North Carolina Newspapers

V ' ***??* ?*'Pa Scout ?a.?k.. c..,,', b... Bo,' ^|WW! ' *"<* <3w"'V ^/W" Volume 76 - Number 48 Murphy, North Corolino June 23, 1966 10 Pages This Week ^rphy^o^h^^na Chamber Honors Townson; Is Ready For Membership Drive This Weekend The Murphy Clumber of Commerce honored paat preeldent Deve Towns on with a testimonial dinner at the MUtoo Inn In Blair a vllle Tues day night and la now moving toward the membership drive which wlU climax Murphy Chamber of Commerce Week. Over fifty people turned out for the dinner honoring "Uncle Dave". Larry Black presided at the dinner and traced the career of Townaon since he came to Murphy to any In 1919. Black said a community la like a ship, everyone should be pre pared to take the helm" he pointed out that "Uncle Dave" has always been ready to take the helm. Towns on, who left home at , the age of 16, wu a railroad man In his younger years. After he settled here, he was a charter member of die ori ginal Murphy Chamber of Commerce in 1928. He brought the first purebred cattle herd to Western North Carolina. In addition to his presidency of the local Chamber, he has served in the same capacity with the North Carolina Fun eral Directors Association and the Western North Caro lina Highway Development Council. In recent years, he has been involved in die industry-seek ing projects of the area. Towns on is credited with bringing Levi Strauss to Mur phy and his work was a major factor in locating the Rimco plant here. Among the speakers that paid tribute to "Uncle Dave" were Merle Davis, John Gill, Doyle Burch, Dr. B. W. Whit field, J. H. Duncan and Mrs. Mary Faye Brumby. Duncan recalled an incident in 1939 that illustrated Town sob's unceasing efforts to pro mote Murphy. He ssid that he was serving in the General Assembly at the time and that during a session, a pageboy told him a Mr. Towns on from Murphy was waiting in the lobby to see him. Duncan said he went outside and greet ed "Uncle Dave" and asked what he could do for him. Townson told Duncan he wanted him to get the state capital moved to Murphy. He was serious, too. Telegrams were read from several cities across the nat ion. Most of them were from Industrialists that Townson has met through his efforts to bring more industry here. At the conclusion of the testimonial dinner, Larry Black presented a plaque to "Uncle Dave" oil behalf of the Chamber of Commerce. The plaque is in recognition of his many services for the better ment of this area. Townson accepted it with typical humi lity and received a standing ovation from those present. The Chamber's member ship drive moves Into high seer Friday and Saturday. "Building A Wall To Support Murphy* will be the theme of the drive. A wall will. Indeed, be built. Bricks are on hand and each brick contains the name of a business place In Murphy. As each establishment signs 19, the brick bearing its name will be put In place for the wall which will be built on the square Saturday morning. The slse of die wall will be an indicator of die suc cess of the membership drive. The Chamber has outlined 10 major projects that it will work on. The group plans to promote five Murphy retail sales yearly, publish a new tourist promotion brochure, and sponsor an annual Em ployer-Employee Week and a Know-Our-Industries Week. Traffic problems in down town Murphy are on the list of projects to be worked on. The Chamber plans to en courage development of off street parking facilities In the downtown area and cooperate with the town In helping to plan for present and future traffic. Members are expected to help groups whose function is the continuing development of the community and assist in their applications for loans or grants from Federal, State and other sources. The Cham ber has pledged to work for more housing, recreation, and community facilities and to cooperate with farm agencies and organizations to increase farm income in the area. The Chamber has expressed an interest in working with other local groups on some projects. It hopes toco-spon sor a fire safety program with the Cherokee County Rescue Squad and expects to work with the Murphy Jaycees on an annual Christmas Parade. Rescue Squad Finds Drowning Victim's Body In Lake The Cherokee County Res cue Squad recovered the body of Richard Johnson from Hi was see Lake, Friday night af ter a three-hour search. The 24-year-old Johnson had gone swimming with two companions and apparently experienced trouble. He was a resident of West Jefferson and was in Murphy working on an installation with the tele phone company. His two friends are also telephone em ployees. Coroner J. C. Townson issued a verdict of death by drowning. The body was re turned to West Jefferson for, burial. Murphy Leads Littering League; Should Be Last By: Deve Bruce Newspaper editors are al ways quick to point out when their cities or towns are ahead of other places in some parti cular field. I find it necessary but, regrettable, to report that Murphy is making a deter mined bid to stay In first place in the Utterbug League. There is the nasty habit many people have of tossing things out car windows. There are laws on the book against this activity and a few arrests might call a screeching halt to this practice. Then there is the lltterbug who does his dirty work on private parking lots. Last week I happened to drive by a local industry and was shocked at the abundance of trash that had been left there, apparently by employees eat ing lunch in their cars. In addition to the dosens of paper cups and sandwich wrappers, there were maty paper