THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 59, No.38
USPS 428-080
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C. Thursday, September 20 1990
30 CENTS
School: Middle
School students bury
‘I CANT: Pag* 7
Sports: - pi
• Pirates perform well against Eagles: Pag* e
• Lady Pirates 2-0 in conference: Page e
Briefs
Boosters to host
Merchants' Night
The Perquimans County Athletic
Boosters will host a Merchants’
Night on Friday, Sept. 21 during the
Perquimans-weldon football game.
Local merchants are invited to at
tend the game and enjoy coffee and
doughnuts at half-time courtesy of
the Athletic Boosters. The event is
slated to show appreciation to the
local businesses whose support has
allowed the Boosters to upgrade
athletic facilities in the school sys
tem.
Democrats sponsor
Janice Cole dinner
The Perquimans County Demo
cratic party is sponsoring a fish fry
for Janice McKenzie Cole, Demo
cratic candidate for 1st District
court judge on Friday, Sept. 21
from 5-7 p.m. at the Albemarle
Commission building. Tickets are
$4 each and can be purchased from
Democratic Party members.
AARP to meet on
Monday at Center
Perquimans Chapter 4118 of
AARP, Inc., will meet on Monday,
Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. at the Senior Cen
ter on Grubb Street. There will be a
board meeting at 1 p.m.
This month we are pleased to
have the Senior Citizens Chorus
from the Knobbs Creek Center,
Elizabeth City, as our program.
They will sing a variety of songs.
We look forward to their perfor
mance.
Perquimans Chapter 4118 is open
to membership from all of the sur
rounding counties. Please come
and join us.
Ducks Unlimited sets
skeet shoot, dinner
Ducks Unlimited is sponsoring a
skeet shoot and dinner on Saturday,
Sept. 29 at Jimmy Hunter’s farm.
Tickets are available for the shot
and meal, to the meal only, and for
the sponsors, which includes the
shoot, meal ticket to the annual
banquet and two baseballs. Regis
tration is limited and tickets willbe
sold on a first-come, first-sold ba
sis. For more information or to reg
ister, contact Aubrey Onley, Jeff
Perry or Bill Glover.
Holiday Island Civic
group plans theater
Tickets are on sale now for the
Holiday Island Civic League Din
ner Theater which will be held at
the Holiday Island Clubhouse on
Saturday, Sept. 29. The festivities
will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a sing
along followed by a gourmet din
ner.The production, “The Hairy
Man”, is a Dismal Swamp folk tale.
Seats may be reserved by calling
Glenda at 426-7581 or Judy at 426
5937.
Elections board sets
registration closings
Trie Perquimans County Board of
Elections has announced that the
registration books for the Nov. 6
general election will close on Oct. 8.
That is also the deadline for chang
ing registration for voters who
have moved or had a name change.
These changes should be filed Toy
the close-out date to insure that ev
eryone is eligible to vote.
Oct. 30 is the last day to apply for
absentee ballots. One stop voting
begins Tuesday, Oct. 9 ana ends on
Friday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m.
For more information, call the
Board of Elections office at 426
7630.
DEADLINES FDR THE
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
ARE AS FOLLOWS:
RELEASES 3:00 PM
Stising 3:00 PM
CLASSIFIED ?;aa pii
& LEGALS . .3:00 rM
MONDAY PRIOR TO
THURSDAY PUBLICATION
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
119 W. Grubb St.
426-5738
• AM-5 PM, M08.-FRL
Photos by Susan Harris
Festival fun
The first-ever shag contest
was held during the Indian
Summer Festival. Tony
Meads and Margaret Ann
Williams, Dorothy Owens
and Faye Nixon, and Earl
Owens and Mary Baumbush
vie for the title of Perqui
mans’ best shaggers. At left,
Middle School students per
form the pantomime “The
Lighthouse Keeper’s Daugh
ter” sponsored by the Per
quimans Playhouse, Inc.
Festival is success
The 9th annual Indian Summer
Festival was a success, according
to Chamber organizers and those
who attended the two-day, fun
filled affair.
On Friday morning rain clouds
hovered over Hertford, threatening
the festival’s success, but by mid
morning the sun burst through the
cloud cover, much to the relief of
the Chamber’s executive director
Mary Harrell.
Highlights of Friday included
sidewalk sales, window displays,
the Albemarle Fire Safety House,
train rides, an open-air cafe and en
tertainment.
