Photos By Eve Greene
Carrboro Commons Photo Editor
Story By Morgan Siem
Carrboro Commons Writer

Scroll down for a slideshow of the photos.

About 550 walkers came with their dogs, friends and families to the Carrboro Town Commons, the start and finish line of the 22nd annual Chapel Hill-Carrboro CROP Hunger Walk on Sunday, April 13. “CROP” stands for Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. The CROP Walk supports the Church World Service, which works in about 80 countries to feed the hungry. The Church World Service receives 75 percent of the money raised, while the community keeps 25 percent to help with local efforts to fight hunger. This year, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro CROP Walk’s goal is to raise $53,000, which will mean that the walk will have raised a total of $1 million over the course of 22 years. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro CROP Walk is organized by and supports the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service (IFC) on 110 W. Main St., Chapel Hill. Charles Williams, the administrative assistant at the IFC, took on the role of 2008 CROP Hunger Walk coordinator. So far the IFC has received $35,000 this year and expects more, since it takes about a month for the money to come in, he said. “We are on track, so we’re really excited about it.”

The Carrboro United Methodist Church (UMC) has a long history of participating in the CROP Walk. Left to right: Becky McKenzie, Richard Montes, Dot Taylor-Senter and Matt Senter of the Carrboro UMC gather at the starting line, ready for their four-mile walk through Carrboro, Chapel Hill and the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Taylor-Senter was the group leader for the Carrboro UMC walkers. Surrounding them at the start were jugglers, children drawing with chalk, groups performing live music, pet dogs enjoying the outdoors and hundreds of other walkers. The Carrboro UMC was one of about 43 groups that registered walkers. Apart from the groups, many people registered as individuals.

Left to right: Ancel Newborn, Sylvia Newborn and Johnny Squires of the Carrboro UMC walked together and shared memories of previous CROP walks and earlier times in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro CROP Walk has never happened without Sylvia Newborn, who says she’s participated each of the 22 years it’s taken place, rain or shine. She said that the crowds have grown over the years, but the course, which used to be six miles long, has shrunk.

During the walk participants could listen to an assortment of live music and grab cups of water. Sylvia Newborn and Johnny Squires walk along West Rosemary Street and listen to the North Carolina State University Pipes and Drums playing in the space between the IFC Community House and Syd’s Hair Shop.

As Richard Montes, Sylvia Newborn, Ancel Newborn and Johnny Squires (left to right) passed between the sundial and Morehead Planetarium at UNC-CH, they heard Squires talk about going to shows at the Planetarium as a child. He said he used to come to the Planetarium at night to pick the roses and bring them to his mother. “It was a really great place to grow up,” he said. Squires has lived in Carrboro for all of his life and knows a thing or two about what it used to be like, and how it’s changed.

Left to right: Ancel Newborn, Sherry Durham, Johnny Squires and Sylvia Newborn have almost finished the walk, but they still have plenty to talk about. Squires tells of growing up in a different generation when children never stayed inside, when he could walk to school with bare feet, and when “kick the can” was the game of choice. To explain how sparse the crowd used to be on Franklin Street, Squires said he used to be able to ride down the sidewalk on his bicycle without holding on to the handlebars.

After walking four miles together in almost one hour exactly, the group gathers again at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market where they are welcomed back with food and water. Standing, from left to right, are Gail Moriaty, Sherry Durham, Ancel Newborn, Sylvia Newborn, Dot Taylor-Senter and Becky McKenzie. Kneeling in the front are Richard Montes and Matt Senter.