When death, as it must to all
men, came to Mark Stevenson, it
ended abruptly a life well lived. A
life filled with laughter, cheerful
salutations, an|l countless little
deeds of kindness.
Even those who knew him best
were startled to learn that he was
nearly 70 when he died. Mark was
ageless. Ageless as a babbling
brook that ripples pleasantly, year
in and year out. Ageless as Santa
Claus, the glory of a starlit night,
green-up time in early spring—
ageless as the tedious devotion of
a mother robin building her nest.
How old was Mark Stevenson?
He wasn’t old at all. Father Time
staked a claim ,for all that was
mortal, biit this man’s inner spirit
never‘changed. To his dying day
he was a little boy at heart. Maybe
that’s why everyone called him
Mark. Not Mr. Stevenson, mind you,
but Mark Stevenson.
Successful in business, yes, but
successful more in the business of
, living. The fact that this congenial,
wisecracking New Bernian acquir
ed a goodly share of the world’s
material things is relatively unim
portant.
There was wealth in this old
world before he lived. There’s still
wealth here, years after his depar
ture. And, if he had never been
born, the wealth would have been
here.
What is important is the fact
that Mark smiled when he might
have frowned, laughed when he
might have wept, and paused to
chat with others when he might
have... hucriad—aH.—mhoeo fKiHi
The NEW BERN
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OF
EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA
5^ Per Copy
VOLUME I
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1958
had
weren’t listed in his will. Mark
already given them away, to friends
and strangers, the rich and the
poor, the high and the low.
Many a New Bernian has his
own special reason for remember
ing Mark Stevenson. ^"or instance,
the editor’s wife recalls a day on
Middle street when the stroller she
was rolling our infant daughter—
now a high school senior—in, sud
denly fell apart, just like that.
Mark happened along at the
moment, and took command of the
TOPS IN THEIR CLASS—Pictured here are the
superlatives chosen by New Bern High School's
Seniors. First row, left to right, we find Mary
Ann Barger, most studious; Jim McKinnon, best
personality; Robert Osgood, most studious; Annette
Smith, most talented; John Tuck Jones, most de-'
pendable. Second row, Virginia Barfield, wittiest;
Ann Hodge, most athletic; Jo Carole McDaniel,
most versatile; Anna Cartner, neatest; Mary
Frances Ramsey, best looking; Dickie Quick, best
looking; Jimmy Hicks, most talented. Thfrd row.
Tommy Hughes, most likely to succeed; Miriam
Duncan, most likely to succeed; Charlotte Kennel,
best personality; Jay Allen, neatest; Roger Toler,
most dependable; Charles Davis, most versatile;
Bobby Nelson, wittiest. Superlatives not in photo
are Velma Williams, most dependable and Jean
Earl Worthington, most athletic.—Photo by John
R. Baxter, Jr.
New Bern High School Senior
A dozen years of hard work and
pleasant extra-curricular activity
have dwindled down to a matter of
days now, as New Bern High
school’s Senior class of 1958 read
ies itself for the traditional caps
and gowns.
Sunday night brings, the annual
Baccalaurate sermon, delivered in
the spacious but crowded High
School Auditorium by Dr. William
situation. He gathered up the strol-Cartwright of Duke University.
ler, carried it into a nearby 5 and
10, and proceeded to repair it at
a very convenient hardware coun
ter.
Jo Carole, none the worse for
her experience, was placed back
in the stroller and her mother
continued her window shopping
with the usual empty purse.
As for the editor, he remembers
Mark’s calm, unbelievable courage
at Kafer Park one night. Mark had_
a bad heart and he knew it. Yet,
when another fan was stricken
with a fatal heart attack while sit
ting directly in front of him, Mark
kept his head. In fact, he reached
inside one of his own pockets while
two doctors worked over the vic
tim, and. brought forth a 'heart
stimulant that had been prescribed
for his own, serious ailment.
He handed it to the doctors as
calmly as one friend offers a
cigarette to another. It took cour
age and presence of mind to do a
thing like that, and Mark had both
in abundance.
“Buddy”, the little Negro crip
ple who stumbled uncertainly on
New Bern’s main thoroughfares,
missed Mark too. Every afternoon
he’d take up his vigil near the
doorway of Williams Cafe, waiting
for Stevenson and the late Dr.
Harvey Wadsworth to come by for
their inevitable cup of coffee.
They always stopped for a chat
with “Buddy” and when they left
him with a cheery goodbye, there
were bright coins glistening in the
palm of his small black hand.
Like all men, he had his faults,
no doubt. But, a man of recognized
social position, he detested snob
bishness and so-called codfish aris
tocracy. Maybe his folks came over
on the Mayflower, but Mark would
(Continued on Page 2)
Following an organ prelude and
the Processional, the Rev. Glenn
L. Barger, pastor of St. Andrews
Lutheran Church, will ask the in
vocation. The hymn, “God of Our
Fathers”, will be sung by the con
gregation, and the High School a
capella choir will present an
anthem “I’ll Walk With God.”
Rev. Charles E. Williams, rector
of Christ Episcopal Church, is to
read the scripture, and immediate
ly prior to the sermon the congre
gation will sing “Oh Master Let Me
Walk With Thee.”
Following the sermon, the Rev.
Williams will give the benediction
and the Recessional will conclude
the service.
