Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Summer Reading Program Highlights And New Fall Programs At Perry Memorial Library

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Perry Memorial Library Youth Services librarian Melody Peters likens reading to physical exercise: Reading exercises your brain just like physical activity exercises your body.

And as Peters reflects on the success of the recently completed summer reading program,

participants got a lot of brain exercise!

She told WIZS’s Scout Hughes that more than 600 youngsters and adults participated in the summer reading program sponsored by the library. The goal was to read a minimum of 30 minutes a day over a seven-week period, complete a reading log and turn it in for prizes each week.

Peters and staff knew that participation was bigger than last year’s, but when she looked at the numbers, she said it was double last year’s program. And those 600+ participants recorded 688,000 minutes of reading time.

“It was amazing,” she said. “It is mind-blowing…very exciting to see the growth.” She said there were lots of return participants, but so many new people and new families also joined the fun.

All the prizes, incentives and coupons were donated from area businesses, Peters said. “We were so grateful that they were all donated…and we gave them right back into the community.”

As the dust settles at the library after such a successful summer program, Peters said she’s happy to report a couple of new programs will launch this fall to take their place among the library’s existing regular programs.

One is a new Life Skills program on the second Thursday of the month. A team from Coastal Credit Union will help teens learn about financial money matters over the course of a few months. And then the Life Skills time slot will focus on other types of basic skills, from sewing on a button to basic carpentry.

And then on Fridays in the fall, there’s Baby Rave at 10:30 a.m. and Parachute Play at 11:30 a.m. Baby Rave is for children 0-2 years and Parachute Play is for children ages 3-5. The dates are Sept. 5, Oct. 3 and Nov. 7.

Not one to rest on her laurels, you’ll find Peters at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market tomorrow – Wednesday, Aug. 6 – at 10 a.m. for a special Story Time at the market to celebrate National Farmers Market Week.

Visit www.perrylibrary.org to learn about all the programs and services at your public library.

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Shaping the Future in Henderson & Vance County

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It’s called “Shaping the Future: A Community Empowerment Extravaganza” and Higher is Waiting Executive Director Jayden Watkins said it’s part back-to-school, part community gathering combined with a whole lot of fun.

“The purpose of the event is to bring the community together,” Watkins told WIZS’s Scout Hughes Monday.

Watkins, 17 and a rising senior at Henderson Collegiate, invites families from across the community to the event, which is taking place on Saturday, Aug. 9 in downtown Henderson in the area near the police department and Perry Memorial Library.

There will be backpacks loaded with school supplies that will be distributed and free health screenings, along with a street fair atmosphere filled with vendors and food trucks for everyone to enjoy, Watkins said on Monday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Watkins said he and Varonica “VV” Mitchell are going to co-host a talent show that is set to kick off at 12 noon.

“I welcome all ages,” Watkins said of talent show participants, whether they’re young or just young at heart – all are welcome.

Visit https://forms.gle/iWmCXjJZxEw9LXtP7 to sign up for the talent show.

Watkins said there’s still time to sign up to be a sponsor for the event.

Visit Higher is Waiting’s webpage at https://jaydenwatkins.com/higher-is-waiting and click on the sponsorship link.

“I still need more support,” he said. “That’s how we take it to the next level.”

Volunteers also are needed to help pack the backpacks on Friday, Aug. 8 and to help set up early Saturday morning. Contact Watkins at 252.425.0354 if you’d like to help make a donation of money, school supplies or if you’d like to volunteer.

Watkins has been nailing down details for this community event in between other activities he’s been busy with this summer, including preaching five times in the past week, participating in the Governor’s Page Program and another program at N.C. State University. He’s packing his bags for a 10-day residential experience for prospective journalism students at Princeton University. That’s on top of his “I Declare War” tour and cooking meals at the local shelter with his girlfriend.

“This is a vision God gave me,” he said. “Everything I do is to be obedient to God…at the end of the day, I simply want God to be pleased and proud.”

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(This information and embedded audio was orginally posted July 21, 2025.)

Cooperative Extension with Michael Ellington: National Farmers Market Week

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Michael Ellington, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

We talk about the upcoming events at the farmers market in the month of August, including the National Farmers Market Week celebration on August 9th!

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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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Wildlife Habitats

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Wayne Rowland, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

Wildlife habitat can increase your enjoyment of your landscape and increase your property value.

