Friday, April 9, 2021

Friday, April 9, 20219090909.pdf

<p>RALEIGH &mdash; A new book released last week by a north Raleigh author and photographer explores the life and legacy of a controversial Haywood County moonshiner.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton&rdquo; is a biography, including a collection of photographs and interviews, focusing on Marvin &ldquo;Popcorn&rdquo; Sutton. Author and photographer Neal Hutcheson said he met the moonshiner in 1999 while filming a documentary called &ldquo;Mountain Talk.&rdquo; Afterward, Hutcheson made a documentary about Sutton&rsquo;s last run of moonshine called &ldquo;The Last One&rdquo; and a biographical film called &ldquo;Popcorn Sutton - A Hell of a Life.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Twelve years now after his death as of March 16, Popcorn has a surprisingly large and widespread fan base,&rdquo; Hutcheson said. &ldquo;He is now remembered as something akin to a folk hero.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Hutcheson said he produced the book to recover and preserve the memory of the living person while also exploring the public fascination for him. He said he also wanted to examine Sutton&rsquo;s transformation in the public imagination from a criminal moonshiner to a folk icon.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I wanted to capture him faithfully, so there is still plenty of grit, salt and sharp edges to the book,&rdquo; Hutcheson said.</p>
<p>He transcribed many of his interviews with Sutton to capture his voice as much as possible.</p>
<p>While the book focuses on Sutton, Hutcheson wanted to share Southern Appalachian culture, he said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton&rdquo; is available at Page 158 Books in Wake Forest along with other local bookstores: Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh and Horse &amp; Buggy Press in Durham. The book can also be purchased at <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.suckerpunchpictures.com">http://www.suckerpunchpictures.com</a></span>. </p>
<p>&ldquo;Independent bookstores are the heart of the communities where they&rsquo;re located,&rdquo; Hutcheson said. &ldquo;They are not only places to find the latest bestseller but meeting places where conversations take place, where the community narratives are sustained and where readers are brought together with writers, so it seems most fitting that people would discover this book in those spaces.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Hutcheson added that he grew up browsing the books at Intimate Bookshop in Chapel Hill, which was always one of his favorite places. He also likes that independent bookstores host unique books of regional interest as well as local authors to talk with their readers.</p>
<p>The book features contributions from North Carolina novelist David Joy, who wrote &ldquo;Where All Light Tends to Go,&rdquo; and Penn State anthropologist Kirk French, who teaches the largest anthropology course in the U.S. called &ldquo;Booze and Culture.&rdquo;</p>

