Carrboro Celebrates All-America City Status As Prelude to Music Festival

COMMUNITY NEWS

By Randy B. Young
Correspondent

Sometimes, news is so great, it deserves a musical fanfare. Following a momentous announcement by the Town of Carrboro this past Sunday, the entire town broke into song.

On June 29th, the Town of Carrboro was named a 2025 All-America City by the National Civic League (NCL), marking a historic win in the town’s first year competing for the prestigious national recognition, a press release stated.

Strike up the bands: this past Sunday, Carrboro brought it all home, with an official celebration of the accomplishment to kick off the Carrboro Music Festival taking place throughout the day. The ceremony included town dignitaries, citizens, activists, and even a visit from Rebecca Trout, Director of the All-America City Award, arriving all the way from NCL headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“Carrboro (was) recognized for its bold commitment to advancing democracy through local action, community partnerships, and inclusive civic infrastructure,” the press release explained.

The National Civic League lauded Carrboro for its efforts to advance racial equity and climate goals through numerous initiatives, including the “Carrboro-in-Motion” Fest’s bilingual neighborhood block parties, the Green Neighborhoods Grant Program, funding resident-led climate projects, and Carrboro’s award-winning Bolin Creek Watershed Restoration project.

National Civic League All-America City Award Director Rebecca Trout (far left) stands beside a host of delegates, Town staff, partners, and stakeholders at the official award announcement Sunday. The National Civic League’s mission is to advance inclusive civic engagement and promote democracy innovations to make decision-making more participatory, equitable, and effective. Photo by Randy B. Young.

Of poetry and song

The celebratory ceremony held Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Drakeford Library Complex began with a display of support through choreographed “fandom” (including actual folding fans) and an inspiring tribute from Carrboro’s Poet Laureate Liza Wolf-Francis, who read her poem that also prefaced Carrboro’s presentation at the June ceremony in Denver.

Through her poem—“Carrboro: Always in Motion”—Wolff-Francis described Carrboro:

“A small mill town at the end of Chapel Hill, green trees overlapping green trees…”

“Tell our story,” Wolff-Frances recited. “We are Carrboro in motion.”

Next up to the podium, Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee noted that the Town Council regularly begins every meeting with a poem.

“We continued that tradition…in Denver,” Foushee said. “That’s how we begin our All-America City presentation before a panel of judges in Denver, Colorado, this past June.”

“This All-America City award is a testament to the heart of Carrboro—a community where equity, environmental sustainability, and inclusive civic engagement are more than values – they are our way of life,” said Carrboro Town Manager Patrice Toney.

“This is just such a remarkable honor,” Toney added. “Once again, being put on this national radar—Carrboro, little Carrboro—is making a huge difference in setting the example for many communities across the nation.”

Town Manager Patrice Toney, town staff, and guests at Sunday’s ceremony demonstrate what great “fans” Carrboro has, just as delegates did at the announcement in a Denver, Colorado, ceremony in June. Photo by Randy B. Young.

Civic and civil Carrboro

The All-America City Award has recognized communities since 1949 for their outstanding civic accomplishments, according to an NCL release. Founded in 1894 by Teddy Roosevelt and Louis Brandeis, the Civic League championed the democracy innovations of the early 20th Century. More information is available on the NCL website, at www.ncl.org.

“We are happy to name Carrboro as a 2025 All-America City,” said Doug Linkhart, NCL President. “Through their application and presentation, they showed that they are a national model for engaging residents, businesses, and government stakeholders in the pursuit of environmental goals.”

Communities from across the country submitted written applications showcasing their efforts to bring people together, create positive change, and build thriving, resilient communities, after which the field was narrowed down to 20 finalists.

“During June 27-29, 2025, finalist communities traveled to Denver, where they connected and shared insights with peers and learned from national thought leaders,” a Carrboro release detailed. “Carrboro’s delegation, comprised of youth leaders, town staff, the mayor, and business and community partners, presented their work to a jury of nationally recognized civic leaders…Their presentation, filled with storytelling, spoken word, and community pride, underscored Carrboro’s collective vision of building a more inclusive and resilient future.”

“We were happy to be able to recognize you all as the finalists,” said NCL’s All-America City Award Director Rebecca Trout, “and we were thrilled to have you be in Denver with us. And I wish everyone in this room could have seen it. Carrboro was very popular with their ‘fans,’ of course, but really what we were there for was the jury presentation and going from 20 finalists to 10 winners.”

Pillar talk

NCL had high praise for the intentional steps Carrboro has taken to build a welcoming, sustainable, and diverse community, making Carrboro one of the South’s most inclusive communities.

