Tag Archive for: #norlinanews

S-Line Rail Corridor

TownTalk: NCDOT, Warren County Leaders Plan Feb. 25 Open House To Discuss Norlina’s Future S-Line’s Mobility Hub

The community is invited to come out next week to hear about the progress being made on a mobility hub that is scheduled to be built in Norlina as part of a multi-million dollar project that will bring passenger rail service to the area.

The N.C. Department of Transportation and Warren County will host a community meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25 for the proposed Norlina Mobility Hub. The hub would allow people to access different modes of transportation from a central location.

“We’re excited to be working closely with Warren County residents to share information about the mobility hub project and hear how we can work together to get the community ready for rail and bring additional economic activity to the county,” said Brennon Fuqua, director of NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility Division.

The open house will last from 5-8 p.m. and will be held at the Warren County Armory, 501 U.S. Hwy 158 Bus E. in Warrenton. People may drop in at any time to hear updates and learn about next steps.

The NCDOT Rail and Integrated Mobility Divisions will update the public about the status of the S-Line program, the work done to date on the Mobility Hub Study and seek feedback. The S-Line Raleigh to Richmond Passenger Rail Project is a partnership between the NCDOT and the Virginia Rail Passenger Authority to develop an abandoned freight corridor into a future highly efficient passenger rail service. It will connect communities between Raleigh and Richmond.

As part of the S-Line rail project, NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility Division is studying design options for mobility hubs in several communities, including Norlina, in Warren County.

A mobility hub is a public facility that brings together a rail station with “last-mile” transportation options, such as ride sharing, regional transportation, community amenities and other services. These hubs offer safe solutions to get off the train and use a bike, shuttle, ride sharing service or other mode to finish their trip.

To learn more about IMD and the mobility hub projects, visit NCDOT.gov. Follow Integrated Mobility on Twitter/X @NCDOT_IMD and LinkedIn at NCDOT Integrated Mobility Division.

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St. Paul’s Lutheran to Hold Indoor Yard & Bake Sale This Sat.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church located at 114 Poplar Mount Road in Norlina will be having a gigantic indoor yard and bake sale on Saturday, March 2, 2019, from 7 a.m. until noon.

There will be clothes, cookbooks, and lots of miscellaneous items. Bake sale items will feature a number of yeast breads and rolls, cookies and pies.

Profits from the sale will be used to help fund a mission trip to a remote village in Alaska.

Warren County Logo

Norlina Market Festival Rescheduled For Sat., June 16

— courtesy The Chamber of Commerce of Warren County | Craig Hahn, Executive Director ~ 252-257-2657 ~ info@warren-chamber.org ~ Facebook

The Norlina Market Festival is the biggest celebration to come to Norlina to highlight and celebrate farming and agriculture! Rain dampened most of the originally-scheduled day on Saturday, May 19, so the organizers rescheduled the event for Saturday, June 16.

There will be fresh foods, produce, goods & services available from local and neighboring county farms. The celebration includes live music, fun & exciting games, arts, crafts, food trucks, vendors, fresh locally grown fruits, fresh locally grown vegetables, locally raised meats, and more!!!

This family event will take place on Saturday, June 16 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Norlina Junction Park on Liberty Street near the Norlina Post Office.

If you’re interested in setting up goods for sale or to educate the participants…or if you have a food truck looking to set up at the event, please contact Latarshia Turner-Brothers via Facebook or call her at (252) 425-9845. You may also email her at newlifeofwellness@gmail.com!

This Festival is the first event as a result of the Revitalization & Planning Committee for the town of Norlina. Headed up by Norlina resident Latarshia Turner-Brothers, this committee is designed to give local families an opportunity to attend events without having to leave the county.

Warren County Logo

Norlina Market Festival Kicks Off Sat., May 19

— courtesy The Chamber of Commerce of Warren County | Craig Hahn, Executive Director ~ 252-257-2657 ~ info@warren-chamber.org ~ Facebook

The Norlina Market Festival is the biggest celebration to come to Norlina to highlight and celebrate farming and agriculture!

There will be fresh foods, produce, goods & services available from local and neighboring county farms. The celebration includes live music, fun & exciting games, arts, crafts, food trucks, vendors, fresh locally grown fruits, fresh locally grown vegetables, locally raised meats, and more!!! This family event will take place on Saturday, May 19 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Norlina Junction Park on Liberty Street near the Norlina Post Office in downtown Norlina.

