THE PER
Volume 35, No. 31
USPS 428-000
IMANS WEEKLY
Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, Aug. 9, 1979
20 CENTS
Safe is stolen in
. ? , '
?K. K 1 ? ? " ' *? " ?: * *?
Nectar's burglary
? % ? . j
The Nectar's fast food
outlet across from the ABC
stqre in Hertford was the
vfetim of a burglary in
the early hours of Monday
morning.
? The back door was broken
into with a prying tool and a
site containing over $700
was taken. An automatic
^nera with a strobe light
w^s ripped off the wall, ap
parently as a precaution,
before the thieves went to
Work.
? Taken, along with the
safe, was all of the loose
change from an open cash
register drawer. Hie only
thing left behind were the
pennies.
Nectar's is owned by
Gardner Homes, a company
based in Elizabeth City. Ac'
cording to Mrs. Connie
Lamb, manager of the food
outlet since its opening in
Hertford, an attempt to
break into the business was
made once before but failed.
The safe, worth $300, was
very heavy and termed
almost impregnable except
to a professional safe
cracker. According to police,
the safe was so heavy, that
two men would be required
to remove it from the
premises.
The theft was discovered
by Mrs. Lamb when she
entered the business on Moo
day morning at 10:15. In
vestigating the burglary
were Police Chief Marshall
Merritt, Patrolman Robert
Morris and Patrolman Gene
M. Overton, who had just
been sworn in as a new of
ficer for the Hertford Police
Department.
SHATTERED DOOR ? This is what the back door of Nec
tar's looked like after burglars broke in early Monday
morning and made off with the business's safe. (Staff
Photo by JACK GROVE)
NEW OFJICER ? Gene Uitchell Overton is sworn in as a
police officer by court clerk Jarvis Ward in a ceremony
Monday morning at the Court House. (Staff photo by
JACK GROVE)
Gold Bond redemption difficult
By JACK GROVE
Customers of the Colonial
Store (now Big Star) in
Hertford who have been sav
ing their Gold Bond Stamps
for redemption at a Gold
Bond Gift Shop will now
have to go a long way to do
so.
The Gold Bond Gift Shop
on Indian River Bd. in
Chesapeake, Va., the closest
redemption cento* to Hert
ford, closed its doors for
good last Saturday.
The Gold Bond store
manager was interviewed by
phone last Friday. Mrs. Ann
Craft, the manager, was
asked what patrons should
do with stamps they have
accumulated. She said that
the closest redemption
center to this area is now in
Richland, Va., on the other
side of Roanoke, in the
western part of Virginia.
Mrs. Craft stated that
stamp holders may mail
them in to the Gold Bond
company for redemption in
cash or merchandise from
the catalog. The books are
worth $2.50 each or SO cents
for a fifth of a book. The ad
dress for mailing in the
books may be found on the
back of the books or the
catalog, according to Mrs.
Craft.
The manager Indicated
that she has been receiving
a lot of complaints about the
closing from N.C. residents.
She said the reason stem
med from the change-over of
the Colonial Stores to Big
Star which does not issue
the stamps. The Colonial
Stores were the main
customer of the Gold Bond
Stamp Co. in this area.
Mrs. Craft emphasized
that the company is not go
ing out of business, just
moving out of the immediate
area. The sales office,
formerly located in
Chesapeake, has been moved
to Atlanta, Ga.
Company is under investigation
\-d a joint release today,
three top state officials call
ed for a thorough investiga
tion of the tactics used by
the Smith-Douglass Fer
tilizer Company and their
representatives in settling
claims against the company
by farmers who used the
fertiliser allejcdly con
taminated by the herbicide
picloram.
* Attorney General Rufus
Morgan
to be feted
Archie T. Lane, Sr.. Chair
man of Perquimans County
Democratic Party, has an
nounced that the Per
quimans County Democratic
Party wfll hold a reception
in honor of Senator Robert
' said that "it
Edmisten, Agriculture Com
missioner Jim Graham and
Commissioner of Insurance
John Ingram have jointly
asked affected farmers to'
come to Raleigh on Friday,
August 10 to present af
fidavits outlining their
problems with the settlement
offered to them and the
economic affect it has had
on their tobacco and other
crops. The session will be
J ? >? .%?
held on the State
Fairgrounds and will begin
at 1:00 p.m.
