TownTalk: Around Old Granville: A Visit To Cokesbury And Vicksboro

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The North Carolina Room at Thornton Library in Oxford is full of all kinds of books, maps and bound volumes of all sorts and conditions.

And cookbooks.

“I must say, God bless people who do cookbooks,” said Mark Pace, North Carolina Room specialist and local historian.

Located among all those historical tomes are more than 100 local cookbooks, and Pace said they are helpful to him in his research.

These cookbooks, often published as a fundraising effort for churches, civic groups and volunteer fire departments, surely contain lots of favorite recipes but also some nuggets about the history of the organization.

And that’s exactly where Pace got some of the information about Cokesbury for Thursday’s Around Old Granville segment of TownTalk.

As he was doing a little research, he came across a cookbook from Cokesbury Methodist Church and “sure enough, there’s a nice page in there about the founding of the church.”

And when he fielded a question about when the fire department was started there, he got his hands on a cookbook that the ladies auxiliary group had published and found out all about it.

Pace and WIZS’s Bill Harris talked about the communities of Vicksboro and Cokesbury, both located in the area of the county known as Sandy Creek Township.

Vicksboro was originally known as Coley’s Crossroads, Pace said, and there was a post office located there called Steedsville that operated from 1884 to 1894. Pace said it’s unclear how the name change came about, but one theory is that a Steedsville postmaster had an affinity for Vicksburg, MS and changed the name to VicksBORO to avoid confusion with the post office in the Mississippi town.

The little communities like Cokesbury and Vicksboro that dot the countryside often had their own little businesses that it was known for.

If you grew up in the 1960’s and ‘70’s in Vance County, there’s a chance your parents took you to the shoe store in Cokesbury. There was a shoe store and a small textile store in Justice, Pace said, and a dry cleaners in Manson. In the 1950’s and ‘60s, Egypt Mountain had a sewing shop where folks could buy sewing notions and cloth, Pace said.

Perhaps the heart and soul of the community out in Sandy Creek Township, however, was Aycock School, he said.

It was built as a consolidated school in 1925 and named for the former governor, Charles B. Aycock, known as “the education governor,” Pace said.

“It was really state of the art for its day,” he added. There was a gym and a teacherage located on the site of the original school on Vicksboro Road.

Listen to the show in its entirety at wizs.com.

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The Local Skinny! Brick Power Team Hosts Weight Lifting Event

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The Brick Power Team is hosting a “Beast On The Bench” power lifting meet next month, and it’s power lifting with a purpose – raising money to help two local women who have helped so many in the community.

Harry Orr, executive director of the Brick Power Team, said every penny raised at the Oct. 26 meet will be given to Sara Coffey and Marsha Ranes, both of whom are facing health challenges.

The meet will be held at the Brick, located beside Freedom Life Church of God, 1001 Martin Creek Rd., Henderson.

“They’re real dear to me and to a whole lot (of others) in the community,” Orr said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

Both Coffey and Ranes have helped him with everything he’s ever done, Orr said, so it’s only fitting that he and his organization offer help in return.

In fact, Coffey herself was among the 2022 class inducted into the North Carolina State Strength Sports Hall of Fame for the support she’s provided over the years to the sport.

At one time, he said, power lifting was a big sport, and there’s a renewed interest lately among participants and those who just enjoy watching.

Entry fees are $50 for adults and $40 for teens. Spectators pay $5, and children 12 and under get in free.

Contact Orr at 252.432.4196 or by email at horr2553@yahoo.com to get registered and to learn details about the different classes and age brackets for the meet.

Weigh-ins will be held Friday, Oct. 25 from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Rules will be reviewed at 9:15 a.m. and the meet will begin at 10 a.m.

Trophies will be awarded for first and second place.

 

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Dangers of Fentanyl Topic Of Upcoming Community Info Series At Baskerville Funeral Home

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The dangers of fentanyl is the focus of the upcoming Community Information series on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Baskerville Funeral Home chapel.

