PROGRESS SENTINEL WOL. XXXXIV NO. 48 USPS 162-860 KENANSVILLE. NC 28349 NOVEMBER ~)X, 1979 12 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX DUPLIN FIRE DEPARTMENTS HONORED - During Fatrp-City Week. The Duplin County Production Credit Association chose to honor the 19 fire departments in the county during Farm-City Week Nov. 16-22. Roy Houston Wf the PCA said the volunteer fire departments were chosen because of the large number of rural and city people who work together to make Duplin a better place to live. Each ftre department will be presented a check for $50 from the PCA, said Houston. Pictured on the left is Houston as he presents the $50 check to the Pleasant Grove Fire Department, and accepting the check for Pleasant Grove is Larry Howard. Future For Out Of County Birth Records In Jeopardy * Only 30% Born In The County ^ By Christine W. Williams, Register of Deeds Out of 546 babies born to Duplin County mothers between July 1, 1978 and June 30, 1979, according to ^the certificates filed with the "egister of deeds, only 23 were delivered at Duplin General Hospital and 139 at Dr. C.F. Hawes' clinic for a total of 162, or 30% of the total births for the fiscal A^ar. ff Of the 384 babies deliverd out of the county during that year, 120 were born at New Hanover Memorial, 80 at Lenoir Memorial, 66 at Wayne County Hospital, 47 at Sampson Hospital, 36 at Render, and 27 at Onslow Viospital. One baby was born at home, and one each at Grantham, Durham, Fayetteville, Greenville, Raleigh, Dunn and Chapel Hill. Since 1949, state law has Provided that county registers of deeds receive copies of birth certificates of babies born out of the county to all mothers residing in the county with the register of deeds having the option of Recording and indexing whem. The Duplin Registry has recorded and indexed all out of the county births since they have been made avail able in 1949. Only 30 registers of deeds in the state are now receiving ^put of the county births and ?he state office of vital records is claiming that the cost of furnishing the out of county births to the 30 counties of residence who request them has become too expensive. A bill was pre pared to be introduced In *the last Legislature to permit the state to discon tinue this service, but a few registers of deeds were able to get the provision deleted from the bill. The state office ?f vital records claims that irths should be recorded only in the county in which the event takes place, and that it was a mistake for North Carolina to have passed a law in 1949 to allow counties to receive a copy of rt of county births. As more reigsters of deeds discontinue requesting out of county births for recording, it will become more difficult to keep the requirement in the state law that the state continue to furnish copies of these birth certificates to the registers of deeds who will * t still be requesting them. The value of the Duplin County birth records to county citizens would be greatly reduced if this ser vice were discontinued because we would be re ceiving only 30% of our births unless more babies are born within our county in the future. The same situation is true with death certificates for Duplin County citizens who die out of the county. We now receive, record and index them, and they are widely used by the public for many reasons. The best solution in look ing to the future for a con tinued set of complete birth and death records for the county appears to be for more of the births and deaths to take place within the county because it appears that the state will continue to press for discontinuation of furnishing out of the county birth and death records to the county of residence, and to press to have all birth and death events recorded only in the county in which the event took pU ve, and in the state office of vital records. Candles Illuminate Kenansville There will be no "plastic" Christmas decorations in Kenansville this year. Why? The Kenansville town board voted to, eliminate the "plastic bells, candy canes, Santa faces and showmen" that have become traditional in the business district of almost every town in America. Kenansville has chosen to be different. Unique is, a better description. In 1978, the Kenansville Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Candle-In-The Window project, the re sponse was so good and the cooperation so great that the Chamber, Beautification Committee and area residents requested that th* town not use the plastic decorations. The simple beauty of the window candles and expression of community unity received