Pirate teams win
page 6
Big Sweep comes to Perquimans
page 3
New faces at Nationwide
page 7
= ^ = 7 013165 10/09/1995 »C20
The ONLY NEWSPAPER FOR AND ABOUT Perquimans County AND ITS PEOPLE cojnty "fPl
September 2,1999
Vol. 67, No. 34 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
The
Perquima
Weekly
D C ^ z 1399
151
35 cents
Dennis dances off Outer Banks
Hurricane may
turn to sea or
may return to
slam Carolina
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Perquimans was lucky once
more as Hurricane Dennis just
danced past bringing rain and
wind, but little more to the
area.
Emergency Management
Coordinator Ray Cullipher
said the only damage reported
to him was a tree limb that fell
across a power line.
Weather forecasters said
Dennis could continue in its
northeasterly direction and
head out to sea, avoiding dam
aging contact with the
Carolina coast. Or, the storm
could pick up strength oyer the
ocean then slam back into
shore. Cullipher said models
from the National Weather
Service Tuesday indicated that
if the storm does turn back, it
will probably hit the Virginia
coast.
While it appears that
Perquimans has, once again,
been fortunate not to be hit
with the full force of a hurri
cane, Cullipher said residents
should continue to monitor
Dennis, as well as other storms
that may brew in the Atlantic
through the end of hurricane
season in November. Cullipher
said the most active time in
IIlL'I'
1
m
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Hurricane Dennis whispered past Perquimans Monday and Tuesday, but
some forecasters say the storm could come roaring back after picking up
speed over the Atlantic Ocean. Some business boarded up windows, but
fortunately, the county sustained no major reported damages early in
the week. Emergency Management Coordinator Ray Cullipher advises
residents to monitor Dennis and other storms that may be brewing.
this area is October.
Preparation can be the key
to surviving a full-blown hurri
cane, Cullipher said. Residents
should have supplies on hand
during hurricane season and
not wait until the last minute
to go to the store. Storm staples
like batteries and canned foods
go quickly once a storm is fore
cast. In a central location in
the home, residents should
keep flashlights, battery-oper
ated radios, non-perishable
foods, medications and other
necessities. Water may be pur
chased or may be stored in pots
and other containers from the
tap at home.
If a storm is predicted to hit
the county, Cullipher said that
those living in unprotected
areas along the rivers and
soimd and in mobile homes are
most vulnerable. Those resi
dents should go to shelters if a
hurricane is coming. Most oth
ers in Perquimans can proba
bly ride out a storm in their
homes just as well as in shel
ters, Cullipher said.
Any time residents suffer
property damage from a storm
it should he reported,
CuUipher said. He is required
to send documentation to
Raleigh for every storm, he
said. Sometimes, residents can
get financial assistance for
damages even if the area is not
declared a disaster area.
Residents should document the
damages and report them to
Cullipher by calling the
Perquimans Communications
Department at 426-5751 and
leaving a message for
Cullipher.
Vaughan wants
prayer at school
Minister, parent
seeks volunteers
for new program
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
You don’t have to be a runner to
be on Keith Vaughan’s new TRAC
team.
Vaughan, pastor of The Hertford
Baptist Church, wants Christians in
the community to team up and walk
prayer onto school grounds. He is
seeking adults to show up at each of
the county’s four schools elvery
Monday at 7:30 a.m. for a 15-minute
prayer session. Vaughan said there
win be no evangelizing or prosele-
tizing, just simple prayers lifted up
for the safety and support of the
teachers, administrators, staff and
students.
Just as important as the prayer
component of the TRAC (Touching
and Reaching All our Children)
team is becoming a buddy. Advdts
win be asked to give 30-60 minutes
each week do be a lunch buddy or a
reading buddy for a student or
group of students.
Soul-searching, research and
tragic events in other school sys
tems led Vaughan to TRAC. He
started to school when most teach
ers began the day with a devotion
and the pledge of allegiance. Once
the 1962 Supreme Court decision on
the constitutionality of school-
sponsored religious activities began
to be interpreted and ruled on in
courtrooms, starting the school day
with prayer stopped.
Society began changing in other
ways around the same time,
Vaughan remembers. Parents of
students in trouble began automati
cally assuming the teacher, not the
student, had erred. That was a radi
cal change from before, when stu
dents automatically got punished at
home if parents found out there had
been trouble at school. Where once
there was a sense that parents and
teachers were on the same team, a
sense of distrust crept in.
Now, students in some school sys
tems are afraid to go to school,
afraid of being seriously injured or
even killed by fellow students.
As a minister and parent,
Vaughan said he has complained
about the schools, including the
absense of prayer, but has realized
upon reflection that the church has
not stepped forward to help support
the schools with prayer.
“We (Christians) walked away
from our responsibility,’’ Vaughan
said. He added that Christians holed
up inside the church instead of
reaching out to encourage and sup
port others, especially in the
schools.
Vaughan heard about a program
like TRAC implemented by a church
in a school in West Virginia.
Discipline problems in the school
declined, and the buddies even col
lect school supplies for children. It
has been a beneficial partnership.
