In recording deeds, the state of North Carolina does not require that the amount paid for a parcel be stated on the deed. However a tax stamp at the rate of $2 for every $1,000 in value is affixed to each deed.
Recent real estate transfers recorded in the Surry County Register of Deed’s office include:
– Christopher Ryan Henson and Alicia Wallace Henson to James Leroy Walker; 9,981 sq ft lot 2 PB 20 34 Mount Airy; $320.
– Mobile Diagnostics Solutions, LLC to Maria Gladis Baca; lots 88-90 Sunset Park PB 1 76 Elkin; $170.
– Teddy Aldean Medley, Christopher S. Medley, Renee Cranfil Hartman and Timothy Hartman to Joe Cockrell and Denise Connors; 1.084 acres tract 2 PB 41 14; $212.
– U.S. Bank Trust National Association and RCF 2 Aquisition Trust to Reynaldo Duran and Cecilia Duran Rayo; lot 9 and 20 Pine Ridge subdivision PB 7 13; $180.
– Barbara Giles Lanier to Stronghold Properties, LLC; tract; $5.
– Stronghold Properties, LLC to Samuel Moore and Latonia Moore; tract; $13.
– TNK Investments, LLC to Shawn P. Fitzgerald and Pamela Fitzgerald; 1.9 acres; $494.
– Paul C. Westmoreland to P M Builders, Inc.; 0.214 acres Mount Airy; $53.
– Robert J. Lovill and Elizabeth J. Lovill to Debra Jones Hall; lot 42 phase 3 section 2 Windgate subdivision PB 13 54 Dobson; $29.
– Chad Everette Lewis and Jeana Everette Lewis to CEL Investments, LLC; 3 tracts Mount Airy; $0.
– Barbara Kay Rhodes, Ted Long and Kay Long Rhodes to Teddy D. Long and Patricia N. Long; 4.751 acres; $0.
– Richard Duncan and Michelle Duncan to Peggy Lynn McMillian; two tracts Mount Airy; $7.
– James Leon Hutson and Sandra Lou Hutson to Redoak Development, LLC; tract Mount Airy; $163.
– G. Edwards Massey and Deborah M. Massey to Guadalupe Castillo; tract Mount Airy; $296.
– Linda E. Goins to Jonathan Silva Romo and Kaitlin Ann Silva; 0.704 acres PB 40 189 1105 Blue Hollow Road Westfield; $184.
– Jody Lynn Goodwill and Carly Dukes to DTS of Jonesville, LLC; 0.99 acres Elkin; $250.
– Jody Lynn Goodwill and Carly Dukes to David T. Smith; 4.8 acres Elkin; $50.
– Scarlett Norris Mathis and Joshua Claude Mathis to Brianna Hitchner and Michael Hitchner; 1.835 acres Bryan; $450.
– Margarita Moralez Ruiz to Margarita Moralez Ruiz and Jose Jackie Hernandez; tract Mount Airy; $0.
– Glenn E. Boyd and Patricia Ann Boyd to Roberto Mercado; lots 6-8 block 5 Highland Park 1 28 Mount Airy; $200.
– LKTR Properties, LLC to Kyle Thomas Shinault and Sarah H. Shinault; lots 115-118 Nelson Development PB 6 54 Pilot; $570.
– David Webster Hemmings and Peggy Hemmings to Ramey Ridge Farms, LLC; 0.942 acres Dobson; $5.
– Amber Ellis and Tiffany Renee Ellis to Brody Gentry, Chole Gentry, Stefanie Gentry and Randall Gentry; 0.445 acres lot 66-67 Safety Harbour subdivision PB 1 74; $440.
– Gary L. Wagner and Scotty Wagner to Jimmie Dale Shores and James Harrison Shores Jr.; two tracts Bryan; $0.
– Redoak Development, LLC to Esmeralda Sonato; 0.65 acres PB 19 117 Mount Airy; $195.
– Gary L. Wagner and Scotty Wagner to The Wagner Family Farms, LLC; lots 3-4 PB 40 173 Bryan; $0.
– John H. Heath to Ashlee Erin Hooker; .249 acres two tracts Mount Airy; $256.
– Aaron Stoltzfus, Bethany Stoltzfus and Bethany Hawkins to Christine Lynn Bedell and Aaron McKinley McIntyre; tract one lot 24 tract two portion of lot 23 Mitchell Bluff estates PB 7 35; $370.
– Kenmare Properties, Inc. to Goldmart, LLC; tract Mount Airy; $0.
– Kenmare Properties, Inc. to Goldmart, LLC; two tracts Mount Airy; $0.
– Deloris A. Henzler to Mary Ann Galyean; 1.26 acres Bryan; $0.
– Richard Carroll Bowman and Barbara Gail C. Bowman to Allen Todd and Marsha Bowman Todd; lots 37-40 block B J.D. Smith estate subdivision PB 3 109 Mount Airy; $0.
– Margaret Tilley to Amber Ellis and Tiffany Ellis; all of lots 5-6 PB 9 122 Mount Airy; $412.
– Joseph John Ewen to Joseph John Ewen and Laura Ann Ryan Ewen; lot 38 section 6 Stoney Ridge Acres PB 11 166; $0.
– John Mark Golding to Avelino Linares Perez; tract Mount Airy; $70.
– Joseph Lane Snow and Melissa D. Snow to Josiah M. Blevins and Madison S. Blevins; 1.285 acres PB 41 3 Bryan; $400.
– Roger F. Kozlowski and Kimberly Kozlowski to Melissa Brooke Presley; lot 14 section 2 Mountain View Properties subdivision PB 18 22 Eldora; $328.
– Active Capital Real Estate Investments, LLC to Rhino Sheds, LLC; tract PB 4 38 Mount Airy; $110.
– Ararat-Cedar Hill Primitive Baptist Church, Timothy Creed, Kenneth Creed, Wesley Jones and Norman Jones to Ararat-Cedar Hill Primitive Baptist Church; 3.589 acres PB 39 169 Pilot; $0.
– Dorothy Simmons Grantor Trust, Carl Edward Simmons Grantor Trust, Scarlett Lynn Simmons Dowdy, Dororthy Simmons and Carl Edward Simmons to Tammy C. Seibert and Melissa Seibert; 1.48 acres lot A PB 41 2; $471.
– PNC Bank, National Association and Bank of Pilot Mountain to PQA Healthcare, Inc..; 2.6735 acres; $1,440.
https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/MTA063022V.pdf
The Surry Arts Council Young Audience Series will begin this weekend with a Dance Party by Blanton Youell’s B-Dazzle Production.
The Dance Party will take place on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Blackmon Amphitheatre andwill include music, bubbles, and lots of fun for everyone.
The Young Audience Series is a free interactive series of shows for children of all ages. The shows will take place at the Blackmon Amphitheatre on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. from July 2 to August 6.
Upcoming shows include Saturday, July 9 “Stories That Sing” with Emily and Bruce Burgess, July 16 and July 23 “Storytime with Papa Pantalone” by Mark Donnell, July 30 Zumbini with Chrissy by Christina Kinzer, and August 6 a Dance Party with Blanton Youell.
Stories That Sing will provide a fun-filled, interactive morning of musical mischief hosted by the Burgess Family featuring sing-a-long books, visits from puppet characters, and an instrument petting zoo.
Storytime with Papa Pantalone will feature Mark Donnell’s interactive retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel in “The Most Famous Adventure of Little Red Riding Hood” and “Hansel and Gretel, A Woodland Tale or ‘How Do We Get Out of Here?’”
Zumbini with Chrissy features songs, activities, special instruments, and more, all in the name of movement.
For additional information, contact Marianna Juliana at 336-786-7998 or marianna@surryarts.org
New leadership has been announced for a local veterans organization that plays an active role in the community.
The fresh slate of officers for Surry County Detachment 1322 of the Marine Corps League was elected during a recent meeting of the group.
They include Michael Russell, senior vice commandant; David Gigante, judge advocate; Todd Abbott, commandant; and Travis Yelton, junior vice commandant.
The Marine Corps League, whose motto is “Same Team New Mission,” is the only congressionally chartered Marine Corps-related veterans organization in the United States.
Its charter was approved by the 75th U.S. Congress and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Aug. 4, 1937.
The mission of the Marine Corps League includes promoting the interests and preserving the traditions of that branch of service; strengthening the fraternity of Marines and their families; and fostering the ideals of Americanism and patriotic volunteerism.
It is through that latter goal that Surry County Detachment 1322 of the Marine Corps League has most made its presence known locally by long spearheading the annual Toys for Tots campaign that helps children in need have a better Christmas.
In 2019, before the coronavirus brought some disruption to that effort, more than 1,300 kids were served through the distribution of 8,200-plus new unwrapped toys.
Even at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the local group was still able to collect or buy almost 4,900 toys.
Surry County Detachment 1322 also has helped spread Christmas cheer to older folks in the community, including at the Twelve Oaks assisted-living facility, and participated in Veterans Day observances.
The Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce will host is 21st Annual Chairman’s Cup Golf Tournament on Thursday July 7, noon, at Cross Creek Country Club. Player slots and sponsorships are still available for the event.
The chamber’s annual golf tournament will feature a best ball/captains choice format, a shotgun start at noon, box lunches, beverages, door prizes, awards to the top players and more. Proceeds from the golf event will go to support the programs and services of the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber wishes to thank the major event sponsors. They are:
• Eagle Level: Kelly Office Solutions, Wayne Farms, Surry Communications
• Birdie Level: Leonard Truck Accessories
• Gift Sponsor: Northern Regional Hospital, Chatham Nursing and Rehab
• Par Sponsor: Surry Community College, Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital
• Beverage Cart: Coldwell Banker Advantage, Mountain Valley Hospice
• Photo Sponsor: Dr. John Gravitte, DDS
• Award Sponsors: Scenic Motors, Shelton Vineyards
• Beverage Sponsor: Coca Cola, Round Peak Vineyards
Player slots are still open but selling fast. Several event sponsor packages are open and priced to fit different budgets. Interested players or sponsors should contact Jordon Edwards, director of events at the chamber via email: jordon@mtairyncchamber.org
At the Moore House in Mount Airy last week a group met to discuss housing challenges facing the area. Facilitated by Melissa Hiatt and the United Fund of Surry, the housing roundtable brought together stakeholders from local non-profit groups to hold a dialogue on what are the strengths and weaknesses of the community as they relate to housing.
Gathering a disparate set of voices that represent areas of need within the community, Hiatt said conversations on housing challenges began in earnest months ago. At their last meeting they spoke generally about what types of services were provided by non-governmental groups, as well as municipal and county organizations.
She said of those early talks, “It was so broad, we didn’t know where to go because in that conversation we started with the fact that we are having problems keeping folks in Habitat homes, then we talked about we don’t have enough space to put domestic violence victims to hide them.”
With needs that show the diverse scope and nuanced nature of housing problems — there is no one solution. In recent discussions with the economic development office, she said that housing has been a hot topic of conversation, “top three” among current issues that were discussed.
Hiatt advised the group’s purpose was to set a road map for Todd Tucker and the team at the economic development office. In July, Tucker will meet with a housing consultant about the situation in Surry County so that a study may be conducted; notes from the housing roundtable will help guide that study.
Housing issues may be found across the county, “We know we have lots of housing problems. That led me to do what you asked me to do, and I found county commissioner,” Hiatt said referring to Commissioner Mark Marion seated across the table.
After the needs were better identified by the small group she can invite in the municipalities to the conversation. Until such a time as all parties could join, she was concerned only having a representative from Mount Airy or Elkin, for example, would be a disservice to the other local governments. “We don’t want this to be about one specific group, it needs to be a broad purview.”
The group discussed areas of opportunity to determine what issues are best addressed by the member organizations of the United Fund of Surry. Not all issues would fall to non-profits; she mentioned housing at Ridgecrest as an area that would fall under the medical community sphere of influence. Her point being, “There have to be multiple leaders on this. When we have this list of needs and priorities, we can then take off the things that are not ours and send the rest on.”
Needs for the area were identified as a lack of market value housing, a homeless shelter option for men; options for domestic violence victims; public transportation; waiting lists for housing; ‘screen outs’ such as having a criminal record that hinder finding housing; cost of materials for the construction of new shelters or transitional housing; and a need for more education.
Karl Singletary of New Hope New Beginnings repeated more than once that many in the public see issues of homelessness and substance abuse only as shortcomings in moral character. “That’s one of the big challenges to the community, is the education because some people are just now recognizing substance abuse as a mental illness. If you can’t treat the mental illness and substance abuse at the same time, you are wasting your time.”
The group identified among the greatest strengths of the community to be the strong involvement of a wide array of non-profit groups. Also, they cited the creation of the office of substance abuse recovery and the hiring of drug czar Mark Willis to manage its efforts. Programs such as Ride the Road to Recovery and the Prevention All Stars have received notice locally as well as from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
One resource that Hiatt is excited to tap are the myriad of faith-based groups which have been speaking to her recently. Among their congregants are found a need for assistance, but members of the faith community have told her they need help to determine how best to help those in need. One said, “We don’t know how to help. Sometimes we feel we might be a hindrance.”
“They don’t feel qualified to answer questions because they don’t have the answers,” she said. “Or they worry they are keeping the cycle going” by helping.
For some, there does need to be a change in mindset. “I try to teach people it is never a handout – it is always a hand up. These folks have self-respect too and we need to help grow that. We have all been in a situation that we had to recognize we had to do better. It comes from the way someone has treated you, good or bad, or someone who has helped you that gives you that sense of pride that says, ‘I can do this.’ Our hand ups are what need to do that.”
“Our avenues of hope or help are not always faith-based, some are scientific based,” she went on to explain why some faith groups may shy away from aid. “These groups need to hear that we give everyone the opportunity for the approach they want. I am happy they are at least asking the questions.”
“You have to save them before they can be saved,” Commissioner Marion added in showing that there is a place for faith to enter the conversation.
Singletary reminded that twelve-step groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are spiritual programs, “God is all over there. What matters is a person — a human being — with choices. Just because they may not believe does not mean that they don’t have a right to recovery.”
There is no reason to send anyone away from the table who may wish to help, so Hiatt and the housing roundtable will continue bringing in more community and faith leaders to have honest discussions. Marion said the truth may not make everyone happy, but Marlin Yoder said of the need for honest discourse, “The truth may set us free.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Despite a growing recognition of the problem, the United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to a report issued Wednesday on the state of local news.
Areas of the country that find themselves without a reliable source of local news tend to be poorer, older and less educated than those covered well, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications said.
The country had 6,377 newspapers at the end of May, down from 8,891 in 2005, the report said. While the pandemic didn’t quite cause the reckoning that some in the industry feared, 360 newspapers have shut down since the end of 2019, all but 24 of them weeklies serving small communities.
An estimated 75,000 journalists worked in newspapers in 2006, and now that’s down to 31,000, Northwestern said. Annual newspaper revenue slipped from $50 billion to $21 billion in the same period.
Even though philanthropists and politicians have been paying more attention to the issue, the factors that drove the collapse of the industry’s advertising model haven’t changed. Encouraging growth in the digital-only news sector in recent years hasn’t been enough to compensate for the overall trends, said Penelope Muse Abernathy, visiting professor at Medill and the report’s principal author.
Many of the digital-only sites are focused on single issues and are clustered in or close to big cities near the philanthropic money that provides much of their funding, the report said.
News “deserts” are growing: The report estimated that some 70 million Americans live in a county with either no local news organization or only one.
“What’s really at stake in that is our own democracy, as well as our social and societal cohesion,” Abernathy said.
True “daily” newspapers that are printed and distributed seven days a week are also dwindling; The report said 40 of the largest 100 newspapers in the country publish only-digital versions at least once a week. Inflation is likely to hasten a switch away from printed editions, said Tim Franklin, director of the Medill Local News Initiative.
Much of the industry churn is driven by the growth in newspaper chains, including new regional chains that have bought hundreds of newspapers in small or mid-sized markets, the report said.
Less than a third of the country’s 5,147 weekly newspapers and just a dozen of the 150 large metro and regional daily papers are now locally-owned and operated, Medill said.
Abernathy’s report pointed to a handful of “local heroes” to counter the pessimism that the raw numbers provide. One is Sharon Burton, publisher and editor of the Adair County Community Voice in Kentucky, where she pushes her staff toward aggressive journalism while also successfully lobbying to expand postal subsidies for rural newspapers.
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?
This week I want to display the journey of Moses and God’s people into the Promised Land that initially started with a promise made to Abraham by God. Early in this column, it is essential to note that God has a promised land for each of us. Of course, that ultimate land of promise is in heaven with God in our very own mansion that has been built for us to reside in, but our promised land here on earth is found in the specific purpose He has laid out for each person individually.
