The Macon County Read all of the MACON COUNTY NEWSOnline •Free Weekly• & Shopping Guide themaconcountynewsonline.com January 21, 2021 • 24 Pages Volume 38 Number 35 FREE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER www.themaconcountynews.com IN THIS ISSUE Page 4 Mainspring preserves Middle Town mound Macon County CareNet hosted the 12th annual Cold for a Cause event to help people in need during the winter months. Last week- end Becky Ramey Vanderwoude (pictured) and Corey McCall each spent 24 hours in a box suspended high above the parking lot of Franklin Plaza to create awareness for those in need in the community and to collect donations to address that need. For more details and photos, see page 2. Page 6 Town gives progress report on fire substation Wood fired kiln being built at Cowee School Brittney Lofthouse – Contributing Writer “The Town of Franklin and Franklin Fire and Rescue have diligently worked to secure a sub-station for Franklin Fire Franklin Mayor Bob Scott and Franklin Town Manager and Rescue,” said Woodard. “I am happy to report the Summer Woodard attended last week’s Macon County Board progress of that project to the board tonight.” of Commissioners meeting to introduce new fire chief Ben The Town of Franklin purchased property in NP&L Loop Ormond. for a substation in August 2019. A committee comprised of Chief Ormond began his career in eastern North Carolina Franklin Fire Department volunteers and career staff started with the Pactolus volunteer Fire Department in Pitt County. conducting state visits to the area sub-stations to begin de- As a second-generation firefighter, he transitioned to mu- veloping plans for Franklin’s new station. nicipal firefighting with the City of Greenville where he also On April 13, 2020, the Franklin Town Council unani- worked as a paramedic and was a founding member of the mously voted to allow then Chief Matthew Breedlove to pur- NC Task Force 10 USAR Team. sue bids for construction of the sub-station and the town For the last 16 years of his career, his work has spanned hired Ritter Architecture to assist the fire department with the globe with various contract firefighting jobs in locations site drawings and plans as well as securing formal bid pro- like Iraq, an international airport and an industrial facility in posals in June 2020. the US, and Diego Garcia located in the British Indian Ocean On Nov. 17, 2020, the town council unanimously voted to Page 20 Territory where he served as Fire Chief for the US Naval award a construction contract to Western Builders for Support Facility. $399,019 to construct the sub-station. The Council also Ty Dillon to drive for Gaunt Brothers at Daytona Chief Ormond’s first official day with the Franklin Fire voted to enter into a financing agreement with United Com- Department was Jan. 4, 2021. munity Bank for $400,000 with an interest rate of 1.99 per- 828.369.6767 PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Woodard informed commissioners that one of Chief Or- cent fixed rate based on 10 years. www.themaconcountynews.com PERMIT 22 [email protected] GOODER PUBLISHING CORP. mond’s first projects will be overseeing the completion of FRANKLIN, NC 28734-3401 the new Franklin Fire sub-station. See SUBSTATION page 2 2 THe MACON COuNTY NeWS & SHOPPING GuIDe VOLUME 38 NUMBER 35 THuRSDAY, JANuARY 21, 2021 Cold for a Cause meeting needs in county County leases office Over the weekend, Macon County CareNet hosted the 12th annual Cold for a Cause event to help people in need space to District 11’s during the winter months. Cory McCall, co-owner of Outdoor76 and Becky Ramey newest representative Vanderwoude, local real estate agent, each spent half of the Brittney Lofthouse – Contributing Writer weekend – 24 hours each – in a crane high above Macon County to raise donations for Macon County Care Network. The Macon County Board of Commissioners approved a Shortly after Vanderwoude completed her 24 hours and lease agreement for office space within the courthouse for McCall climbed into the crane, snow began to fall across newly elected District 11 Congressman Madison Cawthorn. Macon County. The location of Rep. Cawthorn’s office on the third floor of This year’s event was held at Franklin Plaza, in hopes the the courthouse is the same space Macon County leased to traffic visibility would boost donations of canned goods, Congressman Mark Meadows during his tenure in Congress. blankets, and coats for those in need in the community. The county is donating the space to Rep. Cawthorn at no For the past 12 years, more than 6,000 pieces of clothing charge. and blankets, and close to 10,000 pounds of food and per- The Macon County office will be staffed 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. sonal care products have been donated annually. The event, on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week