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"News from Next Door" ^ ^ ^ ^009 NOVEMBER 25, 2009 - DECEMBER 2, 2009
Woman reports being raped by two men
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
A woman staying in an
abandoned house on King
Street told police she was
raped by two men early Mon
day morning.
Chief Joe Amos with the
Hertford Police Department
said the victim, in her late
20’s, waited until the two
men left the house located at
221 King Street, then walked
to the back of the Sheriffs
Department where she called
police using the emergency
call box. The victim was
taken by Perquimans EMS to
Albemarle Healthcenter with
non life-threatening injuries,
police said.
Police said the woman ap
parently ran away from her
boyfriend about four days
ago, and had been staying in
the abandoned house since
then.
“During the early morn
ing hours, the victim was
awakened by a man attack
ing her,” said Amos. “The
victim was assaulted by two
unknown black males and at
least one other suspect was
in the house as well.”
Police said one suspect was
described as wearing a gray
hooded sweatshirt and black
jeans. No other description
was provided other than
wearing a baU cap.
The alleged assaialt is be
ing investigated by the Hert
ford Police Department and
members of the State Bureau
of Investigation.
Anyone with any informa
tion or was may have been in
the King Street area between
4-6 a.m. Monday, please call
426-5587.
Information provided will
be kept confidential.
The house where the attack
was reported is one of foiu:
houses currently in the legal
pipeline of being condemned
by the town because of re
ported criminal activity and
for violating the town’s mini
mum housing standards.
Other properties include
houses located at: 320 King
Street, owned by Olivia San
chez; 315 W. Market Street,
owned by Gladys Thomp
son Hill; and 319 W. Market
Street, owned by Thomas E.
White heirs.
Contact Cathy Wilson at
cwilson@ncweeklies.com
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY PHOTO BY CATHY WILSON
Twelve illuminated Christmas trees soon will light up the river shoreline
along Front Street, sending warm holiday greetings to visitors traveling
over the high rise bridge on U.S. Highway 17. Above, Brandon Shoaf, Ed
Ritzmann and Skip Matthews construct one of the trees out of lumber
and a string of large, multi-colored lights.
Grand Illumination
includes river trees
Lit Christmas trees
to line the riverfront
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
The Christmas season in
Hertford this year wfil offer
new filumination on the river
front in addition to the down
town area.
Historic Hertford, Inc. (HHI)
is adding lighted river-front
trees along Front Street to
their holiday filumination of
the historic downtown area.
Twelve large filuminated
Christmas trees wfil light up
the river shoreline along Front
Street, sending warm holiday
greetings to visitors traveling
over the high rise bridge on
U.S. Highway 17.
“Our main objective with
the river trees on the Perqui
mans is to send a happy, posi
tive message to those traveling
by that Hertford is celebrating
Christmas,” said MurieUe
Harmon with HHI. “Over the
years, we have added lights in
phases throughout our down
town area. Now, it’s time to fo
cus on our riverfront.”
The river trees project was
See ILLUMINATION on Page 11
Sturdy Beggar
opens in Winfall
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
Joe Towe has returned home
to his native county and has
opened an antique consign
ment shop in WinfaU.
The owner of the Sturdy
Beggar, Towe enjoys the love
of antiques. He specializes in
primitive American furnish
ings.
“My mother instilled in me
an appreciation of antiques
and I stfil enjoy the business
of buying, seUing and collect
ing antiques,” he said.
His shop, located at 370 Win-
fall Boulevard across from
Larry’s Drive-In, features a
variety of antiques includ
ing furniture, glassware, and
decorative items. The Perqui
mans Chamber of Commerce
See BEGGAR on Page 8
Helping the hungry
' • I VKl n
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY PHOTO BY CATHY WILSON
I
Rosemaiy Smith is the program director of The Open Door of Perquimans County, a food pantry that provides food and assistance to
those who need a helping hand.
Smith receives top volunteer award
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
R osemary Smith’s name is syn
onymous with food in Perqui
mans County.
While she may like to eat or cook
food herself, she is best known for
making sure others have enough
food to eat.
Smith is the volunteer program
director of The Open Door of Per
quimans County, a food pantry that
provides food and assistance to those
who need a helping hand. She is also
one of 20 volunteers statewide who
recently received the Governor’s Me
dallion Award for Volunteer Service
from Gov. Bev Perdue.
“These volunteers deserve our
congratulations for servicing their
communities,” said Perdue. “We
should be especially grateful because
when times are tough, volunteers
are even more important to those in
need.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Rosemary Smith (left) is one of 20 volunteers statewide who recently received the Gov-
See VOLUNTEER on Page 8 ernor’s Medallion Award for Volunteer Service from Gov. Beverly Perdue.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 62 Low: 43
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 58 Low: 41
Few Showers
Saturday
High: 57 Low: 41
Sunny
Help Food Bank remain beacon of hope for hunger relief
6 "89076 47143 5
Thanksgiving symbolizes
America as the land of plenty
and the willingness to share
the bounty with others.
On the heels of a year in
which so many in our coun
try have endured profound fi
nancial struggles, it’s time for
those of us more fortunate'to
live up to that heritage. We’re
here to help you do it.
The Perquimans Weekly
is pleased to partner with the
Food Bank of the Albemarle
for our second annual fund
raising campaign, Albemarle
Food Relief; Hunger Hurts,
Giving Heals, to help feed the
hungry in northeast North
Carolina.
While quarterly economic
indicators may show the re
cession is officially ending.
other figures teU a different
story Here’s a glimpse of life
in the 15 counties served by
the Food Bank:
• Unemployment hovers
around 10 percent, meaning
about one of every 10 workers
is without a job. Last year, that
figure was one in every 15.
• About 57 percent of the
children are eligible for free
or reduced school meals.
• Approximately 1 of every
6 individuals lives at or be
low the poverty level - almost
53,000 people.
• As of Friday, the Food
Bank had only 30 turkeys left
out of 300 to give to families
for Thanksgiving
Taking these numbers into
consideration, it’s no surprise
that the Food Bank has seen
an 18 percent increase in de
mand in the last year. Many
of the households are “first
time” clients, according to
Executive Director Liz Rea-
soner. Over the last fiscal year,
the Food Bank provided more
than 3,598,000 pounds of food
to its more than 100 agencies,
compared to 3,205,759 in the
previous fiscal year.
The real story is the men,
women, and children who
would otherwise go hungry
without the help of the food
pantries, day care centers,
soup kitchens and senior citi
zen, youth and after-school
programs that receive food
from the Food Bank. More
than 8,085 households and
23,400 individuals were helped
each month.
Such an effort requires
strong commitment and
teamwork and the generosity
of businesses, governments,
non-profit agencies and indi
viduals.
We respectfully ask you to
join them.
No donation is too small to
make a difference. For each
dollar, the Food Bank is able
to provide about 5 pounds of
food, the equivalent of ap
proximately four meals.
You’ll find a self-addressed
envelope in today’s edition of
The Perquimans Weekly to
make it easy for you to con
tribute. Envelopes will be in
serted in The Daily Advance
on Simday, Dec. 13, and in the
Perquimans Weekly again on
Wednesday, Dec. 9.
You can stamp and mail
your donation or drop it off
at your nearest First Citizens
Bank branch or at the newspa
per offices.
Donations can also be made
online. Go to DafiyAdvance.
com and click on Albemarle
Food Relief
Hunger hurts. Giving heals.
Embrace* our nation’s heri
tage and the spirit of Thanks
giving and give hope to oth
ers.
We thant you in advance
for your generosity
Sincerely,