Pompieri Pizza Contest Will Give Away Free Pizza for a Year

As the Tastiest Town in the South, Durham's ever-expanding food scene has welcomed newcomer Pompieri Pizza to town with open mouths and hungry stomachs. It joins the ranks of other artisan pizza restaurants in Durham, and in a style typical of owner Seth Gross, there's a great twist filled with intellect and heart...

...and creativity, too.  

Pompieri Pizza, the newest venture from Gross who is chef/sommelier/restaurateur/brewmaster of Bull City Burger and Brewery, one of Durham's Celebrated Cuisine restaurants, a distinction earned by restaurants that have been covered in major media.

In April, Pompieri will host a Pizza Box Contest that invites customers to decorate a pizza box to be judged by a panel who will award several lucky winners in two age brackets a pizza and a nonalcoholic drink every week for a year. Learn more about the Pizza Box Contest and how to participate. Ever the creative marketer, Gross runs a program at his brewery where annually he hides five golden bulls and posts clues on how to find them. Like the pizza box contest, those who find the bulls win a weekly food prize, as well.

Pompieri Pizza focuses on Neapolitan-style pizza fired in wood fired ovens in open view of the dining room. The restaurant is located inside Durham's historic fire station #1 originally built in the 1890s. The restaurant espouses a "back-to-scratch" and "farm-to-fork" philosophy focused on making everything in-house including hand stretching the mozzarella cheese.

Very family friendly with lots for your diners to see, the restaurant has several unique features such as the fire engine red fire fighter’s bar filled with memorabilia of Durham Fire Department’s history as well as an indoor aquaponic basil garden where fish tank water feeds plants and plants clean the water for the fish.


Durham's food scene is renowned for its chef-driven culture and its farm-to-fork offerings. Pompieri joins the ranks of many other Durham restaurants that have made the place an internationally celebrated dining destination.

Pizzeria Toro Owners Use Disaster to Feed Hungry Kids

Not even a fire can keep Pizzeria Toro from giving back to the Durham community that helped make it a successful business.

The Toro Dreams Of… series, community dinners hosted by Pizzeria Toro and The Cookery, will debut Monday evening, November 25 at The Cookery.

The dinners, which are slated to continue twice a month until Pizzeria Toro is able to re-open from the fire damage caused to their building in early November, will each showcase a different meal theme, with 100% of the proceeds going to a charitable cause. November 25th’s event is Toro Dreams of Spaghetti, and monies earned from sales of the $25 tickets, as well as bar sales, will be donated to the PORCH-Durham Backpack Buddies Program. Tickets can be purchased at online from Pizzeria Toro and The Cookery websites beginning at 5:00 pm today, and all guests are encouraged to bring non-perishable food donations along with their ticket.

Toro Dreams of Spaghetti will be a traditional family-style three course dinner of handmade spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread and dessert. Guests have the opportunity to purchase hand crafted cocktails, wine and craft beer at The Cookery’s Front Room bar (with all bar proceeds being donated to PORCHDurham), and will be welcomed at the end of the meal to enjoy hot cocoa fireside on the outdoor patio.

“For us, our staff and even for many of our customers Pizzeria Toro is a second home. To lose that even temporarily, has left a void,” said Jay Owens, who owns Pizzeria Toro with his partners, Gray Brooks and Cara Stacy. “This is our opportunity to gather great people together for a greater cause and get back to something we love, feeding people.”

For Triangle locals, these events are also an opportunity to enjoy fare from Pizzeria Toro’s talented chefs, in a new setting, while also contributing to locals in need. Backpack Buddies, a hunger relief program sponsored by the Interfaith Food Shuttle and supported by PORCH-Durham, collects food to fill 448 backpacks for each weekend of the school year, allowing children who might not otherwise eat to have a weekend’s supply of nourishment.

“Opening up our doors for fun and casual, yet community-focused dinners with such a talented group is exciting,” said Rochelle Johnson, who owns The Cookery with her husband, Nick Hawthorne-Johnson. “Nick and I jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with the Toro crew – the mission driven series is exactly what The Cookery loves to be a part of.”

When the pizzeria’s owners learned that the fire damage in their restaurant at Downtown Durham’s 105 East Chapel Hill Street building might keep them closed for a couple months, they knew that taking a break was not an option.

