NASHVILLE - Nash County residents have spoken about what they want to see for Parks and Recreation: more money invested into facilities such as a large centralized district park including an indoor center, walking trails along Stoney Creek, and access to the Tar River and aquatics programs.
Nash commissioners heard about these and other goals during a presentation Jan. 6 about the 10-year Parks & Recreation Master Plan, with the presenter, Nate Halubka of McGill Associates, appearing in tandem with Thomas Gillespie, Parks and Recreation Director.

RED OAK - Future plans for Red Oak's Ennis Park may be the topic of future meetings, with one town resident asking for planning details and asking to meet with councilmen to discuss ideas.
Tom Rawlings spoke during the public input session of the Jan. 13 town council meeting, asking what the town's "strategic initiatives" were for the park this year and over the next three to five years.

Nashville Fire Chief Chris Joyner (left) presents Haywood Edmonds a plaque recognizing his 40 years of service with the Nashville Fire Department.

NASHVILLE - The top brass in the Nashville Fire Department are proud of their men, and showed it publicly with recognitions at the Jan. 7 meeting of the Nashville town council. AID TO WESTERN NC Jason Edwards, Assistant Chief, spoke about deploying men to western NC in October of 2024 to assist in an NC Emergency Management call-up, reporting that NFD sent a four-man team to Hot Springs for a week, where they worked in "not very good living conditions," according to Chris Joyner, Public Safety Director.

NASHVILLE - In response to a petition for annexation by Nash County Public Schools, the town of Nashville is considering annexation of Nash Central Middle School (NCMS), located at 1638 S. First Street.
Owned by the Nash County Board of Education, NCMS occupies 28.63 acres surrounded by town land, including the sizeable Cardinal Woods subdivision and Glover Park. The school is already hooked into town water and sewer.

NASHVILLE - Nashville town officials are hopeful that airing grievances over recyclable pickup issues might be resolved, taking the opportunity to lay out multiple issues with a GFL company rep at the Jan. 7 town council meeting.
Pat Luce, Government Contracts Manager for GFL, the company responsible for recycling pickup up in Nashville, attempted to make a presentation at the council meeting but the bulk of his presentation, a four-minute video from the Sonoco Recycling Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Raleigh, unexpectedly had no sound and Luce was unable to narrate much about its content.

ROCKY MOUNT- Much like a truck that takes a few tries to get started in cold weather, the Nash County Public Schools' Board of Education had to keep pushing the starter button before conducting its first meeting of 2025: it took three sets of tied votes and a recess to come up with who would be Vice-Chair.
Meeting at Rocky Mount High School in order to accommodate a larger crowd, the board's first order of business was to elect a Chair and Vice-chair for the year.
Steve Ellis, Superintendent, conducted nominations for Chair, with Franklin Lamm and LaShawnda Washington, 2024 Chair, both nominated.

Nashville Elementary students Nicholas Bridgers (4th grade), Andrew Creech (4th grade), and Ayden Mills (3rd grade) perform on drums as students entered the gym for the Sing-a-long.

SPRING HOPE - "If you build it, they will come"- not exactly the Field of Dreams, but possibly the old "Boy Scout Hut" on McLean Street in Spring Hope; instead of building a ballfield, an American Legion post is asking town permission to renovate the dilapidated building in hopes of re-starting a Scout troop there as well as having a meeting place for themselves.
Dicky Bass, American Legion Post 91 Commander, made the request at the Jan. 6 Spring Hope Board of Commissioners' meeting.

The Willing Workers Club of Nashville in partnership with the Nash County Democratic Cluster Precincts (Nashville, Momeyer, Spring Hope, Oak Level, Red Oak and Griffins) will host the annual MLK Day observance on Jan. 20th at 12 noon at the O.D. Moore Building, 808 S. Alston St., Nashville. Guest speaker is Judge Alicia Slaughter. The event is free and a meal will be provided. For more information call 252-904-2789 or 252-801-4747.

