A reader has written The Mirror,
asking us about the church prefer
ences of our various Presidents.
It flatters us to think that somebody
figured we could come up with the
answer,
-Kennedy, of course is the first
Catholic to occupy the White House.
Eisenhower didn’t belong to a
church, but considered himself a
Protestant and attended the National
Presbyterian Church in Washington
while serving at the nation’s Chief
Executive.
Three other Presidents — Jeffer
son, Hayes and Lincoln — were
unaffiliated Protestants. Honest Abe
attended the New York Avenue
Presbyterian Church in the Capital
City. Well do we remember attend
ing services there. The pew where
he worshipped is permanently roped
off with a gold cord. Incidentally,
this is the church where the Rev.
Peter Marshall was pastor.
George Washington was an Epis
copalian, as were eight o*;her Presi
dents. Sharing his faith were
Franklin D. Roosevelt, William
Henry Harrison, Madison, Monroe,
Tyler, Taylor, Pierce, and Arthur.
There have been five who were
Presbyterians — Jackson, Buchanan,
Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison and
Woodrow Wilson.
New Bernians, who aren’t too
familiar with the Unitarian faith,
probably aren’t aware^that John
Adams, John Quincy Adams, Fil-
more and Taft were members of
that church. Polk, Johnson, Grant
and McKinley were Methodists,
while Theodore Roosevelt Snd Van
Buren belonged to the Dutch Re
formed Church.
Harding and Truman were Bap
tists. Garfield was a member of
the Disciples of Christ, Hoover was
a Quaker, and Coolidge a Congre-
gationalist. Of the 34 Presidents,
only Truman has attended a reli
gious service in New Bern, although
.. a number of other Presidents visit
ed our town. He worshipped at the
local First Baptist Church the Sun
day following his election.
It made front page headlines
when Ernie Kovacs was killed in
an automobile accident last week
end, but few New Bernians were
deeply touched by the tragedy. His
brand of humor tended to leave
a great many televiewers more
bewildered than amused. That he
had talent in large measure cannot
be denied, but he lacked appeal
for a huge segment of the television
audience.
In this respect, he was much like
Sid Caesar, who in our opinion is
a very clever comic. Millions of
Americans don’t agree with that
opinion, which explains why Sid
burned out quickly as a top ranking
comedian. Milton' Berle, who never
has been the least bit funny to us,
is in the same category.
Rarely does an entertainer come
along who appeals to the dumb and
the smart, the young and the old
alike. Mitch Miller, a terrific favo
rite with the majority of New Bern
ians, is blessed with this charac
teristic. Unlike Lawrence 'tVelk,
whose appeal is restricted to old
sters, Mitch has the teenagers on
his side too.
Although he and his fellow per
formers are professionals, Mitch
Miller succeeds In projecting an
image of what one observer de
scribes as friendly ordinariness.” In
short, he has managed to create the
impression that this sort of party
could happen at anybody’s house,
where a gang gets together and
sings some of the songs it loves
best.
Mitch will never win any beauty
prizes, and his exuberance comes
pretty close to being the corniest
thing you’ll ever be confronted with
on your home screen. But the man
grows on you, like that ungodly
beard grows on his chin, and before
you realize it you’re patting your
The NEW BERN
^forehoal City, jrc
5^ Per Copy
VOLUME 4
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1962
NUMBER 37
New Bern Junior Chamber
Presents
George L. Ballard, local Alderman
and assistant vice-president of the
First Citizens Bank & Trust Com
pany, was named New Bern’s Young
Man of the Year Thursday ni.ght,
when the town’s Jaycees held their
impressive Awards Banquet at the
Scottish Rite Temple here.
Donald Davis, New Bern High
school’s All-Eastern football star, got
the nod as Teen Ager of the Year,
while Thomas Sugg, who lives in
the Beech Grove section, was recog
nized as Craven county’s Young
Farmer of the Year.
Continuing an annual custom, the
New Bern Junior Chamber present
ed appropriate awards to the three
leaders honored, while relatives,
friends, members and guests ex
pressed their approval with hearty
applause.
State Senator Luther H. Hamilton
of Morehead City,- a former Su
perior Court judge, was the prin
cipal speaker chosen by the Jay
cees for the occasion. This, like
the award selections, was a popular
choice.
