by Gregg Found
Carrboro Commons Writer

Carrboro aldermen candidate Katrina Ryan will spend plenty of time focused on campaigns, fliers and policy arguments in these months leading up to the December elections. But on Saturday Sept. 1, she undertook a contest of a different sort – she spun tunes for Carrboro residents as part of WCOM’s “musical debates.”

The brainchild of WCOM disc jockey Tom Arnel, the musical debates feature two alderman candidates who share an hour of airtime – Saturdays from 5 to 6 p.m. – alternating songs or pairs of songs from their favorite artists and albums.

WCOM’s studio at the corner of Weaver and North Greensboro Streets are the site of the unique debates.
Gregg Found photo

But there is really nothing combative about these debates. Arnel said his idea was simply to get the candidates to play the music that’s special to them.

“I don’t want to make it into a political forum,” Arnel said. “Its more of what do you listen to, what do you enjoy?”

Ryan and candidate Chuck Morton kicked off the guest DJ series on Sept. 1, and although the focus wasn’t entirely musical – “Between songs they talked about local political issues,” Arnel said – the format was a success.

Ryan joked, “I had never met Chuck Morton before, and all anybody knew about him from my neighborhood was that he was in a band, and I was like, ‘Oh just my luck.’”

As for after the first impression, Ryan said, “It was really nice to meet him and he had some interesting local music.”

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by Kate Newnam
Carrboro Commons Editor

Carrboro’s Really Really Free Market is putting the free back into the American free market system.

An event intended for everyone, the market draws a crowd of people to the Carrboro Town Commons on the first Saturday of each month to share what they don’t need and take what they do.

On Sept. 1, people from all walks of life met for an afternoon of really free thinking. From 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. the Town Commons buzzed with people doing everything from picking out new clothes to chatting with neighbors to painting white sheets. While some were newcomers, many were Free Market regulars that keep on coming back.

Free Market regular Erin Fekete joins others in painting a sheet found among the market donations. Fekete has been attending the market since it began in 2004.
Kate Newnam photo

Sandwiched between a food stand and a sheet painting, market regular and Carrboro resident Dave Deming contributed to the market by carving wooden spoons and playing his banjo.

“My wife and I came by for the first time in 2005 and were amazed at all the free stuff,” Deming said. “It’s helping people who need it.”

Coming to every market for the past year, Deming has also provided the crowd with firewood and another one of his musical talents, the playing of a jew’s-harp.

“One Saturday I was teaching people how to play the jew’s-harp, which is a small folk instrument made of metal,” Deming said. “There was this one kid who had a beautiful tone right away. It turned out that he and his mother were from Russia where the women played the harp and she had taught her son. We had never seen each other before but met at the market. Every time it’s like that.”

As Deming played his banjo, Carrboro citizen Janet Bratter staged a personal protest with a sign on her bicycle. Bratter was banned from Weaver Street Market for violating a restraining order and used the market as an opportunity to be heard.
“The only way I’ll be heard is to protest on my own,” she said.
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by Laura Davenport
Carrboro Commos Writer

The Carrboro Greenspace is still in imminent danger of being sold off and developed, claim local supporters. The Greenspace is a 10.5 acre piece of land filled with lush greenery and wildlife which is located off of Old Pittsboro Road. The land, which had previously been available for public access has been put on the market and, according to the Greenspace’s official Web site, will most likely be developed once sold.

Alex Hardee, 19, tests the gears on a bike he’s been restoring at the ReCYCLEry.
Laura Davenport photo

The ReCYCLEry, which is located on the edge of the Greenspace, is a second-hand bike depot which strives to promote more environmentally friendly transportation by making bikes readily available. According to Alex Hardee, the ReCYCLEry, which attracts people from all over the Carrboro and Chapel Hill areas, runs workshops on Sundays where participants can earn their own bikes through volunteering to repair old ones.

The ReCYCLEry is the only part of the Greenspace that is still thriving. For more information on the ReCYCLEry and their upcoming projects and workshops, visit www.recyclery.org.

Alex Hardee, who has been coming to the ReCYCLEry for about six months, enjoys working on the bikes and the atmosphere. He enjoys coming to the ReCYCLEry because it provides “local-based action.”

“It’s a way to volunteer as well as get something out of it. You come here and put in the service hours, help people fix bikes and through that process you’re able to earn one of your own, so it’s a really positive cycle going on,” he says. “A lot of cool people also come out here, so it’s a really good way to meet people.”

Aside from the ReCYCLEry, the Greenspace houses another popular attraction, the WITT Theater. Once the sun sets, the Walk-In Tributary Theater, or WITT, is a donation-run theater which screens movies in an old swimming pool. Since the land has been put on the market, the WITT screened their last movie on Aug 4.

The only house on the property, dubbed “Casa Grande” was used as a head office for the Greenspace, as well as an indoor area for functions and local artist showcases. The house, like the WITT, has been cleared out since early August.
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