City council agrees to close Worth Street for one of the three days of the Juneteenth celebration

ASHEBORO — Randolph County’s Juneteenth celebration is getting bigger this year. With performances, awards, and other activities planned over three days, the Asheboro city council agreed to close Worth Street for part of the events on Saturday, June 20. They did so at their May 7 meeting. 

That same evening, they recognized Reynolds Lisk as this year’s Main Street Champion.

Juneteenth expands

NAACP Asheboro/Randolph County President Clyde Foust, Jr. said they have gathered additional records of enslaved individuals.

Thanks to people reaching out to them with archives from newspapers, police records and family Bibles, Foust said they’ll recognize more people who were bought and sold in Randolph County but were never listed in the Register of Deeds.

He told council members how they plan to observe Juneteenth over three days, from June 18 to 20. Much of it will occur outside the historic courthouse on Worth Street. They will have an opening ceremony on Thursday, June 18. Then they will feature people who marched in the Civil Rights movement on the 19th. Those people will be presented with an NAACP Medal of Freedom.

“We want to do something this year that not only honors our past but celebrates where we’ve come, from then,” Foust said.

On Saturday, June 20, they will hold their traditional march from Greater St. John’s Baptist Church. Foust said this year, they plan to expand further with vendors and performances. To allow this, the council agreed to close Worth Street until 5 p.m.

Main Street Champion

Downtown Development Manager Addie Corder presented the annual Main Street Champion Award to Reynolds Lisk. She highlighted him as a long-time advocate for Asheboro.

Lisk was a founding member of Downtown Asheboro, Inc. and has been involved in revitalization campaigns for decades. Corder noted how he helped start Christmas on Sunset, which helped lead to Asheboro becoming part of the Main Street program.

“Of particular impact, Reynolds has spearheaded the city’s Friday Night Rock’n the Park tribute band concert series, which complements the long-running Sunday series,” Corder said. “These Friday night concerts attract thousands of people to downtown, providing a huge impact to downtown businesses and Asheboro as a whole.”

Lisk, who presently chairs the Randolph Community College Board of Trustees, told the council how he watched the city go through economic upturns and downturns. “I was here in the boom time when furniture and textiles was going. Downtown was just an amazing place to be,” he said. He described how a lack of downtown vitality had a negative impact on people moving to Asheboro for work. That inspired him to co-chair Center City Development with Mac Whatley.

An upcoming project Lisk said he’s excited for is the conversion of the old Acme-McCray Mill into apartments. “It’s going to be transformational for downtown when it’s done,” he said.

Other business

■ Before the meeting ended, Finance Director Debbie Reaves led the council in adjusting the city funds for employee health insurance claims. Additional expenditures for the 2025-26 fiscal year came out to $1,576,255 for general staff and $480,375 for the water and sewer department. She also shared a $23,841 tax refund invoice from Randolph County for the city to approve.

■ The Authority Regional Airport’s annual report was continued to next month due to City Engineer Michael Leonard being out sick.