15 minute read
Local COVID-19 Resources
LocalCOVID-19Resources
Sarah Gordon Community Impact Coordinator (336) 560-2548 sgordon@uwalamance.org
Advocacy of children, students & families in the Eastern part of Alamance County 849 Sharpe Rd, Burlington NC (336) 438-1463 lisa@citygatechurch.com
849 Sharpe Rd Burlington NC
BLESSED SACRAMENT "Little Portions Food Pantry" & Diaper Bank
To find Blessed Sacrament resources closest to you visit 328 W Davis St. Burlington NC 27215 or CALL 336-222-6868 Services may be on varied schedules and may require an appointment or arriving within a given timeslot
Please call for times/days
James Merritt “Jim” Tisdale moved from Selma, North Carolina to Burlington to start a general store in 1893, when he was 41 years old. Since a major economic recession hit the country that year his timing could hardly have been worse, but he not only managed to survive, he even prospered, and remained in business in Burlington for the next 29 years. Jim’s primary secret to success, besides hard work and being kind to his patrons, is that knew what his customers liked and wanted to see in a store and did his best to accommodate them. Therefore, his store was not the stereotypical general store where old men sat around playing checkers on the top of a cracker barrel and spitting tobacco juice. It was always spotlessly clean, and merchandise was always neatly arranged and orderly.
In 1896, Jim got out of the general store business and concentrated exclusively on groceries. His primary contribution to Burlington is that he was the first to establish an “up to date” or “fancy” grocery store, i.e., the forerunner of today’s modern supermarket. Previously, shoppers had to tell a grocer what they wanted, and someone would then retrieve it from a storeroom. But Jim was progressive and innovative, and his grocery store was one “that may well be considered to have been a model of the presentday plan of display, sales and distribution.” In other words, he carried the widest variety of produce possible, and arranged all goods in an
attractive display on his shelves so that shoppers could peruse everything before buying.
Jim’s store moved quite a few times during the 29 years he was in business (1893-1922), and at least his first four moves all appear to have taken place between 1893 and about 1900. His first location was the Coble & Fogleman building at what is now 124 East Davis Street. It was the Davis Street entrance to Rose’s dime store for most of the second half of the twentieth century and is now part of the Lab Corp complex. From there he moved to the Sullivan building, at what is now 131 West Davis Street. His third location was in the Turrentine building, at what is now 351 South Main Street. His fourth location was in a new brick building constructed by Henry G. Kime, at what is now 118-122 East Davis Street shop. His fifth, and best remembered, location was in the Walker building, now 327 South Main Street, where he was in business from about 1900 until about 1913. His sixth, and final, location was in the new building built by Chris and Joe Isley at the corner of Worth and West Front streets, across Worth Street from the new City Hall. Interestingly, every building Jim Tisdale was in is still standing but the last one. The Isley building was destroyed by fire in 1930.
Although the J. M. Tisdale Mercantile Co. was a successful operation, it never made Jim very much money due to the fact that all transactions were on credit. That was the way business was done
in Burlington at the time. One simply went into a store, got what he/she wanted, and told the clerk to “charge it.” The amount was entered into an account book, and a bill was sent at the end of the month, but more than a few people were not very diligent about settling their accounts. When Jim retired in May 1922, his former customers still owed him thousands of dollars.
Following his retirement, Jim devoted most of his remaining years to church and Masonic activities. He was a devout member of First Baptist Church and an active Mason in Bula Lodge #409. He served as master of the lodge and had been a Mason for 63 years at the time of his death.
Jim died of a cerebral hemorrhage at about 7:45 p.m. on December 22, 1941, at the age of 89. He is buried in Pine Hill Cemetery.
