Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Oct. 2, 1986, edition 1 / Page 4
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Perspective fiction becomes reality ?? Rachel Pittman of Ahoskie did not set out to write a book about a ^fictitious bear nor start a busi ? : ness dressing collectable teddy * - bears.. .it just sorta happened. It 1 all began when she purchased * some three-inch teddy bears for ornaments for her antique shop ; Christmas tree. She decided they ; needed some clothes, and one *. ? thing led to another, In the midst * of all of this, the idea of a little v colonial bear occurred to her, * and because of her great admira ;* tion for th father of our country, she promptly named him "G. - Washington Bear." Then, a story ft began to take shape. Her book, entitled "G. Wash : ington Bear", is the account of a special little bear whose desire to >; see more of the world led him to a new land and many adventures. - .Once in America, he was be ? I friended by Washington himself. * ? "G. Washington Bear" is, of ?? course, a fictional creation in Ra * chel's book, but the events that > take place in the little bear's life -.are authentic parts of our Colm ey try's history. The strong histori * - cal appeal of Rachel's book does 1 > not begin nor stop with any age group, especially since her ' dressed bears now accompany !? the sale of her book. The book is t- not packaged with the bear, but ! it's available at most places that I sell them. As a rule, if a person * - sees the book, they want the ;? hear, and vice versa. * I Rachel has expanded her bear I ? creation from five-inch to eight j-4nch, and now to thirteen-inch size. "G. Washington Bear" has recently been joined by "Martha C. Bear," who is being intro duced in Rachel's second book, hopefully published this sum mer. Though these are the princi pal bear characters, she has also presented, for the wedding of the bears, a bear named "Mary Washington Bear," who is "G. Washington Bear's" mother. All of these are produced in a variety of costumes, both formal and in formal, ranging from inaugural to coonskin cap, and to the actual wedding gown and formal attire necessary for the wedding. Prices range from $5.50 to $60.00, varying with size of the bear and manner of dress. Rachel's bears have become so popular that in 1985 alone she es timates that approximately 2,000 were dressed by hand. Not bad for a business that is barely two years old. In addition, Rachel has had as many as seventeen women scattered over three counties helping sew and dress her historical bears. Both the bears and book are available in her antique shop, but in addition they are also mar EASTERN ECHOES keted in such places as Green ville, Raleigh, Virginia Beach, York town, Fredericksburg, The DAR Museum in Washington, D.C., Mount Vernon, and of course, the Toymaker in Wil liamsburg. Their costumes are authentic reproductions of the time of George Washington, and each dressed bear also wears a tag of explanation which speaks appropriately of the problems of our country in that period of his tory. Rachael has very conveniently combined two loves, teddy bears and the study of George Wash ington, into a profitable and very interesting venture. It i her hope to present history in both an en tertaining and different fashion, in order to make the whole art of learning about this country's past more exciting. The bears are marketed as "Rawel" bears simply because Rachel's grand children had difficulty pronounc ing her name and it came out that way. If you'd like to pur chase a "Rachel Pittman at Wynnewood Plantation Antiques located 3% miles south of Ahos kie at the junction of N.C. High ways 11 and 42, or telephone 919 332-2511. Rachel Pittman is a graceful, lovely Southern lady whose genu ine charm and warmth suspi ciously suggests that, at some point in the past, she had at right down with the father of our coun try and planned this whole thing, for the benefit and enjoyment of all of us today. IA note from Gina . ? - There is a controversy in the Z town of Hertford which exists be : tween a landlord and a tenant ? I over a grant which the tenant ap 1 J plied for in the spring of this ?tyear. ? ?? ' The landlord is Jesse Harris, a J j tQwn councilman, and the tenant * is Apricot, Inc. i*. The problem is shaking the * .community, and it is really a - shame that the whole episode has ? ever taken place. The problems I* began several years ago when * Apricott relocated in Hertford > from points north, and rented a building from Mr. Harris. After several years in the building .'Apricott finally got fed up with ."dealing with all the problems as sociated with their present loca tion and Mr. Harris. I In an effort to right the situa tion they applied for a grant so that they could relocate, and now Mr. Harris is saying that the grant application contains misin formation and is illegal. 