This week’s “This is Tourism” is a conversation with Valerie Schwartz and Jackie Helvey, two fantastic neighbors to have in our community!

Schwartz is a local writer, perhaps best known for penning the “Neighbors” column in the Chapel Hill News for over a decade. A compilation of her stories about local people was published by The History Press in 2009, called “Remembering Chapel Hill: The 20th Century as We Lived It.” She has also written for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Visitors Center, including an Orange County visitor’s guide for people with disabilities. In early 2011, she began co-hosting the Wacqueline Stern Show with Jackie Helvey, who has been in our community since 1979. Helvey is an entrepreneur — you may know her from UniqueOrn Enterprises — website developer, co-host of the Wacqueline Stern Show, and arts activist in Carrboro. Together, Schwartz and Helvey are two of the best neighbors anyone could ask for!