PUBLISHED EACH THURSDAY ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. THE CAROLINA INDIAN S©r*ia 1 s £)0tin©nt Unlv. HC-Gha^el iaU A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE "1IsonLibrary 24', Chapel.Ii i i, ..G a y-i j VOLUME 5 NUMBER 32 publicotion No. 97&000 PEMBROKE, NC Dedicated to the best in all of us THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1977 I 154 PER COPY i I Lumbee Bank at Pembroke FIRST INDIAN BANK NOW HAS Paul Green Visits Strike at the Wind! FIRST INDIAN PRESIDENT people and places and things by Gene Warren The Lumbee Bank of Pembroke, which is ihe first Indian Bank in America, now has (he first Indian president of any bank in the United States. He is James A. Hunt, a 32-year-old Lumbee Indian from Rowland who was winner of the Distinguished Service Cross for valor in the Vietnam War and has been employed for the past three years as Management Service Officer for First Union National Bank’s Regional Service Center in Lumberton. Hunt began his duties August 1 and sees Ihis as a ’•challenge and tremendous opportunity. Out Lumbee Bank really has a great deal to offer.” he said, sitting behind his new desk in the beautiful Lumbee Bank downtown Pembroke. A ’74 graduate of PSU with a B.S. in Business Administration. Hunt envisions the Lumbee Bank opening branch banks the surrounding towns of Robeson County in the next five years. "We are now prosperous operation serving mainly the Pembroke community, but we want to expand. I see a tremendous futurefor us." he said. Hunt believes he gained some valuable experience working under Marvin Burgess, vice presient of Lumberton’s First Union National Bank Service Center. "I trained under Mr, Burgess in all phases of banking. He is a real professional, and I owe a lot to him," said Hunt. Burgess praised Hunt "as a very professional person, which is a high compliment in itself. He has the desire, knowledge, initiative and determination to make a good bank president. He was a very successful manager for us during the three years he worked with us, but this was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.-” VFW & LADIES AUXILIARY TO MEET MONDAY NIGHT The Pembroke VFW meeting of Locklear-Lowry Post 2843 and the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW will be held at the Post Home Monday night, August 14, at 7:30 p.m. All comrades and sisters are asked to attend. Supper will be served. Farmers in Robeson County are fortunate to have the Federal Crop Insurance available on com, soybeans, cotton and tobacco, and the many fanners who have contracts will find a protected investment a rewarding thing in a year such as this, with when farmers’ losses are sky high. “KISS YOUR BABY” CAMPAIGN CHAIRPERSONS NAMED PAUl' GREEN, the ramous playwright, who is known as the father of the outdoor drama, came to see Strike at the Wind! lastThursday night. He came Incognito and without fanfare- Lane Hudson, who handles promotion for Strike at the Wind!, among other duties, just happened to spot Green and tipped us off. Mrs. Delton Lowry and Mrs. Woodrow Sampson and the Pembroke Team have been named "Kiss Your Baby" Campaign Chairpersons for the Pembroke area according to George W, Little, State Campaign Chairperson, North Carolina Chapter, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The CF Foundation supports research in children’s lung-damaging diseases such as asthma with lung damage, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, childhood emphysema, and cystic fibrosis, the most serious of all. For further information or any assistance, farmers may contact the local Federal Crop Insurance office located at 400 E. 2nd St., Lumberton, P.O. Box 721, Telephone number 739-3777. ■ COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES AT RTI ON FRIDAY NIGHT Green, who is most famous for THE LOST COLONY, lives in Chapel Hill. Kandv limburger. the playwright for Strike at the Wind!, is a protege of Green s and credits him for most of his success. Green poses, after the showing, with Hope St. Pierre, who plays Rhoda and Melton Lowry, the forceful Henry Berry Lowrie in Strike at the Wind! More than 6,000,000 American children suffer from one or more of these lung damaging diseases of which there are 1.^0,000 in North Carolina alone. Many of these youngsters are treated at the Duke CF Center which is supported by the Foundation. Dr. Craig Allen, President of Robeson Technical Institute, will confer 396 diplomas and degrees at the Commencement Exercises to be held at Lumberton Senior High School on Friday night. A native Robesonian, Sampson Buie, Jr., Community Relations Specialist at NC A & T State University, Greensboro, will deliver the baccalaureate address. Ceremonies begin at 8 p.m. The public is cordially invited to attend the ceremonies. IN THE ARMED FORCES Said Green, “ I enjoyed the show. It’s a good script and the players arc exceptional. One is always waiting for Henry Berry Lowrie. That creates excitement and suspense. That’s good.” Strike at the Wind! ends its second season Saturday night. The signs of lung-damaging diseases are recurrent wheezing, persistent coughing, excessive mucous, pneumonia more than once, excessive appetite but poor weight gain, , and clubbing of the fingertips. In addition to the above, cystic