Newspapers / The Perquimans weekly. / April 24, 1980, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY ~ Volume 36, No. 17 USPS 428-080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, Apr. 24, 1980 20 CENTS Local hopefuls address issues at candidates night Issues and past achievements flew last Wednesday night as in cumbent and challenging candidates for county com missioner took advantage of the biggest event thus far in the spring primary campaign, the Hertford Business and Professional Women's "Meet the Candidates Night," at Perquimans High School. A crowd of some 100 per sons, smaller than the meets's organizers had anticipated, listened as incumbents talked about past achievements and future goals, and challengers, in some cases, questioned those achievements and put forth their own proposals for dealing with future issues. Jim Simmons filled in for challenger Lee Brabble, a Democrat seeking the District Fire ravages Front Street home Fire raced through the waterfront home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stokes in Hertford last Wednesday morning, causing damage estimated by V some to be well over $50,000. The fire began in the kit chen, and went undetected some 45 minutes to an hour as it traveled up the walls and into the attic, according to Stokes. Mrs. Betty Crawford, a next door neighbor, reported the fire at about 9 a.m., and the Hertford Volunteer Fire Department rushed to the scene to battle what turned out to be a difficult blaze to ex tinguish. "The fire was between the walls and went up into the attic. We couldn't get to it," said Pete Riddick, assistant chief of the Hertford VFD. Riddick said that 19 members of the Hertford VFD and several Winfall firemen spent close to three hours in bringing the fire under con trol. Hoses were run from both Church Street and Front Street in an effort to get more water to the structure. The black charred remains of what had been a recently remodeled kitchen and ruins of the room directly above only hinted at the damage to the eight room house and its contents. "We lost all our clothes," Stokes said. "Well, I'm wearing these shoes," he added, glancing down at his work shoes, "but I wouldn't dress in 'em. 'The furniture in several rooms is gone. I don't know about the other furniture. All the appliances in the kitchen burned up," Stokes said. Smoke and water damage were extensive throughout, but Stokes said that struc turally, there is a lot of house left. Originally clapboard, the house had been brick veneered and completely remodeled some 20 years ago, Stokes said. In the past year, he said, the kitchen had been redone and the den painted. Now the Stokes' are plan ning to rebuild the home, and are staying at the home of Dr. and Mrs. John Crawford next door, "until we get organized," Stokes said. The Hertford postmaster fumbled around for the right adjectives when asked about community reaction to his family's plight, then gave up. "I haven't got words in my vocabulary... I can't even express... It makes me feel like a sorry citizen," he said of communhy efforts to help out. "Of course, I shouldn't be surprised. You know what kind of folks are here," Stokes said. He said insurance coverage on the home would probably be enough to cover the damage, and that he and his wife were "very fortunate" not to have been at home when the fire started. "A lot of things we had accumulated over a lifetime we can't replace. We know that. We're still fortunate," Stokes said. Taking aim Hertford Firemen prepare to wet down the smoldering 9 blaze at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stokes. The fire, morning, caused extensive which took place Wednesday damage to the Stokes' waterfront home. (Photo by MIKE MCLAUGHLIN). School board candidates speak Six candidates for the Perquimans County Board of Education were among those ? who expressed their views last * Wednesday at "Meet the Candidates" night. All six shared a common concern for the welfare of Perquimans County's children, but there was some difference of opinion on how those young people could best be served. "I'm intrested in young _ people and providing the very * best of opportunities for them," said Janice Boyce, a candidate for the Parksville Township board of education seat. "If elected I promise only one thing," she said, "to do my best to serve our county and its young people." Another candidate for the f 1 1 Spring Fling Spring Fling is coming May 18, and it may just be the biggest celebration of a the arts that Perquimans County has ever seen. Sponsored by the Perquimans County Arts Council, the Sunday af ternoon extravaganza will feature artists, craftsmen, dancers, singers, and just i about every mode of ar tistic expression, said ftilly Wooten, president of the $ arts council. Wooten said the event will be advertised and publicised Albemarle wMe in order to attract a wide array of participants and spectators. The event will be preceded on Saturday night by a fish fry at the American Legion building J| and activities in the park Parksville seat, Ed Brown, touched on a wide range of concerns he believes to be pertinent to the future of the Perquimans County School System. "Energy and economic problems will affect business and school systems alike," Brown said. "Declining student enrollment means less state funds while fixed costs continue to rise," he said. Efficient use of funds is a key to dealing with the dilemma, Brown said. At the same time, he said that the school system needs to con tinue to upgrade facilities within its economic means. Brown said that students need to be able to take pride in their schools. Pride can be a