Vol. 82 No. 8
THE County TIMES-NEWS
THE ROANOKE-CHOWAN TIMES — Established 1892
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1973
Northampton County's Only Advertising and News Medium ★ ★ ★
☆ TEIE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY NEWS — Established 1926
10c Per Copy Rich Square, N. C.
12 Pages
Kirwan Vann-One Year Later
‘Just Drifting Comfortabiy*
By JEANETTE DAVIS
Staff Reporter
RICH SQUARE — There is no way to put
monetary value on a human life but one year ago
the people in the Roanoke-Chowan area were
alerted to the fact that one of its young people
needed help and realized money was necessary to
provide that help.
After the announcement that 16-year-old
Kirwan Vann of Conway was suffering from a
kidney disease young people from Hertford,
Northampton, Gates, Bertie, and Halifax Counties
joined forces and Project Life was off and run
ning. Funds amounting to $26,637.26 were raised
and deposited in the Bank of Northampton in
Jackson to be used for Kirwan’s medical expenses
and comfort. A board of directors was named to
manage the funds.
Until that time Kirwan and his mother were
making the trip to Duke Medical Center as many as
three times weekly .for treatment on a Travenol
RSP artifical kidney machine. Without this, the
outcome would have been fatal. The Vann’s had
hospital insurance, but not enough to cover the
County Schools
Schedule Changed
JACKSON — Superintendent of Schools for
Northampton County, Roy F. Lowery, has announced
the following changes in the school schedule.
The first semester will end January 23 instead of
January 17 as orginally scheduled. The teacher work
day and student holiday is now January 24. The last
day of the fifth month of the school year has been
moved from February 1 to February 7.
As p'- nned, April26 and27 will be used as make-up
days. Th Board of Education will probably decide at
its next meeting concerning when to make up the other
days which were lost. When this is determined, the
1972-73 Calendar of Events will be altered accordingly.
“It is my suggestion that mid-term examinations
be scheduled at times that best suit your schedule
during the four days beginning January 18 and ending
January 23,1973. In any event, it is my recommendation
that examinations not be scheduled on days following'
nights when basketball games or other activities are
scheduled at the school,” Lowery said.
"The changes were made necessary.’-’ Lowery
stated, “Because of the heavy snows and ;cy
which closed all county schools for four days.” He had
high praise for what he termed an excellent job done
during the bad weather by the principal, teachers,
students and bus drivers.
monumental expense involved.
Mrs. Vann was undergoing tests to see if one of
her kidneys would be compatible to Kirwan’s for a
transplant. But another problem was present,
Kirwan is a diabetic, making risks involved in the
transplant more severe.
Now, one year later, much has happened to
Kirwan Vann and Project Life.
Money wise, $15,000 is on a certificate of
deposit at Bank of Northampton $6,902.92 is on
account and $4,734.34 has been spent to help deter
Kirwan’s medical expense.
Broken down in ways the funds were spent,
$302.89 went May 10 for lodging at the Hilton Inn
when Kirwan and Mrs. Vann were staying in
Durham for diagnostic work at Duke Medical
Center.
June 1 Dr. Archie Eagles was paid $49, kidney
machine supplies amounting to $303.60 were
purchased, Carolina Surgical Supply was reim
bursed $97.85 and $2,762.30 went to Duke Medical
Center for training Mrs. Vann to operate the
kidney machine.
On November 30 the bill at Duke Medical
Center was paid to date, $308.86. Dr. J. A.
Fleetwood was reimbursed $47 and Carolina
Surgical Supply bill was paid amounting to
$207.55.
Legislative Delegation
Ready To Get Moving
By JOSEPH COVOLO JR.
Managing Editor
AHOSKIE — Roanoke-
Chowan’s four
representatives in the 1973
General Assembly, after their
first week in Raleigh, are all
in agreement that things are
off to a good start and a lot
may get done this session. In
weekend interviews most
expressed some reservations
on the above statement until
after this week’s State of the
State speech by Governor Jim
Holshouser.
“During the past week we
got all of the organizing done,
everybody knows what
Rep. Roberts Jernigan of
Ahoskie.
This is backed up by Sen.
Phil Godwin of Gatesville
saying, “I believe the
leadership of the assembly is
determined to get things
started as soon as possible and
committees he is on and where take care of past slack motion,
they meet, This is the earliest You cannot get the assembly
we have ever gotten this into gear like an automobile,
business out of the way,” said Some bills are timed and will
Federal Funds To Pay
County Home Project
not come up till their authors
are ready. By and far the
prevailing attitude is to get
things going.
