Flags in the Town of Red Oak were lowered to half-mast last week following the passing of long-time commissioner Barbara High Tyre.
Tyre passed away unexpectedly last Thursday, October 14.
Tyre was elected to serve as a Red Oak Commissioner in 1981 and had served in the position since. The town released a statement on Friday stating the community was mourning the loss of Tyre.

Nashville's Finance Director is hoping the town will bring back a fifth full-time position to help handle more administrative duties.
Samantha Sanchez brought her request for the position before the board during the board's regular meeting on Tuesday, October 6. Sanchez said the fifth full-time position was eliminated from the 2019-2020 Fiscal Year budget after being vacant during a period of high turnover and shifts in management.
However, Sanchez told council members the position is desperately needed.

Nash County is one of 36 North Carolina counties who recently received letters expressing concern over the surge in COVID-19 cases.
With COVID-19 trends moving in the wrong direction, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety sent the letters to local leaders asking them to help slow the spread of the virus by promoting the three W's and considering other actions to improve compliance with executive orders.

LET'S CHECK! Nashville Elementary School teacher Leslie Taylor, at right, checks the temperature of second grader Josie Loy, at left, upon arriving at school on Monday, October 19, which was the first day of in-person instruction for kindergarten through third grade students.

Nashville Elementary teacher Nikki Rich, at right, offers hand sanitizer to Bryce Denton, at left, after arriving to school on Monday.

After two months of meeting virtually, some Nash County Public School students got a chance to return to the classroom on Monday.
Students in grades kindergarten through third were welcomed back to elementary schools on Monday while a second group of students will return on Monday, October 26.

Red Oak Commissioners discussed the town's Nuisance Ordinance last Monday at the board's regular meeting.
The ordinance is a fairly new addition to the town's Unified Development Ordinance. Commissioners adopted the ordinance in January 2019, modeling it after other towns equal in size and demographics, Town Clerk Tracy Shearin said.

Nash County continues to see a record number of COVID-19 cases, with a new record reported on Monday.
Nash County Health Director Bill Hill said cases from Friday, October 9 through Friday, October 16 went over the 300 mark, a new weekly high for the county.
"We had a record number last week," Hill said. We increased by 322 cases."
"We had a busy week last week, a heavy volume week," he added.

Early voting is going well in Nash County.
As of Tuesday morning, October 20th, 26 percent of registered voters in Nash County had already voted. That equates to 17,673 total ballots cast, according to the State Board of Elections.
Of those votes, 3,859 were mail-in ballots while 13,814 were votes cast from one-stop early voting.

The Nash County Arts Council is now accepting applications for North Carolina CARES for Arts grants through November 9, 2020.
The North Carolina General Assembly designated $9.4 million federal CARES Act funds for arts councils and arts organizations to mitigate business disruptions caused by COVID-19.

A Nash County resident was among 23 new troopers graduating last Friday during the 151st Basic Highway Patrol School.
Darrius Brake graduated during the closed ceremony held at the State Bureau of Investigation auditorium in Raleigh.
The ceremony culminated 33 weeks of dynamic training aimed at providing not only excellent law enforcement officers, but ambassadors for the state of North Carolina.

The following Nash County deed transfers were reported from October 9 through 15.

Building Permit
(Commercial)
Elbert Lynn Hudson; 6809 Corporation Parkway; addition; $8,655,227

A warrant service was reported on 10/13/20
A deliver methamphetamine was reported on 10/13/20 at 1101 Instrument Drive, Rocky Mount
A larceny from an auto was reported on 10/14/20 at 1185 S NC 581, Bailey

INCIDENTS
A disseminate info was reported on 10/11/20 at 1006 Birchwood
A driving while intoxicated was reported on 10/16/20 on Oak Level Road
A maintaining a place was reported on 10/16/20 at 4316 Community Drive

A Rocky Mount woman pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Adrienne Jeanine Williams, 48, owned and operated Ultimate Tax Service, a return preparation business, in Rocky Mount. For tax years 2011 through 2016, six other return preparers worked for Williams.

