Registration opens for Tour de Vance cycling event

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – courtesy VGCC

 

Registration opens for Tour de Vance cycling event

Registration is now underway for the Sixth Annual Tour de Vance Bike Ride scheduled for Saturday, April 28. The ride has been growing steadily since its inception, drawing families and first-timers in addition to the most seasoned of cyclists for four separate cycling events.

For the first time, proceeds from the ride will benefit the Endowment Fund at Vance-Granville Community College, with donations supporting scholarships for students enrolled in Health Sciences programs at the college.

Several different options are available for cyclists. The 10-mile route is ideal for youth, families and beginners. A 20-mile course suits riders ready for a bit more distance. Experienced cyclists can choose a 31-mile “Forest and Farmland” circle route through the country or a 62-mile “Kerr Lake Look” that adds to that 31-mile circle route an out-and-back spur to the lake past the Nutbush Creek State Recreation Area.

The rides will start and finish at VGCC’s Main Campus, located off Interstate 85 and Poplar Creek Road at 200 Community College Road in Henderson.

“This event has become a hit not just with locals but also with cyclists from the surrounding area who enjoy an organized event that is challenging but also takes them on a view of the beautiful countryside in our area,” said Wendy Meyer-Goodwin, who has been working as event organizer since the Tour de Vance began. “Last year, we had our largest number of participants ever.”

All riders can register through the Vance-Granville Community College website at vgcc.edu/tourdevance. Online registration will end at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 27. On-site registration will be an option at 7:30 a.m. on the day of the event.

The 10-mile ride will cost $10 for each rider. The 20-mile ride will cost $20 for those who register by Feb. 28, increasing to $25 thereafter. The 31-mile and 62-mile (or “metric century”) rides will cost $30 for those who register by Feb. 28, increasing to $40 thereafter.

“Vance-Granville’s Endowment Fund is honored to be associated with an event that has become such a success,” said Eddie Ferguson, director of the VGCC Endowment Fund. “This bike ride promotes the importance of exercise and good health. We are pleased to use these proceeds to help our students enrolled in the many Health Sciences programs at VGCC.”

VGCC offers curriculum programs including Associate Degree Nursing, Radiography, Practical Nursing, Histotechnology, Medical Assisting and Pharmacy Technology.

Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m. on April 28. The 62-mile ride starts at 8:30 a.m., the 31-mile ride at 9:30, the 20-mile ride at 10 a.m., and the 10-mile ride at 10:30 a.m. Law enforcement will accompany riders on the 10-mile route.

“This year, we are making changes to create a more fun and festive finish line,” Meyer-Goodwin added. “Instead of riders beginning at approximately the same time, we are staggering the start times to have more riders ending near the same time, in a congratulatory party of smiles, relief and story-swapping.”

Lunch will be provided.

Participating sponsors include Maria Parham Health, Carolina GI Associates PC, OmniPoint General Surgery, Nunnery-Freeman Barbecue, Spoke Cycles and Henderson Fruit & Produce.

For more information, contact Wendy Meyer-Goodwin at tourdevance@gmail.com.

–VGCC–

VGCC Trustees OK Budget Requests For County Funding

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— courtesy VGCC

VGCC Trustees OK Budget Requests For County Funding

The Vance-Granville Community College Board of Trustees approved a proposed total budget request of $3,190,150 for the 2018-2019 fiscal year for Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties at its bimonthly meeting on the college’s Main Campus on Monday, March 19.

In other action, the board also heard updates on the college’s recent grant success, the state’s audit of energy consumption, and the annual financial audit by the state.

VGCC’s budget requests for plant operations and maintenance funding, which include $2,578,710 in current expenses and $611,440 in capital outlay, now go to the board of county commissioners in each of the four counties served by VGCC. The capital outlay budget is composed of $95,960 in recurring needs and $515,480 in one-time needs.

“We are requesting level funding for operating funds for each of our campuses from our counties this year,” said Steven Graham, VGCC’s vice president of finance and operations. “We have projected that our continuation costs are in line with the amount of funding that we are currently receiving from our respective counties.”

Of the $2.57 million current expense county budget, $1,151,597 is being proposed for Vance County for the Main Campus and the nursing simulation lab at Maria Parham Health; $752,184 for Granville County for Main Campus, South Campus and the Culinary Arts location in Oxford; $369,168 for Franklin’s campus; and $225,625 for Warren’s campus. The college will be using $80,136 in institutional monies to fund current expenses.

