Tag Archive for: #towntalk

TownTalk: Community Outdoor Revival Coming June 2-6 at Back to Eden

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This year’s Blessed Trinity Ministries Revival begins Monday, June 2 and runs through Friday, June 6. The revival begins at 7 p.m. each evening at Back to Eden, located at 105 Spellman Loop off Satterwhite Point Road, and organizer and pastor Rev. Dr. Almice Floyd Gill invites the entire community to come out and be refreshed by hearing the word of God from five different preachers from the area.

“I’m not preaching this year, but I’ll be talking every night,” Floyd Gill said on Thursday’s TownTalk. Her role is more of facilitator for the weeklong revival, which will offer a whole new list of ministers, reverends and pastors who are taking part.

She said this year’s participants will offer a variety of messages for revival participants, and she said to expect the speakers to present their messages with “power, conviction and in love.”

“The revivalists from last year were great,” she said, and added that this year’s speakers will hopefully expand and invite even more people to attend the nightly services.

As in the Book of Nehemiah in the Bible, Floyd Gill said she prayed to God to ask for guidance as she began to plan the 2025 revival – God blesses those who work faithfully, and she wanted to emulate Nehemiah’s actions to help accomplish her goal to get the Word of God out to people in the community.

“We don’t want the revival to be routine,” she said, and invites any and all to attend the five-night event.

Here’s the lineup:

  • Monday’s speaker is Minister Sidney McNeil, of America Come Back to God Bible Institute
  • Tuesday’s speaker is Reverend Nicole Jones, of Ridgeway Missionary Baptist Church
  • Wednesday’s speaker is Reverend Doctor Bobby Graham Jr., of Blessed Trinity Ministries
  • Thursday’s speaker is Pastor Jermaine Whitaker, of Brookston Missionary Baptist Church
  • Friday’s speaker is Pastor Mark Hargrove, of Mount Zion Christian Church

If you can’t make it in person, find Blessed Trinity Ministries on Facebook to view live or join via conference call to listen to the revival each evening. Simply call 605.475.4700 and use Passcode 751573 to connect.

Anyone wishing to make a donation is welcome to do so, she said, adding that there are numerous ways to give: bring cash, check, cashier’s check or money order to the revival or mail to: Blessed Trinity Ministries, P.O. Box 3241, Henderson, NC 27536

Pay online as well using Gill’s number 252.438.0397. Donations may be made via apps like Zelle and Apple Pay
or via Cash App to $meeciefg.

She said all donations go to the church treasury to support its mission. “We’re thankful for every penny that anybody gives.”

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“Drive-In Movie Massacre” to Film At Local Legendary Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre

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Wanna be in a movie? Wanna have a part in making a movie? Folks in the Henderson area will have their chance soon, because Bill DiNicola is looking for locals to be a part of Drive-In Movie Massacre, a comedy/horror slasher film that is going to be shot on location at Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre.

And one thing he says for sure: the world premiere of the movie will be held right here in Henderson, at the iconic drive-in.

DiNicola, who got his start right here at WIZS, has moved to television and movie production, and he can’t wait to start filming. He said filming should begin in August or September of this year, and the final product is scheduled to be ready by September 2026. He’s formed a film company, ColaNatio Films, and he hopes this is just the beginning of having movies filmed in Vance County

He’s always been a big fan of horror movies, and his work in pre-production is what helped him get to this point in his career – creating a feature-length film.

Well, not Tom Cruise-Mission Impossible length feature film, but he said on Monday’s TownTalk that, with credits, the movie will be close to 90 minutes.

DiNicola said you need three things to make a movie – “a camera, a place to shoot and a story that people might be interested in.”

Camera, check. A place to shoot – the iconic drive-in in Henderson, check. And the story that people will be interested in. Check.

The script is about 54 pages in so far, and needs to be 80 pages or so. But it’s at the point where DiNicola is seeking funding for the project.

And a little star power.

