• A man listed as homeless was jailed under a $65,000 secured bond Sunday as a fugitive from justice from another state and for a probation violation in Surry County, according to Mount Airy Police Department reports.

Andrew Bailey Staples, 37, was encountered by officers at the Speedway convenience store on Rockford Street and was found to be entered in a national crime database due to being wanted by authorities in Patrick County, Virginia, on an unspecified matter and the Surry County Probation Office for a violation filed on Jan. 4. Compressed Knitted Mesh

Staples is scheduled to appear in Surry District Court next Monday.

• A break-in occurred Sunday night at the apartment of David Franklin Collins on Jasper Pointe Circle, where an unknown suspect kicked in a door to gain entry.

Nothing was listed as stolen, but damage to the door frame was put at $500.

• Gabriel Scott Shultz, 24, of 10 LJS Lane, Cana, Virginia, was charged with driving while impaired Sunday after a vehicle crash that police records indicate occurred at 200 Franklin St. involving a 2005 Kia Sedone he was operating.

Testing revealed Shultz to have a blood alcohol content of .17%, more than twice the legal limit for getting behind the wheel. He was held in the Surry County Jail under a $500 secured bond and slated for a District Court appearance next Monday.

• James Michael King, 41, of Bassett, Virginia, was arrested as a fugitive from justice on Feb. 5 and a felony drug charge, possession of methamphetamine.

King was encountered by police at an apartment complex on Pine Terrace Drive during a larceny investigation and found to be wanted in Martinsville, Virginia, on an unspecified matter.

During a routine search as part of the arrest procedure, a plastic baggie containing a white crystal substance was found, which field-tested positive for meth. The Virginia man also is accused of possession of drug paraphernalia, listed as unspecified drug/narcotics equipment.

Incarceration information was not listed for King, who is scheduled to appear in Surry District Court on Feb. 27.

Wayfinding signage cropping up in area

Hounds win rubber match, advance to FH2A finals

The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America held its 33rd Annual National Leadership Forum in January and Surry County sent members of the Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery to learn from top experts in the field and network with other organizations working toward a similar local outcomes.

The coalition is a non-profit organization representing adult and youth coalition leaders through the nation who are “working to make communities safe, heath and drug-free for more than 25 years.” They have created a network of more than 5,000 community anti-drug coalitions that bring together public and private sector groups who seek to make change through an evidence-based approach to reducing drinking, tobacco use, illicit drug use, and the misuse of prescription drugs.

This was not meant for just the mental health professionals of the world but for educators, faith leaders, those in recovery, public health professionals, and members of law enforcement, all of whom joined together in forums that provided information and strategies to take the work of prevention to the next level. Simple networking with folks in public health or a school system in another state could lead to idea sharing that and collaborations that could benefit communities across the country, officials said.

One of this year’s featured speakers was author Beth Macy, a Roanoke, Virginia journalist who has researched and written extensively about opioid addiction to shine a light on the protracted struggle of rural America and those fighting the battle on its frontlines. Surry County and members of the community have featured prominently in her work.

Members of the county’s substance abuse recovery office from director Mark Willis on down have been telling county leaders for some time that the more money that is spent on prevention means less money being paid out for mental and behavioral health services, often at the county’s expense. Recently the International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report, “Every dollar spent on drug abuse prevention can save the government up to ten dollars in later costs.”

At the leadership forum participants engaged seminars and classes based around community prevention efforts. In a presentation by Derrick Newby on youth engagement and how to build systems not just for, but with youth, he said, “to develop and support youth leadership in prevention that will support the development of prevention systems where youth interact with their community as a part of the prevention system.”

“A system in which they are not just the receivers of services but where they can have an influence while operating according to a set of rules and become a part of the unified whole,” the presenter Partnership for Success described.

The session “Getting Candid” presented by National Council for Mental Wellbeing (NCMW) provided a host of information that may be used locally, “The COVID-19 pandemic caused incredible disruption in the lives of young people… NCMW conducted four large-scale national assessments of youth from 2021 to 2022 and created a comprehensive, youth-informed message guide and suite of tools to help providers have impactful prevention conversations with the youth they serve.”

Taking information from surveys such as the one National Council for Mental Wellbeing conducted can help guide practices based on the responses they got from kids across the country. Feedback from such surveys helped guide session topics like “Keep Them Safe: Suicide Safety Planning and Access to Means Counseling” presented by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

“Suicide is preventable when we know what to do. A critical component of safety planning is the conversation regarding access to lethal means. Removing and restricting access to lethal means during the crisis period can oftentimes be the difference between life or death,” they wrote.

Their session will demonstrate that there is a “critical component of safety planning is the conversation regarding access to lethal means. Removing and restricting access to lethal means during the crisis period can oftentimes be the difference between life or death.”

Another session, “Taking the “Small” Out of Small Towns: Working in Rural America to Promote BIG Health Changes.” The presenter said the session will walk take participants through “the conventional, and sometimes unconventional, processes that must happen to take the “small” out of small towns by making sustainable changes toward healthier outcomes.”

According to the CDC, rural Americans are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than their urban counterparts so the presenter, Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, have been working to reduce secondhand smoke exposure and the overall use of tobacco. Not all remediation campaigns focus on hard drugs: alcohols, tobacco, and vaping are reasons for concern as well.

It’s not every day that a foreign diplomat visits “Mayberry,” and such a day will come in May when Tanee Sangrat from the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington is scheduled to be here.

The upcoming trip by Sangrat, Thailand’s ambassador to the U.S., is not related to “The Andy Griffith Show,” but the opening ceremony for a planned Siamese twins museum in a new Arts Center near the Mount Airy Public Library.

Work on the multi-purpose facility on Rockford Street began in September 2021 and now is winding down.

City officials got a preview earlier this month of the new Surry Arts Council building that will include programming, classroom, exhibit and other space in addition to the twins museum. A statue of the legendary pair also is to be featured.

The opening ceremony appropriately is set for May 11, the birth date in 1811 of Eng and Bunker in what then was known as Siam, before becoming the modern-day Thailand.

The twins left their homeland and made public appearances in the U.S. and elsewhere as their conjoined physical deformity became a major attraction. Known as the “original” Siamese twins, they eventually settled near Mount Airy to farm.

In recent years, Thai officials have established a bond with Mount Airy due to the common link between the two places symbolic of that shared by the brothers themselves.

This has included appearances by embassy officials at local Eng and Chang reunions and forging a sister city relationship with the Samut Songkhram province that produced the twins.

Ambassador Sangrat’s scheduled appearance here in May took root with a WebEx meeting he had with Surry Arts Council Executive Director Tanya Jones on Feb. 6. Jones has spearhead the Arts Center/museum development and is a great-great-granddaughter of Eng Bunker.

As an announcement by Sangrat’s office details:

“Mrs. Jones invited the ambassador to join the opening ceremony of the new museum on the twins’ birthday (on May 11), with city and state executives, especially those involved with the sister cities partnership between Samut Songkhram province and Mount Airy and an existing network of local Thai communities.”

In accepting the invitation, Sangrat mentioned that it is particularly timely due to 2023 coinciding with the 190th anniversary of Thailand-U.S. diplomatic relations.

As a fourth-generation Bunker descendant, Jones is excited about the ambassador’s upcoming trip to Mount Airy.

“I am discussing the visit with the ambassador’s assistant and I am discussing details of an itinerary so we can work with city officials to make the most of this exciting opportunity,” she advised Thursday.

The announcement from the Thai ambassador indicates that it will be broader in scope than just the Siamese twins aspect.

“In this regard, he would like to extend this opportunity by making an official visit to North Carolina and call on both city and state executives, state representatives, senators, Thai firms in the area, agencies that could be beneficial to Thailand, including local Thai communities to discuss ways and means to strengthen Thais and Thai-Americans in North Carolina,” it states.

“We’re hoping that he will stay several days and meet with state and local officials,” Jones said Thursday, which she wants to not only include the government realm but those involved with educational and cultural aspects of the area.

At any rate, the ambassador’s visit represents another key event in Mount Airy’s history, which has experienced only a handful of such occasions.

The first time this occurred was in 1959, when Turkey’s ambassador to the U.S., A Suat Hayri Urguplu, visited the city in conjunction with an event at Mount Airy Country Club called the Four-State Tobacco Luncheon. That same weekend, Mount Airy hosted a National Tobacco Queen pageant at Reeves Community Center.

A Sept. 1, 1959 article in The Mount Airy News stated that A Suat Hayri Urguplu’s appearance here was part of a gala affair reflecting tobacco’s prominence at the time. Local officials expressed pride in being selected for the National Tobacco Queen event and related festivities, which included the agriculture commissioners of both North Carolina and Georgia being present.

After that, the next visit to Mount Airy by a foreign ambassador to the U.S. is believed to have been in July 2013 when then-Thai Ambassador Dr. Chaiyong Satjipanon came to town for the Siamese twins reunion.

Other such appearances included those of Thai Ambassador Pisan Manawapat in 2017 and Ambassador Manasvi Srisodapol in 2021.

Sangrat, the person now holding that position, took office in November. His previous diplomatic involvements have included serving as Thailand’s ambassador to Vietnam.

In the world of stock car racing the white flag doesn’t mean surrender, it means one lap to go; hit the gas. The white flag for Election 2022 is finally in the air as early voting has begun in Dobson to settle what is one of the last undecided contests anywhere in the nation from November, and the checkered flag is tantalizingly close.

“On our opening day of early voting for the Dobson Town Commissioner Election we had 28 voters,” Surry County Election Director Michella Huff said. “We were very pleased with the day’s turnout.”

One-stop early voting period for the Dobson election will run through Saturday, March 4 at the Surry County Service center, 915 E. Atkins St., in Dobson. Residents who will require an absentee ballot need have their submission by 5 p.m. on Feb. 28.

Election Day for the Town of Dobson special election for town commissioner will be held on Tuesday, March 7.

A special election was ordered by the state board of elections following a pair of challenges to the outcome of the Dobson commissioners race in November where incumbents J. Wayne Atkins (184 votes) and Walter White (167) secured the highest two vote counts in a field of four.

Local businessman John Jonczak came in a close third with 159 votes, and Sharon Gates-Hodges got 106 votes posthumously.

The death of Gates-Hodges after early voting had begun and printed ballots were already distributed, used, and returned meant that her name could not be removed. The election would go forward with four named candidates for two seats.

All things being equal, these results would have stood as the 8 votes, or 1.29%, while a close margin of victory for White was not close enough to fire an automatic recount. Huff told the state board in December that three votes would have been that margin.

Things though were not equal as the state board heard in affidavits and sworn testimony offered from local resident Nancy Hill and James E. Yokeley that there may have some undue influence on the outcome.

Both gave an account of a poll worker in Dobson who either told voters that Gates-Hodges or Jonczak was dead. A poll worker can only help the voter with technical problems unless it is an instance where a voter has requested assistance.

For the worker to have offered unsolicited to voters that one of the candidates was deceased may have been an implied endorsement of the others.

The worker also told different voters different information. Hill, for instance, was told Gates-Hodges had passed away. This clearly stood out to her, she said in her affidavit because Gates-Hodges was her friend and had still gotten her vote.

Yokeley said the worker pointed to Jonczak’s name on the ballot when identifying him as dead. He said he was bewildered to discover he had apparently been speaking to an apparition in the parking lot that looked a lot like John Jonczak.

Right away Yokeley said he knew something was off and word got to both Jonczak and Director Huff on election day that the poll worker was conducting herself in an improper manner whether intentionally or not.

Huff spoke to the precinct captain and the poll worker in question on election day. The worker told Huff that she had informed voters a candidate was deceased because they “thought they should be letting people know.”

With three write in votes and 106 for Gates-Hodges, any vote here or there that may have been swayed from confusion could have bridged the eight vote gap between White and Jonczak and thrown this whole affair in another direction.

Under state law, the state board of elections may order a new election if its five members determine that “irregularities or improprieties occurred to such an extent that they taint the results of the entire election and cast doubt on its fairness.”

Damon Circosta, chair of the State Board of Elections, said the State Board does not take decisions to order new elections lightly. “When issues arise, there are procedures in place to remedy them, and that’s where we are now,” he said during the December meeting at which the new election was called for.

Huff said that the county is footing the bill initially for the special election, but that Dobson picks up the bill in the end, “On costs, we will bill the municipality under GS 163-284, because of its mandatory language.”

That statutes said that “the conduct of all elections in municipalities and special districts shall be under the authority of the county board of elections. Each municipality and special district shall reimburse the county board of elections for the actual cost involved in the administration required under this section.”

Huff said, “The Town of Dobson will be billed by the county for full reimbursement. Dobson Town Attorney Hugh Campbell has been made aware and I think the Town has had discussion about this mandate.”

When asked, Huff said the of the costs to run the do-over election for the two Dobson seats, “I estimated no more than $15,000 for the special election.”

It goes on to say that allegations of irregularities “shall be made to the county board of elections and appeals from such rulings may be made to the State Board of Elections under existing statutory provisions and rules,” which is exactly the process that was followed with the Yokeley and Jonczak challenges to the general election results.

This has been another week where there were eyes from outside the Yadkin Valley have peering toward Surry County in an attempt to discern what is going on in these parts. Tuesday’s hearing in Raleigh by the North Carolina State Board of Elections on the possible removal of Surry County Board of Elections Secretary Jerry Forestieri and member Tim DeHaan drew attention from state and national media.

After the state board handled other business and heard the opening remarks of complainant Bob Hall against the county board members, the meeting took a pair of unexpected recesses as Chair Circosta and other board member sought clarification on the general statute on hearings. Ultimately, DeHaan’s objection to procedural elements of the hearing lead the state board to table the hearing and reschedule it for a later date in Surry County. The state statute says that hearings of these nature need to take place in the county in which the offense was alleged to have occurred.

The men signed a letter at a county canvass meeting in November that raised eyebrows. The men in the letter said that they questioned the authority of the state board of elections to conducts free and fair elections since the laws they were executing was built on tenuous ground. After the 2018 federal ruling that knocked down North Carolina’s voter ID requirement, they feel elections have been conducted in a way that leads them open to fraud.

While they found no issue with Surry County’s election, they initially refused to sign off on the county’s election certification. Forestieri essentially said he couldn’t sign a document say the results were 100% accurate if there was no assurance of who voted on election day. DeHaan decided that what the state said was an official ballot was that, and he would accept it and certify the results.

CRITZ, VA — Once Upon a Blue Ridge will perform “Mr. Lincoln’s Office: A Meeting with the President” on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. at Virginia Tech’s Reynolds Homestead in Critz, Virginia. This public offering is part of the 2023 regional tour of the show.

This one-man performance is adapted and performed by Peter Holland; the show runs just less than an hour and tickets are available now on the Reynolds Homestead website: reynoldshomestead.vt.edu. Tickets for the show are $10 for adults and $5 for children.

Once Upon a Blue Ridge brought its musical adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” to the Reynolds Homestead in December, and it was met with great enthusiasm from the public. The staff at Reynolds Homestead expects to see similar engagement with “Mr. Lincoln’s Office.”

In addition to the public performance on Tuesday evening, the Reynolds Homestead is working with local educators to take the show to students in Patrick and Henry counties as well as Martinsville on Feb. 20-22. For more information about the student shows available to both public school and homeschool students, email Kristin Hylton, communication and program support assistant at krhylton@vt.edu or call 276-694-7181.

The resurfacing of existing streets and related work is on tap in Mount Airy using funding from the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Bids are now being received for a project targeting a cluster of roadways in the Fairfield neighborhood just off South Main in Bannertown with the help of what is commonly known as Powell Bill money.

The eight streets involved are West Devon Drive, East Devon Drive, West Fairfield Drive, East Fairfield Drive, West Wensley Drive, East Wensley Drive, Vernon Circle and Burnley Lane.

Those were selected for the next round of resurfacing as part on an ongoing city program that addresses streets based on priority of need.

In 2022, the list included ones in the Maple-Merritt Street area where pavement had been disturbed by a major utility project involving the installing of lines.

Sealed proposals from general contractors to perform the upcoming work in the Fairfield section will be received at the Mount Airy Public Works Building on East Pine Street until 2 p.m. on March 1, according to a notice issued by city officials.

Complete plans, specifications and contract documents are available for inspection at that location between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The awarding of the contract is subject to a vote by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners, Public Works Director Mitch Williams advised.

All work must be completed by June 15.

Mount Airy was awarded $352,145 in the last round of funding through the State Street Aid to Municipalities program, or Powell Bill allocations. It is derived from state gas tax revenues that are given back to municipalities across North Carolina based on a formula set by the Legislature.

Powell Bill funds are used primarily to resurface municipal streets, but also to maintain, repair, construct or widen streets, bridges and drainage areas. Localities additionally may use those funds to plan, construct and maintain bike paths, greenways or sidewalks.

