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Wilson This Week -- Dec. 20, 2023 |
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Christmas magic made! Children "shop with a cop" thanks to Wilson's generosity
Christmas came a bit early for 51 Wilson families during the annual Shop with a Cop event, held at Walmart on Saturday, Dec. 16. A local man's efforts helped the group serve twice as many families as in recent years.
Shop with a Cop is hosted by the Wilson Law Enforcement Fellowship, the group that fundraises for and organizes the day. It includes police officers, deputies, NC Highway Patrol officers, 911 dispatchers and parole/probation officers, among others.
During the event, children and their families are paired with a law enforcement officer to shop for Christmas presents. While it’s meant for the children to pick out presents for themselves, they often want to buy gifts for other family members, too. Talk about feeling the Christmas spirit!
This year, the number of children invited was more than double the usual amount, thanks to the generosity of the Wilson community. Wilson native and long-time community supporter Charlie Bedgood raised more than $18,000 for the event through individual donations, buoyed by large donations from the Rotary Club of Greater Wilson and the Elks Lodge. Fundraising is nothing new for Bedgood - he typically hosts events annually for various causes - but this year Walmart manager Frankie Sheldon suggested he support Shop with a Cop. Walmart is a major supporter of Shop with a Cop and Sheldon has been involved in the event for many years, seeing the joy it brings to the children involved.
The partnership was formed, donations were solicited, and Bedgood hoped to raise about $5,000. We like to think the magic of Christmas had something to do with what happened next – the overwhelming support was more than anyone could imagine and the $5,000 goal gave way to more than $18,000 given by 35 individuals and the two organizations.
Thanks to Charlie for creating the spark, to everyone who donated, to Frankie and the Wilson Walmart, the Wilson Law Enforcement Fellowship for planning, and to all of the officers and staff who made this joyful event possible. Christmas magic made!
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City offices close Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1, 2024
 As we approach the most wonderful time of the year, we want to extend warm wishes of joy and happiness to all our residents. The holiday season is a time for sharing love, laughter, and cherished moments with family and friends. On behalf of the city, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with blessings and new beginnings.
City offices will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, December 25 and 26 to allow our hardworking staff to enjoy the festivities with their loved ones. We will also be closed on Monday, January 1, 2024, to welcome the new year.
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Holidays shift trash, recycling routes for two weeks
The winter holidays always have a dramatic effect on trash and recycling pickups since most households have more to throw out and we are trying to collect it all in less time.
Environmental Services has a plan for working the next two weeks. The good news is Thursday and Friday trash and recycling routes are on schedule through the holidays, and really into March 2024.
The week of Christmas, Monday and Tuesday routes will be collected Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Environmental services will be running double routes on Thursday so the regular route will be served later than usual. Please be patient.
The week of New Years, Monday and Tuesday routes will be collected a day late. Just put out your containers the evening of the day they are usually collected.
There won't be special pickups the next two weeks, but you can go ahead and put special requests in FixIt Wilson and we will do them as soon as possible.
Many people have extra cardboard and paper products for recycling after the holidays. Please try to keep those confined to your rollout containers. Break up cardboard and smush everything you can. If your recyclables overrun your container, it's better to make separate pile of boxes on your pickup day. We need to be able to pick up the containers and empty them with our trucks' arms.
You can start putting real Christmas trees at the curb as soon as next week. Please strip them of all decorations, especially tinsel, and leave them out on your collection day. We grind them up into mulch so it's important to get everything artificial off them.
Meanwhile, we are collecting loose leaves seven days a week, outside of holidays. Please continue to make piles behind the curb, not in the street. We don't yet have an end date for leaf season, but we will be running vacuum trucks through January 2024 at least.
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Bill paying options during the holidays
The holidays mean longer closures for the customer service office on Nash Street as it will not be open the next two Saturdays either.
If you need to pay a bill in person, the office will be open Wednesday-Friday, Dec. 27-29, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. and then resuming normal hours on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
But you have other options to pay bills:
- Visit t www.WilsonNC.org;
- Using the automated system at 252-399-2200; or
- Using the kiosk in the first drive-thru lane. Cash, check and card payments can be made 24 hours a day. Payments through the kiosk apply to City of Wilson utility and Greenlight customer accounts instantly.
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Many services operate through holidays
Wilson RIDE, the city’s transit system, will not operate on Christmas Day, but it will mostly be running other days through the end of the year, other than Sundays. Driver pools might be lower on some days. Use the Via app to schedule rides.
All emergency services will operate on normal schedules. Utilities will be staffed and ready to respond to outages or other situations; call 399-2424.
On behalf of the City of Wilson, we wish everyone the warmest of holiday seasons and a wonderful start to 2024!
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