fibrosis signs may also include salty taste of the skin, persistent bulky diarrhea, and nasal polyps. West Point, NY-Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Daniel E. Todd, Jr. of Lumberton recently attended a week-long Liaison Officers Conference at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. NY. GOSPEL SING PLANNED Officers attending the conference participated in several workships, attended academic and admission briefings, toured the Academy facilities and met with cadets. Workshop subjects included admissions procession, communication with today’s youth, and military psychology and leadership. Hunt believes PSU prepared him well for his profession. "Tlie professor 1 enjoyed most was Victor Wolf He is a man of experience, tough but fair, and he knows what he is talking about," extolled Hunt. James A. Hunt, new president poses in front of Lumbee Bank. Saturday Night The Last of Strike at the Wind Season There will be a gospel singing featuring Night the Skyiite Boys Quartet of McCoU, SC and The conference prepares selected Reserve officers to serve as liaison officers for the Freewill Gospel Singers of Pembroke at Military Academy in their home town communities. Fairview Heights School Auditorium in ‘ Hamlet, NC on Saturday, August 13,1877 at 8 p.m. Advance admission is $2.00 and ,. ,, > i.- nu r-. j r . j direct appointment. He received his Ph.D. admission at the door is $2.50. Children “UP .... under 12 will be admitted free. Door prizes ° Col- Todd received his commission by The Lumbee Bank hired a dedicated young man if Hunt’s record is any indication. Serving in the U.S. Army Special Forces from ’64-68, he was nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, won the Distinguished Service Cross, plus the Silver Star and Purple Heart, His medals came because of valor in close combat in which he was trying to evacuate wounded personnel. Hunt is a member of the American jumps. Management Assn, and vice chairman of The busy, ambitious young man is a the Postal Advisory Committee of bachelor who plans to become very much a Lumberton. He is also in Co. C of the 11th part of the Pembroke community as he Special Forces Group Reserves and a becomes accustomed to his new member of the Raeford Sports Parachute responsibilities. This first Indian bank Club. He has made over 200 parachute president seems truly on his way. After receiving his discharge, he was employed at a textile plant in Laurinburg before starting his education at PSU. He then went to school on his G.I. Bill and supplemented this income by working the third shift (midnight to 8 a.m.) as a weaver at the same textile plant. Board of Educorion Meers in Brief Session Hunt worked 56 hours a week, doing his study before reporting to work. His only campus extracurricular activity was serving his last semester in college as vice president of the Veterans Assn, on campus. "There was no time for anything else,” said the solid business administration student. The Robeson County Board of Education met in one of their briefer sessions on Tuesday, However, hard work was nothing new to Hunt, A ’64 graduate of Fairgrovc High School near Fairmont, he didn’t have time for activities at school because he and his brothers farmed tenant land after school. They heard a progress report on the new Pembroke Elementary School to be constructed in the near future. The report was given by Supt. Purnell Swell. Son of James D. Hunt and Sally Jane Hunt, the youthful bank president has two brothers and two sisters. One of his sisters, Mrs, Ima Jean Oxendine, graduated fromPSUin’71 withaB.S. in Elementary Education, Supt- Swett also reported on the public hearings held at Purvis and Union Elementary Schools recently to get the community’s reaction to the combining of the two schools under one principalship. Mr. Swett conducted the hearing at Union Elementary and Assistant Supt. Donald A. Bonner conducted the hearing at Purvis. Said Swett, " We received no negative reaction from the people in attendance. He explained the procedure used to inform the parents of these two school about the hearing. He made ccnain that a letter was mailed to each home concerning the hearing. The state has approved the combining of the two schools under one principalship. Mr. Grady Oxendine, principal of Union Elementary, will serve as principal of Purvis also. Mr. Bonner reported on the 54 aides who will work in the county school system. He reported that there will be reading aides in all the elementary schools in the county. degree in 1967 from the University of uiiuei 1^ mu uc auiiiiiteu lice. L/uui ijrizvs ^ ,. , ,,,1 ■ i- will be given and refreshment, will be sold. Nd"!