The Local Skinny! Junior Firefighter Program

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Area fire departments and the Henderson-Vance Recreation & Parks Department are teaming up to host a free Junior Firefighter Program for young people while they’re out of school for spring break.

Vance County Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Chris Wright said the three-day program will be a way to help educate youngsters between the ages of 11-15 about fire safety. But they’ll also get the chance to check out those shiny red fire engines and all the equipment and tools that firefighters use.

Wright spoke Thursday with John C. Rose on The Local Skinny! to discuss the program, which was first held in 2019. COVID-19 forced cancellation in 2020 and 2021, but “we’re kicking it back off this year,” Wright said.

Parents must register their child at Aycock Recreation Center by March 27. The program is open to the first 15 participants. The program will take place April 18-20, 2022.

The participants will tour the city and county fire departments, EMS and Rescue Squad. The Henderson Fire Department will provide their smoke trailer and the young people can experience simulated smoke conditions.

They’ll learn the importance of knowing two ways out of their house in case of a fire, as well as having a designated meeting place that all family members know about in case they get separated in a fire emergency.

In addition to safe home evacuations, the participants will learn safety basics of water rescue and removing victims from vehicles in an emergency.

“They’ll have projects to work on through the program,” Wright said, and then they will get the chance to present those projects to city and county officials at a culminating activity at the end of the three-day event.

“The guys here at the fire department love it,” Wright said of their participation in the junior firefighter program.

“It’s a good program that Kendrick (Vann) brought to our attention a few years ago,” Wright said, referring to the HVPRD director.

The junior firefighter program is a way to help draw interest from the younger crowd, which could result in a young person wanting to become a volunteer firefighter or even make it a career.

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Home And Garden Show 02-09-22

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

THIS WEEK IN THE GARDEN

  • Avoid the rush get your lawn mowers serviced before the mowing season starts.
  • Get ready to plant your vegetable garden! Many cool season crops can be planted in mid-February. Get beds ready, check your seed supplies, and begin looking for quality transplants at local nurseries.
  • Clean reorganized your garden sheds.
  • Pick up some fertilizer for your tall fescue lawn. Get a slow release turf fertilizer for application in mid-Feb.
  • On warm days 70F or warmer provide ventilation in greenhouses and cold frames if growing plants in them.
  • If you use a turf fertilizer that’s combined with a weed or insect killer, remember that you are handling a pesticide! Read the instructions carefully and follow all precautions.
  • Clean seedling trays 1 part bleach 9 parts water before adding media and planting seeds in the trays.
  • Don’t purchase fruit crops without doing variety research first.
  • Make your seed orders ASAP some varieties of seed are selling out fast.
  • Get ready to do a dormant spray on your fruit trees. Also check your stock of chemicals and spray equipment so you’ll be ready to make the necessary treatments that start soon after flowering.

 

The Local Skinny! Jobs In Vance 02-08-22

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The H-V Chamber of Commerce and WIZS, Your Community Voice, present Jobs in Vance for February 8, 2022. The Chamber compiles the information, and it is presented here and on the radio. Contact the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce at 438-8414 or email christa@hendersonvance.org to be included.

JOB OPENINGS IN VANCE COUNTY – Week of February 08, 2022

 

Name of the Company:  Vance County Sheriff’s Department

Jobs Available: Maintenance person for the Vance County Detention Center

Method of Contact:  If interested please call Major Shelton or Captain Moss @252-438-3923

 

Name of the Company: Vance County Schools

Jobs Available:  Communications Coordinator

Method of Contact: For more information and to apply go online to www.indeed.com

 

Name of the Company:  Turning Point CDC

Jobs Available:   Group Leader of Creating Success After School – Involved in the planning, implementation, evaluating and delivery of program for youth ages 5-12. All applicants must be available to work on-site Monday – Friday 2:00 – 5:30 pm and must have a valid driver’s license.

