THE STATE PORT PILOT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
VOLUME 44 NUMBER 15 24 PAGES TO DA Y SO "THRO,IT, .WORTH CAROLINA NOVEMBER 1, 1972 10 CENTS A COPY PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
Over 13,000 Registered
County Voters Go
To Polls Tuesday
Next Tuesday, 13,161
.registered Brunswick County
'voters will be eligible to
select a board of com
misioners and a register of
deeds, and to help choose
office holders on the district,
state and national levels.
Up for grabs are offices
from the courthouse to the
White House. Republicans
are the incumbents on the
county and national levels,
Democrats on the district and
state, and the out-of-office
party is fighting to get back
in. Brunswick County politics
are as vigorous this year as
any time in history.
Durward Clark, the elected
Democrat in the county, seeks
re-election as register of
deeds but he must defeat
Arthur Knox for the post. The
incumbent board of com
missioners (William A. Kopp,
Jr., Vardell Hughes, Robert
Simmons, John Bray and J.
T. Clemmons) is challenged
by Democrats Lonnie
McKoy, Jr., John Reaves,
gee, Jr., Wayland Vereen and
W. A. Stanley, Jr.
There are six townships in
Brunswick County but only
five available seats on the
county board, and no town
ship can be represented by
more than one commissioner.
Hughes is the only candidate
from Waccamaw Township
and McKoy the only hopeful
from Northwest; Kopp and
McGee are seeking the Town
Creek post; Bray and Vereen
are vying for the Smithville
Election Office Open
Hubert Bellamy, chairman of the Brunswick
County Board of Elections, has announced that the
board office at Bolivia will be open during r egular
hours Monday and throughout the day Tuesday
until 7:30 p.m. to answer any questions which may
come from officials at any of the polling places in
Brunswick County.
At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Board of Elections ac
tivities will be transferred to the Agriculture
Building at Supply where election returns will be
received and tabulated.
“I feel that we have a highly competent staff of
election officials to serve at the various polling
places on Tuesday,” Bellamy said. “We do not
■anticipate any unusual developments, but should
any arise we will be available to give them the
advice of Electron Board officials.”
Lady Hopeful
Politics Here
.. k .-.I ' ' : --
Mrs. Grace Rohrer, the
only woman candidate tor a
Council of State office in the
upcoming general election,
spent Saturday in Brunswick
County doing what she does
best, making personal con
tact with the voters.
But realistically, Mrs.
Rohrer admitted, “North
Carolina is a big state, so big
it frightens me when I realize
how impossible it is to cover
it effectively in personal
appearances. So, I accept
invitations where I receive
them and rely on newspaper
and television coverage to
help tell people about my
candidacy.”
Mrs. Rohrer is running
against Thad Eure for,
Secretary of State and admits
she has a hard job cut out for
■■Ik her. “He’s the most
established of the establish
I ments,” she says of the
veteran state official. She has
made a study of the duties of
the office which he now holds
and has no doubt about being
able to perform its duties.
As a matter of fact, she has
some idea on how present
services from the office of the
Secretary of State might be
improved.
“Since the Board of
Elections comes under this
office,” she says, “I think this
would be a good place to
start. There is much im
provement to be made in our
election process here in North
Carolina.”
She cited more realistic
reports of campaign con
tributions and expenditures
as one area of need.
Mrs. Rohrer possesses an
impressive professional
background as an educator
and as a politician. She is
(Continued on Page 16)
Township board seat; Sim
mons and Stanley for the
Shallotte Township post; and
Clemmons and Reaves,
Lockwood Folly.
The top five vote-getters of
the ten are elected if no two of
the leaders are fromthe same
township.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Brunswick and Pender
counties are represented by a
single member of the N. C.
House of Representatives.
Thomas Harrelson, in
cumbent representative of
the old Brunswick-Columbus
Bladen district, is challenged
by Jimmy Prevatte, a South
port attorney. Harrelson is a
merchant here.
