Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Oct. 17, 1985, edition 1 / Page 4
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Opinion Page THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON Kilwanl M. Swcall and Carolyn II. Sweatt I'ubliahera Kdwurd M. Sweatt Editor Susan Usher , ,A?ss Editor Dawn Kllcn Boyd Staff if riter Johnny train Sftortx Editor m? > .. rICfl .. if ? , . ' Cecelia (iore Advertininn Wc/irencnlfilire Tanimic Galloway Typesetter Sieve Anderson t'rexnman Bill MeGowan.. I'hoto technician Clyde and Maltie Stout. Jim Bnllou ('.imitation Page t-A Thursday, October 17,1985 Why Delay Any Longer? The bids were in, their terms explained, no one had any more questions to ask?at least not in public. It looked like a fairly simple decision to make. Yet last Monday the Brunswick County Board of Education delayed, for the second consecutive month, award of a contract to service school fire extinguishers. Members unwillingness to act was reminiscent of the delays in setting up a school energy program. Meanwhile, the school year is well underway, but the extinguishers still have not been inspected and, according to the bidders, many need servicing to work properly. That's a threat to children's safety in the event of a fire. Two companies want the contract: Brunswick Fire and Safety of Iceland, which has had the contract for a number of years; and Safety Equipment Co. of Wilmington, soon to be of Belville. Safety Equipment's bid was substantially lower than the bid submitted by Brunswick Fire and Safety. Furthermore. the firm has twice as much insurance cnuerave ?n hack its work. And it's also a reputable firm. So why is this such a difficult decision for the school board? The hoard's job isn't to shield local business from competition, hut to net the best deal for the school system it can net. So why not award the contract to the low bidder and net on to something else, something more important? Carolina Lowlands HY KILL FAVER It is strange how most of us become so familiar with an area that we often fail to notice what is really happening there. I've noticed this when traveling in another state; I would notice a wildflower or see a beautiful tree only to he reminded that they also exist in my & ^ N county. 1 guess familiarity with our surrounirtngf dings makes us overlook some important ' clmractoristics many others travel miles to When we think of the variety of habitat in ' the Carolina lowlands we probably fall into that same trap. We read about the uniqueness of the Green Swamp or the Carolina bays or other features and acknowledge that we "know about them" Yet most of us pass through the swamp at high speeds and overlook the birds, animals, insects and plant life found there. Ann and Myron Sutton are a traveling and writing team who enjoy going around the country observing what is found in our Iwtck yards. In The Wild Places, they have these words about the Carolina lowlands, TIh.tv Is minutely more tluui Imitmn ryes ran absorb, mid our feels nlino.it compelled to tmlld a snuill discreet housrtioiit that could drtlt along the waterways and permit uninterrupted observations o( the ivtld lives tluit lew men Know a Unit Nature, us ulw ays. Is unhurried Tin' opossum lias no schedules The terrapin Is timeless The cattle files without a deadline duly when hurricanes roll across the marshes and forests do Carolina lowlands rhanjte very rapidly And even Own. the natural grandeur and primeval beauty persist Perhaps we need to take the time necessary to observe and experience our Immediate surroundings. We need to sit along a stream bank with some binoculars and quiet and see what happens. Or we need to hike in the woods on a beautiful October day and smell the air and experience the color. We might gain a new perspective on onr County, our surroundings and even our lives. The Amazing Legend Of" When I was younger, my cousins a* from New Jersey came fo Ocean Isle every summer Their visit always -jfy %?r.. meant two things 4 DqWD One, lliey were going to make fun jk of me for tielng a Southerner 1Ellen Two, 1 was going to get even y When >ou are 12 years old and so- BoVCj meone with an a>svnt that reeks of 'Tnt New Jersey makes fun of how >ou ^ talk. It only means thai the battle bet ?mi uw rmrui *nu inc >ou in is alxxit 1IK"? wvuiun i ucucvr u lo I* rekindled "OX V? U. one cousin addressed aw. "you know those were re?l We were pUyin? on the twach w hen shark* a cousin started addressing nw a* the* were soini! lo So hack to New "Ya'll" in a tone o< voice that would Jersey and tel. everyone that the) ha\r made Kofcrrt K tee lirn over had slaved at iVean Isle while Jaw-* Ul tu* ttrave and laOiui.i Hukrd close to shore 1 1 noticed a svhix*! at porpoises n a* disgusted swimming near the shore their (in* So much (or revenge showed ahove the surface of the The nest time 1 plated a met or. water them it wvukl have to he something I Nonchalantly I sighed. Shark* " could prose aui )?fce "SHARKS' M" 1 rot the .envtumti i.