News Digest for Town of Carrboro, NC (June 28, 2023) 

Here's what's new in Carrboro This Week: Join us Friday for the Pride Piper Parade and Pride Food Truck Rodeo & Dance Party. The July Fourth Festival and the 10th Annual Frederick Douglass Community Reading are next week. Other local news includes the Town Council Update, Bolin Creek Greenway Survey, and more!

Small Town Pride in Carrboro and Chapel Hill continues this June with the Pride Food Truck Rodeo & Dance Party from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 30, at Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main St.

To get the party started, join the Batalá, an international samba reggae music group, to help roll the Rainbow Ram down Weaver Street from the Century Center to Town Commons for the Pride Food Truck Rodeo & Dance Party.  Join the group at the corner of Greensboro and Weaver Streets at about 4:30 p.m.  and be a part of the Pride Piper Parade! 

There will be food, dance and frolicking on the lawn! Grab your friends, and come on out!

Bring your appetites 
 So much great food will be available, so kick your weekend off right! Sample the offerings from El Molcajete, Drizzle D’s, Golden K Dog, Sister Liu’s Kitchen, Vegan Ice Cream Man, Death By Taco, Funnel Cakes by Tonio, OMG Lemonade – and much more! 

Community resources, crafts, and more  
 Participants offering information, crafts and service resources include Queer Ride Carrboro, Flyleaf Books, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews, Chapel in the Pines, Chapel Hill NOW and Piedmont Health Services. 

Music with WXYC - UNC-Chapel Hill  
Join us for curated tracks from the DJs at WXYC who will play the songs that will bring out your Freak-A-Zoid on the dance lawn! 

Drag Queen Show
 Diamond Productions is coming to Carrboro! Created with community in mind, KiKi Diamond says her shows are designed so that everyone feels welcome, comfortable, and excited. "We believe that drag is for everyone, and we strive to create a space where everyone can enjoy the art of drag."

Which way for the greenway? Come take the survey about the Bolin Creek Greenway! 

The Town of Carrboro invites participation in an engagement process for the Bolin Creek Greenway to receive input on alignment options for segments of the greenway identified as Phases 3 and 4.

Learn more at our project webpage, take the survey, view maps, take a virtual tour, and make a comment on a Wikimapping platform where public input is collected on a map. The project webpage is located at https://www.carrboronc.gov/2762/Bolin-Creek-Greenway ;

Town staff will be available at some of our town’s favorite community events that draw lots of people. We’ll be hosting tables with information, maps and surveys at the Carrboro Farmers Market, Carrboro In Motion, July Fourth and the Latin American Festival, and the Carrboro Music Festival. Information will be provided in various formats and languages. 

We will also connect with people in less formal settings and will be seeking out participation throughout town at drop-by or pop-up stops. You may find Town staff outside your favorite grocery store, laundromat or hair salon as they seek public input on this project. Community outreach will occur through early October. 

The Bolin Creek Greenway Conceptual Master Plan, adopted by the Town of Carrboro in 2009, plans for improvements to the corridor along Bolin Creek and Jones Creek to allow for walking, wheeling and bicycling, including action steps, project prioritization and phasing, land acquisition strategies, and potential renovation recommendations. The corridor for these segments of the Bolin Creek Greenway extends about three miles. View the plan at https://www.carrboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12366/Bolin-Creek-Greenway-Conceptual-Master-Plan-

The planning area (Bolin Creek Conceptual Master Plan) starts at Estes Drive and encompasses the land around the creek through Carolina North Forest under Homestead Road. It continues to a point of connection with the existing Jones Creek Greenway in the future Twin Creeks Park that extends to Morris Grove Elementary School.

The Town’s project webpage https://www.carrboronc.gov/2762/Bolin-Creek-Greenway includes: 

• Survey to receive input on alignment options
• Map illustrating the alternative alignments 
• Background information and FAQs
• Story map to offer a virtual tour of the area
• Wikimapping platform to allow people to draw lines and make comments on a map

The Bolin Creek Greenway engagement effort was requested by the Town Council and is organized by the Communication and Engagement Department with technical support from the Planning, Zoning and Inspections Department and Steve Spindler Cartography. For more information, contact the staff team at communications@carrboronc.gov 

All Town offices and facilities closed for July 4

In celebration of The Fourth of July, all Town offices and facilities will be closed, Tuesday, July 4, 2023.

