DOBSON – Three local farmers are among 70 Seventy family farms across North Carolina who have been named winners in a grant program aimed at supporting family farms.
Joseph Shrum from Mount Airy will use the grant to install an irrigation system that will allow them to expand their market garden from 1.5 acres to 5.5 acres.
Lorrie Sawyers of Pinnacle will use the grant to build a point-of-sale building for the family strawberry farm.
Renee Westmoreland from Mount Airy will use the grant to tag, band and vaccinate cattle at seven former tobacco farms to obtain GAP certification with a cattle squeeze chute/handling system.
The competitive grant program is administered by the NC State Extension Service, with funding provided through the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. The grants are awarded for innovative projects aimed at diversifying, expanding, or implementing new entrepreneurial plans for farm operations.
Growers received grant awards of between $2,000 and $8,000. Farmers in 46 counties were eligible.
The North Carolina General Assembly created the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission in 2000 to lessen the financial impact to farmers and tobacco-related businesses caused by the sharp decline of tobacco in the agricultural economy.
Sigmon, Spencer bring Unique Sound show to Earle
April 03, 2022
Larry Sigmon and Martha Spencer return to the Historic Earle Theatre with their Unique Sound of the Mountains show on Saturday, April 9 at 7 p.m.
Larry Sigmon was born in Callaway, Virginia. His father, Lewis Eldridge Sigmon, was a locally beloved banjo and fiddle player. Larry Sigmon taught himself harmonica as a child and then moved to guitar, learning to play by backing up his father. When he took up the banjo at 15, it became his main instrument, and he developed a signature hard-driving, rhythmic style.
The younger Sigmon’s first band was the Sugar Hill Ramblers, a six-piece group that performed old-time tunes and old country numbers for six years. He went on to play stints with Carl Scott and Richard Bowman until the late 1980s when he met bassist Barbara Poole at a local fiddlers’ convention.
He and Poole began performing together, winning countless ribbons in banjo, bass, and folk song competitions and playing at festivals, dances, and other concert venues. Their sound was so distinctive with just the banjo, bass, and Sigmon’s distinct singing, they became known as the “Unique Sound,” and gained a dedicated local following, particularly among flatfoot dancers.
The two drew upon a repertoire of old-time and bluegrass songs from Charlie Poole to Jimmy Martin and Bill Monroe, making songs their own through Sigmon’s strong vocals and Poole’s double-slap bass. Throughout their 18-year career, the duo performed at the Carter Family Fold, the Grand Ole Opry, and mountain music festivals throughout the South, becoming one of the most popular bands in the Blue Ridge Mountains until Poole passed away in 2008 after a long struggle with cancer.
Sigmon had quit performing until old-time musician and advocate Martha Spencer arrived to interview him for her online documentary project, Mountain Music Magazine. Like Sigmon, Spencer was raised in a musical family, the daughter of acclaimed old-time musicians Thornton and Emily Spencer and a longtime member of their family group, the Whitetop Mountain Band.
During their interview, she encouraged Sigmon to play some tunes, joining him on bass and playing Poole’s signature spirited double-slap style. The two took to each other immediately, and the “Unique Sound” was reborn.
This performance at the Historic Earle Theatre is part of the Surry Art Council’s Blue Ridge and Beyond Series. Tickets are $12 per person. For additional information or tickets, visit www.surryarts.org, call 336-786-7998, or email [email protected].
April 03, 2022
The Board of Directors of Surrey Bancorp (OTC Pink Sheets: SRYB), the parent company of Surrey Bank & Trust, has promoted Pedro (Peter) A. Pequeno II to president of both the parent company and the bank. The board also promoted William (Bill) A. Johnson to senior vice president and chief lending officer of the bank as part of its management succession plan.
Edward (Ted) C. Ashby III, the long-time president of both entities, will remain CEO of both the bank and of the parent company and will continue to serve as a director of both entities.
Pequeno has been with the bank since it opened in 1996. As senior vice president and chief lending officer, Pequeno managed the bank’s loan and credit divisions. Pequeno’s new responsibilities include oversight of loan operations, deposit operations, branch operations, digital banking, compliance, and lending.
Johnson served as a member of the board of directors from 1996 to 2012, when he resigned from the board to lead the bank’s expansion into Elkin and Wilkes County. Most recently, Johnson served as the bank’s western regional executive. Johnson will oversee all lending activity.
Pequeno and Johnson have held leadership roles in the organization for more than 25 years. “These promotions will allow them to use their experience and talents to profitability grow our company,” Ashby said.
Surrey Bank & Trust is a full-service retail and commercial bank serving Northwest North Carolina and Southwest Virginia. The bank, headquartered in Mount Airy, has seven offices in Surry and Wilkes counties and in Patrick County, Virginia.
April 03, 2022
Many times even the best-laid plans go up in smoke — but that’s exactly what one Mount Airy official hopes will occur regarding a sanitation-related proposal he has floated.
The city government is now paying Surry County about $40,000 per year to dump brush at the county landfill south of town after it is collected from Mount Airy residences.
Disposing of such waste has been an ongoing concern among municipal officials, surrounding both cost and logistical issues involving the use of a grapple truck to gather items such as tree limbs and other yard waste as a special service to citizens. Huge piles of cut trees and shrubbery sometimes are left along local streets, which are collected by workers manning the truck and hauled away.
A possible improvement in that process emerged on March 23 during a city government planning retreat to address budgetary and other long-range matters. This included department heads discussing their operations along with related facility, personnel and other needs.
As Public Works Director Mitch Williams was presenting information about his realm of responsibility, which includes trash collection, he relayed a suggestion by new City Manager Stan Farmer, who assumed that post on Jan. 31.
“Have you ever thought about burning your brush?” Williams said he was asked by Farmer as he was making the rounds of public works facilities with the manager.
“That’s one of the things we’re looking at as a cost-saving measure,” Farmer explained during the retreat.
Rather than making regular trips to the county landfill and racking up thousands of dollars in fees along the way, the city manager is suggesting that the brush be taken to some open area and burned.
One possible site identified so far for this is a large field adjacent to the city wastewater-treatment plant off U.S. 52 at the south end of town, which does not appear to be near any homes.
Farmer said this process is used in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, where he served as city manager for 13.5 years before resigning in October.
While saving money, the burning of brush could be viewed as creating other problems related to air quality, which Fire Chief Zane Poindexter commented on after that proposal was presented.
“Not with natural vegetation I don’t see any,” Poindexter said of disposing of such material in this manner.
“But if we were to get any complaints, we would surely address them,” the fire chief added.
April 03, 2022
The free Master Gardener Online Lunch and Learn will focus on sustainable native landscaping options with a two-part webinar series this month and next.
Part 1 of the session will be Landscaping With Native Plants, offered on April 7 from noon until 1 p.m.
Part 2 of Landscaping With Native Plants is scheduled for May 5 from noon until 1 p.m.
For more information and registration for the first class follow the link to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/landscaping-with-native-plants-part-1. Part 2 registration will open April 7 at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/171491073417.
April 03, 2022
Mount Airy Elks Lodge No. 261 have a commitment to giving back to the community. After being constrained by the pandemic from their normal slate of in-person events, the group is now getting back into the swing of things.
Last week, Lodge No. 261 was at it again as they presented a check to the Children’s Center of Northwest North Carolina, a repeated target of giving from the Elks. The Beacon Grant of the Elks National Foundation was awarded to the Children’s Center for $1,650.
“Over the last eight years the Mount Airy Elks Motorcycle Committee has used the Beacon Grant to support the Children’s Center of Surry and Yadkin counties,” Elks local secretary Mark Alderman explained of the grant’s goal. “Each year the Lodge received $3,500 to support the Children’s Centers by purchasing school supplies, coats, clothing, shoes, and other necessities for all the children. Also, making sure they have a good Christmas.
“They take them out on outings such as bowling, movies, and usually a meal at Thirteen Bones along with the counselors and staff. Last year, due to the pandemic they were only able to donate monetarily,” he went on. “This year after purchasing the needed items for all the children, and with the continuing aftermath of the pandemic, we closed out the grant with a monetary donation of $1,650.”
The Elks National Foundation is the charitable arm of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and has a budget for program services in the 2021-22 fiscal year totaling $36.4 million. Their Community Investment Program (CIP) totals $14.9 million of the Elks overall charitable budget. Among the CIP grants issued by the National Foundation include the Spotlight Grant, Gratitude Grant, Impact Grant, Freedom Grant, and the Beacon Grant.
This year the Lodge received more than $ 7,500 in grant monies to provide for the community. The Gratitude Grant of $2,000 was split between three organizations the Maranatha Homeless Outreach Ministries, St. Andrew Lutheran Outreach Ministries and The Helping Hands of Surry these organizations provide meals and necessities to the homeless and needy throughout our community and surrounding area.
Local Elks Lodges can use the Gratitude Grants as they see fit. As they are the reward from the foundation for every Lodge that meets the National President’s per-member goal for giving. Alderman mentioned the phrase, “Elks care, Elks share,” and this grant bears that out: They can do more locally because their local members anted up when called upon to do so.
The Spotlight Grant of $2,000 was recently donated monetarily to the Mount Airy Men’s Shelter. Spotlight is appropriately named as the Elks denote that grant should be used to highlight an issue of concern for the community. As homelessness, and specifically the needs of homeless men, are issues that need attention the Elks targeted the newly formed shelter to shine the spotlight on the group, and the core issue of homelessness.
“The Elks are a very patriotic organization and have a solemn pledge that as long as there are veterans the Elks will never forget them,” Alderman said. His lodge has various programs that support veterans, around Veterans Day they have a have a free potluck meal for any veteran that comes. “The last two years the lodge has been involved in Fishing with Veterans Program where we invite veterans on a fishing outing at Cedar Springs Fish Farm, the lodge pays their fishing fees and provides them with a boxed lunch purchased from Aunt Bea’s.
“The lodge also supports The Veterans Home in Salisbury, visiting them at Easter and Christmas and recently purchased a 40-inch TV for the soon-to-open Veterans Home in Kernersville. The North Carolina Elks Association members provides TV’s, supplies, necessities, and handicap vans for all the North Carolina Veterans Homes,” Alderman said of the Elks’ focus on veterans.
Their Hoop Shoot Free Throw Contest is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in Chicago May 30, where three North Carolina youth will be one of 72 boys and girls competing for the National Title. Alderman also noted the Elks scholarship program give out significant amounts to students, totaling more than $4.5 million last year. “So, you see why Elks standout in communities all across the country.”
April 03, 2022
With the sharp decline in COVID-19 cases locally, the Surry County Health and Nutrition Center will be curtailing its free COVID testing.
Beginning on Monday, the agency will offer free testing at the center, at 118 Hamby Road in Dobson. Prior to this, the center had been offering free testing in Mount Airy, Dobson, and Elkin, either six or seven days a week, depending upon the site.
The testing had been a major component in the center’s effort, working with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, to slow the spread of the coronavirus. During several waves of the virus, Surry County had been reporting more than 100 cases a day, and rarely dropped below 40 cases a day once the pandemic was in full force in 2020.
More recently the county has seen as few as two new cases a day, and has recorded just single-digit new daily cases over its 14-day and seven-day average.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Community Levels, Surry County is considered low when measuring the impact of COVID-19 illness on health and the healthcare system,” the local agency said in announcing the testing changes.
The lower numbers have been seen across much of North Carolina. The state health department has even changed its website, updating the new number of cases just once per week now, compared to daily updates during much of the pandemic.
The local, free PCR testing at the nutrition center will be available Monday through Friday from 8:15 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Anyone interested in getting tested should register in advance by calling 1-877-562-4850.
“Upon arrival to the Surry County Health and Nutrition Center testing site, please park in one of the designated parking spots and call the number listed. A state staff member will assist you at your vehicle” center officials said.
For more information, visit the center’s website at www.surry.com or its Facebook page.
April 02, 2022
• A break-in at Running River Laundromat in the 1300 block of South Main Street has resulted in major property damage and the theft of an undisclosed sum of money from coin-operated machines, according to Mount Airy Police Department reports.
The crime, occurring overnight Monday, was committed by a known suspect, records state, which indicate that damage put at $5,950 resulted, mostly to a Maytag washing machine and a claw machine. Damage also occurred to a dryer door, a door lock, four LED strip lights and a glass window to a shed.
Bobby James Jones of Brown Road is listed as a victim of the crime along with Running River Laundromat.
• Another break-in discovered Tuesday morning at Granite City Cigar resulted in the theft of merchandise valued at hundreds of dollars.
Entry was gained to the business on Merita Street after an air-conditioning unit was removed from a window. This enabled the theft of menthol cigarettes and four Pyrex Sherlock smoking devices, with the total value of the stolen merchandise put at $699.
• Shamal Niquan Cox, 25, listed as homeless, was charged with larceny and possession of stolen goods Tuesday after officers responded to a civil disturbance at Walmart, where Cox allegedly was found in possession of Foster’s beer and a pastry taken from the store which were not recovered.
