Story by Hal Goodtree. Photos by Brooke Meyer and Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – National Train Day rolled into Cary on Saturday. The weather was perfect, the band played, flags snapped to attention and the enthusiastic crowd cheered as the big train pulled into Cary.

National Train Day in Cary

Cary has had a train depot since Frank Page got a railroad siding in 1854. But this year was the first celebration of National Train Day in Cary. Previously, the event had been in Raleigh, a suburb of our fair town.

The Town Band filled the air with railroading songs and Americana as spectators streamed into the train depot. It was a mass influx of parents and kids, strollers and bicycles, grandmas and grandpas, elected officials and Amtrak representatives flooding in from all sides.

The enthusiastic crowd packed the platform from one end to the other. Children sat on the shoulders of their parents, blowing wooden train whistles supplied by the NC Railroad.  As the Carolinian rolled into the station, a big cheer went up from the crowd.

I don’t know what kind of reception they had previously received in Raleigh, but the train conductors seemed surprised – even shocked – by the size of the crowd in Cary. At it’s peak, Train Day in Cary appeared to have drawn upwards of a thousand people.

The crowd eyed the gleaming railcars, heaving and shuddering above the platform, a living leviathan of steel and ingenuity. Slowly, the train departed from the platform and the crowd let out a collective sigh of appreciation.

Afterward, elected officials, community leaders and Amtrak representatives made a few remarks under the cloudless sky, a perfect Carolina blue to match the mood of the day.

Inside the station, games, amusements and information did a brisk business. There was a model railroad and a train table, face painting and balloon bending. A new Downtown Cary brochure produced by the Heart of Cary Association found its way into many hands.

As the morning stretched into midday, spectators wandered off to visit Page-Walker or strolled to Ashworth Drugs for a hot dog at the lunch counter.

Pictures: National Train Day in Cary

Photos by Brooke Meyer and Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – Saturday was blazingly sunny in Cary, North Carolina. I pulled out the camera for the opening of Cary’s two farmers markets and the first-ever Easter Bonnet Festival at Waverly Place.

Western Wake Farmers Market Opens

Big crowds and lots of vendors heralded the opening of the Western Wake Farmers Market in Carpenter Village on Saturday.

People were fairly streaming out of the surrounding neighborhood at 9:30 in the morning.

The first attraction was an exhibition of chickens. Live ones, not the kind on a plate. If you are a chicken devotee (in the backyard or on the plate), considering buying a CaryCitizen Chicken t-shirt.

Within the market itself, there was a stupendous assortment of things to buy – fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese, meat, plants, flowers, soaps, even dog treats. I bought locally grown honey for my 12 year old who has pollen allergies.

As I left WWFM, there was a low-key Easter Egg Hunt. A few dozen kids all rushed onto the field, then just kind of moseyed around searching for eggs. It was a nice change from the massive crowds that turn out for the Town’s hunt in Bond Park.

Downtown Cary Farmers Market Opens

Also on Saturday morning, I visited the return of the Downtown Cary Farmers Market.

This year, the market has a new home on Academy Street in from of the Carying Place, diagonally across from First Baptist Church.

Fresh strawberries were seeing brisk sales. Lettuce was in season and japanese maples were on offer. The Heart of Cary Association had a booth and so did the Downtown Cary Childrens Museum.

Waverly’s Easter Bonnet Festival

My final stop on Saturday was the first ever Easter Bonnet and Hat Festival at Waverly Place.

The Easter bunny was there and lots of kids and adults all dressed up in their Easter finery. A DJ was rocking the Promenade and Waverly merchants were handing out tasty treats and samples.

It was a good Saturday in Cary.

Story from staff reports. Photo by Thibault Martin-Lagardette.

Cary, NC – Calling all local shutterbugs! The Cary Jaycees and the Spring Daze Arts & Crafts Festival are hosting the Fourth Annual Amateur Photo Contest. Winners will be displayed at Spring Daze in Bond Park on April 28th.

Cary Jaycess Photo Contest

This contest is open to amateur photographers all ages, with winners in Youth (18 and under) and Adult (19 & over) categories. So, get out your cameras and submit up to two entries.

