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Neighbors doing what neighbors do
The Belmont Front Porch
Is this still an active blog?? My email got bounced back.
I went down to the new NC Flatwater Outfitters in Belmont and kayaked on the Catawba River. The weather was just right, the water was a glaze and the sunset was picture perfect.
What a stress reliever and I found out the next day I had used muscle I did not know had! Give it a try, it is another Gaston County treasure located right here in Belmont.
I think it is http://www.ncflatwateroutfitters.com , they even have over night camping packages available.
Walt
The City Cafe, 128 S. Main St., Mt. Holly, NC is opening a dinner theater catering to families and seniors. I think it would be great if your paper could do an article on the new dinner theater to let your readers know about it, especially the seniors, since they don’t have too many places to go and things to do. The owner is Ken Bowers and his phone number is 704-882-1450. Please help this small business get off to a good start and let the people know that Mr. Bowers is trying to do something good for the seniors and families in the area. I’ve heard that your area has a large population of retirees. This dinner theater would be perfect for them, giving them a great meal and a great show all in one. Thank you for letting me offer my suggestion to your paper. I hope you will get in contact with Mr. Bowers and help him out a little. Thanks!
Why in the world that I live in is my damn water bill so HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, Has anyone heard about a rezoning at Southpoint Village from single family to apartments?
Are Gaston County School Board members paid a salary for holding this position?
City Council, I have a complement about your site I just came across looking for a loccation to contact you about a concern.
My concern is about the erosion on the backside of our property at 6446 Kathryn Ct. Since the sewer line was buried a number of years ago, the sewer line was covered and ground at the apartments reseeded, netting put up and an erosion basin. From the apartments for the run-off from the parking lots of the apartments, new construction along Dixon Rd. and the school, large concrete piping was carrying water before erosion made them collapse, causing the sewer line to be exposed and lose support.
The property is sliding, creep, towards the ditch. In places along the the ditch the erosion has deep gouges in the culvert, waterfalls.
May I ask Do I need to present this item for concern or wait for your reply. 07/10/2008
I’m new to the Belmont area…what part of town is tonight’s concert (Chairmen of the Board) being held???
What’s going on with people in Belmont not wanting to cut their grass???
Again on the topic of those boozy bar/grills on Main St. To avoid being brought to the attention of city council by concerned citizens, they should consider adopting some basic good neighbor pratices. Noise, loud music and traffic late at night seems to be a concern of many living nearby. For various reasons it is also a great concern that several of these businesses are close to the park.
Belmont has a good number of homes in the downtown area. Many school children also walk in the area everyday. Any business person should take this into concideration. Even though these businesses are not what I consider ideal for our downtown, I respect their owners desire to own these businesses and the need to find uses for the downtown buildings. One thing that should be considered is that without proper care, many of these business are really on the verge of being better suited for a highway business location, away from any residential area.
On the topic of those boozy little upscale bar/grills on Main St.? I liked things better without them.
My comment about recent development in Belmont? I only hope I’m around to see the day it’s bulldozed.
Shameless self promotion but if anyone is looking to buy Real Estate anywhere in Belmont, I am your buyers agent and would love to help you anyway possible.
OK. Whats the charge?
Belmont Middle is having their annual BBQ on February 1st
Please come out and support us!!
Our own local Alan Tolley is going International with his business Piedmont Metal. He and his decorative metal business will be highlighted at the Las Vegas International Interior Design Show at the end of January. To see some of his work go to http://www.marbleizedcopper.com.
Please add the Belmont Historical Society at 40 East Catawba Street to your blog. Thanks.
I’ve enjoyed reading all of your comments. We are moving to Mount Holly area in a few weeks. Belmont sounds like a lovely town. Reminds me of the one we are leaving behind. Take care all of you good people. It’s refreshing to know you are all still there.
I liked “cute and sleepy”. At least there wasn’t an armed robbery every week!
