482-4418
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
50c
Coming to America
Hispanics starting new lives, families in Edenton, Chowan County
Earline White/The Chowan Herald
Sandra Carrera plays a Dora the Explorer game with her husband Carlos, and daughters, Getzabel and Andrea (not shown) in
their West Queen Street home. The Carreras say a well-run government and opportunities for their children keep them in America.
First of two parts
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
The new faces in St.
Anne’s Sunday con
gregation are black
haired, brown-skinned, carry
ing rosaries passed down from
their grandmothers.
Some sing Spanish hymns in
hushed tones to their children.
Some wake up in the morning
and tune into the new Spanish
format on WZBO and get ready
for work.
They cook tortillas purchased
from the grocer’s ever-expand
ing Hispanic section and drink
INDEX
A Local
Land Transfers......... A4
Opinion...A8
Outdoors News....... A9
Nascar.A10
B Community News
Upcoming Events.... B2
Society........83
Obituaries...B4
Church ..,.B5,6
Service Directory...... B8 -T
. Buy/Sell/Trade..........89
Employment.B10
. • ■ ■■ ,t.
■■ t-i . ■, .
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
herbal teas for their headaches.
Many are renting houses in the
Edenton outskirts, working at Albe
marle Boats, and pumping quarters
into the jukebox at Mamasita’s.
The number of Hispanics in
Chowan County has been growing
for the last 15 years, making this an
increasingly important part of the
community
The Chowan Herald has con
ducted many interviews with His
panics and others in the community
and this is what they are saying:
■ “Without Hispanic migrant
workers farms in rural areas like
ours would be sunk.” — Louis
Nixon, owner Pigs Plus Farms
■ “Spanish-language program
ming is the fastest growing trend in
. Study: Renters being left out in the cold
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
The rise in the state’s mini
mum wage should, help
Chowan County renters afford
housing.
But it may not be enough for
them to live in a home large
enough to suit their needs.
Chowan County renters
earn a median monthly in
come of less than $1,600, ac
cording to the National Low
Income Housing Coalition’s
annual Out of Reach Report.
Other workers make much
less. The average monthly
rent for a two-bedroom home
is $593 a month.
But with a rent that high
and an income that low,
you’re spending more than 30
percent of your recommended
income for rent, the report
states.
Local realtor John Dowd
mmm.
•mmrnm
radio in the United States today.”
— ]Rick Loesch, WZBO station
owner
■ “The perception exists that all
Hispanics are uneducated farm la
borers seeking to live off public
assistance and shun tax-paying re
sponsibilities. But most local His
panics are giving back to their
communities.
“People don’t talk about that
part.” — Zary Ortiz, Northeast
Community Development Corpo
ration
■ “In our business there is a lot
of detailed work that demands
continuous work. There is not a
lot of standing around. That is
why they [Hispanics] are so good
at their job.
said the findings in the report
are sobering.
“There’s a major problem
and I don’t know how it’s go
ing to be solved,” Dowd said.
Dowd said it’s hard to point
a finger at exactly who is to
blame for the shortage of af
fordable housing, and the gap
between wages and rent costs.
Property owners have to
shoulder their share of the
burden in deciding whether or
not they can afford to rent.
Increasing taxes and fees —
including new costs to tap-on
to county and town water sys
tems — are just two of the is
sues homeowners face when
deciding if they can collect
enough rent to offset their ex
penses.
Insurance costs also can
make rental-property owners
feel that they have to raise
their rents.
“You can’t get enough rent to
MMHM
“They don’t mind giving a good
day’s work. This is becoming
very rare in our society today” —
Rod Leary at Leary Plant Farm
Who are they and where
did they come from?
The majority of Hispanics who
live and work in Chowan come
from Mexico, employers say.
They come up in groups/crews
through the southeastern U.S.
looking for seasonal work. In be
tween local crops of cucumbers,
watermelons, and sweet corn
See HISPANICS, Page A2 ►
make it worth your while,”'
Dowd said.
The private sector, Dowd
said, likely won’t be able to
solve the problem. Local gov
ernments and public agencies
may have to step in and help
resolve the matter, he said.
Dowd said the problem is
widespread. Unfortunately, he
added, an affordable rental
home in Edenton and Chowan
is no longer a stick-built house.
Mobile homes are becoming
more prevalent among renters.
“That’s become affordable
housing,” he said of the boom
in mobile home rentals.
Local officials formed an Af
fordable Housing Commission
about 18 months ago.
While that commission
hasn't met recently, the group
has asked the N.C. Community
Development Corp. to do a
See RENT, Page A2 ►
Good deals for good deeds
Shopping for more than
clothes at the Clothes Closet
Inspiration, B6
Housing hardships
Affordable rentals becoming
harder to find See be|ow
Edenton police nab
alleged credit
card thieves
Community, Cl
Chowan says
goodbye to the
“Meal Man”
Walter Lane, who worked at the grist mill
on Dillard's Millpond for 60 years, passed
away Saturday.
| BY EARLLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
They say that if you like your job you'll never
work a day in your life,
i That’s how Walter Lane felt.
For the past 60 years Lane worked in the only
operational grist mill remaining in Chowan
County, not even a half a mile from his homeplace
overlooking Dillard’s millpond.
He never missed a day.
He’d rise early with the chickens and walk or
catch a ride to the mill. For years he worked along
side his mother in the mill, grinding corn grown
| and harvested by locals.
From the hopper to the stone to the bag, the
meal was carefully packaged in small yellow bags
| stamped with the family name and tied by hand
I’ with string.
The bags had to be tied by hand, he’d say, and
few besides him could do it to suit.
His regular customers, owners of the local
country stores, enjoyed their weekly visits.
| Lane who was always a kind, considerate fel
low didn’t just stop in to make a quick buck. He’d
stay a while and catch up on the news.
Emmett Winborne who grew up in the area re
members Lane making his deliveries with his
helper riding around in the back giving turn sig
nals with his hands.
"Walter was one of a kind,” Winborne said.
See LANE, Page A2 >
Citizen of the Year
nominations sought
One picks up trash in
downtown Edenton every
day.
Another volunteers each
week at school, helping stu
dents improve their read
ing skills.
Another brings flowers to
the sick and shut-ins.
They are the heroes of
our community.
They do it for little to no
recognition and they do it
"just because.”
put it’s about time their
efforts were recognized.
And we want to know
who they are — they could
beqome The Chowan
Herald's Citizen of the Year
for 2006.
E-mail, call or drop us a
line and let us know who
you think should be recog
nized as the Citizen of the
Year and why.
Be sure te include the :
nominee’s name and num
ber.
We’ll count the votes and
have a feature story on the
Citizen of the Year in the
Feb. 7 edition.
Remember, no good deed
is too small.
You be the judge.