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PROGRESS SENTINEL
/PL. XXXXVI1 NO. 19 ? U?PS 162-860 KENANSV1LLE, NC 28349 ?' MAY 10.1984 ? 16 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUSTAX '
1 County Pupils Exceed
National Norm On Test
Duplin County grade school stu
dents' scores topped the national
norm In the California Achievement
Test, Associate Superintendent Gary
Sanderson reported.
Sanderson announced the scores
of fourth-, fifth-, seventh-, eighth
and 10th-grade students at the Board
of Education meeting last week. The
county system paid for testing these
grades.
Students In first, second, third,
sixth and ninth grades were tested at
the same time under the state testing
program. Results from those tests
are expected this month, he said.
The California Achievement Tests
rate students according to a two
number code with the first number
representing the grade and the
second number representing the
month of the school term. For
example, the national norm for the
fourth grade at the time of the tests
was 4-7 (fourth grade, seventh
month of the school term).
Duplin fourth-graders exceeded
the norm, scoring on the average 4-6
In reading, 6-2 in language and 5-2 in
mathematics for an overall score of
5-4.
With a national norm of 5-7,
Duplin fifth-graders scored 6-1 in
reading, 8-1 in language and 6-8 in
mathematics for an overall mark of
6-9.
The national seventh-grade norm
was 7-7. Duplin seventh-graders
averaged 8-3 in reading, 9-6 in
language and 8-6 in mathematics for
an overall score of 8-5
Duplin eighth-graders scored 10-0
in reading, 11-5 in language and 10-0
in mathematics for an overall mark of
10-0, compared with the national
norm of 8-7.
Duplin lOth-graders averaged 10-6
in reading, 12-6 in language and 11-9
in mathematics for an overall mark of
11-3, compared with the national
norm of 8-7. -
In other business, the board hired
Joseph Roussos of Potsdam, N.Y., to
head the new Junior Reserve Offi
cers Training Corps program at East
Duplin High School at Beulaville.
Roussos will assume the position
June 15. He is a retired Army major.
The unty school system will pay
Rous half of the difference be
?wee. ms military pension and a
major's active duty salary. The Army
wiii pay the other half. Officials did
not know how much the county
would have to contribute.
Roussos is associate dean for
school management of Ciarkson
University at Potsdam. He has a
bachelor of science degree from the
University of Nebraska and a bach
elor of arts degree in international
relations and in educational adminis
tration and management from
Boston University.
The board changed its meeting
time from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
starting with its May 15 meeting.
Sanderson said 25 Duplin County
seniors have not passed one or both
sections^ of the state competency
test. Thfey will be able to take the
tests again this month.
Two Duplin County teachers were
recognized as outstanding teachers
during a recent educational Region 2
vocational recognition banquet.
Seventeen counties make up the
district and eight awards were
presented. The Duplin teachers are
Kay Brown, health occupations
teacher, and Gretchen Thigpen,
business teacher. Both work at East
Duplin High School.
Duplin Will Honor
251 Top Scholars
The first annual Duplin County
academic "letter" banquet and pro
gram will be held at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday in Kenan Memorial
Auditorium in Kenansville.
Austin Carter, director of com
munity school programs, said 251
g students in grades seven through 12
1 ' have average grades of 93 or better
and are eligible for the letters.
Letters will be similar to the
traditional athletic achievement
letters except that instead of school
colors, the letters will be red on gray
fields.
The program is being sponsored
by the Duplin County Educational
Foundation, which is composed of
business and industry representa
tives. The goal is to provide the same
kind of recognition to scholarship
that athletics traditionally receives
Schotarship certificates will be
presented to 800 students in kin
dergarten through sixth grade in
individual school programs later this
month, Carter said.
^ ' Kenansville Jaycees Install New Officers
The annual Kenansville Jaycees awards and officers
installation banquet was held May 3 in Kenansville.
The Kenansville chapter earlier during the 1983-84 year
had been named first place in the state for the half year
and chapter of the month of October and were first
place in the population division in state chapters.
During the year under the leadership of Woody Brinson
the Kenansville Jaycees also received awards in
chapter extension ? ending the year with four ?
4 .
fund-raising project recognition and membership
recruitment. The 1984-85 officers installed last week
are pictured above, left to right, secretary Jimmie
Newkirk, external vice-president Wade Biddix, presi
dent, Dennis Kirby. and guest speaker and executive
vice-president of the North Carolina Jaycees, - Jerry
Wall, internal vice-president David Hollar~*and trea-*
surer Charles Sharpe.
