_ The State Port Pilot _•
OPINION
District zoning
Residents deserve action
The watchword around the Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District
seems to be "all in good time." That may be appropriate if the only
thing you’re doing is waiting for federal money to roll in, but there
is more work for the district board and they should get on with it.
On July 1,1993, county zoning will take effect, which zoning will
include the northern part of the sanitary district. That will leave the
bottom half unzoned unless the district does it; and there "all in
good time" seems to be the prevailing mood.
The district was formed primarily to put in water and sewer and
manage the systems, but its board is also charged with ordering the
lives of constituents in ways that bring them up to contemporary
standards.
The contemporary standard these days is orderly growth through
zoning. The board has been shown this by the county com
missioners, told this by its advisers, and now it is up to these offi
cials to act.
Action on district zoning seems to be planned for January. We
would suggest that it be promised, with an assurance of implementa
tion concurrent with county zoning. The people of the district
deserve this consideration, and the hard work it will take.
Her 'Dream' is real
We have not yet had time to read Joshua's Dream, Susan Sellers
Carson's story of a town with two names, so this is not a book review.
It simply affords us the pleasure of thanking her for something which
had needed doing for a long time: Writing a history of Smithville/
Southport.
There was a special focus on this need during the year-long celebra
tion of our 200th anniversary. All of us were made aware of our
interesting heritage and the men and women who helped create it. It was
Susie alone who was willing to assume the responsibility to write a book
about it.
Actually, she was the most logical person we know to undertake this
ambitious assignment. As a girl growing up in Southport she had a
curiosity about the history of this area. Her first job was as legal
secretary of C. Ed Taylor, who had a lifelong interest in local history.
She also had an aunt, Mrs. Berlyn Lancaster, who made significant
contributions to preservation of facts pertaining to Brunswick County
history. * '
All of these factors helped lay the groundwork for her classes in
Southport history conducted by Brunswick Community College on the
Southport campus. She had to engage in continuous reading and
research to stay ahead of her students, all of which helped provide
material for her book.
Local officials of Carolina Power & Light Co. recognized the need for
a history and the resources to get it written. They approached Susie with
the proposition that if she would write the history, they would under
write its publication.
On Monday evening a small gathering of her friends and neighbors
attended a dinner in her honor at the CP&L visitors center, where first
copies of her book were on display. She heard expressions of apprecia
tion for her work and was gracious in acknowledgement of many
sources of help and encouragement which made possible the successful
completion of this assignment.
Now we can’t wait to read the book, and we hope you will too.
Mission of mercy
Our military commitment to ensure delivery and distribution of food
to millions of starving human beings in Somalia poses the possibility
for serious complications, but we are proud to be a citizen of a country
willing to accept these risks as part of a great humanitarian effort.
The expense will be a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of our
participation in the Persian Gulf War, and there is a great difference in
staging a campaign of destruction and a mission of mercy.
We cannot undertake the responsibility of being all things to all
people on the face of this Earth who are in need, but this is a situation
which begs for the compassionate intervention of a nation with a
conscience and resources to help relieve a desperate need of starving
human beings.
If we are going to make a mistake, let it be in an effort to deliver the
necessities of life to men, women and children who are dying by the
thousands each day we delay.
I
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The State Port Pilot
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Not exactly news
L
The road company of "Cats", successful Broad
way and London stage show, was in Raleigh last
week and we went to see it. We confess that we
went with considerable misgivings, having no
idea what to expect. The "cats", of course, were
people, and there were no "people" in it. Early on
we were bored, what with the ever-cha aging cat
population we have seen in our own backyard
over the years, but gradually the performance got
to us, and finally we were convinced that this was
a skillful and imaginative treatment of an improb
able theme based upon a poem by unsuspecting
author T. S. Eliot, who has become more famous
for this than for all the other things he ever
wrote... If you have a chance maybe you should
go see it but if you don’t like it. don't blame us.
The show was in Memorial Auditorium, for
many years the entertainment Mecca of North
Carolina. Starting in the early 1930s, we have
spent many enjoyable evenings in that magnifi
cent building whose opulence has been enhanced
by a new foyer and facade. In retrospect it seems
that fully half of all the good things we ever saw
were at that location... To give you an idea, for
years it was the site of the old Southern Confer
ence Basketball Tournament, covering teams from
universities from Maryland to Louisiana, 20 in
all. It was there we first heard Fred Waring and
Guy Lombardo and several other big name or
chestras of lesser note. Political conventions, too,
, and inaugural balls. It was - and still is — some
place.
Regular unleaded gasoline for less than a dol
lar a gallon! We thought we never would see it
again, but it came down to that last week. We just
hope it holds for the benefit of upcoming holiday
travels... Last Wednesday a member of our fam
ily visited Springmore, a retirement community
near Raleigh, and had a visit with William and
Elizabeth Hughes, former residents of Southport,
who now make their home there... We are inter
ested that at one time the developers of that
prestigious facility were interested in the possi
bility of expansion to a nearby location on the
Cape Fear River.
