by Morgan Smith

Fifth-grade students at Elon Park Elementary School made 80 blankets for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charlotte for the school’s annual service project. Around 150 students partnered up and made fleece blankets through Project Linus, an organization that strives to provide security for children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need through blankets. Several students and their families had the chance to deliver the blankets to the Ronald McDonald House, Saturday, May 19. Top Row (L-R): Mary Crew, Project Linus coordinator, and Jackson Cashion. Second Row (L-R): Marlena Fioretti, Maeve Rawlings, Jack Murray and Lucas Cashion. Front Row (L-R): Lucy Huddleston and Nicholas Cashion. Morgan Smith/SCW photo

Fifth-grader Marlena Fioretti understands what a blanket or lucky trinket can do for the spirit of a sick child. She has her own special jewelry box that has comforted her through all kinds of bad days.

It was with that in mind that Marlena found herself delivering blankets for sick kids this weekend in Charlotte.

“The box says my name on it and … it meant a lot to me. When I looked inside it, I had all my friendship bracelets in there that helped cheer me up,” Marlena said. “The blankets are meant to (be) an extra hug for them – it was kind of the same deal with the jewelry box.”

Marlena said her box was so special because family members gave it to her. “I just feel lucky that people thought of me.”

Marlena and her classmates at Elon Park Elementary recently made 80 fleece blankets for Project Linus, an organization that strives to provide security for children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need through blankets. Based off of Charles Schulz’s Linus character from the Peanuts comic strip, the program has nearly 400 chapter coordinators who collect from thousands of “blanketeers,” or volunteer blanket makers, across the United States.

More than 150 students at Elon Park were part of the first partnership between Project Linus and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charlotte. The Ronald McDonald House provides out-of-town families a place to stay while their kids go through treatments or are hospitalized in Charlotte, serving as a home away from home. Several students, teachers and their parents visited the house Saturday, May 19, to deliver the blankets and meet some of the kids staying at the house.

Although students who visited the house last Saturday weren’t able to actually hand-deliver blankets to the kids, parents and teachers alike said they were happy their students were able to experience such a wonderful organization and gift.

“Since the school has opened, we’ve always given back to the community,” Becky Grgurina, a fifth-grade teacher at the school, said, adding they’ve done other service projects for organizations such as Crisis Assistance, A Child’s Place and local food banks.

“In the past, we’ve packed lunches, backpacks,” but students have never seen the outcome of their work first-hand. “Having some of (the students) come to the house and see where the blankets are going, it’s such a bigger impact,” Patty Daddona, fifth-grade teacher, added.

The teachers both said they hope their students participate in the program in the future adding that the students, both boys and girls, took the project very seriously.

To make the blankets, students were provided with two pre-cut pieces of fleece. They partnered up, picked out their fabric, measured and cut slits around the edges and tied knots to connect the fabric.

Marlena and her partner made a football blanket.

“Even though it was for a little boy, it was still fun,” she said.  “I hope it makes him know that people are thinking about him.”

Meghan Rawlings, an Elon Park parent and coordinator of the service project, said she encouraged the project because the students were able to see it through to the end.

“I wanted them to find a need, fill the need, and to see it fulfill wishes,” Rawlings said, “to know they can really make a difference in the world, in small blanket ways, or just something… there are ways to help, and that the kids are able to do it.”

“Kids are such concrete thinkers,” she added. With Project Linus, students could relate to having blankets or toys for comfort. “They know the importance of what we are doing.”

Mary Crew, the Charlotte-area chapter coordinator for Project Linus, said she loved the idea of students producing the blankets. Besides Ardrey Kell High, this was one of the first times the chapter worked with a south Charlotte school. She said she hopes it’s a partnership that continues to grow.

Find more information on the program at www.projectlinus.org.

by Andrew Stark

The 2012 Charlotte Christian Knights: N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 3A champions. Andrew Stark/SCW photo

Not long ago, Charlotte Christian dominated the private-school baseball landscape, winning eight state titles from 2000 to 2009. The Knights had not won since, but they changed that with a two-game sweep of High Point Wesleyan Christian last weekend.

The Knights defeated Wesleyan Christian, 13-8, on May 18, scoring nine runs in the sixth inning. They closed out their 11th N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 3A championship with a 2-1 victory in a pitchers duel on May 19.

The Knights (32-7) collected just four hits in the final game, scoring two unearned runs in the fourth inning on an error by the leftfielder. That was enough for Bailey Ober, who pitched a complete game and allowed just two hits and one unearned run while striking out seven.

“We just kept battling out there as we have done all season,” said Ober. “I felt like if we could score a couple of runs I could shut them down and we’d have a good chance to win. We played tough competition all season to get ready for this, but right now it feels great. It’s the best feeling in the world. I can’t even describe it.”

Colin Kellermeyer, one of six Knights seniors, collected one of Charlotte Christian’s four hits and scored what turned out to be the winning run in the championship game. He said that when the Knights got behind in games this season they had the confidence that they were going to come back and win.

