September 7,1995
HEflfOFC
The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 63, No. 36
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
EMC
holds
aimual
meeting
Three directors will be
elected when the members of
Albemarle EMC gather for the
co-op’s annual meeting on
Saturday, Sept. 16 at
Perquimans County High
School.
President L.A. Harris said
the nominating committee has
presented six members to run
for the three slots open. In
Camden County, nominees are
incumbent Garry W. Meiggs
and Willie Ray Sawyer; in
Perquimans, incumbent
Charles H. Mathews and
Pernella Norfleet Elliott; and
in Chowan, incumbent
Thomas A. Bateman and Jay
L. Underhill.
In addition to Harris,
Meiggs, Bateman and
Mathews, directors are Glenn
A. Carey, Estelle Felton, John
W. Spence, Josiah A. Webb III
and Virgie P. Whitehurst.
EMC General Manager
Dorris B. White said the co-op
will mail annual reports and
meeting registration cards to
members this week. Members
should bring the registration
cards to the meeting. If mem
bers cannot attend, the proxy
card on the other side of the
registration form can be com
pleted to authorize another
member to vote for them.
Meeting registration will
begin at 12:30 p.m. The meet
ing wiU start at 2 o’clock.
Albemarle EMC serves 8,700
accounts in the 5 counties of
Camden, Chowan, Currituck,
Pasquotank and Perquimans.
The EMC is both locally mem
ber-owned and controlled by
its Board of Directors.
Inside
Hi r ri’ORi) Grammar gets new equipment
Pirates win. - Page 6
Obituaries- Page 3
Classifieds - Page 7
Preservation group
sets events - Page 5
-'S'---
While some teens spent
their Labor Day weekend
playing around, a youth group
from Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church in Raleigh
was laboring on playground
equipment for students at
Hertford Graunmar School.
The school’s PTA looked
into purchasing playground
equipment last year, and had
set some funds aside for that
purpose, according to PTA
Budget and Finance
Committee chairman Kim
Perry. Prices were obtained
and plans considered, but the
project wasn’t completed.
Last spring, Jane Parr, a
resident of Sunbury and
music teacher at Hertford
Grammar, told Perry and
some other parents about new
equipment at Sunbury
Elementary School built by a
youth group from Raleigh.
Perry contacted the group’s
leader and equipment design
er, Dave Dahl.
Dahl visited Hertford in
July, working with H.G.S.
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
principal Bill Tice on the
design and placement of the
structure. The poles were set
the last weekend in August,
and a group of 10 teens and
four adults traveled to
Hertford Saturday morning to
construct the equipment.
They worked until about 4
p.m. Sunday afternoon (top).
Perry said building things
for others is a mission project
of the youth. They have also
worked on handicapped
ramps and a shelter for home
less women in Washington,
D.C. They learn thrpugh help
ing others. They donate their
time and get materials donat
ed, also.
“It really has been a bless
ing to Hertford Grammar
School,” Perry said. "I hope it
will benefit a lot of kids.”
Parents and teachers fed
the visitors, who slept in the
school library and showered
in the locker rooms at the
middle school.
Sunday evening, the equip
ment was full of kids (left).
Ring lost for over 40 years returned to its owner
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
“Only in Hertford.”
That was the comment
Joyce Pierce made after her
mother’s high school class
ring was returned recently.
The ring had been lost for over
40 years.
Peggy Sawyer Winslow lost
her class ring, with the gradu
ation year 1948 and her initials
imprinted on it, sometime
before 1952.
“I really don’t know (exactly
when I lost it),” Winslow said.
“I thought I lost it when I was
working in the drug store.”
Winslow said she thought
she took the ring off when she
washed her hands and laid it
on the side of the sink. That
was the last time she remem
bers seeing the ring. There
was no explanation for its dis
appearance.
Over 40 years later, Johnnie
Dunbar, a Food Lion employ
ee, was taking a shortcut from
Wynne Fork Courts to work on
a path through a wooded area
and cornfield one day this
summer. Something gold to accompany the P.C.H.S.
caught his eye. He reached football team to a scrimmage,
down and picked up a class The school contacted Winslow
“Johnnie is an out
standing young
person as far as I’m
concerned.”
M.W. Coates, Manager
Food Lion, Hertford
speaking of young man who
found and returned class ring
ring with a
1948 date on
it. He put
the ring in
his pocket
ahd went on
to work.
