Community News

On a hot mid-June morning, 73-year-old William Gause relaxes on a picnic table in the shade of an old oak tree while nine middle-school-aged girls tear up his front lawn with garden trowels and cultivators.

A green cap casts a shadow over Gause’s face as he watches the girls at work. He spends most of his days like this, sitting under the oak tree and listening to church music. Gobs of Spanish moss hang from the tree’s limbs, giving it a weeping quality.

“I hung that moss,” he says, his voice soft and proud.

OCEAN ISLE BEACH—Divine Faith Missions, a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian organization based out of Ocean Isle Beach, will contribute time and money to three missionary organizations this year—Samaritans International, Songs of Joy Children’s Home and Flute Maker Ministries.

Dane Neves, founder of Divine Faith Missions, has been participating in missionary work for more than 12 years, but saw a disconnect when it came to knowing exactly what to send to certain areas of the world.

Adam Bradshaw is not a number. Though he was the second of three murder victims this year in Brunswick County, his widow Shannon says he was more than a number, more than a statistic, more than a newspaper headline, more than a victim of a senseless, violent murder.

Adam was a father who loved his son and a husband who loved her, Shannon recalled on a recent summer afternoon at her Brierwood home.

Back in the good ol’ days, the only thing you had to do to pay for a tank of gas was reach into your wallet.

With fuel averaging $4 a gallon and prices increasing in food and just about any other product imaginable, it’s no surprise people are reaching far beyond their wallets to make ends meet.

Pawnshops around the area have seen an increased flow of traffic in the past few months, people from all walks of life needing to make a few bucks.