Aycock Pool Closed This Weekend

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If you were planning to get in a few laps at the Aycock Recreation Center pool this weekend, you’ll want to take note: the pool will be closed Saturday and Sunday, according to Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks Assistant Director DeAnne Brown.

The weekend closing is due to a staffing shortage, Brown told WIZS News.

She said that there just aren’t sufficient candidates with lifeguard certifications to employ.

The recreation and parks department is willing to offer lifeguard courses for those seeking employment, Brown added, but candidates must be able to pass the prerequisites to be eligible to take the course.

Brown said she would be happy to hear from anyone interested in becoming a lifeguard. Contact her at deannebrown@henderson.nc.gov.

Downtown Henderson

TownTalk: Shamrocks Coming To Downtown Henderson

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Make plans to visit downtown Henderson on St. Patrick’s Day for Shamrocks on Breckenridge. You may not find a pot of gold, but there will be plenty of other items to enjoy, from food trucks to live music.

Amanda Walker Ellis, vice chair of the Henderson-Vance Downtown Development Commission board invites the community to join in the fun on Friday, Mar. 17 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Ellis spoke with John C. Rose on Tuesday’s TownTalk about this event and other activities on the horizon.

There’s still time to be listed as a sponsor; there are several levels to choose from: Leprechaun for $250, Shamrock for $500 and Pot O’ Gold for $1,000.

Ellis said last year’s event got some good feedback, and plans are shaping up for another fun time this year.

People enjoyed being outside and downtown, she noted. In addition to the food trucks, music and dancing, a variety of community organizations will be on hand to share information about services and resources.

Events like Shamrocks on Breckenridge do more than just provide entertainment, Ellis said. They also serve to shine a positive light on the community.

The negative stuff always gets broadcast, she said, but positive news like Shamrocks helps residents feel “proud of where you are – trying to make it a better place all around,” Ellis said.

Other events being planned include a downtown Juneteenth celebration and the annual gala that has become known as Downtown Live on Young, which features live music and outdoor dining.

“We’ve got stuff coming up,” Ellis said. “It’s steadily coming in and we’re working on it.

Right now, Shamrocks on Breckenridge is the main focus,” she noted, adding that future events will fall into place.

The planning for all these events comes amid a renewed effort to collaborate with other local groups, including the local tourism authority. The DDC also has recently decided on a new logo and is currently undergoing a website makeover.

“We’re all trying to work together rather than independently,” Ellis said. It shouldn’t be long before the new website is up and running, and the address is the same: www.hendersonncdowntown.org.

To learn more, contact Ellis at

amanda@rogersandrogerslawyers.com or amandaleigh486@hotmail.com or call Dr. Alice Sallins at 252-767-4579.

 

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NC Forest Service

N.C. Forest Service: Practice Safety When Burning Yard Waste

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-information courtesy of N.C. Forest Service

March officially signals the start of spring wildfire season, and the N.C. Forest Service is urging residents to practice caution and prioritize safety when burning leaves, limbs and other yard waste.

In 2022, nearly 6,400 wildfires burned more than 27,000 acres across the state. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, North Carolina ranked third in the nation for number of human-caused wildfires with 99% of wildfires in our state resulting from human activity. Escaped outdoor fires continue to be the leading cause of wildfires in North Carolina.

“You continue to be the best defense against wildfires,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Always exercise caution with any outdoor burning. Avoid burning on dry, windy days and be sure you have a valid burn permit.”

Spring weather draws people outdoors to work in their yards and many choose burning as a method to dispose of leaves and other yard debris. March through May can be peak months for wildfire activity across the state, and fires left unattended can spread quickly. For those who choose to burn, the N.C. Forest Service recommends the following tips:

 

