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VGCC “Empower Her” Event Saturday, Oct. 7 In Main Campus Courtyard

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Information courtesy of Courtney Cissel, VGCC Public Information Officer

Vance-Granville Community College Foundation is hosting an event titled “Empower Her,” and invites the community to come out to the Main Campus Courtyard on Saturday, Oct. 7 to learn what it’s all about.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature a variety of information from local community partners, according to information from VGCC Public Information Officer Courtney Cissel.

In addition to free activities for children, food and giveaways, participants can learn about financial counseling and career advice, as well as meal planning on a dime, makeup tips and more. The Dress for Success Mobile Boutique also will be present.

In addition to providing scholarships to deserving students, the VGCC Foundation supports a broad range of special projects involving education, training and economic development in our community. Tax-deductible donations to VGCCF have often been used to honor a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education.

For more information about Empower Her or the VGCC Foundation, contact 252.738.3264 or foundation@vgcc.edu.

TownTalk: Walk To End Alzheimer’s Oct. 7

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The upcoming Walk to End Alzheimer’s will take place in downtown Raleigh in a couple of weeks, and event organizers have set a lofty fundraising goal – $460,000. The event is free, but Lisa Roberts, executive director of the Eastern North Carolina Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, hopes that the wider community will come together to donate to the cause.

The walk is centered around Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh and is the second largest in the state for the Alzheimer’s Association, Roberts said. There are 17 walks planned across the state, just a handful of the more than 600 that will take place across the country – all to support research, outreach and education surrounding Alzheimer’s and related dementia. The overall state goal is $1.3 million.

Check-in begins at 9 a.m. and the walk will commence following a welcome at 10 a.m.

Roberts said there will be plenty to do for those who want to show their support in ways other than walking the approximately 1-mile route around the State Capitol building.

Halifax Mall will have live music, a DJ, a Kid Zone and more for the public to enjoy.

The money that the walk raises “allows us to increase our research footprint, provide care and support – free or at nominal cost – to all those impacted” by Alzheimer’s.

Each walk that the Alzheimer’s Association sponsors has a special “promise garden ceremony,” Roberts said. Participants hold flowers of a particular color – depending on how their lives have been touched by Alzheimer’s or related dementia disorder.

“It’s a way to identify your connection,” she said, whether you’re a caregiver, someone with a personal connection or a supporter.

Supporters like Roberts, who lost her own mother to the disease, envision a world without Alzheimer’s.

A lot of money goes into research across the globe in search of a cure or new treatment for Alzheimer’s and dementia, Roberts said. According to her statistics, there are more than 180,000 people across North Carolina who are living with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. “Those folks have over 360,000 family and friends who are providing care,” she said. For that reason, it’s important to have money for programs that support the caregivers, too.

To register for the Oct. 7 walk, visit alz.org/walk or call 800-272.3900.

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Still Time To Register For H-V Chamber Challenge Golf Tournament Oct. 12

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There’s room for three more teams to join the 25th annual Chamber Challenge golf tournament at Kerr Lake Country Club – join now and enjoy a good time on the links come Oct. 12.

Don’t want to play? You can still sponsor a hole for $100, said Chamber President Sandra Wilkerson; sponsorships show your support for the community while marketing your business at the same time.

Another way to market your business is by contributing a little swag for the golfer’s gift bags. Wilkerson said they’ll be filling 100 swag bags for golfers, so 100 of each item would be great – hand sanitizer, koozies, notebooks/pens, coupons, water or snacks – whatever you’d like to include.

To learn more, contact the Chamber at 252.438.8414 or visit https://www.hendersonvance.org/ for details.

Please Donate: ACTS Pantry Shelves “Dangerously Low – Again”

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ACTS, the local food pantry, needs donations, and director Lee Anne Peoples has issued a plea on social media, along with some suggestions to create friendly competitions among different groups in the community. Peoples said the shelves are “dangerously low again,” and has asked for help.

“Please consider picking up a few of these items or even making it a friendly competition between churches, Sunday School classes, couples in a Supper Club, co-workers or any other groups, to see who can collect the most items,” Peoples wrote in a social media post Thursday.

Items may be brought to the food pantry, located at 201 S. William St. any weekday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Call 252.492.8231 to learn more.

The list below contains suggestions. Please consider placing a couple of extra items in your shopping cart this weekend to donate to ACTS, which also serves a hot lunch during the week in addition to distributing boxes of shelf-stable food to those in need.

 

  • Items needed:
  • Ramen noodles
  • Pudding cups
  • Any type of canned meat
  • Canned fruit
  • Sized packs of cookies
  • Any type of canned soups
  • Packs of crackers
  • Juice pouches
  • Small boxes of cereal
  • Instant oatmeal packets
  • Dry pasta
  • Sugar – white or brown
  • Canned potatoes
  • 18 oz jar peanut butter
  • 18-20 oz jelly
  • Canned yams
  • Canned baked beans or pork & beans
  • Canned beans – black eyed peas and pinto
  • Crackers, in sleeves
  • Canned greens (collards spinach, turnips, etc.)
  • Canned diced tomatoes, carrots, peas
  • Dried beans
  • Canned mixed vegetables and creamed corn
  • #10 (gallon) cans of any fruit or vegetable

TownTalk: Public Safety Expo This Saturday

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There will be a lot of action on the lot of the former Boyd auto dealership on U.S. 158 bypass in Henderson as law enforcement agencies from across Henderson and Vance County converge to take part in a Public Safety Expo this coming Saturday, Sept. 30.

