The Hoke County News - Established 1928 VOLUME LXVlll NUMBER 41 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY. NORTH CAROLINA 1 - journal The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 S8 PER YEAR THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 1977 Around Town BY SAM C. MORRIS The weather is still on the cold side but the forecast is for warmer weather for the weekend. Last Friday the temperature got up to f>0 degrees but took a plunge Saturdav and was down in the teens earls Monday morning. The fuel situation is still critical and most businesses are trying to cooperate with Governor Jim Hunt's plan to cut hours to 48 per week. Of course you will always have some that want to wait until the law is enforced before they will close. This could and should bo done if the cold weather keeps on as m the right track. This is what scouting is all about. 4 This is Scout Week and a way t<> help observe it is to make up your mind this week that you will oiler your services to be a leader or an assistant in a troop or pack. If you can be of any aid call Mi and Mrs. Frank Baker at S?5 ; > " It will not be an inconvenience to them for they are ottering then time to this project. Remember a youngster im the right track today will In community leader tomorrow . * * ? A short note is as follows: Dear Mr. Morris: Would you please mention in your column that Februarv is American Music Month. We all derive pleasure from the music created in our own country, ittitl during this month, we pa\ tribute to American composers and their music. Thank you. Mary Neil K ine Chaminade Music Club * * * ? The following letter once ayiisn shows that the heart ol lioke County people is on the right side: ? Dear Sam: The people of Hoke Count \ always respond to a need it they are asked to share with others. I hi\ was shown this year, as in forme years, when the request was made for gifts for patients at McCain Hospital at Christmas time. Twelve churches in the county responded to the request fot pajamas, along with toilet articles and other gifts, for the 12 Hoke County patients there at that time Knit-Away and Burlington sent toys for the children paticttts. which will be used throughout tin year. Mrs. Edith Huff. Executive Director said, "on behalf of the Mid-State Lung Assn. and the patients I want to thank each of von for the gifts which brought so much happiness to our patients." Mrs Nancy Marley. Regional Chairman of Patient Services said: "we will remember your generosity to a lot of unfortunate sick people tor .i 4 long time to come." There are existing needs tor many things for the patients throughout the year. A printed lis! of these things is available from the . hospital, from the Extension office * (Mrs. Willis) or if you will contact me at 875-2523. My personal thanks to each and all responding to the hospitalized patients at McCain. Jessie P. Nceley Chm.Hoke County Patients Services McCain Hospital Precinct Meetings Switched Because of the energy crisis, the dale of Democratic party precinct meetings has been switched Irom Feb. 10 to Ihursdav. May 5. state party chairman Betty McCain an nounced. All precinct meetings will begin at N p.m. on the new date in each precinct polling place. Makeup meetings in the event a quorum is not present will be Ihursdax May 12. I lie new action will also move i lie date of the county convention back to Saturday. June Is. Precinct officers and pre cinct committee members will he elected at the May 5 meetings Deputies Foil Wire Shipment I w.i mon from Wilmington and .t Bm'talo. NY man picked up hen l>\ >h.crilt*s deputies last week have been charged by South t I .- ; .i .,'iilionties in connection w,i! :i r :h. it ol a large quantity of i, M-e from Duke Power Co. Vaii! !) M Harrington identi fied ' !,- suspects as Jesse Lee Ml. i.- V viie.n . ,V?. of Wilmington. Maiv- \ I te Cirav. 2"* of Wilming t ? ? * . .Inn me Davis, 22. of Hult.ii i. N ^ . Ihe men were .meted i?v deputies J. Pcterkin nr.! < K' Wilson in the early mourn: bouts Feb. 1 after they stop; >! three quarter ton truck u or. I S. -401 near Puppy < in k < i. vcrv \ variety of copper ,N., id IM III S.l'age 111 County Offices Cut Back Hours, Stores Splitting WARMTH Ray Seado. Green Pines Trailer Park, checks out a pair of "long Johns " at a local department store. With thermostats lowered to 65 degrees by day and 55 degrees by night, area residents are resorting to thermal underwear to maintain body heat. \ Photo by S.H Aplin | County To Need Extra Help For Electrical Inspections ( .unity commissioners learned i in that one or more addition al workers may have to be hired to utirv out inspections when the I limine River Flectrical Coopera te Kuvis installing special switch i's in customers' homes to cut power lls.lvit ( >imt> electrical inspector Jack I il's i \pl. lined to the board during lis ;vf>u'. ar meeting Tuesday morn iii jc tli.it the co-op plans to install ii>c switches on water heaters and heating and air conditioning units in to 2.000 Hoke County hoi; ics it is a voluntary program ami the co-op does not yet know the cx.ict number of customers who will participate. I !?'