THE TRANSYLVANIA TIMES
A State And National Prize-Winning Home Town Newspaper Copy 15c <
★ Vol. 87—No. IS Eft,0*? b^v3a«d0SnTAc' BREVARD, N. C., THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1974 * 32 PAGES TODAY ★
ZI8 CODE 28717
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IN THE “TWISTER’S” PATH — Photos show damage at the
Roman A. Powell farm on the French Broad East Fork south of Ros
man. When these photos were made, the farmhouse roof had been
temporarily replaced, but much of the other damage is still evident.
The barn lost most of its roof and was partly blown over; several
of the trees that were blown down or badly broken can be seen with
pieces of bam roof hanging in them. Much farm equipment was
simply “blown away” and lighter pieces of the house and barn were
found miles distant in the path of the storm. It was, say East Fork
witnesses, “the worst thing that ever happened here.”
L (Times Staff Photos) ;
fjMjr ,\ -
Late Last Wednesday
“Twister” Hits East Fork
Area, Damages Are Spotted
By - Cal Carpenter
Winds from severe thunder
storms, believed by some to
have been small tornadoes or
“twisters,” did heavy dam
age in isolated spots on the
East Fork of the French
Broad River last Wednesday
afternoon.
Characterized by uprooted
trees, damaged roofs and
debris spread over wide dis
tances, the thunderstorms evi
dently moved in a south-to
north direction, the destruc
tive winds reaching the
ground in a random path sim
ilar to that of a tornado.
Fortunately, most of these
“touch down” spots were in
wooded, untenanted areas,
hut one area of severe dam
age centered on a house and
barn on the farm of Mr. and
Mrs. Roman A. Powell on
the East Fork Road about
two miles south of Rosman.
The farmhouse, rented by
Mr. and Mrs. Joey Franks,
lost most of the roof and a
barn some 200 yards from
the house was virtually de
stroyed. Many trees were
blown down or broken
off and those standing were
festooned with pieces of me
tal roofing. (See photos ac
companying this article.)
No personal injuries were
reported.
Occurring about 5:00 p.m.
last Wednesday, the storm
was described by people in
the area as “the worst thing
that ever happened around
here. Tbe air,” they reported.
“was full of flying debris,
some of which was later
found miles away; the light
ning and thunder was con
tinuous, and the wind sound
ed like a nearby freight
train at full speed.”
Livestock in the pastures
suffered quite a shoving
around evidently, but none
was lost according to the re
ports.
“ ,»e had two cows skinned
up pretty badly,” says Ro
man Powell, “but they’re all
right now.”
Fences were destroyed and
a lot of stock was loose but
all was rounded up after the
storm.
Mr. Powell estimates the
damage at his farm to be “at
least $18,000.”
Round-Up Is Made
Easter Holidays To Be Quiet,
Many Offices To Close Monday
The Easter holidays will be
quietly observed in Brevard
and Transylvania county.
Churches will have special
services, and stories about
many of them are carried
this week throughout this
issue of The Times.
School students in the town
and county will get a lengthy
holiday.
They will have a vacation
on Friday, which is Good
Friday, and then all next
week.
Since Easter comes late this
Jear, students at Brevard Col
>ge will not get a holiday.
Exams begin in the very
near future, and they enjoyed
a week’s Spring break in
March.
Banks in Brevard will be
closed for Easter Monday.
Offices Close : •
The Transylvania County
Court House offices will close
nex^ Monday for the Easter
holidays.
2es at the Municipal
g will also observe
Easter Monday as a holiday.
Gporge Wilson, driver’s
license examiner, says his of
fice will also be closed the
same day.
The Post Office will not
close for Easter, and mail de
liveries will be made as usual.
At Monday's Meeting
Commissioners Approve Plans
For Juvenile Shelter In County
The Board of Commission
ers approved the plans for the
Juvenile Shelter at their meet
ing Monday night. Bids will be
let for construction of the Shel
ter as soon as the State ap
proval of the plans is received.
The Shelter will house children
who are unable to live with
their parents for any number
of possible reasons. It will be
contsructed adjacent to the
elementary school building on
At Community Cash
To Demonstrate Operation
Of New Voting Machines
During the next three -weeks,
Transylvanians will have an op
portunity to see how voting ma
) chines operate. _. •
In the May 7th Primary, vot
ers in the town and county will
use vexing machines for the
first time. •' ' ?
Prim to that time, W. sfs
“Buck" Morris, representative
of the Shoup Voting **r
chine Company, will be dem
onstraticg theraaeMnes locally.
On Thursday of this week, he
will have a machine to the
Community Cash Supermarket,
the Johnson Street side.
The Commissioners also ap
proved the purchase of a van
type ambulance which will al
low the Ambulance Service to
place a vehicle in the upper end
of the County to answer emer
gency calls in the area. It is
expected that the ambulance
will arrive sometime in June.
County Manager Mike Ep
ley discussed with the Com
missioners the plans being
discussed at Regional B to
hire an engineer who would
be available to all cities and
counties of the region as a
consultant on water and sew
>blems and other types
gineering. Commission
m Bill Ives said he
icii mat Region B should have
one
J. A. Jones Company And Its Foundation
Contributes $100,000 To Brevard College
IVeatfier
*■
By FBBD RE1TEK
.. ~ .-■■■■ .. ■■
Brevard received nearly five
inches of rainfall during the
past week. The area was under
a “tornado watch’’ at least
twice during the severe storms
which struck the state and na
tion.
Highest temperature reading
for the week was 73 degrees last
Wednesday, while the low read
ing was 26 on Sunday morning.
