Monday, July 23, 1984 --

• Perdue Farms, the nation’s third-largest broiler producer, is launching a new product line -- turkeys. The Salisbury-based company has acquired processing plants in Bridgewater, Va., and Washington, Ind., formerly owned by Shenandoah Valley Poultry Co. Perdue Executive Vice President Thomas R. Shelton said turkeys will be processed -- for now at least -- at the Indiana plant under the Shenandoah label. Shelton said Perdue veteran Steve Schwalb will be manager of the Indiana plant.

• The second-annual Peach Festival will be held Saturday on the Downtown Plaza in Salisbury. The event is another special project of the R/UDAT Action Group, an organization of volunteers who are trying to promote revitalization of the city’s Downtown Business District. Among the featured events is a peach recipe cooking contest, as well as competition to guess the number of peach pits that have been placed in a giant glass container.

• Johnny & Sammy’s Restaurant of Salisbury was recognized by the Lower Shore Sheltered Workshop for sponsoring the workshop’s annual picnic for 10 consecutive years. Workshop Director Richard Beals present restaurant owner Ronald J. Zimmer with an award of appreciation. Other contributors to this year’s event were Pepsi Cola Bottling Co., Sweetheart Bakers Inc., the English Co., Holt Paper & Chemical Co. and Jack’s Sanitary Service.

• The Maryland State Police have honored a Salisbury-based Trooper for his efforts in identifying and arresting drunken drivers. At a ceremony held at State Police Headquarters in Pikesville, Superintendent Col. W.T. Travers Jr. said Trooper Marvin C. Purnell had successfully nabbed 59 drunken drivers in 1983. 

• Movies playing in Salisbury over the weekend included: “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” “Gremlins,” “Ghostbusters,” “Bachelor Party,” “The Karate Kid,” “Cannonball Run II” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

• Paul Goricki, 28, has been named the new Principal at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School. The first male and first layman to ever hold the post, Goricki was most recently a teacher at a Catholic boys military academy in Michigan. When the Salisbury parish school first opened in 1950, the Principal and all teachers were nuns from the Sisters of Mercy Order. Now, however, all but one of the teachers is a layman.

• The Newton-Camden Neighborhood Association, which has been punching city officials to make numerous street improvements, have finally won the City Council’s backing for $80,000 in funding. The neighborhood group, however, continues to face resistance to its idea to create a $100,000 revolving fund to acquire and rehabilitate run-down properties. The group is still angry that the city has not come through on its promise to build a playground on an L-shaped lot on the corner of Newton and Light streets.

• The Wicomico County Council has approved a program to expand the staff which oversees operation of the Salisbury-Wicomico Regional Airport. This year, Airport Manager Jim Lamer died unexpectedly, prompting management challenges that continue at the facility. Airport Commission Chairman Edward Kreamer said the county needs to hire two positions -- an Airport Manager and an Maintenance Manager. He said the manager’s position would require a salary in the low $20,000 range, and the maintenance post would need to pay about $12,500 annually..