BOONE
Home of Anoalachian State Uni
versity, in Boone, Blowing Rock
and Linville Scenic Triangle,
watauga Democrat
BOONE WEATHER
1968 HI Lo Snow Free. '87 HI Lo
An Independent Weekly Newspaper
Aug. 27 70 48
Aug. 28 71 40
Aug. 29 73 38
Aug. 30 72 39
Aug. 31 71 45
Sept. 1 62 54
Sept. 2 73 46
70 61
67 53
74 48
75 49
72 54
67 56
65 39
After his speech, Charles Hartley of Statesville (at podium) talks with one of the 168 who at
tended the Wallace for President rally. The crowd gathers at the front of the auditorium to
buy campaign materials. (Staff photo)
Campaign Of Wallace
Is Brought To Boone
BY RACHEL RIVERS
Can a former truck driver
who married a former clerk in
a dime store and whose father
was a plain dirt farmer be
elected President of the United
States?
The 1 68 people who turned
out for Saturday night’s George
C. Wallace rally and organiza
tional meeting seemed to think
so. And when the Wallace Girls
from State headquarters passed
the hat, the crowd in the Watauga
High School auditorium chuck
ed in nearly $700 to prove it.
Furthering the third party
campaign in mountainous North
Carolina was Charles Hartley,
Statesville businessman and
Humphrey, Muskie Get Nod
Vice-President Hubert Humphrey easily won a
first-ballot nomination for President in the Democratic
convention in Chicago last week, garnering 1,760 1/4
as against 601 for his chief opponent Senator Eugene
McCarthy. Senator George McGovern received 146 1/2
votes.
Humphrey's choice for the Vice-Presidential nomina
tion was Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine.
The bitterly divided convention was marked by pro
tests against the strong-arm tactics of Chicago’s Mayor
Daley in containing street demonstrators besiegir^ the
convention headquarters hotel.
chairman of the Iredell County
Wallace movement, who was
introduced by John Coe, master
of ceremonies.
The rally was late getting
started because of sales con
ducted at the front of the audi
torium. Brought by the dozens
were red, white and blue neck
ties bearing the candidate’s
name; pamphlets and 8-by-10
glossies of Wallace; and pla
cards, bumper stickers and
campaign hats.
After the speech and collect
ion of funds, even more Wallace
materials were sold and some
two dozen volunteer cards were
to be turned in for the local
campaign. The Wallace rally
was Watauga County’s first
strictly-national event since a
courthouse convention erf Hoover
Democrats back in 1928. .
COMMUNISTS
Hartley opened his talk
by reading a letter sent home
by a Vietnam soldier and lead
ing each statement with “My
God, how can it be?”:
(Continued on page eight)
Blowing Rock Ski Lodge
Is Sold For $160,000
The Blowing Rock Ski Lodge
was sold at auction Friday when
the only bid was accepted from
four North Carolina business
men who offered $160,000.
The four were directors of
the lodge and were responsible
when The Northwestern Bank
called for the note on the lodge.
The men are Grady Moretz Jr.
of Boone, Earl B. Searcy of Val
dese, L. H. Smith of Blowing
Rock and Herbert Reynolds of
Winston-Salem. Reynolds is an
owner of Seven Devils.
Moretz said that the bid would
not be final unti.' i 0 days from
the bidding (or until Monday).
He said that if another bid is
received, the auction would re
main open another 10 days.
He said that the lodge would
operate this winter but “dif
fently than it has been.” The
lodge was the first ski opera
tion to open in this area start
ing in 1961. Moretz said he
felt that it pioneered skiing
here.
He added that the lodge had
made a profit every year it
had been in operation and said
that last year was the most
successful season.
Moretz said that the lodge
would not be operated as a
country club or nor would it
combine with any area club this
Land To Be Bought
For Fire Department
The MountaineerRuritanClub
has pledged to purchase a tract
of land on which to locate the
proposed Cove Creek Volunteer
Fire Department, according to
Dr. Evans Will
Speak At C. T.
Graduation
Dr. Hawthore C. Evans Jr.,
[resident of Lees-McRae Jun
ior College, will deliver the
commencement address at the
Caldwell Technical Institute
graduation ceremonies Friday
night at the Institute.
Dr. Evans has previously
been on the psychology and edu
cation faculty of Carson-New
man College, Jefferson City,
Term., where he served as
chairman of that department and
was also director of teacher
education. He has also taught in
the Morristown (Term.) school
system.
(continued on page two)
Jerry Adams one of the leaders
in the drive. Location of prop
erty has been one of the chief
problems in the department’s
establishment.
Adams said that three sites
were under consideration but
nothing has yet been decided
about which one to secure. He
also added that the organizing
committee is still investigating
sources of equipment.
