change. They left behind the life they knew and moved to Philadelphia to begin the road to recovery.

During a rummage trip to the basement of their new home, Victor Scott found a Bible trimmed in gold. His wife noticed right away that it was special.

She pleaded with her husband not to pawn the book to satisfy his addiction, but after realizing that this was a losing battle, she insisted on at least keeping the thick stack of papers tucked inside.

The years passed. Victor Scott overcame his addiction, but the couple divorced in the 1990s. Pamela Scott had the papers examined by Sotheby’s— they were indeed valuable, appraised at $50,000—but even though she was by then a single mother and needed the money more than ever, she declined their offer. Her intuition said that this possession was more significant than money.

When Victor Scott passed in 2017, Pamela Scott finally gave the papers to her eldest daughter, Victoria Scott-Miller.

Scott-Miller immediately went to work to untangle their origin story. The handwritten notes, she soon discovered, were an exchange between legendary abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Nathanial Knight, a white bookstore owner

and justice of the peace. As described in his biography, Douglass met Knight in his Baltimore bookstore, Greedy Reid’s, at just 14 years old. Defying the law, it was there that Douglass purchased his first book, the Columbian Orator, which had a major impact on the trajectory of Douglass’s life.

In January of 2019, the Miller family was contacted by a prestigious historian, who offered them $2 million for the papers. All they had to do was agree to a non-disclosure agreement concerning her family’s role in the discovery of the letters, allowing the origin story to begin with him and his institution.

The money was tempting. Scott-Miller and her husband, Duane Miller, had just relocated to Raleigh. Miller had been medically discharged from the military, and Scott-Miller had left a teaching position to care for their boys. They were on food stamps, just making ends meet.

Then she had a conversation with John Muller, a Baltimore historian and friend of the Douglass family. “It was as if he delivered a message from our past,” says ScottMiller. “He said, ‘If you sell these papers, you will no longer be part of this story.’”

She declined the offer with a new thought: “How can we safeguard our legacy the way that my mom did for us?”

Scott-Miller’s son, Langston, had just started writing his own stories. So the Millers went to a bookstore and played a game: count the number of children’s books with Black protagonists on display, extra points if the author is also Black.

After over an hour, they counted just five books. At that moment, the vision clarified.

“We thought about what it would look like to have a space that provided books with characters that looked like our children,” says Scott-Miller. “Then we thought about what it would look like if we provided that space.”

Scott-Miller had just received a gift of $250 from her mother to help make ends meet. She decided to use $225 to buy her first round of children’s books that featured Black authors and characters, and the remaining $25 fed her family for the week. Scott-Miller hosted her first pop-up bookshop on May 3 of last year,

A few of the letters from Frederick Douglass that Victoria Scott-Miller's father discovered. The papers were the inspiration for Liberation Station.

and Liberation Station was born.

Having a mobile store was a key part of the vision. The Miller family was familiar with moving around in the military, and they also understood that—due to forces like gentrification—neighborhoods of color are constantly changing. “We could set up a bookstore somewhere right now, and that would be great,” she says, “but what about the kids who are displaced and homeless across our city? Why can’t the bookstore be in their hotel room? We have to think about accessibility.”

In just a year, Liberation Station has seen astronomical success. They began a fruitful relationship with VAE Raleigh in August, when the pop-up bookstore earned their Awesome Grant for their Walk & Read program, which hosted storytime gatherings in Chavis Park and Pullen Park. They hosted storytime at SparkCon, and book readings and signings with local authors of color during VAE’s Writing On The Wall celebration. To kick off 2020, Liberation Station hosted a pop-up for the release of My N.C. from A to Z, a children’s book

by Michelle Lainer, executive director of the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission, illustrated by Dare Coulter.

This year, Liberation Station will have programs across the state, including

developing culturally sensitive programming for several public schools in Wake County and a creative collaboration with the African American Cultural Festival.

Although her family encouraged ScottMiller to create Liberation Station, the bookstore is the product of Scott-Miller’s own extraordinary imagination. “I had to practice arriving in my power,” she says.

“It’s one thing to know your purpose, but it’s another thing to fully arrive in it. For me, that means recognizing that this is an extension of my brilliance, my giftedness, and my genius, and fully owning that.”

In March, Scott-Miller connected with a second near-mythical figure in history, when Liberation Station received the Obama Foundation certification. ScottMiller explains: “This certification gives us the opportunity to garner federal partnerships and gives us access to a global network of advocates and mentors.”

What started as a mission to safeguard her family’s legacy became a calling to provide access to literature in which children of color—and everyone connected to them—can see themselves.

“The representation we provide through Liberation Station bookstore is necessary,” Scott-Miller says. “We are the living link to this community, and to narratives that must be shared.”

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 33

CLASS ACT A student-led bake sale provides essential classroom supplies

by RACHEL TAYLOR

J

uggling after-school activities, homework and social lives can be a lot for a teenager. But on top of managing their workload at Enloe Magnet High School, Brooke Chow and Emily Shih also spend their time running a charitable organization, The Banana Nut Scholars.

It started as a bake sale to help local senior centers.

But after hearing from teachers about their struggles stocking basic classroom necessities, the girls switched to raising money for school supplies, buying everything from staples to calculators.

