THE NEWS RECORD
SERVING THE PEOPL? OF MADISON COUNTY
* ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
"On thm Insldm . . .
4 Madison Seniors
Win 'Olympic' Medals
. . . Turn To Page 7
78th Year No. 44
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N C.
THURSDAY, November!, 1979
15' Per Copy
I County Election Results
Voters in each of Madison County'*
three municipalities elected a mayor and
three aldermen on Nov. I.
In Marshall, Lawrence Ponder was re
elected mayor with M6 vote*. Ponder,
who has served one term as mayor is on
the executive committee of the Land of
Sky Regional Council and chairman of the
county Industrial Development Com
mission
George Penland gathered 47 write-in
votes.
For alderman, incumbent Jackie Davis
won with 218 votes. Davis is chief of the
Marshall Volunteer Fire Deparmtent and
works as a building contractor and car
penter.
Also, S.L Nix won with 101 votes. Now
retired. Nix worked as a truck driver for
ABF Truck Lines of Fort Smith, Ark., and
Youngblood Trucking Lines of Fletcher.
Also, incumbent James R. Penland won
with 173 votes. He is the owner and
operator of Edwards Cleaners and has
served three terms as alderman.
John A. Dodson gathered 168 votes, and
incumbent James B. Marler 166.
In Mars, Hill, Bill Powell won unopposed
with M vote*. Powell, who has served as
alderman and mayor in Mart Hill since
1966, is a pharmacist with Community
Medical Center.
For alderman, Gordon Randolph was
re-elected with M votes. He is employed
as an engineering technician by Micro
Switch.
Also, Carl Eller was re-elected with M
votes. He is the owner of Eller Repair
Service, a small engine repair firm.
Also, Arthur Wood was re-elected with
9a votes. He is a mathematics and physics
teacher at Mars Hill Collage.
On election day, the weather was clear
and warm, and voter turnout was con
sidered to be good.
In Hot Springs, S.B. Huff, running
unopposed, was elected mayor with 168
votes. Huff was appointed mayor upon the
death of Mayor Joe Henderson last
summer.
For alderman, voters elected Debbie
Ponder Baker with 197 votes.
Also, Jerry E. Ramsey won with 148
votes *
Also, Wesley H. Staude won with 126
votes.
Story Accepts Award For Marshall
Marshall will be recognized
by Gov. Jim Hunt a* a
recipient of the Governor's
Community of Excellence
Award November 15 during
the first annual Governor's
Conference on Economic
Development in Raleigh.
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Story
have been invited to receive
the award during special
ceremonies in Raleigh.
Marshall was one of 77 North
Carolina towns which earned
the coveted award this year
i according to Larry Cohick,
executive director of the
Economic Dcvdopoiffit
Divisions of the North
Carolina Department of
Commerce.
"I am proud of the progress
which has been made by these
towns and comm unties all
across North Carolina," Gov.
Jim Hunt Mid. "The com
mitment they have made in
preparing themselves for new
induatry is a major step
toward a better life for all of
our citizens."
To qualify for this award
Marshall had to meet the
industry. These included: an
organization for putting
together and presenting the
town's story, adequate labor,
industrial sites, financing and
access to markets
The awards will be
presented during an evening
banquet at the Jane S.
McKimmon Center. During
an afternoon session, a
number of nationally
recognised speakers are
scheduled to appear.
Story, who will accept the
award on behalf of Marshall
Mayor Lawrence Ponder, was
editor of The N?M-Rflcard (or
M years. Hfe continues to
work part-time with the paper
and to operate the Story
Printing Co.
County Nurse Practitioner Ik
Featured In Life Magazine
Sandy List is a person
familiar to many Madison
County residents, especially
those who have been ill at
some time during the past
seven years. Sandy is a nurse
practitioner at the Marshall
Walnut Clinic, and she has
ministered good humor along
with good health to many
hundreds f Madison patients.
Last week not hundreds but
millions of people were in
troduced to Sandy ? through
a feature article in LIFE
magazine. The article
described In words and pic
tures both her Job and the
people she tends. During
three separate three-day
sessions, LIFE reporter Jan
Mason and photographer Jim
Richardson of Topeka,
Kansas ? who works on
special assignments for LIFE
? went everywhere that
Sandy did, recording her
every word and deed.
