Larshsll, B.C. 23753 ''
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SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY Turn to page 2
76th Year No. 34 PUBLISHED WEEKLY fN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N C THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 1977 '5* Per Copy
Mars Hill
Has Plenty
Of Water
Mars Hill has water. It has
water to satisfy its needs now
and for the foreseeable future.
If the future brings un
foreseen demands for water,
the supply system can be
expanded to produce more
water than anyone in Mars Hill
can imagine the little town
they know ever needing.
And the system is in the
black; its original bonded debt
paid and water sales paying
the maintenance and ex
pansion costs.
Back in 1927, Mars Hill was
little more than a hamlet, a
cluster of farms and a few
merchants and a school.
The springs that supplied
their water began to go dry.
Everyone figured they could
find a couple more springs
close to town, rig up a
collection pond and the
problem would be solved.
The town fathers figured
differently They looked far
into the future, bought 900
acres in the Upper Laurel
section 12 miles from town,
build a dam to create a small
lake and suffered the outrage
of some of the town's voters
and tax payers.
"Back then, municipal
bonds weren't too popular.
Going into debt rubbed some
people the wrong way," town
manager Dennis McCurrv
said.
Going into debt for a piece of
wilderness 12 miles from town
for a watershed and lake
seemed even crazier, McCurrv
said.
But that move, he said, has
assured Mars Hill can satisfy
its need for water even in a
drought that has other towns
asking for emergency con
servation of water and hunting
new sources of water.
Today, Mars Hill is the
largest town in Madison
County with 1,880 residents
and a college student
population of another 1,600
people.
Clean water from the
enlarged lake in Upper Laurel
flows by gravity through 12
miles of pipe to three town
reservoirs.
Two older tanks have a
combined capacity of 360,000
gallons while a new tank holds
(Continued on Page 2)
Freight Train
Derails Near
Here Monday
Twenty-two cars in the
middle of a Southern Railway
freight train derailed early
Monday in the Nocona section
six miles north of Marshall, a
Southern spokesman in
Washington reported.
No one was injured in the
mishap, the spokesman said,
which involved Train No. 163
en route from Knoxville to
Asheville. He said the cause of
the derailment had not been
determined but is under in
vestigation.
Nine loaded cars and 13
empties went off the track, the
spokesman said, with only four
of the freight cars damaged.
Repair crews were on the
scene and had the line
reopened to traffic at 10 p.m.
Monday.
NEW six-inch water lines are
being installed beside U.S. 25-70
and the Southern Railway from
the Marshall depot to a point
opposite the Fortner property
where the new pipe will go under
the railroad and river to the wells
recently dug. In the next several
months the pipe will be installed
down Main Street and a connector
near Edwards Cleaners to the
reservoir. Calvin Dixon, foreman,
Taylor & Murphy Construction
Co., of Asheville, said the project
would include 7,800 feet of 12"
line.-^500 feet of eight-inch line
and 9,600 feet of six-inch line. The
updated and new water system is
being done by the Town of Mar
shall.
Lions Softball Tourney
In Progress On Island
The annual Invitational
Women's and Men's WNC
Softball Tournament, spon
sored by the Marshall Lions
Club, got under way on the
Marshall Island Tuesday with
22 teams competing.
Jerry Plemmons, chairman
of the Tournament Committee,
stated that four games will be
played nightly with women's
and men's finals scheduled for
Sept. 1.
Plemmons announced that a
coin toss will decide the
"home" team, a one hour, 15
minute time limit per game,
and a 10-run limit after five
innings will be observed.
An additional feature for this
year's event is a "homerun
fence" around the outfield.
Any player hitting a ball in the
air over the fence will be
awarded an automatic
homerun. The first woman
hitting a ball over the fence
will be awarded a cash prize of
$25, and trophies will be
presented male players hitting
homeruns, it was announced.
Concessions will be
available at all games.
A 50-cent admission will be
charged with small children
being admitted free.