.? plan is designed to cut the anion: 1 ot power being used during the (' ' }> m. period each day. or peak load' period. The switches will be cttvaicd by a radio signal and will automatically shut otY power tor a set length of time. No inspection bv the county will be required tor the switches on the hcatine and ..ir conditioning units bin 1 1 is required tor the devices on the w .iter heaters w ithin 48 hours of iusiallat 1011. I 'His said. 1 he objective of the co-op is to cut customer demand and thereby decrease the amount of wholesale power purchased from Carolina Power & Light Co. The co-op will pay the inspection fees and the company requested a S5 set fee for each inspection, but the commissioners voted to set the fee at 57.50. Ellis said the co-op plans to have all the switches installed by June and he said he would need at least one other inspector in order to get the work done by that time. Ellis added that the county would lose money on the plan if only $5 was charged. In other business, the board accepted a bid from Hoke Auto Co. for the purchase of two sheriff s cars with commissioner Danny DeVane dissenting after a lengthy discussion over the exact specifica tions of the Hoke Auto bid and one from Raeford Auto Co., the only other bid. The Hoke Auto bid, for $9,987. was based on cars with a 350 cubic inch engine, the largest Chevrolet makes, according to dealer Young er Snead, Jr. The Raeford Auto bid on Ford cars was based on 460 cubic inch engines, dealer Gordon Ragsdale said. The Ford bid was for SI 0.026. Mill Shuts Down M economic bad news tor the .nv.i v.h'k ?ul) the announcement i >1 tin. . losing ol Hadley - Peoples M mtifacmring Co. textile mill in Mik Midi Mhich idled approximate K ???' a 01 kers. NT s! > t the plant's work force w.is bill .'if carl* last week while .iK'iii "i1 employees worked their l.i i il i\ Friday. I'ian: manager Terry Hawkins h.iit Ihui laid off and was unavailable l>>r comment but a spokesman. Milton Beck, said the R?ickf?sh operation was no longer protii.iblc enough to continue t'l 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 L! I hi plant produced yarn and shipped about 20. 000 to 30.000 pounds per week but the present market lor ravon is very slow. Beck said. The company decided to move the yarn manufacturing to its home office in Siler City. A few orders which hadn't been filled by the time of the shutdown will be completed in Siler City. Beck estimated about half of the workers left jobless were Hoke County residents. The remainder of the work force was made up of Cumberland and Robeson County people. No plans for the future of the plant were announced, but Beck said he understood the building was up for sale. Hadley - Peoples acquired the property in 1975 and began operations in October. The mill had been idle since July of 1974 when Continental Yarn Co. shut down operations. Ragsdale told the commissioners that he felt he had been "misled", as he could have bid on cars with 400 cubic inch or 350 cubic inch engines but instead he submitted the most powerful police car which he thought was the requirement. In other matters, the commis sioners: Appropriated S400 out of reve nue sharing funds to match a grant to send six emergency medical services drivers to a special driver training school at Maxton Air Base; Re-appointed T.B. Lester Jr. as county manager since he passes age 65. mandatory retirement age. this week; Approved boundary changes in the West Hoke Fire District neces sary for certification from the N.C. Fire Insurance Rating Bureau; Agreed to ask. for a meeting with the district highway engineer as soon as possible to discuss drainage problems in the Bowmore area; Approved a concurrent resolu tion requested by the state endors ing a secondary road improvement project (widening of SR. 1116 from N.C. 211 to SR. 1135); Adopted the affirmative action plan presented by planning director Bill Altman to be included in the overall personnel ordinance; Approved the new Crestline Fire District for financial assistance; Okayed a transfer of SI 10 to a fund to cover the cost of instruc tional materials needed by the finance department; Agreed to fund the position of program director at Sandhills Youth Center until July 1. using surplus funds from a manpower grant; Appointed the following citizens as trustees for the community houses in these townships: L.A. McGougan. Carl Pratt. A S. Bald win. Dave Currie and Arlis Wright (Allendale). Brown Hendrix Jr.. Mrs. J.W. Hayes, George Shook. Gertrude Daniels and Clarence Eden (Stonewall). The board tabled a request from Onslow County seeking a resolution to be presented to the state legislature on mandatory jail terms for drunken drivers. County government offices began a four-day. 32 hour work week Monday in response to Gov. Hunt's appeal for energy conservation, but the voluntary cooperation by stores to curtail operating hours to 48 hours a week collapsed almost before it began. County commissioners met in special session last Thursday at 9 a.m. and formally