Cox was held in the Surry County Jail under a $100 secured bond and slated for a Monday appearance in District Court.
• Joey Keith Caudle, 31, listed as homeless, was charged with being intoxicated and disruptive on March 23, when he was encountered by officers during a suspicious-person investigation at 328 Willow St., the address for Spencer’s Mill Apartments, where Caudle allegedly was causing a public disturbance.
He was released on a written promise to appear in Surry District Court on May 2.
• Corey David Bumgardner, 30, of 507 W. Virginia St., was charged with misdemeanor larceny on March 22 relating to property being stolen two days earlier at Northern Star Garage on North Franklin Road, for which no other details were listed.
The case is set for the April 25 District Court session.
April 02, 2022
A plan by Mount Airy officials to acquire property in a troubled area was derailed Friday when it was revealed before a scheduled auction that the land already had been bought by another party.
This was the latest development in a strange set of circumstances surrounding the small lot on West Pine Street beside the former Koozies building and the old Mittman Paint and Body Shop located across the street, both facing possible demolition.
Both sites, owned by two sisters in Lewisville who are heirs of John Mittman — who ran that shop — were slated for a double-header sale Friday morning, but only the Mittman property went on the auction block and not the land on West Pine.
Bobby Koehler, the owner of Ultimate Towing and Recovery in Mount Airy, made the highest bid for the Mittman site.
Mount Airy officials had planned to bid on the quarter-acre lot nearby along West Pine, which previously was dealt a setback due to one of the sisters recently selling her half-share of the property to local businessman Wes Collins.
As Friday’s scheduled dual action got under way, attended by about 30 people, it was announced that the small site would not be part of the proceedings due to the second sister also agreeing to convey her share to Collins.
“I’m advised that that’s what the other property owner has agreed to sell to him,” said local attorney Fred Johnson, who was spearheading the auction of both properties pursuant to a court order. A commissioner’s sale was involved, which typically occurs to satisfy a debt.
The Mount Airy Board of Commissioners had voted 4-1 on March 17 in favor of having a bid submitted on the municipality’s behalf at the auction for the small lot, with the board’s Jon Cawley dissenting.
No specific use was identified for the property. But Mayor Ron Niland has said it could play a strategic role involving the Koozies building, a former private club by that name which the municipality has deemed unfit for occupancy along with Mittman’s and another dilapidated structure nearby.
In February, the commissioners voted 4-1 in directing the separate owners of the Koozies property, the Mittman facility and the so-called red building on West Pine Street beside Worth Honda to either bring the structures up to code or demolish them.
Their failure to do so by a 90-day deadline would open the door for the municipality to raze the buildings and possibly take ownership of the land left behind to cover the demolition costs.
Niland has said that having the extra lot available next door might make the overall site more attractive for redevelopment by the private sector due to providing space for parking or other needs.
Cawley objected to the bid plan because of the lot not being needed by the city government and his belief that it shouldn’t be competing with private interests.
Collins, meanwhile, already owns property containing a building next door to the West Pine Street lot, which Cawley said made sense for him to acquire because of that proximity. Collins has declined to comment on the situation, including any intended uses for the lot.
Cawley attended Friday’s auction along with City Attorney Hugh Campbell and commissioner candidates Gene Clark and John Pritchard.
About seven years ago, the three threatened structures and other property in the same vicinity were declared blighted by the now-defunct Mount Airy Redevelopment Commission amid plans for major changes including constructing a traffic roundabout as a downtown gateway.
Mittman building auctioned
Friday’s auction of the former Mittman Paint and Body Shop went smoothly, culminating with Koehler outbidding a handful of other prospective buyers in a back-and-forth affair lasting around a half-hour.
Those attending gathered inside the old shop building, maneuvering around puddles of water on the floor in a setting also populated by abandoned tires and paint cans reflecting its former use.
Koehler was not actually present, but bid by telephone while en route to Mount Airy from Charlotte to personnel of Rogers Realty and Auction Co., which conducted the sale.
Auctioneer Dale Fulk started the bidding for the building and land at 109 S. South St., which has a tax value of $48,000, at $50,000. And when there were no takers he reverted to the lower end of the scale at $10,000 and that gradually increased by $1,000 increments to the final uncontested offer by Koehler of $38,000.
It is subject to an upset bid procedure in which someone else interested in the property can offer more through the clerk of court, which also can be raised in turn during that process.
“Ten days have to go by without anyone filing a bid,” Johnson explained regarding how it culminates, also requiring court certification.
In addition to being subjected to the city’s directive to improve or demolish the building which the the new owner will assume, the attorney pointed to another possible complication.
Since the Mittman building involves what city zoning regulations define as a non-conforming use, the cost of any major renovation of the structure will be limited to 60% of its tax value of $19,950.
That figure amounts to $11,970.
Koehler could not be reached for comment Friday regarding his plans for the property should he ultimately assume its ownership.
April 02, 2022
Several hundred area youth turned out Saturday for the Surry County Parks and Recreation Easter Egg Hunt at Fisher River Park in Dobson.
Divided into three age groups — aged birth up to 3, 4- to 6, and 7 and older — there was an opportunity for kids of all ages to find some of the 8,000 eggs hidden at the park. There were also games, face painting, and a chance to meet with the Easter Bunny.
April 02, 2022
The Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce will host a student job fair and career fair on Thursday April 28 at Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Student Job Fair will assist high school and college students who are seeking part time, full time, summer jobs, apprenticeships and internships. This event will also allow students to explore other career options. Students who will be graduating this spring are welcome to attend. Student admission to the event is free and all students are welcome.
The chamber has opened the event for vendor space to any company/organization which may have current or future job openings for students, internships or apprenticeships. Event sponsorship is also available for the event. Interested vendors or sponsors should contact Randy Collins at the chamber for vendor and sponsorship fees. Email him at [email protected]. Information on the event is also available on the chamber’s website: www.mtairyncchamber.org.
Collins, the chamber’s president and CEO, said that job fairs are not new to the chamber.
“We have held a traditional job fair for the past several years,” he said. “For 2022, this event will be the second annual job fair just for students. We look forward to welcoming employers and students to our event on April 28.”
Interested students should contact their school’s career center for more information, registration and transportation arrangements. Attendees should bring a resume. The NCWorks Mobile Career Center will be on site to assist students with resumes, interviewing and tips on a successful job search.
April 02, 2022
Surry Community College student Kyle Yanchura of Durham is the winner of a $500 scholarship from the Surry Community College Foundation due to her participation in a media preferences survey in fall 2021.
Yanchura is a clinical nurse specialist in neurology and neurosurgery for Duke University Hospital where she has worked for five years. She has a master’s degree in nursing from John Hopkins University and has 23 years of experience in the medical field. She began her career as a health administrator before becoming a nurse.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she developed an interest in wine and toured several North Carolina wineries where she learned about Surry Community College’s Viticulture and Enology program. She is taking online classes in SCC’s Tasting Room Operations certificate program.
“I like to learn. All my adult life I have taken classes at community colleges near where I have lived,” Yanchura said. “Community college is affordable and offers great instruction.”
She can envision herself working at a winery when she retires from the medical field.
“I thought viticulture and enology would be a fun thing to check out. I could see myself working part-time in the field someday,” she said. “I am a lifelong learner, and I had taken classes in horticulture at another community college, so this is a neat comparison.”
Yanchura has taken classes on the following topics: viticulture, wine tasting, wine finance and wine business.
She was among the hundreds of SCC students who responded to the statewide survey sponsored by the N.C. Community College System and organized by Media Prefs, a brand of Interact Communications. Her name was randomly drawn from the participants.
April 02, 2022
There is an opportunity coming to explore the universe from the confines of Pilot Mountain State Park during the 2022 Statewide Star Party being held next weekend. Event organizers say it offers space enthusiasts an opportunity to “understand the universe” and will be held at locations around the state.
Thanks to grant support from the North Carolina Space Grant, the 2022 North Carolina Science Festival (NCSF) will again feature the Statewide Star Party as its signature initiative. The Star Party at Pilot Mountain State Park is being held Friday, April 8, from 7 – 10 p.m. at the Pilot Mountain Summit.
“We are looking forward to hosting Star Party as it is the first big event in over two years,” Park Ranger Maggie Miller said of the upcoming stargazing session.
The science festival is a month-long celebration designed to help spread education through exciting, educational, and fun events. This year the festival is comprised of 313 events across the state, a selection of which are being held virtually as not everyone is ready to be part of a crowd again. The complete list will be found at ncsciencefestival.org/find-events.
This will be the tenth annual Statewide Star Party and 35 hosts will offer public sky watching events across North Carolina on both Friday, April 8, and Saturday, April 9.
The nearest local event is being held at Pilot Mountain, and a full listing of star parties can be found on the North Carolina Science Festival’s website: ncsciencefestival.org/starparty. Note that Pilot Mountain is participating in the Friday event only.
“The ‘daytime’ astronomical activities will be at the picnic area located at the summit before it gets dark,” Miller said. “That is a very short walk away from the parking area. Otherwise, the event is located around the summit parking area to stargaze and look through telescopes.”
Other host locations for the Star Parties include colleges and universities, planetariums, science centers, nature centers, and libraries. About 3,500 visitors are expected to participate in events across the state.
The 2022 theme “Understanding the Universe” holds its focus on science and engineering related to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Party hosts are provided with a Star Party kit of activities and NASA resources on this theme to help guide the discussions and exploration.
Participants will get hands-on with interactive astronomical activities about the JWST. When the sky begins to darken, it will be time to put the amassed astronomy knowledge to the test through telescope use and star gazing.
JWST is the most powerful space telescope ever built and is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), rather than its replacement. A joint project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Canadian Space Agency, and the European Space Agency, JWST launched Christmas Day last year.
Upon reaching its destination JWST will obit the sun at 930,000 miles from Earth and is therefore not serviceable once deployed. Hubble meanwhile stayed closer to its home as it orbits the Earth at approximately 340 miles, while the International Space Station orbits at 200 miles above the Earth.
The images and information from JWST are still forthcoming as it finishes calibrations. However, if the results are even marginally as useful as those from HST, then students 20 years from now may have an entirely new concept of the universe and its origins.
Hubble allowed astronomers to see objects in space much clearer than before, but it had its limitations and when first brought into operation had a serious mirror malfunction. A series of successive repairs brought it into working order and the images have delighted astronomers and the layperson ever since. At around $11 billion JWST was twice as costly, even after the HST repairs are factored in.
What Webb can do that Hubble could not is capture images of objects through space dust by using infrared cameras that detect heat radiation coming from objects obscured otherwise by the space dust. In theory, Webb will allow astronomers to observe the birth and development of stars and planets to search for the answer to the origins of the universe.
Ranger Miller reminds that unlike in the vastness of space, on terra firma space is finite. “There will be approximately 70 parking spaces available, reduced from 90 for volunteer parking and telescopes. Carpooling is encouraged so more people can attend. When the lot is full, we will have to turn people away for safety concerns. We cannot have people parked along the roadside.”
Miller wants people to come an enjoy the event at the park, noting that “Friends of Sauratown Mountains will be there selling snacks and drinks, and there will also be a raffle for fun space-related prizes. Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and enjoy the night sky on top of Pilot Mountain.”
In man’s ceaseless quest to seek out new life and new civilizations, the Webb telescope may indeed go where no one has gone before. A short trip to Pilot Mountain next weekend however may get you closer than before to the great unknown.
April 01, 2022
The general public has a chance to weigh in on the future of downtown Mount Airy during an upcoming series of workshops, the first of which will be held Monday.
It is scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Mount Airy Museum of Regional History in the heart of downtown at 301 N. Main St.
Other workshops are planned at the same times next Thursday and on April 19, also at the museum.
These sessions are coming on the heels of a November vote by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners to allocate $67,000 in city funding for an update of a master plan for downtown Mount Airy. The goal is to enhance a previous plan completed in 2004 to incorporate the present economic climate and other factors.
When the update is completed this summer, it is expected to better guide future investments in Mount Airy’s central business district, both private and public, in a coherent and cost-effective manner.
In addition to the city government funding allocated toward the modernized plan, financial input from the group Mount Airy Downtown Inc. also is involved for a total commitment of about $125,000.
Workshop topics
The upcoming series of workshops is considered a key part of the master plan update by the Benchmark consulting firm that already is handling planning-related services for Mount Airy through a privatization move started in 2011.
Monday’s initial gathering will focus on potential designs for North Main Street, including concepts for a “new” street to improve accessibility and functionality, according to a March 3 presentation during a commissioners meeting by Benchmark President Jason Epley.
Changes to downtown traffic patterns have been mentioned as potential outcomes of the master plan update, such as converting the present one-way system to two-way and removing stoplights.
The topics for the second workshop next Thursday include pedestrian connectivity, greenway connectivity and parking (including management and long-term strategies), along with tourism and development sites.
Meanwhile, the third workshop will provide a summary overview of the main ideas for downtown Mount Airy’s future.
