Long-time high school basketball coach and Vance County native Wilton Baskett died Saturday. He was 62.
Baskett retired in March 2020 after 37 years of coaching and teaching, much of that time with Vance County Schools. Baskett was head basketball coach at Northern Vance High School and won his 400th game with the Vance County Vipers last season.
A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. on Jan. 14, 2021 at Jones Chapel Baptist Church in Norlina. A viewing will be from noon to 4 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2021 in the chapel of Davis-Royster Funeral Home in Henderson. He was born in Vance County to Almorine Brandon and the late Nathaniel Baskett. Survivors, in addition to his mother, are children Wilton E. Baskett II and Amy L. Baskett and their mother, Linda R. Perry.
Friends and colleagues remembered Baskett during Monday’s Town Talk. He was a friend and mentor to many throughout his 30-plus years of coaching, including Joseph Sharrow and Chad Wilson, current athletic director and men’s basketball coach, respectively, of Vance County High School. Baskett’s son, Wilton E. Baskett II, joined the program and said his father loved the game of basketball. Just as importantly, he loved that the game could expose young people to much more beyond high school, from playing college ball to being a successful adult.
L-R Wil, Amy, Coach. Family, a father’s day meal at a nearby restaurant. Selfie photo by Amy Baskett
Wilson told Baskett’s son that he would work to carry on Coach Baskett’s legacy on and off the court. “Your dad was way more than just a coach to me,” Wilson said to the younger Baskett. Wilson was a player for Coach Baskett at Northern Vance High School, and said that he was a positive male figure in his life when he needed one. “It’s just been a wonderful blessing on my life,” Wilson said, to have worked with Coach Baskett. “More than anything,” Wilson continued, “for putting faith in me. Wilson graduated from Northern Vance and went on to play at Louisburg College and Livingstone College. Wilson credits Coach Baskett for giving him the confidence to go beyond high school and then to come back to become a coach himself.
Wilson took over as head coach of the Vipers following Baskett’s retirement. He coached at Vance-Granville Community College for three years before returning to his high school alma mater to be a varsity assistant and coach of the JV team.
Now athletic director for Vance County High School, Joseph Sharrow was athletic director for Baskett’s cross-town rival Southern Vance. “I have nothing but respect…for Wilton Baskett and his wonderful family,” Sharrow said. To be able to remember him “as a friend and former colleague is an honor.”
Sharrow recalled when the two high schools played each other in the 2018 conference final. “He must have gotten them in the gym over Christmas because “they went on a tear in January,” Sharrow said of that Northern Vance team. “Little did we know it would be the last time the two schools would play” each other, he said. The following year the two schools were consolidated to create Vance County High School. Sharrow became athletic director and Baskett the men’s basketball coach, a relationship they shared for two years before Baskett retired.
Baskett’s 400th win came as coach of the Vance County Vipers. When he retired in March, he had accumulated 402 wins. Win 400 came in a matchup with East Chapel Hill High School on Feb. 4, 2020.
More story below. Click Play for TownTalk Tribute to Coach Baskett.
Sharrow last spoke with Baskett in November and said his friend and colleague seemed to be enjoying retirement. “It was great to be able to talk with him,” he added. The somewhat unusual relationship between Baskett and Sharrow – first as opponents of inter-county rivals, then as colleagues working together to bring the two schools’ programs together under a single county high school – made for a winning combination. The Vipers won a conference championship in their first year, Sharrow said. Add to that the 400-victory milestone also was great, but Sharrow was quick to add that Baskett wasn’t looking for individual attention. “He (coached) because he loved the kids. He knew he had a gift for making a difference in people’s lives and I think that just says a lot about Coach Baskett.” For everybody else, achieving that 400th win was an enormous milestone, Sharrow continued. “For him, it was just another day at the job. That was the kind of guy he was.”
David Hicks was athletic director at Northern Vance during the time that Baskett was head coach. Wilton had a system for basketball,” Hicks recalled during an interview on Monday. “He had a knack for being able to get guys to buy in to what he wanted to do,” he added. “He was demanding of his players and students in a good way.”
Greg Ackles coached the Southern Vance team that faced Baskett’s squad in that conference final in 2018. Now the coach at Wake Forest High School, Ackles spoke with Trey Snide on Monday’s Sports Talk. Asked about a favorite memory of Coach Baskett, Ackles said: “The best thing was also the most frustrating thing, and that was coaching against him.” As a coach, you have to believe what you do is going to work, he added, saying that Coach Baskett stuck to his philosophy of running a few plays but running them well. To this day, Ackles said that Northern-Southern matchup to claim the conference title is still the best game he’s been a part of as a coach.
