weekly Perspective Our view : Festival sparks V* community spirit The success o f the Indian Summer Festival is just as heartening to us as it is to the county Chamber of Commerce, which has sweated for the last several months organizing the affair. * Behind ail that fun that people had last week was a great deal of work, and the county owes a tip of the hat to the Chamber members involved ? as well as to all of the craftmen. cooks, musicians, folks dressed up in colonial garb, and whomever else we may have neglected to mention. Not everything about the three-day festival was perfect, but for the first time out it seemed very well done. We have a few suggestions for im provement, but everyone seemed to be working so hard and having such a good time that we don't have the heart to mention them. We emphasize the work of those behind it, and the spirit of everyone involved, because to us that is even more encouraging than the festival's success. .Over the last several years, and particularly so in more recent times, residents and community leaders have been concerned about the county's future. With county expenses growing higher than many taxpayers believe they can support, and local businesses tailing or just holding their own, and good jobs becoming scarcer and scarcer, many fear that without an infusion of new growth ? both economically and in community spirit ? this county may be in for a slow fadeout So it is indeed heartening to see signs that people no are longer satisfied to sit back and bemoan tl?~:r fate. The Indian Summer Festival ? recall that the Chamber's original purpose was to attract people and business from outs^e the area to Perquimans County ? along with the school system's accreditation drive and this week's Committee of 100 banquet are the three of the most recent examples of local people at tempting to lead the county into a brighter future. Their determined effort alone, regardless of its success, counts for a great deal. People here can't depend on someone else to improve their lot; they must make the effort them selves. With the community's sup port behind them, we can hope for more such efforts in the future. w \Public buildings in Perquimans Co. * The conduct of public business in ? early North Carolina generally ? required that a county erect and maintain four sorts of public buildings, namely a courthouse, a jail, a public warehouse, and a poorhouse. The courthouse was of primary significance and was usually the first building to be financed by local taxation, because it provided a repository for county records, offices ? for major officials, and a home for local government. Besides court sessions, the cour thouse was often used for church services, lodge meetings, and public gatherings in an age which attached ' little importance to distinctions between public and private affairs. ? Further, the courthouse attracted ? people to its location and commonly 7 formed the nucleus of a settlement. . Local government evinced a ? special interest in its meeting place " and its concern might range from securing John Catling to build a new I courthouse in the 1820s, on to seeing it I painted and renovated on numerous occasions, and even down to things so ? minute as purchasing flag-bottom ? chairs for it and ordering sawdust Rax U mi s/oh put on its floor during court week. In close proximity to the cour thouse was the jail and it. too. received much attention from the government of Perquimans County Whether its inmates were felons or debtors, the jail was not expected to hold people long. It was not a penitentiary, and the authorities were seldom disposed to expend large sums of money for the feeding and care or prisoners. Despite numerous orders for its strengthening and repair, the jail was hardly adequate for its purpose. In some counties (such as Chowan) it was a regular custom for an in coming sheriff to protest before the county magistrates that the jail was insufficient to hold prisoners. One can well imagine a sheriff saying after a jail break, "I told you so." Your home through the eyes of the property tax office Indian Summer Festival ? a good time was had by all By the way , I'm awfully sorry about this ^ Odds and ends and various apologies. For starters, I'd like to apologize for messing up last week's cartoon. In case you didn't notice, the caption was inadvertent!;, left out That was my fault, I forgot it. 'Tout's what happens when you get in too big a hurry. We had a few enquiries about wfcat the caption was supposed to be. and I've heard of a few wild guesses that people made, some of them wild enough that I've begun to worn, about what's going on in sonw poople's minds. The cartoon, with caption, is reprinted below left, TOiat is, if I didn't forget it again. Next week, I think I'll forget to psfl my columh in. I don't expect too many inquiries about it. I don't know about you. bat I had myself a good time last week at the Indian Summer Festival. I was pooped by the time it was ?**r thMgh. 1 figure I took sometln*# arvttnd 15? pictures in tlnse ilm days though 1 don't befcieue WMtre :ku 2t of then were prated a* the paper this week For those ?t >v*i who didn't get you- ptciwre take* and thought you shoald kaie ?a*d there are a tot of vn M there aad those who got yew pietwre take*, but didn't see it in the paper > 1 figure there are roughly IMof yw* o*t there k. I apologize. I'd J?9t as mm ert you aii in there, but there's ?*ly s? m*ch 1 tan do. \*d jprakut^ about the Indian Stnwr Festival. Festival Chair ma* Mat? HarreU said that the at tral? here alt day. when they ?*ly mea*t to> stay a* hour or so. Others eve* decided not to go to wmI a great idea It 1 ever heard one. Fee example. Mary said that Emmett lawdmg apparently came T?*wi IhilrttsliV downtown on his lunch hour to pick up a prescription, and seeing all the fun folks were having, decided not to return to work. By the way, if that story em barrasses Mr. Landing, or causes him to lose his job, I apologize for repeating it. There's another story I heard that night, only this time I won't risk any jobs or reputations (or a punch in the nose, for that matter) by repeating the name. Saturday night during the dance, I asked a fellow I knew where his kifs were that night. The fellow ra question has one teenage son, Ted, I'll call him, and another still in grade school, Pete. "Oh, Ted's out here somewhere," tl\e father said. . "And where's Pete?" I asked. ,, "He's at home with his mother." "Why did you leave him at home?". . I asked. ^ "Well," the fellow said. "I thought maybe Ted might score tonight, apd he wouldn't want some kid tailing around behind him." , - Now that's what I call a father looking after his boys. By the way, if people reading tips recognize who I'm talking aboutt I apologize to the fellow and his sons for repeating it. And for all those other people wl)p feel as if I did something against them, I'm sorry about that. I just seem to be stepping on a lot of t qes lately. :1 ^ a syndicated column: r&cmg South yo^s of w w? ? |n ;| ch:in?in? region Keep it on the islands BUCK ISLAND, FU - The islands on that crooked coast arc indefinite places owned mostly by the govern ment They lie in shallow water; at low tide, what had jetted to he a reef will announce it as an island At high tide, what had appeared to he part of the mainland will decide it is an island, entire of toetf . The islands make 9 aa Mecotae archepelago httww the amhn and thespoilhanks No ?ae wch calls them home tm>t Cutis McCul Cartes IhCui Im ? a sMler he MM kiasrit aa kick fri? J. Tin? IMklli kaftwoM CUII MMim4 WWCWKIC IKlwTvS