VGCC students partner to register bone marrow donors
The SkillsUSA chapter at Vance-Granville Community College recently teamed up with national organizations and a local cancer survivor to find some potential heroes.
The survivor, Whitney Johnson Espinosa of Henderson, who calls her campaign against childhood cancer “Whitney’s Hope,” organized a bone marrow registration drive in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus. She connected with the SkillsUSA student organization through her mother, VGCC Dean of Business & Applied Technologies Angela Gardner-Ragland.
Espinosa was working in concert with three national organizations, “There Goes My Hero,” Delete Blood Cancer and the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, to register new bone marrow donors. “Your college drive is an amazing opportunity to impact the lives of patients around the world who need bone marrow transplants by improving their chances of finding a matching donor,” Kristina Gaddy of There Goes My Hero wrote to Espinosa.
There Goes My Hero was founded by transplant recipient Erik Sauer in 2008, and seeks to provide hope and nourishment to leukemia patients and their families. Since its founding, the organization has added over 10,000 new people to the bone marrow registry.
The event at VGCC registered 30 new donors. Students, faculty, staff and community members signed up and swabbed their cheeks to provide DNA samples. The painless registration process took only a few minutes, but could save a life if a participant turns out to be a match for someone in need of a bone marrow transplant. Such treatments are the only hope for many people diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other blood cancers and diseases. VGCC held a similar drive in 2015 in partnership with the Project Life Movement and the “Save the Fox” campaign.
The initiative is one of several community service projects that have been conducted under the auspices of the college’s SkillsUSA organization. VGCC recently joined the national partnership of students, teachers and industry, working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. Students in a variety of VGCC programs are eligible to join SkillsUSA. For more information on SkillsUSA at VGCC, contact Public Services department chair Steve Hargrove at hargroves@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3467.
For more information on becoming a bone marrow donor, visit www.ThereGoesMyHero.org or www.deletebloodcancer.org.
City of Henderson demolishes abandoned home
The Citizens Aligned To Take Back Henderson won a victory today as one of the 400 reported homes in the city was destroyed. The home was located at 910 West Andrews Avenue in Henderson. Heidi Owen, who is one of the instrumental leaders of Citizens Aligned To Take Back Henderson, told WIZS news, “What a huge difference taking down this one small structure makes. Imagine if the county and city can work together to remove all 400! We encourage supporters to contact our local leaders and and ask them to do the right thing for Henderson…for Vance County.”
To find out more about Citizens Aligned To Take Back Henderson be sure to like the group on Facebook, and listen to TownTalk on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Bowling Sweeps South Boston Speedway Opener
Matt Bowling had a big day in Saturday’s season-opening Danville Toyota NASCAR Whelen Late Model Twin 100’s racing program – a very big day.
The defending South Boston Speedway NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Stock Car Division champion swept both of the day’s 100-lap NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car Division races on a day that saw 31 cars take the green flag for the opening race, the largest field of cars for an opening-day race in several years.
Bowling survived a dramatic three-wide battle with South Boston, Virginia resident Austin Thaxton and C.E. Falk of Virginia Beach, Virginia to claim the first race after being in third place in the running order with seven laps to go.
Bobby McCarty of Summerfield, North Carolina finished second, a scant .635-second behind Bowling, with Thaxton finishing third, Danny Willis Jr. of Cluster Springs, Virginia finishing fourth and Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.
In the nightcap, Bowling started sixth after a drawing for an inverted start and drove through the field to challenge Thaxton after the halfway point of the race. Twice Bowling appeared to have a run on Thaxton for the lead only to have his effort thwarted by lapped traffic.
Lapped traffic ultimately was Bowling’s friend as he was able to use the car driven by Charles Barnes as a pick to help him get by Thaxton on lap 93. Defending national champion Lee Pulliam of Alton, Virginia, who started 18th in the second race after having finished 18th in the first race as the result of a late-race tangle with Falk, also took advantage of the slower car to slip past Thaxton and took over second place.
Pulliam attempted to run down Bowling at the end, but came up short, finishing .685-second behind Bowling. Thaxton finished third, Josh Oakley of Rougemont, North Carolina finished fourth and Sellers finished fifth.
Throckmorton Wins Limited Sportsman race
Joey Throckmorton of South Boston, Virginia got his 2016 season off to a good start by winning the 50-lap NASCAR Limited Sportsman Division race.
Throckmorton won the pole, lost the lead briefly to Calvin Meadows of Martinsville, Virginia, but regained the lead from Meadows on the 20th circuit and held the top spot the rest of the way.
Mason Diaz finished second, just over a second behind Throckmorton, with David Latour, Jr. of Advance, North Carolina, Tommy Peregoy of Clarksville, Virginia and Daniel Moss of Danville, Virginia completing the top five finishers.
Layne Takes Win In Budweiser Pure Stock Division
Johnny Layne of Nathalie, Virginia got a leg up on the start of his season Saturday, taking the win in the 30-lap race for the Budweiser Pure Stock Division.
Layne led all but the opening lap en-route to scoring his first victory of the season. Bruce Mayo of Halifax, Virginia took the runner-up spot, with Scott Phillips of Halifax, Virginia, Tyler Conner of Scottsburg, Virginia and Jimmy Wade of Halifax, Virginia completing the top five finishers.
Humblet Wins Modified Division Opener
Former South Boston Speedway Modified Division Champion Jimmy Humblet of Shiloh, North Carolina won the season-opening 50-lap Modified Division race.
Humblet took the lead on lap 26 and drove to a 1.485-second win over Robert Conner of Colonial Heights, Virginia. Matt Slye of Williamsburg, Virginia finished third, with Robbie Babb of Chesapeake, Virginia and Chris Humblet of Shiloh, North Carolina completing the top five finishers.
Kirstin Simmons Scores First Career Win In Hornets Division
For Kirstin Simmons of LaCrosse, Virginia, Saturday’s season-opening race at South Boston Speedway marked a milestone.
Simmons scored her first career win in the Budweiser Hornets Division, and did it in style, going flag-to-flag for the victory.
Justin Dawson finished second, with Kenny Mills, Jr. of Alton, Virginia finishing third.
Next Race At South Boston Speedway
NASCAR racing returns to South Boston Speedway Saturday afternoon, March 19, with the NASCAR Late Model 100 racing program. A 100-lap race for the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car Division highlights the seven-race program.
The afternoon’s seven-race card includes twin 25-lap races for the Limited Sportsman and Modified Divisions, a 30-lap race for the Budweiser Pure Stock Division and a 15-lap race for the Budweiser Hornets Division.
Registration opens at 9:30 a.m., pit gates open at 10 a.m. and practice runs from 11 a.m. until 12 noon. Grandstand gates open at 12:30 p.m., qualifying starts at 1 p.m. and the first race gets the green flag at 2 p.m. Adult admission is $10, with youths ages 7-12 admitted for $5. Kids ages six and under are admitted free with a paid adult.
For additional information about the NASCAR Late Model 100 racing program or any other events at South Boston Speedway, please visit the speedway’s website at www.southbostonspeedway.com or telephone the speedway at 434-572-4947 or 1-877-440-1540.
(The preceding was a press release from South Boston Speedway)