THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 58, No. 10 USPS 428-080 Hertford. Perquimans County, N.C. Thursday, March 10, 198S ?n ,
A visit with
Sadie Ferguson
see pg. 1 0
Severe weather
week proclaimed
see pg. 10
Jackson,
Bush win
primary
For the first time in history, the
residents of North Carolina and Per
quimans County had the opportunity
to vote in a presidential election pri
mary, but voter turnout was slim.
In Perquimans County out of 4961
registered voters only 1609 went to
the polls to vote on Tuesday, and the
overwhelming majority as expected
were democrats.
As for their their choices, the
county voted as follows: Democrats:
Jesse Jackson led the county with 580
votes followed by Gore, 508 votes, Du
kakis, 172 votes, Gephardt, 85 votes,
Hart, 32 votes, Simon, 10 votes, and
Babbitt with 8 votes. 53 people voted
no perference.
On the republican side, the voting
went as follows: George Bush won
the county with 76 votes followed by
Dole with 31 votes, Robertson with 27
votes, Kemp with eight votes, Du
Pont with two votes, and Haig with
one vote. Six people voted no prefer
ence.
These results were unofficial as of
press time, but Buddy Tilley, chair
man of the Perquimans County
Board of Elections stated that he did
not feel they would change.
High School
to present
Students at Perquimans County
High School will be among the first in
the nation to produce a new stage
musical featuring the characters
from the nationally syndicated
"Funky Winkerbean" comic strip.
The musical will be presnted on
March 26, 2988 at 7:30 p.m. at Perqui
mans Cunty High School Auditorium.
The musical, "Funky Winker
bean's Homecoming" by Tom Batiuk
and Andy Clark, deals with all of the
activities of the comic strips fictional
"Westview High School" during the
week before the big homecoming
football game. Fans of the popular
comic strip, which appears in over
350 newspapers nationally, are sure
; to recognize their favorite characters
from the strip including Les Moore,
who will be played by Alan Kirby:
Holly Budd, the "air-headed" majo
rette, who will be portrayed by
Christy Waters, and of course Harry
L. Dinkle, the "World's Greatest
Band Director", who will be played
by Reggie White.
Some of the prominent songs in the
show include "We Are The Band", "I
Want To Be Homecoming Queen",
"Why Can't I Be Popular", "I Want
A Hunk", and "Mean 01', Bus Drivin'
Man".
The production at Perquimans
County High School is being ad
irected by Ms. Lynda Perry, with pit
band conduction by David Ziemba,
PCHS band director, and choral di
rection by Lyn Winslow. This perfor
mance will be among the very first in
the nation as the musical was only
completed and published within the
> past few months.
Tickets can be purchased at Per
quimans County High School Li
brary, through a Drama Club stu
dent, or at Perry Paint & Glass Co. in
Elizabeth City.
District poster
contest held
On March 3, 1988 winners of the Al
bemarle Conservation Poster Con
' test were honored at a luncheon spon
sored jointly by the Albemarle EMC,
and the Albemarle Soil Conservation
District at Angler's Cove Restaurant
in Bethel.
The judges for the district contest
included Joe Tunnell, Sr., a retired
vocational education teacher from
Perquimans County, Betty Dail, Ex
tension Home Economics Agent from
Camden County, and Roger Spivey of
f the North Carolina Forestry Service
in Chowan County.
The following students were win
ners from the district. Fourth grade:
1st place, Lisa Lambiase, 2nd place,
Crystal Mason, fifth grade: 1st place,
Rhenn Parks, 2nd place, Jason
Joyner, sixth grade: 1st place, Heat
her S tailings, and 2nd place, Trea
Howard.
Perquimans only winner in the dis
trict contest was Heather S tailings.
| The Perquimans County winners in
1 eluded: fourth grade, 1st place, Al
ison Boone, 2nd (dace, Angel Tal
madge, fifth grade, 1st place,
Shannon Long, 2nd (dace, Hope S tai
lings, and the sixth grade winners
were Heather S tailings, 1st place,
and Georgia Lamb, 2nd place.
All of the district winner's posters
will go onto the competition in the
. Favors for all the winners, which
y ware presented during the luncheon,
were provided by the Albemarle Con
servation District.
Pettigrew Library recently purchased a new bookmobile for use in Perquimans County. Pic
tured in front of the bookmobile which bears the library's new logo are left to right: Maria
Hoffman, Perquimans Librarian, Marti Smith, Director of Pettigrew Library, and Victor Eure,
who is in charge of services provided by the bookmobile.
