"‘News from Next Door”
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022 $1.50
^ SCAN ME
PAGE A6
PAL exhibits
Brennan’s ‘A Light
Gathering’
PAGE Bl
Pirates drop
first game to
Panthers; Lady
Pirates win
PAGE B2
22H/T24
Christmas
shopping spree
helps over 100
families ■
Christmas arrives
PHOTOS BY JOHN FOLEY/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
The Perquimans County Courthouse is lit up by 6,000 Christmas lights during Friday’s Grand Illumination event in
Hertford. The lights will remain illuminated at night throughout the Christmas season.
Eleven DWI cases
dismissed after
trooper a no-show
Hundreds attend Grand Illumination
Judge dismissed cases after
Alwadei didn’t show up in court
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
HERTFORD — Cases
against 11 driving while
impaired defendants —
including five with previ
ous convictions for DWI
— were dismissed in Per
quimans County District
Court on Sept. 14 when the
N.C. State Highway Patrol
trooper who made the ar
rests failed to show up to
testify.
Trooper I. Alwadei had
been transferred out of
the area and his remaining
cases were bundled for
the single session of court
so he would only have to
return to Perquimans that
“Quite frankly he
dropped the ball,” Womble
said this week. “I was up-
set. I know that my as
sistant district attorneys
were upset. Other court
officials were upset. The
judge was upset.”
Asked whether his of
fice bore any responsibil
ity for the trooper’s no-
show in court, Womble
said there are processes
for making sure witnesses
are available and on-stand-
by in the event of a jury
trial, but there is no such
procedure in district court
cases.
“District court is a lit
tle bit different,” Womble
said.
He added, “I think what
we have in place works 97-
98 percent of the time.”
First Sgt. Christopher
PCHS band performs, kids
dance during holiday event
BY JOHN FOLEY
Staff Writer
Hertford’s Grand Illu
mination Friday night in
cluded an entertainment
extravaganza that a number
of residents said the com
munity had not experienced
in years.
Historic Hertford Chair
Lynne Raymond welcomed
the hundreds of residents
and visitors who gathered
on Church Street, many of
whom were sitting curbside
on blankets, folding chairs,
and —jmmore than a few
cases -— their dad’s shoul
ders.
Master of Ceremonies
Bobby Layden introduced
Hertford Mayor Earnell
Brown to the crowd.
“Welcome everyone on
this beautiful night,” Brown
See ILLUMINATION, A3
Members of the Perquimans High School Marching
Pirates, directed by Evan Copeland, perform holiday
favorites to get the assembled crowd in the Christmas
mood during the Grand Illumination, Friday.
I one time, according to Knox, a public infoimation
District Attorney Andrew
Womble. See NO-SHOW, A3
REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Perquimans County Clerk of Superior Court Todd
Tilley administers the oath of office Monday to
newly elected Commissioners (l-r) James Ward, Tim
Corprew and Wallace Nelson.
Hertford parade rolls despite the rain
Good crowd turns out along
parade’s mile-long route
BY JOHN FOLEY
Staff Writer
It did rain on the parade
Saturday. But that didn’t
dampen holiday sprits as
residents still lined the pa
rade route from its start at
Perquimans County High
School to its end near the
town of Hertford’s new “S”
bridge.
The Perquimans March
ing Band, the grand marshal
for this year’s parade, led
the way on the rainy after
noon as 55-plus floats and
parade units followed be
hind on the mile-long route.
Students, Seeds of Suc
cess and FFA members, and
church members aboard the
floats drew applause as they
passed spectators. To show
their appreciation, many of
them tossed candy canes
and packages of Sugar Ba
bies into the crowd.
One of the parade partic
ipants was Andy’s Body and
Towing of Belvidere, who
had mouths watering be
cause of the 20 or so realis
tic-looking candle cupcakes
decorating the back of the
company’s tow truck.
Owner Andy White
said he only decorates
the truck at Christmas.
This year he had about 20
See PARADE, A3
JOHN FOLEY/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
The Hertford Grammar School PTA’s Candyland float
rolls during Saturday’s Christmas Parade in Hertford.
Despite the rainy conditions, parade-goers lined the
mile-long parade route from Perquimans County High
School to the shadow of the “S’’ Bridge.
County fund balance
up $2.8M in 3 years
Corprew, Ward, Nelson
sworn in for 4-year terms
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Perquimans County has
grown its cash reserves
substantially over the past
three years, according to
the report on. the county’s
fiscal year 2021-22 audit.
The audit report was
presented to the Perquim
ans County Board of Com ¬
missioners Monday night
by Austin Eubanks of the
accounting firm Thomp
son, Price, Scott, Adams
& Co.
Since 2019 the county’s
unassigned fund balance
in the general fund has
grown from $4.1 million
to $6.9 million. As a per
centage of annual expen
ditures, the figure has
increased over that same
period from 31.29% to
See AUDIT, A2
County to stay
in Tier 2 in 2023
Perquimans ranks 61st least
distressed after ranking 51st
BY JULIAN EURE
The Daily Advance
Perquimans County in
2023 will remain in the mid
dle tier of comities for eco
nomic distress, the latest
6 1 89076 47144
Vol. 87, No. 49
WWW.PerquiiriansWeekly.com
@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
N.C. Department of Com
merce rankings show.
The state agency last
week released its annual
tier rankings for counties
in 2023, and for the second
year in row, Perquimans will
be one of 40 counties classi
fied as a Tier 2 county.
Commerce data show
Perquimans the 61st-least
distressed county in
the state. That’s an im
provement from last
2 year’s report, which
ranked the county the
51st least distressed.
Other counties in
See TIERS, A2
Shoppers seek holiday gifts at Crafts Fair
Hendrickson showcased Santa
figurines at Saturday event
BY JOHN FOLEY
Staff Writer
Moon Bakery set up a full
bake shop for the event
that featured cakes, cook
ies, breads and other holi
day goodies.
Albemarle Plantation
resident Barbara Hendrick-
Holiday wreaths sport
ing fancy, colorful bows
and Santas made of clay
were among the items
greeting Christmas crafters,
and holiday shoppers at a
crafts fair at Perquimans
High School Saturday.
About 30 vendors lined
the walls of the high school
gym selling everything from
hand-knitted pot holders
and artisan-crafted Christ
mas ornaments to holiday
gift baskets and decorative
wooden holiday signs.
Gail House of Carolina
son, owner of Just Believe,
was showcasing her Santa
figurines, each of which is
handmade, hand stitched
and hand painted. Each
figurine is personalized
wit h her name to establish
a provenance for the work.
“I began this company
in 2008,” Hendrickson said.
“At the same time I was
very busy with my real es
tate company so I put the
project on the back burn
er.”
See FAIR, A3
JOHN FOLEY/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Shelly Johnson looks over some Christmas wreaths
on sale at the Christmas Craft Fair organized by the
Dance Company of Hertford at Perquimans County
High School, Saturday.