"I Just hated to see the
article come to an end," said
Sandy between patients at the
clinic last week. "It was like
losing a friendship. They were
both so nice that I enjoyed
every minute they were here.
They didn't get in the way at
all; moat of the time I nearly
: forgot they were around, and
I really they were downright
?; helpful Jan was even down
- here at the clink one day
helping to scrub the walla."
The reason LIFE came to
:{ Madison is that Sandy it more
than an ordinary nurse. A
- nurse practitioner la a
'? relatively new kind of health
; professional who, in
^cooperation with a physician,
" does many of the Jobs that
traditionally require a A
" Vtitt
SANDY LIST removes stitches from the leg
of Arthur Hensley, who cut himself with a
bush ax. "Arthur works with the highway
department, clearing brush," said Sandy. i
"There's hardly a spot on him that doesnt
have a scar."
which At can contact bar
physician backup, Dr. John
Laird, it any time, and the
charts of all bar patients are
rerleiwd and cosigned by the
physician.
In Madiaon County, the
three public dinks are all
Dp. Heather Spencer and Dr.
Chipper Jones; and a
physician's assistant. Lou
ZeU?r. Hie director ia
Michael Norrins
The BMguine leaned
?bout Madton'a nine
practitioner program when an
editor want to a health con
ference in Raleigh and heard
had backup physicians. But
the concept still seemed new
enough to warrant a story.
So the reporter
photographer team was
dispatched to the mountains.
"They first came in
November of last year," said
Sandy. "We talked and
talked, and they took pictures
? oh, did they take pictures,
"niey had one of those
automatic cameras that
makes a kind of whirring
noise, and it seemed like I
was always hearing that
noise. They must have taken
30 rolls a day. They would go
back to a motel in Asheville at
the end of the day and be back
bright and early next morning
for more."
The photographer did not
get just what the picture
editor wanted on the first trip,
so they came back again in
January, and still again in
July of last summer.
"They were trying to get a
picture that showed the
mountains in the
background," said Sandy
List. "That's the one pictwe
they never got. The
background never looked
?'.* i 25$$
Micro Switch Expands
Micro Switch has an
nounced plana to expand its
facility in Mars Hill by >0,000
square feet, according to
plant manager Tom
. The decision to go ahead
with the expansion has been
reached only recently at
corporate headquarters in
Freeport, 111., so that details
of construction and em
ployment are not yet
available.
Nor are plans for the uee of
the new space yet complete,
according to Bodvig. Hie
(riant now assembles the
company's standard "basic
switch," a component of
electrical and mechanical
systems used worldwide in
such machines as
refrigerators, stoves, fur
naces, assembly tools and
monitoring devices. Mars Hill
may manufacture certain
parts of the basic switch or
some of the many other
components made by Micro
Switch.
The expansion represents
an increase of approximately
40 percent of the plant's floor
space. Whether employment
at the plant will expaad by a
similar amount depends on
the nature of the new
operation, Mid plant officials.
Construction of the new
wing is scheduled to begin
next spring and to be com
pleted in early lttl. Bodvig
said that the company has
talked with several ar
chitects, including firms in
Asheville and Charlotte,
about the design.
"Our decision on what to do
with the space," said Bodvig,
"will be affected by economic
conditions that we can't
predict right now. The reason
we have decided to expand
the plant here is because of
the outstanding performance
of the operation to date. It
isn't clear whether we are
headed into a recession, or
already in one, but in either
case this decision represents
a lot of faith in the Mars Mil
workers."
The plant presently em
ploys approximately 350
workers. Micro Switch is a
division of Honeywell.
On Nov. 6, Bodvig formally
announced the company's
decision to the plant em
ployees. "This will mean
several more Jobs here," he
said, "and a chance for many
of our present employees to
better themselves through
promotion and Job posting
through our credited service
policy.
"This expansion is made
possible because of your
demonstrated fine per
formance. We have proven
that at this location, we ca^ ,s~
manufacture a quality
product efficiently. It is this
proven ability that gives the
company the confidence
necessary to invest expansion
funds at this location. I am
very excited about this ex
pansion and new challenges it
will offer and each and every
one of you have made this
possible."
Young Women Guilty
Of Armed Robbery
Two young women were
sentenced to a minimum of 10
and a maximum of IS yean in
prison last Friday far armed
robbery.
The charge against Kathy
Moss, 19, and Louise Sprouse,
20, both of AsheviDe, stem
med from a confusing series
of events on Saturday night
and early Sunday morning,
September S and t, when the
two women went from
Asheville to a narrow dirt
road near Alexander with 30
y ear -old Charles Brown.
According to Brown, they
both pulled pistols on him,
forced him to unless,
knocked him down a stew
bonk and made off with his
car ana ciocnn < toward
Asheville.
The testimony of the two
women conflicted with that of
Brown, whom they accused of
luring them to the remote
road and trying to rape Miss
Moss, but the jury believed
Brown and voted to eoavict.
The sentence was pasaed by
Superior Court Judge C.
Walter Allen, and will be
served at the Department of
Corrections in Raleigh.
Brown, a thin man with a
moustache and receedlng
brown hair, Uvea at Route S,
Marshall and works for
Stroup Sheet Metal Works
Inc. in Asheville. When he
took the stand he testified that
be left home Saturday night in
search of a friend, ending up
at the Cascade Lounge in
Asheville where ha thought
his friend might be.. When he
pulled in, the two women,
whom he said he had never
met, were sitting on the steps.
The girls eventually learned
Brown was going toward
Marshall and asked him for a
ride. Brown agreed, and after
stops at the Starlight Lounge,
the Cascade again, a 7-11
store, and a Hop-In, the three
drove down the river in
Brown's 1970 Oldsmobile
Cutlass.
Somewhere past Alexander
? Brown did not know
exactly where ? he Mid he
was told to drive up several
un paved roads, near the
construction zone of new
Highway 2&-70. As he came
back from inspecting the
rough road, by his testimony,
he was taken by surprise.
"I started to open my
door," he said, "Then the
Sprouse girl halfway got out
of her door and laid a gun
along the top of the car ? at
me. I froze for a thought, and
then asked, what are you
trying to pull? What kind of
joke is this?"
After some discussion, he
said, he was forced to undress
totally. He kept edging
toward the downhill bank of
the road. "The Moss girl"
then handcuffed him, and
without warning hit him on
the back of the head.
"It didn't hurt me," he said,
"but I acted like it hurt me. I
staggered over to the edge of
the bank and rolled down. I
(Continued on Page 3)
MARS HILL PLANT of Micro
Switch will expand by 30,000
square feet. The addition will be
placed on the north side of the
existing facility (to the right in
photo).
? w-:.' ?"?.'"?wt -V"'.;*? ? ? y-*r~?
Madison County Schools Receive Grant
Madison County Schools has
been notified that their Title
IV-B proposal has been ap
proved In the amount of
$13,121. This money will be
spent for instructional
materials and library
resources at Madison High
School.
The school system has
developed a four-year plan for
Title IV-B monies. In 196041
grades K-3 will receive the
funds, in 1901-82 grades fourth
through sixth, and in 1982-83
grata seventh through
eighth.
The Madison County Board
of Education has approved
this plan, which is same
procedure which has been
used for the past four years.
EARLY BURLEY: loaded up for
the trip to Greeneville, Ted Payne
and V.W. Payne of Marshall
drove one of the season's first
truckloads of tobacco to market
from the county on Monday. They
estimate their load at 3,500
pounds; V.W. Payne says that last
year's harvest brought in 6,000 to
7,000 pounds of hurley. So severe
was the blue mold disease this
year that some fanners did not |
even bother to cut tobacco.
Public Opinion Asked At 2 County Hearings
Marshall
The town of Marshall,
through the mayor and hoard
of aldermen. Invito the
of to
a second public hearing on
Nov. 13 at 7:10 p.m. at the
town hafi for the purpose of
submitting a community
development application to
the Department of Housing
sad Ulrban Development.
ipplicatior wfll be
were presented: housing
rehabilitation, street paving,
Are hydrants, extension of 4
men water aiscriDution lines,
drainage pipes and culverts
and the development of a
small neighborhood park. It
was decided that the Rollins
section of Marshall would be
ine aettnea larger neign
frin?t
Dornooa.
The Town Planning Board
was appointed to ssrve aa the
ntti a j- ?
v^iuzen Aavisory uoinmintN*
UnW-Skjr Regional
AO dtiacoa of the town are
urged to participate in the
heart* and a special in
^tetiw to winded to RqWim
Madison Co.
dnct a second public heat
on Mot. 7 at 7 p.m. in the
MactMn County C
lor the purpoee of i