Mark Johnson Custom Homes Blog

Wilmington, NC builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages those in the Wilmington area to attend “Hidden Battleship” this weekend onboard the Battleship North Carolina. This is one of several events planned for the Battleship’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.

In 1960, the Navy announced its intentions to scrap the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA (BB55).  On this news, two Wilmingtonians, James S. Craig, Jr. and Hugh Morton developed a plan of action to save the ship.  With their valiant efforts along with thousands of citizens and countless school children in raising funds, the BB55 would be able to come to the state whose name she held.

 On October 2, 1961, the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA was moored in her present berth across from downtown Wilmington.  Later that month on October 12, she was open to the public for all to view. 

 Now, as we move into 2011, the Ship gets ready to celebrate her 50 years of being part of the wonderful legacy and state of North Carolina. Visit www.battleshipnc.com for a list of events taking place.

Hidden Battleship: Join us for a unique, behind-the-scenes tour of un-restored areas of the Battleship. The four-hour tour consists of small groups with guides. Guests explore the bow (officers’ country and boatswain locker), third deck (Radio II, brig, after gyro, storage rooms, ammunition handling, Engineer’s office, torpedo area), Engine room #1, the refrigerator compartments, and climb inside the fire control tower to the top of the ship. The Azalea Coast Radio Club will be in Radio II to explain their work on the ship’s radio transmitters.

$45/$35 for Friends of the Battleship. You must be 12 years or older to participate. Wear comfortable, warm clothing and sturdy, rubber-soled shoes; bring a camera, but no large backpacks. 8:30am-12:30pm & 1:30pm-5:30pm. Registration and payment required by Thursday, Janaury 13. For more information call 910-251-5797 ext 3006 or 3026.
Battleship North Carolina
#1 Battleship Rd
Wilmington, NC 28401

Custom home builder Mark Johnson encourages those in the Wilmington, NC area to attend a once in a lifetime experience! Wilmington, NC native and the most popular member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Meadowlark Lemon, is holding a Harlem’s All Stars two-day event on August 27^th and 28^th, 2010!

Beginning at 7pm both nights, Meadowlark Lemon’s Harlem All Stars, including Hollywood Brown and Pee Wee Harrison, will compete against local area basketball coaches (including UNCW, CFCC and the Sea Dawgs) on Friday night and against the crewmembers of the USS Gravely on Saturday night.

A portion of the event’s proceeds will establish scholarships for Cape Fear Community College’s student athletes. Both nights’ events will be held at the Schwartz Center at Cape Fear Community College and tickets can be purchased online in advance for $30 or $40 at the door. For more information, view the Facebook Event Invitation, call (910) 350-1211 or email info@mccoll-associates.com. We hope to see you there!

Is your home currently on the market? Want to make it more marketable to potential buyers but you’re on a tight budget? Mark Johnson Custom Homes understands that feeling the weight of a home that won’t sell is extremely stressful, and we’d like to share these tips from a recent RealtyTimes.com article by Phoebe Chongchue on how to make your home more attractive while keeping costs down!

The first place to start, and oftentimes the most important place to a potential buyer, is the kitchen. Sprucing up the kitchen can make a huge difference, even if it’s only a fresh coat of paint or replacing the cabinet handles and knobs (both inexpensive jobs). And something that doesn’t cost but helps with the overall look: a clean sink. Never leave dirty dishes in the sink, or as Chongchue puts it: “the way you live in a home is not the way you stage it.”

Secondly, walk through your home and look for any scuff marks or nail holes that can be patched, painted or scrubbed off. With clean walls and baseboards, the entire home will instantly become more attractive. Also, Chonghue recommends you pay close attention to your tub and bathroom floor tile. A good scrubbing or re-grouting can make the overall bathroom look much more appealing.

And finally, do not allow your lawn or plants to suffer because your focus has been on the house itself. A well manicured lawn shows that your home has been taken care of over the years, and that your home is the perfect fit for that potential buyer!

