THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
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Volume 60, No. 34
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C.,~ Thursday, August 22, 1991
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Summer will be over
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!■ ' Il*# when school bells •
ring Monday: ‘"Pae# e
Community:
Friendship 4-Hers
learn to speak
in public: Page 3
h -’h
Briefs
Singspiration planned
The Belvldere-Chappell Hill
Volunteer Fire Department Is
having their annual singspira
tion on Sunday. Aug. 25 at 3
p.m. at Piney Woods Friends
Meeting.
The Firemen Four will be the
feature of the day and special
guests will be Mr. and Mrs. Billy
oid. ;
Open House planned
- • Perquimans County Middle
School will be having Open
House on Sunday, Aug. 25 from
3-4 p.m. All students and par
ents are invited to drop by to
meet teachers, visit classrooms
and get acquainted. light re
freshments will be served.
Auditions to be held
The Bootstrap Acting Com
pany will hold auditions tor their
fall production “Christmas on
the Radio-Christmas 1943,” an
briginal musical comedy by Rob
ert Fitzsimmons, to be directed
by Paul Cowan. Auditions will
be held on Sunday. Aug. 25 and
Sunday. Sept. 1 from 7-9 p.m.
at the Senior Center.
If you can sing or even cany
a tune. Join in on the fun of
community theater. If you can
not make these dates, call Mona
Sadler, producer, at 426-7044.
$nd a time will be arranged for
you to audition.
NAACP to hold mooting
The Perquimans County
Board of the NAACP will, hold
their monthly meeting on 'Mon
day, Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the
Senior Center.
Soccer registration
Soccer registration has be
gun at Perquimans Recreation
Department for boys and girls
ages 5-15. Registration deadline
is Friday. Sept. 6 and the cost is
$7. To register, come by or call
426-5695.
AARP to moot
Js ' Perquimans Chapter 4118 of
AARP me., will meet Monday.
Aug. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Senior
Center. A board meeting will be
held at 1 p.m. Billy White of the
Hertford Drums and Fifes Corp
will be the guest
Chapter 4118 is open to
.membership for all of the sur
rounding counties. We are “Here
to serve, not to be served."
insurance course offered
College of the Albemarle will
:offer the Life and Health preli
censing insurance program in
September at the college’s main
campus in Elizabeth City.
; Classes will meet in room
;109 of the C Building from 12
:• noon-8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6;
8,a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and
Sunday. Sept. 7V3: 12 noon
8:30 p.m. Friday. Sept. 13: and
S a.m-5 p.m. Saturday and Sun
■ Sept 14 and 15. <
’ The cost for the course is
$30 and the textbook is avail
able at the COA Bookstore for
^approximately $35. Participants
are urged to purchase their text
books early and to begin reading
.As soon as possible.
Prw-egistration by Friday.
Aug. 30. is required. No refunds
*iir be given. To register or for
more Information, contact COA
>t 335-0821. ext. 250 or 231. 1
’*I... . i.r-. .i*:
I PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
\m ARE AS FOLLOWS: .
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PRIOR TO THURSDAY
PUBLICATION
tfERQWMANSf WEEKLY
1is w.'Orubfe St
426-1728.
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Hurricane Bob threatens Perquimans Sunday
'Storm brings Dare evacuees, no damage
• s. . ... . . V. ■ \ • •
(Above,I to r) Stephanie
Jones, Jane Wood, Herb
Wood and David Bean were
four of the 43 people who
waited for Bob to hit at Hert
ford Grammar School Sunday
night The group, from Mad
ison, Va., was on vacation in
Corolla when they were asked
to evacuate Sunday. At right,
the adults try to sleep, but
the kids are too excited.
Perquimans County resi
dents tuned in to weather
broadcasts Sunday as forecast
ers updated the movement of
Hurricane Bob up the Atlantic
coast.
As. the storm gathered
strength over the open sea and
set a course which cpuld have
brought damage to the area,
bread and milk disappeared
from store shelves. Some resi
dents, especially those who live
on the banks of Perquimans’
three rivers and the Albemarle
Sound, moved lawn furnishings
and tied down boats.
But Bob confined his visit to
dumping more rain on an al
ready-soggy county and sending
whistling winds through the
trees.
Emergency Management
Coordinator Keith Haskett was
among those watching the
storm’s progress. While he said
he did not believe Perquimans
County would be in the storm's
direct path, he decided to open
one of the county’s designated
shelters at Hertford Grammar
School where 43 people gathered
to ride out Bob.
Most of the guests at the
make-shift Hertford Hilton were
vacationers asked to evacuate
the Dare and Currituck county
beaches.
