Tag Archive for: #thelocalskinny

Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Fall Festival At Perry Memorial Library

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Perry Memorial Library is getting ready for its fall festival, and Youth Services Librarian Melody Peters said there will be something for everyone to enjoy, including carnival games and more.

The festival will be Tuesday, Oct. 22 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and the weather forecast is calling for perfect autumn weather, with sunny skies and temps in the 60s.

But, Peters said, you always have to have a Plan B. This event will be rain or shine, she said. And in the off chance that the weather doesn’t cooperate to have the fall festival outside, they’ll simply move the activities inside.

Kids, make sure you tell your parents to stick around after the festival, because that’s when the Trunk or Treat takes place.

Peters said last year’s Trunk or Treat was a big success. “This year, we want to do it bigger and better,” she said.

Community partners and library staff are teaming up for another fun Trunk or Treat and will have their vehicle trunks all decorated and ready with treats to distribute to the youngsters who stop by on their way from the fall festival.

Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/ to learn about all the programs and services offered. The library is located at 205 Breckenridge St.

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The Local Skinny! Brick Power Team Weightlifting Event Coming Up

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The Brick Power Team is hosting a “Beast On The Bench” power lifting meet next month, and it’s power lifting with a purpose – raising money to help two local women who have helped so many in the community.

Harry Orr, executive director of the Brick Power Team, said every penny raised at the Oct. 26 meet will be given to Sara Coffey and Marsha Ranes, both of whom are facing health challenges.

The meet will be held at the Brick, located beside Freedom Life Church of God, 1001 Martin Creek Rd., Henderson.

“They’re real dear to me and to a whole lot (of others) in the community,” Orr said recently.

Both Coffey and Ranes have helped him with everything he’s ever done, Orr said, so it’s only fitting that he and his organization offer help in return.

“One hundred percent of what we take in, we will split up” to donate to the two women as they battle health challenges. “We don’t keep any of it,” he said, but added that he has begun to give the church 10 percent because of its faithfulness to the ministry that does so much good in the community. “The church is always behind us,” Orr said.

In fact, Coffey herself was among the 2022 class inducted into the North Carolina State Strength Sports Hall of Fame for the support she’s provided over the years to the sport.

At one time, he said, power lifting was a big sport, and there’s a renewed interest lately among participants and those who just enjoy watching.

“It’s kind of building back up,” Orr said of local enthusiasm for the sport. “We’re getting more and more lifters each time we put (an event) on,” he said. “We’ve got them coming back in – it’s building up real good.”

Entry fees are $50 for adults and $40 for teens. Spectators pay $5, and children 12 and under get in free.

Contact Orr at 252.432.4196 or by email at horr2553@yahoo.com to get registered and to learn details about the different classes and age brackets for the meet.

Weigh-ins will be held Friday, Oct. 25 from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Rules will be reviewed at 9:15 a.m. and the meet will begin at 10 a.m.

Trophies will be awarded for first and second place.

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The Local Skinny! Jayden Watkins And ‘Higher is Waiting’

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Jayden Watkins the student is on fall break this week, which gives Jayden Watkins the part-time radio guy some extra daytime hours at WIZS. And maybe, just maybe, it gives Jayden Watkins the founder of the nonprofit “Higher Is Waiting” a little time to devote to his developing organization.

At age 16, the junior at Henderson Collegiate said he had gotten a little pushback from folks who didn’t think he could get the nonprofit off the ground. “I did not listen to those naysayers,” he said.

With a mission “to educate, equip, and empower individuals to live according to their life’s purpose by providing necessary resources and faith-based events,” Higher Is Waiting has a youth Bible Study group and provides food, clothing and other supplies to area agencies that serve needy populations.

The “Empowered” teen Bible study has 130 members who range in age from 13-19. Their monthly meetings include mentorship opportunities and learning life skills, Watkins said. They also do service projects in the community.

“I’m thankful to God and thankful for donations,” he said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

Like many an entrepreneur and nonprofit founder, Watkins said his biggest challenge right now is financing to provide food, winter clothing and more. The youth have created more than 300 “Blessing Bags” filled with toiletry essentials, nonperishable foods and more that have been distributed to shelters and other places that serve needy populations.

He’s done interviews with a couple of local TV stations, which come to town when there’s something going on that casts Henderson in a negative light.

“Let’s highlight something positive,” Watkins said. “There are some positive, world-changing young people in Henderson, North Carolina.”

An upcoming event that Watkins is organizing is called “Young Voices for Change,” which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Perry Memorial Library. It’s a chance for young people to speak for up to five minutes on an issue they’re concerned about – from gun violence and self-esteem to substance use among youth in the community. Local officials will be on hand to listen and learn, Watkins said, and “to hear the concerns of our youth…in a good, welcoming, positive environment.”

Call Watkins at 252.425.0354 to learn ways to help Higher Is Waiting.

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Home And Garden Show

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

  • Farmer’s Market
  • Bee Keeper’s Meeting
  • Soil samples
  • Fire ants
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Weed and pest control 

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The Local Skinny! Gun Safety And Children Next Forum Topic Hosted By Rep. Frank Sossamon

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Rep. Frank Sossamon is hosting forums to underscore the need for gun safety, especially as it pertains to children.

