(bright inspirational music) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

- Just ahead on "CarolinaIMPACT."

- We'll take you inside the East Side Renovation Project you can't miss on Independence Boulevard, and also the part of this project that you might miss on Independence Boulevard.

Coming up.

- Plus, turning trash into treasure.

How a candle company gives new life to glass liquor bottles.

And have you ever wondered why so many Jeep owners have yellow rubber ducks on their dashboards?

We'll tell you what the fun is all about.

"CarolinaIMPACT" starts now.

(lively music) Good evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Amy Burkett.

Charlotte is growing, but that growth isn't happening everywhere, and it doesn't happen all at once either.

That's why many neighborhoods feel like they're frozen in time, waiting their turn for the kind of success they see off in the distance in Uptown or South End.

"CarolinaIMPACT's" Jeff Sonier and videographer, Russ Hunsinger, are on Charlotte's East Side where positive change looks like it's finally coming one project at a time.

- Yeah.

Here's one East Side project that is pretty hard to miss.

It's the seven story Irvin Building, which towers over Independence Boulevard.

Drivers on Independence can see the sixties architecture from the outside as they drive by, but how about what's happening on the inside?

(uptempo piano music) Seven floors up, here's a view of uptown you don't see very often.

Nothing between you and the skyline beyond these old brick walls, and not much within these walls either, as the Irvin building gets a major makeover end-to-end, and top to bottom too, as workers on ladders install new duct work in the ceiling.

They're also framing in new halls and walls with new doors, and new floors, slowly returning 40377 East Independence Boulevard into what it used to be.

Not just another address, but a destination.

(camera snapping) Back in 1964, the Irvin Building was the first skyscraper east of uptown.

(camera snapping) Developer, Charles Irvin, building an anchor for the new suburbs, and suburban shopping centers that were also growing in Southeast Charlotte.

(camera snapping) But as Independence Boulevard changed, so did the Irvin building, including a name change to the Varnador building instead.

(camera snapping) And, when those once popular nearby stores started closing their doors, (camera snapping) well that's when the former Irvin Building became a seven floor eyesore.

(camera snapping) These photos from the historic Landmarks Commission pretty much tell the story.

(camera snapping) Seven stories of broken glass and battered office space, boarded up on the outside, but still overrun by trespassers on the inside.

All the way to the building's rooftop.

(car zooms by) Today, that same rooftop is getting ready for a new bar and restaurant.

And here's what all those new offices at the Irvin Building will look like too.

(car zooming by) Drivers whizzing by on Independence Boulevard also can't help seeing this giant, digital billboard outside the building.

But here's something you might miss, behind the building, and just barely visible to all that passing traffic.

It's a new 200 foot hidden mural linking the Irvin Building's future with its past.

- The Irvin building is the anchor to this wall.

We decided to put his portrait as the, as the beginning of the mural.

And, so because I'm a portrait artist, I got to paint him.

(laughing) Well that was my little touch.

- [Jeff] We're walking and talking about the mural with the two artists who created it.

Eva Walker, and Hilary Siber Edwards.

- Well, the overall concept was that we would celebrate the history of the city of Charlotte through its skylines.

(gentle piano music) We called out the 60's, the 80's, the 2000's, and then the 2020's and beyond.

(gentle piano music) As Charlotte continues to evolve and change, we want the mural to celebrate that.

(gentle piano music) The color palettes along with the city skylines from each of the decades that we celebrate.

(gentle piano music) So in the sixties you see more mid-century type styles.

And then as we kind of move into the 80's and 2000's, you see more of the celebration of the skyscrapers and the night scenes, and kind of a more lively- - And of course you get assigned to work, right?

Right.

(laughing) Nice and big.

- [Jeff] Yep.

Everything about this mural is nice and big, including the six week commitment it took the artists to paint it.

♪ Just feel the motion While getting to know the new mural's East Side neighbors in the process.

- Yeah, we had a meeting with one of the women from the Neighborhood Association that's right back here.

And she was really excited to see some dignity brought into this place, and just a sense of ownership that it gives the community.

- [Jeff] That sense of ownership also includes many mural memories that all of Charlotte shares.

Places like Charlotte's original coliseum, and it's still surviving landmark dome, and faces like Dorothy Counts, one of four students from Charlotte's earliest days of landmark desegregation.

- So we wanted to pay tribute to her, especially during the 60's, even though that was late 1950s.

