VGCC Radiography students collect supplies for Hurricane Matthew victims

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Students in the Radiography program at Vance-Granville Community College recently answered a call to help those who were devastated by Hurricane Matthew, collecting a massive amount of supplies for the victims in North and South Carolina.

VGCC Radiography clinical coordinator/instructor Stacey Soles arranged a partnership with Black’s Tire & Auto Service, which has 38 locations from Raleigh to Florence, South Carolina, and was founded in her home county of Columbus. The company was encouraging residents of its service area to collect supplies, which its employees would then pick up and deliver directly to those in need. Among the items being sought were diapers, children’s toys, bottled water, cleaning supplies, toiletries, non-perishable food, new t-shirts, socks and undergarments.

Students set up drop-off points on all four of the college’s campuses, in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties. Then, on Oct. 20, Black’s Tire & Auto Service picked up the donations at the South Campus, where the Radiography program is located. Students and faculty members loaded the supplies onto the truck sent by the company, which was quickly filled, and a second truck was called. Even that truck could not hold all of the donations, so Soles took some in her own vehicle to the company’s Raleigh location.

Black’s Tire & Auto Service later delivered the items to people in Fair Bluff, N.C., and Nichols, S.C., both of which experienced extensive flooding from the hurricane.

“The Radiography students and program faculty would like to extend our thanks to everyone who helped make the hurricane relief drive a success,” Soles said. “We were overwhelmed with the generous outpouring of support from our fellow faculty, staff, students and members of the community, including several businesses around our South Campus.”

Based at VGCC’s South Campus between Creedmoor and Butner, the two-year Radiography degree program prepares graduates to be radiographers, skilled health care professionals who use radiation to produce images of the human body. For more information on Radiography, contact Dean of Health Sciences Angela Thomas at (252) 738-3397.

Town Talk 11/03/16

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Economic Development Update 11/02/16

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Cooperative Extension with Jean Bell 11/03/16

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News 11/03/16

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Upcoming City of Henderson Meetings

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The Henderson City Council’s Land Planning Committee will meet on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, at 3:00 p.m. in the Large Conference Room at City Hall, 134 Rose Avenue.  The purpose of this meeting is to discuss property issues.

The Henderson City Council’s Housing Advisory Committee will meet in Council Chambers, 134 Rose Avenue, on Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.  The purpose of this meeting is to continue review/discussion regarding housing issues.  It is possible a quorum of City Council members may attend; however, no action by Council will be taken during this meeting.

VGCC Women’s Volleyball season ends with historic ‘firsts’

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For the Vance-Granville Community College Vanguards, the 2016 women’s volleyball season will long be remembered as historic. VGCC compiled a winning record (14-8) in the regular season, reached .500 in conference play (6-6), and won a match in the postseason — all for the first time in the history of the program.

In fact, those were all goals that Coach Christopher Young had set for the Vanguards at the beginning of the year. “We accomplished each of these goals and will build on those goals heading into next season,” Young said. “I am extremely happy with how our team performed throughout the season, leading up to our Region X Tournament. Our student-athletes practiced hard and gave everything they had while on the court competing, and as a coach, that’s all you can ask your athletes to do.”

In addition, the team’s two sophomores received All-Region X honors from coaches in the conference. Kiyanna Kearney of Henderson was named to the First Team, becoming just the second Vanguard ever to receive that honor, and was runner-up for Player of the Year. Jesse Edwards of Henderson, meanwhile, received an Honorable Mention for the All-Region team.

VGCC closed out the regular season by winning a doubleheader at home over Danville Community College on Oct. 18. In another “first,” the Vanguards played a home match somewhere other than Aycock Recreation Center in Henderson, because the contest had been rescheduled from an earlier date. Long Mill Elementary School in Youngsville served as the location. The first match was a 3-1 victory for VGCC, with the visitors eking out a 28-26 win in the first set but the Vanguards coming back to win 25-14, 25-15 and 25-10. Kearney led her team with 20 kills. Stormi Abernathy of Yanceyville posted a whopping 48 assists. Edwards had 4 digs along with 15 kills. VGCC won the second match over DCC in three sets (25-23, 25-16 and 25-16). Kearney posted 13 kills and 7 digs. Abernathy made 26 assists and 3 solo blocks.

