by Jim Cribbs
Like father, like son was the theme of the night for the Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating & Air Late Model Stock division. Brandon Setzer, the son of Late Model great Dennis Setzer, took the top starting spot. To his outside was the car of Chris Denny, winner of the season’s first Late Model race. The second row of starters was comprised of Chuck Lawson and Thomas Beane his outside in the fourth place starting spot. The fifth place starting spot belonged to last year’s track champion Terry Dease with Daniel Moss to his outside. The seventh and eighth place starting positions belonged to Camden Gullie, son of short track specialist, Jason Gullie, and Dean Fogleman, respectively. Tripp Massengill, second place finisher and pole winner in the night’s earlier Limited Sportsman race, started in ninth.
As the race started, Denny took the lead from Setzer momentarily but Setzer squeezed back in front. Intense pressure from Lawson’s front bumper led to Denny getting loose, forcing his car to fall to third behind Lawson, all of this action in the first few laps. Lap four saw Beane and Dease running side by side for fourth with Moss doing his best to get by those two. Beam, on 35 lap older tires than those two, fell back to sixth, leaving Dease in fourth and Moss in fifth.
The first caution of the night came on lap 15 when the car of Fogleman grenaded a motor. That problem resulted in the car of Gullie sustaining right front damage, after bouncing off Fogleman’s car in the blinding smoke. After a lengthy pit stop repairing the damage, Gullie returned to the race still on the lead lap. Caution laps not counted in a 75 lap race. Lining up for the restart, with Setzer holding the top spot, the cars of Lawson, Denny, Dease, and Moss, occupied second through fifth respectively. Beane had to settle for restarting in sixth, with Massengill outside of him.
As the cars came to the green, Lawson appeared to momentarily jump the start. Realizing that, he slowed a bit, inadvertently allowing the cars of Denny and Dease to go by, one on each side of Lawson. From there, loose, sideways race cars continually changing positions gave fans the fender to fender action they came for. Unfortunately for Beane ended up retiring his car with only a third of the race completed. After things settled down a bit, a caution flag on lap forty brought the field back together. Setzer was still in the lead, Dease was in second, with Lawson and Denny behind them in third and fourth. Moss and Massengill occupied the next two spots as the fifth and sixth place cars. Gullie brought up the rear.
A sloppy restart led to a re-do. On the next restart, the top four cars of Setzer, Dease, Lawson and Denny were all over each other, bumper to bumper, fender to fender. Two laps later, Moss had to retire his car with apparent engine problems. At the checkered, it was Setzer with the win, having finished second to Denny in the first race of the season. Dease finished second, followed by Lawson, the third place car, and Denny in fourth. Massengill took the fifth spot, with Gullie taking sixth.
Limited Sportsman division began their 35 lap race with Tripp Massengill starting in the top spot and Daryl Carver to his outside as the second place starter. Carver started in his backup car, having wrecked his primary in the first race of the season. On the next row, third place starter Barry Beggarly, Jr was flanked by Jerry Hinesley, the fourth place qualifier. Row three belonged to Brent Evans, the fifth place starter and Richard Hayden in sixth. The next three spots were occupied by Tracey Chambers, Austin Purnell and Corey Purnell, in that order.
As the green flag fell, Carver bolted to first in front of Massengill. The car of Beggarly began to back peddle through the field, apparently having a mechanical issue, leading to his exit from the race eleven laps in and a ninth place finish. Corey Purnell had his own problems, ending up parking his machine on lap 19, finishing ahead of Beggarly in eighth.
As the race unfolded, Massengill continued to hound Carver for the lead, with those two staging an intense side by side battle for the last third of the race. At the checkered, Carver prevailed for his first win of the season. Massengill settled for a second place finish with Hinesley behind him for third. Hayden held on for a fourth place finish and Evans behind him in fifth. Chambers and Austin Purnell did their own share of jousting. Eventually, Chambers prevailed giving her the sixth place spot over Purnell, who wound up seventh.
In Victory Lane, Carver thanked the other drivers for their hard charging, sometimes fender rubbing, but courteous driving. Overwhelmed by emotion, Massengill was quite appreciative of his finish. Missing-in-action from tonight’s event was the winner of the last Limited Sportsman race and a recent Ace Speedway winner, Boo Boo Dalton.
