The Badin Villager is a free monthly newsletter available on the first of the month at the Badin Post Office, the Badin Town Hall, the Badin Library and West Badin Community Center. It is also published online at www.visitbadin.com. For more information contact info@visitbadin.com

Christmas Program

Badin’s annual Christmas program and Tree Lighting will take place on Monday, November 29, 2010 at 6 P.M. on the Town Green across from the Town Hall. Children from Badin School will entertain with Christmas songs. Santa Claus will arrive from the North Pole and bring Christmas treat bags for all good children.

The Sunshine Club

Badin’s inter-denominational seniors club announces new meeting days for the coming year: 10:30 A.M. on the second Tuesday of November and December, and the fourth Tuesday of the month from January to October. Bring a covered dish, one dollar and a friend and enjoy the programs and fellowship of this cheerful group.

First Annual Craft Fair

Twila’s Gifts and Thrifts Shop will hold its first annual Craft Fair on Saturday, November 6, 2010 from 8 A.M. until the last customer leaves. The shop is situated on Falls Road next to Legends Café. The Fair will feature food, woodcraft, jewelry, candles, flower arrangements, Christmas decorations and much more. There’ll be a drawing for a gift at the end of the day.

Badin Garden Club

Given Badin’s many gardens and gardeners, it’s time to restart a Badin Garden Club. Call 704-422-3873 if you are interested in joining and we’ll make plans to begin in January 2011. Watch the Badin Villager for date, time and place.

The Badin Villager is a free monthly newsletter available on the first of the month at the Badin Post Office, the Badin Town Hall, the Badin Library and West Badin Community Center. It is also published online at www.visitbadin.com. For more information contact info@visitbadin.com

The Semi-Annual Town Clean-Up

 The semi-annual town clean-up is scheduled for Monday, October 18, 2010 through Thursday, October 21, 2010.  Anything not put out by the last day of pickup at 12:00 noon will not be picked up.  We will pick up appliances, tires and rims only if separated, and old furniture.  The town will not pick up cardboard or other items that are accepted at the convenience center.  Please have these separated and on the curb by 8:00 am.  Examples on how to separate items are posted at Badin Town Hall, Badin Post Office and Ike’s, and on the Badin website at www.badin.org. Items not separated will not be picked up.  If these items should remain on the curb longer than 7 days after the clean-up, you will be in violation of a town’s ordinance and could possibly be cited.

The Sunshine Club

Badin’s ever popular inter-denominational seniors club announces new meeting days for the coming year: 10:30 A.M. on the second Tuesday of November and December, and the fourth Tuesday of the month from January to October. Bring a covered dish, one dollar and a friend and enjoy the programs and fellowship of this cheerful group.

Best of Badin Festival

The main street was packed, the music good, the fireworks a blast and the vendors offered enough variety for the pickiest of people. Once again, Better Badin volunteers put in countless hours to make our town’s annual festival a success.  Go to visitbadin.com for photos of the event.

Below, Ivonia Mills, Gwyn Culp and Doug Hinson share a peaceful moment on the porch of the museum’s quad as they wait for the next influx of visitors:

 

The Badin Villager is a free monthly newsletter available on the first of the month at the Badin Post Office, the Badin Town Hall, the Badin Library and West Badin Community Center. It is also published online at www.visitbadin.com. For more information contact info@visitbadin.com

From Heritage Days to Human Hamster Balls to a Talent Show, this year’s Best of Badin Festival is gearing up to be great fun for everyone.

The two-day festival begins with a bang on Friday with performances by the Southern Express Cloggers. The Essentials play for a street dance from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Nostalgia Band plays music of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

Over at the Badin Museum complex three museums depict every aspect of Badin history. On the grounds, a Heritage Days display includes a Civil War demonstration, arrowheads, woodworking, basket weaving and a tractor show. Inflatable rides include the Human Hamster Balls this year, a certain pleaser for the younger set.

The ever-popular Tours of the Narrows Dam run on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Badin High School Alum will gather for reunions: the class of 1955, the last class to hold their graduation ceremony in the Badin Theater, and the class of 1956.

