Storefront Theatre's new season

While the website hasn't yet been updated, there's an ad in September's Village News (PDF) newsletter that appears to give us a sneak peak into this season's lineup.

I imagine the Storefront Theatre's website will eventually be updated with slightly more details about the upcoming performances.

Drug deal gone wrong in Marvin

Apparently a drug deal went bad in the Hunter Oaks neighborhood in Marvin last night. First spice, now weed.

WSOC has the story and video:

MARVIN, N.C. -- A suspected drug deal that ended in a shooting Sunday night has authorities worried about drugs infiltrating a Union County high school.

Cameron Cook, 17, was arrested Monday morning after deputies said he shot 19-year-old David Thomas Powell III three times in a small park in the Hunter Oaks subdivision in Marvin.

...

Luke said the drug deal points to a bigger problem at Marvin Ridge -- an increased drug trade targeting area teenagers.

WCNC has a more detailed story with embeddable video, so as far as I'm concerned, WCNC > WSOC. A snippet before the news clip:

Police collected about $800 worth of pot and other drug dealing paraphernalia at the scene and at least five people were involved in the incident.

...

“We’ve been working on this for awhile and recently the activity had intensified. It was getting to the point where there are fistfights, kicking fights…groups of boys getting larger,” Kelley said.

...

“I feel like we have a front row ticket to a show we do not want to watch," she added.

Cook is charged with possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana, felony possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

First Friday

First Friday is coming up again. I don't have much to add other than this flyer that I found via Facebook. If you're going to be around, it's worth hanging out.

Southsiders burger

Our family took a day trip to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia on Saturday thanks to this aforementioned deal. A good time was had by all; the penguins were my favorites for what it's worth.

We planned to eat on the way back, but really didn't come across any suitable restaurants, so we ended up in Waxhaw. We decided upon Rippington's because we'd never eaten there before and figured it was high time to take it for a test drive. (By the way, they've got a new bar.) Unfortunately for us, it was 5pm and Rippington's didn't open until 5.30pm.

Since we'd eaten an early lunch, waiting another half hour really wasn't an option, so we decided to walk up to Southsiders to take their new menu (Chef Darren?) for a test drive. Since I razzed Lisa in the comments of this post about her glowing review of Southsiders, it meant I, of course, would be practically required to order a cheeseburger.

For appetizer, we got the ultimate nachos, which we all found pretty tasty. My wife got a chicken Caesar salad (or something along those lines) that she really liked. I got a cheeseburger with American cheese, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, and mustard with the side of fries.

The fries were good; they reminded me of something you'd get at a state fair, The Potato Patch of Kennywood fame, or even those you might find at Great Steak & Potato Company in Carolina Place Mall. Or like my wife said, the kind of fries that work well with vinegar.

As for the burger, it was delicious. I ordered it medium and it was very juicy, almost a little too much so as it was soaking parts of my bun. But I ate the whole thing and nearly all of my fries. I spent a significant amount of time that evening lying on the living room floor explaining to all who weren't ignoring me how full I was.

The cheeseburger was definitely right up there with the Main Street Grill's cheeseburger if not ahead. Fortunately for me, I will have to try more before rendering my final verdict, but perhaps I should try Rippington's or the Stuffed Olive's burger before releasing my town rankings. Am I missing any other Waxhaw restaurants who serve burgers?

If I had a quibble with Southsiders, it would be the kids menu (which is not physically on the menu) as it only contained a PB&J, hot dog, and grilled cheese if I recall. I refuse to pay for a PB&J out of sheer principle, so that basically limited the kids to a hot dog or grilled cheese, the latter of which treads dangerously close to my 'never order' standards. Adding kids' classics such as chicken tenders or butter noodles would go a long way in winning over the younger folk -- if my kids are any barometer. For those curious, my kids ended up splitting the chicken & cheese quesadilla (appetizer) and a side of fries.