Assault on law enforcement officer; inmate possession tobacco/phone elec device reported at 100 N. Boddie St., Nashville on 1/6/25
Larceny by employee reported at 10577 E. NC 97, Rocky Mount on 1/7/25
Found property reported at 1108 Instrument Dr., Rocky Mount on 1/10/25
Larceny felony; felony breaking and/or entering reported at 11388 Bissette Rd., Middlesex on 1/7/25

INCIDENTS
DWI reported at mile marker 462 US 64 E., Nashville on 1/5/25
Possession drug paraphernalia (not marijuana); possession schedule II controlled substance - felony reported at mile marker 461 US 64 E. Nashville on 1/7/25
Fail to maintain lane control; speeding; reckless driving; headlights required; driving while license revoked (not impaired revoked); simple possession schedule VI controlled substance; fleeing; attempt to elude law reported at mile marker 461 US 64 E., Nashville on 1/11/25

NASHVILLE - About 50 Seniors in Nash High Schools may be eligible to have a new Arts endorsement added to their diplomas as part of a new program coming in across the state.
Wendy Hinson, AIG/Fine Arts Coordinator for Nash County public schools, gave details at a Jan. 6 Nash Board of Education committee meeting, relaying that this is the first year of the program and that so far, 50 Seniors have been identified as having completed sufficient Fine Arts classes to make them eligible.

MOMEYER - The Momeyer town council had a two-page agenda for its Jan. 13 monthly meeting, taking action on such items as re-appointments, working on a draft of camera parameters for the planned video-recording of town meetings, the hiring of a planning consultant and approving a favorable audit report.
Will Funderburg, Mayor, administered the oath of office to Edward Jackson, councilman, as Jackson was sworn in to continue his office as Mayor Pro Tem; also keeping the status quo were Martha Lucas as finance officer, George Alma Edwards as budget officer and Jackson as the town representative to the Momeyer Fire Department Board of Directors.

Benjamin Spain, Aaron Mowatt, and Auvi Alston, all of Nashville, participated in the 8th Annual Mill Chill.

ROCKY MOUNT - The 8th Annual 'Mill Chill' 4-miler and 1.5 Fun Run took place at the Rocky Mount Mills Dec. 8, and organizers are thrilled with tally results: the fund-raiser, which contributes 100% of monies raised to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, hit an all-time high this year, raising over $38,000.
The amount raised last year was about $32,000, according to Ursula Forrester, who is involved in the event along with husband Michael and daughter Caroline Forrester. Michael and Caroline created the Rocky Mount Mills 5K race earlier to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

When we lived in Durham several years ago, the headline story on the local television station was, "Winter Sun Helps Clear Snow." There had been a seven-inch snowstorm in our area that wreaked havoc with schools and businesses. Unfortunately, cloudy weather and extremely low temperatures did not help melting for a couple of days. Finally on day three, the sun broke through and the melting began. All that salt and brine on the roads disappeared once the sun showed up!
While driving through my neighborhood and the snow began to melt, I thought about God's warmth once he melted all that sin away from my life.

This week is part 2 of the article I began last week, continuing to more fully understand Proverbs 3:5-6.
Submit to Him in All Your Ways: Submission to God in all aspects of life means seeking His will in every decision, whether big or small. It requires a proactive approach to prayer, reflection, and aligning one's actions with biblical principles. This submission is not a sign of weakness; rather, it is an expression of faith and a recognition of God's sovereign authority.

ROCKY MOUNT, - The UNC Health Nash Board of Commissioners welcomed two new members at its January meeting. Allen Corbett III and Stephen Barnes were sworn in during the meeting, while board member and Secretary Damian Tucker officially concluded his nine-year term. Current board member Kristen Brabble assumed the open role of Secretary after Tucker's departure.

EMT graduates and instructors (seated left to right) are: Savannah Amerson, Briley Griffin, Aniyah Neil, Olivia Eubanks, Mariana Surles. Standing, L-R, are: Christy Keen (instructor); Kathryn Alford (instructor), Caleb Harrell, Mason Williams, Robin Osten , Kemirah Davis, Adam Culbertson (instructor), Hannah Keen (instructor). Not pictured: Jayla Everett. Contributed photo

Paramedic Instructors are pictured kneeling (left to right): ShyAnn Clark, Tim Boyd, Brooke Worley, Christopher Tinder, Adam Culbertson, Stephen Worley, Zyquavion Blango. Graduates pictured on the second row (left to right) are: Austin Ramsey, Alexi Phillips, Ashley Villanova, Lexi Phillips, Ashley Lang, Harley Whitehead, Dustin Pierce. Graduates pictured on the third row (left to right) are: Justin Short, Anthony Torres, Seth Peterson, Brandy Bonds, LaWanda Sessoms, Austin Burbank, Dylan Burbank, Ryan Gillespie, Shane Cayton (instructor).

