I HH
Strictly Personal
Six years ago this week we
shared with those who meander
) along the Public Parade the ac
count of a family gathering. As the
years ticked along there was
always a question: “Howlong will
it last?”
Weil, it came to an end Satur
day. After nearly 96 full years,
with only a few months of illness,
Mrs. L, F. Am burn, Sr., died as
die had lived - peacefully.
) . i Hie March 6,1975, article says a
lot about her and her family.
Today would have been her bir
thday so we are repeating it as a
tribute since she thought it was
one of our better columns.
On Returning Home
It was Tom Wolfe who made
famous a discovery about going
home again. He said he couldn’t do
I it. We tried it last weekend and it
wasn’t nearly as painful as we had
expected.
We do not recall what it was that
kept Cousin Tom from really going
home again, but we will long
remember our trek back to the red
clay hills of Yadkin County. It was
our Mother’s 90th birthday
celebration.
" Her birthday was really
yesterday but being that Wed
' nesday is a difficult time to get a
gang together it was decided to
have it Sunday at Boonville United
Methodist Church. Ten of her 11
children and their children
gathered for the morning worship
service with her at the church to
I which she has belonged for 66
" years. And we about filled half of
one side.
Then in the afternoon we had a
* - «rscqj3tipn in the church hut where
more than 150 friends stopped in to
help us celebrate.
Events such as this are usually
full of surprises. This one was no
exception. Like among the first
| people we saw was a lady in the
kitchen who worked in our house a
day or two a week back when the
children were growing up. It
prompted an elder brother to
remark that she knew so much
about each of us that had he known
Carrie Lizzie was going to be there “
he would have sent his regrets.
Ditto.
) Sister Mildred, who is familiar
to readers along the Public
Parade since she is our most
inexpensive columnist, had not
only a sitting problem but a
standing problem as well. If she
sat next to Mother some might
mistake them for sisters. If she
stood next to me some might
mistake her for my mother.
| Being away for most of the past
27 years (gads!) didn’t help the
identity problem. The ones who
caused the most discomfort were
those who walked up and looked us
straight in the eye and said: “I bet
you don’t know who lam.” Ninety
nine per cent of the time they were
absolutely correct.
One fond friend remarked that it
) was an especially delightful oc
casion since it was a happy affair
which got us all together again.
Usually, he said, it takes a death in
the family to get everyone
together.
It was heartening to find our
Mother in such good health. It was
equally as enjoyable to renew
acquaintance with family
' members, some of who we have
not seen for years because of
distance. But the fun part came by
being the baby at a family
gathering. From this position we
could chuckle about how everyone
else had grown older, and the
other things that go along with
age.
Yes, we are unlike Tom Wolfe.
We were able to go home again.
But we’ll admit that crossing the
Yadkin on Saturday didn’t provide
the thrill experienced in crossing
the Chowan in mid-afternoon
Monday.
Another Opinion
Tbe following letter was left in
our unattended typewriter. It is
' yet another opinion of life along
the Public Parade, as others see it.
Dear Editor:
Continued On Page 4
| Shop In Edenton Every Friday Night ’til 9 o'clock I
-• 7 .
ff?"' "*ll
im. ' v *,«
Jigff; >
’ VS
§j[
Mrs. L. F. Amburn, Sr.
Mrs. Amburn, 95
Buried Monday
In Boonville
ELKIN Mrs. Martha Oakley
Amburn, 345 South Street, died
Saturday afternoon in Hugh
Chatham Nursing Center here.
Mrs. Amburn, 95, was the mother
of L. F. Amburn, Jr., of Edenton.
Funeral services were held at 2
P.M. Monday in Boonville United
Methodist Church where she was
a member for 72 years. Revs.
Keith and Joseph M.
Reeves officiated. Burial was in
Boonville Cemetery.
Mrs. Amburn was bom in Surry
County on March 5,1885, daughter
of the late Jesse Allen and Sarah
Ann Richards Oakley. She was the
widow of Luther Franklin Am
burn, Sr.
