THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 61, No.23 •
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, June 4,1992
35 Cents
Pirates, Lady Pirates teams
retires bats and gloves for
the 1992 season: Page e
School:
Vocational fair gives
overview of new technical
programs at high school: Page 3
The week
at a glance
No SPCA jum
Perquimans s m t w t f s
County won’t 12345a
participate in £ JUS il
a three-county 21 22 23 24 25 25 27
SPCA —at 28»3o
least not this
year, according to county offi
cials. Despite complaints from
some residents over a small run
down shelter used by the county
to house stray dogs and cats,
Perquimans officials say there
isn’t enough money available to
become a one-third partner with
Chowan and Gates counties.
County manager N. Paul Gre
gory said he would welcome the
formation of a local SPCA chap
ter, but has heard of no one
chartering a local group.
Waterfront work to begin
Work could begin as early as
July 1 on a new waterfront park
in Hertford and local water en
thusiasts could be strolling its
170-foot boardwalk by Labor
Day, Hertford Town Manager Bill
Cox said earlier this week.
” Located behind the town of
fices, the half-acre park will also
fiiclude 23 new parking spaces,
landscaping, new benches and
an arc-shaped walkway leading
fjo the boardwalk.
* The town received a $43,000
state grant to pay for the pro
ject. Two other sites are being
oonsidered, which could connect
the new facility with Missing
Mill Park in the future.
Landfill costs down
Perquimans County is expecting,
a small surplus in its Landful
budget next year, but it isn’t
likely that the $25 residential
user fee will decrease.
T Instead, any money that
isn’t needed will be placed in the
Landfill budget fund balance to
pay for emergencies or equip
ment breakdowns. County Man
ager N. Paul Gregory said this
week.
Firo haunts Hertford PD
Almost two years after fire rav
aged the Hertford Police Depart
ment. investigations are
hampered by missing reports,
file photographs are not avai
lavle to identify suspects and
the department is lacking equip
ment it once had, Police Chief
Aubrey F. Sample said.
Reconstructing police reports
and criminal records has been a
long process, with onfy a part
time secretary on staff he said.
The Perquimans Comity Sheriffs
Pepartment and Winfall Police
Department have helped to sup
ply information to the depart
ment.
Sample also submitted a re
quest for two additional officers
to the Hertford Town Council re
~cently. Two additional men
’would allow the force to keen
one full-time investigator to fof
Jow up on open cases. Sample
'said. The same request was den
ied by the town .council last
year.
vtlflnfall backs out of task
force due to funding
•Organizers of a regional drug
.task force may invite Wlnfall’s
police chief to Join its Board of
-pirectors even though the town
^council there refused its flnan
:dal support.
* Winfall Police Chief Dale Van
.Skby's membership will be dis
cussed at the next meeting of
the task force board, according
to Joseph P. Tade, task force
^commander. Members of the
Winfall town council claim they
supported the idea but could
hot afford to offer financial sup
port. To Join, municipalities
*jnust provide $14,000 in match
„Jng funds. The rest of the money
‘pame from a grant from the
, Governor’s Crime Commission.. £
Photo by Susan Harris
The sky fell
The barnyard was all aflutter last week when two first
grade classes presented “The Day the Sky Fell,” the story
of Chicken Little’s concern about the sky felling on her
head. A wonderful performance was turned in by the chil
dren. Pictured are those with speaking parts: Tonya Wlt
tman, James Caddy, Janet Horne, Dashaun Sheard,
Jennifer Godfrey, David Bines, Michelle Rogers, Tara
Thach, Krystle Moniz, Chafe Bryant, Richard Noble and A J.
Overman. Please see page 3 for a story.
Thach named athletic director at Perquimans High
Ciamillo resigns
The Perquimans County
Board of Education looked to its
own coaching staff at Perqui
mans High School for a new
athletic airector/head football
coach to lead Pirate athletics.
Harrell Thach, a Perquimans
County native and member of
the high school coaching staff
for 10 years, was unanimously
chosen tty the board Monday
night in regular session to re
place Frank: Ciamillo, whose
resignation was formally ac
cepted Monday.
Dr. Randall Henlon, schools
superintendent read a letter of
Srt from high school princi
rilllam Byrum written on
‘s behalf.
“I feel that he ffhach) can
make a contribution to the ath
letic program,” Byrum wrote.