A neighbor just told me about this site; it’s great! We’ve lived in the South Point area since 1987 and it’s been like watching your kid grow up; Belmont has gone from a cute but sleepy little town to a place I’m proud to bring friends from Charlotte. My favorites are The Emporium (esp. wine tastings), Caravan, the General Store and Sammy’s, and it’s just so cool to see crowds downtown at night.
Now I’m always driving by a new swath of red clay and wondering what the heck is going in there. Any chance you could create a map of the Belmont area that would let us click on any undeveloped/developing sites to get an update on what’s planned?
referencing article on the plight of bands versus football teams and the community support given..Article makes a great point and I will promise to listen to anyone speaking on behalf of the Southpoint Band..Note: I am not certain how I was ‘CALLED OUT’
personally..however,I agree that there are plenty of ways to support our community in addittion to football..my personal distaste as a parent is when the school or a group sends my kids out door to door selling magazines..
Yes, Travelin raider, we could all smoke and drink and discuss important city business while we watch the game. What’s wrong with that picture? Oh, I get it let’s bring my Yankee ideas to Belmont, just like we did it up North, in a bar? You are now in the South, if we are going to hold council meetings anywhere except City Hall, it would be on the porch with a big glass of sweet iced tea, not in a smokey, loud bar.
Tis strange to see so many folks more concern about how the Red Raiders are going to do at Lineberger than how their elected officials are deciding on how to spend those hard earned tax dollars.
Would love to see a city council meeting held as an open forum at BF&B, or Sammy’s, or even STARs, just like our friend up in New Hampshire……..an open discussion where the folks are…….
I wonder how the writer knows I’m not a soccer supporter? The comment “soccer fields eat up a lot of propert sounds sinister standing alone. It was one fragment in a much larger story and it described a fact. Soccer fields do eat up a lot of property, as do football fields, baseball fields, golf courses, etc.
The context was unfair, but It comes with the territory.
No problem SP Soccer Fan. We posted your video directly to the article.
thanks for your input.
if you all have any more pictures of the teams and players we will post them.
Same goes for any other pictures of events in Belmont. Send them to the email address as an attachment and we will post. Remember to give credit for the photo or video, please.
BFP
The Middle school softball team will host the championship game Tuesday 10/30 @ Frady field against Chavis middle school @ 4:30. We would appreciate the support.
It was great finding this forum. I stumbled onto the porch yesterday while Googling the Gaston Co. Co-op. Been here in Belmont for 2.5 years (Midwest transplant). I love Belmont for it’s walkability and vibrant small-town downtown. Nice to find local voices. Is there a link to more information about the green development / sustainability forum Ottokar mentioned 10/3?
Sorry as a first time commenter I double posted while uploading the senior night video link.
As a parent of a senior I can only say good things about the team, coaches and program.
For all the parents I would like to thank BFP for the articles this year on the soccer team.
And being a true optimist I feel the team can go as deep into the play offs as they want.
This is a special group of young men thru there own hard work deserve credit.
They are truly a “well oiled machine”
Either scoccer fan has a head injury or this site is posting comments under the wrong titles. I’m confused…
South Point Soccer Senior Night
10-22-07
I appreciate this forum and respect the editors choice to remain anonymous. We all have opinions that we share in conversation both pubically and privately, the important thing is that the conversation remain civil and appropriate. If you disagree with the editor, state why and we can all decide for ourselves who is right and wrong. While the Walmart Greeters comment was kind of mean spirited, it’s also somewhat on point. After all, uglier things were said during the heated Walmart debates! But now we all shop there and just love the low prices, hee, hee, hee!
The only suggestion that I would offer is to make the site more user friendly. I find it fairly difficult to navigate from topic to topic and I’m very experience online. I realize blogs are a little different than websites in that regard, but this concept of the front porch is such a good idea, it would be nice to see you improve on it, if possible. As you said before, we all have jobs – just my lsuggestion. Keep up the good work!