But we just felt like she's a iconic image, so we wanted to include her.

- Very much part of the city's history during the period of this building's history.

- Right.

Right, right.

- It's a shame that those cars passing by don't see this when they see the building.

- So yes, it is a smaller locale that sees it, even though it's right next to 74, but in that way it's kind of a jewel that you have to go out and seek.

- It's the same story for other East Side Charlotte projects.

You have to go out and find them.

Slowly coming online after years of waiting by East Side neighbors.

At the old Eastland Mall property on Central Avenue, you can't see the uptown skyline from ground level, but you can see the first housing developments finally rising out of that ground.

The Eastland Yards project will also include new shopping and restaurants, and eventually a new recreation complex.

(crowd cheering) And while the Charlotte FC soccer team won't have its headquarters at Eastland Yards as originally promised, the soccer team's new practice facility did relocate elsewhere in East Charlotte, to this new complex in Monroe Road, with a training center and practice fields, and a no cost youth soccer academy that will share those fields with the pros, which sort of brings us back to the East Side's hidden and historic new artwork.

- Like how do you end this mural?

- The artists, pointing out that there are more empty walls, more blank canvas to work with here.

(beeping) The Irvin Building mural itself, may be more of a work in progress, just like Charlotte's East Side.

- That suggestion of the future.

'Cause this is the 2020s and and beyond, and I love that, just that glitched edge that suggests what's to come.

- We're not finished.

Yeah.

(gentle piano music) - By the way, you saw those photos we showed you a moment ago of just how rough it was inside the Irvin Building before this renovation and restoration project began.

Well actually there's still plenty inside worth saving, including the original 1960's terrazzo and tile, and many other architectural details from the mid-century modern era that still survive into this century.

Amy.

- Thanks so much, Jeff.

If you'd like to see more of the new mural outside the old Irvin Building, head to our website @wtv.org.

There's video showing it being painted, plus an artist's eye view of the six week project.

Next we head to North Charlotte for a business profile.

Once you're done with a glass liquor bottle, chances are you're not thinking about where it goes next.

But that's not the case for a local candle maker, who takes thrown out bottles, and turns them into candle vessels.

"CarolinaIMPACT's" Dara Khalid, and Videographer, Marcellus Jones, show us how he transforms trash into treasure that's constantly sold out.

(Music) - [Dara] Hes done this hundreds of times over the years Dump wax into the warmer Put the melted liquid in a cup Add fragrance Stir and pour.

- Just sit it there.

It'll start hardening depending on the temperature in here.

- Although Xavier People's candle making process may not catch your eye, the containers holding the wax certainly will.

- I would literally go to recycling centers.

I would wake up, if they open at 8:00 AM I was there 8:01, then I would literally like dig in the recycling bin, handpick the bottles out.

- Bottles that once held liquor, now repurposed to hold candle wax.

- Just seeing a lot of bottles in the trash can.

I was like, you know, a lot of these, a lot of companies, they spend a lot of money on this product.

Once it's done, it's getting tossed out, and it's never getting used again.

Once I started to dive into upcycling, I was like, "Oh wow, there's something kind of beautiful here."

(garage door opening) - [Dara] What's even more beautiful, is that Xavier doesn't have to hunt down bottles anymore.

These boxes on the back of his truck are all donations.

- I love that, how people are stack piling their bottles in their homes, and they're like, "Hey."

Emailing me like "Hey, we had a party last night, and we would love to donate these bottles to you."

And I would love to take 'em, because they're not going into a landfill.

They're going to another greater purpose.

- [Dara] But before they get to that greater purpose, he inspects them thoroughly, picking up each one.

- No one likes a, likes a candle that does have a pretty label on it.

So I just check all the bottles to make sure there aren't any defects on the labels, and to make sure they make a good candle.

- Then, it's time to cut the bottles, giving them their signature look.

Next, using sandpaper, Xavier smooths the edges, moving the bottle around in a circular motion.

(glass being scrubbed) - Couple of good times, so it gets that nice and soft.

So we're not cutting ourselves.

- And no vessel is complete without getting scrubbed, and dumped in soaky water.

- So after that, now we have a candle vessel ready to be turned into a candle.

- [Dara] After watching him work with such dedication, you might think this was always the career path he wanted, but... - I just stumbled upon it.

I love candles as as everyone else does.