“This is an opportunity for us to give back to a community that has given so much to us,” said owner Cara Stacy.

Learn more about great restaurants an food events at www.durham-nc.com.

GlaxoSmithKline, Triangle Community Foundation Issue Call for Applications Totaling $400,000 in GSK IMPACT Awards

Local Nonprofits Improving Community Health Encouraged to Apply for Ten $40,000 Awards
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Triangle Community Foundation today issued the 2013 GSK IMPACT Awards Call for Applications. This annual awards program will honor up to ten local nonprofits in Research Triangle Park, NC and the surrounding region with $40,000 each in recognition of their achievements and innovations in improving community health.

“At a time when so many families and communities are facing increasing health challenges, local nonprofits – particularly smaller organizations – continue to play a vital role in improving the health of our state,” said Katie Loovis, Director, U.S. Community Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, GlaxoSmithKline. “We are seeking to honor ten unique and exemplary local programs for their commitment to our region and positive influence on the communities they serve.”

The GSK IMPACT Awards honor innovative, collaborative, and evidence-based programs that are helping people – especially underserved populations – live healthier lives, and contributing to the health of the Triangle Region.

To qualify for a GSK IMPACT Award applicants must be physically located in Chatham, Durham, Granville, Person, Orange, and/or Wake Counties and have annual total operating expenses between $160,000 and $5 million.  To view the additional criteria and to apply, visit this site.  The application deadline is Friday, May 31, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. EDT. For questions, contact GlaxoSmithKline Community Partnerships at (919) 483-2669 or email.

“Improving the health of a community is as difficult as it is important,” said Triangle Community Foundation President Lori O’Keefe. “The GSKIMPACT Awards provide not only a generous financial reward to deserving nonprofits, but the awards also show the nation that some of the most promising social innovations in community health are happening right here in North Carolina.”

The scope of this year’s GSK IMPACT Awards has expanded to focus on improving access to health.  Eligible programs now include ones that promote healthy lifestyles, advance educational outcomes, and address other determinants of our health. The expanded focus aligns with GSK’s efforts to explore what it means, and what it takes to be a healthy community. In 2012, GSK kicked off an initiative to better understand how it can more effectively partner to build healthy communities, and this work continues in 2013.

A panel comprised of local and national health experts and representatives from GSK will evaluate the applications. Finalists will be notified in the summer, and winners will be notified in the fall following site visits to observe the submitted projects. The GSK IMPACT Awards will be presented at a ceremony in the Research Triangle Park in late 2013.
The History of GSK IMPACT Awards:

• For 17 years, GSK has honored outstanding nonprofit programs that are improving access to health in and around our U.S. corporate campuses in Durham, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with GSK IMPACT Awards.
• To date, 157 exemplary U.S.-based nonprofits have been honored with $6,214,000 in GSK IMPACT Awards. And more than one million dollars has been awarded to 28 local nonprofit organizations in the Research Triangle Park and surrounding region since 2009.
• The name ‘IMPACT’ derives from the focus that winners must have demonstrated in their application submissions: Innovation, Management,Partnership, Achievement, Community Focus, and Targeting Need.

About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information go to this site, follow the on Twitter or visit their blog.

About Triangle Community Foundation
Triangle Community Foundation is a nonprofit that manages $145 million in funds established by families, businesses, individuals, and organizations. From these funds, it makes grants to nonprofit organizations and administers a variety of programs for the community’s benefit. The Foundation manages over 750 funds, ranging in size from $10,000 to $7 million, mainly for the benefit of Wake, Durham, Orange and Chatham counties. During the 2011-12 fiscal year, the Foundation granted more than $13 million to nonprofits, schools and community efforts. For more information, visit online.

Durham Secures the Title of Tastiest Town in the South

In January, Durham and its food scene were catapulted again into the national spotlight by inclusion on Southern Living magazine’s list of the Top 10 Tastiest Towns in the South.  It shared company with culinary mega-star destinations like New Orleans, Charleston, and Miami.  The publishing of this list initiated the magazine’s annual national voting process to name The Tastiest Town in the South.

That town is Durham, NC.

