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482-4418 Wednesday, January 18, 2012 50*
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ECP aspires to reunite county, town
Partnership includes
private sector
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Whether town and coun
ty leaders can reunite in
the interest of economic
development hinges on a
critical vote Monday night,
as well as the sustainabil
ity of a newly organized
nfen-profit.
The Edenton Town
Council is slated to vote on
whether to divert its assets
and funding of Edenton
Today, jformerly known
as Edenton Chowan Eco
County
opposes
fed’s FSA
closure
Chowan prefers to
host consolidation
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Efforts are under way to
stave off the U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture’s plan
to close the Farm Service
Agency office in Chowan
County. Instead, county*
leaders cite data that sug
gests Chowan should be
the home for consolida
tion.
On Tuesday morning,
the Chowan County Board
of Contmissioners voted
unanimously to submit a
resolution opposed to any
local closures.
“Years ago they (USDA)
came to us and asked to
consolidate into one build
ing, which we did,” said
Commission Chairmarf,
one of three farmers on
the board. “I can Under
stand consolidation, but if
we’re going to consolidate
it should be in a building
designed for that.”
Chowan is among the
259 offices planned for.
closure as the U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture works
to pare $150 million off its
annual budget. Proposals
call for Chowan to lose
its FSA and the USDA’s
Rural Development office,
both currently housed in
the county’s agricultural
. building. In addition to
closure opposition, com
missioners favor Chowan
as the government’s place
for consolidation.
The federal government
plans to eliminate offices
nationwide and consoli
date services. Perquimans
County would keep its ser
vices while gaining Chow
an’s clients, according to
Trina Jones, local direc
tor of the FSA. Employees
will be given the option to
relocate. Only two employ
's ees occupy Chowan’s FSA
office.
A separate office in the
building houses Rural
See USDA, 3A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
nomic Development Coun
cil (ECDC), and merge its
proceeds and future efforts
with the Edenton Chowan
^craMp (ECP). If
ved, the Board of
Commissioners will next
oe asked to recommit its
efforts toward the same
agenda, marking the coun
ty’s first return to a joint
economic development ob
jective since its fiscal crisis
roughly four years ago.
“The county has already
agreed -that they’ll sup
port this effort,” said Cy
Rich, ECP board member.
“Our plan is that ECDC
(now Edenton Today)
will become the Edenton
A King Celebration
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
The Rev. VonnerG. Horton, pastor of the New Oxley Hill Baptist Church, gives the keynote address at Monday’s celebration
honoring the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. About 500 people attended.
Horton: Dream of freedom sustained African Americans
500 attend
MLK event
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
While much has been accom
plished in improving the lives of
African Americans since the 1968
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., much remains to be done.
That was the message brought by
the Rev. Vonner Horton during the
annual celebration of King’s life
and legacy Monday at Swain Audi
torium in Edenton.
About 500 people came to hear the
message and to celebrate Dr. King’s
dream of freedom and equality.
“All of us need to dream,” Horton
said. “Throughout history, as Afri
--:--— - - 7 : *“ ~ .
Chime, time resume after decades absence
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
There’s a return chime
in town that signals the pas
sage of time too.
The clock, whigh for de
cades has been unable to
keep time or chime out the
hour, is now performing
both outside the 1924 bank
building at 216 South Broad
Street that will soon be the
new home of Albemarle
Bank — thanks to the crafts
manship of Don St. Aubin
of Elizabeth City.
Return of the function
ing clock, manufactured in
1912 by the O.B. McClintock
Nixon
Chowan Partnership. We
don’t know what the Town
Council is going to do yet.”
If the Council’s Sept. 26
meeting offers a glimpse,
the vote could be close. At
that meeting, Rich pitched
the concept behind the
ECP, outlining that the
non-profit is volunteer
driven with a focus on pro
can Americans we have been sus
tained by the dream of freedom.”
Consequently Horton said, “If
you want to kill a people, kill their
dreams. If you want to kill a child,
tell him he’s nothing. Tell him
, he’s slow in school, and he’ll never
learn.” if
Horton said that while the African
American community has achieved
much in pursuing such freedoms as
equality and education, much re
mains to be gained in pursuit of. Dr.
King’s dream for his people.
