mBRVlNSWCK^E^ON
Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Sweatt Editor
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Doug Rutter and Terry Pope Staff" Writers
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Peggy Earwood Office Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director
Ttmberley Adams & Cecelia Gore Advertising Representatives
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William Manning Pressman
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Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation
PAGE 4-A, THURSDAY. MAY 30. 1991
Precinct Move Smells
Like Rotten Politics
Some politicians are playing ridiculous games with voters at
one Brunswick County precinct.
There must be a reason why the Leland Town Council wants
to move the Woodbum precinct polling place. The foolish plan
is to snatch the polls from Navassa's town hall and move it to
Leland's town hall.
It's unlikely you'll find a very good reason for the move.
Instead, you'll hear petty arguments that Leland's building is a
more central location for the Woodbum precinct voters than
Navassa's town hall.
As the saying goes, there's a rat in the woodshed and it's
stinking up the place. Maybe someone will find it and throw the
rascal out, for the whole deal smells like rotten politics.
So far, the Brunswick County Board of Elections has enter
tained Leland's little joke and has played along with the game. It
held a public hearing on the proposed move last week.
Something to keep in mind is that Republicans hold a major
ity on the elections board, 2-1. Whatever the Republicans want
is what the voters of Woodbum precinct will get.
In preparing for the vote, it appears some political maneu
vering has already taken place. Last month, the Republican ex
ecutive committee axed Pat Ramsey from the elections board.
She is to be replaced as soon as the committee's nominations are ,
approved by the state.
The elections board toured Leland's town hall before it de
cided to hold a public hearing on the requested move. Ms.
Ramsey was reportedly against moving the precinct to Leland.
Apparently, a lack of parking spaces and storage security at
Leland's town hall doesn't concern too many people. Neither
does Village Road's notorious traffic problem.
Navassa's town hall is a nice brick building with a paved
parking lot. It offers security and can be spotted simply by look
ing for the town's water tower. Right next door, voters can find
the town hall. However, Navassa is a predominantly black town,
or should that matter? A majority of its voters are also registered
as Democrats.
Leland's town hall is a renovated house located on a typical,
tree-lined lot with the same kind of narrow dirt driveway as any
home would have in the predominantly white neighborhood.
It's unlikely that what's motivating the big switch is indeed a
matter of convenience for all of the voters in the Woodbum
precinct.
Local Support Adds Up
Several local groups, such as the Shallotte Junior Woman's
Gub and Ocean View Association Sunday School, have long
standing traditions of presenting scholarships to West Brunswick
High School seniors. Others, like the South Brunswick Isles
Civitan Club and Shallotte Lions Club, are just establishing such
awards.
In any case, these groups are to be commended and other
civic and profession groups, churches and businesses should
look to them as examples.
Why? Because local scholarship awards are making a differ
ence. Just look at the Cllss of 1991: Eleven local organizations
and businesses, ranging from a garden club to an insurance
agency, presented approximately $8,000 in scholarships, ac
counting for a significant portion of the $22,800 in scholarship
money received so far by the class for the 1991-92 college year.
Two school organizations, the Student Government
Association and National Honor Society, presented another
$1,100 in scholarships.
These local awards represent hours committed by club mem
bers to selling candy, fish, homebaked cookies, raffle tickets and
other items.
As the cost of a college education continues to rise, scholar
ships from the local community are going to become more and
more important in bridging the gap between what families can
afford to pay and what colleges and universities offer in the way
of financial aid packages.
They may also provide the incentive, the vote of confidence
and support, a student needs to continue pursuing a college
education in the face of sometimes great obstacles.
If yours is one of the organizations providing this kind of
support, give yourself a pat on the back. If not, start planning
now to offer a scholarship next May, even if for only $100.
Every dollar makes a difference.
Some people are taking the
opening of the Shallotte bypass
nonchalantly, but not me and not
my husband, Don.
My first venture out was last
Wednesday morning, right after the
opening ceremony, a brisk run from
the north end to West Brunswick
High School for awards day.
Wednesday night Don and I were
back on the bypass, cruising. It felt
good.
Unless you live or work in
Shallotte you can't believe how
nice it is to look out the window of
the Beacon office the Friday after
noon of the long Memorial Day
weekend and not see traffic backed
up bumper to bumper at the Wall
And
Here It Is
At Last
?The
Bypass
New Museum Is
Well Worth Visiting
The new Museum of Coastal
Carolina opened Saturday at Ocean
Isle Beach. Some of you may have
checked it out.
