Morning Minute: Monday, May 4, 2020

News About Town: Engineers have completed the final design plans for the subject intersection improvements at Matthews Station and Trade Streets. The improvements can be seen here. The Town of Matthews Public Works is interested in hearing your thoughts. To provide feedback or obtain further info, contact Town Engineer Susan Habina -Woolard at shwoolard@matthewsnc.gov

News Around Town: Now that the county has moved toward the State’s Stay at Home Order, restrictions are easing slightly. Mass gatherings are still limited to 10 people or less, except funerals, which allow up to 50. Businesses must still abide by social distancing rules:

• Six feet of distance between individuals.

• Frequent, thorough hand washing or the use of hand sanitizer.

• Regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces.

• Facilitating online or remote access by customers if possible.

Non-essential retailers who reopen should be operating by curbside service.

One Good Thing: Way to go Beacon Community! During our Helpers helping HELPers campaign, we raised over $1,000 for the HELP Center and will be matching those donations with our own $1,000 donation. Thank you, Matthews, for your generous giving! Look for a full tally of collections later this week and we’ll name our Big Beacon Deal!

Morning Minute: Friday, May 1, 2020

News About Town: With the new Stay at Home rules in place, county parks have reopened their gates for parking. Playgrounds, athletic fields, and restrooms will remain closed, but tennis courts are open once again. In Matthews, the Sportsplex and Idlewild Park are County-run parks.

News Around Town: Cucurbits, legumes, and nightshades, oh my! If you’ve been gardening your isolated heart out, it’s now safe to plant those favorite summer crops:

• squash, cucumbers, and melons (cucurbits);

• green beans, cow peas, and soy beans (legumes);

• tomatoes, tomatillos, ground cherries, and peppers (nightshades).

Get to diggin’ and grow your own grub.

One Good Thing: Want to give to our Helpers helping HELPers food drive? Let us know and we’ll pick up your donations and take them to the HELP Center. Don’t forget, tallying up happens on Monday. We’ve had $920 in monetary donations, which means we’re $80 from our $1,000 goal. Let us know if you give, we are ready to dollar match up to $1,000. Even better? Some donors have employers who also match donations.

Morning Minute: Thursday, April 30, 2020

News About Town: Fire it up, Matthews (the fire pit, that is). Recent rain has made conditions less favorable for wildfires so the N.C. Forest Service has lifted the burn ban. This ban was largely for western NC counties, but included Mecklenburg. Though the ban has been lifted, please be responsible and safe.

News Around Town: On May 4, Novant Health Matthews will resume some non-time-sensitive and non-emergent surgeries. They will also begin offering services such as mammograms and child well visits.

One Good Thing: Artists and performers who need a little financial relief during these tough times may find ASC’s Mecklenburg Creatives Resiliency Fund helpful. While available, this fund provides $500 grants to eligible artists who are facing hardship due to COVID-19. Donation to the fund is also appreciated.

Morning Minute: Wednesday, April 29, 2020

News About Town: The Town of Matthews, as part of Mecklenburg County, will revert to the State Stay at Home Order this Thursday. The state announced it will begin a three phase statewide reopening beginning May 8. As of Thursday (April 30), the following are considered Essential Businesses/Activities:

• Defense and military contractors that develop products, processes, equipment, technology, and related services that serve the United States military, national defense, and national security interests.

• Electronic retailers that sell or service cell phones, computers, tablets, and other communications technology.

• Lawn and garden equipment retailers.

• Book stores that sell educational material.

• Religious facilities, entities, groups, gatherings, including funerals. Also, services, counseling, pastoral care, and other activities provided by religious organizations to the members of their faith community. Gatherings may not exceed 10 people.

• Insurance companies, underwriters, agents, brokers, and related insurance claims and agency services.

• Real estate services including brokerage, appraisal and title services.

• Automobile dealers.

Support Small Businesses: Royal Cafe & Creperie (131 Matthews Station St., Ste 1E) has reopened. With new adjusted hours, the cafe is taking maximum measures to maintain safety. Order online with the Cloosiv app or over the phone at 704-846-2233.
Monday - Closed
Tuesday- Friday 5 pm - 8 pm (dinner only)
Saturday - Sunday 9 am - 2 pm

MingFu (115 W John St) reopens today for take-out orders. Hours are from 11 am to 8 pm. Patio pick up or DoorDash only.

One Important Thing:

“Wear a mask. Slow the spread. Protect your neighbors.”

