Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

TownTalk: World FlingGolf Tournament Coming to Kerr Lake Country Club

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FlingGolf is a “thing,” and it’s coming to Henderson this weekend.

Exactly what, you may ask, is this thing called fling?

Well, picture, if you will, a lacrosse stick – you know, it’s a long stick with a little basket or cup on one end of it.

Now picture a group of folks, those modified lacrosse sticks in hand, on a golf course. And instead of teeing up the ball in the tee box, the golf ball is nestled in that little cup and gets flung instead of whacked with a driver down the fairway.

Sound interesting? That’s what Johnathan Norton thought when he first started reading about FlingGolf five or so years ago.

It’s been around for a decade or more, but it’s just been in the past few years that the word’s gotten out about this novel sport. And now Henderson has landed the first stop on a national fling golf tour.

Johnathan and his father David Norton were guests on Monday’s TownTalk to talk about the North Carolina Open set for Mar. 29 and 30 at Kerr Lake Country Club. There’s an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start both days, and spectators are welcome. So far, more than 40 people have registered for the tournament, which kicks off the 2025 New Swarm Tour, a 10-tournament series that takes players up and down the East Coast, as well as West Virginia, Missouri and California.

“A lot of the top players will be here,” Johnathan said, including one who lives in Durham, who Johnathan said is the world’s longest flinger with flings of 240 or 250 yards.

According to David, one of the advantages to playing FlingGolf is that no alterations to the golf course are necessary. “You play it just like golf. You just play it like that and have fun with it,” he said.

And players don’t need much equipment, Johnathan said. “One fling stick, one golf ball and you’re good to go.”

Tournament rules state that players have to use the same stick all the way from the tee “fling” to the hole for the entire round; everyday players can choose from among different sticks if they’d like, more like traditional golfers do during a round.

The strategy is quite similar to traditional golf, too, the local FlingGolfers agree. And just like golf clubs, fling sticks are made of different composite materials to accommodate players’ skills and needs.

So when golfers need to “fling” around a dog leg right, they can put a little English on that fling stick and send that ball, hopefully, in the right direction. Ditto with sandtraps and other hazards, same as regular golf.

“There are some people on the tour who are really good at it – I’m still learning,” he said, but “it’s definitely possible…shot-shaping definitely comes into play.”

Visit https://flinggolf.com/pages/wlf to register for the tournament.

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Organic Gardens

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On the Vance County Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland:

How the Organic Garden can be grown to provide healthy vegetables for your family.

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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Rebuilding Hope, Inc. Men’s Breakfast Thursdays At 7 AM

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Rebuilding Hope Co-director Tom Wille invites men in the community to a weekly breakfast and devotion time to discuss and reflect a bit on God’s word and how it applies to our daily lives.

“If you are looking for a community to serve in, a community to grown in, a community to be encouraged by, then come hang out with us,” Wille wrote in a recent Rebuilding Hope newsletter.

Come at 7 a.m. on Thursdays for a biscuit – a full breakfast on the first Thursday of the month – and then stay for a devotion and prayer time for various needs across the community.

Volunteers do the cooking and lead the devotion, Wille said.

“We learn as men about things like 1 Timothy 3:2-5 how these attributes can positively affect us and those around us. Proverbs 27:17 shows how we can encourage each other through positive relationships,” he said.

There’s time for prayer – prayer for individual needs, as well as needs for the ministry and for the larger community. Prayers are offered for other ministries that serve their communities in particular ways, from food and shelter to worship and counseling

“While our main focus is to point people to Jesus through maintenance construction, we also understand the need to support each other and the other groups in our area that point people to Christ through their focus of ministry,” Wille said. “Each of these places is important.”
If you’d like to support Rebuilding Hope, Inc. with a financial contribution, there’s an online link to make a secure payment. Visit www.rebuildinghopeinc.org and click on the Donate button at the top of the page. There’s an option to donate to General Ministry for daily operations, SOS (Servants on Site) to pay registration fees or to contribute to the summer mission camp and Memorial to make a gift in remembrance of someone.

 

The Local Skinny! Community Listening Event Analysis from Jayden Watkins

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Among the more than 175 folks who came to Monday’s “Breaking the Cycle” community listening session sponsored by the Pathways to Peace Coalition for Vance County was Jayden Watkins.

