If It's Good For
Transylvania County,
The Times Will
Fight For It.
THE TRANSYLVANIA TIMES
A State And National Prize-Winning Home Town Newspaper
Vol. 88 — No. 8
BREVARD, N. C., MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1975
PUBLISHED SEMI-WEEKLY
—DEC. READING 84882
-JAN.
READING 86914
JAN. READING 86914
DEC. READING 84882
KWH USED
Learn To Read
Electric Meter
electricity consumption by
reading their own meter.
“We have found that a
customer gets a better un
derstanding of just how much
electricity it takes to operate
his home,” said Mr. Turner,
“if he takes a daily reading for
a few days, once a week, or on
the monthly reading date
listed on his bill.”
Mr. Turner added that while
the monthly meter-reading
date may vary a day or so
from month to month, due to
weather or other unavoidable
circumstances, the customer
can still come quite close to
recording his monthly con
sumption by adopting a 30-day
meter-reading schedule.
The Duke official said that
the electric meter is a simple
but extremely accurate,
precisely constructed in
strument, and makes elec
tricity one of the most
carefully measured com
modities you buy.
Some meters have four
■dials, some five, but each is
s_i sl*.
read in similar fashion. The
dials are read from right to
left and recorded the same
way, Mr. Turner added. If the
pointer is between two
numbers, write down the
smaller number as the first
dumber you are reading (see
illustration). Proceed to read
across the dial, right to left,
recording the smaller number
the pointer has past.
? That will give hou the
number of kilowattbours that
have passed through your
meter. The next time you read
If you don’t already know
filw, Duke Power Company
says it would like for you to
learn how to read your electric
meter.
George Turner, manager of
Duke’s Brevard operations,
said that all of the company’s
1,107,000 customers are being
encouraged to check their
plained Mr. Turner,” is the
amount of electricity it takes
to burn a 100-watt bulb for 10
hours, or your electric frypan
for one hour.
Mr. Turner added that Duke
Power has a booklet ex
plaining in simplified detail
how to read your meter. They
are available at any Duke
retail office.
Your Government At Work
Tax Collector Meets More
Folks Than Other Officials
Red Fullbright
Has Job To Do
BY
DOROTHY OSBORNE
Times Staff Writer /
Almost everybody in the county knows Vernon
Perry Fullbright. But they probably know him as
“Red.”
These days, his hair has faded a little, both in
color and amount. But his friendly personality
has not changed.
Since 1968, he has been
collecting city and county
taxes from everybody in the
county. Since more than half
the residents pay at the office
instead of by mail, he has
contact with thousands of
Transylvanians.
And for about 30 years
before that, he sold stamps,
wrote money orders, weighed
packages and handed mail to
thousands of residents who
frequented the Brevard Post
Office.
These days, Red Fullbright
holds forth in the county court
house in the first office on the
left, inside the front door.
ATTIRE
Dozens of people stop by his
office, asking for information
or directions to another office.
Dozens more stop in just to
pass the time of day — or to
admire his always colorful
outfits.
One day recently, Mr.
Fullbright, dressed in a wine
colored shirt, matching
checked trousers, and boots,
talked about his position as
tax collector and the work of
his office.
“We are the collecting
agency for the taxes in the
county,” he said. His staff
includes, in addition to him
self, Mrs. Betty Mull, deputy
collector.
“We mailed out statements
Sept. 1 for 1974. The tax
supervisor makes up the
statements. We do the
collection.”
During the period from
September through Decem
ber, taxes are paid at face
value. In January, two per
cent interest is added to the
taxes, and for each month
thereafter that the taxes are
deliquent, an additional three
fourths of one per cent is
added to the bill.
Final notices are mailed the
first of April. Then in May, a
list of property owners who
have not paid their taxes is
made and advertised in the
local paper, stating that the
property will be sold the first
Monday in June, and the
county takes a lien on the
property.
A lot of research is
necessary on the tax liens, he
said. “You got to make sure
it’s correct.”
Mr. Fullbright is happy with
his lot in life, and his feeling of
contentment shows in his
expression.
Jelly (Sales) Soothing
To Jaycee Burn Center
CHAPEL HELL — The Burn
Center to be built at The North
Carolina Memorial Hospital in
Chapel Hill (NCMH) has been
named The North Carolina
Jaycee Burn Center by the
hospital’s Board of Directors
in honor of the fund-raising
efforts of the State’s Jaycees.
The announcement, made
by NCMH general director
Dennis R. Barry, comes
during Jaycee Jelly Week.