Method of Contact:  Applicants can apply by visiting www.turningpointcdc.org/get-involved and can call 252-621-5190 with questions

 

Name of the Company:  Benchmark Community Bank

Jobs Available:  Customer Service Representative – This is at the Youngsville location

Method of Contact:  Interested applicants please call Tish Elliott in their Youngsville Office at 919-750-8753

 

Name of the Company:   Boys and Girls Club of NC

Jobs Available: Youth Development Professional – Creates an environment that facilitates the achievement of Positive Youth Development Outcomes and provides guidance and role modeling for members while promoting and stimulating daily learning. This is a part time position

Method of Contact:  Interested applicants may send resume to SLAVETT@BGCNCNC.COM

 

 Name of the Company:  Vance County Government

Jobs Available: Positions are now available with Department of Social Services, Sheriff’s Department, Fire Department, Planning and Development, Emergency Operations, Register of Deeds and more

Method of Contact: For a list of all listings with job descriptions and qualifications go to Vance County website and look under job postings

  

Name of the Company:  Vance County Department of Social Services

Jobs Available:   Child Support Agent II, Income Maintenance Caseworker III, Social Worker II

Method of Contact:  For more information call or go by your local NC Works Office

  

Name of the Company: Document Systems

Jobs Available: Looking to fill a Service Technician position

Method of Contact: If interested in applying, please call 252-433-4888

 

Some of these businesses are present or past advertisers of WIZS.  Being an ad client is not a condition of being listed or broadcast.  This is not a paid ad.

 

The Local Skinny! Gang Free Inc. Has Masks; COVID-19 Update

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Need some N95 masks? Look no further than Gang Free Inc. Founder Melissa Elliott said she’s got plenty, with more ordered and on the way.

Elliott told WIZS News Monday that anyone in the community who would like masks can simply head out to the Gang Free, Inc. location at 940 County Home Road any weekday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Elliott said the masks come from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and are free. She also has COVID-19 at-home rapid tests available.

She estimates that her organization has distributed more than 6,000 masks and 2,000 test kits in the past couple of weeks. Recipients include area police departments and other agencies.

“If people need them, they can come and get them,” Elliott said.

Each box contains 20 N95 masks, and she gives larger groups like churches a whole case – 240 masks in all – if they need them. The test kits come two to a box, with 90 boxes in a case.

She said she didn’t want anyone in the community to have to pay for taking a COVID-19 test when her organization has them available free for the asking.

According to the most recent COVID-19 update from Granville Vance Public Health, both counties continue to be in the high community transmission rate. Vance County reported 358 new cases for 28.7 percent and Granville County reported 439 new cases for 22.5 percent positivity rate.

There have been 13,461 cases of COVID-19 in Granville County and 11,380 cases of COVID-19 in Vance County for a total of 24,841 across the health district.

In the Bureau of Federal Prisons in Butner, there were 44 Granville County inmates whose positive test results were reported to the local health department in the last week. In addition, there are currently 20 staff of the federal prison with COVID-19 (including 17 Granville County residents and 3 Vance County residents).

Granville County has documented 110 deaths as a result of COVID-19 and Vance County has a total of 111 deaths for a total of 221 deaths across the health district.

 

NC Homeowner Assistance Fund Open Statewide

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North Carolina Homeowners Financially Impacted by Pandemic May Be Eligible for Housing-Related Help

— press release

The NC Homeowner Assistance Fund is now accepting applications from North Carolina homeowners whose finances were impacted by the pandemic and who need assistance with housing-related expenses. Established through the 2021 American Rescue Plan to prevent mortgage delinquencies, defaults, displacements and foreclosures for homeowners experiencing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Fund offers assistance of up to $40,000 for qualified homeowners as long as funding is available.

“The economic impact of COVID-19 has been felt by many North Carolinians,” said Scott Farmer, executive director of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, which is administering the NC Homeowner Assistance Fund. “This program is designed to help homeowners who are experiencing pandemic-related financial hardships hold on to their homes while they get back on their feet. Ensuring that families have stable housing has always been our mission and that has become even more critical during this ongoing public health crisis.”

For qualified homeowners, the fund offers:

• Housing payment assistance for primary residence in North Carolina (for example, single-family home, townhome, condo or mobile home).

• Assistance for mortgage reinstatement to catch up on late payments (first or second mortgages) or other housing-related costs due to a period of forbearance, delinquency or default.

• Assistance covering other housing-related costs such as homeowner’s insurance, flood insurance, mortgage insurance, homeowner’s association dues/fees or delinquent property taxes to prevent foreclosure.

