What sort of competition does
New Bern face from other Tar
Heel communities, as we dream of
tourist dollars in this the year of
our 250th anniversary?
Well, aside from firmly establish
ed out-door dramas there are scads
of entertaining ventures already
mapped out within the boundaries
of the Old North State. Because
we need to be realistic, it might
not be a bad idea to check over th'e
list.
Among other things on the agen
da, we find the Dare Coast Pirates
Jamboree that has been doing quite
nicely since 1955, Chapel Hill’s
Carolina Folk Festival and its
Spring Drama Festival, Chad-
bourn’s Strawberry Festival, North
Carolina’s Rhododendron Festival
near Bakersville, Benson’s State
Singing Convention, Wilson’s East
Carolina Singing Convention, and
Asheville’s Mountain Dance and
Folk Festival.
In addition, there’ll be the Miss
North Carolina Beauty Contest,
Spruce Pine’s Gems and Minerals
Festival, Newland’s Mountain Lau
rel Festival, Guilford County’s Fine
Arts Festival, Fairmont’s Farmers
Festival, Burnsville’s. Arts and
Grafts Festival, Brevard’s Music
Festival, Charlotte’s Carolinas Car
rousel, Hendersonville’s North Car
olina Apple Festival, Canton’s Fall
Festival, Asheville’s Craftsmen’s
Fair of Southern Highlands, Macon
County Folk Festival and Grand
father Mountain Highland Games
and Scottish Clan Gathering.
Sports events offer a formidable
chalienge to us; Not the usual run
of college ball games,, but addition
al attractions from the mountains
to the sea. Here again, we can do
worse than peruse the list which
The Mirror has compiled as a
sound approach in our efforts to
attract visitors this years.
Included in our competition are
the Governor’s Cup Regatta at Hen
derson, the International Blue Mar
lin Tournament Cup Regatta, Kin
ston’s Carolina’s PGA Golf Tourna
ment, Cape Hatteras Surf Fishing
Tournament, Southern Pines Golf
Carousel, Sandhills Invitation Ten
nis Tournament at Southern Pines,
Raieigh’s State Championship
Horse Show, and other top flight
horse shows at Oak Ridge, Tryon,
Sedgefield, Charlotte, Winston-Sal
em, Kernersville, Blowing Rock,
Greensboro and Lenoir.
There’ll be exciting harness rac
es at Pinehurst, the Block House
Steeple Chase at Tryon and Hounds
Hunter Trials at Southern Pines,
Tryon and Nags Head. The list
could go on and on, ar far as sports
are concerned, but .this should
give you an idea.
In the flower department, Wil
mington’s North. Carolina Azalea
Festival looms ahead. It runs from
March 31 through April 3, and it
will be put across in grand style
as always. Obviously, the folks
down that way feel that the job
should be done right, if you’re go
ing to bother with it at all.
Other events of similar nature
scheduled this year include the
Whiteville Camellia Society Show,
Fayetteville’s Garden Club Camel
lia Show, Elizabeth City’s Albe
marle Camellia Show, Rocky
Mount’s Eastern Carolina Camellia
Society Show, Charlotte’s Carolina
Home and Flower Show, Greens
boro’s Council of Garden Clubs
Flower Show, a'nd the Southern
Pines Tour of Homes and Gardens.
In view of the fact that we
should be interested in attracting
Tar Heels from every section of
the state, not to mention out-of-
state visitors, each and every one
of the attractions listed above is
competing with our 250th anniver
sary observance in a very real
sense.
It is interesting to note that
th( se living in other towns recog
nize the possibility of attracting
tourists throughout the calendar
The NEW BERN
5^
V
VOLUME 2
NEW BERN, N. C., FEBRUARY 5, 1960
NUMBER 45
STAR G.LAZERS—They may not have any intention of fly
ing to the moon during Roy Scout Week, but these local
youngsters are keenly interested in the study of astronomy.
Pictured here are Mike Gooding, Gene Stovall, Jimmy
Jones, James Blythe, Ross Smith, Murray Phillips, Edward
Hunt, and Mike Jones.—Photo by Billy Benners.
New Bern Youngsters Ready
For Their Boy Scout's Week
Nothing—not even a political pot
■that is fast coming to a boil—is
going to take precedent over Boy
Scout Week.
Everybody in New Bern, includ
ing announced or unannounced
candidates for this or that office,
agrees most heartily that a cause
as worthy as the Scout movement
deserves a special seven-day period
in which there will be added rec
ognition and added activities for
the youngsters and their leaders.
You’ll see them attending church
services in a body Sunday, and dur
ing the week they’ll be having
their Father and Son banquet, tak
ing over for a day the various pub
lic offices, including Mayor, Chief
of Police, Chief of the Fire depart
ment, Judge of Municipal Court
and so on, and in many other ways
making the community conscious
of its many Scouters.
Old timers in town, while envy
ing the lads in their proudly worn
uniforms, will be remembering
their own days in scouting. Some
of them, most of alt, will recall
Scoutmaster B. M. Potter, whose
Troop 2 several decades ago estab
lished a great tradition that has
year. For example, in this month
of February a Valentine Season
Foxhunt is scheduled at Nags
Head, Hoffman is featuring the
North Carolina Gun Dog Classic,
and is having its Mid-South Lawn
Bowling Tournament.
Unintimidated by the possibility
of bad weather, and conscious of
the charm of entertainment in the
great out doors, fellow Tar Heels
are shooting the works.
Here in New Bern, the precious
months are dwindling away.
never been surpassed or even i Boy Scout movement, it had its in
equaled by later troops. spiration in the Boer War fought
Although it would be nice if between 1899 and 1902. Robert S.
America could take credit for the 1 Baden-Powell, who was then a colo-
PIONEERING SCOUTS
Billy Pierce & Matthew Forstadt
—Photo by Billy Benners.
nel in the British army, was re
sponsible for the training of un
seasoned recruits in South Africa.
It dismayed him to see how few
of these young men were capable
of taking care of themselves. When
he got back to England after the
war, he was determined to see to
it that the boys of the new genera
tion would be more competent un
der challenging conditions.
He held his first camp for boys
in 1907, and wrote in the year fol
lowing his famous book, “Scouting
For Boys.” It was on this work that
the movement was based. Baden-
Powell relied on two older Ameri
can groups—“Sons of Daniel
Boone”, organized by Daniel Car
ter Beard, and Ernest Thompson
Seton’s “Tribe of Woodcraft In
dians”—for many of his ideas.
To a Chicago publisher, William
D. Boyce, goes credit for bringing
the movement to the United States.
On February 8, 1910, the Boy
Scouts of America was incorporat
ed in Washington. Congress auth
orized the organization six years
later.
In the United States alone, its
membership through the years has
included ,many millions of young
sters, and it’s our understanding
that at the present time there are
approximately two million Boy
Scouts in the nation. The organiza
tion flourishes throughout the
world, except in those countries
controlled by totalitarian govern
ments who refuse to give it a
chance to exist.
Men who had been Boy Scouts in
their earlier years repeatedly rend
ered distinguished service to their
country in World War I and World
(Continued on Page 8)