KERNERSVILLE – Two Asheboro swimmers notched individual championships in the Mid-Piedmont Conference championships last week at Kernersville Family YMCA.
Maci Columbia of Asheboro was the winner in two events on the girls’ side. She topped the field in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle.
Columbia’s time in the 200 freestyle was 2 minutes, 9.73 seconds as she topped a field that began with 17 entrants.
She swam the 500 freestyle in a winning time of 5:41.23. There were 11 entrants in that even.
Also for Asheboro, Fiona Wolfe-Roberts was the winner in the 100 backstroke among 15 competitors. Wolfe-Roberts posted a time of 1:15.04.
North Davidson won the girls’ team title with 288 points ahead of runner-up Oak Grove with 254, while Ledford came in third with 215 points, followed by Asheboro at 195, Central Davidson at 86 and Montgomery Central with 81.
On the boys’ side, Oak Grove was the team champion with 347 points. North Davidson (265), Central Davidson (196), Ledford (188), Asheboro (77) and Montgomery Central (53) rounded out the scoring
ASHEBORO – The Asheboro ABC Board is looking to open another location in Asheboro, board general manager Rodney Johnson said.
Business has been on the uptick for Asheboro’s only ABC store and keeping enough inventory in stock has been troublesome at times.
The best-case scenario would be to secure a second venue in north Asheboro.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to help north Asheboro,” Johnson said.
Johnson said traffic studies and addresses of building permits have gone into determining where another store should be located. He said it’s clear that’s a part of the city and county that would have enough business to warrant another store.
“That’s where most of your rooftops are at,” he said. “We would like to be where we can meet more needs of the rest of the city.”
The current Asheboro ABC store is located on South Fayetteville Street.
“We don’t have enough storage room,” Johnson said, noting an increase in customers during the past couple of years. “We have more business. You’re always trying to balance this with, ‘Is this a COVID thing?’”
The growing business has come with certain challenges for the existing location.
“We’re at the point we have to do something,” Johnson said. “It makes it very difficult to keep from running out of warehouse space. We need places to put stock.”
According to information from the board, the area along North Fayetteville Street from Hub Morris Road to Pineview Street might be an ideal location.
The needs are rather specific, something the board has spelled out. A second ABC store in Asheboro would need to include 5,000 square feet of building space with parking suitable for 40 or more vehicles. The store must also have a loading dock capable of accommodating tractor and trailer deliveries.
The board’s requirements also include having easy access to north- and south-bound traffic on North Fayetteville Street, preferably at a traffic signal. A long-term lease is desired.
Anyone with suitable property or an interest in meeting these specifications should contact Johnson. The board will need property owners with potential locations for a store to submit a proposal.
There are four ABC stores in Randolph County – one each in Asheboro, Liberty, Ramseur and Randleman.
ASHEBORO – Dallas Brooks is proud of what her family has meant to Asheboro Mall.
So as the lone oven is turned off this weekend at Cookie Jar, she senses a bit of sadness. Her treats through the years brought happiness.
“I hope I will forever be known as the ‘Cookie Lady,’” Brooks said.
Cookie Jar is set to close Sunday. That will end nearly 40 years in business for one of the mall’s original tenants.
Brooks is the daughter of Cookie Jar founder Wesley Vestal, who opened the store in September 1982 at what was then called Randolph Mall.
Three years later as a 13-year-old, his daughter began working in the family business.
“We had a very successful business,” Brooks said.
So the family from Siler City opened a similar store at Greensboro’s Four Seasons Town Centre. That store was in operation for almost 25 years until May 2010.
“We got out while the going was good,” Brooks said.
But the Asheboro location has been special. It thrived on a basic model, selling cookies and drinks. Brooks has handled the majority of the baking and decorating, both which are done on site.
“I’ve had great employees over the years,” Brooks said. “They’ve had longevity.”
Aside from family, there’s Barbara Moore, who has worked for Cookie Jar for more than 20 years.
“This has been Barbara’s life for 20 years, too,” Brooks said.
