Stephanie Lackey of Mount Airy was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, one of the nation’s oldest all-discipline collegiate honor society. Lackey was initiated at North Carolina State University.

Lackey is among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10% of seniors and 7.5% of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10% of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the society has chapters on more than 325 campuses in the United States, its territories and the Philippines. Its mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”

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The Jack A. Loftis Plaza was so named 11 years ago this month to honor a former Mount Airy mayor who’d been instrumental in developing a rest area there which provided the first public bathroom facilities downtown.

Over the years, the spot on the lower end of North Main Street has been visited frequently by Mayberry tourists and locals alike, also containing tables and chairs covered by awnings where they can enjoy food while escaping the sun.

One recent enhancement there involved the dedication in 2021 of a mural depicting the popular Easter Brothers gospel bluegrass group that hailed from this area, whose three principals are now deceased as is Loftis.

But a member of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners is concerned that another addition would detract from the vibe of the plaza, an adult beverage consumption area he says is possible under action taken earlier this month.

The board voted 4-1 on April 7 in favor of an ordinance change that was touted as a way to allow more downtown businesses to operate outdoor dining sections, which has been sought in response to the pandemic.

However, existing rules required those places to be restaurants in order to take advantage of a concept first approved in 2015 — so on April 7 the council majority broadened that to include “food and beverage establishments.”

Now Commissioner Jon Cawley is bothered that this change somehow could allow a wine shop and boutique on the north side of Jack A. Loftis Plaza — known as Uncorked — to serve alcoholic beverages in at least a portion of the rest area.

Cawley, the lone council member to vote against the ordinance amendment, also was the only one to direct pointed questions toward city Planning Director Andy Goodall over its implications of allowing more spaces for alcohol consumption by businesses downtown.

In exchanges with Cawley, Uncorked was actually cited as an example by Goodall during the April 7 meeting concerning establishments that might be affected.

Outdoor serving areas can exist in specially designated spaces adjoining such businesses — including sidewalks, plazas and public alleys — with at least 5 feet of space required for an “unobstructed pedestrian corridor,” under city ordinances.

“And as long as they do that they can use that plaza,” Cawley said of Uncorked’s potential to expand to the rest area.

Outside serving sections can include tables and chairs, but those areas can’t exceed 25% of the total seating capacity of the mother establishment.

Based on the April 7 discussion, Uncorked would not be able to use the plaza as its building is presently configured, but could through upfits of the structure as a result of the ordinance change.

Cawley’s understanding is that this could include modifying the intervening wall to add a serving window facing the plaza, where the Easter Brothers mural graces the opposite wall.

Measurements reportedly have been seen taking place at the site to do just that, according to the councilman.

Yauna Martin, an owner of Uncorked, said Tuesday afternoon that the business presently has no plans for such a facility.

“Right now I just think we’re not going to do anything,” she advised. “And we’ll see what the future holds.”

Cawley is of the opinion that the April 7 action occurred without the full knowledge of either the commissioners supporting it or the public at large.

“I don’t believe there was a board member there who understood the ramifications,” he said. “I think the decision was made without factoring in everybody’s good-sense opinions.”

On the other hand, “it may have all four of them understood completely if it was going to become a wine and beer garden,” said Cawley, who expressed general concern at the meeting about permitting more spaces for alcohol consumption.

Despite what fellow council members knew or didn’t know, he is troubled by the rapid manner in which the vote played out and a possible lack of transparency.

“I asked some questions and I was the only one that did,” the North Ward commissioner — a candidate for mayor in a May 17 primary — added regarding the April 7 debate on the matter that was handled relatively expediently.

“When the goal is a 5-0 vote in a 30-minute meeting, you’re not going to get a lot of discussion.”

The Mount Airy Board of Commissioners is holding its next meeting Thursday night, when Cawley hopes to rectify the situation.

“I’m going to ask the other commissioners to rescind the vote,” he explained.

Aside from any other concerns about the issue, Cawley thinks that if alcohol consumption does transpire in Jack A. Loftis Plaza, a facility intended for the general public, it will detract from Mount Airy’s small-town Mayberry image.

“Mayberry doesn’t need wine and beer,” he said of that mystique.

Westfield Elementary School recently named its Leaders of the Month for March.

“These students were chosen by their peers for demonstrating the leadership attribute accepting,” the school said. “Accepting is understanding that others are different from you and respecting their differences.

Each student received a book to take home.

In addition to those pictured here, Angel Sawyers was also named one of the Leaders of the Month.

Scout Troop 505 recently carried out a project to collect food to be donated to the needy.

Scouts Jack Hardy, Phoenix Allen, and Colin Cuttrell decided they needed to do something to help the hunger problem in the community, so the three decided to sponsor a canned food drive on behalf of Scout Troop 505.

“I wanted to do this project to get food to people at church who could not afford to feed themselves and I wanted to spread awareness about Boy Scouts and their willingness to help a problem in our community,” Jack said of the project. “These students are true leaders in our community.”

The Pilot Mountain Civic Club named Carolyn Boyles as the 2021 Citizen of The Year. At a recent meeting, Mayor Evan Cockerham presented her with this award stating she is “integral to this club, this community and the very history of Pilot Mountain.”

She is no stranger to the community as she is a lifelong resident and taught in the Surry County School System for more than 40 years; serving at Shoals Elementary and Pilot Mountain Middle schools before her retirement in 2011. She was honored with the Teacher of The Year award at both schools during her tenure. She received her bachelor’s degree from High Point University and her Masters and Education Specialist degrees from Appalachian State University. She was included in the first edition (as well as two additional editions) of “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” and was featured in “Great Women of the 21st Century.”She is well-respected and admired by her former students as she is frequently recognized by them when they see her. She always takes time to reconnect and ask about their families and current activities.

As a leader and pillar of our community, she served as a commissioner in Pilot Mountain town for 23 years and as Mayor Pro-Tem for a number of years. In addition, she served on multiple town boards including the planning board and the TDA.

She is a lifetime member of the First Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School, served as a deacon, church clerk, and member of the Women’s Missionary Union. Many families especially appreciate the care she provided as a teacher in the nursery on Sundays. She also served on multiple committees to further the development of the church ministry.

She can be seen at every Red Cross blood drive, thanking the donors and serving refreshments.

She is an avid genealogist having researched and published a book titled “Early Days of Pilot Mountain, N. C. – A History and Genealogy.” Not surprising, with her love of history and genealogy, she is a member of the National Education Association, North Carolina Association of Educators, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution: Jonathan Hunt Chapter, Surry County Genealogy Association, Genealogy Society of Rockingham and Stokes Counties and the Mount Airy Regional Museum of History where she serves as a docent.

She enjoys reading, playing bridge, participating in exercise and yoga classes at the Armfield Civic and Recreation Center, and is a former golfer. She is a world-wide traveler having visited more than 100 countries. She is an adventurous cook who enjoys trying new recipes and sharing with friends and family. She even prepared apple strudel with the head chef during a Rhine River cruise to Germany.

Her spirit of public service is unwavering. She exemplifies the ideals of a citizen by volunteering her time for worthy community or civic causes to improve the quality of life for those in our community. She is a role model who inspires other club members to invest their time and talents in service-oriented activities. When community needs are identified, she is the first to step up and assist in any way possible as evidenced by Mayfest planning committee, the Surry Community College scholarship program, and many unexpected emergent needs in our community.

“As an elected official, Carolyn is someone I look up to and admire,” Mayor Cockerham said. “As a young leader in the community, I am grateful for her support and know her counsel and wisdom are available. When I think of well-rounded individuals, I think of Carolyn, when I think of people who have had a lasting impact, I think of Carolyn. When I think of people who made this community what it is today, Carolyn is in a class of her own.”

Mount Airy City Schools will be putting on a Community Peacefest Monday, which organizers say will be a way to focus on the need for world peace, as well as celebrate the diversity Mount Airy and its school system enjoys.

Polly Long, who is the city schools’ coordinator of workforce initiatives as well as the leader of youth services for the Rotary Club of Mount Airy, said this year’s event is an expansion of the Multicultural Arts Festival the school system held in May of 2021.

“We were very excited about what we did last year, that had never been done before,” she said of the event, which included groups of students putting on displays representing different countries.

“We are a very diverse school system, we have a lot of diversity in our community,” she said. “We were thrilled at the amount of people who came, we were particularly excited that people started to come in their ethnic clothes.”

So, school officials decided to do something similar, but with a Rotary-inspired twist.

“World peace is the cornerstone of Rotary clubs,” Long said, and there were grant opportunities for Rotary Clubs to use to build peace parks, “A real place where people could go, where they could think about world peace.”

The club, along with the school, was able to secure a grant to help build a peace park on Market Street, site of last year’s art festival and where the Mount Airy Downtown and Main Street programs use for many of their festivals and activities.

While there is no place large enough for a park there, Long said they used the grant to develop a couple of “pocket parks,” with a plaque, rose bushes and peace posts at two of the corners of the parking lot.

Long explained peace poles are similar to short totem poles, with children’s work wrapped around the poles, depicting what peace means to the children who created the artwork.

As planning for the event and the peace parks came together, Russia invaded Ukraine.

“Suddenly, before our eyes on television every night we are seeing the horrors of war, and we realize there is not peace in our world,” she said, making next week’s gathering all the more poignant.

Part of the event will include booths or tents set up by student groups, showing what they have discovered and learned about their chosen land — among the displays, she said, will be ones on China, Nigeria, Mexico, Columbia, and the American territory of Puerto Rico.

“Students have developed their own little talks, will lead discussions on what all these customs are…what they wear.”

The idea behind highlighting other lands, Long said, is simple: “The more we know about each other, the more we know about other countries, we realize there are more similarities than differences between people.”

And last, she said, the event will feature a Rotary tent, where the group will be collecting money to be sent to relief efforts in Ukraine.

“We kept thinking, if only we could do something for the people in Ukraine. This is not going to change their lives…but this is something we can do, it is at least a public awareness opportunity. We’re excited about the children being involved. We hope people will listen to the children as they talk about peace.

“We starting working on it in the fall,” she said of the idea of a second festival. “In the fall we didn’t know about the peace park. We added the peace park, but we didn’t know about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Each layered on top of the other, and that is where we are today.”

In addition to students from throughout the city school system, other groups will be on hand, including Living Rhythm, an African drum group sponsored by the Surry Arts Council, a Chinese lion dancer, and Mariachi dancers, thanks to the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History.

“This is truly one of these festivals that reaches a lot of areas…It is truly community collaboration,” she said.

The festival gets underway at 5 p.m. on Market Street on Monday, April 25, and is expected to last until 8 p.m.

The unveiling of a sign unique to Surry County will take place Friday, April 22 at 10 a.m. on the lawn of the Historic Courthouse, 114 W. Atkins St., in Dobson. The famous sonker, a Surry County delicacy, will receive its well-deserved nod for its historical significance when its “Hungry for History” road marker is displayed for the first time during a ceremony on the Kapp Street side of the courthouse square.

Launched in 2021 to help communities highlight their distinctive favorite foods, the Hungry for History grant program commemorates the role regional food specialties have played in defining American culture and forging community identity.

During the first grant round, the Pomeroy Foundation awarded funding for a variety of prepared dishes including Surry County’s very own sonker. The inaugural class also includes salt potatoes in Syracuse, New York.; Michigan hot dogs in Plattsburgh, New York; beef on weck in West Seneca, New York; buckwheat cakes in Kingwood, West Virginia; barbecued chicken in Lansing, New York; chocolate jumbles in Esperance, New York; and chicken brissil in Greenville, Alabama.

The origins of its name date back to Surry County’s early settlers. The word sonker comes from the Scottish dialect and originally referred to a small, grassy knoll that could have been used as a seat. The meaning evolved to describe a seat made from bundles of hay or straw. Many suspect the irregular dough covering the bumpy filling reminded cooks of a knoll or saddle, prompting the term.

Another school of thought says the dessert derived its name from the word “sunk” because the crust of a sonker sinks into the fruit filling. After being passed down through decades of rural Carolina dialect, perhaps sunker became sonker.

Although it is hard to say for sure where the name came from, it is much easier to say what it is: delicious.

Sonker is best described as a hybrid between a cobbler and a deep-dish pie. Generations of Surry County residents have handed down recipes and tweaked them to suit their personal tastes, family preference, and the available ingredients of the time.

The result of blending fruit and unshaped dough, often sweetened with sugar or molasses, and an occasional spice of the cook’s preference is the sonker itself. It can be accompanied by a dip or glaze made of cream, sugar or molasses, and a few drops of vanilla extract.

Variations in crust abound with some recipes calling for a pie-like crust, while others call for a breadcrumb topping. Other cooks make theirs in a pot on the stove, with a crust that is more akin to dumplings.

Using fruits such as blackberries, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, huckleberries, and apples it is believed folks made sonker stretch the usage of their fruit in tough times, or to utilize fruit that is toward the end of its ripeness. That “waste not” conservatism is still a hallmark of the people of Surry County who hate to see food go to waste and have the tupperware to prove it.

“Communities are incredibly proud of the cherished local dishes their regions are known for. We’re pleased to provide this opportunity to recognize and celebrate those foods with Hungry for History roadside markers,” Deryn Pomeroy, trustee at the Pomeroy Foundation, said.

To qualify for the Hungry for History grant program, the regional food specialty must be a prepared, ready-to-eat dish that originated before 1960 and is comprised of at least two ingredients.

The dish must still be available to eat today and have historical significance to the surrounding community. All applications must also include primary source documentation that proves the food’s authenticity and significance to the region. Such primary sources may not settle any long-standing debate on the crust, however.

“We look forward to helping communities across the country celebrate their unique – and delicious – regional food specialties that are part of the fabric of our collective identities and heritage,” Pomeroy said.

The ceremony will include a brief history of the sonker provided by the Surry County Historical Society, a review of the Surry County Sonker Trail, acknowledgment of those who have helped develop the trail and what the sonker has meant to the county in terms of tourism and exposure. Following this will be the unveiling of the sign, along with sonker samples provided by The Harvest Grill at Shelton Vineyards.

For anyone planning to attend the ceremony, a canopy and chairs will be setup for comfort, and parking will be provided around the Courthouse Square and diagonally across from the Historic Courthouse and Business 601/Main Street in the County parking lot at the Judicial Center.

Earlier this school year, Central Middle School hosted the Surry County Schools MathCounts competition.

Around 40 competitors from Gentry, Meadowview Magnet, Pilot Mountain, and Central middle schools competed in individual and team competitions. Individually, two Central Middle Schools students, Brynna Atkins and Carter Faistl, tied with another competitor for top overall scorer. Brynna Atkins won the individual, head to head, bracket-style competition.

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PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry recorded its second no-hitter in seven days with a 7-0 win over West Wilkes on April 19.

East Surry clinched at least a share of the Foothills 2A Conference Regular Season Championship with Tuesday’s victory. The Cardinals are 9-0 in conference play, and the FH2A’s second-place team – Surry Central – dropped to 6-3 in the conference with a loss to North Surry.

The Cardinals (15-0) can clinch the FH2A title outright by winning one of its next three conference games.

Junior pitcher Folger Boaz was on the mound for both of the Cards’ recent no-hitters. Boaz threw 16 strikeouts in seven innings in an April 12 win over North Wilkes, then threw 11 strikeouts in 5.2 innings against West Wilkes.

Anthony Ayers closed the West Wilkes game by throwing three strikeouts in 1.1 innings.

The Blackhawks (10-9, 7-4 FH2A) had seven players get on base against the Cardinals, but the visitors only advanced past second base one time. West Wilkes players were walked five times, one reached first on an East Surry fielding error and another struck out but made it safely to first after a dropped third strike.

After Boaz’s third strikeout of the fourth inning was dropped and the player safely reached first, the junior pitcher struck the next batter out to leave two men stranded. The Cards also executed two double plays when runners did get on base.

Even though West Wilkes was held hitless, there were plenty of hits to go around from players in red jerseys.

