Author: bcobb

Burgaw, NC – The Ghost Walk of Pender’s Past gifts its non-profit partners with proceeds from this year’s event.

Stephanie Key, the Ghost Walk’s artistic director, and the Pender County Tourism Office were pleased to award three non-profit partners with the earnings from the event’s October 2023 proceeds.

All proceeds from the Ghost Walk are divided equally between the Pender County Historical Society, Pender Arts Council, and the Historical Society of Topsail Island. Each entity was awarded $1705.00 to apply toward the mission of its organization.

The Ghost Walk of Pender’s Past October event, a haunting historical tour around Burgaw’s historic cemetery, was another huge success, a sellout event for the sixth year in a row.

“Its success can only be attributed to the numerous volunteers who make this event happen,” said Stephanie Key, artistic director. “We have wonderful volunteers who make this annual event even possible.”

The Ghost Walk of Pender’s Past is a collaborative effort of volunteers from the Pender County Historical Society, Historical Society of Topsail Island, Pender Arts Council, Moores Creek National Battlefield, the Town of Burgaw, Burgaw Tourism Authority, Pender County Parks and Recreation, the Pender County Library, Pender County Schools, and Pender County Tourism.

The Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (FMST), with local land managers and partners, are developing a master plan for extending the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) over four miles in Holly Shelter Game Land. This MST extension will seek to connect existing sections of the MST in Holly Shelter Game Land (that utilize Holly Shelter Game Land unpaved roads) to the US 17/NC 210 intersection. Unlike the current MST in Holly Shelter, the new section of trail will be separated from the Game Land’s road network and have a designated trailhead parking facility. This will greatly increase safety, access to, and awareness of Holly Shelter’s incredible natural resource.

Learn about the project • To learn more and to take survey, visit: https://mountainstoseatrail.org/masterplanhollyshelter.

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Raleigh, NC – At DEQ’s direction, Chemours is expanding sampling for PFAS contamination in private drinking water wells in New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, and Pender counties.  More than 14,100 additional residences may now qualify for sampling.

This expansion comes after DEQ staff completed extensive review of results to date, floodplain mapping and Chemours’ 2022 updated interim sampling and drinking water plan.  The expanded sampling footprint in the four-county region now includes:

• A floodplain buffer that includes the Intracoastal Waterway and significant portions of tributaries of the Cape Fear River. Wells within a ¼-mile of this new buffer will qualify for testing.
• Updated buffers around all detects to include ¼-mile around the parcel, not the well. This ensures neighbors within a ¼ mile of a property with well contamination will be tested.
• An updated public water supply layer with accurate information for all counties. Wells within ¼ miles of public water lines are eligible for sampling.
• Additional requirements for biosolid land application sites.

Residents interested in having their wells samples should call Chemours at (910) 678-1100 or complete Chemours’ online form.  If prompted to leave a message, residents should leave their full contact information and address to ensure their call is recorded.  The return call may come from Parsons Environmental, the authorized third-party contractor conducting the well sampling for Chemours. The private well must be the primary source of drinking water for the residence to qualify for testing.

Residents who have previously requested sampling and are newly eligible will be contacted soon to arrange sampling.

Additional information about well sampling for residents in the four county area is available online.

DEQ Press Release.

BURGAW- On November 20th, the Board of County Commissioners issued a proclamation honoring Pender County resident Desmond Jordan.

Jordan was born and raised in Rocky Point. He went to Pender High School and was a member of the second graduating class of Heide Trask Senior High School. At Trask, Jordan was the first football carrier, 300-yard runner, and the first 1,500-plus-yard runner.

After high school, Jordan went to Winston-Salem State University and succeeded on the football and baseball teams. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, he got a yearlong contract to play for the Bielawa Owls, a professional football team based in Poland.

After his contract, Jordan came home, joined Cape Fear Rugby Club, and was a coach at Pender High School. He opened the House of Gains in 2015, a workout facility in Burgaw, North Carolina.

A truck accident seven years ago left his right arm “completely smashed.” Doctors told him he would never be able to lift weights, let alone powerlift. He wanted to prove them wrong, and he did.

Jordan recently won first place at the United States Powerlifting Association World Championships in Coventry, England, having deadlifted over 800 pounds.

Jordan is an inspiration. Despite the obstacles he overcame them and worked tirelessly to achieve many goals in weightlifting. He holds 17 state records, four national records, and the recent world record.

To read the proclamation, visit.