Editors William D. Liddle, Jr., of Waynesboro, Va., left, and Roscoe
Puckett, of Richmond plan another week’s work on the unique publica¬
tion, "The Blowing Publication.” Both attend the University of Virginia
during the nine months the paper isn’t published. Photo by Emerson
Humphrey.
Newspaper Unique
They come larger and they come
smaller, hut few conic just one sea¬
son a year as (lie newspaper at
Illowing
Коек
does. And it's finite
successful, too.
By II. fv.
BLOWING ROCK may not have
the largest newspaper in
North Carolina, but it cer¬
tainly lays claim to one of the most
unusual papers in the state.
It is unusual for a town with
a winter population of 700 people
to have a newspaper, but it is
more unusual when the paper is
published only during one season
of the year. But Blowing Rockers
couldn’t resist the challenge. As a
result, the Blowing Rocket, a
weekly newspaper published dur¬
ing the summer vacation season,
has become a necessity in practi¬
cally every home and inn in this
mountain resort town and in many
other places throughout the South
where people live who are inter¬
ested in Blowing Rock.
jo^i:s
On June 30, the first issue of
the 1950 Blowing Rocket rolled ofT
the press at River Printing Com¬
pany in Boone. For ten weeks, until
September 1, the tabloid will each
week dish out the news of Blowing
Rock life, personalities, and events.
"Everybody reads the Rocket” in
Blowing Rock is more than just
saying — it is just about a fact.
Each Friday the eight, ten, or
twelve page, four-column tabloid is
filled with news stories, social
items, cottage and hotel news, and
not infrequently a little gossip.
The Rocket, a non-subsidized
ublication. is edited each summer
у
two college students who wish
to combine a summer of hard work
and recreation at Blowing Rock.
Advertising from local firms and a
small subscription rate (a dollar
per summer) are the only income
that the paper has — and from that
income must go all expenses for
publication: printing, cuts, pic¬
tures, mailing costs, and salaries
(the standard joke at Blowing
Rock is that Rocket editors eat
only two meals per day). Normal
circulation is a thousand copies per
week.
The whole idea of a newspaper
for Blowing Rock was born in the
mind of
С.
V. Henkel, Jr,, a suc¬
cessful Statesville industrialist,
back in the days of depression in
1932. Henkel, who spends much of
the summer in Blowing Rock, along
with Archie T. Robertson, now a
well-known columnist and author,
decided that Blowing Rock, a
town of more than 3,000 people in
the height of the vacation season,
needed a means of spreading news.
Result of the idea was the first
issue of the Blowing Rocket in
June, 1932.
Since that time, with the excep¬
tion of the war years 1943-4-5, the
Rocket has been published from
June to September each year.
Editors have included everything
from journalism majors from the
University of North Carolina to
medical students from Virginia.
Robertson has been a contributor
to Life magazine and this year
published a book on religion in the
mountains. Another former editor,
Sigsbee Miller, is a staff correspon¬
dent for the Charlotte Observer.
Sloan Hill, one of last year’s
editors, is publishing a weekly
newspaper in Eastman, Ga. Still
another, John Gravely, is touring
Europe this summer on a motor¬
cycle.
This year’s paper is being edited
by William D. Liddle, Jr., a
graduate medical student at the
University of Virginia, and Roscoe
Puckett, Jr., a junior English major
at the Virginia school. Both men
have been news editors of the
Cavalier Daily, the university
newspaper. Henkel, the founder,
remains as owner of the paper, but
the weekly runs on a self-subsist¬
ing basis.
Each Wednesday sees two
haggard, tired, and sometimes dis¬
gusted editors trudging back to
the office after three days of frantic
combing the town for ads and
news. Perhaps as unusual as the
paper itself is the way local people
support the paper. Advertising is
done partly from a business stand¬
point, partly as an indication of
(Continued on page 22)
THE STATE. JULY S, 1950
