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Burt Reynolds Sneaks In
To Film Part Of His Movie
By LANE GARDNER CAMP
Staff Writer
It was all hush-hush because the
production company didn’t want a
lot of crowds.
For the most part, even though
some folks found out, the secrecy
prevailed. The man was able to
arrive and remain in Forsyth
County for about 12 hours with little
detection.
He snuck into Bald Ridge Marina
on Lake Lanier last Wednesday
night, June 3, and stayed till the wee
hours of the morning of June 4 to
complete the filming of a movie that
he’s been working on in Atlanta
since Feb. 23.
Yes, Burt Reynolds, that “good
old boy” of the celebrity world who
causes many women to swoon at the
mere mention of his name, who’s
The Wilson Clinic
Moves In New Home
The Wilson Clinic moved into its new
facility on Highway 20, west of Cum
ming, last week and was situated
enough to be open for business Monday.
Staff members and volunteers
worked Thursday afternoon and Friday
to move the furniture and equipment
from the trailer which the clinic had
been located in, to the new building.
Commenting on the move, Julia Mo
seley, the clinic’s nurse practitioner,
said, “Everything’s gone real well.”
A community open house and grand
opening of the recently completed 1,965-
square foot medical facility are
planned for the future, but no dates
have been set, she said.
The clinic’s modem-looking home is
visible from Highway 20, approxi
mately one mile west of the square in
Cumming. It sits on a hill on the left as
one goes out of town.
A winding drive leads to the peaked
roof building with its three cedar sides
and stone facade. The grounds have
already been landscaped.
Merit Construction Company of Cov
ington, general contractor, completed
the project in just about four months at
a cost of just over SIOO,OOO ($103,400.17).
Ground breaking ceremonies were
held Feb. 6 with Ninth District con
gressman Ed Jenkins and other local
dignitaries in attendance.
Funding for the clinic’s new home
came from an Appalachian Regional
Commission (ARC) grant in the
amount of $120,000, which was awarded
last August. There have also been nu
merous private contributions.
The land was donated by Lanier
Bannister of Cumming.
The new facility, said Ms. Moseley, is
pouch more comfortable than the tra
flier that has been used since 1978.
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MOVIE STAR BURT REYNOLDS WAS IN CUMMING LAST WEEK
...filming a movie and greeting some of his local fans
always good for a laugh when he
visits Johnny Carson on the Tonight
Show, and who prompts a lot of peo
ple to fork out good money to see his
movies...was in Cumming with his
production company, Deliverance
Productions, Inc.
What Reynolds needed was a body
of water for one scene in order to
complete filming. Other scenes had
been shot in Atlanta during the last
three months, with the trip to Bald
Ridge being the first time Reynolds
and his crew had ventured out of
Atlanta.
“Sharky’s Machine” is the name
of the film, scheduled for release by
Warner Brothers sometime in De
cember.
Jerry Ketcham, the film’s location
manager, explained last Wednesday
that Bald Ridge was chosen as the
She said the new building better suits
the needs of the clinic with its large
lobby and three examining rooms.
There are two double-wide corridors
running the length of the building, be
tween which are a records area and a
medical lab.
The building also contains an office
for Ms. Moseley, another office, a work
room and a break room.
A non-profit organization, the clinic
was first established in September of
1978 to provide affordable health care to
area residents.
The clinic was a dream of Diane
Wilson of Cumming after her family
experienced medical hardships in 1975.
She developed a strong belief that medi
cal help should be available to those
who don’t qualify for federal aid or
maybe feel uncomfortable going into a
Continued on Page 2A
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Depart
ment is investigating an incident here
where a man entered a woman’s home
and attempted to rape her.
Forsyth investigators said the pat
tern of the suspect fit the description of
a man sought in Cherokee County on
similar incidents.
Capt. J.C. Adams said in June of 1980,
a man entered a home of a woman by
VOLUME LXXII—NUMBER 23
Authorities Seek Man Who
Tried Rape Attempt Here
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1411 CUMMING, QA. 30130
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film site on the lake mainly because
of its short distance from Atlanta.
“Work time is travel time,” he said.
Ketcham also noted that Bald
Ridge was selected because of the
helpfulness of its operators and be
cause it would enable the cast and
crew to keep a relatively low profile.
And a low profile, it pretty much
was. Of course some people heard
through the grapevine that Cum
ming had gone Hollywood. Others
especially persons with boats at the
marina or who were using the public
ramp found out quite by accident.
Wardrobe and equipment trucks
(about ten in all) first began arriv
ing about 4 p.m., followed by numer
ous miscellaneous cars and vans.
Ketcham estimated (conservati
vely) that over sl-million worth of
equipment was brought in.
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telling her he needed water for his auto.
He said the Cherokee woman was raped
and that the suspect apparently made
similar attempts at other Cherokee
residences.
Capt. Adams and Sheriff Wesley Wal
raven reported the incidents occurred
during June and July of last year
throughout Cherokee County.
The equipment, he said, is so spe
cialized that the crew could have
created smoke or rain if they’d
needed to.
Rumor had it that Reynolds was
going to arrive by helicopter about 9
p.m. with actual filming not sched
uled to begin till after dark. Ob
viously in an attempt to fool the
public, though, the star arrived al
most unnoticed in a blue van about
6:30 p.m.
Reynolds spent some time greet
ing the fans who had found him
giving hugs, signing autographs and
posing for pictures but for the
most part, he was either tucked
away in his motor home or canvass
ing the houseboat which was to be
used in the film sequence.