The drive to provide fire
protection for the Cove Creek
area was started after several
homes and one large business
were burned out.
Discussion about a depart
ment has been going on for
over a year but only after the
recent rash of fires did the
citizens take definite action.
Adams has previously stated
that some 500 homes and 18
businesses would receive pro
tection after the department is
established.
Community response to the
drive has been termed “good”
and the next organizational
meeting is scheduled for Mon
day, Sept. 16.
year. There had been some
speculation about this and
Moretz said that he himself
had looked into the possibility
of this type arrangement.
Kenneth
Clawson Is
College Dean
Dr. Kenneth Clawson, BS’60
MA ’61, has accepted the new
position of Dean of the Richmond
Community College within East
ern Kentucky University, Rich
mond, Kentucky.
In his capacity as dean Dr.
Clawson will be responsible
for the development, coordina
tion, and promotion of the com
munity college program within
the university. He will also
hold the rank erf professor in
the School of Education, where
he will assist in the develop
ment of a graduate program
for the preparation of junior
college teachers and teach
courses in higher education.
Dr. Clawson, who earned his
doctorate in higher education
at the Florida State Univer
sity, was a teacher and dean
at Lake City Junior College,
Lake C ity, Florida, before mov
ing to Florida Junior College
at Jacksonville.
While he was an undergradu
ate at Appalachian, Dr.Clawson
was active in student govern
ment and an honor graduate.
He was a graduate teaching
assistant in biology while work
ing toward the M.A. in biology
and junior college teaching.
At Eastern Kentucky Univer
sity Dr. Clawson will join Dr.
Elmo Moretz, another native
of Watauga County and graduate
at Appalachian, who is Dean
at the Graduate School there.
High Peak Overlooks Boone
$5MillionHoward’sKnob
Development Underway
Hotel, Ski Slope,
Chair Lift Are
Parts Of Project
A $5 million dollar construc
tion and development project
which is designed to attract
conventions and tourists to
Boone is underway high atop
Howard’s Knob.
This brainchild of Herman W.
Wilcox and Jack Norris has
been in the making over a year
and definite plans have been
made to make the idea a reality.
Howard’s Knob, Inc., is the
name of the corporation under
taking the development of the
area which will boast a hotel
capable of accommodating ar
ound 300 lodgers and a conven
tion hall. Other attractions for
the development are a lake and
ski slopes.
A chair lift which may extend
two miles, according to Wilcox,
will begin near the temporary
courthouse and go to the top
of the mountain. The lift is
calculated to be the largest
in this area.
wncox saia that the state
Highway Department has been
paid “sufficient funds*’ tocom
plete construction of a paved
road to the top of the moun
tain. He said that the road
should be finished in three or
four days.
Lots for home sites have
been marked off and Wilcox
commented that some of these
lots are already being pur
chased. He added that the fact
that lots are being sold indi
cates the confidence the cor
poration has in its develop
ment project.
CONVENTIONS
The construction of a hotel,
slated to begin in the spring,
should help attract conventions
to the Boone area, according to
Wilcox. He said that many con
ventions are turned away from
Boone every year because of
the lack of accommodations.
“We could easily be a con
vention center if we had the
housing facilities,” he said.
“We cannot take care of a
convention of over two or three
hundred,” he added. He went
on to say that many conventions
had chosen Asheville for a con
vention simply because the Bun
combe County city could pro
vide the housing.
Land is being reserved for
commercial enterprise, too, al
though Wilcox said that plans
are not yet complete about com
mercial projects. He mentioned
that establishments on the
mountain would most likely exist
only to supply the people of
the development area and should
not compete with firms in Boone.
He said that these businesses
could not hurt Boone trade be
cause of the increased trade
the total development project
would bring.
root iacinues win oe pro
vided in the development area
and the project will have its
own water system separate from
that of Boone. Wilcox said that
the system has been approved
by the state Board of Health
which has been working with
the project in the installation
of the system. Water will be
pumped from pure mountain
streams into a huge storage
system. A central sewage dis
posal system is also on the
drawing board.
Wilcox said that the middle
class family had been kept very
much in mind in the planning of
this development. He said that
there was no place in the area
to give the middle class family
a summer home at a price it
could afford.
“People will be able to buy
a lot for around $1,500/’ Wil
cox said. “The development
will also be nice enough for
the upper class family to buy a
lot and build a home.”
According to Wilcox, the pro
(continued on page two)
These women comprise the first licensed pratical nurse class
to be trained using Watauga County Hospital as a clinical
resource for the Caldwell Technical Institute. To graduate
Friday are Q-r, seated) Miss Carolyn McQueen, Mrs. Carolyn
Brookshire and Mrs. Elizabeth Stout. Standing (1-r) are Mrs.
