Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

TownTalk: Maria Parham Memorial Day Ceremony

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Maria Parham Health was the site Thursday morning for a solemn ceremony to remember all the members of the military who have given their lives in service to the country and to hear read aloud the 77 names of members from the local area who died serving their country.

CEO Bert Beard welcomed those in attendance to begin the “No Greater Love” observance, in which various members of the hospital staff had roles. Pastor Frank Sossamon led opening and closing prayers and members of hospital security presented the colors. Travis Thompson, director of imaging and wound care, led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance and Hope Schuler, daughter of MPH employee Lisa VanFleet, sang the National Anthem.

Rickey Padgett, with N.C. Detective Agency and also a member of the hospital staff, shared remarks and reflected on what the Memorial Day holiday means. It’s a time to remember all men and women in uniform, Padgett told the gathering but especially those who sacrificed their lives.

“They paid the price so that we could be here today,” he said. The families of the fallen continue to grieve, so it is also important for us to remember, Padgett said, “and to celebrate the freedoms that we have and the life we are given…to remain grateful and never forget.”

Padgett said he had been friends with one particular man who also was a veteran of World War II. This friend had told Padgett that, upon his death, Padgett would receive something from him. That “something” turned out to be a long, typewritten letter – from a real typewriter, not a word processor – that recounted some of what the man had encountered as a U.S. infantryman in the European theater.

Padgett read excerpts from this letter, which chronicled snowy, muddy conditions on and near battlefields in France and the grim task of recovering soldiers’ bodies strewn along the countryside.

“’I could hear the Germans digging foxholes’” in the snowy landscape not far from where this soldier and his unit were camped, the letter read. “’We had to pick up dead bodies, American and German,’” Padgett continued.

Although he said he has met and talked with many veterans of World War II, Padgett said this letter helped answer a question he had often wondered about: How do the bodies of fallen soldiers make it back home, where they can be laid to rest and receive a proper burial?

Soldiers like the one who wrote the letter and sent it to Padgett, that’s how.

Whether it was from a battlefield in Europe or the desert-like conditions in Afghanistan, members of the military take care of each other until the end.

Padgett said he asked this friend what he did in the war. “He said, ‘I was a soldier,’” Padgett recalled.

A simple answer with layers and layers of meaning.

Listen to the recorded ceremony in its entirety just below.

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The Local Skinny! Around Old Granville: Doing The Numbers For Memorial Day

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There are about 110,000 veterans of World War II still alive in the United States, and at least one of them lives in Granville County, according to Mark Pace. He and Bill Harris discussed war military service veterans as part of the Around Old Granville segment of The Local Skinny! Thursday.

The average age of the WWII veteran is 93, Pace said. Several veterans have died in the past year, he said, along with a couple more in Vance County.

It’s sometimes difficult to determine exact numbers, Pace said, but his research has shown that there are 20 soldiers from the Old Granville area who died in the American Revolution. At least 450 (but probably more like 550) who died in the Civil War from the approximately 2,600 who fought for the Confederacy, down to 1 soldier who died in Iraq. He said 3 soldiers from Granville County and 7 from Vance County died in Korea, and 13 from Granville and 8 from Vance dying in Vietnam. One Granville County soldier died in Iraq.

By comparison, he found that 68 soldiers from Vance County died in WWII, along with 37 from Granville County.

Records are sometimes hard to come by, Pace acknowledged, and therefore having a truly accurate count is almost impossible.

Pace said a 1973 fire in St. Louis destroyed many records related to servicemen in WWI, making it far easier to locate records from the Civil War and WWII.

Even the Revolutionary War has records that remain, he said.

“There are some pretty good records from the Revolution,” he said. Many people had to sign an Oath of Allegiance against King George. Those signatures are pretty good indications of which side you were on, Pace said.

There’s still one world leader, however, who served her country in WWII and serves her country today, Pace said:

Ninety-six-year-old Queen Elizabeth II. When she was 19, she served in the transportation and ambulance service for England.

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SportsTalk: Johnny Yount of Vance Charter and Mike Joyner of Kerr Vance

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Johnny Yount and Mike Joyner are used to success. They expect it.

