Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

Henderson Fire Dept

TownTalk: Fire Prevention Week

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If you’ve ever been awakened in the middle of the night by that annoying little chirp of the smoke detector signaling the need for a new battery, consider this: that annoying little chirp could be a life-saving sound that could avert tragedy in a real emergency.

October 3-9 is Fire Safety Week, and Henderson Fire Captain Lee Edmonds wants everyone to learn the different sounds of fire safety. For example, a smoke alarm signal is three loud beeps; a carbon monoxide alarm is four continuous rapid beeps.

“Learning the sounds of fire safety is very important,” he said.

In a conversation with John C. Rose on Monday’s Town Talk, Edmonds suggested that every household have two escape plans, and from different locations in the home. “Every second counts,” he said.

Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are valuable tools to help homeowners – as long as they are in good working order. A good rule of thumb is to change the batteries when the time changes twice a year.

A new type of smoke alarm has a 10-year life span and there’s no battery to replace, he said. So when it begins to chirp, it’s time to toss and replace.

Residents in the community have the chance to learn more about smoke alarms and more during an event from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7. There will be fire trucks and a “smoke trailer” on hand for children and others to view at the former Golden Corral parking lot on North Cooper Drive.

Smoke alarms should be located inside and outside of sleeping and living spaces, Edmonds said. But, he said, smoke alarms should not be located near kitchens or bathrooms, where steam from cooking or showering could cause them to be activated.

Another important tool to have on hand is a fire extinguisher, and Edmonds said the most common type is one that can handle the three main types of fires in households – regular combustible fires, fires caused by flammable liquids and electrical fires.

This “ABC” fire extinguisher will take care of most any type of fire that occurs in a residence, he noted.

By the end of September, there have been 100 fire-related deaths. “That’s a lot and we’re just nine months into the year,” he said. Last year’s total was 120, and Edmonds said the main way to keep that number down is to make sure there are working smoke detectors in the home.

Any Henderson resident who hears that annoying little chirp can call the fire station at 252.4301877 to get help. “Someone will come out and replace the battery or the smoke detector,” Edmonds said.

Visit the National Fire Protection Association website at nfpa.org to learn more about fire safety.

 

Mark Pace

The Local Skinny! The History Of Old Granville Co. To Be Presented At Oxford Senior Center

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If you’ve ever been curious about the history of our area then an upcoming four part series will be a great opportunity to learn. Local historian Mark Pace of the North Carolina Room, Thornton Library in Oxford will be going in depth on the area’s history from pre-historic times to the present. The series will be held on Thursday’s from 10 until 11:30 on the mornings of Oct. 7, 14, 21 and 28 at the Senior Center in Oxford. The cost is only $15 for the entire series.

Old Granville County, as historians refer to the area, encompasses present day Granville, Vance, Warren and Franklin Counties. Franklin and Warren were split off in 1764 as Bute County which was divided in 1779 into Warren and Franklin Counties. In 1881 parts of Warren, Franklin and Granville were used to make Vance County.

The Four Part series will detail these changes. Part 1 will focus on the pre-historic era through the American Revolution. Part 2 will cover from the end of the Revolution through the Civil War. Part 3 will pick up at the end of the Civil War and continue through the Great Depression and part 4 will cover from the end of the Depression until today.

Pace said the 90 minute length will allow him to go deeper into the history of Old Granville County than most programs do.

The programs are open to the public and are part of the Senior Center’s Lifelong Learning Program. For more information and to sign up for this and other offerings contact the Senior Center at 919-693-1930.

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Look To Move To 4-1 Against Carrboro

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“We don’t win future games from what we did in the past,” were the words of Vance Co. High School football coach Wilbur Pender when discussing the Viper’s upcoming matchup with Carrboro. The Vipers are coming off a 21-20 victory last week over Northern Durham and are looking to open their conference schedule against Carrboro with a win.

Pender said the team has had a great week of practice and said the team is back in rhythm after a two week lay off due to a Covid exposure. The effects of the layoff are quickly fading and preparation for Carrboro is the key to a victory Friday night. “If we don’t prepare well, we won’t play well,” said Pender.

