Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 23

CLARI0NLEDGER.COM MONDAY, MAY 3, 2004 THE CLARION-LEDGER 5B S.C. Church to keen Dastor 90 years later, man's name cleared found guilty in molestations "We're just trying to be the church that God has come back looking for. He says don't judge and forgive others so that you won't be judged harshly." Debra Wade, who's been a member of St. John for 33 years Now, one boy has been found, and another lost. The Walters family invited Dunbar to give the blessing during a Walter's family reunion at Lumber River State Park.

During the reunion, Cutright read from a letter William Walters wrote while sitting in the Columbia jail cell, awaiting word whether he would be extradited to Opelousas. Kidnapping was a capital offense at the time, and Walters asked "who will be required to atone for my innocent blood?" it seems that I must suffer now for an imaginary sin or crime that has never been committed," he wrote poetically, and prophetically. "Living I yield to no spirit but the God spirit and the sweet music of the soul, such as is made from the harps of angels," he concluded. "Dying, I can look up through the ethereal blue of Heaven, thank God, and say my conscience is clear, the heart strings of weeping mothers bind not my withering limbs, and the crime of kidnapping stains not my humble threshold door." Th Associated Ptojm BARNESVILLE, N.C. Ninety years ago, as he sat in a Columbia jail on charges of kidnapping, William Cantwell Walters wrote in a letter that he would "suffer for an imaginary sin or crime that has never been committed." Walters was convicted of kidnapping little Bobby Dunbar.

Robert Dunbar Jr. announced at a Walters family reunion that Walters was innocent. A DNA test proved that the 4-year-old boy taken from Walters nine decades ago and handed over to an Opelousas, couple was not Bobby Dunbar. More than likely, he was a North Carolina child entrusted to Walters. Bobby Dunbar disappeared Aug.

23, 1912, during a fishing trip on Swayze Lake near Opelousas, N.C. Eight months later, Walters, an itinerant handyman from North Carolina, was arrested in Mississippi while traveling in a tented wagon with a boy who fit Bobby's description. Walters maintained that the boy was Charlie Bruce Anderson, the illegitimate son of his brother and since he took over St. John's last year, and only about 10 people left after the vote to retain Brown. State prison officials don't allow media interviews with inmates.

But the congregation still hears from its pastor through his correspondence from behind bars. A letter that Sunday said he had joined the choir and Bible study in prison and thanked the members for their unconditional love and his wife for support. "The battle has been fought. Don't let anybody put you down," he wrote. While he's in prison, leaders at St.

John say the church is giving half of Brown's salary to his wife, Tonya, and the other half to the interim pastor. Member Dorothy Cobb is still attending services at St. John, but she does not support keeping Rev. Brown as pastor. "As long as I'm living, a child molester will not be leading that church," Cobb said.

She made copies of the police reports and tried to distribute them to members during one service, but someone got rid of most of the papers. "They thought, 'Well, he just touched but they didn't know the whole truth," she said. The incident reports describe Brown's actions in detail. Cobb said the information was so explicit, she stapled the sheets of paper closed. She said the information should have been given to church members before the vote.

Several members that read the reports regretted voting for Brown, Cobb said. Voracious termites spreading in La. ThAiocttdPrM SHARON, S.C. At tiny St. John Baptist Church, the congregation was faced with a pastor who confessed to molestation, and it decided to let others cast the first stone.

It voted to forgive the Rev. John T. Brown and allow him to return to the pulpit after he finishes serving a four-year sentence for sexually assaulting two teenage girls who attended his previous church. "We're just trying to be the church that God has come back looking for," said Debra Wade, who's been a member of St. John for 33 years.

"He says don't judge and forgive others so that you won't be judged harshly." Brown's supporters point out the crimes didn't even happen in this town 30 miles southwest of Charlotte, N.C.; they occurred 90 miles away in Bennettsville. And some members of the predominantly black church say the judicial system cannot always be trusted to get things right. Brown pleaded guilty Feb. 10 to criminal sexual conduct with a minor and committing a lewd act on a minor. According to police, a 16-year-old girl said Brown sexually assaulted her in her home in 2002 while her mother was away.