“It’s things you don’t even think about, like pens and paper,” says Chow. “And, of course, tissues—literally teachers are purchasing them every week for their students. That’s just crazy. It really adds up over time.”

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In 2018, the U.S. Department of Education released a study to highlight how much teachers were spending: On average teachers paid $479 for supplies during a school year; and 94% of teachers will pay for supplies at least once in their career.

Chow and Shih hope to see policy change to help alleviate the need for teachers to pay out-of-pocket for basic classroom items, but for the time being, they help fill that gap.

“Even if we can’t necessarily get them every single item they request, teachers are always so appreciative,” says Chow.

“They’ve really helped spread the word.” Initially, teachers around the Triangle were the only ones making requests for supplies. The program has now expanded to reach teachers across the state.

The main fundraiser for the organization are bake sales held

Courtesy Brooke Chow

GIVERS

a few times a month at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. The students buy baked goods from Clayton Bakery & Cafe in Clayton, working with them to create seasonal menus. From the beginning, banana nut bread was a top seller—that's how it became the organization's namesake.

Teachers, parents and friends all come to the bake sales to show support. “At first, we had a hard time selling breads,” Chow says. “But now people are getting to know us and our name, and it’s really picked up from there.”

During the 2018-2019 school year, Banana Nut Scholars delivered over 50,000 items to teachers across the state including pencils, batteries and wet wipes. Chow and Shih hope to raise $50,000 and to match that amount during the upcoming 2020-2021 school year. They are also now collecting tampons, pads and underwear to distribute to underprivileged students.

As requests come in from teachers across the state, the girls both deliver supplies themselves and utilize online shopping.

“With handy-dandy Amazon, we can send directly to teachers, so that’s helped,” Chow says. “It’s been a learning process trying to piece it together and reach as many schools as possible.”

Enloe principal William Chavis is proud of what Chow and Shih have accomplished. “I’m very impressed by the courageous leadership and extraordinary service exhibited

by Brooke and Emily by defining the needs of educators and working within their local community to make this a reality,” Chavis says. “It was amazing to see the joy that our teachers displayed when they were given big bundles of classroom supplies, wipes, tissues, stationary, paper," says Chavis. "And to know that it was orchestrated and organized by two of our very own scholars meant the world to us!"

Chow and Shih, who are both heading to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill next year, want to continue to grow the organization after graduation, and are confident their reliable volunteers will carry the torch with them overseeing the work. In five years, they hope Banana Nut Scholars can help teachers across the nation. “But what we really hope is that there's better educational funding, so we won’t have to raise money any more,” Chow says.

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Q&A

WRITING from the HEART

by STEVEN NORTON

I

met Carrie Knowles in the spring of 2010. She came to my salon for a haircut. “Have you ever considered writing a book?” she asked. “What could I possibly have to write about?” I asked back. “You’re kidding, right?”

Knowles retorted. Her response lit a spark—for me, as it has for others.

Knowles moved to Raleigh in 1978, when her husband took a position in the Sociology Department at North Carolina State University. Over the last forty years, Knowles has written for a variety of newspapers and magazines, worked as a writing coach and penned seven books, including Lillian’s Garden, Ashoan’s Rug and A Garden Wall in Provence.

She was the 2014 Piedmont Laureate in Short Fiction and has two books coming out this spring. She spends her work hours in an art-filled Victorian-era home downtown, which she shares with others as a co-working g space called the Free Range Studio. We spokee about her work.

HOW DID YOU SPEND YOUR YEAR AS THE PIEDMONT LAUREATE, AND HOW DID IT IMPACT YOUR WRITING? It was the most concentrated year of teaching g

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I’ve had. I conducted forty different writing workshops, so I didn’t have a lot of time to do my own writing. However, that opportunity to teach so many different people, who were so passionate about learning how to write, in such a concentrated time, motivated me to write A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write Stories from Start-to-Finish. guess you could say that my workshop So I g students inspired me to find a way to help them stude tell ttheir stories.

HOW IS YOUR WORKBOOK DIFFERENT FROM OTHER WORKBOOKS? OTH The participants in the workshops ranged in age from 12 to 80 years old. Some had gone to college, but most had not. It was a challenge col to find a way to teach such a broad range of students. My workbook breaks down the st writing process into small, easily followed w lessons—from character development to le dialogue—with workbook exercises, so d people can get the basics of a writing p concept and practice it before taking the next step. Like a reviewer said about it, “it’s a down-to-earth guide, with no pretense and no arrogance.”

Kathy Bowlin

Raleigh author Carrie Knowles releases two very different books this spring

YOUR NEWEST BOOK STARTS WITH A GRANDMOTHER SPEAKING FROM THE GRAVE TO HER GRANDDAUGHTER. WHERE DID THIS IDEA COME FROM? In 1902, a young woman was found beaten and unconscious in the Macon, Georgia train station. She was pregnant and dying. A local doctor saved the baby by doing an emergency c-section. The mother died without regaining consciousness, and the baby was my real-life father. Who she was, what happened to her and where she was going has always haunted me, and I knew that eventually I would have to write about her, which is how The Inevitable Past came about.

