January 18,
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The Perquimans Weekly
Vol. 64, No. 3
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertfbrd, North Carolina 27944
Speaker says Dr. King’s struggle continues
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
He didn’t always embrace the idea of a
holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr., but William Dudley has come to
understand over the years why King is so
important.
“I came to know that the greatness of
King’s message made it great,” Dudley,
the state assistant secretary of Crime
Control and Public Safety, told a packed
house at Bay Branch A.M.E. Zion Church
Monday afternoon.
Dudley said many African Americans
contributed to this country’s history, but
King’s message and appeal made him
great.
The speaker encouraged those gathered
to “look back in order to chart our
course.” He said people should remember
the suffering and hardship slaves must
have endured years ago and remember
that “we got here on somebody else’s
path.” Dudley said the prayers of those
slaves for freedom and respect have been
answered through the present generation.
“The hands that picked cotton, .are the
hands that now pick elected officials,” he
“And when we allow freedom to ring,
when we let it ring from every hamlet,
from every state and city, we will be able
to speed up that day when all of God’s
children - black men and white men,
Jews and gentile. Catholics and
Protestants - will be able to join hands
and to sing in the words of the old Negro
spiritual -
‘Free at last, free at last; thank God
Almighty, we are free at last.’ “
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dudley said respect for others, the fam
ily, the church and the community must
come to the forefront of today’s society in
order to make the world better. People
should be judged not by color, but by
character, he said.
The assistant secretary said some of
today’s youth have no respect for the con
sequences of their actions and place no
value on life or property. He called
churches, schools, communities and
extended families to act to stem the tide of
juvenile violence and crime.
“I ain’t meddling, y’all. I’m challening
you to action,” he said.
Dudley said Smart Start and Support
Our Students programs funded by the
state can help young people and should be
supported by the community.
“If one child falls, we all suffer,” he
said.
Dudley advocated, moving troubled
children out of regular classroom and into
an environment where they can get the
help they need to become produtive citi
zens.
Statistics show that only 1 out of every
4,000 black males will earn a doctorate in
a math or science field, while one in five
will become an alcoholic. One in 24 will
quit school.
These trends must be reversed, he said.
“Too much has been given to stop,”
Dudley said.
Also on Monday’s program were area
ministers, Virgie Whitehurst, local gov
ernment and law enforcement officials,
Virginia Whitehurst, Gavin Miller,
Rodney Q. Lyons, N.A.A.C.P. president
Estelle Felton, and the Bay Branch Adult
Choir.
State Assistant Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety
William Dudley was guest speaker at the Dr. Martin Luther King
Day program sponsored by the N.A.A.C.P. Monday.
Chamber Banquet
Baker asks for.
Chamber support
for park
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Perquimans County
Planning and Economic
Development Director Robert
Baker Jr. asked for input
from Chamber of Commerce
members at the Chamber’s
annual banquet last
Thursday evening at Pavo’s
Restaurant.
“You are the backbone of
the county,” Baker told those
gathered. He asked that the
group establish a partnership
with him and the county to
work together for economic
development.
Baker, hired in October as
the county’s first economic
developer/planner, updated
the group of the Perquimans
Commerce Centre, a 400-acre
tract of land just off of U.S.
Highway 17 Bypass on
Harvey Point Road purchased
by the county as the site for a
commerce center. Baker said
the project is in its prelimi
nary design stage.
“This is an open book and
it’s up to us -all of us - to write
the chapters to put in this
book,” Baker said. “In a few
years this will be a tremen
dous asset to this county and
to the surrounding counties
as a matter of fact.”
Baker said his vision is to
fill the park with an attrac
tive mix of businesses, possi-
bily including clean, dry
industry, offices, a conven
tion center or a marina.
Businesses that will not nega
tively impact the river will be
sought.
The developer said
Perquimans County Commerce Centn
mmirmt tm ttmuntu
Perquimans County’s Planning and Economic Development
Director Robert Baker Jr. used aerial photographs and this
preliminary drawing of the Perquimans Commerce Centre as
he enlisted the support of those attending the annual
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Chamber of Commerce banquet last Thursday evening at
Pavo’s Restaurant. The information is available for review in
Baker’s office in the Perquimans County courthouse. He wel
comes input from community residents.
Perquimans must develop its
strengths.
