482-4418 Wednesday, April 13, 2011 50*
Spellasaurus claims first Bee
‘Maquillage,’
'goiter’ seal victory
By KIP SHAW
Special to Chowan Herald
In the end, it all came
down to a relatively sim
ple word to spell, espe
cially after all the tongue
twisters that were thrown
at the two final teams of
12 starters at Thursday
night’s First Annual Spell
ing Bee, sponsored by the
Edenton-Chowan Educa
tional Foundation.
The John A. Holmes
Spellasaurus team of
principal Jamie Gillespie
Amy Asbell, Olinka Baker
and Samantha Christo
pher rose to the challenge
with Gillespie boldly tak
ing the microphone and
spelling, “G-O-I-T-E-R.”
Victory was declared, and
the runner-ups ~,the White
Oak School team of Beth
Brabble, Lee Powell, Bob
by Jo Owens, and Heather
Matthews, graciously ac
cepted defeat.
But, it was the word
“maquillage” that Spel
lasaurtls recited correctly
after it stumped White
Oak.
“It feels wonderful,” said
Gillespie, of her- team’s
win. “I just wish it could
have been declared a tie
because I think our team
and White Oak’s were
pretty evenly matched. I
think they deserved to win
as much as we did.”
Attendance was strong
for a first-ever non-sport
ing event with more than
200 watching the word
See BEE, 3A
PHOTO BY KIP SHAW
The Bizzy Bees,
sponsored by D.F.
Walker Planning
Team, celebrate a
successful round at
last Thursday’s first
community Spelling
Bee held at Edenton
United Methodist
Church. The team '
consisted of Nancy,
Heiniger, Jamie Bass,
Stephani Hartman,
and Deb West
Back at Home
STAFF PHOTOS BY THOMAS J TURNEY
Raymond White Jr. gets a hug from his daughter, Sharon, 9, after surprising her by showing up at her classroom at D.F.
Walker Elementary School on their annual awards day. He had gotten back without her knowledge and surprised her at
school after being gone seven months while being deployed at Guantanamo Bay,Thursday.
Enlisted father surprises children at school
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Tears of joy streamed down
their young faces when
their dad chose to surprise
his two children at their respec
tive schools after a seven-month
absence for a call of duty.
Raymond White Jr., an ensign
in the U.S. Navy, first surprised
his son, Cody, 12, by standing
alongside cafeteria workers at
Chowan Middle School as his
son’s class entered for lunch. To
surprise his daughter, Sharon,
9, White waited outside her D. F.
Walker Elementary classroom
until the conclusion of awards
day presentations. Both children
burst in- tears when they saw
their uniformed dad while rush
ing toward him for a hug.
“Dad!” Cody yelled as he saw
his dad. “I was shocked,” Cody
See SURPRISE, 2A
Raymond White Jr. gets a hug from his son, Cody, 12, after surprising him by
showing up at his cafeteria at Chowan Middle School. He had gotten back with
out his son’s knowledge and surprised him at his school after being gone seven
months while being deployed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Thursday.
Robotics squad reaches semi-finals
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Despite a number of
immediate obstacles, the
John A. Holmes Retro
Robot Squad's first-ever
entry into the US FIRST
All Rights Reserved
Robotics Competition
yielded a stellar outing
with a berth in the event’s
semi-finals.
When the Retro-Robot
Squad arrived in Raleigh
for its first US FIRST Ro
botics Competition, the
team knew there were
some technical glitches
to overcome, but it didn’t
know they needed to shed
eight pounds. Instead of
using last Thursday as a
practice session like all
of its team competitors,
the Holmes’ robot had
to lose some weight. The
team first thought that
its robot was two pounds
beyond the minimum re
quirement, but the official
weigh-in revealed six ad
ditional pounds.
"We knew going into the
competition that we had a
problem,” said John Beck
er, a team mentor. "We
knew we were two pounds
overweight, but when we
learned that we were eight
pounds we had to go to
work immediately.”
Work entailed the dis
assembly and drilling of
holes throughout the alu
minum frame to reduce
weight.
“After we drilled holes
into it, it looked like Swiss
cheese,” Becker added.
The changes consumed
the first day and costs
the inexperienced team
a chance to practice. Hol
mes’ Retro Robot debuted
See ROBOTICS, 3A
Coltrain says
job recovery |
is on upswing
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
As job availability be
gins to increase locally, the
swing suggests the econo
my recovery here could be
gaining ground.
Ricky Coltrain, manager
of Edenton’s office of the
N.C. Employment Security
Commission, said over the
last several months the
number of jobs being listed
here are increasing.
"Toward the end of last
year, things had gotten so
bad that we only had about
15 job openings we were
trying to help them (area
businesses) fill,” Coltrain
said. “But now folks are
starting to hire again. As
Broadband group
seeks providers
By WILLIAM F. WEST
Staff Writer
Two members of a new
nonprofit group told Al
bemarle business lead
ers Wednesday that they
need help bringing the
“last mile” of broadband
Internet service to small
businesses and rural resi
dents.
Noel Preston and Paul
Tine, both of Kitty Hawk
and both board members
of Northeast Broadband,
were the speakers at
Wednesday’s quarterly
luncheon of the A-lbemar-'
le Area Committee of 100.
Typically “last mile” is
a phrase used to describe
the technologies and pro
of this morning (April 5),
we had 57 job openings.”
Richard Bunch, Chamber
of Commerce president,
said the movement is con
sistent with the Chamber’s
findings as well.
“That’s the very reason
we are hosting our ‘State
of Business’ this week,”
Bunch said. “We are hear
ing some of the same types
of things, that some are
hiring a few folks, sales are
up some, business is not as
bad as it has been, those
are just some of the things
folks are telling us. We hope
Thursday's event will give
everyone a true picture of
what our business climate
See JOBS, 2A
cesses needed to connect
an end customer to a com
munications network. Be
cause of the challenges in-.
volved, achieving this last
mile of service is usually
expensive.
Northeast Broadband’s
mission is to work with
pdtential last-mile provid
ers as part of the multi
million-dollar broadband
project being spearheaded
by the Microelectronics
Center of North Carolina.
“Now, the challenge is,
typically, that the last
mile providers are going
to be in a for-profit area
or a co-op type of arrange
ment,” Preston said. “And
See BROADBAND, 2A
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The John A. Holmes Retro Robotics Squad uses a . pit stop to
make adjustments on the team’s robot during last weekend's
US FIRST Robotics Competition held at Raleigh’s Dorton Arena.
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