statewide recognition and appreciation from many individuals who passed through the town. This year the Courthouse will also display the window candles and a drive is under way to get all area businesses and residents to adopt the candle decorations. Residents can purchase the lights from area merchants and are requested to have them by 6 p.m. Dec. 14 when the official holiday season begins as part of "The Twelve Days of Christmas in Historic Kenansville." There will be no plastic decorations in Kenansville this Christmas. Instead, there will be candles in the window, caroling, concerts and a special American town celebrating the Holiday Season in a most unique way. Holidays Keep Law Officers Busy Troy Waudell Aycock of Route 1. Chinquapin, was found dead at his home Monday by Charles Ay cock, a relative. Charles Aycock called the Sheriffs Depart ment after finding the 58 year old Troy Aycock in an outbuilding behind the Troy Aycock residence. Troy Ay cock had last been seen Nov. 21, when he is believed to have died. Aycock was transported to Duplin General Hospital. There were eleven reports of breaking, entering and larceny reported to the Sheriffs Department during the past week. Bennie Carroll Dixon of Route 1, Teachey reported a BE&L when a single barrel. 12-gauge shotgun worth $95 was taken. Earl Whitaker was the investigating officer. Marguerite Haynes of Route 1, Magnolia, reported the BE&L of items in a U-Haul trailer parked on RPR #1103. Reported missing was an upright freezer, a set of bunk beds, a washer and dryer, and a set of knives. The items were valued at SI,368. Jeromiah Sloan, also of Route 1. Mag nolia. reported a three-piece living room set. a coffee table, two lamps, two sets of ' dishes, a set of silverware, two dressers, a child's desk, a hutch, a photo album, a brass bed including box springs and mattreess. an assortment of record albums, and an assortment of china, all missing from the same U-Haul. Officer Glenn Jernigan estimated the value of Sloan's missing items at $945. Jernigan was in charge of the ihvestigation. Pete Padgett of Willard reported a BE&L of two 12-volt Delco batteries from trucks parked on the Carles Farrior farm of Willard. The batteries were valued at $100. Officer Dalton Jones investigated. D.M. Gore of Bowden reported the BE&L of a J.C. Higgins 22-rifle worth $100 from his home. County Board Of Commissioners Asks School Board To Halt School Sales A resolution to ask the Duplin Countv Board of Education to halt the practice of allowing grade school children to sell items for various school activities was approved by the Board of Commissioners last Monday. The board was divided on the issue. Voting for the resolution were D.J. Fussell of Rose Hill, Alan Nethercutt of Lyman, and Calvin Turner of Albertson. Opposing it were W.J. Costin of Warsaw and Frank Williams of Wallace. Fussell, who offered the resolution, commented, "It's just not right to send the school kids on the streets begging and selling things. If the child doesn't sell, the child is depressed." Nether cutt added, "If you don't buy, the children cry." Fussell said he believes the board provides sufficient money for school operations. The board called for bids on the new Duplin County Library building in Kenans ville to be opened at 2 p.m. Jan. 17 in the commis sioners' office. Estimated cost of the building is be tween $200,000 and $250,000. The building will be located near the Social Services building on Seminary Street. It will be of colonial style to blend with the other county buildings in the area and will provide 5.872 sq. ft. of enclosed area. The 1980 tax list takers were named and include: Warsaw - Q.J. Sutton. Dorothy S. Wahab and Graham A. Phillips: Faison - Ella Barwick and Julia P. Harris: Wolfscrape - Dorothy G. Alphin and Christine Pate Davis; Glissom - Carl Kor negay; Albertson - Vera Tur ner; Smith - Ruby Gray Smith; Limestone - Mary Alice Dale and Bernice L. Bryan; Cypress Creek - Donna M. Snyder and Betty 0- Lanier; Island Creek - Verta R. Wells, Mary Wells Johnston and J. Luther Powell; Rockfish - Anny Johnson Bryant; Rose Hill - Norman Z. Teachey and Grace Heath; Magnolia - Sue B. Archer; Kenansville - Lena S. Davis and Rose A. Swain. Kegister ot L>eeas (.nro tine Williams asked the board to allow her to reduce her authorized staff from six to five persons in order to provide salary increases for the five positions remaining. She told the board she had been losing her staff mem bers because their salaries were lower thar ?hat they could obtain frov other em ployers. The board tabled the request