Shaping the Future in Henderson & Vance County

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It’s called “Shaping the Future: A Community Empowerment Extravaganza” and Higher is Waiting Executive Director Jayden Watkins said it’s part back-to-school, part community gathering combined with a whole lot of fun.

“The purpose of the event is to bring the community together,” Watkins told WIZS’s Scout Hughes Monday.

Watkins, 17 and a rising senior at Henderson Collegiate, invites families from across the community to the event, which is taking place on Saturday, Aug. 9 in downtown Henderson in the area near the police department and Perry Memorial Library.

There will be backpacks loaded with school supplies that will be distributed and free health screenings, along with a street fair atmosphere filled with vendors and food trucks for everyone to enjoy, Watkins said on Monday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Watkins said he and Varonica “VV” Mitchell are going to co-host a talent show that is set to kick off at 12 noon.

“I welcome all ages,” Watkins said of talent show participants, whether they’re young or just young at heart – all are welcome.

Visit https://forms.gle/iWmCXjJZxEw9LXtP7 to sign up for the talent show.

Watkins said there’s still time to sign up to be a sponsor for the event.

Visit Higher is Waiting’s webpage at https://jaydenwatkins.com/higher-is-waiting and click on the sponsorship link.

“I still need more support,” he said. “That’s how we take it to the next level.”

Volunteers also are needed to help pack the backpacks on Friday, Aug. 8 and to help set up early Saturday morning. Contact Watkins at 252.425.0354 if you’d like to help make a donation of money, school supplies or if you’d like to volunteer.

Watkins has been nailing down details for this community event in between other activities he’s been busy with this summer, including preaching five times in the past week, participating in the Governor’s Page Program and another program at N.C. State University. He’s packing his bags for a 10-day residential experience for prospective journalism students at Princeton University. That’s on top of his “I Declare War” tour and cooking meals at the local shelter with his girlfriend.

“This is a vision God gave me,” he said. “Everything I do is to be obedient to God…at the end of the day, I simply want God to be pleased and proud.”

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(This information and embedded audio was orginally posted July 21, 2025.)

Cooperative Extension with Michael Ellington: National Farmers Market Week

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Michael Ellington, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

We talk about the upcoming events at the farmers market in the month of August, including the National Farmers Market Week celebration on August 9th!

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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The Local Skinny! Trent Ayscue Retires From Henderson Fire Department

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The Henderson Fire Department was the place to be Friday as colleagues, family and friends paid tribute to Trent Ayscue, who retired after more than three decades of service.

Ayscue, who retired as a battalion chief, said he’d entertain the idea of coming back to work part-time after the required month of separation after retirement, and if he does, he was clear as to what he’d like to do:

“If I come back to work, it’s going to be as a firefighter,” Ayscue said, “to give back where I started. One hundred percent suppressing fire,” he said.

Former Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson called Ayscue a firefighter from the “old school,” and Ayscue agreed. He said that he and the late Steve Cordell started as volunteers at the Watkins Fire Department when they were 15 years old.

Fire Chief Tim Twisdale said he learned a lot from Ayscue, who already was in a leadership role when Twisdale joined the ranks in 2000.

In remarks to those gathered for a retirement celebration, Twisdale said Ayscue had “consistently and solidly put in service for the citizens of Henderson.” He also thanked Ayscue’s family for sharing him with the fire department.

“Thank you for your time, your love and your commitment to make us a better place,” Twisdale said. “We truly appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts.”

Being a firefighter requires passion, Ayscue said. “It’s a calling. You’re not going to get rich doing it. You have to have dedication…you have to be on your ‘A’ game every day.”

Twisdale said he and Ayscue have had the opportunity to team up as instructors at Vance-Granville Community College and to participate in live burn exercises, allowing them to take off the administrative hat for a bit.

“He and I still love to put that gear on and fight the fire ourselves, too,” Twisdale said.

He said Ayscue has been a good motivator for young firefighters, encouraging them to grow, learn and pick up on skills.

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Wildlife Habitats

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Wayne Rowland, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

Wildlife habitat can increase your enjoyment of your landscape and increase your property value.

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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One Arrested On Drug Charges

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From the office of Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame

On Thursday, July 24, 2025 members of the Vance County Sheriff’s Office VICE/Narcotics Unit and the Henderson Police Narcotics Unit executed a search warrant at 3764 Warrenton Rd., as part of an investigation into heroin trafficking at the residence. Investigators located and seized Heroin, Cocaine, US Currency and other items of drug manufacturing equipment from the residence. David Lee Hendrick was arrested and charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver heroin, possession of heroin, possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver cocaine, felony possession of cocaine, maintaining a dwelling for selling controlled substances, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Hendrick was given a $65,000 bond.

He was placed in the Vance County Jail.

TownTalk: Recovery Alive Receives Opioid Settlement Money

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Tisha Temple, the founder and CEO of Recovery Alive Homes, has a passion for helping people struggling with opioid use disorder. She once struggled with it herself, and has been free from its grip for 11 years now.

