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The Cherokee Scout i0<
and Clay County Progress p e r C ? p y
Volume 79 - Number 36- Murphy, North Carolina ? MARCH 27, 1969 - Second Class Postage Paid At Murphy, North Carolina
Orderly Destruction
Strong gusts of wind played havoc
Sunday night as tree limbs, garages
and, as shown in the two photographs
above, a chicken house collapsed. The
wind did a very neat job of destroying
a 40 x 100 foot chickenhouse that
belonged to Claude Stiles in
Peachtree.
According to Scout photographer
Jim Morgan, the wind lifted the sides
and roof completely off the
foundations and turned it upside
down beside where it once stood. In
the top picture, the frame lies to the
right and the foundation are to the
left. Believe it or not, the automatic
feeder was picked upfrom the inside of
the building and set down
right-side-up just outside of the
foundation.
The bottom photograph shows that
the equipment on the inside of the
building was undisturbed.
fhird Bill Is Introduced For
County Commissioners Election
Cherokee County's
presentative in the State
ouse entered the political
attlefield last week by
traducing a bill which might
live the present stalemate
jw existing in he General
ssembly over the election of
le County Board of
ommissioners.
Rep. Bill Bradley of
ayesville entered a bill "to
wide for the nomination and
ection of the Board of
ounty Commissioners of
herokee County." Bradley's
11, which is the third bill
esented to the General
oembly this year concerning
? election of commissioners,
ovides for nomination of a
iree- member board by district
id a county-wide election.
This bill differs from the
ther two bill previously
esented in that one calls for a
rven-man board elected by
districts. The former bill was
introduced by Senator Herman
"Bull" West while the later was
introduced by Rep. Ernest
Messer of Canton.
The bills presented by West
and Messer have been pushed
back into committees since
February 27.
The controversy over the
? ?
election of commissioners
began in 1965 when former
Senator Frank Forsyth
introduced a bill which gave
Cherokee County six
commissioners, with the
chairman having two votes in
case of ties. The distribution of
votes in the unequal districts
resulted in a Democratic
majority in the Board even
?
Salary Increases
In other legislative action
concerning Cherokee County,
Senator West introduced a bill
to raise the salaries of the
Sheriff and Register of Deeds.
West has asked that the
sheriffs salary be increased to
$7,000 per year, while the
register of deed's salary would
be increased to $6,000.
This represents an increase
of $1,500 in the Sheriffs
salary and $1,500 for the
register of deeds.
Sheriff Claude Anderson
and Register of Deeds J. Ed
Graves were both elected by a
Repbulican majority in the
1966 election.
though the Republicans
received the majority of votes.
A suit was filed in the U. S.
District Court in 1967 by two
prominent Cherokee County
Republicans contesting the
constitutionality of the double
vote of the chairman. The
presiding judge has already
indicated that the double vote
is unconstitutional, and he is
leaving it up to the General
Assembly to come up with t
solution during this session.
Bradley explained thai
under his bill each politica
party would pick theii
nominees by districts at the
nominating convention, and
then both parties would vote
countywide and elect three of
the six candidates in the
general election.
Both Bradley's and Messer's
bills provide for redisricting of
the county so that each district
would be equal.
r
Scottish Rite Masons Confer Degrees
r These 32 men from Cherokee, Graham, Clay and Swain Counties
look part in Masonic Ceremonies in the Lodge Hall of Andrews Lodge
No. 529 A. F. k A. M. at Andrews on Saturday, May 22, 1969. They
liceived the degrees 4th through the 14th in The Ancient and
locepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry and will complete their
tourney on through the 32nd degree in ceremonies at Asheville later.
[ These men are: First row, left to right: Clyde Horace Sneed,
lereld Puil Cook, William Hubert Fuller, Robert Cartyle Moore, Jr.,
lohn Franklin Carter, Huston Lee Ledford, Robert Max Johnson,
Hsper Cad Townson, Holland McSwain, Cecil Wallace Maahbum
Lk ?
Second row. Left to right: Ralph Jackson Wood, Carroll Edwin
Wilson, Clifford Allen Huls Jerald Fred Phillips Howard Pendergrass,
Dwain Lawrence Winfrey, Vinson Dehart, Horace McKinley Hembree,
Lonzo William Shields, Elonidas Shields, Peyton Grant Ivie, James
Elmo Moateller.
Thin) row, Left to right: Henry Hual Hylton, Bunch Amos
Nugent, Glen Young Stalcup, Benjamin Harold Ron, George Wilson
Bristol, Garnett Swan son, Ray Dean Morgan, George Grant Postell,
Ralph Whitcomb Cook, Carl Arvil Cochran.
