Cape Fear Grange & White Bean Chicken Chili

I'm not sure how the groups you are a part of raise money- but I guarantee you that most every group has done something a little bit different to fund their activities/outreach/programs/parties/etc, whatever you want to call it.

Today I took part in a fundraiser for the Cape Fear Grange at Haymount UMC.  As I sold tickets, I was repeatedly asked, "What is the Cape Fear Grange? and what do you all do?"  It's a perfect question to ask when contributing to an organization or its fundraisers.  I want to shed some light on the organization if anyone is interested.

The Cape Fear Grange is our local, fledgling branch of the agriculturally based NC (approx. 80 years old) and National Grange (founded 1867).  It started as a family oriented organization supporting farming communities, but as agriculture has diminished in the country, so to has the prominence of the Grange.  With thousands of members throughout the country, Granges typically concentrate on family values and are committed to community service.  In large part, Grange programs support development of character, leadership and civic knowledge amongst both adults and youth.  The extensive youth programs are at the cornerstone of the group- thus putting a great emphasis on the next generation and improving their prospects.  Our local grange contributes time, money and attention to some local causes including: feeding the homeless, feeding hungry children, supporting local schools and donating clothing for underprivileged kids to name a few.  The group maintains its nonpartisan stance, but certainly does emphasize and promote the importance of agriculture, youth development and the impact of taxation in all levels of government...through grassroots participation.

Today we sold a good number (more than 500, less than 1000) of White Bean Chicken Chili at a price of $6 a pop.  That $6 included a good bowl of Chili, delicious cornbread and a spearmint (for delivery) and if you ate dinner at the church, throw in a drink and some condiments to spice things up a bit.  The vast majority of our Chili was sold for delivery to businesses throughout the area, and I want to thank all of the great organizations that were kind enough to buy Chili from me!  I hope everybody enjoyed the meal, and can appreciate that by eating the chili (or feeding your whole office) you are in a indirect way helping to make our community a better place.  If you want to do even more, feel free to join our organization a parsley $15 annual dues.  Come one, come all- bring a friend!

I want to thank all the kind organizations that bought tickets from me:  Systel, Spring Lake Dental Group, Village Family Dental, Wells Fargo Advisors, Two Men and A Truck, Capital Bank, Jernigan Warren Funeral Home, C. Mark Hurley: Nationwide Insurance, Cashwell Appliance Parts, H+H Homes, Ensystex, Beaver, Holt, Sternlicht & Courie, Tom Keith & Associates, and any that I forgot.  Thanks to every single person that helped fund the Cape Fear Grange's primary annual fundraiser.  Next year, I will be selling tickets again, so please consider making an order next time around.  It is very much appreciated.

Cole World Only

Jermaine Cole aka J Cole flows, period.  Below is a sampling of some of my favorite lyrical work from his latest album.  Parts of it have been edited for the Under 18 audience, in case I have any.  Clearly these lyrics are hard to fully appreciate without the music behind them, but gee whiz this guy does it up.

Dollar and a Dream: Volume III (talk about that too hot to trot.....)

"I got the nerds rappin' hard shit, dummies rappin' smart shit
Mozart meets Humphrey Bogart with this from the heart shit
Play your part, life is but a dream for me
I get a flash of nightmares when players scheme on me
It's hard to see my enemies, who infiltrated my team?"

"Sometimes I just shake my head and tell myself this is a shame
And then my other side kick in like, "Mitch don't be so fuckin' lame"
Dang, what a life, another day, another night
At times this shit is all blurry, pray and hope that God heard me
Just for those prayin' for me, man I know that y'all worry
But I ain't never failed and you can bet I never will"

Lost Ones

"And I aint too proud to tell ya that I cry sometimes
I cry sometimes about it
And girl I know it hurt but if this world was perfect
Then we could make it work but I doubt it"

Never Told

"One night stands, no best man, no bridesmaids or Reverends
Cause Wolverine’s depressing, don’t wanna be your ex-man
Cause Cupid aims and throw the darts, there go the sparks then broken hearts
Who wanna build Noah’s Ark just to have that shit torn apart?"

Mr. Nice Watch,  --Jay-Z's line--

"Uh, what up Cole, It's your time
Let these players know
Adjust ya Roley's on these mo fo'ing hoes
Whenever you ready, go!"

Your boy, J Cole represents the 'Ville harder than anybody.  Not just because he is well on the way to being really rich and is already quite famous- but because he is a bright guy, graduated with accolades from St. John U and sets the example of chasing your dream and doing it the right way.  Sure we've had plenty of relatively well know personalities come out of Fayetteville, but not a single one declares or has declared as loud and proud that they are from Fayetteville, NC.  

In the words of Little Weezy, J Cole DROPS IT LIKE IT'S HOT

Agreed?

What I Got, What I Own, What I'll Hold

When you think about the best way to put money away for retirement, you have a laundry list of options to consider.  Many folks pay someone to figure out what to do with their retirement investments- and in most cases that may be the smartest thing to do.  Everyone feels differently about saving for retirement- and on a list of priorities it often doesn't fall where it should.  If you can't pay your current bills or are racking up credit card debt like Antoine Walker at the mall, you probably aren't maxing out your annual Roth IRA contribution.  My parents always emphasized saving and investing, maybe even to a fault at times, but their strategy paid major DIVIDENDS after my dads career was cut short by a stroke.  If you're not exactly sure what a dividend is, chances are you don't understand your retirement strategy in the slightest, if you even have one.  Hands off and clueless might just be the best strategy for investing in your long term financial stability.  Investment advising is big business because it pays to know what you're doing with your nest egg- and a good advisor should accomplish solid growth and returns.  That being said, it is your responsibility and yours only to put some money away each month or year or even week to save for a rainy day, your kids college- or retirement.
I don't pretend to be a pro at investing, stocks and bonds or any financial category- but I have a fairly broad (albeit shallow) understanding of the world of money, finances and markets.  Much to the chagrin of my bankers, financial advisors, insurance agents and librarians- I feel the need to understand the value of their products.  Some would call it being a savvy consumer, and hopefully it is, but in large part I'm just curious and I know understanding what my money pays for will pay dividends.
It is very cool that every one of us can become an owner of most any large company in the world.  "Occupy Wall Street" and the so called 99% villanizes the owners of big corporations that suck profits out of companies and control the world- but what they don't mention is that you can join the ranks of owners for a reasonable price.  Own a piece of Bank of America for $6.50, Google for around $630, Microsoft for less than $30 and even Ray Lewis' Under Armor for $76.27.  Many fantastic advisors will urge you to have it your way and buy some McDonalds in the form of MCD instead of on the dollar menu.  I know the buttons on my pants would appreciate it.  Personally, I like to buy companies that are employers of friends of mine.  Not only do I think these companies employ some pretty solid people, but it's also kind of cool to be my friends boss, even if in a far fetched way.  Some recent acquisitions I have made in my brokerage account in part as a result of employing friends (consider with caution):  CSCO, WFC, GM, CBKN, FCNCA and F.  I want to add CAT to the list soon, possibly GT and maybe even good ol' Mickey D's.  Unlike the list of bank stocks I own, two of these potential newbies actually pay a decent dividend.

If by now you are still not sure about the meaning of dividend, I recommend looking it up.  It will be a great place to start on your quest towards understanding your strategy, and maybe one day retiring- if you'd like.

Go Heels Go America. com