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SHEPHERD PRUDEN LIBRARY
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EDENTON NO 27932-1854
ERALD
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for all events in
the place we all
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482-4418
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
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Chowan County pays tribute to Speller
NCBCA honors locals
The North Carolina
Basketball Coaches
Association released
the all-district teams
for the 2017-2018 high
school boys and girls
basketball seasons on
Wednesday. — 1B
REBECCA BUNCH/CHOWAN HERALD
Edenton Cotton Mill Museum Board President Beth
Taylor draws laughs from the crowd as she pays tribute
to Ben Speller Sunday afternoon at a reception in
his honor held at the Penelope Barker House on the
downtown waterfront. Looking on is Edenton Historical
Commission Executive Director Mike Ervin
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
While Sunday hadn’t of
ficially been declared Ben
Speller Day in Edenton, a
large crowd, including May
or Roland Vaughan and his
wife, braved the cold weath
er to attend an enthusiastic
reception in his honor at the
Penelope Barker House on
the downtown waterfront.
The reception was in cele
bration of Speller’s recent se
lection by Gov. Roy Cooper
as one of a group of 15 edu
cators, historians, curators,
artists and others to receive
the Old North State Award
during a reception held at
the Governor’s Mansion. The
honor came in recognition of
Speller’s work to preserve Af
rican American heritage and
culture in North Carolina
The local celebration was
co-hosted by the Edenton
Historical Commission, the
Chowan Arts Council, the
Chowan Tourism Authority
and the Edenton Cotton Mill
Museum. Speller serves on
the board of each of those or
ganizations. Representatives
of the various organizations
spoke admiringly of Spell
er’s willingness to volunteer
his time and talents to help
support their work across
the community and what a
difference his presence has
made.
Speaking for the TDA
board, County Commissioner
Don Faircloth called Speller
a great team player and said
that the honor Speller re
cently received was “well de
served” for the preservation
of the rich African American
history that exists locally.
Mike Ervin, EHC executive
director, noted that Speller is
a member of that organiza-
tioris executive committee
whose knowledge and state
wide contacts continue to be
a tremendous asset.
“There’s nobody that de
serves this award more,” he
said.
But Speller’s influence
doesn’t end with the influ-
See SPELLER, 3A
TILLING THE LAND
Senate hopeful stumps
Senate District
1 candidate Clark
Twiddy presented
himself in Elizabeth
City March 6 for what
he described as a “job
interview,” fielding
questions from mem
bers of the Pasquotank
County Republican
Party. — 4A
Officers installed
The annual instal
lation of officers for
Unanimity Lodge No.
7 AFAM of Edenton
took place recently at
the Lodge building at
215 East Water Street
on Edenton Bay. — 3B
• Teacher composes
Nicole Byrd-Phelps,
an area teacher, has
written a musical
called “We’re Riding
On The Bus.” The
program is scheduled
for 1:10 p.m. Tuesday,
March 27 in the D.F.
Walker Multi-purpose
Room. — 4B
Duo team up for drive
A little girl’s car
ing heart has resulted
in the formation of
a Community Snack
Program at White Oak
Elementary School.
And her mom, who
helped her start the
program, hopes to ex
pand it so that snacks
will also be available
at D.F. Walker Elemen
tary as well. — 6A
Plowing demo links past to present
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
And God made a farmer as
Paul Harvey once wrote.
“And who, planting time
and harvest season, will fin
ish his forty-hour week by
Tuesday noon, then, pain’n
from ‘tractor back,’ put in an
other seventy-two hours. So
God made a farmer.
“God had to have some ¬
body willing to ride the
ruts at double speed to get
the hay in ahead of the rain
clouds and yet stop in mid-
field and race to help when
he sees the first smoke from
a neighbor’s place. So God
made a farmer.”
Well, God must have been
in Chowan County last week
for a plowing demonstration
conducted by the Edenton
Fanner’s Market and Heri ¬
tage Association across from
East Coast Equipment. The
event is but one part of the
county’s 350th birthday cel
ebration.