Dunbar
said he went
t 0
Perquimans
High School
two or three
weeks later
to try to get —i
some help
checking records to find the
ring’s owner. A 1948 graduate
with the initials PAS couldn’t
be found. Dunbar later
received a call from the school.
Through more research, the
ring’s owner had been found.
Dunbar said he kept forget
ting to return the ring to the
school for the owner to claim.
On Aug. 11, he said assistant
principal Dwayne Stallings
asked him to run home and get
the ring when Dunbar arrived
to pick up the
ring.
“I was real
pleased to get it
back,” Winslow
said. “I could
hardly believe
it when I first
heard about
it.”
Winslow
said the ring
has a small
chip in the
■■■■■■■■■■" stone and one
in the metal,
but is basically in good condi
tion.
“It’s in good shape. I was
just amazed. And it still fits!
Winslow said.”
Winslow called Dunbar and
sent him a note thanking him
for returning her ring.
“It was very nice of him (to
find the owner and return the
ring),” Winslow said.
Dunbar never had any
intention of doing anything
with the ring other than
returning it to its owner if pos
sible.
“I thought the person would
be real happy to have it
returned to them,” Dunbar
said. “I know if I lost my class
ring, I would want it back. I
thought the person would
appreciate it.”
According to Dunbars’ boss
at Food Lion, M.W. Coates,
returning the ring was an
action that reflects Dunbar’s
character.
“It doesn’t surprise me that
he'd do something like that,”
Coates said. “He cares about
others. He just shows a gen
uine concern for other people.
Johnnie is very trustworthy.”
Coates characterized
Dunbar as a mature young
man with a positive attitude
who gets along with everyone.
“Johnnie is an outstanding
young person as far as I’m con
cerned.” Coates said.
Dunbar, a 1995 P.C.H.S.
graduate, has worked at Food
Lion for over two years.
Coates said during that time,
Dunbar attended high school,
kept his grades up, and played
football and basketball, all
while continuing to work as
scheduled.
“He’s always been a person
to set an example for other
kids his age,” Coates said. “He
wants to have the reputation
of being somebody you want to
have work for you.
“He’s just a good person.”
How the ring got into the
cornfield or how long it had
been there remains a mystery.
Festival
date
nears
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
The sounds of corn pickers,
football games and school bells
means the Indian Summer
Festival is just around the cor
ner.
The annual celebration of
life in Perquimans County is
set for Saturday, Sept. 23.
Entertainment, food and fun
is set to begin on that day at 10
a.m. at Missing Mill Park.
Out in the Cold Band will
kick off the entertainment.
Other performers include Rev.
Jon Strother, the Perquimans
County High School Marching
Pirates Band, Joyce Perry,
Denim and Diamonds Dance
Club, the Farrow Family,
Harbour Lights Square
Dancers, Tonya Saunders,
Flatland Cloggers, Darryl
Stallings, Ron Moore and the
Rockin’ Willie Band.
The will also be jet ski
demonstration by Hertford
Hardware and a U.S. Coast
Guard water/air rescue
demonstration.
At 5:30, Wajme’s Whirl Shad
and Swing contest wiU be held.
Prizes will be awarded.
Applications are available at
the Chamber of Commerce
office. Pre-registration is
encouraged but not required.
For the younger set, Ann
Carol White of the Perquimans
County Library wUl begin the
day with storytime at 10 a.m.
Joy Untold, an award winning
professional entertainer, will
be on stage at the Kids
PavUion on the tennis court at
11 a.m. and 1 p.m. There wUl
be games, competitions and
prizes throughout the day. The
Optimist Club train wUl chauf-
feim the wee ones through the
park.
Booths will also open at 10
a.m., featuring arts, crafts, dis
plays, health checks and
screenings, and of course,
food. Fish, baked goods, ham
burgers, hot dogs, funnel
cakes, barbecue, onion rings,
pizza and more will be avail
able.
The Parksville Ruritans
will sponsor an antique car
show on the town park adja
cent to the library. Call
Tommy Dale at 297-2255 for
information or to register.
Downtown, the Perquimans
High School cheerleaders wUl
perform at 1 p.m. Bingo will
begin at 1:30. At 3:30, perform
ers from the Dinner Theater at
Angler’s Cove production of
USO Camp /Show will enter
tain. Merchants wUl be having
sidewalk sales.
At 8 a.m., Chowan Hospital
win sponsor its annual festival
fun run and walk. Registration
begins at the board of educa
tion office.
The festival will conclude
with a street dance.
Outside
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