You will see in Deuteronomy 10:12-13 the words of Moses to the Israelites as he prepared them for their Promised Land that was filled with a purpose for their descendants. The question posed here is what does God require of us as we journey toward that land, as we look toward residing in our purpose, or better stated, how to live a life that God desires us to live to the fullest?
As stated in the words of Moses is, five simple directives to fear God, please God, love God, serve God, and obey God. For the sake of space and time, I will not be able to go into deep detail about each of these points, but I can state that each of them can be found intertwined in the ten commandments found in Exodus 20 and echoed by Jesus in Matthew 22:35-40.
The verses in Matthew read this way, “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
There is a commission that we are to have an attitude of fearing, pleasing, serving, and obeying, but there is something about true love that helps us bring the first four right in line with God’s will for our lives. Paul in 1 Timothy 1-5-7 states that the commandants of our life should be derived from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. This pure heart that Paul talks about gives us our genuine desire to please God through service to others. This direct obedience to God’s Word shows that we are not scared of God but possess a fear derived from reverence and respect. John tells us in 1 John 4:7-10, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
My friend God is love. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Fearing, pleasing, serving, obeying, and loving are simple requirements when we consider that God sent Christ to forsake it all for us to have freedom from the bondage of our sin. I have found that once we begin to understand 1 John 4, we begin not only to see why Deuteronomy is pertinent but you will begin to see the truth in Jesus’s answer to the lawyer in Matthew 22. That love should compel us to love others, which will result in a display of all the requirements needed to inhabit the promises from God. Jeremiah 29:11 states, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Love God, and I promise, friend, you will experience more than you can imagine.
May God bless you and keep you and allow his face to shine upon you and give you peace. God bless you!
• A Mount Airy woman has become the victim of a scam related to checks, according to city police reports.
The incident occurred last Friday, involving fraudulent checks being created by an unknown suspect in order “to take advantage of” Monica Jean Snelling, an incident record states. It does not elaborate on how the scam transpired or list Snelling’s address. The crime occurred at a home on Price Street, with no monetary loss given.
• Bobby Durelle Robinson, 40, of 401 Hadley St., was jailed on an assault charge in the wake of a June 23 incident at the Marshall Street residence of Jeffery Lee Frost, where Robinson allegedly punched Frost in the face with a closed fist. The victim was found to have signs of the assault during a police investigation.
Robinson was held in the Surry County Jail under a $500 secured bond and slated for a July 11 appearance in District Court.
• A local auto dealership has been victimized by a crime that involved the obtaining of property by false pretense which was reported on June 22.
It concerned an unknown suspect using fraudulent personal information to obtain a vehicle at Simmons Nissan, identified as a 2019 Honda CR-V LX station wagon valued at $34,204. It was recovered, with the case still under investigation.
• An undisclosed sum of money and other property with a total value of $450 were discovered stolen at Northern Family Medicine on North Pointe Boulevard on June 18, which involved the multi-colored handbag of Kizzie Blanche Waddell of Greystone Lane being taken from a locker room.
The loss also included an Apple SE smartphone, gray in color; a Fitbit fitness tracker; and a Toyota Avalon car key.
• Angel Noel Tate, 31, of 873 Brim Road, was charged with second-degree trespassing on June 17 after being encountered by an officer at a residence on Granite Road, from which she had been banned by police in February 2020.
Tate was released on a $500 unsecured bond to appear in Surry District Court on July 18.
• Jennifer Diane Draughn, 32, of 445 Culbert St., was jailed without privilege of bond on June 17 on a warrant for an assault charge that had been filed the same day with no other details provided.
Draughn is facing a July 18 appearance in District Court.
Open since 2007, Carolina Ziplines Canopy Tour offers a unique day of outdoor recreation sailing through the sky. It was the first zipline business to open in North Carolina. After multiple visits to Costa Rica, Robert and Joanna Nickell caught the vision for Carolina Ziplines Canopy Tour. Conception to completion was eight months of ducking vines, climbing large trees and hauling heavy cables through the forest. In 2010 Keith and Barbara Bollman brought with them their 12 children and 18 grandchildren to liven things up a bit.
Carolina Ziplines is located on a truly unique place. It was the active farm and homestead of R.J. Reynolds great-grandfather Joshua Cox (1731-1821). Joshua Cox was a trainer of the local Patriot Militia in the Revolutionary War and was instrumental in establishing freedom for North Carolina from the British. To learn more, visit https://www.carolinaziplines.com/ or call 336-972-7656 to make a reservation.
The Sauratown Mountains Scenic Byway bends for 82 miles through the gently rolling rural landscapes that surround the ancient Sauratown Mountains. Sometimes referred to as “the mountains away from the mountains,” the Sauratowns are an isolated range with peaks that rise abruptly above the surrounding Piedmont to over 2,500 feet.
The route, which takes about two hours to drive, basically links Hanging Rock State Park with Pilot Mountain State Park. There’s another part that stretches along N.C. Highway 89 from Danbury to Bannertown in Surry County and a spur on into Mount Airy.
The Hanging Rock Scenic Byway’s southern end is in the Mount Olive community, where Highway 66 and Denny Road intersect. Driving north, you would bear right into Flat Shoals Road and then turn left on Mountain Road. After four miles, turn left on N.C. 8/89 and continue through the town. At this point you have a choice of turning left onto Hanging Rock State Park Road and continuing back to the starting point via Moores Spring Road and Highway 66. Or keep going on N.C. Highway 89 for about 25 miles to Shelton Town community east of Mount Airy in Surry County, where the byway currently ends.
It’s safe to say Payne Road is the only roadway in Stokes County that has its own Facebook page.
There are lots of stories and versions of stories, few based in fact. But who doesn’t get excited by a scary ghost story?
If you grew up in the southern half of Stokes County, or Rural Hall just over the county line, you know all the stories. They don’t need to be re-hashed here, but all involve murder, violence and creepy experiences. A quick Google search of “Legend of Payne Road” will give you all you care to read and more. Or visit said Facebook page.
No doubt if you were in high school in the area at some point you and your friends went for a drive to see what was what.
The first bit of factual information is that Payne Road is actually Edwards Road. There is actually a Payne Road in the area, but it’s not sure how this confusion originated. Perhaps the original Payne Road residents petitioned to change the name to deter adventure-seekers.
The only other gruesome story that is factual is that a man named Milus Frank Edwards, who owned land in a bend of Edwards road, blew himself up with a stick of dynamite in 1955. His house burned down in 1991 thanks to vandals.
The “haunted bridge” is also no more, as it was replaced by an ordinary culvert.
The Mountains-to-Sea State Trail is a long-distance trail for hiking and backpacking, that traverses North Carolina from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. The trail’s western endpoint is at Clingman’s Dome, where it connects to the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The trail stretches for 1,175 miles and is part of the State Park system.
In Stokes County it cuts right across the middle of the map, from Pinnacle in the west to Hanging Rock State Park. In the Hartman community it dips south, down through Walnut Cove and skirting the southwestern tip of Belews Lake. Mostly the trail follows the roadways of Stokes County, with a few exceptions where it is a hiking trail, from Volunteer around the Col. Jack Martin Rock House to Torys Den. Then there’s another trail loop around to N.C. Highway 66.
For more information, visit https://mountainstoseatrail.org/get-involved/become-a-member/.
When you visit the Hillbilly Hideaway Restaurant in rural Stokes County, you will be urged to relax in a rustic atmosphere as family-sized bowls of country-style food are brought to your table. You might ask for more of the crispy fried chicken, the salty country ham or the buttery hoecake and cornbread. If it is Saturday, you can mosey on down the hill to the music hall to take in some live country music from 6-9 p.m. or over to the gift antique shop to see what goodies await your purchase.
The owner, Rosanna Bray Jarvis, will typically be onsite to welcome you and make sure you enjoy the Southern hospitality her restaurant is famous for. The hospitable atmosphere has not changed since Rosanna’s parents, Sam and Louise Bray, opened the Hillbilly Hideaway in 1978. Even though Sam and Louise are gone now – she passed away in 2014 and he in 2016 – their daughter sticks to their original plan for guests. “I want them to feel like they’re coming to my house, like they’re at home, like they’re at Grandma’s,” Rosanna explains with her big smile. “They can have all they want, and we’ll keep bringing it to them.”
Located at 4375 Pine Hall Road in Walnut Cove, it is open only on weekends: Friday from 4-9 p.m., Saturday from 3-9 p.m., Sunday from 8-11 a.m. for breakfast and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. for lunch and dinner. Reservations for groups of 15 or more are available but not required. The biggest day of their year is Mother’s Day, but Rosanna notes that on normal weekends, there is little to no wait before guests are seated.
Hanging Rock State Park’s total visitation for 2021 was a whopping 900,702, breaking the record set the year before, which was 867,911 guests. Hanging Rock “ticks all the boxes” among all the amenities that one might want a state park to offer. Constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, Hanging Rock covers 9,011-acres and offers sheer cliffs and peaks of bare rock, quiet forests and cascading waterfalls, with views of the Piedmont that stretch for miles.
More than 20 miles of trails are available in the park. In addition to those that lead to Hanging Rock itself, other trails in the park lead to other peaks and rock walls with spectacular views. Two picnic areas are available for lunch before the trail or grilling afterward; there are 60 tables total. One is at the main Hanging Rock trailhead and the other is near the 12-acre lake with boathouse and swimming area. Rowboats and canoes are for rent during the summer (private boats are not allowed), plus there are 15 miles of biking trails, camping and cabins for rent. The main park website is https://www.ncparks.gov/hanging-rock-state-park/home.
The Great Wagon Road was the main North-South artery, and was the main route of transportation from North to South into the Blue Ridge area of the Piedmont for settlers. This road is thought to have touched far southeast Patrick County in Virginia where Patrick and Henry counties come together along the North Mayo River. The Great Wagon Road came into North Carolina at Stokes County, forded the Dan River at Upper Sauratown at Walnut Cove and then continued to Wachovia in what was then Forsyth County which later became Bethabara.
You can roughly follow the path of the Great Wagon Road in modern Stokes County: in the north, Amostown Road to Sandy Ridge, then N.C. Highway 704 to Highway 772. At present-day Dodgetown, there was a fork in the path. Some wagons branched southwest here to ford the Dan River, possibly following Dodgetown Road past Dillard Road, then down Glidewell Lane to a ford and then over Bumpy Hollow Road and Stewart Road to N.C 89 to reach Meadows, Danbury, or Walnut Cove. Wagons also could follow Dodgetown Road and NC-1698 (Davis Chapel Church Road), crossing Davis ford (now a bridge) to reach Meadows, Danbury, or Walnut Cove.
It is possible that the original Moravian settlers forded the Dan River here in 1753 and then traveled south to present-day Walnut Cove, but this road doesn’t appear on the Wachovia map of 1767. On the Wachovia maps of 1770 and 1771 it runs directly from Salem to the Dan River ford here, crossing Town Creek at Walnut Cove.
Continuing south on Highway 772 to short distances on Hickory Fork Road, Willard Road, Saura Farm Road, Tuttle Road to U.S. 311 at Oldtown Road. Then Brook Cove Road to N.C. Highway 8 through Germanton to the junction with N.C. 65.
A newcomer among Stokes County’s many outdoor events, the Foothills Farm Festival is held on the Knight’s farm in Lawsonville in early October and features old-time farm equipment. “The Festival is our family’s way of preserving Stoke County’s rural agriculture heritage for generations to come,” said Robert Knight. “We demonstrate local farming techniques from years ago as well as modern-day agriculture. The event allows children and adults to have a hands-on learning experience that they will never forget.”
Farm Fest Along the Sunflower Trail
Held in September, the trail starts in Francisco and meanders across the northern part of Stokes County. Marked with sunflower signs, the trail provides a look back at farm life and equipment from the “good ol’ days” as well as state-of-the-art agricultural practices, arts and crafts, baked goods, yard sales, and craft beer. It includes local businesses such as Midsummer Brewing, the Big Creek Lodge at Luna’s Trail Farm, and the Kordick Family Farm.
Each October, King’s Central Park comes alive with its annual KingFest. The event, hosted by the King Chamber of Commerce, celebrated its 30th year in 2019. Music, food, crafts, demonstrations, animals and games line both sides of the park. KingFest offers two stages of music as well as many arts and craft vendors and kids’ activities. Music for the day ranges from local rock and bluegrass favorites to old-time gospel music. The festival also has its own traveling train, the KingFest Express.
For more than four decades the annual Stokes Stomp Festival on the Dan has kicked off the fall in Danbury’s Moratock Park. Locals and visitors from surrounding counties flock to the event held on the banks of the Dan River to enjoy music, dance talent, local marching bands, games, crafts and food. The festival brings big crowds to the park every year and offers two stages of bluegrass and folk music. The fun kicks off with a parade through downtown Danbury and ends at the park. Organized each year by the Stokes County Arts Council, the festival also offers artisans from throughout the region a chance to display and sell their work.
Reach the Peaks sees hundreds participate in the annual event, which is considered the premier single-day hiking challenge in the state. Reach the Peaks offers a strenuous 10 mile trail route testing participants to summit the five major peaks of Hanging Rock State Park, including Moore’s Knob, House Rock, Cook’s Wall, Wolf Rock and Hanging Rock. (There’s also a 5-mile option that summits Moore’s Knob.) Reach the Peaks has grown its participation base to expand beyond the county because of its challenge.
Stokes County Arts Council shows off its best attributes of culinary, visual, performance and volunteerism each November at the annual Stokes Soup in a Bowl at Hanging Rock State Park. For $25 per person, attendees choose their own handcrafted soup bowl, soup, beverage and dessert, with all proceeds benefiting the food ministries of East Stokes Outreach, King Outreach and Northern Stokes Food Pantry.
Another King Chamber-sponsored event, Meet Me on Main is a spring Saturday celebration where the streets are closed off and vendors, kids activities and musicians take over the downtown area. “We are showcasing our membership and then also invite other vendors to come and set up as well,” King Chamber’s Cathy Loveday said. “The event also promotes the downtown businesses, many of whom stay open into the evening.” This year’s event added a 5K downtown run.
This growing event features hundreds of costume-clad thrill seekers to brave the cold waters of Hanging Rock Lake on New Year’s Day. And that group always draws a big crowd on onlookers. Arts Council Director Eddy McGee has also been a participant every year. “It’s awesome and exhilarating,” he said. “The build up to it, the anticipation was really something. When we were standing on the beach counting down I remember thinking to myself ‘I am fixing to run into this lake.’ It was great to be in the moment and then the next thing you know your feet are moving and you are running into the lake and then just.. cold. It is hard to describe.For me it was exhilarating, refreshing and cold, but something different. It was not nearly as bad as I had made it out to be.”
And while not technically a festival, the American Legion’s annual county fair in mid-September is certainly a big party, and remains on of the best county fairs in the region. The 2022 fair will be the 71th annual.
The parade season kicks off in September in Danbury with the annual Stokes Stomp Parade. That event winds through historic Danbury crossing the Dan River to end at Moratock Park and serves as the official kick off for the annual Stokes Stomp music festival. Then in early December King and Walnut Cove ring in the Christmas season in style with lengthy parades highlighting all of the area businesses and community organizations. Both of those parades are run by the local Masons and provide the entertainment and, for the kids, tons of candy.
Nestled in the small town of Danbury is a big-time art house. The Stokes Arts Council offers many of the creative amenities of larger cities in this quiet, out-of-the way rural community. The council offers a place for artists to work, show off their art through gallery shows, is home to the Three Sisters stage where plays, musicals and concerts are put on, and so much more. A quick drive to Danbury can give you an opportunity to enjoy all of this.
That might sound a little generic, but sometimes an attraction can be a simply, winding country road. Or a whole network of them. That is what you can find in Stokes County, where most of the highways and lands are narrow and winding and simply fun to drive. There are not many sections of straight roadway in Stokes County.
If you’re looking for a fun Sunday afternoon drive, or a sojourn into the country to get away from city life for a bit, then just drive the country lanes of Stokes. Along the way you’ll see the freshly plowed fields in the spring, the wet grass from summer showers, the hay bales during the harvest; ridges and mountains covered in lush green throughout spring and summer, then bursting with color in the autumn; and more. .
