Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Dec. 11, 1980, edition 1 / Page 4
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Weekly Perspective Our view ii On protesting phone service rate hike The Hertford Town Council now counts ttsel/ among those who are protesting a Carolina Telephone rate hike proposal that would see the cost of area telephone service increase by about a third. "It's hardly worth what we're paying now," would seem to be the council's attitude towards the proposal. The only thing that Carolina Telephone doesn't want to go up on, it seems, is long distance service. That may be because the company doesn't have any jurisdiction over long-distance rates. Everything from hooking up a new phone to just keeping a phone on the wall is going to cost more, though, at least if Carolina Telephone has its way about it Included in the rate proposal justification is the old catch 22, service can't be improved without more money. Part of the problem is probably couched in the inheritance factor. Carolina Telephone took over where Norfolk-Carolina left off, and Norfolk Carolina did not leave off in a par ticularly advantageous position. But an increase of more than one-third in one chunk is more than area customers can digest, particularly when dial tones are sometimes conspicuously absent and long distance dialings are sometimes interrupted by busy signals. The fact that rate hike proposals are not immediately embraced by the public utilities commissission offers some consolation, though. Proposals are examined, evaluated, and citizen input is considered. We suspect that Carolina Telephone can survive with a rate hike of leu magnitude than the company has proposed. If we are correct in our assumption, we must depend on public stances such as the one taken by the Hertford Town Council for wringing the extra money out of the proposal. Those persons who would like to comment on the proposal should be present at the public hearing in Elisabeth City on Jan. 6. Written statements may also be sub mitted to the Chief Clerk, North Carolina Utilities Commission, P.O. Box Ml, Raleigh, N.C., 27602. Looking back By VIRGINIA WHITE TRANSEAU December 1M2 CHRISTMAS LIGHTS OUT FOR THIS YEAR: Christmas decorations and the multi-colored lights, long a part of the 0owntown shopping atmosphere during the holiday season, will be out for this year, according the Mayor V.N. Darden. ; Mayor Darden stated that the Office of Civilian Defense had requested all cities and towns to forego the usual Christmas lights as decorations this year due to the black-out rules and the danger in case of an air raid. ? However, the stores of Hertford have decorated in the usual holiday manner, and those seeking the varied colors and kpirit of Christmas can get it by visiting the shopping centers of the town. HERTFORD GIRL SCOUTS HAVE BIRTHDAY PARTY: The Hertford !Troop of Girl Scouts were entertained last Monday night at a birthday party, the occasion being the anniversary of the Socal troop. Refreshments were served to 'the large number attending the party. As a climax to the evening, the troop headers, Mrs. R.S. Monds, Jr., and Miss N badges to the following Scouts: Eloise Godwin, Marine Landing, Pat Morris, Julia Laughinhouse, Catherine Holmes, Maude Holmes, Nancy Zachary, Mildred Skinner, Myrtle Norman Elliott, Romona Divers, Juanita Divers, Betty Winslow and Betty Chappell. BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT: Born to Mr. and Mrs. Clyde E. Lane on Tuedsay, Dec. 8, 1942, a son. Mrs. Lane was the former Miss Daisy Mathews. AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Jesse Lee Harris, son of Mr. and Mrs. Z.A. Harris, left Sunday for Columbia University, where he will enter Naval Officers' Training School. Mr. Harris volunteered in the U.S.N.R., and is in Class V-7. IN THE ADVERTISEMENTS: At Pender Quality Food Store, 12 lb. bag of flour 60 cents; Grapefruit, size 70...5 cents each; oranges, 8 lbs. 49 cents; lettuce, two heads are 27 cents; U.S. No. 1 Maine Potatoes in a 10 lb. bag are 33 cents; tangerines, 1 lb. 10 cents; Lang's dill or sour pickles, in quart jars 35 cents; and Handy towels, roll 9 cents. ? ?! ? _ ? \ rohtical similarities come to fore While news analysts attempt to un derstand the events of 1980, historians can look back a century to examine 1880. ft However different they might other wise be, the years 1880 and 1900 have two things in common: both saw a 'Republican elected President of the United States and both saw a Joseph W. Lowell as a Perquimans County Com missioner. ? ' Ray