Fresh from Durham Farmers' Market

Last Saturday Durham Farmers' Market kicked off their Farmer Foodshare Donation Station. The Farmer Foodshare aims to raise local funds at farmers’ markets to buy top-quality fresh local food for people at risk for hunger. Alternately, shoppers buy food from farmers and donate it, or give cash which goes to the purchase and donation of goods on their behalf. Farmers also donate excess food. In total, about 195 pounds of food were donated by market goers and delivered to the Urban Ministries Community Cafe.  The Farmer Foodshare Donation Station is located at the center of the Pavilion every Saturday and will be at the Wednesday Market in mid-May!

Wednesday Market is now open and in full swing!  It is open every week from 3:30 to 6:30.  From 3:30 to 6:30 on Wednesdays, you'll find the same great fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, cheeses, flowers, baked goods, and plants as the those listed below.

Heading to the market? Here are the items that will be fresh this week:

Fruit:  Strawberries  

Vegetables:  SUGAR SNAP PEAS, NEW POTATOES, GREENHOUSE CUCUMBERS,  Asparagus, Artichokes!, Arugula, Bok Choy,  Beets, Braising Greens, Broccoli, Broccoli Raab, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower Collards, Escarole, Fennel, Frisee, Green Garlic, Green Onions, Herbs (Cilantro, Oregano, Parsley, Dill, Chives),  Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Radishes, Parsley, Pea Shoots, Salad Mix,  Shiitake Mushrooms, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Tat Soi,  Greenhouse Tomatoes,  Turnips - white and purple,  Turnip Greens

Flowers:  Batchelor Buttons, Delphiniums, Dutch Iris, Icelandic Poppies, Ranunculus, Sweet William

Meats: Beef, Bison, Chicken, Goat/Chevon, Lamb, Pork

And: Honey, Chicken Eggs, Flour, Yellow & White Cornmeal, Grits, Pecans, Wines, Fresh and Aged Goats and Cows Milk Cheeses, Baked Goods, Pasta, Beer, Wine, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, Handmade Chocolates, Wool, Landscaping Plants and Vegetable Transplants

Durham Kicks-Off National Bike Month with Inaugural Ride May 4

Don’t let high gas prices get you down. Grab your bike and helmet and attend any of the following events to celebrate National Bike Month throughout the month of May.

Join the Durham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission at the American Tobacco Main Stage under the Lucky Strike Tower on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, at 5:30 p.m. to kick-off National Bike Month. The kick-off event will begin with brief remarks from Durham City Council Member Mike Woodard, Durham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Chair Scott Carter, League of American Bicyclists Representative Bill Nesper, and East Coast Greenway Alliance Executive Director Dennis Markatos-Soriano.

Those who attend will learn more about alternative commutes to work and can sign up for the Smart Commute Challenge. There will also be giveaway items and prizes, including the new Durham Bike & Hike Map. During this event, the League of American Bicyclists will officially recognize Durham’s designation as a “Bicycle Friendly Community.” Immediately following the program, the Durham Police Department Bicycle Unit will lead a kick-off ride to North Carolina Central University via the American Tobacco Trail and Otis Street. A cyclists’ social will be held at Tyler’s Restaurant after the ride and bicycle parking will be provided.

Additional National Bike Month activities include:

• Sunday, May 1, 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.

The Durham Earth Day Festival will be held at Durham Central Park, located at 201 Foster St. Bull City Open Streets will close the streets surrounding the Earth Day Festival from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. to promote biking, walking, and other activities. Free bike valet parking will be provided by the Durham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC).

• Saturday, May 7, 10 a.m.

Help East Coast Greenway Alliance celebrate their move to Durham with a 28-mile ride. The ride will begin at the Diamond View Park lawn across Blackwell Street at the American Tobacco Campus and beside the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). For more information, visit www.CrossTriangleGreenway.org/Durham-Greenways-Ride.

