‘‘News from Next Door THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020 $1.00
NEWS
Town Council asks
County Commission to
remove Confederate
statue — A2
NEWS
Coast Guard honored for
rescue in Sound — A5
COMMUNITY
Local churches host
Vacation Bible Schools
— Bl, B2
Hurricane Isaias Invasion Leaves Thousands in Dark
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Hurricane Isaias left a path of
destruction Tuesday as it invaded
eastern North Carolina
Rain gauge in downtown
Edenton showed 2.31 inches
of precipitation as waves and
strong winds in excess of 40
mph pounded the bulkheads
bordering the bay by Water
Street in Edenton.
Two people were killed and
several were taken to the hospi
tal after a tornado touched down
around 2:30 am. and destroyed
at least 10 homes within the Ce ¬
dar Landing neighborhood south
of Windsor in Bertie County, ac
cording to Bertie County Emer
gency Management Director
Mitch Cooper.
A tornado warning was issued
around 2 am. but ended around
3:30 am. Tuesday morning in
Chowan and Perquimans coun
ties. No reports of injuries in ei
ther county.
Early Tuesday, Dominion Pow
er reported 1,625 customers in
Chowan County and 588 custom
ers in Perquimans County without
power.
Albemarle Electric Mem
bership Corporation reported
4,000 members without pow
er.
The majority of the outages
were in Chowan and Perquim
ans counties. By Tuesday after
noon, Albemarle EMC restored
power to 1,678 members.
Though power outages were
reported near and far, line crews
had restored electricity by mid to
late afternoon.
Street crews were busy in
Edenton and Hertford clearing
debris.
Sailboats docked at Colonial
Park, Edenton Marina and Albe
marle Plantation Marina showed
no signs of damage.
PHOTO BY MARTHA BORDERS
During Hurricane Isaias’ torrent of rain and strong winds, a hollow
tree collapsed into a vacant building at the corner of Dobbs and
Woodland Avenue in Hertford.
Schools
March
Toward
First Day
BY STAFF REPORTS
Superintendent Tanya Turner
said due to the high demand of
families who have chosen Op
tion B Face to Face instruction,
Perquimans Schools will no lon
ger be able to switch students
from remote learning to face
to face instruction. This is due
to bus capacity and classroom
capacity to allow for the 6 feet [
social distancing.
School system will re-evalu- ,
ate our numbers once school
begins. If your child is regis
tered for face to face instruction
under Plan B and you wish at
any time to change to remote
learning, you will still be able to
make this change by contacting
your child’s school.
In addition, school system |
need to finalize the bus routes
as soon as possible. In order to
do this, school system need to
make sure all parents who are
coming for face to face instruc
tion and need bus transporta
tion have filled out their trans
portation intent form.
This form can be found on the
school system website at www.
pqschools.org or you can con
tact the central office for a form
as well. These forms are neces
sary for accurate and efficient
bus routes especially consider
ing our blended schedule.
All students in grades kin
dergarten through 12th grade |
will receive a Chromebook this
school year. Please attend one
of our Back to School Bashes
located behind the central of
fice on Tuesday, August 4th, or
Wednesday, August 5th from
7:30-5:30. Parents will complete
the paperwork, pay the tech
fee, and pick up their child’s
Chromebook at this time.
Chromebooks are $20 per
child with no family having to
pay more than $50 if they have
3 or more children. Remote tech
support and hot spot informa
tion will be given out during
pickup.
Many folks have been asking
about class letters and teach
er assignments. Principals and
office staff at each school have |
Best graduation photo comes from April Story, thanks!
Pirates
Awarded
Diplomas
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Congrats to the Perquimans Coun
ty High School Class of2020!
Saturday, Pirates gathered at
the Nixon Athletic Complex on the
Charles H Ward football field. Masks
were worn and people practiced so
cial distancing as a COVID-19 precau
tion.
Many people sent in photos from
graduation, all of which can be
viewed on the Perquimans Weekly’s
Facebook page.
See Class valedictorian Claribel
Ordaz-Rios’ speech, which is pub
lished below in its entirety, offered
this advice to her peers.
“Always try to be the best that you
can be,” she said, “because no matter
what, your character and your efforts
See DIPLOMAS, A3
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Longtime friends who grew up with each other, strike a pose on
graduation day.
Trio of terrific
seniors (l-r) Lizzy
Story, Claribel
Ordaz-Rios
and Morgan
DeCastillia.
‘Be The Best ‘Oh The Places
That You Can Be’ You’ll Go’
BY CLARIBEL ORDAZ-RIOS
PCHS Valedictorian
Editor’s Note: Published below is the re ¬
marks given by Perquimans County High School
Class of 2020 valedictorian Claribel Ordaz-Rios
6
See SCHOOLS, A3
89076 47144 1 2
Vol. 86, No. 32
@2020 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
ORDAZ-RIOS
at the Pirates’ commencement
ceremony.
Good evening everyone.
On my personal behalf, I would
like to welcome and thank you for
being here tonight as we celebrate
the graduation ceremony for the
See ORDAZ-RIOS, A2
BY ALLISON COPELAND
PCHS Salutatorian
Editor’s Note: Published below is the
remarks given by Perquimans County High
School Class of2020 salutatorian Allison
Copeland at the Pirates’ com
mencement ceremony.
Good evening everyone.
Wow how the time has
flown-13 years ago, this day
seemed as if it would never
come.
See COPELAND, A2
Round-up
St. Paul
AME Zion
and Surfer’s
Prayers
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A round-up of all things Per
quimans County...
Between 10 a.m. and
2 p.m. Thursday, St. Paul AME
i Zion, located at 329 Dobbs Street,
Hertford, will be giving away
food and offering free COVID-19
testing.
Partnering with HUB Labora-
tories/Ottendorf, testing will be
conducted by nurses/health care
professionals. Testing is FREE,
no insurance needed - just bring
identification.
Folks will be giving out frozen
food, hamburger meat and gro
cery items.
Pastor Todd French said
testing and the food giveaway will
I take place outside the church.
“We’re doing this as part of our
; community outreach and as an
effort to try to stop the virus,” he
said. “Food ministry is a blessing
too.”
Praise God for this church and
its blessings to be able to provide
this service to the community.
More good news like this is what
we all need!
See Vacation Bible School
photos on pages Bl and B2-a
good way to instill faith in a new
generation of Christians.
School is around the corner,
so Perquimans Weekly columnist
Ashlea White-Davis wrote a
column about school supplies.
Remember Trapper Keepers,
Star Wars backpacks and getting
the 64-pack of different colored
Crayola crayons?
In other news, congrats to Jill
Cohen, Career and Technical
Education (CTE) Director with
Perquimans County Schools, who
has been named the Regional
CTE Director of the Year. She
deserves the honor. Another note
about Cohen, she is an accom
plished sailor. Her videos show
ing her and her husband navi
gating the Albemarle Sound are
inspiring to would-be mariners.
Beach Boys sang about ‘Surfing
Safari’... but this was probably not
what they had in mind.
Sunday with Isaias perched off
the coast, wind speed increased
thus offering an opportunity to go
surfing/sailing.
My kayak/surfboard has a sail,
so after launching from a sandy
beach in Bertie County, I crossed
I the mouth of the Chowan River,
' then headed for the open water of
See LAYTON, A2