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U Serving —
^ Mountain
., ;1 ★ Ridgecrest
Warren rehired
at ABC storey
gets back pay
Melvin Spencer Warren,
vho was recently exonerated
}f the theft of 72 pints of liquor
rom the Black Mountain ABC
tore in December of last
rear, has been reinstated as
in employee of that store.
In addition, according to
ton Garland, a member of
he ABC Board, a settlement
ns been made with Warren
or the period he was
uspended while awaiting
rial. Garland would not
isclose the amount of the
lack pay Warren received.
Warren was the last of three
men to be tried in regard to
the theft of liquor from the
Black Mountain store. Grover
ODear, of Marion, was found
guilty of accepting the liquor.
Larry Higgins, another ABC
clerk, was exonerated.
Warren was found not guilty
in District Court of selling the
liquor and found not guilty of
stealing the liquor in Superior
Court last month.
The decision of the ABC
board in settling with Warren
was based on an opinion from
Alcoholic Beverage Control
officials.
Swannanoa Fire
On September 16, the
iwannanoa Volunteer Fire
Apartment was given a 9AA
ating by the North Carolina
Apartment of Insurance,
tie. department now has a
our-mile insurance rating. It
ormerly had a 9AAA rating,
arioos factors, w'cprdiog
i department spokesman,
esulted in the uppading
Four men are attending a
ire school in Brevard,
lasses were held September
12, 13, 19 and 20.
The department answered a
report of brush fire on Jim's
Branch Road September 14.
Four trucks and 22 men
responded, only to find it was
a controlled burning.
It was incoerectly reported
in the September IS issQe of
the Mews that the Ladies
Auxiliary had donated $99 for
a hose scrubber. They
donated $900 for construe ion
of the scrubber.
Fixup
CARVER SCHOOL held their first playground
yorkproject of this year Saturday, with both parents
ind children helping out. {Equipment was repaired
ind the grounds cleaned up. The Carver parents and
eachers extend an invitation to everyone in the
■ommunity to come by any time for a visit.
Bird’s Eye View 01
Black Mountain, N. C.
This postcard photo, submitted by Ida Taylor,
shows Black Mountain around the turn of the ce*>
tury. Notice that the town was much more developed
on the south side of the Southern Railway tracks.
Anatomy of a suicide
by Dan Ward
Nancy Sue Bodenhamer, 29,
killed herself September 10.
It seems obvious she would
have succeeded at suicide
eventually, but her experience
has left two valley Samaritans
upset-and has raised a great
deal of questions concerning
the legalaties of suicide.
On Saturday, September 10,
Bob Wright was stopped while
riding his motorcycle to Tom
Hawkins’ house in Alpine
Meadows by a blood-covered
woman standing next to her
wrecked car.
Neither the Buncombe
County Sheriffs Police or the
State Patrol have a record of
the wreck, or a determination
of whether Miss Bodenhamer
cut her wrists before or after
the crash.
“She was trying to lock her
car,’Hawkins said of Wrights
account. "It was obvious she
had cut her wrists.’
Wright, upset, went to
Hawkins house and asked him
to help.
“She didnt want to go to the
hospital,’Hawkins said. "She
said, ‘Take me to my friends
house,’so we took her there.’
. At the girlfriends house, in
Mountain Crest, Miss
Bodenhamer was met with a
cool reception.
“The friend wouldnt help,’
Hawkins said. “She said, You
do this all the time,’referring
to attempting suicide.
Against Miss BodenhamerS
wishes, the two men »ook her
•»-» . Jmmm* „ ..
This view of the Monte Viata Hotel, alao submitted by Ida Taylor, was
taken in the early 30s, as indicated by the shiny new cars.
' \ » *
to Memorial Mission
Hospital. “I was afraid shed
try to jump out of the door,’
Hawkins said.
“She was dying. She was
slurring her wbrds-I couldnt
understand what she said her
name was,’Hawkins said. He
did find out that her boyfriend
ran a wrecker and that she
attended either Grace
Methodist or Groce Methodist
Church in Asheville.
At the emergency room
entrance at Memorial
Mission, the two men tried to
enlist the aid of LaFayette
Worley, a security guard.
Worley told Hawkins and
Wright that a person cannot be
committed to a hospital
against her will unless she is
comatose. Miss Bodenhamer
refused to be admitted.
“I begged her to get
treatment,’ Worley said. “I
told her we couldnt make her,
though. She didnt seem to be
talking out of her head.’
On the uring of Hawkins and
Wright, Worley called the
Asheville Police dispatcher on
his walkie-talkie.
The Asheville Police
Department dispatcher
echoed WorleyS judgement
the girl could not be admitted
involuntarily.
The three men watched the
bleeding girl walk away. She '
had told them she was going to
see her psychiatrist at St.
Joseph Hospital-one-fourth of
a mile away.
ouiiuaj, •jcpiciuuci 11,
Nancy Sue Bodenhamer was
brought into Memorial
Mission Hospital without her
consent-she was dead from
hanging.
Asheville Police Chief H
Joe Truelove explained later
that a person can be arrested
and admitted for treatment if
a police officer thinks that the
person is mentally in
competant and is backed up
by a psychologists diagnosis.
The procedure requires filling
out a number of forms, as well
as a spot judgement by the
police officer.
Truelove said that at
tempted suicide it not illegal.
He did concede that he
believed that anyone at
tempting suicide was men
tally imbalanced.
“This is a tough judgement
to make, whether they are
competant or not,' he said.