Watkins wears a lot of hats – he’s an author, a pastor, an entrepreneur, a leader of the Empowered youth group, among other things.

His comments during that listening session, however, came from his unique perspective as a teenager. Watkins, 16, said it’s important that teenagers’ voices be heard in discussions like this one, where the talk centered around how to combat growing violence in the community.

Another hat Watkins wears – mostly when he’s on a break from school – is that of part-time employee at WIZS Radio. And he spoke Thursday about the listening session held earlier in the week and possible outcomes that could result from so many people coming out to talk and listen to one another.

“It was important to me that my perspective as a teenager was heard,” Watkins said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny! Despite the fact that some teens are indeed involved in the senseless violence present in Vance County and elsewhere, Watkins said it’s not all teens. “Not all teenagers are lost or headed down a negative path—many are looking for ways to grow, lead, and contribute positively to society,” he said.

His youth mentorship organization, Empowered, has quickly grown from about 40 to more than 120 active members. They have “meet-ups” and talk about real stuff, Watkins said – mental health, trauma brought on by violence and more.

These teens are not “out on the street causing nonsense,” Watkins said. They’re in a safe space inspiring each other to grow stronger – empowering each other to make a difference.

Call Watkins at 252.425.0354 to sign up for Empowered or to make a donation to the nonprofit organization.

And while he sees the value in talking about the challenges this community faces, talking and listening alone aren’t going to solve the problems. “It’s equally important that we take action to bring those changes to life,” Watkins said. Change begins with action, he said.

Part of the change can come by making this a normal conversation, not just a group of people coming together for a couple of hours on one day and then having the community talk about it for a week before enthusiasm wanes.

Watkins called for adults – especially those in leadership roles who can implement policies and create roadmaps for change – to be consistent advocates.

“One person can start a movement,” he said, “but for a movement to grow, there has to be collective unity.”

And sometimes, just sometimes, it’s teenagers themselves who can come up with solutions. Watkins said, however, that “we aren’t recognized or our cry is not being heard” when grownups are talking about how to fix problems or address challenges that affect young people.

Involving youth in the discussions and decision-making can create possible solutions that may just work.

“I pray that those who attended the session don’t just walk away from the conversation with complaints or ideas of what needs to change,” Watkins wrote in remarks he prepared in advance of the radio program. He shared those remarks and we include some of them here:

“I hope we, as a city, will unite and take real action to spark…change. Progress will only happen if we work together to break down the limiting beliefs that hold us back. It all starts with changing our mindset.”

He said he encourages teens to stay in Henderson and be one of the changemakers the city needs. “We have the power to make a difference, but it starts with us—and with you,” he wrote.

“I encourage the adults in our community not to dismiss the dreams and visions of youth like me. Instead, do everything in your power to uplift and support us. If you hold a position of leadership, seek out a young person to mentor. Teach them not only how to lead, but how to lead better than you. If we don’t invest in us, Henderson will remain stagnant.”

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Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: Healthy Co-Parenting Part 3

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Cooperative Extension

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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TownTalk: N.C. District 32 Rep. Bryan Cohn Introduces HB 269

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Just a couple of months into his term in the N.C. House representing District 32, Bryan Cohn has introduced a bill and co-sponsored another. In between crafting bills and acclimating himself to the workings of state government, Cohn has been crisscrossing the district to talk with constituents.

House Bill 269 is called the Workforce Freedom and Protection Act, which Cohn introduced just a couple of weeks ago. He said so far, it’s gotten some bipartisan compliments – from none other than the newly elected Speaker of the House Destin Hall.

The bill, briefly described as a workers’ rights bill, focuses on removing some restrictions on employees in jobs with salaries under $75,000. Those restrictions could include non-compete clauses, for example, that could affect an employee’s ability to move within their industry.

“They should have the freedom to do so,” Cohn said on Wednesday’s segment of TownTalk.

He said non-competes might be expected in a high-income, high-impact field for doctors or lawyers or company executives.

But the practice has begun to creep into everyday jobs, he said, and that could limit an employee’s freedom to find a better paying job within the same industry.

If the bill is signed into law, Cohn said it would make existing non-competes null and void for workers who make less than $75,000.

“It would immediately give that worker the ability, if they choose, to seek employment that best suits them,” he said.

