TownTalk: Carolina United For Change Plans Scholarship Event

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Carolina United for Change will host a scholarship event on May 20 at the Gateway CDC to highlight its scholarship opportunities at Vance-Granville Community College.

The organization isn’t even a year old yet, but co-founder Joseph Brodie and others have focused on its mission of supporting the poor and needy and protecting the rights of all people.

Brodie was on TownTalk Monday to talk about the two scholarships that have been established at VGCC.

Two $500 scholarships will be awarded, Brodie said. Applicants will be asked to submit a personal essay on the topic of gun violence. Carolina United for Change board members will review the essays and will select the winners. The scholarships were established in honor of Brodie’s son, who was shot and killed in 2017.

Brodie said VGCC Foundation Director Tanya Weary has been instrumental in helping get the scholarship going. She and other VGCC reps will be on hand at the May 20 event to share details about applying for the scholarship and for registering to become a VGCC student.

There also will be guest speakers, drawing for gifts and musical performances during the program, which is from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Gateway CDC is located at 314 S. Garnett St., Henderson.

Brodie said he appreciates the collaboration with Gateway CDC, which is providing space to hold the event as well as technical assistance to the nascent organization as it continues to gain traction in the community.

He said he hopes to be able to have a centrally located space for members of the community to come to ask questions and seek assistance.

 

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Maria Parham Cancer Center Welcomes New Nurse Practitioner

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-information courtesy of Donna Young, Maria Parham Health Marketing & Communication Coordinator

Maria Parham Health has added a nurse practitioner to provide services at its Cancer Center.

Crystal Kaplan, MSN, RN, AGACNP has joined its staff as an adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner with 15 years of hospital and acute care experience, including three years as a hematology oncology nurse practitioner and hospitalist for Florida Cancer Specialists.

Maria Parham Health CEO Bert Beard welcomed Kaplan, saying her experience will be a valuable asset to add to the quality of care that patients receive.

“Maria Parham Cancer Center’s collaborative care approach, in our longstanding partnership with the Duke Cancer Network and Duke Cancer Institute, brings together the expertise and perspectives of providers from a variety of specialties and disciplines, and Kaplan’s extensive experience has given her a great breadth of experience in a wide range of procedures that people in our region need. This expertise will be important as Maria Parham Health works to make our community healthier.”

Kaplan is a cum laude graduate of Auburn University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She also holds a Master of Science in Nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Vance Commissioners Add Work Sessions To Calendar

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The Vance County Board of Commissioners have added work sessions to their regular calendar of activities.

The board took action at its April 3 meeting to incorporate the informal work sessions between regularly scheduled monthly meetings, according to information from Clerk Kelly Grissom.

The work sessions will take place on the third Monday of the month, beginning at 4 p.m., with the exception of June, July and December of 2023.

During its annual planning retreat, the board “expressed interest in having a second workshop-type meeting each month,” said County Manager Jordan McMillen. “During the discussion, it was apparent they wanted to use these meetings to be better informed of issues that were coming up at the following regular meeting,” McMillen explained.

Regular board meetings are held on the first Monday of the month, beginning at 6 p.m.

The first work session is scheduled for Monday, April 17, followed by a budget work session on May 15. After a break for the summer, work sessions continue on Aug. 21, Sept. 18, Oct. 16 and Nov. 20.

Work sessions are for information only and include no action items, Grissom noted. Public comments are not part of a work session.

 

Cameron Majette Competing For State BGC Youth Of The Year

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A local high school senior is headed to Raleigh to compete in a statewide competition for Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year.

Cameron Majette just got back from a weeklong stint in the Governor’s Page Program last month, so he may feel right at home when he attends a reception with lawmakers in the Executive Mansion Friday evening.

No matter Friday’s decision by the judges, Vance BGC Unit Director Evelyn Taylor said Majette’s a winner in her book.

“He has blossomed into a leader,” Taylor told WIZS News Thursday. A club member for 11 years, Majette used to be on the shy side, Taylor said, but that shyness has been replaced with a high level of confidence.

