WALTER Magazine | February 2025

JOHNSON LEXUS OF RALEIGH

JOHNSON LEXUS OF DURHAM AT SOUTHPOINT

Furnishings by Lillian August, Carolina Custom Leather, Signature Pillows, Lillian August for Hickory White, Legend Accents, Revelation, Iconic Pineapple and Universal.

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO.9

FRI/SAT, FEB 21-22 | 8PM

Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor North Carolina Master Chorale

FRI, FEB 28 | 8PM SAT, MAR 1 | 3PM

Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor

The best orchestral moments from Wagner’s epic operas—including the thrilling Ride of the Valkyries

EDITOR’S LETTER

As a kid, I’d wake up on Valentine’s Day to a little vignette on our glass-topped dining room table: a big bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates for my mom, plus two smaller bouquets and chocolates for myself and my sister.

In middle school, my Valentine’s Day traditions expanded to include “singing valentines.” In this quirky, cringe-y ritual, students would hire our little all-girls singing group to serenade their sweeties during lunchtime in the cafeteria. We’d run over to someone’s table and sing a snippet of some classic romantic tune — the only one I can remember these days is Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” — much to the recipient’s delight (or embarrassment). I was generally relieved to be playing Cupid rather than being on the receiving end of one of those Valentines.

Thinking back, I can’t remember any rom-com-level champagne dinners or rose-petal-strewn rooms — thank goodness. Early on, Josh and I realized we’d rather observe Valentine’s Day a little before or after Feb. 14 to save ourselves some money while we enjoyed an equally good meal.

That’s not to say I don’t appreciate flowers and chocolate, which I’m happy to report that Josh has reliably delivered for over 20 years now. On our first Valentine’s Day after becoming parents, he even got a

little bouquet for our then 4-month-old daughter.

We did take a romantic Valentine’s Day trip once, about a year after our second daughter was born. That year the holiday fell over President’s Day weekend, so we took advantage of the day off work to have my parents watch the kiddos while we jetted off for two nights in Puerto Rico. It may have been the first time we’d traveled without the kids, and I remember the thrill of being able to hang out by the “adults only” pool and sleep in past the very late hour of 6 a.m.

Lately, Josh and I have started eating our romantic Valentine’s Day meal at lunchtime, which tends to be easier to schedule in between the kids’ afterschool activities and our other responsibilities. And he’s taken the reins on showering his three Valentines with love, with one big bouquet and two small ones showing up on our wooden dining table each year.

Ayn-Monique Klahre Editor

Left: Baby’s first Valentine’s day! Right: The WALTER team at our Celebrate the Season event: Julie, Cristina, me, Laura, Addie and our fall intern, Samantha.

FEBRUARY 2025

EDITORIAL

Editor

AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com

Creative Director LAURA PETRIDES WALL laura@waltermagazine.com

Associate Editor ADDIE LADNER addie@waltermagazine.com

Contributing Writers

Catherine Currin, Jim Dodson, Mike Dunn, Hampton Williams Hofer, Colony Little, Josh Klahre, David Menconi, Antonia Randolph, Liza Roberts, Helen Yoest

Contributing Poetry Editor Jaki Shelton Green

Contributing Copy Editor Finn Cohen

Contributing Photographers

John Hansen, Bob Karp, Juli Leonard, Taylor McDonald, Forrest Mason, Scott Sharp, Joshua Steadman

Contributing Illustrators Gerry O’Neill, Georgia Tardy

Interns

Emmie Brooks, Carsen Fessey

PUBLISHING

Publisher DAVID WORONOFF

Advertising Sales Manager JULIE NICKENS julie@waltermagazine.com

Senior Account Executive & Operations CRISTINA HURLEY cristina@waltermagazine.com

Finance STEVE ANDERSON 910-693-2497

Distribution JAMES KAY

Inquiries WALTER OFFICE 984-286-0928 info@waltermagazine.com

Address all correspondence to: WALTER magazine, 421 Fayetteville Street, Suite 104 Raleigh, N.C. 27601

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Owners

JACK ANDREWS, FRANK DANIELS III, DAVID WORONOFF In memoriam FRANK DANIELS JR.

© WALTER magazine. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the copyright owner. Published 12 times a year by The Pilot LLC.

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CONTRIBUTORS

HAMPTON WILLIAMS HOFER / WRITER

Hampton Williams Hofer is a writer and Raleigh native with an MFA from NYU, whose work has appeared in Scary Mommy, Architectural Digest, Food 52, Flying South, Glimmer Train and New Letters Press, among others. When not working on her latest story, she is chasing her four young children or explaining Southern colloquialisms to her Swiss husband. “I went to elementary school with Charlotte Smith and Joseph Jeffers, so getting to write about them now — each a gem of this city in their own right — was a storm of nostalgia, pride and awe of all that they have created.”

ANTONIA RANDOLPH / POET

Antonia Randolph is a scholar and author who lives in Durham. She has published poetry in the anthology Voices Rising: Celebrating 20 Years of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Writing (Redbone Press, 2007) and has published essays and criticism in Scalawag and The Feminist Wire “This poem is about lineage and inheritances. My mom, who is from Costa Rica, by way of Jamaica, told me that bush tea was made of scraps of plants that were around them. People are made in the same way.”

GEORGIA TARDY / ILLUSTRATOR

Georgia Tardy is a fine artist, art educator and entrepreneur. She graduated from Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University with a bachelor’s degree in visual communications. A Michigan native now based in Raleigh, her journey as an artist is defined by a dedication to fostering meaningful connections through creativity. “I was honored to illustrate Antonia’s poem because the narrative of my work is about how we constantly evolve throughout our stages in life. I’m in a place in life where authenticity, not external expectations, drives the work I create.”

Taylor McDonald is an North Carolina-based photographer specializing in interior design, architectural and commercial photography. McDonald graduated with a BFA from The Savannah College of Art and Design in 2015 and continues to pursue art alongside her professional work. “On a cold winter evening, I was lucky enough to gain a small glimpse into Charlotte, Joseph and Sylvie’s world. Their home and yearly family tradition shed light on their inviting and generous spirit. And their creative contributions, through Union Camp and Stanbury, help make Raleigh whole.” RALEIGH’S PREMIER WHITE GLOVE DELIVERY SERVICE

TAYLOR MCDONALD / PHOTOGRAPHER

“I thoroughly enjoyed the article and creative direction on the different trees’ bark in the January issue.”

Brent Lawrence

“Love this article [on Hoss Haley]! Fabulous artist.”

— Marjorie Hodges

“Wonderful work [on Project Pando]!”

— Lynn Alker

Reader Elisabeth Gonka and friends used WALTER clippings to make their 2025 vision boards.

We got tons of love for the bungalow featured in the December issue...

“Love these spaces!”

Roux MacNeill Studio

“What a cool home!”

— Jessica Jellicorse

“That stove!”

— Betsy Rhame-Minor

OUR TOWN

This month, honor our city’s Black history, catch unique theatrical productions, enjoy fine wine and celebrate Valentine’s Day.

WALK WITH HISTORY “It has taken me almost a lifetime to discover that true emancipation lies in the acceptance of the whole past, in deriving my strength from all my roots, in facing up to the degradation as well as the dignity of my ancestors,” said the late Pauli Murray, a priest, attorney and Civil Rights leader. Murray’s words are etched in the stone walls at Freedom Park (218 N. Wilmington Street), one of several public tributes to Black history in our city. A few miles away is Oberlin Rising (809 Oberlin Road), a cluster of earthcast columns by Raleigh artist Thomas Sayre that nods to the nearby historic Black neighborhood of Oberlin Village. Further south, in East Raleigh, is a life-size sculpture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. near a fountain inscribed with his words (1215 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard). Built in 1957, it was the country’s first public park devoted to the legend. — Addie Ladner

DATEBOOK

by ADDIE LADNER

A CHORUS LINE

Feb. 13 - 23 | Various times

Honest Pint Theatre Company is staging the award-winning classic A Chorus Line, 50 years since the musical first hit Broadway. The show opens with a group of performers who are auditioning for roles in a forthcoming musical number. As the musical’s director asks each hopeful star to share something about themselves, we learn about their dreams, tragedies, triumphs and everything in between. Susannah Hough, Honest Pint’s co-artistic director, is excited to recreate the story as it was performed before its long Broadway run. “With our version, we are going back to its roots and creating an immersive experience,” Hough says. The musical is being staged inside the Theatre Raleigh Studio, a blackbox theater that was originally an audition and rehearsal space. It fits only 80 audience members at a time, so guests will be right up close with the actors as they warm up and prepare for their “auditions.” From $30; 3027 Barrow Drive; honestpinttheatre.org

LIVING IN COLOR

All month | Various times

In observation of Black History Month, Dorothea Dix Park has joined Raleigh Film and Arts Festival to present the 2025 Living in Color Artist Exhibit. The exhibition will feature a curated collection of works from both professional and student artists, all exploring the experience of people of color in the South. On Feb. 1, The Chapel at Dix

Park will hold the opening reception, which will include spoken-word performances, live theatrical dance and music and drinks with light hors d’oeuvres. The exhibit is open to the public free of charge throughout the month. Free; 1030 Richardson Drive; dixpark.org

KEVIN NEALON

Feb. 6 - 8 | Various times

Kick off February with a dose of laughter. Goodnights Comedy Club will host Kevin Nealon, a stand-up performer known for his relatable wit and engaging honesty who’s been a television and movie staple with roles in Weeds, Saturday Night Live, Happy Gilmore and more. From $33; 401 Woodburn Road; goodnightscomedy.com

BIRDING WITH WAKE AUDUBON SOCIETY

Feb. 8 | 8 - 10 a.m.

On the second Saturday of each month, get an up-close look at the many species of birds that frequent the North Carolina Museum of Art’s outdoor park. Members of the Wake Audubon Society will be there to guide you on a walk in search of nuthatches, goldfinches and cardinals. Free; 2110 Blue Ridge Road; ncartmuseum.org

KRISPY KREME CHALLENGE

Feb. 1 | 9 a.m.