Average readings were 61 and
41.
Extended outlook for Thurs
day through Saturday: Fair
with a warming trend Thursday
and Friday. Highs in the upper
60s Thursdav, upper 70s Friday.
Lows mostly in the 40s. Showers
and turning cooler Saturday,
with highs in the 60s.
Date High Low Prec.
April 3 ——- 73 51 1.20
April 4_ 58 54 3.07
April 5_ 66 46 0.05
April 6_ 64 34 0.00
April 7_ 62 26 0.00
April 8 -: 51 43 0.65
April 9 52 36 0.00
County Council
Of Communty
Clubs To Meet
The Council of Community
Development Clubs will meet
Monday, April 15th, 7:30 p.m.,
at the Quebec Community Cen
ter.
Clinton Owen, president of
the Council, states that the fol
lowing items will be discussed
under new business: Recvcling
—Turn to Page Eight
$100,000 CONTRIBUTION—Dr.
Robert A. Davis, President of Bre
vard College, is pictured at the left
accepting a contribution of $100,000
for the Brevard College Endowment
Fund from Johnie H. Jones, of the
J. A. Jones Construction Company
and the J. A. Jones Foundation in
Charlotte. Mr. Jones is Vice Presi
dent of the J. A. Jones Construction
Company and a member of the
Board of Trustees of Brevard Col
lege.
In College Shopping Center
First State Savings And
Loan Opens Here Monday
The new First State Savings
and Loan Association here in
the Brevard College Shopping
Center will open next Monday
morning at 9:00 o’clock.
According to President
James C. Gaither, the Grand
Opening of the new Savings
and Loan Association here is
set for Saturday, May 4th.
The hours of operations will
be from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Installation On 24th
. j 1 ?
“Chuck” Bradley Is The New
President Of Local Jaycees
Charles “Chuck” Bradley,
who is associated with Gaither’s
Associates, was elected Presi
dent of the Brevard Jaycees at
their first meeting in April. He
succeeds Darrell Hooper, and
installation of new Officers and
Directors will be held at a ban
quet meeting on Saturday night,
April 20th, at Red Lion Inn.
Pete D’Angona will be to
charge of the installation.
Otbur officers to be installed
are as follows: Internal Vice
President, Scott Peterson; Ex
ternal Vice - President, Ken
Dockens; secretary, Carl Eld
ridge; treasurer, Steve Pruett;
directors, Warren Johnson, Bob
Leipfert, Jeff Portman, Tinker
Monday, Tuesday and Wed
nesday, and from 9:00 a.m. to
6:00 p.m. on Thursday and
Friday.
William Arnold “Bill” Case
is the Managing Officer, and
he will be assisted by Mrs.
Fred McCrary, who has had
many years of experience in
Savings and Loan work.
Mr. Case was with the
Farmers Home Administra
tion in Transylvania and Hen
derson counties since 1968.
Since that time, he has done a
tremendous job for the FHA,
especially in Transylvania
county.
“Come in an meet our staff
members,” President Gaither
states.
He also says that there is a
dire need for additional mort
gage money in Brevard and
Transylvania county, and the
First State Savings and Loan
Association expects to greatly
serve this need.
: “Our industries are expand
ing and more and more peo
ple are coming into this area
to live.” Mr. Gaither de
clared.
“For the home builder, the
First State Savings and Loan
Association will be a good
—Turn to Page Eigta
Money Goes To
Endowment,
Davis Is Quoted
Brevard College President \
Dr. Robert A. Davis, an
nounces today the plans of
the J. A. Jones Foundation
and the J. A. Jones Construc
tion Company of Charlotte to
make a gift in the amount of
$100,000.00 to the Brevard Col
lege Endowment Fund. The
announcement of the gift was
made at a Brevard College
Endowment luncheon in Char
lotte Monday, April 8th, by
Johnie H. Jones, chairman of
the Endowment Expansion
Committee, and vice presi
dent of the J. A. Jones Con
struction Company.
Other major gifts were an
nounced by Mr. Jones during
the meeting and he stated that
the $100,000.00 from J. A. Jones
Company, will bring the total to
$250,000 00 in the current drive
for the exDansion of the Bre
vard College Endowment Fund.
‘‘This gift is evidence of the
continued generosity of the
J. A. Jones Construction Com
pany and of the close rela
tionship that exists between v'- .
Brevard College and the
Jones Family” stated Dr. Da
vis. “We are most grateful
for the support of this great
North Carolina Corporation
which does business on a na
tional and international scale."
At present the Endowment
of Brevard College is over $1,- -
600,000.00. This figure compares v
to $852,000.00 in 1968 and $746,
000.00 in 1963. This growth in
—Turn To P»*e Sh
Chamber Directors Told
Brevard And Pisgah Forest
Railway Stations To Combine
Directors of the Brevard
Chamber of Commerce held
their regular monthly meet*
lug Tuesday night in the li
brary, with committee reports
highlighting the brief session.
Reports from both the mem
bership and financial commit
tees indicated that collection of
dues and the Chamber’s mem
bership were both ahead of cor
responding figures this time last
year.
James C. Gaither reported
on a recent meeting of the
North Carolina Travel Conn
V.
ci] in Raleigh that he had at
tended. He encouraged the
Chamber members to con
tinue to promote travel and
tourism here, indicating Hint
the gasoline shortage seems
to have improved in the past
several weeks.
“We don’t want to encourage
a wasteful use of vital fuel, but
we must keep in mind that tour
ism is a vital part of oun
economy,” Mr. Gaither Stated
Chamber President Charlie , ;
Russell reports on a recent ''
—Turn to Page Mg*