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. THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 3S, No. 42 USPS 4M-M0 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 25, 1979 30 CENTS
George Winslow plows under a field off
N.C. 37 in the late afternoon sunshine.
Plowing under
Winslow said that because of wetness he
only got one third his usual corn yield
from the land. (Photo by NOEL TODD
MCLAUGHLIN)
Crop damage relief in sight
The Perquimans County
Farmer's' Home A d
ministration office is checking
into whether or not county
! farmers will be eligible for
emergency loans to offset crop
_ IflVMf caused by heavy rains
0 during the early part' of the
growing season.
"We have to determine if
enough people have sustained
a loss to qualify the county,"
said Melvin Howell, county
FraHA supervisor.
Rep. Walter B. Jones said
recently that the program is
being offered to help fanners
recover losses caused by poor
weather conditions during this
year's growing season.
.^Gatei, Pasquotank afltL
Currituck Counties have all
been determined to be eligible
for the program.
In order to qualify, a farmer
must have sustained a 20 per
cent loss on a major crop, and
be able to meet certain credit
eligibility requirements.
If the farmer has strong
enough credit to go to his
ndknal lending institution for
assistance, he will aot .be
etigiMfr lt tkt pwgram, no
matter what his total crop
loss.
Howell said that at this
time, corn crops appear to
have suffered most in this
county, particularly in the
Joppa section.
It was an unusual growing
season, however, in which
some farmers enjoyed higher
than average yields while
others suffered losses. w
Farmer George Winslow
said that one of his corn fields,
located off N.C. 37, which
ordinarily yields 150 bushels
per acre, yielded only 50
bushels per acre this season.
Soybean and peanut crops
are still being harvested, and
it is yet too early to tell how
well these crops will do,
Howell said.
?
He said he is "pretty sure"
the county will qualify for the
program, which lends money
at a 5 percent interest rate,
with a repayment period of up
to 7 years.
Marching unit, band compromise in works
? ? ? i * ?
The Perquimans County
School Boaitl has appointed
a committee that will try to
work out a compromise be
tween the marching unit and
the high school band.
That compromise could
result in present members of
the marching unit being ac
cepted into the band without
being able to play an instru
ment.
No new members would be
accepted into the unit and
there would be a year by
year phasing out of students
who do not play musical in
struments.
The entire group would be
? under the authority of band
director David Ziemba.
It was decided to study
the possibility of such a
compromise in a special
meeting between school of
ficials and marching unit
representatives on Monday
morning.
The marching unit is a
private organization spon
sored by donations and
member fund drives. The
unit had been told that it
would not be able .to march
at high school football
games after this year
because of the formation of
a high school band.
Resulting controversy led
to a decision by the school
board to allow the two
groups to share performance
time during halftime
festivities at the games.
At Monday's meeting,
however, there was no men
tion of the split time ar
rangement. Marching, unit
representatives said they
would accept a compromise
if one could be worked out.
High school principal
William Byrum outlined a
sketch for a conditional com
promise that had apparently
met with the approval of
Ziemba.
Board chairman Clifford
Winslow said that would
take a great deal of coopera
tion on both sides of the
issue to work out a com
promise.
Council candidates talk
about themselves, issues
ByNOELTODD
McLAUGHLIN
Five candidates will vie for
the two seats available oq
Hertford's Town Council this
year. Running in the
November I election are in
cumbents Mattie "Fete"
Broughton, and Bffly Winslow.
Alio filing for election are
Dennis W. Hare, Jesse Harris,
andA.L. West, Jr.
Current issues include ibch
topics as attracting industry
to the area, cultivating a more
open policy between the
?ing utility rates.
Hare, S3, U from
SZSKiTJK
in Mvtral civic
office, he feels the managerial
skills utilized in owning and
operating The One Stop
Service Station in Hertford
would be an asset to the town.
"I would like to serve aHthe
people in the town of Hert
ford," uid Hare, adding that
he would like to see a "more
open policy" between the
people at Hertford and the
town council.
One of the most important
ditties facing Hertford's town
council, according to Hare, is
to attract industry to the area.
"I would do anything in my
power to get some industry
here." Hare said.
A graduate of Nasherffle
Auto Deisel College, Hare has
served in the United States Air
Force. -
A. I. West, Jt.M, is
originally tram Dunn, N.C.,
aad has lived la Hertford tor
"Mywtfe aad I have made
n.vi|MJ Kama m T nr*nt
neruoru uur Hutue, su t want
to be involved and I want to
work to get everyone else,
including the young people,
involved," said West.
