For 55 years, Mike Mobley has played an influential role in the growth of youth sports in Columbus County. Read more‘Love of the game’ inspires Mike Mobley to 55-year youth baseball journey
After more than two hours in closed session Monday evening, the Columbus County Board of Education unanimously selected a Robeson County firm to build the district’s n… Read moreSchool board taps builder for eastern campus; no word yet on location
— TWISTED METAL SUPPORTS, — bent beams and sagging light fixtures were visible evidence of roof damage at Blue Jeans Corporation caused by a heavy coating of ice. Steel posts were installed when the damage was discovered to keep the roof from caving in. The roof sagged two and a half feet u…
— TAX DEADLINE — Columbus County tax office employee Kim Norris collects 2006 county property taxes from Charles Dudley during the final week of standard collections. Those who payed after that date incurred a penalty of 2% interest and additional 3/4% interest penalty in following months. A…
— CHILLY EVIDENCE — If any evidence of recent cold was needed, it could be found in these icicles on a Lake Waccamaw pier. Some ice crystals were seen in the lake, but only the swamps were frozen over. The area had been relatively warm; however, the forecast predicted that things would clear…
— DOING THEIR OWN THING — Brandon Anderson, 8, George Moore, 9, and Deondre Moore, 6, clown around on a large trampoline. They say they play on the trampoline an hour or two almost every day on Franklin Street. William Moore is the father of Deondre and George and the grandfather of Brandon.
— HIGH AND DRY — Darren Foxworth, 3, gets a thrill playing in his cousin William Spaulding’s fast fishing boat, even with the boat on a trailer in his front yard in North Hallsboro.
— TAX TIME — It was time for Columbus Countians to set to the dreary task of listing taxes. At the beginning of the week the turn-out was reported heavy by tax officials, but it slacked off somewhat in the coming weeks.
— AFTER THE RAIN — A welcome sun warms Columbus County farmlands following the last week’s constant rains. Late afternoon on the Sessions strawberry farm east of Whiteville shows the results of three wet days.
— STUDENT BREAK — Students in Columbus County public schools had Monday and Tuesday off for Martin Luther King Jr. day and a teacher work day. These students at Whiteville Primary say good-bye for the four day weekend.
— SWEEP UP — Visitors to Evergreen Food Mart had a clean lot to park their cars in thanks to Moses Powell, who can be seen there in good weather or bad. “When I was small, I was told ‘You do it right or don’t do it at all,’” Powell said, “and all my life I haven’t forgotten that.”
— LARGEST TAX PAYMENT — to the City of Whiteville was from Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Co., submitted by local CT&T district commercial and marketing manager S.T. Hart to tax collector Judy Nobles. The check was for $37,458.04. The total tax payment within Columbus County, including…
— GOOD NEWS AT THE PUMP — V.D. Walker was pleased to see gas prices had dipped below a dollar at some area stations. Walker found these low prices at Go Gas on S. Madison Street in Whiteville.
— FATHER AND SON RECYCLING — Robert Bailey, right, and his son Jason were taking advantage of time off between jobs to dismantle a 1940s home off Jefferson Street in Whiteville. They expected to reuse, sell or salvage 80% of the materials, Jason said, and that’s 80% that wouldn’t end up in a…
— BABY SITTING DUTIES — Carlene Long pulled nails from metal roofing to scavenge as much good material as possible after she and husband George Long of the Guide community flattened an old pack house. Niko, a youngster Carlene cared for during the week, was helping his babysitter.
— TREE SHAKER — When pecans are few, you have to shake the tree. That’s what photographer Marshall Norton caught Michael Pridgen doing at Penn’s Grill in Whiteville.
— BETWEEN FOUR AND FIVE — inches of powdered snow and sleet greeted Columbus County residents. Schools were closed, businesses were operating with about one-half staff and utility and police personnel were kept busy. This photo from Whiteville shows Madison Street looking south.
