The Great Gray Squirrel Debate of 1969

In 1969 State Representative R. C. Godwin appointed me to serve as a page in the NC House of Representative. Mr. Godwin was a friend of my father's. When he retired he encouraged my dad to run for his seat. My father won and held that seat for many terms. Upon Dad's reitrement Beverly Perdue served in that seat for a couple of terms before moving on to higher office.

I served as a page for a week and stayed with my father's first cousin, Elsie Barker Houle. Elsie's mother was my grandmother's first cousin and her father was my great uncle Ebbie Basil Barker. Apparently Barker men were attracted to Henderson women. Elsie was a family favorite. She was a classic southern lady with a underlying current of mystique. Sort of a Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) type.

Upon arrival the Sergeant of Arms and the Clerk of the House gave us our orientation. Our duties included distributing copies of legislation, delivering messages, running errands and delivering proposed bills from the legislators to the Speaker's desk. When the House is in session we were stationed around the chamber to be instantly available to the members.

The General Assembly from time to time decides to designate a plant, animal, activity or concept as the State "whatever". (See Chapter 145 of the General Satatute for a complete list.  http//www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/Statutes/StatutesTOC.pl?Chapter=0145) We have a State song, flower,dance bird and many other things. My father was instrumental in making the State Reptile the Eastern Box Turtle. He was fond of saying the turtle had to stick his neck out to make progress.

During my tenure as a page the members decided it was time to have a state mammal. I guess the rat was out even though Secretary of State Thad Eure was fond of saying he was the oldest rat in the Democratic Barn. A member stood and introduced legislation to make the gray squirrel the State mammal. That member and several cosigners gave great speeches in favor of the measure. Eloquent speeches of the virtue and beauty of the gray squirrel were given. Their playfullnes and industriousness of storing their food were espoused. It looked as though the legislation would pass unopposed.

The Dean of the House sat in seat six.That seat is on the front row on the center isle. If the House had been a Baptist Church that would have been where the Chairman of the Deacon Board sat. In 1969 I was quite young and that gentleman looked really old. I was sure he had been serving since Reconstruction. While not quite that old, he was born in the nineteenth century. All of the members gave him deference and proper respect. He was a Southern lawyer with great communication skills. He was sort of a Senator Sam Ervin type of character. I am certain they were friends.

He stood, and said "Mr Speaker, I rise to oppose this legislation". A hush fell over the floor and the gentleman commanded everyone's attention. He continued, "If we pass this legislation in time groups may form to protect the gray squirrel and to prohibit the lawful taking of the same by hunters. Should that come to pass the population of the gray squirrel will multiply exponentially. Everyone knows that the gray squirrel eats nuts and that would prove very dangerous to this body". With that he immediately sat and the members of the General Assembly almost fell out of their chairs. That is the only debate from that week that I remember.

Visit my Website
Follow on Facebook

11 22 and 9 11 Numbers Not to be Forgotten

Dates I will always remember. On November 22, 1963 I was returning from recess at Fort Totten to our classroom at Eleanor Marshall School when a distraught lady pulled her car to the curb. Our teacher went to her car to check on her. When she returned she explained that the President had been shot. We were living in a fearful time. We had drills to practice diving under our desk in case of nuclear attacks. The news was full of riots and demonstrations about issues that we were perhaps too young to understand. Multiple leaders were assassinated. Our society went through very dynamic changes. Eventually as time progressed things seem to improve.

Fast forward to September 11, 2001. While having my morning coffee a report came across the screen that one of the Towers at the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. I left home to go to the Tent River Coffee Company to join the discussion at the table where all of the worlds woes were solved. Soon after my arrival the second Tower was struck. We watched and listened as it became apparent that our country was under attack. Rage, fear and confusion were experienced that day. The country's psyche would never be quite the same. I had not been born when Pearl Harbor was attacked but I imagine the feelings were much the same.

America will not forget the heroes of that day. People who ran toward the flames and destruction to protect others. Since that time two million young Americans have seen combat to make us safer and to improve the lives of those living under oppressive regimes. The America in which I live is still a wonderful place to live and I will always be grateful to those who have made it possible.

Gary Barker
Visit my Website
Visit my Facebook Page

Our Three Guys - Signers of the Declaration.

Joseph Hewes represented North Carolina at the Continental Congress of 1774. He was living at Edenton at the time. At the beginning of the year 1776, Hewes was appointed as the first ever Secretary of the Navy John Adams often said that Hewes "laid the foundation, the cornerstone of the American Navy." Alongside General George Washington, Hewes became one of the greatest military achievers in American history. He was also involved with the secret committee of claims, which further promoted the independence of the colonies. Hewes was one of the primary reasons why North Carolina  submitted to independence before any other colony. Hewes was initially faced with an ill equipped navy of which to fight the British Navy. To remedy this, he provided his own extensive fleet of ships, outfitted them, and chose the most capable of men to captain these ships. John Paul Jones was one of these captains for whom Hewes was instrumental in providing a command. (Used by Permission Wikipedia)

