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Left: A fun day at the beach. Right: Celebrating former Gov. Roy Cooper’s portrait unveiling with, from left to right, Jean Daniel, Julie Nickens, Ying-He Liu, Jennie Hayman and Nancy Andrews.
Ijust love the beach. Growing up, we’d spend time up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. My dad’s friend was an ocean lifeguard, which afforded him a government-issued cottage for the summer, so we’d pile in with his family. It was quite small and there was no air conditioning — but those minor discomforts were worth it to be right at the edge of the dune. We’d spend all day in and out of the water boogie-boarding, jumping waves, building sand castles and collecting shells. Often, we’d close out the night in sweatshirts around a bonfire.
Flash forward about 30 years: At the beginning of the summer, we took a long weekend trip to Emerald Isle and met up with a couple other families. It was a joy to see our daughters and their friends enjoy the beach in all the same ways we remember, the water and the sand an irresistible invitation to play.
After the kids spent many industrious hours capturing minnows and sand crabs and gathering them into a bucket, the day turned rainy. We headed in for a bit, the grown-ups working on dinner prep, the kids reconnecting with their screens. But soon the sun peeked out, so we headed back to the sand, the beach now nearly deserted. The girls were on the fence about getting in again. The waves were tempting, but no one wanted to
change back into their wet bathing suits. I turned to my youngest. Why don’t you just get in naked, I joked. She looked at me like I was crazy, laughed… and then considered it. Soon, the kids were egging each other on, loving the idea but not quite ready to take the plunge. Suddenly, one of the moms sprinted into the water with a whoop! Instantly, the kids followed suit, their first foray into skinny-dipping. They were in there for a while, laughing and playing in the waves, the moms hollering out a warning if anyone walked down the shore. Finally, we called them out for supper, wrapping the kids in warm towels fresh from the dryer. It was a highlight of the trip.
We’ll head back to the beach a few more times before the end of the season, and I can’t wait to see if this bit of mischief becomes one of their traditions.
Ayn-Monique Klahre Editor
AUGUST 2025
PUBLISHER
DAVID WORONOFF
EDITORIAL
Editor
AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com
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ADDIE LADNER addie@waltermagazine.com
Contributing Poetry Editor Jaki Shelton Green
Contributing Copy Editor Finn Cohen
Contributing Writers
Catherine Currin, Jim Dodson, Mike Dunn, Tonya Holy Elk, David Menconi, Liza Roberts, Rachel Simon, Katherine Snow Smith, Helen Yoest
Contributing Photographers
Samantha Everette, Justin Hall, Keith Isaacs, Terrence Jones, Forrest Mason, Catherine Nguyen, Bryan Regan, Michele Squillantini
Contributing Illustrators Gerry O’Neill, Stu Fjellanger
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TONYA HOLY ELK / POET
Tonya Holy Elk (Oglala Lakota/ Lumbee) is an Indigenous poet, author and educator who lives in the swamplands and farmlands of southeastern North Carolina. Her creative work can be found in the North Carolina Literary Review, Indigenous journal Yellow Medicine Review and various North Carolina poetry anthologies. Connect with Elk on social media @tonya_ . “There is so much diversity in this part of North Carolina. From the farmlands of the golden leaf to the rich Indigenous history deep rooted in the fertile soil of the swamplands; I wanted to capture its beauty with words.”
LIZA ROBERTS / WRITER
Liza Roberts is the author of Art of the State: Celebrating the Visual Art of North Carolina, published by UNC Press in 2022. She was the founding editor and general manager of WALTER and is grateful for the ongoing opportunity to learn and write about the remarkable visual artists of our state. “It was great to catch up with the talented Barbara Campbell Thomas, who I featured in my book as well!”
MASON / PHOTOGRAPHER
Forrest Mason is a food-focused photographer, video producer and documentary filmmaker based in Chapel Hill. You can see his latest video segment on My Home, NC on PBS in the episode entitled “The Hands That Feed Us.” On photographing this month’s restaurant: “Mala Pata is a special place with an amazing team of long-time F&B veterans, and it really shows. The menu is fresh and thoughtful and the space is colorful and vibrant. Check ‘em out!”
STU FJELLANGER / ILLUSTRATOR
Stu Fjellanger is an illustrator and lives in Raleigh. He graduated from Minneapolis College of Art and Design with a BFA in Design and has an MFA in Illustration from the University of Hartford, CT. Fjellanger works with a variety of mediums such as printmaking, digital tools and mixed media. He has taught art, design and digital art at Meredith College and in various secondary schools in North Carolina. “I really enjoyed illustrating the poem ‘Harvest Time.’ Being from the Upper Midwest, it was exciting to create images based on the poem’s rich, colorful description of crops common to North Carolina.”
“I wanted to compliment Colony and Autumn on the beautiful article. It has so much detail and is very interesting.”
— Annette Martin, on “From Canvas to Camera”
“It’s like WALTER peaked at my summer bucket list!”
— Liz McLean, on the July cover
“All I have to say is this is ONE amazing photo by Baxter Miller!”
— Danielle Lyn, on the June cover
our January isssue.
“I’ve long admired Jennifer Clifton’s artwork, whose pieces I’d seen in my favorite local restaurant, Irregardless. When her piece landed on the cover, I knew instantly that it belonged in my foyer! I reached out to Jennifer and she created an original Sir Walter just for my space!”
Jennifer Romano
We’re excited to unveil The Clubhouse, the stunning centerpiece of our reimagined campus, featuring beautifully designed one-, two-, and three-bedroom penthouse residences. It’s senior living reimagined –where every detail is tailored to elevate your expectations.
Before summer ends, soak up the season with outdoor pop-up markets, art and wine classes and, of course, cool sweet treats.
DRIPPING WITH FLAVOR It’s hot out there! Luckily, we have a solid artisan popsicle scene to keep us cool. One local maker is La Michoacana Premium, an unassuming shop in Midtown that offers colorful, authentic Mexican paletas in flavors like rice pudding, sapote fruit and strawberry pine nut (1716 Saint Albans Drive). Downtown, you can hop into Raleigh Popsicle Co., which is known for its over-the-top treats dipped in cookie crumbs or big fruit chunks. Try their summer specials, like the strawberry lemonade or watermelon (119 E. Hargett Street). You can also find Durham-based LocoPops — a Triangle favorite for 20 years — at various Raleigh retailers, including Pullen Park (520 Ashe Avenue), Weaver Street Market (404 W. Hargett Street) and NoFo (2014 Fairview Road). — Addie Ladner
by ADDIE LADNER
Aug. 6 - 24 | Various times
Originally a film starring Keri Russell, Waitress explores strength, motherhood, friendship and the power of a warm, bubbly homemade pie. The story follows Jenna, a talented baker who feels stuck in her smalltown life and her marriage. Theatre Raleigh will present the musical adaptation of the film, which features songs by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles. The lead role will be played by theater star Alyssa Fox, who has played Elphaba in Wicked on tour and Broadway. “We are thrilled to welcome Alyssa, who’s known for her powerhouse vocals. Our audiences are in for a real treat — what a delicious slice of pie this performance will be,” says director Eric Woodall. Speaking of: save room in your stomach, as Raleigh-based Slice Pie Company will be selling small pies in the lobby before and after the show. From $33; 6638 Old Wake Forest Road; theatreraleigh.com
Aug. 2 | 7 p.m.
Downtown music venue Kings is hosting pop-rock group Augustana for a cool show this month. Characterized by mellow vibes and easy-listening vocals, Augustana has toured with the likes of Maroon 5 and Counting Crows and is known for early-2000s hits like “Sweet and Low” and “Boston.” After about 20 years off, frontman Dan Layus got the
band together again for this summer reunion tour. From $30; 14 W. Martin Street; kingsraleigh.com
Aug. 7 | 6 p.m.
Talk about a summer lineup! Catch three different country acts at Red Hat Amphitheater in one evening. Indie artist Shannon McNally will kick it off with vintage-feel acoustic tunes in songs like “It’s Gonna Be a Long Night” and “Black Rose.” Then Tom Petty fans will be thrilled to hear Mike Campbell — former singer, guitarist and long-time co-songwriter for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers — along with his band, The Dirty Knobs. Clos-
ing will be a legendary five-member Atlanta band Blackberry Smoke. Drawing inspiration from classic country, gospel and heavy metal, Blackberry Smoke has had consistent songs on the Billboard Top 10 and is known for putting on a good show. Gates open at 5 p.m.! From $30; 500 S. McDowell Street; redhatamphitheater.com
TEA WITH SEAGROVE POTTERS
Aug. 9 | 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Spend the day cruising along NC Highway 705, known
All information is accurate as of press time, but please check waltermagazine.com and the event websites for the latest updates.
as “Pottery Highway” in Seagrove, on a lovely self-led driving gallery tour. Peruse handmade goods at studios like Blue Hen Pottery, Red Hare Pottery and Eck McCanless while sampling various artisan teas from Carriage House Tea and canapes from Seagrove Cafe and The Table. In addition to their regular offerings, the shops will feature everything you need to enjoy a proper tea, including handmade tea cups, pitchers and tumblers. Maps and brochures are available at each shop. Free; various locations on NC Highway 705, Seagrove; teawithseagrovepotters.com
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Ackland Art Museum, the traveling exhibition Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan will showcase ceramic works from artists who redefined the pottery genre. The pieces will be shown alongside Japanese pottery from the museum’s permanent collection, presenting both classic and contemporary works together. “This is an amazing exhibition, full of enough surprises, contrasts, challenges and sheer beauty to satisfy everyone,” says Peter Nisbet, deputy director for curatorial affairs. Free; 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill; unc.edu
Two favorite local acts with fresh albums to share will take the stage at the grand finale of Live After 5, Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s summer concert series. Rock group Jack the Radio, helmed by George Hage, will kick off the evening with songs from 2024’s Under Lonely Light. Then husband-and-wife folk duo Chatham Rabbits will serenade the crowd with music from their recent album Be Real With Me, along with favorites like “If You See Me Riding By” and “Come Home.” This block-party-style show at City Plaza also includes food and drink vendors, retail opportunities and more. Free; 400 Fayetteville Street; downtownraleigh.org
Aug. 13 | 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Everything you need to create your own block print is provided at this free artsy event, part of Dorothea Dix Park’s Connect & Create series. Art instructor Zaire Miles-Moultrie will lead the class, teaching participants how to carve designs into rubberized baseboards to create personalized stamps. Once satisfied with your perfectly imperfect design, you’ll stamp them to make various prints. Registration is required. Free; 1030 Richardson Drive;
Aug. 14 - 24 | 3 & 7:30 p.m.