He said he’s got local newsman-turned celebrity Mark Roberts on board for the project, as well as a “soft commitment” from Darcy the Mail Girl, who’s known in the horror/comedy genre.

The movie is a movie within a movie, DiNicola said – “It’s a slasher movie about people going to the movies to watch a movie about people going to the movie and getting massacred.”

And in the case of this movie, people are coming to the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre to see the movie.

“When you have an asset like that and you find out that people are interested in it and want to make it happen,” it’s a natural fit.

DiNicola said he sees Vance County as a great place to make movies, from the drive-in to Kerr Lake and more.

“What I really want to do,” he said, “is make movies in Vance County,” where he spent so much time as a child. “The woods, Kerr Lake…everything (is) kind of rolled into one In Vance County. The only thing you don’t have is film crews working in Vance County.”

He wants to change that.

Contact DiNicola at colanatio@gmail.com, 252.432.2235 or find him on Facebook.

 

 

 

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Mayor Pro Tem Remains Topic Of Conversation For Henderson City Council

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It is possible that the Henderson City Council will decide once again on who should be the mayor pro tem, a role that Council Member Garry Daeke had held since December 2023 until he was unseated in February 2025 and replaced with Council Member Michael Venable.

During the Council’s regular May meeting, however, Council Member Lamont Noel asserted that the February action was procedurally incorrect and set in motion a recommendation that later became a motion to return Daeke to the pro tem role. That motion was seconded and passed.

Then, at what was advertised to be a budget public hearing on Thursday, May 22, Council members picked up the issue yet again – this time with some clarification from the city attorney about proper procedures and following policy.

Noel acknowledged during the Thursday meeting that he’d mistakenly cited a policy that applies only to a special called meeting, not a regularly scheduled meeting, about the requirement that all Council members be present in order to add an item to the agenda.

In fact, agenda items may be added during any regular meeting and it’s done routinely. Although three Council members were absent in February, among them Daeke, a quorum was present and that is all that’s needed to hold a meeting or to add agenda items.

An agenda item may be added at a special called meeting only if all members are present.

As City Manager/City Attorney Hassan T. Kingsberry explained to Council members, he consulted with the School of Government to try to get a handle on this tangled-up issue.

“If you decide to revote, that is fine,” Kingsberry said. But it’ll have to wait until a regularly scheduled monthly meeting.

The budget public hearing, which did take place following about 25 minutes about the mayor pro tem topic and a closed session called for during the meeting, is NOT a regular monthly meeting and Council Member Sara Coffey was not present.

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TownTalk: Around Old Granville – Warren and Franklin County Historical Markers

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Two schools, both chartered in 1787, have historical markers that underscore their longevity and importance to their respective counties. The Warrenton Male Academy – more recently known as John Graham High School and then John Graham Middle School – had a local Who’s Who on its board of trustees when it was first started.

And Louisburg College, which got its start as separate academies for males and females, is the oldest church-related coeducational two-year school in the nation.

Local historian and Thornton Library’s North Carolina Room Specialist Mark Pace joined WIZS’s Bill Harris Thursday to wrap up an Around Old Granville series about historical markers that dot the countryside in Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin counties.

There are 57 across the area, which Pace said shows just how significant the people, events and places are to the state, the nation and to the world.

Take Nathaniel Macon, whose marker is in Warren County. His family came here in the mid-1700’s, and Macon became the Speaker of the U.S. House. If you remember your Civics lesson about the legislative and executive branches of government, you will know that the Speaker of the House is second in line to be president, after the vice president, Pace explained.

But Macon was an austere sort and Pace said the only thing Macon felt the government should do was “provide for the common defense and maybe the post office –  anything else was intrusive government.”

He left strict instructions that his grave would have no tombstone – too flashy. Anyone with occasion to pass by his grave was asked to simply toss a rock on it, Pace said.

“There’s a big, giant pile of rocks on his grave,” Pace said.

