Opinion Page *rt If am MI mr HKUiM^Vi Edward M. Sweatl and Carol) Edward M. Sweat I Susan I'slier Rnlin Aduins & Doug Hutter Johnny Craig Christine Ballon ,,,,,, Cecelia Gore & Susan Barefo Tnmmie Galloway & Doroth; Robert Williams Brenda Clemmons Connie Sprinkle Clyde and Mnttie Stout. IM101 Page 4-A XL!. I- XX _ i Rio i5 TOUT To Speak A This is your chance, it while?your chance to tell th here ana that there's sometl about it. Or, if you can possibly be need to hear from you also. This opportunity has com for many groups to get the there's still time to act, to sp Tonight (Thursday) at 7 \ sioners are holding a meeting last week as an official "p county's litter problem. The 1 Assembly Building at the 1 Center. Guest speaker will t Onslow Clean County and Beautiful Inc., the nationa Jacksonville group is affiliat 11/1 ?- - 4? i7z years agu, ai wnicn lime back and speak to community local interest in starting a c parently this is that return vi A lot of private individu working quietly on the count forts are generally in the na streets and in specific neighb Few of the groups are w one organization typically d planned. It doesn't have to be explain tonight. It doesn't matter that son mit publicly that Brunswick those of us who drive the road ter. It does matter that c< recognized the importance of public image and to its citize As it addresses other c disposal, Brunswick County i for dealing with litter: An or inform the public; to recogni: ing up and beautifying the em community; and to provide th dinate the efforts of indiv business and government. You can help county c pressing a problem litter whether the county is going t( problem. Those who can't make tor just call?their commissione record regarding litter. Ad< County Commissioners, P.O. LETTERS TC Who Should You To the editor: As a resident and taxpayer ol Brunswick County, I must say thai our county commissioners and coun ty department heads are very un professional and discourteous tc their constituents and residents. After numerous letters and phone calls, never has anyone had the courtesy to return a call or reply by mail. It is a sad day for all Brunswick residents to have these types represent us and work for our county. Do they know who they work for? Do they remember who elected them? I guess not! If you have a problem, who should | how to si j THE BRUIM5V POST OFFICE B SHALLOTTE. N For Award-Winni ANNUAL SUESCRirTiGN R/ In Brunswick County Elsewhere in North Carolina Outside North Carolina Complete And Rctu Nome Address I City, State I Zip J jfe HTKmiiiaCCM m-mrmm pv) IV wmmB *?! ? J n II. Sural! I'uhlishors Editor s \'eics Editor s Stuff Writers a Sports Editor Vfun - ? " IJ ot. .Advertising Representatives s Itrrnnmi Typesetters j I'ressntan Photo Technician t Assistant I'rossmun i*Im' Clemmons Circulation j, I Thursday, March 24,1988 ? ! v-iiunCe t Litter Bit laybe the only one for a long e county that litter is a problem tiing county government can do lieve litter is not a problem, they e up rather suddenly, too quickly word out among members. But eak out, as concerned citizens. ).m. Brunswick County Commisdescribed in an advertisement ublic hearing"?concerning the learing will be held in the Public Brunswick County Government ie Sarah Humphries, director of a trainer for Keep America 1 organization with which the ed. She spoke to commissioners they promised to have her come r groups, with the idea of gauging ountywide anti-litter effort. Ap- j isit. als and community groups are y's litter problem, but these efture of clean-ups along specific orhoods. orking together; partly because oesn't know what another has that way, as Ms. Humphries will le county officials won't even adCounty has a "litter problem;" s and walk the beaches know bet)unty officials to date haven't litter as it relates to the county's ns' self-image. oncerns regarding solid waste leeds also a long-term approach igoing campaign to educate and ze those who work toward clean/ironment; to help instill pride in le leadership needed to help cooriduals, schools, organizations, ommissioners decide just how ?y_ is in Brunswick County?and ) take the lead in addressing that light's meeting should write?not r(s) immediately and go on the v Iress your letter to Brunswick f Box 248, Bolivia, NC 2B422. e b > THE EDITOR e Contact For Help? * you contact for help and f direction ... I guess not our elected s t or county officials. Dick Gibson, President Carolina Shores North i Home Owners AssociaUon c Time For Move a To the editor: ? Have had a good winter in Florida J3 and enjoyed our Beacon every week as usual. Now it is time to hnaH homo to North Carolina. Please change the s address on our subscription from "Sunshine Key" back to Holden Beach. James&RuihAthey Holden Beach C( 01 JBSCRIBE TO VICK&BEACON I I OX 2558 i ni ORTH CAROLINA 28459 j ng News Ccverage i ^ i I tb B T MAIL: Sr.Citiien 7.50 6.50 I 10 00 9.00 .. 