Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Dec. 2, 1999, edition 1 / Page 1
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The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its people Varsity teams win hoops openers Page 7 Sugar Plums are holiday tradition Page 2 Health issues discussed Page 11 The IZ 013165 11/lO/ZOOO *C20 PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY 110 W ACADEMY ST HERTFOf^D NC 27944 December 1,1999 Vol. 67, No. 48 Hertford, North Carolina 27944 MEOME Perquimans IWeekly Sheriff Robinson dies Sunday at home Memorial service set for Thursday at PCHS CINDY COURBAT The Daily Advance and SUSAN R. HARRIS Editor It seems fitting that Ralph Robinson wiU be eulogized in a school. The 72-year-old sheriff of Perquimans County was known across the county for his love of children and com mitment to making their futures brighter. His funeral Parade is Saturday SUSAN R. HARRIS Editor Chamber parade organizers are making their lists and checking them twice as the big day approaches. “We want this to be a com munity Christmas parade,” said Chamber board member Brenda Lassiter, who serves on the Parade Committee. “We want people to come out and spend the day with us — enjoy shopping in downtown Hertford at our stores and with our vendors on the court house lawn, eat at the food court or one of our restau rants, and get in the holiday spirit with the parade and entertainment.” Lassiter said student musi cians from the high school and middle school are tuning up for the Saturday parade, along with the Northeastern High School band. In addition to the bands, over a dozen floats entered by civic groups, churches, schools and businesses; deco rated cars; horses and more have signed up to participate. Floats in all categories wiU be judged with $25 and a trophy going to the first place entry and $15 to the second. The parade, themed “Pitching a Perfect Christmas” in memory of Jim “Catfish” Hunter, will leave the high school at 1:30 p.m. Hunter’s wife, children and grandchildren will serve as grand marshalls. They will leave their vehicle downtown and sit on the reviewing stand. Behind them will be members of the 1963 PCHS state champi onship baseball team. The procession will move down Edenton Road Street, turn right onto Grubb Street, turn right onto Church, turn right onto Dobbs, turn left onto Edenton Road, then pro ceed back to the high school. Santa Claus will get off his sleigh downtown and sit on the courthouse steps to hear the Christmas lists of boys and girls. Downtown shops will be open all day, vendors will be open from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and music on the courthouse lawn will begin at noon. The BPW Christmas tree will be lit after the parade, as will the town Christmas decorations. service will be held Thursday at Perquimans County High School. Indeed, Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Shirley Wiggins said Robinson will be remembered most for the encouragement and sup port he gave to area youth. “He served with D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and the Governor’s One-On-One Program, and he had a genuine interest and con cern for children,” Wiggins said. “I’ve never heard anyone with anything but nice to say about him. “He’U leave many fond mem ories,” Wiggins added. “I am totally grieved by his death.” As the long-term D.A.R.E. officer, Robinson touched the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of local youth. Ralph Robinson Talking about youth brought a smile to his face; about the obstacles many faced, a tear to his eye. Robinson lost his short bat tle with Mesothelioma, a dis ease resulting from exposure to asbestos, at his home Sunday. He was diagnosed with the disease on May 28. He sub sequently underwent surgery. A native of Patchogue, N.Y., Robinson was appointed sher iff on Aug. 1, 1998. He was elected to the post in November of that year. Prior to assuming the sheriff’s post, he served as a deputy for 14 years. “We aU appreciate the good work he has done and whl miss him,” said Perquimans County Commissioner’s Chairman Charles Ward. “Sheriff Robinson had a lot of young supporters..and also did a lot of good while serving as D.A.R.E. officer.” Chief Deputy Eric Tilley will step in as interim sheriff Signs of the season PHOTOS BY SUSAN HARRIS All around Perquimans, it's beginning to look like Christmas. Wreaths, many like the large greenery ones decorated with bows adorn ing the windows at the Hertford town offices (above), are hung on doors and windows. Lights twinkle on outside trees and bush es, candles shine in win dows and Christmas trees are going up daily. On lawns are sleighs, reindeer, snow men, lighted characters and nativity scenes. After the parade Saturday afternoon, the town ornaments, like the new wreaths with can dles downtown (left) will illuminate the downtown area. Weekend Weather Thursday Hmni SI Low: 26 Partly Cloudy Friday Hioh: 60 Low: 36 Partly Cloudy Saturday Him 64 Low: 44 Partly Cloudy until the Board of Commissioners appoints a per manent replacement. By law, the commissioners fill the unexpired term of a sheriff. On Monday, Tilley