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Garner! We cover Garner and more Garner. If it happens outside of Garner you want to know how it effects Garner, your community, and neighbors. That’s what we are here to do.

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Apr 16 Garner Retirees to the Rescue; Making Masks Makes a Difference in Local COVID-19 Battle

BY MARGARET DAMGHANI

An unexpected endeavor started in mid-March with an email sent to the students of a sewing class at Saint Andrews United Methodist Church looking for anyone interested in fulfilling a request for homemade cloth masks needed by a medical center in Elizabeth City.

In the weeks since then, an impromptu team of about 20 people, mostly residents of the Village at Aversboro retirement community, have contributed to the production and delivery of 721 masks to organizations near and far. After that first email and the accompanying pattern, the idea to create masks was put out through the Village’s messenger service.

“We are just using what technology skills that we know how to do to meet the need. We’re all stuck at home with nothing to do. It kind of adds a little power to what we can do in our retirement,” said Nancy Cope, a retired educator. “We do not sell them, and we do not have any for sale. Our focus is healthcare and frontline workers like the police and the fire department.”

It kind of adds a little power to what we can do in our retirement.”

- Nancy Cope

There are at least six sewers making two different types of masks, along with pattern cutters, a quality control person to snip the threads and insert filters, others help to prepare coffee filters to improve the masks efficacy, a courier, and those that donated materials all contributing to the team of people that have now been working at it for nearly a month.

“We have a system going. We have baskets on our porches, and the deliveries come in Ziploc bags and we leave them in the baskets for several hours, and some of us spray the bags before bringing it in the house,” Cope said.

They only exchange fabric, finished masks, and other supplies through the baskets and are adhering strictly to social distancing guidelines to protect everyone involved, including not accepting donations from the public.

“It really has been neat, the sharing, the community,” said Mary Gail Ellington, a retired nurse and Garner native. She, like many of the sewers, has spent full days sewing.

“It’s a need, and the love of Christ I have, to be his hands.”

- Mary Gail Ellington

The recipients range from Garner’s local first responders to numerous medical offices, hospitals and assisted living facilities, and even a few to caterers and individuals handing out meals to school children that are missing school lunches. The Garner police received 70 masks total, including 50 for their officers and 20 in smaller child sizes, made in kid-friendly fabrics as requested.

The sewers have gone to great care to pick out fabrics suited to the recipients, such as special fabric for the fire department and the cheerful ones for nurses and police officers.

The supplies to create this volume of masks come from a variety of fortuitous circumstances. Spearheaders Cope and Ellington both run Bless This Child programs at their churches𑁋Saint Andrews United and Plymouth Church, where Ellington’s son is a pastor.

The programs provide homemade clothing to children in the U.S and during mission trips abroad, and thus there was already a network of people who, as luck would have it, have an abundance of scraps saved that are too small to do much else with.

Garner Officers Cameron Driver and PL Kevin Pena sporting their Garner grown face masks.

One current issue for anyone producing masks is obtaining enough elastic, which has become nearly impossible to find locally and across the country. Ellington just so happened to have an abundance of elastic she had held onto for years, ever since a local store changed hands, enabling her to give away 10 yards or so to others.

“‘Okay God, you showed me what I’m going to do with that elastic.’” Ellington said. She had recently been wondering if she should just throw it out after holding onto it for so long. “That first week when everybody was sewing, I think I’m the only one in Garner that had elastic.”

The group also received more than one donation from a quilting store in Angier, Sew There. Owner Bonnie Glover has been giving sewers between 10 and 20 yards of elastic at a time, according to Cope.

“Our neighbors were a tremendous source, and the lady at the quilt store (Sew There), Bonnie (Glover), has been very helpful,”

- Nancy Cope

“Our neighbors were a tremendous source, and the lady at the quilt store, Bonnie, has been very helpful,” Cope said. “Just about everybody in this neighborhood found elastic at their house, so we had many sources of elastic...One of our sewers brought me 288 yards of elastic. 288 yards for me and 288 yards for her. I’ve already shared quite a bit of it.”

Jana Soward with Johnston County Pediatrics was one of the first to receive a Garner grown mask.

The spirit of sharing seems to permeate everything the neighbors do, and the requests have not slowed down since they started, though they managed to complete all of the larger requests just before Easter Sunday. They have even begun sending masks by mail to family members and have a list of at-risk residents of their community that may need a mask for medical appointments who will get extra.

Cope said they will continue “As long as we’ve got energy and threads and elastic. Every time we think we’ve finished our list, somebody else calls.”

https://www.thegarnernews.com/garner-news-features/garner-retirees-to-the-rescue-making-masks-makes-a-difference-in-local-covid-19-battle

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Visions Past & Present

See some of the triangle region’s most dynamic artists for this month's exhibit at the Garner Performing Arts Center.

