PLAYGROUND FUND WAS STOLEN
What's A Penny Really Worth? Ask A Supply Elementary Student
BY SUSAN USHER
What's the value of a copper pen
ny? Not much, by some people's es
timation.
But for the 7(H) students at Supply
Elementary School, pennies add up
to a playground.
Two weeks ago Friday, students
launched a drive to collect one mil
lion pennies. SH).(KK). to buy equip
ment for their vacant playground
Within a week, the first $212 in
pennies turned in by students had
been stolen from inside the
school. Principal Carolyn Williams
could hardly speak through her tears
Thursday morning over the school
intercom as she announced the
overnight theft.
"I thought about it a long time
before I told the students." she said.
"But I decided they needed to know
what had happened to the pennies,
which we had placed where they
could see the number grow. And I
decided they needed to know that
there are some bad people in this
world."
Assistant Principal Clifton Jones
said he entered the front office
Thursday morning and sensed that
something was missing. "I stood
here and looked. And 1 asked.
'Didn't I see a full jar sitting up
there yesterday?"
"It was gone. It was just gone. I
couldn't believe it."
The pennies had been displayed
in a container in a window of the of
fice overlooking the hallway, where
students could watch their numbers
increase by the week.
bach week the individuals and
classes who turn in the most pennies
that Friday are recognized school
wide, to encourage participation and
enthusiasm for the project.
"Despicable, there's no other
word for someone who would steal
children's pennies," Williams said of
the perpetrator in an interview
Friday, her tears by then hardened
into anger over the students* hurt
and disappointment.
Her voice was smiling, though,
w hen she was able to announce to
students that, thanks to the efforts of
the "lots and lots of good people" in
the community, the school had al
ready replaced the stolen pennies,
with contributions still pouring in.
"We were going to buy play
ground equipment, but somebody
stole our pennies." explained fourth
grade student Gerald Brock. "Now
people come every day bringing
pennies." lie said his class has col
lected at least $70 worth.
As volunteers like PTA member
Pat Hewett spread the word through
the community of the loss, local res
idents opened their checkbooks as
well as their change purses, giving
STAFF CHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
FOURTH GRADER Gerald /frock says people are bringing more
pennies to Supply Elementary School every day. First it was to re
place $212 pennies stolen from the kids, hut the effort snowballed
into something bigger: visible proof to the kids that there are more
good people than had in the world.
generously. "We want them to know one jar stood in the front office,
that there are good people in the Pennies topped a bucket, spilled
world, too." said Hewett. from pans on the floor, filled a large
By Friday afternoon, more than bottle and stuffed a giant baby bot
lie. A staff member had headed to
the hank U> convert hills, checks and
larger coins to pennies.
Iliough the pennies will remain
where students can watch their num
ber increase, anyone interested in
stealing the kids' pennies in the fu
ture will have a much harder time of
it.
"It's getting to the point it's going
to he too heavy to carry." said
Williams.
Plus volunteers are already de
signing and building a container that
will hold all pounds of pen
nies, and can still be rolled into the
school vault each evening for safe
keeping.
"We have collected much more
than what we lost. It's been just phe
nomenal what people will do for
children." said Williams Friday af
ternoon as the penny campaign, by
then the focus of community atten
tion. topped the $1,000 dollar mark.
"We're a tenth of the way there. We
are going to meet our goal this year.
Some either schools have taken more
than two years to do this, but we are
going to do it in one year."
Supply Elementary School is a
year old now. but still has only a
small blacktop area for student play
outdoors. The students and PTA are
working together to prepare the site
and purchase equipment, including
basketball goals, climbing struc
lures, swings and slides.
A playground committee has
planned three separate activity areas
for students: kindergarten and tirst
grades, second and third grades, and
fourth and fifth grades, with appro
priate equipment selected.
But the project was much more
than students simply collecting mon
ey to huv play equipment, she said.