Affected growers will have
an opportunity to give a
sworn affidavit to attorneys
for the three departments
and the three North Carolina
officials will be on hand to
hear public statements from
anyone wishing to be heard
on the situation.
The move U being made
to gather sufficient informa
tion to determine action the
three agencies might need to
take. The legal possibilities
include cancellation of the
registration of the Smith
Douglass Company by the
Department of Agriculture,
hearings on the insurance
company's and the ad
juster's license by the In
surance Commissioner's of
fice.
WRECKAGE - This is what was life of an
sutomobilr Involved in a fatal accidrnl at
the "Y" last Fri/Uy night KUkd, was a
Marine from Camp Lejeune. Five others to
the car were iajurita. (Staff photo by JAlfcK
GROVE) _
Mi . ,fe . . .
Town
has new
officer
The Hertford Police
Department has a new
police officer. Gene Mitchell
Overton was sworn in as a
policeman on Monday morn
ing at the Court House by
Superior Court Clerk Jarvis
Ward.
Overton, from New Hope,
is 21. He is the son of
Margaret Overton. Overton
graduated from Perquimans
fpuoty High School and at
tended the College of lite
Albemarle one year.
According to Police Chief
Marshall Merritt, he will
receive a minimum of one
month's on-the-job training.
His first week will be spent
in orientation with Chief
Merritt. Overton will then
spend three weeks in train
ing with Officer Robert Mor
ris, who has been designated
as his training officer.
The police department has
been undermanned since the
dismissal of Patrolman
James R. Logan last April
13. Logan remained in the
department in an inactive
status from the date of the
dismissal until the Town
Council upheld the action on
May 31.
Car wreck
takes life
A late model Mazda con
taining six Marines from
Camp Lejeune at Jacksoih
ville, N.C., was wrecked at
11:45 p.m. Friday. The acci
dent took the life of one of
the Marines, Amando E.
Eclarino, age 30. Injuries to
the other occupants were
termed "not serious" by in
vestigating officer, trooper
Y.Z. Newberry.
The auto was headed north
on U.S. 17 at a high rate of
speed when it missed ? ,
curve at the "Y" five miles
south of Hertford, jumped a
traffic island, rolled three or
four times and crashed
through the wall of a
building owned by T.R. Kir
by. The car came to rest on
Its side inside the building.
The Edenton and Per
quimans Rescue Squads and
the Edenton crash truck
responded to the emergency.
The injured were taken to
the Albemarle Hospital in
Elisabeth City before being
transferred to the U.S.
Naval Hospital in Ports
mouth, Va. J. .
The driver of the vehicle
was identified as Pedro
Liberate Peratta, 24 Peralta
has been charged with death
by a vehicle, driving under
the Influence, and driving at
a speed greater than
Master fire plan
is presented
A Master Fire Protection
Plan, was presented to the
Board of Commissioners for
the Town of Hertford at their
meeting last Monday night.
Mack Simpson, senior
planner for the Regional
Development Institute of the
East Carolina Universty in
Greenville made the
presentation to the Town
Board. Simpson in presenting
this ~ Fire Protection Plan,
stated that it is a "working
tool" for planning and im
plementing fire protection in
the community.
Simpson gave credit to Ed
Thome of Farmville, formerly
of the RDI staff, for his work
in preparing the plan along
with help received from
Mayor Bill Cox and R. Tim
Brinn. Brinn is the Assistant
Director of the RDI in
Greenville.
The Master Fire Protection
Plan includes fire alarm in
formation, locations, type
fires, and time of calls, for the
past eleven years that have
occurred in Hertford and
Perquimans County.
It includes available water
supply sources for fire
fighting, lists of available fire
apparatus in the county and
recognition of each fire
department.
This plan is a result of
emphasis placed by the U.S.