Of the $95,960 in recurring capital outlay requests for facility improvement needs, funding by county is: Vance, $41,220; Granville, $28,740; Franklin, $20,000; and Warren, $6,000.

The college is requesting the one-time capital outlay funds of $515,480 for the Main Campus in accordance with VGCC’s Capital Improvement Plan submitted to Vance County, said Graham. Vance and Granville share in the funding of the campus between Henderson and Oxford on a 3:1 ratio. A total of $386,610 is being requested from Vance County and $128,870 from Granville.

“The majority of that requested funding will go towards parking lot repairs and resurfacing here at the Main Campus,” said Graham, adding that the funds will also help with the replacement of groundskeeping equipment and a campus police vehicle.

County funding represents approximately 9.5 percent of the college’s overall budget.

Grants Update

Vance-Granville has received grants totaling $1,615,222 for 2017-2018, according to a report delivered to the board by Dr. Ken Lewis, the college’s vice president of institutional research and technology.

The grants include: Perkins, $185,266; NCWorks Career Coach, $116,000; Duke Energy/Piedmont Natural Gas Apprenticeship, $200,000; Department of Transportation Summer Institute, $35,000; Basic Skills Continuation, $827,504; Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, $205,000; Heavy Equipment Operator, $31,452; and NC Tobacco Trust Fund, $15,000.

Additional grants are in progress, including the NC TechHire Alliance, Governor’s Innovation Grant, Siemens Solid Edge CAD and Tecnomatix, and Cannon Foundation, Dr. Lewis noted.

The update was provided from the board’s Curriculum Committee, chaired by Trustee Barbara Cates Harris.

Environmental Assessment

Vance-Granville has saved more than $1 million in energy and water costs over the past decade, according to the results of a State Energy Office assessment recently announced by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

“We are pleased to report that Vance-Granville is 30 percent below the baseline for community colleges in energy consumption and 27 percent below our 2007-2008 consumption,” said Dr. Stelfanie Williams, VGCC’s president, in making the announcement to the board.

The environmental quality assessment gave VGCC a ranking of 12th out of the 58 community colleges in lowest consumption, which Dr. Williams described as “extraordinary given the age of our buildings.”

Danny W. Wright, VGCC’s chair of the Board of Trustees, said, “This demonstrates great stewardship on the part of the people who manage plant operations.”

State Financial Audit

The State Auditor’s Office gave Vance-Granville a clean financial statement audit for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, according to an announcement from Dr. Williams.

“The results of our tests disclosed no deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting that we consider to be material weaknesses in relation to our audit scope or any instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards,” said State Auditor Beth Wood in a letter to the college’s Board of Trustees.

“This is a great credit to our Business Office as well as all of the employees throughout the college who deal with financial information,” said Dr. Williams. “I know that I speak for all of the board in commending all staff involved.”

State Budget Priorities

The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) has adopted seven legislative priorities for the 2018-2019 session of the North Carolina General Assembly, Dr. Williams informed the trustees.

Totaling $52.6 million in recurring funds and $15.2 million in non-recurring funds statewide, the priorities are: closing the skills gap by investing in short-term workforce training programs leading to industry credentials; modernizing the information technology system; ensuring colleges continue to have direct access to information technology staff; incentivizing student access and completion; ensuring high school students are career and college ready; ensuring students have access to 21st Century equipment; and supporting faculty and staff.

The NCCCS adopted a comprehensive strategic plan in February, “Putting Education to Work,” that will guide the system through 2022, focusing on student interest and access, clear and supported pathways for student progress and success, economic and workforce impact, and system effectiveness.

Building Projects

A final assessment of field work has been submitted to the college for the replacement of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and fire alarm systems on the Main Campus, according to a report of the board’s Building Committee, delivered by Trustee Donald C. Seifert, Sr., chair.

The fire alarm replacement work will be completed first, with the initial HVAC system renovation projects for two of the Main Campus buildings being completed in 2019.

With design work and construction documents scheduled to be completed in April, bids are scheduled to go out in May for the renovation of a 3,200-square-foot area at the back of Building 10 to accommodate a practical simulation lab for the Fire/Rescue, Basic Law Enforcement Training and Emergency Medical Services programs. The renovation should be completed this summer.