tremendous motivating factor, he said. "The band program is one , example of how students can learn and excel! just given the opportunity," he said. Athletic faculties need to be improved, he said, and should receive maximum use. A third candidate for the Parksville seat, Cliff Towe, began his speech with a long list of professional ex periences that he said qualify him to serve on the school board. Towe said he spent 10 years teaching high school English, chaired his lanquage arts department, coached, and was for four years faculty representative to tbe board of education in the Delaware school district. The school system should offer an opportunity for tbe student to sucecd, Towe said. Each student invests 12 years of his life in public education, and at the end of those 12 years he should be able to look back and a?y it was word) it, Towe said. "Surely I would not be a success today if it were not for the opportunity presented tne to succeed," Towe said. "Every year students graduate who have never had the opportunity to develop their talents," Towe said. The school system should see to it that talents are recognized and that each student has an opportunity to succeed, he said. Preston Stevenson, in cumbent Hertford Township candidate, advocated a return to prayer in schools. "We certainly should look up," said Stevenson. "I believe in prayer in schools and Bible reading," he said. Stevenson said that the recent acquisition of some 20 acres of land and the nearly completed million dollar plus addition at Perquimans County High School represent progress by the school system. He said he is "dedicated to the best education possible" for the county's young people. Gil Underwood, also a candidate for the Hertford Township seat, took issue with claims to progress in Perquimans County's schools. "The school board is a policy making board," Un derwood said. "It should have long range vision and long range goals and objectives," he said. In the past, he said, the school board has not had sufficient foresight. As an example, Underwood cited the high school addition. "It was not the first option, the thing the children of this county needed most," Un derwood said. He said the board needs to be looking some 20 years in to the future when it makes ?uch decisions today . The land purchase at the high school, he said, should have been made 20 yean ago and a new high school built in this county ~ The board should be one of action, not reaction, he uld. Crises should be recognized before they occurr. In addition, Underwood said the board needs to be com mitted to two programs within the system. These, he said, are ex tracurricular activities, and academic excellence. The two areas, he said "can and must be improved upon." Underwood also said the board should make known that meetings are open to the public and should solicit public involvement. Claiming 23 years of ex perience as a professional educator, Underwood said he taught, coached, and served as a principal in the Edenton Chowan School System. A third speaker who sought to boost his candidacy for the Hertford Township seat was George White. White, who has served for 14 years in a management capacity at the Carter Ink Company in Edenton, said he feels he is qualified to sit on the board, look at problems objectively, and make sound decisions. "My every day decision making affects 125 em ployees," White said. "I'm intrested in young people and for many years tutored high school students in my home," he said. White said he also serves on the county recreation department's board of directors, and has coached a great many children in youth athletic programs. "I will do the best I can to see that your children and mine get the best education they can through the Perquimans County School System," White said. Emmett Long, an unop posed incumbent running for the Bethel Township seat, was present but did not speak. Jeanne C. White, seeking re election to her Register of Deeds post, was also present but did not speak. volunteer Lfay srt In an effort to salute volunteers in Perquimans County, the third annual Volunteer Day will be ob served on Saturday, Hay 3, at the Perquimans County Courthouse in Hertford. Festivities, which will begin at 2 p.m. and last until 4, will include entertainment from the Perquimans County High School Band, and demon strations from county volunteer fire departments and the Perquimans County Rescue Squad. Guest ap pearances from Little Miss and Mister Perquimans County and Little Miss and Mr. Sweetheart are also ex pected. Refreshments will be served. Participation from all area \ civic, fund-raising, and community organizations is also encouraged. It is an ticipated that all such service organizations will be on hand to answer questions about their organizations, and to offer information about their roles as volunteers in the community. Any community groups interested in participating in Volunteer Day should contact Hertford Mayor Bill Cox at 4M-7S05 or Noel Todd McLaughlin at 426-5728. Volunteer Day was originally encouraged statewide by Governor James B. Hunt fat an effort to recognise the importance of volunteer contributions throughout North Carolina . I seat on the county board of commissioners. Simmons, who said that Brabble was too ill to attend the event, talked of scandal and corruption in politics, and said the way to combat these problems is to elect good candidates on the local level. He said there is no excuse for "apathetic attitudes" and urged every eligible voter to register. "The entire political system begins and ends on the local level," Simmons said. Margaret Stowe Garrison, also a candidate for a