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The Hoke County News - Established 1928
VOLUME LXXIV NUMBER 16 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
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The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
%8 PER YEAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1982
Around
Town
BY SAM C.MORRIS
The humidity has been high
during these hot summer days and
it can become almost unbearable
when you get away from the air
conditioned buildings.
The afternoon and evening
thundershowers help somewhat,
but not enough to make it comfort
able.
Every week it seems that the
weather forecast will be for a cool
front to move through, but it
always seems to move north or
south of us. Anyway we can look
forward to winter, or can we?
* * ?
An advertisement elsewhere in
the paper tells about a Band
Carnival to be held Saturday at the
Edenborough Shopping Center be
ginning at 10 o'clock in the
morning and running until seven
o'clock in the evening. This event is
sponsored by a group of concerned
parents of band members.
The carnival will feature games,
cooked goods and will feature a
dunking booth.
In case you don't know what a
dunking booth is, then maybe I can
explain. A person will sit on a seat
or perch that is fixed to drop him or
her into a pool of water when struck
at the right place with a baseball
thrown from so many feet away, of
course you pay for the chance to
drop him or her into the water.
Usually well-known people share
the seat so that their friends or
enemies can have a shot at getting
them wet.
The names of a few of the people
that will be in the seat are as
follows: Jimmy James, band di
rector; Raz Autry, superintendent
of schools; Dave Barrington, Hoke
County sheriff; Lynwood Huffman,
assistant school principal; Gil
Gark, assistant band director; and
Frank Crumpler, local funeral
director.
Now I know that all these people
have friends in the county but I
would imagine that a few of them
have made an enemy or two. So if
you want revenge on them, go down
to the shopping center Saturday
and drop them in the water. I
cannot give you the time of when
they will be on the seat. You will
? have to stay around for your
' favorite target.
This is all in fun, but for a
wonderful cause: The Hoke County
High School Band.
* * *
I haven't seen Danny DeVane
since he was nominated for the
House because I was out of town on
Election Night. From all reports he
could still be on cloud nine and
maybe I will see him when he
returns to earth.
* * *
There is a lot of talk and
speculation on who will nil
DeVane's place on the Board of
County Commissioners. Also when
this will take place and who will do
the appointing.
The appointment can't come
until DeVane resigns and in fact he
doesn't have to resign. If he doesn't
he will lose the seat when he is
sworn in as a house member. I
believe this will be next February if
he comes through the November
election.
The final say will come from the
county commissioners who will vote
on who is to replace him. They can
ask the Democratic Executive
Committee to recommend three
people, but they don't have to take
any of them.
If the commissioners can't get
together, then I believe the Clerk of
Court makes the selection.
So you see it can be a long drawn
out process before anything is
done.
Whoever is selected we hope he
or she will be a person with some
business experience. County gov
ernment is a big business now!
? ? ?
The following letter is self-ex
planatory.
Dear Sam:
My mother had a fire at her
(Sm AROUND TOWN, page 14)
Hoke Allocated $44,896 For Child Care
Bryan Page Gives Demonstration
He's Only 4, But He Can Read
Bryan Page showed a GED class
here Friday afternoon he can read
what grownups read.
He's 4, and he's been reading
since he was 3, his aunt, Carol
Page, the GED and Adult Basic
Education teacher here for Sand
hills Community College, said.
Bryan's mother, Vivian Page, is
a teacher of the first grade in
school, she said. But Bryan learned
to read pretty much on his own, she
added.
Clarence Page, Bryan's father,
and Mrs. Page and their son live in
Orange, N.J. Clarence Page is from
Raeford, however.
In the GED class, whose stu
dents are adults going for their high
school diplomas, Bryan read a
passage of geography about the St.
Lawrence River, on the border of
Canada and New York state.
Rose Sturgeon said Bryan also
read to her part of the news story in
last week's News-Journal. Incident
ally, it was the story about adoption
of black children. Mrs. Sturgeon's
office is across the hall from the
GED classroom, in the old County
Office Building on West Elwood
Avenue.