Whoa Dude you just got sent to Mr Ratchfords office, circa 1981.
We agree with your assertion, and respectfully agree to disagree in revealing our editoral board identities. Your “what ifs” are serious issues with our board and your concerns are noted. As some prominent radio show hosts have found, “facts” are bent to provide “spin” one way or another.
Bottom line is, don’t read it if you don’t like it and if you post comments, refer to the page on the “Rules of Civility”.
We live here, work here, play here, go to school here, and ride, walk, and roll through town. That’s all you need to know.
This blog has never been advertised and accepts no advertising itself. it is also not a newspaper.
Our promise is that we will offer opinions from the community, not a single voice, but multiple voices. Anything that does not pass muster, as in several of your submitted posts with the “yankeebelle”, will not be tolerated.
Our source articles are linked and documented. Permissions are asked ahead of posting articles in their entirety. Articles posted are subjected to scrutiny prior to publication. Many articles do not get posted without sources cited and/or documented in the writer’s notes.
Where this site differs from the “Watchdog” forum or other anonymous forums, is that it is moderated and checked for civility in its discussion.
It is our opinion that this blog can be a source of civil debate and discussion. Political positions and public behavior by elected officials are open to interpretation and comment.
Source article: http://whatismyipaddress.com/staticpages/index.php/internet-anonymity
“Internet anonymity is, in essence, the subject of internet privacy and its issues. Internet anonymity is basically the method by which people send messages and conduct business via the Internet without revealing their true identity. The information that they do reveal is controlled by the user him or herself. It includes the obvious personal information, however maintaining Internet anonymity extends far beyond the user: it includes computer information and location as well. To maintain Internet anonymity means to utilize the Internet without giving anyone the ability to trace or link web activity, or personal information, back to the user.
Those who are concerned about Internet anonymity often discuss several risks to personal privacy. Cookies are among the most talked about privacy risk. Cookies are text sent to a web browser about a site or page that has been visited. The text is stored by the computer’s server and sent back every time that particular web page is revisited. It makes for downloading the page quicker since the computer accessing the page is authenticated by the cookie. Cookies also contain specific information about the user, such as preferences, passwords, log-in IDs and even electronic shopping cart information. This is why the cookie is considered a privacy risk by Internet users, and has thus been disabled by many computer owners prior to surfing the web.
Advocates for Internet anonymity argue that it is the most important aspect of free speech on the Internet. Anonymity allows for Internet users to express themselves freely without worry of being discovered or tracked, ridiculed, or harassed. This is important to online discussions and forums, especially those involving personal questions or topics, in which those participating do not want to have to admit who or where they are. A perfect example of the importance of such anonymity is in medical forums where patients are free to ask medical questions of doctors or others with similar medical afflictions. Advocates also maintain that Internet anonymity is essential for transmitting information that must remain anonymous. The reporting of illegal activities and criminal behavior via the Internet is also an example of how vital anonymity can be: it gives witnesses and reporters the comfort and security necessary to offer their testimony.
Opponents argue that certain abuses and illegal activities are perpetuated by available Internet anonymity. Spam, or unsolicited email, is a common abuse of Internet anonymity. Most spam emails are junk mail and non-threatening; however, there have been cases where spam has been utilized to communicate hate-speech, threats, and harassment, and the anonymity of such spam has made it difficult, if even impossible, to track their originators. Opponents also debate that anonymity protects criminals and sexual predators. These offenders utilize the forums and discussions groups that protect the identity of all users to target their prey via the Internet.
