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WATAUGA DEMOCRAT
An Independent Weekly Newspaper . .. Eighty-Second Year of Continuous Publication
BOONE WKATHEB
1M» HI Lo Put Snow *88 HI Lo
Dec. 23 37 15 48 17
Dec. 24 34 22 .02 28 16
Dec. 25 32 22 1.46 16-in. 28 IS
Dec. 26 32 20 .17 2-in. 34 18
Dec. 27 30 16 50 25 i
Dec. 28 49 17 51 31 [
Dec. 29 47 35 33 23
VOL. LXXXII—NO. 26
BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1970
10 CENTS
20 PAGES—2 SECTIONS
CLOGGED SIDEWALK In business district. Staff photo)
Skiers Flock To Hills
Thousands of skiers flocked
to the North Carolina mountains
this past week as most of the
ski facilities opened their gates
for the first time.
Reports from area slopes re
corded record crowds on Thurs
day and Friday and although a
soft snow and wind made ski
ing difficult, most reported good
crowds on Saturday and Sunday.
At Beech Mountain, the largest
ski resort in the area, some
3000 skiers were reported using
the slopes on Thursday and Fri
day. A spokesman at Beech re
ported 18 to 20 inches of snow
on the ground at that time.
At Appalachian Ski Moun
tain a capacity crowd filled the
slopes on Christmas Eve and
Christmas day with a reported
ski base of 18 to 20 inches
before the large natural snow
fall on Thursday and Friday.
Seven Devils, which was
closed Friday and Saturday due
to large drifts, reported capacity
crowds on Sunday and Monday.
The area boasted a snow base
of from 7 to 12 inches until
Tuesday when a heavy rain
closed the slopes.
Hound Ears had a few ski
ers Friday skimming over the
new snow which covered a two
foot base. But conditions were
reported poor because of soft
snow and wind gusts.
The new resort at Sugar
Mountain said the snow kept
employes away and they re
scheduled their opening some
time after the first of the year.
Reports from most of the
ski facilities in the area on
Tuesday were that skiing was
poor due to the rain that fell
on Monday night.
All area managers feel that
this will be the greatest ski
season ever and according to one
spokesman, ‘‘all we need is a
little cold weather.”
To Close For
New Year’s Day
Most of the stores in Boone
will be closed today (Thursday)
on account of the New Year’s
observance.
All Boone and County offices
will be closed, except the Magi
strate’s office at the courthouse
will remain open.
Both banks will be closed,
along with the Watauga Savings
& Loan Association and the post
office.
Holiday Travel Slowed
Moisniainous Snowfall
Closes Local Schools
Highway Forces
Battle Gales
To Open Roads
Watauga closed out 1969 with a
16-18-inch snow that stymied
Christmas travel and closed the
schools. High winds complicat
ed its removal.
The year’s final snow started
during the morning of Wednes
day, Dec. 24, with a 2-inch
blanket spread for Santa.
But the biggest snow of the
year started Christmas morn
ing. When it had finished Fri
day, it had left an official re
cording of 16 more inches.
Its removal from streets and
highways developed into a five
day-long 24-hour battle by high
way maintenance forces.
Rv FHrlav mnrnine' hiehwav
crews thought they had the prob
lems licked. But high winds de
veloped that blew snow back on
to roads all over Watauga County
by that night.
Dale Blevins, of the Watauga
State Highway Comm’ssion of
fice reported that 83 men worked
through the five days. They split
shifts so that road equipment
was worked 24 hours a day.
Blevins reported that by Mon
day afternoon, Dec. 29, all but
two roads in the county had been
cleared for travel.
The work, he said, involved 40
pieces of equipment.
Piles of snow along King
Street in Boone sharply cur
tailed midtown activity Saturday
after stores opened for post
Christmas business. Town
crews went to work through Sun
day night and had several piles
of show cleared out for near
normal business activity Mon
day.
Alderman Crater Marsh of
fered praise for the work done
by crews led by David Austin,
head of the town’s water and
sewer department.
The snow brought on a certain
two-day holiday for public
school students who had been
(Continued on page two)
Child Killed InChristmasAccident
Investigation is continuing in
to the Christmas Eve accident
on old highway 421 west of Boone
in which five-year-old Teresa
Lynn Walls was killed.
