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(04/08/10 4:41am)
Since its iconic courthouse caught fire two weeks ago, the Chatham County court system has tried to shield the already-crowded Orange system from sharing the scheduling burden. Renovations to an Orange County courtroom have limited space in its courts, but worries that the loss of the neighboring county’s courthouse would add to the space crunch have proven unfounded.The March 25 fire destroyed Chatham County’s main courtroom, which was used to try both criminal and civil superior court cases. Orange County, which shares a court system with Chatham, offered to provide space to try superior court cases, but the offer was not accepted, said James Stanford, the Orange County clerk of superior court. Today, court officials will meet with the Chatham County manager’s office to discuss alternative, temporary courtroom venues like the Pittsboro Memorial Library. They said they think solutions like this could help them avoid adding additional case loads to an already overcrowded Orange County court system.Renovations to the library could begin as early as August, said Jim Woodall, the district attorney of Chatham and Orange counties.“All that’s tentative because they’ve got to make sure they have enough money,” he said.In the meantime, a makeshift courtroom has been set up in the Agriculture Auditorium located in the courthouse annex across the street.Renovations to Orange County’s main courtroom, the Mural Courtroom, have already left that system in a bind, Stanford said. The inability to hold trials in that courtroom, which holds about 250 people, has put an extra burden on Orange County courts.He said the county would be able to offer space sporadically at best.“We would of course be more than happy to accommodate them,” Stanford said. “Our problem is we’re already pressed for space.”Chapel Hill attorney Elliot Brady said he comes to the Orange County district courthouse on Franklin Street nearly every week but has never encountered such overcrowded conditions.“This is the most crowded as I’ve ever seen it,” he said. “At least twice as many people as I’ve ever seen.”Despite crowding in Orange, assistant district attorneys have gone to Chatham County to help out with a particularly busy week when the county reviews older DWI cases to dispose of unnecessary ones.These cases require months of preparation by district attorneys, all of which was lost in the blaze.Orange County district attorneys handled routine cases while their Chatham County colleagues regathered information.“We believe that we’ve got this planned out,” he said. “Everybody’s worked together, cooperated. “Chatham County court’s going to be in Chatham County.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/31/10 5:02am)
Preschoolers at The Little School of Hillsborough ate risotto with chicken breast and fresh vegetables Tuesday, followed by an afternoon snack of yogurt and granola parfait. The organic, local cooking of their newest chef has received rave reviews, with preschoolers often cheering or singing songs in appreciation.Nate McMullen, or “Chef Nate” as he is known to the kids, began working at the preschool about three months ago. McMullen, who is the dad of Kellan, one of the school’s students, prepares organic snacks and meals each day.When the school opened its College Park Road location in January, the staff knew exactly who they wanted to be the cook, said Christa Niven, the school’s co-director.“Every school feeds their children. Every child has to eat every day,” she said. “But not every school creates a curriculum around feeding their children, and Nate has done that.”McMullen began cooking professionally about 14 years ago in Washington, D.C. He attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York and has since worked at privately-owned restaurants in New York, Michigan and the Outer Banks.He moved to Hillsborough a few years ago to cook for the four-star Fearrington House Restaurant before taking the more flexible job at the school.“It’s definitely not as stressful,” he said. “You don’t have a chef yelling at you all the time. You don’t have a paying customer out there who sometimes demands crazy things.”McMullen said he has learned a lot about preparing meals that are both appealing and healthy for kids.“In the avenues where I’d been cooking, you want as much flavor as possible,” he said. “You’re not really going for the health side. You want just to impress. So coming here, I’ve kind of shifted gears.”One of the major ways to teach children to make healthier food choices is by involving children in the process of growing and preparing food, said Alice Ammerman, professor at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. By doing this, children are less afraid to try unfamiliar foods, she added.The school has its own herb garden, named after Chef Nate.“When the kids are coming back and showing Nate, ‘Look at the beans that we made,’ Nate is saying, ‘Yes, this is exactly like the beans you are going to eat today,’” Niven said.Parents are shocked and pleased that their kids will eat the nutritious food, and are struggling to keep up at home, she said. They have asked McMullen to write a cookbook.McMullen said that his job at The Little School is more fulfilling than his previous jobs.“Kids that I barely know will give me a hug and say, ‘Thanks,’ and that’s pretty cool,” McMullen said. “It makes me feel good.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/04/10 5:26am)
