The Local Skinny! A Pawsitive Impact in Vance County

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A Henderson teen is focused on reducing the pet surrender rate in Vance County as she works toward her Girl Scout Gold Award achievement to make a “Pawsitive Impact.”

Sophomore Neleh-Kate Sandlin said she is partnering with Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society and Vance Cares Community Center to increase awareness to young people about being a responsible pet owner and to offer current pet owners with options other than surrendering a pet in challenging situations.

“I’ve always been an animal lover,” Sandlin said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!, so she knew she wanted to incorporate that passion into her Gold Award project. “Knowing I can help that cause warms my heart.”

RCAPS has helped Sandlin make connections with other community partners to help spread the word.

“I just want to lower the surrenders,” she said, referring to animals brought by owners to the animal shelter. She created a short video to share local resources with pet owners and prospective pet owners about how to prepare for pet adoption and how to access resources to avoid pet surrender.

She has placed basic pet supplies at the Vance Cares Community Centers at Vance County Middle School and Clarke Elementary to help pet owners when they find themselves in a pinch. And she’s aiming to add the Vance County High School location next.

Find the video and resource list at https://bit.ly/goldpets

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TownTalk: Around Old Granville – Ridgeway

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Visitors to New York City back in the late 1800’s may have seen advertisements from Ridgeway

Estates Co., a group of local men who had big plans for enticing Northerners to move South, to the tiny little community that sits today between Middleburg and Norlina, just over the Warren County line.

This corporation had big plans – the Raleigh to Gaston railroad had a stop in Ridgeway, and there was even a fancy new 3-story brick hotel right across from the depot with a h 27-stall barn, carriage houses and all the finest amenities a traveler could want.

Yep, thing were looking up in Ridgeway. The group of men created a vision of a town with streets laid out and 1,800 building lots on about 350 acres of property. All they needed were the buyers.

“It didn’t take off like they anticipated,” said local historian Mark Pace on Thursday’s Around Old Granville segment of TownTalk.

Pace and WIZS’s Bill Harris talked about the community known for its German settlers and super-sweet cantaloupes. In 1869, Ridgeway became an incorporated township in anticipation of the influx of Northerners, Pace said. There’s a stone marker near what would have been the center of town, which lost its charter about 10 years later.

In 1901, a man by the name of Ed Petar happened to plant a few cantaloupe seeds in the Ridgeway area and, it turns out, the ripe melons were really sweet and delicious. From that modest beginning grew a craze for the super-sweet produce that lasts to this day. By 1932, with the help of the railroad, thousands of crates of cantaloupes were shipped from Ridgeway. The peak year was 1956, Pace said, when 30,000 crates of the smallish melon with the light orange flesh and ropy exterior found their way all across the country via refrigerated trucks and boxcars.

Pace said that 75 percent of the cantaloupes grown in Ridgeway at the time were cultivated by farmers of German descent. Families with surnames like Kilian, Holtzmann, Bender and Daeke – just to name a few – began to settle in little ol’ Ridgeway.

But how’d they know to come? It seems a traveling preacher with ties to the German community and the Lutheran Church in Germany started spreading the word about the area. He was a German-born missionary and when he came upon the advertisements in New York City, he translated them and sent them to friends in Germany.

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TownTalk: Sisters Speak Life Pink Out Campaign

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We’re officially into the first few days into autumn, when thoughts turn to football, pumpkin spice everything, and fall colors like orange, yellow and…PINK!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Freddie Harris and her nonprofit organization Sisters Speak Life want to turn Henderson and Vance County pink to bring awareness to the importance of annual mammograms and early detection.

“Pink Out Vance County” kicks off at 12 noon on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at McGregor Hall. The event will begin with a “countywide pause and a Pink Bow moment,” Harris said on Wednesday’s TownTalk. Participants will tie dozens of pink bows on trees along Breckenridge Street outside McGregor Hall. The bows serve as visual reminders and symbols of hope for all who have been touched in one way or another by breast cancer.

“I really want the community to know that we need you,” said Harris, herself a two-time cancer survivor. “We want you to come and join us as we tie the pink bows around trees downtown. That’s a community effort and we want you to be a part of that,” she said.

