Home Care In Gibsonville, NC

Gibsonville is revving up for a population boom as the town awaits the construction of 1,788 units over the coming years.

The town racked up a population count of 8,920 during last year’s census, a 39.2 percent increase from 6,410 in 2010. The introduction of new developments, which include townhomes, single-family homes, and apartments could mark another nearly 40 percent increase if each resident comes in with a “plus-one” – not counting any children.

A list of upcoming and recently built-out developments provided to The Alamance News by town planning director Brandon Parker shows 1,698 units approved but waiting to be built and 373 completed units. An additional 54 and 36 units, loft-style apartments, are planned for the Minneola Mills complex and the old Gibsonville Elementary School, respectively.

Of the 1,698 units, the majority is tied to the incoming Edinborough development along N. Highway 61, the first phase of which is expected to have 656 units comprised of both townhomes and single-family. An extension of the project, Edinborough West, is expected to have around 200 homes, according to a sketch plan sent by the developer to the planning director.

Other upcoming developments include the 219-unit Hackett Apartments project on Burlington Road, 190 units for Poets Walk on S. N.C. Highway 61, and 130 units for Owen Park along Brookfield and Ashley Woods drives, among four others.

Already built out are six developments, which include Joseph’s Claim with 157 units, Savannah Glen with 79, and the Courtyards at Ashley Woods with 51.

Even still, the town’s board of aldermen is continuing to receive new pitches from developers, like a rezoning request for about 40 acres on Springwood Church Road across from the town’s public works department headquarters. That request, Parker told the newspaper, was recently endorsed by the town’s planning board and is slated to go before the aldermen in January, where it’ll be put up for public hearing before being voted on by the board.

Much of the units are springing up to the town’s north and western fringes even though the town is seeing development along the N.C. Highway 61 and U.S. 70 area. Within that southernmost area, the town is faced with a competition of sorts with Burlington as the city continues to extend its jurisdiction along Highway 70. To the east, Gibsonville borders Elon’s jurisdiction, and the two municipalities recently finalized an annexation line of agreement that draws a border northward from a starting point near University Drive.

As far as a timeline for construction, Parker explained that developments typically take about five years to complete, while an especially large subdivision like Edinborough could take between eight and ten years.

MORE GIBSONVILLE COVERAGE:

Town’s land purchases for future facilities moving along (Dec. 30 edition): https://alamancenews.com/town-makes-offers-on-two-properties-negotiates-with-owners-on-third/

Aldermen approve bonuses for all town employees (Dec. 9 edition): https://alamancenews.com/gibsonville-board-approves-bonuses-for-town-staff/

Interview with new alderman Bryant Crisp (Dec. 9 edition): https://alamancenews.com/meet-new-gibsonville-alderman-bryant-crisp/

Interview with new alderman Paul Thompson (Dec. 9 edition): https://alamancenews.com/meet-new-gibsonville-alderman-paul-thompson/

Aldermen look at four possible land purchases; decide to pursue three of them (Dec. 2 edition): https://alamancenews.com/gibsonville-aldermen-look-at-four-land-purchases-decide-to-pursue-three/

The Meeting and Event Center serves as the ideal setting for weddings, business functions, and family gatherings of all sizes. The Banquet Room measures 2400 square feet and offers the luxury of exclusive use of the building and surrounding property for your gathering. Rental of the facility includes the beautiful garden gazebo, wrap-around porch, parking area, and restrooms. The high ceilings feature natural wood beams and the large picture windows offer picturesque views of the park. The kitchen includes a warming oven, freezer, refrigerator, sinks, and spacious counter space. One truly has to visit the Meeting & Event Center in order to appreciate all it has to offer.

View facility availability and request a date here or call 336-641-2074 for more information! Tours of the event center are by appointment only

Click here to view a printable version of the our Information Packet.

Fee Structure

We are committed to keeping our prices affordable. There are three basic fees associated with utilizing The Event Center: facility rental, food service/kitchen use fee, and Event Host fee.

Rental Rates

The facility rental rate includes the exclusive use of banquet hall, porch, gazebo, restrooms, parking area, chairs, tables, and the set-up and breakdown of your event. You may have access to the Center between the hours of 8:00am – midnight based on availability. The base rental is based on the number of guests attending your gathering. Please see the information packet above for rates.

