Places that Matter

You will find here a collection of feature stories that link people to places.

Our exercise was to interview people — usually people we know — about a location that carries a special value that can be illustrated in a story.

We hope these stories will transport you to a place and a feeling. Most of these presentations run a couple of minutes, just enough to savor.

Please check them all. The effect should be in the totality of this mapping-by-story.

Elon: Dorms are more than just homes for freshmen

By Sammi Miller

Elon University has grown considerably, especially since a fire in 1923 charred most of the campus buildings.  The campus is home for 5,000 students nine months out of the year.  Around 60 percent of those students choose to live on campus all four years.  Maynard residence hall is just one of more than a dozen options student have to choose from, but it’s unique and special nonetheless.

Maynard is a part of Story Center in the North Residence Area.  The co-ed dorm houses 115 students, including three Greek suites.  Maynard was named for Grace and Reid Maynard, an Elon Trustee and Chairman of the Board at Tower Hosier Mills in Burlington.  The dorm was constructed just a few decades ago, and over the years has been home to thousands of students.

Within the next 10 years, according to new university plans, Maynard and other dorms in the North Area will be cleared to make room for renovated or newly constructed dorms.  Senior, Leah Gardner is sad to see them go since they house the majority of her memories from her freshman year on campus.  While she realizes change and growth are good for the university, she’s afraid one day she’ll return to visit and won’t recognize a key part of her alma mater.

Mebane: Lessons Learned from a Fallen Eagle

By Alison Hydrick

In Mebane, N.C., Eastern Alamance High School serves as a second home to more than 1,100 students.  This group of green and gold clad Eagle students lost one of their own in 2008.

Kristy Edwards was a bubbly young girl who lived for softball.  Not only did she represent the Eagles on the field, but she also participated in regional tournaments on a so-called ‘travel team.’ Following her death from complications with a brain aneurism, the Eagle family mourned the loss of this young softball star.

Edwards’ friend and teammate, Chelsea Booth, has lived in Mebane her entire life, and idealized Eagle athletes when she was young.  Booth shares the lessons she learned from Edwards’ life and death, and also how she is implementing these lessons in her own life.

Eastern’s softball field holds a special and powerful place in Booth’s heart.  She explains what the field now means to her, and the emotional attachment she will always have to the place where she grew so close to her fallen teammate.

Elon: Lifelong friendships spark in Loy Center

By Sophie Duensing

Four years ago, Elon senior Lisa Collins was ready to transfer.  She felt out of place with no friends on campus.  Reluctantly she decided to go through sorority recruitment, and joined Phi Mu.  Her hopes were let down when she realized that all the other girls in her pledge class joined with existing groups of friends.

This motivated Collins to apply to live in the Phi Mu house in the Loy Center Greek Courts her sophomore year.  She was accepted, although she initially still felt out of place.  Through the course of the year, though, the other girls gradually became her best friends.

Senior Lisa Collins is grateful that when she leaves Elon in the spring, she will take with her memories of good times with her tight-knit group of friends.  Easing the pain of graduation is the knowledge that she will move to the same city and live with several of these girls, all of whom are her sorority sisters.

Burlington: Sly students save with “movie madness”

By Hobie Temple

At the local movie theater in Burlington, an adult ticket is priced at $8.50.  If you arrive early (before 2 p.m.) you can get a matinee price for $5.50.  Some would say that’s a deal.  But three movies for $5.50 and free popcorn?  That’s just madness.

Once a month, Elon students Chris Fry and Louis Kapp head to the Carousel Cinema for what they call their day of movie madness.  They wait until there are at least three new movies showing and go on a Friday when neither has class.  They pay the earlybird price, but stick around for several hours, hopping from theater to theater.

“It’s a great deal,” says Fry.  “Of course there’s a chance you can caught, but I’d say it’s definitely worth it.”

The two say they’ve been doing this for about a year.  College students are notorious for their “thrifty” spending methods.  And in the current economic conditions, dropping more than $20 for a day at the movies might seem crazier than what they’re doing.

“It’s a monthly tradition that I look forward to,” Kapp says. “There’s nothing better than watching movies at the movie theater with your friends and a giant bucket of popcorn, unless of course you can do it all for $5.50.”