hags. The thoqght struck me that It would be pretty simple to put the cups and wrappers in the bag and deposit the whole thing In a waste basket. Orlsthisask lng too much? It.seems so elementary but since the littering practice is apparently ugliness it are unaware of the Murphy doesn't 'have the blocks and blocks of row houses prevalent in larger cities nor doss It have the acres and acres of look-alike houses that exist In may su burban areas. Thehomeshere, with their varied designs, are a strong oolra In giving our town die look of a pretty place but the lltterbugs seem deter mined to making Murphy a floating garbage dump. Each individual can help prevent the ugly scars of litt ering by keeping the things to be disposed in the car until they get to a place where the junk can be put In a proper re ceptacle. I hope the workers at local plants will start thinking of their parking lots as parking lots and not a branch locat ion ?f the city dump. Murphy has the makings of being a beautiful town. The job to be done Is so easy that there Is no excuse for not doling it. Td like to see Murphy finish dead last in the Lltterbug League. Mrs. Edward Reynolds call ed a maetiqg at her home Mon day night to plan a clean-up campaign In Murphy. The group discussed means at ac nlevemnent after considering the needs to start suchscam pelp. All local civic clubs had re presentatives at the mnntlngt The clubs and Individuals will assume certain responsibi lities u the clean-tv gets u? derwsy. The group decided to meet with the Town Boerd to DAVE TOWNSON (L) accepts s plaque presented to him by the Murphy Chamber ot Commerce ?t the testimonial dinner held In his honor, Tuesday night. Larry Black is making the presen tation. Independents Win Two To Take I .eague Lead The Independents climbed into first place in the Murphy Softball Association with two victories in the past week. The two wins boosted their record to 3-0 and give them a half game lead over Ranger and Hiwassee Dam. Those teams have each won two and lost none. On. Friday night, the Inde pendents thwarted a last inn ing uprising to come out on top, 17-16, in a see-saw bat tle with Forest Service. Mon day night they ran their string to three straight by routing Murphy High School, 22-5. Peach tree is also undefeat ed with a win in their only Letter To Editor Dear Editor: As election time rolls around, as usual, the county sheriff catches die devil. I think it is high time that the record is set straight without regard to politics and person alities. There are several places In the Town of Murphy where whisky can be bought. It seems like the general public thinks that it is the sheriff's job to catch them. There are six men on the police force <rf Murphy to do this job. The_ police, as I see it, have full authority to enforce all the laws within the city limits. Yet, in reality, the sheriffs department makes nine out of ten cases for liquor that are made in the city limits. How many arrests does anyone know that the city has made for liquor in the past six months? The sheriff, on the other hand, has only two paid de puties to enforce the law in the whole county. The sheriff and his two deputies make more arrests than does the whole police force put togeth er. Do the police enforce speed ing laws In town? How many speeding cases have been made In the town by town po lice? Who enforces It? I guess the State Patrol does a little, but too, their job is in the county and not in the city. I believe the records will show that the sheriffs de partment and the State Patrol have made more cases, pro bably with the exception of public drunkenness, inside the city limits of Murphy than the Murphy Police Department. Where do you think the criti cism should go, especially with the enforcement of liq uor laws? The county sheriff is a sob er, decent, honest man. Let us give criticism where it is duel Sincerely, Mrs. R. F. Dockery Murphy, N. C. Trio From Murphy Attends Legion Meet In Raleigh Homer Ricks, John David son and Tom Fuller attend ed the state convention of the American Lesion In Raleigh last week. About 600 people from across the sate attended the meeting. Ricks Is Commander of Fost 96 of Murphy. He and Fuller attended the convention as delegates from the local post. Davidson attended in his capa city as the local service officer for veterans. The convention elected new officers for the sou organ! business. game played to date. Tomotla broke into the win column with a victory over First Baptist Tuesday night. Tomotla is now tied with Mur phy High School with a 1-2 record. These teams are in fifth place, two games behind the Independents. The Jaycees and Forest Service are three games off the pace with 0-1 marks each and Rimco and First Baptist, each winless in two games, are three and a half games out. Undefeated ABC heads the women's division with three wins. Clifton Precision is a game out with a 2-1 mark while Peachtree trails by a game and a half with one win and one loss. Govern ment and Texanna each have one win and two defeats and are two and a half games be hind ABC. First Baptist is winless in two games in the women's competition arid is three games off the pace. Ronald Conley Is Berea Graduate Berea, Ky.