Superintendent Gregory Todd
and aU four school principals have
approved of Vaughan’s plan and
said they would appreciate commu
nity support and encouragement for
the schools.
A meeting to discuss the program
is set for Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in the fel
lowship hall of The Hertford
Baptist Church. It is open to anyone
willing to give a few minutes a week
to the community. Vaughan hopes to
have teams on campuses on Sept. 27.
United Nations agency
names storms
News reports indicate that
Hurricane Dennis is tracking up the
east coast heading for the United States.
Says who? Who gives storms the names
we aU remember as Fran, Andrew and
Hugo?
You may be surprised to learn that
such weather systems are given specific
names by a specialized agency of the
United Nations, the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Their headquarters is in Geneva,
Switzerland however they have six
regional associations around the world.
In our region North and Central
America have established a hurricane
committee that approves names and
coordinates the operation for forecasts
and warning of hurricanes and tropical
storms in the western Atlantic and
Caribbean. The regional center is the
United States Hurricane Center in
Miami.
They have a rotating system of
names and this is the adopted list for
this year. - Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Dennie,
EmUy, Floyd, Gert, Harvey, Irene, Jose,
Katrina, Lenny, Maria, Nate, Ophelia,
Philippe, Rita, Stan, Tammy, Vince, and
Wilma. The Greek alphabet (alpha,
beta, etc.) will be used to name addi
tional storms.
In other parts of the world hurri
canes are called typhoons, cyclonic
storms or tropical cyclones. They are
devastating not only for their strong
winds but also floods and storm surges
and other secondary effects such as tor
nadoes and landslides. The most severe
on record is a death toll of nearly
300,000 people in Bangladesh in 1970.
Inland residents need to pay at least
as much attention to these weather sys
tems as people on the coast. Statistics
show that hurricanes cause more
deaths inland then they do at the beach.
Historically such storms have been
named for a variety of reasons. At one
time they were named for the Saints
Day when they struck land, or in anoth
er case, on Australian forecaster even
named tropical cyclones after political
figures whom he disliked. Governments
have also tried the standard alphabet
soup of Abe - Baker - Charlie, etc. to
identify storms. During World War II
only female names were used, however
this was later expanded to alternating
male and female versions.
When the United Nations was
formed after World War II the World
Meteorological Association took up the
important task of providing standard
names for storms so that all would refer
to the same weather system. One can
imagine the confusion if different
countries referred to the same storm
with different names.
It is a common practice that when a
hurricane attains notoriety, as Fran
did, its name is taken off the list and
replaced with another name of the
same gender and beginning with the
same letter. That was the case with
Fran which has been replaced with; Fay.
We all hope that we don’t have another
one of those this year.
The WMO is just one of the many
UN organizations which affect every
day life around the world. Another is
the World Health Organization which
has successfully worked to eliminate
smallpox from the earth and is trying to
do the same with polio. While the UN
has its critics the public deserves to
know their positive accomplishments
in peace, public health and internation
al cooperative programs.
(Information on the United Nations
Association can be obtained by calling
919/542-0319. More information on WMO
can be obtained from their web site
www.wmo.ch) (David R. Work is a State
Vice President of the United Nations
Association)
Authors
to sign
books at
Newbold-
White
The Newbold-White House
is the first stop on a booksign
ing and lecture tour for the
authors of the new publica
tion, North Carolina Women
Making History. The free lec
ture is Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7
p.m.
Margaret Supplee Smith
and EmUy Herring WUson wUl
present a lecture based on
their new book. North Carolina
Women Making History.
Published by the University of
North Carolina Press, the book
traces how Tar Heel women
have live in, worked for, and
contributed to home, state, and
national history from pre-his
tory through World War II.
North Carolina Women had
its origin over a decade ago in a
state-funded project resulting
in an exhibition of North
Carolina women’s history at
the North Carolina Museum of
History in Raleigh. The exhibit
is now traveling across the
state.
Margaret Supplee Smith has
taught art and architectural
history at Wake Forest
University since 1979, where
she was instrumental in creat
ing the Women’s Studies
Program. Beginning in 1987
she coordinated the North
Carolina Women’s History
Project for the North Carolina
Museum of History and curat
ed the exhibition which opened
the museum’s new buUding in
1994. EmUy Herring WUson is
author of Hope and Dignity:
Older Black Women of the
South. She has taught at Wake
Forest University, Salem
College, the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro,
and Cornell University.
This 400-i-page book is high
ly illustrated with over 300
color and black and white pho
tos. Cover price is $29.95 hard
cover. The book wUl be offered
at a 20 percent discount at the
Sept. 9 booksigning.
The booksigning and lecture
is sponsored by the
Perquimans County
Restoration Association, the
Museum of the Albemarle, the
Perquimans County Library,
the Albemarle Literary Center,
and made possible through a
grant from the North Carolina
Humanities CouncU. For more
information caU (252) 426-7567.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 70s
Low: 60s
Mostly Cloudy
Friday
High: 80s
Low: 70s
Mostly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 80s
Low: 70s
Mostly Cloudy