The Warren Record. Warrenton, North Carolina, Thursday, November 24, 1977 - Pi
(Jtjr ffarrrn firrord
Pubhshtd Every Thursday By
■•cord Printing Company
P O. Box 70 Warrenton. N C 27589
BIGNALL JONES, Editor
Member North Carolina Press Association
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Our Apologies
Everyone, of course, makes
mistakes and sometimes it
seems that we make more than
our fair share All mistakes are
regretted and fortunately many
of them are harmless except as
they reflect on the accuracy and
efficiency of this newspaper.
Sometimes, unfortunately, they
are worse One last week is a
case in point.
The appointment of Frank
Ballance as attorney for the
Warren County Board of
Education was noted by The
Warren Record reporter attending
the meeting, but was omitted
due to an error in this office.
Of course the appointment of
Mr. Ballance to this office was
newsworthy, not only because
he was the first black ever
appointed to this office in the
long history of Warren County,
but because of his prominence
and because it was the result of
a tie being broken by the chairman,
and because two members
of the board who opposed the
election of Mr. Ballance asked
that their vote be recorded.
The Warren Record deeply
regrets that it missed a "good"
news story, in that it was
delayed a week Even more it
regrets any injury and embarrassment
that it may have
caused Mr. Ballance and the
members of the Board of
Education, to whom we offer our
apologies.
Deer Are Dangerous
We had occasion Saturday
morning to travel through a
heavily hunted section of
Warren County and found deer
hunters out in full force and the
deer supply seemingly adequate.
While the hunters were
hunting mainly from the
highway we failed to see any
* rifles in use and whether or not
the present law is adequate,
hunters seem to be obeying it.
The increase of the deer
population offers a real problem
to citizens of the southern part of
the county through destruction
of grains and gardens and this
problem is being attacked by the
Wildlife Commission. There is
another and possibly a more
serious problem offered by the
deer and that is the threat
offered to motorists by these
mals. One driving from Rocky
Mount to Warrenton drives with
apprehension and well he or she
may. A lady driving from Rocky
Mount to Warrenton last week in
a case of emergency became
slightly annoyed by the slow
pace of a truck ahead of her.
This annoyance was abated
when the truck was wrecked by
a deer and she and her car were
saved.
As long as there are as many
deer as there are in this section
we can expect to frequently
learn of deer jumping in the path
of motor vehicles. We think this
danger can be reduced to some
extent by better markings of
deer crossings by the Wildlife
Commission
Hiring An 'Angel'
By HOOV ER ADAMS
In The Dunn Daily Record
Tom Bowen, editor of The Harnett
County News at Lillington, is the only
fellow we know lucky enough to have a
real live angel working for him.
She is Mrs. Angel Reagan of Coats,
the paper's pretty advertising manager
But even having an Angel around can
present problems at times.
Tom is a tall, handsome fellow with a
delightful personality and could attract
all kinds of angels" if he wanted to.
But Tom has a beautiful wife named
Lorraine, so he naturally isn't
interested.
But Tom forgot to tell Lorraine that
he had hired a new girl.
A few days after Angel started to
work. Tom was talking with Lorraine
on the phone He suddenly remembered
he had forgotten to give Angel a
message
"Just a minute,'' he told Lorraine,
and then his wife heard him say.
•'Angel, don't forget to "
"And just WHO was that you were
calling Angel?", demanded Lorraine
Tom acknow ledges that it took a little
explaining'
Quote
Your can't depend on your judgment
when your imagination is out of focus.
Mark Twain
Town Of Warrenton General Revenue Sharing Report
I ffl >
2,351
2.351
1,850
i»yt
2,593
11,§19
7,868
8,262
4. Public
A. S*"hi o«
1,500
2,760
2,760
7. Oi»itf tu'potff ipKi'v
ruiMettl X^nll
rtrUlo«5,25C
_l2SSi_
23,058
36,474
23,058
2,987
39,461
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to* III . CWTIFICATIOW - Tint .» W certify «— n»»m< m On fpori mi w »• >w» mr k
V|RMUT* •' •«T<ciai
17, 1977
919
257-3315
Rignall Jones, left, and Alton Pridgen stand at the site
of Governor James Turner's grave.
