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Touching Tributes
Twenty-one years ago,
November 10 fell on a Thursday.
We have a vivid memory of that
evening. As we presided at the
Statesville Civitan Club’s weekly
■’ meeting, a friend passed a note. It
read:
“Congratulations! It’s a boy.”
We had two darling young
. daughters, and the birth of Luther
Franklin Amburn, 111, brought
extra joy into our life. Since
Luke’s tragic death in a fire of the
Amburn home on July 13, there
■1- has been an outpouring of ex
pressions of love from the
Albemarle Area and a host of
friends who aren’t fortunate
enough to meander along the
Public Parade.
_ In the past couple of weeks we
have received two touching
tributes from Luke’s friends.
Fraser Jones, the son of Dick and
* Ann Harless Jones, authored an
essay. Paul Britton composed a
poem.
The following pieces have
particular meaning for our family
but can be applied generally; so
we pass them along as they were
received.
Last summer I received a call
> from an Edenton funeral home
i informing me of the death of Luke
, Amburn. I was informed that
•f Luke, my friend and near life -
long companion of 16 years, had
died tragically in a fire that
destroyed his family’s home.
My mind reeled in utter disbelief
and horror - I was to be a
j pallbearer. 1 was shocked and
_ 'devastated beyond all com
prehension, as was my family, and
all concerned.
Edenton has always been a
special place for me as my ties
with the community are strong.
Edenton is my mother’s home, my
grandparent’s home, and the
home of my first cousins and aunt
and uncle. My great-grandparents
are buried in Edenton. My father
r first met my mother in Edenton.
Shortly after their marriage he
T Was stationed overseas in the
military, and it was then that
Edenton became my home.
My first memories as a child in
Edenton centered around Luke
Amburn. We are contemporaries
from the start, having been born
only eight days apart in the month
of November, 1960. We were pre
school buddies and kindergarten
pals. In those early years we
would spend our afterndons
climbing the huge magnolia tree
in my grandparent’s backyard.
Friendly neighbors often would
present us with candy. We caught
bees and lightening bugs in jars
and watched “Dark Shadows” and
“Superman” on TV. From the
sidewalk we would sell cups of
lemonade to passersby. I
remember participating in a small
carnival Luke and his family held
in their small backyard
playhouse. Those are but a few of
•- the early childhood memories
Luke and I shared.
We were as happy and content
as any five-year-olds. Every
person that has had a decent
upbringing holds their childhood
years in a special light. Luke and I
shared such a childhood - the
Continued On Page 4
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_ RECEIVE AWARDS AT BANQUET - Cpl. McCoy Parker of
I "the Edenton Police Dept, received the Officer of Year award at
k the Law Enforcement Banquet on Oct. 22. Also, Deputy Sheriff
w Linda Terry of the Chowan County Sheriff’s Dept, received the
I .Edenton * Chowan Optimist Award from the Optimist Club.
I A good time was had by all. *
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Vol. XLVI - No. 46
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HERE COME THE CIRCUS, BOSS! The Chowan - Edenton
Optimist Club will sponsor “The International All - Star
Circus” beginning Nov. 9. Mike McArthur, left president of the
Optimist Club, and Blake Harmon, the coordinator for the
circus, invite you to come experience the thrill of a lifetime.
House Is Stalled
On Redistricting
Members of the State House of
Representatives made another
stab at coming up with an ac
ceptable redistricting plan last
week and the Senate merely spent
two days doing nothing but
passing the measure sent from
across the hall.
It took quite a fight but the First
House District remained in tact.
Rep. Charles Evans of Nags Head,
.. a._ member of the. ..House,
Redistricting Committee, was
successful in keeping Tyrrell
County in the First District on the
floor after the committee had
moved the state’s smallest county
in population into another district
in an attempt to reach a certain
percentage.
Sen. Melvin R. Daniels, Jr., of
Pasquotank County, and Sen. J. J.
(Monk) Harrington of Bertie
County remain in the two-member
First Senate District. Sen. Daniels
earlier sought to get the 14-county
district separated into two
districts with one senator in each.
Sen. Harrington opposed the
measure.
