The Richland Beacon-News from Rayville, Louisiana • 1

15" VOLUME 108 NUMBER 1 RAYVILLE DELHI LOUISIANA THURSDAY, JANUARY 1. 1976 1 if- A I r-, JT7 To Celebrate 70th Year Mr. and Mrs. A.D. William, Sr.

will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, January 6 with a family dinner at the home of Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Ellington. Those attending will be Dr.

and Mrs. J.C. Ellington and her two brothers and wives, Mr. and Mrs. A.D.

Williams, Jr. of Monroe, and Mr. and Mrs. George D. Williams of New Orleans; other family members attending will be Rev.

and Mrs. Thomas Dunbar and Kelli of Monroe, and Mrs. J. Cloyd Walker of Shreveport. Invited guests will drop by after dinner.

TUWyjTrr Theater Group To Hold Tryouts Here COMMENTARY: Plans for production of a play here in February and formation of a non-profit theater group have been nwnnrpd ijy pr-nr( 'fth two shows given during the past year. William R. Coenen, spokesman for the group, said that the new show will be a British farce, "See How They Run," and will be under direction of Gene Cloninger. Committees are being formed to handle production of the play and to assist in formation of a formal theater group. Tryouts for performers in the show will be held in Fellowship Hall of Rayville United Methodist Church beginning at 7 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 5. Persons who wish to work on costumes, sets, lighting or other technical aspects Former Richland Resident NamedSocial Security Judge This week the Richland Beacon-News looks two ways three different ways, "First, the date of this issue is January 1, 1976, and the occasion of New Years Day has traditionally been a time to reflect on the accomplisments of the past year and make resolutions for the year to come. During the past year the Beacon has made some strides toward our goal of providing you an attractive, easily readable newspaper. New equipment and some changes in the way we put the paper together have helped in this direction.

For the new year we plan to continue improvement in appearance and readability. We hope you will approve our progress along these lines. Second, this new year is especially significant as we observe the 200th birthday of the United States. All of us are being reminded daily of the historic events of the past. We are also being made to consider our future course as a nation.

The national election to be held this year is truly crucial as to the direction we will take. Since The Beacon has been in existence for more than half our nation's history, talk of the Bi-Centennial makes us more concerned with how our past and future are related to the needs of our service area. That brings us to the third point. Printed under our name on this page are the words "VOLUME 108" and "NUMBER The volume number means that we are now in our 108th year. Nearly all of those years were under the direction of the Mangham family and we are aware of the history of service to this community represented by more than a century of involvement.

We appreciate the background this history provides for our attempts to be of similar service. The 'Number 1 means this is the first issue of our new year of publication. In the 52 issues to come before we again publish a Number 1, we hope you will find improvements in service and in content to match the mechanical improvements referred to above. We want to be "number 1" in bringing the community information on the events that affect it, accounts of personal activities, comment on local issues, news of products and prices offered in business advertising, and all the other features of a community newspaper. Items of progress for The Beacon-News during the coming year are expected to include changes in production schedules to bring you the news sooner, in-service training for employees to produce a better quality newspaper and further purchase of new equipment to improve advertising service.

We expect to continue the constant growth of circulation to serve all of Richland Parish. And we expect to announce further developments which will bring rapid expansion of our service to this community. Happy Birthday to our country. Happy Birthday to us. And a Happy New Year to all those whom it is our privilege to serve.

Fred Embry Pickett of Ashdown, Arkansas, has been selected for appointment to a position of Federal Administrative Law Judge by the Bureau of Hearing Appeals for the Social Security Administration. Pickett is a former resident of Natchitoches, Tensas, and Richland parishes in Louisiana where he was a school teacher and coach prior to entering law school in 1962. After a five-week orientation program in Washington, D.C., beginning on January 19, Pickett will take office at Shreveport where he will hear appeals involving old age, survivors and disability insurance claims that have been denied by the Social Security Administration. Pickett was born at Ashdown where he now resides, and has practiced law are also invited to attend. Set in the vicarage of a small English village, the play revolves around a requires a cast of nine adults.

