Serving—
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Snowy tree brut :hes create a contrasty maze. (Dan Ward)
Golf Co urse fixups
get board approval
by Dan Ward
Tl.e Black Mountain Town
Board gave the go-ahead to
the first stages of renovating
the golf course clubhouse. In
order that work inside the
clubhouse may be started, the
board followed a recom
mendation of the Recreation
Commission in asking Golf
Pro Ross Taylor to move out
of the facility by March IS.
A number of persons from the
Recreation Commission ob
jected when Aid. A.F. Tyson
asked that Taylor be given a
monthly allowance to com
pensate for the loss of free
housing and utilities at the
clubhouse. Tyson noted that
Taylor is paid only $101 per
week by the town, less than
some part-time employees.
Audience members pointed
out that Taylor has been
receiving profits from pro
shop and golf cart concessions
at the clubhouse, as well as
free rent,Utilities and gasoline.
The board agreed on a $200
per month housing allowance
to be paid to Taylor to com
pensate him for loss of housing
and utilities.
■ Green Fees -
The board agreed to go $25
1 beyo the Recreation
I Commission’ s recom
Apron Lady still sewing strong
by Dan Ward
Nobody has to tell Claudia
dcGraw about the power of
he written word.
Since the Black Mountain
esident was featured in ar
mies in Southern Living
Magazine and the Charlotte
Observer, she has been
iwamped with requests from
ill over the country for her
ervices as the "Apron Lady’!
At 87, the soft-spoken Apron
■ady finds herself answering
three letters per day and
practicing her 36-year-old
craft of apron-making for a
demand that is far above her
ability to supply.
I don’t have to do it for a
living now, you see,’ ’ Ms.
McGraw said. "It never
seems like work to me, really.
1 enjoy it so much.”
Yesterday I sold almost
every apron I had. You
wouldn’t believe it. 1 sold to
ene from Hendersonville, one
from Black Mountain, Win
ston-Salem, two from Illinois
and two left from here to go
straight to China. They were
in a hurry to get some aprons
10 take to China-they were
missionaries here for the
conference in Montreal. Yes,
and one was going to Alaska,”
!she noted.
Knowing her aprons are
being worn around the world
makes the seamstress proud.
It's sort of a booster, don't
>ou know. It makes you feel
Hood,"she said. Although she
gets constant requests from
all over the country to mail
aprons, she said she prefers
not to send them by mail
oecause of the trouble in
volved in packaging and
mailing. She does feel
honored by the requests,
however, and answers three
letters daily.
bhs McGraw began apron
imaking, a craft she still
sPeaks of with the enthusiasm
a novice, while a
ousinesswoman in 1942.
1 had a coffeehouse down
nere and I made my own
aprons, l made myself sii of
them and I thought they were
so pretty I took them out front
and hung them up. I’ve been
selling them ever since,” she
said.
When she turned to apron
making for a living, Ms.
McGraw showed remarkable
marketing expertise. She sold
her aprons wholesale to an
exclusive New York City dress
shop and was hard-pressed,
with a staff of 12, to keep up
with orders. When Amy
Vanderbilt bought one of her
lacier creations, Ms. McGraw
found herself catering to the
celebrity crowd.
“When a celebrity has one it’
s amazing,"Ms. McGraw said.
“It will blow right up and blow
right up until you sun out of
that particular kind of
material.”
When Greta Garbo was in
North Carolina on vacation,
her agent bought one of Ms.
McGraw’s aprons for the star,
"who likes to cook,"the Apron
Lady said.
In a very short time, an
entire bolt of the same
material was used up and sold
in the form of the Greta Garbo
apron.
Other aprons have gone to
actor Ben Johnson and the
former president’s daughter,
Luci Johnson.
“One thing that boosted my
business was in 1941,1 believe,
when the quintuplets were
bom in Canada,”Ms. McGraw
reminisced. “I made five of
the tiniest white Organdy
pinafores and put them on the
railing. I sold them to
everybody from little white
haired ladies downward,” she
said.
After huge successes with
the Greta Garbo Apron and
the Gone With the Wind
Apron, “I got so busy I had to
quit naming them,” she said.
Now, with a staff she has
voluntarily trimmed down to
herself alone, Ms. McGraw
turns out only a few aprons a
week, which she sells for $5 to
$12 each. The number she
makes varies.