David Bean of Madison, Va.
was one traveler who sought
shelter. After being told to leave
Corolla, Bean said he and his
traveling companions spent
eight hours on the road in traf
fic getting off the island and
looking for a motel. But no
rooms were available. Bean said
he heard on the radio that Per
quimans County had a shelter
and he headed for Hertford.
Charles and Linda Lewis of
Baltimore. Md. never made it to
the Outer Banks to begin their
vacation Sunday. They were
turned back and finally found
refuge in Hertford.
The Beans and the Lewises
had plenty of company as they
settled into the cafeteria and li
brary areas at the school.
Twenty-eight vacationers, in
cluding some from as far away
as New Jersey, bunked with 15
locals to await the arrival of
Bob.
Haskett said he really did
not think there would be a need
to open a shelter here, but de
cided that it would be better to
open than to realize the need
too late. There was a need.
“We have seen a need for it
because most of these people
were coming or going from the
Dare County beaches.” Haskett
said Sunday evening.
Opening the shelter was a
cooperative effort, Haskett said.
Firefighters moved cots stored at
the Hertford Fire Department,
while the Hertford Police Depart
ment and Rescue Squad made
periodic checks at the site to
make sure all was well.
“We appreciate the help from
the police department, rescue
squad, the fire department for
their help and the dispatching
service,” Haskett said. “We got
good cooperation from the peo
ple. It went real well."
Perquimans program'kicks off rural art project
A special program at 7:30
on Saturday evening, Aug. 24.
at the Perquimans Center at
’ the Newbold-White House will
kick off a five-county rural arts,
development project funded by
fja grant to the N.C. Arts Coun
cil by the National Endowment
for the Arts.
Chowan. Perquimans. Pas
quotank; Camden and Curri
tuck counties will collaborate
; in presenting the community
| cultural event, consisting of an
evening of musical and reading
theatre, titled “Paul Green’s
Carolina,” Claymon Sawyer
and John Thomas Vaughan Jr.
will perform the musical por
, tion. and local actors will share
the reading presentation. Par
ticipants will also include
: Roadside Theatre of Whites
ville. Ky.. John O’Neal and Ju
nebug Productions of New
. Orleans, La.
Chris Komegay of Hertford
chairs the area arts project,
under the overall coordination
of Lottie Lassiter of Ahoskie.
it Lucy F. Vaughan of Elizabeth
City will direct and produce
the Aug. 24 presentation.
Tickets or reservations for
* the Perquimans Center pro
gram, priced at $4 for adults
' and $2.50 for children, may be
' purchased from the Newbold
' White House (919) 426-7567,
, Chris Kornegay (919) 426
, 5663, or Lucy F. Vaughan
(919) 335-5505. Space will be
limited for the single perfor
mance. ' '• 1*
This program te one of flv$
' rSjrSiiw'viamKi
to be conducted within the 16
county region served by the
Northeastern Cultural Alliance,
a volunteer group seeking to
improve arts awareness in this
predominantly rural and ra
cially-mixed corner of North
Carolina. An additional tour*
involving local artists as well
as members of the Roadside
and Junebug troupes, is
scheduled for April 1992.
The National Endowment
for the Arts has awarded a
$21,050 grant to the N.C. Arts
Council for this rural arts de
velopment project This funding
will enable the Council to
Implement a multi-cultural
theater project in underserved
counties. One of the project’s
most outstanding features is
its involvement of area artists
to stimulate interest in and
celebration of the loral culture
on a community-wide basis.
In addition to the Perqui
mans event. Roadside and Ju
nebug will perform Aug. 23 in
Currituck and earlier on Aug.
24 in Pasquotank. Their sched
ule also includes a stop on
Aug. 25 at the Gallery Theatre
in Ahoskie, and on Aug. 26 at
the C.S. Brown Center in Win
ton. On Aug. 27 they continue
on to the Canal Center in Roa
noke Rapids, to Tyrrell and
Hyde counties on Aug. 28, and
to Williamston on Aug. 29.
Roadside and Junebug are
particularly appropriate collab
orators in these performances
both companies have
a multi-cultural focus. A prod;
Members of Roadside Theater from Whiteburg, Kentucky,
and Junebug Productions from New Orleans, share
songs and stories in die co-created, original production
Junebug Jack. Artists shown from left to right are: Tom
Bledsoe, John O’Neal, Michael Keck, Angeiyn DeBord,
Kim Cole and Ron Short.
uct of Kentucky's Appalachia,
Roadside performs work drawn
from that culture. Junebug
specializes in presentations
that utilize the rich oral history
tradition of American blacks.