John Penn was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as a representative of North Carolina. Penn was distantly related to William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. Penn was elected to the North Carolina Provincial Congress and elected by that body to the Continental Congress in 1775 until 1780. For the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence, he was part of a three-man North Carolina delegation that included Joseph Hewes and William Hooper. He also served on the Board of War until 1780, when he retired to the practice of law.  (Used by Permission Wikipedia)

William Hooper was an American lawyer, politician, and a member of the Continental Congress representing North Carolina from 1774 through 1777. Hooper was also a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, along with fellow North Carolinians Joseph Hewes and John Penn. Initially Hooper supported the British colonial government in North Carolina. As Deputy Attorney General in 1768 Hooper worked with Colonial Governor William Tryon to suppress a rebellious group known as the Regulators who participated in the War of the Regulation. The Regulators had been operating in North Carolina for some time, and in 1770 it was reported that the group dragged Hooper through the streets in Hillsborough during a riot. Hooper advised that Governor Tryon use as much force as was necessary to stamp out the rebels, and even accompanied the troops at the Battle of Alamance.Hooper’s support of the colonial governments began to erode, causing problems for him due to his past support of Governor Tryon. Hooper had been labeled a Loyalist, and therefore he was not immediately accepted by Patriots. Hooper eventually was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1773, where he became an opponent to colonial attempts to pass laws that would regulate the provincial courts. This in turn helped to sour his reputation among Loyalists. Hooper recognized that independence was likely to occur, and mentioned this in a letter to his friend James Iredell, saying that the colonies were “striding fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire upon the ruins of Great Britain.” During his time in the assembly Hooper slowly became a supporter of the American Revolution and independence. After the governor disbanded the assembly, Hooper helped to organize a new colonial assembly. Hooper was also appointed to the Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry. In 1774 Hooper was appointed a delegate to the First Continental Congress, where he served on numerous committees. Hooper was again elected to the Second Continental Congress, but much of his time was split between the congress and work in North Carolina, where he was assisting in forming a new government. Due to matters in dealing with this new government in North Carolina, Hooper missed the vote approving the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, 1776; however, he arrived in time to sign it on August 2, 1776. (Used by permission Wikipedia)

All of the signers were men of courage risking all of their goods, lands and lives. During this time of celebration of their act, it is right that we should remember. 

Visit my Website

Follow us on Facebook

An Old Friend - The Jet

For 37 years we had a view of the F -11 Tiger Jet as we traveled Dr. M L King Jr. Blvd. It was painted as a Marine Aircraft in those years. If you traveled from the mall area to downtown it was there to remind you of the close ties between New Bern and the Marines stationed at Cherry Point.

Photo by Nan Griffin Barker

Recently Swiss Bear and the community had the jet restored and painted in Blue Angels colors. The jet served as the Solo plane on that team's 1966-67 season. Now when I travel from my home in Bridgeton to New Bern, I will see the Tiger fully restored on a pedestal at Lawson Creek Park. It will be a constant reminder of the affection and appreciation New Bernians have for members of our Armed Services.

Visit my Website

Follow us on Facebook

Getting Paddled - The First Day of School

One of my most vivid memories occurred on the first day of the eighth grade. I remember thinking we had finally arrived. As an eighth grader in a grades one through eight school we were going to be kings for the entire year. The fall of 1967 certainly had promise. Those hollowed halls were at the time one of the oldest continually used public school facilities in America. My grand mother and father had attended school at this location. Now we were the kings, the masters of our domain. It is good to be king.

The opening bell sounded, we took our seats. The intercom speaker crackled and Mr. Hardison's voice welcomed us to school. He then called my name and five of my running buddies and summoned us to the office. I thought of naming the names but have decided against it. I wouldn't want to undermine any of my friends authority in their present positions by having them too closely tied to my escapades. When we inquired to the purpose of our summons we were informed he intended to exact corporal punishment upon our persons. He observed the horrified and quizzical expressions on our faces. He then told us that we had not yet committed any infractions. He went on to state that ours was a preemptive paddling. It was his opinion that most of the trouble in River City  the previous year had been caused by the group assembled. He wanted to set the proper tone for the year. So much for being King.

I have told this story many times. I have found that people born after 1970 just do not understand the world in which the "Baby Boomers" lived. I often hear I would have told my parents. The parents of that day did not give their children a presumption of innocence. I never once considered going home to tell the Admiral that the Principle had paddled me for being the center of all that was wrong at the school for the preceding year. He would have investigated. I did not want the principle and my Dad having any conversation. A second paddling would have been certain along with long periods of confinement.

A good paddling was an act of grace. You misbehaved, were caught, felt guilty and then were punished. Once the paddling was completed you were completely restored. No further ramification or guilt was required. I would like to tell you I was a model student after that day. I can't. The teacher / student ratio in that day was about 1 to 30. The teachers managed quite well. Mrs. Ipock said that she liked to practice her tennis forehand by paddling her students. From my experience she must have gone undefeated that year.

Visit my Website

Follow us on Facebook