JIM 'i, Tryon St,
Ch_rl^ttw, N.C, 262C2
. v X' - • '
li^1 : CHARLOTTE POST B^l
- _ “Charlotte’s Fastest Growing Community Weekly”
Vol. 8, No. 21 ^ |fr, ——— -----_
THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday, December 13,1979*""~~~ ■
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ATTRACTIVE SYLVIA MICKLE
....Varsity cheerleader
Sylvia Mickle Is
Beauty Of Week
Sweet sixteen is the age
of our beauty, Sylvia
Mickle. And at this pre
cious age Mickle has al
ready, proven that she is a
leader.
A few of her past times
include, Varsity Cheerlead
ing at West Mecklenburg,
Senior High School, being
active an the student coun
cil, Red Crass, Project
Aries, and the Fellowship
e&Christian Girls. She is
also a member of Future
Business Leaders of To
morrow and plans to bo
come* lawyer. „ .
But what makes our
bgguty so unique is that she
has better things to do than
watch a lot of television.
“Television puts me to
sleep, I spend a lot of time
listening to music and
studying,” Mickle reveal
ed.
Our Libra beauty also
enjoys cheering, swim
ming and dancing. “I took
tap, jazz, baton and ballet
for two years,” Mickle
said, “I love to dance."
Mickle's dislikes include
the high cost of living. “I
dislike the high cost of
everything. If a lot of
people could get together
maybe they can come up
with something to stop it,”
Mickle said, "Stop giving
people what they want.”
Her philosophy of life ties
right in with her solution to
inflation, "To strive for the
best and you’ll get far in
life.”
“People with attitudes of
‘I can’t do it’ won’t get
anywhere like that,”
Mickle explained.
Mickle is the daughter of
Mrs. Mattie Mickle of 3501
Otwell Court. “My mother
is my favorite person be
cause she does so much for
me. I've come a long way
with her,” she said.
She has one brother, two
sisters and attends O’Zion
Baptist Church.
Operation Christinas
Basket WiU Be Held
by Susan Ellsworth
Post Staff Writer
Families with childrei
aad senior citizens will h
*P«cial guests at a Christ
mas party sponsored b]
Big Ways radio and Krogei
Sav-On.
“Operation Christmas
Basket,” to be held Dec. 16
from 3-6 p.m. at the Char
lotte Civic Center will fea
ture a dinner, games, and
gifts for the children.
One thousand guests are
beiat Invited to “the big
gest Christmas party
Jhr,” according to Ms.
Heanor Pettis, co-ordina
tor for the project along
with Jim Black from
WAYS.
Kroger Sav-On will do
nate food, Betty McCarroll
of McCarroll Catering Ser
vice will prepare the food,
and the Mecklenburg
Japeees will wait on tables
Dinner will consist of
ttefcey and dressing, sweet
^Jtatoos^jjreer^beens^ice
who
a
»
and rolls. Pepsi Cola Bot
tling Company will supply
beverages.
While adults play bingo,
, children will be entertained
5 with a puppet show, magic
, display and participate in
, sing-along Christmas
songs.
Santa will arrive for a
special visit to distribute
toys to the children that
were wrapped by the Meck
lenburg Jaycees.
Among the toys will be
Cadaco basketball games,
Fun Stuff Incredible Hulk
dolls, Meyer cord Juggling
Clown Kits, Raggedy Ann
and Andy Musical Mobiles,
Superior Roll, A Coin
Banks, Tinker bell Cologne
Doll sets, and a special
Huffy BMXa Inch bicycle.
Toys are furnished hy
Big Ways. Can goods and
dry foods may be donated
and placed in special bins
found at all four Kroger
Sav-On stores.
The Jaycees will collect
food items and pack them
into food stuffs for some of
the families attending the
dinner.
Guests are being re
ferred to Big Ways through
the Christmas Bureau,
Bethlehem Center, the
Council on Aging and
others.
Individuals and families
mainly from Mecklenburg
County will be contacted
personally by volunteers
from Kind’s College.
This is the largest Christ
mas dinner that Big Ways
has ever sponsored.
HUD Reconsiders Foreclosures
★ ★★ + + ^ _L
' ^ ^ ^ ^ K
800,000Face Bleak Christmas?
Some Help
OnWay For
Fuel Bills
Special To The Post
Raleigh-Even with help
on the way in January for
fuel bills, this will still be a
bleak Christmas for moot
of North Carolina’s approx
imately 800,000 poor resi
dents, according to Robert
H. Ward, director of the
Division of Social Services
of the N.C. Department of
Human Resources.
“With incomes already
below the poverty level and
the continued erosion of
these meager incomes by
inflation, I am afraid our
state’s poor are in for a
long cold winter and not a
very bright holiday sea
son,” Ward said.
He indicated that if it had
not been for the tremen
dous voluntary effort of the
stated more fortunate citi
zens during the past Christ
mas seasons, these occa
sions would have alap been
urooa.
