Carteret Picnic

	NEWPORT, September 16, 2000 -- The weather was superb as cooks fired up the barbecue pit Saturday for the 21^st Annual Prison Ministries Inmate/Family Picnic at Carteret Correctional Center. More than 400 people participated in this year's picnic, including 108 inmates and their family members, 155 visitors with 55 children, and dozens of volunteers. A gospel group provided the musical entertainment, while the kids enjoyed having their faces painted.
Several local dignitaries and DOC officials joined in for the food and fun including Carteret County Commissioners Betty Bell and Jonathan Robinson, Newport Mayor Daryl Garner and North Carolina Rep. Ronnie Smith. Visitors from the Department of Correction included George Lyndon, Assistant to the Secretary; Mary Ward, Director of Offender Family Services and Kim Banko, Offender Family Services.
Former Carteret Correctional Superintendent Charles Meeks led the team of cooks who roasted 551 pounds of barbecued pig for the hungry crowd. Established in 1938, Carteret Correctional Center is a minimum security prison for adult males near Newport, NC.