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VOLUME XCIII - NUMBER XLIII
Chamber of Commerce Forms;
Memli |rship Drive Underway
S 3
A group of local resident
voted Tuesday to move quickly
toward the formation of the
Chattooga County Chamber of
Commerce.
In related action, earlier in
the day the Chattooga County
Civic Organization, which has
served as a modified chamber
for a number of years, pledged
to throw its full support
behind the new chamber.
Some 15 persons, including
Chattooga County Commis
sioner Pete Denson and Sum
merville Mayor-elect Sewell
Cash, attended the organiza
tional meeting held in the
afternoon in which plans were
finalized to get the county
chamber of commerce off the
ground.
MORGAN ELECTED
J. T. Morgan was elected
acting executive vice president
(director) of the group while
Mayor Blasts Kirwan;
Editor Says Charges
Are a ‘Smoke Screen’
By DAVID ESPY JR.
Summerville Mayor Fred
Stewart launched a blistering
attack Monday against The
Summerville News and its
editor, Tom Kirwan, accusing
him of using hearsay and
innuendo in what he termed as
“negative reporting.”
Kirwan, who asked but was
not permitted to answer the
charges during the monthly
meeting of the council, said
after the meeting the mayor’s
charges “are a smoke screen
being pumped out by the
mayor in a desperate effort to
salvage the reputation of an
administration marked by do
nothingness, after I dared to
write an opinion piece he
found unflattering.” (Kirwan’s
full rebuttal appears on Page
4.)
This writer did not take
notes during Stewart’s pre
pared remarks prior to calling
the meeting to order, assuming
that the mayor would dis
tribute a copy of his statement
later. However, Stewart refused
The News a copy of the state
ment, even refusing to allow
the statement to be copied in
his presence at the meeting.
The News, in light of this
development, asked radio
station WGTA to provide the
paper with its tape recording of
the statement so that a copy
could be transcribed. Unfor
tunately, however, the tape
malfunctioned and a WGTA
reporter asked the mayor to
re-record his statement later
that night. Here then, are the
full remarks of the mayor as
transcribed from that record
ing.
STATEMENT OF
FRED STEWART
“Gentlemen, at this time, I
would like to apologize to you
because I must reply to an
editorial in The Summerville
News.
“Last Friday I was called at
my home ascertaining whether
or not I had read The Summer
ville News. Having said ‘no’,
they said you should read it. I
read it. I seen his remarks in his
editorial.
“I was called then later to
Papers Being Sought for Library Project
Fourteen “lost” issues of
The Summerville News be
tween the years 1955 and 1972
are being sought as part ot tne
first phase of the Woodrow
Espy Memorial Microfilm
Library project.
The project was begun
earlier this year when the
county Bicentennial committee
disbanded, leaving the Chat
tooga County Library $2,318
earmarked to set up a
film library in memory of the
late editor of The News, Wood
row Espy.
Since then the library board
committee has been appointed
^ummeruille News
f y Watson was elected
acting president. Watson, presi
dent of the Farmers &
Merchants Bank, announced he
is making available to Morgan
free office space at the bank.
He also said the bank is donat
ing SI,OOO into a chamber
account in order that Morgan
can begin organizing the
chamber’s membership imme
diately.
The action came after dis
cussions with three members of
the Georgia Chamber of Com
merce Executive Association at
the meeting: Carl Collins of
Rome; Inez Slayton of
Newnan; and Daryll Jones of
Calhoun.
The trio gave a pep talk to
the local residents, saying in
effect that a chamber here
could become a powerful grass
roots organization aimed at
meeting the county’s needs
come to the city hall where
there was some young ladies
from the high school that
wanted me to sign a proclama
tion. It just so happened that
Mr. Kirwan was the one that
came and take the picture. I
asked Mr. Kirwan where he got
that news. He said he had
heard it. So that disturbed me
when he replied he had heard it
and printing hearsay. So then I
responded by telling him I
would respond to him Monday
night at the meeting.
“At this time I must
respond to Mr. Kirwan’s nega
tive reporting in our local
newspaper. Last spring the City
of Summerville had a sewage
line broken and he did his best
to get the city fined by calling
Atlanta. If you had kept up
with the running edition of the
local newspaper, you would
have thought it was a federal
crime. Now I admire good con
structive reporting when it is
wanted, but hearsay and
innuendos I detest.
“You take the last edition
of the local newspaper: Mr.
Kirwan’s editorial. The first
reference was to the point and
correct about a new chief of
police. The second point was
incorrect as the council handles
all monies and expenditures.
The third one he admitted to
me was hearsay.
