Opinion Page
THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON
Edward M. Sweat t and Carolyn H. Sweatt f\iblishers
Edward M. Swcatt Editor
Susan Usher News Editor
Doug Rutter and Tcrrv Pope StaJJ Writers
Johnny Craig Sports Editor
Peggy Earwood OJJlev Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Direr,or
Tirnberley Adains & Cecelia Gore .Adivrtising Representative's
Tammie Galloway A Dorothy Hrennan Vjpesetters
William Manning Pressman
Hrenda Clemmons Photo Technician
liOnnie Sprinjde AssisUint Pressmttn
Phoebe Cletnmons and Frances Sweat! Circulation
PAGE 4 A THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 1990
It's Time To Play!
It's the fail of the year and here in the South Brunswick
Islands, that means one thing: Festival time!
For locals and visitors alike, the season's mild weather lends
itself to the simpler pleasures long walks on the beach, joining
friends or family for a friendly game of volleyball or a competi
tive run. chowing down on vour favorite seafood or carnival
food, creating a giant sand sculpture on the shore, relaxing to a
sociable tune or a lively story. All are especially welcome after
the hustle and bustle, crowds and heat of a busy summer season.
You'll find all these pleasures and more in abundance at the
N.C. Oyster Festival this weekend, the N.C. Festival By The Sea
at 1 lolden Beach (Xt. 26 2X: and the Dixon Chapel Own Roast
at Varnamtown Nov. 3.
Don't use that old excuse that you're "just too busy" to get
away.
You've worked hard and now it's time to play. You owe it to
\Ourse1f
Don't forget to pack your oyster knife, camera and fishing
1(You can always pretend.).
And while you're at it. borrow the kids' sand buckets, shov
els and kites. You'll need them.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Build Welcome Center
At State's Beginning
( The following letter, written to
(i'(ii lunu's (i Martin is printed
here at the request of the writer
Editor's note.)
1 am writing to object to the
building of a welcome center at the
intersection of Route 130 and the
new Route 17 bypass in Shallotte.
This site is 13 miles into our slate
and bypasses almost 300 businesses
and professionals which should be
afforded the opportunity to service
any north bound traffic.
These businesses are comprised
of:
?Fourteen golf courses which are
not only attracting thousands ol vis
itors per year but are furnishing
building sites for retirees and others
from the north. One course alone,
Carolina Shores, has become home
for over 500 families in the last six
or seven years. Others arc rapidly
accommodating new families and
bringing prosperity to numerous
contractors and other allied ser
vices.
?Two of the finest beaches in the
world, Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle
Beach, provide not only great fami
ly vacation facilities but also are at
tracting year 'round residents who
add tremendously to the whole
economy.
?There are at least 25 fine restau
rants in this area which are open,
with few exceptions, the year
round, and for their fame for
seafood attract many locals and
tourists from all the surrounding
area.
?Several marinas with charier and
fishing boats operate almost year
'round and one. Marsh Harbor, is the
closest large marina to the open
Atlantic and is an investment of tens
of millions of dollars and becoming
widely known as the finest and
largest on the North Carolina coast.
?Several hundred other business
es including 22 real estate offices,
numerous motel accommodations,
clothing, hardware, grocery and
convenience stores, all of which
could be of some need or interest to
the traveler up Route 17.
1 believe these enterprises do well
over $50 million a year in business
and pay multiple millions to our
state in taxes.
It is inconceivable that all these
enterprises could be overlooked
when plans lor a visitors center
were being formulated. 1 have
talked to 40 to 50 fellow merchants
who feel as I do and it necessary
could get several hundred signa
tures in protest.
Let us postpone the present plans
and then, when Route 17 at the low
er end is lour-laned. build a wel
come center here that we can all be
proud of and give the tourists a
chance to enjoy all of the beaches
and other great facilities all along
the coast of our great state.
As in all other states that I know
of, you welcome a guest at the front
door, not after he has passed part
way through your house.
