PAGE 2 — WEST CRAVEN HIGHLIGHTS - AUGUST 27. 1987
Eastern
Echoes
By
Gail Roberson
Lace And Lizards
Obituaries
Albert T. Creamer
Albert T. Creamer, 77, died last
Thursday at Pitt County Memo
rial Hospital in Greenville.
The ftineral was held at 2 p.m.
Saturday at Chapman’s United
Methodist Church near Dudley's
Crossroads with the Rev. Hillary
Gaskins ofliciating.
Burial was in the church
cemetery.
He is survived by his widow,
Estelle Creamer; two sons, Reg
inald Lancaster of Currituck and
Craig Creamerof Virginia Beach,
Va.; one daughter, Mary Eli
zabeth Fornes of Vanceboro; two
brothers, Raymond Creamer of
Lumberport, W. Va., and Wade
Creamer of Clarksburg, W. Va.;
two sisters, Audrey McCuUey of
Georgia and Mae Gainer of Van
ceboro; nine grandchildren and
II great-grandchildren.
CUiloii E. Lewis
Tuesday at Lane’s Chapel United
Methodist Church with the Rev.
Dan Powers and the Rev.
Richard Stanley officiating.
Burial was in the church
cemetery.
She is survived by two
brothers, Wesley Newell and Ray
Newell, both of Dover; two sis
ters, Mavis Hodges of Dover and
Lena Moore of Wilmington;
several nieces and nephews.
She was a member of Lane’s
Chapel United Methodist
Church.
Memorial contributions may
be made to Lane’s Chapel United
Methodist Church, Dover, or to
the Fort Barnwell Rescue Squad,
Rt. 1, Dover.
CliRon Earl Lewis, 46, of 190
Riggs Town Road, died Saturday
in Craven County Hospital, New
Bern.
Graveside services were held
at 1 p.m. Tuesday at New Bern
National Cemetery with the Rev.
Jack Phillips officiating.
He is survived by his widow,
Charlotte Riggs Lewis; two
brothers, Jessie B. Lewis of
Bridgeton, Willie James Lewis of
New Bern; three sisters, Marie
Lewis Johnson and Virginia
Brinkley, both of Bridgeton,
Catherine Lewis Pope of New
Bern.
Memorials may be made to
Alcohol Treatment Bridge
Home, Bridges Street, Morehead
City, 28557.
New Telephone
Lines Keeping Up
With Area Growth
Sallic B.N. Roberson
DOVER — Sallie Bell Newell
Roberson, 82, died Sunday.
The fbneral was held at 3 p.m.
Carolina Telephone recently
began installing new under
ground cable along Secondary
Road 1400 in the Vanceboro tele
phone exchange to serve an ex
panding area, it was armounced
by W.C. Thomas, the company’s
district commercial manager.
“Carolina Telephone is spend
ing more than $23,000 to provide
new underground cable for this
area, which consists mainly of
farmlands but is experiencing
steady growth of single-family
homes and mobile home sites,”
said Thomas.
"By plowing cable under
ground, Carolina Telephone
avoids setting poles to support
aerial wire and cable, thus en
hancing the visual environment
of the area. Underground cable
provides more reliable service
since it is usually not damaged
by winds or storms.”
Eagles’ Coach Predicts Dogfight
For Playoff Berths In Conference
Even now, though in her 80s and 90 pounds wringing wet,
my Grandma Fannie is going to “whop” the daylights out of
me because I’m now confessing that I’m the one who hid the
shoebox Aill of lizards in her parlor and took the lid off... 25
years ago.
Twenty-five years ago, I was ripe for rebellion. I strayed
about as far from the legacy of the sweet petunia Southern
belle as I possibly could. In fact, I spent the entire first 10 years
of my life trying to kiss my elbow sol would turn into a boy. It
didn’t work, but I kept at it. Even today, I sometimes forget to
remember that it didn’t work. And you know, I wouldn’t have
it any other way. And, I’m still ripe for rebellion.
If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a weak, whimpery
woman. I never simpered for any man. I wouldn’t even know
how. I’m a woman and I like it. I don’t want to be anything else.
But, just because I’m female is no reason to act like a weaker
sex.
There is no weaker sex. Any woman can tell you that, as well
as most men. It's the weak woman and the chauvinistic men
who created whimpery women. Weak women are whimpery.
That’s that. And men who like weak women are generally
weak themselves, and plenty chauvinistic to go along with it.
The men and women in between these two categories of peo
ple are the ones I like best. They know the sexes are equal.
They respect each other and the different strengths each one
possesses, ending up with a well-proportioned relationship
that’s healthy and beneficial to both.
It’s here in the South that women are the strongest today.
