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"News from Next Door" FEBRUARY 22, 2012 - FEBRUARY 28, 2012 ^ 2 J ^ 50 cents
Body found in ditch on Holiday Island Road
The body of a white male was found Tuesday in a ditch on Holiday Island Road just south of Pender Road.
The body suffered multiple lacerations to the upper torso. Sheriff Eric Tilley said foul play is suspected.
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
The body of a white
male believed to be in his
mid 30s was found Tues
day morning in a ditch
on Holiday Island Road
about a mile south of
Pender Road.
Perquimans County
Sheriff Eric Tilley said
the body suffered mul
tiple lacerations to the
upper torso. Foul play is
suspected, he said.
Tilley said the body was
found around 11 a.m. by a
citizen riding a bicycle
who immediately called
police. Investigators be
lieve the man’s body was
brought to the area in a
vehicle and dumped into
the ditch about a foot
deep, Tilley added.
The quiet rural area
where the body was found
is surrounded by wood-
lands, fields and cow pas
tures dotted with a few
scattered houses.
As of press time, the
identity of the body had
not been released by Til
ley. Investigation is con
tinuing.
Tilley said no identi
fication was found on
the body and would not
speculate on how long the
body may have been in
the ditch.
Thdre are no reports at
this time of missing per
sons matching the man’s
description, he added.
Members of Perqui
mans EMS responded in
addition to the Sheriffs
Department.
PCHS to
serve as
disaster
shelter
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
The high school will be
come the county’s main
emergency shelter in the
case of weather-Mated
disasters.
Members of the Perqui
mans Board of Education
agreed recently to allow
the high school be used as
a Red Cross shelter.
Previously; the county
designated Perquimans
County Middle School as
a Red Cross shelter with
the county recreation
center as a back-up. How
ever, American Red Cross
officials have voiced con
cerns about both locations
and would like the official
shelter to be housed at the
high school instead.
“Although we rarely ac
tivate shelters, the Ameri
can Red Cross and our
staff felt that this would
be a more suitable loca
tion,” said Interim County
Manager Frank Heath.
Commissioner Mack
Nixon also said the new
gym building is one of
the few buildings in the
county built to withstand
100-plus winds.
The county has received
a $98,000 state emergency
management grant to pay
for a switch for a mobile
generator that would be
brought in in the event of
a disaster. Electrical offi
cials have determined that
the switch cannot be in
stalled safely at the middle
school, said Emergency
Management Coordinator
Jarvis Winslow. Red Cross
officials have also voiced
concerns over the amount
of glass windows found
in both the middle school
and recreation center. The
recreation center is also
located on the waterfront.
School officials have
voiced concerns over pro
tecting the gym’s floor,
securing advanced tech
nology equipment in the
school, and the amount of
glass in the high school’s
cafeteria. The Red Cross
will pay if any damages
occur to the gym, Winslow
pointed out. Pads can be
placed to protect the gym
floor, and a shelter will
not need to use the caf
eteria when the shelter is
opened.
See SHELTER, 8
89076
47144
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From sharecroppers daughter to author
STAFF PHOTOS BY CATHY WILSON
Lemozine Riddick of Pasquotank County shared her tales of being a sharecropper's daughter during a Black History Month program at the Perquimans County Library.
Riddick’s memories stir the soul
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
S he wore long pants covered
by a long dress, an apron,
and a long-sleeved shirt. A
large-brimmed straw hat topped
her head.
Lemozine Riddick looked as
though she just stepped out of
a cotton field where, years ago,
she single-handedly picked 200
pounds of cotton a day.
It was tough, hot, back-break
ing work, she said. Still, she was
happy working on a farm and
growing up as a sharecropper’s
daughter.
Minus the sweat and dirt, she
wore the same type clothing last
week during a Black History
Month program at the Perqui
mans County Library where she -
spoke about her life as a share-
cropper’s daughter.
The program is part of a
series of celebrations during the
month of February depicting the
lives of local African-American
women and honoring several for
their historic accomplishments.
“Where I was back then
and where I am today, it was a
blessing,” said the 73-year old
Pasquotank County woman
who grew up on a Gates County
farm owned by someone else
yet worked by her father. A
graduate of Roanoke Theological
Seminary witha bachelor’s of
divinity degree, she is currently
writing a screen play based on
her childhood memories that
not only include working in the
fields for no pay, but learning
how to live off the land, learning
the importance of obeying her
parents, and learning to believe
in her own strength and abilities.
“We were poor, but we were
Anne F. White (left) was honored for
being the first African-American fe
male principal at Perquimans Middle
School and Hertford’s mayor pro tern
during a Black History Month program
at the Perquimans County Library.
very rich in many ways,” she
said. “As a sharecropper, we
worked on the farm, but got no
pay. We were happy to live on the
farm. We grew our own veg
etables, killed our own hogs and
chickens, and pickled our own
herring. It was good eating!”
As a young girl, Riddick
remembers asking her father to
allow her to work for someone
else for pay so she could earn a
little money for school clothes.
See RIDDICK, 8
A New Officer in Town
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Vincent B. Dunn of Edenton (left) is sworn in as a new Hertford police officer by Clerk
of Court Todd Tilley.
Man uses grocery bag to
thwart attempted robbery
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Hertford police say a suspect
wielding a knife tried to rob a
shopper in the Food Lion park
ing lot around 7 p.m. Monday
evening.
The male victim swung his
shopping bag at the would-be
robber while the victim’s wife
blew the car horn causing the
suspect to flee on foot. No inju
ries were reported.
According to police reports, a
Belvidere couple arrived at the
Perquimans Centre parking lot
to buy a can of coffee from Food
Lion when they saw a suspi
cious black male wearing bag ¬
gy jeans and a navy blue hoody
walking around the parking lot.
The couple felt uncomfortable
so they drove their vehicle to
another parking area.
The male victim got out of the
car and went into Food Lion to
buy the coffee while his wife re
mained in the car. She watched
the suspicious individual walk
to the store and look into the
store’s window.
After buying his coffee, the
victim exited Food Lion and was
confronted by the suspect as he
walked to the car. The suspect
puled out a knife and demanded
money, police reports state.
See ATTEMPTED, 8