Before going off on my Big City Rant the other day, last weekend (13 May) I attended the local Haw River Festival in what has got to be one of the cutest towns in North Carolina, Bynum. Bynum is located between the small towns of Pittsboro and Fearrington Village, and is so small that its general store (still lovingly adorned with a sign that declares "Dry Goods" out front), also doubles as half a dozen other things in town (including the US Post Office) and has very limited hours. (Think Sicily, Alaska, from the TV show "Northern Exposure".) Bynum also has the great distinction of being set upon the shores of the Haw River, and its old abandoned bridge across it actually separates the two 'sides' of town, as it were.
The Haw River Festival, (sponsored by The Haw River Assembly), celebrates this wonderful River and all of the things it brings to the local community, and not just as a water source. The festival featured live entertainment, canoe rides for the kids, food and craft vendors, and a host of environmental groups ranging from local Sierra Club activities to Piedmont Biofuels (biofuel education and production). Festivals such as these can never happen often enough: as that part of the state grows exponentially with people wanting to live in Chatham County but still work in nearby Orange County, the strain on the watershed and the pollution controls is overwhelming. And yet another reported 1000+ homes are coming into this area near Bynum in the very near future. Not to mention that Wal-Mart wants to come in there and open as SuperCenter as well. But let's not get started about that...that's another blog entry entirely and it's already been a rough enough weekend.
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