Goodbye To Helena
VIEWPOINT By Jesse Helms
The weekend included an all-too-hurried
Saturday evening trip to the pleasant and
hoipltabie community of Timberlake, eight
miles south of the Person County seat of
Roxboro and just north of the line separat
ing Durham and Person counties. The setting
sun danced across the fields and pasture
land, and along the neatly-trimmed lawns of
the rural homes which border Highway 501,
playing hide-and-seek in shadows that deep
ened with the twilight.
It was a charming interlude for one
unconsciously tuned to the clang and clatter
of uriian living. And it was instructional,
too-this visit with some 600 gracious
people, young and old, whose affections and
memories, and hopes and dreams, have for a
very long while been proudly tied to their
Helena High School.
The occasion was the last meeting, one
presumes, of "The Hornet Club", an organi
zation which for years has been a manifesta
tion of pride and a recognition of the
achievements of the boys and girls at Helena
High. So they gathered there, in the school
gymnasium, this past Saturday evening,
some 600 of them, to mark what may well
be the end of an era.
Next year there will be no Helena High
School. The high school students of the
community will hereafter be transported
daily up the highway to Roxboro to become
a part of another one of those school
consolidations. It will be crowded, and the
young people from Timberlake made clear
Saturday night that they will miss their
identity with Helena High School. This is the
standard price of the centralization that has
so infected our time. One can only hope that
it Is worth it.
What has happened at Timberlake, and to
Helena High School, is happening every
where. The fashion is to centralize, to
emphasize bigness, across the board. The
argument is that efficiency comes more
easily with consolidation and centralization.
But what of community pride, and com
munity interest? And even more important,
what happens, in the process, to the com
munity's ability to influence the kind of
education its children will receive? What will
happen to the building of leadership
qualities among the young?
But it is a flashy, well-publicized, almost
overwhelming trend -this business of central
ization. For a generation, efforts have been
increasing -and they have been fearfully sue
cessful -gradually to strip first the states, and
then local communities, of their authority
and to vest more and more power in the
federal government. The by-products of this
trend have been a painfully parallel destruc
tion of the rights of the individual citizen,
and a weakening of the citizen's ability to
protest and oppose what is happening to his
freedoms. Decisions are made in faraway
places, laws are passed and regulations hand
ed down. Whether the citizen happens to
like them or not is of no consequence. He
obeys them, or else.
It is difficult to argue with the advocates
of centralized education, or centralized any
thing. They present windy and wordy re
ports produced by distant "experts" who
cite what purport to be endless advantages
to be gained from consolidation and centrali
zation. These were the same voices, of
course, who assured us years ago that federal
aid to education would solve our educational
problems. And there would never be, they
said, any such thing as federal control of
education.
So one is bound to look at Helena High
School, in the rural community of Timber
lake in Person County, and wonder if the
experts are right. Where else, one might ask,
would more than 600 parents and students
gather on a Saturday evening to pay en
thusiastic tribute to the student leaders and
proud achievements of their school? Will the
same devotion and affection be present at a
consolidated school up the road?
One cannot escape the reminder, of
course, that a group of faraway educators
have "studied" the Raleigh and Wake
County school systems, and have recom
mended their consolidation. Everything will
be better and easier and cheaper, the report
says. A single school system, the Yeport
frankly says, will be easier to integrate and
more easily comply with future federal
regulations and controls.
It may be what the people want, and it
may be all to the good. But a springtime trip
on a pleasant Saturday evening to Helena
High School in rural Person County was
enough to raise some questions about it.
One tiptoes when discussing questions
such as this. The campaign for centralization
of all things is a carefully calculated one, and
it is now rolling fast and furiously. And, as
has been the case with countless "expert
opinions" of the past, if and when we finally
learn that the experts were wrong, it'll be
too late to do anything about it.
Place Second In Tourney
Chowan, as expected, won
the Cavalier-Tarheel Golf
Tournament, but not as easy
as they would have wanted
to. At the end of 9 holes of
play, the 'Cane golfers were
leading the field by 3 strokes.
However, when the going got
rougher, Chowan's balance
came through, and they beat
out Louisburg for the lead.
The scores were high and
Chowan finished with a 307,
compared to Louisburg's 309.
Finishing far down the line
was Ferrum (318), Mount
Olive (336), and COA (346).
High point of the day was
Dave Stamper. The 'Cane's
number one man was the
medalist with a round of
73(35-38). There were four
medalist trophies to be won
and LC had two golfers to
win. Stamper took top
honors, and Leadbetter came
through, placing fourth after
a play-off against Chip Sulli
van of Chowan. Dwight won
on the third extra hole when
he pared it and Sullivan
bogied the hole. Other scores
for LC was Rick Green's
79(38-41), Deane Hege with
an 81(40-41), Kllngel's
80(41-39), and Radford's
82(41-41).
