Opinion Page
THE BRUNSw'iCK&BEACGN
Eunuru M. Swcatt and Csro!}? H. Surest! Publisher*
Edward M. Sweat! Editor
Susan Usher Metes Editor
l?-w? riUn lU.yd Staff Writer
Johnny Crnig Sports Editor
Mnry Potts Office Manager
Cecelia Gore Advertising Representative
Tammlc Galloway typesetter
Steve Anderson Pressman
Bill McGowan Photo Technician
Clyde and Maltie Stout, Jim Ballon Circulation
Pa?c 4-A Thursday, October 10,1985
Oyster Festival Has
Good Fringe Benefits
It's time again for the annual N.C. Oyster Festival in the
South Brunswick Islands. It's a time when this end of the
county puts out the welcome mat for folks far and wide to
come eniov roasted ovsters and all the other festivities
associated with the big event.
Purpose of the festival originally was to attract more
visitors to extend the fall tourist season. It has certainly accomplished
this objective. But the festival has some mighty
good fringe benefits for residents of the area.
Putting on the festival requires countless hours of
volunteer work on the part of members of the South
Brunswick Chamber of Commerce, its sponsor, and other
civic-minded volunteers. It brings a lot of people together to
work on a common project.
The festival instills a lot of pride in residents of the community
as they entertain others who have come from all over
the country to enjoy for a brief time what Brunswick County
residents all too often take for granted.
A cordial welcome is extended to all the visitors here for
this festival weekend. And the South Brunswick Islands
Chamber of Commerce is congratulated for its efforts in continuing
to improve the festival each year.
A Time To Return
BY BILLFAVER
The fall season shows signs of slowing down, of maturing,
of returning. Grasses turn brown, drop their seed, and die.
Trees lose green color as the cool nights slow the food-making
process and the reds and yellows blaze forth
v. before the leaves fall to enrich the soil. The
\ VOllthful pxritpmont nf snrinil anil
,, v* ->!'> IIIQ ???M VIIV
vigorous routines of summer give way to the
calming fullness of autumn,
lit There is little coincidence that fall is the
time of harvest, of homecoming, of ingathering,
of returning. A time of substance and
wholeness is found in the fall. Maybe it is the
squirrel-like intuitions of preparing for the winter, or maybe it
is the realization of a full life and the importance of family and
friends close by. Kail is thanksgiving time and the time for
deep thoughts.
Kali is the time to walk through the woods and fields and
along the marshes to find the many evidences of the changing
seasons. Watch for seed pods and dried flower heads. Examine
the ways seed move about by wind or "hitchhiking" or
water. Observe what is happening when leaves fall and form
protection for the soil, providing a warm, safe place for seed to
l>e nourished, awaiting springtime germination. Watch the
birds and animals as they prepare for winter by gathering
food or winging away southward.
Kali is a time of recycling when basic elements contained
in plants, insects and animals are released and return to the
soil to be used again. Kail is a time of dying for plants and insects
and some animals who have lived out their lives. Not the
kid of sad death of a flower trampled underfoot in spring or
summer, but a fulfilling kind of dying of a plant whose life has
been lived out to the fullest in useful purpose.
Kail is a time to return. To return in order that life can go
on. either with the renewed vinnr frnm the uiint.?r
-0?- .- -v? ? ?. I. ?>tv I I VU? VII mui
the use of life-giving nourishment from the recycled elements.
There should be no sadness in the fall, for it is a special time as
John Donne writes,
No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one autumnal face.
White's Web Of Fantasy
Much uwitU attention has been
tixused ori It* .teaUi at actor Kock
Hudson during tt* |vist week; less
has tven said stxxit another well aMBCgHH OoWD
known person who also died. wntet A
E B Whitr Ellen
It White's nan* doesn't nnK a heli
for )cxi. perhaps the name o( his nxwt Boyd
famous txxsk ought He was the \
author o< the children's classic \i\% * V\
"Charlotte's Web" k?ui??
