THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605120151
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
The Garden Party committee members were getting ready for a photographer when Mary Alice Brinn reached down to extract some weeds cohabitating with English ivy in a brick container.
``I just want everything to look nice,'' she told the other women, one of whom insisted she needn't fuss with that right now.
Such primping will become mandatory by next Sunday, when every iris, impatiens, azalea and evergreen in Julian Emmett Winslow Jr.'s back yard has its day in the sun.
That's when hundreds of guests are expected from 4 to 6:30 p.m. for the 5th Annual Garden Party to benefit the Newbold-White House, the oldest brick house in North Carolina.
The gala is sponsored by The Perquimans County Restoration Association, which will use proceeds to help maintain the house that it bought more than 20 years ago.
People from northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia are expected to sip champagne and tea, eat ham biscuits and turkey roulades, and dance, should they be so moved.
``It's one of a kind. There's nothing like it in the Albemarle area going on,'' said Chris Lane, whose back yard in Winfall had served as the backdrop for the last four parties.
Lane's back surgery earlier this year forced a new venue: the Brinn-Winslow home at 106 South Front St. in downtown Hertford, just behind the historic county courthouse.
``He didn't have any qualms about it,'' committee member Jean White said of the move to the brick-and-blue-trim house with the sign on the porch that lets visitors know when the place was built: ``Exactly 1939.''
Sharman Haskett and Paige Underwood also serve on the Garden Party committee, which is in charge of the gala.
``We decorate. We cook - whatever needs to be done, we do,'' Brinn said.
The donation is $15 a person and includes food, beverages and entertainment provided by musician Wayne James.
A cash bar also will be available. And two wrought-iron plant stands will be raffled. Tickets are $5.
Proceeds will be pumped into the Newbold-White House, a humble building that once rivaled all other structures on Perquimans County's waterfront.
Norfolk historian George Tucker a few years ago described the two-story house, built about 1730, as ``one of the most outstanding examples around of Early American domestic architecture.''
Thousands of tourists and townspeople have taken tours of the home, built by a Quaker named Joseph Scott.
The home underwent numerous changes in both floor plans and owners over two centuries before being bought by the Perquimans County Restoration Association in 1973.
The association then had it restored to its original condition and added a visitor's center and smokehouse to the property.
To help support the facility, association members several years ago decided a great fund-raiser would be a tea dance.
``Then we realized when we said `tea' and `dance,' it intimidated people,'' Brinn said. ``When you say `garden party,' anybody can come. This way opens the door to everyone, which is just what we want.''
Organizers also want nice weather but have made arrangements to meet at the Newbold-White House Visitor's Center if it rains.
``Of course, then it'll be a cocktail party,'' Brinn noted.
While money made from this year's party will be used for operating expenses, association members hope to sometime reap enough green to expand the facilities.
The garden party also gives the town of Hertford, with about 2,200 residents, a chance to show off its heritage and charm.
``It's very Southern and small-town,'' Brinn said.
Added White: ``It's the epitome of Southern hospitality.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Members of the Perquimans County Restoration Association Garden
Party committee, from left: Sharman Haskett, Jeanne White, Mary
Alice Brinn and Chris Lane.
by CNB