Liberty: No Place Like Home

By Tim Barber

North Carolina native and junior Meghan Stevens has been an equestrian enthusiast since her first ride at 5 months.  Since then she has become president of Elon’s equestrian team.  In this video, she tells us about her favorite place to hang out around town.

The Competition

The ground outside was cold and soggy from a hurricane.  Inside it was muggy and smelled of manure, but Meghan felt right at home.

Earlier that day  Stevens was working with a perfect image in hopes of wooing the crowd—Perfect Image being her welsh thoroughbred pony, of course.

That Saturday, Stevens was trotting under the large green pines of Pinehurst, S.C., ready to start the next contest for the equestrian competition.  It was then that she noticed Perfect’s lame foot, which meant she was favoring that foot.

“It could have been her landing on it wrong, it getting twisted in the sand ring, the ring being too hard for her feet, her stepping on a sharp object,” Stevens said.

A Night in the Barn

That night 10-year old Stevens decided to go to bed with her thoroughbred.

“Girls and their horses have a special bond that grows over time because it honestly is a relationship you build because of the animal’s personality,” she explains.

She soaked Perfect’s foot in warm water and wrapped it up to be ready for the next day’s competition.

“Perfect was a sweetheart the whole time and liked the company, I think, because she never once came close to hurting me and was very careful around me,” she said.

Stevens says she spent that night in the barn not only for Perfect but for herself.  She likes being outside in the fresh air, the sounds of the animals, and she actually enjoys the poignant smells of the barn.

“It’s all really calming and freeing for some reason.  Sometimes I go sleep out there just when I want to be alone and get away from reality.”

After the Storm

Today Perfect is 20 years old — and so is her owner.  Perfect Image’s injury was never diagnosed.  It never bothered her after that competition, so Stevens hasn’t thought much about it since that night. But when Perfect was injured again this spring, Stevens began thinking again about that cold, damp night and the experience she shared with a girl’s best friend in her home away from home—the stall of a barn.

Rock Spring Park: A Love Story

By Julia Jacobs

In 8^th grade, Ellie Coates moved back to the United States after spending the last four years of her life in Africa for her father’s work with the World Bank. While the cultural transition was difficult at first, she found relief in passing her time at a local park.

Nature walks lead to new relationships

After spending so much time in the park, she met someone who also enjoyed spending time outdoors. This young man happened to live directly on the opposite side of the park. Ellie and her neighbor became fast friends and their relationship eventually evolved to mean much more.

Meet me halfway

Throughout the course of their relationship, Ellie and her neighbor would meet in the middle of the park next to a lone bench. Today, she explains, she cannot be in the park without thinking of him and what they had. Their relationship, in many ways, revolved around the existence of this park.

Mount Airy: A Renegotiated Relationship

By: Katie McKee

The Bully
Zack Ayers met Lauren Wood on their elementary school playground when they were 9 years old.  When they first met, the playground was a site for name-calling, screaming, pushing and shoving.  Lauren spent her recess time screaming in Zack’s ear, calling him names, and making life difficult for him in whatever way possible.

The Half-Friend
In middle school, Lauren decided the two could start to gradually become friends.  She stopped the bullying but wasn’t ready to admit she cared about Zack.  As their relationship grew, the playground became a place of escape from teenage stresses.

The Best Friend
Now, the two go to college together and live in the same town.  They are inseparable, and they will always remember the start of their completely changed relationship.

Burlington North Carolina’s Cedarock Park: A Hole-in-One

by Dan Rickershauser

For Elon University senior Adam Rallis, there’s no place like Cedarock Park. After hearing about the disc golf course from friend and Elon resident Palmer Dillon, Rallis quickly grew fond of the sport of disc golfing.

Today, Rallis frequents the park several times a week, appreciating the break it provides from schoolwork. It is also a place that has been the source of many interesting stories. On a par-three hole, Rallis managed to sink a hole-in-one. Sailing nearly 100 yards through trees and obstacles, the disc bounced off the ground and into the basket.

Just recently, Rallis has also started the tradition of playing his girlfriend’s father on his visits to Elon University’s campus. Betting a six-pack of beer on each game, Rallis has won both times the two have played the disc course.

