West Craven Highlights
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VOLUME 12 NO. 20
MAY 18, 1989
VANCEBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
PHONE 244 0780 OR 046-2144
(UPSP 412-110>
25 CENTS
• SIX PAGES
Outer Banks Residents Say No To Old Baldy P
Old Baldy
By Mike Voas
Editor
A proposal to name Old Baldy
as the eliicial state lighthouse has
people aleng the Outer Banks
wanting to pull their hair out —
along with pulling the plugen the
reselution in the General
Assembly.
The suggestion that Old Baldy,
located on privately-owned Bald
Head Island at the mouth of the
Cape Fear River, be named the of
ficial state lighthouse has drawn
criticism from residents from
Manteo to Murphy.
Although Old Baldy just might
be the oldest lighthouse in North
Carolina, some coastal residents
said others might better serve as
the state's ofllcial lighthouse — in
particular, the well-known light
at Cape Hatteras.
The resolution, introduced by
Reps. David Redwine and George
Robinson and adopted by the
House an May 9, is awaiting Se
nate consideration.
The resolution states that Aug.
7, 1989, is the 200th anniversary
of the signing of the Lighthouse
Act by President George Washing
ton. Bald Head Island was the site
of the first lighthouse funded by
the federal government on North
Carolina soil. Old Baldy was built
in 1817,adirect descendant ofthe
original lighthouse finished in
1795.
Advocates point out that while
Bald Head Island is privately
owned, its more than 10,000 acres
of marsh and estuarine areas be
long to the state.
But one expert points out there
is a great deal of uncertainty over
Bald Head Island, formerly Smith
Island and before that Cape Fear
Island.
"Even the name is mislead-
ing:for while some apply it to an
entire island and others only to
part of an island, there are still
others to whom Bald Head is no
more than a small part of a part of
a single island," says David Stick
in his 1985 book on the area.
Sen. Marc Basnight of Dare
County, whoso district includes
four lighthouses, said if Old Baldy
is named the olTicial state light
house, "I imagine there will be
some questions from people all
across the state." Basnight ex
pects residents of the northern
coastal area ofthe state to be cool
(See LIGHTHOUSE, Page 5)
1
Hatteras Lighthouse
West Craven Marching Band appearing in festival parade
Vanceboro Business
Closing After 31 Years
By TERRI JAMIESON
Staff Wriief
After 31 years, Cannon* *8 Vari
ety Store is closing its doors.
Sewing notions, toys, house
hold goods and gilts are only a few
of the items that could be bought
at the store. Walk in the store now
-end half-empty shelves will con-
Hrm that the store is going out of
business.
The business opened its doors
for the first time on April 12,1958.
Opening those doors were Richard
and Janis Cannon. The store was
originally located on Main Street
in Vanceboro where Edward's
Small Engine Repair is presently
located.
*I practically raised my two
youngest (children) in a playpen
in the back of the store until they
could walk; then they went to stay
with Mrs. C^ra Lewis,” said Mrs.
Cannon about her early years in
the store.
'^3Bfhe Cannon children worked in
the store on weekends during
their college years, except for their
son, Rick, who was attending a
college farther away.
Cannon began teaching in
1964, leaving Mrs. Cannon to run
the store with assistance from her
husband when possible. She later
turned to two employees — and
friends — for help operating the
store.
‘Mrs. Helen Gaskins and Mrs.
Reba Mitchell have been faithful
employees working with Cannon's
throughout the years,” she said.
Meanwhile, her husband was
using his years of teaching to build
one of the nation's top marketing
education programs at West Cra
ven High School. He is director of
the program and advisor to the
school's chapter of the Distribu
tive Education Clubs of America.
The store also provided em
ployment for DECA students giv
ing then the chance to learn
hands-on business skills as well as
work experience. It also gave us
the chance to keep in touch with
young people throughout the com
munity,” said Mrs. Cannon.
She discussed the store and
what she felt were its oontribu-
(See CANNON^S, Page 5)
Farm Life’s Alumni
Gather For Reunion
By TERRI JAMIESON
Staff Writer
For one night every year the
halls, rooms and cafeteria at Farm
Life Elementary School in Van
ceboro might seem to be more like
the old Farm Life School that
many in the area knew aa a high
school.
But when West Craven High
School opened its doors. Farm Life
was no longer a high school. Only
in the memories of former stu
dents. And those memories were
freshened last Friday night at the
annual Farm Life High School
Alumni Banquet.
This year’s banquet brought
together about 300 people. A roll
call was taken by the year of gra
duation. Donald Wetherington
represented the earliest graduat
ing class at the reunion — the
Class of 1920.
The annual banquet is one of
the top social events ofthe yearfor
the Vanceboro community and al
lows grandmothers — even great
grandmothers —to recall the days
of their youth when they were
courted by what are today’s grand
fathers and great-grandfathers.
The school opened in 1913 and
when West Craven openedin 1971
it ceased as a high school. Anyone
eavesdropping at the banquet
could have heard the following
statements:
(Set REUNION, Page 6)
Math Club members enjoy outside
Students Discover
Reading Bearable'
The theme for National Li
brary Week observed at Farm
Life Elementary School in Van -
ceboro was "Books Are Bear-y
Special."
"Teddy Bears” was the
theme in Lori Jones’ kindergar
ten class. The students listened
to stories about a different bear
each day, including Winnie the
Pooh, Corduroy, the Berens-
tain Bears and others. The
class also listened to "The First
Teddy Bear."
