YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1978 w w w. j a m e s t o w n n e w s . c o m
WeeKLy edITIOn
SePt. 10-16, 2025 vol 47 No 37 | 1 Section | 8 Pages
SPECIAL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING The Jamestown Town Council will hold a special meeting Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. It will consist of a closed session per G.S. 143-318 to discuss a personnel matter and one related to attorney-client Privilege for 545-A Oakdale Road. The public is not allowed to attend a closed session. VILLAGE FAIR CRAFTERS AND VENDORS WANTED The 21st annual Village Fair will return to Mendenhall Homeplace on Sept. 21 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The fun-filled event is a great opportunity for children, as well as adults, to learn how people lived and worked many years ago. The Richard Mendenhall homeplace, 603 W. Main St., is 214 years old and many of the crafts that will be on display were familiar to the Mendenhall family. Several heritage trade exhibitors will be in period attire. Heritage trades include spinning, quilting, blacksmithing and farming. If you would like to participate as a heritage trade exhibitor, craft vendor, storyteller or musician, call 336-4543819. Food vendors and animals such as sheep, llamas, etc. are also needed. Sponsorships are also available for this event, presented by the Historic Jamestown Society. Call the number above for information. JAMESTOWN LANDMARKS TALK The Heritage Research Center welcomes Shelly Lutzweiler to talk about her recent book, "One Land, Three Landmarks," on Monday, Sep. 15, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Morgan Room on the first floor of the High Point Public Library. Shelly’s book discusses how 158 acres of land in Jamestown became the home of three significant landmarks: the farmstead of one of Jamestown’s first settlers, Mark Iddings, the site of the first tuberculosis hospital in North Carolina, and its first industrial training center (eventually to become Guilford Technical Community College). These landmarks are described through personal interviews and stories from people who lived on the land, worked it or had a relationship to it. This presentation is free to attend and requires no pre-registration. Lutzweiler presented a similar program at the Jamestown Public Library in May. BELL RINGING FOR CONSTITUTION DAY The public is invited to join the NCDAR Guilford Battle Chapter at 4 p.m. on Sept. 17 as they ring bells commemorating the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Jamestown’s Mendenhall Homeplace, 603 W. Main St., again will host the event. Participants will ring bells for one minute as the church bells of Philadelphia rang out when the U.S. Constitution was first signed at 4 p.m. Bring your own bell if you have one and be in place by 3:45 p.m. Bells will ring all over the country at exactly 4 p.m. The celebration will occur at the same time across America, with each time zone adjusting its time so that it will happen simultaneously. Limited parking is available at the Homeplace but participants may park across the street at City Lake Park. According to the DAR blog, “at 4,400 words long, the U.S. Constitution is the oldest and the shortest major written governance document in the world.” Just think, on Sept. 17, 238 years ago, “this document, with a few amendments added here and there, is still essentially the same document that established the basis of our governing laws at the founding of our country.”
