Rotary gets Teen Court, distillery updates
Teen Court is a diversion program for youth offenders, ages 12-18, who have no previous criminal record and are still enrolled in school. Chris Trogdon, Lenoir County Teen Court supervisor, explained at a recent Evening Rotary Club meeting how the defendants, volunteers and community all benefit from Teen Court.
The defendants can learn positive behavioral patterns by admitting their guilt, serving their sentence and having a criminal charge dismissed. Volunteers can learn how to work together as community members to achieve a positive goal. The community benefits by having youth get an early preview into what breaking the law can lead to, and saving hundreds of dollars in juvenile and district court expenses.
Teen Court sessions are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at the Lenoir County Courthouse.
Paul Guessenhofen, master distiller for Yamco, explained that the company produces puree from the Covington Yam and converts it into vodka. Recognized as a “green company,” there is no waste and the distillery is steam operated. The vodka product has won prizes in California, has a caramel or butterscotch flavor and is available in most North Carolina areas.
Evening Rotary meets at 6 p.m. Tuesdays at the House of Wang.
Bands play live this weekend
The DugOut Sports Bar and Grill, 674 Stratford Blvd., will have Roman Sams play live tonight. The cover charge is $5. If you want to plan ahead, Mitch Rossell will play Sept. 20, and Blake Kearney Band is scheduled for Sept. 27.
The Red Room will feature Mac & Juice in a return performance at 9:30 p.m. today, and The Deluge will play for the first time at the Red Room at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
The staff has begun checking for memberships, and members are encouraged to pick up their cards when they come in, if they haven’t done so already.
The Red Room, 220 N. Herritage St., is open from 7 p.m. to midnight on Thursdays and 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Get breakfast at farmer’s market
Plan to have breakfast Saturday at the Lenoir County Farmer’s Market. Get a sweet potato ham biscuit or cookie and coffee from the Queen Street Deli table. Other offerings from that vendor include half and whole pound cakes, Ezekiel bread, whole grain cookies, chicken pot pies, Moravian chicken pot pies, sweet potato chicken pot pies and Shepherd’s pies.
Even though the summer produce season is winding down, there is still an abundance of fresh produce for sale at the market. Heirloom tomatoes are gone, but green, yellow and red tomatoes are sweet and delicious. Scuppernong and muscadine grapes are plentiful, as are Gala and Golden Delicious North Carolina mountain apples. String beans, squash, zucchini, peppers, peas, greens and many other seasonal goodies are still on the vendors’ shelves.
Specialty vendors at the market offer a variety of items – carved wooden spoons, preserves, jams, jellies, relish, peanuts, soaps, candles, breads and rolls, sweet rolls, cakes, pies, local honey, shrimp, fish, fish stew kits, crabmeat, snow crab claws, scallops, pork skins and frozen casseroles.