The Vipers are looking to clamp down on the mistakes made last week. Six penalties in the first quarter against Northern Durham eliminated two touchdowns but Coach Pender was impressed that they were able to overcome those mistakes. “We kept fighting and chipping away,” Coach Pender said. That included two big 4th down conversion late in the game to allow the Vipers to overcome a Northern Durham lead.

Carrboro is an improving team with a strong rushing game and Pender says that the Vipers have been working on getting players to the ball, gang tackling and making sure they have the fundamentals down.

The Vipers play Carrboro at 7 o’clock Friday night.  You can hear the game on WIZS beginning at the conclusion of the Joy Christian Center broadcast at approximately 6:45 tomorrow evening.

 

Vance County, NC

The Local Skinny! Architecture Survey Is Underway In Vance County

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Nine Oaks, Hibernia, Blackenhall…these are names of some great, historical Vance County homes. Unfortunately, they no longer exist. Either destroyed by disaster, allowed to slowly deteriorate or, in the case of Hibernia, swallowed by the creation of Kerr Lake. However, Vance County still has many pieces of historic architecture still standing. Some of these are homes. Some are commecial buildings. Just how many is the aim of a survey being conducted the N. C. State Historic Preservation Office.

Vance and Person Counties have been chosen as the subject of a comprehensive survey of historic buildings and landscapes planned from 2021-23. Funding for this architectural survey comes from the Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund (ESHPF), administered by the National Park Service, for hurricanes Florence and Michael. Because the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared a major disaster in Vance County following both storms, the county is an eligible location for planning projects intended to document degree of damage from past storms as well as provide preparedness for future disasters.

As national emergencies arise, Congress may appropriate funding from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) to provide relief for historic preservation projects in areas impacted by natural disasters. The HPF uses revenue from federal oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf to assist a broad range of preservation projects without expending tax dollars. In 2018, hurricanes Florence and Michael, as well as Typhoon Yutu, caused extensive damage to communities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, the Northern Mariana Islands, South Carolina, and Virginia. Congress subsequently passed Public Law 116-20 to provide ESHPF assistance to these six states and one territory related to damages from these storms.

North Carolina has chosen to allocate funding to support the survey of historic resources to determine the overall degree of damage, as well as provide data for resiliency planning for our state’s treasured cultural resources. Vance County was selected from among other eligible counties because the State Historic Preservation Office (HPO) has not previously conducted a comprehensive architectural survey of the county. The 2021-2023 architectural survey will intensively document historic buildings and landscapes from the early 19th century through the 1970s, including those in Henderson and rural areas. Data gathered during the survey will assist Vance County in planning for the preservation of its historic resources.

The State of North Carolina has hired hmwPreservation, a Durham, N.C.-based cultural resources consulting firm, to complete the project. Heather Slane and Cheri Szcodronski are serving as Principal Investigators. Preliminary fieldwork started in mid-August. A survey of rural Vance County is currently taking place now and continue into early 2022. A survey of the town of Henderson is anticipated to occur in late 2022 and early 2023. The project will conclude no later than September 2023.

An architectural survey entails documentation of buildings and landscapes that are at least 50 years old. Fieldworkers take photographs, draw site plans, and collect oral history from people they meet on site. They conduct a limited amount of archival research to establish countywide patterns of historical development. hmwPreservation will also identify properties that appear to be potentially eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as historic districts. National Register properties are potentially eligible for state and federal tax credits for certified historic rehabilitation. The Vance County Comprehensive Architectural Survey will culminate in a final report that analyzes the history of the county through the lens of its historic architecture.

At the conclusion of the survey, the HPO will share the final report and geospatial data collected during fieldwork with the National Park Service and will retain all materials from the survey as part of the statewide architectural record. Public access to the information will be available through HPOWEB, the HPO’s geographic information system, which is accessible online at http://gis.ncdcr.gov/hpoweb/. The survey material will facilitate the environmental review necessary for state and federal undertakings and will aid in planning for future economic and community development projects. Survey products also will be useful for the continued development of heritage tourism programs in Vance County.

An identical survey was completed in Franklin County in April of 2018. The Franklin County Historical Preservation Committee is currently working toward the publication of a book on the historic properties located in Franklin County. Historic Preservation can entice tourism at a local level which has economic impacts. Vance County would be smart in following the Franklin County Commissioner’s example and form their own Historic Preservation Commission with an eye towards a publication that would promote tourism in Henderson and throughout Vance County.