Ayers, Luke Bowman and Caden Lasley each recorded multiple hits for East Surry. Bowman and Lasley each had two singles, and Ayers had two singles and a double. Bowman and Tristen Mason each scored twice, while Boaz, Trey Armstrong and Matthew Keener each crossed the plate once.

Boaz set the tone early with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, which was hit off the first pitch thrown his way. Trey Armstrong led off the bottom of the third with a double, then used two ground outs by Boaz and Brown to score East’s second run.

The Cardinals added three runs in the fourth inning after leaving two Blackhawk baserunners in scoring position in the inning’s top half. Keener got things going with a single, then Brett Clayton was hit by a pitch. Mason laid down a bunt intended to serve as a sacrifice, but made it to first after a West Wilkes miscommunication at first.

Bowman placed a pop fly just inside the right-field line to score Keener, then Armstrong scored Clayton on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0. Boaz was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. This nearly paid off as Brown hit an infield fly for the second out, but a single hit by Ayers brought in run No. 5.

East went scoreless in the fifth, but padded the lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. A sacrifice bunt from Armstrong scored Mason, and a single from Brown scored Bowman.

East Surry returns to FH2A action on Friday by traveling to West Wilkes.

• A Lowgap man has become a victim of financial card fraud and forgery through a series of recent incidents in Mount Airy which also constitute elder exploitation, according to city police reports.

The cases, which came to light on April 11, involve a known suspect making fraudulent transactions during March at six different businesses in town using his cellular device containing debit card information of Jimmy Gray Anthony of Dock Golding Road, a retiree in his 70s. This allowed the suspect to obtain unspecified consumable goods at each location.

Included were Food Lion on West Lebanon Street, the Super C convenience store on East Pine Street, the Circle K convenience store on North Main Street, Food Lion on South Andy Griffith Parkway, Mount Airy Tobacco and Vape on West Independence Boulevard and Food Lion on West Pine Street.

No monetary loss value was listed for the transactions, and although a suspect has been identified the cases were still under investigation at last report.

• The Happy Hours dance/nightclub establishment in the 900 block of North Andy Griffith Parkway was the scene of a larceny discovered on April 10, which involved property of Judy Ann Burnette of Newsome Street being taken.

An Android smartphone with a purple case, a black leather coat and a gold in color wallet, valued altogether at $350, were included.

Officials with the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission are watching Surry and Yadkin counties closely, after the state’s first confirmed case of Chronic Wasting Disease was announced at the end of March.

In that finding, a sample taken from a white tail deer harvested by a hunter in Yadkin County in December tested positive for the disease, a result that was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

The sample came from a taxidermist, part of an effort to get taxidermists across North Carolina to send samples to the Wildlife Commission. That organization ramped up testing this past season after two cases of Chronic Wasting Disease were confirmed nearby in Virginia in 2021 — one case in Floyd County and the other in Montgomery County. That was the second consecutive year there had been a confirmed case in Montgomery County, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

The devastating disease, which attacks the nervous systems of deer, elk, and moose, eventually turns the animal’s brain into a spongy mass, then the deer begins to waste away, losing significant weight and control over bodily functions before dying. It is contagious, and always fatal.

The condition, according to the website cwd-info.org, belongs to the same family of disease as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad call disease. Mad cow has been shown to cause the always-fatal Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans, or vCJD, a degenerative brain disorder which leads to dementia, and then death. The most well-known outbreak of mad cow disease occurred in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, leading to the destruction of millions of beef cattle, with several individuals in the country contracting and dying from vCJD.

Thus far, there have been no documented cases of a human contracting Chronic Wasting Disease, or a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, from deer, either through exposure to or by ingesting infected meat.

That has not stopped the NC Wildlife Resource Commission from taking action. Earlier this month, Executive Director Cameron Ingram invoked emergency powers to activate a localized response plan to monitor and contain CWD in Yadkin and Surry counties, along with surrounding areas.

Among the details of that plan are:

• The establishment of a primary surveillance area in Surry County east of U.S. 601, south of N.C. 268 and west of Quaker Church Road and the Ararat River; and in Yadkin County east of U.S. 601, north of N.C. 67, west of Shoals Road to the intersection with Shady Grove Church Road and west of Fairground Road;

• The establishment of a secondary surveillance area across Surry Yadkin, Davie, Forsyth, and Stokes counties, along with Alleghany County east of US 21 and N.C. 18, Wilkes County east of N.C. 18 and N.C. 115, and Iredell County east of N.C. 115 and north of Interstate 40;

• Suspension of and prohibition on rehabilitation of white-tailed deer fawns within and from the surveillance areas;

• Prohibition on the transportation of white-tailed deer, dead or alive, out of the surveillance areas except for carcass parts that conform to 15A NCAC 10B .0124, or as otherwise permitted by the wildlife commission;

• Prohibition on the disposal of white-tailed deer carcasses taken or found inside of the surveillance areas outside of the surveillance areas, unless permitted by the wildlife commission;

• Prohibition on the placement of bait, food, food products, mineral, or salt licks to purposefully congregate wildlife from Jan. 2 – Aug. 31 inside of the surveillance areas, except for bird feeders, hunting during the urban archery season in participating municipalities and other activities specifically permitted by the wildlife commission.

• Mandatory testing of all white-tailed deer taken in the primary surveillance area during the black powder and all lawful weapons deer hunting seasons;

• Mandatory testing of all white-tailed deer taken in the secondary surveillance area during the black powder season and from opening day through the second Sunday of all lawful weapons season.

In addition, the agency will hold a public forum on May 2 in Yadkinville.

The meeting, dubbed a “Know CWD” forum, will be at the Yadkin County Agricultural and Educational Building from 7 to 9 p.m., although the doors will open at 6 p.m. The address is 2051 Agricultural Way, Yadkinville

Registration is not required. However, those wishing to ask questions should do so by submitting those questions for consideration by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 28 using the commissions’ website, at https://www.research.net/r/CWDMeeting. Questions will also be accepted at the forum.

“It was imperative that we worked quickly to enact emergency powers once CWD was detected in North Carolina, but we wanted to take the time to determine the best approach,” said Director Ingram. “We are confident in our plan and look forward to working with hunters, cooperators and partners to help slow the spread of this terrible disease while preserving our deer herd and deer hunting tradition.”

March is known for entering like a lion and leaving like a lamb, reflecting the weather balance of a month that begins in winter and ends in spring — but if anything the reverse was true locally for March 2022.

After all, a balmy, un-winter-like temperature of 79 degrees — the high for the month — was logged on March 7 at Mount Airy’s F.G. Doggett Water Plant.

Meanwhile, the month’s frigid low of 17 came about a week before spring’s arrival, on March 14, according to a monthly statistical report prepared at the water plant, the city’s official weather-monitoring station.

Also, no winter storms accompanied the first part of March, as has happened so often in the past. But a deluge of precipitation did occur during the usual “lamb” portion of the month on the 24th, when a 1.95-inch rainfall soaked the area.

For the sake of full disclosure, a mix of snow and rain did emerge during “lion” time, on March 12 — but no measurable accumulation resulted.

Temperatures overall were quite docile in comparison with a typical March. The mercury averaged 49.3 degrees last month, more than two degrees above the all-time average of 47 for Mount Airy, where weather records have been maintained since 1924.

Frost was noted on six days.

The precipitation total for March was 3.47 inches, which fell short of the local norm for the third month of the year, 4.25 inches. Measurable amounts fell on eight days.

For the year as a whole, Mount Airy has received 12.94 inches of precipitation, as of March 31, which is 1.87 inches — or 16.9 percent — above the all-time local average for the three-month period of 11.07 inches.

There were no sightings of fog during March.

Four Surry County wrestlers were recognized as some of the best in the state by HighSchoolOT.

HighSchoolOT’s awards not only featured student-athletes from all four public school classifications in the N.C. High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), but private schools and homeschools in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA).

This season marks the second consecutive season in which HSOT has recognized All-State Wrestling teams. There are two wrestlers per weight class on the first, second and third teams respectively. Then, 20 honorable mention All-State wrestlers are selected without regard to weight class.

This year’s teams feature 45 repeat selections.

Surry County wrestlers recognized on the teams are listed below in alphabetical order.

East Surry’s Eli Becker was named Third-team All-State in the 182-pound weight class.

Becker qualified for the NCHSAA State Championship Meet for the second time in his career as a junior, previously finishing third in the 1A 182-pound bracket as a sophomore. In 2021-22, Becker started the season 27-0 and won the Foothills 2A Conference and 2A Midwest Regional Championships in the 182 class.

Becker reached the 2A 182 State Championship and finished runner-up.

Mount Airy’s Connor Medvar was named Second-team All-State in the 170-pound weight class.

Medvar is one of the 45 repeat selections, having been named to the HSOT Wrestling All-State Third Team as a junior.

Medvar qualified for his fourth NCHSAA State Championship Meet as a senior. He previously finished third in 1A 138 bracket as a sophomore and won a state title in the 1A 152 bracket as a junior.

In 2021-22, Medvar was named Northwest 1A Conference Wrestler of the year and won the NW1A Title, 1A West Regional Title and 1A 170 State Titles with a 34-1 record.

Medvar helped Mount Airy win the dual team conference titles for both the regular season and conference tournaments.

Surry Central’s Jacob Price was named Third-team All-State in the 145-pound weight class.

Jacob qualified for his second NCHSAA State Championship Meet as a sophomore. He competed in the 2A 138 bracket as a freshman, but did not place.

In 2021-22, Jacob was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Foothills 2A Conference Tournament, won the FH2A Championship, 2A Midwest Regional Championship and 2A 145 State Championship with an overall record of 32-2.

Jacob helped Surry Central win the dual team conference titles for both the regular season and conference tournaments.

Surry Central’s Jeremiah Price was named First-team All-State in the 152-pound weight class.

In addition to being on of 45 total repeat selections, Jeremiah was one of just 11 wrestlers to be selected for the All-State First Team for a second time.

Jeremiah qualified for his third NCHSAA State Championship Meet as a junior. He won the 2A 145 Championship as both a freshman and a sophomore.

In 2021-22, Jeremiah was named Foothills 2A Conference Wrestler of the Year, won the FH2A Championship, 2A Midwest Regional Championship and 2A 145 State Championship with an overall record of 43-0. He was also named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 2A State Championship.

Jeremiah helped Surry Central win the dual team conference titles for both the regular season and conference tournaments.

In an ironic twist of fate, a man known as an unlikely hiker has become a likely advocate for a sock brand produced by a Mount Airy company.

The Farm to Feet line of Nester Hosiery has signed through-hiker and author Derick Lugo as a brand ambassador, which will include wearing and promoting its socks.

Lugo is the author of a book called “The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: An Appalachian Trail Journey,” which documents his journey on the trek of about 2,200 miles linking Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Mount Katahdin in Maine.

The native New Yorker embarked on the Appalachian Trail in 2012 with no previous camping or hiking experience.

Lugo became known as Mr. Fabulous during the long-distance hike.

His latest adventure began last week when Lugo set out to through-hike another challenging course, with through-hike referring to traversing established end-to-end or long-distance trails with continuous footsteps in one direction in a straight shot.

He now is hiking the Continental Divide Trail, which spans 3,028 miles between the U.S. borders with Chihuahua, Mexico, and Alberta, Canada.

The way in which the local Farm to Feet brand enters the picture involves the fact that Lugo is wearing its socks during the hike. It began on April 12 with plans to complete the journey in mid-September.

In addition to donning the locally produced socks during his through-hike of the Continental Divide Trail this summer. Lugo will provide content, product feedback and appear at events on behalf of the brand.

This is expected to be a major boost for the local company, according to Matt Brucker, who became general manager of Nester Hosiery brands, including Farm to Feet, earlier this year.

“Derick has a magnetic personality and as anyone who has ever met him knows, he’s passionate about hiking and storytelling – a perfect match for Farm to Feet,” Brucker said in a statement.

Lugo is equally enthusiastic about the partnership.

“I had no idea how important socks were before my through-hike,” he said in a statement. “Having socks that dry quickly, are comfortable and durable is essential, and Farm to Feet checks all those boxes and I look fly in them.”

Lugo will be participating in the Continental Divide Trail Coalition’s Trail Days in Silver City, New Mexico, this weekend, when that organization celebrates its 10-year anniversary.

The public can monitor his progress on the trail by visiting www.dericklugo.com and following him on Instagram (@dericklugo), Twitter (@derick_lugo) and Facebook (@TheUnlikelyThru-Hiker).

Farm to Feet, promoted as a maker of 100-percent American socks, turns out that footwear in its sustainability focused facility in Mount Airy said to employ the highest-level knitting techniques possible.

The brand prides itself on turning out the most-comfortable and feature-rich socks available under the belief that socks are meant for the outdoors. It also is committed to improving the outdoor recreational experience and advocating for the protection of wild places, according to a company announcement regarding its pairing with Lugo.

Marion Venable is excited about the first of the Surry 250 Lecture Series events, and she hopes folks will come out to hear about the county’s early settlers and their architecture.

The lecture series returns with “Surry Land Grants and Early Architecture” at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, at the Surry County Service Center, 915 East Atkins Street, Dobson.

The lecture is being presented by architectural historian Laura A.W. Phillips and Venable who worked together back in 1980 on what would become “Simple Treasures, The Architectural Legacy of Surry County.”

Participants will review the land grant maps of the early settlers of Surry County to identify “where the iron ore deposits were, or where the water was,” Venable said. Seeing the land maps will help paint a more complete picture of the earliest settlers and why they may have chosen to settle where they did.

A PowerPoint presentation will also include highlights of the variety of architecture in Surry County. When Phillips was first cataloging architecture in 1980, she documented 638 buildings. Venable says many of those structures are being lost to time, more than 100 of those initially catalogued are now gone.

“Thankfully, the county and the preservation society saw the need and got the grant funds to protect these buildings. Otherwise, we may have nothing,” Venable said.

She mused that all it once was that all houses were built using the knowledge, skill, and talents of those who were building it. Therefore, the old buildings of Surry County have distinct styles she said. “Until the time when you could basically order a house from Sears and have it shipped to you.”

Phillips and Venable worked together for several years on the Simple Treasures with Phillips doing the writing. “It took about five years getting it together to get it published,” Venable said. She also wanted to give credit to “Lucille Haynes who gave a sizeable amount of money to get the book published in the first place.”

The lecture Thursday “is a celebration of the land grant maps and the architectural uniqueness of Surry County.”

The lecture series is free to the public, and the next Surry 250 lecture will be in June.

Mount Airy High School senior Noah Hart officially signed his NCAA National Letter of Intent and will continue his academic and soccer careers at Concord University.

“I feel awesome,” Hart said. “The only thing I’ve ever wanted to do was play at least somewhat professionally, so this is the next step. I want to do the best I possibly can at college and improve every year.

“I’ve always loved sports, especially soccer. I’ve been all around and have competed in swimming, baseball and tennis, but this has always just been special to me. I grew up watching England’s Premier League with my dad. It’s just my passion.”

Hart is a four-year member of the Granite Bears’ soccer program, and was a varsity starter his junior and senior years. During those two seasons, Mount Airy: finished 20-0-1 in conference matches and 35-2-3 overall, went undefeated inside Wallace Shelton Stadium, didn’t lose a single regular season match, won two Northwest 1A Conference Championships and finished 1A West Regional Runner-up.

The 2021-22 Bears team won 26 consecutive games, a school record, and lost its only match in the 1A West Regional Championship to the private school that won the state title.

“Noah meant a lot to the team both of his years on varsity,” said Mount Airy coach Will Hurley. “As great as he was his junior year, I think, this past year, he was just phenomenal. He was part of that big push we needed. He was a true leader.”

Hart gave Mount Airy an advantage over most opponents with his rare skill set. Instead of playing the traditional left back position on defense, Hart had the green light to push up the field as an additional midfielder or forward. Being left footed allowed him to create instant offense with runs up the sideline.

“Through his high school career I put him everywhere, but when we moved him there we knew it was his spot,” Hurley said. “People would doubt his ability to dribble as a defender, so we dribbled down their throat. He didn’t just do it once or twice a game; we wore it out. Because, well, it worked.”

