Employee of the year and the special achievement awards are chosen by the county manager and deputy county manager from nominations made by county staff.  

The department head of the year award is chosen by the county manager and deputy county manager.  

The winners and the narratives are as follows

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Sheriff Wes Tripp — Department head of the year

This year’s department head of the year is extremely active internally in the county and externally in the community.  

Charged with serving and protecting life and property, this work has been evidenced by increased patrols throughout the 700-plus square mile county, often with fewer deputies than he would like to complete a full shift.  

Constantly challenged with a fluid workforce, he has had to be creative in ways to recruit and retain qualified staff.  

Part of that effort has included being a champion for not only departmental salaries, but salaries county-wide.  

He has been heavily involved with educating the public and himself on the opioid crisis, human trafficking, and ways to stay safe including providing security checks for both homes and businesses.   

Externally, this department head has been involved in so many different causes and projects, especially those that benefit our children that there’s no way to do them all justice except to list a few: Junior Deputy Summer Camp, the Seafood Festival, Touch a Truck, National Night Out, and most recently a 48-hour Deputy Toy Drive.  

His staff is dedicated to helping make these events successful and he is the biggest cheerleader  for these events.  All you have to do is follow him on Facebook where he has 5,000 friends that follow the work of his department and his support for all areas of the county.  

He is a local celebrity from Hobgood to Hollister.  

Denise Norman, Halifax County Public Health — Employee of the year

This year’s employee of the year was nominated by two separate departments.

This employee has that valuable ability to fill in and perform other duties when needed, in addition to effectively performing her own.  

She is able to work with other departments on projects and is comfortable interacting with anyone.  

This employee is an excellent communicator.  

She has a knack for communicating according to her target audience, which can vary from internal employees to external agencies.  

If there is any type of departmental or county-wide event, this employee is involved.  

She coordinates wellness activities to include walking challenges, Biggest Loser competitions, external fitness classes and employee appreciation events, including the one we are all enjoying today.  

She has a passion for helping others achieve their own goals, including motivating county employees to lose more than 400 pounds this year with her help and guidance.

She is the employee to thank for providing door prizes and healthy snacks at events and is generally known as the agency’s cheerleader.  

This employee is a true motivator and the enthusiasm she shares is contagious.  

Kim Wheeler, Operations — Special achievement award

This year’s special achievement award winner was nominated by every employee of the department.  

Over the 30 years this employee has been with Halifax County, she has become a pillar of her department and of this county.  

This employee has shown her willingness to take on anything that was asked and has been extremely flexible with her time and effort.  

This employee represents the department with United Way, blood drives and serves on the County’s Disaster Assessment Team.  

Finally, she adopted and takes care of our very own mascot, Mango the cat.  

She personally carried him to the vet for his shots, had him fixed and paid for it all herself.  We’re pretty sure she will miss him more than she will us.  

Now, with that said, she has been adamant about not having a retirement party and while we can honor that request, we want to recognize her for all her hard work.