  • Consider alternatives to burning. Some types of debris, such as leaves, grass and stubble, may be of more value if they are not burned but used for mulch instead.
  • Check local burning laws. Some communities allow burning only during specified hours. Others forbid it entirely.
  • Make sure you have a valid permit. You can obtain a burn permit at any N.C. Forest Service office or authorized permitting agent, or online at https://www.ncforestservice.gov/burnpermit.
  • Keep an eye on the weather. Don’t burn on dry, windy days.
  • Local fire officials can recommend a safe way to burn debris. Don’t pile vegetation on the ground. Instead, place it in a cleared area and contain it in a screened receptacle away from overhead branches and wires.
  • Household trash must be hauled away to a trash or recycling station. It is illegal to burn anything other than vegetative material.
  • Be sure you are fully prepared before burning. To control the fire, you will need a hose, bucket, steel rake and a shovel for tossing dirt on the fire. Keep a phone nearby, too.
  • Never use kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel or other flammable liquids to speed up debris burning.
  • Stay with your fire until it is completely out.
  • These same tips apply to campfires and grills as well. Douse burning charcoal briquettes or campfires thoroughly with water. Drown all embers, not just the red ones. When soaked, stir the coals and soak them again. Make sure everything is wet and that embers are cold to the touch. If you do not have water, mix enough dirt or sand with the embers to extinguish the fire, being careful not to bury the fire. Never dump hot ashes or coals into a wooded area.
  • In addition to the rules above, a fire line should be plowed around the area to be burned when burning agricultural residue and forestland litter. Large fields should be separated into small plots for burning one at a time. Before any burning in a wooded area, contact your NCFS county ranger for technical advice on burning.

 

 

To learn more about fire safety and preventing wildfires and loss of property, go to www.ncforestservice.gov. For information about creating defensible space and a fire-resistant landscape around your home and property, visit www.resistwildfirenc.org.

 

VGCC’s Annual Golf Tournament Returns This May

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Participants and sponsors are asked to sign up by April 14 on the event’s webpage. Early registration is recommended. Visit www.vgcc.edu/golf.  To make a donation visit the event webpage or email foundation@vgcc.edu.

— VGCC Press Release —

Registration is currently underway for the region’s most anticipated golf event! Vance-Granville Community College’s 39th Annual VGCC Foundation Golf Tournament will take place May 8 and 9 at Henderson Country Club. The event invites golfers and non-golfers alike to unite in support of the college and its impact on the four-county service area.

The VGCC Foundation awards hundreds of scholarship endowments to full-time students—more than any program of its kind in North Carolina. As one of the college’s primary annual fundraisers for The Foundation, this tournament provides crucial resources to fund student scholarships and support the greater mission of the college, including the food pantry used by students and employees alike. Enhancing and expanding need-based aid promotes equitable outcomes for all learners, setting them up for a brighter future.

“We look forward to fellowshipping with our golf friends, and we thank everyone involved for their support of the VGCC mission,” said the college’s president, Dr. Rachel Desmarais.

Gupton Services, Inc. of Henderson will once again serve as the event’s presenting sponsor. Gupton Services is a Henderson-based HVAC, roofing, and building automation company that traces its origins back to 1921, when C.P. Tanner established a sheet metal working plant in the town. The business was first known as Tanner Roofing before changing its name to Owen Gupton Roofing. Greg Etheridge, a Henderson native, became its owner and president in 2019.

Additional sponsorship opportunities are available to other businesses looking to promote their brand and support a worthy cause. New opportunities for this year’s event include air cannon contest hole sponsor, golf towel sponsor, and more.

Anyone interested in participating as a sponsor or as a golfing team is asked to sign up by April 14 on the event’s webpage. Space is limited, and early registration is recommended. For more information, visit www.vgcc.edu/golf.  Those wishing to donate to the event may visit the event webpage or simply email foundation@vgcc.edu.

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Families Living Violence Free

Teen Dating Violence; Domestic Violence; There is Help a Phone Call Away

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A live person will answer your call 24/7 in English or Spanish.

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness month and although the month is over, Families Living Violence Free offers some facts about teen dating violence that are relevant all year long.

FLVF Executive Director Peggy Roark said that violent behavior in young people usually starts between grades 6 and 12. More than 70 percent of young people between the ages of 13 and 14 “date.”

Sadly, roughly 50 percent of young people who experience rape or physical or sexual abuse will attempt to commit suicide, Roark said. And teens who suffer dating abuse are subject to long-term consequences like alcoholism, eating disorders, promiscuity, thoughts of suicide and violent behavior.