John H. Kerr served 30 years in the U.S. Congress. He also was a long-time mayor of Warrenton, but it was his efforts in the U.S. Congress that got his name on the new lake that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed in the mid-1950’s.

John A. Hyman was the first African American to represent North Carolina in Congress. Born into slavery in Warren County, he was moved to Alabama but returned home after the Civil War ended. He served one term and when he came back to North Carolina, he was a delegate to the second state Freedman’s Convention and later served several terms in the State Senate.

Franklin County has fewer markers than the other three counties that originally were part of Old Granville, only seven to date.

One is Green Hill Place, the site of the first Methodist Episcopal church conference in the state, way back in 1785.

John Williamson, a former enslaved person, became a state legislator and then a well-known newspaper publisher. He established his newspaper, The Banner, when he was appointed to the state’s Industrial Commission as a way to promote educational and industrial topics related to his new role.

Moses Hopkins was the first African American to graduate from the Presbyterian Auburn Seminary in New York. After he graduated in 1877, he moved to Franklinton and established Albion Academy in 1879. He was appointed U.S. ambassador to Liberia in 1885 and he died there in 1886.

Then there’s Thomas Bickett, the only governor of the state to hail from Franklin County. Bickett was the state’s attorney general and served in the State House. He was governor from 1917-1921.

He died young, the same year he left the governor’s office.

Another Franklin County man with a promising future in literature was Edwin Wiley Fuller. He died of consumption – later known as tuberculosis – at age 28. He was author of Sea-Gift and Angel in the Cloud.

Pace said Fuller wrote an account of a plantation burning in one of his works. Margaret Mitchell was reportedly a fan of Fuller’s writing, and Pace speculates that the scene of Tara burning in her book, Gone With the Wind, may have been inspired by Fuller.

Fuller also wrote a fanciful tale about a fellow who went around the neighborhood telling tall tales that people fall for, Pace said, that another fan – none other than Mark Twain – may have used to base his famous story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

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TownTalk: Granville County Tourism Ramps Up

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Granville County is bustin’ at the seams with springtime events designed to get families out and about, from Quittin’ Time in downtown Oxford on Thursday evenings, live music in Bullock and a Memorial Day wreath-laying service at Butner Gazebo Park on Monday, May 26.

Angela Allen, now a decade in as the county’s Tourism director, said these are just a few of opportunities available in the coming weeks to keep folks entertained and connected with the community.

In her early days in the job, she said springtime events were much fewer. “All I had was the Easter Bunny,” she joked on WIZS’s TownTalk segment Wednesday. “Spring is springing all over the place,” she said.

The RedBird Theater is bringing Eureka Day to the city hall auditorium Saturday, May 24. The show, which begins at 7:30 p.m., combines comedy and drama to reveal how a progressive private school deals with making tough decisions about a measles outbreak and more divisive issues. There’s a link to purchase tickets at www.visitgranvillenc.com.

Crokinole, anyone? How about disc golf? Oxford has clubs for both. Crokinole – pronounced CROW (like the bird) kuh nole – is a game played on a round tabletop board. The goal is to flick a small disc into the hole in the board’s center, sort of like shuffleboard, Allen explained.

The local club normally has Open Nights on Thursdays at Tobacco Wood Brewing Co. for anyone interested in learning more about the game, but Allen said it’s on pause for now because of Quittin’ Time. Check out their Facebook page to find out more.

Here’s a quick rundown of upcoming events in and around Granville County:

