Mayor Calls for Action Against Councilman
Jackson Defends Himself
Against Accusations
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Mayor Eamell Brown urged
Hertford town councilors last week
to take action against Councilman
Quentin Jackson, claiming his con
duct, some of which has resulted in
criminal charges, is reflecting nega
tively on the town.
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For more on this story, visit
PerquimansWeekly.com.
“Over the past year, the display of
unethical behaviors have been com
mitted by Councilman Jackson, sev
eral resulting in criminal charges,”
Brown said during the Dec. 15 Town
Council meeting. “These behaviors
and actions reflect negatively on
the town of Hertford. They reflect
negatively on the
board’s credibil
ity to effectively
govern this mu
nicipality, create
potential liability
against the town,
and impede the
ability to protect
the citizens’ safety.
“If the Hertford
governing board continues to re
main silent and to take no action
against such ongoing behavior/ac-
BROWN
JACKSON
tions, it is guilty
of condoning tire
unethical behav
ior of Councilman
Jackson,” Brown
said.
Brown called
for council to
either censure
Jackson, seek to
remove him from
office, or seek state legislation au
thorizing the town to hold a recall
election. (Brown’s list of Jackson’s
actions is published on page A3.)
Citing general statutes, Brown said
any council actions or discussion
about Jackson had to be done in
open session.
“This is not personal,” she said.
“This is not vengeful. It’s not mean
or negative. And I apologize if it is
taken that way. I feel compelled as
the mayor of the governing board,
that we have an ethical integrity re
quirement that we all took the oath
See ACTION, A3
PERQUIMANS ARTS LEAGUE
PAL to Begin
Renovations
for New
Gallery
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Perquimans Arts League
announced it will begin reno
vating its new location at 133 N.
Church Street in Hertford.
PAL contracted Derek Wa
ters Construction, a local build
er, has. been hired to perform
the project.
“Derek Waters has worked
with us for nearly two years in
providing options for the proj
ect”, said Ed Sanford, PAL’s
President. “We are very pleased
to have a local builder with
close ties to the community per
form this work.”
PAL purchased this “shell of
a building” exactly 3 years ago
this month (2017) with the goal
of transforming it into a new art
gallery and headquarters.
Sheryl Corr, PAL’s president
in 2017, understood the risk in
volved in this venture.
“The seller made a very gen
erous offer to us, and we took
a leap of faith” she said. “How
ever, we did not have a con
crete plan for raising the funds
to convert the building into
our new home. Honestly, we
believed that the community
would support us in raising the
funds.”
PAL applied for several
grants to fund the project,
which were unsuccessful.
Despite these setbacks, PAL
continuously took its case to
its membership and to anyone
else who would listen.
Over time, it replenished the
amount in its building fund by
soliciting a large series of small
donations from its membership,
business sponsors and other ef
forts like its annual Arts on the
Perquimans event.
Subsequently, PAL changed
its approach. It was not realistic
to renovate the entire two sto
ry building as a single project.
Therefore, the PAL Board of Di
rectors began focusing on just
“getting into the building.”
This pragmatic approach
required two phases. Phase
1 focused on renovating the
first floor only, enabling the
organization to move the gal
lery from its current location
See PAL, A3
89076 47144
2
6
Vol. 86, No. 52
@2020 Perquimans Weekly
PerquimansWeekly.com
All Rights Reserved
“He’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty and nice. Santa Claus is coming
to town!” Inner Banks Santa Claus wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Santa Shares Christmas Spirit
CEO of World’s Biggest Toy
Factory Explains How He Does It
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Seeking out the Christmas
spirit, the Perquimans Weekly in
terviewed Santa Claus, albeit the
Inner Banks incarnation.
Rather than spoiling the fun
for families awaiting a visit from
Santa Claus, the newspaper is not
going to reveal Santa’s alter ego
identity particularly since a lot of
kids will be reading the letters to
Santa in the B section.