New this year is the Badin’s Got Talent show. Applications for entry may be made until September 10 by calling 704-322-1143 or email badingirl1@yahoo.com. Auditions take place at the Badin Inn on September 11 from 10 a.m. to Noon. Males and females of any age may apply and there are prizes for the winners.

There’ll be a variety of food and drink available and plenty of booths where you can find that unique gift for yourself or someone special.

And to top off a grand event, a spectacular fireworks display takes place over Badin Lake at 9 p.m. on Saturday night.

Best of Badin Festival, Friday and Saturday, September 17 and 18, 2010. Save the date.

Best of Badin Festival

Twila Radford and Sheila Foreman have been friends for years. For awhile they ran a shop in New London and now run a shop on Badin’s main street selling new and used gift items.

“We’ve felt very welcomed here in Badin,” says Radford. “We’d like to thank everyone for their support.”

The shop is open Tuesday through  Saturday from 9 am to 6 pm.

Badin will lose an old friend on       September 30, 2010. Premier Federal Credit Union, the smart and welcoming business that has graced Falls Road next to the Town Hall for many years, is due to close. Local manager Jo Culp has already been transferred to a branch in Salisbury and by the end of the month, the two remaining employees will lose their jobs. Both customers and friends will miss the personal touch this business brought to our town. Folks interested in sharing why they hope the Premier Federal Credit Union will reconsider and stay in Badin should call 1-800-873-2929 and ask for Lori Thompson.

Badin’s Sunshine Club meets on a monthly basis at the Badin Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. Although many of the attendees have a gray hair or two, the club is open to all ages. And although its meeting place is the basement of a Baptist Church, it is strictly non-denominational.

Meetings start with a cheery rendition of “You Are My Sunshine,” followed by  a program. These programs cover a wide variety of subjects and are followed by a covered dish lunch that invariably offers some of the best food in town. 

There are only two requirements for participation: $1 and a covered dish. Meeting time has been changed recently from the fourth Tuesday of the month to the fourth Monday of the month at 10:30 a.m.

Now registering. Contact Laura Harbeson 704-422-5041 or Stephen Greenhaigh 704-245-9469 for information.

Caring Citizens Help Keep Badin Clean

Vanessa Mullinix, Susan Damien, Dean Hopper

For the past year a dedicated clean-up crew of volunteers have roamed the streets of Badin. Shod in sturdy walking shoes and carrying trash bags,  they pounce on every soda can, paper scrap, straw and cigarette butt that litter the town’s pavements, gutters and grass strips.

They are not the first Badin citizens determined to clean up the town. For years, Betty Beach, Ivonia Mills and several of their friends made their daily walks a clean-up project. But as time went on, these clean-up crews dwindled. The problem continued to grow even as town maintenance crews periodically swept gutters with vacuum trucks. 

Over a year ago, Dean and Jody Hopper fell in love with Badin and moved here. Retired from the military, Hopper was disturbed at the litter he saw on his daily walks.

“Being military, I like to see things picked up,” he says. “So I grabbed a plastic grocery bag, put on gloves and began doing it. It’s contagious. Now others are doing it.”

Susan Damien caught the bug and now walks her clean-up route on a regular basis. Recently, she requested and received from the town a trash can to place on Spruce Street where the children get off the school bus.

Nancy Sullivan and Toby Parker are ‘picker-uppers’, as is the Town Council’s Anne Harwood. Each have their own sometimes over-lapping routes.

Early this year, Vanessa Mullinix recruited Boy Scouts for a grand picking up session along Highway740 as far as Thompson Farm Road.

“It’s rewarding,” says Hopper. “Cars pull over to thank me. People stop me in the street to say ‘thank you.’ It’s particularly gratifying now to see so little trash flowing down the creek into the river, and there’s only half the trash to pick up now than there was a year ago.”

Residents might want to be aware that Hopper counts every piece of trash he picks-up: an average 8 pieces at the boat ramp, 6 pieces at Wood Street, 6 pieces on Highway 740, 6 pieces at the Citgo Station. Do any of those pieces belong to you?   

