THE P""*'""
- . ? ? ,-f- ? ? ? h . J i'r
Thirtieth Year, Number 6
jrsdoy, December 12, 1991 50c Per Copy
Headed To Chapel Hill
STAf F PHOTO BY DOUG *UTTE*
a
Players and fans surround West Brunswick Head Football Coach Marshall Seay (center) after the Trojans beat East Bladen 27-7 for the
N.C. Eastern 2-A High School Championship last Friday. The Trojans play for the state 2-A championship against the Thomasville
Bulldogs Saturday in Chapel Hill. For details, turn to Pages .6-B to 9-B.
Community Fired Up About Trojan Football
BY DOUG RUTTKR
Bobby Williamson remembers watching the
N.C. 2- A High School Football Championship in
Whiteville lour years ago and tlnnking how great
it would be if he could see West Brunswick play
lor the title.
The West Brunswick B(x>ster Club president
gets his chance Saturday, along with hundreds of
other fans who have followed the Trojans through
a 13-1 season and the eastern 2- A championship.
West Brunswick faces Thomasville at noon
Saturday in Kenan Stadium on the University of
North Carolina campus at Chapel Hill. The win
ner becomes state champ.
The last West Brunswick team to win a state
championship was the 1' .'4 ??> basketball team,
vviititt won Uic lit iv.
Sou;i< Brum ? k .von tlv slate 2- A baseball
I'tuuij'ionship in But Brunswick County
lu;si.'t had a state football champ since Southport
High won three straight eight-man football titles
starting in ll)62.
"It's been a dream season," Williamson said ol
the Trojans' year ol the gridiron. "It's been just
fantastic."
Williamson said the Shalloue community has
gotten fired up about its Trojans. Everybtxly's
talking about West Brunswick football, he said,
and the impact in the community has been im
measurable.
"It's incredible," he said. "This electricity in
the community has never been experienced be
lore. It's been growing and gaining momentum
each week."
After putting together a 9-1 regular season, the
Trojans have upended Farmville Central, James
Kenan, Whilcvillc and East Bladen in the play
offs.
Williamson said each win has built more and
more excitement and pride in the team and in the
community as a whole.
"It's something that other communities have
had but not something we've ever had to this de
gree," Williamson said.
The Thomasville Bulldogs, the only team
standing between West Brunswick and a suite
championship, know what community pride is all
about.
The football team has been to the 2-A champi
onship game four times in the last five years, win
ning the title in 1988.
West Brunswick Athletic Director Jerry Small
said students at the school can't stop talking about
their football team.
"There's a general mood of excitement and a
lot of pride in what we've accomplished," Small
said. "It's carried over into other areas of the
school."
Williamson said Ian support will be very im
portant Saturday in Kenan Stadium, which holds
about 5().(XX) people.
He said support at the last two Trojan playoff
games has been great. West Brunswick fans have
equalled or outnumbered the home crowds at
Whiteville and East Bladen.
"The more succcss you have the more than
community toc!s involved." he s.iid. "Without the
fan support, it's hard to be super competitive."
Williamson said the excitement in the stands
has apparently spilled onto the football held and
infected the players.
"I think the players are picking up on it." he
said. "The confidence level that it instills in the
kids is just great. They're charged up and they
( See COMMUNITY. PACJK 2-A)
Commissioners
Reverse Vote
On Subdivision
BY TKKKY I'OPK
Brunswick County Commission
ers voted Tuesday to reverse their
controversial decision last week that
lifted a subdivision restriction for a
former county commissioner.
But the change in vote came too
late to affect the subdivision in
volved in the appeal.
At its meeting last Monday night,
the board voted 4-1 to override a
Brunswick County Planning Board
decision that would have, as a safety
measure, required turnarounds on
lots under development by former
District 2 commissioner Benny
Ludlum and his partner, W. Alfonza
Roach, a current member of the
planning board.
The controversial fallout from
that decision prompted a special
meeting Tuesday, Dec. 10, when
commissioners admitted they acted
Ux) quickly on the matter and voted
3-0 to reverse the variance for
Lakeside subdivision on Oxpcn
Road near Holdcn Beach.
