THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 59, No.32
US PS 428-080
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C. Thursday, August 9,1990
30 CENTS
COMMUNITY
.
Community happenings
Page 3
FARM
Beyond the Weeds
Page 10
■ I
FEATURE
Points and Punts
Page 4
Briefs
Chamber prepares for
Indian Summer Festival
The Perquimans County Cham
ber of Commerce is busily prepar
ing for the upcoming Indian
Summer Festival scheduled for
Sept. 14 and 15 in Hertford.
Craft, art, display and food
booths are available for the festi
val. Interested persons should con
tact the Chamber at 919-426-5657 by
Sept. 10. Those wishing to appear in
the Indian Summer brochure
should apply no later than Aug. 13.
Pirate football sat
for Saturday at 7
Perquimans Pirates football
teams will make their debut on Sat
urday, August 11 at 7 p.m. Both
varsity and junior varsity players
will dress out to meet the junior
varsity Pamlico team.
The coaching staff asks that foot
ball fans come out and show their
Pirate spirit by attending this pre
season scrimmage.
Admission is $1.
FmHA seeks minority
loan applicants
Melvin E. Howell, County Super
visor for Farmers Home Adminis
traion (FmHA) in Chowan and
Perquimans counties, is encourag
ing the participation of minorities
in the Agency’s Farm Loan pro
gram. Howell stated that as a re
sult of the Agricultural Credit Act
of 1987,21 percent of the farm own
ership loan funds and farm inven
tory property will be reserved for
minority farmers in North Caro
lina. The targeting of loan funds to
minorities wUT assist FmHA in its
efforts to reverse the loss of farm
ownership by that group. Persons
interested in the program should
contact the local county FmHA of
fice located in the ARP DC Building
on Church Street Extended, Hert
ford, NC (919) 426-5733.
FmHA is a lender of funds for Ag
riculture and Rural Development
within the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.
Arrest report
The Perquimans County Sheriff’s
Department reported the following
arrests:
Michael Craig Clark, 40, of 814
Bethel Fishing Center, was ar
rested on Aug. 1 at 7:45 p.m. and
charged with second degree tres
pass after he allegedly attempted
to remove videos from Adam’s
Family Country Store in Bethel.
Clark and his companion, Paul
Detmer, attempted to remove a se
lection of videos they felt were un
suitable for public viewing, said
Sheriff Joe Lothian.
Clark and Detmer attempted to
leave the store with video boxes,
but not the tapes, Lothian said.
Clark refused to leave the store
when asked to do so and was subse
quently arrested, Lothian said.
Detmer was not arrested.
Clark was released on a $200 un
secured bond.
Jerry Wayne Edwards, 46, of 830
Bethel Fishing Center, was ar
rested on Aug. 2 and chafed with
two counts of taking wild water
fowl. He was released on a $200 se
cured bond.
Jack William Harrell, 51, of Rt. 5,
Box 135, was arrested on Aug. 6and
charged with driving with a re
voked license and resisting a public
officer. He was released on a $1,000
secured bond.
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mDUNES FOR THE
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
ARE AS FOLLOWS:
reuses 3:00 PM
ADVERTISING^ 3:00 PM
CLASSIFIED
& LEGALS .
3:00 PM
MONDAY PRIOR TO
THURSDAY PUBLICATION
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
119 W. Grubb St.
426-5728
t AM-S PM, MON.-FRI.
V
State gives schools funds, takes portion back
The state legislature recently
funded a portion of the Basic Edu
cation Program, Dr. Mary Jo Mar
tin told the board of education
Monday night, but local school offi
cials have already been told that a
portion of the funds must go back to
the state.
Martin said that $41.38 per stu
dent will have to go back to the
state coffers due to the budget
shortfall, which amounts to about
$77,000 for Perquimans County. In
addition, administrators will be in
formed this week of an additional
amount which must be kept in re
serve until January. If collections
on the state level are good, a por
tion of those funds will be released.
The other percentage must be held
until April, Martin said.
“We’re going to have to take a
long, hard look at where we take
that 77 thousand dollars from,”
Martin told the board.
Under Senate Bill 2, the legis
lature gave local units expanded
decision-making capacities. That
new right will now have to be used
to decide where the cuts will be
made here, Martin said.
Martin added that the budget will
probably allow the local system to
meet the projected career devel
opment merit pay for 1990-91.
Considering the hold-back, there
is actually no new money from the
BEP coming into the county. The
system effective lost 3.5 positions
scheduled to be gained under the
BEP.
In order to try to offset the loss of
funds, local administrators are
writing grant proposals to apply for
private education funds, such as
those submitted to R.J. Reynolds
last year.
