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Volume 45, No. 51
Pender Schools consider flu shots
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The 52nd annual North Carolina Spot Festival is this weekend in Hampstead. Music, arts and crafts, and of course, plenty of spots. Read about the festival in this week’s insert.
The Pender-Topsail
&
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Volleyball wins After a difficult beginning to their seasons, Pender County volleyball teams all hit pay dirt last week with conference wins. Read about the teams and more in sports beginning on page 7A
Helping the Humane Society
Burgaw wrestles with free speech By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Vaccines may be available in the high schools By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Flu vaccinations may be offered again at Pender County high schools, according to Superintendent Dr. Terri Cobb. Cobb responded last week to a call from Pender County Commissioner George Brown for flu vaccinations to be made available in local schools. In a release last week, Cobb said “Pender County Schools recognizes the benefits of the flu shot and has worked with the local health department last year to offer it at each of our high schools and extended the invitation to feeder schools, as well as other interested staff and community members. The district hopes to do so again this flu season.” During the 2014-15 flu season, flu vaccinations were offered from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on a designated day at Topsail and Trask high schools. Vaccinations were available at Pender High School through the on-campus medical clinic (PATH). “This is not something that we do without permission from the parents for any child,” Cobb told the Post & Voice. Cobb says the school system did not offer flu shots in the elementary schools last year, but the schools provide information and promote the vaccination services offered at the Pender County Health Department. “We think the parents need to be much more involved at the elementary schools. We want to get them there and tell them where to go and the parents take them,” Cobb said. “We have not talked to the elementary schools about options this year. It is a conversation we are willing to have. We want to be respectful of parents rights and we don’t want to bother the instructional time. This can get to be a huge undertaking for principals.” Last year, students were required to present a parental consent form. Staff also were required to fill out a consent form.
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Staff photos by Andy Pettigrew
Volunteers serve spaghetti at the Pender County Humane Society’s spaghetti supper in Hampstead Sept. 18. The dinners help provide funding for the Society, which works to help animals and promote their welfare in the county.
At the historic Burgaw Depot
Business Expo scheduled for Oct.7 By Lori Kirkpatrick Post & Voice Staff Writer The Burgaw Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC) will host its Business Expo Oct. 7 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Depot in Burgaw. The Chamber is still accepting sponsors and there are more than thirty spaces available at the Expo. Sponsors of this year’s event include: Four County EMC, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Pender County Farm Bureau and the Town of Burgaw. There will be a Best Dressed Vendor Booth Contest for this year’s Expo. The top three best-dressed booths will be awarded prizes. In addition to the vendor booths, the occasion will be also highlight several seminars. Connette Bradley, from N.C. Insurance Advisors in Wilmington, will present updates on the Affordable Care Act for 2016. Bradley has been a member of the chamber for several years. Jackson Hewitt will give a tax presentation, as
well. Alan Wilson from the Burgaw Fire Department will discuss fire prevention, and Rosemary Pittman from the Pender County state employment service office will present a seminar on reentering the workforce. Emily Baker, Executive Director of the BACC, is looking forward to this year’s Expo. “I have spent some time time online trying to find better ways and new things to incorporate, and there is a lot of good information out there. I will also be looking for community input for seminars to do in the future. We have to go with the flow and with the changes in the community. That’s what it’s all about. We are here to serve the membership and the people of our area. I love our place here in Burgaw.” An Atkinson native, Baker came on board as director in late June of last year. The BACC is a membership-based, non-profit organization committed to helping the Burgaw
Burgaw Commissioners are looking to the possibility of restricting certain types of activities at public gatherings in the town. The ordinance under consideration grew out of complaints and an altercation at the 2015 N.C. Blueberry Festival involving a street preacher. The individual was preaching in the middle of Wright Street in front of Burgaw Antique place. Several vendors complained that the man was driving away their customers. The preacher was asked to leave by Burgaw Police after an altercation with a festival attendee who took issue with the man. “The board wants to respect the rights of the people attending the festivals while also accommodating the First Amendment rights of those who want to speak,” said Burgaw Town Manager Chad McEwen. McEwen says the board has discussed several options, and it is leaning toward establishing a specific location that is designated during an event that street preachers, protesters and others can use. “This would be reserved for this type activity. They won’t need a permit or application. That way their rights are protected and we won’t have the disruption and complaints related to this type of activity,” said McEwen. McEwen said the proposed ordinance is under review by the town attorney and will likely be discussed at the board’s October meeting.
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
N.C. Forest Ranger Hagan Blake (left) and personel from the local office at the 2014 Business Expo. area business community prosper. Baker shares in the Chamber’s mission of being the leading advocate of business and industry, unified to promote and enhance economic growth in Pender County and the surrounding region. Baker has spent the last
year reaching out to the other small nearby chambers to learn about what is working for them, and what might work for the Burgaw Chamber, in order to help members network and collaborate with one another. She has enjoyed
Continued on page 3A
Street preaching at the N.C. Blueberry Festival
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