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s Record
RVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
80th Year No. 48 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N.C.
THURSDAY, November 26, 1981
15c Per Copy
Town Ordinance Flashes 'Tilt' On Gameroom
Pinball-Video Craze
Hits Hot Springs
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
Editor
HOT SPRINGS - The pinball-video
gamer oom mania which has swept the
nation in the last four years has found
its way through the rural mountain
passes of Appalachia and seized the
younger residents of Hot Springs. But
town and police officials here say they
feel obligated to enforce a local or
dinance which prohibits most of the
town's youngsters from entering a new
ly established gameroom on Main
Street.
The ordinance, adopted in the early
'70s, says no one under 17 years of age
will be allowed in a pool hall or
gameroom unless they are accom
panied by a parent or guardian.
Gameroom owner and operator Hank
Holmes said last week that "to to 75
percent of the business is kid* under
lft, " but he added he's willii^ la enforce
the ordinance himself until town
aldermen meet on Dec. 7. Then he
hopes to get an amendment to the or
dinance passed which will allow
younger unaccompanied teen-agers in
his gameroom.
"I realize the town needs to have
something to protect itself, and I'll even
agree to set time limits for the younger
kids," Holmes said. "But I hate to see
this (enforcement of the ordinance) for
the kids. It's not me or the adults that's
going to suffer; it's going to be the
kMs," he said
Holmes and other town residents say
he i? operating a "dean, establishment"
and that it's "run right. " '
Some police officers said since the
gameroom opened in early October, in
cidents of vandalism caused by
youngsters has declined here. Holmes
said part of the' idea behind the
gameroom was to give young people in
town somewhere to go and something to
do.
"I've not had the first call to go
there," said John Barrett, a six-year
veteran of the police department. "Kids
use to hang around the Post Office and
bother people and cars, and they broke
out windows. Since the gameroom has
been open, we've not had this trouble. It
gives the kids a place to go," he said.
"But the day after the last town
meeting, I was told to check on the ages
of kids in the gameroom," Barrett con
tinued. "Kids can't understand why
they can't go in there now and play."
Holmes, who also operates the Trail
Cafe located across the street from the
gameroom, said he maintains strict
rules during the time the room is open
for business from 3 to U p.m. The rules
posted on a wall include no foul
language, no drinks of any kind being
brought into the room, and no gambl
ing.
Police Officer Jim Lester said. "I'd
rather see the kids in there than out
wandering on the streets." He said he
has two granddaughters, ages 11 and
13, who go to the gameroom and he ap
proves of it because "Hank doesn't
allow drunks in there, and I think he is
running it right."
Hot Springs Mayor Swann Huff
echoed the generally favorable com
ments about the pintail palace and in
dicated that he would talk with the town
aldermen before the next meeting to
see if arrangements could be made to
alter the age restrction stated in the or
dinance.
"I just went and paid $40 on a pool
stick and can't play with it now,"
lamented 15 year old Billy Ebbs as he
stood outside the newly remodeled
building while flashing lights of the pin
tall machines inside. Ebbs said he stop
ped by the gameroom about every day
before the ordinance was enforced.
"But I'd go home about dark," he said.
Billy, like a few million other
youngsters across the country, is drawn
magnetically to the lights, bells and
electronic sounds of the pintail-video
arcades that have mushroomed in
almost every U.S. municipality since
1978.
According to a recent report on CBS
News, that year marked a whole new
era in the pintail-video game industry
when a new Japanese machine ?
"Space Invaders" ? hit the market.
Variations of that video machine laun
ched several companies ? like Atari,
one of the largest ? into a multi-million
dollar business. .
Industry reports indicate $3.3 billion
were spent on the games in the U.S. in
1980. Company officials at Atari say the
popularity of the games are based on
two factors ? the U.S. has become an
"electronic society," and most W the
games are easy to learn but difficult to
master, a point which game manufac
Continued on Page 2
Ethel Moyer , Noted Educator Dies
Ethel Evangeline English Moyera, 89, of Route 3, Mars
Hill, noted educator and Methodist church leader, died in a
Madison County nursing home Tuesday, following an illness of
several years.
Born on Puncheon Fork in the Upper Laurel section of
Madison County, Nov. 14, 1892, she was the daughter of the late
John Alexander English and Martha Louvenia Ponder
English.
Her maternal grandparents were members of the Ponder
and Radford families and her paternal grandparents were
members of the English and Phillips families, large lan
dholders, who were leaders in the civic, political and religious
affairs of the county. The four families were prominent
pioneer families of Western North Carolina.
Mrs. Moyers attended elementary schools in Madison
County and received a Latin-English diploma from Mars Hill
College in 1912. She began her teaching career in one-room
elementary schools, including the Knob School in the Upper
Laurel area and the Walnut School near Marshall.
During the World War II years, when her twin brother, the
late Eddie English Sr., went off to fight in France, she took
over the management of the large family produce, grain and
livestock farm which became known as one of the most pro
ductive livestock farms in Western North Carolina.
After the war she enrolled in Meredith College in Raleigh
and completed a B.S. degree in 1982. Site received an M.A.
degree at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in
1931, and did graduate study at the University of California,
Berkely, and Columbia University, New York City.
She taught in the Weaverville High School, Weaverville, in
Buncombe County, 1982-23; the Bald Creek High School, Cane
River, Yancey County, 1923-24; and was the first principal of
the Mars Hill High School, Mars Hill, Madison County, 1924-28.
