By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Faith and Family — An evening of contemporary Christian music and familiar hymns is coming to Shelby on Saturday as the vocal trio SELAH takes the stage at First Baptist Church Shelby. SELAH Live in Concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at the church, offering an opportunity for the community to gather for an evening of live music and worship. “We are excited, it’s always a great thing to be able to open your church doo

By Dustin Turner | Cleveland County Agricultural Fair | Press Release Cleveland County Fair — The Southern Steel Demolition Derby brings metal crunching, engine-roaring excitement to the Cleveland County Agricultural Fair for one night only. Be sure to catch the powerful collisions, battered cars, and nonstop thrills as drivers battle to be the last car running. The family-friendly, action-packed derby begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct.10. Demolition derby tickets are $8 for

Dustin Turner | Cleveland County Fair | Press release Bailey Jackson stands next to her community mural at the Fair. | Courtesy photo. CLEVELAND COUNTY FAIR – Shelby resident Bailey Jackson is leaving her mark at this year’s 102nd Cleveland County Agricultural Fair. “I saw the Facebook post looking for someone to do a mural at the fair, and I just love the fair,” she said. “I’ve been going since I was a kid. I'm volunteering this year anyway, so I jumped at the chance.” As th

By Staff Reports | Earl Scruggs Music Center Host Nicholas Edward Williams of American Songcatcher and Guest Leah Song of Rising Appalachia. | Photo by Justin Forrest SHELBY, N.C. — The Earl Scruggs Center welcomed a live audience on Thursday, Sept. 24, for the inaugural recording of Roots Music Revue, a new live radio program celebrating the music, history and stories of the Southern Appalachian region. Presented in partnership by American Songcatcher, the Earl Scruggs Cente

By Daria McGinnis | Cleveland County Arts Council Parking is convenient and free. Admission is $10.00, with those 17 and under being free. SHELBY, N.C. – The Carolina Pottery Festival returns for its 26th year on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the LeGrand Center, 1800 E. Marion St. in Shelby, NC. This pottery festival attracts crowds of pottery lovers with over 45 well-known regional potters showing and selling their work. It is one of the largest “potte

Cleveland County Agricultural Fair Returns Oct. 1-11, 2026 By Dustin Turner | Staff Reports | Cleveland County Fair The iconic Ferris Wheel scene from the 2025 Cleveland County Agricultural Fair. | Chuck Thompson Cleveland County Fairgrounds / SHELBY, N.C. – Fairgoers can enjoy a full day of unlimited rides for just $25 at the Cleveland County Agricultural Fair. Discounted ride bands are available now at SeeItInShelby.com and may be used any one day during the fair’s Oct.

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent | THIRTY A rendering of how "Charlie" saw itself when I asked for a picture for the cover photo of the feature article. | Submitted portrait Editor’s Note: This conversation that isn’t quite like any conversation I've had before. I don't trust AI, mostly because it's new and I'm uneasy about it. I don't have a lot of experience with it and not onboard with the whole idea, yet, but I'm cautiously open-minded. However, I needed an of

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Fun-goers walk around during the End of Summer Bash at Clay-Barnette, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. Clay-Barnette staff gathered for a photo during their End of Summer Festival | Chuck Thompson SHELBY — Clay Barnette Funerals Cremations and Aquamations hosted an End of Summer Community Event Festival at their Shelby location over the weekend. A large crowd of families turned out for music, fun and food. The parking lot was filled with th

By Ashley Reep | Wise News Network Shelby Independent Editor's note: The video above was an informal podcast-style conversation about the importance of local journalism. I didn't feel great that day and kept my talking to a minimum, but I want to thank Brandon Bridges of Cleveland County News for stepping up and covering the time while I stayed comparatively quiet. Also, a BIG thank you to Rusty Wise, and his team, for inviting us to the WNN studios for a really great convers

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Eddie Holbrook and Robert Farrow go over final details before the event. SPORTS / FEATURE — The American Legion World Series (ALWS) Host City Welcome is the ceremonial event that marks the official kickoff to the series. Robert Farrow, this year's overseer of the event, was followed around by the Shelby Independent before the dinner to take a look inside the event. To say Robert Farrow is difficult to keep up with is an understatemen

