AWARD WINNER
In 1966 and 1967 the Democrat won
10 State Press Assn, awards for
General Excellence, Excellence in
Typography, Local News, Adver
tising, Columns and Photographs.
WATAUGA DEMOCRAT
An independent Weekly Newspaper . . . Seventy-Ninth Year of Continuous Publication
BOONE WEA'
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VOLUME LXXIX— NO. 45
BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1967
10 CENTS PER COPY
26 PAGES—t SECTIONS
S8SSS288B
ASTC Co-ed
Is Queen Of
U. S.Twirlers
Miss Elaine Hudson, Appa
lachian State Teachers College
coed who is reigning as the cur
rent Majorette Queenof Ameri
ca, has been named to lead the
nation’s top 10 majorettes
through festivities at the In
dianapolis 500 Auto Race May
30.
Miss Hudson, an 18-year-old
Appalachian freshman, will
leave for the event May 26,
and will appear in a parade one
day prior to the annual Me
morial Day race.
Elaine, who stands five-feet,
three inches, is the daughter
of Mrs. Laura J. Hudson of
Charlotte. She is a graduate
of Morganton High School.
The blue-eyed brunette has
won 402 trophies and 121 medals
for her majorette activites
over the past eight years. She
began baton twirling at the age
of 10, and a year later cap
tured the International Twirling
Championship. She has won this
title each year since for total
of seven, and this competition
has carried her to Ohio, Maine,
Missouri, Tennessee and South
Carolina.
America’s Majorette Queen
has been the North Carolina
twirling Champion for the past
eight years. She was Majorette
Princess of America in 1962,
America’s Most Beautiful Ma
jorette in 1966 and the Best
Dressed Majorette in Eastern
United States in 1966.
Miss Hudson recently won the
Majorette Queen of America
title in competition with 150
girls representing every state
in the nation following state
elimination contests. The com
petition included fancy strut
ting, military strutting, twirl
ing, bathing suit and evening
gown appearance, and display of
talent other than twirling.
Other majorettes chosen to
join Miss Hudson at Indiana
polis are:
Pamela Albrechtof La Cross,
Wis„ Patsy Boyce of San Diego
State College, Loretta Butler
of Georgia Tech, Margaret
Fleming of Western Michigan
University, Pamela Forten
berry of the University of Ari
zona, Lina Gross of the Uni
versity of Tulsa, Janie John
son of Augustana (S. D.) Col
lege, Gloria Kachulls of North
west Missouri State College,
and Cookie Richards of Iowa
State College.
WAMY News
Sheet Draws
Senator Action
Republican resolution intro
duced in the Senate Monday night
called for North Carolina to go
on record as rejecting a fed
erally financed newspaper and
radio program proposed in the
northwestern corner of the
state.
Sen. Ted Dent, R—Mitchell,
called the attempt to initiate the
community action news demon
stration project in Watauga,
Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey
counties (WAMY) a “blatant
intervention of federal social
ism.*’
He said that the paper and
radio show would disseminate
propaganda on the poverty pro
gram in the four counties at
the taxpayers* expense and
asked that the state request that
the funds for the Office of
Economic Opportunity project
(Continued on page three)
Pt l
WALAC HIAN’S ELAINE HUDSON—Majorette Queen of America.
Dr. Graha
Shriver To
Tour WAMY Projects
Dr. Billy Graham and Sar
gent Shriver, Director of the
Office of Economic Opportun
ity, announced plans Tuesday
to tour some of the community
action projects in Avery Coun
ty that are being operated by
WAMY Community Action, Inc.
The tour is aimed at giving
Dr. Graham a first hand look
Local Radio Also
Has WAMYProblem
» iicu u nm i V'Uiimiumij'
tion, Inc., last week made known
its “news demonstration pro
ject” for the four counties, the
North Carolina Press Associ
ation offered tooppose the issue
and the press made its edi
torial voice heard.
In the rush to protect Fed
eral intervention on news
papers and other free enter
prises, news accounts all but
forgot the plight of local radio
stations, a plight which could
spread throughout the broad
cast system.
According to WAMY’s pro
posal to 0. E. 0., “It is ex
pected that about three months
will be required to build up the
desired programming produc
tion level of an hour a day
for each station (WATA in
Boone, WTOE in Spruce Pine).”
Two paragraphs later: “The
medium of radio by its very
naiuie piuviaes iiiue oppor
tunity for censorship as pre
viewing of recorded material
is a costly and time-consuming
job.”
The management of Radio
Station WAT A in Boone stated
Tuesday that they were ap
proached several weeks ago by
the publicity director of WAMY
with a request for six 5-minute
programs a day of public ser
vice time.
