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TRUNK TURKEY. Chris Gibson prepares to load a turkey into the back of a vehicle that pulled up last Saturday at the Thanksgiving Food Distribution and Coat Distribution held at St. Paul Presbyterian Church. The holiday event replaced the annual dinner that was provided by A Blessing Inc. which operates a soup kitchen and food pantry in the county.

From left, Drew and David David Hilton volunteer during the holiday event made possible by First Fruits Farm, the Franklin County Interfaith Council, the Franklin Area Clergy Ecumenical Society [FACES], the Youth Division of Franklin County Missionary Union, The Crown Vic Boys and Girls Chapter 33 and the Matthew 25 Committee of St. Paul Presbyterian Church.

LOUISBURG -- Going into last Thursday's meeting, Franklin County commissioners were stuck between a rock quarry and a potentially disheartened community.
Ultimately, their path to resolution was made easier when attorneys for Wade Moore Equipment Company withdrew its rezoning request.
The sand quarry company, which has been operating at its East River Road site since at least 1968, had petitioned commissioners for a rezoning that would allow them to expand operations.

FRANKLINTON -- Town officials have scheduled a work session so they can better determine how to un-muddy Mixed Use Districts in town.
As the name implies, Mixed Use Districts, commonly referred to as MUD, are intended to allow for a 'planned' blend of residential, institutional, and neighborhood-serving commercial uses.

LOUISBURG -- In order for the county's airport to continue to takeoff, a road situation needs straightening out.
More specifically, Airport Road needs to be straightened.
The southeastern quadrant of the airport is defined by the curve of Airport Road, which cuts into the real estate available to the airport and limits the ability to develop more T-hangars on that end of Triangle North Executive Airport.

LOUISBURG -- Vance-Granville Community College recently named Cherrelle Lawrence as its new Dean of Corporate Learning & Professional Development.
She replaces long-time Dean Bobbie Jo May, VGCC staff said.
In this role, Dean Lawrence will identify and develop corporate training and external professional development offerings for companies, local government agencies and civic organizations.

Rick & Nancy Davis on a recent trip to New Bern

Hopefully no one had a coronary after reading our story last week estimating that the cost of getting a new water supply for Franklin County will start at $100 million -- and likely go up, way up, from there.
First a word of warning, I'm no expert on water or utilities -- but I've been writing about these issues for nearly 50 years, 30 of those years in Franklin County.

Growing up, my grandfather played golf, so, I always assumed it was an older person's game.
At that age, I figured I'd play street football, pickup basketball and backyard baseball forever.
Funny thing is, as I got older, "watching" football, basketball and baseball became a WHOLE lot easier than playing those sports.

Dear editor:
Mr. Cunard wonders about the new Republican county commissioners adequately funding education.
The Republican commissioners can adequately fund education by following the Democratic leadership in Raleigh--and save money.

Dear editor:
"Love thy neighbor as thyself"
Were all of us taught this -- some of us, none of us? Or maybe "we just don't care."

OXFORD--James Henry Dickerson, 80, of Oxford reached his heavenly home on Saturday, November 21, 2020. There to greet him were his parents David Gill and Dulcie Hailey Dickerson; four brothers, David Junior, Russell Edward, Archie Gill, and Charlie McCoy; two sisters, Margarite Dickerson Proctor and Linda Dickerson Woods Smith; and a granddaughter, Victoria Joy Harris.

FRANKLINTON -- Abigail Fagan and Shelby Sykora made a bit of softball history last week during a ceremony at the entrance to the Franklinton High School Gymnasium.
Franklinton's list of Division I fast-pitch softball signees is quite short -- as in one person. Former Lady Ram Morgan Tharrington enjoyed an All-American career at Louisburg College before competing for two seasons in the Atlantic Coast Conference as a member of the North Carolina State University Wolfpack.

Franklinton High School's Abigail Fagan (front, second from right) signs a letter-of-intent to continue her softball career at Radford University. Also pictured are (back, l to r) FHS Athletic Director Jimmy Williams, FHS assistant coach Sarah Harkey Korinna Fagan (sister), Sarah Fagan (sister) and FHS head softball coach Ashley Bauer; (front, l to r) Alana Fagan (sister), Janet Fagan (mother), Lorna Fagan (sister) and Robert Fagan (father) Not pictured is Taylor Lee (sister).

Franklinton High School's Shelby Sykora (front, second from right) signs a letter-of-intent to continue her softball career at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

WILSON -- Northern Nash High School's boys cross country squad is off to another strong start -- as evidenced by last Thursday's showing during a Big East Conference Tri-Meet at Gillette Park.
The multi-time defending league champion Fighting Knights cruised to a first-place team finish during an event that also featured Franklinton and host Wilson Fike.

RALEIGH -- Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person Jr. continued to pile up the ground yardage, and a key blocked field-goal attempt would help North Carolina State edge Liberty University last Saturday in a non-conference college football game.
Knight and Person combined for 230 yards on offense, and Vi Jones swatted a way a potential game-winning field goal in the final two minutes as the Wolfpack survived by a 15-14 margin at Carter-Finley Stadium.

