B.W. Wells Day seems like the perfect day to announce our new Flora blog.
In it you’ll find all of Ken Moore’s articles (there’s more than 100 in the archive already) along with other articles, items of interest and links to local gardens and reference materials.
In each of the articles you see that we’ve ‘tagged’ common and Latin plant names and geographic locations.
We hope to build this new blog into a rich resource for botanists and other plant sleuths as well as anyone who wants to take a closer look.
Author: webstaff
Fire safety puppet show
The Chapel Hill Museum presents Johnnie Joins the Fire Department: A Puppet Musical. Johnnie and five puppets teach valuable life-saving skills through interactive fun and song. The program, sponsored by the North Carolina Jaycees Burn Center, begins at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 21, in the lobby of the UNC Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit chapelhillmuseum.org/Events/FireSafety/.
New (meal) deals unearthed
In our continuing quest to help you dine more on your dollar, we’ve updated our list of recession meal deals. This morning at Elmo’s we discovered the Breakfast Blue Plates, a set of specials available Monday through Friday from 6:30 to 11:30 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 6:30 to 8 a.m. that includes:
Pancakes and bacon OR Eggs, $4.75
Two eggs any style and some sides, $5.50
Biscuit and gravy plus two eggs any style, $5.50
There also are dinner Blue Plates daily for under $8.00.
And in case you missed it, here’s our ongoing list:
Acme: Choice of entree, $12.95. Every Tuesday
Akai Hana: Varying lunch plates, $8.00. M-F/Early Bird Dinner (choice of chicken teriyaki combo or sushi platter), $13.00. 5-6 p.m. daily
Anna Maria’s Pizzeria: Large cheese pizza (add a topping for $1.50) $6.95. Every Monday
Carolina Brewery: Pints, $3.00. Every Tuesday/Kids eat free every Monday
India Palace: Lunch buffet, $7.00. 11:30a.m.-2:30p.m., M-F; 12-2:30p.m. Sat. & Sun.
International Pizzeria III: Large pizza and a pitcher of domestic beer, $10.00. Every Tuesday; 2 large pizzas, $13.95, daily
Milltown: Lunch Special (soup of the day & choice of prime rib, grilled chicken or grilled cheese half-sandwich), $5.00. 11a.m.-2p.m., T-F
Panzanella: 1 cheese pizza, one pizza of your choice, large Weaver Street house salad, $20.00. 5:30-9p.m., Sundays & Wednesdays
Southern Rail : Half-price bottles of wine. Wednesday nights
Wing Man: Wings, 45 cents each. Tuesdays
Got another suggestion? Let us know by commenting here or dropping a line to margot@carrborocitizen.com.
Documentary on Rwanda, foregiveness
The All Saints Church of Chapel Hill/Durham will screen As We Forgive, an award-winning documentary about two Rwandan women facing the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. The documentary explores forgiveness and reconciliation through the lives of these neighbors on opposite sides of a genocidal bloodbath, and their extraordinary journey from death to life through forgiveness. The film will be followed by a panel discussion exploring the themes of forgiveness and reconciliation featuring individuals affected by the genocide and members of the local community. April 3, 7 p.m. at Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliot Road. Free.
Civil rights lecture
Author Thomas J. Sugrue will discuss “Jim Crow’s Last Stand: Fighting Educational Inequality North and South,†on Friday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture on the UNC campus.
Short film screening
ChathamArts will feature a short film screening about outsider artists Clyde Jones and Mary Paulson, and the documentary “Key West Cock Tales†on Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. in the Barn at Fearrington Village. General admission is $5 and $3 for students. For more information visit www.chathamarts.org or call (919) 542-0394.
Birdsong class
Piedmont Wildlife Center will host The Language of the Birds, a celebration of birdsongs and calls on Saturday, March 28 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at 364 Leigh Farm Rd. in Durham. It’s $10 for PWC members and $15 for non-members. For more information visit www.piedmontwildlifecenter.org or call (919) 489-0900.
Tar Heel politics discussion
News & Observer columnist Rob Christensen will speak to Shared Learning on “The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics†on Friday, March 27 at 11 a.m. in the meeting room of the Church of the Reconciliation, 110 N. Elliot Rd. The event is free and open to the public.
Train lecture
Chad Bryant, UNC associate professor of history, will present “On the Train: Time, Space and the Modern World†on Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m. as part of the Ackland Art Museum’s ongoing series, Perspectives on Progress. The lecture series offers unique perspectives on the Ackland’s exhibition “At the Heart of Progress: Coal, Iron and Steel since 1750 – Industrial Imagery from the Collection of John P. Eckblad.†It will be at the Ackland Art Museum. General admission is $5. It’s free for Ackland members.
If you’ve wandered down Lloyd Street and done a little window-shopping of late, you may have done a double take when passing The Merch.
Lined up along the window in the printing and gear shop’s new retail sales room are several mannequin heads bedecked with Mexican wrestling masks. Look a little closer and you might notice that one does indeed have a UNC logo. Closer still, and you can read that it is an officially licensed product.
How it came to be that a small company in Carrboro produced the first Carolina wrestling mask is a long story, with action in China, Mexico and Asheboro. Here’s how The Merch’s co-owner Chip Hoppin boils it down:
Music fans around here may recall “Viva Del Santo!†a hit tune by Southern Culture on the Skids about the legendary Mexican wrestler and movie serial star El Santo (The Saint). Sometimes, SCOTS would perform the song while a figure in wrestling gear and mask posed Santo-like and cavorted with the band and/or crowd. That bit of cultural cross-pollination helped hasten the influx of Mexican wrestling kitsch, already big elsewhere, into local culture.
The Science of positive thinking
By Vicky Dickson
Like any newly published author, Barbara Fredrickson has done a lot of book signing lately. One instance in particular stands out for her: the elderly man at the Regulator Bookshop who said he’d been reading her book for six days when his family members remarked on the positive changes they’d noticed.
“You’re a whole new Jim,†they’d said.
Jim told her he was 88 years old.
And that, for Fredrickson, was validation for the effort and sacrifice she’s put into writing Positivity.

