Doris Betts Book Club at Pittsboro Presbyterian Church

Pittsboro Presbyterian Church 95 East Street, Pittsboro, NC

Last Tuesday of every month at 11 am Fellowship Hall Join us for the Doris Betts Book Club meeting for a lively discussion of this month’s book. How does it work? Group members select books, both fiction and nonfiction, with themes and challenges that draw us to consider the role of faith and spirituality in our lives. Didn’t finish the book? (or even read it?!) Come anyway and enjoy the fellowship, conversation and intellectual stimulation. Have a book you’ve read that you’d love to discuss? Come and propose it to the group! We look forward to seeing you there. April 26, 2022 “Daisy Miller” by Henry James Led by JoAnne Robb Originally published in The Cornhill Magazine in 1878 and in book form in 1879, Daisy Miller brought Henry James his first widespread commercial and critical success. The young Daisy Miller, an American on holiday with her mother on the shores of Switzerland’s Lac Leman, is one of James’s most vivid and tragic characters. Daisy’s friendship with an American gentleman, Mr. Winterbourne, and her subsequent infatuation with a passionate but impoverished Italian bring to life the great Jamesian themes of Americans abroad, innocence versus experience, and the grip of fate. As Elizabeth Hardwick writes in her Introduction, Daisy Miller “lives on, a figure out of literature who has entered history as a name, a vision.”

T.Kingfisher presents NETTLE & BONE at Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

Marra never wanted to be a hero. As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, she escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn’t so fortunate—and after years of silence, Marra is done watching her suffer at the hands of a powerful and abusive prince. Seeking help for her rescue mission, Marra is offered the tools she needs, but only if she can complete three seemingly impossible tasks: build a dog of bones, sew a cloak of nettles, and capture moonlight in a jar But, as is the way in tales of princes and witches, doing the impossible is only the beginning. Hero or not—now joined by a disgraced ex-knight, a reluctant fairy godmother, an enigmatic gravewitch, and her fowl familiar—Marra might finally have the courage to save her sister and topple a throne.

Roy Hoffman presents THE PROMISE OF THE PELICAN, with Elaine Neil Orr at Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

At once a literary crime novel and an intergenerational family drama, The Promise of the Pelican is set in the multicultural South, where justice might depend on the color of your skin and your immigration status. Hank Weinberg is a modern-day Atticus Finch, recently retired as a defense attorney in Mobile, Alabama, and a Holocaust survivor, who fled the Nazis as a young child. With his daughter in rehab, he's now taking care of his special needs grandson. Mourning his dead wife, spending mornings fishing on the pier with other octogenarians, he passes the rest of his days watching over his sweet grandson with the help of Lupita, a young Honduran babysitter. When her brother Julio, an undocumented immigrant, is accused of murder, Hank must return to the courtroom to defend him while also trying to save his daughter and grandson's life from spinning out of control. The Promise of the Pelican takes its title from the legend that a pelican will pierce its own breast for blood to feed its starving chicks, a metaphor for one old man who risks all to save the vulnerable.

First Sunday, May 2022

Downtown Pittsboro 9 Hillsboro St, Pittsboro, NC, United States

Come out and enjoy a bit of Pittsboro's downtown charm. This family-friendly event is free to attend. Artisans, non-profits, and local businesses will be out and about as we enjoy some sweet treats. Just a few of the downtown businesses that are usually open on First Sunday: Pittsboro Toys French Connections LiquidAmbar Gallery and Gifts Edwards Antiques Reclamation Would you like to be a vendor at First Sunday? Please fill out an application.

Local on Lorax

The Plant at Lorax Lane 220 Lorax Lane, Pittsboro, United States

The bright hues of Spring bring to mind two things: the promise of farmers’ fields found nearby abundant with fresh growth, and the renewed sense of creativity for local artists of all genres. In Pittsboro, small farms and a robust creative culture is a way of life. Help us celebrate this good life with a pop-up dinner that has a super-local twist. We've gathered area farmers, chefs, restaurants, craft beverages, and visual and performing artists for a good time. Join us for “Local on Lorax: A Farm & Art Dinner” on Sunday, May 1st, 5-8pm outdoors at The Plant, 192 Lorax Lane, Pittsboro NC. A limited number of vegetarian entrees are available. Email Greg@39westcatering.com to request your vegetarian entree.

