Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten
Catch the final Freight Train Blues concert tonight (Friday, June 11)! We celebrate such amazing talent! If you have missed any of the previous concerts, sit back and relax as you catch them all at https://www.youtube.com/user/musicmakerfoundation/videos
The Town of Carrboro has proudly presented this year's Freight Train Blues with WUNC, Music Maker Blues, Stream Artarie and Soul Bag.
Freight Train Blues celebrates the life and legacy of Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten, born in 1893 in Carrboro, N.C. We honor Ms. Cotten’s contributions to American roots music by highlighting the cultural significance, diversity, and vitality of her North Carolina community and its connections to artists across the nation.
The annual concert series, which typically takes place at Carrboro Town Commons, was filmed this year at The Fruit in Durham, N.C. and is hosted by Hillsborough, N.C.-based nonprofit Music Maker Relief Foundation, whose mission is to tend the roots of American music.
Photo of Elizabeth Cotten Courtesy Mike Seeger Collection, photographer unknown.
Harvey Dalton Arnold Plays Final Concert
This Friday at 6:30 p.m., get ready to rock with Harvey Dalton Arnold (formerly of the Outlaws) at the virtual concert series Freight Train Blues!
Access link to concert at freightrainblues.com
June 11 – Harvey Dalton Arnold – Harvey Dalton Arnold is a North Carolina bred southern gentleman who took to the musical road in his teens. While playing bass for a band in Florida, he received an offer to audition for the now legendary southern rock group The Outlaws on a Saturday night. By the following Saturday, he already had a stadium gig under his belt opening for Johnny Winter and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He toured extensively and participated on classic albums with The Outlaws from 1976 through 1980. Always having a love for the blues, Harvey’s first solo release was a blues album. His brand new effort “Stories To Live Up To” on Music Maker Recordings is a collection of songs and stories that showcase his writing and influences. Opening performance: an archival video of outsider lounge music by Captain Luke and Cool John Ferguson.
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Swing by Carrboro Connects Pop-Ups
Did someone say pop-up?! Swing by Carrboro Connects Pop-Up booths taking place through Saturday, June 12, to share input on our Town's very first Comprehensive Plan!
Join your neighbors to talk about transportation, housing, jobs, and more. Refreshing popsicles will be on-hand for all who share, and we will be practicing safe physical distancing.
Carrboro Connects is a comprehensive planning effort of the Town of Carrboro that is addressing climate action, race and equity, affordable housing, and economic and fiscal sustainability.
Unable to make the in-person events? Visit our Virtual Pop-Up (open 24-7 rain or shine!) at carrboroconnects.org
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Call for Applicants: Community Safety Task Force
The Town of Carrboro is recruiting members to a new Community Safety Task Force.
In the interest of developing new approaches to public safety beyond policing, the task force will include five to seven residents of Carrboro. The Town Council seeks residents with professional expertise and/or lived experience in the criminal legal system, human services delivery, social work, public health and harm reduction, community building in marginalized populations, or related content areas. The membership of the task force will also include two to three council members designated by the Town Council.
The task force will provide recommendations to the Town Council for additional services to enhance community safety and well-being that rely on prevention and intervention strategies as alternatives to policing and the criminal legal system—including but not limited to community nonviolence and de-escalation training programs; domestic violence intervention and prevention; youth-oriented programs; on-call crisis response that would allow certain calls for police assistance to be handled by other trained professionals, such as social workers or crisis counselors; and other related approaches.
Background
The Town Council passed a Resolution on Next Steps in Advancing Racial Equity in Law Enforcement and Public Safety in Carrboro on June 18, 2020. In this resolution, the Council expressed its intent to establish a task force on public safety, “in the interest of developing new approaches to public safety beyond policing.” The Council recognized that “investments in public safety and in programs and services that keep communities healthy and safe must advance racial equity, be grounded in community demands, and be informed by authentic engagement with grassroots and community organizations.”
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Carrboro Observes Its First Juneteenth Holiday
The Town of Carrboro will celebrate Juneteenth as a holiday on Friday, June 18. Household trash will not be collected on Friday. Residents who normally receive waste collection services on Friday will be serviced on Monday, June 21. Town government offices will be closed on Friday.
Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration marking the end of slavery in the United States, is observed on June 19. It was originally celebrated June 19, 1865, the day Union soldiers told enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, the war was over and they were free. The news arrived more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
The Carrboro Town Council unanimously voted on July 14, 2020, to recognize June 19, or Juneteenth, as a paid town holiday. The holiday is also recognized by the towns of Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, and Orange County.
