A spirited battle for rare bourbons
Plus: High school adjusts attendance rules after Ledger article; New venue for robot bear orchestra; Former council member takes new political job; Attack knocks out power to 40,000 near Pinehurst
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S.C. liquor store holds field day, with winners earning right to buy hard-to-find bottles; sack race, egg toss, quest for Pappy
Teams of four competed in a pillow sack race for the right to buy bottles of Russell's Reserve 13-year on Saturday at Elon Park in south Charlotte. Some participants tripped en route. Others threw their bodies over the finish line to secure the win.
by Lindsey Banks
From afar, the fields behind Elon Park Elementary on Ardrey Kell Road in the Ballantyne area looked like an ordinary school field day on Saturday.
But upon further inspection, the people hopping across the field in pillow sacks, diving onto the artificial turf with kegs, and screaming and tugging on rope in a tug of war weren’t 8-year-olds. They were adults, ranging in age from their early 20s to mid-60s, braving the cold, misty battleground — and slight embarrassment — to compete for the right to buy rare bottles of bourbon from a South Carolina liquor giant.
Southern Spirits, a liquor store in Indian Land, S.C., hosted its first-ever “Allocated Olympics” to celebrate the store’s 20th anniversary. “Allocated” means that the store receives only a limited number of bottles to distribute.
Typically, interested buyers would either have to camp out in line at the liquor store on a specified day or hunt for the bottles like Easter eggs at Southern Spirits. The Mecklenburg County ABC Board holds a lottery for distributing its allocated bourbons every year, typically in January.
The Allocated Olympics was the brainchild of Drew Podrebarac, owner of Southern Spirits, who wanted a fun and unique way to celebrate the store. The liquor store has a knack for creative marketing: During the depths of North Carolina’s liquor supply problems last year, it hired a plane to fly around south Charlotte to advertise its well-stocked supply, The Ledger reported at the time.
Saturday’s event was free to participate, and most competitors were frequent Southern Spirits customers who had heard about it through the store’s Instagram account, with over 14,500 followers.
Twenty teams of four people competed in team, duo and individual field day games to win the chance to purchase allocated bottles of bourbon like a 12-year Van Winkle for $127 and limited release 17-year Heaven Hill for $290, which was the most expensive bottle sold Saturday.
Events included a 50-yard dash, beach bocce ball, an egg toss, a dizzy bat race, a game of tag, and for the final event, a frozen T-shirt contest in which competitors raced to unfreeze a T-shirt and put it on. For this contest, the winner received a “golden ticket,” which means the winner could redeem their prize for the first-place position in line at any one allocated release event at Southern Spirits anytime over the next year.
Seth Jenkins, 49, was among the 80 participants. Jenkins, a lead analyst at Wells Fargo, was there in hopes of bringing home an addition to his 700-bottle collection. Although he had just met his randomly assigned team earlier that morning, they quickly bonded over the shared hope of winning what his teammate David Howard Sr., called the “unicorn” bottle: the Pappy Van Winkle.
Howard, who was there competing with his son, said he’s seen Pappy bottles sell for over $1,000 at private shops in South Carolina, so being able to buy these bourbons for $200 to $300 at retail price from Southern Spirits fueled the competitive atmosphere.
Mark Sikes of Waxhaw also met his team that morning. Sikes, 64, was 30 years older than his other three teammates, but that didn’t slow them down. Their team won both the pillow sack race and the keg toss, securing all four of their own bottles of Russell’s Reserve 13 and a 10-year Van Winkle. Aaron Borrelli, one of Sikes’ teammates, said the price for the Russell’s bottle was $134.
Sikes called himself a novice bourbon collector who was there mainly for the camaraderie.
A few participants who consider themselves bourbon collectors and drinkers were there for the fun. David Newcomer, 45, of Harrisburg owns about 200 bottles and even built a bar in his home to hold the collection. He said he didn’t expect to win anything Saturday, but was excited to participate in the unique event.
At the end of the day, Southern Spirits sold all 28 bottles of bourbon either close to or at the retail price ranging from $54 to $300. Southern Spirits says they’re already having conversations about planning another similar event for next year.
“My main goal for the day was to make a memory with my son,” said David Howard, Sr. “And that’s what we did.”
Lindsey Banks is a staff reporter for The Ledger: lindsey@cltledger.com
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Myers Park High adjusts rules on ‘attendance recovery’ for health-related absences
The county’s largest high school, Myers Park High, told parents on Friday that students who miss school because they’re sick don’t need to attend special “attendance recovery” sessions, as long as they provide proper documentation.
The announcement followed the publication of an article in The Ledger on Friday morning that reported that some students and parents are concerned that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ strict attendance rules are pressuring kids to go to school sick and forgo needed therapy. It quoted a Myers Park senior who vomited one morning before school but went to class anyway because he didn’t want to accumulate another absence and risk failing a class or having to attend “attendance recovery.”
Attendance recovery will also not be required for Myers Park students who miss school for injury, medical or dental appointments, a death in their immediate family, quarantine or a school-sponsored activity — again, as long as documentation is provided, according to the message sent to parents.
“After thinking about it more and getting parent feedback, I made some adjustments. It’s that simple, honestly,” Myers Park Principal Bob Folk told The Ledger.
Folk said he was already planning to make the change before the Ledger article was published. “I made the decision before the article came out, but the article confirmed what I already understood: that the policy wasn’t clear enough, and I wanted to be more supportive.”
The CMS policy says a high school student who misses more than 10 days of any class — whether the absence is excused or unexcused — will receive a grade of “F” for the course. It says individual schools should develop procedures for students to make up absences. The CMS parent-student handbook says students must recover excess absences “hour-for-hour” in attendance recovery.
