482-4418
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Groups eye marketing Hotel Hinton
Three non-profits
;| want to pitch in
iBy RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Attention has again turned to
the future of the former Hotel
| Hinton that previously served
|g as the comity’s administrative
I building.
m Now vacant because of its in
| efficiency, the East King Street
H structure has drawn renewed
1 interest of stakeholders that pre
fer the building be rehabilitated
for new use. Preservation North
Carolina, Destination Downtown
Edenton, and the Edenton Chow
an Partnership all want to assist
Chowan County with coursing
the future of the 1926 built hotel.
The three stakeholders met
with the Chowan County Board
of Commissioners at its Feb. 19
work session to tout its inten
tions amid hopes of securing the _
county’s commitment to stay the
course with the efforts.
“This is a property we want to
do something with and we want
to do the right thing,” said Com
missioner Emmett Winborne.
On behalf of PNC, Claudia
DeViney reiterated the non-prof
it’s experience at marketing for
gotten properties, particularly
those with history.
“This is what we do. And we
have the track record to prove
it,” said DeViney, who also talk
ed with commissioners last year
about marketing the historic
building.
She continued that PNC was
prepared to promote the build
ing by either the county donat
ing the structure or an option
to huy. The latter would be exer
cised after PNC found a buyer,
she added.
DeViney compared the project
to the former Wilrick Hotel in
Sanford.
“It had gotten in terrible condi
tion,” DeViney said. “Our build
ing (Hotel Hinton) is in much
better shape.
“We would as always look for
a buyer who would look for the
highest and best use,” she add
ed.
In the Wilrick Hotel project,
the new owner converted the
building into a mixed-use struc
ture with the middle portion des
ignated as condominiums and
the bottom floor as retail. The
owner resides in a private quar
ters on the top floor, DeViney
explained.
Commissioners’ concerns
about a lengthy process prompt
ed DeViney to add that PNC
would require at least a one-year
commitment to find a buyer.
“Somebody interested in a
See HINTON, 2A
Firetruck
spurs
| possible
I substation
By REBECCA BUNCH
? Staff Writer
1 ’ The Edenton Fire De
partment could soon add a
second location.
The proposed substation
would be located in the
southern end of the county,
Fire Chief Craig Forlines
told the Town Council at
its monthly committee
meeting session held Mon
day night.
In response to a question
from Councilman Willis
Privott regarding a pro
posed location for the sub
station, Forlines said he
would like to see it estab
lished on Haughton Road.
Forlines said that vol
unteers would operate the
substation.
“We have the person
nel,” Forlines said. .
A key part of establish
ing the substation, For
lines said, would be for the
town to accept a 1991 Spar
tan fire engine that has
been declared surplus by
the North Carolina Forest
Service.
The fire engine has 43,916
miles on it and pumps 1,000
gallons per minute.
There would be no cost
to the town for the engine,
Forlines said. The only ex
pense would be for insur
ance and tags, he said.
The engine would be used
at the substation to respond
to fires, he said.
“My hope is that you’ll
not allow this opportunity
I to slip away,” Forlines told
| the council.
Mayor Roland Vqughan
questioned how a substa
tion would impact response
times.
Forlines said that re
sponse time to Drummond
nj Point Road, for example,
| would be cut from the cur
rent 18 minutes to seven
minutes.
“I think it’s (accepting
I engine) a great sugges
! tion,” Councilman, Jimmy
| Stallings said. “I think we
absolutely need to move
forward on this.” 1
Stallings asked if there
was any way that the coun
cil could take action on the
I request Monday night, as
| Forlines had hoped, but
I was told by Town Manager
| Anne-Marie Knighton that
I under the council’s current
I structure they could not
gap year
89-day NOLS experience
prompts college decision
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
As high school graduation
approached, Garrett Stanley
hadn’t a clue what he wanted
to do next. He was rudderless about
his immediate future.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to
do about college,” Garrett remem
bered.
His father, Gary, agreed about
his son’s uncertainty about life
after high school.
“He was all over the map, think
ing about college, the military,” ;
Gary said. “He wasn’t sure about
majors or careers.”
His son’s confusion apparently
began a few years earlier.
“Garrett first started stressing
out about his future in junior high
school,” Gary added.
Instead of pressuring him to
be more decisive as he entered
early adulthood, Garrett’s parents
showed patience and suggested he
take a year off - a gap year - to find
his way.