*wr !K*n t They screamed in delight Tbry anticipated danced up and down the beach and An older cousin and I were walking ?\ entered if any one wauld he eaten down the road near n\> house My later, I toM ihein It was a yoke cousin was informing trie how , f Huntir The matter had lain to the side quietly, for all we knew, since spring. Yet it came as iittie surprise to me Monday when the Brunswick County commissioners voted to ban hunting from the sides of all roads in the county. A group from the Town Creek area had asked in the spring for the county to ban hunting along only specific roads in their neighborhood. It seems hunters were establishing themselves along the roadside, but then shooting across private property on which they didn't have permisrion In K.inl The commissioners and county attorney decided that any regulation would have to be county wide to be enforceable. Their action was merely a sign of the times, I think, a call for some changes. Hunting has always been "a poor man's sport," as one local enforcement officer says, but it may not be for long if a few hunters keep making it hard on all the rest. I have a lot of friends who hunt and f personally don't have any objections to hunting. I look at it in the same way as fishing or any other harvest of living things: use what you harvest to good purpose, such as eating; don't kill for the sake of killing or simply for the "sport" of it. What I do object to?as do many folks across the county?is the lack of consideration for others demonstrated by some hunters. Unfortunately, the behavior of this tewjiln TZACsHEl r%. .1 rur To Uh- Board of Kducatlon, Superintendent of Brunswick Count) Schools. Principal of West Brunswick High School. and to tin- editor Wo have children who attend West Brunswick High School and we are tired of our children being punished for something that Is not their fault Fhe Blooming superior New Jersey public schools were to their North Carolina counterparts As we walked along, 1 spied a common kval sight a conch tree Someone had stuck conch shells on the limbs of a small dead tree The sun had bleached the shells white, and the tree limbs had become as smooth and grayed as driftwood It was genuine Brunswick County folk art A small, evil idea popped into my head Pointing to the tree. 1 asked my cousuv 'lNo you know what that is'" IXiuuuh," he replied IXiuuuh. 1 had learned, in pretcen New Jersey \rmacular meant no "I. Weil." I said, that's a conch tree in hkxm ' Ik took ttw hail In bloom?** "Of course." 1 told him Ttw Uttie devil on m> shoulder w as jumping up and down with gtk* i Tor*.-ha don't oonw from ttw ocean likr otlwr shells The* (trow on trees near ttw water and fall in That's wh\ sou find ttwm ?ashed up on ttw twach ig Restriction Susan Usher ^ i *r,? T J VI minority is enough to give the entire group a bad name with property owners. I-ike any other privilege, hunting bears its responsibilities. Failure of a few to live up to those, in turn, can lead to a loss of privileges for all. Anti-hunting sentiment is growing in Brunswick County and I, for one, understand why. Some of the reasons emerged last spring a', the meeting on roadside hunting aiiended by about 100 hunters, some of them polite, some of them very rude. A Goodman Hoad resident, and residents of other areas, told county commissioners they had been verbally abused by hunters and even had the physical safety of their families and property threatened. Several families told me privately they were afraid to speak up against the hunters for fear their property would be torched. Back in the fall of 1978, I had reason of my own to resent the unin vited presence of hunters. Shortly after dawn one fall morning. I had let my year-old part labrador out on my own property near Glen Alpine, N.C. Mr t. ? SHORfAC. LETTERS JOl The Blame W but the teachers. It is u shame and disgrace that the principal, assistant principals and " teachers never believe a student All young people are not juvenile delinquents; there are a lot of young people who are dependable, outstanding citizens It is an awful example for a teacher to lie to save his or her face and a stuConch Tree "Wow'" he exclaimed He believed every word 1 said, leading me to think the schools in New Jersey weren't as great as he claimed This was almost too good to be true Hutting on rav best Scarlett O'Hara vote* 1 continued with my tale The reason you don't see many other trees like this is because this one is blooming out of season Earlier ui the year there are conch trees blooming everwhere beside the waterway 1 am so glad this one was blooming now so you could see it," 1 finished lie ran to tell the rest ct my cousins about the conch tree In fact, he told everyone about the conch tree No one had the heart to tell him the truth for almost two days After that my cousins stepped calling me YaH When 1 heard how they pronounced my real name. 1 almost wished they'd kept callus me