Forever Grateful: A Salute to America's Military Veterans

Just saw this on Facebook. Scott Farb, formerly of the Museum of the Waxhaws, and Ken Corn are organizing a salute to America's veterans at the Waxhaw American Legion Post on November 12th from 10am to 5pm. From the description:

This day-long event will feature uniforms from every war the American Soldier has taken part in, from the French and Indian War to modern day. Reenactors in uniforms from different periods will enhance your visit to the exhibit. Photographs, helmets, equipment, weapons and war trophies will also be on display. Children who attend will receive a free souvenir package to take home from the event. The event will also feature streaming video shot by local resident Ken Corn, who served as an embedded photojournalist in Iraq.

For more information, please contact event organizers Scott Farb or Ken Corn via Facebook message. THIS is a free event, and we hope to see you here!

This event is open to all and sounds like an excellent way to celebrate America's veterans locally.

Diller v. Thornton - Round 2?

Not necessarily Diller v. Thornton, but Diller v. Thornton supporter.

I mentioned Commissioner Brett Diller's letter to the editor earlier, but there was a follow-up from one of the accused sock puppets, Tramaine Williams, in Friday's Union County Weekly. Since I shared Brett's, I'll share Tramaine's.

Here it is:

Hello Mr. Diller;

I’d like to take this opportunity to clear up a few obvious misconceptions you have. Mr Diller, you emailed me on August 8, requesting that I meet you for coffee to discuss your whereabouts during NNO. I responded to you on August 10 and advised that while I appreciated your invitation, I have no interest in meeting you for a cup of coffee. I’m not entirely sure why you felt the need to repeat the invitation in a public forum, but I will not be provoked into a situation akin to “meeting you at the bicycle racks after school” so you can assuage whatever it is that brought on this little outburst of yours. I have a family to care for and a full time job, both of which require my time and attention more so than meeting you. I hope you can understand that they are my priority, not you.

When I responded to your email, I very clearly told you that I was not aware you were elsewhere volunteering your time that day, and commended you for doing so. I still do. As far as why I missed you at the event, Mr. Diller (and I really shouldn’t have to explain this), you are a town commissioner. As such, you are a public figure, and people recognize you. Even the ones you haven’t met or do not remember. So yes, I noticed that you weren’t there, as well as Mayor Gardner and Commissioner Kirkpatrick. As for you not knowing who I am, I’m not surprised. We don’t exactly run in the same circles, and you’ll have to pardon my assumption, but I’m positive you don’t remember every single person you have ever met in your lifetime. I know I certainly don’t. However, given that you don’t seem to recall that I responded to your email, it isn’t a stretch to think you don’t remember who I am.

While I do sincerely apologize for any offense you may have taken to my comment regarding your absence (and please remember, I already apologized to you for this in my email response to you), there seems to be more behind your words and actions. “Methinks he doth protest too much”? I’m also not entirely sure why you felt the need to note that I support Lisa Thornton for Mayor… possibly the two issues are related? Will you go on the offense against every single person who provides support for her in a public manner? Unless I’m mistaken, this is a free country and we are all entitled to Freedom of Speech — as such, I can voice my support for which ever mayoral candidate I choose.

I wish you all the best
Tramaine Williams
Waxhaw

There's yet another Waxhaw-related letter supporting Lisa Thornton for mayor there as well, so go check it out if you're interested.

One last question I have: how did Brett Diller get the email address for Tramaine Williams to personally extend the invitation for coffee?

Question on after school programs

I explained what a bleg is earlier this year, so here is another one. No one got back to me on the last one, so hopefully I have better luck this time around.

If anyone knows who to speak to about starting an after-school program in local Union County elementary schools (something similar to KidzArt), please drop me an email. I'm particularly curious if it has to be initiated at the county level or if schools would need to be approached on a one-by-one basis. Thanks in advance.

And don't worry as I won't be the one running the after-school program. Although now that I think about it, maybe I can finally cash in on this blogging thing by having a 'How to blog about Waxhaw' after-school program in the elementary schools. Any parents interested in something like this? If it helps, I promise in advance not to devote any time to moonshine.

