Vol. 82 No. 41
THE County TIMES-NEWS
if it "ilC Northampton County's Only Advertising and News Medium if it it i^
THE ROANOKE-CHOWAN TIMES — Established 1892 ☆ THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY NEWS — Established 1926
THURSDAY, Oct. 11, 1973 lOc Per Copy Rich Square, N. C.
16 Pages
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Soul City To Be Born
In Nov. 9 Ceremonies
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ByLEEHANSLEY
NEWS EDITOR
SOUL CITY — The first concrete and
structural steel will begin rising out of the gently
rolling Warren County countryside sometime
after Nov. 9, the date announce this week for
groundbreaking for Soultech I.
Soultech I is described as an industrial in
cubator facility and it is included in the first phase
of development of this city that has been in the
lanning stages since 1968 when Asheville-born
awyer Floyd McKissick announced intentions for
the black capitalist venture.
A groundbreaking and developer McKissick
Is
CITY LEADERS —Discussing plans for the Nov. 9 groundbreaking at Soul
City are (from left) Willie Mason of Washington, D. C., groundbreaking co
ordinator; Evangeline Grant Redding of Tillery, cultural arts director of
Soul City; and developer Floyd McKissick.
celebration will be held Nov. 9
at Soul City, 10 miles north of
Henderson off U. S. 158-U. S. 1,
and political, civil rights and
economic development
leaders from around the
nation are scheduled to
attend.
Gov. Jim Holshouser Jr. and
Alvin J. Arnett, director of the
Office of
Opportunity
Economic
will join
Friday Is
Filing In
Deadline For
Towns Elections
JACKSON — As the
deadline for filing for political
office in the Nov. 6 general
election nears, candidates are
flocking to county registrars
to file for municipal offices in
the county’s nine
municipalities.
Noon F'-iday is the filing
deadline,
Filing .,h:s been
hedvy in tCnhway Vvhere four
incumbent commissioners are
being opposed by four
newcomers to politics. Mayor
Grady Martin is unopposed.
Seeking reelection to the
town board are William M.
Garriss, James G. Taylor,
William D. Johnson and
Sidney M. Edwards.
Challengers are B. Hailie
Bridgers, W. Jennings (Bill)
Lassiter, Leo W. Barnes and
L. G. Britt Jr. Incumbent
Marion Lassiter has not filed.
Incumbent Mayor Firman
Myrick is again seeking that
town’s highest office.
Commissioners M. C. Dunlow,
Cirven Burnette and Danny
Copeland are challenged by
Annette Claiborne, James
David Allen and Ronnie
Owens.
Commissioners Elton Odom
and Charlie Bryant haven’t
filed for reelection.
In Seaboard Mayor H. M.
Eastwood has filed for
reelection and is unopposed.
Running for commission
seats are Reid V. (Vicky)
Harris 11, Melvin F. Broadnax
and Robert L. Wilson.
Dr, John Stanley is
unopposed in the Woodland
mayoral race. Seeking
commission seats there are
Aubrey R. Smith, Kimsey
King and W. C. Reese along
with newcomer Mrs. James E.
Lee.
In Garysburg’s first
municipal election in the
town’s history. Mayor W. E.
Conwell is seeking that post
again. He has no opposition.
Neoqnier5,.W, W. Huenes
Arthur Lee Best Sr., Stanley
Davis Jr. and Wendell Perry
are running for commission
seats.
In. Jackson Mayor Charlie
Bass, who won his present
term on a write-in campaign,
is in the race for that seat with
former Mayor Floyd M. Price.
J. S. Cocke
Wood Boone,
commissioners in the county
seat, are in the race for three
seats on the board with Jeri.
Gay Boone and Hoyt Giles.
In the county’s smallest
and Jimmy McGee, Ralph W. Britt and
incumbent Hugo Umstead.
In the county’s largest town.
Rich Square, Joe Gordon,
acting mayor and incumbent
commissioner, has filed for a
commission seat along with
town, Lasker, Mayor Harry challengers Joe Majette and
Johnson has filed for John Bowen III.
feflection, Inicumbent
Com.nissH.'nor Robert Collier
and newcomer Edward (Bill)
Lane are seeking commission
seats.
