The Local Skinny! Timberlake Keeps An Eye On The Lake

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For more than 10 years now, Frank Timberlake has been keeping an eye on Kerr Lake parks and camping areas. And he says there are some spots that haven’t changed since he was a kid.

For some, that may seem like good news. But Timberlake said he and others in Kerr Lake Park Watch don’t see it that way.

Timberlake and others formed Kerr Lake Park Watch in 2010 as a way to monitor and support improvements in the park facilities on Kerr Lake. Their online presence includes a webpage and a Facebook page where campers and other park users can read reviews or reactions to what’s happening – or not happening – at the various campsites around the lake.

From the online booking surcharges that campers pay when they reserve a campsite to the physical layout of the sites, Timberlake and the group have opinions.

He spoke with John C. Rose on Thursday’s The Local Skinny! segment and acknowledged that some would consider him a “feather ruffler” when it comes to the lake’s camping areas.

“We want to protect, promote and improve the parks,” Timberlake said. Although there are still some tent campers who visit, more visitors bring their RVs. Those vehicles require a relatively flat surface for parking, so when you have campsites, with as much as a 20-degree slant, it’s a challenge for RVers.

When COVID-19 was in full swing, all the trashcans were removed from the camp areas, which Timberlake said created significant cost savings. But none of that came back to the campgrounds, he said.

And there are several openings for rangers across the system of camp areas, which Timberlake said makes it difficult for campers to get information they need when they’re out at the lake.

“We need to get staffed up here,” Timberlake said of the ranger positions. “Rangers should be sitting at that entrance station, focused on customer service. They need to be there in the parks, not riding the roads.

He said he’s personally shown first-time visitors to their campsite because there was no one else around to help.

Help is all he and his group want to do, he said. Help others enjoy the lake and its recreational opportunities, while “improving a place that is wonderful…to protect it and improve it.”

Visit http://kerrlakeparkwatch.org/home/ or find the group on Facebook.

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TownTalk: Shriners To Hold 58th Annual Fish Fry

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It’s not too soon to think about the upcoming Shriners Fish Fry, which will take place on Wednesday, May 18.

This is the 58th fish fry and local Shriner Donald C. Seifert spoke with John C. Rose on Thursday’s Town Talk about how the event has evolved over those almost six decades as it continues to raise money for local causes as well as for Shriner’s Children’s Hospitals.

The annual event has been held in numerous spots over the years, many of them at the old Henderson Armory. Patrons had a chance to eat in or take out, as well as visit with friends from across the community.

“It’s been reshaped a bit over the last several years,” Seifert said. The fish fry is held at what he called “the Slaughter building,” located between Mako Medical and Serv Pro on Industry Drive.

Local Shriner Sherby Slaughter provides the site for the fish fry, and Seifert said last year’s take-out option proved successful.

“We just don’t have the space inside to serve patrons,” he said, “and we miss that. We do have the drive-thru set up and it’s worked well.”

Lots of planning goes into the annual fundraiser, well in advance of the event date, which traditionally is the third Wednesday in May. The gates open at 11 a.m. and the goal is to sell about 2,000 plates by the time the fish fry is over about suppertime.

Thanks to some coordination with the nearby Salvation Army, Seifert said there should be no problems with having enough fish. “The Salvation Army has agreed to let us have some reserve product in their kitchen,” he said. “If we start to run low, we’ll have easy access and have plenty of fish.”

Like many organizations, the Shrine Club isn’t as large as it once was, and members rely on volunteers to help keep things rolling on fish fry day, whether it’s delivering plates of 10 or more to area businesses or cooking and packing the food into containers, volunteers play a key role, for which Seifert says his fellow Shriners are grateful.

“My hat’s off to our volunteers,” he said.

The fish fry is a highlight of the club’s year, and its proceeds help support local causes like First Responders and >> as well as the children’s hospitals that the Shriners are associated with.

“There are so many good causes around, especially local causes that we feel like we’d like to help,” Seifert said. “Of course, the hospitals get a nice donation…but we try to share as best we can.”

