Neighbors,
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Feiiow Leaders Mourn
Loss Of Pop
ular Mayor
died sometime Wednesday of natural causes.
"He had some medical problems and I
feel that was a contributing factor," White
said. "He died peacefully in his chair. 1 feel
liWf it was hie heart. 25 2 result of iiic uiiici
medical problems he had."
Ausley's death came as a shock to his
friends. Despite some reccnt health prob
lems, including an operation for colon can
cer, he seemed to be doing well.
Ausley had played golf Wednesday after
noon with Holden Beach residents Harold
Sellers, Tom Roose and John Arnold at
Lockwood Golf Links. Sellers said Ausley
appeared to be in good health at the time.
"It was a terrible shock to all of us."
Sellers said. "He seemed perfectly well. As
far as his actions on the course I thought he
was just as normal as could be. He was in
good spirits."
The fourth mayor in Holden Beach histo
ry, Ausley was first elected in 1991 when he
received 75 percent of the vote. He was un
opposed last fall in his bid for re-election to
a second term.
"There's a real void in the peoples' hearts
here at Holden Beach and in Raleigh." said
Gil Bass, who knew Auslcy for more than
25 years.
"He was a great person. The real friends
that you have you can count on one hand.
He was a reai friend to many peopie," Bass
said.
Flags outside Holden Beach Town Hall
and at the foot of the bridge were lowered to
half staff Friday. Town hall was closed
Monday afternoon, and the town board can
celed an all-day retreat that had been sched
uled Wednesday.
Sandifer. w ho frequently played golf with
Auslcy. described him as a man who cannot
be replaced. "When you talked to Wally you
felt like the most important person in the
world at that moment," he said.
Sandifer said Auslcy's "calming effect" as
a mayor is going to be missed. "When you
look up small-town mayor in the dictionary
there should be a picture of Wally. He was
perfect for Holden Beach."
Ausley, who retired and moved to the is
land full-time in 19*X), was well-known
around the state because of his work as a ra
"I had hoped he would
be the 'Voice ofHolden
Beach * forever."
?Acting Mayor Gay Atkins
dio sports broadcaster.
Governors Jim Hunt and Jim Martin both
proclaimed "Wally Ausley Day" in North
Carolina in 1983 and 1990 respectively.
Gov. Dan Moore bestowed the state's high
est honor, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine,
on Ausley in 1966.
Ausley was known as the "Voice of the
Wolfpack," a nickname he earned over a pe
riod of 30 years while broadcasting N.C.
State University football and basketball
games.
Born and raised in Harnett County just
south of Raleigh. Ausley was a 1949 gradu
ate of UNC-Chapel Hill.
In 1959, he went to work for WPrF radio
station in Raleigh and eventually worked his
way into the position of vice president and
general manager of Durham Life Broad
casting Co.
Ausley was inducted into the N.C. Asso
ciation of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in
1987, joining the likes of Edward R. Mur
iow, David Brinkicy and Charies Kurait.
Holden Beach Commissioner Gay Atkins,
who is acting mayor until a mayor is ap
pointed, said nobody will be able to handle
the office as well as Ausley.
"I had hoped he would be the 'Voice of
Holden Beach' forever," she said. "With his
charisma and personality, there's no one we
can pick to replace him who will be able to
come up with the right words at the right
moment."
Ausley was the driving force behind
Holden Beach's 25th anniversary celebra
tion last month.
"He did such a fantastic job with our an
niversary," Atkins said. "He put the whole
program together. None of us have the back
ground to have done what he did."
In addition to his work as mayor, Ausley
was chairman of the board of trustees at
Holden Beach Chapel and also was a mem
ber of St. James The Fisherman Episcopal
Church in Shallottc.
"It's certainly a great loss to North
Carolina and especially Holden Beach,"
Bass said. "Through his broadcasts and his
personality everybody loved Wally. He was
just a personality in North Carolina that
everybody knew and loved."
Bass said Ausley gave 100 percent in
everything he did and always rose to the top.
"Everything he did he worked at it and
that's why he was so good at everything he
did," he said. "He loved to sing, he loved to
talk and he loved to fish. He was just getting
into golf."
A memorial service for Ausley will be
held Sunday, April 24, at Holden Beach
Chapel during the 11 a.m. service.
Survivors include a son, Larry Ausley of
Apex; daughter, Karen Ausley of Hyde
Park, N.Y.; brother, Horace Ausley of
Fuquay-Varina; two stepsons and two step
daughters.
The family asks that memorial contribu
tions be made to the Ausley Scholarship, c/o
Humanities Fund, Campus Box 8101, NC
SU, Raleigh, N.C. 27695.
SURROUNDED by the popping and tinkling of heat-shattered plate glass, a crew of volunteer firemt
turns a water cannon on the interior of the Good-Will thrift shop.
Building's Owner Credits Area
Firefighters
(Continued From Page 1-A)
With Quick Response
Inside the building, firefighters
quickly knocked down the initial
blaze, but it had extended into the
rafters. It soon rekindled and broke
through the tar-painted roof, sending
flames shooting into the air and cre
ating a cloud of smoke that looked
like an enormous bruise against the
sky.
"When I sent my second crew
back in we ran into trouble," said
Carter.
