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Thursday, April 30, 2020
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We’re Open For Your Business! • Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Mt. Holly Farmers Market getting set for another great season By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
The long-awaited spring 2020 opening of the Mt. Holly Farmers Market is coming up - with some important tweaks to help customers and vendors stay safe during the COVID-19 situation. The market will open at 8 am, Saturday May 9th. The market is located at 226 S. Main St. in downtown Mt. Holly. Look for the large open air trellis. This year marks the market’s 15th anniversary.
The health and safety related changes are as follows: One Entry/Exit into the market for customers. Pick up area will be provided if needed. Online Sales sales and pickup will be available. Hours from 8 am to 8:30am are designated for seniors and special needs customers only. The market will provide a required hand-washing station for customers before entering market. The market will expand out over the entire available area to enhance and exceed social distancing recommendations - 9 feet be-
tween vendors. Gloves will be used by all vendors at their tables, and hand sanitizers will be available. All materials will be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before and after market set up. The market will round up purchases to the dollar to reduce cross contamination from coins, therefore no change will be available. “We take very seriously the health and well-being of everyone involved in our market, and have conferred with state, county and local See MARKET, Page 2
Folks enjoying the Mt. Holly Farmers Market last year. This year, vendors will be spaced nine feet apart in response to COVID-19 concerns. Photo by Alan Hodge
Stanley Hardware is a blast from the past By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
There’s a new business in Stanley with an old time, down home, flavor. Have you ever gone to a big box home improvement store and wandered the cavernous aisles looking for a certain “thing” and getting someone to help you was as hard as figuring out where the product was? Well, that same fate will not befall customers at Stanley Hardware and Feed located at 100 N. Main St. in beautiful downtown Stanley. Stanley Hardware is owned by husband/wife team of Linda and Roger Bell and partner Ronnie Bozardt. They had previously been in the hardware business in West Charlotte, but needed a larger building and wanted to set up shop in Gaston County. “We wanted to make a hometown hardware and feed store so local farmers and other customers would not have to drive so far to
Customers David and Sherry Helms (left and right) visited Stanley Hardware and Feed and were greeted by owner Linda Bell and employee Eddie Todd. Photo by Alan Hodge get what they needed,” said Linda. “We wanted a place where folks would feel at home when they came in.” That idea plays out with the friendly welcome Stanley Hardware and Seed staff gives to patrons and is re-
turned likewise. The ambiance is reminiscent of the days when “howdy, ya’ll come on in” was a greeting as comfortable and familiar as pair of well worn bib overalls. The stock at Stanley
Hardware and Feed is a cornucopia of stuff that folks need to keep their home or farm flowing nicely. Walking the rows, customers see shelves filled with all sorts of items such as See HARDWARE, Page 5
NC Gov. Roy Cooper outlines plans for lifting COVID-19 restrictions Last Thursday, NC Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order No. 135 extending North Carolina’s Stay At Home order through May 8. The orders extending closure of restaurants for dine-in service and bars and closure of other close-contact businesses are also extended through May 8. Governor Cooper shared details about North Carolina’s plan to lift restrictions in three phases once the data show that key metrics are headed in the right direction. “The health and safety of people in North Carolina must be our top priority,” Cooper said. “This plan provides a roadmap for us to begin easing restrictions in stages to push our economy forward.” Last week, Governor Cooper laid out the path forward centered on three things: testing, tracing and trends. Today, Governor Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of NC Department of Health and Human Services, shared more specifics on those key metrics. The Stay At Home and other orders are extended today because North Carolina has not yet seen a downward trajectory of those metrics needed to begin gradually lifting restrictions. “North Carolina cannot stay at home indefinitely,” added Governor Cooper. “We have to get more people back to work. Right now, the decision to stay at home is based on the public health data and White House guidance. North Carolina needs more time to slow the spread of this virus before we can safely begin lifting restrictions. I know that this pandemic has made life difficult for many people in our state and I am See GOVERNOR, Page 4
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