Liberty Fire Department 515 West Swannanoa Ave. Liberty,
This report covers December LFD responded to 117 calls during the month of December 2025. This is a new monthly call high at LFD.
For 2025, LFD ran 1176 calls, also a record high call volume. These were broken into:
- 25 structure fires
- 32 outdoor fires
- 6 vehicle fires
- 29 smoke scares
- 25 motor vehicle accidents with injuries
- 38 motor vehicle accidents without injuries 14 gas leaks
- 5 hazardous materials spills
- 1 water rescue
- 59 false alarms
- 16 no incident found at address
the fire department, as well as had several firefighters attend emergency medical care at RCC.
• On December 6, LFD assisted Liberty Police Department, The Liberty Chamber of Commerce and Liberty Public works with the annual Christmas Parade.
• December 13, LFD and Kimesville Fire Department conducted annual pump tests at Overmann's Pond.
• Also on December 13, LFD Fire and Life Safety Educator and firefighter Ga1y Jaggers was recognized by American Post 81 as firefighter of the year.
Employee Safety
There was one reported injury during the month of December No workdays were missed.
Liberty Christmas Parade Safety
Numerous safety and operational changes were implemented at the December 6 Christmas Parade. These included improved barricade placement and additional time for barricade filling. Liberty Public Works added concrete barriers on Asheboro Street and road closed signs on Fayetteville Street. Liberty Police obtained a statewide event channel for all agencies involved to communicate effectively. There was one medical emergency by a parade participant. Thanks to the positioning of police and fire throughout the area, response was less than one minute.
enforcement/ Military/ Senior Citizens
No Money up front no deposit 100% satisfaction guarantee
We do take credit cards/ debit cards
We Appreciate your Business
GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH
- Dangerous Tree Removal - Topping Canopy
- Raise Stumps - Stump Grinding
We’ve had a tough but blessed 2025. Let us help you with all your property maintenance needs. Inside or outside, we can help. Contact us today at 336-509-1752. We’re committed to long lasting relationships. We offer:
- Landscape maintenance contracts
- Power washing
- Turf management
- Landscape installation & removal
- Grading and drainage solutions
- Mulch, pine needles, river rock
- Leaf cleanup and removal- curbside pickup available
- Mosquito, flea, tick management
- Tree trimming and removal
- Snow removal
- Handyman services
SHILOH METHODIST CHURCH
7394 Shiloh Rd, Liberty, NC
Shiloh is a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church
Sunday School: 9:45 AM
Worship: 11:00 AM
Bible Study: Tuesday 7:00 PM
Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly
Liberty Parks and Recreation December 2025 Monthly Report
•Our basketball season has started, and we hosted our first games before Christmas break. We will resume practices after New Year's, and games will start again on January 10th. The season is set to end in early March.
•Our baseball registration opened before Christmas break and will close in early February. Practices are expected to start in early March.
•We hosted our first Christmas tree painting class this year. The class location was Liberty Grounds, and Studio 421 taught the class. Participants seemed to enjoy it; a big thank you to Liberty Grounds for hosting!
•Our department stated doing "Christmas Letters" this year. We received around 160-170 letters. We partnered with Liberty Elementary School and local preschools. We also got local businesses involved as they placed letters in their stores for children/ parents to pick up after hours. This is a program we will implement annually.
•Soon, we will begin planning the "Run with Lily" event. The event should take place in March.
•We hosted our "Fit for Liberty" event on November 23rd. The event grew compared to the previous year and included a DEKA competition, a turkey trot, food vendors, and more!
www.shilohmethodistchurch.com
Liberty Public Library Dec
2,540 Items Were Checked
Out in November. This is a 33% increase from the 1,906 items in November of 2024. Here are some of the Community Savings with those checkouts-
24 Hour Free Wifi Use WiFi had 158 unique users in November. This means that people connected to our free WiFi outside or within our building.
Online Resource Use
Our November EBook use was 163, EMagazines was 54, and EAudio use was 149.
Door Count
Our November door count was 3,826.
Programs
The Library held onsite 17 programs with 404 participants. We provided 2 story time programs to local preschools, and participated in the Fit for Liberty event at Liberty Elementary.
