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THE WEST CRAVEN
20- HIGHLIGHT
volume 2 No. 11
Vanceboro, N.c. ■ Thursday. March 22.1979
12 Pages
20
Price: ^
by Conni* Bryan
Commissioners
discuss health program
RANGERETTES HOLD FLAG CEREMONY-Mra. Utelnui Whitford and fonr of ho-
Rangerette girla, held a flag ceremony at the West Craven Junior High School Library
on Friday, March 9. They presented the flag and an American Patriot Handhpok to the
library. Mr. Earl Sadler, school librarian, accepted the flag and book on Im»Ii»h of the
school.
Those attending were [left to right] Earl Sadler, Librarian; Pauline Gaskins, Wipude
Gasldns, Christy Ipock, Thelma Whitford, Leader, Karen Harmon and Janice Jordan,
assistant librarian.
Neuey Register and her 8th grade class also attended this event.
Celebrates 92nd birthday
A possible health main
tenance program was the
topic of discussion at the
meeting of the Craven
County Board of Commi-
sioners in New Bern last
Monday. The Commission
ers heard from Chris Mans
field, Assistant Director of
the East Carolina Health
System Agencyi on the dif^
ferent types of pre paid
health care plans that are
already in practice around
the country. He pointed out
that a pre-paid plan with
fixed fees for services can
be beneficial for both phys
icians and consumers.
Mr. Mansfield recom
mended a feasiblility study
as a first step. Commission
er Grover Lancaster of
Vanceboro moved that the
board apply for federal
funds which are available
for such a study, and that
the Health System Agency
be formally requested to
assist the board in making
these applications. The
motion was approved by
the board.
Cathy Hendren, Coordin
ator of the Volunteers for
Children, requested $114,18
from the board in order for
the Department of Social
Services to be able to get
$22,600 in federal funds.
The money was provided
on a matching basis, with
the county and the state
paying 5%, while the feder
al government paid the bal
ance.
Jane Stephenson, Direc
tor of the Craven County
Department of Social Ser
vices, asked the Commis
sioners to write to the
Executive Director of the
North Carolina County
Commissioners Association
in support of legislation to
hold down the cost of the
Medicaid program on the
local level. She pointed out
to the board that the cost
of Medicaid is one of the
highest escalating programs
because it has no ceiling.
In other action, the board
also heard from the Com
mittee of 100 and approved
their request for $23,000 to
cover engineering cost for
water and sewage for the
new industrial park to be
located in New Bern. Re
ferring to the problem of
getting industry to locate in
Craven County, Commis
sioner George Nelson said,
“I’m tired of Craven County
offering excuses. I think it
is time for us to either fish
or cut bait.” The board
went on record as giving
their full commitment to
the industrial park.
Ipock remembers his father’s Civil War stories
Hervey C. Ipock, one of
Craven County’s oldest citi
zens, recorded his 92nd
birthday last Saturday. On
Sunday, he celebrated with
his family which now spans
across four generations.
Hervey has three children,
five grandchildren, and
thirteen great-grandchild
ren.
The fifth of ten children,
Hervey was born on March
17, 1887 to Brice and
Mariah Ipock on the Ipock
Farm in the Asbury Com
munity. According to Her
vey, growing up on the
farm in the late 1800’s was
hard but had its moments
of fun also. When Hervey
was a boy, it was his job to
get up each morning and
light the fireplaces in his
home. “Dad would say each
morning, ‘Hervey! Cornel’
and that’s all he would
say,” Hervey explained ,
“Then I would get up and
light the fire in his room
then go down and light the
fire in the stove, and finally
build a fire in the fireplace
in the living room. Some
times even now if I sleep
late, I can still hear my
father calling. One morning,
I overslept. When I did
wake up, I could hear him
getting up, dressing and
starting the fire in his
room. It happened that we
were building an addition
on to the house. As quietly
as I could, I climbed down
through the. 'Unfinished •
flooring to the back door.
After getting in the door, I
lit the fire in the stove. I
could hear my father up
stairs beating my bed with
his cane. When he found
me, I was sitting beside the
fire in the kitchen where I
was supposed to be. Father
looked at me shook his cane
and said, ‘You better be
glad you are here.‘ You can
believe, I was!"
Hervey remembers his
dad, Brice, as a farmer, saw
mill operator and a carpen
ter. Brice cared well for his
large family. “In those
days, just about every
community had its own
school," Hervey commen
ted, “We lived right on the
line between Perfection
School and Asbury School.
Dad sent us to which ever
school had the best teacher.
We walked over three
miles to school.” Hervey
finished public school and
attended New Bern Mili
tary School in New Bern at
the age of eighteen. He
remembers when the
bridge spanning the Neuse
at New Bern was being
built. Often when not in
class, Hervey and his
friends would walk out as
far as they could to the end
of the unfinished bridge.
Hervey recalled a happen
ing which led to the found
ing of Bridgeton. ’The story,
which Hervey insists is
true, holds that once two
squirrel hunter-s decided, to
stop and rest near the
construction site of the
north end of the new
bridge across the Neuse
River. As friends will do
sometimes, the two boys
began to discuss which of
the two was the best shot.
They set a target on the
side of a small shack on the
construction site. The rest
is history. The resulting
explosion could be heard as
far away as Asbury, twenty
miles up river. Bit[i of cloth
ing, tufts of dog fur, and
pieces of twisted metal rifle
barrels were found in trees
many miles away from the
site. The story goes that
many of the people who
came to see the resulting
crater, decided to stay on
that side of the river. An
interesting conversationa
list, Hervey still captures
the imaginations and atten
tion of his children, grand
children, and great-grand
children with story after
story about the exploits of
his father in the Civil War.
Hervey explained that his
father served as a regular
soldier in the Confederate
Army and often worked as
a spy behind Union lines.
After the Union Army cap
tured New Bern, they
chased the Confederate
Army back across Bach
elor’s Creek. With Colonel
Jones at the lead, the
Union Army crossed the
Batchelor’s Creek Ford hot
in pursuit of the fleeing
Rebs. As Colonel Jones and
his troops topped the hill
where the Old Richardson
House stood, a shot rang
out dropping Jones from
his horse, mortally wound
ed. No one ever knew who
fired the shot that killed
Jones, but Hervey has al
ways thought his father
must have known because
of the vivid detail with
which his father told the
story.
The number three has
been important in the life
of Hervey Ipock. He has
been married three times
and has three children, all
from his first marriage to
Harvay C. Ipock
the late Beulah Davis on
February 10, 1909. Her-
vey’s son Paul resides in
the nearby Jasper Com
munity. Hervey’s two
daughters, Eva Miller and
Bertha Duve live in Mary
land. Three times Hervey
and his family have been
burned out by fire. Each
time with the generous
help of good neighbors, he
has come back. Hervey is a
lifetime member of Asbury
Methodist Church where he
taught the Adult Sunday
School Class for about fifty
years. He now lives by
himself, does his own cook
ing and house keeping and-
tends about fifteen chick
ens. He is very anxious
about getting his garden
started. Hervey is the old
est living member of the
church and the community.
He attributes his long life
to remarkable good health
and “just keeping on
breathing.” Recently, he
suffered a heart attack, but
has successfully recovered.
When asked what advice he
would give to the coming
generations, Mr. Ipock re
plied, "Mind their own busi
ness.”
by Rick Cannon