North Carolina Newspapers

Celebrate America's 195th Birthday by Flying the Flag and attending the Church of your choice The Smoky Mountain Times Vo!ume87- Number 41-Bryson City, North Caroiina-Thursday, July 1, 1971 Cope Named To NW Board William T. Henson, vice president of the Northwestern ^Bank in Bryson City announced ^yesterday the election of Verlon Wayne Cope to the Board of Directors of the local bank. The 30 year old Cope, son of V.L. Cope and the late Nora P. Cope, is Terminal Manager in Bryson City for the Fredrickson Motor Express Corp. He graduated from Swain ^*"*Q)unty High School and received a degree in Traffic Management from Blanton's Business College. He is married to the former Brenda Case of Brevard, N.C. Wayne and Brenda are members of the First Baptist Church. Wayne is . Superintendent of the Parkview F ^Mission Sunday School, member of the Board of Trustees, Swain County Hospital, and a Rotarian. . .. Around Town Mr. and Mrs. Douglas & Roger "Sandy " Messer j^oannounce the birth of a ^ daughter, Cassandra Therese on June 23, 1971. Weight 8 lbs. 4 oz. The Swain County Youth Center will not be open Saturday. July 3. During the week of June 21 27. 1971, the State Highway Patrol reported that they were on the road for a total of 187 hours during which time two accidents occured, three for driving under the influence, three speeders, one for improper passing, one for re Jdcss driving, and ten other ^hazardous violations making a total of eighteen charges. Cherokees To Name New Chielf CHEROKEE RESERVATION - The official nominees for principal chief and vice chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians have been chosen at a recent 24 member intertownship caucus. Noah Powell was nominated by a majority on the fourth ballot as candidate for principal chief;; and John A. Crowe was nominated for vice chief on the first ballot. Poweli has been acting principal chief since the death in April of Principal Chief Walter Jackson. Township nominees for Tribal Council are: Wolftown - Jess Littlejohn and Edward Taylor; Painttown - Sam Arneach and John Henry Maney; Yellow Hill - Bertha Saunooke and Roy Blankenship; Big Cove - John Standingdeer and Tom Bradley; Snowbird - Mose Wachacha and Ned Long; and Birdtown - Tom I^mbert and I^awrence Thompson. The official nominees will run on a platform written by the incumbent Council. Candidates for chief and vice chief must be one-haif Eastern "Cherokee and 35-years-oid or older. Candidates for the Council must be one-sixteenth Cherokee and over 21 years of age. Anyone else who meets the requirements may run for the offices, as well as the Council backed candidates. Other hats in the ring to date include Johnson C. Owle, director of the community action program, who announced that he is running for the chief 's job, and Newman Arneach, a former vice chief and director of the civic center, who reportedly is running though he has not officially announced yet. There are 8,000 listed on the rolls of the tribe and an estimated 6,000 of them live in Swain, Jackson and Graham Counties on the Qualla Reservation. The balloting for election of Principal Chief and Vice Chief will be held on the first Thursday in September. Outgoing president of the Bryson City Jaycees, Bob Robinson, left pases the book to incoming president, Sam Decker. Jaycees Elect New President Sam Decker recently was installed as President of the Bryson City Jaycees. He relieved R. G. "Bob" Robinson who has served as President for the last year. During the past year the Jaycees have been most active in community work. They sponsored the Midget and Miss Teen-Age Contestant Miss Idnda Norma Seay, 16 year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter N. Seay, Route No. 1, Box 597, Bryson City, has ^Qgen selected to be a finalist in the 1971 Miss North Carolina Teen-ager Pageant to be held at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. Raleigh, North Carolina, August 7. 1971. The annourement was made by M s Sybil Shaffer, Executive Tarector of the State Pageant. There will be fifty-five (55) gtrls from all over the State '..mpeting for the title to represent North Carolina in the National Miss American Teen ager Pageant at Palisades Park. N. J. in September. Contestants are judged on beauty of face, figure, charm, poise. personality and scholarship. Miss Seay was selected as a contestant last weekend in Creensboro. N. C Miss Seay is being sponsored by ( arlyn and Prank Miller of Lloyd's Motor Court in ). vson City Mite FootbaU teams, sponsored Santa Pa! for 68 children at Christmas, sponsored a circus, and co-sponsored last year's Western Regional Softball Tournament. The club members also removed and disposed of 20 junk cars from the roadways, installed the Christmas lights in