Serving—
- 'lifti 15 cents per copy
lUD grant nixed,
but still sought
by Dan Ward
ction of all but two HUD
applications from the
n part of the state,
ng one from Black
am, has caused an
int cry resounding to
gton.
i Mountain’ s ap
n for up to 1700,000 in
nent of Housing and
Development (HUD)
unity Development
funds to install large
ines and fire hydrants
raigmont area was one
ant applications from
n North Carolina
I last week. Pre
ition for the grant,
n community response
ries of hearings, had
been favorably ac
two grants, one in
* and one in Yancey
, were awarded in
n North Carolina
ing to less than 4 per
f the $21 million
i in North Carolina,
ig to Becky Williams,
coordinator for the
Land-of-Sky Regional Council.
U.S. Rep. Lamar Gudger,
whose 11th district en
compasses 17 western
counties, met with 40 area
representatives including
Black Mountain Mayor Tom
Sobol, July 29 to discuss what
appeared an unfair
distribution of HUD funds.
According to Gudger’s of
fice, the congressman has
expressed his “anger and
concem’To HUD officials, and
plans to hold another meeting
to find whether rejection of the
grants was based on
inadequacies in preparing the
applications or inadequacies
in supplying minority or
poverty information.
Ms. Williams said that the
primary reason most western
grants were rejected is that
HUD requirements are based
on urban conditions. To
qualify, a town must show that
a significant number of
minorities are employed by
the municipality and that the
town does business with
minority businesses.
She added that “there is talk
of a second round of funding in
December,’’giving some grant
applications another shot at
funding. Mayor Sobol said he
will urge the Town Board to
re-apply for the grant.
One official source said that
Black Mountain has lost
another $350,000 in Ap
palachian Regional Com
mission funding to build a new
reservoir as a direct result of
the HUD grant denial. Ac
cording to the source, the ARC
grant would be granted if
HUD funding were provided
as a base for town water
improvements.
Gudgerfe office has said that
if a second meeting with area
representatives does not show
HUD’s allocation of funds was
equitable, the congressman
will speak with HUD
Secretary Patricia Harris.
Ms. Williams said the Land
of-Sky Regional Council will,
in the meantime, try to obtain
grants for towns such as Blade
Mountain through the Farmer’
s Home Administration.
Well site rejected,
t water progress made
by Dan Ward
eparations are being
0 put one new well in
>n in Black Mountain,
rs are looking for a
put another one in the
1 rejection by the county
lepartment 6t a second
Mountain Mayor Tom
aid construction will
soon begin on a small building
to house a pump and
chlorinator for a well recently
drilled on the Black Mountain
golf course. Sobol said that
recent tests have shown the
well capable of producing
more water than earlier
estimated — between 30 and 35
gallons per minute. If the
pump were kept running 14
hours per day, the well would
Ground control
'°und hog found himself out of his element
^ was treed by a dog recently. (Dan Ward)
prouuce 10 percent of the town’
s present consumption, Sobol
said. Earlier tests showed the
well could produce only 25
gallons per minute.
Sobol added that a second
well site, behind Pizza Hut on
town property, was officiaUy
disapproved by county health
authorities. The health
department withdrew ten
tative approval of the site last
week when it was discovered
the site was in the flood plain.
Sobol said that engineers
are now examining a spot on
the golf course behind Homer’
s Chapel Baptist Church as a
site for a second well. He said
engineering reports show the
site to be as good as behind
Pizza Hut as a water source.
In other action concerning
water, Sobol said that talks
with Asheville officials con
cerning a year-old $18,000
water bill and Black Mountain’
s claim to Chestnut Cove
water rights have proven to
promising and that the two
municipalities should reach
an agreement in a meeting
August 2.
Sobol said that he and Town
Manager Mack Kirkpatrick
met with Asheville Mayor Roy
Trantham, Assistant City
Manager Billy Woolcott and
Water Superintendent Bill
DeBruhl last week to discuss
water.
The $18,000 Black Mountain
owes Asheville is from a two
week period last year when
the water level at Black
Mountains reservoir dropped
at the height of a draught, and
the town opened connections
with Asheville lines to sup
plement already-rationed
town water.
At the same time, the town
is trying to reach an
agreement with Asheville
concerning wa;er flowing into
Asheville' s North Fork
Reservoir from Chestnut
Cove, where Black Mountain
owns water rights. Sobol said
engineers are now deter
mining the water flow from
Chestnut Cove into the 20
year-old reservoir.
