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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. FORSYTH MilMlfl mil COUNTY HllVv9 VOLUME LXXI—NUMBER 45 ju Bruofl fl g - JL S bp QHHHKTdesufl BfcL ffiHHpcrge m . _ _ weezß;.' Mr Departmefl Brtation souglfl ' '9'“ the state’s soSSV to ridesLj jNgSSr B| many Ffl gji**"’* Bp work m fl metr ° -m . Bid'*: ' eJH Bst weeJß ‘“A'-' ' -’i- fl-pool fl lie ifl 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). 'flu ■AML fiyE' m 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.