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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIB,
110 WACADEMY ST
HERTFORD NC 27944-1306
001 A0027
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To Benefit Open
ood Pantry
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:eys and other food
nksgiving Dinner
Drop Off at 200 Dobbs Street
Hertford United Methodist Church
"News from Next Door" NOV 1 5 REOD WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017
50 cents
Hertford
Police
Chief
retires
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford is in the market
for a new police chief
Hertford Town Manager
Brandon Shoaf confirmed
that Chief Douglas Freeman
has set a retirement date of
Dec. 1. His last day in the of
fice was Tuesday.
“Then he’ll be out for a
medical procedure,” Shoaf
said in an e-mail. “Doug has
done well for the town and
he will be missed.”
The town board will de
cide this week how to go
about replacing Freeman,
Shoaf said.
“We’ll have an interim
in place until we can put
together a hiring process,”
Shoaf said.
Freeman could not be
reached for comment. He
submitted his letter on Oct.
30 and it was accepted on
Nov. 1, Shoaf said.
Freeman was hired in
2012.
Freeman replaced Inter
im Chief Mike Carver who
has served at the helm of
the local police department
following the termination
of former chief Joe Amos. |
Amos was fired over an is
sue involving a Facebook
post and the arrest of then
Hertford Town Council
candidate Quentin Jackson.
Carver, a retired 30-year
law enforcement veteran,
agreed to take the job only
until a replacement could
be hired.
At that point Freeman
had more than 22 years of
law enforcement experi
ence and was serving as
deputy chief of police for a
15-man police department
in North Topsail Beach in
Onslow County.
At the time Shoaf said
Freeman was selected
through a process that start
ed with over 75 applications ]
from all over the United
States. Shoaf hired Freeman
for the position following an
See CHIEF, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Dr. Mark Olesen, a retired Navy captain, speaks Saturday at the Veteran’s Day ceremony in Hertford.
Crowd honors local veterans
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Temperatures in the low 40s didn’t
stop several hundred people from
attending a Veteran’s Day event out
side the courthouse in Hertford Sat
urday.
The speaker, retired U.S. Navy
captain Dr. Mark Olesen, still works
at the V.A clinic in Elizabeth City. He
stressed that he was speaking in an
unofficial capacity.
Olesen admitted he was a little
rusty at public speaking since he re
tired five years ago.
“It’s a rare pleasure for this old
country doctor to be speaking in
front of you today.”
He largely quoted a speech Presi
dent Ronald Reagan made in 1985.
Reagan remarked about how we
may view those lost in war as old
and wise, but many were just boys
when they died.
“They gave up two lives, the one
they were living and the one they
would have lived. When they died
they gave up their chance to be hus
bands and fathers and grandfathers.
They gave up their chance to revered
old men, they gave up everything for
our country, for us.”
Reagan went to say “the living
have a responsibility to remember
the conditions that led to the wars in
which our heroes died. Perhaps we
can start by remembering this: that
all of those who died for us and our
country were , in one way or anoth
er, victims of a peace process that
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Richard Caporale, a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer, gestures Saturday
during the Veteran’s Day ceremony in Hertford. Caporale is Commander
of American Legion Post 126.
failed. Victims of a decision to forget
certain things, to forget, for instance
that the surest way to keep a peace
going to work is to stay strong.
“Strength is a condition that de
clares that actions have consequenc
es. Strength is a prudent warning to
the belligerent that aggression need
not go unanswered.
Peace fails when we forget that
agreements, once made, cannot be
broken without a price.”
He also said peace fails when peo
ple forget common sense.
“Common sense tells us that man
has magic in him, but also clay. Com
mon sense can tell the difference
between right and wrong. Common
sense forgives errors, but always
recognizes it to be error first.”
Saturday’s event was special in
that it reached out to all Vietnam
War era veterans to make sure they
knew they were appreciated.
The event in Hertford was spon
sored by the William Paul Stallings
Post 126 of the American Legion
with support from Legion Post 362.
See VETERANS, 2
Jackson,
Norman
election
winners
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Voters sent two new peo
ple to the Hertford Town
Council last week, and
for the first time in more
than 250 years of the town,
blacks hold the majority on
the five-member board. Also
for the first time since 2002,
there are no women on the
board.
Quentin
Jackson
and Frank
Norman
finished
first and
second in
the four
way race
for two
seats on
JACKSON
the town council.