“WATA has always made ita
policy to serve all worthwhile
agencies and projects in the
County with free, non-com
mercial public service time
and spot announcements and
have done this for WAMY since
its inception.
“However, six 5-minute pro
grams a day for one agency
were out of all proportion to
the many requests for time
(Continued on page three)
speaker matt will Address
675 Graduates At College
David M. Britt, speaker of
the North Carolina House of
Representatives, has been
named to deliver the com
mencement address June 3 at
Appalachian State Teachers
College,
Approximately 675 students
are expected to receive degrees
during graduation exercises In
Broome-Kirk Gymnasium,
Britt, Democrat representa
tive from Robeson Courty, has
been a member at the General
Assembly since 1959, A native
of McDonald, N. C., he is a
graduate of Lumberton High
School, Wake Forest College
and Wake Forest Law School.
Britt last year was present
ed the Judge John J. Parker
Memorial Award by the N. C.
Bar Association. Ten years ago,
he was named “Man of the Year**
for Robeson County.
He served as solicitor erf the
Fairmont Recorder’s Court
from 1940 to 1944. He has prac
ticed law since 1937.
Britt has served as president
of the Board of Trustees of
Southeastern General Hospital,
president of the Wake Forest
College Alumni Association,
chairman of the Fairmont Board
of Education, Rotary Club Dis
trict Governor, member of Gen
eral Board of the Baptist State
Convention, and a teacher of
Men's Bible Class.
He was married in 1941 to
the former Louise Teague of
Fairmont and they have four
children.
“King Street” Moves Up Front
WVMY Newspaper Proposal
Draws Ire Of Free Press
By ROB RIVERS
Federal Newspaper ... In The Works
WAMY, Inc., through its board of directors has ap
proved the establishment of a standard-type newspaper
for this area. . . Financed completely by Federal funds
and to offer full news coverage of the local scene to
8,000 residents of our four-county area, it has caused
a considerable commotion in the ranks of the free press.
. . The proposal had been prepared and approved by
the board 15-5 before anyone in professional newspaper
circles was aware of it, so far as we can learn. . . The
State Press Association, through its President and Secre
tary has offered vigorous protest to WAMY President,
Dr. W. H. Plemmons; the Watauga Democrat sent Dr.
Plemmons a prepared statement of opposition to a
Federal press, and we have alerted all our officials and
Representatives in Congress of the threat to the system.
. Saturday at noon the Press Assn, and area publishers
were granted a hearing for Sunday. . . The Assn, asked
for more time and didn’t come. . . We take the position
that we can’t add or detract from our prepared state
ment, that we won’t go on bended knee to plead with a
board that has already taken action, but we will sit in if
the Press Assn, officials come. . We are opposing the
proposal in every way we know how. . . In fairness, how
ever, we don’t look to succeed. Against the power
of the movement and the floods of taxpayers’ money,
ours is apt to be as a small voice crying in the wilder
ness. The North Carolina Fund is potentially a fine
thing, but it was brought here by strangers to our re
gion and to our people and to our society, whose sinews
forged with the power of public money can’t be matched
by those of us who publish the nation’s newspapers on
our own steam. . . But we’U continue to speak our piece
and to defend our people and our institutions as long
as we may live.
We Fmin/l tin#
at how the community action
program is being operated, ac
cording to Herbert Kramer,
public affairs director of OEO.
Dr. Graham, who is from
Montreat, N. C., has been in
terested in meeting with Shri
ver for some time, Kramer
said, and the two are expect
ed to confer on how churches
can most effectively be involv
ed in the anti-poverty effort.
After the tour, Dr. Graham
and Shriver are expected to
speak at the Toe River Com
munity Center in western Avery
county, which is located in the
old Toe River School.
Local WAMY officials said
they were pleased with the news
of the visit, which had been in
the making for about a month
and a half.
Said WAMY Director Ernest
Eppley, “We are pleased to
learn of Dr. Graham’s deep
interest in helping our low-in
come citizens find a better way
of life.
“Naturally we are also pleas
ed that WAMY was chosen as
the site of this tour . . .”
Although no final schedule
for the tour has been announc
ed, the public meeting at which
Dr. Graham and Shriver are
expected to speak should take
place about 3 p. m. Saturday
at the Toe River Center, ac-,
cording to officials.
