THE STATE PORT PILOT A Good Newspaper In A Good Community VOL UME 45 NUMBER 42 16 PAGES TOD A Y SOUTHPORT, NORTH CAROLINA _MAY 8, 197410 CENTS A COPYPUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY Willetts, Strong Top Sheriff Voting; Two School Incumbents Are Behind; Clemmons Gets GOP Axe Only Rabon Has Support Two of the three Incumbent members of the Brunswick County Board of Education were defeated in the general election Tuesday, according to unofficial returns tabulated by the Board of Elections. Mrs. Barbara (Bobble) Yount, who was making her first bid for public office in the county, and Franldin Randolph, a candidate for sheriff four years ago, earned seats on the Board of Education. Both new members are from Bolivia. The only incumbent board member running in the general election to survive was Wilbur E. Rabon of Leland; Rabon, who is chairman of the board, ran away from the eight - person field in the election. Mrs. May W. Barbee of Yaupon Beach and Dr. John T. Madison of Shallotte lost their bids for re • election to the Board of Education. Official results of the election will not be known until the Board of Elections meets Thursday morning at 10 o’clock at the courthouse in Southport to canvass the vote. Rabon, completing his fourth year on the board, had no trouble winning re - election. In fact Rabon, who is employed at Federal Paperboard at Rlegelwood, led the field after polling 2,681 votes. Mrs. Yount also ran a strong race and finished second in the field with 2,169 votes. Randolph, an official of a trucking firm, had a much harder time earning his seat on the board. He was involved in a three • person fight for the third seat. And, he ap peared to have lost the race until It was discovered that a mistake had been made in posting the unofficial returns. Randolph who will be the second black on the board, captured the seat with a total of 2,040 votes while Mrs. Barbee, completing her first term, had 2,019 and Southport Attorney James R. Prevatte had 2,018. After all the votes had been placed on the board at the Board of Elections headquarters in Supply Tuesday night, but before they were tallied, it appeared that Mrs. Barbee had retained her seat in a close vote. But it was quickly discovered that a mistake had been made in Randolph’s vote. He had received 137 votes in Frying Pan precinct instead of the posted 37 and the difference made him the winner in the close race for the third seat. The third incumbent Dr. Madison, a Shallotte dentist, (Continued On Page 4) COUNTYWIDE WINNERS of $1,800 scholarships sponsored by Odell and Virginia Williamson are Tina Philpott of North Brunswick and Jeff Adams of South Brunswick. Shown with the winners, who were named Sunday afternoon at North Brunswick High School, are the Williamsons. Williamson announced that next year’s fourth annual competition will involve $5,500 in scholarships, a ten-percent increase over awards this year. North, South Students Are Recognized A North Brunswick girl and a South Brunswick boy took top honors in the annual Odell Clam Hearing A public hearing to discuss among other things the use of an hydraulic clam-dredge in Brunswick County waters has been scheduled in Southport monday night. The hearing will be held in the courthouse starting at 8 pun. Rep. Thomas Harrelson said the hearing will be at tended by Ed McCoy, com missioner of the Division of Commercial and Sports Fisheries. Among the scheduled topics is the taking of clams from polluted waters in the Cape Fear River basin to be planted in controlled waters. According to the Brunswick and Pender county representative, the main topic will be the use an hydraulic dredge operating In local waters that was used to harvest clams otherwise available to local persons. He said he has been suc cessful In having the permit stopped, but the Sneed’s Ferry - based dredge operators are seeking per mission to continue. and Virginia Williamson Scholarship contest Sunday. Tina M. Philpott and Jeffery C. Adams were winners In the third annual competition for the scholarship awards, which was held at North Brunswick High School. A field of 12 finalist, two males and two females from each of the county’s three high schools, vied for the award, which provides an $1,800 scholarship for each male and female winner. Miss Philpott’s winning speech, “Death, Be Not Proud,” dealt with the various aspects of euthanasia, or mercy killings. A senior at North Brunswick High School, Miss Philpott is the daughter of Mrs. Betty L. Philpott and the late Oren Philpott. She plans to attend U.N.C. at Wilmington next year. Adam’s winning speech was entitled "Acupunctvre As A Contempora*y Medicine.” He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carroll D. Adams of Long Beach. Adams is a senior at South Brunswick High School and Pageant Entry List Is Started The Miss N.C. Fourth of July Pageant sponsored by the Southport Jaycees will be held this year on Saturday, June 29. Any girl who meets the following qualifications and who is interested in entering the pageant may obtain in formation and an application from Mrs. Robert Howard (457-6818), Mrs. Bill Blake (457-5480) or Mrs. Jerry Sherrod (457-6493). To be eligible, a girl must meet these qualifications; 1. Each contestant must be 17-years old by September 1, or at least a rising senior, and be no older than 22. 