Smokey Dave’s BBQ Mod4s twenty lapper provided some fender bendin’ action. Michael Cooper started on pole with Harold Summey on the outside of row one. Behind them were the cars of Corey Purnell and Mike Herron with Herron on the outside. Starting fifth through seventh were Randy Ayers, Timmy Wilder and Dennis Capps, in that order. With three laps of green flag racing completed, the car of Herron had a problem, putting him out of the race. After a brief caution on lap eleven, the field took the restart with Cooper out front, followed by Summey, Purnell, Wilder and Capps, who had recovered from a lap down thanks to the Lucky Dog Pass. Ayers restarted last one lap in arrears. One lap from the finish, the cars of Summey and Purnell came together coming out of turn 4, bringing out the caution and putting them out of the race. On the restart for a green-white-checkered finish, the car of Cooper was out front, Wilder behind him, followed by Capps and the lapped car of Ayers. However, Cooper missed a gear on the restart, giving Capps an opening to take the lead and the win. Cooper settled for second followed by Wilder in third and Ayers in fourth, one lap down.
The Quality Collision Solutions of Graham Grand American Modifieds roared to life with Gary Young Jr out front, having taken his second consecutive pole this season. Richard Thomas occupied the outside front row, with first-time OCS starter Issac Wright and Jonathan Cook behind those two. When the checkered flag flew at end of thirty laps, Young, Jr had his second consecutive win, followed by Thomas in the second place car and Cook in third. Wright ended up fourth, followed by Larry Cook in fifth.
Once again, John Comstock did a dance on the Martin family in 20 laps of competition for the Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks. Comstock started on pole with Wesley Martin, Kiser Martin and Jeffrey Martin occupying the second through fourth place starting positions. Devon Parrott started fifth followed by, yes, you guessed it, another Martin named Scott in sixth. As the race started, the Martins battled as Comstock held the lead. A competition caution was deployed on lap 12. The following restart saw leader Comstock falter just a bit, allowing Wesley Martin to get by, then Kiser Martin grabbed the lead. From there, Kiser and Comstock were side by side for several laps with Comstock getting back out front three laps from the end. At the finish, Comstock had his second consecutive win. The Martin family settled their differences with Kiser taking second, Scott in third, Wesley in fourth and Scott in sixth, with Parrott sandwiched between those two for fifth.
Twenty-five laps of Pure Stock racing provided few surprises as Danny Winstead, last year’s track champ, went from green to checkered to pick up his second consecutive win. Bobby Clayton was the second place finisher, followed by Trevor Winstead and Tyler Tolar, in third and fourth respectively. James Kerr and Les Aliff rounded out the field, a distant fifth and sixth.
Cooperative Extension with Paul McKenzie 05/31/17
/by CharleneTown Talk 05/31/17
/by CharleneNews 05/31/17
/by LarryHome and Garden Show 05/30/17
/by CharleneTown Talk 05/30/17
/by CharleneCooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland 05/30/17
/by CharleneMultiple Burglaries Reported in Oxford
/by WIZS StaffTO: News Media
FROM: Granville County Crime Stoppers
DATE: May 26th, 2017
SUBJECT: BURGLARY/LARCENY
Sometime between Wednesday, May 17th, late evening and Friday, May 20th, 2017 early morning hours an unknown person or persons unlawfully went upon private property off Highway 15 South, Oxford, NC and criminally removed 85 CertainTeed landmark algae resistant shingles, which were bundled and one wild game trail camera from a construction job site.
Sometime between Thursday, May 18th, late evening and Friday, May 19th, 2017 early afternoon hours an unknown person or persons unlawfully went upon private property off Goshen Road, Oxford, NC, and criminally removed a “2005” Suzuki LT-A500 4-wheeler, black in color bearing serial number 5saam43a057104297 from underneath a shed at a residence.
If you have information concerning this incident, please contact the Granville County Sheriff’s Office at 919-693-3213 or call Crime Stoppers 919-693-3100.
THE GRANVILLE COUNTY CRIME STOPPERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS AUTHORIZED THE PAYMENT OF A REWARD OF UP TO $1,000 FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST/INDICTMENT(S) OF PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE CRIMES. IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION CONCERNING THESE CRIMES OR ANY OTHER SERIOUS CRIME(S) IN GRANVILLE COUNTY. YOU ARE ASKED TO CALL THE GRANVILLE COUNTY CRIME STOPPERS IN OXFORD AT 919-693-3100.
