Rich Powell

 ASHEBORO – "An Evening with Rich Powell" will feature the nationally-known, Asheboro-based artist and illustrator talking about his work and his new cartoon collection "Ignore this Singing Pig," in a special Friends of the Library Sunset Signature Series event at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 22, in downtown Asheboro’s historic Sunset Theatre.

Music will be provided by local singer-songwriter Jack Gorham.

The event is free and the public is invited. The Sunset Series is sponsored by the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau, the City of Asheboro and the Friends of the Randolph County Public Libraries.

Powell is well-known for his work in Highlights Magazine, MAD Magazine and many other publications. His syndicated cartoon panel "Wide Open!" won the National Cartoonists Society Silver Reuben award in both 2001 and 2002.

His line of humorous wildlife art, Callahan's Quest for Adventure, garnered him another Silver Reuben for Product Illustration in 2013, and the Our State television show that featured him illustrating Andy Griffith's "What It Was, Was Football" won the Emmy for Best Magazine Program at the 31st Midsouth Emmy Awards.

Powell’s talk will feature images of his work. A book signing will follow.

The Sunset Theatre is located at 234 Sunset Avenue. For further information, call 800-626-2672 or visit HeartofNorthCarolina.com.

Go aboard ‘Titanic: Ship of Dreams’ in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – The stories of people who boarded the R.M.S. Titanic on April 10, 1912, and sailed off into immortality will come to life in “Titanic: Ship of Dreams,” a talk by Belmont Abbey College professor Dr. Melina Ratchford at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 20, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Ratchford also will show her extensive collection of Titanic memorabilia.

Her talk, supported by the Friends of the Randolph County Public Libraries, is free and the public is invited.

Ratchford’s presentation offers a glimpse into the world of 1912 and the amazing people who traveled on Titanic, the largest and most luxurious ship in the world. Meet the young Robert Spedden and his Stief Teddy bear named Polar; the world’s richest man and his beautiful wife new wife who had to leave New York society under a cloud of shame; and the elderly man and wife who tested the vow “till death do we part,” and many others among the 2,228 souls on board. Experience the world of courage, fear, love and cowardice that is still alive over 100 years after the ship’s sinking.

Study of Titanic has been a 60-year avocation for Ratchford, who has visited all the sites that have Titanic connections, including Belfast, where the ship was built; Southampton, from where it sailed; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the bodies were interred. In 1996, she spent a week at the site of the sinking in the North Atlantic.

Ratchford worked in the North Carolina public schools for 31 years. She is currently an associate professor in the Sister Christine Beck Department of Education at Belmont Abbey College, where in 2002 she received the Adrian Faculty Excellence Award.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. For further information, call 336-318-6803.

Panel of service members to mark Women Veterans Day in Asheboro library talk

Rita Honeycutt

ASHEBORO – Join three local women veterans at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at the Asheboro Public Library to learn about their experiences in the military, in recognition of Women Veterans Day observed on June 12.

Speaking about their service:

Rita Honeycutt served in the U.S. Air Force from 2005-2008 before being medically discharged. She was stationed at Port Hueneme in California and McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey with the 108th Refueling Wing. She now serves as a Veterans Services Officer with Randolph County Veterans Services.

Lisa
Mckinney

Lisa McKinney served as a Personnel Specialist in the U.S Air Force from 2005-2013 and in the Air Force Reserves from 2013-2019. She was stationed in the United Kingdom, Arizona and North Carolina, and served one tour at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan in the Casualty Office. She is currently a Veterans Services Officer with Randolph County Veterans Services.

Merideth Porter served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2009-2013 and was stationed at the Navy and Marine Intelligence Training Center in Virginia Beach. She is an advocate for veterans, striving to empower veterans and their families with knowledge about health care, housing, career assistance and other needs.

Women Veterans Day marks the anniversary of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act. The day honors America’s military women past and present.

Merideth
Porter

Currently, there are more than 2 million women veterans who make up 13 percent of the country’s military population.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. For further information, call 336-318-6803.