More story below. Click Play for SportsTalk Tribute to Coach Baskett.
Was his father tough? “He could see more in you than sometimes you saw in yourself,” Baskett said of his father. “His goal was to bring the best out in you because he saw the best in people. He saw your potential and I think tough meant that you still had work to do…tough was if he expected something out of you or if he expects you to be able to do something. He was tough on you because he knew you were capable…he wanted you to believe in yourself.”
But for all his toughness, Coach Baskett did a lot off the court to help his players continue to play after high school. He helped prepare highlight reels and more, Hicks said.
One “extra” that Baskett did was take a group of young men to Catawba College every summer for basketball camp, Hicks said. “He had kids falling out of the ceiling wanting to go to camp…He would have open gym for try outs and you couldn’t get in. There would be 75 guys in there on all six courts.”
The “Wilton System” paid off over the years. Baskett’s teams won five regular season conference titles, six conference tournament championships. He received conference Coach of the Year honors three times, the most recent being 2018, the year his Northern Vance High Vikings topped rival Southern Vance.
Home and Garden Show with Wayne Rowland and Paul McKenzie 01-12-21
/by CharleneListen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com on Tuesday at 4:30 PM.
Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland 01-12-21 – Backyard Composting
/by CharleneListen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 2 PM Monday – Thursday.
Hungry Heroes is at it Again
/by WIZS StaffAmanda Riggan is at it again – the founder of Hungry Heroes BBQ returns to Henderson Thursday, this time to stock refrigerators at the sheriff’s office, fire department and EMS agencies.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Riggan has had to make some adjustments in the way she shows her appreciation for law enforcement personnel. Since 2018, she has been firing up her Traeger grill and cooking up meals for law enforcement officers and firefighters.
One new program is called “Stock the Fridge,” and that’s what she’ll be doing in Henderson later this week.
Armed with everything from bottled water, Gatorade, chips and other snack items, Riggan will visit the Vance County agencies. “I always buy what I like…I think I like the good stuff,” she remarked during Tuesday’s Town Talk with John C. Rose. “They never complain,” she said, of those whose fridges get stocked.
(To Listen to Riggan and Owen on TownTalk, Click Play…)
“I wish we could actually serve and shake hands and give hugs, but we can still bless people,” she said. Her Hungry Heroes program came to Henderson in September 2020, partnering with local restaurant Skipper Forsyth’s Bar-B-Q to provide meals to the Henderson Police Department and the Henderson Fire Department. This time, she said, she will deliver the snack items as a way to show her appreciation for the tireless service they provide in their community.
Randy Owen, a friend of Riggan’s and fire technology coordinator at Vance-Granville Community College, agreed. Owen also appeared on Town Talk Tuesday and said when the two were discussing a return visit, they agreed that serving a meal may not work as well this time, given the spike in COVID-19 cases being experienced in Vance County and statewide. “Maybe this will put a smile on their faces,” he said, referring to the delivery of the beverages and snacks.
Although she misses the face-to-face meetings that Hungry Heroes created before the pandemic, Riggan said she hopes the Stock the Fridge project will serve the purpose until she can get back to doing what she loves – interacting with all those who serve their communities on the front lines, whether in a police uniform or firefighter gear. “I’ll be back as soon as this COVID is over and we’ll serve real food — we’ll serve barbecue and not just snacks” she promised.
Until then, the grab-and-go snacks hopefully will be a welcome addition to the fridge or pantry that firefighters and deputies can get on their way back from a call or take with them when they leave.
In addition to the local agencies, Riggan’s Hungry Heroes serves active military and veterans. She went to Fort Scott in Kansas back in November and was responsible for three meals a day for a weeklong event that entertained a group of combat veterans on a hunting expedition.
Owen, who coordinates training for 58 agencies in the Franklin, Granville, Vance and Warren counties, noted that the firefighters don’t just put out a fire and then head back to the station. “They are dealing with people if they have to bet people out of the house,” he said. “Their job is also to console…to get the Red Cross involved…It goes a lot deeper than just going and putting the fire out,” he explained.
“These agencies step up to the plate every time,” Owen said. “It’s not just to fight fires, but it’s to serve the community and I appreciate them so much. They are my heroes. And Amanda thinks the same way I do.
Visit www.hungryheroesbbq.com to learn more.
