Candlelight Tour draws crowd
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer 9
Gripping the bars of his
cell, John Morehead begged
for smokes while his cellmates
whooped and hollered at
passers-by.
“You got a cigarette?”
Morehead growled as fellow
jailbirds called out for liquor,
women and freedom.
Only thing was, a door just
to their left stood wide open.
“Inmates” wandered in and
out of the cell at times. A gas
heater warmed the black-and
white-striped prisoners. But
like they did for both nights of
the annual Christmas Candle
light Tour, EdentOn Rotary
Club members remained in
character long enough to get a
few laughs from visitors.
“Call my wife,” Jack Habit
pleaded Friday night, ’’she
doesn’t know I’m in here.”
Elsewhere on the tour,
homes elicited words of de
See TOUR On Page 5-A
Visitors admire the beautiful high ceilings at Beverly Hall, home of Samuel and Gray
Dixon and their family, on the opening day of the annual Candlelight Tour in Edenton.
(Staff photo by Sean Jackson)
A lovely table awaited visitors to the Barker House Re
past during the tour. (Staff photo by Bud Weagly)
Eric Bergevin, left, and John Morehead, right, beg for
mercy while confined to the old Chowan County Jail for
the duration of the tour. They were imprisoned there along
with fellow Rotarians...but all in good fun! (Staff photo by
Sean Jackson)
BY TAMIKA SPRUILL
Staff Writer
Despite a visit by Santa van- -
dais, Chowan County resident
Danny Stalling still believes
in the spirit of Christmas.
According to Stalling, who
resides on Highway 32 in
Edentori, vandals in a dark
truck with a loud exhaust sys
tem sliced the 12.5 foot inflat
able Santa in his yard two Fri
days ago between 9:00 and 9:30
p.m. :.
, “We’ve had people stopping
and looking at our inflated
Santa since Thanksgiving,”
notes Stalling. “I had someone
tell me how much their grand
child loved it and they had to
come back so the child could
look at it. It’s a shame two
people have to ruin things foi*
everyone else.” |
Stalling’s son, a high school:
student, does the yard deco-'
rating for Christmas and
needless to say, was very up-'
set about the vandalism. -
“My son really loves,
Christmas,” Stalling states. “I
had some real unhappy kids
that Friday night. So to the
persons who did this, you got
the reaction you wanted.”
If it wasn’t for the alertness
of his neighbors, Stalling
wouldn’t have had any infor
mation to help identify the
See SPIRIT On Page 3-A
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Firefighters get 1
new equipment;
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
A federal grant of nearly
$100,000 will allow the Edenton
Fire Department to pay for
new firefighting equipment.
During its Dec. 8 meeting,
the Town Council approved
entering a matching grant
with Homeland Security for
the purchase of fire safety
equipment. Homeland Secu
rity will pay $96,700, with the
town paying slightly more
than $10,000.
The total grant will equal
$106,700.
The money will pay for 15
self-contained breathing appa
ratus and other materials, fire
department officials told the
council.
“We got the very best price
we could get,” Fire Chief
Charlie Westbrook said last
month.
Prices for the equipment
were expected to rise after Jan.
1.
See FIRE On Page 3-A
More
vaccine
on way
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
If the flu bug is what scares
you, then be prepared to shell
out big bucks to pay for the
only vaccine available in
Chowan County: a $60 inhaled
mist variety.
A spokesperson for the
Chowan Medical Center said
last week that the flu-shot vac
cine has run out at the medi
cal center and the county
health department. Both agen
cies use different providers for
the shots. The spokesperson
said the medical center could
restock its shot vaccines “in
the next couple of weeks.”
There were some state-pro
vided vaccines for at-risk
people, such as children with
chroniaasthma, the spokesper
son said.
A federal agency could
bring vaccines to the area a
little sooner than that.
The Center for Disease Con
trol and Prevention has
shipped an additional 2,490
doses of traditional injectable
vaccine to North Carolina and
an additional 7,500 doses are
expected next week. In addi
tion, the N.C. Division of Pub
lic Health Immunization
Branch has also negotiated
with Wyeth Lederle, the manu
facturer of FluMist, so that«
nasal spray vaccine can be ad
See VACCINE On Page 5-A
Generations enjoy sharing their
creativity during holiday season
BY ANGELA PEREZ
Staff Writer
Last Monday, the His
toric Edenton State His
toric Site sponsored its 6th
annual Holiday Wreath
Making class at the Iredell
House. Record numbers of
women (several mother
and daughter teams) came
from as far away as Suf
folk, Virginia and
Greenville, N.C. to partici
pate in this fun and festive
activity.
After reading about the
class in her local newspa
per, Laurie Roberts drove
to Edenton from Elizabeth
City with her high-school
daughter Megan in tow.
Inside the old one room
schoolhouse located behind
the Iredell House, the
mother and daughter
team giggle as they
exchange evergreen
branches. Laurie ex
claims, “This is even
more fun than we thought
it would be!”
Meanwhile, just outside
the door, four generations
from one family stand
huddled around a plank
table enjoying the sun
shine while piecing
together their holiday
wreaths. The eldest, Ruth
Doughtie, 78, of Virginia,
stands with her daughter,
Sandra Edmundson, her
niece, Thelma Bunch (of
Tyner), her grand niece,
Four-generations of family joined together Monday for holiday wreath making at the
Iredell House. Pictured left to right are: Melody White, Thelma Bunch, Will White, Sandra
Edmundson, and Ruth Doughtie. (Staff photo by Angela Perez)
Melody White (also of
Tyner), and her great
grand nephew, Melody’s
son Will (a student at John
A. Holmes High School).
“This is our second year
coming to this,” said
Sandra. “We just love it.
And mother here used to
play in this schoolhouse as
a little girl when it was on
the Bandon Plantation.
Ruth looks up briefly from
her work and smiles. “I
used to pretend I was a
school teacher,” she says
as she works deftly with
the greenery. “This is
really a family tradition
now,” adds Melody.
Debbie Sliva, Special
Events Coordinator/
Historic Interpreter for
the Historic Edenton State
Historic Site, felt that the
overall results of the
classes were fantastic.
“This just grows every
year from word of mouth,
from family members.
Everyone had a wonderful
time and we will continue
as long as people are
interested.” Go ahead and
mark your calendar for
next year - the classes are
always held the following
Monday after the Christ
mas Candlelight Tour.
Third drug
arrest is
carried out
BY TAMIKA SPRUILL
Staff Writer
During a routine patrol,
Edenton Police Officers Aaron
Davidson and Dennis Smith
stopped a vehicle that was op
erated by thirty-year old
Norman Ford, of 311 East
Church Street. Upon searching
the vehicle after serving an
arrest warrant for Ford, police
found 34 grams of a controlled
substance believed to be crack
cocaine. A substantial amount
of money was also seized from
Ford.
Ford was arrested and
charged with trafficking
crack-cocaine, and delay /re
sisting a public officer. Ford
See ARREST On Page 3-A
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Aces fall to
Eagles..... 1-B
Lawrence
sworn in at
special “
session 6*A
Passion for
trains shared
with students .....14-A
Kids Letters
to Santa
Section.............. 1-14-C