Sybil Donaldson gets ready to serve a turkey leg at the Davidson Presbyterian Church tent.  More photos below. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Town Day in downtown Davidson Saturday felt a lot like the Town Days of old, with perhaps a few features you wouldn’t have found in festivals past.

There was plenty of the familiar. Boy Scout Troop 58′s rope bridge challenge another cohort of youngsters. Davidson Presbyterian Church served lunch as always from its massive portable grill. There were games – from ring toss to corn hole – and the “Cake Walk,” a musical contest with cakes and cupcakes for prizes. Read the full story

Local leaders and officials from Carolinas HealthCare System turned over dirt in a ceremony groundbreaking for CHS’s new behavioral health hospital Friday. (CHS photo)

A groundbreaking ceremony was held a midday Friday for Carolinas HealthCare System’s $36 million behavioral health “campus” off N.C. 73 in east Davidson.

Construction has begun on the new hospital and an out-patient mental health clinic, which are scheduled to open in 2014. The hospital is expected to create 155 permanent jobs, including physicians and other staff.

Dr. James Scully

Officials say the hospital fills a critical need in the region. We have more about the hospital plans and a Q&A with CHS executive Dr. Roger Ray, in HEALTH & FITNESS

Speakers at Friday’s event included CHS chief executive Michael C. Tarwater, Medical director Dr. Roger Ray, newly hired chief clinical officer Dr. John Santopietro, and Dr. James H. Scully Jr., medical director and CEO of the American Psychiatric Association, as well as Davidson Mayor John Woods.

2. Davidson Mayor Davidson Mayor John Woods spoke during the groundbreaking. (CHS photo)

What’s the best way to keep schoolkids safe, in the age of firearms? Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools is looking at new security measures, aimed in part at keeping weapons out of schools. But the National Rifle Association says a new study it commissioned supports its push for the opposite approach – put more guns in schools by giving them to teachers and staff. Read the full story

Groundbreaking was scheduled Friday for Carolinas HealthCare System’s $36 million behavioral health “campus” off N.C. 73 in east Davidson. If all goes as planned, the hospital and out-patient mental health clinic will open in 2014. Officials say the hospital fills a critical need in the region. We have more about the hospital plans and a Q&A with CHS executive Dr. Roger Ray, in HEALTH & FITNESS

State health officials say striped bass in Lake Norman have been found with elevated levels of PCBs, a suspected cancer-causing chemical. In an announcement Tuesday night the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services advised against eating the fish, as well as large mouth bass, which may have dangerous levels of mercury. Read more in HEALTH & FITNESS»

The Davidson Pedestrian Master Plan Steering Committee and consultants from Alta Planning + Design will host a series of meetings next week seeking public input on a proposed master plan for pedestrian and bicycle transportation in town. The meetings begin Monday, April 8, with a drop-in public workshop, and continue Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, with an “open studio” where the committee and consultants will work on the plan.

The town also is conducting an online survey to gather input. See below. Read the full story

In an era of mega-healthcare mergers, health-care reform and managed care, is there room any more for a small-town doctor’s office? It’s a challenge, to be sure, but the growth of Dr. Craig White’s practice at Davidson Family Medicine suggests there is. Meet Dr. White and find out more in HEALTH & FITNESS»

“Y, T, Wiggle, Wiggle” is Eddie’s favorite butterfly stroke lesson.

By BRENDA BARGER
DavidsonNews.net

Friday is Eddie Beach‘s last day as the aquatics director and swim coach at   Lake Norman YMCA, and the community isn’t letting his retirement after 21 years go unnoticed.  The YMCA is honoring him, and the mayors of Davidson and Cornelius have proclaimed Friday, March, as Eddie Beach Day.

Quite the honor for J. Edward Beach, a quiet, thoughtful husband, father, gardener and swim coach who leads by example and will continue to do so in retirement.

(See the proclamation below by Mayors Lynette Rinker of Cornelius and John Woods of Davidson.) Read the full story