County library has new bookmobile
Residents of Perquimans County
will soon notice that we have a new
bookmobile in the county.
On Monday the Pettigrew Regional
Library gave the Perquimans County
Commissioners a chance to visit the
bookmobile during their meeting,
and later held an open house of the
bookmobile for the community.
Bookmobile service is oriented to
wards providing high quality library
services to underserved segments of
the community, including rural
areas, senior citizens, and home
bound persons.
Currently the bookmobile serves
four counties including Perquimans
with two stops a month.
From 1962 to 1986 the total circula
tion of the bookmobile has grown al
most 100 percent, and in fiscal year
1986-87 had a circulation of 45,213
books.
By purchasing a second bookmo
bile, the library feels that they will be
better able to provide services to the
local area, and they will also be able
to improve the cost effectiveness of
bookmobile services in the area. The
new bookmobile will also provide ad
ditional library materials for circula
tion.
The new bookmobile was pur
chased with fur.ds raised locally and
with grant monies acquired by the li
brary at a cost of over $40,000.00 dol
lars.
The new bookmobile will be on the
road beginning Friday, and area res
idents are encouraged to come and
visit it.
Environmental association organizes
The Albemarle area now has an or
ganization for people who are inter
ested in environmental concerns,
The Albemarle Environmental Asso
ciation.
The association was founded ear
lier this year by several residents of
the area including Perquimans
County resident Carolyn Hess, and
Jim and Linda Davis of Camden
County, who were looking for a group
with similar concerns to join. When
they could not find a group of this
kind in the area, they started their
own. Carolyn Hess stated recently
that prior to moving to this area from
Long Island, New York, she had been
very active in such a group, and had
also served as currator for a science
museum, which provides her with the
educational background for such an
undertaking. Since its formation the
group has grown to approximately 25
to 30 members.
All the members of the group are
volunteers, who are interested and
dedicated to learning more about the
environment, and working with oth
ers to manage and preserve it.
Upon their establishment the group
choose the following goals for the or
ganization: Investigation, education,
and preservation of the environment.
Since the group was organized,
they have been working diligently
soliticing help. At the present time,
they are planning educational pro
grams on environmental issues, fun
projects and they published their
first newsletter in January.
The group recently held their first
meeting of the association in Eliza
beth City. The meeting was on Mon
day, February 29th, at the Jaycee
building and the purpose of the meet
ing was twofold. First, they hoped to
recruit new members, and second,
they met with Dave McNaught, Ex
ecutive Director of the Pamlico-Tar
River Foundation (PTRF).
PTRF is a grass roots organization
that focuses on the environmental
concerns of the Pamlico-Tar River
watershed. PTRF also recently re
ceived funding to form a citizens
monitoring network for the monitor
ing water quality in the Pamlico.
McNaught spoke with members of
the Albemarle Environmental Asso
ciation at their meeting, and dis
cussed the citizens network, ad
dressed the environmental concerns
of this area, and addressed how local
residents can make a difference in
the Albemarle Area.
If anyone is interested in becoming
a member of the Albemarle Environ
mental Association, or if you would
like additional information on the
group you can contact Carolyn Hess
during the day at 426-9563, or Jim and
Linda Davis at 336-4778 during the
evening hours.
Membership in the association is
five dollars yearly.
Members of the Perquimans bounty Water Department maintenance staff work in the New
Hope area of Perquimans County installing a water tap.
County Water Department; providing clean water
Without water most of the resi
dents in Perquimans County would
be lost.
The Perquimans County Water De
partment plays an important role in
most of our daily lives, and mo6t of
the time we don't even think about it.
Rus Chappell is the Water Depart
ment Maintenance Supervisor, and
he has been with the water depart
ment in Perquimans County since its
beginning. Chappell and the other
workers in the water department in
cluding William Stallings, Richard
Copeland, Charlie Hughes, and Grant
Modlin have the responsibility of tak
ing care of all complaints lodged by
local residents, they make sure that
the water plant runs efficiently and
without problems, install new serv
ice, and do the routine maintenance
for the department.
Valerie Price is the deputy water
collector and her duties include tak
ing care of all work orders for the de
partment, taking all the depart
ment's complaints, waiting on the
eountar, and handling all the collec
tion of water bills.
