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Chorale revs up for new year
Rage 2
All-Stars represented PQ well
Page 6
2005-06 school calendar
RagelO
H^TFOBD, NC 2/^-*
August 3, 2005
Vol, 73, No, 31 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perquimans
Weekiy
KSGEIVed
AUG u 3 ms
Police work to nab equipment thieves
One arrested
ERIN RICKERT
A string of robberies in
which several pieces of
lawn care equipment were
taken from Hertford neigh
borhoods has led to one
arrest, law enforcement
said Friday
Vincent Lee Foster, 39, of
301 South Church Street,
was arrested June 29 and
served with an outstanding
warrant for shoplifting and
charged with possession of
stolen property after police
found stolen lawn equip
ment in his possession.
Foster now awaits his
first court appearance in
Albemarle District Jail in
lieu of $2,500 cash bond.
Hertford Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy said the rob
beries were occurring at
the rate of about a home a
week since the beginning of
June, and already 10
Hertford residents had
thieves nab their riding
lawn mowers, weed whack
ers, leaf blowers, genera
tors, push mowers and
other lawn care items.
It was not until Foster’s
arrest, Vanscoy said, police
got a break in the case.
In the early morning
hours of June 29, Vanscoy
said, officers saw a Foster
on a bicycle traveling down
Edenton Road Street
toward Dobbs Street.
Officers decided to inves
tigate further, Vanscoy
said, once they noticed
Foster had both a toolbox
and a leaf blower in his
possession.
“They observed the indi
vidual with some items
that just didn’t seem to fit
in,’’ Vanscoy said.
A closer look, Vanscoy
said, caused Foster to jump
from his bicycle and pro-
Continued on page 7
Sales tax
holiday
this week
Parents and students can
save 7 percent at the cash
register on most back-to-
school items during the
fourth annual sales tax hol
iday Aug. 5-7.
Created by the North
Carolina General Assembly,
the three-day weekend
helps consumers with back-
to-school shopping by doing
away with sales tax on
many school-related items.
According to the North
Carolina Retail Merchants
Association, items that are
free from sales tax include
clothing, shoes, school sup
plies and computers. The
association is providing
posters to its members out
lining what is and isn’t
exempt.
Clothing items must be
under $100 to be non-tax-
able. Tax-exempt items
include aprons, athletic
supporters, baby receiving
blankets, bandannas,
bathing suits and caps,
beach capes and coats, belts
and suspenders, boots,
coats, jackets, capes, wraps,
costumes (not masks sold
separately), diapers, ear-
muffs, footlets, formal wear,
garters and garter belts,
girdles, general use gloves
and mittens, hats and caps,
hosiery, insoles for shoes,
jogging suits, lab coats, leo
tards and tights, neckties,
overshoes, rainwear, rub
ber pants, sandals, scarves,
shoes and shoelaces, slip
pers, steel-toed shoes,
underwear, uniforms and
wedding apparel.
Sports or recreational
equipment must be $50 per
item or less. Tax-exempt
items include ballet and tap
Continued on page 7
Health WISE
,r
First loop of NC
birding trail could
be near Hertford
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Anita Couther, 48, talks with Chowan Hospital's Myrna Moehring after receiving
the results of a blood glucose test Thursday. Couther was one of more than hun
dred individuals who took advantage of several free health screenings during the
hospital's first Perquimans County Health Fair.
Locals take advantage of
free health screenings
ERIN RICKERT
Armed with goody bags
filled with information on
everything from proper
nutrition to step-by-step
instructions for home
examinations, residents
young and old left the
Perquimans County
Community Center
Thursday with a new sense
of awareness about their
health.
It was during this first-
ever Perquimans County
Health Fair, sponsored by
Chowan Hospital, that
more than 100 trickled in
during the three hours the
event was held to partici
pate in screenings, sample
healthy refreshments and
collect brochures and logo
scrawled pencUs.
For friends Thelma
Appleton and Madelyn
Long, who were some of
the first to arrive Thursday,
their attendance at the
event was something they
had been planning since
last Sunday.
“I’ve always loved to
come to these fairs,” Long
said. “You always learn
something.”
Long cited the informa
tion concerning the risk
factors for women in the
presentation on heart dis
ease by keynote speaker Dr.
Wayne Cascio, chief of the
cardiology division at Pitt
Memorial Hospital, as
some of the most valuable
information she took away
Thursday
Long said she even won a
Continued on page 7
ERIN RICKERT
State government and
private conservation
groups are hopeful last
week’s regional meeting
concerning the progress of
the North Carolina Birding
Trail would not only spread
the word about the initia
tive, but also educate the
community about the
potential for a stop in their
area.