Toward the end of the six week process, according to the leader-board on the magazine’s website voting page, what emerged was a spirited and friendly bout between Durham and the nearest competitor on the list, Memphis.  At three times the size of Durham, the odds were in Memphis’ favor, but Durham did what Durham does…stayed true to its convictions and reigned victorious.

Durham is no stranger to great accolades, and the community is proud to add this one to the list. “Durham is regularly recognized for its creativity, openness, diversity and quality of life.  We've always had a terrific food scene here, and this is a great honor to have everyone else stand up and agree that we are the Tastiest Town in the South,” said Shelly Green, President of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB), the organization that spearheaded the promotion of this competition. “This is validation of what we've been saying for a long time!”

Visitors to Durham spent a total of more than $780 million last year, and more than $200 million was spent on food and beverages.  Durham’s culinary identity is an important part of the brand that the community has, and is a major component of what Durham promotes to visitors. “Whenever possible, we connect the ideas of ‘visiting Durham,’ and ‘great food,’” said Sam Poley, DCVB’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “This is a message we share as often as possible because Durham’s culinary community is an amazing asset to visitors, and is a major reason to come and explore here.”

Durham has more than seven hundred restaurants, many of which have achieved a status DCVB calls Celebrated Cuisine.  This elite group of restaurants has been regionally or nationally reviewed, not part of a chain, independently-owned, and noted for unique regional cuisine or a custom menu designed by a Durham chef. There are 52 restaurants in Durham that have achieved this status, all of which are listed online. “Being listed as a Celebrated Cuisine restaurant is nice feather in the cap of a chef and restaurateur, and a visitor convenience to help them identify places of interest when planning a trip here," Poley said.

On Tuesday an announcement was made at the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau. Jennifer Cole, Southern Living’s Travel and Features Editor came in for the announcement.  “The South has a new culinary capital—Durham, NC,” said Cole. “With beer and pizzas made from seasonally minded local ingredients, to pies and even coffee elevated to an art form, the city's artisans are taking Southern cooking to new heights." She added, “The South's culinary scene has become richer and more diverse than ever. Whether you’re a native or a tourist, there's an endless variety of dishes, restaurants and local flavors to discover across our region.”

The announcement will be in the May print edition of the magazine which will be on stands on April 19. DCVB plans to incorporate this honor, as it does the many others the community receives, into its marketing messaging throughout the upcoming year.

Learn more about Durham, NC online, and read more from Southern Living about this story on their website.

Durham’s “Thanksgiving In Spring” Set for April 27

Thanksgiving may only come once a year in other communities, but in Durham it now comes twice.

Residents are invited to “Thanksgiving In Spring,” a first-ever family dinner event to create Durham’s longest dinner table and potluck along Mangum Street for an afternoon of fellowship, food, partnership, and fun.

Sponsored by the Durham Urban Innovation Center with the City of Durham’s Neighborhood Improvement Services Department, Build A Better Block, and Marry Durham, this free community potluck will make Durham the first in North Carolina to host this type of event on Saturday, April 27, 2013, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Old Five Points community in downtown Durham (Mangum Street to Hunt Street will be closed for this event and traffic detours will be provided). In the event of rain, Fullsteam Brewery has partnered to host the event at their location, 726 Rigsbee Avenue, on the same day and time.

According to Wanona Satcher, neighborhood development specialist with the City’s Neighborhood Improvement Services Department, the goal of having this type of event is quite simple. “We want our residents to sit around one table with City employees in an effort to promote service, new partnerships, and diversity,” Satcher said. “As a culture of service event, City departments are donating dishes of their best recipes and sending employees to volunteer to help create Durham’s first family dinner. Through service such as this, we believe we are helping to revitalize Durham one block at a time.”

Although a free event, participants and attendees must register for tickets online or go to the City’s Neighborhood Improvement Services Department, located at 807 E. Main St., Suite 2-300, to pick up tickets and flyers.

Residents are also invited to bring dishes of their favorite recipes and join the fun. Partner organizations and other non-profits are invited to adopt-a-table by donating a table and chairs to the event along with the opportunity to provide information on their services and programs.

To donate food, adopt-a-table or volunteer during the event, residents and local organizations should contact Satcher at (919) 560-1647, ext. 34227 or by email. For more information, visit Facebook.

