Tag Archive for: #towntalk

TownTalk: From Tally Ho To Outer Space, James Webb And NASA

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In one week, the U.S. is scheduled to launch a new telescope into space and scientists are eager to analyze the information that it will send back to Earth. The project, which bears a $10 billion price tag, also bears the name of a local man who rose to great heights in this nation’s space program.

James Edwin Webb was the son of John Frederick Webb and was born on the family farm near Stem, in the Tally Ho community. When his father became superintendent of Granville schools in the early 20th century, Jim Webb moved to Oxford.

And on Dec. 22, the James Webb space telescope will catapult into space for its monthlong journey to reach its destination. Visit https://webbtelescope.org/ to read more about the telescope and its mission.

On Wednesday’s Town Talk, Mark Pace and Bill Harris discussed Webb’s life and just how he ended up running NASA back in the early 1960’s.

The Webb telescope dwarfs the Hubble in size – it’s four stories tall, Pace said, and its sun shield is the size of a tennis court; Hubble’s is a mere eight feet in diameter. Others have compared the two this way, Pace added: Hubble is a horse and buggy and Webb is a Mercedes.

Join Pace at the Granville County Museum Thursday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. to learn more about Webb’s life, his achievements and just how he got a telescope named after him. Contact the museum at 693.9706 to join virtually.

“He was a pretty big deal for astronomy,” Pace said of Webb and his accomplishments in the space program.

But just how did someone from Granville County end up running NASA?

Pace said Webb, who was known to have a photographic memory, graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1928. But like so many other young people at that time, his life was interrupted by The Great Depression. He had to come back home and help his family, Pace said. He joined the Marine Corps and became a Marine aviator.

Over the course of his career, he became an attorney, worked in private industry and in the office of a congressman from North Carolina. These experiences, along with being in charge of large corporations and government agencies in Washington, D.C., all contributed to Webb being a top candidate to run NASA and help the United States compete in the Space Race.

As Pace noted, the U.S. was scrambling in the late 1950’s with its space program, but Lyndon Johnson told newly elected President John F. Kennedy about this fellow, Jim Webb, who he thought would do a good job at NASA.

“They needed somebody to take control of the situation,” Pace said. Somebody with qualifications and experience. Someone like Webb. He got called to the White House in 1961, and Pace said there’s a photo of Webb with JFK as the president announced his plan to put a man in space.

Apparently, Webb’s wife learned of her husband’s new job on the radio – it was such a whirlwind decision, he didn’t have time to tell her before he accepted.

Webb was a New Deal Democrat, and Pace said he had what it took to get the job done – he could play the Washington insiders game, and he wasn’t shy about making deals or shaking hands to achieve the mission.

“He freely admitted he wasn’t a scientist or an engineer,” Pace said, but he was knowledgeable about aviation and management to keep all the moving parts at NASA to carry out JFK’s promise to land a man on the moon by 1970. .And, in Pace’s opinion, Webb should be known not just as the guy who put a man on the moon, but as the guy who kept NASA on solid footing.

“That’s his real legacy, for me.” Webb was NASA administrator from 1961 to 1968, during which time the U.S. saw Alan Shepard make the first manned space flight and the creation of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Much of the groundwork for the Apollo manned space mission was completed during Webb’s term; Neil Armstrong’s historic moon walk was in July 1969.

When Richard Nixon became president and Webb no longer was in charge at NASA, he worked as a consultant (Webb was also an attorney), and he worked at the Smithsonian Institution – he became head regent there, Pace said. He also wrote a book on management and worked with the National Geographic Society.

He was a low-key kind of a person, Pace noted. “But he really wanted to get the job done.”

Webb died in 1992. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery and his modest tombstone reads “James Webb, public servant.” In 2018, a historic marker was placed on College Street in Oxford to honor the hometown hero. The marker is located in front of C.G. Credle Elementary School.

And if you’ve ever visited the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., you have Webb to thank.

He created it.

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TownTalk: Boys And Girls Club Of North Central NC Plan Granville Club Renovation

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Vision. Mission. Hope. Community.

Those words get tossed around frequently, but it also takes funding – money – to bring those words to life.

The Boys & Girls Club of North Central North Carolina has served thousands of young people in its almost 10 years of existence. BGCNCNC has the vision to help young people, the mission to provide support to those who need it most. The hope for bright futures and a strong community remain priorities in the five counties that it serves.

