The Local Skinny! Chamber Adds New Board Members

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The Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce begins 2023 with some familiar faces in new roles.

In addition to new president Sandra Wilkerson, Bert Long is taking the reins as chairman of the board of directors for 2023. Long is the North Carolina project manager with H.G. Reynolds and is in his second year on the Chamber board.

Following is a list of other officers and their roles:

  • First Vice Chairman – Margier White, State Farm Insurance-Margier White
  • Second Vice Chairman – Turner Pride, NC Cooperative Extension Service
  • Treasurer – Angie Jacobs, Country Snacks Manufacturing
  • Secretary – Scott Burwell, Kennametal
  • Immediate Past Chairman – Ronald Bennett, Variety Wholesalers

Directors are elected to serve three-year terms on the Chamber board; the new class of 2023 – 2025 directors recently voted in are Scott Burwell with Kennamental, Stephanie Hoyle with Century 21 Country Knolls Realty, Dana Greenway with Kids World, Inc., Ann Holsing with Coastal Credit Union, Desiree Brooks with Kerr-Tar COG and Brandi Parker with Versatrim.

Incoming chairman Long thanked outgoing board members Brian Williams and Tyler Brewer for their service to the Chamber board at the group’s December board meeting. Williams is employed by Thermo King of Henderson and rotated off the board after serving three years. Brewer, vice president of Brewer Cycles in Henderson, has completed six years on the Chamber board. He also served as board chair in 2021.

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Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Now Through Mar. 31

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-information courtesy of the N.C. Dept. of Insurance

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey and SHIIP, the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program, remind Medicare beneficiaries about the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period in North Carolina.

“Our health can change dramatically within a year’s time,” Causey said. “If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, now is the right time to make sure you have the plan that best meets your needs.”

If you’re unhappy with your Medicare Advantage Plan (Medicare Part C), you have options. Each year, there is a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from Jan. 1 to March 31. During this time, if you’re in a Medicare Advantage Plan and want to change your health plan, you can do one of these:

  • Switch to a different Medicare Advantage Plan with or without drug coverage
  • Go back to Original Medicare and, if needed, also join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan

If you switch Medicare Advantage Plans or go back to Original Medicare with or without a Medicare drug plan, your new coverage will start the first day of the month after your new plan gets your request for coverage. Keep in mind, if you go back to Original Medicare now, you may not be able to buy a Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy.

SHIIP counselors are ready to help guide you through the process. Call 855.408.1212 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to speak to a SHIIP counselor.

The Medicare Plan Finder can also help you find, compare and enroll in a new Medicare Advantage Plan or a Medicare drug plan in your area. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1.800.633.4227) for help. TTY users can call 1.877.486.2048.

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period is only for people who are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan and want to change your plan, check out your options today.  Remember, the Medicare Advantage Plan Open Enrollment Period ends March 31.

Remember that SHIIP counselors are not licensed insurance agents. They do not sell, endorse, or oppose any product, plan or company.  If you have questions about your specific plan, please contact your insurance agent or insurance company.

The Local Skinny! Fire Department Nets 20K For Maria Parham Cancer Center

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Anyone driving past Maria Parham Hospital Wednesday afternoon may have wondered what in the world was going on – the Henderson Fire Department’s Engine 1 was parked smack dab in the middle of the circular drive of the lower level where the cancer center is located.

The department’s ladder truck was parked nearby, too, but there were no lights flashing, no sirens blaring.

But the firefighters weren’t there responding to a call – they had come to make a donation to the cancer center’s Angel Fund – a check totaling $20,508.

Battalion Chief Lee Edmonds and more than a half-dozen other firefighters gathered under the canopied drive at the cancer center’s main doors and presented the check to hospital officials and staff who graciously accepted it.

Hope Breedlove, hospital social worker, thanked the firefighters for their generosity, calling their annual fundraiser an example of “our community coming together to support our community…that’s just love.”

Edmonds said he and fellow firefighters stop traffic each fall in front of Central Fire Station on Dabney Drive for its “fill the boot” campaign. Since 2016, the fire department has been able to donate more than $80,000 for the cancer center’s Angel Fund, which is used to provide transportation, medicine and more for patients during their treatment.

Edmonds talked to John C. Rose about the check presentation during Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

Edmonds said he and the other firefighters “love being out there and being social with the community.” And drivers are generous with their donations, even though filling those empty boots does mean backing up an already-congested Dabney Drive.