However, County Attorney David
Clcgg said after the meeting that the
vote came too late to keep in place
the restriction on Lakeside
Subdivision.
Based on commissioners' action
last week, Ludlum recorded a plat
for die subdivision the following
morning. Ihe plat was signed and
recorded by Planning Director John
Harvey.
"It is recorded once and for all,"
said Clcgg. "Any attempt of reversal
has come alter the fact."
Commissioners Donald Shaw and
Gene Pinkerton were absent Tues
day. Chairman Kelly Holden, who
made the motion lo reverse the deci
sion, said Shaw had a previous com
mitment and that Pinkerton was out
of town on business.
Holdcn was the only board mem
ber who voted against lilung the re
striction. saying ii was a matter for
the Planning Board to handle.
in his motion Tuesday, Holdcn
noted that any request lor a variance
from the subdivision ordinance
should be appealed to the Planning
Board first. If the matter remains un
resolved, petitioners can appeal
Planning Board action to commis
sioners, who have the final say.
District 2 Commissioner Jerry
Jones, who serves on the Planning
Board, admitted Tuesday thai the
vote to lilt the subdivision restric
uon wasn't handled properly by
commissioners. He said the matter
should have been appealed to the
Planning Board, as outlined in the
ordinance.
He and Commissioner Frankie
Rabon questioned whether the com
missioners' vote last week was legal
since the proper appeal procedure
wasn't followed.
"Action coming on the 10th can
not invalidate that recording," noted
Clegg. "What the action did do was
forestall an avalanche of appeals."
Holdcn had indicated that the vote
could open up "a Pandora's box."
with numerous persons seeking sub
division variances directly from
commissioners.
Rumors had also circulated that
Planning Board members, upset at
having their policy mowed down by
commissioners, would resign from
the board. Clegg said Tuesday he
had heard the same rumors but had
not received any resignations.
Ludlum approached commission
ers during their public comments fo
rum last week and asked thai the re
striction be removed. The require
ment was placed on die plat :n Juh
! <)S(i av a measure to prevent resi
dents Irom backing dieir cars onto
the highway Irom a string ol Iols un
derdevelopment along Oxpen Road.
The NX. Department of
Transportation encourages the plat
(See SI 1)1)1 VISION. PUJK 2- A)
Vehicles Crash
At Bypass Intersection-No Serious
Injuries This Time
BY DOUG R LITTER
A log truck and automobile collided Monday night at
the intersection of the U.S. 17 Shallotte bypass and N.C.
130 West ? the site of a double fatality accident last
month.
Nobody was seriously injured when the loaded truck,
southbound on the bypass, entered the intersection and
struck the front of a Chrysler traveling cast on N.C. 130,
said Shallotte Police Del. Tom Hunter.
The wreck was almost identical to a Nov. 1 accident
in which Shallotte businessman Steve Smith and West
Brunswick High School student Misty Camiichacl were
killed.
In that accident, a log truck traveling south on the by
pass allegedly ran a red light and hit the Smith and
Carmichael vehicles on N.C. 130.
"The point of impact was almost the same spot,"
Hunter said Tuesday. "The car had not got quite as far
out as Steve got. Had it got out that far, it probably
would have been the same situation."
The accident occurred at 9:15 p.m. Monday as
Elwood Bell, 23, of Route 2, Shallotte, was driving a
1985 Chrysler on N.C. 130 toward Shallotte and at
tempted to cross the bypass.
/ think we have something wrong with our drivers , not our
lighting system. I'm afraid we're going to have more deaths out
there. " ? Shallotte Dot. Tom Hunter
"They met in the middle of the intersection," Hunter
said of the truck and car. 'They just clipped front
bumper to front bumper."
The driver of the truck, 28-year-old James Dalton
Brown of Cove City, was charged with failing to stop for
a red light. Hunter said.
"The witnesses stated that Bell had the green light and
that the truck went through the red light," said the offi
cer.
Shallotlc Volunteer Rescue Squad transported Bell to
The Brunswick Hospital in Supply, where he was treated
and released. Brown and a passenger in the truck were
not injured.
