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.”
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By Alexandra Mansbach
Carrboro Commons Writer

Mookho Paw, Mark Perry, Varqa Kalantar, Omid Akhavan, Azadeh Perry, Elizabeth Tun, and Alejandro Sanchez sit down to dinner on Saturday. Each week, the group does an activity based on the theme of the day. Saturday’s story was about a family sitting down to dinner together, so the group planned and cooked a meal to enjoy together.
Staff photo by Alexandra Mansbach

The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program aims to create “champions of justice and builders of unity.”

In Carrboro, they are doing just that.

“One of the main goals is to help [youths] understand that their community extends past their ethnicity,” said Mark Perry, a drama professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and founder of The Drama Circle, a Bahai-inspired theater group. “Another main goal is to enable the children with a sense of their own spiritual potential.”

Perry is also a group leader, or “animator,” of a Junior Youth group in Carrboro. He and his wife, Azadeh, work with neighborhood kids on personal growth and empowerment.

The group meets regularly to promote spiritual development and self-expression.

“That really needs to be encouraged because the forces of materialism are so strong,” Perry said. “And by materialism I mean anything that dampens the light of the human spirit.”

During weekly gatherings, the group participates in games, sports, reading, prayer, and artistic activities such as singing and playing instruments.
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By Lindsay Ash
Carrboro Commons Writer

The equipment may look the same, but this is not your childhood Hula Hoop. A new trend of movement and dance, called “hooping,” is reaching communities around the nation.

At the last workshop of the Hoop Convergence, held in Carrboro and Efland, hoopers combined movement and dance to act out different emotions or objects. Led by Kari “Revolva” Jones, these hoopers are dancing out “bubbles.”
Staff photo by Lindsay Ash

“Hoop Convergence”, called the first national hooping conference by its organizers, was held from April 11 to 16 in areas of Carrboro and at Chestnut Ridge Camp and Retreat Center in Efland.

Hoopers spiraled at venues all over Carrboro, including Weaver Street Market, the Town Commons, the Century Center, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Tae Kwon Do Center, Carrboro Yoga Company, Carolina Fitness and Balance Movement Studio.

“Carrboro has become a hooping Mecca,” said Ariana Shelton, who traveled from Massachusetts to attend “Hoop Convergence.”

“It’s a place on the map that hoopers all over the world recognize as a unique hooping scene.”

In the past few years, there has been a re-emergence of Hula Hooping, which is now referred to as “hooping” to distinguish it from the children’s play activity. Hooping can be used for both exercise and expression.

“Hooping is a form of creative movement and dance that uses a much bigger and heavier hoop that moves slower as it rotates around the body,” said Julia “Jewels” Hartsell from Carrboro.
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By Katie Spencer
Carrboro Commons Writer

Just prior to the torrential downpour Sunday, a storm of runners descended on Carrboro for a pint of Maple View ice cream.

I was among the 250 willing to fill up on dairy halfway through a five kilometer run, all for a good cause.

Nick Hutchins and Matt Hamrick perform for the crowd’s applause. The duo barely beat out the “dancing cow” to win best costume.
Staff photo by Katie Spencer

The event was called the Maple View Challenge, a local version of North Carolina State University’s Krispy Kreme Challenge, where runners eat a dozen doughnuts in the middle of a four mile race.

We started at the Morehead Planetarium and went down Cameron Avenue to the Roberson bike path. At the end of the path we found a well organized ice cream eating station. Anyone competing had to finish off a pint of strawberry sorbet or vanilla, chocolate-chip or double-chocolate ice cream before heading back the same way, full of dairy.

I have never seen the bike path so crowded. The returning runners had one thing on their minds: keeping the ice cream down.

The idea came from UNC-Chapel Hill students David Campbell, a senior environmental studies major, and João Toste, a junior economics major, who were training for a triathlon at the time. The two stopped at Maple View Farm just north of Carrboro, where they joked about an event that combined physical exercise with eating ice cream.
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By Allie Maupin
Carrboro Commons Writer

The morning of April 6 was cold and soggy, but the weather did not prevent more than 400 people from coming out to the Carrboro Classic Endurance Sports Festival held at McDougle Middle School.

The festival served as host to the USA Triathlon (USAT) Duathlon Regional Championships and was also selected as a World Championships Qualifier, one of only four such events in the country. Duathlons are similar to triathlons, but only involve two of the events, running and cycling.

The women’s long course dualthlon race gets off to a good start during the Carrboro Classic on Sunday, April 6.
Staff photo by Allie Maupin

“A lot of people here want a chance for the national team,” said Joan Hartis, a race course volunteer and Carrboro resident.

The Carrboro Classic is comprised of three events: a short-course duathlon, long-course duathlon and an 8-kilometer (5-mile) run. The long-course race was both the Regional Championship and Team USA qualifying event.

The top two finishers in each age group from the long-course competition are offered slots on Team USA.

The top runners from the women’s long course were Cari Soleo, of Cary, with a time of 3: 06 minutes, and Sonia Davis, from Chapel Hill, at 3:08.

Josh Beck, of Carlisle, Pa., won the men’s long-course race, clocking in at 2:18. He was followed by William Haas, from Greenville, at 2:22.

“This is such a great opportunity for serious runners,” said Tara Cristian, a long-course entrant from Alexandria, Va. “Team USA is a real honor.”

Members of Team USA will compete in the International Triathlon Union’s world championships. The long-course duathlon event will be held on Aug. 10, 2008, in Geel, Belgium.