  • Thursday evenings in May and June: Quittin’ Time – 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in downtown Oxford. Stroll from spot to spot and enjoy specialty cocktails and small plates, as well as live music and art exhibits. Get a “passport,” scan a QR code over the course of Quittin’ Time and have a chance to win prizes at the end of the nine-week run.
  • TWBC has paired brunch with local music and an open stage for others to perform. Brunch runs June through August. Email taproom@tobaccowood.co to sign up for your time on stage.
  • There’s a new farmers market in Oxford called the Oxford Armory Farmers Market to go along with the existing market on McClanahan Street across from the Oxford Police Department and the market in downtown Creedmoor. The new market is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is set up on the grounds of the Armory at Linden Avenue and Spring Street with a wreath-laying ceremony to observe Memorial Day. The park is located at 416 Central Ave.
  • The Town of Butner continues a tradition Monday, May 26 at 10 a.m. with a wreath laying ceremony at Butner Gazebo Park, located at 416 Central Ave.
  • “Live After Six in the Stix” returns to Williamson’s Country Store and Grill in Bullock on June 5. Bring your lawnchairs and your dancin’ shoes, because JB and the Get Down Browns will perform. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Tammy and Rod Williamson will have the grill fired up and the drink coolers stocked for you. The admission is free.
  • Saturday, June 14 is a shaping up to be busy – Oxford’s Juneteenth celebration takes place at Wall and Hunt streets from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and The Barn at Vino is hosting a beach music festival from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
  • The annual Bee Jubilee and Food Truck Rodeo takes over the Granville Expo Center on Saturday, June 28 for a day of food, fun and all things “bee.”

Read more details at these and other events taking place in Granville County at www.visitgranvillenc.com

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TownTalk: Flex Ride Coming to KARTS June 2nd

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Beginning Monday, June 2, two white mini vans with “Flex Ride” emblazoned on their sides will most likely be seen traveling the roads within the city limits of Henderson.

And if you look closely, you’ll see the driving force behind the Uber-style transportation: KARTS. The words “Flex Ride” are in red and are superimposed on the initials for Kerr Area Rural Transportation Service.

KARTS Executive Director Randy Cantor said the mini vans are ready for use and will take riders wherever they need to go within the city limits of Henderson.

The Flex Ride is considered a “premium service,” and riders will pay a flat fee of $6 each time they board the vehicle. The service will operate Monday – Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

And although they are certainly part of the KARTS fleet, there are notable differences that customers need to be aware of. The more familiar KARTS buses require a reservation in advance, but Flex Ride is available for same-day trips. Flex Ride travels only within the city limits of Henderson, and riders can choose to download an app to their phone, book a trip on the website or call in a request.

Unlike transportation on a KARTS bus, the Flex Ride microtransit service provides same-day service. “Use the app and get an immediate response, or close to immediate,” Cantor said.

The goal is to be able to provide the service within a 30-minute time frame, he added.

Flex Ride is for someone who needs to get back and forth to work, or someone who forgot about a doctor’s appointment or someone who needs to get to the doctor in a hurry.

“This is for an individual who decides at the last moment they want to go and do something… that’s where we’re flexible,” Cantor said.

Thanks to state and federal funding for a three-year study, there’s no cost to KARTS to try out the program. Henderson was among 11 areas across the state to be selected to participate.

For now, Flex Ride will operate Monday-Friday, but Cantor said Saturday service could be an option in the future.

“For us to have a bus on the road, we have to have someone in this building” to provide any support needed.

Saturday service for KARTS buses was halted as part of an effort to get a handle on expenses, Cantor said, but there’s a possibility it could return. He noted that ridership has returned to what it had been before the pandemic.

Neither the City of Henderson nor Vance County provided any financial support for KARTS and its Around Town shuttle, which was shut down at the end of June last year.

This microtransit service is a way to offer customers a way to get around town, and Cantor said the on-demand service will provide flexibility for riders and drivers.

“We’re bringing our options for the city of Henderson into the 21st century,” Cantor said.

The Around Town shuttle was economical at $1 a fare, but it wasn’t economically viable.

“Nobody wanted to fix the shuttle,” he said. “I wanted to offer another service…it’s not $1, but it’s also not causing the system to go bankrupt.”

As part of the study, the KARTS buses all got upgrades to the tablets that drivers use, as well as a brand new scheduling software program that can tell where the KARTS vehicles are at any given time during the day.

The same rules apply to the Flex Ride vans as for the KARTS buses, including the rule that children 13 and under ride for free with a paying adult.