Cathy Hazlett, substance use prevention & treatment program manager with Granville Vance Public Health, will discuss how fentanyl is used with other street drugs that makes it so dangerous, as well as how to prevent a fatal overdose.

The meeting will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the funeral home, located at 104 S. Chestnut St.

Call 252. 430.6824 to learn more.

 

TownTalk: Vance Recovery

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The road to recovery from addiction does not look the same for everyone, but it’s only natural for people to think that what is working for them is what is best for others, too.

Twelve-step programs like AA and NA, and faith-based programs that focus on celebrating recovery are just a couple of paths that get a lot of attention – and publicity.

But there’s a stigma attached to programs that prescribe medications to help addicts kick the habit of using street drugs like heroin and Fentanyl.

It’s a stigma felt not only by patients, but also by the professionals that work in clinics like Vance Recovery, which uses the MOUD method to help people on their own path to recovery.

MOUD stands for Medications to Treat Opioid Use Disorder, and Vance Recovery’s Program Director John Mattocks said he would love for people plagued by addiction to be encouraged and celebrated for choosing the MOUD approach instead of it being a last resort.

“When someone walks through our doors, they’re desperate,” he said.

Vance Recovery is one of nine – soon to be 11 – clinics owned and operated by Dr. Eric Morse, a national leader in nationally acclaimed leader in the field of opioid treatment and recovery programs.

“Stigma is definitely the number one thing,” Morse said, adding that whatever path works is fine. But because everyone’s brain works differently, one specific recovery program doesn’t fit all addicts.

Using prescribed medications to help lift a patient from the grip of addiction can be an effective method, and the staff at Vance Recovery is dedicated to helping patients navigate the recovery process.

The process could take a couple of years, Morse said, for a patient to gain sobriety from their preferred substance. And then, after a year of being sober – through holidays and other events that could be triggers for using again – only then will a gradual taper of the substitute prescribed meds begin for another six months to a year.

There are ways to earn take-home meds so patients aren’t making daily trips to the center, he added.

“The medical evidence is so strong for MOUD,” Morse said. “I really feel passionate about ending the discrimination of patients who are following that protocol…I really want to see us respect the medical evidence, respect the science, the research and open up the doors for people to get life-saving medicine.”

Opening doors is literally what Vance Recovery is getting ready to do when it opens a larger facility next month at 932 W.Andrews Ave., in the space formerly occupied by Fastenal.

“I could see us doubling the number of people,” Mattocks said. Although still awaiting some final inspections, staff is planning an Open House on Oct. 10.

Methadone, naltrexone and buprenorphine are the most commonly used drugs to help addicts in recovery.

Patients using these types of medicines, Morse said, are much less likely to die of a subsequent opioid overdose, while making it much more likely that they will stop using the street drugs and stay on their path to recovery.

“You can’t recover if you’re dead,” he said.

The MOUD approach helps “keep them alive so that they can recover.”

Vance Recovery takes steps to educate addicts and their families about the various options available to them, from program specifics to navigating insurance and how to stay on the program if circumstances change.

Katie Lee is a registered nurse who works with patients at Vance Recovery. Lee said she sees people at their worst when they are in the beginning of their program, but she also sees them at their best.

“I’m so proud to work here and be a part of this team,” Lee said.

Staff at Vance Recovery are part of a substance abuse collaborative group that meets monthly to find solutions to the challenges that surround recovery and figure out ways to “reduce barriers and make it easier for people to get into treatment, Mattocks said.

“The pain of this disease is driving change.”

Visit https://www.morseclinics.com/locations/vance-recovery to learn more.

(This post, audio and radio program not a paid ad.)

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Ducky Derby

TownTalk: Ducky Derby Is September 21st

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Head to downtown Henderson on Saturday, Sept. 21 to watch the annual “release” of ducks down Garnett Street.