West feels that it is im
portant (or a council member
to find out exactly what the
community wants before
pursuing a project or idea.
Organised community
expansion and "getting away
from Vepco" are issues West
would like to work toward if
elected to the council.
West is an Adult Services
Social Worker for the
Perquimans County Social
Services Office and also
supervises all rest homes in
the county.
An active Jaycee, West alio
belongs to the American
Legion, and the disabled i
American Veterans
Associitioo. . !*?
West served in Viet Nam
white in the Army, attended
Campbell University, and is
currently working towards
Rec group asks
for athletic field
By mike Mclaughlin
The Perquimans County
Recreation Department is
seeking a 10 to 14 acre
facility to accommodate an
ever expanding county soft
ball program.
Recreation director Billy
Wooten expressed the need
for such a facility in a
special meeting with the
county board of commis
sioners on Monday night.
Wooten said the facility
would also be used for little
league football and baseball,
and proposed a plan in
which the county could pro
vide its share of the pro
ject's cost through a dona
tion of land and volunteer
labor. Grant money would
pay for the rest.
He estimated that the
facility, which would include
back to back fields, as well
as concession and restroom
facilities, would cost be
tween $40 and $80,000 to con
struct, excluding land cost.
In a lengthy presentation,
Wooten, backed by several
members of the recreation
department's advisory com
mittee, outlined the growing
pains and problems of the
county Softball program.
"Softball is the biggest
continuous activity in this
county," Wooten said. There
are presently between 300
and 400 active participants,
he said.
The lack of an adequate
facility is causing the county
to miss out on tournament
revenoe -that could make the
Softball program virtually
self-sufficient, he said.
Wooten sifted through
several options for improv
ing the situation, including
upgrading the present facili
ty at Perquimans Union
School, and purchasing land
for a facility, but he singled
out a county land donation
as the most economically
feasible possibility.
According to Wooten, prob
lems with the current field
include:
?The field is overschedul
ed. Games are stacked into
the late night hours.,
discouraging participation.
?The field is difficult to
maintain. Students utilize
the field all day for recrea
tion and in the evenings,
Winfall residents use it,
often ruining pre-softball
preparations.
?The lights and poles on
the field are in extremely
poor shape.
?There is some discussion
of turning the field into a
facility for the school foot
ball program.
?There is no storage space
at the field.
The property Wooten pro
posed to utilize is located off
U.S. 17 behind the N.C.
Department of Transporta
tion Shop in Winfall.
The county presently
receives some $800 in rent
for use of the property.
While some of the com
missioners were supportive of
the proposal, others had
reservations.
"I think what we really need
to do is upgrade the facilities
we've got," said com
missioner Lester Simpson'.
An advisory committee
member argued that the need
had gone unmet long enough.
Five years ago we came in
here and begged and pleaded
for lights and you were good
enough to give us the lights.
But you said 'Ya'll boys make
do for a couple of years and
we'll see that you get a field,"
he said.
Simpson, however, felt that
if the present facilities were
upgraded both the school and
the recreation department
would benefit.
Joe Nowell, chairman of the
commissioners, promised that
the board would have an
answer for the recreation
department by the Nov. 5
meeting of the com
missioners.
The commissioners also
interviewed another
prospective county extension
chairman.
Ken Bateman, a crops agent
with six years experience in
extension work, was in
terviewed for the position.
Bateman, however, ex
pressed some reluctance
about relocating to
Perquimans County.
The commissioners had
previously interviewed Bill
Jester, a crops agent in Tyrell
County, for the position. A
decision will be made at the
Nov. 5 meeting of the com
missioners.
Youth injured in crash
"We have a potentially ex
plosive situation," Winslow
said. He urged those persons
involved to take an op
timistic approach in look
ing for a solution to the
problem.
Previous emotional ex
changes between those per
sons connected with the
band and those connected
with the marching unit have
created a difficult at
mosphere for compromise.
In a related matter, mar
ching unit representatives
were told that the North
Carolina Attorney General's
office had ruled that it
would be illegal for the
school board to turn over
school property to a private
group unless through public
auction to the highest bid
der.
The marching unit
parent's organization had
previously asked if a bus
titled to the school system
by the group could be
returned.
