A second opinion will be solicited after several citizens spoke at a town council meeting Tuesday morning in opposition to the proposed removal of 15 large trees on Washington Street in downtown Nashville.
An assessment, at the request of the town, was recently provided by John Sugg, a Certified Arborist of Treefull Communities, LLC. His opinion after evaluating 36 trees was that 15 were in need of removal. He rated them as low, medium and high priority.

Nashville residents will soon see their water and sewer bills increase, as the town is proposing a tax increase to cover costs. The increase in sewer rates will be a bit more than anticipated, however.
Council members received news on Tuesday during a budget retreat that sewer customers had not been billed the increase approved for the current budget year.

Nash County's high schools found creative ways to honor their graduates last year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Though the restrictions are mostly lifted, students are again being honored with local events such as parades around the county.
Southern Nash High School students drove in their parade Saturday from Bailey, to Spring Hope and looping back to Bailey via Hwy 231.
Parents, relatives and friends lined the streets in Spring Hope to show their support.
Pictured above family and friends gather in Spring Hope to cheer on Southern Nash's Class of 2021 as they drive by.

Nash County Manager Zee Lamb presented the Nash County Board of Commissioners with the proposed 2021-22 balanced budget of $115.4 million at their regular meeting Monday afternoon. The budget proposal and the Nash County Public Schools capital improvement presentation were the main focus of the meeting, which also included a resolution for the state opioid allocation, amendments to two construction projects, update on a Community Block Grant, and an overview of reports from various boards.

Citizens will have the opportunity to be a part of history by sponsoring pavers honoring someone special to them at a special display to be constructed on the Nash County Courthouse lawn. The display will house the founding documents of the United States.
The proposal to place the documents, referred to as "The Charters of Freedom," in Nash County was brought to commissioners in 2019 by Nash Central High School History Teacher Renny Taylor accompanied by former Nashville Mayor Donald Street.

Nashville's Town Council tweaked the proposed 2021-2022 budget during a final budget work session on Tuesday, bringing the total budget down to $14.8 million.
The budget was originally proposed at $15.2 million, a four percent increase from the 2020-2021 amended budget. The new $14.8 figure is a two percent increase.
The updated proposed budget includes an appropriation of $565,688 from the general fund balance to balance the budget.

Castalia will hold a public hearing on June 1 at 6 p.m. at town hall to hear comments on the $212,000 proposed budget for the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year.
The budget includes leaving the ad valorem tax rate at .32 per $100 valuation of taxable property.
Other line items of the budget include $57,900 for administration costs, $29,150 for operation cost, and a capital outlay of $5,000.

Forest Service officials urge the public to postpone any outdoor burning through early June. During the next two weeks as warmer, drier weather patterns continue across the state, fire danger will be high, and in some cases, extreme, especially in the Coastal Plain and portions of the Sandhills.
"As our state continues to dry out and heat up, we need every North Carolinian to be mindful of fire danger and the increased risk of wildfire due to this warm, dry weather," said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.

Northern Nash High School students were honored last Sunday by a parade of their parents, relatives and friends driving by while students lined the streets in Red Oak. Parade participants decorated cars, trucks, even made homemade floats cheering on their 2021 graduating seniors.
Pictured above, Northern Nash High School seniors gather for a photo prior to the parade.

Some friends of ours have a daughter, Caroline, that just graduated from Berry College in Rome, Georgia. Robbie and I recalled a story from when she was a small child. She attended the Christian school operated by our church but had a close friend that attended a public school. When she was five, Caroline and her mother passed by a Publix Supermarket. "Mom", she asked, "Is that the Publix School that John goes to"?

For this purpose, the Lord will intentionally put adverse conditions in our path so we will choose to believe Him rather than focus on our circumstances--which is what usually gets us in the most trouble.
We know from Scripture that David had to remind himself of God's promises and renew his faith in the Lord often because of the adversity he was experiencing.

BBQ is good. Gnats are a bother. Humans are followers.
These are simple truths that seem to be timeless. Now, as you can imagine, the rest of this article will center around the last of the aforementioned statements, humans are followers. Whether we realize it or not, we are not leaders, we are followers - we've all been formed by certain people, places, and events.

Graduate Sunday was held May 23 at Red Oak Baptist Church. High school and college graduates were recognized for their accomplishments with a gift from the church and a lunch for them and their families. High school graduates participating included Maycee Aycock, Whitley Brantley, Meredith Cary, Brandon Griffin, Michael Pullen, and Brooke Thompson.

Kingdom International Church celebrated Youth Sunday. Vine Youth led the praise and worship and also did several mimes. The morning message was given by Youth Pastor Grant McGlothlin. On Monday night, KIC hosted the IPHC NC Association Mission Dinner. The KIC Love Ladies met on Friday night. They enjoyed an hour of shopping with In His Hands Mobile Boutique followed by a catered dinner and dessert.

Thank God Peachtree Baptist Church still continues to be blessed. Sunday our members welcomed a new couple as members of our church. They are Dr. Wendy and Ray Edwards. Wendy and Ray have been friends of Peachtree Baptist Church for many years. Praise the Lord for these new members.
Special music: Jane May performed a piano solo.

