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Remember to cast your ballots Tuesday
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Rick Wilson with puppy Sheba stands where home once stood.(AP)
Former home of Griffinite
swept away; family killed
Mrs. Charles A. Walters will
remember Saturday night for a long
time.
The house she lived in before her
marriage and the home her parents
lived in until June of this year was
destroyed in the flood at Toccoa. The
family living in the house was killed by
the waters from the lake upstream
when the dam broke.
Mrs. Walters was in Toccoa Sunday
and helped identify some of the victims
who were friends and former neigh
bors.
Sunshine to brighten
Griffin area Tuesday
Griffinites welcomed the forecast of
sunshine for Tuesday, having gone
through a full weekend of rain.
The Spalding Forestry unit recorded
.23 of an inch of rain Sunday and .56 of
an inch Saturday.
This was in addition to the 4.35
reported Friday and early Saturday
morning.
This area of the state is not bothered
with flood threats and was not during
the latest surge of rain that swelled
streams and lakes in this section.
Sports fans made it through the
The Country Parson
by Frank <’.lark
■BO"
“A minister could serve
members better if they’d talk to
him as honestly as they do to
their bartenders.”
DAHY
Daily Since 1872
The home Mrs. Walters had lived in
was found a mile down the river. It had
been pushed there by a 30-foot wall of
water.
Residents of the house, Bill Ehren
sberger, 28, his wife, Peggy, 27, and
their children, Robert, Christi and
Kenny, all of Toccoa Falls were killed.
A couple, known to residents of the
community as “uncle and aunt” were
amont Mrs. Walters’ friends who were
killed. They were Mary Williams, 75,
and Paul Williams, 76. Mr. William’s
body had not been found early today.
Griffin-North Clayton football game in
Jonesboro Saturday night without a
drop of rain.
But some Griffinites got wet at the
Dixie 500 race at Atlanta International
Raceway in Hampton Sunday af
ternoon.
The race was run under threatening
skies and showers stopped it on oc
casions.
Many motorists got trucks and cars
stuck in the soft parking areas around
the track and kept wreckers busy
pulling them out of the mire.
Elsewhere in Georgia, the Associated
Press reported:
As much as one inch of rain was
Carter
cancels
his trip
WASHINGTON (AP) - The State
Department announced today that
President Carter has decided to
postpone his foreign tour set for later
this month because he wants to remain
in Washington while Congress con
siders his energy program.
The announcement confirmed earlier
reports that Carter was going to scrap
the tour of nine nations.
GRIFFIN
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Monday Afternoon, November 7,1977
i Mrs. Walters married in 1974 and
I moved from the home where the
f Ehrensbergers were living. Her
parents moved from the house in June
or July.
I
I Mrs. Walters was a resident of
Toccoa Falls for 20 years before
, moving to Griffin in February.
I
I “We saw some of the people there and
helped to identify some of the victims.
, It is truly a night we will long
remember,” she said.
expected before rains diminished today
in the extreme northern part of
Georgia, including Toccoa, where a
dam broke and flooded a college
campus Sunday killing at least 37
persons.
The National Weather Service said a
flash flood watch was continued above
a line extending from Rome to Athens
to Lake Clark Hill but that the state
could expect fair weather by early in
the week.
“With the ground already soggy ...
any additional rain will cause continued
flooding problems along the swollen
streams in the area,” weathermen
said.
The weather service warned persons
in the watch area living near creeks,
streams and low-lying areas to remain
alert for flooding, especially if more
rain fell.
South of the flash flood line, showers
were becoming widely scattered
Sunday night, the service said.
The inclement weather was caused
by a low pressure area centered near
Nashville, Tenn., Sunday night, but
drifting slowly northward. As the low
moves away, the service said, the
weather will become clearer.
Tuesday’s forecast calls for partly
cloudy skies with mild temperatures
ranging from the low 40s in the north
and mid 50s in the south to highs in the
70s in the south and 60s in the moun
tains.
NEWS
Toccoa Falls
struggles back
TOCCOA, Ga. (AP) — Searchers
today ripped apart piles debris left
when a dam burst and a wall of water
smashed through a small college
campus Sunday, killing at least 37 per
sons.
Twenty children were among the
dead left in the debris of what had been
Toccoa Falls Bible College, at the foot
of scenic, 187-foot Toccoa Falls, some
two miles northwest of here.
Two men were missing.
Pictures, stories
Pages 5, 6 and 7
In addition to the dead, 45 persons
were injured and 12 remained
hospitalized.
Earth-moving equipment pulled
apart the piles of trees and tom wood
and metal, most of it strewn within a
half-mile upstream from the Georgia 17
bridge, and about two miles down
stream from the campus.
Maj. Gen. Billy Jones, state National
Guard adjutant general, said
authorities would try to have a damage
estimate late today. Engineers and
other officials were on the scene, he
said.
As the community began to pull itself
together — with the help of Rosalynn
Carter, who visited the area Sunday
and said the president promised federal
aid.
Two volunteer firemen were among
the dead. They had seen the water
surging toward the campus and tried to
race thir vehicle to the people sleeping
in mobile homes, but were swept away.
A third survived.
“Even in this time of tragedy, I
cannot help but feel something good
will come of this, said college President
Kenn Opperman.
The dam, which had held back tons of
water in an 80-acre lake above the falls,
suddenly gave way about 1:30 a.m.
Sunday after two days of heavy rain.