The winding Dan River offers a variety of outdoor activities to visitors of Stokes County ranging from excellent fishing to tubing, kayaking and canoeing possibilities. It winds more than 50 miles through Stokes County offering visitors and locals alike an abundance of options. “The Dan,” said professional fishing guide Kyle Hoover, “is clear and clean from one end of Stokes County to the other. You can catch fine fish anywhere.” Popular fish found in the Dan include Trout, Redbreast Sunfish, Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill and Suckers.
And while the river is a paradise for fishermen seeking pristine mountain waters, it is also big draw for those hoping to just spend a lazy day floating on the water. A number of local business in Danbury offer tubing trips down the Dan providing a tube and shuttle service to return you to your car after a relaxing afternoon. Tubing season runs from late-May through Labor Day weekend. Rental of a tube and access to shuttle services cost about $10 and the average float lasts for about two hours.
For the more adventurous types a couple of businesses, like the Dan River Company, also provide kayak and canoe rentals. Rapids on the river are gentle (Class 1 and below), so you can run the shallow white water for thrills without spills.
Check the river conditions by checking both the weather forecast for Zip Code 27046 as well as the volume of flow as reported by a USGS gaging station at the Highway 704 bridge near Francisco (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02068500).
Attention golfers, the time is coming to hit the links for a good cause as the J. J. Jones Golf Tournament at Cross Creek Country Club is just around the corner.
The tournament is scheduled for Monday, July 11 with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Registration is ongoing now with the deadline fast approaching on July 1.
For teams of two the cost to enter the tournament will be $150 per participant and the proceeds will all go toward necessary repairs and upkeep to the former J. J. Jones High School. Entry will cover the green fee, cart, lunch, and commemorative gift. For those whose slice would send a drive into Cana a $30 spectator ticket includes the lunch and no shame for lack of golf skill.
Bragging rights will be awarded to the winner along with a closest to the pin and longest drive competition. Simmons Nissan will also be sponsoring a hole-in-one competition that will net a new ride for the lucky participant who makes such a shot.
Since the county agreed to hand the former school site to the African American Genealogical and Historic Society of Surry County, the group has been working to raise money for the laundry list of items that will need attention at Jones.
The boiler, plumbing, roof, wiring, HVAC and windows are all nearing the end of their projected life cycle. It was this very list of items that led the county to seek to surplus the former school along with Westfield Elementary School last year.
Adreann Belle said Tuesday that efforts at the former Jones School are proceeding; no surprises have yet arisen. The group is seeking to cross the finish line on its fundraising goal. “We have an immediate need for $20,000 to continue operating the school at its current level,” they said.
Since the handover there have been multiple fundraisers including a masquerade ball recently at the Jones Auditorium and a presence by the group at both Juneteenth events in Mount Airy and Elkin.
The society and “Save Jones School” were awarded the property by the Surry County Commissioners after a lengthy campaign of public speakers and pleas from community members to preserve a piece of their collective heritage. The group has stated its appreciation to the commissioners “for putting their faith in the community and saving this historic site.”
The two organizations will take possession of the campus at the beginning of July. “Thereby restoring the entire campus to community who help build the school with blood, sweat and tears,” the groups GoFundMe page reads.
An unveiling ceremony will be held on Friday, July 1 at the form J.J. Jones High school currently operating as the L. H. Jones Family Resource Center.
The myriad of community services that are offered by YVEDDI and the other groups who operate out of L.H. Jones Family Resource Center are all slated to remain in the newly configured Jones property, Belle reiterated again this week.
The two groups are seeking to convert the old school into a mixed-use community center that has a historical center for artifacts of the Jones alumnus and the community at large. “We want a cultural and heritage center to preserve the artifacts not just of the school, but of the community,” Belle said earlier this month.
The building has deep roots as Jones High School was built in 1938 on the site of the Ararat Rosenwald School that had been lost to fire the previous year. Jones was the only African American High School in the county prior to 1966. The high school opened with grades nine through twelve but eventually served students of all grades who lived as far as 40 miles away from the city of Mount Airy in North Carolina and southern Virginia.
J. J. Jones High was erected on land that was donated by a former slave named Bob Dyson with the purpose building a school to educate Black children. In the 1940s when expansion of the school was needed but funds were lacking, it was the students of Jones who got to work. Students were taught to form the bricks and built the auditorium, gymnasium and band room on campus which remains intact today.
This school closed 1966 due to desegregation and afterwards the site became an integrated elementary school within the Mount Airy City School District until 1994 when the building was sold to the county. For its long history and significance, the site was awarded the status of National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
After being placed on the list of county surplus properties last year there was much concern about what may become of the former site.
Several plans were proposed including entering a public-private partnership with the Piedmont Triad Regional Council to oversee the redevelopment and later manage the newly re-imagined Jones site. Other options included selling outright to a developer, or the option the county chose — to gift the land to the African American Genealogical and Historic Society.
Chairing the tournament is Bobby Scales with Sonya Dodd helping as the co-chair with special thanks to Elaine Shoffner and Brenda Scales. For those who may wish to participate, interested parties should call 336-508-2121 to register for the tournament.
https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/MTA-2022-Surry-Co-Fair.pdf
Mount Airy police are cracking down on sales of vaping products to underage persons, and hope charges filed against employees of two local businesses will cause that problem to dissipate.
“We feel it’s widespread,” Police Chief Dale Watson said Tuesday in commenting on the cases targeting Cloud Zone Tobacco and Vape on North Renfro Street and Snuff & Stuff on West Pine Street.
Those implicated are Hunter Chase Williams, 24, of 240 Creek Run Trail, Lowgap, an employee of Snuff & Stuff, and Ayman Mohamed Nagi Alghazali, 19, of Winston-Salem, who works at Cloud Zone Tobacco and Vape. They were charged last week with one count each of selling/distributing a tobacco product to a minor, as the result of an undercover operation.
Vaping generally refers to a way of consuming tobacco which has become popular, along with marijuana — especially in states where that drug is legal.
It involves the use of a “vape,” or electronic cigarette, which is a device that heats up a liquid to create a vapor one inhales, according to an online medical source. Vaping devices can include pens, e-cigarettes and hookahs (oriental tobacco pipes with long, flexible tubes that draw the smoke through water contained in a bowl).
“Some of it is like a synthetic marijuana,” Chief Watson said of substances that can be consumed in this manner.
The vaping devices vary in shape, size and color, which produce an aerosol byproduct from heating the liquid that sometimes consists of flavorings and other chemicals that can make the practice seem less harsh than smoking. The liquid delivers nicotine or other drugs to the user through a mouthpiece, which are inhaled into the lungs and then expelled from the mouth or nose.
While many vaping products typically contain about half of the nicotine found in a cigarette, users still face numerous health risks, especially younger persons, experts say.
Nicotine, a stimulant existing in many e-cigarettes, can harm the developing adolescent brain, which continues to grow until someone is about 25 years old. It can hamper parts of a younger person’s brain which affect learning, mood, attention and impulse control.
Such effects have prompted concern across the nation and locally, judging by the recent crackdown.
“We get numerous reports as far as the frequency of it,” Chief Watson said of vaping products falling into the wrong hands, minors specifically.
This resulted in an investigation targeting sales to persons under 18 in the city.
“As evidenced by the charges, the retailers aren’t doing their due diligence,” Watson said of employees checking IDs of younger customers to make they are of proper age.
The covert operation included having an underage person visit the two businesses on June 16, where the products were sold to that individual.
Criminal summonses for the misdemeanor charges filed were served last week on Williams and Alghazali, who were scheduled to appear in Surry District Court on Wednesday.
The stores themselves are not facing legal action, based on arrest reports, but police would like to think that a message has been sent via the crackdown.
“Hopefully, it puts everyone on notice,” the chief said.
Mount Airy and East Surry were both included in NC Preps’ preseason top-15 polls for the 2022 football season.
NC Preps, part of Rivals.com, primarily covers football, basketball and baseball across the state. The site runs a variety of forums, contains recruiting information and puts out multi-platform media concerning high school sports.
The NC Preps rankings put Mount Airy No. 3 in the 1A division and East Surry No. 6 in the 2A division. Polls were voted on by the coaches in each individual class.
Both the Granite Bears and Cardinals are coming off successful seasons that help justify their teams’ top preseason rankings. Both squads finished 13-1 overall and 6-0 in their respective conferences. The 2021-22 season also marked the first time in six decades that the two teams didn’t play one another.
Mount Airy reached the Elite Eight of the 1A State Playoffs in 2021. The Bears suffered their only loss of the season to Mitchell, who went on to win the West Regional Championship and finish 1A State Runner-up.
The Bears are the highest-ranked 1A team that didn’t compete in a Regional Final in 2021.
East Surry reached the 2A West Regional Championship in 2021. The Cardinals’ only loss of the season came against the eventual 2A State Champion, Shelby.
Both the 1A and 2A NC Preps Preseason Polls are listed below. Schools are listed by ranking, and include their 2021-22 record and any postseason accomplishments.
4. Robbinsville (10-4, West Regional Runner-up)
9. Pender (10-4, East Regional Runner-up)
3. Wallace-Rose Hill (13-3, State Runner-up)
6. East Surry (13-1, West Regional Runner-up)
9. Princeton (13-1, East Regional Runner-up)
Mount Airy hosted a 7-on-7 scrimmage against Carroll County (Va.) on June 23.
Mount Airy Middle School and Mount Airy City Schools came out on top of the rankings in the North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities competitions over the most recent school year.
These awards were given out at the first annual Metrographics Printing North Carolina Showcase where educators and supporters across North Carolina were found celebrating excellence in education. During this red carpet event, the state champions of all major scholastic competitions were recognized along with the NCASA Challenge Cup and Small School District Cup.
Mount Airy Middle School won the NCASA Challenge Cup 1A and Mount Airy City Schools earned the School District Cup for small districts. The district has earned this cup yearly since the 2014-2015 school year. Standings from Mount Airy Middle School and Mount Airy High School students consistently earn the district the top spot across the state for small districts.
The local middle school earned a total of 240 points, ranking them 40 points ahead of the second-place position. The school participated in 10 out of the 17 competitions available to students. These competitions included: Twelve, Show Choir, Art Showcase, The Quill, MATHCOUNTS, Envirothon, National History Day, Lego League, Science Olympiad, and HOSA. Some highlights from the year include:
– State Twelve Competition led by Sabrina Moore, ninth place
– First Lego League led by Rick Haynes, Austin Taylor, and Kelly Anders
– Best Robot Design at county competition
– State Competition Show Choir led by Jennifer Riska, third place
– Nellie Williams was also awarded Best Female Performer in Show Choir for the State
-Regional National History Day Competition led by Beth Lowry: first place Jackson Byerly (research paper); second place Christopher Carlisle (research paper); first place Ian Cox and Joe Hauser (group documentary); second place Mattison Newton and Steven Huang (group documentary); second place Kannon Strickland (documentary); second place Priscila Hernandez and Emerson Warren (group exhibition); third place Lily Kirkman and Addison Mathies (group exhibition) 2nd place Scott Moore (exhibition)
– HOSA also had many competitors and winners representing Mount Airy at the state conference. This team was led by Jennifer Epperson and featured: first place Ariel Willis; first place Sarah Burney; first place Jackie Delacruz; first place Gracie Branson; first place Audrina Goins; second place Sidney Kate Venable and Ava Wertman
“The NCASA competitions give our students the opportunities to enrich their learning experiences through academic collaboration in and out of the classroom,” said Mount Airy Middle School Principal Levi Goins. “These experiences promote important skills such as teamwork and scholarship while providing opportunities for students to explore their interests. We are incredibly grateful to our new School Counselor, Kelly Anders for her work scheduling, promoting, and directing our teams.. Additionally, we are extremely proud of our students, coaches, and leaders and their accomplishments this year in the NCASA scholastic competitions. ”
District Deputy Superintendent Dr. Phillip Brown attended the event and noted, “This red carpet event was a lovely way to recognize the hard work and great success happening in schools across the state. We are very proud of the students and teachers who work tirelessly to excel at these great opportunities.”
The large blue water tank towering over Rockford Street in Mount Airy — bearing a familiar Andy and Opie image — is appreciated for its artistic value, but increasingly the storage facility also is becoming a moneymaker for the municipality.
This includes a deal forged earlier this month between the city government and the wireless network operator T-Mobile, which will result in Mount Airy being paid tens of thousands of dollars annually for allowing the company to place items there.
T-Mobile already has a presence at the city-owned site, due to a 2011 lease agreement that has allowed the telecommunications corporation to install antennas and associated equipment on the overhead storage tank.
This has resulted in Mount Airy being paid $33,795 per year in rental charges — which will grow by another $4,800 due to action by the city council at its last meeting on June 16.
City officials then approved a contract amendment that stemmed from T-Mobile recently asking to install a four-foot by 10-foot generator pad on the Rockford Street water tank property.
Since such an installation was not included in the original 2011 lease, it was considered an amendment to that pact and subject to additional rent.
The company proposed a $400-per-month increase, which city Public Works Director Mitch Williams considered reasonable and later was embraced by council members.
“Adjusted for inflation, this amount is comparable to the amount that AT&T pays for a generator that they installed on the property in 2004,” Williams states in a city government memo referencing another “tenant” at the site.
“The city attorney has reviewed and approved the contract amendment and it is ready for approval by the Board of Commissioners,” Williams added, with the board voting unanimously in favor of that change on June 16.
This marked the second time in less than a year that Mount Airy has entered into a lucrative arrangement with a major entity for use of water tank space.
In October, city officials renewed an agreement with AT&T — the world’s largest telecommunications company — which included an increase in rental costs that has resulted in Mount Airy now receiving $58,344 per year.
In exchange, AT&T is maintaining a bevy of cell phone antennas on the blue water tank.
Telecommunications companies tend to seek out such facilities for antenna placements, thus avoiding the costs posed by acquiring their own sites to erect tall towers along with potential regulatory and other hurdles including neighborhood opposition.
Pilot Mountain is one of 19 communities across North Carolina selected to participate in a new program aimed at increasing “Their capacity to plan, implement, and manage economic development programs and opportunities,” according to a release from the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
“It equips our staff with additional training and resources from the state, that will allow us to be better situated for applying for and managing grants,” said Jenny Kindy, Pilot Mountain Main Street Coordinator.
She said the program consists of a series of in-person and online courses for her, Town Manager Michael Boaz and Christy Craig, who serves as the town’s Tourism Development Authority chair, going on now and lasting through October. The courses are taught through the Appalachian State University’s Walker College of Business.
At the end, she said the three — along with others in town they can share information with — will be better equipped to develop successful grant proposals, administer and manage state and federal grants, as well as have learned more about local government and finance and leveraging assets for local development.
All of which, she said, is aimed at helping Pilot Mountain continue its economic and tourism development efforts.
That the program targeted mostly smaller towns is part of Gov. Roy Cooper’s efforts to help rural parts of the state compete with metropolitan areas.
“As we build on North Carolina’s economic development success, we must make sure that success is shared among both urban and rural communities across our state,” Cooper said in the program announcement. “This program will strengthen the ability of local governments in rural communities to secure major economic projects and bolster North Carolina’s economy.”
The Rural Community Capacity program, referred to as the RC2 program, is part of Commerce’s broader Rural Transformation Grant program and will provide educational programming, technical assistance, and focused guidance to local government staff in rural and distressed communities. RC2 campus curriculum will include four core courses that are required by the Department of Commerce and additional targeted courses that are designed by the ASU faculty.
“Our rural communities can become stronger and more vibrant places to live and work, but to reach that goal we must build up local governments’ capacity to plan and execute proven economic development strategies,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “This new program, part of Commerce’s efforts to transform rural economies, will equip local governments and their staffs with the education, technical assistance, and implementation grants they need to succeed.”
During an RC2 engagement, communities have direct access to Commerce’s Rural Planning team, whose members offer additional training and technical assistance to program participants, including a strategic planning process focused on identifying economic development assets and priorities that are specific to each community.
Communities that successfully complete the RC2 campus curriculum and participate in the Commerce rural planning process will then be eligible to apply for Community Implementation Grants offered by Commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division through the new Rural Transformation Grant Fund.
Pilot Mountain’s Kindy said as part of the program, Pilot Mountain has applied for additional grant money from the Rural Transformation Grant Fund. While the town has not learned if they will be approved, or for how much, she said communities can apply for up to $950,000 in grant money.
“Success in economic development takes intentional preparation,” said Kenny Flowers, Commerce’s Assistant Secretary for Rural Development. “We know the approaches that work well and lay the groundwork for success, and we’re excited to share these best practices with more local government officials.”