• Wednesday, May 11, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

A cyclists’ social will be held at the Sunset Grille, located at 5850 Fayetteville Rd., Suite 101 or mile post 5.75 on the American Tobacco Trail. Cyclists are invited to attend this event and enjoy free food, giveaways, and bike checks provided by REI.

• Sunday, May 15, 6 p.m.

Join the ladies ride hosted by the Durham Bike Co-op. The event will start at the lower level of Durham Bike Co-op, located at 715 Washington St. Men are welcome.

• Monday, May 16, 7:30 a.m. departure

Join the Commuter "Bike Bus" route from the American Tobacco Trail parking lot, located at the corner of Fayetteville Road and Southpoint Crossing Drive to downtown Durham. Cyclists can join the ride at multiple "bus stops" along the trail. Vehicle parking will be available at the trailhead near Southpoint Crossings Shopping Center and at Solite Park.

- 7:30 a.m. “Bike Bus” departs from the trailhead near Southpoint Crossings (Kroger) Shopping Center and Fayetteville Road

- 7:45 a.m. South side of Woodcroft Parkway

- 7:55 a.m. Picnic shelter at Solite Park

- 8 a.m. North side of Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway

- 8:15 a.m. East side of Fayetteville Street (near Fayetteville Street Elementary School)

- 8:30 a.m. Reach trailhead at Morehead Avenue near the American Tobacco Campus

• Wednesday, May 18, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Durham BPAC will sponsor a cyclists’ social at Alivia's Durham Bistro, located at 900 West Main St., Durham. Cyclists are invited to attend this event and enjoy free food and giveaways.

• Friday, May 20, 7 a.m. – 9 a.m.

Attend the Mad Biker's Breakfast at Mad Hatter's Café, located at 1802 W. Main St., Durham. Food and drinks will be provided courtesy of Mad Hatter's and free bike checks will be provided by the Bicycle Chain.

• Sunday, May 22, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Ride your bike to the movies at Casbah, located at 1007 W. Main St. Enjoy both new and vintage bike-themed short films, hosted by Durham Cinematheque and AV Geeks, and sponsored by GoTriangle.

• Wednesday, May 25, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Join Duke University on West Campus for bike maintenance and frame engraving, hosted by Duke Parking and Transportation Services.

For information about biking in Durham, visit the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission website at http://www.bikewalkdurham.org/.

ACC Baseball Championship

Durham is a city of champions.  With the Durham Bulls and Duke Blue Devils - athletic superiority is nothing new to the place where great things happen.  So, it's only fitting that the 2011 ACC Baseball Championship will be played here May 24th to May 29th at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The top eight teams from the regular season qualify for the championship run which consists of three games per day on  Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 11 AM, 3 PM and 7 PM, and the championship game on Sunday at 1 PM.  The series will be sure to entertain those in attendance.

To purchase single game or full-tournament passes to the 2011 ACC Baseball Championship, call the Durham Bulls ticket office at 919-956-BULL or order on-line through the team’s web site.

The Reality of Durham, NC

Durham was named a must-visit destination in The New York Times article The 41 Places to Go in 2011. Now, just four months into 2011, Durham is attracting attention as a casting destination for film and television. HGTV and CMT have two upcoming casting opportunities for Durhamites to share their lives and community through reality television.

Without a doubt, Durham's real estate market is hot. In 2010, the Wall Street Journal named Durham one of the best places to make a real estate investment. While many of these investors are of retirement age, a growing number of Durham's newest real estate investors are first time home buyers, a.k.a. property virgins. For this very reason, HGTV has selected Durham as the next location for Property Virgins, a house-hunting reality television series now in its 8th season. Property Virgins will cast first time home buyers in their early 20's to mid 30's with varying taste in housing styles, neighborhoods and budgets. For casting inquiries and additional information, contact Property Virgins here.

CMT is flipping the switch on MTV's Emmy award-winning series MADE and they're asking for Durham's help. The self-improvement reality television series that has helped hundreds of teens will shift its focus to parents under CMT's production. MADE transforms the lives of its participants by giving them the opportunity to pursue personal goals, dreams and aspirations. Men and women who appear to be at least in their early 30's are encouraged to attend an open casting call to be hosted at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on May 7th.