About the City of Durham Neighborhood Improvement Services Department
The Neighborhood Improvement Services Department works to preserve and improve quality of life conditions for Durham residents, and to encourage active participation in neighborhood redevelopment and public policy and decision making dialogue. The department is responsible for enforcement of quality of life ordinances and state statutes including the City’s Minimum Housing Code; Nonresidential Code; Weedy Lot, Abandoned and Junk Vehicle ordinances; and the State of North Carolina’s Unsafe Building Statute. The department’s rapid responders, known as the Impact Team, remediate non-compliant housing properties; abate public nuisances, such as litter, graffiti, illegal dumping, and abandoned shopping carts; and conduct neighborhood service projects. The department’s Community Engagement staff provides outreach and education to Durham residents and community organizations. Guided by the City’s Strategic Plan, the department helps ensure that Durham has thriving, livable neighborhoods by providing the highest quality of services to engage and educate the community, eradicate blight, ensure safer neighborhoods, and enhance neighborhood revitalization. For more information, visit online.

Urban Ministries of Durham’s 7th Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser Takes Place March 7th

A full belly is something many who read this take for granted - if they even think about it at all.  For many, though, the sensation is at best a recent memory.  Durham's Urban Ministries works to fix that problem and others, and raises money and awareness each year with the Empty Bowls event which is an approachable way for people to be part of the solution, and for local restaurants to have a chance to compete and show off a bit.  That's a double bonus for attendees given the quality of Durham's chefs.

The annual battle for the “Best Soup in Durham” will take place Thursday, March 7th from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at the Durham Convention Center (301 West Morgan Street).  Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD) will hold its seventh annual Empty Bowls event presented by Olive & Olive, P.A. to raise much-needed funds to help UMD serve over 200,000 meals a year to those in need.

Attendees get to sample soups prepared by more than a dozen local restaurants and can vote for their favorite.  The light dinner of soup is a reminder that many people in Durham do not have enough to eat.  Local artists and artisans have donated their talents to create over 800 hand-crafted bowls for attendees to pick and take home.  There is also a panel of celebrity judges who vote and the evening will be serenaded by Moment’s Notice/St. Ambrose Jazz Mass Quartet.

More than 900 tickets were sold last year raising over $30,000 to benefit the people served by Urban Ministries of Durham’s Community Café.

There are three types of tickets to the event this year. The Hot Ticket includes soup and a bowl for $50.  It’s a hot ticket because you can have first choice of the bowls from 5:30 pm until 6:00 pm. There will only be 200 of these tickets available. The Regular Ticket includes soup and bowl for $35.  Bowls can be picked after 6:00 pm. Then there is the  Soup Only Ticket for $15.00
Children six and under can attend for free, and tickets can be bought online at online.

This year's roster of competing restaurants, and the soups they will be making, certainly makes it easy to justify the purchase price of a ticket.  They are:

• 604 at West Village: Tomato Polenta
• Bleu Olive Mediterranean Bistro: Chicken Avgolemono
• Bull City Burger and Brewery: Vegetarian White Chipotle Chili
• Durham Convention Center: Roasted Butternut Bisque with Pear and Sage
• The Mad Hatter’s Café and Bake Shop: Lime Chick and Roasted Corn
• Mediterranean Deli: Lentil Soup
• Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse: Catfish Stew
• Piedmont:  Cream of Kale Soup with Sourdough Croutons
• Pizzeria Toro: Lettuce Soup with Brown Butter Croutons and Clabber
• Saladelia Café:  Vegan Black Bean Chili
• Six Plates Wine Bar: Sweet Potato Bisque
• The Pit: Brunswick Stew
• Thrills From the Grill: Collard Green Soup
• Toast Paninoteca: Spicy Chickpea Puree with Lemony Swiss Chard
• Urban Ministries of Durham Community Café:  French Onion Soup
• Watts Grocery: White Bean and Pancetta

The soups will be judged by a panel of some of Durham's culinary luminaries, and other prominent members of the community, and attendees can vote, too.  At the end, both a fan favorite and a judge's favorite will be named.  The judges are: 

• Jay O'Berski:  Artistic director of The Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern and teaches acting at Duke.
• Sean Lilly Wilson:  Founder and Chief Executive Optimist of Fullsteam Brewery
• Tisha Powell:  Co-anchor for WTVD ABC11 Eyewitness News
• Mike Woodard:  State Senator
• Johanna Kramer:  Food blogger for johannakramer.com

Learn more about all of the great food events happening here all the time on the Durham Event Calendar, and more about dining in Durham online.