For more information on the Vance County Comprehensive Architectural Survey, contact Elizabeth C. King, Architectural Survey Coordinator for the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, at elizabeth.king@ncdcr.gov or 919-814-6580, or Heather Slane of hmwPreservation, at heather@hmwpreservation.com.

 

TownTalk: Veteran Uses Wood Working To Help Combat PTSD

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Perhaps Walter Craig remembers his father’s admonition as he’s in his workshop building wooden toys for children and others to enjoy. Son, the carpenter and farmer would say, it takes a lifetime to grow a tree, but it only takes an idiot 15 minutes to screw one up.

Craig, a U.S. Army veteran, took up woodworking after finding himself in need of something to keep him out of the recliner and doing something good for others. Today, his toy cars, helicopters and more can be found in 14 states, as well as on Guam and in Australia.

But they’re not for sale. “Then whoever’s got a dollar can buy one,” Craig said. “I get to determine who’s worthy of getting one. He gives them away, sending them to fellow veterans and others who can use a little cheering up for one reason or another.

Craig talked about his time in the military, how it shaped his life after he retired and more on Thursday’s Town Talk, when guest host Phyllis Maynard joined John C. Rose for another program in a series about military veterans and PTSD.

Craig, a retired 1st Sergeant, spent 20 years in the U.S. Army and eventually became a master mechanic. He worked on Cobra, and then Apache, helicopters and was key in the development of the prototype of the “Hellcat” missile.

He credits an older brother – he had 11 siblings growing up – for his decision to enlist in the Army. He followed that brother around Ft. Hood in Texas for a couple of days in the late 1960’s, he said. But his brother was in an armored division and he suggested Craig go into aviation “because it was up and coming.”

Having the experience of being a helicopter mechanic helped Craig ultimately find woodworking. At the time, now retired from his civilian job as a prison employee, he decided he wanted a model of a Cobra helicopter. His search came up empty, so he decided to build one himself.

After that, he built a bunch of wooden toy cars for the local credit union’s toy drive. And from there, his new mission was up and running.

An online visit with an Army buddy prompted Craig to send him a wooden copter. “He was having PTSD problems,” Craig said. “If us vets don’t stick together – who’s going to help us if we don’t help each other?” That wooden replica is a reminder of all the things that he has gone through and survived, he added. It’s a way to say that what he’s going through now is “a piece of cake.”

Craig turned 72 earlier this month, but he celebrated his 19th birthday in Vietnam. Now, more than a half century later, he sees younger combat veterans returning home from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the mistreated Vietnam vets are the driving force” behind making sure the latest veterans to return home don’t suffer the same fate.

The woodworking for me is a natural spinoff. Didn’t do anything for 3 years. After prison work.

“There are people out there that don’t really want a handout, what they want is a hand up.,” Craig said. “If I can help one man or one woman get over the hard spot they’re in, then it’s well worth it.”

 

 

Leaf Collection ‘Season’ Kicks Off Oct. 18, But Not Before

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The City of Henderson has announced that leaf collection season will begin in October, and provided guidelines to residents to ensure proper placement to the leaves can be picked up.

Between Oct. 18, 2021 and Jan. 14, 2022, residents may places rows or piles of loose leaves and pine straw along the roadsides for the Public Works Department to collect. Be advised, however, that residents who place leaves or pine straw curbside before Oct. 26 or after Jan. 15 will find a $75 charge added to their monthly sanitation bill.

According to information from the city, rows or piles of leaves or pine straw shall:

  • be placed behind the curb not to interfere with vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
  • not be placed in an open ditch, gutter or street area as this can interfere with the city’s storm drainage system.
  • be free of trash and debris such as glass, cans, rocks, limb cuttings, etc. as this may damage collection equipment.
  • not be placed on top of your water meter.

The collection will be on a two- or three-week rotation, depending on weather conditions and leaf accumulation. Residents may bag the leaves and pine straw or place them in containers, but it is not required.

For more information, contact the public works department at 252.431.6115 or 252.431.6030.