mm
laalsoa county Library
ill, l.C. 23753 9-80
CORD
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
On thm Intldm ... ?
Famed Animal Trainer
Comes To Asheville
... Turn To Page 5
79th. Year No. 8
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N.C.
THURSDAY, February 21, 1980
15' Per Copy
THE LICENSE PLATE BUSINESS was a
seller's market last week as last-minute
drivers formed lines as long as 500 feet out
side Vernon Ramsey's R and R, on the Mar
shall Bypass, the county's only motor vehicle
agency. Ramsey, Irene Clark, and Virginia
Davis handled approximately 6,000
customers during the last five days before
the Feb. IS registration deadline. Altogether,
they sold 11,600 stickers for cars, trucks,
motorcycles, and trailers; 520 stickers for
large trucks; and 823 stickers for farm
trucks. "This was unusual," said Ramsey.
"We didn't have anything like this last year.
The lines were so bad in Asheville that I'd
say half our customers were from Buncombe
County. Things will be easier next year,
because they're starting the staggered
registration system in July."
Will Campbell, Dr. Lafayette
Speak On Religion In South
Two of this country's most
stimulating religious thinkers
came to Madison County last
week. During the first of
several public appearances, j
they threw oik a couple of
challenges to a mixed au
dience of community people,
teachers, and students at Belk
Auditorium of Mars Hill Col
l&gc
The Rev. Will Campbell of
Mt. Juliet, Tenn., told his au
dience, made up largely of
people belonging to an institu
tion, that institutions are in
herently bad.
And Dr. Bernard Lafayette,
a native of Alabama who
works with the Rev. Jesse
Jackson in Operation PUSH in
Chicago, warned his audience
that the social activity of the
IMO's is beginning again, and
that they had better be ready
for it.
Hie audience loved all of it.
Both men were in the midst of
the vast social changes of the
'60s, when blacks began their
struggle for equal rights, and
both have been deeply con
cerned since then with the
broader issues of human
rights. They were invited here
to speak on "Religion and the
Changing South", as part of
the Mellon Scholars' series.
Will Campbell, best known
for his autobiography, Brother
to a Dragonfly, and for foun
ding Katallagete, a Journal of
southern churchmen, is a wry
and irreverant speaker who
likes nothing better than at
tacking cliches and poorly
thought-out notions, especially
those about the church and the
'South.
"Ever since I can
remember, "he said leaning on
a wooden cane and peering
through spectacles, "people
have talked about a 'new
South.' Why don't they ever
talk about a 'new Midwest', or
a 'new Par West'? What's so
new about the Sooth?"
He went oo to say that if the
South is changing, it is chang
ing in ways imposed by the
rest of the country Some of
those changes, he said, such
as extending the franchise to
blacks, are good; others, such
as the institutionalization of
the church, are not so good.
"All institutions ? and that
includes Mars Hill College ?
are after your soul, and most
of the time they win.
"They don't even ac
complish their purpose. When
I went to school, the institution
was defined as an organiza
tion to meet the continuing
needs of a group. If you teach
that definition, and assume
that all of us are inherently
self-loving, self-preserving
creatures, you have a pro
blem.
"Original sin isn't a' bad
way to define that problem. To
me, original sin means that if
you and I were on the side of
the mountain as big as this
room, we cold probably w*t fc.
it out that we both stay there.
But if our piece of mountain
side starts to crumble so that
there's just room for one of us,
if I have anything to do with it,
I know which one's going to go
over the cliff." ?
(Continued on Page 2)
Tomberline To Compete
In N.C. Teen-ager Pageant
SUE TOMBERLIN
Suzanne Tomberlin, 17,
daughter of Mr. and . Mrs.
Gerald D. Tomberlin of Mars
Hill, has been selected to be a
finalist in the ninth annual
Miss North Carolina National
Teen-Ager Pageant. The
pageant will be held
in Raleigh April 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Christie Dee Joines of
Traphill is the reigning Miss
North Carolina National Teen
Ager and will crown the new
queen. There will be con
testants from all over the state
competing in the three -day
event. Prizes to be awarded
include a $500 cash scholar
ship, a tuition scholarship to
Barbizon International, and
an all-expense paid trip to the
nationally televised Miss Na
tional Teen-Ager Pageant.
Contestants will be judged on
scholastic achievement
leadership, poise-personality
and appearance. (There is no
swimsuit or talent competi
tion).
Each contestant will recite a
100-word essay on the subject,
"What's Right About
America."
Miss Tomberlin is being
sponsored hy the Mars Hill
Lions Chib Her hobbies in
clude skiing, cheerleading,
dancing and sewing.
Joe Justice Is Appointed
To Lead Stewart Campaign
Carl Stewart, Speaker of the
North Carolina House of
Hoffman, Madison County
Oordinator for the Stewart for
Lt. Governor Campaign, an
the appointment of Joe
of the
County and an ac
as held
In the
Ml cur
of
ine spring i recK precinct
Justice also serves as a
member of the Board of
Directors of French Qroad
Electric Membership Cor
poration.
? ?' V J v> v ?
la making the announce
ment Mn. Hoffman staled
"Justice will make an in
valuable contribution to this
A New CAW Director
Is Based In Mars Hill
Connie Mahoney is a friend
ly, warm woman who has
recently been named ex
ecutive director of the Council
on Appalachian Women, a
three-year-old, 13-state
organization with head
quarters in Mars Hill.
