TownTalk: Excitement Builds For Show Shine Shag And Dine!

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Ten blocks in downtown Henderson are going to be transformed into a gigantic combination parking lot and entertainment zone for car enthusiasts this weekend when the Show, Shine, Shag & Dine festival gets the green light for all to come and enjoy.

This is the 20th annual event, and Vance County Tourism Director Pam Hester and a host of others spoke with John C. Rose on Monday’s TownTalk to provide details.

For starters, race cars are coming back to downtown Henderson, and volunteer Danny Stanton said he is very pleased to be able to help with this aspect of the car show.

“I’ve been a drag racer, a car guy, pretty much my whole life,” Stanton said. “We want to get the drag cars back involved,” he said. Drag car owners don’t have to pay a registration fee, he said, since they will not be judged. Just show up Saturday morning at the corner of Rose and Chestnut streets and Stanton and others will help get the cars off their trailers and parked for viewing at Montgomery and Garnett streets.

But the event actually kicks off on Friday morning at 11 a.m. with a cruise-in at Satterwhite Point. Frankie Nobles is catering a barbecue and chicken lunch, with all the trimmings. A second cruise-in will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Charles Bowman’s Southern Classic Cars on Horner Street.

There will be a DJ providing music at each cruise-in, Hester said, adding that there have been up to 150 cars at the lake for the lunchtime event.

Bowman said he’s helped with previous car shows, and he enjoys having folks come in and admire his cars. There are cars for sale there, but that’s not the main reason Bowman participates; rather, he said he wants “to entice people to come to the car show.”

No matter what type of car you prefer, there surely will be something for everyone at this year’s Show, Shine, Shag & Dine. The event is free to the public, and folks can stroll along Garnett Street and beyond to see everything from classic cars to drag racers to Corbitt trucks.

Tom Burleson said the Corbitt Preservation Association will have vehicles on display conveniently located near the Corbitt Museum, which will be open on Saturday for visitors. The winner of the raffle prizes also will be announced during the car show awards, he said.

“We appreciate the exposure that will give us,” he said.

Downtown retailer Gear & Beer is having a Jeep Jam for all those Jeep enthusiasts who want to drive their Jeeps in to the parking lot at the United Way office on South Garnett Street. Jeeps of any type are welcome. And though it’s not a part of the car contest, there will be fun awards given during the Jeep Jam.

McKinley Perkinson is Vance County’s Economic Development Directo and she called this weekend’s event “a huge economic stimulator and driver,” no pun intended.

“An event like this is just amazing for Henderson, especially for our downtown businesses,” Perkinson said.

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.

Contact Danny Stanton at 252.432.5544 for all race car information and Carol Terwilliger of Gear & Beer for Jeep signup information at gearandbeernc.com

 

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Fire Prevention Week Oct. 9-15

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-information courtesy of the American Red Cross Eastern North Carolina office, Raleigh, NC

Fire Prevention Week runs Oct. 9-15 and the American Red Cross said everybody needs to have a two-minute home fire escape plan and working smoke alarms in place to keep their homes and families safe from the nation’s most frequent disaster – housefires.

According to American Red Cross Eastern North Carolina officials, fire experts say it takes two minutes to safely escape a fire before it’s too late. Housefires account for most of the 60,000-plus disasters that the Red Cross responds to each year across the U.S. — calls of house fires rise by 30 percent in the cold months versus the warmer times of the year. In Eastern North Carolina, home fire responses were 33 percent higher than last year.

“As the threat of home fires increases with colder temperatures, Fire Prevention Week serves as an important reminder to prepare now,” said Barry Porter, Regional CEO at the American Red Cross of Eastern North Carolina. “Practice your two-minute home fire escape drill and test your smoke alarms monthly to help keep your family safe.”

Practice your plan with everyone in your household; also teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like and what to do in an emergency. Visit redcross.org/fire for more information, including a printable escape plan and safety tips for cooking and home heating — the leading causes of home fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association, which is sponsoring Fire Prevention Week with the theme, “Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.”

