THE CHOWAN
HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Single Copies 25 Cents
Volume LI IV- No. 8
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, February 25,1988
?
Advice Overload
Hie State Advisory Council
on Vocational Education is
nothing if .not advisory.
Meeting regularly at various
locations across the state, it
hands down a consistent vol
ume of suggestions and coun
sel that in turn generates at
least an equal volume of pa
perwork from responding
agencies.
Meeting recently in
Burlington, the council took
formal action on 31 motions
covering a wide range of sub
jects, including one recom
mending that the State
Community College Board re
establish its own advisory
council.
But the council reached its
highwater mark at the
Burlington meeting when it
considered a motion recom
mending that "the Governor
request the General Assembly
to enact legislation that would
assign the functions of the
State Board of Community
Colleges and the (UNC) Board
of Governors to the State Board
of Education and for the State
Board of Education to hold
full-time, state-paid posi
tions."
Happily for all concerned,
this motion was held for fur
ther study.
That is not to suggest, how
ever, that the State Advisory
Council on Vocational
Education does not occasion
ally come up with recommen
dations that make sense. We
concur in at least two passed
at the Burlington meeting.
The council recommended
that the State Board of
Education , review all voca
tional teacher education pro
gram* and professianaHh
certification procedures and
that the UNC Board of
Governors and the State Board
of Community Colleges assist
with the effort to the end that
"no later than the fall of 1993
the SBE will be in the position
to implement consistent stan
dards of employment that, as
a minimum, will require all
prospective teachers to com
plete an approved degree pro
Continued On Page 4
Talks May Lead To Increased Cooperation
. Unofficial discussions
have taken place between
. Edenton Mayor John Dowd
' ind County Manager Cliff
Copeland seeking ways to
continue the cooperative ef
■fbrts between the two
administrations. Specifi
cally, they are looking for
ways to consolidate services
for efficiency and tax
savings.
The first effort in this di
rection took place last year
when tax collections were
consolidated with the county
administering collections for
both. The result has been an
increase of three per cent in
' collections for the town while
t being billed at 1 1/2 for the
service by the county accord
ing to Copeland.
An article in the Daily Ad
, vance reported that Dowd
would appoint a task force to
study combining services and
M possible consolidation of
both governing bodies.
Dowd said that the news
paper article was premature.
'It was released before we
ready for it to be
The subject has not
»n brought officially, before
he town council for discus
ion. ,
■4
"It's just a study. It's a great
idea. It has a lot of merit and
I'm going to push for it."
Dowd said that he expected
that a task force would be
jointly appointed by the town
and county to determine
where consolidation of ser
vices could be implemented.
Copeland confirmed
Wednesday that he had had
informal talks with the
mayor on the subject of possi
ble consolidation. He said
that a standing committee
existed that consists of two
county commissioners, the
county manager, the mayor
and a councilman. This
committee was set up to ex
Continued On Page 4
BPW Honors Evelyn B. Keeter
By PETE MANNING
Evelyn Bunch Keeter was
named the Edenton Business
and Professional Women's
Club's 1987 "Woman of the
Year" at the organization's
annual Bosses' Night Ban
quet last Thursday evening.
The event was held in the
Fellowship Hall of Edenton
United Methodist Church.
This was the thirty-seventh
WOMAN OF THE YEAR-Evelyn Bunch Keeter was named
Eden ton BPWs 1987 Woman of the Year at the annual Bosses
Night Banquet last Thursday night Mrs. Keeter (left) received
the award from the 1986 recipient Clara Boswell. Hazel Elliott,
Director of Social Services, at right (inset) was named Boss oi
the Year. Making the presentation was Marina Crummey.
year the award has been pre
sented by the BPW to a woman
for "outstanding service ded
icated to making our commu
nity a place of which to be
proud".
Mrs. Keeter, a native of
Chowan County, is married to
Fred E. Keeter. They are the
parents of five children: Deb
bie, Susie, Karen, Robert and
John. Her parents are Mr.
and Mrs. Robert L. Bunch, Sr.
Beginning as a bookkeeper
with Peoples Bank in
November 1956, she rose
through the ranks of teller,
operations, and now holds the
title of Assistant Vice Presi
dent and Cashier.
She is a member of the Na
tional Association of Bank
Women and Edenton Baptist
Church where she participates
in the church choir, serves as
co-chairman of the E.L.
Wells Scholarship Fund, and
has served in numerous
church committees.
Now serving as Treasurer
of the County Unit of the
American Heart Association,
Keeter is also a member of the
Continued On Page 4
\'
CONCERNED FISHERMAN-Rod Cross told an audience at the
John A. Holmes auditorium last Thursday evening of his
coricems about the deterioration of water quality in the Chowan
River and Albemarle Sound. He said that a declining fish
population is directly related to the poor water quality
conditions. <•
Council Approves
New Boundaries
After lengthy discussion
concerning guidelines to be
used in issuing or denying
certificates of appropriateness
for changes to buildings in the
historic district, the Edenton
Town Council passed a reso
lution extending the bound
aries of the district.
The Edenton Historic
District now includes all the
area encompassed by the his
toric district on the National
Register of Historic Places.
The area is from Granville to
Oakum Streets from the wa
terfront to Gale Street and
with- r»n extension along
Broad Street.
Bill Turpin, chairman of
the Historic District
Commission and councilman
Livingstone Goodman, who
worked with the commission,
fielded questions concerning
the guidelines.
Councilman Willis Privott
addressed Goodman with, "I
notice that there are a lot of
sun decks being built around
town. Are they going to be
eliminated?"
Goodman replied, "I'd
think you'd be dealing with
historically significant
houses." He recalled a spe
cific incident where a deck in
back didn't affect the frontal
appearance of the house.
