Wendell News Outlet

 The Town of Wendell is excited to announce its inaugural Holiday Decorating   

 Contest! The contest encourages residents and businesses within the corporate      

 limits to celebrate the season with holiday decorations.

A committee will be judging the doors of residential houses and windows of businesses the week of December 13, 2010. The entries will be judged on CREATIVITY, ARTISTIC FACTORS, and ORIGNIALITY.

Entry forms must be submitted by December 10 and can be emailed to Maggie Oneill at Moneill@townofwendell.com or mailed to P.O. Box 828 Wendell, NC 27591.  

Join Wendell Mayor, Harold Broadwell and the Wendell Chamber of Commerce on Friday, December 3, 2010 for the annual lighting of the square. Wendell’s public works department has been busy decorating the Town in preparation of this event and the anticipated arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus at 6:00 pm that evening.   

As a part of the enterprise grant the Town received from USDA, three crosswalks were installed this past week. The crosswalks took approximately a day each to complete. The process is called StreetPrint and involves the heating of existing asphalt or pavement and then stamping a pattern into the asphalt while hot. A color overlay is then heated and melted onto the stamped surface. The pattern and color chosen were copied from the asphalt crosswalks completed earlier this year at Main and Third Streets.  For those not downtown to observe the installation of the crosswalks, you may go to the following website to view a video on the StreetPrint process.

 http://www.integratedpaving.com/our-products/streetprint/index.cfm/

On Monday, December 6, 2010 at 7 p.m. the regularly scheduled Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will be held in the courtroom in order to receive a presentation from the class at East Carolina University on the latest draft of the Comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan. Please help spread the word to citizens of the Town of Wendell so they can attend the meeting and offer their suggestions and input into developing this master plan.

The 2010 Polar Bear Wood Bat Tournament was held under sunny warm skies this past Saturday. The event was highlighted by some great defense and some outstanding offense as well. In the end, a newcomer to the tournament, the Woodpeckers, proved they came to win it by going undefeated with a perfect 3-0 record and a 14-5 championship win over Make it Happen. Congratulations to Make it Happen who reeled off three straight victories after losing their opening game of the tournament to reach the championship game and a strong second place finish. 

The Woodpeckers were led at the plate by Andrew Goodwin who went 9-11 at the lead off spot and Johnny Baker who went 8-10 and the number two spot. With these two setting the table all they needed was for someone to clean it up and that is what the newest member of the Silver Slugger Homerun Club, Randy Wilhide did, going 6-9 with one home run batting fourth in the cleanup spot. The Silver Slugger Homerun Club is reserved for men who have hit a homerun over the fence with the wood bat; something that has proven to be harder than many think when they first step into the box. Randy is just the third to earn a spot on this elite list since the first tournament was held in 2006. Their team on-base percentage was .578 going 63-109 in just three games and scoring 39 runs and giving up only 18 runs.

 On the defensive side, the Splendid Splinters put on a show turning five double plays in their three games, with four in their first game alone against Make it Happen, a 7-3 victory. What makes this feat stand out is there were only six total double plays turned by the other four teams combined in the tournament.

 Once again the Polar Bear wood bat tournament was a great tournament with five teams - Woodpeckers, Make It Happen, Splendid Splinters, Granny Panties and Cutchins Plumbing - who played hard and played with great sportsmanship. The umpires for the tournament, Don and Gray Young, received several compliments on their consistency and professionalism.

On a humorous note the Granny Panties continued what has become an annual tradition at the Polar Bear wood bat tournament. The team rule is whoever makes the third out of the inning is required to wear a pair of pink underwear that have the words Granny Panties on the back. The fans got a good laugh as each of the players who made the third out reluctantly wore the underwear on the outside of the pants for the next inning on defense.

As we put this year’s tournament in the books we would like to invite everyone to come out for the 6^th Annual Polar Bear Wood Bat tournament on November 5-6, 2011. As anyone who has ever played would say, it is harder than it looks and it takes some getting used to when you go from a composite bat to a wood bat. However, they all say in the end that it is the most fun they have had all year.