Stop in the GPAC lobby to be blown away by some spectacular works centered around the theme of "Visions Past and Present". Willa Brigham, Sharon Barksdale Worth, Jermaine Powell, Wendy Dickerson, Terri Walker Pullen, Willie Bigelow, Michelle Davis Petelinz, Eric McRay, and LeGrant Tayor are just some of the incredible artists in this year's lineup.

Don't miss out on one of the best exhibits of the year and see these pieces of art with your own eyes.The GPAC lobby is open to the public Monday through Friday, 1:30pm- 5:00pm and during events at the center.

Don't miss out on one of the best exhibits of the year and see these pieces of art with your own eyes.

The GPAC lobby is open to the public Monday through Friday, 1:30pm- 5:00pm and during events at the center.

https://www.thegarnernews.com/arts-entertainment/garner-art-gpac-black-history-month

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The Story of Our Storyteller: Garner's Tim Stevens Inducted into North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

Garner News Features

 BY MARGARET DAMGHANI

Tim Stevens vividly remembers the December night over 30 years ago when Garner became a ghost town. There were only 12,000 residents of Garner at the time, yet 10,000 people traveled from this area to Charlotte to cheer Garner High’s football team on for Championship game. When a media team came to Garner that night to interview local residents, none could be found. Signs on the front of businesses said they were closed.

There are too many highlights of his five-decades long career in sports writing to mention, but he relates the story of the 1987 Championship Win by Garner High with a mix of fondness and pride that seems to portray his way of thinking about his work.    

“It had almost nothing to do with football. It was really about community.”

A life-long Garner resident, Stevens is one of twelve people to be honored later this year with induction into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, paying tribute to his 48-year career as a high school sports writer and editor for the Raleigh Times and later the News and Observer. During that time, he tirelessly covered all types of high school sports and anything else that he was moved to write about; the socioeconomics of high school athletics, concussions, transgender athletes, and more.

“I’m a storyteller. I tell stories in plays. I tell stories in sports. I’m not much of a sports fan at all. I’m a people fan.”

It’s clear he enjoyed the time he spent as a sportswriter, however, though not for the fame and fortune many associate with the highly publicized arena of college and professional athletics, or even the many other honors he’s received along the way. It’s the values that sports instill in young people that draw him to it; accountability, consequences and a sense of community. It’s because sports and high school work together to make better people.

“It doesn’t affect my life who wins the Super Bowl. But what is taught in high school does. I came to the realization high school is more important than anything,” Stevens said. “I got to write about all these diverse things. I got to write about society through the lens of young people. I got to write nice things about kids that may not have nice things being said to them.”

He is honored, of course, to be recognized in the Hall of Fame for his body of work, which includes other accomplishments like co-authoring the first North Carolina High School Records Book, along with some of the giants he grew up watching.

“I’m in there with people I grew up dreaming about, I can truthfully say I’m the most unathletic person in the NC Hall of Fame.”

Garner’s history and future are both important to Stevens. His family has been in the area for 200 years, he says, and long-time Garner residents may remember his mother Evelyn Stevens as an editor of the weekly Garner News that ended in 2013, and his father as Town Council member James R. Stevens. His son, one of three children, teaches and coaches at Garner Magnet High School.

Retired from the News and Observer in 2015, Stevens spends his time on his work at Aversboro Road Baptist Church and enriching the lives of Garner residents through his plays focusing on Garner’s history, such as the one he wrote about that 1987 win. He has written plays on the civil war, WWII, integration, and the Vietnam War, all focusing on Garner’s specific people and contributions.

The Wall that Heals will on display at Garner’s Lake Benson Park from April 16 to April 19, 2020.

He brings entertainment to the area with projects like the long-running Broadway Voices series. Most recently, he set his sights on successfully bringing to Garner the Wall That Heals, a traveling replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C.

Stevens has also been inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, the Garner High Hall of Fame, and the Broughton High Hall of Fame. He was honored in 2015 with the annual James R. Stevens Service to Garner Award, an award named after his late father.

“They’re all different but they all mean as much to you,” Stevens said, of the many recognitions he has collected over the years.