A Black Mountain fire truck demolished a section of a home on Old U S 70
Tuesday. Nobody was hurt in the accident. (See related story) (Dan Ward)
Pumper hits house
Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Mae
Mahan had unexpected guests
August 1 as a Black Mountain
Fire truck moved into one
room of their home at the
comer of Blue Ridge Road and
Old U.S.70.
The truck, driven by
Fireman David Bradley
Norton, was travelling south
on Blue Ridge Road when the
brakes failed. After narrowly
missing a tree, the truck
clipped the edge of the house,
demolishing three walls but
leaving the roof intact.
Neither Norton or Assistant
Chief Sterling Poe, who was in
the passenger seat, was hurt.
State Trooper Albert Allen,
who investigated the accident,
said that the house was a total
loss, having shifted off its
foundation in the accident.
Mrs. MacMahan was at the
other end of the house when
the truck hit.
"I thought something blew
up. I knew my husband was
outside, so I just tried to get
out before the roof fell in,”she
said with some relief.
Fire Capt. Steve King said
that representatives from
American LaFrance will be in
Black Mountain late this week
to assess damage to the
pumper.
Valley Sourwood fest—
parade,contests,dances
by Dan Ward
Plans have been finalized
and various groups are
gearing up for the Swannanoa
Valley Sourwood Festival set
for August 9 - 12.
Festivities begin Wed
nesday, with a golf tour
nament beginning at 8 a.m. at
the Black Mountain Golf
Course. Registration fee is $8.
For more information, contact
Dick Hudson at Black
Mountain Insurance.
Also on Wednesday, a
Sourwood Festival Parade
will begin at the Primary
School field and progress to
WNC Shopping Center,
beginning at 4:30 p.m. Ac
cording to Bob Miller, parade
organizer, 11 floats, a number
of horse-drawn wagons, an
tique cars and two or three
state pageant winners will
take part, along with local
civic groups and fire trucks
from Black Mountain and
Swannanoa. Free ice cream
will be given to children on
Cherry Street after the
parade.
That evening, a street dance
featuring rock and bluegrass
music will be held at the
Swannanoa Ingles.
Beginning Wednesday
morning and continuing all
week, the Old Depot in Black
Mountain will be open and
featuring craft demon
strations and some live music.
Bill Ricketts of the
Nostalgia Store on Cherry
Street is taking registration
for a horseshoe pitching
contest to be held Thursday
and Friday .
A second street dance,
featuring rock and square
dance music, is set for 7:30
p.m. Thursday on Cherry
Street in Black Mountain.
An open market, sponsored
by the Jaycees, begins
operation Friday morning at
the Primary School and
operates through Saturday
evening. Ron Morrow and
Peter Groot of the Jaycees are
in charge of renting booths for
games, food, craft, or
educational exhibits at $30 for
Friday and Saturday.
A swim meet, sponsored by
Clevenger Knitting Mills, will
be held at the Black Mountain
Pool Friday. Ralph Singleton,
pool manager, is taking
registration.
A third street dance is
scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
on Cherry Street.
Two athletic events
highlight Saturday’s activities
with a 4.6 mile marathon run
from Swannanoa to Black
Mountain beginning at 7 a.m.
and a skateboard contest
beginning at 10 a.m. at the
Black Mountain Primary
School. Assistant Police Chief
Jim Wiseman and Steve
Minnick are in charge of each
event, respectively. An
awards ceremony for all
events will be held at 4 p.m.
Ed Weber at the Chamber of
Commerce and Carl Bartlett
at Northwestern Bank in
Black Mountain are co
ordinating events.
(See Schedule inside)
Swannanoa board tries
to end dissention
by Dan Ward
The Swannanoa Volunteer
File Department Board of
Directors met in closed
session July 27, ostensibly to
discuss personnel problems
caused by the time lag bet
ween the election of new of
ficers by the department two
months ago and approval of
those officers by the board of
directors within the next few
weeks.
Grady Rozzell, chairman of
the board, who was not
present at the meeting,
conceded that there have been
personality conflicts within
the department, bin that they
are minor am! cen be worked
out between ft aoe*.
“I can’t sa> w. don't haw£
any problems. Volunteer fire
departments always have and
always will. People who fight
fires are a different breed of
people,"he said.
Rozzell added that to his
knowledge, the board will
approve all of the officers
elected by firemen. He also
said that the board plans to
amend the by-laws soon to
eliminate the two-month gap
between election of officers
and approval by the directors
— shortening the lame-duck
period to less than two weeks.
