Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

Vance Co. Schools Hosts Edcamp Vance; 200 Educators in Attendance

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-Press Release, Vance County Schools

Approximately 200 educators attended Edcamp Vance on Saturday, February 23, to share their expertise, successful strategies and ideas about public education in our society today.

The event, the second Edcamp hosted by Vance County Schools, was held throughout the morning at AdVance Academy in Henderson.

Educators came together to network and learn from one another in an effort to celebrate their profession and move forward with positive momentum for the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year and beyond.

Educators crowd into the cafeteria at AdVance Academy to begin their participation in Edcamp Vance. (Photo Credit: VCS)

Vance County High School Vipers band members and cheerleaders, along with the cheerleaders from Vance County Middle School, welcomed all of the educators as they arrived for the event. The opening of Edcamp was lively and very energized as participants had fun posing in front of a photo board, even putting on crazy hats, sunglasses, pure contact lenses, scarves and more after they arrived and then greeting their colleagues with lots of smiles and hugs.

Edcamp Vance drew educators from across our region of the state, but the largest contingency by far was from Vance County Schools.

Superintendent Anthony Jackson was on hand to welcome everyone and to challenge all of the educators to teach all children as if they are their own and to disrupt the educational process every day to bring out the best in their students.

Assistant superintendents Dr. Trixie Brooks and Dr. Cindy Bennett also attended, as did most of our district principals and assistant principals. Classroom teachers made up the majority of the participants, but there were also lots of support staff in attendance. Everyone came together based on their strong commitment for students and public education.

AdVance Academy, led by Principal Stephanie Ayscue, was a wonderful host site for Edcamp. The planning committee for the event, which included several educational leaders from Vance County Schools, did an absolutely marvelous job in planning details of the event and making all participants feel welcomed and a huge part of the proceedings.

Educators attended some very powerful collaborative sessions, during which everyone had the opportunity to make the most of the experience and share their opinions and expertise on the educational process. At the end of the day, educators stressed that they thoroughly enjoyed being with their colleagues and learning from one another.

Superintendent Anthony Jackson of Vance County Schools, welcomes everyone to Edcamp Vance. (Photo Credit: VCS)

Angela Cusaac, Vance County Schools Teacher of the Year, left, and Principal Stephanie Ayscue of AdVance Academy, were two of the members of the Edcamp Planning Committee. (Photo Credit: VCS)

Vance Co. Regional Farmers Market

Vance Co. Regional Farmers Market to Hold 2019 Vendor Meeting

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-Information courtesy Paul McKenzie, Agricultural Extension Agent, NC Cooperative Extension

In a few short weeks, spring will be here and the Vance County Regional Farmers Market will once again open for business. Anyone who is interested in becoming a vendor for the 2019 season is invited to our annual Vendor Meeting on Thursday, March 7, 2019, at 5:30 pm.

The meeting will take place at the Farmers Market, which is located at 210 Southpark Drive in Henderson. A light dinner will be served.

Topics for discussion include a review of the guidelines and application, input on the opening date, procedures review and more.

For more information, please contact the Market Manager, Tracy Madigan, at tmadigan@vancecounty.org or 252-598-0814.

Renovations Complete, Maria Parham Health’s Cafeteria Open for Business

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-Information courtesy Maria Parham Health’s Facebook page

Maria Parham Health announces their cafeteria renovations are complete. The cafeteria reopened today for normal business hours.

Business hours are:

Breakfast – 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Lunch – 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Dinner – 4 – 6 p.m.

Maria Parham Health thanks the community for their patience and understanding during the renovation process.

Rebuilding Hope Registering Participants for Servants on Site Week

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-Information courtesy Rebuilding Hope, Inc. 

While the deadline for registering for this summer’s Servants on Site is May 1, 2019, over half of the 200 openings for participants have already been filled.

RHI coordinator Randolph Wilson reports that 109 Early Bird registrations have been received for the June 22-29 event and that a theme for the Servants on Site week has been chosen.

This year’s theme is “I.D. Identify Defined.”

Encourage your youths to take part in this mission endeavor. If you know of any churches or youths you feel would be interested, call our office with contact information.