In the NJCAA Division III Region X conference tournament, hosted by Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst, VGCC was seeded fourth, another high-water mark for the program. In the opening round, on Oct. 22, the Vanguards faced fifth-seeded Rockingham Community College and swept the Eagles in three sets (25-19, 25-18 and 30-28). Hannah Arneth of Oxford led VGCC in kills, with 15. Kearney had the most digs (20) while also posting 12 kills. Abernathy made 30 assists and 16 digs. Edwards contributed 15 digs and 8 kills.

Advancing to the tournament semifinals for the first time, the VGCC squad played their second match of the day against top-seeded Patrick Henry Community College, which only had one loss in conference play this season. The result was a three-set victory (25-9, 25-15 and 25-13) for the Patriots, who then went on to capture the Region X title by defeating Sandhills in the championship match. Coach Young called PHCC “an extremely talented team.” In the loss, Arneth again had the most kills (10) while Abernathy led in digs (11) and in assists (17). Kearney, in her final match as a Vanguard, posted 3 solo blocks, 9 digs and 6 kills. Edwards, also closing out her VGCC career, contributed 5 kills and 8 digs.

“Coming into the season, we knew we only had two returning players, Jesse and Kiyanna, and we were going to need to rely on freshmen to step up early and contribute, which they did in a big way,” Coach Young reflected. “Players like Hannah Arneth, Stormi Abernathy, Katelynn Ray, Hanna Williams and Allyson Cash were a large piece of the puzzle for our team, while Ashley Parker, Madison Waddle and Nicole Bowman contributed throughout the season when called upon. When the postseason rolled around, our team seemed to be playing some of the best volleyball we had been playing all season. Hannah, Kiyanna and Jesse really stepped up their games during our Region X Tournament.”

News 11/02/16

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Fire Destroyed 106 Year Old House; Cause Undetermined

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The fire that destroyed a local, well-known house and church on North Garnett Street will be listed as having an undetermined origin.

City of Henderson Fire Chief Steve Cordell told WIZS News, “We are determined that it’s undetermined.  We know the area that it started in.  We are very confident in our investigation as far as area of origin, but, as far as the initial cause of the fire, that will be reported as undetermined.”

That is a permanent decision Cordell said.  He said, “Unless something comes up or somebody comes up and gives us more information than what we were able to find at the scene, it will be an undetermined fire.”

Three representatives from the State Bureau of Investigation, three representatives from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Cordell investigated the blaze from 10 a.m. Tuesday until 5 p.m. Tuesday.

As Cordell explained it, the investigation was extensive.

The house was formerly a home place, later a funeral home and was presently a church.  It was destroyed by fire overnight.  The house was historic from a standpoint of its age, but also because of the well-known and respected families and organizations that have used it, including the Kesler family, the Flowers family and other present day owners.

No one was injured when the former Flowers Funeral Home Building at the corner of North Garnett Street and Hamilton Street burned.

Cordell indicated the fire started about 4 a.m. or 4:15 a.m. and was fully engulfed when fire fighters arrived.

There are pictures and comments on the WIZS Facebook page.

Another popular, local Facebook page, Remember When…(Reminiscing About Henderson, NC) has a video of the fire and a place to comment.

Papa John’s Delivery Driver Robbed in Henderson

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On October 16, 2016 at approximately 9:44 PM officers with the Henderson Police Department responded to 1526 Dabney Dr. (Papa John’s) in reference an armed robbery. Upon arrival, officers found that a delivery driver for Papa John’s had been robbed in the roadway and in front of 617 Roberson St. for an undetermined amount of US currency and pizza.

The investigation is being conducted by members of the Henderson Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division. 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