I
' \
School Merger Plan Is Adopted:
Elections To Be Non-Partisan
The Murphy and Andrews
City School Boards have agreed
to merge with the Cherokee
County Board of Education to
form one school system with
one superintendent to be
effective this coming July 1.
This merger, which has been
discussed for over a year
among the different school
boards in the county, came
about after 75 Cherokee
Countians gave an almost
unanimous vote of approval for
the merger at a public hearing
at the Murphy Elementary
School Friday night.
Both the Murphy City
School Board and the Andrews
City School Board had to agree
to the merger before it could
take place. Herman Edwards,
member of the Murphy School
Board and attorney for the
local boards, informed the
Scout that both boards had
agreed to adopt the merge plan
that was voted on at the
hearing.
There was some concern in
Andrews Monday that the
Local Board would not agree
to the merger. Dr. F. E.
Blalock of the Andrews School
Board assured the Scout
Wednesday morning that the
Andrews Board had definitely
agreed to the merger plan
adopted at the public hearing
Friday night.
The plan adopted at the
Friday night meeting was that
the Murphy and Andrews
school systems merge with the
county system to form only
one system for the entire
county. This would eliminate
the existing Murphy and
Andrew school boards and
their respective superintend
ents.
Also included in the plan
was that the county board
members be elected on a
non partisan basis and that the
local school committees should
act only in an advisory
capacity.
The latter provision was
specified very clearly because
of the wording of the present
20 Year-Old Unaka
Man Dies InVietnam
Cherokee County's fiist
Vietnam death in 1969
occurred March 19 when a 20
year-old Unaka soldier died in
action.
Killed was Pfc. Loren C.
Jones, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Cecil Jones of Unaka. Jones
was killed in action while on a
night patrol, according to
reports given to the parents.
A 1966 graduate of Murphy
High School, Jones entered the
service July 8, 1968, and had
been in Vietnam since
December 6. He received his
basic training at Fort
Campbell, Ky., and completed
nine weeks of infantry training
at Fort Lewis, Washington.
He had been employed with
Foote and Davies Printing
Company in Atlanta until his
induction. He was a member of
the Unaka Baptist Church.
Four Cherokee County men
died i action! in 1968. They
were James C. Bryant of
Andrews, Raymond F.
Trantham, William D. Morrow,
and Thomas EL Brown, all of
Murphy.
Surviving in addition to the
parents are two sisters, Mrs.
Giendle Gribbie of Atlanta and
Miss Denise Jones of the home;
two brothers, Erwin of Atlanta
and Lewis Jones of the home,
the grandmother, Mrs. Lena
Martin of Murphy.
4 ? Square
Directors
To Meet
The regular monthly
meeting of Four-Square
Community Action, Inc. Board
of Directors will be held
Monday, March 31, at 7:30
p.m. at the Court House in
Robbinsville.
All members and the public
are urged to attend.
PFC/LOREN C. JONES
State Statute concerning
school mergers. According to
Edwards, who moderated the
meeting, there is already
legislature enacted which
allows for city school systems
to merge with county units.
The present statute, however,
states that the county board
may delegate authority to the
local committees as they see fit
which is the one thing that the
citizens at the Friday night
meeting objected to.
It was agreed, however,
after several minutes of
discussion, that local
committees were needed but
that they should not have the
power to hire or Tire teachers,
in fact should have no policy
making power at all and should
act in an advisory capacity
only.
Edwards said that it would
take special legislative action
on the part of the N.C. General
Assembly before the
non-partisan vote and
restricting the power of local
committees could be included
in the merger plan. He added
that since this was obviously
what the people wanted then
those provisions would be
presented to Senator Herman
West.
Other parts agreed upon at
the meeting were that the
county school board members
be elected for six-year terms,
with two new members being
elected every two years;that
two board members be elected
from each of the county's
three school districts; that
members of the local school
committees live in the district
which they are to represent;
and that there be new Local
Committee appointments made
every two years.
Under the present system
there are three separate school
systems in the county, each
with its own board and
superintendent. These boards
have control over the schools,
delegated to them by the
Cherokee County School
Board including serving the
Easley Is
Elected As
Director
Robert W. Easley, owner of
Easley Manufacturing
Company in Murphy has been
elected as a director for the
North Carolina Association for
the Blind, Inc.
As a director, Easley will
serve the Association in their
program of services for the
blind people of North Carolina.
This work is supported entirely
by the annual White Cane drive
which is conducted by the N.C.
Assocation for the Blind, Inc.,
in cooperation with local Clube.
function of hiring and Tiring
teachers.
