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Published every Wednesday in Southport, NC
May 19,1999
TUG O’ WAR
Clad in overalls, boots and plaid shirts, students get a taste of fun — Mark Twain style — last week at North Brunswick High School.
North Brunswick has a field day
Students get a jump on learning
By Laura Kimball
Staff writer
Tug-of-war, sack races, seed-spitting, jello-eating
and frog jumping were the main events last week
at North Brunswick High School, but for some
students the real fun came the night before Mark
Twain Day.
You see, to participate in the most exciting event
— the frog jumping contest — you have to catch
your own frog.
Modeled after Mark Twain’s short story, “The
Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,”
the field day events were intended to give students
in English classes the taste of a good time back in
the days of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Jennifer Cosper found her frog, Ichabod, the
night before the contest. She and some friends,
who had never been frog hunting before, spent .
four hours finding their large, slimy friend.
+
“It was so much fun,” she said “At first we got
kind of tired when we couldn't find a frog. hut
when we did we were excited."
The preferred method of frog hunting was at
night, from a boat on a small pond.
With a flashlight, hunters looked for the gleam
of a frog’s eyes in the night. The light also tempo
rary blinded the frogs, making it possible — or at
least probable — to sneak up on the frog ;uid
See Mark Twain, page 9
Wall replica
to highlight
July festival
The Moving Wall, a replica of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Wash
ington, D. C., will be on display in
Southport during this year’s N. C.
Fourth of July Festival.
The festival. North Carolina’s offi
cial observance of Independence Day,
will attract as many as 40,000 visitors.
Activities will include arts and crafts,
waterfront entertainment, parade,
regatta and fireworks, as well as Beach
Day in neighboring Oak Island. Dates •
of this year’s festival will be July 2-5,
with the parade and fireworks sched
uled on Monday.
The Southport festival is not all fun
and games, though, as the military
plays a major role each year and a nat
uralization ceremony adds a patriotic
theme that will only be enhanced by
The Moving Wall. The Wall will be
erected at Fort Johnston, on the
Southport waterfront, throughout .the
period July 2-8.
The Moving Wall is a half-size repli
ca of the Washington memorial, mea
suring 252 feet in length. It is com
posed of 74 separate frames, placed on
two walls angled to match the original
Wall.
Construction began in 1983 follow
ing experiments with various methods
of replicating the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial. John Devitt, who along
with fellow Vietnam veterans Gerry
Haver and Norris Shears constructed
the replica over an 18-month period.
See Wail, page 16
County budget rises
25 percent this year
By Terry Pope
Staff writer
A freeze on hiring likely will thaw as Brunswick County heads into the
new millennium and tries to get a handle on its substantial growth under a
budget that could be 25 percent larger than the current fiscal year budget.
County manager Jim Varner’s proposal Monday would add 62 new full
time employees to the county payroll and increase spending from $83.3 mil
lion to $104.5 million. The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners has
scheduled a series of workshops starting June 1, with a public hearing
Thursday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m. to hear from residents.
Varner believes it is time to help county departments grow so that services
they provide won’t lag. Brunswick County continues to be the second
See Budget, page 10
Sand tops
wish lists
By Richard Nubel
Staff writer
From Bald I lead Island west to
Holden Beach, all ol the beach com
munities that have been olfered s;ind
from the Wilmington Harbor Project
say they want to begin stabilizing their
beaches now.
“In one manner or another, till the
communities have said. Hey, we want
some sand,"' said Caswell Beach resi
dent Harry Simmons, newly elected
chairman of the Brunswick Beaches
Consortium.
The Brunswick Beaches Consor
See Beaches, page 5
Entrepreneurial School
South Middle recognized
By Diana D Abruzzo
Staff writer
Applauded for taking responsible risks and using innovation
and creativity to teach in the classroom, South Brunswick
Middle School has been named a state Entrepreneurial School.
“It’s like an affirmation of the wonderful things thp^cids and
teachers are doing with the community,” said principal Rick
Lawson. “And doggone it, it’s nice for someone to notice.”
