Newspaper Page Text
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Building Inspector At Work
Both dimming and Forsyth
County have agreed by statute
that all new construction in
these areas must be approved
by an official building permit.
While it required some little
time to locate a qualified build
ing inspector to handle these du
ties, nevertheless, one has now
been employed and is already
issuing permits.
Willie Guy Fowler , the new
ly-appointed building inspector,
is a Forsyth Countian of long
standing, although forthe past
17 years he has been employed
as building and maintenance in
spector for Dobbins Air Force
Base, Marietta, Georgia.
Cumming and Forsyth County
are collaborating in this joint:
effort to insure proper, attrac
tive and safe construction for
our area. The new inspector’s
duties will also encompass ad
equate water supply and sew
age disposal together with safe
and code installed electrical wi
ring. Under the adopted build
ing codes, all mechanics will
be required to be qualified and
purchase a license.
The appropriate code under
which all building construction
is to be carried out will be:
Plumbing - Southern Standard
Plumbing Code;
Basket Factory Bustles With Activity
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PATTERN BRAIDED
Wayne Norwood shows how the thin strips of wet wood are braided into a pattern to be put on
the basket mold. Poplar wood is usually cut and used when wet for the strips.
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VENEER LATHE
Employees of Norwood Basket and Crate Company pull long, thin sheets of veneer out of the
smallest veneer lathe. These relatively thick sheets were cut for use as bean hamper lids.
WILLIE GUY FOWLER
Electrical - National Electri
cal Code;
Building Construction - Sou
thern Building Code.
Anyone, contractor or a do
it-yourselfer, must comply with
the building code in all its rami
fications and purchase a build
ing permit for new construc
tion regardless of its nature,
unless the new work, such as a
room addition, does not exceed
$150.00 in cost. When applying
for a building permit, construc
tion plans must be filed with
the inspector’s office in City
Hall. The cost for permit will
vary with the floor space being
considered. The current rate
is 1 and 1/2? per square foot.
There are appropriate penal
ties for non-compliance with the
building code and neither Saw
nee Electric Cooperative nor
Georgia Power will connect e
lectric service on any new prop
erty until a building permit is
issued.
Since May 3, more than
$645.00 in permits of all types
have been issued. Since mobile
homes have been quite popular
in our area, all such living
facilities are required to meet
the mobile home section viz:
each individual mobile home
must be placed on not less than
20,000 square feet of property,
and provided with sanitary ap
proved septic tank and water
supply. Should the sanitary and
water systems be provided by
an adjacent home, then 12,000
square feet for the mobile home
will be approved. Mobile homes
in approved “parks” may be
located on as little as 5,000
square feet, provided all water
and sanitary conditions are met.
In the past two weeks, sixteen
building permits have been is
sued. These comprise nine new
structures in the County, three
in the City of Cumming, and four
mobile homes.
In the near future it is planned
that a meeting of all contract
ors and such other organiza
tions interested in building con
struction will be held for the
purpose of a thorough indoctri
nation in the County and City
building codes.
14 Pages
IN THE NEWS
THE COUNTY NEIW S
Dedicated to the Progress 4 Cumming and Forsyth County
CUMMING, GEORGIA
Officials Say No Federal Funds Available
For Appalachia Highway This Fiscal Year
Chestatee Highway Contract
Awarded To Matthews Co.
Contracts for 9.6 miles of
new construction on two Geor
gia Interstate routes, paving of
16.6 miles already graded, and
signing and marking of over
21 additional miles were among
new road contracts upon which
a total apparent low bid of
$17,486,836.15 was received by
the State Highway Department
today, according to State High
way Director Jim L. Gillis.
The new milage consists of
four miles of Interstate 95
northward from the Florida St
ate line in Camden County and
5.6 miles of Interstate 85 bet
ween Georgia 34 and U. S.
29 in Coweta County. The
paving contract covers Inter
state 20 between Georgia routes
83 and 44 in Morgan and Greene
counties east of Madison. The
sign contracts are for 15.8
miles of 1-75 between McDon
ough and Morrow in Clayton and
Henry counties and 5.5 miles
of 1—285 in DeKalb County above
Clarkston.
Two other Federal-aid con
tracts provide for four-lane re
construction of Georgia 34 be
tween 1-85 and Newman for
better service to and from the
Interstate route, and for 2.7
miles of grading and paving on
U. S. 278, the Sand Bar Ferry
Forsyth County may be lack
ing in industry but it has one
kind of industry that nobody
else has—basket making. The
Norwood Basket and Crate Co
mpany in Coal Mountain is the
last facility of it’s kind in the
state of Georgia. In years past
when agriculture was at it's
peak in American and plastic
products were still a phenom
enon of the future, basket pro
ducers were much more com
mon. Baskets of all sizes and
shapes were used for storing
and selling produce and for a
host of other purposes. A
basket was a common and nec
essary utensil around the house.
