Tag Archive for: #thelocalskinny

The Local Skinny! Remote Area Medical’s Free Pop-Up Clinic This Weekend

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Remote Area Medical’s FREE pop-up clinic offering dental, vision, and medical services is coming to Henderson for two days only this weekend, March 28-29. All services are free, no ID required and on a first-come, first-served basis, until capacity is reached. Sunday, clinic services are an abbreviated day.

Remote Area Medical (RAM®) is stepping in to address the urgent issue of uninsured or underinsured individuals and families by offering a free, comprehensive dental, vision, and medical clinic at Vance Charter School, located at 2090 Ross Mill Road, Henderson, NC 27537 for two days only this weekend, on March 28-29. This clinic will provide dental, vision, and medical care to those who might otherwise go without these essential services. This free RAM Clinic is hosted by Duke’s RAM Campus Chapter.

The Remote Area Medical pop-up clinic is scheduled to return to Henderson for a fifth consecutive year, providing medical, dental and vision care absolutely free of charge for anyone.

The two-day clinic takes place at Vance Charter School, 2090 Ross Mill Rd., on Saturday, Mar. 28 and Sunday, Mar. 29, and clinic co-leader Lara Kendall says many of the details are the same as for previous clinics. Because patients are seen on a first-come, first-served basis, she recommends that folks arrive as early as they possibly can to make sure they can get the care they’re seeking.

The parking lot will open Friday, Mar. 27 at 11:59 p.m. The Saturday clinic begins at 6 a.m.

In addition to the more routine services like basic vital screenings and blood panels, patients can see doctors, nurses and physician assistants for other types of care. Dentists and hygienists will perform dental cleanings, fillings and extractions as well as other more complicated types of oral surgery.

And patients who come for vision services can come in, have their eyes examined and walk out with a brand-new pair of eyeglasses that were made right on the spot.

Granville-Vance Public Health is a strong partner for this year’s clinic, and Kendall said interpreters will be on hand again this year to assist with provider-patient communication.

Speaking on behalf of this year’s team of Duke students working to plan the clinic, Kendall said they are dedicated to the effort and truly care about everyone who participates, from the volunteer doctors, nurses and dentists and patients to the volunteers that help make the clinic run smoothly.

“We are so deeply grateful for the community of Henderson,” Kendall said. “We really do have the best intentions. We just want to make a difference and help people.”

Just more than 300 patients received services at last year’s clinic.

RAM’s clinics are a lifeline for underserved communities, offering free dental cleanings, dental fillings, dental extractions, dental X-rays, eye exams, eye health exams, eyeglass prescriptions, eyeglasses made on-site, and general medical exams. By bringing healthcare directly to those in need, RAM’s free clinics remove the barriers of cost and distance that often prevent people from seeking care.

No insurance or ID required, the clinic in Henderson is open to anyone in need. RAM encourages anyone who could benefit from these services to attend and receive the care they deserve. The parking lot will open no later than 11:59 p.m. (Midnight) on Friday night, March 27 and remain open for the duration of the clinic.

Once in the parking lot, patients will receive additional information regarding clinic processes and next steps. Clinic doors open at 6 a.m., and services are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, the clinic closes when capacity is reached. Sunday’s clinic operations will be an abbreviated day, so patients are advised to arrive as early as possible. Due to time constraints, patients should be prepared to choose between DENTAL and VISION services, and all patients are offered general medical care.

Kendall recalled to WIZS one of her favorite moments from last year’s clinic.

A little boy, who had just seen the dentist, came running out of the clinic, announcing happily to all around him that he could eat whatever he wanted. “I can chew it all as hard as I want,” she recalled the youngster saying.

For many, the RAM clinic is the way they get health care. They don’t have to show proof of insurance or even an ID card, Kendall said.

“It’s really heartening to know that the clinic we’re putting out there is serving its purpose,” she said, adding that it’s also “a little bit disheartening that the need is that great in the community.”

The RAM clinic provides a “Band-Aid solution” to the issue of having access to care in this area and across the country, she added.

Kendall, who grew up on Sanibel Island off the Florida coast, said she remembers having to go to the mainland for doctor or dentist visits. A series of bridges connects the island to Florida, and when hurricanes caused problems, they’d have to use fishing boats to ferry them back and forth.

People who lack access to quality health care can feel just as isolated as she did growing up on an island, and Kendall said her experiences have fueled her desire to help provide people the care they deserve.

