JUNE, 1984 SOUTHERN AFT .OAL C...1,..AN OF THE 50,HF RN 050.. CONFERENCE OF SEVEN,. OP, ADVENT STS ks We° W The Dream Continues The Dream Continues by John M. Lew Nestled among the Blue Ridge Mountains of up work in western North Carolina. Spalding western North Carolina is a 103-bed hospital, an contacted Brownsberger concerning the academy with 200 students, and a 165-student property. Mrs. White was consulted, and, with elementary school. And that is only the her encouragement, the farm was purchased for beginning. Also located there is an 875-member $5,000. church, a health food store, numerous From that beginning, 74 years ago, Fletcher physicians' offices, a farm, small press, bakery, has grown into a successful and respected and pharmacy. medical and educational center. Behind the development of this 1,000-acre institution is a story steeped with history. In Within a 25-mile radius of Fletcher Hospital addition to being an educator, writer, and and Academy live more than 3,250 Seventh-day editor, A. W. Spalding was a colporteur. As he Adventists, most of them belonging to canvassed his way down the mountain roads of congregations spawned by the Fletcher church. rural Henderson County he learned of a New Medical Facility Planned 450-acre farm for sale. Ellen White had visited the area and encouraged Sidney Brownsberger, For the past five years plans have been first president of Battle Creek College, to take underway to construct a new hospital on Approximately 1,500 students have graduated from Fletcher Academy. Enrollment for the 1984-85 school year is projected at 200. Principal Ferdi Wuttke has been at Captain Gilmer elemer school for 27 years. Enrollment averages 165. TWO The Knolls, a 180-bed retirement community, will feature comfortable hous- ing and a convenient, well-equipped activities center. Over-65 population in western North Carolina is projected to triple by the end of the century. property overlooking Interstate Highway 26, The administrative team, led by Clarence about one-half mile from the present facility. Simmons, will continue under the new The $10.8 million facility will relocate the affiliation. hospital from its present three-building site, Status of Fletcher Academy Unchanged dating from the 1930s, to a four-level structure Captain Gilmer elementary school and Fletcher consolidating all patient rooms and ancillary Academy, along with other components of the services under one roof. Fletcher institution, will retain their present In late 1982 the development campaign was status as self-supporting entities. Herbert E. launched. About $1.4 million has been given or Coolidge, Ph.D., continues as president of the pledged. corporation. Roy Dunn and Ferdi Wuttke remain Development plans have been presented to as principals of Fletcher Academy and Captain the various governmental agencies and Gilmer school, respectively. approved. Fletcher Hospital will continue to employ Ground-breaking ceremonies were held students from Fletcher Academy. October 16, 1983. Construction is to begin this Academy Endowment Fund Established summer, with completion slated by the end of 1985. The Fletcher corporation will be compensated $1.1 million for the 30-acre new hospital site Affiliation With Sunbelt Voted and the equipment and inventory presently at In order to obtain tax-exempt hospital revenue the Hospital. This will be placed into an bonds to finance the construction of the new endowment for Fletcher Academy. Additional hospital, and wishing to guarantee that Adventist funds are being provided by the Carolina health principles would be retained, the Conference, area churches, and Fletcher alumni. constituency of Fletcher Hospital and Academy, Extended Care and Retirement Facilities Inc., voted April 8 to affiliate Fletcher Hospital Planned with Adventist Health System/Sunbelt. Upon completion of the new hospital, the existing hospital building will be converted into a nursing home of 50 or more beds. The Knolls, a 180-unit retirement development, is also planned. What began in 1910 as a dream has grown into a dynamic reality. After 74 years, Fletcher Hospital, Fletcher Academy, and the other components of the Fletcher institution, continue to provide the medical and educational excellence which has characterized them through the years. This- proud heritage of service stands as a beacon, pointing the way to even greater service in the future. The current hospital building, actually consisting of three buildings, John M. Lew is director of corporate development built in the 1930s, 1960s, and early 1970s, will be converted into an extended-care facility upon completion of the new building. for the Fletcher institution. Volume 78 SOUTHERN TIDINGS (USPS 507-000) Number 6 THREE Published monthly. Second-class postage paid at Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. Subscription rate—five dollars per year. POSTMASTER, send form 3579 to SOUTHERN