Homeowners may be eligible for assistance if they are experiencing financial hardship due to job loss or business closure, reduction in hours or pay, difficulty obtaining new employment, death of a spouse or co-borrower or increased expenses due to the pandemic. Increased expenses can be due to health care, the need to care for a family member, increased child care costs due to school closures or increased costs associated with quarantine. Applicants must be seeking assistance for a primary residence in North Carolina and meet income and other requirements.

Homeowners can learn more and apply for help by calling 1-855-MY-NCHAF (1-855-696-2423) or by visiting NCHomeownerAssistance.gov.

The Local Skinny! Vance Eats: Tru Soul

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Breakfast…most of us start off the day with some type of breakfast. It is said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If that’s truly the case, then perhaps we should all eat breakfast more often! Breakfast for supper? Sure, why not or, as Trey Snide found out today on The Local Skinny’s Vance Eats segment, breakfast makes for a pretty good lunch as well. Vance County’s Raynard Fitts has opened Tru Soul in Oxford and Creedmoor and his food was featured on today’s show.

The “Multiverse”, as it is called, is perhaps best described as a pancake sandwich. In between the pancakes, the hearty eater will find bacon, eggs and hamburger. This is all topped off with syrup which Trey had high praise for. In fact, he was so pleased with the syrup he added more after a couple of bites.

Tru Soul Food is more than breakfast as they also serve fried chicken, fried fish, hamburger steak and gravy, oxtails, a wide variety of vegetables and much more.

According to Fitts it’s delicious. “I promise you, you will not be disappointed,” he told Trey this morning. Fitts also explained that the business is about to change the name and are in the process of rebranding. Tru Soul is located at 1102 Goshen St. in Oxford and at 1597 NC 56 in Creedmoor. They are open 11am until 8pm seven days a week.

The Local Skinny! on WIZS can be heard at 11:30am Monday – Through Thursday on WIZS 1450am, 100.1fm and at wizs.com.

Home And Garden Show

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

  • Use vermicomposting (earthworms) to compost food scraps into compost for your garden
  • Go ahead and start pruning grapevines whenever we get a few mild days. Don’t worry if they exude sap.
  • Keep a good thermometer in your greenhouse and cold frame when growing plants
  • Get ready to fertilize your tall fescue lawn. Pick up a slow release turf fertilizer for application in mid-Feb. It’s fine to use one combined with crabgrass preventer, but I recommending avoiding other combinations.
  • Prepare your pruning equipment because pruning season is fast approaching.
  • Take stock of stored gasoline. Any stored gas that has an ethanol component can cause starting and running problems for lawn and garden equipment.
  • Check seedlings growing indoors, light and moisture are key.
  • Get ready to do a dormant spray on your fruit trees. Also check your stock of chemicals and spray equipment so you’ll be ready to make the necessary treatments that start soon after flowering.

 

The Local Skinny! Around Old Granville: Weldon’s Mill

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It’s been decades since Weldon’s Mill closed, but it remains a local landmark that represents memories of times gone by, when just about every creek or stream had a mill on it.

And although Weldon’s Mill is still standing, it’s not in good condition, but Mark Pace said the foundation of the old mill is probably original. That means it’s been around since the 1700’s, when Granville County included what is now, Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin counties. Pace joined Bill Harris for the Around Old Granville segment of The Local Skinny! Tuesday and waxed poetic about the legacy of mills in and around the area.

In 1884, there were two dozen mills still in operation in the area. That number dropped to half a dozen by the mid-1950’s. But one of those was Weldon’s Mill, located on Sandy Creek in the southern part of Vance County.

The mill was originally started between 1785 and 1790, Pace estimated, and then had a series of owners before Canadian James Amos bought it in 1874. The Weldon family bought it in the 1930’s and it stayed open until 1964.

There were actually two mills located on opposite sides of the creek, Pace said. The one that still stands today wasn’t the grist mill – that one got washed out in 1917. The mill that stands today had a saw mill on the first floor and a cotton gin on the second floor.

“They took the old mill that was still standing and retrofitted that as a grist mill,” Pace said.

The mills weren’t just a place to get wood sawn, cotton ginned or corn ground, he said. When Vance County was formed in 1881, the Sandy Creek Township was divided into two voting precincts. Depending on which side of the creek you lived on, you voted at one mill or the other.