Also in 2002, a 13-year-old girl said Brown sexually touched her while in his home and twice while in his car. Brown's lawyer, Michael Stephens, said the pastor begged forgiveness from the victim's families and they responded by asking the judge to have mercy. On a recent Sunday, about half SOUTHERN STYLE TODAY Teen Scene, Pearl Public Library, 3470 U.S. 80E, Pearl; Celebrating Cinco de Mayo; for grades 7-12; 6:30 p.m. free; details, 932-2562.

Mall Walkers, Northpark mall Food Court, Ridgeland; blood pressure checks, stretching and chair exercises complete a safe, indoor workout; sponsored by HealthLineSt. Dominic; a.m. today, Wednesday and Friday; $10 monthly; details, 200-6696. Senior Adult Beginning Social Dance Class, Ridgeland Recreational Center, 127 Old Trace Park, Ridgeland; learn the basics of the Foxtrot, Waltz, Julia Anderson. Julia Anderson was brought to Mississippi and identified the boy as her Bruce, but a court-appointed arbiter ruled that he was Percy and Lessie Dunbar's missing son.

Walters was convicted of kidnapping in April 1914 in a sensational trial, but the verdict was overturned on appeal Margaret Cutright, the daughter of Robert Dunbar had no reason to doubt that conclusion when she began researching her grandfather's story four and a half years ago. But as she dug deeper into the old newspaper clippings and court transcripts, she began to question what she had always taken for fact. Earlier this year, over the objections of his siblings, Robert Dunbar Sr. agreed to give his daughter a DNA sample. A son of Bobby Dunbar's brother, Alonzo, agreed to give a sample to compare it with.

The samples did not match. For years, Julia Anderson's eight other children held tight to the belief that their brother was stolen away from them. They had not been seen in Rapides Parish until they were found last week in a Pineville neighborhood. But they may have been there for two years, said experts at the Louisiana State University AgCenter and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The "supertermites" have caused millions of dollars in treatments, repairs, defaults on loans, and collapse, demolition, and rebuilding of structures.

Formosan termites spread faster and wider than native species. Their cross-country Prostate Cancer Support Group, Hederman Cancer Center, 1 227 N. State Jackson; 5:30 p.m.; free; details, 1-800-948-6262. West Rankin Chapter of the AARP 3444, Richland Community Center, 410 E. Harper Richland; blood pressure checks, dinner and meeting; 5:30 p.m.; free; details, 845-0461.

Fondren Theatre Workshop: The Art of Mime, The Artery Coffee House, 3220 N. State Jackson; featuring Amile Wilson and Nicole Possiot of Bel-haven College's Joshua Squad; 7 p.m.; $10; details, 982-2217 or howelljdaol.com. Mother Goose Story Time, Flowood Public Library, 103 Winners (scuba gear helped). On a particularly tough assignment, he had to hang two men upside down and cut their throats (fake blood necklaces, ankle straps and meat hooks came into play). "What you think might be the easiest thing to do would probably be the toughest," Mann says.

The fight scene is rehearsed for weeks until it's perfected. Safety is one of Mann's top concerns, because one wrong move could destroy the fight or worse. Although weapons are made from harmless materials aluminum, rubber or Styrofoam, there's always potential for injury. "We don't have safety equipment like they do in competitive The Associated Press PINEVILLE, La. The vora-cious termites found last week in a small Louisiana town may have been there for years before they were found.

And they're probably there to stay, experts say. Nobody is sure just how the For-mosan termites got to Pineville, though one theory is that they had infested a packing crate in which landscaping materials were sent from Lake Charles, Like New Orleans, Lake Charles has been fighting Formosan termites for years. 4988. Yoga Class for Senior Adults, Ridgeland Recreation Center, 127 Old Trace Park, Ridgeland; gentle stretching; sponsored by Ridgeland Recreation and Parks; 1 1 a.m.-noon today, Friday; $5 class, $30 month; details, 856-6876 or 853-2011. Presenting: Shirley Simpson aa Katharine Hepburn, Flowood Public Library, 103 Winners Circle, Flowood; New Stage Theatre actress performs one-woman comedydrama; 7 p.m.; free; details, 919-1911.