See Stew, a play that was a 2010 finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for drama. It’s centered around three generations of Black women preparing an important feast in the family kitchen while danger looms outside. Touching on themes of grief,
Aug. 7 | 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Experience the distinct flavors of Spanish wine and tapas at a class by chef and sommelier Doreen Colondres. The class will explore the unique grape varietals from regions such as Rioja, Catalonia and Galicia while learning about the rich tradition of tapas in Spanish culture, with a focus on two prized ingredients: extra virgin olive oil and Iberico ham. The menu will include items like pan con tomate with jamón, a tortilla de patatas (an egg and potato dish) and Colondres’ signature spicy chickpeas and chorizo dish. Colondres says this class continues to be a crowd favorite. “It’s a relaxed, vibrant vibe combined with the excitement of learning something new and tasting something delicious. People love being transported — if only for a night — to the streets of Madrid, the wine country or San Sebastián through authentic flavors and storytelling,” says Colondres. “The wines we feature are expressive and approachable, and the tapas always bring a smile.” $99; 1053 E. Whitaker Mill Road; vitishouse.com
secrecy and deep family bonds, this emotional comedy is as compelling as they come. From $23; 107 Pullen Road; theatreinthepark.com
Aug. 23 | 3 - 9 p.m.
A lively and quirky City of Oaks tradition of more than 20 years, the Kirby Derby is a day for family fun, creativity and racing. It kicks off with a pine-car race for kids, who can bring their own homemade wooden cars to see how fast they glide (to be inspected before the
race; see website for car-size rules). The parade kicks off at 4:30 p.m., where participants dress up and walk the route or pull homemade, non-motorized floats in gear inspired by this year’s theme, Derby Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Last comes the main event, the Soapbox Derby, where homemade non-motorized “cars” of all shapes, sizes and materials will race down Dorothea Dix Park’s Harvey Hill. Free admission; Richardson Drive Loop at Tate Drive; kdd.gamil.com
Aug. 23 | 7 p.m.
When THe Princess Bride came out in 1987 it launched Cary Elwes, who played the film’s hero Westley, into fame. In the movie, Westley and Buttercup fall in love, and he leaves to find his fortune so they can marry. But after he’s presumed murdered in a pirate attack, the heartbroken Buttercup is betrothed to an awful prince and shenanigans ensue
— including a hapless kidnapping, a voyage through the Fire Swamp and a showdown with the prince and his minions. It’s been nearly 40 years since the film went on to become a cult classic. This month, Elwes will visit the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts for “The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes,” which will offer a peek at his life while filming the movie, behind-thescenes footage and never-before-shared anecdotes from the film itself. From $44; 2 E. South Street; martinmariettacenter.com
Aug. 22 | 5:30 p.m.- 10 p.m.
The North Carolina Museum of Art is screening Wicked — possibly the most sung-along-to film this past year — in Moore Square. As part of the museum’s summer movie series, see the fantasy musical starring Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba as they embark on a journey of friendship and self-discovery. The movie starts at 6 p.m., but get there early to enjoy ontheme crafts and set up your blanket and chairs. Free; 200 S. Blount Street; ncartmuseum.org
Aug. 27 | 6 - 8 p.m.
End your day at the European-inspired development Lafayette Village for their final Last Wednesday Summer Sip and Shop of the season. While it’s free to browse the stores there at any time, purchasing a ticket gets you a special wine glass, a voucher to use at one of the participating shops, a raffle ticket and other deals. Also enjoy live music! $10; 8450 Honeycutt Road; lafayettevillageraleigh.com
SUNSET SOCIAL AT THE BEND
Aug. 28 | 4 - 8 p.m
Local vintage and art market company Pop-Up Raleigh has partnered with Morgan Street’s The Bend Bar to host a lively evening of artisan shopping, music and excellent drinks and food. State of Beer will be serving special summer small plates, Trunk Show Raleigh will be there with their suite of oddities, and, of course, the drinks from The Bend will be flowing. Free; 853 W. Morgan Street; popupraleigh.com
Most Saturdays & Sundays | 1 - 4 p.m
Art, cold mimosas and a dip in the pool with friends? Sign us up. Local artist and educator Georgia Tardy, known for her modern Art Nouveau-style graphics, is hosting this lovely summer art session. Bring your gal pals and a favorite summer beverage to Tardy’s studio for a guided paint session where you will make a custom piece of work inspired by the Ndebele people of South Africa, who are known for their intricate, colorful and bold designs. While your work dries, enjoy refreshments (bottled water and fresh fruit are included) and a swim. All materials needed for the art portion are also included in your ticket. $65; 1011 S. Person Street; search “Georgia Tardy” on eventbrite.com
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by CATHERINE CURRIN
photography by FORREST MASON
It’s said that good things take time, and that’s certainly true of masa, a pillar of the menu at Mala Pata. It starts with corn sourced from Oaxaca, Mexico — a region known for centuries for its heirloom varieties of this versatile crop. “After the corn is harvested, it’s dried for several weeks in Oaxaca before it’s sent here,” says Zack Gragg, Mala Pata’s executive chef and co-owner. For this dried corn to turn into masa, it has to go through a process called nixtamalization. Gragg and his team cook the kernels for an hour, then soak it for at least 18 hours in calcium hydroxide to remove its outer skin. Then it’s rinsed, washed and ground, creating a multi-purpose ingredient with a doughy consistency and earthy flavor.
“The masa is really a labor of love,” says Gragg. “From the time we start the cooking process, it’s about a day and a half before we can use it in a dish.”
Masa can be found across the menu in many forms, from tortillas and tostadas to chips and flautas — even in cocktails. “ We are cooking about a hundred pounds of dry corn each week, and that produces about 200 pounds of masa,”
says Gragg. But the hard work pays off, says Marshall Davis, another co-owner: “We’ve had a number of folks visit us that either grew up in Mexico or have roots in Mexico that have said, this tastes like home. We live for those moments.”
Much like its key ingredient, Mala Pata has taken some time to coalesce from a pandemic idea into the brick-and-mortar restaurant that opened in May in Gateway Plaza. Along with Gragg and Davis, Mala Pata is the brainchild of Raleigh food veterans Angela Salamanca, Eric Montagne and Justin Pasfield.
The partners connected during the pandemic while working to open individual concepts at the Durham Food Hall. Each was having their own struggles opening and closing restaurant concepts, and joked about their “mala pata.” “It’s a slang term that refers to the ‘bad luck’ we have encountered,” says Salamanca, who also owns downtown’s Centro. They started cooking together, serving up food through pop-up meals at places like Raleigh Wine Shop and Longleaf Swine BBQ (where they sold out of tamales in 23 minutes at one event).
The pop-ups worked to create buzz for several years as they waited for the right space to open. “Even though it was challenging, we were lucky to work through all that together and re-envision how to approach business in the future,” Salamanca says. “It also speaks to the spirit of us as entrepreneurs — always making do with what we have, using creative ways to make things work.”
Visit Mala Pata and you’ll be convinced it’s worth the wait. Tucked into the western end of Gateway Plaza, the black facade of the restaurant is marked by a mural of a giant yellow eagle. Signage directs guests to enter through the side door, where inside they’ll find a sunny, eclectic space done in a palette of yellow, burnt orange, browns and greens. The modular space is outfitted with simple, light-wood tables and chairs; bright murals of corn and cactus adorn the walls, along with canvases depicting traditional Mexican jaguar masks painted by local artist Tyler Wolf. Pottery and clay masks hang on the wall; plants and books line the bar.
Guests can dine with a clear view of
Gragg and team in action, or for a different experience sit in the “yellow room,” a tucked-away alcove with banquette seating.
The menu is meant to be explored and shared, full of Latin American-inspired dishes to pair with bright, playful cocktails. “We’re trying to create dishes where people can really explore all of the flavors,” says Gragg. Guests will find a few twist on Mexican favorites, like the guacamole plate, which is served with pickled onion and pepitas, and ones that nod to Latin culture in novel ways, like the Piña y Queso, a salad with bright bites of grilled pineapple and queso fresco, topped with radicchio and a pineapple vinaigrette. “It’s an unexpected combo of flavors — delicate and fun,” says Salamanca. There are several taco options with fillings like pork carnitas or relleno-fried NC drum, enchiladas with a Cheerwine mole and a grilled whole fish served with mango salsa and, of course, homemade tortillas.
Davis, who partnered with Salamanca
for many years at the recently closed Gallo Pelón Mezcaleria, is leading the beverage operation for both Mala Pata and Peyote, a colorful, eclectic bar adjacent to the dining room. “Mala Pata and Peyote are a bit different from each other, but they still speak the same language,” says Gragg. Peyote has fresh takes on classic Mexican cocktails, like the Fuego Margarita (an electric-green, slightly spicy version of the classic) and the Banana Painkiller (a fruity, nutty refresher).
Davis even incorporates Mala Pata’s heirloom masa into house-made liqueurs and syrups that he uses for a variety of cocktails. One of them is the Nixta-Tonic, his take on a spritz — it’s bubbly and herbaceous with undertones of sweet corn. “ We intended that to be the drink that people start with if they’re waiting for a table or if they’re just getting a small plate at the bar,” he says.
Salamanca said that like Mala Pata, the idea for Peyote was born as a result of the many pivots they all took during the pandemic. “We knew we wanted a small
bar that could operate independently from the restaurant,” she says. “We wanted the space to feel fun and funky, and in one of our brainstorming sessions we joked about doing Peyote so we could get into an altered headspace to come up with a name.” Contrary to popular mythology, Salamanca says, the team never actually did get into the peyote, “but the name stuck,” she laughs. While still in development, Peyote will eventually have a smaller, slightly varied bar menu that pulls from Mala Pata’s vernacular, geared toward snacks like chips and queso and late-night bites like pizza-box nachos.
Despite some “bad luck” along the way (delays, permits, construction woes), the decision to open in Gateway was an easy one from the start, Salamanca says: “We’re excited about helping to revitalize a plaza that’s been part of the city’s history for such a long time.” Agrees Gragg: “There’s some really talented people in this area and everyone’s just been extremely supportive of each other’s growth.”