Only one-third of the teens who were involved in an abusive relationship confided in someone about the violence.

If you or someone you know is involved in an abusive relationship, please encourage them to call FLVF at 919.693.5700, any time day or night. FLVF is FREE and CONFIDENTIAL.

In Spanish 919-690-0888.

Visit www.flvf.org to learn more.

The Local Skinny! Protecting Your Dog From Heartworms

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Nobody likes mosquitoes. Their bites can hurt and they can swell and itch. When mosquitoes bite our pets, however, they can cause more serious problems. We’re talking heartworms.

Aleksandar Besermenji, a veterinarian at Franklinton Animal Hospital talked with Bill Harris about the importance of keeping our dogs and cats – and ferrets – on a heartworm regimen. “The whole point is to check them every year with the test,” Besermenji said. “If you catch it in time, you can do more to fix it.”

Mosquitoes are the vector – or the way – that dogs, cats and ferrets – can be exposed to the disease. All it takes is one mosquito to bite an animal with the disease to infect other animals that are not on heartworm preventive medication.

The best way to keep our pets testing negative for the disease is to give them the medication all year long, he said. It’s true that mosquitoes aren’t around in the winter, but Besermenji said owners shouldn’t take a break from giving the medication.

“Takes a certain period of time for the heartworms to develop” in the animal, he said, adding that it could take several weeks to several months. A mosquito bite from the fall could result in a heartworm positive test in the winter if the animal isn’t protected with the preventive.

“There’s a long list that goes with the heartworm problems,” he said. If left untreated, animals can develop inflammation as the parasitic worms grow in the arteries of the lungs and heart.

While there are treatment options for a dog that tests positive for heartworms, the simplest way to ensure animals stay healthy is to keep them on the preventive medicine.

And while it’s true that cats don’t get it that often, he said, they can. And so can ferrets. Cats don’t tolerate the injections as well as dogs, so their treatment is a little more specialized.

Your veterinarian should perform an annual test to make sure your pet is free of heartworms. Some symptoms of heartworm include coughing in the morning, shortness of breath and general poor performance, especially in working animals like hunting dogs.

In the most severe stages of the disease, animals suffer from distended bellies and accumulated abdominal fluid. After a prolonged period without treatment, the heart simply is too weak to respond effectively to treatment.

The Franklinton Animal Hospital, now is in its third week of operation, is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

 

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Excellence in Financial Reporting to City of Henderson, NC

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The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada has awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City of Henderson, NC.

Congratulations to Finance Director Joey Fuqua and the City staff including City Manager Terrell Blackmon.

The City’s annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021 was judged by an impartial panel and found to meet the high standards of the program.

The recognition comes primarily because the financial report demonstrated “a constructive spirit of full disclosure to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report,” according to a press release from the GFOA.

This represents the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting.

STEM Early High School Teacher Attends NASA Conference in Houston

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For the first time in the history of the state of North Carolina, students at STEM Early High picked, researched, designed, and on May 11th, will be testing scientific experiments in zero-g, lunar, and martial gravity environments.

— Vance County Schools Press Release —

STEM Early High School teacher Milton Lima represented Vance County Schools at the 29th Annual Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC) at Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas. SEEC is one of the nation’s leading science educational opportunities for K-12th grade educators to access the latest teaching tools that can fuel their students’ passion for STEM, explore topics in aerospace and network with space industry leaders and NASA experts!

The theme of the 29th SEEC was “Inspiration Shapes Our Future”. Lima shared that scientists, engineers and exceptional educators conducted sessions which offered hands-on, easy to implement science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics lessons, geared towards engaging students at all grade levels.