Fire Administration in en
couraging communities to
plan for both fire prevention
and control.
The master plan projects
goals and objectives to be
sought in Hertford and
Perquimans County in the
next five to ten years. Since
the inception of this plan,
some 18 months ago, a number
of goals have been ac
complished by the Hertford
Fire Department: (1 an in
surance rating classification
change from class 8 to class 7
in Hertford; (2 an update of
fire hydrant and hydrant
records system in Hertford;
and (3 updated maps of the '
water main supply system in
Hertford.
Objectives still to be
realized include establishing
written mutual aid
agreements with other fire
departments in Perquimans
County and neighboring fire
departments, updated fire
prevention codes in Hertford,
and the establishment of the
"Rural Emergency Iden
tification System" for central
radio dispatching use.
Hertford Fire Chief Charles
Skinner said "This is the first
published Master Fire Plan in
North Carolina for small
volunteer departments and
now it is being used as a guide
to help other communities'"
Chief Skinner expressed his
appreciation to the RDI staff
and others that have made
this published plan possible.
NEW PHONE CABLE - A crew lays s
"relief cable" in an operation that has
been worked on for about six weeks. The
cqble is being laid from Highway 17 out
the Harvey's Point Rd., across to the Holi
day Island Rd. and into Holiday Island.
The specially designed tractor digs a two
foot deep trench and lays the cable in one
continuous operation. The new cable will
make possible the installation of between
100 and 200 new phones at Holiday Island.
Highway 17 rally to be
held Tuesday, Aug 14
Plans have been com
pleted for a Highway 17 ral
ly that will be conducted at
the Jaycee Hut in Edenton
at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night,
August 14.
"Tickets are going well
and we expect a good
crowd," Bob Moore, Ex
ecutive Vice-President of the
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce, reported. Moore
serves on the planning com
mittee with Tom Campbell
of Elizabeth City, and Mayor
Bill Cox of Hertford. All are
on the Executive Committee
of the Highway 17 Transpor
tation Association in North
Carolina.
The objective of the
organisation is to get
Highway 17 four laned
through deep Eastern North
Carolina from Virginia to
South Carolina.
William H. (Bill) Page of
Washington, President of the
organization, will be the
speaker at the rally, the se
cond of three to be con
ducted along the highway.
One has already been staged
in New Bern. Another is
planned for the Wilmington
area.
"We'll have plenty of
barbecue and refreshments,"
Moore said today. Tickets
for the event are 15.00 and
may be purchased at
Chambers of Commerce in
Elizabeth City, Hertford,
Edenton, Windsor, and
Williamston.
Moore said the rally is be
ing conducted to cover that
area of the highway and
"we hope a lot of folks from
the other communities at
tend."
In discussing the rally to
day, Page called Highway
17, North Carolina's most
neglected major highway.
"It's going to have to be im
proved from one end to the
other," he said.
Page said a lot of "little"
projects along the highway
are already being planned
by the North Carolina
Department of Transporta
tion. "What we need,
though, is an overall plan
from one end to the other so
that we can see the project
in perspective," Page said.
Page said his organization
is urging Governor Hunt to
encourage the Department
of Transportation to come
up with such a plan.
Check theft leads to
i
arrest of suspect
A young Hertford woman
has bees arrested aid
charged with felony counts
of larceny and false
pretense, according to Hert
ford Police Chief Marshall
Merritt Shirley Elliott, 17.
Ot 304 Stokes Dr. wu ar
rested Wednesday morning,
AngnstL
The charges stemmed
?Sei </
from the theft o I an endors
ed payroll check froa the
parse of Jo Aon Blanchard
at the county Board of
Education office on July si.
Miss EDfcrtt was arrested
after allegedly attempting to
cash the check at the Bank
of North Carolina. A stop
order, however, had already
been requested by the Board
of Education.
Mis* EUiott, a CETA pro
gram employee at the Board
of Education, vaa released
under a H.000 secured bead
after a first appearaaee
bearing on August 1.
Chief Merritt urged
citisens not to endorse
checks until they are ready
teeaahthem.