P The
ERQUIMANS
’195 Per Person/Double • ’245 Per Person/Single
Dover Down*
Hotel 8 Carino
. WEE k LY
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015 cent
FEBRUARY 29™ THRU MARCH 2» y 201©
50
Escorted By: 40/8 American Legion, Edenton. N.C.
Call 252-562-8114 • 252-339-6433
Money Is Due When You Sign Up.
Deadline: February 15, 2016.
All Proceeds go to the Local Nursing Scholarship Fund
Price Includes:
V Deluxe Bus Transportation.
♦ 2 Nights at Dover Downs.
♦ *60 Casino Credit.
♦ 2 Breakfast Buffets.
All Taxes & Gratuities.
Perquimans schools outline future needs
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Replacing the one roof at Perquimans County High School is one of the
projects on a list of projects the school system will face in the next few years.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County
Schools may need $13.4 million
over the next 10 years for main
tenance and improvement proj
ects, according to a report.
The state requires school dis
tricts report their capital needs
every five years. While the state
pays the bulk of the cost of pub
lic education, physical needs
like buildings are the respon
sibility of the local county gov
ernment.
“We’re in pretty good shape,
and it’s because of a lot of peo
ple including our maintenance
department, our school board
and the commissioners,” Su
perintendent Dwayne Stallings
said last week. “We’ve kept up
to date.”
The list is designed to keep
the local county commission
as well as the N.C. Department
of Public Instruction informed
about what may be required in
the future.
“That’s why you look at
long-range needs so unless
something expected happens,
nobody is surprised,” Stallings
said.
David Buchanan, the schools’
maintenance director, compiled
the list. He plans to make a pre
sentation to the Perquimans
County Commission when it
meets Monday night.
The $13.4 million includes $5
million for an athletic complex.
Stallings said the athletic
complex was included “for in
formational purposes.”
“It (the athletic complex) is
not a priority when comparing
it to keeping existing buildings
maintained.”
The needs are broken down
into three categories, one for
projects in the next five years,
one for projects in years six
through 10 and a third category
that lists projects that are need
ed but don’t fall into the first
two groups.
School officials estimate
the short-term needs will cost
about $5.6 million. The longer
See NEEDS, 2
Bridge
project
delayed
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Construction on a re
placement for Hertford’s S-
Bridge is now not expected
to start until after July 2020
- two years later than what
DOT was projecting two
years ago.
The latest delay has
been because a federal his
toric preservation group
was called into review the
plans. The area where the
S-Bridge is is considered a
historic district as is the 88-
year-old truss bridge itself.
The N.C. Department of
Transportation had hoped
meetings with the historic
group would take place
this fall.
“I had hoped it (the re
view) would have been
done by now, but hopefully
it will be in the next three
months,” said Jay McInnis,
See BRIDGE, 2
Parks
promote
hiking
From Staff Reports
The 2016 centennial of
North Carolina’s state parks
system will launch at Goose
Creek State Park with a
First Day Hike on Jan. 1.
It is designed as an op
portunity to begin the New
Year with exercise, family
adventure and a reconnec
tion with nature, according
to the N.C. Division of Parks
and Recreation.
There will be similar
events at Merchants Mill-
pond State Park, Pettigrew
State Park and Dismal
Swamp State Park.
Now in its fifth year, the
tradition has prompted
North Carolinians to walk
more than 17,000 miles on
1
See HIKING, 3
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
An engraved marker honoring Dr. John Harris sits next to the Perquimans County Library.
Markers honor famed dentist
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
I t’s hard to ignore a solitary gran
ite marker nearly five feet tall,
but few apparently even notice
it today.
But nearly 70 years ago it was a
big deal.
The marker doesn’t commemo
rate a big military battle. It doesn’t
mark the final place of some elected
leader.
It also doesn’t mark the specific
final resting place of anyone at all.
But the monument that sits be
side the Perquimans County Library
does honor the life and accomplish
ments of a man who got sick and
died in Hertford.
Dr. John Harris was a New York
born dentist who is hailed in Ohio
as the father of modern dentistry.
He died one July day in 1849 in Hert
ford and was buried with Masonic
rites the very next day. No one is
quite sure just where, but there is
a marker in Cedarwood Cemetery
that shows the general area where
he was laid to rest.
