Volume 32
Bill Passed To Extend Blue
Ridge Parkway .
WASHINGTON - The U. S.
House of Representatives Wed
nesday, January 24 th, passed
Congressman Roy A. Taylor’s
b.ll to extend the Blue Ridge
Parkway.
”1 am extremely delighted,”
declared Rep. Taylor. "This is
someth ng I have worked for
since the time 1 f.rst came to
Congress. It has been one of my
long-range goals and one of the
reasons that I worked for years
to become Chaim-an of the Na
tional Parks ''&ibcojnmittee."
The extens on will start at
Beech Gap west of Mount Pis
gah and go to a point north of
Atlanta. When completed, it will
bring parkway travel w'lh'n easy
reach of millions of new visi
tors, wh'ch Taylor sad, “will
mean a great boost to Western
North Carolina's tourist busi
ness.”
The bill authorizes SB7 mill on
for construction. No special ap
propriat'on w : ll be required
6ince the money will be derived
on a pay-as-you-go basis fmm
regular annual national park
way construction funds. Annual
appropr : ations now being used
to complete the present Blue
Ridge Parkway would continue
and be appl'ed to the construc
tion of the extension.
The States of North Carolina
and Georgia are ready to acquire
the necessarv land without de
lay. “I am hopeful that the Sen
ate w : ll act promptly to pass the
bill so that ; t may soon be
aimed into law by die Presi
dent,” Taylor said.
Heart Fund Drive Underway
Heart Fund Chairman G. D.
McClure has announced the be
gnmng of Yancey’s Heart Fund
Lrive this-’week.
'the goal for Yancey County
/ for the Heart Fund is $1,200.
As part of the. k ck-off, Chair
man McClure announced that
Radio Slat on WKYK is offering
prizes fcr the most song titles
subm tted with the word “Heart"
ias part of the title. The f rst
prize is a transistor radio, sec
ond pr.ze wll be three LP re
cords, and the third prize will
be ten 45rpm records. Letters
containing the song t ties must
be received not later than Sat
urday, February 3 ,at Station
WKYK. Winners will be an
munced Sunday at 4:05 p. m.
Lee Ch Idress, manager of
Station WKYK and Benefits
Cha rman of the Heart Fund
drive here, has sentenced one
c* bis announcers to "jail”.
Childress says announcer Jim
my Douglas is be ng sentenced
to ja3 because he disobeyed an
crder and played rock-n-roll re
cords on a good listening pro
gram. Dougles wll be "jailed”
in a wooden jail beside tthe
Chamber of Commerce building
on the square Saturday mom
ing and wll remain there urtil
he is bailed out with Herrt
Fund money The bail has been
set' at SIOO. Announcer Douglas
THE YANCEY RECORD
TriKounty
News Wins
Award
First place award for' the best
spot news story of 1967 for a
weekly in North Carolina was
given to The Tr.-County News
Thursday evening, Jan. 18.
Governor Moore was on band
to make the presentations of
the Noith Carol na Press Asso
ciation annual awards in Chapel
Hill.
Stories and news photographs
were judged by “Out-of-State”
editors.
It was the f'rst such award
that The Tri-County News has
received. •
The award was granted for a
story on the proposed newspap
er that was to have been print
ed for the poor people in the
Watauga, Avery, Mitchell and
Yancey County area.
THE TRI-COUNTY NEWS,
a weekly. Dubl shed *at Spruce
Pine, N. C., —KfNr
Mitchell, Avery, and Yancey
Count es. Joe D. Distl is Editor
and Publisher; Mrs. S. T. Hen
ry is News Director. Mrs. Linda
Ledford is Society Editor.
One of the outstanding features
of the TRI-COUNTY NEWS is a
PROGRESS - HISTORY edition,
inaugurated last year. The 1968
editon expected to be even b»f
ger and better thanl ast year
is scheduled for February 29.
will report from “Ja l” from
tire to time over Station
WKYK concerning the fund
drive.
Heart baloons w'll be sold by
Cado f te Girl Scouts and Cub
Scouts each Saturday during
February. Baloons will be sold
in Burnsville, at J. F. Robin
son’s Store at Cane R'ver, Prof
fitt's Store at Bald Creek, and
Cayton Whitson’s Store at
Ramsevtown.