and will be located which was started by Patrick Jenkins as a way to give back inside the Macon County Courthouse. The office will be to the community, has grown each year to become one of the 48 hour event: staffed by Drew West, Regional Representative/Caseworker the largest collection drives for CareNet. – Canned goods - 5,020lbs. for Rep. Cawthorn. West will work Mondays, Wednesdays, Due to COVID19, CareNet has been working overtime – Coats - 3,500 and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Haywood County office. this year, making the weekend’s collection event even more – Blankets -1,000 According to Micah Bock, Communication Director for Rep. important. In 2020, the organization fed 15,474 people with – Cash donations over $4,000. Cawthorn, both the Macon and Haywood offices were set 512,586 pounds of food, compared to 305,491 pounds of "It was a great year I'm thankful for all who helped and up to serve the constituent needs of the far western part of the food to feed families in 2019. And children, even when donated. Becky, Cory, Joe Sanders – thank you for your 11th Congressional District. schooling at home, received free lunches. time and efforts," said Tim Hogsed, CareNet director. “Constituent services are already underway and are ongo- Several box trucks full of donations were collected during ing, whether Congress is in session or not,” said Bock. “We have assembled a staff of caseworkers in each of our offices to assist the general public with whatever they need from any federal agencies. We take pride in helping the people of the 11th District get the services they are entitled to and stand ready to assist.” Besides the Franklin office, Rep. Cawthorn has already opened or is in the process of opening district offices in Hen- dersonville, Burnsville and Waynesville. The district staff also includes Michele Presnell who is serving as a regional representative/caseworker working out of the Yancey County office. Presnell is a former four-term member of the State House of Representatives and also served as a Yancey County Commissioner. West, who is serving in the Macon and Haywood offices, was a caseworker for Rep. Mark Meadows. Rep. Cawthorn said that while he has spent much of his first two weeks after being sworn into office in D.C. he is looking at how to best serve WNC. According to Cawthorn, Continued the issues facing the district vary. from page 1 “It’s a mix of job creation and infrastructure improve- SUBSTATION ments, like broadband,” said Rep. Cawthorn of where his Franklin received approval from the Local Government focus will be during his term. “We need to get people back Commission in December to move forward with the proj- to work and spur job creation throughout the district. So ect and financing and according to Woodard, the project many of society’s ills can be solved when people have a is expected to begin construction in Spring 2021. good-paying job. Now that the campaign is complete, I am Woodard noted that Chief Ormond will be working looking forward to rolling up my sleeves, traveling the dis- with Ritter Architecture to finalize the plans so construc- trict, and meeting with industry stakeholders, economic de- tion of the sub-station will remain on schedule to ensure velopers, elected officials, and job creators to build a strong that once the sub-station is built, cost savings on insur- working relationship – all while meeting the individual ance rates can be passed on to local residents. Changing of the guard – Cory McCall gives Becky Vanderwoude a quick hug before he takes his turn in the box. needs of the constituents who have issues with the various federal agencies.” 828-524-7773 R ST & Hunter’s Automotive highlandernc.com RUST • Tires • Batteries • Radiators • Shocks Franklin, NC - Five Day Forecast RELICSELICS • Brakes • Towing THUR FRI SAT SUN MON Antiques, Collectibles, Handmade & More • Air • Motors Conditioning Replaced 55% 40% 65% 71 E. Main St. • Franklin, NC 15% 25% (828)349-4467 584 Depot Street • Franklin, NC o o o o o o o o o o Email: [email protected] Walter Hunter, 49 /35 50 /31 54 /31 54 /38 52 /42 facebook.com/RustAndRelics71 Owner (828) 369-2431 THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2021 VOLUME 38 NUMBER 35 THE MACON COUNTY NEWS & SHOPPING GUIDE 3 WCU student named recipient of Zonta Club business scholarship Rikki Bryant, studying tries. for a Masters in Business Bryant has demonstrated Administration at Western outstanding potential in her Carolina University, has Masters in Business Ad- been awarded a Jane M. ministration degree. The Klausman Women in Busi- presentation was made via ness Scholarship from Dis- Zoom. trict 11, Zonta International, Bryant’s personal experi- having been nominated by ences led her to pursue a the Zonta Club of the career in higher education Franklin Area.