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WEEKLY
Volume 36, No. 26
USPS 428 060
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, June 26, 1960
20 CENTS
Park site
is in use
Long-awaited construction
of a portion of Hertford's
waterfront park has been
completed after a three year
tangle in red tape.
^ Site B, which consists of
boat ramps and docking
facilities, was completed last
week. And although still under
the contractors, area
residents have already begun
to enjoy the facility.
The old wooden boat ramp
has given way to two, double
concrete ramps with a total
accommodation of four
fc trailors. Three wooden piers
made of treated timber, each
measuring four 'feet, eight
inches wide, have been
erected in place of the former
dock.
Work yet to be completed at
the site is the resurfacing of
the parking area, located
directly behind the Municipal
Building. Designed to ac
? comodate 12 vehicles and
trailors, the lot will be graded
with four inches of compacted
gravel.
Total cost of Site B, ac
cording to Hertford Mayor
and City Manager Bill Cox, is
|45,297.M.
The total estimated budget
for the completion of the en
* tire waterfront park is
$208,000, which also includes
construction within an area
designated as 'Site A,' ? some
4.7 acres located behind the
recreation department's
building on Grubb Street.
And because construction
cost* have greatly increased
since the park was conceived
inFebruary of 1977, many of
the original plans have been
discarded in order to fall
witjun the projected budget.
The revised waterfront park
plans include the elimination
of bulk heading, a boat basin,
and a multi-purpose court
from Site A. It is anticipated
that this portion of the park
will include picnic tables and
shelters, as well as public
restroom facilities and a walk
way.
Site B was scaled down to
provide docking capacity
equal to the previously
existing facilities.
But work on Site A still lags
because, according to Cox,
there has been a reluctance on
the part of contractors to bid
on the work.
In an effort to discern just
why no bids have been sub
mitted, Cox met with several
contractors last week.
"I talked to three con
tractors as to why we haven't
received bids," said Cox, "and
all three agreed that there
were too many small
segments of the contract."
Six areas of work are
presently incorporated within
one contract: site grading and
preparation; picnic shelters;
(Continued on page 2)
Loading up
Tommy Manning loads up his boat on Hertford's new boat ramp after a day on the
Perquimans River with Ann Winslow and Patsie Cahoon.
"1^ . - "B - m T1 ' 1 ? ? ? 1 '
Mr. hog worth a little more
' Pork prices have risen 10
cents in the past two weeks,
leaving area buyers
cautiously optimistic that a
recovery is imminent for the
chronically depressed hog
market.
Buyers at Miller and
Whedbee Livestock Com
panies agree that a national
h overabundunce of hogs
initially caused prices to go
down, and if farmers continue
to hold back on production, the
price will continue to rise.
"If farmers keep holding
back ton production) it will
come back up," said Thurman
Whedbee, of Whedbee
Livestock.
"I think we've seen the
') worst of it," said Archie Miller
of Miller Livestock.
At present, hog prices are in
the vicinity of 40. cents per
pound. Miller said that at that
price, farmers are probably
breaking even on production
costs. Whedbee, however, said
that 41 to 42 cents per pound is
needed for the farmers to
1 breakeven.
But, of course, the pork
producers are in business to
make mooey, and a break
even proposition is not par
ticularly lucrative.
"They say they could live
with 45 to SO cents a pound,"
said Miller. "And that's not
getting rich, that's getting
by."
Prices have not been above
40 cents since December,
Miller said, and for the past
several months, farmers have
simply had to accept their
losses.
"I've got customers who for
the past six months have been
losing $8,000 to 110,000 a month
raising hogs," said Whedbee.
He said that even if prices
continue to rise, farmers will
not see a profit on their hog
operations during this year.
Part of the problem is that a
hog must be sold when it is
between 200 and 290 lbs. or the
farmer suffers a price
penalty, Miller said. A
producer cannot wait for an
extensive period of time
before selling his hogs.
