Tag Archive for: #towntalk

TownTalk: Around Old Granville: Restoring Cemetery Monuments

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When it comes to maintaining cemeteries, we’re used to seeing landscape crews out with mower and weed eaters, making sure the grounds are manicured and neat for visitors and other passersby.

But just as important – maybe more so, says Hilary Verville of Verville Preservation in Oxford, is a bucket of water and a soft-bristle brush. You see, she and husband Michael have their eyes on cemeteries’ stone monuments and headstones.

Often, family members are the ones left to tend smaller family plots, Verville said on Thursday’s Around Old Granville segment of TownTalk.

“We love going into the family plots,” she said. And when they get calls from folks about what to do to clean or repair headstones, they’re happy to help.

“Documentation is absolutely the best first step,” she said – take photos of the stone in question, which will help position the stone properly if it has to be removed for repair.

There’s no replacement for proper maintenance when it comes to keeping headstones in good repair. She encourages individuals to become “citizen preservationists” in the fight to keep headstones and monuments in good repair.

“The best thing you can do is to keep it clean with water,” Virville said. “No chemicals, no soap – water and a soft-bristle brush” is the ticket to keep moss, lichens and bird poop from causing damage over time.

“You give it a good scrub. Don’t get super aggressive with it,” she continued. It’s kind of like brushing your teeth.”

And, she said, “never, ever, ever” use bleach or other abrasive cleaner. You WILL damage the stone. It may look nice in the short-term, but you’ll create pitting that will weaken the stone over time.

And if you need assistance, Verville said, “call us – we’re going to help you do it the right way.”

The Vervilles will come out and assess the site and the headstone or monument before coming up with a repair plan and next steps.

Verville Preservation is conducting a workshop at Oakwood Cemetery in Louisburg on Saturday, Apr. 13 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. for anyone interested in learning from the pros.

Register for the workshop at https://www.louisburghistoricdistrict.com/

 

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TownTalk: MerleFest Takes Place April 25 Through 28

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About 100 artists and bands will take to the stage – 12 stages, actually – during the four-day run of MerleFest next month in Wilkes County and organizers anticipate more than 70,000 fans of bluegrass and traditional music will be there to listen and take in all the sights.

Festival Director Wes Whitson said he’d love to see attendance “north of 75,000” and said he and his team work throughout the year to secure acts from far and near to entertain audiences of all ages throughout the four days. MerleFest 2024 takes place on the campus of Wilkes Community College April 25-28.

MerleFest began in 1988 as a fundraiser to help improve the gardens at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, Whitson told WIZS co-host Bill Harris. Legendary musician Doc Watson started the festival in memory of his musician son Merle, who died in 1985.

Since then, the festival has grown and evolved, but Whitson said its roots still lie in being a fundraiser for the community college, providing money for scholarships, training and much more.

Among the acts taking the stage this year are Old Crow Medicine Show, Nickel Creek, Turnpike Troubadours, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Lukas Nelson & POTR, Steep Canyon Rangers – just to name a few.

Visit https://merlefest.org/ for details about ticket prices, lineups, schedules and all things MerleFest. Or, Whitson said, the box office is open on weekdays, so feel free to call 800.343.7857. There’s also a MerleFest app.

From all indications so far, MerleFest fans approve of the musicians they’ll be listening to this year. “Our fans have really shown support for our lineup,” Whitson said. They conducted research will polls to make sure they were choosing artists that fans wanted to hear.

“I think that paid off,” he said, adding that they’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback.

Concert-goers come from all over to the small county in western North Carolina, and they bring their pocketbooks with them. Whitson said MerleFest infuses $10 and $12 million dollars into the local economy during the days leading up to – and including – the festival.

MerleFest’s artist relations team is continually looking and listening for local talent and scout around in local and larger venues all year to identify potential musicians to invite. “We seek and find and invite,” Whitson said. “We’re definitely paying attention and following the ‘buzz’ around.”

In its earlier days, organizers could start making plans in the summer for the following spring’s concert. But those days are over, Whitson said.

“It is a yearlong planning event – we work full time on this all year long…to make sure we’re putting out the best, safest, quality event. That takes a lot of time.”

He gives much credit to his festival team and extended network of partners – from the production company to the tent supplier to artist relations teams, “everybody pitches in and does a great job,” Whitson said.

“I’m surrounded by good people…we love doing it and it’s a lot of fun.”

 

WIZS will be giving away free tickets to MerleFest in the coming weeks – stay tuned for details!