2d Bill On Floor ,
Our legislative delegation
got its marks in timeliness
when Lewiston’s Senator J. J.
(Monk) Harrington
introduced the second piece of
legislation to hit the floor of
the senate, a resolution with 28
signatures calling for the
Roads Committee to study a
reorganization of the Highway
Commission at opce.
“I hope to start on this item
within the next two weeks,”
Senator Harrington said.“I
am formulating plans to have
(See MOVING, Page 7
JACKSON — Revenue
Sharing Funds and financing
of the $226,000 renovation
project at the County Home
were the principal items taken
up at the regular meeting of
the Northampton County
the court house Monday with
Board Chairman Jasper Eley
presiding.
County Accountant Sidney
T. Ellen reported that the
second payment of Federal
Revenue Sharing funds for
commissioners that this
request be granted.
The county accountant also
informed the board he had a
request from the Farm
Bureau that the
commissioners go on record
Officers
Named
December 30, $691.07 went to pay for the kidney Board'of'Commrssionerr'at 1972 had been received and backing the , bureau’s By CADA
(See DRIFTING, Page 7)
Project Expansion?
Anybody’s Guess
RICH SQUARE - A story in
a Roanoke Rapids newspaper
Friday telling of an expansion
of the RCA-CADA project has
resulted in a lot of question
marks as no one, who would be
affected by the allege^
expansion, claims any
]f,,5wieagt ‘he,matter.
Rich Square ^ oroiect
Director Eugene Jones i •.
that the first he knew of it was
late Monday afternoon when
ciK of hiL' t-nplvee . brought
in a copy of the newspaper.
“If there is something in the
wind it hasn’t blown by here,”
Jones said. “Maybe someone
at the Migrant and Seasonal
Farm Workers Association in formerly known as the North
Raleigh knows. You would Carolina Council of Churches,
think we would be among the The property will revert back
first to know.”
Following Jones’ advice
Your Home Newspaper called
the association in Raleigh and
talked with Thomas Ward, an
assistant to the executive
director, William Shipes.
Ward’s story was simitar to
that of Jones’ in th^^jfj.^fjew of
‘pr expans^Ys '-mad^ nb'?
refeases‘’^fl the subject.
A final check at the local
Oops
Brothers Drown
While Skating
RICH SQUARE — North
ampton’s retired Health
Department Acting Director,
B. R. Bullock, had his name in rich SQUARE — A double By the time he got to the
the Times-News tragedy struck here this past house, Thomas found himself
approximately three times weekend when two brothers physically unable to return for
i„.-. oil throo broke through the ice while the second boy as he, himself,
skating on the Roanoke River
behind the Archie Browne
farm and were drowned.
last year. On all three
occassions he was identified
as P. A. Bullock. Both B. R.
and P. A. are from Seaboard.
This oversight was brought
to our attention recently and
we therefore set the record
straight.
Griffin To
inauguration
RICH SQUARE - L. B.
Griffin has received an
invitation to attend the
inauguration of President
Richard Nixon in the nation’s
capital on Saturday.
Griffin will leave Friday for
Washington by train to attend
the inaugural events.
was freezing and had lost all
feeling in his esttremities.
Deputy Sheriff Parker was
Woodland, when he got
Northampton County word of the tragedy, and he
Deputy Sheriff Grover Parker rushed to the scene. Upon his
identified the boys as Curtis arrival he found one boy in the
Lee Edmonds, 15, and
Raymond Lee Edmonds, 7,
sons of Roosevelt and Geneva
Edmonds of rural Rich
Square
house and Thomas wrapped in
blankets suffering from
exposure.
The deputy went to the
scene and brought the second
According to the deputy’s ^oy back to the house. He
report, the two boys were ice called Northampton County
skating with a sister about Coroner Joe Edwards as the
dusk when they went through two youngsters were
the ice. obviously dead. He also called
The sister ran home and got the Rich Square Rescue Squad
an older brother, Thomas, to assist Thomas. The squad
to CADA’s ownership in 20
(See PROJECT, Page 9)
Legislators
Assigned To
Commit*e^s
RALEIGH — Roanoke-
CADA headquarters in Chowan legislators report a
Murfreesboro executive long list of assignments,
director John Taylor, brought including several to major
our batting average to 1,000 in committees in the 1973
the fact he knows nothing of an General Assembly.
expansion in Rich Square. First District Senators Phil
“As of the last day of Godwin of Gatesville and J. J.
