THE YANCEY JOURNAL
_ .. . » es
VOL.I, N 0.4
:
.V :*
/ rtSSF u -,
«\r
w
jr ■ ~C2J
Jim Gardner Reflects On Campaign At Early Breakfast
Gardner
Breakfast
Supporters and friends of Jim
Gardner gathered at the Amber
jack Friday morning for a 7:30
breakfast for the Republican
Candidate for governor.
The breakfast was attended
by about 45 county residents,in
cluding Claude Vess and Bill
Banks, Republican candidates
for the Yancey County Board of
Education, County Commission
er Earl Young and Republican
County Chairman Steve Boone
were also present. Orville Co
ward, Gardner Campaign Co
ordinator for the western section
of the state, also attended the
breakfast.
After "Gardner to Id
the group, "lam confident that
we will elect the first Republi
can governor in North Carolina
in the past 72 years. "
He stressed the importance
of keeping the Republican Par
ty together because "we will
be the underdog in the upcom
ing election. " ,
Gardner said, "Pm confident
that Richard Nixon__will__c a try
North Carolina and we can all
join together and elect a Repub
lican governor."
Following the breakfast,Jim
Gardner made a handshaking
tour of the Yancey County Court
house.
MHA Annual
Dinner Set
The Yancey County Mental
Health Association will hold
their annual dinner on May 5,
1972 at 7*oo p. m. in the Pres
byterian Church, Burnsville.
Tickets far the dinner are
$2.00 each and may be obtain
ed by calling Rev. Don Elly,
Nonis Deyton or Mae Young.
T
,o*Th*Ucrk
U Peon 'Poncu
CovwT«yST«n*
Ni-7¥°
u - 3§r
»
o I
t i^Bk
‘1 ' *»•**' » ■ •" m
- »^- r - - J - JJr a
--
jMMgi -...
Gardner Campaigns In Yancey County Courthouse Following Breakfast At Amberjack
Men’s Club Votes To Enter Town
In Community Development Contest
.The Burnsville Men’s Club
at their meeting last Monday
night voted to enter
in the western North Carolina
Community Development Com
petition for 1972.
This traditional competition,
in which communities from Yan
cey County have participated
annually since 1952, has" been
sponsored by the Asheville Agri
cultural Council. In past years
the competition has been qon
fined to the smaller rural com
munities, and usually a half
dozen or more Yancey County
community clubs have entered.
Only recently has a new entry
class been established provid
ing eligibility for larger com
munities such as the town of
Burnsville. -
Pat Guyer of the County Ex
tension office, who is promo -
ting county participation in the
program, explained the recent
changes in the competition. It
was pointed out that this year
Burnsville is involved in numer
ous community improvements
for which the town is entitled
to credit. Among these are the
water system project, the pro
posed face-lift of the town
square,the County junk car and
waste disposal programs and
the achievement of the N. C.
Governor’s AvYard.
Yancey Voters Denied Voice
In Upcoming School Election
With the passing of Senate
BiU 902 in the 1971 North Ca
rolina General Assembly, Yan
cey County was divided - into
districts for the nomination
and election of members of
the county board of education.
Though the general state law
provides for election of school
board members on a non-par
tisan basis and from the coun
ty at large, this special legis
lation applying only to Yancey
County means that candidates
have to file by political party
and has resulted imornd'citi
zens having no voice at. all in
selection of school board mem
bers.
Senate Bill 902 provides for
the election of one member
to the board of education from
District No. 1 (Sout’- Toe, Pen
sacola and Prices Creek) and
four persons from the remain-
President Herb Allen was
'’k m --
authorized to appoint a com
mittee which will work closely
with the county Chamber of
Commerce and Merchant's As
sociation in preparation for the
final judging which will take
place next fall. In the discuss
ion it was made clear that the
Clean Water Bend Ad Will
Help Proted Environment
Do ysuknow about tte Clean
Water Bond Act you will be
asked to vote on May 6th?
The 150,000,000 Bond issue
will provide funds for provid
ing adequate sewer systems
and safe water supplies for do
mestic use. By cleaning up
streams, it will improve fish
and wildlife conditions With
all the benefits for recreatiai
and enjoyment that this im
plies.
Cine of the important thiigs
about this State Bond issue is
that Federal assistance will be
more accessible and will jump
from 33% of eligible cost of
a project to 55%. Unless State
funds are voted, it will be a
great strain on local commu -
nitdes to meat the recently
strengthened water quality"
standards.
