P2 1 •'C14 * * * * * ^ * * * * 5-DIGIT 27944 |||...l (1 l [ | l ||liM. | || 1| i..|lll | |ll 11 |. l l|||l|ll.l 1 l|||H | l|. 1 l PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY 514 S CHURCH SI HERTFORD NC 27944 ERQU1MANS .OWeekly Pets of the Week, 3 "News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, MAY 23,2018 75 cents r Future track to be named after Shirley Wiggins (This is the second part of a two-part series on, the new Perquimans County High School athletic com plex. In her life, Shirley Wiggins was a champion for children, veterans and senior citizens.) BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Now the future athletic running track at Perquimans County High School will be named for her. Wiggins was her self a trail- blazer. Wiggins served more than 20 years in the U.S. Navy as a nurse includ ing the period of the Viet nam War. She retired with the rank of Captain. When she was elected to the Perquimans County Commission in 1992, she was the first woman to serve on the board. She was also the first African Ameri can and woman to serve as chair of the board. She was still serving on the commission when she died in April 2010 after a brief stay in the hospital. She was 77-years-old. When she died, one of Wiggins’ goals had been ac complished. A Veteran’s Me morial was dedicated on the courthouse lawn in Novem ber 2007. Another goal was on the radar of the Perquimans County Commission — a new senior citizen center. The new facility opened on Harvey Point Road in 2013. But the goal to create a track at the high school has been elusive until now. It’s estimated to cost $1.2 mil lion. Judie Hoffler, a mem ber of the athletic complex committee, made the pitch to name the future track after Wiggins to the county school board. Hoffler ad mits she didn’t know Wig gins well, but she was very impressed. “I didn’t know her as long as other people, since I had a career in New York. But when I met her, she was quite impressive. “She was an advocate for everybody. She didn’t care if you were black, white, blue, green or purple. Hoffler approached Su perintendent Matthew Chee seman with the idea and the full school board approved. See WIGGINS, 2 Town debates hiring decision BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor A consultant wants be tween $17,000 to $19,000 to find Hertford a new town manager, calling it “the big gest challenge facing you right now.” Steve Straus, the presi dent and founder of Devel opmental Associates, also cautioned town officials not to expect to hire some one who is already a town manager with a large num ber of years of service given the size of the town and the amount of the salary. The town might be look ing at hiring a recent grad from a school like Appa lachian State University, a school that excels at public government courses, Straus said. The board listened to the presentation last week, but took not action since it was being held at a special called meeting, not a regular meeting. Town Manager Brandon’s Shoafs last day is May 28. After that he will be the planner in Chowan County. Straus earned his Bache lors Degree from the Whar ton School of Business at the University of Pennsylva nia, a Master of Public Ad ministration from the Uni versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. from Duke University in Politi cal Science. He is a former Assistant City Manager in Southern Pines. But before Straus made his pitch, he asked town board members questions about the town and what they were looking for. He asked council members what were the biggest chal lenges facing Hertford. Mayor Horace Reid said it was money. “We never have the mon ey we need when we look at See DECISION, 2 CORAL CARAVAN Crowd STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS People check out what’s for sale at the Coral Caravan Saturday on Church Street Saturday for the Coral Caravan. For more pictures, see page 2. Memorial Day service on Monday From Staff Reports American Legion Post 126 will conduct their annual Perquimans County Memorial Day Observance, Monday at the Veterans Monument on the county courthouse green. The observance will begin at 11 a.m. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be moved to the Per quimans County Recreation Center off Harvey Point Road in the county business Park. Post 126 Commander Rick Ca porale will conduct the program, which will include the traditional roll call of Perquimans County vet erans who have passed away since last Memorial Day. The observance will also include the memorial to our existing Prisoners of War and those missing in action. Other par ticipants will include the Post 126 Color Guard and Legion Riders; Hertford Scout Troop 150, Hertford Cub Pack 150 and American Legion Posts 126 and 362. Wreath presentations will include Perquimans County, Town of Hert ford, Town of Winfall, Post 362 and Post 126, and Hertford American Legion Ladies Auxiliary Unit 126. Other organizations which present ed wreaths last year are being con tacted. The block of Church Street in front of the courthouse will be closed at approximately 10 a.m., but traffic will be permitted to enter to drop off the elderly and handicapped. There will be limited parking on the street prior to 10 am. For additional information con tact the American Legion Post 126, 426-1532. Sheriff warns of possible scam BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor The Perquimans County sheriff is warning county residents, particu larly the elderly, to be wary of two would-be handymen whose work manship apparently doesn’t live up to the hype of their promises. Neither man has been charged with a crime, but Sheriff Shelby White called Charles Barnes and Randall Joyner “persons ofrinterest” JOYNER BARNES in what the sheriff described as a scam. “The situation is they go to a house and tell people this or that is what they need doing — like cleaning gut ters —and then they try and do bigger jobs,” White said. “The quality of their work is not anywhere near the quality of work for what they get paid.” The State Bureau of Investigation has also been alerted about the two men, both of whom are from the Rocky Mount area, White said. See SCAM, 2 Biggs Classic this week BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Albemarle Plantation will host the fifth edition of the Biggs Class golf tournament this week. A field of 120 young tour ing professionals are ex pected to participate. The official tournament rounds run from Thursday through Saturday but there are activities starting Tues day, like a pro-am day. The entire tournament is free . and open to the public. Unlike some previous tournaments, this one isn’t having any problems getting players to sign up, said Tom Loughlin, one of the orga nizers. “Yesterday it was 110 that had signed up and paid,” Loughlin said on Wednes day. “We will be able to sell out the full 120.” Golfers will be flying in from California, Missouri, Kansas and Texas, he said. A few may be coming from Canada as well. The entry fee is $850. In addition to the chance to win the $13,000 first-place prize, the Biggs Classic has some other lures. Like Major League base- ball has lower tiered de velopmental farm clubs, professional golf has devel opmental tours. This week’s tournament is being run by the G-pro tour, a lower level league based in Charlotte. The next step up is Web.Com and from there, the next step is the PGA. This year’s Biggs Classic winner will get a full spon sors exemption to play in the following weeks’ Rex Hospital Open, a Web.Com event in Raleigh. “It all wouldn’t be possible without generous sponsors, like Biggs Cadillac-Buick- GMC, and a host of local volunteers,” Loughlin said. Normally a golf tour takes a cut of the entry fees for their efforts. See GOLF, 2 Candice Hunter facing cyberstalking charge BY WILLIAM F. WEST The Daily Advance CAMDEN — The Per quimans County candidate who lost the May 8 Repub lican primary in state House District 1 has been charged with cyberstalking a mem ber of the Camden Board of Commissioners a few days after the election, court re- 6 89076 47144 2 cords show. Candice Hunter, 46, of the 100 block of Greenwood Drive, is accused of “elec tronically communicating” Commissioner Garry Mei- ggs “repeatedly for the pur pose of abusing, annoying, threatening, terrifying, ha rassing and embarrassing” him, a criminal summons prepared by Camden Magis trate B.J. Cooper states. According to the criminal summons, the misdemean or offense occurred on May See HUNTER, 2 Winfall Post Office Opens Preston White (left) and Brenda Dillard (right) talk about the new Winfall Post Office last week. Staffing the counter is clerk Vanessa Davis. The facility will be open Monday through Friday from 1-5 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Right, The new Winfall Post Office is in the same place as the old one, on the corner of Catherine Street and Main Street. STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER WILLIAMS