482-4418
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
: :r;i
RACE FOR LIFE
Teams, participants
urged to join Relay
festivities May 16-17 C3
Staff
reduction
possible
As many as five
teachers and five
others could be cut
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
The local school system in
considering eliminating five
teaching positions because
of a potential budget short
falls.
In addition,
the school
board gave the
superinten
dent authori
zation Mon
day night to
eliminate five
additional jobs Smith
among other staff, including
custodians and bus drivers
if necessary.
Superintendent Allan
Smith said an expected cut
in state funds due to lower
student enrollment was a
key factor in deciding to
seek the authorization.
He acknowledged that the
exact amount of funding the
school system will receive
from the state in low wealth
and small county all '‘cations
is yet to be determined.
But he said it is unlikely
. that these funds would in
crease in the coming year or
provide enough additional
dollars to eliminate the need
for a reduction in staff.
He said that other factors
in the expected workforce
reduction included state
mandated salary increases,
higher health benefit costs,
a huge jump in energy costs,
and more expensive proper
ty insurance.
The board voted 5-1 in fa
vor of granting Smith the
authorization with Ricky
Browder casting the lone
dissenting vote.
The school system’s pro
posed budget for the 2008-09
fiscal year was also approved
at the meeting and will be
delivered to the county man
ager’s office later this week.
Smith noted that any ad
ditional dollars the county
might be able to provide
would be greatly appreci
ated.
He also expressed the hope
that the potential loss of jobs
was a “worst case scenario”
that could still be resolved
without a reduction in staff.
INDEX
A Local
Editorial...,..A7
Land Transfers......A4
B Sports
Conference News.B1
Nascar.B2
C Community News
Society.C4
Obituaries.C7
I
*89076"44813l
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Hitting the mark
.... . .. .'.4:.. . ■!>» IWII
Wade White catapults a frog to win a prize during May Play Day in Rocky Hock. Vernon Fueston
Dock masters work as goodwill ambassadors
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
They may not be as well
known as Elizabeth City’s Rose
Buddies, but the three-man
crew that oversees Edenton’s
dock master’s project serve an
equally important purpose.
In addition to being ambas
sadors for the town among the
boating population, they also
oversee the maintenance and
upkeep of Colonial Park and
Queen Anne Park that front
Edenton Bay.
The senior member of the
group is Frank Bunch, who’s
worked with the program for
four years. Also on the team
are Bobby Ashley, and Emmitt
Owens, who gives them a hand
in the summer.
Bunch says that he loves be
ing among the first to greet
newcomers as they settle into a
slip on the waterfront.
“I’ve met some real nice peo
ple that way,” Bunch says.
He’s become acquainted
with visitors from Germany,
England, Australia and other
far-flung places. Others arrive
from throughout the United
States.
In an effort to attract visitors
with a gesture of Southern hos
pitality, the town offers a two
night stay at the town docks
free of charge.
Bunch says
he thinks
that’s a pretty
smart way to
bring in more
people given
that the com
munity is 45
miles away
from the Intercoastal Water
way.
“We had about 200 boats last
year,” he observes. “That was a
good year.”
Effective advertising
On a recent spring afternoon,
Anne Howell and her husband
Roger were among the new ar
rivals.
“We found out about Edenton
through people who’ve cruised
the area before,” she said. “We
heard nothing but good things
about the place.”
The Howells left their home
in Maine last June and after
sailing down the coast on their
boat, The Third Reef, they’ve
seen Ohio, Tennessee, Florida
and other sites.
“That’s great,” she says with
obvious pleasure after Bunch
tells her about the van the dock
masters have available to take
boaters occupying slips at the
waterfront on short trips to the
grocery store and laudromat.
Another selling point? Bunch
points out that most everything
visitors like to see, including
the historic homes Edenton is
so well-known for, are within
walking distance from the wa
terfront, as are several restau
rants and other types of busi
nesses.
“People really like that,”
Bunch says, smiling.
Boat slips
Ten regular-sized boat slips
can be found on the waterfront,
Bunch notes, as well as an ex
tra one that’s just perfect for
sailboats.
Electrical hook-ups are avail
able for those who travel with
computers on board, as is WiFi
service.
Their biggest arrival so far,
Bunch says, was a 90-footer
from Mystic, Conn.
Future plans
Town Manager Anne-Marie
Knighton praises the work of
the three dock masters.
“They do a great job,” she
says. "They really represent
our town well.”
And that’s a good thing.
Knighton says that with the
relocation of the Roanoke Riv
er lighthouse to Edenton’s wa
terfront even more visitors are
See DOCKS, Page A2 ►
Turnout
high in
local races
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
A hotly contested race for the Democratic
presidential ticket and excellent weather con
tributed to heavy voter turnout yesterday.
As of 7 p.m., about 3,500 votes were cast in the
county, a 36 percent turnout.
However, voting results were not ready at
press time.
The stakes were high for two local incumbents
in this primary election. A loss for either Demo
crat Harry Lee Winslow or Republican Bill Gard
ner, Jr. in the primary would mean losing their
seats on the county’s board of commissioners.
Republican Darryl E. Stallings withdrew his
name from consideration for a district seat just
before the election. His name remained on the
ballot.
.♦ ♦ ♦
For County Republican Chairman Bob Stein
burg, Tuesday was historic. For the first time
in memory his party was fielding a full slate of
candidates.
“This is our first go at this,” Steinburg said.
“We haven’t had a (full slate) primary in at least
100 years.”
At the Chowan County Board of Elections, Di
rector Rebecca Lowe was talking on two phones
at once, a cordless phone in her right hand, her
desk phone in her left, while keeping one eye on
her computer monitor. It was a busy morning.
Before the election even dawned, 995 residents
had voted early or by absentee ballot. By 10 a.m.,
743 more had voted at the precincts for a total of
1,738.
To put that in perspective, only 1003 total votes
had been cast in the 2004 primary, also a presi
dential election year.
♦ ♦ ♦
Voting in the primary was Carol Dillard,
a registered Democrat who planned to vote for
Obama. Dillard said she had not particularly
followed the local commissioners races but was
looking forward to voting for Fred Spruill, a high
school classmate. She cited the Iraq war, health
insurance for children, and jobs as her hot but
ton issues.
Peggy Giordanella, a registered Republican
and recent immigrant from New York, said she
was voting the party line all the way, but did not
know the local candidates that well.
Bettie Bond, also a registered Democrat, said
she had no interest in the local races.
“I can’t keep up with all those names,” she
said.
But she was eager to vote for Obama. “I’m
hoping to get some jobs, insurance, and some
thing needs to be done about these gas prices.
The only thing sticking in my mind is the presi
dential race,” Bond said.
♦ ♦ ♦
Steinburg said he expected Democrat num
bers to be high because of the national implica
tions of this election, but he also expected a big
turnout for his own party.
Martha Badger, Chowan Democratic chair, was
out in Yeopim at 11 a.m. delivering signs. Her at
tention has been focused mainly on the national
and state primaries. She said the Obama people
have been canvassing the area, but has not heard
much from the Clinton campaign.
Unaffiliated voters were allowed to choose
which of the two primary ballots they would
vote on.
Voters who had previously selected a party and
had not changed their affiliation were required
to vote in the primary for which they were reg
istered.
This is a presidential election year and Chow
an County voters also made their choices for
President, senate and statewide offices.
Just prior to the election, voting officials had
noticed a surge in voters requesting to change
their affiliations.
The net change for the county indicated a
small shift toward the Republicans.