Down East

On a recent trip that included the North Carolina Coastal areas in and around Morehead City, Jacksonville and New Bern, I missed seeing the Director of the library at Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville,  After a few exchanged emails, I thought I might return to the area and visit some other area schools as well that are further south.  On the first day of my travels, I visited Richmond County Community College in Hamlet, St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, Robeson Community College in Lumberton, Bladen Community College in Dublin and Southeastern Community College in Whiteville,  Of those five, only Robeson County Community College was a school I had not yet visited.

I was hungry for Oriental food when lunchtime arrived so I stopped in at Taki Japanese Cuisine in Laurinburg.  I enjoyed delicious vegetables, fried rice and shrimp sauce.  

Lumberton was flooded last October when the rains of Hurricane Matthew filled to overflowing the banks of the Lumbee River.  The school was spared but the damage to the area was extensive.


The Lumberton area is home to the Lumbee Indian Tribe.  The 55,000 members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina reside primarily in Robeson, Hoke,Cumberland and Scotland counties and is is the largest tribe in North Carolina, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth largest in the nation. The ancestors of the Lumbee were mainly Cheraw and related Siouan-speaking Indians who have lived in the area of what is now Robeson County since the 1700s. The Lumbee people have been recognized by the state of North Carolina since 1885, and at that time established a separate school system that would benefit tribal members. In 1887, the state established the Croatan Normal Indian School, which is today The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

I'd intended to visit Brunswick Community College in Bolivia but was unable to do so due to the constraints of time.  

I finished my day driving to Jacksonville so I'd be close to my 10:00 am appointment at Coastal Carolina. It was past suppertime when I arrived so I looked for a restaurant near the hotel.  Mission Barbecue served tasty ribs.  They also have cups for sale near the checkout where patrons can make donations to charitable projects such as Wounded Warriors.

 

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Jacksonville where the accommodations were extremely comfortable.  Their television commercials suggest that staying there will make you smarter but I could tell little or no difference the next morning.  I did have a delicious breakfast served by two ladies.  One had just finished her overnight shift and the other was just starting her day.  Somehow both were cheerful and bright and did their best to get every one's day started in a positive direction.

It had been sunny and in the 70's the day before but this morning dawned cool and rainy and stayed that way most of the day.  That made taking pictures difficult.  Plus, these powdered wigs don't look so good when they get wet. 

I decided to make a early call to the Onslo County Public Library in Jacksonville.  I had visited there on my earlier trip and left information with Karen Moore.  It was good to see her and her staff hard at work early in the morning.

A short distance away is Coastal Carolina.  Sally Goodman has been there for six years and in that time has built a strong team providing library services to the students.   She was aware of the company I represent but had not used our services.  Her questions were insightful and demonstrated a desire to continue offering the best service possible to her students.  I hope we will be able to help her do that.

Three schools I had not previously visited are the New Hanover Public Library in downtown Wilmington, Cape Fear Community College nearby and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.  

I had completed my list of schools by early afternoon so I set my course for the one school I had missed on my way "down east"; Brunswick Community College in Bolivia.  I asked my new assistant, Sheila (she works for Apple but is from "down under") to set a course for the school and very soon was on the campus.  


I skipped lunch so I could arrive home in time for dinner.  Being at home after two days of travel was well worth a missed meal.  

Another Two-fer

Once again, I am combining two trips into a single report.

It was my privilege to attend the American Library Association Mid-Winter Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia on behalf of my employer.  The ALA is is the oldest and largest library association in the world.  It was founded on October 6, 1876 during the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.  The mission of ALA is “to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.” To that end, the ALA brings together librarians with those of us who serve libraries at these great convention.

I was, once again, privileged to work with Oscar T. Robot.  He is a charming android who is a delightful co-worker.  Librarians from around the world stopped by to visit with Oscar and me.