Since their inception in 2005, Mark Johnson Custom Homes has supported local Wilmington, NC charities and sponsored events for local groups. Their support continues in 2010 with the sponsorship of Nsalo Salon’s 3^rd Annual “Arts for the Arts” hair fashion show which raises money for the local youth organization, Kids Making It. Below is the official press release from Nsalo Salon and for more information, e-mail them at nsalosalon@gmail.com!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

• Contact: Erica Adams
• Nsalo Salon
• Tel: (910) 251.9666
• Cell: (910) 546.2671
• Email: nsalosalon@gmail.com
• www.nsalosalon.com

Nsalo Salon to host 3rd Annual “Arts for the Arts” hair fashion show raising money for Downtown Wilmington Youth Program, Kids Making It.

Wilmington, North Carolina- “Arts for the Arts” will be held on Saturday, July 31, 2010 in The Beam Room, the 3rd floor of Front Street Brewery located at 9 North Front St, featuring cut and color styles, glamour, and avant-garde and fantasy hair pieces in an effort to raise money for the downtown youth woodworking program, Kids Making It.  This year there will be 2 shows, the first, a VIP Premiere Show at 8:00 with a cocktail party before beginning at 6:30- tickets $30 for individuals or $50 for couples, and a second showing at 9:30- tickets $20 each.  The WWII era inspired models will be dressed by local designer Chanel Depare and wear jewelry by Joanne Miranda Designs along with a mixture of local designers, boutiques and vintage period fashions. 

Kids Making It is a national award winning program unique in its strengths-based approach to empower at risk youth to transcend their challenges and grow into responsible, employed, law-abiding citizens. This is done thru teaching the KMI youth woodworking in a strong mentoring environment, instilling patience, pride, perseverance, confidence, teamwork, and self-esteem, while building character through consistent modeling of the golden rule, community service projects, and imparting the truth of actions and consequences through the woodworking process. The youth attending the program also learn about being an entrepreneur as they can sell their one of a kind woodworking items in the on site retail store , and they get to keep all the profits from the sale of their items.

The Kids Making It woodworking shop and retail store located at 15 S. Water St gets most of their funding comes from a grant from the Governor’s Crime Commission, with the balance coming from the City, the County, grants from the Cape Fear Memorial Foundation, United Way, Landfall Foundation, Wilmington Woman’s Club, PPD, IKA, and individual, and corporate donations. As with many other organizations in these tough economic times, Kids Making It is finding it’s funding down over 20% from last year. Nsalo Salons goal this year is to raise $10,000 through our fashion show proceeds, donations, and collective efforts of our sponsors.  The sponsor donation fee is $100 and will include 2 VIP tickets and a sponsor spot in our show playbill.

Our friends over at the Cape Fear Green Building Association will be holding a book sale this Saturday, July 24th, 2010 to help raise money for the Nature Conservancy’s restoration funds for the Gulf. The sales will be at three separate locations around Wilmington, North Carolina from 11am – 5pm. Come by Lumina Station on Eastwood Road, Stone Garden on Market Street or Sapona Green Building Center on S. 17th Street to not only help a worthy cause but also to take advantage of the discounted price on a local artist’s unique book, “Carolina Preserves”. The book includes more than 100 reproductions of watercolors by artist William Mangum of special places throughout North Carolina including the Southport Harbor, Bellamy Mansion and Old Baldy. The book also includes essays by some of the state’s most colorful personalities, such as Dean Smith, Kay Yow, Charlie Rose, Michael Jordan and Bob Timberlake. The retail price for “Carolina Preserves” is $99.85, but the books will be sold for $30 each on the day of the sale.

For more information on this Gulf Coast fundraiser in Wilmington, NC visit the Cape Fear Green Building Association website!

This July we were excited to blog that the town of Wrightsville Beach, NC kicked off its first Farmers Market. Now St. James Plantation custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes is pleased to share that the market proved to be a huge success! Although the market is closed for the remainder of 2009, we look forward to its second year starting in March or April of 2010. For more information, read this Lumina News article.