  • Include at least two ways to exit every room in your home in your escape plan.
  • Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as your neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows to meet.
  • Place smoke alarms on each level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas. Test alarms monthly and change the batteries at least once a year, if your model requires it.
  • Check the manufacturer’s date of your smoke alarms. If they’re 10 years or older, they likely need to be replaced because components such batteries can become less reliable. Follow your alarm’s manufacturer instructions.
  • Tailor your escape plan to everyone’s needs in your household. If you or a loved one is deaf or hard of hearing, install strobe light and bed-shaker alarms to help alert you to a fire. Visit org/ASL-disaster-resourcesfor more information, including resources in American Sign Language.

If you cannot afford to purchase smoke alarms or are physically unable to install one, the Red Cross may be able to help. Visit SoundtheAlarm.org/ENC for more information.

Since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign with community partners has saved at least 1,393 lives — including 43 in North Carolina — by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans and installing free smoke alarms in high-risk areas across the country. To learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved, visit redcross.org/homefires.

The Red Cross Home Fire Campaign is made possible with generous financial donations from partners, including, our statewide presenting Sound the Alarm sponsor Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Junior Woman’s Club ‘Sip, Snap & Shop’ Event Oct. 30

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Join in the fun for “Sip, Snap & Shop” later this month as the Henderson Junior Woman’s Club brings the annual fall shopping spree to downtown Henderson.

The event will be held from 1 p.m to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30 at Southern Charm, according to Club President Amanda Ellis. There will be 30 vendors participating to give shoppers a wide variety of items to choose from.

In addition, Lydia Crouse Photography will be on site to offer a mini fall photo session for $20. And Sarah Walker, nurse practitioner and owner of Oak City MedAesthetics, will also be on site to provide $60 medical dermaplaning sessions. Dermaplaning is a gentler, yet deeper exfoliating process than microdermabrasion and can be incorporated into your shopping day in 30 minutes, with no downtime.

Find the Henderson Junior Woman’s Club on Facebook to see a complete list of vendors.

City’s Leaf Collection “Season” Oct. 24-Jan. 20

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City workers will begin the annual job of collecting those piles of fallen leaves and pine needles the week of October 24. Remember that residents could face a $75 charge to their sanitation bills if they pile loose leaves or pine straw at the curb before Oct. 24 or after the leaf collection season ends on Jan. 20, 2023.

Between Oct. 24 and Jan. 20, however, it is permitted to place rows or piles of loose leaves or pine straw at the roadside for the city’s Public Works Department to collect, according to a statement from the city. During the leaf collection period, residents may continue to bag the leaves and pine straw or put them in containers, but it is not required.

The rows or piles of loose leaves or pine straw shall:

  • Be placed behind the curb not to interfere with vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
  • Not be placed in an open ditch, gutter or street area as this can interfere with the city’s storm drainage system.
  • Be free of trash and debris such as glass, cans, rocks, limb cuttings, etc. as this may damage collection equipment.
  • Not be placed on top of a water meter.

 

Generally speaking, city crews will pick up the leaves and pine straw on a two- or three-week rotation, but that schedule is dependent on weather conditions.

Contact the Public Works Department at 252.431.6115 or 252.431.6030.

North Henderson Baptist

North Henderson Baptist Hosts Fall Festival Oct. 29

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North Henderson Baptist Church will host a fall festival on Saturday, Oct. 29, featuring hay rides, a stew sale and fun games for all ages.

The stew is $10 a quart and will be available for purchase during the festival, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church, located at 1211 N. Garnett St.

In addition to hay rides and games, there will be a cake walk and bingo, handcrafted Christmas items and much more – come join in the fun!

The Rev. Eddie Nutt, pastor of North Henderson Baptist Church, said there also will be a coat giveaway to any adult or child who comes to the festival and needs a coat for the upcoming winter.

