october fpl 2011

4 Front Porch Living

Inside this editionSugar DaddyChildhood memories of rural GatesCounty leads Ricky Hedgepeth torevive a nearly lost agricultural art.6

Relaxing RideLeisurely trip down the CashieRiver attracts individuals fromnear and far. 12

‘Tis the season...for decoratingRoanoke-Chowan area interiordesigner offers inexpensive tipsfor dressing up your home forthe holidays.

Hertford County High Schoolbasketball coach is a winnerboth on and off the court. 23

The place where everyoneknows your nameFaison Senior Center in Jacksonoffers wide variety of activitiesfor the silver generation.

34

Class Act

The vibrant colors of the fall

season comealive at thePembroke

Avenue home of Betty Duke

of Ahoskie

16

Ricky Hedgepeth of Eure sells his homemade sweet sorghum molasses at Tar Heel Barbecue in Gates County.

Ricky Hedgepeth keeps molasses-making tradition alive Story by Cal Bryant - contributed photos

Dressed in his trademark bib overalls,Ricky Hedgepeth looks more like afarmer than a restaurant owner.

According to this Gates County native,the first label is a more accurate statement.

While he remains busy with his daily du-ties at Tar Heel Barbecue, a local eateryown by Hedgepeth and his wife, Paige,Ricky is a dirt farmer at heart. The proof lieswith his homegrown operation of growing

and harvesting sweet sor ghum, often re-ferred to as sugarcane, followed by thepainstaking process of turning the juicesqueezed from those leafy stalks into natu-rally sweet molasses.

While the profit netted from the sale ofthe molasses helps supplement the family’sincome, it’s not all about the money forHedgepeth. Rather, he sees this agriculturaloperation as a way to keep a long-standing

Gates County tradition alive.Hedgepeth, now 52 years young, said he

was around age 8 when he first went to seesorghum molasses being made.

“When I was a little boy there was a man,Mr. Manley Eure, over on the Barfield Road(near the Gates County community of Eure)who raised sugarcane along with Mr . OrinParker and Mr. Levie Harrell,” Hedgepethrecalled. “The three of them would put

See MOLASSES page 7

SugarDaddy

Front Porch Living 7

everything together at Mr. Manley Eure’shouse. Mama and daddy would always goand we young’uns tagged along as well. Itwas an all day thing, cutting the stalks,pressing the juice from the stalks and thencooking that juice to make molasses.”

Hedgepeth said the entire communitywould turn out for the event, which wouldoften last into the night.

“Everybody helped out and everybodytook home a little jar of molasses, that wastheir reward for helping out all day,” he re-called of that annual October event.

Hedgepeth said the smell of cooking mo-lasses stayed with him, leading to his smallproduction effort today.

“It’s just my way of keeping that traditionalive,” he said.

Hedgepeth recalled the old-style processto remove the slop (a greenish color film)that rose to the top of the batch while cook-ing.

“They would take a tin pie plate – backthen they were so durable that you could usethem to cook biscuits in the oven – pokefine holes in it, nail it to the end of a longstick and use it as a way to skim the top ofthe batch,” Hedgepeth said.

While today’s skimming method is dif-ferent, the harvesting and productionprocess is basically the same, with a few

minor modifications, as it was years ago. Once the sor ghum crop is ready ,

Hedgepeth first strips the leaves and re-moves the top. Those bare stalks are thenhand-fed into a press, which contains threemoving drums that squeeze out the juiceinto a bucket positioned below. The crush-ing power of the drums is adjustable.

“We strain that juice before it gets to thebucket to remove as much trash from the

stalk as we can,” Hedgepeth said. “We thenlet that juice settle in the bucket and strain ita second time and a third time before wepour it in the cooker.”

Remembering back to the old days ofcooking molasses, Hedgepeth said cheese-cloth or a t-shirt was used to strain the juice.

“That was a slow process because oncethe cloth became saturated, it becameharder and harder to use as a strainer ,” herecalled. “I can remember them squeezingthe juice by hand from the cloth into thebucket.”

Once the straining process is complete,Hedgepeth said the juice is ready to cook.He uses a gas-fired 200 gallon stainlesssteel vat, a big jump from the old days whenan 80-gallon vat was used. Then it was awooden vat lined with metal on the exterior.Wood was used back then to heat the vat.

“They would cook with wood without athermometer,” Hedgepeth recalled. “Todaywe cook with gas, which is a regulatedsource of heat, and use thermometers.”

Even the method used to know when thesorghum is ready to harvest is dif ferenttoday than yesterday. Hedgepeth said theold fashioned way was to remove one of theseeds from the top of the cane’ s head andmash it between your thumbnails. If it popsopen and has a pulp inside the same consis-tency of a grape, then it’s ready.

“Today I use a meter where I’ll take astalk and squeeze three or four drops ofjuice on it to test it to see when it’s ready to

Manley Eureholds a gallon

jug steadywhile his

daughter-in-law, Faye,pours infreshlycooked

molasses in aphoto taken in

the 1970’s.

MOLASSES FROM PAGE 6

See MOLASSES page 8

This youngsterreacts to his

first tasteof sweetsorghum molasses.


harvest,” Hedgepeth said. “I can take thatsame meter and check the juice while it’ scooking and tell you when it’s just right.”

He said up until a few years ago he would

use a thermometer to constantly monitor thebatch.

“Once you get the batch to 212 degrees,the boiling point, it will stay there all day

long until the moisture starts evaporatingand the sugar content rises,” he said. “Thatwill make the temperature climb higher andhigher and when the temperature gets be-tween 226 and 228 degrees, it’s ready. Theold-timers would just look at the batchwhile it cooked. They’d dip it, pour it outand when it became stringy, it was ready.”

Hedgepeth said the biggest reason herekindled the art of molasses making wasthe memories he had as a child in watchingthe process.

“It was a big thing back then, the wholecommunity chipped in and I feel that iswhat we lack today where everyone is insuch a hurry,” he noted.

In addition to the molasses, there weretwo other popular entrees served back then– sweet potatoes and homemade biscuits,Hedgepeth recalled.


Gates County schoolchildren watch the steam rise from the vat during their visit to Ricky Hedgepeth’s molasses production process.

See MOLASSES page 9

A creamy, caramel appearance means thecooking process is nearly over.


“And while the molasses was cooking,the men folk would take small pieces ofwood and carve little, flat paddles that youwould use to dip into the vat and treat your-self to a little taste of the best homemademolasses in the world,” he added. “Or youcould take one ofthose homemade bis-cuits and stand aroundthe vat, using that pad-dle to drip the mo-lasses onto thebiscuit……that was atreat in itself.”

Hedgepeth willcook about fivebatches of molassesper year. He said mostall start with approximately 80 gallons ofjuice that, when cooked down, will produce,on average, eight to nine gallons of mo-lasses. Each cooking process takes around12 hours.

“All we’re doing when a batch is fired upis cooking all the moisture out,” he said. “A

lot of folks think we add something to thebatch to make the final product, but it’ snothing more than the juice from the caneand you just steam out all the moisture.”

He continued, “While it’s cooking you’llsee a green film rising to the top. That the

impurities being boiled out. All you do isconstantly keep that substance skimmed off.Once the right amount of moisture is re-moved, that’s when the sugar content getsjust right and you have molasses.”