I
Directors Toko Oath Ot Office
ine annual Kenansville Jaycees officers installation
I ) banquet was held May 3 in Kenansville. Pictured
above, left to right, are the 1984-85 directors and
chaplain for the Kenansville Jaycecs: director Kenneth ,
Savage, chaplain Bob Bowen, 1983-84 president Woody
Brinson^ director Doc Brinson, director Jnhnnv
I
Thompson, director Carc> Wrenn. Not pictured is state
director Randy Hammonds. The Kenansville Jaycees
were named number one in the state for the first half of
the 1983-84 year. Final 1983-84 state awards for the
yeayvill be awarded later this month. (
Groundbreaking At Carolina Winery Near Rose Hill
Shown above at the ground-breaking at Carolina
Winery near Rose Hill Saturday, May 4, are, left to
right, Dr. Jack Rigney, of the Board of Directors,
Carolina Winery. Dennis Loft in member of the North
Carolina Grape Growers, Senator Harold Hardison and
Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham, and Burl
Williamson. Carolina Winery president.
Groundbreaking For Winery
Groundbreaking ceremonies for
Carolina Winery, which will be the
state's largest, were held Saturday
just west of U.S. 117 north of Rose
Hill.
The 21-acre site is on Secondary
Road 1147 across the road from the
state livestock diagnostic laboratory.
David Fussell, secretary - trea
surer, said the winery will have a
300.000-gallon storage capacity and
will be one of the largest in the
eastern United States
The cost of the winery is estimated
at $754,000. Plans call for completion
in time for this fall's grape harvest.
Fussell expects the company will
buy about 2,000 tons of grapes this
year, the equivalent of the average
production from 300 to 500 acres
Burl Williamson of Clinton is
president of the new company, which
is owned by area grape growers
About 1,500 acres of muscadine
type grape vmeyaras are within 50
miles erf Rose Hill.
N.C Agriculture Commission Jim
Graham and state Sen: Harold
Hardison were scheduled to speak at"
the groundbreaking
The new plant wilt be the second
winery at Rose Hilt. Duplin Wine
Cellars headed by Fuseell, is the
first It processed about 500 tons of
grapes last year It has been in
production since the mid-1970s.
Rose Hill Boy Who Shot
Himself Felt He Was H&fassed
The plaque outside Rose Hill -
Magnolia Elementary School reads,
"There must be room in the great
heart of North Carolina for all of the
children of all the people..
David Rich, 11, of Hall Street in
Rose Hill, felt the community's heart
was cold toward him.
Two weeks ago, David walked out
of his fifth-grade room into a
neighborning class, said "Don't
anybody move" and shot himself in
the abdomen with his father's .22
caliber pistol. The bullet passed
through David's body ? missing
vital organs ? and lodged in a
bulletin board.
"I wanted to tell them to quit. I
wanted to be left alone," David said
He says older boys have teased him,
calling him "Stupid" and
"Dummy," and "pushed me
around. They were always messing
with me."
On April 26, he tried to stop the
harassment ? by shooting himself.
Exploratory surgery showed that
his wound was not severe. He is out
of the hospital and able to do his
chores at home.
No surgical technique can show
what damage the shooting did to the
emotions of the students who
watched it, the minds of the parents
who heard about it and the heart of
the community that wonders why it
happened.
"This little boy has never been a
problem," said Ben Matthews,
school principal. "He is polite He's
clean and well-dressed and appears
well taken care of. He has had no
behavior problems. "
Jim Rich, 42, David's father,
asked Matthews to suspend his son
A teacher who usually works with
home-bound children was to begin
working with the youth Monday
That hasn't been enough for some in
Rose Hill.
"I can say fairly clearly that there
are parents who would love to see
him put somewhere, he would be a
non-threat to their children," Mat
thews said. "They're afraid of him. I
have told the boy's parents this "
"I know there are some outraged
, parents, some scared parents, but he
doesn't have a friend in the world
right now," Rich said, his dark eyes
bloodshot from worry. "He's a little
boy and they're making a monster
out of him "
David says he loves to hunt and
fish with his father, who is gone
sometimes for more than a week
installing poultry-processing equip
ment from the Northeast to the Deep
South. He wants to be a pitcher on a
local baseball team and loves to
collect Army souvenirs "Is that a
monster?' Rich asked.
Maybe I didn't push him to get
out and do things with other kids. ?
He tried to tell us what was going
or We can see it now," he said.