“We’ve come a long way, but we’ve
got a long way to go,” Horton said.
Prejudice, for instance, still exists
today, Horton said. Lack of opportu
nity and the struggle for advance
ment through education that will
result in a good job and a solid fu
ture still exist as well.
Company in Minneapolis,
Minn., is creating quite a
stir in downtown Edenton.
St. Aubin is the,owner
of Don’s Clock Repair. He
cheerfully admitted he was
"surprised and pleased”
that his work was attract
ing so much attention from
those stopping to listen to
the ctock chime and then
taking notice of its brighter,
cleaner appearance.
“It was old,” St. Aubin
said, chuckling, when
asked what he found wrong
with the clock. “Seriously,
though, there was a lot of
corrosion. It just needed a
lot of TLC (tender loving
Rich Vaughan
moting the area’s tourism,
economic development,
and education.
To accomplish its mis
sion, a group of retired
professionals and execu
tives have committed to
help. Many have already
begun with educational
initiatives, including a
mentoring program aimed
care)."
St. Aubin said the clock
has a face that shows tfye
time on each of its four
sides, a McClintock tradi
tion.
Prior to its recent spruc
ing up, it also had standard
mercury vapor lights that
had burned the numbers
on the faces of two of the
clocks.
Those have now been re
placed with new LCD.(light
emitting diode) lights that
don’t generate the heat of a
traditional bulb, he said.
Much of the wiring inside
See CLOCK, 2A
at improving Edenton
Chowan’s dropout rate.
In addition to town
and county, ECP will in
clude the private sector.
A study revealed that for
Edenton Chowan to be
successful with economic
development, the town and
county must reunite while
also drawing from the re
sources of the private sec
tor, Rich said.
All three entities would^
make equal financial con
tributions to ECR Early
estimates had each party
contributing as much as
$100,000 annually By merg
ing the three entities, ECP
creates synergy under a
“I preach love, I preach honesty,”
Horton said. But, she said, she also
preaches the truth and felt the day
provided a chance for reflection on
King’s dream and how far away the
realization of that dream remains
for some African Americans.
‘‘We’ve come a long way, but we’re
not there yet,” Horton said.
As the program concluded Carl
ton Griffin, co-chair of the event,
presented the second annual Hu
manitarian Award to Douglas Stall
ings for his work on behalf of the
D.F. Walker Alumni Association.
The award is sponsored by the
Chowan County Rev. Dr. Martin Lu
ther King Jr. Birthday Celebration
Committee.
“I’m very honored to be up here
this afternoon,” Stallings said in
accepting the award.
single governing board, in
stead of three.
ECP. aims to focus on
three strategies toward
community betterment.
Strategies include:
1. Work to expand tour
ism and the attraction of
retirees to the community
by enhancing the attractive
downtown environment
and providing exciting ex
periences and opportuni
ties for visitors;
2. Expand economic
development by growing
existing businesses and at
tracting those that can be
supported by the existing
See ECP, 3A
Upgrades
could
exceed
$850K
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Board of Education
voted unanimously, last
Monday night to hire an
independent contractor to
assess ways to make the
local schools more energy
efficient.
Once the energy audit is
completed the school sys
tem will require board ap
proval before implement
ing any of the findings or
heating/cooling system up
grades. Brad Bass, schools’
director of maintenance,
told the board an in-house
estimate of the system
wide work would total as
much as $850,000, includ
ing materials and labor. He
emphasized that the figure
was only an estimate and
that the actual cost could
be higher.
“I just think we need a
comprehensive picture
of our energy situation,”
board member Gil Bur
roughs said before casting
his vote in favor of the mo
tion. He added that having
a professional involved in
the process “just seems a
much more reasonable ap
proach.”
Left unanswered was
the question of who would
pay for the necessary sys
tem upgrades once the au
dit was completed. Board
member Win Dale said he
thought the school board
needed to reach out to the
county commissioners and
See UPGRADES, 3A
I PHOTO BY RITCHIE
E. STARNES
The clock
outside the
1924 bank
building is
now able to
keep time
and chime
out the hour,
something it
had not been
able to do for
decades.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27th 2012
SUPPER: 5 PM TO 7 PM
AUCTION: 7:30 PM U
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