Tickets are $10, but you don’t have to have a ticket in advance – just follow the line of traffic out to Industry Drive, pull in, pick up a plate and get a great big “Thank You” from a Shriner.

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Local Woman Dies After Single-Vehicle Crash

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A Henderson woman has died from injuries she received in a single-vehicle accident on Sunday afternoon.

Kimberly Perry, 44, died Monday at Duke University Hospital, according to information from Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow.

Officers responded to the intersection of Harriet and E. Winder streets just after 3:30 p.m. upon receiving a report of an accident involving a three-wheel motorcycle.

Perry was taken to an area hospital by Vance County EMS.

“The collision was a result of the operator driving at a high rate of speed and failing to stop at the intersection,” Barrow said in a press statement. The motorcycle ran off the road and hit the curbing, which caused the driver to be ejected from the vehicle.

TownTalk: Powerful Tools For Caregivers

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Providing care to family members when they need it for a short-term recovery period is one thing, but being a caregiver for someone with a chronic health condition requires stamina and patience, with a generous done of humor thrown in for good measure.

And although caregivers can be really good at making sure they’re doing the very best for those in their care,  they may not be so great at taking care of their own needs. But a class offered through the Kerr-Tar Area Agency on Aging may be just the thing to help caregivers take those all-important steps to learn how to be good to themselves, too.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a six-week course offered via Zoom for caregivers to learn about self-care as they also learn about resources available in the community, said Susan Tucker, an administrative assistant at KTCOG who also has provided care to a family member. The class begins Tuesday, May 17 and continues on Tuesdays through June 21. The class is from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Tucker told John C. Rose on Wednesday’s Town Talk that she was unprepared for her role as a caregiver to her mother back in 2016. When she took this course she said she learned how to “not just survive, but to thrive as a caregiver.”

So much so, in fact, that she became an instructor for the course.

Michael Patterson, KTCOG’s family caregiver specialist, also is a course instructor. “It’s a six-week opportunity to learn not only about caregiving but to learn about themselves,” Patterson said. The course is designed for those who are actively caring for an aging adult. Each session builds on the previous session, so it’s important to try to carve out that 90 minutes each week to log in and participate, Tucker said.

In fact, that’s an important point for caregivers to remember, Tucker and Patterson said – making time to do things just for yourself. It’s not selfish; rather, it’s necessary to maintain a semblance of balance between daily life and being a caregiver.

Burnout is a real issue among caregivers, Patterson said. “It’s impossible to pour from an empty cup,” he said.

The class will help caregivers learn how to manage emotions, reduce stress and cope with the issues and demands that go along with providing care to someone with a chronic condition.

John and Linda Sigmon took the class and they said it helped them with feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated while caring for a loved one.

“You’re fighting not only the disease but your inability to deal with it,” John said, adding that the course increased his understanding and helped him manage his emotions so he didn’t “get totally wiped out.”

Linda said she looked forward to the 90-minute sessions as “a little oasis of time” in her week, during which she learned things that she could adapt and apply to her own situation.

John said he found the instructors to be humorous and witty, but also compassionate. “They’ve been there, too,” he said; the class instructors also have been caregivers themselves, he said.

Patterson said the class teaches breathing techniques and meditation, as well as understanding emotional triggers.

“They learn what ways they can make a difference in their daily living to improve themselves – which will improve them as caregivers,” he added.

To register for the class, contact Tucker at 252.436.2040. Visit https://www.kerrtarcog.org/ to find more information.

 

 

NC Dept of Agriculture

Horse Owners: Protect Your Animals From Mosquito-Borne Diseases

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Information courtesy of the N.C. Department of Agriculture

N.C. Department of Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler is encouraging equine owners to have their animals vaccinated against Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis and West Nile Virus.

“Mosquito-breeding season in North Carolina lasts from spring until the first frost and horses are at risk if not properly vaccinated,” Troxler said in a press statement issued Tuesday, May 3. “EEE is fatal 90 percent of the time in horses and WNV has a fatality rate of 30 percent,” he said. However, both diseases are preventable by vaccination.