Nash Community College held an orientation and leadership session to welcome its Student Ambassadors for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Students are selected for the program based on application, letters of recommendation and an interview. They must be enrolled at Nash Community College as a full-time student, maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0, and demonstrate a commitment to academic and career success.

Nash UNC Health Care is celebrated "Care for the Caregiver" throughout the month of September, honoring its staff for their tireless efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and reflecting on the stories of patients who overcame difficult battles with the virus.
One of those stories reflects on the experiences of the Taybron family, a family of three who fought the coronavirus at the same time.
CJ Taybron, the son of Carl and Alastene Taybron, was the first in the family to come down with the virus.

North Carolina Wesleyan College's Board of Trustees recently approved five new board members to join the Wesleyan family: Leslie Hall, Janice Byrant Howroyd, Kevin Jones, Melvin Mitchell and Constance Williams. These new members come from a variety of backgrounds and industries joining 19 others that serve on the North Carolina Wesleyan College Board of Trustees, chaired by Dr. Dan Crocker.

Nash Community College held a graduation ceremony Saturday, October 17 on the college campus. Nearly 100 graduates wearing caps, gowns and masks lined up for a ceremonial grand processional through campus before exiting the vehicle at the main event. One by one, and with safety a priority, they were greeted outdoors by NCC officials while family and friends looked on from the car.

Peachtree Baptist Church is now collecting donations for its N.C. State Missions fundraiser.
Peachtree Baptist Church is collecting for NC Children's Homes.
Peachtree will hold its annual collard sale this year. Look for the announcement with all the details coming later.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Friday, October 30 as the deadline to submit applications for the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program - Plus (WHIP+) for 2018 and 2019 losses. USDA did not originally specify a deadline when the program was announced.
"The physical and financial loss experienced by farmers and ranchers impacted by natural disaster events in 2018 and 2019 was widespread and catastrophic," said Richard Fordyce, Administrator of USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA).

In the late 1970's, I vacationed frequently at Nags Head, North Carolina. I remember one summer in particular when several of us decided to go deep-sea fishing in the Gulf Stream. It is not far from North Carolina's Outer Banks and offers some of the finest dolphin fishing that a charter boat captain can offer.
We awoke early that morning because we had to be at the dock by 5:00 a.m. It was windy and our charter boat captain told us that it would be rough going through the Oregon Inlet.

Two weeks ago, I began dealing with issues relating to the relationship between the local church and the communities in which they exist. In that article, I maintained that there are no "lone-ranger Christians." But there's more. Because our local churches have so many "members" who are not actively participating in the life of the church, I invite you to consider the idea of membership.

It's time for Operation Christmas Child! Red Oak Baptist Church had their annual Operation Christmas Child kick-off Sunday, October 18. Tables with preprinted Operation Christmas Child boxes lined the hall with balloons, brochures, and sample packed boxes. You can also use standard shoeboxes or plastic shoeboxes. Audrey Pearce gave the encouraging message prior to the video asking everyone to pack 1 more box than they packed before.

Hi Fellow Followers, this is an article from August 2018 that appeared in The Graphic, I think it's important for us to read it again.
In James 1:19 we read a powerful verse, "...let each person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." I want to carefully point out the part about anger and how James says we need to be slow to anger. He does not say, "don't be angry" he says, "be slow to anger."

Rocky Mount native Clifton Barnes, who was a reporter and editor at The Nashville Graphic in the 1980s, has won a national award for Commercial Real Estate Reporting.
Writing for The Triangle Business Journal of Raleigh, Barnes won an Award of Excellence from the DC area-based Communications Concepts through its 2020 Awards for Publication Excellence competition.

North Carolina Wesleyan College will celebrate its 64th year with its annual Founders' Day on Thursday, October 22. Due to COVID-19, the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and community members are of utmost concern to the College. Therefore, the decision was made to alter the format of the day.
In lieu of the traditional activities, President Dr. Evan D. Duff announced the decision to focus this year's celebration on emphasizing the College's founding and the need to sustain Wesleyan's future.

