THE YANCEY JOURNAL
VOL. 5, NO. 4
Yancey
Highway
Accident
A two-car accident occur
red Saturday, January 22, at
9:30 a.m. 4'/j miles east of
Burnsville on Wyatt Town
Road, Micaville.
Till E. Wilson, 59, of
Micaville was traveling north
on Wyatt Town Road in a 1963
Chevrolet. He encountered
Donnie Buchanan, 26, of
Route 2, Spruce Pine driving
a 1971 Mercury. Both cars
were in the center portion of
the narrow road. The Buchan
an vehicle struck the Wilson
vehicle. The entire road was a
thick slab of compressed ice.
There were no passengers
in the Wilson Chevrolet and
no injuries. There was one
passenger in the Buchanan
Mercury, and no injuries.
Damage was estimated at
S3OO to the Chevrolet and
$350 to the Mercury. Trooper
B.R. Owens investigated.
Tq Attend
Farm Coursi
Michael Good, local young
farmer, will represent Yancey
County in the Modem Farm
ing Short Course, sponsored
by the North Carolina Bankers
Association.
Mr. Good will attend on a
scholarship provided by the
Burnsville Branch of the
Northwestern Bank. The short
course which will be held on
January 31st through Febru
ary 11th deals with the
modem, the new and the old
reliable methods of Agricul
ture and Agribusiness.
Three Generations Attendi
Local Family At Inauguration
On Thursday, January 20,
1977, three generations of the
Mack B. Ray family, all of
Burnsville, attended Presi
dent Carter’s Inauguration
and the Inauguration festivi
ties in Washington, D.C.
Making the trip to view the
event were Mr. and Mrs.
Mack B. Ray, daughter Dr.
Carolyn Ray Cort and hus
band, Dr. David A. Cort, and
their daughters Lisa and
Heidi.
_ r r
*l■ | |
M . /;&8 BS W. r??§g Jr
. ■Ti\ awy^
4r J |g: #^fl
Bill ' : j?^WtfV
I
H| i ji * r_ ' jj
' s £ I m ; HL .;t'V* <L - 1 >! | >A C
■•, v * > : Bp %.;?BHHHBB|MwB^^p:.
* - B ■ ? " JS 1
I Ba * "' t^l^4^4v''/, V^-4k- r^*
■ .... V k
Ihe Mack Rays, Drs. Carolyn And David Cort, Lisa And Heidi
■
* • f •; • • * t »
*
l ,■ i ” l'l • 'T* ;
s
: In The Grip Of‘Old Man Winter ’
i
BY CAROLYN YUZIUK
- Yancey County is caught
1 in the grip of winter weather
which has not been so severe
and so prolonged for many
Some of the highlights
included attending the Peo
ples Prayer Service at the
Lincoln Memorial at 8:00
a.m., Reception by Senator
Robert Morgan in The Dirk
sen Senate Office Building,
and Reception by Congress
man Lamar Gudger in the
Cannon Building prior to the
Inauguration of the President
and Vice President of the
United States at 11:30 a.m.
A real treat for all was the
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
years. The freeze is affecting
most of the eastern United
States and problems caused
by icy roads, freezing water
pipes, and fuel shortages are
Inaugural Parade along Penn
sylvania Avenue from 3rd
Street to 17th Street NW.
Everyone present actually got
a close-up view of President
Carter and Wife, Rosalyn,
walking the two miles down
Pennsylvania Ave. according
to many people along the
Parade route. This was hard
to believe, yet ‘‘seeing was
believing.”
Another big highlight was
attending one of the ten
becoming more and more
serious as the freeze con
tinues.
FROZEN WATER PIPES
In Yancey County over 120
Inaugural Balls. The North
Carolina Inaugural Ball was in
Crystal City Marriott Hotel.
President Carter visited the
North Carolina Ball early in
the evening in order to make
the full round of Balls.
According to the Rays and
the Corts, the whole trip was a
real delight even with the
extremely cold weather. How
ever in Washington on Thurs
day the weather was clear,
cool and brisk-making the
trip worthwhile.
P
' individuals and businesses
sened by the Public Works
Department have called in
about frozen water pipes.
) According to Supervisor of
Public Works Tom Storey, all
his men have been working 24
hours a day to maintain
service to customers. A list is
being kept-and there are at
least SO people on the list at
any time this past week-of
, calls about frozen water
, pipes. Large heavy duty
electric welders are being
. sent out to thaw the pipes and
, 20r3 of these welders have
been operating almost con
tinuously.
I A few smaller lines have
burst from freezing, says
Storey. The Department of
Public Works cannot turn the
water off for any period of
time because it could cause
more pipes to freeze, so they
are trying to effect repairs
i with water pressure on.
The ground is frozen 18 to
20 inches deep in places and
the freeze is extending deeper
into the earth with each
passing day. Some pipes are
covered with concrete or
asphalt which always causes
difficulty, but even if they
not, the frozen earth is tough
as rock to get through. In the
town of Burnsville some fire
hydrants are frozen. Water
pipes to the Professional
Building have been frozen for
several days, as well as some
pipes to businesses on or near
the Town Square.
Storey says that even if the
weather appears to warm up,
people should let their water
run in a stream the size of a
i pencil until they are sure thit£H
ground is thawing out and the
freeze is over.
