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Volume 116 • Issue 16
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Wednesday, April 20, 2022
MainStreet Family Care to open on May 5 Cherryville site chosen as their first NC location
by MICHAEL E. POWELL Editor michael@cfmedia.info
According to Ms. Whitney Letman, Marketing Coordinator for MainStreet Family Care, their clinic will open its first North Carolina location in Cherryville on Sunday, May 5. In a recent media release, Ms. Letman noted, “From urgent care and COVID-19 testing to primary care, MainStreet Family provides high-quality medical care for the entire family.” Said Letman, “Patients one-year old and up can visit seven days a week.” MainStreet Family Care will be located in front of the Cherryville Walmart for easy accessibility, said Letman, who added, “We (MainStreet Family Care) are also looking forward to enhancing the availabil-
Planning and Zoning Director Alex Blackburn presented to Council to set a date for a public hearing on rezoning matter. (photo by MEP/The Eagle/CF Media)
MainStreet Family Care’s “Coming Soon” sign sits right at their work site, in front of the Cherryville Walmart. (photo provided) ity of COVID-19 testing for those who need it as the Cherryville clinic will offer rapid COVID-19 testing, allowing patients to receive their results in under 20 minutes.” MainStreet’s CEO, Sam Eskildsen said in the media release, “We want to make it simple for people that really need testing to receive it. There might be multiple areas to receive testing in bigger cities, but in rural North Carolina, testing can be more difficult to come by. If people are experi-
encing multiple symptoms associated with COVID-19 or have had direct exposure to someone who tested positive, they need to know they have somewhere to go.” Additionally, the Cherryville location will be open late nights and weekends, noted the release, which added that, “New patients can register online during regular business hours, and online registration is available from home for patients.” MainStreet’s See FAMILY, Page 8
Council meeting deals with financial budget matters; rezoning property by MICHAEL E. POWELL Editor michael@cfmedia.info
Last Monday night’s April 11 City Council regular session meeting will probably go down as one of the shortest on record, if not THE shortest in recent memory. Nevertheless, City business was conducted as normal with nothing overlooked or left out, as the Mayor and Councilmembers dealt with the issues at hand. Council voted on and approved first the agenda, then
the City Council regular session minutes of March 14, 2022, and the revised minutes of the regular council session of June 8, 2020. Council member Gary Freeman asked if his revised comments changes had been made and was told they had been. Next up were the Mayor’s Comments where Mayor Beam mentioned about the four ribbon cuttings the City had and which he attended, noting that there were “… exceptionally large crowds there” at each of the ribbon cuttings; Tony Tzzz’s, Turner
Animal Clinic, Frank Zaya’s Photography, and the New Cherryville Family YMCA, which he noted was, according to Gaston County YMCA CEO Sharon Padgett, was “…the largest ribbon cutting turnout they have ever had.” Mayor Beam also spoke at Cherryville Elementary at the request of Principal Mrs. Audrey Hovis and his daughter, Ashley Long, who works there. He spoke about the past Sunday’s budget meeting the Council whad at the Fire See COUNCIL, Page 2
Cherryville couple portray Adam and Eve in locally-hosted production St. John’s Lutheran Church site for the Mark Twain-written piece scheduled for April 29 and 30 by MICHAEL E. POWELL Editor michael@cfmedia.info
Cherryville couple Ashley DeMar and Jeremy Homesley are scheduled to perform the Mark Twain-written humorous, yet thought-provoking “The Diaries of Adam & Eve” on Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, in Cherryville. The production starts at 7 p.m., and a free will offering will be taken with any donations given going to the church’s ministry to feed the hungry, “God’s Work, Our Hands” ministry. The two, who moved to Cherryville in 2019 from New York, had lived here previously in 2016, said Ms. DeMar, who added she is originally from New York, but that Jeremy’s family is from Cherryville. “We are lucky enough to live on the family farm – in the same house his grandparents built – and that’s an invaluable experience for us and for us to give to our son, Roan,” she said.
On Tuesday, April 12, the second day of Cherryville’s Holy Week celebration, the Rev. Dr. Vince Hefner, pastor of Cherryville’s First Baptist Church, gave the message at First Presbyterian Church, where the week’s events were held. (photo by MEP/The Eagle/CF Media)
Cherryville pastors; worshipers celebrate Holy Week In this publicity photo, originally taken in Watertown, NY, we see Ashley DeMar and her husband, Jeremy Homesley acting out a scene from the book and play, “The Diaries of Adam & Eve”, in which Eve picks out the names of the plants in the Garden of Eden. (photo by Maureen Hillabrandt) Jeremy said, “I’ve lived here since 2008 and I think it’s a great area. I initially moved here right after graduating from undergrad at Lenoir-Rhyne. We left in the summer of 2017 when I did a long section hike on the Appalachian Trail (from North Carolina to New York). And then we spent a bit of time in New York and a bit of time in Virginia before coming back in spring of 2019.” Though they are far from retirement age, Ashley noted Jeremy is an English teacher at Bessemer
City High School where he teaches British Literature, World Literature, Honors English and AP English, in addition to leading Drama Club. She works remotely as a writer/copywriter, in addition to her work in the theater and music world. Together, we also run a farm and Project Local, which is the non-profit Jeremy founded in 2017. Said Jeremy, “Project Local is a non-profit agro-business founded on the idea that food production is an essential component See COUPLE, Page 11
April 11-15 services, ending with Cross Walk, well attended by MICHAEL E. POWELL Editor michael@cfmedia.info
Cherryville’s 2022 Holy Week celebration (the week of April 11-15) was celebrated with five pastors leading the worshipers who came to First Presbyterian Church to worship in prayer and song the trial, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who was executed by Roman Governor Pontius Pilate over 2,000 years ago. The message still resounds today in towns big and small, as was evidenced by Cherryville’s faithful gathering for the much-loved services.
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The Cherryville Ministerial Association once again hosted the event, whose theme was “He took my place”. Monday’s services were led by Pastor Will Upchurch, who gave the day’s sermon on Matthew 27: 11-14. where Jesus faces Pilate, with special music by Martel Sigmon. The Rev. Dr. Bill Lowe, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Cherryville, did the welcome, announcements and opening prayers for all five days of the celebration, as well as Sunday, April 17’s Easter Sunrise Service at City Memorial Cemetery. The Sunday sermon was delivered by Dr. Lowe, speaking in first-person voice as the Apostle Simon Peter. On Tuesday, April 12,
the Rev. Dr. Vince Hefner, of Cherryville’s First Baptist Church gave the sermon from Matthew 27: 22-30, titled, “Taking the place of Barabbas”. The CMA ministers provided the choir music, “Amazing Grace”. Pastor Hefner asked the question, “What will I do with God in my life?”, which he said was one of the oldest, if not the oldest, question asked of man. Dr. Hefner also referenced Moses, the great Hebrew leader and Old Testament prophet, who found out soon enough that it was God Who was in control of things and not Moses. “We should ask ourselves in 2022, what shall we do with Jesus?” stated Rev. Hefner, who finished by noting, See HOLY WEEK, Page 2