*
P9/C9
" 008 *0004
c “- M .^u„.«"."'Vlh'"'
HERTFORD NC T T M 7
V EEKLY
Baseball, softball teams begin season, A7
“News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
$1.00
Council Discusses Trains, Ferries, Water Bills
PHOTO BY
MILES LAYTON
David Rigby
of the
Albemarle
Railroad
Club talks
about future
plans to bring
1,800 to
2,000 square
feet of model
railroads
to the
Community
Center.
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Fifty-eight minutes -
that’s the time it took Mon
day for Hertford Town
Council to deliberate a se
ries of items that include
ongoing projects, model
railroad plans and surplus
sales.
But before we get into
the meeting, Mayor Earnell
Brown issued the following
statement Tuesday in re
gards to the coronavirus:
“Although there are no
known instances of the
coronavirus identified in
the Town of Hertford, we
wish to inform our citizens
that we are taking every
precaution to keep our pub
lic buildings safe and clean.
For example, we are provid
ing sanitizer at both entranc
es of the Municipal Building
and on the Utility and DMV
counters. We also are wip
ing down the door handles,
counters and windows with
disinfectant throughout the
day. The safety and health
of our citizens is important
to us.”
At the meeting, Town
Manager Pam Hurdle pro
vided an project update to
kick-off the meeting that ran
like clockwork, perhaps the
shortest council meeting
in recent years, with news
about sewer rehab paving/
patching which has begun.
Hurdle said after all the
patching is done, paving the
affected areas will be com
pleted.
Engineering company
will go to door-to-door to
residents in reference to
their homes being washed
- Grubb, Market, Covent
Garden and E. Academy
Streets.
Hurdle announced that
King Street paving between
the 100 and 300 blocks will
start Monday, weather per
mitting, with repairs to wa-
ter/sewer lines being the
first stage of this project.
Speaking of street re
pairs, there is a nice coat of
blacktop for joggers, bicy
clists and motorists travel
ing Grubb Street.
Town’s website is un
dergoing a metamorphosis
- townofhertfordnc.com -
See COUNCIL, A3
Beyond the Books
Women’s
History
Month
BY MICHELE LAWRENCE
Perquimans Librarian
Congress designated
March as Women’s History
Month in 1987 after petition
ing by the National Woman’s
History Project. Perquimans
County is full of great mod-
MICHELE
LAWRENCE
ern women,
but we also
have some
impressive
women in
our history.
One
woman to
note is Sar
ah DeCrow.
She was
born Sarah
Moore to
a Quaker family around
1750 most like near Bagley
Swamp. By 1774, Sarah was
a widow with two small
children and married her
second husband, Robert
DeCrow, the next year.
The DeCrows, at this time
a family of six, moved to
Hertford sometime before
1783 and opened a tavern
on the north side of Market
Street.
Sarah, who proved to be a
savvy businesswoman, kept
the tavern going after Rob
ert died around 1784. She
was appointed Hertford’s
first postmaster and the first
See BOOKS, A3
Project on
schedule,
DOT says
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A turtle swimming
by
S-Bridge near the tip of North
Front Street inquired with the
Perquimans Weekly about the
status of the bridge replace
ment project
So as to give the turtle an
update since it will be a good
time to be on the water as
temperatures approach the
70s this week, the newspaper
reached out to David Otis, Di
vision 1 district engineer for
District 1 with the state Depart
ment of TYansportation, who
said the contract to replace the
bridge is nearly 30% complete,
but that percentage includes
professional services such as
See DOT, A2
7144
89076
Z
6
2
Impacting the Lives of Others
Pirates’ Senior Atavia Mallory
Wants to be a Nurse
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Perquimans Weekly’s Student
of the Month for March is Pirates’
senior Atavia Mallory, who was in
spired by her grandfather Gaither
James to help people.
“Everyone knew him,” Mallo
ry said of James, who worked
at Johnie Gregory Truck Bodies
and was an active member of his
church. “He always had a smile,
he never complained, and he al
ways found a way to make you
laugh. When I say he impacted
lives, I mean he left a lasting im
pression on everyone he met.
He was friendly even if he didn’t
know you.”
While James passed away Feb.
18, Mallory pledges to honor his
memory.
“One challenge that I had to
encounter recently was losing my
grandfather,” Mallory said. “How
ever, I know that he is watching
over me and I want to make him
proud.”
