By Junious Smith III

Curtis “Nootsie” Hines is doing this for the love of Kinston.

Hines, a former Kinston High School basketball stalwart and founder of Hines Workoutz, is hosting his first “For the Love of Kinston” Community Day Sunday at Southeast Park. The event is scheduled from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and there will be free food and drinks, a bounce house, face painting and live performances from Stage Lyfe LLC and Glamorous Girls Inc. DJ Bobby “B. Nova” Davis will also provide music throughout the event and AT&T is giving out free snow cones, cotton candy and popcorn.

Hines said the idea came from wanting to do something for the place that helped shape his upbringing.

“I’m from East Kinston, born and raised in Simon Bright,” Hines said. “Growing up, my mom used to take us to the basketball court (at) Southeast, and I remember music and a lot of positive energy out there. I thought about this back in March — I was riding by my old neighborhood and said ‘we need to bring it back.’ I talked to my mom, dad and family about it, wanting to do something positive for the city and for the kids.”

There will be a pair of 5-on-5 basketball tournaments — one for children between Grades five through 12, the other for adults 18 and older. For more information, contact Hines at curtishines23@yahoo.com.