After the batch cools a bit, Hedgepeth be-gins the packaging process, hand-filling

each plastic bottle by using a spigot on bot-tom of the vat. Using a pulley system, thevat is slightly tilted on one end to employthat packaging process.

“The caps on those bottles are self-seal-ing; when you pour the molasses in while

it’s still pretty goodand hot it helpsseal the cap,” hesaid.

Sales of theproduct are boom-ing. Hedgepethsaid he normallyruns out of mo-lasses – sold inhalf-pint, pint andquart bottles – at

just about the time the next harvest seasonrolls around.

Planting time is in mid-May; harvestcomes in late September or early October .If the growing season is ideal weather-wise,the harvest is done in stages in order for theentire crop not to be ready at the same time.


Workers at the Ricky Hedgepeth farm load sorghum stalks into a press that squeezes juice from the cane.

See MOLASSES page 10

“The entire process, from the time we plant the firstseed to the time we bottle the molasses, is extremely

labor intensive. But it’s all worth it because I feel I’m helping to keep a Gates County

tradition alive. I’ll keep doing this as long as I’m able.”- Ricky Hedgepeth


“That helps us stretch out the cookingprocess over several weeks,” Hedgepethnoted. “That works so much better.”

He can strip the leaves about a week in ad-vance, but once the head is cut off the stalk,squeezing the cane soon follows.

The molasses is only sold at Tar Heel Bar-becue. Hedgepeth does accept requests forspecial shipments.

Molasses is also a hit with the health-con-science crowd.

“It’s a natural sweetener so it’s very pop-ular among diabetics,” he said.

During the harvest and cooking seasons,Hedgepeth invites every elementary schoolstudent in Gates County to his farm to watchmolasses being made.

“The reason I got the kids involved wasbecause this is a dying thing,” Hedgepethsaid of the process. “A lot of the kids havenever heard of molasses, much less seen itbeing made or have even tasted it. I thoughtit was a piece of our local history they needto know about.”

Buses full of schoolchildren arrive in 30-minute intervals throughout the day. That ed-ucational process includes a “walk-through”of molasses-related material located insidean enclosed 28-foot trailer. There, tables in-clude the seed that will eventually beplanted; photos of the sugar cane in variousstages of growth as well as how it’ s har-vested and squeezed; a full grown stalk,compete with leaves and a head, a strippeddown stalk; and a quart jar containing thegreenish juice (its color when initiallysqueezed).

“That gives them a little history to go on,”Hedgepeth said. “Once they leave the trailerthey walk over to the vat and watch it cook.”

Using small wooden paddles, each childhas the opportunity to sample the final prod-uct. Hedgepeth also of fers lemonade andchips for the children.

“The entire process, from the time weplant the first seed to the time we bottle themolasses, is extremely labor intensive. Butit’s all worth it because I feel I’m helping tokeep a Gates County tradition alive,”Hedgepeth concluded. “I’ll keep doing thisas long as I’m able.”

To learn more about Hedgepeth’ s mo-lasses-making process or to purchase a bot-tle, call (252-357-1094) or visit Tar HeelBarbecue, located at the intersection of US13 and US 158 in Gates County. �

Manley Eure, shown here in the 1960’s with his wife Naomi, used a homemade device — apie plate, punched with tiny holes and nailed to the end of a long stick — to skim impuri-

ties that rose to the surface while cooking molasses.


Gates County students and a teacher view a display set up by Ricky Hedgepeth.

Relaxing Ride

In a hurried world there is still a place inBertie County that lets you get awayfrom all the hustle and bustle.

That place is on the Cashie River, wherean hour’s journey seems to take you much

further back in time.“The best word I can use to describe the

River Ramble is tranquil,” said Roanoke-Cashie River Center Coordinator NeilMoye. “It’s like going back in time and see-

ing undisturbed scenery.”Each Saturday from April through Octo-

ber, the River Center offers the opportunityfor people from near and far to sit back andenjoy a pontoon boat ride down the Cashie

See RIDE page 14

Pontoon journey tours Cashie River’sundisturbed scenery

Story & Photos byThadd White


River.The tour begins on the dock near the Cen-

ter and continues through Bertie County to-wards the Roanoke River . It includes theriver side of an active saw mill, the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail and other landmarks.

Most of the tour, however, takes those ex-periencing it through the waters of theCashie and the foliage that surrounds. Thereare a number of animals native to the riverand its surrounding area. They include a va-riety of turtles, birds and snakes.

As part of the tour visitors learn aboutsome of the history of the Cashie River. In-cluded in that history is information aboutthe name itself. The name is believed to beeither Tuscarora Indian or Scottish in deri -vation.

The river is 60 miles long and containedentirely in Bertie County . Of the 60-miletrek, about 25 miles is navigable. The riverruns from nine feet deep in some places toas deep as 40 or 50 feet.

Some of the historic events on the CashieRiver were recorded by Joe Huf f. They in-

RIDE FROM PAGE 13

See RIDE page 15

These two ladies enjoy a peaceful tour of the Cashie River.


clude:1580’sThe English explorers were in the Albe-

marle Sound and probably rowed up theCashie a ways, maybe to present day Wind-sor.

Mid to late 1650’sVirginia colonists begin settling in Bertie

County, some no doubt along the Cashie.1750’sThe upper Cashie was becoming a center

for commerce and trade. Several landingswith wharfs and road connections werebusy shipping tar, pitch, turpentine, staves,salt pork, salt fish and tobacco. They in-cluded Whitmel’s, Blackman’s and Gray’sLandings. Pilings and brick along the shoreline are the remains of a once thriving porttown. The wide spot in the river was dug outto facilitate turning passenger and car gosailing ships.

1768Gray’s Landing becomes Windsor by

charter from the Colonial Assembly.1774The second drawbridge in North Carolina

was built over the Cashie at Windsor, nearthe present day Highway 17 bridge.

1775Ferry service crossing the Cashie at

Windsor ended.1777William Gray builds a shipyard on the

site next to the Roanoke Cashie River Cen-ter. Many years later the steamer Bertie wasbuilt there.

1818Steamboats begin regular service be-

tween Plymouth and Edenton. No doubtthey were soon making port calls to Wind-sor.

1864A Union cannon ball found nearby was

the only one fired from one of the Uniongunboats during a combined Union infantryand naval raid designed to trap Confederatecalvary sent to Windsor to oversee a localelection.

1898The Wellington & Powellsville, a narrow

gauge railroad, laid rails from docksidewarehouses to Ahoskie. The W & P wasoften called the “Walk & Push” railroad be-cause that was what passengers had to dosometimes. The last run was in 1962.

1939

Regular scheduled water traf fic on theCashie ended, supplanted by truck and railtransportation.

1999Hurricanes Floyd and Dennis dump 26

inches of rain in the Cashie headwaters. Thewater level in Windsor rises 12 feet andfloods downtown homes and businesses.The 1940 flood put about 15 feet of water inWindsor.

Those dates are just part of the tour of theriver. The fun for those who take the timeto take the free trip down the Cashie is see-ing the quiet calm that stretches for miles.