Funds Received
In November 2025, we received $118.00 for printing services. That totals $1,724.20
MOBILE FOOD MARKET MAKES AN IMPACT
We hosted Out of the Garden Project for a mobile food market in November after being approached by this organization for trying out our location as a pickup in Randolph County. This was a "drive through" model where they brought a large truck with food that was quickly sorted and attendees pulled up to have items placed in their vehicle. Those receiving food had to have children 0-18 within their home. Volunteers locally as well as from Asheboro Latinxs Services, UNCG, and NC A& T came to provide 117 families with food. And Toyota made up meal boxes that went to every person who attended. We are grateful for our community supporting our efforts to address food insecurity in our area.
Megan Mandy
Ann
Susie
PUBLIC WORKS MONTHLY REPORT
PREPARED BY PUBLIC SERVICE DIRECTOR - JOSEPH WALSH
LIMBS- Grapple truck is actively picking up limbs per schedule
LEAF- Still gathering bag leaves, Leaf truck is out running the routes Bulky Item- The Street Department is still currently picking up Bulky Item waste every week with a pretty good collection rate averaging 1.5 tons a week. We implement a seasonal pickup for the holidays WATER- Town has had a couple of water leaks all repaired in house. Sewer- Sampling has begun per Greensboro utilities request on sewer effluent. Sewer line lateral break on 600 block of S Fayetteville st. Streets- Patch paving will start the days following 1-12-26. NCDOT came out and looked at patches on Swannanoa Ave and failed the paving on E Swannanoa. Many vehicles repairs have been completed in house.
*5529 Hollow Hill Rd., Liberty- 4 bedroom,2 3/4 bath brick Ranch, on One Hundred and ten acres,( Fresh survey), 60% wooded and 40% pasture, full basement, 4 raised hearth fire places, Heat pump and also whole home Taylor furnace (wood Heat), long paved road frontage, 2400 Sq. Ft. shop with 16 ft. ceiling, two miles from Toyota site, $ 2,100,000.00
* Call us for single family rentals in the Liberty area . We currently have two home rentals available.
* Call us for mini-storage rentals with "on Site" security.
The Randolph County School System participated in the America 250 NC County Flag Challenge, a project commemorating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States. The County Flag Challenge is a statewide contest for North Carolina fourth-grade students, initiated by the America 250 NC team to help county committees engage meaningfully with their local communities. The objectives of the project include building awareness of America 250 NC and local county committees; fostering collaborative relationships among America 250 NC, county committees, schools, and families; encouraging critical thinking in fourth-grade students about community, history, geography, and culture through symbolic representation; supporting teachers as they introduce concepts of community identity and America 250 NC ideals; providing a public platform for student voices; and creating a lasting artistic record of this historic moment. Each elementary school in the Randolph County School System selected one student winner. All accompanying essays were submitted to the Central Of leadership selected the top three winners for RCSS. The the Randolph County School System is Santiago from Southmont Elementary School. Second place was awarded to Layden from Grays Chapel Elementary School, and third place was awarded to Brice from Hopewell Elementary School. Congratulations to Santiago for being selected as the winner, and to Layden and Brice for earning runner-up honors. The Randolph County America 250 committee will conduct its own internal voting process to select one overall county winner. The county-winning submitted to America 250 NC, which will feature winners and runners-up through social media, blog posts, and newsletters. Each county winner will also be highlighted on the America 250 NC website. Additionally, the Randolph County committee plans to display all submitted locations throughout the county as we proudly celebrate the 250th birthday of our great nation!
February 2026 The Liberty Leader Newspaper
PD Monthly
Liberty PD annual summary highlights:
Total Traffic Stops: 1,179
Total Citations: 775
Total Charges: 1,271
Total Warnings: 406
Total Processes Obtained: 14
Total Processes Served: 18
Average MPH Over the Limit: 20.78
Total Daily Logs: 7,359
Traffic Accidents:57
Domestic Disturbances, etc. 169
Lt. Scala participated in the following SERT training and missions. Approximately 100 hours of team training consisting of hostage rescue, close quarter combat, high risk warrant service, barricade subject and more.
Approximately 25 hours of practical firearms training focusing on marksmanship fundamentals, moving and shooting (individual and team movements), shooting under stress and more.
