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EARTH DAY, BUT INDOORS. The Franklin County Arts Council hosted Earth Day festivities at its Gallery on Nash on April 22. The event was scheduled for Riverbend Park, but the threat of inclement weather moved the celebration indoors. Still, the event featured interactive activities for kids and adults, including planting tips and survival skills. Above, Arts Council Board member Evelyn Weaver demonstrates planting techniques.

LEXINGTON, VA -- Matthew Przybyl, a native of Youngsville, was recently initiated into the Campbell University Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society.
The Society welcomed 787 new initiates from 32 universities during March 2023.

BUNN -- Hone some skills and gain some much-needed course knowledge -- that was the theme of the final Big East Conference regular season boys golf match Monday at The River GC.
The nine-hole event was staged on the front nine at The River -- the same layout that hosted Wednesday's 18-hole league championships.

BUNN -- Nash Central scored early and late -- and held off Bunn in between -- in order to gain a key Big East Conference road softball victory last Thursday at BHS' Ladycat Field.
Needing a triumph to remain part of a three-way tie for first place, the Lady Bulldogs erupted early to what appeared to be a commanding seven-run cushion.

LOUISBURG -- Excitement was abundant Monday as the Louisburg Parks and Recreation Department kicked off its annual T-Ball season with a pair of hotly contested matchups at the Joyner Park Fields.
In one of the games, the Storm tangled with the Mud Hens, and both squads showed tremendous skill and enthusiasm.

JC WRIGHT OF THE MUD HENS CONCENTRATES ON THE BALL

GREYSON LEE OF THE MUD HENS FIELDS HIS POSITION (This photo is for you, Lori)

KINSTON -- Luke Adams hit his team -leading third home run of the season in the fourth and Jace Avina added a two-run blast of his own moments later as the visiting Carolina Mudcats finished off a doubleheader sweep of the Down East Wood Ducks with a 4-3 victory in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader at Grainger Stadium.

BUNN -- Holding serve in the Big East Conference standings was the main goal for the Southern Nash Firebirds during last week's key league series against backyard rival Bunn.
Southern held off a late Wildcats' threat in last Tuesday's opener at home before hitting the road for BHS for last Thursday's series finale.

LOUISBURG -- The newly re-established Franklin County Animal Advisory Board has gotten a bit more hands on, touring the shelter, setting some goals and agreeing to ask county commissioners for funding to extend adoption hours.
The actions were taken during the re-constituted board's second meeting on Monday.

I'm not going to lie because, at my age, it's easier to remember the truth: When I got my first cow chip bingo assignment in the fall of 2009, I certainly wondered, 'what have I gotten myself into?!?'
I had been at the paper for about seven years so, by no means was this going to be the first time that I was in close proximity to cows doing their business.
But, just to give you my history, while I was born and raised in the Bull City, I had never been to a farm, nor had any interest in the digestive system of any beast.

LOUISBURG, NC--Ms. Shirley Ann Tant, 68, of Louisburg passed away on Monday, April 24, 2023. She was born to the late John Tant and Inez Batchelor Tant on November 21, 1954, in Franklin County, North Carolina.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Johnny McKinley Phelps, 72, of Louisburg, died Wednesday afternoon, March 22, 2023 at WakeMed.

Louisburg, NC--James Franklin Stevens, 58, of Louisburg, passed away on April 16, 2023. James, who was known to many as Frank, was born in Alexandria, Virginia to the late Wayne and Carol Stevens.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners are being asked to appropriate $28,328,192 to operate local public schools for the 2023-24 school year which begins on July 1. That total amounts to a 9 percent increase in spending per pupil for all children in Franklin County schools and charter schools.
The Board of Education unanimously agreed Monday night to forward that request to the commissioners following a detailed financial presentation from Quinnley Coley, the district's chief of finance.

LOUISBURG -- A Louisburg Town Council decision about Louisburg Falls, the largest mixed use development in the town's history, will have to wait until at least early May.
The council tabled a decision on zoning map amendments that would have cleared the way for the project during a meeting Monday night.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County recognized three of its best volunteers, including one who earned the state's highest volunteer service award.
Bernie Meader joins two other Franklin County residents [Dot Robertson in 2008 and Jim Grove in 2018] who have earned the Governor's Medallion Award, recognizing outstanding service.

LOUISBURG -- Attorneys who represented a convicted murderer admitted they mishandled an opportunity to sever the cases against Garry Yarborough.
Now, a superior court judge will determine if the mistake warrants a new trial.
In 2018, Superior Court Judge David Lambeth Jr. sentenced Yarborough to life in prison without parole -- plus 40 years -- after a jury found him guilty of the summer 2015 killing of Tracy Williams.

BINGO. The Bunn Cert Lions Club held a Cow Chip Bingo fundraiser last Saturday. First prize was $500, second was a barbecue grill and third prize was $50. Above, Connor Brady, center, who loves cows, points out the interesting animals to Samuel and Earlene Brady.

Sarah and Jasper Alford

The Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting last month, celebrating new offices for Safe Space Inc. -- a non-profit organization that combats domestic violence and sexual assault. Their new offices, Safe Space Inc. The Jim Grove Family Resource Center, is located at 118-A N. Main Street in Louisburg.

LOUISBURG -- A Louisburg Town Council budget workshop evolved into something else -- a tentative first look at a couple of issues town leaders likely will be facing next fiscal year, which begins on July 1.
And those two issues, which have yet to be resolved, could affect nearly every Louisburg resident.

LOUISBURG -- In a long, rather unusual meeting, the Louisburg Town Council Monday night voted to table a decision on Louisburg Falls (see related story) and waded through a long agenda of rather routine business.
A highlight of the meeting was perhaps the sale of the town-renovated building at 109 N. Church Street.

Spring has spring -- hopefully for real this time.
Everything is rapidly greening up, the farmers are working their fields, the flowers are beginning to bloom and the birds sound happier than they have in months.
Everyone, it seems, loves springtime in North Carolina with the possible exception of those who are very sensitive to the pollen that seems to encase just about everything these days.