AWARD WINNER
In last 3 years Democrat has won
14 State Press Assn, awards. Eight
of them are first place awards.
WATAUGA DEMOCRAT
BOONE WEATHER
1968 HI Lo Snow Prec. '07 HI Lo
Jan. 16 35 19 1 .05 I 41 18
An Independent Weekly Newspaper
Eightieth Year of Continuous Publication
VOL. LXXX— NO. 30
Jan. 17 48 8
Jan. 18 52 14
Jan. 19 44 22
Jan. 20 45 34
Jan. 21 48 39
Jan. 22 54 30
BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1968
Snow given to nearest half-inch.
41 21
36 24
38 18
49 17
54 19
64 44
10 CENTS PER COPY
20 PAGES—2 SECTIONS
THE BALTIMORE SYMPHONY
Baltimore Symphony To BeAtASU
The Baltimore Symphony will
make its second visit to Appa
lachian State University when
it is heard in concert at 8
p. m. Jan. 31 in Broome-Kirk
Gymnasium under the auspieces
of the Artists and Lecture Com
mittee.
Numbering 92 members the
orchestra, founded in 1914, will
be under the baton of guest
conductor Gerhard Samuel.
Samuel, resident conductor
of the Oakland, Calif. Symphony
has filled guest spots with a
number of major American
orchestras during the last sev
eral seasons and is substituting
for Peter Adler at the local
concert.
Program for the symphony
will include Beethoven’s Over
ture to Fidelio, Tchaikowsky’s
Concerto for Violin and Orches
tra in D major, Opus 35, Shu
bert’s Symphony in B minor,
No. 8 (Unfinished), and de
Falla’s Dances from the Ballet,
The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite
No. 2.
General admission prices for
the concert are $1 for adults
and 50 cents for students. Uni
1968 Watauga Heart Fund President Mrs. Ralph Greene (left) accepts the first special gift to the
local drive from Mrs. Wade Wilmoth who presents it on behalf of Col. Mercer Lee Price or Or
mond Beach, Fla.
Kickoff Heart Fund Drive
Luncheon Held Thursday
Kicking off the 1968 Watauga
County Heart Fund Campaign
here, a luncheon was held at the
Gateway Restaurant at noon Jan.
18.
The campaign will continue
through February. This com
munity's goal is $3,300 as com
pared with $3,007 actually real
ized in the 1967 campaign. The
funds will be used to support
research, education and com
munity service programs of the
North Carolina Heart Asso
ciation.
Attending the luncheon were
Mrs. Ralph Greene, Mrs. Phy
llis Templeton, Jerry Moretz,
Mrs. Ginny Vance, Mrs. Cecil
Greene, Mrs. Wade Wilmoth,
Mrs. Freta Lee, Mrs.BevRus
sing, Mrs. Mabel Brown and
Mrs. William Cooper.
GOP Convention
Set For Saturday
The Republicans of Watauga
County are asked to meet In
convention at 2 o'clock Satur
day Janiary 27 at the Demon
stration School In Boone.
Clyde R. Greene, Chairman,
states that the business of the
convention will be to elect a
County Chairman, Vice-Chair
man and Secretary; an Execu
tive Committee and to name
delegates and alternates to the
Congressional and State Con
ventions.
Township conventions will be
held Friday, January 26 at
7 p. m.
Each township, says Mr,
Greene, will set up an organi
zation and recommend to the
Convention a man and woman
for membership on the County
Executive Committee, also
elect delegates and alternate*
to the county Convention.
The first contribution to Wa
tauga County’s 1968 Heart Fund
campaign was a check in the
amount of $100 donated by Col.
Mercer Lee Price, presidento^
Price Foundation, Ormond
Beach, Fla. Col. Price visited
Boone in November and on hear*
ing of the forthcoming Heart
Fund Drive expressed his
desire to participate.
The campaign will reach its
high point on the weekend of
Heart Sunday, Feb. 14, when
neighbors to distribute heart
saving information and to re
ceive Heart F und contributions.
