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Thursday, September 14, 1978, Vol 24, No. 47 Bl"^■■1!l,,,■>,■l■■■,l■■■■■ll■■
—^— --- lSrpnts nprrnnv
Booze bombs out
Pet it ion,p arking
head board action
by Du Ward
A packed house and a
television news crew were
disappointed when the liquor
by-the-drink referendum
surfaced for only a few
seconds during the shortest
-egular town Board meeting
n Black Mountain in months
September 11.
Mayor Tom Sobol made the
snly comments on Tuesday’s
eferendum, repeating that
he board had never officially
aken a stand on liquor-by-the
Irink, but only gave the people
i chance to decide on the
uue. All comments made to
nedia were personal, not
fficial views on the subject,
le said. - There was no
espouse from the audience.
The most controversial
eacehil *meeSTg"'waT",2r*"
r,nouncement Of a petition
gned by nine ’ downtown
lerchants complaining of
isruptive behavior by
atrons of the Arcade on State
treet
The merchants complained
at youths at the arcade were
draining in public, Uttering,
shouting obscenities st
passing drivers, and urinating
on nearby buildings.
Bill Ricketts, owner of die
arcade, called the complaints
unjustified. He did not day
that such behavior took place,
but said that the incidence of it
had been blown out of
proportion. He added that the
youths behave weD while in
die business, and that some
have been permanently
kicked out
Ricketts dted lack of law
enforcement and a lack of
“things to do here for
younger people” as the cause
of problems there. J
Aid. A.F. Tyson countered,
saying the young people
should be home reading or use
growing s* there was toe
much to do here,"Tyson said.
The rest of the board
seemed to agree with a
statement by Mayer Tom
Sobol that police will have to
provide “better control’ ’ on
State Street
Two Hoar Parking
Following a report by Town
Manager Mack Kirkpatrick
that free two-hour parking
downtown “began as a
headache’’but shows promise
as encouraging downtown
shopping, the board chose to
install two-hour free parking
signs and permanently bag
meter heads. The board
chose, however, not to remove
the meters until the two-hour
parking system proves itself.
Kirkpatrick noted that
many merchants have
refrained from parking in
front of stores, but are now
taking prime spaces in free
off-street parking lots. Most
are parking in out of the way
places to accomadate
customers, he added. ^ ^
Tfee board decided not to act
4ii a suggestion by Howard
Rogers, thnx«t> Aid. Ruth
Brandon, to re-evaluate a
proposal to aet toe number of
terms a person may be re
appointed to a board, die ABC
continued on page 8
Early turnout was heavy at the Lake Tomahawk poll. (Dan Ward)
Horse,horseman, promoter equal winning team
by Dan Ward
As Johnny Fore of Swan*
nanoa will tell you, it takes
more than a great horse to win
a world title in racking horse
competitian.
It takes promotion. And a
good rider of course.
Those who watched Fore’s
horse, Sam Spade, a sleek
stallion black as midnight,
rji the N.C. championship for
lour year-olds at Monte Vista
Farms two weeks ago realized
tot Fore has worked hard to
nake Sam Spade a familiar
tame in the stables. Banners,
T-shirts and applause of the
itowd showed the horse was a
“P contender.
When Sam Spade took the
'serve, or second place,
Forld Title for three-year-olds
u< year, an old-timer in
»rse show told Fore that the
erse would have taken a first
■he judges had recognized
im.
They are all saying to
themselves that this could just
be a good day for the horse —
he may be terrible tomorrow,”
Fore said.
After that, Fore set out to
get the best, and best-known,
rider-trainer in the business
and to get the word out that
Sam Spade is champion
material.
“I read all the magazine
articles about racking horses
and learned about Larry
Thomas. To my knowledge,
he’s the only person who has
won a world title and a grand
world title— and he did them
both last year. I said,‘well, if
1 could get this fellow to ride
my horse, I' 11 stand a fair
chance.”
After Sam Spade proved
himself to be champion
material to Thomas, the 24
year-old Alabama rider
trainer agreed to see what he
could do. Since then, Sam
Spade this year has won 14
blue ribbons and three red in
state championships and large'
charity shows. His closest
competitor has won only three
blues.
Included in this year’ s
trophies are first places in
Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois,
Georgia, South Carolina, and
most recently here in Black
Mountain, the North Carolina
title. September 27 to 30,
Fore, Thomas and Sam Spade
go to Decatur, Ala., to com
pete for the coveted World
Title of Backing Horses.
