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/Ye/V/7&y /Y3//7 * - Opinion
Page
THE BRUNSWICKfeBEACON
Edward HI. Sweat! and Carolyn H. Swealt Publishers
Edward M. Sweat! Editor
Kiimiiii I klicr Ycirs Editor
Halm Adams Si Doug Hutter Stuff Writers
Johnny Craig Sports Editor
Christine Haiiou Of fire Mnnafter
Cecelia Gore & Susan Barefoot. .Advertising Representatives
Tammie Galloway & Dorothy Brennan Typesetters
Holier! Williams. . "
rn-ssman
Itri-ndn Olemmons Photo Technician
Lnnnir Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Clyde a?:l Mflttic Stout, Phoebe (.Irmnions. ..., .C.irculution
t ufcC 4?A Thursday, Jsnusry 14,1988
Demand Return
To Hazard List
It's not too early for Brunswick County residents to renew
their lobbying efforts for a return of the county to the N.C.
Division of Forest Resources high hazard list.
On the request of a former board of commissioners, a
former state representative and the district's current state
senator, Brunswick County was removed from the list around
1982, for reasons that had nothing to do with public safety or
fire hazard levels. It had to do with local development efforts.
Last summer, several events forged reminders of why the
county belongs back on that list, including a 5,000-foot high column
of smoke that choked visitors who stepped out of their
beach cottages, set off fire alarms in residential areas of
Shallotte, took the blame for a three-car crash west of
Shallotte that sent two people to a the hospital with serious injuries,
and in general, made life miserable for weeks for a
significant group of people.
Some of the problem was coincidence: atmospheric conditions
combined with long-term controlled burning by several
paper/timber companies and with burning associated with
new development. The smoke level could have been lessened if
several paper companies had not scheduled controlled burning
simultaneusly and if a land-clearing fire had been better
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While it might not have been possible to prevent an
overload of smoke, there is something the county can do to
lessen the likelihood of it happening again in the summer of
'88.
Commissioners can ask to have the county placed back on
the high hazard list; so can Rep. David Redwine or Sen. Soles.
Starting this month, three seats on the board of commissioners
and both Redwine's and Soles' seats come up for election.
It's a good time for them to show some sensitivity to the
rfonorol miRltn
Cll puUHCi
In a "high hazard county"?the state has 18 of them?a
permit is required to burn in or within 500 feet or a wooded
area regardless of the time of day the fire is started. And a
special permit is required to burn debris, stumps, brush or
other ground-clearing materials on five or more continuous
acres when the material is placed in piles or windrows. That
applies regardless of how close the burning is to woodlands.
To obtain the permit, the owner must establish acceptable
factors such as wind direction, air conditions and quantities of
material to be burned.
That's not too much to ask, or even to demand.
Wouldn't 11
Wouldn't it be great if any time you didn't care for the service
or advice rendered to you by a professional, you simply
didn't have to pay for it?
Doctors would go out of business and so would plumbers.
And maybe even engineers and fortune tellers.
But that's what happens daily when lots don't measure up
to state septic tank requirements. It doesn't matter how long
the county sanitarian was on the scene, how many trips were
made and tests run, or even if he called in back-up help from
the county's soil scientist or a district supervising sanitarian.
If the lot doesn't meet the reauirements for a sentie tank anri
the county can't issue a permit, the disgruntled, unhappy property
owner at least gets his money back, even if he can't build
on the lot or persuade the previous owner to take it back.
On that premise the money must have been paid for a slip
of paper, not for a service rendered. And that concept goes
against standard fee structures. Most building permit fees are
based on the number of trips or inspections that must be
made, not whether the permit is issued.
The refund procedure was adopted by the health department
because it was the only way at the time to get the
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Our hopes were so high as we came
tumbling into work Thursday morning;
the first snowy freckles had just
begun to swirl into town.
"It's snowing! It's snowing!"
Advertising Rep. Sue Barefoot got a
little excited, to say the least, shrieking
as she stormed out the back door.
Those of us in the news room smiled,
but not with a great deal of enthl'.'jisirr.
We\ Unnur tuoM hutro tn ho
lllllOIUOill. ?t V IMIV > ( V M ? ?
out in it, at least for a while, along
with all those other crazy drivers.
