Time and tide
J
50 years ago
Fifty years ago this week the John M. Morehead and IV. P. Anderson,
two local menhaden boats, went into active duty for the U. S. Navy,
rhe two boats of the fleet maintained by the Brunswick Navigation
Company were requested by the Navy for patrol duty along the coast
line. The crews, however, were not to remain aboard. This action ended
speculation about possible menhaden catches during the winter.
The Navy was still recruiting men and boys even though they were
not subject to the draft laws. It was then not mandatory that the enlistee
be 18 years of age.
45 years ago
Forty-five years ago this week O. P. Bellamy killed the largest hog or
the year in Brunswick County. Dressed out, it weighed 755 pounds.
The giant measured six feet in length and stood 37 inches high. Four
stands ol lard were taken from the fat. Bellamy also butchered another
hog weighing 400 pounds.
Fire destroyed the living quarters of the Waccamaw teachers. All
residents’ personal belongings and furnishings were destroyed. The
loss was estimated at $50,000. The fire could possibly have been ex
tinguished, but the Whiteville fire truck on the way to the scene sides
wiped another vehicle, preventing its chances of arriving on time.
35 years ago
Thirty-five years ago this week the county courthouse in Southport
was damaged by fire with the loss amounting to $60,000. The cause of
the pre-dawn blaze was undetermined at the time. Insurance covered
the loss of everything except valuable papers. The assistance of the fire
department from Sunny Point Army Terminal was a great help in
bringing the fire under control.
On the line of firefighting, steps had been taken to make the Sunny
Point terminal a safe place for handling high explosives. The terminal
laeilities already wcie the finest to be found and further improvement
was being strived for.
30 years ago
Thirty years ago this week there was a front-page picture of tax col
lector Douglas Hawes and the tax listers taking their oath of office be
lore judge Edward Clark, who was conducting Superior Court here.
This was our issue for December 12, 1962, and on the front page there
also was a picture of the carol choir at Southport Presbyterian Church.
Three members of Southport’s state championship eight-man football
team had made all-state — C. E. Murphy, quarterback; Earl CIcwis,
guard; and Donald Dixon, end.
20 years ago
A front-page picture in the Pilot for December 13,1972, showed offi
cials of the Frying Pan Lightship Commission accepting a check for
$200 from the Brunswick County Historical Society to help pay costs
of converting the vessel into a nautical museum. The State Highway
Commission had rejected the low bid for construction of the new
bridge to Oak Island due to an error made by the bidder. The project
was to be rc-advcrtiscd.
Following a public hearing concerning Dosher Memorial Hospital,
the editor had come forward with the conclusion that there would be no
problem if people would pay their hospital bills. In other words, ac
counts receivable at the hospital exceeded the total outstanding in
debtedness. A new container-loading facility was to be constructed at
Sunny Point Army Terminal and bids were being advertised for this
project.
15 years ago
Mrs. Mac Bambcr, former mayor of Southport, England, was a visitor
in our city and we had a front-page picture of her assisting Mayor E. B.
Tomlinson, Jr., in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of Holiday
House. That was in the Pilot for December 14, 1977, which also had
accounts of other activities in which our English visitor had partici
pated during the preceding weekend. There was even an editorial prais
ing her grace and charm.
The developers of Bald Head Island had received a permit to erect an
office building on Moore Street in Southport; we had a picture of Bill
McDougle accepting a framed letter from mayor Louise Corbett upon
his retirement as a member of the town board of Yaupon Beach; and
the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Department had participated in the sei
zure of 171/2 tons of marijuana from a shrimp trawler in the Brunswick
River. The operator was a Virginia resident.
10 years ago
Christmas was the theme in advertising, news and photos in the Pilot
for December 15,1982, with a variety of programs and special celebra
tions listed as coming attractions. Predictably an article on recipes
focused heavily upon Christmas dinner and holiday desserts.
Ten years ago when we went down to Caroon Crab Co. headquarters
everybody was busy filleting flounders; now they have to buy them by
the pound; we had a picture of Bruce Raynor, manager at Winn-Dixie,
presenting a check for $1,000 to a Long Beach resident, Mrs. R. G.