The reality of Internet anonymity is that it will be a subject of heated discussion for years to come. Fortunately there exist avenues that Internet users can take to protect their identity, preferences, and IP addresses, if anonymity is important to them. Disabling cookies is common choice and some web browsers, like Mozilla Foxfire and Opera, have a setting that automatically deletes all cookies at the end of an Internet session. Overall, users need to remain cognizant of what information they provide on the Internet, including that in on-line screen names and profiles, if they want to maintain anonymity while using the web. “
dear editor, in reference to w. haskins requesting to know who the editors are. this request wouldn’t be at issue unless something of offense was listed on your website. case in point, wal-mart, council members comment, among others. it would be reasonable for any editor to identify themselves when giving opinion. in other words, back up your words. it is common practice and thus legally compliant. as a blog, the “editors” are legally responsible for the content contained within. in other words, you could make a mistake that could cost you. anyone can be tracked by IP, which is elementary. as you stated, you assumed this responsibility as moderator. also, i would assume that the “editors” have liability for news aggregation in reference to libel and slander. newspapers take copyright laws seriously.
Unique visits – which is good. (smile) it could be the same person with nothing to do visiting 300 times per day, or 300 different people.
We are trying to link organizations, stories, and background info with each story or comment.
Yesterday we didn’t have anyone at the greenway discussion in Mt. Holly, we apologize, jobs first ya know.
Thanks for the suggestions, we have quite a few articles in the pending file on just the things you have mentioned.
Congrats on increasing your readership. I was wondering the the 300 views per day are views of unique visitors, meaning that if I’d visit the site 10 times a day it would only count as one view or if these views are page impressions, a request to load a single page?
I think the increasing popularity of your website is a result of the lack of information available via other news sources about Belmont.
Also, there are a lot of nice things going on in Belmont but I constantly have to check different locations to find information. It would be nice if you could add a calendar to your blog, then we as readers can see what’s going on or notify you of upcoming events. Examples would be the upcoming fall festival, the forum on green development / sustainability yesterday and the wine fest a few weeks ago. What do you think?
No – just folks who show up on the porch. We respected your anonymity by publishing your request.
The editors of the Belmont Front Porch are citizens of Belmont and Gaston County, they come and go as they please and most wish to remain as anonymous as anyone walking down our streets.
Our comments are not intended to “assassinate” anyone. Articles are taken from area media and are noted. Opinions are those of the individual writers and as long as they retain a level of civility in their questions, we will publish their articles.
If our questions provoke you, please use the comment pages to correct/clairfy any statements.
We will be happy to publish the comments as long as they are civil. The holly bushes can be prickly this time of year.
Thank you for caring enough to comment. Are blogs wonderful?
would the writers of this blog please identify themselves. anonymous character assassinations are weak.
fastpitch – congratulations, yes, it is a great team. We will publish anything about the Middle School sports season. Send us details in a timely manner to our email address: belmontfrontporch@yahoo.com
We can do better writeups. Send any pictures along as well.
We need some more scores from the Belmont Middle school softball team. I have seen that they are undefeated. Way to go girls!!! Congratulations and keep up the good work.
thank you dude for that ‘let’s smoke the peace pipe together’ message. No contempt meant on the belle’s part, just trying to decipher (or is that cipher) what it was you were trying to communicate. Phoenetical concession accepted. It’s Friday night, GO BIG RED!
Can anyone tell me what a yankeebelle is? and how one would compare to a southernbelle.
the dude thinks you should go easy on the soccer players, too.
the dude did not start it. the dude abides, always, but yankeebelle defamed the red raiders.
that’s right. it’s all bout communicating. i mean, what did you communicate to me? it was a little offensive. you absolutely cannot read and write on blogs like in written english. you have to talk. no time to correct quirks. it’s about everybody sounding the same. speaking the queen’s english is not important. never has been because the phonetics of speech are communicating. all the little hidden meanings that those not from there will not “get”. it is a different and deeper level of communicating. ohterwise your name says it all; so no offense taken. and don;t forget that speech can be used to manipulate just as written english. think about it. alcohol sales. as if liqour by the drink didn’t just move a few beer joints closer from the river. amen.
Cat Pharm = Catawba Pharmacy on East Catawba Street.