And it was during the pandemic, I got furloughed from my flight attend the job, and I just was at home all day, and I had to create an atmosphere at home to be comfortable with.

- And the same comfortable atmosphere Xavier had with his handmade candles was the same one he wanted others to experience too.

- I was in my garage, in my hot garage, 400 square feet making candles every day.

So when I first started, I just started making videos online, and I made a website, and just, I think I posted like 20 candles.

I was like, "Oh yeah, this is, I hope this sells."

- [Dara] And they didn't just sell.

They sold out completely, numerous times.

- Without social media spreading the word, I don't think we would've grown so rapidly.

- [Dara] Viral moments on social media like this TikTok video, with over 2 million views, not only helped him sell products, but also sell tickets for his candle making classes.

- Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Top Shelf Candle Class.

Thank y'all for coming out.

- [Dara] In the weekly classes, Xavier teaches people how to make their own candles, using the upcycled bottles he creates.

- I love it.

I wish I had had the idea first.

Because even in your own home, you find yourself throwing away stuff you just don't need anymore.

- [Dara] Nykia Wheatley has attended classes for nearly a year, and says the sweet aroma of togetherness keeps her coming back.

- When you have people you connect with, and you align with, and you're on the same page, it just makes life easier.

It can be a hard week or a hard day, but you come and you're around people, and then you're laughing, you're laughing about the same thing and there's no drama, I kind of love that for me.

- [Dara] For first timer, Jalisa Griffin, sitting at the same table, the community atmosphere made her feel at ease.

- Being able to be around people, and everybody's doing the same thing at the same time with somebody instructing you was actually pretty cool.

So it was just a calming experience.

- [Dara] Those with the company like Alisa Anthon, who helps prepare tables for the class say it's meaningful, knowing they're bringing folks together.

I like being able to see people leave with a smile, and affect people positively.

This is one of the places you can do that in, not only with the candle class, but also when the people come in, they're not just coming for the candles, they're coming for the experience.

- [Dara] And experience is exactly what the attendees get.

Whether they're fellowshipping with Xavier, stepping out of their comfort zones, or making connections.

For "CarolinaIMPACT," I'm Dara Khalid.

- Thanks so much, Dara.

The owner tells us he hopes to have a brick and mortar store soon.

Well, we have another creator to introduce you to this evening.

For many, the word artist makes them think of images of classical masters, or maybe even PBS's own Bob Ross painting on canvas.

With Charlotte's growing art scene, artists like Claire Kiester may come to mind.

Videographer Max Arnold shows us how she's changing the game with a ball of yarn, and crochet hooks.

(bright music) - Pretend that if you're not careful, your hand will just literally fall away.

- My name's Claire Kiester.

I'm a local artist here in Charlotte.

I do a lot of things with crochet and textiles, and I do a variation of two dimensional wall pieces and larger 3D installations.

(bright music) I really like crochet because I feel like it has the most flexibility, like it's basically just a series of loops that go together.

Anything that has holes you can crochet onto.

So basically what start off is a chain, and then you kind of go back and forth into that chain, just continuing to make those loops.

A great part of crochet is you can kind of go into itself.

So you can start working in a circle, or you can come in on one side, and create a more sculptural shape.

(bright music) It's really important to me that, you know, everyone sees themselves as an artist.

I think a lot of times, the more traditional home crafts or thing like, things like that get seen as kind of less important for the Charlotte International Arts Festival.

Yeah, I created this big installation that audiences could walk through and really experience in kind of all directions.

So I really wanted to use crochet to build a space that people could immerse themselves in to kind of empower everyone to see themselves as artists.

Because I think a lot of times people have these really amazing skills, and these things that they put so much time into.

And whether it's like throughout their maybe nine to five job or other things, maybe they're not feeling valued, or feeling like what they're creating has value.

So I think it's really powerful to feel like, yeah, you can create art, something really special and amazing.

(upbeat music) So every afternoon, I work with a nonprofit here in Charlotte called Arts Plus.

And it's an afterschool program for high school students.

It's free for them to attend.

The classes are free.

We give them all the materials, and we teach them a lot of art processes that they might not be exposed to within the public school system.

I was definitely excited to work with the kids one-on-one.

I think it's very powerful to them to see a person not too far from their age, like a younger person working as an artist and sustaining themselves with it and making a living.

I think it can be very daunting for kids, and teens, and young students to make that commitment to being an artist as what they wanna do.