Children aren't ihe emhr arm .v? ?**
? uirin uir in a single sentence he
njoy While's techs, however couki imparl more about s character
"Stuart Uttk is *ul! one cf ni) and setting than most writers roukl
mother's favorite tanks In a unlvrr- in a entire pace He didn't Just write
sttjr class on the animal table we words on a pace, he usml them to
studied 'Charlotte's Web" K H paint a scene in the reader's lmWhite
has a prominent place on the afuvsbcev
txxWshehes of man) adults who base iVie c<xxl example comes from
no children -Charlotte's Web'" and involves a
What makes children and sdults vers famous pec "It was the best
read hts books a<atn and acaln is the place to be. thought Wilbur, this
wonderful sense he hsd for usln< the warm delicious cellar, with the car
exact rtcht word in the right place rulous (re*, the changing seasons
and the unagtnation he used in the heat of the sun. the passage of
creatine Ms characters and fflvlng swallows, the nearness of rats, the
Some
Once in a while news comes along
that is so good it overshadows
anything else that might be going
wrong that particular week.
So it was last week, when the
Brunswick County literacy Council
?Ui wire L/e.-it (javi\a^c ui UlC >cai . 1 lie
thickly-stuffed manila envelope from
NCLA, c/o the Scotland County
Literacy Council smelled, looked,
even felt like hope.
The memo at the top of the sheaf of
papers was addressed to all NClJt
VISTA literacy councils.
"We are approved for 12 VISTAS
and mileage for each. So you may
make a commitment for your VISTA
NOW!" read the news from Anne G.
Tindall, president of the N.C.
Literacy Association and the
mainstay of the Scotland County
literacy Council.
They say good things come to those
who work, pray and wait. Well,
members of the Brunswick County
literacy Council have been doing
that since the council was formed in
1981 It was begun by people who
wanted to teach other adults how to
read one-on-one, not by people who
knew anything about?or had
time?to worry about raising money
for teaching materials, recruiting
students, training tutors and hassling
Ci irvr\r*r+
V/L/L/L'V^i I
To the editor:
I like to think that my children and
grandchildren will be allowed to visit
the west end of Holden Beach, but
Jim Griffin and Holden Beach Enterprises
are trying to deprive them of
this right by barricading the west end
and calling it private property, making
it virtually off limits to all but Die
most able-bodied who are able to hike
the 4.7 miles from the nearest parking
to the end of the beach.
As a member of the concerned
citizens of Brunswick County, I intend
to do all that I can to protect tills
right; and anyone who would like to
have access with parking on the west
end of the beach should support this
group witli their presence at the next
meeting, Oct. 12 at 10 a.m. at Claude
Hoffman's residence on Seashore
Koad, Holiday Ranches.
Help support us in our effort to get
this end of the beach reopened so that
we can all enjoy it.
Maxine Honcycutt
Supply
Opposed To Closing
T~ -JH
iu uft* rwuoi :
This Is to express my appreciation
for your coverage of the Holden
fleach west end controversy,
especially the Oct. 3 Issue. As usual
your editorial policy is (air and accurate.
A Brunswick County concerned
cilUen taxpayer opposed to closing
the west end?
Frances J Morton
KL 3, Supply
Saving Animals
Goal, Dream
Of League
To the editor:
Most of us when we carry annuals
to the animal shelter (dog pound)
have hopes that someone will adopt
and love them, but it doesn't always
work out that way Many are being
killed every month
It is possible to keep them only for
a short period of time for lack of
space let ns urge everyone to have
their pets spayed or neutered to help
A nncvnlc T n \
10 w i
vniini ? SOPTp. U* K3\t 01
spiders. the smell of manure and the
glory of everything "
White shared his knowledge as a
wordsrruth with others when he revised
Strunk's "The Elements o( Style."
Writers still struggle with his short,
yet difficult, rule, "Omit needless
words "
White's greatest achievement is in
how he touches the minds and hearts
of his readers and makes them ??e
the world in a new way
Even children who usually dislike
reading seem to be enchanted by
White's writing
When 1 was young, my mother tewk
my brother Sandy and 1 to the library
each week Sandy would rather have
been outside playing than inside
reading but mother made him check
out a book anyway Oct one trip be
checked out White's The Trumpet of
the Swan " He read K. then checked
it out again each week to reread it.
News Just I
ZTr. Susan
* I I i~u
m j uoi IOI
-3WT.
with all the administrative details
keeping up with the above entails. So
we've straggled along, our tutors
working on their own in the field with
little support, some tutors without
Okuucuvo ill uilC CIIU Ul MIC CUUIliy cJIlU
students without tutors at the other.
We couldn't seem to get everything to
mesh.
This manila envelope spells
hope?because with a locallyrecruited
Volunteer In Service To
America (VISTA), we hope to tidy up
all those loose ends and get the council
on firmer footing and a more visible
footing.