Dragonflies and damselflies are dazzling insects — and fierce predators
words and photography by
MIKE DUNN
I’ve been fascinated by water since childhood, when my Dad introduced me to fishing. As almost any kid will do, I tended to explore the water’s edge more than I actually fished during our trips. There is so much life to be found around any body of water. As I grew older, I kept returning to aquatic habitats — canoeing, learning to scuba dive in college and doing my graduate studies on aspects of aquatic ecosystems. My career took me to amazing waterways across the state and the world. And almost everywhere I have been where there was a freshwater stream, lake or swamp — or even just a roadside ditch — there has been one group of insects
that has garnered my attention: dragonflies.
Dragonflies, and their smaller cousins, the damselflies, are members of the insect order Odonata. That name means “toothed jaw” and refers to the serrated mouthparts of the group.
Though you may see them far from any water, all phases of the life cycle of dragonflies are tied to aquatic habitats. The dazzling and flashy adults you see streaking along a pond edge start as eggs that, depending on the species, are laid in water on or in aquatic plants, mud or even a water-soaked log. The time to hatch can vary from a few weeks to months depending on the species and environmental conditions, especially temperature.
Dragonflies spend most of their lives as larvae called nymphs. They are voracious predators on other aquatic critters, from tiny mosquito larvae to larger prey such as tadpoles and even small fish. Nymphs have six legs, small wing buds and an extendable hinged jaw (called a labium). To picture their jaw, imagine yourself as a dragonfly nymph: fold your arms down on your chest with your forearms held tightly together and put your hands against your mouth, fingers interlocked like a serrated jaw. As prey swims close, you extend your arms out (forearms still together) and grab it at a rate faster than a human eye can blink. That is how a dragonfly nymph catches its food.
Back in college, I had a freshwater aquarium in our apartment (thanks to an interesting aquatic entomology class I had taken). I stocked it with some critters from a local pond, including a couple of large dragonfly nymphs, some diving beetles and some tadpoles. I soon noticed I had fewer tadpoles and started paying closer attention. One day I saw one of the big dragonfly nymphs (about 2 inches long) slowly stalk and grab a
tadpole with its lightning quick labium. It pulled it in and started tearing it apart with its mandibles — fascinating, but the stuff of tadpole nightmares for sure. My business-major roommate wasn’t thrilled when a huge dragonfly emerged one afternoon and started cruising around the living room.
One other unusual thing about dragonfly nymphs is that they breathe through their bottoms (or more precisely, they have rectal gills located inside their abdomen). Nymphs pump water in and out of their hind end and the gills absorb oxygen from the water. They can also forcefully expel water from their abdomen for a quick getaway via jet propulsion.
Depending on the species and environmental conditions, nymphs remain in the water from a few months to several years. When it is time to transform to a winged adult, the nymph crawls out of the water onto a plant stem or other vertical surface and begins its final molt. The larval skin splits down the back and a winged adult pulls out, remaining in a pale, vulnerable stage called a teneral for an hour or more as its exoskeleton and wings harden.
Males establish territories and vigorously defend them from other males. If you sit by the edge of a pond you can see males patrolling back and forth and engaging in “aerial dog fights” with other dragonflies. Females select a mate based on her idea of the most favorable egg-laying habitat. The mating ritual is rather bizarre, with the male grabbing the female behind the head with claspers at the rear of his abdomen. She then curls her abdomen and connects with his abdomen in a so-called “wheel position” to get fertilized. In some species, he stays and guards her while she deposits the eggs for the next generation of dragonflies. Dragonflies are prey for many other animals. Fish, frogs and turtles eat nymphs; spiders, birds, and other dragonflies eat adults.
A few of the 136 species of dragonflies found in North Carolina are migratory. Some, like the Common Green darner,
undergo seasonal migrations over a few generations from the southern U.S. and the Caribbean to northern states and back. One species, the Wandering glider, is a global traveler. It is the most widely distributed dragonfly, with records from every continent except Antarctica. And genetic studies have shown it may be the record-holder for long-distance insect migration, with some individuals migrating over 3,000 miles. This species lays eggs in temporary pools like those formed by rainwater. (Unfortunately, they can be fooled by reflections from a shiny car hood. I had read about this phenomenon and one day witnessed a female tapping its abdomen on the hood of my parked car; I could see the small
eggs she had dropped!)
They say the best way to learn something is to teach it. That is definitely true for me. I helped teach a couple of dragonfly and damselfly workshops when I worked at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. One was held at the pond at the museum’s Prairie Ridge Ecostation. We all had a great time observing and catching Odonates — the latter activity is not an easy task, by the way — and we saw an amazing variety in one afternoon. They are a fascinating and beautiful group of insects, and I encourage you to take a walk along a river or lake this summer and take some time to marvel at these tiny masters of the air.
Clockwise from top left: Dragonfly exuviae; Blue dasher; Halloween pennant; Goldenwinged skimmers mating in wheel position.
Wall Street bankers know stocks.... but what about neighborhoods in Raleigh?
Tre. Charles creates ethereal soundscapes with influences of R&B, alternative rock and more
by DAVID MENCONI
photography by SAMANTHA EVERETTE
Afew months back, Tre. Charles faced a tall order. It was this year’s first “Live After 5” show and he was the opening act, playing in daylight as a crowd gathered at City Plaza in downtown Raleigh. Early on, the crowd trickling in seemed inattentive enough that Charles resorted to between-song jokes to get a reaction.
“I moonlight as a comedian,” he cracked.
Even though the vibe of Charles’ music
was better suited to darkness, the crowd gradually came around as the set continued on. Applause grew louder with each song, especially when he’d play “reimaginings” — covers of songs by Bill Withers and Frank Ocean; even The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” — bathed in the reverb-drenched echoes of his guitar. By the end, he’d won the crowd over.
“That was a rough one,” Charles said a few days later. “One of those gigs where a bunch of people just want free music to dance to. It turned out fine, but it’s always better to have an engaged crowd. One of the best was Newport. You could just tell everybody there wanted to experience all the art and stories.”
That was last year’s Newport Jazz Festival, where Charles played alongside acts including former OutKast rapper André 3000, New Orleans soul legend Irma Thomas and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elvis Costello. Charles’ music is similarly eclectic, equal parts R&B and 1990s-vintage alternative rock. The piano riffs layered with chill, ethereal guitar soundscapes on his current release Here We Are. owe almost as much to Cocteau Twins as the late soul man Ray Charles.
Among Charles’ fans is Haw River Ballroom co-owner Heather LaGarde, who booked him for a “Saturdays in Saxapahaw” show earlier this year. To her, his music is “poignant, soulful, gut-wrenching and soaring.”
“He means everything that pours out of him,” LaGarde says. “The music is so genuine and open, and you can see it costs him something to create and share from such a deep place. But he is willing to, and it feels like trust in both directions from artist to audience and back. It’s a communion with Tre., and the music is so intricate, precise and sophisticated.”
Truly, Charles is unafraid to put himself out there. One of the tracks on his record is titled “(the session.) – Interlude,” a recorded snippet of an actual therapy
session. Like all his titles and his name, the period is there for a reason.
“That symbolizes a hard stop,” Charles says. “It took some abrupt, dramatic and traumatic stops before I got into this, so it’s a good reminder — an Easter egg to remember why I do it and how I started. There are pivot points that life gives you, and you can respond to or ignore them.”
Now 34 years old, he was born Trey Charles Horton in upstate New York and grew up mostly near Charlotte. The extent of his formal musical training was high school chorus, and his initial artistic path was acting. But that didn’t work out and he wound up working in restaurants. Then came one of those pivot points, a near-fatal 2019 car accident.
While he’d been playing guitar informally, music became a more serious pursuit after his recovery. He taught himself how to really play guitar and record, using what he jokingly calls “YouTube University” for training.
Shortening his performing name to Tre. Charles, he also took his first tentative steps toward music performance at karaoke bars and open-mic nights. He stood out right away, a musician whose influences ran from the offbeat R&B of Erykah Badu to the anthemic rock of Bon Jovi to the dreamy pop of the Cranberries records his parents played. An alternative rock, of sorts, contrasting ambient sonics with his husky croon.
“I always liked the lushness of big swells and reverb, music that evokes emotion,” he says.
“The swelling reverb lushness is the easiest way for me to come to that. I always try for a bigger cinematic experience.”
Charles moved to the Triangle about five years ago with his partner, visual artist Mayanthi Jaawardena (the bike mural on an exterior wall of Raleigh’s Exploris Middle School is one of her works). They’re both mak-
ing a go of it as full-time artists.
“The music is so genuine and open, and you can see it costs him something to create and share from such a deep place.”
— HEATHER LAGARDE
For Charles, part of that is live gigs. His recordings are one-man-band affairs where he plays and sings everything, but playing onstage takes other players. For his “Live After 5” show, he was backed up by Keenan “XOXOK” Jenkins on bass and drummer Carl Jenkins (no relation). Charles has come a long way since his first tentative show years ago in Charlotte, where he was accompanied by a friend playing piano.
“I did not know what I was doing,” he says with a laugh. “So I’d strum a chord, sing a line. Rough. But now the band thing is a whole new dynamic, because I’ve been used to doing everything myself. It’s an adjustment. I am making music as a form of therapy for me, to promote being more human and more present.”
As sweet as honey, figs ripen at the peak of summer, offering a tasty reward for toiling away in our heat! While others may be more creative — putting figs on a salad, making jam or Newtons — I enjoy my figs just as they are. I’ll walk by a tree, find a ripe one or two, and pop them right into my mouth. So delicious! — Helen Yoest
Figs thrive in North Carolina’s Piedmont soils, but can also do well on the coast and out west, with additional care. Currently, I grow seven varieties of figs, which provide me with sweet delights from late spring through late fall. They include Brown Turkey, a widely available plant that produces two crops (one in the spring, which sprouts on last year’s growth, and a second, larger crop from about mid-August through September). For fig harvests throughout the summer and into late fall, consider planting Marseilles, Celeste and Kadota varieties, which each have a slightly different growing season. Figs are easy to propagate from cuttings, so if you enjoy a taste off your neighbor’s tree, ask for a branch. Dip the cut end in a rooting hormone, like Root Tone, and place in a container with potting mix to start a new plant.
It’s time to plant cool-weather crops such as arugula, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and a Southern favorite, collards. Sowing seeds is a good way to start cool-weather crops, since heat is naturally provided; just be sure to keep them watered. While you wait for them to grow, continue harvesting summer crops like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and basil, which will keep going well into September.
