YEAR IN REVIEW

BLADEN COUNTY — As 2023 comes to a close in a few days and the New Year approaches, we’re going to recap an eventful and busy year around Bladen County.

Lawmakers at the state capitol have helped the Bladen area by sharing the wealth and has given millions to bolster the County from education to agriculture. The Tar Heel School project is a byproduct of state funding that has been erected for the benefit of the children.

Construction crews broke ground on the $47 million dollar project in 2022 and the new building gives a revamped look to the historic Tar Heel School. The new building will be a part of a new statewide initiative of going green and they’ll be one of the few schools around the state to roll out electric school buses. The Bladen County School Board hopes to build more new schools in the future.

The state dished out another $14 million on a sewer infrastructure project that will stretch from Bladenboro to Elizabethtown. Housing has been an issue in the area for a while now but state lawmakers included a $15 million dollar multi-purpose package for the county with the hopes of breaking ground on hotels, affordable housing developments, day care center, health care and business offices.

Curtis L. Brown Jr Airfield will also get $6.5 million from the NCDOT for improvements on the runway and the surrounding facilities.

The Bladen County Sheriff’s office has been handed $300,000 for a new training center in the area. Promotions were given to some deserving officers back in July and the three newly promoted officers were honored in a ceremony. Linda Gore was promoted to Chief Jailer, Jarvis James was promoted to Patrol Corporal, and Tiffany Spurling was promoted to SRO Corporal.

West and East Bladen shared the spoils in the Southeastern Conference regular-season title in Basketball in February. East Bladen head coach Aking Etling and West Bladen head coach Travis Pait also shared the “Coach of the Year” award for their team’s outstanding performance on the court during the 22/23 season. East Bladen graduate Malcolm Bolden took the conference’s “Player of the Year” for an outstanding senior season.

East Bladen girls basketball head coach Patty Evers and the Lady Eagles upset St. Pauls in the Southeastern Conference Title game to add an exclamation point on a great 22/23 season. Both high schools had decent years in sports and they’ve also went through some changes around the school.

Both schools got brand new tennis courts, renovated parking lots, and new street lights to illuminate the school at night. West Bladen honored their legendary basketball coach Ken F. Cross in November by renaming their gymnasium in his namesake. Cross brought the Knights their only state championship in Basketball in the 07/08 season and he was immortalized with a ceremony by his former players.

There was sevral parades throughout the year, starting with the MLK Parade in Januaray and the year was rfinally ounded off by the local Christmas Parades in the area. Rain couldn’t stop the Annual Elizabethtown Christmas Parade and the streets were filled despite the muggy weather. Donna Rountree Melvin took the “Best of Show” award for his float in the parade this year. The Dublin Peanut Festival is always a big draw for local residents and visiotors from across the state as this year was no different.

The 23/24 Dublin Peanut Festival Court was filled with Miss Jenna Stephenson, Teen Miss Angelina Gonzalez, Sweetheart Cylee Lugenbell, Junior Miss Paris Mote, Little Miss Ellie Colville, Tiny Miss Aryabella Johnson, and Sina Colville is this years Ambassador. Bladen County also lost some cherished people in the community this year as well as last and some of those people were honored by their families in a big way. The East Bladen and West Bladen athletic department’s each received a $5,000 dollar donation from the Schultz Foundation.

The foundation was formed by brother’s Jimmy, John, and Joey Schultz to honor their parents who lost their life in a tragic car accident back in May of 2022. They created the foundation to honor the legacy of Jim and Sue Schultz by giving back to the community they loved most and to offer support for local athletics. Mr. and Mrs. Schutlz were heavily involved in the community with everything from coaching, to keeping stats, helping in the concession stand, as well as fans on the sideline until their unexpected passing.

The West Bladen family and Bladen County Community also mourned the tragic passing of 23-year-old Sayaun Dent in April due to a car accident. Dent was a hoop star in the community as he won a National Title with Sandhills Community College and he was named National Player of the Year. The West Bladen Athletic department decided to keep Dent’s name alive with renaming their “Off-Road Christmas Tounrnament MVP” award in his name