The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its peof
lEBEDME
JUL 1 9 2000
Celebrations
page 2
Rain may affect cotton
page?
Library news
page 3
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July 20, 2000
Vol. 68, No. 29 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perquimai^j
Weekly
School
opens
Aug. 10
While students and teachers
enjoy the waning weeks of
summer, administrators and
clerical personnel in the
school system are busy prepar
ing for the opening of school
on Aug. 10.
Applications for free and
reduced price lunches will be
mailed this week. Each family
already in the database from
last year will receive an appli
cation in the mail, according
to Child Nutrition Director
Donna Harris. Applications
will also be available at all four
schools, the schools central
office, the county Department
of Social Services and the
county Health Department.
The forms are also available
by calling Harris at 426-5741.
Harris said applications
should be returned as soon as
possible.
Each family with children
in the school system should
complete one application,
whether the family is applying
for free or reduced-price meals
or not. Harris said completing
the forms will help the system
to update its mailing list with
the new addressess assigned to
many families this summer.
Families not applying for free
or reduced price meals should
write “Address Update Only”
in the space for income.
Breakfast will be free to all
students in all schools during
the 2000-01 school year, regard
less of eligibility status for
free or reduced-price lunches.
Full-price lunches will be
$1.25 for pre-kindergarten
through second grade and
$1.50 for grades 3-12. Reduced-
price-lunches are 40 cents at
all grade levels.
Tf'a family now gets food
stamps or WFFA benefits for a
child, that child can get free
meals. A foster child may get
free meals regardless of fami
ly income. All other eligibility
will be determined based on
income.
In addition to gearing up to
provide meals, all four schools
are in the process of finalizing
classroom assignments and
student schedules.
Perquimans County High
School Assistant Principal
Tim Aydlett said students
enrolled at that school will
receive their schedules by
mail. He added that the letters
will be mailed in plenty of
time for students to make nec
essary schedule changes.
Students attending both the
middle school and Hertford
Grammar School will be noti
fied by mail of assignments
pripr to the opening of school.
Personnel at those locations
said Tuesday morning that
scheduling and assignments
are being finalized; however, a
mailing date has not been
determined. Supply lists will
be included in letters for both
schools.
No one was available at
Central School Tuesday. ‘
Recomendations for teach
ing and administrative posi
tions, including one for a new
principal at PCHS, will go to
the board Monday night, said
Personnel Director Brenda
Dail. Dail said she is presently
filling positions left by a cou
ple of recently-submitted res
ignations. She said new staff
at all schools have solid cre
dentials, many with classroom
experience.
“We’re in good shape (per
sonnel-wise),” she said.
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PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Albemarle Electric Membership Corporation officials celebrated the opening of its headquarters expansion and reno
vation Friday with a ribbon cutting (above). The building was dedicated to and will bear the name of Dorris B. White,
a retiree who moved through the ranks from secretary to general manager during her 50-year tenure with Albemarle
EMC. Among those to recognize White during the ceremony was AEMC Board President L. A. Harris Jr. (below).
AEMC dedicates building to White
Dorris White saw a lot of
electrifying changes during
her career.
White spent 53 years with
Albemarle Electric
Membership Corporation,
blazing a trail in the industry
for women in management
and witnessing a number of
technological advances. In
recognition of her dedication
to the electric cooperative
and its customers, the newly
expanded and renovated
EMC headquarters was
named the Dorris B. White
building during a ribbon cut
ting ceremony at the site
Friday.
Albemarle EMC president
L.A. Harris Jr. said with all
the changes that occurred in
the industry over the years,
the one thing that remained
the same locally was White’s
presence and commitment.
White was first hired as a
bookkeeper/secretary for
Albemarle Rural
Electrification
Administration in 1946. REA,
as it was called at that time,
was located on the second
floor of the Hertford Banking
Company, now Centura Bank.
At that time, the holes to set
electric poles were dug by
hand and bookkeeping meant
poring over columns of fig
ures in huge ledgers. And
management positions in the
industry were held by men.
White watched that change
as outside employees began
using heavy equipment to set
poles and bookkeeping
became computerized. Her
role with the cooperative also
changed, as she moved up to
bookkeeper then office man
ager, and on April 25, 1983,
became the first woman to
serve as the general manager
of an electric cooperative in
North Carolina. Meanwhile,
the REA changed its name to
Electric Membership
Corporation, or EMC. The
Albemarle REA moved from
downtown to Edenton Road
Street in facilities that now
house the Extension Office,
then in 1965 dedicated the
building in Winfall.
The additional 4,000 square
feet of office space and reno
vations dedicated last week
include state-of-the art com
puter and security systems
housed in a climate-con
trolled room, additional
offices to serve a growing cus
tomer base and house possi
ble expanded services in the
future, and a drive-up win
dow for more convenient cus
tomer service. The meeting
room has also been renovat
ed. It will seat 32 and will be
available to civic groups.
On hand for Friday’s cere
mony were EMC employees
and directors, former employ
ees, community leaders, and
White’s children, Martha,
Frances and Edmond, and
grandsons, Charles and
Henry.