2. Each contestant must reside In Smithville Town ship, including all of Bolling Spring Lakes. 3. Each contestant must be sponsored by a Jaycee. 4. All applications must be approved by the pageant committee. 5. There will be only 13 contestants; the first 13 applications received will be considered. All applications must be submitted by midnight, June 1, 1974. plans to enroll at U.N.C. at Chapel Hill next fall. The Odell and Virginia Williamson Scholarship Awards are made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Odell Williamson of Ocean Isle Beach. Williamson’s interest in declamation goes back to 1938 when he was the winner of a school contest. "The purpose of the scholarships is to stimulate interest in effective com posion and declamation in the various schools,” Mr. and Mrs. Williamson said. The scholarship fund provided plaques and $100 cash awards to two male and two female finalists in each of the three county high schools. Each of the county winners received $1,800 scholarships. Judges for the competition were Mrs. Betty Jo Welch, professor of speech and director of Debate, UNC-W, Mrs. Adrian Carter, coun selor, Acme Delco School, Mrs. Brenda Blanks, director of LEAP center, Southeastern Community College, Daryl! May, N.C. State debating champion student, John T. Hoggard High School, and Allen Randall, original orator state champion student, John T Hoggard High School. Local Company Is Low Bidder Boiling Spring Construction Co. has submitted a low bid of $747,036.17 for construction of a container handling facility at the Sunny Point terminal. Second low bidder waa Colony Construction Co., Inc., of Wilmington, with an offer of $822,781. Dickerson, Inc., of Monroe was third tow with their bid of $998,380. The government estimate was $998,380. The other two bidders were D.R. Allen & Son, Inc., of Fayetteville, bidding $1,002,596; and C.W. Mat thews Const. Co., Inc., of Marietta, Ga., $1,128,855. The contract calls for demolition of 889 feet of existing concrete wharf and rebuilding with a new plat form and crane rails to facilitate container handling. Work items include in stallation of concrete piling and 1,600 linear feet of crane rail, along with placement of 1,200 cubic yeards of new concrete. All work is scheduled for completion within 350 calendar days. Carolyn Roberts Beats Incumbent Republicans and Democrats in Brunswick County went to the polls Tuesday to nominate can didates to run in the tall general election and, in the process, eliminated one In cumbent office holder. However, after the votes were tallied at the Board of Election headquarters in Supply Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, questions still remain to be answered about the final outcome. The questions, concerning the winners and who will be eligible to call second primaries will not be an swered until the Board of Elections conducts the of ficial canvass of the votes at the courthouse in Southport Thursday morning, begin-, nlng at 10 o’clock. In the County Republican primary, Sheriff Harold Willetts and Board of Com missioners members William A. Kopp, Jr., John Bray, Robert Simmons and Vardell Hughes all won re - nomination. In addition, Incumbent Thomas J. Harrelson, who was the leading GOP vote - getter in Brunswick County, won re- nomination to the State House of Represen tatives from the 11th District of Brunswick and Pender counties. T. David Bowers, seeking the nomination to run for the Board of Commissioners from Lockwood Folly, was the only clear-cut winner in the county in the Democratic primary. Allen C. Ward, seeking his first public office, made an impressive debut in winning the Democratic race to op pose for the 11th District House seat in the general election. He was the leading vote getter in Brunswick jounty Tuesday. In state races, Brunswick County voters supported the winners in the races for the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. The Republican race for the Board of County Com missioners was left in con fusion after the votes were tallied Tuesday night. Kopp, who is chairman of the board, topped the field with 882 votes while Simmons had 847 and Hughes 838. All three in (Continued On Page 2) NC 211 Closes The Department of Transportation, Division of Highways announces the closing of a section of NC 211 from Supply to Southport effective Monday. The particular section under construction exists between US 17 at Supply to SR 1500 at Midway. All through traffic will use the following detour route: From Supply north on US 17 ap proximately 15 miles to Bell Swamp at NC 87; NC 87 south to Southport approximately 15 miles. This