P11/C6
Force amaryllis for holiday blooms
Page 4
Class of '59 enjoys reunion
Rage?
Groups aid needy
Rage 9
November 24, 2004
Vol. 72, No. 47 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
PERQUIMANS COUNTY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
^Oi/ -
375 ^ iioar?nnd
PERQUirilANS
Weekly
Former Bundy home for Thanksgiving
New
Hope
resident
dies in
Iraq
A man who spent much
of his youth in Perquimans
County will be laid to rest
near his childhood home
Saturday.
S/Sgt. Marshall Hugh
Caddy, 27, died last Tuesday
in a vehicle accident in
Khaladiyah, Iraq while
serving in the Iraq
Freedom Operation.
Caddy was riding in a
Humvee which collided
with a tank, his father told
the Associated Press.
Marshall E. Caddy of Kitty
Hawk said military offi
cials told him his son was
wearing special goggles
and the Humvee had limit
ed or no lights.
Caddy was a platoon
leader in the 1st Battalion,
506th Infanty Regiment,
2nd Infantry Division sta
tioned at Camp Greaves,
Korea. He had been in Iraq
about three months, duty
for which he volunteered,
according to his father.
Caddy e-maiiled his
father that he had been
involved in the recent
assault on Fallujah and
took part in the capture of a
Continued on page 10
Neighbors
united to
improve
roadway
ERIN RICKERT
After thousands of dol
lars in gravel filler, resi
dents on East Camp Perry
Road are finally getting the
roadway they have
dreamed of for nearly three
decades.
Home to 13 households,
21 lots sit on the half-mile
stretch of dirt and gravel
— soon to be paved by
Barnhill Construction out
of Elizabeth City.
Perquimans County
Manager Bobby Darden
said residents petitioned
county commissioners to
help pave the road in their
subdivision last summer
under the Special
Assessment Procedure.
Darden said this is the
first time the county has
implemented the Special
Assessment Procedure,
adopted by the state in 1987,
to help repair water and
sewer problems, beach ero
sion, drainage and road
projects like East Camp
Perry Road.
This procedure allows
the county to loan money
for the repairs and one year
after the project is com
plete, residents start to pay
back the loan over a speci
fied time period.
Continued on page 11
Soldier
returns from
Iraq for
holiday
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Carla Bundy touches her
husband often, as if to
make sure he is really
there.
After all, less than a year
after her marriage, her
groom was halfway around
the world in a war zone,
while she was left at home
with a blended family that
includes four children on
the premises full-time, in
addition to the couple’s
new business. New Hope
Stables.
“Yesterday was the 15th
of May, 2004,’’ Carroll wrote
in an e-mail to family and
friends several months ago.
“One year ago on that day
Carla and I were married.
Her two kids (Carson is five
and /Samantha is seven)
and 'my two kids (Becky is
11 and BiUy is 16) became
one big family. Two sets of
bunk beds, three bedrooms,
and two baths. Our home
became kinda small in a
hurry. We had started on
the stables about a month
or so before we got married
and actually had two board
ers and a pony of our own
Carroll Bundy of Hertford takes time for a photograph
with some young friends while on patrol in Iraq.
Bundy is enjoying a few days of leave with his family.
by then.
“Ten months later.
leave her with four kids.
Continued on page 14
Jennings' green thumb helps needy
ERIN RICKERT
Giving to the needy is
something many people
do during the holiday
season, but for 76-year-
old Melvin Jennings,
giving is something
done year round.
“I just love doing it
[giving],” Jennings said.
“That’s what makes me
feel good.”
Jennings, now retired
after nearly 24 years
with the Coast Guard, is
known by many in his
Winfall neighborhood
and the community as a ;
savior.
With the vegetables
he grows and meat he
raises on his land,
Jennings not only pro
vides for his family, but
many others in the area.
Widows, the elderly
and the sick often wake in
the morning to Jennings
signature — a bag of
fresh meat and vegeta
bles on their doorstep.
This is a tradition he has
kept up for almost 25
years.
“I just love people,”
Jennings said.
“Everywhere I go I try to
make people’s day.”
K. ■■ , .
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Melvin Jennings (left) gets help from his friends Matthew N. White and Edward
C. Jennings Jr. to kill hogs. Not only does Jennnings provide for his family, but
for those who could use a helping hand.
