P THE
ERQUIMANS
"News from Next Door"
JUNE 18, 2014 - JUNE 24, ^ g
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PCHS GRADS MOVING FORWARD
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
In the future they want
to be engineers, doctors,
soldiers, mechanics, nurs
es and teachers.
Friday night they took
that first big leap toward
those goals by becoming
the 89th class to graduate
from Perquimans County
High School.
The vast majority of
them have their sights set
on something beyond high
school. Of the 111 students
who earned a diploma, 39
plan on attending a four-
year college. Another 59
plan to go to a commu
nity college and technical
school and three want to
enter the military.
That’s just wanted Wal
ter Leigh wanted to hear.
After 22 years on the
Perquimans County School
Board, Leigh is stepping
down but not before he
urged the 2014 class to
“keep the fire burning” and
keep pushing for some
thing better.
The top two graduates
echoed some of that, and
also urged their classmates
to have fun along the way.
Valedictorian Shelby
Spruill urged her class-
mates to be happy, and
illustrated it with a quote
from John Lennon.
“When John was 5 years
old his mother always told
him that happiness was
the key to life. So when
he went to school and the
t eacher asked him what
he wanted to be he wrote
down ‘happy.’ The teacher
told him that he did not un
derstand the assignment.
He told the teacher that
she didn’t understand life.”
Salutatorian Robin Leigh
spoke of life as a canvas
that many people play a
role in painting.
“I think we have all
See FORWARD, 4
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
With a little help from his mother and a cane, Fred Wills III begins the walk to receive his diploma Friday
evening at Perquimans County High School.
Grads welcome classmate back
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
T he loudest cheers at Perqui
mans County High School’s
graduation Friday night
didn’t go to the top scholar or the
best athlete.
They were clearly reserved for
Fred Wills III.
Wills was seriously injured in
a car accident in May and it was
questionable if he’d be able to
attend graduation at all. He’s still
recovering and Monday he was on
his way back to Sentara Norfolk
General for a follow-up exam.
But Friday night when he was
wheeled in in a wheelchair the
entire graduating class and the
crowd sprang to their feet and
roared. Minutes later when Wills’
name was read and he walked
across the stage with a cane and
a little assistance, the crowd reac
tion was even louder.
“I’ve never seen anything like
it,” said Fred Wills Jr., his father.
The prospect that he might
not be able to attend graduation
weighed heavy on his son, Wills
said. But the reaction Friday night
has lifted his spirits.
“He really does seem more
happy now. He really wanted to
make it (graduation),” his father
said.
His father was parking the car
when his son was wheeled into
the gym so he didn’t see the reac
tion, but he heard it.
“It was like being at a football
game and your team scored a
touchdown or a baseball game
when your team hits a homerun.”
School officials were equally
impressed.
“I thought the reception of the
kids shows how close this class
See CLASSMATE, 4
Valedictorian, salutatorian find home here
STAFF PHOTO
BY PETER WILLIAMS
Kristina Garrett
(left), Robin
Todd and
Shelby Spruill
smile for the
camera while
waiting for the
start of Friday’s
graduation at
Perquimans
County High
School. The
three are the
top students
in this year’s
graduating
class.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Life-long Perquimans County students take
the path that goes from Perquimans Central to
Hertford Grammar, Perquimans Middle and then
Perquimans High.
Shelby Spruill and Robin Todd didn’t do that
but managed to rise to the top of the 2014 gradu
ating class
Spruill was bom in Chowan Hospital but has
lived her entire life in Washington County. Both
her parents are educators and because her father
teaches in Perquimans Shelby was eligible to at
tend school here.
Spruill went to pre-school at Albemarle Acad
emy. Kindergarten was at Perquimans Central,
See HOME HERE, 4
Budget
holds
line on
taxes
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford residents
won’t see a property tax
increase but will see hikes
in sanitation and electric
fees under the proposed
budget to be presented
to the town board this
month.
The property tax rate
will remain 35 cents per
$100 in valuation. The
town is not planning to
raise electric rates next
year, but the N.C. General
Assembly has raised the
amount of tax it charges.
It will go from 3 percent to
7 percent. For a customer
using 1,000 kilowatt hours
a month, the new charge
amounts to about $66 a
year.
The town also is pass
ing. along a contractual
increase in the cost of
garbage collection. The
monthly fee will go from
$9.23 a month to $9.51.
That amounts to an extra
$3.36 a year.
Overall the budget pre
sented by Town Manager
Brandon Shoaf holds the
line on spending in the face
of years of flat growth.
See BUDGET, 4
Concerns
raised
over US
17 plan
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
For now Perquimans
County officials are with
holding their applause for
a plan to upgrade U.S. 17 to
interstate highway status.
Advocates of the propos
al say it would better link
Raleigh and Norfolk, Va.
and bring development to
the northeast. The plan has
the support of Gov. Pat Mc
Crory and appears to gain
ing traction.
Last week U.S. Rep. G.K.
Butterfield, D-N.C., an
nounced he was co-spon
soring House Resolution
4829. The measure would
Jee US 17 PLAN, 2
Winslow named extension director
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Jewel Winslow, a 20-year veter
an with the N.C. Cooperative Ex
tension Service, has been named
director of Perquimans County
office.
The appointment was official
June 2. She replaces Lewis Smith
WINSLOW
has scaled back staffing for the
extension service and some posi
tions have been left unfilled.
Perquimans County Commis
sioners stressed the importance
of extension in the county when
Smith announced he was stepping
down.
On Friday County Manager
Frank Heath applauded Winslow’s
S-bridge should be repaired soon
who retired as of the first of the year. Smith
had been in the Hertford office since 1991
and in extension since 1980.
By some standards, the six months it
took to fill the Perquimans position was
fast.
Three of the five counties in the Albe
marle area are operating with interim di
rectors. The Chowan office hasn’t had a
director in more than a year and the state
6 89076 47144
appointment.
“I think it’s a wise move on the part of
extension,” Heath said. “She’s got a lot
of experience in the community and has
proven to be a good leader.”
Heath said county officials worked
closely with Travis Burke, the regional
head of the extension service on getting
a replacement for Smith. Burke, a former
extension agent in Elizabeth City, now
handles a 22-county region that includes
the entire northeast region.
Winslow called the fact that Perquimans
County only went six months without a
See WINSLOW, 4
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The 86-year-old S-Bridge
in Hertford should reopen
to traffic later this week af
ter being closed because a
piece of it came off.
The N.C. Department of
Transportation closed the
span Friday.
Initially DOT reported
that a piece of steel slipped
and wedged the bridge shut.
On Monday DOT Spokes
woman Jennifer Garifo said
the piece was an expansion
joint that ran the width of
the bridge.
DOT was able to open
the bridge Friday for boat
traffic that needed to get
through, but it’s been closed
to vehicle traffic.
“We are currently expect
ing everything to be fixed by
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
A N.C. Department of Transporation crew works on the
Winfall side of Hertford’s S-bridge on Monday morning.
the end of the week howev
er, we will have a better idea
of the schedule as the week
goes on, Garifo said.
The timing was almost
perfect for the Perquimans
County Schools. Buses reg
ularly use the S-Bridge get ¬
ting two and from the two
schools on the Hertford side
and the two schools on the
Winfall side. But Friday was
the last day of school for
students and many parents
See S-BRIDGE, 4