It was just another Friday at Carolina. The sky was blue, the Pit bustling with students changing classes and meeting friends for lunch, and there was already a hint of spring in the March air. The sentencing Tuesday of Mohammed Taheri-Azar brought back memories of that day. But some Carolina students and alumni don't remember the blue skies that day.
When the curtain went up Saturday night in Memorial Hall, the auditorium was bathed in an orange glow and filled with the energetic and tight harmonies of the Clef Hangers' trademark song, Toto's "Africa." Dressed in khakis and their traditional button-clad vests, they bopped to the 1980s hit in front of a sold-out audience that included about 72 of the group's alumni. The former members were in town to celebrate the group's 30th anniversary, which culminated in a three-hour-long concert.
Rewind the UNC a cappella scene 30 years, and you'll find the Morrison Dorm Singers, a barber shop quartet-style group that sang primarily at the dorm. Thirty years later, that same all-male a cappella group, now known as the Clef Hangers, still wear the bow-tie-and-vest outfit they did in the late 1970s. Joined by 78 alumni, the all-male a cappella group will celebrate and remember three decades of tradition, bonding and music at two concerts this week.
Orange County took the next step Tuesday evening to becoming the first county in the country with a social justice goal. The Board of County Commissioners met in a joint work session with the county's Human Relations Commission, which presented a report on how best to form and implement a countywide social justice goal.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners spent seven hours bonding with county department heads in its annual retreat, which this year focused on thematically linking major county goals and issues. The commissioners were distributed among four tables filled with county staff. They worked together throughout the day, coming together with the other groups to share ideas. Commissioner Moses Carey Jr. was absent because of illness. The workshop was led by Phil Boyle, the president of Leading Governing Associates Inc., a consulting firm dedicated to strengthening government.
HILLSBOROUGH - Amid picnic tables, benches and bird feeders, a crowd of volunteers worked through their day off on Monday to build a new learning environment at Partnership Academy Alternative School. The school's outdoor classroom was chosen as the Orange County Signature Project for the Triangle United Way's third annual Triangle Martin Luther King Day of Service. More than 100 volunteers helped build a short trail and an open-air ampitheater featuring a stage and large benches to seat 50.
With $100 vouchers in hand, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools teachers set out Sunday to stock their classrooms with colorful index cards, markers and a variety of math learning materials.
Chapel Hill's community holiday tree was lit Sunday evening for a bundled-up crowd of residents, children and a Santa Claus. Community members were serenaded by the Long Leaf Opera, a local performing group that sang Christmas carols before the tree lighting. "This is a great time of year to come out and have a little fellowship with the community," said Mayor Pro Tem Bill Strom.