I arrived on Friday afternoon and ate lunch at a wonderful bar-b-que place near my hotel.  The President's inaugural address was just beginning but through the marvel of technology, I was able to listen to it while I ate despite the absence of a TV or a radio.

While there, I was able to enjoy an evening with my nephew and his family.  They live north of Atlanta and are a wonderful family.

 We were in Atlanta on a momentous weekend.  On Saturday, the "Women's March" filled the streets of Atlanta with people calling attention to the causes of women's rights.  Then on Sunday, the hometown Atlanta Hawks played the Green Bay Packers for a spot in the upcoming Super Bowl. 

These conventions are exhilarating and very informative but I was glad to return home at the end of four days.













I attended a committee meeting of my brother's tribe on the following Saturday.  The committee has the responsibility of shepherding men and women who sense God's call on their lives to vocational ministry to prepare them for ordination.  I contributed little to the examination of the candidates but came away impressed that the future of my brother's tribe is in good hands.

Today was a short day.  I called first at nearby Cleveland Community College in Shelby.  More than thirty years ago, I lived in Shelby and audited a class in accounting at CCC.  The campus has blossomed (and moved across the road) since I attended.

Just outside Shelby, the State DOT has built a new bridge that is quite high.  From that vantage, you can see the mountains of Western North Carolina.  On this morning, they were all covered with snow.




Isothermal Community College was my next stop.  It is a fine part of the North Carolina Community

College system but you have to admit it has a unique name.  Here's what I found out:  "The isothermal belt is a zone in western North Carolina, primarily in Rutherford and Polk Counties, in which temperature inversion resulting in milder temperature contributes to longer growing seasons than in the immediate surrounding region. The phenomenon usually occurs on the southern slopes of mountains and foothills protected from frost and freezing temperatures by higher mountains to the north and northwest. The temperature inversion, possible at any time, usually develops in the early spring. The condition is advantageous for tender plant life and early blooming trees as well as for the cultivation of fruit, especially apples and grapes.

In 1858 Silas McDowell of Franklin coined the name "isothermal belt" based on the concept of the isotherm, a line on a weather map linking all points that have an identical mean temperature for a given time. Since then the term has been widely used and modified by scientists and area residents to sometimes exaggerate the advantages of the area. The names of Thermal City in Rutherford County and Isothermal Community College, which serves Rutherford and Polk Counties, are derived from this term."

Charles Wiggins is the director of the library.  He has served a number of schools mostly in Western North Carolina.

I stopped for lunch just prior to arriving at my last school.  Mojos BBQ and Grill is in a strip shopping center but parked outside was a food truck bearing the name.  The BBQ had an especially good "smokey" flavor that didn't need sauce.

My final stop was in Flat Rock at Blue Ridge Community College.  Ali Norvell is the newly-installed director replacing Susan Williams, who retired.  

I returned home by nearly the exact same route I had gone (minus the BBQ stop).  I have the impression that both my brother's tribe and the libraries of North Carolina have a bright future.    

Back to the Beach

One of the perks of this job is occasional trips to visit schools near the North Carolina Coast.  My last such trip was to the Outer Banks and once again, my favorite traveling companion joined me.  Monday was a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King.  Mary and I left very early and traveled to Atlantic Beach near Morehead City.  When we arrived we found a wonderful diner named "Four
Corners" where we enjoyed delicious food and got excellent advice on local restaurants from our waitress, Jen.

We were anxious to walk on the beach but it was very cold and windy so we bundled up and enjoyed a stroll that left us chilled to the bone.  The hotel hot tub quickly chased the chills away and the heated indoor pool made for a relaxing afternoon.  We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Channel Marker Restaurant on the Bogue Sound waterfront.

We returned to the "Four Corners" for breakfast and met the owner, Once again, Jen waited on us and we told her about the wonderful food we'd had at the Channel Marker.