Renovations to the Welding lab and a demonstration area in the Welding classroom at Franklin County Campus are expected to be completed in early April.

Each project is being funded by monies allocated by the Connect NC Bond passed in March 2016 by North Carolina voters.

Exterior masonry renovations on the Main Campus, which are scheduled to be bid out in April and to begin in May, are being funded by the bond funds and a remaining balance of $69,000 from county resources used for structural renovations to roofs and masonry.

Other Action

In other action:

• Sovanny “Sophie” Taylor of Louisburg, student trustee and president of the Student Government Association, detailed recent and upcoming events for students.

• The Investment Committee, chaired by Trustee L. Opie Frazier, Jr., reported on college’s investments.

• Trustee Sara C. Wester, chair of the Personnel Committee, updated board members on new employees, retirements and resignations, and she informed the board of the plans for the annual evaluation of the president.

• Dr. Williams announced the following events: Sixth Annual Dinner Theater, April 26-27; Endowment Fund Golf Tournament, May 1; Vance-Granville Community Band concert, May 7; and Graduation, May 11. She said the board will have its annual retreat on Aug. 27.

The next meeting of the VGCC Board of Trustees will be held on Monday, May 21, at the Main Campus.

–30–

VGCC Culinary Arts program accepting reservations for lunch April 5

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— courtesy VGCC

The Culinary Arts program at Vance-Granville Community College is inviting the public to enjoy a gourmet lunch prepared by students on Thursday, April 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The luncheon will be held at the Masonic Home for Children on College Street in Oxford, where the Culinary program is based.

Tickets are $9, plus applicable taxes and Eventbrite fees, and can be purchased online at tinyurl.com/culinaryApril5. Note that the Eventbrite ticketing website works best in the Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome web browsers.

“The successful planning and execution of the luncheon will give our students the opportunity to practice and demonstrate both front and back of the house skills,” said Chef Teresa Davis, the VGCC Culinary Arts program head.

She said the buffet menu is set to include:

Shrimp and Artichoke Orzo Salad
Pan Seared Chicken Breasts with Pea and Parmesan Pan Sauce
Roasted Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Creamed Kale or Lemony Green Beans
House Made Rolls, and
Apple Puffed Pastry with Vanilla Ice Cream.

For more information about the Culinary Arts program, contact Chef Teresa Davis at davist@vgcc.edu or (919) 690-0312.

–VGCC–

Granville Alive After Five 2018

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— press release

ALIVE AFTER FIVE 2018
GRANVILLE COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
~ 15th YEAR ~

The Board of Directors of the Granville County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the dates, locations and bands for the three 2018 events.

Beginning May 10th in downtown Oxford’s parking lot between Main and Gilliam Streets, the first Alive After Five will feature “Gary Lowder and Smokin’ Hot” Band.

On Thursday, August 16th, “The Konnection Band” will be entertainers for the second concert in Butner at the Gazebo Park, Central Avenue, Butner.

Completing the season will be “Jim Quick and Coastline Band” in Oxford on September 13th. All events are held from 5:30 ’til 8:30 pm.

This is the fifteenth year that the Chamber has organized Alive After Five events for the public. In 2004 there was one Alive After Five in September. The following year, there were two held – May and September. Since 2005, the May and September events have been held in Oxford and the August event has rotated between Butner and Creedmoor.

The continued sponsorships of local businesses and industries enable the Chamber to provide these community-oriented gatherings. Businesses interested in sponsorship opportunities may contact the Chamber for sponsorship levels and perks. Also, each event requires approximately 60 volunteers, who receive a complimentary volunteer t-shirt. Anyone interested in sponsoring and/or volunteering should contact either of the Chamber’s offices – 919.528.4994 or 919.693.6125.

