The News Record
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
On tha Intld ?
Mars Hill Lions
Still Undeafeated
. . Turn To Page 8
78th Year No. 40
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N C
THURSDAY, October 11, 1979
15' Per Copy
HUD Gives County
$530,000 In Grants
Two locations in Madison
County - Culvin Creek in
Spillcom and the town of Hot
Springs - have been awarded
grants amounting to half a
million dollars to upgrade
substandard housing.
Becky Williams, a represen
tative of Land-of-Sky Regional
Council who works closely
with Madison County officials,
notified the county last week
that the awards are now
finalized.
"The county is very for
tunate to get two of these
grants," she said. "These
grants do not have to be mat
ched by local money, and they
are very hard to get. HUD had
about 160 applications for
them from North Carolina
communities, and they ap
proved only about a quarter of
them. It is unusual for a single
county to receive two."
Spillcorn will receive
$267,220 to rehabilitate hous
ing along Culvin Creek, the
most densely populated of the
area's four creeks. According
to Sam Parker, recently ap
pointed Community Develop
ment director for Madison
County, the money will be us
ed to bring as many houses as
possible up to Section 8 stan
dards.
"This means," said Parker,
"that we will try to provide
people who fall within our
guidelines with adequate, safe
housing. We will give them a
clean water supply, septic
tanks for their sewage, ade
quate insulation, good struc
1
tural support for the house,
and a tight roof.
"According to the grant pro
visions," he went on, "we can
put up to $12,000 into a singly
house. We cannot rebuild a
house completely ; we can only
rehabilitate. If it takes more
than $12,000 we can't do it with
this grant. We said in the
grant that we would be able to
fix a minimum of 20 houses.
Hopefully we'll be able to ex
tend that, because we won't
have to spend the maximum
amount on every house."
Parker said that he hoped
the other three creeks in the
Spillcorn area will also benefit
from grant money, but that
the county was very fortunate
to get this grant for now. "This
is one of the very few totally
rural projects to be funded,"
he said.
Spillcorn was chosen
because it has been named in
a number of housing studies as
needing help more than any
other area in the county. The
effort was narrowed further to
Culvin Creek because houses
are relatively concentrated
there, and hence easier to
work on as a group.
The grant represents years
of work by many individuals,
especially the official plan
ners of the county. "The peo
ple who deserve a lot of the
credit," says County Commis
sioner James Ledford, "are
the members of the Madison
County Planning Board. They
have held the public hearings,
helped prepare the grants,
and done a tremendous
amount of work to get this
thing ready."
The board consists of Chair
man Donald Anderson, Louis
Zimmerman, Garland Woody,
Jeanne Hoffman, Earl Wise,
Mary Lee Smith, Ned Smith
Jr., Robena Adams, Taylor
Barnhill, Robert Edwards,
Wayne Gosnell, Earl Lein
inger, Wayne McDevitt, Earl
Shelton and Edward Williams.
David Quinn is a staff person
representing Community
Development and Natural
Resources.
The amount of the Hot Spr
ings grant is $263,280, and the
terms are almost identical to
those of the Spillcorn grant.
The two target areas in the
town are the Silvermine and
Spring Creek Road
neighborhoods, according to
Larry McCall, Community
Development director for Hot
Springs. Again, a minimum of
20 houses will be rehabilitated,
providing safe and sanitary
housing for the 79 persons who
live in them. In Silvermine, all
the residents are of low or
moderate income, and in the
Spring Creek Road area 73
percent are in this category.
Most of the houses are more
than SO years old and narrowly
spaced on steep, inaccessible
land. Three vacant dwellings
in the Spring Creek area are
judged to be dilapidated
beyond repair and will be
demolished. Grants to in
dividual homeowners will
range from $5,000 to $1/1,000,
with an expected average
amount of $9,500.
Hot Springs Votes 'Yes'
On Two Key Bond Issues
Residents of Hot Springs
voted last week to pass two
important bond issues that
will greatly improve the
own's sewer and water
acilities.
The vote was especially
mportant because of an
in usually favorable com
>ination of matching grants
hat will pay about half the
?xpense of the water project
ind more than three-quarters
if the expense of the sewer
iroject.
Had voters refused to
lUthorized the two projects,
ccording to those who
worked on the project, the
jwn might have had to
boulder the entire cost by
aelf in the near future.
The town voted to pay
175,000 for substantial im
rovements to the town water
ystem. At the same time, the
xleral Farmer's Home
dministration will pay an
dditional $106,300 for the
ork, and money from the
orth Carolina State Clean
fater Bond Act will account
r $81,400.
