We are now entering the second month of summer and I personally can’t believe where the time has gone! 

That being said, there is absolutely nothing that sets me more on edge, than walking into any store and seeing the back-to-school supplies front and center. 

Never mind the fact that I graduated from college in 2019 and haven’t thought about -nor used- the Pythagorean theorem ever since, seeing a ruler in the wild makes me antsy. 

While I am one of those people who will casually browse through the holiday decoration aisles as soon as they are available, we are barely halfway through July at the time of this issue.

It feels like the smoke hasn’t even cleared from the 4th of July but I’m ready to hunger games my way to the good folders. 

But, I will leave the stress of back-to-school shopping to the parents and current students, although I may take advantage of the sales and get one of those jumbo packs of multi-colored pens to get me through 2024.

As we continue pushing through the summer, our county by county coverage continues.

This issue focuses on all of the developments happening in Bladen County. We have the Live, Work, Play project that’s waiting for the official green light (cover story), a new healthcare option for the residents of Elizabethtown (page 3), the history and glimpse into the future of Bladen County’s staple tourist destination Cape Fear Winery (page 5) and we get to know the Executive Director of the Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce (page 13).

Elizabethtown received some attention a few months back with the addition of Sovereign Aerospace when they assumed duties as the Fixed Base Operator for Curtis L. Brown, Jr. Airport in April. It was nice to learn about other continued growth in the area.

Our next county focused issue will be Sampson County on Aug. 11 and we’ve already started learning about some of the goings on in that area! 

We’re looking forward to bringing these stories to you, our dear readers.