PCRA annual meeting
Rage 2
Military notes
Pages
Hoops update
Pages 6
J P15/C6
COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
February 18, 2004
Vol. 72, No. 7 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perquimans
Weekly
Schools
make
more
changes
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Administrative changes
have continued in
Perquimans County
Schools following the resig
nation of Hertford
Grammar School Principal
Edward Williams on Feb. 2.
Tim Aydlett, who served
as assistant principal at the
high school for the past five
years, was scheduled to
retire in June. Instead,
Aydlett opted to go ahead
and retire, and accepted a.
contract to serve as princi
pal at Hertford Grammar
School until June 30.
To fill the vacancy at the
high school, Elonza Joyner
returned to full-time
employement through the
end of this fiscal year. He
had previously been a part-
time administrator.
Also, Doug Umphlett
moved into the role of act
ing- assistant principal
until the end of this school
year.
Umphlett has been with
the school system for 13
years, serving as at-risk
coordinator before assum
ing his new duties.
Superintendent Ken
Wells said that the system
will begin advertising for a
principal and an assistant
principal in March. He
Continued on page 8
Giving kids a smile
; ’/d
\
i\V'.
Dr. Jack Boone and dental assistant Delores Howell perform a procedure on
Hertford Grammar School studentAmber Lopresti last Thursday when the dentist
and his staff participated in National Give Kids a Smile Day. Dental offices across
the country who chose to participate donated their time to perform procedures on
children without dental insurance who otherwise might not have access to good
dental care.
Dentist, staff volunteer to help kids
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The good feelings they
felt last year as they helped
over 20 children who might
not otherwise have access
to good dental care prompt
ed Dr. Jack Boone and his
staff to participate once
again in National Give Kids
a Smile Day.
Last Thursday, the entire
staff worked off the clock,
giving their time to give
youngsters in Perquimans
County healthier smiles.
Twenty-two children
received cleanings and
exams, while staff per
formed 47 x-rays, 16
flouride treatments, four
restorations, two extrac
tions and 18 sealants.
And at the end of the day.
everyone was smiling —
children- because they left
with new toothbrushes,
school and Chowan-Gates-
Perquimans Partnership
for Children personnel
because their students
received needed quality
dental care, and Boone and
his staff because they had
met a health care need in
the community.
Library group honors Wiggins for local service
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Shirley Wiggins never
agrees to do anything until
she’s checked her calendar.
That’s because the'
retiree is so involved in the
community and local gov
ernment she hardly ever
has a free day.
Because of all she does
for the area, the Friends of
the Library recently named
her a Special Friend of the
County.
Wiggins is the third per
son to be honored for her
contributions by the
Shirley Wiggins
Friends, a support group of
the Perquimans County
Library*
After graduating vale
dictorian from Perquimans
County Training School in
Winfall (now Perquimans
County Middle School),
Wiggins attended nursing
school at St. Agnes School
of Nursing, St. Augustine
College in Raleigh. She
then spent 22 years in the
U.S. Navy Nurse Corps,
where she rose to the rank
of captain.
After a stint stationed at
Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, Wiggins
agreed to serve a one-year
tour on a hospital ship, the
USS Sanctuary, in Viet
Nam.
Although she had initial
ly planned to spend just a
couple of years in the Navy,
Wiggins accepted the
request to serve in Viet
Nam because there was
such a need for nurses
there. It was a tough assign
ment, Wiggins said, but she
felt she helped the young
men she cared for both
physically and emotionally.
At 32, Wiggins said most of
her patients were 18 and 19-
Continued on page 8
One look brought local couple together back in 1959
Part 2 of a series
SUSAN R. HARRIS
When 13-year-old Marta
Matthews spied 17-year-old
Freddie Colson on the steps
leading to her mother’s
teen center in downtown
Hertford, Cupid’s bow hit a
bulls-eye.
“They say there’s no
such thing as love at first
site, but there is,” Marta
recalls clearly that fateful
day in the summer of 1959.
