By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
Anchored in the community, the Seven Lakes Insider reports on the people, places and interests of greater Seven Lakes. The new year gives us an opportunity to look back at the breadth and depth of the stories we covered in 2024.
This year’s highlights create a picture of a caring community with an abundance of talent suited for tackling its opportunities and growing edges including the issue of waste management. Here are seven stories for Seven Lakes.
A Roaring Remodel
Shoppers at the Seven Lakes Food Lion navigated jumbled aisles for much of last year while the grocer updated the store as part of a $365 million refresh of 176 stores statewide.
Upwards of 60 local shoppers attended the ribbon cutting on Aug. 21 in celebration of the upgrades.
The Seven Lakes store tapped customer Frank Feggler, who has shopped at the Food Lion for 31 years and knows the employees by name, to cut the ribbon. Store Manager Mike Haymore said it was an honor to stand beside Feggler and expressed gratitude for his business and for keeping store employees on their toes.
The addition of self-checkout kiosks was the biggest change to the customer experience.
Haymore said most customers welcomed the option enthusiastically, but acknowledged some don’t care for them. Their convenience seems most popular with late afternoon shoppers stopping by after work with 57 percent of total shoppers utilizing them. With this story, Seven Lakes checks into the fast lane.
Flexing Their Talents
For an area that started as a retirement community, Seven Lakes boasts talented young people. Two grabbed attention this year.
We first wrote about Seven Laker Andrew McPartland, a 2024 graduate of UNC Charlotte in May after he participated with a team of classmates in the NASA University Student Launch Initiative. During the nine-month competition, teams design, build and test launch rockets within highly specific parameters.
After a successful launch of the team’s rocket, the “Brass Knuckle,” they received multiple awards including a third place overall.
Also flexing success was Pinecrest High School senior Levi Ratkowski. A nationally ranked, competitive arm wrestler, the Seven Lakes teen competed on the world stage Sept. 30 through Oct. 6 at the International Federation of Armwrestling (IFA) World Armwrestling Championship in Loutraki, Greece.
Ratkowski, who took up arm wrestling after a football injury left him unable to play, claimed third place in the 18-and-under heavyweight class. He was one of seven U.S. arm wrestlers to stand on the podium.
Stables As a Staple
We’ve had neigh-ry an issue this year without a story about the Seven Lakes Stables. The stables are a unique amenity for residents of Seven Lakes North and South. But their bucolic setting on Seven Lakes Drive is enjoyed by all who drive by.
Under the direction of Stables Director Jenn Wallace, hired in 2023, Seven Lakes Stables moved forward with a total reboot in 2024. With previous insurance issues resolved, riding lessons resumed.
Afterschool and homeschool programs were initiated and the Stables Club restarted. New horses were welcomed to the herd as well, including the newest pony, Nacho who trotted onboard last November. Special parties at Halloween and Christmas delighted guests.
A story about the special friendship between 87-year-old Bruce MacDonald and his pal Mowgli, a 17 hand Belgian draft horse, highlighted the soul benefits the horses provide to all ages who interact with them.
The stables experienced another setback in October when seven horses started showing signs of mysterious illness. With attentive leadership, mold and allergens in the 50-year-old barn were identified as the culprits. Remediation efforts restored the horses and the barn to health by the end of the year.
Seven Lakes is no one-horse town.
Sewer Coming This Way
The Moore County Board of Commissioners is moving forward with a plan to extend public sewer to Seven Lakes, the county’s largest population center still without sewer service.
The commissioners hired LKC Engineering to design a line to run west of Pinehurst along N.C. 211 through the Seven Lakes business district to be installed concurrently with the construction to widen the road to four lanes beginning in 2025.
When finished, West End and Seven lakes will have a critical piece of public infrastructure needed to support increased commercial development west of Pinehurst.
The project is made possible through a $15 million grant incorporated into the state budget. Commissioners also committed federal funds toward the project.
Homes and businesses in the area with a population of approximately 8,000 rely on individual septic systems.
To become operational, the line will require a sewer pump station to be located in the general area east of the Food Lion on Seven Lakes Drive, a force main discharge and a sewer network to move raw wastewater to a regional wastewater treatment plant.
This will be a pipeline for growth in the area, bringing more businesses and developments.
Debris Site Debacle
In April, residents in Seven Lakes North and South residents were alerted by the Seven Lakes Landowners Association (SLLA) board that the debris site for yard waste was ordered closed.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) mandated the closure. This action followed an inspection prompted by an anonymous call to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding concerns that property management crews had been involved in illegal dumping.
While no fines or penalties were issued for the site, the NCDEQ did require some changes. Thirty years of activity at the site caused the area closest to the downstream side of the dam to expand, infringing on the natural tree line by a significant amount.
The location of the debris pile, now referred to as the “yard waste transfer station,” was changed to create an adequate buffer and a French drain system was installed to ensure the yard debris pile would not sit in stormwater runoff. Two silt fences and seed and straw were installed to further mitigate erosion.
The NCDEQ allowed the site to reopen in late July following the efforts of the SLLA Board of Directors to make swift changes.
Health Businesses Thrive
Seven Lakes became the home to Moore County’s first indoor pickleball facility in May when The Pickle Place opened on the northside at The Racquet Club at Seven Lakes. The 10,500 square foot facility features four hard courts with a rubberized surface for ease of play.
The facility is owned by Katie Carpenter and Canyn Russel who dreamed of a way to elevate the game for locals as they watched the sport grow along with the passion of local players.
Carpenter hopes the facility will not only nurture development of the sport but the development of community.
Another new health and fitness-focused endeavor, the West End Yoga Company opened in 2023 but this year gained the stewardship of a new owner, Kathryn Wells. Wells assumed ownership of the studio in August from founder Jeremy Wellman.
She brings years of experience as a licensed acupuncturist to the studio in addition to her own yoga practice and hopes to incorporate acupuncture into yoga classes.
And the Seven Lakes Health and Fitness Center, under the ownership of Edward Hill, has undergone a two-year transformation with remodeled spaces, new equipment and a refurbished indoor pool. The pool, set to open in February, was closed last year after the roof collapsed during a storm.
Everyone’s Buddy
Seven Lakes lost a real renaissance man when Buddy Spong died last March after battling pancreatic cancer.
A long list of accomplishments came attached to his friendly name: a faculty member at Sandhills Community College; member of the original fire department and rescue squad in Seven Lakes; member of West End United Methodist Church where he helped start the food pantry; nine years of service on the Moore County Board of Education including two years as chair; executive director of the Moore County Unit of the American Red Cross; a 24-year tenure with the Moore County Unit of the Salvation Army; founder and director of the Carolina Eye Association Foundation providing screening and aid for children needing vision assistance; numerous volunteer rolls including Seven Lakes Kiwanis Club, Seven Lakes Lions Club, Rotary Club, United Way and the Moore County Board of Elections.
But to only focus on Buddy’s remarkable achievements would be to miss his greater impact on the community.
“I think on paper you can list so many different accomplishments and so many different organizations he’s been a part of and all this work that he’s been responsible for that’s made a difference in people’s lives,” said his daughter, Angie, in an interview with The Pilot last January. “But what I keep coming back to is the way that he’s made people feel.”
When asked how he wanted to be remembered, Buddy himself said “As simple as that might sound, I hope I left a smile on many faces over the years. Because I’m hoping that means that people felt better at least for a little bit of time because of the encounter. And I know I always did.”
A scholarship in Buddy’s memory was established at SCC.
