Tag Archive for: #towntalk

TownTalk: Rebuild Communities NC Partners With AARP To Help Seniors Navigate The Digital World

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Coming off a successful series of classes in Vance County, Rebuild Communities NC and AARP’s Senior Planet workshop continues next month with sessions in Oxford.

Edy Thompson, executive director at Rebuild Communities NC said the classes will be held at Oxford Housing Authority, 101 Hillside Drive.

The classes are designed to give senior adults knowledge, experience and practice with the use of technology, from smart phones to telehealth.

The classes will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“It’s easy…and it’s fun,” Thompson said of the way the classes are designed to meet the needs of older adults who may not have much exposure to the world of the Internet through the use of smart phones, iPads and computers.

It’s a way for senior adults to gain confidence in their abilities to access services and find information without having to bother others for help.

“Most of the seniors say they’re tired of asking their grandchildren for help,” she said. “They’re fast and agile with the Internet – they don’t want to take the time to teach the ABC’s” of how to use a device like a smart phone.

Thompson doesn’t want seniors to be left behind – or left out – just because they aren’t as tech savvy as other groups. She said seniors can keep up with world events, and those that happen right here at home, with the click of a mouse.

“Through the Internet, you can travel wherever you want – see what’s going on and be engaged,” she said. “There are so many ways we can be active and engaged, not set aside just because we are older individuals.”

On Sept. 5 and 7 participants will learn about smart phones and Google Maps. The next weeks features ways to find information online and then protecting your personal information. Zoom basics will be the topic on Sept. 19 and then hosting a Zoom meeting will be presented on Sept. 21. Finally, telehealth and locating health information online are topics for Sept. 26 and 28.

Sign up for the classes by calling 252.915.1663.

 

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TownTalk: Author Michael Bean Will Have Book Signing At Perry Memorial Library

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Local author Michael Bean has a unique insight on the trials that middle schoolers face.  Not only was he once a middle schooler himself, but he also teaches middle school students at Vance Charter School.  That insight has contributed to Bean writing a book simply called “Jazz.”  The book follows the character Mitchell Williams as he navigates the intricacies of middle school at fictional King’s Hollow.

The coming of age story is told through two intersecting yet different timelines, one as a middle schooler and one as a high schooler.  Mitchell has to deal with bullies, preparing for band competition with the school’s jazz group as they raise money for a trip to New York and with meeting a girl.

Bean says the book started off as a story about himself.  “After I started writing it, I realized I was not all that interesting,” Bean said on Tuesday’s TownTalk with Bill Harris.  “That’s when I changed the characters name from Michael to Mitchell and realized I could throw everything at a fictional character,” Bean continued.

The beginnings of the book date back to 2020 and was written in about a year, according to Bean. “I edited it eight times,” Bean added.  The book is self published, and his son designed the cover. The book is available through Walmart and Barnes & Noble.  An e-book is available through Amazon.

To help draw attention to the writer’s efforts, Bean will host a book signing in the Farm Bureau Room at Perry Memorial Library on Breckinridge Street in Henderson on Saturday, August 12th from 11 a.m. to 12 noon.  Bean said he initially ordered 75 books for the signing, but interest has been so good he ordered an additional 100 books for the event.

While this is Bean’s first novel, he has more writing on the horizon he said. “I have two other books I’m working on and a graphic novel,” Bean said.  It’s a slower process Bean said with these projects.  “Jazz” was written during the pandemic, but now Bean is back to teaching, attending Vance Charter athletic events and he and his wife have three children of their own so there isn’t as much time to write as before.

With “Jazz” Bean hopes that not only teenagers but everyone will find something to identify with and see something of themselves in the pages he has written.

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Kerr Tar Workforce and NCWorks

TownTalk: Workforce Wednesdays To Connect Employers With Prospective Employees

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Whether you’re looking for a career change or that first job after high school or college, the local NCWorks Career Center may have just what you need to set off on the path of employment.

The latest program offering, Workforce Wednesdays, is a time when people in search of a job can come in for help with developing or updating resumes and actually talk to an employer who’s looking to fill positions.

“It’s booming right now,” said Sherita Ohno, business services representative with NCWorks Career Center, located at 826 S. Garnett St.

