Newspapers / The New Bern Mirror … / July 3, 1959, edition 1 / Page 1
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When old timers recall the noise and excitement that once char acterized Fourth of July observ ances in New Bern, they invariably think of Leon Cohen. As emotional as he was shrewd, the wiry, bald-headed Jewish mer chant had explosive qualities that made the sky rockets, firecrackers and Roman candles he peddled seem like ineffective duds. In fact, we’re convinced—in re trospect—that local kids got a big ger bang out of bargaining with Cohen for lower prices than they did setting a match to their pur chased wares. Certainly his upheavals, a fitting forerunner to the atomic power of a later day, were sufficiently dynamic to bring all the kids in town flocking to his cluttered store on Middle street. Every sale had the same pattern and it not unlikely that Leon would have been woefully disap pointed if the transaction had gone off smoothly and uneventfully. A boy would come in and inquire about the price of this or that. Quick as a flash, the fidgety and fretful shopkeeper would haul the item from off a shelf or from un der the counter, toss it on the showcase, and state the amount of remuneration he expected. The kfd would register indigna tion at the loftiness of the price, and start out of the store. Cohen would call him back, go into the preliminaries of his stack-blowing routine, and whack off a few cents. Again the would-be purchaser would find fault with the price, and again he would pretend he was leaving. Leon would let out a yelp, clutch at the portion of his cranium where hair had long since departed, and jump up and down like a Jack-in-the-box that had for gotten how to put on brakes. If there weren’t too many other customers waiting, Cohen would haggle indefinitely—and his frenzy would mount with each passing moment. In the end, he always made the sale at a reduction—but not until he had given a marvel ous performance. As one of the village brats who prided themselves on pulling a fast deal on the merchant each time they entered the store, it never occurred to us that he might be making a profit or at least breaking even. For all of his acting like a mad man on the loose, it is doubtful that his temper (real or feigned) ever swayed him from getting a fair return on his merchandise. He managed to stay in business for years and years. Eventually, he retired and moved to Baltimore. Somehow, New Bern has never been the same since he closed shop and departed with a quiet ness and serenity that was hardy in keeping with the stormy busi ness career that had made him a familiar figure to juveniles here. .Although we didn’t get to see him, we understand that he was a recent visitor in our midst Time—they say—has mellowed him remarkably. Neatly dressed and soft-spoken, he bore a little re semblance outwardly to the hectic man he once was. Maybe Cohen never was as ex plosive as he appeared to be. The chances are he discovered that showmanship paid rich dividends, especially when you are dealing with a crop of youngsters who figured they were smarter than everybody else—and most especial ly smarter than Leon Cohen. One of our favorite boyhood chums—Leon Mann—used to work for Cohen. It was his first job, and he’ll tell you today that the Jewish merchant treated him kindly. Ifears later, when Mann got married, it was in the midst of the depression. He didn’t send out in vitation to the wedding, and he The NEW BERN PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE HEART OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA Per Copy VOLUME 2 NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JULY 3, 1959 NUMBER 14 SOLVE THE MYSTERY—If you’s a good detective, and gfet- ting along in years, you may be able to identify someone in this photograph. Officials of New Bern’s public schools furnished us the picture, hoping to find out what class frbm the distance past this is. Some of the members look impish enough to drive any teacher wild. Could one of them be you? New Bern Lags in Camping Despite Nature's Blessings New Bern, in its quest for plants and factories, had sadly overlooked North Carolina’s multi-million dol- ar boys and girls camp industry. This despite the fact that here, in land of enchanting waters, are natural advantages that other towns look upon with envy. Shake speare or somebody else once said that familiarity breeds contempt, which explains in part why we have done so little with so much. With the exception of Camp Croatan—a Boy Scout operation that took over the neglected re mains of a Camp Ki-Ro that flour ished a third of a century ago—we have folded our hands and let oth ers capitalize on the understand able joy that youngsters get from vacationing in the great out-of- doors. To fully realize how much we’ve missed the boat, we need only to consider the notable success of Camp Sea Gull, Camp