Nash County Commissioners got a sneak peek at the new Nash County Courthouse on Monday afternoon.
Commissioners spent the first hour of their meeting touring the new facility, which is just a few weeks away from being completed. Nash County Public Facilities and Utilities Director Mike Tolson said he anticipated the facility opening up for court sometime in July.

An Assistant Superintendent at Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools will be in court next week on charges of being intoxicated and disruptive.
Leondus Farrow, Jr. was arrested on May 13 around 1:15 a.m. in Greenville. He was charged with misdemeanor intoxicated and disruptive and possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in the passenger area of a vehicle.

H.D. Cooley Library will kick off its Summer Reading Program on Saturday with a science and storytelling program.
Sciencetellers will host "Wild West: the Mystery of the Golden Piano" on Saturday, June 23 from 4 until 5 p.m.
"They combine storytelling, science and audience participation to tell a fun and educational story," Emily Enderle, Cooley Library Director said.

The Joint Veterans Committee of Nash and Edgecombe Counties hosted its monthly flag-raising ceremony on Saturday to honor two local veterans.
A flag was lowered and retired and presented to the family of Samuel Manin Bass, who was honored in April.
A flag was then raised in honor of John J. Walker, PFC, US Army.

Nashville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources has lots to offer the community over the summer months.
Recently, the town started back up its Free Family Fitness series.
The series began on Tuesday, June 12 and will be held the second and fourth Tuesday in June and July in the Nashville Elementary School gymnasium. Programs begin at 6:30 p.m.

Nash County Clerk of Superior Court Rachel Joyner is pictured standing with NC Senator Rick Horner at the North Carolina General Assembly on Tuesday, June 5, 2018.

North Carolina State Senator Rick Horner (R-Nash) hosted and recognized the Honorable Rachel Joyner at the North Carolina General Assembly on Tuesday, June 5.
During the 4 p.m. session, Senator Horner was granted a moment of personal privilege, along with a courtesy of the gallery in Joyner's honor.

Nash Community College recently announced the following students who achieved academic honors during the 2018 Spring Semester.
To qualify for the Dean's List, students earn a 4.0 grade point average (all A's) while taking 12 or more semester hours.

Marvin Winstead (in front) leads opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline on a walk to the bridge on Old Bailey Highway, over the Little Sapony Creek, where Winstead collected water to take to Raleigh and Governor Roy Cooper.

Water was a primary focus of a walk on Saturday for opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Around 50 gathered in the Elm Grove community to march from the Little Sapony Creek to the Big Sapony Creek a few miles away, where water was gathered at each site. The water will be taken to Governor Roy Cooper this week.

June Lee is pictured tackling multiple phone calls in the front office at Nashville Elementary School.

Leaving Nashville Elementary School will feel a bit like having surgery, June Lee said last Thursday as she wrapped up her last day at the school.
Lee said leaving the school will be like having a piece of her removed. That's how important Nashville Elementary School and the Nash-Rocky Mount School System has become to Lee.

A Rocky Mount native is spending his summer serving as an intern with Nash County.
Kera' Robinson graduated from Rocky Mount High School in 2017 and went on to attend North Carolina Central University. Robinson received a Golden LEAF Scholarship to attend school and said part of the scholarship is to serve an internship.

Pre-K student Eva Mae Quincy enjoys a snowcone during a celebration for Pasta for Pennies.

Students at Cedar Grove Elementary School were recognized in April for their efforts at supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Students collected spare change as part of Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies campaign.
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society works to find cures for blood cancers and help ensure that patients have access to treatments.

INCIDENTS
A possession of marijuana was reported on 6/11/18 at 308 W Washington Street
A larceny after a breaking and entering and breaking and entering a motor vehicle was reported on 6/10/18 at 426 Woodfield Drive

A driving while intoxicated was reported on 6/10/18 at US 264 Westbound
A trafficking heroin and maintaining a vehicle for a controlled substance was reported on 6/11/18 on I-95 northbound at the 133 mile marker
A larceny was reported on 6/11/18 at Savage Road and Peachtree Hill Road

Nash County Planning and Inspections issued the following building permits from June 11 through 15.

Nash County Health Department has teamed up with Walgreens and Greater Than AIDS to host National HIV Testing Event. This testing event will be held on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 from 11am-7pm at Walgreens located at 1590 Benvenue Road in Rocky Mount, NC. Trained counselors will be available to provide free confidential counseling and testing using Rapid HIV, Rapid Hepatitis C and Rapid Syphilis test. Individuals will receive their testing results within 15 minutes.

Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools (NRMPS) celebrated a total of 66 retirees during the district's 2018 Retirement Luncheon on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. The distinguished group has dedicated approximately 1,660 collective years of service to public education. The event was held at Rose Hill in Nashville. Upon arrival, retirees enjoyed special music provided by Triple-Knot.