This week’s Workforce Wednesday guest employer is Pallet One from Granville County, Ohno told WIZS co-host Bill Harris on Monday’s TownTalk.

“We want to be involved,” Ohno said, “and give employers (that) onsite advantage…and pick up some of that traffic that’s coming into the Career Center.”

Desiree Brooks, business services manager of the KTCOG Workforce Development board, said there are plenty of people who are actively looking for work, and the NCWorks Career Center serves as a hub to connect job seekers with employers.

They are working closely with young people – especially students – “to educate them early and promote career awareness so they know what’s available” in terms of jobs and careers.

One way they do that is with technology – specifically virtual reality.

Through the use of VR equipment, individuals can experience what it’s like to work at particular jobs.

Using VR goggles and a handheld joystick, participants can enter a simulated workplace to get the feel of what different careers or jobs may look, sound and feel like.

“Young people love technology, Brooks said. “We’re meeting them where they are…you are on that worksite – it is so real.”

Ohno and Brooks have tried out the VR experience. “I thought I had left and gone somewhere,” Ohno said.

One recent event that featured a single employer brought out about 80 people who were interested in jobs.

“People are out there and they DO want to work,” Brooks said. “And we want to help them.”

Employers are struggling to get workers and to retain employees, and Brooks said that either workers or businesses that use the services of the NCWorks Career Center get support and resources that improve retention rates.

Career advisors can guide job seekers through the process of creating a resume that reflects their skillsets and help match those skillsets with jobs in the area. Training opportunities are available as well.

Call 252.598.5200 to make an appointment or just drop by the center to learn more about services and programs.

The NCWorks Career Center in Henderson serves the KTCOG five-county region that includes Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin and Person counties. KTCOG offers programs and services in all five counties. Visit https://www.ncworks.gov/vosnet/Default.aspx to learn more.

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TownTalk: Around Old Granville: More On The Hawkins Family

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If the Hawkins family genealogy were a road map, there would be featured destinations at almost every turn. The descendants of Philemon Hawkins played key roles across the state from governors to railroads, not to mention a couple of Texas cattle barons and the wife of none other than Nat King Cole.

The patriarch arrived in Virginia with his wife from their native England in the early 1700’s and he died there in 1725. One of his sons, also named Philemon, had a son – Philemon III.

This Hawkins had three sons who married daughters from a prominent family in Boydton, VA, explained local historian Mark Pace on Thursday’s Around Old Granville segment of TownTalk.

John Davis Hawkins established what would become the Raleigh to Gaston Railroad. Older brother William was elected governor of North Carolina in 1810 and their brother Joseph established the first medical school in the state – right out of his home in Middleburg, Pace said.

“The Hawkins family is wealthy and talented,” Pace said. “Each generation, no matter what they do, they’re successful.”

In 1836, John Davis Hawkins figured $750,000 would be enough to construct the Raleigh to Gaston rail that would ultimately tie in to the main line to Richmond and beyond; he underestimated by half, and the state of North Carolina came to the rescue.

“They ran out of money…they went bankrupt,” Pace recounted. “The only entity that had the money was the state of North Carolina.”

Eventually, the Hawkins family purchased the railroad back from the state and the rest is history.

The railroad “changed the world here,” Pace said. “It brought the outside world here to this part of North Carolina.” The rail allowed local tobacco farmers to send their leaf to the larger markets in Virginia.

Truly, towns popped all along the rails, including Henderson, Norlina and Kittrell.

But John Davis Hawkins also fathered children of enslaved women. One daughter, Rebecca, was raised by her spinster aunt – Hawkins’s sister – who made sure she received a good education and was well equipped in the arena of polite society.

One of Rebecca’s granddaughters, Charlotte, established the Palmer Memorial Institute, a boarding school for Black children near Greensboro in the early 1900s. Charlotte Hawkins Brown had a niece named Maria, Pace said.

And this is where the famous Nat King Cole intersects with the Hawkins family. Maria, grew up to be a jazz singer and caught the ear – and eye – of the famous crooner.

“Maria had a successful musical career,” Pace said. And Maria became Cole’s second wife in what was widely considered “the social event of the year in Harlem” on Easter Sunday in 1948.