Jim Grimsley presents THE DOVE IN THE BELLY at Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

A story of the electric, dangerous, sometimes tender but always powerful attraction between two very different boys. But it's also about the full cycles of love and life and how they open in us the twinned capacities for grief and joy. At the University of North Carolina, Ronny's made some friends, kept his secrets, survived dorm life, and protected his heart. Until he can't. The Dove in the Belly is about the electric, dangerous, sometimes tender but always powerful attraction between two very different boys. But it's also about the full cycles of love and life and how they open in us the twinned capacities for grief and joy.

Spring Flowers Painting Class at The Creative Goat

The Creative Goat 984 Thompson Street Suite F, Pittsboro, NC

Come out for a fun Friday night with your friends to paint this cute Spring Flowers in a vase. Pick your own flowers 🌺 colors. Date: May 6th Time 7-9pm $35 ticket includes: All supplies, pre-traced 11 x 14 canvas, step by step instruction, and light refreshments. Beginner painters are welcome and encouraged. Limited seats for this Pre-Pay event! (Registration closes May 4 or until Sold Out).

$35.00

Derby Day at The Sycamore at Chatham Mills

The Sycamore at Chatham Mills 480 Hillsboro Street, Pittsboro, NC, United States

Kentucky Derby Day Sat May 7 The Lounge will open at 3pm. Watch the the most exciting two minutes in sports on widescreen, shoot a game of pool. Enjoy our Charcuterie Board with a Kentucky Mule or Mint Julep before, during, and after the horses run. New Lounge menu now being served every weekend. Warning: Lounge visits may be habit forming.

Joseph Bathanti presents LIGHT AT THE SEAM at Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

Light at the Seam, a new collection from North Carolina poet Joseph Bathanti, is an exploration of mountaintop removal in southern Appalachian coal country. The volume illuminates and champions often invisible people residing, in a precarious moment in time, on the glorious, yet besieged, Appalachian earth. Their call to defend it, as well as their faith that the land will exact its own reckoning, constitutes a sacred as well as existential quest. Rooted in social and restorative justice, Light at the Seam contemplates the earth as fundamentally sacramental, a crucible of awe and mystery, able to regenerate itself and its people even as it succumbs to them. More than mere cautionary tale, this is a volume of hope and wonder.

Advanced Cricut Class at The Creative Goat

The Creative Goat 984 Thompson Street Suite F, Pittsboro, NC

After you've had some experience creating with your machine, join us for some advanced techniques & topics. PRIOR EXPERIENCE with Cricut Design space is Required. Bring your computer/laptop with latest version of Design Space and your Cricut machine. Project to be completed in class and available for you to take home.

Sam Peterson presents SUGAR, A MEMOIR OF CRAVING at Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

Prequel to Sam’s best-selling Trunky: Transgender Junky, Sugar is a darkly comedic account of his earlier years in which transition from female to male was unthinkable before the 1990s. Yet, it is an obsession that Sam cannot chase or admit and informs every choice she makes in her journey of increasingly dangerous addictions that begins with sugar in the 1960s and reaches a perilous crescendo in heroin and homelessness. Told with the stunning candor and authenticity typical of Sam’s literary style, Sugar is the deeply moving story of anyone, who, seemingly trapped in the dark ambers of mental illness and addiction, learn the courage to change the things that they can, accept the those that they cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Bling and Sip Class at The Creative Goat

The Creative Goat 984 Thompson Street Suite F, Pittsboro, NC

In this beginner class, we explore the basics needed to complete your first blinged project - tumblers! All materials will be provided and you will take home the knowledge and tools needed to add sparkle to just about anything!

Chatham County Geology

Historic Chatham County Courthouse 9 Hillsboro St., Pittsboro, NC, United States

How was the land that is now Chatham County formed? Did you know that Chatham has experienced earthquakes and that there are ancient volcanic rocks in the county? Or that unique fossils have been found here? What do you know about Chatham County coal, iron, or the history of mining in the county? What common Chatham rocks can you identify and how have some of them been used over the course of Chatham’s history? What do you know about groundwater hydrogeology and water wells in Chatham County? Join us for some answers to these and other questions! Professional geologist Christopher Palmer will be our guest speaker.

