South Guilford County, NC, News and Community Information

Calendar

bwebb — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

FundRAISERS

Ongoing

The Sanctuary, a place for all people to explore spirituality through a variety of creative endeavors, needs monetary contributions to further scholarships for art classes, book groups and meetings addressing recovery issues. 621-1514 or send contributions to 1150 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 7 Greensboro, NC 27405.

Southern Triad Missions needs new appliances, clothing and household items for families in need. Make checks payable to Southern Triad Missions and mail to P.O. Box 1906, High Point, NC 27261-1906. 888-6091.

Now I'm middle-aged ... and awesome

import — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

It hit me as my daughter Cydney and her BFF (best friend forever), Brianna, were singing carols to a group of residents at Clapp's Nursing Home here in Pleasant Garden. Amid the jingle bells and ho-ho-hoing, it happened. I had become middle-aged.

I am 45 years old.

Christmas is all year long

import — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Trash cans wait to be picked up the week after Christmas, strips of shiny paper and colorful bows sticking out of the tops. People breathe a sigh of relief that this busy season is over for another year.

But at Janice Cooper's house, Christmas is all year. She is already getting ready for next Christmas. Her workroom in the basement is stuffed with plastic containers of clay ornaments waiting to be painted and decorated.

Cooper started making the ornaments about 27 years ago when she lived in South Carolina. She gave them as gifts to her friends and family.

Pastor leaves church for new pulpit

import — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

HIGH POINT -- Somebody else will have to do chores for the elderly in the West End section of High Point. The Rev. Jim Summey said he no longer will have time to fix commodes, paint, mow yards and do other chores.

He took a new job Friday, becoming the first executive director of the 11-year-old activist group High Point Community Against Crime.

Scholarship winner finds niche at GTCC

import — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Serenity Klumb of Archdale, a math whiz at GTCC, is on the road to realizing her ambition of being a math teacher, despite some bumps along the way.

Klumb, 25, a single mom, full-time student and tutor for fellow students, has been awarded a GlaxoSmithKline Teacher Preparation Scholarship Loan for this academic year. She is scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2009 with an associate of arts degree and hopes to continue her education at UNCG.

The scholarship is for up to $5,000, or $2,500 per semester.

Neighbors share tips for riding out storms

import — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Tough times. That seems to be the theme for 2009 predictions. And that's understandable given the recession.

Tough times, however, aren't new to most of us.

As New Year's inspiration, I asked several readers who have faced their share of tough times to share their secrets for survival. Their ability to withstand some of life's most challenging situations offers us all a strong dose of what we need most right now: hope.

Read, be inspired and take these messages to heart. They are tried-and-true ways to get us through the storms of life.

Blacks paid price of urban renewal

import — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

I know you have heard the old expression, "Money talks." Well, the city of High Point had an epiphany regarding slums and blight when it discovered a cash cow called the Urban Redevelopment Authority Act.

Wikipedia defines urban renewal as "a controversial U.S. program of land re-development in areas of high-density urban land use."

James Baldwin gave it the name, "Negro Removal." I called it the "Re-deployment of black folks." City government called it "free money."

Academy sheds light on police work

import — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Adult students trickled in and sat down at tables in the long room at the O.H. Leak Law Enforcement Center on Leonard Avenue one fall evening.

Half are city residents. Half are High Point University students. They were attending High Point Police Department's Citizen Academy, a 14-week Tuesday evening class to introduce the community to police tactics and training. The academy students go through most of the same training as rookies, including hands-on activities such as seaches of buildings and vehicles.

Museum displays a chair fit for a 20th century throne

import — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Between 1942 and 1966, Tomlinson of High Point made and promoted a distinctive barrel-back easy chair that was called The Gainsborough Chair, after the English portrait painter of the 1700s.

Tomlinson's sales literature for its Gainsborough chair emphasized its value as a portrait chair, "equally at home in the living room, hall, bedroom, dining room . . . the chair in which any woman looks her loveliest."

Religion Calendar - Guilford County

bwebb — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Monday, January 19

■ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Service, noon, Saint James Presbyterian Church, 820 Ross Ave., Greensboro. Fellowship and refreshments will follow. Information: www.stjamespresby.org or 273-6658.

Ongoing

Rescuers free trapped heron

import — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0500

A quiet Sunday evening in November changed quickly when neighbors at Greensboro's Sedgefield Lakes spotted an adult great blue heron hanging upside down from the top branches of a 45-foot pine tree.

The bird was in serious trouble. Gnarled fishing line had tangled around one of the bird's legs and trapped it within the dense branches at the top of the tree. One leg extended up beyond the top of the tree; the other pointed down, in a full-split position.

Calendar

bwebb — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0500

FundRAISERS

Ongoing

Nonprofit helps young adults aging out of foster care

import — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0500

It's not easy for young adults aging out of foster care to start out on the right foot, but former foster child and entrepreneur Travis Burrell, 27, wants to make the transition easier.

He's founded I Am Now, a nonprofit that works with young adults -- either aging out of foster care or living on Guilford County streets -- to teach them life skills to survive on their own.

Urban blight not just problem of past

import — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0500

Ever since the beginning of the core community, High Point's slums have been like the "seven-year itch" that wouldn't go away. Blight was an open wound, spewing poverty and despair requiring immediate attention and major surgery.

What was their remedy to cure it? Just put a little "maybe later" salve on it and hope it goes away on its own.

Despite attempts to avoid the obvious, slowly but surely the blight began to spread like the plaque.

Leonard Pitts, syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald, calls it the "power vs. the powerless."

Area leader answers the call to serve, again

import — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0500

Sitting crouched in a small chair in the corner of the West End Ministries office hastily writing checks, Judy Mendenhall is asked what she is doing.

"I'm writing emergency checks (for the needy)," she said, without ceasing writing. "They need these right away."

Why is Mendenhall, one of the most talented and versatile leaders in High Point politics and business during the past 30 years, working here? "I'm the executive director of West End Ministries for now," she said.

Mendenhall has been in several high places:

Religion Calendar - Guilford County

bwebb — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0500

Sunday, December 28

■ Seminary Student Sunday, one service, 10:30 a.m., First Presbyterian Church, 317 N. Elm St., Greensboro. No church school for children and youth, some adult classes meet. Information: www.fpcgreensboro.org or 373-0445.

Wednesday, December 31

■ Speaker, Mike J. Baron, 7 p.m., Main Street Baptist Church, 126 N. Main St., Kernersville. Information: 993-4534.

Empty Stocking Fund donations list

mgrossman — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:51:47 -0500

As of Dec. 17, the Empty Stocking Fund, had raised $53,736, 67 percent of its goal of $88,000.

The fund -- which has brightened Christmas for needy children since 1927-- still needs your help to provide toys and clothing for more than 3,500 children this year.

Donations may be made in honor of friends or relatives. The fund is sponsored by the Greensboro Jaycees, Volvo Truck and the News & Record.

Eagle Scout project gives fish a safe place to swim