Tag Archive for: #towntalk

TownTalk: Drive In To Job Fair Friday At Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre

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The Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre’s main feature on Friday is not the latest Hollywood movie – it’s a 5-county job fair sponsored by the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments. Forty employers will be on site to talk to prospective job seekers about their employment opportunities.

Desiree Brooks spoke with John C. Rose on Thursday’s Town Talk and said the job fair is definitely a team effort, thanks to valuable partnerships with Vance-Granville Community College, NCWorks, Chambers of Commerce and other governmental entities. The job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“When we started promoting this, we were thinking we should be able to get 20 to 25 employers,” Brooks said. But thanks to efforts by the local chambers, economic development directors and others, the job fair exceeded that expectation.

In addition to employers from Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren and Person counties, there will be other resources at the job fair, including KARTS, Granville-Vance Public Health, Granville County Department of Social Services and VGCC.

Having so many employers all in one central location is a good chance for job seekers to meet face-to-face those who are looking to hire employees. “They are looking forward to meeting people in the five-county area – it’s a great opportunity to meet them in person,” she said.

For complete details and audio click play.

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Simmons: Casket, Monument Business A Continuation Of His Mother’s Idea

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Allen Simmons is building upon an idea his mother had some years ago to help families during a time when they may feel most vulnerable – when they are making decisions about funeral expenses.

Simmons has started a business in Henderson called Alight Caskets and Monuments and he said he wants to give families affordable options when it comes to choosing caskets and monuments. His mother, the late Fearldine Allen Simmons, had an idea to provide affordable caskets some years ago when her niece died. She wanted to help the family provide an appropriate funeral while keeping an eye on the expenses.

Simmons told John C. Rose Wednesday on Town Talk that he is not trying to compete with funeral homes and the services they provide, rather, he said, he simply wants to be a help to the people in the community. “I grew to love where I live,” Simmons said of Henderson. “It’s a joy (to) help people wherever I go.”

The business, located on Norlina Road near the I-85 ramp, includes services from consultation with families to creating specially designed caskets. One woman asked him to create a U.S. Army design for her military veteran husband’s casket, he said. It takes up to 48 hours to complete a design on a casket.

Casket prices can range from $995 to more than $5,000, depending on the type and material used, Simmons said. “We try to give a family something nice, regardless of what they purchase,” he said, “something in your budget but also can help you to bury your loved one in an elegant way.”

He is delivering caskets throughout North Carolina, and into South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee and plans to soon be delivering across the country.

Simmons said his business is the only one in Henderson that makes monuments since Hight’s Monuments closed. “Monuments are a really big thing for us right now…you can buy a very nice monument for $250,” he said, and prices can go up into the thousands. His team also can assess an existing monument and determine whether it can be repaired, removed or replaced.

The goal of Alight Casket and Monument is to help people, Simmons said.

“We want to educate people on the funeral process – they don’t know what to do, how to handle this process,” he explained. “We educate them on how to handle the funeral of their loved one, learn as much as they possibly can, so when they do go into the funeral home, they’re well aware of the situation they’re facing.”

Most of all, he wants families to be able to bury their loved one in an “elegant way, an affordable way.”

To learn more, contact Simmons at 252.915.0675 or 252.204.5120.

For complete details and audio click play.

TownTalk: Vance and Granville Co. Animal Shelters Are Full

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The animal shelters in Vance and Granville Counties are full and need help!

If you enjoying volunteering and helping animals, then this announcement is for you.

For complete details and audio click play.

Matt Katz, the Granville County Animal Management Director, says the new Granville County Shelter needs to pick up a few volunteers, especially right now for summer. Katz said he and his staff are “looking for some dog walkers and cat snugglers.”

Because of some of the normal strains of summer, like people taking vacations or moving their family to a new location now that school is out, the new Granville County Animal Shelter is getting full. The new shelter houses, for example, almost 20 more dog kennels than the old shelter but is filling up.

Turns out in texting with Brandon Boyd, president of Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society, the Vance County Animal Shelter is full too –  Code Red!  In May of 2020, the Vance County Shelter was empty.  Boyd texted, “SUMMER TIME!!!  Every June and July this happens and rescues and adoptions slow down.  It’s two tough months always.”

The chief of Vance County Animal Services, Frankie Nobles, texted as well, “A lot of surrenders ands strays.  Adoptions are maintaining about the same.  Still have our regular volunteers coming.”