City government officials are urging anyone interested in that to attend the workshops and offer his or her suggestions.
“We need your ideas and input to maximize the planning efforts for the downtown and surrounding areas,” states an announcement from Assistant City Manager Darren Lewis.
To this point the master plan process has included a survey to gauge downtown concerns of the public and listening sessions held over two days in February which included 55 people.
Updating the plan will be a nine-month process ending in July, according to Benchmark officials.
April 01, 2022
There are those big banner birthdays that are hard to get around, the ones that have a zero at the end – you know the ones. Try as COVID-19 may have liked to stop the hands of time, Surry County still had its 250th anniversary and then marched right on to the next anniversary as well.
Over the past two years there have been graduations, weddings, and all manner of events affected by the pandemic and, sadly, there were plans that got scrapped altogether that could not be rescheduled, those opportunities lost to the vicious virus.
Plans that had been designed to celebrate the sestercentennial, or the 250th anniversary, of Surry County, had to be put on hold too as the virus began its march around the globe. Now, as the world wearily looks to gauge if we may be approaching the end of the pandemic, aspects of life are bending back toward normal.
The masks have mostly disappeared, the Final Fours tip-off this weekend, the trickle of remote workers returning to their desks continues, in-person worship, and even up close and personal encounters at awards shows have resumed.
Of course, exceptions will remain, and some businesses may choose their own standards, but it seems people have grown accustomed to the potential dangers from the virus and precautions are now primarily left to the individual’s own decision making.
As the rates of infection and hospitalization across the United States continue their downward trend, Surry County is preparing to ramp back up sestercentennial events eloquently dubbed Surry 250 that were shelved due to the global health crisis.
Kate Rauhauser-Smith, history column contributor to the Mount Airy News, has in previous years wished the county a happy birthday on April 1. She provided the lesson that Gov. William Tryon signed the bill creating Surry County in January 1771. However, law required the act to be published and announced in various public places for a period of three months before it was enacted on the first day of April.
Part of the sestercentennial celebration will be to honor Jerry Atkins and Melvin T. Jackson for their creations from the American Bicentennial celebrations of 1976 that still adorn the likes of the Surry County Courthouse and all county documents.
In the fall of 1974, the Surry County Board of Commissioners authorized the Surry County American Revolution Bicentennial Commission to conduct a contest to select an official flag and seal for the county.
Jerry Atkins submitted the winning seal design, and Melvin Jackson won the flag design contest, “at the time we had neither,” Jackson recalls. The notice in the Mount Airy News for the contest noted a prize was to be awarded and he remembers, “I think we got a $50 savings bond.”
The tricolor Surry County flag design from Jackson carries the date of 1770, which represents the date of the act that formed Surry County which Gov. Tryon then signed in to law the next year. The original submission of the flag design is found in both the physical archives of Surry Community College, and their extensive collection of county artifacts online.
Atkins designed for Surry County’s seal a gold backdrop with “The Great Seal of Surry County” around its circumference. An outline of the county contains a picture of Pilot Mountain, a block of granite, a tobacco leaf, and a spool off thread with a gear.
Atkins chose those design elements not by accident as the granite block and Pilot Mountain Knob were chosen for their relevance to the area’s beauty and economy. The gear and spool of thread he said symbolize the area’s rich history in textiles and manufacturing. Finally, the tobacco he chose for his own family’s connection to the crop that was the cornerstone of many Surry County farms.
“When I saw his flag design, I knew it would win. He was proud of the flag,” Atkins said of his teacher. Being able to spot a winner, he hitched his horse to that cart, “When I saw his flag, I knew I should include it in the seal.”
Now years later, the seal and flag are approaching a milestone – their own 50th birthday. “I am happy that Jerry Atkins is finally getting recognized for his work,” he said of his reaction to seeing the flag still visible. “It is long overdue,” the teacher said as he deflected attention back toward his former student, his sense of pride in his student’s accomplishment still on display.
Atkins feels similarly “tickled” that the seal is still in use and that his design may have inspired elements of Mount Airy’s seal. After so much time, both men were thankful that their designs still garner attention and that they will be recognized by the county commissioners at a meeting for their work.
The sestercentennial events that were shelved such as a lecture series and the Surry 250 Bus Tour around historical sites of the county are being reworked now, and county public information officer Nathan Walls said when dates are finalized, word will be disseminated.
All that remains is to wish Surry County a happy birthday: you do not look a day over 230.
March 31, 2022
• A Mount Airy woman is facing three counts of assault on a government official and driving while impaired stemming from a March 23 traffic crash, according to city police reports.
Records indicate that the incident occurred at 1908 Rockford St., with Candyce Ladee Joi Grant, 36, of 1015 Mitchell St., exhibiting signs of impairment during the investigation. Grant was arrested and taken to the police station, where she allegedly refused breath testing and subsequently was served with a search warrant to obtain a blood sample drawn by Surry EMS personnel.
The assault allegations were not explained in police records, which state that a $5,000 unsecured bond was set for Grant, who was released from custody to her mother and is facing an April 18 appearance in Surry District Court.
• Rebecca Alison Wallace, 58, listed as homeless, was jailed on a second-degree trespassing violation Sunday after allegedly refusing to leave Knight’s Inn on North Andy Griffith Parkway after being told to by the manager. Wallace was held in the Surry County Jail under a $100 secured bond, with an April 11 court date set for the case.
• Andrew Chester Crotts, 44, of 2358 Flint Hill Road, Cana, Virginia, was charged with larceny and possession of stolen goods last Saturday at Dollar General on North Renfro Street. He is accused of taking packages of Total Hydration ChapStick from the business, which were recovered.
Crotts is scheduled to be in District Court on April 11.
• Larry Dwayne Bouldin, 51, listed as both homeless and with an address at 338 Durham St., was charged with larceny on March 19 at Food Lion on West Pine Street, where he is accused of stealing Bud Ice beer. He was scheduled to be in court this past Monday.
On March 20, Bouldin was charged with second-degree trespassing at Lady Bug Laundry on North South Street, after being banned from that location three days earlier. He was released under a $1,000 unsecured bond in that incident to appear in Surry District Court on April 11.
• More information has come to light involving an Alleghany County man accused of passing a form of fake currency known as “copy money” in Mount Airy on March 17. Such bills, which have turned up in other jurisdictions, are said to look and feel like the real thing, but contain the words “copy money” printed in small letters.
In addition to victimizing Circle K on Rockford Street and receiving real money in exchange for a bogus $20 bill, as previously reported, Noah Shane Blevins, 18, of Ennice, passed two $20 copy money bills at both the Circle K and Speedway stores on West Pine Street and three at Circle K on North Main Street in order to obtain genuine currency, and attempted to do so at Sheetz.
Blevins is facing six felony charges altogether from that one-day spree, including five counts of obtaining property by false pretense and one of attempting to obtain property by false pretense. He was confined in the Surry County Jail under a $6,000 secured bond and is facing an April 18 appearance in District Court.
• Jason Lee McBride, 42, listed as a homeless resident of Dobson, was charged with larceny on March 17 after allegedly taking Febreze car air freshener at Dollar General on North Renfro Street. An officer encountered McBride at the Ollie’s store next door and he admitted to the theft, retrieving the stolen item from a pants pocket and giving it to the officer.
The case is set for the April 18 District Court session.
March 31, 2022
Two Pinnacle-area women were rushed to the hospital in serious condition suffering from stab wounds, while the brother of one of the women was jailed after a family squabble turned violent.
Colton Ryan Collins, 27, of 291 Ayers Road, Pinnacle, was arrested on the scene and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. He was jailed under a $300,000 secured bond with an April 13 court date scheduled, according to a statement on the incident released by Surry County Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt.
The Surry County Sheriff’s Office initially received a call regarding a stabbing or cutting incident at 291 Ayers Road in Pinnacle. When patrol deputies arrived on the scene, they found Melissa Ann Collins, 48, and Meagan Cheyenne Collins, 24, both of the same address, suffering from stab wounds, according to the sheriff.
”Both female victims were transported by Surry County Emergency Medical Services to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital and they were in serious condition,” he said.
Deputies on the scene requested the assistance of the sheriff office’s Criminal Investigation Division. Detectives arrived on the scene and started expanding the investigation into the incident. That investigation eventually led to the arrest of Colton Collins.
The sheriff said the “incident started over an aggressive assault that occurred between Colton and Meagan,” who are siblings, and ended with the two women being stabbed. It was not immediately clear what relation Melissa Ann Collins was to the two.
“Additional charges related to this incident are forthcoming,” the sheriff said, while declining to give additional information. He said in his statement the probe is still ongoing. Assisting agencies were the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Surry County Emergency Medical Services and the Shoals Volunteer Fire Department, he said.
March 31, 2022
Flat Rock was the scene of a possible earthquake this week, but some additional rumblings have been shaking up the small community east of Mount Airy in the wake of a recent traffic change there.
Residents and other travelers in the area object to a new all-way stop configuration at the intersection of East Pine Street (N.C. 103) and McBride/Quaker Road near Flat Rock Elementary School, saying it is unsafe and impeding vehicular flow.
This has included launching a petition drive to have the N.C. Department of Transportation remove the four-way stop system implemented on March 10. It now requires motorists approaching the busy intersection from all four directions to come to a complete halt before proceeding.
Previously only those arriving at the crossroads from Quaker and McBride roads — which face each other at N.C. 103 — encountered stop signs.
“The new all-way stop on 103 has the main highway backed up, blocking businesses and the elementary school,” in the view of Shanny Chappell, who started the petition on the change.org website — https://www.change.org/p/take-the-all-way-4-way-stop-away-from-103-quaker-mcbride-roads?redirect=false
As of Thursday, 904 people had signed the petition toward a goal of 1,000 on the website that provides the public with the ability to promote causes among potential signers. The Flat Rock effort garnered more than 500 signatures in the first four days it was established more than two weeks ago.
Drivers — especially of faster vehicles coming from either direction on N.C. 103 — don’t always notice, or heed, the stop signs, according to those opposed to the change DOT officials say was undertaken in the name of safety.
“Some blow right through the stop sign,” said Janice King, a longtime resident of Flat Rock who lives on McBride Road about a mile from the intersection. “People aren’t slowing down.”
King, a former employee of the Mount Airy Police Department and Surry County District Attorney’s Office, pointed out Wednesday that N.C. 103 is a truck route populated by big rigs hauling logs and other products from or to Virginia.
A further situation compromising safety involves motorists, particularly the elderly, being uncertain about how to react when reaching the four-way stop and thus creating dangerous bottlenecks.
“People are arriving at the same time and don’t know what to do,” King said.
“My biggest fear is a tractor-trailer is going to hit a family in a car and somebody is going to get killed.”
“People don’t even stop at the stop signs at night,” said another Flat Rock resident, Jamie Potts, who commented about the situation Wednesday while standing in front of a Citgo convenience store on the corner of N.C. 103 and Quaker Road.
Potts mentioned that motorists sometimes will cut through the store parking lot to avoid the all-way stop, creating another safety issue. “They come through about 25 miles per hour.”
“It’s too dang dangerous,” Judy Jessup commented in a post on the petition website.
“I don’t even go that way now.”
Added another petition signer, Jennifer Laws: “I don’t see how this is helping at all.”
Critics of the change say the situation is especially problematic in the mornings and afternoons as the school day begins and ends at Flat Rock Elementary.
Reasons for all-way stop
When announcing the addition of the four-way stop sign system in early March, N.C. Department of Transportation officials explained that it was in response to an elevated crash rate at the site.
This included a study examining the five-year accident history of the intersection which revealed 14 dangerous-angle crashes, prompting crews to install the extra stop signs requiring all traffic to stop and warning signage.
“I’ll bet there’s been fourteen since since they put up the durn stop signs, or near misses,” King countered Wednesday concerning the accident rate.
Economics also was a factor, with an all-way stop considered an effective and cost-efficient way to improve the safety of an intersection.
King said she and other residents in the area have long sought regular traffic lights there.
That idea was rejected by the DOT, with Division 11 Traffic Engineer Daniel Adams noting — in correspondence with Janice King and her husband Mark — that it is not a viable option.
“An evaluation was made to see if a signal was warranted,” added Adams, who is based in North Wikesboro, “however, it failed to meet the warrants for a signal.”
The intersection of N.C. 103 and McBride/Quaker Road was deemed “a good candidate” for the all-way stop, the traffic engineer advised. He added that studies show a 68-percent reduction in crashes when converting from a two-way to four-way stop situation.
Janice King said that for years small flashing lights existed there, and about two weeks ago a large flashing red light system was erected to provide an additional warning — apparently to quell concerns arising from the change made earlier in the month.
“If you can do all that, why can’t you put in a regular stoplight?” the Flat Rock resident said of the DOT, calling the four-way-stop format “absolutely ridiculous.”
King doubts that any local stakeholders were consulted before the change occurred, such as the Surry Emergency Medical Service, Four-Way Volunteer Fire Department, county commissioners or Surry County Schools.