February that project will be (Monk) Harrington of
out of our hands. We have had Lewiston were appointed to
it for a while and worked it up major Senate committees
to a very successful program. January 12 by Lt. Gov. Jim
Being that we will not be Hunt.
handling it any longer we are Godwin is chairman of the
not making any releases or Banking Committee and vice
any comments on the future chairman of Judiciary I.
plans of the project.” Harrington heads the Public
According to the news story Roads Committee and is vice
full details of the expansion chairman of the State Policies
plans are pending termination Committee,
of Radio Cotporation of Fifth Dist. Rep. Guy Revelle
America’s involvement with of Conway was assigned to
the project. agriculture, banks and
The Choanoke Area banking, commissions and
Development Association, institutions for blind and deaf,
which has been involved in finance, insurance, library,
recruiting low-income local government No. 2, and
families for the family public welfare,
training project, will end its Fifth Dist. Rep. Roberts
Involvement February 28 as Jernigan of Ahoskie is
of the
amounted to $215,905. He
stated this brought the total
for 1972 up to $439,465.
Ellen said that the first
payment of $213,560 had been
placed in six month savings
certificates and could not be
used for six months. The
second payment of $215,905,
however, had been placed in a
special trust fund and was
available for immediate use.
He recommended that
Federal Revenue Sharing
funds be used to renovate the
County Home, as it was known
that this project would be
lawful use of the funds.
After some discussion,
Commissioner John H.
Liverman made a motion that
the cost of renovating the
County Home which is
scheduled to start today be
.v,ud entirely out of Federal
J.,fevenufi^Sharing funds, and
current county budgei for tnaX
purpose, be diverted to other
uses as the need arises.
Commissioner John Faisson
seconded the motion, which
carried unanimously.
Ellen also stated he had a
request from the contractor
that workers brought in for the
purpose of renovating the
home be allowed to live in the
second floor apartment of the
home during the renovation. It
appeared to be the concensus
attempts to get legislation
through the General Assembly
that would allow farm land
MURFREESBORO -
At
outside of towns to be assessed the annual meeting of the
on the basis of the use of the Choanoke Area Development
land as a farm and not on Association (CADA) Tuesday
evening. Dr. John Stanley of
Woodland was reelected
(See HOME, Page 9)
of
opinion
of
the
85 Per Cent
7972 Taxes
Collected
JACKSON — $993,985.01
of the total levy of
$1,174,601.11 in 1972 taxes
had been collected by
January 1, according to
Mrs. Elizabeth Hughes of
the County Tax Collector’s
Office.
This means that 84.634
leaving only $180,616.10
uncollected when the new
year started. This amount
is being reduced as taxes
come in to the tax
collectors office daily.
Mrs. Hughes stated that
collection this past year is
considerably better than
the previous year. She also
reported that over 99 per
cent of taxes due for prior
years has now been
collected.
president for a second term.
Weldon’s Mrs. Doris H.
Cochran was elected first vice
president; Murfreesboro’s
Charles L. Paul, second vice
president; andM. W. Coleman
of Windsor secretary-
treasurer. His second term.
Elected to the executive
committee were Ernest Hardy
and Mrs. Hazel Tayloe of
Bertie County; James Wright,
Leroy Douglas, and Charles
Paul of Hertford; Dr. Stpnely,
James Wesley, and the Rev.
Joe D. McLean of North
ampton; and Edward
Garrison and Ij^ertaan Wdiju of
are Thomas Speight, Windsor;
Edward Garrison, Halifax;
Sam W. Oakley, Weldon; Mrs.
Cochran (returning);.Edward
Jones, Enfield; Joseph Day,
Scotland Neck; Richard
Baker, Harrellsville; Richard
E. Gadsden, Winton; Johnnie
Reid, Murfreesboro; Mrs.
Gloria Simons, Ahoskie; Mrs.
Julian W. Porter, Severn;
James Wesley, Jackson; C. B.
Lawrence, Windsor; and
Robert B. Faucette Jr.,
Roanoke Rapids.
$273,793 Received
In Revenue Sharing
JACKSON — Revenue
sharing checks received last
week in Northampton County
amounted to $273,793 or four
will RCA. chairman than the checks
In the agreement between Appropriations Subcommittee Pf^ December 11 "
CADA, RCA and the workers in charge of general receivea uecemoer
fund.