Vance Charter Girls Soccer Coach Johnny Yount and his team are coming off a playoff run. The Knights were eliminated on Wednesday night with a 2-0 loss to Hobbton.  While they didn’t make to the state finals, Yount was happy with his team which will be losing five seniors to graduation. Next year he will have another senior heavy team with six girls on the roster plus a strong class of freshmen will be moving up as well. “Give it your best and demand it from everyone around you,” Yount said on Thursday’s SportsTalk. Those are the words he tells his team. No doubt next year’s Vance Charter Girls Soccer team will hear those words many times during the season.

Speaking of Hobbton, that’s a school familiar to Mike Joyner, Kerr Vance Academy Athletic director. It’s one of several schools where Joyner has been involved with athletics. He recently spent 8 1/2 years as athletic director at Wake Forest High School and six years as the head baseball coach. This year he retired, or so he thought. “I was retired for seven hours. I worked a basketball game at Wake Forest, slept seven hours and worked a basketball game the next night for KVA,” Joyner said. He said it was tough leaving the kids at Wake Forest but he had to make the right decision for his family and step back. Wake Forest fielded 32 teams where Kerr Vance fields nine. His duties don’t include coaching at KVA so he can actually get home at a normal time and spend time with family.  He says the difference from working in public schools as opposed to private schools is the closeness of the relationships. “It’s more of a family atmosphere,” Joyner said. At KVA he actually gets to spend time with the kids and that was something he was unable to do at Wake Forest.

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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Biting, Pt. 1

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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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Keep Road Safety At Top Of Memorial Day To-Do List

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Even with today’s high gas prices, the State Highway Patrol expects about 35 million folks to be on the road during the long Memorial Day weekend. And although the following safety suggestions aren’t new, they do bear repeating as a way to ensure safe travels on the state’s 80,000 miles of roads, highways and interstates.

This time last year, the average prices of a gallon of regular gas in North Carolina was $2.91, compared to $4.36 this year, according to AAA. But families are apparently ready to get out of town for the four-day holiday, some long overdue for even a short vacation.

This weekend traditionally kicks off the unofficial start to summer, and AAA predicts an increase of almost 5 percent in the number of people who will travel by car compared to last year, when COVID-19 precautions still had people sticking close to home.

The Highway Patrol will be out in full force, taking steps “to monitor driver behavior in an attempt to reduce collisions that occur from speeding, impaired and distracted driving, as well as reducing the severity of collisions through seat belt use enforcement.  Using the Vision Zero approach, law enforcement officials hope to report zero fatal collisions throughout the holiday weekend,” according to a press release from the North Carolina Dept. of Public Safety.

The Highway Patrol is again teaming up with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to participate in the annual “On the Road, On the Water” campaign. The same rules apply to boat operators as apply to drivers of motor vehicles – don’t drink and drive.

Additionally, the SHP is partnering with the NC Governor’s Highway Safety Program’s “Click It or Ticket” campaign.  This campaign began Monday, May 23 and continues through June 5, with an emphasis being placed on seat belt violations.

Motorists are encouraged to follow these suggestions while traveling:

  • Plan Ahead – Plan routes in advance to include secondary routes, detours and possible road closures.  Up-to-date information regarding delays and closures can be found at www.DriveNC.gov.
  • Slow Down – Obey the posted speed limit and be mindful of speed limit reductions within work zones.
  • Use Restraint Devices – Seat belts must be worn in both front and back seats if available.  Children should be properly restrained in compliance with child passenger safety laws, www.buckleupnc.org.
  • Don’t Drive Distracted – Avoid any distraction(s) while driving that reduces your ability to drive safely.
  • Plan Ahead if Consuming Alcohol – Have a predetermined plan to arrive home safely by identifying a designated driver or by utilizing one of the many ride sharing services.
  • Reporting Dangerous Drivers or Other Emergencies – Motorists are encouraged to dial *HP(47) or 911 if they encounter a situation needing a law enforcement response.

Home And Garden Show 05-25-22

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

 

  • Check garden for standing water after heavy rains open row ends to let the water drain out to prevent this excess water from damaging your garden plants
  • Try growing veggies and herbs in containers. Quality medium, container with drainage holes, good sun, check moisture frequently.
  • Check for squash bugs on squash plants
  • Freezing is an easy way to preserve spring and summer fruits, including strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cantaloupe and other melons.
  • Follow mowing safety guidelines that are in your owner’s manual
  • Searching for garden answers on the web? Add NCSU or “extension” after your search terms to find reliable information.
  • Before watering plants check soil media first if it’s moist, wait and check the next day.
  • There are hundreds of species of bees and wasps in North Carolina and most of them are non-aggressive and help with pollination.