This phase of the campaign will
be headed by Mrs. Phyllis Tem
pleton of Boone as local Heart
Sunday Chairman.
other campaign leaders in
clude: Mrs. Ralph Greene,
president; Mrs. Wade Wilmoth,
Boone chairman; Mrs. Freta
Lee, Blowing Rock chairman;
Mrs. Marvin Story, rural com
munity chairman; Mrs. Bev
Russing, special events chair
man; Jerry Moretz, business
days chairman; Mrs. Hazel
Greene, poster chairman; Mrs.
Lois Greene, treasurer; Mrs.
William Cooper, public edu
cation chairman.
versity faculty and students will
be admitted upon presentation of
I. D. cards.
Tickets will be on sale at the
gymnasium box office from 6:30
to 8 p. m. Jan. 31.
State Takes Nol
Pros As Jury
Fails To Agree
The State declared a nolle
prosequidjist week in the sec
ond trial for a 26-year-old
Negro charged with assault and
attempted rape.
Clerk of the Court Orville H.
Foster said the jury deliberated
more than an hour in the case
of Charles McLendon of Miami,
Fla., then told Judge W. E.
Anglin it could not agree.
The September trial of Mc
Lendon in Watauga Superior
Court also ended in the failure
of the jury to deliver a verdict.
The trial involved an Appa
lachian State University co-ed
who said she was returning to
her dormitory July 8 when a
Negro man approached her, put
his hand on her back and asked
her to go out with him. She
said she screamed and fought
off her assailant, who turned
and ran.
McLendon testified that he
was not on the campus the night
of the alleged incident. Witness
es testified that they had seen
him elsewhere that night, ac
cording to the record.
The Clerk said Superior
Court, which had been postponed
from Monday because of snow,
convened Wednesday, Jan. 17,
(Continued on page two)
New, Liberalized Program
Pensioners In Watauga
Will Get $186,000 More
Total Payments
In Local Area
Are $1,618,000
How much more will resi
dents of Watauga County be re
ceiving from Washington this
year in the form of pension
checks under the new, liber
alized program?
What will the average pay
ment be in the local area com
pared with what it was pre
viously?
It is estimated that the
changes in social security rates,
approved last month by Con
gress, will add approximately
$186,000 a year to the amount
that local beneficiaries have
been collecting.
The estimate is based upon
the latest annual statistics for
the county, released by the
Social Security Administration.
They show the number of re
tired and disabled workers, as
well as dependent relatives, on
the pension rolls and the total
paid them each month.
by the changes. Those who have
been getting no more than $44
a month, the minimum amount,
will be receiving $55 when the
new checks go out, early in
March.
The smallest payment to a
married couple will be $83,
instead of^t^ present $66,
For those whose annual earn
ings were $6,000 of more, the
new pension checks will be at
the rate of $190 a month, as
against $168 last year. For
couples in that maximum brack
et, it will be $285 a month in
stead of $252.
At the beginning of last year,
the Social Security Administra
tion reports, pension payments
in Watauga County averaged
$629 per year per recipient,
Under the increased rates,
they will get approximately $711
per year on average.
The total payments throughout
the local area, based upon the
number who were on the pension
rolls at last count, will add up
to some $1,618,000 a year, a
considerable rise over the prior
total of $1,432,000.
The increase are not without
cost, however. People with
earnings above $6,600, the for
mer taxable limit, will have to
pay 4.4 percent on all income
up to $7,800. Their employers
will have to contribute a simil
ar sum.
Those who are self-employed
will be taxed at the rate of 6.4
percent, up to the $7,800 maxi
All others will be free of
additional tax until 1969, when
the tax rate will rise from 4.4
percent to 4.9 percent.
When Press Association awards were made Thursday night, Rob Rivers, publisher of the Watauga
Democrat in Boone, and Gov. Dan K. Moore said hello.
Democrat Is Given
4 NC Press Awards
The Watauga Democrat re
ceived three first-place and
one second place award in the
North Carolina Press Associa
tion contests, the awards being
presented on the University of
North Carolina campus last
Thursday night by Governor Dan
K. Moore.
The local weekly took the top
spot in the coveted General Ex
cellence category, a first in Off
set Typography, first in Adver
tising and second in News
Coverage.
This makes 14 awards the
Democrat has received in three
years, 8 of them being first
place. It was the only newspaper
this year, weekly or semi
weekly, to receive as many as
three blue-ribbon awards.
