THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume LLIV - No. 4
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, January 28,1988
Single Copies 25 Cents
On Restoration Work
We want to compliment the
town council for moving
ahead with plans to renovate
and occupy the old Peoples
Bank huilding on Broad
f Street. To permit this impos
” ing structure to continue va
cant does serious injury to the
integrity of the downtown
area.
We hope renovation costs
can be kept at a minimum.
We would think that an out
side ramp and adequate ele
vator service on the inside
Q, i would be the two top priorities.
Beyond that, as much or as
little can be done as the town
feels it can afford.
In most renovation or
restoration jobs, the bringing
of electrical and plumbing
services up to code is usually
the most expensive item.
Fortunately, it appears both
o, these essentials seem to be in
** relatively good condition.
What remains is the shift
ing around wall partitions to
permit the appropriate loca
tion of the various functions to
be served by the town employ
ees. For our part, we have
found that the fewer partitions
there are, the better the public
^ can be served.
Were we on the town coun
cil we would listen to, but go
slow in adopting suggestions
made by municipal employ
ees. Our experience in the ed
ucation field has been that
any time we asked the educa
tion professionals for sugges
^ tions we came up with a pro
J ject that cost about half as
much again as it ought to. It is
natural for employees to de
velop a wish list that is bigger
than the budget.
So the wall paneling on the
first floor is dark. So what?_
Some people like Sark -
paneling. And, besides, the
present panels are probably of
l 1 a much better quality than
anything lighter which could
be substituted. Perhaps all that
is needed is a few more
appropriately located light
fixtures.
At any rate, we will have to
live with whatever the town
council elects to do. And we
encourage them to get on with
P it.
Honoring The
Unsung
We hope many people
along the Public Parade will
take advantage of the opportu
nity during the next few
weeks to nominate candidates
M for the Pride of Eden ton con
test being conducted by the
Chowan Herald.
We here at the newspaper
have simply decided that there
are many unsung heroes in
our community of whom we
should be proud. They rarely
get in the news. Their value is
Continued On Page 4
During the next several
weeks The Chowan Herald
will be running its "Pride of
Edenton and Chowan County"
promotion which will con
clude with an election in
which the entire community
will have an opportunity to
pick that person held in high
est esteem by the people.
Beginning with the Febru
ary 4 edition, space will be
made available in The
Chowan Herald for nomina
tions to be announced during
the month of February. A
photo and news story will be
run about each person nomi
nated. Then, when all the
nominations are in, a special
section will be published con
taining the pictures and short
biographical sketches of all
the candidates and identify
ing numbers, along with a
ballot on which subscribers
can make their choices
known. In addition, there
will be blank ballots avail
able at area businesses for
people who are not subscribers
of The Chowan Herald.
Voting will be by numbers
and, to avoid duplication and
cheating, all ballots will have
to carry the signature of the
person casting the vote. When
all the ballots are in, they will
be tabulated by members of
The Chowan Herald staff and
the name of the winner an
nounced. An appropriate
award will also be presented
to the person receiving the
most votes.
This is truly an of-the-peo
ple, by-the-people, and for-the
people event. It is designed to
give the individual an oppor
tunity to place in nomination
the name of one person in
whom he or she feels Edenton
and Chowan County should
take pride. The nominee does
not have to be an officeholder,
a business executive, or a busy
professional, although he or
Robbery Reported
White s Mim-Mart at the
intersection of N.C. 32 north
and N.C. 37 became the loca
tion of the first armed robbery
to occur in Chowan County in
several years.
The robbers, two men, one
brandishing a handgun, en
tered the store wearing ski
masks near 9 a.m. Monday
and confronted Minnie White
and her granddaughter,
Tracy.
The thieves reportedly went
behind the courtter atid took
an undetermined amount of
cash from the register. Also
stolen during the robbery was
a .357 magnum Smith and
Wesson pistol.
Chowan Sheriff Fred
Spruill said that the robbery
victims were unharmed and
were not tied up.
Concern
Is Voiced
In a show of concern about
the prevalence of drug use
among today's young people,
a number of area businesses
and civic organizations have
joined together to encourage
everyone to say no to drugs.
Included with this week's
edition of The Chowan Herald
is a 12-page tabloid appropri
ately entitled, "Just Say No!”
Among the featured topics
are drugs in the workplace,
and how schools can deal with
drug use.
Shirley E. Perry
Files For
NC Office
,JS!*TThe First District cam
paign for two seats in the N.C.
House of Representatives has
become a two-party contest
with the filing for that office of
Shirley Perry, Republican
from Perquimans County
Tuesday.
Mrs. Perry, a native of
Tyner and wife of Rudolph
Perry, is no newcomer to the
campaign trail. She sought
the same office in 1986 when
she ran against long-time
incumbent Rep. Vernon
James of Weeksville and
R.M. (Pete) Thompson of
Chowan. James and
Thompson prevailed in that
contest.
The Perrys live in the
Belvidere area and own and
operate a successful hog oper
ation. They have four grown
children and two grandchil
dren. Mrs. Perry is the
daughter of Elizabeth Elliott of
Tyner and the late Willie
Elliott.
