FEATURE PAGE
March 24, 2020

  Smithfield greets
an abnormal Spring
A sampling from last Friday's first day

The official arrival came at 11:50 p.m. last Thursday, after dark, making last Friday the First Full Day of Spring. Here's one journalist's choice of the day's highlights:



Of course, we have to start with flowering trees and azaleas --- at Johnston Health's Smithfield hospital (above), beside South Smithfield's Sunset Drive (below).


TREATS

. . . FOR THE PALLET
at the iconic snow-cone stand on Bright Leaf (left)

. . . AND THE WALLET
at a number of local gasoline outlets (above).


 
A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR SCHOOL, BUT NO CHILDREN . . .
as buses sat idle and the playground stood empty at South Smithfield Elementary because of the coronavirus scare keeping the youngsters away.





A TALE OF TWO RETAIL CENTERS
And what a contrast it was, with the vacant parking lot at Carolina Premium Outlets (above) and what appeared to be business as usual at stores on North Bright Leaf like Lowes (below). Folks aren't traveling the Interstate much these days, but they're still shopping for the essentials needed for those stay-at-home springtime projects.

Friday's high reached the upper 80s as the pollen awaited the next rainfall.



NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!
An afternoon in the warm sunshine on picturesque Holt Lake.