Recent Articles

Rocky Mount's Athletic Complex will be bursting with activity on Friday night, as the annual Nash County Relay for Life kicks off at 5 p.m. with the Kid's Walk.
Relay for Life organizers moved the Kid's Walk to Friday night last year instead of having a separate kid's event on Saturday and because of its success, have decided to keep it on Friday. The Kid's Walk and other kid's activities will kick off this year's Relay for Life.
Opening ceremonies will follow the Kid's Walk at 5 p.m. with the Survivor and Caregiver Lap being held at 6:30 p.m., where hundreds of survivors and caregivers walk a lap around the track to celebrate their fight against cancer.

Spring Hope Commissioners met on Saturday to discuss priorities and goals before Town Manager Jae Kim finishes up the town's 2016-2017 budget.
Kim presented some ideas of his own before the board offered their insight into some things they'd like the town to work towards.
"These are just things I'm thinking about out loud," Kim told commissioners.
After discussing several priorities and goals, commissioners chose their top five.

After spending seven years working in academic libraries, Cati Montgomery said she's excited to serve as the Library Director for Nashville's Cooley Library.
Working in public libraries will be an exciting change, Montgomery said.
"I've been wanting to get in public libraries for a long time," she added.
Montgomery started as Cooley Library's Director on Monday.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has unveiled four models for low performing school systems to consider, Nash-Rocky Mount Schools Superintendent Dr. Shelton Jefferies told board members on Monday night.
Jefferies told board members that DPI had provided changes in policies offered to school systems in their selection of school improvement models for low performing schools.

John Gessaman, the first CEO of the Carolina Gateway Partnership, passed away on April 18 after battling cancer. He was 69 years old.
Gessaman served as the first CEO of the Carolina Gateway Partnership, a position he held for many years.
Gessaman was born in Ohio in 1946, where he lived until he graduated from college in 1971. He then moved to Northern Virginia, where he met his wife, Verna. The couple were married for 40 years.

The African American Music Trail presents the Winston Band at Nash Arts Saturday, April 23 at 7 p.m. General admission is $15 and $13 for senior citizens. Nash Arts membership discounts are applied according to membership level.
The Winston Band trio includes Sherry Winston, William McLaughlin, and Bill Myers. This contemporary trio has a repertoire that includes jazz, classics, rhythm, and blues. Together the musicians have more than 30 years of musical expertise.

The Sue ChurchGrant art exhibit will run through April 30th at Nash Arts Center in downtown Nashville. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-5 p.m.
Sue ChurchGrant was born in Ontario, Canada. Until 2010, she was a practicing pediatrician, using every spare moment to draw, paint or sew.
Although primarily self-taught, Sue has learned from fabulous watercolor workshops led by artists including Susan Harrison Tustain, Ted Nuttall, Joseph Fettingis, Charles Reid and local classes taught by Motsie Brooks.

When will we ever learn? If the answer is blowing in the wind, one would think it would get trapped in trees, power lines, or something so it could be retrieved.
The City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, according to an AP story, has officially apolo-gized for the scandalous treatment dealt to Jackie Robinson when the Brooklyn Dodg-ers visited the Phillies. The Dodgers made history when Robinson, a black man, first played on April 15, 1947. The Phillies coach yelled from the dugout that Robinson should go back to the cotton fields down South.

Dear Editor: After all the articles I have read on the pros and cons of splitting the Nash-Rocky Mount School System my concern is the rhetoric that is being used.
Why is it that NC Senator Angela Bryant always throws out the race card when things aren't going her way? State Senator Bryant's efforts would be better served to become more sensitive and responsive to the needs of the people who elected her to office rather than the citizens of another county.

This photo was originally published in The Nashville Graphic on May 26, 1966. The photo ran in an advertisement for Planters Industries. Dale Bone, owner and operator of the company, is pictured on the tractor.

This week, I would like to highlight the positive activity in the Town of Nashville Police Department stemming from the Hope Initiative. The Hope Initiative was launched in February 2016 to assist those suffering from addiction to heroin. While the Town of Nashville is fortunate to not be overrun by heroin like communities in the northeastern part of our country, we do have many individuals in our surrounding area who are grappling with this addiction.
For this reason, the Hope Initiative was created to address this problem directly rather than waiting for it to systematically permeate our community.

