THE YANCEY JOURNAL
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VOL. 5, NO. 18
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Bob Hazel (left) With Jesse Hicks
Memorandum Pledges Support
For Enviromental Concerns
A new Memorandum of
Understanding pledging sup
port for environmental con
cerns has been signed by the
North Carolina Wildlife Re
sources Commission and the
Yancey Youth Jamboree
Set For Saturday Night
The Yancey County Youth
Jamboree, sponsored by the
Chamber of Commerce will
take place this Saturday, May
7, at Mountain Heritage High
School.
The first part of the
program, consisting of vari
ous forms of folk and square
dance, will begin at 3:00 p.m.
outside in the amphitheater.
At 7:00 p.m. the entertain
ment will continue with
singing and instrumental
numbers in the auditorium of
the high school.
Tickets for both perfor
mances will be sold at the
door, $1.50 for adults; SI.OO
for students. Anyone pur
chasing a ticket to the
afternoon performance should
hold that ticket for admittance
to the evening show.
The performers for this
occasion come directly from
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Yancey County Public library visitors view paintings by
members of Mayland Technical Institute’s Continuing
Education Painting Class being held j»»i .. v «y Middle
School. The paintings, on display through mid-May, wets done
USDA-Soil Conservation Ser
vice.
Under the agreement,
signed in Raleigh recently by
Executive Director Robert B.
Hazel of the Wildlife Resour
the public schools of Yancey
County. For some of the
children it will be their first
time before an audience, but
many of the participants are
old hands at performing in
competition. A large number
of these talented youngsters
have won recognition in
former years at this Jamboree
and the one at Asheville.
Some have won numerous
trophies and others have
made records of their songs.
About one third of the
participants have entered in
exhibition and will not be
competing for trophies.
A great deal of work has
gone into the preparation of
all these performances. The
dances sometimes involve as
many as twenty children at
once and require intricate
steps and formations. Most of
the dance groups have been
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
ces Commission and State
Conservationist Jesse L. Hicks
who heads the SCS, personnel
of both agencies in North
Carolina will work together
[Cont’d on page 3]
organized in the
under the direction of one*
more teachers. The singers
and instrumentalists usually
receive their training at home
or from a private tutor. Hours
of practice are necessary to
achieve the degree of poise
and discipline these children
exhibit.
In addition to the Youth
Jamboree entries, there will
be short presentations by a
choral group conducted by
Jerry Collins and a group
from the high school band
conducted by Lisa Mauney.
Proceeds from the Youth
Jamboree go to provide
scholarships for a number of
graduating seniors each year.
The Chamber of Commerce
hopes this will be an x
entertaining event and well
attended by the community.
V- mt-../ V :■'
by Henna Howell, Charles Gillespie, Janice Young, Della
Ogllvle, Milidene Laws, Helen Books, Maurice Woodruff,
Dorothy McHugh, cmd Hattie Silver. Photo by Brian Westveer
'
Population Growth Estimates:
Yancey Census Is Up
The latest estimated fi
gures for North Carolina’s
permanent resident popula
tion as of July, 1975 were
released recently. This .report
was prepared by the Office of
State Planning in Raleigh
(now known as the Division of
State Budget and Manage
ment). Figures are based on
those persons living in the
incorporated areas defined by
July 1, 1976 boundaries. The
estimates are certified by the
* Secretary of Administration
for the allocation of certain tax
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Henry Flowers
Flowers
Is Guest
Preacher
Reverend Henry Flowers,
pastor of Haywood Street
United Methodist Church in
Asheville will be the guest
preacher at the revival at
Higgins Methodist Church
May 8-11.
A native of Georgia,
Reverend Flowers is a gradu
ate of Birmingham Southern
College and Duke Divinity
School. He has served as
pastor of numerous churches
in Western North Carolina.
Prior to his pastorate at
[Cont’d on page 4]
monies to counties and
municipalities.
