Thanks

Even with all the damp, bone chilling, windy weather of late, I was surprised when I stepped out onto South Trade Street today. The wind had stilled, the sun was shining, and I stopped trying to pull my heavy jacket on to bask in the warm light.

This time of year things can get out of hand. Everyone gets tied in knots with too many things to do. It’s worse than October and April when every local festival and celebration has to take place.

But it’s those little times when the sun hits your face and makes you stop for minute or two that can snap me back into something like my right mind. Thankfulness, satisfaction, appreciation, etc. Those are the basic things that keep an uptown manager type from getting down or losing hope. Oh yes, the task is big, and some days it will be scary, but we will make some progress.

I’m hoping those sunny moments keep hitting me up the side of the head.

Local Color

When I first arrived here just two months ago things were so green. It was the live oaks and all the greenery around Court Square that first tugged at me on the first visit. But even though the live oaks are still green, I’ve been appreciating the blaze of maples and dogwoods that have suddenly made their presence impossible to ignore. Local color is that blaze of glory that can make you stop and gasp. But local color is way more than some pigment on the surface. It’s the quirks and quacks that makes a place different and enjoyable. It takes more than two months to find them, but I’m sure they are here. Who knows? In a few years I might be one myself as I age. (It does run in the family!)Yesterday I spent the day in Columbia (SC) at a seminar by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street center. The topic was Finding New Merchants for Main Street, something on the mind of just about every town I know of. Unfortunately, there were no magic bullets among the many ideas we discussed. However, there were enough hints and tips to make a trip down worth the drive.We talked about things that are just good common sense, like making certain that buildings are clean and sound before recruiting, avoiding expensive brochures in favor of basic fact sheets, and the like. But I was glad to hear the instructor tell us that recruitment is fine if you have loads of time and money, but the best way to build up new businesses for a place like Uptown Shelby is to encourage local entrepreneurs, that fancy word for people who create new stores, new businesses and services. Encouraging people to take the chance that their idea is one that will work isn’t easy, but I hope we can start that process soon. It takes a broad effort, from teaching school kids how to think about money and the ways business works, to helping the recently laid off office worker or forklift driver think about ways they can establish a new business that lets them have greater control over their work-life and finances. As hard as it sounds, it can be easier than trying to get someone from corporate headquarters in New York or San Francisco to put a Gap on Layfayette Street.Coming full circle, local business means local customs and, especially with Foothills Farmers Market, tastes that are familiar. It’s local color! Right?Does anyone out there have ideas or want to volunteer to help? Let me hear from you!

Art Around Town

I was pleasantly surprised by the Art Around Town Gallery Crawl last Thursday. Not by what happens during a gallery crawl event. Been there, done that, in many places.

But I was struck by the depth and quality of what is presented for the public here. Part of it was exhibit only, part for sale, and a good part was for giving folks a chance to talk with artists about their work.

We used to joke about how potentially scary these interactions might be to many folks when some communities began to host these events back in the late 80’s. My best carnival barker voice might intone “See the exotic artists live in their native habitat!” And my artist friends would break into wild calls every time.

But Cotton Ketchie is from Mooresville and is a born story teller as well as a fine painter and photographer. He’s too busy to be an exotic character, but he’s also the guy who has never met a stranger. I’ve met him before, but didn’t have any of his work. Well he showed up at Frame Masters with a beautiful photo of an old tobacco barn with Pilot Mountain in the background. I had to get it. Pilot Mountain, or Mount Pilot, is the southeastern view from my farm in the hills up in the Mount Airy area. Mr. Ketchie gave me a bit of home to hang in the office.

The Arts Council gallery presented arts and artifacts from El Nido, the Gibbs house that is being restored and stabilized by Preservation North Carolina. Images from the past, but intriguing and surely not something you see every day.

The artists at Buffalo Creek were not doing anything very different from their day-to-day operations, except that they had new work available for viewing and purchase. The great thing about this cooperatively owned gallery and its artists is the variety, depth and breadth that is seen in their work.

