Postal Patron
THE YANCEY JOURNAL
VOL. 3, NO. 31
School
Plans
Progress
Grading of the Mountain
Heritage High School site,
which was begun in April, is
nearing completion. On enter
ing the school property from
Highway 19 just east of
Riverside, one passes the
baseball field on the left and the
softball field to the right.
Following the gently curving
road around the hillside, the
gymnasium will come into view
on the right just before crossing
a small dam. Bordered by
hardwood trees, the small pond
will be one of the many natural
developments enhancing the
beauty of the site. Along to the
right, the road will lead one to
the parking area of the school
and the main building, situated
on the highest elevation of the
property and providing a pan
oramic view of the surrounding
mountains. Just off the parking
lots toward Cane River, which
bounds the property on the back
side, is what promises to be one
of the finest football stadiums in
the area. Situated in a near
natural bowl and including a
track, the facility should be ideal
as to quality of playing field,
spectator seating and the sheer
beauty of the setting
On August 28, 1974 bids for
the construction of the school
will be opened. Building plans
call for a twenty-one month
schedule which, if begun in the
near future, would mean the
completion date will be early
summer, 1976. Funds for the
project are being provided bv
local bonds approved on May
22, 1973 in the amount of one
and one-half million dollars; one
million, forty-nine thousand
dollars in state bonds and
approximately one-half million
in funds from the Appalachian
Regional Commission.
The 1,000 student school will
offer many more courses than
are now available at the two
present high schools. The
enlarged academic program of
Language, Science, Mathema
tics and Social Studies should
very adequately prepare ’ stu
dents choosing to further their
education. For those whose
formal education will be com
plete upon graduation, career
opportunities in the form of
vocational instruction will be
offered in a wide range of
courses. Child care services,
carpentry, cabinet making, auto
mechanics and drafting are
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Gloria Shott, John Stringer, Darian Harris
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6 Arsenic And Old Lace’
At Playhouse Now
By Cary Easley
For the fifth production of
the 28th Parkway Playhouse
season, the delightful farce
Arsenic And Old Lace is being
presented. It is an insane,
hilarious romp very much in the
best Parkway tradition.
Arsenic And Old Lace is
directed by Stan Dean who
staged Picnic earlier this sea
son. Dean demonstrates his
expertise in staging with this
production and his noteworthy
ability at coaching actors. The
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
/
script alone is worth a trip to the
Playhouse, but there is a lot
more here to recommend it. It is
one of the craziest, funniest
comedies ever.
Arsenic And Old Lace is the
story of two charming, elderly
spinsters who take in lonely old
men and give them elderberry
wine-spiked with arsenic to
ease the old boys out of their
misery.
Gloria Shott and Darian
Harris, as the two old charmers,
are excellent. Miss Shott,
familiar to Parkway audiences
for many terrific performances,
outdoes herself as the bubbly
Aunt Abby. Miss Harris, who
played Madge in Picnic, is also
terrific and quite convincing in
portraying the more subdued
Aunt Martha.
Among the other screwy
characters are Steve Street as
Cousin Jonathan, who bears a
remarkable resemblance to
Boris Karloff and Doug Root as
his "Peter Lorre” accomplice.
They have many funny mo
ments. Mark Giesser is Cousin
Teddy (Roosevelt, that is) and
does a fine job. As “sane”
Cousin Mortimer, John Stringer
gives an energetic and frantic
performance. He is a strong and
polished actor. Jennie Daffron
appears as Mortimer’s girl
friend, Elaine, and her perfor
mance is as lovely as her
appearance.
Others doing good work are
Carl Keator as Lt. Rooney, Mark
Steigerwalt as Rev. Harper, Jim
Fisher as Mr. Witherspoon,
Barry Schwartz as Klein, Phil
Boyd as Brophy, and Bob Smith
as Gibbs.
An especially hilarious per
formance is turned in by Pete
McMahon as Officer O’Hara, a
cop turned playwright.
* .
The charming Victorian set
ting was beautifully designed by
Eric Olson with the unusually
lovely lighting of r - Michael
Castania. The 1940’s costumes
are by D. R. Edwards with props
by Leslie Knox.
All in all. Arsenic And Old
Lace is a complete delight and
not to be missed.
Curtain time is 8:30 p.m.
with performances now through
Saturday. Also, don’t miss My
Fair Lady, Parkway’s big
musical which will end the 28th
season. The Box Office Phone is
682-6151.
Five Judges Chosen
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For 1974 Jamboree
From the beginning of the
Yancey Youth Jamboree in
1968, efforts have been made to
keep the judging of talent fair
and impartial. A traditional part
of Jamboree planning has been
to choose the judges from
outside Yancey County.
The five judges for the
Jamboree this year with
high recommendation and it is
felt that they will add much to
the spirit of this year’s event.