INCIDENTS
A hit and run was reported on 4/11/16 at McDonald's, 501 W Washington Street
A rape, sexual battery, incest and sexual offense was reported on 4/11/16 at 533 Westwood Circle
An involuntary commitment service was reported on 4/13/16

A recovered stolen vehicle was reported on 4/10/16 at 455 US 64 Westbound
A possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia was reported on 4/11/16 on I-95 in the southbound lane
An injury to personal property was reported on 4/11/16 at 6037 Mount Pleasant Road
A drug violation was reported on 4/11/16 at 3576 S NC 58

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

Scott Parker, (left) US Marshall, Eastern NC district, was the Kiwanis Club speaker recently. Scott outlined the duties of the US Marshall service for the club. Picutred with Parker is Ben Moore, club president.

Mayci Griffin of Castalia, was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Griffin was initiated at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Griffin is among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation and requires nomination and approval by a chapter.

The 79th Eastern Carolina 4H Livestock Show and Sale took place at the Edgecombe County Livestock Arena on April 12th and 13th. 4Hers gathered from the Halifax, Edgecombe, and Nash County areas to present their 4H meat animal projects. Exhibitors showed their goat, lamb, swine, or steer project animals against other 4Hers to compete in Showman and Market classes. The show also consisted of a Skillathon competition that judges 4Hers livestock knowledge, and a Special Show that allows 4Hers to mentor a special needs child in showing a meat goat or lamb. The event concluded with an awards banquet and animal auction.

Lendon Keeling and Daisy Duke (Lamb) mentored by Anna Brooks Murray of Nash County for the Special Show held during the 79th Eastern Carolina 4H Livestock Show and Sale.

For the first time ever, the students of Northern Nash and Rocky Mount High Schools present in collaboration, Zombie Prom. The 1993 musical with book and lyrics by John Dempsey and score by Dana P. Rowe, is set in the fictional Enrico Fermi High School. It is the time honored story of a good girl (Toffee, played by Caroline Forrester from RMHS) who falls in love with the bad boy (Jonny, played by Ben Riegel from NNHS). After her parents and her principal object, Toffee does the right thing and ends her romance. Distraught Jonny drives his motorcycle in to the Nuclear Power Plant conveniently located next door.

North Carolina's egg prices were steady on small and medium, lower on the balance when compared to last week. Supplies are moderate to meet a moderate demand. The North Carolina weighted average price quoted Thursday, Apr 14, 2016 for small lot sales of delivered, cartoned, grade "A" eggs was 91.36 for Extra Large, 87.02 for Large, 62.86 for Medium, and 42.00 for Small eggs.

Pianist Mayron Tsong will return to Cherry Hill on April 24th where she has thrilled audiences in years past with her virtuosity and charisma. The former Head of Keyboard Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Tsong is now Associate Professor/Artist Teacher of Piano and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the School of Music at the University of Maryland.
Mayron Tsong has performed around the globe and in almost every state in the continental United States.

A daylong "Springfest and Plant Sale" will be held at The Country Doctor Museum on Saturday, April 30.
From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. free activities will include tours of the museum and Medicinal Herb Garden. Herbal teas will be on hand for tasting, and homemade baskets and a wide variety of plants will be available for purchase.

Monday, May 2 from 2:30 until 6:30 p.m. at the Sharpsburg Volunteer Fire Department, 300 Taylor Road, Sharpsburg
Saturday, May 7 from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at Capital Ford Lincoln, 2012 Stone Rose Drive, Rocky Mount
Tuesday, May 10 from 3 until 7 p.m. at Stony Hill FWB Church, 9649 Stony Hill Church Road, Middlesex
Saturday, May 14 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Light of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, 510 S Glendale Avenue, Rocky Mount

Law Enforcement Appreciation Day was Sunday, April 17 at Red Oak Baptist Church. Many officers and their families enjoyed the special worship service honoring them and their service to the community. The service included the presentation of colors by Officer Bradley Boone and the Pledge of Allegiance by Captain Neal Boone. Larry Camp, Chairman of Deacons gave the welcome and the choir performed a special song.

It's a unique occurrence in our culture the way we celebrate birthdays. As a child, once we realize we receive cake and ice cream we eagerly anticipate that magical day, yet later in life when the age listed on our ID gets a little too high we bemoan the idea of another birthday coming. "Why couldn't I stay 39 forever" some might say, while others dream of those childhood days when their biggest concern was having enough time to play outside before bath time.