Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

TownTalk: CultureFest Coming To Oxford

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CultureFest is coming to downtown Oxford this Saturday, and organizers say the day’s activities will be a treat for all the senses – there will different types of food, musical performances and plenty of demonstrations for the entire family to enjoy.

“We are literally shutting down the center of town, “exclaimed Cathy Anna, who is the event producer for the sponsoring John Chavis Society. Main Street – between the Courthouse and the roundabout between the post office and Oxford Baptist Church, will be packed with artisan vendors, food trucks and performance stages for the event, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Performances will take place every half hour and will include all types of traditional dance groups representing Polynesian, Latin, Mexican, West African cultures, Anna said. And don’t forget the Cane Creek Cloggers, who will perform with a full bluegrass band providing a musical backdrop.

A Durham-based group will bring traditional dance and drumming of West Africa to Oxford, said Ajulo Othow, treasurer of the John Chavis Society and a direct descendant of the man for whom the society is named.

Part of what makes CultureFest special, Othow said, is that people from diverse backgrounds can make connections through “love, joy, dance, music…arts in general.” The idea is to leave, “feeling more connected to one another.”

Anna said 66 vendor booths will be lining Main Street to offer a unique shopping experience. All the vendors are also the artisans who will have for sale their custom crafted, handmade items – “items you’re not going to find anywhere else,” she said.

There will be “food trucks galore,” Anna said, offering a global culinary smorgasbord – everything from Asian Fusion, Italian, Greek, Soul Food and even “Fair Food.” And there will be plenty of sweet stuff, too – cakes, pies, snow cones and ice cream. These are conveniently located by the children’s craft area that will provide lots of hands-on creative activities for the younger generation.

So whether you head downtown for the Chinese Dragon Dance, Ballet Folklórico or Indian dancers in their colorful garb, or you just want to let your kids to enjoy creating a mandala or a beadwork activity, just know that CultureFest is a fun way to learn more about traditions we may not be familiar with. It’s a way to bring people together and break down stereotypes.

“Couldn’t we use a little bit more of that,” Othow said. “Just a little bit.”

It was Othow’s mother, the late Helen Chavis Othow, who was a driving force in the creation of CultureFest. Othow died in 2022, and CultureFest has continued to gather momentum.

“I like to think of it as a love offering from my mom to the community,” Othow said of the festival. Her family’s roots in Granville County go back to the 1700’s, and Othow said her mother devoted her life to research the many contributions the family made to its community.

Anna and Othow invite the community to come and stay all day – it may just take that long to experience all the sights, sounds, tastes, aromas and touches that CultureFest will provide.

Visit https://culturefest24.planningpod.com/ for a list of performances and times.

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Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Events At Perry Library

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Make plans now to take part in the Summer Reading Program kickoff at Perry Memorial Library – summer sounds far away, but it’ll be here before you know it! And Melody Peters and others at the library are ready to help readers young and not-so young find time to dive into a good book.

The reading program, “Adventure Begins at Your Library,” kicks off Tuesday, June 18 from 4 to 6pm. and there’s something for all ages, Peters said on Tuesday’s The Local Skinny!

There will be reading logs available to help readers keep track and earn badges and prizes for different levels of achievement throughout the summer, Peters said. But it’s not just for how many pages you can read, she added. “’We’ve gotten really creative…to keep everyone engaged over the summer and avoid the Summer Slide.”

Added bonus to the kickoff event: The first 200 people to show up get a Pelican Snoball free!

If recent program successes are any indication, the summer program will be another one “for the books” – pun intended.

The most popular program from last year involved some visitors from the Vance County Animal Shelter and Peters said she’s happy to report that some furry friends will return to the library on Tuesday, June 25 for a special program.

In advance of this visit, the library has placed a donation bin to collect items for the shelter animals. Food, toys, bedding, kitty litter – whatever you’d like to bring, the shelter will appreciate, Peters said. “We hope we can hand them what we’ve collected that day,” she said.

Another successful event was the tea party and book sale, which  drew 60 people to the library – on a Sunday, Peters said. “Everybody was blown away,” she said. The Friends of the Library sold some books, too. Peters said she plans to make this an annual event, thanks to the positive response.

She’s heard from some library patrons that sometimes it’s just too tough to get to programs during the week, so the library is going to roll out a Family Story Time in the summer for those families who go in many different directions in the course of a normal weekday.

She’s planning to have one in June and one in July on a Sunday at 3:30 p.m. – that way, it will be after church and lunch and before dinner and getting ready for the work week again.

“We’re trying it out and we’ll see how it goes,” Peters said.

Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/ to learn about the different programs and activities offered at the library.

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Cooperative Extension with Wykia Macon 05-07-24

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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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TownTalk: Cicadas Emerge

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Some parts of the country are bracing for a fairly rare occurrence – a trifecta of sorts, as it pertains to cicadas. Most folks around here, however, will experience only a couple of types of those giant insects who are emerging from their dormant states for their brief foray above ground.