“This was a joint effort
sponsored by the farmers
market, the heritage farm
fest committee, the 350th cel
ebration committee, county
and town officials and many
local businesses, community
groups and local agricultural
history enthusiasts, “ said
Joseph Goodwin, a key orga
nizer and longtime farmer.
Nancy Nicholls of the
Chowan County Tourism
Development Authority
was front and center at the
plowing demonstration.
She’s from the dairy state of
Vermont, so as the tractors
passed by, there was a smile
See PLOWING, 3A
God not
Gandalf
BY NICOLE BOWMAN-
LAYTON
For the Chowan Herald
God is love.
For William Paul Young,
who prefers to go by
Paul, God wasn’t always
this way. The author of
“The Shack,” a New York
Times bestseller, visited
Edenton recently, giving
talks at St. Paul’s Episco
pal Church and Edenton
Baptist Church.
The Rev. Malone Gil
liam, rector at St. Paul’s,
has known Young for
several years, and hosted
a question and response
session at his church.
The next day, Young
spoke to a packed sanc
tuary at Edenton Baptist
Church, interweaving sto
ry after story to illustrate
how God’s love has been
illustrated in his life.
For several decades,
Young thought of God as
a “Gandalf with a bad at
titude.” His father was a
missionary and pastor,
who was as Young put it
“an angry, young man.”
While his parents served
in New Guinea as mis
sionaries, he was abused
by the tribesmen his fam
ily attempted to bring
Christianity to. As a six-
year-old, he was sent to
boarding school, where
he endured more abuse
at the hands of the older
students at the school.
This lead Young to be
lieve in Christianity in
these terms as a child:
“My father represented
God. He was the darkness
behind Jesus.”
God the father was the
darkness and he required
See YOUNG, 2A
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0
Capital projects
continue to progress
EC Schools moving
on up to the east side
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Jamie Johnson, director of main
tenance for the Edenton-Chowan
Schools, told the board of education
at its March 6 monthly meeting that
steady progress is being made in
the effort to complete capital outlay
projects at the county’s four schools
during the 2017-2018 school year.
“We’ve made a lot of progress,”
he told the board. “Hopefully we
can continue to move in that direc
tion.”
Among the larger projects that
needs completing is work on a
pump station utilized by both
Chowan Middle School and the ad
jacent Northern Chowan Commu
nity Center. Johnson said that since
the county uses that site it has taken
over this particular project. Focus
ing on that job has caused some
other school improvement projects
to be placed on hold, he said.
In response to a question from
board member Gil Burroughs,
Johnson said the estimated cost of
the project was around $100,000
and that the school system would
pay half. The middle school and the
rec center are also both scheduled
to have storm shutters installed
that will be much nicer than what is
there now, he said.
Johnson added that another pri
ority project at CMS was to refill
potholes and restripe the parking
lot at an estimated cost of $6,000.
See PROJECTS, 7A
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The school board voted unani
mously at its March 6 monthly
meeting to approve a relocation
plan and a budget for the proposed
relocation of central services (ad
ministrative) offices to the Eden
ton campus of College of the Albe
marle.
“We’re very excited to hopefully
move forward on this,” Superinten
dent Rob Jackson told the board
prior to the vote.
During his presentation, Jackson
unveiled a proposed timeiine for
the project that calls for advertis
ing for bids starting March 11 and
making bid documents available
the following day. Bids will be due
April 10 at 2 p.m. with approval of
the bids by the board of education
scheduled for the same day.
The estimated cost of work to
the area of the building that would
be occupied by central office staff
to make it suitable for their use is
$149,941, Jackson said. That cost
would represent about three years’
worth of lease payments at their
current location on West Queen
Street.
He also offered the board a look
at a breakdown of expected items
and costs that included substruc
ture, $3,500; interior construction,
$113,242; mechanical, $10,200;
electrical, $13,500; and special con
struction, $9,500.
See RELOCATION, 7A