John Davis Hawkins also had two sons who moved to Texas and went into the sugar cane business on a little piece of land – 52,000 acres – south of Corpus Christi.

When the Civil War ended and enslaved people were emancipated, the two brothers cut a deal with the state of Texas to basically have a prison farm. Prisoners would get room and board in exchange for their labor.

When the sugar cane business tanked, the brothers switched to cattle, operating the second largest ranch in Texas.

And then, luck struck again in 1901. That’s right, the brothers struck oil. The old Hawkins house still stands there in Hawkinsville, TX, looking for the world that it was plucked right out of Old Granville County and plopped onto a little tract of land in south Texas.

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TownTalk: VV Mitchell Stays Busy But Grounded In Faith

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Varonica Mitchell is a drummer, an actor, a comedian, a cheerleader, a dancer and a model with her own Internet-based show that has attracted more than 1 million supporters.

She relies on a schedule to keep her on track, what with posting videos, bookings and school work.

VV, as she is known to family, friends and her growing fan base on social media is headed to 7th grade this year.

“It’s a lot of work,” she told WIZS co-host Bill Harris Wednesday on TownTalk, referring to all the videos that she produces, with the help of her father, the one behind the camera.

This pre-teen exudes confidence and positivity and her natural talent shines through, but she is quick to give credit where credit is due.

“I get it from God and definitely from my mama,” she said.

Her mom manages VV’s bookings and also creates costumes for VV’s characters, including Grandma Roseanne and Mr. Eggnog, who sports a big belly and a beard.

“The VV Show basically is all my talents mixed together,” she said, part acting, part modeling, part drumming.

Drumming? “I just hopped on the drums as a two-year-old,” she said, when her church was without a drummer. Those who heard her thought she was good, she said and “it just went on from there.”

Whether she’s in front of the camera in costume as one of her original characters or playing drums, VV said one thing’s on her mind.

“I get to make people happy and put a smile on their face,” she said. “It makes their whole day – that’s what I’m looking for.”

Her local friends are among her biggest supporters, and despite the bookings and traveling, VV said she does still have time to spend with her buddies.

“They are really big supports – I love them so much! They are supporting me all the time.”

You can find her on all the social media platforms – Tik Tok, Instagram, You Tube, Twitter and Facebook.

“And,” she said, with the perfect pause – for maximum effect – “you can Google me!”

VV leaves us with a little cliffhanger: she’s going to Atlanta but she can’t really tell us more until it happens…

Stay tuned, VV fans.

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TownTalk: Legacy Keeps Gospel Music Tradition Alive

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Like most things that stand the test of time, Gospel music performers have to evolve to stay current with today’s listeners, but not too much that they lose sight of their roots.

Legacy is a local group whose members are doing just that — Brenda Peace-Jones and Tonya Richards are original members of the quartet looking to the future as they remember the work of other family members that helped them get their start.

Legacy is having a concert to celebrate its first anniversary on Saturday, Aug. 12 at West Oxford Elementary School in Oxford. The concert is free and open to the whole community to enjoy,

The Henderson-based group will be joined by multiple other groups that will perform as well. The doors open at 3 p.m. and the concert begins at 4 p.m.

Betty Richards always wanted her children to sing, Peace-Jones said. And so they did. That was at least 50 years ago, however.

“As time went on,” she told WIZS co-host Bill Harris on TownTalk, “the Richards family was dying off.” She credits her nephew George with keeping the family’s music alive.

Gone are the days of big ol’ amps and microphones everywhere when musicians wanted to play and sing. Today’s young musicians have loads of technology at their fingertips to make things easier.

“I’m grateful for the younger people,” Peace-Jones said, adding that they know all about different platforms where music can be heard and enjoyed by others.

“The sound is refined through the electronics,” Richards said. “That’s a great way that technology has made a difference.”

When they were young, they were inspired by the likes of pop artists Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and  Marvin Gaye, as well as Gospel legends like James Cleveland, Walter Hawkins and Milton Brunson.

Peace-Jones said as times change, and people change, the music can change, too. But it’s important to keep the music’s message Bible-based and positive “to make people feel good.”

 

 

TownTalk: Mary Emma Evans Foundation Continues To Help Those in Need

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It all started with popsicles.

