Tag Archive for: #towntalk

Community Partners of Hope

TownTalk: Men’s Shelter To Have Sign-Raising Event On Saturday

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Join Community Partners of Hope Saturday morning to be a part of a “Raise Our Sign” event at the future home of the emergency men’s shelter at the former City Road Methodist Church.

Delthine Watson said this is a way to celebrate the next steps for the new men’s shelter.

“We’re going to raise the sign because God has brought us to a building, and we are grateful and thankful,” Watson said on Thursday’s TownTalk. The event will begin at 10 a.m. at the site, located at 905 N. Garnett St., Henderson.

“We’ve worked through all of the steps and now we’re finally able to say ‘We’re here! We’re coming!’

The men’s shelter, currently operating out of the basement of the Presbyterian Church, opened on Oct. 1 to provide a place for unhoused men to seek refuge during the winter months, but Watson, CPOH’s community network specialist, said the goal is to have the new shelter open year ‘round.

“Regardless of whether you’re hot or cold,” (being homeless) is still the problem,” Watson said.

Individuals will be able to tour the building that will house the new shelter. With good luck, Watson said, work should begin in a few weeks to transform the fellowship building.

“We encourage you to join us …and to hear the changes that we want to make as we serve the community,” Watson said.

The current shelter can hold 12 men, and the new space will at least double that capacity.

“At some point, maybe we could serve families,” Watson mused. “The doors are wide open for what we can do…when your belief is strong and the community is supporting you.”

Call 919.339.1462 to learn more or visit www.cp-hope.org to learn how to donate.

The shelter currently needs donations of 30-gallon garbage bags, individual snacks for the men, and clothing such as pajama bottoms, thermal underwear, shower shoes and toiletry items.

 

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TownTalk: Pacific Organics Conducts Facilities Tour

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Quality control is a critical step in just about everything that gets made today. From food to fashion to cars and so much more, manufacturers and producers have to make sure that what comes off assembly lines or factory floors is as good as it can be.

Pacific Organics, located right here in Vance County, incorporates quality control at every step of the way to ensure that its pine bark potting medium products are just exactly what they’re supposed to be. In fact, said owner and president George Cunningham, his company tests each load of its potting medium before it gets shipped to the customer.

The bark products that Pacific Organics makes is “not just stuff in a pot,” said Brian Jackson, an N.C. State University horticulture professor who’s conducted research with Pacific Organics for 15 years or so. Jackson was speaking to a group of more than 200 conventioneers who had come to Henderson to tour the facility.

Durham is hosting the 47th annual gathering of the International Plant Propagators Society and they have spent the past few days learning from plant experts and touring area nurseries. They visited Pacific Organics Tuesday afternoon to see the operation. They visited the lab, the aging field, production and shipping areas.

Pacific Organics produces “highly engineered materials that serve very specific functions for whatever plant it is you’re growing or whatever system you’re growing,” Jackson said. “I hope today you see why these barks are engineered.”

There’s a new product called RM18, and company officials said it could become an alternative to peat moss. It holds moisture like peat moss, but it’s bark – called substrate in the industry, which makes it a soil-less medium.

“A customer had a growing application that required a lot of moisture retention, and we didn’t have an existing product that met those requirements,” said Bobby Oakley, recently retired from the company. “So we got a different screen to make (the bark) even smaller.” The result is an engineered substrate that could prove useful to other customers.

Pacific Organics gets its raw material – pine bark – from area sawmills and paper mills. And then they get to work making their different products that get shipped all over the Southwest, Midwest and up and down the East Coast from Florida to Maine, Cunningham said.

They got started in 2004 and spent the first couple of years supplying landscape mulch before developing their business to include nurseries. Today, the company’s aged, stabilized pine bark line is designed and tailored for each nursery it supplies.

“All of your production starts here,” Jackson told the IPPS group. “The growing medium is where it starts.”

The International Plant Propagators Society represents the epitome of plant production, said Scotty Hipps, general manager at Pacific Organics. “To be offered this chance for them to come and see us,” Hipps said, “it means everything to us.”

Hipps said all aspects of the production process is based in science. “Everything we do is numbers-based,” he said, which means that it’s easily replicated. “We make it every day the same way…we don’t leave anything to happenstance.”

Cunningham said the company prides itself on testing throughout the production process to make sure that pH levels and soluble salt levels are in acceptable ranges and that customized blends meet the customers’ specifications.

 

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TownTalk: Boo! Ghost Hunting With Michael LaChiana

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It’s the spooky stuff Halloween’s made for  – ghosts and spirits, wreaking havoc from the Great Beyond on unwitting humans. But for Michael LaChiana, spirits – whether benevolent or otherwise – are part of the paranormal that he enjoys investigating. And he’s serious about it.

LaChiana, founder of the Heritage Hunters Society, said his investigations aren’t like the TV shows that crowd the guides this time of year. Those shows may have an entertainment value, but he doesn’t put much stock in them.

“I just don’t feel that the paranormal should be entertainment,” he said.

He prefers to research places with a history, a past, where he can fire up his devices to try to discover those from the spirit world who may have something to tell him.