And now, some community supporters and benefactors have pledged some substantial amounts of money to help renovate club space in Granville and Vance counties. And BGCNCNC leaders hope to reach a goal of $100,000 by Dec. 31 to be able to start the first phase of a four-part, $5 million renovation of its space in Oxford.

Chief Operations Officer Jacqueline Robinson spoke with John C. Rose on Tuesday’s Town Talk about several recent developments in the cash flow department.

The most recent comes from The Goodwill Foundation, longtime BGCNCNC partners. Robinson said it will give $100,000 to the Granville unit and $50,000 to the Vance unit for club upgrades and safety enhancements.

That donation came about because of two other sizable donations – $25,000 from Strong Arm Baking Co. and $500,000 from Richard and Noel Moore. Richard Moore is a native of Oxford and served as state treasurer from 2001 to 2009.

The downtown Oxford bakery and kitchen was nominated for a Rush Limbaugh Great American Business by a loyal patron. Owners Julia and Thomas Blaine took the opportunity to pay forward the cash prize and challenge others in the community to contribute the other $75,000 to help BGCNCNC reach their Phase 1 goal of $100,000.

Robinson said she and the Blaines attended school together in Oxford. “It’s absolutely priceless,” she said, “for them to be so selfless to (want to) provide great opportunities for young people.”

The initial phase of renovation has a price tag of about $1 million; the Moores’ contribution, matched with an additional $500,000 from the community, will create a games room, multipurpose classroom space and technology upgrades, Robinson said, in addition to collaborative learning space and remote learning stations for the Granville Club.

It sounds like a lot of space is needed to complete the renovations, but space is something that the BGCNCNC has. In 2016, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. donated a 27,000 square foot warehouse to the BGCNCNC. Since then, the cavernous buildings have been reworked to provide adequate space for the administrative offices, as well as an activities space and a space for a makeshift cafeteria and homework spot.

When a team from The Goodwill Foundation visited the Granville Club, toured the facilities and then heard about Strong Arm’s and the Moores’ investment, “they wanted to be a part,” Robinson said, adding that the Goodwill team “have been fierce supporters of our programs here in Granville and Vance counties.”

Robinson has been involved with Boys & Girls Clubs for 17 years, but she wasn’t ever a club member. There wasn’t a club in Granville County for her to join. But she volunteered while she was in college and now she has the chance to have a front-row seat to see the Granville unit grow.

“I was one of the young people that needed a Boys & Girls Club,” she said. “I make it my mission to make sure that children have the chance” to be a part of such a strong organization.

The club helps young people make positive decisions and have positive youth development experiences, she said.

The renovations at the Vance club will be to its upstairs space, and it will provide more technology and make it a place “where teenagers want to go and grow and thrive.”

Both Robinson and Chief Executive Officer Donyell “DJ” Jones joined BGCNCNC during the pandemic, so they haven’t had the opportunity to get out into the community as they would have liked to.

But Robinson said she and Jones used that time in a positive way. “It was a wonderful opportunity for us to create the narrative” that is proving so helpful to share with the community as pandemic restrictions relax.

“I think people in the community are really beginning to see what the clubs can offer,” she said. “It’s amazing to hear people talk about what the Boys & Girls Club means to them.”

Now that the children are back, Robinson said she and the club staffs are eager to continue to enhance programming and create positive experiences for a brighter future. Pre-pandemic numbers showed upwards of 3,000 club members across the five-county area, and Robinson said last year’s 719 is definitely an atypical figure. Right now, she said Granville has served 156 club members and Vance has 149 on the membership list. “We are ready to relieve some of our capacity restraints,” Robinson said, and grow in numbers again.

“We want to go from the best-kept secret in the community to really being a community catalyst for youth development,” Robinson said.

Want to help BGNCNC reach the Strong Arm challenge? Visit www.strongarmbaking.com and click the link to donate.

Donate to www.bgcncnc.com or stop by the administrative offices at 105 West St., Oxford. The mailing address is BGCNCNC, P.O. Box 176, Oxford, NC 27565.

 

 

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TownTalk: Why Vance County Gets Zero from State Budget

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It’s sort of like a high school student who didn’t follow the directions to complete an assignment – that’s the way one caller likened the situation that Vance County finds itself in with regard to earmark projects in the new state budget.

Vance County is one of three counties among the state’s 100 counties that received no money for special projects. On Monday’s Town Talk, John C. Rose heard from several callers who offered their perspective on the issue.

“If you took our list of needs in Vance County and compared it to any one of the other 97 other counties that received money from this appropriations bill, you would see that our list of needs grows a lot longer than most,” one caller said.

