Photo courtesy of Town of Matthews
Matthews Alive presents proceeds to community
MATTHEWS – Matthews Alive organizers presented $147,716 in proceeds from the Labor Day festival to nearly 40 area nonprofits during the Oct. 28 town commissioners meeting.
More than 2,000 volunteers and representatives from these nonprofits served in various capacities at the event. Sales of carnival rides, games, attractions, booth rentals and sponsorships generated the proceeds.
“To put on such a wonderful family tradition in Matthews alongside our sponsors, volunteers and town staff – and then to give back in a big way – is very gratifying,” said Lee Anne Moore, executive director of Matthews Alive. “We are closing in on the $2 million mark for 27 years. It’s an honor for all of us to create such an important community event.”
Organizations sharing in the proceeds were as follows:
• Schools: Butler High School band, band boosters, cheerleaders, football boosters, key club, lacrosse boosters, men’s soccer boosters and volleyball; East Meck High School band and band boosters; Independence High School Band; Marvin Ridge High School Band; Matthews Elementary School; Providence High School Band; Socrates Academy Parent Faculty Involvement Association; South Meck High School Band; and Sun Valley High School Band.
• Scouts: Boy Scouts Pack 214 and troops 39, 46, 140, 164, 174 and 502; and Girl Scouts Meck 8 Service Unit/Hornets Nest Council.
• Churches: Cross and Crown Lutheran Church, First Baptist Church and Matthews United Methodist Church Youth Ministries.
• Others: Blessed Assurance Adult Day Care, Charlotte Jr. Rugby Association, HAWK, Charlotte Woodcarvers, Charlotte Woodworkers, Dreamweavers Basket Guild, Hornet’s Nest Antique Auto Club of America, Kiwanis Club of Matthews, Matthews Masonic Lodge, Matthews Woman’s Club, Oasis Shrine Club, Piedmont Fiber Guild, Play-Well Teknologies, Sweet Union Quilt Guild and TEAM Charlotte Swimming.
Speed cushions coming to Main Street
MATTHEWS – The Town of Matthews plans to add humps near 130 and 333 Main Street to cut down on speeding.
Residents petitioned the town to add the humps, explaining that drivers use Main Street as a cut-through to avoid the traffic signal at John and Trade streets.
Town staff studied Main Street, noting that 85% of the drivers were clocking 27.5 miles per hour in the 20 mph zone and the road saw average daily traffic of 1,300 cars.
“I have a concern about the width of the streets and having anything higher than 20 mph,” Mayor Paul Bailey said during town board discussion of the topic on Oct. 28. “There are still people who are going through there at too high of a rate. Personally, I think this would be a good improvement to try to slow people down through this area.”
The town calls the humps “speed cushions” since they include wheel cut-outs for emergency vehicles, according to an internal memo by town engineer Susan Habina-Woolard.
Blair Road UMC organizing Christmas Marketplace
MINT HILL – The Blair Road United Methodist Men invite the community to shop for Christmas gifts at the Blair Road Christmas Marketplace.
Not only can shoppers find great handmade crafts, but they can also dine on barbecue.
The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 9 at Blair Road United Methodist Church, 9135 Blair Road.
Visit www.blairroadumc.org for details.
Matthews police participate in No Shave November
MATTHEWS – The Matthews Police Department is relaxing its facial hair policy this month so staff can support No Shave November.
The current policy only allows a short well-groomed mustache, but Chief Clark Pennington will allow facial hair in the form of longer mustaches, beards and goatees if officers donate $35 to the Zero Prostate Cancer Run/Walk – Charlotte.
The last walk was held in September in Ballantyne. Visit https://bit.ly/2EMbyom for details about the walk.
MPD will hold a public vote at the end of the month for the officer with the best beard and goatee. Two winners will receive a free shave from local barbers to return them back to policy standards.
Covenant Day alum publishes young adult novel
CHARLOTTE – Christine Kindberg, a 2018 alum of Queens University of Charlotte, will sign copies of her recently published novel “The Means That Make Us Strangers” at Park Road Books on Nov. 23.
The young adult historical fiction novel follows a white American girl who grows up in Ethiopia as the daughter of an anthropologist and then moves to Greenville, S.C. the first year there are African American students at the white high school.
Kindberg says the novel is based on questions from her life. She was born and raised in Latin America and then moved to the U.S. as a teenager.
“’The Means That Make Us Strangers’ is about belonging, identity and race as part of that,” she explained.
Kindberg attended Covenant Day School for her senior year of high school. Though she now works in the Chicago suburbs, her parents still live in Waxhaw, drawing her back to the Charlotte area regularly.
Kindberg will sign books at Park Road Books from 2 to 4 p.m.
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