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To hear today’s Town Talk segment in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk or click the play buttons below.
Listen live to Town Talk every Monday – Friday at 11 a.m. at 100.1 FM, 1450 AM or online at www.wizs.com.
To read the discussed Op-Ed piece from Maria Parham Health CEO Bert Beard, click here.
100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL
To hear today’s Town Talk segment in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk or click the play button below.
Listen live to Town Talk every Monday – Friday at 11 a.m. at 100.1 FM, 1450 AM or online at www.wizs.com.
To read the WIZS article regarding the Vance County Board of Commissioners’ 4-3 vote to remove the Confederate statue and monument, click here.
100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL
To hear today’s Town Talk segment in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk or push the play button below.
Listen live to Town Talk every Monday – Friday at 11 a.m. at 100.1 FM, 1450 AM or online at www.wizs.com.
100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL
North Carolina State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Monday at 11 a.m.
Folwell, who has served as NC State Treasurer since 2017, discussed a myriad of topics including unemployment, recent grants awarded to NC counties for COVID-19 recovery efforts, the economic fallout and recovery potential from the virus and much more.
A few takeaways from Folwell’s interview:
• $3 billion remains in the NC Unemployment Trust Fund. With money paid in by NC businesses, Folwell explained the fund works in much the same way as an insurance company.
• As part of the state-administered Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) that was passed by Congress, the four-county area will receive over $4 million in aid: Vance County – $974, 599, Granville County – $1,233,427, Warren County – $571,030 and Franklin County -$1,383,798.
• Rural NC communities are facing serious economic challenges.
• Estimates show the State will experience shortfalls of $3.5 – $4.5 billion dollars due to economic repercussions of the shutdown.
For press releases and updates from the Treasurer’s Office, including Folwell’s recent request for Governor Roy Cooper to grant a waiver of Executive Order No. 142 for Citizen-Owned Utilities and the announcement of reduced Medicare Advantage premium rates, visit the Treasurer’s website at www.nctreasurer.com.
To hear the interview with Folwell in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.
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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY
George Templeton “Tem” Blackburn II, local historian, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Wednesday at 11 a.m.
Blackburn discussed the important role Richard Henderson, a member of one of the first families to settle in the Henderson area, played in the expansion of the American West.
While officially chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1841, the city, named in honor of former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Henderson, son of Richard Henderson, was home to the Henderson family approximately one hundred years prior.
Unlike many areas of the country that experienced settlement from east to west, Blackburn explained the local area had a principal settlement pattern of north to south.
The Henderson family, including a young Richard, was the first among several planter families that relocated from the area near Richmond, VA in the 1740s, according to Blackburn. Other families, including the Bullocks and Williams, soon followed suit.
Richard Henderson, whose father Samuel was the first sheriff of Granville County, became a lawyer with an interest in opening the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Blackburn said Richard Henderson, with ties to pioneer Daniel Boone, ultimately gained the approval of the Cherokee Nation for a settlement through the Cumberland Gap into what is now Kentucky and Northern Tennessee.
While no major battles were fought in NC during the American Revolutionary or Civil War, and no prominent generals originated from the state, Blackburn said the local connection to the westward expansion of the country is of great historical significance.
“Before the Revolution, there was the opening of the American West,” Blackburn stated. “Richard Henderson played a key role in that. That gives our area a claim to say we are connected with the most significant event in NC history, which is tied to the larger history of the nation.”
To hear the interview with Blackburn in its entirety, including other historical facts, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.
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Garry Daeke, development coordinator for Franklin-Granville-Vance (FGV) Smart Start, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Daeke discussed Smart Start’s “Reach Out and Read” program as well as the agency’s on-going partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
“Reach Out and Read” (ROR) is an evidence-based literacy program that promotes early reading and school readiness during pediatric well-child visits beginning at six months of age. Doctors and their staff offer children a new book free-of-charge each visit and talk to parents about the important role reading plays in mental, social and emotional development.
“Where do parents really listen? All the studies show the number one place, when they have young children, is the pediatrician or the doctor,” said Daeke.
Partially funded through Smart Start, additional funding is provided by community partners such as the Duke Energy Foundation, which recently granted the agency $5,000 to assist with book purchase. Thanks to this support, Daeke said ROR continues to grow, with over 4,500 children and parents involved in the program last year.
Duke Energy is also a supporter of Smart Start’s other literacy program – the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Founded by singer and entertainer Dolly Parton’s Dollywood Foundation, the Imagination Library offers youth one free book a month – via mail – from birth through age five.