 

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TownTalk: Henderson Spectacular Coming To SaddleRock Farm

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The upcoming “Henderson Spectacular” is sure to check a lot of boxes for folks in the community who want to visit a local farm, play games and enjoy the outdoors, but Larry Johnson and Emily Parker are weaving in a religious theme into all the activities that will be taking place on Saturday, Apr. 27.

And they want to spread the word, especially about The Greatest Story Ever Told.

Johnson owns SaddleRock Farm, and he and his granddaughter-in-law were guests on Tuesday’s TownTalk segment to talk up the event, which is completely free for everyone to attend. Gates open at 11 a.m. and the fun continues until 3 p.m. Come early, Johnson advised, so you’ll have a chance to enjoy all the activities that are in store.

“I’m blessed to be a part of it…I’m glad to have it at the farm –  it’s special,” Parker said.

“Our farm furnishes the location,” Johnson said, and New Sandy Creek Baptist Church is a primary sponsor for this year’s “Spectacular,” which will feature horse rides and hayrides, inflatables for the kids to play on, puppet shows and much more.

Then there’s the food – think carnival food like popcorn, sno-cones and drinks to go along with all the outdoor fun – “all for zero cost,” Johnson added.

Kids of all ages can enjoy visiting with some barnyard animals, including goats, sheep, a pig, chickens, ducks, geese, peacocks – even a turkey.

Not to worry, Johnson said, all these animals have names. And you can’t eat them once you give them names, he explained.

The farm is a for-profit endeavor, providing riding lessons, field trips and birthday parties throughout the year. But it’s important to Johnson to give back to the community, and hosting the event is his way of going that.

“When I bought that farm, I didn’t buy it for the public, I bought it for my family. Not too long after that, God spoke to my heart and said he had provided that farm…not just for my family but for other people. So when we opened in April 2010, we had a pretty big dedication service and we dedicated that farm to the Lord and his work. We do have to make a living – the farm does have to support itself, but it is dedicated to the Lord and every opportunity we have to provide any service that people can learn more about the Lord, we do that.”

SaddleRock Farm is located at 1786 Weldon’s Mill Rd., Henderson.

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TownTalk: VGCC Celebrates 40 Years Of Golf

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Calling all golfers! Make plans to play a round of golf, celebrate 40 years of teeing it up for Vance-Granville Community College and help students, all at once.

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the VGCC tournament, and Sheri Jones, associate director for the VGCC Foundation said there are plenty of opportunities to support the fundraiser even if you’ve never swung a club.

“It’s a big anniversary for us,” Jones said Tuesday on TownTalk. This year’s two-day event takes place at Henderson Country Club on Monday, May 6 and Tuesday, May 7. Register four-member teams for $560 or register individually for $150.

Sponsor details can be found at www.vgcc.edu/golf, Jones said. The VGCC Foundation is still looking for a presenting sponsor; all sponsorships greatly help defray costs associated with the group’s main fundraiser.

“If we don’t have the funds – a lot of our scholarships have certain criteria they have to meet,” Jones said, and some students simply don’t meet the criteria. Proceeds from the golf tournament go toward funding needs-based scholarships for students, which “fill those gaps where students may not qualify for the other scholarship we have,” she explained.

Previous tournaments have raised between $20,000 and $40,000, depending on the number of players and the number of sponsors.

Call The VGCC Foundation at 252.738.3264 or email foundation@vgcc.edu to learn more.

Jones said planning the tournament is a lot of work, but it’s well worth it.

“It’s a pleasure to do the work because we know the good result that it has for the college and for the students and therefore, for the community as a whole.”

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TownTalk: Police Chief Concerned With Litter Problem

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Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow wants the public to be on the lookout for…signs in their neighborhoods that are part of an anti-litter campaign.

The signs will feature brightly colored handprints – about the size of a child’s hand – and will include a QR code that is linked directly to Crime Stoppers, so the public can report instances of littering by pointing their cell phone at the code.

Barrow told WIZS Monday on TownTalk that the campaign is as much about education and prevention as it is about catching litterbugs.

With a modest $6,000 budget from a federal asset forfeiture funds allocation, Barrow said he plans to target elementary school-aged children across the city to impress upon them the importance of keeping litter off the streets.

“It’s going to be an inclusive campaign,” Barrow said, adding that there will be ways to tie in with businesses, pastors and churches and individuals. “We’re just going to try to throw the kitchen sink at this thing,” he said.

City Manager Terrell Blackmon helped get quarterly cleanups started when he came on board, which complements the state’s annual Litter Sweep campaign, which this year is April 26.

