3/13/2014

5th year of Sandhills Farm to Table. Join now!

"Sandhills Farm to Table Co-op is now open for 2014 subscriptions to weekly or biweekly produce boxes. We keep family farms alive! A highly successful community-owned enterprise which gets re-created ever single year, SF2T is entering its fifth!
Please join us - boxes begin in FOUR weeks:

Click here to visit our new website and subscribe.
http://www.SandhillsFarm2Table.com


ST. PADDY DAY SPECIAL
This weekend only: A "pot of gold" give-away! " Sandhills Farm to Table Co-op giveaway to celebrate St. Patty's Day.
Buy your subscription by Monday and get entered to win a Dinner for TWO featuring SF2T fresh fruits and veggies at" Filly and Colts" restaurant at Longleaf Country Club.
Spread the word-- share with your friends!

Subscribe by Monday and win a $50 gift certificate to Chef Karen Littlefield's new restaurant, "Filly and Colts" at Longleaf Country Club. Check out her website here: http://www.fillyandcolts.com
Jan Leitschuh
Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative
http://www.SandhillsFarm2Table.com
910-585-2625

2/06/2013

Farm2Table Open Now for 4th Season

SANDHILLS FARM TO TABLE CO-OP NOW OPEN FOR FOURTH SEASON; NEW GENERAL MANAGER WITH LOCAL ROOTS JOINS TEAM


Had your "five-to-nine for good health" fruits and/or veggies today? Local strawberries, the freshest asparagus, kale, spring onions, lettuce, sugar snap peas and more - support local farmers and make eating well easy! 

The Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative is now accepting  memberships and Produce Box subscriptions for the 2013 season through its online website www.SandhillsFarm2Table.com

"Neighbors Feeding Neighbors" and "We're All in this Together" are the slogans of the SF2T Co-op, a grassroots, community-owned enterprise that distributes weekly or biweekly CSA-type Produce Boxes and value-added items from local farmers. Over 1600 households in the Moore, Lee, Richmond  and Cumberland county area participate. Members also get a a weekly newsletter with recipes, and online store access to bulk produce for canning, jamming and freezing, potlucks, and more.

For $25, anyone can become a 2013 member and take advantage of offerings of local treats.

Members can choose to subscribe to the regular Produce Box, which has an alternative box choice weekly, or the Bread Box, in which a loaf of fresh-baked bread replaces part of the produce. The Spring/Summer season begins April 17/18th and runs until mid-August; in September, the Fall season begins an eight week run. Members may pick up at one of many Gathering Sites throughout the Sandhills. Options include weekly (18 weeks) or biweekly (9 weeks) deliveries, Family Boxes or a subscription for a "Bread" box. Cost ranges from the $22 per week for a Standard box to the $40 Family box. 

Signup is easy and online. Just visit www.SandhillsFarm2Table.com. Questions about membership and the subscription program are answered in an extensive FAQ on the website.  

The fourth season also brings two key changes to the core team. A new General Manager, Steve Peters, has taken on the role as of January 1. Steve joins the team after leaving his fifteen-year corporate career in New York City to return to Moore County with his wife, Susan, Proprietor of the Southern Whey cheese shop in historic downtown Southern Pines. Steve is a graduate of The O'Neal School and his family has claimed Moore County as their home since the early 1980s. 

"Sandhills Farm to Table is a great community success story built on connecting people through locally produced food. I'm excited to become part of the team and lend some of my business experience and enthusiasm for community-based ventures to continue developing the SF2T narrative," said Peters. 

With Steve joining the team, co-founder and former General Manager, Fenton Wilkinson, now will be pursuing projects both for SF2T and local economic development groups such as Moore County Partners In Progress.

"Fenton has been instrumental in the creation and growth of SF2T," said Jan Leitschuh, SF2T co-founder and Board Chairperson. "And we look forward to continuing to work with him on key initiatives that will benefit both the Co-op and the community at-large."

Anyone interested in supporting local agriculture through an inexpensive membership or local subscription is invited to sign up online at the website www.Sandhillsfarm2Table.com. For questions not answered on the website, email info@SandhillsFarm2Table.com.