“We do have strengths in
this county. I would ask that
we work with our strengths
to eliminate our weakness
es.”
Baker said the park can
offer the county employment,
an expanded tax base and bet
ter job opportunities for
youth. He used aerial pho
tographs and preliminary
sketches of the site plan dur
ing his presentation.
Former Chamber execu
tive director Mary Harrell
was honored for her 13 years
of service during the evening.
Harrell could not attend the
banquet, but a plaque
acknowledging her dedica
tion and service to the
Chamber and a Perquimans
County afghan will be pre
sented to her. Harrell did
much of the preliminary
work on the afghan project.
which has been very success
ful. Over 350 afghans have
been sold to date.
Outgoing president A.O.
Roberts thanked members for
their support during the year
before handing the gavel to
incoming president Larry
Swindell. Serving on the
board of directors with
Swindell during the coming
year will be Paige Eure, Gail
Godwin, Diane Stallings, Leo
Higgins, Anna W. Smith,
Alice J. Winslow, Douglas
Layden, Lawrence Chappell
and Billy Nixon. Directors
whose terms of service ended
in 1995 were Tony Lane,
Annette Gregory, Edgar
Roberson, Rick Stecker and
Roberts.
Vocalist Jamie Lassister, a
junior at Perquimans High
School, provided entertain
ment for the evening. She
was joined in one song by her
mother, Lynn.
Earm survey
underway
From stajff reports
Virginia Holmes of Hertford
will contact several local agri
cultural producers over the
next few weeks asking them to
participate in a survey con
ducted e^ach year - the Farm
Costs and Returns Survey
(FCRS).
Policy makers and analysts
at every level depend on the
FCRS figures when making
the decisions that affect
Perquimans farm operators.
Now some local producers will
have input into those deci
sions. By participating in the
Farm Costs and Returns
Survey, several Perquimans
agricultural producers will
help show how agriculture is
doing as a whole, how the vari
ous types of enterprises within
agriculture are performing,
and whether some sectors are
more financially vulnerable
than others. Information gath
ered by the North Carolina
Agricultural Statistics
Division of the Department of
Agriculture is used to develop
data about U.S. agricultural
finances. Producers’ informa
tion is merged with others and
the surveys are destroyed,
ensuring total confidentiality.
Perquimans farm operators
reap many benefits, for
instance, the data are used to:
Develop and adjust farm pro
grams delivered by local coun
ty offices of USDA; help uni
versity and extension person
nel design education programs
for farm operators; and allow
input suppliers to plan in
order to meet farm operators’
needs.
Producers selected will soon
be notified by letter.
Interviewers will visit them to
conduct the survey at the pro
ducer’s convenience.
Candidates file for local offices
Outside
It’s hunting season in
Perquimans - hunting for new
public officials, that is.
Three seats on the both the
Perquimans County Board of
Commissioners and the school
board are up.
Neither school board chair
man Ben Hobbs nor former
chairman Wayne Howell will
seek re-election. Present member
Wallace Nelson said he has not
filed yet, but probably will run.
Two people who have filed for
the seats are Helen Shaw, who
was appointed to the seat created
when the county’s new electoral
plan was approved, and Thomas
L. Riddick.
Riddick, Perquimans County
Farm Service Agency county
executive director, wants to
return to education”s grassroots
— the classroom.
Shaw said she would like to
return to the board to assist with
various projects, namely facili
ties, personnel and student disci
pline.
While county commissioner
Charles Skinner will not run,
vice chairman Archie Miller and
incumbent Shirley Yates will.
Miller has already filed. Yates
said last week she plans to file.
Joining them will be former
commissioner Leo Higgins.
Higgins was first elected to the
board of commissioners in 1990.
He lost his re-election bid in 1994
when Perquimans County
switched to single shot voting.
“1 feel 1 have the capability and
expertise to serve the county. I
have the time and the energy and
l”m available,”” he said.
The school board election is
non-partisan and May winners
will take office in July.
Commissioners’ candidates will
run in May and in the general
election in November.
Deborah S. Reed has filed to
keep her job as Register of Deeds.
Reed, a former deputy register of
deeds, was appointed to fulfill the
unexpired term of Jeanne C.
White who retired.
The filing period for the May
election closed on Feb. 5 at noon.
FRIDAY
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