“My family stopped buying the city water over two years ago – ever since we started having issues at the treatment center. We pay our water bill every month, of course. But we don’t drink it and we don’t cook with it. In essence, this household pays for water twice.

“I can’t think of a bigger failure on the political front in my lifetime,” he continued. “I probably won’t see a failure this big anymore.”

“We missed our opportunity – big time.”

Other callers offered similar sentiments and said more than state politics, local officials should be held more accountable.

“I think that it had nothing to do with politics,” another caller stated. “There are people that are supposed to keep up with all that stuff,” she said. “Grants and all the things that come to Vance County (have) to be applied for…that was a big, big oversight on Vance County personnel. “They don’t just give (money) to people who act like they don’t want it,” she added.

“I put all the blame on Vance County,” she said.

One caller said everyone in Vance County should be upset about not getting our share of money in the state budget. “We need the money – it is just crazy that we’re not getting this money.”

 

 

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TownTalk: Vance Gets $0 From NC Budget

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The recently passed state budget was more than two years in the making. There seems to be something for everyone. Almost everyone, that is. Vance County is among only three counties in the state that received no funding.

Nothing.

The big question is: Why?

Finding that answer may not be so simple. But one thing seems clear: Vance County did not receive any funding for projects earmarked for counties from the $3.1 billion appropriations bill that Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law last month.

Currituck and Chatham counties are the other two counties that didn’t receive funding, according to a recent analysis of the budget by the News & Observer.

Granville County got more than $45 million – the bulk of which is slated for South Granville Water and Sewer Authority in southern Granville County. Warren County got $300,000 and Franklin got a total of $1.8 million for three projects.

There are 628 pages that comprise the Senate Bill 105, which outlines details of the budget. And nothing in those 628 pages is earmarked for Vance County. According to the budget bill, Vance-Granville Community College was  awarded more than $7.3 million, so perhaps some of that money will find its way to Vance County.

Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington told John C. Rose in an email today (Thursday) that he was among a contingent of city and county officials that paid a visit to House Speaker Tim Moore. Ellington said he, along with City Manager Terrell Blackmon and county commissioners Tommy Hester and Archie Taylor went to Raleigh and were told that “no money was requested from our representatives in the House or the Senate.”

Terry Garrison represents Vance County in the state legislature, as does Sen. Ernestine Bazemore. Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen suggested that Garrison or Bazemore may have more information about what McMillen called “political maneuvering” in Raleigh.

“Sadly it comes down to the ugly side of politics,” Ellington said in an email Thursday to WIZS News. Ellington said the group asked Moore to “overlook that and make an exception for us, being that we were sitting in his office and had made the special trip.”

According to Ellington, Moore said he would look at the request again but that the budget had already been determined.

“Upon returning to Henderson, I spoke with Rep. Terry Garrison and he said he had been trying but being from the opposite party it came with strings attached and he couldn’t answer the quid pro quo. Our state Senator Ernestine Bazemore has been very sick and has basically not able to participate at all. This went on for another month before the 2021 budget was actually signed so something could have been done,” Ellington continued.  Despite a couple of visits by Sen. Phil Berger to the Henderson/Vance County area, “it wasn’t enough to help us.”

He said the overdue budget, the ongoing power struggle between the Speaker of the House, the Senate Pro tem and the governor have put Henderson in a “tough spot.”

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TownTalk: Garrison And Sossamon To Make Bid For NC House 32 Seat

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This post has been updated after originally posted to reflect the latest information.

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TownTalk: Local Sports Legend Eddie Hicks On Life, Football And Helping Youth

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If it weren’t for folks who cared about a youngster growing up in Flint Hill all those years ago,  Eddie Hicks’s future could have turned out quite differently.

That’s why Hicks does what he does to advocate for young people – he knows what it means to have someone on your side, whether it’s someone who gives you a place to stay when you need one, or whether it’s someone who offered you a part-time job at the local rec department. Hicks knows. And he remembers.

Hicks has a long relationship with the Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks department – he’s closing in on five decades, in fact. “And I still love doing what I do,” he explained to John C. Rose on Tuesday’s Town Talk. Hicks recalled the days when, as a teenager, he and others helped keep the grounds cleared and mowed for the department. Fox Pond Park has a special place in his heart, because it’s where he did all his athletic training.

And now, the name of Edward James Hicks will be a permanent fixture at Fox Pond Park. HVRPD Director Kendrick Vann recently proposed to city officials that a picnic shelter be named in honor of Hicks.

