P The
ERQUIMANS
1®EEKLY
"News from Next Door” APRIL 15, 2015 - APRIL 21, 2015
BAGLEY Swamp Wesleyan
PASTOR HONORED AT SC UNIVERSITY - 4
50 cents
War monuments live on
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Civil War has been
over for 150 years, but monu
ments to the people who
fought in it remain.
That’s the topic of a pro
gram on May 2 at the Muse
um of the Albemarle.
There are monuments
across the country, but au
thor Dr. Douglas Butler said
Perquimans County is unique
in that it has two — one for
black Union army troops as
well as the more traditional
southern monument for
white Confederate soldiers.
Butler, a 60-year-old in
dependent historian and
practicing physician in Ashe
County, spent five years do
ing research for his book
“North Carolina Civil War
Monuments: An Illustrated
History.” He will talk about
his book at the May 2 event.
Butler’s late father sug
gested he document Civil
War monuments 30 years ago
because many people wanted
them removed. Butler didn’t
really start the process until
about 2005.
In his travels visiting all the
monuments, Butler has come
up with a pretty universal re
alization.
“What I came away with
was the total grief involved.”
Butler visited all 109 North
Carolina memorials. He only
focused on those that hon
ored a cause or military unit,
not a statue honoring a single
individual.
But said between 1865 and
1965, North Carolina saw
101 Confederate monuments
erected and eight for the
Union Army.
Hertford’s is the only one
in the state dedicated to
black union troops, he said.
The monument itself states
it was erected in 1910. Other
accounts say it was 1912,
which was the same year a
larger monument to Confed
erate troops was erected on
the courthouse lawn.
The monument to black
troops is located across from
First Baptist Church, 211
Hyde Park St., at the corner
of King Street. The signifi
cance of the site is that was
where the first black school,
litbrary and church were
See MONUMENTS, 4
Bunch
to run
Re-Store
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Retirement didn’t last
long for Buck Bunch.
In February he stepped
down from his 21-year ca
reer with the Perquimans
County Schools and by
March he took on a new
role as the manager of the
Chowan-Perquimans Habi
tat for Humanity’s Re-Store
in Edenton.
The store takes donations
of new and used items and
sells them. The profits go to
ward funding homebuilding
projects in the two-county
area.
Bunch.
64, admits
he’s still
learning,
but branch
ing out to a
new line of
work isn’t
new to him.
BUNCH
In 1974 and 1975, Bunch
ran the bus station in Hert
ford. In addition to pas
sengers, buses at the time
would deliver car parts
and even flowers to small
towns.
He then worked 16 years
in private industry, includ
ing working in the dairy
business in Greenville. For
a time he also worked for a
company that built electri
cal capacitors and a Farm
ville company that worked
with fork lifts.
He then decided he want
ed to be a teacher. There he
taught science, coached,
and was the school system’s
chief safety officer.
Working at the Re-Store is
not your typical retail opera
tion since the items it sells
See BUNCH, 7
Coming Scgn
PHOTOS BY CHUCK PAGELS
Samantha Jordan, Nathan Oliver, Kelly Hoeltzel Brennan Biggs and Stone Nash practice a scene from the play
“Something Afoot: A Murder Mystery Musical" at Perquimans County High School. The group will perform
Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for
students, and is payable at the door. For additional information call 426-5778.
Brennan Biggs
is pulled by
cast members
Stone Nash
and Nathan
Oliver, while
Kaitlin
Whitehead
and Megan
Jones look
on during
rehearsal for
“Something
Afoot: A
Murder
Mystery
Musical.”
Station
cited for
bad gas
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A Hertford gas station
has been banned from sell
ing some grades of gasoline
because of a water contami
nation issue that dates back
to December.
Marcus Helfrich, program
manager for the state motor
fuels lab, said the Park &
Shop has been on the state’s
radar for some time. The lab
is part of the N.C. Depart
ment of Agriculture and
Consumer Services.
The problem involves wa
ter in the gas.
Steve Bowen complained
about the issue after his son
brought a brand new Honda
Gold Wing motorcycle to
the Park & Shop on Har
vey Point Road on March 5.
Joshua Bowen filled up the
motorcycle with premium
gas. Once he did, the bike
wouldn’t run, Bowen said.
“We had to trailer it
home,” he said.
