Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

TownTalk: Make a Joyful Noise ACTS Benefit Concert Coming Up Oct. 11

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The ‘Make A Joyful Noise Unto The Lord’ concert to benefit ACTS is coming up quickly, and Executive Director Thomas Blackwell is looking forward to the Oct. 11 performance at McGregor Hall. Blackwell has been in the role since January, and this will be the first chance he’s had to attend.

So far, local performers like Evelyn Couch, Eric Hargrove and praise teams from Harriet Baptist Church and Clearview Church are among those taking the stage over the course of the concert, which begins at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $5 and are available at the door. Children 12 and under get in free.

Sponsorships are available and there’s still time to sign up to perform, Blackwell said on Monday’s TownTalk. The deadline for both is Oct. 6.

And while the concert will be a feast for the ears, Blackwell said it’s a way to support the mission of ACTS to feed people – and not just with food.

“We want to feed people spiritually, not just bodily,” he said.

ACTS continues to provide hot meals at lunchtime, but since the COVID pandemic, those meals have been served outside.

He estimates that ACTS is serving between 200 and 300 plates a day, but some of those are take-home plates, so the number of individuals is lower than that figure.

“There are a lot of people who just need a little help,” Blackwell said, quoting statistics that state there are close to 4,000 children in Henderson alone who are food-insecure.

Blackwell said volunteers, as well as the cook, are working to put a plan together to return to providing meals indoors for those who rely on hot lunches at ACTS.

“We really want to bring people back inside, to build relationships,” he said. “We want Gospel opportunities in all that we do.”

Blackwell said he sees the mission of ACTS as part of The Great Commission, taking Jesus’s message to the corners of the world. Henderson is one of those corners, too, and the work of ACTS is a way to fulfill that mission close to home.

People “need hope, dignity, compassion,” he said, “someone to point them to Jesus.”

Follow ACTS on Facebook, where Blackwell keeps an updated list of particular needs for food donations and more. With school back in session, for example, the Backpack Buddies program is up and running, so there’s a need for single-serve food items for students to take home on weekends.

Contact Blackwell at ACTS 252.492.8231 or via email at tdblackwell@actsofhenderson.org

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Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Life Skills For Teens, VV Mitchell, Fall Festival Await Patrons Of Perry Memorial Library

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The second in a three-part Life Skills for Teens series on Money Matters takes place Thursday, Oct. 9 at Perry Memorial Library.

Participants will be assigned different roles to experience how job, education and family growth affect finances, and the library’s Youth Services Director Melody Peters said it’s like having a dose of reality before adulthood gets “real.”

The program is from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Got your first paycheck? Great! Now how much is left after you pay your bills – think rent, phone bill, car payment – the list seems endless. Teens get a chance to learn in a fun way the importance of financial literacy from Coastal Credit Union’s Wendy McCoy.

Then on Monday, Oct. 13, Varonica Mitchell, known by many as “VV” Mitchell, brings The VV Show to the library for a program called “Get Hype About Reading.” Come on out from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and enjoy an Italian ice from Mac Scoops while sharing all the great things that come from reading.

The Fall Festival is just around the corner and the library staff is busy preparing for all the fun, including games, prizes and more! The festival is from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, with a special Trunk or Treat to follow from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the library parking lot.

Learn more about these programs and all the programs and services at Perry Memorial Library at https://www.perrylibrary.org/home

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Cooperative Extension with Michael Ellington: Cover Crops

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Michael Ellington, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

This week we talk about the importance of cover crops to the home gardener.

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: Masonic Home For Children At Oxford Has New CEO In Time For 2025 Homecoming Oct. 10-11

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The Masonic Home for Children in Oxford is having its annual Homecoming festivities on Saturday, Oct. 11. This year’s event marks the end of one administrator’s tenure and the beginning of new leadership. But no matter who’s at the helm, one thing’s for sure: MHCO is a place where children are nurtured and loved.