“It really means everything to me – it really does,” Hicks said. “It brought tears to my eyes.”

He worked for parks and rec any time he came home, Hicks said. “A job was always there for me,” he said, noting the strong role then-director Ralph Peace played in his growing up.

Hicks’s father died right before Hicks was scheduled to head off to college, but both his parents had instilled in him values that helped carry him through tough times. He said football coaches Lonnie Davis and Tony Oakes helped him tremendously.

And then there was Hamlet Wilkerson, who opened his home to a teenaged Hicks and took him in. Hicks, and his brothers – he’s the youngest of three – got along fine outside the house, but not when they were all under the same roof. Wilkerson was a teacher at Hicks’s middle school and, although he has passed away, Hicks maintains close ties with the Wilkerson family.

“It takes a village to raise kids (in) this day and time,” Hicks said. Were it not for coaches and teachers and the values that his parents taught him, he said his life could have turned out very differently.

“I couldn’t have been successful (without them). wouldn’t be who I am right now if it were for (those) folks,” he said. There were so many people who loved Eddie Hicks back then, he said. “And I appreciate it.”

Those people who had a major impact on back then continue to influence Hicks today. His work with Melissa Elliott’s Gang Free organization is just one way he can give back to a community – his community – in need.

“So many folks have looked after me. And the Bible says pay it back ten times more,” he said.

For Hicks, football was a ticket to a brighter future. He played for legendary ECU Coach Pat Dye, who originally recruited him as a tight end. But Hicks was moved to running back, and that’s where he made his mark. There was one remarkable game against UNC, Hicks recalled. ECU was probably a 30-point underdog headed into Chapel Hill in 1975 to face the likes of #56 Lawrence Taylor.  That 68-yard touchdown run that the freshman Hicks made was the start of a stellar career with the Pirates. It was a time #28 won’t soon forget. His three touchdowns in Chapel Hill propelled ECU to their first-ever win over the Tar Heels.

As Hicks recalled those glory days on the playing field, however, he cautioned young people just starting out in a sport – or any endeavor.

There’s no replacement for practice, hard work and paying your dues, he said. “If you don’t perform, you’re not going to play.”

Hard work and dedication on the playing field transfer to other areas, he said. The first priority is God, he said. “God’s gotta be first,” he said. Respecting parents comes next. “It really bothers me when kids don’t listen to their mama and daddy,” he said.

Today’s high school athletes have to keep their grades up in order to play their sports, and Hicks is all for that. “School didn’t excite me,” he acknowledged, and he had to keep an eye on schoolwork during the week so he could play on Fridays.

That effort got him to ECU, where he rushed for more than 2,100 yards during his four-year career. He still holds the school record for the longest rushing play – 95 yards. He was inducted into the ECU Hall of Fame in 2014.

ECU wasn’t a powerhouse football school in the late ‘70s, but Hicks wouldn’t trade his time there for anything. “If you want the opportunity to do great things, go to a small school and make a difference,” he said.

Hicks made a difference on the football field, and he continues to make a difference in his community.

As for his beloved Fox Pond, he said it looks better now than ever. People come out to enjoy the amenities, from tennis courts to fishing in the pond. Hicks said he still plays a little tennis himself, and he enjoys walking in the park.

“Mr. Vann has a good vision,” Hicks said. “He wants everything first class. We’re going in the right direction for Fox Pond Park to be bigger and better.”

 

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Kerr Tar Regional Council of Governments

TownTalk: The Future Of Clean Energy And Electric Vehicles

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Carbon footprints, fossil fuels and emissions reductions all are buzz phrases that are grabbing headlines these days and it can be dizzying to try to make sense of it all.

“Clean” transportation has nothing to do washing, waxing and detailing vehicles, as it turns out, and everything to do with types of fuels cars use and what gets released into the atmosphere.

Rick Sapienza is director of the clean transportation program of the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State University. In his work, he drills down into the details of how to keep our air clean as we drive our vehicles for daily activities.

Beth Davis, regional engagement specialist with Kerr-Tar Council of Governments, is an education outreach partner that helps Sapienza spread the word about how to be good stewards and good drivers. Both  were guests on Thursday’s Town Talk to discuss how consumers can contribute in a positive way to reduce fuel consumption and keep more money in their pocket versus pumping gas into the tank.

Not everyone can just go out and purchase a new electric vehicle, Davis noted. Sapienza offered a list of options that consumers can do.