First District commissioner's seat, sounded off on a variety of issues. For starters, Ms. Garrison said she is not for women's liberation, but she is for equal rights. In addition, she expressed her concern about the welfare program, maintaining that in some cases, "those who have don't need and those who need don't have," the schools, saying, "we need to instill incentive in the students as well as the teachers," a lack of medical facilities in the county and law enforcement. Ms. Garrison also said that county residents need to be better informed on county affairs. "We pay the bills," she said. In addition, she argued that a county manager is not needed. "We asked (or the job and now we want to pay somebody to do it," she said. Rev. John London, another candidate for the district I seat, spoke next. London said he has served on many government boards in the past, and has had the opportunity and experience to know what government is all about. He said he is serving his third term on tho ABC board, is serving on the county social services board and is serving ( Continued on pige 2) Land use plan in serious trouble Perquimans County may be penalized nearly $8,000 for failing to meet a federally set deadline for completing its land use plan. Required by the Coastal Area Management Act, the plan would identify problems and issues that could confront the county in the next five years, and project an overall picture of desired land use in 1985. But progress on the plan was deemed in "serious trouble" by the Coastal Resources Commission at their regular monthly meeting last Tuesday. According to T. Erie Haste, who represents Perquimans County on the CRC, Perquimans County's plan is not in compliance with the federally set time schedule for completion. Haste, who said that the commission also defined four other Eastern North Carolina counties as severely off schedule, added that due to severe time restraints (the draft plan is due June 30 and should be finalized by August aw 31) the CRC felt that direct action was needed. The idea of cancelling the contracts and helping local governments find new contractors was discussed by the commission. The CRC also moved to set up staff meetings with any local governments having serious planning difficulties "in order to come up with positive action which will produce a high quality land use plan." Ralph Cantral, Coastal Land Use Planner, said that Perquimans County's plan was not only suffering from being off schedule, but also from a lack of quality. Although Cantral said that all county plans were put off schedule by one month due to the late arrival of contracts, most areas had adjusted their time accordingly. "Those counties who are on schedule sent out their questionnaires (to gain public input) in December," said Cantral, who added that Perquimans County's questionnaires was not mailed until March 1. is??sa Cantral also mentioned that most of the counties had completed 50 percent of the work required for the Land Use Plan during the first half of the contracted time. He said that Perquiamans County only had completed 30 percent of the land use work during that time. And, according to Cantral, the Perquimans County questionnaire only addressed about one-third of the issues that the commission advised each plan to include. "We have a lengthy list of policy statements to be used in each plan," said Cantral, "Perquimans County's survey does not adequately cover some of these." Cantral added that the Perquimans County draft "pays a lot of attention to things that are out of the county's hands." As examples, he cited the survey's "preoccupation" with agricultural and forestry matters. "These things are pretty much handled in the private sector and could not be ( Continued on page 2) Governor's school Perquimans High ScTiool students Robin Bullard (right) and Diane Jordan have been selected to attend governor's school, an intensive academic summer session for gifted and talented students. Ms. Bullard will attend Governor's School West at Salem College in Winston Salem in the area of Natural Science. Ms. Jordan will study English at Governor's School East, conducted at St. Andrews College in Laurinburg. State House, Senate hopefuls speak here Six candidates are seeking to represent Perquimans County as First district state senators and representatives. Only four will be elected, and all six took the opportunity to plug their campaigns at the Hertford Business and Professional Women's "Meet the Candidates Night" last Wednesday. Each candidate received five minutes to plead his cause, beginning with the three Democratic candidates who are seeking two seats in the N.C. Senate. Incumbent Kelvin Daniels a of Elizabeth City said it takes a lot of attention and a wide range of expertise to deal with the probelms of the 14 county first district. Daniels said that he has fought for improved tran sportation in the area and was one of the perpetrators of Vepco criticism. "Four or five years ago, when I started talking about VEPCO I was very very lonely," Daniels said. He said that the one man one vote concept which has two senators representing 14 counties needs to be * examined, and that economic problems need to be ad dressed. Incumbent Monk Harrington said he has served in the senate for the past 18 years. He said that a senator has got to learn how to get a long with the governor, and he has learned to just that. Harrington's 14 years as chairman of the public transportation have given him influence with the state Department of Trans ortation, he said. "It's difficult to be able to (Continued on page 2)
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