PAGE 2 — WEST CRAVEN HIGHLIGHTS — MARCH 16. 1989
V.
AIL
INDS
by; Call L. Roberson 
Tulip Festival April 6-9
A performance by members of
the Grand Ole Opry and a band
competition will highlight the
1989Tulip Festival scheduled for
April 6-9.
The festival is
sponsored by
the Downtown
Washington
Association and
the Beaufort
County Arts
Council.
From April 5
through 9 a vari
ety of events
will be held
along Washing
ton’s waterfront
celebrating the county’s Dutch
heritage, according to Betty
Robertson, festival chairman.
Mrs. Robertson said this year’s
festival will be dedicated to Mrs.
Virginia Gerard, L.B. “Togo”
Wynn and Olive Rumley.
The Elizabeth II. a replica of
the ship that brought the first En
glish colonists to the new world,
will arrive for the festival on
Wednesday, April 5.
Thursday's schedule will begin
with all-day, free tours of the
ship.
A Tulip Museum featuring
memorabilia from previous
Tulip Festivals will open at the
Washington Civic Center begin
ning Thursday, Mrs. Robertson
said.
Thursday’s events will end
with three pageants that are part
of this year’s festival. Mrs.
Robertson said.
A Little Miss Tulip Princess
pageant for girls 3 to 7 years old. a
Junior Miss Tulip Queen, for
girls 8 to 12 and Miss Tulip
Queen, for girls 13 to 18 will be
held at the Washington Civic
Center at 7 p.m.
Tours of the Elizabeth II as
well as the Tulip Museum will
continue Friday. April 8. And
food and craft booths will be
open along Stewart Parkway all
day, Mrs. Robertson said.
^iday night will feature two
dances — a Tulip Ball at the
Washington Civic Center and a
Teen Tulip Ball at the National
Guard Armory.
Saturday, April 9, Elizabeth II
tours, the Tulip Museum and
food and craft booths will con
tinue all day.
A parade, featuring bands and
band boosters from across the
state, will begin on Main Street at
9:30 a.m. followed by a statewide
band competition at 11 a.m., Mrs.
Robertson said.
About 60 bands have been in
vited to compete and march in
the parade, she said.
A bicycle race will begin at
10:30 a.m.
A variety of events including
carriage rides, dance recitals and
performances by area choirs and
bands will be held throughout
the day, Mrs. Robertson said.
“A Night at the Opry” featur
ing George Hamilton IV and
other members of Nashville’s
Grand Ole Opry will be held Sun
day, April 9, at 3 p.m. at Washing
ton High School.
Heading this year’s Tulip Fes
tival Committee with Mrs.
Robertson are Judy Meier, Jen
nifer Skvrala and Mike Sloan.
Navy’s Blue Angeb
Planning To Fly
At Cherry Point
The United States Navy Blue
Angels Demonstration Team will
perform at the Marine Corps Air
Station Saturday and Sunday,
April 22-23.
The air show will be part of a
Havelock-Cherry Point festival.
Celebrity Sounds of Freedom
Scheduled events include a
golf tournament Saturday morn
ing. The air show will begin that
afternoon.
A country music concert spon
sored by the Havelock Chamber
of Commerce will be held Satur
day at 8 p.m. at the Havelock
High School Football Stadium.
Our Opinion
Americans Are Too Smart
To Fall For Such Gossip
Governor's Tax Proposal
Has Some Rough Wrinkles
One article I wrote several years ago, on speculation, was
Tinally accepted for publication three years later... on its I7th
submission. As far as I’m concerned, stopping at third base
added no more to my score than striking out. I was determined
I’d make it to home plate, no matter how high the postage bill.
Sometimes, we don’t do what we really want to in life be
cause we fear failure. Fear is the most common and the most
subtle of all human diseases. We’re afraid of the dark, of the
unknown, of old age, of poor health, and of change. We fear the
past, and we fear the future. Not only are we afraid to fail, but
that it appears we’ve failed ... to others. In fact, some people
are so afraid to die that they never begin to live. Quite simply,
we fear failure, so we don’t even try. And, if we do try, and fail,
we give it up altogether and never try again.
If Margaret Mitchell had quit so easily, her great novel,
“Gone With The Wind,” would have died immediately. In
stead, it Anally caught a publisher’s eye... on its 36th submis
sion.