Intermediate Guitar, Millsaps College, Jackson; enrichment class; p.m. Mondays beginning today; $70; details, 974-1 130. "As long as I'm living, a child molester will not be leading that church." Dorothy Cobb, member of the 100-member congregation gathered in the white-columned sanctuary on a wooded hill and listened as the interim pastor told them the issue should be no one else's concern. The Rev. Perry Oliver said the church was going through a time of tribulation, like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And just as Jesus faced Satan in private, the church must also. At the end of the two-hour service, church deacons and members refused to comment. Wade, who spoke earlier, said Brown had been a good pastor Cha-Cha and more; 6 p.m.; free; details, 856-6876 or 853-2011. Beginning Crochet, Ridgeland Recreation Center, 127 Old Trace Park, Ridgeland; p.m.; free; details, 856-6876. HCC Raymond Campus Wind, Percussion and Brass Ensembles in Concert, Hinds Community College, Cain-Cochran Hall Hogg Auditorium, Raymond; 7:30 p.m., free; details, 857-3271.

Ridgeland Quilters, Ridgeland Recreation Center, 127 Old Trace Park, Ridgeland; meeting for both experienced and novice quilters; 1 p.m.; free; details, 856-6876 or 853-2011. schools as a freelance fight director and movement coach. He taught at the British National Stage Combat Workshop in London, the Asolo Conservatory Program in Sarasota, and the University of South Carolina before landing in Mississippi. "I was on the road a lot," he says. "I was home five weeks every year and one day, my daughter asked me why I left her all the time.

That took all the gas out of my desire for a freelance career." The teaching position at USM, he says, finally gave him the "right place, right time and right people to work with." His courses include armed and unarmed stage combat, acting and improvisation. Aspiring actors take the combat classes because doing so increases their marketability in the theater world. "It's a godsend that he came here, actually," said Ocean Springs CARPET Master I Carpet Cleaning Specialists I KUtJM I PER ROOM 200s) max. perrm kM OR MORE ALSO AVAILABLE Carpet Repairs Restretching (Any Size) Upholstery Cleaning (Wet or Dry Cleaning) Beroer bpeciaiists Larpet spot uyeing PETRI ICTEDC 100 G'teed (699! Stage: Aspiring actors take to increase their marketability moves are most often in railroad ties and utility poles, AgCenter entomologist Dennis Ring said. But they also travel on wood from structures, lumber, pallets, landscape timbers, wood used in the oil industry, firewood, trees, sawdust, mulch, potted plants, pieces of wood in boats, mobile homes, homes, and paper.

A natural reaction when someone finds materials damaged by Formosan termites is to throw them away. That can spread the destructive insects even further, Ring said. Circle, Flowood; Interactive music and games for infants to 24 months; a.m.; free; details, (601) 919-1911. Send your listings at least a week in advance to Calendar, Southern Style, The Clarion-Ledger, Box 40, Jackson MS 39205-0040, fax to (601) 961-7325 or e-mail styleackson. gannett.com.

Include a description of the event, location, times, dates, costs and a phone number for details. For information, call 961-7268. in the theater fencing," he says. "A few inches of a sword going through the eye is going to kill you. Safety practices are becoming increasingly sophisticated because audiences today expect more bang for their buck.

"When you take a sword out on stage, they think of a movie they've seen," he says. "They're expecting at least that." Behind the curtain, Mann keeps one eye on his actors, rooting for them. He also monitors the audience to gauge their reaction to multiple weeks worth of choreography and training. "Few jobs," he says, "can pay you for having this much fun in return for so much hard work." OB Friends of the Clinton Public Library, Clinton Public Library, 1 1 1 Clinton Clinton; featuring Luther Knight, retired Ole Miss biology professor and author of Tomato Patch; 7 p.m.; free; details, 924-5291. Mississippi College Rifles Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Parkway Baptist Church, 802 Frontage Road, Clinton; featuring author and curator Gordon Cotton; 6:30 p.m.; free; details, 924-5442.

