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482-4418
Wednesday, January28, 2009
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Rural traditions continue B1
m.
W:
Mill kids
museum
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
The last generation that
grew up at the Edenton Cot
ton Mill Village is looking
for a site in or near it where
they can establish a mu
seum to preserve the 'mill’s
history.
“Right now, we’re kind of
planting seeds, spreading
the word about what we hope
to do,” said Hurley Mitchell.
Mitchell, one of the origi
nal “Cotton Mill kids,” has
agreed to serve on the board
of directors for the Edenton
Cotton Mill Museum of His
tory project.
Billy Voliva, newly elected
president, said the group
also wants to let the public
know they are interested in
hearing from anyone who
has items from the mill that
could be donated to the mu
seum.
Reunion sparks idea
Voliva and Mitchell say
that the idea was born dur
ing a reunion of the “Cotton
Mill kids” held in 2005.
As a result of that reunion,
a group of 300 to 400 people
are now on their mailing
list.
Voliva said the group real
izes that once they are gone,
there will be no one left to
give firsthand accounts of
what it was like growing up
at the mill village and being
part of life there.
That’s why getting the
museum up and running is
so important, he said.
Other museum project
officers, elected last week,
include Joyce Lassiter, vice
president/treasurer, and
Mary Waff, secretary.
Donations
Financial donations to the
museum, which has been
granted nonprofit status,
will be tax deductible.
Anyone interested in
learning more about the
project may call Hurley
MitcheU at (252) 482-2753 or
BUly Vpliva at (386) 822-9506.
About the mill
The Edenton Cotton MiU
remained in operation until
1995.
In the interim, 70-plus
homes were constructed
around the mill to house its
workers and supervisors.
At present almost aU of
those homes remain, and
the Edenton Cotton MiU and
its MiU Village are listed on
the National Register of His
toric Places.
6 bi*8 907 6"44 813,BI 0
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Willis Privott has seen incredible changes since
the day Martin Luther King visited Edenton
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Privott in front of the Taylor Theater's front door where, 46 years ago, he was barred from entering.
ft
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
Edenton is a- different
place from the town Willis
Privott remembers back in
the winter of 1962.
Privott said he’s seen
sweeping changes since that
'pivotal year when Rev. Mar
tin Luther King, Jr. made a
visit to Edenton.
Today Privott is a member
of Edenton’s town council,
the first black ever to hold
that position. Though he still marvels at the
town’s transformation, he said things looked
anything but promising at the start.
Tense times
After about five years of boycotts and demon
strations, things were tense in the town. Resent
ments were building on both sides.
“There were a lot of protests and demonstra
tions for civil rights,” he said. “We were boy
cotting stores and kids were being arrested for
marching.
“They were marching down Broad Street,
toting flags and singing songs. It was all non
Student group plans to make earth a cleaner,
safer place to live, beginning with Edenton
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
When Live Green, a newly
formed student environmental
awareness group, started search*
ing for a project, they didn’t have
to look far.
Live Green’s founder and stu
dent leader, Isabelle ^oehling,
said after considering a couple
of other options they decided
to try and raise funds for a new
dishwasher at their school.
“The dishwasher in (our) caf
eteria has been broken and out
of-use for years now,” Boehling
said in a recent presentation to
the board of education.
“If the dishwasher is replaced,
we can use plastic trays that we
already have instead of the Sty
rofoam trays" currently in use.
The cost of Styrofoam trays,
per day, at Holmes is $15, Boeh
NEW
TOWN
Live
green
ling said.
"■“That may not sound like
much,” she said, “but over a
year’s time that adds up to about
$2,700. In five years, a new dish
washer would pay for itself.”
Boehling said that the current
situation is doing damage to the
environment as well, due to the
almost eight hundred Styrofoam
trays being dumped into area
landfills daily.
To secure funds to purchase
a dishwasher for Holmes, Live
Green is partnering with the
Chowan-Edenton Environmen
tal Group. ~
violent protest, but you had
to have a permit to march.
