[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11489]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 11489]]

          IN HONOR OF THE RETIREMENT OF MS. EVELYN B. NEPTUNE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EVA M. CLAYTON

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 21, 2001

  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a very 
special person, my constituent, Mrs. Evelyn B. Neptune. I extend my 
sincere congratulations to Mrs. Neptune on her retirement after having 
served the Washington County Public Schools System, the Pettigrew 
Regional Library System and the Washington County Health Department for 
more than 32 years.
  Mr. Speaker, a resounding expression of appreciation is indeed in 
order and is extended to Mrs. Neptune on behalf of the many citizens 
across Eastern, North Carolina whose lives have been touched by her 
dedication, compassion, and generosity. Mrs. Neptune has given so much 
of herself to make the burdens of life more manageable for so many.
  Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Neptune is an exception to the idea that ``it takes 
a village to raise a child.'' In 1965 she moved to her hometown of 
Plymouth, North Carolina with her children ages 3, 4, 5, and 6 as a 
single parent. She began working as a teaching assistant in the local 
elementary school where she started reading to her students during 
recess and after school simply because the children needed the extra 
help. This activity led to a recommendation for Mrs. Neptune to take a 
job as a library assistant with the Pettigrew Regional Library. Once 
there, Mrs. Neptune began reading to visiting classes of pre-school and 
elementary school students as a means of occupying them and introducing 
them to new books. This activity led to more formal reading sessions 
that were eventually expanded to the famous ``Story Hour'' programs 
that Mrs. Neptune began hosting, not only in all four of the public 
libraries in the region, but also in local senior citizen homes. Mrs. 
Neptune's stories which included elaborate puppet shows that she made 
up, became legendary throughout the region. In 1994, Mrs. Neptune 
accepted a position in the Washington Country Health Department where 
she worked with the Maternity/Pre-Natal program and finally their 
Breast Cancer Screening program before retiring in 1997. In addition to 
this amazing career, Mrs. Neptune served on the Washington County 
School Board for eight years.
  As a parent, Mr. Speaker, I am convinced that Mrs. Neptune's greatest 
accomplishment as a single parent is the fact that she sent all five of 
her children to college, and in some cases, beyond, including to 
Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, North Carolina Central 
University, University of South Carolina, Duke University and 
Princeton. Today, Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Neptune is the proud parent of a 
physician and researcher who practices at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and 
two Vice Presidents, one who is employed with Bank of America and the 
other with the Washington Post Newspaper. The remaining two have 
enjoyed successful careers as a design engineer and an insurance 
administrator.
  Mrs. Neptune is a true treasure; a gift beyond words. Her most 
enduring personal quality is her boundless humility. Mr. Speaker, I ask 
my colleagues to rise and join me in paying tribute to one of the 
``world's best kept secrets'', Mrs. Evelyn Neptune, with all of her 
noteworthy accomplishments. Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. 
Speaker.

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