Jackson Jam follow-up

I haven't seen much of a follow-up on the soggy Jackson Jam event that occurred on August 13th. I personally didn't attend, but there was significant rainfall that evening -- enough that the band could not perform.

Using the online sleuthing skills I've gleaned from months of thankless work on this blog, I was able to find out a tad. Here's a weekly round-up (courtesy of "Land of the Waxhaws") starring the mayor with more for the information junkies out there.



Video streaming by Ustream

This second video features Commissioner Brett Diller and the mayor again as they talk a little about the cornhole tournament that took place the morning of the Jackson Jam. According to Brett at the tail end of the video, 360 were set to attend the Jackson Jam. Based on the ticket price of $50 apiece and assuming all 360 paid that price, it would appear the Museum of the Waxhaws grossed $18000 from this fundraiser. Not too shabby.



Video streaming by Ustream
Now I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that since the concert was rained out, the band(s) (note: I'm a little confused as to who is performing at this point) are performing free for anyone who wants to attend, not just the 360 who purchased tickets to the original Jackson Jam. Flyer below:

The bad news is they decided to schedule the make-up concert on the same night of the WAA's big fundraiser, which is unfortunate.

But don't worry as I've got a solution. Since the museum has already raised its money, the make-up concert is really nothing more than a social event at this point. The WAA could use some money as well, so if you're looking to spend an evening for a good cause, I suggest you head over to the fields at Kensington Elementary for some of Butch Kelly's BBQ and a good time -- a social event for a good cause that allows those attending to be seen all night long if they so choose.

And don't worry about missing the concert as "Land of the Waxhaws" (in the first embedded video above) will be "broadcasting it live," straight from the mouths of Jim Black and Daune Gardner. Which means it'll be available online after the fact so you won't have to miss a single tune.

One last question: what's the over/under on the number of Waxhaw mover and shakers that camp out at the WAA fundraiser? Have any of the mayoral candidates committed to the WAA camp-out? Current or existing town commissioners? Inquiring minds would like to know. The WAA might be able to draw more people in if it's known politicians and wannabe politicians will be available for hobnobbing.

More on Food Lion annexation

I mentioned the Food Lion annexation earlier this week. Mark D of the Union County Weekly has the details of the successful unanimous annexation. Martin Lane provides the sound bite (my emphasis):

“Right now, we’re concerned with who wants to start paying our taxes.” Lane said, “Now, I’m not naive enough not to figure that if Food Lion owns the property, theoretically they want to do something. But that’s a whole other process , we have to consider totally separate from what were considering here tonight.”

Read the whole thing.

No word on what Food Lion Inc. has planned, but I boldly predict a new Food Lion. Maybe Food Lion wants to become to Waxhaw what CVS is to Providence Road.

Don't carry east of I-95

Your concealed firearm, of course. At least until the state of emergency is over.

For some reason, when a state of emergency is declared, it becomes illegal for those legally licensed to carry a concealed weapon to do so. See here for some more specifics, although unfortunately the author wasn't quite specific enough to spell our governor's name right.

Per this WECT article, the governor declared a state of emergency for counties east of I-95. Looking at the map, that's a significant swath of territory.

I'm of the opinion that a state of emergency is the ideal time to be carrying a concealed firearm assuming you've got the license to do so. Obviously, there were enough politicians at some point in time who felt otherwise.

Wally the Dog passed away

Per Lori's Facebook post, Wally the Dog, who once ran for mayor of Waxhaw, has passed away. WBTV has the entire story, but here's a snippet:

WAXHAW (WBTV) - A runaway dog that had been shot twice, had escaped from a kill shelter in Dobson and later “ran” for the Mayor of Waxhaw has died.

Wally the Dog, who ran for mayor in 2003, had escaped from a shelter in 1999. He went on a walk on Tuesday evening with his owner Mike Holliday, WBT’s Keith Larson first reported Wednesday morning.

“He tripped a little and just layed down,” said Holliday, who brought Wally to Waxhaw when he was still a puppy -- about a year old. “My daughter who is 7 said ‘I think he’s dying’ and then he just did.”

