A PART bus is seen parked at the Winston Salem Transit Authority terminal in downtown Winston-Salem. (Photo courtesy PART)

The Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation was created in 1997 as part of a larger statewide effort to improve transportation systems. The goal is to enhance mobility, address congestion, and reduce transportation related impacts on our air quality.

PART Route 6 is the Surry County Express running from Winston-Salem to Mount Airy.

Questions about taxation versus participation in the intercounty bus program have led the Surry County Board of Commissioners to question whether the county benefits from further participation in the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation.

A lengthy conversation was held Monday night between the board and Scott Rhine, president and CEO of PART, in which he sought to allay the concerns of the commissioners and keep Surry County as a contributing member.

PART is the regional authority that runs bus service between counties and has been touted since its inception as a novel way to move people from where they live to where they work. The plan advertises benefits of savings for the driver in gas, convenience of not driving, and the environmental impact of fewer cars with a single rider making a commute.

PART asked the board for their approval last fall to apply for federal funding to increase Route 6 service to Surry County. In 2014 Rhine had also sought a specific grant to expand the rural services being offered, to no avail. “We have not gotten the federal funds to expand rural service, that is why we wanted this grant.”

Rhine said that the model for bussing people from rural to urban areas is different than that of moving people between two urban areas for work. “Choice” riders are ones who have a vehicle of their own but for economic or convenience reasons are opting to park their car and use the public transportation options.

Commissioner Van Tucker has for months been pointing out that ridership for PART on Route 6 is down and was trending down before the pandemic. Rhine countered that ridership data over the past five years or so was skewed by the long-term Business I-40 project in Winston-Salem that led to more people using PART services during that time.

Due to COVID-19, ridership dropped 50% but Rhine noted those levels have climbed back to within 25% of pre-pandemic levels.

From his perspective, Rhine sees low ridership as something that can be addressed by adding more options and services, not eliminating them. “The frequency of service is where you give people the opportunity to make a choice to get on the bus. We want to expand the service to increase ridership.”

Rhine feels PART has seen and been able to show a need for their service in rural areas and reminded the board that there is more that PART offers than just the Route 6 bus service.

Van pool services are facilitated by PART as well, although the number of active van pools have plummeted across the state from 57 to 12. There are still van pools operating out of Surry County, these are paid for by the riders themselves, or in what are now rarer instances, employers may subsidize van pooling.

Declines have been seen in ridership numbers in all forms of public transportation across the state and the country. According to Rhine the trend of working from home contributes to this. “I don’t have a crystal ball,” Commissioner Tucker observed on this trend, “so many people stay at home for work. I wonder if they’re ever going back to work?”

“I have some van pools groups that are coming back because employers are not liking the remote work,” Rhine told the board. “I do have some though that will never change,” he tempered.

Taxes and fees may apply

“My main thing is I want what’s best for the people of Surry County, and I don’t see being a member of PART at this time serves the citizens of the county,” Commissioner Larry Johnson said. He has been asking similar questions about PART and has been vocal about his desire for the county to exit the partnership.

Johnson has stated he likes to rent cars, but he is no fan of the 5% rental car tax in the county that is being used to fund PART. There is no membership fee to be in the authority so the rental car tax, a tax on license plate registration or a sales tax increase were listed as the three ways the county could fund their share.

The commissioners previously balked at the license plate fee, Rhine recalled, and he said the sales tax is being used for schools. That leaves a 5% tax on cars rented within the county to fund the county’s participation in and the services yielded from PART which include the busses themselves as well as the physical bus stops built to accommodate the park and ride.

Surry county’s tax was estimated to yield $90,000 in revenue to PART’s collective coffers. What the board may not have been aware of was the fact the county was getting a little slice of that car rental tax pie as well, which Rhine slid into the conversation subtly by asking the commissioners how they would recoup the lost revenue from the county’s part of the rental car tax.

PART consists of ten counties that work together in a regional partnership that all the constituent members agreed to. When Surry’s commissioners agreed to enter into the authority, they entered into a special tax zone that the regional authority manages.

Rhine and County Attorney Ed Woltz have been in conversation with one another for a few months now about how Surry County can remove itself from PART, and the answers are not straightforward.

Rhine said there is more to it than just exiting the authority on paper and having to deal with assets purchased or built with federal funds will be complicated. “Dealing with federal assets is more painstaking than trying to get federal funding to increase ridership, which was the course of action I was taking versus looking at dismissing and dissolving.”

Davie and Yadkin counties are no longer receiving the benefits of being a member of PART while still seating a member of their authority’s board. Their commissioners also passed the rental car tax but could not raise it and did not pursue another funding source.

If a county cannot or does not contribute to the regional authority, they cannot be the beneficiary of the services that other counties are paying for. For that reason, PART had to terminate services to those counties, except for the user paid for van pool program.

The board passed a resolution Monday to request the county be removed from PART. The request will now go to the regional authority board for further consideration, but the intent has been made clear from the commissioners that they are seeking to fully withdraw from the regional transportation authority, the bus lines, and to no longer collect the sales tax on rental cars.

Commissioner Eddie Harris elicited a chuckle from his fellow board members and the crowd as he summarized the discussion, “So, this is either going to be a nice divorce, or a messy one.”

Rhine agreed, “Just like life, yes sir.”

14 first responders graduate from crisis training

East Surry’s Becker, Villasenor place at state meet

For the fifth consecutive year — and the tenth over the past fifteen years — Native American people will be gathering in nearby King for the King City Powwow.

While the event is a way for area residents to see the colorful Native American dress worn by the participants and a chance to experience authentic Native American dance and chants, it is important to organizers for another reason.

“Our culture is our history,” said Patrick Suarez, one of the chief organizers and a citizen of the Meherrin Indian Nation of Ahoskie. “Through song, dances and our arts/crafts we are able to preserve our rich traditions for our future…generations. We hope by having our annual powwow that it provides true understanding and history of our people. This is an opportunity that people can have hands-on experiences that books cannot teach.”

The powwow will be Aug. 13-14, at 436 Main Street in King. On the first day, there will be grand entries for those leading the event and the dancers at noon and at 6:30 p.m., and again on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

Joey Crutchfield and Eddie Nickens will be leading the event, along with Head Man Ryan Dial-Stanley and Head Lady Idalis Jacobs. Smokey River will be the Southern drum host, while Red Clay will be serving as Northern drum host.

Cheyenne S. Daniel, of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of Hollister and a former Miss Indian North Carolina, will be performing as hoop dancer.

This year marks the second in-person gathering since the coronavirus pandemic began. In 2020, Suarez said organizers “thought outside the box” a bit and held a virtual powwow, with more than 10,000 people logging on to watch.

Normally, he said the crowd for the popular King event draws between 2,000 and 4,000 visitors during the in-person events, from Stokes, Surry, and surrounding counties.

The first powwow was held in 2007, started and organized by Lance Redhawk. The event continued for several years, but took a five-year pause after the death of Redhawk’s brother. The powwow was restarted in 2017 and has been an annual event ever since.

In many ways, the gathering remains true to Redhawk’s goals 15 years ago: “To bring awareness of the indigenous culture here in the Triad,” Suarez said, explaining that many people with Native American lineage live in the region because of the work opportunities. “It was established to bring awareness of our culture, song, dance, arts/crafts and history.”

He said there are sometimes as many as 80 dancers, including Aztec dancers from Mexico, flute players and more than 20 authentic Native American vendors selling their arts and crafts.

“Each (of the) vendors were screened and handpicked to make sure they were either enrolled in a state or federally recognized nation. This is to ensure we follow the Indian arts and craft law to protect our indigenous artists’ work and make sure things are not made in China.” Native American food will also be on sale at the event.

Suarez said there is one federally recognized nation in North Carolina — the Cherokee — but there are seven such nations recognized officially by the state.

”There is a Powwow every weekend in all states,” he said of the gatherings. Anyone wishing to learn more about powwows in general, or to find where others may be held, can visit Powwows.com.

Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law last fall a change allowing creation of “Social Districts” where licensed retailers such as bars, breweries, and restaurants can sell alcoholic beverages for consumption in common areas.

Monday evening the Pilot Mountain Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt a plan creating such a district in the downtown defines as Main Street from Stephens to Depot Streets.

Local leaders said the “Downtown Pilot Mountain Social District” is meant to capitalize on the growing trend across the state and to “further the economic development efforts in downtown Pilot Mountain.”

Social districts create areas where a person can go into a licensed establishment, purchase an alcoholic beverage and then take that beverage out of the establishment and walk around the designated district. After discussion the board decided to limit the hours of the new social district to 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.

There are no changes to ABC laws outside of the established time frame nor outside the social district itself.

For those who have concerns that this is just an open invitation for rabble-rousers to hoist a pint of brew on the sidewalk, Mayor Evan Cockerham seeks to assuage those fears, “If you look into the social district law the town just adopted, it is very heavily-regulated.”

He said he thinks that troublemakers “aren’t the ones that will buy the drink from a local business, in a special social district cup. Because of this, I do not believe there are any significant drawbacks.”

Council member Scott Needham says he has been on board from the earliest stage of the new plan. “I have been the biggest advocate for a social district and downtown Pilot Mountain. We have over 30 events downtown and some of them have roped off areas with a beer garden or concert area where we invite breweries and wineries to serve alcohol. For each one of these events, we have to get a permit to serve.”

“The social district would save us time and money in not having to get those permits each time. As long as the event goers have the designated cups, they will be able to walk all around in the designated area downtown with their beverage.”

Cockerham said, “This puts our local establishments like The Tilted Ladder on a level-playing field with vendors that participate in our events. Before, if you wanted to have a drink while you enjoyed live music on Main Street, you would have to purchase from a vendor on the street. You would not be able to purchase a drink from a brick-and-mortar store and carry it out.”

This is not designed to mimic the wild west or Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, “You still will need to remain within the confines of our social district with your beverage. We believe this will allow folks more opportunity to shop around at local businesses, that allow beverages in their stores,” the mayor said.

“We believe this may help attract additional businesses and visitors to Main Street. We’ve already seen a revitalization in terms of great local businesses opening on Main Street, and this is part of that overall effort — in addition to the physical improvements to downtown, promotional efforts, incentives, and events that appeal to the whole family.”

Needham agrees with his assessment, “We hope to use the social district as a marketing tool. To attract more visitors to our downtown and also to attract more businesses. We hope that this increases foot traffic to our downtown. That would help the shops we already have, attract more retail businesses, and possibly a brewery and/or a distillery to our downtown.”

He echoed Cockerham’s note about the fairness of the new plan and how a “rising tide lifts all boats” mentality suggests more foot traffic and interest in downtown businesses can help all those businesses, even those not selling alcohol.

“This approach is more fair to the businesses here in downtown that pay rent twelve months a year and at this time cannot allow customers to take alcohol outside of their businesses. It would allow customers from those establishments to be able to go out and enjoy the music, shops that allow beverages, and/or festivities during these events — and other weekends. Not just the wineries and the breweries that we invite for that particular event.”

“If someone wants a domestic, they would be able to buy one of those from these established businesses and still be able to participate in the event just like the people buying alcohol from the vendors.”

The concept is gaining in popularity with other cities across the state in various stages of planning or implementation of social districts including Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point, New Bern, Albemarle, and Wilmington.

The Raleigh City Council voted unanimously on a temporary trial for a social district beginning next week, even expanding the borders created in the initial plan to broaden the area before it launched.

With so many opportunities already for tourists to comes and spend time in this corner of the state, the Downtown Pilot Mountain Social District is yet another attempt to provide more options for guests and residents alike to linger and enjoy all Surry County has to offer.

Citizens soon will have a chance to weigh in on an updated master plan for downtown Mount Airy which proposes major changes including new housing and other developments, expanded parking and traffic reconfigurations.

“These are all major projects to help downtown Mount Airy move forward in the future,” President Jason Epley of the Benchmark consulting firm said when presenting plan highlights during a city council meeting last Thursday.

Benchmark, which has been providing planning services to Mount Airy since city officials privatized those functions in 2011, last year took on the added task of refreshing an earlier downtown master plan completed in 2004.

The Mount Airy Board of Commissioners voted last November to commit $67,000 in city funds for the update along with money from the group Mount Airy Downtown Inc. for a total commitment of about $125,000.

Efforts kicked off soon after which involved Benchmark staff interviews with local citizens including property owners and municipal officials to gain their perspective on downtown needs.

“Fifty-five people were interviewed in the course of about three days,” Epley said, with a written survey also undertaken to solicit input on traffic and other issues along with listening sessions.

He added that 120 people were involved in a workshop effort in April to help guide the plan update to fruition.

A further opportunity for citizen input will come early next month due to the commissioners voting to set a public hearing on the downtown master plan update during a meeting on Sept. 1 at 6 p.m.

A key part of the update focuses on vehicular travel downtown, with the plan recommending that one-way traffic be maintained along North Main Street — the chief artery through the central business district — thereby rejecting the alternative.

“In the survey it was very clear no one wanted to go back to two-way traffic,” the Benchmark president said of a format in place years ago which was flirted with during the recent rebooting process.

However, the proposal includes five different one-way options, three of which would involve switching from the present two lanes of travel to one with either angled or parallel parking on one side. The street itself would be 20 feet wide.

Epley explained that this reflects a desire to create “flex space” to allow more outdoor dining and other changes on sidewalks which would be accomplished by providing a 20-foot space on each side of the street.

Sidewalks of 12 to 20 feet wide are eyed, along with the addition of trees, burial of above-ground utility lines, strategically placed loading zones, new decorative street lights and a removable bollard system.

Larger flex spaces could be employed at street corners under the plan, which contains photos from cities such as West Palm Beach, Florida, and Greer, South Carolina, where such flexible streetscape concepts have been successfully employed.

The updated plan also recommends the creation of “complete streets” for locations such as Independence Boulevard and Renfro Street as a way to enhance pedestrian safety.

This would involve reducing the number of travel lanes and “conflict points” for vehicles.

A greenway/multi-purpose path connection also is in the mix for the street plan.

Epley says the proposal for complete streets recognizes the fact that many people are drawn to downtown Mount Airy because of its opportunities for walking.

The master plan update additionally acknowledges the ongoing revitalization of the former Spencer’s textile mill property downtown and lists the funding and building of a conference and visitor center there as a priority.

“This is an exciting project to see happening,” Epley said.

In conjunction with this, the redevelopment of the Franklin Street area nearby is an important thrust of the plan in order to provide a “critical pedestrian link” to the conference center.

Improvements to an existing municipal parking lot are envisioned which would include expanding the spaces from 160 to about 210 and providing green spots.

Another facet there is the proposed construction of a 12,000-square-foot mixed-used building located vertically along Franklin Street between Willow and North Main streets.

Epley agreed that execution of the Franklin plans would require working with neighboring property owners to secure the extra space needed.

The master plan update further highlights opportunities for residential and other developments downtown utilizing what are identified as six “opportunity sites.”

These include a 1.9-acre tract on the corner of Virginia and Willow streets where a three-story, 85-unit housing complex is eyed.

Also highlighted is a 2.9-acre parcel where The Mount Airy News now is located alongside a vacant lot behind Old North State Winery where a building burned in 2018.

Plans envision 170 housing units on that property — including three stories, with the topography deemed suitable to parking underneath buildings.

Among other opportunity sites are the municipal complex on Rockford Street and a vacant lot at Main and Cherry streets.

Commissioner Steve Yokeley said he hopes aspects of the updated plan can be implemented in stages.

“We look forward to getting some public input at the September meeting,” Mayor Ron Niland said of the upcoming hearing.

(The full downtown master plan update can be accessed from the city of Mount Airy website.)

Disrespect shown by governmental leaders toward their political opponents isn’t just a Washington, D.C., phenomenon — in the view of one former Mount Airy official this also is occurring locally, and should stop.

“It’s an embarrassment,” Shirley Brinkley said during a meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners last Thursday when she complained about actions by council members when they previously had gathered on July 21.

“I do not appreciate the disrespect you’re showing for one particular fellow commissioner,” said Brinkley, who served as a South Ward board member from 2011 to 2019, when she chose not to seek re-election for a third four-year term.

Brinkley was referring to a debate surrounding a new Andy Griffith mural on Moore Avenue and Commissioner Jon Cawley’s contention that related sidewalk and street changes made there violated the city charter, its chief governing document.

Cawley, a candidate for mayor this year, says only the commissioners had the authority to do so, rather than City Manager Stan Farmer, based on the charter.

The North Ward council member had been asked to produce such documentation at a previous meeting and then to read it aloud on July 21 — only to be criticized by other commissioners who said they had a different interpretation of the charter.

This exhibited “disrespect and bullying,” Brinkley charged when speaking on the issue during a public forum portion of last Thursday’s meeting.

She focused on Commissioner Marie Wood, who was Brinkley’s hand-picked successor for the South Ward council seat Brinkley gave up in 2019.

“I think a lot of Marie,” Brinkley said during the forum, while taking issue with Wood’s reaction to Cawley during the July 21 session that Wood, also the city’s mayor pro tem, had led in the absence of Mayor Ron Niland.

Brinkley mentioned that Wood “snickered” after Cawley read the charter, which the former board member says gave the impression Wood thinks provisions contained in that document are not important.

She added that city commissioners already should know all aspects of municipal regulations and policies without those having to be brought to their attention.

Brinkley also referred to how Wood had rejected her pleas for a property tax cut at an earlier meeting when the latter spoke at a public forum ahead of a vote on the city budget.

Wood was absent from last week’s meeting when Brinkley spoke, but Brinkley directed general comments toward others on the council.

“Speaking for many citizens, I am calling you out,” the former commissioner told them. “I feel like I am a kindergarten teacher calling you out and you are a bunch of children who need to be shown how to behave yourself.”

Brinkley added that the council ought to be setting an example for the community, especially its youth.

“It is your job to serve the people who pay your salary.”

Council members did not respond directly to Brinkley’s comments, but Mayor Ron Niland indicated later during Thursday’s meeting that she did not accurately portray the relationship among city officials.

“I’ve seen boards that were a lot less nice,” said Niland, who in addition to being a former city manager in Mount Airy has served as a consultant to other municipal governments.

The mayor believes Mount Airy officials get along well for the most part, despite tackling some tough issues at times.

“And it is a very rare occasion — rare — when we leave here without speaking to each other,” he said of their departure from council chambers.

“There’s nobody sitting here that I don’t feel good about.”

Two area individuals, including a 5-year-old boy, were killed in an early morning wreck just south of Dobson, according to authorities.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol responded to an emergency call Wednesday morning before 6 a.m. off of US Highway 601 and Chandler Road, according to that agency.

While details were scant early on, Sgt. Fletcher Pipes of the Highway Patrol confirmed Wednesday afternoon that a tractor trailer carrying timber lost control and crossed left over the center line and overturned on Chandler Road. That sent part of its load of logs tumbling off the side of the truck, in the process the falling timber crashed into a passenger vehicle that was traveling in the opposite direction.

Two passengers in the vehicle that was struck by the falling logs were gravely injured, both were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

The Highway Patrol this afternoon identified the adult victim as April Hill, 42, of Dobson.

Hill’s family told FOX8 WGHP that her 5-year-old son was in the car with her and was also killed, that station reported.

Sgt. Pipes said that while all accidents are tragic, the loss of a child’s life is an especially horrific loss.

Emergency responders from the county as well as the Dobson Rescue Squad responded to the scene of the accident. Surry County Emergency Management Director Eric Southern said that Highway 601 had been closed for several hours because the truck landed on its side and the logs that fell off had to be removed. The truck lost hydraulic fluid that needed to be contained, and a power line was impacted as well.

Highway 601 had returned to normal operation before noon.

According to the Highway Patrol charges are pending the outcome of the investigation.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation reported a fatal traffic accident occurred around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning in the area of Chandler Road off of US Highway 601.

Surry County Emergency Management Director Eric Southern has provided an update.

He confirmed that the accident involved both a logging truck and a passenger car. There were two fatalities in the car.

Official identification is pending family notification by North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

“Highway 601 was closed for a couple of hours due the truck on its side, it lost a load of logs and a power line involved. There was also a leak of hydraulic fluid,” he said.

Southern reports as of 11 a.m. the crash had now been cleared and Highway 601 is now open.

Both directions of Highway 601 had been shut down for first responders, investigators, and cleanup.

Wednesday morning on social media drivers reported long delays and had advised drivers to find another route.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Updates will follow as information becomes available.

Mount Airy is supporting Pilot Mountain in advocating for the return of the PART public transportation system to Surry which county government officials discontinued on June 30 — although one city commissioner questions how much it actually was used.

“I’m hoping we can support a sister city that feels this is important,” Mayor Ron Niland said just before the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners voted unanimously for a resolution to that effect during a meeting Thursday.

The city government’s decision was a reaction to bus service to local communities operated by the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) being halted before the start of the county’s fiscal year on July 1.

In orchestrating that removal, Surry officials said the level of ridership involved did not justify the cost, specifically local revenues from a rental car tax which went to support the program. It allowed residents here to access key locations in Winston-Salem, such as hospital, shopping and employment destinations, cheaper than driving one’s own vehicle.

With Pilot Mountain being a stop along the bus system that also includes other area counties, officials there have been especially vocal about the cessation of service one said town residents heavily relied on, especially to Winston-Salem medical facilities.

