V
ERQUIMANS
THE
Band seniors honored, 6
NOV 2 9 RETD 50 cents
Sheriff to present churcn safety program
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County Sher
iff Shelby White remembers
the time when churches in
the county kept their doors
open, all the time, day or
night.
It’s not that way now for
many of them.
“Some churches have al
ready started locking their
doors during the service,”
White said. Somebody in the
church might be stationed to
watch the door to let people
in and out.
Tragic events have forced
many churches to rethink
how they operate. White
plans to host a program for
them on Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. at the
media center at Perquimans
County High School to talk
about how to keep members
of the congregation safe.
Some church members
may be arming themselves.
That could deter or stop an
attacker, but Sheriff White
said it could end in tragedy.
He said just because
someone has a gun doesn’t
mean they have the skill or
the mental mindset to use it
in an emergency.
White said he tells people
taking his concealed carry
class “just because you own
an airplane doesn’t make
you a pilot.”
White said if he’s going
to church he doesn’t carry a
weapon, concealed or other
wise.
“I could, but personally I
never have.”
But he said taking another
person’s life, even in the call
of duty, takes a toll.
“I’ve seen people who
have dealt with it and it’s hit
them hard, very hard. I don’t
want to have to shoot any
body and I never have, but I
will. It’s my job.”
A shooting in Charleston,
S.C. in 2015 helped shatter
the idea that churches were
always a place of safety. A
white supremacist murdered
nine African Americans at
Emanuel AME Church.
On Nov. 5, a 26-year-old
man walked into a church in
Sutherland Springs, TX, and
killed 26 and injured 20. The
killer apparently shot himself
after the shooting spree.
The North Carolina Sher
iffs’ Association’s program
for church safety includes:
■ Conducting a security
risk assessment.
■ Developing a security
plan for a place of worship.
■ What to do during the
critical incident.
■ What to do immediately
after the critical incident.
■ The need to provide
crisis intervention stress
management afterward.
Christmas
parades
coming
Saturday
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County will
be filled with holiday lights
and sounds this Friday and
Saturday
On Friday, Historic Hert
ford Inc. will hold Grand Il
lumination from 6-7 p.m. on
the courthouse square.
Most merchants will be
open to kickoff holiday
sales.
There will be holiday mu
sic, dance and a free gift for
children.
On Saturday come the
parades.
The Town of Winfall will
kick off the first — an “Old
Fashioned Christmas Pa
rade” — at 11 a.m. starting
at Perquimans County Mid
dle School. The lineup starts
at the school at 9:30 a.m.
The 1965 State Champi
onship football team from
Perquimans Union High
School will serve as Grand
Marshals. The route heads
down Main Street to Winfall
Boulevard and ends at Win
fall Town Hall.
For more information on
registering contact the Win
fall Town Hall at 426-5015.
At 2 p.m., the Perquimans
County Chamber of Com
merce will hold the annual
Perquimans County Christ
mas Parade in Hertford.
The Grand Marshal for
See PARADES, 4
Santa MAKES EARLY Visit
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Top, Santa Claus and the Grinch wave
to motorists on the S-Bridge causeway
last week.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Left, Perquimans Central
students lean over to get a
glimpse of Santa Claus Tuesday
on their bus road over the S-
Bridge causeway.
Bridge
contract
expected
soon
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The opening of bids to
replace Hertford’s S-Bridge,
first planned for last week,
has been delayed. However
DOT officials say the mile
stone moment on the $40
million project may just be
days away.
Three firms, Archer West
ern Construction, McLean
Contracting and PCL Civil
Constructors, made the
short-list of companies
wanting the contract.
The work involves remov
ing the old bridge, replacing
it with a similar swing span,
and building an elevated
deck over the existing
causeway.
DOT still hopes construc
tion can start in late 2019.
Jay McInnis, the proj
ect engineer for DOT, said
before the contract can be
awarded the state needs a
signed agreement with the
parties involved in the proj
ect.
“The MOA (Memoran
dum of Agreement) has to
be signed then the state
can sign off on the FONSI
(Finding of No Significant
Impact) before the contract
can be awarded,” McInnis
said.
The documents are de
signed to show that if a neg
ative impact will happen,
See BRIDGE, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Rocky Hock Opry cast will perform its annual
Christmas show on at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the
Perquimans County High School Auditorium
Rocky Hock Opry coming to PCHS auditorium
BY REBECCA BUNCH
The Chowan Herald
The Rocky Hock Opry
cast will perform its annual
Christmas show on at 7 p.m.
Friday and Saturday at the
Perquimans County High
School Auditorium
But this won’t be just an
other pair of shows. By the
time they are over, emcee
Steve Evans says, the cast
and crew expect to have
reached an important mile
stone — they will hit the
half-million dollar mark in
fundraising that Steve’s dad,
Jack Evans, set about 15
years ago. That’s when he
and some musician friends
started the Opry shows as
a way to raise money for
cancer research after fam
ily members’ lives were im
pacted by the disease.
“We’re right there,” Steve
Evans said of reaching that
goal. “These shows will put
us over the top if folks just
buy some tickets.”
Like many of the oth
ers attached to the show,
Steve Evans is a veteran
cast member. He said that
he could recall missing per
forming only once, when his
son was among a group of
local students competing in
an out-of-state Odyssey of
the Mind competition. That
time, he said, he had to call
on his brother to stand in for
his familiar comedic charac
ter, Flatbilly Bob.
The show will include
both country songs and
Christmas music.
“We’re going to do the
first half with country songs
and then we’ll come back in
the second half with pretty
much all Christmas songs,”
he said. “We’ve got some
special things planned for
these shows that we think
the audiences will really like
including some new music
we’ve never done before.”
The musical numbers
will be complemented by
the comic antics of Evans
See OPRY, 2
Scholarship deadline coming Jan. 4
Entries sought for Senior Games
From Staff Reports
The Perquimans County
Schools Foundation has an
nounced the availability of
the following scholarships
for high school seniors at
tending Perquimans High
School. Deadline to apply
for each scholarship is Jan.
4.
■ 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.
■ 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
maintains high academic
standards.
■ Bogue Scholarship
— The Bogue Scholarship
of $2500 is given by Mr. and
Mrs. William A. Bogue, Jr. in
memory of his mother and
father, Mr. and Mrs. William
A. Bogue, aunts Margaret B.
Butler and Edith B. Spivey,
and all the descendents
of the first William Bogue
of Perquimans who have
called Perquimans County
their home for more than
See DEADLINE, 2
From Staff Reports
The Albemarle Senior
Games will kick off in
March.
The Albemarle Senior
Games is sponsored by the
Albemarle Commission
Area Agency on Aging,
Elizabeth City Health &
Rehabilitation, The Down-
town Cafe & Soda Shoppe,
Southern Insurance Agen
cy, Humana, and Columbia
Pharmacy, in addition to
the counties of Camden,
Chowan, Currituck, Gates,
Hyde, Pasquotank, Perqui
mans, Tyrrell and Washing
ton.
The Senior Games is a
health promotion program
for adults 50 years of age
and better. There are activ
ities designed for individu
als at various fitness levels.
Some of these activities
are golf, bowling, tennis,
track, bocce, pickleball
and swimming, as well as
special programs such as
SilverStriders, the national
award-winning walking
program and SilverArts,
the statewide arts program
that celebrates the accom-
See GAMES, 4