Bringing Badin up to Par

Alcoa is beginning the long process of tearing down the smelter that has become an eyesore at the entrance to the town. Badin Inn Golf Resort and Club is making an effort to clean up the townhouses it purchased a few years ago. There’s a new business in town, a gaming center that will give Badin kids of all ages a place to go for good clean fun. Better Badin has expanded its involvement from the Best of Badin Festival to events, marketing and promotions. Residents are voluntarily cleaning up the town, from picking up trash to cleaning out storm drains to clipping overgrown hedges. We hope this is contagious. Since the paternalism of Alcoa ended and Badin stood on its own feet, the core village has been a mix of near-slum houses and smart well-kept homes. We applaud those who are working so hard to bring every residence up to par. Let’s all do our part.

Bridget Huckabee, Editor

Badin Town Council Supports Carolina Thread Trail

On July 13, 2010, Badin Town Council adopted the Stanly County Comprehensive Parks, Recreation, and Trails Master Plan, which includes a master plan for development of the Carolina Thread Trail in and around Badin.

This demonstrates foresight and vision on the part of the Council. It places Badin in position to compete for grant funding from public and private sources to improve existing parks and other recreation amenities as well as development of new ones.

Badin’s location along the Yadkin River adjacent to Morrow Mountain State Park makes it a logical place to develop a system of trails and walkways that will link the town, park and the lake.

The Carolina Thread Trail is a regional trail network that will eventually reach 15 counties and over 2 million people. Simply put, it will link people and places. It will link cities, towns, and attractions. More than a hiking trail, more than a bike path, the Carolina Thread Trail will preserve our natural areas and will be a place for exploration of nature, culture, science and history, for family adventures and celebrations of friendship.

This is a landmark project, a legacy that will give so much, to so many, for so long. Greenways and trails not only encourage friends, families and communities to interact with each other and nature, but they also provide a venue for physical activities such as walking, jogging, running, in-line skating and biking.

Trails in each community will have their own identities. Designation as the Carolina Thread Trail will signify that a particular trail is part of a plan to create an interconnected system, a plan created by local communities working together with their neighbors to identify connection points and to build trails that will grow together over time.

Game Play Gaming Center, A Modern Arcade, to Open in September

Carey Sellers

There’ll soon be a new game in town. Make that new games as the soon-to-open Game Play Gaming Center will feature all the latest and most popular games and ’new releases’ on flat-screen high definition televisions.

Carey Sellers, a Badin resident with a 25 year history of entrepreneurship, will open his new business in the old Union Hall at 70 Pine Street, Badin, on September 11, 2010.

Customers can choose from Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 Gaming Systems   and play in a safe controlled environment.

“We want to be more than an arcade and invite birthday parties, corporate meetings, church and school parties, and PTA parties,” says Sellers. 

Customers pay by the hour with discounts offered to anyone purchasing a monthly membership. Snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.

“Customers get the full experience of playing 3 systems without paying the full price of owning the system and having to continue to purchase new games,” says Sellers. “It’s a true one-stop for gamers and parents to come with or send their kids.”

Students will want to check out the Report Cards and Progress Report Rewards Programs that earn free play.

Badin Villager for July 2010

 

Festivities and Fireworks to  Celebrate America’s Birthday

Five years ago, several years after Alcoa’s Fourth of July celebrations ceased, Badin Inn Golf Resort and Club put on a fireworks display for its members on a hill above the golf course. A small crowd of locals gathered below  to watch from their parked cars on the edge of the fairway on Boyden Street.

The next year the word spread and the crowd grew. Cars parked along Boyden Street, Kirk Place and Henderson Street.

On year number three, residents arrived early, cars lined the streets below the course and residents brought chairs and picnics to spread on the edge of the fairway.

Last year, the Badin Inn, having inadvertently created a small festival, opened the fairway, brought in a band, asked non-profits to set up booths and invited the town to an afternoon and evening celebration ending with an impressive firework display.

Better Badin helped out with the fireworks and the event last year and will again this year. There’ll be live music featuring First Call Kings, hot dogs and hamburgers to benefit the Badin Volunteer Fire Department, and ice cream to benefit Better Badin. The Badin Inn will have home-made Lexington-style barbecue for sale. There’ll be soft drinks and an Anhauser Busch Bar Trailer, and there’ll be three inflatable rides to keep the children happy while they wait for the evening’s exciting finish.