### 

SIDEBAR/FACTS

Our motto "We're all in this together" is not just  something we say but something we do. Last year, farmers were paid over $250,000, and churches, 4-H clubs and schools received over $35,000 for their missions by hosting Gathering Sites. Over three tons of produce were donated to local families in need.

Co-op members do not have to live in Moore County. 

All deliveries will be made to area Gathering Sites, including locations in Rockingham, Sanford and Fayetteville; a list of sites is on the website. The produce in the box will be valued at Farmer's Market prices, and area farmers receive seventy percent of retail, versus the national average of 17 cents per consumer food dollar spent at a grocery store.

Consumer-members indicated they wanted more control over their subscriptions, and last year changes were made to provide choice over both box contents and deliveries.

Popular last season was the "Alt Box." Every weekend, subscribers can review the likely Produce Box contents for the following week. The regular Produce Box generally offers seven to nine fresh, local fruits and vegetables.  Up to 200 members can select "the Alt Box" with a slightly different variety of local produce. Do nothing, and the regular Produce Box will be delivered.

The Local-Online Store will also open again, offering members a growing number of products and convenience.  All members have the weekly option of ordering bulk quantities of produce for fresh eating, canning and freezing, grass-fed meats, some organic and sustainable produce, as well as many of delicious specialty and value-added items our region offers - to be picked up at area Gathering Sites along with the Produce Boxes.

Small household? No problem. Again this year, a limited number of "Bread Box" subscriptions will be offered for small households having trouble eating all their produce. The "Bread Box" subscription option offers a portion of fresh produce and a weekly loaf of home-baked whole grain bread.    

Biweekly subscribers can easily keep up with their delivery schedule. Their Member Dashboard will display a calendar of their scheduled deliveries.  A Recipe Bank is also online.

Spring-summer boxes contain the usual local produce, including: asparagus, strawberries, ripe tomatoes, arugula, onions, raspberries, sweet corn, carrots, bell peppers, squash, blueberries, greens, peaches, blackberries, basil, melons, plums, cucumbers, chard, garlic, green beans and more.

If you'd like more info, or to schedule an interview with a Co-op farmer or anyone else, please contact Jan Leitschuh at 910-692-8801, or email Jan@Sandhillsfarm2Table.com 

10/17/2012

Endorsements from NC League of Conservation Voters

Remember early voting starts tomorrow, October 18, and continues through November 3. You can find your early voter site here: ncvoterinfo.org

2012 Conservation PAC General Election Endorsements

North Carolina State Senate Races

  • District 5 – Former Senator Don Davis, D-Greene
  • District 9 – Deb Butler, D-New Hanover
  • District 14 – Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake
  • District 15 – Senator Neal Hunt, R-Wake and Sig Hutchinson, D-Wake
  • District 16 – Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake
  • District 17 – Erv Portman, D-Wake
  • District 18 – Sen. Doug Berger, D-Franklin
  • District 19 – George Tatum D-Cumberland
  • District 23 – Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange
  • District 28 – Sen. Gladys Robinson, D-Guilford
  • District 32 – Sen. Earline Parmon, D-Forsyth
  • District 37 – Sen. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 38 – Joel Ford, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 40 – Sen. Malcolm Graham, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 46 – John McDevitt, D-Burke
  • District 49 – Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe
  • District 50 – Former Sen. John Snow, D-Cherokee