Richard Butner presents THE ADVENTURIST at Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

Remember the girl you once knew, the theater kid? Now she’s become the Queen, and you might need to rescue her. There’s the historic house, where someone once saw a ghost and you almost fell in love. An ornithopter hangs in the lobby of your corporate workplace: your co-worker thinks he might be able to operate it. Once you found a tunnel under your old high school, and couldn’t resist going to see where it led. Sometimes a door will open into a new world, sometimes into the past. Putting on a costume might be the restart you are half hoping for. There are things buried here. You might want to save them. You might want to get out of the way. Butner’s allusive and elusive stories reach into the uncanny corners of life—where there are no job losses, just HCAPs (Head Count Allocation Procedures), where a tree might talk to just one person, where Death’s Fool is not to be ignored.

South Writ Large at Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

South Writ Large: Stories from the Global South is an anthology of personal essays, articles, poetry, and artwork that explores the culture of the U.S. South and its extensive connections to other regions of the world. The collection is composed of articles published over the past ten years in the online magazine South Writ Large, which examines the changing South in its symbolic and psychological complexity to stimulate conversation about the culture of the South at home and abroad.

Kathryn Miles presents TRAILED: ONE WOMAN’S QUEST TO SOLVE THE SHENANDOAH MURDERS at Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

They must have been followed. That’s the thought I return to after all these years . . . In May 1996, two skilled backcountry leaders, Lollie Winans and Julie Williams, entered Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park for a week-long backcountry camping trip. The free-spirited and remarkable young couple had met and fallen in love the previous summer while working at a world-renowned outdoor program for women. During their final days in the park, they descended the narrow remnants of a trail and pitched their tent in a hidden spot. After the pair didn’t return home as planned, park rangers found a scene of horror at their campsite, their tent slashed open, their beloved dog missing, and both women dead in their sleeping bags. The unsolved murders of Winans and Williams continue to haunt all who had encountered them or knew their story. When award-winning journalist and outdoors expert Kathryn Miles begins looking into the case, she discovers conflicting evidence, mismatched timelines, and details that just don’t add up. With unprecedented access to crucial crime-scene forensics and key witnesses—and with a growing sense of both mission and obsession—she begins to uncover the truth. An innocent man, Miles is convinced, has been under suspicion for decades, while the true culprit is a known serial killer, if only authorities would take a closer look. Intimate, page-turning, and brilliantly reported, Trailed is a love story and a call to justice—and a searching and urgent plea to make wilderness a safe space for women—destined to become a true crime classic.

Spring Vendorapalooza at Chatham Marketplace

Chatham Mills 480 Hillsboro St, Pittsboro, NC, United States

Enjoy shopping for handmade crafts and local products during the beautiful month of May! The market will be hosting visiting farmers and craftspeople, along with our own amazing vendors! Great Mother's Day shopping! We are having the event over the course of three Saturdays in May. Check out the list of craft vendors for each week at https://www.chathammillsfarmersmarket.com/vendorpalooza/.

VIRTUAL: Maggie Shipstead presents YOU HAVE A FRIEND IN 10A via Flyleaf Books

Flyleaf Books 752 MLK Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC

From the Booker Prize nominee and New York Times best-selling author of Great Circle, a piercing, irresistible first collection of short stories exquisite in their craft and audacious in their range. A love triangle plays out over decades on a Montana dude ranch. A hurdler and a gymnast spend a single night together in the Olympic village. Mistakes and mysteries weave an intangible web around an old man’s deathbed in Paris, connecting disparate destinies. On the slopes of an unfinished ski resort, a young woman searches for her vanished lover. A couple’s Romanian honeymoon goes ominously awry, and, in the mesmerizing title story, a former child actress breaks with her life in a Hollywood cult. In these and other stories, knockout after knockout, Maggie Shipstead delivers another “extraordinary” (New York Times) work of fiction and seals her reputation as a writer of “breathtaking range and skill” (Kirkus Reviews). Rich in imagination and dazzling in its shapeshifting style, You Have a Friend in 10A excavates the complexities of love, sex, and life in ways unsparing and hilarious, sharp-eyed and tender.