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The Hoke County News - Established 1928
VOLUME LXXI NUMBER 41 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
Around 1 Commissioners ' Meeting
~ journal
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
S8 PER YEAR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7. 1980
Town
BY SAMC. MORRIS
The only person that doesn't
know how the weather is in Hoke
County would be someone that is
out of the state. All I will say is that
it is cold.
? * *
^ Robert Gatlin didn't draw a
weather chart for the month of
January, but did come by and leave,
the rainfall for the month. It was
3.3 inches for the month.
* * *
Joe Upchurch found an old
Fayelteville Observer in his old
^homeplace the other day and it was
3dated August 27, 18%. Paper
wasn't at a shortage at that time
because the page size of the paper
was 21 Vi x 25 inches compared
today to the 14'/i x 22'/a inches.
One item that was of interest was
an advertisement that was headed,
Racford Institute. It stated "The
second year of the school will open
September 2nd, 18%, under the
management of Maj. M. McR.
McLauchlin. of Cheraw, S.C.
0 "In high school departments
there are two courses ? classical and
business.
"Competent teachers for art,
social and instrumental music."
The ad was signed: Dr. A.P.
Dickson, President Board of
Trustees. Vollers. N.C.
More about this later.
? * *
w John Pecora who has been
teaching and coaching here for the
past lb years has retired and
submits the following letter which
he asks that 1 publish in this
column. We are glad to do so.
Dear Sam:
You may have already heard that
I have tendered my resignation as
teacher and Athletic Director of
Hoke County High School.
a This has been a difficult decision
"to make, but 1 feel that it is best for
me due to health reasons.
For thirty two years I have been
doing a job that I loved. This
makes it so much more difficult to
give up. During these years I have
worked in two school systems, two
school boards, five superintendents
and seven principals. All these
people had one thing in common:
they put the students first in all of
^their considerations.
My sincere thanks to the school
boards, principals and superin
tendents who have made my work
enjoyable by their show of support
and confidence in me as a coach,
teacher and athletic director.
1 would like to thank the parents
of Hoke County for the opportunity
to work w ith their children. I hope
that in our encounters with each
other I have conducted myself in
^such a way that they have received
something good from me that will
go with them throughout their
lives.
There are so many groups that
have been involved with our athletic
program. Without the tireless ef
fort of all these people it would
have been difficult to carry on our
athletic program. Our city police,
county sheriffs department and the
rescue squad have always come to
our aid willingly and cheerfully; a
simple thank you doesn't express
my deep appreciation of their
efforts.
Not many schools can boast of
the fine medical care our athletes
have been blessed with over these
sixteen years. Dr. Jordan and Dr.
Tow nsend have given thousands of
physicals without charges and were
on hand at all football games to see
^ to the well being of our athletes. My
? most sincere thanks to the fine
doctors. More recently, our county
medical staff has been blessed with
the addition of the services of Dr.
A.J. Zota and two physician
assistant's Nathaniel Johnson and
Ulyse Hood, who have also
rendered a great deal of help to our
student athletes by administering
hundreds of physicals at no charge
to the student athletes. Thank you
ft so much.
Our Hoke County Booster Club
is a fine group; without their
tireless help I doubt that we could
have had the opportunity to go to
the football training camps that we
went to for so many years. AH those
great fish fries that kicked off the
beginning ofv football each year
required a *lot of work. The
enthusiasm showed each year with
all the Booster Club membership
|t (Sec Around Town. Page 14)
Truck Route,
Heat Trouble Discussed
Elderly Living In Dilapidated
Housing Authority Revived T
The Raeford City Council Mon
day night voted unanimously to
convene the Raeford Housing Au
thority, after hearing descriptions
of dilapidated houses elderly Hoke
County people are living in.
The reactivation of the housing
authority is a move toward trying to
get federal financing of construc
tion of housing.
City Manager Ron Matthews
said before asking whether he
should reconvene the local group,
"We don't get anything done till
attitudes in Raeford change." He
said "we've got to have commit
ments" from the people who own
the land that's needed for the
housing sites.
Others who attended the meeting
agreed later that people want better
housing for the needy but they
don't want it next to their own
homes.
Matthews said the federal agency
which makes the grants, the De
partment of Housing and Urban
Development, wants to see plans
showing where the residences will
be built and who they will be built
for. He said the agency could issue
a grant but not for housing for the
elderly only. He said housing for
the elderly is approved but only if
the housing authority shows that
residences for other groups would
be erected later.
Mrs. Josephine Hall, coordinator
for Hoke County's senior citizens,
and Judy Hendrix, a volunteer, told
the councilmen of the situation and
asked for their help.
Some of the elderly are in
dilapidated houses outside the city
limits, but the Housing authority
has jurisdiction over the area within
and 10 miles beyond the city.
Mrs. Hall told the councilmen
elderly are living in homes which
are as cold inside as the weather is
outside; some elderly are sick in
bed in cold homes; that some are
using newspapers to keep out cold
air coming through broken window
panes; property owners won't re
pair homes, for which they get $30
Townsend Files
For Reelection
Mrs. Mina Townsend tilled Fri
day for reelection to her second
consecutive four-year term on the
Hoke County Board of Education.