For years the vision of the honeysuckle Southern belle flutter
ing her eyelashes and arranging fragrant vase boughs tar
nished the ability of many of our older women to break free of
this “feminine” mold. But, the new women of the South have
learned how to balance both family and career like a high-wire
walker, and still retain the dignity and the poise required by
the Old South.
It takes one heck of a woman to be either a farmer or a
farmer’s wife. It’s unlke any other profession on earth. In our
highly agricultureal area, women shoulder as much responsi
bility as the men. Yet, it’s here, in this part of the country,
where we still think of ourselves as the weaker sex. We con
tinue to think of the Southern woman as a beautiful vision
descending a long staircase for afiemoon tea in the parlor,
instead of remembering all of those who helped to rebuild the
South alongside their men in the fields and factories.
We southern women are made of the finest steel because
we’ve been dragged through the hottest fires. Though the
blood of the old Southern belle runs a little thinner in each
generation, we still appreciate soft lace and delicate silk as
much as our female ancestors years ago... but we don’t run
screaming from the room when cricket peeps over the chande
lier either.
My breakfast room is thick with plants as the Amazon jung-'
le. Somewhere, in the midst of all this greenery, there lives a
tiny green lizard named Dudley. Occasionally, he is stalked by
the cat, which sends him scurrying up the ferns suspended
from the ceiling. From this lofty abode, he is safe to pursue his
acquired lifestyle.
A northern friend nearly fainted when she saw him. Her
shrieks and antics gave me the overpowering urge to punch
her in the nose. Instead, I tried to explain, only to be drowned
out by her constant demands to “just KILL it.”
I hate whimpery women. Why can’t they just be as comfort
able with lizards as they are with lace. Like all the rest of us
Southern women.
By HARK INABINETT
SpeciH To Tho
Weil Craven Hishllahu
During the 1986 football sea
son, Havelock and West Craven
dominated the other members of
the Coastal Conference.
The Rams won the Coastal and
the Eastern Class AAA cham
pionships and gave West Craven
its only regular-season loss.
Havelock beat the Eagles 7-0 in a
game without a touchdown.
Havelock outscored its other
Coastal opponents 233-19 and
West Craven outscored its oppo
nents in its five conference vic
tories 223-46.
But it doesn’t appear the two
teams, or any two teams, will be
able to dominate the Coastal in
that manner this season.
”I think us and West Craven
probably are down talent-wise,”
Havelock coach Wilbur Sasser
said, “and I think most every
body else is up. I really feel like
there are five teams in this con
ference with a chance to make
those (three) playoff berths.”
For West (Graven coach Clay
Jordan, the race will be for two
playoff spots.
“I don’t see anybody being
able to put the people on the field
Havelock can,” Jordan said.
“But down the ladder, the other
two spots will be a dogfight.”
The race for the state playoff
positions will not start until Sept.
25 when the league season be
gins. Until then the Coastal
teams will be engaged in non
conference competition, starting
with the opening games of the
season for five league members
Ftiday.
Havelock and West Craven
both should have their young
teams tested Friday. The Rams
host Class AAAA, (Graven Coun
ty rival New Bern, and West
Craven hosts North Pitt, ex
pected to be a power in the Class
AA Eastern Plains Conference.
In the other games. East Car
teret hosts Lejeune, West Car
teret visits Pamlico County, and
Washington hosts Belhaven Wil
kinson.
D.H. Conley and North Lenoir
begin their seasons Sept. 4 with
the Vikings hosting Ayden-
Grifton and the Hawks visiting
South Lenoir.
Although the non-conference
games have no direct bearing on
league play, they still could de
cide which teams make the play
offs, Sasser said.
“I’ve been a firm believer in
winning breeds winning,” Sasser
said. “It’d be very tough if we
went 0-4 or 1-3 in these games
and then tell our kids they could
win the rest of their games and
win the conference cham
pionship.”
The Rams have a tough non
conference slate with Bertie,
White Oak and Tarboro follow
ing New Bern. West Craven also
has a testing non-conference
schedule with Greene Central,
New Bern and Pamlico County
coming up.
“The schedule we’re playing is
not the schedule we went out
looking for,” Jordan said. “Be
cause of our success the last few
years, we’ve got some teams who
don’t want to play us.
“If we come out of a non
conference schedule as tough as
this one healthy, we could do
well in the conference. It de
pends on how the kids look at
these games. If they look at them
as a learning experience, it would
be positive.”
West Craven and Havelock
share another trait. The Eagles
have three offensive starters and
four defensive regulars return
ing. The Rams are a little more
experienced in their bread-and-
butter area — defense — where
they return five starters, but only
two offensive regulars return
iVom the 14-1 team.
The two teams are not without
talented players, however.
