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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2009 | VOLUME 35, EDITION 32
www.elon.edu/pendulum
Small city,
big
Burlington hopes
for a stronger
downtown
economy with
the recent influx
of local stores
dreams
Jack Dodson
Senior Reporter
When Stephen Cox closed the doors of Roaster’s Coffee
Shop in downtown Burlington to focus specifically on
roasting coffee beans, his former employees picked up the
reins.
Stephanie Pratt and Kelly Vines bought a space down
the street to open a new shop, keeping their regular
customers and selling Cox’s coffee. The two opened The
Perk-O-Later Nov. 21 on Davis Street.
The coffee shop is part of a string of businesses that
have opened this fall with the common goal of adding
to the local scene of downtown Burlington in hopes of
revitalizing the area.
With the opening of these stores — a coffee shop, a pizza
place, a consignment shop and a Thai restaurant, among
others — there’s hope for the culture of downtown to have
more to offer.
The Burlington Downtown Corporation, a nonprofit
organization that is part of the nationwide downtown
redevelopment-oriented Main Street Program, is one of the
strongest supporters of the development. As an entity that
joined The Main Street Program in 1988, the organization
has recently refocused Its goals.
Formerly, it was an event-coordinating group, said
Executive Director Anne Morris, who was hired in June.
“We are really in a rebuilding stage,” Morris said. “My
position has been vacant for four years."
By creating a master plan in 2008, Morris said the
organization has become more about managing the
various parties involved in revitalizing downtown.
“Our charge is to encourage both public and private
investment in the downtown area,” she said.
Pratt said she has noticed a difference in the downtown
area.
“I feel like it’s busier down here,” Pratt said. “You see
more cars, you see more people on foot.”
Despite the increasingly positive trends, all businesses
in the city’s center struggle with retaining customers in
s
I
See DOWNTOWN I PAGE 7
JACK OOOSON I PhotogriVJhw
Stephanie Pratt, co-owner of The Perk-O-Later, pours a drink for a customer while her business partner, Kelly Vines, rings up
a customer The two opened their shop Nov. 21 on Davis Street after their former employer, Roaster’s Cafe, shut- down.
Community celebrates six decades of Tolley’s service at Elon
Andie Diemer
Editor-in-Chief
Jerry Tolley has never missed
a College Coffee while he’s been
on campus during his 31 years
at Elon. And even though he
is officially retiring from his
latest role at Elon on Dec. 31, it
doesn’t look like Tolley is going
to start missing many College
Coffees in the future.
Last Monday night, around
200 people from all chapters
of Tolley’s life gathered in
Johnston Hall to recognize
Tolley’s achievements and
his significant impact on the
university.
Tolley, currently the
director of the Elon Society, the
university’s premier annual
giving group, first came to
Elon in 1967 as a professor and
athletics coach.
Former athletics director
Alan White, special assistant
to the president Jo Williams
and former vice president for
Institutional Advancement Nan
Perkins all spoke and reflected
on their experiences with Tolley
at the reception.
“Jerry, your successes
in your profession are only
surpassed by your successes
in your personal life,” Williams
said. “Today, we honor you and
your myriad successes, and
most especially what you have
meant to Elon University during
your 31 years here.”
Perkins said Tolley was
always a very positive staff
member and only had good
comments about his associates.
“Jerry, you are an original
if there ever was one,” Perkins
said. “And I’m so proud to have
worked with you for so many
years.”
Tolley was named the first
director of the Elon Society in
2003 and has worked to increase
membership. Fie is also carrying
out his fourth term as mayor of
the Town of Elon, making him
the longest-serving mayor in
Elon's 117-year history.
Now 67. Tolley has finally
decided to step down from his
official involvement with Elon
University.
“At some point, you just
need to think about some other
things,” Tolley said earlier in
the day.
But Tolley’s presence will
persist on Elon’s campus.
He said he will consult for
the Elon Society for six months
after he steps down and plans
to begin his sixth book about
football in January or February,
which he said will most likely
be written in Belk Library or the
Lindner Hall reading room.
“One of the things that Elon
University does when people
retire, they still make them a
part of the university. They do
everything they can to keep you
involved,” Tolley said. “I’ll still
have my Phoenix Card and I’ll
still have access to everything
here. I expect to still be a part of
Elon University in some way.”
Tolley said the most
memorable capacity in which
he has served Elon was when
he was head football coach and
won two national titles back-to-
back in 1980 and 1981, which
at that time marked Elon as the
third private school in history
to nail the accomplishment.
Alum Bobby Hedrick, one of
Tolley’s players during the first
championship, attended the
ceremony to celebrate Tolley's
influence.
“Elon wouldn’t be Elon
without him,” Hedrick said. “He
was an organizer. He knew what
he wanted out of his players
and he did everything in his
power to get it out of us. He did
an excellent job.”
See TOLLEY I PAGE 3