WIZS Radio Local News Audio 12-16-21 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Cooperative Extension with Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden
Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
Infinite Possibilities, Inc. Offers Support Group To Help Women Overcome Scars Of Violence, Abuse
Infinite Possibilities, Inc. is offering a support group to help women who have experienced abuse and trauma.
Participants can attend the “Mending The Soul” support group either virtually or in person, according to Erin N. Carter, a victim’s advocate for Infinite Possibilities, a domestic violence & comprehensive support services agency in Henderson.
Attendees will choose which group to join – either the virtual sessions on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. or the in-person sessions which will be held on Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Participants who register for the face-to-face meetings will be informed of the location upon registration.
The support group provides a safe, judgment-free environment where participants can rediscover their true voice. Topics to be discussed include healthy boundaries, self-esteem and the importance of self-care. The session leaders strive to empower and heal women who have experienced domestic violence and sexual assault.
Space in the support groups is limited.
For more information, contact Infinite Possibilities, Inc. at 252.431.1926 or visit their website at www.infinitepossibilitiesinc.com.
Warren County Equine Clinic On Jan. 29 For Coggins, Vaccines
Area horse owners can save the cost of a farm visit and drive their equines to Warren County next month for a Coggins and vaccine clinic, according to information from the Warren County Cooperative Extension.
The clinic will be on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Department, 654 U.S. Hwy 1 in Norlina.
Oberlin McDaniel, DVM, will be on site to update your horses’ Coggins & annual vaccinations. The Coggins test cost is $36. Online results via Global Vet Link will provide results within 3-5 days. Copies can be printed from this site for use by horse owners to show proof of a negative test.
Vaccines that are available include:
- 5-way E/W/T/R/F, rabies and West Nile.
- Equine microchipping also will be available.
Contact Stacey Hadnott, NCMVS assistant at 919.813.6560 or ncmobilevetoffice@gmail.com to learn more.
Small Business Owners: Hopes For More Holiday Sales, Lower Risk Of Shoplifting
It goes without saying that business owners and area retailers depend on customers coming in to their stores throughout the year, but it’s especially important during the holiday season when gift-buying and giving provide a healthy boost in sales.
But with that increased customer foot traffic comes an increased risk of shoplifting. Madison Haggin, communication specialist with business.org, said a recent study by the organization shows that more than half of all small businesses report an increase in shoplifting during peak shopping seasons like Christmas.
And more than 4 in 10 shoplifters get away – with the merchandise.
Here are a few results from the survey of small businesses:
- 25 percent have had to deal with customers using stolen credit cards.
- 25 percent of small businesses have increased the prices of their products because of shoplifting.
- 25 percent of small businesses experience shoplifting on a weekly basis, while 23% experience shoplifting on a daily basis.
- 15 percent of small business owners have had a shoplifting incident turn violent, while 2 in 3 businesses have called the police.
Haggin recommends that small-business owners develop a shoplifting policy to guide employees to deal with shoplifting incidents. Consider using an inventory management software program to keep track of merchandise in the store. Having a security camera or alarm may not reduce shoplifting, but it could deter would-be offenders and could potentially provide video evidence.
Business.org partnered with Pollfish to conduct an anonymous survey of 700 small-business owners with a +/- 2% margin of error with a confidence level of 95 percent.
TownTalk: From Tally Ho To Outer Space, James Webb And NASA
In one week, the U.S. is scheduled to launch a new telescope into space and scientists are eager to analyze the information that it will send back to Earth. The project, which bears a $10 billion price tag, also bears the name of a local man who rose to great heights in this nation’s space program.
James Edwin Webb was the son of John Frederick Webb and was born on the family farm near Stem, in the Tally Ho community. When his father became superintendent of Granville schools in the early 20th century, Jim Webb moved to Oxford.
And on Dec. 22, the James Webb space telescope will catapult into space for its monthlong journey to reach its destination. Visit https://webbtelescope.org/ to read more about the telescope and its mission.
On Wednesday’s Town Talk, Mark Pace and Bill Harris discussed Webb’s life and just how he ended up running NASA back in the early 1960’s.
The Webb telescope dwarfs the Hubble in size – it’s four stories tall, Pace said, and its sun shield is the size of a tennis court; Hubble’s is a mere eight feet in diameter. Others have compared the two this way, Pace added: Hubble is a horse and buggy and Webb is a Mercedes.
Join Pace at the Granville County Museum Thursday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. to learn more about Webb’s life, his achievements and just how he got a telescope named after him. Contact the museum at 693.9706 to join virtually.