Novant Health wants you to know how important masks are to not only protect you, but to protect others. Wearing a cotton mask will conserve medical grade masks for those who need them most. Check out the Novant site for a few DIY masks for when social distancing is difficult.

Morning Minute: Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Need About Town: During the regular Board of Commissioners meeting last night, the Board unanimously voted to abate the Matthews Chamber of Commerce rent. The Chamber offices are held in the depot building beside Town Hall. The rent relief ($2250 total) comes at a time when many businesses are having difficulty due to COVID-19.

News Around Town: Monarchs are beginning their “Journey North” from the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. The butterflies can travel between 50 and 100 miles a day. During their journey, the monarchs will travel through the piedmont of North Carolina. According to citizen scientists, some have already been spotted in our area.

One Great Thing: Time for a HELP Center update! So far we (the Big Beacon Community) have donated $910, 5 lbs of produce, 148 boxed and canned items, 24 pouches of tuna, 54 bags of chips, 48 cups of noodles, and 12 cups of mac and cheese to the Matthews HELP Center.

Ready to donate? Brightmoor, Good Cup, Hampton Green, and Matthews Plantation have collection sites. If you want a direct pick up, let us know!

Morning Minute: Monday, April 27, 2020

News About Town: Tonight’s Board of Commissioners meeting starts at 7 pm. A livestream of the meeting will be available via the Town of Matthews YouTube Channel, as well as Zoom. To listen live, call toll free 888-788-0099 and enter meeting ID 920 9565 6444. For the full agenda and the process for public comment, visit the town website.

News Around Town:  In an announcement this past Friday, Governor Roy Cooper announced K-12 schools will stay closed for the remainder of the school year. In light of the news, Charlotte Mecklenburg School Superintendent Ernest Winston has created a task force to find a pandemic-friendly way to celebrate graduating seniors.

One Good Thing: This past Friday, volunteers from BAPS Charities presented a $5000 donation to the CMS Foundation. The contribution will be used to provide access to chromebooks and free wi-fi hotspots for continued remote learning by CMS Students.

Morning Minute: Friday, April 24, 2020

News Around Town: Put in your social distancing shoes and head into downtown Matthews for the Farmer’s Market and Santé’s Saturday Morning Market. The Farmer’s Market started their regular market hours (8 am to noon) last weekend with social distancing rules in place. Many vendors also offer pre-ordering to pay ahead, making your trip quick and easy. Santé’s Market is open from 8 am to 11 am and filled with a variety of Chef Adam’s signature fare as well as locally sourced groceries.

One Good Thing: The Matthews Beacon HELP Center pantry drive is a go: Helpers helping HELPers! Our collectors so far include Hampton Green, Brightmoor, Matthews Plantation, and Good Cup.

We’re keeping this drive short and sweet so there is no time to waste! The contest ends May 3.

If you’d rather give dollar donations, we’re counting $1 as 1 can and, after the contest is over, we’ll dollar match up to $1,000 with our own donation to the center.

If you donate online, email Renee both the dollar amount and which collecting site to credit.

Each location will have a labeled bin and lid. A Beacon rep will pick up donations every other day through the end of collection.

Collect for the Community: Today is the final day to sign up to be a collection location for the pantry drive. Each collection spot is competing for getting the most donations and the spot that collects the most goods will be A Big Beacon Deal and will receive a one-year top-shelf advertising package from the Beacon! Want to collect, but don’t need advertising? We’ll hook you up with some amazing Beacon swag. The deadline to sign up as a collection location is today (April 24) at 5 pm. Email Renee if you want to give it a go.

Morning Minute: Thursday, April 23, 2020

News About Town: The Monday, April 27 agenda for the Board of Commissioners meeting posted is online. Once again, the meeting will be held via Zoom, and viewable on YouTube. The town website describes the process for public comment during distance meetings. Item 4 on the agenda is a discussion on COVID-19 Issues. The Board will hear from a panel with a variety of expertise and understanding of the issue:

• Emergency Operations Center Commander Rob Kinniburgh

• Novant Health Matthews Medical Center President Roland Bibeau

• Novant Health Director Infection Prevention (Charlotte and Virginia Market) Rhonda Mull

• Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell

• Matthews Chamber of Commerce President Kim Gossage

News Around Town: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”  ~Fred Rogers

In Matthews it’s pretty obvious where to find the HELPers, and sometimes the helpers need helpers. With over 700,000 unemployment claims in NC, there’s a high demand on food pantries. The Matthews HELP Center is not immune to increased demands and their shelves need some filling. What does the HELP Center need?

