Sewer work helps
industry hunting
The discovery last week of 800 feet of crushed pipe could have
put a big dent in the Raeford sewer woes and could make a dif
ference in the city's ability to treat discharges from future in
dustries.
For the last few years, the Raeford sewer system has been under
the dose scrutiny of state Department of Natural Resources and
Community Development (NRCD) because treated discharges have
not been meeting clean water standards.
Until last February, the city was under a NRCD moratorium
which prohibited the addition of new industrial customers to the
sewer system. After two local industrial users improved pretreat
ment facilities, the ban was lifted, but discharge readings have
hovered just under the mark considered to be safe by the state agen
cy.
City officials have also found that the Raeford sewer plant is get
ting back millions of gallons more water for treatment than is being
sold to water customers, which is an indication of ground water
draining into the system. City officials believe the extra water could
perhaps be coming from the crushed pipe which runs beneath
Rockfish Creek.
According to City Manager Tom Phillips, the extra flow of water
Editorials
causes the sewer plant to become overloaded and could result in
discharges not being adequately treated.
By correcting the crushed pipe, dty officials hope much of the ex
ternal water pouring into the system will be stopped, and the treat
ment plant's discharge quality will improve.
An efficient sewer system is essential to this community's efforts
to recruit new industry, and the repair of the crushed section pipe
could upgrade the potential capacity of the plant.
This county has set its sites on finding more industrial taxpayers
to locate here, and the work being done by the city to improve the
sewer system will make that goal easier to obtain.
Big night planned
at Hoke High Friday
At Hoke High School on Friday night, winning football, ex
cellent band music and mouth-watering barbecue will be served up.
The event is worth more than the price of a ticket.
Not only are the Hoke High Bucks playing better football than
the team has in recent years, but the school band is making the
halftime show as exciting as the game.
In addition, this Friday, supporters* of the Hoke Heritage Hob
nob will be holding a fund raising barbecue supper at the school
before the game.
Profits from the supper will go to support a community festival
this spring, which promises to an improved version of last year's
first affair.
Activities will kick off on Friday afternoon with the annual Hoke
High Homecoming Parade on Main Street in Raeford.
Barbecue, slaw, hushpuppies and apple crisp will be served from
5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the school for $3.50 per plate.
Then the Bucks, who were ranked in the state prior to last week's
close loss to Scotland County, will take on Reid Ross. The game will
be a close one, and hometown support could make the difference.
The Hoke High band has been collecting rave reviews for perfor
mances this year. Director Jimmy James has assembled a larger
group of musicians than in previous years, and the band is expected
to improve on its award-winning tradition.
Friday will be the next to last Hoke High regular season home
game. It will also be the next to last opportunity this community has
to support the team's effort to compile a winning season and to see
the spectacular halftime performance of the school band.
The barbecue supper is the only fund raiser now scheduled to help
the community spring festival. In order for the event to continue, it
must have the backing of this county's residents. A barbecue supper
is an easy way to give.
Take part in the Hoke County community and turn Friday night
into a family outing at Hoke High for barbecue, excellent music and
exciting football.
Farmers were first entrepreneurs
By John Sledge
N.C. Farm Bureau Federation
"Entrepreneur" is an "in"
-word in many circles and simply
.means those who assume the risk
;and management of business.
It is a word often used in
speeches. Students seem to be in
terested in pursuing its study in the
; classroom and it's becoming a cat
chall word to portray our increas
ing interest in economic develop
ment.
It applies directly to agriculture
?since farmers were probably one of
:the first, if not the originators of
'.the entrepreneural concept.
They have always been risk
takers and astute managers. How
else could about three percent of
the population manage to feed the
other 97% and still have surplusses
to help feed the rest of the world.
It's our biggest industry. As a
matter of fact, farm assets are
equal to about 70% of the capital
assets of all manufacturing cor
porations in the United States.
Approximately 3.4 million work
on the nation's farms and ranches.
This is as many people as are
employed in the combined in
dustries of transportation, steel
and automobiles.
Agriculture also requires the ser
vices of 15 to 16 million people to
store, transport, process and mer
chandise the output of farms.
Another three million people pro
vide the seeds, fertilizers and other
supplies farmers use for produc
tion and family living.
