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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Tag Archive for: #wizsnews
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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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 04-16-25 Noon
Listen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
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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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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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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 04-15-25 Noon
Listen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
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Cooperative Extension with Michael Ellington: A Special Message for Farmers
On the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report from Michael Ellington:
Today’s recording is full of helpful reminders and contains a special message for farmers about the NCDA&CS disaster relief program.
NCDA&CS Agricultural Disaster Relief Program
https://www.ncagr.gov/
Average last and first frost dates – Map
https://gardening.ces.ncsu.
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! Tasker Fleming on MerleFest 2025
The campus of Wilkes Community College once again transforms into a sprawling concert venue later this month when MerleFest 2025 cranks up for four days of pure musical fun.
MerleFest 2025 begins Thursday, Apr. 24 and continues through Sunday, Apr. 27.
Tasker Fleming, host of the Front Porch Bluegrass Show that airs from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays on WIZS said that folks who attend MerleFest will surely get their money’s worth – different musical groups will take to stages large and small, indoors and out, during the course of each day.
One local group, The Barefoot Movement, is scheduled for four performances on Friday, Apr. 25. They’re just one of the dozens of performers – from Bonnie Raitt and the Avett Brothers to Asleep at the Wheel and Peter Rowan – included in this year’s lineup.
singers, players and pickers
And if the musical variety weren’t enough, there will be vendors galore selling all kinds of items from food to musical instruments for the thousands of attendees expected.
When Fleming attended the music festival a couple of years ago, he said one thing that struck him was the relaxed atmosphere that existed between the musicians and the audience.
“When they get off the stage, they hang around and talk to you,” he said. “You won’t get that at a normal concert.”
Visit https://merlefest.org/ to learn more.
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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 04-14-25 Noon
Listen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
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TownTalk: Willard Haithcock Membership Scholarship
Willard Haithcock wasn’t a gregarious person, according to his son Heath. He was quiet and soft-spoken, to tell you the truth. But he loved a good routine, you could count on him being at the Henderson Family YMCA at pretty much the same time every day of the week.
“You could set your watch by him,” he said of his dad, whom he described as the quintessential family man who provided for his wife and children
When Haithcock died in 2021, it made perfect sense to his family to establish scholarships in his memory to give others a chance to enjoy the benefits of the Y that he himself had enjoyed so much.
“My dad was not one to draw attention to himself,” Heath said on Monday’s TownTalk. But as the family considered how to best honor their loved one, a scholarship to the YMCA was what leapt to their minds.
“We wanted his life to stand for something,” Heath said, admitting that if his Dad could weigh in on the matter, he’d most likely call the idea the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.
His dad instilled in him to treat others the way he wanted to be treated. He taught by example – Willard treated everybody equally, his son said.
“That’s what the Y does,” Heath said. And the family chose to create one scholarship for an individual membership and one for a family membership, he said, because “they YMCA is all about inclusion.”
“He really wasn’t that into fitness,” Heath said. But those daily visits to the YMCA gave his father an outlet to reduce stress, get in a little physical activity and embrace a side of his personality that he may not have demonstrated in his business life.
“It became part of his routine…he was very regimented and routine-oriented,” he said.
He became a mainstay at the Y and Heath said the Y became one of the joys of his Dad’s life.
Sadly, Willard didn’t get to enjoy the benefits of retirement for very long. He died just a couple of years after he sold his business.
“It’s a shame he couldn’t have spent more time doing what he enjoyed,” Heath said.
There is no doubt that he would have stuck to his routine and been a 7-day a week YMCA gym rat.
“It was great that he had that venue and that outlet…to be his true self,” Heath said.
The deadline to submit an application for the scholarships is coming up this Sunday, Apr. 20. Find the application at https://www.hendersonymca.org/.
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