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Email Announcements We Are Receiving Today: See What’s Going On Around The Community

1) Ask-A-Lawyer Day Events Scheduled Statewide on Saturday, Feb. 1

The Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar Association will host its annual Ask-A-Lawyer Day at 10 locations across the state on Saturday, Feb. 1. Citizens who wish to speak with an attorney free of charge are invited to do so on this date at the times and locations denoted below. Anyone with questions about specific legal issues or the legal system in general is urged to take advantage of this unique public service program. Lawyers will be on hand throughout the day to meet one-on-one face to face with interested individuals in Asheville, Burlington, Burnsville, Chapel Hill, Durham, Charlotte, Greensboro, Hickory, Wilmington and Winston-Salem. Ask-A-Lawyer Day is being coordinated by the YLD’s Civic Education and Community Relations Committee which is co-chaired by Stephen Cash, Nicholas Bakatsias and Jeremy Shrader. Locations, times and event coordinators for the 2014 event are:

  • Asheville: Pack Memorial Library located at 67 Haywood Street in Asheville from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. coordinated by Shannon Barclay, Ingrid Friesen.
  • Burlington: May Memorial Library located at 342 S. Spring Street in Burlington coordinated by Nick Bakatsias
  • Burnsville: United Community Bank located at 603 E Bypass from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Coordinated by Morgan Peterson.
  • Chapel Hill: 100 Library Drive from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. coordinated by James Baker
  • Charlotte: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library located at 300 East Seventh Street from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. coordinated by Elias Admassu. 
  • Durham: Durham North Regional Library located at 221 Milton Road from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. coordinated by Colin Shive
  • Greensboro: Central Library located at 219 N. Church Street from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. coordinated by Jeffrey Reichard
  • Hickory: Patrick Beaver Memorial Library located at 375 Third Street NE from 2-4 p.m. coordinated by Amber Reinhardt
  • Wilmington: Independence Mall located at 3500 Oleaner Drive from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. coordinated by Nicole Shoemaker
  • Winston-Salem: Forsyth Central Library located at 660 W. Fifth Street from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. coordinated by Toni Grace

2) Super Contra Weekend in Jonesborough on Super Bowl Sunday

The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will hold a double header contra dance Saturday and Sunday Feb. 1-2 at the Jonesborough Visitors Center at 117 Boone Street. The featured band is ContraForce from Charleston. The calling team is David Winston and CHarlotte Crittenden. Admission to the dances is $7, $5 for HJDS members and $5 for full time students. All dances are smoke, alcohol and fragrance free. No partner is necessary and families and children are welcome.  Super Bowl Sunday brings the second event of the doubleheader.  It’s the 6th Annual “FOOT BALL”.  While the fans of the sport of NFL Football are gearing up for the championship game of the season, contra dancers will asked to enjoy a potluck dinner and an hour of waltz before the dance.   ContraForce will play waltz tunes from 1:30 to 2:30pm. The contra dance runs from 2:30-5:30pm with a 30-minute set of techno contra music and dance called by Chattanooga’s Vicki Herndon at 4:00pm.   Admission is $7 for all comers. “We’ve done this event last five years and had well over 100 dancers come for the afternoon dance” states event organizer David Wiley, President of the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society.  It’s a way to burn off a few calories before indulging in the snacks and treats at Super Bowl parties.  Wear your favorite FOOTBALL Jersey and get $1 off admission. Contra Force’s goal is to bring the rock influence to some folk tunes. This three-piece powerhouse packs the frenzied bowing arm of Andrae Raffield, the Donkey Kong slammin’ palms of drummer and saxophone player Joey Dorwart, and the acoustic and electric guitar onslaught of Jimi “Two Nails” Periano, into a hurricane of wild, energetic, kick-in-the-mouth contra music that will leave you gasping for breath and begging for more. Andrae and Joey were old hands at the contra band scene, having vetted themselves in local Charleston bands, Anna’s Bananas and Shady Groove, for over fifteen years before deciding to create ContraForce to explore their new and exciting vision for contra dance music.  To complete the rockin’ trinity, Jimi “Two Nails” Periano came on board to begin experimenting with “rocking out some fiddle tunes”.  This synergy quickly led to a period of this new band writing much of their material. Thus, a new band was born merging traditional contra music with psychedelic, surf rock and metal to create a new force: ContraForce!  With these crazy jokers at the wheel, there’s no telling where the dance will end up, but you can be sure that the hall will be filled with happy dancers as was the case when they played Jonesborough in December of 2012! The dance will conclude at 5:30pm in plenty of time for dancers to change back over to football fans as the Super Bowl Game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks kicks off at 6:25pm or attend a post-dance meal and social at the Vega’s Fiesta Restaurant at 1976 11-E Highway in Jonesborough. For more information, contact event organizer, David Wiley, at 423-534-8879 or visit www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org and the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on FACEBOOK.

3) Last Days of Blackbeard Featured in Smithsonian Magazine

In anticipation of two new television series based on Blackbeard, “Black Sails,” which premiered in January on Starz, and “Crossbones” which launches this winter on NBC and features John Malkovich as Blackbeard, Smithsonian’s February issue releases new information on the final raid and political maneuvers of history’s most notorious pirate. Blackbeard’s final days caused a political shock wave that would rock the colonial governments of Virginia and North Carolina to their foundations, leading to the death of Governor Eden of North Carolina and his Secretary of State Tobias Knight. It also led to the downfall of Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood who instigated the invasion of NC to kill Blackbeard.