Tag Archive for: #towntalk

TownTalk: Soul City: Race, Equality And The Lost Dream Of An American Utopia

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Thomas Healy was born in 1969, the same year that Floyd McKissick launched Soul City, his dream to build a new town in Warren County that would boast 50,000 residents and pump life into a historically poor area of North Carolina.

Healy, although born and raised in North Carolina, only learned about Soul City when he was a reporter in the 1990’s at The News & Observer in Raleigh, he told Bill Harris and Mark Pace on Thursday’s Town Talk.

And now, the Seton Hall law professor has written a book about the spot where McKissick had envisioned Black people living, working and thriving. But Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia also looks examines misperceptions surrounding Soul City.

One glaring misperception is that McKissick wanted to build an all-Black city an hour north of Durham, Healy said. Then, with the backdrop of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, Healy decided to take a closer look at the story of Soul City and “to tell people about this history and, to some extent, set the record straight.”

McKissick, a Democrat, had some unlikely allies when he was trying to build Soul City, from James Holshouser, the Republican elected governor in 1972 all the way to the White House and Richard Nixon. Although initially skeptical and hostile, Healy noted, the nay-sayers realized what Soul City could do, they were on board.

But not Jesse Helms, newly elected senator from North Carolina. “Helms was hostile to Soul City from the very beginning,” Healy said. Ironically, The News & Observer, no friend of Helms ordinarily, “sort of tag-teamed with Jesse Helms in a way” in opposition to Soul City.

That combined opposition of the newpaper and Helms “was really devastating” for Soul City. Healy opined that if one or the other had not been such vocal opponents, then maybe Soul City would have had a fighting chance at survival.

Unlike suburban areas that grew up around urban areas as bedroom communities, Soul City was plopped in the middle of a rural county with little industry nearby. McKissick was trying to build a city of 50,000 people in a county that had a total population of 16,000 – he would have to clear the land, pave the roads, bring in electricity and then build homes, parks, amenities that would attract residents. And then there would need to be jobs.

It was a classic chicken-egg theory – which would come first, jobs or the city? Industry would demand a skilled workforce to draw from, and residents would have to have a way to make their livelihood in order to relocate, Healy said.

It was a strategic, yet pragmatic move that McKissick made in the summer of 1972 to switch political parties. He became a Republican and supported Nixon. Healy said he felt like this was insurance that would assure Soul City would get the federal dollars from HUD to become a reality.

Soul City got the money, but it wasn’t enough, Healy said. And that type of idealistic thought doesn’t exist today. “It was a super ambitious, audacious project,” Healy said. “If you proposed something like this now, I think people would look at you like you were crazy.”

McKissick did not see his dream come to full reality. He died in 1991, after Soul City had closed. But Healy said he felt McKissick would be heartbroken today to see that spot in Warren County where his dream began.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

TownTalk: Repair Cafe Event Coming To Granville County

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Don Fick of Repair Cafe NC discusses how his organization repairs many daily household items keeping them out of local landfills.

For complete details and audio click play.

Just because the button on your household gizmo is broken doesn’t mean it needs to go straight to the landfill – it may just need a quick trip to a RepairCafé workshop. There’s one coming up Saturday in Durham, but Don Fick and his crew are coming to Granville County in September.

Fick and Teresa Baker, the county’s recycling and sustainability coordinator, held an interest meeting last week in Oxford and have since scheduled a workshop for Saturday, Sept. 18 at the Granville County Expo Center. Fick joined Bill Harris on Wednesday’s Town Talk to talk about what RepairCaféNC is and what it does.

At its simplest, Fink said, RepairCafé workshops consist of a group of folks who get together and share repair skills to fix broken items that others bring in.  There is no charge for the labor, although guests may be asked to reimburse for replacement parts that are used.

In today’s society, disposable items are everywhere – things that once were made to last a long time are now easily – and more economically – replaced. But that “stuff” has to go somewhere. And, usually, that means a landfill.