Vestal, 78, still visits about once a week, so he remains associated with the store.
“When something breaks, I come out and fix it,” he said.
Now, there are two non-family employees. She told them in early January about the plans to close. As word spread, many customers have made it by for a final purchase.
Magnolia Clark, 3, points to a cookie stick during one of the final days that Cookie Jar is open in Asheboro. (PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL)
“It’s kind of nice to see them,” Brooks said. “It might get a little emotional here. It already has.”
Vestal said there has been plenty of reminiscing the past few weeks, particularly with so many patrons stopping by with well wishes.
“We didn’t know we were so well thought of in the county,” he said. “It makes you feel good, but it’s still sad.”
There’s just the one oven at Cookie Jar. The Greensboro location had two ovens.
“It has had a lot of action,” Vestal said of the oven.
With the lease about to expire, Brooks, who turns 50 next month, said it was the right time to go into retirement. She said this will provide more time to spend with her father.
Brooks said declining sales with reduced mall traffic went into the decision. Another longtime mall tenant, The Peanut, closed in 2013.
There also has been a wholesale part of the business with the family serving as a distributor, but that’s likely to wind down as well, Brooks said.
A representative of Asheboro Mall management said the closing of Cookie Jar is a loss for the mall, but it’s too soon to know what might be next for that spot. Other questions regarding potential replacements at the location were referred to corporate headquarters of Hull Property Group, which operates malls across a multi-state area.
The 1,000-point milestone is in the works for a couple of area girls’ basketball players.
Gracyn Hall of Randleman reached that mark with a couple of strong games last week.
Autumn Gentry of Trinity entered this week within range of 1,000. The Bulldogs are slated for a game Friday at Uwharrie Charter Academy and a make-up game Saturday at Southwestern Randolph.
Hall and Gentry are juniors, so there could be plenty of time for their point totals to swell.
Hall racked up 21 points and 13 rebounds in last week’s 51-34 victory at Trinity.
The next night she eclipsed 1,000 career points with a 26-point, 14-rebound effort in a 64-54 victory against visiting Wheatmore.
That result pushed the Tigers’ record to 15-0. They moved to 7-0 in Piedmont Athletic Conference play, more than halfway through their 12-game league schedule.
Gentry had 15 points in the game against Randleman.
Trinity and Randleman are slated for a rematch Feb. 8 at Randleman.
Sorting out the boys
As the midway mark approached in the PAC, Providence Grove and Uwharrie Charter Academy have begun to separate themselves.
Providence Grove entered this week with a 6-1 mark in league play, with the lone blemish coming Thursday night in a 52-43 home loss to UCA.
That pushed the Eagles’ league record to 5-1.
In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, there haven’t been as many league games.
Asheboro and Ledford both got off to 2-0 starts in conference play. Central Davidson started this week at 2-2.
Asheboro will have almost two weeks in between games, so the Blue Comets should have some busy stretches the next couple of weeks.
ASHEBORO – Jasmine Mohamed had a plan for a restaurant in Asheboro, but she tested it somewhere else first.
Now she’s up and running with Gather on MLK, an establishment that specializes in sushi and soul food.
“Sushi is the reason we’re here,” Mohamed said. “But we want to pay homage to where we are.”
The test run was in Denton, and it went so well that Mohamed went ahead and opened restaurants in Salisbury and Asheboro. The Denton restaurant was called Peacock Café.
“About 75 percent of our customers were from Asheboro and they begged us to come to Asheboro,” she said. “If we can make it in Denton, we’ll be OK in Salisbury and Asheboro.”
The Salisbury location – called Umani Downtown – is not a full-service restaurant as take-out tends to be the norm. That opened Nov. 1, though there was a three-week COVID-related pause.
Gather on MLK should provide a full dining experience, Mohamed said.
Six of Mohamed’s seven children have grown up, so this was the right time to venture deeper into the restaurant endeavors. Shawna Farmer is her business partner.
Mohamed, who’s from California, said she bought the buildings at both the Salisbury and Asheboro sites. The Asheboro location is at 746 Martin Luther King Jr. Road.
