Ted Hall fondly remembers Zeb Malcolm

TO THE EDITOR:

I would like to thank Editor Emeritus Bill Poteat for his great tribute to Zeb Malcolm in the May 2 edition of The Paper.

Mayor Malcolm is high on my list of most unforgettable characters.

I was the Eastern Burke reporter for The News Herald in 1977 when Rutherford College citizens were embroiled in a contentious debate about incorporation. Mayor Malcolm was leading the incorporation effort, but not everyone was excited about the prospect of possibly paying more property taxes.

My reporting on the issue ruffled quite a few feathers. So, when the next town festival came around and candidates were considered for the honor of sitting in the dunking tank, I was high on the invitation list.

I accepted the invitation and showed up for that Saturday festival in a suit and tie to the further delight of my “supporters.”

Being over 6 feet tall, I mistakenly assumed when a lucky throw hit the target and the seat fell I could land on my feet and stay dry above the waist.

Boy, was that wrong. The first time, and every time, a baseball hit the target my tail hit the bottom of the tank. And what I assumed would be clear water in the tank turned out to be a rust-colored thick soup, because the tank had been filled from a fire truck.

To make matters worse, teenagers coordinating the long line of eager throwers decided that some of the younger kids who couldn’t hit the target should be allowed to run up and hit it with their hands so they, too, could dunk the reporter.

I survived my first (and last) time in a dunking tank, made some new friends and added the experience to a long list of happy memories of Mayor Malcom, a man who I admired greatly at the time and have always remembered for his love for and dedication to making “Rutherford College as right as right can be.”

I love The Paper. Keep up the good work.

TED HALL

Belmont