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Volunteers prep, cook and take orders at the Post 82 concession booth on Thursday. | Chuck Thompson SPORTS — If you ever have or currently are attending the American Legion World Series at Shelby High School, then it would be almost impossible not to walk by the brick concessions stand run by the volunteers at Post 82. The Post 82 concessions stand isn’t for profit, in fact, they’re lucky to make a profit sometimes, in turn which th

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Tickets for 'Echoes From the Void' can be purchased by clicking / tapping on this movie poster or the link at the end of this article. ENTERTAINMENT – This Saturday Aug. 8, 2026 (today) An indie film ‘Echoes from The Void’ will premier at Don Gibson Theater. What makes this movie so special is that it was produced by a local filmmaker and shot mostly here in Cleveland County. Brad Hord, writer, producer and composer of the film, is a

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Shelby police Chief Brad Fraser with some of the dedicated officers of The Shelby Police Department | Photo by Chuck Thompson Shelby City Park – Once again, the rain showed up for National Night Out as it did last year, but that didn't keep first responders and families away from the fun at The Shelby City Park. Less than perfect weather caused vendor and organization booths to be moved indoors, but the rain dwindled to a sprinkle

Overcoming the fear of public speaking and building the confidence to seize the speech By Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent Toast of the town: The local Toastmaster chapter helps people overcome their fear of public speaking. From left, Mike Whitt, Emily Lesalle, Bill Jobe, Rich Taylor, Cynitra Stewart, Kim and Rod Powell. | Chuck Thompson Feature – Some may not think twice about it, but public speaking is a real fear for many people. Toastmasters is an international organi

Originally published July 29, 2025 By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent The logo for the podcast seen on podcast platforms. Editors note: This feature was originally published July 29, 2025. Since this was published during the infancy of The Shelby Independent I thought now would be a good time to share this feature again for those readers that missed it the first time. Other articles from last year will be published again from time to time, due to the large number of n

By Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent Christine Hayes waves as others throw candy from the Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church wagon float during the Lattimore 4th of July parade OPINION – Lattimore is the small-town place to be. It really is. The 4th of July in Lattimore felt like one of those movie towns. It almost didn’t seem real – but it was, it is. Having just been less than two weeks out since I had a heart attack, I wanted to go to the parade but knew I had to take it easy

By Wes Westmoreland | Special Guest Op-Ed Columnist for The Shelby Independent OPINION – Ink-stained hands methodically distributed lead soldiers into the wooden case. Robert Bell had known tough times in Scotland, and even tougher times in Dublin, but these times were different. It had been only five years since he arrived in Philadelphia and set up a press. In those few years, he had become a widely recognized printer and publisher, creating a market by offering low-cost

By Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent Opinion – Wow! it's been quite a year! The plan was to look back at the most memorable news stories from the past year, but a little thing called a heart attack prevented me from completing that special news story this past week. Maybe it’s best. Maybe I’ll get to it later this month. We’ll see... To say The Shelby Independent almost didn’t make it to its first anniversary is putting it lightly. However, today isn’t about what almost hap

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square North Carolina could be competing against Nashville, TN for a spot. | graphic by The Shelby Independent. SPORTS – Stopping short of saying spend taxpayer dollars, North Carolina’s legislative upper chamber leader says he favors the General Assembly doing all it can to help land a Major League Baseball expansion franchise. Whether it’s Raleigh or Charlotte, Rockingham County Republican Sen. Phil Berger said he’s “agnostic.” He was also noncom

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent The town of Boiling Springs Mural is composed of 2,000 tiles each printed from hand painted tiles by individuals to create the mural mosaic called "Reflection" BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Boiling Springs unveiled their mural mosaic "Reflection" on Wednesday, June 3, at 11 a.m. to a large crowd of town residents, Boiling Springs Town Council members and other local leaders and elected officials from across Cleveland County. People all t