Racking horses, in general
are being promoted by Fore
even more than his own horse
in particular. He was given a
plaque by the N.C. Racking
Horse Breeders Association
for promoting the relatively
new breed.
Racking horses first started
competing only seven years
ago, Fore said. The rack is an
unusual gait that is part
natural and part taught. Any
breed of horse that shows a
natural racking ability can be
registered now, though Fore
predicts that the breeders’
books will be closed soon.
“When we get enough
registered racking horses we’
11 close the books,’’ Fore said.
“Then, the only way you’ll be
able to get a registered
racking horse is to breed a
registered stud to a registered
mare. That’s when the stud
fees will get high.”
Most racking horses now
are bred from Tennessee
Walking Horses, and Sam
Spade is no exception. His
grandfather was a grand
world champion Tennessee
Walker.
Fore, who has ridden since
he was 13, has had a number of
show horses, but is new to the
calibre of competition Sam
Spade faces. He said the
decision to get a professional
trainer and rider for the horse
was a difficult one.
“Since I've got this good of a
horse, I wouldn’t want to do
him an injustice by riding him
myself. Me being in business,
I can’t show my horse and
condition him. This horse has
to be worked every day,” he
said.
The hardest part is leaving
the stallion in Alabama —
though Fore said he has been
down to watch the horse work
out a number of times this
summer.
Fore said he first saw Sam
Spade when the horse was a
colt Even at that time, he
said he saw what he calls
"bloom’’, the stature and spirit
of a winner, in the youngster.
After watching the horse
compete for months, and its
price tag go up $1000 at each
win, Fore bought the horse.
“I decided that if I was
going to buy the horse, I’d
better do it right away or I
wouldn't be able to afford him,’
Fore paid.
Fore made up for his
hesitation in buying Sam
Spade with some sharp horse
dealing'for his full younger
year old by offering rewards,
through auctioneers and
private sales to a huge pasture
in Missouri where the stallion
was running wild with a herd.
“I didn’t lie, but I didn’t let
the fellow who owned him
know what he had, either,’ ’
Fore said. He won’t say how
mucji he paid for the un
trimmed, burr-covered horse,
but “it wasn’t very much.”
“My trainer had that colt 60
days, and now he says ’I think
we’ ve got another world
champion on our hands,’
Fore said.
Now that championship
competition is in his blood,
Fore, owner of Burger Hutt in
Black Mountain, said he plans
to begin breeding racking
horses for a whole line of
world champions.
“It’s a lot more fun when
your hobby turns into
something that pays.'Tie said.
“It’s always more fun when
you’re winning, of course.”
I r°ome Donnie Thomas, Rider-Trainer Larry Thomas and Johnny Fore with
* aovv-famous Sam Spade. At right, Thomas rides Sam Spade to a blue
bon at Monte Vista last month.
2 to 1 in Precinct 2,
passes in Precinct 3
By Dan Ward
Mixed drink proponents
stood outside the Lake
Tomahawk Clubhouse and
complained among them
selves how so many could be
taken in by false advertising
by Black Mountain Concerned
Citizens, an anti-mixed drink
group, but none seemed too
surprised that mixed drinks
were voted down by a fairly
large margin September 12.
Mayor Tom Sobol, who has
favored mixed drinks here,
listened as the others com
mented on hypocritical
ministers and scare tactics.
He did’t appear too upset over
die outcome.
“ The people decided this
one, so there isnt much to say
about it. I guessa a 60 per cent
turnout is pretty respectable ’
ha said. ■' ' ..
Sobol was at th« clubhouse,
the poll for Precinct 3, when
the voting results were
checked on the machines. A IS
vote majority, 329 - 314 for
mixed drinks, caused little
elation for pro-drink poll -
watchers there.
“ Wed guessed a long time
ago that wed have to win here
by 150 votes to pass,’he said,
suggesting that pro-drink
forecasters expected the
referendum to fail in the
second precinct, with polls at
the Primary School.
The vote at the Primary
School was a decisive 2 to 1
againist mixed drinks, 335 -
148.
While 643 out of 1175
registered voters turned out in
the third precinct, or about 55
per cent, 484, or -53 per cent
voted in Precinct 2.
Some observers attributed
the outcome to a lower than
expected turnout and to a high
number of elderly voters,
considered to be primarily
anti-drink. Approximately
half of Black Mountain^ voters
are over 50 years old. . Four
fifths of the votes were In
before 5 p.m. Tuesday, the
time working persons
traditionally rush to the polls.