Categories:

• People
• Critters of Nature
• NC Landscape

Deadline:  April 20, 20112 at 5:00 pm

Submit Your Photos

Photos can be submitted to any of these three locations:

• Town of Cary Parks, Recreations & Cultural Resources Office in Town Hall, 316 N Academy St in downtown Cary
• Cary Arts Center, 101 Dry Ave (Downtown)
• By mail to the Cary Jaycees. P.O. Box 212; Cary, NC  27512

All entries will be judged and then displayed as part of the Town of Cary’s Spring Daze celebration on April 28, 2012 in Bond Park. Awards will be given for Best in Show and First Place winners in all categories. Ribbons will be provided to 2^nd, 3^rd and Honorable Mention winners. An Award for a People’s Choice selection will also be given, as voted on between 9 am and 3 pm the day of Spring Daze. Winners will be announced on the Earth Day stage on April 28, 2012.
More Information

More Information

Download the brochure and application:

• Download the Brochure
• Download an Application

The cost per person is $12 with a limit to two (2) photos per persons.

For more information, visit Cary Jaycees.

Cary, NC – Spring does not obey the laws of man. It comes and goes when it pleases, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but always in it’s own sweet rhythm and time. This week, the pear blossoms are out, turning Cary into a Dr. Suess fairyland of white.

The Week of the Pear Blossoms in Cary

I could see the blossoms swelling last week, a few hints of white popping out among the bare branches. But over the last 48 hours, the pear blossoms have exploded all over town.

So I decided to drive around, enjoy the spectacle, and take a few pictures of pear trees in different situations in Cary.

I started downtown. The first picture (above) is at the corner of Walker and East Chatham.

This next picture is at the same corner. I just turned around and looked at the street light poking up like an errant branch through the tree.

The next two pictures are further east on Chatham, across from the Chatham Square shopping plaza.

I zipped back west on Chapel Hill Rd.

These next two are on Green Level Road, west of NC 55.

Finally, I ended up back in my own neighborhood off Waldo Rood.

About Pear Trees

For decades, the ornamental pear tree (pyrus in Latin) has been a favorite in suburban yards and thoroughfares.

It grows quickly (but not too tall), assumes a pleasing conical shape, blooms early and holds its leaves until the very end of the autumn. Cultivars like Bradford or Callery pear produce little-to-no fruit, are disease and drought resistent, and perfect for planting in long rows.

Image by J.J. Raia. Lindsey Chester edits the Cary Citizen Calendar of Events .

Cary, NC – It’s so hard to choose among all the events on the Calendar. This week, we’ll focus on a few art exhibits around town. All are free.

Page Walker: Off the Tracks

This is a two-person exhibition of surprising landscapes.

J.J. Raia makes photographs that, quite frankly, look like paintings. For Crabapple in Spring Bud (above), the artist said that the “image was taken on one piece of film exposed 16 times. Each exposure was at a large f-stop to minimize depth of field and focused on different distances within the frame to give the image a more painterly look.”

Nancy Hughes Miller, whom we’ve covered in a previous story, paints colorful landscapes that seem to capture a magical quality of light. We are big fans of her work.

Artists’ Reception
Friday, February 24, 2012
6-8 p.m.

Page Walker
119 Ambassador Loop
Cary, NC

Waverly Artists Group: Grand Opening

Waverly Artists Group, in the newly refurbished Waverly Place, is having its Grand Opening on Friday February 24, 2012.

See the art and meet the artists. Music and refreshments.

They are also having a plein air show coming up (submission date is March 19) and several upcoming workshops.

Waverly Place has really gone through a remarkable renaissance. If you missed the Winter Wonderland, now’s your chance to visit. Waverly Artists Group is on the second floor facing the central open space.

Waverly Artists Group
Grand Opening

Friday February 24, 2012
6-10 PM

Waverly Place
corner of Tryon and Kildare Farm
Suite 209-D

Photo by Hal Goodtree.

Emerge Fine Arts: New York in the 70′s

This photography show by Allan Tannenbaum at Emerge Fine Arts in Downtown Cary closes on Saturday, so Friday is your last chance to see it.

Tannenbaum was chief photographer of the SoHo Weekly News in New York City and this exhibit is a personal retrospective. Rolling Stone, Life, Newsweek and others have published Tannenbaum’s work.

New York in the 70′s
Emerge Fine Arts
Ashworth Village
200 S. Academy St. Ste. 110
Cary, NC 27511
Show closes: Feb 25, 2012

More Weekend Events

More weekend happenings on the CaryCitizen Calendar of Events.

Deborah Harry by Allan Tannenbaum.

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Community News on CaryCitizen is sponsored in part by Cary Visual Arts.