Langhorne: Little league memories from the past

By Lauren Wisniewski

For Chris Johnson, baseball has played an important role in his life since his days of little league.  Growing up in the small town of Langhorne, Pa.,  Johnson spent his warm summer days playing America’s pastime with neighborhood friends.  His love of the game grew, thanks to one particular season and one special game.

Little league games, big league memories

At the age of 11, Johnson had the most memorable game of his little league career.  Playing at the Stoddard Athletic Fields in Lower Makefield Township,  Johnson pitched three innings, striking out all nine batters.  But that wasn’t the greatest part of the game.  Johnson also hit three home runs, all over the leftfield fence, soaring into the street behind the field.  The feeling of that day is something that Johnson says he will always remember.

Though Johnson continues to play baseball today at the collegiate level, the memory from that game, and the memories from that little league season, stick out in his mind as a life-changing experience.  It was those warm summer days and nights on the Stoddard Athletic Fields that shaped Johnson’s love of the game and his desire to pursue baseball.

One Man’s Love of Sheetz

By Russell Varner

Elon senior Dan Martins has gone through a lot of changes over the past few years, but there has always been a constant for him, one thing that has yet to change: his love for Sheetz.

A gas station/restaurant found in busy locations along East Coast highways from North Carolina to Pennsylvania, Sheetz has become a mainstay in Martins’ life, a place where he can go to relax and socialize in the distinctively modern, red surroundings . He enjoys nothing more than his “pilgrimages” to Sheetz, especially if he can open the eyes of a someone new to the attractions of what Martins calls “heaven on Earth.”

Cornelius: Nature at Jetton Park allows for vivid memories

by Lesley Cowie

Bethany Hummel does not enjoy sitting inside. Rather than staying in and watching television with her friends, Hummel travels 20 minutes from her home in Mooresville, N.C., to make memories.

Jetton Park in Cornelius, N.C., features 105 acres of beach, picnic areas, tennis courts, playgrounds and various other trails. Hummel brings friends to this location to take pictures.

Some of the scenic areas in which Hummel chooses for her pictures include the lakefront beach, the wooden gazebo nestled in the woods and the big tree stump.

According to Hummel, nature creates vivid memories. When she reflects on the times she has had with her friends, Hummel thinks back to the green grass, the orange leaves and the blue lake water.

Hummel chooses to travel to Jetton Park because it is one of the only natural parks close to where she lives. Despite the repeated location, Hummel says no two pictures look the same.

Roswell Mill: From Secret Spot to Tourist Attraction

By Lindsay Fendt

Deep in the woods in a secluded part of Roswell, Georgia’s downtown area sits the abandoned rainwashed buildings and rusted machinery that were once part of the prosperous Roswell Mill. For years the mill and its man-made waterfall have been a welcome treat for hikers and people trying to get away from the Georgia summer heat.

Eighteen-year-old Lauren Fendt and her friends were some of the few who knew about the waterfall.  Through most of high school, Fendt and her friends enjoyed many summer days completely alone at the waterfall.

“It was like our secret place,” said Fendt. “No one bothered us.  We would bring a picnic basket and spend the whole day there.”

Realizing the area’s potential as a public park,  officials with the City of Roswell began last year to develop paths to make the area easier to access.  Upon returning from college, Fendt and her friends found their secret hangout turned into a crowded public park.

Dunkin’ Donuts: Coffee and colors create a cozy climate

By David Koontz

When he started college in Elon, N.C., New Jersey native Scott Van Dorn quickly realized he would have to live out his college experience without his favorite restaurant: Dunkin’ Donuts. Coming from having multiple Dunkin’ shops within the same five-mile radius in the North to having to scour for a single one in the South, Van Dorn came to miss and appreciate one of his favorite hang out locations from his high school years.

The closest Dunkin’ to Elon is a 20-minute drive, located just within the city limits of Greensboro. This doesn’t stop Van Dorn from frequenting the restaurant, though. He still makes the drive to go there with friends, and even takes dates there to introduce them to or reunite them with Dunkin’ Donuts and its coffee.