“The money that the county has to spend to dump a ton of waste is only going up,” Fick said. Individuals don’t really have to think about that, he added. “We toss it in the trash can and the truck comes and picks it up and we never see it again.”

Fick said a mission of RepairCafé is to reduce the amount of waste consumers generate that ends up in landfills. When a lamp stops working and it’s not the light bulb that’s the problem, someone who lacks confidence about making repairs may choose to toss it. But that same lamp may find new life in the hands of one of the RepairCafé “coaches.”

Fick said the volunteers have a 65 percent success rate of fixing the items that they work on. They see a lot of lamps, as well as vacuum cleaners, electronic equipment, necklaces and children’s toys.

He cited one example of a woman who brought in a music box – a gift from her grandmother – that had long ago ceased playing.

“She sat with two of our coaches and together they meticulously cleaned it, lubricated it, worked very carefully on realigning some bent pieces of metal. And after an hour’s work, it was playing music again,” Fick recalled. “We were able to restore her cherished possession,” and she got to share her story and her relationship with her grandmother.

“We’re doing more than fixing stuff,” Fick said. “We’re helping people reconnect with memories and we’re showing appreciation for the stories they bring.”

Fick said the group is looking for volunteers for the Granville County workshop. The volunteer coaches simply have an interest or curiosity of how things work, he said, and have a skill set for making repairs.

The Durham workshop will be held at The Scrap Exchange from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit www.repaircafe.org to learn more or to register to attend a workshop.

 

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TownTalk: Elmwood Area Eyed for Redevelopment

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For complete details and audio click play.

The city’s re-established Redevelopment Commission is holding a listening session Thursday, July 22 at 6 p.m. to hear from the community about plans for making upgrades to an area known to city officials as the Elmwood Urban Redevelopment Area (URA).

This listening session, which will be held in Perry Memorial Library’s Farm Bureau room, is part of the overall process, according to Assistant City Manager Paylor Spruill. The library is located at 205 Breckenridge St. The redevelopment committee members “need to hear what the public believes are the important issues for redevelopment, especially in that area,” Spruill told John C. Rose on Tuesday’s Town Talk. He and Council Member Garry Daeke spoke about short-term plans and long-term dreams that just may become reality for Henderson in the next few years.

The Elmwood URA consists of about 200 acres that include both sides of Burwell Avenue, Chestnut Street all the way to Andrews Avenue and almost to Beckford Drive, including Elmwood Cemetery, Spruill said. The city is getting guidance and support from the UNC School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative as it continues to refine a detailed plan for redevelopment for the area.

Residents are invited to complete a survey in advance of Thursday’s meeting. Find the link to the survey at https://ci.henderson.nc.us/government/boards/redevelopment_commission.php as well as more information about the URA process. The meeting is open to the public. The Zoom link is https://unc.zoom.us/j/96903327572 or call toll-free
(855) 880-1246 to listen by phone. The meeting ID is 969 0332 7572.

Daeke said the city has done a good job in the past few years of removing homes that are dilapidated or otherwise substandard. The removal of those structures leaves vacant properties that can now be built on again. The city has been able to accumulate a fund balance that can be used to create affordable housing and direct money to make improvements in neighborhoods. “It will give us the ability and the authority to make wholesale changes in these neighborhoods,” he said, including sidewalks and parks – all of which contributes to increased property values that benefit the immediate area and the city.

Spruill said that Henderson needs 3,000 units of affordable housing now, according to a study that the UNC DFI conducted. And that doesn’t include other types of housing that would be expected for a community the size of Henderson to have, he added. The housing boom that the Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill areas have been experiencing for a while is creating a ripple effect that reaches to this area, Spruill noted. People can’t afford those hot housing markets, so they are “beginning to look here to find a place they can afford and where they want to live.” With the redevelopment plan as a guide, we can reach out to the development community, partner with them to make that happen, he added.