The cost is $150 per participant. Youths must have completed sixth grade.

Keep in mind that for every five youths, we require one adult of the same sex.

Financial Support for SOS Projects

Churches provide financial support to purchase materials that a crew will need for the work project at their work site, and they provide lunches to the crew and homeowner during the week. Churches serve the crew and the homeowner, but they will tell you that they are also blessed by both.

Crew partners could number as many as 15 participants from as many as eight of our different registered groups. The crew, and often the homeowner, worship with their sponsoring church on Sunday morning and have lunch with them afterward. This is the first time the crew members meet together as a crew. It is a great time for all the partners to begin knowing each other.  Crews serve the homeowner and the church, and they will tell you they are blessed by both.

The homeowners are also both blessed and a blessing.

We expect the partnership of a sponsoring church, an SOS crew, and a homeowner to provide a rewarding experience for everyone. We have seen that the relationships that are built last beyond the week of SOS.

SOS will have worship services at Central Baptist Church at 7:30 p.m. Sunday through Friday, June 23 – June 28, with the exception of Wednesday. We hope many will join us as often as possible.

News 02/27/19

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Citizens Aligned to Take Back Henderson Wants ‘Better, Safer’ Community

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Hope Hoyle Howard, one of the original founders of Citizens Aligned to Take Back Henderson, NC, was on Tuesday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss recent job developments and positive growth in Vance County.

Founded by Howard and fellow members Tommy Haithcock and Heidi Owen four years ago, the goal of the group was to bring positive change to the community.

“At first, there was some confusion with our name and questions of who we were trying to take the community back from,” said Howard. “We explain that the name represents wanting to take Henderson back to a time when everyone was proud of the community, a time when we looked out for our neighbors and did what was best for the next person.”

Tired of hearing the negative talk on Henderson’s crime rate, dilapidated buildings, unemployment and business outlook, the group started a Facebook page in 2015. Today, the page includes posts designed to bring attention to areas in the community that need work and to help educate the community on the positives of the area.

Citizens Aligned to Take Back Henderson, NC members are shown left to right: Heidi Owen, Tommy Haithcock and Hope Hoyle Howard. (Photo courtesy Hope Hoyle Howard)

“Starting off, we didn’t have that many people behind us, but we earned peoples’ trust and pushed and pushed until we were heard,” Howard said.

“It’s paid off, and we now have over 3,200 members on our Facebook page, many who are active, if not daily, weekly.”

Howard feels the concern Citizens Aligned expressed with the abandoned Howard Johnson property on Parham Road in Henderson was a huge catalyst for why the remains of the hotel were demolished. According to the group’s Facebook page, “every time an abandoned, dilapidated crime-riddled building is removed Henderson becomes a better, safer place to live.”

“We have a great backing between the City Council, the Mayor’s Office and the County,” said Howard. “The City and County have really come together to take down many of the jointly-owned [dilapidated] properties. We’ve got to get the code enforcement where it needs to be to continue this process.”

Mayor Eddie Ellington said Citizens Aligned does a good job of holding local governmental offices accountable for multiple situations. “They will bring various issues, such as dilapidated properties, to our attention or ask for follow-up on a situation. They are my friends and I know what they’re doing is for the betterment of our hometown.”

Recent postings to their Facebook page show the group is proud of job growth in Henderson, including the current construction of an Aldi on Dabney Road. The Aldi sign has been installed and the new grocery store will bring job opportunities, along with another shopping option, to area residents.

Howard points to other positives including the beginning of the cleanup and rebuilding process for the Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant that was destroyed in a fire in November, the recent addition of a “thriving” Planet Fitness and the 84-acre extension of the Henderson-Vance Industrial Park located off US-1.

Howard can tell the group’s research and inquiries have made a difference by the number of phone calls she receives from other towns complimenting Citizens Aligned and asking for suggestions. “It is the biggest compliment when someone reaches out to us to ask how we’ve accomplished what we have done here and asks how they can get started in their town.”

The first step in getting started with such a group, according to Howard, is to focus on positive change. “When we formed, we didn’t want to be just another group that points out the negatives. We wanted to find the good, and there is so much good in our city and our county.”