She was the principal of the Beech Glen High School in the
Greater Ivy Community near Mars Hill 1928-30; and a teacher
and guidance counselor at the R.J. Reynolds High School in
Wins ton -Salem, Forsyth County, 1930-31
Mrs. Moyers was a freshman class advisor and associate
professor of education at Meredith College, Raleigh, 1931-41
She married the late Benjamin Lafayette Moyera, son of
the late Rev. and Mrs. J.W. Moyers, of Claiborne County.
Ethel E. Moyers
of the Asheville Citizen Times series on outstanding Western
North Carolina Women in 1961.
In 1961 Dr. ffoyt Black well, then president of Mars Hill
College persuaded Mrs Moyers to )oin the faculty of the col
lege as an assistant professor of English, a position she held
until she retired on May 31, 1MB.
Her last teaching position was diving 1966 68 when she
became a remedial reading teacher in the North Buncombe
High School in Buncombe County, a position which she took to
round out the requirements for retirement in the North
Carolina pub! ir school system. ^
Mrs Moyers has been listed in Who's Who in American
EMication, Who's Who in the South and Southwest and Who's
Who in the Methodist Church. || #
(Continued on Page 10) ^
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A 1977 TOYOTA truck was pulled back onto
U.S. 25-70 Bypass Saturday morning after
sliding on snow-covered pavement Friday
night and plunging 15 feet down a steep em
bankment. Tim Plaut, 16 and driver of the
vehicle, said he lost control of the truck dur
ing Friday night's snowfall about 10: 15 about
a quarter-mile south of Madison High School.
The truck slid to the right-hand side of the
road, knocked down a "Pass With Care"
?
>w wrwn
Photo by N Hancock
sign, and plunged into small trees coming to
a stop approximately half-way down the em
bankment. No one was injured in the acci
dent, and no charges were filed. The accident
occurred during the county's first
widespread, measurable snowfall of the
winter season. Approximately one-half inch
of snow blanketed most of the county with ac
cumulations of up to two inches occurring at
higher elevations.
Delegate To White House Conference
Mrs. Buraelte Goes To Washington
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
Edltor
Lucille Burnette of Walnut
will arrive in Washington,
D.C. this weekend where she
will represent North
Carolina's 600,000 elderly
citizens at the 1981 White
House Conference on Aging.
The conference, to be held
Nov. 30 throuh Dec. 3, will host
some 2,000 delegates from
across the nation to make
recommendations that will be
used in developing a proposed
national policy on aging.
Mrs. Burnette was ap
pointed by Gov. Jim Hunt as a
North Carolina delegate to the
conference in May. She serves
as chairman of the Madison
County Council on Aging and
is a participant in the Older
American Act congregate
nutrition program and in the
Madison County Senior
Center. A former public school
teacher, she is an active
member of the Agricultural
Extension Homemaker's Club
and the Walnut Community
Development Club.
The 1961 conference was
authorised by Congress in
197*. Congress appropriated
16 million to pay for the initial
planning of the conference and
for the expenses of the 2,000
delegates who will attend it.
The conference staff is ex
pected to continue to work into
mid 1962 in order to compile
the delegates' recommend*
tions Into a report and develop
a proposed national policy on
aging which will be presented
to Congress and the President.
Leaders of this fourth na
tional conference include UA
im.t.'iia.ff
Human iocs ivicria
SchweikfT, Constance D. Ar
the conference.
Mrs. Burnette, along with
the other delegates, will con
sider 14 major issues of con
cern to the nation's elderly.
Issues such as retirement in
comes, housing, health care
and services, and options for
long-term care will be discuss
ed in separate committees
which will present final
reports at the conclusion of the
conference.
In recognizing a need for a
national policy on aging to be
developed and establishing
this year's conference, Con
gress called for emphasis to
be placed on the "right and
obligation of older individuals
to free choice and self-help in
planning their own futures."
Conference officials say
older Americans have become
the fastest growing segment of
the nation's popluation.
Because of lower death rates
and longer life spans, the
number of people over 60 has
increased four times as fast as
the number under 60 since 1900
when there were 4.9 million
elderly citizens. Today, there
are 34 million older
Americans, and the average
life expectancy at birth has
lengthened from 47 years in
1900 to 73 currently.
These changes in the
nation's elderly population
will have what officials call
' profound implication for the
economic and social affairs of
the country." For example,
they say many elder
to
will Ht
work force prematurely.
Mrs. Burnette and other
conferees will be faced with
dozens of questions concern
ing the elderly and their im
pact on the country. How will
the "graying" of America af
fect our social institutions?
How can the country use the
skills and experience of the
elderly population so that it
can serve as a contributing
and productive force within
the society? What role should
governments ? and taxpayers
who are required to support
the elderly ? play in dealing
with these issues?
Conference officials hope
these and other questions can
be answered, and a workable
national policy be established.
Lucille Burnette
/-Public Meetings
The Madison County Board of Commis
sioners will meet Friday, Dec. 4 at 7:36 p.m.
in the courtroom of the courthouse in Mar
shall.
The Madison County Board of Education
will meet Monday* Dec. 7 at 10:30 a.m. at
the courthouse in Marshall.
The Board of Aldermen of the Town of
.Marshall will meet Monday, Dec. 7 at 7:30
p.m. in the (own hall on Main Street.
The Hot Springs Board of Aldermen will
meet Monday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the
town hall on Andrews Ave.