Town Talk 11/20/19: Cardinal Innovations & Baskerville Funeral Home Form Partnership

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Gina Dement, community engagement specialist with Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, and Charlie Baskerville, Jr., owner of Baskerville Funeral Home and a former Vance County magistrate, were the guests of honor on Wednesday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program.

Dement and Baskerville discussed their respective organizations’ recent partnership to offer free, monthly community engagement sessions at the funeral home located at 104 S. Chestnut Street in Henderson.

Recent meetings have included hard-hitting topics such as opioid use, trauma and resiliency, suicide prevention and guardianship rights and responsibilities.

In last night’s guardianship session, participants learned when guardianship is appropriate, how to start the process, guardians’ rights and responsibilities and available alternatives and strategies.

Dement said Cardinal Innovations is grateful to have an accessible place in the community to offer these sessions. “We are so thankful that Mr. Baskerville came to us. He said he wanted to give people a way to be engaged in their community.”

“I wanted a way to inform residents about favorable things happening in Henderson,” Baskerville explained. “People talk about the negatives, but we have some good things and good services available to the community.”

Cardinal Innovations Healthcare offers services for those with substance abuse disorders, mental health disorders and intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD). A 24-hour helpline staffed by licensed counselors is available by calling 1-800-939-5911.

For more information on Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, visit www.cardinalinnovations.org.

For additional information on the community sessions or if interested in hosting a similar program at your organization, contact Gina Dement with Cardinal Innovations Healthcare at (919) 215-0721or Gina.dement@cardinalinnovations.org.

To hear the interview in its entirety, including general discussion on community and mental health-related topics, please click the play button below. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.

Town Talk 11/19/19: Mast Drug Anticipates Dec. Opening of Dabney Dr. Location

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

Richard “Dicky” Flye, president and CEO of Mast Family Drug Company, was on Tuesday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss the upcoming grand opening of the new Mast Drug Store.

The multi-generational business, part of the Henderson community for over 50 years, will be moving from its current location at 501 S. Chestnut Street to its new location on Dabney Drive.

New Mast Drug Store on Dabney Dr. in Henderson undergoes finishing touches before its anticipated December 2019 grand opening. (WIZS photo)

With an anticipated early December opening, the company is waiting on the final permits to be signed and approved by the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy before announcing an official date.

The new building is located on the Mast Drug-owned property beside Quick Print, and is being constructed by H.G. Reynolds Company, Inc, a group that Flye said, “has done a fine job and are good folks from Henderson.”

At 4,500 square feet, the new location will be more than double the size of the current Chestnut Street building, thus allowing for a bigger pharmacy area, larger storefront and a gift shop.

Flye said it is fair to say that while the location will be changing, the services and the community feel will only continue to grow.

In fact, customers will see many of the same familiar faces when the new location opens, including long-serving Mast Drug employee Gayle Cheek, pharmacy manager, and David Vick, retail manager.

Briefly describing the history of Mast Drug, Flye said there was a time when the current Quick Print Building was a Henderson Drug location owned by his father-in-law Bill Mast and partner Charles Barnett.

When Mast and Barnett parted ways, Mast continued to operate the pharmacy [current Mast Drug] on Chestnut Street while Barnett ran the drug store at the Dabney Drive location for a number of years before moving his business farther down the road.

“We’ve missed being on Dabney; it was time to come back. Dabney is growing and there is going to be a lot of construction there in the next couple of years. It’s a busy area and it makes business sense to do it,” said Flye.

The most important thing to the family, according to Flye, is that Mast Drug is able to expand its coverage and its services while remaining local.

“We have family members involved – a generation below me. This is for them to take forward. I’ll still be around for a good while, I hope! This will set it up so we can continue in Henderson. It means a lot for us to be in Henderson and stay here. We are Henderson folks and we look forward to seeing you at our new store.”

(This is not a paid advertisement)

To hear Flye’s interview in its entirety, please click the play button below. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.