Monday was Pearl Harbor Day and it passed
with little or no attention on the local scene. In
retrospect, we can recall where we were and what
we were doing on that memorable day in his
tory. .. Les Gruber, our nominee for being the best
roving reporter the Star-News ever had in
Brunswick County, now writes a column of remi
niscences each Sunday in that newspaper, and
this week he had the following item: "A Southport
sailor, veteran of Pearl Harbor, Lt. (jg) Jack
Garrett, is co-writer of a new Navy song. Eight
Bells', soon to be on music shelves of the nation."
Crisp, cold and crowded. That pretty well
describes the scene at the Southport flotilla Sat
urday night. The waterfront was lined with spec
tators and several of the entries were spectacular.
There just weren't enough of them. Maybe more
next year... The lighted holly trees in downtown
Southport give a double-take effect from their
store-front plate glass background and reflec
tions.
Katherine Carson is the daughter of Mrs. Susie
Carson of Southport and lives in Salisbury. Md.
She has a black and white cat named "Zoe" which
is featured in the "Page-A-Day-365 Cats Calen
dar" for November 16,1993... Duke is right back
where it belonged at the beginning of the season,
in first place in the national basketball poll. The
Blue Devils looked great Saturday night as they
defeated Michigan, the pretenders to theirthrone.
UNC didn't look too shabby in Charlotte, swamp
ing South Carolina and Texas, and are now ranked
sixth. Maybe North Carolina should lend Duke
some bench players. The Tar Heels have too
many and Duke has too few.
Public opinion
Little theater
To the Editor:
I would like to express my thanks
to the Brunswick Little Theater for
providing wonderful entertainment
for my family and guests over the
Thanksgiving holiday.
The purpose of my letter is to let
others know of this great source of
entertainment right here in
Brunswick County. The perfor
mance of "Noises Off had the
audience in stitches through all
three acts. This was the second play
we had attended. The first was ”45
minutes from Broadway”, which
was a delightful musical with music
by the Brunswick Concert Band.
You don't have to go to
Wilmington or New York for
cultural entertainment - we have it
right here in our own backyard. The
little theater needs support from all
areas of the county so they can
further enhance their ability to
provide quality entertainment to all
the people of the county. At this
time, productions are staged at the
renovated Centennial Center in
Southport. Presumably some plays
will be performed at the new Odell
Williamson Auditorium after it
opens in early 1993.
It would be a big boost for
Brunswick Little Theater, and a
plus for Brunswick County, if all
folks who enjoy this type of
entertainment will support them by
their attendance and encourage
ment.
Sincerely,
Leon El wood Cheers
Notable dates
To the Editor:
I was impressed with your tribute
to veterans in the November 18,
1992, issue. The letters from the
students was definitely a different
approach.
The meaning behind Veterans
Day is being lost along with other
notable dates of our time, such as V.
E. Day, V. J. Day, the attack on
Pearl Harbor, Doolittle's raid, the
invasion of Normandy and the
atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
The page in tribute to veterans
would have been complete if the
picture of the veterans saluting had
not been printed backwards.
Rex R. Amos
Morgantown, W. Va.
Respect won
To the Editor:
Re. your report of November 18,
"Veterans winning battle for
respect”.
As a World War II veteran, I was
touched by that report and I wish to
To The Editor:
Hie Slate Port Pilot invites its readers to share their views on subjects of
public interst. Comments should be addressed to The Editor and mailed
toTbe State Port Pilot, P.O.Box 10548, Southport, N.C 28461 Letters
should be limited to 250 words, longer letters will be edited for space,
or will be returned to the writer if editing would significantly alter the
Content. Please include the writer's address auditor telephone number so
be of she can be contacted by the Editor if necessary. Addresses and
telephone numbers wilt not be printed.
thank all those who contributed to
it.
Only one thing - the picture with
the salute was put wrong.
Sincerely,
Silvio Chavez
Fort Worth, Texas
Silent auction
To the Editor:
I would like to thank all the
people that helped make the first
annual Christmas-By-the-Sea silent
auction so successful.
First, there was the committee
that consisted of Gary and Judy
Cannan, Bill Collin and Fran
Broome. Secondly, there were the
62 merchants that donated wonder
ful items for bidding.
On the day of the auction
additional help came from Allen
Burgess, Mary Collin, Dorothy
Essey, Woody Woodward and the
Long Beach Parks and Recreation
Department. A special thanks also
goes to Karen Hope at the chamber
for preparation of the certificates
and The State Port Pilot for the
See Opinion, next page
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