Renee Garner

September 26, 2018

Matthews Morning Minute: September 26, 2018

Renee Garner

September 26, 2018

News About Town: During their November 27, 2017 meeting the Board of Commissioners approved a preliminary design for a pedestrian crossing at North Trade Street between Matthews Station and Brakeman’s/105 Cigar. Town staff estimated hiring a consultant for the preliminary design work would come in around $10,000.

When proposals came back Alta Design, the best qualified firm estimated $81,221 for the preliminary design work. No decision was made and the Board has asked town staff for more information.

News Above Town: If humid and sticky is your thing then you’re in luck this week. The last couple times the Weather Channel has called for storms the forecast changed, but right now they say we can expect afternoon storms and a high around 87.

News Around Town: For more than three decades ArtFest, now Artwalk and MusicFest, has been bringing art to the forefront in downtown Matthews. Beyond the usual Juried Fine Art Show and High School Art Exhibit, and live music, the Matthews Chamber of Commerce has expanded the kids art area as well as craft beer & wine. Get some extra culture this Saturday, September 29, on the green in front of Town Hall from 10 AM until 6 PM.

One Good Thing: We have a giveaway on our Facebook page! We’re so proud of our Matthews-centric postcards (plus who doesn’t love receiving mail?) that we have 2 sets to giveaway. There are three easy peasy ways to win and you can do any or all for three chances to win!
**Find your favorite post here, then tell us which is your favorite over in the comments on the giveaway post on Facebook.
**While your there, tag a friend in the comments on the giveaway post.
**follow us on Instagram.

Silent Images: The Conversation Starters

Cyma Shapiro

September 25, 2018

Small Business, In the Community

Silent Images is a non-profit organization that provides charities with professional photography and video services that educate and inspire viewers to take action.

Preserving the dignity of the story is most important to Johnson.

Tucked away in the far left corner of the old brick Matthews Marketplace on South Trade St. is a group of employees working diligently on a variety of projects, most of which involve the (shooting and) editing of videos. This is clearly a millennial-driven space – something one might easily see in New York City, Chicago or San Francisco. Tall ceilings, tree illustrations on walls, prayers on cards, blessings on rocks, a bike from Africa, international still photos all bespeak and reflect the quiet passions and intent of David Johnson – owner of Silent Images. (Named with a nod to Proverb 38 1.) This place and work is clearly a calling for David and a mission with a message.

“We are a nonprofit that tells stories for other nonprofits - we serve other nonprofits by helping to tell their stories,” said Johnson. “We’re telling stories of hope in the midst of some sort of injustice,” he said, explaining, “A nonprofit exists because they are trying to fill a gap for somebody…..(like, saying) ‘I feel overwhelmed

by something’ – genocide, human trafficking, lack of water, housing, whatever. But, we’re not going to tell the same story that the media is telling because they tell the doom-and-gloom -- that’s what gets the most attention or makes the most money. We want to tell them the story of hope.”

This mission and message extends back to 2006: while returning from an overseas trip, then-English teacher Johnson looked up at an airport TV monitor to see the amalgam of overlapping current events he had missed – Anna Nicole Smith’s death and Britney Spear’s head-shaving incident, to name a few. As a volunteer who had annually gone on overseas trips with nonprofit organizations, he had seen many catastrophic events – including the genocide of Darfur – where he’d just returned from. However, this time, he could not get the images he had just witnessed out of his head, nor the juxtaposition of the mundanity of what the media was showing versus what he’d just seen. There and then, he realized that the mass-media had failed - these less significant stories far overshadowed those that he felt were more important, occurring each and every day all across the world.

He came home a changed man with a “burn to tell stories.” Johnson quit his job to put his creative writing skills together with still-photographs to capture images and events around the world. He found a void he thought he could fill – “no one was providing services for small nonprofits that don’t have budgets,” he said. Within one year, he and his Board of Directors made a fundamental decision to forego utilizing photography, choosing to focus on videography to capture the story.

Silent Images team. Photo courtesy Silent Images — Silent Images team. *Photo courtesy Silent Images*

“I’ve always been entrepreneurial, always looked for opportunities and been somewhat of a risk taker,” reflected Johnson, adding that while he was single and without encumbrances, he could more easily pursue an uncertain path.

Originally working out of a room in the First Baptist Church, then leasing commercial space on West John Street to finding his present two-level office space, Johnson is quite comfortable acknowledging that his life and work have melded into one. “I feel like I haven’t worked a day in my life,” he said. "(This work is) purposeful, missionful. There’s something about waking up and doing what you (love) know(ing) you’ve contributed something, today, to help somebody out.”

In his earliest years, Johnson used his own work and the work of wedding and corporate photographers who volunteered their time on his projects. Nearly a dozen years later, he has six employees whom he admires and is clearly bursting with pride when he discusses their work, skills, and abilities. “I love what they produce – they are so talented,” he said, adding that he has moved his role from being hands-on to serving as a “mentor, coach – really I’m a ‘cheerleader’ to them.”