The N.C. Arts Council in
the past funded a cultural spe
cialist for Northeastern North
Carolina Tomorrow, who
worked to develop regional arts
. - " ■
programming, the Northeast
ern Cultural Alliance grew out
of these efforts. The goal for
the current outreach project is
to expand upon those begin
nings. strengthen community
resources, build bridges be
tween cultures, and act as a
catalyst for future cultural pro
gramming.
•.-.—.
Residents seek ways to,send drug dealers packing
By NANCY ROYDEN-CLARK
The Dally Advance
Members of the Hertford
Housing Authority Resident As
sociation, the Resident Advisory'
Committee and public officials
met last night at the Wynne
Fork Community Building to
seek ways to rid the area of
, drug dealers.
Elaine Stepney, chairman of
the resident association's board,
said she and other people were
tired of drug dealers working
around the entrance of the com
munity.
•> The resident association was
formed last fall under the
guidance of Harold Lucas Jr., a
former attorney with Legal Serv
ices of the Coastal Plains in
Ahoskie. Stepney said Lucas has
since moved to Philadelphia. Pa.,
■/ •_;_
where he Is practicing law.
Stepney said the drug deal
ers do not live In Wynne Fork,
but some are from Dogwood
Trailer Park, located across the
\ street from the entrance to the
development »
Upon moving into public
housing last winter, new resi
dents signed a membership
agreement to loin the residents
association, fne agreement re
quires that residents "refrain
from using or possessing or al
lowing the use or possession of
any illegal substance or drug iq
their apartment.”
The agreement also states
that the resident will report the
observation of any crime or
crime conduct to the board of
HARA, or to local law enforce
ment officials.. • ■ f *|
i doe Lothian. Perquimans
County sheriff, attended the
meeting. He said much of the
county’s drug problems stem
from people wno are from other
counties.
Imposing a curfew in the
Community was discussed last
night, however, Hertford Police
Chief Aubrey F. Sample Jr. and
county sheriff Joe Lothian said
the community would have to
make sure a curfew was en
forceable before the idea could
be pursued further. Sample said
the community would have to
give the state strong reasons
why a curfew is needed.
John Beers, the only candi
date for mayor of Hertford, said
residents should ban together in
groups, to let the dealers know
they’re not welcome at Wynne
Font. i ?
| "Somebody has to bear the
I ilK . - V- ‘ ' ..’,1
brunt,” Beers said. He told the
group about a article that re
ported a community’s efforts to
get rid of drug dealers.
"These people were scared
but they were willing. They
worked together as groups. It’s
going to take time. It’s a hard
wing to push,” Beers said.
The group discussed Issuing
photo Identification cards to res
idents. That would make It eas
ier for law enforcement officials
to determine who actually lives
in the housing developments,
and who does not. they said.
Lothian warned that resi
dents should take precautions
about weapons In the area. He
said the weapons some people
own are extremely dangerous.
' Sample said the community
needs to further pursue a Com
munity Watch program.
M'r,
::r
t
D.A.R.E
program
discontinued
The Drug Abuse Resistance
Education program, known as
DAR.E has been disconti
nued for the 1991-92 school
year. Sheriff Joe Lothian an
nounced last week.
“I don’t like it, but I don’t
have any choice in the matter,”
Lothian commented Monday
night. “Having to discontinue
the D.A.R.E. program in the
schools is probably the most
dlsppointing decision I've had to
make."
Lothian drastically reduced
the number of hours his dep
uties are on duty beginning July
1. While the deputies have his
torically received pay for 174
hours per month, Lothian said
they often put in over 300 hours
until he put a halt to the prac
tice last month.
“They’re (the deputies) being
taken advantage of,” Lothian
said. “It’s just not fair.”
The cut-back has not only
affected the D.A.R.E program,
but has meant that Lothian has
been forced to hire off-duty
Hertford Police officers to assist
his deputies on court days.
The DARE program dis
penses accurate information
about alcohol and other drugs,
teaches decision-making skills,
builds self-esteem, suggests
ways to resist negative peer
pressure and offers alternatives
to drug use. Locally, D.A.R.E
has served almost 600 middle
school students since it was ini
tiated here in 1988. In the be
ginning. an officer from the
sheriffs department and one
from the Hertford Police Depart
ment worked with the program.
In 1990 and 1991, the sheriffs
department provided the
DARE, officer, Deputy Ralph
Robinson.
Robinson was at the middle
school two days each week
working with the program. He
said other deputies handled part
of his work load to help keep
the program going.
In',
But it will go no longer.
**1 hate to see it go.” Lothian
said.
...... • '
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