P The
ERQUIMANS
WEEKLY
PCHS holds Senior Night, 9
"News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015
MAY 1 2 RETD
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National Day of Prayer
Probe leads
to arrests
A speaker addresses the crowd last week at a National Day of Prayer event at Holiday Island.
Hundreds unite to pray
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
H undreds of residents
gathered together
last week to pray.
The first observance of
the National Day of Prayer
was held on the green in
front of the Perquimans
County Courthouse. A sec
ond observance was held
Thursday night at Holiday
Island.
The focus of both pro
grams was to pray for spe
cific segments of society.
Winfall Mayor Fred Yates
was among the first to
speak at the noon event. He
prayed for local, state and
federal leaders.
“If there is a time for
prayer, now is the time,”
Yates said. “Give us the wis
dom, the knowledge to help
others.”
James Spaugh, pastor of
Bagley Swamp Wesleyan
Church, asked for help with
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Connie Ashley, a music teacher at Perquimans Central
School, directs students in the song “El Shaddai”
Wednesday during a National Day of Prayer event in
front of the Perquimans County Courthouse.
families.-
Frankie Etheridge prayed
for peace. “We ask you to
bring peace back to our
communities, bring peace
and harmony.”
A succession of speakers
also prayed for the nation as
a whole, schools, America’s
youth and the military.
Ann Vaughan wrapped
up the program. She said
prayer alone isn’t enough.
“If you don’t abide by
what He says, your prayers
are in vain,” she said.
Other speakers at the
courthouse event included
Pastor Toni Wood, Pastor
Mattie Paylin, Chiquita Sut
ton, Arlene Yates and Lora
Aples. It was organized by
the Perquimans County
Ministers’ Council for Edu
cation and included music
by both second graders at
Perquimans Central School
as well as a high school
group singing “Awesome
God.”
The younger children
sang the song “El Shaddai”
the name of the God known
to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob and the name used
again in the Book of Job.
At the Holiday Island
event, each speaker either
offered a prayer or request
ed a prayer. It marked the
10th year for the Holiday
Island program. Patricia
See PRAYER, 8
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Seven people were
arrested Tuesday, morn
ing and more arrests are
pending as a result of a
six-month undercover
drug operation by the Per
quimans County Sheriffs
Office and the State Bu
reau of Investigation.
The arrests stem from
the illegal sale of prescrip
tion medicines, said Sher
iff Eric Tilley.
Of the seven arrested
by Tuesday morning, two
were from Chowan Coun
ty, one was from Pasquo
tank County and four
were from Perquimans
County. Tilley declined to
release the names of those
arrested until all 11 were
in custody.
Some of the arrests in ¬
Hertford, Winfall
settle dispute
From staff reports
A seven-year dispute
over wastewater charges
between Hertford and Win
fall has been settled.
Hertford Mayor Hor
ace Reid announced the
settlement Monday night.
A written agreement has
been signed.
“In exchange for mu
tual releases of all claims
against each other, Hert
ford agreed to return a
check to Winfall in the
amount of $9,872.94 in ex
change for Winfall agreeing
to pay Hertford $300,000 in
volved people selling oxy-
contin and methadone and
some of the suspects were
in their 40s and 50s.
“We met at 7 a.m. with
the SBI and the Chowan
Sheriffs Office and held
and meeting and then
went out and started mak
ing the arrests,” Tilley
said.
One of those arrested
was a Perquimans County
resident who was on the
sex offender registry and
will face additional charg
es because he had not reg
istered his address, Tilley
said.
Donnie Varnell, the lead
SBI officer, said the Per
quimans undercover oper
ation was part of a much
larger effort.
Varnell said the abuse
See DRUG BUST, 2
equal monthly installments
over 20 years beginning
July 20,2015,” Reid said.
Winfall’s agreement to
pay is further supported by
the execution of a promis
sory note to Hertford for
the same terms, Reid said.
Reid said each town
took into account the risks
associated with litigating
the matter and came to an
agreement on terms that
are mutually agreeable to
both towns.