' A ■
SAMPLE COPY
OSUKC/ltty *76,C ty&KCCty T^CC&tcC
THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1972
ing precincts in the county.
Two Republican candidates,
Claude Vess of South Toe and
Paul McCurry of Prices Creek,
are seeking the nomination
from District No. 1, No Demo
crat has filed in this district.
Only Republicans registered to
vote in tlie May 6 primary and
who are residents of'Pensacola,
South Toe or Rices Creek may
vote for either of these candi
dates. The winner'of this race
wiU automatically gain a seat
on the board; therefore, Demo
crats in District No. 1 will ln\e
had absolutely no voice in the
selection of any school board
member. Further, Republican
voters in District No. 1 are li
mited to voting for one candi
date, likewise giving them no
Voice in the selection of the
remaining four members to be
elected. ‘
entry of Burnsville in the com
petition, will in no way con
flict with the entry of the sever
al local community clubs who
are also planning to compete
this year. Burnsville will be
judged separately, in a differ
ent class, from the other com
~munfty clubs.
The Bond will be a
obligation of the State and
will be repaid from General
Fund revenues, which, in the
past, have grown sufficiently
to pay for such an obligation
without increase of taxes.
For additional information,
call at the Yancey County
Health Department or write
CLEAN WATER, P.0.80x
27687, Raleigh, N.C. 27611.
For a cleaner, more attrac
tive, and protected environ -
ment, cast your vote on May
6, 1972 for the Clean Water
Bonds!
4-H Meeting
There will be a 4-H meet
ing at the Clearmont School
:
EveryOhe please come. \
The controversial billsplit
ng Yancey County into two
districts was sponsored by La
mar Gudger of Asheville. At
the time of its debate in the
legislature, Mr. Gudger repor
ted that the intention was to
give tiie residents of the three
precincts in District No. 1 a
representative, whereas they
otherwise would have none.
Election results for 19 70
show that not a single Republi
' can official in the county to
day would have been elected
if the votes from South Toe,
Fensacola and Prices Creek
were ignored. It is curious
why district No. 1 could not
have just as well been Green
Mountain, Jacks Creek and
Cane River, since the popula
tion of those three townships
is only twenty-one more than
the population of District No. 1.
Though geographically connec
ted, the three townships in Dis
trict No, 1 are abruptly divided
by impassable mountain ranges
\ and have no more in common
in school matters than the rest
of the county. The children
of District No. 1 attend five
different schools: South Toe,
Pensacola, Bald Creek, Cane
River and East Yancey.
Candidate
Profile
Claude Vess, Republican
candidate for the Yancey
County Board of Education in
Ehstrict I (Pensacola, Prices
Creek, South Toe) is a resi
dent of the South Toe River
section of Yancey County.
Vess is a certified public ac
countant and a graduate of
the University of North Caro
lina at Chapel Hill. He is
-currently treasurer of the South
* a
Toe School PTA, having serv
ed as presfcfinft far two years
prior.
Vess has beep active in lo
■ cal affairs for some years. He
president of the Yance y
County Chamber of Gammenqa
, His work with the Chamber
has been with special empha
sis on the youth in the county.
He helped establish, through
the cooperation of the local
the Yancey Youth
Jamboree which is held in
Burnsville each summer.
Through his efforts, the pro
ceeds from this event are used
for scholarships for local gra
duating seniors. The .third
annudl presentation of scholar
ships was just recently made.
Working closely with the
local high schools, Claude
Vess has participated in the
distributive education prog
ram of East Yancey and Cane
River High Schools. Through
this program he has employed
a student for the past thre e
years, affording them an op
portunity to gain valuable
business experience while
earning extra income.
Vess is married to Patricia
Rector Vess, Yancey County
native and graduate of Mica
ville High School. The \fesses
have four children; Marcu%l2;
Harriet, 11; Eric, 9; and Mar
vin, HI, 5. The three older
children are students at South
Toe School.
i, * »
Pi * 1 Ak
aair~v n I . e
B*'- \ n
jk fl |
spf W .9
(I. to r.) Mack Ray, Bill Banks, Al Calloway, Tom Jones And Mr. Denny
N.C. Governor's Award Received At
Annual Chamber of Commerce Dinner
Burnsville and Yancey Coun
ty received the North Carolina
Governor's Award at the annual
Yancey County Chamber o f
Commerce banquet last Thurs
day night at East Yancey High
School.
'A spirit of achievement and
satisfaction with a job welldone,
prevailed at the affair, which is
the one meeting of the year at
which the total membership of
the Chamber gets together.
