Writing and Reading
Rage?
Letters to Santa
Pages 7-10
Basketball update
Page 6
11 'mi
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HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
12/17/2002,
4NS
December 18, 2002
Vol. 71, No. 51 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Weekly
Downtown awning collapses
ALICE BREWIN
Staff Writer
Some residents who live
near downtown Hertford
were startled by a loud,
crashing s^und late last
Tuesday night.
The noise was the sound
of the awning of The
Wishing Well collapsing
under the weight of bricks
falling from high up the
building’s front waU.
“It sounded like a bomb
went off,” said a man who
lives close to downtown.
The collapse occurred
sometime after 11 p.m. on
Dec. 10. A brick facing feU,
taking the wood-shingled
awning in front of The
Wishing Well with it.
Fortunately, the timing of
the incident was late in the
evening and no one was
hurt.
“I feel very fortunate
that it happened at night,”
said property owner Erie
Haste the morning after the
incident. “We are cleaning
it up and we wUl have the
store open and the area safe
by this afternoon.”
Mary White, owner of
The Wishing Well, echoed
Haste’s sentiments.
“I am reaUy glad no one
was hurt,” White said.
“Everything wiU be back to
normal as soon as this is
cleaned up.”
The incident occured
less than a week after
Caroling on the Green and
the Chrsitmas parade
brought crowds to down
town Hertford.
The clean-up was com
plete by Wednesday after
noon.
Haste said he planned to
pay for the cost of the
clean-up.
“It’s not the insurance
company’s responsibility to
pay for something like
this... it’s a structural
thing,” Haste said.
The damaged building
once housed the State
Theater, and, like many of
downtown Hertford’s old
buildings, has its share of
woes which Haste attribut
es to its flat-roofed design.
Haste believes sleet from
the ice storm may have
forced water up into the
brick facing, subsequently
freezing and expanding in
cracks. He theorized this
expansion could have
caused the brick facing to
collapse.
Besides repairing the
facing and replacing the
destroyed awning. Haste
has plans to replace the
remaining awning in front
of Hertford Hardware as
well.
Haste claims the build
ing is now “very structural
ly sound.”
According to Town
Manager John
Christensen, who also
serves as the town’s code
enforcement officer, main
taining old buildings like
the ones downtown is basi
cally up to the property
owner.
Virgil Parrish,
Perquimans County
Building Inspector, said
state law does not require
inspection of old buildings.
The shingled awning in
front of The Wishing Well
in downtown Hertford
crashed onto the side
walk and in the street
late Tuesday night.
Workmen stayed busy
most of Wednesday clean
ing up the sidewalk and
street. By late afternoon,
the debris was cleared
away, but the building
had a decidedly different
look.
PHOTOS BY ALICE BREWIN
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■
PCHS student earns Hometown Hero Award
Megan Stallings is not
one to draw attention to
herself in a crowd.
That, however, does not
mean that she doesn’t stand
out. The Perquimans
County High School senior
influences those around
her with her example of
determination, teamwork,
academic performance and
school, church and commu
nity service.
For her accomplish
ments, Stallings was named
the December Lowe’s
Hometown Hero by Lowe’s
Home Improvement
Warehouse in conjunction
with the North Carolina
High School Athletic
Association.
Lowe's Hometown
Heroes program acknowl
edges the accomplishments
of North Carolina high
school students who excel
in the combined areas of
academics, community ser
vice and athletics.
Stallings’ achievement wiU
be recognized during the
first half of a Carolina
Panthers' football game
this month, and
Perquimans County High
School will receive a $1,000
Lowe's gift card on Megan's
behalf.
“When you think about a
student who is active in
athletics, excels in acade
mics and is involved in the
community as well, you
automatically think of
Megan,” said Carolyn
Rogers, who for four years
coached Megan on
Perquimans' volleyball
team and nominated her
for the award. “Megan is an
outstanding student,
always willing to go the
extra mile for anyone. She
is the type of student you
want to have helping you.”
Second in her senior
class, Megan has a 4.2 GPA
and was captain of the vol
leyball team. She attended
the North Carolina
Governor's School's
English program in sum
mer 2002. As a junior,
Megan was one of a dozen
students selected from
across the state to observe
the inner workings of state
government in the North
Carolina Governor's Page
Program.
As a sophomore, Megan
worked 40 hours as a page
in the North Carolina
House of Representatives.
There she saw firsthand
how laws are made.
“Megan has always been
one who searches for excel
lence in everything she
does,” said Dwayne
Stallings, principal of
Perquimans County High
School and also Megan's
father. “If she has a project
to complete or certain
grades that she wants to
obtain, she puts her mind
and efforts toward the task
without procrastination.”
President of the Beta
Club, Megan has helped
organize local food drives.
She plays percussion in the
school band and is an
Continued on page 12
Schools
replacing
heating
elements
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Perquimans County
Schools is replacing over
40 heat exchangers on
HVAC units at Hertford
Grammar and
Perquimans County
Middle schools.
Superintendent
Kenneth WeUs told board
members that the school
system must replace 41
of the 83 heat exchang
ers. The units are rust
ing, cracking and rot
ting, Wells said, which
means the heat is being
released from the units
before reaching class
rooms.
.“This is something we
don’t have a choice,”
WeUs said of the project.
Fortunately for the
cash-strapped school sys
tem, Wells said it
appears that at least 35 of
the exchangers are still
under warranty. That
means the school system
will have to pay for the
replacements initially,
but should get a refund
from the original manu
facturer. Wells said the
units are in the ninth
year of use and came
with a 10-year warranty.
Maintenance employ
ees Douglas Sawyer and
Eddie Fowler have
installed the units that
have been replaced so far.
However, the pair can
replace only two per day,
and their work has been
hampered by rain. WeUs
said a contractor has
been asked to provide a
cost estimate on helping
the school system’s staff
to replace the units so
that students and staff
can stay warm and the
system can work effi
ciently.
In other facilities
information presented.
Wells said that the
drainage project at
, Central School has been
completed and appeared
to be taking care of
water problems at the
site during the last rain.
The mold at Central
also appears to be con-
troUed at this point, but
WeUs said weather could
be a factor in that
improvement.
Megan Stallings
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 64
Low: 53
PM T'Storms
Friday
High:68
Low: 39
Rain
Saturday
High: 52
Low: 34
Mostly Sunny