The figures of importance
to Yancey County are ones
which show the total percen
tage of change from the 1970
census of the 100 counties of
North Carolina to the popula
tion of mid-1975-a period of
s‘/i years. The estimates were
developed by the U.S. Bureau
of the Census and the
Research Division of the State
Planning Office using five
methods of computation
which were then averaged to
reach the most accurate figure
projecting population growth.
Here are the results:
Yancey Cunty had a
census of 12,629 in 1970.
This figure was Estimated to
have jumped more than 10%
by 1975-to a census of
13,900. The town of Burns
ville was also estimated to
have grown by 7.6%-which
works out to slightly more
Arts Council Sponsors
Evening Os Poetry Here
Described by TIME maga
zine as “his own best poem,”
Poet John Beecher is consi
dered a one man recorder of
American experience. You
will have the opportunity to
hear such a poet! The Toe
River Arts Council is sponsor
ing “An Evening With John
and Barbara Beecher" on
Saturday evening, May 21st,
at The Deli’ in Burnsville. A
$5 ticket will furnish you with
Quartet
Presents
Sacred
Music
One of the five Ensembles
representing Bob Jones Uni
versity on tours throughout
the country this summer will
present a program of sacred
music at Faith Fellowship
Baptist Church, on Mitchell
Branch, Saturday, May 7 at
7:30 p.m.
This male quartet will sing
special arrangements of fa
miliar hymns and sacred
classics. Members of the
quartet are Terry Haskins and
Willard Lohnes, tenors; David
Gustafson, bass; Dirk Craw
ford, baritone; and Mac
Lynch, pianist. Director of the
group and speaker will be
Rick Phillips.
Mr. Haskins is a graduate
assistant in the School of Fine
Arts and is pursuing the
master of arts degree. Mr.
Lohnes, Mr. Gustafson, and
Mr. Crawford are seniors
majoring in humanities. Eng
lish and music education,
respectively. Mr. Lynch is a
postgraduate student in the
School of Fine \rts, and Mr.
Phillips is a graduate student
pursuing the master of
divinity degree.
The group of six-who
come from California, Ohio,
cnusetts-ts typical oi tnc
sily, which is located in
Greenville, S.C.
4 a !■. - r J
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 1977
than 100 people in 1975 than
there were in 1970.
Mitchell County, on the
other hand, had a census of
13,447 in 1970 which is
estimated to have grown by
less than 5%-to 14,100 in
1975. Spruce Pine was almost
at a standstill: an estimated
growth of only .3% (approxi
mately 7 people added to the
census).
Madison County estima
ted figures are also well below
those of Yancey County with
an estimated population
growth in the 5Vt year period
of 5.6%. The town of
Marshall had a negative
growth estimate of -35.9%
(almost 600 people dropped
from the census from 1970-
1975.)
Avery County was slightly
ahead of us in estimated
census growth for the 5Va
year period-showing a census
rise of 11.4% during this
dinner at 7 p.m. followed by
John Beecher and his poetry
reading at 8 p.m. All tickets
must be purchased prior to
May 21st; no tickets will be
I - Si
John Beecher
$
sold at the door. Due to the
size of The Deli’, a limited
number of tickets will be
printed and will go on sale
Friday, May 6: NCNB Bank
and the Wilma-Eloise Shop in
Spruce Pine, and at The Deli’
and the Yancey County
Country Store in Burnsville.
On exhibit at The Deli’ will
be the oil paintings of John
Beecher’s wife, Barbara. She
is a native of San Francisco
where she majored in art at
college, and afterwards stu
died oil painting with Jona
than Batchelor in Oakland.
Since 1972, she has studied
with Everett Kivette and John
Bryans at “Painting in the
Mountains” in Burnsville.
Her oils and block-prints have
been shown at the Verde
Gallery in Arizona, Arizona
State University, University of
California at Los Angeles.