Altec of Creedmoor to VGCC Endowment Fund

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— photo and information courtesy of VGCC

Altec Industries of Creedmoor recently made a contribution to the Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund to serve as the afternoon round sponsor for the upcoming 34th Annual Endowment Fund Golf Tournament. VGCC Endowment Director Eddie Ferguson, South Campus Dean Cecilia Wheeler and Endowment Specialist Kay Currin accepted the sponsorship from Altec Human Resources Manager Jeff Tingen and Patrick Wooten, General Manager for the Creedmoor location. Pictured above, from left, are Ferguson, Wheeler, Tingen, Wooten and Currin. Wooten noted that, as the Creedmoor facility continues to expand, he looks forward to continuing to grow Altec’s partnership with the community college. The company is a longtime supporter of the golf tournament and partners with VGCC programs related to advanced manufacturing, including Welding and Mechatronics Engineering Technology. Altec is a leading provider of products and services to the electric utility, telecommunications, tree care, lights and signs, and contractor markets.

The Golf Tournament is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, at the Henderson Country Club. For more information, call (252) 738-3409.

–VGCC–

VGCC instructor’s children donate pieces of history to library

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— courtesy VGCC

The children of a longtime Vance-Granville Community College instructor who qualifies as one of the “founding mothers” of the institution recently donated historical records and other items to the college library.

The late Frieda Bender Haun of Kittrell, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 95, became well-known in the community in part for the “personal enrichment” classes she taught at VGCC. Her involvement in the school started long before it opened in 1969, however. In 1965, Haun was appointed to what was then called the “Vance County Community College Steering Committee,” a group formed to research establishing a local two-year college and to gather support for it.

Documents related to that steering committee are among the papers and items that one of Haun’s daughters, Erika H. Rosenberger of Raleigh, inherited. She organized them and offered them to VGCC Director of Library Services Elaine Stem, to become part of the college archives. Stem noted that the items provide unique glimpses into the history of how the college was founded.

Seated, from left, in the VGCC Library are siblings Betsy H. Stuart of Fayetteville, Harold W. Haun of Raleigh and Erika H. Rosenberger of Raleigh, along with some of their mother’s handmade baskets and a scrapbook of materials their mother kept. Standing, from left, are VGCC Endowment Director Eddie Ferguson and Director of Library Services Elaine Stem. Another sibling, Veronika H. Marquoit, lives in New York State and was unavailable for the photo. (VGCC photo)

 

“Our VGCC Library scrapbooks only begin with 1969,” Stem said. “What is significant about this collection is that Mrs. Haun had documents dating back to May 6, 1965. The VGCC history book (‘Vance-Granville Community College: The First Thirty Years’) references the 1965 Steering Committee, and now we have some of those original letters.”

The earliest letter in the collection is from Emily Whitten, clerk to the Vance County Board of Commissioners. Whitten wrote to Haun, “Considerable thought has been given by the Board of Commissioners to the establishment of a Community College in Vance County…. We hope we can be in a position to request State funds for this project in the 1967 session of the Legislature. In order to be in this position, many things must be accomplished on a local level. Therefore, the Board has appointed certain citizens of the County to serve on a Community College Steering Committee…. You have been appointed to serve on this committee. We hope you will agree to serve in this capacity to help assure a Community College for Vance County.” Of the 36 people appointed at that time to the Steering Committee, Haun was among just five women.

“She was very proud of the opportunity to serve in that capacity,” Rosenberger said. “She was probably selected to be on the steering committee because she was active in the Kittrell community and people knew that she was interested in education.”

Haun was quickly chosen to be a member of a three-person nominating committee to select the leaders of the new Steering Committee. She was later appointed to serve on the “General Survey Committee.”

The steering committee later changed its focus to seeking a Technical Institute, when it became apparent that the state was not going to approve a community college in Vance County. Local leaders knew they could always seek community college status at a later date, which they eventually did. Haun continued serving on the steering committee to form a technical institute, an effort which succeeded in 1969. One record shows she was involved in discussions of where to locate the initial campus for the technical institute. “I think about the people she served with on the committee back in the 1960s, and I think they’d be pleased to see how the college has grown,” Rosenberger said. “It was just a dream back then.”

A Warren County native, Frieda Bender married Walter Haun, and the couple raised four children. She led an active life, becoming involved in the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, Home Demonstration Clubs, 4-H Clubs, the Kittrell Community Club and Delta Kappa Gamma. She was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

“She took advantage of every opportunity to learn and to pass knowledge along to others,” her son, Harold W. Haun, recalled. “She always aimed higher.” Proud of her work at VGCC, he and his siblings remembered that their mother was, for whatever reason, the only one of her siblings who did not have the opportunity to go to college. “But she often said that, despite that fact, she was the only one of her siblings who taught at a college,” Rosenberger added.