A recent study shows that for
each SI million farmers spend on
livestock, machinery, buildings
and other farming inputs, more
than 100 new jobs are created to
service their needs.
The efficiency of agriculture is
demonstrated by the fact that one
farm worker supplies enough food
and fiber for 76 people. How's
that for "entrepre
neuralmanship!"
Letters To The Editor
School fees
inconsistent
with NC laws
To The Editor:
>Just how free is a free education
these days?
General Statute 115C-1, the
opening statute in the North
Carolina Public School Law Book
states, "Tuition shall be free of
charge to all children of the State
and every person 18 years of age,
or over, who has not completed a
standard high school course of
children be charged fees to attend
schools that^are "free of charge"?
For the past three years Hoke
County, like several other co?Aies
in the state, has been charging a
"school fee," which is legal even
though the Constitution states that
"tuition shall be free of charge.
Or is it?
If we trace the history of fees in
the North Carolina public schools,
we find that "book fees" were
commonly charged until 1969
when it was declared un
constitutional to charge a text
book rental fee. General Statute
115C-100 states," No local board
of education may charge any pupil
a rental fee for the use of text
books." '
To offset the inability to collect
the customary book fees, many
school districts began collecting a
"school fee" for "materials and
supplies." Although the "Con
stitution does not prohibit (ad
ministrative units from charging)
financially able persons for sup
plies and materials," these units
are prohibited from charging in
digent families such fees.
In 1980 the case of Sneed vs. the
Greensboro City Board of Educa
tion set a precedent when the
board provided a waiver of pay
ment for indigent students but
"failed to establish a mechanism
by which the schools would affir
matively notify students and their
parents'1 of the waiver. The
waiver, as presented in
Greensboro, was thereby declared
un -Constitutional .
In 1981 the Alamance County
Schools under Dr. Robert Nelson's
Superin tendency tried to impose a
$3.50 school fee on its students.
Waivers were provided as specified
by law.
Many parents refused to pay the
fee since the Coaititatioa
guarantees a free public education *
and thus signed the. waivers. f
Over one-third-of those ehpble
discontinued the following year.
It seems somewhat inconsistent
then that the 7th- 12th grade
students in Hoke County (a county
in which the federal government
has been providing free or reduced
- lunchca to .most - of -the school
Children for 6ver' four* years
because of low incomes) must pay
a $10 school fee ($3. SO in the
elementary grades).
No mention of waivers or
dismissal of payment has been
made to indigent students.
Instead many students are
repeatedly harassed, embarrassed,
called over the public address
system, and threatened that they
may not pass or graduate if they
fail to pay their fees.
Dr. Nelson must be aware of the
ambiguity of this fee after what
Alamance County went through.
Sincerely
Naomi Johnson
Good solution to
conflict between
Inauguration,
Super Bowl
To the editor:
As far-sighted as the Founding
Fathers were when they wrote the
Constitution, they could not have
been expected to have anything to
say about football. Horseshoes,
maybe, or even mumbletipeg, but
it was too soon for football.
Furthermore, when the 21st
Amendment to the Constitution
was adopted in 1933 setting In
auguration Day on Jan. 20,
nobody could have known then
that was going to be the date 35
years later of the 1985 Super Bowl.
You can see that's a crisis of ma
jor proportions. If both perfor
mances came off at the same time,
which show would the public
watch? Would Sufjer Bowl an
nouncer say "There's an official
- time-out to let you know the Presi
dent has now been Sworn in.~For
further details check the late night
news." Or would the networks in
Washington break into the In
auguration coverage every once in
a while to give you the Super Bowl
score. .. ?_ ??
The next Resident, even if he
has to be pulled out of church, will
be sworn in privately and Constitu- .
tionally on Sunday. Next day, '
Monday, he'll take the oath of of
fice again in public with con
tributors on hand. The Super Bowl
will play Sunday as scheduled.
Yours faithfully,
J. A.
The News-Journal
JgM
P?MWm4 Every Tkaratfa; by
Dtcluo? Pita, lac.. Paal Dtriuoa. Ni.
