Triplet fun
Page 4
Indian Summer Festival is Saturday
Page 2
Sports
Pages 8 and 9 ■
i
Subscriber of the Week:
Garland Walker
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September 3, 2008
Vol. 76, No. 36 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
*^News from NextDoor^^
911 ceU
caUscan
goto
different
county
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Suppose you’re driving
along Church Street and see
someone lying in the ditch.
You grab your cell phone
and dial 911 to call for
help, thinking your call
will immediately go to the
Perquimans County 911 dis
patch center.
But, the emergency
phone call emitting from
your wireless phone may
end up going to another
county depending on which
cell phone service you use.,
Local caU center man
ager Homeria Jennette said
your cell phone 911 call will
hit the nearest tower used
by your cell phone provider.
As a result, your call asking
for help on Church Street
may end up being answered
in Pasquotank, Chowan, or
another county. If you don’t
tell the dispatcher where
you are calling from, rescue
might be sent to Church
Street in Elizabeth City,
Hertford or Edenton.
According to the Federal
Communication Commis
sion, the. number of 911
calls placed on ceU phones
has doubled since 1995 to
over 50 million a year. Just
in this county alone, Jen
nette says ceU phone 911
caUs have tripled since
1994. •
“The majority of caUs
coming in are from cell
phones,’’ she said, “If
there’s an accident on High
way 17, every line lights
up. Every Good Samaritan
driving by caUs it in on
their ceU phone.”
911 calls coming in from
land phone lines (home
phones) cause the caUer’s
address and phone number
to appear on the dispatch
er’s computer screen, so
the operator automaticaUy
knows where the emergen
cy is located. You should
always teU the dispatcher
what kind of emergency
you’re caUing in.
With ceU phones, how
ever, the caller must give
the dispatcher the location
of the emergency as weU,
including in which city or
county it is located, and
CONTINUED on page 11
WbAlMt
Thursday
High: 81 Low: 70
Thunder Showers
Friday
High: 82 Low: 68
Scattered T'storms
Saturday
High: 84 Low: 68
ScAHERED T'storms
6""89076"47143 ■' 5
Perquimans Weekly photo by CATHY Wl LSON
THE LAWN OF THE Historic Newbold-White House was littered with people and collectibles Saturday, as individuals and
charitable groups participated in the first-ever Attic Attack sale. The event was one of many scheduled by Perquimans
County Restoration Association, owners and operators of the historic site, to raise much-needed funds for upkeep of the
house, and to bring people to the local treasure.
Newbold-White hungry for funds
eludes repairing damage
to an upstairs stained glass
window that occurred dur
ing a spring storm. The
window will be removed
while the roof repair is
going on and then neatly
boarded up until funding
can be found to repair the
window. Once the win
dow is repaired, it will be ■
reinstalled and then one
by one each window will
have to be removed for
recaming and sealing as
recommended by a recent
site report from the state
preservation office.
Additionally, moisture
problems still exist with
the 18-inch thick brick
walls and plaster interior
even after the 2006 plaster
restoration. This prob
lem is not uncommon for
homes of the period.
St. Thomas Episcopal
Church, built 1734 and
located in Bath, has had
similar issues, PCRA offi
cials say.
“I understand that they
have seen success in deal
ing with their m.oisture
concerns,” said Weeks. “I
hope to talk with officials
there soon to see if we
can apply lessons learned
there to our property.”
The Newbold-White
House is the oldest brick
house in the state. The
1820 David Newby house is
also located at the historic
site. This cottage serves as
the business office and the
site manager’s home.
The site is also home
to the periauger, a one-
of-a-kind reproduction of
a typical Colonial work
boat. The homestead also
contains a newly estab
lished vineyard, a kitchen
garden, a gift shop and vis
itor’s center.
According to PCRA,
over 10,000 people visit the
site per year.
For more information
on how you can help with
preservation efforts or vol
unteer with PCRA, call 426-
7567 or visit their website
at newboldwhitehouse.org
Repairs
needed,
upstairs
closed due
to damaged
beam
The historic Newbold-
White House is undergo
ing repairs to its roof with
additional preservation
and maintenance work
planned for the next two
years.
The Perquimans Coun
ty Restoration Associa
tion (PCRA), which owns
and operates the circa
1730 Quaker homestead,
recently began roof and
electrical repairs.