Many have taken the time to do just that,from as far away as Maryland and SouthCarolina. Moye said there have been timeswhen the pontoon boats have run back-to-back because so many people wanted totake the time to make the trip down theCashie as they visit a waterway still boast-ing the same tranquility and undisturbedhabitat that the area’s ancestors would re-member.

Those wishing to take a trip on the CashieRiver should contact the Roanoke-CashieRiver Center at 252-794-2001. �

An abundance of wildlife can be seen during the River Ramble held Saturdays from April to October in Windsor.

RIDE FROM PAGE 14


‘Tis the season...for decorating


Fall and winter are seasons for thesenses. It’s the time of year for trad-ing the porches and patios so inviting

during the summer for the warmth of ahearth or the aromas of the kitchen. Fall andwinter signal the approaching holidays, atime for family, friends and food, which in-evitably means entertaining guests in yourhome.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas justaround the corner , interior designer GeriPhillips Bradshaw, owner of Southern Inte-riors in Murfreesboro, offered tips on deco-rating for the fall and winter seasons and theholidays.

Bradshaw said with the right accessoriesand neutral basics, a one time investment inyour decor can have it transitioning fromseason to season as well as year to year .Similar colors and patterns can add unity toyour arrangements and accent shades canwarm up your dining room table.

All is possible on a tight budget if you in-vest in the right items.

“Decorating is something that can be ex-pensive and not a lot of people in today’ stime can really do it, they have to focus onmany other major things,” Bradshaw said.“But your home is what you’ve worked for,your home and environment reflects yourattitude and with a small amount of moneyand little bit of guidance you can turn anyhome into any season as it changes.”

Colors for the seasons and sensesColor is the first thing Bradshaw looks at

when decorating in general and that doesnot change when it comes to the festive sea-sons.

“Our nature is when the weather turnscold, we want warm colors around us, andthe warm colors are all around us in nature,”she said.

Hues of yellow , oranges, golds andbrowns are typical for the autumn. Mean-while those magical and traditional reds,

greens, whites and silvers are appropriatefor Christmas.

“I like to pull out fabrics that give me thecolor of the season, and from that I pull alot of different things I’m trying to accentwith,” Bradshaw said. “Then from there Itry to pull my various different accents, col-ored candles or fruit or flowers.”

Visually warming up a dinner table withneutral colored placemats and fabrics is agood way to start a table setting. Bradshawadvised to stay away from brown for linens,despite its neutral tone, if you are using awooden table for the sake of contrast.

Color play is another must for Bradshaw.Colors that compliment each other and aresimilar are the way to go.

“If you are working with of f-whites,creams, textured placemats and then yournapkins can be a color, that’s playing color

on color,” she said. Dishes are just as important to think

about when decorating. Bradshaw oftensuggests simplistic, classic looks and colorsto customers purchasing dishware and bigticket items.

“As a decorator, I’ve always pulled awayfrom trendy,” she said. “T rendy is short-lived.”

Bradshaw said most color spectrums willlast approximately 14 years.

Spreading those colors out from the tableinto other places in the home gives you, aswell as visitors, a sense of being surroundedby the season.

“For Christmas time I try to have a littlebit of red in each room,” Bradshaw said.

Multi-tasking accessories Candles, wreaths, silk flowers and vases are

Glass containers are multi-tasking basics for home decor year round.

Simple decor canturn any homeinto a fall/winter wonderland

Story & Photos by Amanda VanDerBroek

See DECORATING page 20


just some of the accessories Bradshaw saidcan be multi-tasked in decor . She adviseswhen purchasing your accessories to thinkof the different ways they can be utilized.

“By the time you do fruit, fabrics, can-dles, flowers, you can invest a great deal ofmoney and you want it to last as long aspossible before you change it to the nextseasonal change,” she said. “You’re utiliz-ing your money and you have to decoratelike that. It’s an investment when you’re ac-cessorizing to use your items that you get inmore than one way.”

A couple of multi-tasking basics to havehandy around the house are glass contain-ers and vases in which seasonal accessoriescan be switched out in a flash.

“You can use them all year,” she said.Bradshaw said one glass container can

hold fall fruits while another can display acandle, or for Christmas liven it up by fill-ing it with red bulbs.

“That could actually function on thetable,” she said. “You can decorate a tablewithout flowers and with various dif ferentitems.”

According to Bradshaw , wreaths andswags are not just for doors or walls. Theycan be utilized as center pieces for your hol-iday table by placing candles in the middle.A cranberry wreath placed on the table canbe multi-purposed as a candle ring. Some-thing simple like the cranberry wreath caneven transition from autumn to winter.

“Some of your Christmas things can bepulled out now and added later for the hol-idays by putting white or silvers, evengreens and making them look the season,”

she said. After Christmas, Bradshaw puts away her

“Christmassy” items but keeps some of theholiday’s warm colors in her living space.

“I have my red candles out and I leavethem through January,” she said. “Thosetend to be very bleak months and that red isa cheerful warm color.”

Bradshaw said if you’re multi-taskingwith accessories try to do something differ-ent with arrangements, wreaths and swagseach year.

For Bradshaw, having candles on yourtable is a must for any holiday . However,she suggests staying away from scentedcandles for the table.

“People that are decorating the table youdon’t want to have a fragrance there be-cause the food is the fragrance,’ she said.

Simple and colorful accessories spruce up a Christmastime table arrangement.

DECORATING FROM PAGE 17

See DECORATING page 21


Scented candles are ideal to have in afoyer so the aroma greets guests as theycome in the door or in gathering places likethe family room. Christmas lights can alsobrighten up a space like a fireplace mantle.

Silk flowers, Bradshaw said, are a goodalternative to real. For autumn, vivid sun-flowers in a vase can liven up a window andpoinsettias placed at the bottom of candle-sticks can help dress a table.

Color play is also a factor while arrangingaccessories, Bradshaw said.

“Putting things together that are of thesame color and texture strengthens anarrangement and makes it work,” she said.

Planning aheadBradshaw said a key to decorating for the

holidays is looking ahead.While arranging a table, she said adding

height an arrangement is her favorite thingto do. However, knowing how high to go is

something to keep in mind. “You don’t want it too high because you

have to remember when people are sittingaround eating they are having conversationsacross the table,” she said. “Y ou have tohave a certain openness to an arrangementso that they can enjoy the beauty of the cen-ter piece, however, be able to communicatewith each other.”

Natural topiaries are a good choice fortable settings because they are high and candisplay seasonal and adornments that can beswitched out to make them blend with thetime of the year. The size of the party ex-pected to attend as well as taking into con-sideration your own decor style is vital tomaking the holidays special.

Personal touchBradshaw said adding a little of your own

touch to arrangements and wreaths canbring that unique look.

“If you are trying to save money I thinkthe best thing in the world to do is go into aplace, buy accessories and change it eachyear, making it a little bit dif ferent,” shesaid. “It takes a little more time and morecreativity, but I think it’ s more you andyou’re proud of it.”

If you aren’t the creative kind or time isshort, Bradshaw said there are an array ofshops you can utilize to get the work done.

“There are wonderful places you can goto and have them create something for youwith your specialty in mind, a special bow,a special design,” she said.

Bradshaw said when it comes to decorat-ing, less is always more.

“Less is much more ef fective becauseyou’re not looking as much, tastefully donenot overly done,” she said. �

Oranges, golds and browns are common place hues during autumn.

