Partly cloudy and windy this afternoon
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Books, 2-B; Church Calendar, 3-B;
Classified ads, 12-15-C; Editorials, 1-B;
Entertainment, 8-9-C; Obituaries, 9-A;
Pinehurst News, 1-3-C; Social News,
2-8-A; Sports, 1-2-D.
Vol. 56. Number 6
48 Pages
Southern Pines, North Carolina Wednesday, December 10, 1975
48 Pages
Price 10 Cents
Austin Is Elected Mayor
By A 3-2 Vote Of Council
ELECTION HEARING — Chairman C. Coolidge Thompson (standing left) of the
Moore County Board of Elections at a State Board of Elections hearing in
Aberdeen Monday morning following which the NC board decided a new
municipal election would be called.—(Photo by Glenn M. Sides).
Board Orders New
Aberdeen Election
BY VALERIE NICHOLSON
In a historynnaking personal
appearance in Aberdeen, the
State Board of Elections con
ducted a public hearing here
Monday, and based on testimony
of seven witnesses that they had
voted in the town election of
w November 4, though not
residents of Aberdeen-ordered
that a new town election be held.
The election will be held after
mid-January, possibly on Jan.
20.
This will be for the five town
commissioners only, since the
illegal votes could have sub
stantially changed the outcome.
The mayoral vote was not in
volved, and State Board
Chairman Hugh Wilson of Lenoir
personally presented Mayor J.
M. Taylor his state certification
as winner in that race.
Taylor had previously been
certified by the Moore County
Board of Elections, which,
however, had withheld cer
tificates of the winning com
missioners pending outcome of
the petition of ojtie of the defeated
candidates, rbfun of
New Mayor Takes Over
At Vass Board Meeting
Moore than 150 persons filled
the Vass Town Hall to see the
new town board take their oath of
office on Monday.
Mayor Charles McLeod
received the gavel from out
going mayor Hugh McLean and
. the new body of Town com-
r missioners were sworn in and
seated for business at hand.
Commissioners seated for the
new term are A. G. Edwards, Jr.,
Roy Jackson, Joseph Frye,
Buster Jessup and Joann Hipp.
A. G. Edwards, Jr., was
elected mayor pro-tem, and
commissioners were reappointed
to their various offices with the
new commissioner, Joann Hipp,
appointed to the new office of
Recreation Commissioner.
Oliver Cannady, Moore County
Recreation Director, met with
the board to request the for
mation of a recreation com
mittee, but the new Mayor ap
parently “beat him to the punch”
with the new appointment of a
recreation commissioner and
(Continued on Page 12-A)
Thousands Greet Santa Claus
In Jaycees Christinas Parade
It was a crisp, cold December
night, but thousands turned out
in their furry coats and
toboggans to witness one of the
most festive and colorful
Christmas Parades in downtown
Southern Pines Thursday
evening.
Carols filled the air as men,
women and children lined the
curbs of both Broad Streets,
faces shining and laughing,
waiting and wondering beneath
the bright Christmas lights of the
street decorations.
It was the first Christmas
parade for many - there were
babies in carriages, their eyes
caught by the bright lights,
youngsters prancing about with
excitement with question upon
question for their parents, the
teenagers strolling arm in arm,
and there were many with lined
races, leaning on canes, but no
less excited with the festivities at
hand.
Suddenly, it all began. The
stirring music of the Pinecrest
Marching Band announced the
E. J. Austin, an architect, bom
and reared in Southern ^es,
became its new mayor Tuesday
night by a 3-2 roll-call vote.
Austin, nominated by former
mayor E. Earl Hubbard, had the
support also of. Emanuel S.
Douglass, to win over Sara
Hodgkins, newcomer to the
council and its first woman
member.
Mrs. Hodgkins, top vote getter
that race.
Chairman Wilson, announcing
his board’s unanimous
agreement, reached in executive
session following the two-hour
hearing, said they would forward
their full “findings of fact,” with
(Continued on Page 11-A)
Break-In
At School
Reported
A break-in at the site of con
struction traitors at the new
$617,(K)0 West End school for
grades kindergarten through
eight was discovered this
morning when construction
personnel reported for work.
Assistant Superintendent of
Moore Schools Gene Riddle said
Principal Ralph Foushee
reported the loss of various
materials, and was with the
sheriff this morning taking an
inventory of the missing
materials.