“He was a pretty big deal for astronomy,” Pace said of Webb and his accomplishments in the space program.
But just how did someone from Granville County end up running NASA?
Pace said Webb, who was known to have a photographic memory, graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1928. But like so many other young people at that time, his life was interrupted by The Great Depression. He had to come back home and help his family, Pace said. He joined the Marine Corps and became a Marine aviator.
Over the course of his career, he became an attorney, worked in private industry and in the office of a congressman from North Carolina. These experiences, along with being in charge of large corporations and government agencies in Washington, D.C., all contributed to Webb being a top candidate to run NASA and help the United States compete in the Space Race.
As Pace noted, the U.S. was scrambling in the late 1950’s with its space program, but Lyndon Johnson told newly elected President John F. Kennedy about this fellow, Jim Webb, who he thought would do a good job at NASA.
“They needed somebody to take control of the situation,” Pace said. Somebody with qualifications and experience. Someone like Webb. He got called to the White House in 1961, and Pace said there’s a photo of Webb with JFK as the president announced his plan to put a man in space.
Apparently, Webb’s wife learned of her husband’s new job on the radio – it was such a whirlwind decision, he didn’t have time to tell her before he accepted.
Webb was a New Deal Democrat, and Pace said he had what it took to get the job done – he could play the Washington insiders game, and he wasn’t shy about making deals or shaking hands to achieve the mission.
“He freely admitted he wasn’t a scientist or an engineer,” Pace said, but he was knowledgeable about aviation and management to keep all the moving parts at NASA to carry out JFK’s promise to land a man on the moon by 1970. .And, in Pace’s opinion, Webb should be known not just as the guy who put a man on the moon, but as the guy who kept NASA on solid footing.
“That’s his real legacy, for me.” Webb was NASA administrator from 1961 to 1968, during which time the U.S. saw Alan Shepard make the first manned space flight and the creation of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Much of the groundwork for the Apollo manned space mission was completed during Webb’s term; Neil Armstrong’s historic moon walk was in July 1969.
When Richard Nixon became president and Webb no longer was in charge at NASA, he worked as a consultant (Webb was also an attorney), and he worked at the Smithsonian Institution – he became head regent there, Pace said. He also wrote a book on management and worked with the National Geographic Society.
He was a low-key kind of a person, Pace noted. “But he really wanted to get the job done.”
Webb died in 1992. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery and his modest tombstone reads “James Webb, public servant.” In 2018, a historic marker was placed on College Street in Oxford to honor the hometown hero. The marker is located in front of C.G. Credle Elementary School.
And if you’ve ever visited the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., you have Webb to thank.
He created it.
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WIZS Radio Local News Audio 12-15-21 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Home And Garden Show
On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
THIS WEEK IN THE GARDEN
- Check garden tools if they need replacing add to your Christmas list
- Take a critical look at your shrubbery to decide what to replace.
- Water house plants with room temperature water cold tap water may put house plants in shock.
- Re-pot any houseplants that have become rootbound. Most plants benefit from repotting every year or so.
- Hairspray works well for keeping seed heads and dried flowers on wreaths and other decorations intact.
- Wood ashes have a liming effect and can be spread lightly in the garden.
- Dust houseplant leaves with a soft cloth
- Be very careful when using a chainsaw.
- Check water under your christmas tree each day
Farmers Market Final Day Of The Season Is Saturday
Saturday, Dec. 18 is the final day of the season at the Vance Regional Farmers Market, and Market Manager Pat Ayscue invites everyone out for one final walk-through to purchase from area vendors. There will be some freshly gathered collards, cabbage, broccoli and turnip salad for sale, Ayscue said.
The market is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
In addition to the fresh cool-season greens, customers can shop for jellies, pickles and canned tomatoes and more shelf-stable goods.
The locally produced beef vendors will be there as well, and Ayscue said they have a variety of cuts to choose from and recipes to share.
There also are handcrafted items, including Christmas decorations that have been lovingly created for decking the halls and adding to the holiday spirit.
“Come join us and put a smile on a local farmer’s face,” Ayscue stated.
“I have loved opening the doors early in the morning and seeing the amazing garden that the Master Gardeners put so much time and love into. I give thanks for our farmers and all those who love tending the soil. When I close the doors this Saturday, I will have a heartfelt feeling that it will be some months before I view the garden at sunrise or open the bay door for a farmer, (but) at the same time I am assured there are seasons and spring is coming.”
The regional farmers market will reopen in the spring.