Providing flowers for pollinators like butterflies, hummingbirds and bees is essential as the summer wanes, since they’re preparing for migration or hibernation. Some worthy pollinator plants for full sun include the Blazing Star, goldenrod and coneflowers. For an area of full sun to partial shade, consider Cardinal flower or Joe-pye weed. This time of year, buy plants at the nursery and plant them twice the width of the nursery container, but no deeper than the soil level.
by LIZA ROBERTS
The paintings of Barbara Campbell Thomas are often warped, subtly but unmistakably. Their geometry, the linear shapes and pieces and colors that comprise them, have a slightly distorted quality. Rectangles are implied, but some appear to have had a bounce or inhaled a lungful of air. Others seem to have been shaken up or spun around. That’s partly due to the kinetic energy they capture, which seems to indicate recent — even ongoing — movement. It’s also because they are surprising. Campbell Thomas calls these works paintings, but a careful look makes it clear they are made mostly of pieced fabric. They’re quiltlike, hand-sewn, dimensional. Stretched in unexpected ways. And then painted.
“The pulling and the tension is still an important part of it,” she says. “It’s become even more magical. I spend all of this time in this initial phase, and I
kind of have an idea of what it’s going to look like when I finish. Then I put it up, and it’s interesting to see what has been pulled and how the image has come to life in a different way.”
Campbell Thomas is the director of the School of Art at University of North Carolina Greensboro and has taught there for more than two decades. Her resume is filled with solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries around the country. Last year alone, her work was shown in solo and two-person exhibitions in Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Columbus, Ohio. She has been awarded a number of prestigious residencies, including at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and has been a recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council fellowship.
When she takes on a new body of work (like the 10 paintings she’s currently preparing for a November exhibition at
Charlotte’s Hidell Brooks Gallery), she approaches it with the businesslike, stepby-step planning of a senior academic administrator — but she executes that work with daring and intuition. Campbell Thomas has learned to navigate this duality effectively with time, even as her art has become increasingly complex and her process more fully immersive.
“The piecing and sewing portion has become more complicated and elaborate, involving a lot more small pieces of fabric,” she says. “I’m understanding that layer of the process in a deeper way, so I’m spending more time in that part of the process.”
The stretching of the pieced fabric, which creates its cantilevered quality, comes next. Once this “ground” of her paintings is set, Campbell Thomas hangs them all around her in her studio. In that way, her physical space can better reflect her “headspace,” she says, “and then the
imagery: I understand better what it wants to be.” She can visualize how paint and collage will come together upon these sewn surfaces: “The movement of the pieces feels like the big strokes,” she says, “and the collage will be how I refine them, add nuances or cover things that need to be pushed down. The paintings become more refined. I begin to understand how to contend with the edges.”
The studio where she does this work, next to her house in rural Climax, North Carolina, is about 14 miles south of Greensboro. It is a color-jangled, layered collage of a space, overflowing with textiles, history, tradition, mysticism, books, paints, and threads and fabrics of every imaginable color, pattern, size and shape.
What’s outside — the fields and trees and open expanse of nature — is just as important. “I live out in the country and walking has been very important to me for my whole life. Walking on country roads, being in a beautiful landscape, has always been a touchstone,” she says.
Lately, Campbell Thomas has been creating “landscapes” of a different sort: “I’ve been thinking about inhabiting a body, and what it means to feel somehow spacious internally. What would it be to create landscapes that are suggestive of our interior landscape? How do we create spaciousness for ourselves?”
The fractalized nature of her paintings, the way they often begin in the center and move out to the edges, is her way of representing that phenom-
enon: “That’s me grappling with that question: how do we inhabit interior spaciousness?”
Navigating dichotomies fuels other types of her work, too. The line where quilting ends and painting begins is another puzzle to ponder, as is the difference between a painting (or, her version of a painting) and a quilt (a distinct form of art she also makes).
It’s something she’s often asked about, and something she thinks about a lot. But even as piecing and sewing has become a more comprehensive part of her painting process, she has no doubt that what she makes are paintings. “My orientation as an artist is born in paint and the framework I still operate within has matured and evolved from an understanding of paint as a material,” she says. “That continues to inform everything.”
That dialogue began many years ago with her mother. She’s the one who
taught Campbell Thomas how to quilt. But it extends through her family tree, to her grandmother and great-grandmothers, makers and stitchers and quilters all. Campbell Thomas has their names listed on her studio wall as inspiration and as a reminder of her heritage. The art journals she carefully keeps are bound with cloth covers made by her mother, who sends her a regular supply.
In these journals, she examines her process and her purpose. Abstraction, she says, allows her to say things she can’t with more literal or figurative types of work. “I’m really fascinated with my sense that there is more to the world than what we can see, and of course that starts to tap into realms of the spirit,” she says. “On the one hand, I’m engaging in this intensely material endeavor, through paint; through fabric. But there’s also this way that this engagement, which is now well over 20 years for me, is a way into spirit.”
About 15 years ago, Diaper Train started as a single diaper drive at Christ Church in downtown Raleigh. Today, it’s a mainstay social service that last year served more than 19,000 children and 21 partner agencies across Wake County.
“It’s not just about a diaper — it’s about dignity, stability and the well-being of an entire family. When basic needs go unmet, the effects ripple across communities,” says Katie Lowek, the nonprofit’s executive director. Infants require up to 12 diapers per day, at a cost of $80 to $100 or more per month per baby, according to the National Diaper Bank Network, but they aren’t covered by public assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or SNAP for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Without diapers, children can’t go to daycare, and children who sit in soiled diapers for extended times can get a rash or infection. “Parents that have diaper insecurity
by KATHERINE SNOW SMITH
report missing an average of five days of work per month,” says Lowek.
That’s why Christ Church members Cameron Ellerbe and Allene Adams spearheaded their first drive in 2010.
Adams had volunteered for a similar program in Maine before she and her husband, Christ Church rector Rev. James P. Adams, moved to Raleigh earlier that year. Wanting to do something similar in her new home, she placed a query for volunteers to start a diaper bank in the church bulletin. Ellerbe, who had recently learned that diapers weren’t covered by food assistance programs, had been trying to find a way to help. “And then I saw that in the bulletin,” she recalls. “It was like serendipity.”’
More than a hundred packs of diapers came in from that first drive. “The second or third client that Allene and I served said, When word gets out about this, you’re going to have people wrapped around the building,” says Ellerbe. So the duo made a plan to continue the program, giving out
diapers on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the basement of Saint Saviour’s Center, which housed other community outreach organizations in its Tucker Street building downtown.
Their client was right: within weeks, nearly 200 families visited Diaper Train’s small office each day they were open. Mothers, fathers and grandparents cradling babies and holding toddlers’ hands crowded the lobby. Volunteers fetched diapers in the right size, hugged moms and asked to feed a bottle here and there. In addition to providing diapers, Diaper Train also embraced the church’s literacy ministry, handing out a book for each child. Children of volunteers sat crisscross applesauce on the floor reading books to clients’ children.
The need for diapers was much greater than Ellerbe knew. “People would tell me they were putting their kids in Harris Teeter bags for diapers. They would have one diaper and re-use it. They were using towels for diapers,” she says.
Over the next few years, Diaper Train received grants from family foundations and businesses. They enlisted other nonprofits, businesses and churches — among them First Presbyterian Church, Hillyer Memorial Christian Church, White Memorial Presbyterian Church and St. Michael’s Episcopal Church — to hold diaper drives and recruit volunteers to build up its ability to serve more clients. The local chapter of the National Charity League, which connects mothers and daughters with volunteer programs, took up Diaper Train as a cause.
“People would tell me they were putting their kids in Harris Teeter bags for diapers. They would have one diaper and re-use it. They were using towels for diapers.”
Diaper Train now raises money from grants and fundraisers to purchase diapers in bulk — in 2024, it gave out nearly 900,000 diapers. It has grown from a core group of about 25 volunteers to more than 900 today. In addition to giving diapers to individuals, the organization also serves as a “diaper pantry” for distributing partner agencies such as SAFEchild, InterAct of Wake County and WakeMed Pediatrics. “We really appreciate Diaper Train so much. They are always ready to help,” says Cristina Madrid, a care management representative at WakeMed Pediatrics, which refers about 10 families a week to Diaper Train for supplies.
grab the supplies and delivered them. This delivery system turned out to work well enough for clients that they kept it in place after COVID. “Before, parents were having to get their children out of car seats or wake up sleeping babies and bring them inside,” Lowek says. “It also allows for quicker service when many parents are coming in the middle of the day from work on their lunch breaks.”
To further expand their reach, two years ago Diaper Train bought a van. “This has been a game changer,” Lowek says. “It’s allowing us to reach parents in parts of Wake County where transportation is a barrier.”
of Central & Eastern North Carolina. Urban Ministries is right down the road,” says Lowek. Dress for Success and the NC Works Career Center are both in the same small office park as Diaper Train. “It makes it easier for clients,” Lowek adds. She and the Diaper Train team are hoping for a big turnout at their annual “Bottoms Up” fundraiser in September to help cover the expenses. “We lost $50,000 in rental incomes from parents who [sublet] our space and will accrue over $70,000 annually in [higher] rental expenses,” Lowek says.
This year, Diaper Train expects to give out 1 million diapers. “Demand is higher than ever, and we’re committed to keeping up and meeting the needs of the families we serve,” Lowek says. Clients like Dorothy Daniels rely on this commitment each month.
— CAMERON ELLERBE
Volunteers and staff fill the van with diapers, tables and signs, then set up at resource fairs in places like Raleigh’s Roberts Park or Fiesta Cristiana Church in Apex. Along with handing out diapers to patrons, “it allows us to tell them about our services and how they can access our diapers on a regular basis,” Lowek says.
“Diaper Train is part of me and my baby’s village,” Daniels says. “I wouldn’t be able to get a full day’s work without knowing that my baby was supplied at daycare… It’s consistent help.”