And young people playing ball on a basketball court in South Henderson, said Phyllis Evans.

The “it” Evans is referring to has evolved beyond popsicles and the neighborhood where Evans lives.

The Mary Emma Evans Foundation provides resources for the whole community, from tangible items like food and clothing to helping individuals learn soft skills like preparing for job interviews.

Beginning in early August, there will be a physical location for the work of this group of volunteers – many of whom are relatives of Mary Emma Evans, in whose memory the foundation was formed back in 2011.

Phyllis Evans and Phylicia Evans joined WIZS co-host Bill Harris on Monday’s TownTalk to talk about the new location, located on Parham Street. There was a ribbon-cutting recently and now the Evans foundation is expected to be up and running come the first of August.

Phyllis said it hasn’t been easy to try to function without a physical location, and she’s looking forward to having a spot where people can come in and choose items themselves.

“Everybody is all excited,” Phyllis said.

She’s hosting a free clothing giveaway Aug. 4, 5 and 6 at 331 Alexander Ave. Things get started at 8 a.m. on Aug. 4, but come early, because she hopes things will get snatched up quickly. There is a wide assortment of children’s and adult clothing available.

Phylicia Evans is one of Mary Emma’s grandchildren and she said the Parham Street location will be a spot where people can come in and get what they may need, whether it’s food or clothing. Eventually, they hope to establish a diaper bank as well.

Donations are most welcome – whether it’s food items, clothing or, of course, financial. The immediate goal is to raise $1,300 by August 1 to help get them moved in.

“We’re looking for sponsors as we open up our physical place,” Phylicia said. “It would help with the building as we continue doing the great work we’re doing in the community.”

All donations are tax-deductible, Phylicia said, and any board member who accepts donations can provide a receipt upon request.

Because they will have a permanent location, Phylicia said the foundation will be able to partner with other organizations to offer certificate programs for individuals to improve their skillsets.

“People will be able to come to us and get certifications like customer service skills, project management (and) Microsoft Office,” she said. This self-paced program not only improves knowledge, but can be a resume builder, too.

“We look forward to seeing a lot of growth and just continuing to expand” the services they can provide, she said.

Her grandmother was a staunch supporter of Henderson’s beautification efforts when she served on the City Council, Phylicia said. For that reason, the family participates in the Adopt-A-Highway program to try to tame the litter along Dabney Road near Lowe’s Home Improvement.

They picked up trash along that roadside back in January and they hope to get back out in the fall, when the weather cools a bit.

No doubt, Mary Emma would approve.

If you’d like to help, contact Phyllis Evans at 252.767.8902 or email

maryemmaevans@gmail.com.

Follow on Facebook The Mary Emma Evans Foundation or visit the website at https://www.maryemmaevansfoundation.org/

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TownTalk: ‘Way To GROW!’ Festival Coming To Downtown Henderson

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Say you’re organizing an event – complete with food, music and more – and you really want everyone to come out and enjoy themselves. One sure-fire way to make sure the whole community feels invited and welcomed is to get key leaders involved and interested.

Two people who fit that description in the Henderson area are Heather Joi Kenney and Tracy Mosley. They, along with other community partners, are introducing a street festival called Way to GROW! to focus on all aspects of entrepreneurship.

Kenney is president of Gateway CDC and Mosley is director of Helping All People Excel, a local nonprofit whose focus is access, exposure and opportunity for all youth.

They were guests on Thursday’s TownTalk to provide details about the Aug. 12 festival.

Actually, the week leading up to the Aug. 12 event is Entrepreneur Week at Gateway CDC, which is hosting a variety of workshops Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. to share information about becoming a successful, sustainable entrepreneur.

Because of her love for this community, “the beauty of its people and of the downtown area,” Kenney said she applied for – and ultimately received – a grant from NC IDEA, a statewide nonprofit whose mission is to support entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship across the state. The Way to GROW! festival “provides an opportunity for people to be entertained and to shop” among dozens of vendors who are themselves entrepreneurs.

A plus for the vendors is that there’s no fee to participate, she said.

Once she had the grant funding, “Tracy came to mind immediately,” Kenney said, adding that if anyone could make it successful, it was Mosley. “She can make it happen!”

