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VOLUME XCIV - NUPw^j XLVIII
New penim Orders Helping
Trioii s Riegel Bounce Back
By TOM KIRWAN
Prospects for Riegel Textile Corporation’s Trion
plant are “extremely bright” with the confirmation
of over two dozen new denim orders, Harold Peek,
vice president over the Trion Grey Mill said yester
day.
Peek spoke briefly to the Summerville-Trion
Rotary Club, telling the audience full employment
and full workweeks are assured in the early quarters
of the new year “in view of the new orders.”
He said that Trion operations had “suffered” in
recent months because of the Grey Mill’s changeover
to new styles, and renovation work in which 40
percent of the weaving machinery was replaced.
These developments “cost operating hours and work
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A Christmas To Remember
Wayne, (standing), one of the many
children delighted by the gifts donated
to the Inter-Agency Toy Drive for the
Needy, shared a bountiful Christmas
with his two sisters. With three chil
dren, Wayne’s mother said it would not
Dates For Hearings Slated
Chattooga County and the
City of Summerville have set
the dates for two public hear
ings in January to discuss a
pre-application for a federal
1978—The Top Local News Stories In Review
JANUARY
* Acting Summerville Police Chief
Roy Starkey pinned the chief’s badge on
G.H. “Bud” Gilley during a brief cere
mony at City Hall. Newly-elected Mayor
Sewell Cash made the permanent appoint
ment.
* The first Chattoogan of the new year
was a little late in coming—bom on Jan. 4
at 2:01 p.m. at Floyd Medical Center.
Jeremy Wayne Burke, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Ronald Burke, weighed in at 8 pounds, 7
ounces.
* The Chattooga County Chamber of
Commerce has become a reality following
a series of meetings. Henry Watson was
elected president; Steve Baker was elected
vice president; and Marshall Timberlake
was named secretary-treasurer.
* Following a public hearing, County
Commissioner Pete Denson signed into
law an ordinance legalizing the sale of
beer in the unincorporated areas of the
county.
* The Chattooga County Ambulance
Service began operation with eight Emer
gency Medical Technicians (EMTs) on the
staff: Jimmy Bennett, David Foster,
Johnny Bradford, Steve Hayes, Mike
Carmon, Donnie Canada, Donnie Fowler
and Calvin Miller Jr.
* A severe ice storm forecast to hit
Chattooga County failed to materialize,
but severe windy weather left countians
in cold, drizzly weather.
* Summerville voters elected Dennis
Cox to the city council, but failed to give
the city council and mayor a clearcut
direction on the wine sale controversy by
splitting on that question 222 votes to
222 votes.
* Justice of the Peace Ralph
“Country” Brown dismissed charges of
aggravated assault against Emerson
Branch, who was involved in a shooting
Dec. 30 which left Bolling Ratliff
paralyzed below the waist.
♦ Griffin Pledger-the man whose
name has become synonymous with the
Summerville Police Department-retired
this month following a 29-year career
with the department.
* The recreation facilities the county
has to offer got a big boost last week as
funds for the development of camping
sites at James H. “Sloppy” Floyd State
Park were released by the Georgia House.
* Rep. Jerry Money and three other
Georgia House members Thursday intro-
(Ihe ^ummerutlk Neuw
have been possible to buy gifts for
them with an income of only $145 a
month. Over 175 local families received
gifts as a result of the annual drive. (See
Story, Page 3).
Community Development
Block Grant.
County Commissioner Pete
Denson says he is hoping for a
large turnout of local residents
duced a bill which if approved would add
a third judge to the Lookout Mountain
Judicial Circuit, of which Chattooga
County is a part.
FEBRUARY
* A local landmark, believed to be the
oldest standing Chattooga frame house -
the Bittings’ house—is scheduled to be
torn down in the near future to make
way for the relocation of Lane Funeral
Home, according to a Lane spokesman.
* The City of Summerville and the
Town of Trion have formally accepted an
out-of-court compromise in a l!6-year
lawsuit dealing with claims and counter
claims involving the municipalities’
natural gas systems. In the settlement,
Trion agreed to pay Summerville $30,884
for industrial gas sales from Nov. 1, 1971
to Dec. 31, 1977.
