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{L-R) Past And Present Mayors: Helmle And Bennett With Governor Hunt -
John Beecher: Folk Hero
In His Own Lifetime
'{Reprinted from “The
Aiitona Republic” Thursday,
November 24, 1977 issue]
BY ROBERT McEWEN
History has away of
naming heroes _of men
bttjjpded outcasts by their own
generation, but many never
live to enjoy the vindication
avwrded them in more en
iigltened times.
Beecher is one
mdyerick who hung around
long enough to become a folk
£§■> in his own lifetime,
□jin he was Bred from
ypfejktt was then San Francisco
stae College for refusing to
4Ht a loyalty oath inspired by
MlCarthyism. He was black
listed for a time and the
anna ruined his marriage.
Vfoßut the underdog who
biitled injustice at great
HP
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• 4>P John Beecher
personal loss returned to
campus in triumph this year
after the state Legislature
voted unanimously to rein
state faculty members who
spurned the oath.
“I never doubted I would
be vindicated,” Beecher said
in a recent interview. “I
always had faith in the
American system. I just
wondered if I would live to see
it.”
Now 73, Beecher’s snow
white eyebrows and flowing,
long white hair make him look
more like a contemporary of
Melville than of Mailer. He
walks the San Francisco State
campus an almost legendary
figure.
Most of his students grew
up in an era when men like
Eugene McCarthy were eras
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
ing the ideology of men like
Joseph McCarthy. And
Beecher’s 12 volumes of
poetry-indicting war, racism,
poverty and the exploitation
of labor-are greeted by more
receptive audiences.
Ironically, the children of
students he was forced to
leave 27 years ago now
benefit from his wisdom, his
zest for life and his Whitman
like fervor for American
values.
Beecher had refused to
sign the oath because he
didn’t see a need to prove his
patriotism. His ancestry is
studded with names like
Henry Ward Beecher, who
raised the Union flag at Fort
Sumter after the Civil War,
and Harriet Beecher Stowe,
abolitionist author of “Uncle
Tom’s Cabin.”
„ The poet himself spent
eight years fighting for and
administering New Deal pro
grams in the South. He was
one of the first white officers
in World War II to volunteer
for service under a black
commander, and after the war
he served as a director of
camps for displaced persons
in Germany.
His dismissal drew am!-
derable protest from students
but except for a few brief
items buried inside the local
papers, the press ignored the
campus demonstration.
Beecher theft began an
odyssey he compares to “Paul
Revere’s Ride,” explaining
his plight to men in positions
of influence and alerting them
to the menace of McCarthy
ism. He was greeted by a
general attitude of hopeless
ness and apathy.
"It wasn’t an easy time for
a man of 46. I had to start all
over again,” he said.
His marriage failed. ”1
couldn’t blame it all on being
fired, but that probably was
the prime factor...and /it
didn’t improve my relation
ship with my children.!’ ’
But he says his time in
exile gave him the opportun
would have done as a
other poets, covered the Civil
Rights movement for West
Coast publications, taught at
a black college in the South
[Coat’d oa page 6]
Achievement
'fltfu: ' - ' • t■ i
Night Set
Yancey’s Achievement
Night for Extension Home
makers, 4-H, Community I
Development and Farm City
Week is rescheduled for
Thursday night, December
15, 6 p.m. at Higgins
Methodist Church. This is a I
family occasion and each
family is asked to bring a
covered dish. Several clubs
and groups are preparing f
exhibits. Dick Jensen, Arkay
Enterprises, will be guest
speaker.
Local Tax
'■ V ' ■* I
Collections
Local 1 % sales and use tax i
collections were reported by
county for the month of
October, 1977 by Mark Lynch, ]
Secretary of the Department
of Revenue, Raleigh. The
report shows Yancey County ,
collections for that period 1
amounted to $22,305.
For the same period, J
Mitchell County collected
$26,889.98, Madison County
collected $14,760.93, and
Avery County collected the
sum of $25,948.61.
V#Ntty Courty
Country st«i
iXLP
fl c (P /
N ft fl f
Delivers Federal Money:
Governor Hunt Visits
K,” I
North Carolina Governor
Jim Hunt flew to Burnsville
last Thursday by helicopter to
deliver $47,800 in federal
flood relief money to the
hard-hit town.
The Governor landed at
the Courthouse and spoke
briefly to Yancey citizens who
gathered there to greet him.
r
Agencies
Collect
Yule Gifts
, Christmas can be a happy
time for many flood victims in
Yancey County-if the Yancey
County coordinating commit
■ tee on disaster relief gets its
wish...
