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WADESBORO — Fresh faces will be making their debut in The Ansonia Theatre’s production of “Alice in Wonderland: Down the Rabbit Hole” which premieres this week.

“It’s definitely a modern adaptation of the original book,” said director Tommy Wooten, adding that there are references to current-day technology and that the music is very modern.

At eight-years-old Rebekah Forsyth will be making her debut as Alice, as will Logan Tallman playing the White Rabbit.

“You have to see this kid to believe her,” Wooten said of the lead actresses performance.

In a cast of 27 members, about 17 of them are children and teens. About 15 of the cast members will be making their stage debut.

“I love working with children,” Wooten said. “They’re little sponges who soak up everything.”

Wooten said that this is a very kid and family-friendly show, noting that there are many families who will be appearing on stage together.

During the audition period, over 70 people auditioned for roles in the play.

The basic story structure behind “Alice in Wonderland” remains the same, although it’s slightly condensed to a 75 minute runtime. The cast has been working on the play’s production for about seven weeks prior to the debut.

“This is a great show to introduce kids to theater,” Wooten said.

The cast —

Rebekah Forsyth — Alice

Gracilee Bricker — Edith

Logan Tallan — The White Rabbit

Marcus Covington — The Cheshire Cat

Karen Johnston — The Queen of Hearts

Robert Graves — The King

Amanda Traywick — The Duchess

John Caudle — The Mad Hatter

Other members of the cast include Audrey Barringer, Cleve Baxley, Maria Bennett, Teri Brown, Glenn Caulder, Lela Chaney, Andrew Forsyth, Jeremiah Forsyth, Regina Forsyth, Cali Green, Greyson Helms, Animah Jackson, Donnie Lewis, Taniqua Lindsey, Rocky Moore, Abigail Moree, Ayla Perkins, Donald Perkins and Eversmith Tallman.

Members of the crew include

Tommy Wooten — Director

Maggie Gibson — Assistant direction

Mike Phillips and Teri Brown — Set design

Joe Blocker — Sound

Paige Mercer — Lights

Donnie Lewis, Chipper Long, Teri Brown and Brittany Price — Costumes

“Alice in Wonderland: Down the Rabbit Hole” will premiere this Friday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. There will be another 7:30 p.m. show on Saturday, followed by a 3:00 p.m. performance on Sunday. Those set times will repeat the weekend of May 20-22. For this performance, attendees in the audience do not need to wear a mask for the show.

To support the Richmond County Daily Journal, subscribe at https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/subscribe or 910-817-3111.

Reach Matthew Sasser at 910-817-2671 or msasser@yourdailyjournal.com. To suggest a correction, email editor@yourdailyjournal.com or call 910-817-2673.

FORT BRAGG — This month, Special Forces candidates will participate in the Robin Sage training exercise, held within multiple North Carolina counties as the final test of their Special Forces Qualification Course training.

Between January 22 through February 4, students will participate in this exercise before graduating the course and moving on to their first assignments in the Army’s Special Forces community. Robin Sage is a two-week culmination exercise. The participants are students at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, based out of Fort Bragg.

The exercise’s fictional country of Pineland encompasses Alamance, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Cabarrus, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland, Davidson, Guilford, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, New Hanover, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rowan, Sampson, Scotland, Stanly, Union, and Wake counties in North Carolina and the South Carolina counties of Chesterfield, Dillon and Marlboro.

Throughout the exercise, military and civilian support personnel, as well as community volunteers who serve as auxiliary, will participate in and/or provide support during each of these exercises. Military service members from units across Fort Bragg will also support the exercise. These military members act as realistic opposing forces and guerrilla freedom fighters, also known as Pineland’s resistance movement. These troops play a critical role in the training exercise.

To add realism to the exercise, civilian volunteers throughout the state act as role-players. Participation by these volunteers is crucial to the success of this training, and past trainees attest to the realism they add to the exercise.

All Robin Sage movements and events have been coordinated with public safety officials throughout and within the towns and counties hosting the training. Residents may hear blank gunfire and see occasional flares. Controls are in place to ensure there is no risk to persons or property. Residents with concerns should contact local law enforcement officials, who will immediately contact exercise control officials.