* An era came to an end at Chattooga
High School as Buddy Windle, head coach
at CHS, left after six successful seasons at
the school. Windle, whose record at CHS
was 43-19-2, accepted the head coach job
at Loudon High School in Tennessee.
Ron Williams, defensive coordinator at
West Rome High School, was selected to
replace Windle.
* Three long-haired young men re
mained in jail yesterday under SIOO,OOO
bonds each, facing federal bank robbery
charges following what will go down in
the history books as one of the county’s
biggest and most intensive manhunts.
Ozell Bethune, 23, and Teddy Lewis
Horton, 19, both of Flat Rock, Ala., and
Danny Charles Pardue, 19, of Trenton
were charged with robbing the Menlo
Branch of the Farmers & Merchants Bank
Friday. The three later pleaded guilty and
were sentenced.
* A memorial service honoring the late
Earl “Bill” Self was held by the Lookout
Mountain Bar Association in the Chat
tooga Superior Court.
♦ A collection of some 2,500 issues of
The Summerville News is scheduled to be
microfilmed next month as the final
hurdle toward completion of the
Woodrow W. Espy Memorial Microfilm
Library.
* A crackdown on residents who pay
their utility bills late and a debate on the
merits of installing time clocks at City
Hall highlighted the monthly meeting of
the Summerville City Council and Mayor.
* The Chattooga County Grand Jury
recommended that Commissioner of
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1978
time,” he noted, leading to some temporary layoffs
and reduced workweeks for non-exempt salaried
employees.
He said widespread rumors as well as news
accounts following the layoffs and cutbacks may have
misled the local community concerning the future of
the Riegel’s Trion operations.
He declared that “now all that’s behind us” and
that full production is assured with the placement of
28 denim ordere-26 more than last year.
From January through March the mill should be
producing 950,000 yards per week, which will result
in six-, and possibly seven-, day workweeks for hourly
employees. Employees recently laid off have been
called back to work he said, or will be eligible for
at the hearing to support a
proposal to seek the grant
money for use in developing
one or two industrial park
see page 3
Rash Os Break-Ins
Is Reported Here
By PAM PURCELL
A rash of burglaries of local
residences, businesses and a
school plagued Chattooga
County over the Christmas
holidays, according to reports
at the sheriff’s department and
the police office. Two county
men have been arrested in con
nection with one of the break
ins.
Authorities identified the
two men as William D. Hunt,
24, of Route 1, Summerville
and Kenneth R. Smith, 24, of
101 Fourth Street, Summer
ville. They were arrested
Friday, charged with burglary,
and were later released on
$5,000 bonds each.
According to warrants at
the sheriffs department the
two men allegedly entered the
residence of Chattooga High
School Principal Jack Herring
on Racehorse Drive between
10:30 am. and 4:44 p.m. last
Tuesday. Entry was made by {
prying open glass sliding doors
with what looked like a
screwdriver, the warrant said.
They allegedly took guns,
silver, jewelry, leather goods,
tools and gifts. The items were
valued at approximately
$4,658.
Deputies are also investi
gating the break-in of Eddie
Teague’s residence at Route 4,
Summerville.
According to reports, some
one entered the residence by
breaking the glass out of the
east bathroom window.
Reportedly missing was S2O to
$25 in coins from a piggy bank
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27x7 7
1978 * - 1 1979,
Roads and Revenue Pete Denson hold a
special referendum on a local option 1
percent sales tax. The jury recommended
the tax as one method of reducing
property taxes. The special referendum
was scheduled for March 28.
* George F. Taylor, formerly Walker
County Messenger editor, joined the
editorial staff of The Summerville News
as associate editor.
* Chattooga Countians opened their
hearts and pocketbooks to Mary Salley,
the 26-year-old Chattooga High graduate
who last autumn fell victim to herpes
encephalitis.
* Elaine Teague became the new ac
tivities director at Oak View Nursing
Home Feb. 8.
