TheN
ews
-Journal
Volume LXXIX Number 9
RAEFOm NORTH CAROLINA
25 CENTS
Thursday, June 18,1987
f
Tit
Graduation
Valedictorian Timothy Ward and
Salutatorian Mary Emily
McDonald enjoy graduation
ceremonies (top, left) Anthony
Monroe waves to his friends (top,
right). A group poses for a
photograph (bottom).
278graduate from Hoke High School
Friday evening’s commence
ment ceremonies at the Hoke
County High School stadium
marked a turning point in the
lives of 278 graduating seniors.
For on that warm night,
members of the Class of ’87
took their first steps toward
adulthood.
The seniors, dressed in white
caps and gowns, began the
ceremonies by walking single
file onto the football field past
stands jammed with relatives
and friends.
After they were seated in
folding chairs on the field,
members of the Class of ’87
responded with cheers to a say
ing they have heard throughout
the school year.
“You cannot get to heaven
without this particular class of
’87,’’ Senior Class President
Beverly Peterkin said during her
welcoming remarks.
Superintendent Dr. Bob Nel
son delivered the graduation ad
dress. He first addressed the
parents attending the ceremo
nies.
“Hoke High is not a perfect
high school,” Nelson said. “We
need to be honest with ourselves
and admit that we are not
perfect parents and that our
children aren’t perfect.”
“We know that there is
nothing easy about bearing the
responsibility of another per
son’s life,” he said. “However,
these graduating seniors, their
parents and teachers have a
right to feel a certain amount of
pride.”
“We have done a pretty good
job with the class of ’87,”
Nelson said.
Turning his attention to the
graduating seniors. Nelson read
a passage from Rogers and
Hammerstein’s 1945 musical
Carousel. The passage is a
monologue from the play’s final
scene. It is a graduation speech
delivered by the character Dr.
Seldon to seniors living in a
rural community in 1888.
“All 1 hope is that now that
we’ve got you this far, you’ll
turn out to be worth all the
trouble we took with you,”
Nelson read.
“You’ll have to find your
own happiness,” he said.
“Keep your faith and courage
and you’ll be all right.”
Nelson then read the lyrics to
the show’s closing song,
“You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
He picked out the names of
individual seniors and told them
they will never walk alone.
“The teachers will be watching
over you,” he said.
“God speed; our best wishes
go with you.”
During the ceremonies, it was
announced that Timothy Ward
had the highest grade point
average for four years and was
named valedictorian. His grade
point average was 95.184.
Mary Emily McDonald was
named salutatorian with a grade
point average of 95.117.
Frank H. Richards, principal of
South Hoke Elementary School in
Hoke County, has been selected
1987 Principal of the Year for the
South Central Education District
(Region 4) in a program co
sponsored by Wachovia Bank and
Trust and the North Carolina
Department of Public Instruction.
Richards will compete with
seven other regional winners
representing the state’s eight
school districts for the two
statewide Wachovia Principal of
the Year Awards. Statewide win
ners will be announced July 12 at
the Department of Public Instruc
tion’s annual meeting of principals
in Wrightsville Beach.
Richards is a graduate of Pfeif
fer College in Meisenheimer,
where he earned a bachelor’s
degree in mathematics. He also
received a master’s degree in ad
ministration from East Carolina
University.
He has been an educator for 22
years. In 1965, he began as a high
school math teacher in Montgom
ery County, where he taught for
one year. He then taught math at
the high school level for nine more
years in Hoke County before
becoming assistant principal.
A former elementary assistant
principal and community school
coordinator, Richards became
principal of South Hoke Elemen
tary in 1982.
This is the fourth year of the
Wachovia Principal of the Year
program, which is open to all
public school principals in the
state.
Regional winners were selected
from among principals nominated
by their local school systems. The
selection committee included prin
cipals, teachers, college educators,
lay people and representatives of
Wachovia Bank.
Around Town
By Sam Morris
Many ignorant of garbage ordinance
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
The weather is hot and the air
conditioners are running all night.
When you wake up and it is 70
degrees outside, it has cooled off
much during the night.
It seems that most of the county
had rain Saturday night and the
rainfall was from Vi to one inch.
This was not as much as most of
the farmers wanted, but as one
farmer said,” Every little bit
helps!”
The forecast is for the possibility
of rain Tuesday and Wednesday
and then clearing for the re
mainder of the week. The
temperatures for this period will be
in the 90s each day.
* * *
Betty High, campus director for
the Hoke County unit of Sandhills
Community College, will leave the
county and her job here on June
30. She has done an outstanding
job here and has made many
(See AROUND, page 2A)
Many people in the area are not
aware that there is an ordinance
regulating what trash can be placed
in the green dumpsters at the 30
waste sites in Hoke County.
The ordinance governing the
disposal of garbage, refuse and
other solid waste became effective
Aug. 1, 1984, according to Health
Department Environmental Health
Director Mike Wood.
Wood said that if people would
not discard illegal materials, such
as furniture, appliances and tree
limbs, at the sites they would be
much easier to clean. Dumping
these materials in the green boxes
costs the county thousands of
dollars each year in order to clean
the sights.