town, and sponsored the 4th of July celebration with bingo and fireworks. Again this year bingo and fireworks are scheduled as a part of the 4th of July festivities. Bingo on the square tonight, Friday, and Saturday. The annual fireworks spectacular may be viewed at 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Swain County Housing Authority, members with Ned Tucker and David Wike. Sitting (1-r) Doris Hicks, Mayor Ellen HyamS, Ethel Welch, Joann Thomas, Ruby Kirkland. Standing (1-r) Jack Welch, Milt Carlson, Ned Tucker, Earl Douthit, RusseH Childers, Garner Robinson, O.G. Garland, Betty Seay, David Wike, Gerald Stephenson, Dover Dean, Max Lindsay, Bob Childers, and Arthur Breedlove. ^ Swain County Housing Authority Created The Swain County Housing Authority was formed on June 22, 1971. The creation of this non-profit public body was a result of a resolution passed earlier by the Swain County Board of Commissioners. Initial membership of the -Authority consist of 28 individuals representing all segments of the county's community. This Housing body is charged with the responsibility of assisting and advising the Southwestern North Carolina Regional Hbusing Authority in developing appropriate housing programs and projects to meet the local needs for adequate housing. The members of the Housing Authority voted to incorporate as a non-profit public orgnaization with the authority to acquire land, own, operate, sell, lease, subdivide and develop land, borrow money, and engage in all other activities necessary for proper implementation and development of the appropriate housing projects which will meet the immediate and future needs for housing for people at aii income levels in Swain County. Moving rapidly, the group came up with a set of by-laws for operation and prepared the Articles for Incorporation to be sent to the North Carolina Secretary of State for approval. The members present then elected a Board of Directors who are charged with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the corporation. Elected to the Board of Directors were Donald Bunn, R. M. Childers, Jai* Welch, Russell Childers, Odell Shuler, Mrs. Ethel Welch, and Mrs. Joann Thomas. The organizational structure has the Board of Directors operating under the County Commissioners with Regional Housing Director David Wike and Swain County Housing Commissioner Earl Douthit serving as advisors to the Board. The Housing Authority was advised by Ned Tucker, Executive Director of the Southwestern North Carolina Economic Planning and Development Commission that New Postal Service Today The inauguration of the United States Postal Service is being celebrated today (July 1) in Washington, D C. and in every post office across the country. Postmaster Harold Davis announced'that all members of the community are invited to visit their local post office today and enjoy the hospitality of the men and women who comprise (lien ten nia! Capsu!e Buria! Set Burial for the Centennial Tune Capsule has been set for 11:00 a.m.. Monday. July 5. The capsule will be buried on the Swain County Courthouse lawn. This announcement was made by (Hen McKinney, Chairman of the Capsule Committee. Citizens of Swain County are reminded that there is still tune to place an envelope containing the history of their families or businesses or a taped message in the capsule. The charge for a plain envelope is $1.00 Other packages are $5.00. Packages for the capsule, along with the money, must be received prior to 12:00 noon on 1'tiday. July 2. These packages may lx? deposited at the Town office, the Smoky Mountain Times office or McKinney':s Croccry on Bryson Branch. the burial will be marked b\ an appropriated and dignified ceremony. County and town officiais aiong with Centenniai Committee representatives will be present. Men's and women's Ciubs are asked to have a representative present. The American Legion's Steve Youngdeer Post 143 of Cherokee wilt provide the color guard and a firing squad. The public is invited to attend. the new U S. Postal Service. Dedication Ceremonies in Washington wiU be hosted by Postmaster General Blount. Honored guests at the dedication will include members of Congress, former Postmasters General, the Board of Governors of the new Postal Service and their wives, as well as the Assistant Postmasters General, headquarter personnel and other dignitaries. Visitors to the post office will be given a souvenir envelope imprinted with the old and new insignia of the Postal Service. This envelope is also available in limited numbers as a first day cancellation for just the cost of an 8 cent stamp.This will be the first time First Day Covers have been available in all U S. post offices. A photographic display of modern Postal Service jobs and functions will help