Keith Masters*. Sanitarian
Supervisor for Yancoy Coun
ty, states that some people
have had trouble with pipes
freezing from their house to
their septic tank, ‘‘lt is not
advisable to flush salt down
the commode,” he said
emphatically. “This can de
crease the bacterial action and
THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1977
septic tank system.” He
advises the same method
being used to thaw water
pipes should be used to thaw
drainage pipes when it is
necessary to do so.
SCHOOL SITUATION
Schools have received the
fuel they’ve been waiting for.
25,000 gallons were delivered
during the past week. Accord
ing to Yancey School Superin
tendent Ed Hunter, Yancey
Cbunty has enough fuel for
the schools to pull us through
the next 3 to 4 weeks in this
emergency period, but there
is not enough to open the
buildings to the public for
other than necessary func
tions.
When the schools are
closed, temperatures are kept
at 40 to 45 degrees just to
keep pipes from freezing,
says Hunter. But during this
severe weather, we are using
as much fuel to keep the
temperatures above freezing
as we normally do to conduct
classes at 70 degree tempera
tures.
Twenty-one mountain
county school superinten
dents went to Raleigh last
week to meet with the State
School Superintendent and
Comptroller and request per
mission to knock off whatever
days are necessary to end the
school term on June 10. The
State Board has the authority
to knock off up to 15 days, but
N)v.Lo OS Trie UfclK
County
Country
Vi~ 3£
each county has to submit
their own request, listing
problems and days lost, etc.
As of last Monday, says
Hunter, there are 100 week
days left until June 10. The
students still need 103 days
plus one holiday for Easter
and one teacher work day
(June 10)-a total of 105 days
needed. Counting last Mon
day, therefore, we could still
lose up to 10 days more and
still get out by June 10.
Beyond that, no one knows.
FUEL SHORTAGE
Fuel cutbacks have not yet
affected Yancey Countians to
a large extent, but if the
prolonged cold wave contin
ues, this may become a
serious problem. According to
a spokesman for a large fuel
company, their fuel allotment
has been curtailed by their
supplier and they advise
everyone to ait back on fuel
consumption to avoid future
shortages. Kerosene is in
shortest supply; No. 2 fuel oil
is more plentiful.
Some families in the
county have already had to
leave their homes, however,
%nd take up residence with
their friends or relatives
because the simply
could not make it up to their
homes due to icy road
conditions.
The electric company, of
course, has already cut
voltage back by 5% which
means people are paying the
same amount for less power.
Hopefully this “brown-out”
will keep us from having to
experience a more severe
curtailment of electric power
in the weeks to come.
Winter can’t last forever,
but it can seem like forever
while it lasts!
jj&M 7* 7*
■■ -r - ■ >? i
I~v 11 •
I/caQllilC
The deadline for listina
property taxes has been
extended through February
15 c
Scouts
To Sefl
Cookies
Once a year, the com- ,
j munity has a chance to help
Girl Scouts help themselves
by buying Girl Scout Cookies.
Girls will be taking orders for
cookies from January 21-
February 5. Deliveries will be
made and reorders taken from
, February 23-March 12.
This year, there are five
delicious flavors from which
to choose-shortbreads, thin
mints, peanut butter sand
wiches, chocolate covered
peanut butter patties, and
sandwich cremes.
Through the sale of
cookies, girls earn money for
their troops to use in service
projects, trips, camping, arts,
troop equipment, and special
interest needs. This is the way
girls help themselves.
The Cookie Sale enables
Girls to help the Council
develop and maintain camps
and camping equipment-both
at their resident camp, Camp
Pisgah near Brevard, and the
three primitive campsites. It
also helps the Council involve
more girls in Scouting and
proyide more opportunities
for them.
The Cookie Sale provides
a Girl Scout the opportunity to
know herself, to assume
responsibility, and to leam
I basic salesmanship.
CB Club
Says Thanks
The Mt. Mitchell CB Club
wishes to thank each and
everyone who played a part in
the coffee break at Micaville
on January 15. It would take
this whole paper to recognize
all who gae and helped us in
this fund raising for Lisa
Haney. With all of everyone’s
help, the club raised $4,800 at
the break.
Again, the Gub thanks all
the merchants, clubs, and
each individual who support
ed us in this endeavor. With
the $2,121. the Gub raised on
a prior drive, we are proud to
be able to set up a trust fund
for Lisa from our club.
Orders Now
Accepted
|, Strawberry and blueberry
plant orders are now being
taken by the Agriculture
Extension Service. Strawber
ry varieties are: Tennessee
Beauty, Apollo and Titan.
Strawberry plants are $3.20
per hundred or $32.00 per
thousand. Blueberry plants
will be 1-year rooted cuttings,
6” to 12-’ tall and will cost
SI.OO each. Blueberry varie
ties are: Blueray, Bluecrop.
Berkley and Herbert.
You can place your orders
at the Agriculture Extension
Office in Room 7 of the
Yancey County Courthouse
between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00
p.m. Monday through Friday.
Fire Call*
Janaary 18, Tuesday, 7:00
a.m. the Russell Burnett
residence at Concord. Build
ing and contents completely
mined origin. 16 firemen and
2 trucks responding.
JAtmarv Zt) t hursdiiv •>#