THE
QUIMANS
EEKLY
“News from Next Door"
THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022
$1.50
@ SCAN ME
PAGE A2
ARHS director
Betts to retire, take
Suffolk job
PAGE B2
Parks and
Rec announces
baseball, soft-
ball champs
PAGE B3
Ghillie suits
are Ukrainians’
‘invisibility
cloaks’
Board honors outgoing members, bus drivers, athletes
Spaugh, Peeler, Hedgepeth,
Butt among honorees
BY JOHN FOLEY
Correspondent
The Perquimans Coun
ty Board of Education be
gan its final meeting of the
school year last week by
recognizing bus drivers, stu
dent athletes and two out
going board members.
Superintendent Tanya
Turner made the presenta
tions at an awards ceremo
ny at the Perquimans High
School gym Thursday, June
30.
Outgoing members of the
Board of Education Amy
Spaugh and Matt Peeler
were recognized for their
service and dedication to
the school district Neither
sought re-election in the
May school board election.
First elected in 2008,
Spaugh served three four-
year terms on the board. Be
side serving as a past chair
and vice chair of the board,
Spaugh also served as the
board’s representative on
the Perquimans County
Schools Foundation board.
Elected in 2018, Peeler
served one four-year term
on the board. In 2020, Peel
er was selected to represent
District I on the North Car
olina School Boards Associ
ation’s Legislative Commit^
tee.
In presenting the awards,
Turner congratulated both
Spaugh and Peeler for their
service.
“Mrs. Spaugh and Mr.
Peeler, thank you for your
dedication to Perquimans
County Schools,” she said.
“You have faithfully per
formed your duties as a
board member and have
represented our board and
school system well. We all
appreciate your service and
commitment to the students
and staff of Perquimans
County Schools. You have
truly made a difference.”
The school board also
honored Angela Hedgepeth
and Janice Butt, two school
bus drivers, who, despite
staffing shortages amid on
going COVID-19 pandemic,
achieved perfect driving at
tendance records during the
past school year.
“We are so very thank
ful for both of these driv
ers,” Turner said. “Mrs.
Hedgepeth went above and
beyond for the (school)
transportation department
and Hertford Grammar
School this year. Not only
did she show up and com
plete her route every day,
See BOARD, A4
PHOTO COURTESY MICHELLE MADDOX
Perquimans County Schools Superintendent Tanya Turner
(left) poses with outgoing Board of Education members
Matt Peeler (center) and Amy Spaugh, both of whom
were presented plaques for their service to the school
district during a Board of Education meeting in the
Perquimans County High School gym Thursday, June 30.
PHOTOS BY DAVID GOUGH/THE DAILY ADVANCE
Fans of the champion Perquimans County High School Pirates baseball team line up to get their baseballs
autographed by each player and coach during a celebration of the state title-winning team at Hertford Baptist
Church, Thursday, June 30. The Pirates won the 1A NCHSAA state championship series last month with a 2-1
series win over Cherryville High School at Holly Springs’ Ting Stadium. The title was the Pirates’ second in
consecutive seasons.
Champs sign autographs for fans
Jail to conduct
probe in death
of Hertford man
Hertford Baptist Church
hosted event for team June 30
BY DAVID GOUGH
The Daily Advance
Perquimans County High
School baseball fans who
turned out for a celebration
of this year’s state cham
pionship Pirates team last
week and got to take home
a souvenir of the team’s his
toric accomplishment.
Fans lined up, baseball in
hand, at the Thursday, June
30 event at Hertford Baptist
Pirates have loads of family connections
Winslows, Nixons, Thaches
have ties to past teams
BY DAVID GOUGH
The Daily Advance
The 2022 version of Per
quimans baseball achieved
something that even the
late Jim “Catfish” Hunter
just missed out on in his
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’ Vol. 87, No. 27
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Church to get autographs
from each member of the
Pirates’ 1A title-winning
team and their coaches.
Afterward, the team
and fans watched a slide-
show of photos taken of
the team’s historic season
and enjoyed a chicken and
barbecue dinner catered by
Captain Bob’s BBQ & Sea-
food Catering.
The celebration lasted
a little over an hour as a
large crowd turned out for
the autograph session and
dinner. Fans lined up in
front of the team and then
playing days at the school.