It’s the 15 annual Ducky Derby to benefit the Franklin Granville Vance Smart Start, and Kimiko Williams said it’s sure to be an afternoon of fun for all.

This year’s festivities begin at 1 p.m., with activities for the children along the race course, – which will become a watery route for when the ducks are spit out the back of the cement mixer to make their way to the finish line.

The ceremonial cement mixer will churn the rubber ducks out onto the street promptly at 2 p.m. at Breckenridge Street – the finish line is a couple of blocks away, near Montgomeryt Street, Williams explained on Tuesday’s TownTalk.

Purchase tickets to sponsor a duck – the first duck to cross the finish line wins $1,000. Second place is Chick fil A for a year, third place is a $250 Sheetz gas card and the last rubber duck to cross the finish line gets $100.

In addition, FGV Smart Start will have a raffle for the cost of a month’s child care.

Organizers say they hope to raise $15,000 this year. Most of the money comes from ticket purchases, but there are community sponsors and in-kind supporters that help add to the bottom line, said Linda Frederickson, FGV Early Childhood Systems director.

And while families must qualify for some of the programs the early childhood agency offers, Frederickson said the Family Resource Centers are available for anyone who wants to learn more.

One resource center is located at the FGV office in Henderson; a second is located on the campus of the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford; and a third is located at Franklinton Elementary School.

“The big spotlight is on the children,” Frederickson said, not just on Derby Day but all year long.

Purchase tickets online at www.fgvsmartstart.org, or from any FGV staff member.

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VGCC Logo

VGCC “Fill The Pantry” Craft Show Set For Saturday, Oct. 12; Vendor Registration Open Until Sept. 20

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The second annual “Fill the Pantry” Craft Show is set for Saturday, Oct. 12 at Vance-Granville Community College.

Organizers are looking to build on the success of last year’s event, which brought together more than 40 vendors at the VGCC Civic Center on Main Campus in Henderson. This year’s event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Vendor registration is open now – simply complete the interest form found here: https://vgcc.jotform.com/232125467677059. The registration fee is $25 for each 10-foot by 10-foot space. This fee is non-refundable and vendor registration will be considered complete when the fee is paid.

Vendors will be asked to donate an item from their inventory to be added to the list of raffle items that will be given away throughout the event.

The cost of general admission is 3 canned food items, non-perishable goods or paper products that will be used to replenish the VGCC pantry for students.

Craft show organizers request that all vendor registration payments be made before the Friday, Sept. 20 deadline.

For more information about this event or the Vance-Granville Community College food pantry, please contact 252-738.3323 or douglasa@vgcc.edu.

Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! 100 Years Of Perry Memorial Library

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One hundred years ago, the very first librarian at the brand-new library in Henderson probably couldn’t have imagined all the events and programs that take place under the roof of today’s library.

That librarian would probably have been too busy shushing patrons and peering over reading glasses perched low on her nose.

When Perry Memorial Library’s Youth Services Librarian Melody Peters imagines the library of the future, she paints a picture that includes outdoor benches outfitted with solar power to recharge devices and envisions the library as a community hub – a place where people can find information, from books or by other means.

The future is not that far away, in fact.

Peters has priced those benches – about $10,000 each – and the community college has its own booth inside the library where prospective students can learn about the enrollment process and more.

Come celebrate 100 years of the library on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Peters said there will be food trucks, carnival games and much more to mark the first hundred years of the public library in Henderson.

“At the time, it was the largest gift given in North Carolina to fund a library,” Peters said. The land was given first, then came the money to build the library.

Libraries of the future may incorporate more virtual events, e-books and more non-traditional forms of getting information, but Peters said nothing can replace walking into an actual library and holding an actual book.

She’s witnessed grandparents bringing grandchildren in to the library and reminiscing about library visits when they themselves were children.

“I don’t want kids to hit 18 and never have come to the library,” Peters said. “This community loves and supports its library…it’s a beautiful gift (and) we’ve kept it going for 100 years.”

Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/ to learn more.

 

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