“I myself have used the bus service before,” said Scott Needham, a member of the Pilot Mountain Board of Commissioners who also serves as the town’s mayor pro tem.

Needham, who was speaking during Thursday’s meeting in Mount Airy, said it came in handy after he had to undergo a hospital procedure and added that a fellow commissioner in Pilot who is a cancer survivor also was able to utilize the service.

Riding the bus to Winston-Salem in such cases has been a welcome option due to one’s inability to drive after some medical procedures, he explained.

Needham thinks it is important that the local public transportation routes be resumed, in appearing before Mount Airy’s commissioners to successfully seek their support.

The visiting Pilot Mountain official said he had written Surry County leaders in an effort to accomplish that, which they have declined to facilitate.

“I think that by doing this, they thought they could eliminate the car tax, but they haven’t,” Needham mentioned regarding how no regular property tax revenues were used to support the transportation system, only the rental-related revenues.

“Which is still in place,” Needham said in his remarks to Mount Airy officials. “They’re still collecting that money, but we’re not getting the service.”

Before last week’s city meeting, Pilot Mountain had issued a resolution applauding the low-cost transportation service and its role in reducing private vehicles on roads — saying it promotes safety and convenience while also reducing fuel emissions contributing to climate change.

The Pilot resolution further asks PART officials to reinstate the service to the town and Surry. It cites one provision in which they have authority to do so for situations in which a stop is within 10 miles of a participating county.

Mount Airy’s resolution in support of Pilot Mountain concurs with the latter’s sentiments and formally requests that PART services be restored to Mount Airy.

After Commissioner Steve Yokeley made a motion to approve Mount Airy’s resolution of support, which opened the floor to discussion on the matter, the board’s Joe Zalescik was quick to respond.

Zalescik said that when he first heard about the planned ceasing of the bus service in February, he visited the PART parking lot on Carter Street in the Big Lots shopping center.

He saw six vehicles there, two of which were from Virginia, Zalescik said.

Upon returning after the service ended, four were parked, which he speculated were owned by participants in a van pool merely meeting at that location. Had 60 or so cars been present, “it would be different,” the city commissioner said of his assessment.

“It’s kind of like, where are the riders?” asked Zalescik, who said he supports the idea of public transportation but questioned the limited routes and days available when the service was offered. He believes true public transportation is a seven-day-per-week proposition, and also pointed out that the ending of the bus runs hasn’t produced a citizen outcry.

“I’ve heard no complaints from anybody.”

Zalescik additionally questioned the system’s value when it was operational locally, saying that with no residences in close proximity, users had to drive to reach the PART lot. “That doesn’t take any cars off the highway.”

Other officials attempted to address Zalescik’s concerns, including Mayor Niland saying that if riders had to drive five miles to reach the lot at least they were not on the road for 40 or 50 miles.

It also was pointed out during the discussion that some users might not have vehicles and simply walked to the lot, which would explain an absence of cars there.

Needham and Yokeley believe that the surging gas prices in recent months would increase ridership should the PART service be resumed in Surry.

Yokeley said that among other benefits of the bus system, it hasn’t cost Mount Airy anything.

“We don’t know what the future holds,” Mayor Niland said.

Downtown Rocks and Run is the kick-off for the United Fund of Surry’s annual fundraising effort. This year, the agency hopes to raise $500,000 for its member agencies, and with a good turnout for Saturday’s races the pace will have been set for the rest of the year.

Under the umbrella of the United Fund are found a wide variety of community service organizations from around the area such as The Children’s Center of Surry, Surry Senior Centers, the Shepherd’s House, scouts, and area Rescue Squads.

Member agencies of the United Fund of Surry County meet to coordinate strategies for their unique missions. Often there are non-profit organizations working toward a similar goal that may find working together can lighten the load.

Hiatt is known to be a matchmaker for organizations which need just the right person to fill a role, or a non-profit looking for new office space. It brings her joy to help facilitate new connections and bring people together to serve the greater good of everyone in Surry County and beyond.

“After an overwhelmingly successful Rocks and Runs event last year, we do expect this year’s race to be affected since life has returned to somewhat normal. More and more races have started coming back and people are not stuck at home quite like they were last year,” Hiatt said.

There is still time to register for this weekend’s races as the online registration runs through August 12 at 6 p.m. Registration fees are $30 for the 5K, Team Fitness Challenge, and Corporate Participation Challenge. Walkers and strollers are welcome to join in the 5k.

For the 10K individual and Corporate Participation Challenge the registration fee is $40.

The Fun Run is free for kids 12 and younger (no t-shirt); $10 w/shirt purchase. All fun runners will receive a participation ribbon.

Finishers will receive a finishers medal and the 5K Team Fitness Challenge award will be presented to the fastest team based on the average time of the top 5 team members.

Race day registration begins at 6:30 a.m. in front of the Mount Airy Municipal Building, 300 S. Main St. The 10k will start at 7:45 a.m. and the 5K follows at 8 a.m. The 5k starting line will be found near the US Post Office parking lot of Cherry St.

The Kid’s Fun Run will begin at 9 a.m. in front of the municipal building, where the awards presentation will also take place following the races at 9:15 a.m.

The 5K and 10K races will have a gun start and chip timed finish. This means that all participants will have the same start time, and the finish time will be recorded as each runner crosses the finish line by reading the chip on the back of the runner’s numbered bib.

Also, the 5K race is going to have a wide start line that will enable all runners to get across the start line after the starting horn sounds as quickly and safely as possible. As there may be kids and strollers taking off at the same time, spreading out the start line across a wider area will allow everyone to have a safe start to their race, walk, or fun run.

Of note, the Fun Run will attempt to live up to its name by having a clock at the finish line, but individual times are not recorded for this event. The honor system will be required when reporting times back to friends or loved ones, or just ignore the clock altogether and enjoy the moment.

A grateful Hiatt said it takes a small army of agency volunteers and board members to set up, run, and break down the Rocks and Runs event once all the runners are back home and rehydrating. “We are overflowing with gratitude, an event like this takes a lot of manpower. Agency volunteers as well as board members set up, run, and take down this event,” she said.

Without special assistance from the staff of Reeves Community Center, local law enforcement, emergency services, and especially the public at large in the role of community cheerleaders – it may be too much for any one person to handle.

Downtown Rocks and Runs is the annual campaign’s kick-off event, following will be the Greater Granite Open to be held Friday, Oct. 14 at Cross Creek Country Club.

Also, there will be a brand-new event added to the upcoming campaign, a Bourbon Bonanza, at Old North State Winery on Saturday, Jan. 21. This event will include raffle tickets for specialty bourbons, dinner, and a bourbon tasting.

No for-sale sign has been spotted yet in front of City Hall, but 15 parcels of municipal-owned property elsewhere around Mount Airy are on the market.

This is a result of unanimous action last Thursday by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners to authorize sealed-bid sales of 15 different tracts, a move Mayor Ron Niland says makes sense for several reasons.

“We don’t need to be a landowner, holding on to excess land,” Niland said in the wake of that decision.

It came about as a result of City Manager Stan Farmer reporting in April that the municipality owns more than 900 acres both within its boundaries and in Surry County.

That prompted discussions among council members about disposing of land the city government doesn’t need.

“We have talked about this on several occasions and I think it’s the general feeling of the board that any property we can put to use and put toward the tax base” should be sold, the mayor said. “This is keeping with one of the policies we have.”

It involves taking property out of the city government’s hands and putting it into private hands, meaning that in addition to sales proceeds the parcels can be developed and produce tax revenues.

Niland said an exception involves sites the municipality needs for its facilities or growth.

This includes 705 of the total 903 acres reflected in the city manager’s breakdown, where facilities such as the Municipal Building, water plant, Andy Griffith Playhouse and other structures are located, in addition to land occupied by recreation and industrial parks.

All of the 15 sites declared surplus through last Thursday’s vote by the commissioners are all undeveloped, with a resolution they approved stating that the city “does not need or desire the use of this property.”

Farmer says 14 of those vacant parcels presently are zoned for residential use.

Three of the 15 are located on Carolina Avenue, along with another three on Lakeview Drive and two on East Pine Street. The others are on Lewis Drive, Lakeview Drive, Lyn Avenue, Fairfield Drive, East Wilson Street, Circle Drive and Tesh Street.

The parcel identification numbers on Surry County tax records are listed as 5011-12-85-5040, 5011-15-74-2097, 5011-16-74-5124, 5011-16-74-7200, 5011-16-83-4405, 5011-16-83-5592, 5011-16-83-5630, 5011-16-83-7745, 5929-07-57-9796, 5929-o8-98-7529, 5020-16-94-4497, 5020-16-94-7764, 5020-12-95-9788, 5030-09-05-1739 and 5020-12-96-5919.

(For searches in the Surry County GIS Website, the hyphens applied to the above numbers — to make them more readable in print — should be omitted.)

More information about the property also can be obtained from the city manager’s office, according to municipal documents.

The parcels are being sold through an advertisement and sealed-bid process in which bids will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Sept. 2 at the office of the city clerk in the Municipal Building on South Main Street.

Offers also can be mailed there at P.O. Box 70, Mount Airy, NC, 27030, postmarked on or before that deadline.

The highest responsible bidder for each parcel is to be determined by the city commissioners after they receive a report during a Sept. 15 council meeting. Those officials either will accept bids or reject any and all offers by the end of that session, according the the resolution approved Thursday.

Each bid will remain open and subject to acceptance until formal action occurs.

A bid deposit of 5% is required, among other sale provisions listed in the resolution.

Another includes the fact that individual parcels are to be sold by separate bids with no grouping of parcels or block bids allowed.

Willie Byrd Williams was a schoolteacher and, like many people in Surry County, also a farmer. In 1913 he entered some of his corn harvest in a fair exhibit. It must have been some fine corn because he won for the best ear of seed corn.

He took that premium money straight to Dobson to buy a marriage license.

He and his sweetheart, Cornelia Jane Bray, were married for 57 years and raised their daughters, Ola and Minnie, in their Zephyr home just north of Elkin. They were also active supporters of the Zephyr Community Fair and the Surry County Fair for their whole lives.

Fairs and carnivals were a great excuse for people to come together and have fun. The Surry County Fair, from the beginnings in 1916, has scheduled hot air balloons, airplane stunts, side show acts, rides, and fireworks to entertain.

But their primary purpose in the beginning was much more practical. In the days before the internet, television, or radio, fairs allowed farmers and other businesses to promote their products to a much larger audience than they would otherwise be able to reach. They also provided education for young and old.

“The man who … fails to attend misses a fine opportunity to meet his neighbors and see what is being done by other people in the various occupations of life.” Mount Airy News, Sept. 25, 1919.

Farmers and business owners got to see new products that local stores were not able to carry or to see how seeds or fertilizers from various companies behaved in local soil with a reduced financial risk.

Companies such as Chesapeake Guano Company of Baltimore, Maryland, that specialized in fertilizer for tobacco in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, were popular in this region for decades. In 1886 they advertised in the Yadkin Valley News (predecessor to the Mount Airy News) that the judges of the NC State Fair in Raleigh granted their product the highest award for manure.

I know it’s tempting to chuckle at that, but for farmers it was no laughing matter. The right fertilizer combined with other progressive farming practices increased production dramatically at the turn of the last century. Corn yield went from 12 to 20 bushels per acre, wheat from 9.5-11.5. The US population was growing at an unprecedented rate, and the nation, with thousands of acres under cultivation and isolated from the direct damages of war, quickly became an important exporter of grain to feed a starving world. Successful farmers were vital to world food management.

George Hinshaw opened a general store in Winston-Salem in 1868 specializing in seed and fertilizers. He is credited with organizing the first three “Wheat and Cattle Fairs” in Forsyth.

Such events, if done well, brought people and money to a region, an economic jump-start for any community that hosted one. They were also an important tool to spread information on public health matters or better farming practices or to recruit for military service or civic organizations. But they were expensive to organize and needed a competent organization to pull local and state resources together.

It’s no surprise that soon after the trains arrived in Surry County, calls from local newspapers started encouraging people to organize a fair. The first mention I’ve found is in the Western Sentinel of Winston-Salem, Nov. 21, 1889.

“The News is pushing for a Surry county (sic) Fair next year. Winston wishes its Surry neighbors a big success.”

Though many communities across Surry, such as Zephyr and White Plains, held smaller fairs, it would take 27 years for the first county fair here.

In the meanwhile, Surry residents were taking special train excursions to attend the Catawba, Cumberland, and Forsyth county fairs and the State Fair in Raleigh. Several locals traveled to Chicago’s Columbian Exposition. With each passing year calls persisted.

“With all the progress and public spirit and wonderful achievements of Surry people and most especially the thrift and growth of Mount Airy and Elkin it looks odd to see such a grand county as Surry without a county fair. A fair properly managed would do more to stimulate farmers and manufacturers than anything else that has been tested.” Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 25, 1907.

Finally, in 1916 the Charlotte Observer reported “Surry County is to have a fair this Fall” with a state charter and $50,000 in committed capital. A meeting in the opera house resulted in “more than a hundred business men (sic) and farmers” from across Surry and from surrounding counties buying shares at $10 each ($271 in today’s money) to fund the fair.

Mount Airy, the largest town in the county, was chosen as the location for many reasons, not the least of which was “the splendid system of sandclay roads.” Business and civic leaders such as Thomas Fawcett (founder of the First National Bank of Mount Airy), W. G. Sydnor (immediate past mayor of Mount Airy and president of the Workman’s Federal Savings and Loan), and JD Sargent (owner of the granite quarry) organized the Surry County Fair Association in June 1916.

Directors and vice presidents from every township in Surry and representatives from Carroll, Patrick, and Stokes counties signed on. They bought land from Dr. W.S. Taylor northwest of town. We’re not certain but it seems to be the same land where the fair is held today, the Veterans Memorial Park. They graded a racetrack, built exhibition buildings, and promoted the new fair relentlessly across the state.

The first fair was held in mid-November, the next two were mid-October, but in 1919 it settled in September where it would stay for a century before moving into August.

Whenever it is held, though, the fair remains exciting for kids of all ages, drawing the community together through good times and bad. If you’re headed to the fair this week, enjoy. If you’ve entered an exhibit, best good luck!

Kate Rauhauser-Smith is a volunteer for the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History with 22 years in journalism before joining the museum. She and her family moved to Mount Airy in 2005 from Pennsylvania where she was also involved with museums and history tours.

To call Danny Riggs a casual music fan would be a gross understatement.

“He loves music,” his twin brother Donnie said Friday with emphasis. “There’s music in our house 24/7.”

And Danny is fond of one country star in particular, Lee Ann Womack, a singer, songwriter and musician who has cranked out hits such as “I Hope You Dance.”

“I guess you could say he’s her biggest fan,” Donnie Riggs added.

He related how his brother even has a daily routine before going to sleep in which he will listen closely to a CD of Womack’s music and say goodnight to her. And when one of the artist’s songs is played on the Music Choice service he has access to, Danny is super-elated.

So when he recently received a gift of souvenirs signed by the country star, it could’ve been the inspiration for one such song of his own, “Happiest Guy in the Whole USA,” a variation of Donna Fargo’s iconic 1972 recording.

The items included autographed sheet music of Womack’s top hit, “I Hope You Dance,” and a pair of ballerina shoes similar to those used in a music video — also signed by her.

A side note to Danny Riggs’ situation is that he is a special-needs individual with cerebral palsy. The 60-year-old lives in the Fairfield community with his twin brother, who is his guardian.

Danny also is a client of Behavioral Services Inc. in Mount Airy, which aids individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and played a key role in his connection with the blond-haired singer.

Recognizing the fact that he “absolutely loves Lee Ann Womack,” it struck a chord with the staff there when a special request by Danny came to light, one key official recalled.

“His guardian had expressed what it would mean to him to get to meet her or get a video phone call from her,” explained Pamela Padgett, human resources director at Behavioral Services.

Padgett pointed out that part of its treatment approach involves taking a interest in things clients find meaningful and trying to help them in the realization of their dreams.

“Our caregivers here are real helpful about getting him his music,” Padgett said of Danny. “That’s the first thing he wants every morning.”

So when Mary Raasch, a service supervisor with Behavioral Services, learned of Danny’s request related to Lee Ann Womack and shared it with others there, the team sprang into action.

It just so happens that David Bumgarner, another supervisor in the office, once worked in the journalism field in Nashville and used his connections there to successfully process Danny’s request.

He has since posed for pictures holding the items received from Womack — wearing a huge smile. This has made a big difference in Danny’s life, says his brother, who works in the home-care field in addition to looking after his sibling.

“I also want to thank Behavioral Services for their involvement,” Donnie Riggs said.

“We’re just happy to be a part of it, honestly,” Padgett said.

Donnie Riggs is hoping an additional chapter to the story can be written which would be the icing on the cake for his brother: an actual conversation with Womack via Zoom, an online video communication platform used for such chats.

Danny would be up to that event, his twin believes. “He’s verbal to a point.”

Some might say Danny Riggs is lucky to have the support of his brother and that of Behavioral Services — but as those who have spent time around special-needs individuals often well know, this goes both ways.

“I’m lucky to have him, too,” Donnie said.

As expected, the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners has voted, 3-1, to set the stage for demolition of a building on Franklin Street declared dangerous — amid indications that the property owner might respond with a lawsuit.

“I don’t think it’s right what they’re doing,” Rod Brumley of National Decon Holdings LLC said in reaction to the board’s action Thursday afternoon involving the Koozies building owned by that entity.

The stage had been set for this in February, when the commissioners voted to give National Decon Holdings, located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, 90 days to either repair the structure that is in violation of building codes or have it razed.

That decision also paved the way for the city government to have the condemned structure torn down if the owner failed to act, which officials say did not occur before or since the 90-day deadline expired on May 18.

The situation came to a head Thursday when the board voted — with Commissioner Jon Cawley dissenting (and the board’s Marie Wood absent) — to direct City Manager Stan Farmer to take steps toward achieving that end.

This will involve Farmer preparing a request for proposals from qualified and insured contractors for the demolition of the Koozies building and safe removal of all debris from the site. Koozies was the name of a private club formerly operating within those confines, but the facility has been vacate for many years and fallen into a state of major disrepair while posing a safety hazard.

A “most dangerous” structure

In objecting to the seeking of proposals from demolition contractors, Cawley questioned why two other buildings also condemned in February and included in the 90-day window aren’t being targeted in the same manner. These include the former Mittman body shop at 109 S. South St. and what is referred to as the “red building” at 600 W. Pine St. beside Worth Honda.

“It looks like to me we might be giving someone a case against us for unfair business practices,” Cawley said of the singular focus on the Koozies site.

“So why are picking out this building out of the three at this time and only acting on it?” he asked.

“From my point of view, this building is the most dangerous,” Commissioner Tom Koch responded regarding that structure, “most apt to hurt somebody, most apt to fall in the street.” He pointed out that its roof has collapsed and left a freestanding wall that possibly could fall, among other concerns.

Koch also appeared bothered by National Decon Holdings’ alleged ignoring of the order by the city and disinterest on its part in mitigating the issue. This piggybacked on a concern by Cawley about what contacts had been made with the owner by municipal representatives.

The city manager said Thursday that a certified letter was sent to National Decon Holdings after the February action and other attempted contacts by Chuck Morris, Mount Airy’s building codes enforcement officer, had occurred in the interim.

Morris told the commissioners Thursday that he has sent nine letters to the owner, plus made a total of nine phone calls and sent 12 text messages regarding the matter.

“And in fact, I had communication with them today, and we spoke about the pending meeting today and what the potential results of this meeting could mean,” he added. “So we have been in contact with them as much as they were willing to be in contact.”

“They don’t care,” Koch said of the ownership group’s concern about Mount Airy.

“And I getting to the point I don’t really care about them in Oklahoma.”

The codes officer also agreed with Koch’s assessment that the Koozies building poses a greater safety threat than the other two structures included in February’s blanket vote, and National Decon Holdings has done nothing to address the worsening safety hazard.

“There has been some movement on both of those other properties,” Morris said, including the Mittman building being sold and eyed for changes and the red building beside Worth Honda eyed for demolition once a pending sale goes through.

Thursday’s discussion included mention of the fact that the board still must approve a contract for the razing and approve funding for it, meaning the demolition is not a totally done deal at this point.

In the wake of Thursday’s meeting a warning was relayed from the owner of the Koozies property about possible legal action.

“He’s planning on suing” if the city government tears down his building, according to a source close to the situation.

That possibility could not be confirmed afterward with Brumley of National Decon Holdings.

City officials have said they legally can seize the property left behind to help recoup the cost of the takedown.

Saturday morning at Homeplace Recreation Park, roughly two dozen area youth will unload from cars and trucks and vans, making their way to the main building, where they will have the chance to have some breakfast snacks and get to know one another.

Later that night, those same youth will be singing and clapping, maybe even playing some instruments, during a concert given by some local musicians.

And in between will be swimming, corn hole, lunch, dinner, and other games — maybe even some crafts — during what will no doubt be a busy, tiring, but fun-filled day.

The youth are special needs children, and they will be getting a full day of fun thanks to the annual Eldora Handicamp taking place.

