For those of you who are curious about the progress thus far on the construction of the Troutman library, here is an update.  As of right now, the silt screens are up, some not-so-desirable dirt has been removed, the site has been surveyed, the drive entrance has been cut, and the Brown Street entrance has been rough-graveled!  Check back each week for new pictures and updated information.  In the meantime, don’t forget that we are having our book sale this weekend (Saturday, April 4) at the American Legion Hall in Troutman (corner of Main Street and Cedar Lane, next to Troutman Elementary).  We’ll open up at 8am and go until about 2pm or so.  Hope to see you there!  We will have information about our engraved brick sale available at the book sale, too!

If you haven’t heard yet, I wanted to make you aware that Century 21 Hecht Realty is now part of Coldwell Banker United, Realtors.  The two companies have combined market share and now have more than 165 agents serving the Greater Lake Norman area.  What does this mean?  New company logos, same GREAT service!  Change is not always easy, but I it can be a good thing, and I feel confident that it WILL be a good thing, for me and for my clients.  I hope you’ll bear with me as I get things changed over to Coldwell Banker United, and let me know if you see that a link is not working or if you have any questions! 

About Coldwell Banker United, REALTORS^®

Coldwell Banker United, Realtors^® was founded by Richard A. Smith in College Station, Texas, in 1970.  The company has grown to 77 residential offices and three commercial offices with over 2,400 sales associates and over 450 employees.  Coldwell Banker United, Realtors^® is the #1 company in the Coldwell Banker network of independently owned affiliates as measured in transaction sides.  According to REAL Trends and RISMedia, two industry trade publications, the company, in 2007, was ranked #5 among all U.S. real estate companies in transaction sides.  For more information, log on to www.cbunited.com.

 With Century 21 Hecht on board, Coldwell Banker United, Realtors has 25 offices in the Carolinas, including three offices in the Lake Norman area and offices in Charlotte, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Lancaster, Union County, Cabarrus County, Statesville, Columbia, Aiken, Lexington, Irmo, Camden, Chapin, Sumter and Charleston.

Coldwell Banker United, Realtors will maintain its new Lake Norman-South office in Cornelius and will move its Mooresville office, located at 287 Williamson Road to the Century 21 Hecht building located at 467 River Highway.  The Denver office will remain at its current Century 21 Hecht location.   The three Coldwell Banker offices will serve the Lake Norman communities in the Catawba, Mecklenburg, Iredell, and Lincoln County areas.  

REALTOR^® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a Member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Statesville and Iredell County are Breaking a World Record!
Iredell County residents will come together to set the World Record for Longest Continuous Concert. This means that for 217 hours – 9 straight days, 24/7 with no breaks – musicians of all ages will play any and all kinds of music.
You are invited to be part of this once in a lifetime event! Whether you play an instrument, are in a band or just like to sing, we want you to be part of this history-making concert. The concert also serves as a fundraiser for United Way.
Who: Everyone in Iredell County
What: Breaking the Guinness World Record for Longest Concert by Multiple Artists
Where: Signal Hill Mall
When: March 20-29, 2009
Why: Because it’s there! Because whatever anyone else has done, we can do better! Also, we need to raise a lot of money for United Way.
For more information, email statesvilleprogress@gmail.com or call 704-872-3000.

A while back, I posted a blog about the $pruce Up Your Home Contest, sponsored by Rohm and Haas and the Arbor Day Foundation, and invited you to enter your home in the contest.  The contest was part of a nationwide search to find homes that could benefit from a facelift.  A distinguished panel of judges reviewed the 135 entries from across the country and have picked the top 20:  five per region.  Now it’s your turn!  You can go to the site and vote for your favorite!  There are some really nice stories along with a picture of each house.  Check it out!  One Grand Prize winner will receive a package worth about $20,000, including $12,000 cash and an $8,000 home improvement gift check. Eight first place winners will get up to $5000 in cash for an exterior paint job for their home. Each winning family will receive a young spruce tree on behalf of the the Arbor Day Foundation.  AND, the Arbor Day Foundation will provide 10,000 trees to the winners community through the foundation’s Trees for America program.  

“It’s a great time to freshen up a home with paint and other simple improvements,” says Debbie Zimmer of the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute. “Paint, along with energy-efficient home improvements, can really turn a house into a home and take some of the pain out of utility bills. By choosing to make small improvements now, homeowners can immediately boost curb appeal and increase the value of their home.”

About Rohm and Haas Company

Leading the way since 1909, Rohm and Haas is a global pioneer in the creation and development of innovative technologies and solutions for the specialty materials industry. The company’s technologies are found in a wide range of industries and their water-based acrylic technology is responsible for taking 20 million tons of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) out of the air since 1953–the equivalent of six pounds of fewer pollutants in the air for every man, woman, and child alive in the world as of August 1, 2008.  Visit www.rohmhaas.com for more information.  You can also visit their Paint Quality Institute at www.paintquality.com  for the latest tips and trends in interior and exterior paints.