“It’s time for all elected
officials, recreation boards,
hospital boards, school boards
and all appointed officials to
stand up to his negative report
ing. If not, every week when he
comes over Taylor’s Ridge
from Floyd County, he will
say, ‘l’ve got to have a story!’
and take one of you apart with
hearsays and innuendos.
“At this time I feel The
Summerville News has not had
a reporter knowledgeable of
the city affairs since Mr. Wood
row Espy.
“I remember those old
cliche, ‘lf you cannot stand the
heat, get out of the kitchen.’ I
will stay in the kitchen until
Dec. 31, 1977.
“In ending, I would like to
commend WGTA and the local
radio station for their fair, im
partial, unbiased reporting of
to head up the project, which
is currently “shopping around”
for a high-quality viewer and
storage unit for the microfilm.
The library board chairman,
Mrs. Baker Farrar, has also
approved an expenditure of
$2lB, to be used to pay the
costs of reprinting microfilm
copies of The News dating
back to 1955.
According to Gene Espy,
publisher of The News, the
University of Georgia has
microfilmed the paper for
those 22 years, but during that
period 14 issues failed to be
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY., GEORGIA 30747 - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1977
through committees and tasks
forces tackling the area’s prob
lems, and to promote business,
trade and tourism in general.
“We share your feeling that
this is a great little town in our
state ...” said Collins. “I can’t
tell you how much we appre
ciate your expression of inter
est in forming a Chamber of
Commerce.”
Chambers of commerce
throughout the United States,
it was explained during the
meeting, generally are set up in
order to deal with five broad
areas: business development
(trade promotion, industrial
development, and providing
services to existing industries
and agriculture); community
betterment (education, recrea
tion, civic and cultural affairs,
urban development, transporta
tion and community planning);
public affairs (creating a better
business climate, encouraging
facts concerning the City of
Summerville and those people
involved with its operation. I
feel they are more objective
and accurate in their reporting
than the present representative
of the local newspaper, Mr.
Tom Kirwan. Thank you.”
KIRWAN’S COLUMN
For the convenience of our
readers, the three paragraphs
Mayor Stewart referred to are
reprinted here from last week’s
“Off the Newsdesk,” written
by Kirwan, entitled “All Eyes
Turn to New City Mayor.”
“Cash takes over the city’s
highest elected post from Fred
Stewart, whose administration
some local political observers
have dubbed as an unqualified
flop.
“But that analysis has to be
In Routine Session
City Council Meets
By DAVID ESPY JR.
The Summerville City Coun
cil met in a one-hour session
Monday evening disposing nine
items of business while tabling
six matters for future meetings.
In routine matters the coun
cil:
* Granted applications for
the renewal of five malt bever
age licenses in the city.
Licenses were granted to Otis
Shivers, d/b/a Triangle Bever
age Store, Herb Ballenger,
d/b/a Ballenger’s Package
Store, Tommy Fisher, d/b/a
Pay & Tote, Mrs. Louise
Rounsaville, d/b/a Melanie Inn
Convenience Store and Melvin
Foster, d/b/a Foster’s Package
Store. No new licenses were
sought.
* Agreed to make an imme
diate $6,500 allocation to the
Chattooga County Library.
This amount was voted on and
approved in an earlier meeting,
although when it was to be
given to the library was not
specified. The council also
agreed to further aid the
included in their microfilming
of the paper.
“Fourteen copies of the
paper for those years were
apparently never received by
the university, and so there are
blank spaces where the paper
should be on their microfilms,’
said Espy. “Fortunately, how
ever, we have bound copies of
the paper for the years in oues
tion and, in fact, we do have
copies of the 14 ‘missing
issues.’ University officials tell
us that these issues can be in
serted during the reprinting
process. The problem is this:
businessmen to be more active
in politics on all levels); legis
lative action (economy,
speaker’s bureau, and sup
porting laws the chamber
backs) and organization
(membership, administration
and financing of the chamber).
The group was told that
committees are the backbone
of any chamber, and that good
leadership can prompt wide
participation in a chamber’s
activities.
Building membership for
the new local organization was
a key topic during the meeting.
SLOW, STEADY
PROCESS
Building membership can be
a slow, steady process, the
Chamber representatives ex
plained, but what is most
important is that the
chamber—no matter its size—be
balanced with this thought:
Fred Stewart did accomplish
the two goals he set out to
tackle. He wanted a new police
chief (which he got) and he
wanted to cut city expenses (a
goal reached, although perhaps
superficially limited to minor
costs).
“Stewart’s biggest problem
with the office was that he
never has been one to get
bogged down in red tape. He
doesn’t like dragged-out dis
cussions and typically tabled
anything which couldn’t be
settled by the council within
10 minutes or so. He hates long
meetings, bulky reports and
long-winded discussions, pre
ferring instead to cut into an
issue quickly and dispose of it
decisively, if hastily.”
library by granting an addi
tional SIOO per month pay
ment to help in its operation.
