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VOLUME XCIII NUMBER XLV §Sj?
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Christm Parade Tomorrow at 7:30
The Christmas season offi
cially kicks off in Chattooga
County tomorrow evening at
7:30 when thousands of local
residents are expected to line
the streets to watch the annual
Christmas parade.
According to members of
the Chattooga County Civic
Organization, sponsors of the
annual affair, preparations for
the parade have been in the
works for several months.
Smith Replaced at Hospital;
New Room Rates Approved
By TOM KIRWAN
In a shake-up at the Chat
tooga County Hospital admini
strator James Smith has been
relieved of his duties and
replaced by John Boatwright,
who has been named acting
administrator.
Ben Ansley, administrator
of Floyd Medical Center, Tues
day confirmed the changeover.
Under a one-year-old agree
ment Floyd Medical Center has
been managing the local hospi
tal and Ansley is responsible
for selecting its administrator
and supervising his work.
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Tax Bills Sent Out
County employees Vicki Possey, left, and Gwyn
Wofford were busy Monday sending out Chattooga
County tax bills. Tax notices will continue to be sent
out through this week.
City Native Enjoys Editing Atlanta Leisure Guide
BY TOM KIRWAN
When Paula Crouch gradu
ated from Chattooga High
School in 1969, she could
never have forseen her decision
to study journalism at the
University of Georgia would
eventually help her land a job
as an entertainment editor on
the Atlahta-Journal-Consti
tution.
Now only 25, she edits the
“Weekend” entertainment
guide published on Saturday, a
lively tabloid section brimming
with upbeat stories covering
entertainment, the arts and
leisure.
The sudden rise in her short
journalism career seems to have
taken her by surprise, but she
is outspokenly enthusiastic
about her new job with the
paper, which she started in
March.
She believes hard work,
mixed with some good luck,
combined to help her land her
new post.
During a Thanksgiving
weekend trip to Summerville
to visit her parents, Paul and
Alice Crouch of North
Congress Street, she recalled
her early beginnings in journal
ism. “I wrote for the “Red and
Black” (the campus paper) but
I was never an editor. I was not
one of your whiz-kid journal
ism types.”
She ^ummerutlle News
The < mSi High School
and Tri » School bands
will be „ in the parade
and over a dozen floats, built
by local organizations, are ex
pected to participate. Six cash
prizes are being offered in the
float competition.
Some 20 or so cars and
about 10 walking units will
also be participating.
Grand marshalls of the
parade are Mrs. Baker Farrar
Ansley was reluctant to
specify in an interview with
The News what brought his
decision to terminate Smith’s
employment. He did, however,
cite unspecified “differences”
between himself and Smith and
called Smith’s termination
“just a clean break by mutual
agreement between me and
him.”
Smith, contacted by The
News, said he had no public
comment on the matter.
It could not be confirmed,
but it was reported the break
between the two men came in
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PAULA CROUCH
She minored in drama, and
had visions of being hired on a
newspaper as a drama critic
after graduating. So in her
senior year, when repre
sentatives of newspapers came
to campus interviewing stu
dents for jobs, she signed up
for them all.
It was a time of uncertainty
for her, especially after she
didn’t get any immediate job
SUMMERVILULCHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1977
and Mrs. Virginia Shropshire.
The parade will travel north
on Commerce Street through
downtown Summerville, to be
disbanded at the Piggly Wiggly
Store on North Commerce.
Santa Claus will be meeting
children outside the court
house immediately following
the parade.
The parade will pass under
new Christmas street lights
which were put up Monday
connection with differences of
opinion concerning certain
policies, reportedly involving
personnel at the hospital.
Ansley last Monday termi
nated Smith, naming Boat
wright, 28, acting adminis
trator. Boatwright has acted as
a go-between between the two
hospitals under the manage
ment agreement and has been
affiliated with the Family Prac
tice Center in Rome.
Boatwright said Tuesday he
has no immediate changes in
the works as acting adminis
trator, but added, “There’s
some things we’re looking
into.” He did not elaborate.
RATES GOING UP
In related, yet unconnected,
news, it was announced
Monday night at a meeting of
the hospital authority that
room rates at the hospital are
going up effective today, Dec.
1.
The rate increase will see
room charges go up by $4 per
day across the board, repre
senting a 6.8 percent increase
for more expensive rooms to a
7.9 percent increase for the
least expensive rooms.
The least expensive rooms,
which are semi-private with no
bath, will see rates increased
from $47 per day to ssl per
day. Rates on private rooms
School Board Takes Action Aimed
At Repairing Leaky Roof at CHS
Chattooga High School stu
dents will no doubt welcome
news that the Chattooga
County Board of Education
has jumped a major hurdle
toward fixing the school’s
leaky roof.
CHS students and teachers
have grown used to seeing
wastepaper baskets in the halls
and classrooms, and occasional
puddles, whenever there’s a
heavy rain.