Katz said by phone some of the main volunteers at the Granville County Animal Shelter are out for a while volunteering on another project, and he said, “We really need to get the dogs out and walk them.” It’s better for the animals both large and small.

Unlike last year when covid was the main topic, this year summer plans, things opening up and travel are cutting down volunteers while more animals are being surrendered, or in come cases, even just left behind as people move to new towns for new jobs.

Last year when families and children were trapped inside more, fostering and rescues were in high demand, as not only was it good to do but it also provided some relief. That tide has turned and more work needs to be done now with fewer folks.

If you’d like to help and volunteer in Granville County, please call 919 693 6749. Or email, animal.shelter@granvillecounty.org.  See more @granvillecountyanimalshelterfriends on Facebook.

Call the Vance County Animal Shelter at (252) 492-3136.  See more @RCAPS.Henderson on Facebook.

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TownTalk: Gerald Alston’s Sound System Helped To Launch His Musical Career

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The way Gerald Alston sees it, the difference in today’s popular R&B music and that of just a few decades ago is clear: the older music tells a story and leaves room for the listener’s imagination. Not so much with today’s R&B.

“There’s no room for imagination,” Alston said of the newer music. “Artists come out and say exactly what they’re doing.”

Alston spoke by phone to WIZS’s Bill Harris on Monday’s Town Talk. And just like the music that he and The Manhattans perform, the Henderson native shared stories about getting his start in music and reminisced about working with many big-time R&B groups.

A lot of today’s hiphop music is based on the foundation laid by R&B greats, he said. The music The Manhattans and so many others are known for “told stories about life that people could identify with,” he said.

Alston has played concerts across the globe – from South Africa and South America to Great Britain and McGregor Hall, right here in Henderson. The group has played for more than two hours to 15,000 concertgoers in South Africa, he said. “They know our music to a T. Those fans sang every song we performed for two and a half hours,” Alston said. “Our music has been passed down to their children and they still honor that – they realize the importance and quality of it.”

The group has evolved over the years, but The Manhattans are still performing and recording. These days, it’s Alston, Troy May and Dave Tyson who comprise the group.

Their newest album of music, The Manhattans featuring Gerald Alston: The Legacy Continues, is available on their website, www.letsjustkissandsaygoodbye.com.

The website name is a nod to the group’s most successful song, but Alston’s association with The Manhattans began a few years before that song was released in 1976. Alston was attending Kittrell College and agreed to let The Manhattans borrow his sound system for a concert there. “I had no idea they were coming,” he said. Well, as he was testing the system out – by singing, of course – in walked the group that he would later be asked to join. He opened the show for them at Kittrell College and a short time later, the manager caught up with him. He had been booked on a flight to Dallas to join the group. The manager had already been in touch with Alston’s parents, who’d signed the contract since Alston was under age.

“I came back to New York and rehearsed for a few weeks and then I started singing with The Manhattans,” he explained.

The Manhattans weren’t the first group that Alston was a part of; he and his cousin, Dwight Fields (son of Johnny Fields, of Blind Boys of Alabama fame) put a group together that lasted through high school.

Alston, 69, remembers those early days well, from the days when he opened for B.B. King and the man got a standing ovation BEFORE he started playing, to meeting the family of the late Sam Cooke after Alston produced a record of Cooke’s songs.

“I had been wanting to do that for a long time,” Alston recalled. Although his idea had been to do one gospel side and one R&B side, it became two separate albums. Cooke’s brother, L.C. Cooke, did the liner notes for the album. “He said, ‘your album is a true tribute album –  you are singing all of his songs the way you feel them, the way you interpret them,” Alston said.

People who listen to music solely through streaming services and not by actually playing a record album or a CD don’t get the same experience, Alston said. Music lovers who still spin vinyl, however, are still out there enjoying the full experience.

“You can go to Great Britain, South Africa, Japan, South America,” he said. “Those fans can tell you literally the year you recorded, the studio, the musicians, the words –  the year you were at Columbia Records, the  engineers –  it’s incredible. There’s so much history on the physical vinyl, it’s good to have.”

TownTalk Interview with Gerald Alston

TownTalk: Town Of Kittrell Has An Interesting Story To Tell

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Kittrell Drew Visitors From All Over With Mineral Springs, Hotels…

Is it possible that the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1901 could have played even a small role in the fate of the Vance County town of Kittrell?

Maybe.