I feel fortunate enough to grow, have grown up in kind of a creative household where my parents were very encouraging of my art, and my choice to pursue a creative career.

But I know I have a lot of fellow friends who are artists, where that maybe wasn't the case for them.

So I really love having that opportunity to give young artists and students that support that maybe they're not getting at home or in other parts of their life, to hopefully give them that confidence to make that decision.

(upbeat music) - Thanks so much, Max.

You can take a closer look at her unique art on our website @wtv.org.

Well, for our final story tonight, there are a lot of things people do in their cars other than driving.

From phone scrolling and texting, to talking, singing, eating, and perhaps even dancing.

There are also things people do to their cars to make them more fun.

"CarolinaIMPACT's" Jason Terzis joins us with more.

- Well there are the basics like bumper stickers, and vanity license plates.

Sometimes you can see a car with neon lights underneath it or maybe eyelashes over the headlights.

At Christmas time, maybe lights on the car or the red nose on the front.

For Volkswagen Bugs it was the little flowers in the vase.

But for Jeeps, it's turned into a whole new ball game.

- Today's video, we are going to be ducking a hundred Jeeps.

We're starting with the Walmart parking lot across the street.

Let's go.

Duck of the Day.

(guitar music) - [Jason] The videos are all over YouTube.

- And we just pulled up to a gray Jeep Gladiator, so we're gonna give 'em this one.

- People playing a game that sorta of came outta nowhere.

- It's wild.

It's a whole other world out there, these ducks.

Oh my god, you got ducks?

- Oh my God!

I love it.

The game is called, "Duck Duck Jeep," and any Jeep driver who has rubber ducks on their dashboard is playing.

- I like to squeeze stuff.

(toy duck squeaking) - This is fun.

And I see a lot of good collection in couple of Jeeps.

People have like ducks all over.

- It's just like, "Hey, you drive a Jeep, I drive a jeep."

We're basically friends now.

- The game is pretty simple.

A Jeep driver spots another Jeep they like, put a duck on it.

- They placed them on the door handle to where they kind of just stay in a place.

- Like wedged in there.

And there was a little tag on its neck with like a piece of paper.

(uptempo piano music) - [Jason] Jeeps were first used by American troops during World War II, then went public, becoming the first mass produced four door sport utility vehicle.

Jeep drivers then develop their own little thing.

- The Jeep Wave is, is sort of just like an acknowledgement to other Jeep drivers.

- So the Jeep wave has been around for a very long time.

Even back what?

It was probably 20 years ago since I had my last Jeep.

They were waving back then.

- I don't know if it's a peace sign or a rabbit ears, but just a little... - If it's another yellow jeep, I'll hands off the wheel drive with the knee for a second, and double peace signs, or like wave out the window.

- [Jason] But in the last few years the wave got a new companion.

(toy duck squeaking) The rubber duck.

- Honestly, I don't know what's the reason how it's all started.

- I'm really not sure where ducks and Jeeps make sense.

- I don't know how that started.

Are you gonna fill me in on that?

- [Jason] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Okay.

- [Jason] The answer lies in Canada, in the small town of Bancroft, Ontario.

- Hi, I am Allison from the founder of Duck Deck Jeep.

I'm the one that started all of Duck Duck Jeep.

- [Jason] It all began as many things do, just by chance.

In 2020, just as Covid restrictions were slowly being eased, Allison Parliament went to a recently reopened department store.

- And they had ducks on the shelf, and I grabbed a bag of them figuring, "Hey, this would be fun to hide around the house."

- [Jason] When she came out, Allison saw really nice jeep out in the parking lot.

And being a new Jeep owner herself, she wanted to leave a note, but didn't have anything to write on.

- I decided to ride on the duck because it was the only thing we had that we could write on.

And I wanted him to know that I appreciated the work that he had put into his rig because it was a beautiful Jeep.

It had new wheels, it was lifted, it was beautiful.

- [Jason] Just as Allison was leaving the duck with the note, the owner came out.

- And thankfully, he had a really good sense of humor and started laughing.

He suggested that not only do we keep doing it, but that we should get social media involved.

So I hashtagged it, "Duck Duck Jeep," and put it on our Instagram.

- [Jason] And within just a few days, it started taking off.

- About four days, we started seeing it everywhere.

I started seeing Jeepers in the US doing it.

I was seeing it pop up in Canada.

We had it pop up in Australia of all places.