Dorys Brooks, Miss Carole Holder, Miss Jean Wilson, Mrs.
Shirley Fox, Mrs. Betty Danner, Mrs. Janice Adams and
Mrs. Grace Wilson. (Staff photo)
Licensed Practical Nurses
The 10 LPNs to graduate
from Caldwell Technical In
stitute Friday will be employed
at the Watauga County Hospital.
Hospital Administrator Vir
ginia Groce says this initial
practical nursing program at
the hospital is forerunner to a
second one now being formed.
The way it works is that
Watauga Hospital is a clini
cal resource for Caldwell
Tech’s curriculum, which is
conducted under the State Board
of Education’s Vocational and
Technical Division.
The first quarter’s study was
at Caldwell Tech. During the
second quarter, the students
were at Watauga Hospital for
on-the-job training three days
a week. Of the original class
of 12, only one dropped out and
a second transferred to another
class.
“We are extremely proud of
the class and of the part the
hospital has played in organiz
ing it,” said Mrs. Groce. Mrs.
Paul E. Branch, who is an
RN, was salaried by the In
stitute to supervise the stu
dents’ training here.
Mrs. Groce says the class
represents additional employ
ment opportunities for local
people, will help reduce the
shortage of nurses and soma
day may lead to the establish
ment of a local school of nurs
ing.
Priority Formula For Paving
New Streets Told By Mayor
Mayor Clyde Greene an
nounces this week that the city
has adopted a priority formula
for the paving of new streets.
While a major street-im
provement program is going
on in Boone—and resurfacing
streets and paving several grav
eled streets is planned—the
formula is to help expedite mat
ters by taking into account such
factors as: The number of
houses served by the street,
the time passed since original
construction and the amount of
traffic flow.
A survey to determine the
relative priorities already has
been started.
The Mayor said he and the
councilmen feel the formula
is the beginning of an orderly
street program which will up
grade and expand Boone’s pres
ent streets into top quality
street system.
“For too long, Boone’s street
Vermont American To
Have $224,000 Expansion
An expansion program cost
ing $104,000 in construction ex
penses and $120,000 in new
equipment is slated to begin
Monday at the Vermont Am
erican Plant according to Jack
Cronland, division manager.
“We’re expanding to relieve
the congestion,’’ Cronland said.
Broyhill To Be
Speaker At Rally
Congressman James T. Broy
hill heads a list of Republican
national and state officials who
will be on hand Saturday as
Watauga County Republicans
open the 1968 campaign.
Broyhill will be the prin.
cipal speaker at a picnic-rally
to be held at 6 p.m. at the
Horn in the West picnic grounds.
Joining the congressman will
' BEST TOURIST TIME
The best tourist months are
still ahead. See page 1, Section
B.
be Robert Somers, who is a
candidate for the U.S. Senate,
and Don Garren, GOP candi
date for Lt. Governor. Watauga
candidates also will be pre
sent.
The action is all a part of
the party’s campaign kick-off
day and the picnic follows an
all-day open house at the new
Republican headquarters next
to the post office in Boone.
Republican chairman Cecil
Miller said earlier that each
family attending the picnic is
asked to bring a covered dish.
Free cold drinks and coffee
will be provided.
“We just don’t have enough
room to work.”
The addition to the plant lo
cated on State Farm Road will
be 12,000 square feet. The con
tractor for the job is Howard
Construction Company of Lin
colnton. The project is sched
uled for completion in Nov.
Cronland said that the ad
ditional space and equipment
will provide about 25 new jobs
but he added that these jobs
would not be available until
the first of the year. The plant
now employs 130 people, all
of whom are residents of Wa
tauga and surrounding counties.
The annual payroll is $750,000.
Vermont American's Boone
plant is one of the three in
the Tar Heel State and is the
nation’s largest producer of
saw blades. Annual sales for
the local firm are over $2,
000,000 from the four types
cf blades manirfactured.
The Vermont American plant
has been in Boone three years.
The original cost of the plant
was $456,000 and equipment
cost was $604,000.
improvements have been a mat
ter of whim, emergency, acci
dent or political favoritism,”
Mayor Greene said. “Now our
town can move ahead, with all
our citizens able to know ex
(Continued on page two)
REV. REGINALD SMITH
Rev. Mr. Smith
New University
W. F. Minister
The Rev. Reginald L. Smith
Jr. assumed his duties this
week as the new campus minis*
ter erf the Wesley Foundation at
Appalachian State University.
Mr. Smith received his A.B,
degree from Southern Metho*
dist University and the BJ>.
degree from Emory University
where he specialised in con*
munications and theology.
During the past year tie has
served as Minister to Youth
for the Peachtree Road Metho
dist Church in Atlanta, Ga.
(continued on page two)