Stone Steps Are Wilde's Gift To School
Mrs
KCHOLAS HANCOCK
s a warm, humid day.
nperature was in the
70s and the moisture in
about the coo
ncy of Campbell's
soup.
dripped off Abner
nose and seeped
through the shoulders and
fr$?t of his shirt as he hefted
rocks and placed them in
juA the right spot to form the
strjjcture he kept pictured in
mind.
Wilde is spelled with an e. I
taxied it with an e on the end,"
was saying.
&bner Wilde, age 69, was at
dison High School perform
a labor of love, of sorts, for
school and the kids and the
he!
I
i
th*s
community.
I
If a man can't Mp Ma
school out a little, there ain't
much to him,'' Wilde laid.
Wilde la a stone mason. He's
bean building things With
stones far the paet 40 years.
He learned the trade by help
ing build the stone walls
located juat north of Marshall
along the old road leading
out of town.''
"I got paid $11.80 a week
working on those walla. Lord,
that was forty, maybe forty
five, years ago. I remember I
had a little log houae back
then. Winter was coming on
and I hadn't got the cracks
chinked between the logs. We
had a big snow, and the wind
blew the snow right through.
Snow was coming in all over
the houae," he laughed.
But now it was an almost hot
September day, and Wilde
wm working with do pay to
build two acts of stone stairs
leading from the upper level
walkway behind the high
school to the lower level on
either side of the preas box.
A crew of students helped
under Wilde's direction and
guidance; young men learning
in masonry class what Wilde
learned in a years of laying
rock on the Blue Ridge
Parkway from the "foothills
of Tennessee to the Shenan
doah Valley in Virginia."
The connection between
these students and Wilde is the
school. School and the com
munity mean a lot to him.
Wilde was a noted athlete in
his own high school days at
Marshall.
"I never miss a football
game here,'' he said.
Well, technically, WUde will
be absent from the Ust few
games when he and his wife
pack up to head for their place
in Florida in a couple of
weeks. The cold weather
hinders him a bit too much.
But, he still keeps up with the
team even though he is not
present to cheer them on
"I have the newspaper sent
to Florida," he said.
Next spring, he'll return to
Marshall, Mid be ll become
ooee again a physical part of
the community he enjoys so
well. But, a part of Ahner
Wilde will never leave the
stadium at the school. That
part lies in the rock and ce
ment forming the stairs at
O.E. Roberts Stadium. It's
called caring and skill. Solid
stuff
Preliminary Test Offered At Madison
Willa Wyau, director of i
guidance at Madison High,
hai announced that students
taking the Preliminary 1
Scholastic Aptitude Test/Na- 1
tiofrial Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test
(PiAT/NMSQT) on Oct. 21,
will benefit from additional
services in I960. These ser
vices are designed to provide
students with more informa
tion about the content and uses
of the test.
Students who plan to take
the I960 PSAT/NMSQT will
receive a complete sample
test for practice, along with an
answer key and scoring in
structions. When scores are
reported in December, each
student will receive a Report
of Student Answers, including
the correct answers as well as
the answers the student gave.
Historical Society Meeting
At a meeting of the Board of
Directors (of the county
Historical Society) last
Wednesday, plans were made
for'stepptng up the Cemetery
Registration project.
Assistance from churches,
community clubs and those
families with family
cemeteries is needed. Infor
mation needed is names, birth
an<{ death dates of all deceas
ed n the cemetery.
?
The Society plans to visit
some of the more historical
cemeteries during the coming
months. Mrs. Lucile Roberts,
county librarian, has
prepared a loose-leaf notebook
where all information will be
gathered; mail or bring infor
mation to the Marshall
Library, preferably in
typewritten form.
The annual meeting of the
county Historical Society is
planned for November 1. This
will be a noon meeting with
lunch made up of traditional
country food.
Baron Manfred von Richtho
fen, the German flying ace
known as the "Red Baron,"
was shot down and killed over
the Western Front in 1918.
$IGMA ALPHA CHI members at
Mars Hill College are: (left to
jight) Karen Smith, president;
Jam Bailey, vice president: Lori
Patterson, secretary; Donna
Stanley, pledge mistress; Myrtle
Foust, treasurer; and Patti
Anderson, chaplain.
-key to effectiveness for dandruff shampoos is to
1 switching brands.
" i problem of dandruff persists, buy small bottle*
t! different products (we cany several) and use
nt one each time. The longer a single dandruff
t is used, the less it seems to help. Body ch?mit
F apparently adapts to the ingredients, reducing effec
ABNER WILDE donated his time and energy
toward building the stone stairs on both sides
of the press box at the Madison High School
football stadium. He's been a stone mason
for 40 years. Thirty -two of those years were
spent working on rock walls along the Blue
Ridge Parkway.
TAKING A BREAK, Abner Wilde
sits on one set of stone stairs he is
building behind the press box at
Madison High School. The 69 year
old stone mason was once an
Ptwto by N Hancock
athlete at Marshall High School.
He still advidly supports the foot
ball team, and says he never
misses a game.
WE SERVICE ALL MAKES
AND MODELS ? COLOR AND B/W
TV'S AND ALL MAJOR
APPLIANCES ^
The feed room has the atmosphere of on old fashion country feed
room. We use only the freshest vegetables, handout meat, home
made bread, soups and desserts. 1 >- ? ? ?