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PROGRESS SENTINEL
VOL. XXXXVI NO. 51 USPS 162-860 KENANSVILLE. NC 28349 ' DECEMBER 23. 1982 12 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
, Historic Liberty Hall Holds
Party For Christmas Visitors
Liberty Hall displayed the
idyllic side of mid-19th cen
tury Christmas decor when
its doors opened for the.
annual public open house at
I 2 p.m. Sunday.
The ancestral home of the
Kenan family in Kenansville
is decorated as it might have
been in 19S0 with materials
of the time, including the
then rare and expensive.
pineapple, symbolic of hos
pitality. The open house from
2 to 6 p.m. was free to the
n'lhlic.
The Kenansville beautifi
cation committee served
} traditional refreshments to
i
guests as they toured the
house, the newly-restored
overseer's office and other
plantation support buildings.
Hosts of the open house were
the. committee and the
Liberty Hall Restoration
Commission.
Decorations of^he period
were made by hand, mostly
from readily available native
materials, according to Rich
Boyd, who returned to
Kenansville from Nashville,
Tenn. for the Christmas
decoration project. Boyd
formerly worked for the
Kenan family in Liberty Hall
and THE LIBERTY CART,
I
nit; nistonc outdoor drama
presented in Kenansville.
"They used greenery from
the nearby woods and
gardens and a lot of fruit
which was expensive at the
time," he said. "The fruit in
the decorations made them
practical as well as colorful.
Guests were encouraged to
eat the fruit."
"The decorations included
24 dozen apples and eight
dozen pears, fruit that was
grown in the region in the
mid-19th century; 10 dozen
limes and 10 dozen lemons;
six or seven dozen oranges
and 10 pineapples. Dried
*
okra was used in wreaths
along with other native
greenery. A native plant,
yarrow, was dyed and used
on the Christmas tree.
"We used lots of boxwood,
magnolia leaves, holly, yew
and nuts." Boyd said.
The Liberty Hall Christ
mas display has been a
traditional highlight of the
annual Kenansville "Twelve
Days of Christmas." In con
nection with the Liberty Hall
event was a historic reen
actment of a Civil War camp
and battle action on the
Kenan grounds near the
mansion on Saturday and
Sunday.
I
Warsaw Wants Ok
To Expand Project
The Warsaw town board
will seek Farmers Home
Administration approval to
add another well and tie-in
pipe line to its water system
project..
The $100,000 cost would
be paid from an estimated
$145,000 that will remain in
the project fund after com
pletion of the system.
FmHA provided $590,000
of the $1.7 million accumu
lated for the water system
project and must approve
any changes in plans. The
town provided $690,000
through a bond issue, and
the state clean water bond
fund provided the remaining
$420,000.
The water system project
included drilling two wells,
installing 12 miles of water
line and constructing an ele
vated water tank. Last week.
Tvndal Lewis, an engineer
with McDavid Associates of
Goldsboro. recommended
the town put its old wells on
stand-by because of the high
iron content of the water.
Another construction
project, a town sewage treat
ment plant, is behind sche
dule. It was scheduled for
completion Nov. 22. Lewis
said Miller Building Co. of
Wilmington expects to get
the plant into operation in
January.
Miller has requested a
60-day extension because of
bad weather. Lewis recom
mended the town board
delay action on approval of
the extension until the
project is finished, then de
cide whether to grant an ex
tension or impose a penalty.
The contract includes a late
penalty of $350 per day.
McDavid's project engi
neer inspector. Charles
Joyner, told the board he
could document 23 days of
bad weather that delayed the
work.
The $2.2 million project
includes construction of a
610.000 gallon-per-day sew -
age treatment plant south
west of the city and installa
tion of 3.300 feet of 12-inch
pipe and 500 feet of 18-inch
pipe.
lhe project is being fi
nanced by $400,000 from a
town bond issue. $250.000
from the state clean water
bond and $1.5 million from
an Environmental Protection
Agency grant.
In other business. Brian
Bcasley of Beaslev Cable
vision reported 265 Warsaw
households have cable tele
vision connections. He esti
mated 400 customers will
have cable television in the
town by the end of the year.
Beaslev told the board the
system's Channel 4 was
opened Tuesday as a public
service channel for free
notices of meetings, benefits
and other activities.
He said because of ex
tensive channel interference
the system would switch
from Channel 34 with its
transmitter near Wilming
ton. to Channel lb for Uni
versity of North Carolina
public television program
ming. Channel lb. one of the
UNC-TV system's nine
transmitters, has its antenna
on the WCTI commercial
television towner in Jones
County. WC'fl. Channel 12.
is the New Bern ABC affi
liate.
The board aooroved re
placing a chair barrier with
25 old railroad tics at a cost
of 5-4 each to keep vehicles
out of the ball park at the
recreation center.
The board re-appointed
Roy Barwick to a three-year
term on the town alcoholic
beverage control board.
Faison Children Die In Fire
Despite Rescue Efforts
Two children died in a
house fire three miles west of
Faison Tuesday morning de
spite rescue efforts by their
grandmother and neighbors.
it was the second serious
house fire in the area in a
week. Two children were
seriously burned in a fire
south of Faison a week
before.
