community service

Lane Street Project: the Season 7 clean-up schedule is out!

Great things are happening at Vick Cemetery — now help us prepare Odd Fellows Cemetery for its glow-up!

Who do we want? You — and your friends, family, classmates, sorors and frat brothers, lodge members, church organizations, youth groups, alumni organizations, coworkers and colleagues, and students. All are welcome.

To do what? Clear debris from small felled trees, cut vines, chop weeds, cut grass, clean headstones, chart grave GPS coordinates, donate funds for ongoing and future projects (including ground-penetrating radar, an interpretive sign, professional defoliation services, and headstone stabilization), say prayers for safety and success, document.

What do I need to do? Please read last year’s What To Expect. (Conditions have changed a bit, for the better, but it’s still a useful guide.) We have had volunteers ranging from toddlers to seasoned seniors over the past six seasons. We welcome all to contribute as they are able, but please be aware that there are safety risks associated with clean-up of a forested space. So far, no one has been injured while working in Odd Fellows, and we want to keep it that way. You will be required to sign a waiver. Wear appropriate shoes, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and gloves. Watch out for holes in the ground. Do not attempt to cut down trees. Do not lean on, push, or pull grave markers.

Got it. Now what? Gather your team, and let us know you’re coming! Our past partners have included Greenfield School, Barton College, Saint Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Delta Sigma Theta and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sororities, Homeschoolers Honoring Ancestors, Wilson Police Department and Fire/Rescue Services, and Mount Hebron Lodge No. 42. We’ve also welcomed folks from Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, Richmond, Brooklyn, and elsewhere who have been drawn to our mission to reclaim this sacred space. We hope you’ll join us!!

Lane Street Project: Barton Bulldogs do it again!

When I got the news that a landscape company had done a major cleanup at Odd Fellows Monday, I wondered if there’d be anything left for Barton’s student volunteers.

Apparently, plenty!

The Bulldogs came in two waves today to chop chest-high weeds, fell small trees, and haul debris, pushing further into Odd Fellows’ acreage than ever.

Lane Street Project relies on community, and we’re thankful that Barton is part of our village. Read their press release to learn more the College’s annual service day:

WILSON, N.C. — October 6, 2026 — Hundreds of Barton College students, faculty and staff served throughout Wilson on Tuesday, Oct. 6, as part of the College’s Day of Service and Engagement, continuing a tradition that has connected the Barton community with local schools, nonprofit organizations, churches, and community partners since 2008.

This year, Barton set aside the academic day for students, faculty, and staff to serve alongside organizations throughout the Wilson community. Students gathered through their academic schools and First-Year Seminar courses, allowing them to spend the day serving with classmates and faculty within their academic communities.

Students from the School of Business and Innovation and First-Year Seminar classes worked together to package 15,000 meals for communities facing food insecurity through Rise Against Hunger at the Kennedy Recreation and Intramural Center.

Barton’s ongoing partnership with Sleep in Heavenly Peace brought first-year students to Truist Stadium for an afternoon service project. Students assembled 30 beds to support the nonprofit organization’s mission of building and delivering beds to children in need. Sleep in Heavenly Peace works to ensure children have a safe, comfortable bed of their own, recognizing quality sleep as an important part of their health and well-being.

“It is incredibly rewarding to see Day of Service unfold across Wilson,” said Brenda Whaley, director of student activities. “From the first groups heading out in the morning through our final projects in the afternoon, students were serving in schools, parks, churches, nonprofit organizations, and community spaces across the city. They worked outdoors, supported local organizations, packaged meals, and built beds, each contributing to the needs identified by our community partners.”

Service sites included The Arc of Wilson County, Foundation YMCA of Wilson, Hope Station, Lake Wilson, United Way of Wilson County, Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, Wesley Shelter, Wilson Area Habitat for Humanity, Wilson Arts, Wilson Botanical Gardens, and Wilson Education Partnership, among numerous other community partners.

“Day of Service is about more than the work we accomplish in a single day,” said Amanda Metts, vice president for enrollment, engagement, and athletics. “It is an intentional part of how we help students develop a commitment to service and understand their responsibility to the communities they are part of. The experience gives students an opportunity to learn from others, form meaningful connections, and carry those lessons with them beyond Barton.”