January is National Jaycee
Month and has been
proclaimed N. C. Jaycee
Month by Gov. James
Holshouser.
The decision received
support from President
William Friday, UNC-CH
Oianrellnr Ferebee Taylor
and Dr. Christopher For
dham, dean of the UNC School
of Medicine. It also was ap
poved by the executive
committee of the NCMH
medical staff.
The burn center will occupy
the fifth floor of the General
Support Wing of NCMH.
Construction of the wing is
scheduled to begin in the latter
part of this year and will be
completed in about three
yean. ■■■,:- %:,i.
The center will contain 20 to
M beds, including U single
rooms. It will have complete
treatment rooms, oc
cupational and physical
therapy areas, recovery
room, adult lounge and
will connect the burn center
with the second-floor
operating suite which will
have special operating room
for burn patients. This design
has the advantage of using
expanded operating room
facilities while still isolating
burn patients from other
areas in the hospital.
Dr. A. Griswold Bevin,
associate professor in the
UNC Department of Surgery
and chief of the Division of
Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery and Surgery of the
Hand at NCMH, has been
instrumental in the
development of the burn
center. He says of the decision
to build the facility:
“The issue was not whether
a burn center should be built.
The issue was whether we
were going to take care of
burn patients. If we are going
to provide such care, we
should have the finest
facilities and the best staff
possible.”
NCMH currently contains a
burn unit. A burn center
differs from a burn unit not
only In size but in its special
emphasis on research and
teaching as well as patient
care. By a national definition,
the facility must have at least
six beds and at least SO
patients annually.
The N. C. Jaycee Burn
Center to be built in Chapel
Hill will be the fourth in the
Southeast. Others are located
at Atlanta, Richmond, and
Charleston.
Gus Tulloss, president of the
N. C. Jaycees, says of the
announcement: “On behalf of
the N. C. Jaycees, I would like
to express appreciation to The
North Carolina Memorial
Hospital’s Board of Directors
for naming the burn center
The N. C. Jaycee Burn Center.
I feel it is a fitting tribute to
the efforts of our many
members throughout the
State.”
Tulloss noted that this
project, headed up by the
Goldsboro Jaycees under the
direction of Jaycee Jelly Week
Chairman John Strickland,
has had the broadest par
ticipation from the State’s 280
Jaycee chapters of any
project to date. “We are
especially grateful for the
tremendous support we have
gotten from both the public
and the media,” he added.
Last year, the N. C. Jaycees
set a goal of raising $200,000
for the burn center over a
four-year period. Last year’s
jelly sales netted $125,000.
This year, Jaycees ordered
200,000 jars to be sold at $1.00 a
jar.
According to Chairman
Strickland, it appears that all
this jelly will be sold. In any
case, Tulloss anticipates that
the four-year goal will be met
during this second year of the
drive.
Tulloss is secretary of the
Tulloss Tractor Co., Inc. in
Rocky Mount.
Red Fullbright Removes Check From Envelope
GREGARIOUS
“I think meeting these
people is the most fun,” he
said. “We do not have many
problems. I go on the
assumption that the tax
payers are paying me for this
job. And you deserve to be
treated like somebody,
right?”
Some customers fail to
bring their tax statements as
requested.
“Some come in griping and
growling,” Mrs. Mull said.
“Before they leave they’re
smiling and telling us to have
a good day.”
Some of the old timers
complain a little bit, Mr.
Fullbright said. “They’ll say,
‘1 used to pay $30. Now I have
to pay $130.’ But they pay.”
He told about one couple
who came in to pay their taxes
— a couple who were
newcomers to the county.
The man, Mr. Fullbright
said, balked at paying the tax
on his dog. Then he com
plained bitterly that “That’s
the way everybody has
treated me."
“I told him that I did not
have anything to do with his
coming here,” Mr. Fullbright
said, chuckling.
Mr. Fullbright, a native of
Rosman, has lived in Tran
sylvania County all his life,
except for three years in the
Navy during World War II.
He graduated from Brevard
High School on a Friday night,
and started working for the
Transylvania Tanning
Company on Saturday. He
stayed with the company
through July, playing second
base on their baseball team.
On Aug. 1, 1928, he began
working with the Post Office,
remaining, except for his
Navy years, until 1965.
For many of those years, he
was assistant postmaster, and
during the Eisenhower
presidential term, he was
named acting postmaster. He
held that position six years
and three months, without
ever becoming postmaster.
“That was my Watergate,” he
said, explaining that the
Democratic Congress would
not confirm a Republican as
postmaster.
