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Perquimans Heritage at work
Page 2
COA offers real estate classes
Pages
Hertford Grammar honor rolls
Page 6
April 24, 2002
Vol. 70, No. 16 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
P4/C3***********5-D1GIT 27944
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
A*- :
’■ 103
Perquimans
Weekly
Schools to cut bus service
ANNA G. MCCARTHY
Correspondent
Budget constraints are
requiring the Perquimans
County School System to cut
back on transportation.
The School System will have
three fewer buses operating
ANNA G. MCCARTHY
Correspondent
Soft white petals fall from
cherry trees. Flowers of every
bright hue spray the landscape
and magnificent Dogwood and
Red Bud trees line the streets.
Abandon your wool and
flannels, and step out in your
trendiest whites and crisp cot
tons.
Spring is here, and it is time
for a party — A Spring Garden
Party.
A Spring Garden Party, Pig-
Pickin’ and Historic Homes
Tour will be held during the
Perquimans Spring Weekend,
May 17-19.
A Pig-Pickin’ barbecue in
front of the Perquimans
County Courthouse is sched
uled for May 17 from 4 to 7
p.m. The celebration will
include live music. Tickets for
the Pig-Out-on-the-Green are
$5. For more information, call
426-2021.
The Historic Homes Tour of
Perquimans County, spon
sored by the Perquimans
County Restoration Associa
tion and Preservation North
Carolina, will be held May 18,
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and May 19,1
to 5 p.m. Tickets in advance
are $15, and $20 May 18-19. For
more information, call 426-
7567.
Homes included on the Tour
are: Creecy-Skinner-Whedbee
House, John Bogue House,
Francis Nixon House, Thomas
C. Blanchard House, Simpson-
Blanchard House, Roger
Stokes House, John White
House, George E. Major
House.
Also, the Temperance Hall,
Josiah Nicholson Store,
Land’s End, Jonathan Hill
Jacocks House, Col. Francis
Toms House, Richard Pratt
House, Bear Swamp House,
Bennetts Creek House, Flat
Branch House, Chowan House,
Pasquotank House, Piney
Woods Friends Meeting
House.
And, the Hertford United
Methodist Church, Masonic
Lodge Hall of Perquimans
Lodge 106 in Perquimans
County Courthouse and
Newbold-White House.
The Eleventh Annual
Spring Garden Party will be
held May 18, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The party will be located at the
Fletcher-Skinner-Nixon Plan
tation House (1815), the home
of Mr. and Mrs. J. Peter Ras-
coe, Jr.
Grilled marinated pork ten
derloin medallions on French
baguette with chutney, pate a
choux with crabmeat, capo-
nata cucumber with salmon
Couer a la creme, fresh fruit
skewers with assorted cheeses,
pecan stuffed mushrooms,
spring spinach spread with
assorted breads and curry
crackers.
Tickets for the Spring Gar
den Party are $25. A drawing
to win a $250 gift certificate to
Kenyon Bailey Garden and
Gift Center will be conducted
during the party with each
chance ticket costing $5 a
piece. Reservations for the
Spring Garden Party must be
made by May 10.
For more information about
tickets and the Spring Garden
Weekend, call the Newbold-
White House at 426-7567.
next school year, said Superin
tendent Kenneth Wells.
Wells said the annual aver
age cost to operate one bus is
$10,300. Eliminating three
buses will result in a savings of
more than $30,900.
This year’s transportation
efficiency rating is close to the
state average, and the changes
next year will result in a
higher efficiency rating, said
Wells.
Many suggestions were con
sidered to cut back on spend
ing, said Wells. Staggering
starting times of schools, and
allowing students from the
same area, regardless of age, to
ride the same bus were various
methods of reducing costs.
Wells said he would not rec
ommend allowing younger stu
dents to ride on the same bus
as much older students. It
would save money, but multi
age busing would not be benefi
cial to the students.
Wells said he worked in a
school system that used
multi-aging busing, and its dis
advantages far outnumbered
its advantages.
By eliminating three buses,
we will not have to consider
these alternatives, said Wells.
Service could be affected.
“It’s something we will have to
continue to monitor,” said
Wells.
PIRATES WIN IN BASEBALL
May 25
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•' • or i
Photo by Sam Wolfe The DaUy Advance
Andrew Almadova of Perquimans slides safely into second during the Pirates' game against Southside last week. Per
quimans won the game, 19-1. See game story on page 7.
Vietnam experience brings
vets together 37 years later
Editor’s note: The following
was written by the Rev.
William Greenhood of Indi
ana, who served with Har
vest Holley of Hertford, in
Vietnam in the 1st Battal
ion, 7th Cavalry — the one
featured in the Mel Gibson
movie, “We Were Soldiers.”