Barrow said he still recalls those catchy phrases he learned when he was in elementary school, and they’ve stuck with him – “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires,” and “Give a Hoot – Don’t Pollute,” to name a few.

This campaign’s catch phrases aimed at schoolchildren can have a similar lasting effect on today’s young people – “Don’t Trash Our Future” and “Children Deserve a Clean Community” bring home the message to put trash in its place.

There’s even talk of having stickers that fast-food restaurants will put on their bags that will contain the anti-litter messaging, Barrow said, “to put it in as many faces as we can to prevent (littering) instead of taking punitive measures.”

More information about the upcoming campaign should be available in the next couple of weeks.

 

 

TownTalk: City Council Addresses Attendance Policy

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At its March meeting Monday evening, the Henderson City Council voted 6-2 to adopt a policy concerning attendance at council meetings. At issue, among other things, was what constitutes an excused absence versus an unexcused absence and just how – and who – would decide which was which.

The proposed wording didn’t include “work” in the excused list, and it did include the 12 set monthly meeting dates – already on the calendar – as well as any “special called meetings,” which aren’t on the calendar ahead of time.

After a lot of back-and-forth discussion, Council member Ola Thorpe-Cooper made a motion, seconded by Council member Michael Venable to approve the attendance policy, with a revision that excludes the special called meeting wording.

Joining Cooper and Venable with yes votes were Council members Geraldine Champion, Garry Daeke, Sam Seifert and Tami Walker; Council members Lamont Noel and Sara Coffey voted against the motion.

According to City Manager Terrell Blackmon, the policy review came out of the council’s recent strategic planning session. As it stands now, council members aren’t supposed to miss four meetings in a single calendar year.

However, if they are unable to attend a meeting in person, they can join virtually and cast votes remotely, as long as their absence is considered an “excused” absence.

Noel did not agree that fellow council members be the deciding body to determine whether an absence is excused or unexcused; individual council members are supposed to inform the clerk when they know they will be absent.

Mayor Melissa Elliott offered an example to the group, saying that she had been able to vote when she was out of town for work, but she was not able to vote when she joined virtually while on vacation.

The council agreed to fall back to Robert’s Rules of Order and handle the absences procedurally when the roll is called at each council meeting, at which time the clerk would inform the council of the reason for a member’s absence.

Discussion about special called meetings included comments from Council member Noel, who said those meetings, usually held during normal business hours, shouldn’t be part of the attendance policy.

“Some of us are working,” he said.

Daeke acknowledged that daytime meetings “may be a bit much for some folks.” He said he used 42 hours of vacation time last year alone to satisfy council attendance policies. “Not everybody has that capability,” he said.

 

 

TownTalk: Property Tax Revaluation

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Property owners in Vance County have been waiting – and waiting – for those tax revaluation notices to hit their mailboxes, but so far, it’s just bills, junk mail and candidates’ postcards.

At their board meeting on Mar. 4, commissioners were told that the notices would be sent out “in the next few weeks.”

In a followup conversation with Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry earlier Monday, Perry reported that Tax Administrator Porcha Brooks said the notices will go out by the end of this week.

County residents have been bracing for news of what most certainly will be an increase in the value of their property – it’s been eight years since the last revaluation, after all. Expected increases in Vance County range from 67 percent to 72 percent, with a base increase of 55 percent. And that doesn’t include the actual land values, said Ryan Vincent, who updated commissioners during last week’s  meeting.

Most all of the county’s property owners will see an increase in their property revaluation – 93 percent, in fact. And it all will be revealed in those notices, which were originally supposed to be received in February.

In addition to indiviudals and businesses, however, county staff and elected officials also need that information to inform their budget process, which is usually approved before the new fiscal year begins July 1.

Once property owners get their new valuations, they have time to appeal if they don’t agree, said Ryan Vincent, whose company was in charge of this revaluation process, which began a couple of years ago.

“The plan is to mail notices in the next two to three weeks,” Vincent explained to commissioners on Mar. 4. The notices are NOT bills; tax bills would be sent in summer 2024.

Vincent said the deadline to appeal is May 6; after that, the county’s Equalization and Review Board would begin the process of deliberating the appeals.

Right now, the seven county commissioners serve as the E&R board; Commissioner Tommy Hester’s motion on Mar. 4 to form a separate board failed.

The 2016 revaluation saw 640 property owners appeal the tax value of their properties. Of those, all but 11 were settled during the informal appeals process and were settled within the tax department. Those 11 came before the board of commissioners, acting as the E&R board, for a decision.

