Scott Rogers chats with Nash County Commissioner Gwen Wilkins during a recent retirement celebration held in his honor. Contributed photo

Nash County officials lined up last week to thank a long time employee upon retirement.
"I'm going to miss it, but it's that time," said Scott Rogers, the county's assistant manager who has worked in county government for 33 years.
The former director of Nash County Emergency Services moved up to assistant county manager a year ago.
During the county commissioners most recent meeting, the board approved a resolution showing appreciation for Rogers' years of service.

Another subdivision is in the works in Spring Hope, a small Nash County town with nearly 400 new homes in development.
"It was an overlooked town for so long," said Tom White, of Axiom Development, which is developing two subdivisions in Spring Hope.
The town's planning board recently approved developer plans for the first phase of Pinewoods Farm, a 35-acre subdivision on Green Road. The neighborhood will have 30 homes on three-quarter-acre lots.

Multiple July Fourth celebrations will be held in Nash County including Castalia, Red Oak and Rocky Mount.
Red Oak will host its annual event on Sunday, July 2. Rocky Mount's event is Monday, July 3 and Castalia's event takes place on Tuesday July 4.
See inside today, pages 6-7-8 A, for complete details on area holiday events.

A Nashville man is accused of stealing construction equipment from Nash Community College.
Damon Matthew Stancil, 37, of Amerson Court, faces charges of first-degree trespassing, breaking and entering, larceny, injury to personal property and injury to real property. He received a $90,000 bond.

A new field house is in the works for athletes at Northern Nash High School, as the Nash County Board of Education approved a low bid from Berry Building Group for the new facility on Monday night.
The low bid amount was $4,731,000. Angela Miller, Executive Director of Athletics, School Nutrition and Wellness, told board members that Nash County had committed $3 million to the project, leaving $$1,731,000.

For more than a decade, Ramona Houston's smiling face and cheerful attitude has greeted drive-thru customers at the McDonald's in Nashville -- and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Houston, 53, has taken cheeseburger and fry orders and payments at the window for 12 years.
"I'm quite happy at my window," Houston said. "I love what I do."

The N.C. State Highway Patrol is running two drunken driving campaigns for the July 4 weekend.
Operation Firecracker Booze It & Lose It and Operation Dry Water launched Wednesday.
Law enforcement statewide, wildlife and traffic safety officials are involved in the campaigns to catch impaired drivers.

The Oak Level Ruritan Club awarded four student scholarships this year.
The scholarships are worth $1,000 each, said club President Kay Boone.
The club usually awards three scholarships annually, but handed out four scholarships this year, Boone said.

Two felony breaking and entering and larceny after breaking and entering were reported on 6/21/23 at 10335 W Old Spring Hope Road, Spring Hope
A misdemeanor larceny was reported on 6/23/23 at 10601 E NC 97, Rocky Mount
An assault on a law enforcement officer and involuntary commitment was reported on 6/24/23 at 10929 Street Road, Bailey

INCIDENTS
A misdemeanor larceny and misdemeanor breaking and entering was reported on 6/18/23 at 1185 Eastern Avenue
A breaking and entering a trailer, damage to real property, damage to personal property, first degree trespass and felony larceny was reported on 6/19/23 on N Eastpointe Avenue

Nash County continues to expand high speed internet with an ongoing public-private partnership.
With more than $1 million in investments from Nash County, internet infrastructure company CloudWyze will keep expanding broadband in rural areas around Red Oak and other local small towns.

We have been taught that there is a time and a place for everything. Sadly, Christians have confused submission with apathy for so long, many of us won't even talk about Jesus until Christmas.
Dr. William James - who is often referred to as the Father of Modern Psychology - once said, "There is nothing so absurd, but if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it".

We think of blessings in terms of physical health, material prosperity, and favorable circumstances. Psalm 1 views blessedness as internal, not external. It is a spiritual condition. "Blessed" is good fortune, true fulfillment, or supreme happiness. It is plural, which denotes multiplied blessings: "O the blessedness of the man..." Do you want to be blessed?

The Cpl. Suzi Sannes Detachment 1262 of the Marine Corps League presents Pfizer Rocky Mount with a certificate of Appreciation for exhibiting a true spirit of Americanism and Patriotism by flying the American Flag With dignity and respect daily. Pictured (above) in addition to the Marines are: Amanda Adcox (VIP Senior Leadership Team Sponsor), Carolina Martinez, Sandra Minchew, Niyati Desai, Kristen Barnes (VIP co-lead), Sam Toke, Brittany Seese (VIP co-lead), Dr. Kara Price (site lead), Daniel Wingler, Stephen Wright.

Elks Lodge #1038 at Birchwood in Nashville recently awarded a scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to Connor Johnson. Pictured (left to right) are: Conner's parents, Christy and Allen Johnson; Connor Johnson; Lecturing Knight and Scholarship Committee Chair, Cyndi Carpenter; and David Boykin, Exalted Ruler.

Nash Central High School has announced its fourth nine weeks honor roll.

Coopers Elementary School has announced its fourth nine weeks honor roll.

Bailey Elementary School has announced its fourth nine weeks honor roll.