The county will be
represented in the N.C.
Senate by either Democrat
Arthur Williamson or
Republican J.W. Suggs. Both
Columbus County men have
been candidates in Brun
swick County races before:
Williamson was defeated by
Harrelson for the House seat
in a controversial election
two years ago and Suggs was
a candidate in that same
contest.
The Senatorial district also
includes Bladen County.
STATE CONTESTS
Candidates for governor
“Skipper” Bowles,
Democrat, and Jim
Holshouser are waging a
tight battle for the state’s top
post, and Democrat Jim Hunt
now appears to be in a tough
battle for the lieutenant
governor post against
Republican Johnny Walker.
Other state races include
Superintendent of Public
Instruction; incumbent
Democrat Craig Phillips and
Carl Ray Eagle; Com
missioner of Labor;
Democrat Billy Creel and
Frederick Webber; Com
missioner of Insurance:
Democrat John Ingram and
C.M. Douglas; Commissioner
of Agriculture: incumbent
Democrat Jim Graham and
Kenneth Roberson; Attorney
General: incumbent
Democrat Robert Morgan
and Nicholas Smith; State
Auditor: incumbent
Democrat Edwin Gill and
Norman Shronce; Secretary
of State: incumbent
Democrat Thad Eure and
Grace Jamison Rohrer.
CONGRESS SEATS
Democrat Nick
Galifianakis, who has paid
several visits to Brunswick
County in his campaign for a
U.S. Senate post, can expect a
strong challenge from
Republican Jesse Helms. In
the race for the 7th District
seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives, Democrat
Charlie Rose ordinarily would
expect an easy win over
(Continued on Page 16)
THE GREEN SWAMP, that forbidding piece of real estate in
Brunswick County, is not always the ugly marshland it is made>
out to be. Deer scurrying for cover, wild flowers blooming or
Hi.il ' I W ' .. ii'm i ,i 1.1 I .«'i nTin iiM, liffu »»i * liunyi j
the sun setting over a barren field show a beauty not many of
us ever see.
Board Learns
Of Drug Abuse
The Brunswick County
board of education met
recently in a special session
to hear Robert Frye, coor
dinator of the drug training
project for the North Carolina
Department of Public In
struction, outline approaches
to the drug abuse problem
occurring across the state.
The meeting also was at
tended by William Sue of
Leland, board member-elect.
Frye told the board that all
approaches to solving the
drug problem have merit;
however, none indicates a
cure for drug abuse. Special
emphasis was placed on the
following approaches: peer
relations, teaching methods
in sense of values across the
total curriculum, teaching
methods in problem-solving
and decision-making
throughout the curriculum,
and special curriculum in
health education covering the
total health program.
Frye stated that the suc
cess of any program depends
(Continued on Page 16)
SECRETARY OF STATE Republican can
didate Mrs. Grace Rohrer was in Southport
campaigning this week in preparation for
Tuesday's general election. The Winston-Salem
candidate, the only woman seeking a high state
office, will try to unseat incumbent Thad Eure.
Bridge Could Be Open
For Traffic May, 1974
The Oak Island bridge, put
out of commission last
September when struck by an
Intracoastal Waterway
barge, could be open for
vehicular travel by May 1,
1974, according to a report
received this morning from
the State Highway Com
mission office in Raleigh.
The proposed opening date
is contingent on approval of
the bridge-building contract
by the Commission on
December 7. Bids for the
estimated $4 million project
will be open November 21 in
Raleigh.
If the low bid is accepted by
the State Highway Com
mission, the contractor would
be able to commence work
January 15, the spokesman
noted.
Final completion date, as
noted in the invitation for
bids, is October 1, 1974, but
the high-level span could be
open several months before
that because finishing
touches (like handrails, etc.)
could be added without in
Long Beach Meeting
Town Park
Is Proposed
The Long Beach town
council has voted to amend
an old ordinance and increase
the town’s planning board
from five to seven members.
