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The NEW BERN
IB
public Liwary
407 HOVI St.
CAROLINA
5^ Per Copy
VOLUME 7
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1964
NUMBER 7
An era ended Thursday
night—and like all good eras
ended sadly—when diminutive
Donald Smith directed his Im-
comparable New Bern High
School choir, and his boys and
girls choruses, for the last
time.
For 24 years, the eternally
youthful Yankee from Buffalo,
N. Y„ had made musical his
tory, bringing the community an
excellence In home-produced
song that it never knew before,
and possibly would never know
again.
It may be argued all of us—
even the most successful and
distinguished—wear shoes that
others are capable of filling. In
our considered opinion, those In
authority at New Bern High
School will search a long time
before they find another Don
ald Smith, and coax him to the
shores of the Neuse and Trent.
Only the vainest of us would
foolishly believe that New
Bern—year after year—pro
duces the most exceptional
teen-age voices in the State.
And yet, it is a matter of rec
ord that—for a quarter of a
century—this Tom Thumb of
a music man blended talent
ranging from fair to middling
to excellent so expertly that his
choirs stood alone in North
Carolina.
Every New Bern music lover
probably knows by now that
Smith is going to Frederick
College in Virginia, where—
we hope—he will be free from
certain unpleasantries that
plagued him In recent years at
New Bern High School.
What isn’t commonly known
here—and The Mirror has
learned this from an author
itative source—is that the
NBHS music director not only
got a flattering contract from
Frederick College, when he
decided it was time to move on,
but was offered a tempting job
shortly before at Winston-Sa
lem’s largest High School.
When measured in terms of
age, Frederick is a baby among
college institutions. However,
the baby is healthy, has been
nourished by a 17-million dol
lar endowment, and latched onto
Smith as the best thing In sight
for Its music department.
We have reason to believe
that the Buffalo native has con
templated leaving New Bern for
at least a year. It was no easy
decision. His wife, Inez, is a
local girl, his children have
grown up here, and he owned a
home here.
In the fullest sense, the trans
planted New Yorker had sunk his
roots deep in his adopted city.
Although it was easy to see that
he was qualified for bigger
things, few feared he would
leave a community that had be
come part and parcel of his
heart.
As the first New Bernlan to
shake Donald Smith’s hand, the
editor of The Mirror never ex
pected him—after finding a
happy harbor here--to pull up
anchor and start virtually a new
life in strange surroundings. We
don’t think Smith dreamed of
such a possibility.
How good is this man in his
chosen field? We’ll settle for the
opinion of a local youngster who
was once a member of the New
Bern High School choir and now
sings In one of North Carolina’s
top college glee clubs.
“Donald Smith,’’ the college
(Continued on page 8)
DO YOU KNOW HIM—Here is another of the old pic
tures that turned up when County Agent A. T. Jackson
and his staff rummaged through obsolete files before
moving to new quarters in the former Health Center
Building. Hundreds — perhaps thousands — of our
Craven County farm friends will immediately recog
nize the man in this photograph. It’s a honey of a pio
ture, and he evidently has more faith in the good
behavior of bees than we have.
WEIGHING TIME—Our Mirror readers, whether they
live in town or in rural areas, get a kick out of identi
fying old photographs. We don’t have the remotest idea
who these three gentlemen are, but someone will put
us wise. We aren’t even sure — never having lived
on a farm — but we assume there’s a pig in that crate,
and his (or her) poundage is being determined by a
simple but crude scale.