Newspaper Page Text
Martin’s
Leveled
By Blaze
ByJAYJORDAN
NemEdttor
Martin Tire Service at the intersec
tion of U.S. Highway 19 and Georgia
Highway 306 was destroyed by fire
Thursday evening.
No one was injured in the blaze.
Forsyth County Fire Chief Jake
Moore estimated damage at around
$300,000. Only two new dump trucks
and two desks with the firm’s records
were saved, he said.
“When I arrived, the fire was com
ming out of the roof and the windows.
You just don’t put out rubber like you
do wood,” Moore said.
The roof at the rear of the building
had already fallen in by then, Moore
said, so he knew it was too late to save
the tire firm.
Flames leaped high into the air and
the thick, towering cloud of smoke was
visible several miles away.
A huge stack of burning tires was vis
ible at the front of the concrete block
building.
Sheriff’s deputies directed traffic and
a small crowd watched quietly from
the other side of U.S. 19 and from the
end of a nearby parking lot.
The first firemen on the scene
stepped into the door with a hose, but
retreated when the fire swept on them
from above, Moore said. The smoke
was so thick, they could not see any
fire. They were reduced to spraying
water more or less blindly.
The building was of cement block and
the large, warehouse-sized doors
through the walls were closed, Moore
said. Getting to the fire to fight it was
difficult.
Then James Jett volunteered to back
his dump truck into a set of doors,
Moore said. “I appreciate him helping
us because of the danger he was in,”
the chief said.
While firemen sprayed water on the
truck, Jett backed into the doors, de
molished them, and then pulled away.
The front wall of the building was
burning and about to collapse, but fire
men insisted on inching closer with
their hoses, Moore said. He had to pull
them back.
Suddenly, the whole front of the
building toppled outward.
One fireman said he was right under
the wall when it fell. “I’ve never run
backwards before, but I sure did
then!” he said.
For about an hour, the firemen just
sprayed water on the flames, trying to
keep the fire under control. One crew
periodically hosed down the two dump
trucks that were later saved. The fire
spread to some nearby pine saplings,
but was quickly extinguished.
Inside the fire, small explosions sent
off showers of sparks as inflated tires
exploded.
Sparks and water droplets drifted
downwind to land on spectators.
The heat was intense, even 30 to 50
yards away. The exposed side of a
metal desk was burning hot to the
touch. To step out from the shelter of a
parked van was to get slapped in the
face by the heat.
But in the gathering dusk, the fire be
gan to die down. The flames didn’t
jump quite as high and the explosions
didn’t come so frequently.
A bit after 6:30 p.m., the firemen
counterattacked the front of the build
ing. Four and five to a hose, the fire-
Continued on Page 2A
Margaret Rood Crowned
1981 Lanier Junior Miss
By LANE GARDNER CAMP
Staff Writer
Margaret Rood, the tallest and only
red head out of 31 girls, was crowned
the 1981 Lanier Junior Miss on Satur
day night, Nov. 8, at the Forsyth
County High School gym.
The annual pageant, this year enti
tled “Junior Miss Goes Country,” was
sponsored by the Forsyth County Band
Boosters Club. There were full houses,
both nights of the competition.
Miss Rood, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. John Rood, commented that she
was “very, very excited” about being
named the new Junior Miss.
“Gosh, we put so much work into this
and I got to know the other girls real
well,” she said.
The new Junior Miss stands five feet,
ten inches and has blue eyes and shoul
der-length red hair. She sang “Enough
is Enough,” by Barbra Streisand, for
her talent number.
Miss Rood, a senior, is active in the
Beta Club and Y Club at school. She is
presideAt of the Spanish Club and is a
member of the National Honor Society.
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FIREMEN SCURRY JUST AFTER FRONT WALL FELL
...dump truck at right had knocked down warehouse doors
THE MORNING AFTER THE FIRE AT MARTIN’S
...the ruins still smoldered for a couple of days
Unemployment Rate Drops
2.4 Percent In Forsyth Co.
Unemployment in Forsyth County
dropped 2.4 percent from the month of
August to the month of September,
according to a report from James Tay
lor of the Gainesville office of the
Georgia Department of Labor.
This is the second straight month
that unemployment in the county has
decreased. The August unemployment
rate of 8.1 percent (from 8.2 percent in
July) was the first sign of an improving
county unemployment rate since April
of 1980.
With a September unemployment
She has applied to Georgia Tech for her
post-secondary education.
The new Junior Miss will receive a
S2OO scholarship for continuing her edu
cation and will repreent Forsyth
County in the state competition.
Runners-up for the pageant were
Tracy Rye, first; Mary Richardson,
second; Kim Hopkins, third; and Sheri
Smallwood, fourth.
