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VOLUME XLX, NUMBER 13
MARS HILL, NORTH CAROLINA
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 1976
The largest gift '
ever received by Mars
Hill College, approx
imately $525,000,will
be used to complete
and endow a housing'
complex which will
accommodate 168 stu
dents .
The gift is from
the Fannie D. Palmer
Foiindation which
was established in
1971 by the will of
the late Mrs. Palmer,
a resident of Albe
marle who served four
terms on the collegeb
Board of Trustees be
tween 1939 and 1961.
It is the culmination
of deep interest
which Mrs. Palmer and
her late husband, who
was also a trustee of
the college, had in
Mars Hill and in
other Baptist insti
tutions for nearly 40
years.
The gift also re
flects the business
genius and the gener
osity of Clyde C.
Dickson, Sr., of Char
lotte, a trustee of
the college who is
also the senior trus
tee of the Palmer
Foundation.
A lifelong resident
of Stanly County,Mrs.
Palmer was a school
teacher who lived
frugally and saved
wisely. Although she
inherited no money
from her husband, who
died in 1939, or her
parents, she left an
estate valued at more
than $1.5 million.Her
wealth was accumula
ted through wise in
vestments suggested
to her by Mr. Dickson
who was an investment
broker in 1932 when
she purchased her
first stock. Over the
years Mr. Dickson ad
vised Mrs. Palmer
concerning her in
vestments , and her
holdings grew stead-=-
ily.
The apartments are
in keeping with pref
erences of current
students for small
residential units ra
ther than the big
dorms. They also
give greater flex
ibility to the col
lege's housing pro-
THE
SEfiGULL
THE CAST FOR ANTON CHEKOV'S PLAI^ THE SEAGULL
(No admission charge with l.D.) photo: Campbell
Grant for Housing
Improvements
ng.
—attention ^ I
The deadline for editorship applications
for the HILLTOP, LAUREL, CADENZA, and WVMH-FM
is Friday, April 9, 1976. All those who are
interested should pick up an application in
the Montague Building or call 689-1217 for in
formation.
gram. The various
small groupings may
be reserved for men
or women as the needs
may vary. Similarly,
apartments may even
be rented to married
students, faculty mem
bers, sxommer visitors,
etc. Such flexibili
ty is not possible
with large dormitor
ies such as Myers and
Huffman.
The 18 new apart
ments will replace
Treat Dormitory,
which will be torn
down this fall to
make way for the
Blackwell Building.
They will also per
mit the college to
raze two older houses
which have been used
as residences for
male students, Coop
er Cottage and Wood-
row House.
Construction has
already begun; target
date for completion
is Aug. 1. The new
facilities will be in
the use with the open
ing of the fall se
mester in late August.
Formal dedication cei>
imonies are being
planned to coincide
with the annual Home
coming celebration
Oct. 16.
"Dollars invested
in young people pay
eternal dividends,"
Continued on p. 5
Anton Chekhov's The
Seagull, one of his
most successful plays,
will open Friday,
April 9th,in the col
lege's Owen Theater
for an extended run.
The play will be pre
sented arena style,
with the sets de
signed by Dr. Virgil
Gray of the drama de
partment faculty. The
costumes will be au
thentic replicas of
1896 Russian styles
and have been de
signed by •Sara
Stewart, veteran of
the Hendersonville
Little Theater and
seventh-grade teacher
at Hendersonville
Junior High School.
The play will fea
ture evening perfor
mances April 9-14 and
again from April 22-
24. Matinee perfor
mances are scheduled
for two Sundays,April
11 and 25. The eve
ning performances are
scheduled for an 8
p.m. curtain call
while afternoon per
formances will start
at 2:30 p.m. Admis
sion charges are $200
for adults and $1.00
for all students. Re
servations can be
made by calling Owen
Theater box office at
689-1239 beginning
April 5 from 1-5 p.m.
Block seats for high
schools are available
and a teacher's kit
is in preparation for
those wishing to
teach the play before
attending it.
The cast for the
play includes: Pam
Smith, a Durham
theater arts senior
as Irina Arkadina, an
actress; David Hobbs,
a former Mars Hill
student from Ashe
ville as Konstantin
Treplev, her son; Art
Brooks, a junior En
glish major from Bos
tic as Pyotr Sorin,
Irina's brother;
Susan King, a senior
drama major from
Carrollton, Ga., as
Nina Zarechny, the
daughter of a wealthy
landowner;Tony Haire,
a sophomore drama ma
jor from Charlotte,
as Ilya Shamraev,
Sorin's steward; Flo
Vaught, a Mars Hill
alumnae from Ashe
ville as Ilya's wife
Polina; Ursula
Kunisch, a Vienna,
Austria native who is
a special student at
Mars Hill as Masha,
Ilya's daughter; Kim
English, an Asheville
native who has been
named publicity di
rector for the Sou
thern Appalachian
Repertory Theater, as
Boris Trlgorin,a wri
ter; Keith Sargent, a
senior drama major
from Asheville as
Yevgeny Dorn, a doc
tor; Bob Anderson, a
sophomore business
major from Ft.Lauder
dale, Fla., as Semyon
Medvedenkp, a school
teacher; and Dwight
Bradley, a freshman
drama major from
Fletcher as Yakov, a
worker. The Mars Hill
production is direc- .
ted by C. Robert
Jones.
Anton Chekhov, an
imposing figure in
world literature and
Russia's greatest
playwright, began his
writing career at 16
when, with the aid of
his brother,he placed
several pieces with
some of the humorous
magazines in Moscow.
He was also a medical
doctor and continued
•
treating his patients
throughout his lite
rary career. He was
a great humanitarian
as well,as he stocked
several public libra
ries with books,built
three schools, a tu-
oontinned on p. 5
NEXT ISSUE
Articles Due:
April 16
Paper Distributed:
April 23