described Robinson as “an honest, good person” who will be “greatly missed” in the department. TUley and Robinson served together as deputies under for mer Sheriff Joe Lothian. Robinson continued with the sheriff’s department until his retirement, and even then con tinued to serve as the D.A.R.E. officer, while Tilley accepted positions with the Elizabeth City Police Department and later with the state as a proba tion/parole officer. He came back to the Sheriff’s depart ment on Dec. 1, 1998 as chief deputy at Robinson’s request. Memorial services will be held today (Thursday) at 3 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Burial will follow at Cedar Wood Cemetery with Swindell Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. The high school will release students at 1:50 p.m. on Thursday. All other schools Will release at regular time. Ward said the commission ers have not yet met to make a decision on closing county offices, but he anticipates that offices will close during the memorial service. The flag on the courthouse lawn is being flown at half-mast in Robinson’s honor. Survivors include Robinson’s wife, Dorothy Sutcliffe Robinson, four daugh ters, and three sons. (See complete obituary information on page 3.) Hertford residents get electric, cable interruptions SUSAN R. HARRIS Editor The town of Hertford has announced that its electric customers will experience temporary power outages as a resiilt of the town’s switch to a new voltage system. Town manager John Christensen said Tuesday that the original projected begin date of the outages was Dec. 6; however, at a meeting on Tuesday with all those involved in the project the out age dates were estimated at Dec. 14 and 15. Christensen said the town has installed the transformers necessary to upgrade the town’s present 4k volt system to 12k volts. A separate trans former serves each of the town’s four circuits. During the switch, work crews will have to manually switch each transformer from 4k volts to 12k volts. The switch will take 4-5 hours at each transformer. Power will be interrupted on each circuit as the system is switched. The plan is to change two circuits each day over a two- day period. Christensen said he is advocating that the work be done beginning at 10 or 11 p.m. to create as little distur bance to residents as possible. He said every effort will be made to minimize the outages, however, residents may want to set back-up alarm clocks on those dates if their alarms are shut off when the power goes off. Christensen said he will try to notify businesses that gener ally have late hours when the circuit serving that area wiU be shut down. It would be impossible, he said to notify each residential customer. Those with critical electric needs are asked to notify the town office at 426-5311 or 426- 1969. Mediacom customers in Hertford, WinfaU and Edenton should get better cable quality for Christmas. The next few days, however, could make some nice folks think naughty thoughts. Maggie Blythe, Mediacom[s director of Government and Legal Affairs, said customers in the three municipalities could be experiencing inter ruptions of service as a result of an upgrade that is under way. Blythe said service prob lems could range from the sig nal going off and on for a few minutes to a 2-3 hour period with no service, or periods of poor picture quality. As the upgrade continues and service crews move down the line, some customers may experi ence more than one service interruption. Never should anyone be without service overnight, Blythe said. In some areas of the affected municipalities, the upgrade is complete. Customers there should experience no more ser vice problems from the upgrade. Blythe said Mediacom rec ognizes that service interrup tions are frustrating to cus tomers, and therefore, the com pany has brought in more per sonnel to assist with the pro ject. “We essentially have jtripled the staff up there,” she said. “We have up to 20 people working in that area.” Barring unforseen delays, construction is expected to be complete by mid-December. The upgrade takes Medicom from a 450 MHz coaxle system with no fiber pptics to a 750 MHz fiber optic system. Bl3dhe said the technology upgrade provide the platform neces sary for Medicom to offer cus tomers increased reliability, improved picture quality, and future additional services such as digital television and high speed internet access. Blythe said Medicom’s long term plans include the explo ration of additional services through the new technology and expanding to unserved areas. Actual work in progress includes replacing aerial lines and laying new underground cable. Blythe said that Mediacom wiU fix any damage done to property during the construction process. Medicom customers who experience prolonged service interruptions may call Medicom at 1-800-946-5388. The customer service center is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days ^ week and can respond to questions or concerns*" tomers may have abo cable service.
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Dec. 2, 1999, edition 1
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