State allocations for other municipalities in Surry County include $46,939 for Dobson, $46,554 for Pilot Mountain and Elkin, $140,116.

The sum each community receives is based on a formula set by the N.C. General Assembly, with 75% of the funds linked to population and 25% to the number of locally maintained street miles.

Mount Airy, listed with 10,609 residents, is responsible for the condition of 73 miles of streets on the municipal system.

Meanwhile, the state DOT maintains major routes through town including U.S. 52 and U.S. 601 which are part of its transportation network along with state-designated highways such as N.C. 89 and N.C. 103.

Ashley M. Bryant, FNP-C, has joined the clinical provider team of Northern Family Medicine, a division of Northern Regional Hospital where specialty physicians and nurse practitioners diagnose and treat all patients – from newborns and teens to millennials and seniors.

As a licensed family nurse practitioner, Bryant will apply her nursing knowledge and clinical skills to provide patients “with the most effective treatment plans possible for their clinical condition.” the hospital said in announcing her joining the staff.

“I’ve always known I wanted to be a hands-on healthcare professional – and becoming a family nurse practitioner permits me to offer patients a seamless continuum of care throughout their entire lifespan,” said Bryant, whose past clinical experience includes 16 years of critical-care nursing — with the majority of those years at Northern Regional Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Bryant’s approach to patients is grounded in treating them as if they were a relative or close friend. In addition, “compassion, effective listening, and communication are of utmost importance in my care of patients,” she emphasizes.

“We welcome the addition of Ashley Bryant to our top-notch clinical team,” said Richard Herber, MD, in announcing her appointment to the family medicine practice site. “Ashley’s demonstrated patient-care expertise, her advanced nursing know-how, and her comfortable familiarity with the Northern Regional Hospital family make her a remarkably effective and committed member of our provider team.”

Born and raised in Mount Airy, 37-year-old Bryant launched her nursing career by graduating in 2006 with an associate degree in nursing from Surry Community College. She subsequently followed-up on that academic achievement by earning a bachelor of science degree in 2011 from Winston-Salem State University.

Bryant’s decision to pursue a nursing profession was inspired, in part, by the healthcare-career choices of both her maternal grandmother and mother – who chose to work as a nurse and medical technologist, respectively. “I was raised in the Northern family, as my mom has worked there for over 40 years.”

Bryant’s mother, Kim Cheek, services as director of laboratory services at Northern Regional Hospital.

Bryant’s extensive work experience as a critical-care nurse began when she was assigned to the Intensive Care Unit at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Two years later, she joined Northern’s ICU – where, for the past 14 years, she managed the nursing care of ill patients while helping to educate and comfort patients’ families.

“There were many tears and hugs shared, for sure,” she recalled. “A lot of times, family members just wanted to be heard; and I was committed to reassuring them that we were doing our best and would treat their loved one like a member of our own family.”

“An intensive-care environment is very challenging,” she added, “and when you see someone recover – someone who was once very ill — it just holds a special place in your heart.”

Bryant’s desire to transition from inpatient critical-care nursing to the outpatient nature of family medicine was fueled by her observation of the progression of her father’s own chronic illness. “My dad was a diabetic who, very sadly, passed away from complications of the disease,” she said. “It was during that time I realized I wanted to make a difference in patients’ lives before they required hospitalization.”

To that end, Bryant enrolled in Western Carolina University and graduated in 2022, with honors, from that institution’s demanding Master of Science in Nursing – Family Medicine Practitioner program.

In her new role at Northern Family Medicine, Bryant is eager to build trusting and respectful relationships with patients and their families.

“I am passionate about providing my patients with the best possible care; and I’m eager to share with them up-to-date therapies and recommendations about how to prevent health problems or manage chronic conditions they may have already acquired,” she said. With a focus on preventative care, she will also provide patients with a variety of treatment options, as well as advise them on how to access free or affordable educational resources related to their physical or mental health problems.

Bryant is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; and a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the honor society of nurses. She also holds certifications in basic life support, advanced cardiovascular life support, advanced stroke life support; and management of aggressive behavior training.

Bryant is grateful for the support provided by Northern Regional Hospital during her specialty transition. “I’ve been at Northern for 15 years, and the hospital’s leadership team and my own colleagues have always been encouraging as far as advancing my education and even changing career paths,” she said. “The hospital offers many professional development programs and wants to see their employees succeed. I know I can go to my manager or any of the senior executives and they would open their door and let me spill my heart out.”

Bryant’s career path has also been supported by her family – which includes husband Jake, an engineer with Duke Energy; and three active children – nine-year-old son Skyler; six-year-old son Kyson; and four-year-old daughter Merritt.

“I met my husband on a blind date — during the summer between my junior and senior year of high school,” she recalls. “We dated for five years; and then got married the year after I graduated from nursing school.” This May, the happy couple will celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary.

“Jake has always been a really fantastic partner and great at helping out,” she says. “As a nurse who worked 12-hour shifts, I would come home and find that he had already fed the kids and helped them with their homework.” Together, the whole family enjoys summer vacations at a favorite beach or the mountains, as well as outdoor activities like hiking, taking day-trips to small towns, and visiting theme-related museums. For some occasional “me time,” Bryant enjoys riding her bicycle or reading interesting novels – especially thrillers and mysteries.

To schedule an appointment with Bryant, call Northern Family Medicine at 336-786-4133 or visit Northern Family Medicine online at choosenorthern.org/FamilyMedicine

More than a decade ago, a trip to Delaware for a funeral planted an idea inside Don Holder — to develop a local cemetery just for veterans and their spouses.

Now, that cemetery stands as a final resting place for more than a dozen men who have served in the U.S. armed forces.

Holder, an Air Force veteran who served from July 1951 through July 1973, said he attended that Delaware funeral for the wife of his best friend, and saw that she was laid to rest in a cemetery dedicated to veterans and their spouses.

“There wasn’t anything like that around here,” he said recently, adding he is not aware of any other privately managed veteran’s cemeteries in North Carolina.

The 1-1/2 acre burial ground next to Antioch Baptist Church was part of his farm, but had been divided from the rest of his land because of some rights-of-way changes. After attending the funeral of his friend, he realized the best use of the plot was to create the cemetery there, where those who have served the nation can be laid to rest without cost, a courtesy extended to their spouses as well.

In addition to the burial plots, there is a columbarium on the grounds — a small structure where the ashes of those who have been cremated can be interred.

When Holder started the project, in 2012, he had little more than the land available — and that was covered with trees and stumps. He deeded the property to Veteran’s Park in Mount Airy, and then went on a fundraising tour of the community, getting monetary donations from many, as well as a tremendous amount of donated labor and material.

“Howard Hull and Billy McCraw must have spent two months out there pulling up stumps and taking down tress, they did a lot of work, for nothing,” he said.

Likewise, many area businesses donated granite, marble, and other building material, as well as labor.

Among those firms, he said, were Ararat Rock, which donated 17 dump loads of gravel, and Mount Airy Granite gifting the project a good bit of granite.

“Acme Stone donated the columbarium, that’s probably the most expensive thing up there,” he said, adding that Mark Stevens from Acme Stone also donated his time to help construct and set up five stone columns, each dedicated to the five branches of U.S. military.

Holder said from those first efforts it was two years before the cemetery was ready, with its first burial taking place in December 2014, when Stephen Earl Keith, a 64-year-old U.S. Army veteran, was buried there. Now, Holder said the cemetery has “eight to ten” veterans interred there, as well as another ten in the columbarium. He said he suspects the cemetery can accommodate about 200 burials.

Thus far, he said all of those laid to rest there have been veterans, but each grave has been dug in a way that leaves an adjacent space for their spouse.

One of the things he wants most to do now is to let area folks know the individuals and companies who helped him in his effort. In addition to him and his wife, Doris, he said others involved include Debra and Bob Walker, Page Smith, John Springthorpe and South Data, Seal Brothers, Howard Hull and Hull Saw Mill, Billy McCraw and McCraw Trucking, Mark and Kathy Stevens of Acme Stone, Chris Hawks of Hawks Concrete, David Williams of Blue Ridge Concrete, Jim Crossingham of Ararat Rock, Carol and Tom Booth and Belinda and Gray Hawks, Rick Sowers of Sowers Construction, Kester Sink, Jack King of King Welding, Gloria Lawrence, VJ Hawks, Julia and Leon Fleming, Mike and Sheila Riffe, Johnson Granite, NC Granite, Taylor’s Garage, Moody Funeral Home, and Doug Joyner.

While the recent addition of five flags, one from each branch of the military, was the final touches on the development of the cemetery, he said donations can still be made for the maintenance costs and later improvements.

“Anyone who wants to donate for the upkeep of the cemetery, contact me at 336-401-6034 or Doug Jones at 336-488-8774,” he said. Anyone wishing to inquire about burial at the park can contact Jones, Holder, or Moody Funeral Home.

DOBSON — The Aktion Club at Surry Community College faced a dilemma when its parent organization, the Mount Airy Kiwanis Club, recently faded from the local civic scene due to dwindling membership partly caused by the pandemic.

This left the Aktion group — the only service club for adults with disabilities — needing a new sponsor in order to meet organizational requirements and ensure its continued operation after being chartered in 2011.

Even though it is not based in Surry County, but a city about 35 miles away, Winston-Salem, another group came to the rescue.

“Twin City Kiwanis took us under their wing so we could continue to be chartered,” Diane Barnett, an instructor at Surry Community College who is the adviser to the Aktion Club, happily reported this week.

Failing to do so would have been a blow to area charitable programs and citizens the Aktion Club has aided over the years through numerous community service projects.

Despite suffering from conditions such as autism, Down syndrome, birth defects and others, its members have taken an active role — as the group’s name implies — through projects to help feed the area’s hungry year-round.

This most recently involved Kiwanis Aktion Club members partnering with Lowes Foods in Mount Airy to assemble bags of food for a “Friends Feeding Friends” holiday drive. The bags went to the food pantry of Yokefellow Ministry for distribution to those in need.

About 1,000 bags, or 7,000 pounds, of items were prepared by the club on top of other efforts over the years. These have included a summer feeding program that fills a void for local youth in the absence of school lunches.

The Aktion Club, which had 15 members at last report, also has conducted fundraisers to provide donations to local charities.

As the new sponsor of the SCC Aktion group, the Twin City Kiwanis Club will host PanJam ’23, the club’s 63rd Pancake Jamboree, on Feb. 24 at Benton Convention Center (lower level), 301 W. 5th St., in Winston-Salem.

Club members will serve all-you-care-to-eat pancakes, sausage and a beverage from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. continuously that day.

Tickets, available at the door, are priced at $9 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under, with takeouts to be available.

Proceeds from the event, the club’s only fundraiser, benefit local, nonprofit youth charities and one in Vietnam. PanJam is one of Winston-Salem’s oldest non-profit fundraisers. It was cancelled the past two years because of the pandemic

Radio station WTOB (980 AM) will broadcast live at PanJam ’23.

In addition to the Winston-Salem event, Barnett, the Aktion Club sponsor, announced that the group will be the beneficiary of proceeds for dining at 13 Bones in Mount Airy on March 2.

All day and evening, including at the restaurant’s drive-through window, customers only need to inform a waitress that they are dining for the Aktion Club and 10 percent of their bill sums will go to the group, according to Barnett.

Alexandria Farley’s third grade class at Copeland Elementary School was transformed into a hospital recently.

These students became skilled surgeons qualified with the knowledge of decoding, syllable types, and syllable division rules. They performed a series of “syllable surgeries.”

HOSA students from Surry Early College High School of Design recently visited Dobson Elementary kindergarten students to teach the importance of proper handwashing. They taught students about germs, how they are spread, why they are bad, and how to prevent them.

Using Glo Germ and a black light to make their germs “glow,” students were able to see germs on their hands. HOSA students then showed the kindergartners how to wash their hands using the proper technique. They then used the black light to show whether they washed their hands effectively. By the end of the presentation, kindergartners were “Super Star Hand Washers.”

Easterseals UCP have invited the public to attend its next monthly class entitled “How Can I Help?” that seeks to help participants learn “how to help mental health rather than hinder.” The class

Alan Bagshaw, the Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) lead with Easterseals UCP (ESUCP) said the main goal for the event is to create a sense of collaboration “without reinventing the wheel.”

“It’s a monthly meeting that happens the third Tuesday of every month. The audience is the average person who knows nothing about mental health, what to do to help, or fears those who display symptoms.”

Bagshaw said the class has a lot of information that is shared with those in attendance, but also allows participants to have an open forum for questions and answers at the end. He said, “It’s encouraged to bring scenarios to discuss with those attending so that we can discuss the resources available to help from the agencies and people in attendance – hence not reinventing the wheel.”

“Last month we covered skills to engage with, this meeting will cover paperwork to support those in a crisis, how to plan for a crisis with loved ones or ones we support, and an open forum to discuss open questions.”

Bagshaw has worked with Easterseals since 2018 and has worked in Surry/Yadkin counties doing community based mental health/substance use work since 2004. Bagshaw said the Easterseals local office has “a small ACTT team” that serves around 50 clients. To help even more residents he said he is actively recruiting a licensed therapists so that they can grow their operation and serve perhaps as many as 75 clients.

Their outpatient clinic sees “800ish clients (both children and adults) overall covering all of their service lines: intensive in-home, community support team, medication management, individual placement and support, peer support, multi-systemic therapy, individual therapy, and group therapy.”

“The state… created the Transitions to Community Living Initiative,” Bagshaw explained. “It basically takes individuals who would normally be institutionalized (homeless shelters, prison, hospitals, group homes, assisted living, or long-term psych hospitals) and provides assistance to assist those individuals to remain in the community.”

“ACTT is often a service line that assists with this, as we will often see psychosis, lack of coping skills, and difficulty with accessing resources due to transportation or not understanding. ACTT can see these individuals up to seven days a week to assist with the transition to living in the community,” he said.

Many people have no experience in dealing with those facing such challenges and the classes offered by Easterseals are a way to break down barriers of understanding and erase stigmas.

These neighbors need assistance, but Bagshaw said people do not know what to do, or how to help those who are face mental or behavioral development challenges. “Many people just do not know how to intervene whether it just be from being afraid or not understanding.”

He said that until someone walks that mile in another’s shoes, they can never fully understand. “Often our clients will hear “just get over it” because the person saying it feels that since they were able to overcome the roadblocks in their life, they feel that everyone should.”

“Often, it’s overlooked that individuals may be fighting their own symptoms (auditory/visual hallucinations, racing thoughts, confusion) and just waking up is a battle. I’ve heard ‘they’re just lazy’ and ‘they’re just cheating the system’ more times than I can count over the 20 years,” he explained.

Easterseals UCP has a name that sounds familiar, and the office is one that is visible driving along Lebanon Street in the area of Mount Airy High School, but the name may be all some know.

Therein lies the point of the organization that was founded when a father, Edgar Allen, lost his son to a tragic accident in 1907. After selling his business and opening a hospital in his hometown in Ohio, he saw that kids with disabilities “were often hidden from public view.”

The National Society for Crippled Children formed under Allen in 1919 and their first “seals” campaign came in the spring of 1934. It consisted of advocates showing their support by placing a simple seal on envelopes and letters.

They wrote, “The overwhelming public support for the Easter “seals” campaign triggered a nationwide expansion of the organization and a swell of grassroots efforts on behalf of people with disabilities. By 1967, the Easter “seal” was so well recognized, the organization formally adopted the name “Easter Seals” which has since been simplified to: Easterseals.

In 2004, Easterseals North Carolina and UCP of North Carolina merge to form Easterseals UCP. In 2010, that group merged with Easterseals Virginia to form and even stronger entity: Easterseals UCP.

There is no RSVP needed for the class which is meeting Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 5:30 p.m. in the Easterseals office located at 454 W. Lebanon St, Mount Airy. Call 336-443-0833 or visit: www.eastersealsucp.com to learn more.

• A man listed as homeless was jailed under a $65,000 secured bond Sunday as a fugitive from justice from another state and for a probation violation in Surry County, according to Mount Airy Police Department reports.

Andrew Bailey Staples, 37, was encountered by officers at the Speedway convenience store on Rockford Street and was found to be entered in a national crime database due to being wanted by authorities in Patrick County, Virginia, on an unspecified matter and the Surry County Probation Office for a violation filed on Jan. 4.

Staples is scheduled to appear in Surry District Court next Monday.

• A break-in occurred Sunday night at the apartment of David Franklin Collins on Jasper Pointe Circle, where an unknown suspect kicked in a door to gain entry.

Nothing was listed as stolen, but damage to the door frame was put at $500.