DECORATING FROM PAGE 20


Basketball aficionados know JohnWooden. They know MikeKrzyzewski, Dean Smith and

Adolph Rupp.They are men who have molded and

guided young students of the game intogreat basketball players. They have madegood teams into great teams and trans-formed great teams into championshipteams.

Locally, there are other names that cometo mind when you talk about men who havethat same level of respect within the highschool basketball ranks. Chief among themis the dean of basketball coaches in theRoanoke-Chowan region – Hertford CountyHigh School’s Charles Simmons.

Last season, Simmons surpassed the 500-victory mark, which puts him among the top10 active coaches in the North CarolinaHigh School Athletic Association at anyclassification. Simmons enters this seasonwith 507 career victories, far and away topsin the region in that category.

“It really feels good,” the coach said uponearning career win 500. “I guess it puts youin a different category because there are sofew coaches with 500-plus wins.”

Simmons’ ride to the top wasn’ t an easyone, however. He arrived at what was thenAhoskie High School as a young coachlooking for a start. He knew the school hadathletes, especially in football, but the suc-

cess had not followed in basketball.The first two years at AHS were a strug-

gle, but signs of life developed quickly . Itdidn’t take long before Simmons had theCougars moving forward and becoming aforce in the 2-A ranks.

Then came the merger of Ahoskie Highand Murfreesboro High which formed thecurrent Hertford County High School. Itdidn’t take long before the Bears wereamong the best basketball programs in theold Big Eight Conference. The same heldtrue for the school’ s current league, theNortheastern Coastal Conference.

“I knew I could turn the program around,but I don’ t think I could have imaginedthis,” Simmons said after winning his 500thgame.

During his tenure at Hertford CountyHigh School and its predecessor, Simmonshas been named Coach of the Year manytimes. He has also been honored as All-Roanoke-Chowan Coach of the Year in bas-ketball.

As recently as last year Simmons wasnamed District 1 Coach of the Year by theNorth Carolina Basketball Coaches’ Asso-ciation.

Former HCHS Principal Larry Coopercalled Simmons one of the premier coachesin the region, saying he was “masterful” inhis offensive and defensive strategies.

Over the course of his coaching career

Simmons has done more than win games.He has affected the lives of the young menwho have been around him.

“Coach Simmons has helped me to be-come the man I am today,” Lamar Mongersaid. “He has been there for me many timesin my life. Not only did he help enhance myskills on the court, he taught me life lessonsto become a man.

“When I was in high school, I playedevery night as hard as I could for him be-cause of the respect I had for him,” Mongeradded. “He’s not just a coach to me, he’ sfamily. He helped me accomplish manygoals and receive many awards in highschool and prepared me for college basket-ball.”

Brian Overton played basketball for Sim-mons, but chose a career as a football coach.Now at the University of North Carolina atChapel Hill, Overton credits much of hissuccess to the lessons he learned from Sim-mons.

“Coach has been the most influential per-son in my career, hands down,” he said. “Hetaught me early on what it took to be a win-ner and, more importantly, how to be a pro-fessional in this business.

“We still talk frequently and every big de-cision I have to make when it comes to mycareer, I promise you I run it by him first,”Overton added. “He will always be specialto me on and off the field.”

ClassAct

Charles Simmonsmolds younglives on and offthe court

Hertford County High School basketball coach Charles Simmons(above & standing on facing page) is the dean of area coaches

See SIMMONS page 24

Story by Thadd WhitePhotos by Thadd White and Andre Alfred

Antonio Vaughan is one of the more re-cent players to be guided by Simmons atHCHS. He called Simmons more than acoach.

“As a student-athlete at HCHS it was anhonor to play sports under the direction ofCoach Simmons,” Vaughan said. “Not onlywas he a great coach, but his words of wis-dom were those of a father figure.

“Coach Simmons was a big disciplinar -ian,” he added. “He taught me to be a stu-dent first and an athlete second. He alsotaught me that hard work will pay off. It hastruly paid off for me because now I’m a stu-dent-athlete at Old Dominion Universityunder a full scholarship.”

In addition to his service as a coach, Sim-mons has been the Athletic Director atHCHS for more than a decade. He has pro-vided vast influence in that area as well.

Brandon Hodges was a student-athlete atHCHS and was later the head baseballcoach at the school. He said Simmons hasbeen a true role model.

“Coach I call a great friend, mentor and

someone I will always look up to,” Hodgessaid. “I cherished that in 2003 when I wasnamed head baseball coach for HertfordCounty. It was Coach Simmons who gaveme my first head coaching job.

“Coach has gone through some tough val-leys in the years I have known him and healways showed me and others how to getback on top of the mountain and not hangyour head,” he added. “Coach is and alwayswill be special to me and my family.”

In addition to his players and fellowcoaches, Simmons has also garnered the re-spect of those in the media.

“What has always impressed me aboutCoach Simmons was his ability to not onlyrun a successful athletic department, but todo so in a manner that makes every Hert-ford County High School alumnus I knowproud,” said Roanoke-Chowan Publicationscolumnist David Friedman. “Coach Sim-mons is a great coach, a class act and work-ing with him over the years has been one ofthe more rewarding aspects of coveringsports in the Roanoke-Chowan area.”

That sentiment was shared by Friedman’sradio counterpart.

“Charles is one of the most respectedhigh school sports figures I’ve had thepleasure of dealing with and working forsince getting in the media business in theearly 80s,” said Gattis Hodges, who is the“Voice of the Bears” and also hosts “Talkin’Sports,” both on WDLZ-FM. “That thoughtis not only shared by me, but by many oth-ers throughout the entire state and that isdue to the professional manner in which heconducts business and handles himself.”

Hodges also said Simmons portrays allthat is good about prep sports.

“He is what is good about high schoolathletics and many people going into thisbusiness should model themselves afterCharles,” he said. “Nobody handles thingson and off the court/field any better than hedoes.

“There is no doubt in my mind that some-day, and hopefully very soon, he will bevoted into the NCHSAA Hall of Fame,”Hodges added. “He certainly is deserving.”

�

24 Front Porch LivingSIMMONS FROM PAGE 23

The J.W. Faison Senior Center is theplace to be if you’re a senior adult inNorthampton County. Here, active

seniors find dozens of programs of theirchoosing and, most importantly, compan-ionship.

From scrapbooking and computer classesto healthy living programs and an exercise

room, seniors have an array of services attheir fingertips at the Center . There’s evenan opportunity for seniors to volunteer andgive back.

Rebecca Bayse, executive director of theCenter, said it is vital for seniors to be ac-tive. She said many are still a vital part ofthe community and keeping them active is

key to keeping them in the community. “It gives them a reason to get out of the

house, it keeps them well, gives them rea-sons for getting up and keeping active,” saidBayse. “It also stimulates their minds.”

According to Bayse, the facility hasplenty of programs for active seniors tochoose from and very few come at a mini-


The place where everyoneknows your nameFaison Senior Center offers variety of programs and services

Story & Photos by Amanda VanDerBroek

The J.W. Faison Senior Center in Jackson offers an array of services and programs for active senior adults.