MARCH
* A Summerville woman, Mrs. Aileen
W. Davis, was left dead and a Trion
woman, Mrs. Ruby Lee Tant, seriously
injured in an early morning accident Fri
day on U.S. 27 just north of Summerville
Square Shopping Center. Mrs. Tant told
the state patrol she tried desperately to
stop her vehicle for several miles after the
accelerator became jammed. Mrs. Davis’
husband later filed suit against Mrs. Tant
for $1,530,000 stemming from the acci-
re-employment, and employees who had been work
ing reduced workweeks before the Christmas holidays
will return to 40-hour work weeks.
“The denim orders are still coming in,” Peek
beamed, adding that Riegel now has some orders
placed as late as in to July.
Meanwhile, the finishing plant, which is directly
affected by the output at other Riegel operations in
the South, “will continue to operate 5-day work
weeks,” he said.
When employees return after the holidays to work
on Tuesday, he said, “We’ll hit the floor running and
run wide open as long as we can.”
dent.
’Over the objection of 100 specta
tors, the county issued its first retail
package license under the new malt
beverage ordinance. Floyd Davenport
received the first license.
* With the City Council’s approval.
Mayor Sewell Cash signed a “letter of
intent” authorizing the Corps of Engi
neers move forward on a half-million
dollar project to enlarge, deepen and clear
portions of Town Branch, which in the
past has backed up and caused heavy
flooding in much of the downtown area
during heavy rains.
* Funeral services were held for a 4-
year-old Summerville girl, Andrea
Michelle Nichols, who authorities say
accidentally shot and killed herself while
her mother was in a local grocery store.
* An 1887 copy of “The Summerville
Gazette” detailing a hanging in Summer
ville witnessed by 2,500 residents was
donated Thursday to the county library’s
microfilm project.
♦ The Summerville City Council and
Mayor Sewell Cash Thursday put its
formal stamp of approval on a $2.2 mil
lion water system improvement plan and
voted to seek a federal grant to under
write part of the project.
* The county’s proposed local option
sales tax was overwhelmingly defeated at
the polls by a 3-to-l margin.
* Several members of the Concerned
Christian Citizens of Chattooga County,
including several Baptist ministers,
attempted to raise SIO,OOO to hire an
Atlanta lawyer to seek revocation of beer
licenses in Chattooga County.
* Forty-eight Chattoogans loaded a
bus early Monday morning that carried
them to the Atlanta airport where they
departed for Washington, D.C., and
Gettysburg, Pa.
APRIL
* Calvary Baptist Church pastor Bob
Easley confirmed he had removed three
church deacons in what has become the
latest development of the controversy
surrounding the Summerville Christian
Schoo). The Rev. Easley resigned from his
pastorship at the church’s Sunday morn
ing service.
* All eyes have been on the court
house in recent weeks as workmen re
furbished the exterior. Renovation of the
courthouse exterior was paid for through
and four new eight-track tapes.
The total value of the items
totaled $57.
A witness told deputies of
seeing a white male of medium
height and weight with blonde
brownish hair leaving the house
going through nearby woods.
He was reportedly wearing an
orange toboggan and a greenish
Army-type jacket.
No arrest was made in con
nection with the incident as of
yesterday.
In another incident, teacher
William B. Hair reported to
deputies that sometime
between noon Friday and 2:45
p.m. Monday someone entered
the high school by breaking
out a window in the front part
of the building behind some
bushes. The vocational depart
ment of the school was also
b: ken into. Entry was made
through a plate glass window
, hr h had been broken out.
The teacher’s lounge was
reportedly entered and the
Coke and cookie machine was
broken into. Reported missing
was approximately sls in
change.
Bobby Marshall of Route 1,
Lyerly, reported to deputies
that his store, Bobby’s Country
Store on the Alabama Highway
in Lyerly, was entered between
7 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m.
Monday. Entry was made by
breaking out a window in the
side of the building.
Reported missing was
approximately S3O in change
and two six-packs of beer.
see page 3
I t
Slgg
Wholesale Increase Leads
To Gas Rate Hike In Trion
The Trion Town Council
Thursday approved a 16 cents
per MCF (1,000 cubic feet)
increase in the town’s natural
gas rates, reflecting a recent
wholesale increase effective
Jan. 1.
The council’s action, which
came during its busy monthly
meeting, will translate into an
estimated 8 percent monthly
a $183,000 grant from the Economic
Development Authority.
