The Smoky Mountain Times
Votume 87 - Number 32 - Bryson City, North Carotina - Thursday, May 6,1971
CEMTEMmAL
1871 Swain County Centennia) Year 1971
Around
Town
Q<
The regular second
Saturday night staging wit! be
he!d at the Franklin Grove
urch this Saturday night,
ay 8, at 8:00 p.m. Out-of-town
singers wii! be the Tri-State
Quartet from Murphy, N.C. We
urge aii ioca! groups to be there.
TheWhittier Community
Ciub wiii meet Thursday, May
at 7:00 p.m. at the
Community House. At this
meeting wel! ceiebrate the
100th anniversary of Swain
County. The women wiU come
dressed in their Centennial
dresses and bonnets and the
mpa wiU show off their beards,
^^he covered-dish supper wiU
" offer dishes that were served
100 years ago. The speaker wiii
be from the Swain County
Historical Committtee.
tohd
The North Carolina State
Highway Patro! reported that
during the week of Aprii 20- May
,2,1971 they were oh the road for
of 170 hours during which
time one accident occurred, one
for wreckiess diriving , one
fordriving with iincese revoked
or suspended, and three other
hazardous violations making a
total of five charges.
A Youth Choir from
nette, Ala. will be at the First
ptist Church, Friday, May 7,
7:30 p.m., to sing Foih Musical
"Life".
The Youth Choir inciudiug
the "Beil Ringing Choir" from
rst Baptist Ch^ ch, Murpfv,
i be at the First Baptist
Church Sunday, May 9, 7:15
p.m. The Pubiic is cordiaily
invited to attend.
This Friday marks the
beginning of dress-up days in
May for the Centennia! .
Everyone shouid be in iS71
attire every Friday in May and
t^e week of June 3-11. Offieia!
Entire consists of ties, hats,
badges, bonnets and iong
dresses for the iadies if
possibie.
Friday aiso just happens to
be the day that the Kangaroo
Kourt goes into session, ff you
Should come into town not
attired in officiai dress, you run
the risk of being arrested by the
ioca! iaw enforcers and tried by
the Kangaroo Kourt.
The Mountain Skiii-Craft
^Organization wii open their
bop in the square Saturday,
'ayS, 1971, at 10 am Come in
see the many beautifui
[terns that are on safe.
^)d
^ten
A homecoming is scheduled
to be held Sunday, May 9 at the
Sawmill Hill Church. There will
be plenty of food. All singers
and the public are invited.
PTA (I!onlf€M*eiT!<:€?
Set Here /^lor)<3fcty
The North Carolina
Congress of Parents and
Teachers wiii sponsor a District
Conference for District I at the
Bryson City Elementary School
in Bryson City next Monday.
This is one of 15 conferences
being held across the state
during April and May.
Registration will begin at 9:30
Senior Citizens
To Meet
The Senior Citizens Group
sponsored by the First Baptist
Church of Bryson City will meet
at the church at 11:30 a m.
Tuesday, May 11.
We extend a hearty
invitation to all interested
Senior citizens in the
community to join us for this
and all our meetings. This one is
special. It is our salute to the
Centennial Festival. We are a
newly-organized group. We
need your fellowship. We offer
you ours. So, won't you please
meet us at the church at 11:30
promptly with your favorite
picnic dish? We share with each
other.
If the weather is nice we
will go to the Deep Creek picnic
grounds for our lunch, followed
by recreation and a planning
session. We also want to choose
a name for our group. Hope you
have some good suggestions. In
case of rain or cool weather we
wiH meet in the church Social
dMb A"*
BIBLE TALKS
Bible talks are scheduled to
be held at the Town Hall
Community room beginning
Friday, April 30, and continuing
each Sunday at 4:00 p.m.,
Thursdays and Fridays at 8
pjn. Everyone is invited to
attend.
CLUB MEETS
The Light n Lively Club
meets Tuesday evenings at 7:30
p.m. in the home of Mrs
Elizabeth Boys. Ladies
interested in losing weight may
join. Contact Mrs. Boys at 488
3330.
a m. and the program at 10:00.
AH PTA members, school
administrators, and other
interested persons are
encouraged to attend.
State PTA president, Mrs.
Stanley S. Atkins of Asheville,
will present an in depth
program on PTA-its objects,
philosophy, and its impact on
the local community, the
individual, and most important
of all, the child of this
generation.
Cleo L. Winningham,
Acting Director, District 1, will
preside. A business session will
follow the program.
Counties in District I are:
Cherokee, Clay, Graham,
Jackson Macon and Swain.
Editor
Resigns
George Owens, editor of
The Times for the past three
years, has resigned.
His tentative plans are to
move his family back to his
hometown of Union, S.C., where
he will open a small engine
repair shop.
A new editor will be
announced shortly and until
then, the newspaper office will
be kept open by staff employes
Linda S. Ogle and Linda K.
Ogle.
Chss Set
rfos/Mfa/
Southwestern Technical
Institute is offering a course ir
"Dietary Food Service"
scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 11 at the Swain
County Hospital.
