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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
■ 514 S CHURCH ST
"News from HER ™™NC 27944
RCH 21, 2018
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Students walk out, remember others
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The 175 students who walked
out of class were from Perqui
mans County.
The 17 names read aloud last
week were not.
Perquimans County High
School Class President James
Rennie read aloud the names of
the people killed a month before
in Parkland, Fla., by a school
shooter.
“Scott Beigel was a geogra
phy teacher. The last student to
enter his class-
room was a kid
named Matthew.
If Scott would
have closed his
door, Matthew’s
life would have
been taken in
stead.”
RENNIE Alyssa Al-
hadeff, a 14-
year-old with a bright heart.
Alaina Petty who did cleanup
work after Hurricane Irma. She
was a member of the J.R.O.T.C
and 14-years-old.
And after each name, Rennie
paused and you could hear a pin
drop.
Rennie clearly wanted to make
sure students who walked out of
class for 17 minutes were there
for the right reason.
“This is not just a get out of
class card, this is serious. So if
you feel like you cannot be a ma
ture adult, please leave now.”
When a few students made
some noise, Rennie showed he
was serious and asked deputies
See WALKOUT, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Perquimans County High School students attend a service
Wednesday for those killed last month at a school in Florida.
Ground broken on athletic complex
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Saturday’s groundbreaking on
the first phase of the new $1.2
million Perquimans County High
School Athletic Complex was
just that, said the man who do
nated the land.
It’s just the first phase.
Dr. William Nixon Jr. called on
local elected leaders and donors
to make the project complete.
“I would ask the county com
missioners to complete the fund
ing gap,” Nixon said.
The land is across the street
from the high school on Edenton
Road Street. The first phase will
include a lighted football field,
bleachers, press box, field house
and concession stand. The com
plete project would include prac
tice fields, a soccer field, running
track and enough tennis courts
where Perquimans could field
a team in that sport. The site is
about 32 acres.
The total cost of the project
was projected at $6.2 million, but
that was more than seven years
ago.
For now moving the football
field will take pressure off the
outfield of the baseball field. It
also does double duty as part of
the football field, and Dr. Nixon
said that doesn’t work well.
Nixon is a PCHS graduate from
1960.
The first phase is being made
possible through Nixon’s land
donation, a $600,000 cash gift
from the late Charles Ward and
an anonymous donor who agreed
to build the field house.
The school system is also tap
ping more than $200,000 in lot-
Library open house set for Thursday
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The new Perquimans County
Library will host an open house
Thursday from 4:30 p.m. until
7:30 p.m.
The library reopened earlier
this month after being closed for
tlie better part of two months for
the transition.
Not only did tons of books
have to me moved and restacked,
the new library features technol
ogy it didn’t have before, said Mi
chelle Lawrence, the librarian.
“Getting all the computers up
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Wayne Price, Amy Spaugh, Dr. William Nixon Jr., Mary Lee Willis, Dr. Anne White and Matthew
Cheeseman prepare to break ground on the new athletic complex on Saturday.
tery money that can only be used
for capital projects.
The complex has been named
in honor of Nixon and the football
field will be named for Ward.
Mary Lee Willis, Ward’s sister,
said her brother could be “frugal”
with taxpayer money, but if he
found a project that was worthy
of it, he would argue hard for that
as well.
caused a little delay,” Lawrence
said. “We have triple the amount
of computer technology.”
Computers are used not only
for research, but for actually
checking out a book.
In the future, the library will
act more as a hub for people
looking for work. The state’s job
listing service, NC Works, is on-
line service.
“It (using NC Works) is always
something we had the potential
to do, and now we can do it.”
A career assistant from NC
Works will be at the library on
March 26, April 9 and April 23
“If he saw a need, he would do
everything to make it happen,”
Willis said. “He wanted a com
plex he could be proud of.”
Ward died in 2014 at the age of
76.
Also speaking for the Ward
family, Michelle Hurdle Winslow,
said Charles Ward, said when Dr.
Nixon made the offer of the land,
Ward said he would help.
from 10 a.m. until noon each day.
