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Almanac

I’ll Have a Crepe

A popular Mooresville bakery has expanded to include meals. La Patisserie now serves breakfast and lunch at its bakery/café at 627 N. Main.

The breakfast and lunch specialties are crepes‚ including Hawaiian‚ beef stroganoff‚ chicken and Cuban crepes. Other menu items include a variety of soups and sandwiches for lunch‚ along with pastries and fruit dishes for breakfast.

La Patisserie means “bakery” in French‚ and all of the baked goods at the Mooresville location have a European/Mediterranean flair.

Plenty of Preserves

Homes in and around downtown Mooresville are spiffing up‚ as interest grows in the area’s historic architecture.

To help showcase this effort‚ the Historic Mooresville Tour of Homes took place in October 2007‚ with 12 properties open to the viewing public. Tour stops included homes originating from the 1800s‚ such as Bull House‚ Turlington House and the Isaac Harris House. Early-1900s structures on display included the Templeton‚ Harrill and Baker houses.

Also on exhibit for the tour-goers was the Zande House‚ constructed in 2004. The Zande House was showcased as a new house that demonstrates appropriate architecture for a historic neighborhood.

Branching Out

The Mooresville Public Library is much more than a place to check out a book.

The variety of programs includes reading mornings for toddlers‚ an organized Summer Reading session‚ special youth programs and several book clubs for adults and younger readers. There is also an online feature called “Ask a Librarian‚” with staff members answering your research requests in a timely fashion.

The library has more than 100‚000 volumes of books on site and circulates a total of 350‚000 items per year – that’s seven for each of the 50‚000 residents living in Mooresville and Iredell County. The library also offers wireless access to the Internet.

Gentlemen, Start Your Tours

The largest private collection of retired NASCAR racecars – on the entire planet – is at Memory Lane Museum.

Cars on exhibit were once driven by stock car superstars such as Richard Petty‚ Dale Earnhardt‚ A.J. Foyt‚ Junior Johnson‚ Alan Kulwicki‚ Richard Petty‚ Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip. The museum that opened in 2001 also has a large collection of Soap Box Derby cars and go-karts.

There is also a collection of auto props that the museum has lent to Hollywood production companies for use in movies such as Driving Miss Daisy‚ Days of Thunder‚ Shake Rattle & Roll and Steel Chariots.

Celebrate Mooresville

Grab some friends and head downtown to join the fun at the annual festival of arts and culture.

The date for the 2008 celebration is May 17‚ with the event always taking place during NASCAR Race Week in downtown Mooresville. The outdoor street fair celebrates and showcases the various cultures‚ arts and people of the community‚ and is held rain or shine.

The event includes entertainment‚ children’s games‚ food and fun lasting from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber of Commerce sponsors the festival‚ and the 2008 celebration will be the 26th annual.

Need for Speed

Mooresville is not your average slow‚ Southern town.

Its official nickname is Race City USA‚ with more than 500‚000 stock car fans rumbling into town each year. Many of the dozens of NASCAR motorsports-related shops in Mooresville offer tours‚ and more than 200‚000 people a year visit the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame just off Interstate 77.

Race City USA became the city’s moniker in 1993‚ and city officials estimate that one-fourth of Mooresville’s employment is tied to motorsports.

Mooresville Street … in Germany?

People of Mooresville‚ welcome to Hockenheim.

That was the message in June 2007 when a delegation of Mooresville leaders visited the German town. Mooresville and Hockenheim have been sister cities for the past 10 years‚ and the June 2007 meeting resulted in the German city naming a park and street after Mooresville.

Meanwhile‚ Mooresville recognizes its sister-city ties to Hockenheim on the main sign leading into town‚ at the intersection of Wilson Avenue and Highway 21. There is also a student exchange program in place between Mooresville High School and academies in Hockenheim.

To date‚ Hockenheim leaders have been in Mooresville twice to form cultural and business bonds‚ while Mooresville officials have returned the favor by traveling to Germany twice.

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