visitors learn more about the men and women of the Postal Service and how each mail user can help them serve the community better. There is also a photographic display of stamps. Postmaster Harold Davis says "Come to the post office and let us serve you." Certtenrtia! Paper For Sa !e The Centennial Section of iast week's edition of the SMOKY MOUXTAIX TIMES is available for purchase at the TIMES office. Extra copies were printed tut those wishing to share the Centennial celebration with friends and relatives. Individual copies may be had for 50 cents each. Copies are also available at the Swain County Chamber of Commerce building on the square. funds are available now from the Farmers Home Administration to build houses. William R. Martin, County Supervisor of Farmer Home Administration for Swain and Macon Counties was unable to attend the meeting. Most of the discussion at this initial meeting was concerned with the building of self-help houses. These may be built by families who qualify for interest credit. It was emphasized that these FHA funds are loans and not grants. Although interest rates may be as low as one per cent, families are screened to insure they meet the credit rating. Cost of houses built under the self-help system are considerably reduced because the fainily provides most of the labor required. This work is performed under the guidance of a construction supervisor. The normal self-help group consist of from 6-12 families. These families, working with one or more construction supervisors, can save about 30 per cent of the usuai cost of construction. We have been assured that as additional information is available it will be publicized. The organization is here. It is needed It is in the process of incorporating so that it may get down to the business of getting adequate housing for those individual families requiring it. It will take a lot of hard work but it can be done. Members of the Authority are Bob Childers, Mrs. Kermit Marchs, Mrs Betty Seay, Dover Dean, 6. 6. Garland, E. H. Moody, Pansie Deal, Donald Bunn, Mrs. Ruby Kirkland, Mrs. Gamer Robinson, Mrs. Ethel Welch, R. N. Wiggins, A. T. Jabo, Arthur Breedlove, Mayor Ellen Hyams, Jack Welch, C. C. Carson, James Douthit, Russell Childers, Mrs. Joann Thomas, T. L. Woodard, Max Lindsay, Gerald Stephenson, Milton Carlson, Leroy English, Joe Sherrill, Doris Hicks, and Barney Rentz. N.C. Assemb!y Opposes Closing 44! Chairman of the County Commissioners Odeii Shuier received a copy of a joint 'Resolution, ratified on the 21st day of June 1971, opposing the closing of U. S. Highway 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, from North Carolina Secretary of State Thad Eure early this week. This resolution reads as follows ,**Whereas, the Director of the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, has stated in testimony before a Congressional subcommittee that he favors the closing of U. S. Highway 441 where it runs through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and has indicated that he plans to recommend the closing of that highway to the United States Secretary of the Interior; and Whereas, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has the highest visitor ratio of the 35 national parks, with more than 6,000,000 visitors per year; and Whereas, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is visited and enjoyed by these millions of people each year because it is accessible by motor vehicles on U. S. Highway 441; and Whereas, U. S. Highway 441, running through the park between Catlinburg, Tennessee, and Cherokee, North Carolina, makes the park and some of its most beautiful and inspiring scenery readily accessible not only to person ^whoae^ale purpose is to visit the park but also * to traveler across the great Smokey Mountains; and Whereas, the roadway which is now U. S. Highway 441 has long existed and posed no new or expanding threat to the flora and fauna of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park , and poses no threat to the ecological balance which exists in the park; and Whereas, U. S. Highway 441 was originally built by the Rotary Club president Henry Truett. right, passes the symbois of office to incoming president George Davis Rotary Club Installs Officers The Bryson City Rotary Hub hetd a changing of the guard last Thursday night. The new officers took over leadership of the club at a dinner meeting at the Boundary Tree dining room in Cherokee. Mr. Henry Truett, outgoing president, presided at the meeting. The Rotary Arms and many friends of the club attended. Truett reviewed the past year's activities and thanked outgoing staff for their cooperation and assistance. They were: Secretary Treasurer, John Orr and Directors. Jack Lyday, Dick Dimsdafe, Carroii Wright and Joe