482-4418
.V, ____
Wednesday, December 22, 201Q
_. , .7. ___»_
Kids share their letters to Santa,
Page IB
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Fire ripped through the
Center Hill United Methodist
Church parsonage last Tues
day night.
Center Hill Cross Roads vol
unteer fire fighters battled the
5:31 p.m. blaze that charred
the bottom floor while caus
ing smoke and water dam
age to the second floor of the
wood-frame house, according
to Capt. L.W. Nixop.
“The point of origin is the
left front corner,” Nixon said.
That bottom-floor room is said
to be the house’s living room
with a stairway located in the
center of the home.
A Toy Story
aMMHM —acr
i PHOTOS BY RITCHIE E STARNES
Martha and Don Jernigan stand among their collection of vintage toys amassed over a 25-year pursuit. Don, 59, has been
consumed with collecting toys after his childhood was cut short with the death of his mother.
Vintage toys fill lost childhood
Model
cars still
pack
aged line
a garage
wall as
part of
Don's
Antique
Toys.
■
Soup Kitchen serves 50 weekly
Organizers seek
expanded site
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
A warm, filling bowl of
homemade soup and fel
lowship can thaw the emo
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
**"*?;** St. Paul's Episcopal Church
4. w Our Lord s Birth” %. 1 : * # r;-. * . ■£ . . ■ v
$T. PAUL’S, lpl W. CHURCH ST. %
Father Thomas M. Rickenbaker, Rector
invites you to their
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES
5:30 PM CHILDREN’S SERVICE
10:30 PM SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MUSIC
11:00 PM CANDLELIGHT COMMUNION
That part of the house
was clearly the most vis
ibly burned. Firefighters re
mained on the scene until 8:20
p.m., extinguishing hot spots.
Heat also caused the exterior
siding to melt.
As for a cause, Nixon said
it’s too soon for a determina
tion.
“I don’t have a cause of fire
as we speak. It’s all still unde
termined,” he added.
Howard Henninger, church
trustee, said the Rev. Sadat
Mendez, minister and parson
age resident, told him that he
had left an electric heater run
ning in the living room.
: See BLAZE, 7A
tional cold of the economi
cally challenged. ,
That’s the theory be
hind Open Door Baptist
Church’s desire to con
tinue operating the Soup
Kitchen it began between
the Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays.
Church member Sheryl
Daughety, who started the
effort, said as many as 25
people have shown up at
the Soup Kitchen, happy to
find a hot meal and a warm
' See KITCHEN, 3A
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor ;
How does one recapture lost Christ
mases? A Ryland man has been try
ing to fill a lifelong void by collecting
children’s toys that eluded his youth.
Walking into any one of three build
ings at his home is akin to a time capsule
that depicts a world of play. Vintage toys
consume 59-year-old Don Jernigan’s past
time. Although the toys date between the
50s and the 70s, most are like new, still
See TOYS, 9A‘
SUBMITTED
PHOTO
Shirley Waff
slices bread
for those
coming
to eat at
the Soup
Kitchen on
Soundside
Road in
Edenton.
PHOTO BY RITCHIE STARNES
Firefighters work to extinguish
hot spots after last Tuesday
evening’s fire gutted the
parsonage of the Center Hill
United Methodist Church in
Tyner. The blaze appeared to
have started in the left front,
or living room, of the two-stoiy
house. According to Howard
Henninger, church trustee,
the Rev. Sadat Mendez had
departed the residence prior
to the 5:31 p.m. fire to pick
up his visiting mother at the
^Raleigh Durham International
Airport.
Split vote OKs
alcohol in town’s
council chambers
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Those attending future
Chowan Arts Council
openings or fundraisers
will be able to enjoy a
glass of beer, wine or a
mixed drink.
In a split decision, the
Edenton Town Council
voted 3-2 at its monthly
meeting on Dec. 14 to
allow those attending
Chowan Arts Council
events to consume alco
holic beverages within
the CAC’s leased space
Town planner
to be part-time
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Town of Edenton
may soon have a new plan
ner in place.
The Town Council voted
at its Dec. 14 meeting to
approve the position as
a part-time, 24-30 hour a
week job with no benefits.
It budgeted $33,680 to pay
the planner’s salary.
Mayor pro tern Steve
Biggs, who heads the ad
ministrative committee,
expressed disappointment
that the town could not af
ford to fund the position at
a full-time level.
“I don’t mind telling ya’ll
I still hate the idea that we
Pantry's
Christmas Baskets
PHOTO BY RITCHIE E. STARNES
More than 300 people braved frigid temperatures Fri
day morning and stood in line to collect Christmas bas
kets from the Edenton-Chowan Food Pantry. Some 40
volunteers helped with the two-hour long distribution
that included a holiday meal with all the trimmings.
as well as in an area that
includes the Council’s
chambers.
That space is adjacent
to the area of the former
municipal building re
cently leased by the town
to the CAC. The Town
Council had previously
agreed to allow the use
of its chambers to han
dle any overflow of visi
tors to the gallery dur
ing receptions and other
events. -1
Voting in favor of the
See CAC,4A
don’t have the money to
fund it fulltime,” Biggs
said.
Biggs added that he
'wanted to keep that idea
on the table for when fu
ture funds were available.
Councilman Sambo Dix
on agreed.
While the Council dis
cussed the idea of offering
benefits for the new posi
tion, the board decided it
would not be appropriate
since other part-time em
ployees with the town do
not receive benefits.
“It wouldn’t work out,”
Councilman Willis Privott
said, noting that the town
See PLANNER, 7A