Tag Archive for: #towntalk

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Vaccine Here; TownTalk 12-23-20 MPH CEO Beard Beard

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Vaccine is here.  Maria Parham Health is administering within guidelines.

Last week Maria Parham Health CEO, in talking about Covid-19, said, “It’s been an amazing journey and amazing to watch our healthcare providers in our teams step up over the last year in spite of everything that’s gone on. So I would definitely use exciting or ecstatic to describe just the hope that it gives to receive that vaccine (Tuesday).”

On Tuesday, Dec 22, 2020 the hospital received the Moderna vaccine, and begin administering it Wednesday morning to “front line healthcare workers under the state guidelines of phase 1A.”

On Wednesday MPH administered, Beard said, “from 80 to 90 vaccines and then we will break for the holiday because people need to be off and they need to recharge their battery, and we’ll begin again next week vaccinating our teams within the state guidelines and moving through that progression of the four phases as they allow us and release more vaccine to us.”

Click play to hear Beard on TownTalk…

He said, “It’s mixed among people whether they’re going to get it and how effective it’s going to be. All indications and research that our company and health system has done indicates there’s a 95% effectiveness. So we’re encouraging folks to do it; we’re not mandating it, but we are posting on social media, our physicians, our leaders, some of our nurse leaders to show that it is safe and that we are adopting it to get things back to normal in 2021.”

Beard said the hospital teams are looking forward to being able to vaccinate more and more people as the state releases healthcare workers to do so.

TownTalk 12-21-20 Brian “Doc” Miller, Vance Granville Community Band, And More

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Brian “Doc” Miller is experiencing a case of Sousa rehearsal withdrawal. This condition, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, is not affecting Miller’s enthusiasm for teaching and conducting musicians. And that’s a good thing, because he can’t wait to get the band back together.

In this case, the “band” is the Vance Granville Community Band. Miller is the band’s director, as well as the music instructor at the community college and Crosscreek Charter School in Louisburg. When the group can gather again for practice, Miller says the rehearsal room is just as they left it back in February. “We had to cancel rehearsals just abruptly…all the music left in the folders, the room set up ready for the next rehearsal,” Miller recalled during a recent interview on Town Talk. What Miller thought would be a hiccup of a couple of weeks has turned into a months-long hiatus. He holds out some hope that the band can resume in some fashion in the springtime.

“It’s been a real bummer,” Miller said, “because I certainly miss it.” The “it” is the regular Monday evening gatherings to rehearse together. “We play the good ol’ Sousa marches,” which he and the band enjoy performing, along with other classical and old standards. The band combines VGCC music students (the school offers four Band classes) and adults from the community who still enjoy playing a musical instrument. Normally, the group practices from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday evenings. “It’s the highlight of my week,” said Miller. The camaraderie and shared love of music is something very special to this group. Former students of Miller also have joined the group over the years, which Miller finds rewarding.

He took over as the band’s conductor around the time he retired from teaching music at Louisburg High School. “I was missing conducting the fancy stuff, the good ol’ Sousa marches, the old-fashioned stuff that I love so much,” Miller said. “It felt like a seamless transition from Louisburg High to Vance-Granville, he added. “It’s just been a joy to work with the folks (at VGCC).”

Written story continues below…

To hear TownTalk with Brian Miller and host Bill Harris, click play…

The music program has grown over the years, both in the curriculum courses offered and the community band itself. Miller remembers going taking a smaller group to play at a nursing home in Warren County and offering music as a prelude to the Warrenton Christmas parade. Smaller programs like that, in addition to concerts like the 2019 Christmas program at MacGregor Hall in Henderson are what Miller recalls as highlights. “I just miss it tremendously, and I just hope to pick up where we left off” before rehearsals were cancelled. “We’re not abandoning it,” he said, “just suspending time for a little bit.”

Despite all the things that the pandemic restrictions have shut down, Miller maintains a positive attitude. “One of the things that COVID has taught us, the things we took for granted before, we’re not going to take for granted again,” he said. The weekly rehearsals, the performances, even the daily high school band practices are on the list of things not to be taken for granted again.