II* W. Ehtoo4 Awiw, P.O. Rot 550
Ratfortf. N.C. U37*
Subscription Rjln la Mnatt
la Coaaly P?r Yrar? Slt.M
t Maalkt? S5.M
Oal of Coaaly Ptr Yrar? $12.90
* Moalln ? tt.OO
LOUIS H. FOGLEMAN. JR PiUUht
WARMS N. JOHNSTON EiKor
HENRY L. RLL'E .... Pro4ac1toa Sapcrrtaor
MRS. PAUL DICKSON Soctety E4Mor
SAM C. MORRIS Coatrifcatiat Mil of
ANN WEBB AtfrntWac Rc^nantalKr
2atf Oaa> Poalatc X Rat ford. N.C.
(USPS 3M-2M)
IParty was one from the pages of Fitzgerald
In the afternoon, trucks backed up to the stately Arcadia Planta
tion house. Dozens of workers moved in, unloaded the contents of
: silverware, glasses and serving pieces, piled the boxes on golf carts
and transported them to the scene of what that night would become
the party of the decade.
My wife and I were serving as two of the seven bartenders com
missioned by The Pawleys Island Inn, whose owners were catering
;the affair.
The middle of three well-groomed grass terraces was covered with
-a huge green and white striped canopy. Tables, clothed in pink,
-were placed at appropriate intervals over the grounds. A dance
: floor had been constructed at one end of the tent. The orchestra
?would play from the adjoining area behind a flower-covered foun
tain.
\ The scene was one fit for the Hollywood camera.
: A soft breeze billowed the massive canvas canopy, and the chirps
?of birds dotted the silence of the bright autumn afternoon at florists
.and electricians quietly made the set ready with cascading blossoms
;and green arrangements covered with tiny tights.
: "This reminds me of The Ore* Gatsbf," my wife said, during
jour sariy afternoon stroll around the grounds.
: The party that night promissd to be m event taken directly from
?the p40ss of F.Scott Fitzgerald's 1929 novel. There would be nearly
500 guests for the five-hoar wedding reccptkm held on the grounds
;of the old Vandeibttl 30/100- acre plantation.
: Although we would only see the lower sanctums of the imposing
JhrffifftlmfMitfon house, it was sasy to imagine that from the
q?|jpv fiTTffrn one could survey the WsocM# River hi the
t Warren Johnston
The Puppy Papers
distance and would have a good view, as Gatsby did at his parties,
of the revelers on the terraces below.
Communication lines linking those in the right social circles
across the South Carolina Lowcountry and along the Eastern
Seaboard were abuzz with news of that evening's event.
At 4 p.m., we returned along with the rest of the help.
We sliced fruit, polished glasses and ungated liquor. The cooks
put the finishing touches on crabmeat mousse, venison terrines,
liver pates and assorted canapes.
The ceremony-dressed bride and bridesmaids appeared on the
veranda of the house for pre-nuptial photographs. Our tension in
creased.
As the hour n eared six, we donned coatless tuxedoes and made
the last-minute preparations at the ban. We knew the guests, who
had just come from watching the vows mrrhangrd In church, would
be thirsty. We were prepared.
Cordons of kitchen helpers paraded down the brick walk leading
to the canopied terrace, carrying roasts of buffalo, swirling pip,
whole smoked turkeys, venison, glazed hams, tenderloins of beef
and mounds of cavier. Hand-size Lousiana oysters were piled high
on the iced deck of a small boat, surrounded by giant shrimp and
baby clams.
Confectioners spread icing and added final decorations to the
wedding cake, which was assembled on a dais under its own canopy.
"They're coming," someone shouted. We took our places. The
orchestra struck up a waltz.
Guests, attired in proper evening dress and glowing with anticipa
tion, poured down the walkways, flowed over the grass and filled
the great tent with merriment.
Liquor flowed. Food vanished. Corks were popped on cases of
Mod champagne, and somewhere in the din, I'm sure, the
newtyweds were wished well.
During a momentary lull at my bar, I noted the orchestra was
playing the Charleston.
"Jay Gatsby couldn't have done it any better," I said to a guest
who was standing nearby.
"Yeah, we'll never see another party like this in our lifetime," he
said.
Although the crowds thinned, the gaiety went on past midnight.
We began the long clean up campaign. The golf carts rolled
returning the remnants of food, uncorked champagne and uncon
sumed liquor to the awaiting trucks.
The orchestra played "When the Saints Oo Marching In" and the
evening came to a dose.
"J ay Gatsby could not have done it better," I told my exhausted
wife.