DAVID M_ BRITT
A lot of things we don't know,
but we found out some of them
when we read the plan for the
newspaper and radio program
of WAMY, the project which
“is intended to help solve the
problems of some 30,000 men,
women and children who exist
on family incomes of $3,000
per year. These people are
scattered across 1100 square
miles of mountainous, wooded
country-side on tiny farms and
in small, isolated settlements,
in the counties of Watauga, Av
ery, Mitchell and Yancey in
western North Carolina. Almost
without exception these people
are the direct descendants of
pioneers of the early 1800's
with a long history erf subsis
tence farming and foraging, un
touched by prosperity down to
the present day.”
Churches, Preachers
The rural churches don't es
cape the notice of the WAMY
proposal and the “lay preach
ers’' are decried in the docu
ment which is aimed at fixing
things, and we quote:
“The low-income people have
developed psychological char
acteristics consistent with their
physical isolation. They are
relatively ignorant of the out
side world, and even of per
sons and events only a few
miles from their homes. They
find it extremely difficult to
cope with other people and are
generally reserved and dis
trustful of strangers. Their ca
pacities for group feeling and
group endeavor have not been
developed. Their history shows
few examples of cooperative en
deavor. Their only significant
tradition of groupparticipation,
passive at that, is in their
church congregations, but these
congregations are many and
small, many led by lay preach
ers who continue to promote a
tradition of bigoted separatism.
Their “communities” are in
many cases not communities at
all, but merely clusters of in
terrelated families, fractured
by generations-old feuds stem
ming from personal hurts and
differences of religious belief,
maintained in physical prox
imity only by the formidable
obstacles of establishing liveli
hoods elsewhere.”
WE'D SUGGEST that anyone
(Continued on page four)
A Giant Walks Among Us
/FEDERALLY^
FINANCED
PRESS
FREE
PRESS
^i-asrxJxAj ///oc*x^r%^
Miss Sandra Cook Is Named
President WHS Student Body
Edmisten To Be
Counsel For U S
Senate Group
U. S. Senator Sam J. Ervin,
Jr. CD.-N. C.), Chairman of
the Constitutional Rights Sub
committee, has announced the
resignation of H. Houston
Groome, Jr., as a counsel for
the Subcommittee. He also an
nounced that Rufus L. Edmisten
of Boone will replace Groome.
In praising the Greensboro
native, Senator Ervin said:
“Houston Groome brought to the
Subcommittee a vast knowledge
(Continued on page three)
MJSS SANDRA COOK
Leader 1 o Address
Historical Group
The annual spring member
ship meeting of the Southern
Appalachian Historical Associ
ation, Monday, May 15, will be
addressed by Claude F. Gaddy
of Blowing Rock and Raleigh.
An educator and Baptist lea
CLAUDE F. GADDY
der, Gaddy is a native of An
son County, a graduate of Wake
Forest and received his Mas
ter's degree from UNC.
His talk will be the feature
event of the dinner meeting,
which will get underway at 7
p. m. Eastern Daylight Sav
ing Time. Advance tickets, at
$2.50 per, may be obtained
from Stanley Harris Sr., Al
fred Adams, J. V.Gaudill or
from the Horn in the West
office in Boone.
Special guests, represents
business, education, industry
and civic organizations wiil be
introduced prior to the talk.
Ned Trivette and the Rev.
Richard Crowder will arrange
entertainment for the evening.
Gaddy taught at Mills tame
in Tbomasville, 1921-25, was
principal of Marshville High
School, 1925-27, and Superinten
(continued on page three)
Student body president for
1967-68 at Watauga High School
will be Miss Sandra Cook.
Sandra defeated Dana Moretz
and John Rainey in a school -
wide election Friday, May 5.
As president of the student body,
she will serve as president of
the 45-member student council
and as official hostess for the
school.
Sandra comes to the office as
an experienced leader. She has
been a student council repre
sentative for two years; this
year she has served as council
secretary. She is now secretary
of the Debate Club and vice
president of the Future Teach
ers of America. She has been
elected District vice-president
of the National Beta Club.
In May she will serve as
co-chief junior marshal, the
highest scholastic honor in the
class, for the 1967 graduation
exercises. She has been se
lected to attend the Governor's
School in Winston-Salemdurix^
June and July of this year.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Billy J. Cook, Sandra is the
second in her family to serve
as a high school student body
president. Bill Jr. was presi
dent at Appalachian High School
in 1962.
Other student body officers
elected to serve next year are
as follows: vice-president,
(Continued on page three)
WAMY Group
To Meet Press
Dr. W. H. Plemmons, Chair
man of WAMY, says representa
tives of news media will be in
vited to a meeting of the
eutive Committee of the poverty
agency Thursday night. May 18.
Dr. Plemmons indicated Mat
the press will be offered a de
tailed explanation of the WAMY
proposal for a government-fl
oored newspaper.