- Ronald Albert Conley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Conley of Route 1, An drews, ite: was one of 212 Berea College seniors to be awarded a degree at the end of second semester. Ron's degree is Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. Ron graduated from An drews High School inAndrews in 1962. At Berea, Ron was a member of the Varsity Track team,'soccer teams and the B. Club and Mathematics Club. Ron has worked for three years at the men's gym and one year in the department of audio visual aids at Berea as part of his labor assign ment. He hopes to attend App alachian State Teachers Col lege for graduate study during the following year. The speaker at the Comm encement exercises, held at Indian Fort Theater, was Dr. William Robert Parks, pre sident of Iowa State Univer sity. Dr. Parks, a native of Tennessee and 1937 graduate of Berea College , received his B.A. degree here, his KLA. degree at the University of Kentucky, and his doctorate in political science at the Uni versity of Wisconsin. The sub ject of his address was "The Educated Mind and the Social Contract". Following the confering of 54 Bachelor of Science de grees and 158 Bachelor of Arts degrees on the 1966 graduates, Dr. Pa-ks was gi ven the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, and author Jesse Stuart the honorary de gree of Doctor of Letters. Maureen Faulkner, Associate Professor of English and Kri stjan Kogerma, Associate Professor of German, won the Seaburv awards for excellmce In teaching. Little League Baseball Four-Square Com munity Action, Inc. plans to organize Little League and Pony League baseball competition for boys ages nine through fifteen. A meeting toorganize this activity will beheld Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Murphy ball field. A spokesman for Four-Square said spon sors are needed for the proposed leagues. Andrews Zoning Hearing Monday The Andrews Board of Aldermen will hold a public hearing next Monday on a pro posed zoning ordinance for the town. Chairman W. D. Whitaker of the planning board recommen ded the adoption of the ordin ance at a joint meeting of the aldermen with Mayor Percy B. Ferebee, Glenn R. Wall of TVA and Harren L. Vrmstrong of the Western North Carolina Regional Planning Commission in \sheville. Russ Says Hearing On Murphy-Topton Road Coining Soon Division highway comm issoner W. Curtis Russ said a hearing will be h eld early in July on the 25 mile section of the Appalachian' dev elopment highway from the Tennessee 1 ine to the point west of Murphy. The Murphy-Topton section will include bypasses at Murphy and Andrews. Russ said there is a poss ibility that a hearing on the 10-mile stretch through the Nantahala Gorge will beheld at the same time. The commissioner also said a hearing will be held before August 1 on the 36-mile section of development highway from the Georgia line in Clay County to near Franklin. Rev. Pearce Goes To Atlanta Seminar The Rev. Arthur J. Pearce, Minister of the First Metho dist Church of Andrews is in Atlanta, Ga., participating in the Seminar in Preaching sponsored by the Candler School of Theology of Emory University and the Department of Education of the Protestant Radio and Television Center, Atlanta. The ten-day "examination of the Biblical and theologi cal content of preaching to modern man" will run until July L Forty ministers are attending the seminar of study, practice in sermon delivery with the use of video tape clos ed circuit television facilit ies, and discussion sessions, Eddie Palmer Oa Dean's List Wayne E. "Eddie" Palmer haa made the dean's list at Young Harris College for the 1965-66 school year. He re cently completed his freshman year at the school. Eddie, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne O. Palmer, Rl 3, Murphy, plans to enter North Carolina State University this fall. He is presently em ployed by Clifton Precision Chamber, SWNC Development ? ? . \ Group Meet; Airport, Med Center Dominate Discussion Two much discussed pro jects for Cherokee County and the surrounding area dom inated the joint meeting of the Murphy Chamber of Com merce and the Southwestern North Carolina Economic De velopment Commission in Murphy, Monday night. One project received an encoura ging reception but the other faces a long hard road to com pletion. Dr. Carl Lyles of Washing ton, D. C. was the featured speaker at the Chamber of Commerce meeting which took place before the Economic De velopment Commission held its regularly scheduled meet ing. Proposed improvements at the Cherokee County Air port were discussed at length at the Commission's meeting. Robert Heaton of Andrews presented the proposals for improving the Cherokee Coun ty Airport on behalf of the Cherokee County Commis sioners, the Cherokee Coun ty Development Association and the Andrews Development Corporation. The project car ries a $318,000 price tag and the county commissioners had proposed issuing up to $150,000 in bonds to cover the local share of the costs. Heaton told the group that if grants under the Appala chia Act are made, It will be possible to cut the county's share to about $75,000 in bonds. He said if this is done, the only cost to the county would be for the purchase of the land. The county plans to buy the 77-acre site from Edgar A. Wood, Jr. Figures supplied by Wood indicated the extensive use of the airport at this time. In the past year, 5,000 executive type aircraft have used the airport and about 100 of these Dr. Carl LyUi Moore, Taylor Back New Smoky Highway Leading public officials from North Carolina and Tennessee have strongly en forsed the proposal to build a new highway across the Great Smoky Mountains from Witnesses To Hold Assembly At Dalton Dalton, Georgia High School has been named as a site for the summer circuit assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses, acc ording to an announcement by Ernest Watson, Presiding Minister of the Murphy Con gregation. Mr. Watson told local wit nesses at the mid-week King dom Hall service meeting, arrangements for the week end meeting of ministers has been set for Friday through Sunday. An estimated 100 persons are expected to attend. Some 35 will be from the Murphy area. The conference, three of which are held annually by Je hovah's Witnesses, will have the serious business of the Christian ministry as the theme with emphasis on house-to-house missionary activity, the minister pointed out. The assembly theme will be "Make Disciples of People of All the Nations" based on Matthew 28:19,20. Junior Life-Saving Course To Begin A junior life-saving course sponsored by the Murphy Lions Club will begin Monday at 10.