Serving—
' j
at Black Mountain, NC 1 ★ Ridgecrest
nirsday, July 20. 1978 Vol. 24. No. 39 ^n9HMpSr*WllliPi^pllJiyNlBfll . .
.. . 15 cents per copy
7oll shows pro-drink 2-1
by Clint Williams
A random telephone and
reet survey of people who
e within the Black Mountain
y limits, and would be
gible to vote in the Sep
mber 12 mixed-beverage
[erendum, revealed a
[•prising trend in the at
udes of potential voters,
though the sample survey
is not large enough to be
nsidered conclusive, the
most two-to-one margin
voring mixed drinks may
dicate a 180 degree swing in
e political climate com
ired to 1973.
Slightly over W per cent of
use questioned said that if
e referendum were held
day, they would vote in
vor of allowing mixed drinks
be served in restaurants
ating more than 36 and
cial establishments.
•arly 40 per cent of those
lestioned were opposed to
mixed drinks and one per cent
were undecided.
Perhaps the most
significant figure in the poll
was that 64 per cent of those
questioned did not vote in the
1973 state-wide referendum in
which state-wide liquor-by
the-drink was defeated by a
two-to-one margin.
Of the three restaurants in
Black Mountain that could
serve mixed beverages if the
referendum passes on Sep
tember 12, two of them will
probably do so in the future.
“As far as I know,’ ’ said
Frank Gibbons, co-manager
of the Red Rocker Inn, “we’d
be for liquor by the drink. If
we could obtain a license, we
would.”
Peter Kirk, manager of the
Epicure, said that he “would
love to have it,’’but the cost of
hiring a trained bartender and
setting up his restaurant to
serve mixed beverages would
delay his installing liquor by
the drink if the referendum
passes.
The manager of the Coach
House, M’ Della Knight, said
she would have to wait before
she would comment.
Hunt due for
1-40 dedication
Governor Jim Hunt took
part in a ribbon-cutting
ceremony signaling the for
mal dedication of 1-40 from
southeast of Swannanoa to US
70 east of Black Mountain on
Wednesday. July 19. The
Six rescued from
apartment fire
Hack Mountain firemen
re called on to carry out a
cue of six persons from the
oke-filled upstairs apart
nts at Monte Vista Apart
nts early July IS morning,
fire appfe-ewjr started by
jaret dropped on a sofa in
irtment 3, on the first floor,
set the upstairs apart
its to become filled with
oke Firemen Jerry
ins, Tim Rayburn, Pete
Post and Steve King
awakened sleeping tenents on
the second floor and led them
from the building shortly after
arriving at 2:21 a.m. No in
juries were reported. Two
iflai responded,
from fire and
estimated at $1200
ccording to Chief
siad that it was
fortunate nobody was injured
by smoke inhalation in the
incident, and said that
damage and danger could
have been reduced if smoke
detectors had been installed in
Black Mountain firemen
made one otter run last week.
On July 10, two engines and 22
men responded to a fire in a
dryer at Ridgecrest Boys
Camp.
Second well planned
Black Mountain Town
lanager Mack Kirkpatrick
lid Tuesday that approval
as been granted by the
uncombe County Health
Department for the town to
drill a second well on town
property behind Pizza Hut on
US 70.
Kirkpatrick said that a
Stvann&noa Fire
The Swannanoa Fire
epartment made only one
m last week.
Two trucks and 14 men
responded to a false alarm on
• New Salem Road on July 17.
second well is needed because
the first one, recently drilled
near the 17 green at Black
Mountain Golf Course,
produces only 25 gallons per
minute.
Drilling of wells to sup
plement water supplied by the
town'is reservoir was approved
by the Black Mountain Town
Board as a means of heading
off a water shortage similar to
the one suffered last summer.
Kirkpatrick said that he is
taking bids for drilling the
second well. The first was
drilled by Cauldwell Well
Drilling.
segment was opened to traffic
on June 30 prior to the July 4
holiday traffic.
The ceremony, scheduled
for 1:30 a.m. was held 1 mile
east of NC-9 and 1 % miles
west of Ridgecrest.
North Carolina Tran
sportation Secretary Tom
Bradshaw, who presided at
the ceremony, said, “The
early completion of this
project reflects the Governor’s
commitment to construct
east-west corridors linking the
mountains to the piedmont
and the ports. We view this
important link as a vital
element in attracting ad
ditional tourism and trade to
the western part of the state.
