Thursday, November 23, 1978, Vo!. 25, No. 5
15 cents per copy
Second ciass postage patd
tBtack Mountatn.
* Black Mountain
*Swannanoa
* Montreat
^ Ridgecrest
Bee Tree fish kill studied
Modern day Piigrims and Indian /rom a speciai Thanksgiving program at Swannanoa bchooi.
by DM Ward
Laboratory testing con
tinues into the source %
contamination that killed an
estimated 6000 fish in Bee
Tree Creek and the Swan
nanoa River November 18 and
19.
According to Mike Parker,
who investigated the kili for
the Environmental
Management Division of the
Department of Natural
Resources, the results of an
investigation completed by
him and of testing to be dote
in Raleigh will be present*^)
the EnviroMHsa#^l
Management Con * *
apon to
^any fine.yiUbei
the contamination.
Parker said Ms testing has
* determined the cause of dea#
and source of the pollution, b)A
that results cannot be released
^except by the commission
after it has met on the in
' cident That meeting may be
more than a month from now
because of a backlog of
analylses in Raleigh.
A possibte source of the
contamination is Chem
tronics, Inc., wMch, along
with Winston Mills and Owen
Manufacturing, is located
upstream of dte MU -near
Warren WUson College.
In a statement released by
Tom Hildebrand, president of
Chemtronics, It was noted that
an accidental spill of a portion
of 360 gallons of sulfuric add
occurred at the plant
November 10, and was
discovered later that day.
According to Hildebrand,
settling in a holding tank for
the add indicated that a
capadty for an additional 1000
gallons existed, when it did
not. Some add transferred to
the tank Satsrday overflowed
from the and leached into
canstt, where employees
some fish had been
silled. A? emergency dam
was buiit^ contain the runoff
and stateitnd local authorities
were contacted that day, he
aid . Tests of ate water in Bee
free Creak Sunday indicated
that todp ievds of sulfuric
add did not exist in the creek
then, dte statement read.
According to Parker, OS per
cent of the fish killed were
rough fish, while 5 per cent
were brim and bass. He said
reports that many catfish
were killed were incorrect.
The kill is the second in the
Swannanoa River in four
Ho/MMfeers—^oo J pro b/ems
by Dan Ward
If the drawbacks to using
parent volunteers in public
schools came close at all to
outweighing the advantages,
it is doubtful that volun
teerism would be so heavily
pushed by the governor's
office. Governor Jim Hunt,
himself, works for a few hours
each week as a volunteer
reading aid in Raleigh Public
Schools - and uses every
opportunity to encourage
others to do the same.
The disadvantages,
however, do exist.
The greatest qualm about
parent volunteers , as seen by
principals and volunteers in
valley schools, comes from
the teachers. Teachers,
especially those who have
Seen the sole authority in a
ciassroom for years,
sometimes worry that
volunteer parents are
evaluating their performance
* placing them on a stage.
According to valley prin
cipals, such fears have little
effect in schools here.
In all the classes where we
have volunteers working with
teachers, I've never heard of a
problem, "said Gene Dellinger
ef Black Mountain Grammar
School.
Jerry Green of Black
Mountain Primary School said
the feeling of being evaluated
has been voiced, but that a
realization by parents that
teachers are human, too 'has
lessened the discomfort and
opened communications.
wannanoa School Principal
Btll Williams said he has only
once had to move a parent
volunteer to a non-classroom
position because of conflicts
with a teacher.
"Before we start a new
person, I'll talk to the
voiunteers as f wouid sub
stitute teachers and teU them
to treat their own children and
neighbors professionally,''
Williams said. "Aid: of
principals would consider
parents coming in as med
dling - not so here. "
Carver School takes an
unusual approach in that
parents are encouraged to
work in their own children's
classes, and criticism of the
teachers is expected.
"It's encouraged, "said one
volunteer "It's constructive
criticism. You've got to
remember, also, that the
evaluation works both ways.
The teacher gets a better idea
of what sort of family iife this
child comes from. "
Volunteers at Carver
pointed out suggestions and
criticism, when offered on a
daily bads, do not amount to
the crisis situation that might
develop when a parent only
teams how the child is doing at
report card time.
"You become friends with
the teachers - you're com
municating. It's not a one-day
judgement, "one said.
Another problem, but one
that all principals said did not
exist in schools here, is a
reluctance on the part of
administrators and teachers
to have outsiders'' viewing
procedures at their schools.
Williams summed up the
general attitude by saying, "If
we re doing something wrong,
we'd change it - but we re not
going to hide it."
Bossy or overprotective
parents have never existed in
voiunteer programs in the
schoois here, aii said.
The advantages of voiun
teerism go beyond supplying
heipers to teachers, although
that is the primary purpose.
"Volunteers can work with
individual reading groups or
slow learners. They get a lot
of individual attention that
way - especially children who
need it, "said Marie Kaplan, a
volunteer at Carver.
Most volunteers in the
valley work with small
reading groups, working on
specific reading deficiencies.
While individualised teaching
is an obvious advantage, the
volunteers provide a bonus in
morale.