Durham's Frightful Family Fun Coming Up

Residents, families, and visitors looking for a unique way to celebrate Halloween, while raising money for local charities, should mark their calendars now for the first-ever Durham Monster Dash.

The event, scheduled for Friday, October 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., will include a costumed charity run/walk through the historic streets of downtown Durham followed by food trucks, costume prizes, music, and the “Thriller Dance” in front of City Hall on 101 City Hall Plaza.

The Durham Monster Dash is a three-mile course through the streets of downtown and another kid-friendly one-mile course through the alleys and open spaces in downtown. Durham City-County Planning Department staff and community volunteers will set up “monster zones” to provide extra thrills along the route.

The event is being organized by the Durham City-County Planning Department as part of the City’s Culture of Service Initiative and 7 Stars, which is the annual City employee giving campaign. Planning staff will also be using this event to test the use of the City’s public open spaces and pedestrian accessibility and connectivity downtown.

“For the Planning Department’s staff, the Durham Monster Dash is a fun way to help charities that enrich children’s environments. We also look at the event as an opportunity to invite people to explore our beloved downtown’s architecture, streets, alleys, and open spaces,” said Steve Medlin, director of the Durham City-County Planning Department. “The event is a way for planning staff to engage with the community around a charitable event while developing new skills to meet an unusual challenge.”

Sponsors of this event include the Durham Police Department, WXDU 88.7 FM, and Road ID. WXDU will also be hosting a costumed dance after-party at The Pinhook, located at 117 W. Main St.

Participants are asked to register for this event online and provide a monetary donation. Proceeds collected from this event will be benefit Kidznotes, The Scrap Exchange, Keep Durham Beautiful, Inc., and Girls Rock, N.C.

For more information, including a registration form and route map, visit the event website. Participants may also keep up with the latest news on the Durham Monster Dash by “liking” their Facebook page. 

Durham is also home to a Zombie Lurch which might be appealing for those looking for more ghoulish fun. The event is in its sixth year, and it never disappoints.  Get more details at the link.

Durham always has fun and interesting things to do.  Stay up to date on all that is happening by signing up for the Durham Event Calendar emails or visiting the calendar online, liking Durham on Facebook, and with the official Durham visitors website.

Culture Communication Evolving With Technology

Travelers who do so for the purpose of experiencing culture are a big market for Durham.  With so many museums, working artists and galleries, theaters and festivals of all types, Durham really is where great culture happens and an obvious destination for people interested in that subject.  In fact, North Carolina is overall. 

Areas endowed with a wealth of cultural offerings often suffocate under the load of opportunities and how to communicate them.  Many years ago, DCVB took the proactive step of creating a database driven calendar.  For years, that has stood alone, but now DCVB, in partnership with the EverWondr Network and Durham Arts Council are teaming up to bring Durham’s cultural opportunities to visitors as part of a statewide network  sites 

“At this point, DurhamCulture.com is a way for the culture segment to present information to people looking to learn more about cultural offerings,” said Shelly Green, DCVB President and CEO. “The new site is intuitive, user friendly and is a big step forward in cultural visitation marketing,” she added.

Run by DCVB,  durhamculture.com, houses one of the most comprehensive collections of information about cultural offerings in Durham.  While complete, the site was limited in capability.  Now with the  improvements in technology powering the site it offers users much more than just information.  While the web address won’t change, site visitors have access to an artist’s marketplace, special offers, map/location search, videos, reviews and more.

DCVB is making this move in an effort to make information gathering easier for potential visitors.  The process by which stakeholders in the community enter data will change a bit, but mostly those changes are cosmetic.  They will still use the My Durham Info portal they have always used, but the appearance of the forms will change and some of the options will allow more information to be shared.  Seminars to demonstrate this portal and its additional capabilities will be held at DCVB on May 24 at 2PM and 6 PM to demonstrate the new interface.  Those desiring to attend should email Carolyn Carney at Carolyn@durham-cvb.com. 