• Canned items: Chicken, Chili, Carrots, Peaches, Mixed Fruit

• Boxed Items: Grits, Mashed potatoes, Pancake Mix (with syrup), Saltine Crackers Drinks: Juice, Juice boxes, Horizon Flavored boxed milk

• Additional Items: Spaghetti sauce, Ramen noodles, Microwaveable Kids Cuisine Meals, Microwaveable Shells & Cheese cups, Microwaveable Chef Boyardee cups

One Good Thing: Mask up, gloves on. We’re announcing a food drive and contest!

First, we’re looking for businesses and neighborhood associations to be collection locations for canned foods. Each collection spot will compete for getting the most donations. The spot that collects the most goods will be the A Big Beacon Deal and will receive a one-year top-shelf advertising package from the Beacon! Want to collect, but don’t need advertising? We’ll hook you up with some amazing Beacon swag. Ready to collect cans for the greater good? Email us and we’ll get you all set up. The deadline to sign up as a collection location is this Friday at 5 pm.

So maybe you don’t want to collect cans, but would like to donate money to the HELP Center? They take donations online and by mail. When you give, let them know it’s part of the Beacon Drive. We will match monetary donations dollar for dollar between now and May 15, 2020, up to $1,000.

Morning Minute: Wednesday, April 22, 2020

News About Town: Let’s look at COVID-19 numbers. We last Reported numbers on April 13. As of 4:30 pm April 21, Mecklenburg County has 1,255 cases and 31 deaths. (Wake County has the second most number of cases at 611 and 8 deaths.) According to Mecklenburg County Public Health, maps show between 41 and 54 residents in the 28105 zip code have been diagnosed with COVID-19. NC has 6,951cases and 213 deaths. Not all cases of COVID-19 are tested, so this does not represent the total number of people in North Carolina who have or had COVID-19. (Data aggregated from Mecklenburg County Public Health and NC Department of Health and Human Services.)

News Around Town: It’s Earth Day! Usually, HAWK throws a big sustainability party at Squirrel Lake Park, but pandemics, we’ve learned, are party poopers. That hasn’t stopped HAWK from giving away their party favors, though, so they’ve partnered with Birdhouse on the Greenway and are offering free dogwood trees to good homes. Promise to take good care of it, and the tree is yours. Drop by Bird House (6416 Rea Road next to Trader Joes) 10 am-6 pm Monday-Friday, 9 am-6 pm on Saturday and Noon-5 pm on Sunday.  You will need to submit your name and email to the National Wildlife Federation (Birdhouse will help with that).

Need a little Earth Day inspiration? Take your laptop outside, declare yourself a Matthews chapter of Piedmont Environmental Alliance, and learn from a variety of webinars on sustainability topics like veggie gardening, DIY recycle bots, and raising chickens.

Support Local Nonprofits: With social distancing comes some hardships. Greater Matthews Habitat was in the process of building a safe and affordable home for a family of five when the Stay at Home Order required the temporary closure of the ReStore. Regular funders are cash-strapped, and construction costs have gone up because volunteers cannot safely help with construction. GMHFH needs to raise $50,000 to make up for funding gaps due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Make a gift here.

Morning Minute: Tuesday, April 21, 2020

News About Town: First responders, police, and other frontline workers with the Town of Matthews are receiving $3/hour hazard pay during the Coronavirus pandemic. The hazard pay will end when the crisis ends.

News Around Town: Carrington Place, a senior care and rehabilitation center in Matthews, is one of the seven recently named elderly care facilities with a Coronavirus outbreak. The county did not state how many people in the facility have tested positive, but an outbreak is defined as two or more positives. In Mecklenburg County, 26.1% of coronavirus positives are ages 60+.

Support Small Business: Downtown Matthews coffee shop Brakeman’s will begin curbside pick up again soon. Until then, support them by purchasing whole bean coffee, available on their website. Try their newest blends: Family Blend (with beans from Sumatra, Ethiopia and Brazil), and Door-to-Door (a blend of beans from Colombia and Brazil). Shipping and local delivery are available.

Morning Minute: Monday, April 20, 2020

News About Town: Yard waste pick upwill resume this week. Please exercise patience; it may take some time for Republic, the company that collects solid waste in Matthews, to catch up. 