* Voted to pay a claim of
S6B lodged by Ray Casey of
Summerville for repairs as a
result of the sanitation truck
backing into his vehicle.
♦ Agreed to secure bids for
Christmas hams for all city
employees, including volunteer
firemen, members of the Sum
merville Recreation Board and
members of the zoning board.
* Agreed to meet with a
representative of the Georgia
Public Service Commission,
either at the regular December
council meeting or if the com
mission’s representative can
come to Summerville at an
earlier date, a called meeting
will be held, to discuss the
Floyd gas district agreement.
The council also put on the
natural gas waiting list a
request for several dozen cut
ins requested by a Rome busi
nessman for a subdivision.
* Granted permanent
employment to two city
because our copies of the ‘miss
ing’ papers are bound, it will be
much more costly to microfilm
them and transport them.
We’re hoping that the 14 un
bound issues can be located
from the general public to fill
the gaps more cheaply.”
Espy added that anyone
who has one or more of the
copies of the papers listed
below can bring them by The
Summerville News. “We will
take special care in the han
dling of any papers that might
be borrowed, and we’ll be sure
to return them safely to any-
active and visible.
“If you do one thing that’s
a success, that starts the tone
for the whole ball game,” Mrs.
Slayton said. “Any visible
development will spur interest
in the chamber.”
She stressed person-to
person contacts as the key to
building membership.
“Play up what you do ... ”
she continued. “Approach
prospective members and tell
them you want them to be a
part of it.”
During the meeting the
basic organization was
described of a typical chamber.
The membership elects a board
of directors, which in turn
appoint officers, who in turn
appoint a director.
Morgan has agreed to accept
the director’s post with no
salary. The director serves to
coordinate the activities of the
council and handle adminis
trative details.
The group voted to begin
drafting a charter and bylaws,
organize a board of directors,
prepare a budget, begin a
membership drive, and plan a
“program of work”-basic
goals the chamber hopes to
achieve, such as industrial
development.
“I think a county chamber
could very well be one of the
most influential organizations
ever to exist in our county,”
commented Watson after the
meeting.
2 Break-Ins
Are Probed
The Chattooga County
Shi nff’s Department investi
gated two break-ms in the
county over the weekend.
David Romine reported to
officers that someone had
entered his residence on Spring
Creek Road by breaking out a
glass in the rear door. Taken
from the residence was a radio/
tape; player and a 50-foot drop
cord. The items are valued at
sllO.
Saturday Mike Pool told
officers someone had taken a
Remington model 760 carbine
.270 with no clip from his
vehicle.
Both incidents are still
under investigation by the
sheriffs department.
employees: Ray Martin and
Bobby Gene Keith.
* Ok’d the requests of Steve
Baker and Bobby Lee Cook Jr.
for water cut-ins.
» * *
The council tabled matters
covering:
* Group insurance for city
employees.
* Discussion of a water rate
increase study.
* The Oak Hill water system
transfer to the county water
district.
• The buying of a traffic
light on North Commerce
Street near Piggly Wiggly.
* A resolution from the
Coosa Valley Area Planning
and Development Commission
asking for the city’s endorse
ment seeking to secure addi
tional state funds. No repre
sentative of the CVAPDC was
present for the meeting.
* A discussion about addi
tional revenue for the city.
* • •
All members of the council
were present, along with Mayor
Fred Stewart.
one who lends a paper to us.
“We would be most appre
ciative of anyone who could
provide us with any of these
issues,” he said. “It would save
a lot of time, money and effort
if we can locate these unbound
papers.”
The newspapers being
sought were published on the
following dates: all of June,
1955; July 1 and Aug. 5, 1955;
Jan. 10, 1957; March 24, 1960;
Aug. 17, 1961; March 8 and
April 12, 1962; May 23, 1963;
March 5, 1964; and Dec. 7,
1972.
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The Chattooga High Indians Friday
night suffered a real heartbreaker when
the Dalton Catamounts rolled over
CHS, 36-8. The region playoff game
left the Indians with an 8-2-1 season
record. Above, Indian fullback Larry
Stamper is shown being hit by a Dalton
"11^1
Dalton Powers By CHS
In Region Playoff Game
The Chattooga Indians
failed in their bid Friday night
to capture the Region 6-AA
title by falling to the No. 1
ranked team in the state,
Dalton, by a score of 36-8. The
teams finished tied after the
regular season with 8-1 region
marks.
The Indians, after leading
early 8-0, could not contain
the explosive Dalton offense.
