Newspapers / The New Bern Mirror … / June 21, 1968, edition 1 / Page 1
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Sfr«-4nrt(tii towtg fublU CitowB The NEW BERN PUBLllHBD WIMCLY ' THI HIART OB ^ 'BRN NORTH VOLUME 11 NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1968 NUMi. ^.3 Every newspaperman, If only for vanity's sake, likes to re call some particular story that provided him with the scoop of a lifetime. Ours came In 1948, when we scooped the entire press of the nation and world with the ex clusive revelation that Presi dent Harry S. Truman, newly elected, would attend Sunday morning services at New Bern’s First Baptist church. To this day we’ve never told anyone how we got the story al most two davs before It was re leased officially by the White House in Washington. And,feel ing as we do now, it will still be an undisclosed secret when we go to our grave. How did we get carefully guarded information? ITiat’s what conscientious and higlily efficient John Campion of the Secret Service wanted to know when he questioned us the day before Truman arrived. Squirming a little, the writer replied that he was going to stand pat on a reporter’s time- honored right not to divulge Ihe source of bisinformatlon.Cam pion smiled and said, “1 don’t suppose you would be ntuch of a newspaperman if you’d tell me.” And that was that. Little did elth(>r of us know at the time that John, during Truman’s weekend visit, would fall in love with a New Bern girl, Georgia Brewer, and marry her soon afterwards. Incidentally, the Campions-- 12 years later—are still happily married and he is still safe guarding Presidents. This much we can say about the Truman scoop, the facts were meager. At first, accord ing to our unofficial informa tion, he was planning to attend church in Wilmington. Then he chose New Bern instead. As soon as the writer learn ed the Chief Executive would be attending the First Baptist church here, he called the pas tor, Rev. Tom Fryer. Then he telephoned Congressman Gra ham A. Barden, who happened to be home from Washington. Next morning at Williams Res taurant, as the two of us chanced to meet at the counter. Hap remarked that there still wasn’t anything official in the papers concerning a Truman visit to New Bern. “Are you sure your story is right?” the Congress man asked as he sipped his coffee. We as sured him It was, but while we told him we were saying to our- .sclf, “It had better be true, after the broadcast we did last nl^t about it.” The fat was definitely In the fire. If the President failed to come to New Bern, the writer was going to be saddled with a reporting blun der that could never be lived down. Relying on the luck of the Irish, and taking a gamble that still makes us shudder, we had said on the broadcast that, of ficial silence notwithstanding, the President would definitely pul in an appearance here on the Sabbath. He would land his plane at Cherry Point and come to New Bern by automobile. Truthfully, we had no ad vance information at all on the Cherry Point angle. However, we did know that the Presidential party would be fly- (Copllnued on page 8, BACK HOME—Tears glisten in Anita Johnson’s ex pressive eyes as she waves to New Bernians who were on hand to welcome her Sunday night as the newly crowned Miss North Carolina 1969. Needless to say, they were tears of happiness. It was trail’s end for a wonderful week that saw her win the votes of critical judges and the hearts of those attending Saturday night’s glittering State Pageant. To win her right to the throne she had to compete successfully against 86 lovely and talented girls, but few if any of the previous Miss North Carolinas have been a more popular choice with judges and audiences alike. Many times this year. Her Majesty will assume the regal dignity that a ruling monarch should have, but Sun day night, home at last, she was simply a tired Cin derella who still found it hard to believe that fairy tales do come true.—Photo by Chick Natella.
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
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June 21, 1968, edition 1
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