Some very smart marketing person in Raleigh hit the nail on the head.
With this wonderful cool weather usually comes the reminder that the North Carolina State Fair is on the way.
For me -- as longtime readers of this space can attest -- it's always been the kickoff for my favorite time of the year. It's the start of a series of fun events that run from the Fair to my wedding anniversary to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's.

If you're like me - you're more than ready for the 2020 election to be over - especially the annoying "shame on you" ads filling up my mailbox and unwanted text messages on my cell phone!
I have received numerous text messages informing me of all of the dirt on several candidates - from both parties.

Dear Editor: When we, the church, stop engaging in the political process due to the perversion of separation of church and state, that is actually what Satan wants, our silence. Why? Simply put, the enemies of God's truth want a clear path to put forth their evil agenda to kill, steal and destroy our biblical culture and our national freedoms. But, Church, look at the cost of our silence by following this lie.

This photo originally published May 30, 1963 in The Nashville Graphic of Bible School teachers at Nashville United Methodist Church. The little girl in the photo is Eleanor Jackson, who attended the Bible School.

NORTHERN NASH'S CHANCE SAVAGE

RED OAK -- Cross country is a sport that requires intense discipline and dedication during training -- especially on a competitive level.
Thanks to COVID-19, those challenges have been made increasingly difficult for area high school distance coaches.
At Northern Nash, legendary cross country head coach Jeff Dodrill was unable to officially train his runners until workouts began two weeks ago.

FAITH CHRISTIAN SCHOOL QUARTERBACK CHANDLER COCKRELL

ROCKY MOUNT -- Challenges are plentiful when preparing for a high school football game -- and those are being exacerbated during the COVID-19 Era.
The phrase 'One Game At A Time' has become a time-honored cliche' in sports circles, but it especially true these days.
Earlier this week, Faith Christian School Athletic Director Ronnie Beddingfield wasn't even sure if the Patriots' home game Friday against rival Arendell Parrott Academy would take place.

GREENSBORO -- The Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have announced kickoff times and the broadcast information for Week 8.
Wake Forest will play host to Virginia Tech at Truist Field on Oct. 24 at 3:30 p.m. ET on ACC Regional Sports Networks.
Here is the full television schedule for ACC games scheduled for Week 8:

RALEIGH -- Area stars Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person Jr. continued to excel for the North Carolina State University Wolfpack during last Saturday's 31-20 home victory against Duke University in Atlantic Coast Conference football action.
With the win, NC State improved to 4-1 heading into this Saturday's key road showdown at rival North Carolina.

BRINKLEYVILLE -- Halifax County Motor Speedway will return to racing this Saturda as the Speedway presents the "Support Divisions Special".
Saturday's race program will include Limited Sportsman, Pure Stock V8, Super Stock 4 Cylinder, Pure Stock 4 Cylinder, and U-Car.
Pit gates will open at 3 p.m.

(L to R) Northern Nash's Elena Griffin and Southern Nash's Jadiza Jimenez were the Top Two finishers last year at the Big East Conference Girls Cross Country Championships -- and are expected to renew their rivalry in December.

Anthony and Joanne Cunningham moved from New York City to Rocky Mount in early 2020 with the dream of opening their own Haitian restaurant, Kafe Louverture.
Inspired by their friend/mentor, Lloyd Porter, a Brooklyn based actor and restaurant entrepreneur, they hoped to replicate Porter's unique abilities to support a wide range of arts while offering fine food in a welcoming atmosphere.

While many events are being cancelled due to COVID-19, some Halloween festivities are still being offered this year, although with a much different twist.
Nash County Recreation and Senior Services is partnering with the Town of Nashville to offer a drive-thru Halloween experience, or trick-or-treat trail, on Tuesday, October 27 from 6 to 8 p.m.
The event will be held in the parking lot of the Claude Mayo Administration Building, at 120 W Washington Street.