Because the charter school is operating on an A Day/B Day schedule, he is able to do some in-person teaching. Other students receive remote instruction. “I’ve had to learn how to teach online and even try to do a band rehearsal online,” Miller said, adding “that’s actually kinda fun!”

Sure, there are time lags and it isn’t always easy. “We couldn’t really get beyond whole notes,” Miller admits, and playing a piece of music together via computer isn’t possible for the students. “You learn to adapt,” he said. “I never thought I’d be doing lessons online. But you make adjustments in life.”

One positive outcome is how Miller is able to evaluate students. They record themselves playing their instrument and he can then listen and respond to them with specific feedback about tone quality and other aspects of their performance.

Miller said he always thought he was too old-fashioned to utilize some of the technology in his instruction. But learning about the online resources available to him and his students is something that he can continue using once they can resume in-person learning. “It’s actually very efficient, so we’ll learn a little something” from the pandemic restrictions.

He has always enjoyed teaching the traditional music, full of beautiful melody and tone. Whether it’s a Sousa march or Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Miller explained, students love to re-create the music. He said he has sometimes felt like a lone voice of sorts when it comes to teaching and performing traditional or classical music. It’s not that it’s intellectual or anything, he noted, “it’s just good music.”

Miller recognizes differences in teaching new learners versus rehearsing with older, more experienced musicians. Students in high school have other obligations that can eat into valuable rehearsal time, which the community band members may not have, he noted. “But music is music, no matter the level,” he said. Fifth-graders can learn about good tone quality and how to support a note with sustained air pressure, but the VGCC Community Band members also begin their rehearsals with breathing exercises. Same concept, different level of experience.

The secret? Teaching the team concept is the key to success, whether he is working with a high school concert band or the VGCC Community Band.

“I can wave my baton all I want to and if the musicians haven’t taken the motivation” to do their part,” he said, the team will not be successful. “What we do in rehearsal is put it together – we work on balance and intonation, those things that happen when people are together. It’s the same thing I taught in high school:  band…(is) the ultimate team activity. When everybody does their part well, then we all enjoy. When someone doesn’t do their part, we all suffer.”

TownTalk 12-17-20: Pete Burgess; The Man; The Farmer; The Community Advocate

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— written from WIZS Staff contributions plus information from a VGCC press release

A farmer must cultivate his crop to ensure a productive yield. First comes the groundwork – literally. The field has to be ready for planting and then kept weed-free so the young plants can flourish. Often, the ultimate success of the crop depends on how well the field was looked after and tended to.

Talmadge R. Burgess, Sr., “Pete” to friends and colleagues, knows the value of cultivation. He has shared this philosophy locally during his decades-long work in agriculture and in service to his community. And that is why the Vance County chapter of the North Carolina Farm Bureau has created a scholarship at Vance-Granville Community College in honor of Burgess.

“We are proud to establish this scholarship to express our appreciation to Pete Burgess for his many years of service to the Farm Bureau, the farming community and Vance County as a whole,” said Thomas Shaw, president of the Vance County Farm Bureau, which Burgess once led.

In a Town Talk interview earlier this week, Burgess reflected on his livelihood, and the importance of being active in the community in which you live. “Anybody has to have help to get started,” he said. When he started out in farming in 1968, it was with the help of family. Now retired, Burgess and his wife Sylvia enjoy farming from a distance while son Talmadge continues the family tradition.

To hear the show, click play…

Tobacco has given way to other crops, Burgess noted, and his son grows hay for livestock and wheat straw for the landscaping industry. But no matter the crop the field produces, there must be a way to sell. Burgess was instrumental in establishing the Vance County Regional Farmers’ Market in Henderson, which allows local producers to showcase everything from cut flowers and tomatoes to locally sourced meats and handicrafts.

