Tag Archive for: #towntalk

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TownTalk: VGCC Community Engagement Sessions Begin Sept. 7

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A slight turn of phrase can provide a whole different perspective on things, and Vance-Granville Community College President Dr. Rachel Desmarais is looking forward to hearing from the wider community as plans for the future develop.

Take the phrase “community college” for example. Change that to “community’s college,” and you gain some insight into plans for an upcoming series of community engagement nights the college is planning.

“We really want to listen to our community,” Desmarais said on Wednesday’s TownTalk. As a way of implementing its new theme, “Your Community, Your College,” Demarais said the meetings are a way to be intentional about creating a plan that will be the best fit for the communities that VGCC serves.

There’s always room for improvement, she said, and getting feedback from these meetings is a good start.

“We don’t want to stop doing something that is helpful,” she said, adding that “feedback is part of the learning process.”

As students in a classroom need feedback on their activities and work, so does an institution like VGCC, she said.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing right or wrong, you’re not learning anything,” she said.

Individuals interested in participating in the meetings are encouraged to RSVP. A link to the sessions is expected to be available on the www.vgcc.edu website Thursday.

Each session will begin at 6 p.m. and will last until about 7:30 p.m. Small groups – each with a VGCC rep and a person taking notes – will discuss various issues related to their community’s needs.

With the understanding that different people and different communities need different things, Desmarais said she wants VGCC to “be a convener and a catalyst” that brings different organizations together to work for common good.

“Little nudges that we each do can have a wonderful ripple effect in the end,” she said.

And that’s the point of the meetings – to point the community’s college in the direction that the community needs and wants in order to grow.

Below is a list of sites and dates for the community meetings: 

  • Thursday, Sept. 7 – Warren County Armory Civic Center, Warrenton
  • Tuesday, Sept. 12 – Perry Memorial Library, Farm Bureau Room, Henderson
  • Wednesday, Sept. 13 – VGCC Main Campus Civic Center, Henderson
  • Thursday, Sept. 14 – Wake Electric Operations Facility, Youngsville
  • Thursday, Sept. 19 – Karl T. Pernell Public Safety Complex, Louisburg
  • Wednesday, Sept. 20 – Mary Potter Center for Education, Oxford
  • Wednesday, Sept. 27 – VGCC South Campus, Room G1131, Creedmoor

TownTalk: Remembering Dr. Marion Lark

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Colleagues and community members are remembering their beloved friend and pastor, Dr. Marion D. Lark, who died late Saturday, Aug. 19. Lark came to The First Baptist Church in Henderson in 1973 and was minister there for 29 years.

“It’s a sad day for First Baptist Church and for our community,” remarked Senior Minister Ron Cava as Sunday’s worship service began. “Our beloved senior minister emeritus …entered his rest last evening.”

A memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church Henderson, Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 3 P.M. by Dr. Ron Cava, Dr. Glenn Phillips and Dr. Phil Young.  A private interment will be held for the family.  

“He will be sorely missed,” Cava told the congregation Sunday morning. “His impact in this congregation, in this community…cannot be quantified.”

Dr. Phil Young, First Baptist’s longtime minister of music, remembered his friend fondly. “We remained close friends after our retirement,” Young said Monday on TownTalk. “I will miss him terribly…how often I have thanked God that we were able to work together and what a blessing he has been on my life. He was a great preacher and a great pastor and we will miss him.”

Mark Hopper, FBC’s minister of music until 2022, expressed sadness and disbelief. “He has been such a constant North Star in my life for 22 years,” Hopper wrote in a statement to WIZS News.

“Marion Lark was integrity personified,” he said. “He was first and foremost a pastor in the way of Jesus: feeding the hungry, caring for the sick. He was completely devoted to his wife Jean in good times and bad.  He loved his congregation like his own family, and he saw First Baptist’s role in making Henderson a place where Christ was shown and not just talked about.  He commanded respect through humility and through modeled action and servant leadership. He was a fine musician, was unbelievably well-read, and was the definition of wisdom.  The loss to First Baptist, to Henderson, and to the Christian community is immense.”

The Rev. Dr. Paul Baxley remembers his time learning from and alongside Lark. Baxley, now executive coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, was 23 years old when he was selected to be associate minister at First Baptist. “He offered trust, encouragement, patience, grace and support to me in really definitive years of my ministerial life,” Baxley said of his fellow pastor and friend.

“Dr. Lark created an environment at The First Baptist Church in which the colleagues who were called to serve with him could use their gifts, grow in ministry and thrive. I was by no means the only person who benefitted richly from the freedom he provided and the trust he extended,” Baxley said in a statement Monday to WIZS News.

