I Serving --
Big trucKS were spinning their wheels Monday
when ice brought traffic to a standstill on the west
side of Black Mountain. (Dan Ward)
Solar building here a first
by Dan Ward
A Black Mountain family
next week will apply for
federal funding to install
heating in a building that will
be the “System of the future,’
according to the pro]ectk
program director.
G Wakefield Kirby, of
Black Mountain, said that an
application for $24,000 in
Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) grants
must be filed by January 16 by
his mother, Mary W. Kirby, to
pay for installation of a solar
heating system in an eight
apartment building for senior
citizens that Mrs. Kirby in
tends to build on Kessler
Avenue and Montreat Hoad in
Black Mountain.
The Kirbys are also ap
Poe choice
as new chief
The Black Mountain Fire
Department was expected to
recommend Assistant Chief
Sterling Poe as replacement
for Chief Mack Kirkpatrick,
who recently began duties as
town manager.
Poe had earlier declined an
offer to move up to the ad
ministrator position in the fire
department, but decided to
accept the position, Kirk
patrick said.
The Town Board must
confirm a new chief at a
meeting, Kirkpatrick said, but
they are likely to vote ac
cording to the recom
mendation of the firemen.
The Black Mountain Fire
Department made six runs
last week.
On January 2, one truck and
20 men were called to put out a
chimney fire at the McGinnis
residence on Avena Road. No
damage was reported.
On January 4, three trucks
and 24 men stood by a con
trolled burning at 102 Gold
mont St. and one truck and 19
men put out a car fire on
Mon treat Road resulting in $50
damage.
Also that day, 14 men took
Part in a search for two 10
year—old boys missing from
yarver School. The boys were
found.
On January 5, 12 men stood
hy a car wreck on US 70 West.
*7 ui juries were reported.
Also that morning, two
rucks and 12 men
responded to a report of an
overheated furnace at the
Hensley residence at 107 S.
Ridgeway. Minor damage
was reported.
The county ambulance
service made 14 routine and
six emergency runs last week,
and were not needed on four
others.
plying for $130,000 in Fanners
Home Administration (FHA)
funds to help pay the cost of
constructing the building.
Kirby said the project is the
result of four years study
begun by his father, V.W.
Kirby, a manufacturer of heat
pumps and an advisor on the
project.
Kirby said the project will
be used as a model in solar
heating, if HUD approves the
grant. Unlike most solar
heating systems, the one
planned for the Black
Mountain building utilizes a
heat pump to take heat from
water circulating in the solar
units and transfers it to forced
air. The process will supply up
to 50 per cent of the heat for
the building, Kirby said.
The solar collectors will
measure 1100 square feet and
be located on the first floor of
the two-story building, Kirby
said. They will be made by
John Chiles of the Hajoca
Corporation in Asheville.
If the project is a success,
the Kirbys hope to build
another building of eight 610
square foot f»-,prtments
m mam.. , i ■
nearby in the future. Rent for
the apartments will be sub
sidized by the U.S. govern
ment for senior citizens.
Kirby said that one of the
greatest advantages of using
heat pumps with the solar
heating system is that heat
pumps can heat the building
alone on cloudy days and can
provide air conditioning for
the building in the summer.
Grants okayed, committee grows
by Du Ward
Approval of two grants and
committee appoin
tments highlighted the
January 9 meeting of the
Black Mo,attain Town Board.
Mayor Tom Sobol an
nounced that Department of
Human Resources authorities
have verbally approved an
application by Black Moun
tain for $23,075 to renovate the
lower floor of the Black
Mountain Clubhouse and
supply crafts materials for
senior citizens. Under terms
of the Older Americans Act
grant, the town will pay $7,791
to help create the multipur
pose senior citizens center.
Town Manager Mack Kirk
patrick said that written
confirmation of the grant was
due early this week.
Sobol also announced the
approval by a state review
committee of c Bureau of
Outdoor Recreation $25,000
matching grant to create a
Neighborhood Park below the
Lake Tomahawk darn. Of
ficial approval must come
from the Bureau of Outdoor
Recreation, however. The
town has already budgeted
$25,000 to pay its share”for the
project.