In 2020, during the pandemic, the Diaper Train lobby at Saint Saviour’s Center fell silent, but the need was greater than ever. “Our clients were the waitresses and the retail workers and the cooks that were out of work,” says longtime volunteer and board member Lisa Gwyn. By April, the Diaper Train team had worked out a fix: clients parked or waited on foot in the parking lot and volunteers came out in gloves and masks, asked for the ages of their children, went in to
In May, Diaper Train moved to a new location on Tillery Place off Capital Boulevard, after the Saint Saviour’s Center building was put on the market. The tenants were given six months to move out. “Having to relocate within such a short window was an enormous blow to our organization because we didn’t have the time to fundraise or adequately plan for such a major transition,” Lowek says. While the move was a large and unexpected expense, there have been some silver linings. The new 4,000-squarefoot building is in a small office park with plenty of parking and a stop for the GoRaleigh bus line right in front, which makes it more accessible to clients. Plus, Diaper Train is now closer to many other service organizations. “This area is becoming a hub for nonprofits — The Salvation Army, The Green Chair Project, Tools4Schools, the Food Bank
by JIM DODSON illustration by GERRY O’NEILL
Most mornings before I begin writing — often in the dark before sunrise — I light a candle that sits on my desk.
Somehow, this daily act of creating a wee flame gives me a sense of setting the day in motion and being “away” from the madding world before it wakes. I sometimes feel like a monk scribbling in a cave.
It could also be a divine hangover from early years spent serving as an acolyte at church, where I relished lighting the tapers amid the mingling scents of candle wax, furniture polish and old hymnals, a smell that I associated with people of faith in a world that forever hovered above the abyss.
The word “light” is used hundreds of times in the Bible, throughout both Old and New Testaments. On day one of creation, according to Genesis, God “let there be light” and followed up His artistry on day four by introducing darkness, giving light even greater meaning. The Book of Isaiah talks about a savior being a “light unto the gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the world.” Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the “Light of the world.”
But spiritual light is not exclusive to Christianity. In the Torah, light is the first thing God creates, meant to symbolize knowledge, enlightenment and God’s presence in the world. Surah An-Nur chapter 24, verse 35 of the Quran, meanwhile, is
a lyrical stanza known as the “Verse of Light.” It declares that God is the light of the heavens and the Earth, revealed like a glass lamp shining in the darkness, “illuminating the moon and stars.”
Religious symbolism aside, light is something most of us probably take for granted until we are stopped in our tracks, captivated by the stunning light show of a magnificent sunrise or sunset, a brief and ephemeral painting that vanishes before our eyes.
The intense midday light of summer, on the other hand, is something I’ve never quite come to terms with. Many decades ago, on my first trip to Europe, I was fascinated (and quite pleased, to be honest) to discover that, in most Mediterranean
countries, the blazing noonday sun brings life to a near standstill. Shops close and folks retreat to cooler quarters to rest, nap or pause for a midday meal of cheese and chilled fruit. I remember stepping into a zinc bar in Seville, Spain, around noon and finding half the city’s cab drivers hunkered along the bar. The other half, I was informed, were catching z’s in their cabs in shaded alleyways. The city was at a complete sun-mused halt.
The Spanish ritual of the afternoon siesta seems entirely sensible to me — a confirmed post-lunch nap-taker — and is proof of English playwright Noël Coward’s timely admonition that “only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.” Spend a late summer week along the Costa del Sol and you can’t avoid running into partying Brits on holiday, most as red as boiled lobsters from too much sun.
In his raw and gothic 1932 novel, Light in August, a study of lost souls and violent individuals in a Depression-era Southern town, William Faulkner employs the imagery of light to illuminate marginalized people struggling to find both meaning and acceptance in the rigid fundamentalism of the Jim Crow South.
For years, critics have debated the title of the book, with most assuming it is a direct reference to a house fire at the story’s center.
The author begged to differ, however, finally clearing up the mystery in the 1950s: “In August in Mississippi, there are a few days somewhere about the middle of the month when suddenly there’s a foretaste of fall,” he said. “It’s cool, there’s a lambence, a soft, a luminous quality to the light, as though it came not from just today but from back in the old classic times. It might have fauns and satyrs and the gods — from Greece, from Olympus — in it somewhere. It lasts just for a day or two, then it’s gone… the title reminded me of that time, of a luminosity older than our Christian civilization.”
I read Light in August in college and, frankly, didn’t much care for it, probably because, when it comes to Southern
literature, I’m far more attuned to the works of Reynolds Price and Walker Percy than those of the Sage of Yoknapatawpha County. By contrast, a wonderful book of recent vintage, Anthony Doerr’s All THe Light We Cannot See, tells the moving story of a blind French girl and young German soldier whose starstruck paths cross in the brutality
Religious symbolism aside, light is something most of us probably take for granted until we are stopped in our tracks, captivated by the stunning light show of a magnificent sunrise or sunset, a brief and ephemeral painting that vanishes before our eyes.
of World War II’s final days, a poignant tale shot through with images of metaphorical light in a world consumed by darkness.
But I think I understand what Faulkner was getting at. Somewhere about midway through August, as the long, hot hours of summer begin to slowly wane, sunlight takes a gentler slant on the landscape and thins out a bit, presaging summer’s end.
I witnessed this phenomenon powerfully during the two decades we lived on a forested coastal hill in Maine, where summers are generally brief and cool affairs that are also prone to punishing mid-season droughts. Many was the July day that I stood watering my parched garden, shaking my cosmic gardener’s fist at the stingy gods of the heavens, having given up simple prayers for rain.
On the plus side, almost overnight come mid-August, the temperatures turned noticeably cooler, often preceding a rainstorm that broke the drought.
When summer invariably turns off the spigot here in our neck of the Carolina woods, sometime around late June or early July, I still perform a mental rain dance, hoping to conjure afternoon thunderstorms that boil up out of nowhere and dump enough rain to leave the ground briefly refreshed.
I’ve been fascinated by summer thunderstorms since I was a kid growing up in the South. Under a dome of intense summer heat and sunlight, where “men’s collars wilted before nine in the morning” and “ladies bathed before noon” (to borrow Harper Lee’s famous description of mythical Maycomb), I learned to keep a sharp eye and ear out for darkening skies and the rumble of distant thunder. I still gravitate to the porch whenever a thunderstorm looms, marveling at the power of nature to remind us of man’s puny place on this great, big, blue planet.
Such storms often leave glorious rainbows in their wake, supposedly a sign (as I long-ago learned in summer Bible School) of God’s promise to never again destroy the world with floods.
Science, meanwhile, explains that rainbows are produced when sunlight strikes raindrops at a precise angle, refracting a spectrum of primary colors.
Whichever reasoning you prefer, rainbows are pretty darn magical.
As the thinning light of August and the candle flame on my desk serve to remind me, the passing days of summer and its rainbows are ephemeral gifts that should awaken us to beauty and gratitude before they disappear.
For 70 amazing years, you—the people of North Carolina—have been by our side. You’ve inspired us and cheered us on since our first telecast back in 1955. Together, we’ve welcomed Mr. Rogers to our neighborhood, gotten our hands dirty with This Old House and gone on countless trips with NC Weekend. We’ve mastered the art of French cooking with Julia, found our roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and rummaged through every yard sale looking for the next big Antiques Roadshow discovery.
Because of you, PBS North Carolina has expanded beyond broadcast television to educate, inform, entertain and inspire all North Carolinians—at home, in the classroom or on the go. Your support has made all of this possible, and for that we’re forever grateful.
So here’s to you for 70 wonderful years! And stay tuned as the best is yet to come.
by TONYA HOLY ELK
illustration by STU FJELLANGER
Brown tobacco fields. Sticky leaves hang, sag, touch the dusty, rich soil. Mother Earth gives food & precious medicines to feed and heal.
Down the road, three sisters’ — corn, beans, squash, wait in summer’s heat. Harvest time. Golden silks blow like hair. Tall green stalks embrace sweet golden ears.
Underneath — butter bean bushes snuggle. Plump green beans dangle like earrings. Nestled low to the shaded ground, bright yellow squash glow — as if painted by the sun.
Inside the sacred circle, is life. Seasons to plant, grow and harvest. Bright new moon settles gently, close to Mother Earth as if to whisper —
change
Southeast North Carolina. Dusty dirt roads, fields of snow white cotton and purple-vine pea fields. Cheraw, Siouan, Lumbee and Coharie gather — past black tea-colored waterways. Ready for harvest time.
An unlikely romance between a group of Raleigh families and a storied Italian castle C
by ADDIE LADNER
In the early 1300s, Italy’s most famous poet, Dante Alighieri, was accused of corruption and fled to the Casentino Valley, about 45 miles from Florence. Legend has it that he took refuge in the Castello di Porciano, one of many castles owned by the Guidi counts. The castle sits more than 2,000 feet above sea level, the highest point in the valley, in a part of Tuscany where the Arno River forms before it weaves 150 miles to the ocean. There, Dante began writing some of his most famous letters, including “To the Price and People of Italy,” “To the Florentines” and “To Henry VII.”
When Florentine troops came searching for him, they encountered a man they took to be a villager and asked him if he’d seen the poet. “Well, he was there when I was there,” replied Dante. It’s a favorite local tale.
Today, the stone walls still stand. The castle tower and its accompanying stone cottages, collectively known as Porciano, overlook a valley dotted with olive groves, laurel trees and stone houses. Gravel roads trace through wild patches of lemon balm, blueberry thickets and native irises.
But its latest chapter — as an immersive overnight and dining destination — is one with Raleigh roots.
CAbout 15 years ago, Raleighites Will a nd Molly Volker decided to get married in the Casentino Valley. Raleigh native Molly had first visited Italy as a teen on a school trip, then went on to earn both bachelors and masters’ degrees in the language and teach it at the college level. The two were married at Castello di Poppi, a grandly restored, Renaissance-era estate, but stayed at the nearby Castello di Porciano in the province of Arezzo. In this area of Tuscany, castles are fairly common, a remnant of the days when prominent Italian families erected giant structures to keep watch and defend their land. While at the Castello di Porciano, they befriended Martha Specht, its
countess. Though Italy doesn’t officially recognize noble titles anymore, she was for all intents and purposes the lady of the castle, which had been in her family since the 18th century. For Martha’s parents, Porciano was a love story. Her mother, Flaminia Goretti de Flamini, came from an aristocratic Florentine family. Flaminia met Martha’s father, George Specht, after World War II. He was a Minnesota country boy who became a lawyer, then joined the Army, serving in Africa and Italy. Flaminia had volunteered as a Red Cross nurse, and the two met at a party for Allied forces celebrating the end of the war. “That changed their lives completely,” says Martha. In t he early 1960s, Flaminia and
George embarked on a grand adventure to restore the castle of Porciano, which was nearly in ruin due to an earthquake in the early 1900s. “For 12 years, we were up in the valley staying at different places working to revive it,” Martha says.