Temple’s nonprofit was one of two groups to get grants from the city of Henderson in its initial disbursement of opioid settlement money.

The Henderson City Council granted RA Homes $50,000 to set up two residential sober-living homes here – and Temple can’t wait until the project is up and running.

“The money is there because people are losing their lives to opioid use disorder,” she explained on Thursday’s TownTalk.

“When we have funding to be able to create solutions in communities to give people a different pathway and to help them find recovery, the best thing to do is not leave the money sitting in the bank – the best thing to do is distribute it,” she said.

There are eight RA Homes in operation now, Temple said. She’s working with a local realtor to identify properties and then will work with an investor to purchase the homes, one for men and one for women who are already in recovery.

“That is how our model works,” she said. “We lease the properties from management teams. We are truly part of beautiful community solutions. We are good neighbors.”

She’s got her eyes on one property already, and hopes it’ll work out. If not, she said she “will patiently wait for God to open the right doors.”

Locating sober-living homes here in Henderson has special meaning for Temple. It wasn’t that long ago that she herself was regaining control of her life in a similar residential program in Raleigh.

At the time, fresh out of prison, Temple got the chance to enter a recovery treatment program and ultimately into a sober-living home.

The residential program that she created with RA Homes, however, has one important component that the one in Raleigh didn’t.

“That recovery home saved my life…(but) it wasn’t Christ-centered. It worked, but I believe that my recovery grew deeper because I was able to have a relationship with Jesus. That was my recovery,” Temple said.

And now, some years later, Temple is gearing up to plant two new RA Homes in her hometown. “It is now time to open recover alive homes in the same community where I did not have the resources that I needed to get better and stay better,” she said.

RA Homes and the 12-step, Christ-centered program will be here to help somebody else’s son or daughter as they embark on a journey of sober living.

Visit www.wizs.com to listen back to the complete interview.

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The Local Skinny! Council Members Host Community Forum

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Three of the four incumbent City Council members running for re-election were present at a community forum Wednesday evening at Holy Temple Church in Henderson.

Ola Thorpe-Cooper, Garry Daeke and Lamont Noel were in attendance; the other incumbent, Sara Coffey, was not feeling well, and was not present.

The three incumbents spoke about the importance of the upcoming municipal election, and then entertained questions from the audience.

Thorpe-Cooper started things off, saying, “We care about you and your concerns in the city of Henderson – not the ward you live in, but the city of Henderson.”

“We are running for re-election – not because it’s easy, but because we care. Experienced leadership still matters. Let’s not trade progress for…promises.”

She said the Council works together to get things done.

“I don’t believe it’s about me, it’s about us,” Thorpe-Cooper said. “We sit together, we talk together, we pray together. We are here with a record of standing up…when it hasn’t been easy to stand up. Showing up when it matters and getting real results.”

Noel said he decided to run for a seat on the City Council so he could be a voice for residents who may not know how or to whom to address complaints or concerns.

He ended up writing a city ordinance – before he was on the Council – to address one such issue that he had involving driving golf cars on city streets. The police chief at the time took it to council and said he’d never had a citizen come to him with a problem AND a solution.

Shortly after that, Noel said people approached him to run for City Council.

“I realized that I had an opportunity to be a voice for those people that couldn’t speak for themselves.”

“We have to love Henderson,” he said. “What we go through, we wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t have a love for Henderson. We want the best for Henderson and that’s why we’re here.”

Daeke grew up in Henderson, went to college, got a degree and came back because he wanted to serve his community.

“I came back to this town because I loved it,” he said.

He spent time on the city’s zoning board, planning board and downtown development commission and then felt he had the experience and knowledge to run for City Council.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it – it’s work – very hard work. but great work.”

“We’ve hit a wall lately and we need to get beyond that,” he said.

Affordable housing is the city’s biggest project, and he said being a member of the Council is like being a part of a team  – working on a team  and seeing what you can accomplish when you work together.

When you go to the polls, he said, “think about my service when you’re voting.”

The non-partisan municipal elections are Tuesday, Oct. 7.

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New Principals At STEM Early High, Dabney Elementary

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— information courtesy of Vance County Schools

Vance County Schools has named new principals for STEM Early High and Dabney Elementary as the 2025-26 school year approaches.

Jessica Austin is the principal of STEM Early High and Dr. Miah Hart-Olivis is principal at Dabney Elementary, according to information from Aarika Sandlin, VCS Chief Officer of Communication & Innovative Support.

Austin, most recently the Math Teacher Development specialist for Vance County High School and Vance County Early College, has more than 20 years’ experience as a teacher and administrator. She is a former principal with Durham Public Schools.

Austin has a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s of Education in school administration from UNC-Chapel Hill and is currently pursuing a doctorate at UNC-G.

Hart-Olivis, most recently a human resources recruiter, also brings more than 20 years of experience to her new role. She has worked in Durham County Schools and Chatham County Schools. Hart-Olivis earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in teaching from Hampton University and has a doctorate in educational leadership from High Point University.