COA, schools apply for Golden LEAF funds
Thursday’s forum to
provide feedback
By RITCHIE STARNES
Editor
The College of The Albemarle
and Edenton-Chowan Schools
are respectively posturing for
the lion’s share of GoldenLEAF’s
$2 million.
CQA has applied to Golden
Planner
reverses
previous
stance
AB deer processing
biz now allowed
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Five months after Chow
an County’s contracted
planner ruled a deer pro
cessing business at an Ar
rowhead Beach residence
.was not permissible under
current zoning regulations,
he reversed his stance.
Landin Holland explained
his changed position at Sat
urday’s Arrowhead Beach’s
Property Owners Associa
tion meeting. Holland previ
ously advised the Board of
Commissioners in June that
Danny & Angela “Cissy”
Dupraw’s seasonal Hunter
Deer Processing at their
807 Chinook Trail residence
was in violation of the coun
ty’s R-15 zoning. Neither did
the business qualify as a
home occupation, Holland
ruled. But, Holland said a
few tweaks of the operation
now qualify the Dupraws as
a home occupation that is
permissible under the coun
ty’s zoning regulations. He
issued a permit last week
that the couple can operate
as a home occupation.
“The Dupraws are operat
ing legally in the eyes of the
. county,” Holland said.
When the Dupraws re
sumed their operation in
October as they have for the
past three years, despite re
peated notices of violation,
Holland said the couple
came to him seeking a rem
edy to make their business
compliant with the county’s
definition of a home occupa
tion.
“I told the Dupraws that
they were not allowed to go
back into business as they
did before,” Holland said.
In an Oct. 31 email ob
tained by the Chowan Her
ald, Holland advised County
Manager Zee Lamb with the
request that he forward the
See BUSINESS, 3A
Bush impersonator punks congregation
toy REBECCA BUNCH ;
'Staff Writer
i Open Door Church Pas
tor Steve Mizell knows the
Value of keeping h secret
and how hard it is to do
- 02009 The Chowan Herald
v All Rights Reserved
LEAF’S Commu
nity Assistance
Initiative for
funding the re
design of the for
mer D.F. Walker
School, which
presently repre
sents the school’s
new campus foot
print in Edenton-Chowan. Plans
call for the community college to
make the campus the hub for an
Deitemeyer
Decking the Halls
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETTA. CLARK
Visitors gather to tour The Woodard house on Court Street during Edenton's 31st annual Candlelight Tour, Friday.
Candlelight Tour sparks holiday flurry
Event scores
second busiest
By REBECCA BUNCH
Stqff Writer
The weekend’s
Christmas Candle
light Tour led to
something that has been
eluding merchants in
recent years - a financial
boom.
About 1,700 tickets
were sold to this year’s
Tour, second to the 1,756
sold in 2000, according to
Linda Eure, manager of
the Visitor Center. From
restaurants to retail
shops, nearly all of the
local businesses polled
experienced an uptick in
weekend commerce. The
fortuitous turn of events
came on the heels of
Edenton celebrating its
300th anniversary with
the Tour marking its
first major event of the
14-month campaign.
so.
For several months
Mizell had been telling his
congregation that he had
lined up “a very special
guest” who would be mak
ing an appearance at the
church’s Christmas din
ner this year.
“Of course, when you
don’t tell somebody some
thing it makes them want
to know even more,” Mizell
said Sunday evening after
he had successfully pulled
expanded human
services curricu
lum, specifically
adding programs
aimed at dental
hygiene. Prelim
inary estimates
show the renova
tion would costs
$2.5 million,
more than Golden LEAF ear
marked for Chowan County
“We find that building brings
Smith
“This was a very
successful tour. Climer
said of the tour that just
ended. “I think some of
that was because of the
300th anniversary and all
the interest that’s been
generated,” said Jerry
Climer, president of the
Edenton Historical Com
mission that sponsors
the annual holiday event.
