Year: 2023

Graduates of the 2023 Associate Degree Nursing (A.D.N.) Program received their pins at College of The Albemarle’s (COA) annual pinning ceremony on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in the Performing Arts Center at COA – Elizabeth City.

This year’s pinning ceremony included the presentation of pins, the lighting of the Nightingale Lamps and the reciting of the International Council of Nurses’ Pledge. Additional highlights this year to celebrate 50 years of Associate Degree Nursing included Wilma Harris, our featured speaker, and a reception displaying photos and memorabilia from the program’s history.

Wilma Harris, one of the first A.D.N. faculty members, shared a detailed history of the program dating back to its inception in 1971.  Harris led the effort for the program to receive accreditation from the National League for Nursing.  She served the College’s nursing programs from 1970 to 1997 as an instructor, assistant professor, program coordinator, associate professor, department chair and professor.  Harris was named COA Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty in 1997, serving until her retirement in 2000.

Harris’ remarks at the pinning focused on the “buildings and builders” of the Associate Degree Nursing program.  She carried the graduates and those attending the event on a “walk down memory lane,” reflecting on the earliest physical locations of the program as well as those who committed themselves to the educational foundations that set the trajectory for success that we continue to experience today.

“From the initial classroom on Water Street to its various locations at COA – Elizabeth City, the program, now housed in the Zack D. Owens Health Center, has sustained the strong foundations and steadfast support established long ago,” said Robin Harris, COA Dean, Health Sciences and Wellness Programs.  “Although the A.D.N. program is based at COA – Elizabeth City, COA offers a variety of nursing classes throughout our service area.  College of The Albemarle is proud of our rich tradition of educating and training nurses for the past 50 years. We are embarking on a new Health Sciences Expansion Simulation Center that will provide state-of-the-art learning environments for students and healthcare workers throughout the region.  College of The Albemarle is honored to be the leading health sciences education and training provider for our service area and beyond.”

As part of the ceremony on May 9th, several A.D.N. students received esteemed recognition, awards and scholarships acknowledging academic excellence and perseverance.

Daria Russu received the Academic Excellence and Academic Recognition Award.

The Academic Excellence Award is presented to the student with the highest grade point average (GPA) during the A.D.N. Program. The Academic Recognition Award is given to students who maintained a 3.5 GPA during their studies at COA.  

Nikki Myers received the Dr. L. Everett Sawyer Award. This award is presented to students who display outstanding abilities in all facets of nursing.  It was established in 1984 in memory of Dr. Sawyer, a loyal and generous friend of COA’s A.D.N. Program.  Recipients are selected by the A.D.N. faculty each year.

The Dr. Zack D. Owens and Martha Anderson Owens Nursing Endowment Scholarship was given to Olivia Boone, Ashlee Edwards, Kierston Hoover, Amanda Schwartz, Maria Schwartz, Tierra Wallace Mason and Kristen Wilson.  Scholarships are presented to selected full-time nursing students who maintain a 2.5 GPA.  Dr. Zack D. Owens, a surgeon in Elizabeth City, and his wife, Martha Anderson Owens, a registered nurse, formed a highly skilled medical team at Albemarle Hospital.  In 1983, Dr. Owens established the endowment to provide scholarship opportunities for nursing students.

“College of The Albemarle congratulates the 2023 A.D.N. graduates,” shared COA President Dr. Jack Bagwell. “They worked hard to meet the requirements of this program, completing over 800 hours of clinical training, 768 classroom hours and 288 lab hours.  Not only are we celebrating the graduates this year, but we are also celebrating 50 years of Associate Degree Nursing at College of The Albemarle.  This program has consistently produced graduates who excel in their profession and who are sought by area healthcare employers. COA is extremely proud of their accomplishments and looks forward to their many contributions to our communities’ health care.”

Congratulations to the 2023 Associate Degree Nursing graduates: Caitlyn Bagley, Virginia Beach, VA; Olivia Boone, Pasquotank County; Kirsten Bundy, Camden County; Breann Byrum, Chowan County; Abigail Conner, Forsyth County; Alison Cooke, Chowan County; Ashlee Edwards, Gates County; Katlyn Elmore, Pasquotank County; Chelsi Gregory, Perquimans County; Raven Hankins, Pasquotank County; Damaris Holloway, Washington County; Kierston Hoover, Dare County; Jazmine Knieper, Dare County; Amber Maxa, Dare County; Katelyn Mojarro, Currituck County; Nikki Myers, Dare County; Dena Pettus, Pasquotank County; Daria Russu, Dare County; Amanda Schwartz, Camden County; Maria Schwartz, Camden County; Ashley Timmons, Pasquotank County; Julissa Valle, Dare County; Patrice Wall, Pasquotank County; Tierra Wallace Mason, Pasquotank County; Courtney Whitehurst, Pasquotank County; Kristen Wilson, Perquimans County.

