Tag Archive for: #thelocalskinny

Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Summer Success And Fall Events At Perry Memorial Library

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Libraries are usually associated with books – words on pages. But if you’re Melody Peters, you also gotta look at the numbers.

The number 8 – that’s how many weeks of summer programming is in the books (no pun intended) at Perry Memorial Library. The number 38 – that’s how many programs were held. And 1,500-plus? That’s how many participants took part.

“We were busy,” Peters, Youth Services Director at the library, told WIZS co-host Bill Harris during Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny! “It was a GREAT summer!” she proclaimed.

In addition to all the different programs held at the library, Peters said a lot of new patrons got library cards, and there were other families who returned after a long hiatus, thanks largely to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were groups of day campers who got to visit the library, too, which Peters said was good for the library AND for the youngsters whose parents work and didn’t have the time to bring them to check out books or enjoy the programming.

There’s a lot of planning that goes in to creating a successful summer program, but as the saying goes, it isn’t work if you love what you do.

And that is true for Peters. “I love what I do,” she said. “I love talking to people and working with kids of all ages.”

When she can help a young person find a book that brings a smile to their face, it’s a gift.

“I think it’s the best gift in the world,” she said.

But she’s not resting on her laurels, just taking a slight breather during August before fall programming cranks back up.

Thanks to input from the community, there will be a few adjustments to the fall schedule, along with some additional programs for young people to enjoy.

The Maker Space is opening up for a gaming and robotics club on Thursdays, she noted.

And the popular Lego Club, Life Hacks, Survival Skills and Kids Connect will continue.

“It’s kind of the same model…then things will expand a little bit,” she said.

One add-on comes from a suggestion Peters got on a sticky note, on which a young person wrote “electricity.”

She contacted Vance Granville Community College, got some ideas and then got a grant for all the materials needed to teach the nuts and bolts of electricity to youngsters.

“That’s what I love,” Peters said, of the responsive collaboration to create new programs.

It’s planned for Oct. 10, which coincidentally is a teacher workday.

She’s got the equipment, the contact and the space, she said, to present the program.

Considering the interest from the summer program, getting the kids to participate shouldn’t be too difficult.

Find out about all the services and programs offered at Perry Memorial Library at https://www.perrylibrary.org/.

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Cooperative Extension With Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden

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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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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Brown Marmorated Stinkbug

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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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Community Yard Sale Aug. 5 a Chance to Get and Give

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The Abria’s Chase Foundation and the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce Leadership Vance Class of 2023 are sponsoring a community yard sale this Saturday.

Join in Aug. 5 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at 205 Dabney Drive.

Stephanie Tolbert told WIZS the Leadership Vance Class wanted to help.  “When we visited them, their story really touched us and made an impact on us, and they are trying to take a tragedy that happened within their family and turn it into something positive and impact their community in a positive way and that spoke volumes to us.”

The class is helping give back to an organization formed in 2010 in memory of Abria Jhune Lewis and Joshua Chase Lewis, two children who lost their lives in a fire that occurred on November 9th, 2009.

As founders Ayana and June Lewis have stated on their web page, abriaschasefoundation.org, “Their tragic and senseless deaths was our “call to action.”

The children both died in a fire in their home.

Class member Kenia Gomez-Jimenez explained there are many resources available to the community through the organization and said part of the goal with the yard sale event is to make the community aware.  “Of course we want to gather as many proceeds as we can to further the mission of the Abria’s Chase Foundation, but we also want to educate our community about the resources that they provide … (providing) support to grieving families through a variety of support group meetings that they host, I believe, every week.”

Leadership Vance Class member Kevin Wade described to WIZS in his words how the Lewis family has triumphed.  “When you hear their testimony, you’re left with a numbing feeling as a father (and as a husband.)  I’m just imagining losing two young children the way that they did and you know it just hits you square between the eyes.”

“To see what they’ve done from that from that point and moved forward, all I can think of is from tragedy to triumph,” Wade said.

The trio spoke to WIZS as a part of Thursday’s “The Local Skinny!” program at 11:30 a.m. as a reminder for yard sale lovers, community members and those who want to learn more or to contribute to stop by.