One of those only-in-Raleigh experiences, the Krispy Kreme Challenge is back for its legendary test of physical and gastrointestinal strength. In this quirky race, participants must run 2.5 miles from the North Carolina State University Memorial Belltower to the Krispy Kreme on Peace Street, consume a dozen glazed donuts (more than 2,000 calories!), then run the 2.5 miles back. In under an hour. Without losing the donuts. Proceeds from the race benefit the UNC Children’s Hospital. Want to join the fun but can’t stomach a dozen donuts? Register as a No Donut Runner (kids are welcome too) and you can save the sweet for some other time. 2011 Hillsborough Street; krispykremechallenge.com

BOLÉRO

Feb. 6 - 23 | Various times

A couple sets out for an idyllic day at the beach, but Mother Nature has a different idea and makes their plan for a picturesque outing nearly impossible. Carolina Ballet uses this plotline to create a playful and unique ballet interpretation of French composer Maurice Ravel’s most famous orchestral work, Boléro. Also included in the Boléro program are a new ballet from Amy Hall Garner, A Moment, Forever by contemporary choreographer Gianna Reisen and two ballets from company’s artistic director and CEO Zalman Raffael. Says choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett: “The whole program is just a pure, unadulterated fantasy.” From $32; 2 E. South Street; carolinaballet.com

JOY OLADOKUN

Feb. 11 | 8 p.m.

Singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun, who’s known for her blend of pop, blues, rock and folk, is coming to downtown’s Lincoln Theatre. A dollar from every ticket to this show will benefit The Ally Coalition’s work to support those experiencing homelessness and at-risk LGBTQ youth. From $24; 126 E. Cabarrus Street; lincolntheatre.com

WINE AND WATERCOLOR

Feb. 14 | 6 - 9 p.m.

Local muralist and art educator Janice Withers is hosting this love-ly date night idea for Valentine’s Day. Start the evening sipping on fine wine while jointly creating a work of art with your sweetheart or galentine at Artspace.

Tickets include art supplies and beverages for two. $61; 201 E. Davie Street; artspacenc.org

BEETHOVEN’S CONCERTO NO. 4

Feb. 14 - 15 | 8 - 9:30 p.m

Celebrate an evening of unforgettable mastery with the North Carolina Symphony, featuring conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto and the prodigious pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. The concert highlights Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 and the triumphant melodies of his Symphony No. 7. Michael Abel’s Delights & Dances will add to the experience as a contemporary gem that blends orchestral finesse with modern energy. From $29; 2 E. South Street; ncsymphony.org

ROMANCE IN THE AIR

Feb. 15 | 4 p.m.

Spend the weekend of Valentine’s Day with the North Carolina Master Chorale’s 16-voice chamber choir at The Rialto. The group will perform romantic tunes from legendary artists Elton John (including “Your Song” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”) and Billy Joel (look forward to “Just the Way You Are”), accompanied by drums, piano and bass. Maybe dinner at Bloomsbury or Margaux’ Restaurant is in order for the occasion? If not, alco-

AMAZING GRACE

All month | Various times

NC State University’s Gregg Museum of Art + Design is bringing back its artist in residence program as a way to connect the university with a broader community. Kicking off the program is New Orleans artist Carl Joe Williams, whose exhibition Amazing Grace, Confronting the Enduring Legacy is largely inspired by his birthplace. Immersive video, bold paintings and objects of various forms make up this body of work, which touches on race and society. Free; 1903 Hillsborough Street; gregg. arts.ncsu.edu

hol and refreshments will be available for purchase at The Rialto. From $36; 1620 Glenwood Avenue; therialto.com

CAREER DAY

Feb. 16 | 2 - 4 p.m.

Have a teen who aspires to be a doctor, teacher or business owner? Help them get a jump start on their path at this young professional development event hosted by the city’s Raleigh Parks Teen Zone. Colleagues from Wake Tech Community College, NC State University and the City of Raleigh will be at The Chapel at Dix Park to offer advice to students on career development, from first impressions to interviews to resumés and more. Registration is required due to limited space. Free; 1030 Richardson Drive; dixpark.org

CANES GALA

Feb. 20 | 6 - 10 p.m.

See your favorite players swap their

Abigail Jackson (left); Kathy Howard (right)

Sally Williams, Owner & Principal Designer

ARTHOUSE: GOLDEN HOUR

Feb. 22 | 6 - 10 p.m.

Don your sunniest, glam-est outfit and head to Raleigh’s Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) for its annual fundraising gala. This year the theme is Golden Hour, inspired by the beautiful bookends of the day, sunrise and sunset. A VIP experience gets you in early to enjoy light bites by HL Catering, jazz entertainment, bubbly, a first look at auction items — including earrings from Bailey’s Fine Jewelry — and a chance to mix and mingle with local artists, like painter Lamar Whidbee. Then stick around for the rest of the party, which will include performances by Cirque de Vol and dance-worthy music, plus beverages from Ponysaurus Brewing Co. Funds from the Arthouse gala support initiatives such as arts education, particularly for underserved communities, as well as CAM’s junior docent program, which enlists teen students to teach guests about the art on display. From $150; 409 W. Martin Street; camraleigh.org

pads for suits when the 2025 Canes Gala takes over Lenovo Center (sans the ice). This Mardi Gras-themed evening includes food, cocktails, casino games and live music. It will also include live and silent auctions offering unique experiences and Canes memorabilia to benefit the team’s charity arm, the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation, which focuses on physical health and education issues for area youth. From $500; 1400 Edwards Mill Road; nhl.com/hurricanes

RETURN TO RHYTHM

Feb. 22 | 10 - 11:30 a.m.

Join yoga instructor Jen Fisher, accompanied by sound healer and musician LeeAnn Anderson, for a unique yoga and live music experience at Joy Worthy Co. “Music in a yoga class allows us to tap into our inner self. It can give us the power to truly move inward and flow more deeply with ourselves, to disconnect from the worries of the outside world,” says Anderson. This yoga class will be a flow style that will take you from an opening meditation and intention setting, sun salutations, balancing and restorative postures, breath work and a healing savasana. The musicians have carefully created the soundtrack for the class with melodies and sounds to encourage inward reflection. $50; 131 S. Wilmington Street; jenfisheryoganc.com/events

THE EYE OF THE EARTH ANDREW WYETH AT KUERNER FARM

FEBRUARY 15–MAY 25, 2025 reynolda.org/wyeth

Andrew Wyeth at Kuerner Farm: The Eye of the Earth is co-organized by Brandywine Museum of Art and Reynolda House Museum of American Art Image: Andrew Wyeth, Snow Hill, 1989. Egg tempera on panel, 48 × 72 in. Wyeth Foundation for American Art 2250

DATEBOOK

PIPPIN

Feb. 20 - 23, 27-28 | Various times Theatre in the Park will bring Pippin to life on the local stage. This awardwinning musical with a timeless message follows the young prince Pippin as he searches for adventure on the battlefield, passion in the bedroom and fulfillment through political power — only to be surprised by where he ends up finding true happiness. From $26; 107 Pullen Road; theatreinthepark.com

FAMILY TREE

Feb. 22 | 2 - 3:45 p.m.

The North Carolina Museum of Art is hosting a film screening of a documentary Family Tree, a film about our state’s deep-rooted forestry industry. It follows two Black families as they face hurdles while protecting their family’s land and heritage. $10; 2110 Blue Ridge Road; ncartmuseum.org

FLY FISHING FILM TOUR

Feb. 27 | 6 - 10 p.m.

Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy this traveling film series hosted by local retailer Great Outdoor Provision Co. at The Rialto. This year, the Fly Fishing Film Fest has selected 11 independently created short films that highlight the skill and beauty of fly fishing as well as the beauty of the outdoors. Among them: Bumbyland, in which seasoned fly fisherman and filmmaker

INVEST IN A SAFE CITY

Support the brave men and women who protect our community every day.

Helmut Zaderer embarks on a mission to catch the rare bumphead parrotfish in the remote Providence Atoll in the Seychelles, and Echoes in the Tundra, which takes viewers to the Leaf River in Nunavik in northern Quebec for salmon fishing. Enjoy talks with local outdoors enthusiasts and giveaways in between the films. $25; 1620 Glenwood Avenue; greatoutdoorprovision.com

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Still Standing

Decades into his career, American Aquarium frontman BJ Barham finds balance

by DAVID MENCONI

Adecade ago, BJ Barham was frustrated. Years of constant touring had built his band, American Aquarium, into a live act that could sell out large clubs and theaters across America, except in one particular city: their hometown of Raleigh.

Barham’s solution was to import that sellout crowd, summoning the band’s fans from afar for a weekend of shows. An immediate hit, “Roadtrip to Raleigh” has become a signature annual event, drawing fans from more than 40 states and three foreign countries last year. All three of this year’s shows, which are Feb. 6-8 at Lincoln Theatre, sold out long before opening acts were even announced.

Problem solved.

“I’ve always had to do things the hard way,” Barham says. “Went through 99

‘no’s’ for every ‘yes.’ But it’s been the right way, and worth it. No shortcuts, because you have to give up a piece of yourself that way, and I’m still pretty intact. We’ve stacked Roadtrip pretty big for the 10year anniversary, so much so that it will be difficult to outdo next year.”

No surprise that Barham is already thinking about 2026, because he’s always been obsessively hands-on about running his career. He’ll go the extra mile for the fanbase, doing things like curating a restaurant guide for Raleigh visitors. And one of Barham’s more creative merchandise evergreens is to sell sheets of handwritten lyrics to his songs, which American Aquarium fans buy in droves as Christmas presents every year.