As a n adult, Martha used the tower as her family’s private residence to enjoy time outside of Florence and used the cottages (acquired by her parents in the late ‘60s and ‘70s) as vacation rentals. But by 2020, she was looking to sell the castle. She’d attracted an investor from New York who was offering a nice price, but it didn’t feel right. “It became too much for me to continue running, but I wanted someone who’d appreciate its history and
carry on my family’s legacy,” she says.
In t he meantime, the Volkers and Molly’s parents, Betsy and Gene Conti, had begun visiting the area every summer. They bought a house in the area in 2013 and had become friends with Martha. Knowing that the Contis had come to love the culture and community of this region, Martha approached the couple with the idea of selling them the castle. “She thought we’d preserve the character and history,” says Gene. Being such a big, multifaceted investment — including not just the tower, but the cottages as well — they knew they would need more than just their own resources.
The Contis and the Volkers started working to put together an investment
Opposite page: The Casentino Valley is a part of Tuscany that’s rich with native vegetation. This page: A museum occupies the first and second floors of the castle. It’s open to the public and full of archaeological finds from the area, as well as information about the the castle and the region’s agricultural history. Bottom left: The Volker family.
This page: On the grounds of Porciano are heirloom roses, mulberry trees, concord grapevines and irises planted by Martha Specht, the countess of the castle. Bottom left: The exterior of one of the cottages. Bottom right: Guests enjoying the grounds. Opposite page: A view from the tower.
group, all close friends or friendsof-friends based in North Carolina, to help acquire it. They recruited 11 families, among them Ron and Nancy McFarlane, Becky and Justin Griffin and Don and Albera Parson. “It happened pretty organically. It was important for us to put together the right group of people who would appreciate something like this and would work well together,” says Will.
Na ncy remembers being perplexed when the Contis first approached her and Ron with the idea. “I was like, You want us to buy a castle in Italy? We don’t need that! ” she laughs. “But the more we learned about it, it didn’t feel like investing in stocks. It felt like investing in a community.”
In December 2021, the sale went through. The investors put together a five-year plan to get Porciano up and running for guests and began integrating themselves into the community and its culture. To manage the property, the Volkers sold their house in Oakwood and moved to Italy with their two children, Liam and Daisy, then 7 and 4. “They were nervous but mostly excited about the adventure. The community was so welcoming to them,” says Molly. Though they didn’t have experience in hospitality management, they were eager to immerse themselves in the trade. The goal in the first years was to make the property more comfortable for American guests: minor updates like getting new beds and bedding, plus making aesthetic improvements like painting walls and opening up rooms. “There was so much beauty already. We just did a gradual cottage-by-cottage refurbishment to create a more uniform feel but retain the Tuscan charm and the amazing elements that were already here,” says Molly.
Since then, they’ve painted walls, refreshed appliances, added local artwork and opened up the spaces. The Volkers learned to navigate multiple levels of approvals, plus the local culture — not just requesting a permit from city council, but going through the art and historical superintendent, working
This and opposite page: The third through fifth floor of the castle are available to overnight guests and include common areas, a library and medieval-style bedrooms.
“ There was so much beauty already. We just did a gradual cottage-bycottage refurbishment to create a more uniform feel but retain the Tuscan charm and the amazing elements that were already here.”
– Molly Volker
This page: Scenes from
a farm-to-table
the
opened in a converted barn on the property. Opposite page: The terrace outside the tower of Castello
where they often host events such as art receptions, weddings or dinners.
with a local architect and allowing the locals to have a say in everything from the materials used to the windows to the placement of structures. “Everything is done in a very serious way to maintain the historical look,” says Molly, noting that the castle and all the cottages maintain their original stone and ironwork. Adds Will: “And this is Italy, so you won’t be able to get a plumber for a few hours each day after lunch. The process can be a bit slow.”
CToday, Porciano is essentially a small v illage that can accommodate about 30 guests between the tower and its seven cottages. The tower has five floors, with a small museum on the first two
and private living and guests spaces on the other three. Inside the museum, guests can find dozens of Tuscan relics, most unearthed by Martha’s parents when they restored the tower. Among them are Etruscan pottery and Roman artifacts. In one bedroom, a rare wooden Madonna from the Veneto region hangs on a wall and a 14th-century headboard from a convent anchors the guest bed.
For the guest rooms, the team brought in bedding from Tuscany-based linen purveyor Busatti, locally made ceramics and soap made from the nearby Dominican sisters of Santa Maria de Lane. The cottages — most two stories and all connected in a row — finely balance 14th-century elements, like exposed stonework, wooden beams and
still-life paintings, with the comforts of modern hospitality. “People have told us they felt like we were bringing life back into Porciano — and that’s such a good feeling,” says Will.
To r un the village, the team enlisted locals Nicoletta Lupa, the hospitality manager, and Daniela Zotica, the director of the house. In 2023, the team converted a nearby, ancient barn into a 20-person restaurant, Ristorante Il Fienile at Porciano, and brought on another local, head chef Catalin Lupu. In the mornings, they offer locally made pistachio croissants, seasonal fruit and cappuccinos; dinner specials include regional specialties like gorgonzola lasagna and fried artichokes. Lunch is never before 1 p.m., shorter than two hours or served without wine. “Wine is a food group here, there’s no lunch or dinner without it,” laughs Molly. Dinner is even longer.
Visitors to Porciano may wake to the sound of locals working on a nearby roof or the aroma of concord grapes from an arbor nearby. The view out the window encompasses red ceramic rooftops, olive tree patches and container gardens on neighbors’ terraces. Molly might organize a trip to a sheep farm to learn how to make pecorino cheese or a visit to La Verna Sanctuario, a Franciscan monastery in the mountains. “It’s this old world, human-to-human immersive experience that you get when you come here,” says Will.
A 20 -minute walk into Stia, the small town down the mountain, offers a glimpse of rural Tuscan life. Visitors enjoy long, leisurely lunches, pop into shops and take respite inside ancient churches. Schoolchildren play in the piazza — the Volker children Liam and Daisy among them, now fluent in Italian and indiscernible from other kids popping into the gelato shop. “I’m so grateful that these lovely people have taken over the castle,” says Martha. “They’re continuing this love story that connects Italy and the States.” Says Gene: “It became a dream, then a reality.”
In Nancy McClure’s Atlantic Beach home, the family area is a study in symmetry, from the built-ins that flank the mantel to the matching sofas and chairs that mirror each other. “We just wanted a comfortable place that the whole family could enjoy together,” says interior designer Liles Dunnigan.
Artist and gallery owner Nancy McClure brings a painterly touch to her beach house
For over 25 years, Raleigh gallery owner and painter Nancy McClure and her family spent summers in Atlantic Beach.
And about 20 years ago, they found their own beach house — a classic build with knotty pine walls and ceilings on a quiet, dead-end road. “It was adorable, but our friends would laugh when they’d come over and see the size of our kitchen,” says Nancy. “Still, we made some unbelievable meals!”
But as Nancy and Jeff’s kids Lacy and Trey grew up — and added significant others and grandkids to the mix — the home started to show its age. “My husband is really good at fixing things, but soon we found we were putting BandAids on the house every weekend,” Nancy says. So a couple years ago, they made the tough decision to bulldoze and build fresh. “It was very emotional,” she says.
With her art and design background, Nancy got to work planning her dream home. “In my mind, I’d been designing for years — I had a giant spiral notebook full of photos and tears from magazines,” she says. “I knew exactly what I wanted.” She drew the plans herself, then worked with an architect to make sure the home was structurally sound.
“You know, make sure we had load-bearing walls, figure out the plumbing, that sort of thing,” she says. Then she enlisted her longtime friend, interior designer Liles Dunnigan, to help navigate finishes, fixtures and furniture. “Liles guided me all the way through,” Nancy says.
and the ocean.” On the ocean-facing side, the second and third floors have generous balconies to take in the view, as well.
“In my mind, I’d been designing for years — I had a giant spiral notebook full of photos and tears from magazines.” — Nancy McClure
The top floor is mostly open-plan, encompassing the dining area, large living area and kitchen. “I knew I wanted space for entertaining,” Nancy says. “Though the walk-in pantry might be one of my favorite rooms — it holds all the things I don’t want to look at.” The living area is designed in two parts, with a pair of sofas and chairs arranged around a mantel on one end and a more intimate seating area on the other. “You can sit and have a conversation, or spin around to watch football in the family room,” Dunnigan says.
rooms, a laundry room and Nancy’s studio. The area under the deck is partially enclosed by privacy walls that let in tons of light. “I didn’t want people to watch me while I paint!” she says. The ground floor often serves as an temporary gallery, a place to hang her oil paintings as they dry. Throughout the home, art takes center stage. Its walls are filled with original art from local painters like James Kerr, Steven Moore, Trip Park and Susan Hecht — not to mention many of Nancy’s own pieces. “When I designed the home, I specifically made art walls in every room. I knew where the art was going and worked with the electrician to make sure the outlets would not be in the way,” Nancy says.
“She’d done a lot of research and had thought about it forever, so she had a good sense of what she wanted,” says Dunnigan. The new home is three stories tall, with the kitchen and family areas on the top floor and bedrooms on the first and second floors. “It’s sort of a reverse floor plan,” says Dunnigan, “but they wanted to capture that 360-degree view — from the top floor, you can see both the sound
For the middle level, Nancy designed a foyer to serve as the formal entrance to the home, since it’s accessed from a set of stairs outside. The star of the foyer may be the knotty pine ceiling, which Jeff salvaged from their old house. “It was super labor-intensive, but it adds a lot of character to this home,” says Dunnigan. This floor also includes three bedrooms and an office, which is currently serving as their youngest grandchild’s room.
The lowest level includes two guest
The color palette of the home, too, was designed in line with Nancy’s artistic style: lots of greens and blues, just like her paintings, but in muted tones to not distract from what’s hanging on the walls. “I wanted the home to feel light, airy and open,” she says. “But I also wanted the art to really pop.” It all harmonizes like a well-done landscape painting, with a balanced composition and color scheme, and the attention to detail that brings it to life. “So often in decorating, the art is the last thing homeowners think about, but Nancy comes at decorating with an artistic point of view,” says Dunnigan. “Art is very important here — it’s not an afterthought.”