TIDINGS, Box 849, Decatur, GA 30031. eatfla "eliMbetlan Caring through love . Caring through giving . This little girl holds the doll her "big sister" gave her "You mean it's free?" This is often the response when students go at GCA's Spe6ial Children's Christmas Party. But the door-to-door on a Sabbath afternoon and give out whole wheat bread caring isn't only at Christmas. Fifty community and magazines. Pictured here, Tanya Simril (left) shares a loaf of whole children from foster homes and underprivileged homes wheat bread. "Share-A-Loaf" begins on a Thursday when Mr. and Mrs. are paired up with a GCA big brother or sister. Every Kitchen, our food service directors, prepare the dough. Students under Wednesday night throughout the year, the academy the direction of Mrs. Tyke Connell bake and bag the loaves, and on students and their "little ones" spend time together in Sabbath they are given out along with literature. This has been an various activities. excellent way to get to know people in the community. Caring through sharing . Students count it a privilege to be a part of special organizations such as the singing group Camerata (pictured here), the Gymnastics Team, and the Christian Witness Group. These groups spend many hours in practice and preparation for the programs they present in SDA and public schools, churches, hospitals, and nursing homes. Caring through teaching . GCA's Adventist Youth for Better Living (AYBL) has recently begun putting on a unique program that utilizes puppets specially designed to educate children about drug abuse. Gordon Hospital donated the funds for the purchase of the puppets, a puppet stage, and other materials that are used as AYBL members visit elementary and junior high public schools. Alan McRae and Rhonda Clark have trained the students and organized this special outreach. Pictured here are students Chris Indermuehle and Tanya Eggers. Caring through smiles . Through mimes, songs, and smiles, GCA's Clown Ministry shows it cares. Monthly visits to two hospitals center on the pediatric wards, but one hospital now has the clowns visit all wards. &tiny by Shelly Litchfield Photography by Joyce Young Flowering dogwoods flank the drive into class during which they go to different public Georgia-Cumberland Academy. Rolling mountains schools and provide one-on-one tutoring and aid and woods of tall pine surround the buildings teachers in a number of ways. While providing and green fields of the campus. No traffic practical experience for students, this also has lights, no noisy traffic mar the peacefulness of given GCA a great rapport with public schools the campus. in the area. GCA may be tucked away in a secluded Jail Ministry: Monthly visits to two area jails country spot, but that doesn't mean it's cut off are greatly appreciated by inmates. Songs, from the world. GCA students have the testimonies, and time to talk make up the visit opportunity to be aggressively involved in the spent "inside." Literature is left for the men and community in outreach programs. Students have women to read. Students also visit Walker been inside prison walls and jails; they have Correctional Institution, a prison near LaFayette, developed relationships with the children of to present programs. underprivileged families; they have worked in Haiti Mission Experience: A trip to Haiti, one public schools. Students have a variety of ways of the world's poorest nations, is planned this to show they care. summer. A small group of students, Academy faculty and students are proud to accompanied by Lowell Jenks, boys' dean and say that outreach is "in." Approximately 60 vice principal, and Pastor and Mrs. Litchfield, percent of GCA's students are regularly involved will share Christ's love through practical work in some form of outreach. among the people and Bible-study meetings. The Several of these outreach programs are greatest outcome of the two-week trip will be to described here. Other programs not pictured are sensitize young people to world need and the following: awaken a sense of mission. Teach-A-Kid: Working in the community is part of the Junior Bible class curriculum. Once Shelly Litchfield is on the faculty at every two weeks, students have a double-period Georgia-Cumberland Academy. FIVE SOUTH AT L. :IC Atlanta-Boulevard Driv by Cynthia W. Roberts This group of tots is just a sampling of what the Lord has done to show that He is in accord with the Investment idea and will bless any effort that one puts forth to assist the promotion of truth in today's world. Unbelievable" was the word used by Louise Kelly, chain of events, Louise Kelly states, "Reaching and Sabbath school superintendent of the Boulevard exceeding my Investment pledge was in itself a won- church, Atlanta, Georgia, to describe her Investment derful blessing, but in addition to that, God gave me a venture that yielded $200 in profits. Her unique bonus!" Her partner, Mrs.