This year’s revaluation most likely will bring a higher volume of appeals, simply because it’s been eight years since the last valuation, when some property owners even saw a decrease in their property’s assessed value.

Vincent said commissioners should plan to allow for “anywhere from 10 to 20 to maybe 30 working days to hear the appeals,” with those being full days – 6-8 hours each. “It’s a substantial time commitment,” he said, and something that likely couldn’t be done during regular evening meetings of the commissioners.

That’s on top of extra budget sessions that will undoubtedly be held over the next few months.

The E&R board must have a quorum – that’s four commissioners – to hold the hearings.

Perry stated “it’s definitely a tight timeline” but that “the plan is for the Board of E&R to open on May 6 and close on June 3. Appeals can be submitted as soon as notices are received. The last day to appeal will be June 3.” Vincent had noted to commissioners on Mar. 4 that the appeals window would be from April 1 to May 6, but Perry confirmed Monday that those dates had been adjusted since the commissioners’ meeting.

The City of Henderson also is dependent on the results of this revaluation process as it plans for the new budget, and City Manager Terrell Blackmon said he and his staff asked for – and received – the information from the county as soon as it was available.

In a written statement to WIZS News, Blackmon said, “Just for reference, the City is not just now looking at the schedule of values…and we have been using the data we have to begin working through the FY 24-25 budget process.  The City’s Finance staff and I have already completed our preliminary budget meetings with all department heads and we are crunching numbers as we speak trying to balance expenses with projected revenues based on our current tax rate and other various scenarios tied to the new schedule of values resulting from the revaluation process.  Staff and Council are aware of the potential burden taxpayers may experience when there is a revaluation and we will try to remain revenue neutral as a goal.  However, we also have to keep in mind that the City’s tax base has remained fairly unchanged the past several years… but our expenses continue to increase due to employee retention and other inflationary factors that impact our service delivery and ability to improve the City’s infrastructure.  We will work to find a balance that’s beneficial to both the City and our citizens.”

 

 

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TownTalk: Community Resource Festival Coming To VGCC

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Organizers of the second Community Resource Festival say a multitude of vendors will come together under one roof to share information and network with individuals on Wednesday, Mar. 13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center.

More than 200 people came out last year to the first event, and VGCC’s Stephanie Tolbert and Huff Consulting’s Michele Walker hope more people will walk through the doors this year to visit with the 75 vendors who will be in attendance.

The vendors are a cross-section of civic organizations, all shapes and sizes of nonprofits, as well as local businesses, Walker said on Thursday’s TownTalk. She is the sales and accounts manager for Huff Consulting, and had the idea to put this festival on last year.

As VGCC dean of Business, Applied Tech and Public Service, Tolbert joined forces with Huff to plan the day’s events this year. She said everyone who stops in during the day will leave with a ball full of freebies, “but more importantly, knowledge about resources that they didn’t know existed in their backyards.”

Tolbert said the festival is a time for networking and forming new partnerships in the larger community.

The Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce is one of the event sponsors. In a written statement, Chamber President Sandra Wilkerson said “This is about
opportunities for all the people in our community to gather knowledge, opportunities and tools to make their lives and businesses more successful and engaging…Our joint efforts with Huff Consulting, Vance Granville Community College and Granville County Chamber of Commerce are designed to make us all
stronger, better, more informed and progressive.”

Granville County Chamber Executive Director Cynthia Ratliff encourages business and industry representatives to check out the event as well. In a statement, Ratliff called the community resource festival an “invaluable opportunity for business professionals to equip themselves and their teams with the tools they need for success.”

Be prepared to learn, network and share information, but make sure you bring an appetite – Smokin’ Souls and Bun on the Run food trucks will be set up on site as well. There will be a fun photo booth for some selfie fun and door prizes will be awarded every 30 minutes.

David Bullock with VGCC also will be on site with a drone demonstration.

Whether you only have a few minutes or can spend a few hours, the community resource festival will not disappoint.

 

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TownTalk: Fire Department Awards And Dinner

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The City of Henderson’s fire department took some time recently to gather for dinner and fellowship as they reflected on events of the past year, honored current firefighters and remembered the late fire chief Steve Cordell.

Chief Tim Twisdale, a guest on Wednesday’s TownTalk, said the Feb. 22 event was special in many ways, not the least of which was beginning the evening with a moment of silence to remember Cordell, who died in January 2023.