During the conference, Lima had the opportunity to present the different programs that Vance County Schools’ students have developed at STEM Early High School, such as the:

➔ Microgravity Program: For the first time in the history of the state of North Carolina, students at STEM Early High picked, researched, designed, and on May 11th, will be testing scientific experiments in zero-g, lunar, and martial gravity environments. This program is a collaboration with the Wisconsin and North Carolina Space Grant Consortium, and also Winston-Salem State University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

➔ NASA Sparx: This is an international collaboration of teachers mentoring students on solving NASA Challenges. Students at STEM Early High worked on building lunar habitats with paper and 3-D models. They have also been working on using metaverse technology. Students at STEM were able to meet weekly with other students across the globe during NASA Sparx.

➔ Space Farmers: STEM Early High students were involved in some of the projects by NASA, which included understanding how to plant in space within harsh and inappropriate conditions. This program is part of an international collaboration of educators.

Lima was also asked to participate in the recognizing of the Limitless Space Institute (LSI) participants. Lima was 1 of 20 educators selected worldwide that are learning beyond solar system science and creating STEAM K-12 lesson plans to bring into the classroom.

“The Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC) is a place for hands-on activities combined with engaging speakers that inject enthusiasm to go back into the classroom and help students reach the stars,” says Lima. “It is my goal to continue inspiring our children to be successful in our state, nationwide and across the globe.”

The conference was also an opportunity for scientists, engineers and educators to network with each other and learn what’s happening in STEM in schools across the world. Milton Lima shared that he is meeting with the Director of Education at NASA Space Center Houston and Vice-Chair of Manned Space Flight Education Foundation Board of Director, Iván Rodriguez, to discuss collaborations for NASA Programs in North Carolina and Brazil.

TownTalk: Rural Water Apprenticeships Are Available

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How many times a day do you use water?

Morning showers, preparing a pot of coffee or washing dishes after a meal are just a few of the many ways we use water throughout the day. We turn on the spigot and expect clean, safe water to come flowing out.

But it takes a lot of work to ensure our water is potable and safe to use, and Carolyn Bynum of the N.C. Rural Water Association has a startling statistic for all of us: Over the next five years, water systems will lose more than half of their current employees, mostly through retirement.

And so just who is stepping up to fill those jobs?

NCRWA’s apprenticeship program works year-round to identify prospective employees and place them in paid positions, creating a win-win situation for people who want to work in the field and for those water systems who need employees.

People who work in water system plants and wastewater plants are very essential front-line workers, she noted. “If we don’t have clean water, everything dies,” Bynum said. “It sounds drastic, but in reality, it’s true,” she added.

Bynum is the NCRWA’s workforce development coordinator and she explained the apprenticeship program to John C. Rose on Monday’s TownTalk.

The program functions much like traditional apprenticeships, with one big exception – the NCRWA apprentices are paid while they complete the extensive classroom instruction and on-the-job training.

Her agency has placed 20 apprentices in the three years or so since the apprenticeship program  was registered with N.C. Department of Labor. Three more apprentices just completed the two-year process and they’ll be placed soon, too.

And although apprentices will be learning the intricacies of the water industry, Bynum said NCRWA strives to provide participants with occupational training that can be applied across workplaces, not just the water industry.

“We want them to have a broad view of the industry,” she said. There’s a huge growth potential in the industry that often goes unnoticed by those entering the work force.

Applications can be submitted at any time; Bynum said the industry is always looking for qualified workers to make sure customers have clean water.

She said she gets calls all the time from water systems asking for help finding employees.

The apprenticeship program allows new employees to gain experience as they learn from seasoned workers. “You don’t want to wait until they retire,” she said.

After an application is submitted, the process continues sort of like a job interview. Candidates must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Apprentices complete 288 hours of classroom instruction and 4,000 hours of on-the-job training during the two-year program.

At the end of each 1,000-hour period, apprentices are required to meet milestones to show progress. This successful completion every six months or so results in a wage increase.

It’s a plus if a candidate has good math skills, but Bynum said her agency provides supplemental services to shore up basic math skills when needed. “Math is such a huge part of the industry,” she said. There are always charts to read, measurements to take and gauges to monitor to ensure systems are functioning properly.

Water systems and water treatment systems operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, Bynum said.

“It’s recession proof.”

Visit www.ncrwa.org to learn more or contact Bynum at 743.202.0971 or apprenticeship@ncrwa.org.

 

 

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