According to Vance County Agricultural Extension Technician Wayne Rowland, Vance County may see some of the 13-year brood – they’re called periodical cicadas — along with the annual cicadas. “This year is a monumental year,” Rowland told WIZS’s Bill Harris on Monday’s TownTalk. The last time the two broods emerged was about 200 years ago.

How to tell the difference? The 13-year cicadas have orange eyes, but the annual cicadas a bigger than their 13- and 17-year brood relatives, Rowland explained.

Known for their loud thrum or hum, cicadas pose little to no problems for humans or animals. “They don’t sting,” Rowland said, but curious dogs and cats who sample the insects may wish they hadn’t eaten so many.

“If your dog eats a few of them, don’t be concerned – they’re not poisonous,” he said.

“You might see them again, but they’re not detrimental to humans or pets,” Rowland added.

Just like the recent solar eclipse, North Carolina is not in the sweet spot to witness the emergence of the two different periodical broods. Rowland said the 17-year brood will mainly be seen in Illinois and points North.

Locally, the 13-year brood will emerge west and north, he added.

We can always count on seeing the annual cicadas, but this year, there may be more swarming and humming in the air – and crunching under footsteps along sidewalks and on lawns.

Females lay their eggs in the bark of trees, which is a small nuisance for mature trees. It could, however, create more of a problem for young, recently planted trees. Consider putting some insect netting over these trees, spray them down with water to deter cicadas from landing on them or spray with liquid Sevin.

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Ticks

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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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Henderson Collegiate: “Let It Shine” Talent Showcase 2024

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For this news segment on WIZS Radio, Henderson on this Friday, May 3, 2024, I wanted to offer you a special first person account of an event I attended last night at Henderson Collegiate. Students arranged and organized and performed the “Let It Shine Talent Show.” The “Let It Shine Talent Show” on Thursday evening at Henderson Collegiate started with a red carpet event at 5:25 and was followed up with a live show from 6 until around 8:30.

Jayden Watkins, a familiar name now in the community as a teenaged minister and preacher, is a student at Henderson Collegiate and the visionary of the show. One of the main purposes of the event was to commemorate deceased alumni with a “Deceased Alumni Tribute.”

Performers, along with the school’s principal, Mr. Taro Shigenobu, spoke about and also used the performing arts to remember: Kasi Thompson, Pride of 2019; Jacob Harris, Pride of 2019; Elijah Brown, Pride of 2019; Jaiah Kearney, Pride of 2021; Caleb Perry, Pride of 2021; Zakera Kearney, Pride of 2024; and Jerry Tavera, who would have graduated with the Pride of 2025.

Family members were in attendance at the performance.

After I had left the school our Jayden Watkins, who is on staff here at WIZS, texted me and said, “Thank you for coming and showing love to all the young people. They truly enjoyed you.” I responded to Jayden and said, “What I saw was amazing. No matter what, everybody in that room had everybody else. There was great talent and love and no judgment. I decided to stay a while and then I couldn’t leave.” And, of course, I said, “You’re welcome.  It was my pleasure. Thank you (and thank you to your school) for showing me something.

Watkins himself was able as a preacher to do something that most preachers can’t do. He offered a three-point sermon in just three minutes as he reflected about what is on the inside of a person. “Let it shine,” he said. “Look in the mirror … Know who you are.” Watkins said, “Shine to divine … Shine while it’s time.”

As Principal Shigenobu closed out the special evening, he noted that Henderson Collegiate is not just about grades and numbers and pointed to the multitalented individuals in attendance as well as those who had supported the performers on the stage.

From my perspective in local media and someone who was able to attend the performance: Great job young women and men. Great job, school. Great job young leaders. Your community is proud of you. And hopefully by having events like this, your community will continue to learn more about your special school and the wonderful people in attendance.

And as far as the program order was concerned, the ECHO Drumline – Pride of Sound performed as did Dakyra “D.K.” Johnson.  Johnson sang as did Keionne Sanford, D’Angelo, Indya Hamrick, Faith Wimbush, Kameron Bullock.  Chelicia Walters offered a testimonial “God is Love.”  Ms. Chloe Jones performed.  Aresia Barrett sang as did Alijah Wright, and Brandon Dukes, Imya “Tae Tae” Bullock and Mekhi Fowlkes offered a musical instrumental. The “Sweethearts” danced.  Dakota Miller sang. Mr. Dedrick Dunton, who they call “Dr. Dunton,” offered a testimonial and sang.  Amirah “MIMI” Weaver sang as did Ju’Tieya Watkins.

Everyone in attendance seemed to have a special time.

My thanks for the invitation and for the opportunity to be on the red carpet and to experience a wonderful evening. This is WIZS Radio Henderson, John Charles Rose reporting.

 

TownTalk: Around Old Granville Churches And Religion

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These days, churches and their congregations are fairly stable entities, occupying structures that have been around for years, decades, and even centuries. But in earlier days, when congregations were first being established, church services outgrew their small buildings and moved to bigger places.

And sometimes, the building moved, too.

