National Day of Prayer 05/05/11

Thursday May 5, 2011 was National Day of Prayer. For this assignment I wanted to capture the emotion
of the event. I picked these 3 photos from my contact sheet. I was not seeing things clearly and remember pausing for a moment to gather my thoughts. This is something I have been working on recently to take a step back, observe the scene, be patient and wait for moments.



Lou and Linda Mashburn members of San-Lee Chapel Church comfort each other in prayer Thursday afternoon during the National Day of Prayer held at Sanford City Hall. THE SANFORD HERALD | WESLEY BEESON





Rev. Bruce MacInnes with Turner's Chapel, clutches his Bible and prays Thursday afternoon during the National Day of Prayer held at Sanford City Hall. THE SANFORD HERALD | WESLEY BEESON

Lee County vs Panther Creek - Boys Prep baseball 05/03/11

PREPS: Jackets come alive in last home game
by JONATHAN OWENS Sanford Herald

Photos by Staff Photographer Wesley Beeson

Read more: Sanford Herald - PREPS Jackets come alive in last home game

SANFORD — Lee County’s baseball players really love their mothers.

On the night the Yellow Jackets honored their mothers before the game, Lee County could do no wrong from the plate, scoring six runs in the first and nine in the second on their way to a convincing 15-3 win over Panther Creek Tuesday night.

It had to be the socks, as the Jackets each wore pink socks in promotion of breast cancer awareness. Coupled with a special camouflage-pattern shirt and tri-colored hat, their uniforms were certainly a sight to behold. But it worked, as a Lee offense that has struggled most of the season showed no signs of rust in the last home game of the season.

Julio Paredes started off the scoring in the first, knocking in two on a single. After the Jackets again loaded the bases, Dillon Frye, Tyler Castleberry and Chase Arrington all hit one-run singles and Neal O’Quinn drew a walk that scored a run for the 6-0 lead after one.

But the fireworks ignited in the second, when Bradley Godwin batted in five runs with a triple and double, and Alex Furl launched a three-run homer over the right-field fence. Nick Durazo also batted in a run on a sacrifice to give Lee a 15-0 lead after two innings.

Durazo got the easy win from the mound. Rusty Clark allowed two inconsequential runs in the fourth and Grant Brown gave up one in relief.

Lee County returns to action on the road Thursday against Fuquay-Varina in the final game of the regular season.

Read more: Sanford Herald - PREPS Jackets come alive in last home game

4th Annual Downtown Bike Criterium - 05/01/11

Lee County Living 2011 Cover- 04/28/11

The 2011 Lee County Living Cover that came out on 04/28/11. I took this photo at Central Carolina Community College in Sanford, N.C. and it features students Jaleen Hussey (left) and Andrew Ruiz (right). THE SANFORD HERALD | WESLEY BEESON

Camera: Canon 5D with Canon 70-200 2.8
Strobist: 1 Vivitar 285HV bare strobe to camera left at 1/4 power.

Dancing with the Lee County Stars

Caterpillar to add 325 new jobs in Sanford facility

Governor Bev Perdue along with local company leaders announced expansion of Caterpillar, bringing in 325 new jobs to the Sanford location by years end. This is great news to the already double-digit unemployment rate for Lee County and this economic boost is just what the county needed. Kudos to my editor Billy Liggett for the great layout, and to reporter Billy Ball for a great story. For only having 6 people total in the newsroom, we put out an impressive paper.

National Night Out

National Night Out (NNO) on Tuesday August 4, 2010 in Sanford, NC is a community police partnership that brings awareness to local communities and sends a message to criminals that neighborhoods are fighting back. It provided an excellent opportunity for local children and parents to meet local police, fire fighters, local city officials and neighbors. There were over 15 neighborhoods in Sanford that participated in the event. I only got around to several of the neighborhoods to enjoy some of the food and fun before I headed back to the office to process the photos for next days paper.