The following deed transfers were made May 17 - 21, 2021 in Nash County.

Incident reports
A simple possession was reported at mile marker 461 US 64W on 5/20/21
A larceny was reported at 700 E. Washington Street on 5/21/21

Identity fraud was reported at 12070 Burgess Rd., Middlesex on 5/18/21
Larceny by employee was reported at 1242 Construction Dr. Rocky Mount on 5/20/21
An assault on a female was reported at 13200 Tiffany Lane, Whitakers on 5/22/21

Commercial
Tony Stewart, 11906 Lodge Rd; misc.; $17,000
Kenneth Long, 5603 Red Oak Rd; new construction; $15,496,530

I took a class in college about World War II. It was one of my favorite topics in history and the instructor was an interesting lecturer.
He prided himself on yielding almost no A grades and was notorious for covering hundreds of pages between tests, only to ask five to eight questions on the exam, often obscure.

When I wrote this column last week, I was under the impression citizens who serve on our town's tree board, many of whom are very meticulous when it comes to decisions, were convinced 15 trees needed removal from Washington Street in downtown Nashville due to irreparable condition.
I even mentioned two members whom I know would fight tooth and nail to save a tree if they thought there was a chance of saving it. Knowing a couple of the members as I do, I still trust their judgement when it comes historic streets and trees.

This photo was shared with us by George Whitaker of Rocky Mount. Pictured is the DET I CO A 1ST BN (MECH) 119TH INF, 30TH DIVISION, NASHVILLE NC ARNG, 1971.

NASH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL VAULTER EMILY WINSTON

ROCKY MOUNT -- Southern Nash's boys and Rocky Mounty's girls were the team winners, but there were plenty of strong performances from all schools during last Monday's Nash County Track and Field Championships at the Rocky Mount High School Football Field.
Fueled by a solid effort from Jalen McCalston and others, the Firebirds took the top spot in the boys team standings for veteran coach Sterling Leonard.

ON THE MARK. Northern Nash's Francesca Miller eyes a forehand return for the Lady Knights during last Wednesda afternoon's girls tennis match at home against Big East Conference opponent Wilson Fike.

RED OAK -- Northern Nash took on all comers through the first half of the Big East Conference girls tennis schedule -- and made its way through the gauntlet virtually unscathed.
NN is slated to play 10 league matches this spring, and the Lady Knights have starged their first six -- all impressive team victories.

SOUTHERN NASH'S TAYLOR BAILEY

STANHOPE -- Southern Nash once again controlled the softball proceedings in the Big East Conference -- so it was no surprise that the Ladybirds claimed three of the four major postseason awards in the competitive league.
The Ladybirds were once again the Big East Conference champions and went undefeated in the league -- and wrapped up another BE regular season title with a final-game, last-inning victory over rival Franklinton.

SOUTHERN NASH'S MATTHEW HILL

STANHOPE -- Southern Nash seemed well on its way to a successful series start against Franklinton last Tuesday in Big East Conference baseball action on the SNHS campus.
But everything changed in one swing -- and not in Southern Nash's favor.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 48 teams that will compete in the 2021 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
Six teams will compete at eight regional sites.
All regionals will use a double-elimination format. A total of 42 conference champions qualified automatically.

NASH COUNTY -- Here are updated Nash County Recreation & Senior Services Youth Soccer Match Scores:

SALISBURY, MD. - Ernesto Martinez hit his fourth home run of the season and Joe Gray Jr. collected two hits, but the Delmarva Shorebirds homered three times and scored in double digits for the second straight game while defeating the Carolina Mudcats 13-3 in the final game of a six-game series on Sunday evening.
The loss clinched a series victory for Delmarva (13-5) as they took the six-game set four games to two.

Members of the Tarboro High School coaching staff pose after winning the Class 1-AA State Football Championship on May 8 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.

NASH COUNTY -- December 14, 2002.
Funny how, almost 19 years later, Mark Wooten can still remember the day when Northern Nash traveled to Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill to play Asheville in the Class 3-A State Football Championship Game.

TWO FOR TAKEDOWN. Northern Nash's Sidney Sullivan delivers a takedown en route to a victory last Wednesday versus Franklinton in Big East Conference wrestling action at the NNHS Gymnasium.

RED OAK -- Northern Nash delivered a bit of a surprise during last Wednesday's Big East Conference home wrestling match against the Franklinton Red Rams.
Most Big East pundits would have considered Franklinton to be the favorite coming in, but Northern Nash was able to come through with a clutch 42-36 decision over the Red Rams at the historic NNHS Gymnasium.

GREENSBORO- Seven members of the No. 15 North Carolina State University baseball team were named to the 2021 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Teams, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
Jonny Butler, Terrell Tatum and Jose Torres were all named First Team All-ACC, Tyler McDonough and Austin Murr earned Second Team All-ACC honors while Reid Johnston and Evan Justice were tabbed Third Team All-ACC.

NASH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL JUMPER KYLEE PITT

SOUTHERN NASH HIGH SCHOOL'S THOMAS COPELAND