By Jasmina Nogo
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer

They met in ninth grade at a Halloween party and became best friends. He was the guy from “Scream” and she was Slash. A leap of faith and their passion for rock ‘n’ roll brought them to Chapel Hill in 2006, where they wait tables by day in order to be musicians by night.

Playing their first private show at the Lofts at Lakeview in Durham, Ryan Franceschina (far right) and Liz Sullivan (far left) rock out on their guitars with their band, Our Velvet Revolution, at a residential pool party.

Staff Photo by Jasmina Nogo

Liz Sullivan, 28, and Ryan Franceschina, 29, from Pittsburgh, Pa., are the lead guitarists and vocalist of the four-member band, Our Velvet Revolution.

They postponed everything, including their wedding, to come to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area for a few years.

“This just felt like the right place to go,” Sullivan said. The music scene in Pittsburgh wasn’t for them and it was hard to keep a band together, she said.

Sullivan and Franceschina have worked at Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe on Franklin Street since they moved here. They wake up at 5:30 in the morning in order to be at their job by 6. Their shifts are over by 2 p.m., which leaves their evenings free for practice and shows. They get up and do it all over again the next day.

“This is the best job we could have at the moment,” Sullivan said. “And the fact that we work together is just an added bonus.”

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By Heather Mandelkehr
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer

While a national debate over childhood obesity looms and the sales of electronic goods skyrocket, blame and pleas for change are levied in every direction. Carrboro is prepared to face the challenge of encouraging children to undertake a healthier lifestyle.

Carrboro Yoga Company instructor Andrea Martinez leads a children’s yoga class. Martinez, who also teaches yoga classes for adults, said that the class is a combination of playing, animal imagery and some basic principles of yoga.

Staff photo by Heather Mandelkehr

Anita Jones-McNair, director of the Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department, said that the department offers a wide variety of children’s programs for kids to achieve a healthier lifestyle. With the pressures of the “technical age” and a national obesity rate higher than ever, she said that programs need to appeal to children – competing with electronics – and that there are still children not being served.

“It is going to take all of the community to work on this issue that is growing,” Jones-McNair said.

Along with recreational activities, Jones-McNair highlights some overall health-related programs available in Carrboro, including a project where children can plant vegetable gardens in local parks and a sequence of cooking classes for children at the Carrboro Century Center.

Jones-McNair said that a main goal of these initiatives is to get parents involved in a healthy lifestyle to help themselves and to teach their kids.

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By Kelsey Hamilton
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer

The traditional glory of high school football may be defined by your team reaching the impressive state championship or defeating a rival on homecoming night. But the football team at Carrboro High School, only in its second season, cannot boast any of these accomplishments, yet it provides the school and community with more than just a check in the win or loss column.

Nick Swartzwellder, in the middle wearing a hat, cheers with his fellow classmates during the homecoming game against Northwood High School. He is a senior and president of the Carrboro Crazies, a student spirit group dedicated to showing excitement and support for all sporting events.
Staff photo by Kelsey Hamilton

Carrboro High lost to Northwood High School, 48-30, on Homecoming night Friday, Sept. 26, but played competitively and showed a big improvement in the score; Northwood defeated the Jaguars, 80-0, last season.

“We are very positive about the way the season is progressing,” said Jason Tudryn, head football coach of Carrboro High. “Obviously, we would like to have more wins, but we understand that all victories can’t really be based on the scoreboard.”

While Carrboro High now holds a record of 0-6 after the loss, the lack of wins did not prevent students, parents, faculty and members of the community from coming out to support the Jaguars against Northwood, who now holds a record of 5-1. In the second year of the school’s history, the players and coaches understand that building a football tradition takes time.

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By Brittany Jackson
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer
The owners of downtown Carrboro’s The Merch don’t just stick to screenprinting and design. But what they do stick to influences their business, from their artistic backgrounds to playing in bands to skateboarding.

Patrick Cudahy, left, and Chip Hoppin, co-owners of The Merch in downtown Carrboro, stand in front of the warehouse- designed store with the simple but new sign. The Merch screenprinting and design moved from its previous location of Graham Street in Chapel Hill to Lloyd Street in Carrboro.
Staff photo by Brittany Jackson

“Since I was about 12 I’ve been obsessed with music,” said Patrick Cudahy, one of the two Merch owners. “My mom was way into art and I think I got that from her. Design-wise I’ve always been drawn to record covers and skateboard decks.”