When Vance County Technical Institute was still fairly new, Rosenberger said, her mother enrolled to take a continuing education class. “Someone in the class said they would like to learn about chair caning or making baskets, and my mother knew how to do that. She had been teaching things like that for the Home Demonstration Club,” Rosenberger recalled. “So she approached the college in the early 1970s about teaching such classes, and they agreed.” Haun continued teaching arts and crafts classes for VGCC through around the year 2000, when she was 85.

In the 1980s, it became difficult for Haun to leave her ailing husband at home for extended periods of time. With the permission of college officials, she started holding her classes in the basement of her own home. “VGCC became a great vehicle for her,” Rosenberger said. “Having the ability to teach in her basement really enriched her life in her later years.”

Along with letters, the records Haun kept about VGCC included meeting minutes and newspaper clippings. In addition, Rosenberger and her siblings have donated some of Haun’s handmade baskets to represent her artistry. Haun made baskets and stools and was particularly adept at chair caning. A chair she made was selected to represent VGCC in the N.C. Community College System’s art exhibition and sat for one year in the office of Robert Scott, the former governor of North Carolina, then serving as president of the system.

“Our mother would be glad that the college appreciates her collection and delighted that all those clippings she kept will be maintained here,” said her daughter, Betsy H. Stuart. “I’m glad she’s being remembered in this way.”

“We’re so grateful to the children of Frieda Haun for thinking of VGCC and for preserving their mother’s legacy,” said VGCC Endowment Fund Director Eddie Ferguson. “The unique items they have donated will be invaluable to us as we prepare to celebrate our college’s 50th anniversary in 2019.”

For more information on donating items related to VGCC history, contact Elaine Stem at steme@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3340 or Eddie Ferguson at fergusone@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3264.

–VGCC–

Families Living Violence Free

Families Living Violence Free 3-13-18 Domestic Violence Class

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REMINDER: Domestic Violence 101

Tuesday 6-7pm

Families Living Violence Free

(125 Oxford Outer Loop, Oxford, NC)

WEEK SIX: PERSONAL BOUNDARIES

Office: 919-693-3579

Crisis: 919-693-5700

Hispanic Crisis 919-690-0888

Website: www.flvf.org

Oxford Board of Commissioners Public Safety Committee Meeting (3-12-18)

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UPDATED TO CORRECT THE TIME TO 11AM

— submitted by Cynthia Bowen, City Clerk, City of Oxford

The Public Safety Committee for the Oxford Board of Commissioners that was to meet on Monday, March 12th at 10:00 AM has been rescheduled for Monday, March 12th at 11:00 AM. The meeting will be held in the First Floor Training Room, City Hall, 300 Williamsboro Street. The purpose of the meeting is to review Oxford Police Department staffing related concerns.

All those interested are invited to attend.

Camp Oak Hill Community Day (3-10-18)

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WIZS has been asked to announce:

Camp Oak Hill Community Day is this Saturday, March 10, 2018.  It will last from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

At Camp Oak Hill, there will be fun activities, games, a free camp store and an opportunity to win a free week of camp.

You can sign up to attend at campoakhill.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/campoakhill/

Located at 1528 Oak Hill Road, Oxford.

Leadership Granville Hosts Give And Play Event at the GAP

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— press release

Oxford, NC, February 7, 2018 – At the Granville Athletic Park, 4615 Belltown Road, Oxford, on March 10, 2018, Meet the Leadership Granville 2017-2018 Class for a day of community awareness of the Granville County Animal Control and Shelter and the ACIM Food Bank of Granville County. Bring your family and your dogs! This rain or shine event includes a half mile walk with interactive and educational activities to learn about each organization, and the needs of the populations they serve! Ted’s Catering is providing hot dogs for the event. All proceeds will be provided to Granville County Animal Control and Shelter and ACIM Food Bank of Granville County.

Granville County Animal Control and Shelter:
Learn more at www.granvillecounty.org/residents/granville-county-animal-management/

Follow Granville County Animal Control Shelter on Facebook @GranvilleCountyAnimalShelterFriends.

ACIM Food Bank of Granville County:
Follow ACIM Food Bank of Granville County on Facebook @Area Congregations in Ministry.