Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

TownTalk: Early Granville County Courts

/by

You won’t find a copy of Leonard F. Dean’s book on the shelves alongside Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason or Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew series, but Mark Pace said Dean’s

Courthouses and Courts of Early Granville County, NC is somewhat of a detective story.

Dean’s book tracks down the origins of the court system – and the first courthouses – in old Granville County, and Mark Pace and Bill Harris said it reads more like a detective story than a rehash of researched facts.

The early courts of Granville County was the topic for the tri-weekly history program on Thursday’s Town Talk. They kicked off the discussion with a quick review of Dean’s book.

“It sounds dry, but it’s really quite good,” Harris said of Dean’s book. Pace agreed, calling Dean a “meticulous researcher…who makes his arguments and backs them up with facts.”

“It’s an interesting story from an interesting time,” Pace said.

The courthouse in downtown Oxford is beautiful and an iconic structure in its own right, but the 1838 structure wasn’t the first official courthouse in Granville County – that was located up near Eaton’s Ferry in the northeastern part of what is now Warren County.

Granville County, remember, used to encompass all of what is now Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties. That area around present-day Eaton’s Ferry was more heavily populated than other areas – folks moved from southside Virginia into that area, Pace said.

As the population continued to grow in other parts of Granville County, people who had business at the courthouse had to travel longer distances to get to the courthouse in Eaton’s Ferry.

But it was Col. William Eaton – considered by many to be the father of Granville County – who helped to change that. Eaton owned the property where the court was located up in the northeastern part of present-day Warren County. And he also offered a more centralized property farther south, which he also owned, on which to locate a court that wouldn’t take so long to get to from the south.

This property, known as Locust Hill, is located on Ruin Creek in present-day Vance County. And it was here where the “new” courthouse conducted business, from processing applications for taverns and canneries to hearing court proceedings and naturalizing citizens. Although there was no actual courthouse, court was convened here. Pace said Eaton also ran a tavern and a store, which benefitted from the additional court traffic.

In 1764, Samuel Benton introduced legislation to move the county seat to his plantation, “Oxford” and gave the land on where the current Granville County courthouse stands.

Benton, a member of the House of Commons, owned all the adjacent property around the parcel he offered for the courthouse, from which the town of Oxford grew.

Call Pace at the North Carolina Room of Richard Thornton library at 919.693.1121 to learn more about how to get a copy of Dean’s book.

 

 

TownTalk: Chief Cordell Gives Praise To Henderson’s Firefighters

/by

Firefighters with the Henderson Fire Department stand ready to respond to calls across the city, and earlier this month, they gathered to honor several among their ranks at the 45th annual awards banquet.

Fire Chief Steve Cordell said being a firefighter requires service and dedication and the individuals with the city’s fire department are true public servants. The 45th annual banquet was Jan. 12 at Clearview Church.

Battalion Chief Lee Edmonds received the Firefighter of the Year award and Cordell told John C. Rose on Wednesday’s Town Talk that Edmonds truly deserves the recognition.

The nominating committee put forth Edmonds’ name because of his behind-the-scenes efforts in navigating the department through new reporting systems with training and troubleshooting.

“Lee was the backbone of all that,” Cordell said. He trained the firefighters and also was the first person to tackle computer-related issues on the trucks or around the station.

“When staffing levels were short, Lee would jump on the truck,” Cordell said. Edmonds would fill in for firefighters who needed to take a day off, which allowed the department to stay fully staffed and ready to answer fire calls.

Edmonds worked his way through the ranks of the fire department, from fireman to engineer to captain over fire prevention and education.

“Lee takes so much pride and (is) dedicated in that job,” Cordell said. Fire prevention is a 365-day event, he added, and Edmonds is in the community every day spreading that message, with eagerness, dedication and enthusiasm.

Firefighter Matthew Pearce was presented the Valor Award, which Cordell explained is given to a firefighter who puts their life on the line to save others. Pearce was at the Dabney Drive Food Lion buying groceries when a man asked if his grandson could see the fire truck. The firefighters took their time and gave the young fellow a tour, Cordell said. But afterward, the little guy, in his enthusiasm, dashed into the path of an oncoming car in the parking lot. “Pearce jumped out, grabbed that kid and spun his back” to the oncoming vehicle. “If anyone was going to take a direct impact, it would be him,” he added.