Recently the water department has
been going through a tough time, and
there have been many complaints
about water quality in Perquimans
County. Those problems were due to
rennovations, which were done to the
water system, and according to
Chappell the problems are slowly but
surely clearing up.
The county water department op
erates two plants. One is located in
Bethel and one in Winfall, North Car
olina. The plants operate 24 hours a
day, and it takes the department be
tween four and six hours each day to
regenerate the water by backwash
ing it, adding softners, and checking
the filters daily.
The water department's monthly
revenue averages just around
<30,000, and for the past several
years they have been working in the
red, but Chappell says he hopes that
next year they will break even. They
came very close this year.
Local residents on the water sys
tem are charged with the responsibil
ity of reading their own meters, but
twice a year the department reads
the meters and reconciles accounts.
Price and Chappell both stated re
cently that is when they receive the
most complaints, but the added me
ters can be checked and sometimes
mistakes are found.
The water department charges
several fees including tap fees which
are $300.00 for a % inch tap, $375 for a
1 inch tap, and $750 for a 2 inch tap.
The department also charges $15 for
a retapping fee is someone's water is
cut off.
Price stated she would like to re
mind local residents that water bills
are mailed on a rotating schedule
and people are allowed 15 days to pay
their bill after receiving it.
If bills are not paid withing the 15
days the department adds a 10 per
cent penalty.
Running the water department is
becoming harder and harder each
year, and Chappell is quick to point
out that more and more tests are be
ing required to ensure water quality.
Perquimans County has over 300
miles of pipes, which carry our wa
ter, so the next time you get a drink
think of the water department.
If you have any questions or com
plaints call them at 426-8230 or 426
8585, they'll be happy to help you.
Holiday Island addresses
environmental concerns
The Holiday Island Property Own
er's Association recently established
an environmental committee, and
the two groups are busy identifying
environmental concerns, which exist
on the island.
The committees establishment and
the property owner's concern about
environmental issues comes in re
sponse to Governor Martin's
statewide programs, APES (the Al
bemarle Pamlico Estuary Study, and
the Governor's Coastal Initiative.
Both programs deal with environ
mental issues facing North Carolina,
especially coastal North Carolina.
In response to those two programs,
and following some complaints by
residents on the island regarding pos
sible violations of enviromental laws,
the property owners association ini
tiated a survey to identify environ
mental problems which exist at Holi
day Island.
The survey is being conducted by
the Holiday Island maintenance de
partment, and all property is being
looked at, both camping and resi
dental lots.
The survey is looking at everything
from illegal dumping of raw sewage,
drainage from washing machines
into ditches, road drainage, storm
water run-off, and more. The survey
is also being conducted to determine
if any illegal dumping is being done
into illegal drywells, the Albemarle
Sound, or any of the numerous canals
which exist on the island. The survey
also deals with problems such as sep
tic tank overflows.
According to Jake Hardison, Presi
dent of the Holiday Island Property
Owner's Association, and Stan Bus
teed, chairman of the Holiday Island
Environmental Committee, the is
land survey is now approximately 25
to 30 percent complete.
At this time, Hardison said it is im
possible to know how many violations
of environmental laws exist on the is
land because the study is not fin
ished; however, Hardison and Bus
teed both indicated they feel there
are problems at Holiday Island
which will have to be corrected.
Hardison stated in an interview
over the weekend that the property
owner's association knows there are
violations, and they are working to
clear them up.
The association has been working
on this issue for over three months,
and warnings to residents of Holiday
Island have appeared in their news
letters, and recently the civic club
has become involved by preparing
programs which will focus on many
of the environmental issues which ex
ist at Holiday Island.
According to Hardison many of the
alleged violations, which supposedly
exist on the island have come from
resident's ignorance of the state's en
vironmental laws.
Hardison said the intent of the sur
vey currently being conducted is to
identify problems, identify the
source of those problems, and to
work on getting the problems taken
care of with a minimum amount of
fanfare.
The property owners association
has been addressing the issue for
over three months, and Hardison
stated that following the completion
of the survey, if identified violations
are not corrected by property own
ers, a list of the violations and the vi
olators would be turned over to the
proper authorities. In this case, the
proper authorities are the health de
partment, and the department of en
vironmental management. Hardison
added that he hopes this will not be
necessary, stating that he feels prop
erty owners on the island have had
plenty of time and notice about cor
recting problems which exist.