Some residents reportedly are planning to attend a commissioners meeting to air the issue during a public forum.
Four-way rules
The DOT issued these guidelines for all-way stops:
• The first vehicle at the intersection has the right of way.
• When two or more vehicles reach an intersection at the same time, the one to the right has the right of way and may go straight or, if legal and after signaling, turn left or right.
• When two facing vehicles approach an intersection simultaneously, both drivers can move straight ahead or turn right. If one driver is going straight while the other wants to turn left, the driver who wants to turn left must yield.
• Even with the right of way, drivers should remember to use appropriate turn signals and watch for pedestrians and other vehicles.
March 31, 2022
Thirty North Surry High School students singing together recently represented their school at the Music Performance Adjudication event in Gastonia, receiving a superior rating for their performance.
“These students have gone from singing outside in masks in three-part music last year to eight-part music this year,” said their music teacher, Sarah McCraw. “They have come so far.”
The students are: Gwendyline Aguiar, Cheyenne Alligood, Raegan Amos, Max Barnard, Alexis Bourne, Emily Bruner, Colby Callaway, Maggie Creed, Madison Creed, Kaitlin Culbertson, Will Danley, Molly Easter, Anna Flippen, Summer Goins, Gracie Goings, Hannah Hiatt, Trevor Jones, Chase Lawson, Schae Lawson, Vanessa Lowe, Noah Marley, Heather Messervy, Cassidy Mills, Colby Mitchell, Kinston Nichols, Mady Simmons, Mason Simmons, Ashley Todd, Anna Whitaker and Walker York
March 31, 2022
Willow Lawson, a sophomore at Surry Early College High School, has been selected to attend the Harvard Pre-College Summer Program this year.
Willow will spend two weeks at Harvard University where she will be challenged by Ivy League scholars and will immerse herself in a crisis journalism class with approximately 15 other students.
The Harvard Pre-College Program is exclusively on campus and offers more than 100 non-credit courses. Students will learn in an immersive and supportive academic environment alongside peers from around the world.
March 30, 2022
Surry Community College has been selected again as a Military Friendly School for 2022-2023. This is the eleventh year the college has received this honor.
Surry Community College’s Veterans Affairs Specialist, Jay McDougal, is a veteran, having served 13 years in the Army.
“We at Surry Community College are dedicated to the success of our veterans as well as to the success of family members of veterans. We are proud to receive this designation,” McDougal said.
Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2022-2023 survey with 665 earning special awards for going above the standard.
The 2022-2023 Military Friendly Schools list will be published in the May and October issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.
Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by VIQTORY with input from the Military Friendly Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining the institution’s survey scores with the assessment of the institution’s ability to meet thresholds for student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence (degree advancement or transfer) and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.
For more information about Veteran Services at SCC, contact McDougal at 336-386-3245 or [email protected].
March 30, 2022
Earlier this month Surry Early College High School was recognized as a Signature School at the Piedmont Triad Education Consortium’s annual celebration meeting, at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center in Greensboro.
During the 2020-2021 school year, Surry Early College High School achieved a graduation rate of 100%, which surpassed the North Carolina State average of 87% that year.
The emphasis on high academic achievement has allowed students at Surry Early College to earn a total of 3,943 credits from 1,338 classes during the last school year. By completing core college courses in high school, students are allowed more flexibility when they graduate, regardless of if they transfer to a four-year university or if they choose to enter the workforce immediately after graduation. Educators at Surry Early College High School have implemented high yield strategies for success and student achievement with unprecedented results:
– In 2020-2021, Surry Early College met all growth targets and all subgroups met growth targets, as part of the North Carolina School Performance data.
– Surry Early College increased student proficiency in English II and Math III in 2020-2021. This fall, Surry Early College has increased Math I by 1 percentage points over the previous year, along with English II growing by 4% and biology by 12%.
– Surry Early College has also raised ACT proficiency to 83.3% during the 2020-2021 school year.
While Surry Early College High School allows for students to complete their high school diploma at the same time as their two-year associate’s degree, Surry Early College also offers cost savings opportunities for students and families.
“Students at Surry Early College are encouraged to take advantage of the large course catalog offered by Surry Community College to complete their associate’s degree,” said Colby Beamer, the school’s principal. “Through these courses, students find individualized interests that help them select a future career. At our school, we focus on growing student leaders who are college and career-ready young adults.”
Additionally, students have the opportunity to work with business and community partners through internships and apprenticeships through Surry County Schools or Surry Yadkin-Works. Programs through both enable students to get hands-on experience outside of the classroom and expand upon potential career interests.
“Surry Early College High School richly deserves the Signature Award for its commitment to providing a rigorous and relevant education for all students,” said Surry County Schools Superintendent Dr. Travis L. Reeves. “The administrators, faculty, and staff at Surry Early College are extremely dedicated to helping all students succeed. Their hands-on approach to schoolwide project-based learning serves as a model for other schools. We applaud their successes and have enjoyed celebrating this achievement with the school community.”
March 30, 2022
Surry Community College is offering Landscape for Life, a gardening course, at the Pilot Center, 612 East Main St., in Pilot Mountain.
The course will run every Thursday from April 14 through May 19 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Landscape For Life will show students how to work with nature in their own garden, whether they garden on a city or suburban lot, a 20-acre farm, or the common area of a condominium.
While conventional gardens can work against nature, sustainable gardens are supportive of natural ecosystems and conserve resources. They enhance the environment’s ability to clean air and water, reduce flooding, combat climate change and provide other natural benefits that support life on earth. Landscape For Life is a collaboration between the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanic Garden based on the principles of the Sustainable Sites Initiative.
Tuition for this course is $71. The cost can possibly be covered for students through funds from the Surry Skill-UP grant. For information about this class or to register, call the Pilot Center at 336-386-3618.
March 30, 2022
DOBSON — If ever there was a time to watch every dollar, it arguably is now with inflation surging, and a local organization is planning a program to aid consumers in this regard.
The N.C. Cooperative Extension office in Dobson has announced a one-hour financial literacy class as part of a virtual monthly series being presented in conjunction with an Extension and Community Association (ECA) component of the agency called “At Home with ECA.”
It is scheduled for April 7 from 11 a.m. to noon.
That program in the online learning series will be held in conjunction with the observance of Financial Literacy Month during April.
“The At Home With ECA session will focus on money management, as we discuss the importance of creating and maintaining a budget,” explained Carmen Long, area Extension agent for family and consumer education who serves Surry and Alleghany counties.
There is no charge for accessing that program and other workshops in the monthly series which are being coordinated through the Eventbrite website used for such presentations. But Long says those wanting to do so must register beforehand at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/226054684647
In addition to the financial advice to be offered in starting or refining a budget, a convenient benefit of the online program is that one needn’t be parked in front of a computer during the actual program time.
“Once registered, participants will receive a recording after the session which they may watch at their convenience,” Long mentioned, to be emailed.
The monthly class series is presented by family and consumer sciences agents of the North Central District of N.C. Cooperative Extension, covering 14 counties altogether.
“It’s a group effort,” Long has said.
The financial management program will be presented by N.C. Cooperative Extension personnel in Wilkes County.
Even those who don’t live in Surry or the other counties in the region can still join the April 7 session via Zoom, organizers say.
N.C. Cooperative Extension has sought to distribute information to people for more than 100 years, and the At Home with ECA workshop series involves a new means of providing such outreach — embracing both the realities and technical alternatives of today.
The 2022 series was spawned by a similar effort launched for 2021 in reaction to the coronavirus restricting public gatherings.
Participants aren’t required to sign up for all the programs in the monthly online series, held on the first Thursdays, and can pick and choose ones they are interested in, according to Long.
Food preparation series
A separate N.C. Cooperative Extension initiative is focused on another timely consumer matter, nutrition.
It is an online home food preservation series that will begin on April 14 and run bi-weekly for six weeks, ending on June 23, aimed at teaching people how to accomplish that in the comfort of their own surroundings.
The bi-weekly sessions are scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., under these topics:
• April 14: Introduction to Canning
• April 28: Water Bath Canning
• May 12: Pressure Canning
• May 26: Freezing
• June 9: Sweet Spreads
• June 23: Fermentation
Those interested can register for free at go.ncsu.edu/foodpreserving
Participants will need to sign up for each session they wish to attend separately, according to Long, and upon registering will receive a recording after the session which they can view at their convenience.
March 30, 2022
For students to improve their understanding of letter writing skills, the mail, newspapers, and their sense of geography, the students of Kimberlee Montgomery’s class at Salida Elementary School were asked to send correspondence out across the country to newspapers.
The project was designed as an attempt to gauge how far one letter from California may reach, and who may write back. One fifth grader, Axeton B., selected the “Great State of North Carolina.” From there, the letter crossed the country and found its way here to Mount Airy.
The handwritten state of destination showed that the student who drew Iowa was going to have an easier time writing their envelope and letter. Classmates who drew Massachusetts or Mississippi however may still be addressing their envelopes at this very moment.
To Axeton’s great credit, the fourth time North Carolina was written out the handwriting suggested a much higher level of confidence in the spelling of Carolina. Ms. Montgomery can check that off the list, as that part of the lesson is now a success.
Axeton’s letter to the newspaper is as follows:
“Dear Editors of The Mount Airy News:
Would you please print my letter in your ‘Letters to the Editor’ of your newspaper? This would be a great help to me in completing my state project:
Dear People of the Great State of North Carolina,
Greetings! My name is Axeton, and I am a 5th grade student at Salida Elementary School in Salida, California. We live in the central valley located east of San Francisco. This year we are going to complete a state project. I picked North Carolina. I am asking for any and all information from you about your great state sent to me. If you would, please send me any postcards, articles, maps, pictures, pins, pencils, stickers, or pamphlets from North Carolina.
I really appreciate your help in making my project a success! I am lucky to learn about an awesome state like North Carolina.
Sincerely:
Axeton B.”
The chance Montgomery knows where Mount Airy is, or for what this area is best known for seems minute. One would think it to be unlikely that young Axeton would know the tales of Mayberry, Barney Fife, or Aunt Bea’s dreadful pickles, but might the reach of “The Andy Griffith Show” extend to the West Coast — still these many years later?
Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Randy Collins thinks the answer is still yes and said as much last week at the Excellence in Business Awards dinner. “My office is just outside of the visitors center and it is really quite amazing the people we meet from all over the country, and indeed the world, that love Mayberry and love Andy Griffith.”
A drive past the Andy Griffith Playhouse nearly any day will find a tourist or two posing to commemorate for posterity their brief visit to “a simpler time, and a sweeter place,” as the Andy and Opie statue’s plaque reads. The nostalgia for the show and the simple messaging of a quaint time still resonates with viewers and does not show signs of stopping.
The care package going back to the Salida Elementary with goodies and highlights from this area is being assembled. It already includes information regarding our favorite son Andy and his accomplishments, as well as the Bunker Twins. Facts on the history of farming, livestock, and tobacco are being included to further explain the importance of agriculture to this area.
Information about the state was requested, and not just Mount Airy, so info on Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers, the sit-in movement, Edward Teach (Blackbeard), The Lost Colony, and of course the state’s rich tradition of college basketball are being reflected. Of note. Axeton will not be required to choose a side in the UNC – Duke rivalry, which seems only fair.
A selection of postcards, pamphlets and visitor’s brochures have been assembled, with additional information on Pilot Mountain State Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway added for good measure.
When the care package is complete and has been sent back to the West Coast, Axeton and Ms. Montgomery’s class will have a selection of interesting items to look over. Physical copies of this issue of the Mount Airy News will be included so this clipping can be added to the class’s collection of responses from around the country.
In a digital age where interpersonal connections are fewer and farther between, the sheer novelty of getting Axeton’s letter was a bit of nostalgia itself. With luck, a little knowledge about this corner of the country that is shared with fifth graders more than 2,700 miles away in California can lead to increased understanding of the world and their place in it.
March 30, 2022
Auditions for the Surry Arts Council’s production of Little Women directed by Shelby Coleman are being held today, March 30 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. at the Andy Griffith Playhouse.
Requirements for those auditioning:
• Sing an approximately 32-bar cut from a musical theater piece in the style of the show;
• Bring sheet music;
• Be prepared to read sides with other auditionees.
Video auditions are available for those who cannot make it in person. Send a video of a 32- to 62-bar cut of a musical theater piece and a 30- to 60-second monologue to [email protected] by 11 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30.
The public performances will be on Saturday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 15 at 3 p.m.
Little Women is based on the American classic by Louisa May Alcott. This timeless, captivating story is brought to life in this musical filled with personal discovery, heartache, hope and everlasting love.
Based on Louisa May Alcott’s life, Little Women follows the adventures of sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March. Jo is trying to sell her stories for publication, but the publishers are not interested – her friend, Professor Bhaer, tells her that she has to do better and write more from herself. Begrudgingly taking this advice, Jo weaves the story of herself and her sisters and their experience growing up in Civil War America.