YOU WROTE A STORY ABOUT A GRANDMOTHER YOU NEVER MET—WHO NO ONE KNEW. YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HER NAME. HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO WRITE HER STORY? I researched the life of women at the turn of the century and tried to imagine what her life might have been like in a time when young women were moving from farms to the city and the Suffragettes were agitating for voting rights.

I also went down to Macon, Georgia to learn about the Door of Hope, a home for wayward girls, i.e., unwed pregnant women, where my father was born.

THERE ARE TWO GRANDMOTHERS IN YOUR BOOK, YOUR FATHER'S BIRTH MOTHER, AND THE WOMAN WHO ADOPTED HIM AND RAISED HIM. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE ABOUT HIS OTHER MOTHER? My father was blinded during his birth. The matron of the Door of Hope, Mother Knowles, realized no one would adopt a blind child, so she decided to give him her last name and raise him as her son. She was a widow and had no children of her own. I was able to find out quite a bit of information about the Door of Hope, as well as Mother Knowles, all of which became part of the book.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW? I’m writing short stories and thinking about another play.

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO ASPIRING WRITERS? If you have an idea you’ve always wanted to write about, now is your chance. No excuses!

828.261.4776 • 2220 Hwy 70 SE, Hickory, NC 28602 amishoakandcherry.com

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THE USUAL

A PLACE FOR PATRIOTISM A photographer pays homage to her grandfather by documenting a local flag placement ceremony

by ADDIE LADNER photography by S.P. MURRAY 38 | WALTER

“In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow.

Between the crosses, row on row.”

T

hese lines come from a poem titled Flanders Field, written by John McRae during World War I. Photographer S.P. Murray hears them in her head as she approaches the annual Memorial Day Flag Ceremony of the American Legion Post 6 at the Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery. In 2012, Murray was invited by a legion member to attend and photograph the event in its early-morning beauty. On assignment or not, she's photographed it since.

Murray's paternal grandfather was killed in World War II. His gravesite is thousands of miles away at the HenriChapelle American Cemetery and Memorial just outside the village of Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. Each year, taking a moment to remember his sacrifice is her way of saying thank

you. “When I photograph the Flag Placement Ceremony, I do it because I believe that someone, on the other side of the world, is placing a flag at my grandfather’s grave, saluting and saying his name out loud,” Murray says.

Every Saturday before Memorial Day, members of American Legion Post 6 and Veterans of Foreign Wars C. V. Cummings Chapel Hill Post 9100 congregate around six in the morning to respectfully place flags on graves of the deceased, exemplifying their loyalty to the fallen. Boy Scouts and other community members also join to help memorialize around 500 deceased veterans, carpeting the cemetery in red, white and blue. After placing a flag near the headstone, they step back, say the deceased soldier’s name, then give a formal salute. Murray says that, for many

who have passed, “it’s the only time all year their name is spoken out loud.”

While these days Memorial Day is often recognized with parades and barbecues, the holiday’s origins stem from this simple tradition of placing a flag at a fallen soldier’s grave. Originating in the South, it used to be called Decoration Day. During the Civil War, widows would place flowers on graves of lost heroes. The Chapel Hill American Legion Post 6 has been honoring this tradition for 20 years and is one of the oldest American Legions in both the state and country.

“For me, it’s the biggest, most important event of the year,” says Lee Heavlin, post member and Navy veteran, of the ceremony. “It’s our opportunity to show that this national holiday has a purpose on a local level.”

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 39

“When I photograph the Flag Placement Ceremony, I do it because I believe that someone, on the other side of the world, is placing a flag at my grandfather’s grave, saluting, and saying his name out loud. Taking a moment to remember his sacrifice is my small way of saying thank you.”

– S.P. Murray

40 | WALTER

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Serving New Soldiers The American Legion was founded on four pillars: support for veterans at home and troops overseas, Americanism and children and youth. The Chapel Hill American Legion Post 6 maps to these pillars in myriad ways, like helping returning veterans navigate benefits, raising money for the Fisher House Foundation and serving as a community space. They recently opened a new 15,000 square-foot facility. Sitting on 128 acres of farmland, it offers something for everyone, including a gym, game room, ballroom, outdoor space and more.

“Today, less than one percent of our population serves in the military—at one time, it was eight out of ten men,” says Heavlin. “When they come home, people don’t understand.” Veterans can feel isolated, and also have to navigate families, jobs and societal obligations. They hope this new post will support veterans’ unique needs.

“People typically don’t join American Legion until their 50s because it’s hard to devote extra time to the military with kids and a job,” says Navy veteran and post commander William Munsee. “Our goal with this new post is to attract and support younger people.”

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NOTED

Cate Edwards reflects on the lessons her mother, Elizabeth Edwards, taught her

E

very May, we celebrate mothers, to thank them and to praise them. I vividly remember our Mother’s Day brunches as a child, when our immediate family of four got dressed up and went to the fancy buffet at a Raleigh hotel.

I now know that, despite the fanfare on that one day every year, I was never appropriately grateful to Mom. She regularly doled out inhuman feats of love.

Mom meticulously created logos for each of our soccer teams and drew them, by hand, onto 15 water bottles, one for each player. She typed out lyrics to hundreds of songs in every genre to create a homemade “songbook” that we pulled out for family sing-alongs. She hand-sewed my dance costumes and stitched my ballet shoes back together when I broke them (which was often). She sat with us every night and read novels, using different voices for each character. One year, she grew grass—actual, real-life grass—onto sweatsuits, so that my brother and his friends could be a golf course for Halloween. That costume took first place at the old North Hills Mall costume contest. (Oh: and, on the “side,” she practiced law.)