A native of the textile town of Reidsville, Barham came to Raleigh more than

Joey Wharton, courtesy American Aquarium

Left to right: Neil Jones, Ryan Van Fleet, BJ Barham, Rhett Huffman, Shane Boeker and Alden Hedges.

20 years ago as a teenager to attend North Carolina State University. He didn’t last long as a college student, but music was an occupation, even as it took a long time for him to find his feet. Early versions of American Aquarium (named after a line in Wilco’s 2002 song “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”) were rough, in large part because of the frontman’s bad habits.

Now 10 years sober at age 40, Barham lives a healthy life these days. But he had a notorious reputation back in the day. Lincoln Theatre general manager Chris Malarkey, who has booked American Aquarium countless times over the past two decades, recalls walking an inebriated Barham home after paying him for shows because he didn’t want the young man stumbling around downtown alone with a pocketful of cash.

“American Aquarium’s first few shows were just godawful,” Malarkey remembers with a laugh. “But still, you could see that BJ had something. He’s more driven than anyone I’ve ever met, and he’s one of the greatest at selling himself. Put him onstage for an hour and not many can go toe-to-toe with him. He also sells more merch than anybody I’ve ever seen.

“Seeing him go from mess to success has been amazing,” Malarkey says. “I’m not his dad, but I’m proud of that kid.”

American Aquarium has always been Barham’s show; he is the sole constant as other members have come and gone. The rest of the lineup on American Aquarium’s most recent album, 2024’s The Fear of Standing Still, is guitarist Shane Boeker, keyboardist Rhett Huffman and pedal-steel guitarist Neil Jones, with a rhythm section of Ryan Van Fleet and Alden Hedges on drums and bass.

“I guess we’re ‘Americana,’” Barham says. “Or ‘roots rock,’ maybe? We’re a rock band with pedal-steel guitar and a redneck out front singing about feelings. So it’s a bastardized form of country.”

Almost every American Aquarium song has Barham singing alone. The Fear of Standing Still covers highly adult subjects like impending mortality, bumpy relationships and the trouble men have

expressing themselves. But for all its maturity, the album also rocks hard, thanks to producer Shooter Jennings (son of the late country-rock icon Waylon Jennings).

“Even though the songs are about grown-up things, they’re also loud and upbeat with me yelling,” Barham says. “Twenty years ago, I never would’ve believed you if you’d told me I’d someday do a loud song about toxic masculinity.”

The song about toxic masculinity is “Crier,” the album’s opening song. Barham wrote it, and the rest of these 10 songs, on a writing retreat. It’s his usual method of gathering material for an album: he’ll go to some remote spot to work, in this case, a house on Long Island during the off-season.

“I’ll spend the year taking notes,” he says. “Voice recordings, notes on the iPhone. Then every 18 months, I sit down and see what I’ve got. It’s like A Beautiful Mind, putting shit up on the whiteboard and connecting dots about what I want to say about the last two years of my life. Records are like audio yearbooks. Like Dances for the Lonely in 2009, I remember what that kid felt. Wolves in 2015, that guy was making some life choices. There are career-spanning moments on stage every night, songs I wrote at 20. I’m not

that person anymore, but I can put on cowboy boots and a pearl snap for three minutes, then move along.”

Barham has released a total of 17 albums (all but one under the American Aquarium banner) on his own label, Losing End Records, a couple of which cracked the main Billboard charts. The group played 71 live shows last year, a healthy figure but still a fraction of the 306 that American Aquarium played at its road-warrior peak in 2012.

The fact that they can play fewer shows is a point of pride for Barham, because it gives him time at home in Wendell with his wife and their daughter Pearl. Already a savvy traveler at age 6, Pearl has visited 41 states and is her dad’s frequent sidekick at Wolfpack sporting events.

“After working my ass off in my 20s and 30s, I’ve learned I can hit the brakes some and the car still goes forward,” he says. “A new technique called ‘coasting.’ I don’t want to be on the road all the time. I’ve never missed any of Pearl’s dance recitals, birthdays, school plays, holidays.”

As for what’s next, Barham sums that up with “Head Down, Feet Moving,” the last song on The Fear of Standing Still: I promise I’ll keep showing up just as long as you do.

Left to right: Van Fleet, Hedges, Jones, Boeker, Huffman and Barham.

Ghost of the Woods

Recalling precious run-ins with North Carolina’s only wild feline, the bobcat

words and photography by

MIKE DUNN

Elusive, secretive, solitary — these are all words that describe one of my favorite mammals, the bobcat, Lynx rufus. Over the years, I have had fewer than 20 encounters with these masters of stealth, but each one is embedded in my memory as a treasured experience.

Bobcats are found throughout our state but are more common in the mountains and coastal plain. Most of my sightings have been at wildlife refuges in Eastern North Carolina. One that particularly stands out was back in 2005 at my favorite refuge, the Pungo Unit of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, near Plymouth.

Driving on a dirt road on the refuge, I spotted an animal several hundred yards in the distance and stopped to look through my binoculars. It was a Red wolf! The wolf was trotting down the left side of the road moving away from me. Suddenly, the wolf stopped and moved over to the other side of the road, tail tucked, glancing back. I saw something in the grass off to the left, but wasn’t sure what it was. Then it arched its back and I could see a bobcat staring at the wolf. When the wolf got beyond the wild cat, it looked back and trotted quickly down the road. The bobcat relaxed and moved on across the road, disappearing into the brush. Despite being well over twice the size of the bobcat, the wolf apparently had no interest in tangling with this fierce feline.

Bobcats are North Carolina’s only wild cat. They are twice as large as a domestic house cat, standing about 2 feet high at the shoulder and weighing from 15 to 40 pounds, with males being larger than females. Their fur is brownish to gray, with white undersides and dark bars or spots. Bobcats are so named because of their short, bobbed tails (about 5 inches long). The underside of the tail is white and they have distinctive white spots on the back of their ears. Those spots are

thought to resemble false eyes to deter predators and they may also help kittens see and follow their mother in low light.

Those white spots were an important clue for my only local bobcat sighting. In February of 2004, I was leaving the trail at Mason Farm Biological Reserve in Chapel Hill just after sunset. I walked up to my car and in the dim light I noticed what looked like a very large house cat sitting out in the field beyond the parking lot. Then it turned its head and I saw those white spots on the ears and knew it wasn’t an ordinary cat.

It got up and sauntered over to the trail I had just walked and headed down the path. I grabbed my camera and followed at a distance, managing only a couple of photos before it vanished in the fading light.

Though I have not seen one with my own eyes on our property, my trail cameras have captured quick videos of bobcats seven times in our woods in the past few years. Most have been at their usual activity times, from the dark of night to crepuscular sightings (near dawn and dusk), though one was during the middle of the day. My wife Melissa and I have searched for tracks and scat but have never found any sign of their presence. Their activity patterns closely match those of their usual prey, such as rabbits and small rodents, though a large male bobcat can kill even an adult deer by pouncing on it and biting it in the neck.

Bobcats are opportunistic feeders and will take advantage of almost any available prey. Twice over the years, I have seen bobcats with waterfowl. One was at sunrise, carrying a dead Snow goose through a field at Pungo. When we stopped the car to watch, the cat dropped its meal (we felt bad about that) and crawled on its belly almost like a snake until it reached a ditch. It got into the water, crossed the ditch into a line of trees and disappeared.

On another winter visit to the refuge, when waterfowl are abundant in the fields feeding on waste grains and winter wheat, I saw a Tundra swan flopping on the ground a few hundred yards away.

A small group of swans stood nearby, necks stretched in an alert pose. With binoculars, I saw a bobcat hanging on to the swan by the neck while the large bird (weighing up to 20 pounds) struggled to escape. The swan eventually did pull away and flew off, but I could see blood on its neck. The bobcat retreated to the ditch, from where it no doubt had ambushed the feeding bird, and disappeared.

Such is the usual encounter with bobcats: a brief view, often in poor lighting or hidden by brush, making it difficult to clearly observe or photograph. That is why any time you get even a few minutes with one of these beautiful creatures out in the open, it is especially meaningful. I’ve been lucky to have had two such experiences.

One day while driving the roads at Pungo, I spotted a bear across the canal sitting at the edge of the water. I had to drive past and turn around to get it on my side of the car to photograph. After a few photos, the bear stood up and wandered back in the woods. I started to back up to turn around, and when I looked in my rearview mirror, there was a large bobcat coming out of the woods behind me. It stopped for a few seconds, looked at me and then slowly walked down the road. I finished turning my car around

and slowly followed the big cat (it must have been a large male) for about 50 yards before it headed back into the roadside tangle of bushes and vines.

My favorite bobcat incident happened late one hot September day about a decade ago. Once again, my wife and I were driving on a dirt road in a part of Pocosin Lakes NWR that is rarely visited by the public. We turned a corner and spotted something far down the road, but we couldn’t quite tell what it was since it was walking away from us. When it turned, we could see it was not a deer (no long neck) and not a coyote or wolf (it had a short tail) — it was a bobcat. We drove slowly towards it and it walked off the road into the vegetation. I have read that bobcats (and many other animals) will sit quietly while you drive or walk by and then come out and resume their travel after you pass. So we drove slowly, hoping to see it sitting in the bushes (we didn’t), but then went well beyond where the cat had disappeared. We parked in the shade of a lone pine tree and got out. We sat against the back of the car so as to minimize our human forms and waited. In just a couple of minutes the bobcat came back out into the road and continued walking our way. At one point it stopped, slowly crept

A bobcat looks into the bushes just before it jumps and apparently catches a small animal.

A Place To Call Home 2025

the road. It just stared at us with a sleepy look, occasionally turning its head to look around. It sat there for a few minutes and then slowly got up, walked to the side of the road, turned and vanished. Melissa wanted to get up right away and see how close it had been. I suggested we wait as it might just come back out. Many minutes went by without any hint of its presence, so she got up and paced off how close it had been when sitting in front of us.

