Dr. David Lipschitz
discusses the affects
of hormonal creams
on others.
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Tuesday, November 23,2010
THOMASVILLE
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Cold ups needs at Shepherd's Inn
BY DANIEL KENNEDY
Times Correspondent
As Thanksgiving approach
es, at least one segment of the
population is thankful to a local
shelter for a place to stay.
The Shepherd’s Inn, in coop
eration with the Church of To
morrow on Oaklawn Drive, is
currently home to 13 homeless
men and five women in a sepa
rate facility The cold weather
that traditionally arrives in No
vember is a cause for concern
as the shelter seeks to field fu
ture inquiries, according to the
Rev. Huey Turner, who serves
as pastor of Church of Tomor
row.
“We’ve not had that cold snap
where people start beating
down our doors, but it’s com
ing,” Turner said. “Our church
has done most of the funding.
We’ve got those that are faith
ful in giving, but it has honestly
not been enough to keep us go
ing. When the shelter comes up
short, our church foots the bOl.
These people stiU have to eat.”
Thus far, the Shepherd’s Inn
has managed to stay afloat on
the backs of contributions from
a bevy of local churches and
businesses that assist with food
and medical care.
“We’ve got a lot of good
churches in this community
and a lot of them help,” Turner
said. “The hospital and Med-
Zone, they’re incredible. These
people get sick and. they treat
them. The city of Thomasville
has been incredible.”
Turner said the Shepherd’s
Inn primarily concerns itself
with providing a place to stay
for those that have nowhere
else to go and therefore needs
assistance from other non-prof
its to supplement its service to
homeless in the community Of
the most pressing needs that
can not be whoUy fulfilled by
the shelter, food requests are
often referred to partner insti
tutions.
“If there’s anybody that is
homeless and needs something
to eat. Cooperative Community
Ministry handles a lot of stuff,”
Turner said. “They make it easy
on us. There are times where
people wUl come in and eat
breakfast or supper with us, but
See INN, Page 12
Christmas
comes early
for Fair Grove
teachers
BYERINWILTGEN
. Staff Writer
The holiday season
came early for a few
teachers at Fair Grove
Elementary School, who
were chosen at random
to receive Walmart gift
cards for classroom sup
plies.
As part of Walmart’s
^Teacher Rewards pro
gram, the store in Thom-
asviUe awarded 10, Fair
Grove Elementary School
teachers with a $100
Teacher Rewards Card
each at an awards cer
emony at the end of Sep
tember. Store department
heads had gathered to
vote on the lucky school,
and staff chose the teach
ers at random out of a
hat.
The program focuses
on schools in need and
allows each participat
ing location to elect a lo
cal kindergarten through
eighth grade school. The
cards—valid at Walmart,
Sam’s Club, or online at
walmart.com or sams-
club.com — were used for
classroom supplies that
many teachers end up
buying out of pocket.
“We felt that Fair Grove
would be able to appreci
ate it more, that they
had a bigger need,” said
Walmart Zone Merchan
dise Supervisor Jenni-
, fer Frazier, adding that
the fact that Fair Grove
hadn’t been awarded gift
cards in the past also con
tributed to the decision.
The Wahnart Founda
tion’s Teacher Rewards
program provides more
than $4 million to 40,000
teachers across the U.S.
Fair Grove couldn’t have
been happier to number
among them.
“Oh, we were very ex
cited,” said Principal Au
drey Wagner. “We were
thriUed.”
According to the Amer
ican Federation of Teach
ers, educators on average
See TEACHERS, Page 6
A Very,
Merry Parade
Santa Claus made his return to Thomasville
Saturday for the annual Christmas Parade,
sponsored by the Fair Grove Lions Club. Thou
sands of people lined Main Street to watch the
largest local holiday display, as more than*150
entries marched through downtown sharing
holiday joy.
TIMES PHOTOS/ELIOT DUKE
State economic growth flattens
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
North Carolina’s unemploy
ment rate continued to faU in
October, but economic growth is
still slow in coming.
Statistics released by the Em
ployment Security Commission
of North Carolina on Friday
showed that the state’s unem
ployment rate dropped to 9.6 per
cent in October, which is more
than a one percent decrease from
this time a year ago. The rate also
is the same as the national mark,
but ESC Chairman Lynn Holmes
isn’t ready to say the national re
cession is nearing its end.
“While the October data re
flected a slight decline in the
unemployment rate, the total
industry employment was flat,”
Holmes said. “However, North
Carolina’s economy has added
more than 15,000 jobs since De
cember, 2009.”
Labor market data shows that
North Carolina’s labor force and
the number of people employed
in the state has decreased by
1.8 percent and 6.6 percent, re
spectively, since the start of the
national recession at the end of
2007. In October, North Caroli
na’s labor force dipped by more
than 12,000 workers while the
number of people employed fell
by 5,270. The total munber of un
employed people, however, also
dropped by 6,882.
“We just haven’t seen much
change,” said ESC spokesman
Larry Parker. “Over the month,
the employer survey showed no
job gains in North Carolina, but
no job loss either. We’ve seen a
very static job market over the
last month. In the past several
months, we haven’t seen huge
job gains or job losses. Things
have Just kind of cruised along
the past few months.”
North Carolina has lost more
than 260,000 jobs during the cur-
See GROWTH, Page 6
Chamber
survey
results
optimistic
BYERINWILTGEN
StaffW.riter
Well, the good news
is people like living in
Thomasville.
The 10-question Thom-
asvUle Community Sur
vey — which acted as the
first step in the Thom-
asvflle Area Chamber
of Commerce’s Commu
nity Vision and Strategic
Plan — has so far yielded
about 580 responses, and
the results have left mem
bers of the steering com
mittee optimistic.
“We found that citizens
of our commxmity reaUy
reaUy do like our com
munity,” said committee
member Hope Surratt.
“They like living and be
ing close to their family
and friends. They enjoy
the convenience they
have of highways and
airports. They do want
to improve what we have
here.”
The Community Vision
and Strategic Plan came
out of last year’s Cham
ber capital campaign,
leading to the formation
of a 10-person steering
committee, which even
tually developed the sur
vey and the process’ next
step — two community
engagement sessions.
The entire process also
includes statistical re
search and interviews.
“We felt that, while we
have a great historic past
in Thomasville, we need
ed to address the future,”
said Tony Hyde, New-
Brldge Bank’s Thomas-
vUle Area Market Execu
tive. “We knew that we
wanted a very inclusive
process, one that gave ev
eryone in our community
an opportunity to partici
pate.”
See RESULTS, Page 11
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