For more information, call 252-430-9913.

If you can’t make it, you can donate anytime online at www.abriaschasefoundation.org.

All proceeds go to help the Abria’s Chase Foundation, whose mission is to prevent fires and educate on fire safety, support grieving families and help rebuild.

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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: The Platinum Rule

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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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Home And Garden Show

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

  • Protect Lawn equipment by putting your contact information on the equipment, also photo equipment for insurance purposes.
  • Chop up fresh garden herbs, place in ice cube trays, then fill with water and freeze. Save the herb cubes to add to your soups and stews over the winter.
  • Start planning your fall landscape projects now
  • Check out the NC State Extension Plant Toolbox to research plants for those fall landscape projects.
  • Know what to plant and when in the garden with a copy of the Central piedmont planting guide
  • Make plans for tall fescue fertilization and/or seeding in early September.
  • Share excess vegetables with friends and neighbors who don’t have a garden.
  • Make sure leftover garden seed is stored in a cool, dry location, or even better in the refrigerator or freezer.

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The Local Skinny! Louisburg College To Host Alumni Event

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Alumni of Louisburg College are invited to the first of what, hopefully, will be many alumni socials in Durham this Saturday from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at Hope Valley Country Club, 3803 Dover Rd. in Durham.   The school’s Alitha Palich, Vice-President of Institutional Advancement and Kristen Hanzer-Powell, Director of Alumni Engagement and Community Outreach, joined Bill Harris on Tuesday’s The Local Skinny to talk about the event and the college.

“The event was started by alumni who wanted to be able to have events that were a little more localized,” Palich said.  “We have included folks from Vance, Granville, Franklin Counties and the surrounding area,” Palich continued.  Louisburg College has traditionally been the destination for many students in rural areas, and this event will give former students across several decades a chance to come to enjoy an afternoon of food, drinks, festivities and to have a great time with old and new friends who all shared the Louisburg College experience.

Other alumni events coming up are Homecoming in October on the 27th and 28th at the college on Main St. in Louisburg and the Golden Anniversary Club event next spring. The latter event is geared towards those who graduated fifty or more years ago but both events are open to everyone.

Smaller events do take place as well. “It’s a work in progress and we are trying to see where we can go with it, post-covid,” said Hanzer-Powell.

For those alumni here in Vance County as well as Granville, Warren and Franklin counties and all who would like to attend the event on Saturday, you should contact Kristen Hanzer-Powell at Louisburg College at 919-497-1244.

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Cooperative Extension with Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden

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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! NCDHHS Prepares For Medicaid Expansion

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-information courtesy of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has announced Oct. 1 is the anticipated start date for Medicaid expansion, which could make more than 600,000 state residents eligible to participate in the insurance program.

Medicaid expansion in North Carolina would increase the eligible population to adults aged 19-64 who have incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level on Oct. 1. The General Assembly still must act by Sept. 1 to set the wheels in motion.

The expansion would give health care coverage to single individuals making under about $20,000 a year. Likewise, a family of three earning under about $34,000 combined will now be eligible. Beneficiaries will get care the same way as existing Medicaid beneficiaries and be eligible for the same comprehensive benefits and copays as other non-disabled adults in Medicaid, according to information from DHHS.

“We are thankful for leadership and partnership in passing Medicaid Expansion which will save lives, increase access to care and bring billions of dollars to North Carolina,” said NCDHHS Secretary Kody H. Kinsley. “Moving forward now sets the department on a path to be able to get health care coverage to thousands of people as soon as possible.”

NCDHHS has opened for public comment the State Plan Amendment for Medicaid Expansion’s Alternative Benefit Plan, a legal document required to be submitted to the federal government.

Interested individuals may submit public comment at medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/medex-state-plan-amendment-new-medicaid-expansion-20230726/download?attachment.

DHHS officials have stated that Medicaid expansion “will be transformative for access to health care in rural areas, for better mental health and for veterans, working adults and their families while bringing billions in federal dollars to the state.”

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Pesticides

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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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