Hart was primarily used on offense as a JV player. Hurley said he loves taking players with offensive experience and putting them on the back line because they know what they’re going against. That experience on offense also honed Hart’s ability to spread the field and find open teammates when he did push up.

“Manchester City uses it, and so does Leicester,” Hart said. “I was watching them play and my dad said, ‘hey, look at this guy,’ and we saw him pushing up. I looked up the formations and it worked, so I thought I’d try it. I first asked about it at my club team, and just started working it and eventually took it to the high school.”

Hart immediately put his skills to use during his first varsity game. Mount Airy opened the 2020-21 season at Bishop McGuinness and trailed 2-0 at halftime. The Bears cut the lead to 2-1 early in the half, and tied things up when Hart made a run up the left sideline.

“I had seen Elkin [Lopez] at the six-yard box right in front of the goal and he wasn’t offsides, so I passed to him. Well, he missed the header and it went straight over the goalie’s head to make it 2-2. It was insane because I had already looked away. We went on to win 3-2 in overtime.”

Despite being a defensive player, Hart was second on the team in assists as a junior and third as a senior. He also scored seven goals those two seasons.

Defensively, Mount Airy only allowed 17 goals during its 27 games in 2021-22 for an average of 0.63 goals per match. The Bears had 16 shutouts.

“He was worthy of being an All-State player, and anyone that watched him would agree, but it was difficult to put on paper just how integral he was to our success,” Hurley said. “His contributions came on both sides. He was absolutely a great defender, but what made him special was how he was a key to our offense most of the year.”

Hart had numerous people to thank for helping him get to this point.

On coaches Will and Holden Hurley: “No matter if we were losing, we were winning, how bad we thought we were doing…they’d always be the drive that we needed. Coach [Will] Hurley would always have so much passion for everything, even when he sounded like he was mad but really wasn’t.”

On Coach Wes Hurley, who previously served as an assistant coach: “When Coach Wes was still here, he pretty much pushed me to be a part of everything and to keep going. I never thought of giving up, but I kind of lost hope and Wes was always there to push us up and get our limits sky high. I needed some ego and self-confidence, and he really pushed everybody’s out. That’s why we would always come out and scare people the first time they played us.”

On former teammate Juan Gomez Rios (class of 2021): “One person I really want to thank is Juan. Whenever he was a sophomore I was bigger than him, and I was small. He grew so much and is now playing for Emory & Henry, a great program in a tough division. He proved to everyone on the team that he could make it to the college level.”

On his dad: “When I was a freshman I thought it was so embarrassing, but every single day he would come and watch us practice. He’d be the only parent out there. I just realized that he loved to watch me play. When we’d lose, he was never one to be mad… he’d just tell me ‘You can be mad about it for a minute, but forget about it the rest.’ He really taught me to be competitive, but if you lose to learn from it. Crying and screaming over it doesn’t do any good.”

On his teammates: “This is the best team I’ve ever had. The chemistry is there, the talent is there and the teamwork is definitely there. Everybody gets along. It really was a family and so much more than a team to me.”

The Mustang Ambassadors and student leaders are partnering with Bailey McGill and Carmen Long from NC Cooperative Extension to participate in a five class after-school series to gain babysitting knowledge.

Students learn about planning age-appropriate activities and healthy snacks, using positive discipline, child safety, emergency preparedness, and babysitting as a business.

Students use life size baby dolls to model and practice diaper changing and infant care. Students complete an evaluation form to determine knowledge and feelings before and after participating in the babysitting classes. Participants will be awarded a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the series.

For anyone looking for activities for their children during the summer, the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History may have an answer — its summer camps.

Enrollment for the week-long kid’s summer camps is now open.

There are two camps in June, one for younger children, ages 4-7 that is the STEM Jr. Camp, which goes from June 6 – June 10 from 9 a.m. -1 p.m. each day. There is also a camp for older kids called North Carolina Explorer’s Camp that runs June 20 – June 24 from 1 p.m. -5 p.m. for kids ages 8-13.

STEM Jr. is all about teaching science and technology through fun hands-on activities and games. Campers can enjoy learning about space, see a real model rocket launch, make their first chemistry experiment, and even play with robots.

North Carolina Explorer’s Camp is for kids who love nature and exploring. During this camp the museum will have an onsite butterfly observatory, a presentation from a local park ranger, and lots of explorer-based crafts and activities.

In July the museum has another two camps: The Passport Camp for younger kids that runs from July 11-15, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., and the Science Chef Camp for older kids that takes place during July 25-29, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. each day.

The Passport Camp focuses on learning about geography, art, history, and other cultures through fun hands-on arts and crafts activities. Kids will get the chance to learn about new countries and cultures while creating pottery, making music, and so much more.

Science Chef Camp is for the kids who love playing with their food, a crazy cooking competition, experimenting with flavors, or just enjoying a sweet treat. Campers will get to make their own solar ovens, try their hand at making breads and other sweets, learn about local historic recipes, and that’s just the beginning.

Each summer camp session is $100 per camper for non-members and $80 for museum members, and discounts for multiple children are available. Campers should bring a snack each day but otherwise all materials are included for every camp.

Anyone with questions, or to register, contact the museum at mamrh@northcarolinamuseum.org or call 336-786-4478, register at the website, www.northcarolinamuseum.org, or stop by in-person at 301 N. Main St.

DOBSON — The Animal Science and Sustainable Agriculture programs at Surry Community College are hosting an Agriculture Day on Friday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Local high schools and the public are invited to attend.

The event will be held on the Dobson campus at the clocktower and courtyard. There will be agriculture presentations, a petting zoo, giveaways, games, food, music and a plant sale.

Sponsors for the event include Southern States, Carolina Farm Credit, Shelton Vineyards and Wayne Farms. Other local businesses will also be in attendance to provide information about educational and career opportunities within the agricultural industry.

Surry Community College offers a diploma and certificate in applied animal science technology and a certificate in sustainable agriculture. SCC is registering students for summer and fall classes. Check surry.edu for additional information.

For more information about Agriculture Day, contact James Quick, applied animal science lead instructor, at 336-386-3295 or quickj@surry.edu.

East Surry High School senior Bradley Davis Jr. officially signed his NCAA National Letter of Intent and will continue his academic and golf careers at Gardner-Webb University.

“It’s awesome to finally sign and it’s awesome that everyone’s here for it,” Davis said. “Ever since I’ve been playing it’s been the dream to make it to the next level. I always wanted to just keep going up in levels, and so hopefully after college golf I can turn pro and try to make it there.”

Davis is a four-year member of the golf team at East Surry, and has helped the Cardinals bring home a good amount of hardware each season.

“Bradley has dedicated himself to this and he’s reaping the rewards of that with this offer from Gardner-Webb,” said East Surry coach Darrin Haywood. “He’s a great ball-striker. He has a great temperament with golf and stays on level. He’s developed over time, he’s worked at it and he’s spent hours upon hours practicing.”

Haywood said Davis has been in the Cardinals’ starting lineup since his freshman year. Davis has also been the team’s No. 1 seed as a junior and senior.

“Shooting No. 1, that’s a lot of pressure on you every time you go out there and he’s done well with that,” Haywood said. “We’ve placed well because of people like Bradley.”

Before he was tearing it up in the high school ranks, Davis recalled getting his start in the sport at the age of five.

“I really just started because my grandpa cut down a club and put some electric tape on it and I started playing with that,” Davis said. “It took off from there; I played when I was young and then through middle school. I started playing tournaments, and kept doing that throughout high school…all the North Carolina and South Carolina Tournaments.”

Some of the tournaments in which Davis competed were held by the Carolinas Golf Association (GCA), American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and Tarheel Youth Golf Association (TYGA).

One of his crowning achievements on the tournament circuit came in April 2021 when he won the AJGA Preview Series Event at the Anderson Creek Golf Club in Spring Lake. The event featured 54 golfers from 18 states ranging from Florida to California to Massachusetts. Davis won the event with a score of three-over par, which was three strokes better than the second-place finisher.

“Finally winning the AJGA tournament last year was awesome,” Davis said.

Davis has completed two golf seasons at East Surry: 2019 and 2021, since the season was cancelled in 2020. In those two seasons, East Surry has won: two conference championships, one regional championship and two state runner-up trophies.

Davis was East Surry’s top finisher in both the 1A Midwest Regional and 1A State Championship in 2021. He finished eighth out of 37 competitors at regionals, then tied for the third-best score out of 48 competitors at the state championship.

“Bradley has matured tremendously over the past few years,” Haywood said. “He’s stepped up: both as a golfer and as a leader. His maturity kind of settles everyone else. There’s a time and place to have a good time, but a time to be serious and he’s one of the ones that’s figured out how to stay level. As a coach that means a lot and makes my job a whole lot easier.”

For 2022, Bradley said his goal as an individual is to win Foothills 2A Conference Player of the Year.

“His No. 1 competition for golfer of the year is a teammate, and I think that’s great,” Haywood said. “It breeds competition, and they both have stepped up their game this year.”

Haywood also mentioned placing high in the state rankings as a goal for Davis this season.

As for the Cardinals’ goals as a team, Haywood said: “We have plaques in the office from regional championships and being state placers, but our goal is to bring home the big one. He knows that goal, and I know that goal.”

“We’ve got two runner-up trophies, so hopefully we can get it done this year,” Davis said. “We didn’t lose anybody last year, so we should be the same team if not better.”

Davis extended his thanks to his coaches, at all levels, and his family for helping him reach this point in his career. He also thanked former Cardinal golfer Landon Barnes (Class of 2020), who signed his own NLI with Guilford College, for “playing a huge part in getting me to college since he’d already been through most of it being two years older than me,” Davis said.

“I just can’t say thank you enough to everybody for helping me get here.”

Easter, no matter when it falls, marks the coming of spring and has been celebrated with exuberance for centuries. Many bits of farm wisdom revolve around “the signs” and Easter is an important milepost in the signs.

Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox which means the earliest it can happen is March 22 and the latest is April 25 in any given year — prime planting time for a number of garden staples.

The Herbalist Almanac of 1931, from the Dault and Lucy Sawyers homeplace in Shoalsm advised under the heading, “When to Plant, Harvest, etc. By the Moon and Moon Signs” that the lucky days for April that year were the second and third which were noted to be the best days to marry that month. That was Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

“Plant Irish potatoes, bed sweet potatoes, put out onion sets, sow onion seeds, beets, turnips, carrots, parsnips radishes, artichokes and peanuts on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 13th and 14th,” it continued. Soil was considered to be the most fertile on Good Friday according to wide-spread folk wisdom of the time.

Although the region had members of the Jewish faith, and, presumably, other non-Christian religious faiths from Colonial times, the vast majority of people across Surry, Stokes, Carroll in Virginia, and other counties of the area identified as some form of Christian. The earliest newspapers we have from the region give a great deal of ink to Easter folklore and religious reporting.

As Holy Week approached, newspapers of the region carried reporting on special worship services, commercial sales, community events, and outings.

In the early- to mid-20th century the churches of Mount Airy coordinated union Good Friday services, moving between churches from one year to the next and all the pastors taking a role in the three-hour services. In April 1943, when so many local men and women were engaged in the Second World War, the words spoken from the cross were presented as lessons on pardon, human care, loneliness, and human need.

Easter Sunday, of course, was, and still is, a heavily attended church service. The Elkin Times ran an article on April 15, 1897 about the Moravian tradition of musicians greeting Easter morn with brass instruments calling worshippers to the cemetery in the chill dark hours to commemorate the empty tomb. “The procedure of the service is so timed,” it read, “that the musico-prayerful (sic) rejoicing reaches its highest expression just as the sun rises.”

Other denominations tended to have quieter and later services with everyone wearing their literal ‘Sunday Best.’ Many letters and news articles from the 1800s through the 1950s indicate Easter services involved more music or other changes to the usual Sunday services.

“Rev. G.M. Burcham preached to 800 people at the Rock House on the Brushies, five miles from Jonesville last Sunday,” reported The Elkin Times April, 22, 1897. Though we find such reports over several years, we can’t find clear explanations of what this place was or where it was.

The holiday drew adult children to celebrate with family whether they were traveling in from a new home in Greensboro or Tennessee or coming from Salem Academy or Fort Bragg. Such trips were often noted in the Mount Airy News or Elkin Tribune.

If Holy Week involved more-than-usual time in church, Easter Monday took a turn to the secular. The Danville Reporter noted in 1909 a Stokes County superstition that working on Easter Monday would mean the loss of a cow so folks played with determination.

“Easter Monday promises to be more largely observed this year than usual in this part of the state,” reported the Twin-City Sentinel on April 9, 1914. “The events in different parts of the country will bring the people together for a day of social intercourse and can hardly fail to do good in that it will make the people realize more fully their oneness and engender a spirit of good fellowship.”

Kate Rauhauser-Smith is a local freelance writer, researcher, and genealogist.

Books available at the Mount Airy Public Library:

A Family Affair – Robyn Carr

Summer at the Cape – RaeAnne Thayne

The Missing Piece – John Lescroart

“STEAM”ed UP on Mondays at 4 p.m. — Join us for science stories and simple experiments for grade school ages. Toddler Time for children ages 2-3 Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.; Book Babies for children ages birth to 2 years old Thursday at 9:30 a.m.; preschool story time for ages 4 – 5 Thursday at 11 a.m.

Surry Community College is offering a fun and free English as Second Language (ESL) class at the Mount Airy Public Library Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Anyone interested should contact Jennifer Pardue at 336-386-3674.

Hooked – Come join our crochet and knitting club, every Wednesday at 3 p.m. Bring your own yarn and make the group project or bring your own project to work on.

Tai Chi has returned to the library. Join us each Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m. This class is beneficial for those with limited mobility.

Make It Mondays. Craft class for adults meets the third Monday of each month at 3 p.m.

The Community Book Club meets the fourth Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. This month we will have local author Ruben Gonzales speaking. He has written two books that take place in North Carolina, The Cottage On the Bay and Murder On Black Mountain.

It’s Yoga Y’all – Yoga with Ms. Heather will be the third Saturday of every month at 10:30 a.m. unless otherwise noted.

Pages and Petticoats Book Club — meets on the last Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. This month’s book is Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James.

Classic Movie Monday – April’s Classic Movie selection is Our Town starring William Holden and Martha Scott. The film is based on the play by the same name, written by Thornton Wilder. Copies will be available if you’d like to read before you watch. This movie will be shown on April 25 at 5:30 p.m.

Friends of the Library Book Sale – The Friends of the Library will have its annual spring book sale beginning, April 20 at 5:30 p.m. and running through April 25. The book sale will be open during regular library hours.

Author Meet and Greet on Wednesday, April 27 at 1 p.m. Local author Ruben Gonzales has written two books that take place in North Carolina, The Cottage On the Bay and Murder On Black Mountain.

Keep up with all events on our FaceBook pages, https://www.facebook.com/groups/fmapl and https://www.facebook.com/mtapublibrary or our website https://nwrlibrary.org/mountairy/

Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Gray Smith celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary Wednesday, April 6, 2022, with friends and family at 13 Bones.

Bobby and Shelby Smith reside in Mount Airy, and were married April 6, 1957 in York, South Carolina. They have three children, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Mrs. Smith is retired from Spencers and Mr. Smith is retired from United Plastics.

Six award-winning short films were screened at Surry Arts Council’s Historic Earle Theatre for student filmmakers, casts and crews, their families and friends, as well as the public on Tuesday.

The in-person event was hosted by Surry Arts Council staff including David Brown welcoming and presenting the awards, and RJ Heller handling projection and technical support. Brown noted the event is sponsored by Surry Arts Council fundraisers for school programs as well as a Grassroots Grant from the NC Arts Council, a Division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Each of the filmmakers whose film was screened won in one of the following various categories. In addition, Brian Hutchins, a student at UNC-Greensboro, won Best Overall for his film, “The Show Goes On.”

• “Deep Waters” written, directed, and edited by Jonathan Yamashita, home school; produced by Katie Debnam with actors Benjamin Ainsley and Sydney Tanner, director of photography David Kennedy, and boom operator Myles Wood. won Best Visual Effects.

