1
The NEW BERN
r WEEKLY
54 Per 1?. V
There she stood at the rail of
the fishing pier, spry as a
cricket and as eager for action
as a kid shagging school on the
first day of spring.
The finny tribe, congregated
somewhere In the choppy
Atlantic beneath her perch,
hadn’t begun to bite, but with
typical optimism she made each
cast with conviction, as If to say,
“This Is gonna be It.’’
You knew at a glance that the
80 year old gal, with straw hat
cocked at an Impish angle, had to
be none other than Sudle West of
Dover, a small butproud Craven
county community.
Fishing is just one of Sudle’s
hobbles, but she doesn’t take It
lightly. Fair weather or foul,
she’ll grab her rod and reel
on a moment’s notice and head
for the ocean or a neighboring
creek bank.
Up until now, the sports loving
groat - grandmother hasn’t
snared anything with fins and
scales that she considers too
small to keep. Size, or lack of It,
falls to dampen her enthusiasm,
but secretly she probably hopes
to bring in a whale someday.
No one who is well acquaint
ed with her Inexhaustible energy
doubts her ability to land any
thing that swims In the briney
deep. It mlg^t take hours to do
it, but what’s a few hours hard
work to a woman who lives alone
1^ cHoicf and"KiBpB'‘"ii“"i^tom'
house.
Up at Dover, they’ll tell you
that Sudle West grows the pret
tiest flowers anywhere around.
She’ll be 81 In August, and yet
still sews beautlAilly. When she
can spare the time, she gladly
turns seamstress and makes
clothes for other people.
No one can say for sure, of
course, but Sudle appears to be
on very good terms with the
Stork. She has alwi^s loved boy
babies and girl babies with equal
affection, and the Stork seemed
to take this into account.
Quite considerately she has
been blessed with two sons and
two daughters, two grandsons
and two granddaughters, and two
great-grandsons and two great-
granddaughters. You can’t be
more impartial than that.
Life has been good to Sudle,
and she had reciprocated by
spreading happiness for others
everywhere she goes. She knows
she won’t live forever, but as
long as she lives she hopes and
prays she will be able to get
around.
Meanwhile, there are fish to
be caught, and flowers to grow,
and seams to be sewn in the
garments she fashions. As
someone once said, what really
counts Isn’t how old you are but
how you are old.
Measured by this yardstick,
Sudle West is younger than a
newly hatched chicken.
Speaking of things newly
hatched, Paul and Margaret
Stevens had a miserable time of
it during the prolonged spell of
heat and hlg^ humidity that grip
ped our town a while back.
They reside upstairs in the
Carolina Club Apartments, and
sought cooling comfort from
their air conditioner the first
nl^t the mercury soared.
Imagine their dismay when
they discovered that a bird had
hatched her young under the
conditioner. The moment the
thing was turned on the little
birds woke up and began to cry,
and they continued to cry until
It was turned off.
(Continued on page 2)
NORTH—No wonder Jimmie Ferbee,
Anita Johnson and Jerry Boykin are in. high spirits,
as they relax from their musical labors. Billed as The
^®,'^ ®®*^ School students
leave Wednesday for a four^Iay World’s Fair engage
ment at the Hong Kong Pavilion. Their booking csub
for matinee and evening performances on July 1,
Hrst’nfoht with Guy Lombardo the
first night they’re in the Big City. Lombardo and his
fomed Royal Canadians will also be appearing at the
Fair while the local trio is in New YorP The® Plains®
men have developed their own distinctive style of
folk singing. Needless to say, they are popular with
fellow NBHS students, have been featui^on TV in
this area, and already are getting nibbles from one
or more recording companies. Keep your eye on these
pw V®®”’ **^®y SO all they way.—
Photo by L. L. Downing. / “J’-