A historic store in Green Creek, the A.P. Williams Store, is open as a community gathering place again.

The 80-year old building was run as a country store by the Williams family for 25-30 years, selling Shell gas and groceries, and offering the community a pot-bellied stove to sit around and exchange the latest news.

Murry and Donna Williamson have leased the building for the past nine years and ran an antiques store in it. But they decided to convert it to the A.P. Williams Deli & Dairy Bar recently. The new store held a grand opening at the end of September.

Murry says it is his goal that the building will once again be a great gathering spot for the community.

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More than 1,000 WaterSense partners helped Americans save 9.3 billion gallons of water in 2008. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named five of them, including Lowe&squo;s Companies, Inc., headquartered in Mooresville, N.C., as the 2009 WaterSense Partners of the Year.

&dquo;Our partners have demonstrated how collaboration and commitment to water efficiency can result in major savings for Americans,&dquo; said Peter S. Silva, assistant administrator for EPA&squo;s Office of Water.

&dquo;By working together to promote WaterSense labeled products and other water-efficient behaviors, they are helping Americans save tremendously on water, energy and money on their utility bills.&dquo;

Lowe&squo;s, one of the largest home improvement retailers in North America, trained more than 215,000 employees to promote WaterSense to customers at 1,650 stores and has demonstrated that increasing the percentage of WaterSense labeled products they sell is a top priority.

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The board of directors of Mission Hospital has voted to develop a regional cancer center to bring together all Mission outpatient cancer services into one location. Board chairman George Renfro says the building will be designed to provide a healing environment with convenient access for patients.&bsp; It will be located adjacent to the current Memorial campus.

The 120,000 square foot facility would house outpatient services including radiation oncology, cyberknife radiosurgery, the Kay Finger Breast Program, The Zeis Children&squo;s Cancer Center, infusion services, the&bsp; survivorship program and multi-disciplinary clinics providing people with particular types of cancer with a coordinated treatment plan, education, and psycho-social support services.

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Pardee Hospital&squo;s case management department will host a vendor fair on Thursday, Oct. 15 from 1:30 until 3:30 p.m. to give community members and hospital staff the opportunity to learn more about health care services provided by local organizations.&bsp; The fair will be held in the hallway adjacent to the main lobby, which is accessible through the main entrance on Justice Street. &bsp;

Vendors will include regional home care agencies, long term acute care and skilled nursing facilities, medical equipment companies and related services and agencies. The event is free and open to hospital staff and the community. Parking is available in the hospital&squo;s parking deck.&bsp; Contact Pattie Moore or Shannon Geyer at (828) 698-7965 for more information.