_ Kirkpatrick said that a
Black Mountain application
for an LEAA grant for full
time police dispatchers was
rejected and has been revised
and resubmitted. Sobol said
that the board must re
examine whether it wants to
hire four dispatchers to work
rotating shifts. Although the
town pays only a portion of the
cost for the first three years of
operation, it must pick up the
tab for approximately $40,000
in three years, he said. Aid.
Ruth Brandon said that the
board is free to remove the
dispatchers any time without
obligation and that the grant is
renewable. Sobol said he
will investigate the town’s
liability under the grant
program.
The board confirmed 10
members to the Recreation
Committee, raising the
number on that committee
under Aid. Jim Norton’ s
recommendation from five.
The committee is made up of
Bill Eubanks, Ray Frizell,
Theresa Tatham, Jack Milby,
Peg Osteen, Louis Logan, Tom
Culbert, Brad LeVine, Harry
Hyder and Chuck Ray.
The board tabled ap
pointments to the Town Im
provement Committee
because no persons had ap
Two in jail for drug theft
Two young men remain in
Buncombe County Jail on
charges of kidnapping, armed
robbery and possession of
drugs in connection with the
robbery of PSA Clinic
Pharmacy in Swannanoa
January 4.
According to Sheri© police,
Stephen Pender, 19, of
Englewood, Fla. and Norman
Grady Taylor, 2S, of Powder
Springs, Ga., forced the
pharmacist at PSA with a .22
pistol and a hunting knife to
give them an estimated 11000
in drugs.
According to the phar
macist, one of the men held a
knife on him while they filled
Police Report
Iced streets took their toll on
area drivers last week, in
cluding a police cruiser driven
by Officer Don Ramsey on
January 9.
Police reported that
Ramsey was driving the 1975
Chevrolet west on US 70 when
a 1976 Chevrolet pickup driven
by Leon Payne of Marshall
skidded head on into his lane
and collided with the cruiser.
An estimated $400 damage
was done. No injuries were
reported.
Biack Mountain Police
responded to seven other
accidents last week.
On January 7, ap
proximately $30 was taken
when Riddle’s Flower Shop
was broken into via a bade
door, police reported.
Police made four traffic
arrests and assisted Black
Mountain firemen once.
A more pleasant side of the cold weather lies in the
■■■i jikdHKM mmmm
beauty of a jumble of grass bolding up a roof of
snow. (Dan Ward)
two grocery bags with con
trolled drugs, described by
police as cocaine and dilaudid.
Because they forced the
pharmacist from the front of
the store to the back, the two
were charged with kid
napping, police said.
Taylor is also wanted for
five counts of armed robbery
in Georgia* a police
spokesman said Monday.
All of the drugs were
recovered when Pender and
Taylor were apprehended by
Deputy George Sprinkle on I
40 shortly after the robbery,
police said.
plied at Town Hall. Current
Chairwoman Betty Tyson said
that the committee had made a
list of good prospects to serve
in the future, but that she did
not have it at the meeting.
Sobol repeated a request that
persons who want to serve on
the committee, also called the
Town Beautification Com
mittee, contact Kirkpatrick at
Town Hall, 669-8732.
The board also tabled a
request from Naomi Brigamn,
Chairwoman of the Planning
Board, to raise the number
serving on that board from
nine to 13, including four
persons living within the
extraterritorial mile for
subdivision jurisdiction. Aid.
Brandon said that the board
must find out whether any of
the extra persons must be
appointed by the County
Board of Commissioners.
Norton reported that during
an inspection of the pool, it
was found that an estimated
$4000 to $6000 would be needed
to repair a valve and cracked
cement, and that an additional
unknown amount of damage
may be done to pipes because
the pool system was not
properly drained.
Norton asked that the board
outline a winterizing
procedure for the future and
consider that additional funds
will be needed to repair the
pool.
Aid. Brandon, when she
suggested Norton include the
repairs in the Recreation
budget, was told by Norton
that she was inferring that he
was responsible for damage to
the pool, providing the inly
confrontation of the ever tg.
Norton said he would tel! vho
was responsible for the
damage-pres uma biy
former Town Manager Jon
Creighton-if she wanted a
confrontation.