Eat lunch in your car with the engine on? Your car is getting 0 miles per hour when it idles, he reminded. “The way you drive and maintain that vehicle affects its fuel economy,” he said. Speeding reduces fuel economy as well, and it would be good for drivers to map out their errands to cut down on unnecessary driving.

Programs in place across the state like Clean Fuel Advanced Technology (CFAT) have paid off to improve air quality in the 16 years since its inception, Sapienza said. Funded through the federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality program, he said that all 100 counties in North Carolina now are in compliance with clean air standards.

As technologies continue to be developed, more and more fuel choices will be available.

According to Sapienza, compressed natural gas (CNG) is a renewable natural gas that is growing in popularity. The City of Raleigh’s buses run on it, and the majority of that type of transportation on the West Coast runs on it as well.

Other transportation agencies have turned to hydrogen to fuel their longer routes. “They perform like champs,” Sapienza said. There are two ways to use the hydrogen – either to produce electricity or combust it.

Davis said there are apps for smartphones to help drivers locate charging stations for their electric vehicles. Although some are free to use, drivers must pay a fee to plug in. Technology advances are making it easier for vehicles to travel farther before needing to recharge.

A common complaint with electric vehicles is the high cost of the battery, but Sapienza said the price has been steadily coming down.

Davis said she got to drive an electric vehicle during a recent demonstration and said it made her think about the possibility of an EV for her next vehicle.

“What really caught my attention was the low maintenance cost,” she said. “And also not having to buy so much gas.”

Sapienza said EV’s may cost more at purchase, but considering the total cost of ownership – like not paying for oil changes, transmission work, and other costs – the cost over the lifetime of the vehicle is lower. “Within 5-10 years, we’ll be at price parity cost on the vehicle,” he predicted.

Efforts to further reduce emissions and further electrify the region are ongoing, Sapienza said. “There’s a tremendous investment,” he said. Globally, $577 billion has been committed in both the public and private sector – $143 billion in the U.S. alone – to adopt technologies that reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Listen to the entire interview at wizs.com.

 

 

TownTalk: Oxford Is The Setting For Katherine Burnette’s First Book

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Katherine Burnette has some tried-and-true advice for aspiring novelists: Treat it like another job and set aside some time to write every day, to help you stay in practice. That advice has served her well as she recently published her first book while keeping her “day job.”

Burnette lives in Oxford and is a district court judge in Raleigh. She serves the 9th District, which  includes Granville, Vance, Franklin, Warren and Person counties. And she spoke with Bill Harris on Wednesday’s Town Talk about her debut novel, Judge’s Waltz.

The novel takes place in Oxford and in Raleigh, and Burnette said setting is important to her and her writing. “Living in Oxford and working in Raleigh – those places are very dear to me,” she said.

Her second novel, tentatively titled Killing Her Sharply, is set in Oxford and Henderson. It’s another crime story about detectives solving murders. She hasn’t had much time since March or so to work on the second book, but she is using this time to get feedback from some writers’ groups she is involved with, especially from the non-lawyers in the group.

It’s important for Burnette to strike that balance that creates compelling reading without getting too bogged down with legal terminology and processes that can make a book boring.

“It’s easy because I have been an attorney and know about some parts of the court system,” she explained, “but I don’t want it to be so technical that people say ‘No, I’m not going to read that.’”

Except for maybe a traffic violation or probate court when settling estates, the average person doesn’t have much experience with how a court operates. Burnette said she wants to give her readers a real sense of what’s involved inside a courtroom or courthouse, and said she draws on her own experiences to paint that picture.

But, she said, “I would say that 99 percent is created out of my head.”

In Judge’s Waltz, for example, a federal judge is found dead and local officials are called in because the FBI is busy. One investigator and her sergeant are in charge of the investigation, and what turns up about the unscrupulous judge’s demise creates a real whodunit.

The second novel has a few of the same characters that Burnette created in Judge’s Waltz.

“I wanted my characters to feel alive and have emotions and not be two-dimensional,” she said. That is part of the craft of writing – and Burnette stepped up her game to make sure she knew exactly how to do that.

“Studying the craft is an important thing to do,” she said. She obtained a master’s in creative writing “to make sure that when I got back into the novel, I could make it enjoyable.”

Elementary-school students are taught that good stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. And Burnette would agree with that part of the craft of writing.

“The middle part is the hardest,” she said. “You get excited about the beginning and know where (you) want it to end.” But developing the story line to get to the end – to keep the momentum going, is where it can get a little challenging.

In Judge’s Waltz, she said she tried to develop the story line threads so hopefully readers don’t guess who “did it” until the end of the book.