One of those individuals was Amy Russell. When she came on staff at First Baptist, Lark was retired and simply a member of the congregation. But Russell, now associate pastor of children and families at First Baptist Greensboro, said he supported her growth and development as a minister.

“After each sermon he would give feedback,” she said in a statement to WIZS News, “from ‘that one really made me think’ to ‘I struggled with that text, too’” Russell said.

“He was unafraid to share the truth of the gospel and it was always a privilege to get to hear him preach. He built a legacy at First Baptist Church of Henderson that shaped the congregation and the community. But he didn’t build a legacy for himself. He built a legacy as an outgrowth of his deep love for the church and for Henderson and Vance County.”

Henderson City Council member Garry Daeke shared a memory that he said resounds with him to this day. There was some discussion about downtown development – not a heated debate, but the topic had everybody involved and working hard to find a compromise and move forward.

It was Lark’s advice that Daeke tries to keep in mind with every decision he makes: “‘If we are to err, let’s err on the side of grace.’”

Daeke called Lark a “consummate gentleman who loved his community.” Lark always had time to discuss issues in the community, he added. “He would always thank me for my service.”

“Dr. Lark simultaneously embodied what it meant to be a deeply committed pastor to a congregation while also working actively for the well-being of a much larger community. He gave his life and his gifts for almost 50 years to Henderson/Vance County and to The First Baptist Church. In these ways, he was an embodiment of what it means for a pastor to be a community leader,” Baxley said.

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TownTalk: Around Old Granville: ‘Angel Of Mercy’ Aunt Abby House

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During the Civil War, Clara Barton was a nurse who tended to wounded soldiers in hospitals. But Franklin County lays claim to another “angel of mercy” who, during that same time, tended to soldiers on the battlefield.

Abby House, known around Old Granville as Aunt Abby House, was born around 1796, and local historian Mark Pace shared some interesting stories about her on Thursday’s tri-weekly TownTalk history segment. House died in 1881 and is buried in her native Franklin County.

House may not be as famous as Barton, who is best known for being the founder of the American Red Cross, but Pace said she’s a good example of a local version.

“She never got married and she was poor, but she made a difference,” Pace told WIZS co-host Bill Harris.

She had no formal education, he said, but she provided what she could to those who needed help, whether it was bringing a dipper of water to a thirsty soldier or blankets from family back home to keep troops warm. Her heart for serving soldiers could have come about because of a personal experience.

During the War of 1812, House learned that her beau, who’d been called into service, was ill in Norfolk. House, who was a teenager at the time, set off to go see him.

“As no other transportation was available, she set off on foot,” Pace said. It’s 180 miles from Franklin County to Norfolk.

Upon her arrival, she learned that not only had he died, but he had been buried the day before. “She turned around and came back,” Pace said.

This sad chapter of House’s life helped chart the course for her future.

By the time the Civil War was underway, a much older House took it upon herself to help, sometimes by “bringing food and supplies and gifts from home to individual soldiers from their families,” Pace said.

Her stern, no-nonsense demeanor, a “feisty” attitude and walking cane combined to “convince” train conductors to allow her to travel at no cost; “they let her go and come as she pleased,” Pace noted.

One of the places she traveled to was Petersburg, reportedly to look after her nephews, two of whom died in the war and five of whom survived.

She was basically destitute by the end of the war, but her good deeds during wartime paid off. A group of former Confederate soldiers, along with other high-ranking political figures in the state, took up a collection and arranged to set her up in a small home on the outskirts of Raleigh near the former fairgrounds.

Gov. Zebulon Vance was one of those politicians. He visited her often, and Pace said there’s a story that goes something like this: In 1872, during Gov. Vance’s second term, he stopped by to visit House. According to his carriage driver, Vance went inside and shortly thereafter, was seen around back, hauling buckets of water into the house.

“She pretty much put him to work,” Pace mused – he may have been governor, but House had a job for him to do and, by golly, he did as she instructed.

In 1876, House attended the state Democratic convention in Raleigh. “She was somewhat involved in politics, which was unheard of at the time,” Pace said.

Paul Cameron, the owner of Stagville Plantation – which made him the largest landowner and largest slaveholder in the state – bid her come sit with him in the crowded space. Among the business that took place during that convention was to nominate Vance as the Democrats’ favorite for a third term as governor.

There was nobody from Clay County, located in the western part of the state, in attendance, and it was decided that House be allowed to cast that county’s vote.

“That is the first recorded incident of a woman casting a vote in North Carolina,” Pace said.

 

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TownTalk: Macon Named Vance Co. Extension Director

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When you work with the public, effective communication is an important asset. And knowing about interpersonal communication skills is a bonus.

