Class Of "90!
Meet the Class of 1990, nearly 600 strong,
special D Section Inside features senior
pictures from all three Brunswick County
high schools, as well as related stories.
Commencement exercises are this week.
Students Recognized
Brunswick County students have earned
accolades for their efforts In areas from perfect
attendance to physics at awards day programs
held by the three county high schools. The
stories are on Page 8-B and 9-B.
Design A Flag
The Town of Holden Beach could help bring
a local artist fame, If not fortune. Leaders
are soliciting Ideas for their latest project,
a town flag. Details on this and other
Holden Beach news Is on page 9-A.
THE BP
ggii^n>"
Twenty-eighth Year, Number 28
CI 900 THE BRUNSW.
Sha"otte' North Carolina, Thursday, May 31, 1990 25c Per Copy 46 Pages, 4 Sections, Plus Insert
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG PI UTTER
THE HOLDEN BEACH STRAND was sprinkled with sunbathers, swimmers , walkers , shelters and bikini watchers Saturday afternoon .
Area Merchants Enjoy 'Dynamite' Weekend,
Look Forward To Profitable Summer Season
BY DOUG RUTTER
South Brunswick Islands mer
chants were smiling Tuesday ? re
flecting on a long Memorial Day
weekend that everyone agreed was
better than last year and looking
forward to a profitable summer
tourist season.
"I think it was a dynamite week
end," said Susannc Sartelle, execu
tive vice president of the South
Brunswick Islands Chamber of
Commerce. "It's definitely kicked
off the summer."
Area real estate agents and others
in the business community had
nothing but positive comments
about the Memorial Day weekend,
which traditionally kicks off the
summer season.
"We did extra good," said Jeff
Conaway, owner of Jeff's Grocery
at Holden Beach. "It was the best
Memorial Day we ve had in three
or four years."
Business over the weekend was
twice as good as it was last
Memorial Day weekend, he said
Tuesday. "If this continues on
through the summer, I'll be all
right."
Terry Barbee of Island Realty at
Ocean Isle Beach said the outlook
for the summer is promising follow
ing a "very good" Memorial Day
weekend with "very few" unoccu
pied rental units. "We turned away a
lot of people who wanted to stay
this weekend," he said Tuesday.
Bonnie Cox of Brunswickland
Realty at Holden Beach added that,
instead of leaving after the long
weekend, more people rented cot
tages for the full week after
Memorial Day this year than ever
before.
"More and more people are book
ing weeks rather than weekends,"
she said. "This is something new,
and it's kind of surprising."
Ms. Sartelle said the high number
of people renting beach houses for
full weeks has been a "pleasant sur
prise," because schools are still in
session across the state.
But she added that the high occu
"I think it was a
dynamite weekend.
It's definitely kicked
/*/? . t ff
ojj me summer.
? Susanne Sanelle,
Executive Vice President
South Brunswick Islands
Chamber of Commerce
pancy in rental units this week
didn't come as a complete surprise.
There were 7,500 inquiries last
month through the Brunswick
County Travel Package, which is
900 more inquiries than last April
and nearly 5,000 more than April
1988, she said.
Locai real estate agents wcrcn t
the only businesspeople who en
joyed an increase in activity over
the weekend. Employees at area
restaurants were busy feeding the
tourists.
Lisa Abshire of Dos Amigos at
Ocean Isle Beach said she noticed
more families and children this year
than in 1989.
"Business was definitely up from
last year," she said. "It was a great
weekend, and we're looking for
ward to a great summer."
John Frink, owner of Capt. John's
Seafood House at Calabash, said the
restaurant traffic over the weekend
was "standard" for Memorial Day.
"Saturday and Sunday were the big
days," he said.
There should be even more big
days ahead this summer, based on
rental reservations at the local
beaches. Real estate agents said this
week that homes are booked pretty
solid through late August and that
there are more reservations for early
June than in the past.
"It looks like a stronger June than
in past years," Ms. Cox said. "Early
June is usually slow until schools
let out, but this year it's better."
Enforcement
Joint Effort
Nets Charges
A cooperative drug and speeding
enforcement program last week in
Brunswick County resulted in the
filing of 120 charges and the dis
covery of four packages of drugs on
board a Greyhound bus passing
through Shallotte.
Tlie joint effort cf the Brunswick
County Sheriff's Department and
N.C. Highway Patrol ran for four
days last week and may be used in
the future, said SgL John Brooks of
the state Highway Patrol.
Charges filed included speeding,
(See JOINT, Page 2- A)
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG K UTTER
TRACY STOWE of Charlotte and her 9-month-old daughter,
Casey, cool off in the Atlantic Ocean Saturday at H olden Beach.
Ms. Sartellc said early reports
from real estate agencies and the
high number of inquiries from out
of-towners indicate the summer sea
son will be a good one for the
Brunswick County economy.
Some rental agencies are booked
solid for a couple weeks in a row
this summer. But Ms. Sartelle said
there are still plenty of openings
and there should be room for people
who decide to visit at the last
minute.
Through the middle of May, the
Chamber of Commerce had handled
19,000 inquiries, Ms. Sartclle said.