Vance County Fire Chief Chris Wright said the expo will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will include representatives from a wide variety of agencies that promote and protect public safety.

“It promotes a positive atmosphere for all public safety coming together,” Wright said on Tuesday’s TownTalk. “We come together in emergency situations so coming together outside of that…promotes positivity through the county,” he said.

Kids can take part in a bike rodeo through Safe Kids. And there will be a bike helmet giveaway while supplies last. Two bicycles will be raffled off as well.

Those in attendance can enjoy free hotdogs, chips and drinks while they last and the Kona Ice truck is scheduled to join the festivities, too.

“We’re trying to promote something positive here in Vance County, along with the City of Henderson, and partnering with all these agencies,” Wright explained. “It’s an all-around activity for kids and adults.”

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Rebuilding Hope Chicken Plate Fundraiser Friday, Sept. 29

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Make plans now to pick up a “Friend-Raiser” chicken plate on Friday, Sept. 29 at Rebuilding Hope on Raleigh Road.

Last Saturday’s torrential rainfall destroyed the signs that were supposed to advertise the event, but Randolph Wilson, executive director at Rebuilding Hope wants to make sure the community knows to come out between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. – just in case the new signs don’t arrive in time.

The plate is filled with half a barbecued chicken, potatoes, green beans, bread, dessert and that delicious sauce that Rebuliding Hope fundraiser plates have become known for.

Plates are $10 each – patrons can eat-in and drive-thru is available. Five or more plates can be delivered – call 252.438.5132 to place a delivery order.

 

 

Vance-Granville Community Band Set To Play Sept. 30 At Granville Senior Center In Oxford

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Join the Granville County Senior Services in Oxford for a special concert on Saturday afternoon featuring the Vance-Granville Community Band.

The hour-long concert will begin at 4 p.m. and will feature a election of waltzes, marches and medleys of popular and classical music reminiscent of the Boston Pops Orchestra.

The concert is free and open to the public; stay afterward for light refreshments.

For more information, call the Senior Center at 919.693.1930.

Unused Seatbelt Leads To Arrest Of Suspect On Other Charges

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From the Office of Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame

On Friday, Sept. 22 the Vance County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division conducted a traffic stop on Hwy 39 near Vanco Mill Road.

The traffic stop was a result of the driver not wearing his seatbelt. During the traffic stop, an open container of alcohol was seen in plain view in the passenger seat of the vehicle.

A subsequent search of the vehicle led to the recovery of a quantity of cocaine.

The operator of the vehicle was identified as Ronnie Dane Grissom, age 72, of 88 Country Lake Dr.

Grissom was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and an open container of alcohol. Grissom was taken before the magistrate and given a $30,000 unsecured bond and an initial court date of Oct. 2.

TownTalk: GOP Chair Barrier Discusses Local Elections

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This TownTalk segment is part of continuing coverage of the upcoming nonpartisan municipal elections on Oct. 10 in Henderson. Early voting is underway and continues through Oct. 7.

Of the 17 candidates on the ballot for the Henderson municipal elections, only one is a registered Republican, but county Republican leaders had a chance to sit down with a number of the candidates recently and formed their own list of endorsements.

Jimmy Barrier, chair of the Vance County GOP, spoke on Monday’s TownTalk to share that list of candidates and to discuss the process of choosing which candidates to support.

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According to party guidelines, Barrier said local GOP groups like his are obliged to support Republican candidates. In this case, Ward 3 at-large candidate Michelle Horner Wood is the lone registered Republican on the ballot in the nonpartisan elections.

In addition to Wood, Barrier said his group made the following endorsements:

  • Mayor – Greg Etheridge
  • Ward 1 – Symia Crews
  • Ward 2 – Sam Seifert

Barrier said none of the candidates running for the Ward 4 at-large seat attended the recent gathering.

“We attempted to contact all of the candidates,” he said, “to find out if anybody would come out and talk to the Republicans only.” The candidates answered a series of questions before a panel of local GOP members. Barrier was the moderator and asked the same questions of each candidate.

“I asked fair questions, honest questions,” Barrier said, rather than having candidates speak in a debate format. “If you didn’t come talk to us, we weren’t going to endorse you,” he added.

Barrier said the candidates responded to questions they may face as a member of the City Council – how to spend money, zoning, things like that.

One question was “Would you ever make Henderson a “sanctuary city?” he said.

“We must come together in Henderson as one,” Barrier said, adding that it’s crucial to choose the best candidates for the job.

“We need good, solid businesspeople in office to get us above and beyond where we’re at now,” he said.