Bowen complained to the
management to the store,
and contacted the state
agency that monitors motor
fuel sales.
The technical term for
the problem is phase sepa
ration. That’s what happens
when ethanol and water
come into contact.
Helfrich said the two
compounds naturally bond
together.
The problem appears to
be linked to the tanks that
hold mid-grade and high-
test gas, not the tank that
holds regular unleaded.
Helfrich said the problem
is rare. The state tries to in
spect gas at every station in
See BAD GAS, 7
Market to take on new twist
Garden show returns May 2
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Historic Hertford Inc.
will be kicking off a month
ly event — Second Hand
Saturdays — on May 9.
The group has been spon
soring a traditional farmer’s
market every Wednesday
from May through Octo
ber for the past few years.
However interest from ven
dors waned last year as did
the number of buyers.
The new event will be
on the second Saturday of
each month through Octo
ber. It will run from 9 a.m.
until 1 p.m. and will be
located across the street
from Missing Mill Park, not
in the park parking lot as it
was last year.
“We wanted to do that
to avoid any conflicts for
someone who wanted to
use Missing Mill Park for
a birthday or something,”
said Lynne Raymond, the
president of HHI.
The new endeavor is
open to the same type of
vendors that were coming,
but it’s opened up to a wid
er group of sellers.
“We changed because
basically people were re
questing we do it on a Sat
urday and we weren’t able
to get a lot of produce sell
ers,” Raymond said. “A lot
of people in town like the
idea of going down to the
market for the camarade
rie, and we felt we were
a little restricted with he
farmer’s market concept.”
Vendors selling used
or new household items
are welcome, as are direct
sales of Avon and Tupper
ware. HHI is also looking
for people selling vegeta
bles, fruits, nuts, fresh pre
pared foods like salsa, and
craft items.
“This will allow a space
for somebody who maybe
Wants to do a little yard sale
to go,” Raymond said. “We
don’t want to use the word
‘flea market’ but we want
ed to be able to provided a
little bit of everything.”
Raymond said she’s
already got a call from a
T/ner resident who wants
to sell vegetables and hon
ey. The Hertford market
won’t have the requirement
some markets do that force
vendors to commit to every
week or every month.
“If someone is a small
See MARKET, 7
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
From plants, to bees to
butterflies, five speakers are
lined up to talk at the Albe
marle Master Gardener’s
Spring Garden Show in Hert
ford next month.
The event will be held May
2 at the Perquimans County
Recreation Center, 310 Gran
by St, from 9 am. until 3 p.m.
Jean Oaks, one of the orga
nizers, said the event typically
draws about 400 people. It’s
an outreach effort of the Mas
ter Gardener’s progam that
covers Gates, Chowan and
Perquimans counties.
“Primarily they come from
Gates, Chowan and Perqui
mans because that’s our area,
but we get a nice contingent
from Pasquotank and Eliza
beth City.”
The show is a little later
than normal this year because
the recreation center was re
served only for athletic events
in the month of April.
Carolyn Hess will present a
program at 10 am. on the care
of camellias and airlayering.
Hess and her husband Bob
have been growing the plans
for a quarter century.
“During those years we’ve
come to love these plants
and appreciate their contribu
tions to a garden — not just
the outstanding blooms, but
the dignity of the plants them
selves,” she said in a release.
“We’ve experimented with
soil, mulch, drainage, and
exposure. We’ve argued with
insects and deer and learned
how to outwit both — most
of the time.”
At 11 am. Doug White will
discuss if it’s time to prune
or plant. The following hour-
long program is by Buzz Grif
fin. Griffin has been an Eden
ton resident since 2012 and
will speak about the history
of honey and bees. At 1 p.m.
agricultural extension agent
Katy Shook will speak about
weed control and lawns, At
2 p.m. Sandra Parks will dis
cuss butterfly gardens.
The May 2 event also in
cludes horticultural activities,
vendors, activities for chil
dren, a plant sale, raffles and
door prizes, and a bake sale.
The “Ask a Master Garden
er” booth will be staffed to an
swer gardening questions.
The proceeds benefit the
scholarship program for lo
cal horticultural/agricultural
students.
“The whole agriculture
thing is so drastically different
than it used to be,” Oaks said.
The mission of the Mas
ter Gardener program is to
provide unbiased, research-
based horticulture informa
tion to home gardeners and
the community.