12.50 11.50 S< b( rn To Above Address 1 g( ! b< tii ! ct J h< 4. ! Bel The practice field of West Irunswick's hunter safety team was ny destination iwo weekends ago. After writing a story on the team ind the Wildlife Commission hunter afety program in general, 1 needed in action photo to go with it. So I drove out Old Shallotte Road for the first time in my life) and, imazingly enough, found what I was ?c.. inmiug IUI . When I first arrived, the archery earn was practicing. To say the least, my previous exleriences in archery were quite imited. Although I had witnessed ome fancy shooting at the Jrunswick Big Buck Archery Shoot ust one short week before, my personal relationship with bow and arow had never really gotten off the {round. Like most of the kids I grew up with n suburban Philadelphia, I didn't SOMEDAY we mi Tak One of my pet peeves is having to ment office, ba * ?' cauauuaiuuuiii Wl eft was what appeared to e a dark center, but which was realf a cluster of many tiny flowers, ater, there would be seed?like Linflower seed, but a lot smaller. I Time I don't know why, but for the past Duple of weeks, I've had old friends n my mind a lot and one in parcular. Maybe it's the sight of buds and lossoms on a clear, cool morning; le sound of crickets, tree frogs and juntless other little boogers at glit; or just the sweet smell of sprgtime in the air that reminds me of iy pal. It doesn't take much prompting to 1 :t most folks to come see me, maindue to the natural beauty of the i tilth Brunswick Island's splendid I laches. But a visit from this one ' >od, old buddy?who I'd think would 1 : champing at the bit for a vaca- ' 3n?is long overdue. 1 I imagine he's been kind of preocipied lately, though, with Easter I ght around the corner. Although 1 i's busy year-round, his job really 1 lieve !t Was E have much experience shooting a bow. A couple of us did have those Chief Sitting Bull Bows. You know, the kind that shoot plastic arrows and break after two days of wear and tear. But you couldn't really consider anyone in my neighborhood a threat with one of those things. Half the time the arrow went backwards or only flew 10 feet. And the big foam target we aimed for barely had a scratch when it was finally stowed away in the bowels of y have to "take a number" to enjoy 01 e A Numbc BY BILL FAVER wait in a govern- bably be good for -:?:i? mi, in annual move aiong 10 rnai here you must numbers. Such a and sit and sit realm of possibiliti mir turn for sor~ Nmnbsrs won! wait I object to, places and the mc to watch the peo- tional seashores. 1 ite on what their tional Seashore in e. I think I object ed assemblage of sonal treatment; and other large cit r that I have a lottery?buy a num the next number the beach! Let's just hope it how crowded we will be sparet national facilities treatments as hav ixpect when that beautiful beaches. :ars for a place to alone. We need to' ler to gain access provided and adei most to this point care for those wh : City, Southern "take a number" imber would pro- bureaucrats! Eyed Susans Susan Usher * ItMIAd -i iicvci uicu iu tai vjiiu, cia iijulii eta we loved sunflower seed. This spring, it was exciting to learn that the black-eyed Susan has been named the state's "Wild Flower of the Year" by the North Carolina Botanical Garden and The Garden Club of North Carolina Inc. They and garden clubs across the state will be promoting black-eyed Susans for cultivation in home gardens and landscapes during the coming year. And the Eggert household is doing its part. For A Visit F W* \ m teeps him hopping this time of year. His name is G.H. Rabbit, and he ivnrks as thp masrnt?err mm. nunications specialist?for my lometown's frequent anti-litter campaigns. His initials stand for "Good Habit," but he prefers "G.H." aecause it sounds more professional. He's so popular there that his picture is on every garbage can iowntown. I expect him to nin for mayor someday, and he'll probably leginners' Luc our basement. In fact, those arrows probably did more damage to the blades of my father's riding lawnmower than the target. Anyhow, after snapping some pictures of the archery squad in action, we all packed up and headed out to the skeet shooting range. Now if you can imagine my knowledge being very limited in the litle of archery, believe thai it was almost non-existent when it came to skeet. The only thing I knew about skeet shooting was that you yelled "Pull!" when you wanted a skeet to take off. (I never understood why that one word induced those birds to fly, but I urnn 1 r\ hoim folt otimSrl ?w-lr;? uuuiu nm?rem?stojnuciaiwiif; anyone.) I did learn two things about the sport by watching the first person shoot. First of all, those skeet fly a lot slower than I thought. And second of PHOTO BY Bill PAVIR ir natural areas. ?r! only a few hours, so that we might ;e room for those who had the next horrid thought is not outside the es. Id probably bs rccjuircd for such >st popular national parks and naThe vastness of Cape Hatteras Nawinter could become an overcrowdrefuges from Washington, Norfolk ies. Maybe it would even become a iber and hope you can win a place on t this never comes to be! Hope that i such crowds and such inhuman ing io "take a number" to use our But we need to do more than hope work to see that adequate areas are [juate facilities are constructed to o come to our beaches. Leave the approach to the offices and the Are Perennic Some Rudbeckia fuleida seeds are already coming up in a small flat in thp ess! window, snd will soon be ready to move outside. With luck, there will be bright, tall yellow flowers blooming behind the silverdust for years to come. And last Wednesday, a longawaited envelope from the Botanical Garden arrived, with a brochure and a small packet of seed. Free seed. Three kinds of black-eyed Susan seed to keep the garden bright from midsummer through fall: Rudbeckia hirta, the native black-eyed Susan of my childhood, and the more civilized Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii?the official Wildflower of the Year, and some R. fulgida var. fulgida tossed in for a longer growing season. Maybe, with plants in our gardens, those gaily-waving flowers along the roadside won't seem quite so temprom G.H. Ral win?as long as he doesn't get overconfident about his many ac/>nmnlioKr?nn?n !?.