The Pirates won a sec
ond straight state title.
The Major League Base
ball Hall of Fame pitcher
came very close to the feat
in his high school career.
The Pirates reached the
state title game for a sec
ond year in a row in 1964,
but those Pirates weren’t
able to win the final game.
Instead, it was
Justin Roberson,
Hunter’s great-neph-
2 ew, who helped lead
the Pirates to that
second consecutive
title as the team’s
head coach in 2022.
“Those kids have
passed their baseball from
player to player and coach
and coach, getting each
team member’s autograph.
“Oh man, well over a
hundred (times),” Perquim
ans head coach Justin Rob
erson said. “Was starting to
get a little tough there to
ward the end.”
The Pirates won the 1A
NCHSAA state champion
ship series last month with
a 2-1 series win over Cher
ryville High School at Holly
Springs’ Ting Stadium. The
See AUTOGRAPHS, A2
DAVID GOUGH/THE DAILY ADVANCE
The Perquimans baseball team celebrates after
winning the 2022 1A NCHSAA state championship,
Saturday, June 4, at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs.
been taught that story from
the time they were little,”
Roberson said. “This is
your opportunity’ and even
going into this year, This is
One of many baseballs
autographed by each
member of Perquimans’
state title-winning
baseball team is shown
Thursday at Hertford
Baptist Church.
our chance to make histo
ry’ and with that comes a
lot of pressure for both the
See PIRATES, A4
Sheriff: Seagle appeared
to ‘have a seizure’ at jail
BY JULIAN EURE
The Daily Advance
Albemarle District Jail of
ficials are conducting their
own internal probe into the
circumstances surrounding
the death of a jail inmate
June 24.
Wayne Jones, the assis
tant administrator at the jail,
confirmed the probe into in
mate William Adam Seagle’s
death on June 28, saying the
jail routinely conducts inter
nal investigations following
all serious incidents.
The jail’s probe of Sea
gle’s death will cooperate
with but be independent of
the separate investigation
being conducted by the
Pasquotank Sheriffs Office,
Jones said. The jail’s probe
will focus on whether jail
personnel followed proper
procedures during the inci
dent.
Pasquotank Sheriff Tom-
Patrol identifies
Hertford motorist
killed in wreck
Owens, of Huidletown Road,
died in wreck on US 17 June 24
BY JULIAN EURE
The Daily Advance
HERTFORD — A Per
quimans County man was
killed in a single-vehicle ac
cident on U.S. Highway 17
just south of Hertford Fri
day, June 24.
Trooper M. Ruffin of the
N.C. Highway Patrol identi
fied the man as Benjamin E.
Owens, 79, of the 400 block
of Hurdletown Road, Hert
ford.
According to Ruffin, Ow
ens was driving alone north
on U.S. 17 at 10:35 p.m.
when his 2020 Chrysler Pa
cifica minivan drove off the
road on the left. Owens’ van
crossed the median and en
tered the two lanes of south-
SEAGLE
my Wooten
had few
new de
tails about
his depart
ment’s in
vestigation
of Seagle’s
death, say
ing only that
the inmate
appeared to “have a seizure”
before losing consciousness
the evening of June 24. The
Sheriffs Office said no foul
play is suspected in Seagle’s
death.
Wooten said an autopsy
will be performed to deter
mine what caused Seagle’s
death but cautioned it may
take “up to six months” for
the results to be released.
Jones had little to add to
the press release Wooten’s
department released on
June 27 about the facts of
what happened at the jail
the night Seagle died.
According to that release,
jail officers responded to
See DEATH, A4
bound U.S. 17, Ruffin said.
Owens then overcor
rected and the van crossed
back into the median where
it struck a tree, Ruffin said.
The van continued another
40-50 feet before striking a
guardrail on the right side of
the roadway and coming to
a stop.
Owens, who was wearing
a seatbelt, was pronounced
dead at the scene by emer
gency medical services per
sonnel, Ruffin said.
Owens’ van was traveling
about 55 mph, which is the
speed limit for that stretch
of roadway, Ruffin said.
Northbound traffic on
U.S. 17 was diverted around
the accident scene in the
900 block of the roadway
for nearly four hours, a
press release from Perqui
mans Emergency Services
said last week.