Ahead In Carolina
The Democrat led all N. C. weeklies
in 1965 Press Assn, contests. It
won first place in General Ex
cellence, Excellence in Typography,
Local News Coverage, Want Ads,
and Second in Display Advertising.
VOLUME LXXIX—NO. 27
WATAUGA DEMOCRAT
An Independent Weekly Newspaper
Seventy-Ninth Year of Continuous Publication
27 42 17
Dec.
Dec. 28 34 27
Dec. 29 39 19
Dec. 30 32 10
Dec. 31 38 24
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1 .66 51 16
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Jan. 1 53 25 tr. 6144
Jan. 2 46 25 tr. | 53 47
Snow fiven to neoreot half-inch.
BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1967
10 CENTS PER COPY
20 PAGES—2 SECTIONS
Six Fire Companies Contain Blaze
Million Dollar Loss As Fire
Destroys ASTC Ad. Building
Flames burst from the roof of the administration building on the
Appalachian State Teachers College campus.
Young Man Of Year
Is Sought By Jaycees
The Boone Jaycees have
formed a committee to seek
nominations for the outstand
ing young man of the year in
the city, according to Bob
Snead, Jaycee president.
The committee is canvass
ing churches, business, clubs
and organizations to deter
mine which young man — 21
through 35 — has contributed
the most to the community
during the year.
According to Phil Temple
ton, DSA Chairman, nomina
tion blanks will be available
from any local Jaycee, in local
banks, and other businesses.
The Distinguished Service
Award winner from Boone
will be entered in the North
Carolina Jaycee contest. The
state winners will then be en
tered in the national competi
tion, which chooses America’s
Ten Outstanding Young Men.
Contracts For Youth Corps
Program For WAMY Signed
Contracts for the Neighbor
hood Youth Corps program in
Watauga, Avery, Mitchell and
Yancey counties were signed
last week by officials of the
Labor Department in Washing
ton and W.A.M.Y. Community
Action.
Under the new contracts,
which cover only the Out-of
School portion of the Youth
Corps program, 200 high school
dropouts may be enrolled in
the program at any one time
during the year. The In
School portion of the program
was approved earlier in. De
cember, providing 200 part
time jobs for students still in
school.
The Neighborhood Youth
Corps program is part of the
W.A.M.Y. Community Action
program which serves the four
counties.
The W.A.M.Y. Youth Corps
program is open to unemploy
ed dropouts aged 16 through
21, with 47 of the 200 open
ings being reserved for wo
men.
The program is designed to
develop good work habits in
the youth and make them em
ployable, according to local
Youth Corps director H. C.
Moretz. It does not try to
teach specific job skills.
Approval of a new W.A.M.Y.
program which will teach spe
cific job skills, however, is ex
pected any day, Moretz said.
The new program, called On
Job-Training, will pay employ
ers for the cost of training
new employees. The job train
ing program will be filled
mainly with graduates of the
Youth Corps, although other
unemployed adults in the four
Former Wataugan
Is Fatally Shot
West Jefferson — The fu
neral for Baker McGuire, 53,
of West Jefferson, who was
shot to death in front of the
Town Hall last Tuesday night,
was held at 1 p m. Friday at
Baldwin Community Church.
Burial was in West Jefferson
Cemetery.
Meanwhile, Conley Wyatt,
52, of Deep Gap remained in
jail at Jefferson on a charge
of killing McGuire. He was
arrested on a murder warrant
issued by Mayor Carl B. Gray
beal of West Jefferson.
Officers said Wednesday no
date has been set for a pre
liminary hearing. Wyatt was
arrested at North Wilkesboro
by Wilkes officers about two
hours after the shooting. Of
ficers said he operates a store
on N. C. Highway 16 in Wilkes
County near Ashe County at
the “Jumping Off Place”.
Officers said they had not
established a motive for the
slaying. They said Wyatt drove
his car in front of Town Hall,
opened fire on McGuire and
left him lying in the street,
mortally wounded.
McGuire was born in Wa
tauga County to John M. and
Blanche Blackburn McGuire.
He was in the Army and sta
tioned at Pearl Harbor when
the Japanese attacked on Dec.
7, 1941.
He is survived by his father;
two sisters, Mrs. Dan P. Camp
bell of Deland, Fla., and Mrs.
Coolidge Goodman of Bristol,
Tenn.; and three brothers,
James W. McGuire of Jeffer
son, John Monzell McGuire of
Deland and Howard B. Mc
Guire of Mogadore, Ohio.
counties will be eligible.
If the job training program
is approved in Washington,
Moretz believes the local
Youth Corps program will be
one of the best in the nation.
‘‘If we can teach these
youths how to work, and then
get them training for perma
nent jobs,” ‘‘Moretz said, “we
think a lot of good, productive
citizens will be added to the
area.”
The basic work schedule in
the new Youth Corps program
will be unchanged. Enrollees
will work 25 hours a week at
$1.25 an hour. They will also
spend four hours a week in
basic education and an aver
age of two hours a week in
counseling. Enrollees are not
paid for time spent in classes
and counseling.
