THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 40, No. 14 Z USPS 42*080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, April 5, 1984 25 CENTS
Tornado
Damage
A tornado touched Down in
Perquimans County last
Wednesday night, wreaking
havoc with property and trees
across the southern end of the
county. Property damage
estimates total more than |2
million. See related story and
photos on page 2.
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E.I, C. administers housing-job projects
The Economic Improvement
Council, Inc. is currently operating
an Employment Assitance project
and a Housing Assistance project for
eligible families within the
Albemarle Area. . '
These projects are being funded
under the Community Services Block
Grant administered by the N. C.
. Division of Economic Opportunity.
' Individuals with incomes below the
poverty guidlines may receive
assitance based upon their housing or
employment condition. Clients
seeking assistance under the job
project must be unemployed and
those requesting assistance through
the housing projects must be living in
substandard housing with incomplete
plymbing facilities or overcrowded
f as; determined by the Division of
Economic Opportunity.
; Pre-screening is provided to job
seekers to determine employment
Interests, skills and qulaifications.
Counseling is also provided in areas
such as job seeking, completing ob
applications, interview techniques
and e m p 1 o y e e / e m p 1 o y e r
relationships.
Supportive Services such as
transporation to job interviews,
education or skill training, to public
assistance agencies, day care
centers and consumer counseling is
also provided, as needed.
Available job openings are
obtained by the Block Grant staff
contacting employers to find out
what types of qualifications or skills
are needed for the available
positions.
Clients are matched with job
openings. Emphasis is placed on
referrals to job training programs.
Families living in substandard
housing which do not have complete
plumbing facilities or overcrowded
will be assited in finding decent, safe
and sanitary housing.
Standard housing is sought through
rental units, new home purchase,
home repair or renovation.
(Continued on page 3)
Updated facilities
needed for PCHS
(Editor's Note: The following is the
fifth in a nine-part series of articles
that have been compiled by the
Perquimans County School
Administration staff. These articles
are being provided in an effort to
educate the general public of the
needs facing the county today. )
The quality of the art program in
our high school depnds, in part, on
adequate and functional facilities.
Poor facilities limit the program and
activities that can be offered as well
as presenting hazards to the
students.
The art room needs to be located on
the ground floor with access to the
outside by a private entrance. This
will cut down on noise and
disturbance to other classes as well
as provide easier transporting of
large works of art.
Access to the outside is very
important for spray paint use,
sketching scenes and buildings,
firing Indian pottery, etc... The art
room that is now used is located on
the second floor in the middle of the
building.
This limits the use of the outside
because of traveling down a hallway
and being away from the classroom.
Effective storage facilities are a
definite necessity to an art program.
There is a need for storage space for
art supplies, equipment, visual aids,
paints and other flammable supplies.
They need to be stored away from
work areas. Chemicals used in
pottery and silkscreening need to be
locked up because some of these are
toxic when improperly used.
Equipment such as the pottery kiln
needs to be located where it will not
be moved but can easily used.
It is a safety hazard for the kiln to
be on a wooden floor since the kiln
~ MaMie* close to 2000 degrees in
temperature during use. Ventilation
is a health need of the art facility.
There are many art supplies that
give off fumes, not necessarily
dangerous, but unpleasant. The roof
outside the present art room
prevents breezes from flowing into
the room on most occasions and when
the air does enter the room it blows
the fumes into the hallway.
In every art program, there Is a
need for proper clean up and display
facilities. Presently, the art room has
one sink with only cold water for
cleaning up activities. The problem
would be solved by having more
sinks spaced appropraitely with hot
water for easier cleaning.
The display areas need to serve
both two-dimensional and three
dimensional works. Walls serve very
well for the two-dimensional pieces;
however, display cases or shelves
are needed for sculptures, pottery,
mobiles and other projects.
The art room also nr.eds to have
adequate space for working on
various projects, storing work, and
allowing for rearrangement of
furniture for special projects needs
and for adequate supervision.
There is always the need for proper
lighting, proper floors and
ventilation to insure that accidents
will not occur. The lighting needs to
be adequate but without glare.
The art room now has ten windows
that overlook the auditorium roof.
The glare is so bright that there are
days when the blinds must be shut
completely.
The floors are wooden but should
be of a non-skid material to prevent
sliding when wet.
The art facilities are a vital part of
the Perquimans County High School
Curriculum. When they are
adequate, safe and used to their
potential they help to aid the
program: a program wherethe
student learns to see more, to sense
more, to recall more and to be aware
of his ever changing environment.
The art facility should be a place
where the student learns to express
himself visually in order to prepare
for all the experiences and problems
he will encounter in the future.
Support the Perquimans County
School's Art Programs.
Vote yes for the school bond
referendum on May 8.
Basnight to speak at
?Democratic Convention
-? ***?? ' ' ? v" ? ?
/ Marc Basnight, ? Democratic
contender for the First District N.C.
