November 14,
The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 64, No. 44
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
State
asks for
education
input
The North Carolina School
Improvement Panel wants
your two-cents worth on edu
cation.
The panel has scheduled a
public forum for Nov. 21 in
Edenton to listen to the pub
lic’s ideas on school improve
ment.
Chaired by State Board of
Education member Lowell
Thomas, the panel has spent
the last year focusing the
state’s educational reform ini
tiatives into a single, long-
range, multi-year plan for con
tinuous school improvement.
The panel has examined
reform programs already in
place and how these programs
align with one another, and
has recommended additional
efforts needed to fill in any
gaps.
Key to the School
Improvement Panel’s plan is
engaging the public in sus
tained dialogue to open com
munication about education
reform. To accomplish this,
the panel plans a series of
issues communications semi
nars, public education forums
and community feedback
meetings across the state.
Since August, the panel has
hosted six education seminars
with business leaders and edu
cators to highlight the key
issues surrounding education
reform in the state.
Next, the education forums
seek input and feedback from
a variety of people, including
parents, teachers and civic
leaders to help spread the mes
sage even closer to the grass
roots of North Carolinians.
Among the tops the forums
will address are the role of the
school, the quality and profes
sionalism of the teaching
force, questions of time and
money, and the need for com
munity partnerships to com-
ipit themselves to improving
their local schools. These are
crucial issues as public educa
tion moves forward into the
21st century, according to
panel members.
The final step in the engage
ment campaign will be a series
of community meetings to
start in early 1997. These com
munity meetings will provide
the training and tools needed
to establish a way to gain pub
lic input about education
reform in every school district
in the state.
For addition information,
contact Brenda Lassister,
Public Information Officer for
Perquimans County Schools,
at 426-5741.
Schools to
close early
Monday
Perquimans County Schools
students will have a short day
next Monday, according to
school officials.
Students in all four schools
will be released early to allow
time for planning of the School
Improvement Plans under the
New ABCs and other staff
development activities.
Scheduled release times are;
Hertford Grammar School,
12:45 p.m.; Perquimans Central
School, 1:10 p.m.; Perquimans
Middle School, 12:50 p.m.; and
Perquimans High School, 12:30
p.m.
Claude Brinn recognized for service
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DAILY ADVANCE PHOTO
Claude Brinn was honored Friday night during the
Perquimans-Camden football game for his 33 years of volun
teer service to the Perquimans High School athletic pro
grams. Brinn was accompanied to midfield by his daughters
Beth Whitehurst and Claudia Bunch, his sons-in-law, Gary
Whitehurst and Buck Bunch, and grandson. Drew Winslow.
Brinn starts clock for last time
PCHS press box
veteran retires
after 33 years
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Claude Brinn was chilled
to the bone by the cold, wet
rain that poured onto
Memorial Field at halftime
Friday night. But his heart
was warmed by the awards
and kind words he received
from those who braved the
weather to thank him for his
many years of service to
Perquimans High School ath
letics.
Brinn received an Unsung
Hero Award from the North
Carolina High School
Athletic Association, pre
sented by Perquimans High
School Athletic Director
Harrell Thach. Thach also
gave a plaque of appreciation
to Brinn on behalf of the high
school. Brinn’s hat, which
Thach said was famotfs
among Perquimans football
fans, was retired. It will be
housed in the athletic trophy
case at the school.
The Perquimans County
Athletic Boosters presented
Brinn with an athletic afghan
in recognition for his years of
service. In addition, the club
announced the initiation of a
Claude Brinn Athletic
Scholarship. Co-presidents
Edgar Roberson and Susan
Harris represented the
Boosters.
On hand for the occasion
were four members of the
1963 Perquimans High School
football team — Mack Nixon,
Archie Miller, Paul Gregory
and Sid Eley. The quartet
represented the first football
team for which Brinn kept
the clock.
Members of Brinn’s fami
ly, daughters Beth
Whitehurst and Claudia
Bunch, sons-in-law Gary
Whitehurst and Buck Bunch,
and grandson Drew Winslow
accompanied Brinn on the
field. Brinn was escorted on
the field in a classic
Chevrolet convertible by its
owner, Douglas Layden.
