Weekly update, April 17

Hello! Are you ready for Carrboro's big weekend?

On Saturday, the Carrboro Farmers' Market will host Seedling Day with a poetry activity in honor of Earth Day (featuring poets from Carrboro High School among others), live music, a raffle, and more.

On Sunday, the Town will combine three formerly separate events into one mega-event, celebrating Carrboro Day, Earth Day, and Open Streets from 12 - 4pm. We previewed that event this week, along with the 38th biannual CD & Record Show at the Century Center (Sunday, 12 - 6pm). And, also on Sunday, The ArtsCenter will host a mental health community art day event and Taryn Revoir gave us a preview of what's in store there.

Another post online this week: a moving reflection from Carrboro High parent, John Nicholson, about what happened after gunshots were heard near the school's campus on Tuesday.

The Carrborean Radio Hour on WCOM 103.5 (wcomfm.org)

On air this week, we hosted a panel of former USAID and related contractor employees talking about the disruption to global aid in 2025 and its ongoing aftermath in the world and in their lives.

Coming up on Monday, 4/20: Whitney Fry returns with Flame Tree Story to explore the art and power of storytelling. Whitney will be joined by Lorie Clark, Coordinator of Student Leadership and Engagement at Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate at CHCC Schools. Lorie is also a community organizer and the Advisor for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP Youth Council and in 2013 founded the Hannah Ruth Foundation. They'll be talking about storytelling as the language of our ancestors. Lorie will share stories from her family’s—the Strayhorn family’s—rich heritage here in Carrboro.

News from Town and County

We've made a highlight reel from the Town Council Meeting on April 14. The Carrborean was honored to be mentioned in a proclamation recognizing Local News Day, which was among several other great proclamations (Poetry Month, Arbor Day, Earth Day) and resolutions (honoring Mae McLendon's many contributions to Carrboro) read and adopted that evening. Find the Town's summary of actions taken at the meeting here.

Congratulations to our Town's communications team, Director Catherine Lazorko and Coordinator Evelyn Greene, who won North Carolina City & County Communicators (NC3C) 2026 Excellence in Communications Awards!

More info from Town: Paper copies of the survey are also available in the main entryway of Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main St., for anyone who prefers or needs a non-digital option. The survey will be open through June 1, 2026. Later this spring, the Town intends to host listening sessions and focus groups to gather more in-depth feedback from individuals with disabilities, senior citizens, and caregivers. Details about these events and other opportunities to get involved will be shared on the project webpage and through Town communications.

Safe Routes to School update: From September to December 2025, more than 1,670 community members shared their ideas. The project team developed preliminary programmatic and infrastructure recommendations, such as the location of pedestrian crossing improvements and the development of a school specific bike safety curriculum, and will present them at the Town Council meeting Tuesday, April 21 at 6pm. Learn more here.

We made a highlight reel of The Orange County Board of Commissioners meeting April 14. Summary: The Orange County Board of Commissioners defends its property tax authority, digs into major changes to the county’s tax assistance program for long‑time and vulnerable homeowners, and checks whether nearby towns are contributing their share. Commissioners also hear updates on a Durham affordable housing partnership, workforce training for residents with IDD, and a countywide trail network that’s drawing both enthusiasm and landowner concern.

Final Notes

The Community Bulletin Board has announcements and opportunities for giving and civic engagement and is updated weekly.

There's so much going on in Carrboro! Check out The Events Calendar to see what's happening and help us keep it up to date.

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Poetry Moment

Did you know? Carrboro's Poet Laureate opens every Town Council meeting with a poem. On Tuesday, April 14, Dr. Amanda Bennett graced the meeting with this beauty.

Refusing Singularity

In the dark I write 

a poem in quiet tones at first

to hear the small sound echo

but the rhythm is off

the meter’s no good

the hunger so sharp it mutes

No voice begins alone 

the poet refuses singularity

to think apart from the world 

is to postpone the pleasure of living

The first computers were women running

equations together in endless underground rooms

their brilliance treated like raw material

until profit learned to call it precious

We made it to the moon

on the strength of their calculations

and their friendships forged in 

lunch breaks 

break rooms

breakdowns 

break lights

So much of the beautiful is what has been broken

and repaired together

We carry the moon in each line break

each stanza an impossible ship 

rocked to life against the blackest sea

On the page I know I’m flying when I see stars 

burning beyond themselves with supernova heat

The vocation of a poem is to carry 

the hope we whispered in silence 

against despair

against the given

against gravity

and return it to the place where it shines

brightly enough for us to keep living off its warmth

I send this poem into outer space

but really it belongs to the computers

playing spades loudly in the break room

making the unglamorous math

that sets the ship sailing

One voice writes into the unknown.

We call that poetry.

But we all share in its fate.

We call that love.