Oftentimes, the public sees firefighters in bulky turnout gear in the line of duty or in more casual clothing around the fire house making sure all the vehicles are in tip-top shape. But Twisdale said this occasion was reason to pull out the Class A uniforms and really show off – on this evening, firefighters learned who was named 2023 Firefighter of the Year and who would be the recipient of the Chief’s Award.

“This is the 47th year that our department has been having a gathering to honor our members and the accomplishments they’ve had throughout the year,” Twisdale noted.

Jeffrey Payne Watson was named Firefighter of the Year and Devin Hall received the Chief’s Award. Twisdale said both men are real assets to the department.

Watson came on board in 2021 – in fact, Twisdale was on the interview board when he was hired and then worked with him on the same shift. He saw Watson every day there in the beginning, and Twisdale said he quickly saw Watson as a natural leader. “He’s one of those go-to persons,” Twisdale said, someone who makes sure that everyone comes out of a situation with a better grasp and understanding than they’d had before.

Deputy State Fire Marshal Tony Bailey was the guest speaker for the event, and Twisdale said he appreciated Bailey’s continuing support  over the years as the fire department has been able to attain – and maintain – a coveted ISO rating of 2.

Chief’s Award recipient Hall commutes three days a week to his job at the Henderson Fire Department from his home in South Hill, VA.

When considering nominees for the Chief’s Award, Twisdale said he’s looking “for someone who really comes into the doors every day as a positive example” for others, making contributions not only to the community but to the brotherhood of firefighters.

“He is a constant source of information,” Twisdale said of Hall. “He shares his knowledge an skills.”

Twisdale noted several recent promotions within the department, including Capt. Capt. Justin Crowder and Capt. Justin Simmons, who is in charge of Engine 1. Simmons’s primary duties are looking after a three-member crew of that truck, the chief said.

As new battalion chiefs, Rick Puryear and Kyle Holtzman supervise the shifts of firefighters who protect the city 24 hours a day.

Hall and fellow firefighter Chase Carter have risen to the rank of engineer. Both men are a big part of the department’s ladder company, Twisdale said. The fire department is looking at ways to replace the aging truck, which came into service in 2005. Back then, it cost $800,000.

Like everything else, he said, inflation has driven up prices on fire trucks, too.

“If we sign a contract today, it’d be $2.1 million,” he said.

Check out the year-in-review video that Engineer Carter created for the awards banquet. You can find it on the fire department’s Facebook page. Chief Cordell figures prominently in the video, and his memory will live on, Twisdale said.

“We try to honor his memory by trying to move forward each day,” he said.

 

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TownTalk: Sossamon Hosts Human Trafficking Forums

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N.C. Rep. Frank Sossamon wants to get the word out about a couple of upcoming community forums that he hopes will shed a little light on the topic of human trafficking – what it is, what it can look like and how to seek help or report suspicions. Scheduling forums like the ones next week is just one way that Sossamon continues to pastor to the community.

The first forum will be held Tuesday, Mar. 12 at Perry Memorial Library, Sossamon said on Tuesday’s TownTalk. There’s a special session for law enforcement representatives from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., followed by the community forum open to the public at 6 p.m.

He said there will be representatives from a variety of agencies and nonprofits well-versed in the issue of human trafficking to inform and educate and help attendees “better understand this enormous and egregious problem.”

The second forum will be held at the Granville Expo Center in Oxford on Thursday, Mar. 14, following the same format as the Henderson event.

When you hear the term “human trafficking,” what often comes to mind is either sex trafficking or labor trafficking.

Oftentimes, Sossamon said, people don’t know what signs to look for, and instances of trafficking could be happening “right up under our noses.”

Attend one of the two forums and come away with information, some training and a better level of understanding about the problem.

Victims of human trafficking are often under such control that they often never say a word, never try to escape, Sossamon explained. Sometimes they wear bulky clothing or stay covered up to hide malnutrition or markings from abuse.

“It’s beyond me to fully comprehend…to be taken against their will…and do whatever they’re told to do,” he said. “It’s such a large topic when you begin to dive into it – it covers so many different scenarios.”

He recalled a recent case that happened here in Vance County when a law enforcement officer discovered a case of trafficking.
Thanks to training that the State Highway Patrol officer had received, he was able to identify and capture the perpetrator and save the victim.

“One of the big things is awareness, even among those who are sworn to protect,” Sossamon said, adding that there are so many demands on law enforcement officers, the more the community can do to help, the better.

“It takes all of us to have a level of awareness and understanding,” he said, adding that it’s important for individuals to be on the lookout, too.

Holding forums in his district is just one way to help keep the community safe, involved and informed.

“It takes all of us to be involved,” Sossamon said.

 

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