— WHAT IF YOU DROP ONE? — Brick workers at the new county law enforcement complex don’t seem too concerned about dropping the bricks, just getting them to the top of the building. Work was nearly finished on the building, and it seemed the quickest way to get the bricks where they were need…
— TRAFFIC LIGHT — Transportation workers made plans during construction at the Tram Road and Jefferson Street intersection. The intersection had been the site of heavy congestion for years. A full complement of signal lights and new turning lanes were planned.
— DOWN THE DRAIN — A worker leaves a drainage tile assembly under construction next to E. Smith Street. The city was improving the storm water drainage system in that area with a large ditch and new pipes.
— READY TO LAUNCH? — Not quite, although this giant lift appears ready to send a semi-tractor to the moon. This operation at Federal Paper Board Company elevates trucks to empty bark chips, which are fed into boilers and replace oil as fuel.
— OUTDOOR BARBERSHOP — These two former seamen saved electrical energy when it came to haircutting time; they simply moved out into the bright sunlight in the yard. Earl Andrews, a former tugboat captain, is cutting the hair of brother Julius Andrews, a retired tugboat cook. Long periods of…
— SOW’S DELIGHT — Antonio Graham, Dion Gore, Cecelia Graham, Donovan Gore and John John Gore feed their pig George near Tabor City. They are scraping corn against the chicken wire, causing the kernels to rain down to the pig.
— SOYBEAN HARVESTING — was more than just soybean harvesting. For one thing, it was the time to check for nematodes. For another, as in this field, it can be the final stages of a North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service On-Farm research. Donnie Hinnant, assistant to crop scientist exte…
— YAM DIGGING — Workers pack crates during harvesting on the John Millican farm south of Brunswick. Columbus County is the third leading sweet potato producer among North Carolina counties with 4,000 acres.
ROBES APLENTY — Superior and District judges assembled in chambers after Douglas Sasser was sworn in as Columbus County’s new Superior Court judge. From the left were retired Superior Court Judge (then a state DMV commissioner) William C. Gore Jr., District judges Napoleon Barefoot Jr., Mari…
— LUCKY OR NOT? — This South Whiteville man is fortunate to have a healthy crop of butterbeans, but mid-day heat and the week’s 100% humidity were not ideal working conditions for working in his garden.
— WAITING FOR BUSINESS — Jerome Hinson of Chadbourn relaxed by his peach stand at the intersection of Hwy. 76 and N.C. 410 north of Chadbourn. Hinson used his old truck as his stand.
— PROTECTING THE CROPS — A collection of old clothing and “country china” makes for a colorful and distracting set of scarecrows to protect a garden north of Whiteville.
— SHAKING TIME — A smiling Tina Stocks shakes a box of butterbeans over a blower to remove hulls and trash from the crop in Guideway. Wesley Cox picked all his bean fields to avoid damage ahead of the approaching Hurricane Bertha.
— SUMMER IS FOR FISHING — Ronnie Spaulding, left, and Jamey Carter test their fishing talents on the Soules Swamp bridge at the junction of Lee, Madison and Franklin streets. Like many summertime situations, they found the fishing business slow.
— MASTODON MOLAR — Ervin Reeder, 15, an eighth-grade student at Boys Home, holds the mastodon tooth he found while on a field trip to the marl pits between Whiteville and Old Dock. Walter H. Wheeler, UNC professor of geology, authenticated the specimen and called it “one of the finest specim…
— COOL AIM — Louise Corbett Barnes sprays her neighbor, Heather Locklear, from her pool as they try to beat the heat in Brunswick.
— TREE MEMORIES — Charlotte and Robert McDuffie enjoyed a sunny day outside their Whiteville home beside a pair of chairs carved out of the trunk of a pine tree that was killed by an ice storm in January. “We hated for that tree to go but now we’ve got memories of it,” said Charlotte. In the…
— INTERCHANGE LIGHTING — Russell Walton of Progress Energy guided a 45-foot-tall fiberglass pole into place at the intersection of U.S. 74/76 and U.S. 701 as part of a lighting project for the area. Work was delayed as workers broke three telephone lines while digging, cutting service briefl…
— A LONG ROW TO HOE — Bill Horne, 76, of Ward’s Station has miles to go...and uses a hoe to pick out weeds from his son Gary’s four acre field of tobacco near Chadbourn. Horne said dry weather had made it easy for weeds to sprout up around the cash crops.