Henlon also endorsed mov
ing Thach into the position.
“I have excellent rapport
with him,” Henlon said, adding
that he felt Thach would do a
good job at die helm of the ath
letic department
Board member Ben Hobbs
said that the athletic program
stands to benefit from having
Thach on staff due to Continuity.
The athletic director's office has
been a revolving door recently
with five athletic directors in as
many years. Hobbs said that as
the parent of athletes, he appre
ciates the need for an athletic
director to remain in the posi
tion and build up the program
Harrell Thach
without the changes that come
with frequent personnel
changes.
Thach said he was happy
with the board’s decision to al
low him to try his hand in the
athletic director’s seat
Tm really looking forward to
it” Thach said Monday night af
tter hearing about the decision.
“I feel like we can have one of
the best programs in this end pf
the state, if not the whole state.
We've got the kids that can do it
and we've got the coaches that
can do it”
. Thach said another key to a
good athletic program is the
support of the administration,
and he said Perquimans Schools
administrators have been very
supportive of athletics.
The opportunity to lead his
hometown high school is excit
ing to Thach.
“Being from Perquimans, it
(the success of the athletic pro
gram) matters to me," Thach
said. “This is my home and I’m
proud of it I want people to
know about it that we can have
a strong athletic program."
Thach said he doesn’t see
the need for major changes in
the athletic department or
coaching staff. He indicated that
he will meet with all coaches to
discuss needs in the department
and promote a team effort to im
provement and problem- solving.
The one area he knows he
will attempt to expand is the
athlete tutorial program he set
up two years ago for basketball
players. Watching the basketball
team loose a number of players
after first semester grades were
tabulated year after year both
ered Thach, so he enlisted the
aid of high school faculty to tu
tor athletes after school. The
program has been extremely
successful, according to Thach,
and he would like to see it ex
panded to help all athletes
struggling with grades.
“I feel like it’s something
that’s necessary,” Thach stated.
He added that the high
school faculty has been very
supportive and willing to assist
die students.
Thach has coached for 10
years at Perquimans. Over the
six years he coached the junior
varsity football squad, the team
tallied a record of 50 wins, eight
losses and one tie. Under his
guidance, the Pirates earned
four conference championships
and two runner-up titles.
The new athletic director
also coached girls' basketball for
eight seasons with a 92-34 re
cord. The team was ranked in
the top 10 in the state six out of
the eight years, and earned a
conference tournmanent
championship, two tournament
second- place finishes and the
sectional runner-up title.
Thach has coached boys'
basketball for the past two sea
sons, with the highlights being
defeating Currituck in 1992 for
the first time in 10 years and
also defeating neighboring Eden
ton in the 1991 and 1992 sea
sons. He said that program is
on die way up.
"We’re going to turn that
around this year a little bit,” he
said.
Thach attended Perquimans
County High School and grad
uated from Fork Union Military
Academy. He attended Campbell
University, earned his social
studies degree at Elizabeth City
State University and received his
agriculture certification from
North Carolina State University.
He taught agriculture at Perqui
mans high school for nine years
and world history for one year.
He played football, basketball,
baseball and Indoor track during
his high school years. A knee in
jury kept him from playing colle
giate sports.
He and his wife, Ann, a
dental hygienist, live just out
side of Hartford with their chil
dren. Lee and Tara, and
Thach’s mother. Lib.
Arrests
■B* W.
... Vi -
■ ■
The Perquimans County
Sheriffs Department reported
the following arrests:
On May 20, Claude Wilson
Wood HI. 27. of Rt 2, Box 238.
Hertford, was arrested and
charged with failure to appear.
He appeared before district court
judge J. Richard Parker.
On May 22. Lenay Nathaniel
Felton. 28, of 321 Stokes Dr..
Hertford, was arrested and
charged with two felony counts
of breaking and entering and
larceny. He was confined to Al
bemarle District Jail under a
$10,000 secured bond.
On May 22, George Nathan
Felton. 30. of Rt. 1, Box 839.
Hertford, was Arrested and
;ed with aiding and abetting
and entering and lar
ceny. He was released on a
$5,000 secured bond.
On May 27, Terri Lynn Stal
lings, 25. of RL 1. Box 136, Bel
vldere, was arrested and
charged with 10 counts of fail
ure to appear on Pasquotank
County orders for arrest and
one count of failure to appear
on a Perquimans County order
for arrest. She was confined to
Albemarle District Jail under a
$3,300 secured bond.