Now a junior at Duke, Kendall said she aspires to go to medical school and work in disaster relief to provide medical services following hurricanes and other types of natural disasters.

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Home and Garden Show

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

  • There will be a Spring Vegetable Garden Event on April 7th from 6-7pm at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • If you buy any seed check the package date and seed in bags or bulk seeds the germination percentage. Ex: grass and sweet corn.
  • Tall fescue planted now is unlikely to survive through the summer. Consider planting only where needed to repair bare spots,and hold off until September.
  • Resist the temptation to sow tall fescue now. Annual ryegrass can be used as a temporary patch on bare areas.
  • If you missed the window for spraying your lawn for broadleaf weeds, you may want to mow and collect the clippings in a bag or use a bagging equipped mower.
  • Ground bees are starting to arrive in lawns. These bees are harmless, they are good pollinators, please do not kill them.
  • Don’t try to grow grass in the shade. Trim or remove trees to increase light, or convert the shady area to other uses.
  • If you have seedlings growing indoors, provide adequate lighting. Check soil each day and if it’s moist, don’t water your plants today.
  • Train your young fruit trees by attaching weights to branches and encourage outward growth.
  • It’s now ok to plant trees and shrubs but don’t forget to water them.
  • Get your vegetable publications from Cooperative Extension.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.

The Vance County Cooperative Extension Building is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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The Local Skinny! Granville Gardeners Expo Coming April 18

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The annual Granville Gardeners’ Expo is less than a month away, and Vendor Coordinator Christi Henthorn said this year’s event features educational workshops, vendors, local handcrafted items as well as the plants, vegetables, herbs and more for gardeners to scoop up and add to their own landscapes.

The expo will be on Saturday, April 18 at the Granville County Convention & Expo Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

More than 85 vendors will fill the indoor and outdoor spaces of the expo center that day, but there’s room for just a few more. “We’re spread out all over the grounds,” Henthorn said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

In years past, the education workshops were held inside the convention center, but this year, they’ll be integrated among the vendors and plants, sharing their knowledge about diverse topics ranging from gardening as therapy for anxiety and depression and incorporating native plants into the landscape to bird feeders, bees and pollinators and making herbal teas and breads.

Henthorn said she’d recommend bringing a wagon to make your shopping experience more enjoyable. You can fill that wagon with plants, unique arts and crafts items and more, she said. Most vendors are equipped to take electronic payments, she added.

Members of the Master Gardeners will be on hand to talk about “victory” gardens and there will be Earth Day activities taking place during the day as well. A raffle full of great prizes has been organized to support the Gardeners’ annual scholarship.

Add a fleet of food trucks, stocked with yummy food and treats, and you’ve got a full day of fun for the whole family.

Indeed, Henthorn said the Gardeners’ Expo is a family-friendly event. Last year’s expo had more than 2,200 in attendance and this year’s event is shaping up to top that number.

“Our plants are generally all organic,” Henthorn said. They’re either grown locally at a couple of different nearby nurseries, or they come straight out of the gardens of Granville Gardener members.

An online shopping list of some of the available plants and herbs is available at https://thegranvillegardeners.org/?page_id=1820, and Henthorn said many additional plants will be for sale on Expo day. If you place an online order, pickup will take place in a drive-thru line that takes you to the back side of the covered arena behind the Expo Center.

If you’d like to volunteer to help at the Expo, or if you’d like to rent a vendor spot or become an event sponsor, visit the Eventeny website at https://www.eventeny.com/events/granville-gardeners-expo-2026-25336/.

Learn more about the Granville Gardeners Club at https://thegranvillegardeners.org/

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Home and Garden Show

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

  • There will be a Spring Vegetable Garden Event on April 7th from 6-7pm at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • Purchase a good soil thermometer, to tell when your soil is warm enough to plant.
  • Finish your pruning this week!
  • Resist the temptation to sow tall fescue now. Annual ryegrass can be used as a temporary patch on bare areas.
  • Cut back mondo grass and liriope.
  • If you want to plant trees and shrubs this spring,earlier is better! Waiting for warmer weather may be easier on you, but it’s harder on the plants!
  • Don’t try to grow grass in the shade. Trim or remove trees to increase light, or convert the shady area to other uses.
  • If you have seedlings growing indoors, provide adequate lighting. Check soil each day and if it’s moist, don’t water your plants today.
  • Read your owners manual for all landscape power tools.
  • Check your lawn equipment and have your lawnmower serviced.
  • Get your vegetable publications from Cooperative Extension.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.