She hopes the second book will be out early next year. “I know where I’m going, but I need to get there,” she said of her writing process.

Purchase Judge’s Waltz in Oxford at This ‘n’ That in downtown Oxford, at the Regulator Bookstore in Durham and online where books are sold.

 

TownTalk: Iozzio Helps Veterans Through Outreach

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Derrick Iozzio’s phone is always on, he says. Always. And that’s one of the things that sets him and his organization apart from other groups that provide services to military veterans and others in crisis.

Iozzio, a trained peer support mental health specialist and facilitator, founded Catch-22 Peer Support in response to what he saw as a growing need to address the suicide crisis, especially among veterans.

Guest co-host Phyllis Maynard teamed up with John C. Rose for Tuesday’s Town Talk program and they spoke with Iozzio about two nonprofit organizations he helped launch. In addition to Catch-22, he is the co-founder of Save Vets. Both groups have a presence online and on social media. https://catch-22-peer-support-llc.business.site/ and www.savevets.org.

An Army veteran himself, Iozzio said he works to bridge the gaps in services that are provided to veterans. Those “big organizations with big bank accounts” provide valuable resources to so many, but oftentimes, veterans need help outside the 9-5, Monday-Friday time frame.

Catch-22 offers peer support and a way to “interact with our heroes and to help them find resources to live the life they want to live,” he said.

A few months ago, his phone rang in the middle of the night. On the other end was a person in crisis. “It was a veteran who called with a pistol in his hand,” Iozzio said. “He didn’t have anyone to talk to.” Iozzio convinced him to put the gun away – and convinced him to seek help, which he did.

Quick to point out that he is not a licensed medical professional or crisis interventionist, Iozzio says simply, “I am there for people, if you need help.”

Catch-22 addresses what Iozzio said were shortcomings in the way veterans were able to access help in their communities and can provide a bridge in the gap of accessibility to resources.

It’s one way that he continues to provide “the best resources for my brother and sister veterans and for first responders,” he said.

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TownTalk: Tom Hannon Remembered

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Daniel Thomas “Tom” Hannon III, 83, died Thursday at his home.

Hannon, a Henderson native, worked for Burlington Industries in several locations across the state before returning to his hometown to work for Rose’s Stores, Inc. He retired after almost 20 years of service with Rose’s, and then indulged his love of storytelling by working for several years with WIZS as a host of Town Talk and Sports Talk.

According to his wife, Anna, a memorial service will be held in the spring. In addition to his wife of 57 years, he is survived by three children, Daniel Thomas “Dan” Hannon, IV, Kathryn Lee Phillips and Robyn Watkins Hipp, and seven grandchildren.

John C. Rose remembered Hannon on Monday’s Town Talk program and shared memories of his time at the radio station as the two shared the studio for the daily call-in show. Rose said Hannon usually had with him a small Hardee’s cup filled with ice and diet Coke when he entered the radio station, a leftover from his earlier daily gathering of friends at the local restaurant.

The job, which was part time, resulted in Tom being at the radio station from 3 to 3.5 hours a day M-F.

“He had a way of carrying himself,” Rose said, a quality all-too-important for a local radio personality. He was opinionated, “but his opinion wasn’t based on what somebody else had said – it was based on what he thought,” Rose added.

“He was very confident about what he offered on the radio show, but he offered an opinion on the radio show that would generate calls.”

Those opinions were based on facts that Hannon recalled or on research he had done on the subject.

A favorite saying was “Often wrong, but never in doubt,” Rose said. Friend and former coworker Bill DiNicola said he sees that quote every day at his desk as well. DiNicola and Hannon hosted Sports Talk together between 2001 and 2005, and DiNicola recalled his friend as a “great role model” and “an example of a good person, a good man and a good citizen of his hometown.”

Folks may not have always agreed with Hannon and his opinions, but DiNicola said his friend always remained a gentleman.

“Without a doubt, there are certain people that come into your life and those people stay with you forever,” he told Rose during a call in to the show.

“They influence who you are and who you want to be.” For DiNicola, that man was Tom Hannon. “He was truly one of my most favorite people,” DiNicola said.

“On a near daily basis, Tom offered something that was extremely valuable…he was an ambassador for the radio station, both while he was on the air and in the community.”

Arrangements are by J.M. White Funeral Service. View the full obituary at jmwhitefuneralhome.com or on facebook.com/wizsradio.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to First Baptist Church, P. O. Box 75, Henderson, NC 27536 or ACTS, P. O. Box 25, Henderson, NC 27536.

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