DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997              TAG: 9704240394

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: HERTFORD                          LENGTH:   66 lines

THE SON OF A COUNTRY BLACKSMITH LEARNS TO SHOE THE FASTEST HORSES

When Charles H. Ward graduated from rural Perquimans County High School in 1950, he watched most of his classmates hurry off to the big cities to hunt for fame and fortune.

He stayed home and developed half-a-dozen successful careers in eastern North Carolina.

Recently Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. sought out Ward to offer him another job. Hunt asked Ward to serve on the Board of Transportation, replacing R.V. Owens III of Dare County.

Ward said sure, he thought he could handle that. So, at the moment, Ward's resume looks like this:

Chairman, Perquimans County Board of Commissioners.

Owner-operator, Dixie auto parts, Hertford.

Owner-operator, Ace hardware, Hertford.

Owner-partner Ward & Nixon Cotton Gin in Winfall.

Owner Tarheel Cotton Co., gin and plant in Bertie County.

Owner, Albemarle Aquaculture, a Chowan County fish-farm.

Owner-operator, U.S. 17 shopping mall in Hertford.

Albemarle Hospital board member, Elizabeth City.

And now, put him down as the man in charge of smoothing the ruts, filling the potholes and painting the stripes on every state-owned highway, lane and interchange in northeastern North Carolina.

If that isn't enough to keep a 59-year-old country blacksmith's son busy, Ward adds a little wistfully:

``When the governor asked me to join the Board of Transportation, I had to resign from the Northeast North Carolina Economic Development Commission/Partnership because of a technical conflict of interest,'' said Ward.

Ward's quiet talents came to light on the 16-county economic development commission. He was one of the original partners when the legislature created the panel and his ability to handle a difficult agenda and make good things happen didn't go unnoticed in Raleigh.

The Board of Transportation has long been considered a springboard to higher levels of political power. State Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, started out on the board as one of Hunt's appointees 20 years ago during the governor's first two terms.

But Basnight's current Democratic clout, which is probably second only to that of Hunt in Raleigh, is not without an occasional embarrassing benefit. Republicans are forever carping that the northeast is top-heavy with Hunt-Basnight Democratic appointees.

Owens is the son of Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr., chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners and Hunt's official representative in the east.

Young Owens has never concealed his desire for a political future. But when the younger Owens told Hunt he would not seek reappointment to the Board of Transportation, Hunt had an opportunity to annoint Ward, a mainlander whose family roots are not anchored in Dare County's Land of Beginnings and Basnights.

``I learned a lot on the Economic Development Commission - it broadened me,'' said Ward this week. ``I found out there are a lot of ways you can help people . . .''

That would sound fatuous from some politicians, but in Perquimans County the many friends of Ward say that he means it. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Charles H. Ward in his Hertford auto parts store. ``I learned a lot

on the Economic Development Commission - it broadened me,'' Ward

says.

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