Friday Five: Restaurants, authors, fire chiefs and save the dates

Coffee, eggrolls and oysters. I know that’s an odd combination but there a sampling of some of the things to coming to new businesses in Concord. Commercial real estate broker Steve Tice helped us with these. Steven always seems to be in the know.

Verb Coffee is the new business coming into the old Waffle House/insurance building on Concord Parkway near the I-85 northbound on-ramp.

Verb Coffee is a new concept from Groundwork Coffee Company, an organic roaster/distributor. The “Peace Out” bear is on the side of the building.

Verb held a “soft opening” last week.

Two restaurants at Gibson Mill Market are now hiring in anticipation of opening soon.

Kuni’s Kitchen features made from scratch noodles, rice, salad bowls and eggrolls on its menu.

Baracos Sports & Raw Bar will have a variety of items including raw bar, sandwich rolls and more.

Both restaurants are from the Scratch Made Hospitality Group

More on the Mount Pleasant authors event. 73 & Main in Mount Pleasant is hosting a special event Saturday, Jan. 28, called Books, Beer & Bourbon. It will feature six authors including four who graduated from Mount Pleasant High School. Last week we told you about Dr. Elizabeth D. Jones and Vincent James Vezza. Here are the other authors, their work and a bit more about them:

Corrie Lynn White: Gold Hill Family Audio

Corrie Lynn was born and grew up in Gold Hill and graduated from MPHS in 2003. She holds a BA from UNC Chapel Hill and an MFA from UNC Greensboro. Having formerly taught English at the high school and college levels, she now works as a marketing strategist in transportation and logistics. Her poetry has appeared in Oxford American, New Ohio Review, and Best New Poets, among other places. Her first full-length collection — Gold Hill Family Audio — won the 2021 Cowles Poetry Prize and was published through Southeast Missouri State University Press in October 2022.

Elijah Gaddis: Gruesome Looking Objects: A New History of Lynching and Everyday Things

Elijah Gaddis was born and raised in Mt. Pleasant and graduated from MPHS in 2005 He has a BA from NC State, and an MA and PhD from UNC Chapel Hill. Elijah is now a history professor at Auburn University in Alabama where he teaches courses on museums, African American studies, Southern history, and material culture (also known as, old objects.)

Martine Clark: Bite Your Tongue: Appetizers & Cocktails

Martine is from New Orleans and was a former chef at 73 & Main. Currently, she has a contract with a vendor located at the Charlotte Douglas airport supplying food 7 days a week. Her business, Bite Your Tongue, provides catering for corporate and personal events. Additionally, Martine is working with a DoorDash platform providing heat & eat meals. It consists of Gumbo, Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, White Chocolate Bread Pudding, and New Orleans “Strango” (strawberry lemonade mango tea), just to name a few.

Cozette Stacy Nowak: DOLLSPEL: A Raggedy Ann Collector’s Collection of Inspirational Essays

Cozette is a native of North Carolina, where she counseled and taught creative writing and literature to high school students for over twenty years. She was an English Teacher at MPHS from 1961-1966. For Cozette, teaching was more of a joy than it was a job. She now lives in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Fire chiefs coming to Concord. Our friend and former co-worker Angie Bell sent us this one. Angie was a sports writer once upon a time at The Concord Tribune:

Fire Chiefs from around the state will take a deep dive into the persistent plague of firefighter cancer at the North Carolina Mid-Winter Fire Chief Conference at the Concord Convention Center next week.

Two half-day workshops will focus on dealing with and mitigating the pandemic striking first responders:

Tuesday, Jan 31, 9 a.m.-noon, “Cancer in the Fire Service”, featuring researchers from N.C. State University who have recently focused their studies on PFAS (“forever chemicals”) in turnout gear

Thursday, Feb 2, 1:45-3:15 p.m., “Cancer Legislation” in the Fire Service, with officials from VFIS insurance, explaining

Additionally, the North Carolina Firefighter Cancer Alliance (NCFCA) will rollout two new programs – one to enhance support services for NC firefighters diagnosed with cancer, and another to honor firefighters from the western part of the state who have been hit particularly hard by cancer.

Save the date and stay tuned for more details on each program and announcement! More information can be found at https://www.ncafc.com/mwc2023-attendee-central.

Save the dates. The 66th Annual Boys & Girls Club of Cabarrus County Pancake Day will be Thursday, March 16 (remember it’s always the third Thursday in March). Tickets are $9 and will be available in February. It’s Concord’s holiday.

Also coming soon is the annual Souper Bowl.

The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary of Cabarrus and Stanly Counties (SAWA) along with Shoe Show, Inc. will again be hosting a Souper Bowl 2023 fundraiser on Tuesday,

Feb. 21. After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, this year’s Souper Bowl will be in a new venue, Central United Methodist Church, 30 Union Street North, Concord, 28025 from 11:00 to 2:00. Eat in or take out. Tickets are $10 each and include soup, crackers, dessert and beverage.

Leaving our older citizens behind. Windstream is apparently eliminating their payment drop-off. We’ve hear from several readers who are upset that the elderly and the handicapped will have get out of their cars and walk into the office to make payments.

Companies, including the Independent Tribune (Lee Enterprises), are trying to make all payments on-line and eliminate the need for in-person options. It saves money in operating costs if they don’t lose too many customers.

It looks like that’s the same thing happening with the IT. I guess you noticed our rates have gone up dramatically in recent days. Our single copy rate for Wednesdays and Fridays is now $3 and $4 for Sundays.

Honestly we struggle to deliver the paper and to fill the racks. There are two racks at Atrium Health Cabarrus that haven’t been filled in more than a year. Hospital visitors ask volunteer where they can buy a paper but they can’t get them.

I guess they are trying to generate more revenue to better fund the delivery portion of our business. My question is: who carries $3 or $4 worth of change with them.

All the changes seem to be aimed at senior citizens. It’s a shame companies are leaving them behind. Here is Cabarrus County there are more than 31,000 people 65 and older, according to the U.S. Census.

If you have a Friday Five, story suggestion, or something I can rant about, email mplemmons@independenttribune.com or call or text 704-786-0001.