August Gathering, Day One

Hello friends, family, and newcomers!

Exciting news: August Gathering has arrived!

My summer job, Summer of Solutions (SoS), works to empower youth to create meaningful jobs for themselves and the community. SoS is a national program that totals 12 cities across the country. Despite our best efforts to keep in touch, the momentum of our vision becomes diluted with such distance. Thus we created August Gathering -- an opportunity for representatives from each city to come together in one location for a week.

This set up gives the cities a chance to discuss, in person, their successes, failures, and planned improvements to their chapter of Summer of Solutions. (Each city has a specific focus regarding the green economy. Fayetteville's SoS program is focusing on the local food network. Others include weatherization, gardening, energy reduction, and more.)

Lucky for us, Fayetteville is the meeting spot! People began arriving last night and today, and more will come tomorrow. So far we have reps from Texas, Minnesota, Virginia, Oregon, and others. Not all are directly associated with Summer of Solutions, but all share the same vision and passion.

This morning, I coordinated the "optional fun events" section of the schedule. Because it was really the only time to get to know Fayetteville, we spent the day in the down town area. Being a Saturday, of course I took the group to the Farmer's Market. We grabbed breakfast from Little Bread Co., then went to the square to hand out fliers about our program and some upcoming events.

Next, we explored the Fayetteville Underground (an art gallery for local artists), Cheap Thrills (a vintage/second-hand/costume store with moderately well-priced items), and the many shops on Block Street. After a left onto Dickson, we peaked into Nightbird Books, followed by the Dickson Street Book Shop. On the way down to Greenhouse Grille for lunch we walked by Fine Finds (a seriously cheap, rather junky store I've only been in once), Bike City (a bike shop that constructs refurbished bikes out of previously used parts), and Trailside Cafe and Tea Room (a quaint little restaurant that specializes in premium refreshment).

If you are familiar with the city, I hope you agree; this is it. The previous two paragraphs represent the very core of Fayetteville -- the most important glimpses to any outsider. As coordinator of the tour, I did my best to capture it in its true light.

What's your favorite aspect of Fayetteville? Leave your answers in comments -- you don't have to be a user!