New Downtown Henderson Fountain Activated July 2

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Henderson City Councilman Garry Daeke forwarded an email memo to WIZS from City Manager Terrell Blackmon. Blackmon sent the note to Mayor Eddie Ellington and the City Council.

It said after months of anticipation, the fountains at the intersection of Charles and Garnett streets would be activated about 7 a.m. on Friday, July 2, 2021.  In the email Blackmon said, “Staff has met our goal to have the fountains (operational prior) to the July 4th holiday. The fountains will operate 24/7 and will be illuminated at night.”

There is no formal program scheduled at this time, but Blackmon said, “There will be a naming opportunity as well as benches that are being donated for the site which will allow us to celebrate the fountains at a later date.”

You are encouraged to enjoy the fountains, which are placed where the war memorial monuments had been across from First Methodist Church.

The war memorials have been moved around the corner to Young Street between Fire Station 2 with the clock tower and the old police station/municipal building.  The memorials remember the names of heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and County in WW II, Korea, Vietnam and Irag.

Many years ago as it so happens, but long since gone now, there was a fountain near where the war memorials presently sit.

Also nearby is the memorial to Rebel the fire dog (1971-1984) and the time capsule, planted 30 years ago in 1991.  It is due to be unearthed in 20 more years in 2041, surely to be part of the 200th anniversary of Henderson.  The capsule was sealed during the sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary of Henderson.  A huge celebration was held, including fireworks and much much more, on the blank field behind Bennett Perry’s house.

Today, that field is covered with the parking lot for and a portion of the courthouse, Sheriff’s Office and emergency management.

GVPH Director Harrison President-Elect Of National Health Officials Group

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Granville-Vance Public Health director Lisa Harrison is the new president-elect of the National Association of City and County Health Officials.

Harrison served in 2020-21 as vice-president of the group, and officially began her term as president-elect on July 1, 2021. She will serve as president in 2022-2023. The NACCHO 360 annual conference was held virtually June 29-July 1.

“I had the great privilege to offer remarks as the incoming president for the National Association of County and City Health Officials,” Harrison told WIZS News Thursday. She said she addressed the conference attendees on its last day, following discussion of a multitude of important topics by a “national audience of public health practitioners, researchers, elected officials, and people as passionate about community service as we are here at GVPH.”

“There are so many things for public health to be proud of, and relentless about, in the time that feels like a brief pause between vaccination efforts and continued social justice work,” Harrison said.

She joined Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky to facilitate a panel discussion during the conference that featured health directors, academic leaders and CDC representatives to address health disparities and structural racism. “She (Walensky) did a marvelous job thanking the public health workforce for their long-standing dedication and knowledge,” Harrison noted.

“The work ahead is as big and as hard as the pandemic response – the work ahead is about continuing to build community and reduce structural barriers to access to health and wellness in all forms. I believe strongly in our work together and am delighted to be having these conversations on a national stage to connect what is working and more quickly be able to address what is not,” Harrison said.

Harrison joined GVPH in 2012 and has worked in public health for more than 24 years. She was director of the Office of Healthy Carolinians and health education at the N.C. Division of Public Health; she was the 2015 president of the N.C. Public Health Association, among other leadership roles in the field.

“The public health infrastructure is clearly in need of some updates and I’m thrilled to be co-chairing a N.C. Institute of Medicine Task Force here in North Carolina that begins later this month to help guide the thinking and the focused needs about how to wisely build the infrastructure of the 21st century public health approach,” Harrison explained. “We know there are other viruses that will emerge over time, and we will be ready to find them quickly, stop them in their tracks, and educate the public quickly about the steps they can take to stay healthy and keep our communities healthy and strong,” she said.

Her activities and accomplishments in the field of public health make her a perfect match for the leadership role Harrison has as president-elect and, next year, president, to further the association’s mission – to improve the health of communities by strengthening and advocating for local health departments.

Based in Washington, D.C, NACCHO is the only organization dedicated to serving every local health department in the nation, according to information published on its webpage. It serves 3,000 local health departments and is the leader in providing cutting-edge, skill-building, professional resources and programs, seeking health equity, and supporting effective local public health practice and systems.

