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SATURDAY, May 28, 2011
Serving All of Person County Since 1881
Copyright The Courier-Times inc, 2011 All Rights Reserved
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TUESDAY; Hi 94 Lo69
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Our 129th Year — No. 43
Roxboro, North Carolina
Two Sections — 20 Pages
www.personcountylite.com
Person County's Social Security office closed
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
The Social Security Administration
(SSA) announced this week that it would
no longer be offering its services at its
Roxboro contact station, located in the
Person County Senior Center at 121-A
Depot St.
The discontinuation of the service
locally was effective Monday. In the
past, a SSA representative has visited
the Person County Senior Center once
a month.
According to a press release issued
by Regional Communications Director
Patti Patterson, SSA is “discontinuing
service [in Person County] because
Congress significantly cut our admin
istrative budget.
“Anyone needing to do business with
Social Security should consider using
our award-winning online services at so-
cialsecurity.gov,” Patterson added. They
may also call us toll free at 1-800-772-1213
or visit any Social Security office.”
Patterson noted that there is an SSA
office located at 3004 Tower Blvd. in Dur
ham. The phone number for that office
is 1-888-759-3908.
There is also an SSA office in South
Boston, Va. That office is located at 2049
Hamilton Blvd. The phone number for
the South Boston office is 434-572-6906.
Kelly Foti, executive director of the
Person County Council on Aging, said
she understood the funding issues being
See COUNTY’S back page
Local jobless
rate drops
below 10%
in April
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
Person County saw its unemploy
ment rate decrease during April for the
third consecutive month, according to
numbers released Friday by the Em
ployment Security Commission (ESC)
of North Carolina.
More importantly, the jobless rate
for Person County is now below 10
See PERSON back page
Memorial
Day Service
this morning
The Person County Museum of His
tory will hold its annual Memorial Day
Service today beginning at 10:30 a.m.
The speaker for the service will be
Sgt. Robert Baynard, U.S. Air Force Stra
tegic Air Command, Bomber Fleet.
He will be joined by members of
the Person High School JROTC, who
will post and retire the colors, and the
Rev. Pam Watkins of Oak Grove United
Methodist Church, who will deliver the
invocation.
Ginny Panetta of American Legion
Auxiliary Unit 138 will lead the Pledge
of Allegiance.
Person County District Attorney Wal
lace Bradsher will provide special music
for the event and Adam White, president
of the Roxboro Rotary Club will make
a special presentation to the Disabled
American Veterans Chapter 72.
New bricks for the museum walkway
will be dedicated in honor or memory
of 18 veterans and seven non-veteran
bricks will be dedicated as well, includ
ing one each to the Roxboro High School
classes of 1955 and 1963 and the deceased
members of the class of 1963.
Kathy Young, museum director,
and Reginald Horton, adjutant of the
American Legion Post 138, will conduct
the dedication of the bricks.
The Person High School Band will
perform God Bless America during the
service today, and Jan Kerr will read A
Memorial Day Poem by C. W. Johnson.
Agnie Brown, president-elect of the
Person County Museum Board of Direc
tors will offer a welcome, and Charlie
Hubbard will introduce Sgt. Baynard.
Richard Vining, who served in the
U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War
and David Ward, a U.S. Army Vietnam
veteran, will lay a wreath in honor of
fallen service members from all wars.
INSIDE Saturday
Agenda
Churches/Religion..
Commentary
Do You Know
Education
Lifestyle
Movies
Realty Transfers
TV Listings
.... A2 Boatwright
. B2-3 Classified
A5 Court...
A3 Editorial
.. A10 Legal Notices..
A9 Military Notes..
A2 Obituaries
B5 Sports..
A2
..B6-7
B5
A4
B7
A3
All
A6-7
B4
6 9 6
COD SUPPLIED THE COOL...
Phyliss Boatwright / C-T
KEEPSAKES — Theresa Nichols holds up mementos from her days as a WAAC.
Nichols recalls her time as
a WAAC during World War II
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Cambridge Hills Assisted Living
resident Theresa Nichols “will be 100
in three years,” as she likes to remind
folks, and she has done a lot of living
during that time, including serving in
the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
(WAAC) during World War 11.
The Indiana native grew up on a
farm; the 11*’' of 13 children. Times
were tough during Nichols’ childhood,
as the Spanish flu took members of
many families, including hers. World
War I raged in a far-off land. Dipthe-
ria outbreaks took their toll. And the
Great Depression brought hardships
to nearly everyone.
Nichols recorded her life story, at
times revealing a poet’s sensitivity to
language. Her story is not always easy
to hear, but it is fascinating, poignant
and educational.
In telling the story of her life, Nich
ols paints a vivid picture of World War
II and her time as a WAAC.
