For nine decades, Our State has made its way into homes across North Carolina, the United States, and the world. To celebrate, every month this year, we’re paying tribute to the readers who inspire us, offering a taste of our earliest recipes, and revisiting old stories with new insights. Follow along to find out how our past has shaped our present.
Never put an Our State reader in a box. You’ll discover that a hiker is a CEO, a minister is a potter, a musician is a handyman.
Take, for example, Christina Bonds. Raised in the small, northeastern North Carolina town of Camden, she attended Elon College, majored in computer science, and, after graduating in 1998, went to work for Gilbarco in Greensboro as a software engineer. In 2010, she returned to Elon, now University, to work as an application developer in information technologies. Passionate about cybersecurity initiatives, Christina created an e-commerce application for which she received Elon’s Acorn Award, recognizing not only her exemplary work in IT but also her commitment to finding solutions through cooperation and teamwork.
Clearly, Christina Bonds is a STEM — science, technology, engineering, and math — individual. And yet behind this coding specialist is a skilled baker, a hobby that began when she was a teenager. Wedding cakes shaped like beribboned boxes or wrapped with butterflies whose wings actually flutter in the breeze; Dallas Cowboys-themed cupcakes and a basketball cake for her colleagues during March Madness.
Like many others, Christina saw Our State for the first time in a doctor’s office, and the variety of featured topics instantly appealed to her. From farming to manufacturing, breweries to banh mi, museums to mountains — the wide range of subjects dovetails with Christina’s own varied interests. It’s part of the reason she loves the magazine. “I may not be able to go everywhere in North Carolina,” she says, “but I love learning about North Carolina.”
After reading about Black Mountain in the magazine, she took her parents to the western North Carolina town in October 2015. The trio headed for an Our State-suggested restaurant specializing in Reuben sandwiches, a local museum, and then to lookouts on the Blue Ridge Parkway. At one of those lookouts, Christina watched as her parents, many hours from their flatland hometown, stood awestruck at their first ever sight of the mountains, the rippling layers patchworked in autumn colors. The sweeping backdrop was the picture on her father’s cell phone home screen for at least a year.
And sometimes, the magazine’s articles literally hit home. One spotlighting Belcross Bake Shoppe in Camden — and its famous sweet potato biscuits and cinnamon rolls — especially resonated with Christina.
In addition to baking, she also collects mugs. That’s another passion of this petite, engaging brainiac: hot tea. From a tea boutique named Stash in Portland, Oregon, to Tin Roof Teas in Raleigh, her kitchen cupboards and office drawers boast 40 varieties. A cup of steaming comfort is always at hand, whether she’s curling up with Our State on her iPad or updating applications at Elon. Christina Bonds is a tech expert, a tea enthusiast, and an Our State reader — digitally, of course.
Mark our words: Whether they nod to North Carolina or were penned by its residents, these notable, quotable passages remind us of the power of speech inspired by our state.
When one stream flows into another, the two chart a new course for the future — together.
When the weather outside is frightful, one chef serves loved ones dishes so delightful.
A historic Rose Bowl pitted Duke University against Oregon State in Durham. Then, in the dark days of World War II, those same football players — and a legendary coach — joined forces to fight for freedom.