adopted the shorter work week after rejecting the governor's plan of four days. 40 hours a week for state employees. Commissioner Danny DeVane, who introduced the motion for the 32 hour week, argued that keeping offices open for an additional two hours daily would waste energy because more heat would be required in the late afternoon and evening. County manager T.B. Lester Jr. also favored the shorter week after many department heads called to the meeting acknowledged that all of the necessary work could be accomplished in 32 hours instead of 40. The commissioners' order applies to all county offices except the sheriffs department and the courthouse. The Clerk of Court, magistrate and Register of Deeds offices will continue to operate Monday through Friday. However, the probation and parole office and the juvenile court counselor's office will be closed Mondays. The order was adopted with the provision that all Mondays are to be declared official holidays so all workers will continue to be paid for a 40 hour week. The board also ordered that temperatures within all county buildings be maintained at 65 degrees during working hours and turned back to 60 degrees or lower during non-working hours. The public library, normally open six days a week, will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays under the plan. The health center canceled its children's immunization clinics held on Mondays and re-scheduled them for Fridays from 1-4:30 p.m. The action will not affect the school system or the board of education offices which will continue on regular schedule. School Supt. G. Raz Autry last week eased the restrictions on nighttime athletic events and announced that basketball games would be played beginning at 4 p.m. All other night activities have been halted. Sandhills Community College announced that all adult education night classes held in Hoke County are canceled until further notice. The Downtown Merchants Association met Friday and announced its members would cooperate with the governor's request on cutting back store hours, but early this week the plan began falling through. The Raeford A&P Supermarket posted new hours effective Sunday but early Tuesday it announced it would resume regular hours immediately following the Monday announcement by Winn-Dixie that its stores were bolting from the voluntary plan. A&P manager Cicero Sullivan said he was notified Tuesday morning by the head office in Charlotte to drop the 48 hour plan. B.C. Moore & Sons and Mack's Variety, also in the Edenborough Shopping Center, both announced new 48 hours a week schedules and said the A&P decision would not influence them Many retailers in and outside the city, however, reported they had no plans to curtail hours to conform to the governor's request. One member of the Merchant's Association who asked not to be named declared the "only way to get it to work is to make it mandatory". Bob Harrell of Harrell's Grocery said he had no intention of curtailing hours at his store and said it would cost him just as much to close as to stay open. William Hales, owner of Puppy Creek Grocery in the eastern end of the county, said he couldn't reduce hours because it would inconvenience many of his customers who come in at different times. David Hendrix at Arabia Cash Mart said he wouldn't curtail hours because his competition in the area wasn't doing so. Restaurants in city seemed to be going along with the conservation request. Both the Southern Restaurant and the Familv Restaurant (See CUT BACK, Page 11) Bobby Gentry New Councilman City councilmen agreed unani mously Monday night to accept Bob M. Gentry as a council replacement for David Lovett who resigned last December. Gentry. 45. was sworn in and will fill the unexpired term which ends next December. He is a past president of the Chamber of Commerce, past post commander of American Legion Post XX (Hoke County), a member of the Kiwanis, and serves as chairman of the administration board of the Rae ford United Methodist Church. Married to a Hoke County school teacher, the former Eleanor Stewart of Roxboro. Gentry claims to have lived in Raeford as many as five times, moving away and then returning. The father of two sons and a daughter, he spent 16'/j years working for Burlington Industries. He was the personnel manager at the Raeford Worsted Plant from 1971 - 75. Then in January of 1975 he opened Gentry's Tire Center on Main St. Gentry attended elementary school in Raeford, graduated from high school in Roxboro and earned a degree in business administration from the University of South Carolina. Gentry said, "I'm delighted to be appointed and will try to uphold my oath." In other business, councilmen f ft* / Boh Gentry approved the $6,200 purchase of a dragline from N.C. Equipment Co. According to Robert Drumwright, city manager an offer previously extended to the city of Lumberton for a dragline was rescinded. The county will pay 75 percent of the cost of the equipment. The contract with the N.C. Department of Transportation for the airport project met with council See GENTRY, Page II)