But the modern age has de
creased the need and usefulness
both of baskets and of basket
factories. Only recently the
only other basket factory in
Georgia was torn down to make
way for a new expressway. The
owner of that factory in Fair
burn was as much a part of
the past as was his business.
He decided he was too old
to worry about rebuilding so the
Norwoods’ last competitor was
eliminated. The only reason
the Norwood Company has sur
vived is that they have adopted
modern techniques. Today mu
ch produce is packaged in in
expensive plastic containers
molded in basket form.
In medieval times, craftsmen
made each individual basket to
order. Until the great tech
nological advances of the twent
ieth Century baskets were still
produced individually even in
factories dedicated to volume
production. Today the Norwood
operation shows the influence
of mass assembly techniques.
Three or four employees devote
their time to weaving or braid
ing the thin wood strips to
gether, using eight strips hori
zontally passed through eight
strips vertically. Each one of
these employees is capable of
producing about seventy dozen
flat patterns in an eight hour
day. Four of five employees
then carry these braided pat
terns to the second stage of the
process, molding the form into
a basket. The pattern is made
to fit inside a basket mold, the
excess lengths of the strips are
cut off, and a band is stapled
around the basket to hold it
together. Each employee work
ing at a basket mold can turn
out about sixty dozen baskets
Road, at Augusta.
Fifteen State-aid contracts
provide for 10 1/2 miles of
new construction or paving on
county roads and 114.4 miles
of resurfacing on state high
ways throughout the state. Most
of this work is financed under
the Highway Authority bond pro
gram, the remainder with main
tenance funds let to commercial
contract.
A late entry in the letting was
a contract for replacement of a
large overhead sign structure
on 1-75 near Windy Hill Road
in Cobb County which wad de
stroyed in a recent accident.
In Forsyth County 6.895 miles
of widening and resurfacing on
the Cumming-Gainesvilleßoad,
Thrasher
Meeting
The Forsyth County Old
Steam Engines & Wheat Thra
shers Assn, will hold a meet
ing at the community house on
Pilgrim Mill Road Thursday
night May 22 at 8:00 p.m. to
make plans for their 4th July
celebration.
a day. When Wayne Norwood
first came to the factory in
1952 the workers were still
using tacks and a hammer to
fasten this band. He brought
in pneumatic staplers which
speeded up production consid
erably. When the band is at
tached, all that is left to fin
ish the basket is to attach a
handle to it by staples, stack
it up and truck it away. The
company can produce 300 dozen
a day and occasionally has pro
duced 400 dozen a day.
The basket really starts out
in the woods around Forsyth
County. The poplar wood that
is usually used in making the
thin strips is cut there and
brought to Coal Mountain. At
the factory it is cut into ap
propriate lengths and then is
put on a veneer lathe which
strips all the bark off and slices
the wood into long thin sheets.
Norwood has two veneer lathes,
a large one which is used for
cutting the 52” long bands used
around the tops of the basket,
and another, smaller one which
cuts sheets the width needed for
the thin strips to be used in
braiding. These long sheets are
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ASSEMBLY LINE
This is the “assembly line" of basket molds in the Norwood Factory. Here the braided wood
forms are shaped into a basket. In the background are dozens of completed baskets.
TEN CENTS PER COPY
State Route 306, beginning at
State Route 141 Southeast of
Coal Mountain and extending
Northeasterly to State Route 53
near Chestatee has been con
tracted. The Estimated cost
$133,940.00. Apparent low bid:
$142,335.00; C. W. Matthews
Contracting Company, Inc.,
Marietta, Georgia.
Ingram
Promoted
Charles Ingram, of the For
syth County Bank in Cumming,
was recently elected Commer
cial Officer. Mr. Ingram’s du
ties will be to head up the
Master Charge Program, a vi
tal part of the expanded credit
operation of Forsyth County
Bank.
Mr. Ingram, who has been
with the Bank since February
of 1969, received intensive
training in the Master Charge
Program at the Trust Com
pany of Georgia.
He is a graduate of the Uni
versity of Georgia, a member
of the Forsyth County Jaycees,
and a Captain in the Air Force
Reserves.
fed into a veneer clipper which
cuts them into strips of any
desired width.
In addition to making bas
kets, the Norwood Company also
makes bean hamper lids and
sheets of veneer to place bet
ween stacked bricks. But these
are mainly off-season enter
prises because making baskets
is the big business.
Ninety percent of the Norwood
baskets are used to package
tomatoes and peaches. For this
reason, the basket business is
seasonal. The season usually
begins around April when the
South Georgia tomatoes come
in but rough weather has held
it up this year. During the
produce season the employment
at the factory may reach as
high as twenty but normally
about fifteen employees work
there. During the winter months
there isn’t too much for the
company to do, although they
do producesome special Christ
mas baskets that are used by
a corporation in South Carolina
to give gifts to it’s employees.