It was fun telling the guys about
beaches in snow, but thev didn't ppt
to sec it for themselves. Instead they
got to watch as drivers waited and
waited, then crept over the high-rise
bridges behind the salt truck. TenWhateve
Saturday mornings just aren't like
they used to be.
The old Bugs Bunny, Road Runner,
Daffy Duck and Porky Pig cartoons
aren't televised anymore. And that
represents an extreme miscarriage
of justice against every youngster in
America, including myself.
Looking through the television sec- .
tion the other day, I came across programs
such as Lady Lovely Locks,
Popples, Muppet Babies, Care Bear (
Family and Pound Puppies. The (
Saturday morning list goes on and ]
on, but I think you get the idea. i
All of these cartoons have two |
things in common: they have no
entertainment value whatsoever and
iiity are all trying to represent and
promote various products. You simply
cannot find a TV cartoon anvmnro
that isn't associated with a doll, stuffed
r.riimal or board game.
Here's the scenario?kids watch
Gummi Bears on television and
before you know it, they can't live
without the real thing. Each modernday
cartoon, I would estimate, accounts
for retail sales of about $50,000
a year (batteries not included).
Evei
A couple of weeks ago I finally
discovered a new hobby that is sure
to keep me twiddling my thumbs during
the cold winter evenings ahead.
For about a month, my wife warned
me that I was begging for a bad
case of post-holiday blues if I didn't
hiirrv and find an enjoyable Dastime
iu my imeresis ouisiae 01
work.
She knew what she was talking
about. For the past five Januarys,
she has seen me trudge home from
work, plop down on the sofa and
vegetate in front of the television until
bedtime.
And since I would bite my fingernails
and complain all the while
about being bored stiff, my wife
Be Great?
political entity known as the boe
even allow the department to cl
like other counties do. At least t
county could recoup some of the
service.
However, making refunds c
several departments.
Arguments exist against ch<
i course. The state requires the ?
those who therefore think the si
Never mind that the county is
arm of state government, and
[ residents who benefit when a s
go in on the lot next door,
i Brunswick County Board of
be looking again at the septic fc
Maybe they'll find a way to;
While it might be extremely u
pretations of septic tank rules, t
and let the property owners whc
permit or no permit.
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/e Got To He
Sus?n
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sion headache No. 8.001.
Where was the enthusiasm of
childhood? While driving along N.C.
130 to Holden Beach, the road did
look a lot like the mud cupcakes my
sisters and I used to make?very
dark, a little damp, iced with a
"sprinkling" of sugary-looking white
sand.
r Happened
Oil I
n/)
Whatever happened to broad:asting
cartoons for the sake of
;ntertainment? Cartoons of the
1980s, including the sci-fi weekday
afternoon variety, are not entertaining.
I know what you're saying. Cartoons
are not aimed at entertaining
humans once they pass the age of 12
or 13.
But I still get a good laugh every
time the networks slip up and put an
old Woody Woodpecker rerun on the
air. So 1 believe age has nothing to do
with whether the shows are funny or
not.
And while I truly believe the older
shows are the cream of the crop when
it comes to comedy, 1 must add that
many programs also delivered a sub
ryone Needs
Rahn " t
A dams J
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decided to put her foot down this
year.
"You wouldn't be so tense if you'd
find yourself a good hobby." she said.
"Why don't you start collecting
coins?"
That particular hobby didn't appeal
to me, so I nixed the idea by
ird of county commissioners to
harge for a septic tank permit
his way, the thinking went, the
i cost incurred in providing the
osts money and ties up labor in
arging at all for the permits, of
service be provided; there are
tate should foot the entire bill,
simply?and reluctantly?an
that it is Brunswick County
oon-to-fail septic tank doesn't
Health members are going to
ank permitting system,
streamline the refund process,
unpopular with the new interhey
could stop making refunds
?receive the service pay for it,
.., /vc^ 1-a
ive Hi-i-gh Ho
But that's about it.
And once again, the gamblers at
the board of education lost when it
was their turn at the weather wheel.
Thursday dawned fair but cold, at 6
a.m., so the buses rolled on in. By the
time the roll was called and
homework collected, it was snowing.
Then, by the time all the buses had
been gassed up, the snow had eased
to mere flurries.