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Celebrate Black Community and Culture at the Inaugural Juneteenth Festival
A coalition of local organizations invites the community to be a part of the first annual Chapel Hill-Carrboro Juneteenth Celebration. Planning partners include the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, the Marion Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History, and many others. The event will celebrate Black community and culture through arts performances, history exhibits, kids activities, and more.
Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. The Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro proclaimed the observance and commemoration of Juneteenth on June 19, 2020 and encouraged residents and employers to recognize the holiday. Dawna Jones, President of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, is excited to partner in the community celebration saying “We look forward to more recognition of Black history, the struggle for equality, and the legacy of leadership Black people have contributed to both Towns. This community celebration will be a great opportunity to do just that, and we are happy to be a part of it."
This year’s event will be mostly virtual, with a limited number of in-person and hybrid offerings, including:
- On Friday, June 18, the event will kick-off at 7 p.m. with an online video premiere featuring greetings and remarks from local leaders, and performances from Poets Laureate CJ Suitt and Fred Joiner and Durham-based country music singer Rissi Palmer. Following the video premiere, Pulitzer-Prize winning author and scholar Annette Gordon-Reed will talk about her new book “On Juneteenth” through a live and virtual Flyleaf Books program.
- On Saturday, June 19, the community is invited to decorate vehicles and join the Juneteenth Motorcade at 4 p.m. Two routes will allow participants to drive through historic Black neighborhoods and share the Juneteenth spirit.
- Local Music Performances
Juneteenth weekend will feature a variety of online and in-person music performances from Triangle-based talents. Headlining the virtual space are R&B powerhouse SunQueen Kelcey, Jazz legend Lydia Salett Dudley, Hip-Hop pioneer Kevin “Kaze” Thomas, and Gospel group Souls of Joy. Performances will be available to stream online starting Saturday, June 19. In-person busking performances will also take place along Franklin Street on Saturday night, as part of Downtown Chapel Hill’s Save The Music series. Stay tuned for the full line-up revealed closer to the event. - Eat & Shop at Black-Owned Businesses
Black-owned businesses will be highlighted all weekend long through a scavenger hunt style digital challenge – encouraging the community to answer trivia and complete ‘missions’ for a chance to win prizes. The contest is made possible by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP in partnership with Carolina Chamber and EmPOWERment. - Discover Local History
The community is invited to listen, read, watch, and learn about Black history through digital and in-person exhibits. Chapel Hill Public Library’s historical showcase, I Was Still Singing, will activate 109 East Franklin Street with appearances from the living history makers. Save the date to visit the pop-up on weekends in June. - Of and For The Youth
Piedmont laureate Donna Washington and children’s book author Kelly Starling Lyons will offer virtual storytimes for kids of all ages available throughout the weekend of Juneteenth. Recorded performances from artist-led student workshops will be available to stream.
Learn More
Experience all this and more during Chapel Hill/Carrboro’s inaugural Juneteenth celebration. Regular updates will be shared via social media and the official website at chapelhillcarrborojuneteenth.com. This event is made possible through collaboration with several local organizations.
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Juneteenth Celebration at Carrboro Town Commons
On June 19th, the Chapel Hill/Carrboro NAACP Youth Council and the UNC Black Caucus will host a Juneteenth Celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. at Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main St., Carrboro, N.C.
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South Orange Rescue Squad Day in Carrboro
Friday, June 11, is South Orange Rescue Squad Day in Carrboro.
“I encourage all Carrboro residents to celebrate the service that SORS has contributed to our community over the last 50 years,” said Mayor Lydia Lavelle, who issued the honoring proclamation.
Volunteer Rescue Services in Orange County was first established in 1968 with the creation of the Orange County Rescue Squad; Volunteer Rescue Services expanded with a second service, the South Orange Rescue Squad (SORS), which was established in 1971 in Carrboro. The station is located at 202 Roberson St., Carrboro, N.C.
SORS is completely volunteer-run, made up of over 100 volunteers who provide vital public services to the residents of Orange County; in the words of SORS, SORS acts as a “developmental league” to the emergency services profession by providing training, instruction, and service opportunities for individuals interested in medical career development; and the volunteers of SORS have been providing services to Orange County and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since the first week of June 1971.
