THE MARION PROGRESS
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF MARION AND McDOWELL COUNTY
ESTABLISHED 1896 MARION, N. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER IS, 1949 VOLUME 54—No. 9
Kiwanians
Welcome
New Members
Tuesday evening was a red letter
day in the history of the Marion Ki
-wanis Club, at which time the nam
es of four new members were added
to the roster of the local service or
ganization. New members coming
3nto the dliib were: E. P. Dameron,
local attorney; Ernest House, Jr.,
manager Marion Theater; Dysart
Martin, Clerk of McDowell County
Superior Court and Robin Hood,
"Cashier of the First National Bank.
Hugh Beam, Past Lt. Governor of
3>ivision One of the Carolinas Dis
trict and a member of the local
(Continued on last page)
SPEAKER
REV. D. E. CAM'AK, D. D., form
er pastor of the First Methodist
church of Marion, will be guest
speaker at the Men's Fellowship sup
per next Wednesday.
St. John's Church
Building Addition
To Church Nave
Pleasant Gardens
PTA Committee
Named Last Week
The Pleasant Gardens PTA held
its first meeting of the year last
Thursday night with Mrs. Harold |
Cordell, presiding. Devotional was
conducted by the Rev. Carson Brit
tain. Committees and their chair
.
Tnen were nairtfed as follows:
Hospitality: Mrs. Alvin Wiseman,
Mrs. Clifton Henline, Mrs. Charlie
Mae Harshaw, Mrs. Luther Scaggs,
and Mrs. Jonas Burgin.
Membership: Mrs. Clarence Rabb,
Mrs. Ken Young, Mrs. Floyd With
row, Mrs. Ed Finley and Mrs. Fred
Conley.
Ways and Means: Mrs. J. H. L.
Miller, Mrs. Guy Rabb, Mrs. J. M.
Mackey, Mrs. R. L. McKinnis, Mrs.
M. B. Patton, Mrs. Thad Guy, Mrs.
Delon Hawkins, Mrs. C. N. Mease,
and Mrs. N. C. Comer.
Publicity: Mrs. Locke Tate, Miss
Geneva Link, and R. L. Wiggins.
Historian: Miss Elise House, and
Program Chairnjan, Mrs. George
Sandlin.
Mrs. E. A. Heers led the group in
a "Community Sing". The grades
winning the prize for having the
largest number of parents present
were Mrs. Ray Simmons third
grade, (now being taught by Mrs.
Tom Gowan) and Mrs. Ned Mc
Crimpsey's tenth grade.
The faculty served dainty re
freshments at the close of the meet
ing. Carrying out a color scheme of
green and white.
St. John's Episcopal church
broke ground this week for an ad
dition to the nave extending it by
17 feet. The addition will face
South Main street and will be the
first unit of an overall plan to en-!
large the church, the Rev. Albert!
P. Mack, pastor, said. A parish1
house at the rear of the church is i
included in the overall plan, he;
said. I
.Frank Edwards, who was con-1
tractor for the Sunday School addi-;
tion constructed about three years i
igo, is also contractor for the cur
rent building program.
Seating capacity of the auditor
;um will be increased from 70 to
about 100.
MAMONPTA
ANNOUNCES DATE
OF FIRST MEETING
i
The first meeting of the Marion!
Parent-Teachers association will be
held at 7:45 p. m., Tuesday, Sep
tember 27, Mrs. W. Ml Gordon,
publicity chairman, announced this
week.
The plan this year is to have six!
meetings instead of the customary j
once a month meeting All j
meetings will be held at night and j
there will be no October meeting. |
ATTENDING CONVENTION
Ernie House is attending the 14th j
annual convention of the Young I
Democratic Clubs of North Caro- i
lina in New Bern on Thursday, Fri-!
day and Saturday of this week.
Marion Merchants Plan Banquet
And Festival For Christmas Season
MS. SANDUN
IS CANDIDATE
FOR NCEA POST
Mrs. George Sandlin, a teacher in
Pleasant Gardens School, has been
nominated by the McDowell Coun
ty unit of the North Carolina Edu
cation Association for the presiden
cy of the western district of the
NCEA for the coming year.
Mrs. Sandlin was born and reared
in Bryson City, was graduated from
the Waynesville High School, receiv
ed the B. A. degree from Meredith
College and the master's degree
-from Columbia University.
The former Miss Lula Caroline
Ditmore, she has been engaged in
teaching for the past 23 years. Mrs.
^Sandlin taught in Old Fort for nine
years; in Marshall, one year; Glen
Alpine, four years; and is now
(Continued on last page)
i
The Employee-Employer banquet
and plans for the Christmas season
were topics of discussion at the
quarterly meeting of the Marion
Merchants association last Thurs-:
day night.
Plans were made to have the an
nual banquet on October 20 at the
community building.
The date for Marion's second an
nual Christmas festival was set
Wednesday, November 23. The ci le-j
bration will open with a parade dur-1
ing the afternoon and Christmas
lights will again be used for street
decoration.
