Staff report

Suffolk News-Herald reporter Barbara Lee Allen has been named the associate editor of the Gates County Index, effective Tuesday, July 6.

In her new duties at the Index, a sister publication of the News-Herald, Allen will strive to provide stories on the events and issues important to the people in Gates County.

She will also write for the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. She will spend Monday’s in the Ahoskie office and be available to the people in Gates County four days a week.

&uot;Actually, I live only a few miles from Gatesville where the Index is located, and I plan to focus on Gates County to the best of my ability,&uot; said Allen. &uot;I want to give the people there the kind of paper that brings the news as well as their social events. The people are the paper, and everyone has a story if you take time to talk with them. I want to share the stories of our Gates County neighbors.&uot;

Allen, a resident of the Drum Hill area of Gates County, began writing for the Suffolk News-Herald in 1989. She left the paper in 1997, at which time she married and moved to Carolina with her husband, Joseph N. Allen.

She returned to the paper November 2001, where her primary &uot;beat&uot; was police, fire and rescue, but she has enjoyed writing a wide variety of stories.

&uot;I have enjoyed so much working with the people of Suffolk, and I cannot begin to thank those who have been so supportive of my writing,&uot; said Allen. &uot;There are no words other than `Thank you sincerely,’ that could begin to describe my gratitude. Now, I can only pray I have that relationship with my Gates County and Ahoskie readers.&uot;

Allen’s volunteer services include serving on the Suffolk Crime Line board, and she is the 2004 Publicity Chairman for Suffolk Festivals Inc. and its &uot;Peanut Fest,&uot; and serves as the announcer for the Festival’s annual Peanut Fest Parade. She will also continue to serve as mistress of ceremonies for the Suffolk Division of Tourism’s events. Most recently, Allen served with the 2004 steering committee for Suffolk’s &uot;National Night Out&uot; events.

When not writing, Allen can be found most often working in the couple’s vegetable garden.

Currently, they are enjoying landscaping the grounds of their new home.

They are members of Savage’s United Methodist Church, and often attend Faith Outreach Community Church with Joseph’s daughter, Joni Lynn DeCosimo and her husband, Jay. The family just celebrated the graduation of Joseph’s son, Noah Jacob Whitehurst Allen, from Sussex County High School.