Speckled Paw Coffee will host monthly events in Uptown Wadesboro.

Speckled Paw Coffee will host monthly events in Uptown Wadesboro.

<p>John Marek reads his short story “The Dangerous Type” on August 24.</p>
                                 <p>Hannah Barron | Anson Record</p>

John Marek reads his short story “The Dangerous Type” on August 24.

Hannah Barron | Anson Record

<p>Corey Lowery sings at Speckled Paw Coffee on August 24.</p>
                                 <p>Hannah Barron | Anson Record</p>

Corey Lowery sings at Speckled Paw Coffee on August 24.

Hannah Barron | Anson Record

WADESBORO — Speckled Paw Coffee hosted its first Rev Uptown Open Mic Night at 6:30 on August 24. It was a joint venture between the Chamber, Anson Economic Development, Uptown Wadesboro, and the Tourism Development Authority — the first of its kind.

The plan is to have one night a month where the community comes together at Rev Uptown, driving both economic gain and community engagement to Wadesboro. In June, they had the “sip and paint” class, they are looking to have a knitting and crocheting class in September, and a trivia night in October. By bringing in more people uptown to the arts district in the evenings where exciting new businesses are opening up, the organizers hope to fuel Uptown culture.

“REV Uptown was always intended as a hub for community activity,” said John Marek, Anson County Economic Developer and one of the co-hosts and performers at the event. “The original plan was to offer a variety of programming here that would appeal to the business, civic, and resident communities. Of course, COVID had something to say about that and we had to significantly roll back our plans during 2020 and the first few months of 2021.”

“We understand that it is a process, and we don’t expect results overnight,” he continued, “but we’ve already seen some very positive signs of an uptown revival and we want to keep that momentum moving forward.”

Marek, who has published several collections of short stories which are available on Amazon, read one of his short stories from the new collection he’s putting together called “Craven Fork: Stories from Galena County,” about Craven Fork, a fictional state park in a fictional county in North Carolina. He describes the collection as one that combines elements of the outdoors, rural living, crime, and the uncanny.

The story he read from was called “The Dangerous Type,” still a work-in-progress, that follows a farmer tracking a mysterious wolf-like creature that has been killing area livestock.

Speckled Paw’s barista and manager, Corey Lowery, also performed at the event. Lowery grew up in a singing household where he found his love of music. He performed R&B hits including “My Girl” and “Change is Going to Come.” He also sang audience-requested samples including “Here Comes the Sun,” “Hello,” and “Amazing Grace.”

The last performer was Jeff Boothby who is in the forestry industry. He told some of the insider forestry jokes, which were a hit with the intimate audience.

The night also consisted of a beer tasting curated by Marek from his recent visits to the Whitewater Center and craft breweries. Participants sampled his favorite beers including Catawba Brewing’s White Zombie white ale, DogFish Head’s SeaQuench, and Sycamore’s Mountain Candy grapefruit sour. Marek told those in attendance his attempts to get a craft brewery in Wadesboro to attract the 21+ crowd. He also discussed a winery expected in April 2022 about three miles outside of Uptown Wadesboro – A and J Winery. A and J will have a winery, gem mine, petting zoo, and rooms to spend the night; the winery plans to create a fully immersive family experience and attraction for Anson County.

More Open Mic Nights with Speckled Paw to come; dates TBA.

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Reach Hannah Barron at 910-817-2668 or hbarron@ansonrecord.com.