Ebbs Chapel VFD
Holds Open House*
Ramsey Is Guest
Km new Ebbs Chape) Volunteer
Fire Department on Puncheon Fork
Road i? the Upper Laurel community
bald its open house Oct. 35, with com
ments delivered by House Speaker
Listen B. Ramsey.
Anthony Willis, accompanied by
Susie Jenkins at the piano, began the
ceremonies by singing "The Star
p s ? i w ??
spangied Banner.
Vernon Ponder, chairman of the
fire department's Board of Directors,
was master of ceremonies for the
event. He introduced Wayne and
Shirley WUlis, donors of the property
on which the fire department is
located.
Ponder also expressed the
gratitude of the community to the
Willises for their generosity. He also
introduced the members of the board,
the firefighters and the Ladies' Aux
UUry
Debbie Hensley - one of two lady
finflgbUrs - presented Fire Chief
Bili Stockton a plaque in appreciation
of hia four year* of work and dedica
tion aa a chief
Stockton invited anyooe interested
in Joining the fire department to come
by any Monday at 7 p.m. when the
meetings are held.
Ramsey, in hia comments during
the ceremony, spoke of the impor
tance of community volunteer fire
departments
Of the more than 1,900 fire depart
ment! in the state, all but 75 are
volunteer, Ramsey. He also told the
audience that the state will complete
the paving of the department's park
ing area in the spring
Refreshments were served by the
Ladies' Auxiliary. J
Ebbs Chapel Volunteer Fire Department held its open house
last month.
Upper Laurel , Walnut Creek To Be Judged
By EMMA LOU WAMBLES
Upper Laurel and Walnut Creek,
along with 32 other Western North
Carolina communities all previously
named as county winners, are being
visited by a team of area judges this
week.
These judges determine which
communities have made the most im
provements during 1987.
Upper Laurel is representing
Madison County in Division "C"
(more than 200 families). Walnut
Creek was the county winner in Divi
sion "B" (100-200 families).
Ninety-five communities in 16 WNC
counties and the Cherokee Reserva
tion participated in the 1987 competi
tion of the Western North Carolina
Community Development Program..
The purpose of the program is to
encourage residents of communities
to work together on projects for im
provement. "There is no limit to what
a community can do - if it wants to,"
is the solgan it promotes.
The program has a long history of
accomplishments by the young peo
ple in the communities, also. The Up
per Laurel yough are Madison County
finalists this year. These youth were
visited Thursday by a team of area
judges who select the most outstan
ding youth programs in WNC.
Upper Laurel youth are among 11
finalists in WNC competing for five
top awards.
Another contest scheduled for area
Judging in which Madison County has
entries is the Man and Woman of the
Year. Gladys English and the Rev.
dine Hensley of Upper Laurel will
for top honors in this con
Winners in all phases of the com
munity improvement program will
" unced at the 38th annual
luncheon of the Western
Carolina Development
on Saturday, Dec. 5, at
Grow Park Inn in Asheville
Uty judging within the
all winners
Madison County Com
. Program
It at
place - Mars Hill; Third place - Mar
shall.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Division "8"
First place - Walnut Creek; Second
place - Walnut-Brush Creek.
YOUTH
First place - Upper Laurel; Second
place ? Walnut-Brush Creek.
WOMAN AND MAN OF THE YEAR
Gladys English of Upper Laurel,
the Rev. Cline Hens ley of Upper
Laurel.
Guest speaker Marilyn Cole, area
specialized Agent, informed the
group that its sense of pride in ac
complishment was shared by 15,000
other volunteers involved in WNC
cleanup programs.
Cole encouraged more of the same
because of the impact these
beautification projects have on the
appearance and potential of WNC.
Results of the elections for officers
for the Madison County Community
Development Council were: presi
dent - Marian Wallin of Marshall;
vice-president ? Ralph Ramsey of
Walnut Creek; and, secretary - Em
ma Lou Wambles of Walnut-Brush
Creek.
Deborah, Karen and Michelle
McKinney of Marshall provided the
entertainment for th evening. The
Rev. Cline Hensley delivered the in
vocation. Members of the Marshall
Community Development Club
hosted the covered dish supper.
Earle Wise, county extension chair
man, offered special recognition of
the following donors who made the
awards possible: Asheville Federal
Savings and Loan; Deringer
Manufacturing; Farm Credit Ser
vice; First Citizens Bank; Wachovia
Bank; First Union National Bank;
MicroSwitch; Marshall Glove;
Bowman Funeral Home; Home Elec
tric and Furniture Company; O.A.
Gregory Oil Company, Inc.; and,
Arbee Manufacturing.
To my supporters in the re
cent Hot Springs municipal
election: Thank you.
Please continue your support
by attending the town meetings
the first Monday of each
month.
Ruth L. Smith
Alderman Elect
House Speaker Liston B. Ramsey and Vernon Ponder, chair
man of the Board of Directors of the Ebbs Chapel Volunteer
Fire Department, chat during a recent open house.
Weekend Fire Destroys
Unoccupied House In
I Walnut- Brush Creek
By EMMA LOU WAMBLES
A weekend fire claimed an unoc
cupied home in the Walnut-Brush
Creek area.
The Sunday afternoon fire
destroyed the Belva Roberts
homeplace on Barnard Road.
A passer-by informed Allen Stines,
a nearby neighbor, that the unoc
cupied home was on Are.
Stines said that when he arrived on
the scene, one whole back corner of
the house was engulfed in flames.
The Marshall Volunteer Fire
Department, which received the call
at 4:56 p.m., dispatched three fire
trucks and a rescue squad vehicle to
the scene. Several forest-firefighters
and two deputies with the Madison
County Sheriff's Department
assisted.
The house was destroyed by the
blaze. Firefighters, who battled the
flames for three hours, were able to
contain the fire to the immediate area
and keep it away from surrounding
woods.
The cause of the fire is undo' in
vestigation.
The fire was the second major
blaze in a week in the Walnut-Brash
Creek area. A barn on lower Brash
Creek Road burned Halloween night,
apparently the victim of an arsonist.
The barn, part of the Bobby Mc
Clure estate, contained 800 sticks of
tobacco, some hay and a farm trailer
belonging to Lathern Franklin of
Brush Creek were destroyed.
Volunteers Needed
For Madison's Elderly
The face of lb* American popula
tion is rapidly changing. People older
than 75 make up the fastest growing
segment of our population. Many of
these people Uv? on limited incomes
The Senior Companion Program of
Land-of Sky Regional Council is
beginning its third year of operation.
The council has secured many
volunteers in the four counties it
works in, but needs people in the
Madison County area.
The program utilizes age W or
not be Institutionalised. The council
furnishes a non-taxable stipend for
volunteers to work 10 hours ? week
On-the-job insurance coverage Is pro
vided. After training they are assign
ed to an agency which provides the
clients.
For more information or to apply,
call Juanita Storm at the Land-of-Sky
Regional Council office 254-8111 or
I Lucille Burijltte at HMUOfiW
Buncombe Blood Drive Passes Goal
Health occupations students at
North Buncombe High School and in
structor Beth Rogers recently spon
sored a blood drive with the
American Red Cross.
The bloodmobile was set up in the
auxiliary gym of North Buncombe
High School.
The original goal was 75 units of
blood, but, by the end of the day, a
total of 91 units had been collected
from students and faculty.
Another blood drive will be held In
January.
Cat rabies? Yes, cat rabies has outnumbered
dog rabies since 1982 due largely to the sad
fact that there are an estimated 36 million cats
in the U.S. today that are not vaccinated. So
protect your family and vaccinate your pets.