Pete Burgess Plaque

In this 2014 WIZS file photo, you can see the Pete Burgess plaque on an easel prior to being placed outside the facility’s meeting room. The VCRFM opened in 2014.

He enthusiastically recalled the steps taken to get the market from concept to reality. “That was probably the most ambitious project the Vance County Farm Bureau ever took on,” he said. It started with a pot of money from the Golden Leaf Foundation and a local group formed to determine how to spend the roughly $2 million Vance County allocation. Schools and fire departments were the top two choices to receive the money, Burgess said. But the third choice was construction of a farmers’ market, and Farm Bureau decided to take it on. ”They thought I wasn’t doing anything much,” he joked, “so they put me in charge of seeing…how to make that project a success.” It took four years to accomplish the goal, but the result is a facility that has functioned since 2014 as a venue to sell local produce as well as a gathering place for meetings and workshops. Burgess remembered how the installation of the large roll-up doors came about – at a cost of $1,500 each, they were just too expensive to include in the original project. Burgess got area businesses to sponsor the purchase of those doors, “and that was the easiest money I raised to build that farmers’ market,” he said.

The farmers’ market is a fairly recent project that Burgess was involved with, but he has long supported a variety of local programs and agencies, from fire departments to civic groups, many of which centered around the Epsom community. Whether it was the annual Lions Club pancake supper or the volunteer fire department fundraisers, Burgess feels it is important to give back.

An active community volunteer, Burgess served as a board member of the county and state Farm Bureau organizations, president and board member of the Epsom Lions Club, board member of the Epsom Volunteer Fire Department, member of the Vance County Planning Board and board member for the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce. For his contributions to the county and, in particular, for his leading role in securing the land and funding for the regional farmers market, Burgess was honored by the Vance County Commissioners with the “Community Hero” award.

“Throughout his life, Pete Burgess has demonstrated an interest not only in agriculture but in giving back and supporting his community, so this scholarship is a fitting way to honor his service,” said Eddie Ferguson, VGCC’s endowment fund director. “We are grateful to the Vance County Farm Bureau for continuing to support Vance-Granville students through this new scholarship.”

The scholarship is another resource that can be used to cultivate “good” in the community and reward deserving students for their efforts in the classroom. Burgess said he was “kind of amazed at all that’s happening and what’s going on, but it’s very exciting.” The Farm Bureau is known as being an advocate of the farmer, whether it is helping with legislative matters or agricultural matters – whatever a farmer needs to be successful. Burgess seems to have employed a similar philosophy in his lifetime of service to Vance County and beyond – cultivating good habits and positive outcomes to benefit the community as a whole.

The Vance County Farm Bureau is encouraging friends of Pete Burgess to make donations to the Endowment Fund to help endow this scholarship at the Presidential Merit Award level. For more information or to make a contribution, call Kay Currin at (252) 738-3409.

Contributions to the scholarship fund can also be mailed to the Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund, at P.O. Box 917, Henderson, NC 27536.

Through the Endowment Fund, VGCC has awarded more than 9,700 scholarships to students since 1982. Scholarships have been endowed by numerous individuals, industries, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education.

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TownTalk 12-16-20; Covid, New WIZS Morning Host Steve Lewis

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Listen to TownTalk on WIZS 1450 AM / 100.1 FM each weekday from 11am until 11:30am.

The Wednesday, Dec 16, 2020 edition of TownTalk reviewed the latest information from Granville-Vance Public Health pertaining to local availability of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Also, in segment two of the show, the newest member of the WIZS staff was introduced. Mr. Steve Lewis announces and does the WIZS Weekday Wakeup program, 6a-9a, M-F.

Re-listen to today’s show by clicking play…

 

Terrell Blackmon

Town Talk 12/15/20: Terrell Blackmon, Henderson City Manager

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

Henderson City Manager Terrell Blackmon appeared on WIZS Town Talk Tuesday at 11 a.m.

Blackmon briefly discussed his time with the City, stating the start of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after his arrival in January has made for an interesting first year on the job.