According to Scout Master
Phil Verdon, Boy Scouts will
conduct a car wash for the
drive Saturday, February 10, at
a locat on to be announced later.
At Burnsville Elementary
School on Saturday, February
17, at 7:30 p. m. there will be
a program of Gospel, ""Country,
and rock-n-roll music. Singing
and mus c wll be furnished by
local groups including Higgins
Quartet, Honeycutt Brothers.
The Grapes of Wrath, and oth
ers. Other entertainment w'll be
prav ded by Lucille Hensley’s
Den 2 Cub Scouts. This group,
which is known as the “Ch m
panzees”, - is composed of Joey
Hensley, Bobby Holcombe, Ja
mes Whitson and Terry Ch'ld
ress. Also to be on the urogram
is Mss Yancey, Bobbi Fox. Bill
Banks will ass st as master of
ceremonies. Admission w'll be
one dollar tor adults, and fif'y
routs fur ch ldren.
Burnsville, N.C.
Thursday, February 1, 1968
ERIC Gives
Books To
Schools
—More than 70 new books
were recently given- to the
schools of Yancey, Madison, Bun
combe, and Unicoi Counties.
Two books were given to each
elem., and high school in the sa
tire service area of French
Broad EMC. A Giant Step, by
Clyde eMs, President of the Na
tional Rural Electrical Associa
tion tells the story of rural eiec
tr.ficaticn yesterday and today.
—Thirty-three employees of
the Marshall division of French
Broad Electric are presently en
rolled in a defensive driving
school being taught by Mr. Tho
mas of Micaville, and Mr. Alex
ander of Asheville. The two hour
sessions are held every Wednes
day morn'ng in the Marshall
office. Following the completion
of the course in the Marshall di
vision the course will be given
to the 35 employees in die Bur
nsville, Yancey and Mitchel
County division.
—Soon we will announce a new
young couple program, a gold
mediation home award, pro-
G* M** l ! ‘ twnra- w"*rwcrw vctrn t CfttCTCU
leadership and development
program These new program
are be'ng d rected under the" ex
panding member service divis
ion of French Broad Electr'c
Member stop Corporation; your
member owned, tax paying elec
tric utility.
Gardner For
Governor
Chairman
Named
Chairmen have been named
in each of the sixteen count.es in
the Eleventh DiUrct to head
the James Gardner for Governor
Campaign.
Orville Coward of Sylva and
Mrs. Eugene P. Foster of Ashe
v.lle, Co-Chairmen of the 11th
Distrct Gardner for Governor
Committee announce the follow
ing chairmen to complete the
District:
Cherokee County, Leonard
Ramsey and Casteel J. Floyd;
Claude L. Orr iii Graham Coun
ty; Robert Fritz and Troy Har
grove, Haywood County; and
Henderscn County, Richard
Davis.
Also named were: D. C.
Hughes in Jackson County; Will
iam C. Chambers and Mrs. Rush
Blanton, McDowell County;
Sher ft Brownlow Moffi’t and
Sam C. Gouge in Mitchell; Polk
County, James Rutledge; Bruce
Hoyle, Rutherford County; and
Hrs. Taj Hanna and William
White in Transylvan'a.
Previously, Coward and Mrs.
Foster has announced Dr. Lewis
Rathbun and Dan Judd in Bun
combe; Sher ff Dqna'd Banks in
Yancey; Ncrman C’ampett in
Swain; Ruel White. Clay Coun
ty; and Cecil Parker, Macon
Countv; aha Ralph Briggs, Mad
ison County.
N.C. And Tenn. Tourism Assoc.
Plans Membership Drive
If you have ever driven from
Elizabethton, Tennessee to No
rthwestern North Carolina or
vice versa, you have encounter
ed the rigors of driving on a
mountainous, crooked, and dan
ger 'US road, Route 19-E.
Several years ago there was.,
an attempt by the people of this
area to get help via Appalach
ian funds to get a new road,
but because of conflicting inter
est, the proposed route was app
roved for Tennessee instead of
North Carolina.
November 2, 1967 found rejuv
enated interest in a highway
to extend from Elizabethton to
Mars Hill, N. C., by a group of
interested people from the two
states. ' - fjSJrr
This group became known as
the North Carolina - Tennessee
Highway & Tourism Develop
ment Association. At this time
the membership has grown from
23 people to approximately 100.