Noon News 1-12-21 Wilton Baskett Obit; Covid 19 Vaccine; Vance Co. Manager; First Birth Of 2021
/by Bill HarrisNoon News for 12 Jan. 2021. Stories include:
– Obituary for Vance Co. basketball coach Wilton Baskett
– Update on Covid 19 vaccinations for area counties
– Vance Co. Manager Jordan McMillan receives credential
– Maria Parham Hospital announces first birth of 2021
For full details and audio click play.
Covid Vaccine Things to Know in Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin Counties
/by WIZS StaffArea health departments continue to update the public on progress with administering the COVID-19 vaccine. Please see below for updates from the Granville Vance Public Health, the Warren County Health Department and Franklin County Health Department. Although some details differ, all health department officials stress that residents’ patience and continued vigilance in the use of the 3 W’s – Wear, Wait, Wash – are vital components to combating the pandemic.
Three counties remain in Phase 1a, but are scheduled to open up Phase 1b, Group 1 soon. Franklin County began vaccinating eligible residents in Phase 1b last week.
Granville and Vance counties
Granville and Vance counties remain in Phase 1a distribution and plan to move to Phase 1b, Group 1 (only those aged 75 and over), on Thursday, Jan. 14. Health Director Lisa Harrison hopes to complete vaccinating groups 1a and 1b by March.
Phase 1a is only for eligible health care organizations and individuals with additional instructions to sign up for the vaccination. Harrison urges all others to wait to ask for an appointment until news outlets announce or publish that the phase for which you’re eligible to receive the vaccination is underway. Residents can also visit the GVPH COVID-19 website https://gvph.org/covidvaccines/ to find updated information. More information is forthcoming about how to register in the mandatory statewide COVID Vaccine Management System (CVMS). There is a survey everyone must fill out as part of registration and the system is not accessible to individuals at this time, Harrison added.
Individuals 75 years and older may call the health department now to schedule an appointment. Phase 1b, Group 1 vaccinations are scheduled to begin Thursday, Jan. 14. Any other instructions that may help make your vaccine appointment move faster (such as forms you need to fill out ahead of your appointment) will be posted on our website.
If you are not in Phase 1a or Phase 1b Group 1, but want more information, please call the COVID Vaccine Information Hotline at 252-295-1503.
Only hospitals and health departments have the vaccine at this moment, but in the coming weeks and months, primary care offices, pharmacies, and federally qualified health centers will receive vaccine and be able to vaccinate community members as well. The health department is working with Granville Health System and Maria Parham Health to make sure that the vaccination process is working as efficiently as possible.
Warren County
The Warren County Health Department is giving COVID-19 vaccinations by appointment to all healthcare workers in Phase 1a, which includes:
Individuals who fall in the category of Phase 1b can begin getting the vaccine the week of January 19, 2021.
Anyone 75 years and older, regardless of health status or living situation, is eligible to get the vaccine. Call the health department at (252) 257-1185 to make an appointment.
Franklin County
Franklin County began Phase 1b, Group 1 (residents 75 and older) on Jan. 7, 2021 in a drive-through event and delivered 323 vaccinations.
Franklin County residents who think they are eligible to get the vaccine should email covidvax@franklincountync.us and will receive an automated reply with instructions about how to register for the vaccine. You may also phone the health department’s dedicated COVID-19 phone line at 919–729-0654. If you leave a message, please leave a phone number and your call will be returned.
County Health Director Scott Lavigne said that although the line was long at times during the Jan. 7 drive-through vaccination event, everyone who had signed up got their shot.
NC Tobacco Trust Fund Grants Available For Agricultural Projects
/by WIZS Staff— press release
The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission is accepting applications for the 2021 grant cycle. The key objectives for 2021 are supporting the agricultural industry, impacting rural communities and stimulating economic development. Funds will be awarded in the fall of 2021 for selected innovative projects.
Applications information is now online at www.tobaccotrustfund.org for qualifying organizations. “Creating opportunities for North Carolina producers and creating jobs in current or former tobacco-dependent regions are our 2021 priorities,” said William H. “Bill” Teague, NCTTFC Chairman. “Applications will be accepted online for innovative projects within North Carolina. Selected projects should expect to start in November of 2021.”
The NCTTFC was established in 2000 by the N.C. General Assembly to help members of the tobacco community including farmers, tobacco workers and related businesses. Its original funding was established through tobacco industry annual payments as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement. Funding is now appropriated to the NCTTFC which then reviews, selects and disperses the funds to grant projects.