Bryan read out loud. He read the
St. Lawrence piece slowly, but
accurately, without stumbling over
any of the worth; and the words
were in more than one syllable, as
well as in one syllable -- about what
the average text written for adults
who have gone to high school
contains.
But Bryan also can identify
simple words when they are spelled.
His aunt, for example, spelled
d-o-g, c-a-t, and b-a-1-1 to him, and
he replied rather quickly what
words they were. There was one
variation, though. When Miss
Page spelled c-a-t, Bryan replied.
"Meow."
Miss Page said Bryan also can
write a little. He can write his
name, for instance.
Bryan attended a pre-school
class last school year at Clark
School in Orange. This fall term he
will start attending kindergarten in
Orange.
Bryan Page reading the text on a photographic slide in the GED class.
15 Graduate From 'I Gan'
Fifteen residents from SYC
(Sandhills Youth Center) grad
uated from the unit's "I Can"
program Monday night at First
Methodist Church of Raeford.
The program, which is now in its
fourth year at SYC, has assisted
approximately 230 graduates es
tablish positive ambitions and
goals. Assisting with the gradua
tion were David Hubbard, unit
superintendent, Thomas Ivester,
complex administrator, Roosevelt
Johnson, instructor, and "I Can"
Administrator Thomas Olsen, vol
unteer instructor, and Leslie Hotte,
food service instructor, and head of
the garden project.
The purpose of the "I Can"
program is to replace the "I Can"
trainee's hostile, belligerent atti
tudes towards himself and society
with self-acceptance and positive
thinking and motivation. Accord
ing to SYC's write-up on the
effectiveness of the program, "We
have seen belligerence fade and
Board Returns
Schools To Fees
The Hoke County Board of
Education recently sent the school
system back to the fee system
following the county commis
sioners' rejection in July of the
school board's request for an extra
S20.230 to avoid it.
The school board at its regular
meeting for August adopted a
motion to establish a S3 per student
fee for grades Kindergarten
through 6, and $10 for students in
grades 7-12.
In other business the board voted
to employ Melda J. Zaleski as
fulltime psychologist for the coun
ty's special education program, and
Lynn Jones, wife of Hoke County
High School head football Coach
Tom Jones as Hoke High mathe
matics teacher.
Mrs. Zaleski worked in 1981-82
nearly a year in the school system
parttime, County Schools Supt.
Raz Autry, who made the recom
mendations for the appointments,
told the board.
Mrs. Jones was appointed to fill
the vacancy created by the resig
nation of Cecelia Ropp, who left to
teach in Georgia.
The board also adopted a new
attendance policy for students, and
voted to uphold the pupil-as
signment policy, thus turning down
a request that an elementary grade
student be allowed to attend Mc
Lauchlin School instead of West
Hoke School. The qhanging of
district lines this year put the
child's home in the West Hoke
district. The result was he will
attend West Hoke instead of
McLauchlin, which he attended
last year.
Autopsy Findings Expected
The findings of an autopsy to
learn the specific cause of a
6-year-old girl's death are expected
to be received here about the
middle of next week, Dr. Ramnik
Zota, Hoke County medical exam
iner, said Friday.
The autopsy was being per
formed by the staff of state medical
examiner Dr. Page Hudson at
Chapel Hill. The child, Kesha
Michelle Brown of Rt. 1. Raeford,
was dead on arrival at Dr. Zota's
office the morning of July 26 after
becoming ill at home. Dr. Zota said
Friday he was informed by Dr.
Hudson's office that the results of
the autopsy would be known "in
another week and a half."
replaced by co-operation and have
seen some eyes that were dulled
with gloom start shining from
thoughts and words of hope."
Johnson and Olsen work with the
residents who are encouraged to
participate in community-oriented
projects. Kevin Spivey, an "I Can"
alumnus, said, "Ron Issacs
(another alumnus) and I stay in
here (Johnson's office) about all the
time because he has helped us so
much. He always buys us Cokes
and gets mad if we try to buy him
one."
