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?aqt**y VAtia&, y. c. 27506 Mem ber of the NCPA Second ciass postage paid at Biac^c Mountain, ^\iC 2S7Ji Thursday. February 10. 1983. Volume 31. Number 6 Face//ffs 7VA designs 9 wore Nine more Black Mountain business es including the new Chamber of Commerce buiiding on State Street received face iift plans from the Tennessee VaUey Authority (TVA) iast week. TTie pians were presented by deveiopmental planner John Smalling at a iund) meeting Thursday. Smaliing toid the small group of merchants present that Black Mountain "is one of the best towns I've ever had in nine years with the TVA" Town lift program. Black Mountain is the first North Carolina town to receive assis tance from the TVA. Smalling said he hoped Black Moun tain would be "a pilot area, a model Town lift community for the mountain areas." Businesses and buddings receiving drawings Thursday induded: --Underground Kutters. plans for a sign. -Black Mountain Savings and Loan, plans for landscaping. --Union 76, painting and trim. -McMurray's Chevrolet, striped awning entrance and wood trim around windows. -Valley Realty, complete redesign of the front, induding removal of alumi num facade. -Don's Restaurant, new roof which creates a porch framed with landscap ing. --Soboi's House of Furnishings, awn ing and landscaping. -Chamber of Commerce, extensive iandscaping and parking plans. The local Townlift committee plans to select one area of town to concentrate on completing Townlift plans. Accord ing to Joe Tyson, the committee will appear soon before the Town Board with specific requests for assistance. The committee also plans a March meeting with Black Mountain mer chants to kick off a clean-up, fix-up campaign. Sign ordinance to be enforced % Portable electrical signs are limited to certain conditions in the sign ordinance:;: which was passed in September 1982. $ % Article X of the Ordinance states: 3 ^Section 1002.7 -- Sign setback requirement - no portion of any sign may be located:;: $;doser than ten (10) feet to any pavement for a street in the Town of Black Mountain.:;: :$No sign in the Town shall be located in such a manner as to const.lute a traffic or];: ^safety hazard. R ^Section 1003.6 -- Any flashing device or sign displaying flashing or fntermitant light j: Ror lights of changing degrees of intensity except a sign indicating time and-orj: Rtemperature with changes alternating not) less than a five second cycle. ;: ^Section 1003.8 - Any sign posted to utility poles, trees, fences, rocks or other signs;: §:are prohibited. Compliance to these sections of the Ordinance must be made by May 1, 1983. ^Violation notices will be issued beginning June 1, 1983 for non-compliance. Yourj: ^Cooperation will be greatly appreciated & C.J. Manis:; ;$ Zoning Administrator:; Members of the Townlift committee show drawings submitted by TVA for renovations in the centra! business district of Black Mountain. Pictured (I^R) are: Sam Woolwine. Chuck Campbell. John Smalling of TVA. Chairman Bob Watts and Joe Tyson. B!ack Mountain CoNeqe iisted in Nationa! Register by Priscilla Hopkins In the early 1930's, John Andrew Rice was a professor at Rollins College in Florida. After a falling out with ad ministrators, he was fined. Eight other professors resigned in protest. The nine men shared a dream of a college that would be run by its professors and students, not adminis trators. At the core of their educational philosophy was the idea that democratic living and art should be at the center of life. They came to Black Mountain in the fall of 1933 and opened Black Mountain College in Lee Hall at Blue Ridge Assembly with a faculty of nine and a student body of ten. In 1937, the college bought property ^ at lake Eden off Old U S. 70. Architect A. I^wrence Coker designeu buildings for the campus that were so simpiy done that novice workers (students and facuity) and !Materials at hand (wood and stone) could be utilized in their construction. The college was avaunt garde, de cades ahead of its time. Many of the greats of the arts visited and-or taught there for varying lengths of time. Even a partial list reads like the Who's Who of the approximately twenty years the college was in existence. Among those associated with the school were Edward Albers, Buckminster Fuller, John Dewey and Thorton Wilder. By the early 1950's, Dr. Rice had become disillusioned with what he felt was the dilution of his educational philosophy and disassociated himself from the college. There were faculty disagreements, financial problems and, as one