RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA
Covering Hoke County
ews - Journal
Spanco buys
J.R.A. plant
On page 6A
Bucks win
1st conference game
Oil page 8A
Volume LXXVIII Number 38 Thursday, January 8,1987 2,^ CENTS
New DSS worker
to be employed
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
Workload stress at the Depart
ment of Social Services (DSS) will
soon be alleviated due to recent ac
tion taken by members of the
Hoke County Board of Commis
sioners.
Members of the board on Mon
day granted a request made by
DSS to hire a new eligibility
specialist.
The position, approved by DSS
board members on December 29,
will be established in February and
will cost the county $6,795 annual
ly. The new position will work in
intake and application processing
where there has been an influx of
applicants due to an increase in
DSS programs.
A shortage of staff to handle the
influx of applicants from addi
tional Federal programs have led
to delays in processing informa
tion. The delays caused DSS staff
to miss important deadlines and be
responsible for financial penalties,
according to DSS Director Ken
Witherspoon.
Witherspoon said DSS must be
able to meet these deadlines as well
as see applicants in a timely
fashion in order to comply with
federal regulations.
“It’s got to make a major im
pact upon it,” Witherspoon said
of the current situation.
Penalties totaling $2,600 have
been paid by the DSS since July 1,
1986. However, Witherspoon said
that the comments of the state DSS
director in^^iecent evalw
report expressed surprise in finding
that the Hoke County DSS “had
not deviated from policy” with the
number of applications they were
responsible for.
Before commissioners voted on
the request for the position. Com
missioner Neill McPhatter spoke in
support of approving the request
by saying that the condition of in
adequate staff was not one that
came about “overnight” but one
that occurred gradually over a
number of years.
McPhatter said the situation is
“not going to get better. It’s going
to get worse.
“It’s frustrating for staff to
have more pressure and still not ac
complish goals.”
In other business, commis
sioners granted a request from the
Economic Development Commis
sion (EDC) for $5,000 for filing an
application for a Development
Planning Grant with the N.C.
Department of Natural Resources
and Community Development.
The decision followed a second
public hearing held in order to
receive comments for or against
the grant. A brief presentation
about the grant was given by
Economic Developer John How
ard.
Also, commissioners passed the
proposed revisions to the Alter
native Learning Center at J.W.
Turlington School. The changes in
the program provide for an after
school detention program with
school bus transportation provided
afterwards.
In further business, commis
sioners moved to have county at
torney Duncan McFayden draft an
ordinance which would regulate
the operation of masseurs,
massage parlors, health salons and
clubs in Hoke County.
The request for an ordinance
was presented by the Raeford
Ministerial Association.
Commissioners expressed the
opinion that clubs of this nature
could become a problem if they are
not checked by regulations and the
intention of the ordinance would
be to keep them from coming into
the county.
In other business, commis
sioners moved to designate the
“Commissioners Room” as a
District Court for the duration of
the Superior Court case trying Ed
ward Lee Cummings for first
degree murder.
udge Sol Cherry spoke on
behalf of the court system saying
that facilities available for District
Court, criminal cases, as well as
child support cases, would be
backlogged.
Assistant District Attorney Jean
Powell said that the arraignment
and filing of pleas, is scheduled for
Hoke County Superior Court on
January 21.
Commissioners also granted a
request for $11,000 in funds for
renovations and improvements to
Armory Park.
American Legion Commander
Freddie Williams presented the re
quest for funds which he said
would improve lighting at the park
and enable the park to “become
self-supporting” through the of
fering the facilities to people
wishing to hold games there.
(See NEW, page 3A)
Wanted man arrested
A Pa^etteviDi jq«b wwMwt for ptrok vioktioas is donatcaon
witk a nokatary aMaitoi^ coavktioa arrkkd By a
Itifhway Patral ttflkar, iacordkg to SBcrifPi
Mcorda.
Tonuny Mrffachtm. ^ Hodse StMtt, ooavktcd of voten^
hBy^manrtnngkriit iM}, watamamdcioaetotttdMik, DaoanBar
il ty TroopK BraM White oa 401 Sc»th Jiwt sHtth of Bawaaore.
McSacheni waa itt ovw lOO nslles per hour, drMaig a
wMte Ouvrofal Caisaro
Reomk lay that McBachera had ift his poaaeuion paefcasH of a
wUtc substances aMch ««’* laur foaad to ba oocaioe. At a iBter
nine tnarijuana wm fooridkthacar,
McBackdh waa abo amed,raconii say-
Detective C.E. limit teported thk a with the DapartancM
of Crbi^aal Informatioa rwMkd.that Mes^it^ters wai waatad for
pardB vioiatteea ia ^aoactloa adtih the maaikughg ocMO'fctka hi
1^ for which he received a six-year prison aeattMoe.
Recordi sxf, McEakicra was arroded for dririm wWht te-
pahed, speaiBoai caroin a cooceaMl weapoa, pottcikoo of a
draarat a Mcrt, poMcssion of eoc^ wUh iateni to seB ahtf
poMwiion of ausi^siiiia with aneat to eel or dcBvor.
AU eMtrottad Mibetaaon ««re oondscated b*. the Shaitffe
departaient as as ^ waMsan, tite car and oi er $940 hi eanh.
Records iay hbEachefn's bmd is set at $$$, 830 ii»ctirad.
Raeford woman killed
A Raeftwd woomo was kitted in u accideiaWnC 2U oa the
evening of Juuuury" 4.
