. b
1
Bulldogs face
off against rival
Lexington on the
court.
See SPORTS,
Page B1
THOMASVILLE
Saturday, February 13,2010
Inside Today
Gov. Perdue announces LabCorp
to bring more than 300 jobs to
the Triad.
See BUSINESS, Page B6.
119th Year - No. 58 50 Cents
WWW.tvilletimes.com
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RANDOLPH mpi
"^MASVIL^ 27361)
Love that stands the test of time
F hen Mar-
WW geryVe-
^ ^ atch wakes
up tomor
row and goes
into her dining room,
it’s a good bet a little
Valentine’s Day card
from her husband Rog
er will be sitting on the
table. In return, there’s
a good chance Roger
will enjoy his breakfast
with a piece of heart-
shaped toast, compli
ments of Margery.
While void of roses
and boxes and candy,
the Veatch’s still find
a way to express their
love for one another
after 64 years of mar
riage. In a time where
■ nearly half of all mar-
> riages end in divorce,
the Veatch’s are proof
positive that partner-
, ships can still work. It
just takes hard work
and understanding.
BY ELIOT DUKE
“If you’re not a
person who is focused
more on problems
that you have outside
rather than inside that
helps,” Roger Veatch,
a retired bio-chemist,
said. “We have very
different personali
ties. She is much more
intuitive where I am
analytical. We always
supported each other,
no matter what was go
ing on. People are very ,
complicated and many
times you don’t know
what another person
is going through.”
Margery Veatch, a
retired speech thera
pist, said a key to her
marriage’s longevity is
the ability to laugh and
cry with her husband.
One of the reasons why
marriages fail, Margery
feels, is that couples
fail to see just how
challenging staying
together really is.
“Young people expect
too much of each other
and their marriage,”
said Margery “You,
think it’s going to be
lovey-dovey all the
time and it isn’t. When
we’ve had problems,
we go at them together
and tackle the hard
things together. I think
that has helped over
the years. We admire
each other’s skills
and we have learned
to be forgiving.”
Roger said it’s impor
tant to accept a person
for who they are and
not try to change them.
When an argument
happens, sometimes the
best thing to do is sim
ply “keep your mouth
shut.” Marriage is all
about respecting one
another and having the
ability to compromise,
instead of arguing and
making the situ
Top photo, Roger and
Margery Veatch. Bottom
photo, Avis and Kathryn Tobin.
Photos/Eliot Duke
Graphics/Mary Leslie English
ation
worse
than it
already is.
“Young people
buy into that
romantic image,”
Roger said. “They know
they have frailties but
they don’t want to face
the fact someone else
isn’t going to solve your
problems. If you have
two people, there’s al
ways some negotiating
going on. It never ends.
“You aren’t going to
change anyone. Never.
We change. I hope I’m
not the same person I
was at 22, but it’s a mat
ter of accepting people
and letting them be.”
Roger and Margery
met in Oak Park, Il
linois, in 1942 and mar
ried three years later.
The couple tied the knot
not long after Roger
enlisted in the Army
during World War II.
“I had to wear my
G.I. uniform for the
wedding,” Roger said.
“It was regulation
during war time.”
Once the war ended,
the Veatch’s eventu
ally found their way to
North Carolina, first
living in Chapel Hill be
fore end
ing up in ThomasviUe
12 years ago. With their
65th wedding anniver
sary on the horizon, the
Veatch’s are stfil going
strong, and they’re do
ing it together. The cou
ple has four children.
• • •
Avis and Kathryn
Tobin met on a double
date in the early 1940s.
Born and raised in
ThomasviUe, Avis and
Kathryn married on
Jan. 30,1945, but like
most couples of the
time, enjoyed an ab
breviated hone5mioon.
A week after tying
the knot. Avis got word
he was shipping out
overseas to join in the
Pacific front of World
War II. He would not see
his new bride again for
the next 22 months.
“We were issued win
ter clothing because
we thought we were
going
to attack
Japan,” Avis
said. “Ships
were loaded down
with artUlery and infan
try as we were heading
to Okinawa when a ty
phoon hit. It lasted like
six days. Landing crafts
were washed up on the
beach for two mUes.”
Before any land inva
sion could be carried
out, the United States
ended the war by drop
ping two atomic bombs
on Japan. As part of
the occupational forces.
Avis went to Hiroshima
where bodies stUl
laid in the streets.
“We got old fast
with that war going
See LOVE, Page A4
County seeks ways to trim budget
BY ERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
LEXINGTON — In a
struggling economy, gov
ernment feels the same
tightening of the purse
strings as its tax-pay
ing citizens. Davidson
County Board of County
Commissioners gathered
Thursday for its planning
retreat to discuss the bud
get plan and options for
cutting back spending.
One option — an early
retirement incentive plan
for county employees.
COUNTY RETREAT
Find more about
Commissioner's
Annual Retreat,
Page A6.
Essentially, an early re
tirement plan would offer
a monetary compensation
to employees who decided
to retire before age 65 and
save the county money
by allowing employers to
hire or promote someone
to the position at a lower
salary or by consolidat
ing jobs.
“’^at you’ve got to
emphasize in a program
like this is you’re not re
ally doing this for an em
ployee,” said Board Chair
Max Walser. “You’re do
ing it for the county tax
payers. It’s saving for the
county taxpayers.”
Human Resources Di
rector Jim Tysinger pre
sented the board with a
variety of criteria, such
as defining those eligible
for early retirement as
See BUDGET, PageA6
Ledford High School teacher arrested
for sex offense with student
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
A Ledford High School teacher is
facing multiple charges for having a
sexual relationship with one of his
students.
Scott Edwin Ring, 41, of 936 South
Ridge Court in Winston-Salem, was ar
rested Friday and charged with felony
taking indecent liberties with a minor
and felony sex offense with a student
by the North Carolina State Bureau of
Investigation, according to an arrest
warrant obtained from the Davidson
County Clerk of Courts office.
“I can confirm that the SBI arrested
Scott Ring on charges of taking inde
cent liberties with a student and sex
offense with a student,” Noelle Talley,
public information officer with the
N.C. Department of Justice, said in
a e-mail to the ThomasviUe Times. “I
don’t have any other detaUs to share
right now. The investigation is ongo
ing.”
Ring, a science teacher at LHS for
the past 12 years, was taken to the Da
vidson County Detention Center and
issued a $200,000 secured bond. He is
scheduled to appear in court on May
See OFFENSE, Page A6
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