City of Henderson Updates (March 2018)
By: Kelly Bondurant, Freelance Writer/Editor for Hire
Garry Daeke, a 13-year member of the Henderson City Council, recently spoke on air with WIZS to answer questions and provide listeners with City of Henderson updates.
Breckenridge Pavilion:
The proposed Breckenridge Pavilion, to be located near the Henderson Police Department, will serve as the last piece of the overall Breckenridge Commons project and as the corner piece of the block.
According to Daeke, the importance of the project has led the City to reexamine best practices to ensure a satisfactory final result.
“We had gotten some initial startup on the pavilion last year and we thought it would be going very quickly, but as we looked at it further, we decided that we really needed to do some landscaping on that lot,” said Daeke. “We decided that we need a landscape architect to give us a layout for the whole activity.”
While no date has been set for estimated completion, the City expects to receive the architect’s layout in the next few weeks.
“It will certainly cost a little more to complete, but we decided that we needed to do this right,” Daeke said.
Former Bank Building in Downtown Henderson:
Daeke said that while a few people have expressed interest in the vacant former bank building in the downtown area, none have been completely willing to follow the building covenants.
“The City really wants to maintain the façade; however, not everyone wanted to maintain the façade or keep the old architecture,” said Daeke.
Additional covenants include maintaining the lobby area of the building and maintaining and utilizing the vault in some way.
The building is currently for sale.
City of Henderson Tax Base:
The City’s tax base has remained stagnant over the past decade, especially in regards to residential growth.
“The tax base hasn’t grown at all like we’d like for it to grow, especially residential. We aren’t building many houses inside the City limits,” Daeke said.
Daeke also sees future potential issues with a stagnant tax base and the City budget. “We have to plan for reoccurring expenses,” said Daeke. “We gave raises [to City employees] last year and we love to be able to do that, but that’s a cost every year down the road. If you don’t have growth, where do you find the money?”
Fire Department:
According to Daeke, the City has known for years that there is a need to realign the two existing fire stations and add a third station.
“Some businesses have come in on both ends of town and wanted to be annexed,” Daeke said. “We did that, but it is a little problematic in that we then stretch our service base. The police and fire department have to respond farther out to the east and the west.”
Currently, a new fire engine is being custom built for the City to the tune of $560,000. The engine takes approximately one year to build and is on the City’s budget for the next fiscal year.
Daeke credits Fire Chief Steve Cordell and his men for doing a great job with the resources they have available, “Chief Cordell does an excellent job with the fire department. We’ve got some excellent young men working there. They are always training and are on spot every time they’re called. We are really proud of them.”
Other Miscellaneous Items:
- The recent inclement weather has delayed the demolition of the former Abagayle’s Books building, but the project is expected to be completed soon.
- The City is currently discussing a redevelopment plan. “We want to layout a redevelopment plan to highlight certain areas where we would like to see growth as well as open it up for investment in other areas,” said Daeke.
- Turnover in the fire departments and police departments is an ongoing concern. According to Daeke, it has become increasingly difficult for the City to compete with neighboring communities such as Wake Forest and their higher pay rates.
- Daeke commends new Henderson Downtown Development Director Kaine Riggan, “I think Kaine Riggan is doing a great job. He’s got a lot of experience and a lot of energy. He thinks outside of the box and I’m excited about all of the things he is going to pull together.”
Daeke will be back on the air with WIZS in the next three months to provide additional City of Henderson and Henderson City Council updates.
Community Partnership for Pets Continues Local Support (March 2018)
Frankie Nobles, chief of Vance County Animal Services, informed WIZS News of additional support from Community Partnership for Pets.
In a press release, Nobles said, “Vance County Animal Services is pleased to announce that they are a recipient of a $5,000.00 Spay/Neuter Grant from Community Partnership for Pets.”
The grant was applied for on March 12, 2018 and will be used for:
Spay/Neuter for citizens in the community who are considering adopting pets from Vance County Animal Shelter.
Free spay/neuter for pets that have been at the shelter for an extended period of time and are deemed for rescue only.
Nobles said in the press release, “These funds will be a great help to getting animals out of the shelter. We anticipate with this assistance more citizens will be able to adopt and more rescue organizations will be interested in rescuing the animals from Vance County.”