See FAISON page 29

mal cost. “If we do a trip then, of course, we have

to pass on all of the costs, unfortunately ,”she said. “We used to receive funding thatsupplemented it, but now we have to chargethem the entire (costs).”

Certain programming offered through theCenter is funded through a cost contributionsharing with the nutrition program. Baysesaid the contribution from seniors is op-tional and not mandated.

“We try to keep everything next to free aswe can,” she said.

Throughout the year services and pro-grams rotate in when they are offered.

Among the programs and services offeredat the Center are:

Living Wills and Healthcare Power of At-torney: Bayse is a notary public and notaryservices are offered without charge.

Income taxes: “That is a very successfulprogram,” Bayse said. “W e do well over100 seniors every year and it’s free.”

Medicare: Bayse helps many seniors thatare just becoming Medicare eligible and notfamiliar with the program as well as annualenrollment with the drug plan.

“Medicare is huge. I’m the SHIIP coordi-nator for the county and Social Services,Social Security, if they hear Medicare theycall me,” she said. “W e see people all

throughout the year, but especially duringthat open enrollment time.”

Legal Services: Bayse said many of theseniors she sees are referred to Legal Serv-

ices of the Coastal Plans in Ahoskie, whichhandles Northampton County.

“If someone has issues that they need thefree legal services they provide, which arewills, basic things like that, we facilitatethat,” she said.

Senior Games: Heritage arts, quilting,crochet, painting, stories/essay, woodwork-ing and physical competitions are all of-fered during this local and state event.

“Northampton has a lot of wonderfulartists,” said Bayse. “It’ s a like a mini-Olympics—there’s swimming, bicycling,track events, football throws, horseshoes,croquet.”

Information and Referral (I&R): TheCenter can refer seniors to dif ferent agen-cies and programs.

Chronic Disease Self Management Pro-gram (CDSMP): Bayse said this helps sen-iors living with chronic diseases bettermanage their conditions.

“That covers basically all of the chronicdiseases,” she said.

Currently the Center has a Diabetes SelfManagement program targeting those sen-iors with the disease. The program is free ofcharge.

“It’s a six week course where they come

Front Porch Living 29FAISON FROM PAGE 28

Carl Britt (left) adds his stitch to a community quilt as Sarah Futrell watches over his handy work.

See FAISON page 30

Reatha Deloatch takes her chance on a game of Bingo, a favorite pastime for those who frequent the J.W. Faison Senior Center.

in once a week for an hour and half,” shesaid. “It’s like a support group with a lot ofknowledge. They can share different stories,get information, brainstorm, how to dealwith it. It’s not so much as a health class asit is dealing with the issues with having achronic disease.”

Classes/Groups: Crochet, scrapbooking,computer classes, Bayse said pretty muchanything is offered.

“We have all kinds of classes,” she said.“If I can find a teacher for it we have a classfor it. It’s either volunteer or someone helpsus with it.”

Roanoke Chowan Community Collegecurrently provides computers and an in-structor for seniors to learn computer skillsat a charge of $5.

“That’s very popular,” said Bayse. “Wedo beginner, we do intermediate and thenwe flip flop back and forth.”

She added craft classes are offered quar-terly.

The facility also has several groups thatget together regularly, including a VisionImpaired Group and the Red Hat Society.

“They love to socialize and have all kindsof good stuff,” she said.

Congregate Nutrition: A program, over-seen by the Office on Aging, anyone 60 orolder can come eat in a social setting.

“It’s more than just that meal,” saidBayse. “Wednesday’s they have Bible stud-ies and then they play Bingo certain days.They can use the exercise room.”

Bayse said the congregate meal partici -pants are bused in from all over the countyand are able to go to the farmer’s market oc-casionally to purchase fresh fruits and veg-etables. Bayse said the state provides $21coupons for the seniors to purchase items atthe farmer’s market.

Once a month the center , holds anothercollective event called “Big Bingo” whereseniors pay 50-cent a card and receiveprizes for winning.

Exercise Room: Bayse said the exerciseroom gets a lot of use.

“They can come in any time they wantand use whatever equipment they want,”she said.

The Roanoke Valley Aging Expo: Eachspring, Northampton and Halifax Countyagencies come together to put on the AgingExpo in Roanoke Rapids. The large eventoffers an assortment of vendor information,entertainment and health screenings.

“We have about 400 people that comefrom the two counties,” she said.

Food Pantry: The center has an emer -gency food pantry for those seniors who arein need.

“It’s not an ongoing, monthly thing, it’ s


Pat Maddery (background) and Franca Hasty get creative during a scrapbooking class.

FAISON FROM PAGE 29

See FAISON page 31


more of an emergency basis, likeif they run short one month,”Bayse said. “It’s been really goodfor the ones who need it.”

Bayse said over the years Ash-ley’s Grove Baptist Church makesan effort to donate 365 cans offood a year.

“We have other people who do-nate as well, but Ashley’s Grovehas been the major contributor andwithout them we wouldn’ t haveit,” she said.

Health Screenings: Bayse saidthe Center tries to have blood pres-sure checks often as well as en-courage seniors to go to healthscreenings being of fered by thehealth department.

“If the health department isdoing anything they try to let theseniors know about the screen-ing,” she said.

Seasonal Parties: Those whocome to the center often celebrateholidays together. Bayse said justabout any type of holiday is recognized,from Halloween to Valentine’s Day.

Yard Sale: Bayse said this is an event thathelps the Center and those who come to it.Every item up for sale is donated by seniors.

For the clothes that do not sell, a churchgroup that meets at the Center on Sundaysconduct a clothing giveaway quarterly .Bayse said those clothing items that havenot moved in a couple of months are givento that group.

Hasten System: Bayse said the center is adistributor for the telephone alert systemthat is similar to Lifeline.

Entertaining, exciting or educational,each of the programs has a similar purpose:to bring the senior community together.

“They become almost like a family,” shesaid. “It doesn’t just stay here in these walls;they’re actually friends out in the commu-nity.”

Bayse said there many things the Centerdoes to strengthen those ties.

“We encourage them to check on eachother, especially if we know they’re in thesame little community,” she said. “It reallyis touching that they gain those relation-ships.”

For more information the J.W . FaisonSenior Center can be contacted at (252)534-1012. �

Rachael Walden (seated) participates in a beginner computer course led by instructor April Pulliam at the J.W. Faison Senior Center.

FAISON FROM PAGE 30

Florence Conner

relaxes whilecross stitching

table linens.


Aquatic AdventureThe Roanoke River is a beautiful,

winding body of water that stretchesfrom western Virginia to the Atlantic

Ocean.It rambles through the Coastal Plains of

North Carolina, including both Bertie andNorthampton counties, and flows all theway to the Albemarle Sound. It spreads outthrough the largest intact bottomland hard-wood swamp forest east of the Mississippi.

The river is covered in mistletoe andSpanish moss and decorated by cypresstrees.

The river is home to black bear , riverotter, white-tail deer, bobcat, mink, beaverand over 200 species of bird, including thebarred owl, osprey and bald eagles.

The best way to see the wonderful high-lights of the river has been and remainsfrom the inside of a canoe. Because of this,the Roanoke River Partners and other vol-unteers have constructed trails and campingplatforms up and down the Roanoke River.