For additional information, contact Shelby Coleman at 336-786-7998 or [email protected]. Tickets for the shows are available online at www.surryarts.org, via phone at 336-786-7998, or at the Surry Arts Council office at 218 Rockford Street.
March 29, 2022
Did a minor earthquake strike Surry County Tuesday night?
Dozens of folks in the Flat Rock area say yes, posting on Facebook about feeling the ground waver and their homes shake — some even reporting a loud boom sound. A local business owner who has a broadcast meteorology degree, William Bottomley, posted on Facebook a picture of what he said was a seismograph located in King showing activity at 7:06 p.m.
An official with Surry County Emergency Services said her department fielded a number of calls Tuesday shortly before 8 p.m., people reporting the ground shaking and a loud boom. “We sent out an officer and a fire truck, but we couldn’t find anything,” she said.
The United States Geological Survey, however, said nothing happened. The agency recorded no significant seismic activity in Surry County according to their website, and a geologist with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Dr. Kenneth Taylor, said on Thursday he confirmed there was no seismic activity in the county that evening.
Bottomley posted the photo of the seismograph shortly before 8 p.m., more than a half-hour after the activity. While those responding from Stokes County said they had felt nothing, dozens of individuals responded to his Facebook post saying they had felt a quake and some had heard a loud boom in and around Flat Rock. One even said she had heard a rumbling in Virginia, though she did not specify exactly where.
“We did! Thought something exploded under my house or that someone had hit my house,” one person commented.
“Shook my house in Flat Rock, loud sound, and dog started barking,” another said.
Another also mentioned dogs barking in response to the event.
The United States Geological Survey reported that night no evidence of earthquakes in the area, according to the agency’s website. The website shows all seismic activity which measures at least 2.5 on the The Moment Magnitude Scale, which has replaced the better-known Richter scale. However, volcanodiscovery.com, run by an organization which seeks to monitor and report earthquakes and volcanoes around the world, reported suspected activity 3 miles east of Flat Rock. The website estimated the activity at 3.0 on the Moment Magnitude Scale, with a depth of roughly 6 miles, although there was no indication how the organization arrived at those measurements.
Taylor, with the state DEQ, said he checked for any activity — even that which would have registered less than 2.5.
“If it had been an earthquake, it would have been easily measured,” he said on Thursday.
This is not the first time area residents have reported shaking ground, rattling houses, and loud booms.
Last spring, a number of residents in Mount Airy reported periodic loud booms and ground shaking at night. City police even dispatched officers over several nights when those were reported and officers felt the police department shake one night, but no cause was ever discovered.
Earlier in 2021, in January, media outlets reported the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office was inundated with calls about such booms shortly after the first of the year, but no one there could find a cause. Those reports were widespread, not only in parts of Forsyth, but across Surry, Yadkin, Stokes, Davie and Rockingham counties.
No cause of any of those were ever discovered.
The most recent confirmed significant earthquake in this region of North Carolina was Aug. 9, 2020, when a 5.1 quake struck Sparta and the surrounding area, damaging a number of homes and other structures. That area has been plagued by periodic tremors ever since, most reaching between 1.5 and 2.5 on the scale, according to the United States Geological Survey. Some of those tremors have been as recent as this past month.
March 29, 2022
• A homeless Mount Airy woman is facing a felony drug charge involving crack-cocaine which was filed Sunday, according to city police reports.
Dana Meador Sander, 53, was encountered by officers during a traffic stop on Merita Street near Gravely Street for failing to maintain lane control while at the wheel of a 1994 Chrysler New Yorker, arrest records state.
Sander subsequently was found with 2.5 grams of crack along with smoking devices and digital scales, leading to charges including possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was jailed under a $3,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in Surry District Court next Monday.
• Brandon Lee Barnes, 21, listed as homeless, was charged with driving while impaired, concealment of merchandise and possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance stemming from a Friday incident at the Tractor Supply store on Rockford Street.
Barnes allegedly concealed merchandise, listed as black and green latex gloves, without paying and also was found with marijuana. The gloves were recovered. Officers further determined that Barnes had driven to the store while impaired, police records state.
He is facing a court appearance on Monday.
• Police learned last Thursday of a case involving financial card fraud, which involved a known individual using a card owned by Kimberlee Monik Duncan of Pfafftown to withdraw an undisclosed sum of funds at State Employees Credit Union on South Franklin Road.
The crime occurred last fall.
• Two West Virginia residents are facing charges as the result of a March 19 civil disturbance at Soho Bar and Grill on Franklin Street.
Nathaniel John Southern, 37, is accused of assaulting Jose Manuel Resendez Nava, while Jennifer Dawn Cook, 44, of Pineville, was charged with being intoxicated and disruptive.
Southern was released under a $2,500 secured bond and Cook, $1,000 secured, with both scheduled to be in Surry District Court on April 11.
• A man from Wendell in Wake County was jailed after a March 16 incident at Walmart, where Russell Lee Caldwell Jr., 42, allegedly stole merchandise valued at $50, including computer hardware/software, a battery stand and two pairs of men’s shoes.
Caldwell, who was charged with larceny and possession of stolen goods, also was revealed to be the subject of an outstanding order for arrest filed on March 14 for failing to appear in court in Surry County.
He was taken into custody under a $2,000 secured bond and is facing a May 16 District Court date.
• The Sheetz convenience store on Rockford Street was the scene of a theft on March 15, when soft-serve ice cream, Mountain Dew and cashews with a total value of $17 were taken by an unknown suspect.
March 29, 2022
A coach who guided Mount Airy High School to prominence nearly a century ago, the school’s all-time leading rusher and two championship volleyball teams are the latest inductees for a place of distinction in local sports history.
The selection committee for the Greater Mount Airy Sports Hall of Fame began soliciting nominations for its 2022 class in December and now has unveiled what Assistant City Manager Darren Lewis calls an “outstanding” group of honorees.
Since 2016, names of prospective inductees have been accepted every two years for the recognition program spearheaded by Mount Airy Parks and Recreation, of which Lewis served as director until assuming his present post in February.
Entering this year, more than 80 individuals or teams had been inducted into the hall since its first class in 2003.
The 2022 group includes:
• George Underwood, a coach who was responsible for Mount Airy High School athletics’ rise to excellence, according to information provided by new Parks and Recreation Director Peter Raymer.
Underwood guided all four sports teams the school offered when he became a physical education teacher in 1928, and is credited as the first coach to win a championship in any sport for Mount Airy, with specifics of that — including the year — not available from Raymer.
Although Underwood’s coaching career spanned only five years, his teams appeared in four state championship games, winning two, based on the city bio information.
• Anthony Moore, whose 5,803 career rushing yards for Mount Airy High achieved in the mid-1990s remains the school record.
Moore accomplished this during three seasons as a varsity letterman from 1994-96, breaking the previous rushing record established by his father, Joe Ray Moore, in the 1970s.
After his high school career, Anthony Moore played collegiately at James Madison University.
• The 1986 and 1987 Mount Airy High School volleyball teams. Both squads were inducted into the hall of fame’s 2022 class as links to a legacy of excellence.
The 1986 unit was the first MAHS volleyball team to win a state championship and the 1987 team went undefeated and repeated as state champs.
Those athletes were coached by Ginger Crissman Ashley (now Ginger Hamric).
• Frank Sheppard was selected for inclusion in the Greater Mount Airy Sports Hall of Fame as this year’s winner of the Granite City Award. It goes to someone who has contributed to the promotion of sports in the community in a special way.
Sheppard began his career as head baseball coach for Mount Airy High School while also coaching Mount Airy Middle School football. After several years of doing both, he focused exclusively on the middle school football team, amassing an overall record of 200-17.
“A lot of the success of the Mount Airy High School football team is credited to Frank’s contributions at the middle school level,” city bio information states. “Frank Sheppard touched many lives in his 37 years of coaching.”
An induction ceremony for the 2022 sports hall is scheduled on April 24 at 3 p.m., hosted by the Andy Griffith Playhouse. The unveiling of a monument near the Municipal Building reflecting the newly inscribed inductees will be held afterward.
The defined area of the Greater Mount Airy Sports Hall of Fame covers the city limits, the Mount Airy City Schools District and the one-mile extraterritorial (ETJ) zone long in place for areas just outside town.
It honors those who’ve played a role in the entire sports history of the area, either living or deceased.
March 29, 2022
Mount Airy residents will soon have an opportunity to learn about and meet candidates for the 2022 municipal election season during a downtown event — to feature a different format than others in the past.
Billed as a non-partisan introduction to the 13 office-seekers ahead of a May primary, it is scheduled for April 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Historic Earle Theatre and Old-Time Music Heritage Hall.
The meet the candidates event is co-sponsored by Mount Airy Downtown Inc. and the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce.
It is a prelude to the primary election on May 17, when the ballot will feature a total of 13 city residents seeking four municipal offices including those of mayor and three seats on the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners.
Invitations to the April 11 event were sent to the candidates last week, which produced a healthy response.
“From what I can see everyone has accepted,” chamber CEO Randy Collins said Tuesday afternoon.
“I think they’ve been responding to Lizzie as well as myself,” Collins added in reference to Lizzie Morrison, Main Street coordinator with Mount Airy Downtown Inc.
The candidates include:
• For mayor — Ron Niland, who now holds that position and is running against North Ward Commissioner Jon Cawley and Teresa Lewis, a former at-large commissioner.
• North Ward commissioner — four candidates are vying for Cawley’s seat, Teresa Davis Leiva, Chad Hutchens, John Pritchard and Joanna Refvem.
• South Ward commissioner — the field includes Gene Clark, Phil Thacker and present At-Large Commissioner Joe Zalescik, who are seeking the seat now held by Steve Yokeley.
• At-large commissioner — Yokeley is among the candidates vying for Zalescik’s council slot along with Deborah Cochran, a former mayor and at-large commissioner, and Tonda Phillips.
All 13 will be on the ballot for the May primary as part of this year’s non-partisan municipal election process, which requires primaries for offices in which three or more candidates file.
The two top vote-getters on May 17 will square off in the November general election.
Candidates will be seated on the Earle stage grouped by their respective races.
Forum format
Past city candidate events have included office-seekers responding to questions prepared by organizers or offered from the audience.
However, the one upcoming will involve the election hopefuls simply making pitches to voters.
Each candidate will be given four minutes to speak to the audience and asked to address four main points: his or her background and experience, campaign platform/vision for Mount Airy, the ways in which each believes the city is on the right path and the ways it is on the wrong path.
The office-seekers are to be called to a podium one by one to introduce themselves and begin their remarks and upon completion will return to their designated seats onstage.
A moderator will manage the schedule, signalling with a hand when there is one minute left in a candidate’s allotted time. A bell will ring after four minutes, and the moderator will thank each for his or her remarks and move on to the next candidate.
No debate or rebuttal opportunities are to occur onstage. No questions will be taken from the audience and the moderator will not ask any questions. All candidates and attendees are asked to be courteous of each other and not interrupt anyone’s remarks.
Once all candidates have spoken, a “meet and greet” session is planned at the UnCorked wine shop and boutique next door to the Earle, where citizens can approach them with questions or ideas.
“If folks are registered to vote in the city of Mount Airy, it’s a great opportunity to meet all these candidates,” Collins said Tuesday.
March 29, 2022
Edward Jones hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony this past Thursday during the Grand Opening celebration. Michael Warren will be the financial advisor for the new business that is located at 101 Shoals Road Ste. D in Pilot Mountain.
“Simply opening the doors to a new business isn’t enough. Hosting a grand opening and having a ribbon cutting symbolizes the start of a new venture. It is a time to celebrate the hard work put into getting a space ready to open and to celebrate the new possibilities that await.” said Commissioner Donna Kiger.
“Ribbon cuttings are a great opportunity for folks who work in local businesses to network and for the community to show entrepreneurs we are here to support them. They are taking a leap of faith in opening a business in our town, and we want to do our part to give them every change to be successful,” said Mayor Evan Cockerham.
Warren is a lifelong resident of Mount Airy and a Mount Airy High School graduate of 1994. He and his wife Crystal have two daughters and a son. Michael is also involved with the Pilot Mountain community and is serving as the vice president for the Pilot Mountain Civic Club.
In discussing his career as a financial advisor, Warren said “(he) loved working along people helping them to reach their financial goals and dreams.” Prior to working with Edward Jones, he worked for Team Penske in NASCAR for 18 years and Farm Bureau for two years.
The question on the minds of many local residents is “Why does Pilot need two Edward Jones offices?” “Because there has been a growing demand in this area for what we do and one office isn’t enough to keep up and serve our clients properly,” said Warren.
Edward Jones offers a variety of financial and life planning services such as retirement options, wealth strategies, investment products, college savings plans, insurance and annuities and solutions for business owners. For more information contact Warren at 336-368-0782.
March 29, 2022
Two area men were recently arrested and charged with drug trafficking and relating charges as part of an operation by five difference law enforcement agencies.