The Vance County Cooperative Extension Building is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Perry Memorial Library Ready For Spring

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With spring just around the corner, school spring breaks aren’t far behind, and Youth Services Librarian Melody Peters said the library’s planning some fun programming for when youngsters are out of school.

In addition to some of the familiar offerings, like Sunday’s Family Story Time, Mother Goose Story Time, Teen Time and Lego Club, Peters told WIZS’s Scout Hughes about some daytime activities for schoolchildren in the week leading up to Easter when many area schools are on break.

On Monday, Mar. 30, the library will show the movie Zootopia 2 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Then at 4 p.m., it’s time for Smurfs 2025, she said.

It’s fine to bring your favorite snacks to enjoy during the showings, she said.

If you plan to bring groups of 10 or more, please email Peters in advance at mpeters@perrylibrary.org.

On Tuesday, Mar. 31, come at 4:30 p.m. for arts and crafts activities. On Wednesday, Apr. 1, the two movies for the day are Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie and Elio, an animated Disney Pixar film released in 2025.

There’s another movie showing on Monday, Mar. 23 – this one is Hidden Figures, based on a true story about three women and their contributions to NASA. It’s part of Women’s History Month, as is a special story time on Tuesday, Mar. 24 at 4 p.m. to read Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles.

The book tells the true story of two women who traveled around in an old yellow car to spread the word about women’s suffrage – giving women the right to vote.

“It is a beautiful book about their trek,” Peters said. “A great story about what they did” that eventually paved the way for the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Learn more about all the programs and services at Perry Memorial Library at https://www.perrylibrary.org/.

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Home and Garden Show

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

  • The Beginner Bee School will be on Saturday, March 14th starting at 9am at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • Continue prune fruit trees and grape vines now. Cooperative Extension has pruning guides.
  • Always use proper personal protective equipment when doing any pruning. Safety glasses, gloves.
  • Select varieties of seed and plants that grow well in Zone 7.
  • Cut back mondo grass and liriope.
  • Get out your garden tiller and make sure it will start and run well.
  • Keep your garden journal up to date.
  • If you have seedlings growing indoors, provide adequate lighting.
  • Buy new potting mix to put in raised beds and planters.
  • Check your lawn equipment and have your lawnmower serviced.
  • Get your vegetable publications from Cooperative Extension.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.

The Vance County Cooperative Extension Building is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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Families Living Violence Free

The Local Skinny! FLVF Quarter Auction Coming March 20

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Families Living Violence Free is hosting its annual Quarter Auction on Friday, Mar. 20 at the South Granville Country Club in Creedmoor.

Bring those rolls of quarters and join in the fun! The doors open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include dinner and a bidding paddle.

Families Living Violence Free offers a 24/7 crisis line – 919.693.5700 – and offers support to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

FLVF Executive Director Amy Langston said sponsorships are available to provide even more support for the Quarter Auction fundraiser.

Gold sponsorships are $200, Silver sponsorships are $100 and Bronze sponsorships are $50.

Make checks payable to Families Living Violence Free; donations are tax-deductible.

Community sponsors will be recognized at the event, as well as on FLVF social media pages and the FLVF website.

South Granville Country Club is located at 2539 Sam Moss Hayes Rd., Creedmoor, NC 27522.

 

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Triple P – Helping Families One Child at a Time

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(This Presentation of WIZS is a Paid Advertisement)

If you want to become a better dancer, you take dance classes. Want to improve your moves on the basketball court? You’ve got to be consistent with practice to get those reps in at the free-throw line or from behind the arc.

Dancers and basketball players aren’t bad at dancing or playing ball, but they take classes or hit the gym regularly because they want to be better at something that’s important to them.

That’s the philosophy behind Positive Parenting Program – Triple P, as Kimiko Williams calls it.

Williams is a public health educator in Franklin County who administers Triple P in the four-county area.

She wants to break the stigma that the people who take parenting classes must be “bad” parents.

Triple P is for those who want to become even better parents.

She spoke with WIZS’s Steve Lewis on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny! and shared program goals and how parents can participate.

The Middle “P” in Triple P stands for parenting, and Williams said the program is designed for people who are in a parenting role – you don’t have to be a child’s biological parent.