The Local Skinny! Dr. Cindy Bennett, Vance Co. Schools, Sworn In

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Today is day one for Dr. Cindy Bennett as Vance County Schools superintendent. Bennett said Wednesday she would be sworn in this morning at the Vance County Schools Administration Building on Graham Avenue.

It begins her seventh year with Vance County Schools.

At the regular meeting of the Vance County Board of Education on June 14, the board voted unanimously to select Dr. Bennett.

Dr. Anthony Jackson is departing to become superintendent in Chatham County, NC. He was here for six years.

Immediately after the school board appointed Bennett, she said at the meeting, “Thank you so much. Madam chair, to all the board members, Dr. Jackson, I can’t thank you enough for this honor. I love this community. This community is my home, and I will do everything within my power to serve the children in this community and to give them all that they deserve. Thank you again. I am humbled.”

In a press release from Vance County Schools later the night of the meeting, Board Chair Linda Cobb said, “Dr. Bennett is dedicated to our community, our schools and most importantly our students. We have been impressed with her work in Vance County Schools over the last six years. Her qualifications and experience beyond Vance County will allow her to boldly lead our district. We look forward to supporting her, working together towards ongoing excellence.”

TownTalk: White Coat Ceremony Officially Welcomes Two Residents To MPH-Duke Partnership

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According to Maria Parham Health CEO Bert Beard, it took almost four years to come to fruition, but two new physicians donned their white coats during a ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the beginning of a residency program that focuses on providing care in rural areas.

“This is a tremendous day for Maria Parham,” Beard told the gathering of local government officials and community leaders during the white coat ceremony Wednesday afternoon, hosted by MPH.

“What would it be for Duke and Maria Parham to partner on a rural track family medicine program that could facilitate health care in rural areas of North Carolina for the future,” he recalled during opening remarks.

“This is a small start, but it’s a big step,” Beard said, adding that providing appropriate medical care in rural areas is not just a concern locally, but an issue that is getting more and more attention nationally.

The first year, residents will spend a good deal of their time learning and working at Duke University Hospital and Duke Regional in Durham. In years two and three, their time will shift to Maria Parham and the Oxford office of Duke Primary Care, according to information released earlier about the program.

Dr. Tom Koinis, a physician in the Oxford office, serves as program director. Dr. Alexa Namba, once a resident Koinis worked with in 2015 on a weekly basis at the Oxford office, also will play a role in the new partnership.

As the residents who donned their white coats on Wednesday – Dr. Rashmi Saincher and Dr. Jessica Sanders – begin their work in the program, Koinis gave them a heads-up: “as you move into the physician’s world, you’ll be a major part of that community in many different ways.”

Pastor Frank Sossamon offered a blessing of hands during the ceremony. “We don’t realize sometimes how important our hands are,” Sossamon said. Hands speak, they affirm, they comfort. And they heal, he said. His blessing called for the physicians’ hands to do all those things for the patients they see in this community.

Saincher comes from a small town outside Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She studied medicine at St. George’s University in London and then completed clinicals in Philadelphia. Koinis said she is happy to leave all the cement of big cities for a return to small-town life.

Sanders is a native of Houston, Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas-Austin and worked for several years in New York City before realizing through volunteer work that her passion lay in helping people. She returned to her hometown and was admitted to the McGovern Medical School, part of UT-Houston.

Koinis said the local team submitted a 200-page application to be considered for the program, and the application was approved on Jan. 29, 2021. The national “resident match day” occurred on Jan. 30, so “we got in just in the nick of time,” Koinis said. Of the 20 “excellent applicants” that were interviewed, Saincher and Sanders were selected.

“I’m deeply honored and humbled to be able to lead this residency as it starts off,” he added, noting that it took a team effort to get the program off the ground. “And support from ‘big’ Duke has been really, positive, really strong.”

The residency program should be proof positive to this community and region, Beard noted earlier in the ceremony, that “our partnership with Duke is very strong and we’re going to advance it.”

TownTalk Broadcast including the Entire Ceremony

 

United Way Allocates $31,500 in Local Grants

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The United Way of Vance County awarded $31,500 in grant allocations to seven local agencies Wednesday.