Gabino Arriola Armenta, 33, of 188 Pilot View Street, Mount Airy, and Danny Jay McCraw, 62, of 143 East Crosswinds Court, Mount Airy, were each arrested and charged on multiple accounts.
The men were taken into custody after a search warrant was executed at Armenta’s home by the Surry County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division and Street Crimes Unit, the Pilot Mountain Police Department Narcotics Division, the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division, the Yadkin County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
”Detectives were looking for illegal controlled substances being keep or distributed from this address,” Surry County Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt said. “During the search, the narcotics detectives found over 62 grams of methamphetamine, fentanyl, marijuana, and assorted drug paraphernalia.”
Armenta was charged with two counts of trafficking methamphetamine, one count of possession of Schedule I controlled substances, one count of possession of marijuana, and one count of possession of marijuana drug paraphernalia. He was jailed under a $220,000 secured bond.
Danny Jay McCraw was charged with one count of possession with intent to manufacture sell and deliver Schedule II controlled substances, one count of maintaining a vehicle/dwelling/place for controlled substances, and possession of drug paraphernalia. McCraw was placed under a $5,000 secured bond
March 29, 2022
Cedar Ridge Elementary School students in Pre-K recently worked through their insect unit.
During their studies, they learned a great deal about bugs. To start off their unit, students got to take magnifying glasses outside. After an outside read-aloud about insects, students began a search for some fascinating creatures.
March 29, 2022
Meadowview Magnet Middle School Mustang Ambassadors sponsored a school-wide Dodgeball Tournament on March 25.
Mustang Ambassadors, sponsored by guidance counselor Sherri Hanks and sixth grade teacher Kim Utt, spent weeks preparing for this event for the students and staff. Students created dodgeball teams, prepared posters, and made t-shirts in preparation for the event.
The event attracted 20 teams for the dodgeball tournament, which consisted of students and a staff teammate, or students and a staff sponsor. Seventh and eighth grade teacher Maggie Watts and the Cobras received first place. Paul Clark and the Black Ducks received second place, and Caleb Whitaker and the Moving Targets received third place.
March 27, 2022
DOBSON — After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation will host its 10th annual charitable golf tournament Thursday, June 16, at Cedarbrook Country Club. The tournament is put on by the electric cooperative’s Community Projects Committee, made up of employees of Surry-Yadkin EMC.
This year’s tournament will tee off at 9 a.m. and will benefit four nonprofits in the Surry-Yadkin EMC service area. Those charities include Grace Clinic of Yadkin Valley, a medical clinic in Elkin; Yadkin Valley United Fund, which supports 23 nonprofit agencies and three scholarships; Mount Airy Ministry of Hospitality, which oversees The Shepherd’s House and Helping Hands Foundation; and Second Harvest Food Bank, which benefits food pantries in the region.
A number of sponsorship opportunities for the golf tournament are available to area businesses and individuals, as well as playing opportunities.
“As a locally-owned, member-owned cooperative, it is important to us that we support the communities we serve and live in,” said Travis Bode, economic development coordinator for Surry-Yadkin Electric and this year’s Community Projects Committee chair. “All of this year’s beneficiaries are important parts of helping members of our community, and we look forward to partnering with our sponsors to boost the nonprofits’ efforts.”
Anyone interested in supporting the Surry-Yadkin EMC Golf Tournament can find information on the tournament at syemc.com. For questions, reach out to Wendy Wood at [email protected] or Kasey Martin at [email protected] or by phone at 336-356-8241.
March 27, 2022
Northern Regional Hospital has named Kristi Johnson Marion as vice president of marketing. She will assume the new post on April 19.
Johnson brings more than 20 years of professional marketing and leadership experience to Northern. Over this period, she has worked for the March of Dimes, Forsyth Woman & Family Magazines, RiverRun International Film Festival, and, most recently, the North Carolina Zoo and NC Zoo Society as a communications consultant.
“Kristi is known for her team building skills, passion for mentoring and coaching, friendly demeanor, and history of giving back to her community and profession. Every professional reference complimented Kristi on her ability to balance immense technical skills with a great attitude and kind, but competitive, spirit,” said Chris A. Lumsden, president and CEO. “Kristi will fit well with the culture and operating philosophy of NRH, and I look forward to her joining Rylee Haynes, our marketing team, and the NRH family.”
Johnson was born and raised in Mount Airy and graduated from North Surry High School. She graduated with honors from Surry Community College and then from Appalachian State University with a degree in English literature, also with honors. She has two children in high school. She has many family members that reside in Mount Airy and Surry County. In her free time, Johnson enjoys spending time with her kids, being walked by her great dane, hiking, and catching an art exhibit.
March 27, 2022
An auction that was scheduled Friday in Mount Airy — of land beside a controversial building the city government could be demolishing in the coming months — wasn’t held as planned, with no reason for that readily emerging.
“Actually what they did was postpone it,” Mayor Ron Niland said Friday afternoon of organizers for the auction of a small parcel located along West Pine Street adjoining what is commonly known as the former Koozies property.
“And I have no idea why they did that,” added Niland, who was relaying an update from City Manager Stan Farmer.
The Mount Airy Board of Commissioners had voted 4-1 on March 17 to have Farmer or a designee submit a bid on the municipality’s behalf at the scheduled auction.
“It just came up kind of strange,” Niland said of what will be a one-week postponement, based on a text message he had received from the city manager. “But I was surprised by that.”
The former Koozies building at 455 Franklin St., which also is bordered by West Pine and South streets and is named for a private club once operating there, has been the subject of much debate in recent years over its dilapidated condition.
It is located in a section of town declared a blighted area about seven years ago by a now-defunct city redevelopment commission that eyed major changes there including installing a traffic roundabout for a gateway to downtown Mount Airy.
More recently, the city commissioners voted 4-1 in February to give the owners of the former Koozies building and two other substandard structures nearby 90 days to bring the buildings up to code or have them demolished.
If no action is taken by then, the city government can move forward with the razing on its own, and possibly end up seizing the land to recoup the demolition costs.
That has been stated as a reason for the city’s interest in the small parcel on West Pine Street, which would provide more space for a potential redevelopment of the Koozies property, the mayor has said.
While the parcel amounts to only about a quarter-acre, its possible acquisition by the municipality has attracted a disproportionate amount of criticism, including from Commissioner Jon Cawley.
Cawley voted against the city submitting the bid, saying he doesn’t believe it should be competing against the private sector that otherwise likely would buy the property.
He further pointed out that the city government has no clear-cut need for the small parcel owned by two sisters in Lewisville.
Cawley also had objected to the ultimatum issued to the owners of the three buildings in February.
Possible complication
Since the March 17 vote by the majority of commissioners to submit the bid, it was disclosed that local businessman Wes Collins had bought a half-share of the site from one of the sisters unbeknownst to city officials.
Collins owns property on West Pine Street which adjoins the land in question and contains a building.
Despite knowing this, Mount Airy officials still planned to send Farmer to Friday’s auction, which was to occur under a judicial proceeding known as a commissioner’s sale — typically done to satisfy a debt.
Mayor Niland did not know Friday what impact the sale of half the property might have had on the auction postponement.
“I’m just really not sure about that,” he said.
However, another source involved with the auction disclosed later Friday that an alleged notification issue was involved.
“Certain heirs stated that they had not received notice of the sale — that’s all I would say,” that source advised, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Collins, the neighboring property owner who bought the half-share of the land in question, declined to comment on the situation Friday afternoon.
March 26, 2022
As COVID-19 infections have dropped dramatically across the nation, Surry County has seen its numbers fall to levels not experienced since the earliest days of the pandemic.
At their worst, Surry County was seeing well over 100 new cases per day, with Northern Regional Hospital often filled to capacity and then some, with patients waiting in Emergency Department beds and hallways for either inpatient beds to open or beds at other more acute-care facilities to clear.
Now, case levels have fallen so far the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has stopped reporting daily cases. Earlier this month, before the department stopped that reporting on its website, daily cases in Surry County had dropped to fewer than 4 per day, over both the seven-day and 14-day average.
Northern Hospital reported no COVID patients in the hospital Friday, a far cry from earlier times when COVID patients filled more than half of its Intensive Care and Step-Down units, and as many as 30% of the beds hospital-wide.
Overall, Surry County has seen 20,990 cases of COVID since the pandemic began, with 331 deaths. Statewide, those figures are 2.63 million, with more than 23,000 deaths.
Now, the state health department is reporting new cases on a weekly basis. On Thursday, the department reported 2,842 new cases statewide, with 401 hospitalizations. The previous week, the state’s numbers stood at 3,924 cases, with 524 hospitalizations.
By comparison, the most recent wave of COVID, fueled largely by the Omicron variant, saw 231,749 new cases over the previous week reported on Jan. 15, with 4,092 hospitalizations.
In addition to those who have survived having COVID, many across the state are enjoying some level of immunity from vaccinations. Statewide, according to the health department, 65% of the state’s eligible population has received at least one dose of a vaccine, and 62% of the state has been fully vaccinated.
Surry County, which has had among the highest infection rates throughout the pandemic, has shown a significantly lower level of vaccinations. Countywide, 35,860 individuals, or just 50% of the population, has been fully vaccinated. Another 1,882 have had a single dose of a two-dose vaccine, and among those fully vaccinated, 16,555 have had a booster shot.
Despite the sharp drop in cases, health officials encourage people to continue being cautious, particularly with a sightly different version of the Omicron variant spurring small waves of new cases in different parts of the nation.
Northern Regional, for their part, are still enforcing more rigid visitor standards than before the pandemic.
“Masking and screening of visitors is still a requirement,” said Rylee Haynes, marketing specialist with the hospital. “Visitation is unrestricted for general visitation with some limits on number of visitors at a time in some of the specialty areas such as Emergency Department.”
Testing is also key for those who may have been exposed to others with COVID-like symptoms. In addition to several pharmacies offering testing in the area, the Surry County Heath and Nutrition Department continues to offer testing, at least through the end of the month.
In Mount Airy, testing is at Central united Methodist Church, from 11 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday, and 11 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. on Friday; and on Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
In Dobson testing is available at the Farmer’s Market beginning at noon Monday through Thursday, ending at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, at 6:30 p.m. the other days.
In Pilot Mountain, testing is being conducted at First United Methodist Church from 1 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. each day.
It was not clear if the health department will be sponsoring testing sites after March 31.
March 26, 2022
The board of advisors of the Mount Airy/Surry County Community Foundation is accepting grant applications from nonprofits serving needs in the local community.
Funds are available for nonprofit organizations serving Surry County and will be awarded from the community grantmaking fund.
Applications will be available beginning Friday, April 1. Visit nccommunityfoundation.org for information about applying. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, May 3 at noon.
Grants are not available for regranting purposes, capital campaigns, capital improvements, out-of-state travel or for individuals. Funds are awarded by the board of advisors of the Mount Airy/Surry County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the North Carolina Community Foundation.
“We are stronger thanks to the nonprofits that serve Mount Airy and Surry County,” said Jay Williams, board president. “It is an honor to offer these grants to support their critical missions.”
For more information, contact Tyran Hill, NCCF program officer, at [email protected] or 828-772-1886.
March 26, 2022
According to the 2022 National Board database, North Carolina public school classrooms are welcoming 399 newly-certified and 1,126 renewed National Board teachers this year. This newest batch of credentialed teachers brings the state’s total number of National Board Certified Teachers to 23,090 – the largest number of National Board Certified teachers in the nation.
Among those were several recognized at a recent Surry County Board of Education meeting for achieving certification. With the addition of these three teachers, Surry County Schools has 70 teachers in the district who have earned this certification.
The three recent additions to that number are:
– Kindle Giles, exceptional children teacher at Franklin Elementary School;
– Lauren Simpson, fourth grade teacher at Pilot Mountain Elementary;
– Courtney Willard, visual arts teacher at Westfield Elementary;
Additionally, Jonathan Carpenter, assistant principal at Surry Central High School, was recognized for his successful National Board Certified Teachers renewal. To retain certified status, teachers must complete a periodic demonstration of their knowledge and skills by submitting a Profile of Professional Growth demonstrating how their practice continues to align with the Five Core Propositions in their certificate area.
“Our work at the National Board is based on the belief that every child across the country deserves to be taught by an accomplished teacher,” said Peggy Brookins, national board president and CEO. “When accomplished practice becomes the norm, the advantage will be significant, spreading beyond students and teachers to be felt by their communities, employers, and society at-large.”
Ryan Flake from Horace Mann Insurance provided these teachers with a door plaque for their classrooms.
March 26, 2022
The eighth grade students at Gentry Middle have been working hard on a research project based on important historical figures. They learned about the research process which includes taking notes on several sources, organizing the notes to create a rough draft, and creating a final paper.
“It is important to not only give students the tools to know how to write a research paper but also give them a purpose behind what they are doing,” said Christie Robertson, an eighth grade English Language Arts teacher at the school. “This is why we came up with the idea of adapting their research papers to a script for a wax museum several years ago.”