It’s the former Soul Food Country Kitchen location, with seating for 40 inside and, weather permitting, for 20 outdoor diners.
Mohamed said her top dishes involve sushi, which was somewhat of a surprise.
“We kind of fell into the sushi by accident,” she said. “We tried it and it went crazy.”
Because of the first of two wintry storms in January to strike Randolph County, it was a slow opening. The original first night resulted in just three customers, something Mohamed said was likely related to the weather.
So she considers Jan. 20 to be the first night.
“We were slammed,” Mohamed said. “We ran out of rice three times.”
Now knowing what to expect, she said smoother nights should be in the works.
Mohamed said meals are priced for less than $20.
So far, there are only dinner hours Thursday through Saturday and brunch Sundays until staffing issues are solved. Gather on MLK held an open house to hire staff and only one person showed up. Mohamed said the goal is to eventually offer lunch hours as well.
“We have to adjust and go with what we can,” she said.
ASHEBORO — Winter Storm Izzy struck Randolph County during the weekend, but power outages were mostly limited and crews worked to restore service quickly in many instances.
By mid-morning Monday, Randolph Electric Membership Corporation reported that things were in good shape for its customers.
“Crews worked into the late evening to restore damage from Winter Storm Izzy,” Randolph EMC said in a statement. “We’re happy to report no remaining outages at this time. We’ll continue to closely monitor conditions until the remnants of Izzy are long gone.”
Across Randolph EMC’s five-county area, there were 1,865 members reported with outages. The peak came at about 3 p.m. Sunday with 1,600 customers impacted.
At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Randolph Electric reported fewer than 300 members affected by outages in its five-county service territory.
“So far, members in Montgomery, Moore, and Randolph Counties have experienced the most outages, due to the freezing rain and ice build-up on trees,” said Dale Lambert, Randolph Electric CEO.
Temperatures remained at or below freezing for much of Sunday.
“We are very pleased that the storm did not materialize to the level of ice and wind predicted for our area,” Lambert said. “I’m proud of our employee and contractor team for working quickly to get the lights back on for our members.”
The massive storm moved up the East Coast and impacted power, roads and travel across multiple states.
In advance of the storm, Duke Energy staged more than 11,000 workers – power line technicians, damage assessors and vegetation workers – across the Carolinas.
As of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Duke Energy reported fewer than 70 outages in its Randolph County service area. The state’s largest utility reported more than 16,000 customers without power.
“We are very pleased that the storm did not materialize to the level of ice and wind predicted for our area. … I’m proud of our employee and contractor team for working quickly to get the lights back on for our members.”
Dale Lambert,
Randolph Electric CEO.
Randolph EMC enacted its storm response plan on Thursday and prepared for potential multi-day outages.
Randolph EMC released crews on Monday morning to aid the members of their sister cooperative, Pee Dee Electric Membership Corporation, headquartered in Lilesville. Trucks rolled out early to assist Pee Dee technicians just south of the Randolph Electric service area, where freezing rain accumulated in heavier concentrations.
North Carolina Department of Transportation officials continue to warn of black ice and hazardous driving conditions on roads.
The Randolph County School System wasn’t impacted right away by the storm in terms of instructional days. The schools were closed Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday, then teacher workdays were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
There was a similar arrangement for Asheboro City Schools. An optional teach workday was in place for Tuesday, with another teacher workday Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Randolph Community College was closed Tuesday, citing “hazardous ice conditions on campus and roads.”
ASHEBORO – Monroe’s Music & Jewelry is closing later this month after more than six decades in business in Asheboro.
Business owner Tony Hoover said he wants an opportunity to experience different things.
“I feel like it’s time,” Hoover said. “It has been my life. When you’re on your dying bed, you don’t ask God for more money, you ask for more time.”
The store on Sunset Avenue will close Jan. 29.
Hoover owns the building, but he said he’s not sure what’s next for the site.
At one time, there were five employees. Now, it’s just Hoover, 63.