Junior Scott Rodgers wants to eventually become the mayor of Chapel Hill.The charismatic economics major from Raleigh took his first step last month: e-mailing current Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt for advice about how to become qualified.“It doesn’t do much good to just sit around and say, ‘Things should be this way, things should be that way,’” Rodgers said. “To be in a position of power where, you know, I can actually make things happen, would really excite me.”Being mayor would allow him to lead at a local level, where he thinks he is best qualified.“My interest probably arose over the course of my college career, just sort of wishing things were a different way, me sort of thinking, ‘What are ways that this could be improved?’” Rodgers said.Some of those things included frustration with a lack of parking on campus and in downtown Chapel Hill, especially on game days.Kleinschmidt said he plans to respond to Rodgers’ request for advice soon.“It’s not something that generally people make a life goal,” Kleinschmidt said. “It’s just something that generally happens from working in the community and caring about people and being involved.”There is no traditional road to becoming mayor, said Kleinschmidt, a criminal defense lawyer who was a Chapel Hill Town Council member before he became mayor.“People find different paths depending upon where their interests lie and where their skill set is,” he said. “It’s something that’s especially peculiar to the individual.”Rodgers’ primary interests are transportation and land use policies. One of the first things he would do as mayor is improve the bus system, he said. He regularly attends council meetings involving transportation.Rodgers said that he hopes to learn more about other issues in the community, and if he did not know enough to be a good mayor, he would not run.Long-time friend Philip Carr said Rodgers is a very determined individual.“He seems to always know what he wants to do and seems to always get it done,” said Carr, a junior who has known Rodgers since they were 4 years old.Rodgers would like to improve his networking skills, he said. This is something he admires in Kleinschmidt.“He looks like someone you could strike up a conversation with on the street, like he’s a really friendly guy. That’s a very important quality for the mayor,” Rodgers said. “I’m going to try to be like that.”The most challenging part of being mayor is balancing personal life and civic responsibilities, Kleinschmidt said.Rodgers said he is capable of taking on the challenges because of his intense passion for Chapel Hill.“I love this town. I love this community. It’s just something I think I’d be really good at,” he said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu
(02/26/10 5:14am)
James Britt has seen the town change in many ways since growing up in civil rights-era Chapel Hill.The landscape has changed. His relationship with residents and business owners has changed. The way he buys food has changed.But one thing that has stayed the same is the Ackland Art Museum, where Britt, 59, used to visit on field trips as a student at Chapel Hill Junior High. He has worked as a security guard at the museum since 2003.Britt entered the junior high as a seventh grader in 1962, three years after the school system began integrating and eight years after the measure was called for by the U.S. Supreme Court. He was one of about six black students who joined the school system that year.Now Britt watches the museum Wednesday through Sunday for about 40 hours a week. He ensures the art is safe and interacts with visitors and students touring the museum.“He seems to know every piece and where it is,” said Renee Luberoff, who has been a gallery teacher for seven years.Britt said his favorite painting is “Mending Socks” by Archibald J. Motley Jr., which is currently on display. The work depicts an elderly woman repairing holes in her socks.“The lady in the painting actually reminds me of my grandmother and my great-grandmother,” Britt said. “She sure looks like she could be family. But it also reminds me of, you know, the old days.”Those old days include the civil rights movement in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, where Britt has lived nearly his entire life.“There’s no way to not remember the marches and the singing,” he said.When he was about 12 years old, Britt saw Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Chapel Hill.“Even as a youngster, that was quite impressive,” he said. “I was awestruck. There was no way not to be paying attention.”But his most vivid memories are those of attending the newly integrated schools.Near the beginning of seventh grade, a white classmate asked to touch his hand — his father told him the black would rub off, Britt said. The boy was surprised this wasn’t true.“He was fine after that, and we actually got to be real good buddies,” Britt said.Not every classmate was as accepting. Britt chose not to sit in the back of the classroom with the other black students, even though it was the “safest place.”“I would actually sit real close to the front. I could hear. I could see, and I just kind of took my chances from whoever was going to throw something from behind,” he said.These projectiles included spitballs, wads of paper and books, he said.But Britt has since befriended many former classmates, whom he saw in the carpool line as he picked his daughter up from school. “We learn that our kids know each other and relate,” he said. “It’s really cool. It’s progress — it makes you feel better.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/18/10 2:34am)