In addition to Pilot Mountain, the 18 communities taking part in the Rural Community Capacity program include: Bertie, Hertford and Martin counties and the towns of Archdale, Carthage, China Grove, East Spencer, Garysburg, Hildebran, Jonesville, Liberty, Mars Hill, Marshville, Maysville, Rosman, Spruce Pine, Vass and Wilson Mills
More information about the Rural Transformation Grant Fund and the Rural Community Capacity initiative is available at nccommerce.com/transform.
Surry County is ahead of the game when it comes to environmental protections at the county landfill. While it is not yet required, the county several years ago entered into an agreement with Hep Petra to being collecting excess methane gas that was collecting at the landfill.
Under the gas-to-energy project, Petra installed a collection system in 2011 to harvest methane gas and direct it to an engine. Specifically designed by Caterpillar for methane collection the engine uses the methane gas to produce the horsepower necessary to power a 1,600-kilowatt generator.
Commissioner Larry Phillips called the project at its launch a win-win for the county, “What you’re seeing here is a problem being taken and converted into a renewable form of energy that will in turn become a source of revenue for the county,” he said.
On Monday, the board of county commissioners were asked to renew the lease agreement with Renew Petra for their operation at the landfill as part of a refinancing plan of the company.
County Attorney Ed Woltz advised the board on the process and that there were some documents needed from Renew Petra that had not yet been received before the county could proceed. However, he suggested the board agree to the lease pact ahead of the paperwork being completed.
Public Works director Jessica Montgomery told the board this was essentially a formality, “They have always been there on that piece of land, they are trying to work out legalities on it. For some reason they keep getting hiccups; I understood they needed this by the end of June.”
The delays in Renew Petra getting the documents to the county are not of their own making, He further explained to the board, and they should therefore not be penalized. With no further board meetings this month, and the first meeting of July delayed for Independence Day Woltz wanted the county ready to act. “It’s a big deal for them. I don’t want to interfere with their financing if we can help it.”
Renew Petra needs the lease agreement to move forward in a timely fashion as they are using the lease agreement to collateralize new loans. The new funds will allow Petra to improve their installation at the landfill and other operations they have across the state.
“We need to get this moving,” Montgomery advised as there are concerns with the equipment currently in use at the Surry County landfill. She spoke of $500,000 of improvements to be made to the engine they use, “They are constantly replacing parts, so they need to overhaul it. Its not going to pass when it gets tested for emissions.”
Commissioner Mark Marion asked if the methane collection project was something the county is required to do. Montgomery answered it is not rather it is a good faith effort by the county. “We are not to the point where we are required to do this. But it does power 600-800 homes in the area; and it does prevent leak outs from the landfill. It is very good for the environment, but we are not required – yet.”
There is going to come a time when draining the methane would be required Chairman Bill Goins commented, but that it is some years away. Montgomery concurred, “Yes, but we are years away from that. We are testing very low right now.”
Money matters in Surry County, as with everywhere else, and Vice Chairman Eddie Harris wanted to know if the methane recovery effort was still a net revenue producer. He took it in stride when he was informed that it is a null sum project currently.
“We are making nothing,” Montgomery said, “We are in a cost sharing phase starting two years ago. Putting so much money into keeping the engine alive, we are not making any money at this point.” She did address Commissioner Larry Johnson’s direct question and reiterated that the county is not spending money either.
The fiscally conservative Harris kept his cool noting that “heretofore we were making money at some point in time not just a few years ago.” There is confidence that with the right equipment on site, the project will again be a source of revenue for the county.
Commissioners Van Tucker and Johnson both had questions for Woltz about the process and whether extending the lease would commit the county to anything long term. “Does extending the lease prevent us from getting out of it at any time?”
Woltz confirmed that and assured them the county was protected, “If the thing should unwind, they are also required to take away their equipment and remove it from our site.”
Harris summarized, “This methane program is something that prior boards have been very proud of because this methane is recovered from our landfill and used to run a gen to electrify hundreds of homes. I still believe this is a worthy project and I reiterate my support for it.”
The board approved the lease renewal pending the delivery of the remaining documents.
The Carolina Disco Turkeys are set to return to the Granite City on July 2 for an exhibition game against the Foothills Post 123 Senior Legion Team.
The Disco Turkeys, a summer wood bat team formed in 2021 that plays out of Winston-Salem’s Truist Stadium, took its popular show to Mount Airy High School last year during its inaugural season. After a successful first meeting between the programs, the teams agreed to play once again in 2022.
“We’re happy to do the game again this year and build a connection between our two programs and with the Mount Airy baseball community,” said Greg Sullivan, team president and co-owner of the Disco Turkeys. “We think American Legion baseball is great for communities, and we have a lot of respect for their program and have been very impressed with what they’ve done so far this season.”
The Disco Turkeys will be bringing along their mascot, Boogie, for the trip, and will sell their team merchandise at the game. The team shipped out merchandise orders to all 50 states within a few weeks of their launch in spring 2021 and has been a hit with fans all over the world in their second season.
This year’s Disco Turkey’s team features players from Wake Forest, East Carolina, App State, High Point and other top schools.
The Foothills Senior Legion Team is also having a stellar year. Post 123’s impressive roster of college players, college-bound recent graduates and rising high school seniors sits at 12-2 overall on the season.
Following last year’s exhibition game, the Disco Turkey’s added Post 123 pitcher Garrett Leftwich – a 2021 graduate of Patrick County (Va.) High School – to their roster. He went on to the compete with the team at the All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) National Tournament in Johnstown, Penn. in front of a stadium crowd of a few thousand people.
“He’s a great young man and a hard-throwing pitcher who continues to get better and better,” Sullivan said of Leftwich. “He played for Southwest Virginia Community College this past year and is transferring into Patrick & Henry Community College for the upcoming season. That’s one of the best JUCO teams in the nation, and his future is very bright.
Another local connection is West Stokes graduate Dawson Neal. Neal pitched his freshman season at Pfeiffer University and is transferring to Gordon State.
Surry Community College graduate Bryson Bebber, who was recently named a recipient of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Rawlings Gold Glove Award, is a former member of the Disco Turkeys as well.
The exhibition is scheduled to take place at Mount Airy High School on July 2 at 7 p.m. Admission is $10, and $4 of each ticket will go toward the Ty Montgomery Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Efforts by a local educator to teach her students about farming and agribusiness have been rewarded through a statewide program.
Kathy Brintle, a teacher at Mount Airy Middle School, was announced earlier this month as a recipient of an Ag in the Classroom “Going Local” grant from the North Carolina Farm Bureau based in Raleigh.
Through its Ag in the Classroom initiative, the organization provides agricultural outreach grants to North Carolina teachers aimed at instilling an appreciation for that industy in youths.
“Going Local” grants are valued at up to $500 each and help teachers provide their students in pre-K through 12th grade with valuable, real-world education and experiences about farming and agribusiness, while adhering to the school system’s common core and essential standards.
County Farm Bureaus play an integral role in providing information regarding the grants and curriculum to teachers throughout the state.
“There is no more valuable resource in North Carolina than our students and the teachers charged with their education,” state Farm Bureau President Shawn Harding said in a statement.
“Through our Ag in the Classroom program, the state’s farmers are investing in the future leaders of North Carolina, as well as the future of agriculture, which is the state’s top economic sector.”
Farm Bureau officials say they are “proud” to award the grant to Brintle, who was the only recipient announced for Surry County as a whole.
Both public and private school teachers in North Carolina are eligible for the Ag in the Classroom “Going Local” grants, which are available twice a year. Application submission deadlines are April 15 and Nov. 15.
Teachers and their students benefit by Ag in the Classroom’s promotion of the state’s food and fiber production from a raw source to the consumable product. Farm Bureau officials consider young people acquiring an appreciation for agriculture and an understanding of its purpose to be vital.
The North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation was formed in 1936 as a non-profit general agricultural organization to serve farmers and provide a unified voice for the interests and needs of the farming community.
Today, the North Carolina Farm Bureau serves as an advocate for its members at the local, state, national and international levels — providing educational, economic, public affairs, marketing and various other services to them.
The Surry County Sheriff’s office on Tuesday announced the arrests of 11 different individuals on drug related charges — including manufacturing and trafficking in drugs. The arrests date back as far as April.
Randle Calvin Gammons Jr., 32. of 148 First Street, Mount Airy, was arrested on June 14 and charged with three counts of trafficking methamphetamine, one count of felony maintaining a drug vehicle, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, one count of failing to heed to blue lights and siren, one count of failure to maintain lane control, one count of littering, and one count of driving while license revoked. He was jailed under a secured $600,000 bond.
His arrest came when the sheriff’s office narcotics division and street crime unit were conducting an ongoing investigation in the Pilot Mountain community. There, according to a statement released by Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt, detectives conducted a traffic stop on Carson Road, after a short vehicle pursuit during which the driver allegedly threw trafficking amounts of methamphetamine out of the vehicle before stopping.
Gammons’ arrest followed the round-up and arrests of ten other area individuals over the preceding weeks, although it was not certain if the arrests were related. Officials with the sheriff’s office did not respond to questions regarding the length between the arrests, nor why the earlier arrests were kept private until now.
On May 16, the same two units of the sheriff’s office were “conducting an ongoing investigation in the Ararat community” when they initiated a traffic stop that resulted in the seizure of what the sheriff’s release called “trafficking amounts of methamphetamine (approximately 9 ounces), cocaine, marijuana, and assorted drug paraphernalia.”
As a result of that stop, both the driver and two passengers of that vehicle were arrested.
Driving was Jennifer Ann James, 38, of 457 Crotts Road, Mount Airy. She was charged with two counts of trafficking methamphetamine, one count of conspiring to traffic methamphetamine, one count of felony maintaining a drug vehicle, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. James was placed under a $196,000 secured bond.
Also arrested was Anthony Dione Teague, 40, of 433 Grime Street, Winston-Salem, and Adam Wesley Wall, 22, of 126 Willis Road, Mount Airy
Teague was charged with one count of trafficking methamphetamine, one count of conspiring to traffic methamphetamine, one count of possession of cocaine, one count of possession of marijuana, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Teague was placed under a $148,000 secured bond.
Wall was charged with one count of conspiring to traffic methamphetamine, one count of possession of methamphetamine, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, one count of resisting a public officer, and he was served with two outstanding criminal processes orders for arrest. Wall was placed under an $81,300 secured bond.
Nearly two weeks earlier, on May 4, Sheriff Hiatt said narcotics detectives with the sheriff’s office, along with the Mount Airy Police Department, Yadkin County Sheriff’s Office, Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office, Pilot Mountain Police Department, and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at 261 Key Road in Ararat, locating 15 pounds of marijuana, methamphetamine, along with other illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia.
George Matthew Keen, 40, of 261 Key Road, Ararat, was charged with two counts of trafficking marijuana, one count of manufacturing marijuana, one count of possession of methamphetamine, one count of maintaining a drug dwelling, one count of maintaining a drug vehicle, one count of possession of a schedule II controlled substance, one count of possession of marijuana paraphernalia, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Keen was placed under a $100,000 secured bond.
Also arrested and charged that day were Matthew Alexander Thomas, 24, of 1504 Slate Mountain Road, Mount Airy, and Shane Scott Moxley, 28, who is homeless. Thomas was arrested on outstanding criminal processes for driving offenses and placed under a $1,500 secured bond while Moxley was charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine and placed under a $500 secured bond.
The month earlier, on April 22, narcotics detectives with the Surry County Sheriff’s Office, Mount Airy Police Department, Stokes County Sheriff’s Office, Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office, Pilot Mountain Police Department, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security executed a search warrant at the address of 7814 US Highway 601, in Dobson, where they seized illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia.
Tabatha Sumner Castevens, 44, of 7814 US Highway 601, Dobson, was charged with one count of possession with intent to manufacture sell and deliver methamphetamine, one count of possession of schedule III controlled substances, one count of maintaining of drug dwelling, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. She was placed under a $12,000 secured bond.
Gabrielle Renee Boles, 22, of 7814 US Highway 601, Dobson, was charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine, one count of possession of schedule IV controlled substances, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. She was placed under a $2,000 secured bond.
Wesley Dale Hall, 29, of 456 Pinnacle Hotel Road, Pinnacle, was charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine, one count of possession of schedule IV controlled substances, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Hall was placed under a $2,000 secured.
Matthew Lee Bare, 37, of 7814 US Highway 601, Dobson, was charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. He was placed under a $2,000 secured bond.
The Surry Art Council’s Summer Concert Series has two bands set to play this weekend. The Main Event Band will play the Blackmon Amphitheatre on Friday night. Holiday Band will take the stage on Saturday. Both shows will start at 7:30 p.m.
The Main Event Band is a party band performing R&B, soul, beach, country, and funk. Their performances also include music styles from the 80s and 90s as well as favorite songs of today. From beach to classic rock, from soul to country, from disco to Buffett, The Main Event Band brings a variety of music to the stage. Featuring top-notch vocals, a tight rhythm section, and a strong horn section, The Main Event Band offers a quality performance that is hard to rival.
The Holiday Band blends soul, blues, funk, and Carolina Beach music. Holiday has established itself as a a strong entertainment package with the always-present theme “Keep The Music Alive.”
Both concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Admission to each show is $15 or a Surry Arts Council Annual Pass. Children 12 and younger are admitted free with an adult admission or Annual Pass. The Dairy Center, Whit’s Custard, and Thirsty Souls Community Brewing will be at the concerts to provide food, snacks, drinks, beer, and wine for purchase. No outside alcohol or coolers are allowed to be brought into the Amphitheatre area. Those attending are asked to bring a lounge chair or blanket to sit on.
Tickets are available online at www.surryarts.org, via phone at 336-786-7998, or at the Surry Arts Council office at 218 Rockford Street. For additional information, contact Marianna Juliana at 336-786-7998 or marianna@surryarts.org
It’s official: the starting time for an Independence Day parade in Mount Airy next Monday will be 11 a.m.
Some confusion had surrounded the parade time due to an initial permit for the event listing that as 2 p.m. — the same as last year’s parade when July 4 fell on a Sunday and the later hour was set to avoid conflicts with church services.
That oversight on this year’s permit led to the scheduling of public safety personnel such as police, firemen and rescue squad volunteers for the afternoon start, which Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson said amounted to about 40 people overall.
Meanwhile, parade organizers had announced the 11 a.m. start time.
All the affected parties got together to work things out, leading to some juggling of personnel and the decision on final plans.
“It takes a lot of give and take from everybody,” Watson said of what’s required to achieve such a result.
The procession is scheduled to leave Veterans Memorial Park on West Lebanon Street at 11 a.m. and head directly to the central business district, the sponsoring Downtown Business Association announced.
It will be coordinated with other holiday events there, including a 10 a.m. reading of the Declaration of Independence in the courtyard at Mount Airy Museum of Regional History.
After the parade, the museum will host games for kids and demonstrations with Janet Pyatt and the Backcountry Peddler.
Later Monday, fireworks are planned at Veterans Memorial Park, beginning around 9 p.m.
Gates there are slated to open at 5 p.m., with music by a DJ and food trucks to be on hand.
Local non-profits that help the animals of Surry County are finding themselves in a dire need of assistance. Multiple speakers at the last meeting of the county commissioners informed that Mayberry4Paws, Tiny Tigers Rescue, and Surry Animal Rescue are essentially out of funds, which means they are limited in the assistance they can render going forward.
Overpopulation of domesticated animals, especially feral cats, is an issue that has come before the commissioners more than once. Groups such as Tiny Tigers Rescue have been coming regularly to inform the commissioners on the problem and what their proposed solution is.
To help further their mission, Tiny Tigers Rescue (TTR) is holding an online auction through Saturday, July 2 at 8 p.m. Animal themed prizes are to be found and interested parties should look for Tiny Tigers Rescue on Facebook, then join the auction group to view the items.
A trap/neuter/return (TNR) program proposed earlier in the year by Tiny Tigers has begun. Amber Golding reported earlier this month they had already neutered 28 cats potentially preventing 336 kittens. By the start of August, they hope to have almost 80 cats to have completed the TNR programs.
As a former emergency department nurse Libby Radford has seen more than a few serious dog bites, and once approached the overpopulation problem as it relates to health and safety of humans.
Now she sees it a matter of life or death for these animals who now may have no place to go but the county animal shelter. Ten cats were just deposited at her home recently, and the cost to home, feed, and spay or neuter goes up quickly.
Becky Cummings is a trapper from Forsyth County who also spoke to the board about animal control. She said of the unexpected burden of caring for a furball that shows up on your door leads people to make cuts in their own spending. “People are making sacrifices from their own budgets to feed feral cats.”
Most conversations on animal control in Surry County start with someone taking a moment to thank Sgt. John Hawks and the county animal control team. “Animal control is doing the best they can,” Radford told the commissioners.