The business was opened by G.L. Harris 63 years ago. It was sold to Monroe Herring, who later changed the name in the 1960s to reflect the new ownership.
Hoover began working at the store in 1986. A year later, he bought the business.
“I’ve spent all these years (in this job),” he said. “I’ve been blessed to be here that long.”
Hoover said he was going to continue the business with online sales, but he has since decided otherwise. Still, he might use that procedure to reduce inventory once the store closes.
He operated with reduced hours for 14 months during the pandemic. He said sales dipped 10 percent.
Hoover will continue to handle other jobs that were in many ways connected to Monroe’s Music & Jewelry. He said he’ll maintain his role of doing church installs for music systems. He’ll also work with live sound for area bands, something that he has enjoyed for years.
“Fortunately, I’m still going to be in the music field,” he said.
The store’s combination of music and jewelry sales makes it unique. With so much of Hoover’s background in music, that often might have seemed like a priority. However, he said the jewelry repair aspect of the business often thrived.
ASHEBORO — Asheboro’s summer collegiate baseball team has a new name.
It’s the Asheboro ZooKeepers.
Formerly known as the Asheboro Copperheads, the Coastal Plain League team announced Monday that it has a new name.
The team, which was founded in 1999, blasted Guns ‘N Roses’s “Welcome to the Jungle” as it unveiled logos and uniforms at Asheboro Recreation Center.
The team’s colors will change to a safari-theme with tan and brown dominating the logo and uniforms. Gone will be the burnt orange and black of the Copperheads. According to a release from the team, the ZooKeepers will have four official colors: khaki, brown, black, and jungle green.
“Over the past year or so, we took a long look at our brand and thought this was an ideal time to create something new and fresh,” owner Doug Pugh said in a statement. “We’ve always been focused on delivering a fun product for the whole family, so what better theme to build off than Asheboro’s biggest attraction? ZooKeepers was a no-brainer.”
Asheboro is home to the North Carolina Zoo.
The rebranding was overseen by Skye Design Studios.
“The club had been reflecting on its identity for about a year or so, thinking about ways to reinvent their brand to maximize their connection to the local community,” Skye Design Studios founder Skye Dillon said in a statement. “The North Carolina Zoo is one of the state’s most notable attractions, and is located in Asheboro. The zoo’s family-oriented values and prominence in the local region made it the obvious starting point for the club’s new name.”
The suite of logos features a zoo keeper, complete with traditional zoo keeper hat, swinging a baseball bat and accompanied by a rhino, giraffe, elephant, and snake. Dillon said there were a handful of considerations that went into selecting the animals included in the logo.
“To be as authentic as possible, they had to be animals present at the North Carolina Zoo,” he said. “We also picked ones that likely would not ever be the centerpiece of another club identity in the league, staying away from animals such as tigers, lions, and bears.”
The team also announced that it is planning cross-promotions with the North Carolina Zoo.
“We would love to see families plan outings where they visit both the zoo and the ballpark throughout the season,” ZooKeepers general manager and coach Jeremy Knight said. “As far as the baseball, we will always be committed to fielding some of the best rising talent in the sport and giving our players a stage to hone their skills. Aligning with the zoo concept will enhance the experience for anyone at the ballpark – fans or players – and should be a win-win for our community.”
The team plays its games at McCrary Park, which is receiving a massive renovation ahead of the 2022 season.
More announcements are coming from the team. Two additional spin-offs of the ZooKeepers brand will be forthcoming. The team didn’t unveil away game uniforms at the announcement for the new name.
CLIMAX – Randleman’s girls’ basketball team secured the championship of the Davidson-Randolph Christmas Classic at the Providence Grove site last week.
The Tigers used 25 points from Gracyn Hall to produce a 69-53 victory against Providence Grove in the title game of the three-day event.
“We played pretty well for the three days,” Randleman coach Brandon Varner said. “To be able to bring that trophy back to Randleman is pretty special.”
Hall was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Elizabeth York had 14 points and Hannah Hinshaw posted 11 points in the title game for the Tigers, who improved their record to 10-0.
