Ahead In Carolina
The Democrat led all N. C. weeklies
in 1965 Press Assn, contests. It
won first place in General Ex
cellence, Excellence in Typography,
Eeeel News Coverage, Want Ads,
and Second in Display Advertising.
WATAUGA DEMOCRAT
An Independent Weekly Newspaper . . . Seventy-Ninth Year of Continuous Publication
BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1966 10 CENTS PER COPY
BOONE WEATHER
IMS HI Lo SnowPrae. SS
Sept. 13 58 55 .37
Sept 14 00 55 3.98
Sept 15 68 56 .11
Sept 16 64 S3 .01
Sept 17 65 49
Sept. 18 61 50 tr.
Sept. 19 57 53 .23
22 PAGES—TWO SECTIONS J
VOLUME LXXIX— NO. 12
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PEAR BLOSSOMS BLOOM IN MID SEP
TEMBER — After a temperamentally late
spring, a hot summer month, and a rainy one,
an old, nearly-dead pear tree on the Blowing
Rock Road south of Boone produced a few
m m ii—*■ w —
bright blossoms the latter part of last week.
The blooms were sparsely located on the tree,
but a welcome surprise at a time when some
trees are beginning to take on the colors of
autumn. (Staff photo)
Homicide Case Will
Be Tried Next Week
Monday will mark the be
ginning of the September term
of criminal court, with more
than 200 persons slated for
trial before Hon. Hugh B.
Campbell of Charlotte, pre
siding judge of Watauga Su
perior Court.
One case of homicide will
be tried during the proceed
ings.
Floyd Tester of Sugar
Grove, age about 52, was ar
rested by Watauga Sheriff
Dallas Cheek early in March
in connection with the fatal
shooting of William McKinley
Presnell. 41, of Sugar Grove.
At the time, the Sheriff re
ported that he was called to
Cove Creek Store, Sugar
Grove, at 11 am., Saturday,
March 5. He said Presnell had
been shot in the left side of
the neck and was sitting on
the right hand side of the
front seat with his head
thrown back. The deceased
was found in a 1959 Buick,
which Cheek said was regis
tered in the name of Betty
Presnell of Vilas, widow of
Mr. Presnell.
According to Cheek, both
Presnell and Tester had been
drinking. An empty pint bot
tle and another one-third full
were found in the car. A third
man had driven the two
around in the Buick that
morning, and the Sheriff said
he reported that Tester and
Presnell had been “messing”
with the gun and making
threats to shoot each other.
Cheek said the driver of the
car said that when he heard
the fatal shot, he thought it
had missed, but he turned and
saw blood running down Pres
nell’s neck.
After Tester's arrest, the
Sheriff said it had not been
ascertained where Tester was
seated in the four-door car at
the time of the shooting. He
also said it was not ascertain
ed where the shot was fired,
whether near the Health Cen
ter — where shooting was re
ported earlier—while the car
was moving, or in front of the
store where Presnell’s body
was found. However, Cheek
said no one inside the store
reported hearing the shot.
The six-shot, .22 calibre
pistol—a German make—still
had two cartridges in the cy
linder when it was confiscated.
The Sheriff said he was not
sure how many shots were
fired, although three shots
were reported to his office at
10:30 that morning, and the
fourth could conceivably be
the death shot. He said the
pistol may have been reload
ed, but that he found only one
shell in the car and it was on
the front seat.
Tester did not have the gun
when he was arrested inside
Cove Creek Store.
Tester and the deceased
had lived together in Sugar
Grove. Tester was Presnell’s
uncle, by marriage.
Blowing Rock Theatre
Meeting Set For Tuesday
The Board of Directors of
the Blowing Rock Community
Theatre will welcome all resi
dents of Watauga, Avery and
other counties to attend a
general meeting on Tuesday.
Sept. 27, at 8 p. m. in the
Blowing Rock School auditor
ium.
A spokesman for the Board
said that since summer activi
ties have begun to slow down,
more people will be able to
enjoy working with the Thea
tre. He added that the Com
munity Theatre has not only
enjoyed its first two produc
tions, but has felt they were
well done, as was proven by
reviews they received and the
number of inquiries coming
in about future productions.
Refreshments will be served
so that old-timers can meet
newcomers and all enjoy the
Community Theatre.
Most of the people who
have worked with the Theatre
had not had experience in the
jobs they undertook, but
found that hard work became
fun as they went about the
taks of acting, building sets,
finding props, arranging
lighting, etc.
The Community Theatre is
open to high school students,
college students, housewives,
businessmen—people from all
walks of life.
Dr. Plemmons Welcomes
Record Number Students
Students comprising the
largest enrollment in Appala
chian State Teachers College’s
history began classes here
Monday under a major revi
sion of the institution’s sche
dule.