The handmade cypress
shingles, which have de
teriorated over time and
with help from Hurricane
Isabel in 2003, are being re
placed. Over 200 shingles
will be restored at a cost
of $5-$8 each. Electrical re
pairs are estimated to be
an additional $400.
“PCRA is paying for
these critical repairs out
of its own meager operat
ing budget. We can barely
afford to do it, but it has to
be done,” said PCRA Trea
surer Dee Ponte.
PCRA operates the New
bold-White House, the Vis
itors Center, the site man
ager cottage/office and the
grounds at a cost of over
$100,000 a year, said Sarah
Weeks, Heritage Tourism
Development officer. While
$11,000 comes from county
coffers, most of PCRA’s
efforts are funded from
memberships, private do
nations, trust fund, farm
lease and fund-raisers.
Fund raisers supporting
the PCRA this year include
the Biennial Gala, three
wine events, the Attic At
tack sale, and the Haunted
Evening. Next year, they
hope to revive the Hearth
and Harvest Festival there
as well. Weeks added.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
JIM HERBA REPLACES DAMAGED cypress shingles on the roof
of the historic 1730 Newbold-White House.There are many re
pairs needed in the state's oldest brick house. To find out how
to help, call 426- 7567, or log onto newboldwhitehouse.org.
Additional repairs in the
future will be undertaken
provided funding is avail
able from grants, fund
raisers and other means of
private funding that PCRA
is currently looking into.
“We truly can only af
ford to repair the most crit
ical work at this time. All
conservation and mainte
nance work is anticipated
to be completed over the
next two years as funding
becomes available,” added
Ann Jones, interim-site
manager.
On PCRA’s future re
pair list is a beam in the
parlor that sustained ter
mite damage several years
ago.
Accoif'ding to PCRA
President Lynwood Win
slow, the termites were
eradicated long ago and a
plan set in place to prevent
future infestations.
“Due to a lack of funds,
we just have not been able
to make the necessary re
pairs,” he said.
Earlier this year the
upstairs was closed to
visitors for fear of further
damage to the beam. Last
week officials installed a
temporary support based
on advice given by visiting
preservation experts who
were there to estimate the
cost of the beam’s repair .
“One look at the con
spicuous temporary sup
port says volumes about
what PCRA has been try
ing to tell the public for
years” said Winslow. “We
need help.”
Other needed work in-
Tourism
dollars
increase
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Tourism dollars generat
ed in Perquimans County
last year rose for the sixth
straight year.
According to figures pro
vided by the North Carolina
Department of Commerce
Division of Tourism, Film
and Sports, tourism im
pacted Perquimans County
$8.23 million in 2007, up 1.72
percent from 2006. Even so,
Perquimans still ranks 93rd
in travel impact among the
state’s 100 counties.
•Local tourism impact
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
$7.01 mil
$6.71 mil
$7.04 mil
$7.15 mil
$7.44 mil
$7.83 mil
$8.09 mil
$8.23 mil
Tourism here generated
a $1.04 million payroll last
year and provided $1.31 mil
lion in state and local tax
revenues.
“That’s good news,” com
mented Sarah Weeks, the
department’s local Heri
tage Tourism Devclonment
officer.
More than 40 jobs in
Perquimans County were
directly attributed to travel
and tourism, visiting such
local attractions as the
Newbold-White House and
Historic Hertford.
The county's highest per
centage growth occurred in
1995, when the local econ
omy was impacted to the
tune hf $6.22 million, up
8.17 percent from the previ
ous year.
Man flips
vehicle on
New Hope
Road
CATHY WILSON
staff Writer '
L
A Hertford man is
charged with reckless driv
ing and giving a false re
port to a law enforcement
officer after flipping his ve
hicle into a field Aug. 25.
According to the North
Carolina Highway Patrol,
Nicholas A. Cianciolo of
153 Webb Street, was the
only person in a 2003 Toyo
ta when the vehicle ran off
the left side of New Hope
Road in a curve around 10
p.m. The vehicle struck an
embankment and utility
pole, overturned and came
to rest in an adjacent field.
. Police said Cianciolo
denied being the driver of
the vehicle and told law en
forcement he jumped from
the vehicle after it was
taken at gunpoint. Police
charged the local man af
ter physical evidence sup
ported Cianciolo being the
driver of the vehicle at the
time of the collision.
Damage to the vehicle
was estimated at $6,000.
The wreck was investigated
by Trooper K.R. Briggs.