We didn't think it was as serious as
it was Maybe we should have
listened better
I'm going to sell my guns.
They're up and the ammunition's
gone. Rich said
But so are most of the few people
the Riches know in Rose Hill
'The ones that have come by are
sticking by us real aood," said
David's mother. Betty. She said "not
too many people have visited their
Hall Street home since the incident
They are more concerned about
David and what happened lo him.
He s always done real good in
school until this year," Mrs Rich
said He's always gotten A s. B's
and C s He got his first F this year
We see now it's come from the
pressure he s been under "
Some children who saw David pull
the trigger have had nightmares,
according io Kathryn Collins of the
Duplin-Sampson Area Mental
Health, Mental Retardation and
Substance Abuse Services.
Duplin Expected Record Turnouts
Sharply contested races were ex
pected to bring near-record voter
turnouts in two Duplin County
districts, Doug Judge, chairman of
the board of elections, said last
week.
The county has about 2,000 newly
registered voters, according to
records of Carolyn Murphy, super
visor of elections.
"The big question is will they turn
up at the polls Tuesday," Judge
said.
In an election that placed white
and black candidates against each
othsr ? and Involved presidential
candidate Jesse Jackson ? how
black voters turned out was crucial.
Large numbers of both whites and
blacks have registered, Mrs.
Murphy said.
She said the county now has
19,162 registered voters, about half
of Its total population. Democrats
make up 17,195 of the total. Among
registered Democrats, there are
11,460 whites and 5,735 blacks. ^
The elections board had 21,361
names on the registration list In
1960. Purging of the books since
then has reduced the number of
names.
The 1960 presidential election
brought out 13,216 voters in Duplin
County. ,
No Republicans have filed for
Duplin County officec, so the
winners of the Democratic primary
are virtually assured of election to
the two commissioner and education
tofrd posts open.
Paper ballots were to be used
Tuesday. The county is the last In
Southeastern North Carolina to use
paper ballots exclusively.
Judge said the bofird of elections
has asked for $110,000 in its 1984-85
fiscal year budget request for 140
voting machines and 22 tabulators
The county commissioners have not
acted on departmental budget
requests as yet. County Manager
Ralph Cottle said Thursday. Budget
meetings and hearings will take up
much of the board's time in the next
month, he said.
The local races involved com
missioners' and Board bf Education
seats in Districts 1 and 5
District 1 includes Warsaw town
ship and the Faison p'ecinct of
Faison township. District 5 includes
Rose Hill, Magnolia and Kenansville
townships.
In District 1, two members of the
Board of Education were pitted
against each other for the district
seat. In the past, board members
have been elected at large. They are
now^lected by district. The Warsaw
area has had two representatives on
the board for many years. The area
comprising District 5 has been un
represented on the board for several
years.
The District 1 school board In
cumbents are 24-year board veteran
James F. Strickland, 63, a Warsaw
hardware store owner, and Rlddick
E. Wilkins, 61, a retired agricultural
extension agent. Wi'kins is the
board's first black member. He vyas
appointed in 1981 to suct&d Patricia
Broadrick of Warsaw, who resigned
when she moved from the state.
The District 5 commissioner's spat
has been held by William J Costin,
58, of Warsaw for 16 years. He is a
farmer He is opposed by J. Frank
Steed. 53. who owns and operates
Steed's Tire Service in Warsaw.
Steed served as a Warsaw town
commissioner for 12 years
The two precincts of District 1
have 3,277 registered Democrats, of
whom 1,828 are white and 1,749 are
iblack
The 3.609 registered Democrats in
District 5 include 1.814 whites and
1,795 blacks. Blacks outnumber
whites 656 to 633 in the Rose Hill
precinct's Democratic registration
and 397 to 291 in the Magnolia
precinct books. White Democrats i
outnumber blacks 890 to 742 in the
Kenansville precinct books.
District 5 has been represented on
the board of commissioners for 16
years by D.J. Fussell, 70, of Rose
Hill. He is a retired contractor and
vintner. Opposing Fussell is a black
farmer. George N. Ammons of
Kenansville.
Two newcomers to political races
are vying for the new district board
of education seat. They are Amos Q
' Doc ' Brinson, 33, a Kenansville
pharmacist, and Lillie Frederick
Sanders, 39, of Magnolia. Ms.
Sanders manages the Duplin Apart
ments complexes in Magnolia and
Rose Hill. If elected, she would be
the second black to be seated on the
school board.