-00 a.m. at the Murphy Swimming Pool. The classes will run two hours daily for two weeks. Anyone between the ages of 12 and 15 can participate in the program. There will be a $2 registration fee and those taking the course must pay ad mission to the pool each day. Bryson City to Towns end Tenn. At a public hearing In Bry son City last Wednesday, a statement from Governor Dan K. Moore was read In which the Governor strongly urged that the road be built. Congressman Roy A. Taylor attended die meeting and added his endorsement to the proposal. Taylor said his vote for the Wilderness Act in Con gress should not be interpreted as an indication of opposition to the road. Governor Frank Clement of Tennessee expressed his support for the road at a hearing held earlier in Gatlinburg. Members of Tenn essee's Congressional dele gation also came out for the road. About the only opposition offered at both hearings came from a well organized group of conservationists who want all road improvements within the park confined to existing roads. They suggested that instead of the trans-mountain road being built, the Blue Ridge Parkway should be ex tended from its present end near Cherokee to Bryson City. Texanna Entered In Roadside Contest Texanna la the only Cherokee County community entered In die Roadside Im provement Contest conducted by the Asheville Agricultural Development Council. Cleaning-up the roadsides, moving junk cars, planting flowers and other work at Improving the appearance of the community is involved in the contest. There are indications that an all-out effort is being made by the communities entered in this year's contest to Improve roadside beautlflcation. Judging is to be completed in each county by September 1 and the area judging will take place by September 15. were In the four-ton bracket. Dr. Lyles reviewed alter natives available in seeking help on medical projects i*> der the Appalachia Act and sought to answer questions relative to the proposal to build a regional medical cen ter here. Officials from North Georgia were at the meeting to explore the possibility of counties from Georgia and North Carolina working to gether on a medical center. The information Dr. Lyles gave the group indicated it will be a slow moving project at best. He said the legislation pro vides "a golden opportunity for communities who want to get together" but it is a "slow but very deliberate program." He pointed out that there are no funds available now to conduct a survey of the area's medical needs and that if such a survey were to be made, it would have to be done at local expense. However, he did say there is the possibility that funds for such a survey would be made available by the Fed eral government in 1967. Dr. Lyles indicated to the group that it would be best if local citizens would con centrate on expanding existing medical facilities instead of planning on a regional center. There was some discussion in the group on how to solve the problem of attracting qua lified personnel to staff a med ical center. Graham County came up with a definite proposal for a hospital there which it pre sented to the Commission at the meeting. Carroll Almond of the Graham County Plan ning Board outlined the pro posal. Almond said the $200,000 facility is needed because there is no place in the county to treat emergencies, render obstetric care of handle in tensive care cases. He point ed out that county residents must go to either Cherokee or Swain County for treatment. The Commission approved the proposal on the condition that Graham County submit it in writing to the North Caro lina Medical Care Commis sion in Raleigh. Bob Sloan of Franklin asked the Commission to endorse the National Park Service 10-year master plan to develop the Smokies. Two hearings on this subject were held recently in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Bryson City. The Commis sion passed a resolution sup porting the plan which includes the building of a new trans mountain road from Bryson City to Towns end, Tennessee. The road proposal has been heartily endorsed by nearly all interests except a group of conservationists whose vio lent opposition has been based on the contention that the new road would spoil the wild erness areas in the Smokies. Jack Lyday of Bryson City noted at the meeting here that in spite of the conservationists professed love for the wilder ness without roads, he didn't see any hiking from Gatlin burg to Bryson City to attend the hearings. "They all came over the mountains in cars", he said. Chairman Jennings Bryan of Sylva presided over the meet ing here. On of town guests Included John Hampton of Raleigh, who is Governor Moore's lias on man to the Commission and Or. C D. KiUian of Western Carolina College. 11 tr#>?r ! is r * r y THE MURPHY LIBRARY'S 11-glass door rocooUy and ft* placing of wMta block lamrlng oo dw (