Those in need as close
as Winfall and as far away
as Elizabeth City wake up
to Jennings caring heart.
Though Jennings said
he does not have every
thing himself, vegetables
he and his wife Flora do
not grow in their one-acre
garden and meat he does
not raise, he said is substi
tuted with goods he finds
on sale at local grocery
stores.
Continued on page 9
Washlesky opens Belinda’s of Hertford downtovm
ERIN RICKERT
Close to 50 people,gath
ered for the ribbon cutting
to celebrate the Belinda’s of
Hertford opening last week.
The shop, formerly
Smith’s Jewelry, reopened
three months ago not only
with a new owner but new
jewelry lines and building
improvements.
With hours from 10 a.m.-
5:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday,
the store offers a wide vari
ety of jewelry and other
fine gifts, free deluxe gift
wrapping, bridal shower
gift delivery, engraving and
watch and clock repair.
Currently, owner
Belinda Washlesky carries
items by companies such as
Wilton Armetele, Galatea,
Jere Wright Global LTD
and Bulova.
“Between now and
Christmas a lot of new
merchandise will be com
ing in,” Washlesky said.
Washlesky said she
plans on adding additional
lines of leather goods, jew
elry and other items as
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Belinda and Paul Washlesky are joined by employees.
Chamber members and friends at the ribbon cutting
for Belinda's of Hertford in downtown Hertford.
often as once a month.
Washlesky said since the
store opened Aug. 19 it has
done quite well. Five brides
have already registered at
the store and she has prac
tically sold out of a few new
jewelry lines.
Yet fresh merchandise is
not the only thing
Washlesky has added to the
store.
Since the opening.
Washlesky has already
replaced the ceiling tiles in
the building, painted and
added a stereo with a little
background music for
atmosphere.
Washlesky said she
plans to add new fabric to
all the jewelry cases and
replace the carpeting in the
building soon.
“I just can’t believe all
the overwhelming support
I have gotten,” Washlesky
said. “I love it.”
As the former director of
Hertford’s Main Street
Program, Washlesky
helped numerous individu
als find buildings in town
where they could open
their businesses.
“Every time, in the back
of my mind, I wished I
would get a business,”
Washlesky said. “Now I
have one.”
Washlesky said she had
already registered at East
Carolina University and
purchased the books she
would need to enter the
MBA program when she
received a call from
Hertford Mayor Sid Eley.
Eley had called to inform
Washlesky the owners of
Smith’s Jewelry were clos
ing their doors.
Washlesky said she took
this as a sign and rethought
her path — less than a
month later Washlesky
opened Belinda’s of
Hertford.
firm
Four firms
present bids
ERIN RICKERT
Perquimans County
Middle and Hertford
Grammar schools will soon
say goodbye to their outdat
ed heating, ventilation and
air conditioning units fol
lowing the Board of
Education’s recent HVAC
design firm selection.
Progressive Design
Collaborative, LTD out of
Raleigh, was awarded the
bid after board members
spent four hours reviewing
design presentations by
four North Carolina engi
neering firms.
“The board could not
make a bad decision,” said
Perquimans County
Schools Superintendent Dr.
Kenneth Wells. “They all
came highly recommend
ed.”
Progressive Design along
with two other firms were
out of Raleigh while the
last firm traveled from
Waynesville to present.
“The board chose
Progressive Design because
they had done work in the
East,” WeUs said. “It was
very easy for us to check
references.”
While Progressive
Design’s work with more
than 400 public schools
around the state was
impressive, board members
were also taken with the
firm’s bid.
WeUs said design firms
can bid to take between 6
and 10 percent of the total
cost of repairs for their
work, but Progressive
Design was the lowest with
a bid range of 6 to 8 per
cent.
Now Progressive Design
will oversee the installation
of the system for the school
district.
The $1.8 million to install
not only the HVAC system,
but a new roof on
Perquimans County Middle
School will begin once pro
ject details are reviewed.
Continued on page 9
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 70
Low: 38
AM Clouds/pm Sun
Friday
High: 56
Low: 36
Sunny
Saturday
High: 62
Low: 47
Partly Cloudy