People who are public examples of success usually deserve
every bit of glory they receive. They have earned it the hard
way, through many failures, until they Anally got it right. They
didn’t give up. They lost some and won some. But they didn’t
quit.
If you get down and out about your failures, if the fear of
failing still haunts you, just remember to dig your heels in and
follow such examples as R.H. Macy. Everybody knows about
the Macy stores, but few of his customers realize that R.H.
Macy failed seven times before his Arst store ever caught on in
New York. The great English novelist, John Creasy, got 753
rejection slips before he published 564 books. Babe Ruth
struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs. Don’t
worry about your failures. Worry about the chances you miss
when you don’t even try.
There was a little boy who won a beautiful trophy for swim
ming. When he came home with his gleaming statuette, his
mother looked at it with envious eyes. “I never won a trophy,”
she said to him. "Were you on any teams. Mom?” the boy
asked. “No,” she admitted. “Well, that’s why you didn’t win a
trophy,” her son replied.
It’s nice to win now and then, but the trophies are much
sweeter when we’ve also tasted defeat. Charles Swindoll once
said, “We are all faced with magnificent opportunities, bril
liantly disguised as impossible situations.” I often repeat that
to myself, especially when the odds are stacked against me.
And then I just dive on in anyhow. I have found that if you
want to succeed, do something. If you want to fail, do nothing.
As far as I’m concerned, the only thing worse than a quitter is
somebody who’s afraid to begin.
There will be many who will love to see you fail. They’ll tell
you that success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.
They’ll tell you that. They’ll criticize and make fun, and maybe
even laugh. You just All your chest with good, strong air, set
your eyes on your goal, and ignore the failures. It’s the best
apple trees who have the most clubs thrown at them.
Your point of view will determine it all. When Goliath came
up against the Israelites, the soldiers all thought, “He’s so big
we can never kill him.” But when David took one look at that
same giant, he thought, “He’s so big I can’t miss.”
Somebody once said that because a fellow has failed once or
twice, or a dozen times, you don’t want to set him down as a
failure till he’s dead or loses his courage... and that’s the same
thing.
Nothing ventured ... nothing gained. That’s my belief. So,
look not back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around you in
awareness. And stop fearing failure. So you can Anally suc
ceed.
Do Americans really believe that the defeat of former United
States Senator John Tower as Secretary of Defense was a
non-partisan action?
Certainly, Americans are smarter than politicians give them
credit for being, and when any of us looks at the vote by which
he was defeated, we realize and see immediately just how big a
part politics played in the story.
The Tower defeat was by a vote of 53-47. Of the 53 voting
against Mr. Tower, 52 are Democrats and one Republican,
Senator Nancy Kassenbaum, voted with the Democrats.
Of the 47 senators who voted to conArm the nomination of
Mr. Tower, 44 are Republicans and three are Democrats.
So the party line played a tremendous part, and the vote is a
matter of record now, and when Democrats stand on one side
and Republicans stand on the other side, we see party loyalties
and political ties painting the real story.
The Aght was not really against Mr. Tower, the man. While
some serious charges have been brought against him, and
while thinking Americans surely have doubts about his abili
ties to perform capably in the job for which he was nominated,
the feeling seems to persist that he was turned back on charges
which still remain unproved.
Yet, it seems clear that so many charges of excessive use of
alcohol played a big part. After all the defense secretary is next
to the president when it comes to hands on the nuclear button.
Then he left his Senate seat, was named the chief arms nego
tiator, left that job to become a defense consultant among the
very people with whom he would have to deal as defense
secretary. And the reports indicate that he was paid hundreds
of thousands of dollars as consultant.
The third charge, that of “womanizing” is a vicious one, but
surely it must have impressed a lot of people.
Now we get to the real point. We cannot believe the Demo
cratic senators wanted to hit President George Bush with a
stinging defeat. Yet President Bush did name a second-rater,
Dan Quayle, as his vice presidential running mate, and there
seemed to be many others better qualiAed. In picking his
Texas friend, Mr. Tower, surely the president knew that sever
al charges would be made.
The power man behind the scene is Senator Sam Nunn of
Georgia. Yet, it is hard to believe that Senator Nunn was
playing politics because in the U.S. Congress today, he knows
more than any other elected of Acial about the defense ins and
outs. But we suspect Mr. Nunn will have to pay a price for this
defeat. He is being blamed as the man who called the signal.