Approximately 60 hours of Marksman training focusing on precision shooting from 25-1200 yards, engaging moving targets, engaging targets from unconventional/improvised shooting positions, scenario based training and more.
12 call outs for a combination of the following: high risk arrest warrant services, various high threat crimes actively occurring, high risk search warrants and more.
Detectives
During 2025, the Liberty Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division (CID) carried out a broad range of investigative, enforcement, and community safety operations. Despite ongoing PD Monthly
Liberty PD annual summary highlights:
Total Traffic Stops: 1,179
Total Citations: 775
Total Charges: 1,271
Total Warnings: 406
Total Processes Obtained: 14
Total Processes Served: 18
Average MPH Over the Limit: 20.78
Total Daily Logs: 7,359
Traffic Accidents:57
Domestic Disturbances, etc. 169
Lt. Scala participated in the following SERT training and missions. Approximately 100 hours of team training consisting of hostage rescue, close quarter combat, high risk warrant service, barricade subject and more.
Approximately 25 hours of practical firearms training focusing on marksmanship fundamentals, moving and shooting (individual and team movements), shooting under stress and more.
Approximately 60 hours of Marksman training focusing on precision shooting from 25-1200 yards, engaging moving targets, engaging targets from unconventional/improvised shooting positions, scenario based training and more.
12 call outs for a combination of the following: high risk arrest warrant services, various high threat crimes actively occurring, high risk search warrants and more.
Detectives
During 2025, the Liberty Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division (CID) carried out a broad range of investigative, enforcement, and community safety operations. Despite ongoing Arrests & Enforcement Impact
Throughout 2025, Liberty PD's CID investigations and task force operations resulted in arrests for a wide range of offenses. Multiple suspects were apprehended for child sexual exploitation and hands-on offenses. Other arrests included firearm-by-felon violations, narcotics offenses, breaking and entering, trespassing, fraud, felony larceny, worthless checks, identity theft, and obstruction of justice. These arrests demonstrate the department's commitment to protecting children, mitigating violent and high-risk criminal activity, and safeguarding the community against property and financial crimes.
K9 Program - Chip
K9 Chip continued to provide critical operational support and community engagement. Chip was deployed for ICAC, homicide, probation, and compliance searches, and participated in weekly certification training, regional and statewide ESD training, and Force-on-Force tactical exercises. The K9 team also contributed to community events, including school presentations, National Night Out, the lnvictus 5K, July Festival, Senior Citizens Open House, and Halloween safety programs.
Training & Professional Development
Detective Hargrove served as an instructor for national and state ICAC training sessions, attended tactical medical, breaching/entry, vehicle assault, extrication, and annual firearms qualifications, and completed Force-on-Force tactical training in December 2025. These efforts enhanced departmental preparedness and ensured ongoing operational excellence.
Community Engagement & Support
CID personnel provided patrol coverage to supplement staffing shortages, assisted with ABC permittee checks, supported community events, and conducted public outreach presentations. Collaboration with DSS, the District Attorney's Office, and neighboring law enforcement agencies enhanced investigations of child abuse, sexual exploitation, and financial crimes, reflecting Liberty PD's commitment to both public safety and victim advocacy. We remain understaffed with very limited applicants for the open positions.
Chief D.J Semrad
Liberty Police Department Liberty, NC 336-622-9053
February 2026 The Liberty Leader Newspaper
Plants, plants & more plants! Rose Garden
Club members purchased many beauties to enhance our annual spring fundraiser!
“Green & Growin’ event - Greensboro
The Walk for Peace has come and gone. What many of you didn't see was the tremendous work your town employees (and others) did to host it safely.
FIRST......PUBLIC WORKS...these guys are out at all hours working hard for you to keep the town going. They are never in the photos and never seem to be acknowledged by the public when events like this are going on. They were "all hands on deck" to help with traffic and barricades. This town could not operate without them!
The RCSO patrol units and their special units guys, you saw some of them escorting the walk, but you probably did not see all the others in town supporting us.
Randolph County Emergency Services Management, for keeping a presence and bringing in equipment your PD simply doesn't have the budget for.
EMS for having an extra unit come all the way to the corner of the county, "just in case". The Fire Department for opening their doors to the Monks and giving them a place to eat and rest.
