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z Farmers’ Day | Friends of Stokesdale invites local farmers to participate in the 2nd annual Farmers’ Day on Saturday, Oct. 7, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Stokesdale United Methodist Church, 8305 Loyola Drive. To learn more or participate, call (336) 5520704, email friendsofstokesdale@gmail.com or visit www.facebook.com/friendsofstokesdale.

THURSDAY, AUG. 17

z Cruise-In | JPC Monroe will sponsor a parade of muscle cars, classic cars and more on Aug. 17, about 4:30 p.m. to dusk at Oak Ridge Commons Shopping Center (weather permitting). The cruise-in is complemented by live music and car-related raffle prizes. To participate, just show up and you will be directed to a parking spot.

SATURDAY, AUG. 19 z MST workday | Oak Ridge Mountains-to-Sea Trail Committee will host a workday Aug. 19, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, starting at 8509 Linville Road in Oak Ridge (the main focus this time is Headwaters Trail and the Cascades). To sign up, go to www.facebook.com, search for “Oak Ridge Mountains-to-Sea Trail z Music in the Park | The Town of Summerfield will host a Music in the Park event Aug. 19, 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Summerfield Community Park, 5404 Centerfield Road. (See display ad on p. 9 for more details.)

Committee” and click on the event. More info: Town Hall, (336) 644-7009.

SUNDAY, AUG. 20 z Back-to-school bash | Village Beverage Co. at 1015 N.C. 150 W, Suite A in Summerfield invites local kids and families to a back-to-school bash Aug. 20, 12 noon to 8 p.m. Enjoy kid-friendly activities, games and live music from The Good Nuffs. Visit www.facebook.com/villagebev to learn more.

SATURDAY, AUG. 26

z Food pantry | Good Samaritan Ministries’ food pantry in Stokesdale will open for those in need of food on Aug. 26, 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Stokesdale Business Center, 8500 Ellisboro Road. To receive assistance or to make a donation to the ministry, contact Terri Johnson, (336) 643-5887 or terrij1957@ yahoo.com.

z NWHS cheerleading camp | Kids in grades K-8 are invited to a cheer camp Aug. 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the NWHS gymnasium, 5240 NW School Road. Campers will learn cheers, chants, basic tumbling skills and more. A T-shirt, a bow, pom poms and lunch are included in the $80 camp fee. Campers will get to cheer for the NWHS Vikings at the Friday Night Lights event Sept. 15 at the NWHS football stadium. More info: nwhscheerboosters@gmail.com.

MONDAY, AUG. 28

z Stokesdale Community Choir | Stokesdale Community Choir will resume weekly practice Aug. 28, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Gideon Grove United Methodist Church, 2865 Gideon Grove Church Road. For more info or to join, call Sondra Beene, (336) 453-8017. z Lions Club | Oak Ridge Lions Club will meet Aug. 28 in the Oak Ridge Room, 2205 Oak Ridge Road (next to Bistro 150), from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. More info: Jim Kinneman, (336) 207-7166 or james.kinneman@gmail.com.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 30

z ORTC special hours | Oak Ridge Town Council members will be available to talk one-on-one with citizens who have questions or comments about townrelated issues on Aug. 30, 8:30 to 10 a.m. in the conference room of Oak Ridge Town Hall, 8315 Linville Road, and also via Zoom. Visit www.oakridgenc.com or call (336) 644-7009 for more info.

THURSDAY, AUG. 31

z CERT information session | CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) will hold an information session Aug. 31, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Summerfield Community Center, 5404 Centerfield Road. Volunteers are needed to assist first responders with natural disasters and other major emergencies. This session will provide details on the training required and how the team would be utilized. More info: Bob Wray, (336) 601-5891.

water. Funding for the line hasn’t yet been secured.

Historic Preservation Commission. Board member Barb Engel reported the commission’s “Heritage Oak Ridge” book is being edited by board member Denise Sacks for grammatical errors and copy-edited by Oak Ridge resident Matt Schneider.

Heritage Day Committee. The annual festival on Sept. 30 will have a children’s petting zoo added to the lineup of activities.

“It gets bigger and better every year,” said Sandra Smith, Oak Ridge’s assistant town manager and clerk, who helps organize the festival.

Oak Ridge Youth Association. Kinneman, who serves as the council’s representative on the association’s board, said ORYA repaired the concession stand at Oak Ridge Elementary School where some of the organization’s teams play.

Triad Municipal ABC Board. Jimm Barbery, Oak Ridge’s representative on the board, said the town’s share of ABC store profits totaled $59,044 in the quarter ended June 30.

Public Comments

„ A candidate for the council in the Nov. 7 election, Mike Stone said he believes his involvement with numerous town and community organizations demonstrates his “long-term commitment to the town of Oak Ridge…and makes me a strong candidate to represent the citizens of Oak Ridge.”

Previously, Stone served as a council member and vice chair of the Planning and Zoning Board. He currently serves on Oak Ridge Military Academy’s Board of Trustees and as president of Preservation Oak Ridge Foundation.