At least one congressman representing the area would have meetings there, too. “Edward W. Pugh would come there and hold his political rallies there” at the mill.

While the foundation probably dates back to the 1700’s, Pace is skeptical that the rest of the building also is original. “A curious thing about the mill,” he said, is that there is mortise and tenon and peg construction, “the actual boards have been cut with a circular saw,” indicating that the boards may have been salvaged from previous structures.

The Local Skinny! Jobs In Vance

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The H-V Chamber of Commerce and WIZS, Your Community Voice, present Jobs in Vance for February 1, 2022. The Chamber compiles the information, and it is presented here and on the radio. Contact the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce at 438-8414 or email christa@hendersonvance.org to be included.

JOB OPENINGS IN VANCE COUNTY – Week of February 01, 2022

 

Name of the Company:   Boys and Girls Club of NC

Jobs Available: Director of Facilities and Safety – is responsible for the planning organizing, managing and directing various technical responsibilities associated with the maintenance of facilities, vehicles, grounds and equipment

Method of Contact:  For more information call 919-690-0036

 

Name of the Company: Boys and Girls Club of NC

Jobs Available:  Resource Development Coordinator – is responsible for providing administrative support for the generating of fundraising income through campaigns targeting local businesses, churches, civic groups and individual donors within the community

Method of Contact: For more information call 919-690-0036

 

Name of the Company:  Vance County Department of Social Services

Jobs Available:   Child Support Agent II, Income Maintenance Caseworker III, Social Worker II

Method of Contact:  For more information call or go by your local NC Works Office

 

Name of the Company:  Vance County Department Sheriff’s Detention Center

Jobs Available:  Sr. Maintenance Specialist, Kitchen Worker

Method of Contact:  For more information call or go by your local NC Works Office

  

Name of the Company: Eckerd Kids

Jobs Available: JJ Case Manager

Method of Contact: For more information call or go by your local NC Works Office

  

Name of the Company:  Hollander Sleep Products

Jobs Available:  Truck Driver and Lead Distribution

Method of Contact: For more information call or go by your local NC Works Office

  

Name of the Company:   Boys and Girls Club of NC

Jobs Available: Youth Development Professional – Creates an environment that facilitates the achievement of Positive Youth Development Outcomes and provides guidance and role modeling for members while promoting and stimulating daily learning. This is a part time position

Method of Contact:  Interested applicants may send resume to SLAVETT@BGCNCNC.COM

 Some of these businesses are present or past advertisers of WIZS.  Being an ad client is not a condition of being listed or broadcast.  This is not a paid ad.

 

The Local Skinny! Register Now To Attend Feb. 1 Expungement Clinics In Henderson, Oxford

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Learn how to get your criminal records expunged tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 1) at two free informational clinics – one in Henderson and one in Oxford.

The Kerr-Tar Reentry Roundtable is partnering with Legal Aid of North Carolina to host the events, during which Legal Aid staff will walk participants through the process of getting previous records expunged, or cleared, which could have a positive impact when applying for jobs or housing.

The clinics will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Perry Memorial Library, 205 Breckenridge St., Henderson and at the Oxford Housing Authority, 101 Hillside Dr., Oxford, according to KTCOG strategic initiatives coordinator Kisha High.

High told John C. Rose on Monday’s The Local Skinny! that the clinics are informational only; those who attend and qualify for record expungement will be notified to attend an April 12 clinic at Hix Gym in Oxford to complete the expungement process.

“This is our very first expungement event,” High said. Monthly information sessions are planned and she said most likely the expungement clinics would be held quarterly.

The Second Chance Law that went into effect in June 2020 provides information about which offenses can be expunged from a criminal record, and changes that took effect on Dec. 1, 2021 give more hope to those who wish to have records cleared.

Legal Aid staff will be ready Tuesday to clarify which charges and what type of offenses can be removed, she said.

Maybe it was a DWI or some other activity that happened earlier in a person’s life that is affecting their adult life now, High said. Even if a person’s criminal record is not able to be expunged, High said a “certificate of release” can be issued by a judge that indicates the prior record should not be held against the person.

Interested in participating? Contact Kisha High at 252. 436.2040, ext. 2008 no later than noon on Tuesday, Feb. 1.