Pag* 2. Watt Cravan Highllghit. Oacambar 10,1981
Small Town vs.
Large Town
By JONATHAN PHILLIPS
Special Correspondent
Living in a place like Fort Barnwell or Bridgeton may
make it hard to find many art auctions or nightclubs close to
home.
You won’t see many movie premiers, your town won’t be a
stop for national political campaigns, and you may have to
wait for months—or even years—before becoming a victim
of violent crime.
But there’s one thing a small town in North Carolina has
that the big cities may never have again—a little originality.
Now it is realized that cities like New Orleans. San
Francisco and Washington have characters of their own.
New York is not like Milwaukee which is not like Baltimore
which is not like Memphis which is not like San Antonio
which is not like Nashville which is not like Chicago.
But think about the things that characterize these cities,
be it the Bourbon Street boisterousness of New Orleans or
the funky ethnic taverns of Baltimore.
Those things are associated with the downtowns of the
cities. Sadly, the downtowns just ain’t what they used to be:
Suburbanization
Not just the people, but the economic activity of the cities
has moved to the suburbs. If you don’t believe me, go to
Atlanta, where the giant glass corporate offices and busy
factories ring the outskirts of the city.
The suburbs of Atlanta is where I met a glassy-eyed,
distracted-looking man named Peter 0. Muller, with his
hair slicked straight back from his forehead and a sheaf of
papers resting against his paunch.
While perhaps an unimpressive physical specimen,
Muller, an urban geographer at the University of Miami,
has nonetheless done some impressive writing. He published
an excellent book this year called “the Suburbanization of
America.”
There are a lot of theories and so forth in the book, and
some documentation of how the suburbs have grown in
economic importance. But one notion in Muller’s book
quickly catches the eye.
He maintains that the suburbs are replacing both the
large cities and the small towns as the places where
America’s business is tended to. The trouble is. he says, the
suburbs have no "main street,” like Vanceboro or New Bern
does, to serve as the center of the community.
So what serves those functions in the suburbs?
Muller says the “main street” of the suburbs is the
shopping mall.
Main Street, USA?
In effect, the wild-eyed gentlement from Miami is saying'
that the suburban shopping mall is now Main Street, USA.
The meeting Muller and I happened to be at in Atlanta
was held at a ridicuously expensive suburban motel. The
entire business was carried out without poor ’ol me ever
getting near Peachtree or anywhere else in downtown
Atlanta.
It was while wandering through Perimeter Mall looking
for a place to eat lunch that wouldn’t cost half a week’s
paycheck that the full meaning of Muller’s ideas hit home.
The fact is, if you were taken into perimeter Mall blind
folded and sleeping, when you woke up you would have no
idea where you were.
All big malls look the same. You would wake up and not
know if you were in Raleigh, Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta,
Nashville, Phoenix, Portland or Toledo.
The architecture and atmosphere are the same. The layout
is the same. The piped-in music is the same. The decor is the
same. Even the stores are the same—did you ever yet visit a
mall without a Chic-Fil-A, a Record Bar, and A Thom Me An
shoe store?
For those who find delight in variety and who see virtue in
diversity, it is a sad state of affairs.
Lucky, then, are we poor Carolina clod-kickers.
Main Street Vanceboro is a different animal from the
main drag in Cove City. We can drive to New Bern,
Washington, Greenville and Kinston knowing that we won’t
find exactly the same experience in each place.
We can stop in at the store in Caton. with reasonable
assurance that it won’t be identical to the store at Wilmar or
the store at Clarks.
Shopping malls are great places to visit, and a lot of us are
doing a lot of visiting this time of year. But if push comes to
shove. I’ll take an old-fashioned Main Street anytime.
Receive their License
Three students from Craven Community College received
their nursing licenses December 3, 1981. They are Diane
Dail, Debbie Stroud, and Carrie Buck. They reside in the
Vanceboro area. Mrs. Dail and Mrs. Stroud will practice at
Craven County Hospital. Mrs. Buck will be with the Coastal
Children’s Clinic in New Bern.
Fort Barnwell
Bulletin
By MRS. B.H. MITCHELL
Correspondent
AFC (Airman First Class) Leroy B. Huggins, son of Mr.
Leroy Huggins of Ft. Barnwell and Mrs. Loretta M.
Huggins of Jamaica, N.Y. is home on leave from his post of
duty in the Air Force. He is stationed at the Airbase in
Homestead, Fla. He will be home for about a month to visit
friends and relatives. He has two more years toserveon this
assignment of duty.
He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Dal W. Mitchell of Ft.
Barnwell.
He is a 1979 graduate of West Craven High School.
PFC Keith Koonce, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Koonce,
of Ft. Barnwell is home on leave from his post of duty. He is
stationed at the U.S. Army base in Frankfurt, Germany. He
plans to be home until January and visit his friends and
relatives in the surrounding area. PFC Koonce graduated
from West Craven High School in 1980. Koonce says,”
theres not place like home “so he was willing to finance his
trip home for the holiday season.