The initial classes opened
iejrj nine days later than for the
Pall quarter of 1965. During
->,* the 1966-67 academic year
each class will meet for a full
90-minute period with 10
minute intervals between
classes. Under past schedules,
classes met for 53 minutes
with a seven-minute break be
tween sessions.
The major reason for the
calendar alterations was to
allow the Winter quarter
classes to commence immedi
ately following the Christmas
holidays rather than two
weeks prior to the start of
the holiday period.
Dr. W. H. Plemmons, ASTC
president, welcomed the new
students at a convocation
Wednesday morning. Joining
in the welcome and introduc
tion were members of the
faculty and administration.
Freshmen underwent test
ing in foreign language,
speech, biology and swimming
in conjunction with their ori
entation program last week.
The first-year students, num
bering about 1,100 were as
sisted by faculty counselors
in the selection of courses
over the registration period.
Survey To Take 12 Weeks
Engineers Start Work On
Last Section Of Parkway
\
Basic Middle
Grandfather
Route Chosen
Engineers from the U.
S. Bureau of Public Roads
began work last week at
Grandfather Mountain on
the final six-mile stretch
of the 400-mile Blue Ridge
Parkway.
Regional Locating Engin
eer from the Bureau of Pub
lic Roads, J. R. Jenson of
Arlington, Va.; Benny Mc
Carter and Charles Seagle
of Gatlinburg expect to have
enough engineering data in
about two weeks to determ
ine the alignment of the
Parkway along the so-called
middle route on Grandfather
Mountain. This work, it is
said, will be followed by 12
weeks of staking out the
center line, following which
the project will be readied
for bidding by road contract
ors.
Decided In May
Governor Dan K. Moore and
Secretary of the Interior Stew
art L. Udall announced agree
ment last May 20 on a route to
be followed on the Grandfath
er after a stalemate between
property owners, the National
Park Service and the State
Highway Commission. The
Parkway had been completed
to one end of the missing link
in 1940 and to the other end
five years ago.
According to the agreement
between the officials the route
will utilize existing State-own
ed lands and be supplemented
by acreage necessary to avoid
excessive scars and to main
tain the scenic quality of the
completed portions of the
parkway.
The section now being lo
cated will connect with the
existing Parkway in Julian
Price Memorial Park on the
north and Beacon Heights on
the south where it will over
pass and connect with V. S.
221.
Hugh Morton, owner of
Grandfather Mountain, ex
pressed pleasure that the old
controversy was settled and
congratulated Governor Moore
upon reaching the agreement
The selected route, it was
said, is basically what had
been referred to as the mid
dle route, with modifications
and will run a few hundred
feet uphill from existing U.
S. 221 on the east side of the
Grandfather. Its elevation
will be from four to forty
four hundred feet, and the
link will be the highest
point on the Parkway north
of Mt. Mitchell, and one of
the most scenic sections of
the Parkway which extends
from the Shenandoah Na
tional Park in Virginia to
the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park in North Car
olina and Tennessee.
The National Park Service
had long favored a “high
route” over the summit of the
mountain which would conflict
with private property inter
ests. The original proposal for
the middle route was worked
out by A. H. Graham, chairman
of the N. C. Highway Commis
sion in 1955.
This route was approved by
the Bureau of Public Roads
and the Highway Commission,
but not by the Park Service.
During the Sanford adminis
tration, the state acquired the
land for the middle route by
swapping rights the state bad
held to a lower route.
WORK ON PARKWAY LOCATION—J R. Jenson, left, Regional
Locating Engineer, Bureau of Public Roads headquarters. Arl
ington, Va., has started work on thp Jast part of the Blue Ridge
Parkway. Other engineers shown are Benny McCarter, center,
and Charles Seagle. right, both of Gatlinburg, Tenn.—Hugh
Morton photograph.
Employment
Data To Be
Sampled Here
This area is one of 47
throughout the U. S. recently
added to those sampled each
month by the Bureau of the
Census to measure the rates
of employment and unemploy
ment in the Nation, according
to Director Joseph R. Nor
wood of the Bureau’s Char
lotte. N. C. regional office.
The new local sampling area
consists of Burke. Caldwell
and Watauga Counties.
Monthly labor statistics are
sampled by the Bureau for the
U. S Department of Labor’s
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Census interviewers call upon
randomly selected households
in taking the survey. By in
creasing the number of sam
ple areas, the Bureau expects
to provide improved labor
force statistics.
Interviewers also obtain in
formation on other subjects—
population characteristics and
housing, for example—during
the monthly surveys.