Sobol also noted that some
changes must be made at the
comer of State Street and
Montreat Road to prevent
accidents involving
pedestrians. He noted that
two women were struck by
cars in separate incidents last
week while crossing at that
comer. Kirkpatrick said he
will meet with Department of
Transportation officials this
week to try to establish a
four—way stop or extended
red light for the comer.
Sobol also said that it had
been discovered by Paul
Griffith that three lots on
Daniel Lane may not be
properly annexed to the town.
Sobol said that the boar;! will
have a legal opinion on tl t lots
by the February 9 m ,g.
The board voted to • > a
ceiling of $2500 on all spend'ng
by the town manager wi’
board approval.
Sobol appointed Aid.
Michael Begley to be secon
dary member for the town for
Region B Planning with the
Land of §ky Regional Council.
Aid. Tyson asked that Soboi
try to include former Mayor
Margaret Slagle in dealings
with the council, noting that
she had never missed a
meeting in two years and had
established valuable contacts
through the council.
Wade Marlin
‘Woodcrafting in the blood ’
by Du Ward
To Wade Martin being a
fine wood craftsman isn’t so
much a talent as an inherited
gift, such as blue eyes or
brown hair.
“I figure that It comes kind
of natural to me,’' said the
soft-spoken Swannanoan. ‘I
guess somewhere back, my
forebears probably had
something to do with that. I
believe there are hand-me
down talents.”
Martin, whose hand
carved figurines of mountain
people have won national
acclaim, said that wood
carving talent runs in the
family.
“My daddy was a fiddle
maker. He made fiddles,
banjos, dulcimers. I guess I
just got off the track he made
and did the figurines. I
learned to use a knife in a real
technical way,” Martin said.
Wade’s brothers have also
followed in Marcus Martin’s
footsteps. Wayne Martin,
now dead, carved detailed
human figures. A collection of
42 of his and Wade’s figures to
go on display to UNCA this
spring was valued at <10,000.
Edsel Martin, of Old Fort,
carves birds so perfect that
the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington has asked that he
carve pairs of every North
Carolina species for a per
manent display.
Fred Martin, of Swannanoa,
builds authentic dulcimers
since he has retired.
Now an employee of Beacon
Manufacturing. Wade has
limited his carving to a hobby.
"I carve for a hobby and to
try to keep my son interested,”
Martin said of his 16—year
old son Bruce, who is
becoming an accomplished
woodcarver in his own right.
At one time, Wade made a
living carving the mountain
musicians, moonshiners,
woodchoppers and bog
butchers. The carvings,
which took “eight or nine
hours” a piece to do, brought
him from $15 to $50 each in the
1960s.
“Several things I made I’d
have- liked to kept,”he said.
“At the time I liked the dough,
but the enjoyment 1 got wasn’t
from the money, it was from
the carving.”
“I think what I enjoyed
more than anything was
meeting people that enjoyed
that sort of thing,"he said.
“You hope that someone
might want to do it, too. That
way you’ll have something in
common.”
Wade, who also made and
sold dulcimers, has only a few
of his carvings for himself. He
no longer sells any.
One he has kept is a
statuette, about 15 inches tall,
of his father. Marcus Martin,
in addition to being a fiddle
maker, was world fiddle
champion. The carving is of
a tall, gaunt man playing a
fiddle intensely. The ex
pression, folds in the long coat
and details on the fiddle are
incredibly life-like.
Two other carvings he has
kept are his first, a hula girl
made presentable with a grass
skirt, and a hound dog that
seems to defy the wood in its
true—to—life rubbery
muscularity. Every wrinkle
and tendon Stands out on the
flesh.
“I didn’t have any elaborate
tools,"Wade said of his craft.
“In the beginning, all I had
was a pocket knife, a handsaw
and a hatchet.”
Even now, woodcarving
tools are not part of his hobby
A $3.50 Barlow knife is all
Martin uses to bring out the
detail in his mountain
characters.
"I guess I wore out several
Barlows,”he said.
Owners of some of Wade’s
carving include Andy Griffith.
former Gov. Luther Hodges,
and Fess Parker. Robert
Mitchum, while making a
movie in North Carolina.
asked Wade to do a set of four
carvings for his daughter.
“I guess my carvings are
scattered all over,” he noted.