■ They can help with resumes
and job searches. At other times,
some of the library staff can also
help residents, Lawrence said.
A Career Cafe and Kickoff is
scheduled for March 28 from
3:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. It’s geared
toward people between the ages
of 16 and 24.
Since the move to 514 S.
Church St., Lawrence says she’s
see a number of new faces. The
new location is on a more heav
ily traveled road and there is off-
street parking. The old library
was tucked away on Academy
Dr. Nixon said he thought about
withdrawing his offer of the land
when some county officials were
critical of the idea of the athletic
complex. But he credited Super
intendent Matthew Cheeseman
for winning back his support and
pushing the project forward.
Nixon said without the pres-
See COMPLEX, 2
Street off Grubb Street.
“I think maybe some people
didn’t realize Hertford had a li
brary,” she said. “It’s been awe
some.”
The library is open Monday,
Tuesday and Thurday from 9:30
a.m. until 7 p.m, Wednesday and
Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. un
til noon.
While the new library is larger,
the staff is not. Counting Law
rence here are four full-time em
ployees and one part-timer.
See LIBRARY, 2
Future of
auditorium
questioned
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the
first of two stories on funding re
quests for schools this year.)
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County school offi
cials requested more than $830,000
in building improvement projects
plus more money for teachers, a
fourth School Resource Officer,
and other things this week.
However it was a $60,000 request
for the high school auditorium that
raised the question of if it’s time to
just replace it.
At a joint meeting with the Per
quimans County School Board and
the Perquimans County Commis
sioner, it wasn’t a commissioner
who questioned the auditorium ex
pense. Commissioners are the ones
who will have to face taxpayers if
tax increase is required. School
board members can simply ask for
county funds.
The future of the auditorium was
raised by Russell Lassiter, a mem
ber of the school board.
“We’ve been spending money
on it my entire life,” Lassiter said.
“It seems at some point we would
look at replacing it. We have been
putting good money after bad for a
while.”
Maintenance Director Jim Da
vison had asked for the $60,000 to
remodel parts of the 94-year-old
building. In the past few years the
school has used funds to fix the
roof and seal the brickwork that
could allow water to get in. Money
was also used to upgrade the stage
lighting.
Superintendent Matthew Chee
seman has never raised the idea of
replacing the auditorium before.
Monday he called it the centerpiece
of the school in part it was part of
the original school and other things
have been built around it.
Cheeseman did say in the future
more money would be required to
bring the auditorium into compli
ance with the Americans with Dis
abilities Act (ADA).
For his part, Davison said the
$60,000 request for trying to get the
“bones” of the auditorium in good
shape. He said in some areas of the
dressing room, you could take a car
key and easily poke it through the
See AUDITORIUM, 2
Members named to seafood authority
EXPO
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Gov. Roy Cooper recently
appointed four new mem
bers to the N.C. Seafood In
dustrial Park Authority.
The authority controls
the Perquimans County Ma
rine Industrial Park prop-
6 11 89076 47144
2
erty as well as facilities in
Wanchese and Engelhard.
Cooper’s new appoint
ments to the board are:
■ Stuart Bell of Kitty
Hawk. Bell is the Outer
Banks Area-Market Presi
dent at First National Bank.
He previously served on the
Roanoke Island Historical
Association board of direc
tors.
■ Edward Lee Mann of
Wanchese. Mann recently re
tired as the Director of Pub
lic Works for Dare County.
He previously served on the
N.C. Marine Fisheries Com
mission.
■ Michael Meekins of En
gelhard. Meekins has been
the owner and operator of
Engelhard Seafood, Inc.
for more than 30 years. He
also operates Hyde County
Lodges in Engelhard.
■ Edith Meads of Wan
chese. Meads is a Deputy
Clerk at the Office of the
Dare County Clerk of Su
perior Court. She was the
owner-operator of Jeanette’s
See MEMBERS, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY
PETER WILLIAMS
People
browse the
Perquimans
County
Chamber of
Commerce
Expo Saturday
at the
Perquimans
County
Recreation
Center.