If you’re interested in setting up goods for sale or to educate the participants…or if you have a food truck you’re looking to set up at the event, please contact Latarshia Turner-Brothers via Facebook or call her at (252) 425-9845. You may also email her at newlifeofwellness@gmail.com.

This Festival is a result of the Revitalization & Planning Committee for the town of Norlina. Headed up by Norlina resident Latarshia Turner-Brothers, this committee is designed to give local families an opportunity to attend events without having to leave the county.

Warrenton Revitalization Presents Family Movie Night

by Craig Hahn

Come join us September 23rd at 7:00 p.m. on the courthouse square in Warrenton for a viewing of 2016’s “The Jungle Book!” Free Admission. Bring your own lawn chair or blanket.

Refreshments will be sold…start a new family tradition and join us for this classic movie under the stars.

A huge thank you to our local grocery stores, Just Save and Food Lion for donating hot dogs! So, hot dogs, popcorn and beverages will all be sold! Y’all come on out and enjoy the evening with us!

Warren County Beautification Committee Plans Litter Pick-Up Day

by Craig Hahn

The Warren County Beautification Committee is planning a county-wide trash collection day on Saturday, September 16, 2017 in conjunction with NCDOT. The DOT will furnish vests, bags and some manpower. I just heard this week that bags and vests are now available at the Warren County Board of Election Office on North Main Street in Warrenton.

Now’s the time to start forming your group and determining which roads you plan to clean. Questions? You can contact any committee member or Debbie Formyduval via email at DebbieFormyduval@warrencountync.gov or Frank Carpenter at the Warren DOT office.

Step 1 in Preserving & Protecting Our Historic Communities

by Craig Hahn

The Warren County Historic Preservation Commission held a public informational meeting 27 July to introduce their initiative to have permanent, historic signs placed in Warren County communities. This County program is designed to help preserve & enhance the history of our local communities and Warren County.

The following communities will be part of Phase 1 of this program: Arcola/Bethlehem, Inez, Ridgeway, Russell Union, Soul City & Warren Plains. At last night’s meeting representatives from Soul City, Russell Union and Ridgeway were in attendance and plan to move forward on signs for their communities.

Citizens interested in being a part of the historic community signage program are needed to form committees to research their communities’ history, select a roadside site where motorists can pull over to read the sign and to raise funds for the purchase of the signs (similar in appearance to the silver-toned State historic markers). These signs will be two-sided. The cost is about $1,200 to $1,700 each (depending on the final design choice. Currently Warren County does have some funding available to assist each community noted above to “kick-start” their respective fundraising efforts in the amount of about $400.

To get involved, Community members interested in participating or getting more information may contact Ken Krulik at 252-257-7027, 252-257-3037, or mailto:KenKrulik@warrencountync.gov.

Warren County Arts Council Accepting Subgrant Applications

by Craig Hahn

The Warren County Arts Council, in partnership with the NC Arts Council’s Grassroots Program, is accepting applications for subgrants to be awarded to local organizations for arts programs in Warren County through August 7th.

Applications are available for non-profit organizations whose purpose is to promote and develop diverse cultural arts programming in Warren County. Application forms and grant guidelines are available at https://ncarts.org/resources/local-arts-council-resources and paper copies of the applications can be picked up at the front desk of Warren County Memorial Library or at the Grant Workshop.

All NEW applicants must attend the Grassroots Arts Program Grant Workshop to assist interested applicants in preparing competitive grants on Thursday, July 27th, 5:30 p.m. at Warren County Memorial Library.

For questions or more information, please contact Warren County Arts Council at 252-213-5172 or email victoria.l.lehman@gmail.com.

Warren County students graduate from VGCC summer transportation institute

Nineteen Warren County High School students were recently honored for graduating from the National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI), hosted by Vance-Granville Community College’s Warren County Campus. This was the second consecutive year that the institute was offered, in addition to a similar Summer Transportation & Trades Academy held on the campus in 2015.

The three-week summer program was conducted by the college in partnership with Warren County Schools, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The NSTI concluded on June 30, when graduation exercises were held at Warren County High School.

Graduates included WCHS students Jahmad Attucks, Timothy Batchelor, Daniel Braswell, Juan Cervantes, Timothy Edwards, Destiny Hightower, Domilig’e Hunter, Leonte Jiggetts, Dustin Jordan, Quantaya Marion, Zacchaeus Marrow, Nathan Milam, Tavis Mills, RocQuan Perry, James Robinson, Diamond Shaw, Jakayla Simes, Rhasheed Wheeler and Montellus Williams.

Three graduates were recognized with outstanding achievement awards for going “above and beyond”: Attucks, Hightower and Simes.