The city council has funded another DFI study to look at the Flint Hill community. Continued support, guidance and recommendations from this group helps municipalities like Henderson interpret state regulations and guides them through the necessary steps before recommending a workable plan. “I’m glad to have them here,” Spruill said of the UNC DFI team. “They’ve been a great help.” Once the redevelopment commission completes its work, the plan will go to the planning commission before taking its final form for presentation to the city council for adoption.

Between redevelopment plans and additional talk about placement of a train station for proposed rail service – both commuter and high-speed trains – Henderson is in a good place for improvements.

Daeke said the city council, along with city staff, have been laying the groundwork over the past few years to support the upgrades and said several things, including this redevelopment project, are finally coming together – now it’s time to put the funds behind them to make them happen. “I’m very proud to be a resident of Henderson most of my life,” Daeke said, and predicted that, 10 years from now, the community will be looking back proudly at the work being considered now.

 

Kerr Tar Workforce and NCWorks

TownTalk: NCWorks NextGen Program Helps Young Workers On Career Path

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The NextGen program that operates in the five-county area as part of NCWorks offers young adults support and help in the search for gainful employment, but they get much more than just the hope of a paycheck.

Helen Bradby, NextGen’s director, shared information about the program on Monday’s Town Talk and told John C. Rose about the NextGen’s successes. She and Desiree Brooks of Kerr-Tar workforce development board discussed just how NextGen and NCWorks work to connect job seekers with employers.

NextGen serves ages 16-24 who face at least one barrier to employment, from being homeless or having a criminal background to not having a high school diploma, being pregnant or a parent.

Brooks said the object is to help youth not only find a job, but to help them find a career.

Example: a young man from Warren County needed first to get his GED before he could continue on the path to employment. NextGen placed him in an on-the-job training assignment while he was completing his GED and as of last month, he is a permanent employee. “He’s making some good money,” Bradby added.

This particular “customer,” as Bradby refers to all those prospective employees that participate in the NextGen program, had some work experience, but he needed a few months of training to bring him up to speed, she said. NextGen provided 75 percent reimbursement to the employer for the employee’s wages during that time. That’s a win-win for the customer who gets placed in the job and for the employer who needs someone to do the work.

NextGen focuses on four career pathways that show promise of growth in the area: advanced manufacturing, informational technology, construction, and health care.

And while her program focuses on youth employment, Bradby emphasized that her program is keenly tuned in to the area’s businesses and employers, who serve as valuable partners and hire workers who come from NextGen.

“Send them to us, Helen, we can teach them,” is what she said she hears from employers in the area. Bradby said the employer partners can trust that the individuals NextGen sends to them have the willingness or the ability to learn new skills, even if they don’t already possess them.

The past program year proved challenging, Bradby said, but the new program year that began July 1 promises more and better opportunities for those who need a job and for those who need workers.

“This is not a cookie cutter program,” Bradby said. Every customer is evaluated individually. “We’re going to sit down with you and create a plan,” she said. The plan includes an educational goal and and employment goal, and there are detailed objectives to support achievement of the goals.

One person’s first step may be to complete a GED, while another may need help creating a resume. NextGen’s main purpose is to do what is needed to reach a customer’s goals.

Often, job-seekers in this age group need to be prepared for what an interview will be like. Employers are looking for workers with that set of “soft skills” such as politeness, listening and communication skills and time management.

“They want someone who’s going to actually show up” for work, Bradby said.

The employer partners are vital to the success of the program, Brooks said. “We are not a one-man show,” she said. Vance-Granville Community College and Piedmont Community College, along with the economic development corporations and the chambers of commerce all provide valuable support to NCWorks and the Kerr-Tar COG. Everybody is working toward that same goal of employing workers and getting them off on a career path that will provide them with a sustainable wage that will allow them to support their families.

Like the Vance County mother of one child who came to NextGen for help getting her nurse aide 1 credential. She did that at VGCC, passed her state exam and then returned for additional certification for medication aide credential. She now is employed full-time at Duke University Hospital, and receiving excellent benefits.

