CRAVER'S COMMENTS

November 2000

IN THIS ISSUE

·         A HOLIDAY GIFT

·         DINING TIP

·         GROWTH—MOVE OVER THEY’RE STILL COMING

·         A LITTLE HISTORY

 

FUTURE ISSUES

        EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS OR SO.

 

THINGS TO BE PROUD OF

     AND THE BEAT GOES ON!!  GINNY (OUR SECOND) GAVE BIRTH TO ALEX JOHN NAGY (HERS AND STEVE’S SECOND) ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2000. ALEX IS OUR SIXTH GRAND CHILD. BOY! AM I TIRED!!

DID YOU KNOW?

    ACCORDING TO 49 PER CENT OF CFO’S ASKED IN A RECENT SURVEY, THE BEST PLACE TO CONDUCT BUSINESS OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE SETTING IS AT A RESTAURANT. OTHERS IN ORDER ARE GOLF COURSES WITH 9 PER CENT, TRADE SHOWS AND CONFERENCES WITH 7 PER CENT, AUTOMOBILES WITH 5 PER CENT, AND AIRPLANES WITH 2 PERCENT. BON APPÉTIT!!

 

A HOLIDAY GIFT FOR YOU

      As the year draws to an end and I write the final newsletter for the year 2000, I want to express to all of you who receive this newsletter just how important you are to me as clients, friends, and family. Your importance goes far beyond the wonderful real estate business that you have brought my way. You have given me new contacts, new friends, new experiences, new opportunities, and an exiting new outlook for the future.

      During the Holiday season, our time always seems to grow more precious. Since we all know that time is money, I wanted to come up with a gift that would save you both time and money. Fonville Morisey and Honey Baked Hams have

joined together to offer you a Holiday discount. Attached to this newsletter is a price list of Honey Baked Ham products and what they cost. The left-hand column is the regular store cost and the right-hand column is your cost. This is a 15% discount for you.

      Here is what you do. Decide which items you want to purchase. You can buy as much as you want and use the items for gifts for others if you would like. The price list includes tax. To place your order simply calls my voice mail at 402-1246 and tell me what you want. You must do this by Friday, December 15th. That is how you save the money. Here is how you save the time. On Friday, December 22nd you can pick up your merchandise at the Honey Baked Ham store on Chapel Hill Blvd. in Durham between the hours of 10:00 am to 6:00pm. The store is located on the service road on the opposite side of Chapel Hill Blvd. from South Square Mall. When you arrive, drive around the store to the rear parking lot where you will find a Fonville Morisey banner and several bundled-up, chilly agents on hand to help you with your order. You can pay with check, credit card, or cash and avoid the famous long lines at the Honey Baked Ham store during the Holiday crunch.

     I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to save some time and money. But most of all, I hope you will have a safe, warm, and joyous Holiday season.

 

DINING TIP

       Did you ever wonder why there were so many wonderful restaurants in Durham that either used the name of another country in their name or required you to speak with an accent when you ordered from the menu? A hint lies in the fact that 10% of Durham’s population is international in origin. The Durham public school system has kids enrolled from 60 different countries around the world and they speak 76 different languages. Which brings me back to the food issue. I studied French unsuccessfully for years but I did learn that nobody prepares a meal like the French. Durham has a new French restaurant named “ Café Momo” located on Highway 54 at the side entrance to the Woodcroft Shopping Center. That’s right, the building use to be a McDonald’s. Trust me, you can’t get a Big Mac at this establishment. The food is wonderful and the service and presentation are excellent. And best of all, you don’t have to sit on that plane for seven hour to enjoy it.

 

A LITTLE HISTORY

      Most of you “who aren’t from around here”, and most of you aren’t, have the impression that Durham was founded by the Duke family. Well, they may have put Durham on the map, so to speak, (even though there is a growing contingent that credits Coach K with that) but Durham’s origin can be traced back to the railroad. According to a very interesting article in the Herald-Sun by Jim Wise, the North Carolina Railroad was planning to build its cross-state route south of here through Pittsboro and Siler City. In steps one Ben Trollinger- - who just happened to be on the Board of Directors of the railroad- - offering to pay for three trestles if the railroad would take a more northerly route by his new cotton mill in Haw River. This route took the railroad through land owned by Dr. Bartlett L. Durham. They asked Dr. Durham for land to build a depot and consequently named it Durham’s Station.

.    I realize the movie lovers out there think that the term “Bull Durham” came from the movie. The term actually goes back to J. R. Green, a tobacco farmer and cigarette maker at the end of the civil war. Green made a lot of money selling cigarettes to the soldiers gathered at Bennett Place during the surrender. He wanted a name that would set his brand apart from the others. The story goes that he was inspired by the emblem of a bull on a jar of Colman’s Mustard, which just happened to be made in Durham, England. Tradition also tells us the term  “Bull Pen”  in baseball came from a Bull Durham billboard behind the dugout in Yankee Stadium. Then the Dukes came along. That’s another story!!

 

 

GROWTH—MOVE OVER THEY’RE STILL COMING

        If you wonder why there is more traffic, the U. S. Census Bureau estimates that the Raleigh/Durham Metropolitan Statistical area grew by 250,000 people from 1990 to 1999. Most of them are still sitting on I-40. This is an astounding growth rate of 28.8%.  Total population for the area as of July 1, 1999 was 1.1 million. Our peak growth year was 1995 when 29,500 people move to the area.     

      It should not go unnoticed that the big growth spurt followed Raleigh/Durham being named the No. 1 place to live by Money Magazine. Their December 2000 issue just coming out has named Raleigh/Durham the No. 1 place to live in the South. And those of us who grew up in the South know that…well, you know.

      The Charlotte area, with 1.4 million people, grew at a 22% rate. The Triad (Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point) with 1.15 million people grew at a 12.3 per cent rate. When the 2000 census comes out, if the Triangle is not in second place in the state, I think we should demand a recount.

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      The Triangle ranks No. 1 in the nation in percentage of households that get their TV from a satellite dish. I am not sure what this means but I am certain that Time-Warner is not too pleased.