For those of you who haven't
seen it, I'm here to tell you it's well
worth visiting.
If I were you, I would drop the
newspaper right away and drive to
Ocean Isle Beach. Don't forget to
grab two bucks and cut off the
oven!
Seriously, you've got to see this
place. It's got everything from a
case of Civil War rifles and shark
jaws to a dolphin skull and stuffed
alligator.
For you shell collectors, the mu
seum has cabinets full of shells.
They come in all sizes, shapes and
colors.
It's even got a wave machine that
shows how the profile of the beach
changcs during the four seasons.
Doug
Ruffer
This is something everyone should
see.
In my opinion, though, the best
part of the museum is the reef room.
It gave me the feeling of being un
derwater and surrounded by fish,
sea turtles and other sorts of marine
life that live off the Carolina coast.
The reef room is so lifelike, I ac
tually had to come up for air a few
times. You might want to bring your
own snorkel when you visit.
An 11 -member museum founda
tion board of directors helped raise
funds and bring the museum togeth
er. But a lot of the credit for this fa
cility has to go to Ocean Isle Beach
homeowner Stuart Ingram.
Ingram, a part-time resident of
the beach, came up with the idea for
the museum in 1988 and pushed
hard until it was done. I've never
met a more determined man than
Stuart Ingram.
When I first talked with Stuart
about his idea nearly three years
ago, I had no doubt that he would
get this museum built and it would
be something the area could look at
with pride.
Over the past year, I have seen
the museum at several different
stages of completion. I had seen it
taking shape, and fully expected it
to be something special. They just
don't do many second-rate jobs at
Ocean Isle Beach.
But I honestly never expected it
to turn out as good as it did. I was
fortunate enough to get a sneak pre
view at the museum dedication cer
emony two weeks ago. I was very
impressed.
Ingram and the museum board
members have to be pleased with
what has been accomplished so far.
But even as the building was being
dedicated, Ingram was looking for
ward. His thoughts were on expan
sion.
He already wants it bigger and
better. He wants to set up more dis
plays and offer an even belter look
at the coastal environment If any
one can get it done, Stuart Ingram
can.
This museum certainly will
please the folks who visit our
beaches and give them yet another
reason to return year after year.
And if you're a Brunswick
County resident, a museum visit
might just give you a better appreci
ation of your surroundings.
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Early Bird Gets The Worm, So I'm Told
Every now and then I wake up
early, but only when I have to.
Some people are early risers.
While I admire them, I can't quite
figure out how they do it
They hit the garden early before
the sun dries away the dew so the 5
percent sevin dust they sprinkle on
the vegetable plants will cling to the
leaves. That important bit of infor
mation once made quite an impres
sion on me.
My father asked that I play gar
dener, and I asked why it couldn't
wait until lunchtime. So there I was
in my bedroom shoes, eyes half
closed, shaking a burlap sack full of
white poison on the heads of tiny
insects that were throwing a wild
party on our butter beans.
That's one of the memories I
have of getting up early.
It's not that I'm lazy. I get up in
time for work. I once drove a school
bus while in high school. I've had 8
a.m. college classes before, too, but
not because I actually wanted them.
?By the time I finally made it to
drop-add sessions, hundreds of stu
dents were already ahead of me and
had grabbed up all of the good time
slots. They had gotten up early so
they could be the first in line.
Still, 8 a.m. isn't what I mean by
"early." By "early" I mean real ear
ly, like when it's still dark outside
and the cat's asleep on the back
porch. You open the door and she
looks at you kind of funny, as if to
say, "What are you doing up? Just
shut the door and go back to bed.
But before you go, how about
throwing out a pouch of those
Tender Somethings."
Susan
Usher
Street light.
And I'm certain that getting
home to Shallotte from work at the
county complex in Bolivia is easier
these days for Don, except when
there's a highway accident between
one place and the other as there
was Friday afternoon.
Terry
Pope J
Besides, I don't drink coffee,
which seems to be a requirement for
people who get up early. Just check
your local breakfast houses, where
those poor employees must get up at
the crack of dawn just to bake bis
cuits, and count the number of coffee
cups scattered across the tables.