A thunderous roar of falling water
was punctuated with screams, splin
tering wood and tearing metal. A dozen
or more houses were demolished or
damaged severely and about 15 mobile
homes were destroyed.
“There was this awful screaming and
the ripping of metal,” said Bill Stacy,
19, who lived in a mobile home with his
parents, two brothers and a sister.
“It is a miracle but we all got out and
Radio Club
here helped
with messages
The Griffin Amateur Radio
Club joined in a state network
Sunday to help relay messages
to survivors of the flood at
Toccoa.
Manning their equipment in
Griffin were Jim New, Tom
Nixon, Sykes Taylor and
Woodrow Tingle.
They were able to get
messages through to people
from Jackson and other nearby
areas who had relatives in the
Toccoa area.
People
••• and things
Toddler in stroller bursting into tears
when mother takes away toy pet dog in
department store to pay cashier for it.
Tears flee when he gets dog back.
Little girl shouting, “Hey, Daddy,”
right in the middle of song as she and
others sing at Sunday night service.
Voting machine supervisor
delivering last one to county precinct
this morning in final preparation for
balloting Tuesday.
Vol. 105 No. 263
It’s up to city and county voters in
this community to say what they think
about a school bond issue Tuesday.
Proponents have campaigned for it for
several months.
Only during the past week did any
sort of campaign develop against it.
The bond issue has almost over
shadowed the election of two city
commissioners and a county com
missioner.
A total of 16,192 registered voters are
eligible to cast ballots.
Sample ballots. Page 10.
Early indications are that the interest
in the bond issue will draw more voters
to the polls than normally could be
expected in a so-called off-year elec
tion.
Requests for absentee ballots have
been strong this year, with many
stating they especially wanted to make
known their feelings on the bond issue.
Voters will have three choices in the
bond issue.
One will be to vote for or against a
$5,955,000 bond issue for a com
prehensive high school and other school
improvements.
Another will be for or against a bond
issue of $1,000,000 for an athletic
stadium and facilities.
The third will be for an issue of
$160,000 for a central food storage and
cooler freezer facility.
This will be a county-wide vote.
Voters also will vote for a person to
fill the unexpired term of County
Commissioner Reid Childers who
my parents helped hunt for the bodies
later,” he said.
Bible students gathered for a can
dlelight service later, telling each other
how they had escaped and praying for
strength to face the loss of relatives and
friends.
Outside, Bob Hamer of Ravenna,
Ohio, stared at the muddy scene and
recalled how the birth of his son two
years ago made him “decide to do the
Lord’s work.”
Now his son was dead and so was his
wife, but Harner wasn’t ranting against
that Lord.
“I believe that sometimes God allows
Satan to do things, hoping to discourage
(Continued on page 3.)
Commission races, too
Bond issue
decision due
Who’s eligible to vote
Registered number of voters eligible for November 8,1977
election.
VOTING DISTRICT NO. REGISTERED
Griffin Precinct 1 687
Griffin Precinct 2 1,161
Griffin Precinct 3 2,640
Griffin Precinct 4 461
Griffin Precinct 5 937
Griffin Precinct 6 1,140
Griffin Precinct 7 851
Griffin Precinct 8 298
Total City 8,175
MIL. DIST:
Cabin 784
Orr’s 1,330
Akin 870
Mt. Zion 383
Union 983
Africa 1,217
Line Creek 230
Experiment 1,711
East Griffin 509
Total County 8,017
Weather
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA -
Mostly fair tonight with lows around 50.
Considerable sunshine Tuesday with
highs in the lower 70s.
LOCAL WEATHER — Low this
morning at the Spalding Forestry Unit
51, high Sunday 66. Rainfall Sunday .23
of an inch, rainfall Saturday .56 of an
inch.
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resigned because of ill health.
Candidates who have campaigned for
this post are David Elder, Thomas A.
Bearden, Bob Gilreath, Frank Gunnels,
Jim Goolsby and Al Norris.
Voters in the county as well as those
in the cities of Griffin, Sunny Side and
Orchard Hill are eligible to cast ballots
in the county commission election.
City of Griffin voters will cast ballots
for two commissioners.
Opposing R. L. (Skeeter) Nor
sworthy, Fourth Ward incumbent, will
be Bobby Dunn and Sid James Beeland.
Opposing incumbent Ernest (Tiggy)
Jones in the First Ward will be Emmitt
Cone and Mrs. Perry Manolis.
The polls will open at 7 a.m. and close
at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Two candidates
at Orchard Hill
Two people are running for a seat on
the Orchard Hill city council in
Tuesday’s election.
J. D. Goggins, who is retired, and
Mrs. Patricia Chambers, an employe of
the H and K Package Store, are vying
for the post presently held by Mayor
Hilton Harris. Harris is not seeking
reelection.
According to Mrs. Julian Jones, city
clerk, there are 38 registered voters,
but the number would be doubled if
everybody elegible would register.
Other councilmen are Julian Jones
and Jack Grubbs.
The term of office is three years.
VOTING PLACE
West Griffin School
Fire Station No. 1 (City Hall)
Spalding County Courthouse
Fourth Ward School
Experiment Station (Stuckey Bldg.)
Anne Street School
National Guard Armory
Spalding Junior High School
Ringgold Courthouse (Ga. Hwy. 16)
Anne Street School
Orchard Hill Courthouse
Zetella J.P. Courthouse
Birdie Community House
Beaverbrook School
Line Creek J.P. Courthouse
Experiment Station (Stuckey Bldg.)
East Griffin J.P. Courthouse
Total City & County 16,192