THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 40, No. * USPS 428-080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, February 9, 1984 25 CENTS
Former County
Recreation Director
found guilty
First snow
The first snow of the winter
came on Monday to
Perquimans County, leaving
many motorists stranded
along the roads after their
vehicles hit icy patches on the
highway. No major injuries
were reported as a result of
the snow which left one to
four inches of accumulation
throughout the county.
(Photo by Jane Williams.)
Mansfield receives Florence Kidder
Memorial Scholarship award
John Christopher Mansfield, son of
Mr. and Mrs. John Freeman Man
sfield of Hertford, has been named
the 1984 winner of the Florence
Kidder Memorial Scholarship.
The announcement was made by
Issac T. Avery Jr. of Statesville,
Scholarship Chairman, at the
MANSFIELD
February meeting of the North
Carotin# Board of Directors of the
National Society of Colonial Dames
of America, in Wilmington on
Wednesday.
The scholarship is awarded yearly
and provides $1,000 to the recipient.
Mansfield is a senior at
Perquimans County High School. He
competed for the honor with high
school seniors throughout North
Carolina. He is the first student to be
awarded this honor in the Albemarle
Area since Mrs. Luther Sanders Jr.,
formerly Anne Duke of Elizabeth
City, received the award in 1955.
Guidance Counselor Elaine Prit
chard of Perquimans County High
School stated, "Chris Mansfield is an
outatanding student, and I am per
aonflly gratified that a Perquimans
atudent is the 1984 recipient of the
aeholarship."
According to Counselor Pritchard,
Mansfield has been active in band
and orchestra druing his four years
at Perquimans. He attended
Governors School and was selected
for Who's Who Among High School
Students. ?
He is secretary of the Beta Club
and one of the ten most outstanding
seniors at Perquimans County High
School. Hew was also selected as
Perquimans County's nominee for a
Morehead Scholarship.
Mansfield plans to enter East
Carolina University next fall as a
pre-med major.
Mansfield was also selectd as
recipient of the Albemarle Freedom
Award given annually by the
Albemarle Committee according to
Mrs. Clifford Barry, chairman,
which entitles him to enter the state
wide competition for the Florence
Kidder Memorial Scholarship.
The contestants are judged on the
basis of character, ability, scholastic
record and merits of an essay on an
assigned patritotic subject.
The topic thb >ear was "North
Carolina's Role in Colonial History:
Our Four Hundreth Anniversary."
The National Socity of the Colonial
Dames of America was founded in
1894. The objectives of the Society
are to foster historic preservation
and to stimulate a spirit of true
patriotism and a genuine love of
country.
In this connection the Society has
made restoration of valuable old
houses a cornerstone of its
philosophy. Dumbarton House,
Washington, D.C., owned by the
Society, is their national
Headquarters.
In addition, some 90 historic sites
house and museum rooms are
maintained and supported by the
Society, including Gunstan Hall,
home of George Mason.
The North Carolina Society is one
of 42 state societies comprising the
National Society and owns four
museum houses in North Carolina:
Cornwallis House, Wilmington; Joel
Lane House and Haywood Hall,
Raleigh; and the Fourth House, Old
Salem.
Each of these houses are open to
the public.
A Perquimans County jury
returned a verdict of guilty against
former Perquimans County Parks
and Recreation Director Willie Lee
(Billy) Wooten last week in
Perquimans County Superior Court.
Wooten was convicted of an at
tempted crime against nature. The
guilty verdict was returned after
thirty-five minutes of deliberation by
the jury that was comprised of eight
men and four women.
Wooten, age 29 of Winfall, was on
trial as a result of an indictment that
was obtained against him in October,
1983. The original charge of a second
degree sexual offense was reduced to
a crime against nature when it was
revealed that the first charge did not
exist in 1978 when the crime took
place.
Wooten, a native of Wilson, N.C.,
showed no emotion when the verdict
was read.
Testimony in the trial began on
Thursday with the State of North
Carolina calling on three witnesses to
testify in the two day trial.
Darryl White, age 20 of Brooklyn,
N.Y., (formerly of Perquimans
County) testified that he was em
ployed as a recreation aide during
the summer of 1978 working under
Wooten in the Perquimans County
Recreation Department. White told
the jury that the incident occured
during working hours while he was
employed by the Recreation
Department under the CETA
Program. White told the court that he
"didn't tell anyone about the it
because I was scared." White stated
that he eventually talked with
Winfall Police Chief J.L. Lothian and
Captain Robert Morris of the Hert
ford Police Department last sum
mer.
Other witnesses for the state were
Officer Timothy Spence of the
Hertford Police Department and
Lothian.
No witnesses testified in Wooten's
defense.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 8,
1984 at 2:00 p.m. in Perquimans
County Superior Court. Wooten could
face up to ten years in prison for the
offense.
Service Directory
makes County debut
In this week's edition of
THE PERQUIMANS
WEEKLY you will find a
copy of the newly com
pleted "1984 Perquimans
County Service Direc
tory."
We encourage you to
keep this booklet by your
telephone to act as a guide
for finding merchandise
and services that are
available to you in
Perquimans County.
We have mass-mailed
this week's paper
throughout the county so
that each and every
resident could receive this
new directory. To our
regular customers we
apologize for any
duplication that you may
have received this week.
This guide has been
compiled by the staff of
THE PERQUIMANS
WEEKLY with the en
dorsement of the
Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce. It
is our hope that the use of
this guide will save you
time, energy and money.
