Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012

Community Matters

Groundhog Day

The town of Garner will hold its annual Groundhog Day event at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at the White Deer Park Nature Center, 2400 Aversboro Road. Mortimer the Groundhog will predict six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Enjoy crafts, games, educational activities, live animals and meet and greet Mortimer. For more information, visit garnernc.gov or call 661-6982.

Blood drive at First Presbyterian

A blood drive is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, at First Presbyterian Church, 503 Lakeside Drive, Garner. Register online at redcrossblood.org and enter the sponsor code 9755, or call Carol Oriel at 779-7355.

Senior Democrats to meet Jan. 18

Senior Democrats of Wake County will meet from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Crabtree Marriott on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh. Russ Stephenson of the Raleigh City Council will speak.

Chairs of Hope, recycling too

Vandora Springs Elementary is seeking sponsors for its annual Chairs of Hope Project, which benefits the Garner Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. For more information, call Jim Hunt at 662-2486 or email jhunt@wcpss.net.

Also, Vandora Springs is staging Recycle for a Cause, another benefit for the Garner Relay for Life. The school is collecting aluminum cans and scrap metal. Drop off these items any time at the school's metal-recycling Dumpster, 1300 Vandora Springs Road.

Cooks for Books

The second annual Cooks for Books will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, at Garner TV and Appliance.

Tickets are $25 each or two for $40. They entitle the holder to food by local eateries, one free drink and samplings from the competing celebrity cooks and dessert contestants.

Cooks for Books is a fundraiser for Garner Educational Foundation literacy programs. For more information, email Amy White at singforhim@nc.rr.com.

King Day in Garner

The second annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, at the Garner Performing Arts Center, 742 W. Garner Road. The theme of this year's celebration is Unity + Diversity = Community. Reuben Young, secretary of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, will speak. Attendees are asked to bring canned goods and other nonperishable items for Garner Area Ministries. For more information, email David G. Prince at prin1599@bellsouth.net.

4-H club seeks members

The Clover Roots 4-H Club is looking for home-schooled children age 5-10 who would like to join. The club meets at 2 p.m. Thursdays, once or twice a month, in the Rock Pillar Road area of Johnston County. Last year, meeting topics included culture, seashells, building a slip-and-slide out of recycled materials, incubating and hatching chicken eggs, tie-and-dye, a polygraph demonstration and fishing. For more information or to join, call Teresa Byrd at 989-5380.

Banquet to boost statue project

The Sons of Confederate Veterans will hold a Lee-Jackson Banquet at 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, at King's Restaurant on U.S. 70 West in Kinston. Bernhard Thuersam will speak. He is chairman of the N.C. War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission. Jimmy Aycock will perform on piano. The cost is $15 per person and includes a meal. A silent auction will benefit the Gen. Johnston statue project at Bentonville Battlefield. For reservations, call Glenn Fields at 919-778-9565.

Information meeting for foster parents

The Boys & Girls Homes of North Carolina will soon hold an informational meeting locally for prospective foster parents. For more information on adoption or foster parenting, call 877-211-5322 or email anna.scharff@bghnc.org.

Clothing drive

Reins From Above will hold a clothing drive later this month. Drop-off dates and sites are Jan. 28 at Element Salon on McLemore Road in the Cleveland community, Jan. 27 at Annie V's Florist on Barbour Street in Clayton and anytime at Reins From Above on N.C. 42 near Kenly. Reins From Above is seeking donations of clothing, linens and curtains. For more information, visit reinsfromabove.org.

Grant writer needed

The Johnston County Animal Protection League is seeking a volunteer who has grant-writing experience. For an application, or for more information, visit jcapl.org or email webmaster@jcapl.org.

King Day events

Here's a rundown of Johnston County events in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

A King Day commemoration is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at the Richard B. Harrison Alumni Center, 405 W. Noble St., Selma. The theme is "I Still Have a Dream." Winslow Forbes, a Durham police captain, will speak, and Ophelia Hocutt of Bethel AME Church will provide music. Light refreshments will follow the service. For more information, email gwhitley0330@bellsouth.net or call 235-2869.

A King Day celebration is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at First Missionary Baptist Church at the corner of Fourth and Caswell streets in Smithfield. Mayor Pro-Tem Cora McFadden of Durham will speak, and Judge Robert "Bob" Bryant Jr. of Selma will sing. Dinner will follow in the upstairs fellowship hall.

A celebration is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at St. Peter's Church of Christ, 1011 Massey St., Smithfield. C.R. Edwards, pastor of First Baptist Church in Fayetteville, will speak. The Johnston African American Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance will present the Bishop F.J. Matthews Memorial Distinguished Service Award. For more information, call Dr. J. B. Woodhouse at 965-6760.

A memorial service is scheduled for 3 p.m. today (Jan. 15) at St. Mark AME Church, 409 Bridge St., Smithfield. The Rev. Phillip Cousin Jr., pastor of St. Joseph AME Church in Durham, will speak. The St. Joseph Men's Choir and Community Male Chorus will perform. For more information, call 934-7079.

Luncheon for women

The Chamber Women's Business Network will hold its luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at Hinnant Family Vineyards & Winery, 826 Pine Level-Micro Road, Pine Level. The topic is "Changing with Challenges: How Women are Successful at It." Hear successful women share how they have navigated life and work and survived and thrived - from starting a family to starting a business to starting over. Lunch will be served, vendors will sell products, and door prizes will be given away. Tickets are $25. The cost for vendors is $60 and includes one ticket and table with tablecloth and chair. To purchase tickets, visit smithfieldselma.com, call Kelly Wallace at 934-9166 or email kwallace@smithfieldselma.com.

Arboretum workshop

"Cooking with Herbs," a workshop with Lin Frye, is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, in the brick building at the Johnston Community College Arboretum, 1240 E. Market St., Smithfield. The cost is $25. For more information, call 209-2052.

Registration open for MS walks

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has opened registration for this year's walks in Raleigh and Goldsboro.

The Triangle walk is scheduled for Saturday, March 31, at the RBC Center in Raleigh. The Goldsboro walk will take place Saturday, April 21, in Herman Park.

Walk MS, an annual fundraiser for more than 20 years, is an opportunity for the community to support the estimated 5,400 people living with multiple sclerosis in Eastern North Carolina. Sixty percent of all the money raised will go to programs, services and advocacy for Eastern N.C. residents. The rest will support national research to find the cause and cure of MS.

In addition to one- and three-mile walks, the events will feature live entertainment, food vendors and kids' activities.

For more information or to register, visit WalkingForMS.org or call 1-800-FIGHT-MS.

Master Gardener volunteer training

Training to become a Master Gardener volunteer will begin Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Johnston County Agricultural Center, 2736 N.C. 210, Smithfield. The training will meet from 6 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Wednesdays through April 18. The cost is $100. For an application, call 989-5380 or email shawn_banks@ncsu.edu.

The training will cover a wide range of gardening topics, including plant biology, plant identification, propagation, landscape maintenance and design, pest identification and control, and other gardening topics.

Scrabble Club

The Johnston County Scrabble Club meets from 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays at Orchard House Booksellers, 117 N. Third St., Smithfield. Play is free.