Lexington Soul and Rock ‘n Roll band Second Wind will provide dance music at the fifth annual Valentine’s Party for the Pantry at the City Club of Lexington from 8 p.m. to midnight.

     The cover charge is just four nonperishable food items per person.  Dress is casual.

     The City Club, at 5 City Club Circle in Lexington, will supply a cash bar.

     Dinner reservations are available by calling 336-248-2712.

     Come join us!

Oakley is the featured speaker at the First Thursday Lunch-In for Pastor’s Pantry this Thursday, Nov. 3, from noon to 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 15 West Third Ave. in Lexington.

Bring a lunch to the church fellowship hall.

Oakley will also offer a glimpse at his soon-to-be-published photographic history of his hometown, Mebane, NC.

Three makeup artists stayed busy throughout the day at the art gallery at 18 West First Ave. giving walk participants some really gruesome fake scars and wounds.

Escorted by Lexington police, the group left the gallery at 7:30 p.m. and paraded five blocks in chilly fall air to Pastor’s Pantry to deliver a pair of grocery carts holding a total of 347 food items and an iron caldron containing some cash.

Pastor’s Pantry Executive Director Bill Keesler thanked the owners and artists from Smallwall Gallery who organized the walk as well as the participants.

Be sure to check out the linked video from Home Town TV Today.   

 Zombie land

Food drive leader Freddie Huff (left) stands with a store manager in front of Big Lots in Lexington before the food drive in November 2010.

For the second consecutive year, a food drive will memorialize the late husband of a valuable Pastor’s Pantry volunteer.

The event, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, June 18, at Big Lots on Winston Road in Lexington, will be conducted in memory of Billy H. Yarbrough.

Yarbrough, who passed away in June 2009 at age 73 after a battle with cancer, was for 55 years the husband of Nancy Yarbrough, who volunteers many afternoons at Pastor’s Pantry.

The food drive is being led by Freddie Huff, a friend of the Yarbroughs and a veteran organizer of food drives in Davidson County.

A similar drive led by Huff in memory of Billy Yarbrough last November brought in a large quantity of canned and packaged foods for Pastor’s Pantry.

Because food and monetary donations slow down in the summer, we hope the drive this Saturday will have similar success.

Pastor’s Pantry is a nonprofit agency supplying monthly groceries for needy senior adults age 60 and older and members of their households throughout Davidson County.  We also provide emergency packs of food for county residents of all ages in financial crisis.

To see them in action and enjoy other events of the day, check out the Pastor’s Pantry 2nd Annual Kentucky Derby Party Video:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Riding a stick horse and carrying a glass of cranberry juice on a tray, Zack Sink beat 15 challengers in a local version of the Derby Festival’s Run for the Rose’ in Kentucky.

Tim Dezego won $279 in the half-and-half drawing, but immediately returned his winnings to Pastor’s Pantry.

An estimated 115 guests watched Animal Kingdom win the 137th Kentucky Derby on a big-screen television in the barn at March Motorcars between Lexington and Welcome.  They chowed down on Kentucky ham biscuits, bourbon balls, Derby pie and other delectables from On Time Catering.  They drank mint juleps made by Rita Walker and Florence Jones.  And they made auction bids for beach and mountain vacations, special dinners and parties, art and yoga classes, sports and recreational outings, and home entertainment and building supplies.

There was a lot of fun to be had at the second annual “Day at the Derby” fundraiser for Pastor’s Pantry, the nonprofit food pantry for hungry senior adults and other needy residents of Davidson County.

The Pantry supplies monthly groceries for more than 540 people in more than 370 senior adult households across the county, plus short-term packs of food for younger residents with emergency needs.  Day at the Derby is the organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year.

Guests this year, including some new faces who did not come in 2010, helped the Pantry raise nearly $19,000 – $3,000 of which is being set aside and added to for the purpose of installing a walk-in cooler/freezer in the Pantry’s food warehouse in Lexington.

“We really appreciate all these folks coming out and helping us,” said Bill Keesler, Pastor’s Pantry’s executive director.  “In addition to supporting a great cause, everybody seemed to have a great time.  I know I did.”

Keesler extended special thanks to guests who recruited large groups of friends to sit together at the event.

He thanked Jeff and Joan March, owners of March Motorcars, for making their facilities and beautiful grounds available for the event for a second consecutive year.

