Wentworth council hears funding requests from local nonprofits and schools ahead of FY 2025–26 budget

The Wentworth Town Council heard presentations from eight local organizations seeking funding for the fiscal year 2025–26 during its March 4 meeting at Wentworth Town Hall.

Louise Price, president of Piedmont Folk Legacies, Inc., requested $5,000 to support the Charlie Poole Festival scheduled for June 12–14 at Rockingham Community College, saying the event’s total budget is about $100,000 and that Wentworth contributed $1,000 last year. "Tickets will be $35.00/day on June 13th and 14th or $50.00 for the entire weekend," Price said; symposium pricing for June 12 was not yet available.

Betsy Kennon presented a $12,000 request for the Wentworth PTA Ball Program, emphasizing the program’s role as a safe extracurricular activity and citing new operating costs from installed field lights. She said player registration is about 292 so far and that the player fee remains "One hundred dollars ($100), the same as what it was last year." Town Clerk and Finance Officer Yvonne Russell added that past funding requests had only covered the spring season and that the program had not previously requested funds for both spring and fall seasons.

CJ Idol, director of the Museum & Archives of Rockingham County (MARC), asked for $10,000 and updated council on capital work: the HVAC project was completed with NEH and state support (including a $733,000 North Carolina appropriation), the 1970s roof has been replaced, additional 1907 roof work and a fire alarm replacement remain on the list, and MARC is aiming for a tentative fall 2025 reopening. Idol said MARC has secured a traveling Revolutionary War exhibit for 2026.

Christine Dohm, director of the Rockingham County High School Band Boosters, and Eli Wright, the RCHS band director, requested $10,000 to replace instruments, saying two French horns (about $1,500 apiece before educational discounts) and two tubas (roughly $4,000 each) are needed to maintain program capacity.

Neil Jacques and Ann Fish of the Rockingham County Food Coalition requested $1,000 for the coalition’s 15th annual countywide food drive. Jacques noted last year’s collection of 788 pounds of food and recounted a recent $200 personal donation that underscored continued community support.

Hayden Williams and Dr. Elaine Smith requested $7,400 for Rockingham County Middle School to purchase 100 musician posture chairs and related equipment; Dr. Smith said the school is 26 years old and cannot cover these higher-cost items with current school funds.

Julie Talbert, executive director of the Fine Arts Festival Association (FAFA), requested $3,000 to support the association’s festivals and pop-up events; she said this year’s Wentworth festival will be at the new Center for Workforce Development at Rockingham Community College and that eligibility for entries has been expanded to include high-school students with a new under-21 prize.

Council did not take funding votes at the meeting; Mayor Paschal noted that the funding requests are incorporated into the meeting minutes and the council may consider them as part of upcoming budget work. Council declined to schedule an additional budget work session at the same meeting.

What happens next: the requests were presented to inform the FY 2025–26 budget deliberations; the council did not adopt any of the presented funding allocations on March 4.