                  Eastern Wake CRIMESTOPPERS is offering $200 for information leading to the arrest of the suspect(s) involved in the damage to property that occurred in the Wendell’s Downtown Business District. If you have information or know anyone who can provide information leading to an arrest, please call 366-2746 (CRIME).  

Designs by Mike will host their Christmas Open House for the December 2 Business After Hours. The event, set for 20 E. Third Street, will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The Lighting of the Town Square for the holidays will be held December 3 at 5:30 p.m. with Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving at 6 p.m.

December 4, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at the Wendell Library from 10 a.m. to noon serving cookies and juice. Families will have the opportunity to take photos.

There will be a Notary Public class at the chamber from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call the chamber office for reservations.

Wendell t-shirts and hoodies are available from the chamber. T-shirts are $15 and hoodies (with zipper) are $30.

There will be no Friday memo next week due to town hall being closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Town Hall and the Community Center will be closed both Thursday and Friday in observance of the holiday.

Safe travels to those who are visiting friends and family for the weekend and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

I plan to out of the office on Wednesday, November 24, 2010. If I miss seeing you this week, have a great Thanksgiving! I would like to express my thanks this year to all Town employees for their support. 

DATE        TIME             EVENT                                               LOCATION

11/22         7:00 p.m.         Board of Commissioners Meeting      Town Hall

 12/13         7:00 p.m.         Board of Commissioners Meeting      Town Hall

 12/20         7:00 p.m.         Planning Board Meeting                     Town Hall

NCCU Community Development Initiative invites non-profit leaders and social entrepreneurs in Durham and surrounding counties to a FREE workshop, Board Basics: Development and Management.  The program is an opportunity to network and explore the functions and development of the Board of Directors.  In addition, attendees will have an opportunity to advertise non-profit organizations. The workshop will be on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Whiting Criminal Justice Building.

The purpose of the workshop is to assist non-profits develop and understand the role of the Board of Directors in strategic planning, fund raising, and oversight.   Ruth Peebles, INS Group will introduce attendees to effective recruitment strategies and Trudy Smith, Executive Services Corps, will discuss the functions of the board. Local board members and community leaders will conclude the program with a panel discussion. The panel discussion, moderated by Joel McCauley, MBA of the Durham Black Chamber of Commerce, will provide an opportunity to discuss relevant topics with seasoned professionals and other non-profits administrators, within the Durham community.

Early registration is required for lunch.  If you would like additional information please contact Ms. Alexia Forte at (919) 451-9794 or email boardbasics@gmail.com. 
 

Parks and Recreation Director Brinkley Wagstaff and Finance Director Butch Kay will be traveling to East Carolina University on Monday, November 15^th to meet with the Recreation and Leisure Studies class (an 8 a.m. class). This will be the first opportunity to review the Park, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan before the draft will be submitted to the Town Board on November 20 for review, corrections and additions. The master plan will be presented to the citizens of Wendell on Monday, December 6 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Starting next month, citizens can help the N.C. Department of Transportation decide how to improve its project priority process.

NCDOT will hold four meetings across the state in November where the public can offer suggestions on the way the department’s 10-year work program for transportation projects is determined.  The input gathered at the “listening sessions” will help shape an updated strategic prioritization process that will set criteria for deciding which projects will be included in future work programs. 

Input will be received both through an online survey (due back to NCDOT by November 16) and/or through attendance at one of the regional listening sessions. The Raleigh-area session will be held November 8 at 9 a.m. at the RDU Airport Authority, 1000 Trade Drive. When entering the airport, follow the signs for rental car return. At the stop sign turn left and then the RDU Center will be the first building on the left.

For more information, including how to sign up, contact Alpesh Patel at agpatel@ncdot.gov or (919)715-8717.

Wendell t-shirts and hoodies are available from the chamber. T-shirts are $15 and hoodies (with zipper) are $30.