Newspapers / The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, … / May 4, 1967, edition 1 / Page 12
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Ward "E” To Remain Open At Oteen WASHINGTON - Faced by a sol d wall of congressional op position, the Veterans Adminis tration Thursday relaxed its de termination to close Ward "E” at. Ohfen Hospital by the an nounced deadline of June, 1969. Instead, VA Adm nistrator William J. Driver told Rep. Roy A. Taylor and other members of the North Carolina congress ional delegation that if there is a need to keep the nursing care unit in operation after that date, it will be kept open. Driver listened for more than an hour while the congressmen and more than a dozen repre sentatives of the state’s veter ans organ zations cited reasons why the some 145 patients pre sently assigned to the unit should not be transferred to ether places, as proposed by the VA. “The veterans in North Caro lina a,re more upset over the situation than they have been over any other happening since I became a member es Con gress seven years ago," Rep. Taylor declared. The d sagreement arose a few weeks ago when the VA announced that after comple tion of the new 500-bed Oteen Hospital, it would phase out Ward “E”, a part of the old facility, and transfer • its pa tients to other VA hospitals or private nurs'ng homes. The announcement brought immediate protest from Con gressman Taylor, veterans or ganizations, and other Tar Heel congressmen, especially those with VA hospitals in their dis tricts where the VA proposed to send some of the Oteen patients. These congressmen told Dri ver Thursday that the hospitals in the r districts are badly over y HElfl SMC* TUSSY DEODORANTS 1/2 PR ICE Sd SPRAY CREAM Also Tussy Dry Skin Cleanser Reg. $3.50 And Many, Many OHit EVtRY DAY Dlstount Items. VIS IT US AND SAVE POLLARDS DRUG STORE Burnsville, N. C. THE YANCEY RECORD crowded and cited figures show ing the number of waiting lists. Under questioning by Rep. Taylor, who called the meet ing, Driver agreed to abandon efforts to close the unit by a fixed deadline and promised to “review the situation” and to meet the needs of the aging veterans. “The Veterans Admimstra tion is not infall ble,” Driver said, and assured the congress men he would keep the Oteen situation under close study. Experimental Communications Project Announced § SPRUCE PINE - The W. A. M. Y. Board of Directors April 25 approved a request for funds from the Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington to finance an experimental com munications project for low income residents of the four • W.A.M.Y. counties. The project would provide a weekly newspaper for about 8,000 families in the four coun ties and also feature up to an hour a day in radio program ming over local stations. It is designed to test whether it is cheaper to use mass communi c’dt ons or staff workers to in form low-income residents of opportunities and services av ailable, and of the responsibili ties of citizens. The W.A.M.Y. Board approved the request after a long debate over the cost of the project and its effect on the local image of W.A.M.Y. The Board also agreed to ask the North Carolina Fund for ad ditional money over the next few months to make improve ments in the W.A.M.Y pro grams. Included in these re quests will be money to help finance a community center at the old Toe River School in Avery County, and a large ex pansion of the Incentive Grants Program which helps finance community projects. W.A.M.Y. staff members told the Board the communications project was an experiment, and that the Office of Economic Op portunity had asked W.A.M.Y. to submit the project. “If we had our choice, we would spend the money on Job training,” W.A.M.Y. Director Ernest Eppley told the Board. "But we have no choice in the matter./ If we don't want the communications project, sane other will get it." Several agency heads on the Board, including Dr. Mary Michal of the Watauga County Health Department and Dorothy Thomas of the Tri-County Re gional Library, said the work of their agencies was hampered by poor communications with many people in the four counties. W.A.M.Y. staff members point ed out that fewer than one-third of the families in the four coun ties subscribe to any of the local newspapers. The initial budget far the pro ject totaled about $179,000. The Board agreed to approve the re quest for money by a vote of 15-5. ALL PURPOtI 3INONEOIL Oils Everything Prevents Rust REtUUR-Olt tPMr-IUCTSIC MSTOR Crafts Market To Expand In This Area The market for handmade products of craftsmen in this area is about to start a rapid expansion, according to a crafts expert working for the Smithson ian Institute in Washington, D. C. Ralph Rinzler, a nationally known authority on American culture, Monday completed h s second buying trip this year to the W.A.M.y. Crafts program. He is purchasing crafts for both display in the museum and for sale at the museum’s crafts shops in Washington. Orders for the museum are expected to bring in more than three thous and dollars for local craftsmen by the beginning of summer. "The Smithsonian has recently changed the policies of its shops” Rinzler said. “From now on, the shops, which sell to tourists, will feature authentic hand-made crafts instead of reproductions made at the museum. -1 expect the demand for crafts items made in this area will jump dramatically when the museum’s summer tourist season gets un der way.” Rinzler also pointed to a .re cent exhibit in a New York City store where American-made crafts products were displayed for the first time. “George Jensen’s is the most sophisticated crafts store in New York,” Rinzler explained. "Now that they are pushing American Crafts Products, a lot of the lit tle stores will do it too.” The products of several W. A. M. Y. craftsmen were on display at the exhibit. R’nzler also praised the local crafts program, and called it one of the outstanding crafts training programs in the coun try. THURSDAY. MAY 4, 1967 "Janice Wh’tener has done a tremendous job here as coordi nator of the W.A.M.Y. Crafts program," Rinzler said. “She is using local craftsmen to train other persons in the production of traditional local products. Most programs try to impose some k'nd of outside product on local people which has no rela tion to the traditions of the area. Mrs. Whitener rejected this ap proach and decided to use the talents that were already here.” Rinzler also praised the idea of a marketing cooperative for crafts products produced in the W.A.M.Y. area. The coop held its first organizational meeting in Newland April 27. “A coop will help the sale of crafts products,” Rinzler said, “because it will be able to put one label into all crafts pro ducts produced in the area. Labelling will have the same effect as a brand name; people w : ll begin to recognize the name and depend oii the label name as a guarantee of quality.” I JnlU GiuiTTr V Bright guard flllpllt AMERICA'S MOST POPULAR ffPPfWM DEODORANT SSSJ 79?, r PfIfCCT PfISONAI J 9EODORANT FIMIIV DEODORANT ‘ >
The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, N.C.)
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May 4, 1967, edition 1
12
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