As she got to where it had walked off the road, it suddenly bolted from its hidden spot in the bushes and ran farther back into the shrub thicket. All we saw was moving vegetation as it evaporated deeper into the thick Pocosin vegetation. It had stopped and may have just been watching us all that time, without us being able to see it.

Turns out it was only about 30 feet from us. In all, we spent a little over 15 minutes with this beautiful ghost of the woods.

Magical moments like this are why we spend time outdoors — and why we so appreciate our public lands and other wild places.

Honoring the Classics

Wolfe & Porter is quite unassuming from the sidewalk, a blue-grey building with a white roof, fronted by a wide wooden deck populated with benches and barstools. Inside this W. Morgan Street bar, you’ll find bright-blue leather stools and banquette lining the wall, dark wooden shelves filled with liquor and curated tchotchkes that give the bar a homey feel. The menu boasts funky frozen cocktails — like The Reverend Doctor Pepper, a frozen Dr. Pepper with liquor and ancho chile, and the Hoptini, a concoction of gin, mezcal, grapefruit and IPA syrup — plus an extensive beer

selection. Out back is a sprawling yard big enough to host a show.

On the weekends, you’ll find a surprise down a set of industrial stairs in the center of the building: The Cellar, a cozy cocktail bar with a mid-century modern vibe. Here, dark wood paneling and luxe velvet lounge seating create a more intimate, upscale vibe, along with a menu centered around old-fashioned spirits and more classic cocktails.

“There’s intentionally a different vibe upstairs and downstairs,” says general manager Richie Reno. He, along with bar manager Jacob Galant, are bringing the spot’s vision to life.

Left to right: Dan Bryson, Scott Harris and Matt Lee

Wolfe & Porter is a community watering hole with literary roots

by CATHERINE CURRIN

photography by FORREST MASON

Wolfe & Porter is the brainchild of three attorneys — Dan Bryson, Matt Lee and Scott Harris — who work right across the street. “We wanted to create a place to collaborate, support and showcase artists, plus spend time with old friends and make some new ones,” says Bryson. For years, they’d enjoyed hanging out at the dive bar that formerly occupied the space, Drink Drank Drunk. When the building’s owners expressed a desire to sell in 2021, the trio went for it.

“This neighborhood has meant a lot to us,” says Lee. “We were already invested in the community here and making sure that it thrived.”

go out has changed,” he says. “They’re more driven by events, so we want to create reasons for folks to come out.” To that end, the bar will host live music on both the indoor and outdoor stages, as well as recurring events like trivia, music bingo and Frozen Friday, where all frozen drinks are on special.

“This neighborhood has meant a lot to us. We were already invested in the community here and making sure that it thrived.”

— MATT LEE

Br yson, Lee and Harris are all North Carolina natives, and their affinity for their home state permeates every nook and cranny of the bar, starting with its name: Wolfe & Porter is named for North Carolina literary legends Thomas Wolfe and William Sydney Porter (better known as O. Henry). Not only does the namesake honor the team’s love for history, “it gives a nod to our affinity for creativity and artists,” says Lee.

Raleigh designer Paul Tuorto, known for his branding work with Heights House Hotel, Nana’s and Crawford Hospitality, assisted in creating the bar’s logo and curating of the space. Small details throughout pay homage to the past, including old editions of Thomas Wolfe’s THe Lost Boy, antique cameras and vintage hair dryers (a nod to Atomic Salon, which also used to be in the building). Local artist Taylor White created a mural to anchor the space, using bright, welcoming colors that riff on themes from Wolfe’s writings and references to the neighborhood’s past.

In addition to serving as a watering hole, it was a priority for Lee to have programming at the bar to draw people in. “Since the pandemic, the way people

“The back patio has become a hidden Raleigh oasis,” says Reno. “It’s perfect for fire pit hangs and a great spot for music.” Reno, who’s bartended in Raleigh for more than a decade at spots including Ruby Deluxe and Trophy Brewing, is taking the lead on making Wolfe & Porter a destination for music as well as corporate events or private parties. “We feel a responsibility to bring a level of quality to everything that we are doing,” says Lee, noting that most of the bands booked at Wolfe & Porter are playing original music. “If you’re coming to see a band, we want you to be confident that it’s been thoughtfully curated.”

This stretch of Morgan Street has seen a recent boom, with newcomers Gussie’s and The Bend Bar joining longtime restaurant Irregardless to round out the neighborhood offerings. Bryson is here for it: “We collectively feel that rising tides raise all ships on W. Morgan.” Agrees Reno: “We all support each other. You don’t always get that in other cities. The camaraderie is so cool.”

Br yson, Lee and Harris want the bar to be a place the city can use and a spot that compels folks to stay awhile in their beloved neighborhood. “We wanted to create the thing we thought that Raleigh needed, but do it in our own way,” says Lee. “We want to provide a space for the community to enjoy and a space where we can support local artists.”

“If you have the space,” Reno agrees, “why not do it all?”

High Lady of the Night Court

INGREDIENTS

1½ ounces Cappelletti (a wine-based Italian aperitif)

½ ounce fresh lemon juice

½ ounce peach syrup

1 tablespoon Lambrusco

Peychaud’s bitters

Orange slice

DIRECTIONS

Shake and strain Cappelletti, lemon juice and peach syrup into a chilled wine glass. Top with Lambrusco and three dashes of Peychaud’s bitters; garnish with an orange slice.

Juli Leonard

GARDEN WINTER LIFE

Our shadows are getting smaller as we welcome February. On a sunny day, I’ll head to my garden to enjoy my display of camellias, including my new Governor Mouton variety, which blooms in variegated white and red. I notice the male cardinals in their regal red and bluebirds looking for the perfect nesting site. It’s calming — but there is still work to do.

PLANT CAMELLIAS

Itching to add color to a monochromatic winter landscape? Camellias offer green leaves and white, pink or red blooms through April, and they can still be planted this month. Bonus: camellias can thrive in full sun or partial shade and neutral to acidic clay or sandy soil; they are also both slightly drought- and frost-tolerant, so they’re an easy, versatile plant for our area.

FEED THE BIRDS

Put out supplemental bird feeders now, when food is scarcest, to fill your avian visitors’ bellies. For bluebirds, serve mealworms inside dome feeders, which will keep water out. Robins are ground feeders, so toss seeds (sunflower seeds are a favorite) around shrubs, away from foot traffic. Goldfinches enjoy eating nyjer/thistle seed upright out of tube-style feeders. Try to place your feeders outside a window, so you can enjoy the birds from a comfy chair.

PRUNE SHRUBS AND TREES

Now is the time to cut back woody trees or shrubs like tea olives, Japanese maples or fruit trees. Remove dead limbs, cross branches or diseased leaves with sharp loppers. For cross branches, cut above the buds that face out to encourage good form and new growth come spring. — Helen Yoest

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BE REAL WITH ME

Beloved local roots/Americana band Chatham Rabbits will drop their fourth LP, Be Real With Me, on Valentine’s Day.

Two years ago, the married duo and core of the band, Sarah and Austin McCombie, moved from Bynum to Siler City to live on a big plot of land (with a small farmhouse) that had been in Sarah’s family since the 1700s. There, they laid down a record and “gave themselves some time to really do everything they wanted with it,” says Austin. In a first for the band, Austin acted as a co-producer on the album. That level of involvement, he says, gave them more room to be “vulnerable” and to “give listeners a window into who [they] are as real people,” he says.

Lyrically, the songs are raw and personal. On “Collateral Damage” Sarah divulges, I want my freedom / And I want a baby, / it’s all been coming to me lately, / the time I have for it is fading / I know I’ve been acting shady. In “Did I Really Know Him?” Austin contemplates his struggles with imposter syndrome and his future. Perhaps painfully personal on paper, hearing the band’s authentic and earnest delivery of the material leaves you with less cringe and more kinship. You’re rooting for them to sort it out and find their equilibrium.

Sonically, Be Real With Me offers the listener a decidedly more poppy sound than their previous records, with the addition of drum machines and synth pads as percussive elements. And there’s

a bit more pedal-steel guitar in the mix, too. Chatham Rabbits fans ought not fret, though; this record doesn’t feel like a diversion, but more of a progression. Says Austin: “the foundational components of our music are still there, we’ve just added to it.” As the two move from carefree coupledom into the complications of (slightly) older age, it seems about right. — Josh Klahre

WISHES into ART

Paper and fiber artist Elizabeth Palmisano’s particular alchemy

by LIZA ROBERTS

For Charlotte artist Elizabeth Palmisano, inspiration comes from many sources: the material she works with, often handmade paper and fiber; her community, which includes students, fellow artists and complete strangers; and lately and most importantly, from a deeply felt calling to collect and transform the hopes and wishes of those people into art.

That art is often three-dimensional and always colorful. It typically makes a bold statement through scale, composition or unexpected materials, but does so disarmingly, with a beguiling beauty. Her work has been exhibited at Charlotte’s Mint Museum and McColl Center, and Palmisano has twice been

voted Best Visual Artist by Charlotte’s Queen City Nerve newspaper.

It’s not surprising that her community — which she incorporates into nearly everything she does — loves her back. As a self-described wishkeeper, Palmisano has been actively collecting their anonymously submitted wishes to use in her art for the last few years, most recently gathering more than 1,000 handwritten ones to incorporate into a massive, multidimensional mural on Charlotte’s 36th Street. Completed in September, NoDa Cloud Wall transforms a 23,000-square-foot parking garage wall into a colorful skyscape featuring three-dimensional clouds inscribed with those wishes.

“It’s really beautiful to see all the similarities that people have, from all walks of life,” she says. “We all kind of want the same things: Always love, then wishes for family, or for children. Love and family are always first. It’s wild to me how vulnerable people will be if you give them an anonymous spot to ask for what they want.”