There were 23,000 inquiries
through all of last year and 16, (XX)
in 1988.
"People are finding out about the
South Brunswick Islands, and it's
all bccause of the promotions and
advertising we do," Ms. Sartclle
said.
Since the local economy already
receives such a boost from tourism
in the summer, promotions in the
future should focus more on attract
ing visitors dunng the spring and
fall seasons, she said.
STAFF PHOTO IY DOUG Ht/TTTt
STATE AND COUNTY ! AW MEN, with the help of two drug-sniffing dogs, found four packages of
drugs on a Greyhound bus in Shallotte last Wednesday.
Statement
Stirs Dissent
Among GOP
BY BOB HORNE
Malcolm Grissett, chairman of
the Brunswick County Republican
Party, and Warren "Bud" Knapp
Tuesday gave conflicting explana
tions about a statement they and
Tom Pope took to The Beacon Mon
day and which Grissett attempted to
withdraw Tuesday.
The statement, in the name of
Grissett, called for a moratorium on
finalizalion of the 1990-91 county
budget, "pending a re-evaluation of
the priorities of projects and county
services, as proposed by county of
ficials."
Grissett also called on "all voters
of Brunswick County regardless of
party affiliation to turn out (at a
public hearing on the budget)
Thursday, June 7, 1990 at 7 p.m. at
Bolivia County complex to support
our position of a moratorium on the
proposed county tax increase."
The statement said ib.2t property
owners' taxes "cannot continue to
be viewed as a bottomless pit. We
as responsible members of our com
munity must start to lcam to live
within our means."
It stated that if the recommended
tax-rate increase is approved, taxes
would have increased 30 percent in
two years and that such an increase
GRISSETT
KNAPP
would have a substantial negative
effect on the elderly, others on fixed
incomes and low-income families
trying to buy their first home.
The three men came to The
Brunswick Beacon Monday after
noon and discussed the statement.
Grisscu stayed only a few minutes
and left, with Knapp and Pope stay
ing.
Then Tuesday morning, Grissctt
called and attempted to withdraw
the statement from publication.
Grissctt said he had not given his
consent for the statement to be dis
tributed to other newspapers and
that an editor from another newspa
per called him Monday night.
He said that he knew his name
WHS Oil LI It SuuvMt<~itt. n'niCh Vt'iiS
written by Knapp, but that he
( See STATEMENT, Page 2-A)
Easley Is Hoping For
High Voter Turnout
in Eastern N.C.
BY SUSAN USHER
Michael Easley says voter turn
out in eastern counties like his
home base of Brunswick will be
"crucial" if the 13th District attor
ney is to win the U.S. Senate runoff
next Tuesday.
Brunswick County's 22 polls will
be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, with one ballot, according
to the Brunswick County Board of
Elections. More than 16,000 Demo
crats arc eligible to vote.
"If 1 can get 4,000 to 5,000 votes
from Brunswick County, it's possi
ble we could have a senator from
the coast," Easley said in a tele
phone interview with The Bruns
wick Beacon this week. Fresh from
a Saturday debate with Gantt, he
was preparing for another debate
scheduled for Wednesday.
Easley called for the runoff after
placing second in the May 8 prima
ry. He received 30.2 percent of the
vote while leader Harvey Gantt fin
ished with 37.5 percent, just short
of the 40 percent needed to avoid a
second primary.
Easley is a Southport resident and
two-term district attorney for the
1 3th District; Gantt, a former mayor
of Charlotte and an architect.
"We expected to finish second in
EASLEY GANTT
a six-man race," said Easley, "I did
better the first time out than I had
thought I would, 6.4 points down
instead of 10."
It's a record he intends to im
prove upon. But Easley said he's
not certain what the turnout will be
here, given that there are no local
races on the ballot to draw a strong
percentage of Brunswick County's
16,272 voters to the polls.
"If we take the west and east and
can hold our own in the Piedmont,
we'll win," he predicted.
The candidate showed well in his
eastern home base during the May 8
primary and finished second in the
mountains behind westerner "Bo"
Thomas and in the Piedmont.
"I feel good about it," he contin
ued. 'This 30-day period has given
(See EASLEY, Page 2-A)
State Seeks Input On
River Marina Proposal
BY DOUG RUTTER
The permit application and latest
plans for a controversial marina in
Lockwood Folly River arrived in
Raleigh last week, and people inter
ested in the project have until June
20 to send written comments to the
state.
Developers of the Lockwood Fol
ly golt course community near Hoi
den Beach recently applied for a
slate permit that would allow for
construction of an upland basin ma
rina in the lower Lockwood Folly
River.
The developers arc seeking per
mission to build 26 boat slips and
one boat ramp, which is a scaled
down version of their original plans
submitted to the state more than two
years ago.
Channel Side Corp., which is de
veloping Lockwood Folly, turned in
its original CAMA permit applica
tion in April 1988 with plans to
build a private 50-siip marina and
dry storage area.
Local fishermen, however, ob
jected to the proposal, because
plans called for the marina to be
built in a scction of the lower
(See STATK, Page 2-A)