North Carolina State House Races

  • District 2 –Rep. Winkie Wilkins, D-Person
  • District 5 – Rep. Annie Mobley, D-Hertford
  • District 7 – Rep. Angela Bryant, D-Nash
  • District 8 – Mark Bibbs, D-Wilson
  • District 9 – Rep. Marian McLawhorn, D-Pitt
  • District 11 – Duane Hall, D-Wake
  • District 18 – Rep. Susi Hamilton, D-New Hanover
  • District 19 – Emilie Swearingen, D-New Hanover
  • District 21 – Rep. Larry Bell, D-Sampson
  • District 23 – Rep. Joe Tolson, D-Edgecombe
  • District 24 – Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield, D-Wilson
  • District 27 – Rep. Michael Wray, D-Northampton
  • District 29 – Rep. Larry Hall, D-Durham
  • District 30 – Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham
  • District 31 – Rep. Henry M. Michaux, D-Durham
  • District 32 – Nathan Baskerville, D-Vance
  • District 33 – Rep. Rosa Gill, D-Wake
  • District 34 – Rep. Deborah Ross, D-Wake
  • District 35 – Lori Millberg, D-Wake
  • District 38 – Yvonne Lewis Holley, D-Wake
  • District 39 – Rep. Darren Jackson, D-Wake
  • District 40 – Watt Jones, D-Wake
  • District 41 – Jim Messina, D-Wake
  • District 42 – Rep. Marvin Lucas, D-Cumberland
  • District 44 – Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland
  • District 45 – Eddie Dees, D-Cumberland
  • District 49 – Keith Karlsson, D-Wake
  • District 50 – Valerie Foushee, D-Orange
  • District 51 – Bill Tatum, D-Lee
  • District 54 – Deb McManus, D-Chatham
  • District 56 – Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange
  • District 57 – Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford
  • District 58 – Rep. Alma Adams, D-Guilford
  • District 63 – Patty Philipps, D-Alamance
  • District 65 – William Osborne, D-Rockingham
  • District 66 – Ken Goodman, D-Richmond
  • District 88 – Rep. Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 92 – Robin Bradford, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 93 – Former Rep. Cullie Tarleton, D-Watauga
  • District 100 – Rep. Tricia Ann Cotham, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 101 – Rep. Beverly Earle, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 102 – Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 106 – Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg
  • District 114 – Rep. Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe
  • District 115 – Susan Wilson, D-Buncombe
  • District 116 – Former Rep. Jane Whilden, D-Buncombe
  • District 117 – Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson
  • District 118 – Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Madison
  • District 119 – Former Senator Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood

10/15/2012

SAVE OUR SANDHILLS HOSTS FORUM ON MOORE COUNTY'S LAND USE PLAN

Thursday, October 25, 2012. 7 PM
Southern Pines Civic Club (corner of Ashe Street and Pennsylvania Avenue)
“Revising the Moore County Land Use Plan – A Vision for Moore County’s Future.”
Panelists Pat Corso and Marsh Smith on the question:  “What do we want the county to look like in the next two or three decades?”

Pat Corso, a member of the Moore County Land Use Planning Committee, has had a great deal to do with visionary undertakings in the North Carolina area.  In 1986, he was transferred to Pinehurst by Club Corp, the previous owner of Pinehurst Resort, and was named president and CEO of the resort in January, 1987, a position that he held for 17 years.  During that time, Corso oversaw the restoration of the resort and its return to prominence as one of the three great golf resorts in the world, having helped recruit major championship golf events, including the 1999 US Open Championship.    He also led Club Corp’s resort division which included the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia.  Since that time, Corso and his partners founded National Resort Management, managing resorts from Florida to New Hampshire; and he has served on the NC Travel and Tourism Board, the NC Economic Development Board, and the State Chamber Commerce Boards in both North Carolina and New Hampshire.  Named one of the forty North Carolina Tourism Leaders of the Twentieth Century by Appalachian State University, he is currently Executive Director of Moore County Partners in Progress, a public/private partnership promoting economic development in Moore County as well as a franchisee/partner of Pinehurst Donuts, LLC owner of the local five county Dunkin Donuts franchise.

Attorney Marsh Smith, no stranger to championing the environmental aspects of the county’s future, has practiced law in the Sandhills for over 20 years.  Volunteer attorney with the notable Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) in Chapel Hill,  a partner at the Cunningham, Dedmond, Petersen, and Smith firm, he has his own law practice – the Law Office of Marsh Smith, PA – in Southern Pines since 2003.  Known for creative thinking “outside the box,” Smith conceived the Safe Harbor Program that gives landowners greater flexibility under the Endangered Species Act.  Now widely imitated throughout the nation, “Safe Harbor” encourages increases in endangered species habitat while protecting landowners from increased regulatory obligations resulting from such increases.  He served on the Moore County Land Use Plan Steering Committee prior to the adoption of Moore County’s first countywide zoning ordinance.  Smith designed land conservation transactions to allow lower income farm families to share in the tax benefits derived from conservation easements with conservation buyers who have higher ordinary income.  He also represented landowners and an environmental group several years ago that forced NCDOT to drop transportation plans that would have bisected the Walthour-Moss Equestrian Conservation area.

