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Thursday, April 23, 2020
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Good news for great people! • Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Artist and musician Anna Hunsucker with the message she created on her fence with chalk.
East Belmont resident sending a message with chalk By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Folks drawing colorful designs with chalk on sidewalks in Belmont has become a popular activity, but Anna Hunsucker at 405 Church St. in East Belmont has taken the concept to a whole new level. Hunsucker hard at work on the fence. Photos by Alan Hodge Hunsucker, whose creativity also includes
City of Belmont helping small business owners By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
The City of Belmont is helping small, non-franchised businesses within the city limits by offering $400,000 in emergency loans to those that apply and are approved. The first round of $10,000 checks were handed over on April 9 to four businesses including - Luke Manlove, Belmont Specialty Foods; Emory and C.J. Vandiver, Catawba River Antique Mall; Majid Amoorpor, Everyday Market; Jamie Wallin, Two Chicks Sandwiches and Scoops. Belmont mayor Charles Martin was on hand to see the checks distributed at city hall and had this to say about the event. “We know some of our small businesses are struggling right now,” Martin said. “We had some money in a fund to help them survive. It was wonderful to see the faces of the business owners when they got the checks. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our city.” On April 15, two more businesses in Downtown BelmontMagnolia and Vine and GiGis- also received checks. The loan program is called “Keep the Lights on in Belmont”. Loans to the businesses are designed to tide them over with operating expenses until state or federal help becomes available or until the current economic challenge is over. To be eligible for one of the loans, applicants must complete an online application and submit all required See LOANS, Page 4
teaching violin and viola at Trinity Episcopal Church in Charlotte, had some time on her hands, a new privacy fence, and a supply of chalk sticks so she went to work making a message that’s timeless. The message that Hunsucker crafted is the simple yet profound word PEACE spelled out in highly hued, slightly psychedelic letters on a stretch of fence over twenty feet long.
“I had an old peace sign on the porch but someone stole it,” Hunsucker said. “So I decided to put the word on the fence.” Hunsucker put a lot of work into the project. “I worked eight hours one day and about three the next,” she said. See CHALK, Page 4
BCO is there to help those in need By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
The Belmont Community Organization (BCO) has been helping folks in times of need since 1956 with clothes, food, and utility bill payments. Now, the BCO is once again on the front lines of assisting people whose lives have been disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis. BCO executive director Paula Wilkerson talked about the situation. “Food is the biggest demand we have,” she said. “Right now, the demand for food is increasing just slightly, but in a month or so we will see a lot more need as people’s pantries begin to run out.” The BCO is in need of food donations. “We aren’t able to send our volunteers to the Second See BCO, Page 4
Belmont Community Organization (BCO) director Paula Wilkerson (left) and board member Karen Valentine and some of the food that’s available for clients. Photo by Alan Hodge
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