“Churches, organiza
tions and individuals have
shown great concern for
our state’s poor during past
Christmas seasons. But
with inflation continuing to
gnaw away at these very
limited incomes, I urge
everyone to dig a little
deeper this year to share
with the poor. I urge this
realizing that everyone’s
income has also been hit
hard by inflation.”
“I sincerely hope that
emergency fuel funds to be
distributed in January do
not cause people to become
slack in their voluntary
efforts to help the poor. I
realize that $34.4 million
sounds like a lot of money.
But, the maximum any
individual or family will
get is just a one-time pay
ment of $200,” he added.
“Contrary to popular be
lief, I feel strongly that
these people are not poor
because they want to be,
but that they are victims of
circumstances.”
Ms. Vanessa Harris
r . -with Rosalind and Geneva
tor Christmas
Rosalind And Geneva Will
Have Special Doll House
oy ieresa Burns
Poet Staff Wrtier
Christinas has arrived
early for Rosalind Harris,
6, and her sister, Geneva, 2,
this year. Right now a
special, large doll house
sits in their living room.
It’s special because it
wasn’t made from wood or
plastic assembled in a fac
tory. Instead the doll house
evolved from love, pop sic
kle sticks and nearly 250
hours of patient work by
their mother, Vanessa Har
ris.
“I started at the begin
ning of August. I stopped
for a vacation and a test,
but I usually worked on it
about three hours a day,”
Harris said.
The creation started
when Harris’ daughter,
Rosalind noted that her
dolls were looking for a
bouse. Doll houses big
enough for 12" dolls cost
$200. “So we decided to
make one," their mother
said.
“The children would
hand me the sticks and I’d
glue one row and wait for it
to dry. I didn’t use a plan or
design, just my imagina
tion,” she continued.
The house is made of
popsickle sticks glued to
gether with Elmer’s glue.
There’s green carpet in
front for the grass, and
even a fence. It’s painted
white and little Rosalind
calls it the “President’s
House”.
“I like it real good,”
Rosalind began, “Skipper
and Marie are going to
move in tomorrow. I love
it!”
The sturdy two story
frame house has wall to
wall carpeting; a roof
made from aluminum and
basal wood shingles; a kit
chen with matching table
cloth and curtains; a bed
room; and a living room.
All rooms are even com
pletely furnished with pop
sickle (tick furniture.
Since furnishing would
have cost $90, Harris said,
“We made our own. The
furniture was expensive.
So I made the furniture
while I was building the
house."
Harris taught a crafts
class at the Afro-American
Cultural Center last sum
mer. "It inspired me. I
taught 12 children how to
make African huts with
popsickle sticks and they
put hay roofs on them,” she
said.
Already the Harris’ are
planning an extension to
the doll house. Rosalind
says her dolls need some
where to park their cars. So
according to Harris, "The
next thing is a garage.”
After that she plans to
put wheels on the doll
house Whatever Harris
does has to comply with her
full work schedule. Whe
ther it is sewing her clothes
or her daughters', making
Christmas stockings or
Santa Clauses out of little
books - anything Harris
does can be labeled creat
ive.
Abusing Prescription Drugs
Is Practice Doctors Encourage
by Susan Ellsworth
Post Staff Writer
Abusing prescription
drugs is a practice both
doctors and patients encou
rage.
“Doctors are not getting
trained in the effects of
drugs,” warned Dr. J. D.
Allen, executive director of
Open House, Inc., a Char
lotte drug treatment cen
ter.
“All they know is what
they read in the ‘Physi
cian’s Desk Manual’ and
what drug manufacturers
say,” he continued "They
don’t know the potential for
abuse.”
This is only one side of
the problem. Many times a
patient contributes as
much to his addiction of
prescribed drugs as those
doctors who don’t exercise
good Judgement
A worried, anxious pa
tient exerts pressure “to
Second In A 3-Part Series
get a symbolic gesture that
the problem can be taken
care of,” Dr. Allen explain
ed. This gesture usually
takes the form of a pres
cription.
Many patients prefer to
treat the symptoms of
emotional stress instead of
solving the problem caus
ing the stress. They be
come dependent upon
drugs for relief, Dr. Allen
said.
He described the two
most common drug abus
ers as the white, middle
class housewife using med
ication to wake up, get
through the day and sleep,
and the addict who manu
factures symptoms of ill
nesses to receive prescrip
tions. Addicts often sell
these medicines, too.
. *
While alcohol is abused
by all economic groups,
each group has its own
preferences.
Lower middle-class wo
men usually become
hooked on diet stimulants,
anphetamines and dexe
drine, Allen said.
Middle-class women ex
ploit valium and librium,
re lexers that mask anx
iety, he continued.
Stimulants such as pri
se te and didrex are favored
by upper middle-class wo
men who also choose the
calming effect of valium.
“Drug abuse is a symp
tom,” Dr. Allen emphasis
ed. When treating the drug
abuser, one is often dealing
with a mental health pro
blem, he added. All areas
of a person's life, including
family situation and drug
history must be consider
ed.