About a thousand dozen of these
green and red baskets are pro
duced during the Christmas
Completion of the Appalachia
Highway through Forsyth Coun
ty hinges on an additional Fed
eral appropriation for the Ap
palachian Highway Program,
THE FORSYTH COUNTY
NEWS learned that $9,765,000
in Appalachian Development
Funds have been obligated for
engineering, right - of - way
and construction of the devel
opment highway from 1-285 to
Union Hill Road near Alpha
retta. Georgia’s proportion
ate share of funds for the high
way in fiscal 1969 totaled
$9,823,000. This proportion
ate share total is based on a
share of the total amount of
money available to the 13-state
Appalachian region.
A Highway Department spo
kesman said Georgia has, in
fact, received a total of $lO,
905,000 for the highway or
more than the proportionate
share.
The Highway Department al
so said that state matching funds
are now available to buy right
of way and to let contracts to
State Route 306 in Forsyth
County. The state money is
available, but the Federal share
has not been authorized.
Leland S. Veal, State High
way Planning Engineer, said
that the balance of the some
18 - million in Federal funds
which has been authorized
but not appropriated would
be sufficient to build the four
lane highway to Route 306 north
of Cumming.
Under currentlegislation, the
Appalachian Program expires
on June 30, 1971. Sources in
season.
Norwood Basket and Crate
Company was started by Wayne
and Billy Norwood’s father. He
worked at a similar basket
factory in Atlanta and when the
factory moved up to Coal Moun
tain he moved with it and even
tually bought the original owner
out in 1947. The first factory
was located in a barn across
the road from the present loca
tion. When the elder Mr. Nor
wood passed away in 1952, his
two sons, Wayne and Billy,
took over the business. Ex
pansion of the facilities and
improvement of techniques fol
lowed. Now Norwood baskets
can be found all over Georgia
and in the adjacent states. The
baskets are carried from Coal
Mountain to a retailer in Atlanta
who then sells them to produce
growers. A few baskets are
sold locally but most are mark
eted through the Atlanta dis
tributor.
The sweet odor of green wood
permeates the air at this busi
ness establishment, whose pro
ducts are so much a part of
the past and still a part of this
modern world. From Coal
MAY 22, 1969
Washington say that they ex
pect the program to be exten
ded.
Veal stated that progress on
the Appalachia Highway “ is
presently at a standstill because
of a lack of Federal funds. Ap
parently all the states now have
projects ready for letting and it
appears that our only hope for
relief is additional appropria
tions by Congress for the Ap
palachian Program.”
Congressman Phil Landrum
said from Washington in a tele
phone interview with the NEWS
that “ There is no indication
that any additional 1969 money
will be available for alloca
tion to Georgia. ” Landrum
pointed out that fiscal 1969
ends June 30 of this year.
Landrum discussed the pos
sibilities for the fiscal 1970
budget.
“Now for fiscal 1970 and fis
cal 1971. The Budget is pro
posing an amount of $175 mil
lion to the Commission fo Ap
palachian highway development
for each of the fiscal years
1970 and 1971. This unusual
procedure of two years instead
of one is the result of two years
remaining on the life of the pro
gram and the desire on the part
of the states and the Commis
sion to have a longer period for
planning than one year which
they find too short.
“I am going to do everything
I can to help persuade the Con
gress to appropriate the full a
mount of $175 million for fis
(Continued on Page 2)
Mountain truckloads of the mass
produced baskets flow to points
all over Georgia, the only re
minders of an age long past
when agriculture was king.
Pancake
Supper
The Forsyth County Band
Boosters Club will have a Pan
cake Supper Saturday May 31,
and serving will begin at the
Lower Elementary School Ca
feteria at 6 p.m,, continuing un
til 9 p.m.
This is the final fund - rais
ing project of this energetic
Club for this school year, and
it is hoped the public will sup
port the effort.
The Band Boosters Club pro
vides for Forsyth County’s Band
Program things not included in
school funds. One of the lar
gest responsibilities of the
Boosters is to provide new u
niforms each year for addi
tional members coming into the
Flash of Crimson Band.
The public has seen the tre
mendous progress made by the
Band in just two short years.
This progress costs money, and
plenty of people believe it is
well worth the time, effort, and
money put into the Program.
Show your interest and sup
port by purchasing tickets from
any Band member for the Pan
cake Supper on May 31, spon
sored by the Forsyth County
Band Boosters Club.
If you have any problem ob
taining your tickets, just call
Buck Roper.
Council
Investigates
The Cumming City Council
has under investigation an in
cident in which a private sub
division tapped onto the city
water system.
This was done without the
knowledge of the city officials.
Mayor George Ingram was
not available for comment
Tuesday. Details are expected
in next week’s NEWS.