Kevin Otis had served for 13 years as MHCO administrator. Upon his retirement, Chris Allabaugh has been named the home’s chief executive officer. A welcome reception will be held Tuesday, Oct. 7 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Cobb Center on the MHCO campus, located at 600 College St., Oxford. The public is invited to drop in and welcome Allabaugh as he begins his new role. He will offer brief remarks at 6 p.m.

“I am excited to be here,” Allabaugh said. “The Masonic Home has a long, long history for doing good things,” and he added that he is looking forward to building on that history. He said the home had flourished under Otis’s leadership. “He built a solid, solid foundation that we can grow and build upon.”

Allabaugh said the team that makes up the staff at the home are dedicated to their mission. “They are world-class at what they do,” he said, adding that part of his job is “to clear a way for them to be able to do their work.”

Part of that work is what goes into the Homecoming celebration, which includes a parade on the campus at 11 a.m., barbecue cook-off and live music and carnival games for the kids.

Otis said folks should arrive on campus by 10 a.m. so they can get parked and ready for the day’s activities. Bring a lawn chair to enjoy the parade, which Otis said “isn’t a real long parade, but it’s a really good parade.”

Barbecue plates are $10 and can be purchased beginning about 12 noon. And The Band of Oz takes the stage at 12:30 p.m. There are complimentary amusement rides, tours and more for participants of all ages.

Homecoming is a way for the home to say “thank you” to alumni, Masons and to the community for its support over the years.

The current residents help out, Otis said. They get to enjoy the day’s activities, but they also help get things set up and you’ll see others in the parade – from JROTC to the Homecoming float.

“It really is a celebration of the kids of today,” Otis said.

The children who reside at the home are resilient, Allabaugh said. “They’re incredible. They just need a fighting chance at being a kid…(I’m) confident that we will continue to do that.”

He said he looks forward to meeting people in the coming days and weeks – and hopes to get started this weekend at the Homecoming festivities.
“I am just thrilled to meet the people of Oxford this weekend…saying thank you for the support they’ve given over the years,” Allabaugh said.

Check out the complete Homecoming schedule at https://mhc-oxford.org/

 

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Pine Bark Beetles

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Wayne Rowland, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

Pine Beetles can devastate Pine trees quickly check your trees at least twice a year.

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! Triangle’s Got Talent at McGregor Hall

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Where in the world can you see performances by cloggers and Bollywood dancers, Gospel choirs and more?

Right here in Henderson, on Saturday night at McGregor Hall, of course!

The 2025 edition of ‘Triangle’s Got Talent’ comes to Henderson for an evening that’s sure to entertain. It’s a fundraiser for Henderson-based Hubzone Technology Initiative, which takes donated laptops and converts them to Chromebooks to be distributed to students and others who need them.

Ron Taylor, operations director at Hubzone Technology Initiative, said this year’s top prize is $1,000. There are 17 acts that will be vying for bragging rights – and the case prize.

A silent auction is underway now through Saturday, when all the items will be on display. One of the auction items is a couple of tickets to the McGregor Live! series, Taylor said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

The doors open at 5:30 p.m. to give folks a chance to view and bid on the silent auction items. Then the show begins at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at the McGregor Hall box office, online at hubzonetech.org/tgt or at the door on Saturday.

Adult tickets are $30 and $16 for children 13 and under.

This is the first year the event has been held in Henderson, and Taylor said the folks at McGregor Hall couldn’t have been more accommodating, the way staff has worked with contestants, and making sure all the lighting, audio/visual equipment and more is ready for the big event. People have gone “above and beyond” to make sure everything’s in place for the talent competition.

“We’re a grassroots organization based in Henderson,” Taylor said, and much of the work HTI does benefits people in Henderson and the surrounding areas, so it’s fitting that the competition take place where so much of the work happens.

HTI plows the proceeds from Triangle’s Got Talent back into donating those converted laptops to people in households, enabling them to thrive and have accessibility to further their careers or education advancement, he said.

“We want to be able to bridge that Digital Divide and give people no barriers to access,” Taylor said.

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