WATAUGA COUNTY In the Heart at the Northwest ern North Carolina winter not simmer tourist resort area. WATAUGA ■OOWjt WEATHER An Independent Weekly Newspaper Eighty-First Year of Continuous Publication Dee. SI 4S SI Jan. 1 M 3 Jan. 2 30 11 Jan. 3 34 23 Jan. 4 28 7 3 Jan. 3 31 4 Jan. 3 31 8 .03 34 33 35 30 37 31 43 SO SO 10 39 If 33 3 VOL. LXXXI—NO. 28 BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9,1989 10 CENTS PER COPY J 22 PAGES—9 SECTIONS A touch of pre-Dixieland New Orleans jazz will hit Boone Tues- Lecture Series, The Ambassadors from Preservation Hall will day night, Jan, 14. Under die sponsorship of the ASU Artist and go to work at 8 p. m. in I, G. Greer Hall. ' ' r"i ;'v :.. rf ■.>. & J . ; :.V^.: .. . ]•[.. ■? • V /yV V** C ' Musicians Will Bring Warm Rhythms Of New Orleans Jazz On Tuesday Clan. l4),agroup at oldsters will move Into I. G, Greer Hall on the Appalachian State University campus, dust atf their battered trumpet, slip Airport Group Will Have Meet Next Thursdays 'A public information meet ing concerhing the proposed air port in the county will be held in the court room of the Wa tauga County Courthouse Thurs day, Jan. 16, at 8 p. m. Announcement is made by Bob Bingham, chairman of the Wa tauga Airport Commission. At the meeting trill be Wil liam Cox of Talbert and Cox Associates who have studied the engineering aspects of the proposed airport. He will dis cuss the site selection. Bingham said that a joint meeting was held Dec. 30 with the County Commissioners, the Airport Commission, the Boone City Council and the Blowing Rock Town Council and at that time it was decided to have the upcoming meeting. horn (trombone), licorice stick (clarinet), drums and upright piano, and unleash the warm, throbbing rhythms of pre Dbdeland New Orleans jazz that is rapidly becoming extinct. The Ambassadors from Pre servation Hall, an edifice lo cated cm St. Peter Street in the heart of New Orleans* French Quarter, will offer the trueim provissation&l flayer of original. grass roots music made by greats like Sidney Bechet, Bes sie Smith, W.C. Handy and Jelly Roll Morton. Originating primarily as background for the strip shows of the Storyville ere, New Or leans jazz differs from Dixie land in that it is more thoroughly improvisational less polished, more flexible and spontaneous. Tickets for the one-time per formance are priced at $1 for adults and 50 cents for high school and elementary students, ASU students and faculty mem bers will be admitted free of charge. Sponsored by the university’s Artist and Lecture Series, the concert will begin at 8 p. m. Featuring Billie and DeDe Pierce on piano and trumpet, the group also includes Jim Robin son on the trombone, William Humphrey Jr. as clarinetist, and drummer Joslah Cie Frazier, all musicians who were brought up in the great, warm swinging rhythms of the Delta land. Billie Goodson Pierce, Flor ida born in 1907, came from a family of pianist-vocalists and learned the blues rhythms al most before she could talk. When Billie was fifteen, shetookClar ence WilUams* place fpf a week aa accompanist for |ie great blues singer, Bessie Smith. As s(institute piano player for the silent dims, organ player for touring minstrel shows and pianist ior numerous usvema bands of the era, Billie found herself In New Orleans at Pop eye Charlie Palooka's and the Klngftsh. At the latter, she played with George Lewis and DeDe Pierce, whom she married in 1935. “DeDe" Joseph LaCroix Pierce was born In New Or leans in 1904 and grew up with a trumpet which he learned to play from Professor ChaUgny. Of Creole roots. DeDe learned his folk songs early, even before the frequent Brass Band Jobs at (Continued on page two) Ski Conditions Called “Excellent” Are* sld lodges report flat conditions will be "excellent” this weekend after snowmak ing operations and a natural snowfall that blanketed the county Tuesday. At Blowing Rock Ski Area six inches of powder are on top ct a good base, according to officials there. Last weekend an estimated 550 skiers a day were at the area's oldest ski For Snow Carnival i J ' r , Thousands of alders are ex pected in town next week tor the first North Caroline Snow Carnival. The starting date, Friday, Jan. 17, coincides with the be ginning of National Ski Week an] Carnival Director Robert Bingham says the event may eventually become a week-long festival, running the full length' of the national observance. Miss America of 1965, Von ec^I5 resolution made In opposition to Sunday business and drawn up by the congregation of Green way Baptist Church, hisjpastor rue nev. j. t. urump spo«e In behalf of his Brushy Fork Baptist Church congregation* Mr. Temple Bald “I am un clear as to the itent of this or dinance*' and suggested its re wording. Previously Dr. Had ley Wilson, alderman, had spok en for enforcement of the blue law found in the 1940 binding of city ordinances. He and Dr. James Graham voted approval. Alderman Gwyn Hayes arrived after the issue was decided. Police Chief Ed Harmon was called in and instructed to no tify store owners in Boone that: “It shall be unlawful for any person to keep open any shop, store or barber shop in the Town on Sunday for the purpose of buying, selling or engaging in tihe business conducted dur ing the week days: Providing that drug stores, cigar stores, con fectionery stores, shops, stands and service stations maybe kept open on Sunday for the sale of drugs, medicines, druggists’ sundries. cigars, tobacco, fruits, ice, ice cream, confec tioneries, nuts, newspapers, periodicals, books, gas and oil.