Wally, who frequented Crossroads Coffee Shop in Waxhaw and met many people in the town and county, first came into Holliday’s life through a friend.

Read the whole thing.

This was before my time in Waxhaw, but I do recall hearing about Wally's mayoral run on the Keith Larson show. I'd forgotten all about it.

Fox's Pizza news

We had a little shindig this weekend and used one of the restaurant.com certificates (previously mentioned here) we purchased for Fox's Pizza in Waxhaw. These certificates made for a cost-effective way to get a pizza for a number of hungry mouths.

While picking it up, however, we learned that Fox's Pizza will no longer be accepting the restaurant.com certificates sold after August 18th. Apparently Fox's was supposed to be removed from the list of available restaurants on restaurant.com at this point, but for whatever reason, you can still order their certificates.

For those of you (like us) who've still got certificates purchased before August 18th, don't worry as they are still accepting them.

However, this is bad news for a couple reasons:

* There are no more Waxhaw restaurants up at restaurant.com.

* The way restaurant.com appears to be treating Fox's Pizza by not removing their certificates from the website in a timely manner would seem to make it less likely that any other local restaurants choose to sign on to participate in this program.

In other Fox's Pizza news, I got an email stating that they're hiring delivery drivers and shift leaders, so if you're in the market for a job, give them a holler.

New Waxhaw Gazette

John's put out the latest issue of his long-running biweekly.

There's a lot there about the poor state of the economy (here and here). The latter is essentially a plea for Warren Buffett to fix Washington. I'm not one who thinks as highly as Mr. Buffett as others -- something about a fabulously wealthy individual man pressing for more and higher taxes on those who don't have the phalanx of attorneys to devise ways to get out of paying them. But I digress...

There is some Waxhaw info in there as well, including details on the September 11th "Healing and Remembrance" ceremony. Here's the flyer for the ceremony:

Waxhaw Exchange no more

I hadn't received my weekly issue of the Waxhaw Exchange for a couple months and had just chalked it up to the hit-or-miss delivery of this free weekly put out by the Enquirer-Journal.

After stopping by the Farmer's Market on Saturday, I convinced my family to eat lunch at the Main Street Grill on our return. It was here I learned (from Don?) that they haven't released an issue of the Exchange in a couple months.

Apparently plans are in place to release something similar, but the MSG had no specific details. I'd email Alan Jenkins, editor of the Exchange for some details, but last we left off he describing me as a thief on Facebook for having the gall to link to and share Enquirer-Journal articles.

I just figured when I signed up for a free account at the EJ website that gave me access to read whatever articles I wanted that this is what they wanted to occur. This belief was further strengthened since I'd been linking to their articles on this blog with nary a complaint. Perhaps I should take some comfort in the fact that Alan has since removed his posts from Facebook.

All that being said, the Exchange was a nice weekly worth checking out for Waxhaw-related tidbits despite my frustration with it not being available online. Hopefully the next generation Exchange will be as or more informative (and available online) assuming it comes to fruition.

Upcoming WAA fundraiser

On September 10th, the WAA (Waxhaw Athletic Association) is having a big fundraiser at Nesbit Park in Waxhaw to raise money for new fields and lights if I'm not mistaken. They're dubbing it as: "Light the Night -- the First Annual Bar-B-Que Fundraiser & Camp-Out!"

The daytime festivities start at 10am and run until 3pm and include lots of activities for kids and parents. For the kids, there's a soccer kick-off, basketball shoot out, home run derby (softball and baseball), wiffle ball tournament, cheer competition and game, and a fastest pitch contest. And even if your kids don't participate in any of these, a good time can still be had.

Food (including Butch Kelly's BBQ) will be available (pre-ordering is cheaper FWIW); live music will be played. First aid and raffle tickets will be available respectively for the worriers and the lucky.

And for those of you who enjoy the outdoors, you can come back at 6pm to camp out for $15 to enjoy a movie (TBD?) popcorn, and a bonfire for roasting marshmallows.