At the time, I didn’t dote on her for these things, and I certainly didn’t give her the daily praise she deserved. Why would I? She made these feats of love seem altogether normal.

42 | WALTER

Courtesy Cate Edwards

Wings

That, I suppose, is the thing about motherhood. No one does it to be celebrated or praised or thanked. No one does it for that one brunch in May. Over thirty years ago, my mom did all of these things for the same reason I do them now: because there is no insanity like the love that comes with being a mom. Today, I am deeply thankful for all the ways my mom demonstrated that love, that insanity.

The gratitude I feel for my mother has magnified since having my own children. Several times a day, I reach for the phone to call my mom and apologize for all I put her through. When my older son refuses to eat his pancakes because one edge is slightly burnt. When my younger son pours milk all over my car and laughs. When we go for long walks on the greenway and, inevitably, at least one of my boys wants to be carried all the way home. Pretty much every time I go to the State Fair.

Mom always said, “the best thing you can give your children is wings, because you’re not always going to be there to bring food back to the nest.” She stopped coloring our soccer team’s water bottles when we could decorate our own. She stopped mending my costumes and shoes; instead she taught me how to sew once I was old enough. When my older brother started reading, she made him read the

When motherhood happened, I realized that… my mom had quietly given me every tool I needed.

I’m not doing this without her. I wouldn’t know how.

She showed me how. novels aloud to us, so he always knew how to pronounce the words. She gave us wings. Of everything my mom did for me, big and small, it is for this that I am most grateful.

The value of these wings came into clearest focus when I became a mom myself. Even though Mom died five and a half years before I gave birth to my first son, I have powerfully felt her with me.

When motherhood happened, I realized that—just as she had with sewing and reading—my mom had quietly given me every tool I needed. I am not doing this without her. I would not know how. She showed me how.

My mom taught me, by example, how to love my children. And I have unconsciously lifted several of her tricks: I

can’t read my kids a book without using different voices for each character. And I’m anxiously waiting for my boys to be old enough to grow a golf course for Halloween. She showed me the importance of balance, of always having something of your own that you love. (That is one reason that I, too, practice law.)

Now, in May, my immediate family of four dresses up for brunch, and if all goes as planned, we get out of the house. I feel loved and celebrated, even though I’m certain my boys have no idea what Mother’s Day is. They tell me they love me, and that will always be enough. And, on the way home, we stop by Oakwood Cemetery, where I praise Mom for everything she managed to do for us. Where I thank her for giving me my mama wings.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 43

Age: The Grandmother Project showcases eight models who make it clear that true beauty is timeless

GLAMMAS

by ANDREA RICE

photographs by JILLIAN CLARK hair & makeup by JESSICA DAVIS

I

t started as a dialogue about body positivity between two boundary-pushing friends and fashion industry collaborators, and led to an open casting call soliciting Triangle grandmothers for a stylized photoshoot. The concept: to portray a new image of older women that reframes outmoded beauty standards.

Shot in an intimate apartment in downtown Raleigh, Age: The Grandmother Project is the brainchild of photographer Jillian Clark and Jessica Davis, the makeup artist behind North Raleigh’s Awakened Beauty. “I was sold on this project as soon as she texted the word grandma!” Davis says. “I don’t want our society to ever confuse ‘old’ with not being beautiful.”

There’s no question that each of these eight grandmothers—whose ages ranged from 45 to 93 at the time of the shoot—felt beautiful that day. Each styling session, from hair to makeup to wardrobe, generated laughter and chat-

44 | WALTER

ter. For some, the final looks were met with a swell of emotion as they smiled at themselves in the mirror.

“Everyone deserves to feel beautiful, or more importantly, everyone deserves to feel unique,” Clark says. “When they showed up with their families and grandchildren, you could tell they were so proud of the legacy they created,” Davis says.

In a world that obsesses over anti-aging, Age: The Grandmother Project offers a refreshing perspective on natural beauty. “These ladies are proof that beauty comes in any age, skin tone or background,” Davis says. “They helped to teach me that beauty is about having fun and keeping your heart open.”

Neither Clark and Davis foresaw how emotional the project would become for everyone involved. “I know it meant a lot to the families,” Clark says. “I hope these photos continue to make people smile for a long time and inspire anyone to get in front of a camera at least once in their life.”

MEHRANGIZ OLFATI “It was so cool seeing how everyone reacted to their final look,” said Clark. “You never know what your subjects will bring if you just give them a little wiggle room and creative space! Each grandmother was styled from an assortment of odds and ends that Clark and Davis found around town, as well as items from their own closets and their subjects’ wardrobes. “I am inspired by how fashion makes me feel,” said Mehrangiz “Mehri” Olfati, left. “That mentality has guided my fashion choices every day of my life.” Two years ago, when Olfati was out on a neighborhood walk, she was stopped by a group of musicians who noticed her style and asked her to be in their music video. “I don’t know the name of the group nor have I seen the final result, but it was a lot of fun,” she says.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 45

LI YI ZHEN ELVIRA FINCH ANAHID VRANA Davis says Li Yi Zhen, near right, arrived at the shoot fully styled and ready to go, Chanel bag in tow, fresh from a blowout that sported a new short haircut. “She has so much style and confidence—and she knew it!” Davis says.