They offer a swamp experience unlikeany to be found in the Mid-Atlantic – a 200-mile wilderness eco-adventure for people ofall ages.

Some of those sites include local optionssuch as:

• Cow Creek – This camping space is lo-cated just off the Roanoke’s Broad Creek,not far into Cow Creek on the left. The 28’x 16’ platform is tucked behind the banknear drifts of May-flowering blue flag iris;

• Lost Boat – Located a few paddlestrokes off the Cashie River, the Lost Boatis the same size as its Cow Creek counter -part. It is a 12-mile paddle from the historictown of Windsor;

• Otter One – Located on an upperbranch of the Cashie River ’s Broad Creek,the platform makes a great second-nightcamp site after spending a first night at LostBoat Platform. You can also put in at thehistoric San Souci Ferry landing;

• Tusca Landing – It’s currently the far-thest upper river platform and offers unique

exploration opportunities. It features anopen camping platform as well as a con-ferred, screened platform and has an in-ground toilet. The camp site is tucked intoa picturesque bend in the river surroundedby trees, but next to an open field;

• Barred Owl Roost – A 20’ x 20’ plat-form is located at the back of Lower Dead-water Creek of f Devil’s Gut about threemiles from Jamesville. It is large enough tohold six paddling campers and their tents.

• Tillery – The first land-based campsiteon the Roanoke, this unique location offersa roofed and screened camping deck, anopen deck and a separate privy… all with aview of the Roanoke from high atop a bluff.The screen-enclosedand open platformsmeasure 12’ x 16’.

• River LandingPlatform – Thenewest campingplatform offered bythe Roanoke RiverPartners, RiverLanding offers a newand different experi-ence. It features ascreened and cov-ered facility withrestrooms and show-ers nearby. It is con-nected to the RiverLanding boardwalkwhich offers viewsof the RoanokeRiver wetlands.

A paddling tripfrom RoanokeRapids to Plymouthcovers approxi-mately 124 miles.That’s why the land-ings have been builtalong the river toallow for camping.

Those wishing for

an organized opportunity to paddle the riverhave that chance Nov. 5 when the RoanokeRiver Partners and the Halifax County Con-vention and Visitors Bureau host the fourthannual Roanoke River Ramble.

The event allows canoe paddlers to travelfrom Weldon to Halifax on the RoanokeRiver. The cost is $30 per person and it in-cludes a t-shirt, lunch and entertainment.Groups of four or more can register for adiscount.

For more information, visit www.roanok-eriverpartners.org or www.visithalifax.com.

�

(Information for this story came in partfrom the Roanoke River Partners website.)

Nature’s beauty awaits Roanoke River canoeistStory by Thadd White - contributed photo


Iremember as a small child waking up in the weehours of the morning to see what Santa Claus hadbrought me for Christmas. My sister and I would

have to force ourselves not to rip all of the presentsopen at once. On Christmas morning the main at-traction to all children was what lay under theChristmas tree.

Now, as a maturing teenager, I value the more in-tangible aspects of the holidays. The fellowship withfamily far and near , continuing family traditions,and even the relaxation I enjoy while on holidaybreaks mean so much to me than they used to.

The joy of a woman embrace of an uncle or cousinI haven’t seen since the previous holiday is inde-scribable and is now what keeps me up on the eve ofthe holiday. Inviting smiles and open arms helpdemonstrate what such a time of the year is really

about. It’s about loveand fellowship be-tween people whocare deeply for eachother and, as a youngadult, I’ve come torealize that.

There’s nothinglike gathering aroundthe Wii for a dancecompetition or to hearmy uncle tell one ofhis famous, funnystories that creates aconnection betweenmy family and me. Icherish these mo-ments deeply, and

rather than focus on the blessings of Santa Claus, I

look forward to the blessing of family time fromGod.

I’m not the only one. My family can’t wait to getthe holidays started by decorating the Christmas treeand preparing a big dinner. We already know whoseresponsibility it is to cook a certain dish, and it’ s atradition we value as a family.

As a young lady I view the Christmas meal as atime to learn and bond with the wiser women of myfamily. Sometimes I’ll spend most of the time withthem instead of tinkering with my gifts. Even know-ing that dinner will be at Grandma’s house is a sta-ple of the holidays that I now appreciate.

I also appreciate rest and relaxation. A well de-served break from school, sports, and other activi-ties really helps me prepare my mind and body forthe upcoming semester and workload.

It’s great being able to immerse myself in the loveof family during this time because it rejuvenates myspirits for the long haul.

I also use holiday breaks as a time to get thingsdone that I don’t normally get the opportunity to do.Using this time wisely has come with age, more sonow than at a younger age. I have learned that it’ svery beneficial.

Plenty of family time and traditions while relaxingduring the break is what I look forward to during theholidays. I don’t wish to rush the childhood of read-ers, but I do urge the older teens to value what reallymatters during the next holiday. Spend more qualitytime with your family. Try to continue old familytraditions, and overall, enjoy yourself. �

(This column was submitted by Tabitha Privott, Hertford County H.S. Senior.)

Holidays hold new meaning


A Conversation With…What is your favorite part of Thanks-

giving?My mama always cooks and we have

chicken legs and that kind of food.

What is your favorite part of Christ-mas?

Santa Claus brings me lots of toysand I like leaving out milk and cookiesfor him.

What do you want for Christmas?A kind of gun a long one I saw at

Wal-Mart. I also want a robot and twolittle bad guys that are red. A gun witha button on the bottom of it.

How hard is it to be good all the timebecause Santa is watching?

I have got to be lots of good so I canget all these presents.

What do you want Santa to bringyour brother?

Scooby Doo movie. Ty loves ScoobyDoo.

What do you do all day on Christ-mas?

I play with my little brother.

What’s your favorite think to eat atChristmas?

I drink milk and eat cookies.

Do you like talking to Santa?I like to tell him about some presents

and stuff.

Do you have anything you always doon Christmas?

I always share my toys with mybrother.

How excited are you about Christ-mas?

I’m excited about toys on Christmas.

Mason Mizelle

Mason Mizelle is the five-year oldson of Jenny Hewitt of Ahoskie. Heis a student at Bearfield PrimarySchool.


Now that you have polished off your re-quired lists of beach reading, it's timeto consider the more serious pursuits

of fall. Assuming you will have some cold,dark nights ahead, I am going to suggest sev-eral books written specifically for parents thatyou might find of interest.

The first is Mind in the Making: The sevenessential life skills every child needs, by EllenGalinsky (HarperCollins, 2010).

With simple explanations of extensive re-search and abundant examples includingsome from her own children, Galinsky fullydescribes the life skills, and of fers specificand real-life suggestions for helping childrenachieve them.

To whet your interest, I will summarize thelife skills here.

Skill 1: Focus and self-control Skill 2: Per-spective taking Skill 3: Communicating Skill4: Making connections Skill 5: Critical think-ing Skill 6: Taking on challenges Skill 7: Self-directed, engaged learning.

There's a little bit of everything in this book— ideas about discipline, education, familydynamics, and lots more. A memorable themethat runs through the book is the importanceof learning and then supporting each child'sstrength, so that parenting focuses on chil-dren's strengths rather than their weaknesses.Since I am sure you will agree that these areskills you could wish for your children, youwill find many helpful ideas in this book.

