In the News

Photo by Saurya Acharya | The Daily Tar Heel

The Carrboro Planning Department informs community members of available public transit routes at the Carrboro in Motion event on Nov. 19, 2022. Community members participated in a variety of events at the neighborhood block party hosted at Estes Park Apartments.

By Simon Tan

November 19, 2022 | 1:42pm EST

The Town of Carrboro hosted the latest in a series of Carrboro in Motion events at Estes Park Apartments on Saturday, Nov. 19.

The event brought together many government and nonprofit agencies including El Centro Hispano, Orange County Public Library, Bike Carrboro, NEXT, Red Ridge NC Bike Share, Orange Literacy and Carrboro Transportation Choices.

The event aims to promote the goals of the Inclusive Carrboro Communications and Community Engagement Plan by establishing a presence in and interacting with the people of the community.

Kristin Bennett, the cybrary supervisor for the Orange County Public Library, said the events celebrate building relationships within the community and that it is an opportunity to help teach residents how to utilize library resources.

“Rather than always saying, ‘Come to us, come to the library,’ we want to go out to them,” Bennett said. “It's a two-way street.”

She said the library brought promotional handouts, drawstring bags, pens and pencils to give away. They also helped people sign up for library cards. 

In addition to the library, other agencies also brought their resources and shows to the event. 

According to a press release from Carrboro, a live Zumba class led by Oscar Garcia was held and the Mobile Health Unit provided by El Centro Hispano provided basic health screenings.

Carrboro Communication and Engagement staff provided general information about Town services, including volunteer opportunities and programs, and the "Party Trailer" provided games and activities for children. Snacks and drinks were also supplied.

Chapel Hill Transit brought route information, and BikeShare, a program by Red Ridge NC, helped people fix their bikes, as well as exchange broken bikes for working ones if they cannot be repaired.

“When they say ‘Yes, I do have a bike, but it doesn't run,’ our team is going to be there on the ground ready to help get that bike rolling again," Mike Holland, the lead organizer for BikeShare, said. 

BikeShare also helped those who want to know more about bikes find a class, Chandler Holland, the founder and director of Red Ridge NC, said.

Catherine Lazorko, the communication and engagement director for the Town of Carrboro, said this event is the second Carrboro in Motion event the Town has hosted. The first one took place in October at Carolina Apartments.

Despite both of the Carrboro in Motion events being held in apartment complexes, Lazorko said the event is not exclusive to apartment residents. In the future, she said, the Town plans to host more Carrboro in Motion events across the town.

“After this event in November, we will be taking a little break, because these are really designed as block parties, and they're going to be outside," Lazorko said. "And with the weather getting colder, we're going to just take a break until spring, and then we'll start up again."

For future events, Lazrko said the Town aspires to bring along more partners. She hopes that through the events, the Town can find an even stronger connection with the community.

“We envision having what we're kind of calling neighborhood block parties happening at town parks, at more apartment complexes, and in neighborhoods,” Lazorko said.

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The Town of Carrboro together with community partners is hosting a series of Carrboro In Motion events to increase neighbor-to-neighbor participation and engagement with the community. 

The events leverage community assets and strengths from public agencies and partners, including El Centro Hispano, Bike Carrboro, NEXT, Red Ridge NC Bike Share, Orange Literacy, Orange County Public Library, and Carrboro Transportation Choices. 

Our next neighborhood block party will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19 at Estes Park Apartments off Estes Extension in Carrboro. Stop by to join the free event - no registration required. 

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Congratulations to Chandler Holland for completing the North Carolina Environmental Education Certification program. Holland is a sophomore at Warren Wilson College, where she is pursuing an Integrated Studies major and Business minor. She is also developing a community organization called Red Ridge, NC which serves to engage, educate and employ the local community through their programs and micro business opportunities.

The multi-day workshops that Holland participated in stood out as her favorite parts of the certification program. She found the "Heart-Based Environmental Education Training" at Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute particularly influential. In this workshop, Holland learned about the 8 Shields Program, which she credits with increasing her connection to nature and providing her with tools to share that connection with others. Holland also enjoyed the Certified Interpretive Guide training because "the focus on interpretation rather than education opened up an entire other part of sharing  information and creating engagement that I hadn't really thought about before."

For her community partnership project, Holland created the Saxapahaw Island Park Nature Bingo activity which uses the local flora and fauna on bingo playing cards. These cards use photographs from the trails and riverbanks of the park to encourage both children and adults to engage directly with the nature on the island." The project will enhance each visitor's experience in the park, as it encourages exploration beyond the playground and onto the many trails through the more natural areas." Additionally, participants are encouraged to share their findings on Instagram and Pinterest to increase the reach of the project and catalog findings.

The certification program provided Holland with a structure to further develop her teaching experiences and taught her different forms of teaching. "Though I have been a non-formal educator since I was 10 years old, I had never really been given a structure to form my teaching experiences around. Through the certification program, I have been given access to multiple formats to mold and combine into what I need and they are invaluable resources into developing my approach to teaching."