Brogden, North Carolina

SMITHFIELD Visitors to the Ava Gardner Museum are often eager to learn more about her life in this rural community.

"I just screamed before I even realized it," said Wayne Country's principal Todd Anderson whose excitement was overheard by an office filled with staff and parents.

Gladys Diggs, left, counselor at Charles B. Aycock High School, was named counselor of the year for Wayne County Public Schools during Wednesday's annual counselor awards ceremony at central office.

Alexus Stott uses her umbrella as she gets off the bus this morning at Brogden Primary School.

Three Wayne County schools are in the running for the $100,000 prize Brogden Primary won last year through U.S. Cellular's Calling All Communities campaign.

As many of you get ready to enjoy Christmas, don't forget the annual tradition that comes after the holiday - the Leon Brogden Holiday Tournament.

Arrests a Nicholas Cox, 21, of 5747 N.C. 96 N., Oxford, was booked Dec. 10. Misdemeanor communicating threats.

Franklin Baking Co. president Tom Buffkin, second from left, and company human resources manager Charles Brogden, third from left, hold the awards honoring the company as Wayne County's Industry of the Year.

Police learned a federal fugitive was inside a Wilmington business Saturday, and that started a difficult chain of events.

This weekend brings the fifth annual Ava Gardner Festival to town. The celebration of the Brogden-born 20th century starlet will feature a new Ava Gardner Museum exhibit about Gardner's friendship with the writer Ernest Hemingway.

William Drake wasn't a cowboy when he left for Hollywood. But when he came back to Johnston County, he brought Tinseltown's Old West with him.