Second on the list is a slim volume byLinda Budd (2011) titled The Journey of Par-enting: Helping your child becomes a com-petent, caring, contributing adult.

In the book, she outlines simply the goalsof parenting, and then proceeds to give con-crete, often pithy ideas about how to helpchildren navigate the journey of growing up,as parents travel along with them.

Some sample thoughts: "Love uncondi-tionally, but do not accept unconditionally ,"referring to some of children's actions. "Ifchildren's happiness is our number one prior-ity, we teach entitlement, ingratitude, and ma-nipulativeness."

She also offers a set of questions for par -ents to figure out approaches when problemsarise including: "How do I as a parent con-

tribute to the problem? And what can I do dif-ferently?" Many useful reminders and com-mon-sense guidelines are of fered in thebook—-worth checking out.

Lastly, let me recommend to your attentionagain Last Child in the Woods: Saving ourchildren from nature deficit disorder , byRichard Louv (Algonquin, 2008). This bookwill help you remember what you lovedabout your childhood, and help you resolveto ensure that your children have rich outdoorexperiences, with all the pleasures and bene-fits attached.

As Louv says, not only can nature teachkids science and nurture their creativity, it canmake us all healthy in body and spirit. And, aswe all realize, nature also needs its childrenas much as children need nature—-where elsewill we get the stewards of our world for thefuture?

Yes, I know your busy lives offer little timefor reading. This is just a reminder that othershave framed ideas that can stimulate ourthinking and offer help along the parentingway.

Articles that appear from Grandma Saysare focused on general parenting practicesand philosophy and are not as age-specific asarticles that appear in Growing Child.

"Grandma Says" is a feature of GrowingChild and we encourage you to send yourcomments to: [email protected] �

Mary Morris is the Family & ConsumerScience Agent for Bertie County. She can bereached at 252-794-5319.

Grandma Says...Fall reading for grown-ups


How can one tell they are in a smalltown? When it takes only one handto count the number of street signs.

Harrellsville, located on the eastern edgeof Hertford County , is one such smalltown….its total length along a two-laneblacktop known as NC 45 perhaps nolonger than three football fields.

Despite its tiny size, the town boasts of afairly extensive history. While its present-day name was established in 1847, therecorded history of this area dates back to1584. It was there that Sir Walter Raleighsent two mariners, Philip Amadas andArthur Barlowe, to scout the Americancoastline in hopes of finding a suitable sitefor an English settlement.

While the story of the Lost Colony isrenowned throughout the world, what thosetwo early explorers found ran much deeperthan the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Inhis writings, Barlowe made reference to agreat river he called Nomopana (today theChowan River). On one side of that riverstood a town, called Chowanoake. Historyshows that was a great Indian village lo-cated at what is now Mount Pleasant, anarea between Swain’s Mill and the mouth ofthe Wiccacon Creek in the HarrellsvilleTownship.

Farming remains way of life

Coleman Taylor wasn’t born when whatwas then known as Bethel Crossroadsbegan to develop in the early 1800’s. How-ever, now at the age of 74, Taylor knew ex-actly how this little slice of heaven on earthgained popularity.

Taylor, born and raised on the familyfarm in the Christian Harbor communitynear Harrellsville, has lived in town since1960. He has heard all the stories of howwhite settlers were first drawn to the area, aswell as the tales of Pitch Landing and Tar

Founded: 1847 (incorporated in 1883) Population: 106

County: Hertford (founded in 1759)Major Highway: NC 45

Tiny town rich in historyStory and photos by Cal Bryant

See HARRELLSVILLE page 45

With his wife, Mary, looking on, John Thompson thumbs through the pages of a photoalbum, one detailing their family’s life in the Hertford County town of Harrellsville.


Landing, ports of call for great ships thatwould be loaded annually with tens of thou-sands of barrels of tar, pitch and turpentinefor shipment to the northern states.

What Taylor and his family thrived onwithin the Harrellsville Township was thearea’s rich, fertile soil….good for growingvast acres of corn, peanuts, tobacco and cot-ton. Even today, farming remains a way oflife in this area based on the number of largeagricultural operations located in all direc-tions from the center of town.

“I’ve never done nothing else but farm,”Taylor said.

He took over his family’s farming opera-tion upon his father’s death in 1972.

“Then I started renting some more land,here and there,” he said. “Then I bought allmy home place land and other family land.Me and Jimmy Early bought two or threelittle farms together . We worked it our -selves, including 50 to 60 acres of tobacco.We done alright.”

Taylor was raised during a time when themuscle behind farming operations was ofthe four-legged variety.

“We used mules,” he said. “I believe itwas sometimes in the 1940’ s that daddybought his first tractor, but we still used themules in the tobacco patch. When I firststarted farming on my own I still usedmules when working in tobacco.”

Part of his farming operation included thearea that is now Tuscarora Greens, a golfcourse (currently closed) near Winton.

Although he still owns land and leases it,Taylor retired from farming full-time in1995.

“Now I just go out there and get in the

way,” he laughed. “I’ve got a little old trac-tor that I still mess around on, doing somemowing.”

While his farms were located outsideHarrellsville’s corporate limits, he lays hishead at night inside his home on SunsetStreet. It was there that he and his wife, thenow late Jane Taylor, raised their daughter,Beth.

“There were never any worries here,”Taylor noted. “I never felt any type ofthreats here to me or my family. I wouldn’tbe afraid to walk uptown right now at mid-

night. We always had good neighbors thatwould offer help when needed.”

Taylor said when he first moved to Har -rellsville there were three or four stores inoperation.

“Before that, back when I was growingup on the farm, there were as many as sixstores there downtown, including twoblacksmith shops. One of the blacksmithsalso served as an undertaker,” he said.

Taylor also remembers two service sta-tions in Harrellsville.

“You could go up there on a Saturday

HARRELLSVILLE FROM PAGE 44

The Wiccacon Lodge, located on Taylor Street in Harrellsville, not only provides a safehaven for humans, but felines as well.



night and stay until 10 or 1 1 o’clock, thestores were open,” he recalled.

R.C. Mason’s store was the place to shopfor general merchandise, to include groceryproducts.

“You could buy most anything there,”Taylor said.

Taylor said there was a Case (farm equip-ment) dealership in town at one time. Therewas also the Bank of Harrellsville. Thatlater became People’s Bank, which was pur-chased by RBC Centura. That bank laterclosed, now leaving the town without a fi-nancial institution.

The town’s Post Office remains in opera-tion. As a matter of fact, the town bears itsname from Abner Harrell who served aspostmaster from 1833 to 1861. The namechange was necessary due to the fact therewas a town by the name of Bethel in PittCounty.

“It really hasn’t changed a whole lot overthe years,” Taylor said. “We don’t have a lotof businesses left open, but it’s still home tome. We did lose some of our identity whenthe school and the bank closed. That hurts acommunity. Losing both of them meantfolks around here had to go somewhere elseand took their business with them.”

Even though commercial property is nolonger a mainstay in Harrellsville, the tinytown still has an identity with its volunteerfire department. Taylor said he was a fire-man at one time.