For unselfishly putting himself in harm’s way, Pearce was awarded the fire department’s highest honor.

Capt. William Boyd was presented the Chief’s Award, which is given to a firefighter who performs his work but who also contributes to the community away from the fire station. Boyd is a deacon in his church, a family man and he also volunteers as a coach for the local high school football team.

“Not only does he give to his church, his family and community, he served our country,” Cordell said of Boyd.

Cordell said it’s been fun to watch Boyd grow as a firefighter. First as an engine captain and now a company officer, he “takes his wealth of knowledge and takes his company of men and tries to make his firefighters better than when they came into the station” every day, he added.

Cordell also acknowledged that his department honored him with an award of appreciation, an act that rendered him speechless at the banquet and an act that, days later, he said he still is processing.

“It’s a moment that I never would have expected, but it meant the world to me,” Cordell said.

“My job is to fight for those (firefighters) to make sure they have tools and equip to be safe and to do their jobs – they’re my family. Cordell’s assessment? The city of Henderson has a great fire department,” full of individuals that work together to save and protect and serve.

Click Play

 

Dr. Andrea Harris

Feb. 1 Ribbon-Cutting To Rename City Operations Center For Dr. Andrea Harris

/by

The City of Henderson’s operations and service center will be renamed for Dr. Andrea L. Harris at a ribbon-cutting ceremony next week.

The public is invited to attend the event, which will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 11 a.m. at the facility, located at 900 S. Beckford Dr., according to information from County Manager Terrell Blackmon.

The City Council voted in 2021 to rename the center in honor of Harris, who grew up in Henderson, began her teaching career here and was a community activist on the local and state levels. She died in May 2020.

Harris was an advocate for contractors and the building industry and she also was a civil rights leader, which made the operations center a very fitting site – the operations center is the largest voting location during city and county elections.

She was active locally and participated on a variety of boards, councils and commissions.

Harris received many accolades and awards over the years, including the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from three governors and an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Bennett College.

In 2018, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Duke University’s Samuel Dubois Cook Society.

She was a member of the Oxford-Henderson Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and a life member of the NAACP.  Harris was a trustee and member of Kesler Temple AME Zion Church. She was small in stature but a forced to be reckoned with.  She was always willing to be a “voice” for the underrepresented, breaking down socio-economic, racial, and gender barriers as a broker for change and equality for ALL people.

Home And Garden Show

/by

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

  • If you have brushy areas you can clean that brush out now because you can see what you are cutting.
  • Be very cautious about using bulk manure or hay as a mulch or amendment in your garden due to the risk of herbicide carryover.
  • Check house plants for insects and rotate your plants around your table to maintain their shape.
  • Get ready to fertilize your tall fescue lawn. Pick up a slow release turf fertilizer for application in mid-Feb. It’s fine to use one combined with crabgrass preventer, but I recommending avoiding other combinations.
  • Prepare your pruning equipment because pruning season is fast approaching.
  • You may want to go ahead and make sure any power equipment you will need this spring starts easily and runs well. If not, you still have time to service it before spring.
  • Check seedlings growing indoors, light and moisture are key.
  • If you have fruit trees, do some research on proper pruning techniques. Call us for reference materials, or check the internet for instructional videos.
  • Plan on growing a new vegetable this year that you haven’t grown before.

 

Cooperative Extension With Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden

/by

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

 

TownTalk: Red Cross Makes A Difference In The Life Of Mike Peoples

/by

 

 

It was March 2002 and Navy veteran Mike Peoples was getting a tour of an American Red Cross facility, mainly just so he could get a couple of persistent staffers off his back. Little did he realize that it would be that day – March 22, 2002 – that he says the Red Cross saved his life.

“I was broken,” he said, reflecting on those days a couple of decades ago. But since then, his full-time volunteer work has helped to make him whole again. He works with veterans and Red Cross staffers to create meaningful, healthy programs that can help others feel whole again, too.

Being part of an organization, he says, can help get you out of your funk.

He knows that first-hand. Peoples spoke on Tuesday’s Town Talk with John C. Rose and guest co-host Phyllis Maynard to share his experiences as a veteran and as a Red Cross volunteer.

Peoples said he missed out on an overseas station assignment because of some physical problems that ultimately resulted in him having several back and knee surgeries. He was in a body cast for two and a half years, he said.

