Welcome to the first in a long series of good news tidbits from throughout Bladen County.
Each of the following items were submitted by readers who wanted to tell their friends, family and neighbors about some of the good things happening in their community.
“We hope to see this kind of thing continue, as well as grow each week,” said W. Curt Vincent, general manager/editor of the Bladen Journal. “We’re interested in whatever good news y’all have to share.”
This week’s good news is:
— Dana McDuffie of McDuffie Pest Control in Elizabethtown was recently elected as the new vice president of the North Carolina Pest Management Association.
— Abby Walters, a West Bladen grad and star student-athlete, has signed to play softball at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke after two stellar seasons at Southeastern Community College in Whiteville.
— Bladen County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Warren Holder was recently presented with a plaque recognizing his service to the Sheriff’s Office, which totaled 11 years and seven months.
— Stacey Walker Looney, a former Bladenboro resident, was recently recognized by the Craven County Board of Education for her teaching.
— Grace-Anna Glenn, an Elizabethtown resident, recently made the honor roll at Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh
— Lee Greene of Elizabethtown was recognized for outstanding academic achievement and earned Dean’s List recognition for the spring 2015 semester at The Citadel.
— Cody Clark, a 7-year-old recovering from a malignant brain tumor, recently had the opportunity to hang out with the Team USA baseball team in Durham.
— East Bladen High’s rising junior Kyle Tatum has been named to the NCPreps.com Class 2-A Pre-Season All-State football team.
— Recent Sheriff’s Office promotions included: Wanda Monroe, Leon Graham, Cley Carroll and Channing Willoughby to corporal; Greg Bullard and Chriss Brisson to investigator.
— Elizabethtown Rotary Club welcomed new member Harvey Schultz to the club. Schultz is a chiropractor with Schultz and Ellis Chiropractic Center.
— Jim and Sadie Perry of Clarkton have announced the forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Lauren Perry, of Greenville, to Tyler Lumley, also of Greenville. The wedding will be Sept. 19.
— Greg High of Elizabethtown will be umpiring in the Dixie Youth Baseball Majors World Series in Lexington, S.C., starting on Saturday.
— The Bladen County Youth Focus Project recently received a $1,500 non-matching grant from the Richard E. Deutsch Memorial Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
— Emery White of Elizabethtown had a hole in one on No. 15, a 138-yard par three, during the weekly Southeastern Fellowship Senior Golf Association’s tournament at Timberlake Golf Course in Clinton.
“Whatever you think is good news — personally, professionally or for your organization — is perfect fodder for this weekly column,” Vincent said.
Anyone can submit the information. Each submission must be 25 words or less and should be emailed to cvincent@civitasmedia.com; mailed to “Good News,” P.O. Box 70, Elizabethtown, N.C. 28337; or dropped off at the Bladen Journal office at 138 W. Broad St. in downtown Elizabethtown.
Those submissions received by noon on Wednesdays will be used in that week’s column. If a head and shoulders photograph is submitted with the item, the Bladen Journal will use it with the online column and may also be able to use it with the print edition.