up front
The annual community exalta-tion
to the azalea has come
and gone; all eyes now look
with great expectation to the
Mother’s and Memorial day weekends
and the advent of summer.
This issue features an excursion to the
greater Raleigh area, with a stay at the
glorious Umstead Five Diamond hotel,
coupled with an afternoon at the artist
gallery in Creedmoor, North Carolina,
no more than a short car ride north of
Cary, where the hotel is set on a lake
surrounded by the wooded 300-acre
campus of SAS, the business analytical
and intelligence software developer.
Filled with art that I admire, spe-cifically
North Carolina pottery, plus
a memorable blown glass sculpture,
The Umstead is in my eyes the perfect
weekend retreat. Our editorial director
Marimar McNaughton runs down the
connection between The Umstead’s most
famous sculptor and a glassblowing/
pottery gallery of artists at Cedar Creek.
Having also been a fan of hand-blown
glass jewelry for many years, the trip to
visit this gallery with working potters in
adjoining studios as well as glassblowers
had long been on my radar screen.
Owners, mother and daughter Pat and
Lisa Oakley and all we met at Cedar
Creek were down to earth and could not
have been more accommodating.
During our time there we were treated
to two thrilling glassblowing demonstra-tions,
the second by Lisa Oakley, which
you will find here captured by the bril-liant
photography of Allison Potter.
Another story I am very excited to
bring you is that of Dr. Anne Allen,
sailor, and sports medicine specialist. I
first heard about Allen in connection
with Wrightsville Beach Fire Captain
Sterling Powell’s annual trips to assist her
during World Cup Olympic class sailing
in Miami. Her work with physically dis-abled
Olympic and Paralympic athletes
which has taken her around the globe, is
nothing short of mesmerizing.
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WBM may 2013
Then we have a look at one of the
homegrown efforts to save abandoned and
neglected girls a world away in the poorest
parts of India, which has made a difference
in the lives of 400 or more girls. More than
100 Wilmingtonians
have also traveled
there to teach the girls, repair structures,
and even to teach the girls to surf. Written
by Homes of Hope founder Paul Wilkes
and illustrated with the photography of
Arrow Ross, this story will open your heart.
Pat Bradford with Pat and Lisa Oakley on a
chilly day in March.
Open your refrigerator and come explore
with us the food phenomenon of eating
whole food, plant-based meals, many of
which are prepared and eaten raw. Vegan
eating, no animal products, is becoming
more commonplace as doctors continue
to use the fuel we eat in prevention and
treatment of many degenerative diseases.
This is delicious food for thought —
thought-provoking subjects, fabulous
images, cover to cover.
It is time to honor the mothers in your
life and relish your days with family and
friends.
Editor/Publisher
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLISON POTTER
Spring has arrived to this bit of coast.