Murder Suspect Turned Himself In (3-16-18)
Update:
March 16, 2018
On Friday, March 16, 2018, Marcus Small, 31, turned himself into law enforcement authorities. Mr. Small was charged with First Degree Murder and received no bond.
If anyone should have any information related to this case, they are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 252-492-1925 or the Henderson Police Department at 252-438-4141. Crime Stoppers offers a reward for information that may lead to an arrest. Callers may remain anonymous.
Press Release – March 12, 2018
On Friday, March 9, 2018 around 11:55 p.m., members of the Henderson Police Department responded to the 100 block of Parham Road in reference to someone being shot. Upon arrival, officers located Emmanuel Hargrove, 31, with a gunshot wound. Vance County EMS responded to the scene and transported Hargrove to Maria Parham Health. Mr. Hargrove succumbed to his injuries. Members of the Henderson Police Department Criminal Investigation Section are investigating the incident.
If anyone should have any information related to this case, they are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 252-492-1925 or the Henderson Police Department at 252-438-4141. Crime Stoppers offers a reward of up to $2,000 for information that may lead to an arrest Callers may remain anonymous.
Authority: Chief M.W. Barrow
VGCC instructor’s children donate pieces of history to library
— courtesy VGCC
The children of a longtime Vance-Granville Community College instructor who qualifies as one of the “founding mothers” of the institution recently donated historical records and other items to the college library.
The late Frieda Bender Haun of Kittrell, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 95, became well-known in the community in part for the “personal enrichment” classes she taught at VGCC. Her involvement in the school started long before it opened in 1969, however. In 1965, Haun was appointed to what was then called the “Vance County Community College Steering Committee,” a group formed to research establishing a local two-year college and to gather support for it.
Documents related to that steering committee are among the papers and items that one of Haun’s daughters, Erika H. Rosenberger of Raleigh, inherited. She organized them and offered them to VGCC Director of Library Services Elaine Stem, to become part of the college archives. Stem noted that the items provide unique glimpses into the history of how the college was founded.
Seated, from left, in the VGCC Library are siblings Betsy H. Stuart of Fayetteville, Harold W. Haun of Raleigh and Erika H. Rosenberger of Raleigh, along with some of their mother’s handmade baskets and a scrapbook of materials their mother kept. Standing, from left, are VGCC Endowment Director Eddie Ferguson and Director of Library Services Elaine Stem. Another sibling, Veronika H. Marquoit, lives in New York State and was unavailable for the photo. (VGCC photo)
“Our VGCC Library scrapbooks only begin with 1969,” Stem said. “What is significant about this collection is that Mrs. Haun had documents dating back to May 6, 1965. The VGCC history book (‘Vance-Granville Community College: The First Thirty Years’) references the 1965 Steering Committee, and now we have some of those original letters.”
The earliest letter in the collection is from Emily Whitten, clerk to the Vance County Board of Commissioners. Whitten wrote to Haun, “Considerable thought has been given by the Board of Commissioners to the establishment of a Community College in Vance County…. We hope we can be in a position to request State funds for this project in the 1967 session of the Legislature. In order to be in this position, many things must be accomplished on a local level. Therefore, the Board has appointed certain citizens of the County to serve on a Community College Steering Committee…. You have been appointed to serve on this committee. We hope you will agree to serve in this capacity to help assure a Community College for Vance County.” Of the 36 people appointed at that time to the Steering Committee, Haun was among just five women.
“She was very proud of the opportunity to serve in that capacity,” Rosenberger said. “She was probably selected to be on the steering committee because she was active in the Kittrell community and people knew that she was interested in education.”
Haun was quickly chosen to be a member of a three-person nominating committee to select the leaders of the new Steering Committee. She was later appointed to serve on the “General Survey Committee.”
The steering committee later changed its focus to seeking a Technical Institute, when it became apparent that the state was not going to approve a community college in Vance County. Local leaders knew they could always seek community college status at a later date, which they eventually did. Haun continued serving on the steering committee to form a technical institute, an effort which succeeded in 1969. One record shows she was involved in discussions of where to locate the initial campus for the technical institute. “I think about the people she served with on the committee back in the 1960s, and I think they’d be pleased to see how the college has grown,” Rosenberger said. “It was just a dream back then.”