"Ten percent of the drug
using population self-medi
cates,” he said. This prac
tice makes them feel good
and escape from depres
sion. Stimulants taken to
supply energy and improve
social interaction become a
necessity to the drug abus
er.
People with what Dr.
Allen termed an addictive
personality are the most
prone to drug abuse. He
described them as being
subjected to isolation and a
lack of emotion. The drug
abuser discovers that
drugs open a new field of
emotional sensations.
Pot the last series art
icle, the Post will discuss
the cooperation between
the criminal Justice system
and drug treatment ser
vices.
i
30,000 Families Eligible
Under Court Settlement
by Susan Ellsworth
Post Staff Writer
Families having home
mortgages insured by the
U. S. Department of Hous
ing and Urban Develop
ment that lost their homes
through foreclosure may
be able to get their houses
back or secure another
house.
Under a court-approved
setlement, 30,000 families
are eligible, according to a
recent news release.
HUD must now consider
the requests for foreclosure
avoidance it rejected on
May 17, 1976 through Jan.
31, 1979, and has barred
foreclosure and evicting
people eligible for repro
cessing.
The settlement also re
quires HUD to consider
relief for former home
owners who didn’t apply
for HUD assistance be
cause they weren’t told
help was available before
the foreclosure.
HUD had foreclosed
more than 78,000 houses
Many of these houses were
boarded up and vandalized.
The lawsuit was settled
when HUD agreed to estab
lish the Home Mortgage
Assignment Program to
give relief to homeowners
in temporary financial dif
ficulty.
24,000 To
Get Fuel
Asastance Funds
by Susan Ellsworth
Post Staff Writer
Twenty-four thousand
low income individuals in
Mecklenburg County will
receive fuel assistance
funds this winter.
Over $34 million will be
distributed among 7,000 re
cipients of Supplemental
Security Income (SSI).
Seventeen thousand indi
viduals from 6,700 families
receiving Aid to Families
with Dependent Children
(AFDC) will secure alloca
tions, according to Edwin
Chapin, director of Social
Services for Mecklenburg
County.
Governor James B
Hunt, Jr. recently ap
proved plans for a federal
program providing up to
$200 for fuel costs.
Under this plan, now a- 1
waiting federal approval,
AFDC recipients would get
a flat $100 supplement,
Chapin said.
i ims ixsi recipients ' uimu,
disabled, or aged low-in- 1
come people) will be given
$100 to $200 depending upon
their income.
The fuel cost assistance
checks will be mailed with
in the first 10 days of
January.
“Our state program
should reach as many
needy citizens as possible,”
Governor Hunt said.
Roast Chicken
To test a roast chicken
or doneness, stick a skew
sr into the thickest part of
he leg. If the juice that
-unsout is clear (not pink),
t’s done. You'll also note
hat the meat has shrunk
Jack somewhat from the
snds of the drumsticks. •
City of Charlotte auto
decals will go on sale Jan.
2,1980. The cost of the 1980
decal will be $5
All residents who garage
a vehicle within City limits
are required to purchase a
decal for each vehicle re
gistered with the North
Carolina Department of
Motor Vehicles by Feb. 15,
1980.
The penalty for not hav
ing a decal displayed on a
vehicle is $15. The decal
must be permanently af
fixed to the windshield.
Decals may be pur
chased at the following
locations:
1) North Carolina De
partment of Motor Vehicles
License Plate Bureau,
2949 Freedom Drive, Free
dom Village Shopping Cen
ter
License Plate Bureau,
6058 East Independence
Boulevard
2) Any location of City
Service Center (formerly
Mobile City Hall)
3) City Hall, 600 East
Trade Street, First Floor
Auto decals may also be
xirchased by mail. Send a
:heck payable to the City of
Charlotte for $5.15 to: City
»f Charlotte, Treasury Col
ections-Auto Decals, 000
Sast Trade Street, Char
otte, NC 28202. The amount
dated, $5.15, includes post
age
m oroer 10 purcnase an
luto decal, citizens must
»ave the registered own
tr’s name, the car owner's
iddress and the North
Carolina license tag num
>er.
fcranr (1bk Clan
The Methodist Home Ke
reaUon Center will cor
luct a Senior Citizens
Exercise Ciaaa every
'hursday at the center
rom 10-11:30 a m. A doc
or s approval form must
e completed before ad
nission to the class Is
emitted.
There is no charge for
hia program.
Under the settlement
homeowners whose appli
cations for assignments
were turned down will be
reconsidered at their re
quest.
Former homeowners
that HUD denied assist
ance to will either get their
old homes back, if it has not
been resold, or will secure
another home from the
HUD inventory of fore
closed houses.
Mortgagers who have not
already been contacted by
HUD are advised to call
their nearest HUD office to
request consideration.
December 18 is the dead
line.
Charlotte homeowners
should contact the region
four office at 415 North
Edgeworth Street, Greens
boro, N.C. 27401. The num
ber is (919 ) 699-5378. Ask
for Fannie Andrews or
David Morehead.
Auto Decals
Go On Sale
January 2