Food Arrangements

Food Provided by Client: Clients are welcome to provide their own food and/or have their guests bring covered dishes. You will need to provide all serving pieces related to your food. A nominal food service/kitchen use fee is assessed based upon the number of guests attending your event:

Food Provided by a Caterer: Many clients choose to engage the services of a professional licensed caterer when arranging for their food. Your caterer will be required to provide appropriate documentation in order to use the facility. The caterer is assessed 10% of their total invoice before taxes as a fee for conducting business at Northeast Park and using the facilities. This charge will appear on the bill you receive from your caterer, not on your Northeast Park bill.

Bar Service: Wine and beer may only be provided by Northeast Park Event Center clients for their guests. All wine and beer inventory must be overseen, dispensed, and served by our professional bar-tending staff during a three hour scheduled bar. All liquor must be purchased and served by a professional licensed caterer with the appropriate ABC permits and by bartenders provided by that caterer. Under no circumstances is brown bagging permitted. Paid security officers may also be required for the event. The charge is $40 per officer, per hour.

Event Hosts Event Hosts are present to ensure clients enjoy a successful and stress-free event. An Event Host must be present during all hours the facility is occupied. The fee for the Event Host is $15/hour. The Event Host will be in the building and available throughout your event, remain until all guests have left, and they will perform a final inspection at the conclusion of the event.

Lease Agreement, Deposit, Cancellation & Final Payment Reservation & Deposit: Your reservation will be confirmed when we receive a signed copy of the Event Center Lease Agreement, Rental Estimate, and Policies, along with the advance deposit. The advance deposit is the sum of the room rental rate plus $100.

Final Payment: Your balance will be due in full no later than ten (10) days prior to the date of your event. Payments made after this date must be made in cash or by credit card. Any incidental expenses incurred on the date of your event will be due by the end of the event.

Cancellation: If you must cancel your event for any reason, a written notice is required. The $100 is non-refundable and is retained in the event of cancellation. If the event is held it is applied to your balance. If a cancellation is received in writing with at least 90 days notice, the room rental portion of the advance deposit is returned. If the cancellation is within 90 days of the event, the room rental portion of the advance deposit is also retained unless the space is re-rented to someone else.

Clean-up Requirements: Customers are expected to clear their tables of all trash and place all disposables in the trash cans provided by the facilities, remove anything they brought in for the event, and leave the kitchen in the condition in which it was found. If this is not done, a $100 clean-up fee will be assessed to the customer.

Additional Amenities: Table linens, LCD projector, screen, television, DVD player, sound system, and podium are available to you at nominal cost.

View facility availability and request a date here. Call 336-641-2074 to set an appointment to tour the event center.

Click here to view a printable version of the our Information Packet.

It's a historic first! LaVida Reaves-Burns just opened up her new bar, Zone 32, in the heart of downtown, Gibsonville.

GIBSONVILLE, N.C. — On Main Street, in the heart of downtown Gibsonville, history has been made.

"It’s a very big deal. I don’t think that I have absorbed it all in to see how much of a big deal it is. I’m one person who I can take something and if I do it, I’m like, 'eh', but my family and friends are like, 'No, no that’s major!'," Bar owner Reaves-Burns said.

LaVida Reaves-Burns is the first Black woman in the city’s history to open up a bar downtown.

"I’m a big entertainer! So, I love to entertain people but that’s just me. And, so I said, instead of doing it at home all of the time, why not find somewhere that I can bring not just my family and friends, but other people together. The spot was vacant and so I jumped on it," said Reaves-Burns.

Zone 32, named after the 32 NFL teams currently in play, was always envisioned to be more than just a sports bar.

"Zone 32 is here to bring all the people in the surrounding counties together to have more of a network. Just the other night, we had a couple of people come in who were having meetings. They needed wifi so they were meeting for the upcoming AAU season for basketball. It’s not just to come and just party or anything like that! It’s to come and fellowship and to bring people together so we can build the community up," Said Reaves-Burns.

From frozen daiquiris to karaoke nights to even a pop-up boutique, Zone 32 is a hub for the community, but also as an example.

“Me and my husband have three sons and, of course, they are African American, so it’s important for our family to see that you don’t have to just work at a factory or a mill, there are other things that can be done if you truly love it and if you truly want to have it, then you have to go get it," Said Reaves-Burns.

Reaves-burns already has grand visions for Zone 32 in the future, but for the time being, she’s just happy to have this distinction.