For once a year, it’s ok, Edmonds said.

“It gives you time to get your money out of your pocket,” he said.

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Home And Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

• Along with New Year’s Resolutions set Gardening Goals for 2023

• Start making preps to plant cool season crops.

• Order vegetable seeds now and try varieties that have resistance to disease and grow well in zone 7B.

• Consider replacing some of your lawn and garden equipment with battery powered versions (e.g. trimmers, mowers, blowers, etc.). Quiet, easy to operate.

• Start planning your garden on paper. Draw your garden out. How many rows of each vegetable

• Begin scouting your lawn for cool season weeds.

• Have pictures of garden equipment with serial numbers for insurance purposes. Ex Fire or theft.

• Monitor your indoor plants for insect pests. Inspect closely, they can be easy to miss, but easily managed if found early.

• Construct a small greenhouse to be able to grow plants next year.

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Tyquaveon Williams, 20, of Abbott Road Arrested on Drug-Related Charges

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VCSO Press Release Information —

On Dec. 28, 2022 the Vance County Sheriff’s Office executed a traffic stop in the Gillburg Community.

Upon initial approach and contact with the driver, the detective was confronted with circumstances which led to probable cause to search the vehicle and its occupant.

The driver was identified as Tyquaveon Williams, 20, of Abbott Road. Williams was operating a white in color, 2016 Honda Accord four door at the time of the encounter and was driving with a suspended license.

Additional units with the Vance County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene to assist. A search of the vehicle was conducted revealing in excess of seven bricks of heroin, over 350 dosage units, a small amount of marijuana, brass knuckles and cash. Williams was taken into custody and transported to the Sheriff’s Office.

As a result of the traffic stop, Williams was charged with two (2) counts of trafficking heroin, felony maintaining a vehicle, carry a concealed weapon and simple possession of marijuana.

Tyquaveon Williams posted a $75,000 bond and was released from custody.

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KARTS In Line For Grant Money To Help Expand, Improve Services

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The Kerr Area Regional Transit system is scheduled to get part of more than $10 million in federal grant money that is being awarded across the state to help expand on-demand services for those who need help with transportation.

State transportation officials say the federal grant award –  $10.4 million in total – will be used in up to 11 communities across the state and has the potential to benefit thousands of individuals.

“More than one million people in North Carolina live in a household without a car or have other barriers limiting their access to reliable transportation,” said Ryan Brumfield, director of the Division of Integrated Mobility, a unit in the N.C. Department of Transportation. “By expanding on-demand transit services, we take an important step to remove barriers for these individuals. Having a more robust network of multimodal services will connect people to the jobs, educational opportunities, appointments and shopping they need for their daily lives.”

KARTS operates in Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin counties. Call to make a trip requests Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

KARTS vehicles also transport passengers to major medical facilities nearby, including Wake Forest, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill during the week. Service requests for the following day are taken until 1 p.m. or as capacity allows.

Passengers can arrange to use the rural, public transportation service to go shopping, to get to work, keep medical appointments and more. Visit http://www.kartsnc.com/ to learn more or phone 252.438.2573.

The award comes to the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Integrated Mobility Division from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural Surface Transportation Grant, which is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In addition to KARTs, Tar River Transit and Wave Transit in Wilmington also will get a cut of the money. Money will be distributed to similar type services in Alamance, McDowell, Johnston, Randolph and Rockingham counties, as well as in the towns of Sanford, Salisbury and Wilson.

The funding will pay for advanced transit scheduling software deployment and, in some communities, third-party contracts for vehicles and drivers to support the new on-demand services.

The Integrated Mobility Division applied for the funds to expand on-demand transit, in part, because of the success of prior on-demand transit deployments in North Carolina, including the Wilson RIDE service. That service has garnered national attention for its success and positive impacts.

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Home And Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Check garden hand tools clean, sharpen, sand handles, apply linseed oil to protect from rust
  • Download a copy of the Central NC Vegetable Planting Calendar so you can stay on schedule through the upcoming growing season.
  • Order vegetable seed asap some varieties have already sold out.
  • Continue to monitor soil moisture of anything you planted this fall (turf, trees, shrubs, pansies, etc.)
  • Spread aged compost on your garden
  • Learn more about exotic invasive plants and insects such as spotted lanternfly and do your part to prevent their spread.
  • Have pictures of garden equipment with serial numbers for insurance purposes. Ex Fire or theft.
  • Plan a visit to the State Farmers Market in Raleigh.
  • Construct a small greenhouse to be able to grow plants next year.
  • Make your 2023 gardening resolutions.

