Youths looking for something different to do and adults looking for a used car or a new house will have special opportunities Saturday in Vance County.
For people looking to build wealth by becoming homeowners, the Generations Community Credit Union is offering a free home buyer workshop from 9 a.m. to noon at the Gateway Center downtown on Garnett Street.
The Gateway Community Development Corp., which provides space in its building for a Generations branch, is a co-sponsor of the workshop.
The topics will include understanding credit, creating a budget and preparing to purchase your own home.
The event is free and open to everyone. Door prizes will be awarded, and light refreshments will be served.
For more information, call Generations Community Credit Union at 492-5854.
For people who have a home but need some cheap furnishings, or for those looking for heavily used vehicles or other surplus school equipment, the Vance County school system is holding its annual auction of surplus goods at E.O. Young Elementary School on U.S. 1 in Middleburg.
The items expected to be auctioned off include two 1987 Chevrolet pickup trucks, a 1993 Chevy box truck, a 1997 Dodge Intrepid, ice makers, bookshelves, file cabinets, tables, desks, chairs, pots, pans and appliances.
The auction opens at 10 a.m. Kevin Perdue in the schools’ maintenance department can provide more information. He’s at 438-4085, ext. 30.
The biggest event of the day, however, is aimed at a younger age group, generally middle- and high-schoolers.
The Vance County Coalition Against Violence and the Vance County Arts Council are sponsoring an appearance by the Blackout Arts Collective, a spoken-word group from Washington, D.C. The group includes a Henderson product: Heather Kenney, daughter of Dr. James Kenney.
The show will include performances by the Pinkston Street Steppers and the Warren County High School drumline, Steel Stix.
The program will be at the Aycock Recreation Center. Doors open at 2 p.m., and the show should start at 3, organizer Marolyn Rasheed said Thursday night.
She said the event is getting publicity on the region’s hip-hop radio station, 97.5, which is “the station kids listen to.” Youths also have promoted the show on two local stations, WIZS and WARR. So Rasheed is hopeful of a strong turnout.
The festivities at Aycock will include recognition of the winners of a county school art contest with an anti-violence theme. The works are on display at the Gateway Center.
For more information about the Blackout festival, see our stories from April 22 and March 26, or visit the Vance County Arts Council’s Web site.