The National Civic League noted that the reputation was well-earned: “Carrboro was the first North Carolina town to elect an openly gay mayor (1995) and to offer domestic-partner benefits to same-sex couples. In 2019, it began installing ‘truth plaques’ to confront and share the town’s complex racial history.

The NCL said that Carrboro remains focused on the strategic directions set by its foundational pillars—racial equity and climate action—“to build a thriving and inclusive community.”

Mayor Foushee explained that three specific projects uniquely reflected Carrboro’s strong civic engagement, inclusive leadership, and seeking of collaborative solutions.

“The first one is Carrboro in Motion, bringing civic engagement directly to underrepresented renters through bilingual neighborhood block parties,” Foushee said. “Secondly, our Green Neighborhoods Grant Program funds resident-led climate projects, and (thirdly) Bolin Creek Watershed Restoration, uniting residents, homeowner associations, and state agencies to address stormwater challenges with nature-based solutions.”

The Carrboro in Motion Fests spoke to underrepresented renters living in the Town, staging neighborhood block parties designed to meet residents where they are.

Through its Green Neighborhoods Grant Program, Carrboro has fostered community participation, even in low-income and historically marginalized communities, according to an NCL release.

The Town responded with the Green Neighborhoods Grant Program as part of its Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP). Since its launch, Carrboro has funded 16 projects, and the Town plans to invest up to 10 additional initiatives in 2025.

Thirdly, erosion in Carrboro’s Bolin Forest and Forest Court neighborhoods was damaging land, threatening water quality, and creating safety hazards. In response, they launched the Bolin Creek Stormwater Collaborative…to develop a sustainable, community-based solution.

Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee, Town Manager Patrice Toney, Town staff, delegates, and valued community members strike a proud pose Sunday at the Drakeford Library Complex performance center. Photo by Randy B. Young.

The full community

“It is just such a delight to be here with you and to see this community that I have been reading about, and I’ve met some of you here in person in the flesh,” Trout gushed. “I go to a lot of All-America communities each year, but I cannot say that I always get a personal guided tour.”

“We are unique (at the National Civic League) in that we don’t recognize individual mayors or city managers, however lovely they might be,” Trout said, laughing alongside Foushee and Town Manager Patrice Toney. “We recognize full communities: we recognize your Chamber of Commerce, your Music Festival, your faith institutions, your businesses, and everyday residents that go about making this community what you want it to be.”

As such, speakers—including Mayor Foushee and Town Manager Patrice Toney—were deeply grateful to those who helped work toward the designation.

“We couldn’t bring everybody (to Denver),” Toney said, “but we handpicked the delegation to really represent the areas that highlight our level of community engagement and civic engagement…”

Also contributing as delegates were Catherine Lazorko (Town communications and engagement), management analyst Stephen Wright, Carrboro staff members Anita Jones-McNair, Amy Armbruster, and Reilly Stahl.

Attending community members included Donald Landon Hawkins, Meg Molloy, Oscar Garcia, Carrie Donley, Lama Moakel (Refugee Community Partnership), Kennedy Lytle and Madeleine Wares (Carrboro High students), Katherine Graham McCormick (UNC-Chapel Hill student), Braxton Foushee, Abhi Sivadas (Three Muses Card Shop), and agency partners Brian Litchfield (Chapel Hill Transit), Taylor Gay, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce), and Laurie Paolicelli (Orange County Visitors Bureau).

“We got this delegation together,” Toney said, “and it was a very diverse group in terms of community, small businesses, the chamber, transit—all the partners that participate in the town government to make Carrboro great.”

With great power…

“Being an All-America City in a time where… D.E.I. is a bad word, and to stand strong on those pillars and win an All-America City award in 2025: it’s pretty darned remarkable,” Toney added.

“I can’t say that I’ve seen as quickly and deeply the inclusion and welcoming spirit that I’ve witnessed just in the last 24 hours that I have been here,” Trout said Sunday.

Trout stressed that Carrboro’s work is not done, however.

“This is meant to be continued,” she said, “so congratulations, but also hold strong and continue on your journey. It is not always popular; it is not always expedient to do the work that you are doing, but I hope that you’ll stay strong and continue doing what you do.”

Toney said Carrboro and its citizens were equal to the task.

“We are Carrboro, moving forward in community, uplifting everyone, bringing all people in. Because Carrboro is always in motion.”

A Dartmouth College graduate, Randy B. Young first worked as an award-winning advertising copywriter in New Hampshire, then in communications at UNC for over 30 years. He maintained an award-winning newspaper feature covering Recreation and Exercise in the Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County. Retired and living in Chapel Hill, Randy continues to write for regional publications both locally and in New England, and his book, And the Stars Flew With Us, is available through Amazon and at independent bookstores. He coaches track at Chapel Hill High and has a photography business, Pierless (sic) Photography. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocalReporter.press