- [Jason] Social media spread it like wildfire, as Jeep drivers around the world were introduced to the new game.

- So I remember like a year ago, we were, we were going into Harris Teeter and we came out, and then all of a sudden there's a duck in our car, and I'm like, "What is this?"

And there was a little tag on it, and then it happened again and it happened again.

So all of a sudden we had three or four ducks, and then we're sitting there like, "Okay, what is this?"

And then we researched it and figured it out, and then we bought a few so we could give away to people and everything like that.

So that's kinda how it all started.

- I didn't get it why it is happening, but slowly I started liking it.

And giving it out to other people was also fun.

- My friend Leah is a big Jeep owner, and she could not wait for me to bring this Jeep home.

And she met us in the driveway basically, and she gave us our first duck, which didn't feel genuine or legit.

It was probably about two weeks later though, that we got our first real like parking lot, we're out shopping Duck, and Zoe and I were absolutely thrilled.

- Yeah.

- Alright, I don't know what I've gotten into here, but I guess I'm part of it.

- [Jeff] An estimated 600 plus thousand Jeep drivers across 86 countries are playing Duck Duck Jeep.

And the whole point of the game, simple, spread kindness and fun.

- I think it's so nice, you know, we need more kindness in the world, and I think it's just, it's a great way to just brighten someone's day.

- This is like the new Jeep wave if you will.

Like let's pass on ducks to people.

So, Allison loves it, and Emma loves it, so we just started really getting into it.

- [Jason] For Allison, these last four years have been a whirlwind.

She travels to Jeep related events, and thanks to a dealership, is now driving a brand new eye popping bright neon yellow Rubicon known as "The Mother Ducker."

- It was not the intent for it to go around the world the way it did, but it's a really humbling factor of life for me, even still that it has.

- [Jason] For Jeep owners, it's all fun, with many rotating their ducks with other Jeep owners.

- I don't have any of the original ones anymore except for this one, which one of my closer friends gave to me.

'Cause he drives a Jeep as well.

So it's like, I'm not getting rid of this.

But I think the premise is that like you're just like a temporary holder.

- What's that Duck's name?

- Lucky Duck.

- Lucky Duck.

Yeah.

- And for those Jeep drivers with young kids, the game is that much more fun.

- I like to squeeze stuff (toy duck squeaking) - Can you pick one out for your Jeep?

That's a perfect choice.

I love it.

(laughs) - My kids love to see it, you know.

And they want to see it more and more and more.

- Hook is is the main man here.

He watches over all the ducks, so he's kind of like our captain of the ship, okay?

- Captain.

- We try to not be super creepy, but kind of peek and see, is it a boy jeep or a girl Jeep?

(little girl screams) And if it looks like it's owned by a female, she might pick out one that's got a crown on it, or a unicorn.

And if it's a guy Jeep, or a boy Jeep, she'll pick out something a little more manly.

- Yeah, the girls love it.

Like whenever we're in a parking lot, for example, and you pull up, and Allison will be like, "Park next to that Jeep Park.

Park next to the Jeep.

Let's give 'em a duck.

Let's give 'em a duck."

And then she'd be like, "Don't give away Rufio.

Don't give away Hook."

So she has her favorites that she has, so we have certain ones that we rotate through, and certain ones are untouchable that we can never give away.

- So here's my question, Jason.

Where's everybody getting all these ducks?

- Well it's become a, it's become a big thing like so many other things, right?

So it's, whether it's the dollar store, but I would say the majority of them come from Amazon.

If you go on there and just type in rubber ducks, or Jeep ducks, a ton of options pop up.

I saw 76 piece kit that includes the ducks, a Duck Duck Jeep bag, cards to write on, rubber bands, all for 30 bucks.

The people that I spoke with for this story all had either a little supply of in a bag or a box, or just to kind of had 'em in their, in their console.

But they always had little extras in the back.

So if they saw one they liked, they can go do the Jeep, get the duck on the Jeep.

- I love the concept.

Duck Duck Jeep.

- Duck Duck Jeep.

- Thanks for explaining it to me, 'cause I didn't know.

- There you go.

- Well, we're always searching for interesting story ideas.

If you have one, email the details to stories @wtvi.org.

Well that's all the time we have this evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We always appreciate your time, and look forward to seeing you back here again next time on "Carolina Impact."

Goodnight, my friends.

(bright guitar music) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.