Next in line for the team' is
the Regional Tournament to
be held May 19 in the Char
lotte area. The Cane golfers
have high hopes of a good
showing In this tournament
and when it's over, they
should be right near the top.
Juvenile Logic
"1 want you to under
stand." said the teacher,
"that it is the law of gravity
that keeps us on this earth."
"How did we stick on be
fore the law was passed?"
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Fountain
(Continued from Page 1)
dous number of grants enact
ed piecemeal over a period of
time into a much smaller
number of functionally-relat
ed grants. The President's bill
is similar in purpose and
method to Title III of H. R.
7366 -the Intergovernmental
Cooperation Act of 1969 -
which 1 introduced on Fe
bruary 20 of this year. The
differences between these
two bills, both of which seek
to facilitate the consolidation
of Federal assistance pro
grams, are largely technical
and will be resolved to ac
hieve the best possible mea
sure when our subcommittee
holds hearings in a month or
so.
Congressman Fountain is
chairman of the Intergovern
mental Relations Subcom
mittee to which these bills
have been referred.
In his message to Congress,
the President pointed out the
growing problems in effec
tively administering the sys
tem of grants-in-aid and other
forms of Federal assistance to
State and local governments,
public and private institutions
and individuals.
He stated: As grant-in-aid
programs have proliferated,
the problems of delivery have
grown more acute. States,
cities, and other recipients
And themselves increasingly
faced with a wetter of over
lapping programs, often in
volving multiple agencies and
diverse criteria. This results in
confusion at the Icoal level, In
the waste of time, energy and
resources, and often in frus
tration of the intent of Con
grats.
Both the Grant Consolida
tion Act of 1969 and Title III
of the Intergovernmental Co
operation Act of 1969 would
provide a major means of
dealing with these problem.
Patterned after the proce
dures now available to the
President for reorganizing
Federal departments and
agencies, legislation of this
kind would permit the Presi
dent to initiate proposals for
consolidating grant program*,
while preserving the power of
Congress to disapprove such
action.
Other members joining
Congressman Fountain in in
troducing the Grant Con
solidation Act of 1969 are:
Congresswoman Florence P.
Dwyer of New Jersey, Con
gressmen Gerald R. Ford of
Michigan, Frank Horton of
New York, John N. Erlen
born of Illinois, Clarence J.
Brown, Jr. of Ohio, Guy
Vander Jagt of Michigan, Paul
N. McCloskey, Jr. of Califor
nia William B. Widnall of
New Jersey, William C.
Cramer of Florida, Seymour
Helpern of New York, Wtt
liam V. Roth of Delaware.
Stem Races
The Jet Motor Speedway
will feature a 35 lap late
model and time trials this
Friday night. May 9. There
will also be a 25 lap sports
man, 2 - ten lap heats and a
15 lap hobby rookie.
The track is located be
tween Creed mo or and Stem.
Gates will open at 6:00 p.m.
and the nice will start at 8:30
p.m.
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SAM WOOD, MGR.
Commissioners Make Appointment
The Board of County Commis
sioners. meeting in regular monthly
session here Monday, reappointed nine
members of the Industrial Develop
ment Commission and reappointed
two members of the Hospital Board of
Trustees.
Named to the Industrial Develop
ment Commission were: J. Harold
Talton. Simon Collie and W. F. Col
lins. one-year terms: James T. Moss.
Macon Morris and K. G. Weldon.
two-year terms and T. O. Nelms. Joe
Denton and Allen deHart. three-year
terms.
Avery Stall ings and Ben Perry were
reappointed to new terms on the
Franklin Memorial Hospital Board of
Trustees. Their terms expire m 1975.
The Board adopted a resolution
"favoring Franklin County becoming a
part of an Economic Development
District in conjunction with the
Coastal Plains Regional Commission
and the Economic Development Ad
ministration." The action, according
to the resolution, "Would provide op
portunities for new and constructive
approaches in federal-state relations
and establish Franklin County as a
planning and economic development
unit".
The Board also adopted a resolu
tion in support of the N. C. Associa
tion of Registers of Deeds in that
organization's opposition to Senate
bill 389 which requires additional in
dexing of financial statements. The
Register of Deeds Association refers to
the requirements as "unnecessary du
plication" of the work now done by
their members.
In other actions, the Board heard
and approved routine report*, discuss
ed the Welfare Department budget and
approved a request by W. R. Richards,
School Advisory
Councils Named
Members of the six district local
advisory councils were announced by
the Board of Education Monday night.
All members were appointed for a
one-year term earlier by the Board. A
full listing of council members by
schools follows:
Bunn Elementary School and Bunn
High School: H. A. Clemons. G. C.
Crudup, Leonard Frazier. Glenn Mitc
hell. O'deyne Mullen, W. R. Richards,
Jr.. Benny Williams.
