Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / July 23, 1981, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Hw$ record SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY 80th Year No. 30 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C. THURSDAY, July 23, 1981 15c Per Copy 25 Volumes FIRST EDITION - Dr. Fred Bentley, (left), Mars Hill College president, is presented with one volume of a complete set of first edi tion books by Asheville author Thomas Wolfe. The 25 volume set was presented as a gift to the college Thursday by Mr. and Mrs. Refford Cate of Reidsville, (center and right). Looking on at the presentation ceremony is Lewis Miller, director of the MHC library. 'The Front Porch ' Premieres , '? ? v<- '-VI I V I'fil '?? ? - "? ?~4-. t*HI |?? *. "We want to portray the people of Southern Appalachia as something other than the cliche characters in Snuffy Smith," says Jim Thomas, managing director of the Southern Appalachian Reper tory Theatre and creator/director of SART's 1981 World Premiere, "The Front Porch. " Thomas is combining two one-act plays, Robert Ander son's "I'm Herbert" and Romulus Linney's "Ten nessee," with poetry and music to create what he calls "a patchwork celebrating the traditions and folklore of this region." "The Front Porch" also features two artists who are natives of this area, Sheila Rice Barnhill of Marshall and Jo Carson of Johnson City. Sheila Rice Barnhill started playing mountain banjo in 1972, when the Ford Founda tion sponsored an old-time music festival in the Sodom Community and sent four men there to organize it One of those four men, Dwight Diller, taught Sheila the "claw hammer" style of picking the banjo, a style that originated when farmers who had spent the day in the field would come home and play with their stiff hands position ed as if still resting on the plow. Sheila wanted to learn so that her children could learn the oral tradition of passing songs from generation to generation. She explains, "They can learn the songs from written music and words, but they can't learn the vocal inflections. That's the thrill of mountain music." Sheila also plays guitar, which she picked up four years ago, inspired by the Eagles' hit "Lyin' Eyes." In "The Front Porch," Sheila plays traditional ballads, along with her original music and music by Si Kahn. With her low, clear voice, she leads the rest of the cut in songs like "I Never Will Marry" and "A Tribute to my Home." Jo Carson is a poet and playwright from Johnson City, where she has performed with the Road Company on and off since 1976. In "The Front Porch" Jo will perform her "People Pieces," characterizations that have evolved from her encounters with people in the area; the pieces are also part of her one woman show. She describes them as "a combination of Spoon River Anthology monologues and Studs Terkel." Her people talk about "not earth-moving things, but about life and their percep tions." Jo believes combining her poetry with drama is a "Fair ly natural progression" that is interesting and dynamic. She is 'concerned that many people have a Victorian concept of poetry because of their condi Honing. Jo wants to make the art form more entertaining. "I'm making slow and living in roads into getting people to rethink poetry." Her greatest fear is that an audience will be bored. "They can dislike me intensely; that's o.k. as long as it holds their interest." One part of the "patchwork" section of "The Front Porch" makes a state ment about employment in textile mills. Jo, her strong voice cracking with fear and bitterness, recites "The Mill Worker," an original piece about a sole survivor of the legacy of the loom. Sheila follows her by singing Si Kahn's ballad "Aragon Mill." The lights dim and there is silence in the rehearsal hall, the rest of the cast transfixed by the performance by the two women. Jim Thomas smiles and nods. "That's real; that's here. That's Appalachian." Mars Hill Gets Wolfe Collection MARS HILL - Mars Hill College has received a com plete set of first editions of the works of Thomas Wolfe from a Reidsville couple, Mr. and Mrs. Refford Cates. The gift is in the form of a long term loan with the inten tion of making them a gift to the college at an appropriate time in memory of Mrs. Cate's brother, Alfred B. Webster Jr., an alumnus of the college (Class of 1937) who died in 1973. The Cates gained first hand acquaintance with Mars Hill this summer when they at tended the first session of the college's Elderhostel pro gram. Elderhostel is a nation wide program based on the youth hostels of Europe and provides a low cost alternative vacation plan at college cam pus where older persons can study non-credit classes of in terest and live on campus for a week. The Cates took a class on the life and works of Thomas Wolfe taught by Dr. Mary In rig, professor of English at the college, and were impressed by the quality of the program, the campus, and the college's Archives. ?-Mm .Cates recently retired as librarian of the Rock ingham (County) Community College and continued to do volunteer work with that school's newly established ar chives. Mr. Cate is the owner operator of a laundry service in Reidsville. Both of the Cates are avid collectors, having collected at one time or another, first edition books, coins, stamps, and oriental jade. They earlier made a gift of their jade collection to Duke University. Mrs. Cate's Brother, Alfred Wester Jr., graduated from Mars Hill in 1937 and remain ed for a year as a laboratory assistant. He continued his education at North Carolina State University, where he graduated with honors, and spent his professional life with Dupont Chemical Company as a research chemist. The gift to Mars Hill College is significant, according to col lege librarian Lewis Miller. "As separate books, their value is significant, however, their real value is as a com plete set," Miller notes. "This may be the only complete set of Thomas Wolfe's first edi tions in Western North Carolina." Scheduled Friday Hendon, Watt Plan Area Tour Congressman Bill Hendon and Interior Secretary James G. Watt will be in Asheville Friday, July 24 and tour the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains Na tional Park. Watt, the featured speaker at the annual Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Din ner