As some of you may be aware, Gerald Decker is stepping down from his duties as President and CEO of Cape Fear Voices/Teen Scene. To say I was surprised by his decision is indeed an understatement. The positive side to his decision is that he will remain on the Board of Directors and assist the incoming President/CEO. Gerald has asked me to consider taking this position starting in February.
With a lot of consideration and approval of the current board, I have decided to fill this role. I can’t come close to achieving what Gerald has during his tenure, but I will do my best to maintain the standards of excellence he has established.
To that end, I have decided to focus on four key initiatives in 2025. The first being to finish planning and execute the 5th annual CFV/TS Awards Banquet, which will be held on April 12.
The second initiative is to continue working with area teens who are recommended to us by their teachers/coaches. As we are no longer active in going into middle and high schools, this will ensure that those who participate in our programs are motivated to do so. Homeschooled students are another avenue that I believe has potential for us.
The next thing I want to establish is a library program. Nancy Bryans and I have spent a great deal of time investigating topics and formats and we believe that this will be an important initiative for us and the community. We want to make this more than just a book club or literary event. We believe that there are local authors, storytellers and motivational speakers that can offer an hour of interesting and useful information.
Finally, I realized that when we went to an online publication, we lost the artwork that our middle and high school students used to submit. I would like to partner with VCAP, the Brunswick Arts Council and local artists to create a new page in Cape Fear Voices featuring works of art. My vision is to have a small online “gallery showing” for each artist.
I am not making any changes to Cape Fear Voices, other than to try and bring in new writers. We have excellent writers at our core and I’m sure there are more in the community.
I am new at leading this group, but I will do my best to achieve these goals. I have had amazing support in my editorial role from Gerald Decker, Nancy Bryans, Doug Ensley and Tony Swegle and I hope they will continue to be an active presence in 2025.
We have been operating with very limited resources, if you are interested in working on any of the initiatives detailed above, please reach out to me, Nancy or Gerald. We would appreciate your help.
Lisa Ann Heath Mote • Feb 5, 2025 at 3:54 pm
Congratulations on your new position! I know you will be perfect for the newspaper and writers as well. I met Mr. Decker when he came to Burgaw Middle School in 2023 to speak in our library. He, spurred on by our librarian, invited me to write for Cape Fear Voices. I am glad I took up his suggestion. Thank you Jan for the encouragement and kind words you have given me over this past year. I look forward to your wonderful initiatives for 2025!
adviser • Feb 6, 2025 at 11:07 am
Hey Girl, Thanks so much for your kind words. Keep writing, your work is always well received. I hope to see you in April at our banquet. I’m so glad Gerald encouraged you to write–you do it well.
Ronnie Pastecki • Feb 3, 2025 at 4:43 pm
Congratulations, Jan. I’m sure you will do a great job. Best wishes to Gerald, who made Cape Fear Voices possible.
adviser • Feb 3, 2025 at 7:35 pm
I agree, I have some large shoes to fill. Thank you for your kind words. I will try my best.
adviser • Feb 10, 2025 at 10:04 am
Thank you. I’m going to try my best. No one can “replace” Gerald, but I hope to make him proud of the initiatives we are working on and the things we accomplish this year. Looking forward to seeing you at the banquet.
Daniel G Neizmik • Feb 1, 2025 at 8:00 am
Congratulations Jan! And best of luck to Gerald, who does so much for our community. You’ll do great Jan!