But in the early part of the last
century, there were no such mark
ers to remember Harris and dentists
in Ohio felt he deserved something
in Hertford given his contributions
to society.
So they and dentists in North
Carolina set about a plan for a
monument in Hertford. By 1938
the Ohio Dental Association had
already purchased the building Har
ris used in Bainbridge, Ohio as the
first dental school in America. The
building itself was originally a small
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
A maker in Cedarwood Cemetery shows the approximate spot where Dr.
John Harris was buried.
house built in 1815.
Modern dentistry in the early
1800s isn’t quite the same as modern
dentistry today. Newspaper ac
counts of the museum in Bainbridge
speak of crude implements and
leather straps on the patients’ chair
so they would be restrained.
But even in the 1840s, Harris was
held in high regard by the dental
profession.
Harris’ brother Chapin founded a
dental school himself the Baltimore
Dental College in 1839 12 years after
John Bonner started his.
Harris visited Hertford during
at time before the Civil War, but
’ ♦
when the possibility of that war was
looming.
That was not lost on one speaker
at the dedication of Harris’ monu
ment in the 1940s.
“One hundred years is a long
time, yet it is the time we have
waited to honor the memory of the
man who probably has meant more
to the profession of dentistry than
any other man, dead or living. Dr.
John Harris. Too, a man’s ideals and
life work must have been important
when we find a gathering of men
such as I see before me honoring his
See MARKER, 3
School
starts
fishing
club
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County High
School students have anoth ¬
er club they join.
The school has added a
fishing club to the list.
The group is considered a
club, not a sport.
School
funds won’t
be used
to fund
the club.
Instead
students
will be ex
pected to
raise fluids
LEICESTER
on their own.
The coordinator of the
club is Matt Leicester, a new
teacher at PCHS and a 1998
graduate.
“It’s really something
that happened by chance,”
Leicester said last week.
“I’ve always epjoyed fish
ing and being outdoors and
when I took this job my best
friend mentioned it.
Then I started doing some
research and found the pro
gram by FLW.”
Leicester said he liked
the idea that the club would
attract some students who
might not be involved in
any other outside activity at
school.
“It will also have a op
portunity to students to
see other parts of the state
when it comes to regionals,”
Leicester said.
“I felt like it was a great
way to reach out to a group
of kids so they can get in
volved in something they
might not otherwise do.”
Leicester said about a
dozen students have shown
an interest so far, but he be-
lieves more will join.
Leicester, 35, will be
teaching the public safety
course at the high school.
Starting this fall, he’ll head
the Emergency Medical
Technician class.
See CLUB, 2
New round of scholarships available for high school seniors
From Staff Reports
The Perquimans County
Schools Foundation has an
nounced the availability of
the following scholarships
for high school seniors at-
6, " 89076 47144 2
tending Perquimans High
School. Deadline to ap
ply for each scholarship is
March 1. For more informa
tion or a copy of the applica
tion, contact Nancy B. Mor
gan, school counselor.
Bessie Smith Harrell
Scholarship - The Bessie
Smith Harrell Scholarship
of $750 is given in honor of
Bessie Smith Harrell, a na
tive and lifelong resident of
Perquimans County, who
passed away in 2004. The in
tent of the donor, David Jor
dan, is that this award will
encourage studying basic or
applied fields of science by
students. Recipients are se
lected based on scholastic
achievement, community
service and character.
Claude Briiui Male
and Female Athletic
Scholarships - The Perqui
mans County Schools Ath
letic Boosters fund a $500
scholarship for a male and
female athlete each year.
Recipients participate in at
least two sports, maintain
high academic standards
throughout their tenure in
high school, and are noted
for their outstanding sports
manship.
Rhonda Gregory Busi
ness Scholarship - This
$1,000 scholarship is a schol
arship sponsored by Danny
and Rhonda Gregory and
is offered to a PCHS senior
planning to attend College
of the Albemarle and enter
ing the field of business. Re
cipients are selected based
on financial need and aca
demic standards.
Shearman Athletic
Scholarship - Dave Shear
man, a Perquimans County
resident, sponsors the annu
al Shearman Athletic Schol
arship of $500 to a PCHS
athlete who participates in
at least one sport, has no
disciplinary referrals and
See SCHOLARSHIPS, 3