Cudahy and his business partner, Chip Hoppin, started The Merch, a screenprinting and design shop, located on Lloyd Street in downtown Carrboro, in 2001 when they decided to leave a large-scale screenprinting company and go into business for themselves.

“The reason Pat and I did this was because we were going to go crazy if we did another cookie cutter design,” Hoppin said. “We knew enough people and had enough experience – now over 20 years combined – to start something of our own.”

The two owners, who just recently moved the store to Carrboro in May, branched out to create and sell their own designs but also to “serve the local businesses and independent musicians within the community,” according to the welcome statement on their Web site.

“We started going after bands first because they just don’t have that much money, and we understand from our own musical backgrounds that bands need merch,” Hoppin said. The term “merch” that he and Cudahy throw around indicates the term commonly used by bands to refer to the merchandise sold at shows.

The Merch has taken on jobs from bands around the area – Two Dollar Pistols, Roman Candle and Black Taj – as well as those on a bigger scale, such as Andrew Bird and Arcade Fire. They also are involved in side gigs called Fanatic Masks and Mini Cassette Tees.

Hoppin and Cudahy welcome everyone through the doors of their warehouse-type shop, which houses their offices, two printing presses, a darkroom, a ping-pong table and an individual shop set up to sell just their designed T-shirts.

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By Anshu Gupta
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer

When UNC-CH students are ready to move off campus, the first place they look is not necessarily Chapel Hill.

Bettina Goesele and Brenna Dwyer, both seniors at UNC-CH, enjoy the warm summer weather while studying outside Weaver Street Market. Both know that their visits will become less frequent as the weather begins to cool down.
Staff photo by Anshu Gupta

With Chapel Hill real estate prices and gas prices on the rise, some students are finding Carrboro to be the answer to their problems.

For Matt Poindexter, a junior English major at UNC-CH, living in Carrboro instead of Chapel Hill was an obvious choice.

“The place I rent is cheaper here and nicer,” he said. “I can avoid the bustle of football and basketball crowds from here if I want to. I feel like I have some privacy here, which I didn’t have on campus. All of the places in town that I love to go to are right in my backyard now,” said Poindexter, originally from Walnut Cove.

“Carrboro is one of the few places I’ve seen that has succeeded in melding some of the lifestyle appeals of a big city with the comfort of a small town,” said Poindexter.

Residents know that they have to pay a price for living in such a small town. “Sometimes there is a little too much traffic on Weaver Street, and it takes me a few more minutes to get to campus,” said Sarah Koury, a senior art major from Cary, who is currently living in Carrboro.

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By Hannah Sharpe
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer

Carrboro residents have always held that quirky, eclectic vibe defining their community close to their hearts. So when the biggest redevelopment project the town has ever faced proposed to alter that vibe, there were considerable concerns for residents to address.

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen decided to delay its decision to approve modifications to a conditional use permit for the 300 East Main Street renovation project after hearing many community concerns and questions at the project’s second public hearing Sept. 16. The board will vote based on more definitive conditions presented by Main Street Properties on Sept 30.

VIDEO:
Carrboro Commons staff writer Hannah Sharpe shot this video that portrays the sheer size of the 300 E. Main project, heading west down E. Main Street from Padgett Station to the railroad tracks. P.S. Someone else was driving.

The board approved the final measures of Phase A in June of last year, permitting the construction of a five-story building on the corner of Roberson and Main streets. Now, Main Street Properties, the company proposing the project, is seeking to add on a hotel, a five-story parking deck and 500,000 square feet of business space as Phase B of the project. Construction on Phase A is set to begin in November.

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By Caroline McMillan and Lindsay Britt
Carrboro Commons editors-in-chief

To whom we greet with open arms:

There aren’t many towns where you’ll find a sandcastle outside a grocery store, a no-strings-attached “free market” or the first national Hula Hoop conference. And there aren’t many towns chock-full of educated, accomplished residents who can boast of communal oak trees and miles of well-traveled sidewalks.