“We just played a little bit better in spurts,” Varner said. “Once we settled in, we were fine.”
For Providence Grove, Allie Frazier’s 17 points, Edi Austin’s 10 points and Asia Steverson’s 10 points topped the scoring chart. The 53 points were the most allowed by Randleman this season.
Randleman’s Hinshaw and Audra Petty were also on the all-tournament team. Other members of the all-tournament team were Frazier and Austin of Providence Grove and Salem Ward of Central Davidson.
Randleman won a semifinal game by trouncing Central Davidson 54-33 behind Hall’s 18 points and Hinshaw’s 16 points.
Providence Grove reached the final by defeating Asheboro 49-31 as Frazier had 14 points and Austin had 13 points.
Randleman opened the tournament with a 61-23 romp past Lexington as Hall and Petty each had 18 points. Providence Grove won in the first round by defeating West Davidson 50-39 as Frazier had 16 points and Austin provided 12 points. Asheboro was a 61-46 first-round winner against East Davidson as Sion Martin had 14 points.
On the boys’ side, Providence Grove was the runner-up, falling 54-51 to Central Davidson.
Zane Caudle had 15 points, Sakai McCoy added 12 point and Michael Fee had 11 points for Providence Grove in the final.
Luke Staten of Central Davidson was the MVP after scoring 10 points in the championship game, joining teammates Caden Poole and Keyshawn Breedlove on the all-tournament team. Caudle and Fee from Providence Grove and Jerquarius Stanback of Asheboro also made the all-tournament team.
“We’ll learn from it,” said Providence Grove coach Wes Luther, whose team nearly battled back from a late nine-point deficit against Central Davidson. “This group is resilient. We’ve been battle-tested.”
Asheboro defeated Randleman 66-47 in the third-place game.
Providence Grove nipped Asheboro 49-48 in the semifinals, with Caudle notching 11 points and Luke Thomas with 10 points. Tanner Marsh and Hakeeme Butler both had 10 points for Asheboro.
Providence Grove opened tournament play by defeating West Davidson 64-49 as Caudle had 19 points and Fee chipped in with 12 points. Asheboro won in the first round when Stanback racked up 20 points in an 87-53 stomping of East Davidson.
ASHEBORO – This is the week for Chris Moss of Asheboro to be on the air as part of a television reality show.
Moss had an appearance slated as part of “Forged in Fire” on the History Channel. The episode was to air Wednesday night.
“It was just an absolute blast,” Moss said.
In each episode, four bladesmiths compete in a three-round elimination contest to forge bladed weapons, with the overall winner receiving $10,000 and the show’s championship title “Forged in Fire Champion.”
The episode with Moss, 34, was filmed in the spring in Connecticut.
Courtesy photos
“It’s going to be a great episode, and I had the pleasure of meeting and competing against some amazing smiths who have become amazing friends,” Moss said.
Moss has been designing and making knives since age 16. He wasn’t familiar with “Forged in Fire” until viewing the program.
“I didn’t actually start watching the show until about two years ago and immediately got hooked,” Moss said.
In order to be selected to compete, Moss was involved in an extensive interview process. Once he was finally picked, filming production was halted because of the pandemic, so he had to wait before getting his chance.
Moss’ appearance comes in the 200th episode of “Forged in Fire.” The show premiered in 2015.
He said fans of the show were able to select the challenges for the smiths in his episode. He said it was a difficult combination.
He said it was exciting to be part of “Forged in Fire,” calling his passion “a lost art form and so this allowed me to be able to show my skill.”
Moss, who was part of a military family and spent since age 10 in the Tidewater area of Virginia, moved to Randolph County about five years ago. He’s self-employed as a manufacturer consultant. His company is DauntlessMFP.com.
“I spend all day making knives for the company,” he said. “I really enjoy the work.”
He’s also a motorcycle builder, having won several awards in that capacity. His background also includes NASA technician involved in aerospace manufacturing.
Moss was putting together a watch party for the episode on History Channel. He wasn’t permitted to discuss details of the episode until it airs.