Dr. Wykia Macon has come back home, and she’s brought a wealth of experience with her – experience she has gained from time spent studying and working in several places across the globe.

Macon has been selected to lead the Vance County Cooperative Extension Center, a job that she officially began on Aug. 1.

The director oversees a staff of 9 – but it’s 8 right now, because, you see, Macon used to be lead the 4-H program.

“My time in 4-H gave me time to get into the community,” she said Monday on TownTalk, “to partner with a variety of people.”

As she transitions from being a member of the staff to the leader of the staff, Macon no doubt will put those interpersonal communications skills to good use. It’s all about knowing how to interact and connect with people, she explained.

With a year of coursework in the area under her belt, Macon said she spent two years in Kenya as a member of the Peace Corps. There she lived and worked in a boarding school for the deaf.

“I realized there were a lot of things I didn’t know,” she said.

Her doctoral studies took her to work for policy change in Ethiopia and then to Cambodia.

One thing that she confirmed during her time in those other countries is that Americans are a bit more direct.

As she embarks on this new stage, Macon said she plans to use those communications skills to help build connections in the community.

“I’m excited to watch us grow in different ways – across program areas,” she said.

The cooperative extension is known for its agricultural component, but there are so many more programs that extension provides.

From 4-H to parenting programs, small farms to family and consumer sciences, cooperative extension offices across the state share research-based information and best practices.

“We’re all about research-based information,” she said. “We take that information from the universities (N.C. State and N.C. A&T State) and share it with our citizens.”

Macon said she hopes to spark an interest in idea of community gardens, a place where young people can learn more about planting, harvesting and then cooking the food that comes from the garden. The local Boys & Girls Club has a new garden, thanks to a collaboration with the cooperative extension, and Macon said she would like to see more pop up across the county.

This is one example of how cooperative extension can expand into the community, and Macon said she’s listening out for other opportunities, too.

“When I interact with people, I just try to keep an open mind,” she said, whether she’s speaking with someone younger or someone with more experience.

“We don’t know how to fully serve the community if we don’t listen,” she added.

There she goes, making good use of those interpersonal communications skills again.

 

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TownTalk: Way To Grow Festival Is This Saturday

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The Way to GROW festival unfolds this weekend in downtown Henderson, putting the crowning touch on a week of activities to promote entrepreneurship in the community.

Heather Joi Kenney, president of Gateway CDC, is expecting more than 50 vendors to set up shop along Garnett Street, as well as along Breckenridge Street, as part of the celebration.

There will be plenty of vendors on site, serving up food and beverages and more. Two DJs are providing music throughout the day and several groups will perform live during the afternoon. Real Entertainment, based in Henderson, takes the stage first, followed by Jim Quick & Coastline and The Queen’s Court of Charlotte, who will entertain the crowd through the afternoon.

Hosting the festival is Vance County native Chanel Scott, herself an entrepreneur who is an author and FOX Soul talk show host.

The event is a way to showcase local businesses, but Kenney said it’s also a way to show off downtown Henderson.

“It draws people in and shines a light on downtown,” she said. The downtown district has plenty of room for future entrepreneurs to open up their business ventures. “Henderson can become an entrepreneurship hub,” Kenney mused.

“At first, it was just going to be a stand-alone festival,” Kenney said on Thursday’s TownTalk. But she took an idea from a local bank representative and created a weeklong series of workshops for new business owners and for others who are interested in learning starting their own business.

About 30 entrepreneurs have attended the workshops over the course of the week, representing a wide range of businesses – from restaurants and boutique clothing to women farmers and medical billing.

Just as with entrepreneurship, planning a street festival requires lots of planning, creativity and support. Kenney said city officials have been helpful during the planning process since the idea for the festival first germinated.

With a grant from NC IDEA to support businesses in underserved, low-income communities, Kenney and fellow organizer Tracy Mosley from Helping All People Succeed, the festival has moved from the planning stage to the moment everyone’s been waiting for: Festival Day.

Kenney emphasizes that Way to GROW is for the entire community.

“This festival is for all members of the community,” she said. “Henderson needs this,” she continued. “We plan to continue it into the future.”

 

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TownTalk: Upcoming Events For Louisburg Historic District

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Unless you’re a history buff, you may be surprised to learn that cemeteries once were considered like parks are today, where people could come and visit the graves of their dearly departed and then stay and enjoy the outdoor space.

Dorothy Cooper, and her fellow board members on the Louisburg Historic District, have embraced this concept and have planned some events that will take place in Oakwood Cemetery in Louisburg.

