August 3, 2016
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Teacher uses 3D scanning and printing as tool for game art and design class
Calendar Classifieds Features Here & There
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Vol. 38 No. 33
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Paying kindness forward with Cooking for the Homeless project By NORMA B. DENNIS Staff Writer Carol Spratley knows what it means to be homeless, to eat in soup kitchens and to receive help at a time of need. Now she is paying the kindness others offered her forward as she organizes monthly meals for area homeless. It began on Thanksgiving 2014 when she and Jamie Hall-Erath, co-leaders of the youth at Oakdale United Methodist Church, took three girls to the Open Door Shelter in High Point to serve a meal. “I found out the people at the shelter would not get a meal Christmas Day,” Spratley said. “Christmas is such a special day, it made me sad. For over a week, I wrestled with the problem.” As a single mom on disability, Spratley knew she could not provide such a meal by herself. But she began to talk to her grandmother and other friends to get their thoughts about
a Christmas meal for the homeless. “We decided we were going to do it,” Spratley said. “Friends and family made donations and helped with the cooking, and on Christmas Day we met in the Oakdale United Methodist Church fellowship hall and prepared 200 spaghetti meals. It was such an amazing thing. We got a donation from Chefsmart in Winston-Salem and when I was counting out money to pay for some of the food, a person in line found out what we were doing and made a donation. It gave me a lot of validation to do this.” Since then, the meals have continued to be prepared once a month and the ministry has continued to grow. “We start about 9:30 a.m. on the last Saturday of each month and make wholesome, good-foryou, home-cooked meals,” Spratley said. She posts each event on the group’s Facebook page and tags everyone locally
(Photos/Norma B. Dennis)
Volunteers chop peppers, above, and Carol Spratley, right, sprinkles seasoning on meat in preparation for making burritos. that she knows. Friends of friends have begun to volunteer and since Oakdale and Jamestown United Methodist churches have merged, members of JUMC have stepped up to help as well. “People who are meant to come and help find their way to us,” Spratley said. “One lady even came from Charlotte to help. There always seems to be the amount of food and number of volunteers we need.
It is a miracle in action.” In addition to individuals, community businesses have helped with the Cooking for the Homeless project. DeBeen Espresso and Pure Light Yoga Studio conducted a fundraiser in February. They raised over $260, which was used to purchase new kitchen equipment. For the past few months, Blossoms & Sweet Blossoms have donated cupcakes to use as dessert for the meals.
On July 30, volunteers gathered once again in what is now the fellowship hall at Oakdale Campus-Jamestown United Methodist Church to prepare homemade burritos served with bottled water and dessert. Spratley had
cooked some of the items the night before to give the group a head start. “We have people to help, but not a large kitchen,” Spratley explained. On Saturday, volunteers See COOKING, page A3
Following critters around town By CAROL BROOKS Staff Writer Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, poke balls, lure module, Razz Berries, incense, eggs, Great Balls, incubators, potions, pokédex. Funny sounding words – unless you have become obsessed with the latest craze, Pokémon Go. For the uninitiated, Pokémon Go is a game people play on their smartphones. (Pokémon is a shortened version of “pocket monsters.”) It is believed that 15 million people downloaded the app the first week it was available on July 6. The object is to capture Pokémons (Pokémen?) and rise to a new level. Rising to a new level in this case could
be compared with getting off the couch and out into the real world because you must go away from home to play. The game uses the GPS system on the smartphone to detect where you are and make Pokémon appear on the phone where you can catch them. The screen will show a photo of your exact location using “augmented reality” and it will appear that you are capturing a real character in the real world. Many people are spending weekends and afterwork hours playing the game and racking up miles and miles on their sneakers. Sounds like one of the weight-loss companies designed the game to get us outside exercising. In fact, a company named HealthyWage is offering people $30 to participate. But there are dangers to
the game, one of which is not watching where you are going. Several times in the past few weeks, we have looked out the front window at the Jamestown News office and seen groups of three or four people walking on the sidewalk. All but one in each group were looking down at their phones, often stopping to compare screen images. Pokémon Go players, we assumed. The final person in each group was not playing the game but appeared to be what I’ve termed the “designated walker” – someone who has the sole responsibility to make certain the player doesn’t do something stupid like walking into a light pole or, more importantly, out in front of traffic. Two men fell off a cliff in California playing the
game and a 62-year-old man in New York fell into a mud pit and was trapped up to his waist. Pokémon Go is a worldwide phenomenon and popularity has risen to the extent that parents are naming their newborns after characters in the game. Savvy businesspeople have begun using the game as a marketing tool to lure new clientele. The businesses become poke stops where gamers visit to receive items they can use to battle with the Pokémon characters in an attempt to capture them by hitting them with a poke ball. To engage in a battle, gamers must discover the location of a “gym,” where you battle other gamers for control of the gym. The Jamestown Public Library See CRITTERS, page A8
(Photo/Submitted)
Pokémon Eevee flipped over the pancake breakfast at First Baptist Church in High Point recently.
GTCC students will march to beat of drum this fall By JANE WHITEHORNE Staff Writer Even though it’s still hot and humid, fall is just around the corner and with the cooling temperatures comes football season. Although not everyone is a fan of the game, most
people enjoy the pageantry associated with the sport, especially the marching bands. Guilford Technical Community College may not field a football team, but that isn’t stopping the school from enjoying the march of the drum. The first ever Titan Drumline will set the beat when the fall semester begins. “A drumline is the drum component of the marching band,” said Dr. Tom Nevill, chairman of the GTCC Business, Creative and
Performing Acts Division. “We are taking that unit, in our case both drums and cymbals, out of the traditional band and focusing on the actual drumline.” Students interested in participating must audition and then register for a specific music ensemble class. Auditions are being held Aug. 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Jamestown campus. Although registration is not complete, instructor Justin Johnson said several students have expressed interest in the class for fall as well as for spring semester. “Ideally, I would like to see 15-23 students and as the numbers grow to look at starting multiple ensem-
bles,” said Johnson. “We prefer students to have a musical background, but the course is open to all who are willing to learn.” Johnson is a veteran drumline performer, having been a member of the Bassett (Va.) High School Marching Band, Virginia Helmsmen and Atlanta CV Drum and Bugle Corps. Nevill also is a percussionist and it was his idea to implement this opportunity for GTCC students. He hopes it will allow students who were members of marching bands in high school to continue participating in musical performance as well as attract new students. “I moved here from
Texas where marching band is huge,” said Nevill. “I know marching bands are very active in North Carolina as well. I see this as an extension of student life at this college. I think it is a nice, unique and fun way to reach out to a new set of students and to get that attraction to our campus.” Nevill said the drumline would be fun, but also educational. It will be performance-based and students will entertain at various GTCC functions as well as community events such as parades. In fall 2017, GTCC will offer a new music transfer program. Nevill sees the drumline as an excellent compliment to the new
venture. He added skills learned through participating in the drumlime, such as discipline, organization and teamwork, are those valued by employers. Johnson echoed those sentiments. “My ultimate goal,” he said, “is to provide performance opportunities for students and that the experience for them would be a positive asset towards their future goals.”
Jane E. Whitehorne can be reached at 336-8414933 or jamestownlegals@ north state.net.