Elvira Finch, opposite page, above, brought her own makeup artist, her daughter Shannel Campbell, while Anahid Vrana, opposite page, below, who enjoys gardening and beekeeping in her leisure time and says Audrey Hepburn is her fashion icon, wore her beekeeper suit for her portrait. “I love my hobby as a beekeeper,” Vrana says. “My husband and grandchildren participate, and I love teaching the children about bees and the process of how the hive thrives and helps the environment.

The suit seemed like the perfect wardrobe.”

46 | WALTER

“Success is having a daily routine that you enjoy being a part of each day. You like the career you are following.

You like how you spend your free time away from work. You have surrounded yourself with family and friends who bring you great joy.”

–Anahid Vrana

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 47

GRACE WALDRON Emily Graban, the granddaughter of Grace “Gracie” Waldron, right, shared a few words about her grandmother, who recently passed. “My grandmother wasn’t afraid to try anything, and she’d accept any dare or challenge,” Graban says. “She used to say, ‘If you always play by the rules, you’ll miss a lot of life!’”

Graban remembers her grandmother’s love for film and art; her regal, classic fashion sense.

“I have a handful of her items in my closet now,” Graban says. She says that her grandmother always knew how to choose the pieces that gave her the most confidence.

Her fashion M.O. was to dress smart, find a balance between understated and striking, and, of course, break a few rules. Graban recalls the special moments of watching her grandmother interact with her own son, even in those final days. “She’d light up when her grandkids or great-grandbabies were with her, cooing and fawning all over them,” Graban says.

“It’s when she was her sweetest, and so fun to be around.”

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KYARA FRANZEN Kyara Franzen, left, the daughter of Elvira Finch, is the youngest grandmother in the series. She says that watching her daughters become mothers has been one of her life’s greatest gifts. “There is no limit to the amount of joy and love each granddaughter has brought into my life,” she says. Franzen’s confident sense of style is inspired by fashion icons like Coco Rocha and Carmen Dell’Orefice. She says that being fabulous is about embracing how she looks and feels.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 49

ROBYN ALEXANDER Davis recalls the natural poise of Alexander, left, who hails from California, as she sat in her makeup chair, as if she were a pro.

“Robyn showed me that she was totally feeling herself and her confidence about the way she looked,” Davis says. “She kept saying how beautiful she felt and how much fun it was for her to spend the whole day with her granddaughter.” Davis says it was during Alexander’s shoot when the realization hit that we are all just girls, no matter what our age. “It’ll always be fun to dress up, put on lipstick, and act silly with our best girlfriends close by,” she says. Alexander’s granddaughter, Taylor Muehlfelder, said her grandmother planned to sit outside of her apartment after the shoot so her good hair and makeup wouldn’t go to waste. “She’s always been pretty stylish,” Muehlfelder says. “She was always made up even if she was just around the house.”

50 | WALTER

“I always feel comfortable with myself, with how I look and with my own selfexpression.

Happiness is being at peace with who you are and what you have, and knowing that you are accepted and loved in spite of any imperfections.”

–Sally Salang

SALLY SALANG Sally Salang, above, arrived at the studio with her husband, granddaughter and great-grandson, who was an infant at the time. “She mentioned that her hair was short because it had recently been growing back from chemotherapy, and her face beamed when we told her how amazing she looked with short hair,” Davis says. “As Jillian was photographing her, I looked over and saw that her husband had tears streaming down his face. He was smiling and saying, ‘that’s my beautiful wife!’”

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 51

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Beyond Fashion A quirky tradition at Meredith College reveals history in an unexpected way

by LORI D.R. WIGGINS

S

hould you step into Meredith College’s Johnson Hall Administration Building, look up. There, lining the walls on the third floor of the rotunda, you’ll see the Margaret Bright Gallery of Class Dolls. Get closer. Lean in. The collection is a peek into life at Meredith and beyond over a century (119 years, to be exact) serving as a fascinating time capsule.

From her style and accessories to her name and belongings, each doll represents what that year’s senior class experienced while at Meredith. Think: wars, natural disasters, elections, social movements, fashion trends, technology, altered educational and environmental landscapes. There are nods to history-makers, on- and off-campus life; trinkets that distinguish their class and celebrate all Meredith girls; homages to diversity, study abroad and LGBTQ+ acceptance; and tributes to folks in the Meredith family. Through her style, name and story, each doll holds clues to what each class loved, lost and learned. “Each doll really tells a story,” says Hilary Allen, Meredith’s director of Alumnae Relations and a 2001 graduate of the school.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 53

“Sometimes the dolls represent things larger than themselves.”

The Meredith Class Dolls tradition started in 1936, after Elizabeth Briggs Pittman, a leader in the Baptists’ Woman’s Missionary Union, suggested the idea to the alumnae association, says Carrie Nichols, Meredith’s archivist and technology head. (Pittman herself was not a Meredith alumna.) Alumnae and representatives from the classes of 1902 to 1935 joined the tradition, creating dolls symbolic of their own college generations for the collection. Every senior class since then has presented a doll to the alumnae association at their induction ceremony during May’s graduation festivities.