In addition,’ ’ Bradshaw con
cluded, “we owe a special
thanks to Asheville Paving
Companyand A». Burton tad
Company for their
cooperation in moving ahead
to get the job completed.' ’
The 4.2 mile segment of this
project was constructed by
Asheville Paving Company,
and the 2.2 mile portion was
contracted to A.B . Burton
Company. Total construction
cost of this project was $12.5
million.
Storm clouds gather over the In-the-Oaks Golf Course. (Charlie Taylor)
Blue Heaven draws hungry rock hounds
by Clint Williams
Millions and millions of
years ago, the surrounding
Blue Ridge Mountains
towered higher than the
present day Rorfces.' Wtod,
water, glaciers, and time
slowly broke the mountains
down. Through the eons,
pieces of the mountains
migrated downward,
traveling with immeasureable
slowness and undeniable
certainty. Many of those
rolling stones stopped and
gathered moss on a piece of
property off of McCoy Cove
Road known as “Blue Heaven’
y
About three years ago,
Charfotte LeVirie discovered
that her property was listed as
an area with concentrated
deposits of kyanite and blue
corundum in a geological
survey published by the state
of North Carolina in 1958.
Until then, the only indication
Mrs. LeVine had that her
property contained mineral
deposits was the midnight
chipping of clandestine rock
hounds.
“People would come while
we were away and chip away
at the large stone the children
used as a stepping stone to get
on our horses,’ ’ said Mrs.
LeVine.
The stone she referred to is
a miniature monilith that lies
in her rock garden in her front
yard. It is now about half it’s
original size, according to
Mrs. LeVine.
Mrs. LeVine’s research into
Two arrested after chase
A high-speed automobile
chase involving the Black
Mountain Police Department
ended in the arrest of two
youths the evening of July 14.
The chase ran along Flat
Creek Road and Old Toll
Road, with both cars traveling
at 70 to 80 miles per hour,
according to arresting Det. D.
R. Ramsey. At one point in
the chase, the two cars ran
along side of each other,
alternately forcing the other
car onto the shoulder of the
road.
Walter F. Tipton, Jr., 16,
was charged with reckless
driving, failure to yield to a
blue light and misdemeaner
possession of marijuana.
Riding in the car with Tipton
was Jame Howard Stafford
who was charged with
misdemeaner possession of
marijuana.
On July 15, the Black
Mountain Police Department
served a warrant on Kenneth
Allen Owenby for possession
Bead craft journeys herefrom 5000BC Egypt
by Dan Ward
Image — An Egyptian ar
tlsan. his skin bronze and
glistening in the sun, squats
over a flat stone rolling a
faintly striped clay worm,
cutting it afterwards into
beds, which he strings for
baking in a primitive kiln.
The year, 5000 B.C.
Another image — Black
Mountain native Kay Cole,
rolling the same dull clay on a
wooden table at the Qierry
Street Framery. The
minerals are the same, the
technique is the same, but
Kay makes use of a modem
electric kiln.
“There is something about
beads that appeals to
everyone. One time, a man in
his 70’s bought a string, took
off his tie, and put them
around his neck,'’she said.
The uniqueness of the
Egyptian beads, Kay said, is
the fact that no paints or
glazes are used to give them
their shiny, bright colors.
Different minerals mixed in
the clay turn color and salts in
the mixture melt to form a
natural glaze in the firing
process.
"To get different blues, I
add different amounts of
cobalt carbon, for purples, I
add manganese dioxide,’' she
gave as examples.
After she rolls the beads
from pre-mixed batches of
clay in labeled containers, she
strings them on wire to dry.
The salts that form the glazing
rise to the surface and give the
beads and pendants she
makes a powdered ap
pearance. At that stage,
there is no way of telling
which will be a red bead, or a
striped bead, or a yellow bead,
or whatever.
The brilliant products that
emerge from the kiln defy
their drab origins.
Kay has been making the
beads for over two years, and
now travels regularly to craft
shows throughout Western
North Carolina selling them.
She didn't have to go to an
Egyptian to learn the art.
“I was staying on the Outer
Banks, and I became friends
there with a girl who made the
beads. She showed me how to
make them.
“She came to the mountains
during the summer for a visit.
She told me then she wanted to
sell the kiln and supplies —
she was going to graduate
school.
“I bought them, not knowing
if I’d make 10 beads or 10,000,”
she said.
Tens of thousands of beads
later, Kay is glad she left
alcoholic counseling to
become a full-time bead
maker.
“This part is tedious,
mixing the ingredients.
