State marker celebrates Rosenwald Schools BY REBECCA BUNCH Staff Writer The community’s past and present merged on Sun day afternoon as state and local dignitaries joined with citizens during a ceremony to mark the unveiling of a state marker celebrating the creation of Rosenwald Schools in North Carolina. It was those schools, cre ated by educator Booker T. Washington and business ¬ man Julius Rosenwald of Sears-Roebuck, that pro vided scores of African American children with a good education at a time segregation existed and op portunities for them were few. Chowan County has the distinction of having the first Rosenwald School in the state, built at the site of the Warren Grove Mission ary Baptist Church. Edenton-ChowanSchools Superintendent Rob Jack ¬ son, who acted as emcee for the occasion, called the celebration “an incredible occasion” that paid tribute to the vision and love for children exemplified by the tireless efforts of Washing ton and Rosenwald. “This marker symbol izes one of the things in our community we can be truly proud of,” he said. The marker is located ad jacent to the Southern Bank drive-thru and Burger King and across the road from the Edenton United Methodist Church. The location was chosen by state officials to represent all the Rosenwald Schools in the state. “Of the seven Rosenwald Schools constructed in our community, two are still in existence and used to day,” said Edenton Histori cal Commission President Sally Francis Kehayes, who See ROSENWALD, 3A PHOTO BY :CA BUNCH aduate Norman rinkley, at ght, reads the scription on the jw Rosenwald :hools marker iveiled Sunday ■ternoon during ceremony on irginia Road in County Edenton Motors to close Oct. 27 BY MILES LAYTON Editor Edenton Motors on North Broad Street is closing after a quarter-century of auto sales. Ken Kadet, a spokesman for Element Fleet Manage ment, Edenton Motor’s owner, said the dealership will be closing Oct. 27 “Element Fleet Manage ment is closing Edenton Motors because it was no longer an ideal fit with Element’s focus as a fleet management company, and only after an extensive and extended search to find a qualified buyer. We would like to thank Edenton Mo tors employees and custom ers for their support of the dealership,” Kadet said. Kadet said Edenton Mo tors has marked down prices on all new and used vehicles in an effort to sell as many possible before the dealership closes. Any GM new vehicle warranties will be honored by other GM dealerships, he said. Twenty-seven employees who work at Edenton Mo tors will be affected by the See MOTORS, 7A Jones demands clarity From staff reports WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Walter B. Jones and Senate Judi ciary Committee Chair man Chuck Grassley are calling for full public dis ¬ PHOTO BY MILES LAYTON ' Opening the Peanut Festival’s parade on Saturday through Edenton was the John A. Holmes High School Color Guard. Festival hit parade of crowd favorites BY MILES LAYTON Editor RELATED ^T/Food Pantry $100,000 .—$64,000 The Edenton- Chowan Food Pantry is trying to raise $100K to qualify for a matching $100K grant. They have until Dec. 31 to raise the money So far, the food pantry has raised $64,000. Like us on Facebook at /EDENTON-CHOWANHERALD '89076 44813 ©2009 The Chowan Herald All Rights Reserved 6 0 Saturday’s Peanut Festi val parade was like a disco ball reflecting on different folks as it shined across Chowan County’s social scene marching through out Edenton. The D.F. Walker High School Class of 1967 and John A. Holmes High School Class of 1977 boo gied through town. Maybe the Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” resonates a bit with this group of alumni. Derrick Armstead, Craig Miller and Tray Taylor are seeking the at-large seat on the Edenton Town Council that is being vacated by in cumbent Bob Quinn, who is retiring after many years ■ For more Peanut Festival photos, see page B4. When Edenton Fire I Department’s 1923 R.E.O. | Speedwagon fire truck rolled through, the song “Riding the storm out” by the band with the same name as the truck immedi ately came to mind. Perhaps JAHHS and Chowan Middle School’s marching bands coloured up images of Chicago’s SUBMITTED PHOTO Sarah Spencer rides in her first parade as the Chowan County Fair Queen. “Saturday at the park.” Maybe not disco, but White Oak Elementary Principal Sheila Evans’ cart had a bubble ma ¬ chine much like Lawrence Welk’s champagne music from another time and era. See FESTIVAL, 3A EDITOR’S NOTE of service. Each candidate respond ed to a series of questions from the Chowan Herald. Their answers are printed verbatim.. See the Chowan round- up on page B3 to learn more about these candidates. Absentee voting by mail began Oct. 6 while early voting will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 at the Chowan Board of Elec ¬ tions office for the mu nicipal election that will be held Nov. 7. For more information or questions, contact the Chowan County Board of Elections at 252-482-4010. Armstead seeks ‘free and open dialogue’ Why did you decide to run for town council? Simply put, I love the town of Edenton! I also believe that some residents feel that the town council’s current composition does not adequately “mirror” their point of view. There fore, I feel that the ARMSTEAD younger popula ¬ tion wants a councilman at-large that is representative of their demo- ► EDENTON FARMERS MARKET Miller seeks to make town better place Taylor seeks to serve by helping others Why did you decide to run for Town Council? Why did you decide to run for Town Council? I am running for Town Council to do my part to make Edenton a better place to live, work and play for all of its citizens. As a ser vice driven person, I want to contribute my time and tal ents by promoting and attracting small MILLER business growth, enhance tourism protect Edenton’s natural beauty, and restore and main- I truly love Edenton, I deeply ap ¬ preciate the beauty and charm of this town. I’m seeking office because I eryoy helping oth ers and I believe that the season has come to help develop structure for the youth and TAYLOR community. State law dictates that Town Council does not have the pow- See TAYLOR, 2A See ARMSTEAD, 2A See MILLER, 2A closure of docu ments pertain ing to the assas sination of Presi- d e n t John F. Ken- JONES nedy. Today, Jones and Grassley introduced companion resolutions to accomplish just that. The first, H. Res. 556 in the House and S. Res. 281 in the Senate, calls on the President of the United States to allow the release of all remain ing documents currently held, by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and reject any efforts to postpone their release. The second, H. Res. 557 and S. Res. 282, com mends NARA and its employees for working to release those records by October 26, 2017, the date established by the President John F. Ken nedy Assassination Re cords Collection Act of 1992. “To me, the tragedy that took place in Dallas continues to raise many questions that go unan swered,” Jones said. “Af ter 54 years, there is no reason, for the sake of honesty and integrity in America, that the facts of the JFK assassination should not be made pub- lic. Virgil once said, ‘Evil is nourished and grows See JONES, 4A GHOST WALK THRILLS, CHILLS From staff reports Want to learn more about Edenton’s historic places and some of the ghostly encounters that have taken place there? Come join the spir it guides this Friday and Saturday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. for the Historic Edenton Ghost Walk. Tours take place See GHOST, 3A Shop the market while your children have fun! Pumpkin painting • Bobbing for Apples * Face Painting • Scavenger Hunt Free event • Sam-noon x