Jones, winner in a store contest; and the weather tower at the southwest
comer of the Garrison had been pronounced the most spectacular
Christmas decoration in town.
5 years ago
"Christmas-By-the-Sea", the first full-scale organized holiday promo
tion on Oak Island, had turned out to be an unqualified success and we
had photo coverage and story in the Pilot for December 2, 1987. The
second Holiday Flotilla in Southport had grown from five entries the
previous year to a total of 13 lighted vessels parading along the water
front.
Jean Rhudy had been elected president of Southport Woman’s Club
and we had a photo of the installation ceremonies; Grace Beasley had
been reelected chairman of the Brunswick County Board of Com
missioners; and Quinton McCracken was in Charlotte practicing as a
member of the North Carolina squad for the annual Shrine Bowl foot
ball game on Saturday of that week.
White Wicker Sale
Wicker is a great way to decorate with its clean lines and lovely
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Matching Mirror (reg. $179.00) ^79
CASH & CARRY!
1
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CO
Opinion
Continued from page 4
excellent promotion of this event.
I feel this event can be summed
up by a comment made by one of
the bidders: "A good deal was had
by all."
Anne Watson
Chairman, Silent Auction
Committee
Hardy souls
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Christmas-By
the-Sea Festival Parade Committee
we would like to thank all those
hardy souls who participated in, and
the spectators of, the sixth annual
festival parade.
A special thanks to our parade
marshal, superintendent of
Brunswick County schools Dr.
Ralph Johnston, and his wife Sonia.
Thanks go out to parade helpers
Hank and Millie Zimmerman, Bill
Sphar, Hank Repscha. Marsha
Cochran, Mary Tomlinson, Jason
Griffith, Mike Brogan, Jimmy
Moore, Laurel Payne, Erica
Wozniak. Wyatt and Madeleine
Gordon, Irene Webb, Tom Gray,
Woody Woodward -- and Santa.
Thank you to those who donated
the use of convertibles: Alpha Auto
Sales, Rene Ward, Jones Ford,
David Hirst, Edna Crouch, Bill
Sizemore, Carolyn Hedricks, Peg
Aten, Randy Fullwood, Donna
Coleman and Shirley Howe.
Thank you to parade judges Joan
Altman, Bill Dcarman, Sabrina
Hodges and David Clegg.
Thank you to Southport Marine
Mart for loaning boats for parade
floats. Oak Island Golf and Country
Club for loaning the committee a
golf cart, the Town of Yaupon
Beach for hosting the VIP reception
and the Yaupon Beach, Long Beach
and Caswell Beach police depart
ments and Brunswick County
Sheriffs Department for crowd
control.
And a special thanks to the towns
of Yaupon Beach and Long Beach
and their residents for their support.
Lynne Repscha
Nancy Sphar
Parade co-chairman
Cloggers float
To the Editor:
I would like to thank the follow
ing people lor making the Christ
mas-By-the-Sea parade a very
successful event for the Southport
Seacoast Cloggers:
Joe Medlin and the City of
Southport: Steve Mealy, city
maintenance supervisor, and Rufus
King, city mechanic, for their time
and support: Jim and David Knight
for the generator; Ray Spencer for
ux)ls and materials: Carl Carter's
Shuttle and Landscaping Service for
the generous loan of the tractor and
trailer. Oscar Smith for his skillful
driving; Sue Kaufman for being a
super Santa; and the cloggers and
their families for their untiring labor
of love.
David Spencer
Pocketbooks
To the Editor:
The Long Beach town fathers
have accomplished a great deal in
1992. They have managed more
assaults upon the taxpayers'
pockets.
No time was lost in presenting the
citizens with their quarterly charges
for trash pickup. 1 would prefer to
deliver my own trash to the dump
but I am not given this option. This
charge arrived with the water bill.
The water bill lists a basic charge of
$18.69, plus the charge for gallons
used.