“We will have five mem
bers who are residents and
two who are taxpayers but
who don’t live here all the
time,” said Town Manager
Edward Liggett.
He explained that the board
was formed to create long
range planning projects. The
board is now dealing with any
undeveloped property usage,
and any plans for un
developed property usage,
and any plans for un
developed property would
have to be cleared by the
board first.
Other duties of the planning
commission will be the
selection of certain streets as
bicycle routes, and the study
of a possible future town
swimming pool.
Another project that
Liggett said the planning
board may study involves the
planting of potted palms
along Ocean Blvd., the
beach’s main street.
In other business, the town
council followed the zoning
board’s recommendations on
certain pieces of property.
Several residents were
granted permission to make
alteration to their homes. A
duplex apartment permit was
denied the potential builder
because he failed to attend
the meeting to answer
questions.
Another permit was denied
for the building of a 12-unit
apartment complex because
there had been no inspection
of the site by the Health
Department. Town Manager
Liggett said the area was low
and could pose drainage or
septic tank problems.
The chairman of the town
Recreation Committtee
reported the group is waiting
for work from HUD on a
$10,000 grant to help build a
city park.
Work has been done on the
park behind town hall. “The
town brought the property
required and the land has
been filled and graded,”
Liggett said. He said the
(Continued on Page 16)
terfering with bridge traffic.
“We are trying to have the
bridge ready for use by the
peak tourist season in 1974,”
the State Highway Com
mission representative noted.
Should the Commission reject
the low bid, however, the
invitation for bids would have
to be re-advertised.
According to the
spokesman, the State High
way Commission has its own
engineers who have compiled
an estimate of what the new
structure would cost. The
figures will not be revealed
until after the bids are opened
Nov. 21, and if the totals are
very much out-of-line some
refiguring will be necessary,
both by the contractors and
bv the state.
“That would put the date of
completion back, of course,”
said the spokesman.
The Oak Island bridge, the
only link between the beaches
and the mainland, was
demolished the day-after
Labor Day, 1971, when hit by .
a barge-tug combination in
the early morning. No
vehicular travel was possible
for several days, but a ferry
was put into service to ease
the problem, then a one-lane,
floating bridge was installed
at the former bridge site.
Beach residents are not
happy, but the tourist trade
was not hurt as much as
many expected.
The new bridge, which will
have a 90-foot vertical
clearance to make opening
for Intracoastal Waterway
traffic unnecessary, will be
located just west of the
present temporary crossing.
ESEA Title I
Council Named
Mrs. Frances B. Stons,
assistant superintendent in
charge of federal programs,
has announced the ap
pointment of the ESEA Title I
advisory council for Brun
swick County schools.
The newly-appointed
members are Mrs. Yvonne
Bright of Leland, Mrs. Henry
Sloan of Leland, Mrs.
Kathleen Holden of Supply,
Mrs. Gay Stanley of
Shallotte, Mrs. Aileen Bryant
of Bolivia, Mrs. Dorothy
Gardner of Bolivia, Mrs.
Cheryl Watts of Southport
and Mrs. Marcelane For
myduval of Ash.
The council held an
organizational meeting on
Monday at the A.V. Center in
Bolivia. Officers elected to
serve during the 1972-73
school year are Mrs. Bright,
chairman; Mrs. Watts,
recording secretary; and
Mrs. Holden, corresponding
secretary.
Mrs. Stone presented an
overview of the purposes and
objectives of the Title I
project, and other Title 1 staff
members discussed their
individual duties and
responsibilities in helping to
reach the stated objectives. A
question and answer session,
which followed the
discussion, gave council
members an opportunity to
learn more about federal
guidelines and specific
details of the current Title I
project. Each member was
provided with a copy of the
1973 project and an
evaluation of the 1972 project.
The purpose of the advisory
council is to insure parental
and community involvement
in the organization and
planning of ESEA, Title I
programs in Brunswick
County schools.