As we see it, this defeat came about when Mr. Tower’s per
sonal life became a direct factor, but the real factor narrows
down to a struggle between the legislative and executive bran
ches of government. Democrats wanted to show the president
and the country just' where power lies. Mr. Tower was the
pawn in the game, and his several weaknesses were used to
play this game of politics. The legislative branch won this
battle.
Whether we judge Mr. Tower to be a crucifted victim or not
remains to be seen. He has been hurt, and we cannot minimize
that fact.
But again, all in all, politics played a big part in the political
combat which took place.
Trying to analyze the depth and the effects to be faced in
Governor Jim Martin’s proposal to increase the state sales tax
by one cent is a job too complicated for country newspaper
editors.
First of all, in addition to proposing a one cent increase, the
governor also proposes removal of the state sales tax on foods
and prescription medicines. Now a bit of pandemonium could
reign at a super market if the plan should be accepted as it is
presented.
That would mean that the local sales taxes for counties and
municipalities would still be in effect, thereby meaning a six
percent sales tax on non-foods and a two cent sales tax on
foods and medicines. Such a picture could well mean confu
sion and many uncertainities at the cash registers.
However, let us look at just what the extra money might do.
The governor says the additional one cent in sales tax would
generate a total of $510 million in Ascal year 1989-1990.
It is estimated that if teachers and state employees are given
a six percent raise in salary next year and a A ve percent raise in
the next fiscal year of 1990-1991, the initial money need would
be $307.9 million, thus leaving a sort of surplus there of $182.1
million. Now if the state sales tax should be taken off food and
prescription medicines, we do have a different picture.
What happens to the $181.1 million? Would it be used for
implementation of the teacher career ladder program? Would
it be used to reduce other taxes by a like amount? Would that
amount be reflected some way in the present budget? BYom
what we have received to date, the point is certainly not clear.
But this very issue is politically explosive. Make no mistake
about that fact. The proposed increase in sales tax is regressive
in nature and we realize that. We also realize that the age old
argument that a sales tax means that everybody pays is true to
that extent. ’The real meat of the coconut there is that the
people less able to pay the taxes pay the same share on what
they buy as the wealthy people.
So in a real sense, a sales tax hits those hardest who are least
able to pay. But if the state tax is taken off food and prescrip
tion medicines, that action might well destroy at least part of
the argument.
Now if the state takes the sales tax off food and medicines,
should not the local government do likewise? This argument
is bound to come up, and officials ought to be prepared to
answer it one way or the other.
Republicans may line up behind the governor’s proposal.
Very likely, he will get some Democratic support, but will he
get enough?
We can see Democrats being put on a difficult spot. If they
defeat the governor’s plan without coming up with a better
proposal, they will be charged with neglect on the part of the
teachers and state employees. Votes mean much to politi
cians, and the stew is on the stove, and it might boil at any
minute.
We doubt very much that the governor’s plan will stand as
proposed. But the plan is sure to make some real statesmen
out of Democrats who realize now the absolute necessity of
coming up with a better plan. ■ i ' •
The fat is in the fire. ’ '
I ^
Tabernacle Holiness
Sets Revival Date
Tabernacle Holiness Church of
Vanceboro will hold its revival
services March 19 through March
26.
’The Rev. Williams from Geor
gia will be the featured speaker.
Services begin at 7:30 each
night. Homecoming will be cele
brated March 26. The public is
invited to attend.
A Gift that
remembers... ~ '
» Memorial Gifts help * •
» to ptevent and care for tuns Disease.
AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION
The Ctri»ln\H Sew PeoCe *
Simple, But Ejfective
Carolina Power & Light Co.’s “ice indicator”
uses a kitchen scale enclosed in a metal box with a
four-foot piece of wire mounted on the scale and
extending out each side of the box. As ice
accumulates on the wire, the weight of the ice is
registered on the scale. The device alerts CP&L to
conditions that could damage electrical lines and
cause power outages. CP&L has 33 ice indicators
located at company facilities in its service area.
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Insurance Coverage
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OFFiCE 244-2519
After Hours Call:
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MINOR PLUMBING
Repairs on all makes
Water Pumps & Sink
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“40 Years Experience"
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633-1174
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