Pink bows and Pink Out t-shirts can be purchased online at www.sistersspeaklife.org to show support for the cause. The event continues later that afternoon at 5:30 p.m. with a Community Gathering in the Gallery Area between McGregor Hall and Perry Memorial Library.

“Our goal is to inspire women to get their mammograms, to provide educational information and support for survivors,” said Harris. “It’s like a passion for me. I want women to know the importance of getting a mammogram. I hope to inspire others as well…My hope is that in Vance County we can come together to do awareness, which is so important.”

Dr. Gary Smith, a local physician and a member of the nonprofit’s board emphasized the importance of early detection.

“Early detection is an important event,” Smith said, “that starts with awareness.” Annual mammograms, especially for women between 45 and 75 years of age.

Early detection means earlier interventions, he said, which can lead to better outcomes. A mammogram is an important tool in early detection. Another important tool, Smith said, is having a support team to help a patient in the healing process, which begins the moment a patient receives a cancer diagnosis. “That’s a time they need their community the most,” he said.

Invision Diagnostics is bringing its Mammogram Bus to Aycock Rec Center on Saturday, Nov. 1 and now is the time to schedule a free mammogram. Phone 877.318.1349 to schedule an appointment. Last year, 19 women took advantage of the mobile service, and Harris would love to see a good turnout this year, too.

SistersspeakLife is creating a video to help promote that Nov. 1 event. If you’re a breast cancer survivor, please send a headshot photo, along with the year you were diagnosed and a one-word description of yourself to be included in the video. In addition to the mammogram bus, there will be health-related resources for participants to learn about available services in the area.

When Harris was diagnosed, she said she found inspiration from people – family, friends and even strangers – who surrounded her with love and support.

She encourages people to come together, reach out and help each other. “It made a difference for me and I think it can make a difference for someone else.”

Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/sistersspeaklife or https://sistersspeaklife.org/

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Vance County Logo

Commissioners Approve 5% Match For School Grant Funding Request

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It didn’t take long for the Vance County Board of Commissioners to approve making a 5 percent match to Vance County Schools so that the school district can move forward with making application for more than $47 million in grant funding for capital improvements to school buildings.

It was the first item on the agenda for Monday’s special called meeting, and commissioners wasted no time in giving the school district the green light.

VCS Superintendent Dr. Cindy Bennett and Chief Finance Officer John Suther made the request at the commissioners’ September meeting, and told the board at the time that the grant application was due to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction by Oct. 3 – next Friday.

The state-administered grant is for capital improvements and Vance County could stand to get more than $47 million to make necessary repairs and renovations to up to 14 of its school campuses.

If the school district were to be approved to receive the maximum amount, the 5 percent match would amount to about $2.5 million.

The matching funds wouldn’t have to be paid all at once; rather, the money could come in over the course of the projects, which could take several years.

Bennett and Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry agree that Vance County is poised to receive the funding because of its Tier 1 designation and because it hasn’t applied previously to get the funding.

SportsTalk: Small Towns and Small Colleges

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Scout Hughes and George Hoyle talk about the smaller colleges and universities in North Carolina and how student-athletes should approach playing at the next level, no matter at what division.

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Home and Garden Show

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

  • The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is open on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm.
  • This Saturday is Honey Day at the Market. There will be honey door prizes. Plenty of local honey for sale.
  • With ample rain forecasted later this week next week would be a great time to collect your soil samples.
  • Sow tall fescue this week.
  • Check collards for aphids, cabbage worms, harlequin bugs.
  • Set out new mums. Check local nurseries for best selection.
  • Check nurseries for trees and shrubs you would like to plant this fall.
  • If you have white grubs in your lawn now is the time to control them.
  • Inventory pesticides and be sure to store them safely.
  • Avoid pruning right now.
  • We are in Hurricane season. Have your Storm plan ready.
  • Start ordering your fall planting bulbs now.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.

