The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

Related Photos

November 18, 2009

250th birthday celebration will continue all year

W. TERRY SMITH

When Ed Roberson was growing up, Beaufort, N.C., “it was going backwards, losing residents to nearby Morehead City,” he recalled.

“But they reinvented themselves,” Roberson told the Tarboro Kiwanis Club on Tuesday night. “Now it’s probably the other way around.”

Roberson sees next year’s 250th Birthday Celebration as an opportunity for Tarboro to do the same.

“We are going to have a good year,” he said, “a year we can promote our town as a unique town in Eastern North Carolina.”

Roberson, a co-vice chairman of the Birthday Celebration Committee, went over many of the planned activities that begin Monday, Jan.18.

“That’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” he said. “MLK events will take place in the morning. This will take place in the afternoon.”

At 2 p.m., the Paperhand Puppet Intervention from Graham featuring giant puppets will lead a children’s parade through downtown Tarboro. Bluesman George Higgs of Speed will perform before a 3 p.m. ceremony.

“This is the kickoff event,” Roberson said. “We will plant a plaque in the sidewalk at the corner of Main and Church streets in front of Town Hall.”

The 24-inch by 24-inch brass and copper plaque will read:

“On September 20, 1999, as a result of Hurricane Floyd, two-thirds of Downtown Tarboro was under water. It was here at the edge of the floodwaters that President Bill Clinton and Governor Jim Hunt addressed the citizens of Tarboro and the national media. As a result of federal and state assistance, all structures damaged by Hurricane Floyd were either rebuilt or renovated.

“This marker was placed here January 18, 2010 by the Tarboro 250th Celebration Committee.”

Roberson said various organizations that have activities during 2010 are being asked to put a 250th spin on their events. We have asked them “to beef ’em up for the 250th,” he said.

There will be a birthday party during History Days on Saturday, Sept. 25 on the Town Common with a cake, lemonade in commemorative cups, music and speeches.

On the actual birthday, Nov. 30, a tree will be planted and time capsule buried on the Common.

Roberson said emphasis was being made of Tarboro being a Colonial town, the ninth oldest town in the state instead of the usual “historic Tarboro.”

“We were founded 16 years before the Declaration of Independence,” he said. “There are very few colonial towns.”

Roberson pointed out the town has put up banners on the street lights along Main Street, had front bumper tags made that read: “Tarboro, N.C., Celebrating 250 years, 1760-2010,” and are free to residents when they pay their vehicle taxes; and 1,000 copies of a commemorative calendar has been printed that the committee is selling for $10 each.

“We want people to look at this instead of an event but as a season,” Roberson said.

Ads have been planned for Our State magazine that will feature Tarboro in its August issue. Also, there will be an ad in the April issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.

“Why, you ask? Terrell County did it and instead of getting the usual 10 calls from potential visitors, it received 14,000 calls,” Roberson explained, noting it was women who planned family vacations.

The committee has received an Edgecombe Community Foundation grant for a booklet of Tarboro history for fourth-graders.

There is a Paint the Town art exhibit planned, sponsored by the Tarboro Arts Guild and Edgecombe County Cultural Arts Council in which artists are to paint town scenes. The winner’s work will be printed and sold like the posters at the Seafood Festival in Morehead City.

The Community Chorus concert Nov. 7 will be a multimedia production with a budget of $8,500 for music, video, and musicians.

Roberson said financial support had been overwhelming – $50,000 from private donations – “because people love Tarboro and want this to be successful.”

A sponsor board with the names of those that have contributed $500 or more will travel from event to event during the year-long celebration.

“We’ve received a lot of great ideas,” he said, “but manpower is scare. Money is easier to get than manpower.”

When Roberson finished his 30-minute presentation, Kiwanis President Wayne Boyette asked if the committee was still accepting money. The club gave the committee $1,000.

Roberson suggested those interested in the 250th Birthday plans go to the town Web site (http://www.tarboro-n.c.com) and click on the 250th Birthday icon.