Classes were also using the growing
pile of pennies in their communica
tions and math studies. During the
ISO days of the school year they w ill
write about the pennies and the play
ground project, count pennies, esti
mate numbers of pennies and per
form countless other arithmetic cal
culations using pennies
"It was part of a learning pro
cess." said Williams. "We wanted
them to experience, to see. what one
million of something was. And pen
nies were about as small a thing you
can get that's worth collecting."
With the theft of their pennies.
Supply Elementary School's stu
dents dents learned a harsh lesson in
good and evil that faculty members
hadn't counted on.
As of Tuesday afternoon. Detec
tive (iene A. C'aison of the Bruns
wick County Sheriff's Department
said he had one suspect under inves
ligation in the case, but was not
ready to make an arrest.
Commissioner, Former
Manager Differ About
Water Agreement's Value
(Continued From Page 1-A)
County for its initial investment.
"That is just absurd," Clegg said
when asked about Vereen's charges.
"It's nonsensical. I don't know
where he's coming from, if anyone
does. It's just stupid. If he's got a
charge to make. I suggest that he get
right down and make it."
Clegg said he helped negotiate the
agreement "because it was a stated
policy of the board of commission
ers that they wanted that money
back." He called the arrangement "a
good deal" for the county because it
provided cash to pay off other water
debts. And over the long haul, he
said the authority's debt will be
shared by other water customers.
He said Brunswick County should
not see any significant increase in
water rates as long as the authority
keeps a tight rein on its budget.
County Finance Officer Lithia
Hahn said Tuesday that the county is
currently paying less for raw wa
ter ? by very small amount ? than it
did before the repayment deal was
signed. She said she has not been
asked to do a cost/benefit analysis of
the deal and could not give an opin
ion about Vereen's claims.
The S3. 7 million returned to the
county last March was used to retire
old water revenue bonds obtained by
the county through the Farmers
Home Administration. The first in
stallment of the SI. 7 million dis
bursement was budgeted for water
projects that will extend service to
Shell Point, Sunset Harbor, along
Mt. Misery Road and other areas of
the county.
"If this was such a bad deal and
they don't want that money, then
why are they spending it like there's
no tomorrow?" Clegg said. "You
can't spend money like its falling
out of heaven and damn the messen
ger that brought it.
"I don't know why they should he
listening to Billy Carter. He hasn't
even been to a meeting (of the au
thority)." Clegg said. "Why don't
they call Gene Pinkerton or Dick
Marshall or Alton Milliken. who are
Brunswick County members who
participated in the votes that led to
this agreement?"
Carter will take his seat on the au
thoritv at its next quarterly meeting
Oct. i I .
In other business the board:
? Heard a request from the
Southeastern Mental Health Center
for the donation of land to build a
children's center and playground in
Bolivia using a $200,000 grant it
hopes to receive from the state. The
county would also be expected to
maintain the facility and pay its util
ity expenses. Commissioners Chair
man Don Warren said the board
"would probably like to see this."
but needed to study the proposal fur
ther before making a decision.
? Authorized Economic Devel
opment Commission Director Tom
Monks to apply for a SX.5(K) loan to
the American Hose Company
through the stale community devel
opment block grant program. The
money will be used to purchase ma
chinery.
? Denied the town of Sunset
Beach request that the county take
possession of its elevated water stor
age tank.
Rabies Case Prompts Urgent
Call To Have Pets Inoculated;
$5 Shots Offered Saturday
(Continued From Page 1-A)
at the Brunswick Animal Hospital.
U.S. 17, Supply; from 9 a.m. until 1
p.m. at Companion Animal Hospital
in East Gate Square, Shallotte; be
tween 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Sea
side Animal Care on Carter Drive,
Calabash; and from 8 a.m. until
Warm Weather
Said To Continue
A Few More Days
Unseasonably warm temperatures
are expected to hang on for a few
more days across the South Bruns
wick Islands.
Shallotte Point meteorologist Jac
kson Canady expects temperatures
to range from the mid-60s at night to
the mid-80s during the day. The
forecast calls for normal rainfall,
about one-half inch in the next
week.
