THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603070244
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines
In the course of time, things that were once common in a culture, everyday items that were used to move people and products, such as the North Carolina shad boat, have become rarities.
With luck and patience, the Museum of the Albemarle has obtained such a vessel, as was noted in Mason Peters' article on the shad boat built by Alvirah Wright in 1904.
Our goal is to re-establish the boat-building heritage that was once prevalent in the Albemarle. The Native Americans crafted their boats of cypress and juniper by burning and scraping to form the dugout canoes found in abundance by archaeologists at Lake Phelps and throughout the region.
The Europeans and Africans, the new Americans, by adopting the native materials and some of the Native Americans' techniques, perpetuated the tradition with a new style. This new style evolved into what is now known as the ``shad boat,'' the official state historical boat of North Carolina.
With the help of many volunteers and with donations from people of the Albemarle region, this boat will again sail in the minds of our children as an educational work boat.
On behalf of the staff, I'd like to thank Mason Peters for his beautifully written story and Drew Wilson for his timely photographs of the beginning of our voyage.
An axiom comes to mind from Confucius: ``A journey of five hundred miles begins with the first step.'' Thank you for helping us on our way.
Don Pendergraft
Museum of the Albemarle
Elizabeth City Keep the food tax
Concerning Ms. Storey's letter regarding the repeal of tax on food: What difference does it really matter? The government needs X dollars to operate. Eliminate food tax and something else will have to be taxed.
With food, we know everyone is paying some tax. The new tax could well be discriminatory.
Jack C. Tillett
Wanchese Waste disposal woes
This is part of a letter I recently sent to the Cape Hatteras Water Association Board of Directors:
Thank you for your letter of Feb. 8 regarding the voting that will be taking place to approve the transfer of assets of Cape Hatteras Water Association to Dare county.
Please be advised, we have voted against the Cape Hatteras Water Association becoming a part of a Dare County water system. We do not believe the association has advised the membership of the future impact of this agreement between Dare County and the Cape Hatteras Water Association regarding new commercial and residential development.
I think it goes without saying that we need to improve the quality of water. However, the cost of doing so should be compared with the environmental impact of more homes, more businesses, increased water usage and, therefore, the increase of problems in waste disposal.
The waste disposal has a direct link to the amount of water available, in that obviously residential and commercial construction is controlled by the availability of water. If the island doesn't have enough water to support its current demand, to increase the water supply will only result in the island not having the resources to control the further supply of waste. Who is going to pay for that problem?
I have not seen considerations of the above in any of the literature passed on to us by the association. We think this information needs to be disclosed to the membership. Ultimately, the cost of waste disposal will be the burden of the folks who own property on the island, and not the burden of Dare County.
Charles B. Calkins
York, Penn. Veterans need clinic
Once again, the Fayetteville Veterans Administration Medical Center has changed its policy concerning the use of its mobile clinic. The new policy will deny essential health care and medication to some veterans who, up to now, were eligible to use the VA mobile clinic on its quarterly visits to Kill Devil Hills.
Only veterans with service-connected problems will be served by the mobile clinic. Non-service-connected veterans (regular veterans) will no longer be scheduled for treatment or provided medication by the mobile clinic program. These veterans must travel to the Fayetteville VAMC, more than 5 1/2 hours away, for treatment without appointment, probably by emergency room personnel, and may receive up to a 30-day supply of medication. If they need follow-up care, they will most likely be assigned to the Durham VAMC, more than 5 hours away.
The mobile clinic program was instituted by Fayetteville VAMC to provide veterans in the outlying areas of eastern North Carolina health care and medication because the VA hospitals are so far distant.
The mobile clinic, a medically equipped bus with a VA doctor and nurses assigned, travels on a schedule to designated sites in eastern North Carolina. The program was inaugurated in November 1992 with monthly visits to Kill Devil Hills. It was canceled in June 1995 but reinstated on a quarterly basis in October 1995 due to intervention by our Congressional representatives in response to veterans' pleas.
Fort Raleigh Post No. 26, the American Legion, is joining other posts in eastern North Carolina in a campaign to protest this action and return the services of this mobile clinic to all veterans throughout our area. We need the support of all veterans, their families, friends and neighbors who believe that providing continued health care to aging veterans is an honorable commitment made by a grateful nation that should be upheld by the Veterans' Administration and should not become a pawn in an effort to balance the national budget.
I urge all veterans and their friends to write or call Sens. Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth and Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr. to protest this latest affront to U.S. veterans, and to urge that they return eligibility for the use of the mobile clinic to all veterans.
Robert F. Maher
Post Commander, Fort Raleigh Post 26
The American Legion
Manteo by CNB