Nash Community College has announced the establishment of the Pell and Sonny Foster Engineering Scholarship. The scholarship was established in 2017 by Pell and C. E. "Sonny" Foster of Rocky Mount as an endowed award to recognize students in the Associate in Engineering degree program. It serves as a reflection of the Fosters' commitment to higher education and the local community. Sonny Foster serves as NCC Board of Trustees Vice Chair.

Edgecombe Community College Class of 2018 Radiography graduates participated in their pinning ceremony in May.

Nash-Rocky Mount Schools has released its Honor Roll lists for the third semester of the 2017-2018 school year.
The following students at Nash Central High School made the A or A/B Honor Roll.

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."
Area churches are taking Mother Teresa's advice this summer, hosting programs to ensure local youth have their food needs met over the summer.
In Nashville, United Fellowship Assembly, at 402 S Barnes Street, is providing free summer meals to youth ages 18 and under each Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The Johnson Consulting Group, of Scottsdale, Arizona, presented Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Rocky Mount, with the Excellence in Customer Service Award for achieving the highest levels of customer satisfaction in 2017.
The Johnson Consulting Group (JCG) is a nationally acclaimed funeral home consulting firm that developed and implemented the first of its kind JCG Performance Tracker™ to measure a family's level of satisfaction with their funeral home provider.

The 2018 Special Olympics North Carolina Summer Games concluded June 3 in Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville and Holly Springs, ending a weekend of competition for nearly 1,900 athletes and Unified partners from across the state in athletics, bowling, cheerleading, cycling, gymnastics, powerlifting, softball, swimming and volleyball, according to Keith L. Fishburne, President/CEO of SONC. Unified partners are individuals without intellectual disabilities who train and compete alongside Special Olympics athletes.

Benvenenue Ruritan Club recently made a special presentation to Stony Creek Rescue Squad during a special dinner held at Stony Creek Station in Rocky Mount on June 5th. Pictured, left to right are: Stony Creek Rescue Squad Chief Dennis Williams, Stony Creek President Pete Bradshaw and Benvenue Ruritan Club President Fran Bunn giving out the special presentation along with Ruritan Club Chaplain-Secretary Donnie Perry.

The Coastal Credit Union Foundation hosted and sponsored its third annual one-of-a-kind event - The Power of Sharing - highlighting the efforts of 25 area nonprofits. Coastal's business partners and the Foundation awarded just over $600,000 combined in charitable grants and in-kind giving to organizations that are making a significant impact in our communities, including the Strategic Twin Counties Education Partnership (STEP) in Nash County.

Nashville resident Sarah Fairman was named to the Dean's List at UNC Asheville for the Spring 2018 semester.
The Dean's List is made up of full-time students who have achieved between 3.5 and 3.99 grade point average.

Nash-Rocky Mount Schools has released its Honor Roll lists for the third semester of the 2017-2018 school year.
The following students at Nash Central Middle School made the A or A/B Honor Roll.

Members of Nashville's Chamber of Commerce were treated to a cool treat on Monday, as Sunset Slush celebrated its opening in Nashville with a ribbon cutting.
The chamber hosted the ribbon cutting for the business, which officially opened its doors on April 3 at 922 Eastern Avenue.
The business is owned by independent operators Amy and Joel Bryant and Lee High.

Nashville's Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the new location of Headliners Hair Salon.
The salon moved to 915 Eastern Avenue in Nashville.
Headliners has been in business for 19 years. The salon was started by Darlene Floyd and was first located on Nashville Drive before it moved to 625 E. Washington Street, where it was located for around 17 years.

Nash UNC Health Care has named Shawn Hartley as the organization's new chief financial officer (CFO). Hartley currently serves as CFO for UNC Caldwell Memorial Hospital in Lenoir, NC.
"Shawn has dedicated his career to working with rural health systems and has led several financial turnarounds," said L. Lee Isley, president and CEO of Nash UNC Health Care.

Christmas came in June for Spring Hope's Police Department.
The department received keys to three new police cars on Friday afternoon.
The vehicles were made possible thanks to grant funding from the USDA Community Facilities Direct Loans and Grants program.

The community celebrated the graduation of Recruit Firefighter Training Academy #012218 at Nash Community College on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. In a ceremony held in Brown Auditorium, five cadets were awarded badges and certificates of completion.
Nash Community College's fire training program is designed to provide individuals and firefighters the information and skills needed for modern firefighting through a variety of learning experiences and training scenarios.