In addition to Mr. Amburn,
surviving are four other sons:
James F. and Bill 0. Amburn,
both of Elkin; John L. Amburn of
Orlando, Fla.; and Jesse Allen
Amburn of Columbia, S.C.; six
daughters: Mrs. Mildred A.
Huskins of Statesville; Mrs.
Elizabeth A. Edwards of Fayet
teville; Mrs. Nancy A. Brooks of
Amelia Island, Fla.; Mrs. Jenny
A. Martin of Arlington; Mrs. Patty
A. Bren die of Elkin; and Mrs.
Sarah O. Brown of Boonville.
Also surviving are two sisters:
Mrs. Myrtle 0. Hall of Halifax,
* ri Y*r; tad Mrs. Edith O. Bum* of
Mt. Airy; 25 grandchildren and 11
great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers and honorary
pallbearers were her grandsons
and great-grandsons.
Notices Filed
By Facilities
Two Edenton health care
facilities have filed notice of intent
to incur capital expenditure. They
are Chowan Hospital and Colon
ial Healthcare, Inc.
David L. Henson, hospital
director, filed the notice for a
proposed 10-bed addition to
Chowan Hospital. The addition
would house medical - surgical
beds. The cost is placed at
$962,870.
Colonial Healthcare, Inc.,
proposes to add 64 beds to
Elder Lodge of Edenton. The
addition would cost $544,279.
Elder Lodge, located on Paradise
Road, currently has 96 skilled and
intermediate care nursing beds.
The facility opened in February,
1977.
The project proposals have been
submitted to the Certificate of
Need Section, Division of Facility
Services, N. C. Department of
Human Resources, for review by
planning agencies under
provisions of the Social Security
Amendments of 1972 and Chapter
131, Article 18, of the General
Statutes of North Carolina.
The planning agencies, in
examining the proposal, will week
to determine whether the project
is needed, if it can be adequately
staffed and operated, whether it
is economically feasible within
prevailing rate structures, and if it
proposes specific cost
containment features.
A copy of the proposal has been
referred to the Eastern Carolina
Health Systems Agency, Inc.
for review as required by fed
eral and state law.
Uncollected Funds May Aid Schools
There is the possibility that the
Edenton-Chowan Board of
Education may be financially
better off than realized.
Preambling his statements
Monday night with, “I may have
glad tidings,” board attorney
Chris Bean made a spirit-lifting
report on his initial findings for
collecting Chowan County’s
outstanding bond forfeitures and
fines, which by law are considered
revenues for school systems.
According to Bean’s research,
over the years a figure roughly in
excess of sl-million in bond for
feitures, court costs, attorney
fees, and fines remain un
collected. Bean estimated,
however, that probably not more
than 30,000 dollars may be
collectable.
As an administrative procedure,
Dr. John Dunn, at a later time,
explained his request that Bean,
as board attorney, explore the
procedure for collecting and en
couraging the collection oL bonds,
past and future.
I 1 .'lSMißiMiliifts
Vol. XLVII - NO. 10
DOT Board Member Talks
About Plight Os Highways
The plight of North Carolina’s
highway system was addressed
here Thursday afternoon by Marc
Basnight of Dare County, a
member of the State Department
of Transportation. The nation’s
greatest state maintained system
is said to be falling close to a
national disgrace and without
immediate cash injection the
system can very well gain such
standing.
Basnight said no new projects
had been added to the highway
Irfan in the pet three years. He
added, though' that the jptan is to
continue to maintain the same
program on U.S. 17 north of
Elizabeth City to the Virginia line.
Basnight, traveling with F. W.
Adkins, Jr., division engineer, and
Earl Moore, district engineer,
discussed the serious situation at a
sparsely attended meeting in the
Municipal Building.
The DOT board member said
the Tar Heel State is losing one of
its greatest resources -- the
transportation system. While
highways are foremost in official’s
minds at this time, the tran
sportation system includes rail
roads, ferries, airports, bridges,
etc.