Winnlmr ? ? ? ' V V.; ; The year 1880 began with Nowell serving as Commissioner along with Joseph W. Trotman, Edmund White, Benjamin F. Gregory, and Charles tyingfield Wood. (Col. Wood's name survives in Woodland Circle and ad jacent streets.) ? John A. Wood was Clerk of Superior Court; Uriah W. Speight, Register of Deeds; Robert White, Sheriff; and /oat ah Nicholson, Treasurer. Belvidere merchant and farmer Rufus White sat in the State Senate, while Vermont-born lumberman Ira S. Blaisdell rerigned his seat in the House of Representatives in February to be Id the gubernatorial election Perquimans went for Republican R.P. Buxton, rather than the victorious Democrat Thomas J. Jarvis. Both Republicans and Democrats were then strong and active parties here, and stiff opposition was offered to several county incumbents. In two instances the election of 1880 had surprising results. When the County Commissioners met in December, 1880, to teat the new board, there were two groups of men claiming the positions. James P. Whedbee moved the induction into the office of James M. Whedbee, Ellsberry W. Riddick, and incumbents Trotman, White, and Gregory. Rejecting Whedbee's probably Democratic slate, the Board heard William A. Moore's motion to seat Henry H. Griffin, James Robert Parker (far mer and undertaker), Charles T. Layden, Edward W. Felton, and Joseph H. Hoffler. This probabe Republican motion was also rejected. The old Board declared there had been no legal election and that it would remain in office until elections could be had. Soon after, the controversy was resolved, with blacks Felton and Hoffler and their slate of Commissioners taking office. Tbe other surprise of 1110, was the difficulty of getting a sheriff. The voters elected Miles Overman over incumbent Robert White by a vote of 888 to 818. When the time came to qualify for the 1 fifaA us. FaV\a Onri sTrao.s Ire. m e.s ij Retired but not tired of running Harold Gensling must be running for something, else why would the 65 year old Bethel resident have started a hobby 19 years ago that he still carries on today? From what I could gather at the recreation department's running club meeting Sunday night, Gensling began running just for the health of it, and now that he's started it he can't stop. The way he talks about running, it's obvious the sport means a lot to him. He began his remarks Sunday night by saying that he was going to initiate a discussion on running. An hour later Gensling was finished telling us how he got started and what he's learned from nearly two decades of pavement poun ding. The logical order of this column, though, would be to dispose with first impressions. Gensling doesn't look like a runner. He doesn't look 65 either, for that matter. With a pipe as a virtual extension of his hand, and cowboy boots on his feet, he looks at least 10 years younger than his actual age. The years of running haven't Mike McLaughlin ?L. melted the meat off his bones, either. First impressions behind us, the next logical stop in this story is the beginning. Gensling joined the Norfolk Police Department when he was 40 years old. "They waived the age requirement for me," he said. His first couple of years were spent cm the beat, and that kept him plenty healthy. But then he was assigned to his first patrol car, and began to soften up a little. One day he found out just how physically fit he wasn't "I arrested a guy and brought him down to the station. I opened the door of the car and he took off." Gensling took off after the fellow, but the chase scene lasted only about 100 feet. The police officer's legs collapsed under him, and the incident prompted him to do something about his health. Gensling began a fitness program prescribed by the Royal Canadian Air Force. It was a total fitness program, including sit-ups, push-ups, and, of course, running, among other things. Much of the program was eventually ' dispensed with, but Gensling kept right on running into retirement and Perquimans County. At the same time he started his run ning program, Gensling's wife got into it, and Gensling attributes the running program to saving her life. She was admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery and her condition was such that Gensling was advised by her doctor to go home and pray. "I was scared to death," said Gensling. He went home and prayed. Later the doctor would attribute Gensling's wife's quick recovery to her fine physical condition. The couple now lives in the shadow of the county water tower in Bethel and running is an