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In April, the Sawyer family, from Currituck County was honored with the 4-H Family Legacy Award during a ceremony for 4-H Alumni award winners at the McKimmon Center at North Carolina State University. The award is given to multigenerational families who have made a lasting and significant impact on the North Carolina 4-H community.

Four generations of Sawyer youth have participated in the 4-H program – 26 members in total, amassing 91 years of service. The family understands and believes in the life skills that the 4-H organization provides and desires that it be preserved for future generations.

This conviction led them to establish the William E. Sawyer memorial scholarship fund in memory of the first of 5 Sawyers to be inducted into the NC 4-H Honor Club. The Sawyer family also produced two highly successful 4-H Agents turned County Extension Directors.

The Sawyer family blood truly runs green to Make the Best Better. Family members in attendance to receive the award included: Rodney and Wayne Sawyer, Chandler Sawyer, Eric and Cameron Lowe, and Ashton Lowe. 

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Six rehabilitated sea turtles were released Tuesday morning in Buxton in front of a crowd of over 300 onlookers. Four greens, one Kemp’s ridley, and one loggerhead sea turtle crawled back into the ocean after recovering at the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation (STAR) Center located at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

Miss Piggy, an adult female loggerhead, received a satellite transmitter before release. Her track will be shared on the Aquarium website if a strong signal is transmitted. A DNA sample was also taken before release. This sample will be compared to DNA collected on nesting beaches from North Carolina to Georgia and will let us know if she nests successfully.

“We don’t normally see adult turtles in the STAR Center,” said Amber Hitt, STAR Center Manager. “Rehabilitating and releasing a turtle that could potentially contribute to the population in the near future brings additional depth to this rewarding job.”

The juvenile green and Kemp’s ridley turtles received PIT tags, or small microchips, inserted into their flippers. These microchips can identify the turtles if they are encountered and scanned in the future. For example, if they strand again or are examined as part of an in-water research project.

The work of stranding response and rehabilitation requires dedication from both staff and volunteers. The Network for Endangered Sea Turtles (N.E.S.T.) is the Outer Banks volunteer group responsible for responding to reports of stranded turtles, transporting patients, and helping care for rehabilitating turtles. They also provide sea turtle nest monitoring and protection for the beaches from Nags Head to the Virginia state line. N.E.S.T. president Tony Parisi noted that “N.E.S.T. volunteers work hard to protect and conserve sea turtles on the Outer Banks. In the winter, releases are often done from boats, so volunteers don’t get the chance to attend. Having the opportunity to see six turtles released and have volunteers actively participate is very gratifying.”

If you see a stranded or nesting turtle on the Outer Banks, contact N.E.S.T.’s hotline at 252-441-8622. To learn more about their mission, visit them at nestonline.org.

Learn more about the STAR Center by visiting ncaquariums.com/roanoke-island. The STAR Center is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is included with admission to the Aquarium. Tickets must be purchased in advance through our online ticketing system.

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College of The Albemarle (COA) celebrated five Medical Assisting graduates in a pinning ceremony held Monday, May 8, 2023, in the Performing Arts Center at COA – Elizabeth City.

During the ceremony, the graduates received their pins, participated in a candle lighting ceremony and recited the Medical Assisting Creed. The graduates completed 840 class and lab hours and 180 hours in clinical settings.

Kasea Davis received the Stella B. Gallop Spirit of Medical Assisting Award and the Academic Excellence Award this year. The Stella B. Gallop Award recipient best captures the spirit of the medical assisting profession, and the Academic Excellence Award is given to the student with the highest grade point average.

Graduates for 2023 include Lakisha Johnson, Pasquotank County; Ashley Bunch, Perquimans County; Heidi Kelley, Camden County; Kasea Davis, Pasquotank County; Esmeralda Vasquez-Mendez, Dare County.

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Dare County, in conjunction with the Town of Kill Devil Hills, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, for the new 36,000-square-foot facility that, once completed, will serve as Dare County EMS Station 1 as well as Kill Devil Hills Fire Department Station 14.