Drawing more than 100
to the Vernon James Center
in Plymouth last Tuesday,
the gathering was an oppor
tunity to gain some footing
for an idea in the works,
most recently, since 2003.
Supported by groups like
the North Carolina Sea
Grant, Audubon North
Carolina, North Carolina
State University
Cooperative Extension and
the North Carolina WUdlife
Resources Commission, the
proposed birding trail has
plans to span across the
entire state of North
Carolina by 2008.
The trail is in response
to one of the fastest grow
ing recreational activities
in the nation — recreation
al birding, or avitourism
and an initiative Hertford
may very well fit into.
In last Tuesday’s meet
ing, proclaimed nature
experts from across the
state shared insight on how
a trail of this size could
potentially effect business
as well as several other
components if places like
Hertford were featured
stops.
Citing statistics like
those from a 2001 U.S. fish
and wildlife study, which
claims close to 46 million
people across the country
to be birders with nearly
half actively pursuing bird
ing as a hobby
Lena GaUitano, interim
coordinator of the North
Carolina Birding Trail and
a birder herself, said these
active birders travel often
and spend biUions across
the U.S. each year — mean
ing a stop in Hertford could
significantly increase the
number of tourism dollars
coming into Perquimans
County. Effectively raising
the $7.15 million the N.C.
Division of Tourism, Film
and Sports Development
recorded was brought into
Perquimans County by
tourists in 2003.
The meeting also
brought up how many of
these birding tourists trav
el with companions who
prefer other activities.
Therefore, communities
were encouraged to sell
other attractions along
with their birding sites.
In Hertford, attractions
like the Newbold-White
House and the S-bridge
could help draw these types
of travelers.
Though Hertford Main
Street Program Manager
Wendy Jewett said she felt
after attending the meet
ing, Hertford’s sites would
never be a destination for
birders quite like the places
such as the Outer Banks it
could work effectively as a
stop along the way.
“It’s more for families
who want a trip with a little
of everything, or people on
their way to somewhere
else,” Jewett said. “We do
Continued on page 7
Shaw leads
board of
education,
Helen Shaw was voted
chairman of the school
board last Monday night in
regular session.
Former chairman
Walter Leigh was named
vice chair.
Shaw was appointed to
the board in February 1994
when legislation provided
for a sixth board seat. She
was elected to four-year
terms in 1996, 2000 and
2004,
A retired government
worker, Shaw was vice
chair of the board during
the past fiscal year.
Leigh has served on the
school board for 15 years,
having first been seated in
Helen Shaw
December 1990. His present
term ends June 30, 2006.
A retired industrial tech
nology coordinator, Leigh
is a minister and the dis
trict superintendent of
area AME Zion churches.
School board members
are elected to four-year
terms in non-partisan elec-
\
>1
Walter Leigh
tions held in May of every
even-numbered year. Three
of the six seats are up for
re-election in each election.
Board members decide
among themselves at the
board’s July meeting who
will serve as chair and vice
chair for the coming year.
Filing to inunicipal offices
in Hertford, Winfall slow
ERIN RICKERT
With the filing deadline
set for Friday, few have filed
with the local board of elec
tions for the five open
municipal seats available
in the county
As of 10 a.m. Tuesday,
Hertford’s Mayor Pro Tern
Horace Reid was the only
individual seeking election
this faU, Eula Forbes, direc
tor of Perquimans County
Board of Elections said.
Forbes said both Winfall
Mayor Fred Yates and
Councilwoman Donna
Mummert picked up the fil
ing paperwork.
Candidates have had the
ability to file for office
since July 1 at noon; howev
er, before last week no one
had declared their inten
tions to run for the three
seats in Winfall and two in
Hertford.
Something Forbes said it
is not unusual for individu
als in the county
“I should expect it wiU
pick up hy the end of the
week,” Forbes said. “It usu
ally does.”
Hertford Commissioner
Abbott Marvin Hunter, who
is finishing out his first
four-year term on council,
is still undecided about
running. Attempts to reach
Winfall Commissioners
Clifford Towe and
Mummert about their
intentions to seek re-elec
tion were unsuccessful
before press time.
Continued on page 7
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 93
Low: 73
Sunny
Friday
High: 92
Low: 74
Sunny
Saturday
High: 91
Low: 75
Scahered T'storms