“That is exactly what a career path is,” Bradby said. This customer had several steps on her career path – to get one certificate and state credentials, then move along her career path to her goal of full-time employment. And that is exactly what NextGen is set up to do.

To learn more, visit https://nccareers.org/ncworks-nextgen-program or call 919.693.2686.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

TownTalk: Granville County Celebrates 275 Years

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Question: What was the largest town in Granville County in 1880?

Answer: Henderson.

It’s not a trick question, but unless you’re a local history buff, you may not know that for about 135 years, a good part of Vance County was, well, in Granville County, as were Warren and Franklin counties.

Present-day Granville County residents are preparing to celebrate the county’s 275th anniversary with a day-long event at Granville Athletic Park. About two years in the making, the celebration has something for everyone, according to planning committee members Mark Pace and Chair Sue Hinman. They joined county tourism director Angela Allen on Thursday’s Town Talk to talk about the exciting details with John C. Rose and Bill Harris.

“This is truly a celebration,” Allen said, of the county’s history, its progress, its resources – all the great things that make Granville County what it is today.

The GAP will be filled to overflowing with activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the whole family to enjoy. Balloons and clowns and games and music, to name a few, Hinman said. At 9 a.m., there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open Phase III of the GAP, which contains new tennis courts and an inclusive playground.

Hinman, chair of the county commissioners board, said she is excited to be a part of the celebration and to be able to spread the word about the county’s 275th anniversary.

Allen said the park will be filled to overflowing with everything from live music to bouncy houses for the kids. Visit www.granvillecounty.org/275th to find a complete schedule of events.

At the sports pavilion, attendees will find a variety of resources where they can learn about the cities, towns and communities in the county.

Also available is a book written and compiled by local author Lewis Bowling. Looking Back: 275 years of Granville County History will be available for purchase, and Bowling will be on hand to sign copies, Pace said.

Of the hundreds of books that have been written about Granville and the surrounding areas, this is a “complete narrative history,” Pace said. “And this is the first one of Granville County,” he added. Among the 300 pages of the coffee-table style book are many never-before published photographs that capture Granville County’s past.

At 10 a.m., an opening ceremony will kick off the event, with presentation of colors and remarks from local dignitaries. After that, Allen said it’s time to enjoy live music in the amphitheater, food from a variety of vendors and even visit an outdoor classroom space where folks can learn about such things as the history of tobacco in the area as well as where the walking trails in the county can be found.

The Granville-Vance Health District will be on hand for COVID-19 testing as well as COVID-19 vaccines, Allen said.

The committee was formed and began planning before the pandemic, and Pace said, to be honest, there were times during the planning process when the group didn’t know whether the celebration would be able to take place at all. Allen said the committee members come from across the county and all municipalities are represented.

“It’s a great mix of community pieces,” she said. “We wanted to make this as inclusive as we possibly could.” The celebration represents the thought that went into the planning process.

Until the original county was carved up into the four counties we know today, Allen said she has learned through planning for this event that Granville County was truly a hub for the state. She said it is great to be able to “live, work and play in a community that already has a reputation of bringing people together.”

Today, about 60,000 people call Granville County home. Back in the late 1780’s, when it was just more than 40 years old, there were about 6,500 residents, and one of those residents was John Penn, North Carolina’s only signer of the Declaration of Independence. Penn died in 1788, but chances are slim to none that he ever ate a funnel cake or enjoyed a sno-cone. Visitors to the GAP next Saturday, however, could glimpse such an anachronistic sight – sort of.

Mark Pace will portray Penn during the event, sharing stories and insight from a time more than 200 years ago. And who knows? Maybe he’ll wander over to the sno-cone stand to see which flavor he prefers.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

Maria Parham Health

Rehab Can be a Key to Better Health

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Just a half hour of exercise five days a week – that’s 150 minutes total – can be just what we need to reduce the risk of an adverse health “event” and Chris Cole said we owe it to ourselves to get those heart rates up to become the best version of ourselves possible.