NCSHOF 2020 Inductees

A brief biography of each 2020 inductee follows; deceased inductees being inducted posthumously are indicated by an asterisk:

Debbie Antonelli – Entering her 30th season as a full-time broadcaster for ESPN, Antonelli is one of the best-known female college and professional women’s basketball television analysts in America today. An Emmy Award winner and Gracie Award winner for broadcasting, she is also known for her on-air commentary for men’s basketball and in 2017, Antonelli became the first woman in 22 years to be a color analyst during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues – After a standout career at Wake Forest, the 5-foot-3 Bogues defied the odds and played 14 years in the NBA. He remains the shortest player in NBA history. A first-team All-ACC selection as a senior, he led the ACC in both assists and steals in 1985, 1986 and 1987 and was the 12th overall selection in the 1987 NBA Draft. Bogues currently ranks 23rd in NBA history with 6,726 career assists and 20th in assists per game (7.6).  

Mack Brown – After recently completing his 11th season as head football coach at the University of North Carolina, Brown has compiled a record of 244-123-1 (.664) in his tenure as a head coach at the FBS level. His 244 career victories rank 10th on the all-time list and are the most among active coaches. A two-time national coach of the Year (2005 & 2008), Brown is 13-8 in post-season bowl games with his 2005 Texas team winning the national championship with a 41-38 win over USC.  

Dennis Craddock* – One of the most successful coaches in Atlantic Coast Conference history, Craddock coached the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams at the University of North Carolina for 27 years, winning 45 conference championships, more than any coach in any sport in the history of the league. He was named ACC Coach of the Year 31 times and 25 of his athletes won 38 NCAA titles while 19 of his stars competed in the Olympics winning five gold and two bronze medals.  

Dr. Charles Kernodle – The 102-year-old Kernodle has been the Burlington Williams High School football team doctor more than 60 years. He has lived in Burlington since 1949 and has missed only a few home or away games during that time. The football field at Williams High was named in his honor on his 90th birthday in 2007. In addition to his duties at Williams, he also helped with the football and basketball teams at Elon University.

Mac Morris – A member of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame and the co-executive director of the North Carolina Coaches Association, Morris served as the head basketball coach at Greensboro’s Page High School for 25 years and compiled a 456-151 (.751) record, that included state 4-A titles in 1979, 1983 and 1990. Both his 1983 and his 1990 teams were undefeated at 26-0 and 31-0, respectively. The 1983 team ranked second nationally by USA Today and he was named the AP Coach of the Year.  

Trot Nixon - A two-sport star at New Hanover High in Wilmington, Nixon became a standout baseball player with the Boston Red Sox. As a high school senior, he was named the North Carolina player of the year in both football and baseball and was named Baseball America’s national player of the year. A right fielder, Nixon hit .274 in a 12-year major league career with 137 home runs and 555 RBIs. In 42 post-season games, Nixon hit .283 with six home runs and 25 RBIs.

Julius Peppers – One of the most celebrated players in pro football history, Peppers finished his 17-year career with 724 tackles, including 159.5 sacks – the fourth-best mark in NFL history. His 266 games played are a record for a defensive lineman and his 13 blocked kicks are the second most ever in the NFL, as are his 51 forced fumbles. At the University of North Carolina, he led the nation in sacks in 2000 with 15. A unanimous All-America in 2001, he also won the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s best defensive player and the Lombardi Award as the best collegiate lineman.  

Bobby Purcell - The Executive Director of the Wolfpack Club.  Purcell has served in a number of capacities since joining the N.C. State athletics department staff in 1981.  He served as an assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator under Monte Kiffin, Tom Reed, and Dick Sheridan.  At the Wolfpack Club he has overseen the construction of the Murphy Football Center and Vaughn Towers as well as the funding of nearly 300 student-athlete scholarships annually.

Judy Rose - The former Director of Athletics for 28 years at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Rose became the third female to serve as the athletic director of an NCAA Division I program when she accepted the position in 1990. In 1999-2000, she became the first female to serve on the prestigious NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. Chief among her accomplishments with the university was the overall growth of the 49ers athletics department, culminating with the unveiling of the school’s football program in 2013.

Tim Stevens - One of six North Carolinians in the National High School Hall of Fame, Stevens built a national reputation for his reporting of high school athletics. He covered high school sports for The Raleigh Times and The Raleigh News & Observer for 48 years, winning numerous national awards. Named as one of the top 10 sports reporters in the country by the AP Sports Editors, Stevens is a member of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame and its media award is named in his honor.