The property owner's association
has no enforcement authority in deal
ing with violations, but according to
Hardison they will assist local au
thorities in getting violations which
persist taken care of.
Hardison stated it is the board of
governor's hope that property own
ers will solve their own problems,
and it is the intention of the board to
follow-up on violations, which are
identified in the survey to make sure
they are taken care of.
Hardison and Busteed stated dur
ing the interview that alleged viola
tions exist in both the camping and
residental section of Holiday Island.
Presently the residental section of
Holiday Island is serviced by individ
ual septic tank systems, and the
camping areas on the island are serv
iced by a wastewater treatment
plant.
Currently in the camping area,
which consist of some 500 developed
lots approximately 200 lots have
sewer connections available to them.
The other camping lots are served by
dumping and comfort station in the
area. According to Hardison, even
though dumping facilities are avail
able, it has been alleged that some
may be choosing not to use the facili
ties, but until the survey is complete
the number of violations, if any, will
be unknown.
Violations of environmental laws is
not a new problem at Holiday Island.
Several residents of Holiday Island
have alleged that environmental vio
lations have existed for sometime,
possibly as far back as four years.
But up until now, a concerted effort
has not been undertaken by the prop
erty owner's association to get things
cleared up.
According to several sources, some
cases regarding environmental vio
lations were referred to the Perqui
mans County Health Department
four years ago, but Hardison and
Busteed said they were under the im
pression that those cases had been
cleared up.
Hardison was quick to point out
that he was not on the board at that
time, and added that he did not know
the specifics regarding those viola
tions.
Hardison and Busteed both stated
that the board of governors and all
the residents of Holiday Island are
concerned about the quality of life
there, and they want to do everything
possible to clear up any problems
which exist.
Holiday Island is well known for its
fishing and wildlife, and the board of
governors is concerned about any
thing which might be going on to de
stroy the fishing and wildlife.
Hardison also stated that he feels
Holiday Island is not alone in facing
these environmental problems and
issues.
"I am sure if surveys were done of
Perquimans County other violations
would be found," he said.
Hardison and Busteed both echoed
feelings that communities, such as
Holiday Island, located along the
edge of the Albemarle Sound and
other bodies of water have a respon
sibility to be supportive of the gover
nor's efforts or any efforts being
made to clean-up the environment.
In closing they stated that is the
purpose of the island's environmen
tal survey.
Lady Pirates place
second in tournament
ECSU was the scene of a heated
match between the girls of Perqui
mans High School and the girls of
Gates High School as they played on
Friday evening for the Albemarle
area conference tournament
championship.
Blood pressures rose and excite
ment filled the gym as the game
came to the closing seconds.
The Lady Pirates had led most of
the game, and at one point even held
a 13 point lead over the Lady Barons,
but the Lady Pirates saw their hopes
dashed in the closing seconds as Yo
landa Weathers a sophomore for
Gates hit a shot at the buzzer putting
Gates up 62-60 for the win.
An extremely disappointed Harrell
Thatch, coach of the Lady Pirates
said he would have rather lost by 30
points than to have lost such a close
game, but Thatch added that the
girls played their hearts out.
Perquimans missed eight free
throws in the final three miautes of
the game, which allowed Gates to
edge closer, and in the final minutes
when tempers were flaring the game
took a turn for the worst.
With 10 seconds left on the time
clock, Doris Walker a Perquimans
senior, and their leading scorer was
fouled by a Gates Player, April Har
rell. Perquimans was ahead 60-58.
Harrell grabbed Doris around the
knees sending her to the floor, and
Doris who apparently felt that Har
rell used to much force in fouling her
turned and kicked Harrell.
At that point, Walker was ejected
from the ballgame, and Thatch
called on Darbie Ward from the
bench to shoot Walker's free throws.
Ward missed the front end of the
one and one, and April Harrell, who
was awarded two shoots for Walker's
kicking foul, sunk them both making
the score even at 60-60
Due to a technical foul called on
Perquimans, Gates received posses
sion of the ball, and Weathers shot
the winning basket.
Mike Felton, Coach of Gates, said
following the game that he was not
pleased with the defensive play of his
team, and Doris Walker played ha
on Friday evening in terms of scoring
with 23 points followed by Petteway,
who scored 17 points.
Perquimans record is now 17-6, but
they will move into the play-offs, and
their first opponent will be Bath High
School.