• Gabriel Scott Shultz, 24, of 10 LJS Lane, Cana, Virginia, was charged with driving while impaired Sunday after a vehicle crash that police records indicate occurred at 200 Franklin St. involving a 2005 Kia Sedone he was operating.

Testing revealed Shultz to have a blood alcohol content of .17%, more than twice the legal limit for getting behind the wheel. He was held in the Surry County Jail under a $500 secured bond and slated for a District Court appearance next Monday.

• James Michael King, 41, of Bassett, Virginia, was arrested as a fugitive from justice on Feb. 5 and a felony drug charge, possession of methamphetamine.

King was encountered by police at an apartment complex on Pine Terrace Drive during a larceny investigation and found to be wanted in Martinsville, Virginia, on an unspecified matter.

During a routine search as part of the arrest procedure, a plastic baggie containing a white crystal substance was found, which field-tested positive for meth. The Virginia man also is accused of possession of drug paraphernalia, listed as unspecified drug/narcotics equipment.

Incarceration information was not listed for King, who is scheduled to appear in Surry District Court on Feb. 27.

It’s a common sight: tourists from faraway places arrive in Mount Airy — then come to a dead stop in the middle of traffic unsure how to reach the Mayberry and other attractions they’ve heard so much about.

Fortunately, a project has been undertaken to prevent such dilemmas, which involves “wayfinding” signage being installed at strategic locations around town to do just that: help visitors better find their way.

This ongoing work in progress picked up steam in recent days.

“I am excited to share that we have added more wayfinding signage for the city of Mount Airy,” Assistant City Manager Darren Lewis stated Tuesday afternoon in an announcement to the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners and City Manager Stan Farmer.

“These two additions are located in front of the granite quarry and Dickerson Farms in Bannertown” near U.S. 52-Business/Old Buck Shoals Road,” Lewis added.

Traffic entering Mount Airy along South Main Street in Bannertown Wednesday afternoon seemed to slow in recognition of the new eyecatching sign posted there.

“I think was either Friday or sometime over the weekend,” Jenny Smith of Mount Airy Visitors Center, who regularly travels that route, said of its placement,

The sign points the way to the center along with downtown Mayberry attractions and the Granite City Greenway, a 6.6-mile trail system that has become a tourism destination in its own right.

Providing such wayfinding signage was identified as a top priority among local needs arising from a “Vision” committee initiative in 2021 which explored downtown, economic development and other issues.

This concern was fueled by such situations as a maze of one-way streets downtown and lack of existing signage to guide people to key locations, causing much confusion especially among tourists here for the first time.

Lewis mentioned Tuesday that thanks are due Jessica Roberts for getting the wayfinding project funded through the Mount Airy Tourism Development Authority (TDA), of which she is executive director.

The TDA engages in various efforts to market the local area using occupancy tax proceeds generated at lodging establishments.

Roberts explained Wednesday that the Tourism Development Authority has included money in its budget to provide multiple wayfinding signs each year.

Two, costing a total of $12,000, went up during 2022 on U.S. 601 (Rockford Street) at Hampton Inn and on N.C. 89-West (Pine Street) near Subway.

Although the tourism body is funding the signs, the wayfinding effort involves a partnership between it and the city government.

“Last year, Stan Farmer, Darren Lewis and I worked on which ones would go in first and also worked on which ones will come in next,” Roberts related Wednesday. More signs are planned in addition to those just installed in Bannertown and near the granite quarry, a combined $13,000 expense.

“It is an ongoing project with the city of Mount Airy and Mount Airy TDA as we go forward with getting more signage in and around Mount Airy and the process with getting approved by the N.C. Department of Transportation,” Roberts mentioned regarding a regulatory hurdle involved.

Lewis has been instrumental in that process, Roberts noted.

The Mount Airy TDA also has updated existing signs in the central business district with the help of Lewis, along with Surry County officials erecting signs to direct tourists the city’s way.

One goal is ensuring a similar look among all the signage, according to Roberts.

“We are gradually getting to the ‘core’ of the city,” Lewis advised Tuesday. “These additions will help us with our final project/goal of having a downtown wayfinding signage system.”

Roberts stressed Wednesday that a countywide focus is involved, not just on one community.

“We are excited about this ongoing project that will assist with wayfinding and signage throughout Mount Airy and Surry County.”

In a case of hurry up and wait that the military would be proud of, the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to postpone the disciplinary hearing of Surry County Board of Elections members Jerry Forestieri and Tim DeHaan.

During their opening statements the Surry County board members made a procedural challenge to the location of the hearing that drew objections but ultimately was successful in getting the hearing delayed and relocated back onto home turf.

Tuesday’s hearing in Raleigh was to have been the resolution to complaint filed by Bob Hall, formerly of the advocacy group Democracy NC, against the members of the county board of elections he said should be removed from their posts for the actions and statements after November’s elections where one, Forestieri, chose not to certify the election results.

“The people of North Carolina cannot count on them as they are effectively renouncing their oath of office and rejected the authority of this board,” Hall said in his opening remarks. “In their letter and in the county canvass meeting, both men made it clear that they reject the authority of this state.

“As part of their oath they swore they would ‘bear true allegiance to the State of North Carolina and to the constitutional powers and authorities… established thereof.’ Now in their letter, and in the November canvass meeting, they reject that allegiance and denounce how the board administers elections.”

“According to the letter their allegiance is to a higher power and higher forces that lead them to proclaim the 2022 election results are ‘not credible’.” Instead of honoring their oath, they say they obey a different authority and are ready to create their own standards for administering elections.”

Hall asserts that the men stepped over the line in expressing their disagreement with the ruling of Federal Circuit Judge Loretta Biggs in 2018 that invalidated a voter ID law in North Carolina.

DeHaan and Forestieri assert that since voter IDs have not been required since her ruling that it opened up elections to potential fraud. They cannot certify an election for which not everyone was required to show identification and they asked how they could sign off that the election was valid when there were no safeguards in place to verify every voter’s identity. They both signed a letter that the “delusional” Biggs had no right to change the law in the first place.

“DeHaan’s statements are not just a criticism of a court ruling or state board decision. He is like a sailor on a ship who has signed an oath of service but instead of performing his duties doesn’t just disagree with the Captain, he declares the Captain illegitimate,” Hall said in explanation for his request to have the men removed from the Surry County board of elections.

“That’s a cry of mutiny; it creates dangerous confusion and chaos, and purposefully in this case undermines the public’s confidence the integrity of our elections.”

He felt while the men are allowed to have opinions, that their opinions were preventing them from doing their jobs. “This is about trust and the evidence will show they cannot be trusted to fulfill the obligations of the general statute.”

“They have to obey your directives; that is the law. They are saying they have no obligation to follow the board.”

“DeHaan said he wouldn’t (certify the results) and then he did but he never took his name off it. So, he may sign a canvass document one time but maybe he won’t the next. By his actions, he has signaled to you he cannot be trusted. He is a free agent, he may obey the election rules for a protest, maybe he won’t. You don’t know,” Hall suggested.

“It’s not just you who can’t trust how they act; it’s the citizens of Surry County and the people of North Carolina. We can’t trust Forestieri to follow the law, he didn’t sign it even though he said at the canvass meeting that he didn’t find anything (evidence of error or fraud).”

DeHaan raised a series of objections to the hearing itself and the way it was being conducted. He said based on the statutes that the location for the meeting was wrong. He told the board that “they should meet in the county where the alleged offense occurred, and we are not in Surry County.”

Wording in that statute that a hearing “shall” take place in the county where the offense was claimed to have happened meant that holding the hearing in Raleigh was a violation.

The state’s legal counsel at the hearing said that there have been multiple occurrences where the state board heard charges that may warrant removal of a county board of elections member, but that no one had invoked the clause on holding the hearing in the home county. DeHaan said that precedent was no reason to not follow the statue as written.

Chairman Damon Circosta sought clarification from counsel and expressed his belief the venue was correct. He then polled the state board members and DeHaan and Forestieri for their input. Board member Dr. Stella Anderson said that since everyone was there, and the hearing was in progress that it was best to proceed.

Board member Stacey Eggers IV said, “I know we’re all here and such, but the statute says ‘shall’ and shall is a term of art in the law.” To the layperson it means little but to the parliamentarian or legislator, the difference between shall and may is like Lexington vs. eastern BBQ – it makes all the difference.

While there was some disagreement among the state board members and their counsel, they appeared to err on the side of caution.

Hilary Klein, Hall’s legal counsel, said that there had been sufficient time and notice given that the hearing was to be held in Raleigh and that any objections to the venue could and should have been raised before the members were present and the hearing in progress.

DeHaan also questioned the standing of Hall to bring the complaint as an out-of-county resident and whether there may be conflicts of interest regarding Hall and his relationships with members of the state board and state counsel’s office given his many years leading Democracy NC. He said Hall was exchanging emails with Paul Cox of the state counsel’s officer seemingly for advice on his complaint. “It looks like two people planning an attack against adversaries.”

Chairman Circosta said that just knowing someone does not make it a conflict of interest. Ultimately, he said it was not fair to continue with the hearing in Raleigh and it was rescheduled to a date to be determined in Surry County. Hall’s status of an out of county resident was determined last year by the state board to be a non-issue in his raising a complaint.

After taking a recess to consult with the legal team and read the statute again, Circosta gave DeHaan and Forestieri the chance to choose whether to proceed with the hearing everyone was there for, or move it back to Surry County. The gentlemen asked the hearing be moved back to Surry County where it will still be heard by the state board, just in a different physical location.

Hall said Tuesday that the delay and location change are not what matters. “Personally, I’m fine with the hearing moving to Surry County.” Rather for him it has been about the execution of sworn duties in service to the constitutions both the United States and North Carolina.

Delaying and moving the hearing should allow for a more complete hearing with questioning and input from the whole board — only three of five members of the state board were present for the hearing which was a sufficient number to reach a quorum.

Circosta and Eggers voted to move the hearing back to Surry County and Anderson was the sole vote opposed. Absent member Tucker had voiced opposition at the preliminary hearing in 2022 to advancing the DeHaan complaint in the first place, meaning the fate of men has never been bound to one another; they may face ultimately face two different outcomes.

Pilot Mountain Elementary School recently released the names of students earning honor roll status during the second quarter of the school year.

Fifth grade: Mia Campbell, Smith Cook, Brayden Nicholson, and Blakely Riddle.

Fourth grade: Emily Ayala, Gunner Copeland, Nathaniel Grose, Lillian Manuel, Ellie Mills, Rowan Powell, Avianna Radford, Kate Wilkins, and Natalie Yopp.

Third grade: Naomi Dalton, Davis Haymore, Linea Linville, Joshua Moses Jr, and Shelby Royster.

Fifth grade: Sarah Avery Boaz, Brody Chilton, Milayah Cropps, Morgan Dean, Anahi Flores, Faith Francis, Colin Galyean, Mason Hester, Sloane Hooker, Brooklyn Horton, Jackson Jarrell, Dylan Johnson, Wells Johnson, Piper Patton, Eva Pena, Jeremy Stevens, Luke Surratt, Declan Tilley, and Katie Willoughby.

Fourth grade: Kindee Boyd, Daniela Caro, Oakley Collins, Gavin Easter, Mason Estrada, Audrey Hayden, Alexzander Haynes, Payton Hester, Ocie Hunter, Eliza Jacobs, Samuel Kiser, McKenzie Pell, Brantley Schwartz, Pryce Taylor, Lucas Wood-Armstrong, and Dominic Worthy.

Third grade: Elijah Adams, Lacey Badgett, Lia Deanda, Sawyer Goldbach, Summer Key, Sophia McMillian, Abigail Paul, Tyne Robertson, Arden Kate Seivers, Bozden Thomas, Christopher Utley, Autumn Wheeler, and Avery Whittington.

With less than seven weeks remaining in this year’s campaign, the United Fund of Surry is just 31% shy of its goal to raise $500,000. Monies raised through the annual campaign help support 26 member agencies which provide assistance to more than 26,000 residents of Surry County.

“Each year the cost of doing business keeps increasing for our member agencies, and that means they need increasing financial support from United Fund of Surry,” said executive director Melissa Hiatt. “That’s why we need everyone to step up to the plate now and help us meet our goal.”

According to Hiatt, the number of workplace campaigns declined during the pandemic because so many employees worked from home. Now that things are getting back to normal, she urges businesses to ramp up their efforts to invest in their community by making it easy for employees to give.

“A workplace campaign is very easy to run and is a one-time ask for employees to give through payroll deduction. It’s a win-win because employees can give to United Fund of Surry and receive a tax credit,” said Hiatt.

This year’s campaign goal of a half million dollars is up from the 2022-23 campaign goal of $430,000. The organization was able to eclipse that goal and raise nearly $470,000 in the last campaign.

The goal is higher because costs keep going up and the United Fund is trying to be there for its member organizations. “Our agencies have faced an increase in demand and costs for their services over the past couple of years. With the support of our local businesses and the citizens of Surry County, we are confident that we can meet this goal,” Hiatt said.

The mission of United Fund of Surry is to strengthen and serve the community by helping to meet the needs of its neighbors. “We strive to make our community a healthy, happier, safer place to live for people of all ages,” said Hiatt.

With organizations ranging from scouts, rescue squads, the arts, Meals on Wheels, to the American Red Cross each of the organizations that comprise The United Fund of Surry seek to identify and fill in service gaps for residents in need not only in Surry County but across county lines and the Virginia border as well.

For more information visit www.unitedfundofsurry.org

Rockford Elementary School recently named its 2022-2023 teacher and teacher assistant of the year.

Katherine Mauzy was named Teacher of the Year while Connie Griffith was selected as Teacher Assistant of the Year.

In a little more than a month, the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce will be gathering for a chance to celebrate local businesses — and honoring ten of those companies and their employees with special recognitions.

Before that, chamber officials say they need some help over the next week, with that assistance coming in the form of nominations from area residents, businesses, and chamber members for the awards.

The gathering — the chamber’s Excellence in Business Awards dinner — will be on March 23, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Cross Creek Country Club. During this event the chamber will recognize area businesses and individuals in ten categories:

– Business of the Year, which is awarded to a business;

– Chamber Volunteer of the Year, which goes to an individual;

– Young Professional of the Year, also to an individual;

– Educator of the Year to an individual;

– Outstanding Public Service Award to an individual;

– Business & Education Partner Award which goes to a business;

– Excellence in Tourism Award to a business;

– Business Longevity Award which goes to a business;

– The Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award which goes to a local non-profit agency;

– The Valor Award, which goes to an individual)

“(This) is an event dedicated to recognizing those unsung heroes and extraordinary rock stars of the local community,” the chamber said of the upcoming dinner. Outside of the annual Citizen of the Year Award, which is given out during the January annual meeting, these are the only awards the chamber hands out.

“It’s really an opportunity to shine the spotlight on some great businesses that deserve the recognition,” chamber officials said.

While the awards dinners is March 23, the chamber will announce the winners on March 7, which means nominations need to be submitted soon. The chamber has set Feb. 21 as the deadline for local residents and businesses to submit those nominations.

While announcing the winners in advance takes away the sense of suspense that would otherwise accompany the awards dinner, the chamber said there is a simply reason to do advance notification — so the winners can arrange their schedule to be at the recognition dinner.

For the dinner, tickets are $50 for chamber members, $60 for non-members. The chamber also is still accepting sponsorships for the awards and for the dinner.

Those wishing to nominated a person or business for one of the awards, or anyone wishing to purchase a ticket, can do so at https://members.mtairyncchamber.org/events/details/excellence-in-business-awards-mar-2023-1817

It is not known if someone yelled, “OK, everybody, out of the pool,” but the indoor swimming facility at Reeves Community Center has been closed temporarily due to a major renovation project.

The pool was shut down last Friday and is expected to remain so for about two weeks as various tasks occur.

This was set in motion with a vote by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners in October to award a $389,000 contract to Stanley Heating and Air Conditioning, based in Elkin, to replace the dehumidification system for the indoor pool.

That was long seen as a need due to the pool creating a humid area and requiring a means of offsetting those effects for users.

“One of the biggest concerns in the aquatics industry is air quality,” city Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Cloukey said Monday. Before assuming her present position, Cloukey was Mount Airy’s aquatics supervisor for more than 13 years.

While replacement of the dehumidification system has loomed as the greatest need, the major renovation effort also includes a number of other new items for the swimming facility, such as insulation, plaster, heating/air components and depth markers.

The work began Monday with crews of a subcontractor, Andrea’s Pool Plaster, busily grinding off old plaster around the sides of the pool to allow replastering, creating a cloud of dust.

This reflected another overdue need.

Pool plaster, which provides a protective seal for the facility, typically has a life expectancy of seven to 15 years, according to Cloukey. “Ours was put in in 1995,” she said.