Senate seat, will be the keynote
speaker at the Perquimans County
democratic Convention on Saturday,
April 14. at 1:?0 p.m. County
Chairman Tim Brinn announced
today. The convention will he held at
the Perquimans County Courthouse.
Basnight, a native of Dare County,
is the owner and manager of
m
T
' Basnight Construction Co. in Manteo.
He is well known throughout the
Albemarle Area for his work with the
North Carolina Department of
Transportation (NCDOT), of which
he is a former board member.
W.D. "Bill" Cox, a fellow board
member stated that Basnight did an
"excellent Job as a member,
probably accomplishing as mueh as
anyone had in a great many years."
"Work was begun on Highway 17
and Highway lit largely due to bis
efforts," Cox said. On the local level
Cox stated that Basnight had helped
the Town of Hertford extend curbing
and guttering from Church St to the
by-pass and had assisted the town in
getting aS of the state maintained
streets resurfaced.
Heading the convention's agenda
will be the election of delegates to the
district and state conventions and the
consideration of a number of
"Ike county convention is an
Important link in the aeries of
Democratic conventions leading
from the precinct up to the national
convention," Brian said. "We hope to
elect strong representatives for
Perquimans County at the district
and state conventions, and to debate
toy hence facing the county, state
ttiuttM."
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Group struggles with preservation effort
The preservation of North
Carolina's oldest house, now called
newbold-White for its last owners,
has been a long and conticuing
struggle for the Perquimans County
Restoration Association.
Why spend all this money on
preserving a house, which, by
today's standards is not fit for
habtiation? It has no indoor
plumbing, no place for cooking
indoors save two huge fireplaces, and
no electric lighting.
The Newbold-White House has
been saved from destruction because
it is a symbol of Perquimans'
importance in the earliest history of
North Carolina.
Perquimans County has a place in
the state's history second only to
Roanoke Island, the focal point of
America's Four Hundredth
Anniversary. This oldest house in
North Carolina has seen the history
of the state and nation unfold.
It if fifty years older than George
Washington, and almost one hundred
years older than the United States of
America.
A people need some tangible
symbols to sustain their pride inthe
past, and to remind them of their
beginnings. The United States has
the Statue of Liberty and the
Washington Monument.
Perquimans County has the
Newbold-White House. During North
Carolina's Proprietary period, from
IMS to 1729. the business of the
government of North Carolina took
place here.
Courts of various kinds met; the
General Assembly sat, and religious
services were held, all in this snail
house, making it a %rt of the
heritage of an North Carolinians.
But it is not enough to repair the
bricks and mortor, to replace the
rotting wood. Historic sites must alao
be brought back to life by reteillag
their history and the lifestyle of the
occupants.
Who was Joseph Scott, the Oral
owner? What was life like in Umm
days to the IMO'sT Why did the
Society of friends hold a religions
service at fetokeae in IITT
These and other questions must be
answered if today's children are to
know their past.
The Perquimans Restoration
Assocation has moved the Federal
period David Newby house to the
property to serve as a site manager's
house and office.
This house is being restored with
major funding by Irving H.
Wainwright, of Richmond, Va., in
mtmory of his wife, Harriett
Frances Madre Wainwright, a native
of Hertford.
Substantial assistance has also
been provided through the North
Carolina Department of Cultural
Resources. Completion of this
project will mark a major step
forward in the work of the
Association.
Interpretation and development of
the site can go forward on a daily
basis, and visitors will be assured
that the site will be open. The
Newbold-White House is included in
the Historic Albemarle Tour, and will
also be shown in the new Four
Hundredth Aniversary Tours now
being prepared by Historic
Albemarle Tour for national tour
brokers.
It also appears in the new North
Carolina Highway Map, in "Back to
Beginnings."
The first Perquimans .Heritage
Day was held in September, 1983, and
depicted some of the role of the
Native American in the county.
A plaque honoring the King of the
Yeopim Indians was dedicated. On
October 12, 1984, the Newbold-White
site will feature Quaker and
Proprietary history. A tour of the
county will be conducted on October
13 to points of historical and Society
of Friends interest.
D. Elton Trueblood, prominent
Society of Friends minister, author
and lecturer will hold religious
services at the Newbold-White site on
Sunday, October 14.
He will be assisted by Billy M.
Britt, Superintendent of the North
Carolina Society of Friends Yearly
Meeting. All churches are invited to
take part in this commemoration of
the beginning of organized religion in
North Carolina.
These special events are being
planned not only to commemorate
four hundred years of English
history, but to give everyone an
opportunity to look back on their
heritage with pride, and to face the
future with faith.
Jeanne C. White, Perquimans
County Chairman of America's Four
Hundredth Anniversary, and Albert
Eure, President, Perquimans County
Restoration Association are
coordianting plans for these events.
NBWBOLD-WHOT HOUSE
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