Caroline and Camp Don Lee to the east of us in adjoining Pamlico county. These operations mean more fi nancially to New Bem than we are aware of—certainly more than we deserve. With all due respect to Pamlico county residents, they like New Betn have depended on others to provide most of the initiative for camp projects that cropped up in our area. Howeveb, it should be noted that gifts of land in Pamlico y citizens of that county helped ad all but forgotten the days he worked for Cohen. The merchant remembered, however, and sent him a very nice present. the cause in no small measure. Camp Sea Gull, in particular, has been responsible for a heavy influx of visitors from near and distant points. For example, we had occasion to talk with four par ents in a local restaurant this week who came from Richmond to enroll their children in the Sea Gull group. Having seen to it that their youngsters were situated, they came back to New Bem, toured Tryon Palace and other historic spots, and spent two days and nights here. Their case is no isolated in stance. The same thing has hap pened repeatedly and will continue to happen. Thus, in spite of our selves, we are reaping a reward from the efforts of others. New Bern, of course, isn’t by it self in neglecting the possibUities of cashing in legitimately on the ever-increasing desire and need for camps. Elsewhere in our Na ture-blessed coast country, other communities are equally negligent in giving the matter serious con sideration. Although this particular dis course deals with the juvenile an gle, it is not unreasonable to as sume that thousands of adults would jump at the chance to do a bit of camping each summer, too, if facilities were available. Citizens who live in western North Carolina, we hate to admit, seem to be far more alert than us in knowing a good thing when they see it. Hence, they have long since gone all out to establish not a few but literally hundreds of camps in the Land of the Sky. For example, there are more than 50 such camps with a 100- mile radius of Asheville. They range in size from large organiza tions with as many as 65 perma nent buildings to camps purposely limited to small groups. This is certainly a contributing factor in the attractions of mil lions of vacationists to the Ashe ville area each year. Admittedly, we don’t have mountain peaks to lure outsiders. On the other hand, you won’t find an ocean at Ashe ville’s doorstep either, affording surf and sand and fishing that borders on the sensational. We could well use someone with the get up and go of C. Walton Johnson, who is founder and direc tor of Camp Sequoyah for Boys at Weaverville. A pioneer in summer camp development, he has been shrewd enough to do a detailed survey of North Carolina’s camp ing picture, with assistaiice of oth er members of the Camp Directors Association. His survey shows that annual gross receipts of the camps exceeds $2,500,000, and that in addition, parents spend countless thousands of dollars annually by vacationing near their children. More significant is the fact that many are so attracted that th«y purchase summer or permanent homes. Since such is the case, it can certainly be assumed that any Industry that New Bem hopes to land would also be interested in the fact that we do or do not have ample facilities for campers. A town with ready recreation at hand is apt to get industry’s nod over competing towns—other attractions being equal. “The facts and figures concern ing the material and economic as sets of these camps,” says John son, “are greatly over-shadowed by the cultural and character building assets.” Following this line of thought, he adds, “A good summer camp is primarily and distinctly an educa tional institution. It is an out-of- doors school, which educates boys and girls in the fine art of living at their best.” There is wide variety among the camps operating in the Old North State, and age groups extend from six to 18 years. Some have a sin gle season of six weeks or eight weeks, others feature a series of two-week terms. Short sessions in early June or late August have been added to many programs. Among some of the specialized camps that have done particulirly well in a restricted field are the Transylvania Music Camp at Bre vard, Camp Sky Ranch at Blowing Rock for physically-handicapped children, and Camp Cherryfield near Brevard for adults. Development of summer camps in North Carolina began shortly before World War I, and has con tinued steadily since that time. However, the biggest growth in camps has been since World War II. ’Those already in existence have expanded, while new ones are crop ping up all over. All over, that is, except in our own region. Despite (Continued on Pago 3) i\ I
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
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July 3, 1959, edition 1
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