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PEEQUDIABS CQUHTY LIBEARY
110 r ACADEMY- ST
HERTFOfiD, arc 27944-1306
Perquimans
Weekly
A look at the year's biggest stories
January 3, 2007
Vol. 75, No. 1 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
MARGARET FISHER
March 8
It looked like a drive-in
cash heist when a woman
backed her car through the
front doors into the RBC
Centura Bank.
It was a near-perfect
parking job if it had been
planned, except that Doris
Spellman Felton, 70, didn’t
plan to park her car in the
bank’s foyer.
Instead, the resident of
353 Chinquapin Road,
Tyner was attempting to
parallel park in front of the
bank. As she was backing
into a parking space, her
accelerator pedal seemed
to have stuck, she said. The
engine revved and the
brakes wouldji’t stop her
four-door 2005 Toyota
Camry.
"She backed around and
hit the corner (of the curb)
with enough force that it
knocked the car straight,"
said Hertford Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy
When the car hit the
curb, it jolted the vehicle
perpendicular to the side
walk. Tire marks on the
sidewalk at the right side
of the bank’s doorway
appear to show that the
right side took most of the
impact and the tires were
spinning even though the
car was stuck, Vanscoy
said.
Most of the vehicle
ended up inside the foyer of
the bank. Felton was able
to turn the engine off, let
her seat back, climb into
the back seat and exit the
vehicle through the back
door, she said.
In the meantime, bank
employees began scream
ing and running as the car
crashed through the glass
doors, said Anita Rouse-
Couther, RBC’s customer
service officer. When the
car stopped, they asked
Felton if she was hurt, and
then called Central
Communications. Felton
said that she was not
injured.
Officer Kevin Worster
arrived on the scene and
observed the white sedan
lodged in the doorway of
the bank.
Hertford Fire
Department had to cut the
metal door frame away to
allow for extra room on
either side of the vehicle
so it could be towed out.
Ashley’s Auto Repair &
Towing towed the car to
Chowan County.
Downtown witnesses
told Vanscoy that there
was no speeding involve
ment prior to Felton
pulling up and attempting
to park her car, he said. An
investigation is ongoing.
Continued on page 3
Up a tree
Mace Walton, a Goose Nest Lane resident, called The Perquimans Weekly Friday with a baffling question:
How does a fox get up a tree? Walton emailed this photograph of an obviously dead fox that he had spied
up a tree near his home.
Ferebee is named national hero
SUSAN HARRIS
Oct. 18
Zita Ferebee was the
recipient of the Blud Bird
Heroism Award at the
November Conference for
National Association for
Pupil Transportation.
Ferebee became a local
hero last Oct. 24 when the
Peraquimans County
Schools bus she was driv
ing was involved in a hor
rific accident that endan
gered the lives of the 41 stu
dents on the bus. Through
Ferebee’s calm demeanor
and adherence to safety and
emergency procedures, she
was able to help get all the
students and herself off the
burning bus.
On Oct. 30, 2005, Ferebee
was named Tar Heel of the
Week in the News and
Observer newspaper, pub
lished in Raleigh. This arti
cle highlighted Ferebee’s
passion and dedication,
leaving readers with not
only a very positive percep
tion of school bus drivers,
but also with a better
understanding of the stu
dent safety with which they
are entrusted.
Continued on page 6
Plantation residents win conservation award
MARGARET FISHER
July 12, 2006
When Chris McClung
sought to find an environ
mentally sound way to pre
vent erosion on her water
front property, she didn’t
know that the neighbor
hood would join in, nor was
she setting out to win any
awards.
But not only did eight
neighbors and the marina
get involved in the project
at Albemarle Plantation,
but McClung also was
awarded the N.C. Coastal
Federation’s 2006 Pelican
Award for conservation and
restoration.
"I think it was nice. I was
really surprised," she said.
But she said she was most
pleased that the award
draws attention to a conser
vation method and the
effort put into it.
This ‘living shoreline’
project came about after
Chris and Mick McClung
bought their home at 128
Back Creek Court in 2003.