Classes will meet in the
cafeteria dining room two
evenings a week from 7 until 9
pjn. The 30-hour course wil 11 be
taught by Mrs. Feme Helton,
Dietician at the Hospitall.
No charge is made for this
couse and anyone employed or
wishing employment in dietary
service may enroll.
For further information,
please contact Mrs. Helton at
the Hospital.
it. *4
WEATHER
Tuesday, April 27, Sunny. Low 42, High 78.
Wednesday, Aprii 28, morning showers, sunny and warm. Low
54, High 79.
Thursday, Aprii 29, sunny. Low 40, High 78.
Friday, Aprii 30, partiy cioudy with iight showers. Low 42, High
78
Saturday, May 1, sunny andwarm. Low 36, high 81.
Sunday, May 2, partiy cioudy with iight showers Low 33, High
62.
Monday. May 3, partiy cioudy. Low 32, high 63.
0!d DeHart Home
Pictured above is the home of
Mary Sue DeHart. The rear portion of
^nis home was built in 1865 by Mr.
[ John DeHart who was a member of
the first board of County
Commissioners in Swain County. This
home is probabiy the oidest occupied
home in the county.
Aiarka Camping Area
Boy Scouts from Swain , Graham, Clay and
Cherokee counties gathered at the Fires Creek
Wildlife Management Area in Clay County last
weekend for a camporee. More than 100 Scouts and
their leaders attended event. Shown above is the
camping area of the Alarka Scout unit. The Bryson
City Scouts also attended the camporee. (Staff
Photo)
The Swain County Centennial Dinner Plate is now
on sale at Centennial headquarters. The price is $2.00
plus tax. For a ioveiy and appropriate souvenir of our
Centennial celebration, buy a commemorative dinner
plate.
There are only eighteen sterling silver Centennial
coins left to be purchased. The cost is $25.00 plus tax
and may be bought at the Northwestern Bank. The
bronze coin is available at Centennial Headquarters
H>SCS To Meet
^4t Sy/ca Friday
The AnnualDistrict Meeting
of the Women's Society of
Christian Service will be held on
Friday, at Syiva United
Methodist Church beginning at
10 AM
Miss Louise Bailrd,
Waynesvilie, District
President, will preside and the
speaker witi be Conference
President, Mrs. J.Frank
Redding Jr. .of Monroe. The
program win aiso include a
meditation given by the Rev.
Thomas Cassidy of Syiva, a
4-H News
4-H Activity Day will be
Saturday morning. May 8 at
10:00 a. m. in the Fellowship
Haii of the Methodist Church.
Activities wili be a dress revue
and demonstration contest.
The dress revue will be
divided into an apron division
for beginners-dress revue for
ages 9-13 and 14-19.
The annual 4-H talent show
will be scheduled for later in the
month.
Two Swain 4-H leaders
attended the Western Extension
District 4-H Leaders Forum,
Saturday, at the Lambuth Inn at
Lake Junaluska. Mrs. Suzanne
Bunn and Mrs. R.L. Lyday,
joined a group off 4-H leaders
for an interesting program on
Saturday morning. Highlight of
the program was a talk by Dr.
Jamews White, Superintendent
of the Western Correctional
Center.
state of the district report
prepared by Mrs. W.W. S!oan,
Frankiin, and a skit presenting
the work of the Board of
Missions.
The meeting will close
with iunch at noon. Members
are asked to bring a sandwich;
saiad, dessert and beverage will
be served by the Syiva W.S.C.S.
of w hich Mrs. W.S. Crawford is
president.
Safety Award
Gfven lo
Power F/rm
The National Safety Council
has announced that Nantahala
Power and Light Company has
been presented the Council's
Award of Merit for its excellent
safety record.
The award is presented only
where an establishment's
record satisfied rigid
requirements laid down in the
Council's Award Plan for
recognizing good industrial
safety records.
Howard Pyle, President of
the National Safety Council in a
letter of congratulations to
W.W. Sloan, Vice-President and
Safety Director of Nantahala,
explained that the local utility
qualified for the Director of
Nantahala,explained that the
local utility qualified for the
aw ard bccau.-t <f its injury free
period of 3'. -.547 man-hours
Taylor Voices
Opposition To
US 441 dosing
WASHINGTON - Rep. Roy
A. Thybr last Thursday Hlad a
fqrmahdatemspt withNational
ParkServlCe Director George
B. Hartzog, re-emphasizing Ms
opposition to any curtailment of
private veMcle use of U S. 441,
which bisects the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park
between Cherokee, N.C., and
Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
"I am unalterably opposed
to closing or restricting
automobile use on U S. 441," he
flatly advised the NPS Director.
Hartzog, who once served
as assistant superintendent of
the Great Smokies, announced
in February a plan to eventaully
phase out public use of the
highway contingent upon
completion of a proposed 190
mile parkway which would
completely encircle the base of
the park with a dozen short spur
roads into fringe recreational
areas.
Tayor, who serves as
Chairman of the National Parks
and Recreation Subcommittee
of the House Interior
Committee, immediately
announced his opposition to the
proposed closing.