• “Spies” directed by Charlie Johnson, J.J. Jones Intermediate School, won Best Animation.

• “The Woods” Teaser Trailer and “Knock Knock Lesson” directed by Lee Bodenhamer, Rock House Christian (home school,) won Best Cinematography and Best Director respectively.

• “The Show Goes On” directed and edited by Brian Hutchins, UNC-Greensboro, and produced by Blaise Gourley won Best Documentary.

• “Communion” directed and edited by Jonathan MacLeod-Jefferson, UNC-Greensboro, with actor James Stadler won Best Costume Design.

In addition to the awards and recognition, filmmakers were gifted two annual passes to the Surry Arts Council from Surry Arts Council Executive Director Tanya Jones as an extra thanks for their participation this year.

Students were encouraged to continue to express their vision and talent. Heller, Surry Arts Council director of operations, closed the evening by encouraging the students to get started on the submissions for next year’s screening.

For more information on school programming, movies at the Earle Theatre or volunteer opportunities for students, contact the Surry Arts Council at 336-786-7998 or email tyler@surryarts.org.

In recording deeds, the state of North Carolina does not require that the amount paid for a parcel be stated on the deed. However a tax stamp at the rate of $2 for every $1,000 in value is affixed to each deed.

Recent real estate transfers recorded in the Surry County Register of Deed’s office include:

– William Luckenbach Holcomb to Inglis Holcomb, Denise Halcomb Faw and Richard Benbow Holcomb; lots 90-92 Eugene G. Smith property PB 4 40 Mount Airy; $0.

– Michael Alvin Taylor to Michael Alvin Taylor and Kimberly Renee Taylor; 1 acre PB 219 Eldora; $0.

– Charles Vernon and Sheila Vernon to Santiago Ortiz Jr.; lot 2 section 4 Pine Lakes subdivision PB 7 38 Stewarts Creek; $360.

– Mary A. Windsor, Paul A. Park, Lynn Hampton Clayton, David Grant Clayton, Tammy Hampton Gragg, Mitchell Paul Gragg, Benny Charles Park, Jewell H. Park, Doris Evelyn Park Luffman and Thomas Randall Wallace to PMI Properties, LLC; 26.721 acres PB 40 157 Elkin; $1,100.

– Old Banner Properties, LLC to Eric Mojica and Courtney Mojica; tract Mount Airy; $388.

– Luyis Gerardo Garcia Sanchez, Yaneth Ortiz Reyes and Yaneth Garcia to Reynoso Alfonso Aguilar; 1.010 acres; $14.

– William E. Lowe II and Dolores L. Lowe to Kamron Ray Nunn; 12.235 acres PB 40 104 Westfield; $130.

– Scotty William Beck and Michelle L. Beck to Janice L. Harp and Christopher W. Harp; 1.00 acres PB 15 134; $105.

– Pet, L.L.C and Pet, LLC to Two Rivers Wilkesboro II, LLC; four tracts; $1,050.

– Sink Family Limited Partnership and Kester A. Sink to Judy Lynn Bunker, Judy Johnson Bunker, Travis Lowder Bunker, Lisa Wolford, Terry Wayburn Johnson and Barry Wade Johnson; tract Mount Airy; $0.

– Marian K. O’Neal to Threefold Cord Handyman Services, Inc.; 3 lots Westfield Rd; $130.

– Deanne M. Haynes, Hannah H. Johnson and Michael Sean Johnson to Landon R. Mitchell; 13.692 acres PB 40 127 Dobson; $70.

– Nancy R. Belton to Patty Martin Folger; condominium deed unit 127 Plantation Place Condominium (formerly Hazelnut Plantation Place Condominiums phase II) bk 1 217-218, 221, 223, 235, 254, 276, 286, 295, 302, 305, 322, 325, 343 Mount Airy; $530.

– George Clayton Barlow Jr. and Jill Draughn Tucker Barlow to Nancy Flango and William Flango; 5.139 acres PB 32 169 Eldora; $850.

– Jason Samuel Simmons and Maggie Simmons to Rodney B. Edwards and Vickie L. Edwards; 0.307 acres 363 Johnson Ridge Road Elkin; $310.

– Michelle D. Southard, David Southard, Trent E. Draughn and Velvet Draughn to Anthony Mattioli and Fern Mattioli; tract; $105.

– County of Surry, John J. Aldridge IV, Alvin E. Davis and John J. Aldridge to Apolinar Mendez Valdez; commisioners deed tract one 1 acre file 19 CVD 1513; $22.

– County of Surry, John J. Aldridge IV, John S. Davis and John Aldridge to Apolinar Mendez Valdez; commisioners deed tracts file 18 CVD 786; $27.

– Michael Pete Johnson and Regina Smith Johnson to Active Capital Real Estate Investments, LLC; tract Ellis Leftwich subdivision PB 4 38 Mount Airy; $60.

– Johnny Allen Watts and Brandi Nicole Watts to Mark Kington and Summer Kington; 10.079 acres tract four Whit-Acre, LLC; PB 33 190 Pilot; $236.

– Edward Leonard Salerno and Mary Cecile Salerno to Gerald B. Williams and Adriana Lucia Guillen Ramirez; lot 33 Windsor Park subdivision section 2 PB 12 149 Dobson; $1,280.

– Misty M. Smithey to Brian Lee Dula and Gina Denise Dula; tract one 37.25 acres and tract two 0.73 acres Bryan; $620.

– Gray Franklin Dalton to Mitchell Dalton; tract South Westfield; $22.

– Elijah Miles Propst Walton and Crystal Gale to Elijah Miles Propst Walton; 0.770 acres Longhill; $0.

– Georgia Sue Schaub to Buffy Ann James; 14 1/2 acres Dobson; $0.

– Estate of Carol Tolbert Beck, estate of Marshall Gilmer Hill, Shirley Ashburn, Carol Tolbert Beck, Dale Ray Ashburn, Danny Beck and Marshall Gilmer Hill to Ryan Anthony Sydnor; 0.158 acres tract three and 1.824 acres tract four PB 26 17 Pilot estate of Carol Tolbert Beck file 22 E 94 and estate of Marshall Gilmer Hill file 22 E 235; $367.

– James Day Hall and Dawn Hall to Steven B. Barnard and Sheree R. Barnard; 0.446 acres PB 40 152 Mount Airy; $60.

– Kenneth Earl Johnson to Curtis Lee Slate, Michael Rilee Slate and Kenneth Earl Johnson; 10.49 acres Franklin; $0.

– Jan Lee Reid, Teresa Pope Reid, Alvin R. Reid Jr. and Elizabeth Ann Fulk Reid to Connie Marie Windes; 2.00 acres PB 40 126 Pilot; $670.

– The William Garber Sr. and Bonnie Garber Revocable Living Trust, William J. Garber Sr. and Bonnie K. Garber to Sarah Stone Yopp; lot 1 Brownshed subdivision PB 17 75 Dobson; $310.

– Julie A. McManaway to Jose Carlos Navarro Del Castillo; 0.36 acres Elkin; $260.

– NYCUM, LLC and R & R Properties, LLC to Grassy Creek Vineyard and Winery, LLC; 28.517 acres Elkin; $497.

– Roger William Eric Sechrist and Heather Renee Sechrist to Patrick Curtis; tract; $336.

– Estate of Lorene Johnson Moore, Carrie Wilmoth, Lorene Johnson Moore, Vivian Lorene Moore, Scott Bradley Moore, Christopher Chad Moore and Laura Moore to Nathan James Lambert; 3.11 acres Rockford estate of Lorene Johnson Moore 21 E 1046; $540.

– Mt. Airy Collision Center, Inc. to TJM Investments of Surry, LLC; tract one 4.78 acres PB 33 101 Mount Airy; $0.

– Michael C. Portis to Laura Elizabeth Owens and Laura Owens Triplette; lot 58 PB 1 39 Mount Airy; $240.

– Misty Goins to Terry A. Waters Jr.; 0.674 acres PB 38 83 Pilot; $0.

– Henry and Maxine Moore Family Trust, Henry Lance Moore and Maxine Moore Family Trust, Brandon L. Alberg, Henry Moore and Maxine Moore to Megan Cooley Stainback and Kevin Dale Stainback; 12.18 acres Bryan; $96.

– Estate of Carol Marie Hammond, Carol Marie Hammond and Timothy Joseph O’Connor to James Lucas; 0.433 acres lots 51-54 portion of lot 55-56 E.F. Tolbert property PB 3 25; $202.

– Michael Penn, Windy Penn, Wendy Penn, Michael S. Penn and Debra Penn to Craig Herman Stephens; 0.344 acres Mount Airy; $200.

– Marty Douglas Puckett, Monica Emerson Puckett, Rhonda Puckett Hamstead and Steven Lynn Hamstead to Earlie Gaston Gilley III and Ashley Crouch Gilley; 68.89 acres PB 40 168; $530.

– Clarence W. Mabe, Clarence C. Mabe and Jama G. Mabe to Tammy L. Sicignano; 0.53 acres Indian Grove Church Road Westfield; $0.

– Estate of Betty Ann McKinney, estate of Betty Ann Boone Johnson McKinney, Judy Lynn Bunker, Judy Johnson Bunker, Travis Lowder Bunker, Lisa Wolford, Terry Wayburn Johnson, Barry Wade Johnson, Betty Ann McKinney and Betty Ann Boone Johnson McKinney to David Minasion and Marilyn J. Minasion; tract Mount Airy estate of Betty Ann McKinney file 21 E 8 58; $220.

– Linda Vernon Semones and Larry Thomas Semones to Cody Carpenter and Ashley Carpenter; tract PB 24 197 Mount Airy; $500.

– Estate of John Lee Mittman, Fredrick G. Johnson and John Lee Mittman to John Wesley Collins; tract Mount Airy estate of John Lee Mittman file 21 SP 183; $0.

From now until the end of April, the bulbs of summer flowers such as glads, peonies, clematis vines, bleeding heart bushes can be set out. You can find the bulbs of summer at nurseries, hardwares, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Ace Hardware, and garden centers. When you purchase bulbs, buy a bag of bone meal and blood meal as well as peat moss to apply around the bulbs and corms. Feel the bulbs and corms before buying to make sure they are not rotten or mushy. Dig holes about three or four inches deep, place the bulbs and corms with root sides down. Place peat moss in bottom of the hole and cover with more peat moss, bone meal and blood meal before covering with soil and tamp down with hoe blade. Water once a week.

Season of the bird nests

Birds are active as April showers its way down. The birds are looking for secure places to build nests and lay eggs. They especially like areas near a food and water supply and also close to nesting materials. If you keep the feeders and birdbath supplied with food and fresh water, they will certainly find a nesting area near your home.

Organizing the shed, barn, or outbuilding

As the gardening season gets on the way, it’s time to organize tools, shovels, mowers, trimmers, and supplies. Place everything where you will know where to find it when you need it. Keep the barn, shed, or outbuilding swept out and sprayed once a month to protect from insects and critters.

Planing for a colorful four o’ clock year

Now is the time to purchase several packs of four o’ clocks for a season of dark green foliage and colorful flowers of red, yellow, wine, white, pink, and speckled and marbled blooms. You can find them in seed racks at Walmart, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, hardwares, and supermarkets for around $2 per packet. Four o’ clocks will thrive in any type of soil and will bloom until the first frost.

Red Hot Poker is one tough perennial

Red Hot Poker has a great name and when it blooms, it actually resembles a red hot poker. You will need an extra large container to grow one of these on the porch or deck. It thrives in all seasons and blooms in early spring and summer. It needs water once a week and feeding with Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month. The red hot poker is red but also available in bright yellow orange. They are definitely one of the most carefree of all perennials to grow and their blooms are beautiful as well as unusual.

Mowing season on the way

The season of mowing is now upon us as early spring is here. Make sure the lawn is dry before you mow. It is easier to mow when the lawn is dry and you have a sharp blade. Before mowing, spray the housing of the mower with a light oil spray such as WD-40 to prevent clippings from sticking to the housing and promoting rust. Oil the wheels and cables to make it easier to adjust. Check the oil before starting the mower and always fill mower with gas before starting. Mow preferably in the afternoon when the sun has completely dried the lawn.

Wild onions still part of the lawn

Wild onions will be with us until the warmer weather dries them up. Before you mow, use the weed trimmer to cut the onions down to ground level to stunt the growth. If dandelions are around use the weed trimmer to cut them down to ground level, destroying their yellow flowers.

Use a fine textured potting medium

Fine texture is the ingredient most important when you purchase potting medium for hanging baskets, pots, and quality medium has no bark chips, sawdust, but a fine mix of soil, peat moss and fine nutrients. A finely textured medium will retain the moisture in the heat of summer without drying out. The very best potting mediums come in one cubic foot bags and are especially formulated for flowers. Feel the bags and if you feel lumps and clumps, do not buy it. It is always better in the long run to pay a little more and get something worthwhile that will produce good results.

Ferns are investment in long term greenery

You can have greenery all year long when you take care of ferns. They will thrive on porches and decks outside in spring, summer, and early autumn. In late autumn before frost, you can move them inside the house for winter. You can choose from the Boston Fern, Panda Fern, or Asparagus Fern. You can purchase them in small containers and transplant them to larger containers filled with fine texture potting medium to grow all summer on the porch or deck. They can be moved inside to a semi-sunny room to winter over. All they will need in winter is a semi-sunny location in a corner of a room, a drink of water every ten days, and an application of Flower-Tone organic flower food every month. By being indoors, ferns will develop runners in the quest for sunlight. Trim these runners back to promote growth in winter.

Sunflowers perform well on the edge of the summer garden plot as they bloom and follow the sun all day long. Their seeded flowers attract goldfinches and other birds. A pack of seeds cost around $2. There are quit a few varities in short and tall species. You can plant one or two hills in the flower bed and the corners of the garden plot. They will certainly make your garden or flower bed bird friendly and full of activity.

Hoping for plenty of late April showers

Maybe if we keep the umbrella handy, it will coax an April shower as we move farther into the month. We always loved April showers because you can just walk in them without getting soaking wet and also enjoy their fresh aroma and breath in all that fresh air. We don’t seem to get as many now, but every one we experience is a welcome event.

Preparing an English green casserole

To prepare this pea casserole you will need two cans of Green Giant Le Sueur early June peas or one quart fresh or frozen green peas. If you use canned peas, drain them, one can Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, one third cup of milk, one two ounce jar of diced pimentos, one eight ounce pack finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, one pack of Ritz crackers (crushed or run through blender in “grate” mode), four hard boiled eggs (diced), one stick melted light margarine, two beaten eggs. Mix the peas, Campbell’s soup mix, melted margarine, and milk. In another bowl, mix the diced eggs, pimentos, finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Spray a two quart casserole dish with Pam baking spray. Layer bottom with cheese mixture, and then a layer of the pea mixture, followed by another layer of cheese mixture and finally another layer of pea mixture. Top with the pack of grated Ritz crackers. Bake at 300 degrees for half hour.

“Turn off.” There is something about him that attracts woman to other men.

“Rainbow tie.” “That’s a beautiful rainbow neck tie you are wearing.” “What do you mean by a rainbow tie?” “Well, it has a big pot at the end of it!”

“Unusual proposal.” Wife: “I remember the night you proposed to me.” Husband: “Oh, yes.” Wife: “I was silent for a whole hour after that.” Husband: “That was the happiest hour of my life!”

“Strange craving.” “A pregnant woman and her husband were sitting in the waiting room. The wife looked at a lamp on a table and said, “That is a lovely lamp.” Her husband gave her a strange look and said, “Don’t tell me you’re starting to crave furniture!”

The following marriage licenses were issued in Surry County:

– Chance Tad Dearing, 25, of Patrick County, Virginia, to Melissa Ann Wall, 36, of Patrick County.

– Aaron Stone Linville Jr., 24, of Yadkin County to Porsche Lynne Tate Lewellyn, 24, of Yadkin County.

– Lukas Edward Dillon, 20, of Guilford County to Kynzee Mikel Jenkins, 20, of Guilford County.