“We clean up five to seven sites
about two or three times a year,
each site costing about two hun
dred to five hundred dollars per
site,” Wood said.
Sometimes a backhoe is needed
to move the volume of trash that
collects at the green box sites, and
making for an unsightly area.
Wood said.
The extra trash is not all coming
from Hoke County, Wood said.
Some of it comes from outlying
areas such as Cumberland County.
“There’s no question we get
some (trash) from outside the
county,” Wood said. “It’s dif
ficult to say how much.”
A resident from the Rockfish
area has called the large site in that
area a “disgrace” because of trash
which is dumped there by residents
from inside and outside the coun
ty-
Whoever it is that does the il
legal dumping. Wood stresses that
there is a $50 fine if people are
caught dumping. There is also an
award for anyone who can provide
information leading to the ap
prehension of those who dump il
legal trash into the green boxes.
The ordinance states that its pur
pose is to “provide for the effi
cient, universal use of the bulk
container sites, and to protect the
public health, and public and
private properties in Hoke
County.”
Refuse which is not allowed to
be dumped in the bulk containers,
or green boxes, include large dead
animals and hazardous wastes.
These materials could be
dangerous to people in the area.
In addition, materials residents
must not dump in the containers
are tree limbs, automobiles or
automobile parts and large
household items such as
refrigerators, stoves, couches, hot
water heaters and other items of
similar size.
Also, residents must not dump
highly flammable materials con
taining fire or hot ashes or any
poisonous or highly flammable
materials or any other refuse that
may be dangerous or damaging to
the containers or landfill equip
ment.
The landfill is located off RP
1305 west of U.S. 401. It is open
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. and Saturday, 8 a.m. to
11:30 a.m.
Residents voice
complaints over
budget matters
Taxes, communications targeted
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
The county commissioners room
was flooded with concerned
residents Monday night during a
public hearing scheduled to hear
comments on the proposed
1987-88 budget.
The hearing is required before
the proposed $7.1 million budget
can be adopted. The budget pro
poses a three-cent tax rate hike to
84 cents per $100 valuation.
Much of the opinions which
residents expressed centered on
this tax increase as well as on the
proposed central communications
department, literacy needs and
school facilities.
County resident Jim Knotts said
he thought there should be a way
for the tax burden to be more even
ly distributed on residents rather
than mainly on the landowner.
Knotts was upset this was the
case and said that utility rates
would also be going up soon.
“Everyone’s getting a hand in
my pocket before I get a chance to
do anything with it myself,”
Knotts said.
Other residents who are retired
stated they were on a fixed income
and could not afford more taxes.
Chairman Wyatt Upchurch ex
plained that many residents were
not responsible for certain taxes
now because the federal govern
ment did away with the household
personal property tax. He said, as
a result, the county lost a large
portion of the tax base.
Currently much of the revenue
the county receives comes from the
two half-cent sales taxes.
A county resident commented
that the budget would be in good
shape if residents who owed taxes
would pay them. Commissioners
agreed this would lower the pro
posed tax increase.
Several residents opposed
building expenditures for the pro
posed communications center, say
ing the $28,000 seemed far too
much for new building when cur
rent county structures could be us
ed for this purpose.
County fire department chiefs
Johnny Baker, president of The
Hoke County Firefighter’s
Association, stated that dis
patchers were swamped with an
abundance of emergency calls.
Baker said that all the emergen
cy services had expanded and the
county was growing in population.
He said the county needs the pro
posed services to handle emergen
cies.
Also during the hearing.
Literacy Council Director Barbara
Buie made a request to the com
missioners to grant the council
$10,000 for literacy education in
the county.
“We cannot have freedom
unless we have literacy,” Buie
said.
She said that on July 4, the ABC
television network will be focusing
on the problems of literacy and
how to resolve them.
Board of Education Robert
Wright made a request to commis
sioners that they consider the
board’s request for funding this
year.
Wright stated that figures which
school architects gave the board
“scared” members of the board in
that they were above the figures
originally provided for in the bond
issue.
In other business, Jimmy Mor-
risey. President of Hoke County-
Branch National Association for
(See COUNTY, page 2A)
County planning board OKs
subdivision street provision
Richards selected district Principal of the Year
Members of the Hoke County
Planning Board approved a private
street provision for the county’s
subdivision regulations at their
meeting last Tuesday.
The provision outlines the treat
ment and maintenance of streets in
subdivisions in the county.
Board chairman Brown Hendrix
said the provision would allow for
individual agreements between
property seller and buyers concern
ing the type of streets to be provid
ed in subdivisions.
The proposed provision was sent
to the county commissioners for
consideration at their meeting
Monday night. The matter was
tabled for further study.
The proposed provision is based
on the minimum specifications for
private streets in Cumberland
County. Changes in this document
were made before accepting the
provision, such as increasing the
lot size under consideration from
20,000 to 30,000
In other business, the board
reviewed a proposed amendment
to the subdivision regulations on
single lot division. The matter was
tabled for consideration at a later
meeting.
In additional business, the board
considered changes in the minor
subdivision definition.
County Attorney Duncan McFa-
(See BOARD, page 2A)
Landfill
A star marks the location of the county's landfill.