Beginning Friday, December 16,
the stores will remain open until
eight o'clock in the evening and
continue these hours through Satur
day, December 24.
S. R. Perkins reported on a meet
ing which he and J. L. Gourley at
tended in Raleigh in the interest of
establishing a Portland Concrete
Plant in North Carolina. Perkins
(Continued on last page)
Annual Calf Show
Will Be Held Monday
Methodist Men's
Fellowship To Meet
Wednesday
The Men's Fellowship supper of
the First Methodist church will be
held at the Hut Wednesday, Sep
tember 21, at seven o'clock.
Rev. D. E. Camak, D. D., former
pastor of the First Methodist church
and now a resident of Greer, S. C.,
will be guest speaker. A large at
tendance is expected.
All members who expect to at
tend are requested to notify Wayne
Suttle so that reservation can be
made.
Norris Recovering
From Auto Mishap
W. H. Norris is recovering from
an automobile accident at his home.
He suffered bruises and minor in
juries when his car overturned near
Yancey bridge last Monday evening
about eight o'clock. When the car
overturned he was wedged in, so he
could not escape, and remained in
the car about three hours until men
who were passing by came to his
aid.
The fourth annual McDowell
County Calf Show will be held Mon
day, September 19, on the Marion!
Riding Grounds under sponsorship
of the Marion Merchants Associa
tion. S. L. Homewood, county farm
agent, estimated that there •will be
about 35 or 40 calves entered which
tops the number for any previous
year.
The calves are the property of
4-H club members, FFA boys or
the McDowell County Youth Foun
dation. Some of the owners dis
playing calves this year have recent-;
ly become owners by complying'
with provisions of the Foundation j
in raising the calves by set stand- j
ards and returning the first female
offspring to the Foundation. There
will also be about 12 Foundation
offspring in the show.
Calves will be judged by F. R.
Farnham, dairy extension special- j
ist, and all will be placed in one of:
three classes. Top calves will be in i
the blue ribbon class, second class j
in red ribbon and third in white.
Blue ribbon calves and some of the
red ribbon calves will go to Ashe- i
ville the following day for the West-'
ern North Carolina Show.
The calves will be brought to the
Riding Grounds here early Monday ■
morning and judging will start at
10:30 o'clock. There will be five dif-j
ferent classes of Jerseys, and six of
Guernseys according to ages.
Johnson Electric Company
To Sponsor Cooking School j
At Community Building Today
The Johnsop Electric company
lias extended a cordial invitation to
the public to attend a Cooking
School at the Marion Community
Building Thursday, September 15,
at two o'clock.
Miss Eliza Clark, Southern Divi
sion Home Economist for Philco
Corp., assisted by Vern Kilby,
Southern Division Philco Range
manager, will conduct the school.
There will be a door prize fori
everyone and a grand prize of a new
four cubic foot Philco Home Freez
er at the end of the school. i
MARION an SCHOOLS !
SHOW MARKED INCREASE
IN ENROLLMENT
Red Cross
Bloodmobile
Visits Old Fort
The Red Cross Bloodmobile made
its first visit to Old Fort Tuesday
and processed 93 volunteers from
which it obtained 77 pints of b^:od.
Red Cross officials said this was an
outstanding record. The visit Tues
day was the third trip the Bloodmo
bile has made to this county.
Those who made arrangements
for the visit were Herbert Atherton,
chairman; Horace Early, recruit
ment chairman; Mrs. D. T. Rough
ton, publicity chairman, and Mrs.
W. C. Teague, volunteer service
chairman.
Others assisting Mrs. Teague
were: Miss Janie Reid, Miss Clare
Artz, J. G. Hicks, Mrs. Hope Stroud,
Mrs. Diora Westmoreland, Mrs. W.
W. LeFevre, Mrs. Herbert Anton,
Mrs. Janette Norton, Mrs. Kimball
Miller, Mrs. Max Hunt.
Mrs. T. B. Faw, Mrs. C. W. Muse,
Mrs. Ralph Gibbs, Miss Daisy Mc
Daniels, Miss Sallie Finley, Mrs. B.
C. Miller, Miss Alma Jordon, Mrs. j
Zeb Lane, Mrs. Charles Stirewalt,
Mrs. C. B. Reese, Mrs. Ray White,
Mrs. Kelly T. Bach and Mrs. E. E.
Richardson.
On the opening day of school at
tendance figures for schools in the
Marion City Unit showed a five per
cent increase in elementary enroll
ment and approximately 28 per cent
increase in the high school.
!
Commenting on the figures, H. F.
Beam, superintendent Marion City
Schools, said the elementary in- J
crease was anticipated, but the high j
school figure exceeded expectations
by about 15 per cent.
