THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 54, No. 26 USPS 421-OSO Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, July 3, 1?M 25 CENTS
JULY FOURTH FESTIVITIES? A fireworks
demonstration will highlight the activities
planned for the July Fourth celebration at
Missing Mill Park by the Perquimans County
Jaycees. This year's display will include more
than 200 offerings, and is scheduled to take
place at 9:15 p.m. on Friday. (Perquimans
Weekly file photo.)
Priority paving projects established
By JANE B. WILLIAMS
Four roads in Perquimans
County are expected to be paved
following action taken during a
public meeting at the Perqui
mans County Courthouse last
week.
County Commissioners met
with members of the North Caro
lina Department of Transporta
tion during a public forum on
Thursday to discuss the county's
proposed secondary roads im
provement program for Fiscal
Year 1986-87.
The program calls for im
provements to 18 roads in the
county at an estimated total cost
of $352,565. Most of the roads that
are included in the program, but
that are not to be paved, will re
ceive spot stabilization and level
ing at costs ranging from $2,000
to $17,000.
The two roads receiving high
est priority for paving will not be
included in this year's proposal
due to problems with acquisition
of right of way. According to reg
ulations, right of way for paving
projects along secondary roads
must be donated to the state.
Those roads, State Road 1300, the
Charlie Griffin Road, and State
Road 1311, Whitehat Road, will
come up for review during the
next improvement program.
With the elimination of those
roads the following paving pro
jects, all of which are located in
Snug Harbor, were moved up on
the priority list for consideration,
and were approved for paving by
the County Commissioners :
Hemlock Street; Dogwood
Drive; Fir Street; and Cedar,
Pine and Ash Streets.
Hemlock Street, State Road
1372, will receive grading, drain
age and paving for .12 miles at a
estimated cost of $12,000. Dog
wood Drive, State Road 1380, will
be graded, with drainage in
stalled and paved for 1.04 miles
at an estimated cost of $104,000.
Fir Street will also be graded and
paved with drainage installed for
a one-half mile area at an ap
proximate cost of $50,000. State
Road 1381, which encompasses
Cedar, Pine and Ash Streets,
moved onto the priority list for
paving when Whitehat Road was
removed. The distance to be
paved is .69 miles at a cost of ap
proximately 67,000.
A $3,000 appropriation was
made for a right of way study
and survey for Whitehat Road.
Highway Commissioner Ken
neth Roberson told the group that
was assembled that paving pro
jects would probably not get un
derway until next spring.
JN ewbold- White restoration progresses
The Perquimans County Re
storation Association completed
the restoration of the 300 year old
Newbold-White House in 1961.
Since that time it has been pro
claimed the most important his
toric site in North Carolina fol
lowing Roanoke Island
settlements. Each year since the
opening, some phase in the his
tory of the house, the county, or
the state, has been depicted in or
der to show Perquimans citizens
and other North Carolinians the
true significance of the small, 20
x 40 foot house built here in 1685.
The 1982 commeration had
children in folk games and
dances as well as many exhibi
tions by local craftsmen showing
such necessary skills as the first
settlers would have needed. In
1963, tribute was paid to the first
Americans, with Indian crafts
and skills presented. Indian Edu
cational Leaders from through
out the State came, and the Four
Hundredth Anniversary Commit
tee placed a marker on the Court
house Square in appreciation of
the friendship and help of the
Yeopim Indians who were here
when the first Englishmen came.
Heritage day 1964, featured the
early courts, with North Carolina
Supreme Court Chief Justice, Jo
seph Branch, marking the site an
most important to the beginning
of the courts system in North
Carolina. 1964 was also the year
of the Quakers, with a pilgrim
age to the important early
Quaker sites in the country. Peo
ple came from ten states for this
celebration at the site where
George Fox preached in 1072,
marking the beginning of orga
nized religion in the state.
The North Carolina General
Assembly, led by three-times
Speaker of the House, Lis ton B.