Edward Best Elementary School
and Edward Best High School: J. W.
A. Jenkins. Melvin A. Nelms, W. B.
Pearce. Phillip Sykes. W. Donald West
er.
Epsom: Tommy Asycue, Ronald
Renn, Robert Rowland.
Gold Sand Elementary School and
Gold Sand High School: Allen Crudup.
Jr.. Joe Denton, Harold Dickerson.
Bob Richardson. Owen F. Tharring
ton. /
Louisburg (Elementary School and
Louisburg High School: James R.
Grady, L. C. Hasty, Esther Loan,
Wilton B. Perry, Margaret B. Pruitt.
Youngsville High School: Wesley D.
Bailey, Gary C. Carter, E. J. Pearce,
Howard White, Stephen Wiggins.
Chairman of the County Planning
Board to employ "someone to per
form the administrative duties" of the
Board. The Commissioner* appro
priated $600 for this purpose.
Sign-Up
Data Given
Franklin County farmers have ex
pressed interest in 1969 ASCS annual
programs by signing up to take part in
these programs. Following is a sum
mary of participation in the 1969
Feed Grain, Wheat and Cotton pro
grams:
Feed Grain - 2,446 farms with 1596
enrolled and 13,730 acres diverted.
Wheat - 1596 farms with 1169 en
rolled and 2,535 acres diverted. Cot
ton ? 2,163 farms with 2,059 enrolled
and 9,628 acres diverted.
Producers on these farms who com
ply with program requirements will
receive government payments.
"It is very important that they
carry out their intentions as stated at
time of sign-up. There will be payment
reductions for those who are deficient
in diverted acreage or plant over their
permitted acreage. False acreage re
ports will cause a loss of program
payments, so farmers are encouraged
to make accurate reports when filing
crop acreage reports at the County
ASCS office," said an ASCS spokes
man.
Rams Lose To Oxford
Oxford ? Oxford Orphan
age eked out a 5-4 Franklin
County Conference decision
over Pranklinton here Tues
day behind the stellar relief
pitching of Nelson Broyal.
Broyal, picking up his
sixth win against no losses,
stopped Franklinton on three
hits in four innings, striking
out six in the process. Broyal
Youngsville
Youngsville - South Gran
ville outlasted Youngsville,
13-11, here Tuesday in a non
-conference game.
Billy TiUotson cracked a
homer and drove in three
runs as -did Steve Ward, for
the Vikings. Phil Piggins had a
double, triple and single for
Youngsville.
Wakelon
Clips Bunn
Zebulon - Earn Bunn toss
ed a two-hitter to pace the
Wakelon Bulldogs to a 5-1
victory over Bunn here Tues
day afternoon In a Franklin
County Conference baseball
contest.
Cook - So you complain
of finding sand In your soup?
Did you join the Navy to
serve your country or com
? plain about the soup?
Boot - To serve my coun
try - not eat It.
The pretty young thing
with curves has s choice be
tween work and play - as few
of us do.
Vikings
Sure Nuff
drove in two runs while War
ren Collins had three RBIs on
a pair of doubles (or frank
linton.
He's the living
and dying end
in excitement!
Ibny I
Anthony
Till.
STKANMIK
m/niKNS
ES2E
end
THUWS.-FRI
. . WOMEN WERE THE ONLY
THINGS CHEAPER THAN LIFEj
EASTMANCOiM'
FOR ADULTS ONLY
ADM. $1.00
8UN
SAT.
Bitti
Davis
Shi uMd
Mi th? way
man u*td
weapons I
mYm? hoo! Your friendly decomtor i* here!"
Smart Father
Father looked hard at his
wife and then at his son.
"That boy has taken money
from my pocket!" he storm
ed.
"Ernest." she protested.
"How can you say that? Why,
I might have done it."
Father shook his head.
"No, you didnt; there was
some left."
Ipuijburq
(G)sSUGGESTED F OR (M) SUGGESTED FOR
GENERAL AUDIENCES MATURE AUDIENCES
(R) RESTRICTED, PERSONS UNDER 16 NOT ADMITTED UNLESS
WITH PARENTS OR GUARDIAN
(X) PERSONS UNDER 16 NOT ADMITTED
RATING POSTED AT BOX OFFICE FOR EACH PICTURE.
SUN -MON.-TUES -WED.. MAY 11-12-13-14
? if he
hollers,
let him
DANA
WYNTER
RAYMOND
ST. JACQUES
KEVIN
McCarthy.
WBAR8AAA McNAlR.
-^MlHIMCONNfll
(M) MATINEE SUN. 3:30
TWO SHOWS NIGHTLY 7 &
THURS -FRI -SAT.. MAY 15-16-17
CMS
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TWO SHOWS NIGHTLY 7 I 9
MATINEE SAT. 2:00
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ANYTIME OUR ANSWERING SERVICE