Mostly Personal
Turner Grave Is But
A Hole In Ground
B\ BIG NAM. JONES
Old man had a mill
at this point which both his
sons wanted." Alton Pridgen
told Ken Ferruccio and
me as we crossed a small
branch on the north side of
Fishing Creek as the three
of us were en route Saturday
morning to the grave of
former Governor and Senator
James Turner, who once
lived in this vicinity
"The old man." Alton
continued, • took his two
sons and some slaves to the
site and directed the slaves
to cut the dam in two. He
then told his sons that he
would give each son a half of
the mill and pond and they
could operate the mill by
jointly fixing the dam. They
never did and the mill rotted
down."
This was one of the many
delightful stories that Alton
told us during several hours
spent in reaching and
returning from the grave,
much of which had to be
done on foot
At the grave site, located
in cut-over woods, we found
only a large periwinkle
patch and three recently
dug holes in the ground.
y which were the result of Dr.
James Clark's digging and
Alton's directing the previous
week This digging
resulted in the finding of
Turner's rock-lined grave.
This grave was located on
what was later Walter Duke
land and was only a short
distance from a pasture on
the land of Alton's father,
the late Wiley Pridgen
Alton said that when he
accompanied his father to
the grave site that his father
would refer to the "old
Governor's grave." Most
folks in Fork Township
when he was a boy. Alton
said, "knew where Governor
James Turner was
buried "
There was not much to**
photograph and Ken suggested
that if Alton and I
would stand by the grave
site that it might help, and
we did But there was more
to photograph here than
there was at the site of the
Turner cemetery at Bloomsbury.
When Ken and I
recently visited the home of
Governor Turner at Bloomsbury
we were informed by a
colored man who had
recently moved into one of
the Turner homes that the
cemetery had been plowed
up a few years ago. The
cemetery seems to be part
of a large soybean field, but
I can't be sure of this
without further search,
which I may never make.
We reached the site of the
Governor Turner home as
directed and found two
buildings, one a two-story
house which has been
covered with tin or aluminum,
and the othar a large
house built of lap. The log
house may have been the
original home or possibly a
guest house. I hope someone
in the neighborhood will
inform me concerning the
two buildings.
Last Friday I spent
several hours in the office of
the Register of Deeds
seeking more information
about the Turners. I
learned quite a bit about
Governor Turner's son. Congressman
Dan Turner and
his rise to fame and fortune
which he managed to lose;
and a little bit about another
son. Thomas, whom I have
some reason to believe is the
ancestor of the late Mr. W.
K Baskervill and Miss
Nannie T. White of Birmingham.
Ala Governor Turner
also seems to have another
son. James, Jr., but I am
not absolutely certain of
this, although there was
another James Turner.
In searching for information
about Governor Turner
1 learned quite a bit about
some of his contemporaries,
which may come in good
sometimes, but it has consumed
much time. I am
pretty well satisfied that
Governor Turner's final
resting place was on what
became the George Duke
home, and that he was first
buried at his home at
Rloomsbury, two miles
north of Manson. I would
like to know why and when
and hope that some reader
of this newspaper may
inform me. It is apt to turn
up in printed or written form
sometime. Until it or some
other interesting fact about
the governor is revealed, I
will have to abandon the
search, and take it on faith
which is not enough for
the historians.
Mr and Mrs. John House
have returned from a
ten-day visit in Ashland,
Ky., with friends and
relatives.
Letters To The Editor
Intersection Policed
To The Editor
In response to the editorial
last week entitled,
"Hazardous Intersection,"
it was stated that the town
policemen did not direct
traffic when a traffic light
was out at the Macon Street
-Main Street intersection.
This statement was incorrect.
The local police went
on numerous occasions to
this intersection to direct
traffic.
The Warrenton Police
force does not have enough
men per shift to mandate
one officer at an intersection;
therefore, during busy
times an officer directed
traffic.
The state owns the light
and maintains all traffic
lights on Main Street as this
is a state highway.
The Town of Warrenton
has no control on this light
but local police have to
maintain the flow of traffic
when a light is malfunctioning.
FREDDIE ROBINSON
Police Chief
Warrenton
Dr. Henderson Writes
To The Editor:
It is my impression that in
your article last week concerning
the lack of challenge
in schools, you did not
do justice to the school and
teachers involved in the
discussion, or to the Board
of Education. The interchange
of questions was
completely left out. and the
fact that the Board took no
side but stressed more communication
between the
parent and teachers was
vague. On hindsight, the
Board probably should have
recommended or stressed
that the parents, in all
cases, follow a chain of
command before seeing the
Board. Also not mentioned
was the fact that Mr Price,
a master teacher in our
system, had received a
letter from the State Department
of Education which
stated that his program is
one of the best, if not the
best, of its kind in North
Carolina. Congratulations
again to Mr. Price and our
fine school syStem.