I hadn’t had a chance to see much of the other galleries/shops before The Crawl, so I was glad to have a chance to stop and talk with Allan Griffin at his studio and shop. There were several nice pieces to see, with some arts & crafts references, as well as a nicely original take on the traditional face jugs so well known across North Carolina. I know several potters and this was different in a nice way.

Synergy had some of the edgiest work on display, but I was also surprised to see the quality of the different artists in the exhibit. I also loved the look and feel of the studio space they’ve carved out for themselves in an old mercantile building just west of the tracks on Warren Street.

And lastly, the beautiful work at Alley Quilts. It’s next door to the Uptown offices, but there’d never been enough time to duck in and take some time to enjoy their work. What a terrible shame, it turns out. From a funky pink flamingo banner to traditional patchwork bed quilts, wall hangings and table runners, the colors were lively and intricate. Plus quilts just make me feel like I’m a little kid again, visiting my grandmother on a late fall day for milk and cookies while she had the quilting frame up in the front parlor.

Uptown Shelby alone has the visual art strengths to keep a sizeable community lively. I hear there are great artists and good work around the countryside and small towns hereabouts. I think we all ought to enjoy this rich blessing whenever possible and invite the rest of the world to sample it as well. The variety and high quality is what is so very striking.

Not a Sleepy Town

Not even close! Weekend before last I ran around between volunteering for Art of Sound, and listening to the performances of as many as I could fit in. I missed a few that I really wanted to see or heard about from other folks.

My biggest surprise was The Old Ceremony from Chapel Hill. I guess it would be labeled as Indie Rock, but those guys were alternately soft and lyrical or loud and driving fast. There were marimbas, and I bet they called it a violin instead of a fiddle. I especially liked that they were performing in Blanton Hall at First National.

I did get to listen to my old favorites Slate Mountain Ramblers and traveled back to my homeplace and childhood through music with the Bowman family that I’ve been hearing for the better part of my life it seems. If I hadn’t been raised by seriously sober minded Quakers and Baptists I’d probably have been dancing. But Shelby was spared that awful spectacle.

I’m hoping we can keep the quality of the music performers this high going forward and get the word out so more folks will take advantage of the variety and fun this festival brings to town.

Now, this past weekend was a completely different celebration. The Shelby Fall Festival & Liver Mush Expo combine our own Uptown Shelby Association and the folks at Travel & Tourism to create what turned out to be a really nice day of fun, kid-sized spectacles, tasty treats, farmers market and more.

The day began with clouds, but things warmed up and folks came out in good numbers. I’m going to say that we had almost 2,000 folks in total. Mayor Ted Alexander delivered the Liver Mush Proclamation for the City of Shelby, and we even had major national media present. Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel was here to sample our local delicacies, and we’re hoping to see Shelby on TV sometime early in 2009. There was old fashioned ice cream from a paddle-style maker that was powered by an old John Deere motor. Plus Sundrop and Cheerwine. We ran the popcorn popper and gave away a few hundred bags to kids of all ages.

I think we’re already feeling in our bones that next year’s Liver Mush Expo will be bigger and better, and we’re always ready to expand the fun crafts for children and make pets a part of the show. I saw some fine looking dogs Uptown on Saturday. Maybe next year I can bring mine.

Now it’s time to do another newsletter, get ready to enjoy the Art Gallery Crawl on Thursday and then Hog Happenin’ on the weekend. Never a dull moment it seems!

Too many temptations, but the music wins out!

October can be the cruelest month, with apologies to T.S. Elliott. It’s not the kind of cruelty to be dreaded or cause me to hide out. No the cruelty in October is the weather and all the things to do with our dwindling time. And great events too. Seems like every time I turn around or answer the phone there’s something else really interesting but it’s the same weekend as something else I’ve got to [gladly] attend.

There are several things this weekend all over the western third of NC that could tempt me out, but I won’t have to drive any. Instead, three blocks into Uptown and I’ll be in the middle of Art of Sound. Some of the artists will be new to me, others like Acoustic Syndicate, Michael Reno Harrel and Jim Lauderdale I’ve been hearing on radio and in concert for quite a while. But well over 22 artists I’ve never heard! It’ll be good for the ears.