The annual gathering started in 1986, when Paul Key and Brent Simpson started the event to give the youth a break from constant reminders of health and other issues they deal with — a chance for them to have a normal camping experience.

Both men have passed away over the years, but Simpson’s son, Kevin Simpson, along with other members of his family and an army of volunteers have worked to keep the event alive and healthy.

“My dad always said it was mainly for the kids to have a weekend away and for the parents to have a weekend to their self, too,” Kevin Simpson said. And if the smiles and laughter and excited chatter among the participants is any indication, the event accomplishes that goal every year.

Up until the COVID-19 pandemic, the gathering took place over three days — Friday evening, all day Saturday, and a good portion of Sunday during camp weekend. As was the case with many events, the 2020 version was cancelled, and in 2021 it was pared to one day.

This year, Simpson said the event will again just be one day, though he is hopeful of resuming the three-day event next year.

“The activities are all the same, we’re just doing a one-day camp again this year…we’re just going to do a bunch of games, hopefully can do some crafts. Usually, over the whole weekend, we do a hayride, go swimming, do crafts, have a band that comes, a big church service on Sunday, just whatever we can get into.”

As is the case most years, he said the kids enjoy the entire event, but he said two activities usually stand out as favorites — swimming in the Homeplace pool, and the Saturday night concert.

The singer, local musician Doyle Watson, has a few musical friends that play a few times a year at various functions, Simpson said. One of those dates is the annual Eldora Handicamp — and the kids love the show.

“They do some beach music, rock, we’ve got one of the kids they let get up there and he plays the drums, he does a solo on the drums.”

Simpson said Watson will often go out into the crowd, interacting with the youth, getting some of them to sing along, even having a few up on stage with him.

While most everything is set and in place for Saturday’s event, Simpson said they could use one more thing to make it a great day for the campers — more volunteers.

Because the campers have various special needs, Simpson said some require more than one volunteer to accompany the camper. And there are always odd jobs and set-up and cleaning and other tasks to be done during the day.

Usually, he said the camp attracts more than 100 volunteers, although last year the numbers were down just a bit.

“We probably had 75, we’re hoping to have that or more this year,” he said. While he and his crew have professionals to fill in some tasks — two or three nurses will be onhand to help with any medical issues — the skills most volunteers need are simply the willingness to help.

“Just show up…that’s all they need to do. We’ll give them something to do once they get there.”

Even folks who can’t work the entire day can come in and help out for a few hours, he said.

The camp gets underway at 8 a.m. and will last until “9 or 9:30 at night,” he said — a long day but one he believes is well worth the effort.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s very enjoyable and you’ll get a lot out of it just being around these kids,” he said of anyone wishing to help out.

After years of discussion, speculation and controversy, is a troubled structure in Mount Airy finally reaching a date with destiny today?

That could be the case during a meeting beginning at 2 p.m., when the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners is slated to consider a resolution to solicit contractors for the demolition of the sprawling Koozies building.

However, one board member desires more information before voting to take that route.

“I want to know what contact we’ve made with the owner,” Commissioner Jon Cawley said Tuesday regarding an out-of-town entity involved.

The structure fronting Franklin Street, which also is bordered by North South and West Pine streets, has been a problem for years — sitting vacant after housing a private club known as Koozies which closed, and gradually deteriorating to a dangerous state.

Council members set the stage for today’s possible move by taking action in February giving the owner of the property — National Decon Holdings LLC of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma — 90 days to repair or demolish the structure, once a Quality Mills facility.

The commissioners were told then that the building not only had become unfit for human occupancy, but posed an “imminent danger,” based on a determination by Chuck Morris, city codes enforcement officer.

“However, said owner has failed to take any corrective action to bring the building up to the standards” of the City of Mount Airy Code of Ordinances, states the resolution to be considered this afternoon.

“The building remains in a dilapidated and unsafe condition,” the proposed resolution adds, nearly three months after the compliance deadline on May 18. “Two fires have occurred inside the structure in recent months which have been linked to homeless persons living there.”

Meanwhile, the roof structure over a large portion of the building has collapsed, leaving an expansive exterior wall along Franklin Street largely unsupported, the resolution before the commissioners goes on to say.

“Other structural elements of the building are decaying and dangerous,” it says. “These conditions cause or contribute to blight, disease, vagrancy or fire or safety hazard(s) — accordingly, this building is found inimical (harmful) to public safety and deemed a public nuisance.”

If the resolution is approved by the board today, City Manager Stan Farmer will be directed to prepare a request for proposals to seek qualified and insured contractors for its demolition and safe removal of all debris from the site.

“There’s no doubt that all or part of that building needs to come down — that’s not the question,” Commissioner Cawley said Tuesday.

The question is how city officials have handled the situation up to now, he explained.

Cawley says he can’t see how the municipality can raze a structure it doesn’t own, which is where contact with the Oklahoma-based party comes into play for him.

“If we have contacted them and they basically have said ‘we’ll deed the property to the city,’ it seems to be a very appropriate step,” he said of seeking demolition proposals. “How we do things is very important.”

The proposed resolution mentions that the owner did not appeal the city’s order for mitigation before the May compliance date and otherwise has failed to act.

Today’s OK of the resolution would include a finding by the board “that the owner has abandoned the intent and purpose to repair, alter or improve the building.”

Mount Airy officials have said the city could legally seize the land left behind to help offset the cost of the tear-down, which is expected to be sizable.

Commissioner Tom Koch had said during the board’s last meeting on July 21 that the municipality was leaving itself open for a possible liability lawsuit by delaying the demolition should the building collapse and kill or injure someone.

Efforts to reach National Decon Holdings this week were unsuccessful. No telephone listing or email address could be found for the company.

Daniel White made an apology for perhaps talking too much or having too many lofty dreams. For the director of county parks and recreation that is exactly the type of energy needed. He discussed plans for Fisher River Park to evolve into a more modern and inclusive place residents of all abilities can enjoy.

A plan was presented to the county commissioners to apply for state grant matching funds intended for projects such as parks and playgrounds. The idea is to redesign or adapt play spaces to meet the different needs of those who may enjoy them including those with developmental challenges.

North Carolina has a pair of grant programs that White wants to pair with the Invest in Surry funds that have already been allocated for improvements to Fisher River Park. The grant programs especially focus on the needs of children and veterans with physical or developmental disabilities to make sure spaces are inclusive and inviting.

The goal is to enable everyone to participate in recreational and sporting activities, “regardless of abilities.” So matching grants were established to be used in construction new or adapt existing facilities that meet the unique needs of persons with physical and developmental disabilities.

Often with matching grants you find a one-to-one payout – one county dollar is paired with one dollar from state or federal funding. The state established Access for Parks grant program stands out for its ratio of one-to-five, one Surry County dollar will be mated with five from the state yielding an enormous potential to make changes to the park.

The county’s application for such a grant is still under review as of Wednesday, but the Invest in Surry dollars already exist and were earmarked for Fisher River Park.

White said the goal is to move toward the Universal Design model for parks. The concept says, “The design of products and environments (shall) be useable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without adaptation or specialized design.”

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) agree saying, “Play is fundamental to human development through our lives. Playing is especially important for children with disabilities, allowing them to practice social skills.”

“Playgrounds are often designed to accommodate specific types of play or a certain age group, leaving children who are unable to play in the prescribed way left out of the play environment.”

Universal Design elements include equipment that is accessible to all children. Items such as swings that can support a wheelchair, ramps to access places where kids with mobility challenges could once not go, or signage in braille at a height a child can read it easily. Simple changes can make everyone feel welcome and increase the joy for all.

Trying to slide past notice is the phrase “certain age group” which means yes, playgrounds and parks should have something to stimulate the child of any age — adults included. These should be spaces that create opportunities for “intergenerational and social connections, sensory stimulation, physical exercise, and access to nature.”

This is not your granddaughter’s playground anymore, well not wholly. Adult oriented elements are showing up in modern designed parks that can be as basic as an open space for yoga or walking trails, but some cities are adult sized fun. Back in 2020, a dozen adult-sized see-saws popped up along Broadway in Manhattan to the delight of many New Yorkers.

“Play spaces for older adults provide health benefits and encourage engagement with their families and communities,” the architects’ society said. “Studies have found eccentric exercise can help reduce risk of developing dementia and help fight age-induced muscle atrophy.” Ask any pickleball fanatic about their eccentric exercise and prepare to see them light up.

One person’s play for one is a dreaded chore for another, to that end White has visions of adapting the mountain bike trails at Fisher River Park as well to accommodate more skills levels. Seeing the park as a growing tourism destination for mountain biking is one of those lofty ambitions White alluded to.

There are 6.5 miles of mountain bike trail, what he called, “rooty and ruddy.” He is being told that mountain bikers want new challenges and at times want a trail that is instead “fast and flowy.” Technical jargon aside, he sees a progressively more challenging mountain bike trail as the long term answer. Fast and flowy can yield later to the more traditional bike paths, but everyone can find what they want in a designated segment, or traverse the whole distanced to sample all the offerings.

Underway at the park today is the addition of a new 1 mile self-contained fitness track. There are several paths at the park now that when added up equal a set distance, but White wants a track where folks know one loop around is one mile. Find a way to add some fitness stops along the way would be even better, he said.

These trails can be seen under construction with patches of grass obviously missing and tracks from a backhoe or similar freshly made. Keeping costs down, White has much of this work done by the county parks and recreation staff several of whom have been through trail making training at Rockingham Community College.

Parks and rec is more than youth soccer leagues or softball under the lights, White said. His department is offering a service to the residents of Surry County at the smallest cost possible thereby yielding the greatest result. “We are here for the community and we want to help bring in revenue and tourism, but our number one priority is for this community.”

As someone who’s already had two heart attacks, the potential for another is in the back of local musician George Smith’s mind whenever he takes the stage — and on his lips.

“My wife said, ‘George, you should mention to everybody where your nitro is at,’” Smith said of advice he has heeded in informing audiences about nitroglycerin sublingual tablets being in his pocket which could prove invaluable in such an emergency.

“It probably would never happen,” he said of total strangers frantically administering that medication used to treat cardiac episodes by relaxing one’s blood vessels so the heart doesn’t need to work as hard while also requiring less oxygen.

Smith, who lives in Lowgap, agrees that such an announcement could save his life — or that of someone else under the same scenario through the gift of awareness.

“I think I used it as a way to help others that might have the same problem,” he said of incorporating the nitro advisory into his shows. The underlying message is that, with time being of the essence in such a crisis, people shouldn’t be bashful about intervening “if you see somebody keel over.”

As a 43-year-old man who had his first heart attack at age 35 and his most recent on July 12, George Smith has learned to live with that possibility. While others might have chosen to avoid any type of stress, including giving their all during concerts, Smith vowed to continue performing — to pursue his passion.

“I just love playing so much,” he explained. “It’s just a big part of who I am — I kind of lose myself when performing.”

Immediately after undergoing various medical procedures over the years, the musician says his physical condition has always rebounded as a result.

“I also feel much better currently than I have in a long time,” he said in discussing the aftermath of the heart attack in July.

“The challenge is to do as much as you can without overdoing it,” added Smith, who also must be cognizant of dietary and other restrictions.

“I have to remember to sort of take it easy.”

Many people know George Smith as the leader of a group known as MAUI — the Mount Airy Ukulele Invasion — a unique rock orchestra class he started which has included students ranging in age from 5 to 85.

More than 50 ukulele players sometimes perform at concerts and for special events in this area, and Smith is looking forward to MAUI recording a live album at the Reeves Theater in Elkin later this month.

“Everybody in MAUI has been really supportive,” he said of members’ response to his medical condition.

Smith’s musical talents aren’t just limited to the off-the-beaten-path instrument popularized in Hawaii.

He has played the mandolin in opening for Ralph Stanley, and the bass opening for Darius Rucker and Jason Michael Carroll.

The local musician also has been featured playing six-string banjo on an episode of the PBS television show “Song of the Mountains” with the Porch Dog Revival band, along with opening for musicians such as the Steep Canyon Rangers and Larry Keel.

As a member of the band Mood Cultivation Project, he did so for Lynyrd Skynyrd at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem. Mood Cultivation Project also was the warm-up act for groups including The Marshall Tucker Band and Goose Creek Symphony.

Smith additionally has used his musical talents to fill in with different groups where needed while also writing his own material.

“Now it’s either I’m a band leader or a hired gun — I enjoy doing both,” he said of gigs that mostly have included playing bass — although Smith has dabbled in a little bit of everything.

“Of course, I teach and I tune pianos as well,” he said of a multi-faceted career as “a self-employed musician.”

Smith is a longtime instructor at Olde Mill Music in Mount Airy, a family operation run by Jennie Lowry and her husband Rick.

“He’s very well-liked and thought of in this community,” Lowry said.

The veteran musician grew up in the Beulah community, attending White Plains Elementary, Gentry Middle and North Surry High schools. During his senior year, Smith was a foreign exchange student in Germany.

He eventually would earn a college degree in German, but his musical interests grew to dominate Smith’s career goals. He held factory jobs in the early 2000s which he juggled with band-organizing activities.

Music became his main pursuit, especially with many local industries closing as the result of NAFTA.

Fate dealt George Smith an unwelcome hand about eight years ago when he experienced the first heart attack and was diagnosed with a condition involving a major blockage in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery.

“They refer to it as the widow maker,” Smith said, which in his case was a 99% blockage. He’s endured multiple artery blockages requiring the insertion of stents — small mesh tubes that hold open narrowed arteries.

Smith underwent a particular procedure in which two stents were positioned together to form one “because I have an extra-large heart.”

Various treatments over the years led to his most recent heart attack last month and an outlook of further medical uncertainties.

“I’m on my way to my cardiologist appointment right now,” Smith said when contacted last week.

“In two weeks, I’ll go back for another heart cath,” he added regarding a procedure whereby a thin flexible tube, or catheter, is guided through a blood vessel to the heart to treat clogged arteries.

If that catheterization is unsuccessful, Smith will face heart bypass surgery, in which blood vessels are taken from another part of one’s body to circumvent a blocked artery.

“I know I have missed a little bit of work because of this,” Smith said of how his heart condition has affected performance schedules — which also were hampered by COVID-19.

And even if the upcoming catheterization goes perfectly, he still faces the further prospect of that.

In the past, Smith has travelled to such places as New York for concert dates. Efforts now are made to keep destinations within a 16-hour travel radius to and back, such as Virginia Beach or northern West Virginia, in order to spend as much time as possible with wife Gin and 6-year-old son Dorian.

At one time, Smith had no health insurance, but does now, with the loss of income concerning him in looking ahead.

The local musician, who says he always has tried to be self-sufficient, did not broach the subject of possible donations from the public during an interview, discussing that only after being queried about how others might help.

“You don’t want to ask for anything,” Smith said proudly. “I’ve always been taught to work for what I have.”

He’s gotten a few dollars here and there from friends, which the performer says has been “overwhelmingly wonderful” and difficult to fully express in words.

And while Smith doesn’t want to ask for assistance from anyone, he acknowledged that at this point “it certainly would help.”

Folks can do so electronically via two popular online payment systems, Venmo and PayPal.

The respective account access information includes Venmo:@themusicofgeorgesmith and PayPal, info@themusicofgeorgesmith.com

Those without Internet access may make donations at Olde Mill Music.

“If I receive anything, I will certainly pay it forward in the future,” Smith pledged. “If people want to help, it would be appreciated.”

No matter what the future holds, George Smith is “grateful” at this point in time.

“I’m so grateful for the life I’ve had already,” he said.

And in looking ahead “I hope to be here a lot longer,” Smith observed. “But I’m still doing far better than the majority of the world in the grand scheme of things.”

The Mount Airy Public Library has something to offer readers of all skill levels regardless of interest. Manager Rana Southern said that over the summer months it can be challenging to get young people to come to the library, so they created programming and events meant to spark a desire to learn in kids of all ages.

Summer programs to get young folks to participate included a watercolor event for the teens and just last night an escape room with pizza, one of her favorite ways to coax teens through the door. For the youngsters there were craft events like one during shark week as well as a traveling performance of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic Treasure Island.

Something Southern is excited about breaks from the mold of what one may visualize when thinking of a library. She was all smiles recently when showing off some of the new furniture and configurations in the library meant to appeal to kids and teens.

New high-top tables are available to spread out and study. There are new booths laptop usage with ample available outlets and USB charging available. Southern invited an onlooker to take a seat in a new comfortable chair that she said was for gaming. No, not Parcheesi or chess, the library is looking to install a PlayStation or similar video game platform.

In explaining why such non-traditional elements in the library are needed, she said that is the nature of the game these days. Information is so readily available that there needs to be an extra incentive for some youths to see a reason to visit the library.

For younger readers, the library is also holding their annual backpack drawing, but time is running out to participate. Entries for the backpack drawing will close Thursday, August 4 and the backpack drawing will be held on Friday, August 5.

Every time kids checked out a book at the library this summer, they were able to enter their name into the drawing for one of the backpacks loaded down with goodies. Don’t alarm the kids, but the school year will be here before they know it and snagging a backpack full of school supplies will help start the year off on the right foot.

The Summer Reading/Learning Kickoff has also been ongoing since late May and was designed to try and get kids ages 8 – 18 to put down the phone and turn pages instead. The summer’s top reader, based on amount of time read, is going to win a Kindle of their own to load up with as many books as possible.

The reading logs for the summer program will need to be turned in by August 9 and the winner of the Kindle, and of the prize bag, will be announced August 10.

If hearing the teens had their escape room event created a twinge of jealousy, adults can have their chance to get in on the fun of the escape, too. The Bermuda Triangle Escape Room will be held at the library at 9 a.m. Friday, August 9. Southern will have to let everyone know which of the teams, teens or adults, bested the escape room in the fastest time.

There are plenty of chances to get into the library for story time events this August. Wednesdays are Toddler Time at 10:30 a.m. for kids aged 2 to 3 years old. Thursday mornings are for book babies with a story time event starting at 9:30 a.m. for ages two and under. Preschoolers can join at 11 a.m. on Thursdays for their story time event.

As learning is a lifelong endeavor, grownups can also benefit from some time at the library getting lost in the pages of a good book. Southern said, “In an effort to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and in collaboration with our local Alzheimer’s Chapter, our community book club is reading ‘Elegy for Iris.’ ”

She described it as, “A luminous memoir about the beauty of youth and of aging and a celebration of a brilliant life and an undying love. John Bayley describes his life with his wife, Iris Murdoch, who has Alzheimer’s.”

“After reading the book, we will view the movie based on the novel. We are also participating in the Paint the Town Purple event, where we decorate everything in shades of purple to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s and dementia.”

The Community Book Club meets the fourth Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. Other events offered by the library include Pages and Petticoats, a romance readers club; Chapters Book Club; Hooked, a crochet and knitting club; also, yoga and tai chi classes.

Find more about the programming offered by visiting: http://nwrlibrary.org/mountairy/

One city official is viewing the recent collapse of a building in the heart of downtown Mount Airy as a sign that quick action should be taken regarding another dangerous structure a couple of blocks away.

Commissioner Tom Koch says that if someone happens to get hurt on the so-called Koozies site on Franklin Street, the municipality will be open to a liability lawsuit.

“It will be our fault, because we’ve been dragging our feet,” said Koch, who is retired from the insurance field.

He was speaking during a recent meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners, when Koch and other council members offered observations regarding the collapse of the historic Main Oak Building. That structure on the corner of North Main and West Oak streets fell on July 5, spawning a massive cleanup and restoration effort.

The last council meeting on July 21 marked the first time the city commissioners spoke in a public setting about the Main-Oak incident, which Koch tied in to the Koozies structure.

“The Main-Oak situation brings back to mind the Koozies Building,” he said of a facility bearing the name of a private club once operating there. It formerly was owned by the Quality Mills textile company years before that.

“That has been partially collapsed for quite some time now,” Koch added regarding the Koozies structure that Mount Airy officials targeted for possible demolition on Feb. 17. Owners of it and two other buildings in the same general vicinity were then given 90 days to repair or raze the structures on their own before the city government did so.

The three-month deadline fell in May, and all are still standing, although Mayor Ron Niland recently reported that efforts to mitigate conditions with the other two buildings were underway.

Those include the former Mittman body shop at 109 S. South St. and what is referred to in municipal documents as the “red building” at 600 W. Pine St. beside Worth Honda.

Koch focused on Koozies during the meeting.

“It has a free-standing wall,” the North Ward board member said. “We see the Main-Oak Building already has braces and supports to keep it from collapsing more — the Koozies Building has nothing.”

In calling it a hazard, Koch pointed out that the large structure is bordered by three streets: Franklin, West Pine and North South.

“And that building could collapse anywhere down there,” he said of the area involved. “And it’s heavily traveled.”

Koch said he wants city officials to “start whatever process we have to do” to tear down the Koozies Building, which is owned by an entity in Oklahoma.

He asked City Manager Stan Farmer to begin working on some course of action to achieve that result, which could involve Mount Airy seizing the land left behind to help offset the demolition costs to the municipality.

“And as long as I don’t have to handle the wrecking ball, I’ll be fine.”

After Koch’s remarks. the city manager reminded that the board already had taken the condemnation action back in February to set this in motion.