Local historian Joe Pearce will present a “Graveside Chat” on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. This is a free event, but participants are asked to register. Pearce will be discussing the Davis / Allen family. Bring a lawn chair, a blanket to spread on the ground and even a cooler to enjoy the afternoon’s program.

“I’ve always had a love and fascination for cemeteries,” Cooper told WIZS co-host Bill Harris on Wednesday’s TownTalk. When she and her family bought an old home on Main Street 17 years ago, she visited Oakwood to learn about the family that had built the home.

“We wanted to know more about the home before we did anything,” she said. Not only did she locate the family plot, but also located descendants of the original owners.

Cemeteries can provide valuable information about the people whose births and deaths are recorded on headstones, which range from simple, flat markers to elaborate works of art carved from marble.

Over time, however, headstones require maintenance and sometimes repair. And the Louisburg Historic District helps to raise funds for that work.

The city-owned cemetery is in better shape now than in the recent past, Cooper said, adding that an arborist has been called in to assess the health of the trees that dot the cemetery.

Taking care of the landscape is as important as taking care of the grounds, she added.

The group will sponsor a headstone cleaning and monument preservation workshop on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This workshop costs $50 and will be limited to 20 participants, but all supplies and materials will be provided.

“You come away with hands-on experience” in cleaning gravestones. “It’s amazing what water and a soft brush can do,” Cooper said.

The cemetery also will be the site for the second “Sip and Stroll with Souls” on Oct. 29 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Docents will be on site, some in period dress, to discuss various noteworthy individuals buried in Oakwood. This event is a fundraiser for the group; proceeds go toward cemetery upkeep.

Visit www.louisburghistoricdistrict.com to learn more or find the group on Facebook.

 

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TownTalk: Introducing Philip Weil, Athletic Director At Vance Co. High

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The Vance County High School’s new athletic director has been on the job just over a week, but in that short time, Philip Weil has learned a good deal about its coaches, its student athletes and their desire and determination.

Right now, it’s all about football, but Weil has his eyes and ears on volleyball and soccer, cross country and baseball.

If it has to do with sports and Vance County High School, Weil is ready.

Coming from an urban setting like Las Vegas to a rural area may take some getting used to, but Weil has already found one advantage: Vance County has history.

He switched on the lights at the football field on a recent evening and was wowed by what he saw. “It was gorgeous.”

As he gets to know the process of being an AD, understand the school atmosphere and the sports conference, Weil said he wants to get the community more involved.

One thing he’d like to do is have some high school basketball games held in the gym at the middle school campus. After all, it used to be the home of the Northern Vance Vikings.

But right now, it’s football.

“From what I’ve seen so far from Coach Elliott’s team, they are determined and strong,” Weil said. He called their first tackling practice last week “phenomenal,” in fact.

“I think they are determined to get that state championship.”

As a middle-school baseball and football coach from 2013-22, Weil said he was able to develop student athletes’ skills by getting them involved in a strength and conditioning program.

“Scholarships are made in the weight room,” he said. It wasn’t always easy to get those middle schoolers interested in weight training, but he said the student athletes here at VCHS are motivated.

“They just want to get better and stronger and faster,” he said.

 

 

TownTalk: Cruise In For Christ Coming This Saturday

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Come to the Cruise-In for Christ this weekend and prepare to satisfy your tastebuds as you see up-close and personal some pretty delicious-looking vehicles.

Union Chapel Church is hosting the Cruise-In on Saturday, Aug. 12 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Tony’s Automotive at 415 Raleigh Rd.

Proceeds will be donated to the Vance County Special Olympics, according to organizer Tony Sanford and Radford Frazier, pastor of Union Chapel Church in Kittrell.

Last year, Sanford pitched his idea of a cruise-in to the church’s missions team. Frazier admitted it sounded a bit unorthodox, but the cruise-in got the green light. There were three cruise-ins last year; this year, there will be six.

“It was such a good idea as a way to reach the community,” Frazier told WIZS co-host Bill Harris on TownTalk. “It was a great way to get back in and get engaged with the community” following the pandemic resitrictions.

“Everything is given to the cause,” Sanford said.

The guidelines are simple, he said: Come on out, have some food, see some cars, have some fun.

Car enthusiasts love to get up close to vintage cars, lovingly restored to glimmering perfection. Whether you have one or just like to look, Saturday’s event is sure to please.

The cruise-ins average 25-25 vehicles, and Sanford said there’s plenty of room for more at his location.

Next month’s event is Saturday, Sept. 9 and will benefit Community Partners of Hope as it continues its plan to transform the former City Road Methodist Church to a year-round men’s shelter.

Contact Frazier at 919.482.2319 to learn more about becoming the recipient of the Cruise-In proceeds.

