Index Books, 2-B; Church Calendar, 3-B; Classified Ads, 6-11-D; Editorials, 1-B; Entertainment, 4-5-C; Obituaries, 7-A; Pinehurst News, 1-3-C; Social News, 2- 6-A: Sports, 1-5-D. /A //-' ICfydi. Lhnj uxOtcrn. iriHn. M. LOT Thoroughfare plan for Southern Pines and Aberdeen now under study. See Page 7-A. Vol. 57, Number 31 56 Pages Southern Pines, North Carolina Wednesday, June 1, 1977 56 Pages Price 15 Cents Intangible Tax End Sought In Auman Bill ■ ! I School Board Backs Down On Pinehurst Transfers LEGISLATORS AT SEVEN LAKES — Members of the N.C. General Assembly enjoyed a barbecue around the pool at the Seven Lakes club house Tuesday night. Posed in front of the crowd on the patio are, left to right, Senator Ralph Scott, Speaker of the House Carl Stewart, Jr., Moore County Rep. T. Clyde Auman and Senator Lawrence Davis.—(Photo by Emerson Humphrey). Legislators Enjoy Relaxed Visit To Seven Lakes Party, Barbecue North Carolina legislators came visiting in Moore County last night and went away im pressed by what they saw. A majority of the members of the House of Representatives and the State Senate came by bus from Raleigh for a relaxed evening of food and en tertainment at Seven Lakes. They arrived late after a full day of the Legislature and were taken on a quick bus tour of the fast-growing development in western Moore County. There followed a short reception and barbecue dinner, during which they were entertained by the well Peaches Harvest Under Way The peach harvest is under way in the Sandhills. Bill Reece, the Montgomery County agricultural Extension agent, says peaches are ripening about one week to 10 days ahead of normal this year or about the same date as last year. The Candor, an excellent early variety, will be available in all areas this week. Reece said the Candor is desirable for both fresh use as well as processing into peach pickles. He said a good volume of quality fruit is available this season. Rep. T. Clyde Auman of West End, one of the major peach growers in the area, cils the Candor the “best non browning peach” available. As of now it looks like a good season for the peach growers of the Sandhills. The Extension service has this (Continued on Page 12-A) known square dance team from Seven Lakes. Rep. T. Qyde Auman, who served as co-host with Seven Lakes, introduced Moore County guests, who included former legislators Hawley Poole, Moseley ^yette,"&.'Cnft6h Blue and Voit Gilmore, Secretary Sara Hodgkins of the Depart ment of Cultural Resources, county commissioners and other offices, including Sheriff C. G. Wimberly, Clerk of Court Charles McLeod, Coroner A. B. Parker, Register of Deeds Grier Gilmore, Mayor E.J. Austin of Southern Pines, and others. Speaker of the House Carl Stewart Jr. and Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green spoke briefly, expressing their appreciation for the (Continued on Page 12-A) BY VALERIE NICHOLSON The Moore County Board of Education, by a vote of 5 to 2, backed down Tuesday night on its new policy to assign to Pinehurst schools next fall all students from that area now attending the Sandhills-Farm Life School. The policy, approved ^ril 16 by the board, had been protested at a meeting of April 26 by a group of parents of the 19 chilcten involved, who said that to uproot their children from the school they were used to, and return them to the Pinehurst area against their will, would be traumatic for them. The board made no change in its plan at that time, pending final adoption of the policy and Tuesday night, at its regular meeting, the large meeting room of the Administration Building was filled with about 75 parents, filling all the chairs, and stan ding lined up again^ the wall. There was one big difference between this crowd and the smaller group of ^ril 26. That one had teen all white; Tuesday Calvary Church Begins Expansion Program Here New Downtown Building Will Open On Thursday Calvary Christian Church is in the process of building a new church and adding to its school, the Rev. Kent Kelly said this week. The church has purchased 25 acres of land since 1969, one year after the Rev. Mr. Kelly became pastor, and has an option on 15 acres which extend to US 1. “Eventually we’re going to have a Bible college, retirement facilities, and a place for un wanted children,” Pastor Kelly said. “Right now we’re going to concentrate on paving, growing grass and other aspects of land scaping.” Pastor Kelly was a landscapist before he entered the ministry. Plans also include tennis courts, more staff housing, a private water system and sewage treatment plant, a power generating plant, wooded parks for picnics and outings and a gymnasium. “We wanted our own water, sewage and power plants