WALTER BOYD contributor
A little over 100 years ago, one of the most As with any type of flu, the big danger from deadly pandemics in history, and certainly the the Spanish Flu was not from the virus itself, but from deadliest of the 20th century, broke out in every secondary infections, especially pneumonia, which corner of the world. It was called the “Spanish Flu,” often resulted from a weakened immune system. What not because it originated in Spain, but because the made this second wave so deadly is that it seemed to first reports of it originated from that country during attack and kill those between about 20-40, who usually the late spring of 1918. Although the disease was have the most-healthy immune systems. already ravaging all of Europe at the time, reports of The second wave of the Spanish Flu arrived it in other countries were censored by the warring in Alamance County in the fall of 1918. The first powers so as not to affect morale among the troops. reported cases appear to have occurred at Elon Since Spain was neutral, its newspapers were the only College, at or about the time the school opened its sources of reports about the new disease, and this gave doors on September 19, and most locals at the time the misleading impression that it was the origin of the suspected that students from the Tidewater, Virginia disease and the most affected country. area brought it back with them because they were in It is such close known today proximity to that the Spanish major ports. Flu was an At least 300 H1N1 virus, students came similar to the down with swine flu that the flu and appeared in there were 2009, but no three reported one is quite sure deaths. where it originated. Nurses in Washington, DC, demonstrate how Classes were never However, one prevailing to carry an influenza patient on a stretcher officially canceled, theory is that it originated in Camp Funston, although many were never held because neither the Kansas in March 1918 and then spread to Europe by professors nor the students were able to attend. American soldiers being shipped to France. The Spanish Flu spread throughout Alamance This early version of the Spanish Flu was County and the rest of North Carolina beginning initially considered no worse than any other seasonal around the end of September. On October 3, the State flu, with most of those contacting it suffering only Board of Health said the state was “in the grip of an minor symptoms and recovering within a few days. epidemic of the grippe” (the old name for influenza), It raged throughout Europe in May, June, and July; and said it was due to “spit swapping,” which it defined a period that became known as “the first wave.” as open coughing or sneezing viral particles into the However, at some point in August, it seems the virus air. It warned against handshakes, advised people not mutated into a much more virulent form, apparently to go to movie theaters, and encouraged the use of among the soldiers fighting on the Western Front in paper cups. France. From there, this deadly form was apparently In Burlington, mills and schools quickly shut introduced into the United States from ships down, although most businesses remained open. returning from Europe, since most of the major However, people soon began wearing masks and outbreaks in September seem to have occurred in gloves, keeping their distance from others, and refusing Atlantic coast seaports. to shake hands.
Due to the fact that there was no vaccine against the Spanish Flu, and no antibiotics to treat the secondary infections, control was limited to isolation, quarantines on sick individuals, a ban on public gatherings, and use of disinfectants. Although during previous epidemics of deadly diseases such as diphtheria, smallpox, and typhoid, Burlington’s officials had been quick to impose these restrictions and enforced them strictly, no mandatory orders were given because, by the end of the first week of October, the flu had subsided to the point where the mills reopened and John Robinson’s Circus came to town on Tuesday, October 15, drawing large crowds of people. Both of these events may have resulted in a large increase in the number of cases after October 15.
Finally, on October 23, when the Spanish Flu was at its worst, the Alamance County Board of Health banned all public gatherings, indoors and out, until November 30. People were prohibited from going in and out of homes where someone had the flu unless they were nurses or on some errand of mercy or necessity. Those who had the flu were barred from leaving their homes unless a physician cleared them. Burlington Graded School was converted into an emergency hospital during the epidemic.
People in Burlington took these restrictions in stride. They had become used to self-isolation, quarantines, bans on travel, and the closing of schools and businesses during epidemics of smallpox, diphtheria, and other deadly diseases many times during the 60+ years preceding the Spanish Flu.
The last two weeks in October were the worst in Burlington. No deaths were reported in September, but at least 29 people died of it during the month of October, with October 26 being the worst day with four deaths. Strangely, however, by the beginning of November, new cases dropped abruptly to near zero—not just in Burlington but all over the country. This may have been due to the virus mutating again to a non-lethal form, but no one really knows.
Although cases of the Spanish Flu continued to pop up until early 1920, the euphoria which accompanied the sudden and unexpected end to World War I on November 11, 1918, along with the reduced number of cases and the lower mortality, relegated the Spanish Flu to the back pages of the newspapers and it was quickly forgotten.
When the Spanish Flu pandemic was finally over, an estimated 850,000 Americans had died. Worldwide deaths are unknown but have been estimated in the tens of millions, and at least as high as the 50 million who died during World War I.
WALTER BOYD contributor
a Transformative future awaits Alamance Community College
Imagine Alamance Community College stakeholders providing feedback. as a regional hub for innovative, indusHow did the College discern the need try-supported and technology-based for both projects? workforce development in the rapidly In 2015-16, the College assembled a expanding fields of biotechnology and cross-section of community leaders to related life sciences. ascertain if, and what, specialized pro
Imagine Alamance Community College gramming might emerge as a Center of serving as a regional hub for police, fire, Excellence. The College’s biotechnology and rescue training, drawing law enforceprogram – the longest running two-year ment and emergency personnel from east program of its kind in the nation – was and west to a state-of-the-art training soon front and center. facility in Green Level. Biotechnology is a wide-ranging field
The College’s leadership imagined that embraces stem cell and regenerative both scenarios four years ago in crafting medicine, pharmacology, histotechnology, a $39.6 million bond referendum that cytotechnology, nanotechnology, microbicould undergird both major ology, bio-manufacturing capital projects — each The College's Medical Laboratory Technology program is and food crop science. slated for completion in 2022. critical to the diagnostics industry Biotechnology is the use of living organisms to
Alamance County voters Alamance County precinct – unprecedentperform specific indus— recognizing the College’s contribution ed in its history. trial and manufacturing processes. to workforce development and the ecoNow, the heavy lifting begins for the The College has the most complete nomic vitality of the region — supported College. This year is dedicated to archibio-manufacturing suite of any North the bond by a 2-to-1 margin. Indeed, the College enjoyed voter support in every tects and design firms fleshing out both projects in collaboration with community Carolina community college and, as a result, is able to instruct in areas from gene isolation and insertion to bench-top and
21st century career training
pilot plant level of protein production to full sterile filling operation (bottling the medicine for market). This allows for the curriculum to model biopharmaceutical production from start to finish.
