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Special section inside
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
50 cents
Retired
captain
to speak
Saturday
From Staff Reports
Dr. Mark Olesen, an oc
cupational and environmen
tal medicine specialist and
retired U.S. Navy Captain,
will be the guest speaker
at the Perquimans Comity
Veterans observance on Sat
urday.
The event will be held on
the courthouse lawn at the
Veterans Monument at 11
am. The road in front of the
courthouse will be closed
prior to the observance.
However vehicles will be !
permitted to enter the street
to drop off those with handi
caps. Parking will be limited
on the street prior to the ob
servance.
In case of inclement
weather, the observance
will be moved to the Comity
Recreation Center off Har- j
vey Point Road.
Capt. Olesen has been
providing primary care ser
vices to military veterans at
the Veterans Administration
Albemarle Outpatient Clinic
in Elizabeth City since 2012.
A native of Milwaukee,
Olesen earned his bachelor
of sciences degree from the
University of Wisconsin-Mil- 1
waukee and his doctorate
of medicine from the Medi
cal College of Wisconsin.
He completed a transitional
internship at Naval Hospital
Oakland in California and
his residency in occupa
tional and environmental
medicine at the Uniformed
Services University of the
Health Sciences. As part of
his residency, Captain Ole
sen also earned his Master’s
degree in public health.
Upon completion of his
internship in 1984, he re
ported to the aircraft carrier |
USS Enterprise as a general |
medical officer, then was re- |
assigned as assistant senior
medical officer at Branch
Medical Clinic, Naval Air
Station, Alameda, CA. He j
served as senior medical of
ficer, Branch Medical Clinic
and Washington Navy Yard,
prior to becoming special
ized in occupational and en
vironmental medicine.
After his residency, he 1
was assigned as Head, Occu
pational Health Clinics, Na
val Surface Warfare Centers,
Indian Head, Md., and Dahl
gren, VA During that tour,
he was also selected for the
concurrent assignment as
Head, Wellness Department,
National Naval Medical Cen
ter, and Division Officer, Oc
cupational Medicine.
Captain Olesen has held
medical positions at the
Navy environmental Health
Center, Bureau of Medi
cine and Surgery and in
See CAPTAIN, 2
NOV
Halloween In Hertford
08RECD
County
mourns
prison
workers
STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER WILLIAMS
Hertford Town Manager Brandon Shoaf “rides” a dinosaur past Woodard’s Pharmacy last week
during Trick or Treat in downtown Hertford.
Collins
Eure,
age 14-
months,
eats ice
cream
while
walking
down
Church
Street
during
Halloween
last week.
Members of the Perquimans County tax staff dresses
up in a 1950s theme for Halloween.
Two day Riverbash event planned for April 27-28
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Planning is underway for
a two-day celebration in
April designed to get com
munity organizations in
volved as well as celebrate
the 350th anniversary of
the forming of Perquimans
County.
Sharon Smith, the
county’s tourism develop
ment director, has already
reached out to the Hertford
Rotary club and Historic
Hertford Inc. to get their
support for Riverbash on
April 27-28.
Since the end of the In
dian Summer Festival in
2016, the county hasn’t
had a large single two-day
event. Smith thinks the Riv
erbash may be that event.
“The idea to showcase
Perquimans County in the
best way possible and in
vite visitors to see what the
county has to offer,” Smith
said, “We want this to be a
fun thing and the premier
event in the county.”
There are plans to have
RIVERM5H
PERQUIMANS COUNTY. W
A baby is dressed up as a little monster
during Trick or Treat in downtown Hertford.
"tlvls" hands out candy in front of the
Perquimans County Chamber of Commerce
last week.
an art walk on the court-
house green and HHI and
the Rotary are working on
having a mini version of the
Toast The Perquimans at
the town docks, Smith said.
Food and entertainment
will be provided. A fishing
event for kids is also on the
list.
For more information
or to get involved, contact
Smith at 426-5657.
The Riverbash weekend
already has two events that
were already scheduled
that will be bringing people
into the county - the fourth
annual Unhilly Hundred
bike race and the eighth
annual Master Gardener’s
plant show at the Perqui
mans County Recreation
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County was mourning
the loss of two more people who died
from injuries they received in a failed
escape attempt at the Pasquotank
Correctional Institute.
The deaths of
Wendy Shannon on
Oct. 30 and Geof
frey Howe on Nov.
2, brings the total
number people
killed with Perqui
mans ties to three.
Veronica Darden,
of Belvidere, was DARDEN
killed the day of the
incident on Oct. 12
along with Justin
Smith of Elizabeth
City.
The deaths hit
the community hard
said Kyle Jones,
the chairman of the
Perquimans County
Commission. He
knew Howe grow
ing up.
“As big as the
county has gotten,
in many ways we
are still a small com
munity,” Jones said.
At the request
of the Darden fam
ily, the county com
mission named the
day of Darden’s funeral as “Veronica
Darden Day.” At the request of the
Shannon family, the board adopted a
resolution honoring her accomplish
ments on Monday night.
“A lot of people in the county knew
the victims or people close to them,
and that’s why you see these resolu
tions being passed,” Jones said.
Commissioner Fondella Leigh
knew Shannon for the past 30 years.
See MOURNS, 2
Department.
Katy Shook, the head
of the Master Gardener
program for Perquimans,
Chowan and Gates County,
estimates about 500 or 600
people attend that event.
It runs from 9 a.m. until
3 p.m. The Unhilly event
draws about 50 riders, but
Julie Phelps, a founder of
the event, said she has high
hopes there will be more.
The route depends on how
far riders want to go, up to
See RIVERBASH, 2
Turnout numbers
low in early voting
Trust funds installation of bus ‘hot spots’
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
If early voting totals are
any indication, just a hand
ful of voters will be deciding
who will occupy four seats
on the town boards of Hert-
6 89076 47144 2
ford and Winfall for the next
four years.
As of the close of early
voting Saturday, just 218 of
the 1,383 registered voters
in Hertford had cast a bal
lot. That amounts to about
15 percent. There were 72
votes cast between noon
last Monday and the end of
voting on Saturday
In Winfall, the number
See VOTING, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Superintendent Matthew Cheeseman poses with
Foundation Executive Director Brenda Lassiter, Chief
Technology Director Martha Nixon and Chris Powell of
Albemarle Electric Membership Corporation.
From Staff Reports
A $2,000 grant by the Al
bemarle Community Trust
to the Perquimans Schools
Foundation will pay for the
installation of “hot spots”
on the three activity buses
in the Perquimans County
fleet
Students riding the buses
will have immediate access
to wireless Internet while
being transported to and
from games, special events
and field trips. Students can
use the time to electroni
cally submit class work or
homework on activity buses
that have been installed
with technology
All students in Perqui
mans County have access
to a “hand-held” device for
schoolwork. According to
Foundation President An
toine Moore, the school
foundation board was look
ing for ways to eliminate
any downtime during trips
to extracurricular activities.
“All schools are wireless,
ensuring all students have
access to use their digital
See BUS, 2