Womanless beauty pageant
Page 4
Fire departments get grants
Page 4
Lady Pirates fall in FRC
Rage?
P14/C5
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
10/7/2003.
October 15, 2003
Vol. 71, No. 42 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perql
Weekly
35 cents
Isabel
spawns
hsh kills
1^-:
: Low dissolved oxygen
levels in significant por
tions of the Chowan,
Roanoke, Cashie,
Pasquotank, Perquimans
and Scuppernong rivers
and other river systems in
h3>rtheastern North
^rolina following
Hurricane Isabel have
caused devastating fish
kills affecting a number of
species, including large-
mouth bass, sunfish, cat
fish, gizzard shad and suck
ers.
“We found widespread
areas of hypoxic waters
and lots of dead fish,” said
Chad Thomas, fisheries
biologist with the N.C.
Wildlife Resources
Commission. “The impacts
to game and non-game fish
communities in northeast-
erh North Carolina are dis
astrous.”
Oxygen levels plummet
ed shortly after Hurricane
Isabel blew through the
state on Sept. 18. Heavy
rains flooded swamplands
adjacent to rivers and
streams, and high winds
helped stir the water and
organic matter such as
decaying plants, leaves and
branches.
“During decomposition
of this organic matter, bac
teria consume dissolved
oxygen and, therefore,
these wetlands typically
contain water that is low in
dissolved oxygen,” Thomas
said. “Quick drainage of
the wetlands lowered oxy
gen levels in the receiving
waters, and decomposition
of organic matter further
depleted oxygen levels.”
Depending on species,
fish generally require dis
solved oxygen levels near 3
parts per million to survive,
and levels near 5 parts per
million to thrive.
Continued on page 10
Hurricane crashes trees,
but can't break true love
Couple finds
way to marry
in storm’s
aftermath
SUSAN R. HARRIS
It has been said that lit
tle girls begin planning
their weddings when
they’re tots.
They dream of the day
they’ll wear that beautiful
white gown and. marry the
handsome, smiling man at
the altar.
Once a wedding is immi
nent, months of planning
dnd fittings and decisions
follow.
But Camille Hulko’s
dream wedding could have
turned into a nightmare
thanks to Hurricane Isabel.
She and her fiance, Jeffrey
Maier, however, bent to the
winds of the powerful
storm, but did not let its
aftermath break their
resolve to marry. They tied
the knot in a most memo
rable ceremony, accoring to
the groom’s mother, EUen
Maier..
It aU actually started in
December 2000 when Dick
and EUen Maier moved to
Hertford. The New Jersey
couple feU in love with the
area when Mr. Maier was
consulting with a firm in
Bertie County.
They soon decided to
make Hertford their home.
They found a home on
Front Street overlooking
the Perquimans River.
Their children, too,
became quite fond of the
lifestyle here.
Their daughter moved
here, and son Jeffrey and
his fiance, Camille, have
also looked at houses in
Hertford.
Because Jeffrey and
Ol:
- ■
Jeffrey and Camille Maier make their way down Hertford's tree-littered streets on
their wedding day, the Saturday after Hurricane Isabel hit. The storm caused great
changes in the couple's outdoor wedding plans, but it could not stop the Maiers
from tying the knot.
Camille were so fond of
Perquimans, and the
Maiers had such a lovely
lawn overlooking the river,
they decided to get married
there.
The wedding date was
set for Sept. 20, and the cou
ple began planning a year
in advance for the big day.
The lawn would be deco
rated, there would be a car
riage for the couple and
there would be a formal
dinner on the lawn under a
big tent.
The immediate famUies
— 14 people in aU — came
to Hertford during the
week to help get the lawn
ready for the nuptials.
The women brought
their gowns and the men’s
tuxes were picked up on
Wednesday.
“We were equipped with
clothing,” Ellen Maier said.
Hurricane Isabel was
predicted to hit by that
time, and the families
tl^^ght they’d probably
spend Friday picking up
limbs in the yard before
they could decorate for the
wedding.
Even until the storm was
in its mid-stages, Ellen
Maier said everyone
thought the wedding would
go off as planned.
But Isabel hit Hertford
with a vengence, and was
especially hard on the
rivershore. Waves crashed
on the Maier’s property,
damaging the foundation of
their home and eroding
much of the front yard.
