Tears transformed into
songs of praise for one
local woman C8
Handyman
Blake Harmon
replasters, paints
A3
By Earline White
Managing Editor
A dozen young women
dressed in pink T-shirts stood
at the front of Swain Audito
rium and nearly 150 people
they didn’t know.
They clapped their hands,
stomped their feet and said
that they have a dream.
Forty years after Dr. Martin
Luther King was assassinat
ed, his dream lives on.
On Monday white officials
joined hands with black of
ficials and sang “We shall
overcome.” Young people held
hands with-their elders. And
for two horns, color, sex and fi
nancial status
didn’t matter.
“They
thought they
killed King,
thought they
would stomp
out his mem
Eliiott ory” speaker
Dr. Stanley El
liott said. “But look at us still
honoring Martin Luther King
Jr.’s legacy toddy”
♦ ♦ ♦
The celebration was a
touching one for Elliott, who
grew up stuttering in his
Tyner home. Today he is the
< vice-president of student af
fairs for Livingtone College in
Salisbury
“I see the youth of today
They don’t have the worries
we did. We had neighborhood
evils — that dog down the
street, that tree from which
I fell. Today there are world
evils — Internet predators
and gang signs. Wifi they re
member you as someone who
Fox finds perfect fit at Barker House
By tariine White
Managing Editor
It was a job she applied for
on the last day, after verbally
declining it twice.
Within the first week of her
accepting the role as the com
mission administrator for the
Edenton Historical Commis
sion, Terri Fox was bombard
ed with new faces, places and
tight schedules.
Her first day was the Barker
House Volunteer of the Year
reception. And that weekend
was the Christmas Candle
light Tour.
“I know I had a ‘deer in the
INDEX
A Local '
Opinion......A7
Land Transfers.......... A4
B Sports
Recreation News....;..BV
Nascar.....B2
C Community News
Upcoming Events.C2
Society.......C4
Obituaries...C6
CHurch...........••.«.»• C7. fi
&
D Classifieds
Buy/Sell/Trade..01
Service Directory...D2
Employment.....D4
©2006 The Chowan Herald
„ All Rights Reserved
Earline White/The Chowan Herald
Minnie B. Felton, along with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir of Edenton, sings before an audience of
nearly 150 during the annual King celebration held Monday at Swain Auditorium.
helped them getthrough their
trying time or watch their po
tential go down the drain?
“None of us is here by
our own accord. Ideas were
poured into us. You must
pour something in to get
something out.
“I have a student from Af
rica. He brought me back a
pair of shoes from his home.
I asked him why He said he
too is from an agricultural
society and you cannot reap
headlights look all that month, Fox
said of the whirlwind that was Decem
ber.
Needless to say, it has been an exciting
transition for Fox and the enthusiasm
remains high.
“The more I talked with Susan
[Schmidt] about [the job], the more I re
alized it would be an exciting job for me.
I’m so thankful to her for her encourage
ment. I grew up in a house that was pre
Revolutionary in Maryland, and with all
the history around [Chowan] I feel that
this is a perfect fit for me.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Today, Fox is busy cleaning out the
Barker House’s third-floor attic and cre
ating a hot spiced tea drink for visitors. -
“Every job I’ve had had an element
of reaching out to the community” Fox
said. “I find that most fulfilling—wheth
er through a brochure, presentation or
personal contact. Getting people excited
about something has; been the one con
_i :__
masters in design from the University
stant in my career.”
Fox, formerly of Nags Head, has a
Fuel suppliers say the gas prices are unpredictable
By Earline White
Managing Editor I ,
In 20 years at Jbe Lee Com
pany, Penny Norman can’t
remember such heavy fluc
tuating of the gas prices as
is taking place right now.
“We dropped the price
three times last week:
twice within eight hours on
Wednesday, tlien again on
Thursday — it was crazy”
Norman said
But accoriing to some
i
what yoij don’t sow.
•‘The;* need you.”
♦ ’ ♦
Many of the people in
the audience remembered
King’s visit to Edenton. He
came to the area by way of
Elizabeth City He spoke at
the Armory to the masses
that were crowded beyond
the doorway
Holmes student Heather
Taylor told thfe story and
area fuel suppliers, that fluc
tuation will be a constant for
awhile.
Early reports in ‘08 said
that gas prices could be any
where from $3.50 to $4 by
summer.
Norman anticipates the
up and down, but does not
forsee $4 a gallon this sum
mer.