Past NCTTFC projects includes fair and farmers market improvements, cost-share grant programs for farmers, commodity marketing, researching alternative crops and support of agricultural education programs.
More information can be found at the NCTTFC’s website (www.tobaccotrustfund.org), or by calling Jeff Camden at 919-397-6766. The deadline for applications submission is Friday March 5, 2021.
Nominate a City of Oxford Employee of the Month
/by WIZS Staff— info courtesy of the City of Oxford, NC
The City of Oxford is now opening up its ‘Employee of the Month’ to where all employees and the public can make nominations.
In an email received by WIZS, Alyssa Blair, Executive Assistant, City of Oxford, wrote, “We want to recognize City employees who embody the mission and values of the City in action. To nominate and employee/team you can fill out an online form, under ‘Human Resources’, on the City website. You must include the employee(s) name, department, and a brief description of what the employee(s) did.”
Click here – https://www.oxfordnc.org/departments/human_resources/employee_of_the_month.php
City of Oxford employees who embody the mission and values of the City in their daily duties are recognized each month. City employees or citizens can nominate employees when they see individuals or teams demonstrating the city’s values in action.
Warren County Receives $115,000 for Waterline Extension to Manson Business
/by WIZS Staff— press release
Warren County, North Carolina- Warren County was recently awarded a $115,000 Industrial Development Fund (Utility Account) grant from the North Carolina Department of Commerce to assist in extending water in support of activities by Warren County business, Heritage Mulch. The extension of the county-owned waterline from US Hwy 1 down Collins Road to the work site will allow the company to expand its mulch coloring operations and bring on six new, full-time employees.
In the award letter to the county, Assistant Secretary Kenny Flowers stated, “Everyone involved in the development of this project is to be congratulated. We commend Warren County for its economic development efforts.”
“Our industrial zoned district just three miles from I-85 has great potential and is serving our existing businesses in that area well,” said Vice-Chairman Commissioner Victor Hunt of District 3, who also serves on the Warren County Economic Development Commission Board. “This investment assistance from the state in infrastructure development will result in an existing industry’s expansion, which we know to be just as valuable to our economy as recruiting new businesses.”
The project is scheduled to go to bid in April of 2021; construction is scheduled to start in late summer of 2021.
“Warren County is appreciative of the commitment Heritage Mulch has shown to doing business in our county,” said Charla Duncan, Economic Development Director. “Pursuing an Industrial Development Fund award for the waterline extension, in an effort to see a business expand and jobs created, is indicative of the interest local leaders have for development in Warren County, and a reassurance that local and state agencies want to partner with businesses that are willing to invest in rural NC.”
The $115,000 award is a non-matching grant. A resolution of support was passed by the Board of Commissioners in October 2018 when the project was first introduced, committing matching funds if needed.
“Interim EDC Director, Ms. Duncan, should be commended for her efforts in turning this project around and bringing it to completion,” stated County Manager Vincent Jones. “Supporting a local business that is investing in the County and creating potential job opportunities for Warren County residents is exactly the kind of economic development we need.”
For more information, contact the Warren County Economic Development office at 252-257-3114 or by emailing Charla Duncan at charladuncan@warrencountync.gov.
Tribute to Coach Wilton Baskett; Friend, Mentor, Father Figure
/by WIZS StaffLong-time high school basketball coach and Vance County native Wilton Baskett died Saturday. He was 62.
Baskett retired in March 2020 after 37 years of coaching and teaching, much of that time with Vance County Schools. Baskett was head basketball coach at Northern Vance High School and won his 400th game with the Vance County Vipers last season.
A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. on Jan. 14, 2021 at Jones Chapel Baptist Church in Norlina. A viewing will be from noon to 4 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2021 in the chapel of Davis-Royster Funeral Home in Henderson. He was born in Vance County to Almorine Brandon and the late Nathaniel Baskett. Survivors, in addition to his mother, are children Wilton E. Baskett II and Amy L. Baskett and their mother, Linda R. Perry.
Friends and colleagues remembered Baskett during Monday’s Town Talk. He was a friend and mentor to many throughout his 30-plus years of coaching, including Joseph Sharrow and Chad Wilson, current athletic director and men’s basketball coach, respectively, of Vance County High School. Baskett’s son, Wilton E. Baskett II, joined the program and said his father loved the game of basketball. Just as importantly, he loved that the game could expose young people to much more beyond high school, from playing college ball to being a successful adult.