Story from staff reports. Photos by Marvin.

Cary, NC – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association held its Swimming and Diving Championships this past weekend at Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. Marvin of The M Factor sent in these photos.

NCHSSA 2012 Swimming and Diving Championships

Areas schools did well, especially the women’s teams. Panther Creek placed 2nd over with 190 points.  Apex followed in third place, Cary was 4th and Green Hope placed 5th. A total of 39 teams from across the state participated in the 4A division.

On the men’s side, Cary High placed 8th and Apex 10th.

Pictures

Story by Lindsey Chester. Photos by Brooke Meyer.

Cary, NC – Nnenna Freelon, originally scheduled to appear in Cary back in November, put on a show this past Saturday night at Cary Arts Center. Brooke Meyer snuck backstage during the warm-up and took some pictures for CaryCitizen.

For a small town, we attract some pretty big acts. Nnenna Freelon is a world-reknowned jazz singer and composer, Six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominee and is hailed as the “international voice of Jazz.” Her version of Duke Ellington’s Prelude to a Kiss was showcased on that glossy TV hit Mad Men.

Brooke Meyer visited backstage stage during the sound check and sent us a few photographs. Many thanks to Ms. Freelon for the access.

Video: Nature Boy

We found this video on YouTube of Nnenna Freelon singing “Nature Boy.”

She’s today’s Ella Fitzgerald, people. Must get her back to CAC.

Cary, NC – Recently, some stellar basketball pictures came floating across the Cary Flickr Group. They are by Marvin of The M Factor and they are this weeks Wide World of Cary Sports.

High School Basketball in Cary

Marvin has been catching a few games around town – boys and girls, Panther Creek, Athens Drive, Cary High and Green Hope.

Interesting (at least to photographers), Marvin shot these pictures with a remote controlled flash. That’s unusual for sporting events and accounts for the crisp action pictures and vibrant indoor colors.

How About Your High School?

If your Cary area high school is not represented here, reach out to someone in your community who is shooting your games and recommend they contact the photo editor at CaryCitizen.

All our photographers make a voluntary contribution of their work. We rely on the community for our high school sports coverage. Any sport, any school in Cary is welcome.

Alternatively, maybe you know a pizza parlor or ice cream shop that might want to sponsor coverage of your school’s sports. Hook us up!

Wide World of Cary Sports

Cary, NC – Last month, I wrote about taking pictures during “Magic Hour” – the time just after sunset when everything looks golden and lovely.

The Lochmere Christmas Flotilla this past weekend presented the challenge of photographing at night, when it was truly dark.

Herewith, a few tips and tricks for photographing at night.

5:30 PM

A kind invitation from Harold and Gerry Ritter gave me the opportunity to shoot the festivities from their dock on Lake Lochmere.

I’d classify this first shot as “magic hour” – it was dark enough to even see a small planet in the sky.

I used a tripod throughout the evening to steady the shot.

5:45 PM

Around the lake, folks started to prepare for the flotilla. Seen below is a float dubbed “The Lochmere Monster.”

Many of the boats sailed up to the Ritter’s dock to say hello to the former Cary Mayor.

In the minutes before 6 o’clock, boats arranged themselves on the lake for the flotilla.

6:00 PM

At 6:00 PM sharp, Harold set sail. You can see him in his red jacket in the boat on the right.

As the boats got into position, the Lochmere Monster cruised past, too fast for my slow nighttime shutter speed. But it made for a cool picture that accentuates the motion.

Composite Shot

Going into this assignment, I sort of knew it would probably be impossible to get the “perfect shot.” What I visualized was one boat in the foreground and all the rest across the horizon in the background.

To achieve what I wanted, I used Photoshop to make a composite shot. That is, I combined six or seven different photographs into one image.

I started by making a background – black water and midnight blue sky. Then I created a line of boats and the shoreline in the background. Finally, I dropped Harold’s boat into the foreground. You can see most of the pieces and parts up above.

Some photographic purists might look askance at compositing. But it’s not about some imaginary purity of technique – it’s about making an image that tells a story. Anyway, that’s my philosophy.

Happy nighttime shooting!

Cary, NC – On Saturday, after taking a few pictures at the Cary Jaycees Christmas Parade, I wandered over to Winter Wonderland at Waverly Place.

There were snowball fights, sledding, toasted marshmallows, tasty treats and a giant amount of fun.