“We all need to be physically active. We can all do that. It’s going to lower your risk of dying early by 30 percent or more,” Cole told John C. Rose on Tuesday’s Town Talk. He said in addition to aerobic exercise, we should also adopt a resistance training program two days a week to build strength. The two activities combine to create a one-two punch against health problems.

Cole, a clinical exercise physiologist at Maria Parham Health’s rehabilitation clinic in Henderson, works with patients who already have had one of these “events” – whether heart attack, respiratory ailment or other chronic condition  – get back on the road to recovery. He talked about ways to prevent health problems, reduce risk and improve quality of life.

He and the rehab team, which also includes physicians, nurses, therapists, a clinical psychologist and a nutritionist work with patients to put together a plan tailored to the individual.

Through exercise or activity counseling, he said he tries “to get an individual to adopt physical activity in a way that’s going to reduce their risk” for future health problems. “I try to get people to their best physical shape, no matter how they show up to me.”

A big chunk of his work is during Phase 2 of a 3-phase rehabilitation plan, mostly for cardiovascular patients. Phase 1 occurs while the patient is still in hospital, usually 24-48 hours after a cardiovascular surgery. Phase 2 is an out-patient program lasting 12 weeks, during which patients come in three times a week, he said. Phase 3 patients are in maintenance and are continuing the program independently, “taking lifestyle changes into their own hands.”

Others who come to the clinic have peripheral artery disease, or PAD. Unlike coronary artery disease, which is artery disease around the heart, peripheral artery disease presents as pain in the areas like the calf or buttocks and makes walking painful.

It’s a lack of oxygen to the muscle that creates the problem, and the rehab clinic’s job is to help patients increase the distance they can walk without pain.

“If we can take 100 feet and turn it into 100 yards” that people can walk pain-free, it’s a good thing. In fact, he said patients, on average, have had a 452 percent increase in their walking distance, which Cole said is substantial.

The clinic has seen a few patients with long COVID, for whom recovery has been slow and who face overall fatigue. Interestingly, those clients are below the age of 65, the opposite of the clinic’s normal clientele. Cole said those “long-haulers” have had a 100 percent return to work rate after working with the rehab clinic team.

In an effort to try to get people to be more proactive about warding off health problems, the rehab clinic began a preventative program. “We were always reacting to a problem,” Cole said, so doctors can refer a patient with certain risk factors to participate. Although insurance will not pay, the cost is $4 a day, less than some gym memberships, he noted.

The patient has access to exercise experts, the team of medical professionals and are covered by a supervising physician. This team can evaluate and make suggestions for patients to reduce their risk for major health problems. “It’s a very effective program,” Cole said.

Barriers to services, including transportation, cost and lack of insurance coverage, can also be overcome, thanks to an endowment fund that is available to help cover costs.

“If you have risk factors, don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor,” Cole said. “We’ve got things that we can do to get you here.”

To learn more, call 252.436.6395.

(This is not a paid ad.  This is not medical advice.)

For complete details and audio click play.

 

Town Talk: Carolina Weight Loss Centers Support Clients As They Make Healthy Lifestyle Changes, Lose Pounds

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There is no secret to weight loss – it’s a simple matter of consuming fewer calories than your body burns. But if the answer is as simple as that, why is it so darned difficult to do?

Diane Varnadore, a nurse practitioner and director of Carolina Weight Loss in Henderson, said her medically assisted weight loss program takes a holistic approach that can help clients achieve their goals, with some added benefits, to boot.

“Most people cannot lose weight unless they have someone to help and guide them,” Varnadore said, adding that her center offers clients access to professionals who are passionate and dedicated to that mission makes a big difference.

Carolina Weight Loss centers offer ways to make lifestyle changes – “this is not a crash diet – it’s not a fad diet,” she said.

