10/13/2025
There are lots of things happening this week in the life of our community, don’t miss out!
1. The first Empty Bowls event in years will take place October 14 at Trinity United Methodist Church on Nash Street from 11am-2pm. Tickets are $30, available at Franklin Square Gallery today and tomorrow, or at the door tomorrow. All proceeds will be donated to Oak Island Southport Food Bank, Mathew’s Ministry, and Brunswick Family Assistance.
In addition to eating delicious soup in your beautiful new ceramic bowl made by local artists, be sure to check out the event’s silent auction and buy raffle tickets to win something special. Let’s eliminate hunger in Brunswick County ONE BOWL at a time! https://www.franklinsquaregallery.com/empty-bowls
2. The League of Women Voters and WHQR radio will host its biannual candidate forum at Southport Community Building tomorrow evening from 6-8pm. This is a big deal and will probably be standing room only, like usual, and likely one of the only times you’ll see opposing candidates in the same room together! Candidates for the office of mayor are Dr. Joe Pat Hatem in a rematch with incumbent mayor Rich Alt. Candidates for the office of Ward 1 alderman are incumbents Robert Carroll and Karen Mosteller, as well as, newcomers David Miller and Mike Crosbie. Candidates for the office of Ward 2 alderman include me (two times is a charm!), long-time former alderman Nelson Adams, and newcomer Paul Gross.
Election Day you will be voting for one mayor, two Ward 1 candidates, and one Ward 2 candidate. The deadline for submitting questions was September 27. Previous forums have been livestreamed and recorded. https://cityofsouthport.com/event/southport-municipal-candidate-forum-sponsored-by-the-league-of-women-voters-of-lower-cape-fear-and-whqr-public-media/
3. The planned workshop between the Southport Historic Preservation Commission and the Southport Board of Aldermen is happening this week, finally! After having to be cancelled twice due to unforeseen events, the workshop to discuss the commission’s recommended historic district design standards is now set for October 15 at 11am in the community building.
This is a good time to judge for yourself whether these standards are a realistic deterrent to new efforts that would erase our history or whether they would impose an impossible burden on property owners who already abide by the same standards. The agenda isn’t posted as of this writing, so I’m not sure about the format. I understand it to be a conversation between the two bodies that is open to the public but does not allow public comment. Here is the public notice: https://cityofsouthport.com/notice-of-special-joint-workshop-between-board-of-aldermen-and-historic-preservation-commission-october-15-2025/
The document is 105 pages, but the standards take up only 37 pages of the total. The rest details state law, the permitting process, Southport history, disaster preparedness, and relocation/demolition. Curl up with the document and a hot cup of coffee, then attend the meeting Wednesday:https://cityofsouthport.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Clean-Copy-HPC-Recommendations-Design-Standards-9-12-25-FINAL.pdf
