Whose Idea Was It?
Congressional leaders were
quick to jump on President
George Bush's back when he
suggested that savings and
loan depositors be assessed a
^small percentage to help re
build the Federal Savings and
Loan Deposit Insurance fund.
Spokesmen for the Presi
dent explained that, since the
depositors would be the prime
beneficiaries, they ought to be
willing to help the taxpayers
bear the cost of bailing out the
S&L industry, primarily in
(Texas, California and Okla
homa. *
But Congress would have
none of that. They said, right
off, that what the President
was proposing was a new tax,
something he said over and
over he would have ho part of.
We do not intend to go into
the merits of the President's
^proposal, but this idea of let
ting the beneficiaries pay is
not exactly new, whether you
call it a tax or not. Wasn't it
Congress — the same Con
gress that is now throwing up
its hands in horror -- that just
last fall decided it was right
for elderly beneficiaries of the
catastrophic health plan to
Nielp pay for it by adding a
surtax to their income tax?
These congressmen are
now protesting that they do not
think it right to require sav
ings and loan depositors to
kick in 10 cents on the $100 to
rebuild the insurance guar
antee. They say this amounts
to a tax on savings. But where
^do they think the income of the
elderly which is now being
surtaxed comes from? It
comes also exclusively from
invested savings on which
they have already paid in
come tax amounting to ajg,
much as 50 per cent.
We do not expect Congress to
^support every proposal the new
president comes up with. But
until some of them can come
up with a better idea about how
to raise the $50 to $100 billion
needed to bail out the S&Ls,
they will do well to think about
something else. Whether they
are earning the pay they are
already getting, for example.
I
f
Action Commended
May we commend the
Chowan County School Board
Continued On Page 6
Man Sent
i To Hospital
Edenton Police spent an
anxious four hours on the
morning of Jan. 22, a Sunday,
as they faced a disturbed man
with a rifle in the Albania
neighborhood.
Acting Police Chief C.H.
.Williams said that a call was
received at 1:49 a.m. that a
man on Queen Anne Drive
had a gun and was threaten
ing suicide.
When the first" three of a
total of eight officers arrived,
they found Charles H. Hol
lowell, Jr., 21, of Rt. 2, Eden
ton, sitting inside his pickup
I truck in the street. Officers
backed off and secured the
area after he told them he was
going to kill himself. He was
armed with a .22 caliber
semi-automatic rifle.
Police learned that he had
parked in the neighborhood of
his former girlfriend and that
he was upset about the break
, up which "set him off."
During the tense situation,
Hollowell left his truck and
walked up and down Queen
Anne Dr. and Dickinson St.
in an agitated manner. At
various times, he pointed the
rifle at individual officers.
Williams said that most
residents in the neighborhood
L Continued On Page 6
Volume LLV-No. 5
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, February 2,1989
Single Copies 25 Cents
Volunteer,
Business Leaders Honored
Two local residents were
singled out for special awards
at the annual banquet of the
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce Friday night.
Corrine Forehand Thorud
was presented with the Will
iam P. (Spec) Jones Volunteer
of the Year Award. Mrs.
Thorud was the first lady to
receive the award, presented
by past president, Beth
Taylor.
She was honored for her
participation with the Wom
en's Club, Democratic Wom
en's organization and can
vassing for Heart and Cancer
drives.
Mrs. Thorud, it was noted,
has been very active in many
areas of the Edenton Baptist
Church and as a member of
the Choral Society and the
Harmony Belles.
She was also honored for
many volunteer hours taking
people to the hospital or doc
tor's visits, bringing food to
the sick and bereaved and
visiting nursing homes and
shut-ins.
Herbert Hollowell, Jr. was
honored as the recipient of the
John A. Mitchener Business
Person of the Year Award.
Hollowell, a pharmacist,
entered business in Edenton
in 1946. Ten years later, he
bought the business and has
been president of Hollowell
Blount Drugs for 22 years.
Active in his church, he
was named Layman of the
Year in 1984. He served on
Edenton Town Council for 20
years and has served in vari
ous posts with the N.C. League
of Municipalities.
Hollowell is active in Li
ons International, having
served in many leadership
positions; is chairman of the
Chowan Morehead Award
Committee; past chairman of
the Chowan Board of Social
Services and is a member of
the board of directors of the
Albemarle Development Au
thority.
The award was presented
by 1989 Chamber president
Jim Elliott.
Guest speaker for the even
ing was Tim Dannelly. He
observed, "There's a lot going
on in Edenton, N.C. He cited
new and upgraded businesses
as well as an influx of new
residents. "It is impressive to
move to an area where new
people are moving."
Dannelly also made some
predictions for the future. He
foresees a commuter airline
coming to the Edenton Air
port, an airport that could be
come important to the region.
He said that the four-laning of
U.S. 17 to Edenton "could be
the most important” thing to
happen to the local area.
He summed up his re
marks with, "Let's plan on
where we're going.”
VOLUNTEER AWARD-Corrine Thorud was chosen for the
Chamber of Commerce's William P. (Spec) Jones Volunteer of
the Year Award. Making the presentation is Beth Taylor, past
president of the chamber.
BUSINESS AWARD—Herbert Hollo well, Jr. was selected by
the Chamber of Commerce to receive the annual John A.
Mitchener, Jr. Business Person of the Year Award. Presenting
the award is Jim Elliott, chamber president.
Swain School Apartments Opening
A former Edenton school
has been transformed into 38
attractive apartments for the
elderly and disabled. Resi
dents began occupying the
units this week.