Roberson, 60, is the son of Dr. Ed Roberson who was on town council for 28 years, including 14 years as mayor from 1961-75. The Tarboro senior center was named in his honor.

Text Only
Local News
  • Teresa Bryant headshot.jpg Bryant declines to seek re-election

    Teresa DeLoatch Bryant announced she will not seek re-election to the District 2 seat she now holds on the Edgecombe County Public Schools Board. The announcement came 91 days before the May 8 Primary Election and nearly a year after the first-term plus one year board member announced her resignation for personal and career reasons. She later rescinded her decision.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • MimiHerman.jpg W.A. Patillo receives $5,000 poetry grant

    W.A. Pattillo School has been awarded $5,000 from the North Carolina Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.
    The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Herman. Students will gain self-confidence, and will view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling, and impressions.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • IMG_5889.JPG Pizza Bowl

    The biggest football game of the year brings the largest sale of the year for two area pizza restaurants.
    Tarboro branches of Pizza Inn and Dominos Pizza are gearing up for Super Bowl XLVI Sunday by increasing their regular employee lineup by as many as seven.
    Pizza Inn is running a special that they believe will keep them busy throughout the day. Last year they sold over 200 large pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday compared to 50 on an average Sunday.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Edgecombe unemployment up in December

    TARBORO — Unemployment rates increased in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in December. Rates decreased in four counties and remained the same in three.
    Edgecombe, which saw a slight improvement in November, fell back to its October 2011 level (15.7%). Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Edgecombe and Dare are tied at third highest in unemployment. 

    February 3, 2012

  • Three ECPS campuses ahead of First Lady's nutritional guidelines

    When First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new guidelines for the nutritional overhaul of school meals last week, they could have chosen three of Edgecombe County's public schools as their models.

    February 2, 2012

  • Lynn_Cale.jpg ECC Executive Named to United Way Board

    J. Lynn Cale, associate vice president of instruction at Edgecombe
    Community College, has been named to the United Way Tar River Region
    Board of Directors.
        The Tar River Region serves Edgecombe and Nash counties. Cale
    will serve a one-year term, from January to December 2012.
        He and other board members oversee 41 local health and human
    service programs funded through United Way as well as 21 Community
    Partners and various community development partnerships.
    RIGHT: J. Lynn Cale

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Pattillo Alumni Association on the move

    The Board of Directors (BOD) of W.A. Pattillo High School National Alumni
    Association, Inc. held a meeting on Jan. 21, at Pattillo School under the leadership of its President, Dr. Fred S. Wood, Jr.  All of the officers except one were in attendance, accompanied by 9 of 16 Board Members and 9 of 10 Appointed Standing Committee Chairpersons.

    February 2, 2012

  • BandSEDriverHouse.jpg Local students selected for N.C. Eastern All-District Band

    Three Edgecombe County Public Schools students have been chosen to play in the All-District Band. Lillian House, an alto saxophone player and Kaitlin Driver, a French horn player both eighth graders from South Edgecombe Middle School and West Edgecombe Middle School eighth grade flute player, Taylor Joyner earned the honor this year and will grace the stage at East Carolina University’s Wright Auditorium Feb. 3.

    February 1, 2012 2 Photos

  • Robbery prevention

    Community education on robbery prevention shares equal importance with the search of robbery suspects. Robbery prevention may seem unachievable, but we can not continue to ignore the problem of robbery in our community. As local citizens, we should create ways in which everyone can benefit from the knowledge of robbery prevention.

    February 1, 2012

  • GHW 01-28-1221.JPG George Henry White: tribute to a great American

      Why isn’t George Henry White a household name?  If Vincent Spalding has anything to do with it, that will soon change.
         Long ignored in African American history books and recognitions, George Henry White of North Carolina was elected to Congress in 1896, and re-elected in 1898, becoming the last African American elected to Congress after Reconstruction, and the first to serve in the 20th century.

    January 31, 2012 1 Photo