“He was standing on the
top step and I fell in love
with him right that
instant.”
Marta asked Bud
Saunders, who knew both
she and Freddie, to intro
duce her to the handsome
young man.
Saunders did introduce
them, and started a rela-
Marta and Freddie Colson
today.
tionship that has lasted
almost 44 years.
Ironically, years later.
Bud’s son would marry
Marta and Freddie’s daugh
ter. But that’s another
Valentine’s tale.
Marta and Freddie Colson
prepare to go to his
senior prom in 1960.
The teen center run by
Marta’s mother, Hilda, was
responsible for many cou
ples getting together, Marta
said. As many as 200
teenagers a night went to
put quarters in the juke
box, flirt, dance and drink
Cokes. They came not only
from Perquimans County,
but from Elizabeth City and
Edenton, also.
But no matter how many
teens filled that center
night after night, from the
moment Marta laid eyes on
Freddie, she only had eyes
for him.
Marta wasn’t allowed to
date, but she managed to
see Freddie at placed like
the teeh center and school.
After flirting for several
months, Freddie kissed her
on Nov. 6, 1959, what she
calls her “kissing
Anniversary.”
“I’m just a romantic,”
Marta said. “I remember
all these dates.”
In January 1960, Marta
told Freddie he could come
by her house to see her.
“I couldn’t date, but I
Continued on page 8
Man gets 21
years for
stabbing
Williams tried
to murder
PCHS teacher
last May
BOB MONTGOMERY
The Daily Advance
An Elizabeth City man
who nearly stabbed his
estranged wife to death last
May received a minimum
sentence of 21 years in
state prison Tuesday.
Avis Lenear Williams,
37, of 1472 Lambs Grove
Road, who had a record of
previous assaults and pro
bation violations, pleaded
guilty to attempted first-
degree murder and a proba
tion violation from a previ
ous incident. He received a
maximum sentence of 26
years.
The charge of assault
with a deadly weapon with
iptent to kill and inflict
serious injury was dropped
because the victim, Tonya
Monique Williams, a 37-
year-old Perquimans
County High School biolo
gy teacher, wanted to avoid
having her son testify at
trial, said Assistant
District Attorney Nancy
Lamb.-
Avis Williams was
arrested by city police early
on the morning of May 17,
2003, after dragging his
screaming wife by the hair
into the back yard of their
home and then stabbing
her three times. One of the
stab wounds came within
“less than a half-centimeter
from her aorta,” Lamb said.
Avis Williams, under
court order to stay away
from his wife, had called
her an hour prior to the
attack, pleading with her to
drop charges from a previ
ous probation violation.
After the phone call, Tonya
Williams attempted to go to
sleep when she heard a
noise, looked out the win
dow, and saw her estranged
husband. Lamb said. She
Continued on page 8
Hertford Police Chief Dale Vanscoy shows how easy it
is to install a gun lock. The police and sheriff's depart
ments will be giving them away free to those who
wish to make their guns safer.
Gim locks given away
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Hertford Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy is concerned
that a local child may fall
victim to an “unloaded
gun” accident.
Vanscoy said nation
wide statistics show that
all too often, people — and
especially children — are
injured or killed when a
gun thought to be unloaded
discharges.
Vanscoy and
Perquimans Sheriff- Eric
Tilley are participating in
a national program aimed
at preventing accidental
shootings and educating
the public about gun safety.
Through Project
ChildSafe, both law
enforcement agencies were
given gun locks to distrib
ute free to the public. The
safety devices were deliv
ered last week.
The locks will be distrib
uted at the sheriff’s depart
ment on Feb. 20, 9 a.m.—4
p.m. and at the police
department on Feb. 27, 9
a.m.—4 p.m.
Quick and easy to use,
the gun locks prevent hand
guns and larger weapons
from firing even when the
Continued on page 8
Holiday
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 58
Low: 37
Sunny
Friday
High: 57
Low: 43
Mostly Sunny
Saturday
High: 63
Low: 40
SCAHERED T'sTORMS