Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

SportsTalk: Elliott Prepares For First Season As VCHS Football Coach

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Aaron Elliott, the new head football coach for Vance County High School, has had a few days to watch his players during workouts this week. And he’s pretty impressed with what he sees so far, he said on Thursday’s Sports Talk.

Elliott joined Bill Harris, Doc Ayscue and George Hoyle and said he liked the level of leadership the players have shown so far. And he hopes that as the summer continues, the numbers of young people interested in wearing the Vipers uniform will grow.

“My biggest challenge so far has been numbers,” Elliott said. And in between workouts, watching last season’s film and meeting with his coaching staff, Elliott has been spending a lot of time fielding calls from student athletes about possibly returning to the team. He also said he’d heard from almost 20 rising 9th graders who are thinking about playing.

Whether he’s talking to players, prospective players, their parents or his staff, Elliott has spoken consistently about, well, consistency.

“I’m trying to incorporate and bring a philosophy of being consistent,” he said, “gaining trust of players and (others)…that I’m here to stay.”

This is Elliott’s first head coaching job, but he previously had been an assistant with Nash Central High School, and at Louisburg High before that.

He draws from his experience as a line coach to work with others on his staff, some of whom are returning for the upcoming season. “I will be the offensive coordinator and calling the plays,” Elliott said, but added that he would offer additional help wherever it was needed.

The offensive line will be a little young because of several seniors graduating, but the defensive line only lost one player to graduation, and there are several athletes that are at the ready to fill that position. “We should be fairly good defensively,” he said.Without giving away too much from the playbook, Elliott said he plans to run a spread offense with some run-pass options. It’ll be senior QB Nazir Garrett’s responsibility to make good reads, he noted, and to make good decisions about what to do with the football.

And he plans to incorporate special teams into every practice. “To me, special teams is important – you can get turnovers, you can change the momentum of the game” with special teams.

The team will continue with morning workouts Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and participate in a couple of camps over the summer, starting with a camp at N.C. State next Thursday. The first official week is the first week of August, and that’s when the team moves to afternoon practices.

“All in all, these guys are in pretty good shape,” Elliott said. Several players said they’d been working during the off-season, he added. “I wouldn’t say they’re ready to play a football game tomorrow night, but I feel comfortable come August.”

 

The Local Skinny! Business Spotlight: Satterwhite Pt. Marina

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The season is heating up on Kerr Lake as warmer weather brings out boaters and campers, and that’s just fine for Scott and Catherine Hughes, owners of Satterwhite Point Marina and Rudd’s Creek Marina near Boydton, VA.

The Hughes family is celebrating 30 years at Satterwhite Point Marina, and Catherine told John C. Rose Thursday during the business spotlight feature of The Local Skinny! segment that they work hard to provide good service to folks visiting the lake and they strive to be good community partners.

“It’s hard to believe that Rudd’s Creek has been open for eight years,” she said, adding that husband Scott basically duplicated at Rudd’s Creek what he’d built at Satterwhite.

The marinas have boat storage options in wet slips and she said the hope is to have Drystack storage at the Virginia marina in the next year or so. Right now, that option is only at Satterwhite Point.

Both marinas have lakeside stores with discount marine supplies, lake gifts, signs, snacks and more.

“We always try to support the communities in Henderson and in Mecklenburg County, VA as well,” Hughes said, “ and we appreciate the support we get as well.” She said great employees, great customers and a great place to work make for a winning combination.

“We think we’re lucky to be able to be able to work right on the lake,” she said. “Sometimes it can be demanding or stressful, but the majority of the time, it’s just beautiful.”

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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Biting, 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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Fireworks To Light The Night Sky At Satterwhite Point July 2

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The upcoming Fourth of July weekend at Kerr Lake promises to be filled with plenty of red, white and blue and all that makes summertime fun – including fireworks!

The Independence Day Celebration is set for Saturday, July 2 and Vance County Tourism is sponsoring the fireworks display. Tourism Director Pam Hester said Satterwhite Point Park is going to be THE place to be – there will be food, live music and other vendors from 4 p.m. until dark.

“Dark,” in this case, means after the sun goes down. On July 2, the sun will set at 8:35 p.m., and Hester said the fireworks will begin around 9:15 p.m.

As a reminder, alcohol is not permitted in state parks. There is a $7 state park gate fee, which is per car.

Contact Hester at 252.438.2222 vctourism@vancecounty.org for more information.