Last year, there were three recorded cases of EEE and two cases of WNV.

State Veterinarian Dr. Mike Martin recommends that equine owners talk to their veterinarians about an effective vaccination protocol to protect horses from mosquito-borne diseases. The combination vaccination initially requires multiple injections for horses, mules and donkeys that have no prior vaccination history.

Mosquitoes can breed in any puddle that lasts for more than four days, so removing any source of standing water can reduce the chance of exposing animals to WNV or EEE. Keeping horses in stalls at night, using insect screens and fans, and turning off lights after dusk can also help reduce exposure to mosquitoes. Insect repellents can be effective if used according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Symptoms of EEE include impaired vision, aimless wandering, head pressing, circling, inability to swallow, irregular staggering gait, paralysis, convulsions and death. Once a horse has been bitten by an infected mosquito, it may take three to 10 days for symptoms to appear.

Symptoms of WNV include fever, weakness or paralysis of hind limbs, impaired vision, head pressing, seizures and aimless wandering.

People, horses and birds can become infected from a bite by a mosquito carrying the diseases, but there is no evidence that horses can transmit the viruses to other horses, birds or people through direct contact.

“It’s also a great time to make sure your animal is current on its rabies vaccination,” Troxler said. “In 2021, seven cases of livestock infected with rabies was reported to our Veterinary Division. Since January we have already had four positive cases in livestock. Most of the cases have been in cows but all livestock are naturally curious animals, which puts them at risk for a bite if a rabid animal gets through their fence line.”

One Drug Arrest Made In Julia Avenue Investigation On April 29

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A local woman was arrested late last week on drug charges, according to Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame.

The Vance County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance provided by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, executed a search warrant at the residence of Ruby Cooper, 2006 Julia Ave., Henderson. The warrant was served shortly before 6:00 pm.

The warrant, served just before 6 p.m. on Friday, Apr. 29, was issued as part of an ongoing investigation into illegal drug sales in and around the Julia Avenue area, Brame said in a press statement that WIZS News received today (Tuesday).

Cooper, 56, was arrested and faces charges of possession with intent to sell and deliver heroin and cocaine, felony possession of heroin and cocaine and one felony count of  maintaining a dwelling which was resorted to by persons both using and selling controlled substances, according to the press statement.

Members of the Vance County Sheriff’s Office “located and seized approximately 110 dosage units of heroin, a Schedule 1 controlled substance, approximately 35 dosage units of cocaine base, a Schedule 2 controlled substance and an additional 6.5 grams of cocaine base,” the statement read.  Various other items, including money, also were located and seized.

 Brame said more arrests are anticipated related to this investigation.

No information was available on whether a bond was set or whether the suspect remains in custody.

Local Workers Avoid Strike After Last-Minute Deal To Negotiate New Contract

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The Ardagh Group’s Henderson plant will not face a strike of its workers, thanks to an 11th hour deal made during contract negotiations late last week. WIZS received word that the agreement had been reached late Friday, which had been the deadline to approve the new contract.

About 50 people had gathered outside the gates of the Facet Road facility last Wednesday afternoon to show support for plant workers who were awaiting the result of contract negotiations underway between union and company officials.

Prior to the deal being set and a contract signed, workers had been using a contract extension that was a month old. Contracts are negotiated every three years.

Details of the contract were not made available to WIZS News.

During the rally last week, two union members and employees of the plant, which manufactures glass containers, spoke with WIZS’s John C. Rose and said a strike could be a next step if negotiators could not agree on a contract.

Audrey Williams, recording secretary for Local 222M of the United Steel Workers (USW), said the Henderson facility was among more than a dozen glass plants affected by the negotiations taking place in Pennsylvania.

Williams said there are 242 union members at the Henderson plant, and only six employees who are not union members.

Alexander White, Jr. is vice president of the local 222M. He said details of specific demands were not being made public at the time, but indicated union representatives were asking for a wage increase – “a fair contract,” White said. “We’re fighting for fair wages, we’re fighting for fair benefits…our holidays, our insurance,” White said.