The film’s publicist, Stan Bros-
Continued on Page 2A
STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS OF THE WILSON CLINIC
..have moved into their new building and are open for business
Authorities said a suspect described
as the one sought by Cherokee County
officers entered the home of a woman
on Highway 20, using the excuse that he
had car trouble. Officers are looking for
the suspect and advising women in the
area to watch for suspicious activity or
persons trying this approach.
The suspect sought is described as
being five foot five or six inches tall,
32 PAGES, 3 SECTIONS—2S CENTS
Cumming Man
And Son Drown
A man and his son were drowned on
Lake Lanier Sunday afternoon when a
thunderstorm with high winds turned
over a 21 foot sailboat in the water near
Aqualand Marina.
Captain Ron Ataway of the Hall
County Sheriff’s Department identified
the victims as Charles T. Waite 111, 30,
and Charles T. Waite IV, both of a
Cumming address.
Ataway said the two were trapped
inside the boat when it capsized during
a storm at about 4 p.m.
A passing boat picked up the boat’s
five survivors: Marilyn Waite of Cum
ming, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Keeny of
Ellenwood and Mr. and Mrs. John Heck
of Decatur.
A boat with the Game and Fish Com
mission picked up the victims, said
Ataway.
In a separate incident, Ataway said a
woman and her baby were thrown in
the water near Holiday Marina during
the storm with the baby having to be
taken to Buford General Hospital.
Ataway said there were “several”
other reports of damage to boats as a
result of Sunday’s storm.
A representative of Aqualand on
Monday reported no other damage to
the marina’s boats. A spokesperson for
Bald Ridge Marina in Cumming also
District Attorney,
Court Budget OK’d
The Forsyth County Board of Com
missioners approved a $113,451.02 bud
get for the superior court and district
attorney Monday in an executive ses
sion.
The original request was for about
$7,300 more.
Afterwards, Commissioner Harrison
Tallant said he did not approve of
Forsyth and Cherokee counties effecti
vely paying for state courts in Fannin,
Gilmer and Pickens counties.
These counties do not have a state
court of their own and send their state
court cases to superior court, which
they share with Forsyth and Cherokee
counties, he said. The superior court
docket would not be overloaded if Pick
ens, Fannin and Gilmer counties had
their own state court, he claimed.
“We need to get this state court out of
here, or let them (Pickens, Gilmer and
Fannin counties) pay their fair share,”
he said.
Commissioner Leroy Hubbard
agreed strongly.
A bill to correct the situation was
introduced in the General Assembly,
but did not pass, Tallant said.
about 150 pounds, semi-bald with a
neat business type haircut, wearing
neat sport clothes.
The local incident is under investiga
tion and officers are encouraging
county residents to report any suspi
cious person to the investigators’ divi
sion of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Department.
reported no known damages or injuries
on Sunday.
Holiday Marina in Southern Hall
County near Buford reported winds
gusting to about 44 miles an hour and
said sailboats were overturning all
around.
The woman and baby rescued at
Holiday Marina were identified as Mrs.
Christy Branch and the baby was iden
tified as Macy. Buford General Hospi
tal reported Monday that the woman
was treated for minor lacerations and
the baby was treated for slight hypoth
ermia before being released.
Survivors aboard the boat occupied
by the Waits said winds came with no
warning. The crew was preparing to
lower the sails when the boat over
turned, they said.
Hall County officers credited civil
ians with assistance in the rescue of the
people aboard the boat occupied by the
Waits.
Hall County Deputy Rudy Bromley
said, “It was fantastic seeing people
helping all those other people. I’ve
never seen anything like it. It made me
feel so proud to know I work for people
like that.”
He said citizens jumped into their
motorboats and hurried to capsized
sailboats to rescue occupants and tow
boats to safety.
The rest of the meeting was open to
the public and was brief.
The commission:
Learned the county tax digest may
not be factored this year. Arbitration
with the state raised the ratio of sales to
assessments, chairman Bill Barnett
said, but there was no guarantee the
digest would not be factored, or raised
arbitrarily by the state, until the state
Department of Revenue approved the
digest.
Voted to allow the Forsyth County
Senior Citizen’s Center to spend S7OO it
owes the county for an air conditioner.
Approved a grant review for Gate
way Industries. Gateway is applying
for $125,000 in federal money to expand
and improve its facilities. No county
money would be involved. Gateway
provides jobs and income for hand
icapped people.
Acquiesed in allowing commis
sioner Donald Glover to use Brannon .
Road as his grading priority. Improv
ing this road will save the county
money in the long run, he said. Southers
Circle will be graded with the priority
normally allotted to chairman Bar
nett’s district, Glover said.
Sent a letter to the county legis
lative delegation asking it to keep the
home rule provision in the state consti
tution when it is revised this summer.
Home rule gives counties broad powers
in some specific areas, even the power
to change acts of the General Assem
bly.
Principal Is
Not Hired Yet
Superintendent B.M. “Bud” Amsler
and members of the Forsyth County
Board of Education are continuing in
their search for a principal for Forsyth
County High School for the 1981-82
school year.
Dr. G.L. Echols of Eastman, who was
offered the principalship several weeks
ago, has since decided to reject the job
offer, said Amsler Monday.
Amsler said he and the board are now
looking elsewhere for a qualified person
to fill the position.
An announcement will be made, he
said, as soon as a contract is offered
and accepted.
In seeking a person to serve as princi
pal for the county’s only high school,
which will next year house about 1,500
tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders,
Amsler said, “We’re trying to be very
careful.”
Jobless Rate
Takes A Dip
Unemployment in Forsyth County
continued to drop from the month of
March to April as it did from February
to March, according to a report from
James Taylor of the Gainesville office
of the Georgia Department of Labor.
Forsyth County’s April unemploy
ment rate was 5.3 percent, a drop of five
tenths of one percent from March (5.7).