“There are spirits everywhere, as far as I’m concerned,” he told WIZS’s Bill Harris on Monday’s TownTalk. “I like to connect with the spirits that might possibly” be in a historic home or other type of property.

He recently visited again Mount Vernon, home of George Washington. “I did some recordings on the property, in some of the outbuildings,” LaChiana said. The next step is to listen to those recordings to see what may have been captured.

He’s had good success recording spirits in homes across Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties over the years, he said. Those recorded sounds are called “EVPs” – electronic voice phenomena.

“We don’t hear it with our ears, but we capture it with our recorder,” Elliott explained.

He prefers to work in quieter, historic settings, and “go to places that have never been investigated.”

Besides Mount Vernon, he’s visited Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, and Ford Theater, where President Lincoln was assassinated. He’s knocked off a few of his “bucket list” spots in the U.S. and in Europe, with no sign of slowing down.

“I love the quiet places – you can really get some good responses,” he said. “Nobody talks to them all these years,” he said of the spirits who may be inhabiting any historical spot. “A lot of them want to share.”

LaChiana doesn’t have time for many individual investigations of people’s homes these days. He’s busy with his own research and with his TV show on Amazon Prime called “Heritage Hunters: Journey Through The Past.” The second episode is due out in about a month. It’s about Tom Dooley and who killed Laura Foster. LaChiana said he’s gotten some “amazing evidence” – from a spirit, of course – about who really murdered Foster back in 1866 in the mountains of North Carolina.

 

 

 

TownTalk: Around Old Granville: North Carolina Furniture

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North Carolina is world-renown for many things, including its contributions to tobacco production, textiles manufacturing and the furniture industry. And while much has been written about tobacco and textiles, Granville County native and author Eric Medlin said he was somewhat surprised to learn that nobody had written a book on the history of the North Carolina furniture industry.

So he set about writing one.

“Sawdust In Your Pockets” came out last week and Medlin was a guest on TownTalk’s Around Old Granville segment Thursday to talk about how the beginnings of the furniture industry and its continued presence across the state and what the future may hold in store.

Medlin said the problem with writing the first book about a topic means that there aren’t many secondary sources to delve into when doing research. “I had to dive in and start with company records, newspapers, and things like that,” he said. He said he was fascinated to learn more about the rise of the furniture industry, the increased sophistication of the pieces that were produced and then sent all over the globe.

In the early days, the state had the three key ingredients that fueled the rise in the industry: cheap labor, access to cheap woods and access to railroad connections. Medlin cited small towns that had small furniture operations – Goldsboro and Dunn, for example – but they were overshadowed by the competition of agriculture to become leaders in the industry.

And although the manufacturing operations were called “factories,” the furniture factories weren’t like the giant textile factories with mechanized looms, Medlin said. And assembly lines weren’t the rage yet, either. The workers were equipped with basic tools like electric saws and staple guns to produce the furniture.

North Carolina, Medlin said, remains the leading furniture-producing state in the U.S., but mammoth local furniture manufacturers have scaled back in recent years, thanks to outsourcing to other countries where labor costs are lower.

The future of the state’s furniture industry, Medlin predicted, lies in the production of customized, bulky pieces – things that are not cost-effective to put in shipping containers and load on ships to sell back in the U.S.

Medlin’s book can be found on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, the University of Georgia Press and Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh.

 

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Domestic Violence Awareness Month

TownTalk: Think Community Event To Raise Awareness About Domestic Violence

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There may be someone in the audience at Clearview Church on Saturday afternoon who has been a victim of domestic violence in the past; that person may be alongside someone who is trying to muster up the courage to break free from an abusive situation.

That’s exactly what Debbie Scott expects from the Think Community event that begins at 3 p.m.

Scott, a domestic violence educator with the Vance County Sheriff’s Office, has worked to organize the event, which will feature local speakers and musical talent. She wants everyone in attendance to be inspired by the musical performances and draw courage from the speakers they hear during the fifth annual event to observe October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“It will be a great day of inspiration for victims and survivors,” Scott said on Wednesday’s TownTalk. “It’s a day of raising awareness, a day of educating our residents…of educating victims,” she said.

Besides just gathering together to provide emotional support, Scott said there will be lots of information about resources that she hopes will serve to empower people to “break the cycle, stop the violence” surrounding domestic violence and abuse.

“When people attend this event from year to year…they find the strength to do better about problem-solving,” she said, to make different decisions and change the direction their lives are taking.

In her role as advocate, Scott said she meets with individuals who come to the sheriff’s office for help. She shares the importance of having a safety plan for the individual and other family members who may be at risk. She can walk individuals through the process of getting a domestic violence protective order, for example, and other legal processes that can help.

“We’re making progress,” Scott said, with the number of calls that come in about domestic assaults or disputes. Five years ago, when the first Think Community event was held, Scott said emergency operations received 1,304 calls. Five years later, than number is down 20 percent – a total of 1,038 calls have been reported.

