Trace Adkins’ career has expanded beyond country music

Each week until the start of the State Fair, the Deep Fried Crew will highlight one of the 2014 Dorton Arena entertainers. Tickets for all concerts and advance admission and ride tickets are on sale online here. Get your tickets early to save time and money, and to reserve your seat for your favorite Dorton Arena performer. Check out this year’s lineup here. This week we highlight country singer Trace Adkins. With more than 10 million album sales, 30 Billboard Top 40 hits, five No. 1 singles and four Grammy nominations, Trace Adkins is a country music superstar. He blew…

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Announcing Commissioner’s Challenge for Food Lion Hunger Relief Day

Food Lion Hunger Relief Day at the N.C. State Fair is just around the corner. On Thursday, Oct. 18, you can bring four cans of Food Lion-brand food with you to the fair and get free gate admission all day. All food collected during the event will be donated to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. The food bank helps more than 560,000 people annually in a 34-county area surrounding Raleigh. About 73,000 people receive emergency food assistance in any given week from the food bank. With such a great need in our community, Agriculture Commissioner Steve…

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Deep Fried Countdown: 10 days

We’re just 10 days out from the start of the 2012 N.C. State Fair. That’s right, just 10 days until the jaw-dropping rides, deep-fried delicacies and amazing agricultural exhibits. If you’re starting to plan your trip, we’ve got the following 10 tips to get you ready for the fair. Buy tickets in advance Buying tickets in advance not only saves you money, but also saves time standing in line when you get to the fair. You can purchase your tickets online at www.ncstatefair.org or at nine area retail locations. If you like rides, make sure to buy your ride sheets…

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Artist Spotlight: Brian McKnight

With a career that spans more than 20 years, Brian McKnight continues to be a powerful voice in the R&B community. Dedicated fans can probably remember playing his self-titled 1992 debut album on their Walkmans, and rewinding “One Last Cry” over and over and over again. For some fans, including yours truly, Brian McKnight will always be 1999’s “Back at One” album. That album was great for slow dancing and the title track, “Back at One,” taught millions of us about a five-step process to win over our loves. Flash forward to 2012 and Brian McKnight has a new album,…

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Deep Fried Ambassador: Deep Fried is Fun. Hunger is Not.

This is a guest blogger post by our Official Deep Fried Ambassador, Amy. We’ll be reposting her State Fair adventures from her Practical Cook blog throughout the Fair. Deep Fried Is Fun, Hunger Is Not: Hunger Relief Day at the N.C. State Fair (with video) Gentle Readers, we’re going to change things up a bit today and address a problem that affects us all, hunger. The Practical Cook was raised in a farming family whose goal was to feed anyone who came through the door, and that still stands true. There’s an easy way to help on Thursday, October 20, 2011:…

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A 300,000 pound challenge

Food Lion Hunger Relief Day, our annual benefit for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, is Thursday, Oct. 20, when fairgoers can bring four cans of Food Lion brand food to the fair in exchange for admission to the fair for that day. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler wants this year to be the largest food drive yet, and he’s willing to put some money on it. If fairgoers break last year’s record of 247,569 pounds of canned food, the fair will donate $1,000 to the food bank. If collections top 275,000 pounds, the fair will kick in…

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Shop and win State Fair prizes

Thursday, Oct. 21, is Food Lion Hunger Relief Day at the State Fair. The annual event, where donating four cans of food gets you free admission to the Fair, is one of the largest single-day food drives in the state. All collected goods are donated to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, which serves 34 surrounding counties. Because of the growing need in our area, the Food Bank is encouraging everyone to help stuff the warehouse this year, and we’d like to offer some encouragement. On Wednesday, we’ll be out and about hiding State Fair prize packs…

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Behind the scenes with…Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina

Food Lion Hunger Relief Day continues to be one of the most popular days at the Fair. It could be because donating four cans of food gets you into the Fair free that day. It might also be the reward of being part of one of the largest single-day food drives in the state. We hope it’s a little of both. Last year, fairgoers donated 222,956 pounds of food to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, but on Thursday, Oct. 21, we hope to collect even more food. We recently visited the Food Bank’s Raleigh location to take a tour and see how the staff prepares…

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