Like a mirror to society, the Class Dolls reflect the mood of a generation through the evolution of trends in fashion and accessories, while also revealing notable shifts in culture, politics and social and gender norms.

The Class Dolls of the earlier years mostly don long, white dresses like the ones graduates wore on Class Day, but as the years go on, the colors, styles—and hemlines!—evolve (though the real-life women still wear white on Class Day).

Miss 1918 wears a Red Cross uniform to salute Meredith’s student volunteers during World War I, while Miss 1947 raises her arms in victory soon after WWII. The hemlines first rise to miniskirt status for Miss 1968 and Miss 1969—but Miss 1970 wears the first pair of pants with her shag haircut. Miss 1974 sports a sweater emblazoned with “Ms.”—a tribute to the women’s movement—and Miss 1976 is the first Class Doll to have pierced ears.

The class doll of 1982 was among the

first to have a name, Nancy Diana, in honor of former First Lady Nancy Regan and Princess Diana of Wales, “two of the most recognizable and influential women in the world at that time,” her story says. The Class of 1991 presented Beverly Clark, named after the first American woman killed in action during Operation Desert Storm.

In 2001, seniors introduced the collection’s first African American doll, Cynthia Jo Hanna, to celebrate Meredith’s growing diversity. Her first name is derived from ‘centennial,’ because the class was the 100th to graduate; her middle name honors class advisor Jo Guglielmi, and her last name remembers beloved professor Sandra Hanner, who died of cancer in Spring 2001. In 2005, there’s Asia Grace McKay Fletcher, representing the Tsunami disaster that happened that year. As for her name: Grace is symbolic of how the class “gracefully handled stressful situations;” McKay honors Ruth McKay, the class of 1905’s president; and Fletcher matches the last name of that year’s class advisor.

“Sometimes the dolls represent things larger than themselves,” said Jean Jackson, a 1975 Meredith alumna who is now Vice President for College Programs and an English professor. Over the years, she said, she’s grown an appreciation for what the dolls reveal culturally. (Her year’s Class Doll wears a lapel pen that’s a replica of one that symbolized the International Day of the Woman.)

“And some of the styles are hilarious,” quips Jackson, pointing out that Miss 1975 also wears a light-orange polyester skirt. Other styles are likely eye-open-

—Jean Jackson

Miss 1991 is named Beverly Clark, after the first American female killed in action during Operation Desert Storm.

54 | WALTER

Miss 1918 wears a Red Cross

Miss 1968 is the first to raise

uniform in honor of Meredith students who volunteered during World War I.

eyebrows and hemlines in her ofthe-moment mini dress.

Miss 1947 raises her arms in victory to celebrate the end of World War II.

Miss 1970 embraces the counter culture of the new decade by being the first to sport pants.

Miss 1974 rocks a sweater emblazoned with “Ms” in solidarity with the women’s movement.

Miss 2001 is the first African American Class Doll, a welcome celebration of Meredith’s growing diversity.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 55

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“It always fascinates people to see the earliest dolls, then to see the development over time—how much diversity has come through the years.”

ing to younger generations. “I often tell students they can see through the dolls just how short their mama’s and grandmama’s skirts were!”

Looking back, Allen says, she can pinpoint where the focus of fashion transitioned from being a matter of status and “fitting in” to more of a statement about fashion fluidity, finding your own style and acceptance.

“It always fascinates people to see the earliest dolls, then to see the development over time—how much diversity has come through the years,” says Allen.

“But it’s not just the changing of styles, there’s a whole mood that changes when you see the whole collection.” As she tells students: “This is a snapshot indicative of your time at Meredith College, from the way you dressed to the things you rebelled against.”

Their first caretaker was Margaret Bright, a Meredith faculty member and alumna of the Class of 1907. Before the glass and wooden cases became their home, Bright would take the dolls out of storage each year, fluff their clothes and spruce their hair for display on Class Day, the day before graduation. Bright never missed a Meredith graduation and cared for the dolls until her death in 1969. The gallery was established in her name in 1972. Last October, an eleventh case was donated by two former roommates and Meredith alumnae of 1978, in honor of their mothers, who also were roommates

and 1947 Class Doll co-chairs.

Taylor Twine is a 2013 graduate of Meredith who has advised the Class Dolls cochairs for the past three years. The focus, she says, is to build bonds among classes and across generations as students work to “tell the story of their class for themselves and for the classes before and after.”

Always a doll lover, Anna Griffin, the class of 2020 doll cochair, grew a quick affinity for Meredith’s Class Dolls her freshman year. Along with co-chair and classmate Morgan Johnson, this year they sent surveys to all class members for their input. Until her official unveiling, Miss 2020 is a secret, but Griffin shared that Miss 2020 may include a nod to a visit by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, voting (the class entered and exits Meredith in presidential election years), the solar eclipse, the centennial of the 19th Amendment and the Big Sis, Little Sis program that pairs freshmen students with juniors.

“I’m excited to see how our idea has come together,” Griffin said.