Prices are set by the large
western markets, where corn
is more abundant, and thus,
cheaper. Western farmers
hive net yet begun to feel the
pinch of low hog prices
because their production costs
are lower. ? j
Farmers in Perquimans
County, though, have been
squeezed severely, some to
the extent of going out of
production, according to
Miller.
Government predictions are
that prices will continue to
rise for a period, then dip, then
begin to rise again, but Miller
doesn't put much stock in
them.
"The analysis is not very
good," said Miller. "Most
farmers don't like the
government agriculture
report."
The best way for a farmer to
succeed in the volatile hog
market is to get the size herd
he can afford to maintain and
keep it.
"Get in and stay in," said
Miller. "You've got to be in
when the hogs are cheap to be
in when the hogs are high," he
said.
Both men stressed that the
hog market is extremely
unpredictable, and an
ticipated a dip of some kind in
the near future, though not as
drastic as the most recent
ones.
"There ate hogs out there to
be moved," said Whedbee,
"and when they move them
the price is going to come
down."
But the pork picture is
(indisputably brighter than it
has been. "It should make
these hog farmers feel a whole
lot better about (the
market)," said Miller of the
recent spurt in prices.
Weather word maybe
As of press time on Tuesday,
farmers were looking at a
slight chance of rain, but a
serious dry spell still
threatened the Perquimans
County corn crop.
There was a 10 to 20 percent
chance of rain on Tuesday
night and Wednesday, but
partly cloudy, hot weather is
expected through the
weekend, according o the
flight service in Elizabeth
City.
Perquimans County ex
tension chairman Bill Jester
said some 5 percent of the corn
in the county is beyond being
salvageable.
Some of the corn that was
planted early, however, will
go on and make a good crop,
he said.
Most of the corn in the
county hangs in the balance.
A good rain in the next few
days and the damage would
not be that critical, Jester
said. But each day becomes
more crucial.
"The only thing we can do
now is hope mother nature will
cooperate," Jester said.
In an extreme drought, he
said, the tassle of the corn
plant comes out before the silk
emerges. Pollin is dropped
prematurely and very little
pollination jOccurrs.
Production suffers.
The dry weather is also
creating more nematode
problems than usual in county
soybean crops, Jester said.
ARPDC board
member backs
reorganization
A proposal by a member of
the Albemarle Regional
Planning and Development
Commission executive board
Thursday night advocated a
restructuring of that
organization's board so that
only elected officials of the
member governments would
be eligible to serve.
R.S. Monds, Jr. of Hertford
advocated the reorganization.
Monds, a former chairman of
the board, announced his
resignation from the board at
the same time.
"Tonight is my last
night, "said Monds. "I'm not
an elected official."
Monds said the organization
is currently "down in the
mire," and needs to extract
itself. He said he could not
understand why public
criticism of the organization
has surfaced recently in area
newspapers
"When I was chairman you
always heard so and so about
such and such, but nobody
came to the chairman or the
driector with it. There was no
chance to refute it," Monds
said.
Because of what they called
lack of services and poor
leadership, Camden County
has pulled out of ARPDC, and
Pasquotank has given notice
that it will pull out in two
years.
But Camden was in at
tendance Thursday night, and
its representatives promised
to reconsider their decision
within 30 days.
Monds encouraged every
member government to stay
in the organization, and again
stated that the size of the
executive board should be
reduced from its current
membership of some 60
persons.
"Every county should keep
its membership, "said Monds.
"It's a potential good
organization, but it'll never fly
with the number of people on
this board now."
One member, however, said
that if the meetings would be
conducted according to
parlimeatary procedure,
there would be no problem in
dispensing with the business
of ARPDC.
"We should follow Robert's
Rules of Order throughout the
entire meeting. Parlimentary
procedure has got to be im
posed by the chairman," he
said.
But when Monds finished his
comments he received a round
of applause from board
members, and Macon John
son, of the currently disaf
fected Camden County Board
of Commissioners, jumped up
to give Monds his full support.