Last year's tournament was
highly successful and this
year's event is expected to be
equally successful and com
petitive with 12 women's
teams and 10 men's teams
participating.
Women's teams include
Vanderbilt, Bernard's, Tri
County, AB Emblem, .Greater
Ivy, Burger Doodle, Laurel,
City Trans, Trojans, Blue
Ridge Shoe, Tucker Barker
andDeFinger.
Men's teams include Farm
Bureau, New Auto Dealers, A.
J. Auto Service, Deringer,
T&H Exxon, Trojans, Blue
Rige Shoe, Hasbeens, Ivy
Steak & Fish, and Parnell
Martin.
Farmers To Report
Crop and Land Use
Farm operators in Madison
County are being asked to
report their crop and land use
acreages on all cropland. The
additional information will be
obtained when farmers file
their wheat and feed grain
acreage reports or when they
come into the office to transact
other business. New provisions
in pending farm legislation
may necessitate determining
crop use on the farm.
Farmers are encouraged to
submit the report as soon as
possible. Crop acreages and
the land use must be reported
on a field-by-field basis.
Random spot checks of
program crops will be made to
assure accurate reporting.
I
Farmers may visit the ASCS I
Office Monday through Friday
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except
legal holidays.
Election
Officials
Appointed
Mrs. Helen Ponder,
chairman of the Hot Springs
Municipal Board of Elections,
announced this week that the
board met on Aug. 22 and
appointed the following
municipal precinct election
officials: Swan Huff,
registrar, and R. Z. Ponder
and Harold Baker as judges
Hie Hot Springs Municipal
Election will be held on Nov S.
Burley Tour Includes Ammons Farm
The annual Burley Tobacco
Tour will pass through
Madison County on Aug. 31.
This group, composed of
university and research people
along with tobacco industry
personnel, will make a
scheduled stop at the Roy
Amnions farm at 10:96 a.m.
The Ammons farm is located
t '
L. A' M
on Old 213 just outside Mars
Hill.
While at the Amnions farm
the group will see a black
shank variety test. They will
see the results of fumigation on
tobacco fields and the
recommended production
practices. On uand will be
equipment to fumigate fields,
transplant tobacco, and
cultivate tobacco on a high
wide bed.
After spending 55 minutes at
the Ammons farm, the group
will attend an awards banquet
at the Holiday Inn West,
Asheville, then proceed to the
Mountain Research Station at
4
Waynesville for a short field
day.
Madison County farmers are
invited by Wiley DuVall,
county agricultural agent, to
attend as much of the tour as
possible. Those interested in
attending the banquet should
contact the extension office for
free tickets as soon as passible.
ROY AMMONS farm in Madison
will be a feature stop on the
Western Tour next week. Furney
Todd, extension professor of plant
pathology; Roy Ammons,
cooperating grower; and Wiley
DuVall, agricultural extension
agent; check the plant charac
i
teristics of a new variety, Burley
64. The tour group will have a
chance to view a variety test and
observe a "live" demonstration
on chemical soil treatment ap
plication, transplanting and
cultivation
Students Escape
Injury In Mishap
Nineteen Madison High School students
miraculously escaped serious injury on Thur
sday morning of last week when the little Pine
Bear Creek school bus plunged about 30 feet
down a steep enbankment on the Old Turnpike
Road about three miles from Marshall. Ob
servers stated that the bus would have gone
further down the enbankment had it not been
that it struck two trees which stopped it. When
the bus came to a stop, it rested upside down.
The accident occurred about 200 yards from the
Lower Bear Creek Church of God about 8 a m
Six students were taken to Memorial Mission
Hospital where they were examined and
released. It was found that they suffered only
bruises. One of the students stated that "we were
more scared than injured," as she arrived at the
school later in the morning.
Observers reported that the driver of the
bus. Verlin Talton, a 17-year-old senior, drove
onto the shoulder of the narrow road and the
shoulder gave way, causing the bus to topple
over the embankment.