Strong Durham Schools

Sometimes its hard to know when you're hearing the honest to goodness truth... or not. Those unfamiliar with a topic may form their opinions based on water cooler talk which may be watered down and mired with negative thinking. As commonplace as these practices are, its easy to get the wrong impression about a whole host of topics... especially schools and communities.

Fortunately for Durham, the organization Strong Durham Schools cuts straight through the rumor mill and provides a forum for interested parties to find honest, transparent, and genuine stories about Durham Public Schools. Strong Durham Schools has brought together passionate parents, teachers, alumni and staff to tell the real stories behind Durham's education system.

Visitors to the site will find testimonials for most Durham elementary, middle and high schools. If a school is not listed it is simply because a resident has not come forward to share their story. Strong Durham Schools encourages submissions of all kinds; if you are interested in sharing your experience with Durham public schools, fill out this online survey or email Strong.Durham.Schools@gmail.com.

Correcting Conan...Only the Proud Dare Do So

Durham has a cadre of caring folks who are passionate about their community.  In fact, for every resident who is negative about Durham there are 17 others who are positive or very positive about their city (Most places have about a one-to-one positive-to-negative pride ratio with a lot being ambivalent). 

In 2007, DCVB harnessed the energy of some of these folks, gave them their own identity (Durham ImageWatchers), and put them to work helping to identify, address, and reverse misperceptions about Durham. 

Although DeaconGuy08, seen in this video of the Conan O’Brian show, isn’t on the ImageWatcher roster, DCVB is making him honorary chairman for the day.

Sign up to be an ImageWatcher here. Participants get weekly emails about all the great things happening in Durham and are called on occasionally to assist DCVB in protecting Durham’s identity and brand.  

Durham Conference on Housing

Early registration is now open for the June 15, 2011 Durham Conference on Housing, sponsored by DHA.  The need for affordable housing is growing and resources are shrinking. The Durham Conference on Housing will bring together the latest information on financing models, legislative changes and innovative thinking to help housing advocates from both public and private sectors to move forward together.

The conference is targeted at people in the following fields:

•   Housing Authority Leaders
  
•   Elected Officials
•   Community Development Advocates
•   Neighborhood Preservation Advocates
•   Developers
•   Architects
•   Engineers

The conference website has more information and online registration. Moderators and panelists for the conference are set, with the keynote being delivered by NC Housing Coalition's Chris Estes and a luncheon address from PHADA Executive Director Tim Kaiser.  The event is being held at the Sheraton RTP in Durham.

NC Voters Strongly Prefer Local Control of Billboards, Poll Shows

North Carolina voters oppose proposed changes to state law that would take away local control of billboards and would allow more electronic billboards along highways and roadsides, according to a new statewide poll released by the N.C. League of Conservation Voters.

The telephone survey indicates that North Carolina voters overwhelmingly hold the view that billboards detract from the appearance of communities and strongly believe that placement of billboards should remain a local decision. Voters across the political spectrum shared those views. Seventy percent of Democratic voters, 68 percent of Republican voters and 78 percent of independent voters said billboards detracted from community appearance.

Read more: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2011/04/06/poll-confirms-widespread-voter-opposition-to-more-billboards/ 

Durham Central Market

It’s just so Durham. A group of volunteers have formed the Durham Central Market, a non-profit cooperative grocery store planned in the Central Park District downtown. Considering all the residential growth happening there, and Durham’s continued and undying commitment to great food and local produce, this store was a natural next step. That it is cooperative and that shares are selling quickly is part of what makes it just that much more Durham.

The market will stock high-quality foods and other products with a focus on sustainability and local producers. Using the Weaver Street Market as a model, Durham Central Market will have a community focus but with a uniquely Durham flair for community involvement, healthy alternatives, and entrepreneurial spirit.

Organizers have secured an option on a location on Mangum Street between Hunt and Broadway to build a 10,000 square-foot store. The location will include a parking lot and 3,500 square feet of green space.

Anyone interested in joining the project is encouraged to become a member or owner by purchasing an individual or business owner share. For more information on the effort to make this market a reality, go to www.durhamcentralmarket.org.