Patrolman Robert Bowlin
said it will be next week be
fore he completes his investi
gation into the headon crash be
tween the Walls car and a
truck driven by Noah Vernon
Shelton, 42, of Route 1, Vilas.
Bowlin said it was the 12th
traffic fatility for Watauga
County during 1969, a new high
record for the county.
The child apparently was
killed instantly. She was pinned
in the wreckage of the 1966
Chevrolet in which she was
riding with her parents. Her
body was removed by the Wa
tauga County Rescue Squad. TTie
crash occurred six miles west
at Boone.
The girl’s parents, Robert
Clay Walls, 24, and Linda Ward
Walls, 23, of Route 1, Vilas,
and Shelton were admitted to
Watauga County Hospital. They
were released Saturday.
(Continued on page two)
AT SCENE of Mai accident, George Flowers Photo,
SWIRLING SNOW and high winds make low visitability on Street. CStaff photo)
More Watauga Women
Are Employed Outside
For a growing number of mar
ried women in Watauga County,
running a home apd raising a
family are only part of their
activities.
With each parsing year, more
and more of them are finding
that they can take care of their
household responsibilities and
still have enough spare time to
permit them to take outside jobs.
As a result, locally and else
Burley Sales
To Be Resumed
Reynolds Bell, chairman of
the Burley Sales Committee,
announces that the sale of Bur
ley tobacco shall be resumed
on Thursday, January 8, in
stead of Monday, January 5.
This decision was made by
the Burley Sales Committee
in a telephone conference at
ten o’clock on Saturday morn
ing, December 20.
The Sales Committee con
sidered the situation existing
in all areas of the Burley Belt
and determined that this later
re-opening of the Burley To
bacco Market was needed to en
able the tobacco re-driers to
move a sizeable volume of sold
tobacco off the warehouse floors
before the market re-opens af
ter the holidays.
where, the proportion of wives
at work—in offices, stores,
factories and in professional
occupations—is at an all-time
high.
In Watauga County, an esti
mated 37.4 percent of the mar
ried women are now employed,
according to the latest statis
tics. This compares with 28.4
percent in 1960.
On the average, throughout
the United States, in more than
1 out of every 3 husband-wife
families, the wife is employed,
either part-time or full-time.
It represents a considerable
change over earlier years. In
1952, for example, only 1 out
of 5 wives was in the labor
force.
The figures are based upon
sampling surveys of the nation’s
labor force, conducted by the
Census Bureau, and upon re
ports from the Labor Depart
ment and others.
They show that no less than
15.8 million wives in the 43.3
million husband-wifefamilies in
the United States were in paid
jobs in the past year.
Their contributions to the
family exchequer have made
it easier to cope with the family
budget, to save for jixdor’s edu
cation and to live on a better
scale generally.
The increase in the number of
working wives reflects only part
of the changing pattern of wo
men’s attitude toward economic
self-sufficiency. The proportion
of single women in jobs has also
been going up.
Between 1950 and 1968, it is
shown, the number of working
women rose 60 percent, although
the number of men employed
Purse {''omul
$6(10 Is I’riuni
Tommy Jones, in addition to
being the father of four proud
children, and an employee of a
local tire recepping firm, is
known as “Mr. Honest” about
Boone.
And his Christmas season
good deed might not have been
known to newspaper readers and
radio listeners across the
United States.
Jones and his family visited
the Community Christmas Tree
in Boone on Wednesday, Dec.
17. Before they left the area,
he found a woman’s purse con
taining $600 in cash.
Shortly thereafter Mrs.
went up omy ib percent.
In Watauga County, similarly,
there have been marked
changes. The proportion of
working women has been edging
up steadily.
In I960, when the last census
was taken, there were 1,675
local women in the labor force,
or about 25.0 percent of the
female population over 14.
There are now approximately
29.3 percent.
,1 \vtU T,
. ,i T - 0
Georgia Mast suffered the
heart-quickening discovery that
she had lost her purse. The $600
represented a payment for a
hospital bill, Christmas pres
ents and $400 for her 16-year
old son’s savings.
Saturday morning Jones, re
sponding to a radio appeal for
the purse’s return, agreed to
meet Mrs. Mast at a beauty
parlor to hand her the purse
and its contents. The only ad
dress in the purse had been a
California address.
Jones, who lives on Route 4,
Boone, declined to accei* the
$100 reward offered by Mrs.
Mast.