About Arbor Day Foundation

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit, conservation and education organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at www.arborday.org

Proposed design for Troutman Library

Troutman Library Logo

I am so excited to report that we have a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for the Troutman Library on February 3, 2009 at 12noon!  Bid packages have gone out and approximately 30 contractors have expressed an interest in making a bid on this project.  Bid opening will be on 1/29/09.  A sign with a rendering of the new library will be placed on the site (corner of Church and Brown Streets) within the next few weeks.  I’ll post another note once it’s up so you can drive by and check it out.  In the meantime, you can check out a virtual tour of the library on-line with Statesville Record & Landmark.  Everyone is welcome to come to the groundbreaking–we’d love to have a large group in attendance.  For more information on the latest happenings with the Troutman library feel free to call me at 704-450-0058 or  e-mail me, and be sure to check out Stan Suther’s blog, too!  And don’t forget to mark your calendars for our next book sale, tentatively scheduled for April 4th, 2009!  We appreciate your support!

Many of our local residents have been anxiously awaiting the promised street improvement project in the Inglewood neighborhood.  At the town meeting tonight David Saleeby, Troutman town manager, advised that a notice to proceed was given on December 15, but that recent bad weather resulted in a bit of a delay.  Mr. Saleeby stated that as long as the weather holds, the project will begin on Monday, January 12.  They will start with putting in sidewalks along West Avenue between Downing and Talley streets, then work on fixing the culverts along Stratford and Winchester, before finishing up the rest of the storm drain work in the area.  I’ll add more updates as I get more information on the progress of the project, so check back often!

Also, FYI, a new Town of Troutman website is up and running.  It is still a work in progress, but it looks like it is going to be fantastic, and is reportedly much more user friendly for the people responsible for updating it on a regular basis.  When you get a chance take a look!

I have to say that I’m am truly appalled and angry about what happened to my sister-in-law last week. She is a dedicated runner and a very nice person, generous and kind. She runs 10 miles just about every day, and often gets up at an ungodly hour in the morning to do it, so that she can get to work on time. She is preparing for a half-marathon, coming up in a few short days. She wears safety gear, such as a reflective jacket and blinking lights when she runs in the freezing cold at 6am. She has had some near misses already on East Monbo Road, with drivers who are not paying attention, or who seem to think that turning their bright lights on a runner is a good idea. Anyway, last week someone not only turned their bright lights on as they were approaching this runner on the road, but they swerved toward her causing her to have to jump into the ditch to avoid being hit. Then the driver of the vehicle proceeded to rev the engine, scream obscenities, and follow the runner along the side of the road. Finally, the police were called and the driver of the car actually charged the runner with damaging her vehicle! I was so floored when I heard the story that I was speechless for a moment, before saying a few choice words of my own. Any normal person who ran a pedestrian off the side of the road might have pulled over to apologize or at least see if the person was alright. What is our society coming to, when we treat our fellow human beings so horribly? I would ask that if anyone was on East Monbo Road on the morning of December 4, around 6:15AM or so, to please post a comment and call me or e-mail me if you witnessed this incident. We will possibly have to be going to court to prove that my sister-in-law did not pick up a rock and throw it at this car and damage the windshield. (Really, when would she possibly have had time to do that, when she was busy trying NOT to get hit by a car?!). Anyway, any other runners who have comments, I would appreciate those, too. Thanks, and be careful out there!

I just read a very nice article by David Bradley, President and CEO of the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce.  It serves as a good reminder to think positive in these times of perceived economic turmoil.  Don’t panic, but rather focus on moving forward, one step at a time.  One thing that David says in his article that I agree with very strongly, is that each of us must make the choice, on a daily basis, to shop locally!  If we want our towns to thrive, we MUST support local businesses whenever we can.  Check out David’s article  and lots of other interesting articles in Statesville Living Magazine.

It’s time to Fall Back! Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday, November 2, at 2am (unless you live in Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico,  or the Virgin Islands–where daylight savings doesn’t apply), so before you go to bed Saturday night, November 1st, don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour, and get and extra hour of rest!  Of course, if you’re like me, you’ll stay up and hour later anyway… )

Bella’s Cafe & Ice Cream is the newest hot spot for breakfast and lunch (or brunch or snack or light dinner or late night snack…) in Troutman.  They just opened a little over a week ago, and they are already becoming one of my favorite places to visit in Troutman!  They are right on Main Street in Troutman, across from Movie Gallery.  Bella’s offers freshly baked bagels, hard rolls, croissants, muffins, cannoli, eclairs, cookies, (huge) brownies, and Seattle’s Best coffee.  I tried the ham and cheese croissant yesterday and it was so yummy I wanted another!  They also serve sandwiches and salads if you’re looking for a quick lunch.  And then of course, you don’t want to forget the 24 different flavors of Hershey’s Ice Cream and the 8 flavors of Italian Ice.  They may add gelato (a really rich and creamy Italian ice cream) to their menu, if they get enough requests for it.  (So please, go ask for it–right now I have to drive all the way to Huntersville to get it)  They are working setting up wi-fi access as well.  The prices are very reasonable and their hours are 6:30am-9pm, Monday through Thursday, til 10pm on Friday; 8am-10pm Saturday, and 10am-6pm on Sunday.  Check it out and let me know what you think!