“If the council wants to take it down, it would come back to council action,” Farmer said of what’s required now to remove the dangerous building.

He said the necessary paperwork for this would be prepared as soon as possible.

The Surry County Agricultural Fair — now in its 75th year — is starting sooner than normal, this week to be exact, but also will run for more days.

Its 2022 version is scheduled to begin Friday and continue through Aug. 14 at Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy, its longtime venue. In addition to midway attractions such as rides and games the fair will feature the Majestik Spectacular Motorcycle Show and AIWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling on multiple days, along with fireworks on selected evenings.

This year’s 10-day edition is rolling out more than a month earlier compared to 2021, when the fair ran from Sept. 11-18, and it has been held during September for as long as anyone can remember.

Park President Doug Joyner says the stepped-up time frame is coinciding with a change this year from Powers and Thomas Midway Entertainment, a Wilmington-based company that provided rides and other attractions at the Surry fair since 2016.

“They dropped us — they broke the contract with us,” Joyner said of Powers and Thomas.

This required scrambling to find a new midway provider, which ended up being the Amusements of America company, which the park president said was the only one fair organizers could get. He also indicated that this also led to the scheduling change from the normal September dates in order to conform to that of the new provider, which lists a busy slate of events on its calendar.

“They’re supposed to have basically the same thing,” Joyner said of the midway offerings from Amusements of America.

“I don’t know much about them — they’re from New York,” he added. “It will be a gamble, more or less.”

Amusements of America is billed as one of the nation’s premier carnival operators. “We are listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest traveling amusement park in the world and currently carry over 100 rides and attractions,” promotional information about the company states .

Among its array of rides are the Giant Wheel, Wave Swinger, Full-Size Crazy Mouse Coaster, Avalanche Coaster and Fire Ball.

The Scheduling Gods did conspire to provide the 10-day run for the fair this year, compared to eight in 2021.

Gates and exhibits will be open from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday when the Surry County Agricultural Fair kicks off, with an opening night fireworks show also planned. Fireworks additionally are slated for Aug. 10 and Aug. 13.

The Majestik Spectacular Motorcycle Show plans two performances each day during the fair’s 10-day run, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

AIWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling is scheduled Saturday, when 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. shows are on tap, and three other days during the fair.

Gates and exhibits will be open Saturday from 1 to 11 p.m. and Sunday, 2 to 10 p.m.

General fair admission will cost $6 (with children 3 and younger to be admitted free with a paying adult) and $3 for seniors (60 and older) with proper identification.

Next Monday will be Carload Night, from 5 to 11 p.m., with one $40 price including gate admission, entertainment and unlimited-ride armbands for a maximum of eight people per vehicle.

Armbands also will be available for $25 on other days during the fair.

On Tuesday of next week, Senior Night is planned, offering free gate admission to persons 60 and older.

Veterans Night is scheduled on Aug. 11, including free gate admission to those with proper military ID and for a family of up to four people.

The 75th anniversary of the event will be celebrated on Aug. 10, when gate admission will cost only 75 cents.

Livestock shows also are planned during the fair.

More information is available at https://www.surrycountyagfair.org/index.html

ARARAT, Va. — A recent event at Willis Gap Community in Ararat lived up its name in more ways than one.

Not only did the July 22 edition of a regular Friday night open jam involve various musicians playing together during impromptu sessions in an informal setting at the center on The Hollow Road.

A “superb crowd” also jammed into the relatively small venue, according to Mary Dellenback Hill, the secretary of the Willis Gap Community Center Board of Directors and the local Dan River District representative for the Patrick County Tourism Department.

The event drew nearly 100 people in all, including more than 20 musicians and singers, Hill reported. All age groups were represented.

It was part of a weekly series in which the Willis Gap Community Center Open Jam welcomes the public each Friday, when the doors are open from 6 to 10 p.m. to musicians and singers of all skill levels along with fans.

It includes acoustic instruments and features multiple musical genres such as Appalachian heritage old-time, bluegrass, country and gospel.

The Willis Gap Community Center Open Jam took root in the mid-1990s, when groups of musicians would meet regularly at a local home.

Their growing popularity subsequently prompted a move of the jam sessions to the community center, located at 144 The Hollow Road in Ararat, for the Friday night series. The Willis Gap open jam is now an affiliated partner of The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.

That alliance links various communities in Southwest Virginia, Willis Gap and Floyd among them, which are helping to preserve the traditional genres through regular performance sites and in other ways.

The July 22 Willis Gap session was especially well-attended, with Hill explaining that she had put out word about group photos to be taken then, reflecting the historical-preservation aspect of the weekly event.

“A lot of musicians knew ahead of time,” she added.

Then there were the regular attractions that have helped popularize the Willis Gap Community Center Open Jam that has been in operation for more than 25 years.

In addition to the music, it offers dancing, family friendly fun and fellowship, along with and food prepared in a kitchen that opens at 6 p.m. ahead of the performances starting at 7 p.m.

Items including hot dogs, chips, candy, cakes, coffee and sodas are sold.

Another activity is involved which tends to be a part of many gatherings these days, a 50-50 drawing.

“We had a large drawing,” Hill mentioned in the wake of the July 22 jam, which resulted in $73 going to the winner and the same sum to the center.

All proceeds from the weekly jams benefit Willis Gap Community Center.

Stepping into a new role this March was Travis Frye who has been tasked as the tourism coordinator for both Dobson and Surry County Tourism Development Authorities. His goal is to ramp up the tourism efforts of the area, he says it is a challenge for which he is excited.

“I think we have a lot of potential for growth here in Dobson,” he told the town’s Board of Commissioners Thursday. While the titles on paper may be new, he has been hard at work promoting projects such as Autumn Leaves Festival for several years as the program and events director for the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce.

To aid in the creation of tourism growth Frye has developed a deep slate of activities featuring beats, eats, and meets.

It starts with Music at the Market, a collaboration between the Surry County TDA and Dobson TDA to be held at the farmers market at 601 E. Atkins St., Dobson.

“We are offering free events for folks who just want to listen to music or just get food,” Frye said. “We have a real cultural heritage of music in our area, so we want to feed on that as tourism destination on Friday nights.”

Steve Marshall and Highroad are going to kick off the series with a little bluegrass on August 26 from 7 – 9 p.m. He told the board that food trucks would be on hand too, something of a staple these days for such events. Having food options on site will hopefully draw in a little more traffic to the event.

“Folks that are just passing by and want to get some food from a food truck they can listen to the music or just get the food. We’re making it free of charge and people just need to bring their lawn chairs.”

Music at the Market will have performances through November, “That’s six bands that will be performing. All local musicians and a good opportunity for them as well.” Promoting Dobson, local food trucks, and the farmers market are all great – Frye is taking it further by finding local musical acts as well. If any news is good news, then promotion of any type for the area is a winning formula.

The tourism coordinator can’t just lay out plans and just hope for the best; so, Frye came ready to show his work. He shared his marketing campaign across radio, print, and social media that will continue through the end of the Market series. Having ads in Our State magazine alone will get these sorts of events quickly publicized to a statewide audience, giving tourists another reason to visit.

The future of tourism is going to look different as how modes of travel change. Upgrades at the Mount Airy Surry County Airport are meant to increase the capabilities of the airport and make it a destination stop for travelers to tank up, fill up, and say hello to Surry County.

Similarly, Frye told the commissioners that at the recent Visit North Carolina 365 conference they were talking about the future of electric vehicles. “One of the main things the pointed out that is coming in the future is EV charging stations and the electric cars that are constantly being promoted on television.”

“To get ahead of that, they asked rural areas as well as areas that are on major byways or interstates to start becoming proactive. So, Dobson TDA met and discussed options on where we would like to place it — where is a good tourism destination — and they settled on Shelton Vineyards.”

At a cost of approximately $18,000 the plan is to install a Level-2 ChargePoint EV charging station that will accommodate charging two vehicles at a charge time of two to four hours, he said. “It may be top off to get to their next destination or they could stay and come into the town and discover Dobson.”

The tourists are here, and the car is charging, so now Frye wants to get the delicious food of the area to fresh palettes. The sonker trail and recent sonker sign dedication gave him an idea to hoist another area favorite into the pantheon of deliciousness: ground steak.

“It is Surry County delicacy, we discussed having a festival in late spring, early summer of 2023 around the courthouse square. Not only would it encompass ground steak, but we would be focusing on delicacies like the sonker and introduce people to that. People could have sonker, ground steak, and look at crafts. We’re thinking about doing a high skill craft show, kids’ area, and live music on the square,” he said of the new concept.

Surry County TDA is also going to partner with Dobson to create a ground steak trail. “That way we can have our own website dedicated to ground steak and we can promote our local restaurants in the community. All Surry County — anybody that’s in the county that does ground steak, we’re going to promote them to promote tourism.”

Frye has something cooking that he cannot yet share with the public, the Country Concert Series is coming but, “I can’t announce what bands we have – I just have to say we have really good bands. If you’re a fan of 90s and early 00s county music, we have two big bands that will be coming.” A contractual obligation is preventing the announcement, but he is excited.

That series is going to be located outside the Hampton Inn on I-77 he said. “It’s a big field, we measured it and it can hold around 28,000 people in that vicinity. This is going to have to be a collaborative effort with the town, county, EMS, and sheriff.”

“It’s going to be a big deal and hopefully something we can do every year as an annual event.” Such an undertaking will not be easy, and he will be creating subcommittees to help divide the work. Anyone interested in serving on one should contact Frye, “Please let me know, we’ll have specific tasks for everybody.”

Finally, an announcement was made many in the area will be happy to hear, “The Surry Old Time Fiddlers Convention, you may have seen that it was canceled earlier this spring, but we revived it. The TDAs have a big investment in this, and we want to keep the convention here if possible. It does bring in 500-800 people per day over the two-day span.”

The Square Dance will be held on Friday Sept. 23 with $5 admission fee, children younger than 12 are free. At 7 p.m. Lucas Pasley and The Stratford Stringband perform, and then at 8:30 p.m. the Slate Mountain Ramblers will take the stage. A move to the Surry County Service Center in Dobson was needed to facilitate the new date but those ready to rosin a bow will not be bothered by the change.

Then on Saturday, Sept. 24, registration opens at 10 a.m. with youth contests between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with youth dance and awards following youth competition. Then from 3 until 6:30 p.m. will be the adult individual contests and at 7 p.m. the adult band contest, the adult dance and awards following the band contest.

“Things are looking really good and we’re staying really busy,” Frye said in closing also apologizing for talking so much. The board did not seem to mind, this is exactly what he was brought on to do and he came Thursday evening prepared.

Getting the fiddlers convention squared away, Music at the Market, Country Concert Series, a ground steak trail, adding electric car charging stations – his appraisal of the potential to grow tourism seems attainable.

Stories of mankind encroaching on nature often don’t have happy endings, but that outcome resulted from an effort to move trout from an endangered location to a new home in Surry County.

“They’re doing great,” Fisheries Biologist Kin Hodges of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said Friday regarding the Southern Appalachian brook trout — nicknamed brookies — which were involved in the emergency operation.

It was undertaken about a year ago, but the success of the project wasn’t determined until recently.

That mission has come to light publicly through the efforts of NC Policy Watch, a news and commentary outlet based in Raleigh which is affiliated with the North Carolina Justice Center. It is known as a think tank whose mission includes keeping citizens and elected officials informed about important issues, including those involving the environment.

NC Policy Watch recently released a report to other media organizations documenting the trout-rescue operation conducted by the state Wildlife Resources Commission.

That article details the catalyst for the relocation of the brookies, the state’s official freshwater fish and North Carolina’s only native trout species.

Bottomley Properties, a company based in Alleghany County, had been timbering forestland on 360 acres along a section of Ramey Creek to expand cattle-grazing operations of the company, according to NC Policy Watch.

Hodges explained Friday that this location is in Alleghany County just across the border from Surry.

NC Policy Watch reported how shade trees that cooled Ramey Creek while also stabilizing the streambanks had been cut to the stumps. This resulted in rock, mud and dirt being freed by a hard rain and pouring into the creek, damaging three-quarters of an acre of wetlands and more than three linear miles of waterways.

The brookies’ survival was threatened by alleged violations by Bottomley Properties, which the N.C. Division of Water Resources called “some of the most extensive sedimentation damage ever seen,” based on the NC Policy Watch report citing public records in the matter.

This led to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality fining Bottomley Properties $268,000 for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act related to the degradation of creeks, wetlands and streams. The NC Policy Watch report added that the company has appealed the fine, with an administrative law judge to hear the case later this year.

Meanwhile, the fate of the brook trout hung in the balance until the state fisheries experts intervened.

Hodges explained Friday that brookies are a sensitive species that live a perilous existence.

“They need the water to remain nice and clear,” he said of the trout that exist only in the headwaters of mountain streams where no other fish can survive.

The decision was made to move brookies from Ramey Creek to another location about six miles away in Surry County, which Hodges described as an unnamed tributary of the Fisher River above Lowgap.

This waterway represented a great new home for the displaced brookies due to being on property owned by the Piedmont Land Conservancy in Greensboro. It acquires sites in Surry and other area counties containing valuable natural resources that otherwise might be threatened by unwanted development.

“This means that it is protected,” Hodges said. “So we don’t have to worry about outside disturbances harming the brook trout.”

The pristine condition of the Fisher River tributary targeted for the fish relocation also was a plus, the fisheries biologist said.

“It was in perfect shape, habitat-wise, but it just didn’t have brook trout in it,” Hodges said of the waterway that had been on the commission’s radar for years as a likely area for that species to thrive.

However, moving the fish from Ramey Creek to the spot in Surry required a painstaking process that spanned more than two weeks in June 2021, as reported by NC Policy Watch.

This included dipping electrodes into the stream to provide a shock of 400 volts in order to subdue the fish and allow them to be caught and placed in a bucket for transport.

Accessing the new location was achieved with an off-road vehicle and eventually maneuvering through thick undergrowth on foot to reach the Fisher River tributary.

The site recently was revisited to check on the progress of the brookies, which again involved providing an electric shock so they could be measured and otherwise evaluated.

Adult brookies tend to be 5 to 7 inches long, Hodges said, but in places where the food supply is plentiful and the water is deep that can be 9 or 10 inches.

The size of the fish surveyed was determined as adequate and their reproductive cycles appeared to be on track, as reported by NC Policy Watch.

“This is the best result we could have possibly seen,” Hodges said Friday.

He acknowledged that it is a shame the violations happened along Ramey Creek, but the rest of the story has been “serendipitous” with the brookies’ successful relocation.

“The pieces fell in place.”

As July wraps up, I couldn’t help but reflect on an exciting trend that has come back to the area and brought a wave of nostalgia and historical discovery with it. From Downtown Pilot Mountain’s Fun Friday ‘70s edition to the second annual Hippie Revival Festival at Miss Angel’s Farm, the ‘70s are back in Surry County in a big way.

The ‘70s were memorable for many things from the trends in fashion and hippie culture being in full swing, but the music of the decade really stood out. As a millennial, I remember every summer, saving up money and going to music festivals (such as the Vans Warped Tour in Charlotte). It was never lost on me that we had never really stopped trying to recreate the iconic music festivals of the late 1960s and 1970s.

This all had me wondering where young people from this area would have gone to hear live music and have their own music festival experience, and the answer? Love Valley just north of Statesville for the Love Valley Rock Festival of 1970.

Love Valley was, and still is today, a 2,000-acre town created by Andy Barker. Barker loved westerns and the stories of the wild west so much that he made an entire western-themed tourism destination in 1958. The creation of this town was truly interesting and exciting, especially for surrounding North Carolinians. Even here in Mount Airy, Bobby Atkins recorded a bluegrass song about the town at Stark Records in 1968, called Love Valley.

How did this Wild West wonderland become the location for “The South’s Woodstock”? Barker saw how successful other music festivals were and figured if he could get bands to play for free and people to pay $5 for a three-day ticket then he could make a good amount of money. His 22-year-old daughter Tonda also wanted to attend Woodstock the previous year, and though he thought she was too young, he allowed her to plan a music festival there in Love Valley with her 16-year-old brother, Jet. She originally planned to host 25,000 – 50,000 people if they were lucky, but no one could have expected what the festival would bring.

Because of the nature of the event, it’s hard to know just how many attended, some say 100,000 others speculated it could have been closer to 200,000, but regardless there was a huge turnout. The event strategically took place from July 13 – 16. Other major music festivals were happening in the south that July and people had traveled from all over to come and experience them.

At Love Valley, people were skinny dipping in a nearby lake and camping, and truly putting a Southern twist on hippie culture. One of my favorite stories includes, “…It was such a cool place. You had to ride horses. It was just like this Wild West town, and I can remember nights we were full of moonshine and LSD, having fake fights, and falling out of the second floor of the hotel with one of the guys in the middle of the street cracking a whip. It was nuts. I mean, it was crazy.”

This all caused quite a stir especially in more rural communities, and the event was a media frenzy with many local papers writing about it. Some were not ready to accept the ‘weird’ culture and concerned citizens from surrounding towns wrote to Andy asking him why he was having the event and voicing their concerns. Despite the concern from locals, the event went off without any real incident aside from a dispute between two rival biker gangs (Hell’s Angels and The Outlaws) though that was broken up quickly.

The bands that played at Love Valley truly helped set it off, some say that more than 40 bands showed up to play over the three days. Some of the best locally known were Kallabash out of Greensboro who iconically set off smoke bombs and finished their set naked, and lesser known Sacred Irony out of Winston-Salem.

The most well-known band to play was The Allman Brothers. They had an album out as a Southern rock band but weren’t extremely well known yet. Their performance was so well-anticipated though that they were booked to play at least twice and are thought to be one of the major reasons for the impressive turnout. The set list itself showed music to start at 6 p.m. and go to about 1- 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday a “Praise the Lord” service at the area stage from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and partying “until you couldn’t stand” starting back up at 2 p.m.

It seems unreal that less than an hour away, such a bizarre and amazing event took place. The reality though is that the Love Valley Rock Festival was so much more than anyone could have dreamed, and it had a fascinating impact on the community, artists who performed, and most importantly the participants who experienced it all. I can’t wait to see how else Surry County will embrace the ’70s, but as trends come back in style, I hope we can all bring the history back with it.

Cassandra Johnson is the director of programs and education at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She is a Carroll County, Virginia, native whose family has been exploring the Devil’s Den cave in Fancy Gap for generations.

After dealing with Mount Airy’s planning-relating matters as a volunteer, Jeannie Studnicki is now doing so on a professional basis due to recently joining the Benchmark firm.

Benchmark is an entity based in Charlotte which has been contracted to provide planning services to Mount Airy since 2011, when city officials decided to privatize those functions.

That arrangement includes having personnel stationed regularly at the Municipal Building to handle matters involving zoning administration, long-range growth and others.

Studnicki, a 17-year resident of Mount Airy, is now part of that staff also including city Planning Director Andy Goodall. Her title is city planner.

She formerly served on the Mount Airy Planning Board, a key advisory group to the city commissioners which devotes initial study to annexation, zoning and related requests and then makes recommendations to the commissioners for final decisions.

Studnicki was a Planning Board member for seven years, having been appointed by the commissioners in 2015. She chaired that group for the past two years and rotated off it this year due to serving the maximum terms allowed.

The outgoing board member received special recognition for her city volunteer service from Mayor Ron Niland during a May 19 meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners.

“It was a natural progression when the city planning job presented itself,” Studnicki advised this week of her addition to the local Benchmark operation.

“This new position involves strategic thinking, goal setting, data collection and analysis, forecasting, design and public consultation, duties that I’m very familiar and comfortable with,” she added.

“It also allows me the opportunity to continue serving the city, its residents, and contributing to community growth in a meaningful way.”

Studnicki’s present responsibilities mirrored her work on the Mount Airy Planning Board. That included investigating present and emerging land-development trends and activities within the municipality, and recommending plans, policies and ordinances designed to maximize opportunities for growth while promoting public health, safety, morals and welfare.

While a Planning Board member, Studnicki assisted in the revision of far-thinking documents such as the Mount Airy Comprehensive Plan, along with zoning, sign, landscaping and other ordinances.

The new city planner, formerly of Toronto, has demonstrated a particular appreciation for architecture and historical preservation locally.

This included working to expand the number of Mount Airy districts in the National Register of Historic Places in recent years, motivated by benefits historically recognized places provide.

“Old buildings are witnesses to the aesthetic and cultural history of a city, helping to give people a sense of place and connection to the past,” Studnicki believes.

“Mount Airy thrives from its historic significance,” she observed. “Preservation of this irreplaceable heritage is in the public interest — we’d be doing a disservice if its vibrant legacy of inspiration and energy isn’t maintained and enriched for future generations.”

Studnicki, whose background includes 25 years of experience in marketing and as a business strategist working with companies including Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, AstraZeneca and more, has filled additional volunteer roles in this community.

She is a past board member of Mount Airy Museum of Regional History, a present member of the Downtown Master Plan Steering Committee and also volunteers at Northern Regional Hospital, among others.

“Twenty years from now, I want to reflect on my time in Mount Airy and feel that I contributed in a meaningful way,” Studnicki commented.

“That I championed for the welfare of our residents by helping to design a city that met their needs and interests while addressing crucial urban problems.”