“I’m so proud of him,” Taylor said, “I’m beaming with pride.” She said his influence and leadership throughout the club is palpable, he helps younger children with homework and is helping to re-establish the Keystone Club at the Vance Unit.

The Henderson Collegiate senior was awarded a $3,000 scholarship for being named the BGCNCNC (North Central North Carolina) youth of the year. He’ll go up against about 20 others for the statewide honor.

The young people will assemble at PNC Arena in Raleigh Friday morning, and a panel of judges will review all the information packets, which includes a nomination form, letters of reference and three personal essays about his club experience, what matters to him and his personal growth, Taylor said.

Each will have a 3-minute speech which basically will be a combination of the three essays, Taylor noted, and judges will evaluate the candidates’ overall public speaking.

Whether in front of a group of judges or back at home in the club, Taylor said she believes Majette’s confidence and focus will serve him well.

“He definitely found his voice and he is not afraid of using it,” Taylor said.

TownTalk: Around Old Granville: NC Author Writes About The Revolution

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Author James Becker discusses his recent book “Secrets of the American Revolution”.

 

TownTalk: Northeast Piedmont Chorale Coming To McGregor Hall

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The Northeast Piedmont Chorale will perform its spring concert at McGregor Hall in Henderson on Sunday afternoon, April 23. The concert is free and open to the public, and Director Cindy Edwards said the concert’s theme – “What A Wonderment” – describes perfectly the selections that will be performed.

The audience will see and hear “a trend in our musical selections,” Edwards said on TownTalk, “all about the wonder about the world that we live in.”

Chorale baritones Tom Burleson and Harvey Jackson joined Edwards to talk about the upcoming performance, as well as the state of the chorale. Which is quite, good, by the way.

Since Edwards became director in 2016, the chorale has doubled in size, from just shy of 40 to close to 80. Seventy-five performers are scheduled to take the stage for the spring concert, Edwards noted.

(The chorale will perform the spring concert at New Hope Baptist Church in Raleigh on Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. The church is located at 4301 Louisburg Rd. in Raleigh.)

“For next season, we’ll have an even bigger choir,” she said. “I’m very, very pleased about the size of the group.

Although there are a handful of chorale members for whom music is a vocation, Jackson said the majority are just like him and Burleson – folks who’ve sung in church or school groups, but who aren’t music majors.

Jackson, who serves as vice president of the chorale board, said the upcoming concerts are the result of “many, many hours (of practice) put in by 70-plus people. This stuff doesn’t happen by accident.”

In addition to the two-hour weekly practices, Edwards offers “sectionals,” where smaller groups can come together to practice their particular parts. And individuals spend hours and hours outside the common practice time to listen and learn their parts.

Burleson said the process is important. “It’s painstaking and time consuming,” he said. “But if we didn’t want to do it, we wouldn’t be there. There’s a great reward.”

Edwards said the group has worked hard to create what she hopes will be a memorable performance. “The choir is ready – they need an audience…they sound beautiful.”

Kristen Allred accompanies at piano for some of the musical selections, but there will be a full orchestra to offer accompaniment as well.

The concert will begin with “A Shaker Celebration,” sure to delight the audience with its processional, and handbell and drum accompaniment. The program continues with “Te deum,” which translates to “We praise thee, O God” a 20-minute master work of composer Dan Forest.

The group will perform “Alleluia For Our Time” by Raleigh composer, Jay Althouse, whom Edwards described as someone who has become a close friend of the chorale.

After a short break, the theme of the concert focuses on the world around us – earth, stars, sky and water.

The chorale will perform “Earth Song,” followed by a couple of a cappella selections.

Local musicians Wayne Kinton and his son David Kinton provide electric guitar and double bass accompaniment to the Bluegrass-style “Touch the Sky” from the movie Brave.

The chorale’s final selection, complete with full orchestra, is “The Impossible Dream.”

Visit www.npchorale.org to learn more about the Northeast Piedmont Chorale.

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