VISTA volunteers live and work
among the poor, making a serious
commitment to devote one year to
helping others. The main requirements
for the job are patience,
flexibility and a willingness to work
hard while mobilizing new resources
to solve problems related to poverty.
LETTERS TO '
Croup Work
cut down populations, thus helping to
avoid this terrible situation.
If you do not have a pet, help us by
adopting one from the animal
shelter. The goal and dream of the
Merchants 5
To the editor:
1 am pleased and proud to live in
the fastest growing county in North
Carolina. 1 am also pleased to be a
part of that growth by having a
business here.
It distresses me very much to see
the number of business people in
Brunswick County who go outside our
county to do a majority of their
Concern Is
Appreciated
To the editor:
A thank you to the concerned
parents of Brunswick County who
brought their children to the fingerprinting
of children sponsored by the
Pilot Club of the South Brunswick
Islands
A special thank you to Don Gates,
crime prevention officer. Ocean Isle
Beach Police Chief Jerry Gurganus
and Shallotte Police Chief Don
Stovall, who gave their time in
fingerprinting the children.
We truly appreciate every ones concern
for the safety of our children
Sherry Kuseman, 1'resident
Pilot Club of the
South Brunswick Islands
Proud Of Home
To the editor:
I am a resident of Brunswick
village ttesi Home at Sholloltr I
would like (or the people of
Brunswick County to know that they
can be proud to have a facility of that
type in their county.
The staff workers have total compassion
for the residents there and
see that they have excellent care.
Brady 1 eroy long
Shallotte
( r\ i inn St. ow
VW I ^ ?-* vy IU
When mother asked him why didn't
he try something new he Just shodF
his head and pahently told her.
"Mama, this one is the BEST "
One of my (nends in high school
pretended to hate books, but he admitted
once i during a weak moment i
he did have a favorite he liked to read
from time to time?" Stuart Utile."
When a writer can make people
who usually dislike books want to
mt >rtw Kf k ?imkKitw
special
And everything White Ad. from his
"New Yorker" cctisisv. to las work
with illustrator James Thurher to las
children's stones, has a philosophy
and humor that 8 !ife-afltrming and
fives insight into human nature
At least such a great writer has a
monument to has lite and work
Would you like to see it'
Just go to the public library and
ask (or "Charlotte's Web,"
"Trumpet ot The Swan." or "Stuart
L?Ue *
Has To Be !
I'm excited about our VISTA
volunteer, one of 12 assigned to
various literacy projects across the
state to help tackle the state s illiteracy
problem. We believe the
ability to read and write well leads to
MikLXSa 111 IIU1I1J uuiu aiCtw wf
life?enabling people to fill out job
applications, read the Bible, labels
on food cans and medicine bottles or
letters from sons and daughters in
service, and follow the directions in a
cookbook or crochet pattern. Between
3,000 and 5,000 people in
Brunswick County can't do all these
things, or can do them not without
struggling.
I only wish our mild-mannered
lovable chairman, "Clem" Clementson
had been here to get the packet in
his mail. Instead it was relayed on to
council member Daphne Fournier by
our comrades, Hugh and Mable Dutton
of Holden Beach, who've been
keeping up with Clem's mail. In my
own mailbox, I received a duplicate
package from Anne the following
day.
The Clementsons are in New
England and won't be back until later
in the month. Unfortunately, because
of their absence and other delays, the
council won't be holding its annual
yard sale at the N.C. Festival By The
1~HE EDITOR
inn Tn Ponno
II I ^ I V/ I t W Wjky w
Animal Welfare league is that one
day not one animal will have to die.
We appreciate those of you who
have given to the league and we
welcome those who have purchased
should Return Th
business. While it is true that there
are some items difficult to find here,
I would bet that over 90 percent of the
items purchased in Wilmington,
Whiteville, Myrtle Beach and other
outlying areas can be found right
here in our own back yard.
How can a merchant expect to keep
a neighbor as a friend when he drives
50 miles one way to buy something he
can buy right next door? How can a
banker or a person who sells insurance,
hardware, food, real estate,
furniture, or provides professional
services to his neighbors, not return
the business?
