Today was a sad day for me as I drove into the parking lot of our local Goody’s store. Goody’s announced just a few weeks ago that they would be closing their doors for good.

As I waited to get into the store, I spoke with a woman who also could not believe that our New Bern store was closing.  We spoke about the state of the economy and how it has affected New Bern. I had asked her if she had hear about the lay offs at Hatteras Yachts. She told me that her husband was one of the lucky ones who did not get laid off from Hatteras but she said it would not be long before her husband lost his job. Many stories such as this one are being told all over the area from gas stations to major industries, our area has not been spared by what is occurring around the globe.

The very sad part about this is the story of the employees. When I was checking out last Sunday, I spoke with a sales clerk. She said that there was no warning of the stores impending doom, in fact she learned about the closing from the news. It is beyond my comprehension that a company does not have the decency to tell it’s employees the truth before they hear it from outside sources.

Check out this link for more information on the stores future: Goody’s Store Closing

 Over this past weekend, I saw clowns, bands, floats and Lighted boats all in one day!

On Saturday, the New Bern Parade started at 4pm. It began on the upper end of Broad street, ran down the middle of Craven

Street and ended at the Sheraton Hotel.

The Flotilla began at dark at Union Point Park. The Marine Corp brought their best to begin it all.

 Today was a great day at Keller Williams Realty in New Bern!

At 10:30am today a group of 12 Agents gathered in our training room to move over 300 bags of food from our office onto the Salvation Army truck.

    As I was waiting for the truck I spoke with a social worker at the Salvation Army. She said that our gifts could not have come at a better time. She said that the shelves were completely bear and she still had 20 families that she needed to feed. Families are going to the Salvation army in higher numbers this year due to the economic situation in the US.

Food, clothing and toys are needed still for the holidays.

Please continue to give for one day you may need to be the recipient!

Here are the directions to on of the stores in New Bern: Directions 

After years of North Carolina Voting Republican in the Presidential election, we finally decided to vote for a Democrat!

Here is the final total: Obama: 2,123,395 votes to McCain’s: 2,109,402 votes.

For a breakdown county by county go to this site.

Craven county on the whole, which includes New Bern and Havelock, voted for McCain. 56.9% McCAin to 42.6% Obama.

Finally after record high profit gains by the gas companies and no money in the average Joe’s pocket book, gas prices have dropped.

After reaching nearly $4.50 cents a gallon in New Bern, today we see $2.99 cents a gallon.

What happened besides pure greed that we had to experience record high gas prices over night and continued that trend until this past week?

This time New Bern North Carolina has dodged the actual winds and rain of this major category 2 storm but the damage of this storm

can still be felt.

At the mere threat of this storm, panic ran rampant. In just 12 hours, Gas prices have jumped over 25%.

On Thursday the average price of gas was $3.59, today at 9 am it went to $4.59.

New Bern residents waited at the pumps 3 or 4 cars deep per pump to fill up before the stations changed the prices.

Raising gas prices is a horrid thing to do. It is despicable that the gas companies would line their pockets with the fear of a gas shortage.

Write to your elected officials to complain of this act or should I say attack.
For an update on the real Hurricane Ike go to the Weather Channel.

Today was a rough day for our boy’s soccer team at The Epiphany School.

I was so busy taking pictures today that I lost the goal count but it was by a landslide that we did not win this game.

The boys did run hard and were trying their best. Might I remind all that this school is only in it’s 3rd year so

that being said, we have a good group of boys that are not only gifted in school but in sports as well.

Ranked by this parent that is tired of the public school system, The Epiphany is one of the best private schools in New Bern NC.

Today was a perfect example of what this school is all about, Giving back to your community. Students at this school belong to advisory groups to help them with any issue that may come along.

These groups that include upper school or high school students and teachers were sent on a task to go help in their community.

This morning they all left the school together and went to places like the YMCA to spend time with younger kids, Mercy Clinic to fix food for the needy and planting bushes and flowers at an elderly home.

This is the type of school that we need in New Bern and throughout the world.

Before I decided to move to New Bern 14 years ago, I wanted to know what there was to do for kids. When I went online, I could not find a whole lot of information on New Bern but boy have we grown. Here are the tops seven things kids can do in New Bern.

1. The YMCA just off of Park Ave., offers several opportunities for kids to be involved in sports. They have basketball, soccer, swim and gymnastic teams. During the summer they offer 2 camps, a sports camp and a regular activities camp.

The YMCA also hosts some great camps like the British Soccer Camp,

http://events.jdnews.com/new-bern-nc/events/show/82615532-twin-rivers-ymca-british-soccer-camp

Here is a great link to information on their 2 pools: http://www.swimmersguide.com/query/Detail.cfm?PoolID=733

2. The Strike Zone is a great place to bowl and play laser tag, the only place I know to do so!

3. The Swing Zone is the place to be if you want to play putt putt, video games, paint ball or challenge yourself in the batting cages.

4. Recreational Sports Teams can be found at many locations throughout New Bern: Soccer, football, basketball, baseball, gymnastics and lacrosse. Here are some links to these activities:

Soccer: http://www.nbasa.com/

Football: http://www.eastern-nc-popwarner.com/

All other Sports: http://www.ci.new-bern.nc.us/RP/athletics.php

5. Dance and Theater Companies: There are several located throughout New Bern;

Wanda Kay at www.wandakaydancer.com

New Bern Ballet at newbernballet.com

New Bern Civic Theater at www.newberncivictheatre.org

Today the new Girls 93 Coastal United Team was picked by Coach Jennifer Brennen.

For all of the results of the New Bern Soccer Association tryouts.