How did other girls in the State
contest feel about Miss Randolph
County winning the Miss North
Carolina crown? In short, was the
decision of the judges a popular
one, as far as the contestants them
selves were concerned?
No one would know better the
answer than our very nice Miss
New Bern, so we broached the sub
ject to Georgia Parrott. What she
had to say should be satisfying
to all Tar Heels.
“All of us wanted her to be the
Queen,” Georgia told us. “She is
lovely, and the photographs of her
haven’t really shown her beauty to
the fullest. But most of all, she is
sweet, modest and considerate. I
know how friendly she is, since she
was the first contestant I met
when I got to Durham.”
However, Judy wasn’t by herself
when it came to friendliness. “Ev
ery one of the girls got along won
derfully together,” Georgia empha
sized, “and being together from
Tuesday to Saturday under trying
circumstances there certainly could
have been some unpleasantness.”
Looking back in Cinderella fash
ion, Miss New Bern says, “It all
seemed like a dream. We were al
ways doing something, and every
moment of our day was filled from
early morning until late at night
It was tiring, but I enjoyed it im
mensely.”
“Breakfast was at 8 a.m. and this
meant getting out of bed at 6:30,
so we could be at Harvey’s Cafe
teria a little ahead of time to chat
with the judges who ate with us.
With the exception of one dinner
at the Saddle club and another at
the Washington Duke hotel, we had
all of our meals together at Harv
ey’s.”
Only one thing brought tempor
ary grief to Miss New Bern. She
had her blue dress altered in the
waist before her Thursday night
appearance in evening gowns. Min
utes before she was to go on stage
she discovered than making the
dress smaller in the middle had
shortened the length too much.
With all possible speed, her oth
er gown—a pink one—was fetched
from the home some distance away
where she was staying. Yet, she
was still in a jam since her gloves
and ear rings that had matched
the blue dress most definitely
clashed with pink.
The problem had a silver lining,
and glowingly demonstrated the
friendliness existing among the
contestants. One of the other girls
loaned Georgia her white gloves.
Another parted with her own pink
ear rings, and the show went on
without interruption.
Of an artistic and creative na
ture, Miss New Bern is a better
than average judge of talent.
Hence, she sounded quite convinc
ing when she told us that she -was
“very impressed” with the per
formances of the various contest
ants in this category.
“There was so much real talent,”
Georgia enthused, “that I think ev
erybody in North Carolina can
feel proud of these girls.” In this
connection, the judges have re
marked that the array of talent at
the contest surpassed that which
was presented at any previous con
test.
Of all the young ladies com
peting, Miss New Bern remembers
best a girl from up in the moun
tains. “She was right in front of
me,” says Georgia, “and looked
like Marilyn Monroe. Her hillbilly
drawl was delightful, and perfectly
natural.’
According to Georgia, the girl’s
nickname was Pete Doggie. “My lit
tle brother had a dog named that,”
. the lass from the Land of the Sky-
explained. “When the dog died I
inherited his name.”
The night she won the contest in
her home town, up in the hills, the
kid brother was in the audience.
“He stood up in his seat," she
The NEW BERN
CAh%.
5^ Per Copy
VOLUME 2
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1959
NUMBER ir
HAPPY FAMILY — Colonel William N. Beard, a native of
New Bern, has an extra Army of his own at Fort Rucker,
Alabama. On the front row, left to right, are Scotty, 8;
Sandy, 4; Johnny, 10. Back row, left to right, are Susan,
15; Colonel Beard; Mrs. Beard, and Betsy, IV2; and Shelton,
14.
Colonel William N. Beard Is
Mighty Proud Father of Six
His 23 years in the Army—spent
all over the world in war and
peace—may have made some New
Bernians temporarily forget Colo
nel William N. Beard. But for
this distinguished native son there
has been no dampening of the af
fection he feels for the friends
and scenes of his local boyhood.
Nor, we are proud to report, has
he lost his zest for deep thinking
with that keen analytical mind of
his—evident even in early child
hood. Those vyho remember -hirti as
a kid with plenty on the ball never
doubted that he would go far in
his chosen field.
However,, his military success
could hardly be termed more note
worthy than his role as a family
man. You would have to do a lot
of searching to find a happier
brood than the six boys and girls
that he and his wife are rearing.
Moving from pillar to post didn’t
intimidate them in their determina
tion to have a large and well-ad
justed family. Their achievement
in establishing and maintaining a
normal home under what some
folks would regard abnormal con
ditions doesn’t impress Colonel
and Mrs. Beard as being particular
ly unusual.
A great deal of the credit, we
suspect, belongs to her. A native
of Connecticut and a graduate of
Duke, she is the former Sara Scott.
Before her marriage, she took gov-
said, “when I was being crowned,
and yelled ‘Look, Mom, there’s Pete
Doggie!”
Georgia liked the mountain girl
and everybody else. And we’re
quite sure that they in turn shared
our affection for Miss New Beni
ernment flying courses, became a
pilot, and was working for the
Civil Aeronautics Administration
in Raleigh when she met her fu
ture husband.
It was one of those quirks of
fate. William’s father, who was
employed for many years by the
Norfolk Southern railroad, had
been transferred to the Raleigh of
fice. Meanwhile, William had been
transferred to Fort Bragg and on
a visit to Raleigh he met Sara,
who was living in the neighbor
hood.
To give you an idea of the way
the colonel and his clan have mov
ed around to this and that distant
spot, we need only to detail the
birthplace of the various children.
PROSPECTING — This New Bern woodpecker takes a live
ly interest in what’s inside a very dead tree. After all,
you’ve still got to eat, in all kinds of weather.—Photo by
Billy Benners
I Susan was born in Illinois, Shel-
I ton in Connecticut, Johnny in
North Dakota, Scotty at San An
tonio, Texas, Sandy in Germany
and Betsy at Fort Rucker.
Colonel Beard graduated from
New Bern High school in 1931, and
attended Wake Forest college for
a year before going to West Point.
He graduated in 1936 from the Mil
itary Academy.
Because of his record, he was se
lected for engineering duty, and
has served along the Texas border,
at Boston, Fort Belvoir, Fort Bragg,
in North Dakota and overseas. He
was in the middle of the African
campaign early in World War II,
when the Allies were having a
rather tough time of it.
“I’ve found human nature to be
pretty much the same everywhere,”
says the colonel. He recognizes the
fact that the people of other lands
are very much like our own folks.
They have the same hopes and
dreams, and the same faults and
failings.
He knows too that new move
ments have their best chance for
a foothold in countries where there
is limited opportunity, a low stand
ard of living and despair. In short,
people who have little to look for
ward to are easier to sway.
As for world peace, Colonel.
Beard honestly admits that he isn’t
overly optimistic. “Communism’s
avowed purpose is to dominate the
world,” he says, “and because of
the wide difference in our think
ing I believe the cold war will con
tinue.”
At present, William is the staff
and post engineer at Fort Rucker.
Incidentally, purely by accidetifc
(Contimjed on back page)
UK