Here is one of the two positions
on the five-member board up for
ecction in November.
Mrs. Townsend 's and Mrs. Ruth
McNair's terms are the only ones of
the live- member board which are
expiring this year. The elections of
school board members do not
concern political party affiliation,
and they are held in the November
general election.
Mrs, McNair tiled for reelection
last month.
Mrs. Townsend taught school in
Massillon. Ohio, and Lousville.
Ky.. before coming to Hoke Coun
ty.
She is a member of the Board of
Region N Emergency Medical Ser
vices and of the board of Open
Door. Christian Teen Center.
She has been public speaking
chairman lor District Nine. North
Carolina Federation of Women's
Clubs, and is a former president of
the Raeford Woman's Club.
Mrs. Townsend also has served
as president of the Music Booster
Club and on the board of the Girl
Scouting Association.
In connection with public educa
tion. she has been a member of the
Slate Accreditation Committee lor
the Hoke County Schools.
Mrs. Townsend is active in
Raeford United Methodist Church
also.
She and her husband. Dr.
Robert Townsend. have three chil
dren. Their home is at 313 W.
El wood Ave.. Raetord.
Mrs. Townsend is a native of
Huntington W. Va.. and earned a
degree in elementary education
from Marshall University.
Minu Townsend
Julius Vanner Files
For Commissioner
Julius Vanner. a 38-year-old
Hoke County businessman. Hied
Friday tor member of the Board ot
Hoke County Commissioners, sub
jects to the Democratic primary in
May.
This is his first effort to be
elected to a public office.
Vanner is a native of Detroit.
Mich., and has been living in Hoke
County the past eight years. He has
been in business in the county the
past five years and is co-founder of
County Line Pla/.a on U.S. 401
south.
Vanner majored in business
administration at Fayetteville
Technical Institute.
He served three years in the 82nd
Airborne Division.
Vanner said he wants to serve as
a county commissioner because he
is concerned about the future of
Hoke County. He also said he was
running because "I believe one of
the candidates is a nonproductive
member of the board, and I would
like to be a full participant." He
declined to name the member he
was speaking of.
He is married to the former
Jacqueline McNeill of Cumberland
County. They have two children,
sons Keith. I 7. and Kelvin, lb. and
live ai 232 Wrightsboro. Rat-lord.
Vanner was the fourth candidate
to file tor county commissioner.
Two of the live positions will be
filled in the November election.
All tour who had filed through
Friday are Democrats: James P.
(Jimmv) Plummer. Sr.. and present
Commissioners Neil McPhatter and
Dannv DeVane.
Julius Vanner
^ ^ w w n M
Homes;
o Help
or S45 a month rent, because they dilapidated homes early Monday
couldn't get the money back; afternoon after holding their regu
neighbors of an 80-year-old blind lar meeting for February.
woman use her telephone to make wactf watfh
long-distance calls without paying WASI
for them (Mrs. Hall said she In other business at the Monday
recently paid an $18 phone bill for night meeting the council adopted
the woman; another paid $1,000 a motion directing Matthews to
for repairing a roof, though a sen(j to Faberge. Inc.. Burlington
county commissioner familiar with Industries, and the House of
charges for that sort of work said it Raeford. letters stating violations
could have been done for S400. of the city Industrial Waste Dis
County commissioners guided by ..... ? ...
Mrs. Hall visited some of the (See bldcrly. Page 14)
Onnie Dudley Files
F or School Board
Mrs. Onnie Dudley, assistant
Hoke County register of deeds,
tiled Monday for election to the
County Board of Education.
The voters will choose two of the
five members of the board in the
November general election.
Mrs. Dudley is a native of
Raeford, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Jessie Bratcher of Raeford.
She has been assistant register of
deeds the past two and a half years.
Before then she served two years as
a secretary at Fayetteville State
University.
Mrs. Dudley was secretary to the
second vice president of Chase
Manhattan Bank of New York City
before returning to Raeford in 1974
and going to work at Fayetteville
State. She worked in New York for
IS years after graduating in 1957
from Upchurch High School.
Mrs Dudley is a director of the
Hoke County United Fund, a
member of the Reading Advisory
Board at J.W. Turlington School,
secretary of the Hoke County Civic
League, and leader of Girl Scout
Troop 835.
A member of Freedom Chapel
AME Zion Church, she serves as
church secretary, is a member of
the Senior and Gospel choirs,
advisor to the Junior Choir, and is
announcer and treasurer of the
Morrisey
Commissi
Jimmy Morrisey filed Monday
for election of the Board of Hoke
County Commissioners subject to
the Democratic primary in May.
He is among five candidates
running for the two seats up for
election. The four others also are
Democrats.
Morrisey said in a formal written
statement he issued to The News
Journal after he filed with the
County Board of Elections:
"If elected to the office of Hoke
County commissioner, 1 intend to
address all constructive issues and
programs that affect all of the
people of Hoke County, and not
segmental."