Several years ago, I attended the Annual Legislative Conference of the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C. I told my wife that I had an uneasy feeling about this trip. We left two college-age children at home to fend for themselves and we took two teenagers with us. "Lord," I thought, "Have mercy upon us".

Continue to be in prayer for the youth and chaperones from Red Oak Baptist Church who are currently at MFUGE in Philadelphia, PA. They will be returning home on June 23.
The Baptist Men had their monthly breakfast on Sunday, June 17.

Chances are that during our lifetime we are going to experience times of drought. Actually chances are not just high - they are guaranteed. I should first probably note that I am not speaking about a drought of rain, but a drought of a spiritual kind. You know the type of drought where we don't feel the presence of God. The type of drought where our souls run dry and we seek relief.

Thursday, June 21 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Tri-County Industries, 1250 Atlantic Avenue, Rocky Mount
Sunday, June 24 from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Word Tabernacle Church, 821 Nashville Road, Rocky Mount
Monday, June 25 from 3 until 7 p.m. at Sandy Cross United Methodist Church, 3725 Sandy Cross Road, Nashville

A total of 43 Tar River Academy (TRA) seniors turned their tassels during the Friday, June 8 graduation ceremony that was held in the school auditorium.
The graduates have exciting futures to look forward to as a total of 18 will attend two-year colleges, four will enlist in the military, 20 will enter the workforce and one will attend a four-year college. Shaleiyah Smith was named class valedictorian and Daquan Batts was named the salutatorian.

Waste Industries partnered with local charity Peacemakers and donated $7,500 through the Education & Scholarships charity class of the Full Circle Project (FCP), Waste Industries' customer driven charity effort created to help strengthen high impact local community charities.
Peacemakers, originally identified as an FCP candidate by Waste Industries General Manager Crystal Slone and Senior Field Manager Thomas Winstead, is a community development organization that provides a full range of educational support services to at-risk children and youth.

There must first be a correction to a church page article in the May 31, 2018 edition of The Nashville Graphic. However involuntary or however accidental, the mistake in need of correction is glaringly obvious and big. The sermon delivered in Acts Chapter Two was delivered by Peter, not Paul!
This sermon was also delivered to Jews who were gathered in Jerusalem for one of three annual feasts which required their pilgrimage and attendance according to Jewish law.

The Rocky Mount Toastmaster Club#8957 had a successful Open House Event on Monday April 23rd at Braswell Memorial Library in Rocky Mount.
It was well attended by current members, friends, family members, community guest, Greenville Club member(TM Stephenie McLean VPE) and one Charter Member TM Victor Jones.

The Coopers Ruritan Club recently donatedmoney to Nash County 4-H to send a youth to 4-H Summer Camp. Pictured is Mike Glover, Vice President of the Coopers Ruritan Club and Chairman of the Business and Professions Committee, far right, presenting a check to Sandy Hall, Nash County Cooperative Extension Director and 4-H Extension Agent, far right.

The Halifax Resolves Chapter NC SAR awarded the SAR Flag Certificate to the Bojangles Restaurant #1043 in Rocky Mount. The certificate is presented "In Recognition of Exemplary Patriotism in the Display of the Flag of the United States of America." Store Manager Pauline Williams accepted the award on behalf of Bo Jangles. Halifax Resolves chapter member Ken Wilson presented the certificate.

When I was a kid, my family would sometimes walk to the pond on our farm on summer Sunday afternoons to fish. I got bored quickly.
Sometimes, I'd throw rocks in the water. I liked to see the big splashes and the ripples.
However, those with lines in the water did not appreciate my antics. I was making the water muddy and scaring the fish away. I was just having fun. Eventually, I figured out I was ruining everyone else's time.

Summer weather brings a lot to be excited about, but don't forget that it also brings hurricane season. Unfortunately, experts are predicting an especially high level of hurricane activity this year. We can't know how natural disasters will impact our homes and neighborhoods, but there are some things you can do and should know to be prepared for storms and natural disasters.

This past Friday night, my gang participated in the Great American Campout that the Town of Nashville's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources hosted at Stoney Creek Environmental Park.
I will start by saying it was an awesome event!

This is a close-up version of a photo that was originally published in a series of advertisements in The Graphic in 1982. Wayne Nelms operated a custom hog slaughtering business in Nashville. Nelms operated the business five days a week offering multiple services on Route 1 Nashville.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Nash Central High School continues to enjoy unprecedented success on the baseball diamond -- and Colby Carter and Payton Bass have played huge roles in that success.
After helping the Bulldogs to the Eastern Plains Conference Championship this past season, Bass and Carter will continue their careers on the collegiate level.