because we just like to be in dependent whenever we can, and (Continued on Page 11-A) A new traditional brick building on the northwest comer of Bennett Street and West Pennsylvania Avenue will be completed Thursday (tomorrow), Michael Fiskin has announced. The building, owned by FMC Associates, was built at a cost of some $125,000 of brick with cedar columns and contains around 5,000 square feet. College Beginning Told At Sandhills Exercises Parties, Golf Highlight Weekend For Celebrities BY ELLEN WELLES The second annual Tar Heel Sports Celebrity Golf Tournament brought 24 celebrities and 75 amateurs out for golf and parties last weekend. May 27 and 28. The tournament, held on Pinehurst No. 2, was to honor North Carolina alumni who excelled in sports, and a percentage of the proceeds went to the support of the Wallace O’Neal Day School. The celebrities included such favorites as Dean Smith, coach of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill basketball team which was ranked number 2 in the nation this year; Bear Bryant, football coach at the University of Alabama, here as a guest of Malcolm P. McLean; Billy Cunningham, who retired last year from the Philadelphia 76ers with a knee injury; and Tom Brookshire, CBS sports caster. Others were Chris Harburger, line backer for the Washington (Continued on Page 12-A) BY LEONE KOSTER Personal memories of the development of the community college in Moore County, as well as the history of the state-wide system of community colleges and technical institutes by H. Clifton Blue, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Sandhills Community College, inspired pride in the members of the graduating class at the Com mencement ceremony Friday evening. Pride in their own achievement of academic suc cess at Sandhills as well as pride in the success of the school itdiich in a few years has gained state and national recognition for its fine educational programs, excellent teachers and out standing administrative of- (Continued on Page 8-A) Young Soldier Is Killed In Wreck Of Motorcycle A 21-year-old Fort Bragg soldier was killed early t^ (Wednesday) morning when his motorcycle ran off the road on East Connecticut Avenue in Southern Pines. Police identified the victim as Randall Leon Browning of the 82nd Mi Co., of Fort Bragg. Sgt. Marshall Lewis of the police department said the accident occurred at 1:37 a.m. Browning was traveling east on East Connecticut when his Yamaha motorcycle left the road, hit a guard rail, kept on through trees for 75 feet where the rider was thrown. An ambulance arrived eight minutes later and Browning was carried to Moore Memorial Hospital where he reportedly died in the emergency room a short while later. Police said two other soldiers (Continued on Page 12-A) THE PILOT LIGHT MEMORIAL DA Y — Services for Memorial Day were conducted Sunday at Mt. Hope Cemetery by the Veterans of Foreign Wars John Boyd Post with the Pinecrest ROTC participating.—(Photo by Glenn M. Sides). BRUTON — The way was paved Tuesday for the election of Dr. David Bruton of Southern Pines as chairman on Thursday of the State Board of Education. The defeat Tuesday by an overwhelming vote in a House committee of a bill to make the Lieutenant Governor the per manent chairman of the board removed one of the major ob stacles to Bruton, the choice of Governor Jim Hunt for chair man. The Governor’s office main tains that there are enough votes night, black parents appeared to be in a majority. The crux of the matter was not the Pinehurst Middle School, though it is included in the policy expressed by the board, since it has some transfers which are also to be recalled, and plenty of space to put them in. It is the Pinehurst Elementary School, which is small (259 children in grades K-4), racially imbalanced and becoming more so as more of its white children take leave. While the two groups opposed each other in friendly fashion, civilly and seriously, their op position was not entirely a matter of black and white, as a number of white parents had joined with the black ones in support of the Pinehurst (Continued on Page 11-A) Phone Merger Under Study By Two Firms A study is under way looking toward the merger of United Telephone Company and Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company, with headquarters in Tartero. John M. Bigtee, vice president and general manager of United Teleidione of the Carolinas, said that the feasibility is being studied of combining either administrative and operational functions Or both. Both are sister companies of the United System. Bigtee said that the study deals with the North Carolina portion of the United Telei^one Co., which has its headquarters in teuthem