James may have joined the an
gels, but his impact is still felt, a
legacy that will echo an eternity.
“My grandfather made an im
pact on several lives including
mine,” Mallory said. “He was al
ways smiling and he was never
upset. I want to make an impact
on many lives like he did which
PHOTO BY MILES LAYTON
Pirates' Atavia Mallory
is the Perquimans
Weekly’s Student of the
Month for March. She
is ranked fourth of 120
seniors in her class,
has earned a grade
point average of 4.56,
and plans on studying
nursing in the fall when
she starts classes at
East Carolina University.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
From
Perquimans
Pirate to ECU
Pirate, Atavia
Mallory has
her sites set
on pursuing
a nursing
career.
is another reason why I want to
become a nurse to save lives and
inspire children. I want to show
children that even though you go
through hardtimes and challenges
you can still make an impact.”
Toward that end of making a
difference in the lives of oth
ers, Mallory wants to be a
nurse someday. That ca
reer path decision came
from watching her
grandmother Laverne
Round-up
Church,
Coronavirus
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A round-up of all
things Perquim
ans County...
■ TheRotary
Club of Hertford is continu
ously involved in community
events and on Tuesday rec
ognized the need to address
the safety and heath of our
community.
The club announced that it
will suspend weekly meetings
until further notice and are
cancelling the upcoming pan
cake Breakfast scheduled for
Saturday, March21. Ameet-
ing for potential new mem
bers scheduled for Thursday,
March 19, is also cancelled.
The Board of Directors for
the Hertford Rotary Club
are meeting electronically to
determine alternative paths
to positive community and
member involvement in line
with the urgency presented
by the coronavirus threat
Please know that any tickets
to these events will be hon
ored at a later date. Refunds
may be obtained from point
of sale persons.
While this is a regrettable
situation, The Rotary Club
of Hertford has opted to be
proactive in realizing that the
community is comprised of
many folks who are at most
risk due to time on earth and
a history of national and inter
national travel that are in the
crosshairs of concern. These
concerns are concurrent with
professional advice from the
Center for Disease Control
(CDC) and Rotary Interna
tional guidelines.
Hertford Baptist
Church Pastor Dario Ruv-
See ROUNDUP, A3
plans on attending East Carolina
University to major in Nursing
and eventually become a Pediatric
Nurse Practitioner.
“I’ve always valued helping
people and I always knew that I
wanted to be a nurse ever since I
was younger,” Mallory said.
‘I actually changed my
career three times be
fore I finally decided
on nursing. Main
ly because when
my grandma was
diagnosed with
cancer, a certain
nurse came in
the room and
put me and
my mother at
See MALLORY,
A2
Brown
ed for
which
beat,
being treat-
cancer -
she
sur-
vived and
thrived.
Mal
lory
School Incumbents Re-elected
r
Yates, Winslow, Lassiter
win new BOE terms
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Three Board of
cation incumbents
re-election to their
Edu-
won
seats
LASSITER
PCRA MEETS
in Perquimans County.
Arlene Yates, Leary
Winslow and Russell Las
siter were re-elected to
four-year terms on the
county school board.
Challenger David Silva
fell short in his bid to win
one of the seats.
According to unof
ficial results, Yates led
all vote-getters in the
four-candidate, nonpar
tisan race, collecting 860
votes or 33.98 percent.
Winslow finished second
with 699 votes or 27.62
percent. Lassiter was
WINSLOW
third with
634 votes
or 25.05
percent.
Silva
finished
with 330
votes or
13 per
cent.
Turn
out in
Chowan
for Tues
day’s
primary
election
was 28.85
percent.
Evans
said he is
YATES
“Many
people
contrib
uted and
offered
support
in many
ways and
I am so
thankful
to each
truly grateful for the tre
mendous support he re
ceived across the county.
“I am excited about the
future of our county and
my opportunity to serve
in this capacity,” he said.
and every one for the
role each played. ... I am
most honored for the con
fidence the voters have
placed in me.”
Evans encouraged con
stituents to help him help
them by getting involved
in their local government.
“Attend meetings and
speak out,” he said. “Your
board of commissioners
work for you and they
need to hear from you.”
Dean thanked voters
See SCHOOL, A2
PHOTO BY JERI OLTMAN
Don Pendergraft, director of the Museum of the
Albemarle, was the keynote speaker for the Perquimans
County Restoration Association’s annual meeting held
Saturday at the Albemarle Plantation Clubhouse.