Shallotte pointed a stream of wa
ter from its aerial truck on the blaz
ing roof, supported by hoses direct
ed from the roof of Bryan's and
from the ground behind Thomas
Drugs, where Civietown firefighters
set up a dump tank for water hauled
from a hydrant farther up Main
Street.
Firefighters' efforts received a big
boost when Ocean Isle Beach VFD
arrived with its high-pressure aerial
truck, nearly doubling the volume of
water reaching the fire from over
head.
Carter said there was no apparent
damage to Bryan's and only minor
water damage inside Thomas Drugs
from water seeping through closed
off vents near the rcx?f.
"The firemen really did a wonder
" They deserve all
kinds of praise. I
knew everything
that could be done
was being done.
Thank everybody
and praise the
Lord they were
there."
?Ed Thomas
ful job of saving my drugstore. I was
real impressed, especially when
Ocean Isle Beach brought their aeri
al truck. That saved the day," said
Thomas. "We were very lucky."
Thomas praised the firefighters
on the scene, especially Chief Carter
and Fire Marshal Cecil Logan.
"They deserve all kinds of
praise," he said. "I knew everything
that could be done was being done.
Thank everybody and praise the
Lord they were there."
The church had leased the build
ing from Thomas to house its ex
panding ministries. Its Good-Will
thrift shop opened Feb. 18 in the
front of the building, while the rear
provided overflow classroom space
for the 35 students in grades seven
through 12 of Eastside's private
Christian academy. The space also
housed an evening GED class for
adults taught by Robert Moise for
Brunswick Community College.
Built in 1954 by Herman
Stanaland Sr., the structure pre-dated
building code requirements that call
for an air space between light fix
tures and ceilings. It stood at 4753
Main Street, between Thomas Drugs
and Bryan's, and across from
Eastside Fellowship, and had been
in the Thomas family since the early
1960s.
Known as the old Coastal
Insurance Building, it had housed a
variety of professional and business
offices over four decades?offices
for at least three physicians, two
drugstores, a lawyer and a finance
company as well as a former site of
the insurance company.
"There was a lot of history in that
little building," said owner Ed
Thomas.
Thomas had been at church and
was on his way to the family's cot
tage at Holden Beach when he re
ceived a cellular phone call that a
Main Street structure was on fire.
Classes Resume At Eastside,
But In Makeshift Quarters
Both high school and GED class
es resumed this week at Eastside
Fellowship in makeshift spacc at the
church, short on both equipment and
supplies.
George West II, principal of Caro
lina Christian Academy, said Mon
day that room dividers were being
installed in the church auditorium to
create classrooms and that classes
would resume Wednesday morning.
"However, we lost all our lockers,
computers, typewriters, filing cabi
nets, tcachers' desks and other mate
rial that we do need to replace," he
said.
Some extra textbooks were in
storage at the church and teachers
will improvise using copies until re
placement texts arrive.
"Our concern is to continue what
we're doing for these kids," said
West.
A Parent-Teacher Organization
meeting will be held Friday at 7
p.m. at the church to allow parents
and other interested persons to see
what has been done, organize efforts
and "reassure them as to what is go
ing on," said West.
West praised efforts by firefight
ers and the community: "They really
rallied strongly around us. We've re
ceived numerous calls offering as
sistance and we thank God for it."
Robert Moise's high school
equivalency class resumed Monday
night, also in space provided in
Eastside Fellowship's auditorium
building.
Catherine Godley, assessment and
retention specialist with Brunswick
Community College's literacy pro
gram, said that with the new loca
tion she expected the class schedule
to change to accommodate the
church's use of the facility. Instead
of Monday and Wednesday eve
nings, the class will meet Tuesday
arid Thursday evenings.
"They're going to meet tonight,"
she said Monday, "and are expected
to change to the new schedule start
ing Thursday (today)."
The class had been meeting in the
academy space since March, having
relocated trom St. Brendan's Cath
olic Church to a more central loca
tion for students.
Monday BCC literacy program
employees were pulling together
new instructional materials for the
class.
"We lost everything that was in
there," said Godley.
"I called 911. That's how 1 found
out where it was," he said.
Volunteer fire departments from
Shallotte, Shallotte Point, Civie
town, Tri-Beach, Supply, Sunset
Beach, Ocean Isle Beach and Cala
bash responded, along with Shallotte
Volunteer Rescue Squad, Brunswick
County Sheriff's Department and
Shallotte Police Department.
Pretty Spring
Weather Ahead
"A nice transition into spring" is
what Shallotte Point weather-watch
er Jackson Canady says to expect for
the next few days.
For the period April 5-11, temper
atures hit a maximum high of 80 on
April 6, 10 and II, with the mini
mum low 42 on the 8th.
Average daily high was 77 de
grees, and average nightly low, 53.
'["he daily average temperature was
65 degrees, about 2 degrees above
average.
Canady measured no rainfall at
his home.
He forecasts temperatures above
average and near-normal rainfall for
the next few days, with nightly aver
ages in the mid-50s, daily highs in
the upper 70s and about a half-inch
of rainfall.
SWF PHOTOS ?Y SUSAN USHE*
SHALLOTTE FIREFIGHTERS launch a barrage of water on the blaze as smoke and Jlames pour
through the flat, tar-covered roof.
AT ASH
BRING HOME
THEMEACON
On Sale At
ASH GROCERY
THE CORNER STORE
LONG'S GENERAL STORE
RENY'S ANY OLD THING
WACCAMAW MINI-MART
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