The Vance County Cooperative Extension is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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Parker’s Peace Pool Annual Oyster Roast October 18, 2025

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Who: Parker’s Peace Pool

What: 5th Annual Oyster Roast

When: Saturday, October 18, 2025

Where: The Sidney at 184 Henry Ayscue Road, Henderson

Why: Fundraiser for the 65-year-old community pool

Additional Details: $50. Gates Open at 4pm. Dinner from 5pm to 7pm. Raffle at 6:30pm. For tickets go to www.parkerpeacepool.com or email parkerpeacepool@gmail.com. Menu includes: Steamed Oysters, Pork BBQ, Fried Catfish, Steamed Shrimp (shell on), Baked Beans, Slaw, Hush Puppies, Tea/Water

(not a paid ad)

The Local Skinny! Municipal Elections, Ward 4

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Editor’s Note: Early voting for the Oct. 7 nonpartisan municipal elections has begun and continues through Saturday, Oct. 4. As part of WIZS’s ongoing coverage of the four Henderson City Council contests, Wednesday’s segment of The Local Skinny! focuses on the Ward 4 seat. Challenger Catherine “Kitty” Gill responded to a list of questions from WIZS. Her responses appear unedited and, in their entirety, below.

Catherine “Kitty” Gill

• What prompted you to run for local office?

I am running because I care about the quality of life for the citizens of Vance County. I have witnessed the strengths and struggles our city has faced over the years and believe it is time for leadership that reflects the honesty, strength, and accountability our community deserves. My aim is to be an ear to the people and a voice for the people. I believe in inclusion and not exclusion because together we can build a stronger, more vibrant Henderson.

• What’s your platform?

Three things that I care about seeing improvements for the city are:

 Housing – Every person deserves to have safe, affordable, decent housing. I was a single parent, so I know the struggles of making ends meet. No family should have to choose between paying the rent, buying groceries, keeping the lights on, or having water. We need to revisit the Certificate of Occupancy. We have renters paying more than some mortgagors and some of the landlords are slothful when it comes to repairing their houses.

 Jobs – We need a thriving economy that works for everyone. We have experienced enough of the rich getting richer and the poor and middle class being left out. We must promote fair wages, career pathways and offer support to small businesses. We need to review the tax incentives we offer to companies to bring in jobs that will allow our citizens to earn a wage compatible with the actual cost of living.

Youth – We must empower our young people, whether we accept it or not they will be the next generation to lead us. We must allow them to thrive and be innovative. Youth do not have the love of Henderson as some of us older folk do. We must help them to want to live in Henderson and once they go off to college have a desire to return but most importantly to have something to return to.

• State the three most important issues you see that are facing the city and explain how you plan to address these issues if you’re elected?

Housing: work with fellow Council Members to find solutions to our housing issues.

Jobs: work with fellow Council Members to review the tax incentives to companies to bring in better paying jobs.

Youth: work with fellow Council Members to develop intern programs, shadow other members to develop an interest in the forward trajectory of producing a thriving city.

• What are your beliefs, ideas, and passions for ways to make Henderson the best city it can be?

Proverbs 11:25b   “If you give water to thirsty people, you will not be thirsty yourself.” As we help others, we help ourselves too. Life becomes better for everyone. I believe in inclusion and not exclusion because together we can build a stronger, more vibrant Henderson.

• Explain how your personal and professional experience will contribute to the work of the City Council.

I love the Lord primarily and I also love his people. I believe in being honest and fair. I only desire to see our city become a thriving city that the citizens will love and become an attraction to others that desire a forward movement. I have worked in factories having to make production, in customer service and as a housing counselor. I have taught homeownership classes along with budgeting and finance. I am not a stranger to challenging work and with my life experience I will be a positive contributor to the work of the City Council.

• How do you feel about the current climate in the city?  If elected, what are your short-term goals?  Long-term goals?

We have room for improvement. We all must work together for the common goal for advancement in Henderson. Short-term goals are to seek workable solutions for our tax issues, along with street conditions and lighting issues, and housing relief. Long-term goals are to seek better paying jobs, youth participation, and work toward building a safer community. 

• Please share any additional information that you want voters to know about you.

I am a proud resident and registered voter of this community.

I have lived in Henderson all my life.

I am an Ordained Minister and a member of Spring Street Missionary Baptist Church.

I am a Graduate of Vance Senior High class of 1974. I earned an associate degree from VGCC.

 I am the mother of three fine adults and the grandmother of four amazing children. The oldest child of ten siblings.

 I have worked at Americal Corporation, Franklin Vance Warren Opportunity, and The Center for Home Ownership. I was a certified Housing Counselor until I retired.

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