Come join all The Fourth of July festivities throughout town on Tuesday, July 4!

2023 Carrboro 4th of July Celebration

The annual Fourth of July Celebration will be on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, at the Carrboro Town Commons from 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  There will be a Kickoff Event at Weaver Street Market beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by The People’s Parade from Weaver Street to Town Hall at 10:50 a.m. 

Pre-Event Activities at Weaver Street Market

Join us on the Weaver Street Market Lawn at 9:30 a.m. for pre-event activities!  There will be a Bike/Wagon Decorating Contest along with a Costume Contest for kids.

9:30 a.m. – Pre-Event Activities Begin
9:45 a.m. – Designing & Decorating Booths (Patriotic Tattoos, Hat Making & Decorating, Patriotic Flag Coloring, Bike & Wagon Decorating)
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. – Registration for Costume Contest

Categories:

• Ages 1-5
• Ages 6-10
• Ages 11-15
• Family/Group
• Bike/Trike
• Wagon/Scooter/Other 

10:30 a.m. – Costume Contest Winners Announced
10:40 a.m. – Parade Assembly on East Weaver Street
10:50 a.m. – The People’s Parade from Weaver Street Market to Carrboro Town Hall led by The Bulltown Strutters (http://bulltownstrutters.org)

The People's Parade

At approximately 10:50 a.m., the People's Parade will begin and travel from Weaver Street Market to the Main Event at Carrboro Town Commons!  Dress up, bring your bikes and wagons, and join your fellow community members with a July 4th themed parade down Weaver!

Annual Reading of Frederick Douglass' Essay

Mayor Damon Seils will host our annual gathering of community members for the annual Community Reading of Frederick Douglass' essay, "The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro."   The reading will occur in the Carrboro Century Center's Century Hall at 12:00pm.

Live Music at Town Hall

Below are the performances scheduled for this year's event:
11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. – Stereo Doll
12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m. – Mix Tape Grab Bag
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. – Tre’ King Band

Other Events at Activities at Town Hall

Join us for the following during the main event from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at Town Hall:

• Jr. Firefighter Obstacle Course
• Face Painting w/ Paint Savvy
• Carnival Games and Inflatables (Bounce House) 
• Baby Crawl Contest
• Free Expression Chalk Boards
• Toddler Square
• Revel Cube Gaming Truck
• Interactive Hoop Jam artist
• Bubble Artist
• Stilt Walker
• Food/Drink Vendors
• Non-Profit Booths
• Senior Bingo from 1:00 p.m. -2:30 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers
• Pie-Eating Contest (2:00 p.m. -3:00 p.m.)
  • 2:00 p.m. – Ages 6-8
  • 2:15 p.m. – Ages 9-12
  • 2:30 p.m. – Ages 13-17
  • 2:45 p.m. – Ages 18 & Up

Note: Registration for the pie-eating contest is on-site at the Information Booth from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.  Registration is first-come, first-served and a maximum of 8 participants will be accepted.  There is no registration fee, but a waiver must be signed by a parent or guardian.

• And more!

 For updates, please visit http://www.carrborojuly4th.com

Carrboro to hold 10th Annual 
 Frederick Douglass Community Reading: 
 “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

Carrboro Mayor Damon Seils is pleased to announce that the Town of Carrboro will hold its 10th Annual Community Reading of the Frederick Douglass essay "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" on Tuesday, July 4, 2023.

The reading will occur from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Carrboro Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St. Introductory remarks will be provided by Reginald F. Hildebrand, a retired professor of African American Studies and History at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., and at UNC-Chapel Hill. Professor Hildebrand served as keynote at Carrboro’s first annual Frederick Douglass Community Reading.   

After retiring from UNC, Hildebrand served for three years as an adjunct instructor of history at Durham Technical Community College.  He is the author of “The Times were Strange and Stirring: Methodist Preachers and the Crisis of Emancipation” (Duke University Press, 1995), and is currently working on a book with the working title, "'The Cleverest Document Issued This Century': Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Meanings of Freedom."  

