God bless us everyone
Second ctass postage paid
at Biactt Mountain. NC 28711
Thursday. December 21. 1978. Vo! 25. No. 8
Serving—
i*r Black Mountain
*Swannanoa
^ Montreat
^ Ridgecrest
15cents per copy
McMahans seff/e
/br o^br
B)ack Mountain Town At
torney William Eubanks said
that Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Mc
Mahan, whose home was
destroyed by a Black
Mountain Fire truck August 1,
have finally accepts an offer
for damages proposed by the
Town Board.
Eubanks said John Mc
Mahan. son of the couple,
catted his office Monday and
said that the couple will ac
cept an offer for (22,500 made
by the board. A retease is
expected to be signed this
week or early next week.
The board had rejected a
compromise figure of (25,000
from the McMahans iast
week, and set a tO-day iimit for
acceptance of the $22,500
figure.
The town wiii actually pay
$12,500 while the town's in
surance company, Maryland
Casualty, will pay $10,000.
Mayor Tom Sobol said that
the town's share will be paid
out of incoming tax revenues -
Jue by the end ot the month.
He said he expects enough
cash flow to come in during
the next two weeks to cover
the amount the town wiii pay.
The McMahans had
originaiiy asked almost
(30,000 an amount they said
was spent to replace the
house, valued at (16,870. A
majority of the board has
maintained that it is not
legally obligated to any
amount above the (10,000
insurance coverage.
Rescue team cuts
woman from car
A mack Mountain woman
suffered onty minor injuries
sfter being trapped for 20
ninutes in her crushed
Voikswagen bus December i5.
Btack Mountain Fire and
Rescue personnei had to cut
Kendra Woife from the bus
with an air chisei after her
vehicie was invoived in an
accident with a truck
beionging to Lowe's Lumber
Company on Sunset Drive.
She was pinned in by the dash
and steering whee) of the bus.
Four vehicies and 20 men
were invoived in the rescue.
The Biack Mountain Fire
Department was invoived in
seven other runs.
One engine and four men
were called for assistance at
Northwestern Bank on
Montreat Road December i3.
Also, that day, two engines
and 15 men responsed to a
report of a house fire at 1005
Mon treat Road, but found only
a controlled
burning in the back yard.
Also that day, two engines and
19 men responded to a brush
fire on Green briar Road at 1
40 that was apparently started
by a discarded cigarette.
A cutting torch apparently
started a fire at the American
Parborard Plant on US 70
West on December 14. Two
engines and 20 men respon
ded. Minor damage was
reported. Also that day, Two
engines and i5 men assisted
the U S. Forest Service on a
brush fire east of Ridgecrest
on Old US 70.
On December i5. one engine
and 26 men responded to a
faise alarm at 708 Ninth Street
caused by a smoke alarm that
had been accidentally ac
tivated.
No damage was reported
from a chimney fire at a home
on Laurel Lane December 17.
One engine and 17 men
responded.
The Buncombe County
Ambulance Service made nine
routine, one emergency and
three unneeded runs last
week.
She Spirit of ^hriotma^
A shetch by Biach Mountain artist WiHiam Chrtstma^M^riiheinT^hought^r^hWstmas
Wiiheim captures the simpiicity and majesty that is appear on page 2. ,
Trailblazer still protects nature at 81
by Dan Ward
Kenneth Durant in one of
those many persons in the
Swannanoa VaUey who looks
at retirement as something
other than an excuse to lay
around.
At ieast once each month he
hikes a few miles on the trails
tn Christmount to check on the
watershed and to keep the
trails maintained for summer
campers.
What makes him all the
more remarkable, though, is
that most of those trails were
planned, cleared, and marked
by him after his retirement
from a position as chemist for
the rubber industry.
"There was one short trait
when1 came down here in i960
' from Ohio, he said. "I was
curious about the back
country, and the people who
were here didn't even know
what the boundaries of the
property were ! finally
figured it out from three
people who have since died."
Since then, Durant has
created eight of the nine trails
on the 640 acres of Christ
mount At [east once each
month, now at age SI, he hikes
to the top of the continental
divide to check for any
pollution that may be getting
into the assembly's water
shed.
His trails are carefully
pianned to pass points of
natural interest and preserve
the beauty of the forest.
"f go around the bigger
trees. There were a iot of old
iogging roads here and 1 tried
to make use of them. By going
around the btgger trees, you
get a sort of sinding, mean
dering effect that is really
better than if you just slash
through the woods 1 didn' t
take down any trees bigger
than an inch in diameter," he
said.
Some of the points the trails
lead to are near rocky cliffs,
rhododendron thickets,
streams and valleys of wild
flowers
"There is one valley just full
of trilium, and they ail come
out at the same time - near
the beginning of April. It's a
sight to see,"Durant said.
Although Christmount is
pretty well covered with
trails now,' ' Durant said he
keeps busy replacing markers
along the trails. Youngsters
who visit the assembly in the
summer often took the wooden
markers he has used in the
past. He's experimenting with
sheet metal markers that are
harder to remove and iess
attractive as room
decorations.
His conservationism ex
pands beyond the Christmount
grounds, aiso. He is president
of Carolinians for Safe Energy
- a group that became best
known for its stand against
construction of the Sandy
Mush nuclear generating
plant- He and his wife, Mary,
are also active in Common
Cause and the yearly Great
Decisions workshops, as well
as the League of Women
Voters.
