Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Feb. 28, 2001, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Boat builder celebrates new location 8-A THE CHO Wednesday, February 28,2001 ERALD \lo\. LXV1II, No. 9 Published in historic Edenton.. ■ The prettiest town on the North Carolina coast Single Copies 50$ [ f I Drignny colored umbrellas as they listen to Peter Rascoe (center), director of the Edenton-Chowan Special Projects Office during a reconsecration ceremomy held at the site of sixty 18th and 19th century African-American graves. (Staff photo by Helen Kerr Outland) Reconsecration of graves is held here BY HELEN KERR OUTLAND Staff Writer EDENTON — Icy rain splashed off the multi-colored umbrellas of thosegathered for the reconsecration of sixty 18th and 19th century African American graves Thursday morning. Despite the cold wind and rain many had come to pay their respects and honor those whose final resting place had been all but forgotten. The graves were rediscov ered last year as part of a resto ration effort taking place on the Filbert’s Creek Preserve. The revitalization came as part of a North Carolina Clean Wa ter Management Trust Fund Grant. Under the guidance of the Edentqn-Chowan Special Projects Office and Director Peter Rascoe the gravesites were located and preservation work was begun. “Even with a few visible headstones, as we entered the area we immediately recog nized many depressions in the ground,” Peter Rascoe said. "Wayne Blair, Madison Phillips, and myself went in on our knees and began clearing the site by hand. Our fear was that any equipment would damage the already fragile graves.” In clearing the site it was discovered that some of the graves had been lined with brick. A few were marked with headstones, a sign of the pros perity of the family, but most werp mark€3**ohiy by small boulders. Some were not marked at all. “The clearing effort reached a scale that inmates were brought in to help,” said Rascoe. In an effort to locate all of the graves Loretta Lautzenheiser of Carolina Coastal Research in Tarboro was brought to the cemetery. With high tech thermal imag ing equipment Lautzenheiser was able to find some 60 graves. The earliest marker found dates back to 1816. Another reads: “In Memory of Mary Matilda, daughter of Asa Barnswell. Born 10th, June 1797. Died 14th Jan. 1817.” The Reverend Jerald I. Perry, Sr. officiated at Thursday’s reconsecration, re minding those in attendance of the fragility of life. “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done,” he read from Psalm 118. As people hurried to their cars to escape the cold the words from the Reconsecration Prayer lingered in the air above the graves. “.and that this place be purged from all pollu tion, and that it may be restored and sanctified as a hallowed place of rest.” This year, show to be held under tents A visitor to last year's Historic Antiques Show and Sale looks at some fine linens. In a break with tradition, this year's show will take place under tents adjacent to the Barker House in downtown Edenton. (Chowan Herald file photo by Rebecca Bunch) BY REBECCA BUNCH Editor Historic Edenton’s tradi tional antiques show and sale will be presented Saturday, March 17, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sunday, March 18, from noon until 5 p.m. with an interesting new twist this year - as an antiques fair. “We thought this would be a fun way to present this event,” said co-chairman Betsy Hunt. “The entire thing will be held under tents provided by Party Rentals of Edenton. Chris Elliott, the owner, has gra ciously agreed to furnish us with two 40 by 60 ft. tentsplus a See SHOW On Page 12-A Ag Center officially opens with special ceremonies 3 County Manager Cliff Copeland, Chowan County Commissioners and local citizens gather with the County Extension staff to celebrate the opening of the new Agriculture Center here. BY HELEN KERR OUTLAND Staff Writer EDENTON- There were very few good things left unsaid af ter Monday evening’s Dedica tion/Open House for the Chowan County Agricultural Center. Following the opening .ceremony attending county leaders and dignitaries toured the new multi-functional facil ity at 730 North Granville Street. The words “wonderful” and “great” were heard often. The center has been wanted and needed for a long time. The new building reflects the cul mination of years of planning, and the collaboration of many, to make it functional for-not only for the departments housed within its walls but meeting the needs of the pub lic too. “This center was designed with a number of consider ations all directed at those who be working in the facility and the public who would be visit ing the offices,” says Architect Lou Jurkowski of Brown Jurkowski Architectural Col laborative of Raleigh. “I guess you could say we started with the psychological aspects of the working atmosphere of the staff occupying the building. So many needs had to be met.” Jurkowski goes on to elaborate on the structural and esthetic conceptsofthestructure. “This room,” she says indicating the banquet/conference room, “ is centrally located within the building. “For events such as See CENTER On Page 3-A ‘Looping’ looked at Chowan Middle School offers a program called “looping” to students in the sixth grade. This program is an opportunity for stu dents and teachers to re main together for a two year period and thus share in individual development and growth in all areas from academic to social develop ment. Informational meetings on looping are scheduled at the White Oak Elementary School cafeteria on Tues day, March 6, at 7 p.m. and in the D.F. Walker Elemen tary School media center on Monday, March 12 at 7 p.m. At these meetings par ents will be able to hear about the effects of the present program and what is available for the upcom ing school year. Principals from the schools and teach ers from Chowan Middle School who are involved in theprogramwillbeonhand to answer all questions that pertain to looping. Parents of upcoming sixth graders fo the year 2001-2002need to attend one of the meetings to under stand the options available to students at the middle school. 1 American Legion Back Building SPECIAL BINGO FOR “RELAY FOR LIFE" FRIDAY, MARCH 2 @ 7:30 P.M. Sponsored by American Legion Family Relay For Life Team Dept, heads asked to trim their budgets BY REBECCA BUNCH Editor While some North Carolina counties are crying foul and shutting down local pro grams left and right, Chowan County Manager Cliff Copeland says it is not time to panic over the county bud get just yet. In an interview last Friday, Copeland said that while it is true the county will lose some funding from the state be cause of emergency budget measures established by Gov. Mike Easley, he feels the situ ation is far from dire. Copeland said that to make up the expected $116,000 shortfall, he has asked the heads of departments that would be affected by the shortage to voluntarily make cuts in their budgets. The lost funds, which are part of a state inventory reimburse ment tax, represent two cents on the property tax rate. He said that areas that would be most likely to be cut would include such things as all non-essential travel and possibly not filling job vacan cies, but instead having staff double up their duties to help the county save money. “I have not issued any hard and fast guidelines,” he said. “I am relying on the discre tion and common sense of our department heads in county government to decide how they can best deal with this situation within their own de partments.” Copeland said that while a great impact would not be felt in the community should those funds remain unavail able through the end of this year, the long term impact could be much stronger. “I think the real issue is not so much what’s going to happen right now,” he said, “but whether state govern ment is going to decide to withhold those funds from us next year, and even beyond that. If that happens, it could have a very strong impact.” And, Copeland added, “As we all know, the state is in a serious financial crunch. I think the likelihood is there that it could happen.” One factor that could also adversely affect the fiscal sta bility of county governments across North Carolina is an expected rise in the amount each county will have to pay to fund Medicaid, which helps provide medical ser vices for the poor. Already, the state is estimating that its costs for Medicaid will rise by an additional $150 million, with counties being expected to pay about $22.5 million more to help fund the pro gram. Experts say this repre sents a 19 percent increase from last year, eight percent of which was unbudgeted. The costs borne by each state and county across the coun try are tied directly to the federal share of funds for the program. If the federal share drops, state apd local govern ments will generally have to make up the difference.
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 28, 2001, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75