A IP*
1W
STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC CARLSON
Waiting For Santo
Dancers On Parade
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG RUTTER
Fifteen-month-old Rebecca Sidelinger of Ocean Isle Beach gets a boost from the Rev. George Speake Students of The Dance Connection help kick off the holiday season with a float in the Shallotte Christ
of Shallotte as they enjoy the town 's annual Christmas parade up Main Street. mas parade.
UNITED WAY ADDS 800 LINE
Toil-Free Number To Put Information Within Easier Reach
BY SUSAN USHER
Starting Jan. 1. information on
community agencies and support
groups in a three-county area will he
available with a toll-free call to
Cape Fear Area United Way in
Wilmington.
The agency's information and re
ferral program is getting a new tele
phone number ? 1 -8(H)- 284-21 21 ?
as well as a new name. First Call
For Help. That is the named now
used by most United Way informa
tion services nationwide.
"United Way serves Brunswick.
Pender and New Hanover counties."
said Elizabeth Garzarelli. communi
ty resources director. We'd like our
First Call For Help to serve all three
Satellite Brings Cho
The Dec. 17 launching of the na
tion's first direct broadcast satellite
(DBS) marks "a new era of televi
sion choice and technology tor rural
Americans," according to David J.
Batten, general manager of Bruns
wick Electric Membership Corp.
Starting in April. DBS will beam
approximately 70 channels of digital
television into homes across the
country using an 18-inch satellite
dish system. Receiver dishes and
equipment manufactured by
Thomson Consumer Electronics,
which makes RCA brand products,
will be available from dealers
around mid-year. Programming ser
vice will be available through
Brunswick EMC. one of the 798 rur
counties as well."
"A lot of agencies located in
Wilmington serve a three- or five
county area." said Garzarelli. The
new number is expected to make
those agencies easier for local resi
dents to locate.
In past years the referral program
served Brunswick County residents
on a limited basis, since using it re
quired a toll call from all but the
Leland area.
Information and referral (l&R)
services attempt to link callers with
agencies or support groups that meet
human needs, such as food, clothing,
medical care, emergency transporta
tion or shelter, spiritual support, ed
ucation and recreation.
ice To Area Viewers
al electric and telephone systems in
the U.S. that jointly own the
National Rural Telecommunications
Cooperative (NRTC).
Batten is a member of the board
and past president of NRTC. a non
profit corporation formed in 1 986 to
support the media and telecommuni
cations needs of the 25 million con
sumers who live in rural America.
The DBS-1 satellite launched
Dec. 17 by Arianespace is the first
of two Direct Broadcast Satellites to
be used for the National Rural
Telecommunications Cooperative
Hughes Communications DBS pro
ject. It was launched from the
Ariane launch facility in Kourou,
French Guiana, South America.
Many Brunswick County resi
dents use the I&R service offered by
the Brunswick Volunteer and Infor
mation Center (VIC) in Supply. 754
4766, a toll call from both the
Leland and Southport-Oak Island ar
eas.
It is uncertain what effect First
Call will have on the local service.
VIC receives United Way funding
for two of its nine services, emer
gency food and clothing, but not for
I&R. United Way has not ap
proached VIC about sharing infor
mation or possible duplication of ef
fort.
"We're in the state of hoping they
do well. I really don't have any feel
ing for it," said VIC Director Pete
Barnette Monday, two weeks before
First Call goes into operation. "At
this point we're getting the same
calls we've always gotten."
He said he thinks many people
are likely to continue calling VIC
because it is local.
Barnette said he learned of First
Call and its new 8(K) number
through the United Way newsletter.
"That has to be an asset to have that
800 number," he said.
Garzarelli said she expects First
Call to pass referrals to VIC when it
cannot answer a question about a lo
cal service, and to continue receiv
ing similar referrals from VIC.
Cape Fear United Way will pub
lish a Community Resources Direc
One of the joys of
JSP'^V J Christmas is
E2i ?
;w remembering.
? k. ' A It's always nice for us
* V-?\ to recall the pleasant
? i! t?S association we have with
iFftr-l f our customers.
Many thanks.
5 - / from the staff of...
A H
"PeutOt <x
A Htudt ^ SUtyXKCL, /a.
6741 Beach Dr. SW
Ocean Isle Beach ? 579-8778
tory in January that includes agency
and support group listings for all
three counties in its service areas,
she said. These are the same groups
that First Call telephone volunteers
will he referring callers to.
All known service providers in all
three counties were contacted earlier
and most have returned question
naires. However, Garzarelli said that
it is not too late to be included in the
directory and First Call referral sys
tem. Any agencies or organizations
that provide human services have
not been contacted need to contact
her before Jan. 1 at 910-251-5031.
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754-6890