“We are applying for every
penny of money that’s possible,”
Martin commented.
Reorganization
Eighteen of the 32 teachers af
fected by the school reorgnization
had been moved into their new
classrooms by last Friday, Martin
told the board.
Martin said that high school stu
dents were hired temporarily to as
sist maintenance personnel with
the move. Some teachers, she
stated, have already unpacked
their supplies and equipmei t.
Some members of the mainte
nance staff will return to work
early to help with the final clean-up
process, Martin told the board.
The two mobile units at Perqui
mans Central School are almost
complete, Martin reported, and
will be ready for occupancy before
teachers return to work on Aug. 15
The unit at Hertford Grammar
School is further from completion,
and school officials are hoping it
will be complete before Aug. 15. She
said that it will definitely be ready
to house students on the first day of
school, Aug. 22.
Insects infest cotton, soybeans
Insects have descended upon
crops in Perquimans County,
according to county agriculture
extension agent Stan Winslow,
and have forced farmers to begin
early pesticide application in an
effort to combat them.
Corn earworms and European
corn borers have been spotted in
cotton and soybeans, Winslow
said.
Farmers who usually begin ac
tive pest control in mid-August
began spraying pesticides in late
July when unusually early infes
tations became obvious.
Winslow said he is urging
farmers to carefully scout their
crops or follow their scouting re
ports so that pest management
practices can be implemented as
needed. He said that most farm
ers have good stands of soybeans
and cotton, and these insects can
have a devastating effect on
what promises to be good yields.
Drew Woodard, a local 4-Her
involved in special project pro
grams, has been counting insects
collected on the farm of his
grandfather, Carroll Williams.
An insect trap erected on the
farm snares the corn earworm
and European corn borer in the
moth stage. A black light draws
the insects to the trap, where
they die after coming into con
tact with a pesticide strip.
Since July 21, Woodard has
counted an average of 120 corn
earworms per day, and 215 Euro
pean corn borers per day.
The per-day counts are increas
ing. When Woodard first began
the project, he collected only 150
corn earworms and 60 European
corn borers over a 3-night period.
On August 6, Woodard reported
634 corn earworms and 1015 Euro
pean corn borers during the same
time period.
The rising counts concern
Winslow.
Photo by Susan Harris
Drew Woodard tallies the number of corn earworms and Euro
pean corn borers caught in his moth trap overnight.
“It is imperative that farmers
scout their fields regularly to
check for these pests,” he said.
“Without proper scouting fol
lowed by a good spray schedule,
these insects can ruin a good crop,
and spread to neighboring farms.
I encourage all farmers in the
area to continue scouting so that
treatments can be applied to fight
these pests and inhibit their
spread.
Winslow also reported that pea
nut diseases have been found on
some farms, and that these dis
eases must be watched just as clo
sely as those affecting soybeans
and cotton. Early detection and
treatment is very important,
Winslow added.
Farmers are also reminded the
the annual crop management tour
is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 14.
Information about the tour is
available at the extension office.
Water pipe relocation costs
county over $200,000
The expense of moving the water
lines along U.S. Highway 17 North
because of the new 4-lane road be
tween Woodvilie and Winfall is a
thorn in the sides of the county
commissioners.
At their Monday meeting, county
manager Paul Gregory told the
commissioners that he had re
ceived a letter from the state say
ing that the county could stretch
repayment of the approximately
$220,000 required to move the lines
over a 4-year period, provided that
the county pays the state 8 percent
interest on toe unpaid balance.
Gregory said that he has con
tacted officials in Raleigh, and is
presently working with Transpor
tation Board Utilities Commis
sioner Phil Godwin of Gatesville to
try to come up with a new plan.
Godwin agreed to present a plan to
toe Commission which would allow
the county to repay the debt over
two years with no interest.
Commissioner Thomas Nixon
said that he is opposed to paying
interest to the state.
Gregory told toe commissioners
that toe money to repay the moving
expense is in toe water depart
ment’s fund balance because the
county knew the expense was forth
coming. The department is also de
laying such maintenance items
such as painting toe water tanks to
make more funds available to pay
toe state.
Nixon said that toe state’s plan to
4-lane U.S. 17 from Winfall to Eden
ton will add another large expense
to toe county’s budget. He ques
tioned how a small county with
such a small water department
would be able to sustain back-to
back moving expense outlays.
Although preliminary reports in
dicate that no water lines will have
to be moved for toe Winfall to
Edenton phase of the Highway 17
project, final plans have not been
drafted by engineers.
Electoral Study Commission
Gregory told the commissioners
that he had received a letter from
the NAACP last week nominating
Willie Bines as the group’s rep
resentative on the electoral study
committee. The group was asked to
respond in June.