Outdoor chamber music concert set
The historic 1730 Newbold-White
House will serve as the backdrop for an
outdoor chamber music concert on
Sunday Aug. 6, 5-6 p.m. The free concert
is presented hy the North Carolina
School of the Arts and sponsored by the
Perquimans County Restoration
Association and the Perquimans Arts
League.
Bring your blankets and lawn chairs
for this casual outdoor family concert.
The program “Guitar and Friends,” fea
tures four students from the prestigious
North Carolina School of the Arts. On
guitar will be North Carolinian Colin
Allured and Russian student Polina
Ravdel. Ludwig Carrasco, a Mexican stu
dent, will be on violin, with Sarah
Wilson on flute. The 60-minute program
features a medley of Spanish and South
American folksongs, along with compo
sitions hy Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Faure,
and Jacques Ibert.
To complete the picnic concert, a light
box supper, including a beverage, can be
purchased for $5. Reservations for the
box suppers must be made by Aug. 3 and
paid for in advance. To reserve a supper,
call the Newbold-White House at
(252)426-7567.
The Newbold-White House will be
open for tours prior to the concert begin
ning at 2 p.m. Grounds for the concert
will open at 4:30 p.m. The concert is free,
but donations will be accepted. For more
information call 426-7567.
Blood supplies are critically low
A nationwide blood shortgage has the
American • Red Cross asking the public for
immediate blood donations to boost critically
low supplies.
According to the Red Cross, virtually all of
the organization’s 36 blood services regions
have been appealing for donations in local
communities in recent weeks. However,
despite these efforts, a critical need for all
blood types remains.
Currently, the Red Cross is struggling to
maintain 50 percent of the target inventory
levels of hospitals, which means each hospital
receives on half the blood requested to support
scheduled surgeries and trauma centers.
Blood is needed for routine surgeries, acci
dents and diseases such as cancer, heart dis
ease, and hemophilia.
Historically, summer months are a chal
lenging time for blood donations. High school,
college and university students who partici
pate in blood drives during the school months
are on vacation. Their donations account for
about 15 percent of collections during school
months.
People are also on vacation and tend not to
donate during the summer.
Higher demand has also contributed to the
summer blood shortage, officials said.
Although donations overall are up, hospital
distribution is also on the rise.
Members of New Hope United Methodist
Church will host a bloodmobile visit on
Monday, July 24, 3-7 p.m. in the church fellow
ship hall. The goal for the drive is 50 pints. For
directions, information or to pre-register for a
specific time to donate, call Donna Harris at
264-2319. Pre-registration is requested.
The Perquimans Chapter AARP also hosts
regular blood drives at the Senior Center five
to six times each year. The next is set for Aug.
24, 3-7 p.m.
Former
mayor dies
Former Hertford Mayor
Emmett Landing died in
Chowan Hospital Friday.
The owner/operator of
Landing Supply Company
for many years. Landing
served as mayor of Hertford
from 1967-1971. He was a
retired volunteer firefighter
with the Hertford Fire
Department and a Marine
Corps veteran of World War
II and Korea.
Landing was buried in
Cedar Wood Cemetery
Sunday.
(Please see page 3 for a
complete obituary.)
New
bank to
open
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
The East Carolina Bank
plans to open a full-service
branch in Hertford soon.
Executive Vice President
Dorson White, administrator
of East Carolina Bank’s
branches, said the bank has
received approval from the
FDIC and verbal approval
from the North Carolina
Banking Commission to set up
shop in Perquimans County.
“I think from a regulatory
standpoint we’re ready,” White
said. “We’re very anxious to
get up there and get going.”
While East Carolina will be
a new bank, there will be at
least one familiar face in the
building. Becky Winslow, for
merly of Centura Bank, will
serve as the institution’s local
manager. Winslow is working
with bank officials to review
staffing needs and hire
employees.
The bank is negotiating
with owners to purchase prop
erty located about 200 feet
south of the intersection of
US. Highway 17 and the east
ern side of Harvey Point Road,
White said. Once complete, the
bank will choose a final plan
for a building, which he said
will compliment the historic
feel of Hertford.
White described East
Carolina as a community bank
serving seven counties and 15
communities in Northeastern
North Carolina. It is head
quartered in Englehard. In
addition to its application for a
branch in Hertford, East
Carolina also has an applica
tion pending for a branch in
New Bern. If approved, the
branches will be the bank’s
sixteenth and seventeenth
locations. The expansion is
part of the bank’s mission to
be a permanent banking pres
ence in Eastern North
Carolina, White said.
White said East Carolina
Bank promotes community
banking, relying on local
employees to make most deci
sions on the local level.
“That (local decision-mak
ing) is a strong point of the
bank,” he said. “We’re firm
believers in relationship bank
ing. We pride ourselves on
responsiveness to customer
requests.”
Regional advisory boards
help guide the bank and sup
port local operations. White
said.
East Carolina Bank will
offer traditional banking prod
ucts, including mortgages.
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