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Wednesday, August 22. 1990 / University Daily Kansan
August Summer Sale
RICK'S BIKE SHOP 916 Mass., Lawrence, KS (913)841-6642
Mountain family wins lottery
Indoor plumbing becomes reality in 'dream come true'
RALEIGH, W. Va — Carol Bowzer chose to play the lottery instead of eating lunch one day. Now her family has two used pickups, an electric stove and, finally, running water. Soon they'll have an indoor toilet.
The Associated Press
In June, the Bowyers won $25,000 in the West Virginia Lottery. And though the money was soon spent, the money for Appalachia will never be the same.
"It's a dream for me," Carol Bowyer said. "It's something I hadn't never really counted on ever. It's a dream come true."
Carol Bowyer, 45; her husband,
Walter, 46, a coal truck driver;
and three sons live in a five-room house
they are still building outside this
mining community. Lightbulbs are
displayed on the tables to show insulation between the studs.
The house, surrounded by sheds for chickens, goats and tools, sets against dense woods a few miles north. Beckley in southern West Virginia
"I love it up here," she said. "The only objection I ever had was water. When the kids hauled the water, it's OK. But when they're in school or something and I have to haul water, I didn't like it."
The Bowyers, who occasionally had to go on welfare, had enough
money for electricity and a telephone but not for a well, which costs about $2.000.
Instead, the family hiked several hundred yards with buckets to a spring just off of a dirt road, where they drew water for sponge baths. They got cooking and drinking water from service stations.
"My husband tells me I'm camping out. Seven years of camping out. That's enough for anybody. We were moving on moving off the lot," she said.
Then one June day, Carol Bowyer walked more than four miles to the town of Beaver.
"I had a choice: I either eat or put $2 or $3 in the lottery, and that day I decided to play the lottery," she said.
One of her $1 tickets was a $25,000
winner, less $6,500 withheld for
economic income tax and $1,000 to the
Bowers owed in back income tax.
Little was left after buying plumbing supplies, clothes, a few dinners out and a used electric stove from Walter Boyer's mother.
Walter Bowyer bought a 1986 pickup and Walter III, 17, bought a 1983 pickup. Billy, 15, and Michael, 16, bought a stereo and a remote control car.
So far, the Bowyers' indoor plumbing consists of a pipe and spigot in the eldest son's room, soon to be the
bathroom. A septic tank has been installed outside.
"We got water in the house so far and that's it. We've got everything ready to hook up, but he can't take off no more work." Carol Bower said.
They eventually lost the mobile home, too. That's when they started to build, one room at a time.
The family moved their mobi-
home to the mountain in 1983 after
they couldn't afford to make monthly
payments. Beckey, Here they
pay $300 a year.
"It was just a piece of land. This room here, we threw this room up and all five of us lived in this room for about six months." Carol Bower said as she pointed to her kitchen. "Can you picture five people living in one room? It was kitchen, bedroom and everything for a while."
She's proud of their new, 105-footdeep well.
"This is going to make me stay up here. Now I'm not ready to leave. I'm happy. I am content. I'll stay here with you. We'll roll me off and put me in a home."
"When he pulled that water out of here it was real pretty and clear, and I was really happy," she said.
"That money only last me about a week," she said. "I've got to win me the big lottery. That didn't last long enough."
Yard sale sprawls into four states
The Associated Press
OWENTON, Ky. — For anyone into yard sales, it was hand-me-down heaven: the U.S. 127 Corridor 450-Mile Outdoor Sale Festival.
Sunday marked the end of the fourth annual, four-day, four-state roadside extravaganza. It stretched from Covington, Ky., to Gadsen, Ala., and passed through Tennessee and Georgia.
"We've got beautiful scenery along 127 and it's the drive worth - even if you don't find any bargains." Judy Roydsen of Jamestown, Tenn.
Although there wasn't a continuous line of stalls along the entire route, there was no shortage of tables and racks to cover over and rackes to browse through.
She said the sale was promoted in tourist magazines and by the tourism departments in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The festival is meant to help the economies of small towns and counties along U.S. 127 by luring tourists from the interstates.
Business slowed toward the end of the weekend after a brisk start Thursday and Friday. Several dealers attributed the slump to travelers from northern states already having passed through.
George and June Minor of Louisville, Ky., who were en route to the annual Pioneer Days Festival in Kentucky's Mercer County, said they didn't know about the yard sale event but were stopping at many of the
stands
"George is crazy about yard sales." June Minor said.
By Saturday afternoon, some dealers were beginning to see travelers returning from the south with their cars loaded and their pockets empty.
Rebeeka莎 Owenton, Ky., about 25 miles north of Frankfort, said a Pennsylvania man had thrown himself in the water and lacked the money to pay for them.
"His van was completely full," she said.
The man pulled out a piece of pottery made in North Carolina and asked if the Seigels would trade it. The man added 100 marbles to his load.
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