Anne Rowe, manager
off a huge surprise — the
seeming arrival of for
mer President George W.
Bush.
When Bush imperson
ator (skillfully portrayed
by John Morgan) walked
into the room accompanied
by members of his “Secret
Service” detail, and with
“Hail to the Chief’ play
ing, loud gasps could be
heard amid shocked ex
pressions on the faces of
those in the audience.
of the Barker House and
benefactor of the Tour,
said attendance was
“among the better ones”
organizers had seen.
“That’s especially true
considering that the
economy has not been
great,” Rowe said. “I
would'say we’ve had an
amazing response.”
The 31st annual Tour,
which also included the
“Steve has done a great
job of keeping me a se
cret,” joked the make-be
lieve former president as
he walked onto the stage
at Leon Nixon’s Catering
where the dinner took
place with about 300 peo
ple in attendance.
The impersonator added
that he wanted to dedicate
his appearance that eve
ning to those who serve ,i
See BUSH, 3A
so many things to the. communi-'
ty,” said Kandi Deitemeyer, COA
president. “We are looking for
that building to be a show piece
of the campus. This grant gets
us started.”
As for COA’s request, plans
call for the campus’ main two
story building to be rehabili
tated. Funding sought? however,
would cover the expense of the
first of three phases. Phase one
includes refurbishing only the
STAFF PHOTO
BY BRETT A. CLARK
Barbara Fickler,
(left) of Boykins,
Va.), looks
at Christmas
decorations at the
Chesson house
on Water Street
during Edenton’s
annual Candle
light Tour, Friday.
popular historical land
mark Hayes Plantation,
was so popular organiz
ers were forced to print
' more tickets. Ticket sales
are roughly 60 percent
higher than last year,
organizers said.
Piggybacking on the
response was a host of
businesses.
See TOUR, 4A
first level of the building that
would launch a oral healthcare
curriculum amid hope of foster
ing a relationship with East Car
olina University’s dental clinics
in northeastern North Carolina
while also bolstering improved
dental care here.
ECU’s school of dentistry has
committed clinics to Elizabeth
City and Ahoskie. Plans call for
See GOLDEN LEAF, 4A
Tour
home
catches
fire
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
A house fire on the eve
of the 31st annual Christ
mas Candlelight Tour left
one home off downtown
Edenton’s most revered
holiday event.
Hood and Anne Ellis
were at their 409 Court
Street home Thursday
night when a strange smeil
filled their home.
“We noticed a peculiar
smell but couldn’t iden
tify the source,” Hood Ellis
said. “About 30 minutes
later, I saw flames coming
out of an electric, recepta
cle in our living room.”
Edenton firefighters re
sponded to the 10:44 p.m.
911 call. Fire Chief Craig
Forlines confirmed Friday
that the fire originated in
an electrical outlet used
for a timer that controlled
Christmas lights.
“We were very fortu
nate we caught it when we
did,” Forlines said. “Dam
age was confined to one
room.”
The Ellis home was
scheduled to be part of the
Candlelight Tour held Fri
day and Saturday, but the
couple opted to forgo the
event, citing not enough
time to return their home
to presentable conditions.
“We are sadly dropping
off the Christmas Tour,”
Hood Ellis said. “We have
some damage around the
receptacle and obviously
smoke permeated the
house, but other than that
we were blessed with an
early Christmas present.
We are here and so is our
house.”
The Ellises credited the
fire department’s quick
response for saving their
home.
“Our town is very fortu
nate to have the fire chief
and fire department we
have,” Hood Ellis said.
Hood Ellis serves as
Edenton’s town attorney.
STAFF PHOTO BY
REBECCA BUNCH
Former Presi
dent George W.
Bush (portrayed
by John Morgan)
speaks to the
audience at
the Open Door
Church Christ
mas dinner
Sunday evening
as a member
of his “Secret
Service” detail
keeps watch.
m