There are now 10 Carolina Weight Loss offices – the closest ones are here in Henderson, with centers in Oxford and Warrenton, too, Varnadore told John C. Rose on Monday’s Town Talk program.

The initial consultation fee is $100, and medical professionals create a meal and activity plan based on information about family history, medications and lifestyle. The low-fat, low-calorie meal plan has added benefits of lowering cholesterol, and can also help lower blood pressure and blood sugar, Varnadore said. Clients who join for  $100 a month come in weekly for check-ins and other services that the center provides.

“The biggest thing is to get the patient on board with the diet and then we see them weekly,” she said. “Ideally, everyone wants to see their weight go down,” but increased exercise builds muscle, which weighs more than fat. Carolina Weight Loss uses a method not always used in weight-loss offices that provides feedback to the client about their progress. The feedback helps keep clients motivated. “Also, just seeing a medical professional weekly to encourage them to follow up…is very effective,” she said.

Obesity is a medical diagnosis, and Varnadore reminds that weighing too much can put people at higher risk for other serious illnesses including some types of cancer, heart disease and stroke. Losing weight is “something you have to do for yourself,” she said. “It’s a medical necessity to reduce your co-morbidity with these other diagnoses.”

Carolina Weight Loss offers shots of B-12 and other all-natural products used to suppress appetite and decrease the fat content in the body. Some of those weight-loss medications can also lower blood sugar, she added.

“It’s really been exciting,” Varnadore said of the success of the business and opening additional locations, as far away as Rocky Mount and Goldsboro. “Most of our patients are referred by another patient,” she said. “They already know someone who’s had excellent results – they’ve heard about, they’ve seen it first-hand.”

Other services the centers offer include types of body sculpting procedures – one is called Ultra Shape, which uses ultrasonic wave to permanently destroy fat cells. A second is called Bella Shape, which is a body contouring process. It costs about $500 for three sessions. Both are non-invasive procedures; Varnadore said these are for people who have already lost weight but may want a little help to address particular areas where stubborn fat remains.

The Henderson office is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Thursday visits are by appointment only – that is usually the day for new patient consults, which can take up to an hour to complete. The centers take physican referrals, but do not file insurance. Varnadore said clients can pay with a health savings account card.

To learn more, call 252.430.4375.

(This is not a paid ad. This is not medical advice.)

For complete details and audio click play.

 

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Sons Of American Revolution: Descendants Often Play Detective To Find Lost Graves Of Patriot Heroes

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The Sons of the American Revolution is, first and foremost, a fraternal and civic organization. But its members also are part detective who spend time tracking down clues and uncovering details about individuals who fought for this country’s independence from England.

Bill Riggan, a member of the Halifax Resolves chapter of the SAR, spoke with Bill Harris and Mark Pace on Thursday’s Town Talk tri-weekly history program.

The four-county area is steeped in history, and Riggan said his SAR chapter covers Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties, in addition to several other counties to the north and east.

“It’s a place where we should have a lot of revolutionary era soldiers,” Riggan said. He said the National Society of SAR has 140,000 names and locations of patriots’ gravesites, and a total of 732,000 names of patriots that are available for people to attach themselves to.

Being able to prove that you are a descendant of someone who supported the revolution against the Crown may prove difficult, or at least time-consuming. There are several criteria that must be satisfied for membership to the SAR: any male lineal descendant of someone who wintered at Valley Forge or a signer of the Declaration of Independence may become a member, as well as male descendants of members of the Continental Congress or those who fought in battle during the Revolution.

But civil servants during that era are also considered patriots. “There were a lot of people who helped with the war but didn’t put on a uniform and fight,” he said. Another criterion for membership is being a descendant of a signer of the Oath of Allegiance, a petition that was circulated throughout communities that disavowed the King and supported the revolution.

Although its membership is aging, Riggan said he hopes interest in preserving history will encourage younger men to consider joining.

