Recent Articles

NASHVILLE - Nash County students interested in pursuing college degrees in Nursing, Agriculture or Technology are now able to apply for scholarships in those areas through the Elks Lodge #1038 at Birchwood.
Three separate scholarships of $1,000 are made available through the Nashville Elks this year, with an application deadline of March 31, 2025.

I was going through yet another container of things from my late parents' house recently. Inside one was a cartoon drawn by a former Nashville Graphic staffer that pictured me losing newspaper-filled mailbags on Boddie Street out of the back of a pickup truck.
That death trap and environmental hazard had no tailgate or much of a floorboard. It took a lot of revving in the alley and standing on the clutch at a certain angle to prevent a choke-off, the worst humiliation for a teenage male in the 1980s.

These photos published in The Nashville Graphic on March 5, 1964. Red Oak's Rebels won top honors in the 1963-1964 Wake-Edgecombe-Nash Basketball Tournament. The champs (kneeling, left to right) Tony Bennett, Donnie Pittman, Wayne Brown, Jack O'Neill, Lensey Murray, Mike Weeks and Billy Davis. Standing: Manager Tommy Smith, Ransom Journigan, W.H. Johnson, Steve Moore, Tommy Booth, Wayne Denton, Rege Simpson, Steve Pittman and Coach Bill Ennis.

"The end of a thing is better than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." (Ecclesiastes 7:8)
I was listening to a friend recently who came very close to winning a promotion. His disappointment was understandable. But as he shared his frustration, he also read some verses from the Book of Romans that comforted him. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith unto this grace in which we now stand.

Leonard Ravenhill, a 20th-century British evangelist and author, is renowned for his passionate call to revival in the Church. His writings and sermons have left a profound impact on Christians seeking deeper spiritual renewal. Ravenhill's thoughts on revival, rooted in Scripture and a life of prayer, emphasize personal holiness, a return to God-centered worship, and the urgency of awakening in the Church.
For Ravenhill, prayer was the heartbeat of revival. He famously said, "The Church is dying on its feet because it's not living on its knees."

Baptist Men's Day was Sunday, Jan. 19 at Red Oak Baptist Church. The day began with the men's monthly breakfast. The men then led the morning worship service with the Baptist Men's Director giving the welcome and announcements. Prayers were offered by Bill Sheets and Richard Davenport. The men filled the choir and performed special music. Clyde Best brought the morning message and Pastor Chris Fowler had the closing prayer.

I recall, back in 2016, helping one of my grand-nieces with her homework. I noticed none of her work was written in cursive.
During another study session, I noticed she couldn't read cursive. It was then I learned she was one of the age groups that missed the teachings of writing and reading cursive.
The penmanship skill had been removed from schools in 2010 when state education systems adopted the Common Core State Standards. Many states have since then added cursive back to their lesson plans. However, many of the Gen Z generation were skipped over.

EMT graduates and instructors (seated left to right) are: Savannah Amerson, Briley Griffin, Aniyah Neil, Olivia Eubanks, Mariana Surles. Standing, L-R, are: Christy Keen (instructor); Kathryn Alford (instructor), Caleb Harrell, Mason Williams, Robin Osten , Kemirah Davis, Adam Culbertson (instructor), Hannah Keen (instructor). Not pictured: Jayla Everett. Contributed photo

NASHVILLE - Nash County residents have spoken about what they want to see for Parks and Recreation: more money invested into facilities such as a large centralized district park including an indoor center, walking trails along Stoney Creek, and access to the Tar River and aquatics programs.
Nash commissioners heard about these and other goals during a presentation Jan. 6 about the 10-year Parks & Recreation Master Plan, with the presenter, Nate Halubka of McGill Associates, appearing in tandem with Thomas Gillespie, Parks and Recreation Director.

RED OAK - Future plans for Red Oak's Ennis Park may be the topic of future meetings, with one town resident asking for planning details and asking to meet with councilmen to discuss ideas.
Tom Rawlings spoke during the public input session of the Jan. 13 town council meeting, asking what the town's "strategic initiatives" were for the park this year and over the next three to five years.

NASHVILLE - The top brass in the Nashville Fire Department are proud of their men, and showed it publicly with recognitions at the Jan. 7 meeting of the Nashville town council. AID TO WESTERN NC Jason Edwards, Assistant Chief, spoke about deploying men to western NC in October of 2024 to assist in an NC Emergency Management call-up, reporting that NFD sent a four-man team to Hot Springs for a week, where they worked in "not very good living conditions," according to Chris Joyner, Public Safety Director.

NASHVILLE - In response to a petition for annexation by Nash County Public Schools, the town of Nashville is considering annexation of Nash Central Middle School (NCMS), located at 1638 S. First Street.
Owned by the Nash County Board of Education, NCMS occupies 28.63 acres surrounded by town land, including the sizeable Cardinal Woods subdivision and Glover Park. The school is already hooked into town water and sewer.

NASHVILLE - Nashville town officials are hopeful that airing grievances over recyclable pickup issues might be resolved, taking the opportunity to lay out multiple issues with a GFL company rep at the Jan. 7 town council meeting.
Pat Luce, Government Contracts Manager for GFL, the company responsible for recycling pickup up in Nashville, attempted to make a presentation at the council meeting but the bulk of his presentation, a four-minute video from the Sonoco Recycling Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Raleigh, unexpectedly had no sound and Luce was unable to narrate much about its content.

ROCKY MOUNT- Much like a truck that takes a few tries to get started in cold weather, the Nash County Public Schools' Board of Education had to keep pushing the starter button before conducting its first meeting of 2025: it took three sets of tied votes and a recess to come up with who would be Vice-Chair.
Meeting at Rocky Mount High School in order to accommodate a larger crowd, the board's first order of business was to elect a Chair and Vice-chair for the year.
Steve Ellis, Superintendent, conducted nominations for Chair, with Franklin Lamm and LaShawnda Washington, 2024 Chair, both nominated.

Nashville Elementary students Nicholas Bridgers (4th grade), Andrew Creech (4th grade), and Ayden Mills (3rd grade) perform on drums as students entered the gym for the Sing-a-long.

SPRING HOPE - "If you build it, they will come"- not exactly the Field of Dreams, but possibly the old "Boy Scout Hut" on McLean Street in Spring Hope; instead of building a ballfield, an American Legion post is asking town permission to renovate the dilapidated building in hopes of re-starting a Scout troop there as well as having a meeting place for themselves.
Dicky Bass, American Legion Post 91 Commander, made the request at the Jan. 6 Spring Hope Board of Commissioners' meeting.

The Willing Workers Club of Nashville in partnership with the Nash County Democratic Cluster Precincts (Nashville, Momeyer, Spring Hope, Oak Level, Red Oak and Griffins) will host the annual MLK Day observance on Jan. 20th at 12 noon at the O.D. Moore Building, 808 S. Alston St., Nashville. Guest speaker is Judge Alicia Slaughter. The event is free and a meal will be provided. For more information call 252-904-2789 or 252-801-4747.