>3 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

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