CMT, HGTV and their respective reality television series provide yet another opportunity to share Durham's community, culture and values on a national scale. So, get out there, and show them why Durham is where great things happen.

Durham County Library Presents ‘Books on Tap’

Durham County Library presents Books on Tap: A celebration of local brewers. Master brewers, local pubs and restaurants are joining with the library to tell the story of Durham’s great brews and to benefit the Friends of the Durham Library and Durham Library Foundation.

On Saturday, April 30, at 3 p.m. at Southwest Regional Library, the library will host “Craft Breweries of the Triangle” a panel discussion featuring master brewers Sean Wilson of Fullsteam, Sebastian Wolfrum of Natty Green’s Brewing Company, Ian VanGundy of LoneRider Brewing Company, Thomas Transue of Carolina Brewery and Seth Gross of Bull City Burgers and Brewery. The discussion will be moderated by Daniel Bradford, publisher of All About Beers magazine. Participants will hear about the process of brewing beer and learn how these local brewers came to the craft. The event will conclude with a raffle of two tickets to the World Beer Festival courtesy of All About Beer magazine. Southwest Regional Library is located at 3605 Shannon Rd.

After the discussion library patrons are encouraged to dine at a local restaurant or pub. Participating restaurants will donate a percentage of their proceeds for the evening to Durham Library Foundation. Throughout the week of April 23-30, pubs and restaurants are also accepting donations of gently used books, audiobooks, CDs and DVDs for the Friends of the Durham Library. Participating pubs and restaurants include: A-1 Stop Mail Shoppe, Alivia’s Durham Bistro, Dos Perros, Tyler’s Restaurant, Bull City Burgers and Brewery, Casbah, James Joyce, Fullsteam Brewery, Sam’s (Blue Light) Quick Shop, The Federal, Devine’s Restaurant and Sports Bar, Dain’s Place, Bull McCabe’s and Rue Cler.

“We are thrilled to have the support of our local brewers, restaurants and pubs,” said Joanne Abel, humanities programming coordinator for the library. “This event is part of our ‘Foodie Durham’ series, and it highlights reasons why Durham is fast becoming known as a place for delicious, locally grown – and brewed – food and drinks.”

For more information about this program, contact Joanne Abel at 560-0268 or visit the library online at www.durhamcountylibrary.org. Humanities programs are sponsored by Durham Library Foundation.

Durham County Library provides the entire community with books, services and other resources that inform, inspire learning, cultivate understanding and excite the imagination. For more information, visit your local library or visit us online at http://www.durhamcountylibrary.org/.

2011 Annual Tribute Lucheon "A Huge Success"

The 2011 Annual Tribute Luncheon, held today at Bay 7 in American Tobacco for a sell-out crowd, was, according to Shelly Green, "A huge success."  Green is the President and CEO of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, the organization that produces the event each year.

Annually, the Tribute Luncheon honors individuals and groups who have helped shape and preserve Durham’s unique sense of place. This year it celebrates three Durham institutions and some of the individuals associated with them who have worked tirelessly and artfully to achieve greatness. Their organizations have become synonymous with Durham and they have made even richer the tapestry that comprises the fabric of Durham.

For 2011, the theme was "Great Rhythm. Great Blues." and showcased three of Durham's most enduring organizations: the African American Dance Ensemble, the American Dance Festival and the Bull Durham Blues Festival.

The African American Dance Ensemble expresses the rhythm of life and is more than a dance troupe. The ensemble is an agency of positive social change and reinforcement of the human values of peace, love and respect, as well as a world-renowned arts education organization.

The American Dance Festival has its hands on the pulse of modern American Dance. Relocating to Durham in 1978 from Connecticut, the festival floods Duke's campus each summer with about 500 dancers, choreographers, musicians, critics and scholars from around the globe.