“It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting when you throw in everything that’s happened with COVID,” said Blackmon. “I can say I enjoy the community, I enjoy being here and I enjoy the challenge of making Henderson a better place for everyone. Overall, I’m doing well, and the City is doing well.”

For complete details and audio, click play.

Moving on to last night’s Henderson City Council meeting, Blackmon commented on a few of the highlights from the session, including the approval of adding indoor – or crop box – farming to City zoning ordinances.

With greenhouse farming already approved for accessory-use in current zoning ordinances, the addition of crop box farming will allow participating individuals a 365-day growing season in artificial light.

Also of note, the Council rejected the Beckford Drive Widening Project that was first initiated in 2008 when construction costs were much lower. Blackmon said the delays, due to property acquisition and rising costs in construction, have pushed the project cost beyond its budgeted amount. With $1.6 million in grants and available funding already allocated, Blackmon said the City is still approximately $1.3 million short of the total project cost.

According to the meeting’s minutes, to date, $335,115 has been put towards the project, which includes the design, right of way acquisition, legal administration, stream mitigation costs and NCDOT administration costs. The City is responsible for these costs and will have to reimburse NCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration to abandon the project.

Also discussed was the use of CARES Act funding to ensure City of Henderson facilities are safer during the pandemic, the naming of a new economic development director and the City of Henderson’s Main Street status.

For more detailed information regarding these items, please listen to the Town Talk episode by clicking play above and visit the Henderson City Council’s website for meeting agendas and minutes.

SaM Child Advocacy Center

Town Talk 12/14/20: Cara Gill Of S.a.M. Child Advocacy Center

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

Cara Boyd Gill, founder and director of S.a.M. Child Advocacy Center in Henderson, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Monday at 11 a.m.

S.a.M. Child Advocacy Center is a 24-hour, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that serves children who are victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse and witnesses to violent crimes in Vance and surrounding counties.

Opening its doors in 2016, the center provides a safe, child-friendly environment for children who are alleged victims of abuse and their non-offending family members to receive child forensic interviews by trained staff.

For full details and audio, click play…

Victims and their non-offending family members can receive advocacy and support services, referrals to appropriate support services within the community, crisis intervention and medical treatment referrals if needed. All services are provided at no cost to the child or their families.

Gill, who worked for Child Protective Services in Alamance County upon graduating from college, said it was her experience with child investigations and the child advocacy center in Alamance that sparked her interest in offering similar services in Vance County.

“Upon leaving Alamance County – because Henderson is my hometown, and I decided I wanted to come back home – I began talking to our local law enforcement, social services, and our District Attorney’s office to see how they handled cases of child abuse and neglect,” explained Gill. “At the time, they did not have a child advocacy center here, and they would send kids to Duke or UNC with a two or three-month wait, which is not ideal for these kids.”

Gill continued, “A child advocacy center is not a stand-alone center; I also have to have social services, law enforcement, the DA’s office, a mental health provider and a medical provider. In talking with these entities, we began brainstorming how this could happen. The result was we opened in 2016, and here we are in 2020 still expanding.”

For more information on S.a.M., please visit the center’s Facebook page by clicking here.

TownTalk 12-10-20 Local History With Mark Pace

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Emigrating Over the Horizon; Where Did They Go?

WIZS TownTalk host Bill Harris and guest Mark Pace discuss emigration from Old Granville County.

What were the reasons people left the area in the early to mid 19th Century?  The need of land was one reason and land was cheap in areas such as Tennessee and Alabama. Land grants from the Revolution also provided incentive, and larger quantities of land were needed as large families with eight to 10 to 12 children grew.  Land quality was a factor as well because without enough land, proper crop rotations could not occur.

Where did they go? Numerous communities such as Macon, Georgia or Granville, Tennessee were named for people or locations in the immediate vicinity of Henderson and Oxford. Many families moved to and founded the communities in these areas for better opportunities.