His candidacy is endorsed and
sponsored by the Hoke County
Civic League.
Morrisey. a disabled Army
veteran of World War II, said his
occupational goals is: "To be
employed in the capacity of helping
people:" his ultimate goal: "To
promote constructive programs to
for the people in the community;"
and his immediate goal: "To be of
help and assistance wherever
needed."
Morrisey has been president of
the Hoke County Branch of the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People since
1968 and was given the Achieve
ment Award of the Hoke branch for
1975.
He also received certificates from
the Cardinal Health Agency, based
in Lumberton. for 1975 and 1978.
and a Certificate of Volunteer
Service April 30. 1976. from the
State of North Carolina.
Morrisey has been a member of
the Cardinal board since 1975. He
also is vice chairman of the
Gospel Choir.
Mrs. Dudley also is a member of
the church's Stewardess Board No.
Two, superintendent of the Buds of
Promise, an alternate Sunday
school teacher, a Home Mission
worker, an assistant class leader,
and a member of the Progressive
Club in the church.
She has two children. Jacqueline
McLaughlin, a freshman at Living
stone College in Salisbury, and
June, a senior at Hoke County High
School.
Onnif Dudley
Files For
oner Post
Hillcrest - Scurlock Water System,
Inc.. and has been president of the
Scurlock Community Organiza
tion, Inc., since 1972.
He was a director of Hoke
County Voter Registration in 1968.
the Hoke County contact person for
the Seventh Congressional District
Black Caucus Leadership last year,
has been serving since 1976 as first
vice chairman of Raeford Precinct
No. Three, and has been a member
of the Hoke County Civic League
since 1974.
Morrisey also is a lifetime mem
ber of Silver Grove Baptist Church.
He has been instrumental in
helping young people in obtaining
financial aid and job opportunities
and getting motivation and educa
tion in the political arena.
MoTrisev was born March 31.
(See Morrisey. Page 14)
Jimmy Morrisey
The Hoke County commissioners
were told Monday that compliance
with a federal heating guideline left
at least part of the Courthouse too
cold to work in.
They also heard representatives
of two appraisal firms which had
filed identical bids and recom
mendations for salaries for recrea
tion department positions, and
acted on a proposal to designate a
new truck route.
They adopted a motion stating in
effect that no change should be
made to route traffic by way of
Palmer Street, an alternate pro
posed to reduce the volum of truck
traffic going through downtown
Raeford. Commissioner Mabel
Riley said the alternative wouldn't
help much because much of the
truck traffic consists of oil tankers
going through Raeford to get on
N.C. 20. Commissioner Danny
DeVane also said Palmer Street
residents had been promised on a
previous occasion that the street
would not be designated a truck
route. Mrs. R.V. Lee. a resident of
the area, told the commissioners,
"We are opposed to the change."
and have said so in a petition. She
said families in the area have small
children, and "I think it would be a
tremendous hazard." referring to
the truck traffic.
John Balfour, chairman of the
Board of County Commissioners,
pointed out to the commissioners
that the State Department of
Transportation could designate the
route regardless of the board's
motion. A copy of the motion will
be sent to DOT.
HEATING
Mrs. Juanita Edmund, clerk of
Hoke County Superior Court, re
ported on the heating problem. She
said that in the recent cold spell it
has been too cold in her office to
work. She said at times the
temerature dropped to 45 degrees.
A federal energy conservation
guideline prohibits heating a public
building to over 65 degrees.
Mrs. Edmund said that the other
side, (where the register of deeds
office is) is warm, said that the
thermostat for the building is on
that side.
By coincidence. Register of
Deeds Delia Mavnor later advised
that her offices would be closed the
rest of Monday because a boiler
trouble which left the office too
cold to work in.
Balfour told Mrs. Edmund that
the commissioners would try to
solve her problem.
Mrs. Edmund said members of
her staff have to wear coats at
work, and have just one small
heater to help keep warm.
REAPPRAISAL
The commissioners heard Bill
Allen of Allen Appraisal. Inc.. of
Laurinburg. and Jimmy Davis of
Southern Appraisal Co. of Sea
Level describe their work and
answer questions. Each firm bid
last month to do the county's
property reappraisal for $85,000.
The work required every eight years
reappraises private property to
bring property evaluations up to
date. The reappraisal must be done
by a business based outside the
county in which the work is to be
done, according to state law. The
county property (ad valorem) tax a
property owner pays is based on the
evaluation of the property. The
commissioners adopted a motion to
table the subject till their mid ?
month meeting on Feb. 18.
RECREATION
The commissioners also adopted
a motion to table till the mid ?
month meeting a decision on
recommendations by the Hoke
County Parks and Recreation
Commission. The commission has
recommended the salary of the
department director be set at
$14,500 per year; and of the
(See Meeting. I\iee 14 >
Rockfish Creek
Bridge Closed
Rockfish Creek Bridge on the
U.S. 401 bypass just north of
Raeford is closed for repairs till
Friday to through traffic, H.H.
Jordan, state highway division
engineer, said this week.
Traffic will be detoured on U.S.
401 business.