The ceremony, entitled “Transformation through Transportation III,” began with welcoming remarks by VGCC Warren County Campus Dean Lyndon Hall, who oversaw the NSTI grant project for the college, and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Angela Ballentine. Last year, VGCC became the first community college in North Carolina to host a camp through an NSTI grant, under the leadership of recently-retired VGCC Director of Occupational Extension Jean Blaine.

The staff for the camp included coordinator Odessa Perry and assistant coordinator Leslie Dundas, both Warren County educators; and academic aide Peter Marcellas Robinson of Creedmoor, a graduate of the VGCC Electronics Engineering Technology program.

During the graduation ceremony, groups of students made presentations that summarized their experiences during the program, which focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) as well as “soft skills” and exploring careers in transportation by land, air and water.

The camp featured a variety of guest presenters. As they learned about workplace safety, students became certified in CPR and first aid by Stephen Barney from the VGCC Emergency Medical Services department. Among the other VGCC faculty and staff teaching sessions were Assistant Director of Financial Aid Jeremy Lambert, Librarian Jennie Davis, Academic Skills Center Coordinator Jason Snelling, College Success & Study Skills Program Head Olu Ariyo and Warren Campus Coordinator/Instructor of Basic Skills Edna Scott.

Students went on several field trips during the program, visiting the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington, Hatteras Yacht Manufacturing, Amtrak stations in Durham and Raleigh, and the Carolina Sunrock facility in Butner.

Leigh Dennis, a Certified Equipment Manager (CEM) and manager of fleet services for Carolina Sunrock, was the guest speaker for the graduation ceremony. “What our graduates have accomplished both individually and as a team is impressive,” Dennis said. “It also has great value to them and the transportation industry.” He told the graduates, “In this program, you have met and surmounted the challenges presented to you by your instructors. You have traveled to see and experience some transportation industries at work and, in the process, been introduced to some of the vast opportunity that awaits. With the higher education programs and career paths available in the field of transportation, we are all hopeful that you will keep our industries in mind when deciding what you want to do.”

Dennis said that he had been professionally involved with the construction of transportation infrastructure (earthmoving, road-building, utilities installation and materials production) for 35 years. But even he learned something new when he visited the NSTI camp in Warrenton. “I had told some of my team where I was going that day so when I returned to work, some of them asked jokingly, ‘So, did you learn anything at school today?’ As a matter of fact, I did, I said, at which point I showed them pictures of what you were doing – learning and applying the concept of LED circuitry to arrange a circuit board to first make the lights come on and then program them to blink in succession,” he recalled.

“No one in the room was joking any more. People that have worked in the materials production and delivery part of the transportation industry for years were using words such as ‘incredible’ and ‘amazing’ to describe what they were seeing in the pictures. Activities like this prove that you have been tested in ways that help you see and apply the values of teamwork, collaboration and cooperation,” Dennis said. “When you combine that with field trips to see transportation at work in the real world, you now own what we in the business world refer to as ‘invaluable experience.’ This is a powerful term which, by the way, looks really good on college or employment applications and resumes.” He concluded by saying, “Graduates of the 2017 National Summer Transportation Institute, as a long-time member and representative of the transportation industry, I salute you and wish you well on your journeys to success.”

Also on hand to congratulate the graduates were Federal Highway Administration Civil Rights Program Manager Lynise DeVance, N.C. Department of Transportation Education Initiatives Coordinator JoAna McCoy, and VGCC Vice President of Student Services Dr. Levy Brown.

Each participant attended the camp at no cost and received a stipend based upon their attendance and active participation in camp activities.

VGCC is partnering with the DOT on a number of training initiatives, including a Heavy Equipment Operator course, which is also conducted at the Warren Campus. For more information on that program, contact Lyndon Hall at halll@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3687.

Warren Family Institute Back To School Supply Drive Thru July 31st

by Craig Hahn

The Warren Family Institute is currently conducting a Back-ToSchool Supply Drive. You can help them by donating school supplies for the Children of Warren County. Any size donation will be greatly appreciated.

The Supply Drive goes on now thru 31 July. Items may be dropped off at the following location: 427 West Franklin Street, Warrenton (on the campus of Hawkins Ed. Ctr. Bldg. 6). Or you can call for pick-up at 252-257-1134. If you would rather donate money to buy school supplies, please mail your check to:

Warren Family Institute PO Box 150 Warrenton, NC 27589

All school supplies will be given away at various Warren County Community Events.

Thank you!