– Brock Sutton Jessup, 24, of Surry County to Tori Alexandra Fulk, 23, of Surry County.

– William Franklin Reavis, 41, of Surry County to Jennifer Nicole Fain, 40, of Surry County.

– Juan Gerardo Curiel Lomeli, 48, of Surry County to Gladis Curiel, 62, of Surry County.

– Gary Eugene King, 67, of Surry County to Teresa Mae Lyons, 60, of Surry County.

– William Dustin Jordan, 19, of Surry County to Elizabeth Shyanne Knepp, 19, of Surry County.

– Jesus Moises Luna, 27, of Surry County to Laura Beth Gough, 24, of Surry County.

– Donald Stewart Hiatt, 61, of Surry County to Lee Anne Williams, 62, of Surry County.

– Kevin Robert Hill, 43, of Pulaski County, Virginia, to Laura Vernon, 51, of Pulaski County.

– Willie Edwin Hinson, 29, of Surry County to Tiffany Ann Prevette, 31, of Surry County.

After a two-year hiatus, an April tradition returns to Mount Airy with this week’s Friends of the Library Book Sale to get underway Wednesday at the Mount Airy Public Library.

“Last week was national library week,” said Rana Southern, branch librarian for the Mount Airy facility. “We usually have it around that week.”

This will be the first full spring sale the library has had since 2019, with COVID restrictions wiping out the sales in 2020 and limiting them in 2021. The Friends of the Library did have a limited spring sale last year in May, along with its regular fall book sale, but this will be the first full spring event in three years.

The popular book sale is a way for the Friends to raise money to support the library, by selling books and audio-visual items which have been donated to it over the year.

“We’ve had lots of people asking asking about it, when it would start,” Southern said.

It kicks off on Wednesday with the first choice sale beginning at 5 p.m. That night, all hardbacks are $3, paperbacks are $2, and DVDs, audios and videos are $1 each. Children’s books are five for $3.

Thursday and Friday, prices drop. Hardbacks will go for $2, paperbacks for $1, while the prices for audio and visual items and children books remain at the Wednesday prices.

On Saturday, book prices drop again, to half-price, and then on Monday is the bag sale portion of the effort, when folks can pay $2 for a plastic grocery bag full of books and related material.

“We have books, we have movies, we have vinyl, we have lots of people donating everything,” Southern said, adding that donations seem to be greater than normal for a spring sale. “I think where people have been home, they are cleaning out their closets,” she said.

The money raised is used by the Friends of the Library to support the facility.

“They use that money to contribute to the programs we buy, they buy supplies for our programming, they’ve helped us buy some new book carts, some new area rugs for the children’s area,” Southern said of the group. “They help us pay for the authors who come to visit us, we have Bright Star Theatre coming this summer, they’ve helped us pay for that. They help us provide programming for all ages.”

She said this is an opportunity for those who enjoy books to get some great deals, as well as a chance to “support your local library.”

Southern also said anyone interested in becoming part of the Friends of the Library will find the group is always welcoming of new members. “Just come by the library, we have a pamphlet they can fill out,” she said of prospective members. “We meet the first Monday of the month at 9:30 a.m.”

For next week’s sale, the event is from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., and Monday from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m.

In the hot seat for the first-time last week was Eric Southern who oversees emergency services for Surry County. “I can confirm, this is an uncomfortable seat,” he said before making his first budget proposal to the board of county commissioners.

Still in his first year as director, Southern is no stranger to mechanisms of county government. He knows the end game with budgeting. “The bottom line is to save the taxpayers money.”

His department is one of service and its three branches Emergency Management, Fire Marshal’s Office, and EMS all have the laser focused goal of public safety in mind. To do what is required means his team needs the right vehicles, equipment, and training.

You cannot provide first aid when you cannot access the patients, so an improvement to county ambulances is needed. The Type I ambulance with power lift system is what Southern would like to see the county invest in.

In certain environments, the county is relying on equipment arriving on scene with the local volunteer fire department or rescue squad. “We are a rural county; we have to go off road. There have been times we had to load a patient on a pickup truck and bring them to the ambulance because the ambulance can’t get there.”

This could lead to a lack of availability should multiple incidents happen at the same time. The county and volunteer fire departments have a mandate to send a response to all alarm calls, when the bell goes off – an engine is rolling. Two fires in Bannertown at the same time may explain why you see a White Plains fire engine outside their fire district, they are providing redundant coverage for community protection.

“Through the years we rely on the squads to bring their ambulance, again that’s a volunteer service, so we started to look at what we could do if we don’t have that,” he said.

The Type I ambulance would be a pronounced change for the county. They are beefier with a sturdier frame, elongated nose, and improved suspension over the in-use Type III ambulances. Their 4×4 suspension would allow for crews to reach areas previous models could not.

Power lift systems are the improvement over power stretchers that the county now uses. Ever mindful of the budget the board noted those stretchers had already dropped workers comp claims due to back injuries from this department dramatically. Five of eleven ambulances now have power lift, Southern would like to retrofit the remainder.

Instead of the battery-operated scissor lifting stretchers, the power lift does the work “so (the crew) doesn’t have to pick them up and put them in the truck. It saves backs, we have people of different heights and sizes, so people must adjust for that.”

Patient and crew safety are of concern, so a longer nose may protect the cab from deer strike, as would the addition of grill guards. “We had a deer strike about three years ago and it rolled up the hood – it pushed the windshield in but didn’t break. Stokes and Yadkin say these grill guards work and they get a lot more strikes than we do.”

“We use Type III, the engine is a little bit into the cab area, and have a shorter front end,” Southern explained of the difference. “The box sits on the chassis itself and this led to complaints over the years.”

“It’s a box, on a frame with four bolts. No suspension, no ride system, and we do long distance transport so to Charlotte Mecklenburg, or Winston-Salem – you know the conditions of the roads. I got a “Y’all are great, this is not a complaint, but…” letter just the other day, because the ride was bad.”

A rough ride adds to anxiety for the passengers Southern noted, something they have enough of already. He wants the riders to feel more comfortable on long rides, but of late the need for the long-distance patient transport has fallen off.

“Thankfully right now we have been able to use other services. Before whenever we had transports for Hugh Chatham of Northern Regional, we were the primary services. If they had one, we took it.” Atrium and Novant have each been staffing an ambulance in the county and can take over some transport roles. “Those long-distance transports for the last almost month and a half, we have not done.”

Northern Regional also recently received approval from the commissioners to apply for their own ambulance franchise under a five-year charter. The move to allow for such charter was given strong support from County Manager Chris Knopf and Southern.

Northern would then be responsible for transporting their own patients for discharge or in transfer between hospitals. Commissioner Eddie Harris noted that bringing Northern Regional’s ambulance service online was no doubt “going to alleviate pressure on (the county’s) service.”

Southern agreed and recounted to the board again, as he had in February, how the hot time is 5 p.m. That is when discharges from hospitals put patients in motion, and the freeing up of beds creates opening for transfers. He said his crews were running transports and transfers until the pre-dawn hours and that has taken a toll on his crews.

Other highlights from within the budget are replacing end of life fire protection suits, “they do have a shelf life.” The new suits will be good to go for twenty years he said.

To be the prepared means to train for all situations. Improved training dummies can now “hook up to a heart monitor, generate a heart rhythm, even hear breathing – it really adds to the realism.”

The Marshal’s office needed gas monitors in the mobile data terminals – replacing ones that have aged out. The gas monitors support the department with carbon monoxide alarms and the mobile data terminals they use for inspection reports.

The county’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and final budget approvals will be forthcoming.

Stephanie Lackey of Mount Airy was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, one of the nation’s oldest all-discipline collegiate honor society. Lackey was initiated at North Carolina State University.

Lackey is among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10% of seniors and 7.5% of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10% of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the society has chapters on more than 325 campuses in the United States, its territories and the Philippines. Its mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”

The Mount Airy boys tennis team secured the Northwest 1A Conference Championship by closing the season with seven consecutive wins.

By finishing 10-0 in the conference, Mount Airy captures its first outright conference championship since 2010. The Bears won conference titles during the 2010s, but always shared the title with Bishop McGuinness since the schools would split meetings.

Mount Airy earns the NW1A Conference’s automatic playoff bid and will compete in the NCHSAA Dual Team 1A State Playoffs. The playoffs are being held for the first time since 2019; the 2020 season was cancelled, and no dual team playoffs were held in 2021.

The Granite Bears finish the regular season 13-4 overall, and all four losses were to teams in higher divisions.

DOBSON — Surry Central hosted four other schools on Wednesday for its second outdoor track and field meet of the 2022 season.

Three other teams from the Foothills 2A Conference – North Surry, East Surry and Forbush – joined Surry Central at the meet. West Stokes, of the Mid-State 2A Conference, also took part in the meet.

Forbush’s girls and East Surry’s boys came away with team victories. Points were awarded for each top-5 finish: 6 for first, 4 for second, 3 for third, 2 for fourth and 1 for fifth.

Team results and individual breakdowns are included below for each Surry County school.

Mia McMillen was the only athlete at the April 14 meet – male or female – to win four gold medals in individual events. The Surry Central senior finished first in the 100-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and long jump.

Ivy Toney and Lanie Fitzgerald also had first-place finishes that helped the Lady Eagles finish second in the team competition. Toney won in pole vault, and Fitzgerald won in the 3,200 meters.

In addition to the Eagles’ six first-place finishes in individual events, the school finished first in two relay races. The team of Toney, Madelyn Wilmoth, Ella Priddy and Yeira Munoz won the 4×800, while the team of Toney, Priddy, Aylin Soto and Andrea Gonzalez won the 4×400.

Central finished in the top-3 six additional times: Soto was second in the 200 meters followed by Toney in third, Priddy was second in the 400 meters, Wilmoth was third in the 300 hurdles, and Cassie Sneed finished third in both shot put and discus throw.

The Lady Cardinals had eight top-3 performances, three of which won gold medals.

Clara Willard had the team’s only individual win of the meet by finishing first in the discus throw.

East Surry’s 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams also finished first. Faith Braithwaite, Merry Parker Boaz, Reese Edmonds and Chloe Anne Tew made up the 4×100 team, and Boaz, Braithwaite and Edmonds were joined by Arianna Liberatore for the 4×200.

The Lady Cards also had relay teams finish second and third in their respective events. Jada Lindsay, Kenadie Ayers, Alexis Cummings and Chloe Cruise made up the 4×800 team that finished second, and Liberatore, Karlee Bryant, Grace Needham and Sara Colasuonno finished third in the 4×400.

Braithwaite, Tew and Liberatore had the Cardinals’ other top-3 performances. Tew took second in high jump, Liberatore was second in long jump and Braithwaite finished third in the 100 meters.

Ella Riggs had the Lady Greyhounds’ lone first-place performance. The Greyhound freshman finished first in shot put by more than five feet, and also finished fifth in discus throw.

North’s 4×100 relay team took second in the event, but team members were not listed on Milesplit.

No Greyhound girls finished third, but Isabel Delfin and Anna Escobar each had fourth-place finishes. Delfin finished fourth in the 200 and 400 meters, while Escobar did so in shot put.

Sophomores Ignacio Morales and Evan Wall each had first-place finishes for the Golden Eagle boys. Morales finished first in the 800 and 1,600 meters, while Wall won the 200 meters.

Allen Huffman had a second-place finish individually in the 300 hurdles, and was also part of the Eagles’ 4×400 relay team that finished second. Huffman was joined by Morales, Brangly Mazariegos and Cannon Gates in the 4×400. Surry Central’s other second-place finish came in the 4×800 relay thanks to the team of Edinson Gonzalez, Daniel Urquiza, Chris Nava and Jonathan Avila.

Wall and Brian Williams added individual third-place finishes, doing so in the 100 and 200 meters respectively. Surry Central’s 4×100 relay team also finished third, but team members were not listed on Milesplit.

The Cardinal boys finished first in seven events, comprised of four individual events and three relay races.

Individually: Isaac Vaden swept the throwing events with first-place finishes in shot put and discus throw, Cooper Motsinger won the 3,200 meters and Kyle Zinn won the 100 meters.

The relay team of Zinn, Layton Allen, Lindann Fleming and Colby Johnson won both the 4×100 and 4×200 relays. East’s team of Jonathan Parker, Joe Cook, Banks Johnson and Noah Felts won the 4×800.

Three East Surry boys had second-place finishes in the meet: Allen in the 100 meters, Zinn in long jump and Eli Becker in shot put.

Four East Surry boys finished third in their respective events: Tyler Reeves in high jump, Colby Johnson in long jump, Layton Allen in triple jump and Kole Pruitt in shot put.

Jared Hiatt had all three of North Surry’s first-place finishes on the boys’ side. He won the high jump, long jump and triple jump.

Hiatt was also part of the Greyhounds’ 4×100 team that finished second in the event. Team members included Hiatt, Talan Vernon, Jake Simmons and Matthew Senter. Vernon, Simmons and Senter also earned a silver medal in the 4×200 relay, this time joined by Chuck Powers.

Derek Vannieuwkoop had North Surry only second-place finish in an individual event by being runner-up in high jump. Vannieuwkoop was also one of two Greyhounds to finish third in an individual event, doing so in the 400 meters. The other third-place individual finish was Aaron Mauck in the discus throw.

North’s final top-3 finish came in the 4×400 relay, including team members Vannieuwkoop, Ray Pell, T. Kole Bryant and Elijah Shelton.

Full meet results can be found at bit.ly/3KUOTUw

PILOT MOUNTAIN — For the second consecutive season, East Surry is riding a win streak of more than 10 games.

Of the 100 baseball teams in the 2A division – 52 in the West Region and 48 in the East Region – only two have yet to lose in 2022: East Surry in the West, and East Duplin in the East. Recent wins over North Wilkes and Starmount have the Cardinals at 14-0 overall and 8-0 in the Foothills 2A Conference.

East Surry opened the week with a home game against North Wilkes on April 12. Junior Folger Boaz threw a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts, and East Surry won 7-0 for its second shutout of the year.

Luke Bowman and Trey Armstrong led the Cardinals with two hits each; Bowman had a single, a double and was walked once, while Armstrong had two singles and was walked once. Boaz, Luke Brown, Caden Lasley and Brett Clayton each added hits for the Cards.

Bowman scored three of East’s seven runs, and Armstrong, Caden Lasley, Brett Clayton and Tristen Mason each scored once vs. the Vikings.

East Surry was back in action the next night in a home nonconference game against Starmount.

The Rams became one of the few teams this season to hold a lead against the Cardinals thanks to a 3-run second inning. East trailed 3-1 until tying the game in the bottom of the third, and then neither team scored again until the seventh inning.

Anthony Ayers was East’s lead batter in the bottom of the seventh. Ayers took the second pitch thrown his way and sent it over the fence at Barry Hall field for the walk-off home run.

The Cards only had more than four players bat in an inning one time, finishing with six overall hits. Bowman had two hits in the Starmount game, a triple and a single, and Ayers had a single to go with his solo homer. Armstrong and Clayton each added one hit.

Matthew Keener threw 6.0 innings and struck out four batters, walked one, and gave up three runs on four hits. Ayers pitched the final inning and finished with one strikeout and one walk.

East’s bats came alive the next night in the second game against North Wilkes. Eight different Cardinals combined for 11 hits in the 15-2 win, highlighted by a Boaz home run, triples from Bowman and Clayton, and doubles by Mason and Lasley.

Brown threw all five innings in the mercy rule victory. The junior pitcher struck out seven batters, walked one, and gave up two runs on four hits.

East Surry is currently first place in the FH2A Conference with an 8-0 record. Surry Central is second at 6-2 after dropping back-to-back games to West Wilkes, who is in third at 7-3. Forbush is fourth at 4-4, followed by North Surry at 3-5, Wilkes Central at 2-8 and North Wilkes at 0-8.

The Cardinals have six games remaining in the regular season. East Surry will play a two-game series against West Wilkes, a two-game series against Surry Central and a pair of home games against Davie and North Stokes.

The Cards are back in action on April 19 in a home game against West Wilkes.

The Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery provided personal hygiene supplies last week to the Surry County Detention Center for distribution to detainees as part of an Easter outreach effort on behalf of multiple organizations in Surry County.

Personal hygiene supplies include shampoo, hand lotion, toothpaste, deodorant, as well as inspirational letters and cards. The personal hygiene supplies were donated by Bethel Colony of Mercy and the local Allstate Insurance agency.

The Allstate Insurance agency in Mount Airy, is owned and operated by Tonda Phillips, who is also the President of the Mount Airy Rotary Club. Bethel Colony of Mercy is a 90-day faith-based recovery center located in Lenoir who reached across county lines for this mission of compassion.

Unsigned inspirational cards and letters were written and created by students from Pilot Mountain Middle School and Surry Central High School.

The All-Stars Prevention Group – volunteers who assist Surry County’s Office of Substance Abuse Recovery – assembled the personal hygiene supplies for delivery ahead of Easter weekend. Paula Sheets went out to do the shopping for the supplies and put all the bags together.

Bethel Colony of Mercy based out of Lenoir, located in Caldwell County, is not a direct Surry County neighbor and had been giving out Christmas care packages to local inmates in years past. That begs the question of why they wanted to give comfort to inmates here?

“Why? Because we were blessed with plenty we just wanted to help. God helps us to be able to help others,” executive director Rev. Paul Pruitt said Friday. Bethel Colony has been in operation over 70 years and he said helping with Surry County’s inmates can help get his group’s name out there, “you never know who may need help.”

He went on to explain that Billie Campbell, an alumnus of his program, lives in this area and she suggested the idea to help the Surry County Jail.

Campbell can relate to those who find themselves a guest of the county, “I had my share of time there, I know what it’s like. You have nothing, some of them have no money, and no one to add money onto their account.”

“They don’t need a pat on the back,” she said. What those in recovery often benefit from are role models, success stories of those who have broken the chains of addiction.

Campbell found her freedom and celebrated an incredibly grateful eleven months clean recently. Getting that weight off her shoulders has improved life significantly and she wants people to know that “it feels good to be in the paper other than most wanted.”

“This was a community shared project and there were a lot of people involved,” said Charlotte Reeves. “This would not be possible without the community volunteers who have a passion for helping others.”

She and the Surry County All-Stars Prevention Group know that service is a known technique in recovery to keep the mind occupied while also helping another who is struggling, and it can be found in a myriad of forms.

“Sometimes a word of encouragement, a smile, or even a care package can help a person feel hopeful. We all make mistakes and need a little grace,” Phillips said. “God forgives, so should we. I support treatment, recovery and a second chance for the human beings that are struggling to find a purpose in this world.”

Communities just like this one need help because they face staggering costs in healthcare expenses, lost productivity and increased safety risks from substance use disorder. While these folks are trying to offer comfort via care packages to those who find themselves in detention, another group wants to break the cycle of addiction right at the start – your bathroom.

The Rotary Club of Mount Airy would like to help prevent substance use disorder in the first place and will be hosting the “After 5 Deterra Kit Seminar” April 19, 5 – 6:30 p.m., at the Hampton Inn of Mount Airy on Rockford Street.

This free event will focus on providing community members with an at-home drug disposal option that can help prevent addiction before it starts. Access to and abuse of prescription drugs is alarming, a new product on the market offers a solution. The patented Deterra System deactivates prescription drugs, pills, patches, liquids, creams, and films.

“Deterra renders them inert, unavailable for misuse and safe for the environment. In a simple 3-step process, a user deactivates the drugs by putting them in a Deterra Pouch, adding water, sealing, shaking, and throwing it away.”

Educational outreach programs like this will be more common as the county begins to spend opioid settlement money on the long-term plans for battling substance use disorder. Mark Willis has said he hopes to blanket the county with information, meanwhile the All-Stars will be at the ready with allies such as Pruitt and Phillips cheering from the wings.

Read more and register for the Deterra event at: www.eventbrite.com/e/after-5-deterra-kit-seminar-tickets-318944771397

Surry County Health and Nutrition Center health educators recently visited several classrooms at Dobson Elementary School for National Nutrition Month.

Students enjoyed a MyPlate activity as well as a taste tasting. Students sampled kiwi, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, and feta cheese.

In addition, the students are getting to taste a variety of fruits and vegetables, because of the school’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant, from the USDA.

Spring cleaning is not just something to do around the house or yard, but also along local roadsides plagued by litter — which are being targeted by an annual program now under way in Mount Airy.

This involves the Community Clean-Up Campaign sponsored by the Mount Airy Parks and Recreation Department, Mount Airy Appearance Commission and Reeves Community Center Foundation.

It began Saturday and will run through April 30 in conjunction with the North Carolina Statewide Community Cleanup Campaign operating during the same period.

“This is a cleanup campaign in which a family, civic group, Sunday school class, business or any other group of people wanting to make a difference can claim a street to clean to help keep our community clean, attractive and inviting,” Appearance Commission Chairman Allen Burton explained.

A few streets already have been secured, but organizers say there are many more areas that can use a cleanup crew. Streets may be claimed by contacting Cathy Cloukey or Peter Raymer at Reeves Community Center (336-786-8313), who also can help provide trash bags.

“Currently, we need several more groups to chip in on the effort to match last year’s campaign of 20 streets,” Raymer advised Thursday afternoon.

Along with the group efforts that will be involved, there is a pride factor coupled with the campaign which city organizers hope will add a bit of motivation for individuals to tackle litter.

They are challenging residents to clean up a street in the city limits, with each participate encouraged to in turn challenge at least one friend, family member or co-worker to do the same.

Interested persons can call Cloukey or Luke Danley at the community center to reserve a street and identify a friend who is being challenged.

Also, as part of the two-week effort, a Mount Airy hashtag (#) trashtag challenge is encouraging participants to take before-and-after photos of areas cleaned up for posting.

“To help spread the word, we ask that everyone use social media and the #mountairytrashtag hashtag to challenge others to participate” and post photos, Mount Airy Parks and Recreation announced.

To get the ball rolling, on March 23 members of the Mount Airy Appearance Commission and city Parks and Recreation staff filled 57 bags of trash and collected two couches along Hamburg Street from H.B. Rowe Environmental Park to Mount Airy Middle School.

They logged two trailer loads during that effort, with Raymer mentioning that it is amazing how little time it takes to fill up one bag.

“If you, your family, co-workers, business, Sunday School group, service organization or anyone else would like to make a positive difference in our community by spending a couple hours in the sun, getting exercise and making your neighborhood and community cleaner and more inviting, please sign up by calling Reeves Community Center,” the Mount Airy Parks and Recreation announcement urged.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — A steady stream of runs through the five innings was enough to lift East Surry past Surry Central.

The Cardinals recorded 15 hits and scored at least once in each of the first five innings. East Surry errors opened the door for a Surry Central comeback when leading 7-3, and the Eagles took advantage with two quick runs in the top of the sixth. The Eagles put two more runners on base, but the Cards left the potential game-tying runs stranded on base in the sixth inning.

East held on to the 2-run advantage to win the Foothills 2A Conference game 7-5.

Cardinal pitcher Elise Marion finished the game with 12 strikeouts, one base on balls and gave up three runs on five hits. Riley Pennington also spent time on the mound for East, allowing two hits and two runs.

Marion, Rosie Craven and Bella Hutchens each had three hits for East Surry: Hutchens had three singles, Craven two singles and a double, and Marion two singles and a triple. The trio each scored for the Cardinals (4-10, 3-6 FH2A) as the home team built a 3-0 lead through two innings.

Craven led the game off with a single and was scored by a Marion RBI triple. Clara Willard followed Marion’s triple with an RBI double to make it 2-0. In the second inning, Hutchens led with a single, stole second and was scored on a Craven double.

Surry Central pitcher Carlee Jones left East Surry runners on base to keep the lead from growing even more. Jones, who pitched a complete game for the Eagles (3-9, 2-7 FH2A), had four of her six strikeouts in the first two innings.

Central’s offense got going in the top of the third inning. Erica Coe singled with two outs, and was scored on a hit from Arial Holt. Holt herself rounded the bases and scored the Golden Eagles’ second run to make it a one-run game.

East Surry maintained a slim lead as both squads continued to score through the fourth inning: Haley Chilton scored on a Hutchens RBI in the bottom of the third, Kaylin Moody hit a home run for Surry Central in the top of the fourth and Craven scored on a Marion RBI in the bottom of the fourth.

The Cards built their largest lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Hutchens recorded her third single with two outs, and Sara Scott followed with a single for her first hit of the night. Addy Sechrist scored both teammates on a 2RBI single, then Sechrist herself reached third due a fielding error.

The Golden Eagles were at the top of the lineup in the top of the sixth, now down four runs. Holt and Emma Gentry each singled, and Moody scored both to cut the lead to 7-5 with only one out. The next out came when Moody was tagged out at second base, but Central battled back by putting Jones and Kailea Zurita on base. Both runners were left on after Marion threw her 10th strikeout.

Willard and Chilton each had singles in the bottom of the sixth inning, but neither scored as East was held scoreless for the first time in the game.

Central’s last chance to put up runs came in the top of the seventh. However, two strikeouts thrown by Marion and fly out ended the game.

A member of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners says budget misstatements he made during a public forum involve a simple error, while others believe this reveals a disturbing lack of familiarity with city finances.

In outlining how he wanted to keep property taxes low while providing good services to citizens during a meet-the-candidates event last Monday night, At-Large Commissioner Joe Zalescik erroneously referred to Mount Airy having a $30 million budget.

Zalescik also mentioned during the heavily attended event at the Historic Earle Theatre and Old-Time Music Heritage Hall that the municipal spending plan is funded by $15 million in property tax revenues — also incorrect.

Mount Airy’s adjusted general fund budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year, which ends on June 30, totals $17.2 million, with property taxes projected at $7.3 million, according to figures from city Finance Director Pam Stone. The budget totalled $14.9 million when approved last year, with some spending additions occurring since.

Revenues come from other sources along with property taxes to fill out the general fund package, which is separate from a water-sewer budget of $6.5 million that is financed by user fees.

None of this adds up to a $30 million budget and $15 million in property taxes.

“It was my error to say $15 million,” Zalescik said Thursday afternoon. “All I would say is I made a minor mistake.”

The at-large commissioner, who has been in office for only about seven months — when he was appointed by the city council — chalked up the errors to the kind of verbal miscues one can make while speaking to a large audience.

“The $15 million was in my head the entire time,” Zalescik explained regarding the actual (unadjusted) budget total and its property tax portion. “And I really meant to say $7.5 million” for the latter, in round figures.

Since he assumed the at-large seat only last September — to fill a vacancy created when former Commissioner Ron Niland was appointed mayor — Zalescik further pointed out that he has not actually voted on a city budget. This usually occurs each June.

Zalescik said the message he was seeking to convey at the forum is that half of the general fund budget is supported by property tax revenues. “The point is, I would like for taxes to be lower.”

Although Zalescik presently is the city’s at-large commissioner, he is running for a South Ward seat now held by Steve Yokeley — who is in turn seeking Zalescik’s slot. This relates to a quirk in which the person winning the at-large race will serve only two years of Niland’s unexpired term while the South Ward victor will win a full four-year term.

Yokeley is a longtime councilman only wishing to serve two more years, while Zalescik desires a full term — which is contingent on both winning.

Zalescik is facing Gene Clark and Phil Thacker in a May 17 primary, with the two top vote-getters to square off in the November general election.

The comments at Monday night’s event raised the tentacles of another council candidate in a different race, John Pritchard.

Pritchard is campaigning for a North Ward seat in a contest also including Joanna Refvem, former city school board member Teresa Davis Leiva and Chad Hutchens. (Hutchens is a sergeant with the Surry County Sheriff’s Office working in a school resource officer capacity who incorrectly was listed as formerly serving as a Board of Education member in a previous article.)

Although he is not an opponent of Zalescik, Pritchard — due to his reputation as a city government “watchdog” — said he was compelled to come forward with a response to Zalescik’s statements.

“My first thought was not to comment because I didn’t have a dog in the match for the South Ward, but since I’m the budget watchdog I guess I do,” Pritchard advised.

“I’m concerned that Joe Zalescik may have a serious lack of basic knowledge about our city finances,” added Pritchard, who pointed out that Zalescik made the erroneous budget statements twice during Monday’s event. This was “an alarming difference” compared to the correct figures, in Pritchard’s view.

“I’m concerned because our board is now working on next year’s budget,” he mentioned, which Zalescik will have input on and vote for in June.

“It’s always good to serve, but being a good commissioner requires a basic understanding of our city finances.”

“That ain’t peanuts, Joe”

The budget figures voiced by Zalescik also drew a reaction from another local resident closely monitoring city government activities, Rebecca Harmon, who expressed her thoughts in a letter to the editor published Friday.

“Fiscal responsibility by commissioners requires a basic knowledge of the city budget,” Harmon wrote. “I strongly urge the city council to require all new commissioners – whether appointed (as Zalescik was) or elected – to familiarize themselves with the budget and budget process.”

Zalescik said Thursday that the wrong budget figures he gave do not detract from his worthiness to serve as a commissioner. Zalescik formerly was a member of the Mount Airy Planning Board and logged 35 years of local government experience in New Jersey, where he lived before moving to Mount Airy about three years ago.

Online postings by citizens to newspaper articles in which he is mentioned sometimes take aim at Zalescik’s “Yankee” background and ownership of a local business called Station 1978 Firehouse Peanuts.

Harmon referenced the latter in her comments taking issue with the faulty budget figures presented.

“Those numbers are off by about 100 percent — and that ain’t peanuts, Joe,” she wrote.

Zalescik acknowledged that everybody makes mistakes, and there are certain detractors in town who are going to jump all over any such misstep.

“They’re looking for anything to criticize me.”

The days are growing long, temperatures are heating up, and the tree leaves are blooming — spring is here.

And that means it is time for Mount Airy Farmers Market to open.

This year’s opening day will be a little different, more like a small festival than a mere farmer market opening, with live music, vendors, product samples, and even a special ice cream seller to be onhand.

The festivities get underway at 9 a.m. Friday, April 22 at 111 South Main Street, in the parking lot next to the Post Office.

Farmer’s Market Manager Joe Zalescik said this year looks to be a good one, with many returning local farmers and vendors, as well as new ones, signed up for booths.

“Not all of them will be there on the opening days,” he said, explaining many of the farms selling locally grown produce don’t yet have crops coming in.

“This time of year, it mainly will be the crafts, honey, meat vendors, micro greens, it’s just too early for local produce.”

That doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty to see, do, and purchase.

Beginning at 11 a.m., the Wilkerson Family will be singing and playing. Having live music continues a project Zalescik started in 2021, when a local businessman made an anonymous donation to fund periodic live music at the market. Zalescik said that was such a hit, he was able to work the cost into this year’s budget.

Later this spring and summer, he has booked the Cedar Ridge Band to play on May 20, July 1, July 29, August 26 and Oct. 7, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. each time they appear.

“As the season goes I will try to work in more groups. We won’t have music every week, it will be spread out across the season,” he said.

For the upcoming opening, another treat will be The Frosty Monkey, a vendor which sells ice cream and shaved ice at various outdoor events in the region.

“We’re going to have small plants for the first 25 or so (customers), and we’ll have give-aways,” he said. The booth he and his wife, Amy, own and operate — Station 1978 Firehouse Peanuts — will be offering free samples of fresh-roasted peanuts and all nature peanut butter.

The Mount Airy Farmers Market is part of a three-site network of Surry County farmers’ markets, with the other two in Dobson and Elkin. Farmers and vendors purchase a single permit which allows them to sell at any of the three markets throughout the year.

Mount Airy’s market opens April 22 and will be operating every Friday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. until Oct. 28, although Zalescik said there may be extended hours during Mayberry Days and Autumn Leaves Festival. Elkin opens the next day, April 23, and is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon through Oct. 29 at 226 North Bridge St. The Dobson market, which will operate every Tuesday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at 903 East Atkins Street, opens June 7 and ends Sept. 6.

