PROGRESS SENTINEL
VOL. XXXXV11INO. 1 USPS 162-860 KENANSV1LLE. NC 28349 ' JANUAK, 3. 1985 12 fAGES THIS WE^K 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
Jk
A Look At The
Events Of 1984
A As the citizens of Duplin County
Tiusily welcome a new year, many of
the events of 1984 have become
history. So, let us learn from the past
in order to have a better future.
January headlines from the 1984
DUPLIN TIMES announced the
expansion of hog and turkey pro
grams at Carroll's Foods, Inc. of
Warsaw. Within a week another
announcement of the opening of a
S2.S million livestock feed mill at
^Uarrells was made by William
?yrestage of Clinton. Preparations
were also in progress for a start of a
Junior ROTC program at the East
Duplin High School. Directors of
Goshen Medical Center in Faison
were faced with the possible loss of
federal funding when an audit
resulted in a suit with the U.S.
Department of Labor. And, more
than $12,000 was raised in pledges
from a radio-thon for the possible
Jiver transplant of Kenansville infant
^^shely Quinn.
February news told of the Watson
Seafood and Poultry equipment
auction resulting from the bank
ruptcy of the company. Filing began
for the May primary elections.
Kenansville's Allyson Stroud was
crowned Miss Duplin County. A
$75,000 loan request by Duplin
General Hospital was turned down
by Duplin County Commissioners.
The town of Faison held open house
fcfor the Emily Hill Library which had
opened in late January in the old
depot building at the municipal
recreation park grounds.
Headlines from March followed'
with news of the resignation of Dr.
Jeff Margolis. M.D. at Goshen
Medical Center. Margolis resigned
to ioin a private practice in the
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Clinton area. Duplin Commissioners
authorized grants and loans for the
Alhprtson water and sewer district
projects. A house'fire took the life of
four children near Pin Hook and the
father was charged the next week
with involuntary manslaughter. East
Duplin High School senior Camile
Grady was a Morehead Scholar.
Murphy Farms of Rose Hill made a
SI million purchase of the Watson
Seafood and Poultry Company feed
mill at the bankruptcy auction.
Greenevers citizens chartered the
first all black Jaycee chapter in the
state at the end of March. The
Greenevers chapter was one of tour
new or reorganized jaycee groups to
be chartered in Duplin within the
previous year. A fund drive was
announced to complete the Kelly
Farrior House as the new home for
the Cowan Museum.
April headlines announced some
of Duplin's lived nightmares ?
tornadoes had killed, damaged and
injured. The tornadoes struck the
northern Duplin community of Pine
Forest late Wednesday, March 28.
While food, money, clothing and
shelter were being donated to the
tornado victims, life continued to
shock Duplin residents when a Rose
Hill youth was permanently expelled
from Charity Middle School after
bringing a gun on campus. Liberty
Hall made the news when a national
magazine brought camera crews to
the town to photograph the home for
publication in an up-coming issue of
Southern Accents.
The?primary election made the
early headlines in May. Four Duplin
County elective offices were being
contested. And, readers were
shocked by the news of a young boy
shooting himself before his class
mates at Rose Hill-Magnolia Ele
mentary School. Groundbreaking
ceremonies were held in Rose Hill
for a new winery just west of U.S.
117. Duplin voters set new record
turnouts in the May primary
elections. James "Bone Crusher"
Smith returned to his native home of
Magnolia as a special guest at the
Greenevers annual fiesta. Bone
Crusher came to Greenevers ranked
tenth among world heavyweight
boxers; he went on late in 1984 to
fight world champion Larry
Holmes. Kenansville Jaycees made
headlines when they returned from
the North Carolina convention with
26 state awards and a second place
ranking.
June headlines featured news of
the upcoming graduation of 550 high
school seniors. James Sprunt Tech
nical College shocked the public
when the institute did not renew the
employment contract of Dean Gene
Ballard, who had been employed
there since 1969. Duplin Commis
sioners approved an annual budget
calling for no tax rate hike. Duplin
farmers like those in other parts of
the state were faced with a problem
of herbicide contaminated fertilizer.
The county had five farm supply
dealerships which had been asso
ciated with W.R. Grace & Co. and
carried contaminated fertilizer, but
only minimum damage resulted in
Duplin.
July headlines brought the
county's attention to a new type of
crop ? potatoes for chips. A
Beulaville farm was in its second
year of contracting Irish potatoes
with Tom's Potato Chips! The out
door drama, The Liberty Cart,
opened for its ninth consecutive
season in the William R. Kenan Jr.