Durham loves to sing the blues, but not the kind that speaks of bad luck, hard times and lost love. Showcasing an art form that is reflective of Durham’s rich musical heritage, the Piedmont or Carolina Blues style is upbeat, and just as likely to make listeners jump up and dance as shake their heads in reflection. For more than two decades, the Bull Durham Blues Festival has been held in Durham as a showcase of some of the finest contemporary blues artists today.

This event is produced annually and in the past has recognized the culinary arts, architecture, authors and civic organizations.  To see some images from today's event, click here, here and here.

The event is always a "who's who" of Durham and of the respective community being celebrated with today's event being no exception.  "Events like this help to remind us all how special Durham is, and why we are all so proud to be here," Green added.

BREAKING NEWS: Durham 911 Access for Parkwood Residents Unavailable

An accidental cut earlier today to Frontier System’s fiber line has disabled all landline 911 calls placed from Durham’s Parkwood neighborhood to the Durham Emergency Communications Center.

According to James Soukup, director of the Durham Emergency Communications Center, Frontier is working to repair the fiber cut now, but the company has no estimate at this time for how long the repair will take to complete.

In the event of an emergency, residents and businesses in the Parkwood community should use their cell phones to contact the Durham Emergency Communications Center, to call the Parkwood Volunteer Fire Department at (919) 361-0927, or physically go to the Parkwood Volunteer Fire Department, which is located at 1409 Seaton Rd., Durham.

The Parkwood Volunteer Fire Department can reach the Durham Emergency Communications Center by radio to request emergency dispatch assistance until the repair can be completed.

As soon as the repair is completed, another notification will be issued to alert the Parkwood community accordingly.

About Durham Emergency Communications Center

The Durham Emergency Communications Center is dedicated to promoting, preserving, and protecting the safety and security of all citizens in Durham. The center provides 24-hour, seven-day-a-week 911 access to citizens and user agencies in and around Durham County. Services include emergency and non-emergency requests as well as dispatch for police, fire, EMS, and other City/County support agencies. To learn more, visit www.DurhamNC.gov/departments/911.

Korean Ambassador in Durham Tomorrow

Durham is no stranger to hosting guests...roughly 6.3 million people visit this place annually.  Tomorrow, however, a special guest will drop in on the place where great things happen - The Korean Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Han Duk-soo.  He will be joined by Congressman Brad Miller, as well.

Durham has been selected to participate in the U.S.-Korea Partnership Tour. This tour is a national series of forums highlighting the importance of trade and investment between the United States and Korea, and the benefits and opportunities of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) for American jobs and U.S. economic growth.

Congressman Miller and Ambassador Han will be in Durham for a luncheon at the Research Triangle Park Headquarters with business leaders. For more information on the U.S.-Korea Partnership Tour, please visit their website.

Durham History Museum Adds Five Board Members

The Museum of Durham History has added five new members to its board of directors:

• Dr. Steven Channing, president of VideoDialog
• Ruth Dzau, community volunteer
• Isaac Green, president and CEO of Piedmont Investment Advisors, LLC
• Kenneth Rodgers, artist and director of the NCCU Art Museum
• Chuck Wilson, Jr., President of C. T. Wilson Construction

The Museum of Durham History is a non-profit organization working to capture and share the stories of Durham’s past and build a stronger community through understanding of our shared heritage. Even without a permanent physical location, the Museum has an active board and volunteers who provide growing online resources and carry out community events, exhibits and educational programs. As a hub of Durham-wide historical information, the Museum links to and strengthens the network of organizations interested in building awareness of our community’s compelling history.

"The board has worked hard to develop a solid strategy for moving forward," said Lew Myers, the Museum board's vice chairman. "We have a clear idea where the museum is headed. Within the next year, we intend to open a storefront museum in downtown Durham and hire staff."

Slated for launch this summer is a unique, online “gazetteer” called History Beneath Our Feet, a lively, story-filled resource about the people who have lent their names to Durham’s streets and schools. A series of banners depicting some of the high points in Durham’s arts history is currently on display at the Durham County Administration Building.

