Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Growing Tomatoes

On the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report from Wayne Rowland:

Tomatoes can be grown in the home garden if you follow correct planting techniques.

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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The Local Skinny! Rebuilding Hope Chicken Plate Sale Coming Up April 25

Rebuilding Hope, Inc. is having its spring chicken plate fundraiser Friday, Apr. 25. For the price of $10 a ticket, customers will get half a chicken, potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert, thanks to lots of volunteers who will be working behind the scenes to get food prepared and packaged for takeout.

Stop by the RHI headquarters between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. to pick up to-go plates. Or, said RHI Co-Director Tom Wille, businesses that call and place an order for five or more plates can have them delivered.

Rebuilding Hope, Inc. has kept its price at $10 – “that’s our price and we’re sticking to it,” Wille said. Everybody is trying to save a little bit these days, and he said he hopes keeping the price at $10 a plate will be helpful to families.

Wille estimated that between 150 and 200 volunteers will have had some role in the fundraiser after all is said and done. “This is an awesome operation,” he said, “and it really speaks to what Rebuilding Hope, Inc. is all about – a team effort.

From cake bakers and slicers to the folks on the assembly line who place the meal in containers, the volunteers show up and show out.

And then there’s the grillers – “they appear from nowhere with their cookers,” Wille said.

“These guys know what they’re doing. They come together and have a good time doing it,” he added.

The end result? Chicken that’s cooked to perfection.

Whether during the twice-a-year chicken plate fundraiser or at other times throughout the year when Rebuilding Hope is helping others, the mission of the ministry is “designed to be the feet of Jesus in the community,” he said.

In addition to the roofing repairs and wheelchair ramp construction that the construction ministry is known for, they also help churches support members in need. Rebuilding Hope, Inc. supplies the materials and the tools, and the churches supply the workers to help get that ramp built or some other project around the house.

“We’re loving on the people where they’re at,” Wille said. “We’re here to point people to Jesus.”

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TownTalk: Warren Farmers Market Opening Day Saturday, Apr. 26

The Warren County Farmers Market opens Saturday, Apr. 26 and judging from the volume of phone calls Tamara Small has been getting from curious customers, it won’t be a moment too soon.

People are looking forward to starting their Saturday mornings at the farmers market, Small said. She said it’s a great atmosphere, with vendors’ produce and other goods under pop-up tents dotting the parking lot of the Warren County Health Department on Ridgeway Street.

Small said the farmers market folks are fortunate and grateful to have had that central location to set up shop, but next year the market will be located at its new permanent location just a block or two up the road.

The engineering firm that’s been working on the project expects the new farmers market to be ready in March 2026. Passersby can expect to see some groundbreaking and construction work as early as June or July, she said.

Until the new market is ready, Small said residents can stop by the health department parking lot on Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 12 noon to pick up local produce and other products like eggs, honey, local beef and pork and so much more.

“Everything comes together beautifully,” Small said. “It is hard work, don’t get me wrong…

but it always ends up being beautiful.” She recalls only one rainy market day last season, and she hopes fair weather prevails this season, too.

Many vendors are returning from last year, but there will be some new faces in the mix, too.

And thanks to a $10,000 grant from Triangle North Healthcare Foundation, senior adults can take advantage of Double Up Food Bucks again this year.

Visit the market manager’s info table on market day to get signed up for the program.

“We’re putting more food on people’s plates” and increasing access to healthy, nutritious local food, Small said.

You’ll find Small on market days taking photos to post on the market’s social media platform as one way to get younger people’s attention.

“Hey, we’re here and we’re a great place to shop,” she said. “I want to show people this is the place to be,” Small said. Vendors interact with customers and answer their questions, which builds community and strengthens relationships, she added.

In addition to familiar vendors, customers can look for new vendors that include Happy Chaos Homestead and Coley’s Vegan Treats, among others.

Special Opening Day activities include live music a 10 a.m. butterfly release to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators and there will be a special stationary exercise bike with a paint attachment for people to “pedal paint” butterfly pictures.

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Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: Why Teaching Responsibilities Matters

Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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TownTalk: Of Henderson, By Henderson, & For Henderson

This is John Charles Rose of TownTalk and WIZS Radio. I am of Henderson, by Henderson and for Henderson. Are you?

