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SNAP Back In Time takes a look back at newsmakers from yesteryear.

Friday, March 27, 1981

Value

County Manager Bill Forbes gave a preliminary valuation estimate for the county of $750 million as a basis for early work on the 1981-82 budget.

Stanly County Tax Collector Supervisor James Starnes said this is a conservative estimate and expected the final valuation figures will be higher.

The current valuation was $735 million.

Water

The cost of treating water for drinking and household use was expected to double over the next decade because of an increased emphasis on treatment of water to provide a potable supply without traces of chemicals and compounds which health authorities believe might be carcinogenic.

Albemarle City Manager Jack F. Neel said the 1970s saw a greater emphasis on the treatment of wastewater.

Chlorine was the principal chemical used in purification of water for around 100 years or more. Now, scientists were saying chlorine may combine with other chemicals in the water to form traces of certain chemical compounds suspected of being causes of cancer.

Lions

W.H. McSwain, former mayor of Albemarle, was elevated Wednesday to the presidency of the Albemarle Lions Club for the 1981-82 year.

Named to the post in the club’s annual elections, conducted during its weekly luncheon meeting at the Heart of Albemarle Motel, he would succeed Jerry Long as head of the organization when the new officials assume their duties July 1.

Other officers and directors included Carl M. “Buck” Hill, first vice president; Steve Blalock, second vice president; Martin Deese, third vice president; Grier Blackwelder, secretary; David Morgan, assistant secretary; and others.

“Hee Haw”

Kelly Sears, who had appeared on “Hee Haw,” “The Merv Griffin Show” and elsewhere,  would be emcee at the Quenby Mall Country Music Festival and Talent Contest Friday and Saturday.

Westmoreland

Former Army Chief of Staff Gen. William Westmoreland, in a speech at Pfeiffer College Monday, called for America to “stop playing poker while the Soviets are playing chess.”

In a visit sponsored by the Lecture and Forum Committee of the Pfeiffer Student Government Association, Westmoreland addressed about 375 persons and spent the remainder of the day meeting with classes and small groups.

Noting that the Russians have continued to increase military spending while the U.S. has decreased it, the general declared, “Let’s face it. We have been outmaneuvered by the Soviets. They have taken full advantage of our political and diplomatic bungling, our weakened military posture and the apparent loss of much of our national will.”