A majority of the male en
rollees, 130, will work on sev
en sanitation crews and four
reforestation crews in the four
counties. The sanitation crews
build privies, septic tanks and
sanitary water supply systems,
while the reforestation crews
work on planting trees and
woodland improvement.
The supervisors of these
crews will be direct employees
of the Youth Corps unnder the
new program. In the past,
they had been paid through
the health departments and the
soil conservation service.
These agencies will continue
to select work sites and pro
vide supervision as in the past.
Other enrollees will work
for schools, hospitals and town
governments as clerk-typists,
mechanics, maintenance aides,
cafeteria and dietician aides,
health and nurses aides and as
meter maids. These enrollees
will be supervised by person
nel at the agencies where they
work.
Costs of the program will be
$480,870, with $350,000 going
Eden New Superintendent
Of Blue Ridge Parkway
Appointment of James M.
Eden as Superintendent of the
Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia
North Carolina, the scenic
route linking Shenandoah Na
tional Park Virginia, and the
Great Smoky Mountains Na
tional Park, North Carolina
Tennessee, was announced in
Washington by George B.
Hartzog, Jr., Director of the
National Park Service.
Eden, 53, who has served as
assistant superintendent of the
Parkway since 1964, succeeds
Samuel P. Weem, who has
taken an assignment in Aus
tralia to help that country de
velop a national park system.
A native of Council Grove,
Kansas, Eden began his career
in the National Park Service
at Bandelier National Monu
ment, New Mexico, as a Fore
man in 1934. Following duty
with the Seabees in World War
II, he returned to Bandelier
as a Park Ranger and in 1947
was reassigned to Grand Can
yon National Park, Arizona,
as administrative assistant.
He left Grand Canyon In
1952 to become Chief Park
Ranger at Carlsbad Caverns
National Park, New Mexico,
and two years later was pro
moted to Superintendent of
Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument, Arizona.
In 1959 he was selected for
the job of Project Manager at
the Glen Canyon Project, Ari
zona-Utah, and later became
the first Superintendent of the
Glen Canyon National Recrea
tion Area, where he remained
until his appointment as 4*
aistant Superintendent of tne
Blue Ridge Parkway.
for enrollee wages and fringe
benefits, $151,250 for admin
istrative salaries, supervision
and expenses, and $24,620 for
equipment and supplies. The
program will run from De
cember 19, 1966 to December
19, 1967.
Warehouse At
City Hall Is
Almost Done
The doors of City Hall’s
new warehouse were put up
Monday, and all that remains
to be done is the wiring.
Mayor Brown says he is
particularly pleased that the
two phases so far completed
in the four stage construction
have been achieved “without
raising taxes or issuing bonds.”
Phase three, a fire depart
ment, is on the agenda now.
It will contain a three-truck
garage and hose room, and
the Mayor says Fire Depart
ment personnel might make
suggestions as to utilization of
space.
The station will be con
structed between the police
station and the Variety Store
on West King, and when it is
finished, phase 4 will be
started.
The fourth stage of con
struction will be a new city
hall, Incorporating a council
room that will seat 64, and
other offices.
Co. Ministers
Name Officers
The Watauga County Min
isterial Association met Mon
day, Jan. 2, at 10 a. m. in
Deerfield Methodist Church
Parsonage for fellowship and
field Methodist Church Sancu
tary for the regular monthly
meeting.
New officers for 1967 are:
The Rev. C. 0. Vance, presi
dent; the Rev Richard Graf,
vice-president; the Rev. F. W.
Dowd Bangle, secretary; and
the Rev. J. K. Parker, Jr.,
treasurer.
A constitution was adopted
after the Rev. Richard Crowd
er presented it and answered
questions concerning it. The
Rev. James O. Young was ap
pointed WAMY representa
tive.
The Rev. Hank Greer de
monstrated the new audio
tapes to be used in the new
Watauga Hospital Chapel and
reported on its progress.
The Rev. Paul Kesterson,
director of associational pro
motion and enlargement, Ra
leigh, conducted devotions
which centered upon the pro
phet, Amos.
refreshments and in
A last, smoke-shrouded glimpse of the hand
some administrative center . . . never again
to be seen intact. (Staff photos)
Watauga County Hospital
Getting Final Inspections
Wednesday before Christ
mas, the Medical Care Com
mission inspected the new
Watauga County Hospital and
accertained it was 95 per cent
complete and the work, in
general, was well done.
However, according to May
or Wade E. Brown — also
chairman of the hospital
board—Commission represen
tatives “were concerned about
some technical matters, and
asked for closer examination
and testing by engineers,
especially as regards electric
al work.”
Brown said electrical engin
eers came Dec. 27-30 and test
ed the system thoroughly.
“Electrical contractors went
behind them, correcting defi
ciencies” and now the final
details of completion are be
- wig carried out.