“I consider these guys family,” ­Kellermeyer said. “It has been that way all season – when someone gets down we pick them up. I’m just so proud of the guys and the way we came together. We had confidence and we had the feel of a close-knit family.”

Senior lead-off man William Grigg said it was important to him to help lead the Knights to a title and that he’s proud the seniors will go out as state champions.

“You look out there and see all of the banners hanging up of the kids who have played here before us,” Grigg said. “It is great to have one hanging that we helped to put out there. It adds to the legacy of the school and cements our place in the history.”

Charlotte Christian players stormed the field after winning their title.

Coach Greg Simmons pointed to the Fort Lauderdale Sunshine Classic tournament in March, when the Knights won four consecutive games, as the catalyst that got the team’s confidence soaring.

“After that tournament and then when we took a 4-2 lead on (Providence’s standout pitcher Ty) Buttrey into the seventh (inning) at the Jack Sink (tournament), we knew we could play with anyone,” Simmons said. “It is always about execution for us, but we played great defensively most of the year and had great pitching.

“We want our kids to play with courage. You have to have courage in your ability, and if you make a mistake, that’s OK, but don’t make two in a row. They have bought into that this season.”

The 2012 team, Simmons said, was aided by a group of seniors who set the foundation last year.

“Those seniors told the guys what they expected of them, and this team embraced those expectations. It was a special group,” Simmons said.

Other members of the 2012 Knights’ championship team are seniors Erik Markwat, Matthew Carpenter, William Stillman and Devland Zakar; juniors Wesley Foskey, Nicholas Henderson, Brett Milleman, Thomas Nantz, ­Matthew Simmons and Patrick Haynes; sophomores Steven Hall, Alexander Gum, Zachary McIlroy, Landon Kay, Nick Owens and Garrett Bradbury; and freshman Joshua Hall.

While the Knights are still celebrating their most recent title, they’re probably the early favorites to repeat next season. Charlotte Christian will lose just three players who started in the championship game: Carpenter, Grigg and ­Kellermeyer.

“We return pretty much everybody and we will be a little older and more experienced next season,” Simmons said. “It certainly could be a good year, but everyone will know what we have coming back, too.

“This (state championship) is good right now, so we are going to enjoy it for a while.”

(Above) An artist rendering of the Lancaster Road Apartments. The apartment complex would go up off Lancaster Road near the Providence Pointe neighborhood if Charlotte City Council decides to rezone the land this summer. A public hearing on the topic is scheduled for June 18 where people can speak for or against the 250-unit apartment complex. Rendering courtesy of Charlotte planning department

A development team looking to build an apartment complex south of Ballantyne is still working out the kinks with local residents over the proposed project.

GCI Acquisitions wants to build a roughly 250-unit apartment complex on Lancaster Highway between the entrance to the Providence Pointe neighborhood and the intersection with Johnston Road. The land currently is vacant. The issue was supposed to come up for a public hearing before Charlotte City Council earlier this month, but the developer asked the hearing be pushed back until mid-June while GCI and neighbors work to come closer together.

The Lancaster Road Apartments would be wedged between Lancaster Highway and a portion of the Providence Pointe neighborhood, and a number of residents on Stewarts Bend and Myers Mill lanes would see the apartment complex behind their homes instead of only trees blocking their view of the highway.

Members of the Providence Pointe neighborhood homeowners association did not return calls for comment prior to South Charlotte Weekly’s press deadline, though members of the city’s planning department said the developer had asked for the public hearing to be delayed specifically to work with residents of the neighborhood.

According to documents submitted to the city by the developer, the apartment complex would be split by Landing Place Lane, which the developer would have to extend from Providence Pointe all the way out to Lancaster Highway, and would include a play area for kids, clubhouse and pool. The buildings would all be at most three stories, except for a handful of buildings backing up to Clems Creek that would be four stories facing the creek. The buildings facing homes in the Providence Pointe neighborhood would only be two stories, according to plans.

The developer plans to keep a buffer of trees between the complex and the closest homes in the neighborhood.

The proposed community would have a minimum 1.5 parking spaces per unit, meaning at least 375 parking spots. The Charlotte Department of Transportation estimates the complex would see 1,700 vehicle trips per day, which would “have a minor impact on the surrounding thoroughfare system.”

But that statement is based on a comparison of how many trips the land would see if it was developed under current zoning ordinances, which is 680 trips.

The land, along busy Lancaster Highway, is vacant. The transportation department has asked the developer to study how much traffic the complex would add at the Lancaster Highway intersections with Clems Branch Drive and Landing Place Lane to see if traffic signals would be needed once the development was finished.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system estimates the project will add 56 students to area schools. Ballantyne Elementary, Community House Middle and Ardrey Kell High, which the complex would send kids to, are all already considered at capacity without mobile units.

The city’s planning department has recommended city council approve rezoning the land for the project. The more than 16 acres were rezoned in 2003 to make way for 64 townhomes, but that project never came to be.