COMPILed By CaROL BROOKs FreeLANCe WrIter cab1hp@gmail.com The Jamestown News asked Town Council Candidates to offer their opinion on several questions. The responses are listed in the order they were received by the Jamestown News. This week Jim Westmoreland, Shakinah Simeona-Lee and Phyllis Bridges are featured. The other candidates were profiled in the Sept. 3 issue. Some candidates did not answer every question. The primary election will be held Oct. 7. Of the seven running for Town Council, that number will be reduced to four. NOTE: Darren Myers has told the Jamestown News that he has withdrawn from the Town Council race. He previously ran for Town Council in 2021. Biography Westmoreland: I am a retired Greensboro City Manager, former NCDOT Deputy Secretary and currently a successful transportation, local government, and strategic projects consultant. In addition, I’m a registered professional engineer in North Carolina and a recipient of the N.C. Long Leaf Pine Award. I’ve lived in Jamestown with my wife since 2022, just turned 60, and am the youth leader of my church, Bales Memorial Wesleyan Church. Simeona-Lee: I’m 35 years old, a wife and a mother of two daughters. I serve as the Director of Student Professional Development at a university in
Jim Westmoreland
shakinah simeona-Lee
Phyllis Bridges
Greensboro, where I prepare the next generation of business leaders for their careers. I also work as a real estate broker. I have consistently served in leadership roles throughout my life. I served as president of a nonprofit, service-oriented organization in Burlington, where I worked to improve community relations, expand membership and develop programs that positively impacted local residents. I have also served on boards for this organization in High Point, where I focused on cultivating and mentoring young women leaders. I have held leadership positions in my sorority and at my church, Bethel AME, where I have guided initiatives supporting youth, women and families. In higher education, I’ve led student success programs, managed divisional budgets, increased enrollment, engagement and retention at numerous public and private universities in the state. These experiences spanning nonprofit leadership, education,
faith, and community service have equipped me with the skills to listen, collaborate, and create strategies that make a difference. Jamestown has been home to my family for three years, and I am deeply committed to ensuring our town thrives for years to come. Bridges: I am a native of High Point and studied interior design at High Point University and African-American history at Guilford College. I am the owner of Yalik’s Modern Art, an African-American art gallery. By 2013, I expanded my vision by incorporating the rich history of my hometown – a vision which led me to direct and produce my first documentary film, “High Point: A Memoir of the African-American Community.” It won the 2014 Paul Green Multimedia Award presented by the North Carolina Society of Historians. My second documentary, “The March on an AllAmerican City” received three awards from the North Carolina Society of Historians. In 2023, I received the 2023 Pioneer of
the Year Award, presented by the Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo. In 2025, I received a Community Leader Award, presented by HUAMI Magazine. I am currently in the planning stages of my biggest and finale project, an art and cultural center.
old college annual opens door to history As someone who has a bit of experience in print layout — from cut, wax and paste to computer execution — I often am NORMA B. DENNIS pulled to the design of ndworddesign@gmail.com print as much as the content. Recently I had the opportunity to peruse a 1924 Greensboro College annual, The Echo,, published by the school’s Student’s Association. I was quickly drawn to the layout of this book that was produced 101 years ago. The pictures were placed pleasingly on each page, often with background elements to enhance the design. There were hand-drawn sketches dividing sections and colored pages between categories. Pictures from the 1924 Greensboro College annual Included were history, poetry, songs, sayings although seniors each had an entire page to and prophecy, to be enjoyed in leisure moments themselves, juniors were grouped in threes, of reflection on the lives and times of students with photos creatively cut and backed by see HIsTORy, PAGe 6 what appeared to be burlap fabric.
Notes from
norma
as in today, sports played an integral part in the lives of many of the girls, but their uniforms were vastly different.
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COMPILed By CaROL BROOKs
council candidates reply to questions, part 2
Why are you running for Town Council? Westmoreland: I want to use my deep experience in local government and transportation (leadership, operations, budgeting, policy development, and funding), my significant regional business and governmental contacts and relationships, my fresh and interesting new ideas for the Town, and my energy to serve the citizens of Jamestown and to advance a positive future for our community. Simeona-Lee: I believe Jamestown is at a pivotal moment. Our community is experiencing growth, and with that growth comes opportunisee qUesTIOns, PAGe 2
Town Council to meet Sept. 16 By CaROL BROOKs FreeLANCe WrIter cab1hp@gmail.com
The Jamestown Town Council will hold its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 16 in the Council Chambers at the Civic Center, 301 E. Main St. The consent agenda, where several items are approved/disapproved as a package, notes approval of an Easement Agreement between the Town and Barton Weeks and approval of the amended Facility Use Guide for the clubhouse at Jamestown Park and Golf Course. Elizabeth Greeson will give an overview of the Sept. 13 Fall Litter Sweep. The Council will consider awarding a contract to the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder for the Main Street waterline replacement project. The Council also will consider approving an amended Utility Payment Policy and a special event permit request for a Fall Vendor Fair. The Town Council meetings may be viewed live at www.youtube.com/c/ TownofJamestownNC. Click on “live.” They are also available after the meetings.