Several grave-marking ceremonies are scheduled for October in Franklin County, and will include the state SAR color guard, as well as local Boy Scouts and the DAR – Daughters of the American Revolution. The color guard will be in period dress – “it will be very ceremonial, very traditional,” Riggan said. The dates are Saturday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 23.

Although the SAR doesn’t maintain gravesites – it relies on families for that –  Riggan said the group strives to identify as many as they can. He encourages anyone with information about possible gravesites  – whether found while combing through family archives or stumbling across a random grave while hunting – to contact him and he can help with verification.

“We want to honor them,” Riggan said of those long-ago patriots, whose final resting places deserve to be cared for and remembered.

Take Harrison Macon, for example. Macon fought in the Revolutionary War and he is buried in Franklin County. The now-defunct Franklin SAR chapter bore his name, thanks to founding member Dr. D.T. Smithwick, a historian from the 1930’s.

Riggan said efforts to reconstruct the records of the former Franklin chapter have turned up details that show Smithwick ordered a headstone from the VA for Macon’s grave. ”We have evidence he did that. He put that on the grave – we know that to be a fact,” Riggan said.

But where?

To learn more about the October grave-marking ceremonies or SAR membership, contact Riggan at 919.495.0706.
For complete details and audio click play.

 

TownTalk: Rob Montague and the NC Forest Service, Storm Ready

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N.C. Forest Service Gives Advice To Keep Trees Healthy, Withstand Storm’s Wind, Water

There are lots of good reasons to have trees in the landscape – they provide shade in the summer, homes and food for many animals as well as income for many landowners who manage larger tracts of woodland or tree farms.

And while it’s always important to keep an eye out for dead limbs or trees in a weakened state, weather forecasters and forestry experts are gearing up to ward off potential problems that Tropical Storm Elsa may create as it moves up the Atlantic Coast over the next day or so.

Rob Montague of the N.C. Forest Service was on Wednesday’s Town Talk to talk about the role of the forest service and precautions homeowners and landowners can take to avoid problems with trees when a storm blows in.

“Go ahead and get rid of hazard trees around your house before the storm comes through,” Montague advised. For those with larger tracts of woodlands or tree farms, it’s important to maintain a clear path to get in and out of the property.

He and his team serve Vance and Granville counties and they began planning early last week for the possible arrival of Elsa and the associated rain and wind that comes with a tropical storm or hurricane.

The forest service provides assistance to local emergency response teams as well as the N.C. Department of Agriculture during and after storms and help with tasks like clearing roads of fallen trees.

“We may be thrown into a lot of different roles if this storm proves bad,” Montague said. “The emergency response side of our job trains us” for such events as storms and wildfires.

The forest service work continues after a storm, he added, by helping landowners who may face a long-term recovery phase. The foresters help with technical assistance to get a forest management plan back on track, whether it’s a harvesting goal or getting a new forest growing.

The N.C. Forest Service can also help landowners with prescribed burns, a management strategy to keep pine stands healthy. These require careful planning, Montague said, from checking the weather forecast and knowing where the smoke will blow to having fire lines prepared ahead of the burn area. It shouldn’t be a matter of thinking at 9 a.m. one morning, ‘Hey, I’m going to light my trees on fire today,’ he added.

Prescribed burns are one strategy to cut down on the chance of wildfires, Montague said. May was a dry month and he said the forest service responded to quite a few wildfires with local fire departments. “Each of us shows up with different tools,” he explained. The fire departments have the bigger trucks and gear, and the forest service brings along smaller brush trucks and engines that allow them to get in tighter spaces. Bulldozers and airplanes that can drop water from above are also resources the forest service can call on.

Whether it’s wind and rain from a summer storm or a grass fire when conditions are extremely dry, the N.C. Forest Service provides training for its foresters and technical assistance for residents to be prepared.

“We’ve got a great group of folks ready, willing and dedicated to help out,” Montague said.