The truck driver told police he saw the traffic signal
turn yellow when he was 25 feet from the intersection
and didn't attempt a full slop because he feared the truck
would jackknifc, said Hunter.
Hunter said the traffic signal appeared to he working
properly Monday night. Strohe lights recently added at
the intersection and a Hashing yellow light on the bypass
north of the intersection also were in operation.
The detective said the log truck traveled 1,5X4 feet al
ter impact, and he estimated it was going 50 mph when
it entered the intersection.
The speed limit on the bypass, which opened in May,
is 55 mph. Signs posted north and south of the N.C. 130
intersection warn motorists to slow down to a recom
mended 45 mph, but the actual speed limit is 55.
Policc closed the southbound lane of the bypass for
about 30 minutes after the wreck to clear debris from the
road. Hunter said. Traffic was re-routed through down
town Shallotte.
The Chrysler sustained aboul S4.1XX) in damage.
Hunter said. Damage to the log truck was estimated at
SI, (XX). The truck is owned by John Taylor Woolard of
Vanceboro.
Follow ing last month's fatal wreck, local officials and
area residents called for state transportation officials to
build an overpass at the intersection, which is near West
Brunsw ick High School.
An overpass was discussed before the bypass was
built, but it was never included in plans because it would
have been costly and would have delayed construction
of the four-lane road.
The N.C. Department of Transportation did install
strobe lights at the intersection and flashing yellow
lights along the bypass after the fatal wreck. Rumble
strips also w ere added on N.C. 130 on both sides of the
bypass.
Hunter said the intersection would be safer with an
overpass, but he said the biggest problem is the way that
some people drive.
"I think we have something wrong with our drivers,
not our lighting system," he said. "I'm afraid we're go
ing to have more deaths out there."
Two Killed In Calabash
Wreck Saturday Evening
BY TERRY POPE
Two Calabash residents were
killed and two people hospitalized
following a wreck at Carolina
Shores Saturday evening.
Mary Katherinc Bachmann, 69, of
Carolina Shores Drive, and Henry
Scheler, 74, of East Pine Court, were
killed in the two-car collision at the
intersection of Calabash Road (S R.
116S) and Carolina Shores Parkway
about a half-mile west of Calabash,
Slate Trooper C.E. Ward reported.
According to Ward's report, boih
victims were passengers in a 19X2
Chevrolet station wagon operated by
Mrs. Bachmann 's husband, Harry
George Bachmann, 70, of Calabash.
Bachmann had slopped his car at
a stop sign on Carolina Shores
Parkway before pulling into the in
tersection to cross Calabash Road,
Ward stated. The car was struck in
the passenger side by a 1986 Toyota
pickup driven by George Aaron
Stanaland, 22, of Route 1 , Ash.
Stanaland did not have umc to ap
ply his brakes, said Ward in the re
port.
Mrs. Bachmann, a passenger in
the right front of the car, was pro
nounced dead on arrival at The
Brunswick Hospital in Supply.
Schefcr, a passenger in the right
rear of the car, was transferred to
New Hanover Regional Medical
Center in Wilmington where he later
died.
Bachmann was also seriously in
jured and taken to New Hanover
Medical Ccn ter where he was re
mained in critical condition Tucsikiy
morning, said Iris Baker, hospital
spokesperson.
Another passenger, Kaihcrine
Schefer, Schefer's wife, was also se
riously injured and taken to The
Brunswick Hospital where she was
listed in stable condition Tuesday
morning.
Stanaland received class B in
juries, which are serious but not in
capacitaung. He was treated and re
leased Saturday from The Bruns
wick Hospital.
The accident happened around
5:45 p.m. Damage was listed at
TWO KILLKD, PA(JK 2-A)
BfcACON STAfF PHOTOS
Santa Came To Town
Santa Claus came to town Saturday morning, perched atop a
Shallotte fire truck. From his lofty perch in the town Christnuis pa
rade, the jolly fellow exchanged waves with David Bowens (right) of
Grissettown and other excited youngsters along the Main Street
route. More parade coverage is on Pages .8- A and 9-A.