„ Barb Engel congratulated Sam and Debora Anders on their 26th wedding anniversary, as well as councilman Sullivan and his wife, Linda, on their 57th wedding anniversary. Engel said she and her husband, Frank, were married on Aug. 20, 1966, the same date as the Sullivans.

Council Comments

„ Sullivan praised town staff’s efforts to oversee construction of Heritage Farm Park, the installation of the speedmonitoring sign on Haw River Road and other major projects in Oak Ridge.

“The work doesn’t stop,” he said.

„ Pittman expressed wishes for children to have “a safe rest of their summer and a successful start of their school year.”

„ Kinneman said a flock of Canada geese has (unfortunately) descended on his Linville Road neighborhood, and he’s aware they are protected and “you can’t just dispose of them.”

“There is a season,” Sullivan said, to which Kinneman responded, “That might get my wife into hunting.”

„ McClellan thanked the town’s volunteers and said, “If it weren’t for you, we would not be able to accomplish the things we are accomplishing.”

„ Schneider congratulated Selby Chipman, a member of the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts in the Old North State Council’s BSA Troop 219 in Oak Ridge, for winning a $25,000 scholarship.

Chipman competed against thousands of other scholarship applicants nationally, and was one of five national recipients of the Lawrence S. and Mabel Cooke Scholarship for 2023.

“I know how impressive she is,” Schneider said.

The mayor noted that this date, Aug. 3, marked the 15th anniversary of her family’s move to Oak Ridge in 2008.

“That’s a nice thing for me to remember today,” she said.

With no further comments, the meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m.

Welcome to Capt. Jarad Corbett, District 1’s new division commander

ASSAULT/ALTERCATION

Aug. 8 | A 47-year-old male was arrested in the 4300 block of Thistledown Street in northwest Greensboro (near Horse Pen Creek Road) for assault on a female.

Aug. 11 | Officers responded to a reported physical altercation in the 7800 block of Alcorn Road in Oak Ridge.

Disorderly Conduct

Aug. 9 | A 49-year-old male was arrested in the 3200 block of Horse Pen Creek Road in northwest Greensboro for disorderly conduct and misuse of the 911 system.

Driving While Impaired

Aug. 1 | A 50-year-old male was arrested in the 8300 block of Point Oak Drive in Colfax (off N. Bunker Hill Road) for driving while impaired.

Fraud

Aug. 8 | A resident of the 1400 block of N.C. 150 W in Summerfield reported that between July 28 and Aug. 8 an unknown suspect used the resident’s personal identification info to commit fraud and extortion.

Theft

Aug. 7 | An employee of Down 420 Lane on U.S. 158 in downtown Stokesdale reported an unknown suspect stole a pair of socks worth $8.

Aug. 8 | An employee of Circle K gas station in Colfax reported an unknown suspect shoplifted two cases of beer worth $23 altogether.

Vandalism

Aug. 2 | A citizen in the 8600 block of Wayne Road in Stokesdale (off Haw River Road) reported a known suspect did $100 worth of damage to his vehicle.

GRINS and GRIPES

Delighted or dismayed by something in your community?

Share your thoughts in 40 words or less

email: grinsandgripes@nwobserver.com

Grins

GRINS to...

„ “Tater Tot the cat,” for the positive impact he’s made around the world. And thank you to Juliet’s House Animal Rescue for going above and beyond to give other disabled animals a good home.

„ Mayor Pro-Tem Lynne Williams DeVaney for supporting Summerfield residents and dedicating much time by contacting the N.C. legislature to keep Summerfield free from large apartment complexes.

„ People who submit petty grins and gripes – I love them. Thanks for making me laugh.

„ Oak Ridge Parks & Recreation Advisory Board on the new inclusive playground planned for Heritage Park. Love the farm theme!

„ Jonathan at McDonald’s in Oak Ridge, who is always cheerful and does his job with excellence and a smile. His customer service is outstanding. He deserves a raise.

„ (Scout) Jenna Wunner, who concisely provided a recycling guide (Aug. 3-16 edition). We as a nation do a pitiful job of recycling. Time to step up and do your part, even if it’s inconvenient.

„ The Gardens at Gray Gables for the free music on Wednesday nights. Thanks for the pizza, and for offering a fun, relaxed event to get us through the week. Samuel Hearn is excellent!

„ Brenda Wells and the DS Smith company for selecting Guilford Backpack

Ministry for their community initiative. The donated food is crucial to our program and the 350 kids we serve in the Northern & Northwest area schools.

„ Summerfield Town Council, especially Lynne DeVaney. Thank you for listening to citizens and protecting us from apartment complexes, de-annexation and crime/congestion/overdevelopment from the nearby proposed casino!

GRIPES to...

„ The reader in the last issue who griped about liberal female Lexus drivers. I drive one and I am a Patriot. I like driving a reliable vehicle.

„ The woman who griped about other

GRINS to...

„ Oak Ridge Fire Department, for proudly proclaiming their newfound political insight.

women doing outside chores in sports bras and shorts. Your insecurities and your husband’s inability to drive past women without being distracted does not warrant a public shaming.

