Recent Articles

Spring has arrived and Mother's Day is just a few weeks away which means the Blooming Festival is just around the corner.
Folks working on the Nashville Blooming Festival are in full swing these last few weeks leading up to the 28th event. It seems no matter how far in advance things are planned, the last couple of weeks are always complete chaos when weaving together all of the many threads involved. As you can imagine, an event as large as the festival takes a lot of team work and volunteers. The Nashville Chamber of Commerce has certainly been blessed to have so many folks who have continued to volunteer to plan the event since 1997.

This photo, dating from the Oct. 31, 1968 Nashville Graphic, shows Julian Aldridge (left), owner of Nash County Equipment Company, congratulating W.H. "Bunky" Reges on the purchase of one of the largest farm tractors sold in the area at that time. The new tractor, at left, was reported to weigh 12,000 pounds. Pete Hinton, sales rep, is shown at right.

The Rocky Mount Debu-ette Club was founded in 1966. The club consists of young women in grades ninth through twelfth who volunteer together in the community. They become community leaders while developing lifelong friendships during four years of service.
This year, the senior class of 33 young women volunteered their time and collected donations to support local organizations. Those organizations included A Touch of the Father's Love, Red Oak Teacherage, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Salvation Army, Ripe for Revival, The Historical Society, Peacemakers, The Unlimited Impact Project, American Heart Association Heart Walk, and Your Choice Resource Center.

NASHVILLE- Planned development on two parcels to add 113 homes outside Bailey have been greenlighted for conditional rezoning despite considerable and long-running public protest.
Nash commissioners voted to approve rezoning for both by split vote at their April 6 meeting, paving the way for 76 new homes in Williams Run, Section 2 on the north side of Strickland Road and another 49 in the West Hornes Church Road subdivision.

SPRING HOPE - A rezoning request for a 12-acre parcel off First Street has been approved, with the intention of providing room for up to 26 homes.
After gaining split vote majority approval from the planning board March 26th, the board of commissioners gave unanimous approval to the project April 6th.
As presented by Shawn Lucas, Code Enforcement officer, the application by Morgan Properties was to change the zoning of the property, which is bordered on three sides by residential lots, from R-MF (residential multi-family, or apartment complexes) to R-8 high density residential, which would allow single family homes.

SPRING HOPE- After more than a year of work, Spring Hope now has an official town brochure, in digital form, with plans to put it on the town website.
Presented by Brandi Jobe, Vice-Chair for the town's Downtown Development Board, at the April 6th commissioners' meeting, the 8-page document has a cover featuring an aerial shot of the town, what appears to be a town seal with a train and train tresle, and the phrase "tucked between Raleigh and Raleigh and Rocky Mount, Spring Hope offers the perfect day trip or weekend getaway or anyone looking to slow down, shop local and experience the warmth of a tight-knit community with big ambitions."

NASHVILLE- Planned sidewalk repairs along E. Washington Street hit a snag- or more accurately- hit a natural gas line- April 9th but repairs were made that same morning.
Nash County 911 was notified of the puncture at 9:07 a.m. last Thursday in front of 110 E. Washington Street, with Rocky Mount Utilities already having a crew dispatched. The smell of gas, easily detectable from the Austin street intersection, was the tell-tale sign of a leak.

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20)
The world sees Christians differently than it did twenty years ago. Why? Because now we live in a world of moral relativism.
What exactly is "Moral Relativism"? It's a belief that man on his own can determine what is true and untrue and what is right or wrong. As Ernest Hemingway said, "What is moral is what you feel good after. What is immoral is what you feel bad after."

The crux of the matter is simply this: Is the Bible authoritative? To this stage, all of the articles in this column ultimately lead to this question. This is ground zero for the Christian and skeptic alike--those like Michael. You remember Michael. He has been with us from the start of this column and the argument that began over a year ago. Michael does not believe the Bible is authoritative. Nonetheless, biblical authority is an essential question that very much sets at the heart of the debate over God's alleged death.

The Baptist Men will have their monthly breakfast meeting on Sunday, April 19 at 8:30 a.m.
Women in Action will host the missions celebration for ladies, "Go Fish!", on Tuesday, April 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the dining room of the Family Life Center at Red Oak Baptist Church. Enjoy a delicious meal with great fellowship and guest speaker, Donna Upchurch. Donna has been a volunteer missionary to Jamaica for several years and they look forward to hearing about the ministry there. Sign up by April 19 at the church.