The Town for giving us the "green light" to get the things done...that needed to get done.
The VAST majority of visitors who were so pleasant to talk with, from the ladies from Minnesota to the young man from Maine down to the family from Mississippi, we had people from all over the eastern US plus all the hometown crowd.
Lastly, my heartfelt thanks to the Liberty PD Officers, we brought in everybody that was not working night shift. They kept the traffic (mostly) moving in the right direction, the visitors safe, answered what seemed like a million questions and succeeded in keeping the various groups of people moving in the right direction.
Chief DJ Semrad
P.S. I borrowed Aaron Baileys excellent photo for this, unfortunately we were to busy to get our own...
2026 Randolph County 4-H Youth Livestock Interest Meeting
An interest meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in Meeting Room AB at the Randolph County Agriculture Center located at 1880 US Hwy 64 E, Asheboro, NC.
This meeting is designed to provide families with an overview of 4-H youth livestock opportunities for youth ages 9-18, including: Livestock judging, Skillathon, and Quiz Bowl. This program covers the following species: beef cattle, goats, sheep, and swine.
Please complete the form below if you are interested in learning more about 4-H livestock programs and upcoming opportunities.
For more information, contact Allison Walker at allison_walker@ncsu.edu or text/call (336) 467-2927.
February 2026 The Liberty Leader Newspaper
State Champions! Providence Grove Patriot Cheer Brings Home First Place Trophy
Randolph County School System
January 29, 2026
On Friday, January 9, the Providence Grove Patriot Cheer team traveled to the Cabarrus Arena and Event Center in Concord, NC, to compete in the 2025–2026 North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Cheerleading Invitational. The Patriots were supported by a strong showing of school administration, families, and fans who filled the stands to cheer them on throughout the competition.
The team delivered an outstanding performance marked by precision, energy, and school pride. Decided by less than one point—the Patriot Cheerleaders earned the First Place trophy, securing the top spot in their category.
This remarkable achievement is a testament to the athletes’ hard work, dedication, and countless hours of practice, as well as the leadership and commitment of their coaching staff.
Congratulations to our Patriot State Champions!
Firefighters from Liberty Fire and Kimesville Fire and Rescue are attending Emergency Vehicle Driving (EVD) training. Special thanks to Staley Fire Department for hosting this event and to instructor Yancy King for an informative presentation. EVD training teaches:
• Defensive driving under stress
• Managing speed
• Avoiding rollovers and collisions
• Stay calm under pressure
Fire department EVD training is essential because no emergency is ghters alive, protects the public, and ensures crews arrive ready to do their job.
New Chapter
5 o’clock Thursday Jan 29 brought emotions like I have never experienced. I turned over my keys and walked out of the business that Lynn Routh and I have poured our lives into for the past 25 years. God blessed us tremendously during this time and I thank him immensely. I also want to thank the awesome staff of coworkers pictured above and the many others that were there for any period of time since we started in 2001. They made our business what it is and they will make it successful under the new ownership. To every single customer that ever came in I cannot thank you enough. We always tried to do our best to treat you and your vehicles like family and I think we succeeded far more than we failed in that regard. I am proud that we always supported the local schools, parks and rec, and civic organizations and hopefully we made our community a little better place over the past 25 years. Thank you all again for your support over the years and for giving us the chance to serve you. Now on to the next chapter of life, whatever God brings my way.
Saturday March 14th 2026
BBQ Supper Drive Thru Only 4:00pm to Sold Out
Hickory Grove Traditional Methodist Church 10068 Silk Hope Liberty Rd. Liberty NC 27298
February 2026 The Liberty Leader Newspaper
ROUSH RACING
FROM DEE SMITH 1-27-2026
Well the only thing I know is that Roush Racing wanted to be out in the country & not too far from Charlotte. And where, you know not in the thick of things. I don't know how they chose Liberty, but they did.
It started out just being Mark Martin in the 1980’s. In the number 6 Strohs & Strohs Light car, then Folgers in early 1990’s. Later, Ted Musgraves with the Keystone Light car joined the team & Roush became a 2 race team shop.
My friend Daryl Smithback was the fabricator for Mark Martin cars. They switched sponsorships, still in the Ford, to the number 6 Folgers.