The Indians went into the
game with a list of injuries that
would make Marcus Welby
frown and during the game
four more Indians joined the
list.
Larry Stamper took the
opening kickoff at the 16 and
returned it 22 yards to the 38
to start CHS’ lone drive. On
first down, Jerome Black was
stopped for no gain. Larry
Stamper then gained 3 to the
41. On the next play, Indian
fullback Larry Stamper took a
pitchout from quarterback Pres
Cash and passed it to Scott
Selman for 36 yards to the
Dalton 23. Black then rammed
for 2 to the 21, then Stamper
was stopped for no gain. On
the next play, Indian QB Pres
Cash hit Atlas Hudgins all
alone on the right sideline for a
21-yard TD. On the extra point
try, after a bad snap. Cash ran
the ball around left end for the
two-point conversion. And
with 9:16 left in the first
quarter, the Indians led 8-0.
The first Catamount score
came on a 43-yard drive that
took eight plays. The score
came oddly enough on a
fourth-and-10 situation at the
Indian 8. Kenny Sharp hit Rob
Cox in the corner of the end
zone for the TD just over the
outreached arm of an Indian
defender. The two-point
conversion came on a pass
from Jeff Houston to Brad
Townsend.
The next Dalton tally was
set up on an Indian
interception at the Chattooga
44. The drive took 13 plays as
they converted three
third-down plays to keep the
drive going. Wayman McDade
scored from the 1 and also
scored the two-point
conversion on the run. And
with 3:29 left in the half, the
Cats led 16-8.
The Catamounts got
another scoring opportunity
Indians Fall to Dalton
after a Dalton interception of
an Indian pass at the Indian 38.
The drive took one play, a
razzle-dazzle pass from
Houston to Tony Partlow that
caught the Indian defense
napping. David Wimpy added
the PAT and the Catamounts
led 23-8 at the half.
After the Indians’ first TD
drive, Indian QB Pres Cash was
injured and didn’t see anymore
action. His backup, Randy
Ledford, was also hobbled by a
serious injury, so the Indian
offense was unable to get
anything going the rest of the
game.
The Cats scored in the third
quarter on a 70-yard run by
QB Sharp. The kick was no
good, 29-8.
The final score came on a
34-yard run by Dany Westfall
with 2:48 left in the third
quarter. Sims kicked the PAT
and the Cats led 36-8.
The Catamounts couldn’t
get anything else on the board
Christmas Parade
Float Deadline Is
Fri., Says CCCO
The Chattooga County Civic
Organization Tuesday urged
local groups planning to enter a
float in the annual Christmas
parade to do so no later than
tomorrow.
The parade, to be held Dec.
2 (with a rain date of Dec. 9),
will judge floats on a 100-point
scale, with originality of design
being worth 40 points, appro
priateness to theme (a general
religious Christmas theme)
worth 30 points, and overall
balance, completeness and
neatness, being worth 15
points each.
Groups interested in enter
ing a float should call Eddie
Thornton at 857-2411 or J. B.
White at 857-1213.
Cash prizes of SIOO, $75,
SSO, $35, $25 and S2O, for
first through sixth place respec
tively, will be offered.
In other action at the CCCO
tackle late in the game. Below, the
expressions of the CHS cheerleading
squad before the final buzzer mirrors
the disappointment of the CHS sup
porters who traveled to Dalton for the
game.
as Indian punter Scott Selman
kept them deep in their own
territory with punts of 43, 42
and 32 yards as the
Catamounts were desperately
trying to blow up the score.
Indian coach Buddy Windle,
when asked for his comments
on the game, stated, “We were
just whipped, we were beaten
by a very good football team.
We can’t blame it all on our
injuries.”
“Overall, our boys had an
oustanding season. With our
size and injuries our boys really
did an excellent job, they
really gave it their best shot.”
YARDSTICK
Chattooga Dalton
5 First Downs 10
16 Yards Rushing 262
57 Yards Passing 66
2-9 Passes 3-5
2 Had Int. 1
2 Fumbles Lost 2
62 Penalties 65
6-39.7 Punts 2-24.0
meeting Tuesday morning the
group:
♦ Announced this year’s
Christmas light payment from
the merchants has been re
duced to $lO. Last year the
donation was sl2, and in previ
ous years it has been as much
as sl6. Also, it was announced
that the Jaycees have volun
teered to help assemble the
lights, with Clear-Vu Cable Inc.
and General Telephone offer
ing to put up and take down
the lights, as in past years. The
lights will be taken down as
soon as possible after Christ
mas, the group decided.
* Backed a proposal by
Clyde Davis, Summerville
Recreation Department direc
tor, to organize a civic calendar
through his department. All
organizations are being asked
to report their events in that
calendar.
PRICE 15c