Yall. but you cant have everythiikS .And that aint no bull, ya'ti A Call For R< He stood about waist-high and his tail turned sharply upward in a plume, black on the upper side, snowy white underneath. Tn tho rrrol> mnrninn 1 i f-rV-if ttritK o an miv 51a; niwiiu?5 "gin ttivii a light drizzle falling, a hunter apparently mistook the dog's upturned white tail for that of a deer. He killed my pel. The hunter was so close to the house I heard the firing of the shot from inside the front bedroom, but didn't learn until later what had happened. A neighbor found the dog's body and buried it for me. Shades of Rodney Dangerfield, what ever happened to courtesy and respect? That hunter had not asked if he could shoot on my land. He had not even had the courtesy to announce his presence before he started shooting. In its hunter safety program, the N.C. Wildlife Commission devotes sections to ethics and getting along with landowners. The commission sums up hunting ethics in one word, "respect: respect for your companions, the land, the wildlife you hunt, and for yourself. "This respect almost borders on reverence, and, lacking it, a person cannot hope to become more than half a hunter," it continues. "Show respect and your hunting trip will long be treasured." It reminds its young hunters that every square foot of property in the United States belongs to someone, over half of it to private parties. That means hunters need to get along with individual landowners if -x b?^ ^ pf&m "HE EDfTQR 'here It Be/or dent to be punished for this. If a teacher or student is in the wrong, either should be adult enough to admit their wrong We think it is time for the board of education to take a long look at their principals and teachers These are people who we, the taxpayers, pay to Owner Should I Property As He To the editor Enclosed is our subscription for another year of The Brunswick Beacon K a?-ll I? ? .. ? .??v. iUAjuiirin^; wiin interest the controversy over the west end of Holder Beach As property owners on Hokten Beach we have made extensive use at the west end No Parking' Signs Up To the editor As property owners in the SeasideSunset Beach area, we were very upset to find all the No Parking signs that had beer, erected on Smw Beach. We spend five to six weeks a year here and have always enjoy ed the fishing and beach at Sunset Beach We have supported the merchants of Sunset Beach, hrwever. we will not continue to do so if we are not welcome on the island It seems pctntless to have a sign saying. "Welcome to Sunset Beach." when I aspect 1 they want continued access to some mighty fine hunting acres without paying for it. The day is rapidly disappearing when a group of hunters and their dogs can jusi show up on someone's field and hunt as they please in Brunswick County. To that end, the commission recommends that hunters look at the i 1 _ OIVUUVIUII I1UIII UIC IdllUyHMlT S view?he may be tired of having carelessly extinguished camp fires set his timber afire, of having his property damaged or destroyed and his family members threatened and shot Who could blame him? What the commission proposes is a common-sense solution: Introduce yourself to the landowner, ask permission to hunt on the property, then treat the property as if it were your own and you were proud of it. Be a true sportsman. That means leaving no trash behind, cutting down no fences, breaking no gates. It means staying out of the way of houses and buildings and people?and remembering bullets go a long way. It means not driving your new four-wheel-drive vehicle through somebody's pasture or soybean field. And it means taking care of the dogs, not letting them chase livestock or become a nuisance. Then, when it's time to go, says the Commission, thank the landowner and maybe offer to share with him some of the game you've bagged. V * \ ? \ ^ J | >9s set correct and proper examples for our children. With supervision like this, no wonder we have such a high number of dropouts and social outcasts Martha Register Shall otte Be Ab/e To use Sees Fit over the years Instead of being bitter about its closing, we are grateful for the years we have been able to use it Although we will miss the use of this section of the beach, it is private property and the owner should be able to use it as he sees fit 1 ee and F reeman Prior Vienna. Virginia >s et Property Owner only property owners on the island are welcome We feel the realtors and merchants of this area would find this situation detriments! After ?n who would want to buy property here and then not be able to use the beach'' We certainly hope that the mayor and city council will give further cocv uderation to this serious matter In the meantime, we're sure that % Ocean Isle and Hciier. Beach will gladly welcome the tourists and their business Jim and bettae Lcnrry Charleston. West Virginia
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 17, 1985, edition 1
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