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: Recovery Alive Receives Opioid Settlement Money

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Tisha Temple, the founder and CEO of Recovery Alive Homes, has a passion for helping people struggling with opioid use disorder. She once struggled with it herself, and has been free from its grip for 11 years now.

Temple’s nonprofit was one of two groups to get grants from the city of Henderson in its initial disbursement of opioid settlement money.

The Henderson City Council granted RA Homes $50,000 to set up two residential sober-living homes here – and Temple can’t wait until the project is up and running.

“The money is there because people are losing their lives to opioid use disorder,” she explained on Thursday’s TownTalk.

“When we have funding to be able to create solutions in communities to give people a different pathway and to help them find recovery, the best thing to do is not leave the money sitting in the bank – the best thing to do is distribute it,” she said.

There are eight RA Homes in operation now, Temple said. She’s working with a local realtor to identify properties and then will work with an investor to purchase the homes, one for men and one for women who are already in recovery.

“That is how our model works,” she said. “We lease the properties from management teams. We are truly part of beautiful community solutions. We are good neighbors.”

She’s got her eyes on one property already, and hopes it’ll work out. If not, she said she “will patiently wait for God to open the right doors.”

Locating sober-living homes here in Henderson has special meaning for Temple. It wasn’t that long ago that she herself was regaining control of her life in a similar residential program in Raleigh.

At the time, fresh out of prison, Temple got the chance to enter a recovery treatment program and ultimately into a sober-living home.

The residential program that she created with RA Homes, however, has one important component that the one in Raleigh didn’t.

“That recovery home saved my life…(but) it wasn’t Christ-centered. It worked, but I believe that my recovery grew deeper because I was able to have a relationship with Jesus. That was my recovery,” Temple said.

And now, some years later, Temple is gearing up to plant two new RA Homes in her hometown. “It is now time to open recover alive homes in the same community where I did not have the resources that I needed to get better and stay better,” she said.

RA Homes and the 12-step, Christ-centered program will be here to help somebody else’s son or daughter as they embark on a journey of sober living.

Visit www.wizs.com to listen back to the complete interview.

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The Local Skinny! Council Members Host Community Forum

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Three of the four incumbent City Council members running for re-election were present at a community forum Wednesday evening at Holy Temple Church in Henderson.

Ola Thorpe-Cooper, Garry Daeke and Lamont Noel were in attendance; the other incumbent, Sara Coffey, was not feeling well, and was not present.

The three incumbents spoke about the importance of the upcoming municipal election, and then entertained questions from the audience.

Thorpe-Cooper started things off, saying, “We care about you and your concerns in the city of Henderson – not the ward you live in, but the city of Henderson.”

“We are running for re-election – not because it’s easy, but because we care. Experienced leadership still matters. Let’s not trade progress for…promises.”

She said the Council works together to get things done.

“I don’t believe it’s about me, it’s about us,” Thorpe-Cooper said. “We sit together, we talk together, we pray together. We are here with a record of standing up…when it hasn’t been easy to stand up. Showing up when it matters and getting real results.”

Noel said he decided to run for a seat on the City Council so he could be a voice for residents who may not know how or to whom to address complaints or concerns.

He ended up writing a city ordinance – before he was on the Council – to address one such issue that he had involving driving golf cars on city streets. The police chief at the time took it to council and said he’d never had a citizen come to him with a problem AND a solution.

Shortly after that, Noel said people approached him to run for City Council.

“I realized that I had an opportunity to be a voice for those people that couldn’t speak for themselves.”

“We have to love Henderson,” he said. “What we go through, we wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t have a love for Henderson. We want the best for Henderson and that’s why we’re here.”

Daeke grew up in Henderson, went to college, got a degree and came back because he wanted to serve his community.

“I came back to this town because I loved it,” he said.

He spent time on the city’s zoning board, planning board and downtown development commission and then felt he had the experience and knowledge to run for City Council.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it – it’s work – very hard work. but great work.”

“We’ve hit a wall lately and we need to get beyond that,” he said.

Affordable housing is the city’s biggest project, and he said being a member of the Council is like being a part of a team  – working on a team  and seeing what you can accomplish when you work together.

When you go to the polls, he said, “think about my service when you’re voting.”

The non-partisan municipal elections are Tuesday, Oct. 7.

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Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: Bedtime Problems pt.2

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Jamon Glover, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

We continue our series on working with children with bedtime problems. This time we discuss how to prepare a child for bedtime and a routine to go through.

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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