Cloukey and Parks and Director Peter Raymer agreed that “excellent maintenance” by city crews has allow the plaster to last as long as it has, 28 years.

Recreation officials say updates will be provided on the progress of the pool renovations so users will know when the facility can be reopened.

Raymer said this is a good time to undertake such work, with needed parts being made available to allow it to occur. Certain seasonal swimming activities at Reeves Community Center also have been winding down.

“So the timing works out perfectly,” Raymer added.

Pool needs at Reeves Community, particularly the dehumidification system replacement, have been an issue for years. However, until the commissioners’ vote in October, that item was delayed numerous times due to budgetary limitations.

• A Mount Airy man has been jailed without privilege of bond on various charges — including being a fugitive from Texas — after attempting to flee from officers and “physically” resisting arrest, according to city police reports.

The interaction between Carlos Gilberto Lopez Bocanegra, 32, of 312 Galloway St., and law enforcement began with officers responding to a domestic disturbance at his residence last Wednesday night. A subsequent check of a national crime database revealed that he is wanted in Cameron County, Texas, on a breaking and entering charge issued in February 2019.

Police records state that Bocanegra fled on foot Wednesday and forcibly impeded arrest, leading to local charges of resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer. He also was found to be the subject of outstanding warrants for charges filed through the Surry County Sheriff’s Office, including interfering with emergency communications; resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer; and assault on a female.

Bocanegra is scheduled to be in District Court on Feb. 22.

• Robert Samuel Joyner, 59, of 112 Nebraska Lane, was arrested last Tuesday night on charges of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance (identified as methamphetamine), a felony, and possessing drug paraphernalia.

Joyner was encountered by officers during a suspicious-vehicle call at the dead end of Joyce Street in the northern part of town and in addition to being taken into custody on the drug charge was served with an order for arrest for failing to appear in court which had been filed on April 23 of last year.

Joyner was confined in the Surry County Jail under a $9,000 secured bond and slated for a March 6 appearance in District Court.

• Pedro Juan Rivera, a resident of Byron Bunker Lane, told police on Feb. 6 that he was the victim of an identity-theft crime that had occurred in January.

It was perpetrated by an unknown party at an unspecified government or public building in Indiana and involved the use of fraudulent identification, according to police records. No monetary loss figure or other repercussions were listed.

The Surry County Board of County Commissioner last week heard a second presentation on a request to add school resource officers to county elementary schools. After a short presentation and discussion, the board approved the funding to add three new officers.

All five members of the Surry County Board of Education left an ongoing school board meeting to pay a call on the commissioners and urge them to fund the new SROs. Their stated goal is to have an officer at each of the county’s public schools and they said if they had the funds, they would do it right away.

Surry County School Superintendent Dr. Travis Reeves reviewed a grant the county has been approved for to receive $264,000 a year for two years which would fund additional elementary school SROs. The commissioners heard this presentation in January but asked for time to mull it over and Reeves spoke to at least one of them directly to discuss the grant proposal.

The county needed to approve expenditures that would come from accepting the grant and costs of adding officers above the grant funding for long term expenses such as health insurance or retirement funding.

The state wants to help fund two additional officers, but Dr. Reeves told the board he was hoping to gain approval to add three officers. He took a new tactic from the last meeting and spoke of the coverage and response time adding two or three new SROs would provide.

“The grant approves two SROs, we want three… Right now, if we got the three with this grant, coupled with the two we already have (and the addition of an SRO paid for by Pilot Mountain for Pilot Elementary) we would have one SRO per two elementary schools. We like that coverage and that gives us a lot more coverage than we currently have,” he said.

“Also, we are worried about schools that are on the perimeter of the county like Shoals and Copeland, ones that are not easy to get to from Dobson. I think that gives us better coverage and response times are better. It will also give those SROs a better chance to develop key relationships with students and parents,” Reeves said.

School board member Clark Goings told the commissioners adding more safety to school campuses hit home for him. “I have kids and family working in the schools. Their safety is a top priority for me, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for the school system. We just need to do a little more.”

“One common thing that I am hearing from elementary school principals is the need for an SRO,” school board member Kent Whitaker said before they raced back to their own meeting. “It gives them a comfort level and I think it’s more than just safety. I think it has to do with building relationships with law enforcement.”

“When we can get a sheriff’s department employee into a school it brings a whole lot of comfort and in today’s climate, we’re seeing situations probably that you never saw before, even in the elementary setting with behavioral issues and maybe domestic issues that filter in. I think the need (for more SROs) is there and I can’t think of a better need we could address tonight than to add SROs to our schools.”

“I support the SROs to those schools,” school board member T.J. Bledsoe added. “Do I think they will be the end all and be all and fix all our situations? No, I do not, but I do think it’s a great start and I am in full support.”

Commissioner Mark Marion spoke up on his own experiences in the classroom having spent many years as a substitute. He joked he didn’t have as many years in the saddle as former educator and administrator Commissioner Bill Goins but, “I witnessed firsthand what a school resource officer can do. It’s not only about them being there as the sheriff department, they are there for camaraderie. It’s to handle situations before they get out of hand. A police presence on campus can change the attitude of students.”

Given the board’s earlier vote on the pro-life resolution that brought many to the gallery, Marion said the decision to fund more SROs was just a furtherance of that notion that all life is precious. “What better time than on the heels of the right to life resolution to continue to protect our children by placing three new SROs?”

Commissioner Van Tucker reiterated his earlier concerns that this grant funding from the state makes this seem an easy decision, but he cautioned once more, “It may come that the county winds up bearing he full brunt of this. This is not about if we need SROs, or if we feel better with them, but who is going to pay for them?”

“I am somewhat torn, I think it comes down to providing SROs, as many as we can, even if we may have trouble hiring for them. After the last presentation we said we wanted one in all the schools as soon as we can,” Tucker said.

He had previously reminded the board that bringing on a full time county employee and the recurring costs of healthcare will not go away when the state funding inevitably dries up. He also said that while adding an officer to a school may be easy, it would be much harder to remove one.

Chairman Eddie Harris said no fool-proof plan exists to keep school campuses safe. “Evil people do evil things, and they find crafty ways of doing that. The very best we can do is inadequate, but nevertheless we are under an obligation to protect our children.” As with Marion, he noted the timing of this vote and the earlier pro-life resolution dovetailed with one another.

– The board accepted an initial offer of $150,000 for the former Westfield School property that was surplussed in 2021. The bid does not include any of the remaining artifacts, such as the school bell, or the county owned recycling center. The full tax value of the land is $229,320 but County Manager Chris Knopf informed that sum included the value of the recycling center.

Commissioner Van Tucker, who represents this district, called it “a legitimate bid” and made a motion, which passed, to accept the bid and open a period of upset bidding.

– Surry County and the city of Mount Airy worked together to add two new fire hydrants to Franklin Elementary in Mount Airy. The board of commissioners agreed Monday evening to a reimbursement agreement for installation of the Franklin Elementary School fire protection line.

Mount Airy took the lead in requesting the bid for the design and construction and officials there have selected the winning bidder. The city will split costs evenly with the county and it was agreed that the new fire protection line will remain an asset of the city’s upon the completion of the project. It will be connected to Mount Airy city water and the city will be responsible for its maintenance going forward.

The winning bid for the project was $135,000 and the final allocated amount will be $142,000 to allow for contingencies during construction.

– Finally, it was time to honor the best in county athletics as the Mount Airy High Women’s Tennis Team was on hand to be recognized. They won their second 1A Dual Team State Championship and Carrie Marion won the NCHSSA 1A Individual Single State Championship.

Coach Lou Graham said coaching these young women has been a pleasure and their hard work speaks for itself. “Fortunately, for us, their hard work has shown off with our play. I am extremely proud of what they accomplished and how they handled themselves. It’s been a fantastic experience.”

On the gridiron, the Granite Bears also brought home the hardware in football and coach J.T. Atkins added more kudos by being named NCHSSA 1A Coach of the Year. He said on behalf of his coaches and players (many of whom were at spring sports practices that night) that they were thankful for being recognized.

Coach Atkins said, “We don’t take this lightly, doing what this team did and being part of what happened is very special and comes with a lot of pride. We’re proud we are from Surry County and appreciate the recognition.”

The State Board of Elections will be conducting a hearing Tuesday aimed at determining if two members of the Surry County Board of Elections — Tim DeHaan and Jerry Forestieri —should be removed from office.

The hearing is a result of a complaint filed against DeHaan and Forestieri in November by Bob Hall, the former director of Democracy NC. His complaint came after the two men signed a letter stating they had concerns about the legality of North Carolina elections calling into question their legitimacy and, in Forestieri’s case, refusing to certify the most recent elections.

In December, the state board of elections held an evidentiary hearing and voted to set hearings on the possible removal the men “after finding prima facie evidence of a violation of election law, duties imposed on board members, and/or participation in irregularities or incompetence to discharge the duties of the office.”

The hearing is Tuesday in Raleigh and can be seen online.

Hall’s complaint said the two were derelict in their duties and should be removed. “It’s unfortunate that their actions have resulted in the necessity of the State Board of Elections to hold hearings about their conduct.”

“When they each declared that the administration of elections laws in the state is ‘illegitimate,’ then they crossed the line from free speech and criticism to rejecting their oath to uphold election laws. Maybe they have changed their position – I hope so – but at this point it’s hard for the public to know what actions they might take if they continue serving as election officials,” Hall said.

The two local board of elections members took umbrage with the 2018 ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Biggs that knocked down North Carolina’s voter identification law.

DeHaan and Forestieri wrote a letter to their colleagues on the county board of elections deriding the decision in strong terms. Their letter said, “I don’t view election law per North Carolina State Board of Elections as legitimate or Constitutional.”

Hall contends both men failed in their sworn duty to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States and North Carolina. “They take an oath when they begin service and it is an oath to uphold the state law, the state and federal constitution, and obey the authorities and rulings of the state,” Hall explained.

The state board of elections considered late last year whether there was enough evidence of “misconduct, irregularity, or some other cause that would enable the State Board to remove or otherwise discipline a county board member.”

They unanimously voted to allow the complaint on Forestieri to a formal hearing and advanced the DeHaan complaint in a 3-2 vote with state board members Stacy Eggers IV and Tommy Tucker voting no.

“Mr. Forestieri choosing not to proceed with the county canvass is concerning and I think it (is) what merits moving forward with a hearing. The distinction with Mr. DeHaan is he did in fact discharge his duties and proceed with the canvass certification,” Eggers said during the hearing in December before the vote they advanced the complaint to Tuesday’s hearing.

In the state board’s report, it was detailed that Eggers found a distinction between the two cases and he has, “concern with the statement made by Mr. Forestieri that all matters within his control and jurisdiction were handled appropriately and ballots tabulated, but his choosing not to proceed with the county canvass is concerning and worthy of moving forward to a hearing.”

Eggers went on to detail his point that there is another distinction “between advocacy for candidates versus expressing opinion and concerns about judicial activism or the procedures and directions that they receive from our staff at the state level.”

State Board Chairman Damon Circosta added that there is an issue of what type of speech one can engage in as it relates to their duties on a county board of elections.

At the county election canvass meeting in November the two men presented their letter. In short, they feel Judge Biggs’ 2018 voter ID ruling was illegal and that the state has therefore been conducting elections that are, in their opinion, not being held as they should.

Without voter ID anyone can vote, they said and at Tuesday’s hearing there will be testimony from Steve Odum on alleged voting day irregularities where he challenged out-of-area voters.

However, at that meeting DeHaan said, “We have no complaints with what Surry County Board of Commissioners or Board of Elections has done. We are not questioning anything that is happening within the walls and with the employees of the Board. None whatsoever.”

He went on, “Our concern is with the way the law has improperly been changed by a judge who has no authority to make law, but she is doing it anyway, and it basically is saying that we feel that the election was held according to the law the we have, but that the law is not right. And because the law is not done properly, it was made by a judge, it is not proved to be 100% accurate as far as any of the elections go in the state, not just outs, but any of them.”

“I must not call these election results credible and bow to the perversion of truth Judge Biggs foists upon us. Her opinions regulating elections conform to a generally held, though perverted, view of a legal election,” their co-signed November letter read.

After a recess Forestieri said, “Given the choice of endorsing this 100% or not at all, I would just not sign the certification.”

DeHaan on the other hand said, “The problem I have… comes does to the term ‘legal ballot’ and the question of what is a legal ballot? While I don’t agree with what the state has defined as a legal ballot, I will accept what they are saying is a legal ballot as being a legal ballot; therefore, I will sign to certify the election.”

Surry County Board of Elections member Drew Poindexter even questioned why Forestieri was still serving on the board at the time. “Jerry, if you thought that ever since what Judge Biggs did is illegal – and that’s your right to do – and it’s been going on since 2018, if that had been me… I would not think myself proper to sit on this board if I thought what we were doing here was illegal. That’s just me,” he said.

Hall’s complaint was accompanied by a letter from a coalition of voters rights group who wrote, “The letter’s inflammatory language is dangerous misinformation that constitutes an attack on North Carolina’s laws, election integrity, and voter confidence.”

They also took exception with their point on voter ID. “They incorrectly contend voter ID was not required in the 2022 general election due to Judge Bigg’s 2018 decision… But as the State Board is well aware, the most recent voter ID legislation, S.B. 824, was not in place for the 2022 general election because it was permanently enjoined by a state court three-judge panel in a September 2021 decision in Holmes v. Moore.”

“By calling into question the legitimacy of state and federal Constitutional requirements and doing so under the color of exercising their official duties as members of the Surry County Board of Elections… they have violated the most central oath and duties of their office. They intentionally and undeniably violated their oaths and sworn duties,” the letter said.

Forestieri wrote in an email dated Feb. 6, “Our current NC Supreme Court is in my opinion more incline to the rule of law than the rule of man. It is a good time to test this legal point in this hearing, and if necessary and prudent, on appeal all the way to the NC Supreme Court, Lord willing.”

Tuesday’s hearing is set to begin at 11 a.m. and can be viewed online at bit.ly/3lnSsL3

In what has become an all-too-familiar refrain, substance-use calls run by the Surry County Emergency Medical Service — and related deaths — have increased locally.

In one bright spot for an otherwise dismal picture, the prevalence of Narcan — a medication used to reverse or reduce effects of opioids, including by bystanders at the scenes of overdoses — rose during 2022 in Surry despite fatalities increasing slightly to 47 from 44 in 2021.

A total of 567 substance-use “events” were logged last year by the Surry EMS, according to statistics recently completed by Eddie Jordan, the agency’s compliance officer. That’s the highest total of any year since 2009, when 46 incidents were noted.

The present trend began with cases showing a drastic jump in 2020 to 503, which local emergency and substance-abuse officials have blamed on the pandemic due to people being isolated. The upswing continued in 2021 (533 cases) and again last year to the latest 567 annual tally.

The breakdown from the EMS shows a total of 336 pre-hospital Narcan doses were administered during 2022, up from 269 the year before.

Narcan is the brand name for naloxone, a medication that blocks respiratory depression and other effects of opioids, especially in overdoses. It can be administered by laymen, meaning professional medical aid might not be sought when one occurs.

Yet the death total still rose to 47 last year, the highest since the 55 fatalities in 2017 — which is the all-time record for Surry County.

A breakdown of Surry substance-use events by year shows that these incidents have shown annual increases every single 12-month period since 2009, leading to the 567 total for 2022.

And one further alarming aspect is that the “official” figures — already substantial — might not reflect the true severity of the problem.

“These statistics only represent what Surry County EMS has come in contact with and not what is not reported,” explained Eric Southern, the county’s director of emergency services.

“We suspect that these numbers are probably double with in-home and personal use of Narcan,” Southern added in reference to how such incidents can stay off the books.

Based on what was reported officially, deaths occurred in 8% of the total substance-use events in 2022, the same as 2021.

Already in 2023, seven deaths had occurred in Surry County after about one month having past, out of 51 total incidents — 37 of which involved the use of Narcan.

The abuse of fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid employed as an analgesic, has become a major concern nationwide including locally.

“Fentanyl does make up around 7% of the overdose cases, but heroin and mixed substances (fentanyl, heroin, and/or other opioids together) make an even larger portion,” Southern observed. Fentanyl is used recreationally, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines or methamphetamine.

The primary substance-abuse categories reported by the EMS for Surry County and the%ages they make up of the total include:

• Unknown/prescription/over-the-counter substances — 23%;

• Other and unidentified opioids — 19%;

• Benzos (short for benzodiazepines, a type of sedative medication) — 7%;’

Southern says multiple local entities are trying to curtail the ongoing abuse threat.

“Very grateful for our relationship with have with our law enforcement agencies and the (Surry County Office of) Substance Abuse Recovery.”