Barton first held Day of Service and Engagement on Oct. 22, 2008, as an opportunity to foster civic responsibility and service learning as part of the Barton Experience. As Barton marks 125 years, Day of Service reflects a guiding principle that has shaped the College throughout its history — a commitment to service rooted in its Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) heritage and its relationship with the Wilson community.

Photo courtesy of Castonoble Hooks.

Lane Street Project: the season’s last service day.

The workday’s shoutouts:

  • to the veterans who visited Odd Fellows Cemetery Saturday morning to place flags for Memorial Day;
  • to Will Kinsler, who came back with friends Haley of Fayetteville and Savannah and Dustin of greater Raleigh. They spent a full shift hacking new wisteria from trees and clearing the tree line to aid our mowing efforts; and
  • to the inimitable Senior Force — Castonoble Hooks, R. Briggs Sherwood, and William Hooks — our foot soldiers month in and month out.

Finally, a resounding thank you to everyone who came out to help this season. Each of you made a tremendous difference in the reclamation of Odd Fellows Cemetery, and we are honored that you chose to spend a Saturday morning with us when you could have been doing anything else.

Big things are coming, and we hope you’ll continue to support us as we put the generous gifts we’ve received to work. Though our official cleanup season has ended, we may call on you for specially scheduled service days this summer or fall related to upcoming projects. Thanks again!

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2026.

Signal Boost: One Love Neighborhood Empowerment Walk.

I didn’t see this flyer until after the fact, but I’m sharing it so you’ll be motivated to find out when One Love Neighborhood Empowerment Walk is again planning to traverse the heart of Historic East Wilson, beautifying our streets and getting in steps.

Lane Street Project’s own Senior Force stalwart Castonoble Hooks was invited yesterday to deliver a few history words to the volunteers gathered. I know he made sure they know they were walking through the neighborhood Samuel H. Vick built. 

Lane Street Project: March 28 recap!

Another heart-filling service day at Odd Fellows Cemetery!

Special thanks to our out-of-town guests Will from Fuquay-Varina and Emily and her son Seb all the way from Brooklyn, New York!

Mark your calendars now for our April 11 and 25 service dates!

Photo courtesy of Chris Facey.

Lane Street Project: next service day — March 28!

March has been a fantastic month for Lane Street Project! First, we welcomed our friends from Greenfield School:

Then, Wilson City Council adopted a positive plan for Vick Cemetery’s near future, one that included the additional ground-penetrating radar we have long urged.

Please help us keep us the momentum going by coming out to Odd Fellows Saturday, March 28, at 10:00 A.M. for our next cleanup service day. Greenfield students made tremendous progress clearing dead brush and high weeds in the interior of the cemetery. We want to continue that work, which is especially important as warming weather awakens the wisteria that infests the space. We also need to mow the front section of Odd Fellows as the grass begins to green up.

A couple of hours of work by a couple of dozen people make a tremendous difference. We hope to see you Saturday!

Excerpt from “Greenfield volunteers support cemetery cleanup,” Wilson Times, 24 March 2026; photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2026.

Lane Street Project: the March cleanups.

The weather has not been kind this cleanup season, but March is here with the promise of balmy weather. Our service days this month are the 14th and 28th.

We have specific goals we need to achieve over the second half of the season, and we encourage you to come out to lend a hand. There’s work for every level of ability, and we welcome you.

In preparation for a future project, we need to clip all the weeds and vines to the ground. Ideally, they should be low enough to keep them in check with a heavy-duty lawnmower.

We want to raze this clump of weeds between the Vick and Mincey plots.

We want to clear out the privet (the green stuff) and the dry weeds here. Try to avoid trampling the daffodils though, and watch out underfoot, there’s an old brick vault in this area.

We want to scalp this back to the tree line. Please don’t lean on grave markers.

Also, don’t cut the yucca. They were planted 100+ years ago to mark graves.

Any other little vine or sapling you see is fair game though.

Do you have a heavy-duty weed whacker? Perhaps with a brush cutter attachment? We really need your help!

Remember: SAFETY FIRST. Wear long pants and heavy boots or shoes. Gloves and goggles. There are tripping hazards at ground level, so please keep an eye out. Thank you!