I’m especially looking forward to hearing the Slate Mountain Ramblers who hail from the ‘hills and hollers’ around my hometown of Mt. Airy. A local friend tells me most folks around here have probably not heard much of what gets labeled Old Time String Band that took root up that way before and after the Civil War. That’s when we had all kinds of Scots-Irish, British, African, German Moravians, city-folk and country dwellers, all bumping into each other in that boisterous period. It took a few decades to brew a more refined thing like the early Bluegrass sound that began here, in Galax and Bristol in Virginia, Mt. Airy and then somehow got on to records and then radio in Nashville.

So, even when there’s a great little wine festival up in the northern foothills, I’ll dodge the cruelty of schedules and fall colors and great weather to stay home and feed the soul with some great listening. It's all in the streets, landmark buildings, and minds of folks here in Uptown Shelby. See y’all there!

Hump Day?

Wednesday—is it hump day or the low point? Rainy and dreary, good and bad, like life alright.

We were out briefly with Mayor Alexander this afternoon, on the west side of Uptown Shelby, and decided to go by New Jerusalem Church. One TV news crew was on site when we arrived and another arrived a few minutes later. The Mayor spoke with both about the tragedy of the fire, something he feels doubly as a working preservationist and civic leader. He spoke of the need for churches to come together in times like this, as the central role of churches is being leaned upon more heavily in most communities here.

I think we’re beginning to see that working together is going to be a stronger theme in the months ahead, whether it’s the work we do here at Uptown Shelby Association, neighborhood revitalization, school improvements, or business recruitment. I’m ready. I don’t think I’m too far ahead of the trends on this one either.

The next few days ought to be looking up a bit with the return of cool, clear fall weather. That and some good food for thought with the Destination Cleveland County presentation of initial findings for the Earl Scruggs Center-Music and Stories of the Carolina Foothills on Sunday at the Arts Council on Court Square. That ought to be a great warm-up for Art of Sound the following week. Now that will be something to liven up my ears!

Monday morning

Returned from the Rural Center's annual forum in Raleigh, and it confirmed I was at home. I'm still seeing things that I love, things that I'd love to polish up a little, and a few things that really need some work. No, I'm not talking about my home! But I still felt better about being back than on the road. That's a good sign.

Some ideas that floated to the top at the conference were creation of a bakery (breads, bagels, pretzels, cookies, and maybe even cakes) with goods to be sold in stores throughout the county. And do it on a scale that puts between 10 and 20 people to work.

Another idea is to develop an alternative energy operation of some sort. Perhaps a solar wafer manufacturing plant, or maybe a plant that manufactures wind turbines. I would like for us to be playing a role in the development of energy altnernatives, and I think it helps spur along the adoption rate for new technology bya wider range of people.

One idea many people don't seem to be exploring much outside Asheville and the surrounding zone of cool towns is live music as a way to make a place more interesting and vital. It doesn't need to be a saloon, but a listening room would make a great addition to our local scene, Anyone want to help on that?

Be well.
Wade

Milestones

Roughly one month ago I moved here to start work at Uptown Shelby Association. No one ever knows what is going to happen with a new job, but I have to admit that I made the decision with a good bit of good feeling about how this place looked and how I felt about the people I'd met. I didn't know about the old tag line of "City of Pleasant Living" until well after I have moved in.

I've been struck by how compact and yet full-featured the Uptown is. Other than a few trips to the super market and a little sightseeing around the county, I've mostly stayed within the official confines of Uptown and the historic districts around the edge. Plenty of interesting restaurants and gathering places, folks to meet and talk with. And events to get me out for more than just taking the dog for a walk.

Art of Sound is coming and I can't wait! I don't have to drive all the way to Asheville or Merlefest to hear a wide variety of great regional music. And with the groundbreaking for the Gibson Theater this week, there's a strong promise of a steady stream of great performers to keep our ears alive here in Uptown. Think I lucked out!