ITS mRYBCVYS MY
Join in the fun from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. in uptown Thomasville
Catch results from
Friday night football
action in today's sports.
Saturday, September 25,2010
THOMASVILLE
Bill Flill discusses
the power of
prayers in Uncle
Bill's Corner.
119th Year-No. 141 50 Cents
www.tvilletimes.com
Lexington company expanding, adding 50 jobs
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Davidson County Eco
nomic Development
Commission announced
Friday that a Lexington
company is growing and
plans to add dozens of
jobs while investing more
than $1 mUlion into the
area over the next three
years.
Valendrawers, Inc., an
Italian-based company
that has operated in Lex
ington for 25 years, is ex
panding its wood drawer
and door manufacturing
facility at 555 Dixon St.
in Sapona Business Park,
and wUl create at least 50
new jobs and invest $1.2
mUlion by 2013.
“We are very happy to
have chosen North Caro
lina for the new door
production,” Piero Della
Valentina, president of
Valendrawers, Inc., said.
“We have been in North
Carolina for 25 years and
know that we can count
on a great community, in
'We are very happy to have chosen
North Carolina for the new door pro
duction.'
— Piero Della Valentina
Valendrawers President
particular on skilled and
dedicated workers. I want
to thank aU the communi
ty leaders for assisting us
in putting together this
project which I hope wUl
bring a positive impact to
the area.”
Steve Googe, executive
director of the David
son County EDC, said
the company received a
$100,000 grant from the
One North Carolina Fund
awarded by Gov. Bev Per
due and economic devel
opment grants totaling
$101,000 from Davidson
County and the City of
Lexington.
“We’ve been working
with them for about four
or five months on this,”
said Googe. “The N.C.
grant measures jobs over
three years, ours is over
five years. Fifty jobs wUl
be created over three
years and in the last two
years, there wUl be an
additional 10 jobs. We’re
looking at 60 jobs being
created over the next five
years.
Valendrawers, Inc. is
a wood drawer manufac-
.turer that mainly sup
plies large kitchen and
office accounts aU the
way down to the one-man
cabinet shop, said Diane
McBride, an adminis
trative assistant at the
company. The company
recently was awarded a
large contract to supply
doors to a major kitchen
manufacturer that paved
See JOBS, Page A6
Number of
unemployed
falls in county
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Davidson County’s un
employment rate dipped
slightly in August as the
number of unemployed
people feU by nearly 400
workers.
According to statistics
released by the Employ
ment Security Commis
sion of North Carolina,
Davidson County re
ported an unemployment
rate of 11.4 percent last
month, which is down .2
percent from July and is
the lowest rate since Jan
uary 2009. Davidson was
one of 82 counties across
the state that experienced
a drop in unemployment
in August, but 50 stiU re
main in double-digits.
“Unemployment rates
continue to drop in most
of the state’s 100 counties
in August,” ESC Chair
man Lynn Holmes said.
See FALLS, PageAS
TIMES PHOTO/LARRY MATHIS
Homecoming Queen
Thomasville High School students voted Taylor Gammons Homecoming Queen dur
ing halftime of Friday night's game against Asheboro.
ACH plans foster
parent orientation
BY ERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
In a society where the family unit seems to de
crease in Importance by the day American Chil
dren’s Home (ACH) in Lexington seeks to continue
its mission to bring stable home lives to Davidson
County’s children through its foster care pro
gram.
ACH wUl hold a foster parent orientation on Oct.
14 at 6 p.m. for individuals or couples interested in
helping a chUd. Established in 1928, ACH is a non
profit organization committed to providing needy
chUdren with temporary care.
“I feel like understanding the famUy dynamic
is an important thing in making sure the cycle
doesn’t continue with the next generation,” said
Anna Lohr, ACH social worker. “There’s a lot to be
said for being raised in a famUy ”
Though people interested must be over the age of
21, few other personal requirements are necessary
for becoming licensed foster parents. ACH does re
quire more logistical things such as a background
check, proof of financial stabUity and an inspec
tion of household conditions such as a fire inspec
tion, and a water and sewer inspection.
Lohr says that whether a foster parent-to-be is
single or in a couple, with chUdren or without,
doesn’t affect the licensing process.
“It reaUy depends on the chUd,” she said. “Some
See PARENT, Page A6
INDEX
Weather
A2
Business
A3
Focus
A4
Opinion
A5
Obituaries
A6
Sports
B1
Classifieds
B6
Today's Weather
iM^
Mostly sunny, 90/63
vi«.o » 5 uu e 5 »
Golf tournament to raise funds
for Spanish Immersion Program
BY ERINWILTGEN
StaffWriter
Colin’Ulmer sets off to school
like any other third grader. He
brushes his teeth, packs his
backpack and says goodbye to
Mom and Dad.
Things appear normal when
he gets to school, too. He chats
with his friends, maybe runs a
little as the morning beU rings.
But as soon as Colin steps over
the threshold to his third-grade
classroom at HopeweU Elemen
tary School in Trinity his day
takes a slight tm-n towards the
abnormal.
His class is entirely in Span
ish.
Not a native Spanish-speaker
himself, Colin was enroUed in
Hopewell Elementary’s Span
ish Immersion program as a
kindergartner. The program
is designed to teach chUdren
from kindergarten through fifth
grade the Spanish language in a
trial-by-fire format.
“When he’s in that classroom,
he’s not aUowed to speak Eng
lish,” said Colin’s mother, KeUi
Ulmer. “His homework is in
Spanish, his tests are in Span
ish, his books are in Spanish.
He’s in the third grade, and he
can pretty much speak Spanish
fluently”
To help support the program
— which currently holds 80 stu
dents — a parent-formed Span
ish Immersion Booster Club
wUl hold a fundraiser golf tour
nament on Saturday, Oct. 9, at
COURTESY PHOTC
Students at Hopewell Elementary School become bilingual through th(
school's Spanish Immersion Program.
Format is captain’s choice with
a 1 p.m. shotgun start. The first-
place team wUl receive a $500
grand prize, and second, third
and fourth-place teams also re
ceive a prize.
Winding Creek Golf Course in
ThomasvUle.
Ulmer says that 12 teams have
already signed up, hut she hopes
to field 32 teams and is stUl look
ing for a few more sponsors. Cost
is $50 for an individual or $200
for a team, and lunch is included.
See SPANISH, Page A6
Remarkable things are happening here.
336-475-7148
www.thomasyillemedicalcenter.org
Thomasville) iwedical center
RemarkabU Pnplt, RtmarkabU Mtdicint.
Thomasville, North Carolina • Your Town. Your Times.