Story by Nita Whitfield, photo by Brooke Meyer. Photo above by 3rd place winner Don Lutter, titled “Spot With Hooded Figure”

Cary, NC- Cary Photographic Artists (CPA) recently announced the awards of its 4^th Annual Open Juried Photographic Exhibition, currently on display at the Cary Senior Center.   The diverse show of local photographers talent, amateur and professional, is on display through Dec. 16^th. 

Record Number of Entries

Drawing a record number of entries, the annual event continues to grow in reputation.  The high quality of submissions and generous cash awards are establishing  the CPA Annual as the premiere area Photographic Exhibition.

This year’s Jurors, Mary Kay Kennedy, and Diana Hooper Bloomfield, devoted hours to the very difficult task of selecting 87 entries from the nearly 300 submitted. They were assisted by the  many Cary Photographic Artists members who volunteered time to assist with all the preparation, data entry, receiving and hanging of the show.

Cash Awards

Overall Cash Awards of $2,275 keep interest in this show high.  Best of Show receives $500.  The 1stPlace Award in each category (Color and Black&White) is $350.  2nd Place Awards are $250 each and 3rd Place Awards are $150 each. Four Honorable Mentions are awarded at $50 each.  A $25 Peoples Choice award is given on the evening of the Exhibit Reception.

The Exhibit Reception will be held Friday, Dec. 2nd, 6 to 8 pm, in Room 302 at the Cary Senior Center.  Come visit to see wonderful work by local talent and meet the photographers. You may start seeing the world around you in a whole new light.

Above, winner of “Best in Show” photo titled Shoshone Building #2 by Joe Lipka

Exhibition Winners

Joe Lipka, Shoshone Building #2, Best In Show
Wayne Dockery, Anonymous Tobacco, 1^st Place/Color
Harry O’Connor, Rag Time Detailing, 2^nd Place/Color
Don Lutter, Spot With Hooded Figure, 3^rd Place/Color
Ashley Hutchinson, Procrastination, HM/Color
Michael Ligett, Round Pond Dory, HM/Color
Joe Lipka, Shoshone Building #3, 1^st Place/B&W
Brooke Meyer, Understudy, 2^nd Place/B&W
JJ Raia, Foggy Morning, Spruce Run, 3^rd Place/B&W
William C. Walker, One South, HM/B&W
Bruce Melkowits, Line Up, HM/B&W

Story from staff reports. “Weathered… But Not Discarded” by Patrick Bartley which won Best in Show.

Cary, NC – Cary Photographic Artists have announced the winners of their 2010 Juried Exhibition. You can see show, which features 85 photographs, now through December 17 at the Cary Senior Center in Bond Park.

Approximately 260 pieces were submitted from all over the Triangle. The work was judged by Melissa Southern, a professional award-winning photographer and Dick Cicone, a photography instructor from Wake Tech. At the end of 5 hours of intense deliberation, 85 pieces were included in the show.

From these, the award-winners were then selected by the jurors.

"Aging Gracefully" by Wayne Dockery took First Place

Judge for Yourself

The show is hanging through December 17, 2010 at the Maury O’Dell Senior Center in Bond Park.

A reception is scheduled for December 10 from 6- 8 pm. The reception is free and open to the public.

Details

CPA 2010 Juried Exhibition
Now through December 17, 2010
Cary Senior Center
Bond Park
Cary, NC

Monday – Thursday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday – Saturday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

The Winners

Congratulations to all the winners, everyone who entered or exhibited, and to CPA for mounting this rich and deep photographic show.

Many of the prints are for sale and would make a swell gift for the art lover in your life.

Best of Show
Patrick Bartley
“Weathered…. But Not Discarded”

First Place
Wayne Dockery
“Aging Gracefully”

Second Place
Ricky A. Richardson
“Summer Pier”

Third Place
Melissa Cackovic
“Choices”

Honorable Mention
J.J. Raia
“Sunlit Marsh Fog”

Honorable Mention
Chris Adamczyk
“Awaiting the Storm”

"Awaiting the Storm" by Chris Adamczyk

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Photos used by permission of the artists, all rights reserved.