TownTalk: Boys And Girls Club Of North Central NC Plan Granville Club Renovation
Vision. Mission. Hope. Community.
Those words get tossed around frequently, but it also takes funding – money – to bring those words to life.
The Boys & Girls Club of North Central North Carolina has served thousands of young people in its almost 10 years of existence. BGCNCNC has the vision to help young people, the mission to provide support to those who need it most. The hope for bright futures and a strong community remain priorities in the five counties that it serves.
And now, some community supporters and benefactors have pledged some substantial amounts of money to help renovate club space in Granville and Vance counties. And BGCNCNC leaders hope to reach a goal of $100,000 by Dec. 31 to be able to start the first phase of a four-part, $5 million renovation of its space in Oxford.
Chief Operations Officer Jacqueline Robinson spoke with John C. Rose on Tuesday’s Town Talk about several recent developments in the cash flow department.
The most recent comes from The Goodwill Foundation, longtime BGCNCNC partners. Robinson said it will give $100,000 to the Granville unit and $50,000 to the Vance unit for club upgrades and safety enhancements.
That donation came about because of two other sizable donations – $25,000 from Strong Arm Baking Co. and $500,000 from Richard and Noel Moore. Richard Moore is a native of Oxford and served as state treasurer from 2001 to 2009.
The downtown Oxford bakery and kitchen was nominated for a Rush Limbaugh Great American Business by a loyal patron. Owners Julia and Thomas Blaine took the opportunity to pay forward the cash prize and challenge others in the community to contribute the other $75,000 to help BGCNCNC reach their Phase 1 goal of $100,000.
Robinson said she and the Blaines attended school together in Oxford. “It’s absolutely priceless,” she said, “for them to be so selfless to (want to) provide great opportunities for young people.”
The initial phase of renovation has a price tag of about $1 million; the Moores’ contribution, matched with an additional $500,000 from the community, will create a games room, multipurpose classroom space and technology upgrades, Robinson said, in addition to collaborative learning space and remote learning stations for the Granville Club.
It sounds like a lot of space is needed to complete the renovations, but space is something that the BGCNCNC has. In 2016, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. donated a 27,000 square foot warehouse to the BGCNCNC. Since then, the cavernous buildings have been reworked to provide adequate space for the administrative offices, as well as an activities space and a space for a makeshift cafeteria and homework spot.
When a team from The Goodwill Foundation visited the Granville Club, toured the facilities and then heard about Strong Arm’s and the Moores’ investment, “they wanted to be a part,” Robinson said, adding that the Goodwill team “have been fierce supporters of our programs here in Granville and Vance counties.”
Robinson has been involved with Boys & Girls Clubs for 17 years, but she wasn’t ever a club member. There wasn’t a club in Granville County for her to join. But she volunteered while she was in college and now she has the chance to have a front-row seat to see the Granville unit grow.
“I was one of the young people that needed a Boys & Girls Club,” she said. “I make it my mission to make sure that children have the chance” to be a part of such a strong organization.
The club helps young people make positive decisions and have positive youth development experiences, she said.
The renovations at the Vance club will be to its upstairs space, and it will provide more technology and make it a place “where teenagers want to go and grow and thrive.”
Both Robinson and Chief Executive Officer Donyell “DJ” Jones joined BGCNCNC during the pandemic, so they haven’t had the opportunity to get out into the community as they would have liked to.
But Robinson said she and Jones used that time in a positive way. “It was a wonderful opportunity for us to create the narrative” that is proving so helpful to share with the community as pandemic restrictions relax.
“I think people in the community are really beginning to see what the clubs can offer,” she said. “It’s amazing to hear people talk about what the Boys & Girls Club means to them.”
Now that the children are back, Robinson said she and the club staffs are eager to continue to enhance programming and create positive experiences for a brighter future. Pre-pandemic numbers showed upwards of 3,000 club members across the five-county area, and Robinson said last year’s 719 is definitely an atypical figure. Right now, she said Granville has served 156 club members and Vance has 149 on the membership list. “We are ready to relieve some of our capacity restraints,” Robinson said, and grow in numbers again.
“We want to go from the best-kept secret in the community to really being a community catalyst for youth development,” Robinson said.
Want to help BGNCNC reach the Strong Arm challenge? Visit www.strongarmbaking.com and click the link to donate.
Donate to www.bgcncnc.com or stop by the administrative offices at 105 West St., Oxford. The mailing address is BGCNCNC, P.O. Box 176, Oxford, NC 27565.