Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

TownTalk: Arts Council Getting In The Christmas Spirit

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Anyone who may need a jumpstart into feeling that holiday spirit need only chat for a moment with Dr. Alice Sallins with the Vance County Arts Council. Whether she’s promoting the upcoming Tidings of Comfort and Joy concert at McGregor Hall or talking up the Henderson Christmas parade, Sallins exudes that excitement and anticipation that comes along with the holiday season.

The concert takes place on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 4 p.m., Sallins said on Thursday’s TownTalk. The show is free to attend, and Sallins said the audience is in for a real treat.

Clearview Church pastor Dr. Abidan Shah will emcee the he first portion of the show which will feature sacred music and then he’ll pass the mic to Mixmaster James Williams who’ll emcee the second portion of the show that features secular music.

The concert features recording artists Lynn Cooper,  Spencer Alston and Tia “Catillia” Cheek, and Sallins said there will be other local musicians and groups lined up to perform as well.

“We give you the best that we can offer,” Sallins said. “We look forward to packing the house.”

Other musical and dance performers include Clearview Church Praise Team, vocalist Evelyn C. Couch, Davida Lewis, Sequoia Epps Hargrove, St. Mary’s Praise Dancers, Work In Progress, Holy Temple Praise Dancers,  Brotherhood  and Jimmy & the Sound Barriers.

Sallins said she wants the show to be something that makes people feel good. People feel sad during the holidays, especially if they’ve lost loved ones. “We want to do something to help cheer people up,” she said.

Spreading that holiday cheer continues on Saturday, Dec. 7 when the Christmas Parade makes its way up Raleigh Road toward Garnett Street to the delight of onlookers along the parade route.

Over the years, Sallins and her Arts Council team have promoted the parade “to build it up to something great, ‘cause I love, love, love Christmas,” she exclaimed. “The highlight of my holiday is standing at the beginning of that parade line, flagging that first car down the road.”

This year’s parade features seven professional floats, but there are plenty of locally made floats that are sure to delight the crowds as well.

“Maria Parham goes all out of the way to build these phenomenal floats,” Sallins said, calling out the hospital team for its creativity in years past. And although throwing candy from floats is strictly a no-no, she said it’s perfectly fine for folks to walk alongside the floats to distribute sweet treats to folks along the parade route.

“Everyone has stepped up their game,” Sallins said of the local parade entries. “Each year the parade gets bigger and better…more elaborate scenery.”

Time is tight to get your parade entry form in, however. Technically, today is the deadline, but Sallins said as long as she gets the completed form by next Saturday, it should be ok.

One piece of information is non-negotiable, however. All vehicle drivers must provide a copy of his or her insurance, Sallins said.

And please just put the forms and entry fees – checks made out to the Vance County Arts Council – in the mail. Last Thanksgiving, she said folks were calling her all day and late into the night to ask how to get their entry forms to her.

Visit https://vanceartscouncil.com/ and click on Henderson, NC Christmas Parade to read rules and download the entry form.

Mail entries to:

Vance County Arts Council

P.O. Box 34

Henderson, NC 27536

 

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The Local Skinny! GRACE Ministries Prepares Big Thanksgiving Meal

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Bobby West said Saturday’s early Thanksgiving meal that GRACE Ministries and volunteers will be dishing up for the community is a way to feed people and nourish souls.

It will take “an army of volunteers,” West said, to prepare 2,000 plates at the 215 Crozier St. location, as well as deliver them to seven other sites across the county.

There will be pork loin and gravy, with all the trimmings, West said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny! But those plates also come with a “side” of prayer, he added.

“Our goal is to pray with every meal delivered,” West said, whether those meals are getting picked up and delivered to shut-ins or just enjoyed by families who need a hot meal. “Prayer is shared with every plate,” he added.

“The most important thing is prayer,” West said, adding that it’s that prayer component the nourishes peoples’ souls. But he’s done this before, so he also knows that “the biggest thing is getting all that food ready” to be picked up by 11 a.m.