“You cant juSt let someone
bleed to death, but if she
seemed to know what she was
talking about, I wouldnt force
her,lie said. When asked if his
dispatcher and the security
guard acted correct in letting
Miss Bodenhamer walk away,
he said “What else can you
do?’
After they left the girl,
Hawkins and Wright called
the ministers of Grace and
Groce Methodist Churches.
Neither recognized Miss
Bodenhamer’s description.
She never checked in to St.
Joseph Hospital. She haged
herself at home that night on
Gertrude Street in Asheville.
Dr. H. E. Hinman, who
examined Miss Bodenhamer’s
body, said he could not give
out details of her condition,
although he did not dany that
her wrists were slashed. “I
doubt that at any time, she
was covered with blood,’ he
said, contrary to reports given
by Worley, • Hawkins and
Wright.
Nancy Bodenhamer’s death
is a tragic, if unexceptional
one. A fellow social worker
speculated that she felt guilt
over the suicide of her mother
years earlier. Although she
was “composed, organized
and happy-go-lucky,’ the
woman had apparently talked
about killing herself a number
of times with her friends.
For at least one friend, her
suicide was an inevitability.
For the police, it was a fine
line of the law that wasn’t
crossed.
For Tom Hawkins and Bob
Wright, it was a nightmare
they couldn’t stop.
Local man
shoots self
In another suicide in the
valley, James Lee Walker, 21,
of Black Mountain, apparently
shot himself September 16 at
home.
According to Sheriff* police,
Walker was despondent
because he could not find
work. Although foul play is not
suspected, Walkerk death will
be under investigation until an
autopsy report is obtained.
Amendment to
end zoning
extension fails
Town Attorney for Black
Mountain William Eubanks
has advised that action taken
by the Town Board at its
September 12 meeting to
amend the towns subdivision
ordinance to eliminate zoning
jurisdiction beyond the Town
Limits is invalid.
According to the ordinance,
amendments may only be
made with the recom
mendation of the Plaining
Board, the majority of which
is in favor of the extended one
mile jurisdiction.
All Town Board members
voted for repealing the section
extending jurisdiction except
Aid. Ruth Brandon.
The pros and cons of
retaining the section of the
ordinance pertaining to zoning
authority outside the town
limits will be discussed in
opposing editorials by Aid.
Brandon and Aid. Tom Sobol
next week in the News.
Meeting set on
Neighborhood
Watch program
The Black Mountain Police
Department, in cooperation
with the Buncombe County
Sheriffs Department, will hold
an introductory meeting in an
effort to establish a Neigh
borhood Watch Program in
Black Mountain.
The meeting will be held
October 20 at 7 p.m. at the
clubhouse on Lake
Tomahawk. All citizens are
invited.
The Neighborhood Watch ,
Program is basically an
agreement between neighbors
to watch each other* property
for suspicious behavior. The
program has shown to be
effective in curbing
burglaries. Black Mountain is
one of the few towns in the
area that have not established
the program.
Police Report
Two motorcycles were
stolen from the front lawn of
the James Baker residence,
824 Hiawassee Ave., on
September 12, according to
Black Mountain Assistant
Police Chief Jim Wiseman.
The bikes both blue
Yamaha 750s, were ap
parently pushed down the
street to a waiting truck,
Wiseman said. There are no
suspects at this time.
Black Mountain Police
issued eight traffic citations
last week and arrested two for
public drunkenness. They also
assisted Sheriffs Police in an
investigation of the apparent
suicide of James Walker in
Black Mountain.
Don McKenzie-Big Daddy to 50
by Dan Ward
Don McKenzie has an of
fice not very much different
from the head of any other
institution.
Big desk, framed
photographs, shelves and
filing cabinets.
The different touch is a shelf
full of trophies won by “his ’
kids and two huge old-timey
jars of candy canes and
lollipops.
You see, Don McKenzie has
been the Big Daddy for SO kids
at a time at the Presbyterian
Home for Children in
Swannanoa for more than 19
years.
The home, sponsored soley
by the Asheville Presbytery,
an association of 33 churches,
houses 50 childdren who are
wholey or partially orphaned
or from broken homes. The
children go to local schools,
and some go on to college
their tuition paid by the
Presbytery.
“Nineteen years ago I was
told that the home wouldnt
last another 10 years,'
McKenzie said. “I was told
there was no more place for a
home like this'with the rise of
state centers.
The success of the home is
due to the acceptance the
community has given it and
the personal touch the staff
provides. That touch is ap
parent in McKenzieS use of
“our’when talking about the
children.
“We give our childdren just
as much freedom as any
parents would in Black
Mountain or Swannanoa,’
McKenzie said. “That goes for
dating and driving
automobiles.
“I raised these children the
same as I raised my two,’be
added. “Mine had no more
privileges than those who
were here.’
When he first came to the
home from a job as a coach
and teacher at a nearby high
school, McKenzieS two
children were toddlers Now in
college, the Home is just as
much home to them as for the
other hundreds of children
who have lived there.
“Even when I was coaching,
I was very fund of young
people,’McKenzie said. Here,
it is even more so. You get so
involved in their lives.’
Do the children consider this
home after the apron strings
are cut?
“I just got a letter from my
young boy at Lees-McRae,’
McKenzie said, pointing to a
stack of hand-addressed
letters. “It is a second home to
them-they let us know how
they are doing.’
m. *
“I tell new staff members
when they come here, ‘Itk like
being a mother for the
m 11 i t
children. Think of it as home
-only there are 30 or 40,’he
said.
i..i, i 4 m