That’s what local historian Mark Pace discovered when he went on a field trip to Stovall to check out Grassy Creek Presbyterian Church. Pace, who is the North Carolina Room Specialist at Richard Thornton Library in Oxford, said he had presumed that it was the congregation that pulled up stakes and moved to Stovall. But as he poked around during a renovation project, he saw pegs – not nails – and two-toned timbers that “looked like they’d been moved and replaced.”

He suspects that at least part of the existing church dates back to the 1750’s or 1760’s.

Grassy Creek Presbyterian is the Mother Church of other Presbyterian churches in the area, he said, having been established in 1757.

That’s pretty old – more than a decade older than historic St. John’s, Williamsboro, the oldest frame church in North Carolina, built in 1772.

But it’s not enough that parts, not all, of the church are old, Pace said.

There are plenty of congregations that have been in existence in the area for many years, but the structure in which they worship has either been renovated, torn down and rebuilt or has been lost to fire.

Take Liberty Christian Church in Epsom, for example. Pace’s own relative, Benjamin Franklin Ayscue was one of the church’s founders back in 1859. The church once stood where the Epsom Fire Department is now, and it was called Liberty Hill. The current church was built in 1904.

Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Warrenton was built in 1824 by Thomas Bragg, who also was the chief contractor for the State Capitol in Raleigh.

Brassfield Baptist in Granville County was built in the 1840’s and nearby Banks Methodist started out as an Episcopal Church in 1790; the current building was built in 1911.

Hester Baptist and Mountain Creek Baptist were built by the same contractor; their sanctuaries look the same, but Hester got shortchanged during construction and is 10 feet narrower than Mountain Creek, Pace said.

Tabbs Creek Baptist is celebrating its 250th  anniversary, having been established in 1775. But the current church building is 20th century vintage.

Old Granville County was somewhat of a melting pot, and it’s not surprising that immigrants brought their religions with them. St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ridgeway was established in the 1870’s to serve the area’s German population.

In 1923, the first Catholic Church was built at the corner of Montgomery and College streets in Henderson, largely to serve people who moved to the area for the textile industry, Pace said.

A larger church was built on Oxford Road to accommodate the growing Catholic population. That site is now a funeral home.

Not to be outdone, Oxford got its own Catholic church in 1955 when St. Catherine’s of Siena was built. It stands empty today, but recently was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Pace said its unique Mission-style architecture, interior artwork and windows by a liturgical artist Ade Bethune are special features of this building.

Granville County boasts of a most unusual spot to host a church service – a railroad car.

“In 1892, the Catholic Church built two identical chapel cars, St. Peter and St. Paul,” Pace said. “In 1942, with the creation of Camp Butner, there was a need for a Catholic Church,” he continued. So one of those chapel cars was parked on a spur line off Spring Street and from 1942 to 1954, Catholics held mass there.

The Henderson and Oxford congregations merged when St. James Catholic Church was built on U.S. 158.

Listen to the entire interview at wizs.com!

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The Local Skinny! Pop the Hood: Spring Cleaning Your Car

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For our sponsor, Advance Auto Parts, as part of a paid radio sponsorship on WIZS.

Getting a little spring cleaning done may be on people’s minds, now that the pollen has done its thing and the weather’s warming up.

But spring cleaning shouldn’t be limited to homes and businesses – what about your vehicles?

We make lists to take care of seasonal household chores like washing the windows and cleaning out the gutters, but cars and trucks would benefit from having seasonal checklists, too.

The professionals at Advance Auto Parts can help you choose the right products to keep your vehicle looking great and running great this spring and all year long.

Some maintenance and spring cleaning tasks are recommended based on time, others on the number of miles you’ve driven, and some are simply preventative measures to keep your vehicle in good repair.

The “check” lights on dashboards of many newer models remind us when it’s time to change the oil or check tire pressure – they may be annoying to see, but they shouldn’t be ignored.

There’s not a “check” light for things like belts, battery terminals and spark plugs, so a quick look under the hood can help you spot little problems before they become big problems that could leave you stranded along the roadside.

Spark plugs may need to be replaced every few years, especially if you put 30,000 or more miles a year on your vehicle. Timing belts should last for 50,000 miles or so, but all hoses and belts should be checked periodically for wear.

If you use a mechanic for tire rotations and oil changes, they should be checking things like tire pressure and uneven wear, as well as air filters and cabin filters.

DIY’ers need to keep those things in mind as well – a cabin air filter helps keep dirt and irritants out of the interior of your vehicle.

Speaking of interiors, when’s the last time you cleaned the inside of the windshield? That filmy buildup can be easily removed. While you’re at it, go ahead and give the seats and floorboards a deep clean.

If vehicles are, indeed, a reflection of the owners who drive them, then some of us may need to tackle a spring cleaning project or two before we head down the road.

The information contained in this post is not advice from Advance Auto Parts or WIZS.  Safety First!  Always seek proper help.  This is presented for its informational value only and is part of a paid advertising sponsorship.

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