(At the time of the
discussion, none of the
participants had actually
seen the program in action
After making a visit to the
class in question and seeing
the actuoi class in operation.
it is my impression that
the course is extremely well
designed, and is taught to
meet the needs of all
students )
During the meeting, it was
my impression that Mr.
Price was representing the
school, but I learned several
days later that he was there
only by chance, and that he
is not the only teacher in the
program, as one may have
been led to believe from the
article.
As with most discussions.
all parties probably profited
from the discussion, but
participating in person of
listening to a tape is probably
the best way to fill any
void as to what was
discussed.
Also, completely overlooked
in your paper was the
selection of Attorney Frank
W. Ballance, Jr., as the
School Board attorney. I feel
that your paper is a good
paper, and I'm sure that the
above mentioned things
were oversights; however,
it is upsetting not to see both
sides presented equally. For
example, my complimenting
Mr. Price on his
program was overlooked,
but I was quoted as thanking
the parents for showing
interest, as we do in all
cases.
I must say that being a
board member is really a
hard job. An unbelievable
amount of time and effort go
into attempting to make the
best decisions for all of our
children in the face of constant
negative criticism,
and with compliments being
few and far between. One
thing that I feel the Board
would truly appreciate is
more positive criticism
before the fact rather than
the many "after the
decision" comments. I
should also like to compliment
Miss Rosiland Gilliam
and her group for doing such
a fine job in representing a
portion of the teachers and
showing such a constructive
interest in the public school
system, and to the parents
and interested citizens who
constantly give of their time
and ideas.
L B HENDERSON. JR.
D.D.S. - Member,
Board of Education
Criticizes Parent
To The Editor:
This letter is written in
regard to the article
concerning the complaint
made by Mrs. Claude
Shearin about the curriculum
of Hawkins Jr. High
School. Even though Mrs.
Shearin was quite specific in
her complaint, as a member
of the Hawkins faculty, I
feel that her statement to
the board involved all of us.
I am puzzled as to why
Mrs. Shearin waited until
this year to voice her
opinion about our school. It
would appear that her
interest in Hawkins would
have begun as soon as her
other children began to
show signs of lack of
challenge and motivation.
I am also puzzled as to
how Mrs. Shearin can
expect motivation and challenge
when her daughter's
attendance was so poor. I
would also like to know what
credentials Mrs. Shearin
has? Does she have experience
in curriculum planning
or development, or
evaluation of a school's
program? Does she base her
attack on our school on her
own school days? Is she
measuring her daughter's
-progress on the work she
has done? If this is the basis
for her argument, I want to
inform her that this is a new
day in education.
As a member of the
Hawkins Faculty, I am
aware that inadequacies do
exist. I also know that in the
midst of imperfections there
is a faculty that is second to
none. We expose our
students to as many
learning experiences as
possible. We show a personal
as well as an academic
interest in them. All of us
attend staff development
workshops at sometime
during the year and in the
summer many of us
continue to improve ourselves
professionally. We
work hard to provide our
students with challenging
work, but we realize that
learning is not always fun It
involves responsibility from
three sources the parents,
the child and the teacher
We realize and accept our
responsibility to our students.
We do not look for
excuses when and if we fail
We need no scapegoats
Mrs. Shearin would like to
blame her daughter's cutting
class on our curriculum.
She contends that
boredom caused her daughter
to leave school deliberately
and without permis
sion. Mrs. Shearin seems to
excuse this action Could it
be she is looking for a scapegoat''
GAIL F, BULLOCK
Students Speak I p
For Their School
To The Editor:
In reference to the article
written last week concerning
the "lack of challenge
in our school, we. a portion
of the student body feel that
in order to get a picture of
the full situation our views
should be expressed also
First of all. we feel that
Mr. Price should be given an
apology. The Occupational
Exploration Program is not
to teach the students an
occupation, rather it is to
expose us to many occupations
that are existing today
The article also said that
there aren't programs for
the above average students
We disagree. Our school
offers courses in algebra.
English, two diferent sciences,
not to mention typing
classes, clubs, and other
organizations.
Mr. Price has asked the
parent to come to his
classes, but she hasn t
responded. The students feel
that since she has not. she
cannot base her accusations
fairly.
Also, there should be an
apology given to Mr.
Hudgins, the assistant principal.
We think that he was
misquoted and apologies
should be made.
The English classes, we
(Continued on page 5)