Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 3, 1993                   TAG: 9309030213
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

STORM, FAME BRUSH PULASKI EX-MANAGER

"We made it through with very, very minimal damage," Don Holycross, who is now town manager of Atlantic Beach, said Thursday.

Holycross left in January, after more than three years as Pulaski's manager, to become the first manager for this vacation and resort community.

As the hurricane approached the North Carolina coastal areas earlier this week, he turned up on a number of television interviews seen by friends of his in Pulaski.

"It was amazing," he said, how many television news crews descended on the area Monday night and Tuesday when the hurricane brushed the coast. "We had anywhere from 15 to 20 news teams," he said, from CNN and CBS to units from places in Tennessee and Kentucky.

It was the community's second brush with a big storm since Holycross moved to North Carolina. The one in March did much more damage, he said.

Emily did give Atlantic Beach officials a good exercise in preparing for natural disasters, he said. An evacuation was declared and carried out.

Holycross said he likes the job he has held for the past six months.

"I'm enjoying it. It's certainly a different perspective," he said. "I mean, the managerial issues are relatively similar. . . . The techniques are the same, but the problems are different."

For example, the town is involved in a sand-pumping project for its beaches. And there have been times when it has had to intervene in disputes between commercial fishers and pier owners and sports fishers.

"I miss the mountains a lot. . . . particularly at this time of the year, because this was when I did a lot of hiking," he said. "And I certainly miss the people back there in Pulaski."

He hopes to visit Pulaski, but that will not happen during the warm months when tourists flock to Atlantic Beach. "It's very difficult down here to take vacations during the summer," he said.