"I concur wholeheartedly
with him," said Johnson.
"Unless elected officials take
the responsibility.. .the point
is, what does a (non-elected
board member) have to loose
if he makes the wrong
decision?"
In other business, board
chairman Donald Byran
announced that ARPDC
executive director Robert
Whitley had submitted a letter
of resignation, and would be
accepting employment in
Raleigh as of july 1 with the
Division of Community
Employment.
A regional aging plan for
1980-81 was approved, but
later reconsidered so that the
board could award the con
tract for providing meals for
the elderly to Brown's
Catering of Elizabeth City
rather than to Washington
County.
Brown's had bid $2.08 per
meal, to $2.07 from the
Washington County Depart
ment of Social Services, but it
was decided that since
Washington County was
utilizing public facilities to
prepare the meals, this might
be unfair competition with
free enterprize.
The plan also includes
$35,000 for an addition to the
Perquimans County Senior
Center, but is contingent on
approval by the state.
In another matter, board
approved an applicaion for a
grant to study the impact of oil
spills on the Albemarle region
for some $38,000, as well as a
grant application that would
train five per cent of the
population of the Albemarle
Region, or 3,870 people, in
CPR techniques.
A summer job program for
youths was approved that will
provide more than 400 eight
week jobs for disadvantaged
youths in the area at a cost of
some $398,000.
There was, however, some
dissent over whether the
Employment Security
Commission or the Op
portunity Improvement
Council would adminsister the
program.
Both bid the same amount,
but ESC was awarded the
contracted based on its
projection that it would serve
some 100 more young people.
Board members advocating
that OIC receive the contract
argued that it had a better
record in serving minorities.
Finally, a decision on
adoption of the 1980-81 ARPDC
budget was postponed for 60
days. The budget had
previously been adopted at a
May 15 meeting, but all action
taken at that meeting was
later declared null and void
because no quorum was
present.
Editorial page set
We are pleased to announce
that beginning next week, the
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
will initiate a full editorial
page in the interest of better
serving our readers.
We will be adding several
new features, including a
column by local historian Ray
Winslow, a syndicated feature
focusing on the Southern
lifestyle, and a national
cartoon that takes a humorous
look at life in general.
We will continue to feature
the work of our local car
toonist, Chris Kornegay, as
well as both the "Looking
back," and "My turn"
columns.
Winslow was selected as a
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
columnist because of his
unprecedented expertise on
the origins of our area.
We are sure that he will be
able to provide insightful,
intresting commentary for our
readers.
"Facing South" is a feature
column that bills itself as,
"Voices of tradition in a
changing region."
Contributions which at
tempt to illuminate the
Southern personality are
selected from submissions by
writers spread across the
South.
Facing South columns are in
almost every instance well
written, and provide a unique
insight into life on the down
side of the Mason-Dixon.
In further efforts to provide
a better newspaper, we will be
printing the front and editorial
pages of next week's
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
according to a six column
format.
The idea is to provide a
newspaper that is better
organized and easier to read.
Currently, the entire paper is
printed in eight columns, and
our eventual goal is to shift to
six columns throughout.
Child abuse is a growing problem across the state
Reports of child abuse and
' neglect hare rapidly in
creased throughout the state
and nation over the past
several years.
During the first 11 months of
fiscal year 1I7MI, 23,593
suspected eases of child abuse
or neglect were reported to
county s??|al services
departments throughout
\ North Carolina. Of these, 1,115
were substantiated. ?'
A total of suspected
eases were reported in fiscal
year llTMfc MB of thooe
were substantiated. The
previous year. 1MM cases
were reported with 7<4?
Perquimans County tkm
ret*eivro a ujw ot a reports
( lour of which were sub
> t According to Gloria Mit
?
T" ?? iti ?
cbell, social worker within
family and children's services
at the Perquimans County
Department of Social Ser
vice*, the increaae in child
abuse and neglect is the result
of both incressed public
awareness and preeent times.