The coordinating commit
tee and agencies in the county
and volunteers are involved in
efforts to provide Christmas
¥ gifts for many persons.
Special efforts are being
made to reach the elderly and
the children with Christmas
gifts.
Business Arms and indivi
duals in the Yancey County
area and in other communities
including the Asheville vicin
ity are donating items suitable
for Christmas gifts and also
candies, fruits and nuts.
Agencies in the county,
including Social Services and
Community Action, will refer
to the coordinating committee
suggestions on persons who
are in need because of the
flood and should be eligible
for the Yule packages.
The coordinating commit
tee headquarters is in the
Lincoln Park School in Burns
ville, with the Rev. John
Emory Jones of Asheville as
chairman and treasurer, and
Gene Cannon as vice-chair
man. Jones is pastor of the
Bald Creek and Pensacola
United Methodist Churches.
Persons or business firms
desiring to assist in the
Christmas effort may tele
phone Community Action,
Social Services, or the coor
dinating committee office at
682:7594. The gifts may
consist of clothing, especially
for elderly or children, bed
ding including spreads and
sheets, pillow cases, blankets,
etc., food items and toys.
The Yancey county coorr
dinating committee invites
residents of the area to make
themselves available as vo
lunteers to assist in answering
the telephones and assist in
other ways at the Lincoln Park
School.
Persons interested in pro
viding a few hours a week as
volunteers may telephone
682-7594 or write the chair
man-treasurer of the Yancey
county coordinating commit
tee on disaster relief, General
Delivery, Burnsville,, N.C.
28714.
In writing the committee,
provide some information
concerning availability by
hours or days, and assuring
the comniittee transportation
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8,1977
“I know where Burnsville is,’*
said the Governor, who was
given a copy of the “Flood”
book published last week by
Yancey Graphics Printing of
Burnsville. Governor Hunt
later leafed through the book
and commented on pictures
showing devastated flood
areas in Yancey County.
The Federal money will
help Burnsville repair its
water and sewer system
according to Mayor Bob
Helmle, who added that the
amount of the check Hunt
brought to Burnsville will
cover about 75% of the
preliminary damage estimate.
Helmle also stated that
Burnsville expects to get the
full ameunt to cover actual
expenses in repairing storm
damage in the town which
also tore up street pavement
and culverts.
The state Department of
Crime Control and Public
Safety in Raleigh said the
Burnsville check was the first
federal money received for
restoration of public facilities
destroyed or damaged by the
flood, ft said -checks- of
$73,000 for Woodfin, $59,400'
for Old Fort and $28,000 for
Buncombe County had also
been received and would be
delivered later. ;
After delivering the check
Pr 1 4* 4
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'«i BWEB b
■ *
■■ « **
BJKEf | I
!!J“!^I?!i < !!."‘J?i. v .!! 14.^l 4 .^
fillllltV RtHiCIIP C ni| .J J | | * .. » « . , m . , ~ g ...
to town officials, Hunt, along
with incoming Mayor Mark
Bennett, Yancey County Com
missioners Carl Carter (chair
man), Alton Robinson and
Clay Miller, and County
Manager David Blankenship,
was driven to the flood
ravaged Bolens Creek and
Pensacola areas to survey
damages first hand.
The Governor stopped and
chatted with workers from the
highway department and
French Broad EMC, compli
menting them on the great job
they are doing in restoring
WAMY Receives
*544,000 Grant
A $544,000 Federal grant
has been awarded to the
W.A.M.Y. Community Ac
tion, Inc. by the Community
Services Administration, it
was announced by Congress
man Lamar Gudger and
Senator Robert Morgan this
week. The organization serves
Watauga, Avery, Mitchell
and Yancey Counties.
The program funded in
cludes administration, hous-
HD
, electrical service and road
ways throughout the county.
Blankenship praised the
National Guard to Governor
Hunt, telling him especially of
the dangerous and dedicated
services rendered by the
helicopter pilots immediately
after the flood. He told Hunt
the pilots landed in the most
remote and inaccessible areas
to bring food, medical sup
plies and hope to isolated
families while flying the sick
and injured to hospitals in
Asheville. The beaming heli
[Cont’d mi page 3]
ing assistance for 435 low
income families, and trans
portation services Cm 1,490
low income, including 600
elderly. It also includes
supplemental income assis
tance for 535 low income
N individuals, senior opportune- M
ties and services for 1,250
elderly individuals, and core
services for 1,795 low income
families. 1 , i®wf
Funding was scheduled te
begin October 1, 1977