This fall’s Carrboro Commons co-editors, (left to right) Lindsay Britt and Caroline McMillan, put the finishing touches on the first edition.
Photo by Jock Lauterer

This is no New York City, my friends. It’s Carrboro.

But you already know this. You know how unique Carrboro is, how people can transplant from all across the nation and still feel at home here. It’s a community that embraces innovation and good ol’ rest and relaxation – all in the same breath.

In the words of Kirk Ross, editor of the Carrboro Citizen: “The New York Times didn’t invent everything.” And despite its larger-than-life aura of journalistic excellence, the New York Times can’t cover everything, either. It talks Wall Street, national politics and international tragedy. But does it tell your story? Does the New York Times highlight your child’s first prom or profile a local war veteran? Does the New York Times run photos of your precious puppy’s jaunt through the dog park?

OK, enough with the rhetorical questions. You get the picture.

Like our sister publication, the Carrboro Citizen, we want to show Carrboro as the gem that it is by covering and capturing that which intrigues you— your stories.

And we want to hear them. This semester, the Carrboro Commons staff is striving to inform, to entertain, and above all, to be enlightened. We want to intimately know Carrboro as if it were our own hometown. So, please, grace us with your stories and ideas. (To our future interviewees: we thank you!) And feel free to give us feedback; after all, we’re only an e-mail or short car (uh, bike) ride away.

Best wishes,

Caroline McMillan & Lindsay Britt, co-editors

Gerry Williams, left, Carrboro Music Festival coordinator, and Kim Andrews, Recreation supervisor from the Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department, hold up this year’s poster for the annual music festival set for Sunday, Sept. 28, all throughout the town.
Staff photo by Lyndal Wilson

By Lyndal Wilson
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer

The annual Carrboro Music Festival is back this month for its 11th year of fun and entertainment.

This free event will be held on Sunday, Sept. 28, and feature over 160 diverse artists, performing in a variety of venues throughout the town. The festival will showcase everything from rock, country, classical, to electronic styles of music.

Carrboro Music Festival Coordinator Gerry Williams said there are about 10 to 15 new performers this year, with one particularly unique electronic duo playing at The Open Eye Café.

Alex Kotch and Ben Crawford will be performing experimental electronic dance music, and incorporating things from peoples’ cell phones into their music, Williams said.

“The audience can call them or contact them on their computer and they can incorporate it into their music,” he said. “It’s really interactive…and pretty unusual, and we haven’t had that before.”

There are also a few different venues this year that have allowed the festival to increase the number of performers. The Station and Southern Rail, on East Main Street, are involved this year. They’ll have a large stage out in the middle of the parking lot, with music inside The Station, and Southern Rail’s back beer garden will be open as well.

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Charles Cleaver practices his accordion in his backyard in Chapel Hill to prepare for the upcoming festival. He said playing his accordion gets him warmed-up for his shows.
Staff photo Anshu Gupta)

By Anshu Gupta
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer

Although he’s no stranger to music, Charles Cleaver will be meeting the Carrboro Music Festival for the first time.

Cleaver, a UNC- Chapel Hill 2008 graduate, majoring in music, is set to play with three of the many bands scheduled for the annual music festival on Sunday, Sept. 28.

“I’m kind of nervous,” confessed Cleaver, originally from Greensboro. “I’ve played a bunch of shows but I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s my first time playing there, so I’m very excited. It will be a great showcase of local music and I’m really honored to be invited to participate.“

Cleaver, who also plays the accordion, specializes in piano jazz. He recently started his own company called “Jazz by Chaz” in which he plays piano for most any occasion.

“It’s basically just a name to put on a business card,” he said. “So that I can try to get my name out there, for lessons, or if anyone needs piano players for any occasion: weddings, restaurants, or a band that needs a piano player to fill in just for one show. I just am trying to build as many contacts as possible.”

“After I graduated, I just wasn’t getting the kind of jobs I wanted,” he said. “I contemplated working for a temp agency or something like that, but I knew it wouldn’t make me happy. I have my eyes half open for a traditional job, but I plan to go to graduate school for a year. I’m just trying to save as much money as possible by doing what I’m doing, teaching and playing freelance in the Triangle area.”

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