Killed were Monolita
Johnson. 4. daughter of Lillie
P. Johnson, 22, of Mount
Olive, and Kindrad E. John
son, 2, son of Mrs Gerath A.
Johnson, 19, also of Mount
Olive.
The children were visiting
their grandmother, Helen
Dobson, the owner of the
frame house on State Road
1900, known as Brewer
Road. The house was de
stroyed.
Intense smoke and flames
drove back would-be res
cuers, including two firemen
with breathing apparatuses,
each time they attempted to
enter the children's room.
Assistant Fire Chief Sprunt
Hall of the Faison Fire
Department said.
Mrs. Dobson suffered a
cut on her right hand when
she broke a window trying to
get into the children's room.
Other occupants of the
house at the time of the fire
were Rosa Johnson,'18,
Junior Johnson. 17, Loretta
Johnson, 11. and Emma
Johnson. 20. all of the Faison
area.
Hall said Mrs. Dobson told
him she saw smoke coming
from the roof when she went
outside to get firewood for a
stove in the children's room.
She told him she rushed
inside and woke up the older
people and broke a window
to get into the children's
room. Smoke and flames
drove her oack from the
window, she said.
Hall said Junior Johnson
and two neighbors. Calvin
Hill and Frank Taylor, all
attempted several times to
get intothe children's room.
Firemen Bobby Kennedy
and Charles Kirkland, wear
ing breathing equipment,
made three attempts to get
into the room but were
driven back bv flames.
The children's bodies were
found together behind a
chair in a corner of the room*
Hal! said. He said he be
lieves they died of smoke
inhalation.
Hall said the Fire Depart
nient was called at 9:30 a.m.
Firemen found the house en
gulfed in flames when they
arriv d fottr minutes later, he
said.
f'iie Chit. Glenn ,>err.ig*ii
said the fire was caused by a
poorly built chimney which
had no flue liner. Mortar had
fallen out. allowing flames to
pass between the bricks.
In the fire the week before,
Shawn Fryar. 2 months, and
Timothy Karl Fryar. 2. chil
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Lin
wood Earl Fryar, suffered
severe burns and were taken
to the North Carolina Burn
Center in Chapel Hill for
treatment. Hall said they
were reported in improved
condition at the center
Sunday.
That fire also was blamed
on a faulty chimney.
Rose Hill Panel Chosen
To Study Water System Delay
The Rose Hill Town Board
has appointed a committee to
determine how much a
78-day delay in completion of
the town water system has
cost and to report to the
board in January.
The contractor for the pro
ject was Hawley Construc
tion Co. of Kenly.
The board also authorized
L.E. Wooten Co. of Raleigh
to go ahead with the en
gineering design of the
town's proposed sewage
treatment plant. The project
has been approved for fund
ing.
The board expects the
money to become available
by July. The town is to
receive an fcnvironmental
Protection Agency grant of
SI .211.250 and a state grant
of $201,875 for the project.
Named to the water sys
tem overrun study committee
were Richard Burrows, the
town attorney; Woody Brin
son, a former town official
who works for McDavid As
sociates; and C.T. Fussell,
town clerk.
Buck Kennedy, project
engineer of the Wooten firm,
said the delay added
$2,684.43 in engineering
costs. The town will also
have additional administra
tive and legal costs.
Mayor Ben Harrell told the
board the town had been
offered a used 200.000-gallon
elevated water tank for
$125,000 from Used Water
Tanks Inc. of Madison, in
cluding installation on a pre
pared site. He said that was
about half the cost of a new
tank.
Town officials fear the
town's 75.000-gallon ele
vated water tank doesn't
provide sufficient water for
fire protection. Voters de
feated a bond issue proposal
that would have included a
new tank two years ago.
They later approved a scaled
down water and sewer pro
ject that eliminated the tank.
Harrell said the used water
tank was originally installed
at Bel Air Beach. Fla. in
1952.
Town Commissioner Keith
Hinson reported the medical
center project has $11.000 of
the $28,000 needed as a local
matching fund for building
such a center. The state will
provide $140,000 for the pro
posed center if local interests
can provide $28,000 from the
700 families in the service
area.
The state requires broad
local participation in financ
ing rural medical centers, to
ensure local interest in using
them. Town officials hope to
have the center ready by
July, when a physician. Dr.
Carl Haynes. is expected to
set up practice.
Duplin Man Dies In Wreck
A 56-year-old Duplin
County man was killed early
Saturday when he drove his
car off a rural road south of
Kenansville.
The body of William Henry
Smith of Route 1, Magnolia
was found Saturday morning
by deer hunters. Smith's car
struck the bank of a ditch and
overturned, pinning him
under the vehicle, said State
Highway Patrol Trooper
Jimmy Ray.
Although the Highway
Patrol did not receive the
report until after 7 a.m., Ray
said he believes the accident
occurred on a deserted
stretch of Rural Paved Road
1959, three miles south of
Kenansville.
Smith, who was alone in
the car was traveling east
when he ran off the right side
of the road "at a high rate of
speed." the trooper said.
Smith had been drinking,
Ray said.
The exact cause of death
has not been determined, he
said.
Blessings
CHRI5IM5 ?
May the wonder of J
Christ's birth fill your J
hearts with joy, peace 0
and happy hopes.
I