Edwards explained at the
meeting that the merger
involved only the consolidation
of the administrative units and
not consolidating the schools
at the present time. "We have
talked about merger for some
time," the Murphy attorney
said, "and state officials have
urged that merger lake place.
'The State Department of
Education feels that three
superintendents in Cherokee
County involves too much
expense," Edwards said, "and
that one superintendent can
supervise all of the schools."
Edwards told the group that
when the merger takes place all
of the school property in the
county would be deeded to the
county board and that
maintenance and non-teaching
personnel would combine
forces and facilities. "There
would be definite savings and
advantages in consolidating
these activities," he added.
One of the main reasons
Edwards gave for merging is
that it is becoming increasingly
more difficult to obtain state
funds when there are separate
systems. 'There are only 50
city units in the state now,"
County Superintendent Lloyd
Hendrix told the group, "and
Cherokee County is the only
county west of Buncombe that
has a city unit"
The official opening began when Mayor Cloe
Moore cut the ribbon at the Murphy Tire and
Appliance's new location on Peachtree Street.
Helping in the event were left to right, C. W.
Cranberry, store supervisor; C. A. Jennings, district
manager for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in
Murphy's First Fashion
Show Cited As "Success''
The spring fashion show
presented on March 21, by the
women of the United
Methodist Church for the
benefit of the building fund
lived up to its name
"Fantastique!" in more ways
than one.
Approximately 225 people
came out to view new spring
bshions provided by nine
Murphy merchants and
modeled by citizens of Murphy
and the surrounding
community. The setting was in
the Frank L. Mauney
Fellowship Room of the
United Methodist Educational
Building. The models
promenaded on a stage set as a
Parisian sidewalk cafe,
?'Pierre's."
Stores represented and
models were as follows:
CATO1* - Betty Fanner,
Juanita Allison, Sandra Graves,
Pat Carroll, Kathy Timpson
and Jackie Carroll.
COLLINS? CRAIN ? Markie
Carringtr, Debbie Fanner,
Janice Robereon, Paula
Farmer, Evelyn Hawkins, Joy
Noble and Jimmy Farmer.
COWARD'S ? Rirkie
Ramsey, Robert Gee and
Danny Gee.
THE FABRIC SHOP -
Sharon Lochaby
FAYOLA REMNANT
SHOP - Catherine Hawkins.
HOUSE OF FASHIONS -
Claudia Schuyler, Irene
Warner, Boots Godfrey, Jean
Weils, Ginger Abemathy, Sara
Patton, Vi Akin, Rosemary
Manuey.
LENA'S - Tanya McConnell,
Tina McKeever, Price
McKeever, Karen Cathey,
Joann Cathy, Nancy Sneed,
Karen Watson, Janet English,
Shirley Roberson, Peggy Hyde
and Suzanne Coward.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
Democratic
Meeting Is
Cancelled
The Democratic Party
meeting scheduled for
Thursday at the Marble
Elementary School has been
Knoxville; the Rev. Thornton Hawkins, Moore,
Chamber of Commerce President Tommy Gentry and
store manager, Pete Rumple.
Murphy Tire & Appliance
Moves Into New Building
Murphy Tire and Appliance
Company realized a
tremendous come-back in their
business as they officially
opened their new home with
ribbon cutting ceremonies last
Thursday morning.
The Murphy Tire and
Appliance store was
completely destroyed by fire in
February of 1968, and, after
spending nine months of doing
business in temporary
headquarters, have rebuilt a
new furnished
The Murphy Tire and
Appliance store was
completely destroyed by fire in
February of 1968. After
spending nine months in
temporary headquarters, the
company has rebuilt a new and
modern More furnished with
the moat modern equipment
and facilities that can be
bought
R. R. "Pete" Rumple,
manager and president of the
corporation, noted that
Murphy Tire and Appliance
had teen in Murphy for six and
a half years. His company,
Rumple said, la the larptt
Goodyear Tire a*d General
dealer.
The new building on
Feachtiee Street in Muiphy has
four drive-in bays with the
most up-to date equipment for
automotive service; a complete
line of electrical appliances and
television sets; and tires for all
makes and models of cars - all
housed in 9,500 square feet of
floor space.
Rumple said that the
"Grand Opening" began March
20th and will continue through
March 29th. During the
"Grand Opening" there will be
free gifts and refreshment* for
everyone. Visitor* may register
for five grand prizes which will
be given away. The drawing for
the G. E. Dehix TV, iNlot
four Goodyear tires, a bicycle,
stereo and a front-end
alignment will be Setwday at
4:00 p.m. Then la nothing to
buy, nor do you have to be
present to win.
The store will be open At
days a week from 8:00 a.m. t?