Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

Pearson Honored For His Vision, Enthusiasm For Downtown Revitalization

Dr. Stephen F. Pearson loved the city of Henderson and worked tirelessly to help with revitalization efforts. Patrons of Sadie’s Coffee Corner and visitors who travel Garnett Street in cars or on foot will now see a tribute to Pearson’s enthusiasm and dedication for downtown development.

A group of local officials and community leaders gathered Tuesday morning as Pearson’s widow, Amanda, and his son Corey cut the ribbon to officially name the parking area and adjoining greenscape in memory of Pearson, who died from cancer in March 2021.

In remarks to the group during the ceremony, son Corey said it was hard to believe that just a few years ago, he and his dad were riding around the area in an RV when they passed “an unlikely gun shop.”

“That’s the spot,” Corey said, recalling his father’s comments. “We’re going to turn that into something.”

And that’s how Sadie’s Coffee Corner came to be in the building at 324 S. Garnett St. that once housed Gupton’s Sporting Goods, Inc.

“I wish I could have his vision,” Corey said. “He loved everyone here and he loved this town,” adding that he wants to keep his dream alive and keep his vision going.

“He saw the possibilities and potential of our downtown and had a vision of how to bring them to fruition,” said Downtown Development Commission Director Tracy Madigan. “His low-key enthusiasm and drive were infectious,” she told those gathered for the occasion. “(He) created the momentum and excitement that we’re feeling today,” Madigan said.

Where others saw empty storefronts, Pearson saw potential. He wanted to make sure not only that Sadie’s was successful, but that the downtown area become successful. Pearson jumped in with both feet, joined the DDC board and soon became chairman.

“He inspired others to get involved,” she noted. “We have a great little oasis right here in the middle of town,” Madigan said, all inspired by Pearson and his vision for revitalization.

City Manager Terrell Blackmon said Pearson was a person committed to service – serving others and serving the community. But he was a self-proclaimed “disrupter,” someone who didn’t want things to be done the way they’ve always been done.

The “parklet” installed by a local volunteer gardeners’ group, now enhances a corner of the lot that adjoins Sadie’s at the corner of Garnett and Orange streets.

Amanda Pearson said her husband was the public speaker, not her. “I know that he would love this,” she said of the recognition bestowed on her late husband. “He loved this town so much.”

TownTalk: Christopher St. John Counsels Military Vets

Psychotherapist Chris St. John has the professional experience and educational credentials to provide his clients with valuable feedback as they receive therapy, but he can relate to those veterans and first responders on a different, more personal level: He is a veteran and he has been a first responder, both of which form a special, unspoken connection with patients who have a similar background.

St. John works in Denver, Colorado and he spoke by phone to John C. Rose and guest co-host Phyllis Maynard on Tuesday’s Town Talk about his practice and his special interest in the work of Carl Jung.

“Talk therapy isn’t for everybody,” St. John acknowledged. There are many different ways to get counseling, and talk therapy is just one of the ways that a therapist can offer help.

St. John is a Navy veteran who also has experience as a first responder, so he fits right in to the

Former Active Duty: Still Boots on the Ground category of the recurring Town Talk series.Ju

St. John discovered Jung’s work during his college years and subsequently became certified in Jungian theory. Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology in the early part of the 20th century.

“I take pieces from others all the time,” he said. “I reference others and apply it into my work.”

He takes pride in tailoring his therapy to the individual, and stresses to patients the idea that they are not alone as they seek therapy.

“There is some form of therapeutic intervention for everybody,” he said. His experiences help offer to patients a unique perspective that can help them adapt and cope, he said. And it’s those experiences in the military that provide an extra connection for his military veteran clients.

“Words don’t have to be spoken (in) how you connect to another veteran,” St. John said. “I can speak the lingo and have the general understanding…(they) connect with me almost immediately.”

The two-way trust can be established quickly, he noted. “We’ve earned our stripes and we’re connected,” he said.

St. John said he knows first-hand about what he called “compassion fatigue.” First responders can experience compassion fatigue as they continue to focus on the health and well-being of others and have little energy to take care of their own needs.

“Self-care is not selfish,” he said. If you don’t take care of yourself, there’s no way you can continue to help others.

When do you know it’s time to seek professional help?

“It’s important that you don’t wait,” St. John said. “The best time to see therapy is when you don’t need it.”

Learn more at http://www.christopherstjohntherapist.com/

 

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Cooperative Extension with Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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The Local Skinny! Jobs In Vance

The H-V Chamber of Commerce and WIZS, Your Community Voice, present Jobs in Vance for March 8, 2022). The Chamber compiles the information, and it is presented here and on the radio. Contact the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce at 438-8414 or email christa@hendersonvance.org to be included.