With two fewer early voting sites for the May primary, county officials are concerned that voter turnout might decline.The Orange County Board of Elections voted earlier this month to have only two early voting sites in May, at Morehead Planetarium on the University’s campus and at the Board of Elections office in Hillsborough.That eliminates the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center in Chapel Hill and the Carrboro Town Hall.Orange County Commissioners and Carrboro Aldermen are particularly worried about the loss of the Town Hall location — so much that County Commissioner Alice Gordon said the board might decide to fund the voting site.“We are under an extremely tight budget situation at this point, and despite that we might decide it’s worth it to keep this site open,” she said. “Public access is important.”The Town Hall had an early voter turnout of 3,897 voters, second only to the Morehead Planetarium site, which had 6,018 voters, in the May 2008 primary.“I don’t think this is just about Carrboro voters but also people from around the southern county,” Alderman Dan Coleman said. “That’s thousands of voters who are told to go elsewhere.”The decision is primarily due to budget concerns, said board director Tracy Reams. She said closing the site would save about $10,000, most of which would have been spent on staff.County voters may not be able to take full advantage of early voting’s benefits, including more manageable polls and shorter lines, Coleman said.“When you’ve got voter turnout that’s small, you don’t constrain the opportunities and the locations and make the logistics more of an obstacle,” he said.Ruby Sinreich, a Chapel Hill resident, said she is disappointed about the board’s decision.“It’s going to be harder for people like me to vote,” she said. “Anything that makes it harder to vote is going to cause less people to vote.”The Morehead site serves the students well but is less accessible for the off-campus community due to parking and location, Sinreich said.“Carrboro is the most convenient site for everyone who doesn’t live on campus,” she said.Several local officials have suggested alternatives to lessen the impact of the decision.The Board of Elections should open additional early voting sites for shorter time periods on a rotational basis, giving more citizens an opportunity to vote throughout the day, Coleman said.Carrboro representatives are uncertain whether their input will change the decision, said Alderman Randee Haven-O’Donnell.“I don’t see that there’s anything that can’t be overcome and worked around,” she said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/12/10 5:37am)
It started with an e-mail: a concerned mother who complained about her daughter being rear-ended twice on campus by drivers talking on their cell phones.And since Chapel Hill Town Council member Penny Rich brought up the idea of banning hand-held cell phones while driving, Rich said she comes home each night to even more concerned e-mails worried about distracted drivers.Chapel Hill will hear residents’ thoughts on cell phones and driving at a forum later this month. If the council decides to pursue a ban, the town would join a growing list of areas that have forbid cell phones while on the road.
(02/05/10 4:59am)
Members of Chapel Hill nonprofit organizations burdened by the recession are hopeful this month as they apply to the Human Services Advisory Board for town funding.Glenn Gerding, the board’s chairman, said almost all nonprofits are faced with less income but have experienced increased demand for their services.“It wouldn’t surprise me if they came to us this year and said they needed more money than last year,” he said.The board has a budget set by the Town Council. Last year, the board allocated $357,900 to 46 different organizations — less than the $469,397 agencies asked for.The board will not know how much it has to offer this year until the town completes its budget process this summer.“We only have a limited amount of money to go a long way,” said Karen Rose, the board liaison.Employees of one agency, EmPOWERment Inc., which provides small business support, affordable housing and a neighborhood coalition to advocate community needs, said they will not ask for more funds than last year.“We recognized that there was probably going to be a deficit in the budget, so we kept our heads low,” said Delores Bailey, the executive director of EmPOWERment.The senior recreation program run by the Orange County Department on Aging at the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center received the most funding last year.Even though it was given $36,800, the funding was still $9,900 less than the department had requested. The program applied to the board for the first time last year. As part of a government agency, the senior center used to ask for funding directly from the town manager’s office.