This morning marks 25 days since the partial collapse of the historic Main Oak Building in downtown Mount Airy. Questions abound about the cause of the roof collapse and what the next steps look like but there is no quick answer or action in sight.

On Friday, Mount Airy Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Chris Fallaw confirmed the investigation into the collapse is still ongoing. From the street the scene has changed little with the upper level of the building still exposed and support beams bracing the outside. Businesses in the area have returned to operation with the impediments to Olde Mill Music’s entrance removed and The Loaded Goat resuming limited service this week.

With Autumn Leaves Festival and Mayberry Days on the horizon, there remains some concern about upcoming programming involving foot traffic on streets and sidewalks that may be harmed by the ongoing closure and barriers found at the Main Oak site.

Jordon Edwards has taken over as the events director for The Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce and is the Autumn Leaves Festival director. She took over from Travis Frye who departed for a tourism coordinator job for both Dobson and Surry County in March.

“It is an excellent question to be asking and for the time, I feel comfortable agreeing that ALF Vendor spaces will be impacted but to what degree I am not sure,” Edwards said. “We have started conversations with all relevant parties and hope to have a better picture within a few weeks. Our utmost importance is safety for vendors and attendees, and we will keep that at the forefront of all discussions moving forward.”

Since 2013 Lizzie Morrison has been the Main Street coordinator for Mount Airy Downtown, Inc. (MAD). She said she was unable to provide much of an update but did advise that city officials and MAD have “been in touch with their development team. At this point, they are still working through the process with their insurance company.”

She cast a hopeful tone for the outcome of the Main Oak building and the historic elements found within. “All parties are hopeful that the remaining parts of the historic Main Oak Building will be saved.”

“While the layout of some of our beloved festivals may change a bit, planners are moving forward with the 2022 festival season. We feel confident that our public safety partners at the City of Mount Airy will help to ensure the safety of festival goers and everyday pedestrians around the Main Oak Building. A stabilization system and safety barriers will continue to be in place as long as needed,” she said.

Sharing Morrison’s concerns about the state of the building is Matt Edwards. He has been fielding questions about the building given his status as executive director of the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History, and the neighbor of the building.

From a recent discussion with contractors, “Last I heard they were working with the State Historic Preservation office to try and figure out a plan of action and hopefully identify some funding to help with the façade preservation.”

“At bare minimum I’m sure their architect is pulling together some options for them to consider based on what SHPO, insurance and the engineers say at this point. I know we all want to see something happen quickly, but my experience says this stuff takes time. If you rush it, you end up with bad results.”

A request for comment from the preservation office drew no response.

“These are old building in a historic district and the developers are people who have taken a calculated gamble on the rehabilitation of the building based on a lot of outside factors that we are not privy to. Those likely include tax credits that are, in most cases, predicated on maintaining the historic façade of the building,” Edwards explained.

The sad truth of the matter, he said, is that the state has its hands full with other projects. “Ultimately, while it was catastrophic for our downtown, it’s just another of many projects they are consulting on.”

“Personally, I expect it to take months before anything substantive is done, but do I hope they can get in and get some sort of cover on the exposed section because every day that passes more and more rain pours in and continues to damage the inside as well.”

That is not what anyone wants to see or hear. The National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Virginia, reports Mount Airy received more than 5.59 inches of rain since July 5, the day of the collapse. Every drop of water that is finding a crack or crevice is being pulled by gravity downward and may be eroding the structural integrity of what is left behind.

“That doesn’t even scratch the surface on any investigation the insurance company may want to do before they determine if and how much they’ll pay out. People don’t realize that projects like this are like icebergs – you see a little bit sticking up but there’s a lot going on below the surface.”

Edwards further tempered, “It’s only been three weeks and there are a lot of moving pieces.”

A Rotary Club of Mount Airy meeting Tuesday had a distinctly youthful appearance, which included students being recognized for academic and other achievements along with one person who’ll be participating in an upcoming jiu-jitsu competition.

Local Rotarian Rachael Williams is preparing for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Master Championship scheduled for Sept. 1-3 in Las Vegas.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is described as a grappling-based martial art that recognizes how it is easier to control an opponent on the ground as opposed to a standing position. Once taking the opponent down, the aim is to wrestle for dominant control positions from which the opponent can be rendered harmless and forced to submit.

The Rotary Club of Mount Airy’s Global Outreach Committee is a sponsor of Williams’ participation. A $300 check for sponsorship funds was presented to her during Tuesday’s meeting at Cross Creek Country Club.

Williams will be promoting the local group during the international competition in the form of a patch on the front of her jacket providing what she called “great visibility.” Matches during the event will be live streamed, powered by FloSports, a subscription service.

“I am blown away and so thankful for this opportunity to take the Mount Airy Rotary name with me to Las Vegas in September,” Williams commented.

Another Rotary initiative that supports higher-education aspirations of local students also took center stage Tuesday.

“Every spring we give scholarships and it is dependent on how much money we have,” said the club’s Polly Long. “And this year we were able to give two.”

Awards of $500 each went to Paxton Reece and Kade Norman, recent graduates of Mount Airy and Surry Central high schools, respectively. Norman was presented a check at a Rotary meeting on June 28, which Reece was unable to attend, so she received hers Tuesday.

Along with academic performance, the scholarship criteria includes community service through the countywide Interact Club, a youth branch of the Rotary organization which encourages participation in service projects.

Scholarship recipients must be members of that group. “We look at what they’ve done for the community,” Long explained.

Reece, who is headed to the University of North Carolina to study psychology, took part in the Lunch Buddies program at B.H. Tharrington Primary School, played a role in Blue Bear Bus activities and participated in a dog wash.

Norman, who will pursue nursing training at Surry Community College, aided food distribution for those in need, participated in a cleanup effort and assisted in a building program of the Greater Mount Airy Habitat for Humanity.

Also recognized Tuesday were two local students who are winners of Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.

They are Devin Davis, a rising senior at Mount Airy High School, and Katie O’Neal, who will be entering the 12th grade at Surry Central High School.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards involve a program coordinated by Rotary clubs worldwide, which includes thousands of young people being chosen to participate in the highly selective program that provides training for their future endeavors.

The local students’ selection as award winners led to their attendance at the recent Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference at Oak Ridge Military Academy in Guilford County.

Both Davis and O’Neal got a chance to speak about their activities there during Tuesday’s Rotary meeting and how meaningful that gathering was to them.

Davis called it easily “the best experience of my life,” and expressed gratitude to the club members for sending her to the conference. “I can’t thank you enough,” she told them.

The event stressed the fact that the future is now, the student added.

“It showed me that I am not a leader of tomorrow, but a young leader of today.”

Along with recent summer temperatures, a new Andy Griffith mural on Moore Avenue remains a hot topic at City Hall — not the mural itself, but related parking and sidewalk changes there which one official says were done improperly.

“We didn’t follow our charter,” Commissioner Jon Cawley said during the last council meeting in a continuing debate over an issue that first began heating up when it last had met on June 16.

And the flame was turned up higher last Thursday night when Cawley came armed with copies of Mount Airy’s charter — the official document specifying the rights and duties of city government — documentation he’d been asked to produce at the previous session.

Cawley, who has said repeatedly that he loves the new mural, contends, however, that only the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners had the authority to change the street infrastructure there. This included widening the sidewalk to allow a better observation area for the public, which caused two parking spaces to be lost.

The often-outspoken North Ward commissioner — who is running for mayor this year — said that rather than the board, City Manager Stan Farmer authorized the recent infrastructure work.

Cawley read a pertinent section of the municipal charter, taking up about a page, which states that the city board has the power to authorize both street and sidewalk changes and makes no mention of the city manager’s role. He focused on the loss of the parking spots, indicating that affected business owners should have had a chance to weigh in on that at a public hearing.

Other members of the city council disagreed last Thursday with Cawley’s assessment of the matter, which had arisen in June in connection with an unrelated request from a local body shop owner regarding a sign.

Frank Fleming, also known for his modified racing career, is seeking an amendment to a city ordinance which would allow him to have a taller sign at a new shop location on Merita Street which isn’t presently permitted. A public hearing on the proposed amendment is scheduled for Aug. 18.

Cawley Thursday reiterated a previous statement that Fleming is doing this “the right way” in conforming to the rules, compared to what he believes is no respect being shown for city procedure concerning the mural site.

“We didn’t do it the right way,” Cawley said of his position that the board should have authorized the work, while quickly adding that he is not trying to call out the city manager, who came aboard in January.

“With all due respect, Stan, I appreciate you and I like you,” he told Farmer, seated right beside him in the council chambers.

“We didn’t follow our charter,” said Cawley, who added that “I just throw my hands up” if fellow officials think there is no need to abide by that document.

Others on the city board, in attempting to counter Cawley’s argument, said there was a gray area involved with the mural-related work and their interpretation of the charter. This was after Commissioner Marie Wood asked Cawley to read the key passages aloud while presiding at the meeting in her dual role as mayor pro tem due to the absence of Mayor Ron Niland.

“I don’t get that,” Wood said of Cawley’s accusation while advising that she sees nothing in the charter explicitly forbidding the city manager from making such decisions. “I’m trying to wrap my head around how this had anything to do with the mural.”

The board’s Steve Yokeley, who had asked Cawley to produce documentation that led to the latter’s reading of the charter, also weighed in on the matter.

“I just think that if we’re going to nitpick about allowing the city manager to do what he is charged to do,” Yokeley said, “it will be a sad day for the city.”

Commissioner Tom Koch agreed, saying he could foresee problems “if the city manager has to come to us every time anything is done in this town.”

“We just can’t micromanage,” Yokeley said. “We have to look at the big picture and set policy.”

Yokeley disagreed with Cawley’s interpretation of the charter, saying he also doesn’t see language prohibiting Farmer from removing a small parking section.

“The question was whether the city manager had the authority to take two parking spaces.”

“Where does it stop?” Cawley responded in suggesting that a couple of parking spots lost today could mean 24 being taken later under the same scenario — impacting affected businesses.

Toward the end of the mural debate that took up most of the meeting, Commissioner Joe Zalescik asked City Attorney Hugh Campbell for his assessment on what had transpired — “because none of us up here went to law school.”

Campbell concurred with Cawley that the board has the authority to make street/sidewalk changes, as the charter states, saying he couldn’t recall a similar case of parking spots being removed without board action. Campbell has been city attorney since 2002.

Yet he also thinks the city manager did not overstep his authority in the matter or otherwise did anything wrong.

The scope of the mural project had been discussed and approved by the commissioners beforehand, Campbell said of action taken last year.

That finding only produced further debate.

Commissioner Cawley reminded that the mural originally was intended for a wall of Brannock and Hiatt Furniture Co. on North Main Street. It was shifted to the location on Moore Avenue for reasons including a high cost of readying the Brannock and Hiatt wall for paint.

“The board never approved putting the mural where it is now,” he said, mentioning that all the work was done before this could occur.

“I know it’s too late now,” Cawley said of such a decision. “It was too late when I brought it up (last month).”

Yokeley said he was aware the mural site was going to be moved.

“I’m glad you knew about it,” Cawley replied. “I didn’t.”

Food, agriculture and bluegrass picking are staples in Surry County and starting Friday, Aug. 26, the three will blend together in harmony when the Music at the Market concert series kicks off at the Dobson Farmer’s Market.

Folks from all over will be able to satisfy their taste buds from food trucks on-site at 6 p.m. and whet their bluegrass appetite with the music of Steve Marshall & Highroad from 7 to 9 p.m.

Admission is free and citizens should bring their lawn chairs. BJ’s Fry Shack, My Kitchen, and Station 1978 Firehouse Peanuts are scheduled to be at the first concert.

Utilizing the location of the Farmer’s Market off the Dobson U.S. Hwy. 601 exit, at 903 E. Atkins St., Dobson, organizers of the concert series hope it will be a crowd pleaser and a perennial draw.

All concerts in the series are free and will be held at the same time of the evening from late summer through the fall, which should make for cooler weather — fingers crossed.

The concert series is sponsored by Carolina West Wireless, Surry Communications, Frontier Natural Gas and Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation.

There are six bands set to perform during Music at the Market.

“Combining their precise instrumental skills with their powerful harmony, Steve Marshal & Highroad produce music embedded in the bluegrass tradition with feeling and soul,” according to promotional material for the band.

The next show will be held on Sept. 9 featuring Hubert Lawson & the Bluegrass Country Boys. They have been described as a hard-driving traditional bluegrass and bluegrass gospel band playing in North Carolina and surrounding areas.

Hubert Lawson, who emcees the show and plays guitar, shares the stage with his wife Vera, on bass, and their two sons Lee and Eddie Lawson.

Wood Family Tradition will wrap up the month with their show on Sept. 30. Family values, legacy, faith and humor are just a few things that Wood Family Tradition bring to the stage with more than 150 years of combined experience in the Bluegrass and Bluegrass Gospel genre.

Wood Family Tradition has its roots from legendary banjoist and songwriter Al Wood. Mike and Bobby are his sons and Jason is his grandson. Other members include Jason’s wife Mackenzie, and banjoist Brian Aldridge.

Get the fiddles ready for The Country Boys on Oct. 7. The Country Boys have played in most of the regional fiddler’s conventions, and they have won the coveted first place in the Galax Fiddlers Convention competition several times. The band also placed second runner-up in the old Union Grove Fiddlers Convention.

The band specialized in fiddle tunes and receives a lot of their repertoire from Kenny Baker and Lester Flatt. More recent influences have come from the Country Gentlemen, while adding their own modern twist.

On Oct. 28 it will be time for Gap Civil to take the state for Music at the Market. The group is an Appalachian Mountain Music band built on the motto of honor and innovation. They honor the mountain traditions that have shaped and rooted their music, yet they take great pride in innovative and exciting original songs, tunes and arrangements.

Gap Civil was formed in 2017 in Sparta and features Caroline Noel Beverley on guitar and vocals, Chris Johnson on banjo and bass, Lucas Pasley on fiddle and vocals and Kyle Dean Smith on bass and lead guitar.

Slate Mountain Ramblers will end the roster of performances with a bang on Nov. 11. The Slate Mountain Ramblers is a family old-time band from Mount Airy. They formerly lived in Ararat, Virginia. For many years, Richard Bowman, his wife Barbara and their daughter Marsha have spent weekends playing music. Richard plays fiddle, Barbara the bass and Marsha the claw-hammer banjo.

The band has a winning tradition at fiddler’s conventions throughout the years. Richard, on fiddle, and Marsha, on claw-hammer banjo, have received many individual awards. The Slate Mountain Ramblers play for shows, dances, family and community gatherings, benefits and compete at fiddler’s conventions throughout the year.

The Ramblers have played internationally at the Austrian Alps Performing Arts Festival and in Gainsborough, England for the Friends of American Old Time Music and Dance Festival. They also lead fiddle, banjo, bass and dance workshops.

No music festival would be complete without a cold drink and something to snack on. Scheduled food trucks to appear at this year’s Music at the Market Concert Series include:

• BJ’s Fry Shack: Aug. 26

• Shikora Express on Wheels: Sept. 30

• Mermaids On the Go: Sept. 30, Oct. 28 and Nov. 11

• Station 1978 Firehouse Peanuts LLC: Aug. 26, Sept. 9, Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Oct. 28 and Nov. 11.

If the tunes were not enough, the food trucks may add an extra tasty incentive for people to come out and enjoy dinner and music, organizers said.

Before he became a member of the medical profession, Dr. David Dixon was a poet.

“I got my first poem published in 1992,” he said of the days preceding the beginning of his training to become a family physician.

Now retired from that field, Dixon’s love of writing has come full circle with the recent publishing of his first book of poetry which also is meshing with one of the Mount Airy resident’s longtime passions as a doctor: the Surry Medical Ministries clinic.

Dixon is donating every penny of proceeds from advance sales of the book — titled “The Scattering of Saints” — to the Rockford Street clinic that provides free health-care services to low-income uninsured patients. He is medical director of the all-volunteer facility, which the local doctor has been involved with since 2003, about 10 years after it first opened.

Surry Medical Ministries officials, including Dixon’s wife Nancy, who is president of its board of directors, are presently engaged in a $3.5 million fundraising campaign aimed at providing a larger facility to meet a growing demand for the clinic’s services.

The organization has been generating support from various sources, including state and local governmental funding, to make the project a reality, with the sales of Dr. Dixon’s book part of that equation.

“It was accepted for publication about two years ago,” he said of the collection of poems that took about three years to write. The book was put out by Hermit Feathers Press, a small independent publisher based in Clemmons which specializes in regional poetry of the Southeast.

The 109-page work explores a variety of subject matter from a life that also included time as a seminary student.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” Dr. Dixon, 61, added during a book-release celebration at his home last Friday night which was attended by about 50 people.

This includes material derived from his experiences as a physician, along with observations about nature, religion and life in general.

“David Dixon whirls readers through languages of faith, illness, love, loss; lives of apostles, pets, poets and trees,” says a description of “The Scattering of Saints.”

“He’s seen a lot and is not afraid to get it down on the page.”

“A search for meaning is what it’s all about,” said the author, also a musician, who was born in Mount Airy but grew up in Peru, where his parents were missionaries. The new book is dedicated to them.

Its title, “The Scattering of Saints,” is a line from one of the poems.

Among the captivating names of the many it contains are “How to Care for a Dogwood,” “Never Like the Movie” and “Speed of Light.”

Friday night’s kickoff event featured readings by other writers, Bill Colvard, Angell Caudill, Jenny Bates, Steve Cushman and Elaine Neil Orr.

Dr. Dixon said 300 advance copies of “The Scattering of Saints” have been made available for distribution by him, for which 100% of the sale proceeds will be used to benefit the free clinic.

The base cost per volume is $20.

“Many people are donating extra for the books,” Dixon explained regarding their desire to aid the Surry Medical Ministries mission beyond the $20 price.

Any contributions made above the book purchase are fully tax-deductible, according to Nancy Dixon.

Copies of “The Scattering of Saints” can be obtained from the clinic on Rockford Street, across from Northern Regional Hospital, or by reaching out to him on Facebook, Dixon said.

The option also exists for literary enthusiasts to order the poetry book on Amazon.com, but none of the proceeds from those sales will go toward the clinic.

Dixon additionally is hoping to make copies available at bookstores such as Pages in Mount Airy and others in Winston-Salem.

An early Christmas present came for Dr. Kim Morrison and Mount Airy High School when they were awarded a needs-based grant to make improvements to the aging Career and Technical Education (CTE) Building. She said this has been a long time coming and that “we’ve been asking for this for many years.”

The grant money will allow the school to make improvements to the building and to make it ADA compliant. Having been awarded the grant will help everyone, not just Mount Airy High. Morrison, the city schools superintendent, explained that the grant “saves the Surry County taxpayer almost $2 million that can be used on other needed construction projects.”

Jay Temple, Mount Airy City Schools director of auxiliary services, said the CTE renovations are ahead of schedule and the architect has already submitted the plans, “Which is phenomenal. We are basically ahead of everybody else in the state of North Carolina so this project can get underway.”

Commissioner Larry Johnson recalled, “I was one of the first students to be in that building. George Williams taught mechanical drawing on the first room on the left and the whole basement was building trades. I still remember some of the things like laying brick and welding. I’m glad you got this grant.” Morrison advised those trades are alive and well, along with programs such as drones, health science, and a new sustainable agriculture program joining this year.

When Morrison was describing her grant application earlier in the year, it was Johnson who encouraged her to take two smaller grant requests and bundle them into one. That bundle got approved and is adding an elevator, covered handicap ramps, and climate-controlled wood storage to name only a few to upgrades to the CTE building.

Commissioner Eddie Harris said, “I think it’s big boost for what you are doing over there and these technical skill trades. I’m excited to see schools doing this. I think it may light a fire for kids to look at these trades and go into them because its greatly needed, and these fields pay well. The more knowledge you can acquire is such a great benefit to our young people. For me, skilled technical education and trades is where the future is.”

Morrison, and other local education leaders, agree with his assessment. She told the board, “In our requirements, in our strategic plan that should be kicking in this year, is 100% of our students have to go through the CTE pathways. So, they have to take multiple courses in CTE and not just choose to. Once that kicks in you will see everyone going through one of those pathways.”

Surry County Schools Superintendent Dr. Travis Reeves was also on hand to update the board on the North Surry High School fuel leak. On the evening of April 21, a leak in the boiler room sent hundreds of gallons of fuel oil down a drain that runs under the parking lot and ultimately connects to Stewarts Creek.

A fuel pump malfunctioned, Dr. Reeves said, and a temporary pump and hosing were used to fix the problem. It has been identified that it was a section of this temporary hose that developed a hole in the overnight hours and leaked the fuel oil.

Reeves said the insurer Liberty Mutual will make an “ex gratia” payment to the school system in the amount of $50,000 against the total bill of $237,654.86. He read from Chad Miller that while this was not an admission of coverage, “Due to the service delays from our vendor we are seeking an exception.” The service provider was the inspector of the hose that failed who had said it would be a two-week process to investigate the hose. That timeline not kept due to staffing issues on the vendor’s side, hence the goodwill payment.