Attempts to get comment on the annual totals from local Substance Abuse Recovery Director Mark Willis were not successful.

But Willis had advised last year that “the vicious cycle of illegal drug use that has affected Surry County, and many other counties, will continue to be a problem until we implement an effective recovery-oriented system of care for substance-use disorder that focuses on all aspects of prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery.”

Every summer, during the peach-picking season, folks make the mountain trek to Cherry Orchard Theatre in Ararat, Virginia, where outdoor shows — often original productions written by local artists — are produced on a simple stage, with the hollows and ridges stretching toward the North Carolina Piedmont serving as a backdrop

Twenty-five years ago, the first show took to the stage there, a drama written by Frank Levering about his ancestors who settled the area and started Levering Orchard, just a few years after the calendar flipped from the 19th to the 20th century.

While the outdoor theater there has attracted audiences and actors from all over — including a few California stage performers — and has traveled to other cities, setting up shop and adapting its products to various indoor venues, the theater is doing something this year it has never done before: Putting on three shows in downtown Mount Airy.

The three productions: “Kalamazoo,” “Does A Dress Have A Life?” and “Flights of Imagination,” will each have a one-night engagement at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History over the next three months. “Kalamazoo” will be on Feb. 25, “Does A Dress Have A Life?” will be March 25, while “Flights of Imagination” is set for April 22.

Levering said the first leanings toward putting on the shows in Mount Airy largely came about because of Terri Ingalls, Mark Brown, and Matt Edwards. Both Ingalls and Brown are known locally as actors and story tellers, with each of them a seasoned Cherry Orchard Theatre performer as well as volunteers at the museum, while Edwards is executive director at the museum.

“The three of them have been thinking about starting to do theater at the museum for a few years,” Levering said. “We all saw this as a good way to get started doing that. It seemed like a really good fit for the museum and for Cherry Orchard Theatre.”

Cassandra Johnson, director of STEAM education and programming at the museum, said those talks picked up steam in the autumn.

“It’s their off-season,” she said of the timing of the plays, and the idea that the partnership could be beneficial to both organizations. “We thought maybe there are people who go there, but have never come to the museum, who might come to this, and there are probably people who have come to the museum but have not gone there.”

This might expose folks from both camps to what both the theater and the museum have to offer patrons.

Johnson said the shows will be set up in the third floor program space of the museum, which can seat about 75 people. She said as soon as the museum announced the shows, tickets started selling, although there are still seats available for all three productions.

“This is going to be great,” Levering said of the shows and the museum’s partnership. While there haven’t been any formal discussions about doing additional shows after this three-performance schedule, the museum’s Johnson said her organization is hoping to use this as a springboard toward offering similar productions.

Levering said all three shows have already been performed in the outdoor setting at Cherry Orchard, so the actors will be bringing a sense of familiarity to the indoor stage at the museum.

The first show, “Kalamazoo,” stars Ingalls and Brown in what he described as a romantic comedy.

“The play is about two older people in their 70s who meet online, they start seeing each other, the play follows the course of their romance. It’s a comedy, it’s a very funny play,” he said.

The second show, “Does A Dress Have A Life?” is a one-person production with Melissa Hiatt, who Levering called one of the most talented performers in the region. “It’s a very personal story about growing up and having a difficult childhood, some really harsh things she had to face in growing up,” he said of the piece, which Hiatt wrote.

The third show, “Flights of Imagination,” is a one-person show written and performed by Ingalls.

“It’s about Terri Ingalls telling about her years as a flight attendant of Piedmont Airlines (in the 1960s),” he said. “It is just delightful. It’s another comedy, a lot of comedy in it, and you also learn a lot about the experience of being a flight attendant.”

Each of the shows will be performed at 8 p.m. on their respective play dates. Tickets are $15, with popcorn and a drink available for an additional $5. The shows may not be suitable for all audiences, with adult content and themes part of the first two productions.

To reserve tickets, call 336-786-4478 or visit northcarolinamuseum.org

DOBSON — Three Surry County rising seniors will be representing Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation as delegates in two youth programs this summer.

Sarah Stephens of Pilot Mountain and Willow Lawson of Mount Airy, juniors at Surry Early College High School, have been chosen as Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation delegates for the N.C. Youth Tour trip to Washington, D.C. In addition to this trip, they also will be eligible for a $500 college scholarship.

Applicants had to complete an application which consisted of character questions, an essay question about the cooperative business model and an oral presentation of the essay. Applications were reviewed and blind-judged by employees to narrow the field to the top five finalists.

Those finalists gave the oral presentations on their essay topic, “What impresses you most about the cooperative business model,” to a panel of three judges — Paul Mott, government affairs specialist for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives; Autumn Solomon, programs committee member with the Cooperative Council of North Carolina; and Travis Frye, tourism coordinator for Surry County and Dobson Tourism Development Authorities. The presentations and final judging took place at the Surry-Yadkin headquarters in Dobson in mid-January, with employees, parents and school officials in attendance.

The judges commented on how strong all the finalists were, with Stephens and Lawson being selected as delegates for this year’s Youth Tour. “We are honored Sarah and Willow will be representing Surry-Yadkin Electric on this trip of a lifetime,” said Wendy Wood, manager of communications and community relations for SYEMC.

During their trip, the girls will attend a leadership conference, tour national museums and sites, meet their elected officials at the U.S. Capitol and make new friends from across the country.

They also will be eligible to apply for two scholarships — $2,500 and $2,000 — awarded by North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.

Lanie Fitzgerald of Dobson, a student at Surry Central High School, will be attending the Cooperative Council of NC’s Cooperative Leadership Camp this summer at Camp Monroe in Laurel Hill.

The camp features interactive workshops and presentations, outdoor recreation, leadership development, team building activities and small group sessions with an emphasis on what cooperatives are all about and how they operate. They also will have a chance to form their own T-shirt cooperative, including an election of a board of directors and manager. By attending this camp, they are eligible to apply for the Jim Graham $1,000 college scholarship.

“These two trips are both great opportunities for these students and we hope they will use the knowledge they gain to guide them into their college and career path. We appreciate all the students who took the time to apply and encourage others to apply for these opportunities,” Wood said.

Anyone who knows students who would be interested in participating in one of these trips, eligible to students their junior year of high school, visit syemc.com. The application period opens each fall.

Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation, a member-owned Touchstone Energy Cooperative, was founded in 1940 by a group of local farmers with a vision to provide electricity to rural farmers and families. More than 82 years later, SYEMC powers more than 28,000 meters in five counties, including Surry, Yadkin, Stokes, Wilkes and Forsyth.

The Surry Arts Council kicked off its 2023 Fund Drive at noon on Thursday at the Andy Griffith Playhouse, taking aim at its $175,000 goal for the year.

Board members, staff, volunteers, and other members of the community were on hand to see a new rack card, featuring 58 summer series concerts, while also being able to view photos from arts council programs during the past year on a screen in the playhouse.

Nicole Harrison, president of the Surry Arts Council Board of Directors, shared with those in attendance how the arts affect thousands of lives in the area. Venues are all open at full capacity and the priority remains to keep the community safe while keeping them engaged with the arts.

She shared that the Surry Arts Council — which as been in existence for 54 years — is excited about the future and looks forward to opening the new Arts Center. She shared how the arts council was a part of her life growing up in Mount Airy and is now a part of her daughters’ lives. She talked about the venues that the council operates including the Blackmon Amphitheatre, the Andy Griffith Playhouse, the Andy Griffith Museum and Museum Theatre, and the Historic Earle Theatre and Old-Time Music Heritage Hall.

Scott Needham, secretary of the Surry Arts Council Board of Directors, acknowledged the important role of the arts in stimulating the creative juices that spark new economic development. He shared that he had been a part of the arts council since he was in high school both on stage and back stage. As a result, he majored in lighting design in college and has helped the council over the years both onstage and off stage. He emphasized the importance of the success of the fund drive to ensure that the arts remain an important part of the community.

Candice Kerley, treasurer of the Board of Directors, spoke of upcoming programs.

She noted that a new adult line dance class that began this week had more than 30 participants. A special friends crafts workshop Thursday had more than 50 participants. Cinderella, with a cast of 70, is rehearsing daily in the Andy Griffith Playhouse.

She reported that the Surry Arts Council is kicking off the fund drive with more than $95,000 of the goal already raised, with the drive lasting until June 30.

Kerley reviewed the concerts and shows that will be held in the amphitheatre, announcing that the amphitheatre series is scheduled to kick off on April 29 with Jukebox Rehab and has a record 58 shows planned. She reviewed the rack card art camps that will be held weekly this summer beginning on June 5 with Arts Alive. She pointed out that the council dance program, led by Madeline Matanick, Jamie Davis, and Tyler Matanick, has more than 135 dancers enrolled who attend weekly classes, work to get ready for a May recital.

She pointed out that the Andy Griffith Museum continues to thrive and that there were more than 65,000 guests during the past year. In addition, there are voice lessons, acting workshops, musical theater dance, and weekly line dance classes

She shared that upcoming programming includes the Arts Ball on Feb. 17, featuring Band of Oz at Cross Creek Country Club and noted that all the proceeds from this event support free cultural arts programs for 25 area schools.

Additional upcoming programs include old-time workshops with Martha and Emily Spencer, and the Tommy Jarrell Birthday Concert on Saturday, Feb. 25 featuring the Whitetop Mountain Band; Wayne Erbsen hosting a beginning banjo workshop on Friday Feb. 24 followed by a concert in the Andy Griffith Museum Theatre; The Allen Boys Sacred Steel Band performing that same evening at the Earle; and the annual Tommy Jarrell Youth Competition to be hosted by Jim Vipperman in the Andy Griffith Museum Theatre on Feb. 25.

Tanya Jones, Surry Arts Council executive director, closed the kick-off meeting by introducing and thanking staff, board members, volunteers, and supporters for their work and creative solutions to the challenges of the past few years. Ben Currin was recognized as being “an amazing volunteer who attends and helps at SAC events ranging from Mayberry Days to ushering for theatre, concerts, and assisting at the gates during the amphitheatre series.“

Membership, giving opportunities, ticket purchases and program information are available online www.surryarts.org or by calling 336-786-7998 or emailing alena@surryarts.org. Movie information including times and features can be accessed by calling 336-786-2222 any time. Pledges and contributions may be made online or by mailing checks or pledges directly to the Surry Arts Council, PO Box 141, Mount Airy, NC.

The Surry County Community Corrections office is seeking information on the whereabouts of the following individuals:

• Amanda Dawn Hodges, 32, a white female wanted for failing to appear in court on probation violations who is on probation for felony larceny of firearms, possession of stolen goods and felony possession of a firearm by felon;

• Alfonzo Dupree Revels, 37, a Black malem wanted for failing to appear in court on probation violations who is on probation for two counts of felony sell/deliver cocaine, felony possession of a schedule II controlled substance, and felony maintaining place for controlled substances;

• Brandon Gray Stone, 29, a white male wanted for failing to appear in court on probation violations who is on probation for two counts of felony possession of methamphetamine;

• Jason William Johnson, 42, a white male wanted for failing to appear in court on probation violations who is on probation for larceny.

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.

Carolina Farm Credit recently awarded a second $5,000 grant to help construct a live animal lab that will be used by instructors and students in the Animal Science and Agriculture programs at Surry Community College and Surry Central High School.

The cooperative facility will serve as a demonstration farm, giving students hands-on instruction and training in all aspects of production for raising calves, goats, piglets and other small animals.

“As part of our corporate mission fund, Carolina Farm Credit is pleased to award your organization, Surry Community College, with $5,000 in support of your project,” wrote Vance C. Dalton Jr., president and CEO of Carolina Farm Credit. “We received 135 grant requests this year and were able to fund 25 projects and 12 scholarships, totaling $152,300.”

The fund’s purpose is to invest in the future of agriculture to enhance and impact the quality of life in rural North Carolina. Carolina Farm Credit gave an initial $5,000 grant in December 2021 toward the project.

Grant money will be used to help furnish a large metal barn facility in 2023, which will provide hands-on instruction of all aspects of small animal agriculture. The interior of the barn will feature multiple stalls, flex space, and a sanitation station. Sustainable production techniques, proper animal care procedures, and current technologies will be heavily emphasized in instruction.

The grant funding will be used to prioritize and furnish equipment and supplies for biosecurity, video monitoring and alerts, signage, automatic feeding and watering, necessary handling, and health and recordkeeping. Fenced acreage around the barn will have appropriate divisions for multiple species.

“The barn will serve as a model of best practices for the community, and it is hoped that such an investment will increase interest in local agriculture,” officials with Carolina Farm Credit said.

James Quick is the lead instructor of Surry Community College’s Applied Animal Science program and works closely with Surry Central High School on class agriculture projects.

“This facility will give students the opportunity to apply those skills they learn in class in a real-world scenario. Using this facility, we will be able to teach students how to grow healthy and productive animals while also being sure students are up to date on all the latest practices and USDA regulations. In the future, we hope the students will be able to produce their own agricultural products such as goat cheese or wool in the new facility,” Quick said.

Sarah Johnson teaches agriculture classes at Surry Central High School and serves as the advisor for Future Farmers of America. She added, “I am excited to be part of this experiential learning opportunity that will enable my students to be successful in livestock production in the future. The unique partnership between Surry County Schools and Surry Community College will afford students the skills, abilities, and certifications to move forward with production agriculture or seek higher education.”

Surry Community College offers a diploma and certificate in applied animal science technology that prepares individuals to select, breed, care for, process, and market livestock and small farm animals. Potential course work includes instruction in basic animal science, animal nutrition, and animal health as applied to various species and breeds; design and operation of housing, feeding, and processing facilities; and related issues of safety, applicable regulations, logistics, and supply.

In 2022, Surry Community College and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University established an articulation agreement where SCC transfer credits can be used to pursue bachelor’s degrees at NC A&T in agricultural education.

The agreement guarantees admission to NC A&T and the transfer of up to 37 credits in the applied animal science diploma for qualified graduates of SCC as they earn bachelor’s degrees in agricultural education with a concentration in either professional service or secondary education. The bachelor’s degree in agricultural education at NC A&T with a concentration in agricultural professional service prepares students for careers in Cooperative Extension, government agencies, non-profit organizations, or agribusiness. The concentration in secondary education readies students to teach agriscience in middle or high school.

High school juniors and seniors can take animal science classes tuition-free through the Career & College Promise program.

For more information, contact SCC’s Student & Workforce Services at 336-386-3264 or studentservices@surry.edu or go to surry.edu. Anyone with questions about the applied animal science program should contact Quick at 336-386-3295 or quickj@surry.edu.

Surry County Manager Chris Knopf presented the State of the County Thursday to business and civic leaders at a luncheon held at White Sulphur Springs in Mount Airy. He said that the state of the county is a matter of perspective and that, “If you ask anyone what condition our county is in, you’d get a lot of different responses.”

Folks gravitate to the financial health of the county, so he outlined that and demographic data to allow for comparison. With 71,152 people reported Surry County ranks 32 out of 100 North Carolina counties in population.

Knopf said that the population rate has stabilized somewhat, and that growth is still being seen from those moving away from the cities to find a different way of life than is found in cities or along the I-40 corridor.

One of the greatest recruitment tools that Surry County has to offer is an exceptionally steady property tax rate. The Board of Commissioners make it a point of order and take great pride in recognizing the property tax rate — the county ranks 81 of 100 in property tax rates.

On taxes, the county has been raking in big dollars with a continued change in spending habits that has emerged post-pandemic. When stores closed to in-person shopping and malls became hot spots to be avoided, folks turned to online shopping.

Knopf said, “When you buy something from Best Buy online and have it shipped here, the sales tax stays here. When you go to Winston-Salem to go to Best Buy, the sales tax stays there.”

He echoed a point of view espoused by board Chairman Eddie Harris who said the sales tax is the most equitable way to levy a tax. Knopf simply called it “the fair tax, because everyone pays it.”

Sales tax revenue is a tide that lifts all boats he said, noting that not only the county but also the municipalities and the school systems all benefit from increased sales tax revenue. The growth of sales tax revenue from fiscal year 2012-13 ($12.6 million) to 2021-22 ($21.5 million) is pronounced and this growth is not expected to change given the trend toward online shopping.

Knopf pointed to historical budget data to show the recession of 2008 had a tremendous impact on this area. However, improvements have been pronounced in the past decade Knopf said. He noted in the FY 2012-13 the county’s budget was $70.5 million had a general fund balance of $27 million, but he noted that only $736,000 of those were in the “unassigned ledger,” think of that as the cash on hand for emergencies, he said.

Flash forward to the FY 2022-23 budget of $93.6 million and the general fund balance is $62.7 million with $17.8 million in the unassigned, able to be spent, column. This does not mean the county wants to or will spend those funds, quite the opposite. The conservative county commissioners are known to look for ways to save or not open the checkbook in the first place and are pleased with the growth of the general fund.