The class’ color word for the
week was brown. The students
brought a toy brown bear to
school and each child intro
duced their bears to the class
and told about an experience
they had shared with their
bears.
Students also wore their pa
jamas and gowns and slippers
to school and they brought their
favorite bear. The children
wore nametags with their
names and their bears’ names
on them. The bears received
awards for being the fuzziest,
biggest, smallest and others.
The class’ nes reading book is
titled "The Bear Picnic." The
students later had a picnic with
their bears.
Mrs. Stanforth’s kindergar
ten class celebrated National
Library Week by reading books
about bears and making teddy-
bear shaped books that told of
adventures of their favorite
bears.
The entire school partici
pated in a coloring contest with
winners chosen from each
homeroom. The winners were
awarded paperback books. Stu
dents also took part in a 15-mi
nute read-in at the school to
end one day.
A new math club for fifth-
grade students has been
started at Farm Life Elemen
tary School.
The club meets every Thurs
day afternoon from 3 to 4 p.m.
Four leaders were chosen by
their classmates to represent
each of the fifth-grade classes.
The leaders are Jeremy Mills,
Eric Phillips, Camesa Edwards
and Keshia Harris. Chosen as
secretaries from each of the
classes are Deondra McCaffity,
Iman Moore, Jessica Swindell
and Pretrice Davis.
(See FARM LIFE. Page S)
Strawberry
Will Reign
At Festival
Families Find Fruit, Fun,
Festival Fabulous, Fantastic
By Greg Stroud
Staff Writer
It’s that time of year again.
Get your picking fingers in
shape and prepare to do a lot of
picking Saturday as the straw
berry takes over Vanceboro Satur
day for the annual Strawberry
Festival/Rcscue Day. Get ready to
pick a day’s worth of excitement.
VancelMro is busily preparing
^fQr..the.upcomin£ 8$yenth annual
Strawberry Festival/Rescue Day
to be held Saturday in Vanceboro.
The festivities will begin sweeten
ing the day at 10 a.m. with a pa
rade down Main Street. The pa
rade procession will include the
West Craven High School Band,
floats and a plethora of parade
participants.
Over on Farm Life Avenue,
there will be a craft extravaganza,
church bazaars with baked goods,
and of course many strawberry de
lights like shortcake, ice cream,
and other culinary masterpieces.
After the parade, focus will turn
to activities at the fire house. Fire
and rescue personnel will be spon-
(See FESTIVAL, Page 5)
Vanceboro Selects
New Police Chief
By Greg Stroud
Staff Writer
The town of Vanceboro vnll soon
see a new face enforcing the laws
and providing safety for her resi
dents. Donald Greenwaldt, a po
lice veteran with the New Bern
Police Department for over 14
years, has accepted a position
with the Vanceboro Police
Department.
Greenwaldt, who currently
lives in New Bern, will begin full
time work starting Saturday at
the Strawberry Festival.
Greenwaldt, originally from
Springfield, Mass., is looking for
ward to starting his law enforce
ment career again. When asked
what motivated him to accept the
position, he replied, ”I feel like it
will be a good opportunity to get
back into law enforcement. I'm
impressed with the sense of civic
pride in the people of Vanceboro.”
He went on to say Vanceboro is
known in the law enforcement
community as a town that takes
care of its police department. He
called it one of the ”be8t equipped
police departments for its size
town in North Carolina.”
Greenwaldt said that law enfor
cement had appealed to him for a
long time and had been a child
hood dream which he started to
fulfill twenty years ago in New
Bern.
A.F. Whitley, who acts as the
police commissioner for Vanoeb-
oro said, "Vanceboro is fortunate
to find someone with the experi
ence and caliber of Greenwaldt.”
Whitley and Mayor Jimmie Mor
ris are responsible for the hiringof
Greenwaldt.
(See POLICEMAN. Page 5)
Stroud Joining Staff
As Part-Time Writer
There’s a new face at the High
lights. Greg Stroud, a native of
eastern North Carolina, returns
after an 11-year stay in Fayette
ville and joins the Highlights as a
staff writer.
Stroud said he is excited about
his new post. "I am really looking
forward to meeting all of the peo
ple of Vanceboro and becoming
part of the community. I have re
ally been impressed with how
cooperative and friendly everyone
has been so far."
Stroud returned to the New
Bern area when diabetes caused
him to have to leave Methodist
College in midsemester. "My pa
rents had moved to the area from
Fayetteville because my mother
received a transfer from her em
ployer, Carolina Telephone. Itjust
seemed natural to come to where
my parents were. I’m happy to be
back in the eastern part of the
state," he said.
Stroud, originally from between
Robersonville and Stokes, spent
most of his elementary years in
Williamston. From there he
moved to Fayetteville, where he
graduated from Westover Senior
High School.
"My goal here at the Highlights
is to serve the people of Vanceboro
and the surrounding areas as a
voice to things happening in their
community. In order to accom
plish this goal, I am counting on
the support of local residents and
community leaders to keep me in
formed. I am always delighted to
receive newsletters and invita
tions to the various functions go
ing on in the area."
Editor Mike Voss said he was
pleased to have Stroud on the staff
and that Stroud’s experience
working for The Fayetteville
Times will hopefully add to and
improve coverage of local events
and news.