Memorial Amphitheatre in Kenans
ville with John Rice returning for his
second year in the lead role of
Phenius Pickett. The Duplin School
Board adopted a 10-year plan which
may call for the consolidation of
James Kenan High School and North
Duplin High School if a decline in
student population continues at both
facilities. Goshen Medical Center
Dr. Ken Lee, M.D. announced his
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resignation from the Faison clinic
and plans to join the private practice
of Dr. Edwin Ewers 01 Warsaw. Lee
later opted to return to Goshen
Medical Center, never joining the
Warsaw practice.
August headlines began with news
of the possible abandonment of the
railroad line between Castle Hayne
in New Hanover County and Mount
Olive in Wayne County. Quinn
Company expanded its service to
include supplying the Piggly wiggly
food store chain which created 75
new jobs at the Duplin business. The
Eastern Belt opened with tobacco
prices up $6.76 over the previous
year's average the first day in
Wallace. National Spinning in
Warsaw announced the expansion of
the plant with a 38,000-square-foot
addition and the expectation of 70
new jobs. Kenansville town com
missioners voted to buy its first
permanent town hall with the
purchase of the old Federal Land
Bank building. Plain View Health
Center in Greenevers announced the
association of a new doctor at the
clinic. Dr. Bruce Brasher, M.D.
signed a two-year contract at Plain
View Health Center.
September began with headlines
of the Coastal Expo and Field Day
set for the Kenan Memorial Audi
torium. The event was part of a
statewide look at soil and water
conservation. Duplin schools opened
with a county enrollment of 7,794
students which was 200 fewer than
counted on opening in 1983. The
coast of North Carolina was hit by
Hurricane Diana while inland the
rain and winds from the storm
caused some flooding and only minor
damage to Duplin crops. The Duplin
Board of Elections reported almost
3,000 new voters registering to be
eligible for November balloting,
which brought record turnouts at the
polls.
October brought headlines of the
newly approved plans to construct a
student center building on the
campus of James Spurnt Technical
C^.lege. Duplin had 10 students
named as Morehead Scholarship
Nominees of which Patrick Simpson
*
of North Duplin High School will
compete in state finals during Feb
ruary. If selected, Simpson will be
the first Morehead Scholar in the
history of North Duplin High School.
The Duplin Agribusiness Fair
opened October 1 for a week and set
attendance records. Governor James
B. Hunt stopped just south of
Warsaw to announce new funding
for the completion of 1-40 which
would cut five years from the
planned schedule. Plans to build one
of the world's largest turkey process
ing plants were announced jointly by
Carroll's Foods of Warsaw and
Goldsboro Milling Co of Goldsboro.
The plant is expected to create 750 to
1,000 jobs when it goes into opera
tion. Hy-Cross Co., the Pennsylvania
firm that opened a poultry operation
at Rise Hill during the spring, closed
its hatchery. The closing threw about
14 people out of work.
November headlines told of the
settling of a local malpractice suit
against a Kenansville surgeon for
$125,000 out of court. The Duplin
County Arts Council began its tenth
year oif operation. Heber Dalis Taylor
of Kenansville was honored in the
63rd annual Warsaw Veterans Day
celebration. Johanna Vest of North
Duplin Junior High was selected as
the Duplin County Teacher of the
Year. The Duplin County Board of
Commissioners approved the pur
chase of the PCA/FLB building in
Kenansville for $500,000 to be used
as the Duplin County Mental Health
Center. Following a public hearing,
the Kenansville Board of Commis
sioners unanimously approved a
request to annex The Country Squire
and Vintage Inn about three miles
west of the town city limits. Based on
the number of ballots tallied in the
state senatorial race, just over 72
percent of the county's 20,133 regis
tered voters marked ballots in No
vember elections. Duplin Commis
sioners shuffled two voting precincts
to equali7.e the population in county
voting districts. Locklin was moved
from District 4 to District 3. Halls
ville was re-assigned from District 3
to District 1.
December brought news of the
Twelve Days of Christmas in
Kenansville and the traditional open
house at Liberty Hall planned for
December 23. After the resignation
of two administrators during the
year, Goshen Medical Center Board
of Directors appointed staff member
Elinor Ezzell to the position. Ezzell
will continue to serve as part-time
health educator and part-time
Goshen Medical Center adminis
trator. Kenansville's first permanent
town hall opened during December
in the old Federal Land Bank
buiiding. The Cowan Museum closed
for Christmas holidays and announc
ed plans to reopen in its new home,
the historic Kelly-Farrior House next
to Liberty Hall in Kenansville. in
January.
Bonecrusher Visits Greenevers
Plantation Day At Liberty Hall
Tornadoes Hit Pine Forest ? mm mm
II
? Contaminated
3
Tobacco Fertilzer
???II SIM ill
Heritage Week In Duplin Schools ^
CHnrtars First Black Jayc^* Chaptar
?m w.? m * v fm
Little Miss Duplin County Dena Houston
Miss Duplin County Allyson Stroud
Ninth Season Of The Drama The Liberty Cart
Cossta! Soil A^d Wotor Expo