The powers that be would
delay the parade permits,
but they would do it any
way”
Bus loads of 40 to. 50
marchers would demon
strate at a time. Sometimes
they held parades and other
times they picketed shops
and lunch counters. They
were arrested on a regular
basis. Most were teenagers
Irom poorer homes.
Privott said he and others in the town provid
ed support by arranging bond for the protesters.
Some, even in the black community, weren’t ea
ger to get involved.
“The lower classes of people were the ones
who got things going in the civil rights move
ment,” Privott said. “They didn’t have anything
to lose.”
"Separate but equal"
Their complaints were pretty much the .same
as those heard throughout the South. Blacks
were denied seats at lunch counters or restau
rants. See PRIVOTT, Page A2 >
Onejof CEEG’s founders, Dr.
Vero Hrentjens, spoke in support
of theNtudents’ prpject at the
board of education meeting.
Brentjens said her group wel
comed the opportunity to work
with young people committed to
improving the environment.
She said her group was going
to help Live Green work to se
cure grant funds to help pay for
the dishwasher.
“We are glad to have this op
portunity to partner with them
in this effort,” Brentjens said,
“and we look forward to working
with the youth much more close
ly than we have in the past.”
Besides working with the
CEEG to And grants, the Live
Green students have announced
they also plan to hold a talent
show in February with proceeds
from the event going to the dish
washer fund.
Lines drawn
over new
proposed
Grants sought for project,
but councilmen unsure
about timing and need
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
An effort to secure grant funds for the
purchase of land where a public park would
be located has local officials divided.
By a 3-2 vote during a Jan. 13 meeting the
town council agreed to allow Town Man
ager Anne-Marie Knighton to apply for the
second of two grants needed to fund the
purchase of the property, a former dairy
farm located at the corner of East Church
Street and Coke Avenue.
“Grant money like this do^s not come
along often and we have the chance to pre
serve open space, create a park, and help
improve water quality in Queen Anne
Creek and Edenton Bay,” Knighton said in
asking that the project move forward:
And Mayor Roland Vaughan, as well as
councilmen who voted in favor of the ef
fort, said the town council and the public
would still have an opportunity to discuss
whether to accept the grant if it is awarded
to Edenton.
Saying no
Councilmen Steve Biggs and Willis Priv
ott, who voted against the proposal, said
they did not oppose areas of green space
within the community.
However, they said, they thought this,
was not the right time to make develop
ment of a new park a priority, given the
tough economic times.
“As I said the other night (at the meet
ing), you’ve gqt Pembroke Creek Park that
you very seldom see people using,” Biggs
said.
“And you’ve got the park across from the
Tastee Freez, and others in town that aren’t
utilized as much as they should be. I’m just
not sure what we need another park for.”
Biggs also said he opposed taking the
property off the tax books at a time when
every dollar counted.
The most recent tax bill for the property
totaled $1,057.
Some in favor
, During that same meeting, Councilmen
Sambo Dixon, Jerry Parks and Jimmy
Stallings voted in favor of allowing Knigh
ton to continue working on the project.
According to a press release issued by
Knighton after the meeting, Dixon said,
“This is a great plan that is consistent with
the town’s Vision Statement and if funded,
will not cost the town one dime.”
The release goes on to say that Council
man Jimmy Stallings noted if Edenton did
not receive the grant money, it would be
awarded to some other community.
“Let’s apply and then have this debate if
the grant is approved,” the release quotes
him as saying.
• t
No local funds .
Knighton emphasized that the town has
not committed its own funds to the pur
chase of the land, and has no plans to do
so.
The only local funds that will be associ
ated with the project, she said, are from an
anonymous donor who has pledged $10,000
See PARK, Page A2 ►
'&■:
EDENTON-CHOWAN RECREATION DEPARTMENT
SPRING SOCCER REGISTRATION
-.v ■
JANUARY 26th - FEBRUARY 6th
Boys & Girls Ages 4-12
#
MHMI
Register or Call Either Rec. Dept. Office
Walker Community Center 482-8595
Northern Chowan Community Center 221-4901
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