Mr. Pauline Cobert of Baltimore, Md, has returned home
after spending two weeks home with family and friends
after the loss os a sister Mrs. Eula H. McRae of Troy, N.C.
The Floral Club of St. Edwards F.W.B. Church will hold
it’s Annual Anniversary at the Church on Sunday night,
Dec. 13, 1981 at 7:30 p.m. The Rev. Stanley and Choir will
render service. Elder W. Waters is Pastor and Mrs.-Lela
Howard is president.
Hypothermia Is
Danger To Elderly
Hypothermia simply
means below-normal body
temperature and it is a real
danger to older people during
the cold winter months.
“In the cold weather some
older people can develop ac
cidental hypothermia that
can be fatal if not detected
and treated properly,” says
Isabell Buckley, extension
aging specialist at North
Carolina State University.
Accidental hypothermia
may occur in anyone who is
exposed to severe cold with
out enough protection, Miss
Buckley explains. But some
older people can develop this
problem with only an ex
posure to mild cold.
"Elderly persons most sus
ceptible to accidental hypo
thermia are the chronically
ill; the poor, who cannot
afford heating fuel and those
who do not take the normal
steps to keep warm,” she
says.
There are a small number
of aged persons whose tem
perature regulation is de-
ective and do not feel cold or
shiver. They cannot produce
body heat when they need it
and are the greatest risk of
hypothermia.
It is those people who have
“felt cold” for many years
who actually have a lower
risk of accidental hypo
thermia, Miss Buckley
notes.
’Die only sure way to detect
hypothermia is to use a spe
cial low-reading thermome
ter, available in most
hospitals. A regular home
thermometer, shaken down
well, will do. If the tempera
ture falls below 95 degrees
F. or does not register, get
emergency help.
Other symptoms of hypo
thermia include an unusual
change in appearance or be
havior during cold weather;
slow and and sometimes ir
regular heartbeat; slurred
speech; shallow, slow
breathing; sluggishness and
confusion. 'Treatment con
sists of warming the patient,
under a doctor’s supervision,
if possible in the hospital.
People Talk
By MRS. B.H. MITCHELL
Correspondent
We listen to people talk in all walks of life and we have
been taught that we learn from listening.
One of the most interesting things that I heard on the
street was a discussion between a taxi driver who was
talking to an acquaintance at the washerette.
It went something like this: “When we finished high
school a few years ago. we went to New York and got a good
job. We were making good money, but I was foolish and did
not think at all. You know I spent $35.00 or $40.00 on reefers.
$50.00 per week for a hotel room and a few dollars for other
^things. I did not care then, but now that I’ve quit that ar ~
continued," and counted up what I was spending.
averaged about a hundred dollars a week which was
$5200.00 a year.
Well, 1 did that for five or six years before I realized what a
“Nut” 1 was.
Well. I am back home to stay now and I have a job. I have
realized that my life style has been turned around. I never
want to go back to the city. Yes, I’ll try to save some of my
pay and see if 1 can get something for myself in life. I hope
that I’ll never waste $5200.00 dollars per year again.”
Generally speaking one might say we can hear this any
day but this young man had learned a great lesson from
experience and he knew that his harvest was nothing in his
early adult life.
The young man had made a decision to work for the
things that lead to a good life.
There is a lesson for the most of us, if we take a closer look
at the times we did not use our resources wisely.
The good life is what all of us want, so it pays to count up
the cost and many times change some of our ways of living.
Talking Book For
Handicapped
A Social Security talking
book is available free to blind
and handicapped people who
cannot read braille or print at
the North Carolina Library
for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped, Department of
Cultural Resources, 1811
North Boulevard, Raleigh,
NC 27635.
The talking book isa9-inch,
8RPM, flexibledisc recording
of three Social Security
publications. The publica
tions are Your Social
Security, Supplemental
Security Income for Aged,
Disabled, and Blind People,
and Your Medicare Hand
book.
The talking book does not
explain recent legislative
changes in the Social Security
and Medicare programs
was produced
changes were
because it
before the
enacted.
Special phonographs
capable of playing the talking
book are supplied by the
library of Congress and made
available free by regional
libraries to eligible blind and
physically handicapped
readers.
People can get information
about borrowing the talking
book by calling the library at
919/733-4376 or the New
Bern Social Security Office at
637-4101.
People also should call the
New Bern Social Security
Office for information about
the recent legislative changes
in Social Security and
Medicare.
West Craven
HIGHLIGHTS
Nouifi
Edith Hodges
Mike Hodges
Office
Sharon Buck
Production
Glen Seamsier
Sports Editor
R. L. Cannon, Jr.
Publisher
Business Manager
Christine Hill
Offit^ Manager
P. O. Box 404, Main Street, Across from the Post Office
Vanceboro, North Carolina 26566
Phone: (919) 244^)780, (919) 244-0Sli8
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