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The Local Skinny! City Council Renames Street For Eddie Hicks

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It won’t quite be the same as having him there in person, but Melissa Elliott says she’ll be glad when she can look out her window at Gang Free, Inc. and see the street sign that proclaims the street nearby as “Eddie James Hicks Street.”

The Henderson City Council voted to rename E. Winder Street for the local hero who died in October.

Elliott’s Gang Free, Inc.’s location is in the community known as Flint Hill, where Hicks grew up.

“He had many ties to Winder Street and the surrounding area,” Elliott said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

Newly elected council member Lamont Noel presented the request to the council, along with signatures on a neighborhood petition, and the matter easily was approved.

“Eddie’s heartbeat is in Flint Hill,” Elliott said. “It was an honor to be able to put this on the calendar so fast and to get it passed.”

Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington told WIZS News that the street name change will “honor the memory of one of (our) own who had many ties as a young man to Winder Street and the surrounding area. We remember that legends never die, they live on in our hearts forever

Eddie did so many things in this community, and the word “no” was not in his vocabulary when it came to requests for assistance from others.

“He would always help out,” Elliott said, from taking food to a senior adult to coaching a child, to waiting while Elliott finished up work for the day – which often turned into evening.

“He would not leave me at the building by myself,” she recalled.

Gang Free, Inc. is having a celebration gala Thursday evening, and Hicks’s widow, Jackie, is scheduled to attend.

“I’m excited about honoring Eddie – he will be with us tonight in spirit. He celebrated life and I’m just grateful to have known Eddie…he just wanted to make his community better.”

And while a street sign can’t take his place, Elliott said reading Eddie James Hicks Street will motivate her to keep Hicks’s memory alive by trying to make the community better.

 

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The Local Skinny! Gang Free Inc. Year In Review

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In the nonprofit world, so much emphasis is placed on the good that organizations do throughout the year. And that certainly is the case for Gang Free, Inc.

From the thousands and thousands of pounds of food that have been distributed to more than 34,000 people in need, founder and president Melissa Elliott is not short on praise for what the volunteers and so many community agencies have done to help the community in 2022.

But sometimes, you just need to stop for a second and celebrate successes, large and small.

That’s just what Elliott and others plan to do Thursday evening during the second annual gala event – celebrate accomplishments.

“It has been a very challenging year, trying to find our normalcy,” Elliott told John C. Rose on Thursday’s The Local Skinny! “We never stopped throughout the pandemic, (so) it’s time to wind down and celebrate accomplishments.”

The nonprofit world also is keen on quantifying efforts, and Elliott said she is pleased to see the numbers of those that Gang Free, Inc. has “effectively impacted -it’s quite overwhelming and I’m totally grateful to God,” she said.

Among those expected to attend the gala are elected officials – Elliott herself is a Henderson City Council member – as well as volunteers, community health workers and representatives of various community-based agencies that Gang Free partners with.

“We did things that had never been done before,” she said, referring to various minority-run entities that connected with Gang Free to provide services ranging from COVID-19 vaccine education to establishing a food pantry in collaboration with Vance County Schools.

Then there are the 267 toys given out to children in kindergarten-fifth grade, assistance to 165 families experiencing homelessness and fighting food insecurity throughout the area.

Elliott is quick to point out that Gang Free does not do this in isolation; rather, she praised the community for working together.

“We share and we do this work together – that’s what makes us such a wonderful community,” she said. “There is great connection in our community.” Working together relieves one agency of the whole responsibility to provide for those in need, she added.

Nonprofit leaders like Elliott may take a moment to reflect on the year’s work, but that moment is fleeting and, next thing you know, plans for the new year are taking shape.

There are plans for a new transitional housing and remodeling the homeless shelter, just to name a couple of projects for 2023.

Elliott and her volunteers have plenty of work to do, but tonight, they’re going to revel in what got done in 2022.

“I’ve seen God work miracles this whole year and I look forward to more,” she said.

Want to help? Phone 252.598.0067 or learn more  www.gangfreeinc.org.

 

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