Commissioners Marshall
Lassiter and J.'R. Railery are
running- for reelection in
Severn. Mayor R. D. Johnson
has announced no intention to
seek reelection and neither
have Commissioners Richard
Cunmiissicner Jatnf .■ O.
Outland is running for mayor
of Rich Square. He is
unchallenged.
Five commissioners being
elected in Rich Square,
Conway, Gaston, Severn and
Garysburg. Four will be
elected in Woodland and three
in Jackson, Seaboard and
Lasker.
Pornography Issued
Studied In RS
RICH SQUARE — An
ordinance that would prohibit
the sale of pornographic
literature in Rich Square is
under consideration by the
board of commissioners here.
Rev. Wilburt Swaim, pastor
of the Grace Baptist Church
near Rich Square, approached
the board and stated that the
Red & White Store in Rich
Square was selling literature
of a “leud and obscene
nature.”
He called the magazines
sold at the store “hard core
pornography.”
Swaim said all personal
efforts to convince the store
owner to stop selling the
material under question were
met with no success.
Swaim proposed a town
ordinance based on most
recent Supreme Court
decisions governing the sale of
obscene material. The court
allows for communities to set
their own standards and
attempt to define
pornography.
(Commissioners Charles
Warmack, Jimmy Outland
and Gene Brown agreed with
the board
copies of
northampton chaff
The air around the Gaston Town Hall is
filled with tingles and jingles.
Seemingly bored with the hum-drum
sounds of day-to-day office work. Town Clerk
Deanie Manning has bedecked the town office
with wind chimes galore.
Though the Town Hall, soon to be retired
from use, may not contain all the atmosphere
of a corner gift shop, at least the sounds are
the same and pleasing to the ear.
Margaret Leake, employee in the county
office of the Clerk of Court, uses her spare
time at home to her advantage.
She spends her hours in front of the
television set wrapping clothes hangers with
a silk material. She says the dressed up wire
hangers sell like dressed up wire hangers
should sell and she can’t make them fast
enough.
Margaret, who lives in Seaboard, would
like to have all the straight hangers readers
can spare, but she is not as anxious to accept
a long list of orders for her product.
After recuperating from two recent
automobile crashes and more recent
headaches with the municipal election in Rich
Square (where she is registrar) the town
clerk is back in the full swing of things.
Gladys had resigned as town registrar, but
when she was unable to find someone to fill
her shoes, the town board was successful in
reappointing the friendly clerk.
Something is cooking in Conway — at
least, politically it is.
Following last week’s candidacy
announcement by four of the town’s five
incumbent commissioners and its present
Mayor Grady Martin, a slate of candidates to
match the incumbents has entered the race
for town this week.
Only incumbent Commissioner Marion
Lassiter hasn’t filed for office and rumor has
it he will not run again.
To date county municipal politics Conway-
style is the most interesting in Northampton.
George Harris, county economic
development planner, is interested in finding
a suitable house in and around the county
seat.
George has been living in a Jackson
appartment for several months while his
family has remained in Snow Hill.
George, who is on the Roanoke-Chowan
Regional Housing Authority, can attest to the
fact that the need for housing in Northampton
is real.
Yes, Gladys Futrell is
and well and living in Rich Square.
alive
Municipal officials in Lasker, the county’s
smallerst town, were relieved recently to
discover that the town needs only to find three
persons to agree to run for seats on the board
of'commissioners there.
The officials were expecting to fill five
seats until Barbara Jean Wheeler of the
county elections office notified the town that
its charter calls for but three commissioners
and a mayor.
Incidentally, per capita representation is
greaest on the Laster commission than on any
other municipal board in the county. Every 35
persons is represented by one commissioner.
Rev. Swaim and
voted to seek
ordinances in other cities
prior to adoption of a law in
Rich Square.
In other matters, the board:
—Failed to act on a letter of
resignation from Mayor
Grace Lambertson. Mayor
Pro Term Joe Gordon was
named acting mayor,
however.
—Agreed to allow the
Storeys of Bryantown Road
until Jan. 1 to have a
foundation laid for a new
house and until Jan. 1, 1975 to
have the dwelling complete.
The family is now living in a
mobile home in a non-
conforming area and the
board had previously given
the family six months to get
started on construction and
the family missed the
deadline.
—Voted to request David
Wallace to return to the board
meeting and again request the
town to pay the cost of a
possible trash collection error
in which automotive parts
may have been taken away by
town sanitation crews.
