Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

Aycock Elementary Yard Sale to Benefit Kids

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There will be a yard sale to benefit youngsters this Saturday at Aycock Elementary School on Carey Chapel Road.  Assistant Principal Donald “DJ” Johnson told WIZS the yard sale will start at 8 a.m. and continue until noon on Saturday.  He said the school is working on a project for the “Young Sprouts” at the school and sprucing up an outdoor learning space in the courtyard of the school to make it more welcoming for the kids.  Johnson said the yard sale will take place in front of the school Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon and that vendors have told him they are bringing a lot of clothes and things for the household.  He also said some of the participating families are bringing yard equipment, and he mentioned jewelry as well.

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Community Partners of Hope

April 2 Event To Honor Staff, Volunteers Of Local Men’s Shelter

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The public is invited to join Community Partners of Hope, Inc. Saturday as it spotlights the efforts of staff and volunteers of the men’s shelter during an “end of season” gathering.

The program is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with coffee and light refreshments in the parish hall of First Presbyterian Church, according to Dr. Ron Cava, senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Henderson and Community Partners of Hope board member.

The First Presbyterian Church is located at 222 Young St., Henderson. Although the event will be held upstairs from the shelter area, attendees are asked to enter from Young Street.

“No matter what level support you have provided, we hope you will join us (as) we honor our staff and volunteers, provide an update on our services, introduce our board members, kick off the new fundraiser and share prayers for the community and the world,” according to information received at WIZS News.

Currently, the shelter operates from November through March. But if Cava and his colleagues have their way, the 365 Dream Team campaign can help to expand the time that the shelter is open.

“We’re looking for backers to sustain a year-round operation,” Cava said in a telephone interview. Cava alluded to the story of the widow’s mite and said any pledge is acceptable.

“I appreciate the people who have deep pockets,” he said, “but what really makes the world go ‘round…is a dollar at a time.”

Through pledges and contributions, Cava said he hoped that the men’s shelter would be able to operate all year.

See how you can help online at www.cp-hope.org.

 

Melissa Elliott Gang Free

TownTalk: Melissa Elliott Helps Those Recently Released from Prison

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It’s hard enough to find a job that offers a liveable wage – Melissa Elliott defines that job as one that pays at least $20 an hour. But that search becomes exponentially more difficult for those men and women who have been incarcerated and are looking to get back on their feet.

Gainful employment and affordable housing are two of the biggest challenges that Elliott identifies for the “justice-involved population” that she works with as Vance County’s case manager for the Family Resource Center for South Atlantic, a Raleigh-based agency that supports people as they transition from jail or prison back into society.

The goal of the agency is to help individuals become self-sufficient and to reduce rescividism, which she said is about 40 percent. That means that 40 percent of those who were convicted of a crime will re-offend and return to jail.

“Job placement assistance…is one of the biggest things we do,” Elliott told John C. Rose on Wednesday’s Town Talk.

Elliott invited anyone interested to attend a re-entry resource fair and expungement clinic on Tuesday, April 12 at D.N. Hix Gym in Oxford. There will be employers on site who are looking for workers – some will be prepared to interview prospective employees on the spot, she said.

Last year, Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington proclaimed that the city of Henderson would join the observance of April as National Re-Entry Month.

When individuals return to their families after serving sentences in jail or prison, it’s important that they receive support from the community so they can become productive members of society again. Elliott said everyone deserves a second chance, and part of her job as case manager is to “make sure that second chance is there for those who need it most…and to help the justice-involved population be as successful as they can be.”

Elliott said there are more resources for re-entry now than there have been in the past. If you have a family member or loved one scheduled for release from jail or prison in the next four months, now is the time to contact South Atlantic’s Family Resource Center to find out how they can help.

The phone number is 919.740.7950.

As for the April 12 event, Elliott said it will be a full-service resource fair, with everything from a presentation by Legal Aid of North Carolina about record expungement to financial literacy classes. There will be a food distribution, outreach services and much more.