The pandemic started it all, she says. “It was really hard for me,” she says. “I’m an artist with a capital A first and foremost, but I teach classes and workshops because I love being with people. And I couldn’t do anything like that. So this was my way to collaborate with people without being in the same room. I asked them to digitally submit a wish, and it

courtesy

Elizabeth Palmisano

(NODA CLOUD WALL)

NoDa Cloud Wall

“I grew up in poverty, in a culture of poverty. I had to use upcycled materials. I had no choice.”

— ELIZABETH

PALMISANO

could be anonymous, and I was going to make a piece of art for each wish submitted. Those were my first wishes, 58 wishes, and I created a piece of art for each one.” One recent morning, at uptown’s McColl Center, Palmisano was busy printing a limited series of card decks that feature her artwork alongside wishes and affirmations: “I love fiercely, beginning and ending with myself” was one.

She jokes that her focus on affirmations and wishes allows her to be “a professional fairy princess at 40 years old,” but “because I’m an artist, I can get away with it.”

Still, so much outward, public focus can take an artist away from her own center, her own source of creativity. A recent fellowship at the McColl Center, during which she made paper vessels and curated an exhibit, Liminal Divine, that included her work and that of six other McColl fellows, inspired her to look back within.

ART Spring Exhibitions

Beulah Campbell: Storyboard to Storybook Through June 8

Considerations: An Installation by Sarah Vaughn Through August 10

SHIP/SHAPE: Page Laughlin & David Finn Through May 4

Dail Dixon: Modern at Scale Through April 20

BlowingRockMuseum.org Free Admission · Closed Mondays

“I want to make art for me for at least the next six months or so,” she says. “So I’m diving really deeply back into my handmade paper and fibers.”

The paper vessels at McColl and a recent commission to create a 60-footlong piece of handmade paper and fiber to hang indoors allowed her to return to the delicate medium that she started with.

As a child in South Carolina and as a young adult living on her own without a high school diploma, Palmisano not only had no access to art materials, she didn’t know “artist” was something someone could be. “I grew up in poverty, in a culture of poverty,” she says. “I had to use upcycled materials. I had no choice.” Those roots underpin everything she does today. The first time she took discarded scraps of paper and fiber and reworked them entirely into a piece of handmade paper and sold it at an art show, she says, it was a revelation; she felt she’d performed a work of alchemy.

“It made me think of the way I grew up and where that came from,” Palmisano says. “Using someone else’s trash. You figure it out when you have no other choice. You can’t say, ‘I’m not go-

ing to eat today.’ Or, ‘I’m just not going to get to work today.’ Or, ‘I’m just not going to have clean clothes today.’ You figure it out. And I think that has served me well.”

In late 2019, when she filled a giant wall at the Mint Museum with Incantation, an ethereal, abstracted skyscape made of handmade paper, paint and collage, it was the first time many viewers had encountered fiber art in a blue-chip museum.

“Boundar y-pushing” is how the museum described the piece, both for its use of recycled materials and for “breathing new life into objects not typically considered for use in the creation of art.”

It’s clear that the process of taking something discarded, breaking it down to its elements, and reworking it into something valuable and beautiful is not just empowering for Palmisano, it’s metaphoric.

And it’s always new. “Right now, I’m leaning deep into: ‘what do I want to make?’ I’ve got a lot of experimentation underway,” she says. “In the spring, I’m sure there’ll be something. I’ll be excited, like a kid walking up and handing you a dandelion they just picked: ‘Here’s my offering.’ Good work takes time, and I really want to give myself that time, because I want to continue to be able to do this work.”

courtesy Elizabeth Palmisano

(LIMINAL DIVINE)

Dail Dixon, Blowing Rock, 2009, poplar, vellum drawing sheets, and steel wires. On loan from Dyke and Deborah Messinger. Photo: Artie Dixon; Page Laughlin, Blue State, oil on Arches L’Huile, 2023, 35 ¾ x 42 ¾ in. (90.805 x 108.585 cm.). Courtesy of the artist and Hidell Brooks Gallery; Sarah Vaughn, installation detail. Photo: Loam; David Finn, F You Up, wood and mixed media, 2024.

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The Pleasures of a Good Old Age

Miracles can come true, it can happen to you

by JIM DODSON illustration by GERRY O’NEILL

Not long ago, I heard an elderly gentleman in a coffee shop comment to a younger friend, “Someday, when you’re as old as I am, you will look back on your life and realize that everything is a miracle.”

His words brought to my mind Albert Einstein’s famous quote on the subject: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is that everything is a miracle.”

Though it varies slightly from country to country, 72 is the global median lifespan of most people on the planet — the statistical onset of “old age.”

This month, I turn 72.

Am I worried? Not so much. True,

I walk more slowly and with more care these days due to a pair of arthritic knees, the painful legacy of 40- to 50-year-old sports injuries and having probably walked too many golf courses for one duffer’s life. By the time you read this, however, I hope to have a new left knee replacement for the new year, with a second one on the way. Talk about a miracle.

Like many folks my age, I’ve also survived cancer once and am winding up a second waltz with the dreaded disease — reportedly doing quite well, thanks to my brilliant young doctors and the miracles of modern medicine.

Despite these physical challenges, I’ve

never felt happier or more productive. This seems to be a common trait among active elders who find the arrival of so-called old age to be a liberating force and an opportunity to experience life on a new and more meaningful level. A true case of attitude is altitude, as the saying goes.

One of the rarely mentioned gifts of being old is realizing what you no longer need or care about.

Two years ago, I donated half of my home library, roughly 300 books, to a pair of charities. This year, I plan to give another 200 away, leaving me with approximately a hundred books I cherish and hope to continue to read again and again until my light in this world is

permanently dimmed.

At my pragmatic wife’s suggestion, I also went through my clothes closet and sent a large donkey cart’s worth of clothing I haven’t worn in more than two decades to a wonderful thrift shop owned by a local organization that supports drug rehabilitation programs. I hope whoever purchases the two fine custom suits, five Brooks Brothers blazers, nine crested-wool golf sweaters, eight pairs of worsted-wool slacks and 19 golf shirts will enjoy them with my blessing. Seriously, who needs 21 solid-white golf shirts anyway?

Speaking of gratitude — and something of a miracle — I’ve reached an age where watching sports of any sort feels like a colossal waste of time. I’d rather take a long walk with the dogs, read a new book or watch seasonal birds at the feeder.

This is no small change. Once upon a time, now fading fast into memory, I was the original sports-mad kid who played every game in every season and died a little death any time my favorite golfers and favorite professional sports teams lost. A decade ago, as my passion for all sports mysteriously began to wane, I wondered if this was because I’d changed — or if the games themselves had?

The answer is probably both. The sports teams I once worshiped, college and professional alike, were generally true hometown affairs where you could name (and root for) every player on the roster. This made the games feel much more personal and relevant. Today, almost all sports are shaped by staggering amounts of money flowing through their ranks. Not long ago, I heard about a local high school junior who signed with a major college program and pocketed $50,000 in NIL money. Add legalized sports betting to the state of our games and you may have a fast road to ruin for millions of fans who care less about the games than their payoff.

The real beauty of aging, I long ago realized, is the light that comes from the soul. Reaching statistical old age brings with it freedom to do your own thing

along with the opportunity to forge new paths and adventures.

“A good old age can be the crown of all our life’s experiences,” wrote Helen Nearing, “the masterwork of a lifetime.” Considerably late in life, Nearing and her husband, Scott, became world famous advocates of simple living and pioneers of the organic farming movement in America. Helen lived to be 91. Scott, 100.

As Helen points out in her lovely book, Light on Aging and Dying, Socrates learned to play the lyre — and wrote his most famous poems — in his dotage.

Thomas Edison was still inventing at age 92; Michelangelo did some of his finest work past 80; and Frank Lloyd Wright, at age 90, was considered the most creative architect in the world.

Likewise, numerous poets and artists proved to be at their creative best in their good old age. Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg did some of their best work past 80. Ditto artists Goya, Titian, Manet, Matisse and Chagall. Shortly before his death at 91, Picasso said, “Age only matters when one is aging. Now that I have arrived at a great age, I might just as well be 20.”

Almost every day, we read about some octogenarian who still runs marathons or a septuagenarian who just climbed Mount Everest — for a second time. The list goes on and on.

“I am so busy being old,” wrote author and playwright Florida Scott-Maxwell in her 90s, “that I dread interruptions.”

As for this relatively new septuagenarian, one who will soon have new knees but no interest in running marathons or climbing mountains, I find the simple beauty of the natural world, a deepening spiritual life, a love of dogs and friends, plus an unquenchable passion for writing books, reason enough to celebrate arriving at the ripe, good old age of 72.

The truth is, I’ve always enjoyed being with older people. And now that I’m one of them, I have no intention of slowing down.

That’s proof that everything really is a miracle.

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Bush Tea

by ANTONIA RANDOLPH

illustration by GEORGIA TARDY

Grandmother of tea made extra sweet she kept a machete behind her teeth. Mother of cuts fine and deep ground like leaves for brewing. Daughters of tongue with silences to keep don’t die though steeped in knowing.

LIFE TO THE MAX

Charlotte Jeffers found the painting over Sylvie’s crib (above left) in Maine. Charlotte, who has been buying items for resale since 2012, believes in shopping the old-fashioned way: she meets people at markets or auctions and maintains connections with other dealers. “I do most everything in person,” Charlotte says. “It is always nice to have the provenance on any given thing.”

At home with creatives

Charlotte and Joseph Jeffers

casual delights

by HAMPTON WILLIAMS HOFER photography by TAYLOR MCDONALD

In Joseph and Charlotte Jeffers’ home in East Raleigh’s King Charles neighborhood, vintage art and curious antiques meet in a delightful barrage of color and eccentricity, undercut with serious sentiment.

Classical music hums through the fire-warmed living room, where the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, Sylvie, toddles in with a gummy smile. She steadies herself on a rattan coffee table, from which a bowl of paperwhites scents the room. Joseph puts a tall pot on to boil, and Charlotte opens a bottle of Budweiser.