— WILLIAM STEVENS — of Whiteville won a 1972 red Ford Pinto in a contest, “Spring Shoppers Days,” sponsored by the Whirlpool Corporation. Customers registered at Whirlpool dealers throughout North and South Carolina. Stevens registered for the new auto at Columbus Supply Company in Whitevill…
— FULL SERVICE — Customers at Wilson’s Service Center, in Cerro Gordo, can always expect courteous service on their automobiles, or in this case, farm equipment, except when the customer is the owner. Kenny Wilson fills the tank on his tractor and chats with his daughter, Michelle Dippel, at…
— BILLY CARTER, — brother of former President Jimmy Carter, drew hundreds of visitors to the grand opening of Showcase Homes on U.S. 701 by-pass. Carter, left, greets Crowell Hinson, on his arrival for the grand opening. Carter was the vice president-marketing for Scott Building Systems. Al…
— IT’S HOT OUT THERE — Henry Mitchell takes a drink of water while Herbert Nelson waits his turn at the water jug during the hottest day yet of 1993. The two men were hoeing a six-acre, very dry field of tobacco in the New Life community east of Tabor City.
— HOT WORK — The hottest day of the year to date saw Lloyd Miles at his paving job with Barnes Paving Company working on Lewis Street. He had been with the firm for five years. His main job was to see that the pavement was the proper depth and aligned properly.
— MECHANIZATION FASCINATION — While the widening of the ditch to improve drainage along Lee Street was work for the man operating the tractor, it was like a private show for the kids on the bank.
— CATCHING 40 WINKS — Even rocking was hard work, after 21 hours, as Whiteville High School junior Margaret Will found out. She “zonked” out with three hours to go in the marathon rocking project to raise funds for Easter Seals. The 24 hour rock-a-thon was sponsored by the WHS Student Counci…
— NO WHEELIES, PLEASE! — Six-year-old Cole Canady took his great-grandmother, Addie Baldwin of Red Hill Road in Whiteville, on a ride in his dune buggy. Baldwin, who would celebrate her 93rd birthday in July, said she enjoyed the ride - her second - in Cole’s dune buggy.
— HIGHER ‘VEG-UCATION’ — Whiteville Primary School first-grader Bray McKeithan enjoyed a fruit-flavored drink with lunch during a field trip to the Columbus County Farmers Market and Cooperative Extension Service. The students learned about healthful fruits and vegetables and received bags o…
— JUNIOR POLICE LEAGUE GETS BOOST — Patrolman Clarence Brown, a co-chairman of the Whiteville Junior Police League, accepts a $100 check from Optimist Carl Chamberlain that was to be used in the JPL activities set for the summer.
— STEEL DRIVIN’ MEN — Like America’s John Henry, these are steel drivin’ men. Combining brute power and graceful rhythm, these men were driving steel spikes the hard way - with a sledgehammer. They are from the Seaboard Coastline Railroad Company and the Highway Division and were repairing a…
— WHS CARPENTRY CLASS — The Whiteville High School carpentry students Jimmy Tyree and Jackie Strickland put the finishing touches on the house built by the class. Kneeling is course instructor Gene Worthington, who began the program seven years earlier. The house was to be auctioned off at t…
— REMEMBERING WHEN — Henry Reeves, 96, ran the Whiteville Depot for 20 years from 1950-1970. He was an Atlantic Coast Line agent of the Whiteville Depot. Reeves said, “One hundred twenty-five dollars a month for an agent in 1930 was the envy of the community.” His oldest brother brought a te…
— A SURREY WITH NOT MUCH FRINGE — and a missing front wheel still makes a pretty good mode of transportation, according to Winfield Wilson and Ralph Powell, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Wilson and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Powell. The surrey was a gift to the Powell children about 20 years earlier fro…