What is out of animal control’s hand is the number of animals being surrendered. Alan Bagshaw gave the commissioners some numbers on rescue versus euthanasia rates in Surry County. For the month of May he reported 95 dogs and 139 cats entered the Surry County shelter, nearly 50% had to be put down due to illness, age, or lack of space.
The total count was up from April when it was 89 dogs and 119 cats. In April, unfortunately, the euthanization rate at the shelter was 61%. These numbers will only climb higher if the local rescue groups cannot pull more cats and dogs to be rescued, if not there is no other solution.
Costs associated with euthanization at the animal shelter are higher than many would expect, part of the reason Commissioner Larry Johnson has always been so keen to hear from these animal groups. He often thanks them for taking the time to care about the animals and to speak at commissioners’ meetings.
Radford admits she has cornered Johnson, along with Chair Bill Goins and Commissioner Van Tucker, to bend their ear on the matter. “I sat down with Larry at a ball game. He listened; I was impressed.”
The Tiny Tigers is not alone. Jane Taylor of Mayberry4Paws said, “I can assure you that, at any given time, Mayberry4Paws are strapped for funds.” Their mission is to offer spay/neuter assistance for dogs whose owners cannot afford the surgery.
One idea on which these parties agree is the need for a humane society in Surry County. “Anything that will help, I’m all for it. I am glad there are other organizations getting involved like this,” she said.
Another would be to increase the availability of free or reduced cost spay/neuter services. In Surry County there is a lack of such services that leads animal advocates such as Radford to transport animals to Virginia for care.
Bagshaw said any additional help would be appreciated; rescue and foster groups are getting tired of “screaming into the wind” for more. He went on to cite a 2019 study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association which showed a higher proportion of deaths due to suicide among U.S. veterinarians than in the general population.
“We love what we do, and there’s a certain mystique about working with animals — a lot of people think we play with puppies all day long. But there’s a lot behind this,” said American Veterinary Medicine Association President José Arce. There is now a growing focus being placed on the wellbeing of veterinarians.
Cummings said she has seen how beneficial the TNR can be in Forsyth County, and she said, “I cannot emphasize enough for how bad Surry County needs this program. We can’t do it alone, I’m begging you,” to help break the cycle of pet reproduction.
“It will take additional ordinances and enforcement to impact the root causes of Surry County’s animal welfare/control shortfalls,” Taylor said.
Golding of Tiny Tigers said the community has helped her group locate many feral colonies, but her group can only do so much. There is something citizens can do that Bob Barker said for decades, it bears repeating: “Help control the pet population, have you pets spayed or neutered.”
Thank heaven for natural-born leaders like Frank Fleming, who was able to gather a roomful of supporters to help push forward his common-sense solution to refurbish and re-use an existing sign structure to promote his company’s move to a new location off of Route 52 (see “Crowd supports sign request” in the June 18 edition of The Mount Airy News).
It’s sad, but true, that members of the community must resort to such public-pressure tactics because most city council officials appear to serve only as puppets for Mount Airy Downtown (MAD) – thereby making them incapable of thinking for themselves or paying attention to any reasonable requests brought before them from business interests outside the purview of MAD.
Fortunately, Commissioner Jon Cawley, a pro-business visionary for the whole of the city of Mount Airy, insisted on putting Mr. Fleming’s issue on the agenda of an upcoming (July 21) city council meeting. And Deborah Cochran, another well-known business-growth leader, issued a statement in support of an amendment to the existing sign ordinance that the city is standing behind to prevent Mr. Fleming from moving forward with his plans.
The hypocrisy of the city council’s behavior was subsequently highlighted by Commissioner Cawley, who noted that the extensive infrastructure street work required to support the creation of an Andy Griffith mural – another “downtown” project from the MAD playbook — was in violation of an existing city ordinance related to sidewalks and streets (see “Mural drawn into sign debate” in the June 23 edition of The Mount Airy News.)
Putting aside the fact that no one opposed the mural as another ‘Mayberry’ tourist attraction, its blanket approval demonstrates that the city is comfortable ignoring its own ordinances if/when a project is part of Mount Airy Downtown’s agenda. It also demonstrates, once again, the city’s lack of transparency vis-à-vis the cost to taxpayers for the sidewalk/street reconstruction needed to provide preferred positioning for the mural.
Hopefully, the City of Mount Airy will be much better served after the Nov. 8 general election – when narrowly focused “downtown only” council members have been replaced with elected officials able to think “outside the [MAD] box” in order to serve the interests of all citizens and businesses.
Over the past few years, I have been pondering once again JFK’s admonition to all of us to ask not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country. It seems to me that many Americans are takers, especially those who want more stuff no matter how much it takes away from others and destroys our environment.
Where have the givers gone, the ordinary people who volunteered for the Peace Corps or Americorps or invested time in Boys and Girls clubs and helping out local charities and other relief organizations? Maybe I am being too harsh because I care deeply about those I know who do give so unselfishly of themselves.
However, too many of us talk about rights all of the time, particularly the right to bear arms which allows the hateful and insane among us to use weapons of war to shoot up our malls, schools, and places of worship and to create a reign of terror in our society. What about our responsibilities to each other and our country? Why didn’t our forefathers craft a Bill of Responsibilities that we all should abide by to protect our safety and to work to ensure the common good of all Americans?
• A Mount Airy woman was jailed Sunday after allegedly breaking into a local business, according to city police reports.
Heather Nichole Branch, 28, of 418 Dunmans Alley, was encountered by officers during the investigation of a suspicious person at Anytime Fitness in the 800 block of North Main Street.
She was found to have entered an unsecured building and damaged a deadbolt lock, police records say. In addition to breaking and entering, Branch was charged with injury to real property. She was held in the Surry County Jail under a $500 secured bond and slated for a July 11 appearance in District Court.
• Food Lion on West Pine Street was the scene of a damage-related incident Thursday, when an unknown suspect used a sharp instrument to puncture a tire of a vehicle owned by Jason Keith McGee, a King resident who is an employee of the store.
The damage to the Falken Sincera tire was put at $87.
• James Todd Seidler, 39, of 113 Meadow Stone Lane, was arrested on driving while impaired and other charges after allegedly striking another vehicle while behind the wheel of a 2019 Ford Fusion and then leaving the scene on June 18.
Seidler was taken into custody at the Speedway convenience store on Rockford Street, but the site of the collision was not listed.
In addition to DWI, he is accused of hit and run, child abuse and driving while license revoked. Seidler was jailed under a $2,500 secured bond and slated for a July 11 appearance in Surry District Court.
DOBSON — The state Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program was created in 1986 to provide a link between older citizens and their health coverage and continues to pay big dividends in Surry County.
This included $350,546 in savings for the 211 Surry consumers assisted by that agency in 2021 through the local Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program office, the N.C. Cooperative Extension unit based in Dobson.
Many retirees and Medicare beneficiaries on a fixed income want to save money wherever they can. And officials of the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program, aka SHIIP — a division of the N.C. Department of Insurance — report that each year thousands of people throughout the state contact that agency to help them identify savings in their Medicare coverages.
It was launched nearly 40 years ago by the late Jim Long, then North Carolina’s insurance commissioner, to provide a link between older citizens and information about their health coverage.
The beauty of the concept involved is that unlike some entities that purportedly provide helpful information to consumers, but actually want to sell them policies, SHIIP counselors are totally unbiased. They are not licensed insurance agents and do not sell, endorse or oppose any product, plan or company.
Persons with questions about their specific plans are still encouraged to contact their insurance agents or the companies involved.
The Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program is particularly geared toward a county such as Surry, where 21% of residents are 65 and older — higher than the nation as a whole.
This was evidenced during a “Welcome to Medicare” program the agency held on June 9 at the N.C. Cooperative Extension office in Dobson. It drew “a good crowd,” according to Carmen Long, an area extension agent for family and consumer education in Surry and Alleghany counties.
The Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program assists people with Medicare, Medicare Part D, Medicare supplement, Medicare Advantage and long-term care insurance questions.
Throughout the year, but particularly during the Medicare Open Enrollment period from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, Medicare beneficiaries are urged to compare their existing coverage for the Part D prescription drug plan to determine if their present plan is still the most appropriate for the coming year.
Each year formularies, prices and programs change, and many times the Medicare beneficiary is unaware of the differences.
The Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program also helps citizens recognize and prevent Medicare billing errors and possible fraud and abuse through the N.C. Senior Medicare Patrol program.
Persons with questions about Medicare or the Extra Help program — which assists those with limited income and resources in paying Medicare prescription drug costs — can contact SHIIP at 1-855-408-1212 to speak with a trained counselor or request a free brochure.
Contact information for local coordinating sites in each county in North Carolina also can be found by visiting www.ncshiip.com.
In 2021, SHIIP and its coordinating sites statewide assisted 58,000 consumers, saving them $30 million. In addition, nearly 1,500 consumers received assistance in applying for the Extra Help program.
So far during 2022, the agency has aided 12,371 people, translating to $1.4 million in cost savings.
DOBSON — Local election fans coping with the lull in political activity between a spirited spring primary season and the main event next fall can take heart in the fact there’s something to fill that void.
This involves nine different offices being up for grabs in three Surry County municipalities — Dobson, Pilot Mountain and Elkin — for which the candidates’ filing period begins Friday.
Incumbents and/or challengers for those seats can officially toss their hats into the ring beginning at noon that day at the Surry County Board of Elections office at 915 E. Atkins St. in Dobson. The filing period closes at noon on July 15.
A general election will be held on Nov. 8 to decide the winners in Dobson, Pilot Mountain and Elkin the same as other elected offices locally. But the filing cycle for those towns operates differently than that for county government, the city of Mount Airy and additional races which culminated earlier this year.
The municipal elections in Dobson, Pilot Mountain and Elkin are all non-partisan and include four-year terms for each office involved.
And with only three days before the start of filing, one longtime office holder, Dobson Mayor Ricky K. Draughn, is undecided about his plans for seeking what would be his sixth four-year term.
“Right now, no comment — no yes or no,” Draughn said Monday.
“Just let me think on it a while,” added the incumbent, who said there are no particular issues or factors at play with his re-election plans.
Also at stake in the Dobson election this year are two town commissioner seats now held by J. Wayne Atkins and John Lawson
Meanwhile, the upcoming filing period affects two seats on the Pilot Mountain Board of Commissioners presently occupied by Scott Needham and Donna M. Kiger, along with that of Mayor Evan J. Cockerham.
Unlike Dobson and Pilot Mountain, Elkin’s mayor is not up for re-election in 2022, but three members of the town board are: Jeffrey Eidson, Cicely McCulloch and William Gwyn.
While the candidate filing period for the three towns begins Friday, it will end that day at noon for Surry County soil and water supervisor seats that also are non-partisan.
At last report, three people had filed for the two seats available this year, incumbents Chad Keith Chilton and Bradley Boyd and Joe Zalescik, presently a member of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners. Zalescik lost his seat in the May 17 city primary and will step down later this year.
Surry has three soil and water supervisors in all, with the third not up for re-election until 2024.
CHARLOTTE — Surry Community College’s Bryson Bebber has been named a recipient of the 2022 Gold Glove Award.
The Gold Glove Award is presented by the Rawlings and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). It designates Bebber, a sophomore first baseman from South Rowan High School, as the best fielder at this position among more than 90 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III programs.
Bebber joins former Surry second baseman, Ethan Danley, as the only players in Surry history to earn the Rawlings Gold Glove Award distinction.
“This is a tremendous honor for Bryson and our program,” stated Surry head baseball coach, Tim Collins. “Bryson has really good baseball instincts and works extremely hard. His defense saved us numerous runs during his playing career at Surry.”
Bebber led the national finalists for the award with 235 total chances and 223 total putouts while ranking second nationally with 10 assists. He only committed two errors on the season, posting a .991 fielding percentage. He was also named to the Region 10 All-Defensive team in both 2021 and 2022.
Besides providing stellar defensive for the Knights, Bebber hit .244 while driving in 19 runs with 21 runs scored. Surry finished as the Region 10 runner-up, dropping the championship game to Caldwell, 9-1.
“It has been an honor to play at Surry,” said Bebber. “I would like to thank Coach Collins for giving me the opportunity to continue my baseball career, along with Coach Swisher for all his help and support. I’ve had the privilege of playing with some incredible teammates. Receiving this award is extremely special to me because I pride myself on my defense.”
The China Grove, N.C. native will continue his academic and baseball careers this fall after earning a scholarship to St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, N.C.
“Bryson has been a great example of how an individual can come to Surry after not being heavily recruited out of high school and benefit from our program,” said Surry athletic director Mark Tucker. “He graduated this spring earning a 4.0 grade point average this academic year, and now has the opportunity to play at a four-year university after earning a scholarship. We are extremely proud of Bryson as a person and for all of his accomplishments.”
The ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Teams are released by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings Sporting Goods. The Rawlings Gold Glove winners have been selected since 2007 and feature many future Major League Baseball players.
For a complete list of award recipients, visit bit.ly/3yogSIh
Books available for check-out at the Mount Airy Public Library:
Every Word Unsaid – Kimberly Duffy
The Hotel Nantucket – Elin Hilderbrand
A Face to Die For – Iris Johansen
Escape – James Patterson & David Ellis
A Flicker of Light – Katie Powner
The House Across the Lake – Riley Sager
Our First Civil War – H.W. Brands
The Lost Colony Murder on the Outer Banks : Seeking Justice for Brenda Joyce Holland – John Railey
The summer programming is underway, lasting through Aug. 8. Explore the theme of the week through stories, crafts, games and more. Spaces are limited for some events, call or come by to register to secure a spot. Call 336-789-5108. The schedule is:
• Monday at 6 p.m. – teens, ages 13-17. This week, we are making Mythical Sea Creature Flip Books and playing Mythical Sea Creature Bingo. Pizza will be provided, bring your own drink;
• Tuesday at 2 p. m. – kids ages 8-12; this week, we are painting Sea Creature suncatchers and playing Mythical Sea Creature Bingo.
• Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. – Toddler Time for children ages 2 and 3;
• Thursday at 9:30 a.m. – Book Babies for children ages birth to 2 years old;
• Thursday at 11 a.m. – Preschool Storytime – ages 4-5;
• Friday at 9 a.m. – Adults, age 18 and older; this week, we will learn how to make a tote bag from a recycled t-shirt. So bring one of your old t-shirts and make a tote bag;
• Friday at 1 p.m. – Family Movie Series, popcorn and water will be available. Feel free to bring your own snacks. Feel free to bring your own snacks too. This week, we will be watching Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
• July 21 at 4:30 p.m. Brightstar Children’s Theatre Presents “Treasure Island.” Get a crash course on this Robert Louis Stevenson classic tale of treasure, pirates and ocean adventure. For all ages.
Book Bag Giveaway. This summer, each time you check out books, put your name in the box at the check-out deks to win a bookbag full of school supplies. The drawing will be Friday, August 5.
Top Reader. The top reader of the summer, the one who turns in the most reading logs, with the most time read will win a Kindle. This contest is for youth ages 8 – 18. Turn in all reading logs by August 5.
Surry Community College is offering a fun and free English as Second Language (ESL) class at the Mount Airy Public Library Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Anyone interested should contact Jennifer Pardue at 336-386-3674.
Hooked – Come join our crochet and knitting club, every Wednesday at 3 p.m. Bring your own yarn and make the group project or bring your own project to work on.
Tai Chi has returned to the library. Join us each Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m. This class is beneficial for those with limited mobility.
The Community Book Club meets the fourth Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. This month we will be reading The Mapmaker’s Children by Sarah McCoy.
Pages and Petticoats Book Club — meets on the last Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. This month we are reading A Room With a View by E.M. Forster. At our meeting we will watch the 1985 film adaptation.
Classic Movie Monday on June 27 at 5:30 p.m. will feature The Incredible Mr. Limpet, starring Don Knotts.
Keep up with all events on our FaceBook pages, https://www.facebook.com/groups/fmapl and https://www.facebook.com/mtapublibrary or our website https://nwrlibrary.org/mountairy/
There are plenty of needs in the community, from homelessness and lack of mental health care to childhood hunger and substance abuse.
For the leadership of one church in Dobson, those needs are opportunities to reach out and help others.
Scott Meadows, pastor at Dobson Church of Christ, and others in the church hosted a meeting of community leaders at their facility Wednesday, with the goal of asking how the church can help.
Among those in attendance were Dobson Mayor Ricky Draughn, Mount Airy Mayor Ron Niland, Surry County Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt, school leaders, social workers, and others, gathered for a lunch courtesy of the church ladies’ group.
