Ches Chesson becomes first local state swim champion
Brought home gold and bronze medals
1 ■—i — ..... — . r
Received formal appointment to U.S. Naval Academy
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t
.482-4418
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Three
schools
deemed
safe
John A. Holmes
did not apply for
‘super safe’ status
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Three local schools —
White Oak, D.F. Walker,
and Chowan Middle — are
among those identified in
North Carolina as “Super
Safe Schools” for the cur
rent school year.
John A. Holmes High
School elected not to com
pete for the special recogni
tion.
, “There are a number of
these award opportuni
ties available for schools,”
explained Holmes Assis
tant Principal Mary Ly
ons, “and administrators
have to choose which ones
they’ll pursue because they
are time-intensive, and it
wouldn’t be possible to ap
ply for all of them.”
This marks the fifth con
secutive year that Chowan
Middle School has qualified
for the designation.
Representatives from the
winning schools will be hon
ored at an awards luncheon
later this week.
♦ ♦ ♦
“This is a big task they
take on each year,” said
Karen Tynch, director of
Safe and Drug-Free Schools,
for the local school system.
“(The program) is competi
tive, it is voluntary.”
According to the state De
partment of Public Instruc
tion Web site, its School
Safety and Climate Division
“established the Triple ‘S’
School award to recognize
public schools’ exemplary
efforts to ensure the safety
of students and staff.”
As part of the process,
each school is required to
prepare and submit a port
folio that documents the
safety procedures in place at
‘ their location.
The Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education honored
the winning schools Monday
night at their monthly meet
ing.
Holmes High School pur
sued a similar voluntary
recognition initiative for
its senior project program,
noted Mary Lyons, assistant
principal.
Both the entire school pro
gram and Ashley Barrow’s
Alleycat Angels individual
project were honored by the
State Board of Education
last spring, she said.
♦ ♦ ♦
The board also:
■ Heard a presenta
| tion by Pam MacLagan,
who oversees the Reading
Recovery initiative in the
See SCHOOLS, Page A2 ►
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02006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Locals honored for heroism,
volunteerism, business savvy
Earline White/The Chowan Herald
Deanna Chesson, far right, works with clockwise, Curtis Johnson, Hannah Nixon, Emma McCarthy,
Haley Koppelman and Noah Evans on their team's OM spontaneous responses. Chesson, who
coached and judged the event, feels most comfortable when volunteering.
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Deanna Chesson provides
transportation for the Aces
Swim Team and organizes
swim meets including tour
naments and regional compe
titions. She plans and carries
out athletic banquets and is a
soccer mom extraordinaire.
She is a member of the
board of directors of the
Chowan Hospital Foundation
and serves as a tennis and
soccer coach and instructor.
“And after all this,” said
Robbie Laughton who pre
sented Chesson the award
said, “she still finds time to
help with Relay for Life, her
church, and hosting a foreign
exchange student this year at
the high school.”
For these community ef
forts, and so many others, she
was named William R “Spec”
Jones Volunteer of the Year
at the annual Edenton-Chow
an Chamber of Commerce
Lowe’s engineers meet with town officials
Town’s next step
is to send specs for
buildings, bonding
By Connie Sage
Contributing Writer
Town officials met with
Lowe’s engineers last week
to discuss the home improve
ment store’s infrastructure
requirements at the proposed
Edenton Commons Center.
“I’m assuming it’s all part
of their process of going for
ward,” said Town Manager
Anne-Marie Knighton.
The town, however, still has
not been told definitively if, or
when, the shopping center or
Lowe’s will be built.
“They’re not saying any:
thing official; they’re still do
ing due diligence,” Knighton
said.
“We’ve learned, and the resi
dents understand, it’s never
INDEX
A Local
' Crime..'..A4
Land Transfers......A5
Business...A6
Opinion..................... A7
awards dinner Thursday
night.
Other recipients were Mur
ray Nixon, winner of the John
A. Mitchener Jr. Business
Person of the Year Award and
WinstonJJlackledge, who re
ceive^ the Marvin S. Barham
Humanitarian of the Year
award.
Nixon built his very first
freezer, icehouse and fish
room in 1972, noted presenter
Travis Ellis. By the fall of
1974 the business had grown
significantly and had become
known as Murray Nixon Fish
ery. Today, 40 employees make
their livings working there.
Nixon retired in 1984. By
the mid-1990s he had become
involved with a new enter
prise, Nixon Family Restau
rant Inc., which now employs
a staff of 35.
Among his other achieve
ments, Nixon served two
terms on the North Carolina
Marine Fisheries Commis
sion board and in 1992 was a
a done deal until it’s a done
deal.”