It should be a good time for those of you who'd like to support local athletics without leaving the friendly confines of Waxhaw.

UPDATE: Here's the flyer:

UPDATE: Anyone heard of Cafe Italia?

I mentioned that Cafe Italia is coming in and taking over Marino's old locale.

My wife's friend heard there were a couple Charlotte locations of Cafe Italia, but after a few web searches, I couldn't find anything on them.

Is anyone familiar with Cafe Italia?

UPDATE 8/20: The mayor was kind enough to provide a few details on the new restaurant. She tried to post a comment on this post (see my post about commenting issues here), but emailed them to me since she was thwarted by Google.

Here's the nitty-gritty:

Cafe Italia is a concept by Augusto Conte who owns Brio (Southpark), Luce (uptown), and Mezzenotte (Sharon & 16). He described it to me as a bistro with a wood-fire oven similar to Mezzenotte. They expect to be open sometime in September.

Sounds interesting; something along the lines of a Brixx?

Continuing problems commenting to this blog

I'm told there are still problems for many of you trying to post comments to my blog. From what I can gather, there's not a whole lot I can do until Google eventually corrects the problem.

In the meantime, it appears setting the comments as a pop-up window will resolve at least some of the issues, but I'm not sure how it will affect those of you with pop-up blockers. If you're ever having problems commenting, don't hesitate to email me to let me know and I'll try to find the best possible solution to minimize problems and annoyances.

For those of you who are having the problem, I'm sorry. But take comfort in the fact that this problem affects not just the lowliest Waxhaw denizen, but also those at the tippy top of Waxhaw's political food chain.

New Food Lion?

While some of you like to relax at the pool with a good book while others sit back with a couple drinks (of moonshine?), I like to kick my legs back and peruse town commissioner agenda packets. And it looks like it's paid off for once because it appears there may be a new Food Lion on the horizon.

As I was looking through the latest (PDF), I see that Food Lion Inc. owns a parcel of land at the Waxhaw-Marvin Road/Kensington Road intersection and they are asking for a voluntary annexation by the town of Waxhaw.

Here's the parcel of land in question, which is located between the Harris Teeter plaza and Kensington Elementary:

I'm not sure what benefits are gained by being annexed into Waxhaw. Anyone know?

Diller v Thornton?

Earlier I linked to a letter to the editor post-mortem of Waxhaw's National Night Out that appeared in the Union County Weekly. The next week, town commissioner Brett Diller had his own letter published in the Union County Weekly publicly calling out two of the other letter writers in the afore-linked letters.

Here's Brett's letter not so subtly calling out Lucas Stemner and Tramaine Williams.

Dear Editor,

In response to “Tramaine Williams” letter in last week’s paper, I would like to extend an invitation to grab a cup of coffee with him so I can explain where I was on Waxhaw’s National Night Out. I’m flattered that “he” missed me considering I have never met “him” and not sure how “he” even knew I wasn’t there. “He” went on to say “I hope whatever kept them away was important..” For the record “Mr. Williams”, I was volunteering with my family that evening for something that was important to us.

So again I extend an invitation to you “Mr. Tramaine Williams” to meet and get to know you better and find out what direction you think Waxhaw should be heading. I would also like to extend that invitation to “Mr. Lucas Stemner” who also wrote a letter last week to the Weekly. The both of you seem to be involved, concerned, and active Waxhaw citizens with one common thread: Supporting Lisa Thornton for mayor. I can’t seem to find anyone who has ever met either of you in person and I feel as an elected official I should try and get to know as many of the citizens as I can.

So please, email me and let me know what time works for you to meet. bdiller@waxhaw.com

Thank you
Brett R. Diller
Waxhaw Commissioner

I'm not sure if either of these guys exist, but it's clear that Brett doesn't think so. I find it a little intriguing that he questioned the existance of both Tramaine and Lucas, even though only one of the two actually criticized him for missing National Night Out.