“It’s for anyone who wants to help better understand how to work on behavioral issues with children,” Williams explained. Maybe you’re a grandparent who is raising grandchildren. Or perhaps you’re the guardian of a niece or nephew. Whatever the relationship, Triple P can help grownups come up with a set of tools, tips and strategies to de-escalate undesirable behaviors or to keep them from arising in the first place.

“Triple P is designed to help families figure out ways to discipline, enforce discipline,” Williams said. It helps people identify and understand which ways are useful for their own set of circumstances “to allow families to have a healthy loving environment.”

The Triple P concept began in the late 1970’s in Australia and later made its way to the U.S. Researchers worked with families in individual training sessions, making home visits and then offering suggestions for addressing particular problem behavior areas.

It’s all about working with families on ways to manage their child’s behavior effectively and confidently, she said.

“We all want children to grow to be healthy, well -rounded people,” Williams said. “The goal is to do it in a way that we’re not threatening our children, that we feel comfortable and confident as a parent…making sure that we’re raising them in a way that is conducive to that particular family.”

Consistency is a key component, she explained. So is understanding about natural development. She wants to make sure that parents have realistic expectations of their children, too.

Parenting can be a lot – with work, home and all the day-to-day things, it can be overwhelming.

Triple P helps parents realize that parenting isn’t an impossible task and works to break down the problem to figure out what’s triggering the issue.

“If you want them to be respectful, you have to teach them,” Williams said. “Children are not born knowing what to do.”

It may take some time – more than once, twice, three times or more – for children to understand what it is you need and require of them.

Triple P helps parents manage those certain situations without becoming overwhelmed…having a specific strategy or strategies can help a parent remain calm and help them to think through the situation before it even happens, she added.

Want to learn more about being a participant or about becoming a Triple P practitioner? Contact Williams at 919.496.2533 ext 2335 or klwilliams@franklincountync.gov.

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Home and Garden Show

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

  • The Beginner Bee School will be on Saturday, March 14th starting at 9am at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • The Vance-Warren Beekeepers Association will meet on March 9th at 6:30pm at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • Prune fruit trees and grape vines now. Cooperative Extension has pruning guides.
  • Treat broadleaf weeds in your lawn if needed this week since we will have some warm days, always follow label directions.
  • Remember to use the proper personal protective equipment when doing pruning chores. Ex: safety glasses, long sleeve shirt, and gloves.
  • With projected warm temperatures, have a thermometer in your greenhouse and coldframe when outside temps reach 70 degrees, you need to provide ventilation in your greenhouse or cold frame if you have plants in them.
  • If you want good pollination for vegetables, order a beehive now or contact a beekeeper to locate hives near your garden.
  • Now is the time to look at large trees that may be damaged or show signs of disease. If you have trees like this you need to contact a certified arborist.
  • If you have seedlings growing indoors, provide adequate lighting.
  • Clean planting trays with 1 part bleach to 10 part water solution before adding planting mix to trays.
  • Check your lawn equipment and have your lawnmower serviced.
  • Get your vegetable publications from Cooperative Extension.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.

The Vance County Cooperative Extension Building is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Perry Memorial Library Preparing for March

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Teens who have wanted to try out virtual reality headsets have a great opportunity at Perry Memorial Library. Youth Services Librarian Melody Peters welcomes creative programming at the library, and VR fits the bill.

Tuesday was the first opportunity to experience the VR headsets during Teen Time, but there will be another opportunity on Mar. 24, Peters said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

A young man is bringing headsets and his VR programming knowledge to the library for teens to enjoy, Peters said. It’s something that kids have asked about in the past, she said.

“I’m really excited to see something new and different,” Peters said.

Then, on Thursday, as part of Read Across America Week, Vance County Schools is hosting its own Read Across Vance activity at Vance County Middle School from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

“It’s wonderful to be in a room where kids can get excited about reading,” Peters said, and to be among other young people who also are enthusiastic about reading.

Schools across the school district will be represented at this gathering, and the public is invited to participate. The school is located at 293 Warrenton Road.

To celebrate Earth Day this year, the library is participating in a program that provides free trees to children and families.

Peters said interested families can call the library’s Youth Services Desk at 252.438.3316 or email her at mpeters@perrymemorial.org to register for the tree giveaway. The deadline to register is Mar. 15.

Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/home to learn about all the programs and services at Perry Memorial Library.

 

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