Snake Bite Tops Run Os Bad Luck
By Flynn Surratt
Jimmy Arnold, a painter employed by Edenton Construction
Company, has had one hard run of luck lately. Less than two
months ago he nearly fell 40 feet from the Old Chowan County
Courthouse. He managed to catch hold of a scaffold on the way
down and escaped with torn muscles and ligaments. A few weeks
later his faithful Ford blew up. Then there was the snake.
Arnold had been working at a site near Bethel Fishing Center in
Perquimans County during the day, while helping a friend paint an
apartment in the evening.
Last Wednesday afternoon, his Mom called to report that he
wouldn’t be able to help that night. “He was bitten by a snake and is
in the emergency room at the hospital,” she reported.
When quizzed about the circumstances around being snake bitten
in the middle of February, she replied, “Well, he was in the woods
and was bitten on the bottom.”
A quick call to the hospital confirmed his well being. There was a
lot of snickering in the background.
Later that night, it was learned from the victim that the lack of
restroom facilities had forced him to retreat to nearby woods. A
water moccassin under the leaves rose to the occasion, as did
Arnold shortly thereafter.
“I felt a sting on my right hip and saw him crawling away,”
Arnold told a reporter. “At first I didn’t feel much, but after a few
minutes my whole right leg was aching.”
He finally made it to the hospital about an hour later where
nurses immediately began pulling down his socks and hiking up his
pants legs looking for signs of the toothsome attack.
“I wasn’t bit on the leg!” he told them. According to Arnold there
was a lot knee slapping going on when they learned the details of his
predicament.
The emegency room physician told him he was fortunate in that
the snake injected very little venom. Had he received a larger dose,
there would have been a great deal of swelling and discomfort. As it
were, the treatment proved to be more painful than the injury.
Arnold maintains the thing that hurt the worst was his pride
Supt. Dunn has requested that
Bean, after conducting a more
complete research to determine a
more realistic figure of collectable
funds, report back to the board in
April. In view of the board’s
present local financial freeze,
anticipated national education
cuts and the possibility of less than
a SIO,OOO fund balance for next
year, Dunn sees it his duty to
pursue every avenue of collecting
due revenues.
A draft copy for a policy on
Reduction In Force (personnel)
was given to each board member
to study and to make any
recommendation at the regular
April meeting. Chairman Eugene
Jordan reasoned that faced with a
possible decline in school
population, the board has needed a
procedural policy of this nature.
The board was also requested to
study a rough draft copy of the
1981-82 school calendar and be
prepared to make recom
mendations at the next meeting.
Jerry Hendee, executive
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, March 5, 1980
Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr., ap
pointed a Blue Ribbon Highway
Committee headed by former Gov.
Dan K. Moore. The panel has
reported and the report has been
combined in a slide-tape
presentation which was shown at
the local meeting.
Basnight said the big question is
how the state got into such a
crunch. The threefold problem
includes increase in population
and travel; natural disasters; and
20 per cent inflation. Motorists
racked up 42-billion miles on North
Carolina highways in i9BO.
Also, between 1967 and 1980, the
cost of asphalt increased 246 per
cent; cement, 227 per cent; steel,
300 per cent; and gravel 130 per
cent. All the time, Basnight said,
gas tax revenue has been leveling
off. The tax was sl9-million less in
1980 than the previous year.
Basnight said it is impossible to
maintain the 75,000-mile system
with declining revenues and
galloping inflation.
“We need an excellerated
resurfacing program for the next
several years, and one-half of the
bridges are posted for less weight
Continued On Page 4
secretary of Edenton-Chamber of
Commerce, sought and gained
board approval for possibly using
the parking lot at Holmes High
School as a Farmer’s Market. A
joint effort of the chamber and
County Extension department, the
Farmer’s Market is envisioned as
a vehicle for marketing home
grown produce and crafts on
Friday evenings and Saturdays.