More than 100 schools across the state applied for the award,
and South Brunswick Middle School is one of ten winners. It
is being honored for its innovation, particularly involving its
annual Arts' Impact celebration. Technology Club, physical
education class and Communities In Schools programs, all of
which rely on community and school partnerships.
Members of Gov. Jim Hunt’s Teacher Advisory Committee
visited the school in April to see fust-hand how it uses these
programs to get children excited about learning.
"The committee was impressed with your ellorts to improve
learning and to advance teaching,” w rote Karen Gan*, teacher
adviser to the governor, in a letter announcing the award. "Your -
work exemplifies the kind of responsible risk-taking Governor
Hunt had in mind when he created the Entrepreneurial Schools
program”
Entrepreneurial Schools are chosen based on community
involvement, an emphasis on helping students succeed and use
See Volunteers, page 9
Consolidation July 1
Oak Island’s
first budget
asks 36 cents
By Richard Nubel
Staff writer
A first-ever budget proposal for the
Town of Oak Island was delivered to
Long Beach town councilors and
Yaupon Beach commissioners Tuesday
night.
A bill now pending before the N. C.
General Assembly is expected to con
solidate the towns of Yaupon Beach
and Long Beach on July 1 — the same
day the new fiscal year will begin for
North Carolina local governments.
Staff's recommended budget calls for
a property tax rate in the town's first
year of 36 cents per $ 100 assessed val
uation. Property tax rates in Long
Beach and Yaupon Beach this year
were 42 cents and 38.5 cents, respec
tively, but property was revalued by
Brunswick County this year.
Ad valorem tax receipts in the Town
of Oak Island in its first year are
expected to be $2,577,589, including
property taxes from the nearly 500
acres on the mainland along Long
Beach Road which are to become part
of the town' by annexation on
September 1. This year. Long "Beach
and Yaupon Beach together projected
ad valorem tax collections to be
$2,215,123 — or $362,466 less than it
will take to operate the bigger town
after both consolidation and annexa
tion.
In his budget message, town manag
er Jerry Walters predicts increases in
solid waste costs and wastewater man
agement costs in the coming fiscal year.
Cost of water for town residents is to
remain unchanged.
The town manager also predicts
See Oak Island, page 11
Southport board told
No fire district
this fiscal year
By Richard Nubel
Staff writer
Special legislation allowing formation of fee-sup
ported fire districts will not clear the N. C. General
Assembly in time to be included in Brunswick
County's budget for fiscal year 1999-2(XX).
But volunteer tire departments, including
Southport's, will receive money from the county's
general fund next year, county commissioners chair
man JoAnn Bellamy Simmons told city aldermen
Thursday.
‘This year, the tire departments will be funded as
they were last year," Ms. Simmons said.
In the current budget year, all volunteer fire depart
ments operating in Brunswick County got a base
donation from the county of $17,500. Departments
also qualified to receive money for capital purchases
front a fund into which county commissioners placed
$625.(XX) last year.
Ms. Simmons appeared belore aldermen at mayor
Bill Crowe's request to discuss county policy which
may affect city budget planning for the coming year.
■ Proposed county and municipal budgets, for the fiscal
year to begin July 1. must be presented publicly no
later than June 1 and must be ratified by governing
boards no later titan June 30.
Crowe had asked Ms. Simmons to be prepared to
talk about the county's recent revaluation ot real prop
erty, equipment changes and backup facilities tor the
county's 911 emergency operations center, EMS sys
tem development and plans lor the Dosher Memorial
See Fire tax, page 6
Chairman
Simmons:
■ Revaluation
figures may not
be known before
August
■ County likely
won’t give up
any of 50-cent
telephone
surcharge for
911 service
■ Southport
emergency
system will no
longer serve as
backup to county
communications
■ Future of
Dosher hospital
tax past year
2000 will depend
on township
voters
/Tutoring played a major role in selection of South Brunswick Middle as
*one of ten Entrepreneurial Schools in North Carolina.
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