Beam also said: "Every effort is
being made to equalize the teacher i
load and it appears that a good dis-;
tribution has been effected. There
is a considerable overcrowded con-!
dition in the high school and we will
make application to the State Board
of Education for the allotment of
an additional teacher in this depart
ment at the end of the second week.
of school. It will be necessary to get j
an extra teacher if we are to give j
high school teachers a reasonable
teacher load." !
"Inasmuch as a disturbed condi
(Continued or last page)
\
I
i
Neal Reelected
Hosiery Director j
W. W. Neal, Jr., was reelected as
a director for a term of three years,
of the Southern Hosiery Associa
tion, at the convention of the Asso
ciation held last week-end at Roan
oke, Virginia.
SPEAKER
mmmmmmmmmmmmsmm
S. J. WESTMORELAND was re
elected director of the eleventh dis
trict of the North Carolina Associa
tion of funeral directors for his
fifth consecutive term at the dis
tinct convention held here last Wed
nesday.
Superior Court
Begins Trial
Of Civil Cases
Superior Court entered its second
week last Monday after the trial of
criminal cases had been completed.
The civil docket was well underway
this week, but records were incom
plete yesterday. Criminal cases not
contained in last week's issue were
recorded as follows:
(Continued on Page Five)
FIRE AT DRIVE-IN
THEATRE FRIDAY
A projection machine and three
rolls of film were damaged by fire
at the Drive-in Theatre last Friday
night.
Funeral Directors Of 11th District
Hold Convention Here Last Friday
Two Wrecks
Reported
This Week
State Highway Patrolman Archie
Burrell reported investigating two
wrecks this week. The facts were
given as follows:
Last Monday a '48 Studebaker
driven by Mrs. Gertrude Miller, of
Detroit, Michigan, was headed south
on N. C. highway 80, about three
miles north of Lake Tahoma, and
struck ail embankment. Passengers
in the car were Mr. and Mrs. Walter
Anderson. Anderson suffered a
broken arm and Mrs. Anderson cuts
and bruises. Mrs. Miller's leg was
broken.
Wednesday morning a '39 Ply
mouth driven by Ralph Thomas Lit
tle collided with the rear of a truck
driven by Forest Noblitt. Little and
Clyde Jones, a passenger in his car,
were treated at Marion Hospital for
cuts and bruises and dismissed.
Funeral Directors'
License Issued
Westmoreland - Hawkins Funeral
Service has been issued its funeral
directors' licenses which was issued
in keeping with a law passed by the
last legislature to issue a license to
all funeral homes which have been
in business for a year or more prior
to the time the law was passed.
The law requires that anyone
conducting funerals in North Caro
lina must have a funeral director's
license.
S. J. Westmoreland was reelect
ed a director of the eleventh dis
trict of the North Carolina Associa
tion of funeral directors for the
^oming year at a district conven
tion held here Wednesday. This
will be Westmoreland's fifth con
secutive term in office.
Twenty members of this district
representing 10 different firms,
assembled at Westmoreland-Haw
kins Funeral Home Wednesday af
ternoon for a meeting. The eleven
th district embraces the counties of
McDowell, Mitchell, Yancey, Mad
ison, Buncombe, Rutherford, Polk
and Henderson.
Two state officers present for
the occasion were W. D. Townsend,
of Murphy, president, and John
Rusher, of Salisbury, secretary
treasurer. They were accompanied
by Mrs. Townsend and Mrs. Rusher.
Following the regular meeting
the directors were entertained by
S. J. Westmoreland and Howard
Hawkins with a dinner at the com
munity building.
Negro Group
Makes Protest
Against Principal
When Hudgins Colored School
was reopened for the fall term last •
Thursday a group of adults bearing
placards formed a line outside the
door protesting F. M. Beaver serv
ing as principal for the coming year. '
Placards were displayed throughout
the week.
Some of the children stood out
side of the building after school was
(Continued on last page)
Rippers Triumph Over Olympia
In First Grid Game Of Season
County School
Enrollment
Shows Increase
McDowell County Schools showed
an increase in attendance of about
200 over last year, N. F. Steppe,
county superintendent, said yester
day.
High School enrollment for the
county system was listed at 600 and
elementary at 2,800, making a total
of 3.400.
"We expect by the end of the
month to have 650 high school stu
dents and 2,900 elementary stu
dents. All the rooms are filled to
capacity," Steppe said.
There is no soil on the moon.
The 1949 edition of the Marion
High School Rippers launched their
grid season by taking a 21 to 7 tri
umph over the Olympia High School
eleven from Columbia, South Caro
lina, in a game played on the high
school football field last Friday
night in perfect weather. The Rip
pers rolled over their visitors with
out serious difficulty to avenge a
14 to 13 defeat last season.
Despite the fact that the game
was played in early season, and con
sidering a few rough places here
and there, the Orange and Black
Ditt-Gibson coached high school
boys operated in mid-season form.
If you take a cue from the first
game performance football fans
have a real treat in store for the
remainder of the season.
According to a number of the
sports scribes of the state the lo
cal team went into the game as the
under dogs, but before it was over
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