For the period Sept. 14-20. Can
ady measured .87 inches of rainfall
and recorded a daily average tem
perature of 78 degrees, which was
about 4 degrees warmer than nor
mal.
The maximum high reading dur
ing the period was 91 degrees on
Sept. 15, and the minimum low was
62 degrees on the 20th.
Canady said the daily average
high was 87 degrees and the average
nightly low was 70 degrees.
noon at the Leland Veterinary
Hospital in Clairmont Pla/a.
In what is being termed a multi
state epidemic, a record 50 cases of
rabies have been confirmed in North
Carolina this year, more than double
last year. South Carolina is running
20 cases ahead ot last year, with 1 10
infected animals reported.
Horry County. S.C., health offi
cials have identified 12 rabid ani
mals this year. Columbus County
leads North Carolina in the number
of rabies cases among animals with
13 reported, while 10 people have
had to undergo painful, expensive
treatment for rabies exposure.
Health officials are especially
concerned that the coming of hunt
ing season will bring more dogs in
contact with wild animals as their
owners take to the woods. A single
bite by an infected animal could
quickly spread rabies to a hunter's
entire pack of dogs, requiring that
they all be destroyed.
Animals carry rabies in their sali
vary glands and can transfer the dis
ease through bites and scratches.
The virus is then carried to the brain,
where it destroys the central nervous
system and causes the animal to ex
hibit strange and often vicious be
havior.
If left untreated, rabies is always
fatal. Persons infected (or suspected
of being infected) must undergo a
four-week series of shots that can
cost between $500 and S'XHt. de
pending on body weight.
Shallotte Board May Ease Sign Restrictions
BY DOUG RUTTER
Shallotte officials are considering changing a
zoning rule (hat allows some Main Street busi
nesses to have 40-foot-high signs while restrict
ing others to 6 feet.
Aldermen will conduct a public hearing at
their Oct. 5 meeting on a proposal to amend the
zoning ordinance so sign regulations are the
same for Central Business and Highway
Business districts.
Under the current code, merchants in the
Central Business district can't have signs higher
than (> feet or larger than 32 square feet.
In Highway Business, the height limit is 4(1
feet and signs may be up to 50 square feet.
Alderman Wilton Harrelson suggested at
Tuesday night's town meeting that sign regula
tions be the same in both districts. "It's discrimi
natory from one end of the street to the other."
he said.
The Central Business district extends from Al
Street to just south of the Shallotte River bridge
on Main Street. Most other lots along Main are
zoned Highway Business.
The issue was raised during a public hearing
on a variance from the sign regulations that was
requested by First Citizens Bank, which is to be
located in the Central Business district when the
bank merges with Pioneer Savings.
Representative Julius Crocker said the bank is
in the process of changing signs for all of its fa
cilities in North Carolina.
For its Shallottc location, Crocker said hank
officials want either a 45-square-foot sign that
stands 15 feet high, or a 65-square-foot sign that
stands IS feet.
Town officials did not make a decision on the
variance Tuesday night. If they amend the zon
ing ordinance following the Oct. 5 hearing, a
variance may not he necessary.
Sewer Improvements
By the end of the month. Shallotte should
complete improvements at its sewer plant that
will provide the town with treatment capacity for
206. KIM) gallons of wastewater per day.
l-inley Boney of Raleigh, consulting engineer
for the sewer system, reported Tuesday that
some nozzles in the spray fields have been re
placed and about 1(H) new nozzles should be
added by Sept. 30.
Boney also said he is negotiating with offi
cials from Federal Paper Board and Carnegie
Steel for additional property that would allow
the town to expand its capacity in the future.
"This is not something that we can vote on
tonight, but there have been very positive devel
opments in the last week to 10 days," Boney told
the town board.
Boney said there's a possibility the town
could work out an arrangement that would allow
Shallotte to use property for spray irrigation
while Federal Paper harvests the trees.