Local advocate Tommy Haithcock sent a picture of those in attendance at the United Way office at 715 S. Garnett Street in Henderson. Haithcock presently serves as the president of United Way, and Desiree Brooks is first vice president.

The pair told WIZS News the receiving organizations are:

Community Partners of Hope, Inc.

Franklin, Granville, Vance Smart Start

Life Line Outreach, Inc.

Vance County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council

Acts of Vance County, Inc.

Legacy Human Services, Inc.

Harold Sherman Adult Day Center

It is an annual grant cycle.  However, 2020 was special.  Haithcock told WIZS News, “Last year we received money from United Way International to give away for covid relief.  We gave it away too, but we only gave away what we had raised once.”

The United Way assists local, non-profit agencies that seek to provide assistance to disadvantaged citizens in Vance and Warren counties in the areas of basic needs, health and education.

The Local Skinny! Home and Garden Show

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Thank you for listening to WIZS Radio. Your Community Voice!!

The Local Skinny! broadcast for June 30, 2021.

Each Wednesday, the Local Skinny! features Vance County Cooperative Extension Agents Wayne Rowland and Paul McKenzie for the Home and Garden Show.

Home and Garden Audio

Town Talk: Rebuilding Hope’s SOS Project Works On Home Repairs While Spreading Gospel

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Rebuilding Hope Ministry continues to fulfill its mission of helping people in the community with construction projects like roof replacement and building wheelchair ramps. The Servants on Site program sends out church groups to make repairs, also to spread the Gospel and to live their faith through works.

Robbie Parham, promotion director for Servants on Site project, and Dr. Randy Mann, lead pastor of Central Baptist Church in Henderson, were guests on Wednesday’s Town Talk and gave John C. Rose an update on how the SOS project has re-tooled itself to keep working in the community while honoring COVID-19 safety protocols.

In years past, the SOS program was a one-week blitz that sent hundreds of volunteers from local churches and those from as far away as Alabama into the community to perform home repair tasks for residents. This year’s 10th edition of SOS is a little different, however, Parham said. Instead of one week, the program is stretched over a 10-week period, which allows for church groups to do the work needed but without the customary corporate worship and dormitory-style sleeping arrangements.

“We’ve partnered with Rebuilding Hope from the very beginning of that ministry,” Mann said.

Rebuilding Hope’s mission to work alongside local churches to make a positive difference in the community is what makes it “beyond easy” to be a partner.

He has traveled the world on mission trips, but Mann said it has been rewarding to provide mission work close to home with the SOS project. He used a favorite quote to illustrate his point: “The light that shines farthest shines brightest at home.”

Mann said it was gratifying for him to see members of his congregation, from young children to senior adults, participating in the SOS project. The youngest were able to help clean up the lunch site and the 80-somethings pitched in, too, he said.

TownTalk 6-30-21 Audio; More Below

This is Mann’s first year to actually participate on-site. “I worked every day on a roof,” he explained. One thing he could see from that vantage point was the intergenerational communication that went on. “I recognized the breadth of participation from our church,” he said. As they worked side by side serving others, he said, there was a lot of spiritual development taking place as well.

The Central Baptist team just completed two roofing projects and will go out again in a couple of weeks. One resident reported to Mann that she could “literally lay on my bed at night and see the stars.” Thanks to the Central Baptist team, the roof was torn off, rotten wooden sub-roof replaced and new shingles put back on.

Through the SOS project, Mann said his church members “go and meet the practical needs in our community. But our greatest need is to share the Gospel while we do it.”

Parham said SOS has the manpower lined up to continue replacing the 11 roofs that have been identified in the area, as well as more wheelchair ramps. Although many of the church groups come from the local five-county area – Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren and Person – he said a group from the western NC town of Franklin and another group from Georgia will lend a hand for SOS, too.

One dream that Parham hopes becomes a reality for Rebuilding Hope is completion of a bunkhouse in the upstairs of the building. The ministry occupies the former Coca-Cola Bottling Co. on Raleigh Road. Once that happens, groups can spend the night and worship on site. That way, Rebuilding Hope could sustain projects like SOS over the entire year, hosting groups for weekend or half-week mission work.