Outside of reputation, other factors laid the foundation for ACC developing a Biotechnology Center of Excellence:
Burlington is the #1 small Metropolitan Statistical Area in research, testing and medical labs. The College lies at the center of one of the busiest life scienccorridor — will free up space in Powell Allied Health Building and allow the College to expand much needed training in nursing care.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor and the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the job outlook for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists (the career cluster in which Histotechnology falls) is strong. Nationally, the field is projected to add 23,100 jobs between 2014 and 2024 –6,250 jobs annually resulting in a 14% increase. The idea for a Public Safety Regional
es corridors on the East Coast, flanked by the Triad and Triangle and nuzzling the Research Triangle Park.
• If North Carolina’s bioscience
base maintains its current trajectory, the industry will top $100 billion by 2025.
A Biotechnology Center of Excellence allows the College to leverage the synergies of related life science program now offered: Medical Laboratory Technology, Histotechnology, Agricultural-Biotechnology, Mechatronics Technology, Information Technology, and Horticulture.
The 30,000-square foot facility — freestanding and facing the I-40/I-85
Training Center – which enjoyed strong support from Alamance County law enforcement agencies – is as pragmatic as it is strategic.
Currently, training for Alamance County emergency responders is spread out,
“Our future projects not only transform the College, but also transform our community. Workforce development and preparing our graduates for careers of today and of the future is central to our mission.
" This community college is vital to the economic development and vitality of our county. We owe a debt of gratitude to our community for its support. We will deliver quality instruction, we will help bridge the skills gap, and we will deliver 21st century career training.”
-- Dr. Algie Gatewood, President Alamance Community College
further expansion news
with various agencies loaning other agencies space and resources. Further, the training is compartmentalized with each agency acting in a silo.
In a major emergency event – shooters on campus, interstate chemical spill, Haw River flooding, a severe band of tornadoes –police, fire and rescue have to work together in coordinated fashion. Currently, it’s difficult for emergency personnel to do that without a centralized facility.
A state-of-the-art facility near Green Level would provide that much needed operational continuity–and provide a financial boon to citizens in that area. Emergency responders from counties east and west would commute for training, staying in area hotels, eating in area restaurants, and purchasing other products and services in Alamance County.
In addition to shared classroom space, the facility would feature a greatly expanded firing range, a 4-story fire training tower, and outdoor driving tracks
After those two projects are completed in 2022, what other projects await the College?
A new 27,400-square-foot Student Services Learning and Development Center is planned – this to expand and centralize such services as financial aid, admissions, career counseling, payment center, Veteran’s services, and advising.
In addition, the College plans to expand and up-fit its 5-star Child Development Center, enhancing lab space for Early Childhood Development students.
Deeper into this decade the College envisions satellite facilities to the east (Mebane area) and west (Burlington area). Each may provide, respectively, enhanced professional business services and health care programs.
“Our future projects will not only transform the College, but also transform our community,” said College President Dr. Algie Gatewood. “Workforce development and preparing our graduates for careers of today and of the future is central to our mission.
Looking for a New Career?
ACC has what you need for these degree, diploma and certificate programs.
Accounting and Finance Advertising and Graphic Design A/C, Heating, Refrigeration Technology Agricultural Biotechnology Animal Care & Management Technology Automotive Systems Technology Biotechnology Business Administration
General Business Concentration Human Resources Mangmnt. Concen.
Marketing Concentration Computer-Aided Drafting Technology Computer-Integrated Machining Cosmetology Criminal Justice Technology Criminal Justice/Forensic Science
Enroll Now!
Ask about financial assistance options
Culinary Arts
Foodservice Technology Dental Assisting Early Childhood Associate
Transfer Licensure
Transfer Non-Licensure English as a Foreign Language Fire Protection Technology Histotechnology Horticulture Technology
Assoc. in Gen. Ed.: General Horticulture or Landscape Concentration Assoc. in Gen. Ed.: Horticulture Science
Business Support Concentration Computer Programming and
Development Concentration Software and Web Development
Concentration Systems Security Concentration
Mechanical Engineering Technology Mechatronics Engineering Technology Medical Assisting Medical Laboratory Technology Medical Office Administration
General Medical Office Concentration
Medical Auditor Concentration Nurse Aide Nursing Office Administration
General Office Admin. Concentration
Legal Office Admin. Concentration Spanish Language Certificate
Spanish Interpreter Certificate University Transfer
Associate in Arts Associate in Engineering Associate in Fine Arts–Music Associate in Fine Arts–Visual Arts
Associate in Science Welding Technology
Admissions: 336-506-4270
CARRINGTON-SCOTT CAMPUS
(Main Campus) I-85/I-40, Exit 150