Oxford Prep Inducts 47 into Beta Club
/by WIZS StaffFriday, in a school-wide ceremony, 47 students in grades 9 through 12 were surprised as they were tapped to join Oxford Preparatory School Beta Club, an academic and service oriented honor society. Beta Club President Rachel Sanya explained the meaning and history of Beta Club followed by Vice-President Noah Greenway who explained the principles expected of Beta Club members. Senior Beta Club member Alyssa Ross shared with the audience of over 450 people what the requirements are to maintain Beta Club membership at Oxford Prep. Students who were being tapped were then surprised as Senior Betas Zoe Peace, Jonathan Cole, Hunter Strickland, Asa Thomas, Alyssa Ross, Rachel Sanya, and Noah Greenway led in the notification ceremony by calling the names, providing a formal invitation to join and draping a academic excellence medal about the candidates’ necks.
To be invited for membership students must have completed at least 3 full semesters at Oxford Prep, must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and must have no grade less than a C. Students must maintain this high academic expectation along with giving 20 service hours per year in order to remain a member of the Beta Club. Students who choose to accept the invitation to join Beta Club will be formally inducted in a formal, evening candlelight ceremony in the fall of 2017.
Students invited to become members of the OPS Beta Club are:
Victoria Bradsher
Assistant Director
Oxford Preparatory School
VGCC grads encouraged by presidents of Community College System and student government
/by WIZS StaffLess than one year into his tenure as president of the North Carolina Community College System, Dr. James C. “Jimmie” Williamson addressed some of his system’s newest graduates as the principal speaker at Vance-Granville Community College’s 48th commencement exercises on May 12. Members of the Class of 2017 were joined by numerous loved ones at the outdoor ceremony in front of the gazebo on the college’s Main Campus.
While saluting the graduates’ accomplishments thus far, Williamson focused on what their future would hold. “Today is not just an end, it is also a commencement, a new beginning,” he said. “Each of you has a unique ‘what’s next’ path before you. Regardless of your path, you will face obstacles
along the way. It’s how you handle those obstacles that will matter the most.”
Williamson said that his own career path had not always been focused. “In hindsight, everything I’ve ever done has led me to this position today, but it was not always so clear for me,” he told the graduates. “Early on in my career, I landed in jobs, almost serendipitously at times, that enabled me to explore new ideas and concepts which I had never considered.” Likewise, Williamson advised graduates to be on the lookout for moments that offer the unexpected. “I’ve never had an opportunity come up to me and shout, ‘Hey, I’m that great opportunity that you’ve been waiting for!’” he said. “No, instead, it presents itself as a challenge or a roadblock that gently steers me in the direction that, upon reflection, seems to be the most obvious of all choices. I would urge you to fully vet any and every opportunity that comes your way.”
The state community college system leader cited the example of twin brothers in the graduating class, Paul and Peter Caroline of Louisburg, who looked at challenges as opportunities to be seized. Williamson formally presented the system’s Academic Excellence Award to Paul, just after he received his Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees. Both brothers, Franklin County Early College High School students, have received full QuestBridge scholarships, Williamson said, Paul to the University of Pennsylvania and Peter to Stanford University. “They will both make the N.C. Community College System, VGCC and their community proud as they embark on stellar academic pursuits,” Williamson said. “Paul and Peter, we are honored to have been a part of your future.”
Colton Hayes of Epsom, who graduated with an Associate in Arts degree, spoke on behalf of his classmates. A Franklin County Early College High School student, Hayes is the first student from an early college program to serve as president of the VGCC Student Government Association and student member of the college’s Board of Trustees. He is set to continue his education at North Carolina State University in the fall.
Hayes said that his time as a VGCC student had taught him about hard work and persistence. “For my fellow students about to walk across this stage tonight, things are about to change,” Hayes said. “Some of you are going straight into the workforce. Some are transferring to four-year universities to further your education. Some may even be going into the line of duty to serve our country. No matter what it is you do, it’s going to be far different from anything you’ve done up until this point, and it’s probably going to be a lot harder than anything you’ve ever done. But we’re going to deal with this the way we’ve dealt with everything else in our lives. We’re going to push forward. We’re going to get stronger. We’re going to get better. And we’re going to jump over every hurdle that life throws at us.”