1 The building which Apricot is ; presently working has many ^problems and the problems have ; come from years of neglect by ?Mr. Harris. There is no one who will convince me differently. I walked through the building and 2 found myself glad that I didn't have to work there on a daily b -sis. * Mr. Harris contends that the building is sound, but I find that hard to believe after stepping in side and walking around. Mr. Harris also is arguing that the town council and Apricot have made untrue statements in the grant application. Well I don't see any reason for anyone to lie about the situation. Apricot simply wanted a better situation, and I feel that the town in an ef fort to keep industry in the com munity acted in good faith and did what they felt was right. The grant will provide approxi mately 100 to 150 more jobs according to Apricot, and those are jobs which are greatly needed by the community. If the grant application is thrown out, then Apricot will simply move up north and the 94 people they em ploy now will be collecting unem ployment. Hertford counts on Apricot's payroll, and will suffer a true hardship if they are forced to leave. The State of North Carolina ap proved the application when it was sent to them earlier this year and not without questioning the applicants and the town on many issues. I feel that they certainly should know the guidelines and make sure that they are followed accordingly. Mr. Harris also contends that the town will end up paying for this grant if Apricot defaults on their loan. Well Peoples Bank and Trust Company has approved a con struction loan, and Hertford Sav ings and loan has approved the final loan, they certainly must feel that Apricot is in a position to repay the grant money. But that is not the real issue in this matter, the issue is that Mr. Harris will be losing a tenant, and a portion of his income and that's upsetting to him. The fact that hi is a councilman is also concerning folks in the community. This issue was brought up at three public meet ings, and Mr. Harris had an op portunity to question the matter at that time, why wait until ev erything is on go. Hopefully the situation will soon be worked out to the satisfaction of all parties concerned, but if it is not solved the town and the economy will be the only ones who suffer. The town will not only lose one of it's major employers but some of its best citizens. The Terra nova brothers have been active members of the community, and are interested in what's going on. It seems a shame for us to show them this type of southern hospi tality. As for Mr. Harris, I understand some of his logic, and I can ap preciate his concern over the loss of a tenant, but I think he should think about what is best for ev eryone before taking any more action. Letters to the editor ' I Editor ?The Perquimans Weekly, Several weeks ago I wrote you a letter concerning the lack of in terest in small business by the Mayor, Town Council, City Mgr., County Comm. and the Rec. Dept. I would like to compromise that statement now by saying that the Mayor, Mr. Jesse Har ris, Town Commissioner, and Patti White of the Rec. Dept. have all contacted me concern ing this. The County Mgr. and the County Comm. I guess are still not interested enough to even an swer a letter. Be that as it may. At any rate.. .we were given an opportunity to prove ourselves and I received a letter from Patti White that we deeply appreciate. FHET PERQUIMANS WEEKLY Established In 1932 Published Each Thursday By The Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, N.C. Second Class Postage Poid at Hertford. N.C. 27944 USPS 428-000 Gina K. Editor Carol L O'Neal Dakkfe T. Stalling ONE YEAR MAIL SUBSCRIPTION RATES In-Coonty Out-Of -County *9.00 *19.00 119 West Grubb Street P.O. Box 277 Hertford, N.C. 27944 jj It was enough just to be consid ered for the job. It was nice to get the order.. .and the check. It was special that Patti called me to ex press her thoughts on the work done and it was beyond the call for her to write the letter. To Bill Cox, the Mayor, Jesse Harris, Town Comm., Thank you for your interest. To Patti White a very special Thank You and to the city manager and to the city, commissioner... when you get around to me, I'll get around to you. Sincerely, Margaret Stowe Austins We arc ImmMng for tmemi ministers tkmt thcTr^fmfth frmm tlHMaiiaie ?iih ? kricf spirit**! 