Then in nud-Apnl, Hartzog
revealed during a hearing
before Taylor's subcommittee
that he was seriously
condidering closing the
highway between around 9:30
ajn. and 4:30 pjm. starting this
summer. A shuttle bus service
would be used to transport
visitors bach and forth across
the park from fringe parking
lots.
The Congressman advised
Hartzog during the testimony
that he could expect strong
opposition to such a move and
indicated that he would use his
position as Chairman of the
subcommittee to personally
help block it.
In his formal statement to
Hartzog, Taylor warned that
even partial closing of the
highway would deal a severe
economic blow to the tourist
industry in Cherokee and
Western North Carolina and
would prove an inconvenience
to motorists wishing to travel
the road both as a scenic
attraction and as a means of
reaching a destination in either
North Carolina or Tennessee.
Taylor was highly critical
of the prospect of discontinuing
or limiting the use of a highway
which "cost millions of
taxpayer dollars to construct. '
The Congressman
challenged the legality of the
action. He cited documents in
which Tennessee section of
the hignway was originally ,
transferred to the government
and called Hartzog s attention
to language which he said
guarantees perpetual use of the
road by the public.
Aside from the pure legal
questions involved, Taylor
insisted that there was also a
question of morality, and
declared that "closing ' this
highway to automobile traffic
would be a breach of faith with
the States of North Carolina and
Tennessee, which donated the
road to thegovernment
expecting it to remain open and
available for the use of the
people."
Taylor acknowledged that
the highway is often highly
congested during summer
months, but argued that
motorists are obviously willing
to tolerate the inconvenience in
exchange for an opportunity to
survey the scenery from the
higher elevations and suggested
that they should not be denied
the opportunity.
"Good or bad, the
automobile is a part of the
America lifestyle and is the
means used by most people to
see America. There is ample
room in the Smokies for hikers,
horseback riders, and the
motorists, many of whom never
walk more than a hundred
yards from their cars," Rep.
Taylor declared.
STILL
Pictured above is a stiH brought in last
Wednesday afternoon by the Swain County Sheriff's
Department and Interna! Revenue men. !t was
iocated on Kirkiand's Creek.
Lady Mayor
Keeps Job
By 6 Votes
Mrs. EHen Hyams was re-elected
mayor of Bryson City in voting
Tuesday, beating her closest
chaiienger by a scant six votes.
Mrs. Hyams poiied 140 votes to
134 for former alderman Cecil Piott.
Tom Cromweil, the third person in tbs
mayor's race, got 58 votes.
There were 10 peopie running for
the four seats on the Board of
Aldermen and the 335 voters who
participated in the town election put
two incumbents back in office along
with two new aldermen.
Felix Potts with 152 votes and
Glen Conley with 146 were re-elected
to the board. The two new members
are Clyde Crisp, who led all
candidates with 220 votes, and Ray
Nichols with 137 votes.
Alderman T.L. Jonews failed in
his bid for re-election, drawing 119
votes.
Other candidtes for alderman and
the votes they received were Perley
Hyde with 116, Lee Rickman with 110,
Jack Franklin with 107, Mrs. Edith
Moore with 69 and Martin Dunn with
68.
Span Closing
For Repairs
The main How of east-west
traffic on US-19-129 will be
detoured around Bryson City
next week as repairs are made
on the Little Tennessee River
Bridge.
W.F. Ray, division engineer
for the State Highway
Commission in Sylva, told The
Times Thursday that the bridge
will be closed to all traffic
beginning next Monday
morning.
Repair work "will take at
least a week," Ray said and will
consist of jacking up one section
of the large bridge and adding a
new girder to the structure.
A standard bridge
inspection on Tuesday of this
week showed that one section of
the big bridge near Almond had
sagged % of an inch, he said at
that time the SHC employes and
State Highway Patrolnten
began sending heavy tractor
trailer rigs and buses on detour
routes. Private autos and
pickup trucks, however, were
allowed to continue to cross
over the bridge.
Ray blamed the sagging on
rusty I-beams which support
the roadway in one section of
the bridge.
"This is pretty much a
normal maintenance
operation," he said. "We do the
same job on bridges on rural
roads and it never makes news.
This is news because it's a big
bridge on the main road through
Western North Carolina."
The detour route, now in
effect for trucks and buses, will
include all through traffic
beginning Monday. It goes from
Dillsboro to Murphy by way of
Franklin, Clayton, Ga. and
HayesviUe.
Donations
Listed
The labor for the park in
Bryson City was done by
Operation Mainstream. Blue
prints were furnished by the
TVA. This project was
sponsored and directed by the
Bryson City Woman's Clu .
Donations for the park on
the square and the Chamber of
Commerce and grounds were as
follows: shrubbery DeWitt's
Nursery, grass seeds,
Clampitt's Hardware, lumber
(2x4) Maness's Manufacturing
Co., rope, Reagan's 5 and 10
cent store, red material
(markers), Belk's Department,
vines for ground covering,
Myers Tourist Court, boxwoods,
Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Marshall,
potted plants, Hemlock, Inn,
bulbs, Gay Nell Woodfy, and
fertilizer and shavings, Mr. and
Mrs. Dale Huddleston.