“News from Next Door”
THURSDAY, AUGUI ’ 18, 2022 $1.50
(jl SCAN ME
PAGE A2
School water
safety program fully
funded for 2022-23
PAGE A2
100 attend
club’s Sth annu
al back-to-school
event
PAGE B2
Berry:
Remembering
Kay Grayson,
The Bear Lady of
Tyrrell County
Cole’s $50K gift green-lights softball field upgrade
Project to include new backstop,
home dugout, concession stand
From staff reports
Thanks to a second $50,000 do
nation from a local resident, a proj
ect to complete m^jor upgrades to
the girls softball field complex at
Perquimans County High School
will be moving forward.
H.V. Cole, owner of Forbes
Homes, made the second $50,000
contribution to the capital cam
paign last week, following up on
the $50,000 donation made by Jim
and Stephanie Gregory in July,
Brenda Lassiter, executive direc
tor of the Perquimans County
Schools Foundation, said.
The foundation is overseeing
the campaign to raise funding for
a makeover of the girls softball
field complex that will include
a new backstop, home dugout,
press box and concession stand.
According to Lassiter, Debi
Dunn of Forbes Homes advised
the foundation recently that
Cole “enjoys doing good things
for others, especially children.”
After reading about the capital
campaign for the softball com
plex project launched last month,
Dunn says Cole “committed re
sources to see it finished for the
students in Perquimans County.”
Lassister said when Cole’s
$50,000 check arrived at the
foundation’s office, it came with
the following message: “Do good
things for children.”
“Doing good things for children
is an easy task when you have
donors like H.V. Cole of Forbes
Homes,” Lassiter said.
Lassiter said the foundation’s
Board of Directors is “truly thank
ful” for Cole’s donation.
“Doing good things for children
is our mantra,” she said.
Carson Stallings, president of
the 15-member foundation board,
also praised Cole for the donation.
“When the conununity steps up
and invests in our children, there
are so many things we can offer
See COLE, A4
PHOTO COURTESY H.V. COLE
H.V. Cole, owner of Forbes Homes, has contributed $50,000 to the
capital campaign to make improvements to the girls softball field
complex at Perquimans County High School. His gift completed the
$50,000 challenge donation Jim and Stephanie Gregory made to
the project in July.
Answering the call in Zambia
PHOTO COURTESY KAREN THROCKMORTON
Karen Throckmorton, a registered nurse and the president of Orphan Medical Network International, checks
the blood pressure of a local villager in a tribal area of Zambia, in what's known as the “Copperbelt” of Africa.
Throckmorton co-founded OMNI over 20 years ago to help feed, educate and offer medical care to the African
continent’s most impoverished people.
Winfall hopes to
echo Hertford’s
grants success
Winfall councilor to meet
with Golden LEAF officials
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
WINFALL — Borrowing
a page from neighboring
Hertford, Winfall town
officials are launching a
renewed pursuit of grant
opportunities to rebuild in
frastructure and grow the
town’s tax base.
Valeiy McDonald, the
town councilor charged
with leadership in
grant-seeking under the
council’s new commit
tee structure, told fellow
councilors Aug. 8 that she’s
started reaching out to
state and federal officials
about grant opportunities.
She also plans to meet
with the nonprofit Golden
LEAF Inc., she said.
McDonald noted the
recent success Hertford
has experienced securing
grant funding.
See WINFALL, A4
Sheriff: Teen died
in firearm accident
Throckmorton helps Africa’s neediest
Resident heads group that provides
food, medical care, schooling
BY JOHN FOLEY
Correspondent
We’ve all seen on the nightly news
the heart-wrenching images of under-
nourished families and their children
struggling for survival in parts of Africa.
For many of us, those images dis
appear as soon as the news ends and
“Jeopardy” comes on.
That’s not true for Perquimans
County resident Karen Throckmorton,
however.
She lives with those images every
day. While her home is in Hertford,
Throckmorton’s focus is on the deep
bush of Africa’s Copperbelt, a stone’s
throw from the Congo, one of the
most dangerous places on earth.
Throckmorton, a registered nurse,
serves as president of the Orphan
Medical Network International, the
Roanoke, Virginia-based organization
she co-founded over 20 years ago to
help feed, educate and offer medical
care to the African continent’s most
impoverished people.
See THROCKMORTON, A4
Accidental discharge of
shotgun killed 18-year-old
From staff reports
SNUG HARBOR — The
Perquimans County sher
iff says a teenager died in
Snug Harbor Thursday eve
ning following an acciden
tal discharge of a firearm.
Sheriff Shelby White said
Saturday the 18-year-old
male died from a single shot
from a shotgun. He said his
office determined the teen’s
death was accidental.
Reached Saturday, White
said he didn’t immediately
know the teen’s name or ad
dress. He declined to release
any details of what happened,
other than to say the shooting
took place at a residence in
Snug Harbor and that other
people were present when
the incident happened.
According to a press
release, Perquimans Coun
ty 911 received a call at
7:32 p.m. that someone
had been shot in the Snug
Harbor community.
When the Sheriffs Of
fice and Perquimans Coun
ty Emergency Medical Ser
vices arrived, responders
found a person who had
died, the release said.
A medical examiner
was called to the scene but
White said no autopsy will
be performed.
Extension hires new 4-H agent, awards scholarship
Smith to direct 4-H, Williams
earns her 3rd Smith award
BY JOHN FOLEY
Correspondent
It’s been a busy couple of
weeks for the Perquimans
County Extension office.
First, the Extension staff
welcomed new county 4-H
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Agent Asheton Smith on
Aug. 1. Then, they awarded
the $1,000 Lewis Smith Agri
cultural Scholarship for the
third consecutive year to
Maggie Williams.
Both Smith and Williams,
along with their families,
were honored at the Per
quimans Extension staff
ice cream social on Friday
where Howling Cow ice
cream was scooped
from three-gallon
containers. Howl-
2 ing Cow is the brand
name of North Caro
lina State University’s
proprietary brand of
ice cream.
Williams, a stu
dent studying agriculture
at NCSU, is the daughter of
Jeff and Bonita Williams of
Perquimans County and the
granddaughter of the late
Billy and Hollis Williams of
Tyner.
“Growing up on a farm
has allowed me to realize
my passion for agriculture
and life sciences,” Williams
said. “Both my grandfather
and father attended NC
State for agriculture and I
am honored to carry on this
legacy.”
Lewis Smith served as
Perquimans County Exten
sion director for more than
30 years. Upon his retire
ment in December 2013,
staff from local Farm Bu
reau, the Extension office,
the NC State Foundation,
and local farmers fonned a
committee to establish an
educational scholarship in
his name.
To become eligible, a
Perquimans County student
must get accepted and at
tend NCSU with the intent
to m^jor in agricultural
studies.
Smith, who attended Fri
day’s ice cream social, said
he couldn’t be prouder to
have Williams again named
the recipient of the scholar
ship named in his honor.
See EXTENSION, A2
JOHN FOLEY PHOTO
Asheton Smith began work as a 4-H agent with the
Perquimans Center of NC Cooperative Extension on
Aug. 1. A former educator who was born in Chowan
County, Smith said she looks forward to using her
educator skills in her work with 4-H.