Opposite page: While the family tends to enter through the garage door on the ground floor, Nancy wanted to create a welcoming foyer for guests in the second floor entrance, which is accessed by outside stairs. Dunnigan outfitted it with a curvy pencil bamboo console topped with an ornate mirror. To the sides, a set of fish-motif plates that Nancy found at Hunt & Gather set a beachy tone. On the opposite wall, one of Nancy’s paintings hangs above a bench. The knotty pine ceiling was made with wood from their previous home. This page, top: Dunnigan painted the kitchen island periwinkle, but kept the rest of the space neutral with white cabinets. Gold-toned pendants and task lighting give the space a bit of glamour, while the rattan-wrapped chairs balance it with a casual, beachy feel. This page, bottom: In the open-plan living space, Dunnigan created an intimate seating area with four swivel chairs. Two of Nancy’s paintings flank a window. Dunnigan chose fabrics in a similar color scheme in both the living and conversation areas to unify the open-plan space without being too matchy.
Top: Dunnigan found the Palm Beach-inspired chairs on 1st Dibs. A chandelier by Raleigh artisan Louise Gaskill hangs above the dining table, within a seafoam green ceiling inset. The sideboard is a family piece. Bottom left: Dunnigan designed a built-in bar with a mirrored backsplash and quartz countertops (“The bar was very important!” says Nancy). Above it hangs a piece by Raleigh artist Susan Hecht depicting, appropriately, wine bottles and glasses. Bottom right: In the powder room, floral Lee Jofa wallpaper sets the tone with a cabinet and vanity from Worlds Away and bamboo-inspired sconces from Visual Comfort.
Top left: Dunnigan chose a simple palette of aqua and white for daughter Lacy’s room. A tall bed upholstered in a soft white ticking stripe is paired with wall sconces to add reading light without sacrificing table spaces. The colorful shams are a Lee Jofa fabric. Top right: Botanical-inspired sconces and overhead lighting give the elegant, all-white bathroom a sense of whimsy. “And mounting the sconces on the full-wall mirror really opens up the space,” says Dunnigan. The acrylic and polished nickel hardware is from Wilkinson’s. Bottom: In the primary bedroom, a rose-and-periwinkle scheme was pulled from the James Kerr painting above the bed. A blue-painted ceiling and romantic white chandelier give it depth.
ON YOUR MARK...
Xerfero et as auda conet latur offic tem intions ecabor sequas
by RACHEL SIMON
photographs by JUSTIN HALL
The Sir Walter Miler is a homegrown race that draws international talent
One of the biggest events in Raleigh this summer is also one of the fastest. On Friday, Aug. 8, over two dozen elite runners from all over the world — along with thousands of spectators — will descend upon the City of Oaks for the Sir Walter Miler. It’s a race that only takes its top athletes around 4 1/2 minutes to complete, but it has an impact that lasts for long after.
Founded in 2014 by three passionate runners and Triangle residents, the Miler unofficially began the year prior with a simple goal: to help former North Carolina State University track star Sandy Roberts, one of the event’s co-founders, break a 4-minute mile. It was a feat that hadn’t been achieved in Raleigh for 40 years. Roberts teamed up with his brother and coach, Logan, to put on a one-person race at Cardinal Gibbons High School, and they collaborated with their friend Pat Price, a fellow runner and sports blogger, to gather a crowd of spectators. To all of their surprise, nearly 500 people came out, with many standing directly on the track as they cheered Roberts on. And while he unfortunately didn’t meet his time goal, the crowd’s enthusiasm inspired the trio to consider future expansion.
“A bunch of people came up to us and were like, Wow, you guys should do this on a bigger scale,” recalls Price.
The next year, the men — now operating as the nonprofit Sir Walter Running — put their dream of a grander event into action. They invited top runners from across the country to the race and used funds from a successful Kickstarter to pay for their travel and a $1,000 prize. (In a show of “true Southern hospitality,” says Roberts, the athletes stayed at the houses of local Raleigh families.) They held the event at Meredith College, which Roberts’ mother and wife had both attended, and partnered with the just-opened Raleigh Brewing Company across the street for a beer-fueled afterparty. Only three runners ended up competing in each of the men’s and women’s races, but the event — which allowed
“We’re celebrating the depth of the local running community, but we also get to celebrate Raleigh.” — Sandy Roberts
Clockwise from top left: Fans greet Alexina Teubel to the start line. Waleed Suliman takes the win in the 2024 Men’s Elite Mile in 3:51.89 (Meet Record/ State Record). Pat Price hoists the Hayes Barton Cup for the Winner of the Run Club Relay. Dorcus Ewoi after her win of the 2024 Women’s Elite Mile. The Men’s Elite field is paced through the first few laps.
spectators to cheer from the track and culminated in a casual meet-and-greet at Umstead Park the next day — gathered enough interest to warrant a third year. “It’s just grown ever since,” says Price.
Going into its 12th year, the Miler has evolved into a full week of running fun that draws upwards of 5,000 fans and has seen over 100 record-breaking performances, including 80 runs under the 4-minute mark. The main race, which takes place on a Friday night, takes under an hour total, with attractions like food trucks and carnival rides for spectators of all ages. But athletes of all skill levels can participate in the all-downhill Raleigh RunDown the next morning, and there are a variety of other low-stakes competitions and pop-up events throughout the week. Brands like Adidas and Nike have joined as sponsors, and Sir Walter Running uses the entry fees from its Raleigh Holiday Half-Marathon and other races through the year to help offset costs.
“We want it to be something that will interest folks who may not know track,” says Roberts. “We’re celebrating the depth of the local running community, but we also get to celebrate Raleigh.”
Indeed, the Miler’s increasing popularity has drawn a higher-than-ever caliber of athletes to the city, making it a priority for elite runners, says Roberts. The Miler’s $10,000 in prize money (plus bonus incentives) and all-week fun are certainly contributors, but a larger reason is the race uniquely allowing athletes and fans to literally (and loudly) come together in support of the sport.
Craig Engels, a renowned middle-distance runner and North Carolina native who ran track alongside Roberts, competed in his first Miler in 2017. “I ended up breaking four minutes in a mile for the first time there in front of my family and friends,” he recalls. Engels has run the race three times since and plans to keep doing the Miler as long as he’s able.
“I love this race and I love competing in front of people from North Carolina,” he says. “The crowd at this race is unmatched. It’s almost deafening how loud they are — and it’s amazing how much hype they bring.”
Thank you to Walter Magazine for the great work you do in our community.
Bank of America’s goal is simple — to help make financial lives better. Whether that means owning a home, starting a business, building savings and credit, or being a great place to work, we connect the people in our communities to the things that matter most.
Kari Stoltz Market President bankofamerica.com/thetriangle
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SCAN HERE FOR TICKETS
Our signature event includes professional workshops, networking opportunities, a seated dinner and thought-provoking talks by local women leaders.
Friday, September 5
The Umstead Hotel & Spa
We are delighted to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of WINnovation! Originally conceived by WALTER staffers Liza Roberts and Jesma Reynolds in partnership Kari Stoltz and Virginia Parker of Bank of America, the first WINnovation, in September 2015, was billed as “an elegant dinner celebrating women and innovation“ and held at The Angus Barn Pavilion. The first event included six panelists who shared short “WIN Talks” outlining their experience with entrepreneurship and innovation.
Since 2016, the event has taken place over dinner at The Umstead Hotel & Spa. The evening has also expanded to include professional workshops and networking. But each year, the core of the event has remained the same: gathering women leaders in our community to share their stories. Over the past ten years, we’ve discussed just about every topic related to women in the workplace — from fueling ambition to finding balance, from overcoming failure to mentoring fresh talent, from navigating workplace politics to leading solo.
Here are a few of the speakers we’ve highlighted over the past 10 years (with WALTER staffers noted in italics) — and get to know our WINnovation 2025 speakers on page 71!
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Sara Abernethy is a restaurateur, wine expert and epicurean. She is co-founder of Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing in downtown Raleigh and Glasshouse Kitchen in Research Triangle Park and holds the prestigious Level 3 Award in Wines from the Wine Spirit Education & Trust. Prior to her career in hospitality, Abernethy worked in business development and sales for various companies including Cloud Giants, KELL Partners, Classy and Rosemont Media, with a concentration in Salesforce implementation and data migration. A trained opera singer, Abernethy also performs with the North Carolina Master Chorale.
Dallas Bonavita is a founding board member and the first Executive Director of Note in the Pocket, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing clothing insecurity. She is passionate about enhancing the social, emotional, mental, physical and academic development of young people to end generational poverty. Her diverse professional experiences include roles as an activities director for beachfront hotels, a disability specialist, a real estate relocation consultant and co-creator/owner of Kids Gym, Inc., before dedicating time to being a fulltime parent. Bonavita is a North Carolina native who moved to Raleigh in the early 1990s.
As the secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Pamela Brewington Cashwell oversees nearly 2,400 employees and more than 100 locations across the state. Prior to DNCR, Cashwell served as secretary of the NC Department of Administration, worked at the NC Department of Public Safety and NC State Ethics Commission, and as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. Hailing from the Coharie and Lumbee tribes of North Carolina, Cashwell is the first American Indian woman to head a cabinet department in North Carolina.
Carly P. Jones is a cultural strategist, performing artist and president & CEO of Artspace, a visual arts nonprofit that combines accessible arts education, contemporary exhibitions, artist residencies and studio space to support creative careers and community connection. With a formal education in performing arts and arts administration, Jones has held leadership roles at arts organizations of all sizes and previously led statewide grantmaking and cultural preservation at the NC Arts Council. Jones serves on the boards of Arts North Carolina and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, championing the arts as civic infrastructure.
The secret to success is surrounding yourself with people who believe in you. At North State Bank, we’re more than bankers; we’re partners who help you rise, grow, and thrive.
Presenting sponsor of NC State’s Women’s Basketball
4:00 PM I Startup Workshops
Guests participate in one of three workshops led by area career coaches and entrepreneurs.
5:30 PM I Networking
Over wine and hors d’oeuvres, guests connect with each other and share their insights.
6:30 PM I Program
While the speakers share their stories, guests enjoy a three-course dinner. Over dessert, guests can participate in a Q&A.
