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PROGRESS SENTINEL
VOL. XXXXV11 NO. 48 USPS 162-860 KENANSVILLE. NC 28349 NOVEMBER 29. 1984 18 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
' Tobacco Farms Facing Loss
Of Price Support Proaram
'I don't believe I have ever seen the
tobacco program as threatened as It
la now.'
? Rep. Charles Whitley warned
Duplin County Municipal Associa
tion members that the tobacco
economy and the federal price
support program are in the greatest
danger they have ever seen.
Whitley spoke at the November
meeting of the Association Thursday
night in Rose Hill.
The association elected Arnold
Duncan, Wallace town commis
A sioner, to succeed Mayor Ruth Quinn
of Magnolia as president, and Mayor
Ale* Brown of Greenevers as vice
president to succeed Duncan.
Whitley, who is a member of the
House subcommittee on tobacco and
peanuts, said, "1 don't believe I have
ever seen the tobacco program as
Rep. Charles Whitley
threatened as it is now, politically
and economically. If we leave it alone
it will eat itself up."
Whitley expects a cut in produc
tion allotments and quotas and an
increase in the no-net-cost assess
ments on tobacco sold. The assess
ments create funds that are sup
posed to meet costs of operating the
surplus tobacco program.
Whitley also expects cuts in pro
grams such as business and indus
trial loans, aid to water, sewer and
rural fire units and urban develop
ment grants from the new Congress.
These programs all help Duplin
County, he noted.
He believes revenue sharing will
survive.
Whitley fears the makeup of the
new Congress will be less favorable.
There is a strong anti-tobacco feeling
in the country, he warned.
9Turkeys Lead Poultry's
Passage Up Money List
Poultry, represented by the teem
ing flocks of turkeys in Duplin and
Sampson counties, soon could re
place flue-cured tobacco as North
Carolina's top cash crop, officials
say.
Although tobacco has been de
fended and supported by state
political and agricultural leaders, its
place in the farm economy is
increasingly precarious.
Agriculture experts say the shift
shows that diversification in the
North Carolina agricultural economy
is helping blunt the economic blows
that have been thrown at the tobacco
industry in recent years.
, That diversification, however, is
ai uot uniform. Poultry growing, for
? example, is concentrated in Duplin,
Sampson and Pender counties in the
eastern half of the state, and in
Union and Cleveland in the west.
Turkey and chicken production has
made little impression on the
economy of other parts of the south
eastern tobacco-growing region,
such as Bladen and Columbus coun
ties.
Duplin County is also a center for
poultry processing, with a Swift &
/* Co. turkey plant near Wallace em
ploying about 400 people and a new
plant planned as a joint venture by
Carroll's Foods Inc. of Warsaw and
Goldsboro Milling Co. of Goldsboro.
A major Duplin County poultry
firm, Nash Johnson & Sons Farms of
Rose Hill, owns House of Raeford, a
processing plant in Hoke County.
Last year tobacco accounted for
SI .02 billion, or about 27 percent of
the state's total agricultural cash
receipts of $3,784 billion. The
poultry industry ? including tur
keys, chickens and egg producers ?
came in second with $912 million-or
about 24 percent of the total.
In 1985, poultry is expected to ac
count for about $950 million, while
tobacco may be less, than this year's
total, officials say.
North Carolina leads the nation in
turkey production. Duplin County
produces more turkeys than any
other county in the United States.
Modern poultry production has
little in common with the image of
the traditional farm.
Chickens and turkeys are typically
"grown out" by independent grow
ers under contract with large pro
ducers who provide the young birds,
feed and medicine.
While much of the area's produc
tion takes place in poultry houses.
many turkeys are still grown on
open-air ranges.
In the post-World War II period,
such commodities as livestock, soy
beans and corn became more impor
tant to the North Carolina economy
while traditional crops such as pea
nuts and cotton declined.
J.E. Legates, dean of the School of
Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C.
State University, said commodities
other than tobacco became increas
ingly important because tobacco can
be grown only by farmers who own
or lease government allotments.
"Our poultry industry and other
co' iinodi ios hjve allowed us to ex
pand our income because they are
not a controlled commodity," he
said.
Legates also said the livestock
industry became a bigger force in
state agriculture because the state
has been growing more corn and
soybeans, which are used as feed.
Tobacco accounted for almost half
the $922 million in farm cash receipts
30 years ago, while poultry brought
in slightly less than 11 percent.
In the 1930s, tobacco was a full 75
percent of the state's farm income.