Granville Vance Public Health Logo

Town Talk 11/18/19: Granville Vance Public Health Talks Flu Shots, Health Priorities

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

Lisa Harrison, health director for Granville Vance Public Health (GVPH), was on Monday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss flu season and the department’s 2018 Community Health Assessment.

Flu Season

According to Harrison, now is the perfect time to receive your influenza shot for the 2019-2020 season. “We like to tell people to get their flu shot between Halloween and Thanksgiving. It’s nice to be protected as you spend more time with family and friends during the holidays.”

With a reported 341 deaths state-wide last season, Harrison said getting a flu shot is the best way to avoid becoming infected with the easily-transmitted virus.

“The number one preventable thing you can do is get the flu shot to make sure your immune system is ready to fight the flu with you,” explained Harrison. “Other things you can do include washing your hands with soap and water and covering your mouth when you cough.”

Flu season typically picks up in October, peaks between December and February and can last as late as May. With a 6-9 month protection period, Harrison said receiving the shot now will carry the majority of recipients through the anticipated flu season.

Shots are offered at GVPH, at most doctors’ offices, at drug stores, and even at some grocery stores.

“There are many places that offer the flu shot,” said Harrison. “We like you to get them where there is a nurse just in case you need any kind of follow up care.”

2018 Community Health Assessment

GVPH conducted the 2018 Community Health Assessment for Granville and Vance Counties in partnership with the NC Institute of Public Health, Triangle North Healthcare Foundation, and a CHA Steering Committee. Over the course of nine months, the group gathered information directly from community residents through surveys and forums and reviewed state and national data.

Priority topic areas included access to health care, community safety, education, health equity, mental health and substance use disorder, nutrition and physical activity, poverty and housing, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and youth well-being.

The top three community health priorities identified were mental health and substance use disorder, youth well-being and access to health care.

Applicable to all three identified priorities, but especially youth well-being, the health implications of early childhood trauma is an emerging area of study and understanding.

“We understand so much better now that when people experience trauma early in life, it can affect their health outcomes later in life,” said Harrison. “Trauma can suppress the immune system and increase chronic disease.”

GVPH is currently working with community partners including the YMCA, Triangle North Healthcare Foundation, other health departments, school systems and the Department of Social Services to “get a handle on how we become trauma-informed as agencies and how we better address trauma early on in people’s lives.”

For more detailed information, please click here to view GVPH’s 2018 Community Health Assessment Summary or visit GVPH’s website.

To hear Harrison’s interview in its entirety, please click the play button below. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.

Town Talk 11/15/19

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Shop With A Cop

Town Talk 11/13/19: Contributions Needed for Shop With A Cop Envelope Raffle

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Shop With A Cop Envelope Raffle 

Sponsored by the Henderson Police Department, Vance County Sheriff’s Office and Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce.

Thank you for your assistance with this fundraiser to benefit “Shop With A Cop.” When all the envelopes $1 – $180 are sold, collected, and returned back to the Chamber office, our local law enforcement will receive $5,000 to take Vance County disadvantaged youth Christmas shopping at Walmart.

Our Chamber will also be benefiting from the proceeds and using our funds to initiate new programs and enhance value to our Chamber member businesses. 

Law enforcement will select 60 of the envelopes and the Chamber will have the remaining 120. Envelopes are numbered $1 – $180 and include a raffle ticket. When you approach someone you know, friend, co-worker, or neighbor, you are going to get a check (made payable to the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce) for the amount on the front of the envelope. They may also contribute cash.

The contributor will fill out the raffle ticket. They keep the stub and you return the completed raffle ticket portion with their name and phone number in the envelope to the Chamber office. Remind your contributors that their name will be entered into a raffle drawing for cash prizes. 

The contributors giving $1 – $40 will be entered to win $200. When they give $41 – $80, they will be entered to win $500. Those contributing $81 – $120 will be entered to win $1,000. And our grand prize of $2,000 will be for those contributing $121 – $180.