“Psalms 31: 8 - Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. ”

Working with donors as well as local and national nonprofit organizations, Johnson, himself, has been on nearly one dozen trips to Tanzania and Kenya. He and/or his employees have also worked in Burma (Bush Foundation), Mexico and South America (World Vision), Ethiopia (US Embassy) and With Open Eyes (Africa). Locally, he’s also made inroads with nonprofits such as United Way, Big Brother/Big Sister and Habitat for Humanity (Charlotte). All his work has been referred through word of mouth.

“Preserving the dignity of the story,” is most important to Johnson. “When you are dealing with sensitive subjects where people could feel exploited through the camera…My team all signs a kind of code-of-ethics that you are there to be a servant first, and a photographer second. Yes, we’re storytellers and do a clean production…but we’ve treated (our subjects) with sensitivity (too).”

Within the next year, his employees will travel to Haiti and to the Middle East. “These are the stories that haven’t really been discussed,” he said. His mission is to “connect the human journey to (capturing) that story.” Videos range in length from 30 seconds to 25 minutes.

Of significance to the naming of his company is “the importance of being observant and the importance of listening,” said Johnson. “I think those are two things you can’t teach and they are two timeless things that are particularly important for the next generation: to be observant and still, to be quiet and listen - which I imagine has become much more difficult. When someone is able to do that, it makes their story (line) and production that much poignant and it grabs (the viewer’s) attention because somebody has paid close attention to the detail of the story… With all the distraction of social media, it gets harder and harder to be still,” said Johnson.

“When someone is able to [be observant and still], it makes their story and production poignant and it grabs attention because somebody has paid close attention to the detail of the story.”

Unlike many other businesses intent on continual growth, Johnson is clear that he wants to continue his work as a small company with a precise mission. “I’m content with our size,” he said. “There’s something about keeping it small and (retaining) the quality (just) where we are – we can produce high quality and with the personal touch.”

Most recently, Silent Images just released the first of three series on mental health issues – depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. Next, they hope to tackle the subject of suicide, PTSD, and opioid addiction.

“The things we look for are stories that haven’t really been discussed,” said Johnson. “We know the media covers stories, but often they just give facts and tragic facts. We want to do the human journey – the (personal) story. We like to look for those quiet, hidden stories to unveil the conversation in a new way… We like to call ourselves the ‘conversation starters’ – we’re not experts in any of these areas, but we love serving those who are the experts and starting a new conversation around (any of) those topics.”

Viewers can watch “Into the Light” videos from the Compass & Light documentary series on Sunday, October 28 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. at Christ Central Church, 3646 Central Ave., Charlotte. RSVP @ Silent Images.

Boat in water in Burma. Photo courtesy Silent Images

Boy in alley in Burma. Photo courtesy Silent Images

Woman in Sudan. Photo courtesy Silent Images

Medical care in Kenya. Photo courtesy Silent Images

The Exchange Pizza Depot

Cyma Shapiro

September 7, 2018

Small Business, Lifestyle

The unassuming Exchange Pizza Depot is set back on Trade St. in Matthews, nestled between Seaboard and the Cigar shop.

Around the turn of the century, two sisters lived at 213 N. Trade Street, manning the switchboards for the local phone company. By 1954, the phone company needed a place for their dial-up equipment and that same piece of real estate found new life. But, after falling into disrepair for many subsequent years, that life was resurrected this year in the form of The Exchange Pizza Depot.

pizza exchange brendan 1.jpg — “There’s plenty of room in town for (all of us). If my pizza is (good), they won’t be going elsewhere.

Enter Brendan Ciganek, former pizza shop franchisee owner and chef and a “friend of a friend of the owner.”

Hired to run the new pizza place (as adjunct to the owners’ next-door wine room, Seaboard), Brendan has found his “slice of the woods” in this business housed in the 14’x22’ foot building he can nearly call his own.

In addition to a staple of mostly Neapolitan-style pizzas (two of which are named after the owner’s daughters), Brendan has been free to not only write the menu, design the space and hire the staff, but to experiment with ideas and foods from around the world.

Pollo Con Crema (chicken, onion, bell pepper, tangy creamy sauce), Heatza (Cajun chicken, spicy red sauce, jalapeños, Sriracha drizzle), Tomato Pesto (with roasted brussels sprouts, red onion, sun-dried tomatoes), and Mashed Potato (with mixed cheese, bacon and garlic butter), Tikka Masala (tomato, cream, curry) are just a few of his many personal creations.

“I asked friends what they were eating,” he said,” got ideas from vendors at the Farmer’s Market and from international cuisines. He asked the employees who work there, patrons and his online friends, as well.

“My regular menu is a crowd pleaser,” he says, adding that the weekly (or so) special pizzas “may not be for everyone but are (a chance) to have fun with and appeal to some people.”

Among his special touches are tomatoes and flour from Italy, buffalo milk cheese and some regular produce from the Farmer’s Market. In addition, he grows basil and a few other things around the two restaurants.

And, as Matthews continues to grow and pizza competition gets even more heated, he said he’ll stick to what he believes:“There’s plenty of room in town for (all of us). If my pizza is (good), they won’t be going elsewhere.”