Although there is an outside
chance that neither the Senate or
House plans can survive a court
test the Senate voted not to modify
the earlier exacted districting law.
The Thursday and Friday
meeting last week was the third
session for the General Assembly
in 1981, something never recorded
before in North Carolina history.
The regular session was recessed
until early October in order to gain
more accurate information about
federal budget figures. Then when
the House redistricting plan
challenged in court the third
session was assembled.
Town Gets $474,000 Refund Check From Vepco
Virginia Electric & Power Company has distributed interim refunds
totaling $13.7-million to eight wholesale municipal customers in Virginia
and 13 in North Carolina.
Clayton Gentery, Vepco official in Elizabeth City, turned over to the
Town of Edenton a check totaling $474,000.
Operation Overcharge, a group with representatives from Tar Heel
chambers of commerce in the Vepco service area, considered the
refunds as a victory for their cause. Stan Hege of Arrowhead, a member
of the executive committee of Operation Overcharge, was delighted with
the news. “This shows how effective a lay group can be and we are ex
tremely pleased to see this refund by Vepco,” he said.
The 12 wholesale municipal customers in North Carolina other than
Edenton receivingxefunds are the towns of Belhaven ($114,000), Enfield
($149,000), Hamilton ($20,000), Hertford ($119,000), Hobgood ($23,000),
Robersonville ($137,000), Scotland Neck ($183,000) and Windsor
($209,000) and the cities of Elizabeth City ($1,279,000), Greenville
($4,722,000), Tarboro ($1,364,000), and Washington ($1,545,000).
The interim refunds are the result of decisions on a rate increase
request filed with the federal energy regulatory commission (FERC)
more than three years ago. Vepco had originally filed the request with
FERC on July 31, 1978, seeking an annual rate increase totaling $10.7-
Harrell Defends Financial Status Os Chowan Hospital
The Chowan County Board of
Commissioners met on Nov. 2 in a
regular session.
Jesse Harrell took the op
portunity at this time to respond to
and rebutt the editorial in an
earlier edition of the Chowan
Herald, in which statements were
made about the financial health of
the Chowan Hospital statement
he said are untrue.
“The hospital is in the best
financial shape ever. The hospital
is not intended to be a money
making operation, but we have
been able to pay our own way
and update our equipment with
out any subsidiary from the tax
payer,” said Harrell.
In furthr business, Johnny
Townwide Sale
Begins Today
A townwide Harvest Festival of
Values sale is being conducted in
Edenton today (Thursday)
through Saturday. The event is
designed to attract customers
from throughout the Albemarle
Area through competitive prices,
courteous sales personnel and
adequate parking.
The Chowan Herald, in
cooperation with the merchants
Committee of Edenton-Chowan
Chamber of Commerce, has
printed more than 14,500 copies of
a tabloid sales edition.
Participating merchants in
clude:
Carpet & Appliance Plaza,
Rose’s, Edenton Furniture
Company, Belk-Tyler, Winn-
Dixie, Western Gas Service,
Parker-Evans Hardware' Com
pany, Davis Jewelers, The Betty
Shoppe, Cuthrell’s, Quinn Fur
niture, Montgomery Ward, Jay’s
Clothing, BB Furnitfcre Outlet,
Inc., Jackson’s Radio and TV
Service, A&P, Courtney’s. Ben
Riddick Jewlers, Elliott Company,
Macks and Byrum Hardware Co.
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, November 5, 1981
Fenner, Griffin Are Elected
The voting is finished! Edenton
will still have Roy Harrell, who
was unopposed, as its Mayor, and
Willis Privott, also unopposed, as
Councilman Fourth Ward, but
there will be new faces in the
Councilman-at-Large and
Councilman Third Ward positions.
Dr. James Fenner, pastor at
Providence Baptist Church,
defeated incumbent Gil Burroughs
for the position of Councilman-at
large. Fenner carried the East
Edenton voting convincingly, with
368 votes as opposed to 198 for
Burroughs. Burroughs, however,
carried the West Edenton voting,
with 316 votes as compared to
Fenner’s 263. Burroughs had three
absentee votes while Fenner had
two. But the final results showed
Fenner with a convincing lead, 633
votes to Burroughs 517.
