September 24,
12 013165 10/09/1998 *C20
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD NC 27944
The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 66, No. 39
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Gregory’s building catches on fire
Hertford anwers
four fire calls in
three days
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Flames shooting out the
back of Gregory’s in down
town Hertford brought three
fire departments out early
Monday morning.
“Everybody came together
and helped out,” said Hertford
Fire Chief Sid Eley. “We were
fortunate to get a quick report
and a quick knockdown.”
Eley said postal workers
reported flames coming out
the back of the store. The chief
said he immediately called in
Bethel and Winfall for assis
tance. The Hertford depart
ment got the call at 7:19 and
arrived on the scene at 7:24.
“We were extremely lucky
to have the fire reported at
that time of day,” Eley said,
noting that most of the down
town businesses do not open
that early.
The burn was confined to
the mezzanine level of the
structure, Eley said. He esti
mated structural damage at
under $10,000, but said that the
clean-up will be an arduous
process due to smoke damage
and smut.
The preliminary cause of
the fire, Eley said, is electrical.
Adjoining businesses
Hertford Savings Bank and
White’s Dress Shoppe suffered
smoke damage.
The fire blocked several
streets during the rush hour.
Monday’s calls ended three
days of calls for Hertford.
During Saturday’s Indian
Summer Festival, firefighters
left the grills at their fundrais
ing food booth to fight an
apartment blaze on Stokes
Drive. Eley said the fire result
ed from an air conditioning
unit in an upstairs room.
Firefighters were able to con
tain the blaze just before it
went through the ceiling, Eley
said.
Smoke and water damage
were heavy. Eley said the
whole apartment will require
renovation.
Sunday, firefighters
responded to a call at Swindell
Funeral Home. Eley said Larry
Swindell and his family
smelled smoke in the chapel
area and called for assistance.
Firefighters arrived in time to
find a bad ballast in a fixture
and avoid a blaze.
In the afternoon, firefight
ers responded to a bathroom
fire at the home of Ron Jacobs.
Eley said the fire may have
been caused by an electrical
problem. Damage was mild.
ms
m
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
There was a scare in downtown Hertford Monday morning when Gregory’s caught on fire.
Firefighters from the Hertford, Bethel and Winfall fire departments responded to the biaze.
Hertford Fire Chief Sid Eley said structural damage to the building was under $10,000.
Indian Summer Festival is success Grant to fund
fw
learning center
ISF follows
Hearth &
Harvest Day at
Newbold-White
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Intermittent showers kept
some folks away, but a good
crowd visited the 17th annual
Indian Summer Festival in
downtown Hertford Saturday.
Franky Eason, president of
the Hertford Downtown
Merchants Association, festi
val sponsors, said festival ‘98
was a big success.
“Overall, it was a great day,
even with the rain. It didn’t
seem to bother the people too
much,” Eason said. “We lost a
few folks when the showers
started, but most of them
crowded under the awnings
and in the shops and waited it
out,”
As a matter of fact, the rain
may have helped downtown
merchants. Eason said all mer
chants he’s spoken with had a
banner day.
New to this year’s festival
was the Chinese pie-in-the-face
auction. Volunteering to help
raise funds for the festival by
taking a pie were economic
development director Robert
Baker, Franky Eason of
Franky’s Hertford Cafe, coun
ty- building inspector Zeke
Jackson, Chamber director
Sandra Smith, schools super
intendent Gregory Todd,
Winfall Mayor Fred Yates and
Winfall police chief David
Shaffer.
Eason said the rain caused
some snafus in the auction,
but HDMA still made over
$500.
Winners of the window dis
play contest were Marta’s
(first), Gregory’s (second), and
Smith’s (third).
One of the festival’s most
popular activities was the
dunking booth operated by the
United Pentecostal Holiness
Church. Rain or shine, the
young and young at heart
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PHOTO ABOVE BY SUSAN HARRIS; PHOTO BELOW COURTESY LUANEE PENDERGRAFT
The dunking booth (above)
was one of the most popular
attractions at the 17th annual
Indian Summer Festival.
During periods of rain or
shine, there was always a line.
The weekend before, the
Perquimans Restoration
Association sponsored the
Hearth & Harvest Festival.
One of the highlights of the
day was the music of old-time
performers.
See page 8 for more festival
photographs.
lined up to take a shot at cata
pulting volunteers into a tank
of water.
Those attracted to the festi
val by crafts had a variety of
quality hand-crafted items
from which to choose. Food
was also abundant.
In addition to the downtown
businesses, festival sponsors
included Sprint, U.S. Cellular,
Chowan Hospital, Pepsi and
Albemarle Hospital.
The day ended with a street
dance featuring New A.J.E.
Productions. A draw for all
ages, the event seemed espe
Camden, Chowan, Gates,
Perquimans, and Washington
school systems and the
Albemarle Recreation Center
(ARC) have recently been
awarded a $500,000 grant to
develop a regional learning
center.
The Albemarle Learning
Center (ALC) will be an initia
tive in which students and
teachers focus on the concept
of communities as classrooms.
Walter Annenberg, philan
thropist, established the Rural
Challenge for the purpose of
supporting comprehensive
school reform. The vision of
the Rural Challenge is to see
rural education connected to
the place people live - its histo
ry, culture and environment.
The ALC will be located on
( a farm and leased millpond
area in Chowan County. The
ARC already operates a thera
peutic riding program and
other activities on this site.
The Annenberg Grant will
fund the first phase of the ALC
and will focus on curriculum
development and professional
development for teachers. This
first phase of the plan will
begin with middle school cur
riculum being developed by
middle school teachers, stu
dents, and community mem
bers from the five partner
LEAs. Participating teachers
will colla’jorate to build the
curriculum but will then
implement it in the middle
schools located within these
five school systems.
The second phase of the
plan will involve students in
various experiential learning
situations incorporated into
the curriculum being devel
oped. They will he able to set
up environmental research
projects that are aimed at
clean water, maintaining
esosystems and restructuring
wetlands. They can explore
their culture through folkarts
and the history of the region.
The goals of the ALC are to
empower teachers to interact
witii students in new environ
ments, specifically beyond the
four walls of the classroom
and to connect students to
their communities in situa
tions where student contribu
tions can be appreciated.
Instructional staff, middle
school principals, and public
information personnel are
meeting to outline procediures
for the learning center. It is
anticipated that the first group
of teacher participants will be
identified in October.
The ALC Program
Coordinator is Bob Harrell of
Edenton and the Professional
Development Consultant is
Jeanne Meiggs of Currituck
County.
cially fun for the teens.
Although it was a lot of
work, Eason said HDMA will
definitely sponsor Festival ‘99.
“We’ve already started
working on it,” Eason said
Tuesday. The first organiza
tional meeting is scheduled for
Oct. 1.
The Saturday before, the
Perquimans County
Restoration Association spon
sored the second annual
Hearth & Harvest Festival at
Newbold-White House.
Visitors were offered the
opportunity to step back in
time with such activities as
cornshuck doll-making, churn
ing butter, spinning, playing
18th century games and join
ing in a performance of tradi
tional music by the
Perquimans Pipers, a local
recorder group.
Artisans demonstrated fine
crafts included furniture, pot
tery, tatting and lacemaking
and dulcimer-making.
Organizers of both festivals
plan to meet soon to discuss
the possibility of holding the
two events on the same date in
1999.