APRIL 2020
Inside: Stepping up to help out
â– Changes announced for Johnson property design â– Equipment at Y indicates problem for patron
and much more! January 2020
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contents page 3
STEPPING
UP TO HELP
5500 Adams Farm Lane, Suite 204 Greensboro, NC 27407 Phone: 336.316.1231
page 4
publısher Charles Womack Contrıbutors Carol Brooks, Norma Dennis
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art dırector Austin Kindley graphıc desıgner Alex Eldridge
CHANGES
ANNOUNCED FOR
JOHNSON
PROPERTY DESIGN
page 6 EQUIPMENT
AT
Y
INDICATES
deadlınes All articles, photos, and ads must be in the Jamestown News office by January 22 for the February edition. E-mail photos as tif or jpg and ads as PDF. Text only
PROBLEM FOR PATRON
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accepted in Microsoft Word.
For advertısıng ınquırıes, call 336.316.1231 Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily the opinion of the publication. © 2020 by Womack Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use without permission is prohibited.
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LOCAL
CHARTER SCHOOL
CONTINUES TO GROW
April 2020
Stepping up to help out By Norma B. Dennis
Contributor ndwordesign@gmail.com
To say life as Americans know it has been considerably altered in the past couple of weeks would clearly be an understatement. The effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) have resulted in schools closing, restaurants opening on a takeout basis only, workers being laid off and panicked consumers stripping grocery stores of necessities. But local non-profits and faith organizations are stepping up to provide additional help to those in need. Years ago when Lisa Hawley noticed kids at school wrapping part of their lunch to take home for supper, she began providing food to children, an effort that soon turned into the nonprofit Feeding Lisa’s Kids. Today, volunteers meet at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in High Point on the first Wednesday of each month to box food and deliver it to 170 homes in the community. “We feed over 700 people each month,” said Hawley, owner of the Southern Roots restaurant in Jamestown. “We collect monetary donations and I am able to purchase food through my vendors and get more for the dollar.” With schools closed and children and many parents now at home, Hawley saw the need for the families served by Feeding Lisa’s Kids to have more food. She organized an emergency food drive on March 21 to provide an extra food delivery to them for the month of March. “But we don’t have the money to continue doing this twice a month,” Hawley acknowledged. “Anyone who would like to help may write a check to Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church and designate it for Feeding Lisa’s Kids. Donations are tax deductible and 100 percent of what we receive is used to
Lisa Hawley supervised the emergency Feeding Lisa’s Kids event. buy food. There are no other costs because volunteers do everything. “We hope people will continue to donate so we can keep this program going.” Approximately two miles from Hawley’s business, members of Renaissance Road Church on Harvey
Submitted Photo
Road recently created 200 bags of food to help students in need. The church has a food bank from which they distribute food weekly. “We partner with Second Harvest Food Bank in Winston-Salem, as well as a local grocery store and gas station to help stock our food bank,” Jace
Breeback, campus pastor, said. “We have shelving, freezers and refrigerators to handle the food we receive until it is given away.” When church members saw an extra need for students out of school, they wanted to be part of the solution. Their regular food distributions are meant for a week. The smaller food bags are emergency rations that could last onethree days. In addition to making bags of nonperishable food for students, they created 40 similar bags for seniors ages 60 and older. When trying to decide how best to get the food bags into the hands of those who need them, Breeback learned about Feeding Lisa’s Kids. Renaissance Road partnered with Lisa Hawley and Feeding Lisa’s Kids to distribute most of the food bags at that group’s Saturday emergency food delivery. The bags of food for seniors in need were given out on Friday and Saturday afternoons at Renaissance Road Church. “(The current situation) has thrown so many for a loop,” Breeback said. “We are blessed to have the food bank already established in our church and are just trying to extend the service. “In the future, we will reevaluate where we are and what needs to be done. We want to see our community come together and do well during this time of need. Food or monetary donations are accepted.” Renaissance Road also has a campus in Lexington that is providing food for students in that area. Donations to Feeding Lisa’s Kids or Renaissance Road Church food bank are appreciated. Mail checks to Wesleyan United Methodist Church at 1225 Chestnut Drive, High Point, NC 27262, and note on the memo line – Feeding Lisa’s Kids; or to Renaissance Road Church at 5114 Harvey Road, Jamestown, NC 27282, and note on the memo line – food bank. January 2020
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Changes announced for Johnson property design By Carol brooks Contributor cab1hp@gmail.com
It appears Diamondback Investment Group is listening to the people who disliked the company’s original plan for the 467-acre Johnson farm property. After announcing planned changes on March 4, new plans were unveiled March 16.