The new co-located facility, which will be constructed at 1630 N. Croatan Highway in Kill Devil Hills, is part of a multiphase project to improve and modernize numerous outdated EMS facilities throughout Dare County in order to better serve residents and visitors.

The ceremony kicked off with a welcome message from Town of Kill Devil Hills Assistant Town Manager Charlene Allen, which was followed by an opening prayer delivered by Kill Devil Hills Fire Chaplain Steve Siegrist, as well as a series of remarks from Town of Kill Devil Hills Mayor Ben Sproul, who shared what the co-located facility will mean to the community he serves.

“We are entering into a new era, and I couldn’t be more excited about it,” said Sproul. “This building will soon be the home away from home to approximately 40 career, volunteer and support fire personnel who, as you all know, demonstrate acts of selflessness and dedication every day. It’s with great pride that I can say that this new fire station will be giving these men and women a more modernized and efficient place where they can continue to grow as a department and courageously answer our community’s calls for help.”

Sproul also expressed his appreciation for the Town of Kill Devil Hills’ partnership with Dare County and the integral role it has played in bringing the project to fruition.

“We are always working together, and partnerships are a huge part of what we do on the Outer Banks, and I am here to tell you that without Dare County working with us on this joint venture we would probably not be here today breaking ground,” said Sproul. “It would have taken us a good little while longer to get here, so we appreciate that partnership, and as we move forward together with the construction of this new facility, I know that our partnership will continue to strengthen.”

Sproul then turned over the podium to Dare County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Wally Overman, who highlighted the county’s ongoing efforts to improve and modernize EMS facilities throughout Dare County—and the way that EMS Station 1, in particular, plays a pivotal role due to its central location within the heavily populated Kill Devil Hills community.

“Station 1 here in Kill Devil Hills serves as the primary hub for Dare County EMS and includes the department’s administrative offices as well as the training facility for EMS personnel,” said Overman. “Being located in one of the busiest areas of the entire county—the heart of Kill Devil Hills—personnel from Station 1 were dispatched to over 2,800 calls last calendar year, providing essential and often lifesaving services to Dare County residents, visitors and property owners. Station 1 is the busiest EMS station in the system.”

In addition to noting that the majority of Dare County’s EMS facilities were constructed several decades ago and have become outdated over the years, Overman also emphasized the importance of providing modernized facilities that will help first responders perform their duties more efficiently and effectively.

“The Dare County Board of Commissioners recognizes and appreciates the integral role that these essential members of our workforce play for the people of our community,” said Overman. “Improving these facilities and bringing them up to date with today’s technology is crucial, and it will make it possible for our first responders to better serve our residents and visitors. I can’t tell you how excited I am to start seeing this project come to life and how thrilled I am to be breaking ground this afternoon on a facility that will be a game-changer for our first responders operating out of EMS Station 1 and Kill Devil Hills Fire Department Station 14.”

During his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony, Overman also thanked the Town of Kill Devil Hills for its partnership with Dare County for the project, as well as Barnhill Contracting Company and Oakley Collier Architects.

“In addition to our Dare County officials and representatives, I’d also like to thank the Town of Kill Devil Hills for partnering with the county,” he said. “In particular, I’d like to thank Mayor [Ben] Sproul and the Kill Devil Hills Board of Commissioners, including Mayor Pro Tem Ivy Ingram, Commissioners Terry Gray, John Windley and B.J. McAvoy, Town Manager Debbie Diaz, Assistant Town Manager Charlene Allen and, of course, [Kill Devil Hills Fire Department] Chief Troy Tilley. If it weren’t for our exceptional partnership with the town and all that each and every one of you have done to assist us along the way, this project truly would not be possible. And of course, I’d also like to extend my sincerest thanks and appreciation to the people who have worked to not only design this cutting-edge co-located facility where so many of our community’s essential workers will work side by side, but also those who will be building it brick by brick from the ground up.”

Overman’s comments were followed by remarks made by Dare County EMS Director Chief Jennie Collins, who emphasized the positive impact that the improved facility will have on the Dare County EMS department’s diverse workforce as well as the thousands of residents and visitors they serve each year.

“Why are these facilities so important to us? It’s where we maintain our readiness to serve the community,” said Collins. “They’re in service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. They don’t close for holidays. They don’t close for storms when everybody else has to evacuate the island we are still here to provide that protection for.”