Given that, it seems unlikely that Brett Diller will be supporting Lisa Thornton in her bid for mayor. At least not any time soon.

Land of the Waxhaws tv show

Waxhaw gadabout Jim Black has been producing a internet show called 'Land of the Waxhaws' for the last 3-4 weeks that is available for viewing.

As far as I'm concerned, he's been churning them out at a furious pace -- 57 individual videos with nearly 6 hours of footage thus far. Since I've barely had the time to update this blog, it goes without saying that I've barely had the time to watch much of his footage.

Scrolling through the archives, I think it's safe to say that if there's an event occurring in Waxhaw, it's likely that Jim and his video camera will be there. I have watched a few videos and they've been relatively informative about the events he's covering, so check his archives out if you're curious.

While probably not allowed, it'd be great if Jim and his camera would start recording board meetings to provide a record of what takes place at them for those of us who don't attend.

Here's a couple recent ones:



Video streaming by Ustream




Video streaming by Ustream

Town censorship

Back before I skedaddled out of town for a short break, there was an article in the Enquirer-Journal describing how the town has begun censoring the town website. A snippet:

Waxhaw commissioners approved a derogatory comments policy for the town’s website at Tuesday night’s meeting.

The move was prompted by a letter with derogatory comments toward members of a committee on the town’s website. The letter cited some members by name and was later taken down.

According to the approved policy, the town manager and supporting staff will review the documents placed on the town’s website and remove any they believe are derogatory. A note will be placed on the website letting people know that the document has been removed, and that it is available by request, Town Manager Mike McLaurin said.

The original letter was included in a recent agenda packet. The letter, from Waxhaw resident Brenda Stewart, discussed a recent approval of a work of art by Tom Risser to be placed in the town. The work commemorates the 2010 train derailment in Waxhaw.

From what I can gather, the town isn't really censoring the town website, but actually censoring what appears to be included in agenda packets that are prepared for various committees. These agenda packets are available for download at the town's website.

In an email, town manager Mike McLaurin stated that future incidents of redacted/censored documents would be noted on the town's website and the unredacted copies are available by contacting the town clerk, Bonnie McManus.

As for the document that started it all, it's a letter from Brenda Stewart regarding the recently unveiled derailment sculpture by Tom Risser. Here's the text of the letter for those interested:

==Page 1==

5/9/11

I am requesting that the town of Waxhaw Board of Commissioners rescind the 4/26/11 decision to place Mr. Risser's 12' wide x 15' tall piece of metal/plastic at the North West Main Street and South Jackson Street location. Due to the reasons stated below another site should be chosen:

1. The permanent metal piece if erected at the Main and Jackson location, without question would be a nuisance to me and my tenants as it would be offensive and annoying. We have the right to quiet enjoyment of our home.
2. The enormous size of the metal piece alone would be irritating to have it perpetually looming over our private residence. The location is less than 50 feet from my private property. This would be emotionally damaging as well to my family and tenant and would also be economically damaging as the sight of this metal piece would reduce the economic value of my property.
3. The town's stated expectation of numerous visitors arriving in vehicles and pedestrian foot traffic would be disruptive to me and my family and my tenant's quiet enjoyment of our home. The congregating of individuals at any time of the day or night would be disruptive to the privacy and quiet enjoyment of our home.
4. I expect late night visits from those who engage in vandalizing such structures and this would endanger our safety and security. The town already has a history of such activities. The metal piece, removed from the downtown business district, would leave it open to those types of activities because of the lack of oversight by police.
5. There are many children in the surrounding neighborhoods who walk to and from the stores on a regular basis. These children are rarely supervised by adults or parents and they certainly would be drawn to the metal piece. They would naturally be inclined to climb and play on the metal piece resulting in possible injury from a fall or may be struck by a vehicle when crossing the street. The chance of this happening if the metal piece were located in the downtown business district would be minimized due to much higher visibility by the police and adults.
6. This is a peaceful residential neighborhood consisting of private homes and churches. There is absolutely no logical reason for placing the metal piece in this location bringing constant vehicle and foot traffic into a community of private homes. That traffic should be generated in the downtown business district to help increase business for the local merchants. The west end of Main Street does not need to be built up or included as stated by the Art Jury Chair Terry Michaelson and the Beautification Committee Chair Jason Loseke. This is the most ridiculous statement I've heard thus far. No one in the west end neighborhood has requested a metal piece or any art for that matter to be placed across from our homes.
7. There isn't any parking at the site. The only parking is over a block away and individuals are not going to park and walk to the site, they will simply pull off the road onto the grass. This will also be disruptive to the quiet enjoyment of our home, cause traffic hazards, and destroy the grass that was recently planted.
8. The town should maintain the greenway, planting trees, flowers and rose bushes and would, in my opinion, be much more appropriate and would enhance this west side neighborhood of private homes and churches.

