PAGE 2 — WEST CRAVEN HIQHUGHTS - FEBRUARY 2, 1989
Eastern
Echoes
By
Gail Roberson
Most of us have had to take an extra job or two just to make
the payments on the credit cards that Santa recently exercised
control over. Debts are like children ... begot with pleasure
but brought forth with pain. It’s mighty easy to flash that card
around, but when the payments come rolling in, that’s another
story entirely.
Debt is a four letter word. It is the worse poverty. Though we
cannot escape debt entirely, we can certainly help ourselves
along a bit by using common sense when we use credit. Maybe
we try a bit too hard to keep up with our neighbors. Thoreau
once said ... “They take their pride in making their dinner
cost much; I take my pride in making my dinner cost little."
There Is no doubt that all of us are much happier to see those
whom we have obliged than those who have obliged us. Some
folks owe so much that they never leave the yard in fear of
seeing their benefactor.
Friends will stand by each other through thick and thin ...
but not necessarily through debt. Mark Twain believed that
"the holy passion of ftiendship is of so sweet and steady and
loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a lifetime
... if not asked to lend money.” Far too often, it is not the
interest of some folks to pay the principal, nor is it their princi
ple to pay the interest. Many a friendship has been broken by
the flragile touch of a dollar bill.
Those of you who are buying everything now on credit may
soon find yourselves selling everything later in debt. Even
Benjamin Franklin once remarked that he’d rather go to bed
supperless than to rise to debt. I feel the same way. My little
studio, though now under construction, is moving rather
slowly. I’ve allowed myself three years in which to complete a
20x27 structure. But I'm paying for it as I go, and I wouldn’t
consider it any other way.
It's not easy to live within our means. It takes everything we
can make these days just to survive. You get to the end of a
year and count your wages, only to wonder what in the world
became of it all. And then you still have Uncle Sam waiting,
with his hand outstretched. Some borrow on credit to pay
their income tax. It makes a mighty sad beginning for a new
year.
Here in the agricultural areas of our state, our farmers know
that a mortgage casts a shadow on the sunniest field. Henry
Beecher realized this and put it so well when he said, “Interest
works night and day, in fair weather and in foul. It gnaws at a
man’s substance with invisible teeth.” Every farmer in the
land goes to bed each night with those words tucked some
where down deep in his soul, and a bit of fear tugging at his
heart.
It has always been interesting to me how a person who can’t
pay gets another person who can't pay to guarantee that he can
pay. And then get the money. Somebody once remarked that,
“If a feller screwed up his face when he asked fer credit like he
does when he's asked t’ settle, he wouldn't git it.” And that’s
something else to think about.
Perhaps it's time we realized how easily we can be made a
begger by banqueting upon borrowing. Individually, each of
us knows how deep we’re in. Even our own country, as great
and wealthy as it is, is on its knees from the debt of borrowing.
The high cost of living isn’t so bad... if you don’t have to pay
for it. But for most of us, paying for debt is something we never
overcome.
Genealogist Bedford
To Give Talk Tonight
m
Bellamy (with hat) assists Jones with Eagle varsity
Former Eagk Eyes NBA Team
Noted author and genealogist
Dorothy Spruill Bedford will
speak tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the
Washington Civic Center.
Mrs. Redford is the author of
Somerset Homecoming and
organizer of the 1986 homecom
ing at historic Somerset Place,
which was the culmination of an
"incredible journey” into her
own history and America's.
Inspired by Alex Haley’s 1977
drama Roots, she began a de-
cade-long search for her past by
pouring over census records and
property books and seeking rela
tives in quiet country towns.
Eventually, she found a bill of
sale tracing her great-great-great-
grandmother to Somerset Place
Plantation in Creswell.
With this discovery, Mrs. Red-
ford traced her family tree to
more than 300 slaves bearing 21
different surnames, who once
worked one of North Carolina's
largest plantations owned by
Josiah Collins.
On August 30, 1986, Mrs. Red-
ford arranged a homecoming for
over two thousand Americans at
the restored 19th century planta
tion, Somerset Place. 'The men
and women attending the
celebration shared a common
heritage. They were descendants
of all the slaves, overseers and
owners who had lived, worked
and died at Somerset.