Here’s what we can say reveal
about the Inner Banks Santa- he’s
a generous, compassionate per
son who cares greatly about oth
Former Perquimans High Athletes Offer Scholarship
BY BRENDA LASSITER
For the Perquimans Weekly
Dr. Larry Honeyblue and Bob
by Tolson recently reached out to
the Perquimans County Schools
Foundation to offer a $1,000 schol
arship to a PCHS 2021 Graduate.
Both Honeyblue and Tolson
were highly recognized star ath
letes while attending Perquimans
County High School in the late 70’s
and early 80’s, respectively. Their
abilities landed both into the Per
quimans County High School Ath
letic Hall of Fame during the years
2008 - 2010.
Although recognized for their
astounding athletic abilities, the
scholarship established by Hon
eyblue and Tolson is to encourage
athletes as they pursue their love
of athletics to recognize that being
a great athlete cannot compensate
Pirates’ alumni Dr. Larry Honeyblue and Bobby Tolson (right) are
paying it forward by offering a $1,000 scholarship to a Perquimans
County High School 2021 graduate. Both Honeyblue and Tolson
were highly recognized star athletes while attending PCHS in the
late 70’s and early 80's, respectively.
for other aspects of success in
their lives.
“Student athletes must real ¬
ize they are receiving a free high
school education and must pre
pare themselves for higher edu ¬
ers. And Christmas is his season
to shine. He truly gets emotional
around this time of year when lis
tening to kids’ wishes, appearing
in parades and answering tons of
Dear Santa letters.
Perquimans Weekly: What do
you think the meaning of the sea
son is?
Santa explained, “Christmas is
more than Santa Claus and gift-re
ceiving. Of course, the real mean
ing of Christmas is the celebration
of the birth of Jesus Christ, whom
many of us honor. And everything
that Jesus stands for....Love.
THAT is the true meaning of
Christmas. Love. Loving your
family, your friends, even your en
emies. Loving what you have, not
what you want. Loving where we
live and what we can do to make
it better. LOVE. And all of us ex
ude the Christmas spirit when no
matter what we do, we do it with
love. That’s what Santa tries to do
all the time.
So it’s a good time to look at the
Good Book and remember, the
greatest thing is Love.”
Perquimans Weekly asked San
ta if he, the elves and the reindeer
are ready for Christmas Eve?
Santa answered, “Are we ready
for Christmas Eve? Remember,
for us, it’s a 24 hour-plus night,
covering the whole world. The
reindeer have been working out
since Easter.. .getting their flying
skills in shape. The elves have
been working pretty much non-
stop since January.. .because
See SANTA, A2
Round-up
St. Paul’s
AME Zion
and Luke
A round-up of all things Perquim-
ansCounty...
XJL Perquimans Weekly is
giving you a chance to brush 2020 off
your shoulder with Good bye 2020,
a special page that will appear in a
January edition of the newspaper. We
are looking for one or two sentences
of things you’dlike to see go away
when 2020 ends.
All we ask is that you keep it kid
friendly and positive. Enter for a
chance to win $100 simply by telling
us why you are done with 2020! The
page is sponsored by Bass’s Land
scape Lawncare LLC in Edenton.
Submissions can be sent via good-
bye2020.apgenc.com Entries will be
collected from across eastern NC
and we will produce a page that will
go in all Adams Publishing Group’s
newspapers in January.
In other news, see our new web
page at PerquimansWeekly.com
-that’s our giftto the community.
Check it out!
Speaking of good will, Greater St
Paul’s AME Zion Church recently
See ROUND-UP, A3
PHOTO BY CHRIS LANE
Lane Gregory with her pony Bells
cation to help carry them tlirough
life,” Honeyblue said.
This $1,000 scholarship is spon
sored by Larry Honeyblue and
Bobby Tolson, and is available to
male or female student athletes
who plan to attend a 4-year univer
sity and pursue a degree in Human
Health Services (medicine, public
health, social services).
Selection of recipients will be
based on scholastic achievement,
community service, character and
financial need. An essay will also
be required with the application.
Applications are available at the
high school guidance office.
The Foundation manages 25
annual scholarships and 7 endow
ments. Anyone interested in es
tablishing a scholarship for grad
uates of Perquimans County High
School, may contact the Founda
tion Office at 252426-5741.