To hear the Town Talk interview with Hope Hoyle Howard in its entirety, please click here. Howard’s portion of the interview begins at the 14:00 mark.

H-V Chamber Logo

H-V Chamber Announces 2019 Board of Directors

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-Information courtesy the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce’s Jan./Feb. 2019 “Focus” Newsletter

Officers for the 2019 Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors have been elected.

Nancy Wykle, Publisher of The Daily Dispatch will assume the role and responsibilities of Board Chair. Hunter Peyton of BB&T will become first vice-chair, and Mel Manning of Quality Investments of Henderson will assume the role of immediate past chair.

Levy Brown of Vance-Granville Community College will assume the role of second vice-chair and Cynthia Ratliff will serve as treasurer.

All new, existing and outgoing Chamber officers and directors were recognized during the Chamber’s 2019 Annual Membership Meeting and Banquet on Thursday, January 31 at the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center.

NC Coop Extension

Register Now for the 2019 ‘Gardening for a Sustainable Future’ Symposium

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-Information courtesy Paul McKenzie, Agricultural Extension Agent, NC Cooperative Extension

The theme for the 2019 Vance County gardening symposium is “Gardening for a Sustainable Future” and will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2019. This event, hosted by the Master Gardener℠ volunteers of Vance and Warren Counties, will take place at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.

Presenters this year include Dr. Ashley Troth, Extension Agent in Durham County, Mark Weathington, Director of NC State University’s JC Raulston Arboretum, and Kit Flynn, Master Gardener volunteer emeritus and garden writer.

Register by Thursday, February 28 to receive the early bird registration rate of $30. Lunch and snacks are included in the registration cost. Complete details and the registration form are available at https://go.ncsu.edu/vancegarden or by calling 252-438-8188.

News 02/26/19

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H-V Chamber Logo

H-V Chamber Experiencing Challenging Time, Staff ‘Keeping the Ship Right’

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The Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce is currently experiencing a challenging time in its long history of serving the local business community.

In addition to recent news that John Barnes resigned from his position as president effective February 19, the Chamber is set to lose all funding for their Work First program effective July 1, 2019. This includes funding for the position of their Work First coordinator, a role currently filled by Vanessa Jones.

Chamber Chair Nancy Wykle, told WIZS News, “Vanessa Jones’ position was funded through the Work First Program. DSS (Department of Social Services) administered the funding for that, and they had a contract with the Chamber to administer the program.”

According to the Vance County DSS Work First website, the program was created to assist participants in becoming self-sufficient by securing and maintaining employment. Participants receive monthly cash assistance for themselves and their children by signing and adhering to a detailed plan that outlines their goals for becoming self-sufficient.

To qualify, participants are required to be involved in work-related activities for 20-55 hours per week depending on the age of the youngest child and if the family is a two-parent household.

Benefits can be received for up to 24 months if participants remain in compliance; families reaching that limit cannot reapply for welfare for three years.

In 2018, DSS informed Barnes they were pulling the contract with the Chamber saying, according to Wykle, that “we need to rethink how these dollars are being spent.”

Part of their need to reconsider the Chamber’s Work First dollars, according to DSS, included the increased need for foster care funding as a result of the opioid crisis.

At that time, Barnes reduced the blow the Chamber received by negotiating for the Work First money to only drop by 50 percent in the 2018-2019 fiscal year budget. That budget year ends, along with the Chamber’s DSS Work First grant, on June 30.

Wykle said the DSS Work First grant being cut by half and then dropping to zero hurts. “Coupled with losing some sponsorship or folks just choosing to spend their dollars another way, that has made for an interesting financial picture, and we know what we’ve got to do to make up the difference.”

She said, “The staff is really focused on what they need to do, and what they want to do. We are really lucky that we have the staff we have in place because I can’t imagine a more capable group of people keeping the ship right.”

In a press release issued Friday, February 22, the Chamber stated that an interim will be appointed while the organization searches for the next president.

“The chamber board is actively engaged in the process of naming an interim president and will be providing any support the staff needs to ensure that all member services will continue without interruption,” said Wykle.