Surry County’s median household income increased by 41% over the past five years and now more than 54% of the county’s households earn more than $50,000 a year. Wages are up in the county as well with the average being $714 per week, ranked 48 of 100.

That said, 23% of county homes are on food/nutrition assistance (up 19% since 2019) and 34% of residents are on Medicaid. With Raleigh taking up expansion of the plan, it may yield as many as 42% of Surry residents enrolled if it passes.

The assembled business and civic leaders heard from Knopf the results of a survey of local business where they were asked to rank what are the biggest challenges they are facing. The majority (52%) said that finding and retaining an appropriate level of staffing for their workforce was a challenge.

For others they said sales and marketing (25%), pandemic related changes (23%), and learning how to scale up a business (19%) presented challenges. Housing for workers (19%) rounded out the top five and Knopf discussed the housing challenges the county faces.

There is a noted lack of inventory in fair market housing which finds it roots in that new homes are not being built in their area at the rate they once were. Knopf reported there has been no significant residential neighborhood development in the past several years.

He informed the number of homes built in the 1990s and the early 2000s, before the Great Recession, was more than double than new housing starts in the 2010s. In the 1990s and 2000s there were around 2,000 houses built in each decade but that number plummeted to around 800 for the 2010s.

Another concern is the age of homes in the county compared to the rest of the state. Other counties average between 30-35% of homes in the area to have been built after 1999; locally that number is closer to 15% and 11% of county homes were built before WWII. Older homes that are not being replaced with new construction have led to shortages.

Younger people are especially sensitive to these shortages and are leaving the area to live as they cannot find housing. Knopf told the crowd his office and the county have tried to attract new builders of market rate housing as there is strong demand for single family homes and townhomes in this area.

He made sweet lemonade from a sack of COVID lemons by explaining the pandemic brought federal relief dollars to the area that freed up general ledger funds to be spent elsewhere. He alluded to the fact that not everyone is thrilled the feds doled out trillions in relief, but for communities across the country he called it, “A once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Long-standing projects that needed attention such as replacing the lights on sports fields at Cedar Ridge, Shoals, Mountain Park, and Dobson that were in dire need as well as work on the White Plains Recreation Center were able to be addressed with the financial flexibility relief money afforded.

It also allowed the county to aid non-profit organizations including Mayberry4Paws, Surry Arts Council, and Habitat for Humanity in the area who shared in $2.1 million in additional county funding.

The survey gauged what respondents were most pleased and displeased about with living here. Surry Community College and the area school systems received high marks as did the quality of utilities and quality of life (access to shopping, dining, healthcare), and broadband speeds.

On the tail end of the scale were a local transportation network, availability of workforce training, and residential housing option which were ranked as areas residents were more displeased.

While not on the list, there is one item that is driving residents and leaders alike batty and as Knopf neared the end of the presentation a slide appeared with just one word: litter. It was accompanied by photos of trash lining Linville Road and there was an audible groan from some in the crowd.

Knopf threw up his hands, metaphorically, on the issue of litter and said that he was not sure why this was an issue here in Surry County. He had visited rural South Carolina recently and said he did not see a similar little problem there, “and I looked for it.”

The county’s program to pay 501c3 non-profits to conduct litter collection have slowed to a trickle even as the payout has gone up. Knopf noted organizations do not have the time or the volunteers to make such a commitment.

When the county opened the program last year to any private contractor who may want to pick up litter, “There was not a single taker last year.” He said two new groups have applied to participate in the program since there has been increased recent attention on the matter again recently.

No matter who deals with it, litter will have to be dealt with and Knopf noted that in a county that is increasingly reliant on tourism, trashy roadways send the wrong message.

• A suspicious-person investigation has led to a homeless Mount Airy man being jailed on a felony drug charge, according to city police reports.

Toby Carlton Thompson, 53, was encountered by officers on the evening of Feb. 3 in the parking lot of SERVPRO, a business located in the 500 block of North Andy Griffith Parkway near Hickory Street.

Thompson subsequently was charged with possession of methamphetamine and in addition to that felony violation is accused of possessing drug paraphernalia.

He was confined in the Surry County Jail under a $3,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in District Court on Feb. 27.

• Jace Dale Johnson, 21, of 103 Ashburn Park Lane, was charged with driving while impaired Sunday after a traffic crash that police records indicate occurred in the 800 block of South Main Street involving a 2002 Subaru Impreza he was operating.

Testing revealed Johnson to have a blood alcohol content of 0.16%, twice the legal limit for getting behind the wheel.

He is free on a written promise to be in Surry District Court on March 6.

• Police learned of a crime involving identity theft and the obtaining of property by false pretense on Feb. 3 in which the State Employees Credit Union was a victim.

The Social Security number of Charles Brandon Atkins of Chadwick Lane was used to defraud the financial institution on South Franklin Road of an undisclosed sum of money, with the case still under investigation at last report.

Franklin Elementary School recently chose its leaders of the month for February. Those honored are:

Kindergarten: Ivy Freeman, Tyson Simmons, Eadith Jenkins, and JC Nelson;

First grade: Dakota Hoffman, Ellie Clement, Bryce Mosley, and Trey Phillpot;

Second grade: Donatello Rodriguez, Iker Ramirez, Zachary Johnson, and Cora Murray;

Third grade: Addison Zubieta, Josie Bowman, Zander Cox, and Eli Metcalf;

Fourth grade: Tom Casas, Dylan Ramirez and Ainsley Barnard;

Fifth grade: Adrian Linares, Mattix Cutler and Isaiah Turner;

Others, not listed by grade, includeKamilla Escutia, J’Lyn Puckett, and Archer McMillian.

A public hearing is scheduled next Thursday concerning a proposal to rezone property on Carroll Street in Mount Airy from a business to residential classification.

That move is tied to plans for constructing a duplex housing unit on the site, according to city Planning Director Andy Goodall. It is now vacant.

The property in question is a .542-acre parcel located in the 900 block of Carroll Street, which county tax maps show is on the corner of Carroll and Hickory streets in the vicinity of West Lebanon Street.

Owners Samuel and Letonia Moore, who live on Hickory Street, have requested the rezoning of the property from its present B2-CD classification (General Business with conditions) to R-6 (General Residential).

Anyone wishing to speak on that request can do so at Thursday’s public hearing, to be held during a 6 p.m. meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners.

The Carroll Street matter is somewhat unusual, since the property originally had been zoned R-6 before that was changed to B2-CD in 2007 as sought by Cooke Properties of NC, LLC and Crystal Poplin, according to city planning documents.

The conditions tied to that included no port-a-john or trash truck storage, a six-foot screened fence around the entire property and others.

City planners report that the site in question is contiguous to other R-6 properties.

The Mount Airy Planning Board, an advisory group to the commissioners which reviewed the matter, voted 7-0 in favor of recommending approval for the rezoning proposal on Jan. 23.

No one spoke then in opposition to the request that was accompanied by neighboring property owners being informed about the potential change.

The planning group found that the request conforms to the medium intensity future land-use of the property as prescribed by the City of Mount Airy Comprehensive Plan, relied on as a guide for rezoning based on growth trends.

A major construction project along the U.S. 601 business corridor in Mount Airy — to implement what’s been called a “superstreet” concept — again has been delayed, which is either good or bad news depending on one’s perspective.

Based on earlier plans by the N.C. Department of Transportation, which maintains the major route also known as Rockford Street, a contract for the work was scheduled to be let in June 2023.

However, the DOT reported this week that the project has been pushed back until Fiscal Year 2025 — meaning construction won’t begin until sometime after July 1, 2024 when that fiscal year begins, the agency’s Division 11 Engineer Michael Poe confirmed Thursday.

This roughly one-year delay has transpired through revisions made by the state Board of Transportation to North Carolina’s Transportation Improvement Plan for 2020-2029. The board did so to allow additional time for right-of-way acquisitions for property needed along the local project’s path — from U.S. 52 to Forrest Drive (SR 1365) near Walmart.

Poe, whose Division 11 district is based in North Wilkesboro and includes Surry and seven other area counties, explained Thursday that no particular right-of-way problems out of the ordinary have been encountered with the U.S. 601 upgrade.

He said the construction postponement reflects lingering issues that caused earlier delays of DOT projects in general, due to COVID-19 and funding limitations, including disrupting the acquisition process.

“We basically had to start over with — updating all the appraisals,” Poe said of a key step in that process. “It’s just a lot of work.” The same issues have derailed similar efforts around the state, the Division 11 engineer says.

The most recent delay is on top of others for the Mount Airy project that originally was scheduled to be under construction in 2020.

It is anticipated to cost $11.7 million.

DOT officials have said that what commonly is known as the superstreet project will introduce a raised median configuration along U.S. 601 to re-direct or restrict left turns and across-the-highway movements.

Side-street travelers wanting to cross U.S. 601 or turn left onto it, for example, would need to first go right and then make a U-turn at a safe location to reach desired destinations in those directions.

The raised concrete medians will replace the present center turn lane along Rockford Street. It is virtually uncontrolled and linked to high accident and fatality rates in the U.S. 601 business corridor that has seen tremendous growth and increased traffic, prompting the DOT to prescribe the change.

In one recent 12-month period, 145 traffic accidents occurred at various intersections from U.S. 52 to Forrest Drive, according to statistics compiled by Bonnie Overby, records administrator for the Mount Airy Police Department,

Forty-six of those accidents were in the area of U.S. 601 and U.S. 52, with 29 logged at U.S. 601 and Forrest Drive. Other trouble spots included U.S. 601’s intersection with Reeves Drive (19 accidents), Edgewood Drive (18), Stewart Drive (13) and Mountain View Drive (11), with smaller numbers occurring elsewhere along that route.

One fatality was reported for that annual period, involving a crash at U.S. 601 and Reeves Drive.

Although the upcoming construction will cause a major upheaval to the U.S. 601 corridor which will be long in duration, observers agree that some remedy is needed for what has become the busiest section of town.

This was determined by highway engineers to be the change to a superstreet.

“I think overall it would promote a safer and more efficient flow of traffic,” Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson has said. “So I think it would serve to make a safer roadway.”

But Watson says an adjustment to the new configuration will be needed by motorists.

Local citizens, including business owners in the project’s path, gave mixed reviews to the U.S. 601 improvement plan during a public meeting in November 2019 at Reeves Community Center.

After months of relative inactivity at the site of a collapsed building in downtown Mount Airy, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is flickering in terms of having it repaired.

“We’re hopefully getting closer,” City Manager Stan Farmer said Thursday in reference to ongoing delays surrounding the Main-Oak Emporium structure at the corner of those two streets in the heart of the central business district, which collapsed on July 5.

Farmer’s expression of optimism originally surfaced during a Feb. 2 meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners. He reported a breakthrough with a regulatory hurdle affecting the repair of the structure that has languished since July while disrupting downtown traffic.

“The developers of the Main-Oak Emporium building have dropped off a full set of plans to be reviewed with the county building inspector,” the city manager advised at last week’s meeting.

“So there’s movement on it,” Farmer said Thursday in elaborating on the submission of the plans. “It’s just a good sign.”

This is important since those plans must be approved by the county before a building permit can be issued which will put repair crews into motion.

Farmer, who has closely monitored the situation and updated progress on it since the collapse, said the developers have told them they hope to get all the paperwork matters completed so work on the building possibly can begin in March.

“But buildings don’t get engineered and repaired overnight,” Farmer said in cautioning that a number of variables could disrupt that timetable.

Since the partial collapse last July of the historic structure dating to 1905, East Oak Street has been closed to traffic at that corner and travel on North Main Street reduced to one lane.

Access to nearby businesses has been disrupted as a result of the closure that was enforced while demolition crews removed debris and to ensure safety as it awaits repairs.

Insurance issues were cited as a holdup early on in that process, with the last remaining obstacle seemingly the nod from local inspection personnel. One consideration has involved preserving the facade of the historic structure, with previous reports noting that tax credits were being sought to aid that objective.

“Early last week they dropped off the plans, structural and architectural plans, to the county building inspector,” Farmer explained. PME (plumbing, mechanical and electrical) plans also are part of the mix — which have passed preliminary muster.

“They gave us the opportunity with (municipal) staff to review the first couple,” Farmer said of the developers.

“So this should be a complete set,” he said of the plans received by the Surry building inspector, “with little error to be found if any.”

The Mount Airy Museum of Regional History is hosting a free presentation on Saturday, The History of WPAQ – A Round Table Discussion, from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. up on the third floor of the museum.

Several speakersare scheduled to take part, including WPAQ owner Kelly Epperson, and current or former WPAQ personalities and employees Brack Llewelyn, Mark Brown, Jennie Lowry, and Lew Bode. Each of them will be sharing their stories about the history.

Among the topics to be covered are stories about Ralph Epperson’s journey in the 1930s and 1940s to establish this area’s first radio station, stories about the music and performers that have played there along the way, stories about the landmark moments as well as a few tales about hi-jinks at the station.

Anyone with questions about tthe talk can contact the museum at mamrh@northcarolinamuseum.org or call 336-786-4478.

Secretive no more, Project Cobra has been uncoiled and brought forward from the shadows to be revealed. Surry County will be the beneficiary of its snakebite as it was announced Friday that it is Renfro Brands who will be the beneficiary of tax incentives to grow their operation on Riverside Drive in Mount Airy.

Renfro Brands said in a statement that the firm plans to invest approximately $2 million in equipment and infrastructure at its location in Mount Airy, and add what could eventually be close to three dozen jobs. Renfro Corporation changed name to Renfro Brands with its sale to a private holding company, The Renco Group Inc., in 2021.

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Dave Dinkins said, “We are excited to announce the expansion of our Riverside Drive facility. Our company was founded in Mount Airy in 1921 and we are glad to be able to continue to invest in the community.”

“This investment in our Mount Airy operations will add new and expanded capabilities that will keep us on the leading edge of our industry.”

Renfro Brands is well-known to residents of this area as a leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of quality socks and legwear. The products they produce are known to thankful feet around the world. According to Renfro officials, they are likely to have made one in five socks sold in the United States.

The company is the licensee for renowned global brands including Polo, Ralph Lauren, Dr. Scholl’s, Chaps, New Balance, Merrell, Sperry and Jeep. Renfro also owns premium fashion and performance brands, including K. Bell, HOTSOX and Copper Sole.

Mount Airy and Surry County were in competition with other locations in other states for the consolidation of operations that Project Cobra proposed. At that time the company was not identified except to say they had over 60 on staff and were looking to add as many as 35 more. There was some level of concern that there may be jobs lost locally had the decision gone another way.

To prevent that and entice the mystery company to expand and grow its footprint, Surry County and the City of Mount Airy each approved tax incentives for “Project Cobra” in late 2022 even though the details of the project site and company were kept a tight secret.

Some residents at the time questioned the level of secrecy and the county commissioners explained that tactical advantage for the business as well as the local governments was a key factor.

Renfro Brands has committed to invest $1,969,710 in Project Cobra during the public hearings and will receive $36,244 from Surry County and $36,341 from the City of Mount Airy in the form of local government incentives. The incentives are performance-based and reflect the company’s investment in taxable property.

City of Mount Airy Mayor Jon Cawley said, “We are thankful that Renfro Corporation continues to make investments in Mount Airy. Renfro has a long history as a strong corporate citizen and provides quality jobs for our citizens. This investment further solidifies Renfro’s commitment to our community.”

Eddie Harris, chair of the Surry County Board of Commissioners, said, “I want to thank Renfro Corporation for this expansion in Surry County and thank them for their continued investment in Surry County. When a global company like Renfro, with a historical birthright in Surry County, chooses to continue their investment in our community, it reinforces our position as a business-friendly location.”

Harris echoes the sentiment that Surry County is “open for business” as the county continues to seek opportunities and offer performance-based tax incentives to potential businesses in order to improve the economic outlook for the county and offer more jobs for residents.

“This incentive will keep people working and create new opportunities for others, and add new value to Surry County’s tax record,” the former director of the Surry Economic Development Partnership Todd Tucker said at the time of Project Cobra’s proposal.

According to the project’s presentations Alabama and South Carolina were also being considered as possible sites for what was described as the consolidation of a warehouse and distribution center.

“What do we have to lose?” Commissioner Van Tucker asked of the project. “I think it’s the best kind of proposed incentive package since I’ve seen since I’ve on the board. I don’t see how you can lose on this kind of deal.”

“It’s always been incumbent on this board to support small business in Surry County,” said Chairman Eddie Harris in initial support of the incentives package. He has expressed reticence in the past on tax incentives for businesses, pointing to what he described as past incentive packages that ran into the seven figures with enough conditions and stipulations to paper over the washroom wall with; those days are gone.

