Ruritans seeking to help jids
From Staff Reports
The Parksville Ruritan Club has
placed Santa Trees at both Woodard’s
Pharmacy and Family Care Pharmacy.
The trees contain cards with a child’s
name, gender and what they need for
Christmas. These families have been
screened through the Perquimans
County Department of Social Services.
Residents are asked to
pick out a card and pick
up items for a child and
then return the wrapped
gift items and the card
to the store where they
got it.
The Ruritans will
take it from there and
distribute the gifts.
P The
ERQUIMANS
. W E E K LY
PCHS dress in pink for Breast Cancer
Awareness Month, 4
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015
DEC 0 9 RETD
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Yates,
Frierson
file for ’16
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
One Perquimans County
school board member and
county’s Register of Deeds
filed last week for re-elec
tion.
Arlene Yates, vice chair
man of the board of edu-
FRIERSON
cation, is
seeking
her third
term of of
fice.
Jackie
Frierson
has held
the reg
ister of
deed’s position since she
was appointed to it in 2013.
She filled the unexpired
term of Debbie Reed who
retired.
They will join Kyle Jones
on the March ballot. Jones
is a first-term county com
missioner who filed for
reelection on the first day.
Jones was named the vice
chairman of the county
board Monday night. Jan
ice Cole was renamed the
chairman.
See FILING, 2
Jobless
rate
climbs
From Staff Reports
Unemployment in Per
quimans County inched up
to 6.9 percent in October,
according to state data re
leased on Monday.
In all the jobless figures
increased in 83 of the state’s
counties that month, de
creased in six and remained
the same in 11.
The Perquimans rate in
October was three tenths
of a percentage point higher
than the September rate and
one tenth of a point higher
than October 2014. It was
also 1.4 percentage points
higher than the state as a
whole.
The numbers are
See UNEMPLOYMENT, X
C^ristipas Parades
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
A 55-foot-long replica of the World War II battleship USS Alabama rides down Church Street Saturday in the
annual Perquimans County Christmas Parade. The original was built at the Norfolk Navy Yard.
PHOTO BY CHUCK
PAGELS
The Perquimans
County High
School band
marches
Saturday during
the annual
Christmas Parade
in Winfall.
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
A spectator applauds the Elizabeth City State University band
Saturday during the Perquimans County Christmas Parade in
Hertford.
PHOTO BY CHUCK PAGELS
Winfall Mayor Fred Yates wears a Santa hat
Saturday for the annual Christmas Parade
in Winfall.
School
chief bid
farewell
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
After 30 years in edu
cation, 22 in Perquimans
County, speakers painted a
picture of Superintendent
Dwayne Stallings Monday
night as
a man of
strong faith
who sought
to welcome
faith-based
organiza
tions into
the process
of educat-
STALLINGS
ing children.
Stallings will be retiring at
the end of the month and a
ceremony was held for him
Monday in the high school
gym.
One by one speakers
talked about how Stallings
has sought to bring people
together. The group of 100-
plus people was made up of
friends, neighbors, family,
church leaders and staff.
See STALLINGS, 2
Second
wind
suit filed
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Lawyers a couple trying
to stop the construction of
a $400 million wind power
project in Perquimans and
Pasquotank counties have
filed a civil suit in Wake
County in addition to a suit
against the state agency that
approved the project.
Stephen Owens and his
wife Jillanne Badawi are
the Perquimans residents
named in both suits. They
own a house on Swamp
Road next to the wind pow
er site. The overall site is
about 22,000 acres.
One suit is against the
Department of Environ
ment and Natural Resourc
es, the name of the state
agency that initially made
the decision to allow the
project to proceed. It’s now
called the Department of
See LAWSUIT, X
Bell ringers work to pay back Salvation Army
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The cold weather didn’t
bother John White.
For two hours last Thurs
day he stood on the side
walk in front of Woodard’s
Pharmacy, ringing a bell for
the Salvation Army.
The 63-year-old retired
89076
47144
6
2
phone company lineman
said he felt it was the least
he could do to help a non-
profit that helped him.
“I was down in Florida
in 1998 after a hurricane
and these folks (Salvation
Army) fed us for 15 days,”
White said. “I’ve been out
after tornadoes and they
(Salvation Army) got there
about the time we did, and
they were always offering
coffee or hot soup.”
Another time he was
working in Florida near
Fort Walton Beach after a
storm, when a Salvation
Army truck pulled up and
the guy asked him if he
wanted lunch.
“I looked at him and
looked at him and finally
said ‘you look just like a
guy I know from Elizabeth
City.’”
The man confirmed he
was, then told White “you
look just like one of the
guys who married one of
the Williams girls.’”
He was.
White is married to Ann
Carol White. Her maiden
name is Williams.
Last Thursday was
White’s first stint as a bell
ringer, and he was eqjoying
it.
“I’ve had several people
come by, drop in some mon
ey and tell me that the Sal
vation Army helped them in
the past,” White said.
“I’m the person who al
ways tries to help someone
out. Standing out here, I
think about all the men who
stood out here before who
aren’t here anymore. This is
important.”
Skip Matthews, who
See BELL RINGERS, 2
STAFF PHOTO
BY PETER
WILLIAMS
Doing the mom (aw
MIRRY CHRISTMAS
J6hn White
(right)
watches
Andrew
Davis put
some
money
in the
Salvation
Army kettle
last week
in Hertford.