For more information on the Farmer’s Market, or information on becoming a vendor, visit https://surrycountyfarmersmarket.com/

STUART, Va. — Murder and other felony charges have been filed against a woman who led authorities on a four-county chase before her car collided with that of a Mount Airy man, causing his death.

The incident in which Bobby Wayne Gammons, 81, of Belvue Drive, was killed occurred on the afternoon of April 8 just east of Stuart, where officers had blocked the westbound portion of U.S. 58 in attempting to stop a speeding 2010 Toyota Corolla.

It was being driven by Christine Sarah Barnette, 41, of Cary, North Carolina, who earlier that day had been found staying illegally at a cabin in Staunton River State Park in Halifax County in the vicinity of South Boston.

Barnette was encountered by park rangers and fled from them, eventually making her way onto U.S. 58, a major highway running along Southside Virginia and being pursued by Virginia state troopers and deputies, who tried unsuccessfully to stop her car.

Rather than heeding the roadblock as she approached Stuart, Barnette — who had been travelling at excessively high speeds — veered into an oncoming eastbound lane and her vehicle head-on collided with a 2005 Toyota Corolla containing the Mount Airy man.

Gammons was declared dead at the scene while Barnette was airlifted to a Roanoke hospital with what were described as life-threatening injuries, for which there has been no update since.

Meanwhile, the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday afternoon that 15 charges had been filed that day against the North Carolina woman, including murder: homicide in the death of Gammons, a retiree of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Barnette also is accused of seven other felonies among a batch of violations that encompass additional jurisdictions spanned by the pursuit, during which officers unsuccessfully used spike sticks and other measures.

These include four counts of disregarding a law enforcement command to stop, and continuing to elude officers while endangering the public; breaking and entering; felony hit and run; and assault and battery of a law enforcement officer for allegedly hitting a Halifax County deputy’s vehicle during a containment maneuver by authorities.

Barnette is charged with seven misdemeanors, including four counts of reckless driving, hit and run, trespassing and defrauding an innkeeper.

In addition to Patrick and Halifax counties, the bundle of charges includes another jurisdiction involved, the city of Danville.

An arraignment for the murder charge is scheduled for next Friday in Patrick County General District Court in Stuart.

Barnette remains in custody, according to court records.

It is a great invitation to “Start exploring North Carolina – one step at a time” on the website for the North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

Pair that with the classic from Lao Tzu, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and you may be on to something, a couple million somethings in fact.

Approximated at 2,112,000 steps the North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea trail is not for the faint of heart. Not to say that it is an impossible trek, but in 2021 only 25 completed the route. Two have accomplished the task already this year so do not surrender all hope at the trailhead, it can be done.

An official part of the state parks system, the trail traverses 1,175 miles that can be completed on foot, bike, saddle, and two sections via paddle. The MTS trail changes its composition and revises its route as new sections are completed.

Segment 6 of MTS in Surry County is a mixture of established trails and footpaths with markings to direct hikers. The segment also takes a stroll through downtown Elkin, then “heads east, following the Yadkin River, past farms, and forests to the historic village of Rockford.” MTS then connects with the existing Corridor Trail to enter Pilot Mountain State Park.

Two new sections were officially designated in Surry County in March. “Staff and volunteers worked exceptionally hard to acquire easements and construct the segments,” said Daniel White, director of Surry County Parks & Recreation.

The new sections have been opened off NC Highway 268 near Elkin one near Friendship Motor Speedway, while a second portion links Carolina Heritage Vineyard & Winery to the Burch Station River Access on Highway 268.

The Surry County Board of Commissioners recently approved a request from Parks & Recreation to purchase and deploy a 52-foot prefabricated aluminum foot bridge over Highway 268 near the Wayne Farms Feed mill.

“The bridge will span a small creek on Wayne Farm’s land about 3/4 mile west of the Mitchell River and just south of 268,” Segment 6 Task Force leader Bob Hillyer said.

“There is currently 3/4 mile of trail on Spice Farms which is directly across from the Wayne Farm Feed mill on 268. The bridge will allow the MST to cross from Spice Farms and connect with our current trail head on near the Friendship speedway and Gentry Road.”

White from Parks & Recreation added the bridge, “will be across the road from New Grace Baptist Church in the woods.”

The community in each region makes or renews the trails, and efforts are managed by crew leaders such as Hillyer. These Task Force Leaders are only one component of the squad when it comes to trail management as it takes scores of volunteers on teams across the state.

These teams will tackle new trail construction or maintenance of existing trails; the local leader determines the plan of action. Only a willingness to help is needed to volunteer with the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, although they said training will be required to operate a chainsaw even if it already feels like an extra appendage.

Each year, as new trail opens, the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail adjust the current route to incorporate new trails and maintain a fully interactive map online to monitor changes.

With more than 700 miles of footpath completed and the addition of temporary routes on backroads and bicycle paths, hikers can blaze a trail from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains right through to Jockey’s Ridge on the Outer Banks.

Hikers may also choose to customize their route by taking to paddle with two alternative route options: 27.5 miles on the Yadkin River paddle trail between Elkin and Pilot Mountain State Park, and the much longer 170-mile Neuse River Paddle Route on the coastal plain.

The goal is to complete a continuous off-road trail across North Carolina, more than half the planned length is now successfully on natural surface or greenway trail, unpaved forest roads, or beach. Friends estimate they are opening around 15 miles of new trail every year.

It can take time to determine the correct path for the trails, and then acquire the land or the easements to allow for passage. The planned bridge is an example of the easements needed from private landowners, Wayne Farms had to give permission for the land they own to be used both by the county and the hikers.

Local communities help connect the trail through links to greenways and urban trails while land trusts help acquire land as needed. As MTS comes out of the high country’s state parks and national forests it passes through more privately owned land, so trusts or easements may be needed to connect new sections.

“We’d like to thank the property owners who provided the easements and worked with the county to turn this idea into reality,” White said. Wayne Farms, Duke Energy and Carolina Heritage Vineyard & Winery donated easements to the cause.

“This trail is something that will be enjoyed by all for generations to come,” noted Matthew Wooten, Dobson Complex manager for Wayne Farms LLC. “Partnering with Surry County on this important project has been a pleasure and something we were very excited to help with.”

September will mark 45 years since Howard Lee spoke about an idea that could “help us know a little more about ourselves and help us understand our neighbors a little better.”

Thanks to thousands of volunteer hours the trail continues evolving still today. Lee noted, “I didn’t really even think it would ever really come into being. I’m really just elated and flattered to have it take on a life of its own.”

During a “Meet the Candidates” forum held April 11, Commissioner Joe Zalescik sought support for his current bid for the South Ward Commissioner seat. During his presentation to the audience, he said the City of Mount Airy’s budget is $30 million – with $15 million of that coming from property taxes.

Say what? Those numbers are off by about 100% — and that ain’t peanuts, Joe.

In fact, the current city budget is more like $15 million ($17.2M, to be exact, with amendments) — with $7.2 million coming from real, personal and vehicle taxes.

Fiscal responsibility by commissioners requires a basic knowledge of the city budget. I strongly urge the city council to require all new commissioners – whether appointed (as Zalescik was) or elected – to familiarize themselves with the budget and budget process.

• A Mount Airy man has been charged with damaging a digital sign at Reeves Community Center to the tune of $7,000, according to city police reports.

Jordan Nathaniel Collins, 25, of 426 Welcome Baptist Church Road, is accused of injury to real property stemming from the incident during the early morning hours Thursday. He allegedly used a metal post to strike the digital sign.

Collins was confined in the Surry County Jail under a $2,500 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in District Court on May 9.

• Tammy Lynn Pell, 55, of 201 Old Jones School Road, was charged last Friday with fleeing to elude arrest and reckless driving. Pell, whom police records indicate was driving recklessly, refused to stop for blue lights and a siren and fled from officers a short distance.

The place of arrest is listed as her home on Old Jones School Road. Pell was jailed under a $2,000 secured bond and slated for a District Court appearance next Monday.

• A burglary/breaking and entering occurred Saturday afternoon at the residence of Estefania Hernandez Alvarez on Sunset Drive, which a known individual entered after partially pulling open a sliding glass door. The suspect then used a broom or some other item to grab the purse of Alvarez and pull it toward the door.

The purse/tote bag containing personal items was recovered, with the case still under investigation.

DOBSON — For the benefit of those who might not have heard, an election is upcoming in Surry County and some key dates are looming for that.

These include the regular voter-registration deadline for the May 17 primary, which is next Friday, while one-stop early absentee voting will begin on April 28.

Meanwhile, the absentee ballot by mail process already is under way, having begun on March 28.

Concerning the voter-registration part of the equation, forms must be postmarked or delivered in person by 5 p.m. next Friday to the Surry County Board of Elections office at 915 E. Atkins St. in Dobson. Regular hours there are 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

That Friday deadline applies to those who intend to cast ballots on Primary Day, and not during the early voting period when someone can register and cast a ballot during the same visit.

Registration forms may be sent by fax or email attachment, but an original must be received in the Dobson office no later than 5 p.m. on April 27, according to a recent schedule update from Surry Director of Elections Michella Huff.

Generally, persons who have voted in recent elections have active registration, but one may check his or her status at the board’s website. The elections office can be contacted at 336-401-8225.

Citizens also may register to vote or update their registration using the website.

Next Friday additionally is listed as the last day to change one’s party affiliation before the May 17 primary, when citizens may cast ballots for candidates only if they are affiliated with the party those candidates represent. For example, a person registered as a Democrat can’t vote in a GOP primary, although unaffiliated voters may.

An exception is the Mount Airy municipal election, which is non-partisan.

In most cases with local offices that will be on the May 17 ballot, only Republican candidates are involved and no Democrats at all, thus giving the primary added significance.

Whoever wins then effectively will be the victor due to no Democratic opposition in the November general election, unless there is a successful challenge by an unaffiliated — which is being pursued in a small number of cases — or write-in candidate.

A number of state and federal elected offices also will be affected by the primary in addition to local ones, with a sample ballot available on the Surry Board of Elections website.

Four early voting locations will be in operation across the county beginning at 8 a.m. on April 28, which theoretically allows citizens to cast ballots ahead of the regular election date to avoid crowds or if they have something else planned that day,

These include the Surry Board of Elections in Dobson, a Mount Airy site at the Surry County Government Center on State Street behind Arby’s, in Pilot Mountain at the town rescue squad building at 615 E. U.S. 52-Bypass in the former Howell Funeral Home location and in Elkin at the rescue squad on North Bridge Street.

At one time earlier this year, there was a chance only one site would be involved, with the issue subsequently settled by the state elections board that approved all four.

While persons can register to vote and cast ballots on the same day during one-stop early absentee voting, they will not be able to do on Primary Day itself, to which next Friday’s regular registration deadline applies.

Voters will not be asked to show a photo ID in order to cast a ballot.

Early voting will be offered from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays during the one-stop period, which ends on May 14. No Sunday hours are on the schedule.

Huff indicated Thursday that the absentee ballot by mail process, which has drawn controversy in other areas of the country, is proceeding well in Surry County.

No excuse is required for voting absentee by mail, but all absentee requests must be submitted on an official state form, available on the Surry County Board of Elections website or by calling its office. Elections personnel cannot accept handwritten informal requests.

Would-be voters can mail signed completed official request forms to the office or hand-deliver them there.

May 10 is the last day for residents to request that an absentee ballot be mailed to them.

“We have mailed out 149 ballots (per requests received) and have 26 returned to date,” Huff advised Thursday afternoon, adding that this is “much less” than the last local primary in 2020, a presidential election year.

At the comparable time for the primary held in March of that year, 1,059 ballots had been mailed in Surry.

The transparency of the local process includes the first absentee ballot meeting of the elections board, next Tuesday at 5 p.m., being open to the public. It will be held in the conference room of the Surry County Service Center (the elections office) in Dobson.

It also will be offered via the Zoom online platform, for which the link can be obtained by calling the elections office Monday, Huff mentioned.

The purpose of it and similar meetings set in the coming weeks is to approve an absentee report for ballots received as part of the tabulation procedure.

Also Thursday, Huff wanted to let voters know that local elections personnel perform daily, weekly, monthly, bi-annual and annual list-maintenance efforts for the registration database.

That involves checking for duplicates and the removal of deceased voters and felons.

Additionally in North Carolina, counties communicate with this data to help in the maintenance of voter-registration rolls, according to the local director.

Voter roll list maintenance is important because it ensures ineligible voters are not included on poll books, reduces the possibility for error and decreases the opportunity for fraud, Huff explained.

A Pinnacle man and Mount Airy woman were arrested recently after a surveillance operation searching for wanted subjects led to their apprehension.

Gary Christopher Hicinbothem, 28, of 3841 Volunteer Road, Pinnacle, and Kristi Christiva Lowe, 31, of 122 Capital Lane, Mount Airy, were each charged after being arrested after a vehicle stop on Holly Springs Road, according to Surry County Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt.

According to the sheriff, his office’s narcotics and patrol divisions, along with the Surry County Probation and Parole office, were conducting the operations in the Holly Springs area when officials observed Hicinbothem and Lowe traveling in a vehicle, resulting in law enforcement pulling them over, which led to drug-related charges against Hicinbothem.

“During the stop, detectives located 51 grams of methamphetamine and 2.5 grams of fentanyl,” the sheriff said.

That led to Hicinbothem being charged with three counts of trafficking methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to manufacture sell and deliver heroin / fentanyl, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, and one count of interfering with an electronic monitor device. He was jailed under a $600,000 secured bond.

Lowe was charged with one count of interfering with an electronic monitor device. She was placed under a $10,000 secured bond.

Just as with your home, the county has a limited amount of money to spend on the goods and services it needs to conduct business. Creating and sticking to a departmental budget is part of the job for the county’s professional staff, and oversight is provided from the county commissioners in creating those budgets.

Better than sticking to a budget is trimming the fat from one budget year to the next to provide a better bottom line. In the budget planning session Tuesday evening in Dobson, Todd Harris reported back to the Surry County Board of Commissioners that in his short tenure the Register of Deeds office has done just that.

“I was told when I was commissioner in Mount Airy that you can’t run a government office like a business. Well, in my 18 months, I’m not sure I can concur with that statement.”

The Register of Deeds office submitted a budget proposal for the next fiscal year of $484,104 down ever so slightly from what had been the lowest departmental budget in years of $485,717 last year. “To put this number in further perspective, it represents a total savings during my tenure of two years of about $190,000 versus what might be a “normal” pre-COVID budget of 2019-2020.”

Harris highlighted revenues for the county are up with the first half of the current fiscal year outpacing the same period last year $632,475 to $536,342. Despite the global turmoil and a soft stock market due to inflation and the uncertainty of conflict in Eastern Europe, the just-received third quarter numbers also showed gains over Q3 of the previous year.

Unprecedented revenues are being seen in the county as a robust real estate market in Surry County “fueled by low interest rates is responsible for most of the revenues.”

Harris said whether the market will continue to “reward Surry County’s bottom line will in large part be dependent on interest rates. If they are stable, we can assume revenue will be robust. If rates go higher, we can expect a decline in revenues. Regardless of whether the rates rise or fall, we will always approach our budget preparation with a firm commitment to outstanding stewardship.”

That stewardship is found in a renegotiation of the contract for courthouse computer systems, the department’s largest cost outside salaries. Harris got the rate down to levels not seen since the original contract in 2006, “As a result the cost the citizens bare of this necessary service has now not increased in the last 15 years.”

Improvements to document automation have also been a blessing to taxpayers as Harris says it drives down the costs of running his office. The deeds office has embraced recent technology and has added new computers to next year’s budget to that end.

A contract with Iron Mountain for data and document security services has been terminated, “One of the highlights of this year’s presentation is the inform the board that we no longer do business with Iron Mountain.”

In the increasingly digital age, he told the board that while it may seem antithetical for an office such as his, “I have put a stop to document preservation. Every document in that office is already preserved technologically — in other words, whatever condition it is in, it’s not going to get any better, and that specific document you can view online.”