High winds and the water
sent their gas tank on a
voyage and their shed made
its way up the street. Three
trees were down in the
yard, although none hit the
house.
It soon became obvious
that there would be no wed
ding on the Maier’s lawn on
Saturday.
But that doesn’t mean
the wedding was also blown
away by Hurricane Isabel.
“We just kept finding
ways to get it to work,”
Ellen Maier said. “They
reaUy handled it well.”
On Friday, the guests
were called and told that
the area had been hit hard
by the storm, and that the
guests would not be able to
stay in the hotel and bed
and breakfast rooms they
had booked for the wed
ding. There was no electric
ity and some roads were
impassable.
Continued on page 10
T iTrrTTTTNCr PROJECT B00 Siir0 Rbout your r0ul 0Stut0 ii00(is
1
Employees of Lee Construction Company are lowered
in a steel safety cage over the side of the S-bridge,
where they complete part of the work necessary to
install the period lighting on the historic landmark.
The bridge will be closed at least until Friday as the
work continues.
SUSAN R. HARRIS
You can Bee-Sure you’re
getting hometown service
when you call Teresa
“Terry” White Ben-Dov for
your real estate needs.
The Woodville native
opened Bee Sure Real
Estate on Courthouse
Square in late August, and
a grand opening on Nov. 3,
complete with a ribbon cut
ting sponsored by the
Chamber of Commerce.
Ben-Dov has been in real
estate almost three years,
although she’s always had
an interest in it.
She first got in the busi
ness by answering an
advertisement for an office
manager in a real estate
office. She found she liked
it so much, she decided to
get her broker’s license.
Then she decided to open
her own office.
Her husband, Ron,
assists in the business and
is now working on earning
his real estate license.
She chose Perquimans
County because it’s close to
her heart.
“It’s my home,” Ben-Dov
said. “It’s my hometown. I
I
storm
makes
rivers
dangerous
Half-sunken logs and
other hurricane debris
should give coastal North
Carolina boaters pause.
The N.C. Wildlife
Resources Commission,
which is responsible for
enforcing boater-safety
laws, advises boaters in
hurricane-slammed coastal
and inland waters to throt
tle down and watch for haz
ards.
“The most abundant
problem is tree limbs and
wood debris,” said
Enforcement Capt. Jay
Rivenbark, who is stationed
in Edenton. “Sometimes
they're high in the water,
and you can see them. But
after a few weeks, they get
waterlogged and start to
drop just under the sur
face.”
Also littering the rain-
swoUen rivers and sounds
are whole or broken steps,
decks and piers. Even
propane tanks await
unwary boaters.
“We've seen quite a few
of them,” Rivenbark said of
waterborne propane tanks,
“from the small ones to the
100- or 200-gaUon tanks.”
Wildlife officers are
clearing navigation haz
ards as they spot them. To
date, officers have not
worked any Hurricane
Isabel-related boating acci
dents.
Water traffic was expect
ed pick up this week, espe
cially around the
Albemarle Sound, when
striped bass season opened
Oct. 11.
“We don't want to say
that folks don't need to be
out in a boat,” Rivenbark
said, “but they do need to be
cautious, slow it down and
keep a sharp eye out.”
A group of citizens in
Perquimans County is very
concerned about the dam
age done to local waterways
during Hurricane Isabel.
Volunteers are asked to
meet at the boat docks
behind the Hertford
Municipal Building on
Saturday, Oct. 18 at 9 a.m.
Those who can are asked to
bring boats and trucks to
help with clean-up efforts.
For more information or
to report an area of con
cern, contact Chris Lane at
426-5711, 426-5169 or
col@inteliport.com.
The Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting
marking the grand opening of Bee Sure Real Estate in
Hertford recently.
grew up in Perquimans
County”
Besides, she sees the
area as a read estate market
with plenty of potential.
“It’s a great place to live
and to own a business,” she
said. “The wonderful com
munity spirit is a big
draw.”
She had begun to see
traffic in her office before
Hurricane Isabel hit, and
now there is some move
ment in the market again,
she said. She got her first
listing this weekend.
Bee-Sure is a member of
the Multiple Listing
Service, which means she
can find a home to suit any
taste even if she doesn’t
have it listed.
Those she does list also
appear on the MLS and can
be shown by other agents in
the area.
Continued onpage 10
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 73
Low: 53
Sunny
Friday
High:73
Low: 55
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 68
Low: 45
Few Showers