The public hearing is scheduled for June 18, at which people can sign up to speak for or against the proposal to city council members. Council could then vote on the issue at their next zoning meeting.

by Mike Parks

People with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library System are very excited about the possibility of working on Sunday.

Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones’ recommended budget calls for increased funding to the library system after local libraries had to deal with cut backs, decreased services, less staff and fewer hours as a result of the recession. The county would spend an additional $811,393 for regional library operations, meaning the six regional libraries – including south Charlotte’s South County and Morrison libraries – could open four hours on Sunday. If the library portion of the budget is approved as it is, the libraries could start opening on Sunday around Labor Day, according to Cordelia Anderson with the library system.

“What it would mean is that, basically, for (around) $800,000 every citizen will be within a 10-minute drive of a library on a Sunday,” Anderson said. “We’re very excited about that because one of the things we’ve heard from citizens over the years is they’d like their Sunday hours back.”

The library saw drastic cuts in hours and staff starting with the fiscal year 2011-12 budget, when the county had to cut back to deal with declining tax dollars and the recession. In all, library hours were cut by around 50 percent, Anderson said. The county found an additional $2 million in last year’s budget to get library hours up from 37 a week to 54 per week, and this additional increase, if approved, would get regional library hours up to 58 per week right as students start getting homework assignments in September.

“During the school year, kids are in school during the day during the week and they need those weekend hours to come in,” Anderson said, adding that many students in the past would use Sunday as a chance to research projects, use library computers for homework or check out books.

“We think this will be a real benefit to kids … this coming school year,” Anderson said.

Currently, the regional libraries are open on weekends Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Morrison Regional is located at 7015 Morrison Blvd., and South County Regional is located at 5801 Rea Road.

County commissioners could start making tweaks to the proposed budget soon, with a vote scheduled in June. At any point commissioners could vote to change the amount of funding for the library system in the $1.4 billion budget proposal.

People can purchase Luminaria bags for $10 in honor or memory of their loved ones who were touched by cancer. Go to www.relayforlife.org/ballantyne for more information. Photo courtesy of American Cancer Society

Lisa Trevathan and her family are true testaments to the importance of cancer research and support.

Coming from a family where cancer has taken the lives of both of her parents, and where thyroid cancer even threatened her own, Trevathan was thrilled when she saw an advertisement for the inaugural Relay For Life event in Ballantyne. And with 11 years cancer-free this month, and a close friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, Trevathan said the event couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I participated (in Relay For Life) in Ohio for several years as a team member and a team captain, and then we moved away and hadn’t really got back into it,” she said. Now that Relay For Life will be in Ballantyne, Trevathan said she can bring an old family tradition back to life. “My kids, husband and I are all doing Relay together.”

Trevathan is the team captain for Café of Hope, which has 17 members that plan to walk, sell hot dogs and baked goods and raffle off specialty baskets at Friday’s event at the Morrison Family YMCA, 9405 Bryant Farms Road.

“We’re just coming together to raise as much money as we can to fight this awful, awful disease,” she added.

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event. Prevalent in communities all over the United States, the event exists to celebrate cancer survivors and fight back against the disease itself. Christy Orr, event development manager for Relay For Life in Charlotte, is in charge of starting new Relay For Life events in communities across the region.

“I saw Ballantyne as a huge opportunity,” she said. “Unfortunately, cancer has touched so many people. We want to show people that they are not alone in this and there are people fighting for them.”

Preparation for the event began last summer, Orr said, starting with recruitment of a committee and team captains, as well as fundraising events like car washes and sponsorships. So far, the event’s 19 teams of 205 participants have raised more than $28,000. Orr said after the main event, the group is anticipating $35,000 total to be donated to the American Cancer Society. Different teams consist of various community members such as Ardrey Kell High School students, local businesses such as SouthPark Acupuncture, and the largest team called Power of Paul, which consists of 38 people walking in memory of Paul Jackson, band director from Providence High School who died in February after a long battle with cancer.

The event, which kicks off Friday, May 25, at 6 p.m. and runs 12 hours until 6 a.m. the next morning, is based around honoring, remembering and supporting people who have been touched by cancer and will kick-off with a lap honoring cancer survivors.

“Anybody who has heard the words ‘you have cancer’ are invited to register on our website,” and participate in the first lap, Orr said. “It’s beyond emotional because people are either in remission or are currently going through treatment.”

The second lap is for caregivers of cancer patients, whether past, present or future, and joins the two groups together. By lap three, everyone is invited to join in. There also will be a special Luminaria bags ceremony at 9 p.m., where people will honor or remember their loved ones who were touched by cancer.

Orr said Relay For Life looks different for each community, but most seem to have a festival-type atmosphere, equipped with hot dogs, corn hole, t-shirt tie-dyeing and other kids’ carnival games, as well as music and other live entertainment.

“It’s really designed to keep everyone entertained,” Orr added.

People can still register or donate money by visiting the event website, www.relayforlife.org/ballantyne. A $10 commitment fee is required to join or start a team, although Orr said there is no cost for community members and families who want to visit the event to learn more.