The results in the Third Ward
were a little closer, but Erwin
Griffin’s 181 votes were enough to
defeat incumbent James P. Ricks,
who received 115. This is the first
time for Griffin, a retired federal
employee, in the political field.
Bryan was appointed to the Health
Systems Agency Board, replacing
David Henson.
County Manager Cliff Copeland
updated the Commissioners on
what had been done about the
status of the county bridges. A
letter was written to the
Congressional Delegation
requesting their assistance, but
the Commissioners are not too
optimistic about any Federal
money being available.
Marc Basnight, the DOT
representative, has been working
with the Commissioners, so when
the weight limits on the river
bridge were lowered, they went to
Basnight in reference to getting
the necessary work done on the
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HERTFORD RESIDENT INJURED IN ACCIDENT—Rhonda Kotell, 19, of Hertford was injured
ina single car accident between 3:20 A. M. and 4A.M. on November 1. Travelling north on U. S. 17,
according to investigating patrolman J. A. Siles, she lost control at the 5-mile Y due to the slick road
and skidded into a ditchbank. Becoming airborne, the late-model Maverick wrapped around
a telephone pole. She was treated at the Chowan Hospital for a fractured leg and transferred to
the Albemarle Hospital.
There was a tie in the East
Edenton voting, with both Griffin
and Ricks receiving 54 votes.
Griffin carried West Edenton,
however, with 127 votes. Ricks
received 59, and also received two
absentee votes.
Roy Harrell, unopposed for
Mayor, received 795 votes, while
Willis Privott, unopposed for
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Dr. James Fenner
million tor the 21 municipal customers. FERC allowed Vepco to in
plement the rate increase subject to refund on September 30, 1978. An
interim settlement in May, 1979 with the municipal customers reduced
the annual increase to $8.5-million.
On April 10 of this year, FERC issued a ruling which required Vepco to
file revised rate schedules. The Company filed the rate schedules under
protest because it had petitioned for rehearing of certain issues in
FERC’s April 10th ruling. The annual increase resulting from the
revised rates was about $4.6-million.
FERC granted Vepco’s rehearing request on June 8 of this year. If the
petition for rehearing should result in lower rates for the municipalities,
Vepco would make appropriate additional refunds with interest.
However, if FERC should increase rates based on the rehearing petition,
the municipalities would return the excess refund with interest to Vepco.
The $13.7-million interim refund includes $2.7-million in interest.
Vepco’s 13 municipal customers in North Carolina will receive $10.3-
million <s2-million in interest.)
The refund is based on the wholesale customer’s electrical usage from
September 30, 1978, through August 31, 1981.
FERC granted permission to make the refunds on October 21 pending
the outcome of Vepco’s rehearing petition.
bridge so that the weight limits
can be raised again. The lowered
weight limit has caused difficulty
for heavy duty equipment in cross
ing the bride. The limit is sup
posed to be raised again this
Continued On Page 4
Theft Reported
At approximately 8:44 P.M. on
Nov. 2, Roger Leeper of 102 W.
Peterson Street, called the
Edenton Police Department and
notified them that someone had
taken some jewelry and clothes
from his home. Apparently the
front door was unlocked, and the
subject had entered through it
while no one was home.
Continued On Page 4
Single Copies 20 Cents
Councilman Fourth Ward,
received 165.
In the East, Emmett Wiggins
received two write-in votes and
Wallace Evans one, while in the
West, Dr. Hornthal received two.
Os the 2,542 voters registered in
Chowan County as of May, 47 per
cent of them turned out for the
election.
—BifeA >.*. 9
Erwin Griffin
Edenton Shut Out
By Tarboro, 12-0
The Edenton Aces were shut out
for the second week in a row, this
time 12-0 by Tarboro. The Aces
will complete their season at home
next week against Williamston.
Edenton's best scoring op
portunity came in the second
quarter, following a 55-yard pass
reception by Thomas White that
put them at the Tarboro five.
But the Tarboro line held and a
field goal attempt by the Aces
was wide.
The game, a defensive battle all
the way, remained scoreless until
the third quarter. Tarboro in
tercepted an Edenton pass, and
three plays later scored from the
Continued On Page 4
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