There are outstanding bills to Ultimate Towing and Recovery and the county’s emergency services from the fuel spill that the board tabled until the insurance claim was resolved. The insurance money and another $34,000 Dr. Reeves saved on other projects were put toward the bills, and the commissioners consented to pay the remainder – approximately $149,000.

Commissioner Van Tucker said to Reeves, “I want to make sure we are not giving up on the inspection. I think it’s a shame that a piece of hose that was inspected becomes a $250,000 liability for the county. I want you purse that to its fullest.”

-Dr. Brooke Lowry is serving as the dentist member on the Surry County Board of Health. She will complete her first term on the board at the end of the month. Eddie Jordan, the chair of the Board of Health, has recommended she be reappointed for another term, and Dr. Lowry has agreed. The board approved and her new term will run for three years through July 2025.

-The Surry County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council recommended Amanda Dollinger be added as a new member. Commissioner Mark Marion said he serves on this committee, and Dollinger “would be a good addition.”

Current members returning to serve another term are Joe Rick, Daniel White, Jeff Eads, and Rusty Slate. These were all approved by the county commissioners. For 2022-2023 the officers for the Surry Juvenile Crime Prevention Council are Chair Nikki Hull, Vice Chair Rusty Slate, and Secretary Tamara Viet.

– Lyn’s Medical Closet is a part of the ministry of Trinity Episcopal Church and Grace Moravian Church. They loan out medical equipment such as wheelchairs, shower benches, or walkers at no charge to assist those in need. It is from donations that these items come to the closet for reuse, some donated items cannot be used unfortunately. Others have simply lived a full life and are no longer safe or functional and must be disposed of.

They made a request to Jessica Montgomery of public works to be added onto the list of non-profits that can dump at the county landfill without fees. That request reached the board and Commissioner Larry Johnson commented he has had a positive experience and has used Lyn’s Medical Closet “several times.”

He moved they be added onto the list of approved fee-free dumpers and that the county reimburse the $2.37 in tipping fees from their last load. The motion passed without dissent.

-Finally, Westfield Elementary was back on the commissioners’ plate as County Attorney Ed Woltz brought the previous bid for the former school building – unchanged -back to the board.

The board turned down the offer from the private bidder at their June 6 meeting. It was determined at that time that $102,000 was not a high enough bid for the surplus property has been appraised at $243,000.

The offer of $102,000 the bidders feel is fair because it considers their costs for removing those buildings. Woltz discussed with the board the depreciated value of the structures on the land. It was their age and condition that led Westfield along with J.J. Jones to hit the surplus list, and nothing has changed as Westfield continues to sit.

Potential soil contamination and asbestos remediation were concerns that drove the first interested party to quickly withdraw their offer of $150,000 and they still exist. That higher offer may be tempting the board to hold out knowing that there may yet be a party out there willing again to approach such a figure.

As always Woltz reminded the board that with bidding processes such as these, they have the option to walk away at any time until the contract is signed. The board agreed to table the request for future consideration.

Nearly two dozen classic and old-time autos were on display Sunday at the Dobson Church of Christ.

A good-sized crowd turned out for the church’s Sunday afternoon cruise-in, which Pastor Scott Meadows hopes to make an annual event.

”We had 20 car entries for the show, two food trucks, Benny’s Ice Cream and State of Graze,” he said, giving fans the chance to enjoy a few treats while checking out the classic cars and trucks.

Gray Gwyn’s 1966 Cadillac Deville was crowned the People’s Choice award-winner.

“Those attending enjoyed viewing the cars and good times in the shade,” Meadows said.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — Even if there were such a creature as the Heat Monster, it would’ve been no match for the brontosaurus, triceratops, tyrannosaurus rex and other dinosaur species that invaded downtown Pilot Mountain over the weekend.

Of course, none were real, although some appeared to be alive — and appropriately fearsome — thanks to the animation skills of Ed’s Dinosaurs Live, a Concord-based outfit that provides educational entertainment of the prehistoric variety at events including festivals and parades.

And the interactive exhibits, rides and other attractions featuring lifelike dinosaurs which Ed’s brought to downtown Pilot Mountain Saturday for an event free to the public showed that while those creatures themselves are extinct, their human admirers certainly are not.

Nearly every inch of ground surrounding the town hall parking lot was filled with people — mostly parents with small children, some riding in strollers and others perched on the adults’ shoulders, but nearly all with looks of awe on their faces. Parking spaces also were hard to come by in the downtown vicinity.

“We’ve already had 3,000 in the first couple of hours today,” Pilot Mountain Mayor Evan Cockerham said of the attendance shortly after noon Saturday, with about two hours still to go for the Dinosaurs on Main event.

Similar to the figure of a brontosaurus that loomed over the proceedings, Cockerham was expecting final turnout to tower above that of a previous Ed’s Dinosaurs Live appearance in Pilot Mountain in 2019.

And keep in mind that all this was unfolding under a searing sun that baked the crowd in temperatures of around 90 degrees. This was intensified by the hot pavement on which folks had to stand while waiting in line for dinosaur rides or to touch replicas of the fabled denizens that once ruled the earth.

“The line has never ended since we started this,” Doug Tompkins, one of the crew members, said around noon while assisting children in mounting and dismounting a triceratops ride during the festival that had begun two hours earlier.

“But kids enjoy this stuff,” Tompkins observed regarding the dinosaur infatuation among the young.

“I think it’s because it’s something they don’t see every day — it’s not like a dog or cat,” said Stephanie Wise, a teacher who lives in Pilot Mountain and was attending the event with her husband Matthew and son Adrian, 3.

“It’s just these giant things that they can see — and touch now,” Wise added of the hands-on opportunities being offered Saturday, which included one presenter seen wearing a (what had to be uncomfortable) dinosaur costume.

“I’m glad Pilot Mountain is doing something like this,” Matthew Wise said, which Mayor Cockerham agreed was at the heart of Dinosaurs on Main in providing an event families could enjoy.

Along with the rides, face-painting, dinosaur craft stations for kids and various vendors, two shows were scheduled Saturday which proved fun and educational.

The stage was set for this as the song “Godzilla” blared from a sound system. That recording by the rock band Blue Oyster Cult celebrates the movie monster originating in Japanese cinema, containing fitting lyrics including “he picks up a bus and he throws it back down, as he wades through the buildings toward the center of town.”

“Raise your hands if you like dinosaurs,” Ed Bounds of Ed’s Dinosaurs Live shouted to the crowd upon beginning an 11 a.m. show, to which children responded enthusiastically.

“If you like dinosaurs, roar,” Bounds also urged, bringing another spirited reaction.

He informed the kids that they could be members of the “Dino Gang” by obeying simple rules such as: “Tidy up your room every 65 million years or so.”

Bounds also led an “All About T-Rex” segment during which spectators could mimic the motions of the popular dinosaur.

Dakota & Friends, another entity that presents dinosaur-themed shows, also had a presence at Saturday’s event, where markers were placed at the different exhibits to identify the dinosaurs depicted.

In addition to local organizers, those operating the various rides were impressed by the turnout.

“It’s amazing,” crew member Drew Nowlin said. “Hope everyone gets their dinosaur fill for the summer.”

That seemed to be the case for Brent Hiatt and his son Brexton, 2, of Ararat, whom his dad says just loves the way dinosaurs look and sound, their overall imposing presence. And even in extreme heat Brent offered opposite terminology to describe Saturday’s gathering:

“It’s cool.”

Recently the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History hosted its second monthly Rotary-sponsored Family Fun Day, with nearly 250 folks turning out for the event.

The third Sunday of every month through October has been set aside as Family Fun Day through funding provided by The Rotary Club of Mount Airy.

“During these events touring the museum is free to the public, which many have found exciting as they get a sneak peak of the new exhibits and the upcoming children’s play space,” museum officials said of the monthly event. “We also offer free activities during these events. Yesterday (July 16) we had a llama out in the courtyard thanks to Greg Hall from Simplicity Llama Farms located in Dobson, and everyone got their turn to get a photo taken.

“To continue with the llama theme we offered coloring, puzzles, games, and even themed crafts such as llama puppet making and a kid-friendly weaving activity.”

Museum officials say they hope to continue to see this level of turnout, especially as the museum plans to have its children’s gallery, along with some new exhibits, start to open by September. Three more Fund Day — August 21, Sept. 18, and Oct. 16, are scheduled, each planned for 1 to 4 p.m.

“The activities for each will also be something different, and we always recommend that guests pop in for a quick tour to see how things are changing as we move through our renovations,” museum officials said.

Honoring those who have served the nation is a mission that is taken seriously in this country. Active duty, reserves, deployed, or stateside — the nation owes its veterans a thank you.

In Surry County there will soon be another way to honor and remember those who have served with the deployment of a new time capsule at Veterans Memorial Park.

Set to be placed by the tank on Saturday, Sept. 10, those putting together the time capsule is seeking artifacts that are centered around the veterans of the area and around Veterans Memorial Park itself.

Jerry Estes of the local American Legion said he wants to make sure that veterans are not forgotten. It can be easy to remember the graphic stories of war and loss, but he said he wants area veterans to be remembered for what they stood for and what they contributed to the area after they served.

Artifacts are going to be collected on Saturdays at the main office of Veteran’s Memorial Park. Space inside the time capsule will be limited, Estes said there may not be room for all the artifacts but encourages veterans to see what they may wish to archive for posterity.

In 50 years, the Veterans Memorial Park time capsule will be brought up and Estes said, “I hope it can show who we were and the things we have done. We made an impact locally, not just in our service, but afterward as well.”

“I want people to know we were here, and we cared enough to give back even after we served.”

He said attitudes have changed so much toward veterans over the years. From the ticker tape parades and celebrations to close out the second World War through the ridicule and scorn heaped on veterans returning from the horrors of Southeast Asia, the treatment of veterans has been inconsistent at best.

Estes noted that “now there isn’t as much made of the veterans returning” even as there had been in thepast decade during the height of the country’s foreign conflicts post-September 11. He said pride is not lacking even if the nation’s mood on politicians and the machinations of Washington D.C., or Raleigh, have led to a dour outlook.

“Pride comes from the people and the country, not the politicians,” Estes reminded.

The members of American Legion Post 123 in Mount Airy have been working to make sure veterans are not forgotten while also continuing to shine a light on Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action.

In 2019 the Legion launched a program to honor local POW/MIAs with memorial plaques. The first six names were placed on the “Remembering Surry County POWs and MIAs” wall outside of the meeting hall at Veterans Memorial Park in February 2020.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency last available data showed that there are still 81,600 POW/MIAs. Of that total it is estimated 41,000 were lost in the Pacific theatre and are presumed lost at sea from sinking ships or downed aircraft.

Lost remains are still being identified and the total number of missing or captured is dropping. In July alone the accounting agency made 16 press releases to confirm the outcome of missing heroes.

The National World War II Museum in New Orleans offered an estimate that roughly a quarter million veterans from WWII are still living. They go on to note that more than 200 of these veterans are dying a day as of late 2021. Sadly, COVID may have increased the rate at which the country is losing it heroes of the Greatest Generation.

Before their memories and stories are lost, an emphasis has been placed on securing oral histories of American veterans. Register of Deeds Todd Harris is spearheading the county’s campaign to conduct interviews and supply oral histories to the Veterans History Project. The goal is to preserve the firsthand interviews and narratives and is being done in conjunction with the United States Library of Congress Veterans History Project.

“We have uploaded several of our interviews as a finished product and have more in production,” Harris said Friday. “We will continue to seek veterans to interview as long as I am Register.”

For more information on the Veterans Park time capsule Estes advises parties to come to the main office at Veterans Memorial Park at 691 W. Lebanon Street in Mount Airy on Saturdays for inquiries or to contribute an artifact.

In today’s world we can instantly contact each other at any time. Text, video, and even with our voices. It’s almost inaccurate to call the devices in our pockets “telephones,” but telephones were the first small step of mankind’s journey in instant communication. Let’s take a look back in time at the history of telephones in Mount Airy, Surry County and beyond.

The first telephone was invented by Scottish-born Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. North Carolina first began dialing in to telephones in 1879, the first being installed in Raleigh. The city also saw the first telephone exchange, and the same year, it was possible to place calls as far as Wilmington.

The introduction of telephones in rural areas of the South was largely thanks to the Rural Electrification Administration, also known as the REA. Established by Congress, the agency made it possible to bring electricity to isolated parts of the country and played a part in lighting up and bringing power to Mount Airy and its surrounds. Then in 1949, the REA reached a new phase, and began its work to also provide telephone lines to those outside of the big cities. While the REA did not build or operate facilities, it was integral to the introduction of telephones by offering start-up loans that allowed rural cooperatives to build their own service lines.

It was in 1951 that one of the major telephone companies in the area, the Surry Telephone Membership Corporation, applied for a loan of more than half a million dollars from the REA loan through the North Carolina Electrification Authority.

Surry Telephone Membership Corporation, which still exists under the name of Surry Communications, had its first telephone exchange in Level Cross, a small community just south of Mount Airy, in November 1954. The company’s telephone directory from the same year not only lists the names and numbers of its members and outlines the services it provides, but also includes instructions on how to dial using a rotary phone, and a reminder to “speak in a normal tone of voice, slowly, clearly and directly into the mouth piece” when making calls.

By 1957, Surry Telephone Membership Corporation had added exchanges in Westfield, Beulah and Zephyr. The monthly charge for a line was $3.25, with toll charges on all calls outside the member’s own exchanges.

Telephones had made it to Surry County by 1894. Those who had joined up to the service were called “subscribers,” with some of the earliest subscribers in the area being the Sparger Brothers Tobacco Factory, Blue Ridge Inn, First National Bank, C.F and Y.V. Railroad, Fulton Tobacco, and the Renfro Inn. Around the same time, a line from Mount Airy to Dobson had been newly built.

Many of the first telephones were placed in general stores, or other business establishments. One of the earliest records of telephones in Surry County is a 1909 notice announcing that Telephone Pay Stations had been installed at a number of general stores in Mount Airy, as well as Foy’s Hardware, Prather’s clothing store, and various other stores. The same notice announced that 5 cents will be charged for local connections.

Pay stations were a necessity when using telephones in their early years. To make a call, you would have to find an agent-operated telephone pay station to pay a fee and make your call. In 1888, William Gray began dreaming up what would eventually become public, coin cooperated telephones. His original had a bell attached which would alert the telephone operator that the person had paid for their call and could now be connected. The design was upgraded throughout the years.

Back in Mount Airy, the town’s telephone services were under the name of Central Telephone Company, formally Central Electric and Telephone Company, before it was separated from other utilities services in the late 1940s.

Back in Mount Airy, in 1947 the Central Telephone Company began planning to install underground telephone lines along Main Street. While assessing its feasibility, workers used power drills to explore beneath the street to determine what granite deposits are there, and whether the lines would actually be able to be placed around the granite. Around the same time, the company announced that additional telephone lines were being planned that would connect Mount Airy to Dobson and Winston-Salem.

The same year, the Central Telephone company filed an application with the North Carolina Utilities commission asking for a general increase in telephone rates. The company said rates would vary but would generally range from 25 cents to $1.25 per month for business service and 15-75 cents per month for residential. Long distance calls would not be affected by the proposed revisions.

As the years go by, we are constantly finding more and more ways to speak and connect with each other over physical distances, from Zoom to text messages, email to FaceTime calls. But it’s all due to the early work of those who saw the potential of the telephone that we have these services that make our lives just that much more connected.

Katherine “Kat” Jackson is a staff member at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. Originally from Australia she now lives in King. She can be reached at the museum at 336-786-4478.

DOBSON — Two of the four early voting sites open in Surry County during recent election cycles face elimination along with certain Saturdays that service typically is available, but the final decision on locations will come from the state.

That is required due to the Surry Board of Elections failing to achieve unanimous votes on proposals for closures during a meeting Wednesday afternoon in Dobson.

There is general support among the five-member board for not operating one-stop absentee, no-excuse early voting locations in Pilot Mountain or Elkin ahead of the general election on Nov. 8. That sentiment is based on the relatively low turnout at those sites for a May 17 primary and the expectation that again will be the case this fall.

The other two sites are in Mount Airy and Dobson.

“I would like to have the one-stop open at all four locations” under ideal conditions, Board of Elections Chairman Dwayne Carter said, which have not been manifested given the voter participation rates in Pilot Mountain and Elkin.

“Dobson has to be open by statute,” Carter added regarding the home base of the Surry Board of Elections.

And the popular Mount Airy early voting station in a county facility behind Arby’s is thought to be sustaining itself when weighing the turnout against the costs of the early voting service. It allows citizens to both register and cast ballots ahead of a regular election day for whatever the reason.

“We really need to have Mount Airy open,” Carter believes.

“And, of course, you have to have the same people, the same equipment and the same supplies there,” he said of the Pilot Mountain and Elkin sites where turnout is low. Spreadsheets were prepared on attendance and expenses to achieve breakdowns on the cost per vote cast, which showed that operating those locations isn’t justifiable.

“So we did attempt to pare down,” Carter said.

However, a vote to not operate the Pilot Mountain and Elkin stations this fall didn’t produce that desired result due to parliamentary rules governing the local board.

“We did not come to a unanimous vote,” Carter said of Wednesday’s action — which means the outcome must be decided by the State Board of Elections in Raleigh.

That was the case earlier this year when Surry board members registered a split vote on the number of early voting sites for the primary. That led to a decision by the state board in March to maintain all four locations.

Although the Surry Board of Elections is a five-member body made up of three Democrats and two Republicans, Wednesday’s vote was bipartisan in nature. One GOP member made a motion to operate only the Mount Airy and Dobson locations, which also was backed by all three Democrats.

However, the remaining Republican voted against that plan — thus triggering the required intervention by the State Board of Elections at an upcoming session.

“I’m thinking it will be in August,” Carter said.

“We tried to come to a better compromise for everything and that didn’t quite work,” he mused.

The failed unanimous decision on eliminating the Pilot Mountain and Elkin locations led to another motion being introduced by a Republican member to have only the Dobson early voting site. It failed along party lines 3-2, again necessitating state involvement.

“Just like before the spring primary, it will have to go to the State Board of Elections,” Carter said.

When it takes up the matter, the options will include maintaining Mount Airy and Dobson, Dobson only or all four sites, but Carter doesn’t expect the latter to occur.

One local board member on each side of the issue will argue his case before the state board.

The Surry County Board of Elections did achieve a definitive result this week when it came to cutting the number of Saturdays when early voting stations will be open before the November election.

Three Saturdays normally would be included, with the one right before Election Day mandated to be on the schedule.

“We were unanimous in the decision to close the two Saturdays that we had the power to say ‘open’ or ‘close,’” the local chairman disclosed.

Low turnout for comparable Saturdays during the primary was again the motivation.

Carter explained that the overall downscaling sought by the Surry board is a recognition of the lack of voter interest demonstrated for off-year elections such as in 2022 when no presidential race is on the ballot.

Many local candidates will be listed who have no opposition by virtue of winning party primaries in May, making them automatic victors in November.

“We don’t predict there will be a large abundance of voters,” Carter said of the impact from such factors.

He suggested that the only hot race facing local citizens looks to be a statewide U.S. Senate contest pitting Republican Ted Budd against Democrat Cheri Beasley.

Addiction Awareness Week at Surry Central High in April was meant to be an educational experience for the Golden Eagles to learn about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Little did two students know the lessons gleaned that week would be soon put into use when it mattered most.

At the last meeting of the county commissioners Abraham Mendez and Brian Villegas were both honored by the board with a special commendation for being citizen lifesavers.

Both are employees of Dollar General on Zephyr Road in Dobson, and both are Surry Central students as well. Another workday nearing its end, they had collected trash to run outside when Villegas said they heard screaming. A man was lying on the floor of the store with a woman was bent over him. She was crying for help.

Mendez said they approached the man in distress and were able to ascertain he was not breathing and was unconscious. Running through a mental checklist, they smelled for the presence of alcohol and not detecting any, they asked the woman if her acquaintance had taken anything — she said he had.

Where others may have run away, these two swung into action. In retrospect Villegas offered that they may have been uncertain if they were doing the right thing. However, the boys “just sort of went on instinct,” he said by phone Friday.

Using the lessons learned during a ‘mock code’ training at school Villegas went to call 911 while Mendez remained behind to begin administration of CPR until an ambulance arrived.

It was Surry Central teacher Dena Cave who invited Charlotte Reeves and her counterparts from the county’s office of substance abuse recovery to aid with substance abuse education week at the school.

Reeves spoke to students about the adolescent brain and how it is affected by substance abuse. The students also heard from speakers about their own experiences and struggles against the insidious disease of addiction.

In years past, that may have been the end of it with Surry Central students sitting on bleachers with heavy eyelids drooping shut, thanking the stars for a respite form fourth period English.

However, the days of McGruff the Crime Dog showing up have passed, high schoolers have aged out of such and are instead hungry for practical information they can apply to real world situations — as the student lifesavers did on that night.

Surry Central students may also be more in tune to the dangers of substance use than many in their age groups due to a shared tragedy.

During awareness week Carey Lowe spoke to the students, her son Noah attended Central and died in 2020 after an overdose. Cave said, “You could hear a pin drop in our gym. Many of the upperclassmen knew Noah, had a class with him, and maybe even partied with him. Hearing her story hit hard.”