“We sent out a letter to a lot of community leaders,” Meadows said of how he and church leaders went about planning the gathering. “We wanted to see if we could get the answer to two basic questions. What are the major needs in the community, and how can our church get connected in the community to meet those needs?
“We got really good responses from everybody, and it was really effective what we ended up getting,” Meadows said.
He said the two areas that stood out to him, areas he believes his church can be effective, is working to help meet the needs of children in the community, as well as finding ways to encourage those in “service work,” such as teachers, police officers, social workers, and similar fields.
Meadows said now the church leaders will get together and figure out the best way to proceed.
“We want to be focused in our efforts here, we don’t want to be all over the place…we want to have a focused effort.”
Meadows has been pastor at the 100-person church for about three months, and in that time he said he has seen a desire among church leaders and members to become more involved with the community. That is what drove them to start their effort with Wednesday’s lunch.
“We’re just trying to make the effort to reach out into the community. The church is wanting to be active in the community….now we need to prioritize the needs we found out about and go to work.”
When school resumes for the 2022-2023 school year, students and staff members at seven schools in the Surry County School system will be beginning their academic year with a new principal.
During a specially called Board of Education meeting, several personnel changes were approved, including multiple leadership transitions involving principals.
Surry Early College Principal Colby Beamer leads the move, having been transferred to Meadowview Magnet Middle. He is being replaced by Dr. Matthew White, a principal who had previously been at Rockford Elementary. Nicole Hazelwood, the current principal at Meadowview Magnet Middle, will be transitioning into Dobson Elementary School as principal. Sharia Templeton is leaving her principal position at Dobson Elementary to become principal at Franklin Elementary. She is replacing Margaret Spicer, who will be moving into her role as director of elementary curriculum and instruction.
Westfield Elementary will also have a new principal. Current East Surry High assistant principal DJ Sheets will transition into the role. The current principal at Westfield Elementary, Laura Whitaker, will transfer to Rockford Elementary.
Sanda Clement has also been hired as the new principal of Pilot Mountain Elementary School. Clement will be joining Surry County Schools from Patrick County Public Schools in Virginia, where she has 32 years of experience as an educator, including the past 12 years as an elementary principal.
Along with principals, the district will also make leadership transitions amongst assistant principals. Martha Arrington, previously split between Pilot Mountain Elementary and Rockford Elementary, will continue to serve Pilot Mountain Elementary as a full time assistant principal. Victoria Calhoun, previously split between Cedar Ridge Elementary and Dobson Elementary, will continue to serve Cedar Ridge Elementary as a full time assistant principal.
Brandon Cook, former principal intern at Surry Central High School will move to North Surry High School as assistant principal. Along with Cook, Sherri Hines will transition to North Surry High School as an assistant principal from her role as a curriculum coach.
Hanna Holder, former principal intern at Central Middle will transition into the role of assistant principal at the same school. Ashley Newman, former principal intern at Pilot Mountain Middle will serve as assistant principal at Meadowview Magnet Middle. Ashley Queen, former principal intern at Meadowview Magnet Middle, will serve as assistant principal at Dobson Elementary and Rockford Elementary.
“I am grateful to work with a Board of Education and a leadership team that has a common vision of designing dreams. growing leaders. Our leadership framework supports that vision in which Surry County Schools is committed to cultivating a culture of leadership to equip all individuals with the skills necessary to live, learn, and lead as productive citizens,” said Superintendent Travis L. Reeves. “Even though change can be a challenge, it creates growth and our district continues to take great pride in growing school leaders by investing in their personal and professional growth and providing them with an array of leadership opportunities. I am thankful to our Board of Education for supporting the leaders in our district as they grow. I am honored to work with such a dedicated and dynamic team and look forward to the new 2022-2023 school year.”
DOBSON — Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation recently donated a retired fleet truck to Surry Community College to be used by the college’s facilities and maintenance department.
Ricky Bowman, vice president of operations for the electric company, was on hand to pass the keys of the 2010 Ford F-150 along to Dr. David Shockley, president of SCC, on the college’s main campus June 21. The title was signed over as well.
“We appreciate the donation of the truck by Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation. SYEMC continues to be a great partner of Surry Community College. The college will use the truck to support our facilities and maintenance department’s efforts to maintain and beautify our campus and learning centers,” Shockley said.
Bowman said SYEMC was happy to be able to support community needs through efforts such as the donation to the college, which is a neighbor of SYEMC’s office in Dobson. “One of the key principles we operate by is concern for community. Being able to support academic and economic needs in the region, such as Surry Community College, falls under that principle,” he said.
Surry-Yadkin EMC, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative founded in 1940, serves more than 28,000 member accounts in five counties, including Surry, Yadkin, Stokes, Wilkes and Forsyth.
Surry Community College was founded in 1964 and the campus is located in Dobson, North Carolina. As one of the state’s 58 community colleges, it serves Surry and Yadkin counties.
Autumn Leaves Festival might still be nearly four months away, but a deadline for vendors is fast approaching.
June 30 is the final day for would-be vendors to fill out a form expressing their interest in setting up and selling their wares, according to Jordon Edwards, who doubles as the Autumn Leaves Festival director and events director for the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce.
“That’s actually a little late,” she said of the June date. “Typically, the cut-off date is April or May, so we’ve added in a grace period due to the transition,” she said. That transition is Edwards taking on her new role with the chamber, which was vacated earlier this year when Travis Frye left for the newly created tourism director funded jointly by the Dobson Tourism Development Authority and the Surry County Tourism Authority.
If the list so far is indicative of what the final line-up will be, Edwards said the folks visiting this autumn’s festival are in for a treat this year. Quite a few treats.
“We’ve had about 120 interest forms for crafts, and maybe 40 for food,” she said. “It’s been interesting to see … there is a large variety.” Among those are a good number — roughly 30% — of first-time vendors planning to set up at this year’s festival. “Randy has commented there are things that have not been in the festival in prior years,” she said, referring to Randy Collins, chamber president and CEO.
She said the pandemic-related shutdowns may have contributed to the new number of vendors.
“I think a lot of people, during the pandemic, picked up a craft and learned it,” she said. And now, they are ready to go out and sell what they have made.
While this will be her first time overseeing the festival, Edwards said she is no stranger to the annual fall gathering.
“I’ve come to the festival every year since I can remember,” she said. Prior to taking her post with the local chamber, she had worked with the Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce and the Alleghany County Public Schools, easy driving distance to Mount Airy. Close enough, in fact, she would often make multiple trips to each event.
“I definitely would spend a couple of days each year — you really have to try all the food, and you have to take the full three days to indulge. It was just always exciting to look forward to, like Christmas or a big Sunday brunch with family. You knew the Autumn Leaves Festival was going to happen.”
Now, she said it’s been fascinating to see the other side of the event, “the behind-the-scenes of how the festival truly does take a year to organize.”
As for the impending deadline — June 30 — Edwards said anyone interested in becoming a vendor should go to http://www.autumnleavesfestival.com/festival-vendor-information/ There they can find a link to an interest form, along with detailed instructions on what vendors are allowed to sell, and how to submit the form.
“We are a juried craft show,” she said, meaning filling out a form does not automatically reserve a spot. “We do have an autumn leaves festival committee that reviews the applicants and decides which ones are invited.” She said a number of factors go into that decision. Among those are the make-up of the festival vendor line-up already in place, if the craft is a good fit for the festival, and if it meets the requirements of being an actual “craft” made by the vendor.
The festival will be October 14 – 16.
In recording deeds, the state of North Carolina does not require that the amount paid for a parcel be stated on the deed. However a tax stamp at the rate of $2 for every $1,000 in value is affixed to each deed.
Recent real estate transfers recorded in the Surry County Register of Deed’s office include:
– Christopher Ryan Henson and Alicia Wallace Henson to James Leroy Walker; 9,981 sq ft lot 2 PB 20 34 Mount Airy; $320.
– Mobile Diagnostics Solutions, LLC to Maria Gladis Baca; lots 88-90 Sunset Park PB 1 76 Elkin; $170.
– Teddy Aldean Medley, Christopher S. Medley, Renee Cranfil Hartman and Timothy Hartman to Joe Cockrell and Denise Connors; 1.084 acres tract 2 PB 41 14; $212.
– U.S. Bank Trust National Association and RCF 2 Aquisition Trust to Reynaldo Duran and Cecilia Duran Rayo; lot 9 and 20 Pine Ridge subdivision PB 7 13; $180.
– Barbara Giles Lanier to Stronghold Properties, LLC; tract; $5.
– Stronghold Properties, LLC to Samuel Moore and Latonia Moore; tract; $13.
– TNK Investments, LLC to Shawn P. Fitzgerald and Pamela Fitzgerald; 1.9 acres; $494.
– Paul C. Westmoreland to P M Builders, Inc.; 0.214 acres Mount Airy; $53.
– Robert J. Lovill and Elizabeth J. Lovill to Debra Jones Hall; lot 42 phase 3 section 2 Windgate subdivision PB 13 54 Dobson; $29.
– Chad Everette Lewis and Jeana Everette Lewis to CEL Investments, LLC; 3 tracts Mount Airy; $0.
– Barbara Kay Rhodes, Ted Long and Kay Long Rhodes to Teddy D. Long and Patricia N. Long; 4.751 acres; $0.
– Richard Duncan and Michelle Duncan to Peggy Lynn McMillian; two tracts Mount Airy; $7.
– James Leon Hutson and Sandra Lou Hutson to Redoak Development, LLC; tract Mount Airy; $163.
– G. Edwards Massey and Deborah M. Massey to Guadalupe Castillo; tract Mount Airy; $296.
– Linda E. Goins to Jonathan Silva Romo and Kaitlin Ann Silva; 0.704 acres PB 40 189 1105 Blue Hollow Road Westfield; $184.
– Jody Lynn Goodwill and Carly Dukes to DTS of Jonesville, LLC; 0.99 acres Elkin; $250.
– Jody Lynn Goodwill and Carly Dukes to David T. Smith; 4.8 acres Elkin; $50.
– Scarlett Norris Mathis and Joshua Claude Mathis to Brianna Hitchner and Michael Hitchner; 1.835 acres Bryan; $450.
– Margarita Moralez Ruiz to Margarita Moralez Ruiz and Jose Jackie Hernandez; tract Mount Airy; $0.
– Glenn E. Boyd and Patricia Ann Boyd to Roberto Mercado; lots 6-8 block 5 Highland Park 1 28 Mount Airy; $200.
– LKTR Properties, LLC to Kyle Thomas Shinault and Sarah H. Shinault; lots 115-118 Nelson Development PB 6 54 Pilot; $570.
– David Webster Hemmings and Peggy Hemmings to Ramey Ridge Farms, LLC; 0.942 acres Dobson; $5.
– Amber Ellis and Tiffany Renee Ellis to Brody Gentry, Chole Gentry, Stefanie Gentry and Randall Gentry; 0.445 acres lot 66-67 Safety Harbour subdivision PB 1 74; $440.
– Gary L. Wagner and Scotty Wagner to Jimmie Dale Shores and James Harrison Shores Jr.; two tracts Bryan; $0.
– Redoak Development, LLC to Esmeralda Sonato; 0.65 acres PB 19 117 Mount Airy; $195.
– Gary L. Wagner and Scotty Wagner to The Wagner Family Farms, LLC; lots 3-4 PB 40 173 Bryan; $0.
– John H. Heath to Ashlee Erin Hooker; .249 acres two tracts Mount Airy; $256.
– Aaron Stoltzfus, Bethany Stoltzfus and Bethany Hawkins to Christine Lynn Bedell and Aaron McKinley McIntyre; tract one lot 24 tract two portion of lot 23 Mitchell Bluff estates PB 7 35; $370.
– Kenmare Properties, Inc. to Goldmart, LLC; tract Mount Airy; $0.
– Kenmare Properties, Inc. to Goldmart, LLC; two tracts Mount Airy; $0.
– Deloris A. Henzler to Mary Ann Galyean; 1.26 acres Bryan; $0.
– Richard Carroll Bowman and Barbara Gail C. Bowman to Allen Todd and Marsha Bowman Todd; lots 37-40 block B J.D. Smith estate subdivision PB 3 109 Mount Airy; $0.
– Margaret Tilley to Amber Ellis and Tiffany Ellis; all of lots 5-6 PB 9 122 Mount Airy; $412.
– Joseph John Ewen to Joseph John Ewen and Laura Ann Ryan Ewen; lot 38 section 6 Stoney Ridge Acres PB 11 166; $0.
– John Mark Golding to Avelino Linares Perez; tract Mount Airy; $70.
– Joseph Lane Snow and Melissa D. Snow to Josiah M. Blevins and Madison S. Blevins; 1.285 acres PB 41 3 Bryan; $400.
– Roger F. Kozlowski and Kimberly Kozlowski to Melissa Brooke Presley; lot 14 section 2 Mountain View Properties subdivision PB 18 22 Eldora; $328.
– Active Capital Real Estate Investments, LLC to Rhino Sheds, LLC; tract PB 4 38 Mount Airy; $110.
– Ararat-Cedar Hill Primitive Baptist Church, Timothy Creed, Kenneth Creed, Wesley Jones and Norman Jones to Ararat-Cedar Hill Primitive Baptist Church; 3.589 acres PB 39 169 Pilot; $0.
– Dorothy Simmons Grantor Trust, Carl Edward Simmons Grantor Trust, Scarlett Lynn Simmons Dowdy, Dororthy Simmons and Carl Edward Simmons to Tammy C. Seibert and Melissa Seibert; 1.48 acres lot A PB 41 2; $471.
– PNC Bank, National Association and Bank of Pilot Mountain to PQA Healthcare, Inc..; 2.6735 acres; $1,440.
The following marriage licenses were issued in Surry County:
– Sumner Forrest Ellis, 35, of Bibb County, Georgia, to Jordan Monique Hiatt, 28, of Bibb County.
– Martin Quiroz Ramirez, 56, of Surry County to Victoria Lynn Ortega, 34, of Surry County.
– Dylan James Goughary, 34, of Surry County to Brittany Brianne Stacy, 23, of Tazwell County, Virginia.
– Timothy John Amos, 26, of Surry County to Lauren Chanel Steele, 31, of Davie County.
– Garrett Kyle Somers, 28, of Surry County to Jessica Leann Whetstone, 28, of Surry County.
– Jason Michael Cole, 39, of Surry County to Ashley Diane Moser, 29, of Surry County.
– Jose Vargas Juarez, 37, of Surry County to Cristina Rivera Juarez, 37, of Surry County.
– Dustin Lee White, 23, of Surry County to Caitlin Brooke Atkins, 24, of Surry County.
– Miguel Torres Torres, 25, of Surry County to Maribel Arreola Carrillo, 24, of Surry County.
– Nicky Shawn Bowman, 53, of Surry County to Cindy Ann Tackett, 45, of Surry County.
– Jason Lee Chandler, 32, of Surry County to Brittany Nicole Martin, 32, of Surry County.
– Mason Andrew Jester, 21, of Surry County to Chloe Elizabeth Cave, 19, of Surry County.
Summer is reunion time for many families. A chance to gather with cousins, share stories and laughter and make stronger connections with those who share a common heritage.
The Burke family reunion is happening this weekend. For some that means coming home. For others this will be the first time in the area.
Members of the Burke and associated families have been instrumental in building business in Mount Airy and Surry County for 150 years. Though he came from humble roots, by age 21, William Walter (WW) Burke established a thriving dry goods store on Main Street and steadily built an impressive real estate business besides.
His father, James Marion Burke, was born to Irish immigrants in 1845 in South Philadelphia, the same neighborhood the fictional Rocky Balboa rose from. Even then it was a neighborhood of people of modest and limited means, mostly Irish, Scots, and free Blacks, working the factories, docks, and train yards, hoping to save enough to move uptown to a better life.
His immigrant father, also named James, was a bootmaker and within a decade owned his own small shop. The family moved to a nicer part of town and both he and his brother were working by the time they were 16.
In October 1864 James, then a tinsmith, enlisted in Company E of the 1st New York Artillery and served for the duration of the Civil War, a decision that left him hard of hearing.
We will likely never know what attracted him to Mount Airy but by 1870 he was working in the Brower shoe factory, cutting leather.
At the same time Lucy Hayes, recently widowed, moved with her eight daughters to Mount Airy where there was work in the Brower Cotton Mill. The six older girls (13-24) worked. The entire family was illiterate.
One of the girls, 18-year-old Ida, met James, perhaps walking to work, perhaps at church, perhaps a social gathering. Regardless, they married and bought a house on Pender Street where they raised six children, including their first-born, WW.
