i
AWARD WINNER
in 1986 and 1967 the Democrat won
10 State Press Assn, awards for
General Excellence, Excellence in
Typography, Local News, Adver
tising, Columns and Photographs.
VOL. LXXX—NO. 21
WATAUGA DEMOCRAT
An Independent Weekly Newspaper . . . Eightieth Year of Continuous Publication
BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1967 10 CENTS PER COPY
1SST HI Lo am Fne w
40 33 to
4* 38 to.
47 18
58 88
47 88
41 SO
41 80
Nov. 14
Nov. 18
Nov. 18
Nov. 17
Nov. 18
Nov. 10
Nov. 30
28 PAGES- 3 SECTIONS
ttsassasa
A Five Hundred Dollar Hole
Radio Dispatcher Clay Ward was narrowly missed Sunday night when a .38 caliber bullet smashed
through the front window of the police station in which he was working. In this photograph by
George Flowers, Ward is posed to show how it was when at 7:55 p. m. Nov. 19 the bullet was
fired from a passing automobile. Ward, who joined the department several weeks ago, said he had
no clear description of the car. Suspects in the incident were checked, but no arrests were made
Police Chief Red Lyons Monday posted a $500 reward for information leadii* to the arrest and'
conviction of the gunman. The Police Station entrance is some 25 feet from the traffic lanes of
West King Street.
LIEUTENANT BARNES
m
Lt. Barnes Makes 200
Vietnam Air Missions
A Hillsborough naval avi
ator was honored in a formal
ceremony for completing 200
or more missions over Viet
nam.
He is LT Edwin R. Barnes,
son of Mr. and Mrs. E. P.
Barnes of St. Mary’s Road.
Hillsborough and husband of
the former Miss Barbara
Matheson of Boone, N. C.
The ceremony was held
aboard the attack aircraft car
rier IBS Constellation 9cva 64).
Yule Parade
Set For Dec. 1
The Christmas Parade will
go through Boone F riday,
Dec. 1, at 4 p. m.
Included in the parade will
be the town officials, various
civic clubs and the Watauga
High School Band. New cars
(Continued on page two)
Barnes and 41 other aviators
from Carrier Air Wing 14 were
welcomed to the “200 Missions
Club” by RADM Ralph W. Cous
ins, the Commander of Task
Force 77.
Barnes and the other new
members of the “200 Missions
Club” conducted more than
9,000 missionsover North Viet
nam since Constellation arrived
in the Far East on May 27.
Barnes, who is attached to
Fighter Squadron 143, an in
tegral part of Carrier Air Wir*
14, has flown 230 missions over
the heavily defended areas of
North Vietnam.
When asked about his most
exciting mission, Barnes said:
"While we were on a flight our
leader was hit and had to eject.
I stayed in the area to protect
the man on the ground while our
search and rescue teams could
make the pick" up.”
Barnes is a graduate of Hills
boro High School and Duke Uni
versity.
Burley
Market
To Open
The tobacco market will open
Tuesday, Nov. 28, at Burley
Warehouse No. 2.
Joe Coleman, an owner in
the three-warehouse seasonal
venture, said sales will be lim
ited to three and a half hours
and 340,000 pounds per day.
Because of an extremely dry
fall, Coleman said “very little
tobacco is ready,” although
what has been brought in “looks
the best I have seen since being
associated with the market.”
At press time, some 150,000
pounds was on the floor.
County Extension records for
1966 show tobacco accounted for
$918,503 of the record total of
$3,711,843 farm income.
This year, however, an es
timated quarter of a million
pounds in allotments was not
planted and the revenue in Wa
tauga will be much less.
All the major tobacco com
panies are expected to have re
presentatives here this season.
Gusty Winds
Cause Power
Failure Here
A power failure in the town of
Boone and Blowing Rock and
Rural areas of Watauga Tues
day, Nov. 13, from 11:45 p. m.
to 12:45 a. m. was due to high
winds and a sudden drop in
temperature, which caused a
line fault on the incoming trans
mission line in the Sands-Todd
area of the County.
A failure in automatic relay
equipment which should have
isolated this section of line
caused a complete power fail
ure to the area.
The delay in restoring ser
vice to the area was due to a
delay in getting telephone com
munications to West Jefferson,
which is the source erf the
transmission feeder liner.
The failure erf this equipment
was beyond the control of Blue
Ridge Electric Membership
Corporation, which wishes to
apologize to its members and
the people of the town for in
conveniences this might have
caused.
T
1
Pageant Of Pulchritude
Myra Davis, Boone Beauty,
Gets Miss Watauga Grown
Queens Of Other
Counties Are
Special Guests
“Miss Congeniality is.. .Amy
Sue Long,” and with 13 contes
tants in the Miss Watauga Pag
eant looking on, emcee Bob
Barnes started the end-of-even
ing suspense.
“Second runner-up is Bar
bara Fay Clough/’ he said.
“First runner-up is. . .Kathy
Lynn Caudill/*
Then the new Miss Watauga,
Myra Davis, daughter of the
Hoyle Davises of Boone, vrs
called to stage center. Crown
placed on her auburn hair by
reigning Queen Pat Mozingo, the
East Carolina freshman took
her dozen roses and approached
the ramp while a capacity crowd
stood applauding in the auditor
ium of Appalachian Elementary
School.
The ASU Stage Band (directed
by Elmer White) broke into the
Miss America song and
localized lyrics were sung by
Doug Harris as dozens of well
wishers flocked around Miss
Watauga, 1968.