With a population reaching more than 7,000 people, downtown Gibsonville is home to local restaurants, small businesses and a culture of its own. Three new businesses joining the growing area all have the same intention — bringing Elon students and the greater community through their doors.

Wearology

Wearology, an eco-friendly boutique, is the most recent of the three to open. Owner Brittany Pate, former public school teacher in Guilford and Alamance Counties, welcomed a change to the community while recovering from a car accident.

“Over recovery and healing, [I thought] I need[ed] a change,” Pate said. “Physically, emotionally, mentally.”

After she stopped teaching, Pate experienced “teacher guilt” after leaving her students and school. She wanted to give back to the community through her store, so she chose to donate $1 from every purchase toward a classroom in need.

“Public education is close to my heart,” Pate said. “I know what it feels like to have to buy stuff for your own classroom.”

The boutique is marketed toward a younger audience with the goals of promoting sustainable and ethical fashion. Pate said she has always been fascinated by fashion and follows trends, but she never knew the backstory of where the clothes actually came from.

If you go

Wearology Where: 108 W. Main St. Gibsonville When: Tuesday-Friday 12-6, Saturday, 11-5

When she opened her own boutique, she wanted to know who made the clothes she sold. Pate said if she had more knowledge of fashion and the environment when she was younger, she would have made more viable choices surrounding the clothes she purchased.

Wearology carries a rotating selection of products and Pate hopes this strategy will keep new customers coming in. Because of this, she is consistently looking for new stock. There is an application for local vendors, especially women and women of color, to promote and sell their products in the boutique.

The Gilded Bean

When Terry Miller in Gibsonville, he noticed there wasn’t a downtown coffee shop yet and knew he could fill the gap.

The Gilded Bean Coffee Bar opened in downtown Gibsonville on March 20. Miller, the store manager, moved to Gibsonville from Winston-Salem, where he previously owned a coffee shop before it closed at the start of the pandemic.

The Gilded Bean prides itself in one of its many specialties: roasting its own coffee. Miller wanted to offer an air-roasted bean with a unique taste. This allows the shop to serve the freshest coffee and espresso.

“Our coffee does not sit in containers for months waiting to be brewed,” Miller wrote in an email to Elon News Network. “After the coffee has been roasted, the coffee sits for two days to degas — think of it like a fine wine that is stored in a cellar.”

Gilded Bean coffee is not only available in the shop but also around several businesses in town and at the Trinity Church in Burlington.

“There’s some great coffee shops out there, especially some larger box stores,” Miller said. “But there’s something about the small businesses that are really putting their heart and soul in it.”

If you go

The Gilded Bean Where: 111 E. Main St. Gibsonville When: Monday-Saturday 7-5

The proximity to Elon University is also important to Miller since one of his goals is to make the location accommodating to students.

“Whether that’s adding a discount for the students, maybe having an after hours study group once we close,” Miller said, “there’s so many great places on campus that are there for the students, but sometimes it’s good to get away.”

Part of the outreach to the community begins with the coffee shop’s name. The Gilded Bean is a nod to some of Gibsonville’s earliest residents, who came to the area looking for gold in the 1800s.

“We’re all kind of searching for something, that shiny object, and chasing it,” Miller said. “Really what we need to look for is just the bare minimum of what’s going to make us happy, and a good cup of coffee is just [that.]”

Elon junior Jacob Van Buren began working at the Gilded Bean over the summer, but he already feels comfortable and settled in.

Van Buren said his parents first discovered Gibsonville by accident when they drove through the town. They brought him to the town for dinner, and now, Gibsonville is where he lives and works. Van Buren said working at the Gilded Bean is fun and one of his favorite parts is that it is a small, local business.

“I see the owner Chuck [Beard], and I see Terry every day,” Van Buren said. “They’re both really nice guys. All either of them really wants to do is give someone what they want and hopefully make their day better.”

All She Wrote Notes

Set to open in early 2022, All She Wrote Notes is a calligraphy and hand lettering studio run by Maghon Taylor. The new brick- and-mortar location will allow the studio to continue sales and hold classes and events. Taylor started the business in 2013 and has been online since then.

“We’ve kind of outgrown my bonus room, which has operated the business for the past eight years,” Taylor said.

Along with her online business, Taylor has a Youtube account where she advertises her products and crafts. She and her business have also been advertised on a variety of programs such as WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas and Today in Nashville.