He thanked the event’s sponsors – Wake Forest Baptist Health Lexington Medical Center, Unilin Flooring, Thomasville Medical Center, Sarah E. Frye DDS PA, Buttke Dairy Enterprises, Cardinal Container Services Inc., Bill and Sara DeLapp, PPG, Lexington Barbecue, Brenda Houser/Edward Jones Investments, Mountcastle Insurance, Dwight and Kathy Hedrick, Richard Perryman, Sandy and Terry Reynolds, Charlotte Roberts, Cheryl and John Wicker, Evelyn and Don Kepley, Cindy and Harold McNeill, and Robert Yelton.

And he thanked members of the Pantry’s Fundraising Committee — Sharon Mickey, Norma Buttke, Sotia Neouv, Amy Leonard, Jeff Garrett and Chad Kirkendall — who organized the event, as well as the other 11 members of the Pantry’s Board of Directors.  All assisted.

The 138th running of the Kentucky Derby is anticipated on Saturday, May 5, 2012.  Pastor’s Pantry plans to hold its third annual “Day at the Derby” that same day.  Please plan to join us.

Cindy McNeill of Lexington, shown here with husband Harold McNeill, won the Hat Contest at Pastor's Pantry's first Kentucky Derby fundraiser in 2010. Because of a schedule conflict, she will not return this Saturday to defend her title for the 2011 Derby. The field is wide open!

     Inspired by all those fancy hats at the royal wedding?

     You can probably do even better.

     Design the hat of your dreams and wear it this Saturday, May 7, to the hat contest at Pastor’s Pantry’s Kentucky Derby fundraiser outside Lexington, N.C.  You can win prizes.

     You can also watch the 137th running of the world’s most famous horse race on a big screen.  Drink mint juleps.  Eat Kentucky ham biscuits, bourbon balls and Derby Pie.

     Win yet more prizes by running across a lawn riding a stick horse and carrying a tray of drinks.

     Bid at auction on beach and mountain vacations; a Girls Night Out with a limousine; a round on a beautiful golf course in the Virginia mountains; Italian and barbecue chicken dinners; margarita and patio parties; outings to a minor league baseball game and a whitewater park; art and yoga classes; a roomful of flooring; a big-screen TV; and a surprise item at the end of the night.

      Bring your mother.  Make it a Mother’s Day gift, one day early.

     Gain all this and at the same time help Pastor’s Pantry raise money to feed the hungry in Davidson County.  The nonprofit food pantry supplies groceries every month to needy senior adults age 60 and older and members of their households — a total of 530 people in 370 homes, some of which include grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

     Pastor’s Pantry also provides packs of food for younger individuals and families on an emergency basis.

     “This event is a great way to help a great cause while having a lot of fun,” said Bill Keesler, Pastor’s Pantry’s executive director.

     “A Day at the Derby” will run from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the beautifully landscaped setting of March Motorcars at 3132 Old U.S. Highway 52 between Lexington and Welcome.

     Tickets are $60 for individuals and $100 for couples and can be ordered by calling 336-249-8824, ext. 301; emailing pastorspantry@lexcominc.net; or writing Pastor’s Pantry at P.O. Box 2051, Lexington, NC 27293.  Tables can be reserved.  Event sponsorships, including admission for two, are available for $250.

     A You Tube video from last year’s Derby fundraiser can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVdxiwVBakM.

Pastor's Pantry volunteer Nancy Yarbrough admires a photograph of her late husband, Billy H. Yarbrough.

A food drive this Saturday will memorialize the late husband of a valuable Pastor’s Pantry volunteer.

The event, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Big Lots on Winston Road in Lexington, will be conducted in memory of Billy H. Yarbrough, who passed away in June 2009 at age 73 after a battle with cancer, and will be led by veteran community food drive organizer Freddie Huff.

Yarbrough’s wife, Nancy Yarbrough, spends many weekday afternoons doing volunteer work at the Pantry.

Nancy Yarbrough thinks her husband, a religious man who loved helping others, would be pleased that Saturday’s food drive is being carried out in his name.

“I get excited when I go to tell people about it,” she said. “He’s still helping other people for the Lord. He’s gone, but he’s still working.”

The Yarbroughs were married for 55 years and lived in western Davidson County. They had a daughter, three granddaughters, and one great-granddaughter (so far).

Bill Yarbrough did office work and made deliveries for 32 years for Stratford Tool & Die in Winston-Salem. He also labored on his own in his home workshop, making furniture and repairing just about anything that anyone needed fixing.

In addition, he played steel guitar in a gospel band that performed at square dances, nursing homes, the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salisbury and his church. He was an active member of Lakeview Baptist Church.

