Volume XXXVII.—No. 47. Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina, Thursday, November 19, 1970 Single Copy 10 Cents ‘Kate' ' * “Kate”. It’s as simple as that. Put “Mrs.”, “Aunt”, “Mother”, “Worthy Matron” or whatever before it and it made no difference. She was still just “Kate”. There was nothing pretentious about Kate Bufflap. She loved people and people loved her in return. She loved fishing but the fish up Queen Anne’s Creek, in Edenton Bay and elsewhere often weren’t quite as affectionate to her hook. The two columns she wrote weekly for The Chowan Herald were widely read by those who meander along the Public Parade and elsewhere. Hardly a day passed that she did not receive “fan” mail or contributions of recipes or other things she requested in her popular Broad Street Bulletin. I Her fight against cancer which ehded at 11:45 A. M., Monday, was an in spiration to all who knew her. She was down on many occasions but always managed a rally. Until the end she re mained a Christian wife, mother, friend of mankind. “30” is the newspaper symbol for “the end”. Kate Bufflap wrote it with an impact that will long be remembered by not only those who knew her but those who had just read her columns or heard about her. 1 “Kate”. It’s as simple as that. No Place For Secrecy > There is but one place for elected of ficials, meeting in regular or called ses sions, to discuss the business of the Town of Edenton. That is in the at tractive council room in the Municipal Building. \ There is no place for executive or secret sessions by the council. The town’s business is just that—the business of the citizens of Edenton. Although the town council sessions are seldom attended by anyone but the press and department heads, all action by the coun cil and discussion leading up to that action MUST be made in public. Tuesday night the Town Council con cluded the regular agenda and went in to hiding to discuss a request from Edenton Chamber of Commerce for an increase in membership. An earlier re quest was made to Chowan County com missioners who discussed it in regular fashion and acted out in the open. * The press along the Public Parade has been fair with the Town of F.deni ton’s elected officials. Bond issues, and worthwhile projects have been supported extensively. Then when it comes to V such a thing as a simple request from the Chamber of Commerce, the door is closed. Too m?ny doors are being closed to the public these days. Yet when the chips are down, when support is needed N for bond issues, sales tax. and numerous community projects the public is courted Council will soon learn that they can’ 4 have their cake and eat it, too. There is absolutely no room for secrecy in ♦h" affairs of the Town of Edenton. Hail, The ‘Fuzz*! We want to be among the first to salute Roy Blackley and the Edward G. Bond Post, American Legion, for plan ning an appreciation banquet for Cho wan County Law Enforcement Officers. The event will be held at the Legion Hut at 7:30 P. M., Tuesday and you 4 won’t want to miss this one. The men to be’ honored deserve the effort being put forth by the American Legion as well as the presence of at least 200 of those who meander along the Public Parade who will purchase tickets for the steak dinner. As a bonus, the audience will hear Superior Court Judge Robert D. Rouse, Jr., of Farmville. This waiter cut his professional teeth on the police beat. It was a county sheriff who took him under his wing, preaching the value of a confidence and a friend. y It is difficult to belieye that it has been 16 years >since we walked into thi sheriff’s office in Iredell County Courthouse to meet Charlie Rumple for the first time. \ s He had beetles “cop” all his life, he A Mated. “An 'iivjfl *. - Progress on Bank Building— Workmen this week poured thejrault to the new Peoples Bank & Tryst Company building at the corner of Church and Broad streets. This is considered a major step in the construction program for the structure. The design is Colonial and progress is reported on schedule. Town J~!i irts ■ U J> ; “55 , Legal R }| ve ToGetiilnd The Town of Edenton has filed suit for ejectment of U. S. Lumber Company from property under lease at Edenton Municipal Airport and a suit for $112,- 000 in damages. W. J. P. Earnhardt, Jr., town attor ney, advised councilmen at a meeting Tuesday night of the latest efforts to re-gain control of the property. Several attempts by the town to break the lease with the firm have been unsuccessful. Town Administrator W. B. Gardner had earlier informed the council of the bad condition of the buildings on the 60 acres now leased to U. S. Lumber. The council had instructed Earnhardt to take legal action to reclaim the prop erty. U. S. Lumber, the first industry to locate on the old Base property, has control of the administration building, two warehouses, the dry kiln and steam plant. Council also passed a resolution re questing State Highway Commission to authorize a second access to the pro posed U. S. 17 by-pass of Edenton. As the plans are now drawn the only ac cess will be at Highway 32, north of Chowan Hospital. Mayor George Alma Byrum and Gard ner met recently with Highway Com missioner Joe Nowell of Perquimans County and District Engineer D. W. Patrick. The town is seeking the opening up of the road through Industrial Park to the by-pass. It is contended that