P The
ERQUIMANS
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Students ride to wins in roller
coaster building contest - 7
"News from Next Door" JULY 2, 2014 - JULY 8, 2014
50 cents
Weather
could
dampen
fireworks
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A fireworks display over
the Perquimans River is
scheduled for Saturday
night, but organizers say it
could be pushed back a day
if it rains either Friday or
Saturday.
An area of low pressure
drifting off the Florida east
coast Monday could turn
into a tropical troublemaker
for Independence Day along
the Carolinas coast accord
ing to weather officials.
The same technicians
putting on the fireworks
in Edenton on Friday will
be doing the Hertford-Win
fall display the next day. If
Edenton is forced to post
pone the Friday event, the
Chowan County display will
be on Saturday and the Per
quimans Coimty fireworks
will be moved to Sunday.
Diane Stallings, one of
the organizers of the Perqui
mans event, said the group
had no plans as of Monday
for what will happen if it
rains all three days.
“We could do it that Mon
day (July 7) or we could
just cancel it,” she said. “We
haven’t crossed that bridge
yet.”
By using the same crew
as the Edenton event and
holding it on another day,
Stallings said Perquimans
County gets a discount. The
Chowan event is larger, cost
ing $20,000, so it will dictate
what happens. The cost of
the Perquimans event is
$7,000.
Using the same crew for
both events is beneficial
See FIREWORKS, 4
PlANIAIION PLEASED WITH TOURNEY
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A crowd gathers at the clubhouse for the presentation of the winning check to Ken Looper, Sunday.
Saunders: Classic was ‘off the charts’
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
D espite a small field of golfers, Albemarle Planta
tion officials seem more than pleased with their
first-ever professional golf tournament.
“It was off the charts,” said Kenny Saunders, the cata
lyst for bringing the NGA tournament to Perquimans
County and the resident golf pro at The Sound Links.
“Our residents enjoyed every minute of it. I didn’t know
what to expect.”
The Biggs Cadillac-Buick-GMC Classic wrapped
up Sunday. Ken Looper, a 25-year-old from Louisiana,
came away with the win and a $5,000 check. Earlier in
the tournament Thomas Hay set a new course record
with a score of 64.
Going into the tournament, Plantation officials ex
pected 30 or 40 young pros would attend. Saunders got
the bad news on Monday.
“They told me they had 11 golfers and asked me if I
See CLASSIC, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Kenny Saunders, the golf pro at Albemarle Plantation,
raises his arms after sinking a long putt on the ninth
hole Saturday during the Biggs Classic NGA tournament.
Final OK
on bridge
plan on
hold: DOT
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The N.C. Department of
Transportation officials will
hold off seeking final ap
proval on a plan to replace
the S-Bridge in Hertford un
til they can meet with down-
town residents this month.
DOT had hoped to meet
with all the permitting
agencies like the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers in June.
That’s on hold until after the
July 14 meeting in Hertford.
DOT is favoring a plan
that would build a new
bridge extending off Church
Street and wind up at a
point in Winfall near Larry’s
Drive In. Instead of a swing
bridge, the new structure
would be fixed and as tall
as the U.S. 17 Bypass bridge
nearby.
Some downtown resi
dents are now concerned
about that and formed a
group called Citizens for the
Preservation and Growth of
Hertford (CPGH).
One member of the group
is Nancy Theodore, a Phelps
Street resident who stands
to lose her home based on
the route of the new bridge.
“We hope to let them
(DOT) know a lot of people
in town are unhappy,” Theo
dore said last week. “A lot
of people didn’t understand
the design of the bridge
given the perspectives they
showed us. A lot of people
feel misled. People want to
see what exactly this is go
ing to do.”
That’s what DOT hopes
See BRIDGE PLAN, 5
Banks steps down after seven years leading commission
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
After seven years, Bert Banks
stepped down Monday as the ex
ecutive director of the Hertford-
based Albemarle Commission.
At 64, Banks is retiring from the
Id-county agency that adminis
ters more than $6 million a year in
state and federal funds.