James and Ida ensured their children received an education and learned marketable skills. WW seems to have been a determined and progressive businessman from a young age, barely 21 when he opened his store. In 1901 he was a charter member of the Young Men’s Commercial Club of Mount Airy. The organization included many of the people who would shape the region’s economy and business landscape for much of the 20th century.
By 1913, WW was able to afford a large house on Pine Street and one of the first “horseless carriages” in the county when he bought a Hupmobile.
When he married Lucy Bell Taylor in 1907, he joined a storied family with deep roots across the region — roots that twine through the War of 1812 and reach to several patriots in the American Revolution.
Many of Lucy’s extended family were college educated, counting physicians, members of the state General Assembly, and business owners as well as farmers with large operations.
Her father’s grandfather, William A. Taylor, settled in Henry County, Virginia. The town that grew up around his farm was called Taylorville for many years until the name was changed to Stuart for a Civil War general who’d also grown up locally.
Burke turned his hand to a number of business ventures. He was one of the founding partners of Renfro Hosiery but sold out his share. He also bought several properties beginning a generations-long family involvement in real estate development.
History is so much more than important dates and the towering figures who loom large in our collective past. It is the daily sacrifice, hard work, and contributions made by the women and men of our families across generations. The important work of building communities is made by those who live and work in them and the seeds of success are carried on the winds as children branch out from their roots to new challenges and new locations.
Kate Rauhauser-Smith is a volunteer for the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History with 22 years in journalism before joining the museum. She and her family moved to Mount Airy in 2005 from Pennsylvania where she was also involved with museums and history tours.
The Surry County Community Corrections office is seeking information on the whereabouts of the following individuals:
• Samantha Grace Nester, 23, a white female, wanted for probation violations who is on probation for felony trafficking methamphetamine and felony breaking and entering;
• Randy Lee Ashby, 59, a white male wanted on probation violations who is on probation for felony possession of methamphetamine and use/possession of drug paraphernalia;
• Marbel Garcia Alberto, 32, a Hispanic female wanted on probation violations who is on probation for child abuse and driving while impaired;
• Stephanie Dawn Davis, 43, a white female wanted for failing to appear in court on probation violations who is on probation for felony possession of methamphetamine and use/possession of drug paraphernalia.
Anyone with information on any probation absconders, please contact Crime Stoppers at 786-4000 or probation at 719-2705.
View all probation absconders on the internet at http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi and click on absconders. Anyone with information on any probation absconders should contact Crime Stoppers at 786-4000, county probation at 719-2705 or the Mount Airy Police Department at 786-3535.
Summer thunder: message of the trees
In the heat of a summer afternoon, the heat of the sweltering sun bears down on the leaves of oaks and maples and they respond by turning their leaves over to show their petticoats and send a subtle message that they are ready for some rain in the form of an afternoon thunderstorm. Later, the sun hides behind the clouds, thunder rolls, lightning flashes and a hefty rain falls; the leaves flip over to receive the fresh raindrops, and after the rain, there is a cool, refreshing breeze. The leaves are fresh, green, lively as well as upright as if thanking the creator for a wonderful shower of blessing and refreshing.
Vegetables need food, not fertilizers
Organic plant, flower and vegetable food is beneficial to soil as well as vegetables. Organics will dissolve quickly into soil and are finely textured and not pelletized and this promotes nutritional results. You can choose from Plant-Tone organic vegetable food, Tomato-Tone organic tomato food, Garden-Tone organic plant food, Flower-Tone organic flower food and Holly-Tone organic evergreen and azalea food. It is available in four- and ten-pound zippered bags. The four-pound bags are easier to handle and apply and can be sprinkled into the furrows and mixed easily into the soil when sowing seed.
Hoping for few Japanese beetles
As the heat of June increases, we hope the population of Japanese beetles will not increase. As Dog Days draw nearer, we should know what kind of beetle year this will be. If you see them appear, the first measure of control should be to place beetle traps in areas away from the garden and affected areas. If there is a huge infestation, spray a mist of liquid Sevin mixed with proper amount of water in a spray bottle. Allow the sun to dry the mist into the foliage.
Peat moss and Black Kow elixirs
These two organic products will give the garden an extra boost. Both are totally organic and will work wonders in warm summer soil. Black Kow is composted cow manure and comes in 25- and 50-pound bags. A 25-pound bag costs about $6. Peat moss comes in 3.5 cubic foot bales and costs about $12 per bale. Keep a bale on hand and place on seed in the furrow before you hill up soil on both sides of the furrow.
Heat up compost with grass clippings
Using residue from garden harvests, grass clippings and peelings of vegetables and other crops add extra heat to the compost and help decompose and break down the materials by bringing on the heat. Grass clippings also provide great mulch for summer vegetable crops.
Days of summer getting shorter
The days of summer are now getting shorter by one minute each evening now that summer has begun. This will continue til Dec. 21. It will be a while before we can see any difference because summer has just got started and the days of summer are long.
Staying ahead of summer weeds
The weeds in the summer garden do not take a vacation, but will continue to grow and choke out vegetable harvests. The best way to control them is to pull them up by the roots and throw them out of the garden. Those weeds have deep roots and pulling them up by the roots is the best way to destroy them.
Watching out for the deck umbrella
The warm afternoons of summer can trigger a thunderstorm that generates high winds that can blow over the deck umbrella and take the deck table over with it. If a thunderstorm is in the forecast, remove the umbrella. If you go on vacation always do these two things for peace of mind and protection: Remove deck umbrella and store it and switch off the refrigerator’s ice maker and don’t forget to switch it back on as soon as you return home.
Warm temperatures pave way for tougher grass
Warm June temperatures pave the way for tougher grass and this will make mowing a little harder. Make sure grass is dry from morning dew or a sudden shower. Never mow grass that is wet, but wait until the sun dries out the grass. Make sure the blade is sharp and adjusted to keep from cutting grass too low.
Warm days and nights cause tomato plants to bloom and form green tomatoes as we end June. Feed the tomatoes by applying Tomato-Tone organic tomato food on each side of the tomato row and hilling up soil to cover up the Tomato-Tone. Water with the wand in shower mode each week at the base of the tomato plants to prevent blossom end rot. Apply a layer of calcium carbonate (powdered lime) on each side of tomato vines when green tomatoes appear. Cover lime with soil on each side of the row. Water each week when no rain is forecast.
Making a creamy ranch squash casserole
The summer squash are now in season and this casserole is a great way to use some of them. You will need two or three pounds of yellow summer squash, one cup of diced onions, three fourth cup mayonnaise, two slightly beaten large eggs, one envelope crushed saltine crackers, five slices toasted crushed bread, one envelope Hidden Valley buttermilk ranch dressing (dry), one eight ounce package of finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, one stick melted margarine, half teaspoon salt and half teaspoon pepper. Cook squash and onions until tender and drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl mix mayonnaise, beaten eggs, and crushed saltines, and ranch dressing and the finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Mash the squash and onion mixture and add to the mayonnaise mixture. Pour into a casserole dish sprayed with Pam baking spray. Mix melted light margarine with the toasted, crushed bread crumbs; heat and sprinkle over the squash mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbly.
Ethanol oil treatment on two cycle small engines
Ethanol is not good for two cycle small engines. When adding oil to the fuel, always add ethanol free oil treatment to the fuel to protect engines of weed trimmers, blowers and tillers as well as all small engines. You can purchase this additive at Home Depot, Lowe’s and most hardwares.
The blueberry harvest to begin
As June is at the close, the season of the blueberry is almost here and the harvest will run all the way into August. Unlike strawberries, it takes a lot of blueberries to compose a gallon, but their flavor in a blueberry pie or a cobbler or sonker makes them well worth the time and effort. Dog Days will soon be here, so the best thing to do is pick blueberries early in the morning before the sun heats things up. It takes patience to pick blueberries as well as a positive thinking attitude. A bit of wise advice — leave the kids with grandma because the patience of kids wear thin in the blueberry patch! One plus of blueberries is that they are easy to prepare and freeze. All you have to do is run cold in the sink. Pour a quart of blueberries in at a time in the water and remove the unripe berries that rise to the top with a tea strainer. Place berries in quart containers after draining the berries on a dry towel for a minute. Make sure berries are dry when placing in the plastic quart containers. Allow half an inch at the top of container before placing the lids. In winter, they will taste just like fresh berries.
Making a blueberry sweet dream dessert
This is a yummy recipe to think about when getting ready to make a blueberry picking visit worthwhile when you get back home. You will need one 21-ounce can of Comstock blueberry pie filling, one quart fresh blueberries, one eight ounce pack softened cream cheese, one tub of Cool Whip, two cups of graham cracker crumbs, one cup 10x powdered sugar, one cup sugar and two sticks light margarine. Run the graham crackers through the blender in “grate” mode and mix with two sticks of melted light margarine and spread in the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish or pan. Bake at 350 degrees for seven or eight minutes. Beat cream cheese and add powdered sugar. Spread over the graham crackers. Mix blueberry pie filling, fresh blueberries, one cup sugar and spread over the cream cheese mixture. Cover with Cool Whip or dairy whipping cream and serve. Keep refrigerated.
The heat and humidity of July’s Dog Days will begin in a few days. Now is the time to check out the Irish potato row or bed and see what’s under the vines. Dig under them lightly and don’t disturb the skins of the spuds. After harvest, spread a layer of powdered lime over the harvested potatoes to promote drying.
“Rock a bye baby.” Son: “Why is Dad singing so much to the baby tonight?” Mother: “He is trying to sing the baby to sleep.” Son: “If I were her, I’d pretend I was asleep.”
“Tailor made.” Customer: “I’m sorry, I wont be able to pay for this suit for two months.” Tailor: “Oh, that will be alright.” Customer: “When will the suit be ready?” Tailor: “In two months.”
“Fun pun:” “I’m going to put all my money into taxes — they are sure to go up.”
Some local residents trekked to Nashville last weekend — not to launch careers as country stars, but visit with a musical icon hailing from Mount Airy and show her how much she still fills its heart.
“It is always inspirational to talk to this wonderful lady — whether by phone or in person,” Ann Vaughn commented in relating the group’s trip to reunite with Donna Fargo, which also included taking in the Grand Ole Opry.
“I can tell you that our visit with Donna outshined the Grand Ole Opry,” added Vaughn, who provided information about the visit along with another longtime local friend of Fargo’s, Deborah Cochran.
Fargo is a Grammy-winning artist who churned out a series of top 10 country music hits in the 1970s, including “The Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A.” and “Funny Face” along with hosting her own syndicated television series.
She had graduated from Mount Airy High School in 1958 and eventually migrated to California, teaching school before embarking on a full-time music career that yet continues.
Five people motored from Mount Airy to Nashville. In addition to Vaughn and Cochran they included Vickie Scearce along with Roger and Donna Hiatt Freschette.
“We think it is important to keep in touch with Mount Airy’s sweetheart, Donna Fargo,” Vaughn explained.
“She is always singing the praises for Mount Airy and giving credit to so many people from this area who influenced who she is and what she stands for,” she mentioned.
Fargo is equally appreciative of the special reunion with folks from home.
“Oh, it was just lovely,” she said Friday. “I love these people — they have been friends for a long time and it was just really a nice treat.”
“Donna truly loves Mount Airy and the people back home,” Cochran mentioned in sharing her thoughts about the visit with Fargo.
“She’s never too busy to show how much she cares about the people in Mount Airy,” advised the former longtime radio personality, also an ex-mayor and city commissioner who is now running for the at-large seat on the city board.
“Donna and I became close friends when I worked at the WSYD radio station for decades spinning her hits and interviewing her on air.”
Despite a stellar career, Donna Fargo has faced her share of challenges, including the loss of her longtime husband and manager, Stan Silver, to COVID in April 2021.
“Donna has had her own health issues,” Cochran further acknowledged.
This included a bout with the coronavirus at the same time her husband was stricken, on top of two strokes and the multiple sclerosis Fargo has dealt with since being diagnosed in 1978.
“Life can be a struggle even when one doesn’t think it will be,” Cochran observed.
“We are happy to report that Donna is well and sends her sincere good wishes to everyone in her special hometown,” Vaughn reported upon returning to Mount Airy.
Fargo also is staying active with her music, which included the release earlier this year of a CD, “All Because of You,” which is dedicated to Silver and was personally therapeutic in coping with his death, the Grammy winner has said.
“She has just recently released a new single, ‘One of the Good Guys,’ just in time for Father’s Day,” Vaughn pointed out, referring to a cut from the CD that contains six songs altogether.
Cochran also commented on Fargo’s dedication to career:
“She still works on her music, writing songs, books and greeting cards for Blue Mountain Arts. She and country star T. Graham Brown have an event coming in July. “
The local residents who met with Fargo in Nashville presented her with a big tin basket with items from back home. Susanne Lewis Brown, who was a classmate of Fargo’s, sent a lettered Mount Airy High School white winter jacket.
“Donna was so thrilled,” Cochran recalled regarding her reaction to receiving that and other gifts in the tin bucket that had a patriotic theme reflecting Fargo’s love of country — often displayed in her music.
Meanwhile, there is also an effort close to home to have a mural of Fargo painted on a wall downtown, similar to others posthumously honoring Andy Griffith and local singer Melva Houston.
Fargo presented some gifts of her own, according to Cochran, including autographed pictures to local businesses such as Dairy Center and Palace Barber Shop. She also autographed a tin plate for Good Time Trolley Tours and a red guitar for young Charleston Scearce, whose grandmother Vicki traveled to meet Fargo for the first time.
But perhaps what she bestowed most was from the soul.
“Donna Fargo is the perfect example of resilience and optimism,” in Cochran’s view.
“Those of us who have gotten to visit her in person will vouch that she has such a special gift of positivity that is so needed in today’s world,” Vaughn agreed.
”We all need to embrace this wonderful lady who has promoted her hometown since the very beginning.”
• A woman who was encountered during an overdose call has been arrested on a felony drug charge and other violations, according to Mount Airy Police Department reports.
Kailey Nicole Taylor, 31, of 461 Austin Drive, was taken into custody at that location Monday night. Taylor is accused of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia which were filed at that time. She also was found to the subject of two outstanding orders for arrest for failing to appear in court on a felony probation violation issued on June 16 and interfering with an electronic monitoring device filed on June 13.
Taylor was confined in the Surry County Jail without privilege of bond and slated for an appearance in District Court this coming Monday.
• A case involving injury to real property occurred Sunday night at the residence of Zolar Ann Allen in the 500 block of Linville Road, where a flower pot was thrown through a bedroom window by a known individual. The damage was put at $68 in the incident that was still under investigation at last report.
• More damage has been reported at the city-owned Riverside Park, the site of similar incidents in recent months.
The latest was discovered on June 17, involving the spray painting of the outside of a restroom stall, with the damage estimated at $275.
Surry Community College recently named the students who had qualified for the spring semester 2022 Dean’s List.
Students qualifying for the Dean’s Listmust be enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours of college level coursework and maintain a 3.5 grade point average for the semester with no final grade lower than a “C.” Students on the Dean’s List will also receive a congratulatory letter.