“While Hertford believes
♦
See SEWER, 2 f
American Legion gets picture of namesake
SUBMITTED
PHOTO
A photograph
of William
Paul Stallings
was donated
last week to
American
Legion
Post 126.
The Post is
named after
Stallings,
the first
Perquimans
County
resident
killed in
World War I.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The American Legion
Post in Hertford has been
named in honor of William
Paul Stallings for 70 years.
Now Post 126 has a pic
ture of what he look liked.
Stallings was killed in
World War I and Friday
two of his grandchildren
came from Delaware and
Pennsylvania to present
the Post with the photo
graph it didn’t have — a
picture that one Post mem
ber spent decades trying to
find.
The grainy black and
white image shows a man
in his early 20s with a hat
— a man that would be the
first Perquimans County
soldier killed in World War
I.
His story started in 1895
in the Nicanor area of Per
quimans County known
as Long Swamp. He likely
worked on his father’s
farm and in January 1917
he married Lillian Watson,
then 18. Watson was from
Elizabeth City.
The marriage wouldn’t
last long.
Three months later the
U.S. declared war and by
October 1917 and Stallings
was drafted.
In February 1918 his
only child -— Irma Pauline
Stallings — was born but
within three months Stall
ings and members of the
199th Infantry Regiment
were boarding trains for
Massachusetts and then a
ship to France.
Stallings died July 26,
1918.
He and three other men
were killed while advanc
ing on machine gun nests
in the front lines.
All the facts on Stall
ings’ life were unearthed
and cataloged through the
work of Charlie Skinner,
the Post’s historian.
In 1991 Skinner wrote a
short biography on Stall
ings. He didn’t stop there
and he kept trying to find
the elusive picture and any
other historical records.
In January 2003 Skinner
made a notation in his re
cords that he was unable
to locate any pictures of
Irma Pauline Stallings, the
child born in 1918 or her
father. He noted if she was
still living she’d be 85 years
old.
Skinner was 85-years-
old and still searching for a
See PICTURE, 2
County workers
search for jobs
Ruritans Clubs raise money for causes
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This
is the second part of a two-
part series on the economy
and Perquimans County)
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
If there are jobs out there,
many Perquimans County
residents are finding they
need to commute to get
there.
A new data book com
piled by the Albemarle
Commission shows about a
third of Perquimans County
workers drive to Pasquo
tank Dare or Chowan coun
ties to work. That compares
to 12 percent that work in
the same county they live
in.
Pasquotank County
makes up the largest share
of the workforce at 20 per
cent.
That somewhat surprised
Dave Whitmer, the director
of the Northeastern Work
force Development Board.
Whitmire has worked for
the Commission since 2009.
“What sort of sur
prised me is looking at the
See JOB SEARCHES, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Richard Davis looks at a medical saddlebag that was
likely used by a doctor during the Civil War. Davis
is donating it for the Durrants Neck Ruritan Club’s
auction this Saturday.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A pair of local Ruritan
Clubs will be holding fund-
raising events this Satur
day with the common goal
— raising money for com
munity groups and helping
Perquimans students at
tend college.
Both clubs will be selling
food, and both will offer
things to buy. The Parks
ville Ruritan Club will be
sponsoring a pork chop
dinner and community
yard sale at the club build
ing in Winfall. The Durants
Neck Ruritan Club will
host a fried chicken and
barbecue dinner and auc
tion at the clubhouse.
The Durants Neck auc ¬
tion has a history of un
usual items according
to George South, one of
the members. One year
somebody donated an old
wooden outhouse. There
also have been cars, boats
and jet skis for sale.
There is a car again this
year, a 2002 Pontiac Grand
Prix.
One of the more unusu
al itemsis a Civil War-era
leather medical saddlebag.
Club member Richard Da
vis found the item and is
donating it for the event.
Davis said when the war
' started, what few surgeons
there were rode horses.
“At the beginning of the
war, there were 78 (Union)
See RURITANS, 2