The "I Can" program comes
under the Programming Depart
ment headed by J.P. Smith, Sr.
Residents are encouraged to
become "I Can" trainees when they
enter SYC; however, the program is
strictly voluntary. Twenty residents
begin each 12-week session, but
generally only 12-14 graduate.
Some may be released prior to
graduation: others do not make it
because of the high standards. The
program is divided into seven
chapters: attitude, self-image,
goal-setting, relationships with
others, desire, work, and how to
succeed.
Two extremely effective pro
grams to date are the garden
project headed by Spivey and the
work done with Hoke County's
exceptional children. Spivey's gar
den has donated over S2.000 worth
of produce to Hoke County's poor,
and its still producing.
Anthony Steele, who was re
leased last week, returned from
home for the "I Can" graduation
which demonstrates how much the
program means to the residents.
This fall the "I Can" alumni
plan to visit several schools in the
area to discuss incarceration and
how the program has helped them.
First Methodist Church and the
Raeford Women's Club have ac
tively sponsored several "1 Can"
projects and trainees. Johnson
hopes that other organizations,
including schools and law enforce
ment organizations, will become
involved and assist with the pro
gram.
The third paragraph of the "I
Can" Alumni Preamble reads:
"We Belive self acceptance and
personal growth combined with
honestly and loyalty give man the
inner peace and strength necessary
for success and happiness. That
character, faith, and integrity are
the foundations for greatness and
the man who doesn't stand for
something will fall for anything."
With outside help, hopefully,
these ideals will be met.
Hoke County has been allocated
$44,8% in local, federal and state
funds for day-care services for the
fiscal year 1982-83, which started
July 1.
The money is included in the
allocation of $19.6 million for the
services throughout the state for the
fiscal year. The allocation for the
state was announced last week by
Dr. Sarah T. Morrow, secretary of
the State Department of Human
Resources.
Of the total for Hoke County,
$22,516 is from the federal Title
XX program, $20,936 from the
state, and $1,444 from the county
government.
Of the total for the state, the
General Assembly appropriated
$6.9 million.
The Hoke and other allocations
will be used by county Social
Services departments and the Ap
palachian Regional Commission
child development programs to
help provide day care for an
estimated 13,500 children of low
income families in the state.
Morrow emphasized that both
she and Governor James B. Hunt,
Jr. feel that day care is one of the
top priorities of this adminis
tration. "Day care services are an
economic necessity for many
families with small children," Mor
row said. "It often is necessary for
both parents to work in order to
make ends meet, especially in
North Carolina, which has more
working mothers than any state in
the nation."
North Carolina was the first state
to provide state day care funding
for eligible low-income families.
State and federal is allocated to all
100 counties on the basis of
population.
Under the state's local social
services program, some services are
optional while others are manda
tory. State regulation requires that
North Carolina provide day care for
children in low-income families
when it is needed in order for a
parent to work.
Once the necessity for day care is
determined by county departments
of social services, there are two
categories of families eligible.
Families that receive monthly fi
nancial assistance through either
Aid to Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC) or the Supple
mental Security Income program
are automatically eligible. Other
low-income families may be eligible
if their gross incomes are below a
maximum income level established
by the state. The maximum income
level for a family of four in North
Carolina is $16,252. Some eligible
families are required to pay a
portion of the day care cost for their
children depending on their income
level.
Raeford Church Gets Bequest
The late Neill M. McKeithan, a
former resident of Raeford, has left
up to S60.000 to Raeford Presby
terian Church.
Specifically, McKeithan's last
will and testament provided that 20
percent of the estate goes to the
church, but not to exceed $60,000.
The excess will go to the Neill M.
McKeithan Scholarship Fund.
McKeithan died June 9 after an
illness of several months. He was
84.
His will also provides for his
sisters. Miss Annie McKeithan of
Raeford, and Mrs. Mary C. Mc
Auley of Candor, and his brother,
John Daniel McKeithan of Rae
ford .
These youngsters are boarding the bus to spend the week at 4-H Camp. They left Raeford on Sunday morning and
will return on Friday.