Ramsey, visited Newbold-White
in 1965, in commeration of a
meeting by the Assembly held
there under Governor John Arch
dale in 1697. It also was the 300th
birthday of the house and the oc
casion for cutting a nuge cake
and serving the native Indian
drink, yaupon tea. Speaker Ram
sey was given the first Harvey
Award for public service. The
Award honors a native son of
Perquimans County, John Har
vey, who served as speaker of the
Royal Governor's General As
sembly five times during colonial
days. Harvey was also said to be
"the Father of the American
Revolution in North Carolina."
Eight long years went into the
restoration of the house itself,
and many people throughout the
state contributed the funds nec
essary to match state and federal
funds. Several fund-raising
drives were held in Perquimans,
with R.L. Stevenson, Senior Vice
President, Peoples Bank, Hert
ford usually leading these. There
has been one outstanding man,
Irving H. Wainwright, of Rich
mond, who time and again
matched funds for the work to
continue. An organization called
Perquimans Patriots was
formed, and it contributed thou
sands of dollars. The restoration
dragged on for so long that one
person commented "We have
worn out the good will of the peo
ple of the County."
The membership drive for 1986
members proved this to be un
true. There are now 266 mem
bers, including corporate and pa
tron, who have contributed $5500
in 1966. There is also an active,
volunteer docent progam, with
continuous training by Archivist,
Ray Winslow and Program Di
rector, David McCall. Several
husband-wife teams are giving
one day each month to this pro
gram.
la this view of NewboM-Whhe, two volunteers art laying a cypres* rail feace.
Jaycees announce plans for
Fourth of July festivities
By JANE B. WILLIAMS
Missing Mill Park will be the
focal point of a host of activity on
Friday, when the Perquimans
County Jaycees launch a day
long Fourth of July celebration.
The fun will begin at 10:00 a.m.
with a Huck Finn Fishing Contest
for chidren ages 12 and under.
The contest will last until Noon,
and trophies will be awarded to
the first and second place win
ners. The top fisherman will re
ceive a rod and reel in addition to
a trophy.
From Noon until 2:00 p.m. lo
cal children will participate in a
variety of games and activities
such as a frog-jumping contest,
an egg toss, wheel barrow races,
a greased pole climb, sack races
and a frisbee toss.
Miller Lite will sponsor a tug-o
war contest at 2:00 p.m. for the
adults. The winning team mem
bers will receive t-shirts and tro
phies for their efforts.
Other activities planned for
adults during the day will be a
tobacco-spitting contest spon
sored by Red Man Tobacco, a
horse-shoe pitching contest, and
a rail-driving contest.
At three o'clock the Harbor
Lites Square Dancers will per
form. A bike team is also ex
pected to perform during the af
ternoon.
The Warden Family Singers
will highlight a gospel sing at
6:00 p.m., followed by a commu
nity-wide church service in the
park at 7:00.
At eight o'clock, Bob Reed and
the Bitter Creek Band will enter
tain the crowd with music for a
street dance. The band will take
a break around 9:15 p.m. for a
fireworks demonstration, which
promises to be the biggest ever in
Hertford, with more than 200
shells being set off to celebrate
the nation's independance.
After the fireworks demonstra
tion the band will resume play
ing, during the band's second in
termission the winner of the
beach week-end raffle will be
drawn. The recipient of the prize
will receive two days and one
night on the Outer Banks of
North Carolina, or $100 in cash.
Raffle tickets are available from
any Jaycee member.
The Jaycees encourage every
one in the community to come
out and participate in the day's
festivities, but remind those at
tending that alcohol consumption
is prohibited on public property.
The club, in conjunction with lo
cal ABC officers and other law
enforcement agencies, will be
patrolling the area throughout
the day to deter the usage of alco
holic beverages. It is the hope of
the Jaycees that the day will pro
vide fun, family oriented enter
tainment.
Winfall Council
adopts budget
Police Dept. retains funding
By JANE B. WILLIAMS
Winfall Town Council mem
bers voted unanimously to ap
prove the proposed $125,689.42
budget for Fiscal Year 1986-87 on
Monday night, following a
month-long debate on whether or
not to continue funding of the
town's police department.