The award, presented by Al
Calloway, who heads communi
ty and industrial services forthe
North Carolina Department of
Natural and Economic Resources,
is given for outstanding local
efforts to promote economic
development.
Candidate
Profile
Paul McCurry is a Republi
can candidate for the Yancey
County Board of Education
from District I. A resident of
Prices Creek Community, Paul
is a native of Yancey County,
son of the late Mr. and Mrs.
I. F. McCurry of Burnsville.
He graduated from Burnsville
High School and attended the
University of North Carolina
for two years.
Paul has been working for
15 years at Burnsville Mill of
Mohasco, prior to that at *Du
plan Carp, at the same site,
and is presently Quality Con
trol Manager at Mohasco.
He is a member of Higgins
Memorial Methodist Church in
Bumsvil|4 and belongs to the
C *
°pruce Pine Moose Lodge.
Paul states that he wants to
work for the betterment * of—»
schools in Yancey County, em
phasizing that a primary con
sideration will be to get poli f
tics out of the schools so that
good teachers can teach the
way they see fit and need not
fear that their jobs are in jeo
pardy if they don't follow cer
tain politics and policies. He
feels that schooh can be run
in a businesslike manner, and
by so doing money can be put
to better use for the schools in
Yancey County.
Paul McCiury is married to
the farmer Alma Blalock of
Micaville and they have two
childrens Mrs. Robert Curtis
who lives in Greensboro, N» C.
and Mr*. James Sholes who
lives in Los Angeles, California,
and three grandchildren.
Calloway discussed develop
ment of the state and the indus
trial potential of Yancey County.
He stressed the important role,
the Governor's Award plays in
Y ancey County Council
To Discuss Housing
The recently formed Yancey
County Council will devote its
next meeting largely to consid
eration of low-cost government
financed housing projects. This
meeting will be held next Tues
day, May 2 at the Courthouse
at 7:00 p. m.
An interesting program has
been prepared, including a
slide presentation, illustrating
the county's need for improved
Anti-Litter
Club Starts
Cleaning up litter along
roadsides will be the job of
the newly formed "Litter Bug
ger's Club" of White Oak Creek
Community.
The club is l open to "child
ren of all ages" said H. M.
"Pop" Warner, who helped to
organize the group. The first
meeting was held last Sunday
at "Pop's Acres". Audie Loftis
was elected president of the
club. He appointed Chris
Traxel to serve as his vice pre
sident. The group is hoping
for a good attendance at next
Sunday's meeting.
The purpose of the club is
to allow members to have fun,
and at the same time help
solve a serious problem in the
community.
Club members will pack up
trash with the "litter buggy",
and with trucks and automo -
biles volunteered for the effort.
The "Litter Buggers" will
also be selling buttons for 504
that say, I'm a Litter Bugger
—I Bug Litter Bugs. "
Special Event
There will be a Variety
Program at Micaville Elemen
tary School Friday, April 28
at 7t30 p. m. Admission is
$..50 and SI.OO. There will
be singing, dancing, and turn
_ * y
P T A
j-
10*
attracting new industry.
President Claude Vess who is
• now concluding his second term
of office as head of the Cham
(Cont'd on page 3)
housing, and the practical pos
sibilities for improvement. The
public is cordially invited to
attend.
Interest has been rapidly
growing in having Yancey Coun
ty take advantage of available
government programs for fin -
ancing the building of attrac -
tive housing projects. T he
interest flows both from recog
nition of the county's need far
better housing, and from urging
from state agencies in Raleigh
which arc anxious to have
North Carolina benefit more
fully from available programs.
The Mountain Scenic Com
mission, the county RAD Com
mittee (Rural Area DeveloprnerU)
as well as the Yancey County-
Council are now all pushing.
have the county achieve better
housing.
Centennial
Celebration
The Blue Ridge Parkway,
the first rural parkway ever
built, will hold ceremonies
to commemorate the centen
nial celebration of the Nation
al Park Service* June 30, at
Doughton Park, N. C.
Many important people
will be present at the celeben
tion, including the Governors
of North Carolina and Virginia
and the Secretary of the Is -
terior, Rogers C.B. Morton.
Captain George AJ3ownin&
in behalf of the Blue Ridge
Parkway Association, will pre
sent Morton with a special
proclamation signed by the
two governors and by the may
ors oi a number of towns along
the parkway.
The festivities will also in
clude a performance by 'The
Country Store doggers" of
Burnsville.
Doughton Park is located