==Page 2==

5/9/11


9. Because my home is adjacent to the site, me and my family and tenant would be the most affected by the presence of the metal piece.
10. Once again, the town's elected officials and staff should have taken a simple survey of those most affected and then made decisions based on the feedback received.
11. The events leading up to the decision to place the metal piece at the location across from my home are disturbing to say the least. The area located at South Jackson and West North Main was surveyed and staked off with string 2 weeks prior to the subject being placed on the agenda for a vote. At the BOC meeting on 4/24/11 I asked the Mayor, Daune Gardner why the area had been staked off prior to the vote and she stated she did not know what I was talking about. How is it that the mayor would not know about this since she placed the item on the BOC agenda to be voted on mere minutes later? Todd, a town staff person spoke up informing me that the site was staked off just to see how it would look. I stated that I drove around to the other 4 sites and they were not staked off. He said one site had been but kids pulled the stakes up. If this is true why was only one other site staked off and not all 4 "just to see how it would look?" The Town Manager, Mike McLaurin was quoted in the newspaper stating "The sculpture, if approved, WILL BE placed on West North Main Street in the downtown area. The newspaper article was dated 4/24/11 and the vote for this agenda item did not take place until 4/26/11.The fix was in.....the vote was a farce! Why do we even have elected town government? If the town manager's agenda is a foregone conclusion and the BOC majority is Mike's personal rubber stamp then why are you all sitting here tonight?
12. Terry Michelson, the Art Jury Chair and Jason Loseke the Beautification Committee Chair wrote a formal recommendation to the BOC stating that the artist Tom Risser wanted the artwork as close to the derailment site as possible and wanted it readily visible when driving through town. However, when Mr. Risser gave his presentation he denied that he made that statement and said he was okay with any location and even stated he liked the site where the yellow butterfly is and that he was sure the town staff could move the yellow butterfly. The statement in the formal recommendation by Terry and Jason is a lie.

The decision to place the statue in the midst of a neighborhood of private homes and churches is unjust, disrespectful and thoughtless. It is impossible for me to comprehend that those of you who voted in favor of the site truly believed this would be the best of all possible locations for the metal piece. It is my firm belief that you voted to place the metal piece across from my home in retaliation for my yearlong opposition to your pet project, the proposed local historic district. And, for the articles written by me and published in the media telling the truth about how the people of this town have been so poorly served by those in whom we have placed our trust.

Lies and deceit have become your legacy as public servants of Waxhaw. HOW SAD!!!

Honestly, the letter seems rather tame to bother with censoring it. If my understanding is correct, it only would've been included in one of the agenda packets with a bunch of other documents and I can't honestly envision too many people downloading those things in the first place.

I personally would've preferred a rebuttal if one was necessary.

Another local Groupon

Available for purchase: 1 or 2 hours of horseback riding lessons at Providence Equestrian Center.

Go here for all the specifics.

This Groupon actually lasts longer than one day, so you have until Sunday at midnight to purchase this for those of you weighing the pros and cons.

Derailment sculpture

Just a quick note that the dedication ceremony for the derailment sculpture Tom Risser has been working on is tomorrow morning at 10am.