WORKSHOP 1
Your Hormones Aren’t Broken — You’re Just in Transition
Led by DR. SUSAN LOVELLE
Physician and Executive Performance Strategist, Balanced Performance Lovelle is a former award-winning plastic surgeon known as The Thrive Architect who helps high-performing executives reclaim energy, clarity and resilience without burning out. What if your brain fog, weight gain or emotional swings weren’t signs of personal failure, but rather normal shifts that no one showed you how to handle? Lovelle demystifies the hormone changes that occur in midlife and shows professional women how to harness their body’s natural transitions as fuel for innovation, leadership and renewed vitality.
WORKSHOP 2
Whole, Wise and Worthy: The New Standard of Leadership
Led by CHERYL D. GOULD
CEO of Cheryl Gould Consulting and VP of Human Resources for a national nonprofit With over 25 years in HR and leadership, Gould helps small businesses and mission-driven leaders grow through people-first practices. Stepping into your full self isn’t just good for your well-being — it’s a power move. Too many women leaders spend years performing success: saying yes when they want to say no, overdelivering to prove their value and leading with half of who they really are. Gould invites you to challenge the pressure to perform and push women to embrace their leadership identity from the inside out.
3
Living With More Joy
Led by NICOLE HENDERSON-BENACH
Motivational Speaker & Author
With over two decades of heartcentered leadership experience, Henderson-Benach remains dedicated to helping women live their best lives. In this workshop she shares her proprietary Take5 technique that quickly gets you unstuck in any situation. Imagine the fight-or-flight feeling vanishing, while endless possibilities flow easily to you while your stress melts away. Open your heart to more moments of joy without any hesitation.
2025 1
Join us for an unforgettable evening where elegance meets purpose, all in support of Pretty In Pink Foundation. The Pink Pumps and Bow Ties Gala isn’t just a party- it’s a powerful tribute to the hope, resilience, and unity of the breast cancer community we serve.
Savor a multi-course dinner by Angus Barn’s renowned chefs
Bid on incredible one-of-a-kind live and silent auction items
Enter to win a stunning 1-carat diamond necklace
Enjoy lively entertainment paired with powerful purpose
Get your tickets, become a sponsor, make a gift, and learn moreeverything’s at our event website. And you don’t have to attend this sell-out event to participate in our silent auction! Keep an eye out on the event website as we add exciting items!
Scan for event details, including tickets & sponsorships:
https://onecau.se/ppbt25
Pretty In Pink Foundation’s mission is to provide uninsured and under-insured breast cancer patients in North Carolina with financial assistance for quality, lifesaving medical treatment.
Dr. Lisa Tolnitch, a world-renowned Raleigh breast cancer surgeon founded Pretty In Pink Foundation in 2004 after seeing the need firsthand. Since then, the foundation has covered the cost of thousands of lifesaving treatments for North Carolina breast cancer patients.
At just 38, Priscilla was a single mom, Wake County teacher, and former college athlete training for triathlons when her world was turned upside down by a breast cancer diagnosis. Her first thought: “I have to beat this for my son.” She had recently switched to a more affordable health plan to make ends meet, never imagining how costly her diagnosis would become. That’s when Pretty In Pink Foundation stepped in.
WALTER’s roundup of gatherings, celebrations, fundraisers and more around Raleigh.
On June 5, the Executive Mansion Fine Arts Committee and Executive Mansion Fund, Inc., hosted a reception at the Executive Mansion to celebrate the unveiling of the official portrait of former Gov. Roy A. Cooper. The portrait artist, Ying-He Liu, is the first woman to paint an official portrait of a North Carolina Governor. This celebration is a continuation of a tradition that sees the North Carolina Governors’ official portraits hung inside the Governor’s mansion.
CAROLINA CUSTOM KITCHEN AND BATH 20TH ANNIVERSARY
Friends, family, vendors and partners of Carolina Custom Kitchen and Bath gathered together on May 1 to celebrate 20 years in business. Held at their Raleigh showroom, the event featured remarks from owner Gresham Riggs, catering from The Butcher’s Market and raffles as guests tried their hand at the golf simulator and enjoyed live music. The moment was commemorated by leaving a message on CCKB’s original logo.
The Filotimo Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and encouraging adults living with cystic fibrosis, hosted its inaugural gala on May 16 at The Pavilion at The Angus Barn in Raleigh. The event welcomed 300 guests and raised more than $1.3 million to expand access to essential care, resources and support systems for adults with CF. In the first half of the year alone, Filotimo has supported more than 1,500 individuals and families.
The North Carolina Symphony’s Friends of Note has become a highly anticipated event each spring, drawing business and community leaders together to celebrate learning through music. This year’s event raised a record high total to fund music education opportunities for students in all 100 North Carolina counties. Thank you to Friends of Note 2025 title sponsors Ron and Nancy McFarlane, founding sponsor PNC and everyone who supports music education in our state year-round.
On May 15, Habitat Wake hosted a mixer at the site of its Home Builders Blitz, an event that brings together builders and industry professionals to build a home from the ground up in seven days. This year they celebrated the completion of five homes built in just one week highlighting the organization’s 40-year legacy of providing housing in our community.
On May 13, the Raleigh Police Department Foundation hosted Above and Beyond, its annual fundraiser, on the rooftop of the Eastern. The night was spent honoring and celebrating the dedication of Raleigh’s officers and the vital support of the RPD Foundation. They also introduced new Raleigh Police Chief Rico Boyce to friends and donors. It was one of several events during National Police Week (May 11-17), including lighting properties in blue and honoring fallen officers with banners along Fayetteville Street.
Alluvial Decoder is a unique installation along the greenway that drives home the dangers of flooding
by AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE photography by KEITH ISAACS
You might have noticed it on a jog or bike ride along the Crabtree Creek Trail: a series of squares in primary colors that resemble maritime flags. But if you slow down, they start to reveal letters, then familiar names, like Agnes, Matthew and Floyd. Each of these storms or hurricanes caused major flooding in this area near the intersections of Glenwood Avenue and Ridge Road, just south of Crabtree Valley Mall.
Called Alluvial Decoder, the installation is by A Gang of Three, a group of artists that includes William Dodge, Lincoln Hancock and a rotating cast of collaborators; for this project it included Will Belcher, a Philadelphiabased landscape architect. Completed in 2023, it was created in response to a call from the City of Raleigh to create
an educational display to teach passersby about the floodplain. “Lincoln and I were both very familiar with the site from growing up in Raleigh — we knew the sort of devastation that has come from flooding here,” says Dodge.
In addition to the mural, the installation includes striped poles that jut from a meadow along the embankment — each a marker of the heights this creek has reached in the past. “You don’t understand how enormous a condition it is until you stand next to one of them and realize, I would be underwater right now,” says Dodge. “It’s a sort of data visualization that makes it feel immediate, embodied,” adds Hancock. Now, when the creek floods, these markers are visible above the surface, a reminder of how much higher the water could be.
The team used their backgrounds in art, design and architecture to create this site-specific piece. “We leveraged light, wind, shadows and sightlines to create the maximum environmental impact,” says Hancock. In addition to greenway traffic, part of the installation can be seen from the road. “Nearly 60,000 cars drive by this site every day, so we wanted to create some breadcrumbs, some visual interest from the road, to engage those folks as well,” says Dodge.
Dodge met at the funeral of a mutual friend, Jackson Griffin, who drowned in floodwaters after Hurricane Fran. “For us, it was more than a mural. Luke finished it on the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s death,” says Dodge. Hancock notes that the completion of the project also marked 50 years after that area was developed. “Now we know what problems are caused when the land is paved,” says Hancock.
“It’s a sort of data visualization that makes it feel immediate, embodied.”
— LINCOLN HANCOCK
The painting itself was done by Raleigh muralist Luke Buchanan. He and
In designing the poles, it became clear that the worst floods happened just after the area was developed, before Raleigh’s stormwater team worked on remediation efforts up- and downstream. But as A Gang of Three was getting ready to install the markers, another significant flood happened after a heavy rain, and they had to decide whether they were going to add another marker. “It was a reminder of just how often these things happen,” says Dodge.
Pickin’ and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.
You have rhythm. So does your heart. When your heart’s rhythm is irregular, quivering or rapid, you could have AFib, increasing your chances of having a stroke or developing heart failure. The good news is you have advanced electrophysiology physicians at WakeMed Heart & Vascular who specialize in your heart’s electrical system. They’ll offer multiple treatment options, most of them minimally invasive. And that should come as music to your ears, your heart and your six string.
You have rhythm. So does your heart. When your heart’s rhythm is irregular, quivering or rapid, you could have AFib, increasing your chances of having a stroke or developing heart failure. The good news is you have advanced electrophysiology physicians at WakeMed Heart & Vascular who specialize in your heart’s electrical system. They’ll offer multiple treatment options, most of them minimally invasive. And that should come as music to your ears, your heart and your six string.
You have rhythm. So does your heart. When your heart’s rhythm is irregular, quivering or rapid, you could have AFib, increasing your chances of having a stroke or developing heart failure. The good news is you have advanced electrophysiology physicians at WakeMed Heart & Vascular who specialize in your heart’s electrical system. They’ll offer multiple treatment options, most of them minimally invasive. And that should come as music to your ears, your heart and your six string.
Pickin’ and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.
wakemed.org/afib-center
You have rhythm. So does your heart. When your heart’s rhythm is irregular, quivering or rapid, you could have AFib, increasing your chances of having a stroke or developing heart failure. The good news is you have advanced electrophysiology physicians at WakeMed Heart & Vascular who specialize in your heart’s electrical system. They’ll offer multiple treatment options, most of them minimally invasive. And that should come as music to your ears, your heart and your six string.
wakemed.org/afib-center
wakemed.org/afib-center
Pickin’ and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.
You have rhythm. So does your heart. When your heart’s rhythm is irregular, quivering or rapid, you could have AFib, increasing your chances of having a stroke or developing heart failure. The good news is you have advanced electrophysiology physicians at WakeMed Heart & Vascular who specialize in your heart’s electrical system. They’ll offer
Same-day appointments available • Most appointments seen within 48 hours • Easy access to specialists in electrophysiology, cardiology, bariatrics, sleep medicine, nutrition and smoking cessation • Expedited care to improve AFib outcomes • Dedicated visits specific to AFib
Same-day appointments available • Most appointments seen within 48 hours • Easy access to specialists in electrophysiology, cardiology, bariatrics, sleep medicine, nutrition and smoking cessation • Expedited care to improve AFib outcomes • Dedicated visits specific to AFib