Driving on US 1 through Kittrell today, you’d never know that Kittrell had been home to hotels and resorts that drew visitors from all over. People convalescing from tuberculosis came for the mineral springs and Northerners came to hunt and escape cold winters, according to Mark Pace, local historian. Pace and Bill Harris shared stories about the tiny town of Kittrell on Thursday’s Town Talk as part of an ongoing conversation about local history.

“Kittrell really takes off when the railroad came through,” said Mark Pace, during Thursday’s Town Talk with co-host Bill Harris. In the late 1800’s it was called Kittrell’s Depot – plural because there were two depots, one for passengers and one for commercial use. About the time that the railroad came through, they found a mineral spring, which launched a host of hotels and lodges that brought people from all over to the small Vance County town.

Back at the turn of the 20th century, Census records showed that Kittrell had 168 residents – just about what it has today. But that number back in 1900 is half of what the population had been just 10 years earlier.

Why the drop? “The hotels had closed up by that point,” Pace said.

“Kittrell had its day,” he said. It had its own downtown district, hotels – it was famous throughout the South, complete with fine old homes and historic buildings.

Several families, including the Kittrells, gave land for the railroad to come through. “Kittrell really takes off when the railroad comes through,” Pace said. In the mid-1850’s, the town was called Kittrells – because there were two train depots, one for passengers headed to the hotels and resorts and a second for freight. Along about the time the railroad began chugging through, there was a discovery of a mineral springs. And from the late 1850’s until World War 1, Kittrell was in its heyday.

Over a period of about 30 years, there were four hotels in Kittrell: Located where the Dollar General now stands was Kittrell Springs. It could accommodate 600 guests; and the Davis Hotel, or Glass House, had space for 800 people.

The Glass House, so named because glass porches on either side of the hotel was where people with tuberculosis could be cared for indoors by staff nurses while enjoying the sunlight. The destination was so popular, folks even rented out rooms in private homes. In 1867, Pace said that all the hotels 500 people were turned away. There was no more room.

But after the Golden Era of the resort – after the end of the Civil War and just prior to World War I – interest in Kittrell fell off.

The healing and restorative powers of the mineral springs were largely debunked by the Pure Food and Drug Act. And the bottled water, promising help to those suffering from dyspepsia to female ailments, lost traction in the national market.

The hotels and opera houses, billiard rooms and downtown district are long gone. But the stories remain.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

S-Line Rail Corridor

TownTalk: Downtown Development Manager Shares Updates On Projects

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Picture this: The S Line rail passengers, bound from Charlotte to Richmond, stop in the late afternoon at the Henderson Depot. As they emerge from the train, they’re making decisions – Where to dine? Want to take in tonight’s show at McGregor Hall? Which downtown hotel or bed and breakfast should I try tonight? The stopover in Henderson has become a welcome break in the trip, a respite filled with food, nightlife and tranquil lodging.

When you dream, dream big.

And when there’s an opportunity to get closer to making that dream a reality, make sure to check it out.

That just may be what Tracy Madigan has experienced in her first months as Henderson’s downtown development manager. The dreams are alive and the opportunities are presenting themselves.S-Line Rail Corridor

Madigan spoke with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s Town Talk about her new role and what’s on the horizon to make downtown a more attractive destination for visitors – and prospective businesses.

As for the train stopping again in Henderson, she said there was to have been a meeting today with state officials to share just why Henderson needs to be a stop on the S Line.

“There are all kinds of ideas in the works,” Madigan said. But they are merely ideas, waiting for decisions to be made. Henderson and Franklinton are being studied for possible train stops. A stop in Henderson could open up lots of possibilities for downtown development, she added.

While the train stop may be more of a long-term project, Madigan mentioned several areas downtown that have already gotten a facelift – namely, lights at the reflection pools and fountains near the city fire station, the construction of an outdoor pavilion/amphitheater by McGregor Hall  and the beautification of Orange Street Park.

With help from Sam Franklin and Franklin Brothers Nursery, the summer plantings are in at the park, and some garden benches are coming soon to that greenspace, nestled beside the Henry A. Dennis Building on Garnett Street.

“You should be seeing the lights in the fountains coming on in the next couple of weeks,” Madigan said. This is the first of several water installations that are planned around the city, she added.

The pavilion, an outdoor venue option for events, is under construction. Tommy Roberson, of Robco Manufacturing and Alumadock Marine Structures, is a pavilion benefactor, she said.