Learn more about the history and service of the Orange County Rescue Squad through the proclamation posted at https://www.townofcarrboro.org/DocumentCenter/View/9232/2021-South-Orange-Rescue-Services-50th-Anniversary-Proclamation
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Town Council Update
Meeting agendas and updates are issued from the Town Clerk’s Office. To receive these by email or text, sign up for Carrboro Town News at townofcarrboro.org/signup
Civic involvement is a valued tradition in our community. Reach the Town Council with your ideas, views and questions at council@townofcarrboro.org
Coming Up
The Town Council will meet virtually at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 15, to consider an agenda https://bit.ly/35da4xC that will be posted at carrboro.legistar.com
To view, livestream at carrboro.legistar.com or YouTube.com/CarrboroNC OR Cable TV 18 (in Carrboro). To speak at the meeting email publiccomment@townofcarrboro.org
Access more information including the June 8 meeting summary at https://www.townofcarrboro.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1760
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Feel Small Town Pride This June!
Feel Small Town Pride this June! The towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill are collaborating to show LGBTQ+ Pride, and to affirm community values ensuring that all residents, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, are treated with respect and dignity.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) Pride Month is celebrated nationally and locally each year in the month of June. The origins of Pride stem from the Stonewall Riots that occurred in June of 1969, when attendees of the Stonewall Inn in NYC clashed with anti-LGBTQ police. Marches and protests popped up in some major US cities in June of the following year to commemorate the event, and the tradition has continued. The purpose of celebrating Pride is to promote the equality of the LGBTQ+ communities, as well as increase visibility, challenge anti-LGBTQ legislation, and bring awareness to other LGBTQ issues. Progress for true equality requires the support of everyone, including straight allies who know that support for LGBTQ+ people strengthens the entire community.
Through a mix of in-person and virtual events, Small Town Pride will promote equality and celebrate diversity and acceptance in the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. It will involve the entire community, with local businesses, artists, volunteers and community partners. Everyone is welcome!
SMALL TOWN PRIDE EVENTS
Proclamations of PRIDE MONTH by each municipality
View the Town of Carrboro proclamation from Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle at http://townofcarrboro.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1743
Raising of PRIDE flags in our downtowns
Watch the video of the Pride flags being raised by Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle and Chapel Hill Council Member Karen Stegman at https://youtu.be/wf5vlRSM0jk
- Small Town Pride Video
You’re invited to take a trip down memory lane and sample the Pride vibe that took place in Carrboro in 2019 through the film Small Town Pride from Richard Jaimeyfield, a local filmmaker. The 13-minute film is available for viewing at https://youtu.be/kw15AkJVSfI
In June 2019, the Town of Carrboro celebrated the 50th anniversary of Stonewall in several ways, including a Pride parade, a poetry night, a Latinx celebration and a panel discussion of current LGBTQ+ issues. The Town closed out the festivities with a dance party on the Town Commons. The film offers a brief view into how a small southern town can create safe spaces and understands the importance of being seen and heard, while also calling into action the work that still needs to be done.
“Carrboro has a rich history of being a leader in the state when it comes to advocating for the LGBTQ+ community,” Mayor Lavelle said. “We are delighted that Richard was able to showcase this history.” - Drag Queen Story Time
Join host Stormie Daie at Southern Community Park,1000 Sumac Rd., Chapel Hill, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 12, for a fun and fabulous morning of songs and stories that celebrate diversity and encourage kids to be exactly who they are. Everyone is welcome at this story time, but our books will be best for ages 2 – 7. No registration is required, but we ask that everyone wears their masks and practices physical distancing. Join us at the large shelter at Southern Community Park and come dressed to dance! - Conversation with EqualityNC
This conversation over Zoom from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 14, will cover the rise of anti-trans legislation and what we can do to help the trans community in NC. - Join Rebby Kern and Kendra Johnson from EqualityNC to discuss the increase nationally of anti-trans bills. We will also discuss what we can do to support our trans community in North Carolina. Register on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtcumqqz4jEtFTuedQimrxuHb9199I_fb3
- Pride Food Truck Rodeo and Dance Party
Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main St., Carrboro, from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 24 - Join Mayor Lydia Lavelle (who, with her wife Alicia Stemper, was the first gay couple to receive a marriage certificate in Orange County) at the Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St., as she and other town leaders and community members kick off the night’s celebrations! All are invited to join as they parade the Rainbow Ram down Carrboro’s streets to the Rodeo and Dance Party. There will be food trucks, dance music, and booths from local businesses and organizations, so come dressed to party! Masks and social distancing required.
- Pride Book Club
Meet virtually from 6:30 to 7:30 pm Monday, June 28. - Join us on Zoom to talk to fellow book-lovers, LGBTQ+ folks, and allies about Emily Hashimoto’s debut book, A World Between. Described by BOMB Magazine as “an incredibly refreshing exploration of how the bond between two queer women of color evolves over the course of a decade," this tender, moving book explores the intersections of queer identity, romance, family, and race with a gentleness not often seen in queer stories. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdOmppzouEtU4HMk3KxV34Z-xydOl23Ez
- Get your copy of A World Between by Emily Hashimoto from Chapel Hill Public Library, Flyleaf Books or Epilogue Books.
