Bill Daughtridge For Treasurer

State Representative and Candidate for North Carolina State Treasurer Bill Daughtridge was the guest speaker at last night's Conservatives, Arise! Political Action Committee (CAPAC) in Greenville, NC.

Daughtridge is president of The Daughtridge Group which encompasses Daughtridge Gas Company, a provider of propane and fuel oil for residential, commercial and agricultural customers in the Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids and Greenville areas; Daughtridge Oil Company which operates convenience stores and car washes across Eastern North Carolina, the Auto Care Express Mall and Citgo Express Lube in Rocky Mount; and Tharrington Parts which supplies tobacco barn parts for the Eastern Seaboard.

While serving in the Legislature, Daughtridge has been appointed co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Economic Development, former chairman of the House Commerce Committee, and currently serves on the House Finance Committee. In addition to legislative duties, Daughtridge serves on the North Carolina Economic Development Board, the Defense and Security Technology Accelerator Advisory Committee, and as President of the Boy Scouts of America’s Area Seven (NC and VA).

Daughtridge is a Morehead Scholar from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his BS and MBA degrees. Daughtridge and his wife, Partha, live in Rocky Mount and have two children.

In Bill's presentation he focused on the issues of state efforts to fix the current Medicaid funding inequities for poor counties and the power of the Treasuer to correct many current abuses in spending and waste.





Above, Rachel Sturz, acted as Master of Ceremonies for the event. Below, Ken Jones made a special presentation on research he has conducted on tools to promote the group's activities in the Greenville area.






CAPAC is a non-partisan political action committee that meets every fourth Tuesday to learn about and discuss the issues of the day. The public is invited to attend. No reservations are necessary.

Down East Republican Club Thursday April 26th

The Down East Republican Club will hold their monthly meeting Thursday, April 26th, at Cliff’s Seafood on Highway 17 in Chocowinity. Dinner is at 6:00 PM and the meeting starts at 7:00 PM.

The meeting will feature Beaufort County Tax Assessor Bobby Parker.




Bobby Parker began his career with the U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division, Eastern Mapping Center, in Arlington, Va. in 1962. He retired from the U.S. Geological Survey in April, 1993, with 31 years of service.

Bobby began his second career with the Beaufort County Tax Administration in April, 1993, as a Real Property Appraiser, and received his certification as a N.C. Department of Revenue Real Property Appraiser in 1994. Parker was appointed to the position of Beaufort County Tax Assessor in 1997, by the Beaufort County Board of County Commissioners and received his certification as a North Carolina Department of Revenue Tax Assessor in 1997. In 2006, Parker received the designation of Tax Assessor from The N.C. Association of Assessing Officers.
Bobby Parker was born and raised in Beaufort County. Parker attended Beaufort County Public Schools. Bobby is married and has four children.

The political discussion topic for club members and attendees is “Beaufort County Property Taxes”.

Dotoratos And Hammond In Concert

Pianist Gary Hammond and violinist Ray Dotoratos gave a beautiful concert at the Martin County Auditorium last night.




As usual the great volunteers from the Martin County Arts Council and the Bertie County Arts Council were there early, setting up and preparing the concession stand. The ladies in the picture above are Michele Early, Judy Overton, Marie Robertson and Christine Farrior. The concession stand pictured below was staffed by the Relay for Life Team from Aulander.




The Bertie County and Martin County Arts Councils joined forces to bring these two musicians of international renown to our area for a local concert of a quality we rarely see. Even the New York Times, noted for its excellent coverage of the arts, has raved about the performances of these two musical artists.



Marie Robertson, Christine Farrior and Betty Constable introduced the concert and the two musicians.

As part of this visit to our area, the two musicians presented a concert for students at Southwestern Middle School in Windsor the same morning. These talented musicians have performed in New York, Washington, DC, where they performed at the White House, and countries all across the globe.



For this evenings performance they opened with a Handel Sonata, and also covered works by Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Still and Chopin.

During intermission, local patrons caught up with friends and talked about the music.

At the end of the concert the artists covered some more contemporary music from Gershwin, Bernstein and Copland. The skill of the two musicians was well displayed and it was a great evening of music that we rarely get to hear.

This was the first joint venture between Bertie and Martin Counties. Hopefully it will not be the last. A special thanks to both groups for a great evening of music.