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"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
From on top of the U.S. 17 Bypass Bridge, downtown Hertford is covered with snow while the Perquimans River was mostly
frozen.
Bitter storm eases grip
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The headline proclaimed
“County buried under snow.”
The issue of the Perquimans
Weekly was dated Feb. 14,
1980. The smaller subhead said
“15-20 inches.”
The story starts out “Some
folks said it was the heaviest
since 1927. Others said it was
the worst of the century. But no
one will argue last week’s snow
wasn’t big.”
The headline in The Daily
Advance that week simply said,
“Snow of the century paralyzes
Albemarle.”
That was then and this is
now. There may be debate
about if the storm that hit Per
quimans County last week was
“historic” but this might be the
kind of storm that today’s kids
tell their kids about and their
grandkids.
This one has a name: Gray
son. It was caused by a pres
sure system and brought an
explosive blast of frigid air and
hours of snow and ice. Tire
snow and ice stopped, but even
Monday morning, the low tem
perature was 7 degrees. During
the days after the storm, tem
peratures dipped to below zero
a few times.
Winter Storm Grayson’s
rapid intensification near the
U.S. East Coast may have been
the most explosive develop-
TH EPER QU IM A N S W E E K L ¥
An issue of The Perquimans Weekly in 1980 describes the
heavy snow that fell that February.
ment on record for the western Normal average tempera-
North Atlantic, according to tures are in the 50s and 30s dur-
The Weather Channel. ing the first week of January.
The sudden blast of winter
may have kept many people
home instead of trying to brave
the roads, said Jonathan Nixon,
Perquimans County’s Emergen
cy Management Director.
When the storm first hit
Wednesday, a motorist did hit
the sides of the U.S. 17 By
pass bridge. The driver was
transferred to the hospital, but
Nixon was unclear about the
driver’s condition.
For the most part, motorists
didn’t venture out much. But
people still need medications,
and a clerk at Woodard’s Phar
macy said they were pretty
busy Friday. Snow didn’t keep
them closed Thursday as well.
“You’d be surprised at the
number of people,” she said.
“People want to get their
newspaper and they want to
get their medicine,” she said.
But getting a newspaper
was an issue because papers
couldn’t be delivered. That
started to change Simday and
Monday.
EMS vehicles still ventured
out, but at one point Nixon said
they couldn’t respond fast.
“We normally go 60 miles per
hour, and now we’re going 20
mph,” Nixon said Friday. “It’s
going to take longer.”
School buses weren’t carry
ing kids. Perquimans Schools
did open Jan. 2 after the holi-
See SNOW, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY
PETER WILLIAMS
A man
dresses up
to shovel
his driveway
on Edenton
Road Street
on Friday.
50 cents
County
upgrades
EMS system
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County opened the New
Year by being certified to provide a higher
i level of Emergency Medical Services.
The Perquimans County Commission
made the decision last spring to invest
about $300,000 to make it happen. Half of
j that amount was for equipment and sup-
i plies. The other $150,000 was earmarked
to fund additional trained staff for the
second half of the fiscal year.
“I am really proud of the staff, as this
I transition has been a major undertaking
for the entire team,” said Jonathan Nixon
the director of the Emergency Services
department.
Over the past few months the depart
ment has hired three Paramedic Shift
Supervisors along and acquire the new
equipment and supplies. The shift re
quired the approval of the N.C. Office of
Emergency Medical Services.
The county had to upgrade training.
Until now, the county had been oper
ating as an Advanced EMT level agency
even though it did have some paramedics
on staff. The upgrade means paramed
ics aboard ambulances will be able to
do more procedures, and administer life-
saving drugs that they haven’t been able
to use in the past.
While the process may have taken less
than a year, the vision to do it was on the
minds of county commissioners for years,
said County Manager Frank Heath.
“One mqjor focus of our commission
ers’ board retreats over the past five
years has been a goal to offer the Para
medic level of care for our citizens. That
goal has been realized thanks to the hard
work of the EMS staff and the planning of
past and present boards.”
Last Tuesday night the county com
mission approved the appointment of
10 people as part-time/fill in paramed
ics, Advanced Emergency technicians or
part-time/fill in emergency medical tech
nicians.
Two more people were promoted to
See EMS, 2
Schools to add
Jayvee football
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Prospects for Perquimans Comity High
School football are looking up.
For the last few years, the Perquimans
varsity football program has lacked a
feeder program of young talent com
ing up and learning skills. Next year the
school will offer a Jayvee team as well as
varsity.
There are other good signs. The Per
quimans Recreation Department was
able to able to field youth teams last fall.
The youngest were 7-8 years old. The old
est were ages 11-12. It’s been years since
that’s happened.
The Perquimans Comity Middle School
team also finished their season undefeat
ed
Even with the jump from middle
school to high school has been complex
if the there is no junior varsity system at
the high school level.
But that’s a big jump in a child’s physi
cal development, said Superintendent
See FOOTBALL, 2
Perquimans Arts League buys vacant building on Church Street
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
To some it’s just a big
vacant building with no
plumbing, electrical service
or heating and air.
To The Perquimans Arts
League it’s a blank canvas,
and more importantly, a per ¬
manent home.
The organization bought
the vacant building at 133
N. Church St. in late Decem
ber.
Sheryl Corr said Ste
phen Smith, the previous
owner bought it in 2010 and
made some renovations for
“big ticket items” like the
roof and the windows, but
stopped short.
The fact that there is no
wiring, plumbing or HVAC
can be viewed as a plus, not
a minus, Corr said. PAL can
shape the space in any way
they want.
“It is a blank canvas,” she
said. “Now we need a lot of
money.”
Over the history of the
building, it’s housed a gro
cery store and a lawyer’s of
fice among other things.
Between a donation by
the former owner and mon
ey they already had saved,
PAL had the money to buy
the building without bor
rowing money.
The two floors combined
represent about 5,500 square
feet. The current location
has about 800.
PAL was founded in 1995.
Since at least 1998, it’s oper
ated out of a rented space in
the Hall of Fame Building.
Corr said owning a build
ing will give PAL something
never had just renting one.
“We can now go after eco
nomic grants because we
own the building,” she said.
Two key things the new
building has that the old
one doesn’t is large window
space on Church Street,
and plenty of space to hold
classes.
Without a large space to
hold classes, PAL used the
Perquimans County Rec
reation Center. But if PAL
wanted to run a class during
a time when the rec center
would normally be closed,
it had to pay the county
staff keep it open. That
meant it had to charge more
for classes, and may have
priced some out of the mar
ket for some people.
Once complete, PAL will
be in the position of renting
out the gallery for people
wanting to hold events.
“I think once people see
we’re there they will see
downtown coming alive
and more people may look
at starting a business here,”
Corr said.
Corr said PAL has a build
ing committee that is look
ing up how best to use the
space.
PAL also has the opportu
nity to make sure they don’t
make the same mistakes
other art groups have.
Any donations can be
sent to PAL at P.O. Box 134,
Hertford.