“Most of the hospital fur
nishings are stored here and
ready to be installed,” Brown
said Tuesday. But the archi
tect advised that more checks
into the heating and air con
ditioning system be finished
before he issues his certifi
cate of approval.
This certificate will enable
the board to start moving in
the furnishings. Some of the
architect’s men are to make
further inspections this week.
Contract completion date
was Nov. 20, however Brown
said “Numerous circumstanc
es made completion impos
sible by that time.
“We hope by the first of
(continued on page nine)
Covered Wagon Is
Asked By Fla. Fair
A covered wagon in Flor
ida?
Horn in the West Manager
Herman Wilcox informed
members of his executive
committee this week that this
is a prospect for the very
near future.
According to Wilcox, he
was contacted by Bob Con
way, historic site specialist
with the Vance Birthplace
Museum in Weaverville, who
is inquiring whether an auth
entic wagon and team might
be available for the Florida
State Fair the latter part of
February.
The wagon would represent
the summerly Daniel Boone
Wagon Train and outdoor
drama, Horn in the West.
The Fair coincides with the
annual re-enaction of the
overthrow of Tampa by pir
ates.
Matters of finance and
feasibility—at this late date—
will be taken up by the board
of directors. Wilcox says even
if it is too late to “get in
gear” in time for the Febru
ary event, the directors may
discuss a similar Florida pro
motion for springtime.
New Classroom Building
At ASTC Costs $310,000
The cost of constructing a
new classroom building on
the campus of Appalachian
State Teachers College has
been increased by $310,500,
all of which will be provided
through a Higher Education
Facilities Act grant.
Total cost of the proposed
structure will be $1,556,250.
Two-thirds of this amount has
been appropriated by the state
legislature, while the remain
ing one-third will come from
a $518,750 grant from the
HEFA. The N. C. Advisory
Budget Commission last week
authorized the cost increase.
The modern building, which
will be erected on the center
of the mountain campus at a
location where the ancient
Old Lovill Hall now stands,
will house the language de
partments and two other aca
demic departments.
Ned Trivette, director of
business affairs at ASTC,
said bids on the structure
will be let in the spring. The
building is expected to be
completed by the opening of
the fall quarter of 1969.
Irreplacable
Documents
Destroyed
BY RACHEL RIVERS
The fiery loss of ASTC’s ad
ministration building Thursday
las been estimated at $1 mil
ion, but before the flames
vere firmly rooted in the
north end of the 45-year-old
itructure, college officials al
ready were planning campus
jperations in a temporary fa
:ility.
Between 2:30 and 5 p. m.
that wintry day, six fire de
partments and more than 50
men were to contain the in
ferno.
It was to be a moment to
moment emergency as 40 mile
per-hour winds swept in from
the northwest, putting in peril
the library and Watauga Hall,
a women’s dormitory formerly
Known as uaipn-tsian. 11 was
to be wooden girders waver
ing behind bright orange,
time-worn brick contrasting
against smoky clouds overtak
ing the last of the sky’s blue.
And it was to be the pro
nouncement that rescuers are
barred from the building: per
sonal danger is too great.
Campus grounds, neglected
by the student body since the
Dec. 9 recess, had been swol
len alternately with snow and
rain water and frozen into a
slippery sea.
Faculty, maintenance crews
and passersby, joined forces to
heft filing cabinets, office furn
ishings and contributory odds
and ends from the smoky in
terior. ASTC Business Man
ager Ned Trivette was to say
Monday that the cashier’s
money was retrieved, just in
time, from one of the build
ings’ two vaults, and “We got
enough records from each of
the areas of our office to . . .
piece things together.”
The effects of the English
and foreign languages depart
ments, the language laboratory
and the contents of faculty off
ices were to be destroyed. And
while thousands of irreplacable
documents and personal me
mentos were giving in to the
blaze, their sound was to ring
like a huge sheet of tinfoil
held up to a gale wind.
Chronicle
Early arrivers saw smoke
boiling out of the eaves and
ventilators, as a tragedy long
feared came into being.
By 3 p. m., eight 2tt-inch
hoses were conveying water
from the town and college sys
tems. Firemen from Boone,
Blowing Rock and Deep Gap
were there, and forces from
Crossnore, Newland and Ban
ner Elk were to steer their
trucks along the icy accesses
within minutes. Four hoses
were on each system, but the
men could only work to keep
the fire from spreading. As
Boone Fire Chief, R. D. Hod
ges said, "It was gone when we
got there.”
As the eaves of the auditor
ium—the jutting, north end of
the ad building—were splint
ering paint, buckling and fall
ing in smoldering heaps, the
last of the salvage operations
was completed. When the
north roof collapsed, explod
ing a basement window In
back, and gushing fire Into the
broad east-to-west wing of the
building, file drawers were be
ing carried out of the office of
ASTC President W. H. Picon
mons.
A ladder was pat up to the
second floor srindow, in the
east corner, as rescuers passed
down the heavy flies.
Hodges had dispatched aaao
of his men to put op a curtain
of water between t*e audi
(continued on papa ten)