Recent Articles

NASHVILLE -- Jeremiah Jones has been a key piece of Nash Central's Track & Field and Cross Country programs over recent years, a feat that has been noticed by collegiate programs around the area.
After an outstanding career, Jones will now be taking his talents to the Division I level, enrolling at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro beginning this fall where he will be a part of the Spartans' Track & Field program.

STANHOPE -- Southern Nash's league slate won't be the only thing different about the Firebirds' schedule when the school embarks in football competition this fall in the rearranged Big East Conference.
Southern is a long-time member of the Big East, but not in its current form, which will include the likes of Southern Wayne and CB Aycock for the first time -- along with former entrants Wilson Hunt and Wilson Fike, both of which have been gone from the Big East for the past four campaigns.

NASH COUNY -- A new chapter is set to begin in the history book of Nash County high school sports this fall, with Girls Flag Football officially coming to the area's athletic scene in September.
All four of the county's public high schools -- Northern Nash, Nash Central, Southern Nash and Rocky Mount -- will be taking the gridiron this fall, with games set to take place on Monday nights rather than Tackle Football's traditional Friday Night Lights.

NASH COUNTY -- It was an amazing softball season in Nash County this spring, mainly because of the elite-level exploits of the Southern Nash Ladybirds. Southern Nash, which has built itself into one of the East Region's top programs over the past decade, enjoyed yet another banner year, going undefeated in the regular season for the second consecutive campaign.
SN's perfect ride didn't end until the fourth round of the Class 3-A State Playoffs. By then, the Ladybirds had accumulated 24 wins in a row to go with (again) Big East Conference regular season and tournament championships.

NASHVILLE - In ongoing attempts to rectify issues at the Pet Connection Center, Nash commissioners have voted to add two part-time kennel staff, with an eye towards possibly hiring more in the future.
Chris Cary, safety and security director, came before the board of commissioners at their July 7 meeting to make the staffing request and to give an update on the animal shelter, which came under fire last month by the state for animal care violations.

NASHVILLE - Braswell Family Farms of Nashville, a fourth-generation egg and feed producer, is buying a shell building in the Nashville Business Center near Highway 64 to use as a cooler and warehouse.
Described by Braswell Family Farms as "a strategic investment to support continued growth of its egg processing operations," the sale of Nash county property, consisting of a shell building and five acres, was approved July 7 by Nash County commissioners.

The Town of Castalia hosted its traditional July 4th Celebration featuring a parade, food, crafts, amusement rides and live music. Pictured above, members of Castalia Church of God ride in the parade.

MOMEYER - In what appeared to be an unexpected move, Momeyer town officials voted at a June 30 special meeting to delay budget adoption until the town council's regularly scheduled July 14 meeting. That will push the town past the July 1 budget adoption deadline as set by the North Carolina General Assembly. An interim budget ordinance was passed to authorize needed spending until the budget is approved.

SPRING HOPE - A parade route for this year's Pumpkin Festival has been conditionally approved by town commissioners, but not without reservations about pending water main work, which officials say may force an alternate route.
Cindy Ridgeway, festival parade coordinator, appealed to the board at their July 7 meeting, noting that the event permit has been on the agenda as a continued item several months.

NASHVILLE- A gas company operating at the edge of a Bailey residential development is currently a "use in violation," but its application for a Special Use Permit has been postponed until August, following the June 23 meeting of the Nash County Board of Adjustment.
Gas Pro, LLC, is currently operating on two adjacent lots at 5105-A Chris Road, and 11011 Pace Road, Bailey; the 2 lots, which total a little over 2 acres, sit at the entrance to the Pearson Acres Subdivision, which is zoned R-40.

RALEIGH- The memory of a local Army helicopter pilot shot down in 1966 over Vietnam was refreshed last month on the floor of the North Carolina House Chamber: the life and sacrifice of Captain Hugh R. Nelson, Jr., of Rocky Mount, was applauded through the efforts of Representative Allen Chesser.
Chesser made a representative statement in Raleigh June 18 as Nelson's family- his children Debbie McKnight and Tripp Nelson, as well as grandson Duncan Dees Nelson, attended.

The Nashville Chamber of Commerce presents its Summer Business of the Season Award to the Nashville Exchange. Pictured above, left to right, are: Chamber Board member Diane Taylor, Nashville Exchange staff Kate Parker, Lauren Crawley, Chamber President Cliff Joyner, staff member Katina Stallings, owner Lisa Hattaway, staff members Storm Murray, Joan Bailey, Hannah Breheim, Taylor Weaver, Valerie Winstead, Sandy Moore, and Nashville Town Council Member Larry Taylor.

Members of the Leggett family received a flag on March 15 at the Veterans Memorial at Jack Laughery Park in honor of James Lewis Leggett, Spec. 5, U.S. Army. Leggett, who passed away March 10, 2024, was drafted into the Army in 1966, then serving his country in Vietnam. A flag to pay respect to Leggett's service was raised in February at the Veterans memorial by the Joint Veterans Committee of Nash and Edgecombe counties and was retired at the March ceremony to the playing of "taps."

Matthew Floyd, age 10, joined by his uncle, Jonathan Evans, and the family dog, Maverick, found the first cotton bloom of 2025 on the Delapine NPE Plot Evans Farm. They spotted the bloom on June 29, 2025. The Nashville Graphic has held a long-time tradition of offering a free one-year subscription for the first bloom of the season brought to the newspaper.

Nashville's Chamber of Commerce presents the Elks Lodge #1038 a donation for operating ticket booths at the Blooming Festival carnival. Pictured, left to right, are Chamber President Cliff Joyner, Cindy Puckett, festival co-chair, Elks Lodge members Tressa and Chris Bissette.

Wesley Alston of Nashville shows a freshly picked tomoto from his garden which looks to be a three-in-one harvest.

I was not hiding under an umbrella on the beach or looking for an errant golf ball or even managing my smoker on July Fourth.
Instead, I was reliving a childhood trauma that really wasn't that traumatic, maybe more so that the child at the time was dramatic.
Due to the kindness of a distant relative and old friend, I found myself with a large box of sweet corn on my kitchen floor on the most patriotic of holidays.
I was shucking. My wife was silking, there was a huge stockpot boiling and another almost as big pot with cool water and ice in it.

This week's Backward Glance sure brings back a lot of memories - especially since I spent a few of my teenage years working for Tim and Dale Thorne during tobacco season.
The photo not only reflects a family farming operation, but a time where local farmers had teenagers knocking on their doors wanting to work to earn money during summer vacation - which is indeed a thing of the past.

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on July 21, 1977. Tim and Dale Thorne (kneeling) examine their bumper crop of tobacco in the Macedonia Community that had the benefit of more rainfall than many farms in the county that year. Tim and Dale farmed with their father, Bunny. They anticipated a harvest a total of 100 acres of tobacco in 1977.

Lauris and Rebecca Joyner of the Coopers Community, who were married on June 18, 1960 in Elm City, recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. The couple has three children, Lisa Meekins, Carla Thielen and Lauris Taylor Joyner; four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The couple attends Macedonia Baptist Church.