This feature mines our archives for what was going on this week in local history.
Forty-nine years ago this week, many McDowell County residents were mourning the sudden and unexpected death of Elvis Presley, the king of rock ‘n’ roll. He died on Aug. 16, 1977, at his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn., at the age of 42. The McDowell News ran this photo from 1958, which shows McDowell resident Ken Ward with Elvis when they were serving in the Army together. In March 1958, both men arrived at Fort Hood, Texas, for basic training. Presley did not want special favors in the Army, Ward recalled, and wanted to be treated like everyone else.
Many McDowell County residents were mourning the sudden and unexpected death of Elvis Presley, the king of rock ‘n’ roll. He died on Aug. 16, 1977, at his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn., at the age of 42. Barbara Pinkerton of the Clinchfield community was just one of many hundreds of Elvis fans in McDowell County. She is shown with some of her Elvis memorabilia.
James Ray Walker, 16, worked as a male candy striper at Marion General Hospital. He was the first and only male candy striper at the hospital, and he explained that his reason for volunteering was to help him decide on a career as a doctor. He was scheduled to be a junior at McDowell High School that year. He was assigned to work with the male patients at the hospital and is shown with patient Victor Lyons.
Lucy T. Hunter (left) of Marion was sworn in as a member of the McDowell Technical Institute’s board of trustees. She was appointed to the 12-member board by Gov. Jim Hunt. Clerk of Superior Court Ruth Williams (right) administered the oath to Hunter at the clerk’s office.
This was the McDowell High School varsity football team for 1977-78. The Titans were (front row, left to right) Keith Bishop, Mark Logan, John Long, William Joyner, Toney Daniels, Terriel Lytle, Peter Jackson, Jeff Hooper, David Jarrett, Jeff Barnes and Peter Gallen. In the second row, from left were Marshall Edwards, Stanley Arrowood, Keith McCauley, Lloyd Church, Tim Poteat, Kyle Gibson, Tim Edwards, Gary Hensley, Duane Terrell and Jeff Rumfelt. In the third row, from left, were Stan Draper, David Wilson, David Knighton, David Presnell, Phil Flinchum, Weston Curtis, Jeff Taylor, Steve Edwards and Alan English. In the back row, from left, were Burt Alexander, Kenny Owensby, Duane Lusk, John Laughridge, Bruce Allen, Richard Brooks, Tim Fender, Chuck Nettles, Jeff Cordell and Ben Franklin.
The new Sky City store opened in Marion. Joe Jones, the 27-year-old manager, presided over the grand opening of the store, which was located at the new shopping center on West Henderson Street.
During the week of Aug. 25, 1977, the House Theatre in Marion presented these sports-oriented movies.
County Manager Jack Harmon (left) presented a check of $50 to Tim Metcalf, son of Mrs. Betty Metcalf of Old Fort, for submitting the winning entry in the McDowell County commissioners’ contest for 4-H youths to design a new county seal. Metcalf holds his drawing of the seal with J.R. Mabe, associate county Cooperative Extension agent who works with 4-H youth.
Charles Presnell of Marion displays the state record tiger muskellunge he caught while fishing at Lake James earlier that summer. At that time, there were only four muskellunges known to have been caught from Lake James. Presnell’s catch was the largest recorded catch of any game fish from the lake.
McDowell High’s Dot Baldwin was named McDowell County’s top teacher of the 1977-78 year. She would go on to represent McDowell County in the district Teacher of the Year competition later that fall.
The winners and runners-up in the McDowell Recreation Church Softball League posed for a photo at The McDowell News. They were (front row, from left) Wade Stott, coach of the Montford Cove men’s team; Kay Stott, assistant coach of the Montford Cove youth team; and Bobby Harris, coach of the Montford Cove youth team; and (second row, from left) Danny White, coach of the Hankins youth team; Harold Dean Medford, coach of the East Marion men’s team; Guy Connors, coach of the Montford Cove women’s team; and Marty Elliott, assistant coach of the Montford Cove men’s team.
David Slagle (left) and Chris Buchanan showed off a few of their hundreds of comic books the two had collected over the past three years. They were seeking some old Marvel Comics to fill in some gaps in their collections.
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This feature mines our archives for what was going on this week in local history.
This feature mines our archival photos for what was going on this week in local history.
This feature mines our archives for what was going on this week in local history.
This feature mines the McDowell News archives for what was going on this week in local history.
