City opens new segment of 8th Street Greenway

By Joanne Gonnerman For the Kannapolis Citizen Teresa Parker of Kannapolis and her daughters, Kendyl Parker, 13, and Brandy Parker, 10, were in the right place at the right time Monday evening.   The family had just begun their walk along the recently finished 8th Street Greenway at West A Street when they were invited to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony which officially dedicated the newest segment of the  greenway. “It kind of brings the community together,” said Teresa.  “We walk at least three times a week as a family and the greenway is a great place to see other people.” Gary Mills, director of the Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Department, said that cooperation between many people contributed to the development of the greenway. “There's so many facets to make this project possible,” said Mills.  “It's been great to see all the cooperation.”  The 8th Street Greenway creates an approximately 2-mile loop from Village Park to Bakers Creek Park to Loop Road and back, according to Karen Whichard, communications director for the City of Kannapolis. Thomas Norman, director of the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) Division of Bicycle & Pedestrian Transportation, which funded the Kannapolis greenway, said that the DOT budgeted some $6 million during the past year for development of greenways and bicycle paths in the state. “Greenways and bike paths are the (DOT) No. 1 priority,” said Norman.    Roughly 10 percent of the 2008 DOT greenway budget, or approximately $620,000, was awarded to the city of Kannapolis to build a greenway.  David H. Murdock, developer of the N.C. Research Campus, donated roughly 16 linear acres of land for the greenway project. Encouraging citizens to get outdoors and be active and develop healthy lifestyles are reasons to build greenways, according to Norman.

Calendar

Today • Teen author Amanda Burris, free presentation, Kannapolis Train Station, 2 p.m. For more information, call Parks and Recreation at 704-920-4346.   Nov. 22 • Barbecue Fundraiser, First Wesleyan Church, 301 Bethpage Road, 10 a.m. until the food runs out. Whole Boston butts, $30; order by calling Kathy Chester, 704-932-0248. Sandwiches ($3.50) and sides also for sale.    Nov. 24 • Kannapolis City Council meeting, 6 p.m., Meeting Room, Kannapolis Train Station. Contact Bridgette Bell,  704-920-4303, bbell@ci.kan napolis.nc.us.

Astronomical group meets Saturday

The Astronomical Society of Rowan County will be holding its monthly meeting Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Ralph and Alice Deal of 1920 Deal Road, Mooresville.  Weather permitting, the club plans on stargazing, so bring your telescopes and binoculars and learn more about the universe.  For more information, contact Ralph Deal at 704-857-1591 or Alice Deal at 704-857-2788.

Kannapolis Academy grads recognized

City Council members recognized graduates of the Kannapolis Academy on Monday.  The academy is a series of informational seminars given to city employees and concerned citizens to help them better understand the function of city government. Representatives of the Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works and Parks and Recreation took part in the voluntary luncheon seminar series. Local citizens, meanwhile, met over dinner in recent weeks to hear the same presentations. Community Outreach Coordinator Renee Goodnight presented certificates to all of those who took part in the meetings. Additionally, Assistant City Manager Eddie Smith was given a special trophy, the Proud Peacock Award, in recognition of his department’s presentation having been voted the best overall by participants.