There’s an option on the app and on the website to pay fares with a credit or debit card, although cash remains an option.

Cantor said he’d love to see a cashless system, mainly to reduce drivers’ responsibilities and the amount of paperwork that is involved with receipts and reconciling payments at the end of the day.

Cantor has plans for Flex Ride if things go well in Henderson. “If it works and it works well, we plan to expand it,” he said. Other towns in the KARTS service area like Oxford, Louisburg and Franklinton could eventually see a similar service, too. “We want to keep it growing so if it works well here, we can expand it elsewhere.”

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(This text and audio are not a paid ad. However, KARTS does have an advertising package with WIZS about Flex Ride.)

TownTalk: Ride to Save Lives Event

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A Ride to Save Lives fundraiser will be held Saturday, May 31 in Henderson at Shooter’s Tavern on Norlina Road. Proceeds will go to support local participation in the Lost Voices of Fentanyl’s national event that will be held in October on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Local organizer Patricia Drewes said the motorcycle ride will begin at 11 a.m., but the day doesn’t end there. Guest speakers will take the stage about 1 p.m., Drewes said on Monday’s TownTalk and she wants families to come out and bring their children because they need to know how dangerous illicit drugs like fentanyl can be.

Drewes is vice president of the national group Lost Voices of Fentanyl, which she said is the largest fentanyl advocacy group in the U.S. with 36,000 members. The group’s president, April Babcock, is scheduled to speak during the local event, too.

Also on display will be 50 victims impact banners and four teen banners to highlight the tragic loss of young lives to fentanyl.

Beginning about 4 p.m., several bands will perform, including local groups Legendary Lane and Heartbreak Station. Virginia-based Redbank also will perform.

The cover charge for the concert is $15; the cost to ride is $20.

Drewes said she’s organized rallies before, but this is the biggest to date. She thanked Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow for his help with planning the route and for volunteering to lead the ride.

“I’m on a mission to save lives,” Drewes said. Her only child, Heaven, died from fentanyl poisoning.

“I want people to come out and bring their children,” she said, stressing the importance of helping young people realize and understand the dangers of illicit drugs.

“This could happen to them,” she said. “It’s just really important that kids see it. They need to understand that ‘yes, it can happen to you.’”

She prefers the word poisoning to overdose because an overdose implies that the person simply took more than the recommended dosage.

“It’s not an overdose,” she said. “There’s no recommended dosage for any illicit drug.”

 

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TownTalk: Author Martha Gayle Book-Signing Event Saturday At Sadie’s Coffee Corner

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Author Martha Gayle will be at Sadie’s Coffee Corner Saturday morning, May 17, for a book signing event for her second book, When Jesus Leads. Come out to chat with Gayle between 10 a.m. and 12 noon at Sadie’s located at 324 S. Garnett St.

When Jesus Leads picks up chronicling the lives of Mary and Jimmy, and picks up where the first book, When Jesus Calls, ends.

“Both of the books are all real life,” Gayle said, and recall events in her own life journey.

Through these characters, Gayle said, she hopes to share the importance of learning to trust God above all else.

“When we walk in His way and His will, it’s always perfect, always beautiful on the other side. That’s a lot of what these stories share is just trusting God above all else,” she said on Thursday’s TownTalk.

Martha Gayle, her pen name, said it’s a humbling experience to speak to others about her life. “That’s why God gave us this life, to share it.”

Gayle said she has found healing in writing the books.

“Writing has been the easiest part of the journey,” she said.

The first book was published in 2023, and When Jesus Leads was published in January of this year. She working on a third now – she’s on Chapter 7, so far.

“It’s a story that just continues,” she said, but wouldn’t give away any secrets about what happens in the lives of her characters Mary and Jimmy in this second book.

“There’s a twist in the second book,” she said, “I’m not going to say anything else, because it’s pretty awesome, actually.”

