On The Porch

This Week: 

The Shakori Sessions podcast is a homegrown production that is recorded, mixed, and produced in Chatham County. Host David Dean guides the audience through candid interviews and passionate performances with musical alumni of the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance. John Delaforce serves as recording engineer with his mobile recording studio. Upcoming releases include interviews with multi-Grammy Award winner Eric Krasno, Durham’s own Kym Register from Loamlands, and festival veterans Dr. Bacon and Driftwood. 

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This Week: 

A newcomer to the South 30 years ago, award-winning writer Marjorie Hudson immediately fell in love – with whippoorwills, farm fields, her husband Sam, and her new community. Her work has won accolades and fellowships all over the country, but her activism and teaching in Chatham County keep her feet on the ground. Author of “Searching for Virginia Dare” and “Accidental Birds of the Carolinas”, Hudson has a new novel, “Indigo Field”, coming out in the spring. It’s already getting rave reviews. www.marjoriehudson.com  

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Rep. Graig Meyer has served in the NC House of Representatives since 2013. In 2023 he will become the State Senator for Orange, Person, and Caswell Counties. Meyer approaches his public service through the desire to connect people to the resources they need. His priorities include ensuring every child receives a good education, families have access to good jobs and health care, addressing the climate crisis, and ensuring everyone their full rights to justice and representation.

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Vicki Newell is in her 12th year with Chatham Literacy as the Executive Director. While staying home for six years to raise her three sons, she volunteered on the boards of Family Violence and Rape Crisis Services and the PTA of Pittsboro Elementary School. Vicki has a master’s degree in health communication from Johns Hopkins University and worked for six years with the Smart Start Initiative as a health specialist at the state level and as a program director at the Chatham County level. A former member of the Peace Corps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Vicki speaks French and Tshiluba (with a lot of effort). www.chathamliteracy.org

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This Week:

Cheryl Chamblee has 25 years of experience as a nonprofit leader, writer, educator, and theater artist. Now in her eleventh year of leadership at the Chatham Arts Council, she currently serves as Artistic Director. Cheryl led the launch of the Chatham Arts Council’s new identity in 2014, including the creation of their Chatham Artists-in-Schools Initiative, now serving 15 schools every year. Cheryl believes the arts save lives.

Selbe Bartlett is the part-time Managing Director for the Chatham Arts Council. A Chatham County resident since 2004, she served on the Chatham Arts Council board from 2016-2021. Then after 20 years of executive leadership in Healthcare IT, Selbe shifted her focus and is dedicated to finding ways to bring Chatham youth arts experiences that build a love of the arts, ignite the creative, and strengthen resilience. www.chathamartscouncil.org

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This week, Jennie Knowlton is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Quiltmaker Café, an upcoming nonprofit restaurant in the Pittsboro area that offers a full menu but no pricing. Having experienced food insecurity several different times in her life, Jennie’s top priority for the Café is to serve delicious, healthy, dignified meals in a supportive atmosphere.

Brent Levy is pastor of The Local Church, an unapologetically inclusive United Methodist faith community in Chatham County. As a board member for The Quiltmaker Café, Brent gets to lean into his passion for building beloved community through holy friendship and table fellowship.

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This week, Melissa Driver Beard, Executive Director of Chatham Outreach Alliance (“CORA”), oversees all plans and programs within the Pantry.  Melissa has worked in the nonprofit sector for 28 years and has served in an executive capacity for the past 21 years. She has worked at the local, state, national, and international levels, championing basic human needs and rights issues. She has worked indirectly and directly in food insecurity since 2009.

Rebecca Hankins, Director of Development and Communications of Chatham Outreach Alliance (“CORA”), is a dedicated change agent. She has spent over 19 years honing her skills as a fundraiser, communication specialist, project manager, and invaluable Jane of all trades. Rebecca is dedicated to ensuring program and partnership sustainability and embraces creativity, collaboration, community, and technology.

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Tych Cowdin is the Executive Director of Communities in Schools in Chatham County where he helps CIS achieve their mission “to surround students with a network of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.” Tych joined the CIS team in July 2014 as the organization’s first student support specialist and has served in a number of capacities with the agency, most recently as Director of School Based Programs. Tych came to NC from Topeka, Kansas after completing his MBA at Washburn University. He’s been an Operations Assistant with the UNC football team, a teacher, coach, and mentor, and is excited for the opportunity to utilize his people skills and passion for community development.

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Adam V. McIntyre is CEO of Vivus Viridis, LLC and a 23 year veteran of the environmental industry with a primary focus on ecological restoration. Adam is considered a national leader in ecological restoration. Adam is a watershed hydrologist (ecologist) and has used his understanding of the complexities of ecosystems to shape technical approaches, investment strategies, and policy decisions to further protect our natural resources. Fiquet B. McIntyre is President of Faircreek, LLC and is one of the Triangle’s most creative land experts having worked in multiple aspects of land use (farming, residential/commercial development, and conservation). Fiquet has developed a “landowner first” approach and has worked in many states to understand and implement land use techniques to maximize value and help clients achieve both their personal and financial goals.

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Adam V. McIntyre is CEO of Vivus Viridis, LLC and a 23 year veteran of the environmental industry with a primary focus on ecological restoration. Adam is considered a national leader in ecological restoration. Adam is a watershed hydrologist (ecologist) and has used his understanding of the complexities of ecosystems to shape technical approaches, investment strategies, and policy decisions to further protect our natural resources. Fiquet B. McIntyre is President of Faircreek, LLC and is one of the Triangle’s most creative land experts having worked in multiple aspects of land use (farming, residential/commercial development, and conservation). Fiquet has developed a “landowner first” approach and has worked in many states to understand and implement land use techniques to maximize value and help clients achieve both their personal and financial goals.

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