Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / Aug. 30, 1979, edition 1 / Page 1
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,1S ^eujd ^ The Hoke County News - Established 1928 VOLUME LXXI NUMBER 18 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA journal The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 $8 PER YEAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1979 Around Town | BY SAW C. MORRIS | ^ The weather has been hot and ^umid for the past week. The afternoon and evening thunder showers cool things off but it climbs up to over 90 degrees in the daytime. Tuesday morning it was so foggy Jhat you could hardly see. This Gdways brings to mind the people that are on the highways and are coming to work. Most of them drive carefully, but there is always someone that is in a hurry, so you wait and hope that employees ^rrive safely. Monday is Labor Day and most people will take a long weekend before the winter season begins. Since school will open for the gkudents next week most folks will vry to get in a last day of vacation time. The traffic will be heavy on the highways so if you plan to be away, be sure to drive safely. Most businesses in the city will J)e closed along with the federal, ^tate, county and city offices. The News-Journal will operate as usual with some of the employees taking time off for the holiday. The regular schedule will be followed so be sure to get your news on time so that it will make next Peek's paper. As mentioned above the schools will resume regular schedules next jyeek and with the buses picking up "hildren early in the morning we should drive carefully and watch out for the school children waiting beside the highway and city streets. With the gas situation like it is the buses will make fewer stops and will not wait as long for the children ?s in years past, so the children will be waiting this year more than usual. So please drive carefully because the child that gets hurt could be your own. The 1979 Hoke High School Bucks football season gets under way Friday night at the High School stadium at 8 o'clock. TTie Bucks will play Douglas Byrd from Cumberland County. ^ Season tickets are being sold by the athletic department of the school and you can purchase the tickets by contacting Billy Colston at the high school. The Bucks have been working ^ut for several weeks and should be ^eady for the opening game. The Hoke High Booster Club also needs your support and if you see any officers of the club they will be glad to sign you up. So be a Booster and attend the 4pening game at the stadium riday night. * * * * * * * * ? ? * ? I The golf tournament at Pine hurst last week was well attended by Hoke County fans. There was a Airge crowd on hand Saturday and ounday, but many left early Satur day because of the heat. It is doubtful at this time if the | tournament will be played next year. According to reports it is not in the PGA schedule at the present ^ime. Most local people will hate to wse the tournament because it ' doesn't take long to get to Pine* i hurst and return. ! ... ? The following letter is self explanatory. ' 4fear Sam: It has been our good fortune to get to know six students from Japan this summer. They have been studying English and American culture at Methodist College before enter American colleges this We would like to thank the folks in town who, by their friendliness, made these young people feel good about America. We would especi ally like to say a public "tnank vpu" to Mr. A. A. Zitzman, Gen ial Manager of Faberge, who provided lovely gifts of his com pany's products for our Japanese mends. Raeford must be one of the finest little towns in the world. Sincerely. Marguerite Thomas Kay and Crawford Thomas Iris and Carson Tavis * Mother Keeping Constant Vigil .By Hospital Crib Nearly -drowned Child Clings To Life by Joe Holt There was a time when James "Jimbo" Hughes, age 5, could say his ABCs, write his name, and with the help of his mother, count to a hundred. He was rather smart. He was also kindhearted and sensitive. If a playmate cried for his toy or his piece of candy, Jimbo would give it to him without a second thought. Jimbo was active and outgoing, and as vocal as you would expect a child his age to be. But those days are gone. He lies now in his crib bed in room 540 at Cape Fear Valley Hospital in Fayetteville. In each hand he clutches a specially rolled cloth grip. Through an incision in his stomach runs a tube carrying a ?semi solid nutrient preparation for his feeding. Through another in cision. in his throat, a larger tube carries oxygen to his lungs. His eyes, sky blue, are open most of the time, and his fair - complex ioned face occasionally takes on a grimacing expression as of pain or discomfort or displeasure. When this happens, his fists clench tightly and his arms tremble as if he is straining mightily at something. But there is no sound from his lips, no communication as to just what it is that he is up against. Then he lies still again. His eyes close, and he seems to be asleep. Though not even the doctors know for certain, they say they must consider that Jimbo is es sentially asleep at all times. He is in a coma, suffering from severe brain damage caused by a prolonged absence of oxygen. And it has been this way since July 1, 1979. On that day, Jimbo went from . .f ? % Mr 5. Hughes at her station in the hospital with her son. ' Jim ho Little "Jimbo" Hughes in better days Vo-Ed Building Bid Accepted Hoke Educators Have Kick-off Lunch The Hoke County Board of Education, school administrators, and faculty members of the county's public school system met Thursday, for a luncheon, formal introductions, and a school year "kick - off get - together." Schools Supt. G. Raz Autry was master of ceremonies at the affair, which was held in the lunchroom in the Gibson Building at Hoke High. The keynote speaker was school board chairman Dr. Riley M. Jordan. After a festive meal of fried chicken, rice, salad, rolls, tea. and deep-dish apple pie. Dr. Jordan, introduced by Supt. Autry, de livered a brief address enjoining the assembled educators to "do the best job we can possibly do in training our children." "Communication," Jordan said, "might in the past have been less than adequate between the board, the administration, and the in dividual schools and teachers. "But this year we will improve that." he said. Autry introduced the other board members, his administrative staff, and the principals, who in turn introduced their new faculty members. Of the 251 teachers in the system, 23 are new to Hoke schools this year. Hoke High also has a new principal. Dr. Lester Simpson, who comes to Hoke from Halifax County but who hails