She said reviews have been positive thus far, and she read from one that said called When Jesus Leads a “heartfelt and faith-driven novel” that deals with themes of redemption, forgiveness and faith.

“Believing, trusting and walking in the will of God is the only thing that any of us need to do,” Gayle said. “It’s not always easy but to see the blessings and to see God glorifying himself in those moments – there’s nothing like it in the world.”

She gave a little clue at what the third book may include, but readers will just have to wait until it’s out to know for sure. “I believe this third book…is going to be a healing season for Jimmy, not as much for Mary,” she hinted.

 

A line of Scripture that features prominently in her life, her writing and her website is John 11:40, which reads: “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

For Gayle, that verse is central to her life and to her endeavors as an author.

“God has planned this to the minute of what’s happening,” she said. The reviews and rewards (are) just been total confirmation that I’m doing exactly what God wants me to do in telling the story.”

 

Gayle dedicated her first book to her father; the second book is dedicated to her father and to her daughter.

We’ll have to wait and see to whom the third – and maybe more – books are dedicated.

Both books will be available for purchase at Saturday’s book signing, and Gayle said anyone who wants to bring books they’ve already purchased, she’ll sign those, too.

Visit www.marthagayle.com to learn more. She welcomes comments and prayer requests, too.

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TownTalk: Henderson City Council Meeting Budget Presented

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Henderson Finance Director Joey Fuqua presented the FY 2025-26 proposed budget of $54.5 million to the City Council Monday. The balanced budget means that no tax increase will be called for, but the city will have to dip big into its fund balance – to the tune of $4,058,000.

Fuqua called the budget “conservative” and “really challenging,” indicating that he had to deal with a shortfall of about $880,000.

In broad terms, increased salaries that outpace revenues from proposed development are a big reason for the shortfall, and Fuqua said the city implemented savings strategies in January to help as much as possible. The total budget – 54,517,011 – represents a very conservative 1 percent increase over last year’s budget.

Facing a $880,000 shortfall, Fuqua  turned to cost-saving measures in January 2025 to help stem the tide. He also turned to the city’s department heads to look for savings.

“Police and fire collectively were able to come up with $300,000 in savings within their budget,” Fuqua told WIZS Monday. The rest of the savings came from across other departments, further chipping away at the shortfall.

Those cost-saving measures and a healthy fund balance are what enabled Fuqua to keep the current tax rate.

Water and sewer rates will be going up, however. Water rates will increase 13.5 percent over the next two years. Sewer rates will rise by 7 percent over the next two years.

Property tax and sales tax are the city’s primary source of revenue. In Fuqua’s presentation to the Council, he said collections are pacing ahead of last year’s total as of April. Tax collections have remained essentially even to 2024 at 97.26 percent.

He said he did question some numbers coming from the county’s tax department, adding that he expected some of those figures to be adjusted in the city’s favor.

Projected increases in the tax base are just that – projections. And Fuqua told Council members several times during his presentation that the city needs to grow – in population to create new taxpayers and in development to increase the tax base.

“We are not being saved by development because we aren’t having development,” he said. Simply put, until the city can afford to pay for services like public safety and more, the tax rate will not be going down.

“.65 is the rate that would be necessary to pay for the salaries that the city has arrived at over a number of recent years,” Fuqua explained to WIZS Monday night after the meeting concluded. “We’re on the hook for those that hit the bottom line…when you factor in those salary levels and all the fringe, .65 is what’s going to pay for it. We don’t have other forms of revenue to supplement what we have to do to make that mark.”

The City Council has scheduled its first budget work session for May 19 at 6 p.m. The new budget must be adopted by July 1, 2025 when the new fiscal year begins.

 

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The Henderson City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 12 for its regular monthly meeting.  Items on the agenda include presentation of the 2025-26 city budget and a discussion of water and sewer rate increases.

Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott has announced a special called meeting set for 5 p.m. as well, to discuss a personnel matter, according to information from Clerk Tracey Kimbrell. Water and sewer rates have remained the same for six years, and results of a study were presented to Council during a September 2024 work session. The study concluded that a significant adjustment to the water rates was needed, while a less substantial adjustment to the sewer rates was also required. The Council is expected to act on the resolution to increase the rates.

Anyone wishing to address the Council must do so in person or submit questions/comments to the City Clerk by 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting.

Join the Zoom Meeting at the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81365676350?pwd=B5woNmYx1X0G0s3VTpBOptHqPWY2eA.1

Originally written and posted on May 12, 2025

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Reflecting On The Life, Legacy Of Ernest C. Terry, 76

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Ernest Carlton Terry, 76, died on April 27, 2025 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham. Terry spent his life in service to others, from his time in the U.S. Marine Corps to his work in Henderson as a local businessman and elected official.

The funeral for Terry was Wednesday, and his daughter Enesa said she and other family members are still coming to terms with her father’s unexpected passing.

Enesa offered reflections on her father’s life and told WIZS News this morning that her dad was a very loving man who loved his family, his friends and his community.

“My dad absolutely loved the city of Henderson,” she said.

Recalling conversations with her father, Enesa said he didn’t want people to forget about him. “I don’t want to die and people not remember me,” she recalled him saying to her.

At his funeral, she said she heard people call him a “trailblazer” and someone ahead of his time.

“To hear those words yesterday, it meant a lot,” she said. The City of Henderson also lowered flags in his honor, another gesture she said her father surely would have appreciated.

In business and in public, she said, he showed a dignified, professional side. Enesa’s mom, Costella, died when Enesa was 13, and she said her dad had to be both parents to their only child.

“He learned to do my hair,” she said, among other “little things that a mother is supposed to do.” It helped them form a closer relationship, she said.

“Behind the scenes, he was a kind, soft heart – he was a good man,” she said.

Terry has two brothers, Raymond and Michael. Raymond said his brother joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967 and served four years – including a year-long tour in Vietnam. He participated and organized the Bugle Corps when he was stationed at Guam. He was awarded the Distinguished Navy Achievement Medal, among others.

After an honorable discharge he returned to Henderson and worked for a few years with the Henderson Police Department before he decided to attend mortuary college.

He worked for a couple of funeral homes after completing his education and then started E.C. Terry’s Funeral Service in 1982.

Enesa was in middle school when her dad served on the City Council.

He enjoyed explaining his role with the city to her and took her whenever he could to show her how city government works.

“He was ahead of his time,” she said. “He loved to serve on the City Council.”

Terry was the first African American to run for mayor of Henderson, but Enesa said at the time, she didn’t realize that. “He never pointed that out,” she said. Although Terry didn’t win, Enesa said it was a good race and she was proud of her dad.

“It was just amazing,” she said, “my dad was trying to run for mayor of this city.”

Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott became the first African American and the first female to be elected to the position in 2023. Elliott spoke at the funeral and in comments to WIZS News Thursday echoed the sentiments about Terry’s kindness. “…he helped many families in the transition of their loved ones and was a true asset to our community,” Elliott said.

Former Henderson Mayor and City Council member Donald C. “Clem” Seifert, Jr. remembered Terry as someone who was very easy to talk to and reasonable during one-on-one discussions. “I often found that we agreed on many more things than we disagreed on,” Seifert told WIZS News Wednesday.

It was a three-person race for the mayor of Henderson in 2003, with Terry, Jeanne Hight and Seifert vying for the seat.

“I served with Ernest on the city council for many years,” Seifert said. “We always got along, and we always were able to come to some agreement on what we thought was the best way to move forward on issues that we may have some disagreement on.

“I enjoyed working with him and I’m sorry to hear of his passing. We did run against each other for mayor my first term…but Ernest never said anything derogatory toward me,” Seifert said.

“He was a nice, decent man who didn’t always speak up, but when he did speak, you wanted to listen to what he had to say. Ernest served the city well and his community well, in my opinion, and will be missed.”

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