When I was 10 years old, I
caught the biggest fish 1 have ever
caught ? a flounder that must have
weighed 10 pounds if it weighed an
ounce ? because I got up early.
Even that didn't change my philoso
phy on sleep. I was using one of
those tiny, Zebco reels that's just
right for bringing in a spot about the
size of your hand.
My father and two older biothers
would leave early, now I'm talking
early, on a Saturday morning and
head to Fort Fisher. Such an all-day
fishing trip was really more of a
boyhood ritual, a test to see if it was
time to flee the nest and become
one of the "men."
The excitement of finally being
old enough to go with the "men"
still didn't settle my queasy stom
ach, upset from having to rise at
such an early hour in the morning
just to catch a fish. As the saying
goes, the early bird gets the worn).
Sure, there's still plenty of traffic
on Main Street, but it appears to be
moving more smoothly and quick
ly
Out on the bypass, it's like
drivers have discovered a whole
new world. Twenty-four hours after
the four-lane opened, you would
have thought it was either 1-40 or a
new dragstrip, what with all the
cars flying by in the left lane.
You could rake in the dough
writing speeding tickets.
As for me, I'm still wondering if
it's for real. Pinch me, quick.
For me and other natives a by
pass was just another part of west
ern Brunswick County mythology
for years. We followed its trail as
I knew then that I would never be
one of those early to rise persons,
for on that fishing trip, there were
parts of me that were still back
home in bed. I was sick. Physically.
And when it came time to gel an
early start on those long vacation
trips with the family, I'd be in the
front scat with my teddy bear, not
feeling so well.
It became a standard joke with
the family. My body cannot tolerate
those early hours. I'd lay my head
down and not wake up until I heard
someone say, "I can see Chimney
Rock," a good seven hours down
the road.
I would love to shake the hand of
the man who invented snooze but
tons on alarm clocks. The one on
mine is about worn out. I always
have good intentions of getting up
early. I set the clock, but what hap
pens in the morning is a different
story.
My biological clock enjoys sun
sets better than sunrises, and there's
no changing it I'm a nightowl. My
mind's still quick at midnight, usual
ly, long after the dew has started to
settle, laying a trap for unsuspecting
bugs that crawl around in the night
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Say No To 7 2-Months School
To the editor:
As a student of Brunswick
County schools, I think it is a big
mistake for us to go to school 12
months out of the year in the near
future.
My reasons for this are student
lack of interest, interference with
school vacations, and the cost in
volved.
The first reason is I think students
would lose interest in school over
this long period of time. We would
get tired of going to school over a
period of 23 months. This could
cause some students to drop out.
Secondly, it would interfere with
summer vacations. We need this
time to relax. Also, many students
depend on their summer jobs. These
would no longer be possible.
My final reason is the cost would
key pieces of right-of-way were ac
quired and a route mapped.
Then we saw plans go on the
back burner, not just for a season,
but years and years and years. The
dream seemed to have died; we
were told because some key indi
viduals thought a bypass might hurt
business in Shallotte.
Getting the bypass was truly a
bipartisan effort, mostly because
politicians of any stripe try to do
what pleases their constituency, and
western Brunswick County resi
dents wanted their bypass.
Shalloue leaders pooled their ef
forts for a massive lobbying effort
in Raleigh and didn't let up the
pressure.
be hard to pay keeping the schools
open for 12 months. It is hard get
ting what we need now.
These are my reasons for not
wanting 12-month school years.
Please, Superintendent of Education
Hankins, consider these reasons
when making a decision.
Jonathan Carlisle
RL 1, Supply
W rite Us
The Beacon welcomes letters to
the editor. All letters must be signed
and include the writer's address.
Under no circumstances will un
signed letters be printed. Letters
should be legible. The Beacon re
serves the right to edit libelous
comments. Address letters to The
Brunswick Beacon, P. O. Box 2558,
Shallotte, N. C. 28459.
During his tenure as state repre
sentative Tom Rabon worked with
local officials to get the bypass
back on the state's Transportation
Improvement Plan. Rep. David
Redwine helped keep it there, and
finagled funding for a welcome
center to boot And a Republican
governor, Jim Martin, promised
publicly that it would be built. The
South Brunswick Islands Chamber
of Commerce pushed hard for an
opening before the summer 1991
season.
And so the Shallotte bypass of
U.S. 17 has come about, on sched
ule.
Thanks, guys, for being persis
tent