The Local Skinny! Black History Profiles Garrett Morgan
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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
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Perry Memorial Library has several opportunities for patrons to observe Black History Month as they take part in interactive workshops, take book walks and go on scavenger hunts.
Youth Services Director Melody Peters ran down a list of activities that are already underway or will be presented during February.
The “pop up” story walk located right outside the library features the classic children’s book “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats, Peters told WIZS’s Bill Harris on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny! This literary classic is the first children’s book that features an African American child as the main character, she said.
The story walk idea blends activity with learning, “to encourage little ones to read – and walk. When you’re walking and reading and learning,” Peters said, it builds excitement for what’s going to be on the next panel. This story walk will be up all month for families to enjoy.
Speaking of families, Peters said the next family program will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28 and will feature Mama Azia’s African Dance, Drum & Storytelling. This culturally immersive interactive workshop, Peters said.
Participants will have a chance to learn new things, but they’ll also have a chance to dance, Peters said. There are currently about 30 people in the ongoing family program, but Peters said there’ plenty of room for more.
Youngsters can take part in a scavenger hunt to learn more about inventions during Black History Month.
“Kids love a hunt,” Peters said. “They love to find things.” Pick up a card at the Youth Services desk, find all the items and return the card to get a prize.
Adult patrons can opt for a “Blind Date with a Book” in the Adult Services area of the library. Read the first line of novel to get a hint of what the novel may be about while also becoming interested in reading something new.
Next Saturday, Feb. 18, families are encouraged to bring the little ones for a children’s dental health workshop. The workshop will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is presented by CDA Ny’Kirah Street, a student in N.C. A&T State’s health services management program.
Kids can learn how to brush and floss and promote dental health from someone who’s not a dentist…or their parents.
“The key is learning good habits early,” Peters said.
Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/ for a complete list of events and programs at the library.
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Watch out, Oxford. Your tiny neighbor to the south is gaining on you. It will only take a couple of hundred more people to stake the claim of being the largest town in Granville County.
That, according to local historian Mark Pace, who talked with WIZS’s Bill Harris for the “Around Old Granville” segment of The Local Skinny! Monday.
Butner’s growth today, however, pales in comparison to the early to mid-1940’s when the U.S. government built Camp Butner as it was gearing up for World War II.
Pace said William B. Umstead and his brother John were instrumental in getting the federal government to locate Camp Butner in the southwest corner of the county, close to a big city (Durham), but not “too” close, Pace said.
Construction began in February 1942, on more than 4,000 acres of mostly farmland, much of which had been owned and worked by families for 200 years or more.
“It was amazing how quickly it was built,” Pace said. Within five months, there were numerous structures, including an armory, sports building and a water tower, all of which are standing today.
“They had 15,000 people working 24-7 to build that camp,” Pace said. And because it was a federal project, the state’s segregation laws were superseded by federal jurisdiction, which meant that for the first time, African Americans were hired the same as their White counterparts, he added.
Camp Butner was home for thousands of workers, civilian and military, but also for more than 4,000 German and Italian prisoners of war.
“So many farm people had been called up to serve, POWs would go and work farms,” Pace said. “And they’d get paid a little bit, too.”
After the war ended, much of the property reverted back to the landowners, but the footprint of Camp Butner became what is now considered the town of Butner. But until it was incorporated in 2007, the town was run by the state of North Carolina.
“Go to the town hall,” Pace said. “There’s a marvelous museum in the lobby” chronicling the creation of the town that once was known as Camp Butner.
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Martin Luther King Jr.’s now-iconic “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered at The March on Washington.
As we celebrate Black History Month, please enjoy by clicking play below the first in a weekly series here on WIZS as produced by our Steve Lewis of the WIZS Weekday Wake Up!
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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
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The van fleet at Rebuilding Hope, Inc. has doubled, thanks to a recent donation by Island Creek Baptist Church.
Randolph Wilson, coordinator of the non-profit, located in the former Coca-Cola Bottling Co. location, said the 15-passenger van will be especially helpful when it’s time to take volunteers to various project sites during the summertime Servants on Site mission.
West End Baptist Church had made a similar donation earlier, Wilson noted in the group’s monthly newsletter.
RHI relies on volunteers and donations from the community and beyond to help achieve their mission of helping area homeowners repair – free of charge – roofs and install wheelchair ramps, keeping them safe and able to remain in their homes.
Early Bird registration ends tomorrow for the annual Servants on Site project, scheduled for June 19-23. The reduced cost is $125; after tomorrow, the cost is $150.
The fee includes a specially designed t-shirt, as well as all meals and lodging. Scholarships are available. SOS is a weeklong project that includes work, worship and witness – in Vance and surrounding counties. Young people who have completed 6th grade through adults may participate.
To learn more about SOS and other ways to=participate in Rebuilding Hope programsand projects, visit www.rebuildinghopeinc.org.
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They are everywhere – in office buildings and schools, under kitchen sinks and in so many other places where fires could break out. But just because we see fire extinguishers throughout the course of a day doesn’t mean we know how to use them.
Vance County Schools puts a strong emphasis on providing students with experiences and opportunities and high school students in the Public Safety 2 class recently got some hands-on, live training with extinguishing a fire. Students went through training ahead of the actual lab to learn proper techniques and the use of a fire extinguisher. Each student discharged the fire extinguisher to put out a live, controlled fire, with 100 percent success.
Public Safety is one of the many courses offered through the Career and Technical Education program.
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The kickoff event for the “Feeding the 5,000” food ministry is set for this Saturday, and Corey Brooks, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church near Ridgeway, said volunteers will be ready to serve a hot meal between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
“Come in, sit down, have a hot meal…and enjoy a time of fellowship,” Brooks said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!
During the colder months, the meal will be served in the church fellowship hall, but when the weather’s nicer, the plan is to “meet people where they are” and go to different places in the community to serve food.
Thanks to funding from the Mid-Atlantic Lutheran Mission and other local folks interested in helping with food insecurity issues in the community, Brooks said the project has taken shape.
He also said a “Blessing Box” is built and ready to be installed across from the Norlina post office. The weather hasn’t cooperated for installation, but Brooks said it should be up and running by the weekend.
The idea is simple: “Take what you need and leave what you can,” Brooks said of the box, which will be stocked with food items. And Bibles, too.
“We’re excited to have others from other churches in the community that are going to help and volunteer to make this come together,” Brooks said of the meal program. They are brothers and sisters in Christ, he said, “here to serve our neighbors in need.”
Monetary donations can be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, with “Feeding the 5,000 food ministry” in the memo line.
The church is located off the Ridgeway-Drewry Rd., 114 Poplar Mt. Rd., Norlina, NC 27563.
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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
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