wag has succinctly put it, too much democracy, that ied to the disintegration of the coiiege. A portion of the property had aiready been purchased by Mr. and Mrs. George Pickering for the establishment of a summer camp. When the coiiege dissolved, they purchased additional tracts from it. Camp Rockmont for boys has been located there for nearly thirty years. last Monday evening, Feb. 7, Miss Page Hess of Asheville gave a moving slide talk on the history, philosophy and physical facilities of the unique Black Mountain College. At the conclusion of her presentation, Mr. Doug Swaim of the Western Office of the Division of Archives and History of the N.C. Dept, of Cultural Resources spoke briefly about the criteria that a building, group of buildings, sites or objects must meet before they can be included on the National Register of Historic Places. Black Mountain College qualified on more than one count and is now registered on that list of pre-eminent properties. Swaim presented a certifi cate acknowledging the listing to Pick ering who still owns the site of the former college campus. The Executive Secretary of the Black Mountain-Swannanoa Chamber of Com merce, Andy Andrews, said that he was happy that this recognition had come for the college. He said that the Chamber regularly receives inquiries about it from people all over the country. The Friends of the Black Mountain Public Library is building a collection of materials about the college. If anyone has information to share, please contact President Betty Tyson at 669-2564. When the 'Winds of War' hie w in the vaiiey by Priscilla Hopkins Ed. note: A special word of thanks is due Mrs. Claudia McGraw, Dr. Thomas H. Spence. Mrs.Kay Stockdaie, the iate Rev. Robert C. Anderson, and the Historical Foundation of Presbyterian U S. and Reformed Churches for their co-operation in furnishing the informa tion for this articie. As many residents of the Swannanoa Valley watch the screen adaptation of novelist Herman Wouk's monumental work about World War U, "The Winds of War," this week on ABC, old memories of that time, now forty years ago, will be stirred. When President F.D. Roosevelt is sued the call to arms following the Japanese attack on Peari Harbor, the sons, brothers, husbands and fathers of the Swannanoa Valley responded. Some never returned. Others came home to find their lives marked indelibly by the war. But those who remained in the Valley shared, in the war, too. They worried about their loved ones far away, remembered them in their prayers, bought bonds, worked in factories, did volunteer work for the war effort and tended their Victory gardens. Others in the Valley found them selves caught up in an unexpected way with the Japanese and German nation als who were interned at Assembly Inn in Montreat from Oct. 29, 1942 through April 30, 1943. In early October of 1942, the Rev. R.C. Anderson, president of then Montreat College, was approached by two representatives of the U S. gover nment to see i f Assembly Inn could be used to house 13S Japanese women and children and 126 German men, women and children who had been interned. Hie Rev. Anderson knew that the government could requisition the pro perty for such a use, but he was not opposed to "entertaining" the inter nees; his only concern was that the Genera! Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S. was scheduled to convene at Assembly Inn on May 1, 1943. The government representative and Rev. Anderson agreed in their contract that the internees couid remain until April 30, 1943. Rev. Anderson instructed his staff that the internees were to be "treated with the utmost courtesy and kind ness." They were to be shown by example what the Christian life was. Bibles were placed in each of the rooms used by the Germans on the third floor and New Testaments in those by the Japanese on the first and second floors. Members of the faculty were asked to serve food cafeteria style. Mrs. Claudia McGraw, who was in charge of the kitchen and dining hall, recalls that the faculty was eager to perform this task because the internees were well-educa ted, interesting people. She also recalls that hymn books were made available to the internees. Some were talented and trained musicians and soon beautiful music was heard daily. As Christmas approached, seri ous rehearsals were held in anticipation of the Christmas Eve celebration. Rev. Anderson asked if the "guests" wished to have a Christmas tree. They did. The Japanese placed theirs in the upper sun parior. The Germans, Mrs. McGraw remem bers, had theirs in the lobby