The books are developmentally appropriate for children at the age of sign up and change each month as the child grows, taking them through their fifth birthday before they “graduate” out of the program.
The first book participants receive is “The Little Engine That Could” by Watty Piper. The last book in the series is “Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come” by Nancy Carlson and teaches children ideas and concepts that will prepare them for elementary school.
“What an incredible way to be a fundamental part of your child’s growth,” said Daeke. “The brain develops from reading and engaging with your children. Social and emotional development comes from sitting down with your child and reading to them. There’s a lot of love and comfort provided in that; our children need that.”
Applications for the Imagination Library can be found at various locations locally including pediatric offices, childcare centers, the Granville Vance Public Health Department, Maria Parham Health, libraries and the FGV Smart Start office.
To hear the interview with Daeke in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.
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Monday’s Town Talk featured a light discussion, with call-ins, on good food and where to find it locally.
Click the play button below to hear the segment in its entirety, catch up on previous Town Talk segments by visiting www.wizs.com and listen live to WIZS at 100.1 FM/1450 AM each Monday – Friday at 11 a.m.
100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL
Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow appeared on WIZS Town Talk Thursday at 11 a.m.
Barrow discussed the recent passing of Retired Captain Michael “Mike” Rodney Davis, Sr. who served the Henderson Police Department and the Vance County community for 45 years.
Davis was honored at a graveside service on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, at Elmwood Cemetery in Henderson, with arrangements provided by Davis-Royster Funeral Service – the same funeral home that he once provided with police escort services.
“We did the last call yesterday at the graveside service, and that finalizes so many things, but it’s still surreal that he’s gone,” said Barrow. “For those who aren’t familiar with a last call, a 911 communicator calls out for the officer three separate times. After the third call, the officer will be announced as 10-42, or out of service. The responding dispatcher will then thank the person for their service. It’s very solemn and heartfelt.”
Davis, who joined the HPD in 1975, was one of the first people Barrow met when he came on board 22 years ago.
Retired Captain Michael “Mike” Rodney Davis, Sr., who served the Henderson Police Department and the Vance County community for 45 years, passed away June 9, 2020. (Image courtesy HPD)
“He was one of the first people I got to meet when I walked in the door, and I knew that Capt. Davis was in charge,” Barrow said. “He was a cop’s cop but a community cop also. He was stern when he needed to be stern, kind when he needed to be kind and a true professional. He loved to wear a uniform and, man, could he wear a uniform. When I picture him, I see him in uniform.”
While officially retired since 2006, Barrow said the department jokes that Davis didn’t know how to be retired. “We refer to him as retired, but he never really retired. He stayed on with the agency, and I think he put in more hours than anyone working various security positions and providing escorts for Davis-Royster Funeral Service. No one could do a funeral escort the way that Capt. Davis could; that’s an irreplaceable service to the community.”
In honor of Davis, Barrow said Breckenridge Street in downtown Henderson was lined yesterday with marked police vehicles “with blue lights flashing” and uniformed officers who saluted the hearse and Davis’ family. “That’s the least we can do for the family and in honor of Capt. Davis,” stated Barrow.
To hear the interview with Barrow in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.
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Larry Johnson, owner of SaddleRock Farm, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Thursday at 11 a.m.
Johnson, a resident of the Sandy Creek community, east of Henderson, discussed the washing out of Weldon’s Mill Dam after several days of heavy rainfall.
While not exactly sure when the dam was originally built, Johnson said it most certainly precedes his lifetime. “I’m 73-years-old and that dam has been there all of my life. Every time I went down Weldon’s Mill Road, that was the first thing I looked at – that dam.”
Johnson said he received a call Wednesday morning asking if the dam had broken. “I didn’t know, so I got in my truck and drove down there,” he said. “What I saw was pretty devastating. The water was coming across there like I’ve never seen in my life. The dam had burst with probably 90 percent of it down, and the water looked like it was coming out of a huge lake.”
The bridge on Weldon’s Mill Road, with the water normally 10 to 12 feet below – by Johnson’s estimate – was covered by a foot or more in water.
“The bridge is covered but hasn’t appeared to move,” reported Johnson. “I was very concerned that the Old Mill building might be washed away. There is water running around the foundation of the mill building, but it is standing.”
To hear the interview with Johnson in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.
Photo credit: Jeannie Rose, Honest Graphics, LLC
Photo credit: Jeannie Rose, Honest Graphics, LLC
Photo credit: Jeannie Rose, Honest Graphics, LLC
Photo credit: Jeannie Rose, Honest Graphics, LLC