 

TownTalk: Military History Show Is This Saturday

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The 8th annual Military History Show will take place at the Henderson-Oxford Airport Saturday, Oct. 28 and organizer Harry Coombs said he’s looking forward to another successful event during which attendees can see military hardware up close and better understand what men and women of the military may have endured during their time in combat.

Coombs said he expects a bevy of re-enactors to be on hand for the event, which takes place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There have been re-enactors, in full military gear, from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World Wars I and II, among others, he said on a recent TownTalk.

“It’s the same every year,” he said, “but it’s different every year,” he added, since he doesn’t always know well ahead of time exactly who is going to show up. Proceeds benefit the Granville County Veterans Affairs Committee. The airport is located at 6514 Airport Rd., just over the Granville/Vance line.

One thing that will return, he said, is the popular silent auction. Items are available for viewing during the event, and high bidders can claim a variety of items and services.

And Total Flight Solutions is back once more to provide helicopter rides – just be prepared to pay the ticket price and wait in line, Coombs said. “It’s always very popular.”

There’s no charge for admission to the event, but there is a donation bucket for anyone inclined to “throw some money into the bucket.”

And any student who may be interested in getting some community service hours is welcome to contact Coombs – there seems always to be a need for parking attendants.

Once parked, individuals can see displays of how camps may have been set up, depending on the era in which the war took place. Tents will be set up, and there will be some equipment on display. Re-enactors are available to answer questions as well.

The yellow Navy bi-plane may be on display again this year, Coombs said. A weapons demonstration will be held – firing blanks – and there could be a couple of heavy artillery pieces as well.

So whether you’re a military history buff or want to learn more about military history, mark your calendars for Saturday, Oct. 28. It promises to be an entertaining, educational event for the whole family.

To learn more, contact 919.691.7697.

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TownTalk: Halloween Safety Tips

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From tech to costumes, learn about keeping everyone safe during Halloween.

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TownTalk: Chief Barrow and “The State of the Police Department”

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Like most law enforcement leaders, Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow would prefer a lower crime rate. But Barrow said he’s pretty satisfied with the level of protection that his officers provide throughout the city. And until that crime rate is zero, he said he will “keep fighting the good fight and looking for innovative ways to improve” the department he oversees.

Barrow provided business leaders and others from the community a “State of the Police Department” report during a Chamber of Commerce event in September, and he reviewed those comments on Monday’s TownTalk.

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“I think we’re doing well,” he said, but added that “you always want to improve – always want things to be better.”

The Flock camera system that has recently been installed is proving useful, Barrow said. “I did give up one (officer) position for Flock,” he said. “That was a smart move.”

“Flock is very beneficial to everything we do,” he said. “I’ve seen it work…and I’m a true believer.”

Law enforcement officers will take help – whether it’s in the form of a camera system or from other agencies who come together to execute search warrants and seize illegal drugs and weapons.

The Henderson Police Department is allocated 51 sworn positions, with 40 active officers and 5 more in training. There are 6 vacancies at the present time.

The police force has shrunk by 7 officers since Barrow arrived in 1998, he said he’s satisfied with the number. “I’m trying to make it cost effective for the city,” he said.

Interested in becoming a police officer? They’re hiring. And Base pay is close to $49,000; certain experience and education levels boost that base pay.

That competitive pay is, well, paying off. Barrow said a recent hire moved from a job in another town because Henderson offered a better pay package.

Henderson police officers are on track this year to handle more drug search warrants than last year, and they’re also on track to seize more guns than last year. Last year, officers collected 170 guns. Through September, officers have taken 145.

It leaves Barrow in a bit of a dilemma as to what to do with the upwards of 1,500 guns currently sitting in his evidence vault.

State law says the guns could be returned to their rightful owner – after lots and lots of research into who actually owns them. They also can be sold to a gun dealer or put into use by the police department.

They may only be destroyed if they are damaged or unable to be fired safely, Barrow added.

For Barrow, that limits his options. “I don’t want to put them back on the street,” he said, adding that he would only be willing to sell to a dealer that specializes in law enforcement weapons. He’d trade them in for other equipment his officers could use.

 

NCDOT

TownTalk: NC DOT Has Local Job Openings

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The N.C. Dept. of Transportation has openings for more than a dozen jobs in the area, and representatives will be at NC Works Career Center next week to share information, accept applications and interview on the spot.

The hiring event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 24 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the NC Works Career Center, located at 826 S. Garnett St. in Henderson.

The state DOT is looking to fill 17 positions, including six auto mechanic jobs in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Person counties, according to information from NCDOT Division 5 Road Maintenance Engineer Jonathan Arnold. Eleven additional transportation workers are needed – 10 in Franklin County and one in Vance County, Arnold noted.

“We are excited to partner with NC Works to host this hiring event for our 17 openings, and help job seekers in the area begin a great career start with NCDOT,” Arnold said in a press statement. “We are looking for qualified candidates who are passionate about making a difference in their community.”

Workstations will be available for candidates to apply the day of the event, and computers will be reserved for military veterans, who receive preference in the hiring process.

There are several websites to check out in advance of the hiring event:

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