For the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, safety is always the command’s top priority during all training events. The following measures have been implemented:

• Formal written notification to the chiefs of law enforcement agencies in the affected counties, with a follow-up visit from a unit representative.

• All civilian and non-student military participants are briefed on procedures to follow if there is contact with law enforcement officials.

• Students will only wear civilian clothes if the situation warrants, as determined by the instructors, and will wear a distinctive brown armband during these instances.

• Training areas and vehicles used during exercises are clearly labeled.

Robin Sage is the U.S. military’s premiere unconventional warfare exercise and the final test of over a year’s worth of training for aspiring Special Forces Soldiers. Candidates are placed in an environment of political instability characterized by armed conflict, forcing Soldiers to analyze and solve problems to meet the challenges of this “real-world” training.

Questions concerning the exercise should be referred to the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Public Affairs Office at (910) 396-9394, or by e-mail at pao_swcs@socom.mil.

In the event of an emergency, please contact your local law enforcement agency.

Janice Burton is the Editor Special Warfare/Deputy PAO at the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

To support the Anson Record call 704-994-5474 or visit https://www.ansonrecord.com/subscribe.

Although the calendar says June 21 is the first day of summer, once local farm stands begin selling NC peaches summer is as good as here! Area farm stands are beginning to open up, and early peaches are ripening on trees. Summertime is synonymous with peaches!

Peaches originated in China, but are grown across North America. California is the number one peach producer in the US, followed by Georgia, South Carolina, and New Jersey. North Carolina used to be a big player in the peach industry in the early part of the last century. Here in the Sandhills, we have a venerable and romantic history with peaches. After World War I, many wealthy Northerners came down to the Sandhills as part of a “back to the land” movement in reaction to Industrialization in the North, and were instrumental in starting the peach industry in the region. The community of Derby is named for Roger Derby, who was one of the premier members of the group. At the peak of peach production in the Sandhills around 1920, there were 300,000 acres of peaches; now, there are just around 3,000 in the entire state.

None the less, our peach growing legacy is one we should honor and appreciate. In North Carolina, peaches are tree ripened and packed in the orchard. This means NC peaches are more delicious than any other. Peach growers in other states often grade peaches and pack for shipping. The peach is picked “mature” – less than ripe – so it can withstand the rigors of bouncing down a pack line, graded, packed, and stored before being shipped out. North Carolina growers got out of the shipper market decades ago, and you can taste the difference.

Not only do NC peaches taste better, many are distinctly North Carolinian, developed at the Sandhills Research Station in Montgomery County by specialists at NC State University. They have names like “Derby”, “Candor”, “Norman” and “Windblo”. Get to know your peach varieties! Each variety has a taste and quality that is unique. Many love the Windblo peach – one of the early freestone varieties that come off around July 4th most years – for its non-browning characteristics, making it excellent for canning. However, other varieties such as “Contender” and “Carolina Gold” were developed from Windblo, and are also non-browning. Customers look forward with great expectation to the freestone peaches which start to come off at the end of June. In fact, many people will pass by the first peaches of the season, which are “cling” peach varieties. “Cling” and “freestone” refer to the flesh of the peach that holds tight to the pit in early peaches, but let go of it in later maturing varieties. However, cling peaches, such as Derby, Clayton, and Rich May, have a wonderful flavor and texture and I think offer some of the best flavor of any peach! Though early varieties may be harder to find this year, give them a try. Some have the smooth, silky texture similar to a mango, but with the sweet-tart flavor of peaches.

I will sometimes get calls from homeowners who want to grow their own peaches. There are few things more challenging to grow than a peach. Our warm, humid summers means that several fungal and bacterial diseases – which are basically non-existent in dry California – require

constant management. There are also many critters, like June bugs, plum cucurlio (a weevil type insect), and stink bugs, just to name a few who love peaches too. I encourage people to buy from the local growers who have generations of experience growing peaches, and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Bynum Farm in Windblow (which usually opens the first of July), and Triple L Farm in Derby both sell their own peaches, and the Berry Patch in Ellerbe sells locally grown peaches as well. You may also want to attend the annual Candor Peach Festival which this year is Saturday, July 16, in Montgomery County. The festival features a parade, music, vendors, food, and of course, plenty of peaches!