* vv.,.Iuu>iuiku? uuu ici someone overtake him in the mayoral race. He especially has a way with kids. They turn out in droves whenever "Hoppy," as they fondly call him, makes an appearance at a city park. They're only a little less excited when he visits them at school. Hoppv's main duty is to instil! community pride in folks of all ages. He wants them to be proud of their town's and county's appearance. But he also works hard at simply reminding people where to toss their trash. He's the first to admit that it's a never-ending battle to fight litter, and he would probably agree that Brunswick is a good example of a county that may be winning some battles but is losing the war. Over the past couple of weeks, I've If <1 \ all, those guns are a lot louder than I thought. After 1 had taken a few more pictures, Wildlife Enforcement Officer Fred Taylor asked me if 1 wanted to take a shot. Almost instantly, I flipped back through the pages of my memory, frantically searching for seme moment in histoiy when I had expcricnccd anything similar to shooting skeet. I came across a few times when I had fired a friend's B.B. gun. But those targets were just sitting there asking to be hit, and I was never very good at that anyway. I also recalled that 1 had been in my share of water pistol fights. But innn ;u?;iin T cjiiiih niif r?n thp end of those more often than not. And after watching various members of the skeet team shoot down five in a row or take out two at the same time, I was somewhat intimidated. I guess I'm like most people in that I don't relish the thought of making a fool out of myself. I politely declined the offer, but had this strange feeling I wasn't going to get out of it that easily. 1 was right. A few minutes later, Fred pulled the ear plugs from his head, picked up a rifie and glanced my way with the funniest grin on his face. "Come over here, Doug," he said. It was too late to back out now. The team members started hootin' and hollcrin' and there was absolutely nothing I could do. I was doomed. I was destined to look like an idiot. Tentatively, I put down my camera bag. (For a moment, I thought of jumping inside it. But that would have been the wimpy way out, and I didn't want anyone comparing me to George Push.) Before I knew it, Fred had placed an unloaded rifle in position and we were taking aim on a real live skeet. After the trial run, he ioaaea the gun and again placed it in the crook of my shoulder so the kick wouldn't knock me over. Then, in the space of about two seconds, my whole life changed. Everything came in flashes. I took a deep breath, >elled "Pull," watched the skeet fly about 50 feet, gradually got a lino on it, squeezed the trigger, felt the kick, tried to focus my eyes and asked if 1 hit it. Yes. I can only describe the feeling as utter astonishment bordering on disbelief. It was like the feeling you might get if you were blindfolded and threw a basketball behind your back from half court and nailed it three times in a row. I was so amazed that i wasn't even excited about it. The only words I managed to get out were, "That was a real thrill." One team member remarked that I had good form, and I had to laugh. I believe it was just a case of beginner's luck. al Hit tine to stOD anrl nirlf?nr Hin The sponsors call it "conservation through propagation." You, too, can plant your own blackeyed Susans, courtesy of these two sponsors. Write to "1988 Wild Flower of the Year," North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Totten Center 457A, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, or call (919)967-2246. Enclose a selfaddressed legal size stamped envelope. Additional seed are available for special projects, such as community beautification efforts, parks and the like. Don't drag your feet: Response to the 1988 wild flower project has been so positive that, as of February 1988, 5,000 free seed packets and brochures with information on cultivation and germination havp hpon _ U(dM IUUICU. What a nice idea. And, as the garden folks say, "Good growing." bbit noticed that in many parts of Brunswick County it's hard to appreciate the wonder of spring simply because highway trash is a more overwhelming sight than the trees and flowers that are blossomine. U.S. 17 and other heavily-traveled highways here often look more like obstacle courses than roads when the pavement is littered with cardboard KnvOC nnnnr Ko??o on/4 WW>??r?| J/MJ/V.I WUgd, Ul Uin VUlltl UIIU refuse in general. I'd rather dodge 10 dead 'possums than one bottle or can. Dead 'possums don't roll around in the road, and they're biodegradable besides. Hoppy probably won't appreciate that remark, having had more than his share of close calls while crossing the road to pick up litter. But as he always says, "It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it."