Clark II. Callahan
Calabash
Hunting Laws Not
Being Obeyed Here
To the cclilor:
On behalf ol I ina Priichard
(Brunswick County l';irks and
Recreation) and my wile Judy, and
I, a great big thanks lor a job well
done to those wonderful and patient
nest movers and adopters who guid
ed 3,278 beautiful, flipper-flopping,
and often anxious baby turtles to the
sea in 1990.
We received great support from
Holder) Beach properly owners,
mainlanders, vacationers, the may
or, commissioners, jx)lice, employ
ees and the Brunswick County
Parks and Recreation Department
lor our turtle program.
A very special thanks to our lur
To the editor: our area of Brunswick County.
This week begins the deer hunt- Night after night we find illegal
ing sea.son and over the slate thou hunting, alter sundown, breaking
sands of sjxwisiiien wiii enjoy liiis lite law. This is particularly true on
great American sport. the golf courses.
Today, more than ever, we find a North Carolina Wildlife urges
multitude of kill-joy groups seeking you to report any such law-breaking
to outlaw hunting. For this reason, it to their local of ficer, Fred Taylor,
is so essential that all hunters obey 754-8011, or Wildlife Watch, 1
the laws as required by die slate of X(X)-662-7137.
North Carolina. Dr. Arthur Templeion
However, such is not the case in Bonaparte Landing
Thanks For A Job Well Done
lie pavol members: Marion and
Buck Brecsc, John and Adeline
Broadnax, Janet and Dwight Car
roll, Flo and Dave Gibson, Crawloit
and Map Hart, Doris King, A.J and
Mike McCollough, Oralee and Hilly
Rigby, Rose Smith, Sid and Norma
Swarts, Margaret and Mandy Vasco,
Beryl Walker, Julie and Kick War
wick and Tom and Lori Webb.
They devoted five months of
their lite during periods til exces
sive heat, thunderstorms, and clouds
ol bugs to help save our loggerhead
babies.
Rick Bryan
lloldcn Beach turtle Patrol
(l.ellvrs ioiiIimic lollowini> page)
Who "Wants What
Remember when big brother or
sis left home lor college, or to get
married or nisi to explore the world
on Ins or Iter own and suddenly you
were laeeil v\ith a bedroom ol your
own. a room that you never knew
was so huge until the comers were
emptied ami suddenly you had
space coming out of your ears'.'
Then you c;in imagine why ev
eryone's smiling these days at the
Brunswick County Government
Center in Bolivia. Actually, it's
more like a smirk, the kind of "I've
got a bigger cookie than you do"
type grin that you loved to wear as
a kid But at the government com
plex it must mean one thing: more
space is on the way as a result of
new consuuction.
Watching deparunent heads and
county officials jockey into position
to get a bigger piece of the pie is,
well, complex.
The big sister leaving home is the
social services department, but
she's moving just beyond mother's
doorstep, to a new building within
hollering distance behind the exist
ing department. The new SI.4 mil
lion long-awaited building will add
20.1KH) square feet of space to the
complex. But the question remains,
who w ill get to move in with big sis
into that brand new building with
all of that space?
Terry
Pope
i
There is another important deci
sion. Who will get the old bedroom
and how si>on'.' The lollipop is dan
gling in front of their noses and at
the risk of being seen as greedy, de
partments are tiling reports with the
county commissioners asking for
the whole cake in hopes of getting
at least a slice.
The health department has an ad
vantage over outsiders 111 its strug
gle to keep the old social services
building to itself. Commissioners
have made it clear they want the
health department to have first
choice when the space is divvied up
since the area adjoins the present
health center. So how much space
do you need. Health Director
Michael Rhodes '
Two-thirds. At least.
"I understand that there are needs
for space all over the county," he
told the Board of Health recently.
"It would seem most appropriate
At The County Complex?
thai wc should expand, since wc arc
right here, into that spate."