Sobol was unwilling to say
why he thought the referen
dum was defeated. Although
he noted that the anti-mixed
drink campaign had a good
deal to do with it, he would not
say that a prodrink coalition
would have helped the
referen^mMo^ass.
the dam now, I just dont know,
he said. •
Sobol did note that if a
petition for a referendum to
close the ABC Store is revived,
it would meet with much
stiffer opposition.
The Rev. Edgar Ferrell,
chairman of Black Mountain
Concerened Citizens, did not
seem very surprised at the
outcome, either.
“ I think it shows sound
judgement on the part of the
majority”he said. “I don’t
jhink it indicates we are
against progress, or that we
are against good restaurants.
It just shows we are going to
evaluate what real progress
Ferrell said the the com
mittee campaigned evenly
throughout town, and could
not explain why voting was so
lopsided in one precinct and
not the other.
Early morning voting
was heavy in both precincts,
with approximately 10 per
cent of all registered voters
casting their votes. By 2 p.m.,
voting at both precincts was
still about even, with 39 per
cent of die voters reporting at
Precinct 2 and 31 per cent at
Precinct 3.
At that stage, election
judges at Lake Tomahawk
said they had no way of
knowing whether the vote was
mainly pro or can mixed
drinks.
“They just aren't saying,”
one lodge said. "1 know how
Unit voted, but that’a htiranti
they are my aaShBors.”
Meanwhile/ voters at
Precinct 2 were apparently
less secretive about their
ballots.
“It seems to be running
about even, from what they
are saying,” one judge com
mented.
In a state-wide referendian
on mixed drinks in 1973, Black
Mountain voters defeated the
proposer 619496. However,
the town voted In its ABC
Store three years later by a
narrow margin.
By Tuesday morning, no
organized efforts on the part
of proponents was yet ap
parent
Three youths charged
Two juveniles have been
arrested and one is being
sought in connection with a
series of burglaries shortly
after the three ran away from
the Juvenile Evaluation
Center in Swannanoa last
week.
Two boys who were later
picked up in Morgan ton have
been charged with two counts
of breaking and entering and
two counts of larceny each in
connection with break-ins at
the Dairy King and at Leisure
World on State Street in Black
Mountain September 7.
According to police, the two
boys, plus one who is still at
large, entered Dairy King
through a wndow in the back
and took cartons of cigarettes
and about $100 in change. The
three also broke into the ap
parrel store and took a
change of clothes each and
jewelry valued at $172, beside
causing $200 damage to the
back door in gaining entry,
police said. The three are also
suspected of stealing cars in
Ridgecrest and Swannanoa.
Two were aged IS and the
third is 14. Some of the
property was recovered,
police said.
Det Don Ramsey said two
15-year-old Black Mountain
youths were charged Sep
tember 7 with 'arreny of a
bicycle. He niu they were
anight stripping the bike far
parts. Ramsey said he la
investigating the possibility
that the youths were Involved
in some of the other 20-odd
bicycle thefts reported this
year.
Black Mountain Primary
School experienced vandalism
September 10 when persons
broke the glass door to the
cafeteria and scattered food
about the floor, police
reported. There are no
suspects yet
Police responded to one
accident involving a minor
injury and received 235 calls
last week.
Black Mountain fire
Black Mountain firemen
made four runs last week.
Approximately $800 damage
resulted from a fire in a car
driven by Mary Pezant on
Sutton Avenue in Black
Mountain September 9. One
engine and IS men responded
A fire caused by a welder
caused $250 damage to rolls of
baling twine at Garland
Landscaping on September 17.
One engine and 15 men
responded.
A second car was a total loss
after a fire on US70 near
Ridgecrest the morning of
September 9. Two engines
and 12 men responded to that
fire.
An overheated stove was
reported at 136 S. Ridgeway
Ave., September 10. One
engine and three men
responded. That incident ia
under investigation.
The Buncombe County
Ambulance Service made five
routine and one emergency
run last week
Swan nano a fire
The Swannanoa Fire
Department made two run*
last week.
On September 4, 14 men
responded to a call for
assistance at the Abby Scott
residence on Rockdale
Avenue.
On September 6, seven men
assisted the county am
bulance in an emergency call
on Wilson Avenue.
Fireman of the Month for
July ia Gene Garriion, who
resides with his wife and
family on Bee Tree Road and
is employed at Swannanoa
Flower Shop. For the month of
August, Roger Patton is
fireman of the Month. Patton
is employed by Daniels
Graphics and lives with his
parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Woodrow Patton, on Wilson
Avenue.