The government found,
however, that the one per cent
was not enough to handle the
adjustments, so five per cent
was withheld on the second
check or four more per cent
who went to the scene on a
tractor and pulled the two
boys out onto the ice. He then
took one boy home.
removed Thomas to the office
of Dr. John Stanley in
(See TRAGEDY, Page 9)
association, CADA, which government and According to a spokesman than in December
purchased the project last transportation. He also serves gj Congressman
year, has leased it to the U.S. on higher education, rules, l H Fountain, one per cent of Northampton County
Office of Economic state government, water and ^^g ^gj.e held out from government received $215,905
Rich Square was the largest
recipient with $15,275 and
Lasker received its first
payment of $325. Lasker was
not included in the first
handout because it was late
filing for the funds.
Other Northampton
allocations included Conway,
$8,525; Gaston, $8,421;
Seaboard, $8,121; Woodland,
Opportunity, which in turn has air resources, constitutional first checks in what the in revenue sharing funds of $7,890; Jackson,
subleased the project to the amendments, local ggyernment called “capital the total county figure of Severn, $4,372;
Migrant and Seasonal Farm government and employment holdback” or adjustment $273,793. Garysburg, $636.
Workers Association, security.
$6,323;
and
Giilam Had Desire To Serve
Highway Commission Term Reviewed
RECEIVING THE AWARD OF POSTMASTER OF THE YEAR at the
annual dinner meeting of the Northampton County Chapter of the National
Association of Postmasters Tuesday night is Edward Lee Womble (second
left), postmaster at Rich Square. Making the presentation is Mrs. Leslie
White, wife of last year's winner of the award. Leslie White, postmaster at
Woodland, was attending school in Oklahoma. Observing are Bruce
Conyers, manager of the new sectional center in Rocky Mount (left), and
Chapter Chairwoman Sarah V. Colston, postmaster at Garysburg.
By LAURA HARRELL
WINDSOR — It was a desire
to serve and help people that
caused Carroll H. Giilam of
Windsor to be interested in
accepting appointment as a
highway commissioner and
now that his term has ended —
six months sooner than it was
scheduled to at the request of
new Republican Jim
Holshouser — he looks back on
the past three and one-half
years with the thought that,
“It was a real pleasure to help
the people of this district and
if at any time in the future, I
can help in any way, I will be
glad to do so.”
Giilam said his experience
on the Highway Commission
“has been most rewarding. I
had a chance to make friends
on the Commission from
across the state and I am
grateful to Governor Scott for
appointing me.”
In discussing the things that
have been done, the former
commissioner talked abopt
two things he feels should be
done. Topping the list is
allocation of total revenue to
each division on a pro rata
share. “Division One does not
expect to get as much as a
division serving Mecklenburg
or some of the more populated
areas; however, each division
should know what it is going to
receive in total revenue.”
The second thing that has
Gillam’s attention is the need
for a larger allocation for
secondary roads. “With the
allocation we have, there is no
way of maintaining the roads
we have. All the roads built in
Governor Scott’s father’s
administration need to be
widened and realigned and
those roads alone would take
more than the secondary
allocation each county is
getting without considering
any new paving,” he reasons.
A concern which Giilam
expressed at the beginning of
his term was about
maintenance. It took a lot of
convincing but he is
responsible for the idea of
locating the state’s first silo
for the storage of asphalt. He
said these are used in Virginia
and have proven to be a great
help in cutting down on the
waste of time, labor and
equipment in waiting for
asphalt on maintenance jobs.
The state’s first silo is
located in Washington County
and Giilam expects it to be a big
factor in saving time and
making more efficient the
operation of the maintenance
crew in this area. He says he
plans, to watch in the future to
see what contributions it is
making.
Did Not Resign
While several of the
members of the Highway
Commission resigned at the
last meeting of the group,
January 4, before Governor
Holshouser was inaugurated,
Giilam was one of those who
did not submit his resignation
at that time.
He said he did not resign
then “because I felt if I could
be of any service to the new
administration in the
transition period, I would be
happy to give that service.”
He received a letter form
the new governor on January 6
asking for his resignation in
order for Gov. Holshouser to
appoint his own team.
The Windsor man
represented the counties of
Bertie, Hertford, Martin,
Northampton, Tyrrell and
Washington. His only other
venture into public life was
also by appointment having
served two terms on the North
Carolina Seashore
Commission.
Giilam says he adopted the
philosophy that he wanted to
help make improvements
wherever he could and if
anybody had a problem, he
was willing to see if a solution
could be worked out. He
recalls many problems were
solved but many were not.
He thinks a proposal to
abolish the Highway
Commission would be a
mistake because he feels the
various commissioners serve
(See GILLAM, Page 7)
.Mtayiaayi
iiii
Carroll H. Giilam