Other finalists were Cindy Tyalor,
Leigha Sipes, Masako Yamaguchi and
Ruth Castrillon.
Contestants were judged on physi
cal fitness, poise and appearance, crea
tive abilities, scholastic achievement
and a personal interview.
Ruth Castrillon was the recipient of
two trophies for being named “Miss
Congeniality” and the “poise and ap
pearance” winner.
The talent winner was Masako Ya
maguchi, who performed a ballet and
piano solo. She is a foreign exchange
student from Japan, staying with the
Neal Spence family in Cumming.
The youth fitness winner was Cindy
Taylor and the recipient of the scholas
WEONESOAY, NOVEMBER 12,1*0 - CUMMING, GA. 30130
rate of 5.7 percent, Forsyth County had
a total work force of 11,839. This in
cluded 11,168 employed and 671 unem
ployed.
The state also experienced a de
crease in unemployment from the
month of August to the month of Sep
tember. The rate dropped three tenths
of one percent in Georgia to be 6.7 per
cent for September.
The July unemployment rate of 7.0
percent was the state’s first drop in 11
months, according to State Labor Com-
tic award was Leigha Sipes.
The 31 girls in this year’s pageant,
the largest number ever to participate,
began rehearsals almost two months
ago.
Host and hostess for the weekend
pageant were Lynwood “Woody” Jor
dan and Jeanne Cowdrey, both of Cum
ming.
Music for the event was provided by
the Forsyth County High School Crim
son Jazz. Special entertainers were the
Lanier Ballet Arts Dancers, Casey Wil
liams and Rachel Phillips, on Friday
night; and Rapheal and the Special
Edition on Saturday night.
1980 Lanier Junior Miss Donna
Glover appeared both nights and per
formed a vocal solo on Friday night.
Some former Lanier Junior Misses
made appearances both nights. The
past junior misses are Linda Grogan
Echols, 1989; Angela Bagley, 1970;
Phyllis Day Care, 1971; Terri Redd,
1972; Donna Brown, 1973; Ann Patter
son, 1974; Candy Thomas, 1975; Katha
rina Whitmire, 1979; and Donna
Continued on Page 14A
County Is Threatened
With Suit Over Road
ByJAYJORDAN
News Editor
The Forsyth County Board of Com
missioners voted not to maintain Old
Majors Road Extension and was
threatened with a law suit because of it
at its Monday meeting.
After the board voted to act on the of
county attorney Woody Jordan and not
maintain the road until it was brought
up to county standards, Ray Orr said
“You are forcing me to bring suit
against every one of you...you are har
rassing me enough on this. ”
“That is your privilege Mr. Orr,” re
plied board chairman Bill Barrnett.
“The decision has been made.”
Earlier in the discussion, Barnett
said “We’re not debating whether it is
a public road, but whether it is a pub
licly maintained road.”
At the Oct. 20 meeting, Orr asked the
board to accept and maintain a portion
of the road running between Old At
lanta Road and Georgia Highway 141.
It had been used as a road for many
years during and before his youth and
had been accepted by the county and
maintained by it before, Orr said.
At the Nov. 10 meeting, Orr said for
mer county commissioner Gus Housley
had told him he would attend the meet
ing and state the road had been brought
up to county standards and accepted
missioner Sam Caldwell.
Neighboring Dawson County had a
labor force of 2,382 in September with
2,241 employed and 141 unemployed.
The unemployment rate was 5.9 per
cent, a decrease of 1.4 percent from the
month of August (7.3).
The total work force in Hall County
for September was 35,086 with 32,642
employed and 2,444 unemployed. The
unemployment rate was 7.0 percent, a
decrease of 1.8 percent from August
(8.8).
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30 PAGES, 2 SECTIONS—2S CENTS
and maintained by the county in the
19605.
Orr said he had improved the road at
his own expense and had canceled
checks and U.S. Department of Agri
culture aerial photographs to back up
his case.
County atttomey Woody Jordan said,
“I can find no evidence whatsoever the
county ever had anything to do with
this road.” He recommended the board
do no repair work on the road until
it was brought up to county standards
and formally accepted.
Jordan said he did not know of any
USDA photos, but county aerial photos
taken in 1966 showed no road, while
those taken in 1978 showed the road.
“This is a different road,” he said of
the one in the 1978 photo. “If there ever
was a road there. ...The indication is
the road was cut in the late 19605.”
He said he had checked the county
commission minutes back to 1964 and
was unable to find any record of ac
cepting the road. The road was built by
a private contractor, Jordan said.
“It’s unfair to say there is no evi
dence,” Orr replied. “It’s my road and
you kept it for a time."