On personnel, the resignations
of Connie Smart, GT teacher at
White Oak and Chowan, and
Martha Spaulding, LD teacher at
Swain, were approved. Barbara
Holman was approved, effective
February 20, to replace Mrs.
Smart for the remainder of the
year. Mrs. Spaulding will finish
the school year.
Two resolutions endorsed by the
board found this body in support of
a S6OO-million Statewide School
Bond Referendum which the State
Board of Education is proposing
for next fall and in favor of the
National School Board
association’s stance against
SHOW AND TELL .State Department of Transportation
officials were in Edenton last Thursday to discuss the plight of
Tar Heel highways. Mayor Roy L. Harrell, left, welcomed Marc
Basnight of Dare County, right, a member of the transportation
board, and F. W. Adkins, Jr., division engineer, to the afternoon
meeting.
CF Industries Sees Both Sides
Os River Water Quality Issue
CF Industries is currently
seeing two sides of the Chowan
River pollution issue. While in
stallation of a SIOO,OOO pipeline
from their freshwater pond to the
plant site is underway, company
officials are defending themselves
against charges by the Division of
Environmental that CF Industries
is violating standards against
nitrogen input into the Chowan
River.
Large amounts of sludge
Holley Receives
Active Sentence
A motorist convicted of drunk
driving and no operator’s license
was given an active prison sen
tence Tuesday in Chowan County
District Court. Laverne Holley
was sentenced to six months by
Judge John T. Chaffin.
The defendant gave notice of
appeal. State Trooper C. H. Mims
was the arresting officer.
Asst. Dist. Atty. H. P. Williams
prosecuted the docket. Other
action taken included:
Robert Lee Hollowell, show
cause order, dismissed.
Kenneth Harris, three counts of
worthless checks, dismissed.
James Dillard, speeding, 30
days, suspended upon payment of
SSOO fine and costs. Notice of
appeal entered.
Blair Bratton McGuinness,
allowing an unlicensed person to
drive and aid and abet in operation
of motor vehicle with improper
registration, 90 days, suspended
Continued On Page 1
proposed federal legislation which
would give financial assistance to
private and parochial elementary
and secondary schools through
tuition tax credits. Chairman
Jordan was quick to point out that
endorsement of the resolution did
not mean that the board is
“against private schools, but
against tuition tax credits.”
Business pertaining to school
buses included approval of ad
ditional students and adults as
drivers and permission for the
annual School Bus Road-eo to be
held in May at Holmes High
School. The board also authorized,
effective March 1 the minimum
payment of $3.50 per hour to bus
drivers, in accordance with a state
salary schedule approved by the
State Board of Education, as soon
as the financial adjustments to the
allotment for salaries is received
from the state controller’s office.
Present allocations do not allow
the system to pay these wages. As
of July 1 all bus drivers must be
Continued On Page 4
Single Copies 20 Cents.
discharged from Union Camp in
Franklin, Va. has rendered the
water unsuitable for industrial
use, forcing the plant to tap
another source.
According to the Division of
Enviromental Management,
discharge from Union Camp
normally takes 30 days to reach
the Albemarle Sound. So far, it has
taken the discharge nearly twice
as long to reach south of Colerain.
Union Camp’s permit allows the
company to discharge from
December 1 through March 31.
Release this year did not begin
until December 24 because of an
exceptionally low river flow and
winds coming up from the south
have increased the flushing time.
CF Inudstries is not the only
industry being effected by the
discharge. According to A. M.
Howard of the Chowan Regional
Task Force, United Piece Dye
Works has been forced to buy
county water rather than use river
water in its manufacturing
processes.
Howardaskedthequestion, “Why
is one company permitted to deny
industry, commercial and sports
fishermen the use of 65 miles of
public trust waterway?”
“We can’t seem to convince
state officials in Virginia that
there is a problem,” he com
mented.
In Raleigh this week attorneys
for the state appeared before a
hearing panel asking that CF
Industries be required to monitor
plant site runoff and air emissions.
The state is asking that the
Continued On Page 4