Check closely, the prices are not
always lower away from here,
Get Rid Of Urn
To the editor:
During the summer of 1985 we
rented, as has been our custom for
many years, the Ranger cottage on
Hillside Drive at Holden Beach. This
will serve to inform vou that this t?
not a complaint based on a one-time
visit. 1 lather it is written in the hope
of a significant action.
When we arrived in 1985 we were
astonished to learn that the obscene
remains of a water slide, the remnants
left by Hurricane Diana, still
remained standing across the street,
still surrounded by a fence and filled
with scummy vegetation.
Of course, inside the fence the
passing public had begun to deposit
trash- cups, paper, bottles and other
unsightly items. Further, the cement
pool where the persons who at one
time used the slide ended their trip
remained standing intact and filled
mth water This is an ideal place for
mosquitoes to breed. There stood the
ruin, an unsightly blemish on landscape
once a part of a beautiful
beach.
Many of us were amazed to learn
that the town of H olden Beach had
Employment Pol
To the editor
With a bowed head, humble heart,
watered eyes and drooping spirit, I
express my deepest concern over
what seems to be racial discrimination
that appears to overshadow the
hiring oi personnel at the VS Battleship
North Carolina.
When the cry was made to let's brine
the battleship hocne to North
Carolina, school children both black
and white came together collectively
begging dimes, ruckles and pennies
to bring home and secure a permanent
resting place for the US. Battleship
North Carolina
Now a appears that m 1985 the
assistance si Mack folks is no longer
needed as far as being recognised in
the employment si personnel at the
resting place at the battleship
It also appears that no effort is being
exerted to hire any person in coo?
I
Shared I
Sea at riolden Beach. We hope to
make up for it with some events in
the spring.
meanwhile council heads (and
other parts of the anatomy) went into
high gear last week. Doubting
Them???. hadn't done as told
and recruited ahead for our VISTA
volunteer. We want a local person
who knows the county and its people
and is committed to the cause of
literacy?of helping open closed
doors through the magic of reading.
By the time you read this column,
we hope to have found the ideal person
for the post, someone willing to
dedicate a year to a most worthwhile
cause for minimal financial reward,
but enormous rewards of the heart.
Their goal: to help the council do as
the San Fernando Literacy Council
wrote: "The greatest good we can do
for others is not just to share our
riches with them but to reveal tlieir
riches to themselves."
It's an exciting challenge, this
literacy movement and the opportunity
now before it.
Anne Tindall's memo reflects the
feelings of literacy workers
statewide: "This is both exciting and
terrifying. I really feel, even while I
am just a bit terrified, that this could
be a turning point for literacy in
North Carolina."
I V< I
membership cards. Save a pet,
animals give much love. A member
of the Brunswick County Animal
Welfare league?
AlmaTolson
RL 6, Shallotte
ie Business
especially when you consider the extra
time, gasoline and vehicle wear.
You should also remember that when
something goes wrong, you have that
same trip to make, this time unplanned,
to get the problem corrected.
I ask my neighbors, friends, investors
and anyone else who has an
interest in the future of Brunswick
County to trade with me, and you can
bet I won't be driving any 30,40 or SO
miles to buy what my friends are selling
nearby. I want my neighbor to ap- f
Kiwwic my uusioess as i appreciate
his.
Jack S. Scarborough
Holden Beach
>ightly Blemish
done nothing whatever to get the unsightly
mess removed. Certainly
health and decency require action.
Just how long the city lathers expect
the general public to tolerate such an
obvious, unsightly nuisance is
something we cannot answer. But
they don't have to come.
Certainly there is within city
charters in the State of North
Carolina a sufficient grant of power
to have that property cleaned up and
if the owner refuses to have it done,
the city should have it done and require
the owner to pay for such action.
Or sell it at public auction for
the charges.
Such mosquito breeding grounds
and junky places serve to destroy the
one-time reputation of Holden Beach
as a place to come. While we were
there the slide area became a happy
meeting ground for assorted drunks,
too.
Any help you can give towards getting
this problem solved will be appreciated.
Bennett H Wall
Athens. Ga.
icy Is Disturbing |
nection with battleship employment
except whites. I was somewhat
disturbed and surprised at this gross
racial discrimination until I
remembered that this was the home
of "The Wilmington Ten."
Jesse A Bryant. President
Cedar Grose Branch KAACP
tmh
Can't Do
Without It
To the editor
Enclosed you will find my
subscription renewal to the Beacon
for another year Just cant do
without 0.
Horace W Hall
Randlrrnan