Voters also decided to pay
IS, 000 for the sewer work,
ot Springs will also receive
47,348 from the Environ
ental Protection
dministration and $14, 541
om the N.C. Clean Water
md Act
The work on the water
stem, according to Ed
?gle of Butler Associates,
? include laying two new
jht-inch water lines from
a east side of the French
oad River to the town. Tills
II replace a single six-inch
?, put in r yea rs ago,
itch to
streets, says Ed Seagle, often
comes from adjacent streets
by way of back yards. Aside
from making repairs difficult,
this haphazard distribution
system makes it almost
impossible for Are trucks to
combat fires on streets
without mains.
The sewage improvements
will be made in several
places. There will be a new
pumping station on the east
side of the river, near Smoky
Mountain. Now the houses in
that region, containing about
75 people, are releasing raw
sewage into the river. This
sewage will be pumped over
the bridge and into the
existing sewer system.
Also, there will be a new
pumping station on Spring
Creek which will pump across
to a hill where the sewage can
flow by gravity to Hot
Springs.
A holding tank will be
added to the existing waste
treatment plant behind the
school. And two other areas of
town now discharging raw
sewage will be put on septic
systems. These areas, on the
other side of the river near
the Highway 209 bridge, are
so far from the treatment
plant that it will probably be
cheaper to install individual
tanks.
According to Seagle, con
sulting engineer for the town,
the grant combination won by
Hot Springs is "about the best
package they could have
gotten." Normally, he says,
the Farmer's Home
Administration won't make a
grant unless the town is
already taxing itself for water
use at a rate of at least 17.50
per 3,500 gallons. Hot Springs'
rate will be only $5.75 per
3,500 gallons ? substantially
lower.
(Continued on Page 8 )
BYARD RAY gave a brief sampling of his
fiddling genius during the Friday night ses
sion at Owens Theater, along with the Shaws,
Gordon Freeman, Mary Hennebaum,
Laughlin Shaw, Luke Smathers and Tommy
Hunter. 'Til tell you," said Ray, "I'm real
proud to be up here with these mountain fid
dlers. They're a special breed of cat. You can
hand 'em almost any instrument - a fiddle or
a banjo or a guitar or an autoharp ? and they
know Just what to do with it."
Names Of
Candidates
Are Now In
The Oct. 5 deadline for
filing to run for office in the
county's three municipalities
has now passed, and the
following citizens of Madison
County have registered:
Hot Springs: for mayor,
Swan B. Huff (appointed to
complete the term of Joseph
Henderson; unopposed). For
alderman, Jerry Ramsey,
incumbent; Debra P. Baker,
incumbent; Wesley H.
Staude; Leroy Johnson.
Marshall: for mayor,
Lawrence Ponder, incumbent
(unopposed). For alderman,
James Penland, incumbent;
Jackie Davis, incumbent;
James Marler, incumbent;
John Dobson; S.L. Nix.
Mars Hill: for mayor, Bill
Powell, incumbent (unop
posed). For alderman,
Gordon Randolph, in
cumbent; Arthur Wood, in
cumbent; Carl Eller, in
cumbent (all unopposed) .
The winners will be
determined in the general
election on Nov. 6.
ROLLING THE LAST LOG INTO PLACE
ARE Drew Langsner, left, and a friend who
is helping with the project. The logs, made of
poplar harvested on the Langsners' farm,
shrink about 5 percent after they are hewn.
After they have shrunk the chinking - ex
panded aluminum - can be set between them.
This house was begun during a workshop last
summer and by next year will be the
Langsners' new home.
County Woodcraft For The 1980s
How A Young Couple Gives New Life To Old Skills
By ALAN ANDERSON
Far up Shelton Laurel, not
far from the Tennessee state
line, live HJL4IBM3H41 cnupJe
named Drew and ?ouise
Langsner. They are not
unusual for living where they
do, nor for immigrating to
Madison County from another
state (they came five years
ago from California). The
exceptional thing about them
is that they have quickly
learned a number of
traditional mountain skills ?
making chairs, baskets, log
houses, spoons, and others ?
and are determined to pass
these skills along to both
natives and other newcomers.
Both Drew and Louise are
already accomplished
teachers; both have articles
in the current issue of
Organic Gardening magazine,
for example ? Louise on
cover cropping and Drew on
-building and placing of
woodpiles. They have written
a book called Country
Woodcraft, which has proved
highlypopular among people
who wish to learn how to
make their own utensils,
furniture, and otehr object!
out of local woods. And they
have been developing several
workshops which they offer to
the public each summer to
demonstrate the skills they
have acquired. Through thes<
workshops they are helping to
keep alive both knowledge
and techniques that might
otherwide be lost as those who
know them best pass away.
The third Country Wood'
Decision On Border
Predicted October 23
A commission appointed to
find the exact location of the
Madison-Buncombe County
line "is going to have to make
a report" by Oct. 23, accor
ding to Chairman Charles
Owen, a land developer from
Forest City.