On May 29, Deborah Stal
lings Dalton of 320 Oneida Trail,
Eden ton, was arrested and
charged on a Pasquotank
rant for failure to appear.
!
■ m.
was released on a written prom
ise to appear.
The Hertford Police reported
the following arrests:
Joseph Elliott Patrick. 45, of
90 Navarre, Irvine, Cal., was is
sued a citation on May 15 for
exceeding a safe speed.
Charlie Outland. 33, of Luke
Road, Sunbury, was arrested on
May 16 and charged with failure
to appear (two counts). Bond
was set at $1,300 secured.
Charlie Fleetwood Wilson,
38, of 319 Stokes Dr.. Hertford,
was arrested on May 16 and
charged with a probation viola
tion. Bond was set at $200 se
cured.
Michael Sean Conner, 22. of
238 Brutton Ave.. Newport
News. Va., was Issued a citation
on May 16 for speeding and po
operators license.
Hugh Donald McBrayer. 70,
of Rt. 5, Box 180, Forest City,
was issued a citation on May 17
for a stoplight violation.
Donnie Ray Crisp, 37, of Rt
3. Box 657, Washington, was Is
sued a citation on May 18 for
speeding.
Pap pa§» 8
:1t£%
Robbed
Hertford pair
linked to
bank heist
A Hertford man was gunned
down by police Friday morning
after he allegedly took part in a
bank robbery in Norfolk, Va.
Kirk Ryan Zimnlck, 22,
whose records at the Hertford
Police Department list an ad
dress at 213 Front St., Hertford,
was fatally wounded near a
Granby Street cemetery after a
20-mile chase.
According to reports from
Officer Larry Hill of the Norfolk
Police Department, Zlmnick, his
brother John Zimnick, 23, and
Deborah Krueger, 42, also of
Hertford, allegedly held up First
American Bank at the intersec
tion of Little Creek Road and
Halpin Drive at gunpoint around
11 a.m. Friday. A high-speed
chase ensued after the trio left
the bank In a Pontiac 6000. Po
lice officers reported speeds of
up to 90 miles per hour on In
terstate 64. The Pontiac report
edly pulled off the road after
taking the Granby Street exit,
and the Zimnick brothers left
the car, firing at officers as they
attempted to flee.
Kirk Zimnick died of gun
shot wounds sustained in the
shootout. His brother was also
shot, and was transported to
Sentaia Norfolk General Hospi
tal. Krueger was not injured,
and was taken into custody by
Norfolk Police.
Hill said that both Krueger
and John Zimnick were charged
with bank robbery, three counts
of use of a firearm during the
commission of a felony and two
counts of attempted capital
murder.
Kirk Zimnlck was arrested
by Hertford Police on Jan. 7 for
assault with a deadly weapon
after he reportedly attempted to
run over a man with his car,
according to police chief Aubrey
F. Sample Jr. He was also ar
rested on April 3 and April 28
for assault on a female. Sample
said at least one of those
charges was filed by Krueger.
Sources said Zimnlck
worked for a company called Re
sume Corner in Hertford.
Krueger had recently worked for
Jim Walter Homes. It was un
clear whether or not she was
still in the employ of the com
pany at the time of the robbery.
Deb Kundee DeWeese, who
managed a Snug Harbor prop
erty rented by Krueger until
Dec. 1991, said Krueger was
taken to small claims court to
recover funds for property dam
age and unpaid telephone bills.
Sample said that the Hert
ford Police Department has pro
vided background Information
and offered assistance to both
the Norfolk Police Department
and the FBI.
Swindell is
new director
W. Larry Swindell, owner of
Swindell Funeral Home, Inc. in
Hertford, was recently sworn
into a two-year term as District I
Director of the North Carolina
Funeral Directors’ Association.
The installation was held Tues
day, May 12 during the banquet
at the annual convention of the
Association In Greensboro. Dis
trict I includes the area from
Bertie and Hertford counties
eastward.
Elected by the other funeral
directors of District I, Swindell
will represent them at all meet
ings of the Association and help
In making decisions for the bet
terment of funeral service. Other
duties Include co-ordinating and
presiding over district meetings,
helping organize educational
programs and carrying problems
ana concerns of members to the
dlrectora* meetings.