Tuesday morning we drove inland to go to Jacksonville which is home to Camp Lejune and the
United States Marines.  This proud military town is also home to Coastal Carolina Community College.  Sally Goodman is the Director and Kerry Brinker is in charge of ordering books.  Located in Onslow County, I also visited the Onslow County Public Library.
Virginia Sharp March is the new director and Karen Moore is in charge of acquisitions.  Both facilities were new to me but I received a very warm welcome at both places.

Turning north we traveled to Craven County Community College.

 Throughout our travels in this part of the state we had listened to the NPR station which would regularly identify itself saying "broadcasting from Barker Hall on the campus of Craven Community College."  Barker Hall is also the home of the Craven County Community College Library!  Entering the building, I felt compelled to drop by the radio station office and thank them for their excellent programming.  Upstairs at the library I learned that the director, Cathy Campbell, the director, was not there but I enjoyed a great visit with Mark King and Edie Boesen.  Mark is an "army brat" who spent much of his youth in the area and Edie is from the great frozen north of Wisconsin.  It was a beautiful, warm sunny day in January so Edie was especially glad to live in the South.

Pamlico Community College is in the town of Grantsboro and serves the people of that county in association with East Carolina University.  Electra Kriele is in charge of getting books and is always a delight to talk with.

To get from PCC to our final stop you can go one of two ways.  The trip around Pamlico Sound is 50 miles and takes an hour.  OR, you can drive a few miles to Minnesott Beach and take the ferry.  We took the ferry.

It was lunchtime and as we passed through Beaufort (pronounced "BYOO-fert" (as in "beautiful") in South Carolina and "BOH-fert" (as in "Beauregard") in coastal North Carolina, which is also the correct pronunciation of the Duke of Beaufort's name.  Just sayin').  We stopped at "The Spot" and enjoyed friendly service and delicious food.  

Our final stop was at Carteret Community College.  The library sits
on the banks of the Bogue Sound and how anyone could get any work done with that beautiful view is beyond me.  Elizabeth Baker is the librarian and she will host the North Carolina Community College Library Association Conference near the end of March.

We returned to our hotel and made our way to the beach.  The change of weather was remarkable.  It was warm and sunny and we enjoyed our stroll and collected "sea glass" to put in our indoor fountain.

After another dip in the hot tub, we returned to Morehead City to

Sammy's (recommended to us by our waitress, Jen).  It was "all-you-can-eat" oyster night.  As tempted as I was, I settled for a half-dozen of the biggest and freshest oysters I've had in a long time.  Sammy Boyd, the owner, started out cleaning fish at age eight.  That night he stood at the counter and shucked oysters the entire time we were there.

Mary had to be at work on Wednesday by 12:30 so we left very early.  It was a full three days but they were full of great memories.

Concentration

I set a new "personal best" for visiting the most number of schools in a single day with ELEVEN on my first day back to work after a very long Christmas and New Year's break.  The vacation was extended by a very uncharacteristic snowfall.  The number of calls was not due to pent up enthusiasm but rather, a concentration of schools in the Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Durham area.

My first call was to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Law School.  Katherine Orth is in charge of ordering books and her warm personality was a delightful start to the day.

The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in Durham was next on the itinerary.  I had visited there in the summer but due to the retirement of Dave Connelly, Carlton Brown is now in charge of acquisitions.  Carlton is mostly an IT guy but is, as are most librarians, willing to help to get the job done.

Next door is the Duke University Law School.  Shyama Agrawal is the person who orders books but she was not in her office when I stopped by.

I next visited the Shepherd Library on the campus at NC Central University.  NC Central is another one of the fine historically black colleges and universities in North Carolina.  Vanessa Lennon is the librarian and she gave me excellent walking directions to my next stop--the Law Library on campus.

Nichelle Perry is the Director of the Law Library and she visited with me in the absence of Mitzi Townes.  It was a beautiful day and the walk from the parking deck to the Library to the Law library and back to the parking deck was invigorating.  I noted that even in Durham, the sky is still Carolina Blue!