at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Grove Park Inn, is scheduled to hold a press conference upon his arrival at 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Asheville Regional Airport. Hendon will join Watt at the press con ference. Following the planeside press conference, Hendon and Watt will tour the Blue Ridge Parkway by airplane and visit the headquarters of the Great Smoky Mountins National Park in Gatlinburg, Tenn., before returning to Asheville in the afternoon. Hendon serves on the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the public lands in Western North Carolina. The books will be evaluated during the coming few weeks and will not be placed in the circulating collection but will be displayed in a prominent place in the library. Ball Found 'Not Guilty' Forest Manor Restaurant owner Phillip Ball, accused of setting the fire that destroyed his business last year, was found not guilty by a Bun combe County Superior Court jury late Friday afternoon. Closing arguments were given by the attorneys for Ball and for the state after lunch Friday and the jury returned with the verdict at 4:45 p.m. After testimony Friday from a number of character witnesses in Ball's behalf. Judge C. Walter Allen denied separate motions by defense attorney Robert Long for a mistrial and to dismiss the state's case against the Mars Hill businessman. The state contends that Ball burned the Hender sonville Road restaurant on Dec. 3, 1980, because he was in severe financial trouble. The defense argued that Ball had no motive to bum the pro fitable establishment and that the fire was an ac cident. Long asked for a mistrial because in Thursday s testimony District Attorney Ronald C. Brown was allowed to direct in front of the jury a line of ques tioning that centered on a 1978 fire that gutted an Asheville bakery owned by Ball. Allen allowed that questioning. And Long asked for dismissal of the case because he said the state had failed to provide suf ficient evidence of a motive connecting Ball to the fire. The defense denies that Ball was in financial trouble. Most of Friday's testimony was taken up with a succession of character witnesses ? several of whom are county officials or county commis sioners ? who said Ball has a good reputation both in Asheville and Mars Hill. On Thursday, Ball took the witness stand and denied setting the blaze at the Forest Manor, say ing that the fire destroyed his primary source of income. "It was a financial disaster for me," Ball told the court. House Speaker Liston Ramsey Assesses Accomplishments General Assembly Session Represents Solid Achievement ' ? ? By REP. LISTON B. RAMSEY ?4tk HOUSE DISTRICT Speaker of the North Carolina Hous. RALEIGH ? The North Carolina General Assembly ad journed July 10, leaving behind it a record that, in my Judg ment, represents solid achievement This session met and overcame one of the toughest budget problems our State has faced in a number of years. We were not able to do everything we would have liked to have done so far as service* to the people is concerned. But, on balance, the budget we finally adopted will meet the essential needs of the people and will keep North Carolina moving forward. As Speaker of the House of Representatives, I had tht privilege of presiding over the day-to-day operations of the House these last six months. I can personally vtoch for the fact that this was a hard-working group of legislators who took public school buildings over the next two years. This will pro vide approximately the following increases to the county com misioners in this area of the State: Haywood County $96,240; Jackson County $51,156; Madison County $37,644; Swain Coun ty $13,040. This money is allotted to the counties based on the number of students in each county. Although a general salary increase for teachers and State employees was deferred until this Fall, they are by no means overlooked in the budget we adopted. The budget contains $333.4 million to give them merit pay increments and longevity payments over the next two years ? $186.3 million for merit in crease* and $47.1 million for longevity Furthermore, a salary increase for teachers and state employees will receive first priority in the Fall when the I i^Mwtui > reconvenes lor a abort session to make ad justments in the budget. Hm pay raise will be the first order of We have reserved more than $100 million as a starting point for the pay raise and will add additional funds to that bas Our counties and municipalities stood to gain considerable sums of money under two bills passed by the House, but unfor tunately the Senate did not act on the bills. The first would raise the tax on alcoholic beverages. This would have given Haywood County and its cities and towns an additional $53,451. Jackson County an additional $35,315 and Swain County an ad ditional (13,(02. The second bill would enable the people of the various counties of the State to vote on whether to increase their local sales tax by another penny on the dollar. If the people voted this tax on themselves this would have produced an additional $1.6 million a year for Haywood, $745,534 for Jackson, $900,781 for Swain and $271,?44 for Madison. Hopefully, the Senate will take up these two House-passed bills during the Pall legislative session. It is well known that our counties and towns are short on money to meet Uie service needs of their citizens. aim livestock facility to be built near Ashevillc at a cost of $1 6 million. 1 Some people doubt the wisdom of building the horse/ livestock facility. However, those of us representing Western North Carolina feel that since we were to have a capital construction budget, then Western North Carolina should receive its fair share After all, the people in our area will have to help pay for all the other approved projects, in cluding efforts to stop beach erosion down on the coast. Horses are a big business in North tion we received was that there are 200,000 53,000 horse farms in the State, with a l< million. There are over 7,000 4-H hors* people participate. Experience in other a facility generates I industry Another major ' ft* of the I of the
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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July 23, 1981, edition 1
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