“When they told me I had to have a $600suit (fireman’s turnout gear), I told them Iwasn’t worth $600 and got out of the de-partment,” Taylor chuckled. “They weregoing to pay for it, but I told them I coulddrive the (fire) truck and work the hoses. Iwasn’t going to go in there and fight a fireso I felt they were wasting $600 to buy meone of those fire suits.”

Home, sweet home

Mary Manley Thompson has lived inHarrellsville since birth. Her late father ,Howard Manley, was a local carpenter. Herlate mother, Catherine, was a housekeeperand cook for the Askew family, followingin the footsteps of her own mother.

John Thompson moved to Harrellsvillewith his family in 1953. A native of Kelfordin Bertie County, he was part of a family of

sharecroppers that moved from place toplace.

The two first met in 1959 and were mar-ried two years later. They raised their fourchildren – Pam Thompson (now living inKnightdale), John Jr. (retired from the USArmy and now the JROTC Instructor at ahigh school in Creedmoor), Karen Monger(of Fuquay-Varina) and Chris Thompson(Raleigh) – within the family’s comfortablehome on Quebec Street.

“It’s nice here,” Mrs. Thompson said.“You could walk up and down the streetwithout any worries back when I was grow-ing up. You may not want to do that today,but it’s still a nice town.”

Mrs. Thompson recalled several stores intown that served the community back whenshe was growing up. She mentioned those

owned by the Askew family, Taylor family,Mason family and Holloman family.

“You could buy almost anything here,”she said. “Clothes, shoes, groceries, hard-ware, farming equipment – back then peo-ple here didn’ t have any reason to go toAhoskie unless you just wanted to gothere.”

Raising a family in a small town was abreeze.

“Everyone got along,” Mr . Thompsonsaid. “I couldn’t ask for a better place tolive. There were no racial problems betweenwhites and blacks.”

“We never raised our kids to look at thecolor of someone’s skin, but rather whatwas in their heart,” Mrs. Thompson said.

“We never, ever considered moving fromHarrellsville, even though my job was far

The United Methodist Church has enjoyed a long history in Harrellsville. At one time theMethodists offered private education to young males and females.



V

away,” stressed Mr. Thompson. “We lovedit here then and love it here now.”

“I always wanted to be close to my fam-ily, especially my mommy and daddy justin case they needed me,” Mrs. Thompsonsaid.

While the parents still sleep at night inHarrellsville, all their now adult childrenleft Hertford County, spreading their wingsand opportunities for employment.

“That started during my generation,” saidMr. Thompson. “When your family grows,there is a need for more money to supportyour family. That leads you to look else-where for jobs.”

Life was tough and money was short backin those days. Mr. Thompson recalled earn-ing $4 a day – “working from sun-up to sun-down” – on the Sam Parker farm. He laterworked at Skinny Smith’ s body shop inAhoskie before landing a job loading trucksat night with Basnight’s of Ahoskie where

he earned a whopping $1.55 per hour.“I enjoyed working at Basnight’ s and

they treated me very well, but my familywas growing and I needed more money ,that’s the reason I left for the shipyard(Newport News Shipbuilding & DrydockCompany from where he retired in 2002),”he said.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Thompson not onlyfound a job right at home, she is a businessowner as well. After graduating with a cos-metology degree 41 years ago from whatwas then Roanoke-Chowan Technical Insti-tute, she opened and still operates a beautyshop in Harrellsville. To help supplementthe family’s income she also drove a schoolbus for Hertford County Public Schools.She performed that task for 16 years.

She is also very active in her local com-munity, now in her 16th year as a memberof the Harrellsville Town Council. Her po-litical career came by happenstance.

“There was a member of the council thatwas moving out of town and had to give uptheir seat,” she recalled. “Mr. Baker was themayor at that time and he approached meabout filling that seat. I tried to talk Johninto doing it, but with him being out of townso much with his job it landed back on meand I accepted the seat.”

She said she has enjoyed serving in thatrole.

Mr. Thompson said it was the hospitablepeople of Harrellsville that made him proudto call it as home. He recalled when his fam-ily arrived in the Harrellsville area

they worked on the Hunter Sharp farm, awhite family that admired the work of theThompson family so much that they gavethem lifetime rights to one of their resi-dences. That right was eventually trans-ferred to one of the Thompson daughters,who kept it until health issues forced her tomove.

Coleman Taylor stands adjacent to the mantel inside his Harrellsville home, reminiscing about a 1993 trophy he earned as the top peanutproducer in Hertford County as well as a 4-H honor awarded to his now late wife, Jane.




“That was a blessing for the Sharp’s to dothat for my family, and later for my sister,”Mr. Thompson said. “That was a sign of re-spect. When you do your job well, otherpeople respect you for that effort.”

A star is born

What the Chowanoake Indians knew andwhat other races later discovered was thatthe area now known as the HarrellsvilleTownship was prime real estate. It was sit-uated close to two deep rivers, the Chowanand the Wiccacon and sat along a busynorth-south road that connected Edentonwith other towns west of the Chowan River.

The area was also the home of a tradi-tional gathering place at the old AnglicanChapel, which was abandoned at the end ofthe Revolutionary War. It was taken over bylocal Methodists who were often visited bythe legendary Francis Asbury, one of thefirst two bishops of the Methodist EpiscopalChurch.

John G. Wilson was among the first tobuild a general merchandise store at whatwas then Bethel Crossroads. He was laternamed as the town’s first postmaster.

The town’s legacy grew through theprominence of several families – Sharpe(Sharp), Harrell, Winborne, Perry andLewis. The Sharpe family was one of polit-ical influence. Hunter Sharpe was elected tothe State Senate in 1826 and was followedin the General Assembly by his three broth-ers, Blount, Starkey and Jacob – a record oflegislative service matched by few familiesin the state.

Prior to the building of Harrellsville HighSchool (for whites) and Amanda S. CherryGrammar School (for blacks), Bethel Cross-roads was home to two private schools –Union Male Academy and Union FemaleAcademy. Both were under the direction ofthe Methodist Church.

Like its Hertford County neighbor, Win-ton, the town of Harrellsville suffered at thehands of the Union Army during the Civil

War. Many of the town’ s homes and busi-nesses were burned during a Yankee inva-sion in January of 1864, but Harrellsvilleand its citizens were resilient and completeda major renovation effort 10 years later.

Of note, Harrellsville has produced someof the state’s and nation’s most prominentcitizens – namely Parker David Robbins,Dr. Walter Reed, Robert Lee Vann, KennethRayner, William Dossey Pruden, CorneliusB. Riddick, Thomas R. Jernigan and formerNorth Carolina Supreme Court Chief Jus-tice William Nathan Harrell Smith.

There are two churches for whites intown – Harrellsville Baptist and Har -rellsville Methodist. The blacks worship atMt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church andNew Harrellsville Chapel Church.

(Editor’s Note: Portions of this story de-noting the generic history of Harrellsvillewere obtained from the book – “The His-tory of Harrellsville” – authored by the nowlate Dr. Thomas C. Parramore for the Har -rellsville Historical Association.) �

There are not many road signs in Harrellsville, but this one does mark the way to the old ferry that once crossed the Wiccacon River.


october fpl 2011

Documents

sweet molasses

ricky hedgepeth torevive

seesorghum molasses

little jar of molasses

sale ofthe molasses

putsee molasses page

gates county native

tar heel barbecue