THE
QUIMANS
EEKLY
^News from Next Door”
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 $1.50
@ SCAN ME
PAGE Bl
Doc film show
cases efforts to
remove Confeder
ate statues
PAGE B2
Lady Pirates
top Knights,
take 1st place in
Four Rivers
PAGE B5
Friends of
Library to host
annual Silver Tea
Monday
Candidates comment on ‘disruptive’ board member policy
Disruptive commissioner
can be ordered to leave
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
The Perquimans County
Board of Commissioners re
cently revised its long-stand
ing rules of procedure to al
low for a disruptive speaker
to be removed from the
meeting. Commissioners
also added a new provision
that authorizes the board —
after issuing a warning — to
order a disruptive board
member to leave a meeting
as well.
CORPREW
JACKSON LEIGH NELSON NOWELL WARD
Quentin Jackson, a Dem
ocrat and former Hertford
town councilor who is run
ning for a seat on the Per
quimans Board of Commis
sioners, frequently was in
heated disputes with Hert
ford Mayor Earnell Brown
and other town councilors
during his four-year term on
town council. He told The
Daily Advance when the
rule revisions were enacted
that he believes the changes
were a response to his can
didacy.
County Manager Frank
Heath and a member of the
current commission board
have denied that the chang
es were in response to any
one person’s behavior. They
have said the changes were
simply another step in a
continuing process of up
dating and completing the
board’s rules of procedures.
The Perquimans
Weekly recently
asked the six can
didates for county
commissioner on the
Nov. 8 ballot about
the rule changes.
Responding to the
question were Dem
ocratic incumbent
Fondella Leigh, Re
publican incumbent Wal
lace Nelson, Democratic
candidate Keith Nowell, Re
publican candidate James
Ward and unaffiliated candi
date Tim Corprew. Jackson
did not respond.
TPW: What do you
think is the reason for
the county choosing to
write rules of procedure
that deal with commis
sioner behavior/conduct
at meetings? Do you
think the rule change is
necessary?
Corprew: “If I had to
venture a guess at the
thought process of the cur
rent commissioners in re
gards to feeling it necessary
to write procedural rules
for commissioner conduct,
I would guess they’ve all
seen the debacle that was
the Hertford Town Council
meetings over the last few
See CANDIDATES, A3
Jolly about history
State
Theater
among
tour sites
PCRA held annual tour of
historic buildings Saturday
BY JOHN FOLEY
Staff Writer
Local residents, visitors
and history buffs mean
dered through Hertford
Saturday on the Perquimans
County Restoration Associ
ation’s annual historic home
tour.
Twelve of Hertford’s
historic treasures were
featured during the Jol
lification! event, a chief
fundraiser for the non-
profit that manages the
Newbold-White House and
works to preserve historic
structures in Perquimans.
While many of the sites
on the tour were full of
stories from the past, none
seemed as focused on the
future as the historic State
Theater.
The theater’s cavernous
entryway was an eye-open
ing surprise for many who
had never been inside the
1930s-era movie house, the
first in North Carolina to
feature air conditioning. A
sandwich board sign posted
outside stated, “Open Today,
JOHN FOLEY/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
The stripped interior of the former State Theater is shown from the balcony of
the structure during the Perquimans County Restoration Association’s annual
Jollification! historic home tour Saturday. A developer in charge of the building’s
restoration estimates the project will take about two years.
Come See the Progress.”
Two large “S” letters —
the State Theater logo —
still grace the building’s
walls. A checkerboard pat
tern, in purple and gray and
made of cement, give the
appearance of a hanging
quilt high above the floor.
But for the most part, the
building’s interior has been
stripped bare in order for
developers to get an idea
See JOLLIFICATION, A3
Davis: School
safety a ‘pothole’
that needs fixing
Dem candidate meets with
residents in Hertford visit
BY JOHN FOLEY
Staff Writer
For Democratic con
gressional candidate Don
Davis, there is no more
powerful metaphor for the
types of solvable problems
that government some
times struggles to fix than
the simple pothole.
During a meeting with
Perquimans County res
idents at the Hertford
Community Center last
PAL to host Arts
on Perquimans
Artists, crafters to show
works at 11th annual event
BY JOHN FOLEY
Staff Writer
The Perquimans Arts
League is gearing up for
what members are calling
their biggest arts and crafts
showever.
The 11th annual Arts on
the Perquimans is set to
get underway Saturday at
10 a.m. at the Perquimans
County Recreation Center
in Hertford.
week, Da
vis related
a story
about his
own en
counter
with a
real pot-
hole while
DAVIS grow
ing up in
Snow Hill.
“A bunch of us would
get on our bikes and race
to the bottom of the hill.
We had to go around a
huge pothole in the middle
See DAVIS, A2
INSIDE
PAL announces winners in
Members Show. Page A8
According to event
chairperson Tina Field
er, this year’s Arts on the
Perquimans boasts more
than 60 artists and crafters
who’ll be showing their
paintings, jewelry, photog
raphy and pottery.
“'Hus is our biggest
See ART, A3
Library: First-ever Community Resource Fair a success
Reps from 19 agencies, nonprofits
attended to promote services
BY JOHN FOLEY
Staff Writer
Despite a torrential rainstorm
outside, the Perquimans County
Library’s first-ever Community
Resource Fair last week was very
successful, according to Librarian
Michele Lawrence.
“It was out first resource fair
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JOHN FOLEY/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Representatives of area nonprofits and governmental agencies are shown at the Perquimans County
Library’s first-ever Resource Fair at the library, Thursday, Sept. 22.
and we were very pleased with
the results,” Lawrence said of the
Sept. 22 event. “We had 19 ven
dors from the community at the
library, and I had about four other
company brochures on my hand
out table.”
Co-sponsored by the library and
organized by Dina Hurdle, chair
of the board of directors for The
Open Door of Perquimans County
food pantry, the event highlighted
both the services and resource
opportunities available to county
residents. Among the nonprofit
groups and agencies represented
were the Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts,
Department of Social Services,
Perquimans Emergency Services,
NC Works and a handfirl of other
county and private
servic
The Perquimans Open Door
Pantry has been serving county
residents since 1980. Its mission
is to assist the poor and needy by
fighting hunger and poverty. The
nonprofit currently has 110 vol
unteers who work in teams under
the supervision of Executive Di
rector Rosemary Smith.
Clients are recommended to
the food pantry by local churches,
community partners and DSS. Cli
ents are interviewed to determine
their eligibility and needs. Vol-
imteers then provide them with
basic food, laundry products and
personal care items..
Perquimans County Senior
Center Director Beverly Gregory
was also on hand promoting the
center’s activities.
“We are going zip lining on Oct.
4th, andhavealotof other activities
scheduled this fall,” said Gregory.
For those not ready to make the
jump onto a zip line, the center
also offers archery, croquet and
shuffleboard at various times.
Perquimans County Croquet
Champion Rodney Lassiter, an
See FAIR, A3
1