Over the last two years, I wrote thirty Suburban Living stories and collaborated on three others. Since my wife and I are moving to Maryland to be near our two sons, this will be my last. Those stories have allowed us to connect with our town in a deep way. I called this retrospective story “Hometown Inspiration” in hopes of sharing these connections with you. The stories answer questions about how governments, educators, nonprofits, and families inspire others.
How Do Our Town’s Leaders Act as Change Agents?
All of my stories included change agents. Fuquay-Varinans can find them all over town, but they are especially prevalent in Town Hall. For good reasons, our citizens have kept Mayor John Byrne in office for nearly two decades. Half of his 2002 priorities have been accomplished. There has been much progress on the other half, but he is the first to say, “There’s still work to do.”
I attended dozens of Town board meetings and found people were listened to but of course, despite attempts to meet all needs, not all get their way. Commissioner Bill Harris especially provides a voice for minority citizens. He often reflects by writing answers to 18 questions included in the story about him. They could be valuable guides for anyone serving the public. Town Manager Adam Mitchell shows his encyclopedic knowledge of our town at every meeting while new Assistant Manager Jim Seymour brings valuable development experience from a large urban center in New York State.
Police Chief Laura Fahnestock is the daughter of a career law enforcement officer. Her attention to community connections shows through police department events like open houses, barber shop talks, and coffee-with-a cop. Before she became chief, Fuquay-Varina crime rates were at or above the national average. Rapid year-after-year declines in crime rates occurred every year from 2016 to 2019, until now it is less than a third of that average.
You might not be able to tell during the pandemic, but Janet West is a remarkably accessible librarian. One of the first things she told me is that “They don’t teach us to shush anymore in librarian programs.” She is also a remarkable collaborator. Soon after being named Community Library Manager she met with Richard Haynor, Director of the Southern Regional Center now next door to the new library, to see how the library could help. I also often see her at the Chamber of Commerce Education Council meetings, where she has the chance to interact with local principals. Many parents will be delighted when the library will be open again for its children’s programs.
Another special Town employee is Maureen Daly, Director of the new Arts Center. She is a theatre person, which shows in our state-of-the-art theatre. It is small compared to the high school auditorium, but the seats were so remarkably comfortable that my wife and I were delighted to buy one for the grand opening. Now we can be there in spirit for all the future events that Maryland’s distance prevents us from attending.
In the issue before this one, I did a story on Dr. Tom Ray’s GIS Club. I had the good luck to interview Pam Davidson, Town Planning Director. She introduced me to how she uses this powerful mapping device. To find it, go to Fuquay-Varina.org and search for GIS. While there, we can find any homeowner or any type of land use. Some exploring reveals information ranging from trails in town to house sizes. Pam works with Jonathan Cox of Parks and Recreation. The pandemic created management challenges, but his department made welcome improvements in the town’s remarkable new Hilltop-Needmore Park and Preserve. It only seemed like a freebie, but fortunately, the town’s growth enabled paying for many needed improvements. The town also plans interesting opportunities like a new community/senior center at the park. I also did a short story on the visit of Congressman George Holding before he announced his retirement.
Where Can We Find the Most Unusual Collaboration in Town?
Collaboration is common in government, especially in small, close-knit towns, but we also have a remarkably unusual collaboration called the Chamber of Commerce Education Council. Like most small Chambers, decades ago ours did not have an education committee. After two years of observing our amazing examples of educational collaboration, I asked Chair Wanda Denning how it got started.
“In 1993, Bob Barker and Wray Stephens set about to form the Fuquay-Varina Education Foundation. Funded annually by our town’s Rotary Club golf tournament, we brought in national and international education gurus at the time. . . like Al Mamary, Bill Daggett and some others (see their papers “On Creating an Environment Where All Students Learn: A Conversation with Al Mamary” and “Five Things the Nation’s Most Rapidly Improving Schools Have in Common”). We offered staff development for all our area teachers. In about 2003, the Chamber formed an education committee, and it was determined that there was not a need for both groups, so the Education Foundation rolled into the Education Council of the Chamber. I was asked to lead that effort. Since then, I have chaired the Council, only because no one else has agreed to do so and I’m not about to let our long-time efforts falter!”
Wanda’s amazing facility at keeping these meetings productive marks her as a Fuquay-Varina hero. The Education Council meets every second Friday of the month. Most of the town’s principals attend plus representatives of businesses, the library, non-profits, and the Wake County School Board. Wanda brings a few items of interest to all and then they go around the room. Each person mentions special accomplishments and needs. I have seen communities where principals barely know each other. In our town there is a camaraderie among them that shines through every meeting.
The Council gets results! Participants pass outstanding ideas around the room that contribute to the remarkable improvement our schools have shown over the last two decades. For example, the rating of Principal Camille Miller’s Willow Springs Elementary has grown from a C to an A and under Kim Grant, Lincoln Heights has been transformed into a magnet school with multimillion dollar grants and a team of amazingly creative teachers. All the principals have slogans to help guide their school atmosphere. Kris Clark, of the middle school uses “Celebrate, Challenge, and Connect.” Kim Short of the new South Lakes school uses “We’re glad you’re HERE,” where the acronym stands for “High expectations, Enthusiasm, Restorative Practices, and Engagement.”