The three female roles are especially strong, the director said. Included are a former American actress now married to the local vicar, her young Cockney maid and the village spinster. The longer male roles are the vicar and an actor friend of the vicar's wife, now stationed in England with the American Armed Forces. Other men in the fast-moving plot include a Communist spy, a bishop, another visiting clergyman and a policeman. All interested persons are invited to audition for parts in the play, Coenen said.

there for the past ten years. He served the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Arkansas for two terms as Prosecuting Attorney from January 1, 1971 to December 31, 1974. He is the father of David Pickett, a member of the Northeast Louisiana University basketball team, and Mark Pickett, a tight end with the NLU football team. A third son, John, hopes to play college basketball at Northeast. A fourth son, Joe, is now a seventh grader.

Mrs. Pickett and the family will continue to reside in Ashdown until June of 1976 at which time the family will establish residence at Shreveport. Of his return to Louisiana, Pickett states: "Seven of the finest years of my life were spent in Louisiana prior to becoming a lawyer. I look forward to on the debt itself, which is now well over $500 billion. Translating that debt into more comprehensible terms, it is of such size that it would take more than a century to wipe it out, paying it off at the rate of $5 billion a year.

If it had to be eliminated immediately, with everyone in Richland Parish and in the rest of the country chipping in an equal share, it would require $2,358 from every man, woman and child, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. By virtue of that increase, it is expected that the annual interest on the debt will reach $36 billion by the middle of 1976. 0 Local Bill For National Debt I $2,061,000 the return to Louisiana and the renewal of old friendships and the making of new ones. I feel that Lela and I have been very fortunate to rear our family in Ashdown and the people of Southwest Arkansas have been very good to us through these years.

However, with new challenges very exciting, I now look forward to serving the people of this area in this capacity." Residents of Richland Parish, in line with their normal share of the tax load, will be paying close to $290 per family toward these interest charges, it is estimated. Since 1941, when Congress attempted for the first time to put a limit on Federal spending by placing a ceiling on the national debt, there have been many adjustments. In the subsequent years, including its recent action, it has raised the ceiling 24 times as Federal spending continued to mount. The interest costs have gone up proportionately. Since 1960 alone, they have climbed from $9.2 billion a year to the $36 billion fast approaching.

Cotton Production Records Essential Special to the Beacon News How much do Richland Parish residents owe as their share of the national debt? How much is it costing them in taxes each year to meet their portion of the interest charges on that debt? According to the latest figures, about $1 out of every $10 collected locally by the Federal government goes toward paying the interest, which has reached a record of nearly $34 billion a year. In the current fiscal year local people will be turning in, via their taxes, approximately $2,061,000 as their share of the interest costs. That will take care only of the carrying charges. It will have no effect Albert Christman Albert Christman, son of Mr. and Mrs.

David Christman of Delhi, who is presently serving as Graduate Senator on the La. Tech University Student Government has been appointed to the La. Tech University Scholastic Standards Committee by Tech president Dr. F. Jay Taylor.

Mr. Christman is a Graduate Assistant with the La. Tech English Department where he is teaching Freshman English and completing course requirements for the Masters Degree in English. Cotton growers in Richland parish are reminded that complete accurate records of 1975 cotton production on each farm are essential. This reminder comes from Wayne Vondenstein, County Executive Director for the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service.

Vondenstien said that in 1976, as in 1974 and 1975, cotton farmers will be operating under the provisions of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, which allows unrestricted plantings and receipt of -income from the market place. The Act contains the target price concept, and disaster payment provisions which make production records necessary. The director stressed the importance of having each farmer's 1975 cotton production records on file in the parish ASCS office. He explained that in the event payments are made to cotton producers in 1976 or future years, they will be based on production records for prior years. Vondenstein askes that Richland parish cotton producers stop at the ASCS office to find out details for supplying production records..