Each panelist brings entirely different visionary ideas to this forum, making for what promises to be a lively discussion.  The public is invited, questions are welcomed, refreshments will be served.

9/21/2012

Anti-Fracking events in NC

FrackUpdate: September 19-20
Upcoming Events
  • TONIGHT, 6 PM, Central Carolina Communty College, Pittsboro: Elaine Chiosso presenting an update on fracking with a screening of "Message from the Marcellus."
 
  • Sept. 22, Global Frackdown. Events are planned for Asheville and the Triangle.
 
  • Sept. 24, 7 PM, Halyburton Park Visitor Center, Wilmington, Dr. Jeanne Simonelli presents "Fracking: Can NC Learn from PA & NY?" Cape Fear Sierra Club.
 
  • Sept. 28, 10 AM-2 PM Room 643 of the Legislative Office Building, Raleigh. Mining and Energy Commission meeting.
  
  • Sept. 29, 1:30-5 PM, Greensboro, CWFNC Annual Meeting: Fracking, Water Privatization and more!
 
  • Oct 2, 7 PM, Haw River Ballroom, Saxapahaw: Screening of "Split Estate" hosted by Central Park NC, discussion to follow led by Elaine Chiosso
 
 

7/10/2012

Commissioner Candidate Marcus Speaks July 26, 7 pm

COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE ELLEN MARCUS SAYS TO PLAN BEFORE WE PAVE

Ellen Marcus, running against current Commissioner Nick Picerno for the Moore County Board of Commissioners, is guest speaker at the July meeting of Save Our Sandhills, Southern Pines Civic Club, corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Ashe Street, July 26, 7:00 PM.  Her talk:  “Plan before You Pave.”

With attitudes toward the environment clearly dividing our country as a whole in today’s technological age, Save Our Sandhills believes that open communication is essential.  We all depend on one world for our sustenance and welfare, and we should understand all points of view.  With this in mind and the fact that no local governmental body has a greater power to determine the fate of our forests, our streams, and our wildlife than the Board of Commissioners, Save Our Sandhills invited Commissioner Picerno to address his environment views at April meeting, and has now invited candidate Ellen Marcus to express her views.

Ellen and husband Jeff live in the Pinedale Community with two young daughters.  She grew up on a small farm in the longleaf pine forest of rural East Texas, where water conservation was a way of life.  In numerous ways her youth in the Texas longleaf pine forest helped prepare her for issues in the North Carolina Sandhills.  Ellen earned a degree in Anthropology with an emphasis in Archaeology from Stephen F. Austin State University, and met her husband in 1995 when both were members of Americorps in Big Bend National Park and were studying water quality, ecology and the history of the park’s water sources. She developed an appreciation for the history of North Carolina while working at the NC Museum of History.  She has also worked as the site manager for the Malcolm Blue Farm; done freelance writing for the Pilot, The Fayetteville Observer, and NEXT Magazine; and taught children’s camps and culinary classes.

Marcus will discuss her campaign platform from the standpoint of natural resource-related issues that include the county land use plan update, development ordinances, and the county water and sewer plan.  Ellen believes that Moore County has reached an important crossroads in planning, needing to preserve what makes our area special by pausing to implement good land-use planning before sprawl, strip malls and leap frog developments pave our future.
Planning for conservation of our farmlands and forests, while accommodating appropriate levels of future growth, requires cohesive county policies.  It starts with the land use plan which provides vision for the community.  Zoning and unified development ordinances establish rules guiding any development.  County commissioners are ultimately responsible for decisions, and Ellen would be a new commissioner providing a fresh outlook for Moore County.

