INSIDE: Chowan Regional Fair canceled...
Bertie
Led grer-Advance
^ THURSDAY. AUGUST20,2020
Page 4
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Askewville • Aulander • Colerain • Kelford • Lewiston Woodville • Merry Hill • Powellsville • Roxobel • Windsor
Aid still sought for tornado victims
Donation Center will close
THADD WHITE
Bertie Ledger-Advance
WINDSOR - Monetary dona
tions will continue to be ac
cepted, but the storm relief
donation center will close
today (Thursday).
Bertie County officials said
early Tuesday morning they
had received such an over
whelming amount of sup
port for those who suffered
losses during the tornadoes
that came from Hurricane
Isaias, they will close the Do
nation Center.
Bertie County opened the
donation center to receive
assistance for the more than
500 to 700 people who are in
need.
The need arose when tor
nados, spawned from Hurri
cane Isaias, completely de
stroyed 26 homes, left eight
deemed unsafe for occupan
cy and damaged 200 others.
Two people were killed and
at least two dozen injured in
the wake of the storms.
The Donation Center
stopped receiving cloth
ing last week, but remained
open for other needs. Now,
county officials say, most of
those needs have been met.
“Due to the overwhelming
support for our community,
the last day that new dona
tions can be accepted at
the Bertie County Storm Re
lief Donation Center will be
Thursday, Aug. 20,” a state
ment from the county read.
While the county will end
donation center contribu
tions, the county is still col
lecting money for those who
suffered so much damage as
a result of the storm.
The first of donations were
See SOUGHT, 3
Perdue Farms:
Good neighbor
in time of need
THADD WHITE
Bertie Ledger-Advance
KELFORD - Perdue
Farms is again proving
to be a good neighbor
in Bertie County.
Perdue, whose lo
cal plant is located
on N.C. 305 between
Kelford and Lewiston
Woodville, is donating
protein and $10,000 to
local organizations to
help those affected by
the tornado that de
stroyed more than two
dozen homes in Bertie
County.
“We are extremely
overwhelmed with
gratitude for the sup
port of Perdue Farms
in response to the tor
nado that severely im
pacted our county,”
Bertie County Commis
sion Chairman Ronald
D. Wesson said. “The
joint support of Perdue
and the Albemarle Area
United Way for our
neighbors who have
lost so much is a won
derful example of how
committed partners
can truly make a differ
ence.”
Perdue Farms is com
mitting $10,000 to the
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See PERDUE, 3
Vidant Bertie:
Grants aid Bertie,
Martin counties
WINDSOR - Vidant Ber
tie Hospital presented
Community Benefit
Grants checks to grant
ees on Tuesday, Aug.
11.
Twenty-three (23)
grant applications sub
mitted by local orga
nizations representing
Bertie and Martin coun
ties were approved for
funding. The organiza
tions all conduct pro
grams and offer servic
es that align with not
only Vidant Health’s
mission to improve the
health and well-being of
eastern North Carolina,
In this edition
but the most recent
Bertie County Commu
nity Health Needs As
sessment priorities._
“We are grateful for
the wonderful work
these organizations
do to help commu
nity members be
come healthy and stay
healthy” .stated Brian
Harvill, President of
Vidant Bertie Hospital.
“Over 25,000 area resi
dents will benefit from
the various programs
and services presented
by the grantees.”
DEBORAH GRIFFIN/The Daily Reflector
Bertie County farmers Kirk Copeland, left, and his brother Sid, grow hemp “clones” inside a greenhouse. This method
involves taking a cutting from a “mother plant,” which then grows its own root system to become an identical copy of the
original. Growing hemp presents a whole new set of challenges for farmers. Difficulties the Copeland brothers have faced
include leaf spot disease, mold, moths, spider mites and even mice.
Untapped Harvest: Farmers
eye hemp as next cash crop
DEBORAH GRIFFIN
The Daily Reflector
See VIDANT, 3
Hemp, one of the most versa
tile plants on Earth, seems to
be the answer to all the world’s
woes, from replacing plastic, fi
berglass and wood, to being a
cure-all for a multitude of ail
ments — including insomnia,
inflammation and seizures.
New hemp products, made
from each part of the plant —
seeds, roots, stalk and leaves
— crop up daily on the na
tional market. Many wonder
if this leafy-green plant could
be the miracle-crop eastern
North Carolina farmers have
been searching for, reviving an
industry that has struggled for
decades.
Farmers are in a cash crop
drought as they have watched
their remaining tobacco con
tacts dry up to a world mar
ket. Sage, another crop that
promised to fill the void left
by tobacco’s demise, has been
usurped by a synthetic scent
product due to hit the market
in 2021.
Fourth-generation Bertie
County farmer Kirk Copeland
said at one time, he had pinned
his hopes on sage because of
the dwindling tobacco market.
He and his brother, Sid, own
Featherstone Farms.
“Due to the world’s economy,
tobacco is shrinking in North
Carolina. We used to grow 800
million pounds in the state.
Then it was curtailed to 450
million. And in recent years it
has dropped to 250 million,”
said Copeland.
With America’s demand for
hemp increasing — the United
States is the No. 1 importer of
hemp in the world — raising
the crop seems to be an obvi-
See CROP, 3
Bertie ‘Seen’ 2
Church & Faith 5
-v
▼
KELKf
PORUPE Classified 6
*
Opinion 4
Sports 8
(
Good AAorning,
Rosa Lee Bazemore
OF Windsor
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Volume 122; No. 35
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