In addition to the GRACE Ministries location, plates will be available for pickup at the following locations:

  • West End Baptist Church, 619 Dabney Dr.
  • Room at the Cross, 235 Booth Ave.
  • Norlina Baptist Church, 402 Divison St., Norlina
  • Raleigh Road Baptist Church, 3892 Raleigh Rd.
  • Old Aycock gym, 2663 Vicksboro Rd.
  • Corner of Andrews Avenue and Water Street, near the standpipe
  • Grace Baptist Church, 1820 S. Clearview Dr.

The team of volunteers will fill 1,600 plates in about two hours’ time. “We couldn’t do it without the prayers and support” from across the community, he said. “We’ll get eight lines of people packing plates – it goes fast, too,” he added.

Working alongside other volunteers, whether old friends or new acquaintances, creates a humbling atmosphere for West and others at GRACE Ministries.

“You’re humbled and thankful that you can be a part of helping others,” he said. “We want to serve God any way we can.”

 

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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Shadow Father Archetype

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Cooperative Extension 

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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Home And Garden Show

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

  • Vance County Regional Farmers Market is open on Saturdays 8am-1pm.
  • The Vance and Warren County Beekeepers Association will meet on December 9th, at 7pm at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • Take your soil samples to the Vance County Cooperative Extension. Do it as soon as possible.
  • You need to have your frost protection measures ready.
  • Now is a good time to take a photo of what is in your garden now. It will be a good guide of how to rotate your different vegetables in your garden in the 2025 growing season.
  • Remember to use personal protective equipment when doing chores in the fall. Eye and ear protection. Even sunscreen. Use a good pair of gloves.
  • Leaf collection season is upon us. Compost your leaves. Don’t burn them.

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

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TownTalk: NC House 32 Contest Update

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Vance and Granville counties are in the middle of a recount in the too-close-to-call contest for House District 32, which has Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn leading incumbent Republican Frank Sossamon by 233 votes.

Cohn led by 185 votes on Nov. 5, but that number grew to 233 following the Nov. 15 canvass to include provisional and absentee ballots.

Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles said Tuesday her team would begin the recount process at 8:30 this morning (Wednesday); information from the N.C. Board of Elections indicated that the Granville County recount would commence at 12 noon today, with an estimated time of 1-2 days for completion.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Cohn said he was pleased with the overall process and said he has been pleased with the way both counties’ boards of elections have handled things.

“Given all the changes this year, staffing issues, all the normal hurdles…I could be more pleased with the effort they’ve put into this election cycle,” he said.

“You find out who you are as a person,” Cohn notes, “going through a highly competitive and highly scrutinized campaign like Frank and I went through.”

Cohn commended his campaign staff for knowing exactly what needed to be done, a heavy focus on the city of Oxford – where Cohn is a city commissioner – as well as Creedmoor, Butner and all of Vance County that sits within the boundaries of District 32.

Through outreach, engagement and “good old-fashioned door knocking,” Cohn said he was able to get his message to constituents.

The Republican majority in the House hangs in the balance, pending the outcome of this contest, but Cohn said he is focused on “governing from the middle.”

“The (Democratic) Party has to tack back toward the center because that’s where the bulk of the American people and North Carolinians are at – they’re more centrist than partisan on one side or the other,” he said.

“We have to co-govern with our GOP colleagues and find common ground,” he said, adding that if he goes to Raleigh to represent District 32, he’ll focus on “governing from a place of mutual understanding and try to work together, as opposed to throwing roadblocks.”

In his role as a city commissioner, Cohn said he has a new-found understanding of “how much we can’t do at the local level.” Municipalities have less and less control over things like zoning and planning, he said. Those changes have to come at the state level, he said. “In order to advance the things that we need in Vance County and in Granville County with infrastructure upgrades, we need to have more representation at the state level in order to get some of those initiatives passed if we want to continue to grow in both counties.”

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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 11-19-24 Noon

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For additional coverage about Frank Sossamon asking for a recount, please also review our other web post about this story linked here – TownTalk: Sossamon Calls For Recount – WIZS

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TownTalk: Sossamon Calls For Recount

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Vance and Granville counties will conduct a recount in the too-close-to-call contest for House District 32, which has Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn leading Republican incumbent Frank Sossamon by 233 votes.