The evening forums are designed to share information about gun safety with families. Representatives from the N.C. Dept. of Public Safety and the Center for Safer Schools, along with others, will be on hand during the events, according to information from Sossamon’s office.

The Granville County forum will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Northern Granville Middle School, 3144 Webb School Rd, Oxford.

Then, on Thursday, Oct. 10, the Vance County forum will be held at E.M. Rollins Elementary School, 1600 S. Garnett St., Henderson. That forum also runs from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The forums are free and open to the public.

 

Cooperative Extension With Wayne Rowland: Mites

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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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The Local Skinny! Vacant County Director Roles Now Filled

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Back in February, Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry was just a few months into her new job. On top of gearing up to prepare the county’s annual budget and getting up to speed on some of the unique challenges and opportunities across the county she was now responsible for, Perry also faced having to fill a good handful of county positions, including five directors of departments.

Perry turned a negative into a positive at the time, and said back in February that she chose to see the vacancies as a chance for her to build her own leadership team.

When Vance County announced Tuesday that it had selected a new Social Services Director, that “team” is officially complete.

Sandy Weaver began her new role as DSS director effective Oct. 1, as did Jeremy T. Jones as assistanc county manager.

And Perry won’t celebrate her first anniversary as county manager until Nov. 1.

One by one, the vacancies have been filled:

·       Budget and Finance director – Stephanie Williams;

·       Animal Services manager – William Coker;

·       Planning director – Sherry Moss;

·       Elections director- Haley Rawles;

·       Economic Development director – Ferdinand A. Rouse;

·       DSS director – Sandy Weaver

·       Chief Code Enforcement Officer – Bob Rosch

The code enforcement office is located in the same office as planning, but it will function as a separate department with Rosch as the department head, county staff noted.

The Local Skinny! Infinite Possibilities

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In observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Infinite Possibilities is hosting a candlelight vigil Thursday in Warrenton to remember victims and survivors.

The statistics are sobering: in the United States, a person suffers domestic violence every 73 seconds and 1 in 6 women has been sexually assaulted or has been the victim of an attempted sexual assault.

Vanessa Henderson serves as an advocate at Infinite Possibilities, which serves Vance and Warren counties.

Henderson and others provide people with a safe place to discuss their situations and what they need to do to get out of danger.

The candlelight vigil will begin Thursday, Oct. 3 at 5:30 p.m. at the Warren County Courthouse square, Henderson said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

“Every year we remember and honor the victims and survivors of domestic violence,” she said. Following remarks from community leaders including the mayor and sheriff, Henderson said participants will light candles and observe a moment of silence for those who have died at the hands of domestic violence or are survivors.

This year, Henderson estimates that her office in Warrenton and the Vance County location has helped close to 300 clients – that’s almost one person a day. And she hears from others in the community about how grateful they are for the services – and hope – that Infinite Possibilities provides.

The services are free and confidential and include everything from helping clients understand the court process to obtain protective orders and “no contact” orders to developing a safety plan to safely leave a violent situation.

“The most dangerous time for someone in a domestic violence situation is the time when they’re leaving,” Henderson said. “We do safety planning to help them leave safely.”

In addition to helping clients arrange getting to a safe place or shelter, Infinite Possibilities also offers assessments and counseling when clients are ready to leave an abusive situation.

“We are here to help them, in a safe environment,” she said.

Call the Henderson office at 252.431.1926 or the Warrenton office at 252.257.1044.

Call the crisis hotline 24/7 at 252-425-2492.

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Trusted Way to Help Western NC with Henry Gupton

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Vance County Clerk of Court, the Hon. Henry Gupton, invites the community to come to the courthouse parking lot Tuesday and Wednesday to help fill a trailer with donations bound for hurricane-ravaged western North Carolina.

Gupton told WIZS News Monday that he’s coordinated with Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame to get an enclosed trailer – and he wants to pile it high with any type of supplies that will help in the clean-up efforts from last week’s weather disaster.

Any non-perishable food item, paper products, cleaning supplies and, of course, drinking water, will be helpful. The events brought by the effects of Hurricane Helene in the North Carolina mountains have taken dozens of lives, and that toll is likely to climb as rescue efforts continue.

If you find you can’t get to the parking lot to drop off your donation, give Gupton a call at 252.430.5130 and he’ll arrange to have it picked up.

Gupton said he’s coordinating with the state association of clerks of court to make the trip to deliver the donated items, which will end up in Henderson County, south of Buncombe County, one of the hardest hit areas; he’ll be stopping in Orange and Iredell counties along the way to pick up donated items there.

Gov. Roy Cooper has activated the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund at the United Way of North Carolina and Duke Energy Local Government and Community Relations Manager Beth Townsend said Duke Energy is matching the first $100,000 in donations that come to the relief fund. Visit United Way of North Carolina (unitedwaync.org) to donate.

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Cooperative Extension With Wayne Rowland: Fire Resistant Landscaping

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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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