“It depends which one it is.
It depends on what sort of
mood I’m in,’’she said.
She said she makes them
now for the joy of work and the
unending desire to create
something different.
“I use one basic pattern. I
just use that and add on and
take off. That’s where it gets
fun, you know,"she said. “The
best part is trying to think of
something different to do.”
“The nice thing about pretty
aprons is that I think they
make a person want to be a
good cook. Good aprons for
good cooks,’ ’ she said with a
polite chuckle.
The Apron Lady, who at 87
doesn’t regard herself as old,
expressed her philosophy on
activity and aging.
“Retired people should keep
busy--it keeps them from
thinking they are old.
Besides, "she noted wryly, “it
keeps them out of mischief.”
The home of Claudis McGraw, the Apron Lady, on State Street in Black
Mountain. Ms. McGraw declined to be photographed. (Dan Ward)
mentation by raising green
fees at the Golf Course to $125
per year for town residents,
plus $25 for each additional
family member, and $150 per
year for out-of-town residents
with $25 for each additional
family member . The former
cost was $100 for residents,
$125 for non-residents within
the Owen School District and
$200 for those outside the
Owen district, plus $25 for
immediate family members.
While most Recreation
Commission members said
they felt the increase was a
fair amount, some objected to
to the increase coming before
renovations are completed.
According to one person,
membership at the golf
course, now at 115, would
double when better facilities
are provided.
New membership prices
will go into effect on May 1,
with all memberships held
until that time pro-rated. In
the future, memberships will
always come due on May 1 of
each year.
Recreation Budget
A number of Recreation
Commiflaion mynbers said
that they wanted a better idea
of how much money they have
to work with in planning
recreation expenditures.
Tyson pointed out that the
proper procednre for a
committee is to present its
needs to the board and let the
board try to find the money to
appropriate as it sees fit. He
noted that the time for
presenting all but the more
urgent needs is when the next
budget is drawn up May and
June.
Mayor Tom Sobol said that
the commission could be kept
informed of how much money
has been budgeted and spent
through their representative
board member, Aid. Jim
Norton.
Norton noted that the
recreation budget now in
cludes $3600 in n to-earmarked
funds. Sobol added that
another $1600 will be returned
to the recreation budget when
lights found inappropriate for
the tennis courts are returned
to the distributer.
Aid. Ruth Brandon told the
commission members that
they should have little trouble
in communicating with the
board because of their good
working relationship with
Norton.
An ordinance passed by the
board after the discussion
ensures that all revenues
brought in by the golf course
will be earmarked for
recreation spending. The golf .
course generates $51,000 per
year, while recreation {
spending is approximately
$70,000.
Gang Mower
The board chose to put off a
decision on whether to pur
chase a new gang mower or
repair the old one. Low bid for
a new mower , with a life
expectancy of 10 years, was
$4,124. A cost estimate for
repairing the present one to
last another year was $1,602.
Norton, who recommended
getting the old gang-mower
repaired, said he heard that a
new gang-mower could be
purchased for $2,600. Tyson
said that Taylor should be
contacted to find out whether
the repaired mower would be
adequate. Sobol said the
matter will be taken up at the
regular Town Board meeting
March 13.
Golf Course Improvements
Norton listed a number of
improvements needed at the
golf course, as recommended
by the Recreation Com
mission. Sobol asked Town
Manager Mack Kirkpatrick to
pass the recommendations on
to Taylor, along with a request
that a report on the im
provements be submitted by
Taylor to the board in 60 days.
Land Use Plan
The board voted
unanimously to endorse the
Land of Sky Regional Council
Land Use Plan. The plan,
introduced at the regular
February board meeting,
recommends what directions
growth take to prevent ‘ 1
negative development "in the
future.
Vanderbeck Settlement
After a great deal of
discussion on the propriety of
ever having given a part-time
building inspector full-time
employee benefits, the town
board agreed to pay James
Burglars net candy,
soda, cigarettes
Black Mountain Police are
investigating a breaking and
entering at Mr. Zip on
February 20 between the
hours of 1:00 a.m. and 6:45
a.m.. The store has been
conducting an inventory of
missing items, which includes
two canned drinks, candy,
gloves and six packs of
cigarettes, police said. They
did not gain entry into the
safe, according to Det. Bill
Stafford. Entrance into the
store was gained by breaking
a front window. One adult and
one juvenile suspect have yet
to be questioned, police said.