Ellen has seen that the land use plan is effective ONLY IF county commissioners choose to implement it.  She has seen the Pine Forest development's lesson in the importance in having zoning ordinances and other policies that back up the land use plan.  If elected, she is passionate about striving for a balance of land use policies that support the vision of the land use plan – those that conserve our natural resources and protect our property rights, yet still accommodate appropriate growth.

The public is invited, questions are welcomed, refreshments will be served.  See you there!

7/04/2012

NCLCV Rescinds Environment Award re Fracking Vote

For immediate release
July 3, 2012
Environmental Organization Rescinds Member’s Award following Controversial Fracking Vote
Contact: Dan Crawford, Director of Governmental Relations, NC League of Conservation Voters, dan@nclcv.org, 919-839-0020 or (c)919-539-1422.
Environmental Organization Rescinds Member's Award following Controversial Fracking Vote
RALEIGH - The North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) announced today it is rescinding its "Rising Star" award given to Rep. Susi Hamilton on June 20th. The award was given to Hamilton for her pro-environmental record in her first term as a legislator at NCLCV's annual Green Tie Award dinner in Raleigh. Representative Hamilton voted to override Governor Beverly Perdue's courageous veto of SB 820, an ill-conceived, controversial bill which would allow fracking in North Carolina without insuring the proper safeguards to protect public health, drinking water, and property rights.
This is bold step that the organization is not taking lightly. "Politics is not a zero sum game and other awardees have made choices that we did not agree with. However, the circumstances, timing, and weight of this issue warrants a significant response," said Nina Szlosberg-Landis, president of NCLCV. "Our members put a lot of trust in this organization, and we do not take that trust lightly," she went on to say.
Board members, supporters, and past Green Tie award winners began contacting the organization early on Monday after learning Hamilton was brokering a deal with Republican leadership to "trade her vote" on the fracking override to secure an extension of tax incentives for the movie industry, buried in a technical corrections bill. The tax incentive Hamilton sought had been championed by New Hanover County Republican Lawmaker Danny McComas, and likely would have happened regardless of how Hamilton voted.
"Last night Captain America prevailed over clean drinking water and the property rights of North Carolinians," said Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations for NCLCV. "We found out that even this Green Tie Award winner "has her price." This was too big of a vote to sell out the environment on an issue that will change the landscape of our state for years to come," he concluded.
NCLCV works to hold decision makers accountable for their actions through a legislative scorecard and political action. "Green Tie award ceremonies are nice, but we do the bulk of our work in electing pro-conservation minded candidates to the General Assembly. New Hanover County deserves someone that will better balance the environmental impacts of the decisions they make; we will work to ensure that in future elections," Crawford added.
"I am deeply saddened by Hamilton's decision. Particularly because we had such high hopes for her in the future," Szlosberg-Landis said. "Our job now is to look ahead. To continue to recruit, support, and elect lawmakers who respect our citizens' rights for a clean, healthy and prosperous North Carolina. Mark my words. We will do just that."
The organization will deliver a letter to Hamilton's office today, asking that she return the NCLCV Rising Star award plaque.
NC League of Conservation Voters is a statewide lobbying organization dedicated to protecting, preserving, and enhancing North Carolina's natural environment. NCLCV has been working to protect North Carolina's environment and our citizen's health for over 40 years, turning environmental values into North Carolina priorities. NCLCV's vision for the future of North Carolina is that all citizens and our elected decision-makers will better understand and appreciate North Carolina's unique natural environment, and the integral role it plays in North Carolina's economy and quality of life. nclcv.org

Wrong Economic Model for Planet

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/25/david_suzuki_on_rio_20_green

Attacks on Public Sector, Science re Extreme Weather

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/3/climate_disasters_toll_worsened_by_sustained

6/20/2012

Free Lecture, Women's Attitudes, Civil War, June 24

Women’s Attitudes
Toward Secession and the
Civil War Lecture
Mary Wayne Watson

Sunday, June 24, 2012
First Baptist Church
200 E. New York Avenue and May Street, Southern Pines
2:00 pm, No Admission Charge
The Moore County Historical Association invites you to a free lecture by Mary Wayne Watson on “Women’s Attitudes Toward Secession and the Civil War.” The lecture is Sunday, June 24 starting at 2 p.m. and is at the First Baptist Church of Southern Pines. Visitors should use the May Street Entrance.