„ Those trying to rezone our beautiful rural area into big business (casino). The people of Rockingham County don’t want this. Please vote no to rezoning.

„ Asplundh. They advertise as expert tree trimmers. They butchered three of my trees, leaving them unviable. They lobbed off multiple limbs that didn’t interfere with power lines, and cut the rest in half. I am heartbroken. What a disgrace!

„ Whoever griped about the women wearing tight clothes to do lawn work. They wear those clothes to be comfortable, not to be a spectacle.

„ The perennial rapacity of the state. Imposing a 22.5% excise tax on the proposed casino means that they’ll have to skew the odds massively in favor of the house just to break even. It’s not capitalism, that’s greed – it’s government.

„ People who want to destroy our peaceful (Rockingham) county by putting in a casino. We have enough “bad” already. Don’t gamble – work!

„ The homeowner in the Foxbury neighborhood (Oak Ridge) who has been running a commercial carwash out of his/her home for eight months. The noise of a gas power washer running all day is a great way of ruining summer outdoor time.

„ Sen. Phil Berger. It’s been four weeks since calling his office and asking three policy questions. Still no response, not even from staff. Who is working for whom?

„ DMV/Duke Energy/whoever workers who preferentially allowed streams of southbound cars to proceed on Hwy. 68 in the Old Mill area on Aug. 16, while northbound cars waited for an eternity.

To Your Health

Long Covid

...continued from p. 7 years, but people tend to recover from it.

“On the other end of the spectrum, they’re just very frustrated and they feel like nobody’s hearing how hard they’re having it, and nobody’s offering anything meaningful,” Sanders said.

Advice from physicians takes a common-sense approach, such as recommending “slowly escalating cardiovascular exercise” for patients suffering from fatigue, Sanders said.

For patients having trouble sleeping, he said setting and sticking to a regular bedtime make sense “even if you’re not feeling tired.”

Eating “a balanced diet” is the third prong of what Sanders described as “a

Peace of mind all summer

very balanced approach of daily exercise, daily regulated sleep and daily eating patterns.”

For Oak Ridge’s Dee Hall, contracting COVID-19 in November 2021 led to nausea, which was quickly followed by the loss of taste and smell.

“I even cut an onion and held that under my nose, and my eyes started watering, but I couldn’t smell it,” Hall recalled.

While those senses have improved, Tide detergent and Downy fabric softener “still smell like cantaloupe,” she said. And her perfume still smells like rubbing alcohol.

Her taste has changed as well. She can eat spicier foods, such as mediumhot salsa, that before contracting the virus she refrained from eating.

“Coffee has never tasted exactly the same since COVID,” Hall said. “It still tastes good. I still drink it because I’m not letting COVID steal coffee away from me.”

Hall said she was reminded last month how fortunate she is, despite her Long COVID. She visited her daughter, Lindsey Bare, in Homer, Alaska, where she works as an intensive care nurse.

While they were out to dinner, a waitress gave Hall’s daughter a hug. She explained that Lindsey had cared for her husband in the hospital for 60 days until he died from COVID.

“And so I cried and she cried and I thought, well, you know what?” Hall said. “Taste and smell not coming back is not that big of a deal.”

For More Info

To learn more, conduct an online search for Long COVID and visit the websites of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Submit your letters (maximum 350 words)

email: editor@nwobserver.com Include

Girl power

There are many ways to get bullied physically and mentally – but have you ever noticed that girls are bullied more than boys? We can all agree that most males are more aggressive by nature than females, so sometimes authority figures give them more slack and don’t punish them because they’re just “boys being boys.”

A lot of girls are judged by each other and the opposite sex, and this is not okay.

The Centers for Disease Control’s “Youth Risk Behavior Survey” from 2011-2015 demonstrated that girls are bullied 7% more than boys in schools. Everyone can agree that men can post ugly pictures online and it will get many “likes,” but if a woman does that, she’ll receive negative comments – even when she has a great video!

Many females feel they are being judged online, on the street, and even at school! We must find ways to let everyone know it’s not ok to do this, and people shouldn’t be judged because they are a boy or girl – or how they look, or their hobbies, or whether they like to shop or like the color pink.

I know a girl who likes pink and shopping, and who is also super strong and good at sports. What’s wrong with liking things that are “girly” anyway?

Many females are amazing trailblazers and are great at sports, being lawyers, fashion designers, doctors, professors, songwriters, and loving, phenomenal mothers. They just ask a favor – to be treated better at school, online and in public.

Hazel Schmutzer, OAK RIDGE Hazel is a Scout with BSA Troop 219 based in Oak Ridge and wrote this editorial for her communications merit badge.

NIGHTHAWKS FOOTBALL ...continued

Running game

McInnis is the top returner statistically, but Westberg said he expects the running back position to be “by committee” and also feature Amare Akers, Dwight Hall and Noah Smith.

“We have four good running backs that we really like,” Westberg said, “and they all play defense too.”