The judges for this year will
be Dr. and Mrs. O. M. Blake of
Spruce Pine. Dr, Blake is
president of Mayland Technical
institute, and the Blakes are
returning to judge for the
second time. A third judge is
Mrs. Bill Ford from Penland,
who is also a second-year judge.
Mrs. Ford, who is deeply
interested in folk music and
dancing, will be bringing a
clogging dance team and a folk
dance team from Mitchell
I The Yancey Youth Jamboree I
Presents Talented Performers I
The annual Yancey Youth
Jamboree had its beginnings in
the spring of 1968 when the idea
was suggested to the Yancey
County Chamber of Commerce
and was given favorable ap
proval.
A short time later, a group of
interested citizens met and
made plans for the first Yancey
Youth Jamboree held in August,
1968, as part of the Mt. Mitchell
Crafts Fair. An audition was
given in early August of that
year. There was a large number
of performers for the one-night
program at East Yancev High
School. It was realized ‘hat the
mountain tradition of folk
music, singing, and dancing
County td pertorm m exhibition
at the Jamboree. Other judges
are Mrs. Dorothy Roberts and
Wayne Pressley from Mars Hill.
Mrs. Roberts is widely recog
nized for her abilities and
interests, and Wayne is well
known in the field of music,
having judged at the Mountain
Youth Jamboree in Asheville.
On Thursday evening before
the Jamboree begins, Theresa
Coletta, Regional Children’s
Librarian, and Robert Helmle,
local civic leader will meet the
Jamboree judges at the Cham
ber of Commerce Office to take
them to the home of Mrs. Grace
Banks, secretary to the Cham
ber of Commerce, for the
evening meal where the guide
lines for judging will be
explained and the judging forms
will be given to the judges.
From there, the group will go on
to East Yancey where the
Jamboree is scheduled to begin
at 7:00 p.m.
THURSDAY, AUGUST I, 1974
should be carried on from year
to year through the Yancey
County young people enrolled in
the public schools.
In the spring of 1969, the
Jamboree was scheduled for two
nights because of the large
number of participants. In
August, the event was staged
for the second time at East
Yancey. After the second year, a
decision was made to give a two
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Biggerstaff Gets Athletic Scholarship
Ronnie Biggerstaff, son of Mr. and Mrs. Pau» Biggerstaff of Burnsville, has been awarded anBU;
Athletic Scholarship in Basketball from Lees-Mcßae Coliege, Banner Elk, N.C. The Lees-Mcßae
Coach, Tee Halthcock [standing right] Is justifiably proud of his team’s performance last year as they
won o\er Miami Dade Community College In a Thanksgiving Tournament, finished 3rd In a Christmas
Tournament in Georgia and 3rd In Western Carolina’s Junior College Conference. This year the »—■—
will face the N.C. JV’s prior to the N.C. State game February 2S, the Davidson JV’s prior to St. John’s
game, and Wake Forest JV’s prior to Virginia. They will also meet UNC-Chariotte, East Tennessee
and Appalachian JV’s in addition to the regular conference schedule. Ronnie (seated] is pictured
above with his father and Coach Halthcock. He will enter Lees-Me Rat College in the Fall.
'• ’ * •. ■ .'•/ - Am. -jAi its, - . ■■■?
hundred dollar scholarship to a
worthy senior at each of the two
county high schools. This gave
added purpose to the Jamboree
in its effort to help the young
people display their talents and
further their education.
By the summer of 1970, the
Jamboree had grown until it
included well over a hundred
performers for that summer.
The following spring, at the
10 c
Crafts
Fair To
Begiir—
Have you ever seen apple
butter being made outside in a
large brass kettle over an open
fire? This year at the Mt.
Mitchell Crafts Fair, August 2
and 3, apple butter will be
made in a ten gallon brass kettle
right on the T own Square in the
middle of Burnsville.
This is only one of the many
treats in store for those who visit
the Crafts Fair, now in its
eighteenth year. Beginning as a
crafts fair for local craftsman,
the yearly event has continued
to grow and expand until it
attracts craftsmen from seven
states in addition to North
Carolina.
Craftsman will display, de
monstrate, and sell their wares
from woodcarvings and pottery
to corn shuck dolls and
needlework, all day Friday and
Saturday when well over a
hundred of them will gather on
the Town Square for the Fair.
Hundreds of people from
near and far will come to see the
exhibits. Some people will come
to look; others to buy; others
will come for the fun and still
others will come just to visit
with old friends. But all of them
will come to «
that they will have a good time
in a special way.
During bo*h days, there will
be games and entertainment.
Young people will enter Egg
Rolling Contests, Pie Eating
Contests, Three Legged Races,
Ping Pong Ball Contests, Sack
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annual Chamber of Commerce
Dinner, the second two scholar
ship awards were given.
When plans were begun for
the Yancey Youth Jamboree of
1971, it was found that there
was much continued interest in
an event that had established
itself as part of the Mt. Mitchell
Crafts Fair. In addition to the
outstanding display of talent by
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