detour will be marked and will last approximately 60 days while the Im provements are under con struction from Supply to Southport. Local traffic will be maintained during this period. Over Dosher98 Future Hospital Group Is “Encouraged” Members of the Dosher Retention Committee returned home In an op timistic frame of mind after discussing the future of the Southport hospital with state officials Monday. “While no firm com mitments were made by the Raleigh staff, members of the committee are greatly en couraged by the positive and helpful attitude displayed at the state administration level in agreeing to study the new data we presented and to follow this with further recommendations and suggestions,” said Southport Mayor Eugene Tomlinson, who is chairman of the Retention committee. Mayor Tomlinson told the state officials that at this time there is no consideration locally of Dosher closing down. “There’s too much at stake to even entertain any ideas along those lines,” he declared. Members of the local delegation, composed of representatives of Yaupon Beach, Long Beach and Southport, spent over two hours in Raleigh Monday discussing the Dosher hospital situation with W.L. (Continued On Page 4) County Tobacco Acreage Far Short Of Quota Goal By BELL ALLEN If something dramatic doesn’t happen in the next five weeks, Brunswick County farmers could lose $600,000 on the tobacco crop this year. The prediction was made this week by Manager Ralph L. Price of the Agriculture Stabilization and Con servation Service in Shallotte. “Right now, it looks like a half-million pounds of the Brunswick County tobacco quota will not be planted this year,” Manager Price declared. “The half million pounds could amount to Brunswick County farmers falling to earn almost a half-million dollars at the end of the selling season.” Brunswick County tobacco farmers have been given a 6,171,746-pound tobacco quota to fill this year. It Is the largest quota the county has had in over 20 years. Manager Price said Brunswick County was assigned the large quota because of two factors. One Is the fact the Department of Agriculture has given each tobacco-growing county In the nation a ten-percent In crease in its quota for 1074. Federal officials are doing everything in their power to encourage all flue-cured tobacco producers to grow their full poundage under the larger marketing quotas to meet increasing demand around the world. “Buying and export companies indicate there is a strong demand for Increased cigarette production in foreign countries and this is an excellent opportunity for tobacco growers to make considerably more net in come by growing more tobacco to meet this demand,” Under-Secretary of Agriculture J. Phil Campbell said recently. The other reason for the Increased quota Is that Brunswick County farmers failed to meet the quota last year. “We had a wet season last year and the unfortunate result was that farmers lost parts of their tobacco crops,” Price said. Last year, Manager Price pointed out, the Brunswick County tobacco quotas was 5,404,211 pounds. However, because of “the wet season” last year, farmers failed to meet the quota by 181,539 pounds. Under federal regulations, he noted, the 181,539 pounds the county failed to sell last year was carried over and added to the 1974 quota. Manager Price reminded flue-cured tobacco producers that two changes have been made in the price support requirements for the 1974 crop. Tobacco farmes no longer need measurement service to assure eligibility for price support. Procedures have been changed to permit price support on all flue-cured tobacco up to 110 percent of a farm’s quota without regard to the amount of acres planted. “This, however, does not excuse the producer from being charged with penalty If he sells more than 110 percent of his quota,” the ASCS manager noted. “The penalty could run as much as 66 cents per pound. In addition, any tobacco sold In excess of 100 percent of quota will be deducted from their quota next year.” In past years, he pointed out, tobacco farmers were allowed no over-planting to be eligible for price supports. The other major change requires the producer to designate the warehouse in which he will sell his tobacco. The change was made to correct the marketing situation that developed last year. Other requirements for price support that remain in effect for 1974 Include timely certification of acreage, certification of acceptable variety and certification of non-use of DDT or TDE. Although the prospect for filling the quota doesn’t look bright at this time, the situation could change because tobacco farmers have until June 14 to lease and transfer the crop. “One thing that could change the bleak picture is good planting weather In May,” Manager Price stated. “The good weather could encourage more leases and transfers and thus more planting.” Brunswick County farmers who have tobacco allotments have been Invited to visit the ASCS office In Shallotte and (Continued On Page 2) 1