The question of continuing the
department came after the chief
of police was elected as the dem
ocratic nominee for sheriff of
Perquimans County. The depart
ment operates with the chief as
the only full-time officer, and the
town considered eliminating the
department when the chief takes
the office of sheriff in December.
The approved budget, which
will leave the town's ad valorem
tax rate at 22-cents, appropriates
$25,532.13 for the operation of the
police department. The depart
ment will continue with Chief of
Police J.L. Lothian in charge of
operations until December.
Residents of the municipality
united on Monday night to re
quest that the town's board keep
the department in operation fol
lowing Lothian's departure.
They stressed that the town
would be taking a step back
wards if they .were to eliminate
that service.
The board had considered, in
lieu of making a decision about
the department, holding a refer
endum to let the voters of Winfall
decide the fate of the police de
partment. Winfall resident and
businessman Cliff Towe told the
board that he saw no need for the
town to hold a referendum, stat
ing that "I didn't think there was
any question that we need a po
lice department."
Board members reminded
Towe and the other approxi
mately 45 residents present that
a group that attended the pre
1
vious week's meeting had re
quested elimination of the de
partment due to a possible tax
increase in future years. The
group that assembled for Mon
day's meeting questioned the
board as to where those people
were, and reminded board mem
bers that the prior group was a
much smaller one than the one
that was present.
Towe told the board that they
had to do what was right for Win
fall, saying "that's what the peo
ple elected you for." He told the
board that they weren't there to
please all of the people, but to do
what was in the best interest of
the town.
Several other residents present
spoke up and added their re
quests that the board continue to
fund the department. Charlotte
White told the board, "I'm a
widow and it's been a source of
comfort for me to have Joe riding
by." She also added that if the
town is getting rid of the police
department it should also get rid
trash collection and other serv
ices.
David Brookins addressed the
issue of possible tax increases
saying, "If you need protection
you've got to pay for it." He told
the board that "nobody is looking
for you to give us anything, we're
willing to pay for it." Brookins
added that you can't put a price
on public safety and the lives of
the citizens.
After approximately 30 min
utes of discussion, Councilman
Jack Symons made a motion to
accept the budget as originally
proposed with provisions for the
continuation of the department.
Councilman Seymour Chappell
seconded the motion, that re
ceived the unanimous approval
of the board.
Funding, volunteers
sought for Camp Joy
Mentally and physically hand
icapped children will once again
be offered the opportunity to par
ticipate in a camp environment
when Camp Joy officially opens
on July 14.
The camp, which is sponsored
by Parents and Professionals for
Exceptional Citizens, is a recre
ational camp for handicapped
children in Chowan, Perqui
mans, Pasquotank, Camden, and
Currituck County.
The five-day camp will be held
in Elizabeth City under the direc
tion of David Gilbert, Director of
Mental Retardation Services for
Albemarle Mental Health.
According to Gilbert, Albemarle
Mental Health volunteers its
services to help with the camp by
coordination of activities and
providing volunteer staff mem
bers. Approximate SO children
ages two to 22, are enrolled in the
camp that will operate daily
k
from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. in
various locations through Eliza
beth City.
Activities during the upcoming
session of Camp Joy will include
a carnival at Roanoke Bible Col
lege, a 4-H craft workshop, and a
day of swimming at Meads' Pool.
Gilbert stressed that the camp
is run solely by community vol
unteers and is funded entirely by
contributions, both of which are
needed to insure the success of
the camp. Gilbert stated that ap
proximately 75 volunteers were
needed each day .The estimated
cost of sponsoring a child far
Camp Joy is 135.00. Contributions
can be mailed to PPEC, Post Of
fice Box 1781, Elizabeth City,
N.C. 27909. To volunteer as a
helper with the camp, or for
more information about Camp
Joy contact Gilbert at 482-2197 or
Elaine Vann at 338-3639.