THE PENDULUM
STYLE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009 // PAGE 5
^Mebane, NC: Biggest Little Town on Earth'
Grand opening of Historical Museum in Mebane, NC
Professor of Non-Violence Studies, Linda Dunn, right, views an exhibit at the Mebane Historical Museum open house on Saturday.
Gabriela Szewcow
Design Chief
When asked where the town of
Mebane is, Carolinians frequently
greet the question with blank stares.
It hasn’t always been this way, and
the small town located in Alamance
County has worked to preserve its
history through the creation and
opening of a historical museum.
The goal of the museum, which
opened Jan. 24, is to preserve Mebane’s
past through photographs and other
artifacts, mostly from the 1930s and
1940s. The photographs depict the
businesses and companies that helped
spur Mebane’s thriving economy.
“At one point, in the late ’40s, early
’50s, everything you needed was
in downtown Mebane," said Peggy
Boswell, director of the Mebane
Historical Museum. “They had a
theater, they had a grocery store, they
had restaurants, they had places to
shop, they had a teenage club hangout,
they had a medical clinic. So that’s
why they called it — the biggest little
town on earth.”
Volunteers worked to put the
museum together.
“A large volunteer group has worked
very hard over the years to form a
museum to house the artifacts that
belonged to the collection of Milton
McDade,” Boswell said.
Milton McDade was a citizen
of Mebane who possessed many
photographs and artifacts from
the town’s past. Before his death,
he donated everything to the town,
under the condition they would create
a museum.
McDade's artifacts were given to the
Mebane Historical Society, which put
them on display in the town’s library
until the society decided to move it
to a larger location. The collection
was moved to the newly-renovated
recreational annex building, where
the museum is now officially located.
The exhibit’s collection includes an
audio and visual area with slides and
DVDs of Mebane's historical events.
Many slides from McDade’s collection
were taken of agricultural workers in
storage buildings and tobacco fields,
as tobacco was a large contributor to
Mebane’s economy.
Another interactive part of the
museum is dedicated to Joe Thompson,
a local fiddle player. Thompson is one
of the last remaining Black fiddlers in
the South, and he lives right outside
of Mebane.
Thompson's talent was discovered
by the public as a folklore music player
in the 1970s and has played recently
at the National Folk Festival at Lowell,
Mass., the Festival of American Fiddle
Tunes in Ft. Worden, Wash, and at New
York’s Carnegie Hall.
belonged to the collection of Milton lunes in rt. Worden, Wasn. and at New left, welcome visitors at the Mebane Historical Museum.
McDade,” Boswell said. York’s Carnegie Hall.
NC brought to big screen, stars grace Fort Bragg
and Savannah’s relationship. This is you guys.”
Sparks said the new film Tatum, who has beer
PHOTO COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS
Channing Tatum, left, and Amanda Seyfried, right, star in Screen Gems' “Dear
John.” The film premiered in North Carolina.
Liv Dubendorf
Reporter
FORT BRAGG, N.C. —
Channing Tatum, Amanda
Seyfried, stars of the new movie
^ear John," and author Nicholas
Sparks, author of the book
on which the movie is based,
attended the movie’s premiere
in the Fort Bragg’s York Theater
on Saturday, Jan. 23.
“Dear John” chronicles
the relationship of a soldier,
John Tyree (Tatum), who falls
in love with a college student.
Savannah Curtis (Seyfried).
Although separated by John’s
frequent and increasingly
dangerous deployment they
send love letters overseas.
“It’s Just a beautiful movie
about two kids falling in love,”
Sparks said.
In the same style as other
Sparks’ books, “Dear John”
is filled with drama, which
triggers complications in John
and Savannah’s relationship.
Sparks said the new film
“translated beautifully” from
its book version.
He said his biggest
inspiration for the story came
from “Casablanca” and his
cousin who was part in the first
wave of solidiers in Iraq.
“I grew up in the South and
knew a lot of guys who chose to
enter the military straight out
of high school,” Sparks said. His
southern heritage is important
to him, as all his stories take
place in the South.
Coming from the world of
Hollywood glamour. Fort Bragg
was a stark juxtaposition to the
glitzy world of cinema. “This is
real life,” said Seyfried. “I took
off my heels as soon as 1 got
here.”