In General Excellence this
makes the third win in three
Star “The Virginian”
Appears On Dimes TV
The final arrangements have
been made and one of Holly
wood’s most exciting young
celebrities will appear here in
Bristol January 27th and 28th
on “Telerama ’68”, the 7th
Annual March of Dimes Tele
rama, live and in color over
WCYB-TV, Channel 5.
Clu Gulager, alias Sheriff
Emmett Ryker, co-star of
NBC’s popular television series
‘the Virginian”, will be at
Vance Junior High School’s
gymnasium to kick-off the
greatest fund raising drive ever,
for the March of Dimes war
against crippling Birth Defects.
Clu Gulager has made many
folk lore heroes of the old West
come to life on the television
screen. His most memorable
has always been Billy the Kid, a
role he played apposite Barry
Sullivan on “The Tall Man”.
Appearances on “Have Gun Will
Travel”, “Wagon Train”,
“Laramie” and “The Alfred
Hitchock Hour” round out some
of the many credits of this fine,
(Continued on page 7)
years, two of them firsts. This
year the judges in this cate
gory said:
“The Watauga Democrat
conies nearest being a perfect
community newspaper than the
others, in the judges* opinion,
although many excellent weekly
newspapers were submitted in
this category. The main purpose
of a community newspaper’s
existence is to give its readers
the happenings of the area it
serves in writing clear and
simple enough for all to under
stand and in a style that is pleas
ing and attractive. The Watauga
Democrat meets this require
ment. On the whole, the Watauga
Democrat serves its community
exceptionally well in every de
partment. It is a good community
newspaper any way you judge
it—excellent news coverage, a
good editorial page, an aggres
sive advertising policy and
superior reproduction.”
TYPOGRAPHY
The Democrat received its
third consecutive first place
award in typography, two in
letterpress, and this year in
offset production. The judges’
comment:
“This newspaper makes
reading easy. It tries to be a
weekly, yet presents a profes
(Continued on page two)
For Outstanding Community Service
Glenn Hodges Gets Top Jaycee Award
GLENN HODGES
Glenn Hodges won the Dis
tinguished Service Award Mon
day evening at the Jaycee DSA
Banquet at the Holiday Inn.
Recognized for outstanding
service to the community, Glenn
received a standing ovation up
on acceptance of the award.
Glenn is a member of the
county Commissioners, Board
of Trustees for Watauga Hos
pital, the First Baptist Church
Board of Deacons and is presi
dent of his Sunday School Class;
Chairman of the Recreation and
Education Committee of First
Baptist Church, chairman of
the New River Mental Health
Commission and head usher
at First Baptist Church.
Glenn said that he was “still
up in the air” the morning af
ter receiving the award and
was totally surprised by the
honor. A native of Boone, Glenn
attended Appalachian Elemen
tary School, Appalachian High
School and Appalachian State
University.
He has been employed by rRC
since 1956, having taken four
years out to attend college and
returning to IRC in 1961. He
has served for two years with
the U. S. Army in Korea.
Active in Jaycee work, Glenn
is presently working in con
junction with the Boone Parka
and Recreation Commission on
the formation of a midget foot
ball team.
Other awards given in the
course of the evening were the
Spoke award given to a member
of the Jaycees who has been a
member less than one year
and has actively participated
in a number of Jaycee projects.
The recipients of the Spoke
award were Jim Hastings, Louis
Gaston, Richard Hill and Joe
Miller.
Recipients of the Sparkplug
award are those who have been
a member of the Jaycees for
more than one year and who
have actively contributed to pro
jects in the Jaycees. Receiving
this award were John Austin
and Albert Hutchens.
Special guest speaker at the
banquet was the State President
of the Jaycees, Luther Brttt of
Lumberton. Britt spoke on the
growth of the Jaycees over the
years and the makings of a true
Jaycee. He also discussed his
travels representing the State
of North Carolina and the Jay
cees. He felt that it is time,
“that the Jaycees stop being
the nice guys in the city and
get involved by taking a stand
for the good of the community.**
He said that a good Jaycee
is doing what he should
do “what is asked and then
more, what is needed and then
more and what is required and
then more.**
Britt ended his talk by say
ing “A good Jaycee gets thing*
done by making them happen.'*