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WEEKLY
Pirates win at Border Clash, A7
“News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020
$1.00
Public records request reveals mayor’s purchases
$1,399 spent for furniture
and office tech
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
When the topic of new
furniture for the mayor’s
office came up during a re
cent Hertford Town Council
meeting, the Perquimans
Weekly filed a public re
cords request to learn more
about the $1,399 spent to
modernize the office.
Before yawning at the
very mention of furniture,
then skipping over this
story and moving onto the
sports section page A7 to
read about the Pirates’ bas ¬
ketball team’s victory over
Deep Creek and the swim
team’s conference triumph,
maybe keep reading be
cause it’s going to get inter
esting.
Perquimans Weekly filed
a public records request
Jan. 16 to learn more about
the purchase of $1,399
worth of furniture and relat
ed office accessories.
A few hours after filing
the public records request,
Town Hall responded by
providing a list of the items
purchased, photos and a
memo from Mayor Earnell
Brown explaining the rea
sons why the expenditures
See PURCHASES, A2
Photo reveals that prior to the purchase of new
furniture and office accessories, the mayor’s office was
a simple affair furnished with the basic necessities.
SUBMITTED PHOTO S
Photo, reproduced from a response to a public records
request, reveals that after the furniture and office items
were purchased, the mayor’s work space offers a more
modern appearance.
Round-up
Hunter,
KEYS,
furniture
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A round-up of all
things Perquimans
County-
First, thanks goes to
the Perquimans Sheriffs
Department for assisting
me with getting my vehicle
out of the mud Monday
after the MLK service in
the parking lot of Por
ter’s Chapel AME Zion
Church. I misjudged a mud
puddle that was more like
a creek.
Chief Deputy Tom
Reid quickly assessed the
situation and made a phone
call to Deputy R. Farrar
and Sergeant Kendall
Harrell for assistance.
Community is in good
hands with these folks.
Monday’s MLK service
was a breath of fresh air.
Fondella Leigh gave a
great speech. Choir was
excellent as was Connie
Brothers' piano playing
skills. Winfall Mayor Fred
Yates announced that
funds raised by the break-
fast will be used to assist
the NAACP’s work.
In other news, let me em
phasize this in no uncertain
terms - there are no plans
to close the Catfish Hunt
er Museum that is located
in the Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce
office.
However, there has been
a preliminary discussion to
move the museum to an
other place with a date that
has yet to be determined -
if they move it.
“We will never close the
museum. It will stay in the
chamber building until we
have a solid plan in place
and people will be notified
when that will happen.
Until then we are working
on it,” said Katrina Mann,
chamber director.
Bom and raised in
Hertford, Hunter was
a professional baseball
player in Mqjor League
Baseball (MLB). From 1965
to 1979, he was a pitcher
for the Kansas City/Oak-
land Athletics and New
York Yankees. Hunter was
the first pitcher since 1915
to win 200 career games by
the age of 31. He is often
PHOTOS BY MILES LAYTON
As the choir sings “Glory, glory, hallelujah,” the words memorialize a time and place that conjures up a speech
which transcends history. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character," Martin Luther King, Jr.
MLK service asks ‘What’s Going On’
Leigh’s keynote speech blends
MLK with Marvin Gaye
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Perquimans County Commission
er Fondella Leigh was the keynote
speaker for the annual Martin Luther
King Jr. celebration on Monday at
Porter’s Chapel AME Zion Church.
Connie Brothers played piano for
a choir that sang “Lift Every Voice”
and the “Battle Hymn of the Repub
lic” for a congregation that included
among other local notables, Perqui
mans Board of Education Chair
woman Anne White and Perquim
ans Sheriff Shelby White. To see a
video snippet of the choir performing,
see the Perquimans Weekly’s Face-
book page.
Dr. Landon Mason served as mas
ter of ceremonies for the service that
was organized by Winfall Mayor
Fred Yates, who is also president of
Perquimans’ chapter of the NAACP.
Following Leigh’s speech, Yates
I presented her with a plaque from the
NAACP that honors her “passion, rm-
conditional commitment and endur
ing dedicated service to the commu
nity of Perquimans County.”
In Leigh’s remarks, she blended
See MLK, A2
Perquimans County Commissioner and pastor Fondella Leigh gives an
inspiring speech during the annual Perquimans County Martin Luther
King Jr. celebration, Monday at Porter’s Chapel AME Zion Church.
Tide
rising to
develop
Hertford
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
One recent Saturday,
folks came out to learn
more about possible plans
to transform Hertford’s wa
terfront.
Organized by the Citi
zens for the Preservation
and Growth of Hertford,
the meeting featured noted
Urban Planner Allison Platt,
who presented a proposed
master plan for the wa
terfront development and
community plan.
Platt, a senior landscape
architect/project manager
with Rivers and Associates,
has drafted a concept plan
to identify how best to uti
lize the town’s waterfront.
Platt has worked on proj
ects that have transformed
New Bern and little Wash
ington’s waterfronts.
Platt said that by the
county and town endorsing
resolutions in support of
these plans, it will make it
easier to attract grant fund
ing that will be needed to
pay for the transformation.
Think, maybe dream
about it - Hertford has this
amazing waterfront, but lit
tle has been done to develop
items Platt spoke about that
included a boardwalk/wa-
terside pathway, a multi-slip
marina and plans to plant
trees, create parks, perhaps
utilize existing buildings
that can be transformed
into popular attractions.
“Every study highlights
the importance of Hertford’s
waterfront as a key to our
future.” said Tiin Brinn, a
key organizer for the event.
“We now have a proven
partner in Allison Platt, who
transformed waterfronts in
See HERTFORD, A3
Smart Start offering B.A.B.Y. classes for mothers
BY STAFF REPORTS
6
See LAYTON, A2
89076
47144
2
For the last five years,
B.A.B.Y. (Birth and Begin
ning Years) classes have
been offered in the Fall for
expectant and new moth-
; ers.
As a result of mothers
asking for the classes to be
held year-round, the Chow-
j an/Perquimans Smart Start
Partnership (CPSSP) is
hosting the classes the sec
ond and fourth Thursday
of the month all year long.
Expectant and new
mothers are invited to reg
ister for the class. Fathers
are also invited to attend.
The goal of the B.A.B.Y.
program is to create in
formed and healthy new
mothers and to support the
well-being of their young
children.
Facilitated by mem
bers of the Maternal Child
Health Albemarle Region
Collective (M.A.R.C.), the
class focuses on health
education concerning the
pregnant women, changes their questions and con-
in the body, what to cerns.
expect during labor The facilitators
and delivery, pro- f A also provide re-
motion of early \ source informa-
literacy and brain tion, such as
development, proper car
and how to care seat instal-
for the infant in I I lation, Dr.
the first year. I 1 / Dad work-
Each class / shops, Vidant
topic is present- / Breastfeeding
ed by health and 1 Support Group,
education specialists Vidant Childbirth
and encourages interac- Classes, and child develop-
tion from the mothers with, ment and literacy tools to
ensure children are ready
for school.
CPSSP Family Support
and School Readiness
Coach, Sherlton Broadnax
is the main facilitator of
the B.A.B.Y. class.
“As a former Biology
teacher, I feel that this
class is essential for a new
mother to understand the
developmental stages her
child undergoes in the
womb and as an infant.
See B.A.B.Y., A2