Durham and Southern Research Debut New Diesel Technology on City Fleet

Residents in Durham can now breathe a little easier thanks to the recent installation of new emissions-reducing technology on some of the City of Durham’s fleet of vehicles and equipment.

Southern Research Institute and the City’s Fleet Management Department, as part of their continued efforts to improve air quality, have taken another step forward by partnering on installing emission-reducing technologies on multiple vehicles and equipment in the City’s fleet.

Earlier today, the department and Southern Research Institute, along with project participants Triangle Clean Cities Coalition, Engine Control Systems, and NETT Technologies, Inc., debuted the use of these new systems, which are currently installed on 16 heavy-duty diesel vehicles and equipment now in use by the City’s Solid Waste Management, Public Works, and Water Management Departments.

These new systems reduce significant amounts of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from the exhaust of these vehicles and equipment, resulting in positive impacts on Durham’s air quality. NOx emissions contribute to the formation of harmful particulate matter, ground-level ozone, and acid rain. NOx emissions form when fuels are burned at high temperatures, with typical major sources being fuel combustion in vehicles and engines.

According to Kent Cash, director of the City’s Fleet Management Department, this project is just one of the many ways his department is working to improve Durham’s air quality. “We have a responsibility to help protect Durham’s environment, and thus, are constantly looking for ways to get ahead of the curve on the use of new technology for our vehicles and equipment,” Cash said. “When we were approached by Southern Research Institute to become a partner on their project proposal to EPA’s Emerging Technology Program, we were excited about the potential to have them select and test advanced new vehicle emission controls on the City’s vehicles. Based on the initial testing results we’re seeing, that potential has become a reality and our air quality is a little better because of it.”

Project leader Southern Research Institute, a not-for-profit organization with transportation and energy research facilities located in Durham, has other major facilities conducting basic and applied research in Alabama and Maryland. Southern’s Durham Operation won a $1 million grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to identify, test, and demonstrate advanced emissions-reduction technologies installed on the City’s fleet diesel vehicles. The City’s Fleet Management Department will maintain and use these technologies through the life of the equipment they are installed on.

According to Tim Hansen, senior program leader for Southern Research Institute’s Advanced Energy and Transportation Technology Group in Durham, the testing of the new systems shows promising results in reducing NOx emissions from these 16 heavy-duty vehicles. “Right now, we’re seeing NOx emissions reduced by up to 78 percent and hydrocarbon emissions reduced over 90 percent,” Hansen said. “Since the City will keep the technologies and equipment operational for several years, they will provide long-term environmental and health benefits for the Durham community. We are happy to have been able to help Durham in this way – it’s where we live and work.”

Hansen and his team in Durham chose selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies from the EPA’s Emerging Technology List, which included NETT Technologies, Inc.’s BlueMAX and BlueMAX 200 urea-based SCR systems for on- and off-road applications as well as Engine Control Systems’ TermiNOx D urea-based SCR system for on-road applications. Technologies from these two vendors are now installed on the following City fleet diesel vehicles and equipment:

• three Autocar WX 64 garbage trucks
• four Crane Carrier LET2 garbage trucks
• five Volvo WXLL64 garbage trucks
• two Case 621D loaders
• two Case 590 backhoes

According to Cash, this project is one of several the City is committed to with the hope of reducing air quality impacts from Durham’s fleet. “Ultimately, the efforts of this department will help ensure that Durham is a place with thriving, livable neighborhoods, which is a major goal of the City’s new Strategic Plan,” Cash said. “This project is one of many that we are working on to improve our environment and we are continuing with our journey for better air for all. We are staying the course using a mix of new technologies and best fleet management practices.”

Annual Tribute Lunch on Wednesday

This Wednesday, Bay 7 is going to come alive with music and dance as Durham celebrates its unique sense of place at The Annual Tribute Luncheon.  This year The African American Dance Ensemble, The American Dance Festival and The Bull Durham Blues Festival are taking the stage. The theme is Great Rhythm and Great Blues which ties directly into the dance and blues that make such an impact on Durham each year.

