P The
ERQUIMANS
^Weekly
"News from Next Door” WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
Electric
rate relief
coming
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford electric custom
ers may soon see some rate
relief in their bills.
A deal reached in July
between Duke Power/Prog-
ress and the North Carolina
Eastern Municipal Power
Agency allowed 32 munici
pal utilities to sell their own
ership of Duke Power
plants. That eases much of
the debt that that has been
keeping utility rates high.
Hertford customers may
soon know how much rate
they’ll save and when. Town
Manager Brandon Shoaf
was scheduled to present a
rate study to the town board
Tuesday night.
The board won’t be asked
to approve new rates at that
time. At the Sept. 14 meet
ing the board will be asked
to set a date for a public
hearing for a later date to
formally adopt the rates.
“Once they vote, the con
sultant can restructure the
rates,” Shoaf said.
Shoaf has said his goal
has been to make Hertford
“competitive” with sur
rounding areas.
Shoaf said if all goes well
customers will start seeing
lower rates by October.
The other 31 members of
the NCEMPA are also adopt
ing new rate plans.
Consultants for Raleigh-
based Booth & Associates
LLC have recommended
that Edenton implement an
average 9.4 percent reduc
tion for all customers. The
town has an estimated 3,300
residential customers.
To illustrate the differ
ence in monthly cost to cus
tomers, Glenn Andersen,
director of utilities for Eden
ton, said that under the old
rate a residential customer’s
average cost would be $137
for a thousand kilowatt
hours. In contrast, the same
See RELIEF, 4
NEW ATTRACTION ®”«
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A program on Native America music, dance and culture will be part of the Indian Summer Festival this year.
Indian Summer Festival kicks off Friday
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
T he 34th annual Indian Summer
Festival kicks off Friday with
music and entertainment on
the courthouse green.
But on Saturday, the event spreads
out to include more of the down-
town area and Hertford’s waterfront
where residents and visitors can en
joy the town’s new marina and par
ticipate in water activities.
Something new this year will be
paddleboard .demonstrations by
Stroub & Son on the grassy area be ¬
hind the Hertford Police Station.
The Periauger will be back for
free rides at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3
p.m. Those interested need to get to
the dock 15 minutes before the boat
sails to sign a release. The Periauger
is a representation of a boat from
the pre-revolutionary period that
frequented the shallow waters of the
Perquimans River.
The US Coast Guard will once
again be doing their water rescue
demonstration at 11 a.m. at the
docks. In the same area, there will
also be a car show behind Hertford
Town Hall.
Throughout the day Saturday there
will be a Kids Zone in the parking lot
next to Hertford Baptist Church.
The events kick off Friday at 6
p.m. with Edenton DJ “DJ Cowboy”
and a street dance. At 6:30 p.m. there
will be a ceremony in honor of 9/11
with the Hertford Fire Department
Honor Guard, Boy Scouts and the
Albemarle Choral.
The Greenville band — The Main
Event — takes to the stage at 7 p.m.
and runs until 10 p.m.
Activities on Church Street pick
See ISF, 5
• *
Hot food lovers issued challenge
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
An Edenton-based company will
be seeing if Hertford can take the
heat on Friday with a demonstration
of what the founder says is the hot
test lollypop on Earth.
The Stung-Tongue Pepper Com
pany will be putting on a demon
stration on the courthouse green
■ during the intermission of the band
The Main Event. The band starts at 7
p.m. and runs until 10 p.m.
Dan Van, the founder of Stung Tongue, said
he created the product in 2013 because he
saw the need among “Chili Heads” — people
who like extremely hot things.
“The industry was yearning for it,” Van
said.
Van, 34, has been taking his product across
the country.
It’s been to the Great Chicago Fiery Foods
Festival and this Saturday it will be promoted
at the N.C. Hot Sauce Festival in Oxford.
What Van hopes to see is area firefighters
See CHALLENGE, 4
Woman
killed in
accident
From staff reports
An Albemarle Plantation
resident died Monday after
the jet ski she was operating
collided with an 18-foot-long
boat in Yeopim Creek south-
east of Hertford and not far
up the creek from her home,
the N.C. Wildlife Resources
Commission said.
Brenda Hoepfner, 67 of
the 100 block of New River
Drive, was pronounced
dead at Vidant Chowan Hos
pital in Edenton, Lt. Mark
Rich said. The incident was
reported shortly after 11
a.m. in the vicinity of Pine
Point Road and Rich said an
investigation is continuing.