The Republican contender
is vice-chairman of the First
Continued On Page 4
I
REVIEW PROGRAM ~ Richard Bunch, executive director of the Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce, reviews the program for the annual banquet to be held at the American Legion on
January 30 with (from left) John Cuthrell, incoming president, Beth Taylor, outgoing president
and Rep. R.M. (Pete) Thompson. Thompson will be the featured speaker for the Saturday night
banquet. (Related story on page 5-A)
Pride Campaign Begun
she may be any of these.
There will be no charge or
other obligation for placing a
name in nomination. The
only requirements are that
the nominator bring to the of
fice of The Chowan Herald a
clear, good quality photograph
of the person being nomi
nated, together with a brief
written explanation of why the
community should hold him
or her in high esteem, and that
the nomination be made prior
to February 29.
There are many deserving
individuals in whom this
community can take great
pride. So, here at the begin
ning of the new year, let's
show appreciation to the peo
ple, both those whose
outstanding contributions are
already known, and those be
hind the scenes, who keep the
wheels turning locally.
Who will make the first
nomination? The names of
nominators will not be pub
lished, but the name of each
nominee will, along with his
or her photograph and "the
story that goes with the horse".
In the aftermath of the rob
bery, Spruill said that his de
partment was assisted by the
sheriffs departments of sur
rounding counties, by the
N.C. Highway Patrol and the
Edenton Police Dept. He said
that an investigation is con
tinuing.
Spruill said that a reward
of up to $1,000 is being offered
through the Edenton-Chowan
Continued On Page 4
-....
DSA WINNER — Jerry Parks, last year's recipient of the
Jaycees' Distinguished Service Award, made the presentation to
the current honoree, Chuck Smith, at last Thursday night's
banquet.
Smith Receives
Service Award
Charles B. (Chuck) Smith,
Jr. was named Thursday
evening by the Edenton
Jaycees as the recipient of the
Distinguished Service
Award.
Presenting the award was
Jerry Parks, last year's
award winner. Smith is the
34th recipient of the annual
award, begun in 1954. It hon
ors the person named for his
active involvement in his
community.
Listed as some of Smith's
accomplishments were: des
ignation of Outstanding
Young Men of America in
1982; active member of the
Aces Booster Club; board
member of the local
American Cancer Society
chapter for three years; active
in his church; and past presi
dent of the Edenton-Chowan
Optimist Club and of the
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce.
Speaker at the annual
awards banquet was Joe
Hollowell, recently named
Chairman of the Chowan
Board of County
Commissioners. Hollowell is
a past president of the North
Carolina Jaycees.
LAUD FARMERS -- Farmers of the area heard praise for their efforts from J. Marshall
Tetterton, president of Peoples Bank. The occasion was a banquet in their honor last Thursday
night. Edenton bank officials shown with Tetterton are (1. to r.) Frank Cox, Judy Hughes, Betty
Bunch, Tetterton and Steve Skinner, city executive.
Council Approves Swain As Center
By JACK GROVE
Edenton Town Council
Tuesday night unanimously
endorsed the shift of $55,000 in
funding for a senior citizens
center to the Swain
Auditorium project. The
Community Development
Block Grant money was orig
inally targeted for a senior
center at the recreation de
partment in the old Armory.
Chowan County has plans
to renovate the auditorium as
a center for the performing
arts. The basement will house
offices and, with this funding,
a senior citizens center.
David Holmes, the town's
consultant for the CDBG, a
federal program, said of the
Swain .site, "It's a much better
locatioh. It's more feasible."
In answer to several of coun
cil's questions, he said that a
ramp for access would be pro
vided. Also, that the meals for
elderly would be moved from
the present nutrition site on
Blades Street.
Holmes said that a teen
center, arts council offices,
the 36 elderly housing units
(to be built by a private con
tractor) in the school and,
now, the senior center "would
all work together" in the
Swain plans.
Holmes also brought the
council up to date on the
progress of the CDBG program
for rehabilitation of homes.
He said that 39 homes and the
historic Masonic Lodge on
Continued On Page 4
Board Seat Still Open
With a filing deadline of
less than a week away, two
local elective offices still have
no takers. The books clode at
noon on Monday, February 1
for filings for state and local
positions.
County commissioner
Wayne Goodwin of the third
township stated when filings
began that he was undecided
about running for reelection.
Neither he nor anyone else
has filed for that position.
The other open position
Wednesday was the second
township seat of Glorious
Elliott on the school board.
Mrs. Elliott was appointed to
fill the unexpircd term of
Billy Nixon who resigned
from the board.
Those who have filed are
Alice Jones and John
Mitchener III for reelection to
their school board positions
and incumbents Alton
Elmore, first township seat on
the county commission board,
and Anne Spruill, register of
deeds.
All of these local offices are
non-partisan in nature.
(At press time Wednesday,
Election Board Supervisor
Marie Akins reported that
Emmett E. Winborne had
filed for the second township
school board seat.)