Nash Central High School's Colby Carter (front, center) signs a letter-of-intent to join the baseball program at Wake Tech Community College. The Eagles compete on the junior college Region X level. Also pictured are (back, l to r) NCHS baseball coach Willie Langley, NCHS Principal Victor Ward, NCHS Athletic Director Kyle Bain, NCHS Assistant Athletic Director Juan Jackson and Caroline Carter (sister); (front, l to r) parents Julie and Jon Carter.

ON HER WAY. Nash Rec's Annslee Ward competes for the Sharks during last Thursday evening's home swim meet against rival Westridge in Nash-Halifax Swim League action at the Nash Rec Pool in Nashville.

NASHVILLE -- Following a 10-month hiatus, Nash Rec has picked up right where it left off in the Nash-Halifax Swim League.
The Sharks finished off last summer's strong season by taking the crown at the annual N-HSL Championships.
Nash Rec is expected to be a factor for the title once again this summer -- a fact that was accentuated by last Thursday's regular season opener at home against long-time rival Westridge out of Rocky Mount.

GREAT SCOTT. Nash Central's Travis Griffin will continue his career at Fort Scott CC in Kansas.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Travis Griffin and Alex Nobles were leaders on their respective sides of the ball this past season for the prolific Nash Central High School football squad.
Griffin helped the Bulldogs put up unprecedented numbers on offense from his quarterback position, while Nobles was a standout linebacker that led the way for the stingy NCHS defense.

Nash Central High School quarterback Travis Griffin (front, center) signs a letter-of-intent to continue his football career at Fort Scott Community College, a junior college located in Kansas. Also pictured are (back, l to r) NCHS Assistant Coach Ricardo Jerome, NCHS Athletic Director Kyle Bain and NCHS Football Coach Chris Lee; (front, l to r) Terry Griffin Jr. (brother) and Carla Griffin (mother).

RED OAK -- Northern Nash High School capped off another sports season by hosting its annual Athletic Awards Ceremony recently on the NNHS campus.
Markela Avent was saluted as the Female Athlete of the Year, while Davontae Wiggins took home Male Athlete of the Year honors.
The Nash-Rocky Mount Schools Triple Crown Award recipients were Emily Garner and Silas Gonzalez, and McKenzie Estep claimed the prestigious Roger Shearin Award.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Cooper Hummel went 2-for-4 with a RBI, Dallas Carroll doubled and scored a run, Conor Harber earned a quality start and Luke Barker picked up the save as the Carolina Mudcats defeated the host Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3-2 in their first-half and series finale in Myrtle Beach on Sunday night in a Class A Carolina League baseball outing.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Colby Lewis fired a complete-game, three- hitter on the mound and Andrew Zipko provided the muscle at the plate as they led their Hester & Tucker team to a 5-2 win over Wesley Men last Tuesday night to capture the 2018 RCMT Little League Baseball Championship at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex.
Drew Duke picked and poked his way to 3 walks and scored on two of those occasions while catcher Noah Harrell collected a single, double and 2 runs batted to give support to Lewis' superb mound work.

GREENSBORO -- The postseason honors continue to file in for the North Carolina State University baseball team, as six players were named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/ Rawlings All-Region Team last Wednesday.
Brett Kinneman led the way for the Wolfpack with his selection to the All-Atlantic Region First Team, while Patrick Bailey, Brian Brown, Brock Deatherage, Josh McLain and Joe O'Donnell were each named to the second team.

The Nash County Tar River 10-Under Softball All-Stars recently earned second place at the Eastern North Carolina District 3 Babe Ruth Tournament. The club will now compete in the ENC State Babe Ruth Tournament from June 23-27 at the Sara Law Complex in Whiteville.

The Nash County Tar River 12-Under Softball All-Stars recently defeated the Rocky Mount All-Stars 8-5 to earn the Eastern North Carolina District 3 Babe Ruth championship. The club went 5-1 overall for the tournament and will compete in the ENC State Babe Ruth Tournament from June 23-27 at the Sara Law Complex in Whiteville.

The Nash County Tar River 8-Under Softball All-Stars recently defeated the Wayne County All-Stars by a 13-1 margin to win the Eastern North Carolina District 3 Babe Ruth Title. Next up for Nash County will be a trip to the ENC State Babe Ruth Tournament from June 23-27 at the Sara Law Complex in Winterville.

NASH REC'S MADDIE HART

NASH REC'S DAMIEN WOZNIAK

Nash Rec's Kara King competes in the IM event during last Thursday evening's Nash-Halifax Swim Meet action at home against long-time rival Westridge out of Rocky Mount.

The Nash County Arts Council will host a four-day Poetry Workshop with poet, author, and teaching artist, Phillip Shabazz, June 25-28.
In this workshop, participants will write new poems inspired by poetry writing prompts that are specifically designed to awaken and revive their inner poet, as well as read aloud and share poems.