The counties disagree on
whether a package store own
ed by Robert Sofield and Ed
ward Kirkpatrick is in Bun
combe or Madison County. If
it is in Madison County, which
does not allow the sale of beer,
it would be violating county
law. If it is in Buncombe Coun
ty, where the sale of liquor is
legal, business may continue
as usual.
The commission was
originally charged by
Superior Court Judge William
T. Grist on July 9 to determine
the location of the border
along the Ivy River just east of
Highway 19/23. The commis
sion was given 45 days for the
job, and when this deadline ex
pired in mid-August, the judge
gave a 30-day extension to
Sept. 23. Then still another ex
tension was granted until Oct.
23.
The other two commission
members are Superintendant
of Schooto Robert Edwards,
rtpr? rttng Madison County,
and attorney Garry Cash,
representing Buncombe Coun
?
legal
according to Charles Owens,
derives from the fact that the
border was established in 1851
but not surveyed until some 30
years later. "It seems like a
simple matter," said Owens,
"but there are many, many
variables here, and we want to
be very sure of our data."
The board hired surveyor
Walter Hutchinson to resolve
the dispute. But mo6t of the
original 45-day period, accor
ding to Owens, was spent in
assembling all the old maps
and records available on the
Ivy River region. During the
next period of 30 days, said
Owens, "our surveyor was
just covered up in work.
"At the end of this current
extension," he said, "we are
just going to have to make a
report. It must be settled this
time. We have no opinion yet
that's been formed. We are
merely asking for additional
data."
Early indications were that
the commission would find
that the package store is
located in Buncombe County.
But representatives of
Madison County feel there are
strong reasons for including it
in Madison. For example, the
previous owners of the proper
ty hao ti>aHnially pK
taxes to I
tor is that the chart* of Mars
Hill
that i
craft workshop of this sum
mer took place recently
and just before it began I
went up to the Langsners
remote term to see what tbey
k had planned. When my wife
and two friends and I first got
I there we were greeted only by
s several horses, chickens and
i cats; three milk cows wat
, ched us from a pasture; an
i acre of corn grew tall along
? the rocky driveway. The
1 stillness was broken only by
i occasional crowing from a
i rooster.
Then I saw a pile of green
( corn husks move out from
i between two rows, and
! beneath it was Louise
: Langsner. "Hi," she said. "A
> treat for the horses." She
glanced down toward the
barn, where some whinnying
had begun. "They know it
already and they're im
patient."
After the horses had been
satisfied, for the moment at
least, she led us up a track
toward a pounding sound
where Drew and John, a
friend from California "who
comes East each summer to
save us on big jobs like this,"
were working on a log house
that had been begun the
previous summer during a
workshop.
"Hi," said Drew from on
high. "We'll get this log into
place and I'U be right down."
Drew and John braced
themselves at the two ends of
the log, coached each other on
how they were going to make
the next move, and counted
down: "Now!" The heavy
poplar beam rolled once and
locked securely in position ?
the last log on the southeast
wall. After a second log was
moved into position on the
opposite wall, the main
impynrting structure would be
finished and the roof rafters
could go up.
The two men came down
and I asked Drew about the
workshop that would begin in
two days "A man named
Daniel O'Hagan Is coming
down from Narvan, Penn., to
lead a leg
course," he said "Ths first
?tep for the students
peel the bark off those
- he pointed at half a
house. I asked if they would
finish it during the five days
of the workshop.
"The idea of the
.workshop," said. Drew, "is
not to get a whole building
done, or even to get it well
underway. We don't do this to
get free labor from the
students; there would be
much quicker ways to make
buildings. The idea is that
they learn, and that they
leave with the feeling that
they can do it if they want to;
that they understand how to
make a log structure."
Drew Langsner became
interested in building with
wood during a year he and
Louise spent in Switzerland.
He apprenticed himself to a
cooper there, and became
fascinated by the high level of
craftsmanship used by the
Swiss. When they build a log
house, for example, the logs
are hewn square with such
precision that no mortar or
chinking is needed between
them.
The teaching program here
grew out of Drew's desire to
learn more about wood
working from master craf
tsmen in this country. He
decided that one way to learn
from them would be to hire
them to come to Madison
Court* "tonfli. Um
be persuaded a neighbor,
Peter Gott, to give one
workshop (Gott's family it
now playing old-time music
full time). Wille Sundqvist, a
skilled woodworker from
northern Sweden, also came
to lead a workshop, showing
the students how to carve
spoons, bowls, knife sheathes,
and other household tools.
This summer Drew himself
taught the first workshop,
held over the Fourth of July
weekend, on country wood
craft; students came from
five different states to take
the course. Then last month
John Alexander of Baltimore
came down. Alexander is an
attorney who makes chairs in
his spare time ? the kind of
chairs that many people in
these mountains used to
make: straight, slat-backed
chairs with seats of hickory
bark. Alexander has written a
book on chair making, and 10
students came for his course.
(Continued on 6)
CHAIR AND BENCH
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