Dude / Yankeebelle – several of your back and forth comments will not be posted, if you cannot be civil in your discussion or language. Both are teetering on the edge of this porch right now.
Thank you –
BFP Comments Page Editor
yankeebelle, we all have our quirks. mine are colloquilisms. as in 4 sale. personal favorite. however, your comment was confusing for phonetics. that is sound-related? another is probaly. another is ideal in lieu of idea. it’s about where your from. i used to try and impress this on my english teacher at sphs. phonetics are proper just not in written english. my argument rest on the ultimate goal of grammer, which is communication. communicating thorough phonetics and colloquilisms is important in blogs due to the cross pollination of written grammer and speech. blogs are a mix. freewriting, if you will. with of course a few new found oddities such as no caps, rambling run-on sentences and acronyms. in other words, just about anything goes except someone thinking they know too much, which will get you nothing but contempt. as in yankeebelle.
dude, you seem to know a lot about property development and federal regulations (but your phonetics leave a lot to be desired, sell alcohol, not sale alcohol) where did you finish school? Close by?
ps – What is this Cat pharm I keep reading about?
christian, the development is in the larvae stage undergoing engineering design and pre-leasing. The major tenant for any strip mall is the grocery store. The rumour mill has been churning out the potential leasee as Harris Teeter. However, hearsay has it that the store would not be able to sale alcohol due to proximity to the high school. Who knows. Most towns do have ordinances concerning alcohol sales in proximity to schools and churches. Otherwise, the developer has announced intentions to start early next year. The engineering is the key to the project due to its’ being in a watershed. Also, the proposed land has a creek running through it which has to be kept in place and uninterrupted per federal law. The clear cutting of trees is not so much a problem due to the fact that federal regulations require natural buffer and vegetation areas in response to stormwater regulations.
Christian you are not alone in your concerns of all the new development in our town.Others share your opinions. Im not sure what kind of impact we can have by standing alone but togather we may be able to slow things down abit. Ihope to hear more opinions from other concerned towns folk, at the least maybe we could get a message to gaston county about raising property values every four years instead of every eight which is the standard. Also we may be able to send a message to some of the local real estate companies and find out why a house that sold for 250,000 dollars 3 years ago now has a price tag of 445,000!!! What justifies a price hike such as that other than greed!! Or a home that was purchased for 188,000 6 years ago carried a recent asking price of 350,000. The tax value of this home was only 244,000. Do some research folks you will be amazed. By the way you can view the 445,000 dollar home on the corner of main and popular streets. Take care folks and I will see you at the cat pharm. GO BIG RED!!!!
I understand ground breaking for the town center is sceduled for sometime in the first quarter of next year.
Hello, thank you for your blog, I always enjoy reading it. I was wondering if you are familiar with the “Belmont Town Center” development. There are signs up at the corner of RL Stowe Rd and South Point Road. I tried to find more information online but couldn’t find any. We are concerned about the impact that all the new developments will have on Belmont.
Am on vacation in Rhode Island and checked on some old emails. Not sure which friend in Belmont sent this our way but we really appreciate it. Way to go Belmont… nice to read about our family’s favorite sport–the “beautiful game” and to read about ‘old’ friends in the news. Nice goals Matt Crane careful with the red cards though….way to go Case as keeper. Also, don’t forget to comment on defenders & mid-fielders..we love the way they play too–way to go a Aaron P. We are getting ready to sit down and watch England v Germany….best of health & happiness to all the fine people of Belmont–bless your hearts!
The Fitch Family
PS is the Virginia one of the Boyce’s??
I love it! Thank you for sending. Am looking forward to next visit.
Great, thanks.
Main Street and Stowe Park have always been a great place – especially when you can walk to get there.
Please let people know we are here…
I’m excited to see more citizen journalism in Gaston County! I look forward to reading your upcoming posts. Please take a look at my site and add a link to it in your blogroll, if you’re so inclined.
Main Street Belmont is my favorite place to hang out, BTW.