His wife, who still mourns his loss, began volunteering at Pastor’s Pantry early this year.

She encouraged Huff to hold a food drive for the Pantry.

According to Huff, Billy Yarbrough was “a quiet, spirited man who loved his family, the Lord, and the work he did for the Lord.”

Huff, a retired law enforcement officer and truck driver who serves on the Lexington Crimestoppers Board, has organized countless food drives over the past 21 years in Davidson County. Beneficiaries have included Crisis Ministry, the Salvation Army, Shepherd's Inn and 14 churches.

Huff led a drive for Pastor's Pantry a couple of years ago. Bill Keesler, executive director of Pastor's Pantry, said he is glad Huff chose to help the agency again.

"Freddie Huff is the greatest of all food drive organizers in Davidson County," Keesler said. "We know we will benefit from his experience and his expertise on Saturday."

Keesler also thanked Nancy Yarbrough for suggesting the drive to Huff.

"Nancy cares a lot about Pastor's Pantry, and we care a lot about Nancy," Keesler said. "We couldn't do what we do without the assistance of volunteers like Nancy."

Keesler also thanked Big Lots and its Winston Road store manager, Shawn Hubbard, for allowing Huff and the Pantry to set up in front of the store for the food drive.

Pastor's Pantry supplies monthly groceries for senior adults in financial need in Davidson County and members of their households. The nonprofit agency also provides emergency packs of food for younger people in critical need.

Pastor's Pantry hopes Saturday's drive will attract a lot of food donations.

"Many senior adults in the county need food," Keesler said. "So far in November, we've been adding about one new client household every day."

Pastor's Pantry now serves more than 490 regular monthly clients — the most in its history. "The increased numbers are really stretching our food supplies thin," Keesler said.

A church and a law firm will collect food for Pastor's Pantry on Sunday afternoon at Uptown Lexington's Christmas Open House.

Uptown Lexington’s annual Christmas Open House, scheduled this Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., will help fill Pastor’s Pantry’s shelves with food.

“Seventeen years ago, Uptown Lexington Inc. started Christmas Open House as a way for the community to celebrate the holiday season,” said Jo Ellen Edwards, Uptown Lexington’s executive director. “It also brought attention to the many merchants in uptown Lexington and served as a reminder to shop here before heading to the malls for Black Friday.”

Again this year, in addition to celebrating the holiday season, the event will give back to the community. This Sunday, Nov. 21, members of First Reformed United Church of Christ and employees of the Brinkley Walser law firm will join together to collect non-perishable food items for Pastor’s Pantry, the food bank for senior adults in financial need in Davidson County.

“First Reformed UCC held the first food drive during last year’s Christmas Open House,” said Edwards. “We are so pleased these two groups in our district are partnering to help Pastor’s Pantry, an organization located just outside of the district.”

David Inabinett, managing member of Brinkley Walser PLLC, said, “The local economy has been slow to rebound. We continue to hear of local families needing assistance with the basics of food and shelter. The staff here at Brinkley Walser felt that it was important to find a way to give back to the community. The food drive is a great way to help by ensuring the local pantry shelves are stocked to meet the need. We hope everyone in the area will donate what they can and that those outside of Davidson County will consider donating to their local food banks.”

Lynn Klopp, food drive coordinator for First Reformed UCC, said because the church is located uptown but is not a retail merchant, “a food drive was a natural way for our church members to be part of this annual event.” The food drive is one of the activities undertaken by the church’s Board of Community Outreach.

Bill Keesler, executive director of Pastor’s Pantry, said the drive during the Christmas Open House “will provide a much-needed boost to our food supplies. As the difficult economy continues, our client list for monthly groceries has grown to nearly 500 Davidson Countians — not just senior adults but also younger members of their households, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren — as well as others of all ages needing food on an emergency basis. Serving that many people requires more food. We are deeply grateful to members of First Reformed United Church of Christ and employees of Brinkley Walser for the time and effort they are devoting to help us.”

Karen Greene, business manager for Brinkley Walser, said when she was asked by the firm’s management team to organize a firm service project, she “saw the Lexington Christmas Open House information and the plan for a food drive just fell into place. There is so much good that we can all do if we just watch for opportunities. I’m proud to work for a firm that is so focused on the community where we do business.”