"We can scratch each other's back is what it
amounts to," he said. "They can't grow a pine
tree on those sand hills, but if we irrigate it they
can."
Planning Board Chairman Carson Durham
said system expansion and reduction of spray
field buffer zones were among the issues dis
cussed at a town sewer committee meeting Mon
day.
Other Business
In other business Tuesday, aldermen:
? Adopted a resolution asking the N.C. Dep
artment of Transportation to widen and improve
Smith Avenue. Town officials say traffic has in
creased on the road since the U.S. 17 Shallotte
bypass was built. It is one of two side streets that
link Main Street and the bypass.
? Continued discussing the need for improve
ments at the Shallotte Post Office. Aldermen
would like to see the post office moved to a new
location in town, possibly to one of the shopping
centers, due to parking and traffic problems at
the existing site.
? Voted to refund $322 in taxes to Portent
Inc. Tax Collector Sandy Hewett said the com
pany was billed for property it does not own. A
portion of the refund will be applied to the com
pany's 1992 taxes.
Smoking Plan Public Hearing Topic
(Continued From Page 1-A)
of efforts to regulate exposure to
second-hand smoke, which has been
classified by the U.S Environmental
Protection Agency as a "Class A
carcinogen."
Jim Innes of Shallotte told the
group that he "used to love tobacco"
and smoked cigarettes and cigars
"for 40 years." Then, about nine
years ago. he said he was forced to
give it up.
"If I sound a little hoarse, it's be
cause I have cancer of the throat."
Innes said, displaying the scar just
below his neck. "Government con
trols the purity of the food you eat
and nobody argues. It regulates what
goes into the water you drink. Is
there anything different about the air
you breathe?"
Susan Gibble of Holden Beach, a
physician's assistant and partner in a
health care business, stressed the
need to reduce the exposure of chil
dren to second hand tobacco smoke.
"I make my living from smoking,
too," she said. "If everybody really
did i|uit smoking, I'd go out of busi
ness. But I'm not here as a health
care giver or a businesswoman. I'm
here for my kids. Please pass this or
dinance. knowing that you will ben
efit your kids, my kids and your
grandchildren too."
After the hearing. Health Board
Member Dr. Brad Kerr, who chaired
the smoking rules committee, said
he found "nothing that glaring" in
the opposition expressed, but hinted
that he is willing to consider some
changes in the proposed rules.
"I think maybe some of the rules
could be phased in over time," Kerr
said. "And I think we need to think
about making some changes in en
forcement. It needs to be directed at
the individual breaking the law
rather than the business establish
ment."
That was a concern raised at a re
cent health board meetings by mem
ber Patrick Newton, who said
Tuesday that he had prepared a de
tailed list of changes he plans to pro
pose at the board's next meeting.
"I think what we have is too re
strictive," Newton said. "I am not
totally against this. But I would like
to see it applied primarily in public
places, not in private businesses. It
needs to be made more palatable.
It's not going to pass like it is."
little type
Classifieds
whether you're
buying or selling.
THE BRUNSWICK ^BEACON
754-6890
Member Dr. Jeffrey Mintz said he
thought that comments expressed at
the hearing would result in changes
to the proposed regulations.
"In the long run, I would like to
see some kind of smoking regula
tions. But whether it's this rule or an
amended proposal, we'll have to
wait and see," Mintz said.
"People have strong opinions
about whether they want smoking in
businesses," he said. "Maybe we
need to give small businesses more
of a choice."
The health board is expected to
act on the proposed smoking regula
tions at its next meeting on Oct. II.
Legislation recently passed by the
N.C. General Assembly prohibits lo
cal governments from adopting any
smoking control rules after Oct. 15
that are more stringent than those
outlined in the new state law.
THE BRUNSWICK^BEACON
Established Nov. 1. 1%2
Telephone 754-()KlX)
Published Every Thursday
At 4709 Main Street
Shallotte. N.C. 28459
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