Watson is no stranger to Moore County audiences. This noted English professor is sponsored by the N.C. Humanities Council as part of the Roads Scholar program. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her doctorate from the University of Virginia.

Her lecture focuses on unpublished manuscripts and correspondence by gifted North Carolina women whose perspectives of the Civil War period show the impact of Sherman’s scorched earth policy on the area, following the first period of idealism, followed by sadness and loss during the four years from 1861-1865, as North Carolina and the rest of the South continued to suffer loss and misery into the post-war period. Watson actually used as her basis letters her own great-grandmother in Scotland County wrote during that period to a family in Moore County, in the process revealing that North Carolina had a surprisingly literary heritage in years of hardship and loss.

Watson also has done presentations on her own great uncle, a North Carolina Poet Laureate named John Charles McNeill, and a cousin, Gerald White Johnson, a journalist and historian.

The lecturer has taught English at both middle and high school levels in public schools. She also taught at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and is currently a professor of English and literature at Nash Community College in Rocky Mount.

For more information call (910) 692-2051 or email info@moorehistory.com

6/15/2012

Call Gov. Perdue re Fracking ASAP

Tell Governor Perdue to veto Senate Bill 820 and oppose this irresponsible rush to bring fracking to North Carolina!
http://action.ncconservationnetwork.org/VetoS820

During the floor debate, legislators were given a letter from Calvin Tillman, the former mayor of a small Texas town which is in a major fracking zone. He wrote:

"We’ve watched as fracking has turned our small rural town into an ugly industrial zone. We’ve also felt health impacts first hand as we have been overwhelmed at times with strong chemical odors. We’ve watched our roads be in a constant state of congestion and in need of repair due to the stress of relentless heavy truck traffic. This is the reality of life in a fracking state."
We shouldn’t rush into legalizing this controversial practice when so many questions remain regarding its safety, its practicality, and the potential impacts to our communities. Of particular concern is the Republican plan to create a new state commission to oversee fracking which will itself be dominated by fracking industry representatives.

Tell Governor Perdue to stand up against the rush to frack in North Carolina by vetoing Senate Bill 820 today!

6/12/2012

Will Allen with Colbert Report, June 12

Growing Power’s Will Allen to Make Guest Appearance on the Hit T.V. Show, The Colbert Report
MILWAUKEE [June 11, 2012] – Will Allen, Farmer, Founder, and CEO of Growing Power and newly published author of “The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities” (Gotham Books) will make a guest appearance on the popular T.V. show, The Colbert Report. The show will air at 11:30 PM ET/10:30 PM CT, Tuesday, June 12, 2012 on Comedy Central.

5/30/2012

Our Coast, a NC travel guide with a conscience

Education & Resources: Travel With a Conscience
In time for summer vacation season, the N.C. Coastal Federation (NCCF) has just published "Our Coast"--billed as a travel guide which "features places that were once threatened by development and are now protected because people fought for them." Editor Frank Tursi calls it "a travel guide with a conscience."
'Our Coast' should be of interest to everyone from college students out to discover the real coast away from the beach town bars, to the old conservation hands back for a visit to places they helped to save. Features range from night expeditions to hear red wolves howl in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, to marsh cruises on the White Oak River estuaries around Hammocks Beach State Park.
For more information and to get a copy of the free guide, go to http://www.nccoast.org/Article.aspx?k=918af80a-bc10-4183-adf4-38e52cd06fef

5/21/2012

No-Frack Day, June 5, Join In!

Save Our Sandhills President Joe McDonald spoke on fracking in a panel discussion taped on Monday, May 21 and which will air on local station WEEB 990 on Tuesday, May 22 at 10:05PM.
Please listen in if you have the opportunity.
June 5 is the important frack-free lobby day in Raleigh.  Save Our Sandhills would like to send a strong contingent. Please let us know if you can go to Raleigh on that day. Call 235-3862 or 315-1233.