West Craven will be led by De-
reck Booker, who was a
Washington Daily News All-Area
defensive back last season. With
Jesse Campbell departed from
the Eagles for North Carolina
State University, Booker steps
into the spotlight as West
Craven’s backfield star. Last sea
son, Booker’s 1,260 rushing
yards were overshadowed by
Campbell’s spectacular exploits.
Havelock has a broader found
ation on which to build, begin
ning with 265-pound tackle Lee
Von Morris and continuing
through 245-pound guard Brad
Craig and place-kicker Stephen
Craig.
With the change in personnel
come changes in tactics for Have
lock. The Rams plan to throw
more this season with Ledel
George, who intercepted 12 pas
ses as a defensive back last sea
son, stepping into the quarter
back spot.
“I feel like we have to have con
sistent success passing,” Sa£I^
said. “I feel like if things come
together, by the time the confer
ence schedule comes along we
could be a very good passing
football team because we’ve got a
young man who can really throw
the ball.”
West Craven’s first-game oppo
nent, North Pitt, does, too —
quarterback Calvin Hunter — as
well as someone to catch it in
tight end Ashley Sheppard, two
of the region’s top players.
“It’s a tough opener for us,”
Jordan said, “but not a bad way
to open for a team rebuilding. If
we win, we’ll open a lot of eyes,
and we will go into the game as
underdogs.”
For the Coastal teams in Car
teret County, the season appears
headed in opposite directions.
East Carteret and West Carteret
have new coaches in George
Viereck and Ed Hyatt respective-.
ly. But while the Mariners have
some solid building blocks, the
Patriots almost are without ex
perience. Only six West Carteret
players were with the team last
season.
Lejeune beat East Carteret 7-6
last season when it reached the
second round of the Class AA
playoffs. Five offensive starters
and six defensive regulars return .
for the Devilpups.
Although Pamlico County re
turns just three starters on each
side of the ball, the Hurricanes
hope to improve on last yeaFi94liS.r
record behind running back Ter
ence Tatum.
‘Masked Bandit’ Steals Hearts, Food
Br RAY BRONK
A few years ago, I was a guest
on a fishing trip. My host and I
had fileted about 30 panfish, and
since his refrigerator was full and
the night was chilly, he stored
them to cool on his screened
porch. The next morning, all that
remained of the fish filets was an
overturned platter. There was a
new hole in the screen. I though
my host would be fiirious. In
stead, he just laughed and said,
“Those durn coons, I should
have known better than to trust
them with fish left out like that.”
Few members of the animal
kingdom are as well known, and
eqjoy the charitable good will of
humans, as does the raccoon,
Procyon lotor. His “masked ban
dit” black facial configuration,
lumbering, pigeon-toed gait and
the ease with which he can be
trained, tend to make him one of
the more lovable and acceptable
members of the animal kingdom
found in North Carolina.
The raccoon is found through
out the lower provinces of Cana
da, all of the United States and all
of Mexico. Several races of pale-
colored, dwarf raccoons are
found on the Florida Keys.
“Coons,” are grayish in color,
with the famous black mask
across their eyes and cheeks, and
with five to eight black bands on
the tail. They have long, buff-
colored guard-hairs tipped in
black and a creamy-white under
fur. Their fur is prized for coats,
and the raccoon is hunted for pelt
and for sport.
A fully-developed adult rac
coon living in an area of ideal
conditions, and with an abund
ance of food, can weigh as much
as a medium-sized dog, as much
as 45 pounds, although less than
30 pounds is more normal max
imum male weight.
Most sightings of raccoons are
made from dusk to dawn, since
they usually forage for food dur
ing hours of darkness. For this
reason, they are rarely spotted
during daylight hours.
The den is usuaily a hollow log
or hollow tree, when trees are
abundant, and in rocky clefts and
crevices in treeless areas.
They are expert climbers. They
use their non-webbed, elon
gated, spindly toes with great de
xterity when climbing and when
examining objects. In captivity,
when water is available, they
have an unexplained habit of
“washing” their food, even if
they have just caught the item in
that same water. In the wild, they
seldom wash their food, usually
swallowing their food with no
particular preparation.
Raccoons are usually found
living near water, since they eat
many foods growing in or near
the water. They are omnivorous,
and consume crawfish, fish, and
snakes, as well as fruits such as
grapes and persimmons. They
eat acorns, nuts and com. They
will also eat birds, insects and lar-
val and adult wasps. They
scavenge in rubbish and garbage
pails, and many homeowners in
vestigating strange noises in the
night have surprised a family of
raccoons gobbling up pet food
left overnight.