Home And Garden Show

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

  • Japanese beetles are here. Try shaking beetles off plants in the morning to limit their damage on plants.
  • Be on the lookout for crabgrass in flower and shrub beds. Selective grass herbicide.
  • Take bottom leaves off tomatoes below where actual tomatoes have formed to prevent leaf diseases
  • Be cautious about using hay as a garden mulch. Herbicides used on pastures can persist in the hay and damage your vegetables.
  • Vegetables may need top dressing if plants are a pale green and you haven’t top dressed them in the last three weeks
  • Dieback in trees could indicate a severe problem. Contact your Extension office, the Forest Service or a certified arborist for assistance.
  • When harvesting vegetables put them in the shade as soon as possible. Harvest early in the morning.
  • Avoid using garden soil for container plantings. It’s heavy, doesn’t drain well, and may have weed seeds or fungal spores.

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TownTalk: Gas Prices

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Gas Prices and Some of the Impacts.

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TownTalk: Great Shows A Part Of Rec Players’ 50th Anniversary

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The seats in McGregor Hall are a little more comfortable – ok, a lot more comfortable – than those hard, wooden seats in the E.M. Rollins auditorium. But once the house lights dimmed, the audience settled in to those wooden seats to enjoy another performance by the Henderson Rec Players.

This year, the Rec Players celebrate 50 years of bringing live theater to the area. There have been some changes since that first season in the summer of 1972, but not that many. Just ask Tommy Nowell – he’s been around for each and every one.

Nowell said he graduated high school in June 1972 and it was June 1972 when the first rehearsals started. He said a few years ago he’d counted up, and reckons he’s “spent somewhere like 25 years of my life at the auditorium of E.M. Rollins.”

He and Jo Ellen Nowell spoke with John C. Rose on Tuesday’s TownTalk about this season’s shows, as well as the importance of introducing children to the theater arts.

The first production is Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” which will run from June 23-26.

“A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” is scheduled for early July, followed by a children’s production of “Frozen Jr.” Capping off the season’s offerings is “The Fantasticks,” which will be performed Aug. 12-14.

Dwight Pearce was the group’s first director, and Jo Ellen Nowell said she co-directed “Bye, Bye Birdie” with Pearce in 2002. After that collaboration, Pearce was able to retire knowing that he’d successfully passed the baton. She has served as primary director since 2003.

“Right around that same time,” Jo Ellen said, “we were so fortunate that Mark Hopper came to town” and began working with the Rec Players to direct his first show – “The Wizard of Oz” – in 2003.

Dustin Britt will direct “Our Town,” Jo Ellen will direct “Forum” and Hopper will take the reins for “The Fantasticks.”

Audience members will have an up-close and person vantage point for “Our Town,” Jo Ellen said, because the audience also will be located on the stage.

Tommy said the seating will create almost a theater-in-the-round experience, making it intimate and different.

“You get a lot of energy from the audience when you’re that close,” he said.

“Forum,” with music by the late Stephen Sondheim, has two weekend runs – July 8-10 and 16-17.

“It is a flat-out comedy,” Jo Ellen said, “and fairly politically incorrect – it should be very interesting.” This production will have a full orchestra.

And the final production of the season is “The Fantasticks,” which includes a 4-piece orchestra. This season finale is special for Nowell and for Hopper – “It is Mark’s and my favorite musical ever,” he said.

The Rec Players have not shied away from performing long-running Broadway shows like “The Fantasticks” and others that have great lasting power. The company sticks to much of the traditional production, but feels free “to put our own twist” in the performances.

“You want to do shows that will appeal to the most people,” Tommy said.

That may be one reason why the children’s theatre camp will perform Frozen Jr.

Cindy Clark will conduct the two-week camp in July, culminating in a July 31 rendition of the blockbuster Disney movie.

“A lot of these children can sing the songs already,” Jo Ellen noted. During the first week or more of the camp, the young people will be learning about the theater, how it works and the different technical aspects that go along with a production.

“It’s a really great learning experience for the kids,” she said. The last part of the camp will be performing the show at McGregor Hall.  The camp runs from July 18-31. Performances are scheduled for July 29-31.

Education is an integral part of what the Rec Players is all about. “We need to expose the arts to our children,” she said. “We need to teach it to them and teach them to love it, because they are the ones to carry it forward.”

The casting calls are less about auditioning and more about finding a way to include anybody who wants to be a part of a production, she said.

Tommy said there’s just something about being part of a production that, once you’ve experienced it, stays with you.

Just ask Robert Peace. He called in to the show to express his thanks for the Rec Players and bringing live theater to the community. He said he participated in the Rec Players in the late 1970’s and enjoyed every moment. “I just fell in love with theater,” he said, adding that he continued to find ways to tap in to theater during the next 15 years or so when he was in the military.

“This is great what you guys are going,” he said to the Nowells. “Kids get a feel for this and it just stays with you. I still love it to this day.”

Purchase season tickets by calling 252.598.0662 or visit www.mcgregorhall.org.

The deadline to become a season patron is June 21.

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