In the Christmas parades, they put in the car hauler which was driven by Dennis Richey. And then in 1993 it switched over to Valvoline, and I had the first picture of the Valvoline car before the paint Scheme and all, before it was released to the public. Me and my buddy Daryl would go up to Roush and we would take his late model car, and would work on it in the Roush shop while the race team was out of state.
Daryl Smithback brought his late model down from Wisconsin and we raced late model at Caraway in Asheboro. We had moved from Smith Tractor Garage to a building Wayne Wright had beside the old Freeman Ford dealership in Liberty. There we, Daryl, myself and Johnny Talley & Johnny Bray worked on Daryl’s late model and built one of Ted Musgrave’s Winston Cup cars there. The name of our late model was J&D racing #6. Roush let us use their place when we needed to do something bigger than what we had the capabilities of doing. Brown's Brothers Well Drilling was one of our biggest sponsors. In 1988, me and Terrell Staley and our wives went to Daytona. And Steve Mills got us into the garage area and the pit area. Which that was a thrill for us. There, drivers such as Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, Dale Earnhardt & Alan Kulwicki were there, and they were working on their own cars. We had to leave the garage
Through Smithback, who raced against Robbie Risor (crew chief for Matt Kenseth) in Wisconsin, flat tracks; We would all meet up at Myrtle Beach speed way running late model there. I think Matt ran Super Late model. Our team helped Matt’s team pitt the car during his race. He qualified Outside Pole and finished 2nd. Our crew was involved in actual pitt stops with Matt’s race team. We didn’t have pitt stops with our late model car. I was the jack man, Smithback was tire changing man & Stephen Grimes was the gas can catch man. Next thing we knew, Matt Kenseth was driving for Roush in their #17 Dewalt Sponsorship which made Roush a 3 car race team.
After we stopped running Daryl’s late model. We went to Siler City to Grimes racing #39 with House of Raeford sponsorship late model and raced at Caraway. After the end of the season in Asheboro, we would run N. Wilkesboro and Martinsville big races. Ted Musgraves would come over to our camp and talk racing and eat and have a cold one with us. We were so blessed to have access to speedways’ pitts and garage areas such as Rockingham, N. Wilkesboro & Martinsville, VA through Roush racing. Roush had the Cougar road course car “The Whistler Radar detector” was the sponsor. And they had that car there in Liberty, NC sometimes as well as other personal cars. A 1956 Galaxy & 1966 Shelby Mustang 2 seater 429 Cobra Jet. During that time Steve Mills was the crew chief & team manager. Then Ryan Pemberton came in and became crew chief from what I remember. Eddie Barber would gather up folks from Liberty together with Holiday Tours & go to races such as Bristol, TN. Steve would let them meet at Roush racing and get a tour of the shop before their trip. I
Energy Efficiency Rebates Now Available
Through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $208,000,000 to the State of North Carolina to implement energy efficiency and appliance rebate programs for low-to-moderate income homeowners and renters. The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is administering the two programs, known as Homeowners Managing Energy Savings (HOMES) and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR). Homeowners and renters in Northeast Randolph County who make less than 150% the average annual median income rate (AMI) per household, or $127,800 a year as of 2025, are qualified to receive up to $30,000 in combined work that can be used for measures like heat pump or electrical upgrades, new sealing and insulation, or high efficiency electrical appliances.
Income-eligible residents of North Carolina can now start the application process to potentially save thousands of dollars on energy-saving home upgrades and appliances at www.energysavernc.org. This program is scheduled to continue until September 30, 2031, or when program funds are exhausted.
The Town of Ramseur received word today that the North Carolina State Parks and Recreation has signed the contract for the Engineering/Design for Harlan Creek Bridge. When completed the Ramseur side of Deep River State Trail will be connected to Franklinville side of Deep Rive State Trail offering a wonderful trail for families to enjoy. The trail head and parking for the trail which is also being worked on is on Brooklyn Avenue in Ramseur just before the Deep River Bridge and across from Depot Street. The Town of Ramseur is excited to be a part of trails in North Carolina. Thank You should also go to Mary Joan Pugh, Randolph County Trail Coordinator for all her hard work.