Joseph, a co-owner of Stanbury restaurant, bought the house in 2012. He gutted it with the help of his brother Will and their friend Drew Maykuth. The 1950s brick ranch sits on a deep lot, with room for the dogs, firepit and storage out back. Things have changed since they rebuilt all of the home’s walls, floors and girders: most notably, the bedroom that was once Joseph’s now sports a crib, Pierre Frey drapes, ornamental gourds and a cheerful smattering of children’s books.

The decor reflects Charlotte’s curation of the space: flowers everywhere, bold draperies on the windows and eclectic pieces throughout, like shell-covered mirrors and a burnt-bamboo hall tree in the foyer. “It’s more of a feel than a look,” says Joseph of his wife’s style. Charlotte owns Union Camp Collective, where she sells vintage and antique art and furnishings. The shop turns 10 this year.

Around the house, a few light fixtures, candlesticks and throw pillows have tags from the store, Charlotte’s handwriting noting details of treasures she has found. One wall of the guest room is hung with portraits painted by Joseph.

Joseph, whose restaurant turned 10 in 2023, also knows about curating an inviting space. He’s the one that gave Stanbury its iconic vibe, and the home includes his finds, too, like a bobcat that he found dead by a roadside in Louisiana, stuffed and mounted above the television. Joseph and Charlotte are alike in this way, in their eyes for unlikely prizes.

The Jeffers, who spent most of Octo-

COLLECTED SPACES Next to a lithograph of Jasper Johns American flags made for The Whitney in New York City is a rush seat chair that Charlotte found on a trip to Louisiana to visit Joseph’s mother’s side of the family. “The neon Mary is really special, as she looks over the flag,” Charlotte says. She brings flowers to the shop every week, and if the vessel doesn’t sell, it comes home.

PERSONAL TOUCH

The blue ikat sofa is covered in a fabric Charlotte had been holding on to for three years, waiting for the right piece. “It’s bright and happy,” she says. The Harris Tweed pillow is from their trip across Scotland. The other sofa came from a friend in Chapel Hill who had planned to donate it; Charlotte recovered it in pink thistle. Joseph painted the figures on display in the guest room.

LOVE & LOBSTER

“From an early age, we were pulled in different directions for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” says Charlotte. “But Valentine’s Day was delightful, emphasis on light. No need to dress up, our parents just shared their love for us in tiny, sweet ways.” The couple gets lobsters from nearby Saltwater Seafood Market; they’ll eat themselves full, then save the rest to make a bisque.

ber traversing Scotland in a van with their baby, derive inspiration for their home from their travels as well as family connections to different parts of the country. “Travel keeps the juices flowing,” Charlotte says. Evidence of their journeys is everywhere: a Scottish tweed blanket hangs over the rail of Sylvie’s crib; a poster of American flags in the kitchen was found leaning against a dumpster in New York; a pink wall plaque in the living room came from a trip to India.

Also on the wall in the living room is a framed placemat from a diner in New York, where Charlotte’s grandmother once lunched with three of the top THe New Yorker cartoonists of the day; one drew a cartoon for her on the spot. One of Joseph’s favorite pieces is a painting of a girl washing dishes by the Philadelphia artist Luke Bruckner, a former classmate of his at Warren Wilson College. They take an annual trip to the tiny fishing town in Maine where Charlotte spent her childhood summers. That was where she discovered her love — now their shared love — of lobster and chilly air. When it’s time to kick back, they’ll be in the living room, going through a ton of firewood, listening to music, cooking, talking and entertaining. Charlotte believes there is beauty in the mess of life. “It has to be okay to let loose, to have people over when the house is imperfect,” she says. Another thing about Charlotte: she loves Valentine’s Day. “The high-stakes holidays are stressful, but Valentine’s Day is low-stakes,” she says. “It’s just about love.”

Come Feb. 14, Joseph takes the reins in the kitchen, prepping a cheese and charcuterie board with fruits, almonds and olives, sipping on a Hemingway daiquiri. They’ll burn the Christmas tree in the backyard and have a meal of caviar (with crème fraiche and chive, on a Ruffles potato chip), lobsters (Joseph whispers sorry, buddy to each one as he tongs it into the boiling pot) and foie gras (with apples sautéed with brown sugar and butter on raisin bread, topp with pomegranate seeds). There will be champagne, Armagnac and, of course, Budweiser.

The tradition encapsulates their approach to life: casually elegant, a little unexpected and wholly delightful.

Photographer Scott Sharpe captures North Carolina’s rural communities

vanish ing

“Martin Isolation,” in Martin or Edgecombe County. “The sky was so amazing!” says Sharpe, who notes that this home was likely recently used for migrant labor.

from view

by AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE photography by SCOTT SHARPE

OOver the last two years, Scott Sharpe, the director of multimedia and photography at THe News & Observer, has been working on a side project called “All But Forgotten NC.” Part art, part journalism, it’s a photographic ode to North Carolina’s farming and small-town communities.

“The old rural landscape is disappearing very quickly,” he says. “I used to drive all around the state as a photographer, always in a hurry. I’d see things and think, I’ll take a picture the next time I’m there. But when I’d go back, it’d be gone.”

The project has roots in a weekly photo feature called “Tar Heel Scenes” that ran in the N&O starting in the mid-1980s, when Sharpe was a staff photographer. The feature has long since been discontinued, but a few years ago, Sharpe was on assignment for a story about chicken farming and had a couple hours to kill. “I drove around and made a few frames. That lit the fire,” Sharpe says.

Since then, he estimates that he’s probably taken 1,000 to 2,000 photos, show-

casing many of them on his Instagram account, All But Forgotten NC. “I don’t shoot a lot of photos in each spot — the more I shoot, the more time I’ll have to spend editing, and that gets to be work,” he says. “This is meant to be my escape from work.”

Sharpe is influenced by the Works Progress Administration photographers of the 1930s and ‘40s, whose simple compositions gave an honest account of daily life. Similarly, “the places I photograph were hard places to live, harder than most of us can imagine. There are very few degrees of separation between the times of slavery and Jim Crow and sharecropping, between cotton and tobacco,” he says. “I never want to be perceived as romanticizing places built on this horrible history, and I never want to make light of where somebody lives.”

To take his photos, Sharpe often sets out on a Sunday morning, when there’s less traffic (“Plus, nobody’s hunting on Sunday morning,” he says). He’ll start

driving with a place in mind, always using a paper map as his guide. “Often I never get there! I’ll wonder what’s down one road, or miss a turn and find a beautiful situation,” he says. “Texture and light are the two things I see first — old wood, paint, rust — then I’ll see how a structure fits into the landscape, and how the background adds to the scene.”

A drawback of this wandering approach is that Sharpe often can’t remember exactly where he took the photo.

“But that’s OK, too,” he says. “There’s a tremendous amount of vandalism and architectural theft that happens in these buildings, and I don’t want to share enough information to promote that.”

Through his photographs, Sharpe hopes that folks will remember North Carolina’s history and agricultural roots. “None of these places are more than two hours from Raleigh. It’s amazing how different the world is even in eastern Wake County,” he says. “The past is right next door.”

Opposite page: “Bent by Time,” Wayne or Greene County. “The light was getting really low and rich when I saw this home. I loved the remnant of the chimney,” he says. This page, top to bottom: “Franklin Barns,” Franklin County; “Made by Hand from the Land,” Johnston County.

“I love the light, shadow and texture on these two barns,” he says. The bottom photo was the result of missing a turn.

“Think about how much work it took to build that chimney,” he says.

This page, top to bottom: “Drip Dry,” Martin or Edgecombe County; “Aging with Grace,” Franklin County. “I love chairs and benches and work clothes, plus that Queen Anne Victorian architectural detail you don’t see much these days,” he says. “I stopped by a few weeks later and they were gone.” Opposite page: “Red Guards,” Johnston County. “This house had been well taken care of, but was completely surrounded by subdivisions,” he says. “It must have been the palace of the community, back in the day.”

“None of these places are more than two hours from Raleigh. THe past is right next door.”

— SCOTT SHARPE

Opposite page, top to bottom: “Three Kings,” Wayne County; “Church,” Franklin County. Of the church at the bottom: “I’ve photographed it several times; this time the light was very eerie,” he says. This page: “Rapture in a Cotton Field,” Martin County. “This is a mowed-out portion of a field, the church is maybe 4 feet tall,” he says.

Opposite page, top to bottom: “Pender,” near Yanceyville; “Green Truck,” Randolph County. The grocery, a little northeast of Chapel Hill, was at one point a post office. Sharpe saw this truck at a salvage yard on Highway 64. This page, top to bottom: “Path to Prosperity,” Martin or Edgecombe County; “Twins,” location unknown. “I especially loved the trees and the ruts in the road,” he says. As to the the mules: “They were very curious! I was their entertainment for the day.”

Aliyah Bonnette explores her deep connection to her family through quilts and paint

kindred SPIRITS

by COLONY LITTLE photography by JOSHUA STEADMAN

Clockwise from top: A work in progress in Bonnette’s studio; a mural on her studio wall; Libations for the Body’s Lost Religion, 2023.

For many quilters, the craft is passed down through generations: children sit with their mothers, aunties and grandmothers, learning to stitch strips of fabric together through time-honored traditions. For Raleigh-based mixed-media artist Aliyah Bonnette, her unique quilting practice was self-taught — and it led her back to an ancestral muse.

A s a child growing up in Baltimore, Bonnette was drawn to garment and textile design, fascinated with competition shows like Project Runway. But her fantasy of becoming a fashion designer began and ended around 9 years old, when she found that threading bobbins on the sewing machine was a bit too troublesome. Years later, while living in North Carolina, new creative pursuits caught her eye and her imagination. “I had just moved from Maryland to Garner and joined an art club with some new friends,” she says. “Painting figures was something that I started almost immediately — the form, skin tones and emotions you can achieve while painting figures drew me to figurative works.”