The environmental health depart
ment could use double the amount
of space it presently has. he told
commissioners, who during a recent
workshop on the couniywide recy
cling program paused in the middle
of regular business to bring Rhodes
in from his office to ask him cold
turkey. "How much space do you
need?"
Rhodes left smiling and with a
promise to bring back some figures.
No other department heads were
called in and asked that same ques
tion. Nah. nah. nah. But the build
ing has to be renovated before any
one moves in after social services
vacates 111 April. That could lake
months, and you know how impa
tient kids can be when they're not
allowed to open those toys until
Christmas
Emergency Management Coord
inator Cecil Logan brought in blue
prints and the whole works lor the
new emergency services building
that will be built in front of the
complex next to the agricultural ex
tension's Christmas tree demonstra
tion plot on U.S. 17.
I"he SI.I million facility will be
the home of a central emergency re
sponse anil training center and a
*>11 communications center (not in
eluded in the $1.1 million price lag)
and will add an additional 16,(HX)
square feci of space to the complex.
Logan now has a small cubbyhole
at the rear of the sheriff's depart
ment. You better believe he's happy
to see 911 so close to becoming a
reality.
When the dust settles, look for
the public housing department and
the building inspections department
to end up in the old social services
space, interim County Manager
David Clegg has a vision of one day
providing residents with a one-stop
shopping center for human services
in the health department building, a
place where people can go to get
septic tank and building permits
without having to search through
two or three buildings at the com
plex.
The solid waste and engineering
departments are feeling relief. An
addition to the operations services
building will give them an extra
2.8(X) square feet by December. The
SSO.(KH) project is being built by
county employees.
And for that matter, the prisoners
may be smiling as well. An addition
to the county jail will be finished
any day.
As the county grows so docs the
government.
50RRY, FOLKS- THE
CAMPGROUND IS CLOSf-D,
LHE RESTROOrtS DON'T
WORK, AND THEREls ONLY
ONE RANGER ON DU1Y
THIS 15/1 NOR I II CAROLINA
( ") STATE PARK - WE V?
BEEN LIKE THIS
BUI CONGRESS PASSED ALL YEAR !!
A STOPGAP SPENDING
THE WHOLE PARK. | BILL. THE GOVERNMENTS
NOT SHUTDOWN!
\\ "rlrp
WtL
-pA??ou? & mo
J.R. The Hunter?
-Foiled Again
J.R.'sdone ii again.
J.R. is one of our cats. The one
thai hunts.
In fact, she is a very good hunter.
In past months she has proudly
dragged home an occasional mouse
or mole. And she has dragged in
hundreds ol birds blue, yellow
green, gray, brown. Once she
brought home a large quail.
Willi great dignity and a few
rumbles from deep in her throat,
J R. brings these gifts to the back
door and wails for our approval.
Then she reclaims the prize and
does what comes naturally.
Sometimes we're lucky. The litde
bird is still alive and with a little
praise and cajoling on our part, J.R.
will drop it on the door mat.
Whoosh, off goes the bird.
J.R. will look around in kind cf a
daze, as though asking,"Where did
my snack go? It was right here."
This time it wasn't a bird or a
Locker
There's been a big stink recently
about prohibiting female journalists
Irom entering locker rooms follow
ing professional sporting events.
The big stink isn't over the smell
emanating from these locker rwims,
but the fact dial certain sports re
porters have been discriminated
against just because they arc wom
en.
A female reporter was allegedly
harassed in the New England
I'atrioLs locker room following a re
cent pro football game. Just one
week later, the head coach of the
Cincinnati Bengals prevented a
woman reporter from entering his
locker room following a tough loss.
Some professional IVxitball
coaches and players apparently
think women shouldn't be allowed
in locker rooms because those
moms are iilled widi naked men.
I'll be the lirst one to agree with
the millions ol people who oppose
sexual discrimination Reporters
Susan
Usher
mouse or a mole she brought home.