So instead of starting college in
the fall, he picked up a five-day a
week part-time job.
Then Gary encouraged his son to
attend a National Outdoor Leader
ship School (NOLS) in Wyoming.
“Students on our courses learn
leadership by doing. This might
mean planning and executing a
detailed route and destination on
a topographic map, or leading the
way down Whitewater rapids,” said
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Part of the 89-day NOLS expedition included white water canoeing on the Green River in the canyons of Utah. It was
here that Garrett Stanley's canoe became submerged in the rapids.
Brent Wallen, NOLS spokesman.
“Whatever the day’s activities
are, thef Student takes on the tasks,
often with minimal to no instructor
involvement.”
Never a Boy Scout or even an
outdoorsman, Garrett embarked
on a cross-country excursion that
included 89 days in the rugged wil
derness of the Rocky Mountains.
There he would hike, canoe, camp,
and survive the mountainous ele
ments with 10 others.
Phase I of the expedition featured
10 days of hiking in
See EXCURSION, 5A
• • " 1
Garrett Stanley (middle front) poses with his fellow students in the can
yons of Utah, part of a 89-day wilderness expedition through the National
Outdoor Leadership School.
Water-based businesses eye Edenton Bay
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Two water-based businesses
could soon become a reality in
Edenton.
The Town Council is expected
to take action at its March 12
regular monthly meeting on the
requests.
The)first is a proposed floating
be<Ldnd breakfast, Town Manag
er Anne-Marie Knighton told the
council Monday
night during its
committee meet
ing session.
Knighton said
the proposal
came from a
couple that own
a boat docked at
Edenton Marina.
They want to offer overnight
stays on their boat out in the Bay
or harbored at the town dock,
Knighton
she said.
The second prospective busi
ness is owned by a Connecticut
couple interested in establish
ing a harbor tour business. The
21-foot boat in question could be
harbored at the town docks uti
lizing a tie up area where no fees
are charged, Knighton said.
Both proposals brought their
share of questions.
Councilman Steve Biggs asked,
with regard to the floating B&B,
what would happen if the idea
proved successful and others
who wanted to try similar ven
tures approached the town.
“I certainly want to promote
business, but then do we get into
a situation where everyone that
has a charter license is coming
down here (to the town docks)
on Saturday afternoons offering
rides?” Biggs wondered aloud.
See BUSINESS, 2A
Scam Jam warns residents of common swindles
Seniors are
often targeted
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Many people be
lieve if they don't
have a large income
scammers won’t tar
get them. Seniors
— many of whom'
live on small, fixed
incomes — are vul
nerable to that kind
of thinking, and
equally at risk to
scammers.
That was the ad
vice given by Bar
bara Bennett of
Raleigh during a
Scam Jam directed
at seniors that was
held last week in
Edenton. Bennett
is an investment
education specialist
with the Securities
Division of the N.C.
Department of the
Secretary of State.
The event, held at
Swain Auditorium
on Feb. 20, drew
about 70 people.
Lunch, provided by
the Albemarle Com
mission, followed
downstairs at the
Chowan Senior Cen
ter.
“Many seniors
live from (Social
Security) check
to-check,” Bennett
said. “They have
no other income so
they think, a scam
mer's not going to
come after me.”
But Bennett said
that’s not necessar
ily the case.
She explained
that scammers are
very clever at gain
ing the trust of oth
ers — even going
so far as to pretend
a concern for their
welfare.
“We want to trust
somebody with
whom we think we
have something in
common,” Bennett
said. “It’s just hu
man nature.”
A good example
of this type of scam,
Bennett said, in
volved a North Caro
lina man who joined
an Asheville-basecl
Alzheimer’s Dis
ease support group
See SCAM 1AM, 2A
STAFF PHOTO BY
REBECCA BUNCH
: ! '■ . /v
Barbara Bennett,
an investment
education
specialist for the ;
N.C. Department
of the Secretary
of State, was
one of several
speakers at the
Scam Jam that
took place Feb.
20 at Swain
Auditorium in
Edenton.
Eden ton Lions Club
Breakfast for the Blind-Help the Lions help the Blind
Edenton Baptist Church - Saturday, March 9 | 7AM - 10:30AM
Eat In or Take-Out { Ticket* from any Lion or Call 482-3606 for more information.