The vision of the downtown development commission is to assist with, help and encourage downtown development and economic vitality, she said. Often, city and county entities collaborate to further the mission.

Although she is a city employee and reports to City Manager Terrell Blackmon, Madigan said, she often collaborates with other agencies and government officials. Vance Economic Development Director Christian Lockamy and Chamber of Commerce President Michele Burgess are two individuals who continue to provide extensive support and help.

One long-range goal is to develop incentives in the form of grants to help businesses – existing and prospective – have an impact in the downtown area. There are smaller incentive grants that are available, but Madigan said she hopes to be able to offer larger grants in the future.

Click Play for Today’s Full TownTalk

TownTalk: NWS Predicts Above Average Hurricane Season

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Summer’s On The Doorstep And That Means Hurricane Season Is, Too

Summer is still officially about a week away, but Jonathan Blaes, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service office in Raleigh says it’s not too soon to be thinking about having a plan in case of a hurricane.

Blaes said Tuesday that the first two named storms have posed no threat to North Carolina, but the June to November hurricane season is shaping up to be another busy one for weather forecasters. And he’s watching another system in the Gulf of Mexico that could bring our area rain in the next three to five days.

“This season is likely to be another busy one,” he said. He said last year was an extreme year, and this year is shaping up along the same lines.

He told Bill Harris and John C. Rose on Town Talk that this is the seventh consecutive year that a tropical storm has developed before the normal June start date. There’s even talk about changing the official start date to May 15 because of this, he said. “The weather doesn’t really know the calendar very well – that’s for people to worry about,” Blaes said.

TownTalk Broadcast with Jonathan Blaes

Meteorologists must deal with more and more data in their jobs, and artificial intelligence is one tool that helps target more meaningful data to make their forecasts. But Blaes said it’s important to know when to rely on computer models. “There are certain patterns where humans add a great deal of value to forecast,” he said. One example is cold air damming or “the wedge.”

In winter, when temperatures hover in the 30s and 40s for days, “the wedge” sits over the area and computer models struggle with just how long the weather pattern will last. “Sometimes, we (humans) can beat the models,” Blaes said. But at other times, such as accurately predicting the track a hurricane will take, it’s best to leave it to computers.

“Weather likes balance,” Blaes said, “and to be honest, that’s what a hurricane does.” Hurricanes are nature’s way to remove excess moisture and heat from one area of the globe and put it somewhere else – the Atlantic Ocean supports development of a Bermuda high pressure system, which “hurricanes tend not to be able to drive through,” Blaes said.

Depending on where that high is set up that often will dictate the path a hurricane takes, he added.

“There’s a reason we have a rich history in this area,” he added. Hurricanes oftentimes graze us, and sometimes crush us.”

TownTalk: Turning Point CDC Kicks Off Summer Meal Distribution Program

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Turning Point Community Development Corporation kicked off a summer meal distribution program today that will continue providing meals for children daily through mid-August.

Chalis Henderson, Turning Point’s director, invites the community to drive through and pick up hot meals for children Monday through Friday between noon and 1 p.m.

The meal program is a collaboration with the N.C. Food Bank, Henderson told John C. Rose on Monday’s Town Talk. It will be located at the Oasis of Hope Ministries and Turning Point CDC, 2495 Hwy 158, near the intersection of Norlina and Warrenton roads.

Hot, nutritious meals will be prepared and delivered each day, Henderson said. She has a team of volunteers who will load the meals into vehicles – it’s set up to be a “grab and go” event, she added.

Henderson said folks can just show up to pick up food – there is no need to register or to show any identification – but it is a first come, first served event. The hot meals will be served Monday through Friday, and extra food will be given on Fridays to help over the weekend.

Turning Point CDC is 20 years old this year, Henderson said, an organization started by her parents. It moved to Henderson from Oxford in 2012 and Henderson has been the director since 2018. She said Turning Point’s vision is that “rural communities can thrive and flourish,” and she is committed to continuing her parents’ mission and vision to serve rural communities.

Transportation and limited internet connectivity sometimes hinder access to community resources, she said. That is one reason Turning Point is putting a computer lab on wheels – to bring the resources to those who live in more rural areas. Henderson will be hiring a program director soon to launch the Creating Success Mobile Learning Lab, which is a former school bus upfitted to house a bank of computers for adults and children to use.

The bus is undergoing final inspections to get it road-worthy, she said, and the new program director will be in charge of scheduling and logistics for when and where the bus will be visiting. She hopes the mobile learning lab will be up and running as early as July.