The day was kicked off with a
story hour for the children, cour
tesy of the Perquimans County Li
brary. A variety of entertainers
performed throughout the day. The
Snug Harbor Quartet, PCHS
Marching Pirate Band, Central and
Middle School choruses and Thistle
and Roses band provided music for
all tastes.
Children and adults enjoyed tour
ing the Albemarle Fire Safety
House manned by firefighters from
several county departments. The
Hertford Fire Department Hurst
Tool demonstration was taken in by
a large crowd.
Over 75 booths lined Missing Mill
Park on Saturday, featuring deli
cious foods, a wide array of crafts,
games and information. Locals and
those from out of town flocked to
the park to enjoy offerings.
Big River band led off the enter
tainment. The Flatland Cloggers,
always festival favorites, had at
tendees crowded around to watch
their fancy footwork. “The Light
house Keeper’s Daughter,” a pan
tomime featuring middle school
students, was sponsored by the Per
quimans Playhouse twice during
the day. Two demonstations were
given by the Dragon Combat Mar
tial Arts students and instructors.
Also performing twice were the
Cornfield Cloggers from neighbor
ing Gates County. Wild Streak band
added music during the afternoon.
A shag contest elicited laughs and
applause from the audience. The
first round was won by Dorothy
Owens and her partner Reggie.
Owens teamed up with her sister,
Faye Nixon, to win the second con
test.
The climax of the festival, the
street dance, was deemed the best
in many years by Harrell and par
ticipants. Overtime band played
music to suit a variety of tastes and
were the hits of the festival.
Indian Summer Festival T-shirts
are still available at the Chamber
office for $8.
Martin leaves schools
Schools superintendent Mary Jo
Martin resigned Monday night dur
ing the board of education meeting.
Martin, who has served in Per
quimans for two years, resigned ef
fective Oct. 31 to accept the position
of superintendent with the larger
Alamance County School System.
She said that the pew position will
offer her chances to grow profes
sionally.
The board voted to accept Mar
tin’s resignation after chairman
Clifford Winslow read her short let
ter. Martin chose to allow her letter
to speak for itself, and made no fur
ther comments.
Gene Causby, director of the N.C.
School Board Association will meet
with the board in executive session
Monday night to discuss a replace
ment for Martin.
Martin will probably be best re
membered in Perquimans for her
work in the Small Schools Consor
tium and other organizationsde
signed to bring legislative attention
to the plight of poor rural school
systems, and for engineering the
reorganization of students and ad
ministrative personnel.
Downed power line
lights up Winfall sky
A downed power line at Perqui
mans Central School lit up the night
sky over Winfall Saturday, and
brought emergency personnel from
several county departments racing
to the scene.
Around 9 p.m. Saturday, resi
dents in front of Central School re
ported that their houses “lit up.”
When they looked out their front
doors, flashes of white light were
seen behind the school building.
“It was lighting up the whole
school,” said Denise Marriner, who
lives across the street from the
school. Marriner said it appeared a
tree was on fire, but the blaze extin
guished itself.
Another neighbor reported hear
ing popping noises that sounded
like firecrackers and seeing big
blue balls flying toward the sky.
Residents enjoying the Indian
Summer Festival street dance in
Missing Mill Parte could see the sky
lighting up in Winfall.
Winfall Fire Chief Wayne
Winslow said that one power line
snapped, and that the arcing that
resulted probably caused the noise
residents heard. Firefighters sus
pect that a tree limb resting on the
power line caused the break. There
was no sign of active blaze when
firefighters arrived, however
Winslow said the leaves on one of
the trees near where the break oc
cured were scorched.
Town of Hertford maintenance
personnel repaired the line Satur
day night, and worked Sunday
trimming the trees that line the
driveway behind the school.
“We were very fortunate that it
was a time when there was nobody
there,” Winslow said of the inci
dent. He said that the school’s
buses usually park where the line
fell, and that there could have been
injuries had children been on the
playground when the incident oc
cured.
Those who live near the school
said that they take walks and allow
their children to play on the school
ground in the evening.
Also responding to the call was
the Hertford Fire Department, the
Perquimans County Sheriff’s De
partment, the Perquimans County
Rescue Squad and the Winfall Po
lice Department.
Police make arrests
The Hertford Police Depart
ment made the following arrests:
Antonio Roderick Williams, 32,
of 504 Ray St., Elizabeth City was
arrested on Sept. 7 and charged
with breaking and entering and
larceny Of One Stop Convenience
Store..
Delma Marcel Lee, 28, of 319
Market St. was arrested on Sept.
12 and charged with two counts of
assault on a female, injury to
personel property and three
counts of failure to appear.