There is no charge for the event. This is a community event celebrating America’s birthday and any profits stay within the community.

The fun starts on Saturday, July 3 at 2 PM. The grand  finale fireworks display begins at 10 PM.

A Festival on the Fairway

Five years ago, when Andy and Martha Kinnecom, who ran the Badin Inn at the time, came up with the idea of fireworks on the hill above the golf course, they intended it to be something the whole town could enjoy.

True, it was a special evening with food and drink for their members, but they knew the evening’s finale would be seen throughout the town.

Martha Kinnecom died of  cancer last year. She came to love Badin during the short time she spent here. She also loved children and festivals and fireworks. I think she’d be very happy to see this Festival on the Fairway enjoyed by the town and its children. 

Bridget Huckabee, Editor

Badin Town Council Approves New Ordinance and Considers  Amendments to Existing Ordinance

New Ordinance 10-2

Badin Town Council recently approved a new ordinance regulating electronic gaming operations. The ordinance is aimed primarily at the latest iteration of the old video-poker industry, Internet sweepstakes.

The state Senate also recently passed legislation by a 47-1 vote to outlaw these games.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal in an editorial condoning the Senate’s decision, all across America states that started with lotteries to increase revenue found themselves increasingly dependent on other sources of gambling revenue, but revenue problems didn’t go away.

Badin’s ordinance states, in part, that reasonable regulation of electronic gaming establishments is necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of Badin. These establishments will now be limited to the light industrial zoning district (M-1), and will not be placed within 500 feet of any church, any library, any public or private school, any licensed day care facility or of any other building with an existing electronic gaming establishment.

Proposed Ordinance 10-3

The proposed amendment to the existing ordinance 05-5 that provides for the prevention and abatement of public nuisances, would declare as a public nuisance leaves, grass clippings, mulching materials, cut vegetation, pruning remnants, limbs brush or other foliage deposited onto public property including but not limited to walkways and streets.

The exceptions are leaves placed for seasonal collection and limbs and brush placed for monthly collection and deposited on the street or walkway no more than one week prior to the scheduled collection.

“We feel many Badin residents confuse the appearance of the town’s vacuum truck with scheduled leaf, limbs and brush pick-up,” says Town Manager Jay Almond. “The vacuum truck does pick up leaves during scheduled collection periods, but its other function is to clear gutters and storm drains of debris, not to pick up yard debris put out at other than scheduled times.”

Residents in violation of this ordinance will be notified by the town and given 10 days to correct the violation.

A public hearing concerning the amendment will be held at Badin Town Hall at 6:45 PM, July 13, 2010 prior to the regular Town Council meeting. 

Badin Villager for June 2010

 

Badin Triathlon Scheduled for June 19 Triathletes Enter Badin Lake

This month, Badin welcomes its third annual Historic Badin Triathlon. At 8 am on the morning of June 19th, swimmers will plunge into Badin Lake, swim 0.75 kms, shake off and bike 18.35 kms and finish with a run of 5.00 kms. And this is called a beginner triathlete event, folks!

Better Badin is taking this opportunity to showcase Badin’s history, natural beauty and French charm.

On Friday, June 18th, at 6 pm Better Badin and the Badin Inn will host a ‘Meet and Greet’ for the participants and locals to visit at the historic Badin Inn. A guitarist /singer, Eddie T. Bear will perform live on the porch from 6:30 pm until 9:30 pm.

 On the big day, there will be free pontoon boat rides from 2 pm to 4 pm. From 4 pm to 6 pm a Home and Garden tour will start at the Badin Inn where a wine tasting will take place on the terrace. The tour will include the Inn and 6 historic Badin quadruplexes and gardens. Tickets are $10 per person. The event is designed as a walking tour—the quadruplexes are close together—but chauffeured golf carts will be available for those unable to walk. For those who wish to explore the village, the Home and Garden tour map will include Badin Museum’s Walking Tour Guide.