On that evening though the stars aligned, Villegas and Mendez were just where they needed to be to be of assistance. Reeves said if not for Cave having “the insight to invite EMS to do a mock code training” the outcome may have been different.

“Showing these youth how to give lifesaving measures to someone who overdoses, and the youth actually taking that on and saving someone’s life who is in trouble shows that every community member has something to offer,” she said.

County emergency services director Eric Southern agreed, “Thankfully these two young men were there at the right time to react, using the knowledge they took the time to learn in order save the life of another. I am grateful for their ability to recognize a dire need and to respond appropriately.”

Not everyone knows how to spot the signs or may be trained in CPR, but Reeves reiterates you do not need to be a superhero, an EMT, or a member of the county’s All Stars Prevention group to make a difference.

“Everyday people can help by starting to recognize the local needs we have in our county. They require a special skill or give from every single kind of person living here. Everyone has something to offer,” she said.

Villegas offers his own simple advice to those who may find themselves in a similar situation. He said it does not matter what level of training you do or do not have, “Just calm down and call 911, they can tell you what to do.”

He had received CPR training during his freshman year and again during the mock code training during substance abuse awareness week. Having heard the lessons before helped jump start the students’ reaction, but Villegas said they were still a little apprehensive to intervene.

In the moment he also said it was hard to remember the 100 beats per minute that are needed when doing CPR, but dispatch reminded them. The Bee Gees classic “Stayin’ Alive” is the ironic choice often used as the gauge for the rate at which chest compressions are being given. “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Uptown Funk” are given are other references for those not familiar with the disco era standard.

Drawing upon the knowledge of prior trainings and using the assistance of the dispatcher allowed Mendez to continue CPR as Villegas stayed on the line to offer further instruction. Staying cool under pressure was also a key component to the successful outcome, Zephyr Road Dollar General manager Karen Cabe said.

The young men are mature, and she is immensely proud of them, she said, adding, “I feel very blessed to have them as part of my team. I don’t know if anyone else would have handled it the way they did. There was no panic.”

Cave wanted the students to learn lifesaving CPR during substance abuse awareness week. As a former nurse and now a health science teacher of more than a decade, she is passionate about imparting knowledge onto the next generation.

Reeves anyone can be like Cave and “find what you are passionate about and I’m sure there is someone who can use that passion.” There are many ways to start, she encourages a call to 336-366-9064 to help get connected and find ways to help right here in Surry County.

Online resources can also be found on the county’s substance abuse recovery website: www.surrycountycares.com.

In the racing world a good crew helps, and that’s what Frank Fleming was surrounded by when Mount Airy officials green-flagged action to settle a controversy involving the local modified legend.

“I think it’s positive,” Fleming said after the city commissioners voted during a Thursday night meeting to set a public hearing on a proposed amendment to regulations presently prohibiting a tall sign for a $2 million expansion of his body shop.

The stage had been set for this when those officials last met — on June 16 before taking a summer hiatus — greeted by a crowd of supporters who crammed into Council Chambers in favor of a request Fleming made then for such relief.

In the interim, new language was injected into the City of Mount Airy Zoning Ordinance which if approved will exempt rundown property Fleming bought on Merita Street — to improve and expand his longtime shop — from signage height restrictions imposed in 2016.

A similar crowd of well-wishers was on hand Thursday night, but the mood seemed to be more one of joyous support rather than tenseness as was the case before.

This was accompanied by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners voting to schedule the required public hearing on the proposed amendment for Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. It would permit the re-use of non-conforming sign framework on the property which exceeds a 15-foot limit set in 2016 for new business developments such as that by Fleming, who is relocating his shop from Springs Road.

He has sought to utilize the metal remnants of a signage earlier drawing attention to a Winn-Dixie supermarket formerly located on Merita Street. Supporters of the amendment say such a tall structure will be needed to highlight the new body shop on a site not readily visible from nearby U.S. 52.

It also is viewed as a safety measure to easily guide people to the business and prevent them from possibly missing it and then having to double back via a U-turn in the face of heavy traffic.

The amendment contains added provisions pertaining to the Merita Street property. It says such signs that are set back a minimum of 300 feet and no more than 600 feet from U.S. 52-Bypass, U.S. 601 and Interstate 74 rights of way shall be exempt from other sign rules in the city ordinance.

An earlier attempt by Fleming to have the Mount Airy Zoning Board of Adjustment approve an exception permitting the sign was unsuccessful, and he appealed the case to Surry County Superior Court.

Unlike the June 16 city council meeting, there was little or no mention of the issue Thursday night by Mount Airy officials — and no one addressed it during a public forum, as had been the case last month.

The commissioners approved the scheduling of the public hearing through a consent agenda, in which items are lumped together for a single vote without in-depth discussion.

But Fleming said after leaving the room that he is satisfied with the direction in which council members are taking the matter.

“They’re doing it by the book the way it’s supposed to be done,” he said of the ordinance-change procedure being employed, including next month’s hearing that he hopes will bring a successful resolution.

“We just have to be patient and time will tell.”

Major Larry Lowe will be taking over on August 1 as the chief deputy to Surry County Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt, filling the position being left vacant by a retiring Paul Barker.

“I’m beyond blessed and honored that the sheriff has given me this opportunity. I will work tirelessly to continue the route that’s been set forth before me by the previous chief,” Lowe said this week at Surry County Courthouse in Dobson.

Major Lowe entered law enforcement in 1991 before stepping away in 2010 from full time service, he remained a part time sworn officer and retained his certifications before returning full time in 2016.

Lowe steps into the role being vacated by Barker, who said this week that he thinks 30 years of law enforcement is enough and he is now ready for a “a new chapter in life.”

Barker leaves the sheriff’s office after four years of service having moved over from the Mount Airy Police Department where he started serving in September 1993. He climbed from patrol office through detective and rose to lieutenant over all criminal investigations in 2010.

After 26 years of service to the city Barker said it was an easy decision to make the move “when Sheriff Hiatt came in and asked me to come over and be part of his command staff in 2018.”

As the chief deputy, Lowe explained he will be the second in command to Sheriff Hiatt over a force that “has grown a lot in the last few years.” He will take on a leadership role with the departmental budget and personnel matters as well.

In the latter area he knows the road will be difficult, finding applicants for law enforcement jobs is a struggle. “In today’s time in law enforcement, trying to find personnel is hard, no one wants to be a public servant.”

“We are battling it the same as others, although I do believe we have combated it better than some agencies over the last few years. We are still facing (trouble) though right now, trying to find these folks,” Lowe said.

Knowing the solution to draw new candidates into law enforcement Lowe said is the million-dollar answer. Barker said, “I think it’s a calling that a person has to have to go into any type of public service.”

These problems may be exacerbated by a shift among some Americans toward demonizing law enforcement of all stripes for the actions of some within a system some see as fundamentally broken.

Barker noted, “It’s not only police, it’s fire and rescue, too. A lot of these are volunteers, we are not, they have made a conscious effort to get into emergency services to be a servant to their town or community. I think there has been a falling away in interest in that.”

“I’ve seen in,” Lowe agreed. “Back in high school I was a volunteer firefighter, that was something you wanted to do for the community. It was a desire I had, I’m not sure why more people don’t anymore. Maybe it’s the environment of today’s world.”

Barker notes this is not an issue of a lack of local pride, but it is something happening all over. “The sheriff, Larry, and I are in close contact with our counterparts across the state. Everyone is having problems.”

The Surry County Sheriff’s Office leaders bristled at the notion a shortage of staff may hinder the services they offer or their response time. “One of the good things with the people that are involved in service to others is that heart that they have for it. They pick up the slack. Sometimes you do more with less, but those people who are in it, they are the real heroes in my opinion,” Barker said.

“For all intents and purposes, these men and women could go and make more in the private sector but choose to stay in this line of work for that reason, there is no other reason.”

The leadership took time to discuss the new detention center. Progress is ongoing with Barker reporting curbing and landscaping would be likely move forward in August.

In the interior the last cell was placed in June and finishing work is ongoing. “It’s a large building, so they have to go through and clean it, paint it, etc. We are on course from what I am hearing. The weather is the elephant in the room,” Barker said. Estimates currently have the construction done early in 2023 for an opening in late summer.

“My understanding is that it’s all under a roof and that the insulation project is well underway,” Barker said. “If you go down there from this week to next, it’s leaps and bounds in the differences.”

Sheriff Hiatt said his office plans to still use the intake part of the existing jail structure when the new facility opens, but they have no plans to continue housing inmates there.

“There is a reason we are building a new jail, the reason is it’s outdated,” Barker added. “For today’s times it’s broken up into an odd layout” that is not conducive to effective management nor in line with modern jail design.

In another change to modern tactics, the war on drugs finds the county investigation deaths that occur that are related to the scourge of opioids. Arresting and prosecuting the end users of such drugs will never end the blight but Lowe said “our county is leading the way and trying every option that is possible” to fight back.

Coming off the heels of a 13-month investigation into the overdose death of Melissa “Shannon” Dublin and the arrest of Chris Wayne Mosley on a charge of second-degree murder, the leadership said they would consider asking for more resources to add to opioid death investigations. The county’s substance abuse recovery office and sheriff alike are also looking forward to having space in the new jail for drug counseling and education.

On the radar recently with the county commissioners has been the county’s animal control. Sheriff Hiatt said a brainstorming session was scheduled for Wednesday to have discussion on that very topic. Lowe said, “We are looking to try and enhance what we have. We are doing the very best we can for the animals because ultimately that’s what it’s all about.”

Lowe is ready for the task at hand and yet knows he does not yet know everything. His goal for his tenure is laudable, “To continue to push the sheriff’s office in a professional manner to the highest level we can.”

All signs are pointing to a solution on the horizon regarding a situation whereby a local body shop owner has been barred from using an existing sign for a $2 million expansion of his business in Mount Airy.

This involves a proposed amendment to city zoning regulations, which if approved would set new distance boundaries allowing Frank Fleming to re-face the large sign left behind by the Winn-Dixie supermarket when vacating a site on Merita Street years ago.

Fleming has been denied from utilizing the framework of the former grocery store sign due to updated rules implemented in 2016.

These limit a sign’s height to 15 feet in cases of new business developments such as his, where the existing one is taller — and which Fleming says is needed to draw attention to the new body shop location tucked away off U.S. 52-North.

Construction recently has been occurring at the site where the owner plans to double his staff of about 10 employees at the present shop on Springs Road. He bought the property on Merita Street in a rundown state that is anticipated to be greatly improved through the expansion.

The local businessman, backed by a crowd of supporters, attended the last meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners on June 16 seeking an amendment to the regulations which would permit the sign use.

After hearing spirited pleas for that, city officials announced that the matter would be discussed at their next meeting scheduled today at 6 p.m.

Since the June meeting, an amendment has been devised by city planners to address what are described as non-conforming freestanding signs existing in highway corridors, mirroring the situation involving Fleming.

The added language says such signs that are set back a minimum of 300 feet and no more than 600 feet from U.S. 52-Bypass, U.S. 601 and Interstate 74 rights of way shall be exempt from other sign rules in the city ordinance.

Those pertain to one or more non-conforming signs located on a parcel of land or building whose occupancy or use has been discontinued for two consecutive years, among other provisions. Such signs are to be removed, replaced or otherwise brought into compliance with present standards.

The Mount Airy Planning Board, an advisory group to the commissioners, voted 4-2 in favor of the proposed amendment’s approval on June 27 and now the ball is in their court.

“All we’re going to do Thursday is set a public hearing,” Commissioner Jon Cawley said Tuesday regarding the fact that citizens must be allowed a chance to comment before such an ordinance change occurs. It is scheduled during another meeting of the city board on Aug. 18 at 6 p.m.

Cawley has been highly vocal in his support for Fleming’s sign request and is satisfied the amendment will solve the impasse that has included the businessman appealing the case to Surry County Superior Court.

The North Ward commissioner and 2022 mayoral candidate said he went to the Merita Street site where the expansion is underway and took a measurement with a golfing device to ensure the new language pertained to Fleming’s property.

“When I went out and shot this, I used a golf rangefinder and it was 504 feet from the edge of (U.S.) 52,” Cawley said. That device magnifies a target and shoots a laser beam at it in order to determine a precise distance.

“I didn’t know how we were going to go about it,” Cawley said of providing relief to Fleming which he and other municipal officials expressed support for during the June 16 meeting. “I thought was going to be a variance.”

A variance can be granted to a property owner when his or her planned use of a site deviates from local zoning laws.

Cawley applauded the proposed amendment as a pro-business move.

“We always need to be helping our business owners,” he said, who are often in the best position to know what’s best.

“If he thinks he needs the sign, then he needs the sign.”

Jurassic Park will have nothing on Pilot Mountain this weekend.

The famous series of best-selling movies always revolve around the re-emergence of prehistoric dinosaurs, and it is those very creatures which will be let loose on Main Street in Pilot Mountain — or at least animatronic versions of the creatures.

Running the show is Ed Bounds, of Ed’s Dinosaurs Live, who said he is familiar with the area, having done a Dinosaurs on Main Street program in Pilot Mountain in 2019, as well as appearing in the Surry County Agricultural Fair.

Saturday, he and his prehistoric friends will be set up in the parking lot of town hall in Pilot Mountain. While the raptors in the Jurassic Park movies are pretty scary, the ones Bounds will be pulling out Saturday are of a much friendlier nature — though at times they may seem real, with life-like movements and the occasional whimper, cry, or roar, not to mention an amazing ability to talk just like a human.

Bounds, who was volunteering at the North Carolina zoo a decade ago, working with chimpanzees, was recruited to help out with a traveling dinosaur display at the zoo. He didn’t do a lot — essentially held a dinosaur puppet during the show, but once he held that puppet and saw how kids reacted to it, he was hooked.

So he started building his traveling dinosaur show, designing it to be fun for kids, and to be a bit of a cross between Mr. Rogers and the old Captain Kangaroo show, helping to encourage kids while teaching a few understated character lessons.

“The dinosaurs are always pranking me,” he said of how the shows play out.

He also makes a point of involving kids from the audience — “it is always interactive and immersive” he said. “The kids scream and laugh and stand up and dance. I always put a lesson in there, but you don’t really know it, you’re having fun, laughing, we sort of sneak that in there under the radar.”

On Saturday, Bounds said he will be set up in the Pilot Mountain town hall parking lot from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., with two official shows set for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The rest of the time, he said, he and his prehistoric friends will be interacting with the crowd.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun. During the show, a baby dinosaur may very well hatch from an egg.”

Jenny Kindy, the Main Street coordinator for Pilot Mountain, said the show is free for all. In addition to the dinosaur show, she said there will be other kids’ activities, as well as a couple of food trucks and probably vendors selling ice cream and Icees.

The last time Ed’s Live Dinosaurs visited the area was 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic shut downs.

Kindy said she and Events Coordinator Christy Wright were attending a conference together regarding Main Street activities, and were in a vendor show when they saw “A man off in the corner with his dinosaurs.”

That was Bounds, showing off what his animatronic creatures could do.

“Christy said from being a mom, how much her kids like dinasoaurs, that really inspired her,” Kindy said of Wright’s decision to pursue the dinosaur show for the town.

She said she was not sure what to expect from the crowd the first time.

“I was incredibly and pleasantly shocked. It was gangbusters. It was completely filled the whole day,” she said. “Each showing was completely packed, there were so many families walking up and down the sidewalks, going in the stores. It really gave an inviting and friendly atmosphere to downtown.” She said even most of the merchants got into the spirit of the show, selling dinosaur-themed goods, and many are excited for this year’s return of the dinosaurs.

Bounds, too, is hoping many folks will come out Saturday.

“They’re not going to want to miss this,” he said of area residents. “It will be more fun than they’ve had in 65-and-a-half million year.”

The Surry County Board of Commissioners heard Monday night from Teramore Development and the residents of Sheltontown about a rezoning request that would have turned the plot of land at the corner of Westfield Road and Quaker Road into a new Dollar General.

After hearing from both the developer and residents, Commissioner Larry Johnson said as one of the commissioners representing the district that he moved to deny the rezone request for the parcels of land at 2953 Westfield Road. The motion passed unanimously, and the rezoning request was denied.

Representing Teramore, Mike Fox had said they felt the rezoning request was a reasonable one that was within the land use plan. The new Dollar General location he told the board would not be a destination shopping location, but one that would fill the daily needs of the community in which it was to be located.

The Teramore request was for a conditional rezoning, and he made the statement that the developer would be open to making some changes to the plan to make it more palatable. These would be changes to landscaping or buffering but not a change in type of business or any other accommodation that would have addressed the neighbors’ concerns.

Joe Strickland, director of operations for Teramore, told the commissioners that they had opened an eye-popping 500 new Dollar General locations in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida in the past three years.

On his last visit there was some back and forth with the board and Strickland about how many Dollar General locations are in Surry County, this time Strickland was armed with an answer that 18 exist.

Five new locations have been built in Surry County in the past four years making a $10 million economic impact, he said. A sixth new location on Mount View Drive was approved in short order by the commissioners in June. The proposed Westfield/Quaker Road location would have been the seventh new location.

For Monday’s commissioners meeting both the Sheltontown opposition and the developers came armed with the knowledge gained from the planning board meeting last week. The anti-rezone group had been commended by the planning board for their organization and presentation one week prior that yielded a successful motion to deny the rezoning request.

One of the strongest points the opposition made had to do with the economic and tourism impact of the NC Scenic Byway and Bikeway that run through the area along Westfield Road. The developers asked about 14 acres that are zoned for commercial use along the byway pointing to Po-Folks, Moore’s General Store, Hiatt’s grocery, and Kustom Kraft Woodworks as examples that such business exists and does not detract from the byway.

Treva Kirkman rebutted this assertion by pointing out that many of the businesses are closed and/or the owners retired. Commissioner Johnson offered his observation that many of those businesses were family-owned on family-owned land.

Fox reminded the board as he did the planning board that this is decision to be made about land usage, and what is allowed or not based on the land use plan. It is no time for emotions nor is it for the commissioners to “choose winners and losers.”

He went on to say that “family owned is not a zoning condition” and for the planning board or the commissioners to weigh a decision on such flies in the face of the hands of government attitude so many espouse to.

Susan Krepps plays the piano at Shelton Church of Brethren across Quaker Road from the proposed location and disagreed, telling the board, “I am emotional about this, I’ll admit that. We are perfectly capable or driving two miles if we need something that we can’t get at Moore’s or Busy Bee but nine times out of ten you don’t have to.”

It was the need factor that Melissa Hiatt hammered home noting the land use plan allows for rural commercial development on a case-by-case basis if the needs are not already met by a business serving the area. With five locations within five miles the saturation of existing Dollar Generals she felt certainly does the job covering the area.

Commissioner Van Tucker, who said he shops at Dollar General, asked why this area needed another store. Strickland replied that market planning shows them this is an area that can support another location, “I was there, it is a busy area with lots of traffic. We want to capitalize on it.”

Furthermore, Strickland said the new locations have the larger floor plan “could potentially” offer new product offerings such as fresh produce. This statement was seized on by the opposition noting that when Mount View Drive was being proposed to the board Teramore alluded that all future locations would have the expanded fresh options.

Security was a concern the residents listed and Teramore addressed this with an analysis of 911 call data. The analysis was done by Ken Miller, the former police chief of Greensboro who was more recently the chief of police in Greenville, South Carolina, before resigning in 2019 after an ethics investigation that yielded no charges.

Miller told the developers that in his opinion that stores of this sort do not drive crime, and if they do it tends to be property crimes such as shoplifting. Fox added that Moore’s General Store touted the addition of dozens of new security cameras, there would have been no need for such if there was not an element of crime already found in the area.

Sheltontown organizers Heather Moore, of Moore’s General Store, and Melissa Hiatt, had told their group that Teramore would come back armed with rebuttal points, and they were not wrong.

A thorough reading of the county’s land use plan turned out to be the greatest asset the residents had besides the solidarity of purpose they showed in opposition.

Plans for Dollar General growth in Surry County will go on and as was the case for Mount View Drive, not all neighborhoods are going to fight as ferociously as did Sheltontown. The opposition always wanted it made clear that Dollar General was not and is not the enemy, but theirs was a case of “not in my backyard” that the planning board and county commissioners heard unequivocally.

Surry Medical Ministries has moved a big step closer to a new building for the free clinic it operates thanks to an injection of $400,000 in state funds.

Word of that development came earlier this week, hailed as “awesome news” by President Nancy Dixon of the board of directors for the Mount Airy facility where medical services are provided without charge to people lacking health insurance.

Dixon added that she had just learned the $400,000 was included in a state spending plan recently approved during a short session of the N.C. General Assembly.

She mentioned that the money will go toward ongoing capital efforts for the new building to replace Surry Medical Ministries’ present base of operations on Rockford Street, across from Northern Regional Hospital. The clinic, which opened in 1993, is housed in a structure that is about 70 years old, where a lack of space has hampered the growing operation.

Rep. Sarah Stevens of Mount Airy, who serves Surry County in the state Legislature — where she occupies a top leadership position as speaker pro tempore in the House of Representatives — has been a major supporter of the clinic and its mission. This also includes dental services.

“They serve people who have nothing,” Stevens has said of the facility that provides primary medical care to a large number of uninsured patients in Surry County.