“We want to make sure that everyone understands they can get a second chance,” Elliott said. While not condoning the offenses that may have occurred in a person’s past, Elliott said there are resources to assist those who want to start fresh and be successful.

 

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Home And Garden Show 03-30-22

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

  • Check moisture level of garden soil before tilling that soil
  • Check your fruits trees for cold damage
  • Vegetables you can now plant: Arugula,asparagus,Snap beans,beets,broccoli,cabbage,kale,leeks,bulb onions, irish potatoes,turnips.
  • If fruit has started to form start your fruit spray program
  • Purchase healthy transplants, good color, not pot bound

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The Local Skinny! Around Old Granville: Cemeteries

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Whether they are small family plots or large city-owned and maintained properties, cemeteries can reveal a lot about an area’s history and its beginnings. In the Around Old Granville segment of The Local Skinny! Tuesday, Bill Harris and Mark Pace discussed a few prominent cemeteries in the Vance County area, some of which have graves that date back to before the late 1800’s.

But Pace said the oldest known graves are probably in a private cemetery on an estate near Williamsboro called Montpelier. There are graves there from the late 1700’s, he said, as well as at Ashland, the site of the original Henderson family cemetery.

Two of the larger and older cemeteries in Henderson are Blacknall and Elmwood.

A group of prominent Blacks formed the Union Cemetery Company in 1887 and purchased land from the Blackwell family to create a cemetery for African Americans. But how did Blackwell become Blacknall? Pace supposes that somehow the names became confused – if you’ve ever tried to read old handwritten documents, it stands to reason that someone somewhere simply spelled the name incorrectly, thus creating Blacknall Cemetery.

There are still Reavis family graves located in the middle of Blacknall Cemetery, Pace said, because originally it belong to that family. Those graves date back to the 1860’s and ‘70’s.

“It had gotten in bad shape in the 1970’s and ‘80’s,” Pace said. A consortium of civic groups and the city got together and raised awareness about the cemetery and cleaned it up, and it is still in use today, he added.

Elmwood Cemetery, established in 1879, is located at the end of Breckenridge Street. At that time, the dead were buried either in smaller family cemeteries or in church cemeteries. As the city of Henderson grew, the need for more and bigger cemeteries grew as well. The city bought Elmwood in 1935, and there are a number of graves that were relocated there from other cemeteries. Since then, two other sections have been added to expand the cemetery, Pace said.

 

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vance High School Begins Search For New Football Coach

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Last season saw the Vance Co. High School Vipers football team reach the state playoffs and were looking to more great seasons with Coach Wilbur Pender at the controls but that all changed this week with the announcement that Pender is retiring from education to spend more time with his family.  The school’s athletic director, Joe Sharrow, said players and everyone at the school was shocked and disappointed at Pender’s decision but understood his need to spend more time with his family.

It’s been the same story the last several seasons at Vance Co. High School as the last four coaches have stayed one season before moving on to another school, or in Pender’s case, retiring.  Sharrow did say that because of the football team’s success finding a new coach will be somewhat easier this off season and they hope to have someone in place before the school year is out. “There is interest from high level coaches,” Sharrow said.  “We want someone who is the right fit who will commit themselves and who will stick around,” Sharrow continued. “Where are the Wilton Basketts, the Randy Long’s, the Dave Jennings, or the Mark Perry’s?” Sharrow asked, referencing previous coaches who spent many years in their positions at Northern and Southern Vance and Vance Co. High School.

And while the school’s football program has had success this past season Sharrow is looking for a coach to build on that success. The school’s athletic programs are still recovering from the pandemic and struggled to find enough students to field teams which is only now returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Sharrow says he is now just building a team to search for the new coach which will include Principal Rey Horner. Sharrow also said the players will be consulted.  They will give him feedback on what has worked for them with previous coaches and with any luck Sharrow and his search team will find someone who is qualified and will commit to continuing to improve the Vance County Vipers football program.

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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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