DSS honors retiree
Rebecca Jones, an income maintenance supervisor at Lenoir County Department of Social Services, retired from the agency Tuesday.
Donna Grady, the income maintenance administrator and Jones’ supervisor, and Jackie Brown, DSS Board chairwoman, recognized her years of service and dedication.
Jones was honored at the March 28 board meeting.
Festival at Farmer’s Market
The big news this weekend for the Lenoir County Farmer’s Market is all that’s happening with the Festival on the Neuse.
The main event at the market will be Vivian Howard and Ben Knight, of Chef and the Farmer Progressive Eatery, cooking and serving their blueberry barbecue chicken wings. Bottles of the sauce will be for sale separately as well.
New to the market this week will be homemade ice cream from Almost Heaven Nursery. Flavors will include strawberry, blueberry, banana, oreo, chocolate and vanilla.
Snow Angels shaved ice will return. Cathy Davis will offer ice cups in many flavors, free of high fructose corn syrup.
Produce and other specialty vendors will include: Bruce Coley Farm, Porter Farm, Putnam Family Farms, Ronnie Hanchey Produce, T.C. Smith Produce, Kettle Cooked Pork Skins, Boiled & Fried Peanuts, The Wreath Lady and Hawk Sauce BBQ Elixer.
Teen Fest to be at LCC
Mayor B.J. Murphy has declared May as Teen Fest Month in Kinston, honoring an all-day workshop for the area’s youth to be sponsored by the Young Women’s Outreach Center.
Teen Fest, open to boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 19, will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 11 at Lenoir Community College. The workshop is part of a nationwide push to reduce teen pregnancy and will concentrate on ways youth can avoid the problem.
Murphy said he issued the proclamation to recognize the work that non-profit organizations like the YWOC do for area youth. He said that Kinston, like other Eastern North Carolina towns, faces problems with gangs, homelessness and poverty that trace their roots back to teen pregnancy.
For 20 years, the YWOC, at 119 E. Blount St., has offered a wide range of programs for young adults throughout the year, including pregnancy counseling and parenting programs.
Joyce Clark, YWOC’s executive director, said the organization places such an emphasis on teen pregnancy because so many other societal problems — like drug use, crime, high drop out rates from high school, and poverty — are directly traceable to it.
For more information on the program, call the YWOC at 252-527-7844.
Church extends trip invitation
The Revelation Outreach Church at 417 E. Vernon Ave. is inviting the community to travel with the church to the Upper Room Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., June 23 for an event themed “Re-Building the Walls.”
Round-trip reservations on the bus, which will hold 55 people, cost $40 per person, which includes dinner. Reservations are being taken now.
For more information, or to reserve space, call Sarah Miller at 252-522-1268.