“The town tried to consolidate all requests for services in the community last year,” said Jerry Passmore, director of the Department on Aging. “Even though we’re a government institution providing a mandated town service, we’re thrown in with all the other applications.”The funds the program received from the board last year were not enough to cover the recreation services coordinator’s position.The department is asking for the same amount of money it requested last year. Passmore said that without enough funds, the department will resort to class fees and cuts in programming, such as yoga classes for senior citizens, to make up the cost.The board’s application for funding, which is due on Feb. 15, includes the program’s general overview, goals and results, who it assists, the operating structure and the budget.When allotting funds, Gerding said he looks to see if an agency is fiscally responsible, well-managed and engaged in the community.The board also refers to the Human Services Needs Report, an outline of disparities in Chapel Hill. The top three groups that have consistently needed support are the homeless, the mentally ill and youth.Ever since El Centro Latino closed due to insufficient funds, the Latino population has also become a priority group, Gerding said.Although many agencies do not get the amount they request, town funds are a symbol of the board’s approval, said William Powers, an advisory board member. Nonprofits also use the funding as leverage to attract donations and grants.“Even if it’s only $1,000, that’s an affirmation on the part of the town of Chapel Hill that they’re doing a good job,” Powers said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/03/10 5:59am)
A metal fence is all that divides a small funeral home on North Graham Street from the Greenbridge construction site.It was also the first official notification Knotts Funeral Home received of Greenbridge’s construction, said Michael Parker, the funeral home branch’s manager.“They didn’t let us know anything until they started coming in and putting up a fence,” he said.Since construction of the 135-foot tall sustainable development began in 2008, funeral home employees say they have dealt with falling debris and a dip in business.Employees are waiting to hear whether the Chapel Hill Town Council can offer them any help for their concerns as they learn to live beside the town’s tallest structure.A perilous positionKnotts Funeral Homes, a family-owned chain with four locations in the area, began business in Chapel Hill 13 years ago.The modest funeral home has ties to the historically black neighborhood that surrounds it, Parker said.Built in about 1940, it originally housed the Chapel Hill Funeral Home, said Parker.Although the old building has stood the test of time, it hasn’t fared as well with the new construction.The building and three vehicles parked outside were damaged by falling construction materials, Parker said.“It has caused this building to leak, the building to separate, the floors to get dusted up from the dust,” he said. “It’s just really torn the building down.”Judie Rice, one of the home’s two funeral directors, said she worries about structural stability.“The building has shifted, and you can easily see that,” she said.Greenbridge spokesman Mark Vevle said the funeral home received compensation for a damaged vehicle but did not confirm or deny any of the other claims.A decline in businessLula Knotts-Thomas, the owner of Knotts Funeral Homes, said fewer clients have used the Graham home since construction began.Potential clients have been discouraged by personal safety and lack of parking concerns, Parker said.Construction noise also disturbed clients, Rice said.“The noise level was excruciating for several weeks,” she said.Knotts-Thomas inquired about selling the property to Greenbridge developers but did not feel they offered her a fair amount.“They did not give any consideration to the fact that we are an operating business and by selling we would have to reestablish ourselves somewhere else,” she said.Frank Phoenix, one of the partners of Greenbridge, said the agreement they came to with the funeral home is complicated. He said when the funeral home voices concerns, they are addressed right away.Rice said she was puzzled by developers’ choice to build next to the funeral home.“I don’t know who would want to buy a condo next to a funeral home with people bringing dead bodies in and out,” she said.Waiting for town’s responseAfter a meeting the funeral home held Jan. 25, owners submitted a resolution to the Town Council.The resolution states that because of a lack of parking some days, the business has had to reschedule a funeral service, limit employee parking and ask families attending a service to pay for parking meters.“There’s nothing we can do about the Greenbridge buildings,” Rice said. “They are up. Now we have to find a way to work together.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/22/10 6:28am)