Doll Kicks Off Christmas Fund-Raising
Duplin Social Service employees held a bake sale and
doll give-away to raise money for foster children and
adults during Chiistmas. The money from the bake sale
and doll give-away will be used to buy Christmas gifts
and clothing for children and adults in the Duplin foster
care system. The effort by the employees of Social
Services only compliments annual programs of the
department which works with area civic groups and
private individuals to collect toys and clothing for the
foster individuals. Public citizens or groups wishing to
donate good used or new toys should contact Duplin
Social Services Chore and Transportation Worker
Johnny Pickett. Donations of clothing or food should be
made through contact with Jackie Pickett, Duplin social
services home economics worker. The coordination of
gifts is made through Duplin Social Services Foster
Care Worker Joyce Wallace. Pictured above with the
doll given away in the November 21 fund-raiser are
Joyce Wallace and Johnny Pickett.
Recognized For
Service In Education
Jimmy Strickland, known as the
Dean of Board Members of Duplin
County, was recognized for his
boardmanship and service to the
children of Duplin County at the 15th
annual conference of the North
Carolina School Boards Association
at its meeting held in Greensboro on
Nov. 8-10. Strickland has served as a
member of the Duplin County Board
of Education for more than a quarter
? of a century.
"Strickland has been a positive
voice for public education in Duplin
County and has worked closely with
school personnel to improve the
schools of our county," L.S. Guy Jr.,
superintendent, stated. "Jimmy has
made a lasting contribution to the
youth of our community. He has
given of himself so that our children
would have a strong educational
base from which they could develop
as good productive citizens of the
county, our state and our nation. We
appreciate all that he does in the
interest of the children of Duplin
County. The investment he has made
in the schools will live long beyond
the lifespan of an individual. Jimmy
represents the leadership caliber of
ihe Duplin County Board of Educa
tion," Guv added.
James F. Strickland
Strickland was selected to repre
sent Region 2 on the All-State Board
of Education. Region 2 includes 13
counties.
Health Service Has Been Popular
f Since it was organized in Sep
V 9 tember, Duplin County Home Care
Inc. has served 151 clients.
Lynn S. Hardy, executive director
of the non-profit organization, re
cently delivered a report on the
program to the county Board of
Commissioners. Among its patients
are 39 people who transferred from
the Health Department when the
new service opened.
Duplin County Home Care Inc. is a
non-profit organization with a board
of directors composed of county
officials, physicians, pharmacists
and others, all from Duplin County.
The service provides care of
clients in their homes rather than
placing them in hospitals or other
institutions. It allows patients
shorter hospital stays.
It provides horaebound patients
with intermittent or part-time care.
Visits are made to patients between
'.l ..." . 7 . 1
8 a.m. and S p.m. Monday through
Friday. A nurse in on call 24 hours a
day to provide services required at
other times. Services are available to
anyone within a 50-mile radius of
Kenansville. 1
Patients are admitted to the pro
gram at the request of their physi
cians.
The full-time staff includes two
registered nurses, a secretary and
two home health aides. Physical,
occupational and speech therapists
and a medical social worker also
provide services by contract with the
agency, she said.
"I can't say enough about this
place. I don't care what time it is you
call, and they'd be right out," said
Allen Nethercutt, whose mother is
homebound. Nethercutt is chairman
of the Board of Commissioners.
Ms. Hardy said no one is refused
needed services due to inability to
pay. Private and government in
surance programs provide payments
for most patients. Service* can be
purchased on a fee basis.
The office is located in Duplin
(! \ *.H ->itatln Konnnsville.
o Whitley Mobile
Office Schedule
Congressman Charlie Whitley's
Third District mobile office will visit
Duplin County on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
L.J. Outlaw, field representative,
V will be manning the office and
available to persons having matters
they wish brought to the Congress
man's tendon.
I
The mobile office will be at
Chinquapin from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at
the Post Office; at Rose Hill from
11-12 noon at the Post Office, and in
Warsaw from 1 - 2 p.m. at the Post
Office.
The above schedule is subject to
weather conditions sffeUQjng t<-avo|
Duplin Seeks Permission To
Clean Grove Creek Channel
Duplin County officials will ask the
Army Corps of Engineers for a
permit to clean the channel of Grove
Creek near Kenansville to Improve
drainage in and near the town.
The Kenansville Board of Com
missioners has repeatedly asked the
county board to take this ac*jon.
About 3Vi years ago a reqSlSM
made for the permit. A stud^ was
called for. Nathan Whaley, county
landfill and heavy equipment super
visor, urged the board last week to
make another request for a permit
saying the project had been studied
long enough.
The board also gave Walter
Brown, director of services to the
aging, permission to apply for a
$24,600 one-year grant to hire a
coordinator and clerk for transpor
tation. The county would have to
provide 10 percent matching funds,
$2,460.