One of my first stories was about plans for the new high school. In it, former high school principal and now Southwestern Area Superintendent Jonathan Enns mentioned several times how much the school benefited from the Education Council. He shepherded the high school through the design and move to the new building before Terrance McCotter took over. In pandemic times, businesses have stepped up to provide hard-to-find supplies, expertise, and opportunities. At Education Council meetings, I also learned about the district’s diversity efforts and Principal McCotter told me about the need for leadership of the high school’s robotics club. After seeing this high functioning group, I am sorry to report that many towns lack one. If you meet Wanda Denning, Bob Barker, Wray Stephens, or any of our principals, tell them how much you appreciate their efforts on behalf of our schools.
Who Creates Opportunities for Unique Others?
I wrote two stories about Military Missions in Action (MMIA). In one, I described a furniture delivery to a previously homeless veteran moving his family into their first, but empty, house. Until the pandemic, my wife and I attended monthly meetings and helped at stand-downs sponsored by the Veteran’s Administration at Raleigh, Fayetteville, and Franklin. There, homeless veterans showed up for food, healthcare, a warm meal, and bureaucratic assistance. The MMIA booth was loaded with clothing and food donated by local businesses or citizens and trucked to the site where needy veterans eagerly claimed it. Clearly, MMIA founder Mike Dorman’s creativity provides new opportunities for those who served our nation.
Another local opportunity provider is Dave Reitmeyer, founder of the
Route 55 Jazz Orchestra. The pandemic has stranded us away from live arts for a year now. But hopefully, the group of seasoned performers will soon again provide authentic Big Band Jazz in the tradition of Basie, Kenton, and Miller. I never got a chance to interview Margaret Cook of the Fuquay-Varina Community Chorale, but its fast-growing size and the quality of the concert that I attended before the pandemic attest to her leadership and musical acumen.
Our town has several organizations that provide fellowship and service while also linking the community together. With our rapidly growing population, joining one of these is a great way to turn alienation into acceptance. I did stories on the American Legion, Lions Club, the Friends of the Museums, and the Chamber. If we were not moving, I would add stories on the Women’s Clubs, the Rotary, the Downtown Association, and the Writing, Music, and Film Society. The last group was founded about the time I moved into town by Jill Eagan, a local real estate agent, teacher, artist, and children’s book author. Jill holds monthly meetings on Zoom and will gladly return to the Arts Center when safe. Nancy King and Valerie Macon of that group joined with me last year to create the Capturing Wisdoms Writing Group. We interview people related to the growth of their expertise and our stories often turn into Suburban Living articles.
Where to Find Wise Counsel?
As transportation expanded over the centuries, families spread to the ends of the earth. People began to overlook the value of any time of life other than the one they currently occupied. They shunted children aside leaving teachers the only beneficiaries of their joyful explorations while casting seniors’ wise counsel off as health-problem burdens.
Some of our stories had different outcomes. Our Capturing Wisdoms interviews of “Long-Term Residents of Fuquay-Varina” and “Grandchildren’s Perspectives on the 2020 Pandemic” found both groups actively engaged with family and community. Our story on “Child Foodscapes Gardeners” documented the creative contributions children can make to their neighborhoods with the right inspiration. Aiden and Abby found theirs right next door at the house of horticulturist Brie Arthur. Our story about Brie told how she worked in the most important horticultural locations in North Carolina, but when a homeowners’ association would not let her cultivate beautiful species in her yard because they provided food, she moved to a more tolerant neighborhood. Now, two books and a national speaking tour are helping others join her “Foodscapes Revolution.”
As our world grows more complex, it becomes ever more obvious that nobody is wise in all aspects of life. Bubba Sykes contrasted wise from unwise clowning in the story about “Funny Art from the Heart.” Novice, well-meaning people hoping to liven up a hospital children’s ward put lipstick on their noses and act silly. The common result is they became scary, boisterous, and disruptive. Bubba used a simple assessment to hone his renowned expertise: “If they laugh, you’re funny; if they don’t, you stink.”
In another example of inexperience, encouraged by park naturalist Colleen Bockhahn, I decided to explore creating a more natural backyard habitat and let it grow. Instead of the beautiful garden pictured in our story of “The Birds & The Bees in Your Own Back Yard,” I created eight-foot-high dog fennel that smothered all the poppy seeds given to me by Brie Arthur. Growing expertise takes time in any endeavor.
Where Can We Find Forums for Innovation?
This story showed how governments are change agents, schools enable community collaboration, nonprofits create opportunities for others, and families foster wisdom. In Fuquay-Varina at least, all four types of institution act in all four ways. I hope you enjoyed the stories and keep reading Suburban Living. There are many forums for innovation in Fuquay-Varina, but it is the only one that arrives in your mailbox four times per year. You receive it because of the forward-thinking businesses that advertise in it. As you keep those businesses alive, they keep this delightful town prosperous.