Bruce Phillips, assistant principal, who is in
charge of transportation, stated that no charges
were filed against Talton but that Joey Craine,
senior, had replaced Talton as driver. The school
bus was heavily damaged. It was also observed
that heavy rains had made the shoulders "soft"
which was a contributing factor.
"It was a miracle that the students escaped
Serious injury, for which we are all so thankful." '
Phillips commented.
LAUREL ACCIDENT
The second school bus accident in two days
occurred last Friday morning about 7:30 when
the Laurel Elementary School bus left the
narrow road on Rice's Cove on Sodom when it
turned on its side when the water-soaked
shoulder "broke off." At the time of the accident,
there were 18 students in the bus. None of them
were injured
The bus was driven by Michael Norton, an
experienced adult driver The investigating state
trooper stated that the incident was unavoidable.
Verlon Ponder, principal, stated that
torrential rains had made the road soft in places.
He said that the bus was not damaged.
Four Are Indicted
By Grand Jury Here
The Madison County Grand
Jury returned Monday a series
of true bills against four
persons chared in the death of
two Yancey County men
during June in the Big Laurel
section.
Evidence at a recent
preliminary hearing in the
case indicated that the vic
tims, Benny Hutchins, 29, and
Tommy Norton, 40, both of
Bumsville, had been asked by
two youngsters to assist their
mother in repairing a flat tire,
and when the men went in their
pickup truck up unpaved Rock
Quarry Road to lend
assistance, they were gunned
down and robbed.
True bills on indictment in
the case, and in the alleged
break-in of the Junior Cook
home in the Big Laurel area on
June 10, two days before the
ambush shootings, included:
Lonzo M. Crews Jr., 21, of
Dresden, Tenn., and Phillip
Eugene Turpin, 18, AWOL
from Fort Campbell. Ky . two
charges each of first degree
murder, one charge each of
armed robbery of Hutchins
and Norton, and one charge
each of breaking, entering and
robbery of the Cook home.
Mrs. Evelyn Alemany, 36, of
California and her daughter.
Debbrie Romero, 16, two
charges each of aiding and
abetting in the slayings.
TTiree of the defendants were
being held in the Madison
County jail. The fourth, Crews,
was being held by authorities
in Cripple Creek, Colo., with
Madison officials expecting to
gain custody by extradition in
the near future
A key witness at " I
preliminary hearing was 13
year-old Lloyd Romero, a
brother of Debbrie, who
testified he and his sister lured
the victims to the isolated
camping site near the Laurel
River and watched as they
were shot down
The deaths were undetected
until Norton's truck was ap
prehended in Colorado and
Madison Sheriff E. Y. Ponder
was advised of a statement
made by Mrs. Alemany that
the truck owner had been
killed in Madison County.
Trail Ride
Scheduled
The Madison County Wagon
Train Committee has planned
a trail ride for Labor Day
weekend. The riders will camp
on the property of Weldon
Wilde on East Fork the night of
Sept. 3. Sunday morning the
riders will leave camp at 9 for
an approximately 20-mile trip
through Bear Wallow, Long
Branch, Laurel and across
Grapevine Mountain to
Arlington Branch on through
Meadow Gap The trail will
end at the original cam
pground on Sunday afternoon.
Anyone wishing further in
formation should contact
Wayne Boone 649-3749 or Bill
Murray 689-2918. Everyone
welcome.
H-WG Group
To Meet
Thursday
Charles Tolley, president of
the Hopewell-Walnut Gap
Community Organisation, has
announced the regular
monthly meeting at the
organisation will be held at I
p.m Thursday in the com
munity room at Hopewell
Baptist Church. Mrs. Ben
Clark, chairman at the
Madison County Council on
Aging and a representative to
the Land of the Sky Area
Council on Aging, will be guest
speaker.
All residents of the
Hopewell-Walnut Gap cm*
munities are urged to attend.
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