Before starting her business, Taylor worked in event planning for seven years for various North Carolina universities. She said she enjoyed her work but missed being creative. Taylor hopes to connect with Elon University parents, so they have a small business to shop from for their students. Since Taylor is local, she could even deliver the gifts herself.

Visit online

All She Wrote Notes allshewrotenotes.com

“If they’re celebrating a birthday or they’ve gone through a breakup or they need some extra happy in their life, that’s our brand,” Taylor said. “That’s what we do.”

When the location opens, it will not have traditional retail hours since it is not a full-on storefront. Instead, Taylor will reserve the first Saturday of each month for shopping, while the other days are for classes. Taylor felt opening her doors for shoppers on Saturday would align with events that are already scheduled.

“I just want somebody if they come to have my full attention, my full enthusiasm to give them the right experience,” Taylor said. “I’m afraid if we were just open all the time and I was on a podcast interview or I was recording a video, I couldn’t run to the door.”

The caboose has been stationary in Gibsonville for years, representing the history and people of this rural North Carolina community.

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GIBSONVILLE, N.C. — Gibsonville's red caboose sits prominently in the center of town, just off the main tracks. Fire-engine red, its impossible-to-miss appearance serves as a reminder. The caboose has stood here for years, representing the history and people of this rural North Carolina community.

Decades ago, out of the train tracks sprung this quaint assortment of shops and single-name eateries that dot the center of town. Gibsonville's population exploded from 500 residents to 2,500 in the 20th century as a railway pit stop, bringing mills and businesses to the area. In the 1980s, as the mills left, the town's growth slowed, but the railroad remained.

"It's a part of who we are, they're how Gibsonville started," said Kathy Sykes. Sykes works at Jack's BBQ next to the gas station. Born and raised in Gibsonville she remembers when Bobby Summers, a train aficionado and Gibsonville lifer, acquired the property off Burke Street and brought the red caboose to its final resting place.

She remembers because, soon after it showed up, Jack's began seeing more out of town customers. "What little kid doesn't love trains?" Sykes laughed, "and it's cool. People come from all over to check it out."

The caboose functions as Gibsonville's welcome center. The inside of the railcar is fashioned as a mini-museum, on plaques detailing the history of the railway depot. Through its windows, visitors can watch trains pass through town on the adjacent train tracks. Summers served as the museum's operator for years.

"It started as small trains," Peggy Summers, Bobby's wife, laughed, "and they just kept getting bigger."

Peggy watched as her husband's train infatuation grow their entire marriage, all the way back to his days as a conductor. There are stories around town of young Peggy, waiting by the tracks, catching bags of laundry flung by Bobby out the window as he passed by on his locomotive.

Credit: WFMY

Peggy and Bobby Summers

Bobby lived for his trains. After he stopped conducting, he opened a model train shop, Bobby's World of Trains, and an antiques store a block away from Main Street. Truthfully, there's only one thing Bobby ever loved more than trains.

"Bobby was crazy about Peggy," said Kathy.

The small-town love story came to a halt, suddenly, in March 2018. At 85 years-old, Bobby's heart stopped in his sleep. Peggy's best friend was suddenly gone.

"We did everything together," said Peggy, "maybe his passing would have been easier if we weren't having so much fun all the time."

To this day, Peggy's still learning to live with her new, lonelier reality.

"It's only been a year and a half, and we were married so long," she said, "so no, I haven't really... I still think about him every day."

Without a dance partner, these days Peggy likes to pass time on her porch. Here, she thinks about "everything, but mostly Bobby." She sees him all around her. Her house is filled, floor to ceiling, with pictures. Photos of family. Photos of her late husband.

There are photos of dancing and photos of birthdays. There are photos of Bobby's navy days and photos of grandchildren. There are also photos of trains. They're the memories she doesn't want to forget.

"Sometimes," said Peggy, "I just go in [the red caboose] and sit down. I'll feel like, 'This is where he sat.'"

"I really like it."

The red caboose means different things to different people. For some, it is a symbol of the industry that built their home. To Peggy, it is the heart of her home and the place her heart is deeply connected to.

Most importantly, for Gibsonville as well as Peggy, the heart is still beating.

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Gibsonville Hometown Notables: Torrey Holt, Terrence Holt, Kay Yow, and Deborah Yow