—Agreed to pay $578 to C. E.
Lassiter Insurance Co. for
workmen’s compensation and
$1,448 in general liability.
—Authorized payment of
$202 to Pope Motors of Rich
Square for repair work and a
bill of $298 submitted by R. P.
Jones for rocks and sand was
authorized paid.
—Discussed the possibility
of requiring all future
developers of subdivisions to
install water and sewer
service and open their own
streets, relieving the town of
that responsibility. The
matter was tabled.
—Agreed to pay Town Clerk
Gladys Futrell, town
registrar, $100 for serving in
the position for two years and
$20 per day was approved as
payment to election judges.
Elections board members will
receive $40 compensation ^or
working election day.
in
turning the first shovels of
earth toward construction of
the giant industrial facility.
Mayor Johnny Ford of
Tuskegee, Ala., is expected to
be among the honored guests.
Soultech I is scheduled to
provide employment for up to
350 persons in diversified
industries.
In announcing plans for the
elaborate groundbreaking
ceremony and accompanying
parade, McKissick noted that
creation of the first and only
freestanding new community
in the United States is
underway.
project in 1968. We received
our federal guarantee
commitment for $14 million in
June 1972 and our final
approvals are a matter of
days away.
“It is for this reason Nov. 9
has been selected for the
groundbreaking,” McKissick
stated.
The annual banquet of Soul
City Foundation, a charitable,
non-profit organization, will
be held in conjunction with the
groundbraking.
The banquet is set for 8 p.m.
at Cameron Indoor Stadium
on the Duke University
campus the day of -the
groundbreaking, which is set
for 11 a.m.
Present for Monday’s
announcement of the first
major construction project
were: Eva M. Clayton of
Warrenton, executive director
of the foundation; Gordon R.
Carey of Washington, D. C.,
vice president of McKissick
Enterprises, Inc.; Lorenzo E.
Reid, executive director of
HealthCo, Inc.; and Dr.
Stanford A. Roman Jr.,
clinical director of HealthCo.
Teacher
Charged
Drawing of Soultech I
Soultech I
Soultech I is conceived as an
incubator structure or shell
building which focuses on
attracting industrial firms
seeking to open markets in the
new city.
It is designed to house a
complete range of industrial
and managerial facilities
within a prototypical
structure and expands the
industrial work environment.
The ultramodern facility
will feature structure of steel,
pre-cast concrete and solar
gray glass. It will contain
contemporary climate
control.
The facility will contain
40,000 square feet of
manufacturing and
processing space, plus 12,000
square feet of office space.
There will be room for
cafeteria and private dining
facilities as well as meeting
rooms and personnel training
space.
The facility, revolutionary
in design, will house up to four
small industries providing
jobs for up to 350 persons.
McKissick announced
earlier this year plans that an
electronics industry is
locating in the industrial park
of the new city that will em
ploy 300.
Soultech I is the first
industrial facility to be
developed in the proposed 928-
acre industrial park. The park
will ultimately provide jobs
for 8,200 workers.
The city will be served by a
regional water supply serving
Oxford-Henderson-Soul City.
Offices and staff are now
housed in trailers and in a
building known as The Red
Barn.
The only residents of the
5,000 acre city now are
residing in mobile homes.
Thirty-three persons live on
property that is expected to
boast a population of 50,000 in
30 years.
McKissick proposes a total
planned community complete
with homes and apartments,
jobs, business opportunity,
shopping centers and far-
reaching recreational and
cultural programs.
Mayor Lambertson Resi/s^ns
Joe Gordon Named
Rich Square Mayor
ayor
Pro-Tern Joe Gordon Thursday
night became mayor of Rich
Square following the
unexpected resignation of
Mayor Grace Lambertson.
Mayor Lambertson
informed the town board of
her resignation via letter at
the Oct. 4 board meeting. Miss
Lambertson wasn’t present.
Her one-sentence letter
gave no reason for her
resignation just a month
before the municipal election
and the former mayor, when
contacted, refused to make a
statement concerning the
matter.
Rumor has it she resigned in
a dispute over election
procedures in the upcoming
Nov. 6 election.
Gordon, who has served on
the board for over six years,
had already filed for
reelection to the board of
commissioners when the
female mayor stepped down.
