Museum holiday activities
Page 3
Holidays can stress children
Rage 4
Reames earns state honor
Rage 7
November 29, 2006
Vol. 74, No. 48 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
1
The
TMANS
Weekly
HoUday
kick-off
set for
Hertford
Events begin
Thursday
evening
SUSAN HARRIS
Christmas on the
Perquimans in downtown
Historic Hertford will offer
three days of seasonal
activities sure to get every
one in the holiday spirit.
Events get underway on
Thursday, when the
Perquimans Arts League
Gallery hosts an open
house from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
In addition to the usual
plethora of items on dis
play in the gallery, there
will be gift items especially
for the holidays.
Downtown will be trans
formed Thursday evening,
as thousands of white
lights are turned on during
the grand illumination cer
emony. Lights on the down
town buildings and on a
tree on the courthouse
lawn will sparkle begin
ning at 5:30. Caroling on
the courthouse green will
add to the festive occasion.
In addition, select down
town merchants will be
open until 7 p.m. and will
offer holiday refreshments
to shoppers.
On Friday, the Chamber
and Visitors Center will
welcome guests to an open
house from 9:30 a.m.-4:30
p.m., and PAL will contin
ue its open house, 11 a.m.-
3:30 p.m. Again, some
downtown merchants will
remain open until 7 p.m. to
allow shoppers extra time
to find that just-right gift
and enjoy refreshments.
Saturday will be a fun-
fiUed day as bands, floats,
horses and more make,
their way through the
town’s streets for the annu
al Christmas parade. Due
to construction at the high
school, the parade will this
year leave from and return
to Harris Shopping Center.
Themed “The Joys of
Christmas,” the parade
will step off at 2 p.m.
Zita Ferebee, a local
school bus driver who
recently earned national
recognition for her heroic
efforts after a horrific bus
accident in October 2005,
will be this year’s grand
marshal.
After the parade, Santa
will be in Inteliport for pic
tures and to hear the pleas
of good girls and boys.
Merchants will be open
all day Saturday for shop
pers. Each has stocked
unique items sure to please
everyone on Christmas gift
lists, from tots to teens to
those enjoying a second
childhood.
Christmas on the
Perquimans in organized
and sponsored by the
downtown Hertford mer
chants and Historic
Hertford, Inc. The parade
is sponsored by the
Chamber of Commerce.
Alive with color
PHOTO COURTESY JOHN MATTHEWS
The vibrant golds, oranges and reds of local landscapes are all but gone now, thanks to last week's
nor'easter that brought torrential rain and high winds to the area. The lights and colors of the holidays are
now beginning to twinkle from homes and lawns across the county.
Hurry to read about unhurried Hertford
County
highlighted in
tourism
magazines
MARGARET FISHER
Two national magazines
- Our State and Coastwatch
- have recently placed
Perquimans County on the
map as an interesting place
to visit.
The Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce
helped put the county and
historic towns in the lime
light in both publications.
“I worked with (writer)
David La Vere two weeks
after (Hurricane) Isabelle,”
said Hertford Town Mayor
Sid Eley. “Sylvia (Wyatt of
the Chamber) worked with
him when he came back
this summer.”
La Vere wrote the story
“Unhurried in Hertford” in
the Fall 2006 issue of Our
State Weekends, which fea
tured 13 weekend getaways.
The article features pho
tos of the Perquimans
River, Albemarle Sound,
downtown shops and
Newbold-White House. It
winds the reader through
the historic and pleasant
sites in Hertford, Winfall
and Belvidere.
Scattered through the
story are some of the fasci
nating historic tidbits
about buildings, people and
events. Photos depict down
town shops, the river and
Albemarle Plantation’s golf
course.
Apparently, La Vere did
n’t notice, this past sum
mer, that Frankie’s
Hertford Cafe is no longer
open. Nor does he mention
some of the newer restau
rants and bed and break
fast inns downtown.
He does mention one of
the biggest attractions the
county has to offer - its pic
turesque water that draws
people to fish and boat. It
also tells about another of
the county’s lures - its
friendly people.
A second publication,
Coastwatch Holiday 2006
issue, published by The
North Carolina Sea Grant
College Program in
Raleigh, contains a story
written by Erin Seiling.
The writer focuses on one
historical aspect of the
county in “Quaker
Influence in Colonial
Carolina.”
Eley said he ' called
Coastwatch and gave them
some ideas about different
assets of the county and
the editor chose the Quaker
influence. Eley contacted
Sarah Parr, former site
manager at the Newbold-
White House, to provide
information and photos for
the story.