"As the public becomes
more aware of chad abuse,
reports increase," said Mrs.
Mitchell, "but K is aleo a
product of these stressful
times, the stste of the
economy and a? forth."
Page SheKon, supervisor of
Protective Services for
Children Unit, the Depart
ment at Human Resources in
Raleigh, is in agreement. "We
have no way of tolling whether
this is a result of better public
awoneM oftoestste* child
law and M
?I III! ii'MTMl r
reporting cases as required,
or that there is an actual in
crease in child abuse and
neglect by parents and
caretakers across the state. I
think it might be a com
bination of the two," he said,
adding that the recent in
creases in reports of severe
physical abuse could be a
remit of the stress caused by
current ecooomlc conditions.
While incidents of child
abuse may be w the rise,
there are now more social
services available to help
families overcome the
social services has changed,
making such eertves more
. ,iL. ? - ? -J .11-. ? A
entctive ana taractnre to
ae?
social services has changed ?
it used to be punitive in
nature. Now it is based on
helping families," said Mrs.
Mitchell.
And the "helping"
philosophy is vhat Mrs.
Mitchell said she has totally
adopted in her approach
toward helping children and
families involved in child
abuse or neglect.
"Contrary to what a lot of
people think, we do not go in
?ad snatch kids from
parents," said Mrs. Mitchell,
"we consider that a last
resort.
Upon receiving report of an
abased or neglected child,
Mrs. Mitehell said her first
step is to contact the family.
"We fed that it is oar
responsibility to contact the
par?Is first, before anyone
Spf.', V
else, and tell them exactly
what information we have
gained," said Mrs. Mitchell.
She said at this point she
would stress to the parents
that the information gained
was only a report, an^ express
her concern for the family as a
total unit.
The parents respond in
various ways to reports of
their supposed child neglect or
abuse, according to Mrs.
Mitchell. Sometimes parents
are incredulous, but often they
are hurt and angry. Whatever
their response, Mrs. Mitchell
feels it is important to give
them a chance to respond.
Although Mrs. Mitchell said
that in many cases, the parent
will admit that the report is
true, they often win net think
that their action or attitude
toward a child was wrong.
"Their values may be dif
ferent, there may be a conflict
of ideal regarding proper
punishment. A lot of neglect is
just ignorance on the parents'
part," said Mrs. Mitchell.
The law defines an abuaed
child as leu than II years of
age whoee parent or other
peraoo responsible for his or
her care:
?inflicts ar allows to be in
flicted Upon the child, physical
injury by other than ac
cidental means, which causes
or creates a substantial risk of
death, disfigurement, or
impairment of physical
health;
?commit* or allows the
wMilMfcm of any sexual act
upon a child ia violation of the
taw;
?creates or allows to be
created a serious emottoaal
> I
damage to the child and
refuses to permit, provide for,
or participate in treatment;
?encourages, directs, or ap
proves of delinquent acts
involving moral turpitude
committed by the child.
A "neglected child," as
defined by law, is a person less
than 18 years (rid who does not
receive proper care, super
vision, or discipline from his
parent or guardian; or who
has been abandoned; or who is
not provided necessary
medical care; or who lives in
an environment (injurious to
his welfare, or who has been
placed for care or adoption in
violation of law.
The majority of parents will
become receptive to social
services once they become
aware that their actions were
wrong, said Mrs. Mitchell
4
And if they are not recep
tive? "Then we use the courts,
which may involve removel,"
responded Mrs. Mitchell.
"A lot of the parents'
respoase has to do with our
apprpach ? whether we ap
pear as a person with a
helping attitude, or with a
punitive attitude," said Mrs.
Mitchell.
If a family is receptive to
help, social services will then
try to determine the possible
causes of child abuse or
neglect, in an effort to
eliminate the problem.
"We might refer them to
counseling, help them to ob
tain food stamp*, day care,
health support ? anything to
eliminate the stress factors
which may be causing the
child abuse or neglect," said
(Continued oapftl)
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