For more details and TownTalk audio click play…and continue reading below…

Additionally, many people with roots here went on to become famous nationally and internationally. Playwright Tennessee Williams, Gen. Braxton Bragg, former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley and “Lady Bird” Johnson all had or have roots tying them to the area.

Just as Vance, Granville, Warren & Franklin Counties were shaped by those who moved here from Southern and Tidewater Virginia, many areas in Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and other southern states were equally influenced by those who left here to make their mark in these states and others.

For more on local history and genealogy visit Mark Pace at the NC Room at Thornton Library in Oxford and visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/fgvwgeneaology on the web for more information on Franklin, Granville, Vance and Warren county history and genealogy.

Town Talk 12/9/20: Mayor Eddie Ellington With Brandon Boyd

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Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington appeared on WIZS Town Talk Wednesday at 11 a.m. Ellington was interviewed by WIZS guest host Brandon Boyd.

Prior to discussing his role as mayor and the City of Henderson’s present standing and future outlook, Ellington talked about growing up in Henderson, his Castello Loughlin family history and the creation of the circus.

When asked by Boyd if being mayor met his expectations for the role, Ellington replied, “I have enjoyed it, but I wear a lot of it on my shoulders and take it personally. Even though things happen that are not related to me, I’m the mayor and it falls back on me. When you’re the mayor for the city, you’re the ambassador and spokesperson for the city.”

(To hear this episode of TownTalk, click play below. TownTalk airs M-F at 11 a.m. on WIZS 1450 AM / 100.1 FM.)

According to Ellington, the on-going COVID-19 pandemic has made this year particularly challenging. “The Henderson City Council, City Manager and I have tough decisions to make. We’re a small, rural community, and we’ve all been hit by the same deal. You take your cards, you play them and you make the best decisions for the public’s well-being.”

In more upbeat news, Ellington reported that the City of Henderson, despite the pandemic, is doing well financially. “The City is in better financial shape than it has been in years,” stated Ellington. “Frank Frazier, the previous city manager, did a wonderful job of balancing the budget every year. Terrell Blackmon, current city manager, has done a wonderful job as well, and he’s going to bring a budget to us in the upcoming months.”

Ellington also reported that Mako Medical, with facilities currently located in Henderson and Raleigh, is in talks of moving its operation to Henderson, resulting in the creation of 100 new jobs for the local area.

“Economic development is the key,” explained Ellington. “When you have jobs, when the poverty rates are low, when people can make a living and provide for their families, when people can go off to college and have something to come back home to, the community thrives.”

George Rush

Town Talk 12/8/20: Remembering George B. Rush, Jr.

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

In a special edition of WIZS Town Talk on Tuesday at 11 a.m., WIZS staff – past and present – and others fondly remembered George Blackmore Rush, Jr., former WIZS general manager. Rush passed away at his home on Saturday, December 5, 2020, at the age of 87.

Born in Aliquippa, PA on July 31, 1933, he was the son of the late Dr. George Blackmore Rush, Sr. and Cassie Federer Rush. George attended Grove City College, earned his MBA from the University of South Carolina and was a Veteran of the United States Army.

His professional experience included management of credit and collection personnel and sales, consulting, general management and newscasting. He was also a member of First Presbyterian Church in Henderson where he formerly served as a deacon and elder.

(Click play below for audio)

Rush retired from WIZS in 2018, in his mid-eighties, after more than 15 years with the station.

“George was there for us many different times and led us through quite a number of trials and tribulations. He was also there enjoying the good times,” said WIZS General Manager John Charles Rose. “In particular, for me, was the time my own father passed away. George was right there to step in, not only as a friend but as a fatherly-figure and someone who could help the radio station continue to sustain what we had and continue to grow at a very difficult time.”

Rose continued, “He was a great businessman; he really knew how to run and operate a business.”

