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Calendar
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUMtv '/nCE 1901
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1 STARLING Gt N1 RY i JR.
3? BOX Jl8
NC_
Vol. 94 No. 47
25c
Most Offices Observe 2-Day Holiday
Most town offices, schools, county
offices and libraries will be closed
Thursday for the Thanksgiving Day
holiday, and many of them, in addi
tion, will be closed Friday to provide
their employes and personnel with an
extra day for digesting their turkey.
Specifically, all county offices snd
day-care centers will be closed both
Thursday and Friday, as will be coun
ty schools and the county public
library system. Town office* In Mar
shall and Mars Hill will alao take the
double-day holiday, but the Hot Spr
ings'town hall will !*? open Friday
The News Record office will be
closed Thursday but open Friday.
The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department will hold a turkey shoot an Nov. 22 at
the Fire Department field from 11:00a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
The Alzeheimer Support Group will hold their next meeting on Nov. 20 at
6:30 p.m. in the front room of Madison Manor Nursing Center. Refreshments
will be served.
A workshop on entertaining ideas for the busy holidays will be held Nov.
28th from i:30p.m. until 3:30 p.m. in the First Baptist Church in Marshall. A
$2.00 registration fee will be charged. For more information, contact the Ex
tension Service at 649-2411.
FARMERS AND WAREHOUSE STAFF,
most from Madison County, wait for the sale to
start at Farmer's and Growers Warehouse in
Asheville.
No Rale Hike Foreseen
Marshall Eyes
Cost Cuts In
Water System
Ways were explored last week to
improve efficiency of Marshall's
water system in such a way that any
increase in water rates will be unlike
ly
A preliminary study of the water
system by a team headed by Roger
Swann, of the North Carolina Rural
Water Assn. and including three Mar
shall aldermen and Morris Trammel,
of Wastewater Services Inc., led last
week to some specific recommenda
tions.
Foremost among these was a deci
sion for the town to take advantage of
free quasi-governmental services to
find out the problems. To this end,
Swann's group and a representative
of the North Carolina Water
Resources Commission will be back
in Marshall nest Monday with two
electronic leak-detector units in an ef
fort to find the source of substantial
water leakage from the system.
Alderman John Dodson emphasiz
ed that this survey will be carried out
at no cost to the town. The Rural
Water Assn. is funded by grants from
such agencies as the Environmental
Protection Administration and the
District
Court
Lawrence P. Reece received a one
year prison sentence and a <350 fine
in Madison County District Court last
week after being found guilty of a
charge of driving while impaired
Judge C. Philip Ginn suspended the
prison sentence for Reece for two
years, but required he serve a seven
day active sentence.
Other cases decided in two sessions
of the court late last week were:
Danny Lewis Ingle, found guilty of
driving while impaired, fined $190
and sentenced to 60 days, suspended
for two years.
James Dean Treadway, driving
while impaired, 1100 fine, 60 days
suspended for two years.
Quenton B Lamb, guilty of driving
while impaired, six months suspend
ed far two years, 000 fine, 72 hours
community service.
Fanners Home Administration.
Concern about the economics of the
Marshall water system are prompted
by figures indicating that the system
pumps about 10-million gallons a
month but is selling only a fifth of that
amount, increasing costs from 94
cents per thousand gallons to $1.64
per thousand.
At the same time, the system is
operating at mi increasing annual
loss-a loss tf&t most be Mfcde up
from general revenues. TT>? shortfall
in revenue in 1982 totaled about
$50,000, rising to $82,000 in 1983 and
estimated th{p year to total $68,000 to
$70,000.
- More than half the water system's
costs are for electricity, about $7,000
per month. Much of this power cost is
to pay for operating booster pumps to
lift water from Fortner Hollow wells,
at river-level, to reservoirs on top of
the mountain.
So one of the first recommenda
tions to be carried out by the Rural
Water Assn. team is to see how much
drawdown can be supported by wells
at Walnut Creek, above the storage
area -specifically, whether the Fort
ner Hollow wells can be taken out of
service entirely so as to eliminate the
substantial power charges.
The preliminary recommendations
of the rural water group include an
approach to the French Broad Elec
tric Membership Cooperative on the
possibility of a better power rate for
the town.
Prices Vary As
Leaf Sales Open
By ELIZABETH SQUIRE
Average burley, tobacco prices in
markets popular with Madison Coun
ty farmers varied considerably Mon
day on the first day of sales, as did the
quality of tobacco on warehouse
floors.
Hall Bruce of Bernard's Warehouse
in Greeneville, Tenn., which he said
received "an especially good run of
tobacco," reported an average price
of $1.87 per pound with a high of I1.9S
and a low of $1.60. He estimated that
about a quarter of the 330,000 pounds
Keward
Governor Jim Hunt's office this
week raised to $10,000 from $5,000 the
reward for information leading to the
conviction of the murderer or
murderers of William Grady
Gahagan and Bonnie Gahagan, who
died on Friday, July 29, 1983. A local
request had been made to raise the
reward, said Sheriff E. Y. Ponder.
This brings the reward to
$15,000, Ponder said, since the family
of the Gahagans has indicated
members would give a $5,000 reward
for information.
Bonnie Gahagan, 78,' and her
brother William, 83, were found shot
on Saturday afternoon, July 30, 1983
in her home on the banks of the
Laurel River. $5,000 to $10,000 was
believed to have been stolen.
sold came from Madison County, and
he said the North Carolina tobacco
coming to Bernard's was higher
quality than the Tennessee tobacco.
Jimmy Ramsey of Mars Hill, co
owner with Warren Anders of
Farmers and Growers Warehouse in
Asheville, said his warehouse got an
average of $1,854 a pound with some
tobacco bringing as much as $1.92
and some a* Utile $i.Tl "for what
we sold " His Wfcrefeouse gets
farmers to take any wet tobacco cut
of the auction and helps them to dry
it, he said. About SO percent of his
tobacco came from Madison County,
he said.
Dixie Big Burley Warehouse in
Asheville reported an average price
of $1.8569, with a high of $1.92 and a
low of $1.80.
Big Burley of Johnson City, Tenrn,
which is represented by Fred Huff
man of Mars Hill, sold tobacco for an
average price of $1,829 a pound witha
high of $1.91 and a low of $1.63.
Day's Tobacco Warehouse in
Asheville averaged around $1.82 a
pound with prices up to $1.90 and as
low as $1.50. The low average
reflected a lot of wet tobacco which
came to their floor, said Charles Day,
Jr. He said the government got about
35 percent of the tobacco at Day's.
Wiley Duvall, Madison County Ex
tension Agent, who visited Asheville
warehouses, said he figured that
stabilization got about a third of the
tobacco there. He said he was disap
poinded that company buyers did not
seem more active. Duvall said a cir
cuit rider who oversees the
Gfeeneville, Tenn. market said he
estimated that stabilization took 60
percent of the tobacco there. Duvall
said it was the higher-priced tobacco
that seemed to be going to stabiliza
tion.
tytvall said that he can't predict,
bur be has a feeling prtom will im
prove. Early tobacco tends to include
a lot which has been worked too soon,
he said. Higher quality may follow.
Also, he aid, company buyers may
be waiting to see what there is this
^A^b^fore they make their buying
pnmf.
It's hard to tell, he said. "I've seen
years when the price went up every
week, and I've seen years when the
opening price was the highest price."
It is too soon, he said, to compare
t hi* year with last year.
Growers and Star in Tennessee
won't be open until today.
Greater Ivy Cited
The Greater Ivy Community Assn.
has been commended for par
ticipating in Operation Beautiful, a
statewide beautification effort spon
sored by Keep North Carolina
Beautiful, Inc. (KNCB).
WW Aids
Rezoning
The Weaverville City Council on
Monday evening passed an ordinance
providing that those desiring to apply
for non-conforming light-industry
uses of property in the central
business district may apply to the
Zoning Board of Adjustment for such
uses.
The ordinance paves the way for a
proposed light-industry use in a
building on Florida Street by Emil
Stahl of Asheville. Stahl's plans for
the structure were not immediately
available, but are expected to be
disclosed at a bearing before the
Board of Adjustment.
Dayco Startup
Up In Air
When will Dayco in Hot Springs
start hiring? Mayor Debbie Baker cf
Hot Springs gets constant calls ask
ing that question So does Jerry
Shelton, the man on the spot at the
plant as the shoe factory finishes
moving out and Dayco begins to move
i n .
' i V
The date when it will be possible to
apply for a job at Dayco will be an
nounced first by the Employmrnt
Security Commission Job Service,
says Arnold Robertson of Dayco in
Waynesville. Because he does not
know how long it will take to move in
to the plant, he declined to speculate
on wben that might be.
The date will be announced first in
The New* Beeerd and on Radio Sta
tion WMMH, says Charles Erwin of
the Employment Security Commis
sion The commission's policy is to
announce in local media when the job
applications are available. The pro
bability is that the company will ac
cept a fair number of applications
before decisions are made on who to
hire. The first to hand in his applica
tion does not have more of a chance at
a job than the 10th or 15th, he said.
Dayco, which will be making curv
ed hoses for car radiators, will not be
looking for workers with special
skills, Robertson said. Hie company
will train the workers it hires, he
said. "The workers I saw at Melville
looked like excellent people."
He said he believes Hot Springs will
be a good community to work in.
Trucking between the Waynesville
plant and the Hot Springs plant will
go over Route 209.
The ESC meets in the library in
Marshall between * and 1 on
Thursdays for the convenience of
those who do not want to go in to the
emdpioyment office in Asheville.
From One Hill To Another In Hot Springs
Father Graves Looks Back Over Half Century
As the Da yo? plan
on one hill in Hoi S
ed to serve anywhere in the
world Father Graves had suspected
he might be sent to the Phillipines in
1937. Instead he was assigned to be
pastor of the Church of the Little
Flower in Revere, and, with his car
and a traveling mass kit, to serve all
of the catholics in Madison and
Yancey Counties and Sisters in the
Asheville area.
Wouldn't a Catholic priest be lonely
in back-country Madison County? Ms
friends asked. "I was pretty indepen
dent, so it didn't worry me," he
recalls.
He alao deckled not to worry that no
money seemed to go with the assign
ment "The Diciples were called to
serve and nobody gave them any
money," he told himself, and follow
ed that example.
So he had le be a good fund ratoer?
In those days Madison County was
still on the main route through the
mountains.Eight buses and four
trains a day passed through Hot Spr
ings. Also transfer trucks with
squealing breaks. But in com
munities off the main route such at
Revere there were people so poor that
they walked to White Rock to get
relief supplies from the government
and carried the supplies back. There
was a great need for jobs.
Father Graves' asthma grew
steadily worse in the Revere climate
and in 1M1 the doctor told him to go
west. "I went west to Hot Springs, "he
chuckles.
There in IMS he bought an estate
company come to Hot Spring* and br
ing Um Jobs that Father Graves
wanted to see.
Then, because Goodall Sanford, the
maker of Palm Beach suits, wan ted to
leaa* rather than buy a place to make
its dath, the whole community got
together and organized the Hot Spr
ings Corporation, which sold bonds
a nd put up a building to lease. Later
He takes great pride in the fact that
the county commissioners told him
that they disagreed about many
things, but they agreed MM percent
that be was the nun for the Job.
?? ?
In M63 Father Graves suffered a
stroke and was replaced hi Hot Spr
ings. After Ms recovery ha came back
summers even while he was pastor of
a church hi Philadelphia Now retired
he can live In Hot Springs all year . He
is writing a history of the the order's
aotivit les here.