Following the speakers, Dr. Stelfanie Williams, president of VGCC, applauded the graduates for their achievements. “The class of 2017 is a fine group of scholars,” she said, with 70 inductees into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society and one third of the class recognized as honor graduates. She noted the diversity of the class, who included not only young Early College High School students, but also “students who have attended college while taking care of families, and some students who are the first in their families to earn a college degree. These graduates reflect our living mission.”
After Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Angela Ballentine presented the candidates for graduation, Board of Trustees chair Danny Wright and President Williams presented degrees and diplomas and congratulated the graduates.
Members of this year’s class, including those predicted to graduate at the end of the summer term in July, were awarded a total of 523 credentials. These included 242 Associate in Applied Science degrees in a variety of curriculum programs, 174 Associate in Arts degrees, 59 Associate in Science degrees and 48 technical and vocational diplomas. Many students graduated with more than one credential.
Hayes led the new graduates in ceremonially turning their tassels as the ceremony concluded. Music was provided by the Vance-Granville Community Band, conducted by Brian Miller. Bearing the ceremonial mace for commencement was Law Enforcement/BLET Coordinator/Instructor Andrea Hyson, the college’s 2016-2017 Faculty Member of the Year.
–VGCC–
Military Appreciation Night, May 27, Orange County Speedway, Rougemont, NC
/by WIZS Staffby Jim Cribbs
Like father, like son was the theme of the night for the Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating & Air Late Model Stock division. Brandon Setzer, the son of Late Model great Dennis Setzer, took the top starting spot. To his outside was the car of Chris Denny, winner of the season’s first Late Model race. The second row of starters was comprised of Chuck Lawson and Thomas Beane his outside in the fourth place starting spot. The fifth place starting spot belonged to last year’s track champion Terry Dease with Daniel Moss to his outside. The seventh and eighth place starting positions belonged to Camden Gullie, son of short track specialist, Jason Gullie, and Dean Fogleman, respectively. Tripp Massengill, second place finisher and pole winner in the night’s earlier Limited Sportsman race, started in ninth.
As the race started, Denny took the lead from Setzer momentarily but Setzer squeezed back in front. Intense pressure from Lawson’s front bumper led to Denny getting loose, forcing his car to fall to third behind Lawson, all of this action in the first few laps. Lap four saw Beane and Dease running side by side for fourth with Moss doing his best to get by those two. Beam, on 35 lap older tires than those two, fell back to sixth, leaving Dease in fourth and Moss in fifth.
The first caution of the night came on lap 15 when the car of Fogleman grenaded a motor. That problem resulted in the car of Gullie sustaining right front damage, after bouncing off Fogleman’s car in the blinding smoke. After a lengthy pit stop repairing the damage, Gullie returned to the race still on the lead lap. Caution laps not counted in a 75 lap race. Lining up for the restart, with Setzer holding the top spot, the cars of Lawson, Denny, Dease, and Moss, occupied second through fifth respectively. Beane had to settle for restarting in sixth, with Massengill outside of him.
As the cars came to the green, Lawson appeared to momentarily jump the start. Realizing that, he slowed a bit, inadvertently allowing the cars of Denny and Dease to go by, one on each side of Lawson. From there, loose, sideways race cars continually changing positions gave fans the fender to fender action they came for. Unfortunately for Beane ended up retiring his car with only a third of the race completed. After things settled down a bit, a caution flag on lap forty brought the field back together. Setzer was still in the lead, Dease was in second, with Lawson and Denny behind them in third and fourth. Moss and Massengill occupied the next two spots as the fifth and sixth place cars. Gullie brought up the rear.
A sloppy restart led to a re-do. On the next restart, the top four cars of Setzer, Dease, Lawson and Denny were all over each other, bumper to bumper, fender to fender. Two laps later, Moss had to retire his car with apparent engine problems. At the checkered, it was Setzer with the win, having finished second to Denny in the first race of the season. Dease finished second, followed by Lawson, the third place car, and Denny in fourth. Massengill took the fifth spot, with Gullie taking sixth.