Each Wednesday, Diane Berry picks up Anyelin de la Cruz Lopez from Glenwood Elementary School. The two grab a snack and find a quiet spot to work together on Anyelin’s homework.During their afternoon together, the pair schedules upcoming plans, like a trip to a goat farm or a potluck dinner, in their matching black planners — Anyelin’s a miniature version of Berry’s.Anyelin, 9, is a student in Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate, a program in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.The program began in 1995 as a way to increase educational achievement among blacks, said Graig Meyer, the program coordinator. Now, according to the program’s Web site, more than 100 mentors participate. Mentees now include refugees from Asian countries and Hispanic students. Mentors like Berry, who is an assistant professor in the UNC School of Nursing, commit to two years of working with their mentee, meeting for at least two hours each week .More than 60 percent of the program’s mentoring relationships, however, last from the time a child is in fourth grade until he or she graduates from high school, Meyer said.Berry said she plans to mentor Anyelin beyond high school graduation.“It’s a lifetime commitment as far as I’m concerned,” she said.Anyelin said her favorite part about her relationship with Berry is the time they spend together.“It’s fun having a mentor like her,” she said.The program encourages participants to exchange cultures.Anyelin said her family taught Berry how to make empanadas, a traditional Latin American bread made by folding dough around a stuffing.“The fun part was everybody got to help, even my brother and my sister,” Anyelin said. “My brother made the little balls of the tortilla with my sister — they took turns on that.” Berry and Anyelin’s mom, Marlen, who is a native Spanish speaker, have a pact with one another: Berry will learn to speak Spanish fluently, and Marlen will learn to speak English fluently by Anyelin’s high school graduation.“Anyelin and her mom are working on me with my Spanish, so I’ll always ask her, ‘How do I say that word?’ if I forget — which is often, right?” asked Berry, smiling and looking to Anyelin.Meyer said he believes the connections that the mentoring program builds between different backgrounds strengthen the community. “It becomes about their families getting to know each other, doing things over time, feeling a connection,” he said. “I think the whole community benefits from that because it weaves together the social fabric of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/27/09 5:13am)
When students have a legal problem, attorney Dorothy Bernholz, known as Dottie, has their back.Bernholz, 68, director of Student Legal Services, has been advising students charged with misdemeanors and involved in civil cases since 1976 — and is busier now than ever before.This year, Bernholz said there’s been an increase in students turning to her for legal assistance with the recent rise in drinking citations in Chapel Hill.“We have seen a gigantic increase in the arrests downtown for underage possession of alcohol, and we have been doing nothing else,” she said.Bernholz added that drinking citations are more time-consuming due to concerned parents.“I’m having much more parental involvement,” she said. “Parents are driving from out-of-state, and they are very upset.”Bernholz, who earned an undergraduate degree from UNC in 1963, began working for free when student government hired her to assist students involved in legal disputes. At first, she could only provide advice to students, who would then have to hire a private lawyer.In 1977, she sued the North Carolina State Bar to allow her to represent students in civil cases less than $10,000.“Students needed their own lawyer to gain meaningful access to the court,” Bernholz said.Although she said her husband, who was a private lawyer, lost income because of the program, she moved forward with her plans.“We wanted to get the right of students to be able — on a cheaper basis — to have full access to us on a walk-in basis,” she said.Bernholz recently represented graduate student Kumi Smith in a landlord-tenant dispute.“I think it’s actually really important that for the sake of people’s rights, there is somebody like Dottie seeing these things through and delivering justice in these matters,” Smith said.Bernholz helped establish North Carolina’s deferred prosecution, community service restitution and volunteer program, which helps students expunge minor legal violations through alcohol education courses and community service hours.“It’s taking a regular day-in, day-out discrete problem for each and every student, and then dealing with it on a community level,” she said.Bernholz’s co-worker, attorney David Crescenzo, said Bernholz is a person students can turn to.“She’s very knowledgeable and very experienced, and has real insight into the workings of the University and of the community,” he said. “Everything she says is very valuable.”Although Bernholz deals with repetitive, minor cases on a daily basis, she said her morale is unaffected.“I’m loving my job,” she said. “I haven’t lost the burn in my stomach for it yet.”Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(10/01/09 3:14am)