“I’m an event planner – I love events,” Mosley said. “It’s a passion of mine and I love Henderson and the community.”

The plan is to block off Garnett Street between Orange and W. Montgomery streets for the festival. The Breckenridge Street area to Chestnut Street, as well as Wyche Street, also will accommodate pedestrian-only traffic that day.

The idea is to show prospective entrepreneurs that it’s possible to take a passion and turn it into a successful and sustainable business.

It’s one way to create and support the idea of community, Kenney said. “We are responsible for one another…Henderson’s way to grow is collectively.”

Join the fun on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 11 a.m. for food, music, vendors, and more at the Way to GROW! festival in downtown Henderson. The Queens Court of Charlotte, Jim Quick & Coastline, DJ AK and DJ Scoop, along with Chanel Scott of CheMinistry are just some of the groups providing entertainment.

To sign up to volunteer or to become a sponsor, contact Gateway CDC at 252.492.6298.

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TownTalk: County Commissioners Adopt Strategic Economic Development Plan

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The Vance County Board of Commissioners adopted a strategic plan for economic development at its July 10 meeting that creates a roadmap for future growth over the next few years.

Crystal Morphis, with Creative Economic Development Consulting, walked commissioners through the basic framework of the strategic plan, which she and her team developed over the course of the last year.

Following the presentation, Commissioner Archie Taylor expressed appreciation for the work that went into the plan’s development.

“The easy part is planning – the hard part is doing,” Morphis replied.

As part of the development process, Morphis shared results of a SWOT analysis – the acronym stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats – derived from information from almost 100 respondents from across the county.

The plan lists “ordinance enforcement” as a weakness, and, when asked by Commissioner Taylor to explain in greater detail, Morphis said it dealt with appearance and first impressions when a newcomer or prospective business owner visits.

“Code enforcement is so important,” Morphis said, for a community’s beautification and appearance.

Morphis used information and data from the respondents to create a plan tailored to take into account the area’s strengths – interstate access and proximity to urban centers like Raleigh and Durham – while working to address some of the challenges – an unskilled workforce and a lack of available housing, just to name two.

The plan lists five goals and has a three-year implementation timeline that details specific items that need to be achieved over that period:

Goal 1 – Attract, retain and foster start-up businesses

Goal 2 – Make Vance County a choice location

Goal 3 – Attract, develop and retain talent to ensure a strong pipeline for the future

Goal 4 – Strengthen local and regional connections

Goal 5 – Strengthen the Henderson-Vance Economic Development Commission

During her presentation to the commissioners, Morphis provided information from the respondents on topics such as challenges to growing their business. Some of those challenges include workforce availability, wage growth pressure, workforce training, financing, housing for workforce and finding affordable space to operate a business.

Some of the areas that the respondents wanted to see the county invest more resources in were in attracting new business and retaining existing businesses, and developing amenities like retail, dining and recreation.

Almost half of the respondents – 49 percent – cited personal or hometown connections – to the county as the reason their company is located within Vance County, Morphis noted.

The Kerr-Tar region and the state are seeing a growth in population, but Vance County and its three municipalities all have seen a drop in their overall populations, according to data from the 2010 and 2020 Census. This can also affect the available work force, which also has shrunk in Vance County since 2017, when there was a workforce pool of 17,237 to a November 2022 level of 16,639.

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TownTalk: County Commissioners Hear from Vance Recovery

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Vance Recovery is part of the Vance County Substance Abuse Collaborative, a group of providers that work each day to help clients who are battling opioid addiction.

John Mattocks is Vance Recovery’s program director and he spoke on behalf of the county collaborative to Vance County Board of Commissioners during the public comment section of the July 10 meeting.

“We serve 400 people a day burdened by twin epidemics,” Mattocks said, referring to opioid use and overdose.

The individual groups joined forces as a collaborative to try to generate “energy and focus” in light of the risks brought on by opioid use.

“We are ready to serve in whatever capacity would be helpful,” Mattocks told the commissioners.

Vance County is scheduled to receive a share of the $26 billion nationwide opioid settlement and Mattocks said the collaborative stands ready to provide support to county leaders as they determine how and where to spend those funds.

Visit https://www.morseclinics.com/locations/vance-recovery to learn more about the services provided at Vance Recovery.

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