According to Rich, a per
son was driving a Power
Play XLT 185 boat, while
See FATAL, 4
Grad rate
remains
high
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County High
School continued to surpass
many area schools and most
others in the state in terms
of graduation rates last
year.
Last year 90.6 percent
of students in the four-year
cohort graduated in Perqui
mans. The figure is based on
117 ninth graders entering
the school system in 2011-12
and 106 of them graduating.
The figure was down
slightly from the year be
fore when Perquimans had
a graduation rate of 92.1
percent. The senior class
was larger that year with
126 students starting school
See GRAD RATE, 4
Organization looking for photo of fallen Vietnam soldier
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
An organization trying to
put faces to the names of the
58,300 Americans who were
killed in Vietnam is search
ing for a photo of Mason
Nixon Jr. — a Hertford man
who was killed in 1968.
Janna Hoehn, a Hawaii
resident, said she was
drawn to the project after
visiting Washington DC six
years ago. Her quest started
off with a single person. To
date, about 40,000 photos
HOEHN
have been
compiled.
“ B e-
cause Viet
nam was
the war that
was going
on while
I was in
high school
the first memorial on my list
was the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Wall,” she said.
“Even though I never knew
anyone killed in Vietnam, I
wanted an rubbing of one
of the names. I approached
the Wall and chose a name...
Gregory John Crossman
— an MIA
“When I returned home
I decided to research Greg
ory and try to find his fam
ily, in the event they were
never able to go to the Wall,
I would send them the etch
ing, hoping they would
share a photo with me of
Gregory. Off and on for six
months I researched every
way possible and never
found any family. I was
quite disappointed however
I had one more possibil
ity... my cousin, our family
historian... six weeks later
she found a college photo
of Gregory.
The search then grew to
find photos of the 42 Maui
County soldiers who died.
“I have now partnered
up with Jim and Tom Re
ece, North Carolina broth
ers that have dedicated 10
years to the Faces Never
Forgotten program search
ing for the North Carolina
fallen. The brothers have
submitted 1,858 of the 1,929
photos needed to complete
the State of North Carolina.
I lived in Fayetteville many
years ago, part of my heart
is still in NC and I would
love to see North Carolina
completed.”
According to “findagrave.
com” Nixon is buried in
Sanders Grove Missionary
Baptist Church. He served
with Charlie Company, 1st
Battalion, Sth Infantry Regi
ment, 4th Infantry Division
and died the result of artil
lery fire.
He was awarded the
Combat Infantryman’s
Badge(CIB), the Purple
Heart Medal for his combat
related wounds, the Vietnam
Service Medal, the Republic
of Vietnam Campaign Ser
vice Medal and the National
Defense Service Medal.
“Putting a face with a
name changes the whole dy
namic of the Wall, it keeps
our fallen heroes memories
alive and will honor them,
our heroes stories and sac
rifice will never be forgot
ten,” Hoehn said.
See PHOTO, 4
Bridge operator has seen a lot through years
BY CHUCK PAGELS
Special To The Perquimans
Weekly
Ray C. White knows a
thing or two about the Hert
ford S-Bridge.
White, 72, has opened it
hundreds of times since he
became the Hertford draw-
bridge operator in 2000.
On a recent Saturday
he opened it for one white
cabin cruiser. The process
starts with a radio call from
the approaching boat asking
asking for passage.
White said it takes about
10 minutes for the span to
open and close in one com
plete cycle. It takes longer if
more boats are involved.
White said the center part
of the bridge — the part
that moves — rests on steel
wedges when it is closed.
If a- boat needs to come
through Ray activates the
traffic lights and crossing
gates, sounds a siren, and
begins the bridge rotation.
White pushes some but
tons and things start to hap
pen. The wedges retract
and the center of the bridge
slowly and almost imper
ceptibly lowers about three
or four inches. It comes to
rest upon steel wheels and a
large gear located under the
center of the bridge.
White watches the large
degree dial on his console of
buttons, lights, and meters.
When the degree dial shows
90-degrees the bridge is ful
ly open. When the boat has
passed through he presses
more buttons to reverse the
process to close the bridge.
White says he’s had some
See WHITE, 5
PHOTO BY
CHUCK PAGELS
Ray White,
72, has been
operating the
S-Bridge in
Hertford since
2000.
3f\ Indian Summer Festj^i- Historic Hertford
CRAFTS ’ FOOD ’ entertainment, Beer Garden & More Sept. 11th, 6 to 10:00 p.m
-«^^^^ F r ee Street Dance Friday Night - The Main Event Sept. 12th/9 a.m. to 4 p.m.