At Fort Bragg, Seyfried,
Tatum and Sparks were awarded
the Iron Mike, Ft. Bragg’s most
prestigious award.
“We are here because we
greatly respect everything that
you do,” Tatum said, addressing
an audience of 700. “This is real.
This is you guys.”
Tatum, who has been
involved with the project since
its pre-production phase, gained
inspiration from real Special
Forces soldiers.
“You’re surrounded by
danger, but you try not to think
about that," Tatum said. “You
just keep thinking 1 get to go
back in two months and three
months and four months or
however long it is.”
“Dear John” is released in a
time when curiosity about the
modern soldier is on the rise.
Along with films like “Brothers”
and “The Hurt Locker,” this film
glances at the life of a modern
soldier, especially in the aspect
of love.
According to Tatum, the
book’s ending was too sad, so
they “took it a little step farther.
You don’t know what’s going to
happen 20 years down the road,
so we changed it a little bit, but
we didn’t change the book. We
added another page.”
“Dear John” opens
nationwide Friday.
M«randri
Johnston
Fashion Columnist
BRIAN ALLENBY | Statl Pholographer
BRIAN ALLENBY | Staff Photographer
Joe Thompson, left, greets visitors at the Mebane
Historical Museum Saturday
BRIAN ALLENBY ] Staff Photographer
Juliana Smith, right, a 1979 graduate and Clara Dollar,
left, welcome visitors at the Mebane Historical Museum.
Fashion Week:
last walk in
the park
The art of fashion has been
described as
timeless, yet
this Februciry,
Fashion Week
is getting a
little crazy.
From final
farewells at
Bryant Park to
bringing high-
end fashion
to the masses,
it Is sure to
be a week to
remember.
T\ine in to Watch: American
fashion designer Marc Jacobs, j
famous for his pecuhar sense
of design and advertising, will
broadcast his fall/winter 2010
collection live on his Web site.]
The show will take place 8 p.m.j;
Feb. 15. On Jacobs' Web site,
www.marcjacobs.com, visitors
can RSVP to attend this virtual
show and be entered to win a
pair of tickets to attend the live
show in New York City. Alexander
McQueen has previously used this
approach in his spring/summer
2010 collection. Streaming the
show live enables viewers from
across the globe to connect to
New York's fashion week.
I’d Tweet That: With more
than 75 million users, it seems
everyone from high-profile
celebrities to the neighbor down
the street wants a chance to tweet.
This February, fashion designers
are using Twitter not only to
advertise, but also to update
fans throughout the process of
showing their collections. Robert
Duffy, president of Marc Jacobs,
will be tweeting on Feb. 15 to let
fans know exactly what goes on
behind the scenes at the show.
Fashion can be unpredictable,
and shows don’t always start
when planned. By using TWitter,
Duffy plans to alert fans watching
the show’s online broadcast to
any delays that would affect
screening time. Models have
also begun using Twitter to allow
people to see the fashion world
through their eyes.
Farewell, Bryant Park: After
nearly 17 years of shows in the
historic Bryant Park, located off
42nd Street in the heart of the
garment district, fashion week
Is changing locations. Next fall,
fashion week will be held at the :
spacious Lincoln Center, located
on 62nd Street.
The fashion world knew for
a long time they had outgrown
the six-acre park that sits behind
the New York Public Librar>'.
The location, although filled
with memorable history, was a
constant struggle to prepare and
conduct during fashion week.
W’hile some designers are
pleased about the move, ready to
have more space and amenities
for their shows, others say they
will miss the close location
at Bryant Park. According to
Women’s Wear Dally, top designer
Anna Sul, who usually shows
In the tents at Bryant Park, had
various concerns about the new
location.
“One of the things that works
with Bryant Park Is that we can
walk the clothes over there and
finish the clothes as we’re setting
up,” she said. “Somebody can
walk in with the last dress before
the first exit. I don’t think we
will have that luxury at Lincoln
Center.”
Despite these changes to the
nature of fa.shion week, the pre
fall collections showed a strong
preview of what will take place In
the coming days.