Trojans meet No. 1 seed Charlotte Catholic

By Bill Kiser Kannapolis Citizen Northwest Cabarrus accomplished one of its main goals last week when it earned a berth in the state playoffs. However, the Trojans will have to bounce back quickly from losing their regular-season finale to take on state power Charlotte Catholic on Friday night in the first round of the 3AA playoffs. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Keffer Stadium in Charlotte. Northwest is seeded 16th in the 3AA West bracket, while three-time state champ Catholic is seeded No. 1. The Trojans (5-6, 3-5 North Piedmont Conference) squeaked into the playoffs despite losing two of their last three games, including a 33-7 defeat at the hands on Lake Norman last week. “We wanted to play better than we did and win the game Friday, but things didn’t work out,” first-year Northwest head coach Rich Williams said. “But we were still fortunate enough to get into the playoffs, and that was one of our goals.” While the Trojans got a career-high passing game from Jonathon Wallace, Northwest had problems getting its ground game going against Lake Norman’s tough defense (77 yards on 26 carries). Wallace threw for 201 yards on 18-of-34 completions with one touchdown, a 25-yarder to Fred House in the fourth quarter. But he was also picked off twice, and a Trojans fumble set up one Wildcats score. “Our running game wasn’t very good,” Williams said. “But give Lake Norman credit — they stopped our running game, and that took us out of our rhythm and made us throw it more than we like to.” In addition, Northwest’s defense, which had held its last three opponents to just over 100 yards rushing per game, turned porous against Lake Norman, allowing 282 yards and three TDs. The Trojans will need to toughen both up against the Cougars (9-2, 6-0 Queen City Conference), who have won three state titles (2A in 1977, 2AA in 2004 and 3AA in 2005) and made it to the championship game the last four seasons under 37-year head coach Jim Oddo. Fullback Joe Felts — one of just three starters back from last year’s team — leads a Catholic ground game with more than 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns. Jadarius Bruce has added nearly 1,000 total offense and 10 TDs, and quarterback Danny Reyes has thrown for more than 900 yards and 13 TDs. The Cougars also enter the playoffs on a roll, having won eight consecutive games — including a 41-14 drubbing of Charlotte Berry last week — after opening the season with losses in two of their first three games. “They’re a very good team, and they’re very well coached,” Williams said. “We’re going to have to play our best game, and hopefully we can find some things that can work against them and stop them, and we’ll go from there. “We’re not going to go in there with a loser's attitude — we’re going in there trying to win. Everyone’s 0-0 now ... and whoever wins keeps going, whoever doesn't goes home.”

After ringing Concord’s bell, Wonders face Lake Norman

By Bill Kiser Kannapolis Citizen A.L. Brown has been riding high, with a pair of high-scoring wins — including a big one over a long-time rival — building its momentum over the last two weeks of the regular season. The Wonders will need to keep that momentum going Friday night, when they host Lake Norman in the opening round of the state 3AA playoffs. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Kannapolis Memorial Stadium. Brown is seeded fourth in the 16-team 3AA West bracket, while the Wildcats are seeded 13th. Brown — which finished 9-2 and 7-1 in the South Piedmont Conference, good for a share of the league title with Anson County — wrapped its regular-season schedule with a dominating 56-6 win over cross-town rival Concord in the annual “Battle for the Bell” game. That was the most points scored by a winning team in the 79-year history of the Bell game, which was first played in 1931, and the most lopsided finish since a pair of 41-0 Wonder wins (in 1955 and 1980). “I don’t think any of us had any idea that it’d be like that,” defensive coordinator Noah Lyon said. “Our kids played really well for the most part — we did give up too much yardage, especially in the second half ... but it was an important game, and there wasn’t a whole lot we couldn’t be happy with.” It was also the most points scored by the Wonders in a single game since they racked up 62 in a win over East Rowan in 2003, and the first time they had back-to-back 50-point games — they beat Porter Ridge 52-0 on Oct. 31 — since the final two games of the 2001 season, when Brown put up 69 and 61 points against East and North Iredell, respectively. “Our kids have just played real well the last two weeks,” offensive line coach Todd Hagler said. “We really feel like if we play really well, we have a chance against anybody.” And Brown did it behind the efforts of quarterback Jamill Lott, who ran for a career-high 128 yards and two touchdowns and threw for three more scores (also a career best). Lott threw for just 93 yards on 5-of-10 completions, but had TD throws of 23 yards to T.J. Johnson, 42 yards to Colby Reid and 14 yards to Zach Massey. He also scored on runs of 39 and 41 yards. “Oh yeah, he keeps getting better and better,” Hagler said of Lott, who leads Brown in rushing (802 yards), passing (1,129 yards, 13 TDs) and scoring (10 touchdowns). “We just hope he can continue to get better over the coming weeks.” Travis Riley also ran for two scores (1 and 11 yards), and Jonathan Williams added an 8-yard TD run late in the second quarter as the Wonders jumped out to a 35-6 halftime lead. Brown’s defense also had another big game. While it gave up 164 yards rushing to Roger Smith and one touchdown on a 9-yard Ben Brill-to-William Propst pass, the Wonders also forced five turnovers, turning that into four touchdowns. “We were able to get on them from the very start, and that helped,” Lyon said. Brown will need to have both its offense and defense on a fine edge against Lake Norman (7-4, 5-4 North Piedmont Conference), which wrapped up its most-successful season in school history with a 33-7 win over Northwest Cabarrus last week. The Wildcats have been an enigma in the NPC this season — they suffered losses to lower-level teams like Carson and South Rowan, but gave league powers West Rowan (a 23-17 double-OT loss) and Mooresville (a 17-7 win) all they could handle. Lake Norman has been impressive defensively, holding Mooresville’s Jjshaun Pinkston, the state’s leading rusher, to a season-low 67 yards and one touchdown. It also kept West Rowan’s K.P. Parks out of the end zone until the first overtime. “Defensively, they’re a good football team,” Hagler said. “They shut down Pinkston and did the same to Parks. They’re good, but they lost some games they probably shouldn’t have lost. They’re a quality team, so I don’t know if we got a great draw in the first round.” Offensively, the Wildcats also throw a number of rushing threats out of a “pistol formation,” in which the quarterback lines up in a shotgun formation, but has one back lined up behind him. “This is going to be a big test for us,” Lyon said. “They run it so many different ways ... and it’s a different style offense. There’s a ton of different plays that look the same, but they’re run differently. We’ve got to prepare for all of them. “But if our offense can keep playing the way they have, and defensively we not give up too many big plays and keep forcing turnovers, if we can keep doing that, we might be able to make a run at this thing.”