Barbara Settle, secretary
for the board, would not
comment on discussion at the
July 27 meeting, except that it
concerned personnel. She did
say the entire session was
closed and that no action was
taken.
Voter deadline near
The Buncombe County
Board of Elections has noted
that August 14 is the deadline
Before 1800 at Ridgecrest
Faith spoken just before death
by Dan Ward
The service had been like
many others at Ridgecrest
Baptist Conference Center.
Some 1800 people were
gathered together for an
evening service during a
series of conferences for
Sunday School week- This one
was entitled “Bold Mission.”
A few persons came up at
the conclusion of the service to
testify their faith to the group
hailing from throughout the
Southeast. As Dr. Harry
Pyland and others who had
conducted the service were
about to conclude the service,
Rudy Pavlik, 52, of Columbus,
Ga., walked to the front.
“At the end of the service,
he came up and asked if he
could share his experience
with us,” Dr. Pyland said.
“He had only been a
Christian about three years
and felt very strongly about
his faith,"he continued
“When he was almost
finished, he fell to the floor in a
seizure — his heartbeat was
still there, but very faint,
when we got to him.”
In front of 1800 worshipers.
Pavlik died of a heart attack
m the way his wife later told
Dr. Pyland he would have
wanted to go.
“A preacher can say from
this that you can be prepared
to go at any minute, but I
prefer not to draw any con
clusions from it,’ ’ Dr. Pyland
said.
"Some say all of life is good.
1 don’t believe that. If my
family were to die in a tragic
accident, I certainly wouldn’t
consider that good. I think it
can be good only in one sense
— that God can make me
more like His son.”
“If there is any good in this,
it is that so many can learn
from the tragedy,”Dr. Pyland
said.
The Buncombe County
Ambulance Service took
Pavlik to Veteran’s Hospital in
Oteen, where he was
pronounced dead of cardiac
arrest.
• His family told me he had a
history of heart trouble for
some years, ”Dr. Pyland said.
"The congregation was very
good about it,”he said. “They
remained in their places and
joined in silent prayer for him.
“Some persons, when they
wait until late in life to become
Christians, are very outgoing
in expressing their religious
faith — and that's the way
Rudy was,”Dr. Pyland said.
"When they were building a
new church, he took all the
money out of his bank account
to help pay for it. He was a
very fine man.”
"The last thing he said was
"bold mission,"and that was
the theme of our conference.
Park grant confirmed
by Dan Ward
U.S. Rep. Lamar Gudger’s
effice has confirmed that
Black Mountain has been
awarded a $25,722 Heritage
Conservation and Recreation
Services Grant from the U.S.
Department of Interior to
build a playground, baseball
diamond, tennis courts and
parking area below the lake
Tomahawk dam.
The grant, previously
known as a Bureau of Outdoor
Recreation Grant, had been
confirmed by phone to Town
Manager Mack Kirkpatrick
four weeks ago.
Under tenns of the grant,
Black will have to pay a
matching $25,000 while the NC
Department of Natural
Resources and Human
Development would pay $722.
While the town has already
earmarked $25,000 out of the
1978-79 budget to pay its share,
the town board chose at its last
meeting to freeze funding for
the youth park until after the
September 12 mixeo drink
referendum here, fearing a
loss in ABC revenues would
result in fiscal belt tightening.
for Black Mountain citizens to
register to vote in the Sep
tember 12 liquor-by-the-drink
referendum.
Only persons living inside
the Black Mountain town
limits, precincts 2 and 3, will
be able to vote on the mixed
urink question.
Precinct 3 is that area of
Black Mountain proper west
of Montreat Road and North
Fork Road, and north of State
Street.
Precinct 2 is all parts of the
town east of Montreat Road,
north of North Fork Road, and
south of State Street.
Persons may register to
vote at the Board of Elections
in Asheville.
Registrars, Republican
judges and Democratic judges
for each precinct may also
register persons to vote.
Those persons for Precinct 2
are, respectively, Helene F.
Snider, 669-7083; Richard
Worth Cook, 669-2689 after 8
p.m.; and Francis Harris, 669
8732 days.
For precinct 3, they are
Mary L. Sobol, 669-7329
evenings; Dorothy Fischer,
669-8927; and Aaron F. Belt,
669-2573 after 5 p.m.
Precinct 2 votes at the
Primary School and Precinct
3 votes at the Lake Tomahawk
Clubhouse.