Montreat Officer Randy
Halford arrested Kenneth
Long of Montreat on seven
warrants, including worthless
check charges'in Utah, South
Carolina and North Carolina.
Long was also charged with
possession of marijuana.
A four-wheel drive vehicle
was used to drive on Black
Mountain Golf Course
February 19 while the oc
cupants stole eight greens
flags, police said. There are no
suspects at this time.
Officers Bill Fortune and
Halford are holding a seminar
February 24 for auxiliary
police in issuing citations and
investigating accidents.
On Wednesday, Officers
Don Ramsey and Det. Bill
Stafford are giving seminars
on drugs and investigations of
criminal offenses to auxiliary
police. The public is invited to
both seminars.
Black Mountain Police
answered 254 calls this week
and issued one citation
arrested two for public
drunkeness, one for driving
under the influence and
assisted four motorists.
Vanderbeck, former building
inspector, $100 for unused sick
time.
The board added a provision
that stated that part-time
employees would no longer
receive benefits reserved for
full-time employees. Sobol
directed that a message be
sent to all part-time em
ployees of Black Mountain to
that effect.
Vanderbeck resigned as
town building inspector at the
request of Town Manager
Mack Kirkpatrick and had
already beet, given over $300
in serverence pay.
Clubhouse Bid Awarded
The board agreed to award
a contract to renovate the
lower floor of the Lake
Tomahawk clubhouse to Neal
Bartlett, who submitted a low
bid of $25,650.
The town has received about
$23,000 in grant funding,
matched with about $7000 in
town funds, to renovate the
lower floor for senior citizens
activities. Money not used for
construction will be spent on
tools and materials.
■ *pT^- «■,. ;
Conference champs
Mary Ann Myers goes up for two of her 21 points,
leading the Warlassies to 63-51 win over Hen
dersonville to win the girlk Little MAC championship
Friday. The girls later beat Pisgah 79-52 in the first
round of the Division 8 Tournament. (Chip Hueeins)
Smith to speak here
7
McNeil Smith, Democratic
candidate for U.,S. Senate,
will speak to all interested
area residents from 10 to 11:30
a.m. Friday, February 24, in a
coffee hour to be held at the
Black Mountain Library
Education Room.
According to a Smith
campaign worker, the social
will be a get-aquainted with a
session with the candidate.
The session will be part of a
two-day visit by Smith to
Western North Carolina that
will include talks in a number
of communities and on the
UNCA campus.
The spokesman said Smith
will welcome all questions
from area residents on the
Smith campaign. The tour of
Western North Carolina is
sponsored by Friends of
McNeil Smith.
Smith is campaigning for the
Senate seat currently held by
Republican Jesse Helms.
Comment through laughs
by Dan Ward
For the last few weeks, the
Blade Mountain News has had
an extra touch of humor and
timely comment on local
issues in the cartoons of John
Baker.
Baker, a student at Mon
treat-Anderson College, plans
to study commercial art and
holds some hopes of breaking
into the exclusive and small
group of professional news
cartoonists.
Although his only ex
perience in cartooning to date
has been on his high school
paper, Baker has shown an
amazing knack for knocking
out simple and poignant
cartoons with only hours
notice.
Baker’s images hit home, as
well as the funny bone. When
a handfull of people showed up
for a grant hearing, Baker’s
depiction was of a meeting
room empty except for a
frustrated chairman and
bored janitor. Baker said he
chose the image over another
idea of depicting citizens
unable to get to the meeting
because of pot-holed streets
and broken water mains.
“I decided to go with the
more positive idea-to support
the committee,’' Baker said.
Often, he must draw more
than one cartoon before he
creates the message he wants.
“One idea will take a
complete drawing," he said.
“If 1 dont like it, I throw it out
and start again,’'he said
Drawing the cartoon is |
relitively simple, he said. The
most difficult part is getting
the idea (or light bulb-as it
were) for the cartoon.
“It’s like a flash of in
spiration,’ ’ Baker said. “I
think about what sort of
message I want to get across
whether to get behind the
issue or poke fun or whatever."
In any case, Baker plans to
continue betting cartooning
experience through the News
and helping us to laugh at
; and better understand ourselv
j es through characature.
John Baker and friend.