The Marching Pirates had
practiced for weeks on a
musical tribute to Bfinn, “In
The Mood,” but did not per
form due to the pouring rain.
Overcrowded
Two double-wide mobile
units were deiivered to
Perquimans Central
School recently to help
ease the load of over
crowded classrooms.
Capital needs in
Perquimans County
include the replacement
of Perquimans Central
School. The school sys
tem is projected to
receive in excess of $4
million to help meet capi
tal needs with the pas
sage of the Nov. 5 school
bond referendum.
Winfall fire department
receives state grant funds
Accident victim
in guarded
condition
The 9-year-old boy hit by a
truck in Hertford on
Halloween night remaips in
guarded condition at Pitt
Memorial Hospital.
The child, whose name has
not been released, is breathing
without the aid of a respirator,
according to Hertford Police
Chief Bennie Murphy, He
underwent surgery last week
on his two broken legs. He ^aid
doctors still do not know ifvthe
child has any neurological
damage. ..
The bdy allegedly ran ip,to
the path of a truck operated by
Christopher Lee Dail of Tyner.
No charges have been filed.;
County
voter
turnout
heavy
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Perquimans County voters
raised their voices loudly last
Tuesday, as 59 percent of those
registered cast ballots in the
general election.
Of the county’s 6,971 regis
tered voters, 4,088 showed up
to vote.
Even with the high number
of voters. Elections Supervisor
Eula Forbes said there were
few problems during the day.
“It was great,” Forbes said.
“Everything has just gone
wonderfully well.”
Other counties in the state
reported long lines and hours
spent waiting to vote, but wait
ing time in Perquimans rarely
exceeded 15 minutes, Forbes
said. Poll woekrs reported
heavy voting when the polls
opened at 6:30 a.m., again at
lunch time and then after peo
ple got off work. Polls in all
seven precincts closed on time.
There was also little prob
lem with DMV registrations, a
concern in other counties,
according hastate election offi
cials.
Forbes credited provisional
ballots with helping to keep
voting lines moving and prob
lems at the polls to a mini
mum.
When poll workers could
not find a voter’s name on the
records in the precinct where
the voter showed up to vote
and other precincts where the
voter might have been regis
tered could not be reached,
voters were given provisional
ballots. Each voters’ ballots
were sealed in an envelope,
marked with the voters’
names, and turned in with bal
lots and abstracts to the elec
tions board Tuesday night.
Election officials checked reg
istration records for the
names, verified registration,
and counted all verified provi
sional ballots.
Forbes attributed Tuesday’s
high voter turn-out to public
interest in the presidential and
gubernatorial races, and the
fact that county commissioner
candidate Bert Hayes can
vassed door-to-door in his suc
cessful election bid.
The outcome of the vote in
Perquimans did not change
Friday when the county can
vas was held by election offi
cials. Forbes said the verifica
tion and canvas process was
made easier and more efficient
thanks to the computer pro
gramming work of John
Jennings, a former elections
board member and present
chief judge for the Bethel
precinct. Jennings has been
instrumental in setting up
county files, Forbes said.
The Winfall Fire
Department received a grant
check for $5,129.87 from the
N.C. Department of Insurance
this month. The money is from
the Volunteer Fire
Department Fund set up by
Insurance Commissioner Jim
Long to assist fire department
all over the state.
“One of the reasons that we
feel so strongly that this fund
is needed is that it frees up the
time of these fire fighters for
further training,” Long said.
“Without this grant, fire fight
ers would be forced into spend
ing too much of their time
fund raising just to keep
departments afloat.”
The fund was established in
1988 and has granted nearly
$22 million through 1996. To
qualify for a grant, the fire
department must be a volun
teer organization, must be able
to match the grant for up to
$20,000 and must show need
based on a set of objective cri
teria.
“North Carolina is extreme
ly fortunate to have an out
standing network of highly
trained fire fighters protecting
life and property, “ Long said.
“Providing these fire fighters
with better equipment will fur
ther help public safety and
keep fire insurance rates as
low as possible.”
The new WinfaU equipment
was inspected by Kay Bennett,
Deputy Director with the
Eastern Regional Office of the
Department of Insurance.
Bennett presented the check to
Kelvin Roberson, a Winfall
fire fighter.
Outside
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