No doubt, the Meredith Class Dolls rank high among a cache of time-honored Meredith traditions, said senior Alayna Schwenker. “It’s a great tradition, and one of the major ways Meredith highlights the diversity of our campus,” she said. “The dolls represent thoughts from everyone and include everybody’s voices. It brings people together, and makes us all feel part of something.”

—Hilary Allen

Miss 2013 wears the Meredith “uniform” of t-shirt and jeggings with a Moon & Lola necklace. The flower headband is a reminder of the daisy chain she made with her sisters on Class Day. MAY/JUNE 2020 | 57

As the novel coronavirus came to North Carolina, a photographer captured scenes around the Triangle

through the

LENS

by AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE

“I

photography by BOB KARP

just have this compulsion to shoot,” says photographer Bob Karp. “I need to go out and see what’s out there, to be a witness to things other people can’t see.” It’s that compulsion that led him to downtown Raleigh and Durham in the days after Governor Roy Cooper issued the stay-athome order. “I just wanted to see what was out there, to see how people would express themselves, to see who was coming to work,” says Karp. “I wanted to see the difference between yesterday and today.” On his way in from Cary, where he lives with his family, he found his first sure sign of change: the GPS estimated a 15-minute trip, instead of 30 minutes. Downtown, parking was easy and free, and he set to walking.

First, Karp camped outside the Raleigh Times, hoping to get a nice shot of the line outside the coffee shop (see page 64). Instead, a big truck parked right in front. “I was angry because I wanted to get a particular picture… but then I saw the delivery guy with the mask on,” he says. “It wasn’t early in the outbreak, but it was the first person I saw wearing a mask.” Karp ended up talking with the man, Donnie Ellis of Wilson, NC, for a while. “It’s funny how people get very chatty when they’re home alone— sometimes people don’t want to engage—but in a situation like this, everyone wants to know the same things: What have you seen? What else is out there? How are things on the other side of town?” Karp says. “People want reassurance that everything is still there.”

Karp shot these photographs over two weeks, sometimes camping out for hours waiting for someone to walk by once he found the perfect location. Sometimes he’d pull over on the side of the road if a detail caught his eye. “If I have the opportunity to get these photos out there so I can move people, or educate them in some way—I feel like that is my purpose,” says Karp. “I think about things in future terms: today, this might be a good photo. But 100 years from now, it will be a great photo, because it will tell the story of history.”

58 | WALTER

BRAVING THE CITY A woman walks across Fayetteville Street in front of the Capitol on the first workday after the Wake County stay-athome proclamation.

“The lighting was perfect, and the woman came out of a building. The look in her eyes—not defeated, but resigned—summed it up: this is my life now,” says Karp.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 59

MOMENTS AROUND TOWN Above: The historic Rialto Theater, the oldest movie theater in Raleigh and among the few cinemas that have been in continuous operation since opening in 1942.

“I like going to theaters and churches, anywhere you know there’s going to be a message, to see how people express themselves,” says Karp. “When I think about what this theater has seen—wars, depressions and now this—the message was so succinct and clear. Everyone who walked by stopped and looked.” Left: A statue at Glenview Cemetery in Durham. “I was driving towards Durham and saw these praying hands and thought, that’s something. They were surrounded by headstones, and seemed to give a message of hope. I was moved by the memorial,” says Karp. Opposite page: A sign in the window of Benny Capitale's Pizza in downtown Raleigh. “Everybody’s eaten off of one of those plates at midnight! Here, I loved the iconic shapes and colors, the composition and lighting—all of that, plus the message, you can’t eat here!” says Karp.

60 | WALTER

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 61

62 | WALTER

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS Opposite: Karp’s neighborhood was one of many that created a “bear hunt” for children. “We didn’t have a bear, so we propped up the armadillo mascot of the 2014 World Cup games in Brazil,” says Karp.

“We have tons of kids in our neighborhood and I hope it made some of them smile!”

This page: Warren Moore of Raleigh in front of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. “When Warren passed by, I walked into the middle of the street and took the picture” says Karp. “Afterward, I introduced myself, and we talked for a while. And it’s just two guys, talking about our days—but at the same time we’re trying to stay far away, and to figure out how to be respectful.”

“Everyone wants to know the same things: What have you seen? What else is out there? How are things on the other side of town?” People want reassurance that everything is still there.”

— Bob Karp

86 | WALTER

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 63

MAJOR-LY SAFE Above: Major the Bull wears a face mask in downtown Durham. “I love Durham because it’s such a cool town, and it was just so Durham to put a mask on Major,” says Karp. “People kept coming up every five minutes to take a picture and laugh—there was one guy in particular, on a bike, who gave this huge belly laugh and jumped off for a photo—and how it uplifted people to find some humor in this sad time touched me.” Left: Donnie Ellis making deliveries to the Raleigh Times. He was the first person Karp saw in a mask.

64 | WALTER

Take us along for the ride

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THE WHIRL Marc Ridel Creative

WALTER’s roundup of galas, gatherings, fundraisers and just-for-fun events around the Triangle.