The expansion will add up to 35 more jobs to the area and will keep existing jobs here which will allow Renfro Brands to remain a valued member of the community. “Renfro supports the communities in which it operates, including providing financial support and facilitating the participation of its associates in causes including United Fund, United Way, American Red Cross and in support of disaster relief efforts around the world,” company officials said.

Members have been reappointed to the Mount Airy Zoning Board of Adjustment, considered one of the most powerful groups in the city.

That board is a quasi-judicial administrative body whose decisions affect private property rights to the same extent as court rulings. It has nine members, including two who serve as alternates.

Recently, the terms of three of its regular members expired, including Luke Morrison and Tim Devore, along with alternate Sharon Gates, which occurred on Jan. 1.

Both Morrison and Devore were approved for new four-year terms by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners during its meeting last Thursday night.

In addition, David Hall was appointed to the Zoning Board of Adjustment as a new alternate replacing Gates, also for a four-year period. The terms of all three individuals will expire on Jan. 31, 2027.

The stated purpose of the Zoning Board of Adjustment is to enforce the meaning and spirit of zoning and flood damage-prevention ordinances of the city.

Specifically, the board hears requests for variances, special-use permits and appeals of staff interpretations or enforcement of those ordinances.

Appeals can be taken to the Zoning Board of Adjustment by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board or bureau of the city of Mount Airy affected by any decision of a municipal official based on the zoning ordinance.

Elizabeth Martin presently chairs the group, which meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. when needed, in the downstairs conference room of the Municipal Building.

Flat Rock Elementary School officials recently named the school’s 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year and the Teaching Assistant of the Year.

Melanie Hartfield, an exceptional children’s teacher, was selected as Teacher of the Year while Donna Golding, a Pre-K teaching assistant, is the Teaching Assistant of the Year.

RALEIGH — Who knows how and why Lady Luck chooses to act as she does, but a local man who won a $132,313 Cash 5 lottery jackpot believes it was just a matter of the stars being aligned.

Gary Shelton II of Mount Airy had visited Mayberry Mart to buy a Powerball ticket, added a $1 Cash 5 ticket right before leaving the store on East Pine Street and ended up a big winner.

“When the Powerball (jackpot total) gets high I usually go buy one ticket and I just thought, ‘Well, I have a dollar left over so let me get one Cash 5 ticket, too,’” he told North Carolina Education Lottery officials in Raleigh.

Shelton, a 53-year-old educator, bought his lucky Quick Pick ticket for the game’s Jan. 28 drawing.

“It still doesn’t seem real,” he admitted after arriving at lottery headquarters Monday to collect his prize. “It seems like the stars are aligning for us this year.”

He took home $94,273 after required state and federal tax withholdings.

“I can’t even put into words what this means,” Shelton added. “It’s just a blessing.”

Shelton said he has always liked bluegrass music, with some of his winnings allowing the purchase of a Martin guitar. He also planned to buy his wife and daughter whatever they want and put the rest in savings.

Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina giving players the option of buying their tickets through a retail location or Online Play, either through the lottery website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.

The odds of winning a Cash 5 jackpot are 1 in 962,598. Tuesday’s jackpot, for example, was $100,000.

Ticket sales from lottery draw games make it possible for the state program to raise an average of $2.5 million a day officials say go towards education. Last year, Surry County received $6 million, including a $1.7 million school construction grant from money generated by the lottery, to support local educational programs.

• A recent traffic stop has resulted in a Mount Airy man being jailed under a $500,000 secured bond on charges of trafficking methamphetamine and opium/heroin along with other felony drug violations, according to city police reports.

Donnavan Alexander Tucker, 23, of 313 Mount View Drive, was encountered by officers last Thursday during the stop on U.S. 52 near Bluemont Road.

After an investigation, he was charged with the trafficking meth and trafficking opium/heroin violations along with three additional felonies: possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver; possession of cocaine with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver; and possessing an unspecified Schedule I controlled substance with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver.

Tucker additionally is accused of misdemeanor charges including possession of drug paraphernalia, simple possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance and possessing marijuana paraphernalia. He was scheduled to appear in Surry District Court on Wednesday.

• Also last Thursday, police were told that property valued at $1,410 had been stolen from the residence of Mary Goins Bouldin on Edgewood Place Lane. Included were a jewelry box containing miscellaneous items, a white in color Surrey Bank and Trust checkbook, a box of miscellaneous coins and paper money, various household items and a stash of silver dollars and other coins.

The larceny was perpetrated by an unknown party.

• A case of identity theft was reported to city police on Jan. 31, which involved someone using personal information of Jenita Renee Hughes of Austin Drive to obtain a post office box along with items that were not identified.

A bill is moving through the General Assembly in Raleigh that seeks to allow local school districts the flexibility to choose the date at which instruction will begin at public schools.

Surry County’s State House Rep. Sarah Stevens is among the co-sponsors of N.C. House Bill 51 that identifies Mount Airy City, Elkin City, and Surry County Schools to be among seven districts statewide that would be affected by a proposal that has found some bipartisan support.

As currently written, “The opening date for students shall be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26, and the closing date for students shall be no later than the Friday closest to June 11.” The new policy will allow for a start date as early as August 10.

School systems like those locally who have have workforce development or offer programs at community colleges must align their classroom time and exam schedules with existing calendars of the other institutions. Those calendars, however, do not line up with a traditional public school start date that lands closer to August 26.

“The current start date doesn’t allow for students to complete their semesters and exams at the middle and high school prior to Christmas break. The later start date also does not align with Surry Community College,” said Mount Airy City Schools communication director Emily Venable.

She said that regarding workforce development and the schools’ partnership with Surry Community College and local businesses, “Alignment is what is best for students.”

The proposed change stems from the findings of the House Select Committee on an Education System for North Carolina report which said, “The current requirement that schools begin no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and adjourn no later than the Friday closest to June 11 creates a school calendar that is not best suited to the needs of students and educators.”

“To better meet those needs local boards of education should be given greater calendar flexibility to better meet those needs.”

Mount Airy City Schools spent time over the last years talking with teachers and parents alike to gain their input on the school calendar. “In our focus groups and surveys over the years, we have found our parents and community to be supportive of an earlier start date, earlier than the Monday closest to August 26,” explained Venable.

“Our elected Board of Education is also supportive and vocal on the impacts to our local area, students, and families. Our staff also prefers an earlier start date. The most pressing concern for all groups is that it is what is best for students in our local area,” she said.

Surry County Schools officials wrote that they were using a schedule that aligned their calendar with that of Surry Community College. “Fifty percent of Surry County School System juniors and seniors are taking college courses so alignment with the community college calendar is vitally important for dually enrolled students.”

In early 2022 Surry County Schools began circulating draft calendars for the public to offer comments on with earlier start dates, noting at that time the earlier dates would depend upon state approval.

Superintendent Dr. Travis Reeves has spoken positively on the change they had made moving to the Innovative Year-Round Calendar. “We believe the Innovative calendar is right for our students in Surry County.”

What may work best for school systems in this area may not be what is best for students elsewhere. “We are in support of efforts that allow school districts to create a calendar that best fits the needs of the school families.”

“One size does not fit all in North Carolina. From the mountains to the seas from snow to sand, we require different resources for different areas and that includes the flexibility of the resource of time,” Venable said.

Moore, Randolph, Gaston County Schools as well as Asheboro City schools are also targeted for the change that has advanced to the House Standing Committee on Local Government on Feb. 14. Year-round schools have a built-in exclusion to the school system calendar changes proposed in the bill.

In North Carolina a school calendar must cover at least nine calendar months, have a minimum of 185 days or 1,025 hours of instruction, and must have at least nine teacher workdays.

Longtime local businessman and former Mount Airy city council member Steve Yokeley has been named as interim president and chief executive officer for the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce.

He fills the post vacated when Randy Collins resigned in December, while the chamber’s executive committee searches for a permanent replacement.

“The chamber is just a vital part of the community, but without a leader,” Yokeley said of his decision to take on the role. “They needed some help, and I was just honored to be asked to help for a little while.”

Yokeley said members of the chamber’s executive committee — made up of the board’s officers — approached him with the idea last week. He told them he would be happy to step in to help, so the board named him the interim president and CEO and introduced him to the staff earlier this week.

“They have a wonderful staff,” he said. “I was really surprised when Randy resigned… but he left it in excellent condition. It’s very strong, they are just a super staff, every one of them are on the ball. They have really kept it going, they are already getting things organized…I know we’re all going to work well as a team.”

Yokeley, who served on the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners for 13 years, has been active in the local business community for many years. The long-time dentist retired from that field, only to start his own real estate firm, Group 3 Real Estate. On Tuesday, Yokeley said he sold that firm a couple of years ago, though he continues to work there on a part-time basis.

Now, he said he expects to be spending quite a bit of his time at the chamber office on Main Street. “I will probably be there most days, attending all of the chamber committee meetings…I anticipate I’ll be there some every day.”

In addition to crediting Collins for having left the chamber in solid shape and saying the staff there is strong and ready for continued challenges, Yokeley said all of the organization’s committees have strong chairpersons, with good leadership onboard.

When Collins stepped down at the end of 2022, the chamber said it would begin the search for a replacement, while naming Finance Director Tammy Snow as office manager for day-to-day office leadership. However, Snow has since left the chamber.

Attempts to reach chamber officials for comment were not successful.

“Dr. Yokeley is a former Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors member and has served in various capacities as a volunteer within the chamber and community, so we welcome him with a sense of familiarity and open arms,” the organization said in a social media posting announcing his appointment.

Yokeley said he is not sure on the board of directors’ plans for filling the position on a permanent basis, and while he might be open to the idea of working with the chamber long-term in a part-time capacity, he’s not really interested in taking on the CEO and president’s job on a full-time, long-term basis.

“I told them I would be available for two or three months, after that, I don’t know, I don’t know what their time frame is, I don’t know how far they are in the search,” he said. “I know it’s going to be a difficult search to replace Randy, I think they want to take time to make sure they get the right person.

“I’ve already had two careers. I may do a third one, but it’s going to be part-time,” he said.

For now, though, he said he is looking forward to working with the chamber in his new, albeit temporary, position.

“I’m excited about it. I’ve been on the chamber board for several years and know what an important part of the community it is. I just want to continue to be sure that is the case,” he said. “Hopefully we can grow it, too, increase membership and get people involved. It’s a wonderful thing for all the businesses, networking, making sure we have a strong program for economic development.”

Mount Airy police say a home invasion by an armed man late Tuesday afternoon was thwarted when the home owner shot the would-be invader.

According to information released by the Mount Airy Police Department, Joshua Wade Murphy, 41, was at home Tuesday when Daniel Scott Laskey Brown, of Mount Airy, broke into Murphy’s home through the front door while armed with a handgun.

“Once Brown came through the front door, he was confronted by Joshua Murphy, who fired one shot, striking Brown in the neck,” the statement from the police department said.

The statement, released by Police Chief Dale Watson, said the incident occurred shortly before 4:30 p.m., when officers were dispatched to the Andrews Street residence of Murphy in reference to reports of a shooting.

”Officers responded to the residence and located the home owner, Joshua Wade Murphy…standing in the front yard of his residence armed with a shotgun. There was a white male lying in the front yard who had sustained a single gunshot wound to the neck.”

The man suffering from the gunshot wound, Brown, “…was transported by Surry County EMS to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Hospital at which point he was immediately treated for his injuries,” the police chief said. He was admitted to the hospital and was still listed as being in critical condition as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

No legal action has been taken against either men.

“After consulting with the Surry County District Attorney’s Office there will be no criminal charges issued at this time,” the chief’s statement said.

What appeared to be a major law enforcement operation Monday evening just off Rockford Street ended with a woman being led away in handcuffs and charged with driving while impaired and child abuse.

The incident occurred around 6 p.m. as darkness was setting in, making the flashing blue lights from a cluster of Mount Airy Police Department vehicles assembled behind The Red Barn facility readily noticeable to passersby.

At first it appeared that The Red Barn, where multiple businesses operate, might have been a focus of attention by police.

One officer asked about the situation at the scene declined to offer any information about its nature.

But a witness said the woman, operating a 2004 Lincoln Navigator sport-utility vehicle, had led police into a rear parking lot at that location on the corner of Rockford and Worth Streets, with The Red Barn not involved.

The several law enforcement vehicles that converged were lined up behind the SUV driven by the woman, with another parked off to the side as if to hem in the SUV on all sides.

This culminated with the arrest of its driver, whom Police Chief Dale Watson identified as Mary Mar Reyes, 28, of 130 Eastwinds Court.

Watson described the restraining of Reyes as standard procedure: “Yes, being handcuffed is standard when we place someone under arrest, even for DWI.”

It also was not known why so many officers were involved in her arrest. But this can result from someone reporting an allegedly impaired driver at a certain location and the call being received by multiple units that then respond to get the motorist off the road before problems occur.

The witness at the scene said it appeared a child had been in the car with the woman arrested. The child was picked up and taken away by another party, the witness added.

In addition to DWI, Reyes was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and having no operator’s license. Police records indicate she also had no insurance.

Reyes is scheduled to appear in Surry District Court on Feb. 20.

Establishing the county as a sanctuary for life, the board of county commissioners Monday voted to approve the non-binding resolution that had been requested from some members of the community last year.

This endeavor was a labor of love for supporters of the resolution who felt that they were advocating for those who could not advocate for themselves. They expressed that these are not embryos or hypothetical future citizens, but rather from the moment of conception are full human beings with all the same unalienable God given rights the founders said shall be afforded to all.

Kevin Reece told the board that he was glad they were taking up the resolution and recognizing that life begins at conception. “We’re here because God gave us life and out mothers made the choice to go through with it,” he said. “I’m glad my mother went through with it.”

“I’m thankful to have three minutes you gave me because the kids aborted don’t get that. I’m happy to speak on their behalf,” Jason Johnson of Snow Hill Baptist said in support of the measure.

He was speaking for himself and members of the gallery when he said, “I am glad God gave me life, and gave me eternal life. God is pro-life and he wants us to be pro-life.”

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization struck down the precedent set by Roe v. Wade, Reece said that more and more people are coming into North Carolina to have abortions.

The Roe decision established federal level abortion policy that was the law of the land, but Dobbs has thrown the matter back for individual states to make their own policies.

Some states have more restrictions on when an abortion can be done. Gov. Cooper has noted the state will not seek to prosecute anyone crossing state lines to seek treatment they cannot obtain in their home state causing one of many slippery slopes due to a wide range of state policies on abortion.

“It’s my belief people have been flocking to our state to murder children. The more towns and boards that recognize that life begins at conception sends the message to Raleigh that we need to do something about it,” he said.

Woodrow Holder of Holy Cross Missionary Baptist recounted from the Old Testament the tale of Cain and Abel, “Cain slew Abel, he killed his brother. The Bible says his brother’s blood cried out from the ground.”

Holder’s point of view was that being a remaining a silent casual observer to abortion is similar to being an accessory to murder. “ I am sorry to have to say this but I am afraid we have all slew our brothers and sisters because we haven’t stood up more for life. It breaks my heart the shape this nation’s got in.”

“It’s shocking that we have to be here doing this,” Paula Stanley agreed. “I can’t believe we live in a nation where we have to say this…. We’ve lost our way.” She feels that every county across the state should be taking the same stance to proclaim themselves advocates of pro-life policies.

Advocates for the unborn rose from unlikely places. “I don’t understand why a man that is 6’4” and weighs 280 pounds would have anything to do with this, but God keeps putting it in my path. I am here, as has been said, to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves,” Mitch Callaway of Stones Throw Christian Ministries said.

Some expressed they did not appreciate the way distant politicians and judges have forced their point of view on others like, “The so-called intellectual elite…who arrogantly think that they know better than us ignorant rednecks of Surry County tell us that women must have a choice; after all, it is their bodies,” Earl Blackburn explained to the board.

“Yes, they do have a choice just like a person who owns a gun has a choice.”

“If a person with the right to choose takes a gun and kills someone else, that choice becomes murder. Abortion is the same way…. Do not babies in the womb have a choice whether they live or die? I think they do but they cannot speak up for themselves,” he said.

Since 1970 the CDC, Blackburn said, reported 70 million abortions but that states such as Illinois and California have not reported their data. The true number of lost souls cannot be calculated and among those could have been the next Mozart, Michael Jordan, or Billy Graham, “Alas, we’ll never know.”

Commissioner Van Tucker echoed the same. “I too am an adoptive father and was blessed to adopt an infant son with my precious wife Karen. We brought him home at three days and he is now 37 years old: he is a gift from God.”