Or better yet, find Sanford and Frazier Saturday at the Cruise-In – or Sunday, at Union Chapel’s 10:30 a.m. worship service.

 

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TownTalk: 15-Year-Old Jayden Watkins Strives To Be Unique

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Jayden Watkins is not your ordinary teenager.

And that suits him just fine – in fact, Watkins said, he’s known for some time that his uniqueness is a gift from God. It’s a gift that he embraces as he continues to answer God’s call to service.

“It’s OK to be unique and different,” the 15-year-old said on TownTalk this week. “I’m grateful and blessed and honored to be unique,” he told WIZS co-hosts (and for the summer, colleagues) Steve Lewis, Bill Harris and John C. Rose, all of whom chatted with Watkins about his accomplishments and what’s ahead for the future.

A synonym for the word “unique” is “different,” which can carry a negative connotation. And Watkins is all about being positive. God’s call for us, he said is to make positive changes – within our families, households, jobs and the community.

“We must work in unity, despite our differences,” he said. “The needed change will not come if we only dream or think it,” he added. But if we are brave enough to be it.”

Watkins currently is in the middle of his Limitless 2023 tour, which has him speaking and preaching in the area from June through September.

Chances are he won’t be wearing the football jersey Watkins said he used to don on Sunday afternoons as a young child pretending to be a minister delivering the Word.

“It was my preacher’s robe,” Watkins said of that jersey, recalling that his father has shared the story when introducing his son to a group or congregation.

The purpose of the Limitless tour, he said, is “to inspire people to activate and maximize their God-given potential.” He has several upcoming engagements, including Sunday, Aug. 13 at 11 a.m. at New Grassy Creek Missionary Baptist Church in Oxford and Sunday, Aug. 20 at 11:15 a.m. at St. Andrews Christian Church in Henderson.

And his ministerial licensing service will be held Sunday, Sept. 10 at 3 p.m. at 16 Big Ruin Creek Lane in Henderson.

Whether you listen to him live or tune in to his Preferable podcast, the message Watkins delivers is one of positivity and finding purpose.

The Preferable podcast, which he started in March 2020 can be found on platforms like Spotify, Amazon and YouTube, just to name a few. According to Fox 50 and ABC 19, Preferable is one of the longest-running podcasts by a person of Watkins’s age.

“It feels a blessing to be able to host a podcast and to receive that recognition,” Watkins said, adding that he hopes the podcast’s message inspires listeners “to activate their God-given talents…to go out and build beloved communities.”

There are challenges, he acknowledged, like sending a flurry of emails just to book one particular guest. “But when I hear the testimonies that people give…I am encouraged to keep going,” he said.

His humble nature shines through during his daily routine, from his work at the radio station to the simple act of holding the door for an elderly woman making her way into the library. She recognized him, by the way, as “that” young man who makes the podcasts, Watkins recalled. She said she listens as part of her nighttime routine, which helps her have a good night’s sleep.

Check out Preferable, follow Watkins on Facebook and Instagram, email him at iamjaydenwatkins@gmail.com  and complete a booking form at https://jaydenwatkins.com/

 

 

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TownTalk: Choosing The Right Long-Term Care

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For many choosing a long-term care facility for a loved one can be a difficult choice.  Kim Hawkins, Regional Ombudsman at Kerr Tar Regional Council of Governments, says there is variety in the level of care offered at area facilities.  She says there is a difference between a nursing facility and an assisted living facility. “A nursing facility requires an RN on site 24 hours a day and an assisted-living facility requires an RN be easily accessible. If you find an assisted-living facility with an RN on site 24 hours a day, that’s a plus,” Hawkins explained on Wednesday’s TownTalk.

Another thing to keep in mind is if a patient will require short-term or long-term care and to find the correct facility that meets those needs. Doctor recommendations should also be considered when deciding on the the type of facility that is right for your loved one.

“There are 47 licensed long-term care facilities in our area,” Hawkins says.  That area includes the five counties of Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin and Person.  Hawkins says this is a fair amount for the region but that level of care provided at these facilities is more of an issue when choosing a place for your loved one.

Larger facilities in Raleigh, Durham or Chapel Hill offer the same basic minimum services as required by law but facilities in the larger cities may offer more amenities than those located in rural areas.

What if your loved one doesn’t like the facility they are placed in? “In theory, it’s easy to transfer but in reality it usually isn’t,” according to Hawkins.  If your loved one has an issue with a facility, Hawkins suggests giving the facility an opportunity to fix the problem.

If you have further questions about long-term care, call Kim Hawkins at 252-436-2050 or email her at khawkins@kerrtarcog.org.

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