until budget time provided the vacant position not be filled. Use Zip Codes Postmaster Florence Brown is reminding customers that for the best service this Christmas season they should use ZIP Codes, place their return address in the upper left corner of the envelope and use proper postage. "By following these sug gestions," Brown says, "customers will be assured good mail service this holi day season." It is important, the Kcnansville postmaster says, that families double check envelopes and cards to be certain that proper postage is affixed. Envelopes without postage will be returned to senders, if possible, or de layed by postage-due pro cedures. When the return address is placed on envelopes bearing holiday greetings, it also helps re mind friends of one's current address. Future Of Warsaw Recreation Complex At Stand Still By Emily Klllette The Warsaw Recreation Commission met with the Warsaw Town Board Nov. 19 to discuss plans for the proposed community park in Warsaw. Colon Quinn, chairman of the commission, said. "The recreation department is at a stand still until we get a commitment from the town." The proposed park is planned to cost $100,000 which comes from a matching fund grant from the Bureau of Outdoors Recreation. Of the $50,000 which is to come from local sources, the recreation department only has a firm commitment of $5,000 from Carroll's, Inc. of Warsaw, and Quinn said other sources are waiting to see what the town is giving before they will commit any money to the park project. However, the town board advised Quinn that they could not give him a com mitment at the meeting due to the absence of the mayor and Commissioners Frank Steed and Terrv Quinn. After discussion of the park project, a priority schedule was agreed upon, with the site preparation for grading being the top item to be considered. Quinn was advised by the board to check with local contractors and bring figures to the next regular board meeting on costs of grading the ballfteld area. Work on the ballfteld, so il can be in use by sprit.gr was second on the priority schedule with a concession stand third and parking last. The board also advised Quinn to check with local contractors about the costs of constructing a 16x24 conces sion stand. The commissioners agreed that the proposed figure in the plans for the park presented at their last meeting by Recreation and Parks Con sultants in Raleigh was ex pensive. Jerry Turner of Recreation and Parks esti mated a concessions building at $18,000, which was for a pre-fab building. Restroom facilities, plumbing and wiring were not included in the building. Commissioner Sutton said he felt a more durable and possibly a larger building could be built for that amount. Quinn was advised to meet with the recreation commission and decide on the type and si/e of concession stand desired for the proposed park and then check with local contractors on the cost of construction. Quinn was advised to bring the concession stand figures to the next board of com missioners meeting Dec. 10. Commissioner Marvin Sutton said, "Th" board needs to budget a certain amount of money for the town recreation project and then lei hem (the reereaton commission) raise their money and then see how much money is needed." However, Sutton also com mented that he would be going off the board and would not be voting on Tie issue at (he next meeting. Commissioner John Weatherly commented that the issue all boiled down to how much money the town has to give to the recreation commission. "We need a firm commit ment from the board, and once the amount of money is decided, the project can take a constructive direction." Weatherly said. He also added that a possible $15,000 could be allocated for the recreation project from this year's budget and possibly mtire from next year's budget could be allocated to the proposed park. The board asked Alfred Herring, town clerk, to check (he budget and inform the commissioners of funds which can be used on the proposed park. Further dis cussion of the project was tabled until the next regular board meeting on Dec. 10. ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS AT WORK ? Pictured above are members of the Duplin CtMinty Vocational Education Advisory Council during their recent meeting is Kenansville. The committee is an outgrowth of the nationally rdcognized Duplin County Articulation Project, 1974-78, cooperatively sponsored by the N.C. State Board of Education, the Dept. of Community Colleges, the Duplin County Public Schools, and James Sprunt Technical College. See story inside. ? ? ? '