rERQUIMANS
X kWE E K LY
Grandma’s Treasures opens, 8
Baseball, softball teams eye playoffs, 6
"News from Next Door” APRIL 25, 2012 - MAY 1, 2012
^ 2 5 2012
50 cents
Schools requesting $2.6M for next year
Proposed budget hike
hits $69K for 2012-13
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Perquimans County Schools
will present a proposed $2.6 mil
lion local expense budget for the
next school year to county com
missioners next month.
Monday night, members of
the Perquimans Board of Edu
cation approved the proposed
local expense budget that totals
$2,625,594, an increase of $69,391
over the amount requested last
year. The proposed budget calls
for no new employees, $25,000
more for increases in cost of
fuel/diesel, $175,000 for extended
day school programs (loss of past
grant funding), and an increase
of nearly $64,000 in maintenance
costs.
The proposed figures also show
a reduction of nearly $21,000 in
the cost of operating the schools
(utilities) for the upcoming
school year and almost $200,000
less in instructional costs.
Board of education members
met jointly with
county com
missioners to
discuss the up
coming fiscal
year prior to the
school board’s
regular meet
ing.
Superint5n-
Stallings
dent Dwayne Stallings told coun
ty commissioners that board of
education members have chosen
to use about $200,000 out of their
$1 million reserve fund balance
instead of seeking additional
funds from the county this year.
“We’re not painting a ter
ribly bleak picture this year,”
Stallings said. “I can honestly
See BUDGET, 6
PENING Day
STAFF PHOTOS BY CATHY WILSON
Four generations of the local Nixon family threw the ceremonial pitches at Saturday’s opening ceremonies of the Perquimans Little League baseball
season. Family members include (l-r) Trot Nixon, Macon Winslow, Luke Nixon, Chase Nixon (throwing), Bill Nixon, Preston Nixon and Ray Winslow.
Preston Nixon
(center), who will
be 98 in August,
threw out the
first pitch
Saturday morning
at the opening
ceremonies for
the Perquimans
Little League
season. Nixon
donated the
land for the little
league baseball
park more than
50 years ago.
Enjoying the
moment is Bill
Nixon (left) and
Ray Winslow
(right).
Former major league baseball player Trot Nixon, who spent 12 years playing
professional baseball with three different teams, including the Boston Red Sox,
gives a pep talk to members of the Perquimans Little League, Saturday morning
during the league’s 2012 season opening ceremonies. Nixon, whose family hails
from Perquimans County, encouraged the youth to practice hard, listen to their
parents and coaches, compete on every pitch thrown and have fun!
Citizens
working
to put on
fireworks
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
A group of patriotic citizens
has stepped up to the plate to
make sure there is a July 4th cel
ebration in Perquimans County
this year.
The group is meeting routinely
to make plans for the celebration,
complete with fireworks, sched
uled to be held on Tuesday night,
July 3, rather than on the official
July 4th holiday.
The group,
known as the
Perquimans
County Fireworks
Committee 2012, is
a unified effort...
town and county
leaders and
volunteers...
persons who
have been involved
with the fireworks
productions in
years past.
The celebration will be held
at Missing Mill Park with the
fireworks getting underway at 9
p.m.
The group, known as the Per
quimans County Fireworks Com
mittee 2012, is a unified effort
comprised of town and county
See FIREWORKS, 2
Gardens to bloom
at Saturday show
Rose Pointe property sold for $3M
From staff reports
The Albemarle Master
Gardener Spring Garden
Show will have a large
variety of horticulture
activities when the show
opens on Saturday.
The show will be held
at the Perquimans Coun
ty Recreation Center
from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Free admission pro
vides a wide variety of
vendors, silent auction,
plant sale, door prizes
and raffles, and a bake
6 89076 47144 2
sale. “Ask aMaster Gar
dener” booth will help
with gardening ques
tions.
The Children’s Garden
includes story-telling,
games, take-home crafts,
puppets - all teaching
about plants and insects.
Speakers program
will include “Pleasant
Surprises and Current
Trends in Custom Land
scape Lighting,” “With
erspoon Rose Culture,”
“Bonsai From My Secret
Garden,” “The Secret of
Successful Orchid Grow
ing,” and “Benefits of
Vermicompost to Your
Soil.”
See GARDEN, 2
By PETER WILLIAMS
The Daily Advance
A 586-acre parcel of land
in Perquimans County
that sold for $13 million six
years ago was sold for sig
nificantly less — $3 million
— during a bankruptcy
auction last Thursday
Thomas Miller, a Per
quimans County native
who heads a corporation
that already owns over 500
acres of farm and forest
land in Perquimans, was
the buyer. About 250 acres
of the property Miller
bought are used as crop
land, mainly soybeans and
corn. The remaining 130
acres are filled with pine
timber.
Miller, who now lives in
Palm Beach, Fla., made the
winning bid by phone with
THOMAS J. TURNEY/THE DAILY ADVANCE
Auctioneer Tim Jennings (left) takes bids at a
land auction in Perquimans County, Thursday.
the help of a family mem
ber, Hank Griffin, a real
estate agent who lives in
Manteo. Griffin attended
the auction.
Miller has no plans to
develop the 586 acres on
Bundy Road, Griffin said.
“We’re going to bring it
(the ownership) home,”
Griffin said. “The worst
thing would be if they
developed it.”
See POINTE, 7
KCBS &
WHOLE HOG
PROFESSIONAL
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BBQ lor sale by plale, sandwich, or pound throughout the weekend
Corn Hole Championship • Arts & Crafts Show
Car Show • Motorcycle Show • Pony Rides • Kids Game