- Caralma, Chapel H.ll, The colonel ,s The singing will be sponsored by the dean of acajm.c affairs for programs and Sandhilk Regional Indian Association. For''**''" Univemity. tl^ets call 997-4529 or 582-2402 (919 area WEEKEND IN ‘^"**'*' ROBESON SBA TO PROCESS DISASTER LOANS Law enforcement officers and rescue The Small Business Administration has personnel were kept busy in been authorized to accept and process Robeson County during the weekend. Small Business Economic Injury Disaster investigating two drownings and a murder. Loans in the county of Robeson in the State of North Carolina, Samuel Ray Oxendine, 24, of Route 3. Maxton, drowned Saturday around 5 p.m. This area was declared an Economic Lumber River off U.S. 74 near White Injury Disaster Area by the Department of j^j|] (;^hurch. Agriculture pursuant to Section 321 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act. This action was taken because of excessive rainfall May !9through May 24 1977, and hail, rain and windstorm on June 6, 1977. Assistance can be provided if the applicant can establish that the business has suffered substantial economic injury as a direct result of a natural disaster. A report on the drowning was made to Pembroke police by a witness to the fatal accident, and Pembroke Rescue Squad recovered Oxendine's body at 6:05 p.m. Saturday. Authority for acceptance of loan applications under this program will expire Loc'klear Street on March 30. 1978. Paul K. Hines. 9. of 612 Hilton Heights, Lumberton. drowned Sunday around 5:20 p.m. while swimming with friends in Lumber River near the dead end of For further information, please write or telephone the Small Business Administration. 230 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202. telephone number (704) 372-0711, Ext. 441. Visiting the meeting was Mrs. Agnes Chavis, President of the Robeson County Unit of the North Carolina Association of Educators. Victor Lane from Raleigh plays the part of Shoemaker John, a member of the famous Henry Berry Lowrie gang in the outdoor drama, “Strike at the Wind!” This is the last week of the show which plays Wedhesday through Saturday at the Lakeside Amphitheatre at the Riverside Country Club. Tickets are still available and reservations can be made by calling 521-2401. FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE EDA Hearing Delayed U.S. District Court Judge F T. Dupree of Raleigh has rescheduled a hcanng here from Monday to Friday, Aug. 12, at 9-30 a m. on a restraining order blocking the Economic Development Administra tion from distributing public works job '™udge Dupree told court officials he had a conflict of a criminal term of U.S. District Ck)urt. The continuance was on a restr^ning order issued by U.S. District Court Judge John Larkins to the EDA, prohibiting distribution of public works job funds to the counties of Cumberland, Robeson, Columbus and New Hanover ponding the hearing. The towns of Hope Mills, Maxton, Pembroke, St. Pauls, Chadbourn, Tabor City and Carolina Beach filed suit recently over their exclusion from the $4 billion public works program to create jobs in high unemployment areas. Robeson County Farm Tour Planned $1070 per acre. The guarantees are determined by what the farmers have harvested and sold in past years. The highest producing farms get the most coverage, the lowest get the least, and the premium for all of them is about the same. The average premium rate on tobacco in Robeson County is about $33 per acre. Federal Crop Insurance may be applied for at any time before planting the crop to get coverage for a given crop year. A farm tour is being planned lor county auents office before the dale of the Robeson County for Tuesday. August 23. tour so that adequate plans can be made for 1977 beginning after lunch and being everyone, completed in the Maxton area about 7 All farmers, agri-business and others interested in fanning are invited toattend. Those plannina to oo should notify the Since transportation is not being provided, persons planning to attend may meet at the couniy agents offee at 1 p.m. in order to ride several in a car and conserve transportation. 31 According to police reports, four young boys went to the river to swim, and Hines was caught in a strong current after venturing out into the river. The Lumberton Rescue Unit found Hines’ body at 6:58 p.m. about 50 feet from where he was last seen. In Robeson County. Federal Crop Sheriff’s deputies were called to Maxton Insurance pays benefits as high as $1910 jround noon Saturday to investigate the per acre for some tobacco crops. The lowest f^ol shooting of John D. Oxendine, 34, of benefits in Robeson County would be Route 2. Ma'xton, By 2 p.m, Saturday, officers had arrested, charged with murder and jailed Gene Davis, 25, of Route 2, Maxton. Oxendine was reportedly shot at a "joint" on rural paved road 1382 off N.C. 7 i north of Maxton. Reports indicate the victim was inside th the building and the fatal shot was fired . from a .22 caliber pistol through a window Those fanners who have Federal Crop of the building, from the outside. Insurance contracts should report damaged dehAEVA DRAKE SELECTED cobacco lo Ihc Federal Crop Ensuranee p,(;.s ALL AMERICAN GIRL office. GiK)d farming practices must be followed through harvesting of the crop. If Oehaeva Drake of Lumberton, a graduate loss is expected, stalk inspections must be of PSU with a B.S. in music education, has made before cutting the stalks. Insured selected North Carolina’s fanners are cautioned to not plow up stalks national All-, until an adjuster .sees them. They are ^^nierican Girl competition scheduled for lurthcr reminded to report lo the Federal August 11-13 in Memphis, Tenn. First Crop Insurance Office by Units, 15 days the competition is a $5,000 from date of last sale, if guarantee is not scholarship. Miss Drake is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W, Drake. ’■'J ■*4 J