.THE
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WEEKLY
Volume 34, No. 46
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, November 16, 1978
15 CENTS
Grant approved ; work to begin
HAPPY GATHERING - With final
approval of the $34,320 state grant,
some of those involved with the pro
ject decide to take another look at
building before work begins. They
are, front, 1. to r., Frazlier Pope,
State Aging Representative, Hert
ford Mayor, Bill Cox; back, 1. to r.,
Pam Whitley, Grantswriter from
ARPDC, Joe Nowell, County Com
missioner, and Annette Fairless,
ARPDC Aging Administrator. (Staff
photo)
Larkins to speak
EDENTON - Dr. John R.
Larkins, Special Assistant to Gover
nor James B. Hunt, will be the guest
speaker for the Advisory Council on
Aging of the Albemarle Planning
and Development Commission this
Thursday at 2 p.m. here in the
municipal building.
A native of Wilmington, Larkins
received his B.A. degree from Shaw
University, his M.S.W. from the
Atlanta University School of Social
Work. He has done additional work
at the University of Chicago
(1947-48), the Columbia University.
School of Social Work completing re
quirements for his doctorate degree
(1953*54). Prior to receiving his doc
torate, he was a student at the
University of North Carolina. .
A number of honors have been
bestowed on Larkins. They include
ftthe Doctor of Laws degree from the
North Carolina Agriculture Univer
sity in 1958 and the same degree in
1973 from his alma mater, Shaw
University. He was awarded a
degree of Doctor of Humane Letters
in 1967 from the North Carolina
College.
LaAins served as# member of the
Advisory Board of juvenile Correc
tion from 1954-56 and was vice
president of the board of directors of
the Southern Regional Council dur
ing 1948-52. His other memberships
include the N.C. Recreation Com
mission's Advisory Committee of
Thirty, the Steering Committee for a
Better North Carolina (appointed by
Governor Sanford), first vice
president of the N.C. Family Life
Council, Governor's Committee on
Juvenile Delinquency and Youth
Crime (appointed by Sanford),
Citizens Advisory Council of Presi
dent's Committee on Juvenile Delin
quency and Youth Crime (appointed
by the late President Kennedy),
Governor Sanford's Good Neighbor
Council in 1963 and reappointment
by Governor Dan Moore in 1966, the
Governor's Committee on
Demonstration Project for Youth,
and the Family Service Traveler's
Aid of Raleigh.
Governor appoints
local man
Governor Jim Hunt today named
six new members to the N.C.
Forestry Council. The Council is
composed of 11 members, all ap
pointed by the Governor. Members
represent various concerns relating
to forestry and serve terms of four
years.
One of the Governor's appointees
is Joseph W. Nowell, Jr. The
Belvidere farmer is a member of the
Perquimans County Board of Com
missioners and president of the Per
quimans County Industrial Commis
sion. He will represent farmers and
other private, nonindustrial forest
landowners.
The Council advises the Secretary
of Natural Resources and Communi
ty Development relating to the con
servation and development of both
state-owned and privately-owned
forests in the state.
Other new members of the council
are Mack B. Ray of BurnsVille,
James H. Sears of Gates County,
Charles H. Slagle of Franklin,
William H. Uttey of New Bern, and
W.W. Yeargin of Oxford.
? Subscriptions to be sold
The PTA at Perquimans County
Central School and the Hertford
Grammar School will begin selling
subscriptions for the Perqulm*as
Weekly this week. The subscription
drive will continue through the
month of November and the first
part of December. So if you want the
Weekly, do nothing. Someone will be
getting in touch with you shortly.
HERTFORD ? The $34,320 grant
from the North Carolina Division of
Aging for the Hertford-Perquimans
County Multi-Purpose Senior
Citizens Center was officially ap
proved November 6 and renovation
of the building at the corner of
Grubb Street and Academy Street
will begin within the next 60 days.
The money was funded through Ti
tle V of the Older Americans Act of
1965. An additional $11,440 from the
town and county will be included in
the construction and equipment for
the facility. There will be some ex
pansion of the present building to
contain a kitchen, office, health
screening room, dining area and
multi-purpose area.
Pam Whitley, Grantswriter from
the Albemarle Regional Planning
and Development Commission and
under request of Mayor Bill Cox to
assist on the project, stated that con
structuion would be complete at
least by September of next year. An
nette Fairless, Administrator of
the Area Agency on Aging, also of
ARPDC, will assist in activity at
the center.
The center will coordinate ser
vices with a number of local agen
cies including the Perquimans Coun
ty Health Department of Social Ser
vices, Albemarle Mental Health, the
Economic Improvement Council,
College of the Albemarle, the Per
quimans County Health Depart
ment, Parks and Recreation Office,
Perquimans County Agriculture Ex
tension Service, Perquimans County
Library, Museum of the Albemarle
and local law enforcement agencies
among others.
Programs will include health
screening, food stamp assistance,
special programs for the handicap
ped, safety, recreation, education,
information and referral and etc. for
persons 60 years of age and older.
The center will employ one full-time
director and two part-time people,
hopefully from the area CETA pro
gram and the Green Thumb pro
gram which employs older persons.
The goal of the facility, stated
Mayor Cox, "is to enrich the lives of
senior citizens in Perquimans Coun
ty by removing isolation, boredom,
rejection, feelings of being han
dicapped, loneliness, and depression
by giving these persons a focal point
from which their needs can be met.
This will provide a setting for them
to get with their peers and an outlet
for their creative talents."
The North Carolina Division on
Aging was extremely impressed by
the local cash match allocated to the
project. They considered this, as
well as the unusually good atten
dance at the public hearing to deter
mine the desire for the center, as a
strong commitment from Hertford
and Perquimans County.