originally from Chinquapin in Duplin. Dr. Simpson's wife, Jo Anne, will be teaching fifth - grade subjects at J.W. Turlington Elementary if her appointment is approved by the school board. At the luncheon meeting also, the Board of Education officially announced its acceptance of a bid by Samuel Henderson, Jr., Rt. 3 Box 51 -B, Raeford. of $15,550 for a house built by last year's vocational education students at the high school and sold at public auction on August 17. The sale was subject to the approval of the school board. SCHOOL MEETING ?? Supt. Autry moderates first full-scale teachers' meeting of the new school year Thursday at Hoke High lunchroom. [Staff photo by Joe Holt] Labor Day Holiday Monday To Be Day Off For Most Hoke County People Hoke County's government of fices--state, federal, city and coun ty-will be closed Monday for the national Labor Day holiday, and so will most of the county's busi nesses. including the banks. The Post Office will be closed. No window service will be offered, and other than special deliveries no mail will be delivered in the city or on the county routes. Hoke County school students, however, won't be in school till the morning of September 5. when classes for the new year will start. The county board of education decided to skip for this year at least the annual half-day orientation day, which would have been Sep tember 4. The action gave the students on extra day of vacation. The teachers will have a long weekend, for Monday is a holiday for them, also. They reported to their schools last week for the new year. The first Monday of each month is the standard day of regular meetings of the Raeford City Council and the Board of Hoke County Commissioners. But because of the holiday, the City Council will meet September 10 and the county commissioners September 4. Labor Day weekend will be no vacation for law enforcement of ficefs of Hoke and the other counties. With this year's highway death toll running well ahead of last year State Highway Patrol Commander John T. Jenkins said every available trooper will be on duty over the Labor Day holidays. The holiday weekend will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, August 31, and end at midnight Monday, September 3. According to Jenkins, North Carolina will again participate in Operation CARE (Combined Ac cident Reduction Effort)" an effort of state law enforcement agencies throughout the nation to reduce accidents on interstate highways. The North Carolina Patrol also joined with other states for "Oper ation CARE" during Memorial Day and July 4 holidays this year. "The results of the program have been encouraging," Jenkins said. Sixteen persons died on the (See LABOR DAY, page 12) his home on Rt. 2, Raeford, with his mother. Spring Hughes, his younger brother, David, and some relatives and friends to Perma Stone Lake at Hope Mills for a gala summer afternoon's outing. There was to be picnicking, swimming, and great fun. After arriving there, as those in the party were preparing the picnic on the beach, little Jimbo must have wandered away, unseen, and out into the water of the lake. The events that followed on that tragic afternoon were reported in The News-Journal of July 5, although the details are a little clearer now. We reported that the child was pulled from the water by a swimmer who happened to touch up against him on the lake's bottom. The rescuer, an Army captain from Ft. Bragg, adminis tered artificial respiration but, as we reported, "with no apparent success." Then, two off-duty nurses picked up the task and continued trying to revive the child on the way to the emergency room via the Hope Mills Rescue Squad ambulance. At the hospital, though the child had indeed appeared dead, the emergency room staff had managed somehow to get his heart to start beating again. That was seven weeks ago. This week we talked with Dr. James Hall, the pediatrician who has cared for Jimbo at Cape Fear Valley from "Day 1." "We didn't pronounce him dead on arrival," the doctor said, "but 1 must say that such could very well have been done. "Jimbo's vital signs indicated he was gone. There was no pulse, no heartbeat, and he was very cold to the touch. "Electric shock was applied as the customary last resort, and the little fellow responded to it, that's all." Would the doctor say that the lifesaving efforts of those who first got to the child at the lake played any part in his survival? "Oh, absolutely." he exclaimed. "Of course, bringing him out of the water was the first and most vital thing. But after that, the basic, nucleus life force that continued working inside Jimbo on the beach and during the trip to the hospital would almost certainly not have been sustained except for the persistent efforts of those people." "Those people" have been identified as Captain Roger Kovach of 50th Signal Battalion, Ft. Bragg, and registered nurses Nancy Berchtel of 6463 Freeport Road and Debbie Debolt of 6833 Southstaff Road, Fayetteville, all of whom had been enjoying their own summer holiday at the lake. Also instrumental was the Hope Mills Rescue Squad, which administered emergency treatment to the child on the way to the hospital. Jimbo's mother recognizes the immeasurable value of everyone's efforts and is thankful to them all. But she directs primary gratitude to her God and entrusts all her hopes to Him. "He is in charge." she says, and there is no question that she means it. She thanks the hospital staff, too, for their concern and courte sies. "They have been like family," she says, with tears welling in the corners of her eyes. It appears they have treated her well, considering the circum stances. Spring's sleeping quarters are in the room with her son. Her clothes are there, her toiletries; it's apparent she lives there. As we visited, she was just finishing shampooing her hair. And the nurses, orderlies, and all staff members seemed to know her so well and to treat her as one of their own. That situation, though, will come to an end very soon. In a few days, the doctor said, they will be moving Jimbo to a longer term facility, the new Bethesda Nursing Home at Eastover, north of Fay etteville. What will Mrs. Hughes do then? Well, she plans to live there too, you may be sure. "As long as Jimbo is alive and in this condition," she says firmly, "I will be right by his side." A grass widow of 24, with another son, David, who is 15 months old ?ttd now in the care of a relative in Fayetteville, and without any economic support at the (See CHILD, page 14)
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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Aug. 30, 1979, edition 1
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