The article tells about
the history of Quakers in
the county and their ideals
and traditions, including
how Christmas was not cel
ebrated for many years
until the holiday customs
infiltrated into the religion
over time. It mentions the
Up River Friends Meeting
and Piney Woods Meeting
in Belvidere, where the
largest population of
Quakers in the county
reside. It also explains how
the Quakers got their
name.
Photos include the his
toric meetinghouses of the
past and present and activi
ties held at the Newbold-
White House, built by a
Quaker.
Stories such as these
draw visitors to the area,
Eley said.
“This (publicity) brings
people to Perquimans
County,” he said. “It brings
tourists in.”
Copies of both maga
zines are available for sale
at the Chamber’s gift shop
in the Visitors Center at 118
W Market St.
Local childcare issues presented to state reps
MARGARET FISHER
About 25 current and for
mer child care providers
from two counties met last
week with representatives
from the state Division of
Child Development to dis
cuss childcare issues.
The Chowan/
Perquimans Childcare
Association, formed in
August, had requested the
visit to present their con
cerns and questions to the
division in order to
improve the quality of
chUdcare in both counties,
said Arlene Yates, associa
tion president and owner of
The Learning Center in
Winfall.
United within the associ
ation, members are in a
better position to improve
the quality of childcare
and address issues that hin
der being able to offer bet
ter services, Yates said.
June Locklear, section
chief, and Rob Kindsvatter,
director of the division,
came to the Winfall Town
HaU to address the associa
tion’s concerns.
Of prime importance to
the association is to under
stand the state’s policies.
As much as 94 percent of a
childcare provider’s busi
ness is derived through
children who are subsi
dized by the N.C.
Department of Social
Services. The remainder
comes from parents who
pay for their childcare serv
ices.
Employee wages and
benefits are also major con
cerns. Money allocated
through the General
Assembly is rationed out to
providers across the state.
Kindsvatter said. DSS pri
oritizes those funds, but
about 80 percent of the pop
ulation are at low-income
level.
“The demand is high,”
Kindsvatter said. “The way
we allocate funds is accgrd-
ing to law.” At present, the
state is meeting about 40
percent of its current
needs, he said;
Local childcare issues
presented to state reps
In the past, money was
moved from counties that
used less to more needy
counties. But today, all the
counties use all their
money, he said.
Yates said that low
wages and a lack of health
insurance and retirement
benefits are causing high
employee turnover as qual
ity workers leave to work at
more competitive pro
grams where wages are
higher and benefits are
plentiful.
“We just can’t afford
good health insurance for
our people. Childcare
across the board is losing
people to public schools
and Head Start because
they can pay more,” she
said.
Yates is hoping to imple
ment the state’s T.E.A.(3.H.
program which provides
partial funding for child
care training, as well as
health insurance.
Another concern is
when parents have to puU
their children out of day
care when they can no
longer attend college
because of funding time
limitations. A single parent
attending college may
spend two to four or more
Continued on page 2
goals
MARGARET FISHER
The Department of
Public Instruction released
preliminary reports on the
Adequate Yearly Progress,
including the delayed math
results. All four public
schools in the district did
not meet AYP standards,
although Perquimans
County High School did
meet expected growth for
2005-2006.
Hertford Grammar
School met 19 out of 21 tar
get areas and a composite
score of 68.5 percent. The
target groups that did not
meet the standards are
exceptional children in
reading and black students
in math. Perquimans
Central School, being a
feeder school, received the
same rating.
Perquimans Middle
School met 18 of 21 targets
and a score of 68 percent.
The three groups that did
not meet the standards
include free and reduced
meal, exceptional and all
students in math. The free
and reduced group com
prises 60 percent of the stu
dent population, said
Brenda Lassiter, school
public information officer.
Because that group is a
majority of students, it
affects the ‘all students’
group, she said.
The three schools each
received No Recognition.
The middle school had
been in the Expected
Growth level until the
math scores were released.
The math tests were new
this year and benchmark
standards were raised.
Scores always drop when
the tests are revised and
benchmarks are made
higher, Lassiter said.
Fourth grade writing
test scores are at 35 per
cent, down from 50 percent
during 2004-2005. Seventh
grade writing scores are 39
percent, down from 44 per
cent the previous year.
Computer skills dropped
from 96 percent to 70 per
cent at PCMS.
Continued on page 2
Weather
Thursday
High: 75, Low: 61
Mostly Qoudy
Friday
High: 74, Low: 49
Scattered Tstorms
0
Saturday
High: 58, Low: 42
Partly Cloudy