Middlesex Elementary School School has announced its fourth nine weeks honor roll.

Hubbard Elementary School has announced its fourth nine weeks honor roll.

CITI High School has announced its fourth nine weeks honor roll.

Cedar Grove Elementary School has announced its fourth nine weeks honor roll.

Brian J. Lankford and Sandra K. Lankford to Ashley Patterson Jones and Bradley Daniel Jones; Summerlea Place, Lot 5
Rexford L. Keel Sr. and Carolyn W. Keel to Sharon Renee Keel; Lakeview Lot 16
Rexford L. Keel Sr. and Carolyn Nadine Keel to Sharon Renee Keel; tracts 2A and 4

BUILDING PERMIT
(COMMERCIAL)
Daniel Weeks; 300 Taylor Drive; detached accessory; $25,900
Courtney Steed; 107 A Nashville Drive W; sign; $15,000

Momeyer Town Councilman Richard Matthews, left, presents an award and gift certificate to Tristan and Gabriel Funderburg for taking care of the flag at town hall. The Funderburg family recently moved to town from Wake County. Matthews said the two boys came to the town's rescue. Mayor Kenneth Parker said it's good to see them show pride in the flag and an appreciation for their community. The boys are members of Trail Life USA, a church-based program similar to Boy Scouts.

THE GOOD NEWS is that the new Nash County Animal Control Shelter is nearing completion, anticipating open in July. The new name is the Nash County Pet Connection Center. To say the least, it is much larger, well designed and modern. We are hoping that we will have more people volunteering to photograph at this facility. Promotion is the best way to help save the homeless pets. A good photo is worth a thousand words.

It is a great feeling when you find out you've been accidentally doing something healthy.
Scientists from the United States and the United Kingdom conducted a study on 378,932 subjects from ages 40 to 69 and found out that napping is good for the brain. The study was published in Science Alert, which sounds fake now that I think about it, but also appeared in Sleep Health, which is maybe a mattress store or a magazine, but I've never seen it in the checkout line at Harris Teeter, so I'm not sure.

Today's edition has a story on page one which is a bit different than our typical page one news coverage or news feature.
I received several phone calls recently from local people about a lady - but none of them knew her personally. Each person described this woman in the same fashion as being someone who brings a ray of sunshine into their life in the mornings as they move through a drive-thru at a Nashville restaurant.
After several phone calls, all from people who probably don't even know each other, I thought there's a reason we need to follow this lead.

This photo originally published in The Nashville Graphic on July 9, 1974. Mrs. Lucy Ham (right) packs her suitcases into the trunk of her car for a trip to Miami, Fla. to attend the 53rd Annual Convention of Pilot Club International.

UNC-WILMINGTON SOFTBALL STAR EMILY WINSTEAD

NASH COUNTY -- Three players with both Nash and Franklin County ties on the same Division I college sports team?
Sounds preposterous, doesn't it? You would probably have better odds picking your favorite numbers for the Mega Millions Drawing.
But that almost-incomprehensible feat was accomplished this spring at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington as sisters Elizabeth and Emily Winstead, along with Carrigan Ewers, were teammates on the Seahawks' softball squad.

NASH CENTRAL FIRST BASEMAN ALEXIS HEDGEPETH

ROCKY MOUNT -- 'Big Stick!' yelled Bunn assistant softball coach Mike Lovin -- seemingly over and over and over again, with no effective change in his club's impending fate.
The date was April 20, and Bunn and Nash Central were jousting for one of the top spots in what had become a crowded race in the Big East Conference standings.

NASH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL'S (L TO R) TYQUAN JONES AND CHRIS LEE

NASH COUNTY -- The high school football season will kick off on August 18 as Nash Central, Northern Nash, Rocky Mount and Southern Nash will swing into action with non-league showdowns.
Central, coming off its second consecutive appearance in the third round of the Class 2-A State Playoffs, will open that night on the road in Tillery against the Southeast Halifax Trojans.

NASH COUNTY -- Connections from Nash County, Franklin County and the Big East Conference will be plentiful when the North Carolina Coaches Association conducts its annual East-West All-Star Games from July 17-19 in Guilford County.
Action will begin on July 17 with a girls-boys basketball doubleheader at historic Greensboro Coliseum.

ZEBULON -- Luis Lara hit a solo home run in the sixth, but that homer accounted for the only run scored in a 3-1 Carolina Mudcats' loss to the the visiting Lynchburg Hillcats in Sunday's baseball series finale at Five County Stadium in Zebulon.
Lynchburg (2-1, 33-35) starter Adam Tulloch earned the victory while allowing just one run over six quality innings pitched.

NASH COUNTY -- Nash County, Bunn, Louisburg and Youngsville will field teams at three upcoming Tar Heel District 4 Baseball Tournaments in Wake County.
Here is a look at each double-elimination event:

RALEIGH -- The National Hockey League has released the 2023-24 regular-season schedules for its 32 member clubs.
The Carolina Hurricanes will open the season against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 11 at PNC Arena in Raleigh.
Some features of the Hurricanes' 2023-24 regular-season schedule: