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MADISON
COUNTY LIBRARY
GENERAL DELIVERY
MARSHALL NC
Lodge
-Story On P. 12
Community
Calendar
DOE Changes Schedule
For April 4 Public Hearings
In anticipation of a large public turnout, the U.S. Depart
ment of Energy has announced changes in the schedule for an
April 4 public hearing in Asheville. The hearing will provide
the public the opportunity to comment on the DOE's proposal
to locate a permanent nuclear waste storage facility in Bun
combe, Madison and Haywood Counties.
The hearings will be held at the Asheville Civic Center in
three sessions ; from 9 a.m. until noon, 2 tffltil 5 p.m. and from 7
until 10 p.m. Speakers will be allotted up to five minutes to
comment on the DOE's Crystalline Repository Project.
A large delegation of Madison County residents is expected
to speak at the hearing. Among those planning to speak are
county commissioners James Ledford and Ervin Adams,
Madison High School senior Beth Riser, Taylor Barnhill, Dr.
Reese Steen, Drew Langsner, Norris Gentry, Lou Zeller, Nora
Reeves, Rev. Jerry Evans and Jeanne Hoffman.
FBEMC Plans April 19 Meeting
At Mars Hill College
The annual membership meeting of the French Broad Elec
tric Membership Corp. will be held on April 19 on the campus
of Mars Hill College. The annual business meeting will be con
ducted in the Moore Auditorium.
Registration will begin at noon on April 19. "Hee Haw" star
Archie Campbell will perform at 1:30 p.m. and the business
session will begin at 2:30 p.m. Drawings for door prizes will be
held following the business meeting. Members must be pre
sent to win.
For more information, call FBEMC at 649-2051.
American Legion To Meet
American Legion Post 317 in Marshall will meet on April 3 at
7 p.m. in the Legion Hall on Back Street. Members of the
Ladies Auxiliary wil prepare supper. All members are urged
to attend. _ - .
Optimists To Meet AprfF3
The Madison Central Optimists Club will meet on April 3 at 7
p.m. at Mary's Restaurant on the Marshall Bypass. All
members are asked to attend.
Job Search Workshop Set
The Opportunity Corporation of Madison and Buncombe
Counties wil offer a five-day job search training session in
Marshall at the Marshall Elementary School beginning on
April 7. Classes will meet from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. daily
through April 11.
The sessions are free and transportation can be provided.
For more information, Contact the Opportunity Corp. at
649-3231.
Goat Association To Meet
The western division of the Piedmont Dairy Goat Associ^
tion will meet on April 13 at the Kingham farm in Burnsville.
Bring -a -dish luncheon will be served at 1 p.m., followed by a 2
p.m. meeting. Dr. Patricia Lane will present a program on
medicine and goats. Visitors are welcome to attend. Call
683-9878 for directions to the meeting site.
... t NEWS RECORD
Shotgun Blast Kills
Weaverville Man
^ Birthday Party Takes Tragic Turn
By ROBERT KOENIG
A 21-year old Weaverville man was killed by a single gun
shot early Saturday morning at a party on Chandler's Creek.
The victim's best friend and roomate has been charged with
murder in connection with the shooting.
Stuart Lane Ballard, 21, of Locust Grove Rd., Weaverville
was found dead at the scene of the party in a vacant house on
Chandler Creek north of Mars Hill. Ballard was shot once in
the neck and upper chest with a 16-guage sawed-off shotgun.
Madison County Sheriff E.Y. Ponder reported receiving a
call at 3:45 a.m. to come to the Chandler Creek home. The vic
tim was dead when the sheriff arrived at the scene shortly
after 4 a.m.
Sheriff Ponder arrested Everett Chandler, 28, ands charged
him with murder. Chandler, who told police he was the
victim's best friend, said that the shotgun went off as he and
the victim were scuffling over it. Sheriff Ponder told
reporters, "It appears they got into a racket over a girl."
The sheriff said that there were ten other people in the house
at the time of the shooting. The night began as a birthday par
ty for one of the women who were at the house. Sheriff Ponder
said that Chandler and Ballard had been living together for
several weeks in the house.
Chandler appeared in Madison County District Court on
Tuesday for a preliminary hearing. He remains in the
Madison County Jail today without bond. His next court ap
pearance is schedued for April 1.
Funeral services for the victim were conducted on Tuesday.
Complete obituary information appears on Page 3.
/"Ml ? AA TT-*.
Sfieriti Kecovers A
Stolen Jewelry
By ROBKRT KOKNIG
Madison County Sheriff E.Y
Ponder apprehended two women
wanted in connection with last week's
. robbery of Howard's Drug Store in
Mars Hill on Saturday. Ponder also
reports recovering an estimated
$2,500 in jewelry taken during the
March 19 theft.
Two women wanted in connection
with the robbery were arrested in
Asheville by Ponder and members of
the Asheville Police Dept. Arrested
were Molly Austin, 37, of Gastonia
and Teresa Murphy, 22, of E.
Chestnut Street, Asheville. Both
women were charged with larceny in
connection with the jewelry theft.
They were both freed on $10,000 bond
on Monday.
Sheriff Ponder reported that two
women entered Howard's Drug Store
on Main Street in Mars Hill on
Wednesday afternoon. The women
waited as a prescription was filled,
and the jewelry was discovered miss
ing shortly after they left the store.
The jewelry- gold earrings, rings,
necklaces and a braclet- were valued
at $2,500
The Madison County Sheriff's Dept .
also reported the recovery of three
stolen cars in the past week. All three
cars had been stolen in Tennessee
Two of the stolen cars were destroyed
by thieves, police believe. The
destroyed cars, late model Buicks.
were burned and left in the Spring
Creek and Peachtree sections. The
cases are not believed to be related
Two of the cars were stolen from
Greene County, Tenn. The third car
was reported stolen in Hawkins Coun
ty, Tenn.
SBI Raids
Net 16
Law enforcement officers from the
North Carolina State Bureau of In
vestigations, Alcohol Law Enforce
ment Division and Madison County
assistant district attorney James
Baker conducted three late-night
raids on Friday, resulting in the ar
rest of 16 people on a total of 24
charges of liquor law and gambling
violations.
'Search warrants were served by
A.L.E. officers Stewart Cook and
Royce Stephens at Ramsey's Amuse
ment House on Rt. 213, Cook's
Grocery Store on Rt. 208 North, and a
trailer home owned by William
Thomas on the Marshall By-pass.
Wayne Ramsey, 55, of Marshall,
was charged with a total of six state
violations, including two charges of
keeping and use of an illegal slot
machine on his premises. He was also
charged with possession for sale of
tax-paid alcoholic beverages without
obtaining an applicable ABC permit
and revenue license, the selling of
taxpaid alcoholic beverages without
permit and license, operating a game
of chance (poker) in which money
was bet. and allowing gambling in a
house of entertainment.
Arrested at Ramsey's establish
ment, located on ?Rt 213 between
Marshall and Mars Hill, were seven
others, all on charges of playing at a
game of chance (draw poker) in
which money was bet, a violation of
state statutes, GS 14-292.
Those charged were: Frank
Herbert Shelton. 49; Michael Rodney
Johnson, 32; H.J. Lane Ogle. 41;
WORK ON THE MADISON COUNTY COURtf HOUSE began
last week with the removal of the clockworks and "Blind
Justice" statue. Workers plan to remove the 16-ton cupola this
weekend.
Richard Dillingham Works To Save Old Cemeteries 7
By WII.I.IAM LEE
What began as one man's crusade
to save the past may soon culminate
in salvation for many of Madison
County's old and abandoned
cemeteries.
Richard Dillingham, curator of the
Mars Hill College Rural Life
Museum, began recording and plot
ting the old cemeteries back in the
late 60's, only to see the gravesites
vanish under plowed fields or ribbons
of concrete highways.
Now, a concerted effort by Dill
ingham and Dr. Evelyn Underwood,
director of the Mars Hill Community
Development Board, will pave the
way for more old cemeteries to be
rescued by saving the Deaver
McElroy Cemetery in Mare HiU.
Laying just below the Ttxaco sta
tion on the creat of the ridge where
U.S. 213 and 19-23 intersect, the old
cemetery had seen years of disrepair,
added to by the clearing
to make way for the Texaco
and Western Steer
id to deed
pr
planning b<^rd Director Jerry Plem
mons He says the Planning Board
will probaM/jvant to learn how other
counties are handling the procure
ment of old abandoned cemeteries
before making any final recommen
dation to the county commissioners.
|The proposal would allow property
owners with cemeteries on their land
to deed the burial sites to the county
What remains to be worked out is
whether to allow the county to
transfer care and maintenance to
third parties, such as the Mars Hill
Community Development Board, or
simply set up a trust fund or founda
tion to oversee that maintenance.
Due to 1?1 legislation, the state has
made it a felony to destroy any
cemetery, including abandoned
cemeteries and Indian burial
grounds. Under that legislation aH
cemeteries on private property are
the responsibility of the landowner to
maintain unless, as Robinson has of
fered, they deed the cemetery to the
county.
grandmother. Polly Miranda Sexton
Since many of the mountain folk
music was carried down from mother
to daughter, Dillingham believes she
may have been one of the early
sources for Lunsford's songs.
At one time, the cemetery also held
the grave of many of the McElroy
family, including John McElroy, a
confederate general of the North
Carolina home guard. Relatives a few
years ago removed the McElroys to
Riverside Cemetery in Asheville.
fearing the Mars Hill site was hi
danger of being abandoned.
Dillingham has also traced the
Deaver's family tree to find many of
them married with the Keith (amily
The Keith's were one of the first
pioneer settlers to Madison County,
settling in the Porks of Ivy area
It was unfortunate that current
legislation came too late to save tho
Keith cemetery. Lying on a ridge by
U.S. looking down on the Fork*
of ^community, all that remains