BY MILES LAYTON
A round-up of all things from God’s country…
Saw a familiar face at the Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library on Saturday…
As my wife Nicole and I were leaving the library after checking out books and DVDs, I said to her, “That may be the new director – she looks familiar.”
My wife said, “That’s Brandy Goodwin. She used to work in the children’s section.”
I answered, “Oh yeah.” My memories came cascading back in March of 2019 when Goodwin, then a library technician, was serving as co-chair of the first annual Harry Potter Extravaganza – that was the year my son Robert won the raffle to be awarded that awesome Lego Hogwarts Castle. Goodwin did an amazing job hosting Harry Potter trivia too.
Goodwin led the singing of “God Bless America” at the annual Signing of the Declaration of Independence ceremony in Edenton in July of 2019 – good voice – so yes, she is a familiar face.
Goodwin was born and raised in Edenton and even worked at the library when she was in grad school at East Carolina University, where she earned a master’s degree in library science in 2020. For the past three years or so, Goodwin has been working at Washington County’s librarian when a few months ago, her dream job as head librarian at Shepard-Pruden opened up – Jared Jacavone announced his plans to move up North.
Aces’ Class of 2010, later receiving degrees from College of the Albemarle and a bachelor’s degree from ECU in 2016, Goodwin comes home to the library that has shaped her life — started as director this week.
“When the job came open here in Edenton, I thought it was too good to be true,” she said. “I wanted to come back home. So I applied and I got the job.”
Like many kids, including my own, Goodwin spent a lot of the time in the library as she was growing up because it is a special place.
“I grew up in this library,” she said. “My mom (Michelle) used to bring me here every weekend when I was a kid. She inspired me to have a love of reading.”
Being a librarian is Goodwin’s destiny.
“And it was here, there was an employee here named Julia Hassell,” Goodwin said. “Her and my mom used to talk to each other when I was checking out books. And Julia said, ‘I think that girl is going to be a librarian someday.’ And she was right.”
Shepard-Pruden is a special place – has a lot of community support and engagement. Goodwin hopes to build on that to expand and improve the library.
“You have a lot of people supporting the library, a lot of programs going on, and I just wanna keep that going,” she said. “I want to get people to want to come into these doors, to get inspired, to read, to get inspired, to be involved.”
Get ready for more offerings in the fiction section.
“I would like to increase the fiction section more and get in more popular authors and bring in more fun authors for our fiction section,” she said.
Don’t forget that the library’s annual Harry Potter extravaganza is around the corner between March 28 and March 29.
“Our staff have been working together and they’ve got a bunch of businesses backing it downtown,” she said. I was actually part of the first Harry Potter extravaganza. Yeah, they were great. All great. There’s gonna be a lot of fun things. You’re going to have a trivia night downtown at the Edenton Trading Company. The Coffee Shop is doing something and Surf Wind and Fire is doing something — a bunch of the downtown businesses are gonna be helping with the event.”
What’s the best thing about Edenton?
“There’s a lot of love from the community here,” Goodwin said. “Especially being here in the library. People see you out and about in town. They’re like, ‘You’re the lady who works at the library. I want to come and bring my kid because you seem really, really nice.’ And it’s just a really big sense of community here, which is what I like.”
In other news – there are 41 days between now April 11 – the start of Pilgrimage — a tour of grand homes and historic sites in Edenton. I can’t wait to see which homes are featured!
Pilgrimage proceeds support local scholarships and grants. Applications are due March 28. If you want to build that really cool bookcase that’s built into the wall, this would be the way to go so submit a grant application to the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs Edenton Woman’s Club that organizes the tour — a lot of work goes into making this tour happen.
For more ticket information – tickets are reasonably priced – see this webpage. The event supports historic preservation and education – scholarships!
More coverage about Pilgrimage is coming in the days and weeks ahead.
In other news, the Christian Book Seller on South Broad Street celebrated its 20th anniversary on Saturday. Congratulations. Remember, Ash Wednesday is around the corner on March 5, as is Easter on April 20, so maybe head over to the bookstore for some fine faith-based reading material.
Speaking of Ash Wednesday, Pam Stallings, formerly First Lady of Edenton (Mayor Jimmy Stalling’s wife) sent this note to me: Cornerstone Church will be celebrating Ash Wednesday at 7 p.m. March 5 at the church, 617 Soundside Road, Edenton. I need to get out to that church to do a story.
Thursday at 5 p.m. March 6, DownEast Preservation will celebrate the grand opening of its new headquarters at 307 South Broad Street. Folks will get to tour the new headquarters and there will be live music, cocktails and appetizers. I’ll say it – When thinking about Dawson Tyler and how his crew have transformed Edenton’s homes and neighborhoods, this quote from the Roman Emperor Augustus comes to mind that I’m going to paraphrase – “I found (Edenton) built of bricks; I leave her clothed in marble.” Well, DownEast Preservation has turned houses that were long past deteriorating into homes that will serve the residents of Edenton another 100 years or so. I think Dawson once told me that he’s somehow related to John Tyler who served between 1841 and 1845 as US President, but my memory is hazy on that point.
Speaking of old homes and restoration, Michelle Bowers posted to Facebook that she is the new owner of the Benjamin Berry House in Hertford, circa. 1820. Located at 201 Dobbs Street, this historic Gem in the heart of Hertford is a true piece of town’s history, built in 1820 by Tailor Benjamin Berry, according to the Zillow listing.
This historic home boasts original architectural details, all in good condition for restoration, preserving its timeless character. With 3,492 sq ft, this beauty offers 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, large finished walk-in attic, large living room, large dining room, large office & a large kitchen with brand-new stainless-steel appliances & light fixtures, ready to be installed by its new owners. The large backyard features a historic smokehouse, carriage building & outdoor kitchen building, adding to the property’s unique appeal. Just minutes from the scenic Perquimans River, local shops & restaurants, this property offers the best of small-town charm with modern conveniences nearby. This diamond in the rough is full of potential & waiting to be restored to its former glory.
Subscribe/Donate
If you want to subscribe — FREE — check out our website at https://albemarleobserver.news/
If you want to subscribe – you can enter your email address at the website or send it to us at albemarle.observer@gmail.com and we will gladly add you to our growing subscriber list.
You can also donate by going to the Donations page by clicking here or send us a check at Albemarle Observer, C/O Miles Layton, 205 E. Church St. Apt. A, Edenton, NC 27932.