TTie Republican Party had pre
viously nominated Jesse Parker
Perry as their representative.
The board approved both nomi
nations, and the group will again
review how best to change the vot
ing system in Perquimans County
to provide a better opportunity for
minority representation.
Athletic fields
The board was informed tha
there is $18,470 left in the athletic
fields grant with which to build four
restrooms, a handicapped access
and a concession stand. Approxi
mately $52,000 was spent in fiscal
1989-90 on the project.
An agreement to be presented to
the Perquimans County Jaycees
concerning concession stand opera
tion was reviewed and discussed.
Under the agreement, the Jay
cees would have the exclusive fran
chise for operating the concession
stand at the athletic fields through
June 30,1991. The contract between
the county and the Jaycees would
automatically renew each year, un
less terminated by either party
with 30 days notice.
The Jaycees would be responsi
ble for mowing and weed-eating the
playing fields each week during the
growing season and picking up
trash at the complex.
The agreement will be sent to the
Jaycees for their review and accep
tance or rejection.
Gregory said that other civic or
ganizations had contacted him af
ter the Jaycees, and that if the
Jaycees decided not to accept the
agreement, he would contact rep
resentatives of other groups.
Photo by Susan Harris
Moth count
Drew Woodard checks his insect trap to collect the corn earworms
and European com borers that he has caught in the moth stage.
Drew is working with the Agricultural Extension Service.
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Schools participate in statewide
parent involvement program
w Increasing parent involvement
will be a focus of local schools this
year under a project sponsored by
the Department of Public Instruc
tion and the Perquimans County
Schools.
Parents will participate in spe
cial activities and will receive
materials on how to get more in
volved in their childrens lives.
The overall goal of the PAR
ENTS: THE KEY TO BETTER
SCHOOLS project is to improve
student achievement through in
creased parent involvement. The
program is designed to provide
parents with ideas and materials to
use at home with their children, to
encourage schools to develop and
implement parent involvement
projects, to encourage stronger
home-school partnerships by sug
gesting ways schools and parents
can work together and to increase
public awareness of the importance
of parent involvement in children’s
education.
Dr. Mary Jo Martin said parents
are the key to student success in
school.
“The national research clearly
shows that children whose parents
are involved in their lives nave a
better chance to succeed,” Martin
said. "We need more parents to
show an interest in what happens to
their children at school and parents
who are more directly involved in
what their children do after school
hours.
“I think if we have better parent
ing, better homes, we’ll have much
better students,” said board of edu
cation member Wayne Howell in
recommending that the board en
dorse the statewide program and
implement it in the local school sys
tem.
“I think we as a board should cer
tainly do everything we can to sup
port it,” added board chairman
Clifford Winslow.
Martin and community schools
coordinator Jeanie Umphlett, who
will coordinate the project, told
board members that the local sys
tem has already implemented pro
grams, such as the after-school
tutorial sessions and Odyssey of the
Mind, which correlate with the
goals of the parental involvement
program.
Assistant superintendent Jake
Boyce said that the tutorial pro
gram has been very successful, and
that, administrators involved with
the program look forward to their
continued involvement with par
rats and community citizens who
have volunteered their time to
work with county students.
Odyssey of the Mind has also en
joyed success, with teams earning
regional and state honors in each of
the two years of the program’s im
plementation.
Umphlett told the board that she
will utilize members of the commu
nity schools committees and PTAs
already established to assist with
the new program locally.
In announcing this year-long pro
ject, state superintendent Bob
Etheridge said that he sees more
participation by parents in their
children's education as critical to
il
the success of public education.
“It is parents who must help us
set high expectations for achieve
ment, and it is parents who must
provide a home environment that
supports the learning process. ’ ’
To encourage the development
and stregthening of parent involve
ment project, Etheridge has estab
lished the Golden Key Award for
Parent Involvement. The Depart
ment of Public Instruction will rec
ognize school systems with
exemplary parent involvement pro
jects in the spring of 1991.
Local coordinators will be re
sponsible for documenting and re
porting local activities designed to
increase and enhance parent in
volvement. These reports will be
submitted to the state for judging.
Fifteen school systems will be
awarded the Golden Key Award on
the basis of these reports.
Nine topics will be the focus of the
program, including home learning
centers; report card time and con
ferences; American Education
Week; teaching responsibilities
and values at home; media use;
test taking and preparation; the
importance of reading; family
health; and family recreation expe
riences.
Information about the program
will be sent home with students and
published in The Perquimans
Weekly throughout the year,
Umphlettsaid.
Martin, Umphlett and the board
members agreed that parent in
volvement is one of the keys to
achieving better education ift Per
quimans County.