The
ews
Journal
If it happened, it’s news to us
751
N0.30 Vol.113
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, September 26,2018
Hoke gets disaster declaration
FEMA adds county to list of eligible for assistance
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The canopy at the Poco Shop at riam ana Central flipped from its perch during Florence’s assault. (Ken MacDonald photo)
Working with state and federal offices, Hoke
County officials were able to secure a disaster
declaration for Hoke County that will allow resi
dents and local governments access to federal
recovery funds.
After over a week of efforts attempting to
get Hoke County added to the list of county
declared a disaster area for the purposes of
securing Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) support, Hoke was added to
the list of counties in North Carolina affected by
Hurricane Elorence. Before the declaration, the
county was considered to be “disaster-adjacent.”
So far 27 counties in North Carolina - now
including Hoke and neighbors Cumberland,
Robeson, Scotland and Moore - have been
added to the list of declared disaster areas as a
result of damage from Florence, which struck
the area beginning September 13.
With the major disaster declaration, both in
dividual assistance and public assistance will be
made available to Hoke County. That means
(See DISASTER, page 10)
Rockfish Hoke Fair opens today
The second annual Rockfish Hoke
County Fair is set to begin with a grand
opening ceremony Wednesday, Septem
ber 26 with a big slate of activities and
entertainment in the wings for the Fair’s
five-day run.
For the second year in a row Rockfish
will host the fair at 2950 Lindsay Road,
courtesy of local businessman William
“Brownie” Brown. The Eair will open
at 5 p.m. Wednesday, September 26 and
run nightly through Sunday, September
30. The organizers are also working with
relief groups to help support recovery ef
forts from Hurricane Elorence, according
to a Facebook post on the event’s page.
Decades ago, the Raeford Jaycees
brought a fall carnival to Hoke County.
After years of Hoke no longer having a
fair, organizers in Rockfish brought the
Fair back for the first time in 2017. Since
then volunteers have continued their ef
forts to offer the Rockfish Hoke County
Fair in the autumn.
The fair midway will feature food
vendors plus carnival rides and games
from a new provider this year. Michael’s
Amusements of Cumberland County is
bringing between 20 and 25 rides includ
ing a Ferris wheel. Total Flight Solutions
will offer helicopter rides, and there will
also be many other attractions including
a petting zoo, pony rides and a car show.
Some of the many exhibits on display
will include home and garden, farming,
Hoke County Schools robotics/STEM
demonstrations, amateur radio opera
tors, American Red Cross and the Lion’s
Club. EXIT Realty will also sponsor a
chili cook-off
The kids’ zone is sponsored by the
Rockfish Community Chamber and
Camp Rockfish, and will offer a duck
pond, corn hole, bucket toss. Little
(See ROCKFISH FAIR, page 5)
‘JessyB’ channels weather reporter, covers hurricane on Facebook
7 just decided to make the page as an effort to keep people from feeling like they needed to ride
around the county in the middle of a hurricane trying to find out what was going on.’
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
-lendrix in her doc
tored profile picture.
Jessica Hendrix is a lifelong resi
dent of Hoke County, but now many
more people might recognize her
from her recent reports and discus
sions through a Facebook page set
up to help keep people informed
during Hurricane Florence.
Hendrix launched “Hoke County
Hurricane Coverage With JessyB”
the Wednesday before the storm
hit. The Facebook page started out
with two followers, grew into an
audience of more than 700, and then
kept collecting attention until about
1,500 people were tuned in to see
Hendrix’s reports.
“I just decided to make the page
as an effort to keep people from
feeling like they needed to ride
around the county in the middle
of a hurricane trying to find out
what was going on,” Hendrix said.
“It wasn’t meant to be a spoof or
anything, it was to be kind of funny,
kind of entertaining, to keep people
in the know of what was going
around the county.”
Hendrix is the daughter of Carl
and Wendy Ivey Hendrix, and the
granddaughter of Janet and Howard
Hendrix and Richard and Yvonne
Ivey, all longtime Hoke County
families. She works as a bookkeeper
in the Career and Technical Educa
tion department of Hoke County
Schools. She’s also the program
(See JESSYB, page 4)
Bluegrass legend feted on 90th birthday
PV
Contributed by Jeni Smith
Leslie Sandy, one of Bill Monroe’s
Bluegrass boys, was honored on his
90th birthday Saturday, August 4 at
the home of Rick and Kathy Sandy in
Raeford.
Leslie played with Bill Monroe
on the Grand Ole Opry in the early
1950s. He was featured on Monroe’s
first recorded album, “Knee Deep
in Bluegrass.” He also created and
assumed the role of the comedian
known as Uncle Puny on the show.
During his musical career, Leslie,
along with his brother, Coolidge,
played music at that famous Sloppy
Joe’s Bar in Key West, Elorida. While
there he met and played shuffle-
board with renowned author Ernest
Hemingway.
At one time, Leslie had his own
country music variety television show
on WMED (now WECT) called The
Carolina Jamboree in Wilmington.
(See SANDY, page 10)
Sandy plays his fiddle.(Contnbuted)
Storm visitor
As Hurricane Florence dropped rain on the area Sep. 15, Bradley Moody
(left) found this crayfish in the yard of his grandmother Kimberly Clark,
in Bowmore. Shannon Clark (right) checks it out. (Contributed photo)
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Parade Nov. 1 • Stuffin' & Stompin' Dinner Nov. 2 • Main Event Nov. 3
MAIN EVENT on Main Street — Vendors, Music, Food, Entertainmer
Can 9i0-90a-2a2a for more Oetails ano information.