2 ZSlr-Z&Z: ? t ? f ? m an In this corner ? Councilman Har ris and in this corner ? Apricot % Nicholson continues his journey In the autumn of 1749traveling Friend Thomas Nicholson from Perquimans County continued his journey through England. Continuing through the northern shires he attended Monthly and Quarterly Meetings at Lancas ter. He visited Kendal and Preston, Penrith and Caldbeck. Riding through the mountains in the Lake Country of county Cumber land, he may well have passed some of the ancestral homes of his Nicholson family. At Graysouthen Thomas met Rebecca Hudson, who was kin to his brother-in-law Joseph Robin son. While meeting these new re lations, he joyed to have a letter from home catch up with him at Whitehaven. Thomas also went to Pardshaw, from whence his. fu ture son-in-law Lancelot Bell would come to the New World a few years later. Thomas rode on to Carlisle and eastward to Newcastle, then down to Durham and to Whitby on the North Sea coast. On De cember 16 he attended a large meeting among the fisherfolk at Whitby and "had a large clear and open time amongst them, as extensive as the ability of my body would dmit of, being then in but a poor state of health, nor had been scarely able to travail for several days before. The grueling journey was tak ing its toll. A few days later at the house of Ingeram Estheil, as Thomas told his journal, "my ill ness had increased so much on me by several surfeits of cold and hard travailing, that I was now obliged to take my bed, and kept it mostly for a week, being very ill with fevers and cold and pains, that my life was almost despaired of, but my friepds were exceeding tender and care ful of me and finding my mind composed, was made willing to submit, with patience and resig nation, to the will of my gr^at and good Lord and Master "; Cold, wind, rain and snow, short sleep, chaotic diet, bad roads, the threat of highwaymen -al these made eighteenth-cen tury travelperilous. Many a trav eler succumbed by the side of some lonely road, far from home/" and family. Thomas Njcolaon' was blessed in having the homes and hospitality of his fellow Quakers ofered to him evety where. After his recovery Nicholson proceeded through the Vast county of Yorkshire, stopping at Scarborough, Selby, York, Rich mond, Leeds, Pontefract, ahd Sheffield, as well as mapy smaller places. Passing through the scences of so] much English history occasioned little or no comment from the] man on a spiritual mission Death penalty brings justification 0 The front page headline read: "Rook's execution peaceful, swift." After being injected with a drug to stop the beating of his heart, John William Rook slipped into unconsciousness and took his last breath. A witness to the execution said it wasn't the " terrible, horrible, shocking act" he expected. "It was done very professionally and with very much dignity," he said. Rook's victim didn't die so eas ily. It took several hours for her to die after she was abducted, beaten with a tire iron, raped, cut many times with a fishing knife, and had a car driven over her body. Death came slowly as she Med from ho- wounds. It must have been a terrible death. As Rook finally paid the price for the brutal murder committed over six years ago, there were those outside the walls protesting his execution. There were also those present who believe the contend it does little to deter fur ther killing. Administered as it is today, they are probably correct in questioning the effect on fu ture crimes. With death sen tences being administered un equally throughout the nation, it is difficult to see a clear trend in the use of it. An individual who ( Jf \ K commits murderd in Flordia Is more likely to die for the crime than an individual in Maryland who commits murder under sim ilar circumstances. In order for state administered executions to be effective as deterrents, there must be an equally applicable set of rules for determining who will die. Maybe we look at the death penalty in the wrong perspective. Rather than expecting it to act as a deterrent, we should accept it David Rudolk, who rep resented Rook's appeals process, thinks he died in vain. "I wished somebody could tell me how you teach the value of human life by killing somebody," he said. "You teach people to va lue human life by sparing life." It is doubtful sparing Rook'^) life would have taught him the value of human life. As much as we want to deny it, there are indi viduals in society who will never value life, rules, or the rights of others. Little can be done to change their attitudes, including the threat of death. In order for man to survive there must be rules. In order for these rules to have value, tboar) who choose to violate them must be recognized and appropriate action taken. We may not always agree with the rules, but we fo low them because we realize their importance in protecting our indi viual rights. These same rules we obey in order to protect ourselves must protect us from those who choose to disregard them. * The peaceful, swift manner in which John Rook was executed did nothing to erase the severe pain and extended suffering of Ann Marie Roche Because he was protected by the same rules / >
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 2, 1986, edition 1
4
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