important part of their lives. Gensling's wife goes the first mile or so with him, then runs back home while Gensling continues for another ? three or four miles. They do it five or six days a week, and running takes a high priority. For in stance, if Gensling has to go to Norfolk for some reason or another, he gets his running in first Every week or so when he's feeling extra frisky, he'll double his distance, turning five miles into ten. Gensling started running before it was a fad, and the jogging shoe was not / widely available if it even existed. His 1 feet slapped the pavement in tennis shoes. Jogging shoes are a big improvement, but he insists that you don't have to pay a fortune to get a suitable pair. Padding, not price, should be the determining factor. A well cushioned sole ean do wonders for preventing sore feet He particularly stressed that the older runner should get a physical before he 1 jogs off into the sunset And be prepared to become addicted. "I feel like it wouldn't be good for me to stop running," said Gensling. ? He's probably right. ! Facing South a syndicated column: voices of tradition in a changing region JACKSON, Ala. - "We just started on the line," Sarah Boykin explains in her soft but steady voice. "We whispered. We carried it on down the line." In this way, she and ap proximately twenty other women waters began their first organizing effort in Vanity Fair's Clarke Mills in 1975. The successful year-long struggle for union representation that followed brought together black and white women of varying ages and levels of education. Bat all the women shared one common trait: mm of the group, composed mainly of sewing machiM operators, had prior experience in organising. Like most of the women involved, Sarah Boykin. president of Local 111 of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, has never considered herself a social activist. "I've always been a loner." Bat to a degree, the effort to unionise has tran sformed Sarah Boytin and the other women as well They have gained a healthy respect for the power of collective efforts, and a hood of strength has been created among them. "Since we've gotten oar anion in and squared away, it's never a dull moment" in the IMO's, when Vanity Fair ? a leading manufacturer of women's lingerie ? first opened its Clark Mills plant in Jackson, subsistence farming was still the predominant way of life in this sooth Alabama community. Vanity Fair, in turn, enjoyed a labor force that worked without question or complaint However, thirty years later, some of these same women no longer felt so grateful They were angry because after nearly a lifetime of work, they still had few benefits, low wages, and bo representation. These wmnen, once all white, had teen joined by a growing number of black women in the IfMs. single largest employer of women in the area, could easily intimidate its workers without taking overt action against them. "Really, indirectly, they worked on us bad," Sarah Boyldn points out Rumors circulated that the plant would close if the union was voted to. For many of the women, the sole supporters of families, this threat, even if unfounded, was enough to suppress their active support of the union. Yet most workers silently supported union efforts, and on Oct. 29, 1978, they elected the International Garment Workers Union as their bargaining representative. With the contract they negotiated in the latter part of 1977, members of Local 111 gained their first experience in collective bargaining. They asked Cor and received pay increases and im proved health benefits. Their contract also provides tor grievance and ar that I love the place, It's Just. I feel obligated to the other members, the people there, to stay there." This deep sense of personal obtigation on the part of Sarah BoyUn and othes women like her has helped combat fear with hope in Local IIS. ? "It seems like there are some peopl* that are (till afraid." Sarah Boykin recognises. "Yon would think they would look at us and say, 'Well they did everything and didn't get fired.' I always teQ them that I say. 'Well, I'm still here." PAULA McLENDON freelance 1 Chatom, Ala. FACING SOUTH welcomes readers' comments and writers' contributions. Write P.O. Box SO, Chapel Hm. N.C. 27514. < < THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY | .-V " '. > I Mike McLaughlin Noel Todd-McLaughlin Co-editor s Pat Mansfield Circulation Manager
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Dec. 11, 1980, edition 1
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