Although raccoons do not
reach adulthood until their
second year, female raccoons are
sexually mature at 9 to 10
months, an in their southern
range, more than half conceive
during their first year. Mates
reach sexual maturity after their
second year.
The breeding season begins in
February, with the young being
bom in April or May. A litter of
fixim one to seven are bom after a
gestation period from 60 to 73
days, with an average of 63 days.
They are small at birth, about ^5
ounces, well-furred and with
dark skins. The eyes and ears are
closed, with the eyes opening ab
out the 18th day. The female
cares for the young, with no help
ftom the male.
After weaning, at about seven
weeks, the young will follow the
female around, seeking shelter in
tangles of roots and vines, cre
vices and under rocks. They be
gin following their parents
around on hunting forays about a
month later.
The raccoon is considered in-
teliigent by many, although he is
more ingenious and persistent
than smart. His manual dexterity
enables him to perform feats
which make him appear superior
to mammals in brain power.
Raccoons are oftened trained
as pets. This is not a safe practice.
As the raccoon reaches adult
hood, his insatiable curiosity and
stubbornness make him destruc
tive and untrustworthy. His tem
perament also changes, and pet
raccoons are known to have
caused serious biting and claw
ing injuries when formerly safe
activities were repeated.
Although raccoons are some
times said to hibernate, they do
not. They do, in the colder parts
of their range, hole up and sleep
for long periods, living on stored
body fat until about February.
They do not display the physiolo
gical changes of hibernation;
that of reduced temperature, re
duced rate of respiration and
heartbeat and insensibility to
pain that characterizes true
hibernation.
Raccoons are of the family Pro-
cyonidae (animals which come
before dogs) which include
coatis, kinkqjous and pandas; the
order Camivorae (meat eaters)
and class Mammalia (mammal).
Although recent studies have
indicated that the raccoon has
been destroying nests of game
birds and wild turkeys, this des
truction has not been intense. He
is, in many parts of North Caroli
na, considered as pest. Pest or
not, this remarkable, adaptable
creature, able to live in varied cir
cumstances and habitats, seems
destined to continue to prosper
and to prevail in the face of urba
nization and other modern
adversity.
(Copyright 1987, Raymond G.
Bronk)
Library
Rewards
Readers
Congratulations to aU of the boys
and girls who participated in the
summer reading game at the
Vanceboro-Craven County Pub
lic Library.
The children who read and re
ported on at least 10 books dur
ing Juiy received certficates
signed by Gov. James Martin.
The also received library book
Those reading the minimum of
10 books are:
Kim Poythress, LaTricia Free
man, Joann Laughinghouse,
Jamie Watson, Gerald Brown,
Amanda Hayes, David Wayne,
Rusty Mills, Amy Watson,
Iman Moore, Crystal Fornes,
Jeremy Mills, Matt Powell, Erin
Smith, Gary Whitehead,
Brandy Simpkins, Amy Swain,
Bakarri Johnson, Uriah King,
Travis Powell, Billie Elks, Der
rick Edwards,
Long Wait
Firemen would have a long wait before they could use this hyd
rant to fight afire. The hydrant was sculpted (Vom ice and placed in
the lobby of the Greenville Hilton for the recent 100th meeting of the
North Carolina Firemen’s Association. The hydrant would have had
to melt before any water could be gotten, and then it’s doubtfiil that
there would be enough! water to do much good. Craven County
firemen attended the meeting and hosted a hospitality room for the
over 800 firemen who attended the meeting. (Mike Voss photo)
Sarah Maddy, Tony Bryant,
Brandy Wayne, Sharon Dunn,
Joshua Hayes, Amy Bryan, Jen
nifer Locklear and Latina Ed
wards.
Many of the children listed
read and reported on more than
the 10-book minimum during
July and were awarded prizes
ftom the library for their efforts.
West Craven
Highlights
Craven County's
Family Weakly Newspaper
P.O. Box 404
Vanceboro, N.C. 28586
(Main St. Across From Post Olfice)
Published Each Thursday
Ashley B, Futroll, Jr.
Publisher
Mike Voss
Editor
Pat Beaeham
Advertising Manager
Edith Hodges
Office Manager
Office Hours
Mon 8:30 am-10:30 am
Thurs. & Fri. 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Telephone 244J>7S0
IN-COUNTY RATES
Single Copy 25*
1 Year •7.36
OUT-OF-COUNTY RATES
> Year
Above Ineludss N.C. Tax.
Payable in advance. Subscribers
desiring their Highlights tefllh-
nated at expiration should notify
us of this intention, otherwise we
will consider it their wish to conti
nue to receive the paper and they
will be charged for it.
U.S.P.S. 412-110
Second Class Postage Paid
Vanceboro, N.C.
^^ember: N.C. Press Association
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