"1 feel one of the greatest
contributions a volunteer
makes is his or her attitude. It"
s usually optimistic and en
couraging. Their presence
brings a really uplifted ap
preciation to staff as well as
students,"' said Betty Budd,
principal and teacher at
Carver
"The student being tutored
is eager to please the volun
teers and makes an extra
effort as a result, "she added.
The morale boost works both
ways.
"!t" s an exciting thing,
seeing a child improve as a
result of your help," ' said
Landy Qualls, a Carver
volunteer and former teacher
"They are always doing a lot
of fun things here ! always
feel 1 don't want to miss being
here."
Parents, too. learn by
teaching
"By getting mothers to
come and work with the
children, they can better
understand the program,' '
according to Deilinger.
A more unique case of a
parent teaming by teaching
occurred at Black Mountain
Primary School, where Great
said one mother once taught
reading and improved her own
reading ability in the process.
Green said the moraie
aspect is very important in
volunteer help "The kids eat
up hearing someone say. You
read that good, "he said.
The role of volunteer itself
makes volunteers a whole
different aspect of education.
Ali principals agreed that
volunteers do not represent
authority as much as a
"grown-up helper' ' to the
children
"We are more iike buddies,"
said one Carver volunteer.
She explained that volunteers
work under the instructions of
the teacher, who
diplomatically guides
volunteers and students into a
relationship that is not quite
teacher-student nor parent
child.
Both parent and teacher
qualities are called for.
"Sometimes all you have to
do is pat them on the hand or
sit down beside them to
relieve their frustrations,"said
one Carver volunteer of her
rapport with the children.
At Carver, where volun
teerism is integral to the
teaching system used, another
Cent- on page 9
A vo!unteer /rom Owen High Schooi reads to youngsters at Biach Mountain
Primary Schooi. fDan Ward)
man ms.
A spiU of industrial cleaner
killed approximately 225
brown trout, moot of them
stocked only the day before, la
the Swannanoa River in Black
Mountain August 14.
Max Haner, a chemist with
the Environmental
Management Division, said
(hat the MM waa apparently
caused by a detergent washed
into CM Blade Mountain storm
aewera by Black Mountain
firemen and rain after a drum
of the chemical spilled in a
truck on Richardaon
Boulevard. No Hnea were
imposed in that incident
because the source could not
be verified, nor blam6
established in the incident, be
said.
Fines by the commission
consist only of the cost of
restoring the river and
restocking fish killed, if the
incident is determined to be
accidental, Haner said.
Lahe Susan was owes again a crater !ast weeh whew it was drained to
repiace /H! that had washed out at the base o/ the dam. The contractor who
repaired the dam iast year repiaced dirt /ii! with ciay at no cost to the
Mountain Retreat Association. (Dan Ward)
Acre
by Dan Ward
Black Mountain and
Montreat water supplies
remain critically abort, but
appear to be at almost the
same level as last week,
following moderate raina
rriday.
According to Black
Mountain Town Manager
Mack Kirkpatrick, the water
level at the reservoir is down
U feet, almost a foot below
last week. He said the level
may drop as low as IS feet
before It could no longer be
used.
Progress on a new well at
the golf course was set back
when the drill struck rock
early this week, he said.
However, as of Tuesday, the
drill was past rock and down
to 200 feet. Although Black
ABC profits
down 13! %
Following an unexplainabie
slump in saies for October, the
Black Mountain ABC board
once again discussed the
possibility at converting to a
aeif-eervice operation.
W.L. Wheeion, manager of
the store, toid the board that
sales for last month were
down 12 to 13 per cent from the
year before. Since the
opening of 1-40, and previous
to last month, sales averaged
5 to 7 per cent beiow last year,
he said.
Wheeion said that there is a
possibility that he will obtain
estimates at the beginning of
neat year to find the coat of
converting the misting stare
to seUrsarvtee. He said
reports from existing self
service store! in North
Carolina indicate sales couid
increase by IS to 20 per cent
Wheelon said he couid not
explain the October slump,
but said that business for
November has been bach at
the previous norm
The board will meet next on
December 20 at 4 p.m at the
store.
Mountain haa not begun using
Asheville water, that
possibility may not be far off,
he said.
"If we don't hit water over
there (at the new weli) soon,
or get more rain, weTi have to,'
'Kirkpatrick said. "The rain
Friday helped ua a littie, but
not as much as a person might
think."
John Lewis, superintendent
for the Mountain Retreat
Association water system,
said streams feeding the
water system remain at the
same ievei as last week.
"The rain helped over the
weekend when we had a crowd
up here, but we' re back to
where we were now.
"Folks seem to be
cooperating, but we've still got
a few carwashers,"Lewis said.
He said some people have
been individually asked to cut
back on water use.
Despite little rainfall over
the past four months,
Ridgecrest, supplied by wells
at the Ridgecrest Assembly,
has not suffered critical water
shortages
Sorry—we re closed
The o/fice /or the Biach Mountain News wiii be
cioeed aii day Thursday /or Thanhsgiving. News
and advertising oniy wiii be tahen Friday,
November M, /rom 9 a m. untii noon. Normai o/fice
hours o/9a.m. to 5 p.m. wiii resume on Monday.