Cary, NC – You don’t have to be a professional diplomat to change the world or have an impact on foreign relations. That, in a nutshell, is the message of the 3rd Citizen Diplomacy Summit.

The event, set for Saturday, October 16 at the Cary Senior Center, brings together prestigious leaders from commerce, education and humanitarian organizations to expand and explain the possibilities of individual action.

The summit is free but registration is required.

The program is presented by Sister Cities of Cary and packs a lot into three sessions:

Speakers

Janet Cowell
State Treasurer, North Carolina

Melissa Driver Beard
CEO and Executive Director, Engineering World Health at Duke University

Dr. Li-Chen Chin
Director, International House at Duke University

Todd Culpepper
Executive Director of the International Affairs Council of Raleigh, NC

Jeff Hadley
Department Head and Chef Instructor, Wake Tech

Wesley Lo
NCSU Student, former Cary Teen Council Chairman and State Youth Council Chairperson

Tara Muller
Coordinator, Carolina Navigators Program at the Center for Global Initiatives, UNC

David Murphy
President and CEO, Better World Books

Dr. Emmanuel O. Oritsejafor
Professor of Political Science & Public Policy and the Director of International Affairs, North Carolina Central University

Jennifer Pierce
Founder/Director, “SOS” Share Our Shoes

Barry Porter
Regional Executive Director, Triangle Area Chapter, American Red Cross

David Schwerbrock
Vice President, Global Reporting, SAS

Rahul Singh
Regional Director and Operations Head, HCL Global Delivery Center

Carl Westerhold
Vice President, Service Operations, Siemens Healthcare Service

Beth Wolfe
Manager of Industry Market Management, IBM North America

Jeff Wright
Senior Program Officer, World Vision US’s Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs (HEA) team

Mitch Kokai (Moderator)
Director of Communications, John Locke Foundation

Event Details

3rd Citizen Diplomacy Summit
Sat., Oct 16. 2010
8:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Cary Senior Center

The event is free but you must register in advance.

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News on CaryCitizen is sponsored by FrantzForHouse.org.

Cary, NC- It’s Fall and as the weather cools down (finally!) events are heating up around town. Here’s a sampling from our Calendar. If you have Gmail, you can copy from our calendar to yours flawlessly.

Wednesday, Sept 22

Crosby, Stills and Nash (if you’re a Baby Boomer- you remember them!) play at Koka Booth Amphitheatre, 8003 Regency Parkway

Tickets:
$43.50/General Admission Lawn
$76/Reserved
$176 VIP Hot Ticket Package
For complete event information go to www.boothamphitheatre.com or call (919) 462-2025.

What’s Up Downtown! Gathering at Chatham Street Cafe from 5:30-7:30. Sponsored by the Heart of Cary Association, they invite you to have some wine, and appetizers and network with like- minded folks about where downtown is headed. Event is free.

Thursday, Sept 23

Lady Antebellum brings cross over country rock to Koka Booth Amphitheatre, 8003 Regency Parkway. Warm up band is David Nail

Tickets:

$45 / General Admission Pit

$29.50/ General Admission Lawn Seats

$45/Reserved Tables

Lawn Ticket prices increase to $35 day of show

For complete event information go to www.boothamphitheatre.com or call (919) 462-2025.

Friday Sept 24

Cary Art Loop/ Final Friday Many Galleries will be open in the evening with artists receptions from 6-8 pm:

Cary Senior Center, in Bond Park

Fine Arts League of Cary’s Senior show by artists all aged 55 and above. This reception s from 3-5pm

Herb Young Community Center at Wilkenson Ave:

Artist Elise Okrendi: “Scenes of Serenity”,  pastel paintings capturing the beauty of North Carolina, and other places around the world.

Page- Walker Arts & History Center, 119 Ambassador Loop :

Emily Lees: “Raku in Black, White & Red, Sometimes with Orange or Yellow”. Lees’ flat vase forms create interplay between two & Three dimensions. Inspired by 19th century Japanese woodblock prints Exhibit runs from Sept 24- Oct 25

Also at Page-Walker: FALC (Fine Arts League of Cary)  exhibit: “Miniatures Traveling Exhibition” present a traveling exhibit of works in miniature Some works as small as 1 by 2 inches!

