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Volume 33
Children’s
Playground
Donated
By Carolyn Yuziuk
Mr. andMrs.RichardPlu
mer of Miami, Florida, who
also are summer residents of
the Cattail Creek Community,
set aside a substantial sum of
money for their teenage daugh
ter's college education. But
18-year-old Penny Plumer
never got to college. Her life
came to an early and tragic
end when the dread cancer
cells invaded her body and
won the battle for her life.
This happened a year
ago or more, and the Plumexs,
with their generous hearts and
love for all children, have do
nated the money that was to
have been for Penny's college
education, towards building a
children's playground for the
Cattail Creek children in Pen
sacola, N.C.
Percy Threadgill, ori
ginal builder and developer in
Cattail, having given an acre
of land to the project, announ
ces that the playground is pro
gressing daily. The ground
has been leveled and plans
made for a tennis court and
other recreational facilities.
The Plumers,says Mr.Thread
gill, have travelled extensive
ly in Europe and mayusescme
of their delightfully orig i n al
innovations in completing the
playground facilities. There
may be picnic tables and ben
ches included for the parents
who bring their children to
play. He estimates the total
cost of the playground - may
run close to SIO,OOO.
Mrs. Mary Plumer's story
of her daughter's fight for life
appeared in the Miami Her
ald on November 10,1968 in
the form of a letter to her 16
year old son, Chris. It is a
plea for her son to stop smok
ing and "listen" to Penny. The
story, entitled "Penny Flu -
mer's Bequest" has been con -
densed by Reader's Di ge s t
who published it last month
in their October, 1969 issue.
The Plumers showed their
courage and compassion when
they made their daughter sto
ry public so that perhaps a
lesson could be learned from
it. They showed their gene
rous spirit in contributing Pen
ny's "College money" for a
playground other children can
enjoy. Their selfless act will
be remembered by all of us
who know their story.
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_ . , „ . Photo by Ashevillfe Citizen-Times
Sing Out Asheville Shown On Tour
'Sing Out Asheville’ Program Will Be
Sponsored Next Week By E Yancey PTA
The East Yancey PTA is
sponsoring "Sing Out Ashe -
ville" at a program to be pre
sented in the East Yancey 0/m
on Friday, November 7, at
7:30 p.m.
Sing Out Asheville has
reaped bountiful praise for the
talent and enthusiasm of its
musical offerings since being
founded just over a year ago.
ft began when local students
in Asheville were exposed to
the "Up With People" show
given in Asheville and heard
300 bright young people from
across the country sing unabash
edly of patriotism, brotherhood
love of God and hope for a bet
ter future, and the response
was instant and overwhelming
approval.
From all types of homes
and from all types of schools,
they banded together to form
Panthers To Play Last Game
Os This football Season fri.
By James Bagwell
This FWday night, October
31, East Yancey will phy their
last game of this football sea
son. The Panthers will travel
to Beaver Creek.
We hope that you will
make an effort to support the
Panthers their last game.
This past Friday the East
Yancey Panthers traveled to
play Rosman.
The ball game turned out
to be fairly close with Ros -
man able to score their first
touchdown by 31, Jimmy Kit
chen during the first quarter.
The Panthers also scored by
Thursday, October 30, 1969
their own "Sing Out Asheville?'
patterned after the nation a 1
organization sponsored by Mo
ral Rearmament.
They practiced songs like
"What Color Is God's Skin? "
and "Freedom Isn't Free, "they
organized and elected officers
and an action council, and
within a few weeks they held
a show for an enthusiastic aud
ience of parents and friends..
The movement grew aid spread,
the young people rehearsed and
sang. They project a new
image of young people who
care about people.
Their presence here is a
reminder to local youth of
how far an idea can go.
Members of "Sing Out
Asheville" cast range in age
from Junior high through col
lege age. The age limit now
their number 40, Jimmy Ray.
During the second quarter
Rosman scored again by lty
Jimmy Hall. No score that
quarter by East Yancey.
After half-time Ros man
again scored, this time by
42, Ronnie Joe Ownn. No
score the third quarter by the
Panthers.
During the final quarter ,
the Panthers number 41 made
a touchdown by 41, Rodney
Bishop, followed by two e*-
tra points by Jimmy Ray.
The final score of this
football game was Rosman 13
East Yancey 14.
is 15. The group includes a
band, the Pioneers, which fea
tures guitars, brass, druns, pi
ano and flute. They present
special choreography for near
ly every song.
Sing-Out Asheville's busi
ness affairs are handled by a
board of directors composed of
Asheville businessmen. They
include Joe Kowal, chairman,
who is with North American
Van lines sales department ;
Carl Mclntosh, vice president
who is a senior account agent
for Allstate Insurance; Charles
Mills,treasurer, with the ac
counting department of Engin
eering Associates; Jerry Heck
ler, secretary, who is wifi the
sales department ofFitzpatrick
& Sons. Boyce Orr, the groups
ex officio member of the
board.
Carl Mclntosh, vice pre
sident of the board, is a
former native of Burnsville .
He is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Lewis Mclntosh of Burnsville.
Mclntosh says, "If enough in
terest is generated by 'Sing
Out Asheville*, the kids of
Yancey County could form a
group of their own and present
"Sing Out Yancey!"
Although the "Sing Out
Asheville" group is a non-pro
fit organization, they must
charge for appearances to
pay expenses for instruments,
repairs, etc. Admission to
be charged at the door will
be $1.50 for adults and 75<t
for students. Students may
buy their own tickets through
their schools for only 50<t if
bought in advance.
Number Fifty - Nine
Birchettes
Offered As
Substitute
Reprinted from Asheville
Citizen-Times
By John Parris
BURNSVILLE - Appala
chian sweet birch, long es -
teemed by mountain folks as
"tasty to chew upon and good
to firm up the teeth and gums"
is destined to find new popu -
larity as a substitute for ciga
rette smoking if a young moun
tain man has his way.
Bill Banks, a 45- year
old Burnsville lumberman, is
planning to market birch
twigs this week under the
name "Birchette" with the
hope they will help folks quit
smoking.
"The thing I’m reaching
for most," he said a couple
days ago, "is that we might
be able to save one human
life."
Banks calls the Birchette
"the switch worth fighting foi?
and a subsidy for will powet
ft has the bark on the wood
instead of in the throat. "
"I got the idea two years
ago, "he said, "by chewing
on a birch twig on a hunting
trip as a substitute for a ci
garette. I talked about it for
a year and everybody laughed
when I mentioned it."
But the more he heard
and read about the hazards of
smoking, the more he liked
his idea. He felt so keen ab •
out it that he decided t o
stake a small fortune on it.
Six weeks ago, after de
signing his own machinery ,
Bill Banks opened a pro -
cessing and packaging plant
here and began turning out
Birchettes by the tens of thou
sands.
He put eight women on
the assembly line. And into
the woods he sent a birch
gathering crew of 20 -mostly
men and women who because
of age, lack of skills, or in
firmities are unemployable.
For most of the woods
workers it was a new lease cn
life, an opportunity to earn
much-needed cash.
"I pay them a dollar a
pound for birch delivered to
the plant in limb formj' said
Banks. "Since most of them
are in their 60's and 70's fie/
are only able to work in the
woods a few hours a couple
or three days a week. Even
so, my payroll is running
(Cont'd on page 11)