Among those named to the Dean’s List are:
Victoria Cheyenne Andre, Tristian Abigail Beck, Michelle Bedolla-Ibarra, Trevor Allen Berrier, Kameron Scott Burch, Savannah Grace Collins, Adam Blake Culler, Ian Alexander Dollyhite, Andrea W. Draughn, Isabel M. Elias, Carson McKinley Francis, Sharon Brown Futrell, Kimberly Perez Gonzalez, Darius Ian Hayter, Hailey Louise Heinz, Chase Alexander Holt, Jordan Juarez-Martinez, Meredith L. King-Edwards and Kamron Luke Kirkman, all of Mount Airy;
Kristina Ann Kleintop, Jocelyn Dove Long, Rebecca Haley Manning, Deaven Elizabeth Mauldin, Melissa Lizbeth Mendoza Maldonado, Josie Gonzalez Nunez, Emily Osornio-Gonzalez, Kaley Nichole Poindexter, Cherokee Meadow Sexton, Alicia Kay Shore, Zachary Ryan Simmons, Sydni Markay Smith, Hailey Michelle Stager, Lily Faith Stanley, Michelle Thao, Daniel Felipe Valenzuela, Alyssa Danielle White, Carrigan McKay Willard and Makara Deshay Woodbury, all of Mount Airy;
Jonathan D. Bledsoe, Jennifer Carranza-Garcia, Rachel Evelyn Carter, Vanessa Castro-Correa, Karla Maydel Chavez, Yeni Duran, Andrea Gail Easter, Maggie Caitlin Felts, Nancy Garcia-Villa, Christy Hernandez-Cortes, Kailey Grace Myers, Yadira Milagros Osorio, Michael Anthony Payson and Mariela Gonzales Trejo, all of Dobson;
Carleigh Kaye Collins, Tynlee Gayle Jones, Tyler Andrew Oakes, Fabiola Bernhard Pannutti, Hadly Grey Tucker, Christopher M. White and Alyssa Victoria Yount, all of Pilot Mountain;
Katelyn Clarice Bolen, Emma Rose Hutchens and Caitlin Anastacia Wixon of Pinnacle; Eden Rain Garwood and Amon Floyd Moseley of Siloam; Bailee Grayce Crouse and Harley Alexandra Casstevens of State Road; Nathan Lewis Brown and Devin Zachary Hill of Westfield; Carson Alexander Swinney and Rebecca Ann Tobler of Lowgap; Blake Allen Fulk of Ararat, Virginia; Kemper Michael Coleman and Vania Joequenia Tucker of Galaxm. Virginia;
Ethan S. Cranford, Landon Maximilion Garcia, Yaneli Esperanza Perez, BreAnna Nicole Reed, Braeden Joel Reinhardt, Emely Resendez, Cameron Daniel Smitherman, Bryson Holden St John and Emily Rose Whitaker of Boonville; Jacqueline Juarez Almazan of East Bend, Kayla Marie Belza of East Bend. Alexis Lauralee Collins, Audrey Eliesse Shore and Peyton Robert Wall of East Bend;
Sabrena Hemric, Alexandra Lucrecia Lyles and Bailey Renee White of Elkin; Cortlyn Dawn Blythe of Ennice; Alexander David Armstrong, Malaya Hughes Caudill, Abigail Grace Herko, Rosa Guadalupe Mireles Luis and Anna Joell Wagoner of Hamptonville; Michael Dakota Akers of Harmony; Noah Gabriel Hardman of Hendersonville;
Autumn Alexis Dockery, Anahi Lopez, Megan Renee Mabe, Jennifer Macedo, Lincoln Jarrett Richmond and Isaiah Robert Riggins of Jonesville; Emma Dione Frazier, Ruth Marlyn Hauser, Treylin Sierra Todd, Abby Elizabeth Walker, Audrey Louisa Wall and Jennah Rose Weaver of King; Ethan Wade Watson of Lenoir;
Malakai Nova Sharick-Duckworth of Lewisville; Richelle Alyssa Campbell of Millers Creek; Drew Kinser of Mint Hill; Brenda Lisbeth Torres Solano of Mocksville; Juanita Dawn Edwards of North Wilkesboro; Madison Kate Smith of Pfafftown; Isabella Brown, Ircar Mariel Munoz and Donna Moxley Rea of Sparta; Nancy Espino of Thurmond; Emery Wilson Meadows of Tobaccoville; Monty Cole Chipman of Traphill; Isaac Wayne Heath of Walnut Cove;
Joel Kennedy Ayers of Winston-Salem; Angel Elizabeth Brown, Jennifer Carachure-Medina, Jenda Dawn Crouse, Ashley Renee Dawson, Celia Ramona Escalante, Susana Gonzalez, Arley Steve Gonzalez-Sarabia, Landon Chase Hardy, Lakin Nicole Holcomb and Ismael Uriel Pina, all of Yadkinville; Monica Paulina Church and Olivia Camille Valentine of Charlotte;
A full slate of holiday activities is scheduled in Mount Airy on July 4, all having a common thread of celebrating America’s independence.
This will include a parade through the downtown area, a traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence and other activities at Mount Airy Museum of Regional History and a fireworks show at Veterans Memorial Park.
There was one question mark looming Friday afternoon about the actual starting time for the parade on July 4, which has been announced as 11 a.m. by the sponsoring Downtown Business Association.
However, a spokesman for the Mount Airy Police Department — which must assign officers for street closures and crowd control, also aided by Mount Airy Rescue Squad volunteers — says the event officially is permitted for 2 p.m. on the holiday.
The time eventually decided on will be reported when that becomes available.
Jennie Lowry of the Downtown Business Association is expecting more than 50 floats and other units for the holiday parade. These tentatively will assemble at Veterans Memorial Park and leave at 11 a.m. en route to the central business district.
Parade applications are available at http://www.mountairydowntown.org/fourth-of-july-parade.html
There is a small fee for businesses and no charge for non-profit entries.
Next Friday is the application deadline.
Organizers of the parade and celebration have chosen the Allen family to serve as this year’s honorary grand marshals for the procession. The Allens have participated in the parade for many years as part of their family reunion.
The family was picked to specifically recognize one of its members, the late Thelma Allen, co-owner of Mount Airy Tractor Toyland, who recently died.
She was a longtime merchant downtown who was recognized by many, especially kids who frequented Toyland, a favorite spot for both the young and young at heart, according to an announcement from the Downtown Business Association.
What has become a familiar part of Independence Day activities, the reading of the Declaration of Independence at Mount Airy Museum of Regional History, also is planned this year.
This is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the courtyard of the museum at 301 N. Main St.
Brack and Angela Llewellyn from the NoneSuch Playmakers group will have the honor of reciting the historic document that put the country on a path to its formation.
After the downtown parade, the museum will host games for kids and demonstrations with Janet Pyatt and the Backcountry Peddler.
A traditional Fourth of July fireworks display also is planned at Veterans Memorial Park on West Lebanon Street as part of the holiday festivities.
It will begin around 9 p.m., according to park President Doug Joyner.
The gates will open at 5 p.m.
Music is scheduled at the park by a DJ and a couple of food trucks are to be on site, Joyner added Friday.
The end has arrived for the PART Express Connector Route 6 from Winston-Salem through King to Pilot Mountain to Mount Airy. The park and ride commuter bus service ends June 30.
Once considered a novel idea to move workers between counties and reduce the number of cars on the road, a perception of diminishing returns led the county leaders to extricate themselves from the regional transportation authority which they entered in 2005.
At the most recent board of county commissioners meeting there was one speaker who encouraged the board to reconsider their action, Rachel Collins, a commissioner from Pilot Mountain. She has heard it on the ground that this change is hurting constituents and recounted a woman who told her she was retiring from her job in Winston-Salem because PART was her ride to work.
The Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation has been reaching out to members of the community in recent weeks. Collins shared a copy of the newsletter she received from the group that reference Surry County reaching the end of the line. Riders were asked to contact the authority for more information on mobility options.
“In the last several weeks we have gotten a lot more correspondence from people who want to know what the options are like van pooling,” said PART Director Scott Rhine said. He said details were to be released before the weekend on 50% off van pooling for the rest of the year. “If mobility is a challenge, we want to be part of the solution.”
Collins asked the county commissioners to consider a delay in exiting PART, which she says is “an asset to our community.” It influences businesses decision on where to locate, or where to stay, and can do the same for residents moving from the metro areas and looking for options.
She said, “By voting to withdraw you are saying Surry County is not interested in being a collaborator” with its neighbors who still see the value of membership in a regional transportation coalition.
“In all my years of this, I still am not sure how this came to be,” Rhine said of the county’s abrupt exit from the group. PART had been trying to expand services on its rural connector lines in Surry and Randolph counties by applying for a new round of federal grants.
After Surry exited PART, the federal grants were awarded: to Randolph County. He confirmed that they will now receive the entire grant, “Yes, Randolph will get all the federal funds. We had been eyeing $300,000 up to Surry and $300,000 down to Randolph County.”
“On August 1, we are expanding routes and services, with 35% more service frequency, and a new direct line from Greensboro to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro.” This was just the sort of expansion of service that PART had hoped to run to Surry County.
Rhine explained to the county commissioners early this year as the PART departure was looming that the best way to grow ridership of the service was to increase the number of options riders had on where and when to board and disembark.
What drove the departure from PART was that ridership numbers were down from pre-COVID levels, and Rhine said even as levels are rebounding – he is not sure that the full ridership will ever return. He pointed to national trends on public transportation showing a similar trend in ridership across the country.
Secondly, to fund the county’s participation in PART there was a 5% tax attached to rental cars. When established, all member counties were given the option to have PART levy a rental car tax or place a fee on license plate renewals. Surry County opted to go the rental car tax route, which is distasteful to some board members.
Founding PART Director Brent McKinney said he felt both points were short sighted. “I feel the commissioners made their decision in absence of all the information,” he said Friday.
It was presented that the rental car tax was a hinderance to Surry County residents. Most rental cars within the county are rented by those who live outside of the county, he indicated, so tourists would be paying the largest sum of those rental car fees.
Furthermore, local car rentals are often related to a car being in the shop, he says let Allstate or other providers pay the rental car taxes in those cases.
What remains confusing to both Rhine and McKinney on the issue of taxation is that the county commissioners have no power over the rental car tax, they ceded that right by entering PART in the first place. “The 5% rental car tax was as high as it could be. The commissioners could have asked to have it lowered, rather than exit altogether,” Rhine explained.
Through several county commissioner meetings and in discussions between county staff, the county attorney, a PART attorney, and Rhine himself it is unclear if this question was ever asked or considered.
On ridership declines McKinney went on to say that some people have trouble considering the future. He has conducted traffic surveys for Winston-Salem, PART, and on the use of Highway 89 in Mount Airy by commercial trucking traffic. He said it is this expertise that tells him future use rates for all local roads are going to go up.
With that growth means more cars and more pollution. Here is one point he thinks is lost in translation: Forsyth and Guilford counties in the 1990s were not meeting air quality standards which was a driving force behind PART.
Now, he says, the state has been reclassified by the Environmental Protection Agency as “maintenance” which is why vehicle emissions tests are no longer needed. He quipped that while he cannot take full credit for this change, PART did play some role in eliminating the emissions tests. Having regional bus services has had an impact on air quality by reducing the number of cars driving into urban core areas in Forsyth and Guilford, which he estimates at 100,000 daily.
He returned to the serious nature of what losing “front door service to Baptist Hospital, Forsyth, and Atrium,” might mean to the residents of Surry County. He said some of the very best medical care available is in Winston-Salem, “We need to link the people to services and all the options available.”
Rhine may have added some rain onto the parade by informing that the county cannot remove the rental car tax until the park and ride lots have been sold. Until such a sale, the authority still must pay for utilities and insurance coverage on the lots; the rental car tax pays the county’s responsibility.
There are no additional commissioners meeting before the end of the month so there is no way to put the genie back in the bottle. If the sale of the federal lands delays the county’s full departure from PART, there may still be time to reverse course.
If not, all is not lost should the county change its mind in the future. “We won’t hold it against the county, or the riders,” Rhine explained. “If the county wants back in, we can do that.”
North Surry High School hosted its Boys Basketball Camp in Ron King Gymnasium June 20-23.
Campers ranging from rising third graders to rising ninth graders took part in the four-day camp led by varsity boys coach Tyler Bentley, varsity assistant coaches, JV and middle school coaches as well as various current/former basketball players.
CHAPEL HILL — A total of 19 student-athletes from N.C. High School Athletic Association member schools were named winners of the “Heart of a Champion” Award for their outstanding sportsmanship, overcoming adversity and consistently going above and beyond expectations.
The recognition is part of the program offered by the NCHSAA Student Services Division. North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company sponsors these awards.
“We appreciate the continued partnership with our friends at the North Carolina Farm Bureau,” said NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker. “We are honored to join with Farm Bureau in recognizing this group of 19 student-athletes who have consistently demonstrated the values and traits that we want all student-athletes to learn through participation in our programs.
“Now, more than any other time, our society needs young people, like this group of award winners, who exhibit what it means to have the ‘heart of a champion’ and who are dedicated to excellence in all things.”
One local student-athlete, Elkin graduate Thomas McComb, was recognized as an award winner.
Each NCHSAA member school had the opportunity to nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the recognition. Applying students filled out a questionnaire, and then a school official – such as the principal or athletic director – also provided an evaluation. Students must have participated in at least one varsity sport or activity during the 2021-22 school year with no ejections, while also demonstrating outstanding citizenship and sportsmanship during their high school careers.
McComb was a multi-sport varsity student-athlete with the Buckin’ Elks where he was named to multiple All-Conference teams and even won a state championship. He also participated in five school clubs and was a member of the National Honor Society.
As a senior, McComb was a member of the Buckin’ Elks’ soccer, football, swimming and tennis teams.
McComb, who will continue his academic and soccer careers at Lees-McRae College, was named Northwest 1A Conference Defensive Player of the Year in soccer and was also named to the N.C. High School Soccer Coaches Association’s 1A All-State team.
He was also named the Conference’s Specialist of the Year in football in football.
In addition to being named All-Conference and helping Elkin win the NW1A Championship in swimming, McComb was part of the Buckin’ Elks’ 200-yard freestyle relay team that won the 1A State Championship.
In the spring, McComb was part of the Elkin tennis team that finished 1A West Regional Runner-up. He was also a regional qualifier in the individual competition.
According to the NCHSAA’s press release, McComb founded and became president of the Mountain Biking Club in his quest to help underclassmen find ways to have fun and spend time free of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
Thomas said sports participation was instrumental in developing skills that would be crucial to succeeding in life: proper work ethic, adaptability, dependability, confidence and respect.
With the 2021-22 school year now complete, The News is recognizing the local student-athletes that were presented with All-Conference Honors for their respective sports during the spring.
Mount Airy competes in the Northwest 1A Conference (NW1A), Millennium Charter Academy competes in the Northwest Piedmont 1A Conference (NWPC), and East Surry, North Surry and Surry Central all compete in the Foothills 2A Conference (FH2A).
All-Conference Honorable Mentions will include (HM) following the selection’s name.
East Surry – Rosie Craven, Elise Marion, Bella Hutchens (HM), Riley Pennington (HM)
Millennium Charter – did not field a softball team
Mount Airy – Sydney Seagraves, Skylar Partin (HM), Sofia Stafford (HM)
North Surry – Bella Aparicio, Trista Berrier (FH2A Player of the Year), Carley Puckett, Sarah Mauldin (HM)
Surry Central – Kaylin Moody, Carlee Jones (HM), Kailea Zurita (HM)
East Surry finished 5-14 overall and 4-8 in conference play. The Cardinals were fifth in the FH2A standings.
Mount Airy finished 4-16 overall and 4-8 in conference play. The Granite Bears were fifth in the NW1A standings and reached the first round of the NCHSAA 1A State Playoffs.
North Surry finished 11-12 overall and 7-5 in conference play. The Greyhounds were fourth in the FH2A standings and reached the first round of the NCHSAA 2A State Playoffs. The Lady Hounds were defeated by the eventual 2A West Regional Runner-up.
North Surry senior Trista Berrier was named FH2A Conference Player of the Year.
Surry Central finished 4-14 overall and 2-10 in conference play. The Golden Eagles were sixth in the FH2A standings.
2022 Arts Alive Participants “Reach for the Stars”
Organizers of the annual Arts Alive say the 2022 version was a “blast” for all involved.
More than 100 participants ages 3-11 plus 15 volunteer middle and high school joined Emily Burgess, Shelby Coleman, and Tyler Matanick in two weeks of “Reaching for the Stars.” The camp ended with a parade down Main Street, a celebration complete with Dairy Center hot dogs, games, and face-painting, and a show featuring the participants on the stage of the Andy Griffith Playhouse.
Daily activities consisted of crafts with Emily Burgess, movement and singing with Tyler Matanick, and drama with Shelby Coleman.
16-12 Arts Alive participants and parents gather at Truist for the 43rd Annual Arts Alive Parade
16-15 Sidney Petree, front right, gathers with her family at the parade site. Sidney, age 9, is the 2022 Arts Alive tee shirt design contest winner.
16-23 The parade route is from Truist, down Main Street, to the Andy Griffith Playhouse.
16-32 Parents and participants make their way down Main Street.
16-46 Arts Alive volunteers assist with activities at the celebration.
16-55 Kids and families enjoy cornhole and activities before the show.
16-101 Participants enjoyed their chance to be an astronaut – even if just for a moment. Bruce Burgess created this incredible photo opportunity.
F16-105 Arts Alive participants figure out how to gain an advantage at cornhole!
Photos courtesy of Hobart Jones, Surry Arts Council
Mount Airy High School hosted its Youth Volleball Camp in Howard M. Finch Gymnasium June 20-23.
Campers ranging from rising third graders to rising ninth graders took part in the four-day camp led by varsity coach Shelby Bryant, assistant coach Sarah Knott as well as various current/former players.
© 2018 The Mount Airy News