Town Hall Gallery on N. Academy Street

All Week (Monday Sept 20- Sunday Sept 26)

Cary, NC – Our community helping others…I see that every week in our stories we post here on CaryCitizen.  But my recent visit to the Cary Senior Center’s Sewing Club really gave me a smile.  Here is the interesting part, sewing is only a small portion of what this group is all about. There are many reasons why this Sewing Club and its members are so special.

900 Years of Sewing Experience

This group of ladies (and one gentleman) have been sewing items for the community for more than 20 years.  They began meeting at Herb Young Community Center sometime back in in the early 90′s (no one remembered exactly when).  Once the new Cary Senior Center was built in 2000 they began meeting there.

I asked Barbara Harraghy, the sewing club’s president, how would someone go about joining the Sewing Club?

“Just show up!”, Barbara said. “We meet every Monday from 9 a.m. until noon.  Just come on by and we’ll put you to work”.

Armed with more than 900 collective years of sewing, knitting and quilting experience this group of 65 members produce beautiful high quality goods at a rapid pace.

They make gorgeous quilted and knitted lap robes, baby hats and booties, scarves, socks, and wonderful cloth dolls.  All these handcrafted items are then sent where they are needed most.

1,500 Items Since 2009

Their sense of community keeps them focused on helping people locally by sending what they produce to local hospitals, emergency rooms, retirement homes, day care centers and hospices.

In 2009 they sewed, knitted, quilted and crocheted well over 1,500 items.  Hard at work, it looks to me that they will surpass last year’s output.

A Beehive of Sewing

They meet in a large room at the Senior Center and have specific areas working on different projects.

One group is knitting and crocheting lap blankets and scarves, while another group is hard at work on the 12 sewing machines the Center owns.  Most of the sewing machines have been donated and are used to sew cloth doll cut-outs and clothes and for sewing quilts together.

Across the room they are stuffing dolls and dressing them in the adorable freshly made doll clothes.  Another group of women are organizing fabric squares in color palates and patterns for quiltmaking.  Barbara helps organize all the handmade crafts into bins and makes sure they reach their final destination.

But sewing and giving back is only part of what this group of young-hearted folks are all about. Many of these women have been together for years, meeting every Monday morning to sew or knit and chit-chat with their freinds.  Some have lost spouses or been ill. Some have passed on. They are there to support and help each other, all the while stitching away.

While I was there, Barbara was showing a new member around and introducing her to some of the other ladies.  They range in age from 60 to the oldest member who is 96 years young. Another women in the group has lost her sight and is blind.  Her husband comes in to cut fabric for the cloth dolls and she helps to stuff them with fibers.

Friendship and common experiences keeps these ladies looking forward to their Monday meetings.  They feel good about the work they do and feel good to have a place to gather with friends and work towards a goal together.

“This group is very skilled”, Barbara says.  “All the different groups that meet here at the Senior Center offer so many opportunities and things for us to do and learn.  This place keeps us active and involved.  There is so many years of knowledge and talent here.”

Donate

The Sewing Club is always in need of donations.

If you have any cotton fabric, thread, yarn or maybe an unused sewing machine that you would like to donate, just drop it off at the front desk.  It will be used and appreciated!

Strong & Beautiful

As I concluded my visit with the Sewing Club, I felt that I wanted to stay longer.  This group of women were so strong, beautiful and full of fun.

I looked forward to the days when I can be apart of a group like that. One that shares, stitch by stitch, life lessons and experiences, making a lasting impact on the community and sewing a legacy of caring and friendship.

They truly filled my heart.

Cary Senior Center hosts a Yard Sale this Saturday June 19th

Cary, NC-  Too busy to host your own garage sale? Hate getting up early to set up? Dislike haggling over price? Have lots of unwanted items lying around your attic, garage or living room? Your unused items can be donated to the Cary Senior Center Garage Sale.

Donations are being accepted this Friday, June 18th from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Cary Senior Center, 120 Maury Odell Place, in Bond Park off High House Road.

The sale is the following day, Saturday June 19th 7:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. at the Senior Center. All proceeds support the Cary Senior Center and the many senior clubs that participate in this amazing event. For more, call (919) 469-4081.

