VOL. 15 NO. 6
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
News Issues & Answers - Candidates on the Primary Election ballot were given an opportunity to respond to our survey. Their responses are reprinted verbatim to help voters learn more about them and their ideas. We encourage readers to take time to learn all they can about the candidates for office and to vote on Tuesday, Sept. 14. Responses begin on page 25 FunDrAIser - ‘PINK Links’ program to honor memory of loved ones. Page 3 HerOes - Christmas shopping experience is the start of a life-changing journey. Page 8 TrACTOrs - Members of the Antique Tractor Club go for drive in Laurel. Page 12 sCHOOL news - Seven pages of news about area schools begin on page 30. VeTerAn - On his 87th birthday, World War II veteran Joseph Wheatley will be honored. Page 39 BusIness - Window Fashion owner tries to save his business. Page 49 CATs - Seaford Board of Adjustment votes to allow woman to keep cats. Page 52
Sports MOre FALL spOrTs - This week the Laurel Star takes a look at the local boys’ soccer, cross country, and girls’ volleyball teams with preview stories and photos. Page 41 rACIng - The racing season continued at Delaware International Speedway last weekend in Delmar. Coverage begins on page 46.
Index Bulletin Board Business ChurCh Classifieds final Word Gas lines Gourmet heroes letters lynn Parks mike Barton movies
13 6 18 54-60 63 47 38 8 62 38 52 7
oBituaries PoliCe Puzzles snaPshots soCials sPorts tides tony Windsor
19 50 17 53 52 41-48 43 40
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Celebrating Family History month
By Lynn R. Parks When Norma Jean Fowler, president of the Laurel Historical Society, read the master’s thesis written by University of Delaware student Kimberley Toney, she was amazed. The thesis is about West Laurel and its development in the early 19th century as one of the state’s early free black communities. “I was surprised by the prosperity and depth of the African-American community,” she said. “There were shipbuilders living there, sailors and captains of sailing vessels. And people who owned businesses and who bought property. Laurel has a long and proud heritage and this is certainly one part of it.” A talk by Toney will be the culminating event in a month-long celebration of Laurel history and families, sponsored by the historical society and the Laurel Public Library. Laurel Family History Month will take place throughout October and will be anchored by an exhibit in the library of photographs of African-Americans from the historical society’s Waller Collection. The exhibit is titled, “African-American Roots of Laurel’s Family Tree.” The historical society’s Waller Collection contains nearly 50 photos of African-Americans that the Waller Studios in Laurel took from the early 1900s to 1950. About half of the photos will be on display in the library. All of them will be included in a virtual exhibit on the library and historical society websites. Many of the pictures, including those of sports teams from Dunbar School, are of school groups. Others are of church groups. And several of the pictures are formal portraits. In one, a woman dressed in velvet wears a stylish hat. In another, two small children stand in front of a weathered building. Fowler, who is also the library’s
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This woman is among the several unidentified African-Americans who sat for portraits at the Waller Studio in Laurel and whose picture will be on display at the Laurel Public Library through October. Organizers of the exhibit, which is part of Laurel Family History Month, sponsored by the library and the Laurel Historical Society, hope that visitors to the exhibit will be able to provide names of some of the unidentified people. Courtesy of the Laurel Historical Society.
adult services librarian, said that many of the people in the photos are unidentified. She is hoping that members of the community who see the pictures are able to provide the historical society with their subjects’ names. In addition to Toney’s talk and the photo exhibit, Laurel Family History
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Month will include two workshops. On Oct. 1, Fowler will lead a workshop on how to use a Delaware library card to do genealogical research. The Delaware Library Catalog System includes an online system, Heritage Continued on page 12
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