Interviewing in this area is
starting during September
and October
Interviewers who will visit
sample families in this new
local area include: Mrs. Hilda
C. Hamrack, Lenoir, N. C.
Bingham Again Invites
LBJ To Ninth District
Boone — Robert Bingham,
candidate for Congress in the
Ninth District, said Monday
he has again sent an invita
tion to President Johnson to
visit this area.
Bingham said he extended
the new invitation through
John Meek, campaign co-ordi
nator for the Democratic Na
Autumn Leaf Excursion
Train To Roll October 16
West .Jefferson (Special) -
There is an early demand for
tickets for the ninth annual
Autumn Leaf Train Excursion,
to be held this year on Sun
day, Oct. 16, Mrs. Ed M. An
derson, general chairman, said
Following the usual custom,
the train will leave West Jef
ferson around 9 a m., traveling
across White Top Mountain,
into Abingdon and on into
Bristol and return in the after
noon. A special devotion ser
vice will be held on top of
White Top Mountain and those
desiring to do so will have an
opportunity to visit historical
places in Abingdon, including
the Barter Theatre.
The excursion is sponsored
annually by the West Jeffer
son Woman's Club and is plan
ned when the trees will be
wearing their brightest col
ors. It is expected that they
will he at their best in the
weekend planned. Oct. 16
Lunch will be served on the
train, and this is included in
the price of the ticket.
Those arriving on Saturday
to spend the night in the area
are to be guests at the square
dance and country music sing
ing held in honor of the visit
ors. It was pointed out that
there would be a doctor and
nurse on the train and that
every effort would be made to
see that the passengers were
comfortable.
It was explained that tickets
could be ordered by mail
since these could not be held
unless paid for because of the
big demand.
The round trip is $8 for ad
ults and $6 for children under
12. with lunch. Tickets with
out lunch are slightly lower,
however.
Salisbury Girl, Aunt Die
In Crash On U.S. 321 South
Bulletin
Word was received at
presstime that a third per
son, Mrs. T. C. Walker,
passed away Monday morn
ing in a Charlotte hospital.
Blowing Rock—A Salisbury
girl and her aunt were killed
about 3 p.m. Sunday when the
car in which they were riding
collided with a tractor-trailer
south of here on U. S. 321 in
Caldwell County.
Mrs. Annie L. Schroder, 73,
of Savannah, Ga., reported to
be the driver of the car, died
at Blowing Rock Hospital.
Miss Daisy Marie Walker,
19, of 35 Knox Street, Salis
bury, was dead on arrival at
the hospital.
Miss Walker’s mother, Mrs.
T. C. Walker, and a Mr. Wood
were injured. They were treat
ed at Blowing Rock Hospital
and then transferred to Char
lotte Memorial Hospital. A 4
year-old boy believed to be a
son of Mrs. Walker was also in
the car driven by Mrs. Schro
der.
The driver of the truck,
whose name was not learned,
was not injured. The truck
was owned by Broyhill Furni
ture Co. of Lenoir. The acci
dent occurred during a light
rain.
The bodies were taken to
Reins - Sturdivant Funeral
Home at Boone. Mrs. Schro
der’s body was sent to Savan
nah, Ga., for funeral and
burial.
Miss Walker’s body was sent
to Salisbury.
The Schroder car was head
ed south on the highway. Tlie
group had been to Tweetsie
Railroad and other attractions
here and was returning to
Salisbury.
tional Committee. Meek was
in Boone over the weekend for
a series of meetings with
Bingham’s campaign commit
tee.
“I want the President to
visit this area anytime he can
fit it into his schedule,” Bing
ham said. “There are plenty
of Democrats here who admire
him for his leadership in
meeting the great problems
that have confronted us since
President Kennedy’s death.
We will give him a warm wel
come when he cornes.”
Bingham said he extended
his first invitation to the
President during the White
House visit in July. He said
the President told him at that
time he was interested in visit
ing the Tar Heel State.
“Some have been reluctant
to invite the President here,”
Bingham said, “but I have
made it very clear to Mr.
Meek of the Democratic Na
tional Committee that the
traditional Southern hospital
itally still exists in the Ninth
Congressional District.”
Murder, Suicide
Take 2 Lives
West Jefferson—An appar
ent murder - suicide claimed
the lives of two Ashe County
residents here near midnight
Friday, Sheriff Gene Bare re
ported.
The sheriff said that Vivian
Roark, 33, shot her'husband,
William Ray Roark, 39, then
turned the gun, a .22 caliber
pistol, on herself.
The shooting occurred at the
Roark’s house trailer.
Funeral services were held
at 2 p.m. Sunday at Three
Tops Baptist Church. Burial
was in the Roark Cemetery.
Correction
In the story an the Me
courthouse In the last edb
tion at the Democrat, It wee
inadvertently stated that
the structure k to be ease- • )
story. It la actually n tare
story plan. The error h
regretted.