“We brought him home and probably helped his chance at life, but he has greatly enriched my life and many, many more. I have to believe saving life and protecting it in the womb could have some other great results like that.”

Martin Cable got choked up when explained he wasn’t a preacher but, “Just a citizen who had the privilege of adopting a baby girl that otherwise I never would have gotten to raise. The mom made the choice to keep her, and I was fortunate enough to adopt her… a life than could have been aborted, but it changed my life.”

Chairman Eddie Harris regularly poses questions on the nature of the family in modern American life. He has asked if some of the dysfunction and disconnect of the 21st century may be caused in part from the breakdown of values. The value humans place on life is high on that list. “There’s been too much cheapening of human life… it’s a disgrace to our nation. I hope God can bring some change to our nation and make us appreciate the sanctity of life.”

He went on to note that the resolution was not a direct response to Dobbs v. Jackson but rose from the public and comments during open forum from individuals and groups such as Lifeline Pregnancy Center and Stones Throw. With other county elected officials on hand from Wilkes County and the Town of Rhonda who helped the board refine the resolution, and with similar resolutions passing in neighboring counties Harris said, “The timing is appropriate, and the time is now.”

“I am happy to make the motion that we adopt the resolution…declaring Surry County to be a strong advocate for life and urging the citizen of the county to promote and defend the inalienable right to life,” Tucker said, bringing the matter to a vote which had the expected outcome, a unanimous decision in support of the resolution.

From its introduction the five members of the Surry County commissioners spoke in support of the pro-life resolution. While there are nuanced differences between them on abortion born from pragmatism, they were in agreement that life is sacred and each one has its own intrinsic value.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — A concert by the Grammy-winning band Old Crow Medicine Show is scheduled in April to headline a new festival being launched by the town of Pilot Mountain.

The first-ever Pilot Mountain Outdoor Adventure Festival and Expo is set for the weekend of April 21-23, to include activities both downtown and at Armfield Civic and Recreation Center Park nearby.

Old Crow Medicine Show is slated to perform at 8 p.m. on April 22 in the baseball field section of the Armfield Center.

“We know we can fit 6,000 (people) into that area,” said Scott Needham, a Pilot Mountain town commissioner who has been involved with putting the new festival together along with other municipal personnel.

Needham was referring to Old Crow Medicine Show’s tendency to draw large, sell-out crowds, something being signaled as word of its upcoming appearance has spread.

He said Tuesday that 2,000 tickets already had been scooped up by fans of the group specializing in old-time/folk/alternative country/Americana sounds with a reputation for putting on high-energy concerts.

“We sold about 1,000 tickets our first week,” Needham added.

In addition to capturing a Grammy Award in 2015 for Best Folk Album, titled “Remedy,” Old Crow Medicine Show has been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. Its more well-known songs include “Wagon Wheel” and ”Paint This Town.”

The band originated in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and presently is based in Nashville.

Needham said one of its members, guitarist Mason Via, hails from Stokes County.

Tickets can be ordered via the town of Pilot Mountain website at https://www.pilotmountainnc.org/vist/page/music

A lawn concert-style seating format will be involved, with attendees invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets but no coolers or outside food/drinks.

In addition to the music at Armfield Civic and Recreation Center Park, seven groups will perform at a downtown bandstand on West Main Street on both Saturday and Sunday during the Pilot Mountain Outdoor Adventure Festival and Expo weekend.

Further planned is a Friday night downtown block party on April 21 to feature music by a DJ.

While much attention surrounds the concert by Old Crow Medicine Show, Needham said the overall purpose of the Pilot Mountain Outdoor Adventure Festival and Expo involves promoting local natural resources.

He pointed out that plans for the inaugural gathering are coinciding with 2023 being declared the Year of the Trail in North Carolina.

To that end, the festival is an attempt to showcase such attributes in the Pilot Mountain area.

“We have two state parks that are real close together,” Needham said of Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock. “We think our future is in the outdoor recreation economy.”

As is the case with many small towns in the region, Pilot Mountain has suffered from the closing of traditional textile industries that were their lifeblood for generations.

Needham said it is hoped the festival will highlight what the town has to offer and perhaps entice manufacturers or retailers of products geared toward the outdoor recreation industry.

“Hopefully, it will improve our economy,” he said regarding implications of the upcoming event.

Along with music, it will feature elements stressing the outdoor focus, including a bike criterium (typically a mass start, multi-lap event contested on a closed course where laps tend to be a mile or less and include four to six corners); a disc golf tournament at Armfield Civic Center; and a 5K run.

Various vendors also are to be part of the festival footprint, including those offering beer and wine, among other attractions.

Organizers believe the booking of Old Crow Medicine Show will be a major driver for the what the Pilot Mountain Outdoor Adventure Festival and Expo seeks to accomplish.

Needham credits Christy Craig, local events coordinator, who chairs the Pilot Mountain Tourism Development Authority, for lining up a group of that caliber.

“She really beat the bushes,” he said.

Needham invites everyone to come and enjoy all aspects of the new festival “and help our area grow.”

Cedar Ridge Elementary School recently named its leaders of the month for January among the student body and the staff.

“These students and staff members have shown respect,” school officials said, referencing the character trait being emphasized during the month.

Surry Rural Health Center and Scenic Pharmacy provided T-shirts for the student leaders and Matt Swift of Farm Bureau provided a gift to the staff leader, Victoria Calhoun.

On the heels of a successful Mayberry Citizens Academy last fall, Mount Airy officials are rolling out a spring edition of the program to give local residents the opportunity to learn more about city government.

“It is no secret that citizens across the United States possess little knowledge about their government or its operations,” City Manager Stan Farmer said in a statement announcing the latest academy and the role it can play in addressing that issue.

“This is particularly true at the local government level,” Farmer added. “Ironically, residents know least about the level of government closest to them.”

Mount Airy officials are seeking to bridge this gap with the continuation of the Mayberry Citizens Academy.

Its second version will start on March 7 and run for a total of eight sessions each Tuesday evening over an eight-week period until April 25.

During those classes, to run from 5:30 to 7 p.m., a different aspect of local government will be covered by the city manager or relevant department head.

The range of topics includes city and state government relations; fire operations; police and code enforcement; public works/utilities; finance; parks and recreation; and planning. The last session will be a graduation ceremony.

Farmer pointed out that the aim of the program is to better inform citizens about matters that typically arise in municipal government and alleviate a lack of understanding often greeting those.

“This paradox can create challenges for local government leaders who try to garner resident buy-in, particularly when addressing complex issues such as new ordinances, funding capital projects or rezoning decisions,” the city manager stated.

“Although articles (from) the local newspaper, city website, social media and Board of Commissioners meetings can help local governments connect with residents, public sector leaders have long sought better methods for promoting engagement and information sharing.”

The Mayberry Citizens Academy reflects a nationwide trend of local government officials initiating programs promoting a better understanding of local governments, according to Farmer.

Variously referred to as citizen academies or leadership institutes, these programs seek to educate through direct contact with public officials, site visits and hands-on activities.

“These programs are fairly common throughout the nation,” Farmer advised.

The upcoming Mayberry Citizens Academy is limited to 15 attendees.

“Several of Mount Airy’s finest have signed up already for the spring class,” the city manager reported last Friday. He says there is no deadline to do so, with the registration to proceed on a first-come, first-served based until the class limit is reached.

Those interested in learning about their local government and having a little fun in the process, Farmer pledged, are asked to complete a short, half-page application on the city of Mount Airy website — at https://www.mountairy.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=495— which can be sent to sfarmer@mountairy.org or dropped off at the Municipal Building.

Applicants must be city residents, but if there are seats remaining non-residents may be considered. Emphasis will be given to creating a diverse class from as many different neighborhoods within Mount Airy as possible, organizers say.

An attendance policy will be in force to ensure a full and dedicated class. Participants missing two or more classes do not graduate, but will have the option to make up classes they missed when the next academy takes place.

Those doing so may graduate with the next academy.

During the graduation ceremony, each student will be presented with a certificate of completion signed by the mayor, and a class shirt embroidered with the city logo.

Their pictures will be taken with the mayor and classmates to be sent to the local newspaper and other media outlets.

Franklin Elementary School recently named its second quarter honor roll students.

Fifth grade: Aliyah Collins, Mattix Cutler, Audree Edwards, Emma Edwards, Tyson Galloway, Smith Golding, Matthew Gonzalez-Almazan, Callie Hazel, David Marmolejo Mejia, Nevaeh Moore, Natily Presnell, Jayden Smith, Easton Tolbert, Zendaya Valentine, Scharlynn Ward, and Maddox Watson.

Fourth grade: Wrenzo Freeman, Braden Kane, Alan Morales, Laila Sawyers, and Jasmine Snow.

Third grade: Monserrat Bedolla-Villalobos, Caleb Bowman, Zander Cox, Teri Dunlap, Koralee Horton, Ty Horton, Nolan Kelley, Natalee Leonard, Emma Meadows, Troy Tate, Kayla Villegas-Silva, and Sophie Willard.

Fifth grade: McKenzie Atkins, Carter Brady, Daisy Brown, Hailey Burch, Caleb Cain, Caleb Carney, Austin Cornett, Kylah Crouse, Kira Dillon, Adalyn Easter, Bella Gray, Macey Hiatt, Reilly Hill, Traelyn Howlett, Samantha Huff, Konner Jones, Matthew Karns, Madilyn Kelley, Serenity Leftwich, Adrian Linares, Selene McBride, Dawson McHone, Cohen Nichols, Gracie Pack, Isaiah Payne, Madison Phillips, Stella Rakes, Jayden Resendiz, Kyra Steele, Annie Tate-Grimaldo, Saylor Tolbert, Isaiah Turner, and Michael Wright.

Fourth grade: Ainsley Barnard, Esteban Caballero Lopez, Dallas Casad, Adriel Casas Plaza, Jose Elias-Lee, Talia Gearheart, Luz Gonzalez, Evan Gwyn, Willow Holmes, Lua Hull, Maddie Hull, Austin Johnson, Paisley Montgomery, Avery Phillips, Abel Ramirez Martinez, Dylan Ramirez Torres, Samira Raya, Natalie Rincon-Torres, Anastasia Rodriguez, Malakai Smith, Kyndle Stanley, Madilyn Tenney, Aeve Tolbert, Lauren Williams, and Giovani Zuvieta.

Third grade: Ariana Acevedo, Dixon Alderman, Brody Anthony, Tymin Ayers, Sarai Bedolla-Ibarra, Jaxon Burton, Isabella Cabrera, Kiera Cipko, Samuel Coalson, Mya Dillard, Carter Dotterweich, Boston Easter, Braelyn Edward, Asher Gates, Mariam Gwyn, Sadie Hamm, Matthew Jenkins II, Elizabeth McCall, Eli Metcalf, William Middleton, Darcy Patterson, J’lyn Puckett, William Ratcliff, Samuel Sanchez, Layla Smith, Nolan Smith, Abby Sutherland, Cristian Vega, David Whitfield, and Sophie York.

A group of former Surry County Department of Social Services employees are offering a response to interim director Wayne Black’s recent report to the county commissioners on Department of Social Services staffing.

They also commented on the recent murder case involving the death of 4-year-old Skyler Wilson, whose adoptive parents, Joseph “Joe” Paul Wilson and Jodi Ann Wilson, age 38, have been charged.

The four former social service workers asked that their names not be used, for fear of reprisals as well as the possibility of creating issues for those still working for the department.

“We all have a lot of years of experience with DSS and we have said lots of this to anyone who would listen for a long time,” one of the workers, known as Marge, said. “It got to the point where we couldn’t continue to work in the environment, we were working in. We are talking so maybe people will listen and cause some changes.”

One of the major issues the women took exception with was the training systems in place at the state and county level. Upon getting hired staff are sent to three weeks of state-mandated training that they said was insufficient. It was described as “not real-world practice” but rather classroom study, reading, note taking, and learning to do paperwork.

“No one can prepare you to be a child welfare worker, the training that the state provides is not enough,” Marge said.

New hires are sent back to the county with the expectation that more training will be done, but that was not the experience of this group, who said it was rare to get the full complement of training. One of the workers known as Shelly said, “When you get back, it’s sort of sink or swim and so many people wash right out.”

“When you go back to your county, they should implement a training program there which I would say most of the smaller counties do not have because of the resources we do not have,” she said.

Black told the commissioners staffing is the major issue at the local department. One of the former workers known as Wendy agreed. “My entire time at DSS, I can count on one hand the number of times we were fully staffed.”

“We have had to fight and beg for more positions over the years and it’s still proved to not be enough,” Wendy said and referred to Black adding Vanguard Professional Services to manage out-of-county visits.

She said that is only a partial fix. “They have kids placed everywhere from Alabama to Greensboro to Fayetteville and have to see them every month. Vanguard can do it, but they are not in every county and they can only visit two of three months. Surry DSS still must go once a quarter to see these kids,” she said.

“You come in with zero experience and you’re handed a full case load like someone whose been there for years and are still expected to meet the state requirements and the state recommended case load,” the former work known as Fran explained.

“For the foster workers their state recommended case load is 15 and I can think of maybe two times that staff had 15 kids. You know right now, there is one foster care social worker and two supervisors for 120 kids in their care. So, you can do the math there. There is no one who ever has a case load of 15.”

These women say that they gave warnings repeatedly to get the attention of anyone who would listen. Too many cases meant that some child protective services home visits were not happening as they should, “Which is very scary that there were some kids who literally had not been seen in a month or two due to lack of staff. It’s not people being lazy, its due to a lack of staffing.”

In the summer of 2021, they noted the county had only two staff workers in Child Protective Services, one of whom was doing investigation and assessment and the other was performing in-home services. Fran said, “Every time a report comes in it is screened and there may be 10 to 15 a day.”

“So, you got one person to do that and also contact the hospital, therapists, or sit with the child. It’s completely unrealistic to think that an agency can have two staff members to do all those things and do it the right way.”

Black told the county commissioners that a lack of staff led to more work for fewer hands, which leads to frustration and to errors. Wendy said it has been that way for some time. “This is not new, not new at all.”

While the group did not discuss specifics of the Skyler Wilson case, they said the department had no authority to do home visits to check on Skyler. While he had been in foster care, the Wilson’s had completed the adoption process and were his legal guardians.

“At one point they were fosters but they were adopted so there was no follow up on that. Nobody dropped the ball in the fact that they weren’t seeing the kids monthly,” Wendy said

The group reported mental and physical health issues like weight gain/loss and sleep deprivation as after-effects of working for DSS. One thing they said would have been of great help to them would be professional counseling services “because we see the worst of the worst,” Shelly said.

Beginning before the pandemic, they said concerns were raised and they followed those warnings up in the summer of 2021 with multiple attempts of correspondence. Fran said, “We were telling them that Foster had up to 34 active cases for one person and that staffing was an issue, but nothing was worked on: zero.”

When they reported these issues to supervisors, Wendy said they got answers like, “We’re going to work on that, thank you.” Another response they were given that elicited a strong reaction from the group was, “Read the policy.”

“I would love to read the policy, if you’d give me a couple weeks,” Marge said and noted she never got that time and instead she quit the department. “When you’re in the middle of a million things and you need an answer ‘read the policy’ is not a good answer.”

Fran added. “Even the supervisors are overworked. With some missing structure and people, it makes everybody just feel chaos from top to bottom.”

Some of that chaos leads to trouble on the staff, “There is no hand holding. There have been multiple times where if you cry because you have just seen a baby be shaken or seen a baby in the hospital with bruises it’s like ‘you need to get over it,” Shelly said. They noted that EMS gets a debrief when they have a fatality, but there is no support system in place for DSS workers.

“Some of it is pay but being a social worker is a passion for a lot of people and none of us went into it for the money. Had the environment been different, had we been supported, and maybe a little more pay would be nice: we would not be gone.”

“I couldn’t tell you how hard it was to make the decision to leave. The job is not what I had a problem with,” Marge said. “I love working with kids and families and loved reunifications.”

A lot of their frustrations cannot be fixed by Surry County leaders but rather by state level policymakers. Policies are written in such a way that it is difficult to classify something as abuse or neglect, for example.

“The biggest reason we want to be heard is we want the best for these families and these kids. We want the system to improve; people deserve better. With the high caseloads and the lack of staff, that’s how things get messed up, or missed,” Wendy said.

They expressed a need for the county to have someone monitoring changes to state social services policies and working to educate the staff and perhaps to add counseling services for a staff stretched thin.

Shelly expressed the frustration of the group, “Its soul sucking when you’re passionate about things and then leave so jaded.”

“There needs to be somebody who cares enough to change the environment,” Fran suggested. “We can say change policy but what’s going on here is there must someone to go in there and observe without bias, and then promote. Go to a career fair, go to social workers, and make it appealing. There are people like us who want to do the job.”

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