Wake author's book explores life of controversial moonshiner

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<p>WAKE FOREST &#x2014; In a close 6-3 vote, the Wake Forest planning board voted to recommend approving the site plan for a 50-acre planned unit development called Grove 98 near Wegmans during an almost six-hour meeting Tuesday night. </p> <p>The developer, Stiles Corporation, plans to build 232 garden-style apartments and 122 townhouse-style units for a total of 354 units, as well as six commercial lots on around 50.5 acres.</p> <p>Board members Thomas Ballman, Jim Stephanadis and Michael Hickey voted against the site plan. The planning board advises the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners, which has final say. </p> <p>Ballman said his concerns were all related to connectivity. The site is divided by N.C. Highway 98 and the proposed Ligon Mill Road extension. However, the developers will only complete part of the extension and pay the town a fee so the town can complete the extension at a later date. </p> <p>Ballman said he worried the fees wouldn&#x2019;t be enough to cover the potential cost in the future. He was also concerned that the site didn&#x2019;t connect to Bennett Park to its north.</p> <p>Ballman&#x2019;s main concern seemed to be a private maintenance road that would cross over the wetlands and stub out onto a parcel of undeveloped land owned by WakeMed. He wanted the road to be a town-maintained road, which would be wider than privately maintained roads. </p> <p>Part of his concerns was whether the smaller road could handle the through traffic when it was connected to Siena Drive.</p> <p>Board Members Karlene Turrentine and Karin Kuropas, who made the motion and second to recommend approval respectively, both felt the road would be sufficient. Turrentine added that she felt the wider road wouldn&#x2019;t be worth the potential environmental impact.</p> <p>The road would be maintained by the property owners&#x2019; association, which would include people who owned both residential and commercial property and would be paid into based on a formula probably related to how much property they owned, according to Jennifer Ashton, the developer&#x2019;s attorney. </p> <p>Turrentine said that meant the businesses would probably be paying most of the cost, and that they would include that in their operating expenses before purchasing.</p> <p>Board Chair Joe Kimray also said he liked the feel of having a smaller street in an area where all the townhouses would be owned by the occupants. It would make the area feel more like a neighborhood, he added.</p> <p>Hickey said he felt there were too many parking spaces and that the future commercial portion was too large compared to the residential uses. A total of 639 parking spaces and 42 bike parking spaces are planned, according to the site plan.</p> <p>Stephanadis also spoke about the number of residential units that were being added. While the developer is adding around 120 units, the density will actually be lower if the board of commissioners approves a proposed rezoning of 25 acres.</p> <p>The 25 acres are the northern part of the site and are zoned neighborhood mixed-use conditional use. The other 77 acres are zoned as planned unit development.</p> <p>Stiles Corporation wants the whole 96-acre site to be zoned as a planned unit development to unify the development, add walkability and keep the residential units in a &#x201C;compact area,&#x201D; according to attorney Ashton.</p> <p>She added that the 25 acres was oddly shaped and would need a lot of buffers to protect the wetlands to its north, meaning that the area may not be developed if it isn&#x2019;t rezoned.</p> <p>The Board of Commissioners is expected to decide on the rezoning at its April 20 meeting.</p> <p>On Tuesday, the planning board also: </p> <p>&#x2022; Unanimously recommended text amendments to the comprehensive transportation plan.</p> <p>&#x2022; Unanimously recommended both the Grove 98 rezoning and subdivision plan. </p> <p>&#x2022; Recommended denying the master site plan for Hawthorne at Traditions 5-4 with board members Kuropas, Kimray, Collen Sharpe, and Chris Joyner voting against.</p> <p>&#x2022; Unanimously recommended approving the subdivision plan for Hawthorne at Traditions.</p> <p>&#x2022; Recommended approving the master subdivision plan for Forest on Franklin Townhomes with only Joyner voting against.</p>