It is our plan to up-date
this directory and mail it
to you on an annual basis.
If you have any questions,
comments or suggestions,
or would like to be in
cluded in next year's
directory, please feel free
to call us at 426-5728.
LaneelectedChief of Chowan Hospital staff
New officers have been elected by
Chowan Hospital's Medical Staff to
serve a two-year term which began
January 1.
Dr. Robert Earl Lane, elected as
Chief of Staff, joined the Chowan
Medical Center group in February
1973. Dr. Lane is a 1967 graduate of
rulane Meidcal School and com
pleted a General Practice residency
it Contra Costa County Hospital in
Martinet, California.
Much of Dr. Lane's practice time
luring the past two years has been
spent at the Medical Center's clinic
in Hertford.
Dr. Mark Walsh, Emergency
Room physician at the hospital, has
been elected as Vice-Che if of Staff.
Dr. Walsh joined the Medical Staff in
July 1M0.
He is a 1976 graduate of the
University of Bologna Medical
School in Italy and completed an
Internal Medicine residency at
Mercy Hospital and Medical Center
and Northwestern University
Hospital in Chicago.
A 1054 graduate of the UNC School
of Medicine, Dr. Archie Walker was
elected to continue in his role as
Medical Staff secretary. Dr. Walker
moved to Edenton in November 1S58
alter completing a General Practice
residency at the Medical College of
Virginia in Richmond.
Three new members to the Board
of Directors of Chowan Hospital have
aleo been named.
Approved for a three-year term
beginning January 1, were Dr. Lei
DeVlne, W. P. "Spec" Jones and
Peggy Anne Vaughn. A second three
year appointment was approved for
Earl Smith.
Retiring board members included
W A. "Bill" Whiebard (who served
as Chairman in IMS), Byron Kehayes
(who served aa Vice-Chairman in
\ ' ? 1
J. ft
1983) and Dr. Richard Hardin.
Board officers elected for the 1984
calendar year are Gilliam Wood,
Chairman; Lester Simpson, Vice
Chairman; Daisy Bembry,
Secretary; Greg Berryman, Assitant
Secretary; and Jimmy Hare,
Treasurer.
The members of the Board of
Director* of the hospital serve
voluntarily, with no monetary
payment, tod are to be commended
for their dedication to the hospital
and the community.
In addition to the new ap
pointments Oowan Hospital has
announced that Dr. James F.
O'Leary, member of the Chowan
Hospital Staff, has received
notification of his certification by the
American Board of Surgery.
O'Leary has been actively engaged
in the development of the emergency
Medical Services and presently
serves as Chairman of Eastern
Carolina Emergency Medical Ser
vices Systems, Inc.
O'Leary worked in Perquimans
County prior to opening his practice
in Edenton.
White pleads guilty to
embezzlement charges
Bonnie Dill White, age 42 of
Hertford, pled guilty to three counts
of embenlement in Perquimans
County Superior Court last week.
White was charged with eight
counts of embetriemeat against the
Open Door, a religious charitable
Institution, in an indictment that was
issued against her by the
Perquimans County Grand Jury in
December, INS.
As part el a pre-arranged plea
White pled guilty to three o* the
charges and the District Attorney's
office dropped the other five charges.
White served as the treasurer of
the Open Door.
White, who owns Bonnie White
Bookkeeping and Income Tax Ser
vice in Hertford, was sentenced to
tour months, suspended and placed
on two years unsupervised probation.
She was ordered to make restitution
and to reimburse the Town at Hert
ford tor the costs ensued by the In
vestigation.
Harrell named
Secretary/Manager
of Chamber
For the first time in almost ten
years the Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce has in its
employ a professional staff member
in a managerial position.
Mary Inez Harrell officially began
her duties as Secretary/Manager of
the Perquimans County Chamber of
Commerce on Monday.
Harrell, a Hertford resident, has
been an active member of the
Chamber since it was chartered in
Perquimans County in 1962. Her
husband, the late Charles M. Harrell,
Jr., was the first president of the
local chamber. Mrs. Harrell served
M Chamber of Commerce President
in 1983.
Harrell will be employed on a part
time basis to act as the chief ad
ministrative officer of the Chamber
of Commerce, subject to the ap
proval of the Board of Directors, and
will serve as an ex-offlcio member of
the Board of Directors and all
standing committees of the local
chamber of Commerce.
Others duties to be encompassed
by Harrell will include receipt of all
monies incoming and outgoing of the
Chamber office, handling the book
work for the Chamber and all
correspoodance of the Chamber of
Commerce.
In commenting on her new
responsibilities Harrell said; "This
1
job will be a real challenge for me.
The Chamber of Commerce has a lot
going on now. We have accomplished
a lot and we want to see it keep going.
We also have a lot left to do."
"We are very happy that Mary has
decided to take the job as
secretary/manager of the Chamber.
We are really fortunate to have had
her help in the past and look forward
to working with her in the future,"
said Shirley Perry, President of the
Perquimans County Chamber of
Commerce.
"I think that Mary has done an
outstanding job for the Chamber of
Commerce, and having her in this
position will be an asset to the
Chamber," Perry said.
In discussing her hopes for the
growth and development of the
county in the future, and the
Chamber of Commerce's role in this
growth Harrell said, "I think that
Perquimans County has great
potential and with the Chamber of
Commerce working with other
county organizations, governing
boards and individual citizens we can
make progress*, but it will take
working together to make things
happen."
"I feel that with the ground work
that has been laid, 1984 is the year for
progress in Perquimans County,"
Harrell said