Jenny Ross celebrates with Jerry Ross and Kim Ross at A Winter’s Tale

67 Into the Wild 68 A Winter’s Tale 70 United Arts Welcome Reception for Charles Phaneuf 71 Campbell Law Unveils Public Art

During this time of social distancing, we want to see how you are staying connected with your community. Submit images of your porch parties, drive-by birthday celebrations and Zoom happy hours on our website waltermagazine.com 66 | WALTER

THE WHIRL

Ken Demery Photography

INTO THE WILD Into the Wild with NC Arts in Action was celebrated February 29 at the Nature Research Center. The evening honored the work of NC Arts in Action, its sponsors, and the success of the program. NC Arts in Action reaches more than 900 children in Wake County through dance and live music across fourth grade classrooms.

Using dance, music and performance, the program instills self-esteem, perseverance and excellence in children. Through the generous support of individual sponsors, businesses, foundations and its partners such as the Wake County Public School System, NC Arts in Action continues to expand, making an impact on the lives of more children every year.

Marlon Torres, Rachel Lee, Kim Demery, NC AIA Dancers, Kathy Schwering

Debra Schafrath, Paperhand Puppet, Matt Craig

Valonda Calloway, Kim Demery

Marlon Torres, Paperhand Puppet

Sam Chubb

MAY/JUNE 2020 | 67

THE WHIRL A WINTER’S TALE A Winter’s Tale gala was held February 1 at the Raleigh Convention Center to benefit Methodist Home for Children, an organization that works to create safe, stable homes for children in North Carolina.

John Clark, Val Clark

Anderson Davis, Jessica Vickers, Kathryn Donohue

Mary Penn Sherlin, Joy Clayton

Muffy Grant, Easter Maynard

Julie Murphy, Isabel Villa-Garciaz

Marc Ridel Creative

Cal Maxwell, Elizabeth Maxwell, Ken Maxwell, Christina Maxwell

68 | WALTER

Maddy Carlson

Holt McPherson, Amie McPherson, Emily Yoon, John Yoon

5011C Falls of Neuse Raleigh, NC 27609

919.876.1838

Marnie Cohen, Jerod Cohen

carriagehouseclothing.com @carriagehouseclothing

THE WHIRL UNITED ARTS FIRST FRIDAY WELCOME RECEPTION FOR CHARLES PHANEUF United Arts held a welcome reception for Charles Phaneuf, the organization’s new president, on March 6. The event doubled as an opening for a new exhibit by artist Georges Le Chevallier. The paintings were inspired by local chefs, and the reception was sponsored by Trophy Brewing and Wegmans of Raleigh.

Edith Berry, Kelly Lumpkin, Adrienne Kelly-Lumpkin, Tina Morris-Anderson, Paul Anderson

Ken Spry, Slee Arnold, Lyman Collins

Eric Watko, Lizette Watko, Don Davis

Chris Janaro

Robert Courts, Freddie-Lee Heath, Georges Le Chevallier, Mark Steward

Ryan Cottrell, Anna Churchill, Martin Seligson

70 | WALTER

THE WHIRL

Courtesy Campbell Law School

CAMPBELL LAW UNVEILS NEW THOMAS SAYRE PUBLIC ART A new Thomas Sayre public art piece has been installed at the entrance to Campbell Law School’s downtown Raleigh campus. Entitled Preponderance, the sculptures were commissioned as part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the law school’s first graduating class and the 10th anniversary of the law school’s move from Buies Creek to downtown Raleigh. Preponderance—named after the legal standard of evidence—soars more than 20 feet tall (more than three times the height of the average person) above the law school’s main entrance off Hillsborough Street.

CO M I N G I N

J. Rich Leonard, Thomas Sayre

JULY 2020 Celia Rivenbark bakes bread Cartoonist Jack Pittman Restoring a Rosenwald School

END NOTE

Friendly Competition

F

YORK: Since there are no rules, I’ve jump-started my

campaign already.

WOODARD: I'm not surprised! You never have been one concerned about fair play. You may think you’re ahead now, but I’ll cross the finish line way in front of you and the crown will again be mine! I'm ready to talk smack if you are.

WOODARD: Actually, a “smackdown” might be more appropriate, since I’m sure my win versus loss record over these many years is far superior.

YORK: Then how about this: you will go down like the Titanic.

WOODARD: The real Titanic was found by my friend, Dr. Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts. It remains full of treasure. I may sink in this upcoming battle, but eventually, I will be raised up and my treasure—far beyond anything you can imagine or ever produce—will be brought forth for THE KIDS. That's when I shall claim my justified victory!

YORK: Then think of me as the iceberg.

WOODARD: Meaning..? A landing site for gulls, seals and other stranded creatures who proceed to defile that fresh white ice coating?

YORK: Meaning that when you run into that iceberg in the form of a former mayor—DOWN, you will go.

WOODARD: Oh, I clearly understood. BUT... it was so far-fetched I responded in a way that gave no indication of how remote your disguised threat really is...

For more information about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County, visit choosebgc.org

72 | WALTER

Courtesy Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County

or 40 years, Thad Woodard and Smedes York have led fundraising efforts for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County’s annual campaign through a unique mix of genuine passion… and creative smack-talking. This spring, after raising well over a million dollars together, Woodard, the former president of the NC Bankers Association, and York, president of York Properties and a former mayor, will be competing for the last time. On June 30, they’ll crown the ultimate victor and let a new generation take over. They shared a sample of the repartee that has inspired their friends to open up their wallets—for a great cause—for decades.

Please visit www.diamondsdirect.com to work with our team remotely.

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