It was Peter Cottontail himself, a
bundle ol warm brown and white
lur, with a tiny heart pounding away
at what seemed a thousand times a
minute. It looked just like the baby
rabbits my sisters and 1 used to
catch while berrypicking and lake
home to raise in our pens at home.
But it was larger, a juvenile.
Don had stepped out to put a let
ter in the mailbox when he saw J R.
across the street, dragging some
thing almost as big a* she was. He
weni over and talked her out of her that night. Peter spent the night in a
catch. (She (alls lor it every time.) box in the bathroom.
1 was in the middle ol cooking Next day, Peter/Polly was look
supper when he came to the door ing better, but 1 still couldn't tell if
and said, "Look what J.R.'s brought the bunny was simply badly bruised
home this time." And my sweet or had a broken or out-of-joint
husband offered to bury it. shoulder.
But Peter Cottontail wasn't dead, I)onetta Taylor soon put me on
just stunned and in shock. the right trail. She's the ?wifc of
His pulse was pounding, his body bred Faylor, a local wildlife en
warm, and an eyelid dickered, foicement officer, and knows about
There wasn't much bleeding at all these things.
A quick call to coworker CeCe She sent me to Jdl Caison, an
Gore. She's the only person I knew employee of a local veterinarian's
who had any past experience caring oil ice. Jill takes "anything except
for wild, baby rabbits. She had snakes," Donetta promised, and
good advice. Peroxide and antibiot- works near-miracles with diem. She
ic ointment for all the spots where ',as rehabilitated a deer with a
her fur had been torn away. A good severely injured jaw and raccoons
night's rest. Splinting with a popsi- dial others might have left for dead,
clc stick and gau/.c, il needed. I Peter Cottontail's in the best of
couldn't tell. hands.
Meanwhile, where was a wildlife And J.R.? Well, that darned cat
rehabilitator? Couldn't lind anyone has been foiled once again.
Rooms Should Be Off Limits
Doug
Rutfer
rm%
)
should noi I*; kept Irom doing their
job just because they are women.
But I also think athletes have a right
to privacy.
ITicse guys arc role models who
get paid a lot of money. They
should he willing to cooperate with
the media. But at the same time,
they should be safe when they go
into the shower.
This might seem strange coming
from a journalist, hut I think locker
rooms should be oil limits to every
one except players, coaches and
other team personnel.
Yoii don't see reporters following
big political figures into restrooms.
President liui wasn't bomlMdctl
with questions while he was fresh
ening up after his last summit meet
ing with Gorby.
Sports reporters used to watch the
games and tell people what hap
pened. Now ihey depend too much
on the coaches and players to do
their job. They're always asking the
coaches and players what they think
happened. The reporters have to gel
back to doing the reporting
Comments from players and
coaches certainly add to any sports
story. But those comments don't
need to come from a naked man
standing in a locker room. If you
ask me, there's an easy solution to
the whole thing.
Reporters can be allowed on the
playing field after the game is over
where they can interview anyone
they can catch up with. Ihey might
have to leave the comfortable con
fines of the press box a little early,
but il won't kill them.
Football players usually lake
their lime gelling to the locker
rooms when the game ends. Many
of ihem meet on the field to shake
hands with opponents and chat.
II that isn't enough, reporters can
always get their questions answered
at a press conference. Reporters
who face early deadlines and don't
have lime to sit in on the press con
ference can get by without it. I'll
guarantee you. the outcome of the
game won't change one bit.
Keeping reporters out of locker
rooms would solve one other prob
lem. Real sports fans wouldn't have
to endure any more of those stupid
championship celebration scenes.
Who really wants to watch a
bunch of grown men spray cham
pagne at each other while a reporter
tries 10 juggle interviews with the
coach the star athlete and the team
owner and listen in on a congratula
tory telephone call from the presi
dent ' Not this spoils fan.