Durham Technical Community College provides outstanding practical education in Durham.  Julie Humphrey is always a delight to visit.

It was lunchtime and I began to look for a place to eat on my way to my final stop in Durham.  In a shopping center I found Gussey's Place. Gussy's started out as a food truck serving students at Duke University.  Gus Megaloudis played professional soccer in Greece for 17 years and brought his mother's recipes with him when he came to America.  I enjoyed a real falafel and it lived up to Gus' motto, "Everything's betta with a little feta."

Apex School of Theology was founded in 1995 as Apex Academy School of Religion by the Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Perkins at the historic, Apex First Baptist Church, Apex NC, where he is the pastor. The school offers training for both pastors and laypeople.  Ms. Cynthia Ruffin is the Librarian.

In Raleigh I stopped first at Meredith College.  Gerry Sargent is the librarian and the new Director is Laura Davidson.

I had never visited William Peace University but it is a beautiful, old campus with brick paver sidewalks and old oak trees.  The library is led by Nathan Helmers and Diane Jensen is in charge of getting books.  William Peace University was founded in 1857 as Peace Institute, offering education for boys and girls in primary grades and to women from high school to college.  Once a two-year college for women, WPU has evolved into a four-year, coeducational university, offering bachelor’s degrees in more than 24 majors, minors, and concentrations.  William Peace, the founder, was a Raleigh businessman and Church elder.


St. Augustine's College is a favorite stop on my trips.  The Director is Tiwanna Nevels.

My last visit was to the campus of Wake Technical Community College.  Julia Mielish and Paula Hartman lead this fine Community College. 

I still had a long drive ahead of me to get home but as I drove I wondered what it was about that area that attracted so many schools.  Was it simply a function of being a population center?  Do, in fact, "birds of a feather flock together"?  Can an atmosphere where education flourishes be fostered or does it happen somehow organically?  Such thoughts would have been better entertained before I have visited eleven schools!

Out-of-Order

No one likes to arrive at a rest room or a gas pump or a water fountain to fine the words "out-of-order" posted.  But sometimes the phrase means "not in the correct order."  Such is the case with this blog.  I won't bore you with all the reasons why this blog post should precede the one that follows it but suffice it to say that getting older is not for "sissies."

A week ago, I had a very important appointment to keep in the early evening but the schools I needed to visit were at some distance.  I arose very early and left to visit schools which sit along the Virginia border and in the north.  east corner of the state.

I arrived first at Halifax Community College.  Outside the main building on campus is a fish.  I assumed it was some sort of mascot but I learned the school's mascot is the "Knights."  Marc Finney is the Director of the Library.

One of the few public libraries I call on is in Scotland Neck.  Brenda Mills is the librarian there and has led the county-wide system of public libraries to serve this rural community.

Vance-Granville Community College in Henderson is led by Elaine Stem.  She was preparing to leave for a meeting when I arrived so I didn't have long to speak with her.  I learned a week later that VGCC qualified for a very special award from the company I represent.  Congratulations to Elaine and her fine staff!


Piedmont Community College is in the town of Roxboro.
 Vanessa Bass is the director and had just begun her duties when I visited during the summer.  Vanessa was not in her office when I arrived so I left my calling card on a table near the entrance.  The next day, I received a gracious note from her to indicate she had found my card.
 
It was after lunchtime when I left PCC so I stopped at a place called "American Hero."  American Hero is run by two brothers from Lebanon.  Sammi prepared my meal of grilled chicken with peppers and onions on a bed of wide egg noodles.  The meal was accompanied by a salad and garlic bread.  Ordinarily, when I have calls to make, both onions and garlic are off the menu for me.  But since I had made my final call for the day and had only the drive home ahead, I enjoyed Sammi's fare.
 

What could be more American than two brothers from a foreign country serving delicious food at a reasonable price to a diverse clientele? American Hero indeed!

It was a long drive from Roxboro to my home but I made it in time for my evening appointment.