To learn more, visit www.ncforestservice.org,  call 919.693.3154  or email rob.montague@ncagr.gov.

For complete details and audio click play.

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Town Talk: Retired Colonel Helps Fellow Veterans, Stops In Henderson On 10,000-Mile Fundraiser Ride

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The numbers are staggering: Since it started in 2014, RIP Medical Debt has paid medical bills for more than 2.7 million families to the tune of $4.5 billion – that’s billion with a “B” – $90 million alone to veterans and families of veterans. And if Mikel Burroughs, a retired Army colonel, has his way, those numbers will continue to grow.

Burroughs recently completed the 3rd annual RIP Ride for Veterans motorcycle ride to raise awareness and funds for the non-profit RIP Medical Debt; he took a short detour to Henderson to meet Phyllis Maynard, a fellow veteran and local Disabled American Veterans service officer. Maynard served in the U.S. Navy as a petty officer on the USS Puget Sound. She met Burroughs through an online veterans’ support group about two years ago.

When Burroughs was in Fayetteville recently during his 32-state road trip, he decided he wanted to make the 2-hour trip to meet Maynard in person.

“It was wonderful coming in to Henderson and meeting with Phyllis,” Burroughs told John C. Rose on Town Talk, which aired Tuesday. Maynard wanted to make the visit more than just a pit stop along the 10,000-plus mile journey, so she had some other guests from the community to help her welcome Burroughs to Vance County.

Maynard said she appreciated Burroughs including a stop in Henderson on his itinerary and she “wanted it to end up being special for him – I really wanted to share it with the community,” she said. He seemed to be the “glue” of the support group, Maynard said of Burroughs. “Everybody loved the colonel,” she said, adding that the group learns from each other, from the low-stress comfort of their own homes.

The RIP Ride 4 Vets 2021 fundraising goal was $50,000. RIP Medical Debt buys debt from hospitals or from a secondary market and follows a process to determine which accounts fit the criteria to be marked as “paid in full.” Burroughs said every $1 the group spends buys $100 in medical debt.

“A lot of our veterans are struggling under the burden of health care debt across the country,” Burroughs said. Add financial burdens to those invisible illnesses like PTS (post-traumatic stress) and TBI (traumatic brain injury) and the negative effects definitely mount up.

He said two-thirds of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are the result of health-care debt.

“I’ve talked to a lot of veterans on the Warriors for Life program that are struggling financially,” Burroughs said. “I hear it first-hand – I hear it in their voice and they share and they get that off their mind…it has a profound effect on our veterans and it shouldn’t,” he said of overwhelming medical debt.

Mackenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, recently gave $50 million to RIP Medical Debt. “That’s going to abolish a lot of debt” over the next three years – for civilians and veterans alike.

Relieving the stress of medical debt for veterans is just one way Burroughs contributes to the veteran community. He facilitates the Saturday Warriors for Life group – other volunteers cover the other five groups each week. And a Life Readiness Center is being planned to open on 165 acres in Costa Rica which will provide different therapies and treatments to help veterans with PTSD and TBI. The goal is to partner with Victory for Vets Inc. to have readiness centers in 32 U.S. cities. The centers use brain mapping, hyperbaric oxygen treatment and neurofeedback to address veterans’ needs.

“We’re very excited about what the future holds and what we’re going to be able to do for veterans holistically,” Burroughs said.

 

The Warriors for Life group will be a perfect place for veterans who participate in the Life Readiness Centers. “We want veterans to be able to reach out to Warriors for Life and let down the warrior barrier,” Burroughs said.  “Be vulnerable… you don’t have to prove to anyone on the call that you’re a warrior –  we already know that you’re a warrior. And you’ll always be a warrior,” he said.

“We want you to let that vulnerability down and be able to share it and get it off of your mind. Honestly, being able to share with others who have gone through similar experiences, I think it helps the healing process.”

Learn more at www.ripmedicaldebt.org.

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