Vance County Logo

The Local Skinny! Vance County Jail

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The Vance County commissioners continue to move forward to address issues with the county detention center, and at their meeting Monday chose a Raleigh architectural firm to complete a needs assessment and make recommendations and suggestions about whether to repair or replace.

Moseley Architects worked with Granville County to build its newly completed jail complex, and County Manager Jordan McMillen told WIZS News Thursday that county leaders are hopeful that the needs assessment will provide some options for next steps.

The 30-year-old jail has had some deficiencies in previous jail inspections, from damaged ceiling tiles to peeling paint and other areas that need repair or maintenance. But McMillen said options range from construction of a new jail to an upgrade and expansion of the current facility or even embracing the concept of “regionalization with a neighboring county.”

Commissioner Dan Brummitt told WIZS News Thursday that the concept of jail regionalization is a growing trend, loosely defined as a way for counties to pool resources, allowing for inmates and suspects to be housed in a central facility instead of county jails.

But jails need a full roster of county detention officers to operate effectively, and the Human Resources Committee identified the position of detention officer as one of several hard-to-fill positions.

The commissioners approved giving a $5,000 hiring bonus for new detention officers, as well as social workers who work with child protective services at the Department of Social Services.

Commissioners Carolyn Faines, Archie Taylor and Gordon Wilder comprise the HR committee, and they reviewed turnover data and length of vacancies to identify the top three positions, McMillen said.

In other business, the commissioners finalized the sale of the former DSS building to the Henderson Family YMCA.

“This will pave the way for the YMCA to use this property for their programming needs as they look to the future,” McMillen said. The 9,684 square foot building sits on 2.46 acres at 350 Ruin Creek Rd.

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TownTalk: History Of Middleburg

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Middleburg may not fit the modern definition of a “planned community,” but following its incorporation in October 1875, it did enjoy some of the same amenities that today’s planned communities have: schools, stores, restaurants and homes.

Mark Pace, local historian and North Carolina Room specialist at Oxford’s Thornton Library, said the Hawkins and Yancey families planned Middleburg, which got its name because it was the midpoint between Raleigh and Gaston, the two terminals for the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad.

“Like so many other communities around here, it didn’t exist until the railroad came through,” Pace said on TownTalk’s tri-weekly history show with Bill Harris.

Patriarch Philemon Hawkins, lived from 1717 to 1801. Numerous descendants figured prominently in North Carolina history.

One son of Philemon Hawkins III was John Davis Hawkins, who lived in Gillburg near the site of the prison camp. He served for 51 years as a trustee for UNC. His brother, William, was the 17th governor of North Carolina.

It was John Davis Hawkins, Pace said, who was “the mover and shaker who got the first railroad to come through.” They put up the money for the railroad, and Pace said any member of the Hawkins family could ride for free.

The Hawkins family lived at Pleasant Hill, which still stands today. And there is a family cemetery located there.

Sarah Hawkins Jordan was a Black woman born at Pleasant Hill. She was a midwife for 75 years, Pace said, and is said to have helped deliver 2,000 babies. Her husband, John Clark Jordan, was a successful farmer in the area, and she was an assistant to physician Joseph Warren Hawkins.

“She was noted for her medicinal abilities,” Pace said. When their son was stricken with blood poisoning, the hospital physicians said he would likely die. Not willing to accept that as an option, “she used her old-timey recipes and came up with a concoction – wild berries and such – and he recovered,” Pace said.

Those familiar surnames – Hawkins, Yancey, Henderson, just to name a few – seem to pop up frequently when delving into area history and genealogy, but do you know the connection between Middleburg and Shearon Harris nuclear power plant?

  1. Shearon Harris was the son of a Baptist preacher from Middleburg. He became president of Carolina Power & Light, and Pace said “he was a big fan of nuclear power.” The power plant was named for Harris when it opened in 1987.

Then there’s Albert A. Anderson, who operated a private academy in Middleburg in the early 1880’s. But he became interested in medicine, became a doctor and in the early 1910’s director of Dix Hospital. He preferred the use of occupational therapy over drugs to treat the mental health issues of the patients there.

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