In the January issue of Soufh-
em Living Magazine, Mrs. Red-
ford stated,...“that first home
coming was a healing. It was the
descendants of slaves, of owners,
of overseers coming together,
acknowledging a common past,
talking about it, putting it behind
us and moving forward.”
After the success of the home
coming, Mrs. Redford wrote her
book and also became the prog
ram oflicer for Somerset Place
State Historic Site. There she
spearheads a program to restore
the plantation as the nation's first
to factually depict the lives of
both its former slave and non
slave populations.
The public is invited to hear
Mrs. Refold and to meet her im
mediately following her lecture
at a reception hosted by Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority.
Mrs. Bedford's appearance is
co-sponsored by Beaufort Coun
ty Community College and the
Beaufort County Arts Council.
By MIKE VOSS
Editor
Ronnie Bellamy is looking for
a little “Magic,” perhaps, in his
future. Magic as in the Orlando
Magic, one of two new NBA
teams that will take to the court
this fall.
Bellamy, who once used his ta-
lents for West Craven High
School, Chowan Junior College
and the University of North
Carolina at Charlotte, wants a
shot at making the NBA. “I
might not even get a tryout, but
I'm going to give it my best shot,”
he said Saturday night.
After finishing up at UNC-C
this December, Bellamy re
turned home to Vanceboro. He
plans to work out, play as much
basketball as he can and help
West Craven coach Lorenzo
Jones with the Eagle varsity. Bel
lamy can now be found sitting on
the bench — as a coach — and
providing help from there in
stead of on the floor.
Bellamy's playing credentials
speak for themselves. At the high
school, junior college and college
levels he made a name for him
self and earned recognition. And
being related to former NBA
standout Walt Bellamy adds to
Ronnie Bellamy’s legacy.
“I think I can make it in the
NBA. All I want is a chance to
show them what I can do,” he
said. While in Charlotte, he play
ed in the league many current
Charlotte Hornets’ players were
involved in before the current
NBA season started. He was the
roommate of the Hornets' Bryan
Rowsom, who played at Col
umbia High School and UNC-
Wilmington.
AMERICAN
CANCER
There Is Only One
Give Wisely
Through Your Local Unit
Letter To The Editor
To the editort
I am writing to ask your help in
supporting our most important
ftind-raising event of the year,
the seventh annual Bowl for
Kids’ Sake.
Bowl for Kids' Sake is fun.
There is no cost to you. The game
is ftee and your shoes are pro
vided ftee.
Bowl for Kids' Sake is a bowl-
a-thon. Each participant gets
pledges for the game they bowl.
The event takes only an hour of
your time and the benefits to our
organization are tremendous!
Besides, we guarantee that you
will have a great time.
You can help by finding three
other people to form a team to
bowl. The kickoff takes place at
midnight on Friday, February 24,
and on Saturday, February 25,
we will bowl from 9 a.m. until 5
p.m. Each member of your team
will receive individual pledge
sheets. Perhaps you can get one
or more teams from your neigh
borhood, where you work or
from relatives.
(For registration forms or more
information, call the Big
Brothers/Big Sisters of the Low
er Neuse at 637-2460.)
Cleo C. Ilennon
Executive llireclfir
Beverly Mong
Chairman
Boul fur Khiv' Sake
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of the first U.S. presidential inaugu
ration. George Washington, the na
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April .10. 1789, at lederal Hall in
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lOHElPMUUB
VOURIUSS
USSWaNG.
Call the IRS
and we’ll direct you
to the volunteers
nearest you.
Do yourself a favor. File your
taxes now and file accurately. If you
need help understanding the recent
changes in the tax laws or just need
help, there are trained volunteers
who can help. Call or visit your local
IRS office today. And make your
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'f/
Bellamy said he worked out
with the Hornets prior to the sea
son and they suggested he work
on his defense. “I think I can im
prove on that because what they
look for is about 20 seconds of
hard defense in the NBA. About
10 seconds while the ball is
brought up the court and about
10 seconds before the shot is
made,” said Bellamy. The NBA
operates with a 24-second shot
clock.
"I’m going to tpr and get a try
out with the Magic. And if I don’t
make it with them or some other
NBA team, I wouldn't mind play
ing in Europe or the Continental
BasketbaU Association. If I can
get on one of those teams and get
paid to play basketball, that will
be good. I can invest what I’m
paid and use it for the future,”
said the criminal jusUce major.
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