News For Home: CMS kids are back to school from Spring Break. Parents are back on the clock aiding in their children’s online learning. Tune in today at noon for a thirty minute class taught by former Carolina Panther Linebacker Luke Kuechly. Watch along here.

Support Essential Workers: Looking for ways to support first responders and healthcare workers? Feed the Frontline Mecklenburg is a fundraiser to feed those fighting the pandemic from the frontlines. The group purchases meals from local restaurants to feed healthcare workers. Two birds, one stone.

Support Small Business: Popular lunch spot Dorian’s Deli and Grill (1240 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd.) will reopen this Wednesday, April 22, for takeout. Call in your order: (704) 847-4901.

Morning Minute: Monday, April 13, 2020

News About Town: It’s been over a month since Mecklenburg County declared an emergency due to COVID-19; now the county has 954 cases and 12 deaths. (Wake County has the second most number of cases at 470 and no deaths.) According to Mecklenburg County Public Health, fewer than 40 residents in the 28105 zip code have been diagnosed with COVID-19. NC has 4,520 cases and 81 deaths. Not all cases of COVID-19 are tested, so this does not represent the total number of people in North Carolina who have or had COVID-19. (Data aggregated from Mecklenburg County Public Health and NC Department of Health and Human Services.)

News Around Town: Looking for something to fill your days? Classroom Central has remote volunteer activities and boredom busters. Use your Cricut to craft school supplies, clean off your bookshelves and donate gently used books, or make scarves to keep kids warm next winter. There are lots of opportunities to help kids in need while filling your down time.

One Important Reminder: NC is lagging behind in census responses—fewer than 45% of the residents have self-reported as of April 12. Do it today, it’ll take less than 10 minutes.

Morning Minute: Friday, April 10, 2020

News About Town: Recently Fire & EMS Chief Rob Kinniburgh filmed a brief explanation regarding emergency response preparedness for the coronavirus in Matthews. Watch it here.

News Around Town: Mecklenburg County has created two grant programs for small businesses affected by Coronavirus. First is a COVID-19 Small Business Emergency Stabilization Loan Fund in partnership with Carolina Small Business Development Fund. The second is a Micro Business Stabilization Fund, which will be managed through Centralina Council of Governments (CCOG). Applications are simple and quick and disbursements are available within 10 days of filing an application. More details can be found on the county website.

One Fun Thing: Get out your library card and join the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library tomorrow, April 11. “In Living Color” is a virtual activity day filled with fun, color-themed activities and resource lists to build your creativity. Go for a Color Walk, play an online game, take Face Painting 101, and/or stream a movie online. The library has plenty of activities to suit everyone.  Find more information here. If you participate and want to share what you did, tag @cmlibrary and use the hashtags #CMLinlivingcolor and #icanwithCML. 

Morning Minute: Thursday, April 9, 2020

News About Town: The agenda for the Monday, April 13 Board of Commissioners meeting is online. In light of the Stay at Home Order, the meeting will be conducted remotely. To watch live, the meeting is available via Zoom (link here, meeting starts at 7 pm, Monday). A livestream of the meeting will also be available via the Town of Matthews YouTube Channel. To listen live, call toll free 888-788-0099 and enter meeting ID 772 663 507. For more information, including the process for public comment, visit the town website.

News Around Town: If you haven’t heard, parks have been wildly popular during isolation. With concern for crowding, the county has closed the gates to county parks. Cars parked in front of the gates will be towed. Bicycles and pedestrians are are still welcome so long as social distancing is practiced.

One Good Thing: Novant Matthews is preparing to keep team members safe with appropriate PPE if there’s a surge in patients. Aside from their own bulk purchasing, the hospital is seeking donated supplies. More information can be found here.

Morning Minute: Wednesday, April 8, 2020

News About Town: This past Friday Mayor John Higdon posted a new video online. Watch his message for Matthews here.

News Around Town: For the gardeners—we haven’t crossed the no-frost threshold, but we’ll get there next week (April 15). What does that mean? It’s getting too warm to sow seeds for cool weather crops, so start planning where your ‘maters, cukes, and squash are going to go.

One Good Thing: Take a break and breathe. A few days ago the Matthews Free Clinic shared a step-by-step for breathwork, a common method to ease tension:

• Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.

• Close your eyes and place a hand on your stomach.

• Breathe in slowly through your nose for four seconds.

• Pause, hold your breath for four seconds.

• Breathe out slowly through your mouth for six seconds. Try puckering your lips to slow your exhalation.

• Repeat for at least two minutes.