W hen Bonnette enrolled at East Carolina University, she originally planned to become an art teacher. “I was focused on teaching K through 12,” she says, “but I had a professor — who I am still close with to this day — who pulled me aside and said, you need to do studio art.”

During this time, Bonnette took an African American studies course where she learned about how quilts and their intricate patterns were believed to have been used as communication devices to guide escaped slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad. That inspired her to include quilting in her own artistic practice. Her first painted quilt combined four traditional quilt blocks with five painted blocks and text in a trenchant commentary on the legacy of slavery in the United States. She graduated in 2021 with a dual concentration in textiles and painting, alongside a minor in African American studies.

W hen Bonnette went home to Raleigh to retrieve the sewing machine she’d

shelved as a kid, her mother encouraged her to call her grandfather, whose late wife, Aliyah’s grandmother Sarah, was also a quilter. “He said, I still have all her fabric and quilts, everything is still in my basement. He was a little hoarder,” Bonnette laughs. “We always joked that if that apocalypse happened, it was his house that we were going to.”

Th is discovery inspired an impromptu road trip to her grandfather’s home in Atlanta, where he rolled out three large, rusted barrels of quilts — many of which were unfinished — along with bolts of fabric. “He told me he’d go to the ‘end of the bolt’ sales at J.C. Penney in the 1960s and ‘70s and buy barrels of fabric for my grandma to quilt with,” says Bonnette.

Th is trove of material became a source of inspiration for Bonnette. She found that the communicative properties of making quilts felt just as fortuitous as the fabric itself: with every stitch and seam, Bonnette felt a growing spiritual connection to her grandmother. “It felt like a chance to know her in a way that nobody else had thought of; all these quilts were just sitting there for over 20 years,” she says.

Over the next three months, Bonnette completed a few of her grandmother’s unfinished quilts and gave them to members of her family. Then, inspired by multimedia artists like Faith Ringgold, Derrick Adams and Basil Kincaid, who use painting, text and textiles to celebrate contemporary Black life, Bonnette experimented further by fusing her figurative painting with this new source of deeply personal material. Her first painted piece using one of her grandmother’s quilts, titled Haint Vs. Self Vs. Justice, is an embellished piece

with floral appliques in various patterns, stitched together to form Black-Eyed Susans. On the quilt, she painted a portrait of a nude woman reclining on her side. The figure is rendered in shades of Haint blue, a color that is traditionally used for the underside of porch ceilings to ward off evil spirits in Southern homes. “Haint Vs. Self. Vs Justice is a collaboration quilt with my grandmother,” Bonnette says. “This piece is about a woman coming to terms with herself and her sexuality. She is surrounded in a protective veil of her ancestors — seen in the spray paint around the figure — and facing the Black-Eyed Susans, which are a symbol for justice.”

The protective energy of her ancestors is a theme she’s carried through much of her work. Many of her early quilts include pictures of peaches alongside her subjects, whom she describes as “representations of me and the women around me.” With the peaches, she explains, “I construct stories of our own blackness, femininity and sexuality beyond the violence and hyper-sexualization that we face as Black women.” Beneath these representations lies an undercurrent of deep, spiritual connection to her ancestral roots, often represented as water: flowing cascades of fabric or blue patches are often included within her work.

“Whenever I’m near a body of water, my ancestors are the first thing that I think about,” she says. “It feels like a heaviness, but I’ve always felt more calm with water.”

Lately, Bonnette has been exploring different representations of her “kindred” — a word she uses to describe her ancestral ties — depicting them as mysterious beings wearing pink ski masks.

She debuted a series of works from this collection in a 2024 solo show at Artspace titled Onslaught. The title refers to an idea she has of a legion of spiritual guardians that protects the subjects in her quilts. “I started thinking of them as an army because I kept making more of them and they just kept showing up in my pieces,” she says. “They’re either protecting somebody, showing somebody a path or fiercely attacking something.”

To workshop her ideas, Bonnette creates storyboards using large pieces of flip chart paper and a maquette. Her work often draws from Afrofuturist themes and science fiction, one of her favorite authors being Octavia Butler, and depicts mythical worlds that her subjects inhabit.

R aleigh textile artist Precious Lovell has been both a mentor and fan of Bonnette’s unique process and point of view

throughout her growing career. “When I first met Aliyah, I was impressed with how she recognized and embraced the importance of textiles as carriers of histories and stories, especially by women from the African Diaspora,” says Lovell. “Aliyah gives quilts a contemporary existence through her distinctive brand of storytelling.” Michelle Wilkie is a fellow quilter and artist at Artspace who has collaborated with Bonnette on a Sip and Stitch program, which invites crafters of all ages and experience levels to create with one another. “Aliyah has such a unique way of capturing and expressing one’s history and experiences through word, color and figures,” says Wilkie. “She’s made me want to learn more about our histories, how to connect and explore other people’s experiences outside of my own.”

Th rough their work, many artists

attempt to construct the realities they want to inhabit, and for Bonnette, her art is a form of storytelling that is both self-deterministic and fantastical. “I’m tapping into this idea of how I would want my ancestors to protect me, thinking about how I want them alongside me through things that I’m going through that are extremely personal,” she says.

Part of that journey is Bonnette grappling with the death of both of her grandfathers within the last year. “I think of them while I’m making this work. In my head, they’ve become part of my onslaught,” says Bonnette. In December, she moved out of her Artspace studio, opting to work at home as she explores new work, not necessarily in textiles, based on the Onslaught idea: “I’m printmaking, working on an artist’s book… I want to give myself the opportunity to experiment.”

Opposite page: Bonnette in her studio. This page: Quilt block from Onslaught at Artspace, 2024, (left) and Three Throws for Forever, 2023.

One History, Many Voices

Experience living history. Walk in the steps of the governors who lived at Tryon Palace during the 1770’s – a time of intellectual and political turmoil. Tour the Palace, Kitchen Office, Stable Office, and our 21 acres of beautiful gardens. Visit with the 1st Regiment NC Continental Line at their encampment. There are specialized tours, lectures, demonstrations, and special events such as Fife & Drum performances, Life on the Lesser Stairs tour, Garden lectures, Outlander tours and African American cultural lectures. Learn about colonial spinning and weaving, cooking, apothecary, clothing, dueling, and more. Experience Tryon Palace.

Ben Lindemann

Get Out & Explore!

Raleigh is the perfect jumping-off point for destinations from the mountains to the sea — and beyond!

ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION

Red Wolf Center

Red Wolves are a critically endangered species with fewer than 300 in existence. The wolves once roamed much of the southeastern United States, from the Eastern Seaboard down to the Gulf states, but today there are only about 20 wolves in the wild. They are considered the most endangered canid in the entire world, and the only wild population lives within in a five-county area in Eastern North Carolina.

The Red Wolf Center is a visitor center located in Columbia, N.C. It’s managed in partnership with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. The facility has several features, including an exhibit pen with two Red Wolves under human care with 24/7 accessible live stream cameras, a photo exhibit and an educational space.

Folks can visit the Red Wolf Center at program times to receive information on the history, biology and management of the Red Wolf as a species, as well as have the opportunity to visit the Red Wolves under human care at the facility.

For more information, contact Red Wolf Education and Outreach Coordinator Katerina Ramos at katerina@ncwf.org

NORTH CAROLINA WILDLIFE FEDERATION

https://ncwf.org/wildlife/red-wolves/

RED WOLF CENTER

1221 NC-94 S Columbia, N.C. 27625

Hendersonville

Tucked in the lower Blue Ridge Mountains a half hour south of Asheville is North Carolina’s newest wine country. Known as the Crest of the Blue Ridge, this region in Hendersonville showcases mountain vineyards, upscale tasting rooms and warm hospitality. Sip your way through seven vineyards producing wines of distinction from European vinifera and French-American hybrid grapes. The Crest of the Blue Ridge became a federally designated wine region in 2019. It’s worth noting that the area’s topography and soil conditions are similar to the Bordeaux region in the South of France. The vineyards themselves are part of the larger Cheers Trail, the only one in N.C. featuring wine, beer, cider, mead and whiskey.

Beyond exceptional wine, Hendersonville boasts a shopping district where a serpentine Main Street features shops, galleries, restaurants and breweries. Mark your calendar for the annual Cider, Wine & Dine Weekend May 2-4. The three-day soiree is a celebration of the region’s wine and cider scene that will tantalize your taste buds with food pairings, cider tastings, special releases, live music, vineyard events and more.

ENJOY A TASTE OF BORDEAUX IN THE BLUE RIDGE

A HIDDEN GEM IN THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

Wilkes County

In the scenic foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Wilkes County, N.C. is a hidden gem offering a perfect escape for adventure seekers, food lovers and history enthusiasts alike. Just a short drive from Raleigh, the Great State of Wilkes boasts breathtaking landscapes, rich heritage and warm Southern hospitality.

Outdoor enthusiasts will find their paradise with miles of trails at Stone Mountain State Park and the pristine waters of W. Kerr Scott Reservoir, ideal for kayaking, fishing and paddleboarding. For a more leisurely pace, explore charming downtown Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro, where local shops, art galleries and cozy cafés invite you to unwind.

Wine lovers can sip and savor along the renowned Yadkin Valley Wine Trail, featuring award-winning vineyards like Raffaldini and Piccione. Music lovers won’t want to miss our legendary bluegrass roots, celebrated annually at MerleFest.

W hether you’re seeking a weekend of outdoor adventure, cultural enrichment or simply a scenic getaway, Wilkes County offers something for everyone. Experience the heart of North Carolina’s High Country — we’re on the way up!

Visit us at www.wilkescountytourism.com to plan your escape today!

GREAT STATE OF WILKES, N.C.