* Services for Elbert Forester, 71, who
died of a heart attack were held in
Trenton. Forester was a well-known
north Georgia newsman and columnist.
* The flood control project initiated
on April 6 by Trion and the Soil Conser
vation Service is designed to eliminate
future flooding in Frogtown and reduce
the likelihood of flooding at Riegel
Textile Corporation, said Soil Conserva
tionist Clentis Pool.
* The constitutionality of the state
law permitting Commissioner Pete
Denson to authorize the sale of malt
beverages in Chattooga County may be
tested by a suit brought by Chattooga
County residents Bob Easley and Grover
Whitfield.
* The Georgia State Patrol purchased a
new radar system called the “K 55 MPH”
which can send out a beam and locate a
speeder quicker than a radar detector can
detect it, according to Georgia State
Trooper Don Langston.
* The Chattooga County Rescue
Squad received the "Jaws of Life,” a
Hurst power tool designed to extricate
victims trapped in automobiles.
MAY
* A Chattooga County ambulance, on
a run to Floyd Medical Center with a
patient, smashed into a stopped pickup
truck at the traffic islands in downtown
Summerville Sunday afternoon. No one
was seriously injured in the accident.
* Charlie Lowry of Summerville was
ranked number five in the all-around
cowboy category.
* Mayor Sewell Cash, at the close of
the Summerville City Council meeting
Monday night, said the city has been
informed it is ineligible for a federal grant
sought for the city’s proposed $2.2
million water system improvement plan.
* The Woodrow W. Espy Memorial
Microfilm Library went into action in
recent days following the arrival of a Bell
& Howell microfilm viewer at the Chat
tooga County Library.
* The county government has earned
$25,103 in revenue generated from the
sale of beer since the first beer permit was
sold in February, it was reported.
* The unemployment rate for Chat
tooga County declined by four-tenths of
a percentage point in March, from a
increase for the typical resi
dential customer, Mayor Jake
Woods said. He calculated the
increase by averaging his and
council members' November
bills under the new rate.
Woods said the increase was
necessary because its supplier,
Southern Natural Gas Co., is
raising its wholesale rates to
the town.
The City of Summerville
earlier this month took similar
action.
During discussion, council
members Don Henderson and
Hoyt Williams said the council
should consider offsetting the
increase with over $70,000 in
refunds the town recently
received from Southern
see page 3
revised 7.1 percent in February to a
preliminary 6.7 percent.
JUNE
* The constitutionality of the Georgia
law governing the sale of malt beverages
in Chattooga County was upheld Tuesday
when U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy
denied relief to Bob Easley and Grover
Whitfield in their class action suit against
Commissioner Pete Denson.
* On Mother’s Day, exactly a week
before the congregation of Oak Hill
Missionary Baptist Church was to cele
brate the white clapboard church’s 104th
anniversary, a fire swept through the buil
ding.
*An Alabama resident, Roy Lee
Blansit. was pronounced dead on arrival
at DeKalb County Hospital following an
accident at the Cornelius and Rush Coal
Company near Cloudland.
* Some 244 students graduated from
Trion and Chattooga High Schools.
* Rejection of a proposed water pur
chase agreement between Menlo and
Chattooga County was the first order of
business at a called meeting of the Menlo
mayor and council Thursday evening.
* The Summerville City Council and
Mayor took a step closer toward the
proposed water system improvement
project, gave city employees a small raise,
and approved a long-discussed stoplight
on North Commerce Street near the
Piggly Wiggly store.
* The Georgia State Patrol will place
the first women troopers in its 40-year
history on the roads by the end of this
year if four female trooper candidates
successfully complete 16 weeks of basic
training scheduled to begin in August.
* A half-million-dollar federal grant is
being sought by the county to install a
public sewage system in the Pennville and
Dickeyville communities, according to
Commissioner Pete Denson. The grant
application was later turned down by
HUD.
JULY
* An Alabama man, Leo Biddle, was
electrocuted early Friday morning, June
30, when he apparently stepped out of
his pickup truck while a fallen power line
was touching his radio antenna.
* Two escapees from the Montgomery
County Correctional Institution. Rodney
Browning and Troy Hardin, were back in
Me page C
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