Different county departments
operate buses independently. Brown
said a coordinator will reduce over
lapping of routes and excess
mileage.
Board members agreed that if a
coordinator can't show a saving
sufficient to pay his salary, the job
should be eliminated after a year.
In other action, the board decided
to study the request of Thomas
Rabon for county garbage pick-up
service at an apartment complex he
owns in Kenansville and one he is
building in Warsaw. He said he ,
wants to install dumpsters in the
complexes to replace garbage cans
he now furnished for each apart
ment.
He said the individual cans create
a messy situation. The county
empties dumpsters in its garbage
trucks on rural routes.
Commissioner D.J. Fussell com
mented, "We'd like to have your
business but it would be opening up
a new can of worms. If we open up to
you we'll have to open up to others."
Whaley said garbage pick-up
crews re operating si* days a week
and have all they can do. Any more
garbage would require the county to
buy another truck and hire another
employee at an estimated initial cost
of about $100,000.
The board also agreed to a request
by Gerald Quinn to ask the state to
close a portion of Secondary Road
^902, a dirt road next to the Quinn
Co. south of Warsaw. In return,
Quinn said, the company would pave
a connecting road between S.R. 1902
and U.S. 117 a short distance from
the road's present location.
The company wants to build a
warehouse across the proposed
closed portion of the road. Voting for
the request were Commissioners
Fussell, Calvin Turner, Dovey
Penney and Allen Nethercutt. Com
missioner W.J. Costin voted against
the actisn, saying a hearing should
be held.
Two Voting Precincts
Rearranged In Duplin
The Duplir. County Board of Com
missioners last week shuffled two
voting precincts to equalize the
population of three of the county's
five voting districts.
Before the shuffling, a 24.8 per
cent variation existed between the
populations of the smallest and
largest districts. The shuffling re
duced the spread to 8.2 percent.
The county has a population of
40,950 and ideally, each of the five
districts should have 8,190 people.
The board made the district changes
to bring the county more in line with
the one-person-one vote principle.
Hallsville Precinct, with a popula
tion of 1,286, was re-assigned from
District 3 to District 1. The precinct
is part of Limestone Township.
Locklin Preempt, with 729 people,
was moved from District 4 to District
3. The precinct is in Island Creek
Township.
nicfoiot 1 n/MiAVc tka ract t~vf I imo.
L/l J II IV. t J WUT V. I -> IIIV IVJI VI bllliv
stone Township, with 4,108 people.
Cypress Creek with 2,901 and Lock
lin for a total of 7,738 people.
Before the juggling. District 3
included all of Limestone s 6,394
people and Cypress Creek's 2,901 for
a total of 8,295. It was 113 percent
higher than the ideal. It now is 5.5
percent less than the ideal figure.
The district is represented by Com
missioner Allen Nethercutt and
school board member Carl Pate.
District 2 sprawls across northern
and much of eastern Duplin County.
It now has 8,352 people with the
addition of Hallsville Precinct's
1,286 people.
Other precincts in District 2 are
part of Faison Township with 1,234
people, Wolfescrape Township and
P4J i:tci with 1,624, Albertson with
1,351, Glisson with 1,108 and Smith
Township's Smith and Cabin pre
cincts with 1,749 people.
Before the addition of Hallsville.
District 2 had 7,066 people, 13.7
percent less than ideal. It now is 2
percent more than the ideal. Repre
senting the district on the board are
Commissioner Calvin Coolidge Tur
ner and school board member Joe
Swinson.
District 4 now has 8,342 people,
1.9 percent more than the ideal. It
covers Rockfish Township and pre
cinct with 1,290 people and the Wal
lace and Charity precincts of Island
Creek Township with 7,052 people.
Before the shuffle the district had
9,071 people, 10.8 percent over the
ideal.
Commissioner Dovey Penney and
school board member Bill Richards
represent District 4.
Unchanged were:
? District 1, which has 2,368
people in southern Faison Township,
including the Faison precinct, and
5,783 in Warsaw Township. Its 8,151
total population places the district
0.05 percent less than the ideal
number. It is represented by Com
missioner W.J. Costin and school
board member James Strickland.
? District 5, which is made up of
Kenansville with 3,779, Rose Hill
with 2,846 and Magnolia with 1,744
people for a total of 8,369, is 2.2
percent more than the ideal. The
district's commissioner is D.J.
Fussell. Starting next month, it will
be represented on the school board
by Amos Q.jDoc) Brinson.
Congratulations!
James
! Kenan
Easfern
Division II
Class 2-A Champions