Sherrod Eric McCrimmon, 22,
of 749 Franklin D. Roosevelt Dr.,
New York, N.Y. was arrested on
Sept. 11 and charged with lar
ceny and resisting a public offi
cer.
Grandy White Jr., 40, of Lt. 29
Dogwood Trailer Park was ar
rested on Sept. 12 and charged
with second degree trespass.
Linda Miller, AKA Linda Bos
well, 43, of Lt 76 Holiday Island,
was arrested on Sept. 15 and
charged with possession of stolen
property.
The department also investi
gated the following reported inci
dents:
Sept. 12 - larceny at Meads. Tra
der Park.
Sept. 14 - breaking and entering
and larceny at Hands Shopping
Center.
Sept. 17-tweaking and entering
in the 100 block of Church St.
The Perquimans County Sher
iff’s Department arrested Jerry
Wayne Edwards, 46, of Rt. 1, Box
830, for one count of misdemea
nor communicating threats. Ed
wards was released on a written
promise to appear.
*
./•
Photo by Gary Cosby Jr.
Hertford maintenance crews begin to fix the downed power line at
Central School Saturday night, while firefighters from the Winfall and
Hertforddepartments breathe a sigh of relief that the situation was
not as serious as it had at first appeared.
Fire Safety House is hit
The Albemarle Fire Safety House
made its first appearance in Per
quimans County during the 9th an
nual Indian Summer Festival.
Hundreds of children stood in line
to tour the innovative teaching tool
purchased by the Albemarle Fire
Safety Committee.
The Committee is comprised of
firefighters from Perquimans, Pas
quotank, Chowan, Camden, Curri
tuck and Dare counties. The
primary goal of the organization is
to provide fire safety education for
children.
The safety house is a specially
designed travel trailer with two
floors which houses a simulated liv
ingroom, kitchen, bedroom and
bathroom. Firefighters set up haz
ardous conditions in the rooms and
ask children to point them out. Un
safe conditions include pots on the
stove with the handles turned to the
front, newspapers sitting too near
the fireplace, a curling iron placed
too close to the bathroom sink and
toys on the staircase.
When the children climb up the
stairs to the bedroom-bathroom
area, the door is closed. The fire
fighter operating the control room
sends nontoxic smoke spewing into
the room. Children crawl to the
door, only to find that it is hot and
unsafe to open. They are taught to
find an alternate escape route, in
the case of the fire safety house,
through a miniature set of sliding
glass doors leading onto a porch.
The children then climb down a lad
der to safety.
The safety house was purchased
for $22,000 and insured for $2,000,
making the cost for each of the six
counties involved in the Albemarle
Fire Safety Committee $4,000. Lo
cal government entities and busi
nesses have made contributions.
More funds are needed to pay off
the note.
V
Perquimans
resident guilty
of fraud
A Perquimans County woma
pleaded guilty to food stamp fraud
in superior court on Aug. 29.
Debra Talmadge admitted to
withholding earned income infor
mation from the Perquimans
County Department of Social Serv
ices. According to DSS testimony, a
routine review of Employment Se
curity Commission records found
that Talmadge had not reported in
come her husband earned during
the period benefits were received
under the food stamp program.
According to Social Services
Fraud Investigator Carlyn Brown,
Employment Security records are
checked at the time clients apply to
receive food stamps and on a regu
lar basis thereafter. Ms. Brown dis
covered the income discrepancy
during a regularly scheduled in
come check.
Talmadge received a 2-year sus
pended sentence and five years of
supervised probation for the felony
conviction. She was also ordered to
pay $2,719 in restitution.
Ms. Brown said that under food
stamp guidelines, any person con
victed of fraud is suspended from
the program for six months for the
first offense; 12 months for the sec
ond and permanently for the third.
“We are a helping agency,” said
Ms. Brown. “Preventing people
from receiving benefits that they’re
not entitled to helps to insure that
there will be funds there for those
with legitimate needs.”
Homes damaged
A fallen tree limb caused serious
damage to one Hertford house and
minor damage to a neighboring
dwelling last week.
A limb crashed into Maude Tuck
er’s Grubb Street home, causing
about $4,500 in damages, according
to Ed Lane with Phillip Lane Con
tractors. Lane said that according
to reports, high winds were not a
factor in the incident.
Serious damage was done to the
roof and wood siding of the struc
ture, however, a stained glass win
dow adjacent to the damaged area
was not touched.
Next door, Marvin Hunter’s
home was grazed by the falling
limb, damaging the siding on the
west corner near the roofline.
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