The total number of units has been reduced from 1,612 to 1,403. Many residents of the areas surrounding the Guilford College and Mackay roads farm – including the Cedarwood and Jordan Creek neighborhoods – objected to the number of apartments (312) as well as commercial area in the original plans of Castleton Village unveiled Feb. 13.
Zach Tran, one of the principals of Diamondback, sent a letter to “neighbors of the Johnson Farm” on March 18. In it, he listed eight concerns his company had heard regarding the development and how the new plan reflects these concerns. “We have eliminated the large commercial area across from the Cedarwood neighborhood,” Tran said.
“This has been replaced by a senior living community and a 24-acre park area. “The only commercial development included in this plan will be small store and office fronts located on an interior road, with residential condos located above. This is intended to maintain a small-town feel.” He added that the swimming pool
Rendering courtesy Diamondback Investment Group
This new plan for Castleton Village shows relocation of apartments and the addition of a senior living community. A clearer rendering of the new plan was not available. 4 gazette
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originally located across from Jordan Creek has been moved to the interior of the property. A small tract beside Jordan Creek on the corner of Mackay and Guilford College, across from the large farm area, is now townhomes, rather than professional office space. Tran said a tract at the corner of Guilford and Guilford College roads which backs up to the Whittington Hall development is now designated as civic – a change from professional office – and will be donated to Jamestown for “municipal use.” A farmer’s market will be located diagonally across from the civic land. Perhaps the biggest change is the location of the apartments. What once were 312 apartments and mixed-use areas across from the Cedarwood neighborhood are now 208 units moved farther toward Gate City Boulevard along Guilford College Road. In place of the apartments, Diamondback is proposing a senior living community. Another area toward the back of the development has become age-targeted single-family. On the Castleton Village Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ groups/528167477702528, Tran explained what a senior living community would be. “Senior living would be an independent care provider that is different than the age-targeted area of the site plan,” Tran said. “It would be owned and managed by a company that specifically cares for seniors from independent living through assisted life care. We have been in discussion with several of those providers. The entire tract will be dedicated to this use and I would imagine the operator would phase their construction as need is required. I am not an expert in the subject matter other than to know they would need a Certificate of Need to provide nursing home care. “Age-targeted would be product and marketing driven to cater to those who are 55+ but would not be deed-restricted so any age could technically move
in there. However, that could change if the builders we discussed this property with request the deed restriction.” Other discussion has concerned saving the historic buildings on the property, specifically the old Armstrong house near Guilford Road. “We are having ongoing discussions with members of the historic preservation community to determine the best future for the Armstrong house,” Tran said. The Johnson family is descended from the Armstrong family who came from Castleton, England. Another area, previously designated as green space, along Guilford College Road, between the back of GTCC and Whittington Hall, has now been designated institutional. But the development hinges on whether Diamondback can get the zoning it needs. “This is a planned unit development, or PUD,” Tran said. “A PUD zoning designation, which would allow this type of development, is being considered by the Jamestown Town Council. “We would not be able to commit to developing the property the way that is described in this plan, with more than 165 acres of trails, parks and green space included, unless the Town Council approves a PUD zoning designation. Current zoning law would compel us to approach the development in a more piecemeal fashion.” Diamondback is expected to request annexation for the new development. If approved, the population of the Town of Jamestown would nearly double by the time the development is finished. Tran urged those concerned to visit the Castleton Village Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ groups/528167477702528 to register their thoughts. His company is monitoring the site. (The PUD vote by the Town Council was to have been decided on March 17 but the meeting was postponed because of the coronavirus. A new date has not been announced.)
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Equipment at Y indicates health problem for patron By Norma B. Dennis Contributor ndwordesign@gmail.com
For 25 years exercise has been a way of life for Jim Hegner. He started it to avoid extensive back surgery that would have kept him from working for six to eight months. “The doctor gave me a set of exercises to do and told me I would have to exercise for the rest of my life,” Hegner said. Hegner listened to the doctor’s advice, going from one gym to another to maintain his exercise routine. Approximately six years ago, he opted to start exercising at the Ragsdale YMCA using the equipment there about three or four times a week. Hegner began Dec. 2, 2019, as he did each time he exercised, using the blood pressure machine to check and record his
blood pressure and heart rate. “My heart rate was 37, half of what it usually is,” Hegner said. “I thought the machine was not calibrated right. But a friend said the machine was correct when he used it.” Lacey Armistead, a nurse anesthetist at Wesley Long Hospital and Ragsdale YMCA patron, overhead the men’s conversation and stopped exercising to check Hegner’s pulse. “She told me the machine was correct and I needed to see a doctor,” Hegner said. “Having her tell me that increased the level of seriousness to me. “When my wife called Guilford Medical, the doctor on call was exercising,” he added with a smile. “He met me at his office the next morning for an EKG and made an appointment for me to see a cardiologist the next day.”
