Press Releases

Six distinguished North Carolinians were presented the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest honor, by Governor Roy Cooper at a Nov. 9 ceremony at the North Carolina Museum of Art. The award recognizes significant lifetime achievements in the areas of fine arts, literature, public service and science.The 2023 honorees are Honorable David Price for Public Service, Honorable G.K. Butterfield for Public Service, Fred A. Whitfield for Public Service, Marsha White Warren for Literature, Patrick Dougherty for Fine Arts and Mandy K. Cohen, M.D., M.P.H., for Science.

Crystal Lloyd, one of the park superintendents at Falls Lake State Recreation Area, is now the park superintendent at Carolina Beach State Park in New Hanover County, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation announced. Lloyd fills the role after longtime superintendent Chris Helms retired in April.The park superintendent leads the operations and administration at the park and has a comprehensive set of responsibilities that include staffing, training, law enforcement, planning, natural and cultural resource management, interpretation and education, and visitor services.

All backcountry campsites at nine state parks in western North Carolina are closed effective Nov. 10 due to increased fire risk, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. The closures will last through at least Dec. 1.The following state parks are affected:Crowders Mountain State Park: All campsites are closed.Elk Knob State Park: All campsites and the zone camping area are closed.

Join Duke Homestead State Historic Site for one last day of baseball this season at the Durham Athletic Park. Two vintage baseball games will be played Nov. 11, beginning at 1 p.m.

Matt Windsor is the new park superintendent at Goose Creek State Park in Beaufort County, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. Windsor succeeds Doug Lequire, who retired in May.Park superintendents lead operations and administration at a park and have wide-ranging responsibilities that include staffing, training, law enforcement, planning, resource management, interpretation and education, and visitor services.

The campground at Gorges State Park in Transylvania County will be temporarily closed beginning Nov. 2 due to black bear activity in the area. The campground will remain closed for the next two weeks.Campground reservations during this time will be cancelled and refunds will be issued to reservation holders.The park remains open to visitors.

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site will honor North Carolina’s military history with a “Military Timeline,” Saturday, Nov. 11. Visitors will learn about the experiences of soldiers and support personnel from the past 450 years.“It’s important for us to remember the men and women who have sacrificed to make us who we are today as a country,” said Site Manager Scott Douglas. The educational program will offer a sample of soldier life through history.

An early Civil Rights organization established by formerly enslaved men and women to overcome the enduring legacy of slavery following the Civil War soon will be recognized with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.

A highly decorated war veteran from North Carolina soon will be recognized with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.Lt. Gen. Robert Sink, a career U.S. Army officer who served in both World War II and the Korean War, was born in 1905 in Lexington, N.C. He attended Trinity College (now Duke University) for a year before transferring to the United States Military Academy at West Point where he graduated in 1927 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

The North Carolina Arts Council today announced that North Carolina’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $2.23 billion in economic activity in 2022. According to the newly released Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6), an economic and social impact study conducted by Americans for the Arts, investments by arts organizations and arts agencies were a key driver of the arts sector’s resurgence after several challenging years.