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TownTalk: Sam Seifert New Associate Administrator at Maria Parham Health

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Samuel B. Seifert, MHA, FACHE will serve as Associate Administrator starting Monday, June 13 at Maria Parham Health. He is a board-certified healthcare administrator with over 17 years of continuous experience.

The Henderson native most recently served as a Senior Administrator in the Department of Anesthesiology at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta. Before moving to Atlanta in 2016, Seifert served in various leadership positions during a 12-year tenure at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem.

In a press release issued by Maria Parham Health, Seifert said, “It is an honor and a privilege to join the team at Maria Parham Health and help advance Maria Parham’s nearly 100-year tradition of providing quality, accessible healthcare to the citizens of Henderson, Vance County and surrounding communities. I’m excited to start in my new role, and my family and I look forward to returning to the area and becoming involved in the community.”

(story continues below audio)

Click Play – John C. Rose of WIZS on Seifert Hire

Maria Parham Health CEO Bert Beard said, “We are very excited to welcome Sam home to Henderson as part of Duke LifePoint and Maria Parham Health. Sam’s extensive healthcare experience and knowledge of the region will be a huge benefit to our team objectives as we continue to progress our mission of making communities healthier. With our growth in services and integration with Duke in the graduate medical education space it is a great time for Sam to join the team. We are as excited as the rest of the community to welcome him home.”

Seifert earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religion at Wake Forest University and a Master of Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Sam and Amine, his wife and also a Henderson native, have a daughter and son at home.

TownTalk: The City Of Henderson Budget

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The proposed budget for the City of Henderson includes a bump in salary for some frontline city employees, continued funding for economic incentives and grants and, what may interest city residents most – no increase in taxes or fees for city services.

The $22.68 million also includes a $1.65 million appropriation from the fund balance, which City Manager Terrell Blackmon called a “considerable reduction” from the appropriation from the previous fiscal year. This reduction is due largely in fact to the availability of ARPA pandemic relief funds.

“The fund balance is still doing great at this time,” Blackmon told WIZS News Tuesday in a statement via email, adding that it remains well above minimum requirements of both the City Council and the Local Government Commission.

Blackmon provided details of the budget to WIZS News earlier Tuesday via email. The city council is set to vote on approval of the 2022-23 budget at its June meeting.

According to Blackmon, personnel costs are the biggest variable in the proposed budget.

“Although there is no cost-of-living increase in the FY23 budget, we are absorbing salary increases from police and fire the past two years in addition to cost-of-living and premium pay increases in the current budget,” Blackmon stated.

In an overview of the budget that was presented to the city council, Blackmon noted that revenues – although up – continue to be projected in a conservative manner and expenditures limited to capital needs.

The budget addresses one of the issues in the city’s recently adopted strategic plan – employee recruitment and retention – by giving frontline workers in operations, water and wastewater departments a $1 increase in their hourly rates. He said this moves those salaries closer to the current market rate and will hopefully help to retain employers in these areas.

The city may have to take a second look at water rates once construction begins on the regional water system expansion, but that is not expected to begin until early 2023. Blackmon said the city is seeking approval for the project from the

The budget designates $25,000 to the Downtown Development Commission for incentive and grant programs toward continued downtown revitalization and $100,000 in economic development grants for ongoing projects at M.R. Williams, North Central Medical Transport and MAKO Laboratory.

The police and fire departments will get funding for leasing and lease-purchase of needed equipment, including police cars under a 5-year lease plan and possible purchase of a new fire engine by the fire department.

Blackmon said the budget reflects “further positive steps to help the city grow and reach its full potential.”

Part of that potential lies in the West End Urban Redevelopment Plan, which focuses on improvements to areas near the downtown area as well as the Flint Hill Community Development Plan. These projects represent a $1.5 million investment in redevelopment activities in the city, which could include acquisition of properties, down payment help for first-time home buyers and urgent repairs to homes – all of which would help strengthen the downtown area and nearby neighborhoods.

“We must continue to work towards innovative ways to promote and energize redevelopment initiatives now to position the city to be ready for near future business prospects and citizenship,” Blackmon said.

See the full proposed budget at https://cms8.revize.com/revize/henderson/recommended%20budget%20FY%2023.pdf

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