To hear the Shop With A Cop interview in its entirety, please click the play button below. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.

Town Talk 11/12/19: Sadie’s Coffee Corner Open for Business in Downtown Henderson!

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

Dr. Stephen Pearson, co-owner of the newly opened Sadie’s Coffee Corner in downtown Henderson, was the guest of honor on Tuesday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program.

On Saturday, November 9, Pearson and wife Amanda celebrated the grand opening of the coffee shop located in the former Gupton’s Gun Shop building at 324 S. Garnett Street.

“The grand opening was awesome,” said Pearson. “We got to meet all kinds of people from town. A lot of people expressed joy in having a place to come, sit down, relax and get a good coffee.”

With local offerings from Wake Forest-based Black and White Coffee Roasters, Lake Gaston Coffee, Durham-based Big Spoon Roasters, Enfield Honey Farm in Halifax and baked goods from Strong Arm Baking Company in Oxford, the Pearsons are investing in the area they now call home.

Formerly based in Tampa, FL, the Pearsons began to familiarize themselves with the area when Stephen’s job as a contract worker for the government required travel to nearby Youngsville and Raleigh-based customers.

“Amanda fell in love with North Carolina and we decided to find somewhere that would be a great place to live,” explained Stephen. “We came to Henderson and saw some opportunity. We saw a town that possibly could use some investment.”

Alluding to the Henderson-Vance Downtown Development Commission and the City of Henderson’s efforts to reinstate the area to North Carolina Main Street status, Pearson said part of the attraction to downtown was the revitalization movement.

“To get a Main Street running the way it’s supposed to you need to have a barbershop and a coffee shop – places where people can do communal things. A place where people can have disagreements without arguments, talk politics or religion. When we came here, we were looking for a place like that and couldn’t find one. So we knew there was a natural need for it, and we believe downtown can grow from that.”

As for the name of their new venture, Pearson said the couple needed to look no further than their own loyal dog.

“Every day when I come home, my golden retriever Sadie sits at the door, wags her tail, has a big smile on her face and is happy to see me. When you walk through our doors, we want to put a smile on your face and know that you’re welcome,” said Pearson.

Sadie’s Coffee Corner is open seven days a week; Monday – Friday from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m., Saturday & Sunday from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.

For more information, please visit the website at www.sadiescoffeecorner.com, check the shop out on Facebook (click here) or call (252) 557-1165.

To hear the interview with Pearson in its entirety, please click the play button below. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.

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Town Talk 11/11/19: Upcoming Veterans Dog Walk ‘Therapeutic’ for Dogs, Participants

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

Mark Ferri, veteran and Vance County Animal Shelter volunteer, was on Monday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss the shelter’s upcoming Veterans Dog Walk event.

The event – Paws, Tails and Boots – will be held at the shelter, located at 1243 Brodie Rd. in Henderson, on Saturday, November 16, 2019, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

The public is welcome, with veterans, first responders and their families strongly encouraged to attend.

During the event, shelter volunteers and staff will be on-hand to answer questions and encourage participants who are eligible to commit to adopting an animal.

Founded by Ferri in 2016, the dog walk serves the twofold purpose of matching animals with loving owners and raising awareness of mental health issues.

According to Ferri, traumatic experiences are something that the shelter dogs and many veterans and first responders have in common and interactions between the two can be healing.

“It’s very therapeutic,” Ferri said. “A lot of people that have participated in the dog walk in the past have told me they feel like it’s a real help to them; the dogs love it too. You can come out and enjoy yourself without any kind of judgment from anyone or fear of being ridiculed or embarrassed.”

Fortunately, according to Ferri, society is becoming more aware and responsive to PTSD and other mental health issues. “Society isn’t very kind to the mentally ill; however, a lot of people are trying to turn that tide to get away from the stigma.”

To hear the interview with Ferri in its entirety, please click the play button below. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.