- Social Media campaign
We are highlighting local LGBTQ+ leaders, history and milestones! - Area business specials!
- Post your pride
#SmallTownPride #CarrboroPride #ChapelHillPride #PRIDE2021
Do you have an idea to contribute to the next Small Town Pride? Please contact clazorko@townofcarrboro.org
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Planning Agency Seeks Comment on Transportation Needs
If you’re interested in highway, bicycle, pedestrian, and transit projects for our region, you’re invited to give your feedback on an assessment of future transportation needs.
The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) is seeking public feedback on the Deficiency and Needs Analysis http://www.dchcmpo.org/programs/transport/2050mtp/default.asp#tabs6 for the 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) http://www.dchcmpo.org/programs/transport/2050mtp/default.asp#tabs1. The 2050 MTP identifies future highway, transit, rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and other transportation projects for this region over the next 30 years.
The DCHC MPO is updating the 2050 MTP this fall, and will use the public input received on the Deficiency and Needs Analysis as part of their efforts to model future population and employment projections to identify where roadway, public transportation, bicycle, pedestrian, and other transportation investments will be needed in the coming decades.
Residents and other stakeholders are asked to review the Deficiency and Needs Analysis at the DCHC MPO website and provide comments by email no later than Wednesday, June 30.
For more information about the 2050 MTP, contact DCHC MPO Principal Planner Andy Henry at (919) 560-4366, ext. 36419 or andrew.henry@durhamnc.gov
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Town of Chapel Hill Proposing Bike Lanes on Culbreth Road
News Release from the Town of Chapel Hill -- Note to Carrboro Residents: The Town of Chapel Hill invites your feedback and participation as well!
The Town of Chapel Hill is proposing to add bike lanes to Culbreth Road as part of a scheduled resurfacing and repaving project by the NC DOT this summer.
The Culbreth repaving project will start as early as July 1 and is scheduled to be completed before the start of the school year in August. As part of this resurfacing, the Town of Chapel Hill is looking at adding bike lanes on Culbreth Road, as included in the Mobility & Connectivity Plan. This would be accomplished by narrowing vehicle lanes and removing the center turn lane. This change would keep the left turn into the kiss-and-go driveway at Culbreth Middle School, the left turn into Adams Way, and the intersections of Smith Level Road and US Highway 15-501.
The Town of Chapel Hill modeled the changes in the town-wide traffic model and found little to no delay as a result of removing the turn lanes. For full details on the analysis and the proposed lane changes, visit the project’s webpage at https://www.townofchapelhill.org/government/departments-services/planning/transportation-planning/culbreth-lane-reallocation
The Town of Chapel Hill wants to hear your feedback on the proposed changes to Culbreth Road. Feedback is being collected through:
If you have any questions, you can reach out to Josh Mayo, transportation planner, at jmayo@townofchapelhill.org
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The Orange County Board of Commissioners appointed the BOCC Elections Advisory Group (BEAG) in February 2021 to study how county commissioners are elected in Orange County and to recommend possible changes for consideration by the Board of Commissioners.
As part of this process, the BEAG has developed a survey to gauge the public’s sentiment on how county commissioners are elected and whether or not the current method can be improved upon or should remain the same.
Orange County is governed by a seven-member board of commissioners elected in partisan countywide elections. Commissioners serve four-year terms, and elections are held in even-numbered years.
Two members are elected at-large, meaning the candidates can live anywhere in Orange County and are voted on by all registered voters in the county in the primary and general elections.
Five commissioners are elected via a district, with three members representing District 1 (southeastern portion of the county including Chapel Hill and Carrboro) and two members representing District 2 (the rest of the county). In district elections, commissioners must reside in the district and only voters within the district vote in the primary to choose which candidates will run in the November General Election. In the General Election, all voters in the county vote in the district races.
The brief, anonymous survey will take less than five minutes to complete. Responses will be taken into consideration as the BEAG develops recommendations for changes to be considered by the BOCC.
The online survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XZHDPS7. Residents without Internet access can request a paper copy of the survey. Please mail your request to Orange County BEAG Survey, PO Box 8181, Hillsborough, NC 27278, or call (919) 245-2302 and leave your name and address. The online survey will close June 22. Paper surveys must be returned by June 23.
After the BOCC receives the BEAG report and recommendations, the board will solicit public comments and feedback before considering changes to the election process. Any changes to how commissioners are elected must be approved either by voters through a referendum or by an act of the N.C. General Assembly.
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