Knighton, along with lo
cal public works, electric and
planning departments, and
soil and conservation district
officials, walked around the
proposed shopping center site
with two engineers from Free
land and Kauffman of Green
ville, S.C., last Wednesday.
“When a project gets a con
ditional use permit, they want
to know where’s the sewer
line, what kind of tie-in do you
require for a water line,” and
other details about basic ser
vices, Knighton said.
The engineers also met with
Department of Transportation
officials to talk about highway
requirements and improve
ments, including a traffic light
at the shopping center. The
town also defined bonding re
quirements.
Town offices this week were
B Sports/School
Recreation News.B1
Nascar...B2
School.,....„.B3
Nature...........B4
Nature...............84
Nixcn
Blackledge
recipient of the Governors
Award for outstanding volun
teer service.
Blackledge was honored for
saving the lives of Dean Hef
fernan and his son William in
June during a near-drowning
incident.
“The chamber is proud to
honor our youngest award
winner to date,” said Richard
Bunch, chamber director, as
he handed the teenager his
award. “He is certainly very
deserving of this honor.”
The awards ceremony end
ed with a special presentation
to County Manager Cliff Co
peland in recognition of his
29 years on the job. Copeland
recently announced he will
be retiring later this year.
"We've learned,
and the residents
understand, it's
never a done deal
until it's a done
deal."
—Anne Marie
Knighton
to send the engineering firm
additional information about
the town’s standards specifi
cations for building projects,
including its bonding require
ments.
“To me, it’s the next step,”
Knighton said. The shopping
center has its conditional use
permit. “Now they actually
start developing the plans and
make things happen.”
The Town Council approved
plans last November for the
proposed shopping center on
Hwy. 32 north, near the Albe
marle Ford dealership.
C Community News
Society...C4
Obituaries.C8
Church......C9, .10
D Classifieds
m
i
Residents asked
for phone number/ S
e-mail for
emergencies see below
Ode to Holmes'
Coach Bill Billings
one year later C4
Money in
budget for
fire stations
Two stations could cover Sandy
Point, Drummond’s Point, Cape
Colony and Country Club
By Connie Sage
Contributing Writer
The county’s 2008-2009 budget wUl include
money to lay the groundwork for two fire sta
tions in the southern part of the county, County
Manager Cliff Copeland said.
One station likely would cover the Sandy Point
and Drummonds Point area and a second station
could handle calls in the Cape Colony and Coun
try Club Drive section.
“We’re certainly committed to do what we can
as quickly as possible,” he said.
A draft report of the entire county’s fire pro
tection needs was submitted by a consultant last
week. A final report is expected to be completed
within the next month.
A single fire station would be insufficient to
cover the southern end of the county, Copeland
said.
But Les Kersey, who lives off of rural Locust
Grove Road, said it may be possible to build one
station if fire district designations are changed.
The fire districts, which are based '’on road
mileage from a fire station to homes or business
es, are set by the state fire marshal’s office.
The insurance industry uses the districts in
establishing its rates. Five-mile district insur
ance premiums tend to be lower because stations
are likely to be closer to a dwelling.
There currently are two five-mile fire districts
covering the town and county’s 233-square miles,
which include 173-square miles of land.
The Center Hill Crossroads station, 12 miles
north of Edenton on Hwy. 32, responds to calls
in the northern end of the county The nearby
Belvidere/Chappell Hill Fire Department re
sponds to calls in Perquimans County and parts
See FIRE, Page A2>
Resident numbers
needed for county
emergency plans
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Chowan County is part of the FirstCall Inter
active Network that alerts local residents, via
telephone or e-mail, about impending emergen
cy situations.
However, said Emergency Management Co
ordinator Patty Madry, that service can only be
made available to those whose contact informa
tion is known to the network.
“That means,” she said, “if you have an un
listed number, a cell phone number or an e-mail
address that they do not have, you cannot be no
tified in case of an emergency.”
That is something Madry would very much
like to remedy
“We would like to see every citizen in Chowan
County able to be alerted should a tornado, hur
ricane or other emergency situation come into
play,” she said.
The service is available in English or Span
ish.
Those with unlisted phone numbers can sign
up in one of three ways — email, phone or In
ternet.
To sign up via e-mail, go to unlisted@firstcall.
net.
To register your unlisted home or cell phone,
call the network’s registration line, (866) 484
3264.
To initiate Internet registration, go to www.
firstcall.net and click on unlisted registration.
Any numbers provided to the network are kept
confidential and only messages authorized by
county officials will be sent.
Anyone who would like more information
about FirstCall may contact Patty Madry at 312
9829.