“Gone are the days” when lawyers would congregate at the Register of Deeds office as they came to pull essential records. Foot traffic for such requests is at a bare minimum, “The only reason to come is if you need the original document,” he said. His office estimates around 40 walk-in requests for records have occurred so far this year, requests for genealogical records have dropped as well.

Staying relevant to the needs of the community, a passport office has opened that is a new revenue source for the department. Harris said as COVID wanes, people are going to have a pent-up desire to travel which may yield additional passport income.

Stewards not only of existing documents, Harris told the board the Veterans History Project has begun in which they are digitally chronicling the story of Surry County veterans for posterity. Harris said ads and click traffic may yield another potential for revenue stream from a YouTube channel that is being set up for the project.

Commissioner Van Tucker complimented the quantity of information that can be found online, but the human touch is still needed, “It’s all accessible if you’re smart enough to figure it out, I wasn’t.” He called and got the assistance he needed though from the staff saying that level of service is “what the Surry County taxpayers not only expect, but we require for them.”

“A wise man once told me that service is all we have to sell,” Harris replied simply. “So, we have a very firm commitment in the office to service.”

Harris, in describing the Register of Deeds office, makes it sound nothing like the drab confines of a county office one may expect. He noted the work-life balance that is needed and when the clock strikes five, he hopes his teams leave the office at the office. A knowing chuckle from Betsy Harris, seated behind her husband, suggested that may not always be the case.

After being sworn in he told his staff, “I intend to run this office as if I were the CEO. So, if I am the CEO, I have to answer to the board. The board, it seems hard to imagine, is only two years away,” he said referring to the voters of Surry County as his board of directors.

He steers the ship by seeking efficiency, strict adherence to statute, and with the input of his staff. he said. A good team is critical, and Harris brought his entire staff to introduce them to the board. He believe their diversity of backgrounds and knowledge create a well-rounded group who had a sense of ownership in the workings of the office, as well as the knowledge their leader values them.

“I have,” Harris paused, “existed through a variety of different management styles, and I certainly saw what I did not want to bring to the office. The most important thing I want my staff to know is that they are valued.”

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry completed its season sweep of North Surry with a 2-0 shutout victory on April 12.

Addison Goins got the Cardinals on the scoreboard early with a goal eight minutes into the first half. Samantha Blose added the cushion on East Surry’s lead by scoring on a quick strike with just 31 seconds remaining in the first half.

Liannette Chavez assisted both goals.

“It was a great team win tonight,” said East Surry coach William Hart. “I felt like we had a pretty good hold on the midfield, and that really opened up a lot of doors for us. Lia and Sam did a great job of controlling the pace of play and distributing.”

Tuesday’s win moves the Lady Cardinals to 6-4-2 overall and 5-3 in the Foothills 2A Conference. East has won three of its past four matches.

“The girls have worked hard this year,” Hart said. “We got a couple girls back from injury that we’re trying to incorporate into the rotation, so we’re excited about that as well.”

North Surry coach Eric Jessup applauded his team’s improvement from their first meeting against East Surry, which the Cardinals won 6-0 on March 18. Jessup felt his team competed all 80 minutes, however the Greyhounds were plagued with an issue that’s impacted them all season.

“We’ve had a lot of trouble this season finding the back of the net in these close games,” Jessup said.

North Surry (2-10, 1-7) lost its leading scorer of the past two seasons, Cynthia Chaire, to an injury early in the season. The Hounds’ first few games following Chaire’s injury were lopsided losses, but five of the team’s next six losses were decided by just one goal.

“The team really is improving as a whole, and I’m very proud of our girls for that,” Jessup said. “We’re hanging in these close games against comparable teams, and we’re playing teams tighter the second time around like Mount Airy and East Surry. We’re getting more offensive opportunities, we just have to find a way to score.”

The Lady Cards’ midfield and back line remained pressed up for most of the match, which put pressure on the Greyhounds’ defense. North Surry two center-backs, Weatherly Reeves and Kim Elias, were able to bend but not break for most of the match, which kept East Surry’s from firing too many shots from inside the 18-yard box.

Jessup said there wasn’t a lot his team could’ve done to prevent the first goal, as East Surry made a strong run and finished it off decisively. The second goal, however, he thinks could’ve been prevented had the team made a few minor tweaks.

East Surry’s second goal was set up by a Cardinal run up the right sideline. Unable to cross near the end line, East cut back and looked to funnel a pass into the center. Chavez found Blose near the semicircle at the top of the 18, and Blose, despite numerous defenders crowding the box, sent a line drive to the lower-90 for the goal.

“Their first goal was a great one, but the second one we really could’ve – and probably should have – stopped before it got to the goal,” Jessup said. “The shot itself was strong, but we had so many people in the box that could’ve got in the way had we been on our toes. We’re holding pretty good teams to one, two or three goals, so the defense has been playing pretty good, but that one lapse at the end of the half really hurt us.”

The Cardinals defense has also come into its own this season. East Surry keeper Katie Collins has four shutouts on the year, and only two teams have scored more than two goals in a single game: Forbush and Wilkes Central, which are both juggernauts of the 2A division.

Hart said the was proud of the progress his girls have made not only this season, but across multiple years. East Surry only played a combined 16 matches the past two seasons due to the pandemic, but his team has continued to put in work during the times of uncertainty.

“Of our four seniors, three have been with the team all four years: Liannette, Sam and Brianna [Whitaker],” Hart said. “I’m so happy that they’re finally getting a full season and have seen great success so far, which is something they’ve been working toward for four years. Obviously we still have things we want to improve on, but I’m grateful to see their hard work yielding results on the field.”

As North Surry pushes into the final stretch of the regular season, Jessup said he knows his girls will get over the hump and start putting games away like he knows they’re capable of.

“We’ve been learning how to play as a unit, and we’re getting a lot better every time we step on the field,” Jessup said. “We’ve got some winnable games down the stretch, but we as coaches as well as the girls know it’s not going to be easy; we wouldn’t expect it to be.”

Addison Goins goal on Liannette Chavez assist (ES) 8’, Samantha Blose goal on Liannette Chavez assist (ES) 40’

Mount Airy officials are mulling a list of projects proposed for funding from the municipality’s share of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money, which total $2.9 million.

It mainly is eyed for major building and equipment needs in a list compiled by City Manager Stan Farmer, containing 18 line items altogether.

The $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding designated for Mount Airy was included in a $350 billion financial aid package approved last year for all 50 states at the statewide and local levels as a relief measure in response to COVID-19.

In addition to the $2.9 million eyed for city government projects, requests for ARPA funding were solicited earlier this year from local non-profit organizations to support various efforts.

That resulted in 16 different groups submitting requests for $2.4 million altogether, meaning some tough decisions are facing Mount Airy officials.

The biggest single expense on the city government’s to-do list is $400,000 for the indoor pool HVAC/air system at Reeves Community Center, new pickleball and multi-use courts at Riverside Park ($200,000), building repairs ($89,000) and bridge repairs on the Emily B. Taylor section of the Granite City Greenway ($100,000). It was completed about 20 years ago.

“That has been a need,” Farmer said of the bridge repairs during a recent budget planning retreat at which potential uses of the federal funding were discussed.

A big-ticket item, $470,000, targets City Hall, where building repairs are envisioned along with seal coating and striping of parking lots.

Farmer disclosed Wednesday that this does not include a proposal made last fall to upgrade the communications capabilities of council chambers, where the city commissioners meet.

It included possible high-tech additions such as multiple projectors, large wall-mounted and drop-down display screens, new microphones with integrated speakers, digital mixing equipment, ceiling tile speakers, new camera equipment, video-audio transmitters/receivers and more.

The expense was put at well over $100,000, which officials have said could be paid for with the federal funding since the upgrades would allow the public to better monitor meeting proceedings from homes in times of pandemic.

But Farmer advised Wednesday that he and Assistant City Manager Darren Lewis had reviewed the proposal “and do not recommend that costly scope of work.”

Instead, Lewis has launched a video improvement project involving an install which will happen soon within the present budget year, according to the city manager.

“We are not recommending audio improvements now,” Farmer added. “Our investigation revealed that if the public speaks into a microphone provided in chamber then the public listening at home, etc. can hear the proceedings just fine.”

Also on the list for consideration are building repairs and a street sweeper replacement at the city Public Works Building ($392,000), along with building repairs for the library, police station and the Mount Airy Fire Department, further proposed for new radios (a total of $612,000).

Fire Chief Zane Poindexter said the radios would update models now used, allowing better communications among department personnel.

The Surry Arts Council, meanwhile, is proposed for $265,000 worth of building repairs/restroom upgrades at its building and other restrooms for an amphitheater nearby.

“Those bathrooms are embarrassing over there,” Farmer said of the Surry Arts Council building.

“Probably we need two sets of bathrooms,” Mayor Ron Niland said of those proposed, since persons attending concerts at the amphitheater now must use facilities in the nearby Municipal Building and library which are inadequate for mass gatherings.

Commissioner Tom Koch questioned the Surry Arts Council funding proposal, pointing out that it has received hefty building-related sums from the city in recent years in addition to a yearly $87,500 allocation to support its general operations.

“I applaud Tanya, she’s incredible,” Koch said of council Executive Director Tanya Jones. “But we have to look at the big picture,” which could include examining the $87,500 appropriation, he added.

Farmer responded that the proposed expenditures on the list reflect the fact that the municipality owns the structures involved.

Koch also questioned another item included, $210,000 eyed for repaving/striping of the Franklin Street public parking lot downtown.

The North Ward commissioner suggested that parking lot needs should be funding through a special Municipal Service District tax levied on downtown properties to provide facilities benefiting all, including lots, rather than funding from the city.

Another $50,000 is proposed for wayfinding signage downtown to better guide visitors, although local travel/tourism revenues could be the best source for such items, based on discussion at the meeting.

Farmer also is proposing that $125,000 be aside for fire-suppression grants to provide for sprinklers and related needs in cases where the upper floors of downtown buildings are developed for housing, a proposal earlier floated.

Looking at the federal funding available and factoring in the requests from non-profits, Lewis, the assistant city manager, said further studies must be done before final decisions are made.

“We will have to prioritize some needs.”

There is still plenty of time for that, according to the discussion, since rules say the ARPA money must be spent by December 2026.

DOBSON — A 15-strikeout performance on the mound paired with a 10-hit night lifted Mount Airy to an 8-1 win over Surry Central.

Surry Central had chances to pile runs on early in the game, but left six runners on base through the first three innings. Mount Airy, held scoreless through the first two innings, took over in the top of the third. The Granite Bears scored at least once in each of the remaining five innings to pick up win No. 11 on the season.

Both squads came into Wednesday’s nonconference game in need of a win.

The Golden Eagles (11-5, 6-1 Foothills 2A) were less than 24 hours removed for their first conference loss of 2022. After winning eight of its past nine games, Central fell 14-9 at West Wilkes on Tuesday.

Mount Airy faced a similar situation. The Bears (11-7, 6-2 Northwest 1A) had won 6-of-7 conference games and were hot off a 7-0 win over North Stokes. Mount Airy went on the road on April 8 and lost 10-3 in the rematch against North Stokes, then dropped a close nonconference game to South Iredell on April 11.

Rylan Venable pitched a complete game for the Bears with 15 strikeouts. In seven innings, Venable walked three batters, hit three batters and gave up one run on four hits.

Despite three of Central’s four hits coming in the first two innings, the Eagles wouldn’t score until the bottom of the fifth.

Leadoff Dakota Mills singled to begin the bottom of the first after the Bears went three up, three down in the top of the inning. Clay Whitaker was then hit by a pitch, and both players shifted to scoring position on stolen bases. Venable kept the board clean with three consecutive strikeouts.

Another quick batting appearance for the Bears put the Eagles at the plate once again. Lucas Johnson nailed a single to right-center field, and Spencer LeClair soon joined him on base with a single of his own. Mills was walked to load the bases with two outs, but Venable fired his sixth strikeout of the game to leave all three runners on base.

Momentum shifted in the top of the third when Brison George hit a double for the Bears’ first hit of the evening. Central’s Aiden Shropshire threw his first of two strikeouts when he faced the next batter, but gave up a single to Landon Cox that put George on third. A balk moved Cox to second and scored George.

From here, Mount Airy’s lead continued to slowly grown. Surry Central used four different pitchers for varying lengths of time, but none could completely contain the Bears. Shropshire led the way with 4.1 innings pitched, Mills and Mason Jewell each threw one inning and LeClair pitched 0.2 innings. The quartet combined to throw six strikeouts and walk four batters.

The Granite Bears’ lead doubled in the fourth inning when Logan Dowell went home on a Golden Eagle error. It doubled once again in the fifth when George, Cox and Ian Gallimore each had singles.

Central got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mills was hit by Venable’s first pitch of the inning, then Whitaker was hit by Venable’s next pitch. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and a ground out by Kade Norman provided the distraction for Mills to score. Venable tossed his 12th strikeout to prevent additional scoring.

Surry Central had two batters walked, one in the sixth and one in the seventh, but neither player advanced past first base.

Mount Airy, meanwhile, added one run in the sixth and three in the seventh. Dowell was walked as the leadoff hitter, and singles from Kamden Hawks and Reece Deaton scored the fifth run. The bases were loaded with no outs as the Bears looked to pad their lead even more, but Central executed a defensive play that – after much discussion – resulted in a double play.

Josh Penn hit a short grounder that was fielded by Johnson and thrown to Mills at the plate for the force out. Mills turned and fired a throw toward first, but the ball hit Penn instead of Kade Norman’s glove. The umpires met and called Penn out for interference, then had George and Hawks move back to second and third. Central’s Jewell then picked up the third out with a strikeout.

The Bears made up the difference in the seventh inning with three final runs. Dowell scored Gallimore on an RBI double, a wild pitch scored Venable and an Eagle fielding error allowed Dowell to score run No. 8.

Surry Central and Mount Airy will play again on April 20, this time in the Granite City. In the meantime: Surry Central travels to West Wilkes on April 15 and Mount Airy hosts Elkin on April 19.

The Mount Airy Photography Club will offer a free presentation featuring Kevin Adams, at The Historic Earle Theatre at 142 North Main Street in Mount Airy on April 23,

Adams is one of North Carolina’s premier nature photographers. The presentation and workshop is entitled “365 Nights: A Yearlong Immersion into Night Photography.”

For this project, Adams took one photo for every day of the year, and at the end compiled them into a collage. In 2021, he created a different photo every night. The resulting images cover a plethora of subject matter: Closeups of household items, mobsters carrying chainsaws, Jack-O-Lanterns on fire, waterfalls, the Milky Way, and other photographic creations.

Adams says that without question, this was the most challenging and rewarding project he had tackled in his 40 years as a photographer. In his presentation, he will cover “the good and the bad,” and explain why taking on a project like this will be the best thing you can do, not only for your photography, but also for your well-being.

Adams is a naturalist, writer, teacher, and photographer who has had a lifelong love affair with nature and the outdoors. In addition to photo credits in all manner of publications, he is the author and photographer of nine books. An accomplished photography instructor, he leads photo tours and teaches numerous workshops and seminars throughout the year.

Often called the “MacGyver of Photography,” he designed and sells several unique products for night photographers. Adams lives in Waynesville with his wife, Patricia, their cat Lucy, eight chickens, and a colony of groundhogs that tear up everything and eat Patricia’s plants.

Some of Adams’ publications include books on his favorite topic—his home state of North Carolina. His nature and photography books include North Carolina Waterfalls, Wildflowers of the Southern Appalachians, Hiking Great Smokey Mountains National Park, North Carolina’s Best Wildflower Hikes, Our North Carolina, and Backroads of North Carolina. He is a regular contributor to Our State and other magazines. According to Adams, “the most rewarding aspect of my career is sharing my passion for photography and the natural world through presentations. I love to expose people to new places and techniques and see the excitement on their faces.”

This free presentation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. and is sponsored by the Mount Airy Photography Club and supported in part by a Surry Arts Council subgrant from the Grassroots Program of the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that “a great nation deserves great art.”

For more info on the photographer, visit www.kadamsphoto.com.

© 2018 The Mount Airy News