The Smithville Community Coalition on Saturday hosts a Fall Festival for all Cornelius residents. The event will be the first of many hosted by the coalition, planned with the goal to bring the Cornelius community together, coalition co-chair Natalie Mayew said.

“We are a very proud community,” Ms. Mayhew said, and often people carry misperceptions about the neighborhood. At the festival, she hopes people from all over Cornelius will come and enjoy food and fellowship and begin to change some of those perceptions. She also hopes to raise awareness of the coalition, which currently has about 20 members, and to recruit new members to join in their efforts.

BRINGING THE COMMUNITY BACK TO THE COMMUNITY CENTER

The coalition, led by Ms. Mayhew and co-chair Sammie Knox, has been meeting regularly for the last few months, looking for ways to bring Smithville residents together and involve them in projects to revitalize the neighborhood.

“We want to get the neighborhood together and get them working in the community,” Ms. Mayhew said.

Ultimately, the coalition would like to repurpose the existing community center, at 19412 South Hill Street, and make it a center used by all Cornelius residents, similar to Davidson’s Ada Jenkins Center, Ms. Mayhew said.

A native Cornelian, Ms. Mayhew remembers when the center was used as a place to meet, gather, listen to music, eat, or just hang out, she said.

“It was the core of the community,” she said.

But many of the people who ran the center and planned its events have grown old, she said, and some have passed away. And the next generation needs to step in, she said.

Now is a particularly important time for the community to come together, Ms. Mayhew said, as there are a lot of changes on the horizon for the town. Infrastructure changes like the Diverging Diamond Interchange, planned to begin next year, could have a significant impact the Smithville community, as the town may open up roads in the neighborhood near the intersection of Catawba and U.S. 21.

“That wave of changes coming through could easily just wash out Smithville,” Ms. Mayhew said, “or we can ride that wave and get people to take notice.”

WANT TO GO?

Head to the Smithville Community Center, located at 19412 South Hill Street, Saturday, Nov. 12, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Enjoy free food, including hot dogs, hamburgers, caramel apples and popcorn, as well as door prizes, music from local gospel groups, 3 on 3 basketball games and inflatable items.