Students are put into groups with other characters that have similar backgrounds to write their scripts. They have been working on this process for several weeks and recently the wax museum went live for the students at Gentry Middle.
March 26, 2022
Televised images of the devastation in Ukraine are especially painful for one Mount Airy resident who hails from that country and still has relatives there who are struggling to survive the Russian invasion.
“My heart is heavy — grieving for all the Ukrainian people suffering,” Irina Ilyasova said of the human toll accompanying the conflict that has now been raging more than a month.
The bombed buildings and ravaged streets are difficult enough to handle — there’s also the emotional fallout gripping citizens there and those in this country who are concerned about them.
“I cannot imagine how people have struggled,” said Ilyasova, a former longtime resident of both Ukraine and Russia whose fluent English is punctuated by a thick accent.
While she now is living a safe, though unsettled, existence in North Carolina that’s not the case for her family members in Ukraine who have been touched by the crisis.
They include her younger sister, Nyla, who recently fled the capital city of Kyiv, a brother and his two children.
“He is still in Ukraine,” said Ilyasova, whose relatives there also include an uncle in his 70s and that man’s family.
The local woman particularly was concerned about her sister due to her being in the large city suffering the brunt of Russian attacks.
Ilyasova managed to monitor Nyla’s well-being through sporadic Internet connections.
“She was in a bomb shelter for almost three weeks in Kyiv,” said the local resident, who was concerned for Nyla’s well-being due to the fact she would have to leave that facility to get food and thus be exposed to violence. “It was difficult for her.”
However, Ilyasova said her sister actually seemed to handle the ordeal much better than she, including sending Ilyasova periodic messages such as “I’m OK,” and “trying to calm me down.”
Nyla finally was able to leave Ukraine via a train and head to Lithuania, located to the north of Ukraine, with the nation of Belarus in between. Her daughter Diana lives in Lithuania.
“At first, people would spend weeks of waiting to get on a train,” Ilyasova said of the predicament faced by an estimated 10 million people displaced from their homes who have had to seek refuge elsewhere.
After taking the train, Nyla boarded a bus to complete her journey to Lithuania, where she and other refugees received a warm greeting including free food and cell phones.
“It took two days to make it,” Ilyasova said.
Meanwhile, her brother and other relatives are staying in Ukraine, advised the local resident, who is reasonably comfortable about their safety since they live in rural sections away from the main part of the fighting.
“You hope it will be OK, but you never know,” she said of uncertainties surrounding warfare. “You can’t really feel good, because it’s all over.”
Ilyasova painted a scenario reminiscent of that for farm families in this area, who grow produce that they then can or otherwise store in cellars — where people also are hunkering down now to be better protected from attacks.
“Beyond war”
It’s one thing for armies to engage in conflict in the traditional way — on remote battlefields with limited impact on the populace, but this has not occurred in Ukraine.
Civilians have inescapably been caught up in the struggle that has occurred street to street in some cases as combatants kill each other.
“People survived World War Two and now they’re dying in the twenty-first century,” Ilyasova observed.
Some regular citizens have taken up arms against the Russian invaders, and naturally suffered casualties as a result, but the local resident is finding it hard to deal with attacks waged on innocent, non-combative civilians in places such as theaters and shelters.
“It’s beyond war,” Ilyasova said.
Yet she believes Ukrainians will continue to stand their ground and resist Russian intrusions, with one key factor in their strong backlash so far involving the fact they are defending their homeland.
“Who wants to give up part of their land?” she said of one possible consequence of a takeover by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Seeing the after-effects of the conflict via TV coverage has been difficult for Ilyasova, who says the best news she has received out of Ukraine so far “was hearing that my relatives are alive.”
“Brother against brother”
Irina Ilyasova, a former pediatrician, has lived in Mount Airy since 2005, when her family moved here after her husband, also a doctor, accepted a position at Northern Regional Hospital. Ilyasova has a son who is 30 and a 23-year-old daughter.
The family relocated here from New York City.
But Irina’s story — as it relates to the present conflict — actually begins much earlier when she was born in Ukraine.
Ilyasova left there at age 15 to live in Moscow, where schools existed to launch her medical training, which was before the Soviet Union dissolved.
In addition to her relatives in Ukraine, Ilyasova knows many folks in Russia due to living in Moscow for 27 years.
While she firmly supports the cause of the Ukrainian people, to a certain degree Ilyasova’s loyalties lie on both sides in the conflict among similar people.
“I couldn’t believe how brother can fight against brother,” she lamented. While swayed mostly by the struggles of the Ukrainian people, “my heart is on both sides,” Ilyasova said.
“It breaks your heart.”
Local support helping
Ilyasova has been comforted by the support received from this community since the invasion began.
“I get a lot of phone calls,” she reported, along with people bringing her flowers.
Ilyasova is a member of the Rotary Club of Mount Airy, which has been supportive throughout the ordeal.
Also, a fundraising event is planned today at 1 p.m. on Miss Angel’s Farm, located at 252 Heart Lane, to aid efforts by Samaritan’s Purse. That organization provides assistance to persons in physical need as a key part of its Christian missionary work and now has teams on the ground responding to the Ukraine crisis.
“Bring comfortable shoes, as we will be walking the perimeter of the farm at 1:30 to show solidarity with Ukrainians abroad and at home,” says a Facebook announcement for Miss Angel’s Farm.
“Afterwards, we will have Ukrainians in our community speak on what’s happening and how you can help and cultural music will be provided by Gypsy Laurel to celebrate Ukraine,” the announcement adds. “Feel free to make posters and bring flags if you have them to this event.”
Irina Ilyasova greatly appreciates such gestures, but says the ultimate gift will be a breakthrough in the conflict that now shows no signs of waning.
“I hope it will stop,” she said. “I would love to have peace between countries.”
March 25, 2022
• An Alleghany County man has been arrested on a felony charge in Mount Airy stemming from his alleged passing of “copy money” at a local convenience store and receiving genuine currency in exchange.
Noah Shane Blevins, 18, of Ennice, is said to have presented what appeared to be a regular $20 bill on March 17 at Circle K on Rockford Street which turned out to be fake. Such bills, which have turned up in other jurisdictions, are said to look and feel like the real thing, but contain the words “copy money” printed in small letters.
Blevins was charged with obtaining property by false pretense and confined in the Surry County Jail under a $6,000 secured bond. He is facing an April 18 appearance in District Court. Records show he is charged with additional false-pretense violations besides the one involving Circle K, for which no details were available Friday afternoon.
• Tools valued at $440 were stolen Monday from a construction site on Merita Street, including a Milwaukee cordless band saw and a Milwaukee impact drill.
A business known as BCA, LLC on Old Highway 601 is listed as the victim of the crime.
• Kristie Mechelle Krantz, 46, of 266 Atkins Lane, Siloam, was served late Monday night with an outstanding criminal summons for a second-degree trespassing charge that had been filed by the Sparta Police Department in September 2020 with no other details listed.
Krantz was encountered by Mount Airy officers investigating a suspicious-vehicle call at CF Jones Classic Cafe on West Pine Street, of which she is listed as an employee. The Siloam woman is scheduled to be in court in Alleghany County on April 19.
March 25, 2022
Seeking to improve their own capabilities in order to offer the maximum service to residents of two counties, Westfield Volunteer Fire Department took advantage of training programs offered through Surry Community College to get an additional certification.
They are adding Light Rescue to services already offered in Fire Protection and First Responder, this will increase the capabilities of the department while offering potentially lifesaving services to Surry and Stokes counties. “With volunteer firefighter numbers on the decline, and calls going up, we’re always looking for ways to expand services,” Deputy Chief Matt Martin said.
Westfield Volunteer Fire Department has asked the county to revise their service contract agreement with the county to reflect the new service they will now be offering. This is a legal necessity for the department, as County Manager Chris Knopf said, “Their contract needs to reflect the services they are actually providing.”
Nine of Westfield’s firefighters have completed Light Rescue certification, with six more in the pipeline now taking free training classes at Surry Community College. These firefighters will have achieved more than 200 total hours of training in vehicular, technical, and agricultural rescue in order to get the Light Rescue certification.
Westfield Fire Chief Johnny Sutphin described the elements involved in rescues including the ability to use ropes to rappel, using heavy equipment to extricate trapped drivers, and cribs to stabilize vehicles.
With so many and differing types of farms agricultural rescue may mean more than a runaway tractor. The chief noted chemical sprayers and conveyor junctions as possible reasons his department may respond to a rescue call from a farm.
In the agreement with the county from 1986, Westfield VFD was established to “provide and maintain for the district fire protections services, facilities, and functions to levy a tax for the support thereof.” The county is divided into volunteer fire districts, with each levying their own fire district tax for maintenance and upkeep of equipment, fire houses, and to pay staff.
Each of the volunteer departments offer fire protection as their main service, but the agreements go on to outline Westfield’s responsibilities as first responders. It may be quizzical to think of them as anything but a first responders, but there is a designated difference as not all alarms they respond to involve an actual fire.
The agreement stipulates they “undertake first responder services under the supervision of the Surry County Emergency Services, and in compliance with the first responder programs and its rules and regulations.
“The purpose of the department participation is to reduce pain, suffering, and disability or death which may accompany prolonged delays in treatment in areas of the county not reachable by regular Surry County Emergency Medical Services units or rescue squads within four minutes.”
Surry County and fire officials are collaborating with the volunteer fire departments to develop a new plan to recruit and retain more firefighters. Surry County has also proposed a plan to station additional county resources strategically around the county to offer an additional county response element to emergency calls.
Adding on new services for Westfield means they have the opportunity to respond to more and different types of calls, and the county commissioners were informed this week by Westfield 2nd Lieutenant Glenn Lamb that, “We also have a contract with Stokes County, we are doing the same thing with Stokes.”
Chief Sutphin said that 42% of his fire district is over the line in Stokes County, and that approximately that percentage of his calls go that way.
Adding in these new strategic resources and having volunteer fire departments increasing their individual capabilities can have a direct impact on individuals when time is of the essence. “We’ll get there first, just based on the logistics and the location,” Sutphin said. “So, we can be there to provide rescue service until the county arrives, then we can work together from there.”
Progress is always a key to growth, and Martin said it is in the culture of the Westfield Volunteer Fire Department to look at their programs and services to find areas to expand. “Last year, we saw this as an area of improvement. It took twelve months, but we did it.”
The commissioners approved the new contract agreement, and County Attorney Ed Woltz added his desire to use the Westfield agreement as a template for departments who add services.
March 25, 2022
Another recreational resource has been added to those owned by the city of Mount Airy, which didn’t involve any construction or other major undertaking but the acquisition of one already existing.
“Graham Field now is officially a city facility,” Mayor Ron Niland announced Wednesday during a “visioning budget retreat” in which Mount Airy council members and department heads discussed numerous local issues including those in the recreational realm.
Many local citizens might have assumed the ballpark situated at the northern end of town near the old Jones School was already under the city government umbrella due to being within Mount Airy’s corporate limits.
But Graham Field, which was completed in 2002, actually has been owned by Surry County along with other former school properties and was leased to Mount Airy for recreational uses, mainly Little League baseball.
The city’s present 10-year lease was not set to expire until 2027, but a curve ball of sorts was tossed into the equation last July when the Surry County Board of Commissioners declared Graham Field surplus property along with the former school located across Jones School Road from the field.
This involved county officials attempting to sell those two sites along with the former Westfield School property on N.C. 89.
That provided an opportunity for Mount Airy to acquire Graham Field, a lighted facility that city officials unsuccessfully sought to obtain in conjunction with the expiration of the last 10-year lease in 2017.
Niland says this was a logical step for the municipality, since it has long been using the facility for recreation purposes including Little League.
“The county doesn’t really need to own it, because they don’t run the recreational program for the city,” the mayor reasoned. “So it just made sense.”
Meanwhile, the price for Graham Field also seems right.
“We’re going to end up paying $12,500,” Niland said Wednesday.
Mount Airy’s acquisition of the facility further will provide a sense of security, given that the county’s action to surplus it last year could have resulted in Graham Field’s ownership by another individual or entity.
“So we don’t have to worry about some future group taking it away,” Niland said.
A contingent of citizens in Mount Airy led by the late Scott Graham — who also served as a city commissioner about 10 years ago — developed the baseball field in the early 2000s. This involved sizable investments of money, time and other resources.
In the years since, the city government has maintained liability insurance coverage for Graham Field; undertaken renovations, alterations and other improvements to its buildings and grounds; and provided for the maintenance of those.
It reportedly once was declared the best Little League field within a 500-mile radius by officials of the Cal Ripken youth league.
After attempting to gain control of Graham Field in 2017, Mount Airy officials were met with resistance by the majority of county commissioners who didn’t see that as beneficial to Surry residents as a whole, based on previous reports.
March 25, 2022
A complication has emerged regarding an attempt by Mount Airy officials to buy land near West Pine Street adjoining the former Koozies property that has been cloaked in controversy in recent years.