Mixed-use site near Wegmans gets early OK from Wake Forest planning board

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<p>LOUISBURG &mdash; A collaboration between three local Black farmers and eight churches will bring fresh produce to church members and food pantries.</p>
<p>The partnership aims to combat food insecurity worsened by the pandemic, connect people to the local sources of their food, and tackle racism in the food industry, those involved say.</p>
<p>The three farmers &mdash; based in Wake, Franklin and Granville counties &mdash; will provide eight weeks of produce through April and May as part of the Farm and Faith Partnerships Project, according to Jarred White, the program manager.</p>
<p>The project is a pilot of an 80-share community-supported agriculture partnership by the Rural Advancement Foundation International USA.</p>
<p>The average N.C. farmer runs a 168-acre farm whose market value exceeds $250,000 per year, but the average Black-owned farm is 95 acres, White said.</p>
<p>Community-supported agriculture partnerships like the Farm and Faith Partnerships Project bring in guaranteed money for farmers. This project has garnered close to $20,000 for the three farms involved.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Now is the time to invest in the work of transforming local and regional food supply chains,&rdquo; said Edna Rodriguez, executive director of RAFI-USA. &ldquo;The coronavirus pandemic continues to expose the flaws and inequities in our food systems. By channeling the growing demands for local food access and a more racially equitable society, this group of farmers and churches throughout Wake County are committed to advancing this important work.&rdquo;</p>
<p>White met Gary Smith on Feb. 29, 2020 at a United Church of Christ meeting. White gave a presentation about RAFI and mentioned offhand about the project. Smith was there talking about his Raleigh church&rsquo;s composting efforts.</p>
<p>The two kept in contact while White was working on the logistics. He wanted to gather together around 10 churches and at least one farmer of color, White said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The thing that caught my attention right away was that farmers of color in the United States endure systemic racism in the food system,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s even difficult for farmers of color to develop markets and become part of farmers markets, Jarred said.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Smith agreed to reach out to churches in Wake County while White reached out to the farmers.</p>
<p>White reached out to Steve and Elke McCalla of Rocky Ridge Farm in Louisburg. They&rsquo;ve been connected with RAFI for about three years when they received a grant, they said. Since then, they&rsquo;ve been part of the Farmers of Color network.</p>
<p>Community-supported agriculture is great for farmers because people pay upfront for their share of a season&rsquo;s harvest, Steve said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We know how to invest our money in terms of our operations,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In general, it supports the farmer. ... No matter what happens you have the profitability.&rdquo;</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, Elke said. Steve is over 65 and has some medical issues. Elke also gave birth within the last year. As a result, they weren&rsquo;t going to farmers markets or going out in public, Elke said.</p>
<p>They thought about creating a community-supported agriculture partnership, but there&rsquo;s a lot of energy and logistics involved in creating one, Steve said. Elke agreed, saying it would have taken them up to three years to build a 30-person partnership.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This program basically gift wrapped it and set it on our laps,&rdquo; Elke said. &ldquo;It saved us years.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Smith met with other members of his church, Community United Church of Christ, and other churches in the Triangle area.</p>
<p>He said he was surprised by the number of people who wanted to be involved.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Everybody that I contacted was excited about it,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;We have eight churches involved in the effort, including my church. We&rsquo;ve reserved 80 shares of produce from these farmers for the spring season.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Over 100 families are involved.</p>
<p>The McCallas couldn&rsquo;t provide enough food for all the people signed up, though, Elke said. Since they have an infant, Steve is alone in the fields and greenhouses. Realistically, the McCallas could only provide 30 shares of produce.</p>
<p>They reached out to two other Black farmers, Demetrius Hunter in Raleigh and Ken Daniel in Granville County, and brought them on board as well. Hunter and Daniel provide the other 50 shares between them.</p>
<p>These partnerships are taking different forms. Some churches have their members buying food for their own use while others are seeing the food donated to their food pantries.</p>
<p>Rocky Ridge Farm is giving its produce to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh. The fellowship is the largest faith partner with 29 shares.</p>
<p>Some of that produce will be going to the church&rsquo;s food pantry, which the McCallas appreciate.</p>
<p>&ldquo;That warms my heart tremendously,&rdquo; Steve said.</p>
<p>Elke added, &ldquo;It feels like a blessing to be able to provide food for someone in need. It&rsquo;s a blessing to know what we&rsquo;re growing reaches someone in need. Food tastes better when there&rsquo;s love inside of it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Steve loves watching people enjoy his food, he added.</p>
<p>Community United Church of Christ sold shares to individual members because they don&rsquo;t have a food pantry, Smith said. His church purchased 14 half-shares.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We pray that together we will bring more locally grown fresh food into our cities and build lasting relationships with our farmer partners,&rdquo; Smith said.</p>
<p>He added that the project allows the churches to work together and met each other while also fostering understanding between urban churches and farmers of color.</p>
<h5><strong>Learn more online</strong></h5>
<p>For more information, including how to get your place of worship involved, visit <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.rafiusa.org/farm-and-faith-partnerships-project">http://www.rafiusa.org/farm-and-faith-partnerships-project</a></span>. </p>

Farmers, churches join forces, take aim at hunger, racism

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Wake author's book explores life of controversial moonshiner

Mixed-use site near Wegmans gets early OK from Wake Forest planning board

Farmers, churches join forces, take aim at hunger, racism

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