Details are on the flyer. If anyone gets a picture of the sculpture and can send it my way so I can post it, it'd be appreciated as I won't be able to attend.

UPDATE: There's a whole bunch of excellent photos of the dedication ceremony and the sculpture itself. Check them out on Facebook compliments of Tanya.

National Night Out apparently went well

Per a handful of letters to the editor at the Union County Weekly, it appears that the National Night Out in Waxhaw earlier this week went rather well.

Here's Lisa Thornton's letter in all its glory because it contains a number of specific details regarding the event:

Thank you to everyone who came out to support Waxhaw’s National Night Out!

We had an extraordinary turnout of more than 600 people. It is wonderful to see so many residents having fun while supporting our police officers, firefighters, EMTs and sheriffs.

This event could not have happened without the help of some amazing groups and people. Thank you to the Waxhaw Athletic Association who volunteered their time and the many other volunteers who made National Night Out successful. We are so grateful for them!

Thank you Cathy Murphy for being incredible at everything you do! Greg Mahar and Town of Waxhaw staff, thank you for everything! Thank you to our many vendors who stayed out in the heat making this a great event for everyone, Butts R Us BBQ, Bean & Belle Art Studio, Fuzion Hair Design, Chic Nails, Heart & Soul Productions, Your Event Source, Face Painting by Lisa, Tricky Rabbit Magic, UberDog Foundation, Snap Fitness, Progressive Movement Arts Centre, the Red Cross and the Waxhaw United Methodist Church.

We appreciate our sponsors, Five Stones Church, Verizon Wireless, Young & Polite Dentistry and the Medical Group of Waxhaw.

Martin Lane, Joyce Blythe and Phillip Gregory, thank you for coming out to support National Night Out. It is great to see elected officials showing their appreciation for everything our police officers, firefighters, sheriff and EMTs do. Waxhaw has the very best first responders!

Thank you to each and every police officer, every sheriff, every firefighter, every EMT for all that you do to keep us safe and protected!

This was such a fun event. We hope to see you all again next year!

Lisa Thornton and Terry Haines
Small Town Main Street Promotions

New Waxhaw Gazette

John has a new issue of the Waxhaw Gazette out today with a couple useful tidbits:

* The Kohl's outside Waxhaw (Tom Short Road & Rea Road) is accepting applications and conducting interviews, so that's good for local job-seekers. And also for local shoppers who soon won't have to travel quite so far to shop at Kohl's. As John mentioned, it appears applicants need to fill out an online form here before attending an upcoming job fair.

* Per John, apparently we've got another candidate throwing his hat into the upcoming mayoral race -- former Waxhaw mayor Gary Underwood, who was defeated by Mayor Gardner November 2007.

Read the whole thing.

First Friday tonight

Just a brief eleventh hour post that tonight is First Friday again.

I haven't seen or heard much about it as usual, but that works out great since we're currently cruising around the speed limit and I wasn't planning on writing anything much more than these two sentences.

National Night Out

Tomorrow is National Night Out in Waxhaw. I've seen the occasional sign, but have not heard much about this family-friendly event, which takes place in booming downtown Waxhaw in the stretch of land from the Main Street Grill parking lot to the nearby Barnes park.

Via Facebook, here's the flyer for those families interested in attending:

Per Facebook, a coupon for cones from the Dairy Barn can be had in the park for those trying to save a buck.

MSG open Friday nights now

Just a reminder that the Main Street Grill is now open on Friday evenings for those interested in getting dinner there. It started last Friday, but I couldn't make it. One of these Fridays...

On another note, I still haven't got into Southsiders to try sample their burger and fries. Maybe when it's my turn to pick the restaurant...

Reminder: Jackson Jam at the museum

John's got an article in the South Charlotte News (Charlotte Observer insert) about the upcoming Jackson Jam fundraiser for the museum on August 13th.

Details can be found here.

The article also appears to reference that the corn hole tournament (mentioned at the bottom of this post) is apparently still on for that morning, but the only detail shared is that you need to contact commissioner Brett Diller for more details.