WADESBORO — Anson-native Mary Ellerbe Bennett will be releasing her first album, “Year of Release,” that has been 13 years in the making.

“It’s always been something that I wanted to do,” Bennett, a ‘97 graduate of Anson High School, said. “Life and circumstances just didn’t allow it at the time.”

The name of the album comes through hardships that her family has endured. Her husband, Albert Bennett Jr., earned a full scholarship to NC State University while attending Richmond Community College in 2008, all while undergoing kidney dialysis. Three months prior to his graduation, he was involved in a car accident that doctors didn’t think he would live from. While Bennett was helping her husband learn to walk and talk again, her music career was delayed. Bennett is also the mother of four children, Casandra, Savannah, Albert III and Albertina.

“Year of Release” is a contemporary gospel album with elements of jazz and soul. A single, “Through the Storm,” has already been released. There are five songs on the album.

“People can expect to be encouraged and enlightened [listening to the album],” Bennett said. “With everything we’ve had going on in our lives, people losing jobs, the deaths of loved ones, God is still good.”

The album is not only a testimony of her family’s struggles and successes, but they’re involved in the project as well. Albert III, a 19-year-old at South Carolina State University, is the producer for the album. Albertina and Savannah have writing credits, and Casandra produced a video. Bennett’s father, Bishop Walter Ellerbe, also co-wrote a song.

“It’s the best thing ever,” Bennett said about working with her family. “If they’re writing something for me, they know me, know my style, know my sound. We’re able to get a lot done in a little bit of time.”

Bennett said she comes from a singing family, and that her experience of living in Anson County for nearly 30 years continues to shape her musical career.

“I live and breathe Anson County,” Bennett said. “I remember growing up in school, a lot of my teachers and principals would encourage me to use my gift.”

A release event for “Year of Release” will be held at 4:00 p.m. at the TCIF outdoor theatre at 89 Davidson Lane in Wadesboro on May 21.

To support the Richmond County Daily Journal, subscribe at https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/subscribe or 910-817-3111.

Reach Matthew Sasser at 910-817-2671 or msasser@yourdailyjournal.com. To suggest a correction, email editor@yourdailyjournal.com or call 910-817-2673.

Connecting what you’re taught in the classroom to the world around you should be the goal for every student. For Wingate exercise science major Gracie Moree, the opportunity to do research that could address an immediate need within her family was both rewarding and inspiring.

Her mother, an ER nurse who had fostered her interest in a healthcare career, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, when Moree was a sophomore.

“I was taking Principles of Resistance Training, and we had to do a project,” Moree says. “My mom was really weak after her cancer treatments, so I talked to my professor, Dr. [Bill] Steffen, about creating an exercise program for my mom.”

The program she created not only helped her mother gain strength and return to work, but it sparked more curiosity in Moree, who decided to take it to the next level with a senior Honors project in Dr. Jenny Bond’s Exercise Prescription for Special Populations class.

The result was a 20-page paper about whether physical activity can potentially decrease the risk of developing cancer and what benefits there are to exercising after a cancer diagnosis.

Moree examined the causes of the four most common types of cancer (prostate, breast, lung and colorectal) and found that many of them, including being overweight, hormonal imbalances, Type 2 diabetes and physical inactivity, could be addressed with exercise. She also studied DNA methylation and its relationship to cancer as well as the physiological and psychological benefits of exercise for cancer survivors.

As part of her poster presentation on the research, she expanded the exercise program she’d first created for her mother, adding aerobics and stretching/flexibility work to the resistance training. She presented her findings in March at the Carolinas’ Exercise Science and Kinesiology Research Symposium and again last month at Wingate’s Wellspring Symposium, where her parents came to show their support.

“Mom is doing great, fully back at work and still exercising,” Moree says.

The homeschooled commuter student from Burnsville in Anson County is also doing great. She’ll cross the commencement stage next week as one of about two dozen students graduating summa cum laude (with highest honors). And she’s already been accepted into grad school at Winston Salem State University to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy.

Undergraduate commencement begins at 9 a.m. May 17. Graduate commencement is set for May 18 at 9 a.m. Weather permitting, both will be held on Wingate’s Academic Quad.