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Home and Garden Show

On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • The Integrated Pest Management For The Home Garden workshop will be on April 28, 2025 at 6:30pm at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market. Wayne Rowland will be hosting this workshop.
  • Read the back of seed packets lots of useful information. Ex: days to maturity, how to plant.
  • Top dress your raised beds with compost or aged manure plus some slow release fertilizer and incorporate that mixture before planting.
  • Read the label on all chemicals before you purchase them to see if it is the right product for the job.
  • When setting out transplants put a cardboard collar around the transplant to prevent cutworm damage.
  • If you limed in the fall, you might want to take another soil test to see if the PH has changed.
  • Identify insects before you spray. It could be beneficial! Bring us the insects and we can identify them for you.
  • Purchase a good rain gauge.
  • Purchase healthy transplants.
  • If you are purchasing transplants directly from the greenhouse, keep plants outside for a few days before planting.
  • Check areas for mice. Greenhouse, storage, and shed.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.      

The Vance County Cooperative Extension is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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TownTalk: Henderson City Council Meeting Information

Although city revenue collections are lagging behind projected rates at this time in the fiscal year, Finance Director Joey Fuqua told the Henderson City Council on Monday that work on the recommended FY 2025-26 budget is coming along and should be ready for to present to Council at its May 12 meeting.

Roughly 28 percent – about $2 million of a projected $8 million – from a category called “various revenue – has been collected so far. Responding to a question from Council Member Garry Daeke, Fuqua explained that the category includes a number of different licenses and fees paid to the city.

Water revenues are at 55 percent and sewer revenues are a bit lower at 48 percent.

“The impact of the cyberattack has seriously impeded our ability to capture real-time numbers,” Fuqua said, referring to an apparent computer bug that forced the city to shut down key computer programs including water bill payments.

Fuqua said his team has been “working diligently” to shore up all of those accounts and get the infrastructure back into place.

Last year’s budget required $4 million from the fund balance, and Fuqua said this year’s budget is “contingent on some very important variables” that should get firmed up in the next week or so when March and April revenues are finalized.

Fuqua said this year’s budget is shaping up to be conservative, with increases due mostly to inflation. There could be a bit of a cushion in the area of capital improvements due to the fact that the city will be retiring several loans.

The Council approved a schedule of six budget work sessions that will take place between the May and June meetings.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Tuesday, May 27 beginning at 6 p.m.

There were a couple of matters before the Council that pertain to the water and sewer system – one involved granting access along Rock Mill Road at Martin’s Creek pump station through an easement to landlocked property adjacent to the pump station.

Another matter involved an application for money from the State Revolving Fund to make improvements at the Sandy Creek lift station and force mains. W.K. Dickson is submitting the application on the city’s behalf but needed the approval of the Council.

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Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Perry Memorial Library Celebrates Earth Day, National Poetry Month

Perry Memorial Library is teaming up with Vance County Cooperative Extension and Safe Routes To School to promote Earth Day 2025.

Youth Services Librarian Melody Peters invites the public to come out on Tuesday, Apr. 22 at 4 p.m. No registration is necessary – just come on out and have some fun!

Peters said there will be plenty of hands-on activities for youngsters as they learn about how to care for the planet and contribute to a greener, more sustainable future.

“We just want to celebrate Mother Earth,” Peters said, adding that there will be opportunities projects to create bird feeders and plant seeds in a cup, both of which can be taken home when they’re completed.

Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and the activities can take place outside. Safe Routes to School will bring a Story Walk to share and kids can take part in a scavenger hunt, too.

Then on Tuesday, Apr. 29, the library will be the site of an evening of poetry to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Peters said she’s visited Vance County High School to do programs, but this time, the school’s chorus and library club are coming to the library to share a program highlighting poetry and the spoken word.

Members of the Library Club are always helpful when they come to the library, and Peters said if you have never heard the VCHS Chorus perform, you should definitely come hear them on the 29th.

“They have a beautiful sound,” Peters said, adding that their voices, lifted together, just seem to fill the entire gallery area.

Bringing groups into the library to present programs improves and strengthens community partnerships. Peters isn’t shy about approaching groups or individuals, and the answer is usually a resounding ‘yes’ to the request.

It’s just another way to inform the community and raise awareness about resources located right here in the area.

Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/ to learn more.

 

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