and it was so tall that it' 'nearly touched the ceiling and was beautifully decorated with exquisite, handmade ornaments." When asked by Rev. Anderson if they wanted gifts for the children, the Japanese accepted. Hie German spokesman said, "Thanks, but you know that we are enemies." Rev. Anderson responded that "Christians love their enemies." Hien the reply came, "TTiank you. We will appreciate it." Mrs. McGraw related that each evening the Germans dressed for dinner, but that Christmas Eve was, indeed, a special occasion. They were dressed in their finest for the festivities and she remembers how impressive they looked coming down the stairway that night. The Japanese celebrated separately upstairs, the Germans around the tree in the lobby. But there was singing of carols and recitations by the children of both groups, later in the evening, young people from Black Mountain assembled on the bridge that crossed the nearby lake. Windows were then Pictured above are some of the Japanese internees who iived in Assembly Ipn, Montreat in 1942-43. thrown open and all joined together in the singing of Joy to the W orid and Hoiy Night. Rev. Anderson became fond of the children and they of him. He found that they were "most obedient," never having to be spoken to a second time. He noted in his reminiscences that there was no damage done to either the building or the grounds by the children. The internees maintained their own rooms. The Germans organized almost at once and assisted the housekeeper with her duties, especially the collection and distribution of laundry and linens. The time was whiled away with music, conversation, reading and the maintenance of cultural customs. The women were proficient in needlework. Hie men did woodworking. An outside area was roped off for exercise that included spirited games of volleyball. Although local men were hired as guards, there was no confrontations between them and internees. This precaution was more of a formality than necessity for as Dr. Spence, then director of the Historical Foundation, asked rhetorically, "Where would they have gone?" Rev. Anderson's writings tell that the "entertainment of these internees was a service to the government, to the internees, and to the college." Mrs. McGraw remembers his coming to talk with her the morning of their departure and telling her that for the first time, Assembly Inn was out of the red. With some of the money, immediate refur bishing of the Inn was undertaken. Mrs. McGraw laughingly recalls that the upholsterers came that day and worked around the clock to ready the Inn for the convention whose delegates arrived the following day. Hie internees, Dr. Spence believes, were transferred from the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. When they left on the last day of April, he thinks they were sent somewhere in the "Southwestern part of the U S." Shown are (L-R) Sharon Harper and Lynne me byrne as tney toon over the Black history display in O H.S.'s media center. Owen High 3icfihOoi oi):s<E?rv€?s f!i<3!ci( Hislfory Monfh Hie Black Beauties Ciub of Owen ] High Sdiool is leading the schoo! in its observance of Biack History during February. Mrs. Jean McNeil!, an Eng I] iish teacher, is the ciub sponsor. Ciub M officers are: president, Stephanie White; secretary, Denise Keeter; trea surer, Lynette ^ytie. The following activities are planned: an artifacts exhibit in the school media center; a bulletin board that will be changed weekly to depict four different phases of Black history—African begin nings, historical Black leaders, Blad women in history and N.C. Blad contributors to the American way of life and a school wide assembly on Thurs day, Feb. 17. j The assembly will feature Darce Grimes, co-anchor of WLOS-TV. A special tribute will be paid to six living Black women who are making signifi cant contributions to our sodety and out state of North Carolina. Atdermen meet Monday The Aldermen of Black Mountain will meet on Monday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall. The agenda is as follows: 1. Resolution - Lease Agreement 2. Policy Manual Ordinance - 2nd reading 3. Revisions to Zoning Map Or dinance - 1st reading 4. Acceptance of Deed 5. Tax Reteases 6. Recreation Commission 7. MSP Appointment - 208 Water Quality Appointment 8. Hanning Board Appointment February?, 1983 1. Executive Session - Personnel A1 Richardson, Town Manager
The Black Mountain News (Black Mountain, N.C.)
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Feb. 10, 1983, edition 1
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