Bethlehem Church turns 125 Page 4 Young pianists recognized Pages PQ sweeps softball tourney Page? July 13, 2005 Vol. 73, No, 28 Hertford, North Carolina 27944 t>1 O PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY 110 W ACADEMY ST HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306 rjtyulMANS Weekly Stolen canoe unites Mends ERIN RICKERT Eldon Winslow has logged thousands of hours paddling Perquimans County waters using the same aluminum canoe he pur chased 59 years ago, that was until recently when his precious canoe was stolen. “I bought it [the canoe] in 1946 and it came down in a first class coach on a passenger train,” the 85 year-old Winslow said. Ever since, the canoe has sat tied up in the yard near the water of Winslow’s Phelps Street home, awaiting the almost daily trips he makes in the boat — first during his years as an N.C. Wildlife Resource officer and later for recreation. Yet this all changed on June 11 when the canoe was taken from his back yard. “I was hurt,” Winslow said about the loss of his canoe. “I felt like some one had taken a part of me.” While local authori ties were searching for the boat, Zeb Daneker, along with several other longtime friends and neighbors of Winslow, had heard about Winslow’s misfortune and devised a plan to out fit Winslow with a new boat. “All my life I had seen Mr. Winslow paddling that canoe down the Continued on page 10 Wreck claims farmer's life ERIN RICKERT Long days spent along side his only son on the family’s farm in Durant’s Neck was work it seemed Perquimans County resi dent Ray Godfrey never wanted to give up. “He started farming years ago with nothing,” said Sharon G. Meiggs Monday as she remem bered her father, who died Thursday after the grain truck he was driving collid ed with a tractor-trailer on U.S. Highway 17. i Though the family had urged the 78 year-old to scale back duties on the farm — fearing his . age could prove dangerous in certain situations — Meiggs said Godfrey’s work was too much a hobby for him to quit. “He worked all the time and for every single penny,” Meiggs said. “He loved what he did and he was happy when he died.” Godfrey, who co-owned Sunray Farms with his son Earl Ray “Sonny” Godfrey, died in Albemarle Hospital just hours after arrival Thursday afternoon from injuries sustained in the accident. The driver of the tractor- trailer, Teddy Ray McMillan of Ruffin, S.C., suffered only minor injuries, said Trooper K.R. Briggs of the N.C. Highway Patrol. Godfrey was headed to Chapanoke Grain Storage with a load of freshly picked wheat, his family said, when the accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. Briggs said Godfrey was driving on Woodland Church Road when he failed to yield for a stop sign at the intersection with U.S. 17. Instead, he proceeded into the intersec tion and was trying to cross the highway’s paved medi an when his truck was struck by McMiUan's trac- V '’^1 PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT Highway patrol and fire fighters were among those who responded to the scene at Woodviile Road and U.S. Highway 17 last Thursday when a tractor-trailer and a farm truck collided (above), resulting in the death of Perquimans County farmer, Ray Godfrey. Godfrey's companion. Double Dip, seen with Godfrey at right, was rid ing with Godfrey and has been spotted in the vicin ity of the accident, but the Godfrey family has not been able to find him and bring him home. The Godfreys hope to get Double Dip returned home to them soon. tor-trailer. Briggs said McMillan, who was traveling south. Continued on page 10 SUBMITTED PHOTO Hertford resident arrested on drug Police find maryuana plants ERIN RICKERT Police arrested a Hertford man Saturday for allegedly attempting to grow several illegal plants in his backyard. Marvin Sutton, 39, of 319 King Street was arrested and is now fac ing a felony manufactur ing marijuana charge for growing as many as four plants at his residence. Hertford Police Chief Dale Vanscoy said an officer on routine patrol spotted the plants in Sutton’s backyard Saturday afternoon. The officer later approached the resi dence, and after talking with Sutton walked around to the backyard where he found four mar ijuana plants growing next to a small building. The plants, which are close to two feet in height, could have a value of close to $10,000 a piece sources have told police. While Vanscoy said he is unsure whether Sutton planned to keep . the plants for personal use or sell them on the street, police are hopeful fur ther investigation will lead them to the answers. Vanscoy said Sutton has been released on a $2,500 unsecured bond and is expected to appear in court Wednesday. Officials probe recent HI blaze ERIN RICKERT A vacant mobile home, destroyed by fire last Tuesday, is the sixth fire to consume property in Holiday Island this year, Perquimans County Fire Marshal John Long said. The fire swept through the unoccupied mobile home, owned by Anne Rogers, around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters later declared the home a total loss. Fire officials. Long said, still have yet to determine how the fire was started, but they have ruled out any possibility it was an electri cal fire. Similarly, on April 27 two other vacant mobile homes in Holiday Island were set ablaze and nearly two months later two others burned June 16 around the same time a vehicle was set on fire. Long said Monday the details surrounding the cause of last Tuesday’s fire were still under investiga- Final phase of streetlight project set ‘MiM tion, but felt none of the recent string of fires was set accidentally. Much like the four other mobile home fires, last Tuesday’s blaze started in a vacant home, only this time it was in a different area of the HI community. Long said the recent fire Town officials say begin ning work to install street lights on Church Street matching those already present in downtown Hertford and along the town’s S-bridge could com mence as early as next week. Monday night Hertford Town Council voted unani- PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT This mobile home at 142 Explorer Arch was the scene of the most recent of six fires being investigated in the Holiday Island community. occurred in the H camping section, and the other five had taken place in the P camping section — one detail of several causing him to believe that at this time the incidents were unrelated. Continued on page 10 mously to retain Lee Electrical Construction with a bid nearly $23,000 less than the $250,000 bud geted for the final phase of the TEA-21 project the town began almost two years ago. Originally, Lee complet ed the first phase of the TEA-21 project in PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT Crewmen from RPC Contracting, Inc. out of Kitty Hawk shatter sidewalk at a downtown intersection Wednesday. Construction is expected to help install curbs and make the sidewalks handicap accessible at the all of the intersections along Church Street. December 2003, installing more than 10 streetlights in Hertford’s downtown and along the S-bridge. Final plans, Hertford Town Manager John Christensen said, now call for the addition of more than 15 streetlights run ning along the section of Continued on page 10 Weekend Weather Thursday High: 89 Low: 75 Scahered T'storms Friday High: 89 Low: 75 Scahered T'storms Saturday High: 91 Low: 75 ScAHERED T'storms

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