For this and other events happening here in Cary, visit the CaryCitizen Calendar. If you would like us to add an event to our calendar, please email Lindsey Chester.

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News on CaryCitizen is sponsored by FrantzForHouse.org.

VocalMotion at a performance last year.

Story Provided by Lisa Berger, photo by Robert Ray

Cary, NC – Last week, the Arc of Wake County held their annual awards banquet at the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh.  VocalMotion, the SAS show choir that we reported on previously, was invited to attend and perform several songs, including “Tuimbe” which was done along with the Arc’s M’n'M singers.

SAS Group Receives Honor

Afterward, the Arc honored VocalMotion with the Susan Reed Distinguished Service Award.   The award is given to individuals or organizations for contributing to the promotion of rights and services to Wake County citizens with developmental disabilities.

Other upcoming events:

VocalMotion & AudioKudzu will be performing at 4 pm this coming Saturday, May 15, as part of the Spring Concert Series at Sertoma Amphitheatre in Bond Park.

To celebrate Senior Citizen’s Day on Wednesday, May 19th, these two groups will perform at Cary Senior Center from  7-8 pm. VocalMotion and Audio Kudzu have been performing annually at the Cary Senior Center for over five years.

Steven R. Strom, Executive Director The Arc of Wake County with donation check presented by Darylene Hecht, Director of VocalMotion, the SAS Showchoir

Take advantage of one of Cary’s gems. The concert is free. Please register in advance by calling (919) 469-4081.

Cary, NC – Please join Lee Calhoun as he demonstrates grafting, planting and maintenance techniques for fruiting trees and vines that can be grown in our region.

You will learn by doing, so come prepared with gloves and boots and help install apple and pear trees and grape vines in the gardens of the Cary Senior Center in Bond Park, this Saturday, March 20th from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Lee Calhoun Jr., author of “Old Southern Apples”, will conduct an informational session and workday at the Cary Senior Center Garden. Mr. Calhoun has spent years tracking down heirloom apple trees all over the South.  He has been finding and propagating heirloom varieties of apples that were common throughout the rural South and endanger of disappearing altogether. He now grows them in his own orchard in Pittsboro.

Listen to Mr. Calhoun as he tells his stories about finding old Southern apples on farms all over Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Years ago, apples were the staple of the Southern diet and every farm had apple trees.  The large variety provided fruit from June to November. Learn more about how apple trees feed us, preserve our heritage and tell us stories of a bygone era.

Registration is required; please contact the Spruce Coordinator to sign up at (919) 469-4301 or heather.morell@townofcary.org

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This issue of CaryCitizen is sponsored by FrantzForHouse.org.

David Tyndall and daughter Emma

photo: courtesy Sabrina Tyndall

Cary, NC- The crowd was swinging at the Cary Senior Center earlier this month.  Dads enjoyed a great night twirling their daughters around the dance floor at Cary’s annual Daddy- Daughter Dance.  Dads (or significant Father figures) were invited to bring their girls aged 4-12.

The evening featured a DJ, a portrait of the “couple” and refreshments- and of course, priceless moments.

CARY, NC-  Applause! is sponsoring the Cary Youth Theatre’s 6th Improv Comedy Night, this Saturday, February 13 at 7 p.m. at the Cary Senior Center, 120 Maury O’Dell Place.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

This free performance will feature local teens performing improvisational comedy in amusing characters, skits and games based on audience suggestions. Cash concessions will be open throughout the evening.

“Our Improve Comedy Night gives our drama students the opportunity to build their skills and confidence on stage,” said Rachel Green, Youth Theatre Coordinator. “We invite everyone to our evening of no-cost, full-of-laughs entertainment.”

This performance is part of a Drama Workshop Series class offered by Applause! Cary Youth Theatre to teach specific theater skills to teens. Class topics vary, and each class culminates in a performance designed to showcase skills learned in class.

Applause! offers youth theater classes year-round, with week-long camps during the summer. Additionally in the summer, the Applause! Touring Troupe rehearses and performs a patriotic drama as part of the Town of Cary’s Independence Day festivities.

For more, visit Applause! Cary Youth Theatre or call (919) 469-4061. For more weekend events, visit the Calendar.