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Central N.C. land conservancy The LandTrust for Central North Carolina is a non-profit corporation that works to identify, protect and preserve Piedmont properties. The organization, funded by donations, covers 10 counties: Anson, Cabarrus, Davidson, Davie, Iredell, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Rowan and Stanly. It uses many tools, including tax-saving conservation easements and voluntary protection easements, to accomplish its goal of saving land. Merchandise available online includes a tote bag for $5, a ballcap for $10, and a kid’s tee shirt for $8, with the words “Save a little land for me” lettered on the back. (704) 647-0302 |
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Shag Rag This unique beach towel pays colorful tribute to the dance so popular in the Carolinas. The Shag Rag displays foot steps, numbers and the “Shag Rag” name around the perimeter on one side of the towel, while the reverse side is blank. The white towel’s dimensions are 30 by 60 inches, the red, blue, green and black printed area is 21.75 by 48 inches, and it’s made of 86 percent cotton and 14 percent polyester for a plush feel. Each towel comes poly-bagged, with a set of directions on how to do the dance. T-Val, owned by members of Wake EMC, also sells oval Shag stickers and golf towels (or put another way, “sweat rags” for gentlemen shaggers who use it while dancing). The beach towel sells for $19.95 and the golf towel sells for $5.50. (919) 395-1808 |
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Dirty Ol’ Men calendar A new wall calendar features 18 muddy, North Carolinian men acclaimed for their pottery. Each month’s page, starting July 2008 and running through December 2009, features a large, vertical color photograph of a master potter creating a pot, along with his name and biography. Potters highlighted include Clyde Gobble of Lexington, Bob Meier of Boone and Vernon Owens, Sid Luck, Paul Ray and Phil Morgan, all of Seagrove. Calendar proceeds go to fund an annual pottery scholarship for a qualified, talented student in the Montgomery Community College pottery program. The organization that administers funds, The Ashley Albright Memorial Pottery Scholarship Foundation, was created in memory of Ashley Albright, a girl stricken with spinal meningitis and encephalitis at age 5. Ashley struggled bravely with the disease until she died in 2006 at age 24. Each “Dirty Ol’ Men” calendar costs $20, plus a $5 shipping fee. It is also available at the studios of several potters featured. (336) 824-4802 |
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Prevents fires and saves energy Kitchen fires account for a large number of fires in the home. The Safe-T-element™ Cooking System is engineered to help prevent stovetop cooking fires before they start. The Safe-T-element™ Cooking System is a set of electronically controlled solid cover plates attached to existing stovetop burners. A patented control unit, installed inside the stove, controls the temperature of the plates, limiting the high-end temperature to about 350 degrees C (662 degrees F). The temperature is kept below the ignition temperature for oil and most common household materials. When the plate reaches just over 350 degrees C (662 degrees F) the stove automatically shuts off. Then as the plate cools to just below 350 degrees C (662 degrees F), the stovetop is turned on again. Considering that water boils at 100 degrees C (212 degrees F) and oil boils at 176 degrees C (350 degrees F), this temperature is more than enough for cooking. North Carolina dealer Dale Hunter, an Albemarle EMC member in Hertford, says a complete unit of four burners costs $160 and comes with a step-by-step manual. Hunter sells a self-instruction video for $5 and will install the unit for $65. (757) 477-5449 |
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Operation Kid Comfort This Armed Services YMCA program, founded on Fort Bragg, helps America’s littlest heroes, the children of deployed service men and women, by providing them with free photo-transfer comfort quilts. Central EMC member and quilter Ann Flaherty started the program to help relieve the emotional stress that children suffer during a parent’s absence. ASYMCA volunteers collect photographs from military families to make photo-transfer quilts that bear images of the deployed family member, alone or with family. With the help of local quilters, volunteers are taught basic quilting steps and how to crop and scan pictures. The quilts made are given to children ages 5 and under to play with, sleep with, or use to comfort them from the grief of missing their deployed parent. Operation Kid Comfort has served more than 2,000 children on Fort Bragg and almost 5,000 American military families nationwide. Fabled Fibers, a quilting community that supports the program, sells note cards for $3 and calendars for $10 with quilt images. Proceeds benefit Operation Kid Comfort and other ASYMCA programs. (910) 436-0500 |