Spring Choral Concert, University of Southern Mississippi, Mannoni Performing Arts Center Auditorium, Hatties-burg; presented by the School of Music; 8:30 p.m.; free; details, (601) 266- combat classes native Danny Dauphin, a graduate acting student "When he got here, we assumed he was The Combat Movement Guy. He turned out to be more of a task master than we anticipated and he really wanted to raise the bar. "If nothing else, he's done well in trying to instill a sense of professionalism and discipline," Dauphin adds. Choreographing a fight sequence takes patience and above all, creativity. Nineteen productions of Romeo and Juliet later, Mann still finds ways to make the famous fight scene between Romeo and Tybalt different from the last.

It may mean using different weapons rapiers instead of pistols or pipes for a modern-day take on the Shakespearian classic. FOR TODAY'S SHOWIIMtS www.HEGmovle8.com or call Northpark 14 957-1161 Parkway Place 10 939-1700 Clinton 10 924-2911 TODAY'S SHOWTIMES MAY DIFFER rnvin nccrcnu limit fwkfeffown- JACKSON ALL STADIUM SEATING 13 GOING ON 3D (PG13) No Passes iShowmg on 2 Screens LAWS OF ATTRACTION (P013) No Passes i lup i ispi sup 10 20p BOBBY JONES (PG) No Passes rmpt.jup MAN ON FIRE (R) No Passes Showing on 2 Screens 7 05p9OUp 10 30p MEAN GIRLS (PG13) No Passes 10.25p THE PASSION OF CHRIST (A) uup 45p ouup rzup ELLA ENCHANTED (PG) 2 OOp ENVY IPG13) No Passes I ruuop G00SEN0 (PG13) No Passes iwp THE PUNISHER (R) No Passes SCOOBY 000 2 1ST PRINT (PG 1.20p3:55p THE LADYKILLERS R) HELLBOY (PG13) HOME ON THE RANGE (PG) 1 JSP 4 2ap JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION (PG13) jup rp I KILL BILL VOLUME 2 IR) ho Passes fchowmrj on 2 Screens uap ruap r.oup 010p10 30p WALKING TALL (PG13) 7 10p 9 From6B knows what he's doing. The class has been as good as I was expecting." On occasion, students find other ways to use what they've learned. At the University of South Carolina, for example, two of Mann's students staged a fist fight in the cafeteria. "I got a call from campus security," Mann says with a chuckle.

"They asked me to discourage this sort of activity. (Students) love the reaction they get." Originally, Mann wanted to be an actor not a fighter. But in 1989, he was named the lead in Shakespeare's Macbeth at Mercer University in Macon, Ga. The director told the cast that someone needed to figure out how to bring the story's fight scenes to life. Mann got the job.

"I've always been involved in martial arts and I took a three-week workshop from the Society of American Fight Directors in Las Vegas," he says. "I was hooked." He went on to graduate from Mercer with a bachelor's degree in theater arts and a master's in acting from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. After a series of tests and apprenticeships that spanned eight years, Mann attained fight director status through the Society of American Fight Directors in 1997. Since then, he's bounced from various theater companies and Whatever the task, Mann usually goes about it in his traditional way by reading the script, discussing plans with the director and asking the cast for input. "I look for as many clues in the script as I can," he says.

"There's a lot of specific description of how battles begin. I take those clues and put them into the choreography. "The fun part is getting on the set with the actors and exploring how we can make the story as interesting as possible," he adds. Then there are the challenges. Mann had to teach an actor how to beat a man with a rubber chain a few years ago.

Another time, he had to drown someone onstage and leave his body submerged jUswuhhwiiiuuii4 My darionledger offers you a iseaireonlmeenTOnmentto order a new subscription or manage your existing newspaper account Check for special offers and discounts for home delivery or give a gift subscription. It's all there, at our new jast and secure online account management center. Manage Your Existing Account Start a New Subscription Order a Gift Subscription for a Friend Fay your subscription quickly and securely Stop your newspaper for vacation 100 Sugar Free and Low Carb Gourmet Store We carry Atkins Products and Gluten Free Foods 1 off ALL PRODUCTS with this coupon Gifts Baskets and Cookie Platters Available EL Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 10 am -6 pm Wednesday 10 am -3 pm Closed Monday 605-3454 I heated Ah (fifes dotttA ofGanfort onffitoy Sf clarionledger.com QJfje (fJUrion-TJdcjer real Mississippi kuwoco sr ilnzJ msi ri lJ I I J.M I.