Walker Art Gallery in Minne
apolis, Fairleigh Dickinson
University in New Jersey, and
at graphics exhibitions in
England and Germany.
Though descended from
noted Abolitionists. John
executive of U.S. Steel.
time (from 12,655 to 14,100.
Watauga County was well
ahead with an estimated
increase of 23.1%. The
booming town of Boone
jumped ahead by more than
3,000 to reach a census
projection at 37% higher than
in 1970.
Another figure of interest
to Yancey County is shown in
a table which shows annual
growth grates for a 10 year
period from 1960 to 1970, and
then for the 5Vi years covered
by the current survey, 1970-
1975. Yancey County had a
negative growth rate from
1960 to 1970 of-. 98%. This
has changed in the 1970-1975
figures to a positive annual
growth rate of 1.85%. The
positive annual growth rate
for our neighboring counties
of Mitchell and Madison,
from 1970 to 1975, was .89%
and 1.03%> respectively.
hour shifts on the open hearth
furnaces when he was 16.
Here he received the impres
sions which made him a rebel
and a poet. He attended VMI,
Alabama and North Carolina,
as well as Cornell, Harvard
and the Sorbonne. Beginning
in 1927, he taught off and on
at Dartmouth, the University
of Wisconsin, San Francisco
State College, Arizona State
University and elsewhere.
For eight depression years he
administered New Deal spe
cial programs in the South.
Beecher served under a
black captain aboard the first
racially integrated' American
ship in World War n and
wrote a widely reviewed book
about his experiences. He was
at various times a journalist in
Birmingham, New York and
Washington. During the civil
rights movement of the
mid-Sixties he was a Southern
correspondent for the San
Francisco Chronicle and Ram
parts. Previously he had as a
teacher refused to sign
California’s unconstitutional
“loyalty” oath when it was
adopted in 1950. Blacklisted,
he turned to ranching. He and
his wife started a press to
print his work and that of
other poets.
John BeecV:r has of
recent years served as poet in
residence at half a dozen
colleges and universities from
the Pacific Coast to the Deep
South, the Midwest, and New
England. He has given
hundreds of poetry readings
across the United States and
Canada. The American Poetry
potentially speaks to millions
For an evening with a
unique an natura ’
cion i miss tnc toe River Afis
CouncU’s "Evening with John
& Barbara Beecncr on
is';
IP + 4K
Jenny Burgin
Benefit
Dance I
ForJenny
The Student Government
Association of Mayland Tech
nical Institute has organized a
community Square Dance to
raise money to help a fellow
student pay medical expenses
for his dying 15 month old
daughter.
The student, Dennis Bur
gin of Yancey County, and his
wjfe, Judy, hayevheir infant
daughter,
phis, Tennessee hospital. She
has a rare case of bone cancer
and doctors there give her
little hope of survival. She is
being kept alive by massive
blood transfusions in addition
to special drugs. Medical
treatment for Jenny’s type of
Hines* is very expensive and
requires complete hospital
care. The possibilities are
great that she may never get
to come home again.
Dennis is attending May
land Tech on the GI Bill to
upgrade his vocational skills
so that he can get a higher
paying job. Unfortunately,
because of his daughter’s
illness his wife has been
forced to quit her job so that
she can be at the hospital at
all times. Even more unfor
tunate is the fact that the
young couple have no medical
insurance. Relatives and
friends are helping out by
keeping their four year old
son and by giving financial
assistance as they can afford
to.
MTl’s Student Govern
ment Association will hold a
"Jenny Burgin Benefit
Square Dance” on Friday,
May 6, from 8:00 p.m. until ?
The square dance will be held
outdoors on the Mayland Tech
parking lot at the new
campus. Music will be pro
vided by the Toe River Valley
Boys who have agreed to
donate their time and effort.
There will be an admission
[Cont’d on page 6l
Glen Raven
Pay Hike
In June
Donald I. Burhoc vice
cod Thursday that a wage
*