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Albemarle
Magazine
Summer 2012
"News from Next Door' 1
JUNE 20, 2012 -JUNE 26, 2012
New emergency services building opens
STAFF PHOTO BY CATHY
WILSON
The new Emergency
Services Building for
Perquimans County
is now home to the
Communications,
EMS and Emer
gency Management
departments.
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
The new Perquimans
County Emergency Ser
vices building now houses
three county departments
focusing on providing
emergency services from
one centralized location.
The former Albemarle
Electric Membership
Corporation building on
Creek Drive in Winfall
has been remodeled and
converted into a spacious,
updated, and modern
home for the county’s
communications depart
ment, emergency manage
ment office, and emergen
cy medical services fleet
including Perquimans
Rescue Squad. In addition
to the normal workrooms
and offices, the 12,000 sq.
ft. heated living space also
offers a conference center,
auditorium for meetings
and training purposes, an
additional 45x60 ft. bay for
ambulances, and loads of
storage space including
large items like county
vehicles.
It’s been a project that
began more than a year
See BUILDING, 4
Free swimming lessons
teach valuable life lessons
From staff reports
K indergarten students at
Perquimans Central School
participated in swim
ming lessons at the YMCA May
22-June 1 with the assistance
of funding from the Albemarle
Hospital Foundation and the
Perquimans County Schools
Foundation.
One hundred fifty kindergart
ners participated in the YMCA’s
All Kids Swim program held
in partnership with the Albe
marle Regional Health Services
Child Fatality Prevention Team.
Kindergarten classes were bused
from their school in Winfall to
the YMCA in Elizabeth City to
take swimming lessons for two
hours each day for two weeks.
“This swimming initiative pro
motes water safety awareness for
students with classroom visits
and actual swimming lessons in
the pool,” said Principal Melissa
Fields. “In a community like Per
quimans that is surrounded by
water, this type of education is
of critical importance to prevent
future child fatalities—allowing
our students to participate in the
free swim lessons will provide
many of them with life saving
skills and strategies that they
may not get otherwise. This is
a great benefit not only to the
students and families but also to
the community at large.”
According to Public Informa
tion Officer Brenda Lassiter, this
is the second consecutive year
that the lessons have been of
fered to kindergarten students.
“I have applied for a grant
through Albemarle Hospital
Foundation for $7,500 to sponsor
this program and lessons for
our kindergarten students next
school year and have recently re
ceived notification that the grant
has been approved for funding,”
she said. “I am pleased to help
coordinate this event for our
children. I believe in its value.”
The Perquimans County
Schools Foundation cosponsored
this program this year with
funding received from a grant
from Albemarle Hospital Foun
dation to help pay for the swim
lessons, cost of transportation,
and to purchase swimsuits for
needy students. Before students
began lessons, YMCA staff
traveled to the local schools to
provide water safety lessons to
all students.
PERQUIMANS COUNTY SCHOOLS PHOTOS
Kindergarten students at Perquimans Central School learned that jumping into the pool can be done safely while also
being fun during classes at the YMCA.
Instructors at
the Albemarle
Family YMCA
in Elizabeth
City taught
students how
to tread water.
State denies homeowner’s guard rail request
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
The North Carolina De
partment of Transporta
tion has denied a request
to install a guard rail along
a curve on Route 37 to pro
tect a home that has been
damaged by vehicles run
ning off the roadway sev
eral times.
Jason Davidson, traf
fic engineer for NCDOT’s
Division One which in
cludes Perquimans Coun ¬
ty, notified John and Libby
Wilburn of Belvidere that
installation of a guard rail
at that location is not war-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The property of John and
Libby Wilburn of Belvidere
was damaged again Tuesday
night when a vehicle ran
off the road in the curve,
knocked down several trees
and fence posts and de
stroyed a telephone pole. The
Wilburns have requested that
NCDOT install a guardrail, but
the state plans to take other
measures.
ranted since only three
accidents have occurred
there during the last 10
years.
His letter was written
and emailed on Thursday
just hours after a vehicle
missed the curve, again,
and plowed through the
Wilburns’ yard. This
time, however, the vehi
cle not only damaged the
Wilburns’ property, but
knocked down a utility
pole as well.
“This is so frustrating,”
said Libby Wilburn as she
surveyed her trees, posts
and the telephone util
ity pole destroyed early
See GUARD RAIL, 2
Forum
tonight
focuses
on gangs
Awareness forum
is for adults only
From staff reports
The Perquimans County
Mentoring Focus Group
will present a Community
Gang Awareness forum
on June 20 at 6 p.m. in the
Perquimans County High
School auditorium.
Guest speaker will be
Danya Perry, director of
Programs and Youth De
velopment for Communi
ties in Schools of North
Carolina. The program is
for adults only
Perry has spearheaded
statewide initiatives aimed
at bullying, gang preven
tion, and intervention. He
has co-authored several
books and has served as a
national consultant for the
Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Preven
tion as well as the Gang
and Violence Reduction
Project.
He has appeared on CNN,
MSNBC, North Carolina’s
Open NET and numerous
radio outlets nationally.
For more information or
to register, call 426-7697.
Mail truck
hits post
office...
once more
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
A tractor trailer deliv
ering mail to the Hertford
Post Office hit the corner
of the building Sunday
evening, knocking large
chunks of concrete off
the building onto the side
walk below. The truck also
knocked over the two out
side mail boxes, damaged
the retaining wall adjacent
to the CenturyLink build
ing next door, and tore
down the railings on the
Hertford Town Office steps
located across the street.
The driver of the rig,
Trezith Rashad Smart of
Edenton, told Hertford
Patrolman Kevin Worster
that the 53-ft. trailer was
too long to get into the post
office driveway located
on Grubb Street. Police
reports state the drive
panicked after first strik
ing the building and then
trying to back out several
times, causing more dam
age.
The rig’s owner is W
& L Mail Services out of
Keysville, VA.
See POST OFFICE, 4