Steve Lackey, founder of the Carrboro Classic and publisher of Endurance Magazine, is not surprised the Carrboro Classic was picked for the USAT regional championship.
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By Kate Searcy
Carrboro Commons Writer

Question: Where could one find the Rolling Stones, Joan Baez and Johnny Cash sitting together in perfect harmony?

Answer: The Carrboro Century Center on April 6th from noon to 6 p.m.

Gerry Williams showcases some of his records for sale at the sixth annual Carrboro CD, Record and Memorabilia Show. Vendors came to sell their music and talk about their passion for collecting vintage treasures.
Staff photo by Kate Searcy

These were just a few of the artists from various genres whose musical works were both on display and for sale at the sixth annual CD, Record and Memorabilia Show at the center over the weekend. Music lovers came by the dozens to browse, receive tips on buying and selling, or just to chat with fellow enthusiasts.

“This is a gold mine for me,” said Henry Hannon, a visitor to the event who said he has been collecting music for the past couple years.

Hannon said he was interested in the vinyl records for sale, and that he is currently into funk and soul music from the 1960s and early ‘70s.

Around 35 tables were purchased by vendors for the event, and the show was held in the center’s auditorium. It can fit around 40 vendors, according to Gerry Williams, the creator and director of the event. He is also the founder and coordinator of the Carrboro Music Festival.

Williams said that the show is sponsored by the town of Carrboro and its economic development staff.

Though the show was focused on vintage records and CDs, Williams said almost every musical format was available for sale. Cassettes, 8-Tracks and records of different sizes were just a few of the formats available for purchase. Music players, such as turntables, were also for sale.

Williams said rock ‘n roll was the most popular format for sale, but there was music from all genres to suit all musical interests.
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By Morgan Siem
Carrboro Commons Writer

As Kathy Buck explained, each cohousing community has someone known as a “burning soul.”

Kathy Buck plans to complete the Eldergreen project, a seniors-only cohousing community, within five years.
Staff photo by Morgan Siem

Buck and her husband, Ken Moore, are the burning souls for Eldergreen, a community they are planning based on the concept that residents will be older than 55 and want to live in a community atmosphere while consciously working against environmental degradation.

Buck, 61, and Moore, 67, are looking at Carrboro as a potential site for Eldergreen, where they plan on spending the rest of their lives.

“We’re building it to live in it,” Buck said. “This is not to make money, it’s for us to have a place to live.”

The vision statement of Eldergreen says, “We embrace living in harmony with the earth and a commitment to caring for one another to provide for aging in place as we move with meaning and joy through the second half of life.”

Buck envisions 20 to 30 living units comprising Eldergreen.

“What is out there for a senior?” Buck asked. The options are going to a nursing home or living on a golf course, a playground for seniors, she said. “What a boring life!”

There is a trend in the medical world toward aging in place. In this format, care is delivered to the individual at home.

“The negative is that you’re trapped alone in your house, and I want to talk about aging in community,” she said. “This is like trying to create an extended family.”
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By Evelyn Greene
Carrboro Commons Writer

One chilly April morning, a man walked into the sunny front room of Padgett Station carrying his planner, a coffee cup and a bucket full of branches.

Any confusion was soon cleared up as the man filled a few small, red glasses with water and placed the budding branches on tables throughout the small shop. Bringing plant life to people unfamiliar with the outdoors is what Ken Moore has spent his entire life doing.

Ken Moore, author of the weekly nature column “Flora” in the Carrboro Citizen, has written more than 50 pieces for the paper. He wants to get more people outdoors.
Staff photo by Evelyn Greene

“By the time they leave high school, I think everyone should have a basic experience in horticulture and botany,” Moore said.
After earning a degree in English from Davidson College, Moore went back to school to study plants.

In 1971, he became the first employee of the N.C. Botanical Garden. It was there that Moore discovered his passion for sharing the beauty and excitement of nature with others.

As soon as the trails opened, Moore was bombarded with calls from school groups hoping to schedule a visit. Before he knew what he was doing, Moore offered himself to the groups as a tour guide. But he fell easily into the role, crawling through bushes and rolling over logs with children as young as 4 years old.

It was also during his first few weeks at the garden that Moore realized how important it is for children to be exposed to nature.
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By Shera Everette
Carrboro Commons Writer

Life and scenes from the Victorian era will be re-created on Saturday, March 29, when dozens of people dance the night away at the Carrboro Century Center.

The Triangle Vintage Dance will host its 6th Annual Victorian Ball, showcasing a gamut of Victorian dances, from the waltz and polka to the foxtrot and tango.

Dancers wear vintage regalia during the 2007 Victorian Ball at the Carrboro Century Center. Many will be on hand Saturday at the 6th Annual Victorian Ball. (Photo courtesy of Triangle Vintage Dance)

“It’s always a lot of fun,” said Dawn Imershein, who co-instructs Triangle Vintage Dance with her husband, Chris. “The costumes are sometimes amazing for the people who go all out.”

Dawn Imershein said about a quarter of the dancers get into character and dress in Victorian-era costumes, while most dress in modern dance attire, including prom dresses, gowns and tuxedos.

She also said that the skill of the dancers ranges from those with two left feet to experienced dancers. There is a warm-up lesson from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Triangle Dance Studio, 2603 S. Miami Blvd. in Durham.

“Some dances are more difficult than others, and everybody has different methods of learning, but we’ve taught it enough to be able to help everyone,” Dawn Imershein said. “I’m sometimes really surprised to see faces I’ve never seen before come to the ball. But for the people who take lessons, their improvement level is just amazing.”

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