Producing beads gets to be
old. The fun part is putting
them in jewelry — trying to
come up with something
different.
“I put them in earrings,
necklaces, wall hangings,
mobiles... I want to start
putting them in silver, but that'
s an expense I'm not ready for,’
'she said.
A member of the High
Country Crafters and the Toe
River Crafts group, Kay finds
herself meeting with, and
being inspired by, crafters
and craft fans throughout the
area.
“I think the thing I like most
about working with beads is
meeting people at shrws. Not
knowing who I will meet has
been exciting. People have
been really nice,''she said.
of Phentermine. In the
course of serving the warrant,
police searched the vehicle of
Owenby and found a
misdemeaner quanity of
marijuana.
Black Mountain Police
investigated three accidents,
issued seven citations, and
made two arrests for DUI last
week. The department
received 282 calls.
the mineral deposits on her
property, after die found out
that they were there, revealed
that more than a doeen dif
ferent minerals could be found
on her property. Among the
minerals found on the
grounds of "Blue Heaven,’ ’
Mrs. LeVine’s nickname for
her mountain retreat, are the
precious minerals kyanite,
garnet and blue corundum —
better known as sapphire.
Mrs. LeVine’s neice, Judy
Leffe, shared her interest in
the new discovery and went
into searching and resear
ching full force.
“You get the fever,’ ’ Judy
explained,"and it’s all over. I
had the fever when I first
came here and it’s wild. But it
gets tiring.”
At the peak of their ex
citement over the possibility
of finding sapphires, Mrs.
LeVine and Judy “covered
almost every inch’ ’ of the 50
plus acres of the property.
There was even the possibility
of opening up a commercial
mining operation, a place
where tourists could come and
pay by the bucket for the
chance of finding a star
sapphire.
But the enthusiasm soon left
the dreamy discussions.
“The insurance man really
didn’t give her (Mrs. LeVine)
a good feeling about having
peopSf hvre.'said Ms.
The legal and financial
liabilities of a commercial
operation made the project
impractical for the residents
of “Blue Heaven’! And there
were a aesthetic con
siderations.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to
open a mine and com
mercialize this area with all
the tourists. It’s such a lovely,
lovely area.”Mrs. LeVine said.
There was still another
reason the mining project
wasn’t persued.
“We don’t want to go out
there and dig ditches and
holes trying to find a rock. It’s
hard work! Who wants to do
it?”Judy Leffe exclaimed.
Hard work, liability, and
more importantly, the desire
to preserve something more
precious than any mineral —
privacy and natural beauty —
has kept Mrs. LeVine from
exploiting the mineral
deposits found on her
property. The rock-hounds
may grieve, but for Mrs.
LeVine, the riches of “Blue
Heaven” are not found in the
dirt.
Valley phone book set
Officials from Southern Ben
unveiled plans to publish a
Valley-oriented telephone
directory to community
representatives at a dinner
meeting held July 13 at the
Red Rocker Inn.
The new directory would
place listings for Black
Mountain, Montreat, Swan
nanoa and Ridgecrest at the
front of the book and include
Yellow Page listings of
Swannanoa Valley businesses
seperate from those of the
metropolitan Asheville area.
Street dance
set for Saturday
A street dance sponsored Dy
the Town of Black Mountain,
has been planned for Saturday
evening, July 22, according to
Black Mountain Kecreator
Keith Osteen.
The dance, to begin at 7 30
p in., will be held on
Richardson Boulevard bet
ween State and Sutton Streets
The Stoney Creek Boys will
play Bluegrass square dan
cing music. An exhibition will
be given by the Pisgah View
Ranch Dancers. Wolford
Johnson will call. There is no
admission charge.
Another dance has been
scheduled for August 19,
Osteen said.
Local merchants would also
be included in the Yellow
Pages of the Asheville
directory. The books
distributed throughout the
Valley would have two white
page sections and two Yellow
Page sections. The first of
each of these sections would
be devoted exclusively to the
residences and businesses of
the Valley.
The cover of the new phone
book would depict a scene that
pertains specifically to the
area served by the directory.
Because of the restricted
circulation of the new book,
advertising rates for area
merchants in the first section
of Yellow Pages would be
approximately ore-third the
rate currently barged, ac
cording to Bell fficials.
The represenlatives present
seemed very receptive to the
proposal and Montreat Aid.
Andy Andrews and Black
Mountain Aid. Michael Begley
pointed out that the new
uirectory could be the
“vehicle to pull the Valley's
communities together ”