But by the time most of the
youngsters had eaten their lunch, it
was sleeting?hard, just in time to
cause problems when classes were
dismissed at 12:30 p.m.
By 1 p.m. co-worker Chris Ballou
was trying to cross U.S. 17 and pick
up our lunches. Before she could get
i o roghorn Li
conscious message to young
children whether they were aware of
it at the time or not
Wile E. Coyote (faminus
hungrius), the eventual laser of
every prank he ever pulled in his
desperate attempts to catch the Road
Runner, is unfortunately a thing of
the past. He never got his just reward
while the show aired. And despite
getting blown to smithereens an
average of 2.3 times an hour, 1 ad
inired him for trying his hardest.
There's something to be said for persistent
effort. i
Daffy Duck, who was perhaps the
frailest creature ever to have his own
television show, almost always
avoided physical narm with Quickthinking
and charm, proving that
brawn does not always win out over
brain in the ever-violent cartoon
world
And who could forget Elmer Fudd,
the ultimate hunter who always
caught a snag when he came across
the "wascally wabbit" Bugs Bunny.
Elmer, like the coyote, never got
what he rightfully deserved, but his
never-say-die attitude was a fine exA
Winter Hoi
showing her the stack of bills that
had to be paid.
"I'm not going to waste my hardearned
pennies by sticking them in
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ume coin-coiiecnng dooks?not with
all these bills due," I exaggerated.
"Well, since we live near the
beach, what about seashells?" she
suggested, it wouldn't cost
anything, and it would give us both
something to do.
"We'll hunt for shells on the
weekend, and you can clean them
and arrange our collection on
weeknights," she stated. Her mind
was made up.
So on our occasional weekend
jaunts to area beaches, we began
combing the strands for seashells.
My wife picked up only pretty,
perfectly-formed shells, while I
seemed to be attracted more to the
shards that she referred to as " worry
shells."
As we strolled down one beach, she
explained that I could "worry
better" if I held a shard in one hand
and rubbed its smooth, concave surface
with my thumb.
MOW TO CI ID
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back, Uie office had officially closed
for the day and Rahn, Doug and I
were plotting our strategy: i.e., how
to cover the storm 1) without a horse
and sleigh or lens hoods; 2) without
endangering our lives or that of
othors: and 3) without getting Ollt in
it except as absolutely necessary.
We wanted the snowy wonderlands
of childhood dreams: we got, well, a
lot of ice and headaches.
Still, for a moment, there was that
special excitement, that little pressing
burr of suspense. Sometimes, expectation
is the next best thing to a
dream deferred.
After all, we've got to have hi-i-gh
hopes.
r
sghom? 1
ample for the impressionable
children he entertained over the
years. He was often portrayed, both
figuratively and literally, as an "allday
sucker,"' but he never let it get
him down. J.S
So it can be said that these fic- ll
ticious characters not only entertained
children, but also displayed
various characteristics which are g
cunsmereu aamiraDie in human beings.
They all served in some capo-ity
as role models for milions of
children who grew up on television
during the 1970s.
Incidentally, my all-time favorite
cartoon character was Foghorn ?
Leghorn, the clever rooster who 1
outweighed every other barnyard
animal, including that dumb old
farm dog, by at least 50 pounds. He
always seemed to get the best of that
"sly" fox no matter what the situation.
And even while I'll probably sit
back this Saturday and watch "Real
Ghostbusters," I'll know in the back
of my mind that there is no substitute
for real humor or real television.
^by |
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That was all I needed to hear. I'*1
found my hobby?one I could re1"*
to.
It didn't take long for me to
discover that worry shells differ in
appearance from beach to beach.
At Wrightsville Beach, the shells I
found were large, boldly-colored and
strong?metropolitan worry shells to
handle the hustle and bustle of nearby
Wilmington.
On an excursion to Pawley's
Island, S.C., I found a small, white
shard with a delicate lace-like
design. Folks on Pawley's Island apparently
don't have much to worry
about.
I haven't found a definitive worry
shell from the South Brunswick
Islands yet, but I'm sure it'll be a
combination of the two types just
mentioned. And half of the fun will be
hunting for it.
I'm glad I have a hobby, because
now my wife can't complain when I
tnulge home from work, plop down H
On thp ?;nfa on/4 n.K
u..u i uu my wurry sneus
as I watch TV. I
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