Limited Sportsman division began their 35 lap race with Tripp Massengill starting in the top spot and Daryl Carver to his outside as the second place starter. Carver started in his backup car, having wrecked his primary in the first race of the season. On the next row, third place starter Barry Beggarly, Jr was flanked by Jerry Hinesley, the fourth place qualifier. Row three belonged to Brent Evans, the fifth place starter and Richard Hayden in sixth. The next three spots were occupied by Tracey Chambers, Austin Purnell and Corey Purnell, in that order.
As the green flag fell, Carver bolted to first in front of Massengill. The car of Beggarly began to back peddle through the field, apparently having a mechanical issue, leading to his exit from the race eleven laps in and a ninth place finish. Corey Purnell had his own problems, ending up parking his machine on lap 19, finishing ahead of Beggarly in eighth.
As the race unfolded, Massengill continued to hound Carver for the lead, with those two staging an intense side by side battle for the last third of the race. At the checkered, Carver prevailed for his first win of the season. Massengill settled for a second place finish with Hinesley behind him for third. Hayden held on for a fourth place finish and Evans behind him in fifth. Chambers and Austin Purnell did their own share of jousting. Eventually, Chambers prevailed giving her the sixth place spot over Purnell, who wound up seventh.
In Victory Lane, Carver thanked the other drivers for their hard charging, sometimes fender rubbing, but courteous driving. Overwhelmed by emotion, Massengill was quite appreciative of his finish. Missing-in-action from tonight’s event was the winner of the last Limited Sportsman race and a recent Ace Speedway winner, Boo Boo Dalton.
Smokey Dave’s BBQ Mod4s twenty lapper provided some fender bendin’ action. Michael Cooper started on pole with Harold Summey on the outside of row one. Behind them were the cars of Corey Purnell and Mike Herron with Herron on the outside. Starting fifth through seventh were Randy Ayers, Timmy Wilder and Dennis Capps, in that order. With three laps of green flag racing completed, the car of Herron had a problem, putting him out of the race. After a brief caution on lap eleven, the field took the restart with Cooper out front, followed by Su
mmey, Purnell, Wilder and Capps, who had recovered from a lap down thanks to the Lucky Dog Pass. Ayers restarted last one lap in arrears. One lap from the finish, the cars of Summey and Purnell came together coming out of turn 4, bringing out the caution and putting them out of the race. On the restart for a green-white-checkered finish, the car of Cooper was out front, Wilder behind him, followed by Capps and the lapped car of Ayers. However, Cooper missed a gear on the restart, giving Capps an opening to take the lead and the win. Cooper settled for second followed by Wilder in third and Ayers in fourth, one lap down.
The Quality Collision Solutions of Graham Grand American Modifieds roared to life with Gary Young Jr out front, having taken his second consecutive pole this season. Richard Thomas occupied the outside front row, with first-time OCS starter Issac Wright and Jonathan Cook behind those two. When the checkered flag flew at end of thirty laps, Young, Jr had his second consecutive win, followed by Thomas in the second place car and Cook in third. Wright ended up fourth, followed by Larry Cook in fifth.
Once again, John Comstock did a dance on the Martin family in 20 laps of competition for the Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks. Comstock started on pole with Wesley Martin, Kiser Martin and Jeffrey Martin occupying the second through fourth place starting positions. Devon Parrott started fifth followed by, yes, you guessed it, another Martin named Scott in sixth. As the race started, the Martins battled as Comstock held the lead. A competition caution was deployed on lap 12. The following restart saw leader Comstock falter just a bit, allowing Wesley Martin to get by, then Kiser Martin grabbed the lead. From there, Kiser and Comstock were side by side for several laps with Comstock getting back out front three laps from the end. At the finish, Comstock had his second consecutive win. The Martin family settled their differences with Kiser taking second, Scott in third, Wesley in fourth and Scott in sixth, with Parrott sandwiched between those two for fifth.
Twenty-five laps of Pure Stock racing provided few surprises as Danny Winstead, last year’s track champ, went from green to checkered to pick up his second consecutive win. Bobby Clayton was the second place finisher, followed by Trevor Winstead and Tyler Tolar, in third and fourth respectively. James Kerr and Les Aliff rounded out the field, a distant fifth and sixth.