203 W. Main Street

Wilkesboro, N.C. 28697

tsalley@wilkesboronc.org

336-838-3951

wilkesboronc.org

EXPLORE GLOBAL. SHOP LOCAL.

Wade into a North Carolina mountain stream and you’ll experience something magical. Share this moment with friends — perhaps with a curious trout — and it transforms into something sacred. Great Outdoor Provision Co. invites you to celebrate these profound connections on Feb. 26 and 27 at the Fly Fishing Film Tour at The Rialto Theater. Join us and get inspired by stories and adventures that remind us of our place in the wild.

Tickets available now at https://bit.ly/FlyFishFilm

CELEBRATE A SACRED PLACE

At the End of the Road

THere is still a place where the natural landscape is the only thing you see... Where the ocean takes its time and tides find their way through marshes and creeks as always... Where sunrises are uninterrupted and sunsets are rich with color.

THere is still a place where the people are firmly grounded in this landscape... Where change threatens, but the human spirit overcomes with strong traditions and steadfast communities, as it has been for generations... Where the past is honored, today is celebrated and tomorrow will continue, rich in heritage, strength and determination.

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center is where t hese stories are kept; where celebrations live and communities come together to keep Down East the sacred place it has always been — a nd always will be.

CORE SOUND WATERFOWL MUSEUM & HERITAGE CENTER 1785 Island Road

Harkers Island, N.C. 28531 Mon. - Sat., 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday, 2 - 5 p.m.

806 MUSEUM STORE, GALLERY & QUILT STUDIO 806 Arendell Street

Morehead City, N.C. 28557

Mon. - Sat., 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Baxter Miller photo

DIVE INTO YOUR BEACHFRONT ADVENTURE

Trailborn Surf & Sound

Trailborn Surf & Sound invites you to discover your perfect coastal escape in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. This newly renovated resort sits across three acres of beachfront property and features stunning coastal views from every guest room, along with exclusive access to both the activity of the surf and the calm waters of the sound.

Your adventure starts here! Whether you’re taking surf lessons, paddleboarding, sailing or hopping between nearby islands, our team has curated memorable experiences for all ages. After your day of activity, indulge in fresh seafood at La Duna Paradiso and Bar Duna, which offer specialty cocktails and fresh-catch Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. For a more laid-back experience, enjoy bites and drinks at the Blockade Surf Bar.

For those who prefer to relax, our resort offers plenty of space to unwind. Lounge poolside in a private cabana, take a dip in the outdoor pool or retreat to a hammock nestled in our lush seaside gardens. Under a beachside umbrella, your perfect day awaits.

D rawing inspiration from the iconic surf culture of Wrightsville Beach, Trailborn Surf & Sound is your ultimate destination and it’s less than 2.5 hours from Raleigh. Whether you’re here to explore or simply relax, every moment promises something unforgettable.

TRAILBORN

275 Waynick Boulevard

Wrightsville Beach, N.C. 28409

www.trailborn.com/surf-sound

Phone: 844-763-0354

BUYTICKETSNOW!

BOOK CLUB

Joy Callaway moderated by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Wednesday, May 14 6-9 p.m.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Join WALTER and Kristy Woodson Harvey as we welcome Charlotte author Joy Callaway, whose two new books, Star of Camp Greene and Sing Me Home to Carolina, are coming out this summer. Callaway is an international bestselling author of historical fiction and Southern contemporary romance. Your $75 ticket includes cocktail hour, dinner, a book talk and signing opportunity.

THE WHIRL

WALTER’s roundup of gatherings, celebrations, fundraisers and more around Raleigh.

CELEBRATE THE SEASON

On Dec. 4, more than 200 people joined WALTER to shop from a curated list of local retailers at 1000 Social, a new event venue at The Exchange in North Hills. Guests enjoyed wine and snacks from Westgate Wine, Trophy Brewing and Catering Works, plus amazing tasty bites from WILDERS and dessert from The Kupkake Fairy. Green Front Furniture created a festive lounge where folks enjoyed Cheerwine-infused holiday cocktails.

Courtney Grinnell, Kimberly Miller, Kristi Williams

Danielle Lantz, Josh Goldberg

Kathryn McLean, Teresa McLean, Liz McLean

Guests at the event

Sofia Worters, Anna Haddad, Kylie Shaw, Samantha Pressly

Andrea Epstein, Carter Epstein

Laura Benner, Armelle De Villeneuve, Laura Wall

John O’Neal, Addie Ladner, Katie O’Neal, Glenn Scott

THE WHIRL

ENLOE CHARITY BALL

At its winter dance in December, students from Enloe High School unveiled a fundraising total of $186,000 to benefit CASA. The money was raised by its Student Council through both school and community events and will directly benefit CASA’s new King’s Ridge facility, an affordable housing complex whose high school age students will be zoned for Enloe.

MIRA RIBBON CUTTING

Mira Raleigh, an exclusive collection of luxury apartments, celebrated it opening on Nov. 14 with a ribbon cutting. Mira Raleigh is the first project to grace the approximately 10-acre site between Kindley Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at the southern border of Raleigh’s central business district.

EQUINOX MOON PARTY

On Sept. 21, Ann Robertson and Hans Linnartz welcomed guests to their home for their seventh annual Equinox Moon Party. The celebration is an evening of bringing together two ancient festivals to celebrate equal night and day, moon and sun, joys, blessings and a reunion of family and friends.

Penny Choy, Jiya Shu-Bhure, Mimi Sonawane, Joelle Park, Malone Bridgers

Andrew Parker, Laesha Aguilar, Mayuly Len, Ann Felgley, Maritza Pearce, Josh Pearce

Ann Robertson, Hans Linnartz

Front row: Beth Zak, Antoinette DiBenedetto, Susan Reynolds, Mary Lovelock, Arlene Sanders, Ann Robertson, Terry Harper, Barbara Wishy, Jill Rollinson, Jackie Twisdale. Back row: Terri Becom, Carol DeVita, Doris Jurkiewicz, Nancy McIlwee, Sharon O'Neill, Pat McQuaid, Suzy Spencer, Naudain Machen, Karen Still

Isaac Linnartz, Jacki Price-Linnartz

Katy Warner

Robbie Ferris, Aaron Thomas, Mary-Ann Baldwin, Ian Levine, Emanuel Neuman, Dave Welk, Corey Branch

COCKTAILS, GEMS & JEWELS

Trust Company of the South’s fall women’s event was held at Madre on Nov. 7, featuring speakers from DOYLE New York and a trunk show with Hyla DeWitt Jewelry. Friends and connections gathered to explore jewelry as an asset class and learn why auction continues to be a great way to acquire or dissolve valuable collections.

BAILEYS

Bailey’s Fine Jewelry recently donated $75,000 to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. The funds were raised through its “Share the Love” campaign, which donates funds for 250 meals, enough to feed an entire North Carolina family of four, every time an engagement ring is purchased from one of its stores.

BUY ONE, GET ONE DEAL!

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Choose from 5 handcrafted glazes: Vanilla, Caramel, Lemon, Strawberry, Maple or Rum Cake (topped with toasted pecans)

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Shipping Promo: wship Hurry, this BOGO deal won’t last long! Redeem by 3/15/2025

10123 Chapel Hill Rd, Morrisville, NC 27560

411 W Morgan St Raleigh, NC 27603

(919) 391-8251

Leah Jane Barnwell, Hannah Baublitz, Katie Henry

Meredith McCaskill, Miller Smith, Katie Bratton, Westray Veasey, Hyla DeWitt Woolridge, Leah Jane Barnwell

Trey Bailey, Anna Spell Miller

Westray Veasey, Mary Woodard

Eating on the Job?

This method of commercial pruning is both effective and adorable

by ADDIE LADNER photography by BOB KARP

Stephen Paul has just under 100 hardworking employees. They eat all day, sometimes nap on the job, wander around and distract passersby. Bernie might be his MVP, a friendly fellow who likes chin rubs and has a big personality.

Paul owns Goats on the Go Raleigh - Durham, a company that offers a fairly new form of sustainable agribusiness here in the Triangle. If folks have a lot that’s deeply overgrown, property owners can rent a herd of stealthy, motivated ruminants to clear the land. That employee Bernie? He’s a Saanen dairy goat.

Paul says there are many perks to using goats on projects like these: “We don’t use chemical herbicides, and goats are good at getting to areas that a machine or human might not be able to reach.” Goats can navigate tricky terrain, steep slopes and small nooks, and because they digest most everything down to the nub, they don’t spread seeds or roots to other parts of a landscape.

Another perk: They’re cute.

Ann and Wade Smith are among Paul’s Raleigh clients. Last July, they used Goats on the Go to clear a lot they own near Hayes Barton. It’s kept natural for their tight-knight neighborhood to enjoy the wildlife and trees and hold social gatherings, but it had gotten too overgrown. Paul set up around 20 goats, armed with GPS trackers and virtual electric fencing to keep them contained, and they stayed for a week — much to the

delight of their neighbors. “We’ve hosted Halloween parties here for more than 50 years, but this was the best event we’ve ever had,” says Ann.

Ann says they even got to know the goats’ idiosyncrasies. “They love poison ivy — they think it’s candy — but will only eat English ivy if nothing else is there,” she says.

Since goats will consume most anything, Paul says that probably the biggest challenge of running his animal husbandry business is learning which plants the goats can’t tolerate. “Our greatest threat to the health of the herd is them eating a plant we

missed,” he says. Daffodils and azaleas are poisonous to goats, and for this project, Paul had to remove some Nandina, whose berries are highly toxic to the animals.

Neighbors of all ages enjoyed watching the goats work. “They bring joy, and we need more joy,” says Ann. Her husband Wade agrees: “They worked hard and with good cheer.”

Official Jeweler of the Carolina Hurricanes Proud Sponsor of NC State Athletics

Pickin’ and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.

Pickin’ and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.

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 multiple treatment options, most of them minimally invasive. And that should come as music to your ears, your heart and your six string.

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