Wednesday night’s Commence
ment exercises at the Auditorium
will ring down the curtain on one
of the' most successful years in
local scholastic history. Playing a
major part in that success has been
a Senior class that, measured by
any standard, must be regarded as
exceptional.
Included in the graduating class
are:
Sylvia Faye Adams, Stella Eliza
beth Allen, Sue Mallard Allen,
Anne Pace Arsmtrong, Virginia
Lee Barfield, Mary Ann Barger,
Betsy Ann Belangia, Hazel Marie
Belangia, Mary Diane Berry,
Gladys Sessoms Blanford, Edythe
Lois Bodenheimer, Eleanor Diane
Brinson, Minnie Elaine Brinson,
Lois Faye Buckner, Ellen Jordan
Bunch, Gladys Olivia Burnham.
Anna Lee Cartner, Anne Eliza
beth Chagaris, Rosa Jean Chance,
Judith Ganelle Coburn, Margaret
Louise Davis, Nancy Jane DeBruhl,
Miriam Elizabeth Duncan, Alice
Faye Dunn, Ruby Mae Eborn,
Leona Marie Eborn, Elizabeth Reid
Ferebee, Cynthia Lee Freeman,
Mildred Durlene French, Raylene
Gabel, Glenda Fay Games.
Kay Collier Davis, Marie Gillen,
Martha Mayo Gillikin, Sonja God
win, Ramona Griffin, Shirley Eliza
beth Hall, Phyllis Marie Hansen,
Sarah Elizabeth Hansen, Laura
Hardison, Kay Heath, Ann Hodge,
Jean Carolyn Hudson, Phyllis
Hughes, Alice Catherine Ipock,
Lorraine Jackson, Alice Franklin
Johnson, Charlotte Ella Kennel,
Linda Ann Komegay, Ann Carolyn
Lane, Betty Lou Laughinghouse,
Mollie Davis McCotter.
Jo C^ple McDaniel, Janice Ina
Messfep, Marilyn Ann Mills, Edith
Virginia Moore, Linda Patricia
Morton, Nancy Burke O’Neal, Ethel
Loretta Owens, Betty Jean Pake,
George Elizabeth Parrott, Carolyn
(Continued on back page)
INTERESTING VISITOR—Rachel Shore, left, who recently attended
the North Carolina Jewish Conventions in New Bern, has just moved
to this country from her native Israeli. She is living with her sister,
Mrs. Zhavia Freedman, in Wilmington, seen with her in this Mirror
photo. We were surprised to learn from Rachel that the Holy Land's
teenagers have gone wild over Rock and Roll and indulge in juke
box sessions like our own. In fact, she says American movies have
familiarized Israelians with our way of life, and many of our customs
and habits have been adopted there.—Photo by John R. Baxter.
NUMBER 8
Friendliness
Pays Off for
Capt. Daniel
Captain Louis Daniel, Jr., a doc
tor attached to the 1605th U. S.
Air Force hospital in the Azores,
is just about as friendly as his
Mom and Pop.
To show you how folks every
where react to such friendliness,
the Daniels have received two
long distance calls in recent months
from other servicemen who had
returned to the States.
One of the callers, a Major O’
Neal in Orlando, Fla., said he met
young Louis while he was a patient
in the Azores. ^
The other call came from Cap
tain Will Kennedy in Augusta,
Ga. Unlike Major O’Neal, he was
a fellow doctor, but was also im
pressed by the Daniels’ son. He too
chatted at length.
Although the major and the cap
tain have met only one Daniel face
to face, they could discover on
closer actjuaintance that the whole
family, including most especially
Page and Temple, is friendly.
Louis and the Missus believe in
just being yourself, without false
pride, phoney dignity, or any hesi
tancy about talking to anybody or
anything that will talk back.' Their
three children are that way too.
This desire to talk as long as
anyone will talk back got Louis
Senior in trouble as a small boy.
Hearing his own voice echo for the
first time, while strolling in the
sound as
Wnen rescuers iouna him, hburs
later, he was lying on the ground,
too weak to move, but he was stUl
hollering back.
Music Hath
Charms, to
Soothe the...
One of the better stories around
town this week concerns a disc,
jockey at one of the local radio
stations.
It seems the platter twirler in
question opened up the station as
usual, and started blaring out the
sort of music that is supposed to
make folks rise and shine in unison
with the early morning sun.
At the conclusion of a particular
ly noisy record, the disc continued
turning, broadcasting scratchy noth
ingness to the comparatively few
listeners who were up and about.
For a fuU forty minutes, accord
ing to the story, the scratchy lull
in music continued. Finally a cop
cruised out to the station to see if
the announcer had been murdered
or something.
There, undisturbed by a madly
ringing telephone and the monot
onous scratching of the record, he
found the disc jockey sweetly
slumbering.
Craven County Is
Among the Largest
Craven county, witTi its land
area of 725 square miles, ranks 14th
among the counties in the State.
Sampson, with 963 square miles,
heads the list, followed by Robe
son with 944, Columbus with 939,
Bladen with 879, Brunswick with
873, Wake with 866, Pender with
857, Beaufort with 831, Duplin with
822, Randolph with 801, Johnston
with 795, Wilkes with 765 and Ons
low with 756.
Among our neighboring counties,
other than eighth ranked Beaufort
and tenth ranked Onslow, Pitt ha;s
656 square miles, Carteret 532,
Lenoir 391, and Pamlico 341.