E.A. Swain School was de
clared surplus by the Edenton
Chowan School Board in 1985
and turned over to the county.
County Commissioners were,
at first, at a loss what to do
with the school and audito
rium.
Commissioner Alton El
more, however, aware of the
conversion of the high school
that he attended in Rocky
Mount into apartments, set up
a tour of that facility for the
county board. Subsequent
contact with state officials
helped locate a contractor for
such a project.
Dwayne Anderson of An
derson-Benton, a develop
ment company located in
Charlotte, became interested
in the project. After locating
low-cost financing and legal
WINNER-Betz Ricks was this year's winner of the Edenton Jaycees Distinguished
Award. She is shown here (1. to r.) with Danny Blowe, board chairman of Murfreesboro
Jaycees, her father, James P. Ricks, Jr. (first Edenton D3A recipient) and local Jaycee
president, John Mitzke.
Ricks Receives Award
Edenton Jaycees Hold DSA Banquet
Service was the theme foY
the Edenton Jaycees annual
Distinguished Award Ban
quet last Thursday evening.
Featured speaker Chuck
Moore, past state vice-presi
dent and legal counsel for the
N.C. Jaycees, told the gather
ing, "If you ask why they
joined the Jaycees, they say
it's for the service."
And that service is what led
to the current selection of
Elizabeth Burke Ricks as the
Distinguished Service Award
recipient.
The list of her achieve
ments in serving the commu
nity is a long one. Highlights
include: past Jaycee director
and vice-president; several
times chairman of the Jay
cees' underprivileged chil
dren’s Christmas party; Mus
cular Dystrophy Drive; Jay
cee Jelly Drive; past member
of the Town of Edenton Plan
ning Board; past vice-pres
ident and president of the
Northeastern District of the
N.C. Social Service Assoc.;
and hospital volunteer and
Sunday school teacher.
Past awards include: Jay
cee Officer of the Year; Jaycee
of the Year; and two-time
winner of the state Jaycee's
John Stackhouse Award.
She is currently the Indi
vidual Development Vice
President of the Edenton Jay
cees.
Her reaction when pre
sented the award was "Wow.
This is probably the most out
standing award that the com
munity offers. I1 can't believe
it.” She mentioned that her
father, James P. Ricks, Jr.,
was the first local DSA re
cipient in 1954.
She also said that a high
light of her service was dur
ing a jelly drive. "I got the
greatest kick out of dressing
as a jelly jar."
Miss Ricks told the Eden
ton Jaycees, "Just thanks."
work was completed, a con
tract was signed with the
county.
The county retained own
ership of the auditorium and
sold the school building to the
developer for $100,000. Work
then began on the apartments
with Anderson-Benton also
overseeing renovation work
on the auditorium.
Construction costs of the
auditorium are expected to to
tal $500,000. Costs are being
defrayed by the $100,000 from
the sale of the school, a
$125,000 grant from the gen
eral assembly, a $*55,000
CDBG grant awarded to Town
of Edenton for the arts and
transferred to the county,
$10,000 from the Albemarle
Commission and $9,000 from
the Chowan Arts Council.
The county helped the de
veloper obtain low-cost fi
nancing through the Farmers
Home Administration for the
apartment project. In turn,
low-cost housing is being pro
vided to tenants.
The Swain project has been
called unique by state offi
cials, especially in the area of
cooperation between local gov
ernment and private enter
prise. It is expected to be used
as a model around the state
and may attract national at
tention officials have said.
Many schools around the
state, while structurally
sound but architecturally out
dated and not suitable for
modern instruction, are ex
pected to be abandoned within
the next decade.
County Manager Cliff
Copeland has spoken to sev
eral government conferences
concerning the Swain project.
The apartments are one
and two bedroom units with
contemporary kitchens. Spe
cial features include safety
rails in bathrooms and easy to
reach pull cords that signal,
with a bell and a light over the
apartment door, in the case of
emergencies.
The basic exterior and in
terior structure of the 1917
Georgian style building has
Continued On Page 6
Edenton Chosen
Bicentennial Site
By JACK GROVE
Edenton has been selected
as one of four or five state sites
for the U.S. Post Office's bi
centennial celebration of
statehood for North Carolina.
Planning has been con
ducted quietly by state postal
officials in site selection of
historic eastern towns for is
sue of a second-day cover
which will be issued here and
possibly several other towns.
A first-day cover will be is
sued in a ceremony in
Raleigh on August 22, 1989,
the day before eastern cere
monies.
A first (or second) day
cover is a specially designed
envelope bearing a commem
orative stamp which is can
celled with a special postmark
relative to the stamp's signif
icance in a locale. These cov
ers are very popular with
stamp collectors and can gain
substantial value.
Planning for a major cele
bration here is being conduct
ed by local Postmaster Steve
Bennett, the Chamber of Com
merce, the Chowan Arts
Council, Historic Edenton
and town and county offi
cials.
A meeting of the group was
held Tuesday in the chain
ber's conference roam to for
mulate tentative plans for the
summer celebration.
Events could include a pa
rade, outdoor concert, historic
displays, arts and crafts
sales, speeches and residents
turning out in costumes of the
post-Revolutionary War per
iod.
Edenton's Post Office was
the first in the state. The first
postmaster was Joseph Hewes,
from 1774 to 1777. He was
originally appointed by the
king and was postmaster un
der the Second Continental
Congress. Hewes was a
signer of the Declaration of
Independence.