Late last year, Stevens was instrumental in securing an earlier allocation of $300,000 in state budget funding for the Surry Medical Ministries clinic that renders services as a non-profit foundation with the help of volunteer health-care professionals.

That appropriation was approved to enable the clinic to become a full-time operation and possibly help provide for the new building, based on previous reports.

This past winter, the clinic’s hours were expanded from a two-days-per-week schedule to four days, in response to its caseload more than doubling after COVID-19 struck. That included an increase to around 5,000 during 2021 alone.

In addition to the state funding, clinic officials have asked the city of Mount Airy for $200,000 in capital support for medical needs of Surry County residents as the operation transitions to a new building to better serve the community. The project cost is listed as $2.7 million in city government documents.

No location for the building has been publicly announced.

Surry Medical Ministries is one of 16 non-profit organizations seeking a total of $2.4 million from federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding awarded to Mount Airy. This far outstripped the sum available for these groups, meaning some tough decisions await city officials on that issue, expected sometime later this year.

Those organizations were invited in January to request a share of the ARPA funding.

Meanwhile, Surry Medical Ministries has been tapped by county government officials to receive a $89,345 grant through an Invest in Surry program.

Dixon, the clinic official, has said realizing the new building will involve “a multi-year proposition that will take the partnerships of everyone in our community to address.”

If it seems that the community theater at the Stokes County Arts Council has been focusing on plays with a little more relevance to North Carolina, that is because the folks there have been doing exactly that since returning from the pandemic closures.

The play opening this weekend also brings a bit of Grammy exposure to local audiences.

“Brother Wolf: An Appalachian Adventure” opens on Friday for a four-show run over the weekend. Under the direction of Laurelyn Dossett, the show features several musical pieces, including the song “Anna Lee,” penned by Dossett and recorded by multiple national artists, including by Levon Helm and Appalachian Road Show. It appears on two of Helm’s Grammy-winning recordings, “Dirt Farmer” and “Ramble at the Ryman.”

“Anna Lee is half death ballad and half lullaby. I wrote it in the carpool line when my daughters were in school. I never expected that little song to go as far as it has,” Dossett said.

The show, a loose retelling of the epic Beowulf, was written by Preston Lane, with music written by Dossett, and debuted 16 years ago in Greensboro before going into national publication.

That was the same team which wrote Bloody Blackbeard, a show that was performed last year at The Arts Place in Danbury.

“We’re going in that direction,” said arts council Executive Director Eddy McGee, in referencing this year’s play and last year’s Bloody Blackbeard. “What we’re trying to do is go in the direction of supporting more North Carolina based stories. For years, we were much like a lot of other arts councils, producing nationally recognized productions. We’re just trying to add a little more home state flavor, if you will.”

He said that is important to the arts center.

“We are looking for North Carolina-based content…it’s not just performance, there is an educational component as well. You’re learning about North Carolina history, you’re preserving history as well. It’s not just performances for performance sake.”

That effort has paid off handsomely thus far. In 2021, McGee said the arts council made the mistake of scheduling just three performances for Bloody Blackbeard.

”They all sold out and we basically had standing room-only at those performances.”

This year, Brother Wolf is set for four shows — 7 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, along with a 2 p.m. Sunday performance.

“I fight sin with the good book. But I fight hell with a long sharp knife.” Such is the creed of the show’s hero, Brother Wolf, an itinerant mountain preacher.

In addition to Dossett directing, the show will include actors Lee Bodenhamer, Elise Spencer, Ava Smith and five members of the Burgess family of Danbury: Bruce, Emily, Anakin, Django and Zinn. The music will be performed live by Dossett, Andrew Young, Marci Shore and Molly Heath, a fiddle student in the Junior Appalachian Music program. Among the traditional instruments to be used are the fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and guitar.

“Beowulf is one of those classical literature pieces that everyone has heard of, but few of us really know it,” Dossett said. “Brother Wolf is a fun and exciting way into the story, with mountain monsters crawling up out of caves to wreak havoc on the Speerdane family. It’s a story of revenge and forgiveness, themes as old as time but as relevant today as ever,” said Dossett.

Some Stokes County high school seniors study the original Beowulf in class. “Seeing Brother Wolf can really help bring it to life,” she said.

All shows will be at The Arts Place, 502 Main Street in Danbury. For tickets or more information, call 336-593-8159 or visit www.StokesArts.org. Brother Wolf is rated PG-13 for mild language.

With much focus nowadays on space tourism ventures launched by visionaries such as Jeff Bezos, Sir Richard Branson and Elon Musk, local kids got the chance to explore the galaxy without even leaving Mount Airy.

This was courtesy of a summer enrichment program offered by Mount Airy City Schools which has a different theme each week, including a “Reach for the Stars” session that concluded last Thursday allowing youths to learn about space.

The theme for this week is “Under the Sea.”

Mount Airy City Schools bills the different segments of the summer enrichment program as “family engagement sessions” that are geared toward school-age children and parents.

And the beauty of the concept is that they don’t have to travel to some facility on the other side of town to participate.

“We’re bringing it to them,” said Candice Haynes, one of two lead teachers for the summer program along with Ashley Pyles. This occurs using the familiar Blue Bear Bus, which is driven to different locations around town each week, filled with books and other materials to match the different themes.

On Mondays, the bus travels to the Madoc Center, and on Tuesday program organizers set up shop on Granite Road. Fellowship Baptist Church is penciled in on the schedule each Wednesday and the week concludes with a Thursday stopover at Riverside Park.

(Today’s session has been shifted from Granite Road to Riverside Park due to the threat of rain, but will resume at the normal sites on Wednesday.)

The segments run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the different locations. The summer enrichment program began in early June and will end on July 28.

Along with “Reach for the Stars” and “Under the Sea,” the weekly themes have included “Ready Set Grow,” “STEAM into Summer” and “Red, White and Blue,” an appropriate lead-in for the July 4 weekend before the program took a brief break.

The final theme for next week’s session is “Fun Fitness.”

“We give away free books every day,” Haynes said, with breakfast and lunch also provided at no charge to participants.

Additionally, a field trip component is built into the program, including to a facility in Winston-Salem.

Along with providing fun activities for children and families, the summer enrichment effort reflects an ulterior motive of sorts: avoiding what educators refer to as “summer slide.”

That is the tendency among some students to lose academic gains they achieved during the previous school session — forcing them to play catch-up when the next term begins.

The different themes of the enrichment program each week are designed to keep the kids’ minds engaged and focused on learning.

“These are activities they’re not going to go out and do in the summertime (otherwise),” Haynes said.

Last week during the “Reach for the Stars” session, for example, participants developed Mars Rover models; worked with Legos figures; learned about the different phases of the moon and its orbit around Earth using cookies; and enjoyed hands-on time with “slime,” reminiscent of experiments undertaken with that substance in 2020 aboard the International Space Station.

The Nickelodeon television network provided the slime that has become an iconic feature of the network which is dumped on people’s heads during game shows in acts of either celebration or humiliation — which most consider a privilege overall.

Simulated slime also covered the endzone after every touchdown during a special Nickelodeon telecast of the San Francisco 49ers-Dallas Cowboys playoff game in January.

A humble mixture of vanilla pudding, applesauce, green food coloring and a little oatmeal, the slime was used by International Space Station crew members to test how the unique fluid reacted in microgravity.

Nickelodeon also created a teacher’s guide on the experiments conducted to stimulate young students.

Slime was in plentiful supply at the Madoc Center along with LEGO pieces students worked with, coinciding with another endeavor in which 26 LEGO figures were transported to the International Space Station as part of a special mission.

This week’s “Under the Sea” theme is being accompanied by activities showing the dangers of plastic to marine life, an oil slick experiment and more.

Yet aside from the educational components involved with the Blue Bear Bus summer enrichment program is the opportunity for socializing which it provides.

“Definitely, the interactions, especially with my daughter,” parent Vasso Iliopoulos said of the benefits for her two children, the daughter who is 4 and a 10-year-old son. They have been able to meet many other people during the Madoc Center gatherings that they regularly attend.

Iliopoulos also praised the program for its offering of unique activities that typically would not be available to her children during the summer — “things they don’t get exposed to at home.”

While some “new business” has emerged with the recent collapse of the Main-Oak Building, Mount Airy officials’ attention also has been focused on a bit of “old business” surrounding three dilapidated structures elsewhere in town.

These include the former Koozies/Quality Mills located at 455 Franklin St; the old Mittman body shop at 109 S. South St.; and what is referred to in municipal documents as the “red building” at 600 W. Pine St. beside Worth Honda.

All three have been declared unfit for human occupancy by the city building codes officer and on Feb. 17 the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners took action giving the separate owners of the sites 90 days to repair or demolish the structures.

With that deadline having come and gone in May, the three are still standing, but Mayor Ron Niland says some movement has occurred with two of the three locations.

The days could be numbered for the third, the so-called Koozies building, the name of a private club once operating there, which has been especially problematic — included two fires in recent months linked to homeless occupancy. Its owner is listed as an entity in Oklahoma.

During an interview last week, the mayor reported on the present status for the trio of structures, having just spoken with City Manager Stan Farmer regarding the situation.

Niland said that the red building on West Pine is in the process of being sold to a buyer who knows the structure needs to be razed and reportedly is willing to do this. The mayor did not know the identity of the supposed purchaser.

Meanwhile, the former Mittman Paint and Body Shop on South South Street was auctioned in April to J&E Properties of North Carolina based on Park Drive, which includes a business called Ultimate Towing and Recovery.

The mayor said it is his understanding that the new owner bought the site with the intention of bringing the dilapidated structure up to code for reuse.

That leaves only the Koozies building, which at last report was said to be in limbo after an auction attempt in late April.

After making a high bid of $165,000, an unnamed New York party backed out, reportedly upon learning of the demolition mandate after initially being unaware of this.

Mayor Niland indicated that the Koozies property remains unsettled — a situation municipal officials are poised to rectify shortly.

He said the plan includes going back to the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners at some point in the next 30 to 60 days for “a decision on how to proceed going forward.”

“It’s going to have to come down sooner rather than later,” Niland added concerning the Koozies facility.

“That’s got some of the same issues as the building downtown,” he said of the Main-Oak one, which collapsed on July 5. The Koozies structure also contains a wall in danger of falling, the mayor mentioned.

Under the city’s action in February, the owner’s failure to act by the May 18 deadline included giving the commissioners authority to direct the codes officer to facilitate demolition.

The price tag for that has been put at hundreds of thousands of dollars. The municipality could then seize the property to help offset the cost.

Surry County announced the appointment of Laura Neely as the county’s new finance officer. Neely will be filling that role on Sept. 1, following the retirement of Rhonda Nixon, who after a career spanning 25 years of public service is ready to pass the baton.

Neely has been employed with the Town of Dobson since 2012, serving initially as finance officer and most recently as town manager. “During my time as town manager, I gained invaluable skills and insights into working with boards and elected officials, project management, budgeting, leadership, and effective communication,” she said.

“I learned lessons from each accomplishment and mistake made while in this role. My time also solidified my love of working in the public service sector and opened my eyes to all of the amazing individuals who work daily to make Surry County a great place to live and work.”

A graduate of North Wilkes High School she earned a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro followed by a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

She is also a graduate of the Municipal/County Administration course at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government.

The Dobson board of commissioners met in closed session Monday, July 11, to discuss the search for a new town manager. Neely said, “Their plan is to appoint a temporary internal interim town manager at the July 28 meeting so business can continue as usual until another interim town manager is appointed.”

This will not be her first transition as a public servant. She said the last job change was made easy, “Moving from finance officer to town manager while at Dobson was a relatively smooth transition because of the mentor I had in previous Town Manager Josh Smith.”

“I felt prepared to take on the challenge and already had a good relationship with the staff and town board. My staff and board were extremely supportive during that transition and were always quick to lend a helping hand or a listening ear if needed.”

She said, “I am excited to begin a new chapter in my career at the county of Surry. This role will allow me to continue to serve the great citizens of Dobson and all of Surry County in a new capacity while presenting new challenges. Finance is my background, and I am eager to dive back in as finance officer. I feel very honored to have been selected for this role.”

“I would like to thank each and every employee, the mayor, and commissioners for their continuous support during my time with the Town of Dobson. I am so proud of our small town and the great strides we have made during my time,” Neely said.

Misty Marion currently serves a dual role for Dobson as finance officer, Neely’s job prior to town manager, and as assistant town manager. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Laura for many years. While I will miss her greatly, I know that she will be an invaluable member of the team at Surry County. I wish her the best of luck as she moves on to this net chapter in her career.”

“I am very excited to have Laura join our Surry County team,” Assistant County Manager Sandy Snow said of Neely’s move to join the county. “I am confident she will be a great asset to the county. Her finance background and public sector experience will serve her well in her new role.”

Surry County Manager Chris Knopf added, “I would like to congratulate Laura on her appointment as finance officer. I’ve had the pleasure to work cooperatively with Laura for a number of years and look forward to her joining our team here at Surry County.”

Neely says it is a bittersweet transition, but her neighbors in Dobson are being left in good hands, “The staff and board of commissioners that I leave behind are outstanding and truly desire to always do what is best for this wonderful town.”

The Board of County Commissioners made an allocation of $2.1 million within the Invest in Surry program for qualifying grants to local non-profit organizations earlier this year. At last week’s meeting of the commissioners, County Manager Chris Knopf released the details on the decisions on disbursement to area non-profits.

County staff compiled the applications from those that were submitted throughout late winter and into spring and reviewed them for compliance against the stated goals of the programs.

Applications had to meet a two-part test by the county’s Finance Committee to determine is the activity had a reasonable connection to a legitimate aim of the government. Also, the application had to prove that the program was for the public’s gain and “not that of an individual or private entity.”

Other restrictions were placed as well such as one that stated that organizations who had received other pandemic relief from the CARES Act or American Rescue Plan Act were not eligible. The size of the nonprofit was considered as there is an “assumption that larger organizations have more diverse funding and support options, and that this program’s support should be reserved for smaller non-profits in the county.”

All restrictions presented exemptions for those groups “directly dedicated to COVID patient care,” the application materials read.

In the end there were 37 applications received requesting a total of $4,722,260.45 against the $2.1 million amount allocated; so, some applications had to be weeded out.

Surry County used a variety of methods to base the decision making process on reducing the number of applications for non-profit grants so that the greatest number of organizations as possible.

An application for one of the nonprofit grants could not exceed 50% of the organization’s annual operational budget. Knopf’s office noted that applications were received from groups who exceeded that threshold amount and were therefore disqualified.

Other ways to whittle down the applicants was to set some restrictions on what the grant monies may be used for. “Funding could not be used for salaries, benefits, etc. because there was no guarantee with these types of expenditures that a tangible outcome would remain,” the county said.

Organizations who are awarded an Invest in Surry nonprofit grant will receive 50% of the awarded funding in August and the remainder in February. The county’s finance office will track the spending of funds awarded and will require reports be submitted on a regular basis to monitor compliance.

The nonprofits sharing the $2.1 million in grants through the Invest in Surry program are:

– Greater Mount Airy Habitat for Humanity $ 113,000

– Mount Airy Junior Women’s Club $25,000

– United Fund of Surry County $59,205

– Children’s Center of NWNC $100,000

– Surry County Schools Educational Foundation $25,000

– Helping Hands of Surry County $100,000

In the majestic hills, turns, valleys, and mountains of this region lie numerous natural resources waiting to be seen and understood. Our lands are old, retaining the stories of life before us. Crossing the line from Surry to Stokes county feels just like that. Without the roadside markers, it would be hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. The curves and bends lead directly into one another, making a spectacular scene.

One of the constant markers in our Surry/Stokes scene is the Sauratown Mountains. The Sauratown Mountain range is evidence of a once-mighty, ancient section of mountains that dominated the landscape. The quartzite rocks that remain form several notable mountains, one of those being Hanging Rock in Danbury.

The expansive landscape that is Hanging Rock State Park started its debut in society with the creation and operation of three mineral springs and their respective resorts. From the mid-1800s onward folks have traveled from all around to enjoy Stokes County’s natural resources, one of those sites still standing is known as Vade Mecum. These springs were believed to have healing qualities for those who drank the water.

April 1936 changed the dynamic of the area when several philanthropic organizations banded together to purchase the area. The Winston-Salem Foundation, The Stokes County Committee for Hanging Rock State Park, and others deeded their purchase back to the state to create a new park; more than 3,000 acres were donated.

The CCC, or Civilian Conservation Corp, oversaw the creation and carving of a recreational area out of Hanging Rocks surrounding greenery. By 1940 the group had created two dams aiding in the construction of a 12-acre lake, a stone and wood bath house that could accommodate 1,000 swimmers, a diving tower, a sand beach, picnic areas, foot and horse trails, and a 350-car parking lot.

On July 21, 1944, Hanging Rock State Park was dedicated and officially opened. The CCC camps were closed, and visitors began to make their way into the park. In 1948, a better road was built to help visitors get to the top of the mountain. The historic bathhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, and a new visitors center was built in 1993 which is currently being renovated due to water damage.

Hanging Rock State Park is hosting two CCC educational canoe experiences this month on the lake. There, folks can learn more about how important the CCC was to the park. Trails, camping, and wonderful experiences await visitros at this historic park. Start at Vade Mecum and take the curvy path to Hanging Rock; you won’t be sorry that you did!

Emily Morgan is the guest services manager at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She and her family live in Westfield. She can be reached at eamorgan@northcarolinamuseum.org or by calling 336-786-4478 x229

Last weekend on Riverside Drive in Mount Airy, a plume of smoke was rising from a small grill in front of the S&S Salon next to the DMV tag office.

The cookout and clothing distribution event were the second such that Bruised Not Broken, and Rhonda Baylor, put together. “We had a nice turnout, compared to the first one this was more. We’ll grow it. We had a whole lot, but we only have two buckets of clothes left,” she said gesturing to two large plastic totes filled with gently used clothing.

Baylor is having these events to give back to those in need. She faced struggles in her life, now she wants to be in the corner of those who may not have anyone. She has husband Keith nearby for the cookout. “I support my wife in any way I can,” he said.

More than just standing by his wife, he sees ways that he can share his knowledge and experience too. He said it means a lot to him, and to those who the Baylor’s help, to be doing good. “It means a lot. Sometimes they can look at me, some of them know my story or have heard me give testimony. With some I already know what they are thinking.

“What he is doing – I already done it,” Keith Baylor said, “He’s just doing it different.” The means and methods may have changed, but he sees a similarity in the way he lived his life for so many years, “I did it Keith’s way for all my teens, twenties, and thirties.”

“Some of the youngsters know my story and to watch me change and help others, it may touch their heart to do the same because that’s not what’s happening out there. All those bads I try to make good, but I can’t do it without Him,” he said, pointing to the skies.

The hamburger was made fresh to order, juicy right off the grill from Sister Rucker. She held court while cooking burgers and hot dogs for those who stopped by, stopping to count the remaining patties to report the headcount. Bruised Not Broken served nearly 50 burgers and three packages of hot dogs. An elderly gentleman pulled up and stepped out of his pickup, not known to the Baylors or Sister Rucker but the latter welcomed him warmly and insisted he take two burgers.

Shania Cornigans was inside doing hair at S&S Salon while the event was ongoing, she also bought the meat for the grill. She is more than happy to offer ongoing support to the cause, “What (Rhonda) is doing is a good cause, there are a lot of homeless people around here and kids that are in need, families that are in need.”

“I just feel like it’s a blessing that God put that on her heart. I wish more people would get involved so it could become something big. I encourage people to come out, make donations, purchase clothing and bring it – this can be a big community.”

“A lot of people don’t realize how many people are in need,” she said. “I see it all the time, families don’t have. We have people not working around here and the need things, need food, especially the kids. I just hope everyone can come together and make it bigger, grow it.”

“Thank you so much and God bless y’all again,” a local mother said as she was leaving the event before heading to see wrestling later in the day at Veterans Park.

Baylor said the majority of those who came to the event to get something to eat, or clothes, were strangers to her. “Some were, not all of them. I asked how they heard about it they said the newspaper and one lady said she overheard someone at Circle K.”

“Ha! That we me,” Rucker shot back from over the grill also offering a suggestion for some pulled BBQ at the next event.

Cornigans and her mother, Rucker, both said S&S Salon will continue to host these events “They can have it here,” Cornigans said because there will still be a need. She suggested, “You don’t have to donate money. Shoes, clothes, if you’re in your closet and think ‘I don’t need this anymore’ just bring it down to help someone else.”

Rhonda Baylor has a calling to serve, and she wants to do more but has found that getting the clothes to Surry County in her current car is not the best solution. “I need a van because I go back and forth the Statesville to get the clothes. What I need is a van so I’m going to sell my Cadillac and buy a van to get these clothes.”

“I love that car, and I haven’t had it long, maybe six months, but I can’t put everything in there. I said, ‘I need a van Lord’ and it came to me to sell the car.”

She said she first came to Surry County with the clothes in a garbage bag and a busted black and white television. Years later she and Keith are together owners of a Habitat home and are finding ways to feed, clothe, and share their experience with those who may benefit from it. Be on the lookout for a Bruised Not Broken event again in August, Baylor said.

© 2018 The Mount Airy News