THE SITE ? The building is located
at the corner of Grubb and Academy
Streets. Construction and renovation
should begin soon and will be com
pletely finished by next September.
(Staff photo by Tony Jordan)
Farm-City Week to begin
There can be no question that
agriculture has a good image in the
mind of the public. Survey after
survey have shown that farmers are
highly respected members of their
community and their contributions
are properly recognized.
Even so, it is necessary that there
be a continuous effort to help foster a
better understanding between the
rural and urban segments of our
society. Each group is dependent on
thCTtnttite prvdwrtr and services
so essential to modern living.
Farm-City Week (November
17-23) is designed to call attention to
this interdependence and to narrow
the gap that often divides these two
segments of our population.
The speical week, just before
Thanksgiving each year, was
established in 1955. The movement
soon spread to year 'round ac
tivities. Today, many thousands of
local groups in farming com
munities and cities conduct a wide
variety of farm-city projects. The
key to this success is volunteer
workers who understand the need of
rural-urban understanding.
There are many areas where more
understanding is vital. For example,
consumers need to understand that
food prices are not high in relation to
other expenses which make up the
cost of living, and that rising farm
production costs are preventing
many farmers from making a
reasonable return on their
investments.
Better understanding is not a pro
gram of just one week's duration.
After all, one group can't get along
for one day without the other. But
together they make the best food and
fiber team in the world.
R.L. Stevenson has been named
Perquimans County Farm Jity
Week Chairman for the 1978 obser
vance of Farm-City Week. The ap
pointment was announced by J.
Wilbur Cabe of Statesville, state
Farm-City Week Chairman.
Serving with Stevenson as co
Chicago, Illinois. Kiwanis Interna
tional will serve as coordinating
agency for Farm-City Week and act
as headquarters for the national
council as it has every year.
The National Farm-City Council is
composed of representatives from
more than 150 major farm organiza
tions, industries, businesses,
associations, governmental agen
cies, educational institutions, and
church groups. A Presidential pro
clamation and a joint Congressional
resolution have called for Farm-City
Week observances each year since
the inception of the event. The Week
has won the Freeedoms Founda
tion's Distinguished Service Award,
which carries the same distinction in
the community service field as does
the famed "Oscar" in the motion
picture industry and the "Emmy" in
the television field, and the Silver
Anvil Award from the Public Rela
tions Society of America for being an
outstanding community relations
program.
chairman for the county committee
is Richard Bryant. County Exten
sion Chairman.
In appointing county Farm-City
Week chairmen, Cabe stated that
North Carolina is fortunate to have a
fine relationship between urban and
rural citizens. "Farm-City Week can
help to maintain and strengthen this
relationship," he said. Cabe is presi
dent of Ideal Production Credit
Association of Statesville.
This will be the 24th annual obser
vance of Farm-City Week. Last
year's observance, according to
final reports received at national
headquarters, involved the active
participation of more than 15,000
communities in the United States
and Canada.
The Week is under the direction of
the National Farm-City Council, Inc.
The non-profit organization is head
ed by its 197? National Chairman
David H. Stroud, President, Na
tional Live Stock and Meat Board,
"Operation Overcharge" strikes
at VEPCO's management
WASHINGTON, N.C. ? C#n- every right to be opposed to the
sumers who have to purchase their public utility on its high rates, a
electric power from VEPCO in spokesman for a citizens protest
northeastern North Carolina have group claimed last Wednesday.
WHEN If SAMS. IT RAINS -
After a tag period o f dry weather,
Perquimans County wai covered
with the wet stuff most of the week.
The rain /came at a badjime ft* the
county's farmeftwtao ?re in the pro
of harvesting soybeans. The
.. of us were glad to say good-bye
the dvt. (SUdt photo by Tony
"VEPCO, it appears to us, is very
poorly managed," Richard S.
Coiner, Washington Chairman of
Operation Overcharge, said.
Meanwhile, William H. Page,
Washington Chairman of the
Strategy Committee for Operation
Overcharge, also claimed VEPCO's
problems stem from poor manage
ment decisions made at the top
level. "There have been a number of
poor decisions over the last several
years," Page explained.
Page said the poorest decision
came during the mid-east oil crisis
when the decision was made to stick
with oil when other public utilities
were making plans to change over to
coal and nuclear energy to generate
electric power.
"VEPCO stuck with oil and the
others didn't," Page professed.
"Now, the others have rates that
range from 10 to 50 percent lower
than the rates charged by VEPCO."
Stanley W. Hege of Edenton,
Chairman of the Petition Committee
of Operation Overcharge said
stockholders of VEPCO should be
the ones most concerned. "VEPCO
is charging the highest rates and
making the least money," Hege
pointed out.
Hege feels VEPCO needs to clean
house, making better short and long
range planning, more productive
employees and some good vision for
the future.
Coiner, also a VEPCO
stockholder, said several VEPCO
stockholders are in the forefront of
the movement which has collected
over 25,000 signatures asking Gover
nor Hunt and the North Carolina
Utilities Commission, along with
Federal agencies, to act to bring
about a rollback in VEPCO electric
rates.
EMC checks mailed
Member-consumers of the
Albemarle Electric Membership
Corporation have been mailed
|49,200 in capital checks, according
to manager Ed Brown, Jr. Checks
were mailed to members receiving
service in the years 1963 and 1964.
As a cooperative business,
Albemarle EMC does not make any
profits. Instead, any monies left
over at the end of each year's opera
tions are referred to as "margins"
and as such are assigned to each
member-consumer's account as a
capital credit.
"With this retirement of capital
credits we will have returned
$356,429 to the Cooperative's
members through general re
tirements and $146,890 to the estate*
of deceased members," Brown
noted. "That's a total of over one
half a million dollars returned to our
members and to the economy of the