Another Bill that Cohn has co-sponsored calls for raising the minimum wage to $18 an hour.

North Carolina follows the federal government’s minimum wage, which has been $7.25 since July 2009.

Cohn advocates for having a stairstep increase over a period of time “to reach an agreeable and reasonable” level.

“You can’t shock the system,” he said. “I strongly believe in a tapered minimum wage.” Workers who earn minimum wage often have multiple jobs just to make ends meet. North Carolina’s minimum wage is “not even close to being a livable wage.”

The idea is to put more money in the pockets of workers, of course, but also to invigorate the economy. Right now, many workers in lower pay bands, Cohn said, don’t have extra money left to put into the economy after they’ve paid for rent and groceries.

They’re spending less money because of inflationary pressure, he asserted, which doesn’t do local economies and local businesses any good.

During his visits throughout the district, Cohn said he’s been particularly pleased to learn more about a key community partner – Vance-Granville Community College.

The trades program, for example, Cohn said, is “phenomenal.” He said until he visited the campus recently, he wasn’t aware of just how successful the college’s trades programs have been.

With District 32 positioned so close to the burgeoning Triangle area, Cohn said the growth will continue.

“I’m excited for the growth that this region is going to see over the coming years and decades,” he said.

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Vance Co. Regional Farmers Market

Home and Garden Show: VCRFM Gardens

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The beautiful memorial garden that greets visitors as they drive into the parking area at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market once was a triangular plot of grass.

Eileen Novak, president of the Vance Warren Master Gardeners said it not only serves to beautify the farmers market campus, but it also is a place for gardeners of all sorts to get ideas about what may grow in their own home landscapes.

Novak and N.C. Cooperative Extension Agent Michael Ellington talked about the existing garden and another that is under construction at the farmers market on Wednesday’s Home and Garden Show.

“We started with a plan,” Novak explained. “And we have kept to that plan…we started it bit by bit,” she said. Over time, the garden’s focus has narrowed to native plants that support pollinators.

“We’ve got a huge variety of plants that will feed the insects in most of the seasons,” she said.

The garden has even contributed to an N.C. State University study to provide information about overwintering insects.

The garden requires regular maintenance and care, and you’ll find a core group of Master Gardeners most Fridays – when the weather allows – weeding, pruning, dividing and generally caring for a garden space for the whole community to enjoy.

One of the perks of gardening is sharing plants with friends, so when bulbs need dividing or bushes need thinning, Novak said the “extra” plants can help improve the environment in other places as well as the market garden.

Ellington said he takes calls from people who have visited the farmers market and are interested in achieving the same look as the memorial garden.

“They want that look at home, but they want easy plants that they don’t have to maintain,” he said.

That’s where native selections are perfect fits, Novak said. “Natives grew up here, they are familiar with the soil, familiar with the environment, the weather,” she said. “Rose bushes are finicky because they’re not natives.”

Novak said members of the Master Gardeners are regularly stationed at the farmers market to answer questions from the public.

“We’re like librarians,” she said. “We don’t know everything, but we know where to look for the answers.” They can help make suggestions, provide information about native plants and how to support pollinators in their own yards and landscapes.

One piece of advice Novak offers to novice gardeners: Start small.

A 4 x 8 foot garden is a perfect size to get started, she said. And that just happens to be the size of the raised beds that will be part of a community garden that is being installed at the farmers market.

Ellington said the raised beds will be rented out for $40 each during the growing season and it’s the perfect way for people who either don’t have space for a garden or who want to get a little extra support from experienced gardeners and from Extension agents.

There are upcoming workdays to come out to help with the garden installation – come out to volunteer on Mar. 21, Mar. 29 or Apr. 11.

Can’t volunteer? No problem. Plans are in the works to offer sponsorship opportunities as well, Ellington said.

If all goes according to plan, the community garden will be ready just about the time the market opens for the season on Saturday, May 3.

By that time, said Novak, gardeners can plant lettuce slips and tomato slips, as well as beet seeds and carrot seeds.

Learn more at the following sites:

Community Garden Volunteer Form (March 21st, 29th, April 11th)

https://go.ncsu.edu/vcrfmgarden

Planting: A Spring Vegetable Planting Guide (March 31st)

http://go.ncsu.edu/vancespringgarden

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