This new partnership will give Christmas Open House attendees a place on both sides of Main Street to drop off food items during the event: an area on East Center Street at First Reformed UCC, which will be coordinated by church members, and the NewBridge parking lot at the corner of West Center and State streets, which will be coordinated by law firm employees. In addition, items can be dropped off at Brinkley Walser’s offices at 10 LSB Plaza from Nov. 15-24 during regular business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

“We are also very excited to be part of Uptown Lexington Inc.’s Christmas Open House,” said Keesler. “For me personally, the Open House has always been one of my favorite events of the year in Lexington. I’m really glad that while we are having fun kicking off the Christmas season, we can also help people in need.”

Michael Holshouser, president of the Uptown Lexington board of directors, said ULI “is pleased two groups in our uptown district will be joining Christmas Open House as a way to give back to our community. We encourage all who can to contribute to the drive.”

The Christmas tree in Pastor's Pantry's lobby this year is decorated with 480 cards -- each containing gift wishes from one of our clients. More cards are added every time we add new clients, which has been daily recently as more senior adults apply for food.

Pastor’s Pantry needed a larger Christmas tree this year to hold all the cards for its still-growing list of clients.

As difficult economic conditions persist, a total of 480 cards, about 14 percent more than last year, cover the newly displayed tree in the front lobby of the pantry, a nonprofit food bank for senior adults in financial need throughout Davidson County.

Each card contains an individual client’s holiday wishes – from store gift cards to pajamas, socks, underwear, blankets, sheets, toiletries and cleaning supplies. Clients include not only county residents 60 years of age and older, but also younger household members, such as children. In a holiday tradition, the pantry asks community residents to take cards off the tree and help make clients’ gift wishes come true.

“We hope that individuals, families, school and Sunday school classes, businesses, Scout troops, civic clubs, retirement groups and other organizations will once again help give our clients a joyous holiday season,” said Bill Keesler, Pastor’s Pantry’s executive director.

Participating in the Christmas tree is easy. Come to the pantry at 307 N. State St. in Lexington (between Sam’s Car Wash and the Lexington Cemetery), and select a card or cards from the tree. Sign the list recording which cards you picked. Bring back wrapped gifts with the cards attached by Monday, Dec. 6. Pantry staff members will deliver the gifts to clients next month.

For more information, contact Pastor’s Pantry at (336) 249-8824 or pastorspantry@lexcominc.net.

With financial support from NewBridge Bank, Carolina Drawers, and Sarah E. Frye, DDS, PA, in Lexington, Pastor’s Pantry, the nonprofit food bank for senior adults in financial need in Davidson County, has organized a one-day wine tour on Aug. 14 as a fundraiser. In five short hours, participants will be able to visit three vineyards/wineries in Davidson County.

“This is a chance to experience an exciting new industry and support area tourism while helping raise money to feed the hungry,” said Bill Keesler, Pastor’s Pantry executive director.

At 10 a.m. that Saturday, participants will board a bus from P & B Travels of Lexington at the Shoppes at Vineyards Crossing, the shopping center near the Childress Vineyards winery in Lexington. At 10:30 a.m. they will taste wines at the Weathervane winery in Welcome and get a description of that winemaking business from owner Sid Proctor. At noon, they will taste wines at Junius Lindsay Vineyards in Arcadia, eat a box lunch, and hear the story of that grape-growing operation from owner Michael Zimmerman. At 2 p.m., they will return to Childress Vineyards for a tasting and winery tour and may catch part of the final hour of that day’s Music in the Vineyards performance. Participants will receive a glass from each of the three wineries.

The Pastor’s Pantry’s wine tour ends at 3 p.m. But for an additional charge at a special rate, interested participants can also attend at 6 p.m. at Childress Vineyards the StART on the Vine fundraiser for Carolina Cancer Services, including a performance by internationally known blues and jazz singer Melva Houston, art, wine, food, and silent and live auctions.

The Pastor’s Pantry tour costs $50 a person. To purchase tickets, send checks to Pastor’s Pantry, P.O. Box 2051, Lexington, NC 27293; email pastorspantry@lexcominc.net; or call Bill Keesler at 336/249-8824, ext. 301, or 336/250-0439. Tickets may also be purchased by credit card. Order as soon as possible. Only 46 seats are available on the bus.

To help cover wine tour expenses, NewBridge Bank will hold a hot dog sale at its Lexington main office from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 13. Lunches consisting of two hot dogs, chips, and a drink will cost $5. You can pre-order by calling Amanda Laws at 336/239-7982.

Pastor’s Pantry supplies monthly groceries for needy seniors age 60 and older and members of their families – about 450 clients living in 320 households across Davidson County. The pantry also provides food for younger individuals and families on an emergency basis.