Sherrill. Rotary Ann Mrs. Phillip Brintnall was presented a lovely silver bowl by Rotary Ann Mrs. Henry Truett for her assistance to her husband with WEATHER Tuesday. June 22. sunny and warm. High 89. !ow 59. Wednesday . June 23. sunny and warm with showers. High 87, iow 58 Thursday. June 24. sunny and warm with showers. High 88, iow HO. Friday. June 25. sunny and hot. High 90. iow 61. Saturday. June 26. sunny and hot. High 91. iow 59. Sunday. June 27, sunny and hot with showers. High 91. iow 58. Monday, June 28. sunny and hot. High 92. iow 60. the Hotary Club Buiietin. Miss Susan Carlson and Miss Kary Sharp and accompanists provided the entertainment. The entertainers were introduced by the program committee chairman. Dr. H.L. Bacon. President Truett then passed the gave! to the incoming president. George Davis. Davis anounced his staff as Secretary-Treasurer, Max Anders.and Directors, C.A. Casada and Cariton Eikins Davis pledged to work toward the continued growth and strengthening of the ciub and to assure the ciub maintained its concern for the weifare of the community, the nation and the worid—in the true sense of Rotary tradition. President Davis, assisted by Rotary Ann Truett affixed a past president's pin to the iapei of outgoing president, Henry Truett. States of Tennessee and North Carolina and was by those States turned over to the National Park Service in 1951 with the stipulation that the road would never be closed to the public; and Whereas, U. S. Highway 441 is not sufficient to accommodate traffic into and out of the park and for that reason other access roads should be built into the park to relieve the congestion on Highway 441 and to allow more and more people, both young and old, to enjoy the natural treasure of the plant and animal life and the scenic attractions of the park; and Whereas, Swain County in 1943 coveyed 44,000 acres of land to the Federal Government for inclusion in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in return for a promise by the National Park Service to build a park road from Bryson City, North Carolina to Fontana, North Carolina which road has never been built; and Whereas, the announced plan of the National Park Service to close U. S. Highway 441 to privately owned vehicles and to provide free transportation into the park by buses and other methods of transportation would result in the establishment of a Federal bureaucracy expending millions and millions of dollars and would further impose the heavy hand of the Federal Government in unduly restraining and restricting the use of the t&reat'-r5?neky Mountains National Bath; and, Whereas, the closing of U. S. Highway 441 through the threat Smoky ^ Mountains National Park would deprive the people of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee of a long-established route of transportation and communication; would deprive transmountain travelers of the opportunity to enjoy much of the natural beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains; would make access to the interior portions of the park difficult, if not impossible; and would breach contractual obligations owed by the Federal Government to Swain County and to the State of North Carolina; Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representativesd Representatives concurring: Section 1. That the General Assembly of North Carolina is unalterably opposed to the closing of U. S. Highway 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and regards and attempt to close the highway as a breach of good faith and of legal obligations on the part of the National Park Service of the United States Department of me intenor. Sec. 2. The Secretary of State shall cause certified copies of this resolution to be transmitted to the Director of the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior, to the Secretary of the Interior, to the Director of the United States Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, to the Secretary of Agriculture, to the Secretary of State of the State of Tennessee, to the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of Swain County, and to each member of the North Carolina delegation in the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Sec. 3. This resolution shall become effective upon ratification. In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 21st day of June. 1971" Signed below by H. P. Taylor, Jr., President of the Senate, and Philip P. Godwin, Speaker of the House of Representatives. We believe that the General Assembly made two significant points in this resolution in addition to, opposing the closing of 441. One is that other access roads should be built into the park and , two. that a promise to build a park road, in exchange for 44,000 acres of land, has not been honored.