On Sunday, the athletes are encouraged to visit a local church, have breakfast at Badin Inn, visit our three museums, bring a kayak and explore pristine Falls Reservoir, or simply stroll around town.

Better Badin hopes locals will come out to welcome these athletes and mingle with the crowd of supporters as they cheer them on. It’s a grand chance to show off our small town and its friendliness to these visitors from around the region.

Trees,Catfish and Golf

It’s wonderful to see new trees planted in Badin. So many are cut down, fall, or are massacred for the sake of power lines. Few are replaced. Now, with recent grants, Badin will add to its tree canopy. Kudos to the volunteers who helped plant them and who now care for them.

Jack Sikes took 1st place at the Catfish Tournament with a 7.13 lb fish. Casey Cleghorn won the youth event with a whopping 3 ouncer.  “Lots of fun,” says Donna Johnson of Badin’s Great Looks who won 2nd prize with a 4.8 lb fish. 

More kudos, these for the partnership of Badin Inn and Badin School. Check the article on page 2.  Way to go.  Bridget Huckabee, Editor

Badin School and Badin Inn Golf Club team up to ‘grow the Game’

Jacobi Teaches Golf to Badin Schoolchildren

Local golf professional, Nick Jacobi calls it “Growing the Game.” Other pros describe it as building a customer base. Whatever the terminology, the goal is to develop the next generation of golfers.

Nick Jacobi, PGA Head Golf Professional at Badin Inn Golf Resort and Club stresses the importance of growing the game by encouraging younger players with clinics and camps. He would like to see more schools develop golf teams. He  feels the main responsibility of a golf professional is to grow the game of golf, and this is one way he feels he can expose golf to students who might not ever get any golf exposure.

This spring, Jacobi worked with Badin Elementary School and Physical Education teacher Patti Goodman and came up with a 4 week schedule to teach golf in the school’s P.E. classes. “We saw grades K to 4 once a week, and grades 5 to 8, twice a week,” says Jacobi. “Each class spent 40 minutes with us. Assistant Golf Professional, Scott Misenheimer and I were the two instructors.” Jacobi and Misenheimer donated a total of 48 hours of their time over 4 weeks to teach students the basic fundamentals of grip, aim, posture, ball position, etiquette and rules. They also taught that golf can be fun and came up with innovative methods to highlight this point.

“One game we played was baseball, but we used golf clubs and tennis balls,” says Jacobi. “We used plastic golf clubs and tennis balls with grades 4 and under.” Jacobi and Misenheimer taught grades 4 and under at the school, but grades 5 to 8 walked over to the Badin Inn to learn and to practice at the golf course’s practice facility.  Badin Inn has a great junior golf program planned for the summer. There are junior clinics every Thursday nights from 6-7pm, a beginners week-long Junior camp in June and an advanced week-long Junior camp in August.  

High school and college teams are encouraged to use the Badin course for practice sessions. Pfeiffer University’s team practices 2 days a week, and North Stanly High School, Albemarle High School and Gray Stone Day School all use the course for their golf teams. In the fall, the North Carolina Middle School Championship comes to Badin with over 100 boys and girls from all over the state.

  “Juniors are the future of the game,” says Jacobi. ““It’s a sport they can play for life. We want to make sure the game of golf is in good shape in the future.  

News to Use

www.visitbadin.com

Badin now has a blog site where residents and friends of Badin can communicate their thoughts on life in our small town. You’ll find the Badin Villager, breaking news, a photo gallery, local history, an occasional video, and links to other local sites. Your   comments are welcome.       

Subscriptions to the Villager

Do you know an ex-Badinite, or an out-of-town friend or a relative who would like to receive the Badin Villager? Subscriptions are now available. Send a check to publisher William Harwood at     P. O. Box 682, Badin, NC 28009.  A one year subscription of 12    copies is $12.00. 

Visit Your Local Museums

If you haven’t visited the town’s museum complex now is the time to do so. See a time-line of Badin history, rare photos of dam construction, the old fire truck, and a quadraplex as it was in 1915.  Museums are open Sun. from 2 pm to 5 pm and Tues. from 9 am to noon and 1 pm to 3 pm.