The city council had voted on March 17 to submit a bid on the site — located near West Pine’s intersection with South Street in the area of Mill Creek General Store — which is slated to be auctioned today.
That 4-1 decision occurred after the matter was discussed behind closed doors.
The new development has come to light since last week’s action, which involves the owners of the vacant lot of about one-quarter acre, sisters Gloria Mittman McNeil and Amy White, both of Lewisville.
One of the two has decided to sell her share of that property, Mayor Ron Niland disclosed Wednesday during a budget retreat meeting of city officials.
“She sold her half-interest,” said Niland, who didn’t specify which of the siblings took that step. The mayor said the two apparently had differing ideas about who should end up with the property.
It was not readily known how this occurred from a legal standpoint, since one might assume that all owners of a parcel are require to sign off on such a sale.
The buyer was identified as local businessman Wes Collins, who owns property containing a building at 446 W.Pine St. next door to that of the sisters.
Second closed meeting
This complication prompted another closed-door meeting Wednesday afternoon at the conclusion of the city budget retreat, which was allowed due to a possible property acquisition being involved.
No new action was taken afterward to undo that of the March 17 session when the majority of commissioners authorized City Manager Stan Farmer or a designee to submit a bid at today’s scheduled sale.
“I think the way it stands is they’re still sending Stan to the auction,” Jon Cawley, the lone dissenter in the earlier vote, said Thursday.
This is being viewed as an apparent effort to further the city’s interests as much as possible regarding the land.
While Mount Airy’s plans have been publicly announced only within the past week, the interest by Collins is said to have been under way for about a year.
Cawley considers it only natural for a neighboring property owner to acquire land in such instances.
“Private enterprise may want that property for reasons that have nothing to do with the city,” he said.
Cawley voted against making a bid at the auction because he doesn’t think the municipality should be in competition with the private sector in these kinds of situations.
He also pointed to the fact that the city government has identified no specific use for the property sought.
The auction step is coming on the heels of another 4-1 vote by the commissioners in February — with Cawley also dissenting — targeting the Koozies building and two other rundown structures.
Those also include the so-called “red building” at 600 W. Pine St. beside Worth Honda and the former Mittman body shop at 109 S. South St., also owned by Gloria Mittman McNeil and Amy White. They are heirs to John Mittman, who operated the paint and body shop.
The three separate owners were given 90 days to bring the buildings up to code before the city proceeds with demolition, which would open the door for the municipality possibly seizing the land left behind to cover the tear-down costs.
Mayor Niland has described the possible acquisition of the small parcel adjoining the former Koozies property as a strategic move that might aid the future development of the property due to more space being provided.
About seven years ago, the Koozies building and other nearby sites drew the scrutiny of a now-defunct city redevelopment commission which identified those locations as being in a blighted area.
This sparked fears of property there being taken forcibly via eminent domain to facilitate a traffic roundabout forming a gateway to downtown Mount Airy and other plans.
That scenario evaporated after the 2015 municipal election when the majority of the commissioners voted to disband the redevelopment group.
March 24, 2022
• Two people were jailed under under large bonds after being arrested in Mount Airy earlier this week as fugitives from justice wanted in another state, with one also facing a felony drug charge filed when he was apprehended.
Caught up in that legal snare are Jason Lee King, 40, of 198 Meadowlark Road, and Kristie Cox Jernigan, 36, listed as homeless, who were taken into custody Sunday at King’s residence. Warrants for arrest had been issued for both on unspecified matters by authorities in Carroll County, Virginia.
During Sunday’s arrest, King also allegedly was found in possession of methamphetamine and marijuana and charged by city officers with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, a felony involving the meth; possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance; possession of drug paraphernalia; and possessing marijuana paraphernalia.
King was confined in the Surry County Jail under a $15,000 secured bond and Jernigan, $10,000 secured, with both scheduled to be in District Court in Dobson on April 4.
• Amber Lea Marshall, 30, of 1865 Doe Run Road, Ararat, Virginia, was charged Monday afternoon with concealing merchandise at Dollar General on North Renfro Street, where she allegedly had placed the contents of a hair coloring product in her purse.
The property was recovered intact, with Marshall scheduled to appear in Surry District Court on June 6. She also has been banned from Dollar General.
• An Ararat woman is facing a court date Monday stemming from a suspicious-vehicle call in the Lowe’s Home Improvement parking lot on March 11. Brooklyn Eva Braswell, 32, of 137 Hope Lane, claimed possession of a white powdery substance in a plastic baggie, nine pills identified as alprazolam prescription medication and a straw with white residue, police records state.
Braswell was charged with possession of a Schedule I controlled substance, a felony; simple possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance; and possession of drug paraphernalia (identified as digital scales).
During the same incident, Larry Mitchell Towe, 25, of the same address, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. He was jailed under a $500 secured bond and Braswell, $1,000 secured. Towe also is scheduled to be in District Court Monday.
March 24, 2022
For the seventh year in a row, The Mount Airy Museum of Regional History is partnering with the Surry County Genealogical Association to sponsor a Family History and Genealogy Swap Meet. Everyone is welcome, and event is free to the public.
This is a chance to discover more about your family history; learn about the interesting families that are a part of the area; maybe even an opportunity to share stories about your own families’ history and genealogy.
Everyone is welcome to bring photos, books, laptops, or other small items to share about their own genealogy and family history, and tables will be available for those who wish to ‘show and tell.’ Knowing your own family history and bringing visuals for the swap meet are not required, and those who wish to come just to learn are encouraged to do so.
The gathering will be held on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the third-floor Bunker exhibit space at the museum.
Members of the Surry County Genealogical Association will be onhand and ready to help anyone interested in learning their family history through access to tools such as Ancestry and FamilySearch. The museum will also have a copying machine available with a small fee for making copies.
Additionally, those connected with the genealogy group or local authors are welcome to set up an information table and sell books, maps, or other event appropriate items. A presentation will also be made by the members of Surry County Digital Heritage: Saving Our Surry County Communities to explain the group’s current genealogy project.
Anyone with questions about the event can contact The Mount Airy Museum of Regional History at 336-786-4478.
March 24, 2022
A Lowgap woman and a Dobson man were arrested earlier this month and charged with several drug-related offenses in the sheriff’s department ongoing campaign to seek out and jail those involved in the drug trade.
Ashley Lynn Lowdermilk, 29,of 156 Foye Haynes Lane, Lowgap, and Charles Willard Haney II, 38, of Arthur Haney Road, Dobson, were each taken into custody March 3 after being stopped by Surry County Sheriff’s Office deputies, according to Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt.
He said the deputies were conducting surveillance in the Cook School Road area in reference to complaints about illegal drug distribution when they stopped a black Ford Escort for a motor vehicle violation.
When deputies approached the vehicle, they identified the driver as Haney, and the passenger as Lowdermilk.
“During the search of the vehicle, deputies located over 36 grams of methamphetamine, heroin, crack cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana, and assorted drug paraphernalia,” Hiatt said in a written statement regarding the arrests.
Lowdermilk was charged with two counts of trafficking methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, one count of possession of schedule II controlled substances, one count of possession with intent to manufacture sale and deliver heroin, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. She was jailed under a $250,000 secured bond awaiting an April 13 court date.
Haney was charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, one count of maintaining a drug vehicle, and one count of driving while license revoked. Haney was placed under a $200,000 secured bond with an April 13 court date.
March 24, 2022
LaShene Lowe has taken a stand or two against injustice and discrimination in her life and was not afraid to be found making another stand over something she felt so strongly about: legacy.
Monday evening was one of significance to the Black community of Mount Airy and the area in general. The African American Historical and Genealogical Society of Surry County and their ‘Save Jones’ committee appeared before the county commissioners to announce acceptance of the county’s proposal to take ownership of the former J. J. Jones High School, currently the L. H. Jones Family Resource Center
Over the past months as the future of J. J. Jones High has been discussed at meetings of the county commissioners, members from the society have been making regular pleas that the board do the right thing. They wanted their former school to be given to the Black community for its preservation, and the county agreed.
Thursday, Lowe was no less excited that on Monday when the alumni group did something, “I never thought we’d be able to do – convince those five men to give the school to us,” she said.
The date of transfer of the property is to coincide with the end of the fiscal year, Lowe said. The county’s goal has always been a timely transfer, and the transfer date was one of the only points of Save Jones’s proposal where the county and the group did not agree completely. To wait, as requested, until 2025 to make the final transfer was not an appealing option to county officials.
The Save Jones group has spoken to county officials since Monday’s meeting, and Lowe advised they sent a list of questions to the county for review. She said Thursday that she was aware of an offer that had been made for a tract of acreage that abuts the Jones School grounds from a private citizen after the surplus had been announced.
Monday was a day some did not think they would live to see, and sadly many of the Jones High alumni did not. Legacy, and the chance to preserve it, were the main goal of the Save Jones group. The history of the area’s first all-Black school with parts of it built by hand with the blood, sweat, and tears of its own students mixed into the bricks they the laid was at risk.
For all the complaints that local government is too slow or unresponsive, count Commissioner Mark Marion among those, as he just discussed his own thoughts on the speed, or lack thereof, of county government last week with students at North Surry High.
The case of J. J. Jones however may throw a few of those conventions out the window. Lowe is thankful to be in a position to disagree with that notion. “I felt it moved pretty quickly,” she observed. From the time of the surplus designation to the for-sale signage, to Monday evening’s meeting of the county commissioners was just over eight months.
“Save Jones committee was not even formed until Dec. 30, and we have been doing the impossible ever since,” Lowe said of the daunting task that faced the Save Jones group when the county sent a dispatch in late January.
At that time, the group was asked to join the county commissioners at their all-day planning session just a few weeks out. Scrambling as a team they put together a proposal including a video presentation on the Selma Girls School that had been successfully converted into a residential and multi-use facility.
There was some extra help in getting the presentation together, Lowe admitted. “There is a saying in the Bible that when two or more gather, I will be there. Well, there was 20 or 30 of us,” Lowe said with a chuckle. Strength in numbers among the alumni will be needed going forward as will some more help from above. “I know the Lord has blessed us and was with us to work a miracle.”
There was a feeling of concern expressed after the surplus decision that Jones would be forgotten, sold, or just cast aside even though the services of YVEDDI and other groups still call the aging building home. Having those community organizations on the new campus of Jones is something Lowe wants to continue. “We don’t want to put anyone out. We want YVEDDI to stay and evolve.”
For their part, the county commissioners let it be known several times throughout the process that they had no desire to see the building lost to time, or a wrecking ball. At no time did the county entertain any idea of demolishing the former school, which was a notion that made its way into the discussion every so often — to the bewilderment of a board comprised of self-admitted history buffs.
The county entertained a proposal from the Piedmont Triad Regional Council who wanted to develop an affordable rental community on the campus of the former school. The P3 plan (Public Private Partnership) would have seen the county pair with the PTRC to form their own limited liability corporation which would have overseen the redevelopment and later management of the new community.
Surplus properties are for sale outright, as the signage reflected, so the easiest path for the county to remove these buildings from their budget was to have them bought from the county. J. J. Jones High recently was appraised at over $300,000 so there is value beyond the sentimental value which does not translate directly into dollar signs.
There were no interested parties in buying the old school building outright.
The African American Historical and Genealogical Society and Save Jones were represented at Monday’s meeting by Lowe, president, and co-chairs of ‘Save Jones School’ Adreann Belle and Jackie Snow.
Also, in attendance to represent the AAHGS for the historic evening were Chaplain Brenda McCalop, Rebecca Hampton, Ken Badgett, Nevada Love, Alice Brim, Jewell Hauser, Rev Billie King, Sonya Dodd, Jamal Thompson, Beatrice Shoffner, Marie Nicholson, Maggie Hatcher, Cynthia Penn, and Rodney Galloway.
March 24, 2022
Mountain Valley Hospice & Palliative Care’s “Big Hospice Raffle” fundraiser is back, and tickets go on sale March 28.
“We are excited about this year’s raffle. Tickets can be purchased in person or online,” said Sara Tavery, senior director of philanthropy at Mountain Valley Hospice & Palliative Care. Proceeds from the raffle will help support the hospice mission of providing end-of-life care to patients, especially those who are uninsured or under insured.
“As a nonprofit agency, we don’t turn anyone away, and so we rely on the generosity of the public to help sustain our mission,” said Tavery “This raffle is a fun way for the community to help raise funds that go directly into providing care for patients, and support for their families.”
Daily drawings will begin on May 1 and continue every day throughout the month. Raffle tickets can be purchased with a minimum donation of $10 per ticket. Two prizes will be awarded every day, and winning tickets for each day will remain eligible to win again throughout the month. There will also be three surprise drawings between May 1 and May 31.
In total, there will be 65 chances to win more than $5,000 in cash and prizes.
Winners and their prizes will be announced daily on Facebook at Facebook.com/mtnvalleyhospice. Winners will also be contacted directly at the end of each week of drawing. For more information, or to enter tickets online, visit mtnvalleyhospice.org/BHR
© 2018 The Mount Airy News