Edgecombe Community College Surgical Technology graduates participated in their pinning ceremony on Dec. 13. The seven graduates have met the education requirements to take the certification exam through the National Board of Surgical Technology & Surgical Association.

NASHVILLE -- Nash County Public Schools (NCPS) has received the North Central Region's 2023-2024 Science of Reading Champion for Change award from North Carolina's Office of Early Learning. The award, presented on behalf of State Superintendent Catherine Truitt, recognized district leaders of systems who have used data to align literacy strategies that are impacting exemplary student outcomes.

Appalachian State has announced that 3,529 undergraduate students have been named to the Chancellor's List and 5,589 undergraduate students have been named to the Dean's List for fall 2024.
To be included on the Dean's List, undergraduates must either be enrolled in 12 to 14 hours of academic credit and attain a minimum 3.45 grade point average or be enrolled in 15 hours or more of academic credit and attain a minimum 3.25 grade point average.

ANGOLA, IND. - Ryan Grossfuss of Nashville, a Trine University student, was named to the President's List for the Fall 2024 term. Grossfuss is majoring in Accounting.
To earn President's List honors, Trine University students must complete a minimum of 12 hours and have a grade point average of 3.750-4.000.

RALEIGH - The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission has selected 210 individuals to receive North Carolina Teaching Fellows awards for the Class of 2025 during its early-decision window.
Three local individuals selected include:
Abbie Hooks of Rocky Mount, Brooke Rose, of Nashville and Savannah Wood of Middlesex.

Barnes Land Corporation to Julian Aguilar Hernandez and Chantel Yaritza Hernandez Ojeda; 3.97 acres
Robert Dena Robbins and Marsha Kay Robbins to Joshua Ryan Taylor and Danielle Dequaine Taylor; 8724 School Street and 6.89 acres, Mill Branch Road; $64,000
Chris D. Blice and Deborah L. Blice to Ricks Properties of North Carolina, LLC; 3588 Northern Hills Drive; $115,000
Ralph Jennings Lamm and Kelly Leigh Lamm to Carol L. Canady; Jenkins Acres, Lot 2

Repairs; 997 Mamas Run Lane, Rocky Mount; Marty Hartley; $3,300
New single family dwelling; 4119 Bertines Ct., Elm City; D.R. Horton, Inc.; $168,333
Repairs; 3945 Loop Rd., Nashville; Jessica Dowless; $4,646.54
Detached accessory structure; 12072 Simms Rd., Unit A, Sims; John Watson; $85,000

Momeyer might be a "bump in the road" as some folks would put it, but it's had more than its share of big personalities.
And one of the biggest ever passed on to his heavenly reward last week -- James William Matthews. If you look up "icon," it's pretty fitting for this man: "a person regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration."

Last week's proposed snow, ice, freezing rain turned out to be a dud which was absolutely no disappointment to me!
Though it seems many were hopeful for a few inches of the cold and wet fluffy stuff for a couple of days of sledding and fun, I was extremely happy to wake up to just a heavy frost-like coverage with the sun quickly melting it away.
However, according to Nashville's Fire Chief, who apparently should have pursued a career in meteorology, we're not out of the woods yet!

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on February 27, 1964. Nashville's Cub Scouts were shown with their den mothers during the annual Blue and Gold Banquet held at the Methodist Church.

Pictured are Nash Central High School Chorus students, who took place in the Sing-a-long at Nashville Elementary December 20, leading students and staff in several melodies to kick off the holiday season.

Nash Central High School Dance Team performed choreographed selections for Nashville Elementary School students during the Sing-a-long in December.