Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Christmas Tree Selection
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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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Thanks to a donation of $13,000 from a nonprofit dog rescue group, the Vance County Animal Services is able to offer free spay and neuter services for dogs and cats in the area.
Frankie Nobles, chief of Vance County Animal Services, said the gift came from the Mona Pants Foundation, a 501c3 organization that is based in Zebulon.
According to information from animal services, residents who turn in a litter of puppies or kittens to the shelter can have their intact dog or cat spayed or neutered at no charge.
Feral or otherwise unowned cats can be spayed or neutered as well as part of a trap-neuter-release effort. And any animals that are brought to the shelter can be spayed or neutered at no charge to the owner in lieu of having to pay fees for reclaiming or redeeming them.
In addition to providing a free service for individuals with pets living in the community, the additional spay and neutering program likely will reduce the number of unwanted animals being dropped off at the shelter.
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Jimmy Barrier describes the upcoming performance at the local Salvation Army as a Gaither-style event.
If you don’t know exactly what that means, then by all means, come out at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11 to “An Acoustical Christmas.” And if you enjoy that Gaither style of musical performance, then you already know you’re in for a treat.
Barrier will share emcee duties with the Salvation Army’s Capt. Joshua Keaton, but he will also be behind his familiar bass as he and the Sound Barriers fill the air with Christmas music and other favorites with that Gaither-style Southern Gospel feel.
The concert is free and open to the public and will be held at the Salvation Army, 2292 Ross Mill Rd.
A love offering will be taken to benefit the Anchor of Hope and the Red Shield Club, he told John C. Rose on Monday’s TownTalk. Anchor of Hope is a women’s ministry that helps individuals in need and the Red Shield Club is the after-school program.
“It’s all acoustic, all live,” Barrier explained, “so if you make a mistake, everybody hears it.”
It didn’t take much to get Capt. Keaton and his wife, Capt. Amanda Keaton, on board with the project.
“They were elated to have the Gaither-style Christmas program,” Barrier said, adding that he hoped to make the concert an annual event and name it for the late Gill Clopton, who originally had the idea.
“I want to do that and honor him in that way,” Barrier said. He recalled that Clopton was very happy that the program had been scheduled.
Barrier said he and his wife were out shopping for blankets to donate to the Anchor of Hope’s blanket ministry the day before Thanksgiving and he found himself in the presence of someone singing Christmas carols – right inside the store.
Before he knew it, and to his wife’s chagrin, Barrier was performing a duet with Evelyn Couch.
“We started singing Christmas carols in Rose’s at the top of our lungs,” Barrier said.
But the duets didn’t stop there. He invited Couch to come and sing with the group at the recent McGregor Hall community concert last weekend.
“It was wonderful,” Barrier said of last weekend’s performance at McGregor Hall, sponsored by the Vance County Arts Council.
She will join Barrier again at the Dec. 11 concert to perform “O Holy Night.”
“She sings the fire out of it,” Barrier said.
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Community Partners of Hope is reaching out this holiday season to ask for donations to provide to the men who come for respite and a warm night’s sleep at the men’s shelter.
The shelter needs snack items like breakfast bars, single-serving sizes of snacks, chips and other individually wrapped cakes and cookies, as well as cases of bottled water, tea or sodas, preferably 12-ounce cans or bottles.
Other favorites include Pop-Tarts, tins of Vienna sausage and fruit cups.
In addition to the food items, the shelter needs paper towels, tall kitchen trash bags (13-gallon size) Clorox cleanup spray, laundry detergent (pods, please) and extra-large black garbage bags (39+-gallon size).
“For some reason we are not receiving as many supply donations as we have in the past and it’s a struggle for our shelter managers,” according to a newsletter from the Community Partners of Hope.
Donations may be dropped off at First Presbyterian Church Monday-Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or call 252.432.9494 to arrange a drop-off time. Cases of bottled water may be left outside the shelter, but other items should be received by someone at the church during the designated times.
The shelter currently has enough hand sanitizer, toiletries, toothbrushes and toothpaste on hand to share with the men, and they have plenty of bedding. Shelter staff are not accepting used clothing or food that needs to be heated.
There are opportunities for providing meals to the men who come to the shelter. To learn more, click THIS LINK.
On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
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Henderson City Manager Terrell Blackmon spoke to members of the West End Community Watch group at its November meeting and provided some updates to plans for the current West End and Flint Hill urban redevelopment areas.
During the meeting, Blackmon explained a bit about progress being made in several areas, including awarding grants to homeowners to repair and renovate their properties, adding to the code enforcement staff and having an animal control officer whose job would be to work within the city limits.