In a special edition of WIZ Town Talk on Tuesday at 11 a.m., WIZS staff – past and present – and others fondly remembered George Blackmore Rush, Jr., former WIZS general manager. Rush passed away at his home on Saturday, December 5, 2020, at the age of 87. (Photo courtesy J.M. White Funeral Home)

Trey Snide, WIZS account manager, said Rush was a “wealth of information” and was always willing to lend a helping hand. “Every time I had a question or a problem, he was able to help solve it. I’ve been here at WIZS going on four years now, and what I remember the most is the knowledge George had of the local Vance County community. I’m grateful he was part of my beginning steps at the station.”

WIZS Program Manager Bill Harris said Rush was “a joy to work with.”

“I don’t think I ever saw George mad,” said Harris. “He always had a kind word to say about people and was extremely nice and considerate. He was always the perfect gentleman.”

Harris said he was impressed by how quickly and thoroughly Rush, a PA native, adapted to the local area. “He had so much knowledge and very much acclimated himself to this area.”

This sentiment was echoed by Tom Hannon, Rush’s former WIZS Town Talk co-host and supervisor while employed at Roses Stores: “George adapted himself to Vance County. He brought a knowledge of national and local implications of such things as gross national product, interest rates and the stock market and explained how these could affect the everyday person in Vance County.”

Matthew Handley, who worked for WIZS while on break from college during the summers, said Rush stands out in his mind as being one of the people to help launch his career. “George was in the room when I had my first interview at WIZS,” Handley explained. “I look back on that interview as being the start of my career in this industry, and that’s one of the things I’m going to remember him for. He took a chance on me that allowed me to get to the point where I am now with a full-time career in Michigan.”

Sherman Wilson, George’s former co-host on Friday’s Town Talk Trivia, said, “It was a pure joy to work with him on that show. I think he enjoyed it as much as I did. Sometimes on Town Talk we acted silly and had a lot of fun, but make no mistake about it, George was a really smart guy. No matter who came on the show, no matter what the subject, he could interview them. He did it with ease and made the people he was interviewing feel comfortable.”

Brandon Boyd, Town Talk guest host, said, “We mourn the loss, and we celebrate the life of George Rush. George loved Henderson; he loved Vance County and its people; he loved our stories. George Rush was a name we all knew and a voice we recognized, and George loved WIZS Radio.”

Rush is survived by his wife, Jane Negus Rush of the home; his daughter, Catherine Rush-Braswell and husband, Joseph of Durham; his son, George Warren Rush and wife, Linda of Henderson; a granddaughter, Kelly Twisdale; a grandson, Benjamin Rush; and a sister, Susan Bean and husband, David of Mason, OH. (Obituary information courtesy J.M White Funeral Home.)

A private memorial service will be held today at First Presbyterian Church by Rev. Matthew Copple. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, PO Box 726, Henderson, NC 27536.

Rescue Ranch

Town Talk 12/7/20: Rescue Ranch, Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society to Partner

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

Krissie Newman, co-founder of the Rescue Ranch in Statesville, NC, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Monday at 11 a.m.

The 87-acre ranch promotes humane education by focusing on animal rescue through hands-on learning and care.

Newman discussed her passion for animals, the operation of the ranch during the COVID-19 pandemic and working with other animal protection services such as the local Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society (RCAPS).

To hear the interview in its entirety, click play.

Locally, RCAPS is dedicated to helping homeless animals find rescue placement and works closely with area shelters.

Heading into the new year, Rescue Ranch will partner with RCAPS for its new foster and adoption program. “We will be taking in volunteers willing to foster with us and working with Ruin Creek on adoptions,” said Newman. “This is something that has been in our footprint at the ranch for a long time; now is the time to bring the dogs and the cats into the program.”

In addition to the rescue foster and adoption program, Rescue Ranch’s future plans include nature hiking and walking education trails, a 24-hour emergency veterinarian clinic with an extern program and a therapeutic riding program.

Tours of the ranch are available by appointment by calling (704) 768-0909. To learn more about Rescue Ranch,  please visit www.rescueranch.com. For updates on RCAPS, please visit the group’s Facebook page.