Children of kindergarten
through the fourth grade
totalling 220 are at the site in
(Continued on Page 12-A)
beginning of the parade of floats
with symbolic impressions of all
that CJiristmas means - manger
scenes with Joseph and Mary,
the shejdierds and chU^^Ki of
today alongside, tbefe were
angels and all the reminders of
the religious and primary
significance of the event, the red
and green and whites of fancy
floats with beauty queens, and
always there were children
enjoying their own participation
in opening the Chri^mas season
(Continued on Page 12-A)
Mayor E.J. Austin
in the November election, was
nominated by the other new
councilman, Michael Smithson.
Both Austin and Mrs. Hopkins
had been open and active in
promoting their candidacies for
the post Hubbard had declared
he would not seek again.
Mrs. Hodgkins, becoming the
first to tender congratulations to
the new mayor, referred to their
campaigns in a smiling remark,
“I seem to be the one who’s been
rocking the boat. That was
because I felt the responsibility
of that high vote. But I pledge to
you and to this council my full
support, and all that I possess of
ability and talent for the good of
Southern Pines.”
Unity was seen in the sub
sequent voting, when Douglass
was reelected mayor pro tern,
and Mrs. Hodgkins treasurer-
both by acclamation.
There was no evidence during
the long evening that followed-
with zoning hearings, a financial
report, an engineering report on
plans for sewer expansion and
other weighty items-that the five
(Continued oh Page 12-A)
Roof Falls In At Plant
Of Fletcher Southern
The roof fell in at Fletcher
Southern Inc. Monday.
But because of “excellent
service” by the Fire Depart
ment, Carolina Power and Light
Company and the Town Water
Department, according to
Manager Edw^d T. Taws Jr.,
only one full days work was lost.
Heavy rain on Sunday night
caused some 15 per cent of the
roof to collapse. Taws said,
around 6:40 a.m. Monday.
Management opening up the
Corrections Week Meet
Set Saturday at McCain
A series of activities are being
held this week during North
Carolina Corrections Week at the
Sandhills Youth Center at Mc
Cain.
Highlight of the week will be on
Saturday when Secretary David
Jones of the Department of
Corrections will speak at 12:30,
followed by a rece^ion and Open
House at the facility.
There are approximately 160
young men between the ages of
16 and 18 now at the Sandhills
Holiday Arts Festival
Slated Here Saturday
On Saturday, December 13, the
Sandhills Arts Council will hold
its second annual Holiday Arts
Festival at the National Guard
Armory on Morganton Road in
Southern Pines, featuring
handcrafted gift items for the
Christmas season, demon
strations, and works of art on
display in the public interest.
Arts Council members from
out of town whose works will be
on display are: Anita Stanton,
printmaker from Gibson; Judy
Fletcher, weaver, from
Charlotte; Robert Jordan,
jeweler, from Myrtle Beach, S.
C.; Clarence Hall, jeweler, from
Fayettevlle, and the T. J.
Leather Company from Robbins.
In addition the show features
works of local artists and craft
smen, Joan Arnold Milligan,
John Foster Faulk, Danila
Devins, John A. Jordan III,
(Continued on Page 12-A)
THE
PILOT LIGHT
SANTA CAME CALLING — Santa Clau9 waved to the crowd when he came
calling in a pre-Christmas visit to Southern Pines last Thursday night and had the
honor position in the Jaycee-sponsored annual parade.
CENTER"Plans are being
made for the establishment of a
training center at Samarkand
Manor for adults going into
juvenile programs on the county
and local level.
The training school near Eagle
Springs is not now at capacity for
students and the Department of
Human Resources is considering
a proposal for using the facility
as a center for the training of
counselors and others who will be
needed as the community
programs are established.
The department has been
studying a proposal for a shift in
emphasis away from the training
schools to the community center.
PATROL-Col. E.W. Jones
says he is confident the morale in
the State Highway Patrol is far
NEW COUNCIL TAKES OATH— The new Town Council for Southern Pines was
sworn into office Tuesday night. Taking the oath from Assistant Town Clerk Ethel
Hare, left to right, Michael Smithson, E.J. Austin, E. Earl Hubbard, Sara W.
Hodgkins and Emanuel S. Douglass.—(Photo by Glenn M. Sides).
Hearing Scheduled For Dec. 18
On Airport Development Plans
later
plant about an hour
discovered the damage.
Fletcher Southern is expected
to be back in full business by the
first of the week. Taws predicted.
No onq was in the buildmg at
the time of the crash, and
machinery was not damaged, he
said.
After the roof is replaced,
along with some heating pipes
and other equipment, it will
business as usual.
center.