“It’s a unique position,” Henderson said, adding that the perfect candidate would be someone with innovative ideas who isn’t afraid to try new things. She hopes to host as many as 20 community events in the next year with the mobile learning lab.

To learn more, call 252.621.5190. Visit www.turningpoint.org to learn how to become a volunteer or to donate.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

TownTalk: Book To Focus On 275 Years Of Granville County

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Local Author Discusses Book Project To Commemorate Granville’s 275th Anniversary

When Granville County organizers sat down to start planning the county’s 275th anniversary celebration, they surely didn’t have to look far to find the perfect person to write a book marking the event – Lewis Bowling has been chronicling the county’s history for years.

Bowling’s book, Looking Back: 275 years of Granville County History, is 300 pages of text, photographs, maps and more.

He told WIZS’s Bill Harris during Thursday’s Town Talk that he wanted to chronicle as much of those 275 years as he could fit between the covers of a book.

This book, which Bowling describes as a hardback coffee table-style book, will be available beginning on July 24 during a daylong event scheduled for Granville Athletic Park.

If you haven’t yet ordered a copy, you can phone the Granville County administrative office at 919.690.1308 or visit the county’s website at granvillecounty.org.

Bowling said there have been numerous books published about particular areas of Granville County – in fact, he wrote a history of Oxford in 2016 when it celebrated its bicentennial – but as far as he can tell, this is the first comprehensive history for the county.

Bowling writes a weekly column for the Oxford Public Ledger and he said that his readers were most helpful in providing photographs, stories and information whenever he needed it.

“The good thing about being a Granville County historian,” he said, “is that Granville County people just really love their history. I just always can turn to other people, that may be a couple of years older than me, who have seen things I haven’t.”

It took Bowling about a year to research the book and another year to write it. He said his appreciates the help he received from Richard Thornton Library, the Granville County History Museum, as well as the G.C. Shaw Museum and the two orphanages in the county.

The July 24 event at the GAP will be a highlight of the 275th anniversary, Bowling said, and he encouraged all Granville County residents to participate.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

TownTalk: Inaugural Juneteenth Celebration Filled With Activities For Family Fun

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Henderson’s first celebration of Juneteenth will take place next week, thanks to a partnership with Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks Department and numerous local community agencies.

Tara Goolsby, HVRPD program superintendent, discussed the week’s scheduled activities Wednesday on Town Talk. Activities kick off on Sunday, June 13 at Fox Pond Park with a cookout from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. There will be a COVID-19 vaccination clinic, as well as craft activities for children, a deejay playing music.

The Juneteenth Week of Freedom continues on Monday, June 14 with a 6 p.m. presentation about genealogy by local expert Brandy Parker. This event will be held at Aycock Recreation Center.

The observation of Juneteenth comes from June 19, 1865, when word about enslaved people’s emancipation after the end of the Civil War finally reached enslaved people in Texas.

“This is the first time we’ve had a Juneteenth celebration in Henderson, and the first big event since COVID,” Goolsby said. “We’re excited that we’re bringing something new to Henderson, she told Town Talk host John C. Rose.

There will be a community information fair on Tuesday, June 15 at Aycock Recreation Center. Participants can learn more from representatives of various agencies and entities in the area, including Vance-Granville Community College, the Henderson Tobacco Warehouse, the City of Henderson human resources department and others. There also will be a booth for voter registration.

Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., folks can take a bus tour of what had been known as Black Wall Street in Henderson. Goolsby describes this area as the general area of Montgomery Street. The bus will run every 30 minutes from Aycock to Montgomery Street and participants can learn more about the businesses that used to be in that area.

Goolsby said the organizers were intentional in their planning. “Of course, we want to have a celebration, but also want to provide people with information that they may not otherwise have access to,” she said.

Two presentations – one on the African diaspora and one on home ownership – will be given on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Aycock Recreation Center.

A street festival on Breckenridge Street will provide activities and excitement on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be food trucks, vendors and music. “I started watching the weather last week,” Goolsby said. “So far, it looks like it’s going to be an amazing day!”

Goolsby said Juneteenth is a time for celebration, but also a time for reflection. And she looks forward to planning future Juneteenth activities.

Goolsby said it’s not too late to register to be a vendor. Contact her at 252.438.3948 or tgoolsby@ci.henderson.nc.us to learn more.

For broadcast audio and other details, click play…