RALEIGH -- North Carolina State University has extended the agreement of long-time baseball coach Elliott Avent, as the Board of Trustees approved a new deal recently that will keep him in the dugout through the 2025 season, with options beyond that.
Avent, a former assistant at Louisburg College, is set to begin his 25th season at NC State in the spring of 2021, and is the school's all-time leader in victories with a career mark of 889-531.

Franklinton High School volleyball coach Tom Harris speaks about Shelby Sykora during last week's signing ceremony. Though Sykora signed to join the softball program at the University of North Carolina, she has also been a key spiker for the Lady Rams under Harris' direction.

Showing off their Fun Day shirts, left to right: Activities Specialist Katrina Williams, Social Worker Shelia Mitchell, Adult Day Program Manager Wendy Hunter, Senior Center Administrator Pattie Collins, Nutrition Site Aide Joyce Still, Nutrition Site Manager Beatrice Davis and Custodian Carolyn Peters.

Many fruit-growing hobbyists neglect the annual maintenance of their fruit trees due to lack of time or they are not exactly sure how to take care of them.
Without training or pruning, fruit trees will not develop proper shape and form. Properly trained and pruned trees will yield high-quality fruit much earlier in their lives and live significantly longer.

A delegation of Franklin County 4-H members attended 4-H Citizenship North Carolina Focus, which was held virtually this year. The Franklin County delegation attended with more than 200 youth and adults representing 56 4-H programs across the state. Delegates participated in facilitated discussions and activities related to the importance of advocacy, local government, state government, and action planning.

ALL DRESSED UP. Senior Fun Day was even more fun since it was just before Halloween. In costumes, from left: Katrina Williams, Carolyn
Peters, Cindy Jones, Christy Southall and Shelia Mitchell.

This year has been quite different from what we consider to be "normal." COVID-19 has brought about many changes and cancellations of events and gatherings, and as the year continues to go by and the holidays are upon us, a lot of questions, concerns and differences of the usual holiday gatherings come along as well. Below are suggestions on how to safely celebrate Thanksgiving in the midst of COVID.

Have you ever wondered whether those are yams or sweet potatoes on your Thanksgiving plate and just what is the difference between them?
Well, if you're eating something moist, sweet, and just downright delicious then you're probably feasting on a sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are root vegetables that are naturally sweet and most of the potatoes for consumption have orange-colored flesh.

The 2020 holiday season figures to be vastly different than seasons past. The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has transformed daily life in many ways. The public has become accustomed to wearing masks while shopping, limiting the number of people in public venues and keeping their distance from friends and loved ones. Many events have been reimagined as virtual celebrations because of social distancing protocols.

Many holiday traditions begin with family and friends gathered in the kitchen or around the dinner table. Food is an integral part of celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and Chanukah, and key components of each holiday are tied exclusively to food.
Come the holiday season, many people gather to make delicious desserts for holiday dinners or even as gifts.

BOUNTIFUL. County Commissioner Elect Kelli London, Tiffany McKnight and County Commissioner Cedric Jones pitched in to help.

Aaron Herndon, center, totes a box of food for one of the hundreds of families that came out.

Goshen Medical staff go over supplies as they provided free COVID-19 testing. Not pictured, Franklin County Partners in Health also provided vitamins and other medicines.

Kerr-Vance Academy's honor roll for the first quarter has been announced and includes the following students:

Local businesses and the community got together to raise $7,000 for Youngsville's Rescue & EMS squad. COVID-19 changed plans for a golf tourney, but entities got together for a fundraiser for the squad.

LOUISBURG -- By the end of the month, Franklin County figures to have a roster of applicants from which to choose to round out government leadership.
Franklin County Commissioners tabbed former assistant county manager Kim Denton as their new manager when Angela Harris retired from the post at the end of October.

LOUISBURG -- It was an evening of rather routine business for the Louisburg Town Council on Nov. 16, although the council did get some very good news on the long-awaited Depot Hill project.
Council members learned that the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has awarded the town $125,000 to help with the Depot Hill project.

District 7/Group 2 of the Woman's Baptist Home & Foreign Missionary Convention of North Carolina, comprised of Durham, Franklin, Granville, Vance and Warren counties, did not convene for their annual "one day district conference" this year. Prior to the virus pandemic, Granville County was the designated host.

TEPPING TOGETHER TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. A fundraiser was held at the end of October at Franklinton Park to benefit Safe Space, a local domestic violence and sexual assault program. The Walk/Run for Funds, sponsored by Walking in Heels, LLC, raised almost $3,000. If you would like to contribute to Safe Space, visit www.ncsafespace.org, click on the donate button. Pictured: All smiles at booth, (l to r): Dr. Walthea Yarbrough and Monica Kearney.

LOUISBURG -- Police arrested the second suspect in an armed robbery.
Louisburg police charged Delton Ryshaun Davis, 21, with armed robbery and second degree kidnapping for his role in a Nov. 13 stickup of employees and customers at the Skills Factory sweepstakes cafe in Louisburg.