Test results from the cardiologist showed Hegner needed a pacemaker and the day after Christmas he had surgery. “By then my heart rate had dropped to 25,” Hegner said. “It was so low I could not be put to sleep and had to have the surgery with local anesthesia. I had an hour conversation with the doctor while he worked and explained the procedure. By 5 p.m. that same day I went home.” Hegner had no previous symptoms of a heart problem until the blood pressure machine at the Y indicated a low pulse rate. While waiting for his surgery date, he continued to exercise, following Armistead’s advise to take it easy and not overdo. Within a few days after surgery, Hegner was exercising once more at the Y. But at the doctor’s suggestions, he has modified what he does somewhat. He
Jim Hegner checks his blood pressure and heart rate before starting his exercise routine on a stationary bike. 6 gazette
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will see the doctor again in April to learn if any changes in his routine are needed or allowed. “The doctor who did my original back surgery told me it was my responsibility to keep myself in good condition,” Hegner said. “I think exercising all these years made a difference in my general health. Both my parents died at 84. I am 83 but with this pacemaker, I feel I will outlive them. I also will follow that original back doctor’s advice and continue to exercise.” Hegner recently had an unrelated surgery and the nurse anesthetist that walked into his room was none other than Armistead. “I think she is my health-care angel,” he said.
Photos by Norma B. Dennis
Local charter school continues to grow By Norma B. Dennis Contributor ndwordesign@gmail.com
The saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” need not apply only to things. For Michelle Johnson, it meant starting a new school. Tired of the commute her daughter made to attend a charter school in Winston-Salem, Johnson – with encouragement from friends at her church in High Point – decided to start a new charter school in this area. “My husband, Tacuma, and I wrote the charter for it in 2011 and it was unanimously approved by the state in March of 2012,” Johnson said. “We leased space in a church on Highway 68 in Greensboro and opened the doors of The College Preparatory and Leadership Academy of High Point that fall to students in grades K-3.” Charter schools are independent public schools. They are able to operate like public schools, but report directly to the state. “We are held to the same academic standards for our curriculum and instruction,” Johnson said. “The main difference is we make local decisions based on what we consider best for our students. A board of directors makes sure we follow the charter-school laws. We are our own mini school district.” The Point, a shortened named for the school, started with 107 students and added a grade level each year until middle school, when it added two grades a year. “We outgrew the church and knew we needed our own space,” Johnson said. “The building at the corner of Business I-85 and Riverdale became available and we moved here in November 2014. It actually has two addresses – one in High Point and one in Jamestown.” The Point added high school classes in 2016. It recently celebrated the opening of a new gymnasium and high school classrooms.
Photo by Norma B. Dennis
Michelle Johnson, superintendent of The College Preparatory and Leadership Academy of High Point, poses which students in front of the school’s main building. “We are maxed out in our elementary and middle school space and had a waiting list this year,” Johnson said. “We currently have a total of 787 students. Each year the state allows you to add 20 percent of your enrollment as space permits. Next year, the 9th grade will be where we take in the most students.” Any child that lives in North Carolina may apply during January and February to attend The Point. A lottery is held for placement in the spaces available. The school includes a media center and calm room where students may get social and emotional help if needed. The school serves breakfast and lunch and approximately 70 percent of students ride buses to the facility. Students adhere to a standard mode of dress, except on Wednesdays when a specific dress code is followed. STEM classes (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and physical education are held each day. The school also offers a wide range of electives including art, music, middleschool theater, radio broadcasting,
choir and dance, which meet on alter- the Congdon Family Foundation, we nating days. will beef up our STEM program. Starting in first grade, students learn Currently, we are working with High public speaking. Point University to research our STEM Sports include track, cross-country, program and improve our communicabasketball, cheerleading and a new tion portal. football team. The sports teams belong “Basically, we want to make the to a conference that includes other things we are already doing better.” charter schools, private schools and homeschool leagues. & “Our school has a 100 percent graduation rate,” Johnson said. “I see a lot of school pride among our students. it’s what we do. “In the future, we Our life’s work is helping families create meaningful tributes to the ones they loved...it’s as much for the want to continue to living as it is for those who have gone before. provide a high-quality education for our High Point scholars. We plan to (336) 889-5045 take in more high Archdale school students and (336) 431-9124 add to the athletic Serving the Triad since 1948. program. With the CumbyFuneral.com help of a grant from
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