L-R Wil, Amy, Coach. Family, a father’s day meal at a nearby restaurant. Selfie photo by Amy Baskett
Wilson told Baskett’s son that he would work to carry on Coach Baskett’s legacy on and off the court. “Your dad was way more than just a coach to me,” Wilson said to the younger Baskett. Wilson was a player for Coach Baskett at Northern Vance High School, and said that he was a positive male figure in his life when he needed one. “It’s just been a wonderful blessing on my life,” Wilson said, to have worked with Coach Baskett. “More than anything,” Wilson continued, “for putting faith in me. Wilson graduated from Northern Vance and went on to play at Louisburg College and Livingstone College. Wilson credits Coach Baskett for giving him the confidence to go beyond high school and then to come back to become a coach himself.
Wilson took over as head coach of the Vipers following Baskett’s retirement. He coached at Vance-Granville Community College for three years before returning to his high school alma mater to be a varsity assistant and coach of the JV team.
Now athletic director for Vance County High School, Joseph Sharrow was athletic director for Baskett’s cross-town rival Southern Vance. “I have nothing but respect…for Wilton Baskett and his wonderful family,” Sharrow said. To be able to remember him “as a friend and former colleague is an honor.”
Sharrow recalled when the two high schools played each other in the 2018 conference final. “He must have gotten them in the gym over Christmas because “they went on a tear in January,” Sharrow said of that Northern Vance team. “Little did we know it would be the last time the two schools would play” each other, he said. The following year the two schools were consolidated to create Vance County High School. Sharrow became athletic director and Baskett the men’s basketball coach, a relationship they shared for two years before Baskett retired.
Baskett’s 400th win came as coach of the Vance County Vipers. When he retired in March, he had accumulated 402 wins. Win 400 came in a matchup with East Chapel Hill High School on Feb. 4, 2020.
More story below. Click Play for TownTalk Tribute to Coach Baskett.
Sharrow last spoke with Baskett in November and said his friend and colleague seemed to be enjoying retirement. “It was great to be able to talk with him,” he added. The somewhat unusual relationship between Baskett and Sharrow – first as opponents of inter-county rivals, then as colleagues working together to bring the two schools’ programs together under a single county high school – made for a winning combination. The Vipers won a conference championship in their first year, Sharrow said. Add to that the 400-victory milestone also was great, but Sharrow was quick to add that Baskett wasn’t looking for individual attention. “He (coached) because he loved the kids. He knew he had a gift for making a difference in people’s lives and I think that just says a lot about Coach Baskett.” For everybody else, achieving that 400th win was an enormous milestone, Sharrow continued. “For him, it was just another day at the job. That was the kind of guy he was.”
David Hicks was athletic director at Northern Vance during the time that Baskett was head coach. Wilton had a system for basketball,” Hicks recalled during an interview on Monday. “He had a knack for being able to get guys to buy in to what he wanted to do,” he added. “He was demanding of his players and students in a good way.”
Greg Ackles coached the Southern Vance team that faced Baskett’s squad in that conference final in 2018. Now the coach at Wake Forest High School, Ackles spoke with Trey Snide on Monday’s Sports Talk. Asked about a favorite memory of Coach Baskett, Ackles said: “The best thing was also the most frustrating thing, and that was coaching against him.” As a coach, you have to believe what you do is going to work, he added, saying that Coach Baskett stuck to his philosophy of running a few plays but running them well. To this day, Ackles said that Northern-Southern matchup to claim the conference title is still the best game he’s been a part of as a coach.
More story below. Click Play for SportsTalk Tribute to Coach Baskett.
Was his father tough? “He could see more in you than sometimes you saw in yourself,” Baskett said of his father. “His goal was to bring the best out in you because he saw the best in people. He saw your potential and I think tough meant that you still had work to do…tough was if he expected something out of you or if he expects you to be able to do something. He was tough on you because he knew you were capable…he wanted you to believe in yourself.”
But for all his toughness, Coach Baskett did a lot off the court to help his players continue to play after high school. He helped prepare highlight reels and more, Hicks said.
One “extra” that Baskett did was take a group of young men to Catawba College every summer for basketball camp, Hicks said. “He had kids falling out of the ceiling wanting to go to camp…He would have open gym for try outs and you couldn’t get in. There would be 75 guys in there on all six courts.”
The “Wilton System” paid off over the years. Baskett’s teams won five regular season conference titles, six conference tournament championships. He received conference Coach of the Year honors three times, the most recent being 2018, the year his Northern Vance High Vikings topped rival Southern Vance.
Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland 01-11-21 – Small Orchards
/by CharleneListen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 2 PM Monday – Thursday.