The newspaper recently advised
that there would be a charge for a
$5 decal per car for the permanent
residents starting in 1993. The
report also noted that those citizens
delinquent in this duty would be
prosecuted (persecuted). When I
first moved to Long Beach. I was
informed by an employee of City
Hall that the decal was for my
protection as a homeowner. In case
of an evacuation from an approach
ing hurricane, only the cars with
decals would be allowed back on
the island after the storm had
passed. One of the commissioners
informed me he had never heard of
such a thing. He said the reason-for
the $5 charge was because it was
time-consuming to hand out the
stickers. How much time is in
volved here? I drive by Town Hall
each day and I have never seen a
line formed waiting to be served.
This doesn't sound like much
money but each year we keep
adding and adding. Retirees don't
get raises in their income.
Gerald A. Marsh
Long Beach
Stuart resigns Caswell
seat; Terry is selected
By Amitabh Pal
Municipal Editor
Bob Terry was appointed Thurs
day to the Caswell Beach Board of
Commissioners to replace Duncan
Stuart, who resigned last week for
health reasons.
"Bob Terry has been on the plan
ning board and has worked with de
velopment areas," mayor Jack Cook
said in making die appointment.
"These arc things that arc challeng
ing us now and will continue to
challenge us in the future."
Terry will complete Stuart’s term,
which expires in November, 1993.
An immediate appoinUnent was
necessary because with Stuart’s
resignation and the continued illness
of commissioner Estcn Gillis the
board would have been without a
quorum.
Gillis, who has been unable to at
tend meetings for the past few
months, has also submitted her ver
bal resignation but is expected to be
reappointed when she recovers.
After the quorum was established,
the board approved die
OccanGrccns Phase IV final site
plan alter a brief public hearing.
Dave LaFavc, general manager of
the project, gave an overview of the
project consisting of 28 four-plex
"oceanfront" units and 18 duplex
golf course villa units.
"1 feel die development will Ire an
asset to the town," he said. "It has
generated positive interest from
folks elsewhere."
Walter Schneider, a resident of
The Arboretum, expressed concern
that all of the planned units are not
on an even grade.
LaFavc said this was done
deliberately to give the development
a single-family, rather than a mulli
lamily, residential feel and said
Post office to
extend hours
The Southport post office
will be open until 2 p.m. on
Saturdays during the Christ
mas mailing season, postmas
ter James Hardy has an
nounced.
Saturday hours will be from
9 a.m. until two o’clock "in
an effort to make it easier for
our customers to do business
with us." Hardy said.
"Our aim is to make our
services available with as
little inconvenience to our
customers as possible. ”
there would be a provision in the
contract warning occupants of
homes at lower elevations of their
vulnerability in a storm or hurricane.
Billy Coleman, on behalf of the
planning board, recommended that
the plan be approved with changes
to reduce structure density and to
provide more parking.
The board also appointed building
inspector Roger Parks as a part-time
town employee. Parks had been un
der contract to the town since 1975.
"We’ve been encouraged by our
(insurance advisers) to make him an
employee of the town," Cook said.
"Since we cannot make him a full
time employee because of the hours
that he works, we’re making him a
part-time employee."
The board also:
•Tabled the operating budget
report for November in the absence
of necessary receipts.
•Announced that garbage will not
be picked up on December 22 and
December 24, as scheduled.
•Received a report from com
missioner Bill Royd that he is still
investigating a proposed town
maintenance schedule for conven
tional septic systems. He said he has
received one "encouraging"
response from Dr. Michael Hoover
of North Carolina Stale University.
•Received Boyd’s report that the
town had received a CAMA permit
for enlarging the public parking lot
near the CP&L pumping station and
expects CAMA permission to locate
a beach access between 329 and 401
Caswell Beach Road.
•Received Boyd’s report on the
three properties that the town is
scrutinizing for various reasons.
Boyd said town attorney Elva Jess
has contacted the owners of the
Heinz property, which allegedly is
iri violation of local building codes.
A demolition permit for the
dilapidated Rogers property has
been issued, Boyd said, and "before
long we’ll see the wrecking ball on
110 Caswell Beach Road." Boyd
said the Bell properly, which is said
to be in a deteriorated condition, is
not on "top of the (town’s priority)
list."
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