“I think the work we did was
important, we made a difference
and it was fulfilling work,” Banks
said last week. “We did things that
really effected people.”
Banks made the retirement an
nouncement earlier this year. Bob
Woodard, the chairman of the
commission board, said a perma
nent replacement for Banks could
be in place by September.
For now Darleen Harrell will
serve as interim director. Harrell
recently retired from the
senior program run by the
commission. The new ex
ecutive director will need
to fill that position as well
as the one that oversees
workforce programs. Nat
alie Rountree also stepped
down on Monday to take
a job as county manager
in Gates County.
BANKS
Dave Whitmire will be the in- and state appropriations provided
terim director for workforce de
velopment and Laura Alvarico is
the interim director for the Area
Agency on Aging.
Also retiring was Ruth Mengel,
the office manager who has been
there 30 years. She has agreed to
stay on until a new director can be
hired, Woodard said.
The Albemarle Commission ad
ministers state and federal senior
and workforce programs for Cam
den, Chowan, Currituck,
Perquimans and Pasquo
tank counties along with
five others in the north
east. It has a staff of about
35 people.
The agency had an an
nual budget about $4 mil
lion when Banks was hired
and $6 million based on the
2012-13 financial report. Federal
about 81 percent of the money.
The current budget is closer to
$6.8 million.
The Area Agency on Aging gets
about 46 percent of the total and
another 38 percent goes toward
workforce development. Eco
nomic development efforts and
general government makes up the
rest.
The departure of Banks comes
early in Bob Woodard’s tenure
as chairman of the commission
board. Woodard is also a Dare
County commissioner.
“He (Banks) has been a huge
asset to our commission for these
last seven years. He’s very well
respected throughout the commu
nity. I hate seeing him leave just as
I become chairman. That’s a chal
lenge.”
Woodard said the advertised
salary range for the director job is
$85,000 to $128,000.
For now Banks is returning to
Raleigh. He rented an apartment
in Hertford for his tenure at the
commission and kept a home in
Raleigh. His wife teaches school
there and Banks has commuted
back to Raleigh on weekends.
He said the northeast region
has a unique set of issues and chal
lenges. He is a native of Washing
ton, N.C.
“We have the haves and the
have-nots and we have it in the
same counties,” he said.
Dare is often held out as the
richest county in the region, but in
Dare there is poverty as well.
“Perquimans County has some
wonderful natural assets, but
some of our counties don’t have
natural assets, they don’t have
economic assets.”
Banks said he’s proud of what
the commission has been able to
accomplish. He also wishes more
could be done to improve the eco
nomic conditions in the region,
but economic development is
not in a mqjor core mission of the
commission.
“When I came the commission
was in decline. We had probably 20
staff members. We’ve been able to
See BANKS, 4
Artist wants new mural
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Kelly Reynolds grew up
with a mural and she wants
one back.
Reynolds spent her early
years in Hertford and gradu
ated from Perquimans County
High School in 2003. She and
her husband moved away for
10 years, but have been back
for the past two.
Specifically Reynoldswould
like to see a mural back on the
wall of Hertford Hardware on
Church and
Grubb streets.
The mural
painted there
in the early
1980s had to
be removed
because it had
deteriorated
to the point it
REYNOLDS
Hunter safety shooters rise to the top
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89076
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was damaging the building.
“Right now I’m just seeing
how many people would be
interested in helping,” Reyn
olds said. “We’re in the very
beginning stages. I’ve talked
with a few local artists about
coming up with a design.”
Reynolds isn’t talking about
recreating what was there
See NEW MURAL, 4
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
State championships eluded
the traditional sports at Perqui
mans County High School last
year, but not Nicolas Forbes
and Drew Baccus.
Forbes earned the state high
school individual rifle cham
pion and Baccus won the state
individual hunter skills/orien-
teering championship.
Perquimans County High
School finished third place
overall among the top 30 teams
that qualified at the state tour
nament in Ellerbe.
For Forbes, it meant hit-
See HUNTER, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Drew
Baccus
and Nick
Forbes took
home state
championships
in Hunter
Safety this
year.
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