Town Talk 11/08/19

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Maria Parham Health

Town Talk 11/07/19: Demolition Begins on Maria Parham’s New $3.2 Million Cath Lab

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Maria Parham Health CEO Bert Beard and Dr. Sydney Short, cardiologist with Maria Parham Cardiology, were the guests of honor on Thursday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program.

Beard said he was pleased to announce that demolition has begun on the area that will serve as the hospital’s new catheterization (cath) lab. With a price tag of $3.2 million, the new lab will occupy currently unused space in the building and will be located off of the emergency room, directly adjacent to the helipad.

Work on the lab is expected to be completed in June or July 2020 with a grand opening to follow.

Short, who joined Maria Parham in January, said the current cath lab has grown exponentially as far as services provided in the past year.

“I’m very excited to be a part of the program here now,” Short said. “We are raising the level of care quite a bit. The cath lab has been here a few years, and in May 2019 we started doing PCIs.”

A PCI, or Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, is a non-surgical procedure that uses a catheter to place a stent in the heart in order to open up blood vessels that have been narrowed by plaque buildup. Complications of plaque buildup include chest pain, heart arrhythmias and heart failure.

Previously, MPH patients would have been referred to another hospital for such a procedure. “Now, patients that come in with chest pain can have a heart catheterization study done here and have a stent placed safely here,” said Short.

In addition to PCIs, Maria Parham Cardiology has increased its offering of other services including stress tests, echocardiograms, heart monitoring – including longer-term loop monitoring – and pacemaker implantation.

“The level of services has increased significantly, so we are able to do a lot of things to treat patients here who in the past would have been transferred,” Short explained.

Beard said continued expansion of both the quality and the quantity of health services offered in the local, rural community is the commitment of Maria Parham and Duke LifePoint Healthcare.

According to Beard, another example of this commitment will be realized at the end of January 2020 when Duke will station a life flight helicopter and crew at MPH 24/7. Two additional ambulances will also be stationed as part of the hospital’s designation as a strategic transport center.

“We are 100% committed to offering services that we know we can confidently provide to the patients at a high-quality level,” said Beard. “The additional services being offered should tell the community that you have access to quality care right here.”

To hear the interview with Beard and Short in its entirety, please click the play button below. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.

Grace Ministries

Town Talk 11/06/19: Grace Ministries Seeks to Feed 6,000 for Thanksgiving

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Jamie Elliott, founder of Grace Ministries in Henderson, was on Wednesday’s segment of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss the organization’s 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Drive.

Elliott, who described himself as a recovering addict, began Grace Ministries as a way to reach those in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties who struggle with addiction.

“God has brought me so far in my life that I want to share with our community and let everybody know that there is hope through addiction; that hope is Jesus,” Elliott said. “If I can use my life or share anything about my life, I’m happy to do that if it will save one person out there.”

One way Elliott said he gives back to the community is through the annual free Thanksgiving meal which will be served this year at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 23 at 961 Burr Street in Henderson.

The “Meal and a Prayer” event will feed approximately 6,000 people, according to Elliott, and community donations of traditional Thanksgiving meal items are greatly needed.

“We need 300 turkeys, 300 cakes, 300 gallons of corn and 300 gallons of string beans,” said Elliott. “We need donations and we need volunteers. This huge number is not going to get done by itself and it’s not going to get done by grace alone. We need local churches, local businesses and the community to step out in faith and get involved.”

For more information on how to donate and/or volunteer, please call Bobby West at (252) 432-7124 or Jamie Elliott at (252) 204-3617. For more information on Grace Ministries, visit their website at www.graceofhenderson.org.

Those struggling with addiction or those who wish to help loved ones struggling with addiction are encouraged to attend Grace Ministries’ 12-Step meetings on Tuesday and Friday evenings at 7 p.m. at 961 Burr Street. All are welcome to attend this addiction recovery process based on biblical passages.

To hear Elliott’s interview in its entirety, please click the play button below. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.