So far the leaks have been
offers. “I didn’t know what I
wanted to go into,” she
remembers.
LANDS NEWS JOB
Her dilemma was soon
solved, however, when the
editor of one of the papers
who had interviewed her, The
Fort Myers (Fla.) News Press,
called and offered her a job as
a reporter.
She threw herself into the
position with gusto, becoming
a reporter connected with the
Naples bureau of the paper. “I
did everything,” she says of the
job in which she covered local
government agencies, chased
ambulances, and wrote general
local news and feature stories.
After a two-year stint as a
newswriter, she finally got the
opportunity to get her first
crack at writing full-time enter
tainment articles when a posi
tion came open on the staff of
the paper’s “People” section,
which is devoted to lifestyle
leisure stories.
Soon she became an assist
ant editor of the section, learn
ing how to write headlines,
make up news pages, and
handle other editorial duties.
It was roughly during this
period that the Atlanta-
Journal-Constitution was
getting off the ground the idea
of merging its separate Satur
day editions to form a new,
A
night throughout the down
town area. The local Jaycees
helped assemble the lights and
they were put up by Eddie
Thornton and Harlan Spillman
after being delivered to the
poles by Richard Eason, Mahue
Black and Mike Turner. Bud
Jackson was in charge of buy
ing the lights for the civic
organization.
Parade organizers noted that
the assembly location site of
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JAMES SMITH
with a bath, the most expen
sive rooms, are being upped
from $55 per day to $59.
The rate increase is the
second one since May, when a
heftier increase was approved.
Hospital room rates were in
creased then from 20 percent
to 32 percent. Prior to that
increase, room rates ranged
from $32 to $44 per day.
Acting administrator Boat
wright said Tuesday that
only a nuisance, with no seri
ous injuries resulting because
of the many puddles which
appear during a rainy spell,
according to Superintendent
Bill King.
But action taken by the
school board will hopefully
correct the situation soon.
In a recent called session,
the school board received four
bids for the re-roofing of the
older part of the school.
The board approved the bid
leisure-oriented paper. By I
August of last year it had hired
Miss Crouch’s boss at the Fort
Myers paper, David Osir, to
edit what would become the
“Weekend” edition. He was I
charged with revamping the
Saturday paper into an easy
to-read, yet highly informative,
news package.
Six months later Osir called
Miss Crouch, inviting her to
join in the production of the
Saturday paper. She eagerly
took the position, being named
“Weekend” assistant editor.
At first, she said, her job
was a general one—writing
headlines, doing layouts, and
generally helping the Weekend
section take shape. But her job
eventually evolved into taking
editorial responsiblity for what
has become the “Weekend”
trademark-its spunky enter
tainment guide which covers
everything from drama to out
door living.
Returning to Summerville
for visits, she said she’s a bit
embarrassed when people here
begin asking her about her
“glamorous job.”
’EXCITING JOB’
“People tell me it must be
an exciting job. It is, but it’s
just what I do. It’s not glamo
rous-it’s a job, but I can’t
think of any other job I’d be
the parade—which in past years
has been at Chattooga High—
has to be changed this year
because of a conflicting basket
ball game which will be in
progress.
Floats should be in place on
the Lyerly Highway (see map)
near the Scout Hut at 6 p.m.
for judging. Cars in the parade
should be in place off Highway
100 near the Lyerly Highway
intersection at 6:30 p.m. Walk-
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JOHN BOATWRIGHT
despite the most recent rate
inc'. i3es that the hospital rates
are’ still low, compared to
other hospitals-Tri-County
(Regional Hospital), Redmond
Park (Hospital), and Floyd
Medical Center.”
The new room rates, he ex
plained, are in the “median”
range for hospitals of com
parable size.
He said the local hospital
will be upping its base hourly
of Interstate Roofing Company
of Alabama, with a base bid of
$125,179 and an alternate bid
of $3,640, upping the final bid
to $128,819.
According to King, the
school board is hoping the
project can be paid out of
Economic Development
Administration funds which
the school system is eligible for
under approved projects.
The bid has been sent for
happy doing.
Only one writer is actually
connected with the Weekend
leisure guide, with the rest of
the columns and stories being
farmed out to staffers on the
,
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ing units should gather just
south of the Huddle House on
the Lyerly Highway by 6:45
p.m., except for the two high
school bands which will gather
at Pullen’s Service Station on
U. S. 27.
Parade organizers are asking
persons in the parade not to
throw candy along the parade
route as it creates a hazard and
could result in injury if young
sters swarm into the street.
wage from $2.30 to $2.65 an
hour when the minimum wage
goes up in the United States on
Jan. 1. That increase will cost
the hospital an additional
$16,000 next year, he esti
mated, and the room rate
increases were prompted by
that development.
He said after the effect of
the room rate increases are
evaluated in light with the hos
pital’s decision to keep up with
the minimum wage rates, it is
hoped there will be sufficient
cash flow to give other
employees a raise. He said
there might be “an overall in
crease (in wages), if we can.”