She is a resident of
Kingsport, Tenn. and the
mother of five children, but
still she manages to spend all
her weekdays in Mars Hill and
traveling throughout the Ap
palachian region. From her
base in a tiny office in
Founders Hall, she dedicates
her considerable experience
and drive to helping women
deal with their problems and
the broad changes thrust upon
them by society.
"This is not a wealthy
region," she said in an inter
view last week. "There is not
1 much employment, and most
of the wealth is controlled
from outside the region.
Women make up 53 percent of ,
the population, and more of
them are poor, old, and heads
of households here than in
other regions. Fewer of them
work outside the home, though
now they do more than they
used to. The people here have
poorer health, nutrition, and
transportation than people
elsewhere. Generally life here
involves more stress.
"This is not to say that Ap
for themselves. They can, and
they have been for a long time.
They have been running
farms, geting up early to pack
lunches for their husbands and
children, going to meetings to
get the roads improved,
picketing for better working
conditions for the men.
They've always been a great
source of strength for the
region.
"But I think that what they
haven't done is to recognize
there is a common thread that
runs through all that women
do. The thread is that these
things are all done by women.
Issues like nutrition and roads
and schools and jobs all affect
women's lives. And I believe
that when women realize that
they all share these issues,
they achieve a common
strength."
This common strength is
what the Council on Ap
palachian Women is trying to
build. The Council grew out of
a meeting in Boone in October
1976, when about 200 Ap
palachian women from seven
states gathered to discuss
issues of common concern.
After the meeting they wanted
some means of keeping in
touch with one another, and
the idea of creating the council
was born. In December 1976
about 35 of the women met
again, at Mars Hill College,
and this meeting gave birth to
the Council on Appalachian
Women ? nonprofit organiza
tion dedicated to helping Ap
palachian women "develop
their full mental, physical,
and spiritual potential."
For the first 18 months of the
council's existence it limped
along on a shoe-string budget,
barely able to pay far heat,
lights, and telephone. Then the
Appalachian Regional Com
mission awarded it a $54,630
grant, and the North Carolina
Humanities Commission put
in $12,565. Mars Hill College
had already donated the office
where Jeanne Hoffman, of
Mars Hill, the first staff direc
tor of the council, set up a
headquarters. That office is
now run by Connie Mahoney
and Reva Shelton, the other
member of the council staff.
The portion of the grant
money donated bv the North
Carolina Humanities Commis
sion supports an imaginative
speaking program throughout
the western part of our state.
The series began last October,
and will continue until June 6.
Speakers include an
thropologist Joan Moser of
Warren Wilson College,
sociologist Peg Boland of
Mars Hill College, English
teacher Nancy Joyner of
Western Carolina University,
philosopher Linda Scott of
East Tennessee State Univer
sity, folklorist Cratis Williams
of Appalachia State, English
teacher Daren Baldwin of
East Carolina University,
Rev. Sue Fitzgerald of Mars
Hill College, English folklorist
Charlotte Ross of the N. C.
Humanities Committee, and
author Wilma Dykeman
Stokely.
"We can't reach everyone
we want to reach,"; said Con
nie Mahoney. "We can't get
out into every community in 13
states; that's impossible. We
can't start individual nutrition
centers or day care centers or
rape crisis centers. But what
we can do is help other people
to do these things, and show
them how other women have
dealt with problems in their
communities.
"It's my feeling that even if
you've lived your whole fife in
a small community, there are
(Continued on Page 2)
CONSTANCE MAHONEY, the
new executive director of the
Council on Appalachian Women,
moved to her new office on the
Mars Hill campus last month.
"There is a common thread that
runs through all that women do,"
she says.
Some 350 Skiers Take Advantage
Of 'Madison County Ski Night'
When the weather report*
called for rain last Friday
night, many county residents
were worried that Madison
County Ski Night might be
rained out. But at 6:30 when
the Wolf Laurel chairlift
started up the slope, the rain
was still holding off. Only
when the night ended did
drops begin falling in earnest
And the night was a great
success. According to Varden
Cody, hill manager, over 350
4-H members and county
residents took advantage of
the reduced rates to ski on the
slopes of Wolf Laurel.
With such a large number of
skiers, the slopes were jamm
ed, especially the beginners
run. There, every few
minutes, a runaway skier
would zoom down through the
instructors and students.
More often than not the
headlong rush would end in an
awkward but effective nose
dive into the snow.
But after a few tries down
words of wisdom from the in
s true tors, many beginners felt
confident enough to go down
the intermediate slope with
only minor mishaps. Around
the floodlit slopes many peo
ple enjoyed what was pro
bably their first adventure on
SHS.
Because of the great in
terest in Madison County SU
Night, recreation director
Kevin Morley advises that
there may be a repeat on Feb.
S9. Look for mare news of this
next week in The Newt
Record.
Mars Hill Urges Re-enactment Of Revenue Sharing
On Jan. 7, the Mayor and
Board of Aldermen of the
Town of Mart Hill en
thusiastically endorsed the
continuation of General
Revenue Sharing by approv
ing a resolution in support of
in spending federal fundi At
the program's inception, the
funds had to be spent on
capital expenditures, but after
1 m. Congress allowed towns
and cities to use those funds
for virtually any miminiyal
The Town of Mars Hill has
bailding renovation and water
improvement project*, and
for public safety. A Urge
percentage of the current
hudgvt is comprised of