Mayor John Dowd added, "I
can't see any difference be
tween swimming pools and
decks."
Councilwoman Marina
Crummey expressed concern
for middle and lower income
homeowners that couldn't af
ford historically correct
changes to their houses such
as special cornices.
Turpin replied, "If you
don't want to do it, you don't
have to do it. Nobody's going
to be compelled to do some
thing that they can't afford.
We're not trying to force
anyone to do anything. They
(guidelines) do not have the
force of law."
By observing the guide
lines however, the historic
Continued On Page 4
Soundf River Discussed
Residents Speak Out
n_Timr /in/viTD ai_ ___*__i•__ n__jji.
Local residents got a better
idea last Thursday night of
the plight facing one of the
area's greatest resources, our
waterways, at a meeting con
ducted by the state Division of
Marine Fisheries. The meet
ing was arranged by Rod
Cross, a local commercial
fisherman, who is gravely
concerned about water pollu
tion.
Cross, in an opening
statement, said "Right now,
in the Albemarle Sound, that
water is just about the nastiest
I've ever seen it." And of the
Chowan River, "Last summer
our river went green again
and we just didn't see the
fish." He referred to blue
green algae that occurs when
nutrients are introduced into
the river by industries and
farm run off during periods of
dry weather.
The fisherman told the au
dience, "I'm disturbed about
_■■■■■■
uic uicooagc wc ic auiumg
our leaders in Raleigh. He
said that water quality studies
have been conducted for the
last 15 years. "We've studied
it and studied it. The only
change is that the studies are
getting more expensive."
On the positive side, he
praised the Best Management
Practices program that pro
vides financial incentives to
farmers to control farm
runoff of pesticides, herbi
cides and other farm chemi
cals and animal wastes. "It's
probably the most positive ac
tion that's being taken to
clean up our waters."
vyavoo pi wpuocu tuat an cn*
vironmental protection group
be formed locally and an
nounced a fish fry at the
Advance Community Center
to further discuss the proposal.
He said Wednesday that the
Tuesday night dinner at
tracted 49 people who decided
to have an organizational
meeting of a formal group in
the latter part of March.
All persons interested in
joining the, as yet, unnamed
organization are invited to
call the Murray Nixon
Fishery at 221-4115 to leave
their name and number.
Continued On Page 4
Help Is Needed
An appeal has been issued
for local residents to partici
pate in a Volunteer Workday
on Saturday, February 27
from 9 a.m. until 12 noon at
Edenton's Waterfront Park.
Volunteers are needed to
help move ballast stones as the
piling goes down. Anyone
who can is asked to bring a
wheelbarrow with them when
they come.
CAMPAIGNS-Mrs. Karen Rand campaigned for her husband, Sen. Tony Rand, in Edenton last
week. Rand is a candidate for the office of Lt. Governor. Shown with Mrs. Rand (right) at the
Golden Corral are (from left) Dr. Candace Corson, Dabney Lassiter of Rocky Mount, campaign
volunteer and Jane Mabry, Chowan campaign chairwoman.
Sen. Rand Seeks Local Support
A husband and wife team
made separate. trips to
Edenton this week and last to
seek support for Democrat
Tony Rand's election bid for
lieutenant governor.
Mrs. Karen Rand met with
supporters at the Golden
Corral last Thursday after
noon. She is a first grade
teacher in the Cumberland
County schools and has taken
a year's leave of absence to
assist her husband's cam
paign.
Mrs. Rand was here to lis
ten as well as answer ques
tions about the campaign.
"Tony and I both want to un
derstand the concerns of the
state and I want to know the
needs and concerns of your
community," she said.
Rand, a Fayetteville attor
ney, is chairman of the state
senate's powerful
Appropriations Base Budget
Committee and was elected
Senate Majority Leader in
January of last year. He has
been a member of the senate
since 1981.
Mrs. Rand made a special
revision of her schedule to
remain in Edenton Thursday
evening to attend a meeting
on water resources sponsored
by the N.C. Marine Fisheries
Division. She heard of the
threat posed to the Albemarle
Sound and Chowan River by
pollution and the drastic re
ductions in fish harvests be
cause of pollution.
Senator Rand made a
change in his schedule to
meet with teachers and school
administrators early yester
day morning at the Travel
Host Inn. This was a direct
result of Mrs. Rand's trip
here last week when she
learned of the good things
happening in local schools
and especially the success of
the Career Development Pilot
Program here.
On a campaign swing
through Edenton last fall,
Rand spoke of his disen
chantment with the program
and that the Career Ladder
concept was especially intim
idating to teachers due to the
evaluation process. At that
time, Schools Superintendent
John Dunn attempted to cor
rect some of the Senator's im
pressions but with little suc
cess.
Yesterday's visit was dif
ferent. In first-hand conver
sation with 20 or more teach
ers and principals, he heard a
success story in the four-year
pilot program here.
In an interview afterward,
Rand commented, "I'm ex
tremely impressed by what
I've learned here this morn
ing." He said that he would
have expected dissenters to
come to such an early morn
ing meeting. Instead, "This
early in the morning I didn't
Continued On Page 4
Campaign
Continues
Due to the high number of
responses received so far in
the "Pride of Edenton and
Chowan County" campaign,
The Chowan Herald staff has
elected to extend thp deadline
for nominations through
Tuesday, March 15.
If you know of someone
who has contributed signifi
cantly to the betterment of the
community and would like to
nominate him or her for this
award, simply bring a brief
explanation of why you feel
they deserve to the nominated,
along with a clear, good qual
ity photograph of the nominee.
For further information,
call the Herald's Associate
Editor, Rebecca Bunch, at 482
4418.