Ite Brik Ivey, 78, Route $, Raeford, was hit by a vddrie drihsan
by Qyde Chambers, Rcuter3. Raeford, when she waikedlote (in
west-bound lana of HC 211 turec and a half miiw west of RaeliMd,
fvey was prtmoKtiwed dead at the scene of the accidait.
Record* say, no charges me filed.
photo by Sally Jamir
Sunrise
Light pours over an open field at dawn on a winter morning. Although cold weather has drawn many around the hearth, snow
has yet to blanket the tree-lined pastures.
One of the county *s oldest
Hoke Drug goes out of business
Hoke Drug Company on Main
Street, one of the oldest businesses
in the county, closed on the last
day of 1986.
The store dates back to 1911
when the McPherson Brothers
Drug Company opened in the C.J.
Benner building. In 1912, S.P.
McPherson and Frank S. Blue
renamed it the Hoke Drug Com
pany.
In 1914, Blue bought the
McPherson interest and then sold
the business to J.S. and Edgar
Townsend in 1915.
The business again changed
hands in 1924 when it was pur
chased by Walter P. Baker. In
1961 Walter N. Coley, who had
been working at the store since
1956, bought half interest in the
business.
Baker died in 1966 and, in 1967
Mike Wood Joined the staff, buy
ing into the business two years
later.
Hoke Drug Company’s prescrip
tion file and inventory were pur
chased by Tom Howell, owner of
the drug store across the street.
Howell Drug Company, Inc.
Howell Drug has been in business
on Main Street since 1947.
“Mike Wood was concerned
about his long-time customers,”
Howell said. “We promised Mike
we would provide his customers
with the same service. Hopefully
their service won’t be interrupted
at all.”
Howell, a county commissioner
and chairman of the Raeford-
Hoke Economic Development
Commission, said it bothers him
that another Main Street store has
gone out of business.
“I hate to see anybody close on
Main Street,” he said.
Howell said he plans to hold a
clearance sale in the Hoke Drug
Company store, but “eventually
all the merchandise will be moved
across the street.”
The building in which Hoke
Drug Company is located is owned
by William Moses and Walter Col
ey.
“After the end of this month,
the building will be available,”
Howell said.
Evington begins pastorate at First Baptist
When the Rev. J. Max Evington
preached his first sermon as the
new pastor of Raeford’s First Bap
tist Church on Sunday, he brought
a special message to the congrega
tion.
His sermon was entitled “The
Pastor And The People,” and in
it, Evington discussed what the
relationship between a pastor and
his congregation “ought to be and
should be.”
“I shared with them my vision
of the church under my pastoral
leadership as being a fellowship of
joy, trust and gratitude,” Ev
ington said.
The Rev. Evington first preach
ed to the Raeford congregation on
November 30 at the request of the
church’s pastor selection commit
tee. The committee was searching
for a pastor to replace The Rev.
Billy Beaver, who resigned in
December.
That first sermon in Raeford,
which is known in the Baptist
Church as a “trial sermon,” made
the right impression because the
congregation voted to “extend the
call” to Evington that afternoon.
During Evington’s November
visit to Raeford, he found the peo
ple to be “very warm, caring and
loving.”
“The church has that reputa
tion,” he said. “1 feel very for
tunate to be here.”
A native of Spartanburg Coun
ty, South Carolina, The Rev. Ev
ington graduated from Gaffney
High School where he was an
honor student, president of the
student body, a four-year letter-
Around Town
By Sam Morris
Rev. J. Ma.x Evington
man in baseball and a two-year let-
terman in football.
Evington served in the United
States Navy from 1952 to 1956. He
was graduated from Gardner
Webb College, Boiling Springs in
1958, Wofford College, Spartan
burg, South Carolina in 1960 and
earned a bachelor of divinity
degree from Southeastern Baptist
Theological Seminary in 1963.
He has served as pastor of Mid
way Baptist Church in Gaffney;
Cypress Chapel Baptist Church in
Spring Hope; Mount Carrn*.! Bap
tist Church in Seaford; Jackson
Baptist Church in Jackson and
Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church,
Shelby. For the last 12 years he was
pastor of Mills Home Baptist
Church in Thomasville.
Active in civic and community
activities, Evington has se.''ved on
the Thomasville Board of Educa
tion and the Thomasville Recrea
tion Commission. He has served as
President of the ThomasvilL Lions
Club.
Rev. Evington is married to the
former Orilee Alsbrooks. They
have three sons. Max Jr. and
Gregory Alan, both married, and
Brian Scott, a college student.
“Raeford is a beautiful little
town with a lot of good people,”
Evington said. “I’m looking for
ward to spending a lot of good
years here. It looks like it’s going
to be a great place to live.”
New Year’s Day was a wet one
in Raeford. If the old saying about
what happens the first day of the
year will follow for the remainder
of the year, then it should be a wet
year.
The temperatures have been in
the 40s and 50s for most of the
time, but the wind Monday made it
feel colder. We had a big frost over
the weekend and in the early morn
ing it looked like snow.
The forecast is for the weather
to warm up for the remainder of
the week and it could reach 60°
during the day. This will be good
for golf.
* 4> «
The committee for the Jimmy
James Appreciation Day met last
Friday and began putting plans
together for the banquet to be held
on Saturday, January 24 at the
MacDonald Gym. The banquet
will begin at 6:30 p.m. The price of
the banquet tickets will be $7.50
and can be purchased only at the
Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Com
merce office in the Old Depot
building on Main Street. The
deadline for buying tickets will be
Monday, January 19.
A program will be prese"’' -d
the banquet and Marv
McNeill is in charge. More jviau.s
about the program when it is
finalized.
Contributions for a gift fer Jim-
(See AROUND, page 3A)