That one person is active in
so many things is rare. That
he does them all at 81 is
remarkable.
"1 had a heart attack last
year while I was up on a trail.
I got within 50 feet (of the
continental divide) and felt
this pressure in my chest. 1
walked back down, but 1 spent
SVFD appointments
postponed a month
Action to appoint two in
terim directors to Mi
vacancies on the Board of
Directors for the Swannanoa
Voiuntoer Fire Department
was postponed at [east a
month because a quorum was
not present at the regular
meeting December 14.
According to the Chairman
of that board, Ken Davidson,
no speciai meeting has been
caiied, making the next
regular meeting on January
H.
The board had been ex
pected to fiii vacancies
created by the resignations of
Ratph Coffey and Ken
Crawford from the board iast
month
the next 10 days in the
hospital, "he said.
In spite of that experience,
he continues to make his
regular hikes, but follows his
doctor" s orders to use
moderation in his exercise.
Outside his house last week
lay a pile of wood he planned
to split himself - albeit slowly.
"1' ve always loved the
outdoors, "he concluded, light
and shadow from the forest
falling across his face through
a huge window in his living
room.
Gunman robs
Hardees,
takes *600 cash
Mach Mountain Poiice
continue to search for a man
who stoie approximately (600
at gunpoint from two em
ployees of Hardee's in Biack
Mountain eariy December i7.
According to Assistant Chief
Jim Wiseman, a man took the
night deposit from the
restaurant manager and an
employee when they left
through the back door an hour
after closing Saturday night.
The thief reportedly told the
two to leave the money and
drive away, pointing a han
dgun at themin the meantime.
Neither person recognized the
robber, Wiseman said.
Bloodhounds were used
Sunday morning to follow the
trail of the robber, who ap
parently got in a car near the '
Grammar School.
Two other robberies were
reported last week.
On December 12, stereo
equipment valued at $987 was
taken from the Terry Griffin
residence on Azalea Avenue,
police reported.
On December , $400 in cash
was taken from a drawer at
Mack' s Store in Black
Mountain. Both incidents are
under investigation.
Police responded to three
accidents, gave three
citations, arrested two for
DUI and received 289 calls last
week.
On December 16, four
vehicles were vandalized
outside the Cellar on NC 9,
including a Jeep that suffered
a slashed top, seats and tires.
Wiseman said there is a
suspect in that incident.
JFtre
fa%s s%<9M?e<c%,
&Mf sftMon
One of the attorneys in
volved in negotiations bet
ween fire departments from
Swannanoa and Black
Mountain over district
boundaries characterised
talks as stowed, but expected
to revive sometime by the end
of January.
Martin Nesbitt, represen
ting the Swannanoa Volunteer
Fire Department, said that
representatives of the
departments have not met
since two months ago, when it
was agreed that figures would
be compiled on cost and
response for fire protection
from each district.
Nesbitt said talks have not
been stalled, but that some of
the urgency of the
negotiations has diminished.
The Buncombe County Board
of Commissioners had earlier
given the two departments
until November to reach an
agreement over who should
serve an area reaching
generally from the
western boundary of
Black Mountain to the
Juvenile Evaluation Center,
and points north and south of
there. Nesbitt said the board
is not expected to revive the
issue on its own.
Richard Stone, who is
representing the Black
Mountain Fire Department,
could not be reached Tuesday
for comment.
The two departments are
expected to reach a com
promise on which department
should serve the area, most of
which is now covered without
contract by Black Mountain's
fire department, well before
the June budgeting sessions
by the commissioners, Nesbitt
said.
30 years ago
Christmas wishes packed
the mack Mountain News 30
years ago this week.
In the news. Mr and Mrs.
Crosby Adams, who had been
active in the Music Depart
ment of Montreat Coiiege,
were honored in a surprise
service at Gaither Haii. They
had been with the college
since its beginning in 1916.
Bobby Ritchie and Reba led
their respective Black
Mountain High School teams
to upset agarnst a tough pair of
Fairview teams.
A special Christmas service
featuring the children's choir
was set for Swannanoa
Presbyterian Church.
Funeral services were heid
in Btack Mountain for Sgt.
Woodrow Lindsey, who was
killed in action in Burma four
years eariier.
Police gave stem warnings
that anyone shooting off
fireworks would be prosecuted
to the full extent of the law.
Parents were to be held
responsible if their children
were caught with
firecrackers.
Empioyment in Buncombe
County had increased by 31.1!
per cent since 1940, and wages
had gone up by a whopping
96.BO percent-from an
average of (20.29 weekly to
(39.93 in '947
Jack Greenwood, in his
column, noted that Swan
nanoa was listed as one of
North Carolina' s 21 best
vacation spots in Duncan Hine'
s Vacation Guide.
The News, itself, got prime
advertising space with a
Christmas card ad on the front
page A number of valley
businesses sent Christmas
greetings through ads inside.
The Roxy Theatre had the
Return of Rin Tin Tin. Nora
and Bill's Cafe was offering a
Christmas Eve Turkey Dinner
for (1.50. Those who preferred
steak could get the dinner for
(5 cents.
And that's the way it was.