“We’re going to try to give
them (employees making more
than the minimum wage) an
increase. There’s no way we
can do it under the present
room rates.”
OTHER ACTION
In other action at the hos
pital authority meeting
Monday:
* The consolidation of two
outstanding notes totaling
$53,860 at the First National
Bank was approved, with the
Farmers & Merchants Bank
taking over the debt at a
slightly more favorable interest
rate.
* Premium payments total
see SMITH, page 3
approval, and some word on
that decision is expected soon.
“If the funds are granted by
EDA,” said King, “it is hoped
that some type of work on the
roof will begin by Dec. 18.”
“The roof on the older
section of the school is approx
imately 13 years old and for
the past 10 or 11 years repairs
have been made on it off and
on,” he continued.
“This should stop all leaks.”
paper and free lance writers. A
big part of her job is coordi
nating the effort, editing the
stories, and getting it laid out
attractively.
She regrets she does far
THS,_CHS Bands (Pullen’s Standard, in place, 6:45 p.m.)
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Parade Assembly Points Shown
Summerville Dog
Law Is in Effect
Beginning Today
Summerville dog owners are
slowly but surely registering
their dogs in compliance with
the city dog ordinance, city
officials report.
As of Tuesday afternoon,
96 dogs had been registered at
City Hall, according to
Summerville City Clerk Bert
Self.
That figure is double the
number of dogs which had
been registered a week ago.
The turnout, the city clerk
said, “is not rushing, but it’s
been pretty steady.”
Today is the first day the
city has said it will begin
picking up unregistered dogs.
Previously, the dog ordi
nance had not been enforced
with regards to its registration
provisions because the city did
not have a dog shelter.
But with the completion of
the city dog shelter in October,
Councilman Boyd Williams
announced that after Nov. 30
the law would be enforced,
although he recently said there
would not be a massive pick-up
of unregistered dogs. Dogs
must be collared, registered,
and vaccinated according to
the city ordinance.
Persons wishing to get their
dogs registered can do so at
City Hall by producing a vacci-
more editing than writing. “I
don’t want to be an editor,”
she commented. “I want to be
a writer.”
And while most of her time
is spent editing, she does get a
chance to write occasionally.
“One thing about being an
editor is that you can pick
what you want to write ... if
something interests you, you
can write a story.” (Last
week’s cover story, which is
pictured here, was her work.)
The “Weekend” paper’s
focus is in many ways different
from the other days of the
week, she said. “The problem
is that Saturday papers have
always been duds. At the time
they decided to produce
“Weekend,” they decided they
could give the news, but make
it brief . . . not have weighty,
deep, analytical stories like the
Sunday paper. The whole tone
was to give readers a paper
they could read quickly.
“It seems to have worked,”
she continued. “I don’t have
any figures, but it’s been quite
a success. We lost a whole set
of circulation (because the
Saturday morning and after
noon paper were combined)
but we’re gaining that back.
Ad-wise, the leisure guide is
doing well.”
The main purpose of the
entertainment section, she
PRICE 15c
nation certificate and paying a
registration fee.
The fee is $1 for female
dogs and 50 cents for males.
Look-Out Is
Posted for
2 Runaways
The Chattooga County
Sheriff’s Department asks all
residents to be on the lookout
for a young boy and girl who
have apparently run away from
home.
The boy, Michael Wofford,
is a white 17 year old. He is 5
feet 10 inches tall, weighs 150
pounds, has long blond hair
and blue eyes. He was last seen
wearing army fatigue pants and
shirt, a heavy brown coat and
was carrying a red, white and
blue backpack.
The girl. Melody Becker, is a
white 14 year old. She is 5 feet
3 inches tall, weighs 100
pounds, and has long black hair
and brown eyes. She was last
seen wearing blue jeans and a
dark shirt.
The couple was last seen in
the Summerville area Monday
morning, Nov. 28.
explained, is to inform. “We
try to entertain, but the main
thing is to inform. We’re
always keyed to something
that’s happening ... we try to
। stay up to date.”
[ Errors in the leisure guide
upset her, even little ones.
“They (errors) happen. It’s
hard to get television infor
mation right-there always
seems to be a last minute
switch, like a station calling to
say a program has been
switched ...” But even
though it’s sometimes a hassle
to make last-minute changes,
she said, it’s worth it “because
when people see an error they
blame us, not the station.”
How is the small town girl
getting along in the big city?
“1 like the big city,” she
says with a smile. “I think it’s
because a big city has the types
of things I like to do-drama,
ballet. _ I’ve always liked
everywhere I lived. But I
wouldn’t want to go back there
to live.
And though she added she
doesn’t think she would enjoy
living in a small town now, she
stresses it’s not the “swinger”
aspects of the big city that
keep here there.
“I’m really not into the.
disco scene ...” she explains.
“I’m really too busy.”