Folk said, “At the end of the day, I really don’t want to be a principal who will penalize students for things that are beyond their control, like things that are medical, or the death of a family member. That doesn’t seem right.”
A CMS spokesman said Sunday he did not immediately know if other schools had made similar announcements. —Michelle Crouch
Related article from The Ledger/N.C. Health News:
Correction
A Charlotte Ledger/NC Health News article on Friday about Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ attendance policy gave the wrong information on who decided to reinstate a regulation calling for high school students to fail a course if they miss more than 10 classes. The CMS superintendent reinstated the rule without a board vote being required.
Bear-aking news: 18-piece robotic orchestra lands new gig in Kannapolis
The Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra, an 18-piece ensemble of animatronic bears playing holiday music, was exiled from Founders Hall uptown after 20 years when Bank of America didn’t invite them back.
But on Friday, the bears started a four-week run at the Celebration of Lights in Kannapolis, 30 minutes northeast of Charlotte.
BEAR RELOCATION: The Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra won’t play at Founders Hall uptown as usual, but it’s in the next best place: the Celebration of Lights in Kannapolis (above), through Dec. 30.
The city — the longtime home of sheet and towel behemoth Cannon Mills, the birthplace of Dale Earnhardt — sent out an enthusiastic news release Friday announcing that the bears stood “ready to share their holiday magic in Kannapolis with children and adults alike with their witty banter, inspiring instrumental pieces and traditional favorite holiday songs!”
The orchestra will “join their bear family friends” known as the Chuckles Quartet — other animatronic bears that have long been featured at the Celebration of Lights.
That totals 22 musical robot bears in Kannapolis.
The Celebration of Lights runs through Dec. 30. —TM
Related Ledger articles:
“Bank of America declines to explain decision to cancel singing bear robot orchestra” (Nov. 18)
“Readers weigh in on cancellation of Founders Hall singing holiday robots” (Nov. 21)
New job for Larken Egleston: running congressional district offices for Jeff Jackson
Larken Egleston, the former Charlotte City Council member who lost in this year’s Democratic city primary election, tells us he has a new job: running newly elected U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson’s district offices.
Egleston has been in the alcohol distribution business for 12 years but says Jackson asked him to become his congressional district director, and “it was too good a chance to pass up.”
The job leans heavily into constituent services, Egleston says, such as help with passports and veterans’ benefits. There will be offices in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties.
Jackson was elected to a two-year term, and Republicans in Raleigh are expected to redraw the state’s congressional districts next year in a way that could make it more challenging to elect Democrats to Congress.
Egleston says he has no plans to run for City Council next year.
Jackson — and Egleston — start their new jobs Jan. 3. —TM
Don’t miss out: 2 days left to order Ledger crossword book and have it arrive before Christmas
The clock is ticking on placing orders for The Charlotte Ledger Crossword Puzzle Collection, with 35 original crossword puzzles that have Charlotte clues and themes.
The crosswords are made by Chris King of Columbia, S.C., a puzzle book author who has been supplying The Ledger’s weekly puzzles. This is a printed collection of those 30 Charlotte-themed crosswords — plus 5 new ones!
Puzzle themes include Carowinds, the Curry family, the Meck Dec, 24 Hours of Booty, Mecklenburg County’s towns, Charlotte FC, N.C. “American Idol” contestants, UNC basketball greats, The Ledger’s 40 Over 40 Awards, Duke coaching legends and more! Many of the clues in each puzzle feature Charlotte restaurants, landmarks and people.
It’s $12.99 + tax. Order before December 7, 2022, to ensure delivery before Christmas. (All orders will be shipped December 8.) Questions? support@cltledger.com.
You might be interested in these Charlotte events: Coffee and networking, high school auto show
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
Tuesday: Coffee with the Chamber — University City. 8:30-9:30 a.m. Sonesta Select Charlotte University City, 333 West W.T. Harris Blvd., Charlotte. Join the Charlotte Area Chamber of Commerce for an hour of informal networking and coffee! Come make some new connections. Registration required. Free.
Saturday: Auto Show Fundraising Event. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Myers Park High School (auto lot), Charlotte. Myers Park High School’s Auto Club is hosting an Auto Show to raise funds to repair/replace their garage, equipment and tools that were burned when the garage burned down during Covid. Food, Raffles, Loudest Engines and Sound System Showdowns! Event details on Instagram: @mp_autoclub. $20 registration fee per vehicle. Free event for spectators.
◼️ Check out the full Ledger events board.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief:
Gunfire at substations knocks out power in Pinehurst: About 40,000 customers in the Pinehurst area lost power on Saturday night, and police were investigating damage at two Duke Energy substations that were struck by gunfire in what they said were “targeted” attacks. The FBI and State Bureau of Investigation are assisting the local sheriff’s office. Power remained knocked out as of Monday morning and could take several days to restore. Police said they are uncertain of the motive. Officials imposed a curfew, closed schools and issued a state of emergency declaration. (The Pilot of Southern Pines)
Peeping at Planet Fitness: A gym-goer at a Planet Fitness in Charlotte’s Steele Creek area captured on video an employee peeking through a shower curtain at him as he took a shower. Planet Fitness told WBTV that it was aware of the incident and that the employee has been fired. (WBTV)
Real estate market: Charlotte real estate agents say they don’t foresee a “collapse” in housing prices but instead anticipate the increase in prices to slow. (Axios Charlotte)
Football bowl games announced: Colleges in the Carolinas with bowl games include:
N.C. State vs. Maryland in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte on Dec. 30
UNC vs. Oregon in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 28
South Carolina vs. Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 30
Clemson vs. Tennessee in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30
Duke vs. UCF in the Military Bowl on Dec. 28
East Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27
Wake Forest vs. Missouri in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 23
N.C. Central vs. Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17
Taking stock
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project