The city got a $750,000 community development block grant from the N.C. Department of Commerce, and the Kerr-Tar COG has taken more than 70 applications from local homeowners who would like to get some of that money to rehabilitate their homes.
“We are in the process of performing title searches on the six selected properties to confirm ownership and we hope to bid out the construction in the 1st quarter of 2023,” Blackmon said in a follow-up conversation with WIZS News.
Blackmon said the city council approved in September funding for an additional animal control officer, and the city is working on a memorandum of understanding with county officials to fund and advertise the position in the first quarter of 2023.
The city also is working with county leaders to fund an additional code enforcement officer to assist with minimum housing and other enforcement issues in the city and extra-territorial jurisdiction, Blackmon said.
As plans continue for the West End URA, Blackmon said the city is acquiring numerous blighted properties that would become controlled burn sites for the fire department. “Our intent is to bundle these properties and put them in an RFP for the development of new multi-family or single-family housing,” Blackmon stated to WIZS.
“The city does not technically ‘build housing,’ he noted, “but we want to serve as a conduit to encourage private development of new housing.”
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It makes Donyell “DJ” Jones happy to see young people walk through the Blue Doors of the Boys & Girls Clubs. Even when those doors aren’t blue – like those clubs that operate within schools, for example – Jones is confident that the programming and support remains aligned with the philosophy of the stand-alone clubs that have been in existence for 160 years.
Jones is CEO of the Boys & Girls Club North Central North Carolina, which operates clubs in Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin and Halifax counties.
He talked with John C. Rose on Tuesday’s TownTalk to provide an update on the status of clubs, how COVID-19 has negatively affected staff and to talk about a couple of local renovation projects that are about to crank up to improve club facilities in Henderson and Oxford.
“We had to be very flexible over the past year,” Jones said, referring to getting back into the swing of things following the pandemic shutdown. But now, club members have returned and BGC is getting back to the business of provide quality after-school care and programming.
The administrative offices are located in Oxford, in a building that is connected to the club building. Jones said he and other office staff are once again experiencing the “laughter and energy that we missed so much when (the children) were home.”
Over the summer, key BGC leaders gathered to identify some key priority areas, Jones said. From those discussions, the group refined a three-year strategic priority plan, which includes creating safe, state-of-the-art facilities as well as intentional programming to reflect the different needs of each club site and the ever-present question of financial sustainability.
The Oxford club is getting a much-needed facelift that is set to begin in February 2023, Jones said.
Jones said a general contractor has been hired and the work, once begun, will transform current outdated bathroom facilities, how club members enter and exit the club, as well as other integral renovations to club space.
“The esthetics and lighting are going to be awesome,” Jones said. “I know it’s going to be a great thing for our young people.” Plans include a new gaming room, collaborative spaces for projects and more improvements to allow for better programming.
The Clark Street club in Henderson also is getting some attention, thanks to help from Goodwill Community Foundation. “That facility needs a little love,” Jones said, adding that Goodwill’s contribution will help take care of most of the items on the wish list there.
Simply put, Jones said, “the kids really deserve it.”
The idea is that newly renovated spaces will attract new members as well, but right now, Jones said that all clubs in BGCNCNC currently open have wait lists.
Why? Like so many other workplaces, there’s not enough staff.
The number of employees dictates the number of kids at the club, Jones said. “We need part-time youth development professionals for our after-school sites,” he said. The biggest need is in Franklin County, but more staff also is needed in the Henderson and Oxford clubs.
They’re looking for individuals who have “a patience and a genuine love for young people,” he said, and it’d be a bonus to have special skills, whether they be in the arts, or STEM education, just to name a couple.
But most of all, he said, clubs need staff who are consistent and who “bring a different vibe and energy to our clubs.”
Jones said safety is the number one priority, and staff must effectively supervise club members while engaging them to address the specific needs of the young people who attend the club.
Some clubs based in schools have reopened, including the one at Northside Elementary in Warren County. The club at Carver Elementary in Vance County is set to reopen in January, but Jones said it’s unclear when Franklinton Middle School may reopen.
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Maria Parham Health has received an “A” rating from a national watchdog organization for its achievements in protecting hospital patients from preventable harm and errors.
The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit organization that promotes patient safety, published its findings recently, said Donna Young, MPH coordinator for marketing & communications.
“I applaud the hospital leadership and workforce for their strong commitment to safety and transparency,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “An ‘A’ Safety Grade is a sign that hospitals are continuously evaluating their performance, so that they can best protect patients. Your hospital team should be extremely proud of their dedication and achievement.”
The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization with a 10-year history of assigning letter grades to general hospitals throughout the United States, based on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring.
To view the complete report, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org or follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter, Facebook, and via its newsletter.