He was discharged from the Navy, and had to live with his parents because he physically couldn’t manage by himself.

“I was in a pretty dark place,” he recalled.

In an effort to help her son, Peoples said his mother “schemed up this idea with a local board she was on.” It was at these board meetings of a housing improvement program that he met a couple of folks from the Red Cross.

Topics like building resiliency and preparedness in the community were right up his alley, Peoples said, and it didn’t take long for him to raise his hand to contribute to the conversation. “I felt sorta, kinda, close to my old self,” he said. One of the Red Cross reps approached him after a meeting and said, “you know, the Red Cross really likes military folks. Come be our disaster chairman and our disaster action team coordinator.”

He protested, saying that his daily doctor visits and physical therapy six days a week would interfere with his ability to do a job. “They were persistent,” Peoples said. He was floored when, during the tour, one of the staffers pulled a key ring full of keys out of her desk and gave them to Peoples. “We made you a set of keys because we know that you’ll have to come and go” on your own schedule,” he said.

He is the Central Atlantic Division’s hospital recovery veterans and caregiver services lead, and supports Red Cross personnel primarily in hospitals. There are volunteers and programs in VA hospitals, medical facilities and Department of Defense medical facilities. “I support the folks on the ground, building capacity, programming, and executing those program and making sure they’re executing healthy programs for the military-connected communities.”

He also serves on the disaster cycle services side of things, reconnecting people who have been separated by disaster.

Another program he helped roll out, designated by the VA as a signature program for the Red Cross, pairs volunteers with veteran patients. A check-in by phone to make sure the person on the other end is doing ok can be a lifesaver. Literally.

“I’ve made a phone call and I’ve taken a phone call,” Peoples said.

He knows what it feels like to be broken and in a dark place. And he also knows that those feelings can be temporary.

Watch the Youtube video featuring Peoples here: https://youtu.be/QkWj6SCfYhM

 

 

The Local Skinny! Jobs In Vance 1-25-22

/by

The H-V Chamber of Commerce and WIZS, Your Community Voice, present Jobs in Vance for January 25th, 2022. The Chamber compiles the information, and it is presented here and on the radio. Contact the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce at 438-8414 or email christa@hendersonvance.org to be included.

JOB OPENINGS IN VANCE COUNTY – Week of January 25, 2022

 

Name of the Company:  Fred’s Towing and Transport

Jobs Available:  Hiring for multiple positions! Service Tech, Shop Mechanic, Rollback Driver and Class A and B Drivers

Method of Contact:  Please apply in person at 400 Industry Drive or call 252-430-0082

 

Name of the Company:  KARTS

Jobs Available: Scheduler/ Dispatcher

Method of Contact: Interested applicants can apply online at ncworks.gov or go to any area NC Works office

 

Name of the Company:  Vance County Sheriff Department

Jobs Available: Is currently hiring for Detention Officers and Sherriff’s Deputies

Method of Contact: Interested applicants can apply online at ncworks.gov or go to any area NC Works office

 

Name of the Company: Hollander Sleep Products  

Jobs Available: Is looking for a Controller

Method of Contact:  Interested applicants can apply online at ncworks.gov or go to any area NC Works office

 

Name of the Company: Benchmark Community Bank

Jobs Available: Business Banking Assistant, Wake Forest, NC – will serve as an assistant to the Business Bankers and will provide support to the Construction Loan Program

Method of Contact: For full job description or to apply go online to https://bcbonline.applicantpro.com/jobs/2177461.html

 

 Name of the Company:  Benchmark Community Bank

Jobs Available:  Customer Service Representative I, Youngsville – will be the first point of contact for customers, process routine transactions, recommend financial products and services, maintain a cash drawer and assist customers on the phone or online with basic financial transactions

Method of Contact: For Full job description or to apply go online to https://bcbonline.applicantpro.com/jobs/2175110.html

 

Name of the Company:  Vance County Government

Jobs Available: Positions are now available with Department of Social Services, Sheriff’s Department, Fire Department, Planning and Development, Emergency Operations, Register of Deeds and more

Method of Contact: For a list of all listings with job descriptions and qualifications go to Vance County website and look under job postings

 

Some of these businesses are present or past advertisers of WIZS. Being an ad client is not a condition of being listed or broadcast. This is not a paid ad.