Steamers ‘ V *
are back
■In town.2-B
ife- •' •- .>31
Holmes grad
Iwlll leave a
legacy of faith...5-C
Mission group ,
reaches out to help
the people of Belize.1-C
:
fig
mm
& m
"Tvr-rr
Judge Chris Bean and the
N.C. Department of Public
Instruction’s Elsie Leak will
deliver the featured address
on May 30 to graduating
seniors at John A. Holmes
High School’s commence
ment ceremony, scheduled
to begin at 7 p.m.
Students should assemble
for commencement on the
school commons at 6 p.m.
The ceremony will take
place in the Aces Athletic
Complex. No tickets are
required for the outdoor
event and seating should be
plentiful for all who wish to
attend the ceremony.
In the event of rain,
commencement will take
■place at 10 a.m. on May 31 in
the Athletic Complex, with
students reporting to the
commons at 9 a.m. If rain
persists on Saturday
.morning, commencement
t ceremonies will take place
(in Swain Auditorium at 10
F a.m. If the ceremony is
moved to the auditorium,
buses will provide transpor
tation from Holmes to
Swain for seniors, faculty
and members of the band
and concert choir. The
auditorium will open to the
public one hour prior to the
start of commencement.
Tickets will be required
if the event moves to Swain,
and those without tickets
will not be allowed on the
Arts Council premises in
the interest of safety. Each
senior will receive four
tickets at the graduation
rehearsal on Friday. School
official? urge parents and
their students to discuss
which family members will
receive tickets ahead of
time.
Limited parking will be
available at the courthouse
and city parking lots.
Parking at Swain will be
reserved for buses and
program participants (not
graduates).
Graduating females
should wear white dresses,
low-heeled white shoes and
conservative makeup. Males
should wear white shirts,
dark pants and shoes, and
See GRADUATION On 3-A
The Pledge of Allegiance is recited during a Memorial
Day ceremony Monday morning at the Chowan County
Veterans Memorial in Edenton. (Staff photo by Bud Weagly)
guards, which were provided
by the Edward G. Bond Post 40.
Wreaths were also lain by the
American Legion Auxiliary
Unit 40 and the Edenton Tea
Party Daughters of the Ameri
can Revolution. Lynn Bundy,
Drama Teacher, at John A.
Holmes High School beauti
fully performed the “Star
Spangled Banner” and “God
Bless America” for the event.
Keynote speaker of the me
morial service was Rev.
Thomas Biggs, Minister, of
Cape Colony Church of Christ
who told the crowd the true
meaning of Memorial Day.
“Memorial Day is a time
when we try to preserve the
memory of lives given.... for
our freedoms in this Great Na
tion,” Biggs stated.
Biggs also told the gathering
what we as Americans can do
to make sure our service men
and women have not died in
vain. “We can stress patrio
tism and stress that the flag
represents the blood, sweat
and tears of our military,”
Biggs said.
Larry Privott performed
“Taps” and Rev. Robert White
gave the invocation and bene
diction. A list of men and
women who died in military
service from Chowan County
was also read during the me
morial service.
Tribute is paid
to our veterans
BY TAMIKA SPRUILL
Staff Writer
Eighty to one hundred
people showed up to pay trib
ute to service men and women
that gave the ultimate sacrifice
on Mondayr May 26 at the
Chowan County Veterans Me
morial in Edenton.
George Stokes, Master of
Ceremonies, from the Edward
G. Bond Post 40 American Le
gion, reminded the crowd that
although the occasion was
somber there was still reason
to be thankful.
“We have a lot to be thank
ful for today,” Stokes noted.
“We have gone through an
other war without another
name being added to the list.”
Service and memorial
wreaths were lain by the color
Beth Taylor places a wreath on behalf of the Edenton Tea
Party Chapter DAR. (Staff photo by Bud Weagly)
Northeast Partnership briefed on area business
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Managing Editor
William “Bill” R. Horton,
president of the DFI Group
Inc., gave a special presenta
tion at the Northeast Partner
ship’s month meeting last
Wednesday in Edenton. The
focus of his remarks was the
ethanol projects his company
expects to carry out at new
sites in Williamston (Martin
County) and Beaufort County.