** t VIOLATION Boone policemen testified in a Tuesday, Dec. 31, hearing of charges that Thrift Food Cen ter, Radix Store, Boone Pure (Continued on page two) WATAUGA COUNTY SCHOOLS closed Tuesday morning for the reason above. Highway Depart ment workers were fighting a thick soft snow that made sand a better treatment than salt. (Staff photo) Dave Mast Resigns As Co. Director Welfare Dave P. Maat of Sugar Grove resigned Tuesday, Dec. 31, aa Director of Welfare In Watau ga County. At 67, Mast had held the Job here since 1941. Mrs. Milt (Amelia) C. Greer, a welfare caseworker who re sides In Boone, has been named Interim Director of Welfare until an appointment Is made by the agency's board of direc tors: Dr. Gene L. Reese, Glenn Hodges arc! Mrs. Homer F. Brown. The Job now requires ex perience in public welfare and administrative work, nine months social works training or willingness to take such stu dies, and a college degree. The appointment is made under the auspices of the State Personnel and State Merit System. Mast received his B. A. in English from UNC in 1927. He taught in Watauga County schools for 12 years, during that time serving as principal of Appalachian High School and Blowing Hock High School. Before becoming Director of Welfare, he undertook six months study of social work in a professional institute of William and Mary College. Mast says he now plans to go into farming. He and Mrs. Mast are the parents of four sons: Pat, who is a lawyer in Wins ^Watauga Homes Get $864,000 Upgrading ,i; ■ ■ . . , ■ . Hom-owners In Watauga Count' spend a tidy lum Mch year on the maintenance and improvement at their •• bomee. S ■ - i-. * ■ : 'f ■ In the past -year alone, their expenditures tor alterattona, additlona, repairs and upkeep came to approximately ♦*64,000, It Is estimated. 1 . j The amount U based upon a sampling Surrey at dwellings In all sections of the United States. The flMlrg la that the average expenditure for resi dential upkeep and Improvement in Watauga County’s general area came to $187 per housing unit. Not Included In this figure were the normal, everyday household and ■ housekeeping expanses. That eaa the average outlay. In twSvktoel eases, tt varied widely from that amount, both up and down. -J, {h,A v;;: The txptanation 1> that moat homeowner* will tmdertake major improvement* one year and then do nothing ct an expensive nature for several years thereafter, Deuiu on bow much is spent for euch purpose* end how much It edds to the velue of e home come from the Department of Commerce and the Nations! Association ,J of Real Estate Board*. They show that the outlay to thi* direction,forth, tedtooeiewhoto. amounted to *11.7 billion to the pest year. ; r How did Watauga County homeowner* spend their 9864*000 share of it? A breakdown, based upon the orerell figures, In dicate* that about (B percent of it went for addition*, alteration* and replacement*. : .01 The other 38 percent waa for maintenance and repairs. Almoat half of this total waa for painting and decoratiiw. The rest waa a pent for plumbing, roofing, beatlrv, air conditioning and miacellaneoua purposes. Because of the difficulty these days in ottalnlng plumbers, electricians, painters and other workmen for Jobs around the house, more and more homeowners are becoming their own mechanics. They are saving themselves a pretty penny at the same time. Nationally, It is estimated, the price of homes has gone up about *1,000 per unit, on average, In the past year. : ... "J •; *• Tatdiv Into account, also, the value added by Improve ments, Watauga County homes are worth about *5,484,000 more than they wars in 1*07, on that basis. ‘ , fv- t ■ -j. ** * r * “ ton-oalem; BUI, a pharmacist In Henderson; George, a lawy er in Smithfield; and Mackt a teacher in Lexington, N, C. New Mortuary Is Occupied Rein s-Sturdivant Funeral Home Friday finished moving into its new mortuary on the Blowing Rock Road in Boone. Council Cook, secretary treasurer of the firm, said land scaping is yet to be done and that a formal opening and dedi cation will be held later. The 12,00u- square-foot building has an unusual feature in its cathedral-ceiling chapel. Reins-Sturdivant's former lo cation is a white frame house at 401 E. King St, The property Is owned by First Baptist Church of Boone. ^ ... Accountants Buy Building The accounting partnership of' Williams, Baker ft Koonts moved from the second floor of the Professional Building / in Boons to the former Ifcga man Clinic, 300 fc. King St, The Arm purchased the prop erty Nov. IS from Dr. J. R. Hags man Jr„ oho has opened an office in the Doctor’s Bed log adjacent to Watauga Cou»> ty Hospital. >>■§■; Williams, Baker ft Kboagg- ; are renovating their new gar ters and gay they expect complete the work in than tog * the Income tax season. VHhV .< ; i ' • '