The Master Gardener plant sale is Saturday, April 25 from 9 a.m. - noon at the Nash County Ag Center, 1006 Eastern Ave., Nashville. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Nash County Arboretum.
The event will offer plants from local nurseries and Master Gardener grown. Plants include perennials, roses, shrubs, trees, native plants, vegetable plants and herbs.

Since the state-issued ban on open burning was enacted March 28, a total of 554 wildfires has burned more than 2,200 acres across the state. With little rainfall or improvement expected over the next 7-10 days, the statewide burn ban and enforcement action will continue until further notice.
"Even with a burn ban in place we are continuing to see significant wildfire activity across the state because of conditions," said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. "Persistent drought, warmer temperatures, low humidity and no rainfall, mean fires start quickly, spread quickly and burn intensely, which makes them harder to contain, control and extinguish.

Jackson Ream, a senior at Faith Christian School, has officially earned the prestigious Freedom Award, achieving the ultimate rank of Freedom Rangeman.
A founding member of Trail Life USA Troop NC-0834 at First Baptist Church, Jackson began his journey in 2014 as a six-year-old in the Fox patrol. Over the past twelve years, he has demonstrated unwavering dedication, successfully earning every rank available in the program.
To celebrate this significant milestone, a Freedom Award Court of Honor ceremony will be held for Jackson on Sunday, April 26th at 2:30 p.m. at Christ Covenant Church (cccrm.org) in Rocky Mount.

NASHVILLE - What began as a plan to build a shared warehouse for the Nash County Sheriffs Office and Emergency Services has taken an abrupt right turn, with permission given to build a smaller warehouse while remaining funds are set aside to go towards the purchase of property for a new public safety complex.
In addition, funds planned for conversion of an open dorm at the jail into lockdown cells may be re-routed to help pay for the new complex as well.
Jonathan Boone, Deputy County Manager, approached Nash commissioners Monday to ask permission to forge ahead with half of the original plan- that being to build a 10,000 square foot warehouse, with an additional 2,000 feet under shelter, on county land near the Pet Connection Center.

NASHVILLE - Spring Hope's plan to expand its extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) by 2.9 miles has been quashed by Nash County, with commissioners voting Monday to deny the town's expansion request.
Kyle Pritchard, Mayor, accompanied by Jonathan Allen, Spring Hope's new town manager, presented a pre-written resolution approving the ETJ expansion to commissioners April 6th, along with a map.

ROCKY MOUNT - Three programs at Nash Community College attracted some federal attention April 2nd, as U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright paid a visit to see what the college's Electric Line, Robotics and Advanced Engineering Technologies classes were all about.
Wright, an admitted rock climber, got cinched up to try a quick lesson in pole climbing at the Electric Line training field, but found the endeavor more difficult than he expected and was called back down from a height of two feet.

NASHVILLE - A major subdivision planned along the Tar River Reservoir south of Nashville has received initial approval from the Nash County Planning Board, but will not receive county commissioner consideration because no rezoning has been applied for or was necessary under current R-40 zoning.
The Leon Road Subdivision sketch plan, as presented March 16, consists of 55 new residential lots on 69.34 acres located on the west side of Leon Road, Nashville.
As presented by Aaron Chalker, Nash County Senior Planner, the subdivision sits on three adjacent tracts, two of which are adjacent to the reservoir.

NASHVILLE - A new large subdivision to be built on both sides of W. Old Spring Hope Road in Middlesex has passed initial muster by the Nash County Planning Board, paving the way for development of 151 new residential lots.
Bissette's Bay Subdivision, comprised of 193 acres, is to be built just south of Frazier's Crossroads at the intersection of W. Old Spring Hope Road and Frazier Road. Originally zoned A1 Agricultural, an application was made to rezone the property to RA-30-CZ.

NASHVILLE - For the fifth consecutive year, Braswell Family Farms supplied eggs for the White House Easter Egg roll on behalf of America's egg farmers and the American Egg Board.
U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins was in Nashville March 30th for a BFF tour "for an inside look at how eggs move from farm to table - and to the South Lawn of the White House," according to a press release.