Lambeth and Mitchell Homes’ History: Coming Tuesday Brian Vickers to miss remainder of season due to treatment for blood clots.
THOMASVILLE
Coming Tuesday See pictures from the Davidson County Relay For Life in Tuesday’s Times.
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Saturday, May 22, 2010
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Vitacost.com adding 228 jobs at plant in Lexington BY ERIN WILTGEN Staff Writer
Vitacost.com Inc., an all-Internet based company that manufactures and sells health and wellness products, will expand its existing facility in Lexington to create 228 jobs over the next three years. The company — headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., and the producer of its own line of proprietary vitamins and supplements — will invest $6.7 million and hopes to increase the originally proposed number of jobs to 300 over five years. “Anytime we can do anything with a job creation, I’m happy about it,” said Davidson County Commissioner Chairman Dr. Max Walser. “This roughly doubles the capacity of what they were doing.” While salaries will vary depending on the job, the overall annual wage for the 228 new jobs will average $30,000 plus benefits, which lies above the Davidson County average of $29,640.
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Unemployment rate falls to lowest mark in past year
Depot ties past to present BY ERIN WILTGEN Staff Writer
O
nce upon a time — though not so long ago — Thomasville’s old railway depot stood in
glory. A passenger depot built in 1870 and a major stop on the new North Carolina railroad, the little building served as a transition post for the rich folks traveling by train to visit the hunting lodge right across the street. Year’s later, the depot still stands as one of North Carolina’s oldest depots and, despite its age, still serves the people of Thomasville as a visitor’s center. “It almost helps signify a changing of the times and how cities have to be,” said Thomasville Tourism Director Mark Scott. “The train used to signify our goods and products, our chairs being shipped out and people coming in by train. Now it’s interesting that the depot has become a visitor’s center because tourism has now become one of the biggest industries in North Carolina.” The foundation of the depot lies in the beginning of the railroad. The idea for the North Carolina railroad began in the 1840s with the passage of a $3 million tax. N.C. Senator John W. Thomas, who represented the Thomasville area, started the town which be-
TIMES PHOTO/ERIN WILTGEN
The Thomasville Depot, which now serves as a Visitor’s Center for the Chair City, contains many artifacts from its time as a transition post for the railroad. came known as Thomasville along the proposed route of that railroad. In fact, according to some accounts, Thomas traded a four-horse drawn wagonload of bacon for 1,500 acres of land which would become a primary part of Thomasville. Thomas then built his own depot and a general store along the tracks, and the area became known as Thomas’ Depot before it was called Thomasville. The first train passed through Thomasville on Jan. 20, 1856, and by 1860 Thom-
asville was a thriving city with 308 residents, a female seminary — constructed by Thomas — and a shoe factory. The depot now standing on Main Street was first built in 1870 on the opposite side of the railroad tracks as a passenger depot. In 1912, the building was moved to the side of the tracks on which the building currently stands, and served as a baggage and freight warehouse. A major stop on the North Carolina railroad, the Thomasville Depot sent soldiers
off to war and shipped furniture all across the country. During the Civil War in 1864, Gen. James Longstreet’s corps rode through the Chair City on the railroad to join Gen. Lee’s army in Virginia. The depot eventually fell out of use when Thomasville ceased to be a railroad stop and was restored between 1975 and 1977 by the Thomasville Historical Society. In 1981, the building was added to the National Register of Historical Places as one of
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Seniors urged to stay sober on prom night
BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer
Unemployment in North Carolina dropped to its lowest rate in a year last month. According to statistics released by the Employment Commission of North Carolina, statewide unemployment fell to 10.8 percent in April, marking the second consecutive month the number has decreased. The unemployment rate has fallen nearly a half a percent since reaching an all-time high of 11.2 percent in February, and is at its lowest mark since last April’s 10.7 percent. The number of people employed across North Carolina went up by more 22,000 workers in April while the number of unemployed decreased by 16,516. “There is some good news in the April data,” ESC Chairman Lynn Holmes said. “North Carolina gained jobs for the second consecutive month, however, we have seen some variation in the sectors experiencing growth. While overall job growth is up and the unemployment rate is slightly lower, we
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BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer Prom night is a special time for high school students. For some, the evening signals the end of their high school career while others look forward to inching that much closer to graduation. On the eve of Senior Prom Friday, East Davidson High School invited guests from Thomasville Police Department and the High PointThomasville Association of Insurance Women to ensure students not only have a fun prom night but a safe one by allowing them to experience first-hand the effects of drinking and driving. “We’re trying to hit hard how dangerous driving and doing anything is, even answering the phone,” EDHS Principal Cathi Smith said. “Students think they’re invincible and that it can’t happen to them. This is a real important part of our Prom
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activities.” Students strapped on fatal vision goggles and attempted to manipulate around a coned obstacle course, simulating the affects alcohol has on one’s judgment. Some students did fairly well while others struggled mightily, running over cones or missing turns all together. “It was good to drive like that so you can learn not to do it,” said junior Zach Walker. “I didn’t think it would be that hard, but it’s pretty hard.” Spanish teacher Shannon Jones made contact with just about every cone on the course, but found the experience valuable — and a bit embarrassing. “It’s a lot harder than it looked,” Jones said. “Everything looked very wavy and it was really hard to see where you were going and where to turn. Everything seemed to overlap. It will hopefully show them what could hap-
TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE
Shannon Brown attempts to drive through a cone course while wearing fatal vision goggles Friday at East Davidson. pen should they choose to do anything on Prom night.” TPD Lt. Donnie Rowe and officer Zach Grove conducted both the driving test and a field sobriety test where students had to wear the fatal
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vision goggles while trying to walk a straight line. Students rarely maintained their line and ended the walk several feet off course. Grove said
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