In addition the organiza
tion had asked if the school
board could donate (4,000 to
the marching unit for the
bus and other equipment
should the unit decide to dis
band.
The attorney general's of
fice ruled that such a move
would be unconstitutional.
A two car collision injured a
six year old Crestville boy
Sunday morning near Hert
ford.
Six other persons involved
in the accident were treated
and released at Albemarle
Hospital, according to a
hospital spokesman.
Teddy Dail, Jr., 6, was in
satisfactory condition on
Monday afternoon with a
broken femur (the bone that
runs from the hip to the knee).
The accident occurred on
U.S 17 south of Hertford when
Jay Malcom Watson of
Chesapeake, Va. tried to make
a U-turn in front of a Ford
station wagon traveling north.
The wagon struck Watson's
1978 Ford passenger car and
came to rest in a ditch on the
east side of the road.
The driver of the wagon,
Willie Thorn an Dail of Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., and five
passengers in his car, along
with Watson, were taken to
Albemarle Hospital.
With the exception of Teddy
Dail, all were treated and
released.
Watson's car received an
estimated $2500 in damages
and damages to the station
wagon were estimated at
$1500.
Watson was charged with
failure to yield by in
vestigating officer Y.Z.
Newberry of the North
Carolina Highway Patrol.
Watch for tricksters
The Hertford Police
Department will be beefing up
its patrol Wednesday night in
an effort to thwart would be
Halloween vandals.
Police Chief Marshall
Merritt said Halloween is
traditionally a night of in
creased vandalism. The
department will be on the
lookout for egg throwers,
pumpkin smashers and others
of dubious intent.
Merritt advised town
residents to keep their cars
parked in their back yards to
make them less convenient
targets for flying eggs. He also
advised that residents keep
their homes well lighted.
Children should wear light
costumes, he said, and
parents should check their
candy before allowing them to
eat it.
Last year one child bit into a
needle inserted into a
Halloween treat, Merritt said.
? urn? ? ml ? a
West
completing hit Master's
degree in Educational Ad
ministration at East Carolina
University.
Jesse L. Harris, <0, of
Hertford, has eight years of
previous councBf experience
under his belt from service
rendered in the IMO's.
"I also have 40 years of
transacting business decisions
to offer the town of Hertford,"
said Harris, who calls himself
a Real Estate Developer and a
Tobacco Warehouser.
A WwWwwW ?" ?? ?
Although Harris: was
reluctant to talk of particular
Imm he would like to work
on, he admitted that the
"Vepeo problem" was
B rough ton
something he would like to see
solved.
"If elected. I would like to
institute some changes bat I
can't say Just what until I've
studied the town budget. I do
know, however, that I would
do everything humanly
possible to lower the monthly
utility bill that each citiien
receives," said Harris.
Harris gradiated from the
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill with a B.S. in
Commerce, and served In the
Army during W.W.H in the
Finance Department
Incumbent Billy WinsloW,
^already hw eight years ?f
Harris
re-election because he wants
to see several of the council's
aims that he has actively been
working on be completed,
namely the King Street and
Recreation Projects.
The King Street Project
involves the demolition and
redevelopment of substandard
housing in the King Street
area.
The Recreation Project
includes the development of a
water front park.
"I am very much interested
in our town." said Winsiow.
A Hertford native, Winilow
has worked for Winslow OU
Company for 24 years and is
preiently the Assistant
Winslow
Bookkeeper there.
Winslow is also the Trustee
for the town's Pension Fund,
and the town's representative
to the Recreation Depart
ment.
Another incumbent, Mattie
"Pete" Broughton, CI, has
also filed for re-election.
"I have have four rewarding
years oo the council. Although
at first I think there was some
speculation concerning the
presence of a woman on the
board, we have had a fine
relationship," said Broughton.
who is the first and only
woman ever elected to Hert
ford's Town Council.
Broughton feels that
Hare
problems to be faced in the
1980's will be greater and that
the town will need ex
perienced people in order to
cope.
"I'm as highly qualified as
anyone running through the
experience I have had
working for the town,"
Broughton said.
A Hertford native,
Broughton has served as
Assistant City Clerk for 14 and
? half yews, and has been
secretary to three mayors.
She is presently employed as
Assistant Secretary aid
Treasurer for Hertford
Savings and Loan Association.