Steve Taylor with Bridge
turn Exxon dares not say
what he thinks gas prices
will be by the summer.
gjay-haired men and women
iuodded.
f i It was a memory of unity
hlhat those attending the cel
ebration took away
'“Whether it is the man on
the street with tattoos on his
arms, the woman showing so
much skin or the young man
with a head full of gold teeth
— we are still all children of
God,” Elliott said during his
hour-long speech about in
tegrity, tenacity and common
of Baltimore, owned and operated The
Barefoot Gourmet Specialty Grocery
and Wine Market in Nags Head, and
worked as part of the community out
reach for the Nature Conservancy
Fox’s goal is to unite the town and
county for the benefit of the Edenton
Historical Commission and their proj
ects: the Barker House, the Roanoke Riv
er Lighthouse and the 1767 courthouse,
among others.
“The Commission has rededicated
itself to its mission statement given by
the state General Assembly. We’re all
going to see a lot of new energy devoted
to Edenton and, historic preservation.
It’s a very exciting time to be here.”
Fox is currently working on a power
point presentation for town and county
officials and organizations on the Com
mission’s master plan.
“And to do this in this setting,” she
said from her office on the second story
of the Barker House, “is the ultimate.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“I want to remind people that the
Barker House is here for them, for the
community. Come and have a picnic on
the porch. If you don’t want to sign up as
“It all boils down to what
the world economy and stock
market do,” Taylor said.
“Anybody that can predict
gas prices has a real skill,”
Taylor added.
Gas prices have continued
to drop from the $3.29 high
of early January to as low as
$2.89 in the region and $2.98
locally.
“It’s strictly a speculative
market,” a representative
with Hollowell Oil in Winfall
said Tuesday
sense.
“Luther Vandross got
booed off Apollo not unce,
but twice. Michael Jordan
got cut from his high school
basketball team twice. Rosa
Parks sat down because she
was tired.
“What doesn’t kill you will
make you stronger. But either
we learn to live together as
brothers or perish as fools.”
a docent, we invite
you to volunteer
your skills as a
handyman. There
are lots of activi
ties that center
around the Barker
House,” Pox said
as if creating an
advertisement for
the historic site.
“I’ve heard from
people who remember tea parties and
guest speakers at the Barker House.
That’s something I am interested in. I
want to see the Barker House as a center
for community activities.”
♦ ♦ ♦ '
Fox has been married for 16 years
to Richard Pox, a national accounts
manager for Wiley Publishing. They
met when she opened a bookshop on the
Eastern Shore of Maryland. He came in
on her first day to sell books.
She has a stepdaughter who gradu
ated from the University of Oregon and
plans to attend graduate school in New
York.
“It's one of the few markets
where supply and demand
have no effect on price.”
"Gas is like milk — you
have to have it,” Norman
said.
“But you do have the op
tion of car pooling to save
gas. Fill up when gas prices
are low. And when buying a
new car, look closely at the
gas mileage.”
N.C. has a higher state gas
tax ($.06) than either Virgin
ia or South Carolina.
DSS has
record
caseload
Unemployment,
working poor,
transients among
contributing factors
By Connie Sage
Contributing Writer
Chowan County Depart
ment of Social Services
Caseloads are at an all-time
high as the area grapples
with higher-than-state aver
age unemployment and pov- ,
erty rates.
“We’re seeing a lot more
unemployment and poverty,
more transients . moving
here, plant closings, and an
increase in the aging popu
lation,” said Social Servic
es Director William “Ben”
Rose.
Local caseloads are at
their peak, he said, for those
receiving Medicaid, food •
stamps, child support, foster
care/child welfare services,
and day care. •
■ Twenty-six percent of
the local population, or about
1,000 households, receives
Mddieaid benefits for chil
dren, the aged or disabled,
compared to average state
wide estimates of 15-16 per
cent.
■ A record 21 children
are in foster care here, dou
ble the normal average.
■ More than 1,000 house
holds, or 2,000 people receive
food stamps here; 15 percent
of those food stamps are for
the elderly popr.
■ Sixty child support
cases are taken to court here
monthly to force a parent to
. pay support.
Rose said there is no one
reason for the increase in
caseloads.
“We’ve been in a trend since
1999 where our numbers have
really gone up,” he said. v \ ~
A lot of transients are mov
ing to the area. “A lot are ex
tended family. We do see a lot
of people from the North com
ing here for Our services,” he
said. “It’s a small part, but
definitely a part of it.”
There .are 1,300 cases of
child support in the county
that his department handles.
Seventy percent of those
are under court order to pay
according to Rose, who said
the county collects more than
$1 million per year in child
support.
Nine children were in fos
ter care locally early last sum
mer, Rose said.
By Christmas, there were
20 children taken from their
homes, he said, because of
poverty, substance abuse,
domestic violence, mental
health issues or the inability
to parent
Economic stress is a factor
in the increased case-load that
Rose’s staff of 37 handles.
Unemployment here is 6.4
percent, compared with 4.7
percent in North Carolina,
according to the most recent
statistics.
A family of four with a total
income of $20,614 is consid
ered in poverty, according to
2007 federal guidelines.
A family of six with an an
nual income of $27,560 is in
See SERVICES, Page A2 >
1