The couple moved from
New Jersey and semi-
retired from their training
and consulting firm.
Continued on page 8
Couple from Hertford, English visits Hertford, NC
MARGARET FISHER
MARGARET FISHER
May 17
Donning T-shirts
inscribed with "Hartford
Hunters Tour 2006
Hertford, North Carolina,"
Keith Marshall and Sue
Dickson visited Hertford
last Thursday. Their goal is
to visit every Hartford and
Hertford in the U.S.
The couple lives in
Hertford (pronounced
Hartford), England. That
town and this one are the
only ones spelled with an
"e." The Anglo-Saxon pro
nunciation was Hertfordia.
About 200 years ago,
Hartford, England changed
the "a" back to an "e,"
Marshall said.
The name was fitting for
the area around the Lea (or
Lee) River where the hart
(deer) crossed the ford, or
shallow part of the river.
It’s situated about 20 miles
north of London, as well as
20 miles from Cambridge.
"Our Hertford is very
small," Dickson said.
Although small, it’s a thriv
ing town.
"It’s a very prosperous
area," Marshall said. With a
population of 24,000, it has
two main railroad lines to
London, a booming phar
maceutical industry and
tourism. It’s much cooler
than its North Carolina
cousin.
"The problem with the
weather in England is it
varies so much. It can be
drab," he said.
Marshall and Dickson,
who own a furniture store,
got the idea to tour the
Hartfords after noticing a
plaque in their hometown.
The plaque hanging at a
private residence honors
the Rev. Samuel Stone, who
lived in the English home
and founded Hartford,
Conn.
"In 1632, he left to the
New World to escape
Puritan persecution in
England. What was this
Hartford, Conn.?" Marshall
wondered.
The couple took a jour
nalist with them to
Connecticut, toured the
city and met the mayor.
That year, Marshall held a
fundraiser in England to
pay for a 6-foot sculpture of
Stone. In 2005, the two cities
became twin cities, and he
had a second statue made
which now sits in a church
graveyard in Connecticut.
Marshall hopes to build
relationships with people
ih all the Hartfords.
"One day, when we visit
all 29, (our goal) is to get
representatives from all the
Hartfords to come to
Hertford, England," he said.
The couple has visited
Hartfords in Vermont,
Wisconsin, Indiana,
Michigan and New York.
Hertford is the eleventh
city out of 29 that the cou
ple has visited. Sylvia
Wyatt at the Perquimans
County Chamber of
Commerce was instrument-
Continued on page 3
Human
bones
found in
church
MARGARET FISHER
Oct. 4
What happened in a
local church may have
looked like a familiar scene
of a whodunit movie. But
when Charles Eason, pas
tor of First Baptist
Church, discovered human
bones in the church base
ment, he opened up a real
mystery case.
Eason said that he was
returning a ladder he had
removed from under the
stairs of the basement
when the discovery was
made. He found that some
items had fallen over after
he had removed the ladder.
As he began putting the
items back, he noticed a
bucket covered with a dete
riorating piece of cloth on
top. Under the cloth was
what looked like an old
human skull. Two old
femur bones were found
near the bucket.
When he first arrived,
Hertford Police Officer
Eric Priebe thought that it
was a Halloween prank,
said Police Chief Dale
Vanscoy.
"After an examination,-
it was determined that it
was actually real," Vanscoy
said of the bones.
The State Bureau of
Investigation is involved in
the case. The three bones
were placed in plastic bags
and will be taken to the
medical examiner’s office
in Greenville to determine
information such as age,
gendef and race, Vanscoy
said. He wasn’t sure how
long it will take to obtain
any information about the
bones. The bones do appear
to be those of an adult, he
said.
In addition, the base
ment was checked for signs
of a possible shallow grave,
but the three bones were
all that was found.
feason said that he was
n’t aware of anyone having
entered the basement dur
ing the approximately six
months he has been pastor
of the church.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 71, Low:570
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 73, Low: 50
T-Showers
Saturday
High: 73, Low: 48
Showers