The Boone Jaycees had
spliced special entertainment
throughout the program. Debbie
Bryant, a Watauga High School
junior, accompanied herself on
guitar and sang three contem
porary folk songs.
Next was 12-year-old drum
mer Jason Brashear, who
handled the percussion in
“Cute,” Johnny Carson's To
night Show theme. A seventh
grade student at Appalachian
Elementary, the boy was
cherred by members of the band
before setting the pace for
vocalist Doug Harris, who
soloed two numbers. (Jason's
parents, incidentally, teach at
ASU.)
In the audience for the Satur
day night event were the queens
of Lincoln, Ashe and Wilkes
counties; Miss Asheville, Miss
Lenoir and Miss Newton-Con
over.
TALENT
Carol Ann Tomaino and
Sherry Ensogna each presented
(Continued on page two)
i -- * xm mam *
Th« new MUs Watauga, Myra Davis is seated with her court From the left, behind her, are Kathy
Lynn Caudill, first runner-up to the title; former Miss Watai«a Fat Mozii«o; and Barbara Fay
Clough, second runner-up. @taff photo)
Seeking a solution to a public problem are (from left, clock- Kelley, Stradley Kipp, Barney Hampton and Jerrell Little,
wise) Tom Jackson, Dr. Len Hagaman, Council Cooke, Richard (Staff photo)
Boone And Blowing Rock Will Lose
Ambulance Service First Of Year
The Board of County Com
missioners sat on one side of the
issue; officials of Reins-Stur
divant on the other.
The special meeting was call
ed Thursday when it was learned
that the funeral home will aban
don its ambulance service in
January.
Because of Legislative act,
said Richard Kelley, regul
ations pertaining to employment
of ambulance personnel will
make private operation of a
service prohibitive. The dead
line for compliance to the fed
eral wages and hours law is
the 10th of January, he said.
The federal requirements are
applicable because Medicare
patients and VFW recipients use
ambulance services. And twc
avenues of escape as regards
the good of the public—are
handily blocked.
According to County At
torney John Bingham, the law
also specifies that ambulance
service can be provided by
using non-tax money, but the
question arose as to whether
such is a public necessity war
ranting public spending from
county coffers.
In answer, the Attorney Gen
eral of North Carolina said no.
Tom Jackson, chairman of the
Commissioners, said an Ashe
County Commissioner reported
they’d set aside money for op
eration of a public service.
The opinion of the assistant
Attorney General as to the le
gality thereof was that of a
test case of a hospital using
tax money would be required
to test the law. He felt if
hospitals couldn't, counties
couldn’t.
(Kelley had suggested that the
County might put an ambulance
at Watauga Hospital and let it
run from there.)
Then what about the facilities
Anderson Named
By BREMCO As
Area Developer
Cecil E. Viverette, General
Manager of Blue Ridge Electric
Membership Corporation, an
nounces the appointment of W.
Herman Anderson as director
of member services and power
sales for Blue Ridge Electric
eight years. In his role as di
rector of area development,
he will help Blue Ridge Elec
tric to determine how it can
best use its resources in total
area development. The pri
mary purpose of the program is
to work with and through the
many individuals and organized
groups in the area served by the
electric cooperative that are in
terested in economic and social
advancement of the area and to
promote this advancement.
Anderson will serve as a re
source person to get new indus
trial plants to locate in the area,
to get improved roads and high
ways, better housing, com
munity water systems, a trained
labor force, additional recre
ational facilities, and other
needs which will contribute to
the growth and development of
the area.
In his role as Director of
Area Development, Anderson
will work with the North Caro
lina Department of Conservation
and Development, the highway
commission, the Extension
Service, local Chambers of
Commerce, development assoc
iations, private foundations,
(Continued on page two)
of the Watauga Rescue Squad?
Chief Jerrell Little told the
assembly “Our 1967 vehicle i»
still not up to the (federal)
standards.** And since the squad
is a non-profit emergency unit,
its only use to the public would
be as a backup to a regular
ambulance service. At the time,
he said, “We have no ambu
lance service. Ninety-nine per
cent of our calls come through
the funeral home.*’
While the facilities of the
Rescue Squad are more than
adequate, government regul
ations are stringent, running
several typewritten pages in
length. Little commented on the
rule about space between the
patient and the roof of the am
bulance. He pointed out much
more expensively designed ve
hicles would be required. A
$14,000 to $16,000 vehicle, he
said, would be needed to meet
the head-space requirement.
Stradley Kipp, administrator
of Blowing Rock Hospital, said
he notified the Town of Blowir^
Rock on receipt of the dead
line edict: He told them am
bulance will cease Jan. 1.
“Under the regualtions,” Kipp
explained, “we will no longer
be able to do it.’*
Costs have long been a bur
den to Blowing Rock and Reins -
Sturdivant. Kelley said a North
Wilkesboro firm saved $25,000
a year when it dropped service.
It could mean as much as $15,000
(Continued on page two)
Blowing Rock
Ski Lodge Will
Open On Dee. 15
Blowing Rock Sid Lodge has
been leased to the International
Speedway Organisation of Char
lotte.
President of the organisation
is E. L. Harris, who amotncee
be will be manager of the lodge,
which will open Dec. 15 tor the
ski season. He further states
that he will soon release infor
mation on his planned year
wound operation of the facility.
The ski lodge will be run
inder professional management
uid with aigflcieot financial
backing, he anU.