Following his retirement, he
worked for three years at
Goodwill Motors, then for a
brief time at Glen Cannon
Country Club.
"I was reluctant about
running for anything. I wasn’t
doing anything. I had left the
country club. So I decided to
He defeated the Democratic
incumbent Lawrence Hipp in
1968, and was unopposed in
1972. In January, 1973, he and
his wife, Edna, and some
other Republicans went to
Raleigh to the inauguration
ball for Governor James E.
Holshouser. As Mr. Fullbright
put it, the Republicans had
something to celebrate.
The Fm’lbrights have no
children. They are members
of First Baptist Church. Mrs.
Fullbright is as well known as
her husband. Hundreds of
Transylvania women are
customers of the Beauty Nook,
which she owns with Ruth
Sams.
Mr. Fullbright is a mason, a
member of Scottish Rite and
York Rite Bodies, the Elks
Club, Veterans of Foreign
Wars, and American Legion
He has just completed a year
as treasurer and member of
the board of directors of the
Chamber of Commerce.
The office of the tax
collector has a low budget,
Mr. Fullbright said. During
the past year, the office ex
pense, not counting salaries,
was $2,217.56. Their most
expensive item by far is
postage, he said, with nearly
two thousand going for that.
The total amount of 1973
taxes collected — 1974 taxes
are now being paid — was
$1,471,847.71. That amounted
to 98.09 per cent of the levy,
“which is probably one of the
best in the state, due to our
fine economy.” That left a
balance of $28,734.89 still due
from 1973.
During that year, the office
also collected $22,190.14 in
delinquent taxes.
The office is open Monday
through Friday from 8:30 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Mr. Fullbright and
Mrs. Mull are there to help
anyone who drops by.
‘‘Anybody paying
delinquent taxes. I'll come
here at night and meet them,”
Mr. Fullbright promised.
Brevard College Hosts
Tri-County Educators
On January 23, Brevard
College hosted a luncheon on
the campus for the superin
tendents, principals and
guidance counselors from the
school systems of Tran
sylvania, Buncombe, and
Henderson counties, and
Hendersonville and Asheville.
The luncheon was to
familiarize and update these
local educators on the type
and quality of education which
Brevard College has to offer to
the students of Western North
Carolina.
It was stressed with these
educators by Dr. Robert A.
Davis, president of Brevard
College, that Brevard is
dedicated to a way of life that
instills within the student a
greater desire to become a
more responsible and creative
member of society.
Also speaking at the lun
cheon were Hugh Randall,
superintendent of the Hen
dersonville City Schools; John
Eversman, director of
development at Brevard
College; Dr. Branson Thur
ston, dean of the college; and
Robert McLendon, director of
admissions.
Other local educators at
tending the meeting were
Transylvania County : Harry
Corbin, superintendent; L.C.
Case, ass’t superintendent;
Mrs. Thelma Bryson, Rosman
High guidance; Landon Deal,
principal and C.C. Hardin,
guidance, Brevard High.
Buncombe County: Fred
Martin, superintendent;
Reynolds High, R.L. Dalton,
principal, Mrs. Audrey Hall
and Mrs. Judy Stell,
guidance; Erwin High-Mrs.
Marion Williams Mrs. Carol
Landers, Miss Kay Lancaster,
guidance; N. Buncurnbe High
Ralph Blake, guidance;
Roberson High-Charles
Koontz, principal, Mrs.
Dorothy Dunn, Mrs. Mary Ann
Dotson. Robert Topp,
guidance.
Henderson County: Sammy
Reese and Le Zollinger, Ass’t
superintendents; Tom Led
better, principal of E. Hen
derson High; D.E. Mclntyr,
principal and Miss Mary Ruth
Heil, guidance of W. Hen
derson High.
Hendersonville: Hugh
Randall, superintendent; Tom
Wilson, principal, and Jack
Johnson, guidance of Hen
dersonville High.
Accompanying the Bun
combe group was Mrs. Mary
Jane Hollyday, vice president
of the Brevard College Alumni
Assn.
FROM BUNCOMBE — At
tending a luncheon of education
leaders from three counties
Thursday at Brevard College were
these alumni: from left, Fred
Martin, superintendent of Bun
combe County Schools; Mrs. Mary
Jane Hollyday of Asheville, vice
president of the college’s Alumni
Assn. ; Mrs. Audrey Hall, guidance
counselor at Reynolds High
School; and Dr. Robert A. Davis,
college president.