JUNE 25, 2009 ISSUE
News Watch
A Quick Look at News Across the Region
Norman Cheek Family Establishes Memorial Scholarship at ASU
A gift that will provide more than $1 million from the late Norman Cheek and his family to the Appalachian State University Foundation has established a scholarship fund that will be awarded to three high school seniors, one each from Watauga, Ashe and Caldwell counties who enroll as freshmen at ASU.
Recipients of the Norman Cheek Memorial Scholarship must have been involved in Project Graduation at their local high school.
The first scholarships were awarded to Kendra Powers of Ashe County, Jacqueline Leigh Smith of Caldwell County and Amanda Nichole Kato of Watauga County. Each will receive a $3,000 scholarship a year for four years as long as they remain enrolled at Appalachian.
Cheek was owner of the Toyota franchise in Boone for nearly 30 years. Known as “The Little Dealer with the Big Heart,” Cheek began sponsoring Project Graduation in Watauga, Ashe and Caldwell counties 21 years ago after three teenagers were killed on their graduation night. Cheek raised more than $500,000, raffled off 20 vehicles and helped keep countless students in Watauga, Ashe and Caldwell counties safe while they participated in the drug- and alcohol-free event.
Recipients of the scholarship will be asked to volunteer with Project Graduation while they are in college. Future scholarship applicants will write an essay describing the importance of Project Graduation to themselves and their community.
“Norman Cheek was a personal friend of mine, and he was a great advocate of the area’s high school students and their educational pursuits. He was very committed to them,” said Appalachian’s Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock. “These scholarships are a meaningful way to honor his memory while supporting deserving students.”
Cheek, who served in the military from 1958-64, was a well-known philanthropist in the area. He supported members of the 1450th and 1451st National Guard transportation companies, as well as those who served in the Vietnam, Gulf and Iraq wars. He also provided disaster relief aid following Hurricane Katrina and supported Christmas for Kids and Toys for Tots programs. He also supported construction of an auto technology building at Mayland Community College and the sports facilities at Watauga High School.
“We are very proud to be able to continue my father’s work in the causes and activities he believed in,” said Cheek’s daughter, Donna Bare. “We hope that many students to come will benefit from these scholarships.”
For information on ways to contribute to the Norman Cheek Memorial Scholarship, call 828-262-4023.
AppalCART To Be Closed July 3 and 4
AppalCART, the local transportation authority serving all of Watauga County, will be closed Friday, July 3, and Saturday, July 4, in recognition of Independence Day.
AppalCART will resume operating the Red, Green, Gold, Purple and Pop 105 bus routes and all van routes on Monday, July 6, on summer schedules. For more information on AppalCART routes, click to the AppalCART website at www.appalcart.com or call the dispatch office at 828-264-2278.
Boone Town Council Approves 2009-10 Budget
On June 18, the Boone Town Council unanimously approved a $19.5 million budget for fiscal year 2009-10, a 4.6 percent decrease from the approved 2008-09 budget.
Todd Native Baron Fenwick Wins Inaugural Leonard Bernstein Excellence Award
University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) Chancellor John Mauceri announced this week that James Baron Fenwick III of Todd is the first recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Excellence Award. The award was created by Mauceri with a gift from Leonard Bernstein’s three children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina, and matched by The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust.
Fenwick, 15, is a piano student of Clifton Matthews in the School of Music at UNCSA, where he is a rising 10th grader. Fenwick, who also studies with viola faculty member Sheila Browne at UNCSA, performed as a violist with the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra when Mauceri conducted Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 at the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem, and subsequently at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, last winter.
“Interim Music School Dean Michael Rothkopf and I chose Baron because he has not only been a terrific student,” Mauceri continued, “but he has gone the extra mile to represent UNCSA at frequent events. He is a model citizen, and as a freshman in high school, has set a standard that is absolutely inspirational. I know Leonard Bernstein would have been delighted with this choice. In the words of Nina Bernstein Simmons, ‘All hail, Baron Fenwick III!’”
The Leonard Bernstein Excellence Award will be awarded annually to a music student at UNCSA who best epitomizes the talent and commitment to society of Bernstein.
“I didn't know what to think,” said Fenwick. “It's such an honor!”
The son of Cindy Norris and Jay Fenwick, James Fenwick has been playing the piano since age five. He has performed as a soloist with the Western Piedmont Youth Symphony, playing Haydn’s Concerto in D Major. This spring, he shared first prize in the Junior Division of the North Carolina Symphony’s 2009 Youth Concerto Competition, playing the first movement of Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 3. He was a finalist in the same competition in 2006. Earlier this month, Fenwick won third place in the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, for 8th through 12th graders, and, as a result, will be performing the first movement of Prokofiev's Concerto No. 3 with the South Carolina Philharmonic sometime during its 2010 season.