Because that margin is less than 1 percent of the voting totals – .53 percent, to be precise – the challenger (in this case, Sossamon) was entitled to ask for a recount by 12 noon today. Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles told WIZS News Tuesday that she received a notification of the recount from Raleigh shortly before 11:30 a.m.

Sossamon spoke with WIZS News this morning as he was waiting for the General Assembly to convene and confirmed that he would be seeking a recount.

“It hasn’t been filed, but it will be filed before 12,” Sossamon said by phone shortly before 11 a.m. He said he’d waited until now to let the process play out, which included the Nov. 15 canvass and certifying and counting provisional and absentee ballots.

“A lot of elections are cut-and-dry,” he said. “Close elections are different…and there are options that candidates have,” including filing protests if there are “anomalies,” and filing a lawsuit.

Rawles said Vance County elections officials will begin the recount at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20 for two races – the District 32 contest and a statewide recount for a seat on the N.C. Supreme Court between sitting Justice Allison Riggs and Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin.

Rawles expects the recounts to take the majority of the day to complete, if not longer.

WIZS News reached out to Granville County Board of Elections Director Tonya Burnette Tuesday afternoon to find out when the recount would begin in that county and we will update the story if that information becomes available.

In a concise letter sent via email to N.C. State Board of Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell, Sossamon requested the recount.

It reads:

Executive Director Brinson Bell,

As a candidate for North Carolina House District 32 in the 2024 General Election, I her3eby submit my written demand for a mandatory recount pursuant to the N.C. Gen. Stat. 163-182.7(c) and 163-182.4(b)(3). Please confirm receipt of this timely written demand at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Frank Sossamon

Sossamon expressed frustration when it came to finding out what his options were regarding a recount and said he felt voters weren’t adequately inform about redrawn district lines that removed a portion of Vance County from District 32.

Nobody said “Mr. Sossamon, you can call for a recount,” Sossamon said. “I had to find that out for myself – I find that quite alarming.”

Sossamon also said he was concerned to learn that voters in Vance County showed up to vote and noticed that the District 32 race wasn’t on their ballot.

“They were thinking they could vote for me, but I wasn’t on their ballot,” he said, adding that “people who are already skeptical of the voting system are getting even more skeptical.”

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Cohn said he was pleased with the overall process but acknowledged that the campaign was “long and expensive, and, at times, a rather dirty campaign. I don’t think anybody is happy about any of that.”

(This text and story developed more after the embedded audio below.)

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Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Events At Perry Memorial Library

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So far, Youth Services Librarian Melody Peters has resisted the urge to get the library festooned in red and green for that big December holiday – she said she wants Thanksgiving and Native Peoples Month to have their moments to shine, too.

In fact, next Tuesday afternoon’s activity will feature a story celebrating Native Peoples Month. Participants will surely enjoy the associated craft activity – making “corn” using pipe cleaners and beads.

Once Thanksgiving has come and gone, the library will surely shift its attention to December when thoughts turn to snowflakes and gingerbread men and Christmas decorations.

Peters invites folks of all ages to come out on the first official day of winter to the library’s “Winter Celebration” on Saturday, Dec. 21. Activities will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and include make-and-take crafts for all ages, from kiddos and teens to adults.

And bring your photo-taking device to snap some family selfies in front of a beautiful holiday backdrop, she said.

There are plenty of activities before Dec. 21 to enjoy, too, Peters said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

For starters, there’s Pajama Story Time on Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Then on Tuesday, Dec. 10 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., bring the family to watch the film Polar Express while sipping hot chocolate and nibbling sweet treats.

Youngsters will enjoy hunting for hidden gingerbread people cookies around the library. No, they’re not edible – these are made of felt – but Peters said the children enjoyed looking for them hidden throughout the library.

Sometimes, you’ll find Peters or other library staff out in the community, too.

Visit the Vance County Regional Farmers Market on Saturday, Dec. 7 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. for a special Market Story Time, which may include decorating some gingerbread cookies that ARE edible, Peters said.

And then later that afternoon, the library will have a float commemorating its 100 year-anniversary in the Henderson Christmas Parade, which begins at 3 p.m.

Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/ to learn about all the programs and services the library offers.

 

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