European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 22, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Pago 10 the stars and stripes wednesday june 22, 1977 communications Soffion in touch with nearby Fown Navy unit thrives on North coast of Scotland by Brad Durfee staff writer Thurso. Scotland Sis rolling Hills Meadows broken into plots by jagged Stone Walls narrow winding roads Lead ing to a Small Cluster of quaint buildings perched atop a Cliff High above the sea. A description of a new England fishing and farming Village it could very Well be but it s very far removed s a description of the Countryside sur rounding and including the . Naval communications unit Here on the North coast of 100 men assigned Here Are preparing for expansion. The unit will become a full lodged naval communications station in october. At that time the . Naval communications station. U.k., in London Derry will close and consolidate with the unit Here. Population jump the move will increase the population Here by an additional 140 enlisted Mem Bers and eight officers at this site located right on the sea about seven Miles from downtown Thurso a cily of slightly More than 10,000 cons action men so abcs from port a Luence calif., and Rota. Spain arc at work building new facilities to House the. Incoming group and expand work Sites this far North there Are Long hours of Daylight in the you first experience the month of june Here you can Wake up at 2 . And swear you overslept and missed said senior chief coast auction electrician Bob Sucavage of Girardville. A. You adapt Quick. To the Long Daylight he added. He noted that the ions hours have added it least one entertaining event locally axils of h Tys participate in to Burn s ant jul Golf tournament which is Nin differ Cully than must Golf matches. It s played around june 21 and it.1 players Start teeing off at Midnight at Sincavagg Saul Hie Lise Here has no medical facilities so the Navy has a contract with a doctor and a Hospital downtown lots of Guys arc married to local girls and they Are on National health and they go to their own Doc said first class Marv Clamp is what Navy Man Call a plan owner an original few member of a vessel or a base. My first Lour Here was in 1863." said called the original to men who made lip the station at thai Lime the tightest group you be Ever seen. We established the relationship with the Community that still exists Imlay added Clamp who give credit for the Goirl relations with the townspeople to the , whose wife Marion is scottish said they produced their own entertain ment we All chipped in a Buck and started chit club in a room in the he said. We had a Dart Hoard two tables curtain Lor a door and the drinks were self service on the he nor system " Clamp and some other uni n formed a hand and played in town just about every night Back in 1953, he held Dancis and showed movies in the Galley. If there Ever was a Mcl Lale Navy tins was he said Lanon said they accomplished a lot of self help projects since she was Here before and was sure nod to see i he improvements Csepi scially the new gym and the Bowling base Here Lias an Ai Tive first class association sponsored by sailors in the pay Grade of pkg i Petty officers first Classi we be hosted a darts night out Here and had about 40 people oin for a Bowling session another said Marion who added that they were in turn hosted Down town for a fish and chips supper we hosted his British a gon of Thurso Stone Walls and narrow lanes make the Countryside around Thurso Scotland look a Little like new England. a few weeks ago and the locals really enjoyed the Buffil and the cake Hal Petty officer . Sam Walker Clamp s cake was shaped and decorated like a Dart Board Complete Wilh darts said Marion. Married people Fil right into the local Community and the Navy has leased and built some houses individual houses scattered throughout town and not built along the lines of housing projects familiar lol Hose stationed in Germany the lifestyle in Thurso is agreeable and enjoyed by Mike and Nancy Driscoll and their two girls Ages 12 and 8. Mike is a lieutenant and executive offi cer of the Navy communications unit Here Nancy attends Thurso technical col lege while Mike oversees the handing of message traffic and communications relay work in support of the is hard to come by for women Over Here and 1 have a lot of time on my hands so i go to College four Days a said Nancy who Calls Thurso the Besl place in the world to raise children they have a lot of Freedom Here there s no crime. 1 Don l worry Aboul the girls when they arc out walking we Don l lock our doors Here Al the House or our car doors also said the women shop Down town and buy All their meat except Balo Ney and some packaged meats on the local get milk in hollies delivered to our door. We just Call the grocer and place our order and they deliver said the native of Jacksonville. Fla. The amazing thing to As americans is thai when i first tried to pay my grocer when he delivered my order he told me to Wail until i happened to pass his store of ten 1 was downtown. This As you Well know in t done any More in the when asked How the influx of people from Londonderry would affect the hous ing situation Mike said there would t be any problem. The now building 50 new units throughout town to accommodate the in Munung Mike said. We now have 61 to 65 families living in town but by next october Well have about 140 families As to the climate in Northern Scotland nne Sailor at Thurso said if you like the four seasons All in one Day you la love it Here . Calls Bank Experiment a Success checking savings accounts urged Washington it pm the Carter and Ion monday urged Congress to allow Banks throughout the country la offer savings accounts on which you can also write checks these Are called now account.-. For Nicio Tiabl order of withdrawal and under present Federal Law they Are allowed Only in the my new England slates Treasury Secretary Michael Blum a Hal told a Senate banking subcommittee the expend men of permitting them in new England has been a but Cess he urged adoption of an administration Bill to Maliov. Banks savings and loan Asso Chat mrs and credit unions to offer now accounts or Thor equivalent nationwide. Federal Reserve chairman Arthu Burns supported the Bill now accounts Are the equivalent of earning interest on the balance in your checking account Congress banned them in 1811. Thinking Ivy were linked to unsound banking practices of the i Jos the Experiment to allow them in new began in 1976. And Nimit giant to Lii Iii of the Marcial Nisi Luti Orts there offer to vein Blumenthal said the whole Field of Bank ing has suffered from an ant competitive Bias and the now accounts will increase Competition. The administration is afraid the in creased Cost of now accounts t Banks will hasten the withdrawal in recent years of Small Banks from the Federal Reserve system therefore the Bill imposes a series of restrictions including an initial interest ceiling and limitation of now accounts to those held by individuals it also would permit the Federal re sirve to pay interest on the financial re serves required to be held by us members. Some subcommittee members had reservations. Sen John Tower. R-tex., said Congress possibly should encourage elec tronic banking rather than a new paper he questioned whether Consumers will get a net Benefit or will pay higher kinking costs