Before coming to UNCSA, Fenwick competed in the nation’s largest spelling bee, the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee. He was one of only 45 contestants—out of 288—to make it to the televised semifinals. To get there, Fenwick won the spelling bee at Green Valley Elementary School, and went on to win his countywide bee and then the Winston-Salem Journal Regional Spelling Bee.
Fenwick previously studied piano with Bair Shagdaron at ASU, and also violin and viola with Eric Koontz, also at ASU.
ASU Trustees Approve Water Shortage Response Plan
On Friday, June 19, the ASU Board of Trustees approved an updated version of its Water Shortage Master Plan, as required every five years by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources. According to ASU Interim Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Greg Lovins, ASU owns its own water treatment facility—constructed at a cost of $3.2 million in 2006 and paid for by 2000 North Carolina Higher Education Bonds—that uses a 300-million gallon reservoir and has the capacity to treat and distribute 2 million gallons per day. ASU’s average daily water usage represents just a small fraction of the facility’s capacity, said Lovins. “We are in good shape when it comes to capacity,” said Lovins, who also said construction crews were close to finishing work on ASU and the Town of Boone’s underground water interconnect. The interconnect is located beneath Hardin Street and Lovins expects it to be completed by the beginning of the fall semester. The interconnect will share water resources with Boone and eventually Blowing Rock.
Watauga Commissioners Approve Lease Extension for the Hannah Building with the Hunger and Health Coalition
Last week, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners approved a 30-year lease extension for the Hannah Building with the Hunger and Health Coalition, Inc. A date for the commencement of the new lease was left blank per request of Watauga County Attorney Anthony di Santi, who explained that any lease for more than 10 years entered into by a North Carolina county must be treated as a sale and published for 10 days before the general public. The new lease, said di Santi, can be signed and dated 10 days after the sale is published. This process, he said, is just a formality and “there is no upset period; this is just for informational purposes,” explained di Santi.
Blowing Rock Couple Establishes Endowment for Parkway’s Bass Lake
Bliss and Sue Williams of Blowing Rock, Charlotte, and Brenham, Texas, recently provided a gift of $100,000 to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation to establish an endowment in their name to assist in the perpetual care of Bass Lake, which is contained in the boundaries of the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Sue and Bliss began spending their summers in Blowing Rock in 1982 after first visiting the area during a family vacation in 1965. Sue became devoted to daily walks around Bass Lake, a tradition she continued after Bliss' death in 1998 and until her own passing in late 2008.
Other individuals and entities have created endowments over the years for Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, most recently Bill and Judy Watson; Alan and Sally Cone; James L. and Pat Shore Clark; and ZAP Fitness.
For more information about establishing named endowments for the Blue Ridge Parkway's perpetual care, call Executive Director Dr. Houck Medford at 336-721-0260.
Sheriff Hagaman Offers Fireworks Safety Tips
Watauga County citizens should remember that fireworks, as enjoyable as they are to watch, can be dangerous and should only be handled by professionals, said Watauga County Sheriff Len D. Hagaman, Jr. According to the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission, there are nearly 9,000 emergency room-treated injuries associated with fireworks each year. Local residents can enjoy a safe Fourth of July by following these safety tips:
-Never give fireworks to small children, and always follow the instructions on the packaging.
-Keep a supply of water close-by as a precaution.
-Make sure the person lighting fireworks always wears eye protection.
-Light only one firework at a time and never attempt to relight "a dud."
-Store fireworks in a cool, dry place away from children and pets.
-Never throw or point a firework toward people, animals, vehicles, structures or flammable materials.
-Stay at least 500 feet away from professional fireworks displays.
-Leave any area immediately where untrained amateurs are using fireworks.
ASU To Offer Environmental Science Undergraduate Degree Beginning in August
A new undergraduate degree will be offered at ASU this fall—a bachelor of science degree in environmental science. Roy C. Sidle, an ASU professor of geology and former professor with the Disaster Prevention Research Institute of Kyoto University in Japan, will direct the degree program. The degree has an interdisciplinary approach and draws from academic disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy, geology, and geography and planning.
“This is not an environmental studies program,” Sidle said. “It’s a science-based program. “I think to be successful in environmental management or environmental policy, you need a strong scientific background.”
Students will take physics and calculus, chemistry, basic geosciences and biology as a fundamental background before they begin specializing in a geophysical, biological or geochemical area of environmental science.
To learn more about the degree, click to www.environment.appstate.edu.
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