Losing out were Ed Lane
and Lillian Holman. Each
served the —
past eight KIMML
years.
Jackson
garnered *
213 votes L -
while Nor- L
man col-
lected 198.
Lane fin- NORMAN
ished with
177 votes and Holman had
162 votes.
Hertford today is made
up of roughly 50 percent
black residents and 50 per
cent white but until Horace
Reid was elected to the
council in 1997, the board
was all white. At best since
then whites held a three-to-
two majority on the board.
Now blacks how a four-one
majority.
Does Reid think it will
make a difference?
“Hopefully it won’t,” Reid
said of having the majority.
“We as council members
need to come together. I
don’t want to get into situa
tions like in Elizabeth City.”
See ELECTION, 2
High school students to present play Friday, Saturday
From Staff Reports
Students in the Perqui
mans County High School
theater program will pres
ent the play “The Impor
tance of Being Earnest” on
Friday and Saturday in the
high school auditorium.
Drama teacher Rachel
Sanders said she picked the
play because it’s a classic.
“It is hysterical and fits
our students to a tee. These
roles show off their gifts
beautifully.”
The play will be per ¬
formed Friday at 7 p.m. and
Saturday at 2 p.m. Tickets
are $10 for adults and $5 for
students.
The Importance of Being
Earnest is a comedy about
Jack Worthing and Alger
non Moncrieff who both
ironically pretend to have
the name Ernest. When
Jack proposes to his love,
the sophisticated Gwendo
len Fairfax, Lady Bracknell
refuses to let her daughter
accept the proposal. The
men’s lack of earnestness
soon causes mayhem, when
Algernon falls in love with
Jack’s ward, the beautiful
and young Cecily Cardew.
Matters come to a head
when Cecily meets Gwen
dolen, who happens to be
Algernon’s cousin. Ten
sions rise as both women
believe they are engaged to
“Ernest.” The sequence of
events only get more cha
otic from there and end up
revealing long lost secrets
that even the characters
themselves do not know
See PLAY, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY
PETER WILLIAMS
Perquimans
County
High School
theater
students
will perform
“The
Importance
of Being
Earnest” on
Friday and
Saturday.
Church collecting holiday food
From Staff Reports
The fourth annual “Tur
key Drop” — a countywide
collection of turkeys — will
be held on Friday and Satur
day to assist those in need
this Thanksgiving season.
The collection is sponsored
by The Open Door Food
Pantry of Perquimans Coun ¬
ty and the Hertford United
Methodist Church.
This year’s goal is 200
turkeys and trimmings. Last
year the people of Perqui
mans County donated 183
turkeys, 736 pounds of food
and over $1,400.
“We try and raise the goal
each year because the need
grows each year,” said Vera
Harrell, one of the organiz
ers of the event.
Open Door is planning to
help 325 families this sea
son, and if donations aren’t
made, then the pantry must
buy the food and that limits
what it can do during other
times of the year.
Turkeys, canned vegeta
bles, sweet potatoes, rice,
cranberry sauce and stuff
ing mix will be collected
curbside at the Hertford
United Methodist Church,
200 Dobbs St., between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. on Friday
and from 9 am. until 2 p.m.
on Saturday. Monetary dona
tions will also be accepted.
The Open Door Food Pan
try will distribute Thanks
giving meals on Nov. 20.
Ruritans looking for holiday help
From Staff Reports
The Parksville Ruritan Club is once
again reaching out to the community to
help children who might not otherwise
get anything for Christmas.
“Santa Trees” are located at both Wo
odard’s Pharmacy and Family Care Phar
macy. Hanging on the branches are the
names of local children.
The families have been screened
through the Perquimans County Depart
ment of Social Services and the cards
have been created for each child that has
a genuine need. The cards list the gender,
age, wishes and particular needs of each
child.
The deadline to help is Dec. 6.
According to Action for Children in
North Carolina, more than 30. percent of
the children in Perquimans County live in
poverty, said Michael Hurdle, a member
of the club. For those children and their
families, the holidays are a difficult time,
where children face the likelihood of few
to no gifts Christmas morning.
People are asked to pick a child or
group of children and pick up a few gifts
then return them wrapped, with the tag
attached, to the pharmacy where they got
the card. The Ruritans will take it from
there and complete this mission of giving
by picking up the wrapped toys and dis
tributing the gifts to the families.