Wedding planner opens service

Jennifer Pearson has opened a new full-service wedding and event planning business based in Concord.   Pearson will be serving Cabarrus, Stanly, Rowan and Mecklenburg counties. Pearson has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has received an Award of Merit and has been designated an International Wedding Planning Professional by the QC School of Wedding Planning.   Pearson is also a consultant member of the Association of Bridal Consultants.  She has also earned the Professional Bridal Consultant Designation by the Association. Besides weddings of all budgets, Pearson also plans and coordinates parties, fundraisers and corporate events.   “My goal is to serve members of the community by saving people money without compromising their goals,” says Pearson. Her phone number is 704-784-1369.

Holt attends focus08

Jason Holt of F&M Investment Services in Salisbury recently attended focus08, an industry conference hosted by LPL Financial. “We are extremely proud of Jason for having distinguished himself among the top performers at LPL Financial,” said Dan R. Williams, president of F&M Investment Services, a subsidiary of F&M Bank. Held in Chicago, focus08 is one of the industry’s largest gatherings of independent financial advisers. Nearly 7,000 from around the country assembled for the opportunity to learn new strategies and skills, expand knowledge in product areas and network with peers and industry experts.  They also heard speakers address industry trends and provide ideas on improving advisors’ service.  At the conference, Holt was recognized for providing exceptional client service as a member of LPL Financial’s Chairman’s Club, comprising the top 6 percent of LPL Financial’s more than 11,000 investment professionals.

Woodson scholarship

Teresa Pittman of Kannapolis was one of 19 Rowan-Cabarrus Community College students to receive Margaret C. Woodson Foundation Scholarships. Established in 2002, the scholarship program is supported with annual contributions from the Margaret C. Woodson Foundation Inc. Recipients must be full-time students and live in Rowan or Davie counties.  The scholarships cover tuition, books, fees and other related expenses for the 2008-2009 school year up to $2,500.

LNRMC to have flu clinic at Lowe’s YMCA

MOORESVILLE — Lake Norman Regional Medical Center (LNRMC) will host a flu clinic at the Lowe’s YMCA in Mooresville on Monday. The event will be 9-11 a.m. and no appointment is necessary. Flu shots will be $30 per person, and Medicare will be accepted. Shots will be available to people 18 years of age and older. The clinic will be led by Jane Edmiston, LNRMC’s nurse liaison between the YMCA and the medical community in joint programs to promote health and fitness.

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