Donnell Woolford – A three-sport star at Fayetteville’s Douglas Byrd High School, Woolford graduated from Clemson University, where he earned All-ACC and All-American honors twice. A first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 1989 and a Pro Bowl honoree in 1993, Woolford started every game from 1989-1996 and ranks third in Bears history with 32 career interceptions. A Graduate Assistant Coach at Clemson in 2016, he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2005.

https://www.thegarnernews.com/garner-news-features/tim-stevens-inducted-into-north-carolina-sports-hall-of-fame

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Meet Wendy Dickerson and all of her queens when you take a stroll through the GPAC lobby this month. This dynamic artist brings an array of bright and colorful art work that focuses on the depth and beauty of African-American women.

https://www.thegarnernews.com/arts-entertainment/wendy-dickerson-garner-arts

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He’s one of the few people in our community who doesn’t need a surname. He’s just Buck.

Buck Kennedy

The name Arthur L. Kennedy may not sound familiar to a lot of people in Garner, but say “Buck”—or “Buck Kennedy” if you must—and folks around town will think of decades of accomplishments, achievements and unselfish contributions that have helped make this All-America City a great place to be.

Buck’s longstanding and continuing commitment to Garner makes him an eminently worthy recipient of the James R. Stevens Service to Garner Award. His devotion to the community is in keeping with James Stevens’ tradition of service to Garner that spans decades.

Buck may have notched up his most noticeable accomplishments while serving on the Garner Town Council for the past 16 years. His business acumen and engineering background have been much-needed assets as Garner has navigated through a period of intense growth and expansion. No matter how difficult or straightforward the issue, Buck has always taken the time to perform due diligence regarding the matters that come before the Council.

Often, Buck’s first question is whether a specific program or addition is needed; his second is about the cost. Yet his hawkishness on fiscal matters does not mean he is a “No, because” kind of person. Rather, he’s a “Yes, if” visionary. Unlike many visionaries, however, Buck has proven adept at being an outstanding team player who works whenever possible to build consensus among Town leaders.

Buck’s achievements in Town government constitute just one part of his contributions to Garner. He has been an active member of Aversboro Road Baptist Church for 40 years. He is one of the church’s three trustees, and the list of committees on which he has served includes practically all of the major ones. He recently played a key role in the church’s search for a new pastor. In addition, he is a Sunday School teacher, a deacon and an outreach leader. His is a faith of action.

Buck was active behind the scenes to help bring to fruition one of the marvelous new amenities in Garner. The community had been working to have a YMCA facility here since at least the late 1990s. Buck co-chaired a successful capital campaign that ensured the community’s dream would become a reality, and, in 2017, the Poole Family YMCA on Aversboro Road opened its doors.

Buck continues to help with a yearly financial campaign for the YMCA and served on the Poole YMCA advisory board. He also is on the YMCA of the Triangle Board of Trustees.

In recognition of his efforts, the Poole Family Y awarded Buck its Faye Gardner Community Impact Award in 2018 and honored him for his exceptional service to the Garner community for the period from 2008 to 2016.

Buck’s commitment to civic duty also is reflected in his having perfect attendance at the Garner Morning Rotary Club for the past 30 years. Why would someone make a commitment to attending every meeting, or attending a makeup meeting, and fulfill it for 30 years? Buck’s answer is that he made a commitment, and commitments are important things. He further illustrated his devotion to the club by serving as its president.

Buck’s discipline and patience were honed in his youth in Kinston and later in the U.S. Army. He graduated from officer training school as a lieutenant then served our country in South Korea in the post-conflict years.

As he went on to build a highly successful career with The Wooten Company (eventually becoming president of the firm), Buck and his wife, Barbara, could have chosen to live anywhere in the Triangle, but they chose Garner. And because the Kennedys put down their roots here, Garner has become a much better place to be.

Buck’s service to the community over the past several decades has made a lasting, positive impact on Garner. For that, he’s recognized around town as a man who needs no surname. And now, it’s time to recognize him as winner of this prestigious service award.

https://www.thegarnernews.com/garner-politics/buck-kennedy-stevens-award

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The Garner Police Department has welcomed three new officers recently:

Josh Hammond joined the Police Department in May. He completed basic law enforcement training (BLET) through the Wake County Sheriff’s Office. He most recently served as a deputy sheriff with the Wake County Sheriff’s Office.

Christopher Phinney was sworn in as an officer in the Police Department last month. He graduated from East Carolina University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a minor in security studies. He attended Wake Tech Community College for his BLET, graduating last month.        

Officer Hammond (left) with Chief Zuidema

Patrick Taylor also was sworn in last month. He received his BLET training at Pitt Community College, graduating in May. Taylor also graduated in May from East Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a minor in political science.  

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Real news. The Garner News is about timely and accurate events, reports, and happenings. Old school diligence in this new school era of media. Garner deserves no less

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Local News. The Garner News is about Garner from Garner. It is news and insights by your neighbors and long-time Garner residents who know Garner and love Garner, not stories generated by some regional newspaper or media company’s metrics about Garner.