Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

Home And Garden Show

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

  • Check garden hand tools clean, sharpen, sand handles, apply linseed oil to protect from rust
  • Download a copy of the Central NC Vegetable Planting Calendar so you can stay on schedule through the upcoming growing season.
  • Order vegetable seed asap some varieties have already sold out.
  • Continue to monitor soil moisture of anything you planted this fall (turf, trees, shrubs, pansies, etc.)
  • Spread aged compost on your garden
  • Learn more about exotic invasive plants and insects such as spotted lanternfly and do your part to prevent their spread.
  • Have pictures of garden equipment with serial numbers for insurance purposes. Ex Fire or theft.
  • Plan a visit to the State Farmers Market in Raleigh.
  • Construct a small greenhouse to be able to grow plants next year.
  • Make your 2023 gardening resolutions.

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City of Henderson Logo

TownTalk: Signs of Positive Growth

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King’s Daughters Park is not the largest park in the area, and it doesn’t have all the amenities as other recreation areas, but what it does have is what is known in the real estate world as a critical asset: Location, location, location.

City officials are looking at ways to increase the park’s boundaries as plans continue to progress for the West End Urban Redevelopment Area (URA).

The Henderson City Council approved a recommendation from city staff to acquire three vacant properties near the park that, if successful, would add to the overall footprint of the park, located on Montgomery Street. Having access to green space promotes public health while preserving the characteristics of the park.

“We’ve got some negotiating to do,” City Manager Terrell Blackmon told WIZS News Tuesday. But the council gave staff permission to move forward to try to buy the vacant properties and refurbish the park as part of the overall redevelopment plan, Blackmon explained.

One of the three property owners has been contacted, but Blackmon said the city is still in the process of contacting the other two.

As plans for the West End URA continue to take shape, the idea is to bring a mixture of rental homes and private residences to the area, while developing business and recreation opportunities within walking distance of where people live.

The URA and other opportunities for redevelopment are part of the city’s overall strategic plan, as well as employee retention.

Blackmon said succession planning plays a role in recruiting and retaining city employees, and it’s one of the points contained in the strategic plan.

The city also approved a new entry-level planning technician position in the development services division, made necessary when the current zoning administrator was promoted to the vacant position of community development manager.

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Cooperative Extension With Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden

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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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WIZS Radio Local News Audio 12-22-22 Noon

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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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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Wandering, Pt. 3

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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! City Council Renames Street For Eddie Hicks

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It won’t quite be the same as having him there in person, but Melissa Elliott says she’ll be glad when she can look out her window at Gang Free, Inc. and see the street sign that proclaims the street nearby as “Eddie James Hicks Street.”

The Henderson City Council voted to rename E. Winder Street for the local hero who died in October.

Elliott’s Gang Free, Inc.’s location is in the community known as Flint Hill, where Hicks grew up.

“He had many ties to Winder Street and the surrounding area,” Elliott said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

Newly elected council member Lamont Noel presented the request to the council, along with signatures on a neighborhood petition, and the matter easily was approved.

“Eddie’s heartbeat is in Flint Hill,” Elliott said. “It was an honor to be able to put this on the calendar so fast and to get it passed.”

Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington told WIZS News that the street name change will “honor the memory of one of (our) own who had many ties as a young man to Winder Street and the surrounding area. We remember that legends never die, they live on in our hearts forever

Eddie did so many things in this community, and the word “no” was not in his vocabulary when it came to requests for assistance from others.

“He would always help out,” Elliott said, from taking food to a senior adult to coaching a child, to waiting while Elliott finished up work for the day – which often turned into evening.

“He would not leave me at the building by myself,” she recalled.

Gang Free, Inc. is having a celebration gala Thursday evening, and Hicks’s widow, Jackie, is scheduled to attend.

“I’m excited about honoring Eddie – he will be with us tonight in spirit. He celebrated life and I’m just grateful to have known Eddie…he just wanted to make his community better.”

And while a street sign can’t take his place, Elliott said reading Eddie James Hicks Street will motivate her to keep Hicks’s memory alive by trying to make the community better.

 

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The Local Skinny! Gang Free Inc. Year In Review

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In the nonprofit world, so much emphasis is placed on the good that organizations do throughout the year. And that certainly is the case for Gang Free, Inc.

From the thousands and thousands of pounds of food that have been distributed to more than 34,000 people in need, founder and president Melissa Elliott is not short on praise for what the volunteers and so many community agencies have done to help the community in 2022.

But sometimes, you just need to stop for a second and celebrate successes, large and small.

That’s just what Elliott and others plan to do Thursday evening during the second annual gala event – celebrate accomplishments.

“It has been a very challenging year, trying to find our normalcy,” Elliott told John C. Rose on Thursday’s The Local Skinny! “We never stopped throughout the pandemic, (so) it’s time to wind down and celebrate accomplishments.”

The nonprofit world also is keen on quantifying efforts, and Elliott said she is pleased to see the numbers of those that Gang Free, Inc. has “effectively impacted -it’s quite overwhelming and I’m totally grateful to God,” she said.

Among those expected to attend the gala are elected officials – Elliott herself is a Henderson City Council member – as well as volunteers, community health workers and representatives of various community-based agencies that Gang Free partners with.

“We did things that had never been done before,” she said, referring to various minority-run entities that connected with Gang Free to provide services ranging from COVID-19 vaccine education to establishing a food pantry in collaboration with Vance County Schools.

Then there are the 267 toys given out to children in kindergarten-fifth grade, assistance to 165 families experiencing homelessness and fighting food insecurity throughout the area.

Elliott is quick to point out that Gang Free does not do this in isolation; rather, she praised the community for working together.

“We share and we do this work together – that’s what makes us such a wonderful community,” she said. “There is great connection in our community.” Working together relieves one agency of the whole responsibility to provide for those in need, she added.

Nonprofit leaders like Elliott may take a moment to reflect on the year’s work, but that moment is fleeting and, next thing you know, plans for the new year are taking shape.

There are plans for a new transitional housing and remodeling the homeless shelter, just to name a couple of projects for 2023.

Elliott and her volunteers have plenty of work to do, but tonight, they’re going to revel in what got done in 2022.

“I’ve seen God work miracles this whole year and I look forward to more,” she said.

Want to help? Phone 252.598.0067 or learn more  www.gangfreeinc.org.

 

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