The board also decided to have a spe
cial meeting to study bids received to
renovate Bethelview Senior Citizens’
Center and construct a new building for
the county Department of Family and
Mental Health Clinic
Adds 3 Employees
By LANE GARDNER CAMP
Staff Writer
“Burgeoned” is the word one em
ployee uses to describe it. The phenom
enon: The growth of the Forsyth
County Mental Health Clinic within the
last two months.
Since September, the clinic, located
on West Maple Street in Cumming, has
added two fulltime workers and one
parttime secretary to two previous
parttime employees.
The reason for the increase in staff,
according to two-year staff member
and adult social worker Laura Adam
son, is that with only two parttime
workers, the requests for services
within the county were not being met.
During fiscal year 1979, Ms. Adam
son said there were more than 300 per
sons who walked through the clinic’s
doors seeking some kind of counseling
or other service. With a limited staff
that spent much of its time in direct
contact with patients, there was “little
time for good quality follow-up,” she
noted.
Because of the demand for more ca
seworkers in Forsyth County, the
North Georgia Community Health Cen
ter in Gainesville, of which Forsyth’s
mental health clinic is a satellite, deliv
ered the new employees.
The augmented staff now includes
social workers Adamson and Becky
Chambers, both fulltime adult case
managers; Lindy Barnett, child and
adolescent mental health coordinator;
Juanita Kidd, parttime social worker
and registered nurse; and Ann
Winkler, secretary.
Laura and Becky work primarily
with adults. Lindy deals with children,
I*l LANIER JUNIOR MBS
...Margaret Rood
Children’s Services.
Only one bid was received for each
project.
E.B. Callett bid to build a new DFCS
building and lease it to the county for 15
years for $2,440 a year. DFCS director
Ronald McClure said the price was ap
proximately $5.25 per square foot. A
state representative of DFCS said “I’d
say that was in the right ball park. ”
The single bid to renovate the Beth
elview center was for $22,760 from Mil
lard Turner. The board learned only
$17,200 was available from the Georgia
Mountains Area Planning and Devel
opment Center.
In other business, the board:
Adopted amendments to the
county zoning ordinance.
Accepted Deerfield Drive in Deer
field subdivision as a county road.
Approved rezoning for William H.
Patton, from vacation cottages to high
way business for 1.85 acres at the cor
ner of Georgia Highway 369 and Old
Brown’s Bridge Road; Joe K. Smith,
from agriculture to highway business
for one acre on Bramblett Road;
James T. Sorrells, from residential to
central business district on U.S. High
way 19 south of Cumming; and Frank
Roper, from agriculture to central
business district for 4.97 acres on
Friendship Circle.
while Juanita’s prime function is pro
viding nursing assessments for the va
rious mental health cases.
The addition of a parttime secretary
to the staff was a godsend as far as
Laura is concerned. She explained how
she’d have someone in her office
“really pouring guts out— and then the
Continued on Page 2A
The News
Offers SSO
In Contest
Christmas will be here in a little
more than a month, and the Forsyth
County News would like to share the
holiday spirit with its readers.
We want to read your best Christmas
story.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean it
has to be about your best Christmas,
your most memorable Christmas or
your saddest Christmas. It can be fic
tion or non-fiction, it doesn’t matter.
The story can be one of a personal ex
perience, it can be one you know about
through someone else, it can be funny
or it can be serious. It can be about al
most anything related to Christmas,
but it must be original. It can’t be co
pied.
Stories should be no longer than two
typewritten pages, double spaced. Sto
ries that are neatly printed also will be
accepted.
The judges will make a decision on
the theme, originality and content.
The winner of the writing contest will
be awarded SSO in cash. It’ll be one of
the biggest cash prize contest offered
by The Forsyth County News.
Now, if your contest entry is good,
but not good enough to win first place,
and the judges pick your story as sec
ond, you’ll get $25.
Third prize winner won’t go away
empty handed that winner will get
$lO cash.
The decision of the judges will be fi
nal.
We hope to begin receiving entries by
next week. Please submit yours early.
Entries postmarked after Dec. 10 will
not be accepted. Stories may be
brought to The Forsyth County News
office on Dahlonega Street, however,
up until 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12.
Give your story some thought and
then mail or bring it to us. Remember
the deadlines!
Entries should be mailed to
“Christmas Contest,” The Forsyth
County News, 107 Dahlonega Street,
Cumming, Ga. 30130.
Entries should include the writer’s
name, address, age and telephone
number.
Many, if not all of the entries, may be
published in The News’ Christmas edi
tion on Dec. 22.
You’ve only got a month to enter.
We’ll be waiting to hear from you. And
remember, make it your best.