Name of the Company: First Citizens Bank

Jobs Available: Bank Senior Sales and Service Representative, Bank Operations Services Supervisor

Method of Contact: For more information to ncworks.gov or contact your local NC Works Career Center

 

Name of the Company:  Ameristaff

Jobs Available: Extended Care Services Coordinator, Forklift Operator

Method of Contact: For more information to ncworks.gov or contact your local NC Works Career Center

 

Name of the Company:  Vance County

Jobs Available: Full time Custodian, Permits Technician and Human Resources Aide (Senior Center)

Method of Contact: For more information to ncworks.gov or contact your local NC Works Career Center

 

 

Name of the Company:  Kerr-Vance Academy

Jobs Available: Looking for the next Head of School to start between now and July 2022

Method of Contact:  If interested please call 252-492-0018

 

 

Name of the Company: Benchmark Community Bank

Jobs Available: Relationship Teller – Henderson Branch

Method of Contact: For job description and how to apply go to https://bcbonline.applicantpro.com/jobs/

 

 

Name of the Company:  Vance County

Jobs Available: Vance County has multiple openings for The Sheriff’s Office Detention Center, Department of Social Services, The Senior Center and more

Method of Contact:  Visit the county website at http://www.vancecounty.org

 

Some of these businesses are present or past advertisers of WIZS. Being an ad client is not a condition of being listed or broadcast. This is not a paid ad.
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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Wildlife Habitat

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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TownTalk: Embrace Henderson Family Spectacular

After a COVID-19 delay, Embrace Henderson’s Family Spectacular is returning to Saddlerock Farm on Saturday, April 9 for a fun-filled event for children and adults.

Embrace Henderson’s Kevin Kilgore told John C. Rose Monday that the group is glad to get back to its mission of coming together to host events, revivals – and the Family Spectacular – after a two-year COVID-19 break.

The Spectacular will be held at Saddlerock Farm, 1786 Weldon’s Mill Road, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“It’s the only event that we’ve scheduled this year…because it’s outside, it felt like it was a good place to start back,” Kilgore said.

The 2022 event marks the 10th anniversary of the Spectacular. Kilgore said previous events have had right around 1,000 in attendance. “I’d love to have twice that many, but we’re comfortable with the number of adults and kids that do come,” he said.

There will be horse rides, hayrides, bouncy houses, children’s games, an illusion show, just to name a few. There also will be sno cones, popcorn and drinks to enjoy.

The event is absolutely free, Kilgore said.

Embrace Henderson was formed in 2010 when a group of individuals and various churches joined forces to be able to bring events, revivals and events like the Family Spectacular, all while spreading God’s Word.

The local group is partnering with Bob Fowler’s Child Evangelism Fellowship and Scott and Karen Lamm with LammEvents.com to bring all the activities to Vance County next month.

“There’s no way we could do this without either of them,” Kilgore noted.

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The Local Skinny! Around Old Granville: The Mystery Of Harrison Macon

Where is Harrison Macon? Or perhaps the better question is where is this Revolutionary War veteran buried? Harrison Macon was the brother of the famous Nathaniel Macon and while Nathaniel may be more well known, Harrison also had quite a significant life. He was captured at Camden, South Carolina in 1780 during the Revolution and was a captain during the war. He was born circa 1745 and was dead by 1790. He married Hannah Glenn, daughter of Gideon Glenn who lived in present day Rocky Ford. The Glenn’s owned over a thousand acres of land and Harrison Macon lived close by, just “across the creek” from the Glenn’s. This was likely Lynch’s Creek.

The Glenn’s, as was the custom in that time, had a family burial ground on their property and legend has it that Harrison, being the husband of Hannah Glenn, was buried in the Glenn family cemetery. But just where is that?

On the Around Old Granville segment of the Local Skinny on Monday, WIZS’ Bill Harris and North Carolina Room Specialist at Thornton Library in Oxford, discussed the mystery of Macon’s place of burial. The search began four or five years ago when the Halifax Rifles chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution got curious about it. The search has continued with local historians from Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin Counties attempting to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

One of the documents unearthed is an application for a headstone made to the U.S. War Department in 1931 by Dr. Daniel T. Smithwick of Franklin Co. Dr. Smithwick was a local historian who had married Evelyn Macon, a great granddaughter of Harrison Macon. According to the application, Smithwick place the the headstone at the “Old Home Place”, near Louisburg. Was it a Macon home place, the Glenn homeplace? No one really knows for certain. Macons lived all around the area from Ingleside (which was once known as Macon) all the way to the Bobbitt area.

The Glenn Home place is still standing and occupied. It has been heavily remodeled many times and if there is a Glenn family burial ground then this is the likely site of Macon’s resting place. Just down the road from present day Rocky Ford are the remains of a once thriving community called Letha which was situated near a ford on Lynch’s Creek. The remains of an old dam can be found there along with a building or two. The land was likely part of what was once Glenn property and there is a cemetery with a number of unmarked graves inclucingh one burial situated on top of a hill overlooking the creek it is this grave that has caught the attention of local historians. This particular grave is covered in stones, somewhat reminiscent of Nathaniel Macon’s grave site in Warren Co. but nowhere near as elaborate. Could this be the site of Harrison Macon? Many historians certainly think this is a possibility. So far no headstone has been found at the site but further investigation is needed.

So the question remains “Where is Harrison Macon?”