School groups are making
tours of the center each day this
week and law enforcement
luncheon was scheduled for
today (Wednesday).
Preceding the Saturday
program there will will be a
press conference, with
representatives of the Raeford
Junior Woman’s Club, the
Sandhills Business and
Professional Women’s Club, the
(Continued on Page 11-A)
I better than indicated in a recent
series of articles in the Charlotte
Observer.
The commander of the Patrol,
a native of Moore County, said
that the names of most of the
patrolman, not identified in the
newspaper reports, are known to
him, because the individual
patrolmen reported to their
superiors that they had been
interviewed.
Col. Jones said that efforts are
being made to improve safety
measures for patrolmen,
although most of the men do not
like the ljullet-proof vests
because of their bulkiness and
discomfort while driving.
GREEN—House Speaker
Jinuny Green, who is a qan-
(Continued on Page 12-A)
A public hearing at which
strong objections are expected to
be voiced over a develojHnent
plan for the Southern Pines-
Pinehurst Airport has been
scheduled by the county com
missioners for 3 p.m. on
December 18 at Carthage.
A group from Whispering
Pines, who lives near the airport,
is expected to appear and voice
objections to any further ex
pansion of the airport.
The master plan for airport
development calls for safety
improvements and not expansion
in the early stages. However,
county officials said that the
long-range plans probably would
involve a rezoning of the area.
At present a taxiway is being
proposed, as a safety measure as
well as for convenience. A
lengthening of the runway is
being considered for the future.
Aberdeen
Zoning
Issue Up
Proposals for rezoning the A.
P. Johnson and Kaiser I^emical
Company properties on Highway
211, ea^ of Aberdeen, from
residential to highway-
commercial property was
considered by the Aberdeen town
commissioners Monday night
and a public hearing scheduled
at the next town board meeting
on January 12.
Recommendation for the
rezoning of the two properties
was made by the town planning
board, following a meeting op
December 4 when the requests
were considered and felt
desirable for the Town of
Aberdeen by that group.
In attendance at the town
meeting and favoring the
rezoning plan were Mayor J. M.
Taylor, Lloyd Harris, Cliff Blue,
Jr., Vivian W. Green, William J.
Bayliff and Hugh M. Styers. Also
present were Qyde Johnson, C.
W. Harvey, J. H. Mofield,
Leonard Russell, Chief Jerome
Whippie, John Matthews and
William Marts.
(Continued on Page 12-A)
Recovering
Robert Dean, poisoned ac
cording to the l^ate Medical
Examiners Office by arsenic has
been transferred to the Veterans
Hospital in Fayetteville from
that in Durham.
Dean has visited in Southern
Pines, where he and his wife
have an apartment and he has
many relatives.
Friends say Dean is recovering
and now walking on crutches.
The Sheriff is continuing his
investigation into the poisoning
case.
The master plan was
developed by the enginerring
firm of John Tolbert and
Associates, who were instructed
to anticipate future needs in air
travels, and the plan they have
submitted., looks to the
development of the existing
airport.
Some residents of the
Whispering Pines conununity,
however, are requesting that the
airport be moved to a new site
and that no further development
be made at the existing airport.
They are objecting to not only
noise but low flying jets over
their homes.
There is a possibility, however,
that the present runway may be
extended in the other direction,
with much of the noise being
abated by new federal
regulations and also low flying
eliminated from the Whispering
Pines area.
The engineers will be at the
airport from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on
Dec. 18 to answer questions and
present details of the master
plans to anyone who is in-
(Continued on Page 12-A)
Pilot Reading Program
Under Way at Aberdeen
“A lot of change and interest
has been noted in our reading
program for selected students
this year. Having extra people to
assist in classroom work and
supplementary materials make
a great deed of difference,”
Milton Sills, principal of Aber
deen Elementary School,
conunented concerning his pilot
reading program, one of 40 in the
state.
“But,” he added, “the real
progress and outcome of the
experimental program will not
be known until the end of the year
when the participants can be
measured against a control
group.”
Known as “the primary
reading program,” it is designed
to find better ways of teaching
reading to children by having
teacher’s aides and volunteer
parents in the program’s
classrooms, along with the use of
extra materials. Sills explained.
(Continued on Page 12-A)
\1- .11 If
. •y
LEARNING TO READ — Aberdeen has one of 40 pilot
reading programs in the State, and conversation and
word association is a part of the program. Here taking
part are Jennings Walters, Sherman Pride and Sandy
Odom.—(Photo by Mildred Allen).