She titled one chapter of her life “As
signment Saint George Hotel, General
Eisenhower’s Headquarters.”
Nichols writes, “Our job assign
ment began the second day after our
arrival in North Africa. The weapons
carrier truck with its long benches
along the sides was our transportation
to our work, rough riding. The male
soldier would come for us at the con
vent and deliver us to the work place.
When our work shift ended, this same
way of transportation returned us to
our living area, the convent.”
The Saint George Hotel in Bair, Alge
ria, was converted to an office building
where Eisenhower’s headquarters was
housed, Nichols explains.
“There was little room for office equip
ment and personnel. Five other WAACs
and I were assigned to this administra
tion force,” she recalls.
“All offices were off-limits, all matters
classified. There was no way of knowing
who worked behind those closed office
doors unless one would see them in the
hallways,” she says.
“Every now and then we’d run into
Gen. Eisenhower and we remained at
attention until he passed us, as we had
been ordered to do. He would salute us
and laugh, sometimes say a word or two
like, ‘to be sure,’ or ‘again.’ He moved in
a rapid pace at all times, I was impressed,
and had great admiration for him,”
Nichols writes. The offices were barren
and crude, she explains. “The filing was
done into strong boxes similar to a foot
locker, somewhat larger and made of
steel. They remained locked unless work
was filed in them.
“The paperwork consisted of cable
gram messages from the front lines. In
fact from all over the world; there were 50
countries directly involved. There were
hundreds of messages received daily.
Delivered by courier, men on motor
cycles, jeeps, most any method one could
conceive of There were no telephones in
our office. I am not sure Gen. Eisenhower
had a phone,” Nichols says.
The WAACs typed information from
the cablegrams on large sheets of log
paper, according to importance and in
chronological order, for Eisenhower
and other high-ranking officers,
Nichols tells us.
“It contained the entire lay-out
of activity at the battle front and
all other areas involved in this war,
such as loss of life, planes, ships,
reverses, troop withdrawals, battle
ground retreats, troop movements,
new battlefronts, equipment losses,
type of guns, tanks and movements.
Any and every thing that needed to
be known. Also gains and good news
included,” she writes, adding, “Itwas
all sad because of loss of life.”
While doing a job she volunteered
for and was proud to do, Nichols says,
in the story of her life, “I lived in
mortal fear most of the time, afraid
I had left out vital information and
men would be killed.”
The messages she and fellow
WAACs dealt with were highly clas
sified, Nichols says. They came from
“the Navy on the high seas, the mili
tary generals at the front lines where
drastic fighting was going on, civil
ians who held jobs as spies, from the
submarines, and all the foreign high
command military forces who were
involved in this war..... The enormous
job was overwhelming,” she tells us.
“We were soldiers 24 hours of the
day. The job was almost impossible to
cope with. One becomes very humble,
praying daily for strength that you
don’t lose your guts or go nuts. God
supplied the cool, his presence was
felt,” Nichols writes.
See NICHOLS page B1
4-day weeks
In place at
PCC for the
summer
For what is believed to be the first
time in its 41-year history. Piedmont
Community College has begun oper
ating under a four-day workweek for
the summer. The college is open Mon
day through Thursdays and is closed
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays with
the exception of the PCC Child Devel
opment Center, which continues to be
open on Fridays.
“Four-day work weeks in the summer
are common in community colleges in
our area,” said Dr. Walter Bartlett, PCC
president. “In these challenging eco
nomic times, this is an approach we’re
trying this summer. We are conscious
of the demands on the county budget,
which funds our facilities, and we’re
trying to be fiscally responsible.”
All areas of the college are provid
ing services Monday through Thurs-
See 4-DAY backpage
Rabies alert
issued in
Olive Hill
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
According to the Person County Ani
mal Control office, Olive Hill Township
will be under a rabies alert from May
26 through Nov. 26.
A raccoon came into contact with a
stray dog in the Olive Hill Township this
week, and the raccoon tested positive
for rabies, said Animal Control Ad-
See RABIES back page
BOE approves
RIF of up to
20 teachers
By GREY PENTECOST
C-T Staff Writer
greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com
The Person County Board of Educa
tion called an emergency session for
Friday afternoon to complete voting
on an agenda item from Monday’s
meeting.
According to Schools Supt. Dr. Larry
W. Cartner, he and the board “over
looked” the request of Person County
Schools staff to authorize the reduction
in force (RIF) of up to 20 teaching posi
tions. After Cartner made the request
Monday, the board moved on to other
matters without officially voting on the
aforementioned item.
On Tuesday, The Courier-Times ques
tioned Cartner about whether the vote
on the authorization to implement a
RIF of up to 20 teaching positions had
occurred. At the time, Cartner was
under the impression that the request
had been approved.
While board member Ronnie King
See BOE back page