Pines and operates telei^one services in several other communities of the state. “It will affect some employes here,” Bigtee said, adding that if the study finds the merger feasible it would take place “possibly within a year.” He emi^asized, however, that it is still in “a study period.” Four new shops will be housed in the building, a boon to the downtown area. They will in clude Bill Morrell’s Art Gallery; Stuart Martin Interiors of Fayetteville; Ann and Joe Biggerstaff, hair stylists, whose business will be known as “A Cut Above”; and Nancy Jones Ac counting, an associate of H and R Block. (Continued on Page 12-A) Spring Fling Scheduled In Downtown Saturday The Southern Pines third annual Spring Fling will be held from 9 to 5:30 Saturday, June 4. During the course of the day, there ^ be cartoons at the Sunrise Theater (morning only), blood pressure checks, singing and bands from various schools, art displays, clowns and balloons. Approximately 45 or 50 sponsors are expected to hold sidewalk sales in front of their shops, and the public is invited to register for a drawing for a black and white portable television set. Crafts are expected to be on display at various locations in the downtown area and music groups will provide en tertainment for shoppers. “It was a highly successful event last year,” said Floyd Sayre, executive secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. “There (Continued on Page 12-A) Heavy Rain, Hail Storm Hit Aberdeen, Pinehurst Rep. T. Clyde Auman has carried out a campaign pledge by introducing a bill to repeal the intangibles tax for persons 65 or older. The bill was pre-filed on Friday and came up for first reading on Monday night. In essence the bill calls for a revision of state law in respect to classifying intangible personal property for ad valorem tax purposes, with such property not to be assessed for taxation. If enacted the measure would become effective next Jan. 1. A requirement of the bill is that persons entitled to the benefits of the statute shall furnish proof of entitlement to the Secretary of Revenue within a time he would prescribe. Failure to furnish such proof would deprive the persons of the intangible tax benefits. Rep. Auman had campaigned last year on the proposal, saying that if elected he would introduce such a bill at this session of the General Assembly. He said this week that he has support for the bill from other delegations in districts which have a sizeable retirement population, such as Buncombe. There is opposition, however, to the bill from county com missioners. The intangible tax is collected by the state but is returned to the (Continued on Page 12-A) Reporter On Staff Of Pilot Ellen Mordecai Welles, spring graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has joined the staff of The Pilot as reporter. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Welles Jr. of Bimam Wood Road in Raleigh, she is a veteran horsewoman and has trained her horse, “Easter Lily” since it was two years old. She feels quite at home living on Youngs Road. She came to Southern Pines one week after she was graduated from UNC-CH in (Continued on Page 12-A) A cloudburst early Saturday afternoon dumped nearly three inches of rain on Aberdeen, flooding streets, and also brought hail which covered the ground at Pinehurst. At the same time the sun was shining in Southern Pines and other parts of Moore County. Itome hail was reported in the West End area, however, but little or no crop damage was noted. Several minor accidents occurred during the heavy rainstorm, but there were no injuries and damages were slight. In Aberdeen the storm drains could not carry off the heavy downpour quickly enough and water poured over the streets. Oni some of them the water came up to door level on cars, and at the Town and Country Shopping Center the water rushed down from the parking lots and covered US 1. Aberdeen police called for help in directing traffic. One officer said it was raining so hard at one (Continued on Page 8-A) committed to Bruton to assure his election when the board meets Thursday. Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green is seridng as interim chairman and has publicly asserted that he wanted the position on a permanent basis. House members here for a visit Tuesday night said that an ex pected minority report from the House committee which voted down the Green bill did not materialize and is not now ex- pectedr (Continued on Page 12-A) ABERDEEN FLOODED — A sudden cloudburst Saturday afternoon which brought nearly three inches of rain within an hour flooded streets in Aberdeen. This is a scene on Dogwood Drive shortly after the rain stopped.—(Photo by Glenn M. Sides). f : '1