In 2012, Professor Hildebrand was chosen to receive the Tanner Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at UNC-Chapel Hill.  He is a former co-chair of the North Carolina Freedom Monument Project and a former trustee of the North Carolina Humanities Council.  In addition, he has served as a member of the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission and as a member of the Advisory Board for the North Carolina Historical Review.  In 2018, he served as a member of the Historic Civil Rights Commemorations Task Force of the Town of Chapel Hill.  

About the Frederick Douglass Speech and Community Reading 

"What to the slave is the Fourth of July?" posed Frederick Douglass to a gathering of 500-600 abolitionists in Rochester, N.Y., on July 5, 1852. Admission to the speech was 12 cents, and the crowd at the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society was enthusiastic, voting unanimously to endorse the speech at its end. This speech would be remembered as one of the most poignant addresses by Douglass, a former slave turned statesman. Douglass gave it on July 5, refusing to celebrate the Fourth of July until all slaves were emancipated.

Frederick Douglass’ essay reflects a sobering point of view about what is commonly considered to be America’s Independence Day, and is a part of the history of this country that should be recognized and remembered. The community is urged to attend and listen to the reading of this compelling work.

• For more information, contact Mayor Damon Seils at dseils@carrboronc.gov
• The reading is one of the events included in the day-long Carrboro July 4th Celebration.
• View past Carrboro’s Frederick Douglass Community Readings at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5JEg4H8hocMjjl2BVMny6nnw_gMI6AAv
• Learn more at https://www.townofcarrboro.org/308/July-4th-Celebration

Four on the Fourth 2023

A Carrboro road race is scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 4. Expect traffic delays around this time, and feel free to cheer on the runners! 

The four mile race begins in front of McDougle Middle School, winds through downtown Carrboro and its neighborhoods, and finishes on the McDougle track. 

McDougle Middle School is located at 900 Old Fayetteville Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516.

Four on the Fourth is the first race of the Cardinal Track Club's three-race series, Le Tour de Carrboro. These local road races support nonprofits and their work to provide people with access to healthy food, mental and health services, rehabilitation, and more! 

Learn more at https://www.cardinaltrackclub.com/ 

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 https://www.carrboronc.gov/list.aspx 

Civic involvement is a valued tradition in our community. Reach the Town Council with your ideas, views, and questions at Council@carrboronc.gov

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 https://www.carrboronc.gov/list.aspx 

Coming Up

The Carrboro Town Council will be on summer break until it resumes in September for a Work Session scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12. The agenda will be available at https://carrboro.legistar.com/  

These meetings will be held at Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main St. Members of the public are welcome to attend in person or can view the livestream YouTube.com/CarrboroNC OR at https://carrboro.legistar.com/ OR Cable TV 18 (in Carrboro). 

Find the Council Meeting Calendar at https://www.carrboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12313/2023-Town-Council-Meeting-Calendar?bidId= 

Past Meetings 

The Carrboro Town Council met Tuesday, June 27, 2023, for a Council Meeting . Find this complete recap at https://www.carrboronc.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2472 

Town Council 

The Town Council, which is the legislative and policy-making body for Carrboro, comprises Mayor Damon Seils, Mayor Pro Tempore Susan Romaine, Council Member Barbara Foushee, Council Member Randee Haven-O’Donnell, Council Member Danny Nowell, Council Member Eliazar Posada, and Council Member Sammy Slade. More information is available at https://www.carrboronc.gov/248/Town-Council

Poetry in the Park with Liza Wolff-Francis

Come write poetry in the park with Carrboro Poet Laureate Liza Wolff-Francis this summer.

Free ecopoetry workshops are offered from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Mondays on June 5, July 10, and August 7 at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 1120 Hillsborough Road in Carrboro. The group will gather in the pavilion located inside the park (the pavilion furthest from the parking lot, located on the right-hand path).

Ecopoetry is poetry about the planet and our relationship to Earth. It supports ideas of conservation and sustainable living. Anyone can write ecopoetry and participants are welcome to write about whatever comes to them and whatever moves them. All are welcome. 

For more information, email lizawolff.francis@gmail.com

Recreation, Parks & Cultural Resources 
Summer Brochure now available 

This session also includes registration for our youth Fall Baseball and Flag Football programs. 

View the full PDF Brochure to learn more