Acting Mayor Gordon plans to
persue his reelection as
commissioner and has no
plans for running for the
mayoral post.
Commissioner ' Jimmy
Outland is the only contender
for the town’s highest seat.
Noon Friday is the filing
deadline.
GARYSBURG — A
Garysburg Elementary
School teacher has been
indicted on charges of
embezzling $19,000 in
antipoverty funds prior to his
employment as a school
teacher here.
Melvin Brooks Newton was
named defendant in two true
bills returned this week by a
Wake County grand jury.
The bills charged Newton
with taking the money while
he was serving as director of
of the Pitt Action Committee,
a local poverty organization in
Greenville. The funds were
distributed by the U.S. Labor
Department.
Newton is a special reading
teacher under the federal
Elementary and Secondary
Education Act at the
Garysburg school.
The indictments charge
Newton with embezzling the
money from two separate
funds between May 31, 1969
and June 1, 1972.
The case is to be heard Nov.
5 in Washington, N.C.
MV •
Grace Lambertson
Gordon is operator of
Gordon-Hunter Funeral Home
here, a business he has been
involved in since 1960. Prior to
that he was associated with
the now defunct Bishop
Funeral Home.
Gordon is the first black
mayor in the history of Rich
Square and is believed to be
the first black man to hold the
high municipal post in the
county’s history.
Gordon is a native of
Elizabeth City and has resided
in Rich Square most of his life.
He attended public school in
Rich Square.
Joe Gordon
He is a member of the
Northampton County Board of
Social Services and he is a
member of the First Baptist
Church and the Prince Hall
Masonic Lodge.
Gordon is married to the
former Elizabeth Jones of
Norfolk. She is general
supervisor for Northampton
County schools.
The Gordons reside on South
Main Street here and they
have one son, Joe Jr., a
student at North Carolina
Central University
Durham.
in
Educational Data
Sought For Census
JACKSON — A sample of
households in this area will
take part in the federal
Gaston Getting Rid
Junked Automobiles
GASTON — A total of 29
junked automobiles have been
moved out of the Town of
Gaston since the town started
paying to have abandoned
cars hauled away a month
ago.
Commissioners this week
discussed a cut-off date for the
town footing the bill and an
ordinance to prohibit
abandoned and junked autos
was also considered.
The cars are being towed
away on a contract basis at a
cost to the town of $5 per car.
Commissioner Elton Odom
suggested that the board
review a copy of the junked
car ordinance in effect in
Roanoke Rapids before any
action is taken by the board.
In another matter the board
voted to instruct Town
Attorney Nick Long to draft
citations that will be served on
residents who are
maintaining livestock within
200 feet of a residence.
The board noted that three
hog pens are now in the
corporate limits in violation of
the ordinance and owners will
be given 30 days to move the
pens.
Town law requires that pens
be no closer than 200 feet from
a dwelling and that they be
(See GASTON, Page 13)
government’s annual survey
of school enrollment to be
taken next week by the
Bureau of the Census, part of
the U.S. Department of
Commerce’s Social and
Economics Statistics
Administration.
Joseph R. Norwood,
director of the Bureau’s Data
Collection Center in Charlotte,
said that interviewers will vist
homes to obtain information
about household members
attending school, from
nursery school through
college, including those taking
vocational, technical or
business courses.
Results of the October 1972
survey showed that 60.1
million persons 3 to 34 years
old were in school.
Elementary school enrollment
(kindergarten through eighth
grade) had declined by aboul
1.4 million since the fall of 1971
because of a decline in the
number of births during the
1960’s.
Although college enrollment
had increased considerably in
the years since 1962, a lower
proportion of college-age men
were in college than during
the late 1%0’s, while the
college enrollment rate for
women has remained about
the same since the late
1960’s.
School enrollment questions
will be in addition to the ones
asked regularly in the monthly
survey on employment and
unemployment conducted
nationwide by the bureau for
the U.S. Department of Labor.
The survey provides a
continuing measure of
conditions in the labor force.
The August survey found the
Nation’s employment
situation little changed from
July. The unemployment rate,
at 4.8 per cent, was essentially
the same as in June and July
but was substantially below
the 5.6 per cent of a year
earlier. After elimination of
seasonal fluctuations, total
(See DATE, Page 13)