Dear People of Hertford,
We arrived at your court
house lawn on the morning of
March 30 and were delighted
at the warm reception we
Northerners received from
you. My wife and I loved the
visit from the Easter Bunny
and the parade of children
through town. But that did not
prompt our nearly 1,000-mile
journey. It was the friendship
long severed by time, miles,
and a series of events that
burnt an image on two young
mines, one from your faming
community and the other out
of a Bible College.
Inspired by a recent book.
We Were Soldiers Once, and
Young, made into a Mel Gib
son movie about the first
major battle of the Vietnam
war in 1965. There two regi
ments of the North Vietnam
ese army attack a greatly out
numbered group of American
soldiers in the small jungle
clearing along the Chupong
Mountains of the Central
Highlands.
I desired to close the gap of
37 years and seek out one of
your local citizens that made a
difference in my life. Fresh
n;.
The Rev. William Greenhood of Indiana (right), and Har
vest Holley (left) of Hertford, talked at Holley's home
recently 37 years after they served in Vietnam in the bat
tle depicted in the Mel Gibson movie, "We Were Soldiers."
from the halls of then Fort
Wayne Bible College, where I
was studying form pastoral
ministry, I was assigned to the
famed 7th Calvary. I had all
the training that the military
offered to a light weapons
infantryman but I lacked the
actual experience of live com
bat. Someone had told me that
if I would last through that
first firefight, I would learn
much of the survival tactics
needed to complete at tour of
duty. The policy was to pair
up a “new guy” with one of
experience. It is the same
principal that would make a
person select an experienced
driver to ride next to a driver
with a fresh, new learner’s
permit. Alongside of me that
hot and steamy fall was Har
vest “Sonny” Holley.
We were different in many
ways: I was a city-raised col
lege boy with almost three
years left in the Army, and
“Sonny” was farm-raised and
ready to get back to civilian
life in less than nine months.
We became close. I don’t mean
that we “got acquainted.” We
became close. We were sol
diers once, and young. The
procedure for “Recon” (recon
naissance platoon) was to be
dropped into the thick jungle
at one clearing and be
removed from another clear
ing some distance away. If cir
cumstances interrupted us on
route, then we would “dig in”
before darkness came. My mil
itary newness and fate put me
in the same foxhole with “Son
ny.” Together, we would
make a hole in that dried red
soil and bring in branches to
camouflage our home for the
night. We would sit back and
tell stories of life at home,
what we missed most, and
what we planned to do as soon
as we got to “the world” (as we
called it.) We would laugh at
the thought of our industrious
enemy who we joked could
make a helicopter out of a dis
carded beer can and some left
over communication wire.
“Sonny” has always had
such an exciting way of embel
lishing a story. I can still pic
ture his big grin and giggle
that made him “the best thing
on TV that night.” Somehow
the circumstances that
brought us together were out
of mind for just a moment or
two. We were soldiers
once...and young! I know that
we must have both thought
about our differences, but it
never mattered. I needed my
new friend, and he needed me.
As the night settled in we
would decide who would have
the first “watch” while the
other caught up on some
needed sleep. Morning would
come all too quickly. We
would repeat the frightful
words, “The night belongs to
‘Charlie’ (the G.I.’s nickname
for the enemy.)”
Continued on Page 8
The Albemarle Potato Festi
val, planned for Saturday, May
25, in Elizabeth City wiU be
holding a “Little Miss Tater
Tot” pageant. This marks the
second consecutive recent
year for the festival that began
in the 1930s and continued fob
more than three decades.
The committee for the pag
eant is seeking contestants
from the counties of Beaufort,
Camden, Chowan, Currituck,
Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, Per-
quimans, Tyrrell and
Washington.
One contestant will he
selected from each county to
participate in the actual pag
eant on the 25th. Contestants
will.be required to wear a suit
able Sunday-style dress during
the duration of the pageant
which will include the Festival
parade. The contestants will
be judged on their neatness,
poise, personality, and their
responses to simple interview
questions. Each contestant
will receive small gifts and
prizes, with the top three con
testants receiving special rec
ognition, and the 2002 winner
being crowned “Little Miss
Tater Tot.”
Those wishing to participate
should submit an entry form
to their county representative.
Contestants must be exactly
five (5) years of age by May 1,
2002 (proof of age required.) Of
those participants, one contes
tant will be selected by their
county representative to com
pete in the actual pageant.
The appropriate county rep
resentative must receive all
entry forms by May 1, 2002,
along with the required $10
entry fee. (Note: If child is not
selected as an actual contes
tant, the $10 fee will be refund
ed.) Checks for fees should be
made payable to the Albe
marle Potato Festival. Entry
forms are available online at
www.NCPotatoes.org/festival
or by calling (252) 335-1453.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 7i
LOW: 47
Mostly Cloudy
Friday
High: 67
LOW: 46
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 68
Low- 55
Mostly Cloudy