A few tickets were available at the time of writing, but like in years past, the event's host, the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, expects all tickets to sell.  The event is held annually and is invariably a great show of community support.

Durham Sculpture Project

Durham's arts scene is arguably on the brink of reaching a critical mass. Events such as Third Friday and the bi-annual Art Walk, now in its twelfth year, continue to grow in popularity. The Durham Art Walk Spring Market featured more than 200 talented artists at sites throughout downtown Durham and was attended by an estimated 10,000 visitors. Durham is home to a plethora of galleries, studios and museums with Golden Belt and the Nasher Museum anchoring the arts community.

In typical Durham fashion, a visionary thinker has come forward with an ambitious plan to foster community development, this time, with the arts in mind. John Wendlebo has launched the Durham Sculpture Project, a community arts project which aims to foster socio-economic development in Durham's arts community through the creation of a large scale, high impact sculpture. The Durham Sculpture Project flagship is a 35 ft tall sculpture to be built in Durham under the non-for-profit umbrella of the New York Foundation for the Arts. The sculpture itself will become a high visibility attraction and a focal piece for Durham arts. Additionally, the project will create jobs in the community for artisans and engineers and build upon existing efforts to revitalize downtown Durham.

Wendlebo's vision for the impact of such a project runs much deeper than simply creating a massive work of art. The Durham Sculpture Project will also host a gallery space which will house the Project's fund raising headquarters, permanent exhibit space and short rotation exhibits. From that space, Wendlebo hopes to develop an arts incubator for new ventures and concepts.

Born in France, Wendelbo is a Durham-based artist specializing in sculpture and digital art. He has worked as a designer, fabricator, project engineer and project manager on large scale projects which have appeared in the National Gallery in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the US Embassy in London and the Regan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA.

The Cookery Now Accepting Food Entrepreneurs

Two of Durham's hottest communities have been developing in tandem over recent years. So, its no wonder that one of Durham's newest business ventures draws on both the foodie and entrepreneurship communities to serve a sub-culture of, yep, you guessed it... food entrepreneurs.

The Cookery, Durham's first culinary business incubator and for-hire commercial kitchen space, is now accepting membership applications. The Cookery anticipates a high membership demand to emerge from Durham's budding mobile food scene as well as food entrepreneurs who want to launch a new culinary venture or expand upon a home-based business.

The full-service kitchen features four convection ovens, 80 and 30 quart mixers and work tables as well as walk-in and reach-in coolers. Members contract use of the facility on a monthly basis or by the hour where the kitchen is open 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. In Fall 2011, The Cookery will begin hosting seminars and workshops on topics ranging from small business planning and training, promotion, branding and marketing.

The Cookery's overall goal is to lower the risk threshold for new culinary businesses. Since Durham is rife with culinary talent and entrepreneurial spirit, there's no better time for The Cookery to come onto the scene.

New Durham Hospitality Job Board Live TODAY

In direct response to requests from stakeholders in the restaurant and lodging community, the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau has setup a free tool to get hospitality job postings up on the internet in one central location, and it is live today.

This simple, intuitive tool also allows users to broadcast postings to the leading job search sites en masse. Located on the site, durhamhospitalityjobs.com, positions can be both placed and searched. DCVB will maintain this site in conjunction with vendor iApplicant, as well as promote it through its various marketing channels. Stakeholder participation is crucial to its success and it is DCVB’s hope that the value of this service will prompt businesses to be involved.

Employers are encouraged to add hospitality jobs to this site continuously; DCVB will be routinely promoting the site.  The organization is looking to add it to their Facebook page and hopes to have this jobs site accessible as a tab on the page soon.

Hospitality jobs number more than 10,000 in Durham and the hospitality sector is among the fastest growing sectors in the economy. The job board is another way that DCVB is working to ensure the quality of the visitor’s experience by helping employers fill positions faster, making it easier for applicants to find their opportunities.