Ballard, who is 34 years old, has
been a civic leader in his communi
ty ever since he reached manhood,
and is weU known in banking cir
cles throughout North Carolina. He
is a graduate of the School of Bank
ing of the South, treasurer of the
Young Bankers of the North Caro
lina Banking Association, and a
former member of the executive
committee of the North Carolina
Bankers Association.
He has been elected repeatedly
as an Alderman for the city of New
Bern, is a member of the board of
Paper Firms
Offer Free
Pine plants
To encourage the growing of
trees as a crop, two eastern North
Carolina paper companies are offer
ing share-the-cost opportunities of
pine seedlings to the farm people
of Duplin county, according to V. H.
Reynolds, Duplin farm agent.
One of the companies will pro
vide up to 5,000 free pine seedlings
on a matching basis to any adult
farmer in the county who buys as
many as 5,000. The company will
also furnish free up to 1,000 trees
for any 4-H club member in Duplin.
The other company offers to
pay half the cost of the seedlings
for Future Farmers of America and
4-H members in Duplin and other
coastal counties.
Application blanks and details for
ordering the seedlings may be se
cured at the farm agent’s office in
Kenansville. Reynolds urges early
ordering foi- the 1962 planting sea
son.
Orders are usually placed In
units of 50.
Annual Award
foot and warbling away.
If Miller and his crew aren’t good
natured, and happy in their chores,
they deserve some sort of award
for a marvelous job of spoofing.
They seem to be having fun, and
it gets in the bones of those who
listen and watch with weekly regu
larity. Every New Bernian we’ve
asked about the program has ad
mitted adding his or her own voice
to the vocalizing.
Those pretty girls, who make the
middle-aged male chorus look even
older, add a lot too. No wonder
Mitch is tops in popularity.
NEW BERN’S TOP HONOR
trustees for Trinity Methodist
church, is president of the Men’s
club at that church, and chairman
of the College Fund campaign.
Ballard is a member of the board
of directors of the Craven county
chapter of the American Red Cross,
chairman of the Blood Donors pro
gram, chairman and treasurer of
the United Fund and a member
of its board of directors.
Quiet and self effacing, George
has an easy going manner that fails
to reveal to the casual observer his
inexhaustible energy, and his dog
ged determination to get jobs done.
Donald. Davis, whose spectacular
ball carrying for the Bears in the
tough Northeastern conference, earn
ed him a full scholarship at Wake
Forest, or if he preferred, a simi
lar scholarship at the University of
North Carolina, is more than an
outstanding High school athlete.
He is president of the New Bern
High school a capella choir, an ac
tive member of the Junior Civitan
club, and is regarded by the student
body at New Bern as perhaps the
most modest youngster on the
campus.
His 13 touchdowns during the
1961 gridiron season was the top
figure for the Northeastern con
ference, and his total yardage
against foes who aimed their de
fensive strategy at the elusive
.speedster greatly exceeded his near
est rival’s record in this department.
In the classroom, he has come
up with good grades, and this was
a factor in the eagerness shown
by college coaches in trying to at
tract him to enrollment at their
institutions. Donald was heavily
scouted, and the scouts liked what
they* saw.
Thomas Sugg, 28, graduated from
Jasper High school in 1951. His
advanced education at North Caro
lina State, where he was a member
of Kappa Phi Kappa, was interrupt
ed by three years of Army service
in special communications, includ
ing a hitch overseas. He returned
to _ State later, and received his
diploma.
He is a member of the Beech
Grove Methodist church, and is
superintendent of the Sunday School
there. As a youngster, he was ac
tive in 4-H club programs, and
equally active in the Future Farmers
of America.
Thomas started farming in 1956,
before going into service, and en
tered it on a full time basis in
1959. He runs a dairy farm with
110 cows on it, and plans to add
40 more cows to his herd in the
near future. In addition, he has
eight acres of tobacco to help keep
him busy.
Ballard, Davis, and Sugg have a
number of things in common, but
most notable is the way each has
distinguished himself as a leader
who believes in setting an example
for others by doing a lion’s share
of the work on any project tackled.
WHERE THERE’S A WILL — Ann Dill, two-
year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Dill,
and Debbie Batts, two-year-old daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Batts, had no sleds when
the ice and snow visited New Bern. This pre
dicament was happily solved by converting
the ,top and bottom of a turkey roaster into
suitable transportation. It was loads of fun,
but it didn’t last long enough to suit Debbie
and Ann.—^Photo by “Fran” Fulford.
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