Collins also commented on the increased demands for service that have been placed on her department due to a significant rise in the number of calls for emergency response that have been placed in recent years thanks to an uptick in tourism and Dare County’s growing population of year-round residents.

“The EMS department has 136 full-time employees and about 30 part-time employees, and our system-wide call volume was just shy last year of 9,800 calls, with 2,800 of those run from [EMS] Station 1,” said Collins. “This year, system-wide, we are expecting to break 10,000 calls. We need a much higher level of functionality and efficiency and to incorporate the new technology that is available. Over the coming months, it is exciting to see the project underway and the building coming to life. We cannot wait to move into it. This new station will represent the continued mission of our proud legacy of both departments—both the EMS Department and the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department, the legacy of serving the community.”

Once completed in the spring of 2024, the new Dare County EMS Station 1 will feature an array of advancements and features, including new technology that will keep carcinogens from the vehicle bays out of the crew members’ living areas located within the facility, larger storage areas to house supplies ranging from personnel uniforms to medical equipment, and significantly improved living quarters and sleeping areas for on-duty staff members, among many other improvements.

Following Collins’ remarks, Kill Devil Hills Fire Department Chief Troy Tilley took to the podium to share how an updated and improved facility will benefit his crew members that operate out of Kill Devil Hills Fire Department Station 14, as well as the members of the community they protect and serve.

“This new fire station will house a dedicated team of firefighters that are prepared to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to the emergency response needs of our community no matter what that situation is or the weather conditions. Snow, rain, ice, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, Kill Devil Hills Fire is here for our community,” said Tilley, who noted that the new station will feature a designated decontamination room for equipment and personnel, a physical fitness area, a training room for current and future firefighters, and areas where firefighters can get much-needed rest and nourishment when they’re serving a 24-hour shift at the facility.

“The overall goal is to support our ability to respond to our community and keep our firefighters healthy and prepared in order to serve and respond to the emergency responses,” Tilley continued. “This groundbreaking of a new fire station is a monumental moment for the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department as we ensure we have a firm foundation for our department so that we have the ability to continually respond to the needs of our community well into the future, and I’m looking forward to that future.”

At the conclusion of Tilley’s remarks, Dare County EMS Chaplain Cherri Wheeler led a closing a prayer, and officials from Dare County, the Town of Kill Devil Hills and the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department—as well as representatives of Barnhill Contracting Company and Oakley Collier Architects—were invited to officially break ground on the site of the new Dare County EMS Station 1 and Kill Devil Hills Fire Department Station 14 facility.

For more information about the series of improvements and renovations that are currently underway during Dare County’s EMS facilities modernization project—as well as updates about projects that will take place as future phases get underway—please visit www.DareNC.gov/Projects.

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On Monday, May 15, National Park Service (NPS) South Atlantic-Gulf Regional Director Mark Foust signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s Construct Multi-Use Pathway in Hatteras Island District environmental assessment (EA).

After evaluating the potential impacts of two alternatives, NPS selected the preferred alternative: construct a multi-use pathway. Under the selected alternative, Cape Hatteras National Seashore will construct a 1.6-mile-long, 10-12-foot-wide paved multi-use pathway in two segments. The plan also includes other visitor amenities and improvements.

“Thanks to support from our park partner, Outer Banks Forever, visitors to Cape Hatteras National Seashore will one day be able to walk, bike and run on a paved pathway to popular areas like the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and nearby beaches,” said David Hallac, superintendent, National Parks of Eastern North Carolina. “I’m excited to get to the multi-use pathway’s construction phase this fall and winter.”

The FONSI and EA are available on the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at parkplanning.nps.gov/caha_multiuse_pathway.

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VusicOBX has announced the final show of their approaching 2023 Summer Series lineup with Matisyahu, G. Love & Special Sauce, and surprise guest CYDEWAYS set to take the stage at Roanoke Island Festival Park on Friday, August 18, 2023.

The gates will open at 5 p.m. that evening in Manteo, with the show beginning at 6:30 p.m. Catch all the songs you love from Matisyahu including “Sunshine” and “One Love,” and G.Love’s “Rodeo Clowns” and “Cold Beverage” with many more in store. The show will end with a great jam session with both headline artists.

Pre-sale tickets for the event go on sale this Thursday, May 18, at 10 a.m. EST. Tickets may be purchased for $40 in advance, or can be purchased the day of the show for $50. To purchase your tickets via etix.com, click here.

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