Recent Articles

Fear is a common emotion. We might tease our friends for their fear of clowns or mice, but deep down, we all know that we have our own fears. It might not be furry creatures that startle us. Instead, we might fear being alone, or losing everything we've worked to gain, or being rejected. Whatever its form, fear is something we've all encountered at some point in our lives.
Scripture has a lot to say about fear. If we were to look up the word "fear" in our English Bibles, we'd find hundreds of occurrences.

Congratulations to Robby and Sahnnon Gault on the birth of their daughter, Patten Estes Gault, on August 17! Proud grandparents are Doug and Sue Ella Johnson. Proud great-grandmother is Sue Edwards.
The Baptist Men enjoyed their monthly breakfast on Sunday, Sept. 15.
Pray for the youth of Red Oak Baptist Church as they leave Friday, Sept. 20 for a retreat at Camp Don Lee.

NASHVILLE - Pressure on Nash County is mounting to fill the position of Emergency Services Director, left vacant upon the July 8 resignation of Tony Cameron, with three commissioners and a local fire department calling for action.
Robbie Davis, Chairman of the board of commissioners, broke protocol during the Sept. 9 board meeting to read a letter during the public comment portion of the meeting from Chase Bass, Chief of Momeyer Fire & Rescue.

NASHVILLE - Now that the Nashville Junction stage is complete and ready to be rented out for events, town officials are working to iron out the rental rules, including a fee schedule and stipulations on security and portable restrooms.
Koy Worrell, Parks and Rec Director, presented council members with a draft rental agreement at the council's September 3rd meeting, relaying that he had researched what other municipalities require who have similar outdoor stages or amphitheaters.

RED OAK - The annual Red Oak Classic Tractor show last week, which debuted several first-time events, drew a healthy crowd and sold out of BBQ.
The Whole Hog Cook-Off, organized by Rotary leadership in cooperation with the Red Oak Area Historical Preservation Society, had eleven teams competing from across Eastern NC, with grills fired up Friday night at W.B. Ennis Park. Friday night also featured the first Beer Garden and a performance by the band "Somewhere Between."

NASHVILLE - Students in Nash County public schools did so well with their end-of-year test results that the entire district advanced 75 positions in state rankings, moving from 108th to 33rd out of 115 districts in the state.
Data released Sept. 4. from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction showed that NCPS was one of only six districts in the state to reduce its number of low-performing schools each year since 2018.

SPRING HOPE - Eighteen-wheelers and box trucks are now prohibited from dropping trailers or parking for longer than two hours on residential Spring Hope streets now that a new ordinance has been adopted.
Commissioners, with the exception of an absent Tommy Toney, approved the ordinance, an amendment to Chapter 20 of codified ordinance on Traffic and Vehicles, at their Sept. 3 board meeting.

NASHVILLE - A new School Resource Officer position - making the total 10 for Sheriff's Deputies - has been approved for Nash County Schools, but Sheriff Keith Stone is asking that his department have a deputy in every school next year, including in the 5 public schools on the Nash side of the city of Rocky Mount.
In contrast, Rocky Mount Police Chief Robert Hassell wants to keep his officers in those schools, as they have been since 1995.

MOMEYER - Momeyer's Festival Committee has hit the ground running, asking for and receiving its first funding for pre-festival events.
Ashleigh Godwin, meeting remotely by phone with town council members at their Sept. 9 meeting, detailed plans for two new events: "Light Up Momeyer" in December and "We Love Momeyer" in February.

NASHVILLE - Swift Creek Elementary School, closed down in June of 2023 and put up for sale in January of 2024, is generating new interest, with five members of the public addressing Nash public school officials about it at their Sept. 4 board of education meeting.
Located at 2420 Swift Creek School Road, Whitakers, the school is on 17.74 acres. Nash County G.I.S. lists its build date as 1945, with a land value of $110,000 and commercial assessed value as $6,433,170.

SPRING HOPE - Voting on the adoption of system development fees (SDFs) for the town of Spring Hope has been tabled in order to allow another month to refine specific language terms and add additional necessary elements.
A public hearing and adoption had been scheduled at the September 3 Spring Hope Board of Commissioners meeting following a May presentation by Gary Hartong, President of the Wooten Company, during which he explained various cost methods the town could use to charge developers for connection to major water and sewer utilities; the charges are authorized under state statutes based on municipal utility costs.

Ellingwood and grandson Brayson Puckett examine a 1952 Ford tractor owned by Eddie Morgan of Spring Hope.

A well-known former Nash County educator has died. Richard "Rick" McMahon, late of Rocky Mount, passed away Sept. 6 at the age of 72. McMahon's educational career began at Southern Nash High School, where he taught social studies and coached baseball, before working in administration at Nash Central Junior High school and then Benvenue Middle and Southern Nash Junior High, where he served as Principal. Making a jump to Wilson County schools' Central Office, McMahon returned to become Superintendent of Nash-Rocky Mount Schools in 2005, a position he kept until retiring in 2011.