as well as opening up more land for de velopment traffic coming west on High way 32 could use Old Hertford Road Continued on Page 4 Yule Parade Set The annual Christmas Parade, spon sored by the Edenton-Chowan Rescue Squad, will be on Thursday, December 3. All floats participating must have a Christmas theme but should not include a Santa Claus. Specifications for floats are that they cannot be more than 10 feet high nor more than 40 feet long. A S3O prize will be given to the best float, and a $25 prize to the second, and S2O to the third best. All floats par ticipating in the parade will be given $5. The Edenton-Chowan Rescue Squad requests that all floats and other units be assembled at Hicks Field no later than 3 P. M., on the day of the parade. Anyone interested in participating in the parade should contact Murray D. Ashley, parade director, at 482-3111, by November 23. Edenton Is Site Fi Edenton was chosen as the site of the Albemarle Regional Planning and De velopment Commmission offices and N. J. (Nick) George of Edenton, was elect ed secretary-treasurer, at a meeting here Thursday night. Wesley Cullipher of Elizabeth City was elected president of the ARPDC and Leon Ballance of Hyde County, vice president. The executive board also includes W. W. Forehand of Camden County, C. A. Christmas Music The public is invited to attend the Seventh Annual series of Christmas con certs by the Albemarle Choral Society which will be presented December 6 at 4 P. M., in the COA Gymtorium and December 7 at 8 P. M., in the Edenton Baptist Church. Accompaniments will be supplied by a string orchestra from East Carolina University, Anna Withers Bair, organist and Dorothy Morse, pianist. The series will be directed by Dr. Clifford Bair, Chairman of the COA Fine Arts Department. The concert programs will feature four short choral works by French, Ger man, American and English composers representing four centuries of choral music composition. All solos will be performed by singers from the Albe marle Area and the College of The Al bemarle. The concerts are presented under the auspices of the COA Lyceum Series and the Albemarle Area Arts Councils as a project of the COA Adult Education Division. Net collections from the 1 per cent local option sales tax reached a new high in Chowan County during October when $12,323.58, was reported to N. C. Department of Revenue. At the same time, the department has issued a second quarter report showing Chowan County and the Town of Eden ton receiving a total of $38,545.02 for the period from July through Septem ber. During this period collections were >535,307.42, with the county and mu nicipality gaining $3,237.60 from pool funds. The first quarter the tax was collect ed, April-June, the county and town re mu r r . . - > j i w -'mmsm imm m A Piece of History —Slowly but surely “Planter’s Inn”, one of the least desirable historic old buildings in Edenton is coming down. The Inn, located at the corner of Oakum and Church streets, is being razed and Rev. E. C. Alexander will erect a home on the site. Historic Edenton, Inc., gave Mr. Alexander permission to re move the building when it was determined that it had no historic value. Sales Tax Revenue Above Collections or Proposed EDA Phillips of Chowan County, Richard Poyner of Currituck County, P. A. Til lett of Dare County, Walter Harlow of Gates County, W. J. Lupton xis Hyde County, Riley S. Monds of Perquimans County and Lem A. Cohoon of Tyrrell Count}'. By-laws and the constitution were adopted and a time for regular meet ings was established. A $60,000 budget was approved for the operation of the group, of which $45,000 will come from federal sources and the other 25 per cent from counties in the region on a per-capita basis. Money was allotted in the budget for the hiring of an executive director, an economic planner, a human resource coordinator and a secretary-bookkeeper. Chowan County’s portion of the money to be given to ARPDC is $2,111.22. John Fraley of Huntington, W. Va., federal regional director, said one ad vantage to being a part of a district or regional group is that it provides a “lar ger voice in local, state and federal gov ernments when you speak at a group.” He also stated that he had great hopes that the area EDA would be fund ed early next year and urged the group to start formulating plans now for the projects desired. Ron Ingle of Raleigh, State EDA Co ordinator, listed federal funding, em ployment of a professional staff and their writing of an overall area eco nomic development program as the steps necessary for final designation as a full-fledged district. Ingle stated he thought since so much groundwork had already been accom plished by AADA, that official EDA designation will come by mid-1971. ceived a total of $33,853.96 while col lecting $32,638.93. Chowan County has received $55,- 246.79 from collections between April and September while the Town of Eden ton received $17,172.09. In the budget for fiscal 1970-71, the town anticipated $30,000 from the local option sales tax while the county’s estimate was $106,400. Both the county and town used an ticipation sales tax revenue to lower the property tax rate. The county’s rate was cut 30 cents per $ 1 evaluation while the rate in Edentort Jjgjjgcut 10 cents. The county rate witHMk fire district is $1.55 while the MKSfcte is rwtl—iii «a ft|« 4