A Warren County native, Frieda Bender married Walter Haun, and the couple raised four children. She led an active life, becoming involved in the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, Home Demonstration Clubs, 4-H Clubs, the Kittrell Community Club and Delta Kappa Gamma. She was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
“She took advantage of every opportunity to learn and to pass knowledge along to others,” her son, Harold W. Haun, recalled. “She always aimed higher.” Proud of her work at VGCC, he and his siblings remembered that their mother was, for whatever reason, the only one of her siblings who did not have the opportunity to go to college. “But she often said that, despite that fact, she was the only one of her siblings who taught at a college,” Rosenberger added.
When Vance County Technical Institute was still fairly new, Rosenberger said, her mother enrolled to take a continuing education class. “Someone in the class said they would like to learn about chair caning or making baskets, and my mother knew how to do that. She had been teaching things like that for the Home Demonstration Club,” Rosenberger recalled. “So she approached the college in the early 1970s about teaching such classes, and they agreed.” Haun continued teaching arts and crafts classes for VGCC through around the year 2000, when she was 85.
In the 1980s, it became difficult for Haun to leave her ailing husband at home for extended periods of time. With the permission of college officials, she started holding her classes in the basement of her own home. “VGCC became a great vehicle for her,” Rosenberger said. “Having the ability to teach in her basement really enriched her life in her later years.”
Along with letters, the records Haun kept about VGCC included meeting minutes and newspaper clippings. In addition, Rosenberger and her siblings have donated some of Haun’s handmade baskets to represent her artistry. Haun made baskets and stools and was particularly adept at chair caning. A chair she made was selected to represent VGCC in the N.C. Community College System’s art exhibition and sat for one year in the office of Robert Scott, the former governor of North Carolina, then serving as president of the system.
“Our mother would be glad that the college appreciates her collection and delighted that all those clippings she kept will be maintained here,” said her daughter, Betsy H. Stuart. “I’m glad she’s being remembered in this way.”
“We’re so grateful to the children of Frieda Haun for thinking of VGCC and for preserving their mother’s legacy,” said VGCC Endowment Fund Director Eddie Ferguson. “The unique items they have donated will be invaluable to us as we prepare to celebrate our college’s 50th anniversary in 2019.”
For more information on donating items related to VGCC history, contact Elaine Stem at steme@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3340 or Eddie Ferguson at fergusone@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3264.
–VGCC–
Fish Fry 3-19-18 To Benefit Local Missions
— WIZS has been asked to announce:
The Baptist Men at West End Baptist Church in Henderson are having a fish fry on Monday, March 19th to benefit local missions.
It will take place at 220 Seafood at 1812 North Garnett Street from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m.
The dinner will include trout, slaw, fries and hush puppies and a drink if you eat in. Take out is available. Regardless, the price is $7 per plate.
All proceeds will be used to support the various Missions of the Baptist Men, such as Lifeline Ministries, Rebuilding Hope, Area Christians Together in Service and others.
(WIZS is happy to make these announcements on air and online for non-profit organizations. Just visit https://wizs.com/psas/ and fill out the short form.)
Press Release Homicide 03/14/18
Update:
On March 14, 2018 around 11:30 a.m., officers with the Henderson Police Department responded to 227 Harrell Street in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found three individuals suffering from gunshot injuries. Vance County EMS and Henderson Fire Department responded and transported Devonte Jamal Jones, 21, of Henderson to an area hospital for treatment. Two other individuals, Tyheem Shabazz Person, 27, of 227 Harrell Street, and Dyrel Jermal Kittrell, 28, of Henderson, succumbed to their injuries on scene.
This is an ongoing investigation with the Henderson Police Department and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
The Henderson Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance. If anyone has any information related to this case, they are urged to contact the Henderson Police Department at 252-438-4141 or 252-492-0202, Crime Stoppers at 252-492-1925, or through the use of the P3 app on a smartphone or tablet device. Callers may remain anonymous, and Crime Stoppers offers rewards for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of suspects involved in criminal acts.
Authority: Chief Marcus Barrow