A meeting of this group was
held in Spruce Pine on Decem
ber 6, 1967 and had as guests
Mr. John R. Hampton, North
Carolina’s - Representative to
the Appalachian Regional Com
mission, and Mr. Hilton Curry,
entative to the Appalachian Reg
ional Commission.
Both Mr. Hampton and Mr.
Curry praised the efforts of
the group. Mr. Hampton strong
ly recommended that the group
increase in number and invite
each and every citizen of the in
volved North Carolina and Ten
nessee counties to become me
mbers of the organization. He
also suggested that the mem
bership fee be set at SI.OO, and
then all members present fol
lowed him in '•* starting the ball
rolling’ by giving one dollar.
Mr. Hampton recommended
this fee to provide funds for
publicizing this work and, if
necessary, to pay an economist
to make a study of the area to
show the need for such a road.
A recommendation for the road
has been sent in to the Appa
lachian Regional Commission.
The need for such a road is
evident, but it would be purely
speculation to name the many
advantages this road would br
ing about.
However, to think about this,
it would be very obvious to any
one that it would increase the
tourism, improve trucking and
shipment to and from this area.
These two factors could help
bring new industry, new jobs,
new businesses, increased em
ployment, and an overall boost
to the economy.
The Appalachian Regional Co
mmission could help this area
tremendously with such a pro
ject as THIS ROAD.
This area is steeped inhistory
of being a pioneer and self-start
> ing region, as evidenced by the
founding of the first indepen
dent government in 1772. This
government, known as the Wa
tauga Council, was established
4 years prior to the Declaration
of Independence and many of the
people involved still haverelat
■ ives it) this mountainous area.
It is the contention of this gr
oup that if every citizen would
take an active interest in this
project that this road could and
will be built.
There are many steps along
i the way to such a corridor, such
js obtaining approval of both.
North C arolina and Tennessee,
matching funds, etc., but if en-
Nuntber Twenty-Two
ough people show an interest the
obstacles could be overcome.
The North Carolina-Tennessee
Highway and Tourism Develop
ment Association is iiwiting
you to become a member afid
help write your name in the his
tory of this area by becoming a
member.
Please enter my name as a
member of the North Carolina-
Tennessee Highway and Tour
ism Development Association.
name *■
ADDRESS
Enclosed is my dollar for
membership.
p Please type or print the above
information. If you live in Av
ery, Mitchell, Yancey or Mad
ison County, just clip out this
c lpon and mail it to your local
Cnamber of Commerce.
This newspaper will keep its
readers posted on the total
number of members for each
county and the progress that
—iS-g>ade on toi s P.ro iect.
Heavner
Promoted To
Captain
Hq. USAF has announced the
award of a regular ccmmission
to First Lieutenant Lester R.
Heavner, Jr., and h s promotion
to the rank of Captain.
Captan Heavner entered the
Air Force as a reserve officer
in 1962. During th s tour of duty
which termnated in 1965, Cap
tain Heavner served wth the
401st Tactical Fighter Wing and
the 613th Tact cal Fighter Squ
adron as the Tact'cal Air Tar
gets Officer. The Captain is a
veteran of the Cuban Crisis and
the Vietnam War. In 1965 Cap
tan Heavner left the Air Fcrce*.
fer a period of two years dur
ing wh ch he was employed by
Carolina Power & Light Com
pany in Hazelwood, N. C. The
Captan voluntary returned to
active duty in July 1967 and was
temporarily assigned to the
336th Tactical Fighter Squadron
at Seymour Johnson A'r Force
Base, North Carol na. Presently
he is assigned to Vance Air
Force Base Oklahoma as a pilot.
Captain Heavner’s awards and
decorations cons st of, the Air
Force Commendation Medal.
Vietnamese Service Medal with
two Bronze Stars, Air Force
Outstand'ng Unt Award with
two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Na
tional Defense Service Medal,
and the Award Forces Expedi
tionary Medal.
Captain HeavneftP the son of
Mrs. Robb'e Hensley Heaivner,
is a former resident of Yancey
County. Captain Heavner and
his wife, the former Lili an
Joanna Powell of Mt. Holly, Nor
th Carolina, res’rie with the'r
two children, Lillian Karen age
3 and Sharen Dee a?e 1. at 1005
Pawnee, End, Oklahoma.