Horton noted that while
ethanol-based research has
been around for a while, finan
cial support for such endeav
ors is much stronger in the
Midwest where the results of
such research are better
known.
“It’s not a new industry," he
said, “but the technology has
changed.”
Horton said many in the ag
riculture field became inter
ested as they began to look for
Chamber Director Richard Bunch talks William R. Horton, president of the DFI Group
Inc. following a presentation Horton gave at the Northeast Partnership meeting last
Wednesday. (Staff photo by Dave Crawley)
something that could replace
tobacco as the primary cash
crop for farmers. Since that
time research has led to such
genetically enhanced/engi
neered foods and “enhanced
value crops” as corn and cot
ton. Horton said that other cre
ations have included oatmeal
type cakes that can be sent to
Third World countries to help
meet nutritional needs there.
He said, however, that one of
the difficulties with develop
ing this technology is the lack
of available grant subsidies
that would help move it along.
Horton said that his com
pany expects to make use of
the availability of natural gas
in Martin County and to utilize
a wood-fired boiler in Beaufort
County under a 10-year con
tract. He said that the permit
ting process on the Beaufort
site, on which DFI has an op
tion, is expected to take 8-9
months. In contrast, Horton
said the deal for the Martin
County site was expected to be
finalized the day after the
Partnership’s meeting took
place.
Partnership Chairman Bob
Spivey said he was delighted to
learn of DFI’s plans, particu
larly given theimportance of
agriculture in the region. “We
are excited at the prospect of
what this could mean to our
farmers and northeastern
North Carolina,” he said.
Horton said the support of
entities such as the Northeast
Partnership, county commis
sioners, and town councils in
our area could be an important
means of showing that there is
arf interest in these types of
projects. “Any type of endorse
ment would help,” he said.
Spivey responded by asking
the Partnership’s board of di
rectors to approve a motion of
support for DFI. The motion
passed unanimously
Learn to sail
This fleet of sunfish sailboats is preparing to venture into Edenton Bay in last year's
summer sailing program sponsored by the Edenton-Chowan Recreation Department. Any
boy or girl in the 6th through 12th grade can sign up for one of the weeks of lessons
Offered by the Recreation Department. Call or come by the Rec. Dept, to register for this
activity or many others offered during the summer months. (Photo by Robbie Laughton)
Koonce is new principal
at Chowan Middle School
Edenton-Chowan Schools
has named current assistant
principal Willie Koonce as the
next principal at Chowan
Middle School. The Board of
Education approved Koonce at
its May meeting by a unani
mous vote.
“Mr. Koonce is a proven
leader,” said Edenton-Chowan
Schools superintendent Allan
T. Smith. “His peers recog
nized Willie’s qualities as an
educator when they named
him Administrator of the Year
for Chowan County in 2000
2001. We are fortunate to have
someone of Mr. Koonce’s cali
ber taking the helm at the
middle school.”
Koonce began his teaching
career here in 1976 at Chowan
High School after receiving a
Wiltie Koonce
bachelor’s degree in math and
science from Elizabeth City
State University. He received
his master’s degree in school
administration from East
Carolina University in 1995,,
and became the assistant prin
cipal at Chowan Middle School
in that year also. Koonce has
been assistant principal at
Chowan for the last seven
years.
Koonce will succeed current
Chowan principal Brenda
Winborne, who will retire with
the end of this school year.
Winborne said she was “de
lighted” with the decision to
make Koonce her successor.
Mr. Koonce has a genuine
love for the school, the stu
dents, the staff and the com
munity,” Winborne said. “I
know that, he will lead the
school to even higher levels of
performance.”
Koonce said his philosophy
See KOONCE On Page 3-A