Genny Wrenn, 55, loves game days in Chapel Hill because her father’s local souvenir shop, The Shrunken Head Boutique, becomes filled with UNC fans.“It’s wall-to-wall people trying to get in here,” Wrenn said. “I call it the Shrunken Head shuffle.”The store has seen many of those crowded game days. This fall season marks the 40th anniversary of the store’s opening.Shelton Henderson, the 75-year-old owner of The Shrunken Head Boutique, works with his family and other employees to maintain the oldest UNC merchandise store on Franklin Street.“Once a family member is not able to own it or run it, we definitely would close, ‘cause we’re known for our family being here,” Wrenn said.Henderson opened his business in the fall of 1969 in Jacksonville, N.C. The first store was a head shop, which sold merchandise such as incense and rolling papers.The store was originally named after Henderson’s interactions with Marines who frequented the store in its early years. “One of our ex-Marines said, ‘Well, Shelton, you’re always trying to shrink these Marines’ heads. Why don’t you call it the Shrunken Head?’” Wrenn said.But nearby stores took over the head shop market.“The grocery stores in the area decided they wanted to do the incense and the rolling papers,” Wrenn said. “And my dad said, ‘Thank goodness.’ So we got out of that.”Henderson originally expanded the store to Greenville with the hopes of establishing stores in 25 college towns. But due to a shortage of employees, he, being a UNC fan, settled on Chapel Hill as the sole location for the store. The family moved to town in 1972.The Shrunken Head began to sell only UNC merchandise in 1983 after the UNC men’s basketball team won the national championship the previous year.“That was the most wonderful thing that could ever happen,” Wrenn said. “Everybody was on the street — the whole family was — ‘til four in the morning. They were hollering and painting the street in light blue.”The Henderson family met after the victory and decided to become a UNC souvenir shop. They also added ‘boutique’ to the store’s name.The next generation of the Henderson family has already begun to work in the store. Wrenn’s 11-year-old niece has started to run the register.“We train ‘em young,” she said.Although the store is primarily family-run, the Hendersons have employees from outside the family. James McCleary, 30, applied to work at the Shrunken Head seven years ago because he liked the personal atmosphere of the store.“It’s more like people are visiting rather than people are shopping at a store,” he said.Wrenn said after decades with the store, she still enjoys seeing familiar faces.“I have a real good memory,” she said. “I’ll recognize somebody that came to basketball camp when they were 12, and now they have a 12-year-old coming to basketball camp. Everybody’s amazed at that.”
(10/01/09 3:04am)
Genny Wrenn, 55, loves game days in Chapel Hill because her father’s local souvenir shop, The Shrunken Head Boutique, becomes filled with UNC fans.“It’s wall-to-wall people trying to get in here,” Wrenn said. “I call it the Shrunken Head shuffle.”The store has seen many of those crowded game days. This fall season marks the 40th anniversary of the store’s opening.Shelton Henderson, the 75-year-old owner of The Shrunken Head Boutique, works with his family and other employees to maintain the oldest UNC merchandise store on Franklin Street.“Once a family member is not able to own it or run it, we definitely would close, ‘cause we’re known for our family being here,” Wrenn said.Henderson opened his business in the fall of 1969 in Jacksonville, N.C. The first store was a head shop, which sold merchandise such as incense and rolling papers.The store was originally named after Henderson’s interactions with Marines who frequented the store in its early years. “One of our ex-Marines said, ‘Well, Shelton, you’re always trying to shrink these Marines’ heads. Why don’t you call it the Shrunken Head?’” Wrenn said.But nearby stores took over the head shop market.“The grocery stores in the area decided they wanted to do the incense and the rolling papers,” Wrenn said. “And my dad said, ‘Thank goodness.’ So we got out of that.”Henderson originally expanded the store to Greenville with the hopes of establishing stores in 25 college towns. But due to a shortage of employees, he, being a UNC fan, settled on Chapel Hill as the sole location for the store. The family moved to town in 1972.The Shrunken Head began to sell only UNC merchandise in 1983 after the UNC men’s basketball team won the national championship the previous year.“That was the most wonderful thing that could ever happen,” Wrenn said. “Everybody was on the street — the whole family was — ‘til four in the morning. They were hollering and painting the street in light blue.”The Henderson family met after the victory and decided to become a UNC souvenir shop. They also added ‘boutique’ to the store’s name.The next generation of the Henderson family has already begun to work in the store. Wrenn’s 11-year-old niece has started to run the register.“We train ‘em young,” she said.Although the store is primarily family-run, the Hendersons have employees from outside the family. James McCleary, 30, applied to work at the Shrunken Head seven years ago because he liked the personal atmosphere of the store.“It’s more like people are visiting rather than people are shopping at a store,” he said.Wrenn said after decades with the store, she still enjoys seeing familiar faces.“I have a real good memory,” she said. “I’ll recognize somebody that came to basketball camp when they were 12, and now they have a 12-year-old coming to basketball camp. Everybody’s amazed at that.”