GASTONIA • NORTH CAROLINA
VOLUME XI - HUMBER 5
APRIL, 1962
Tir«$ton«
Best Today
Still Better
Tomorrow
Rubber • Chemicals • Textiles
Synthetics • Metals • Plastics
«rone
fixing up
THE BOATS
Aroma of pine forests and music of mountain trout streams
are almost reality for carpenters Bernard Aim (left) and Thomas
Turner, repairing rowboats for the upcoming Camp Firestone sea
son. Boats were hauled from the Lake James campsite for their
annual fix-up at the plant carpenter shop.
Camp Firestone Season Opening In Ma
inp May brings the open-
Csmp Firestone for its
mountain fun
anH ^^^^^^tion for employees
of their fam-
iS.
The
®>500-acre Lake James at
in the Blue Ridge
in + offers wide variety
tirrif
nf o situated on a cove
6,500-acre
. ^ gewater ii
-recreation from spring
^ fnid-October. By closing
in \h niountain playground
of area is at the peak
j^.^^utumn color,
and 1^^ '^AMES. in McDowell
^urke counties, has a 154-
^^°^eline. Its fishing waters
^ost of the South’s
tio c ^°Pular centers for aqua-
Sports
•■peeana
Firestone opened the camp for
employee use in 1935. Property
maintenance and development
are under direction of plant
engineer W. G. Henson and the
Mechanical department of the
Gastonia plant.
Facilities this year will in
clude six cottages with sleeping
quarters, each complete with
electric cooking stove and re
frigerator; two other cottages
with sleeping facilities; and the
central kitchen-dining building.
Overnight accommodations
are provided for about 80 per
sons at one time, with several
woodland acres available for
camping.
During the winter and as
spring returns every year, work-
C^^ttipany Gives Away Beauty
ago,
® began giving away
tail ^^®ds through its re-
^utlets across the coun-
m
try. The company is still
giving seeds away, and this
spring’s distribution will
bring the number to more
than 3,000,000 packets.
As in the past, seeds distribut
ed this year will bring beauty
to hundreds of thousands of
lawns and gardens across the
United States and Canada. Some
of the flowers will add pretty
touches to otherwise unlovely
places such as neglected fence-
rows and corners of abandoned
lots.
The Burpee-produced hybrid
Firestone zinnia is one of the
☆ ☆ ☆
• These Burpee hybrid Fire
stone zinnias grew beside the
doorway of the Industrial Rela
tions annex last summer.
\T
men from here prepare the camp
for use, doing routine repairs,
inspecting and bringing life-sav
ing equipment up-to-date, stock
ing firefighting materials and
first-aid supplies.
THIS SEASON the company
will have seven rowboats with
standard lifesaving equipment
in service.
Again this year at the camp,
you can enjoy boating, fishing,
swimming, water skiing, horse
shoe pitching, picnicking, camp
ing and nature study.
Camp Firestone, about five
miles from Marion, is a ‘natural’
starting place from which to
travel in a five-state empire
along the “rooftop of Eastern
America.” From this location
travelers can launch any num
ber of tours within a 100-mile
radius which includes some of
the country’s most popular
tourist attractions. Among these
are Great Smoky Mountains Na
tional Park, Pisgah National
Forest, the Grandfather Moun
tain region and other points
along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
loveliest annual flowers, bloom
ing as early as July and con
tinuing to produce showy blos
soms into autumn.
Each spring the seeds are
available only through Firestone
dealers and stores. In every
packet of 100 seeds is an assort
ment that will produce red,
orange, pink, yellow and white
blossoms. The fluffy or ruffled-
type flowers grow to almost
three feet, making a good back
ground for tiered or split-level
flower beds, or enhancing the
landscape layout around porch
es, patios, sidewalks and drive
ways.
First Quarter Of 1962
Sales And Earnings
Set Company Record
Sales and earnings for the
quarter which ended Jan. 31
were highest for any first
quarter in the history of
Firestone. The figures are
partial fulfillment of an
early-January prediction by
chairman Harvey S. Fire
stone Jr., that 1962 would
be “the biggest year in Fire
stone history.”
Mr. Firestone and Ray
mond C. Firestone, president,
reported sales of $286,509,-
558, which compared with
$267,974,146 in the first quar
ter of 1961.
Earnings for the first
quarter of this year were
$14,534,412, compared with
$13,603,958 in the same
period yast year. Sales
showed increase of 6.9 per
cent and earnings were up
6.8 per cent over 1961.
The company chairman
pointed out that showing in
the first quarter follows the
record final six-month period
of fiscal year 1961, in which
sales and profits were also
highest for any similar
period of the company’s his
tory.
This progress, which bene
fits us all, was made possible
by the teamwork efforts of
all employees, Raymond C.
Firestone pointed out. “With
this continued effort, 1962
will be a history-making
year for the Firestone or
ganization,” he added.
The
Master
Weaver
It’s Great To Be Alive—
Especially In Springtime
Lighthearted Spring unlocked her box of marvelous
treasures on schedule in late March. And welcome the
treasures are. No wonder it’s the best of seasons for many
folks. ,
Spring brings a surge of youth to the hearts of adults,
as they again relish the outdoors and reap new inspiration
and strength for living.
For the young, it means a thrill of grass under bare
feet — and the joys of a picnic and a swimming pool.
Nature is already decking out in her gayest apparel.
This is surely an awesome, wonderful season intended for
everyone’s enjoyment.
Spring is a time of rebirth, with the sacred observance
of Resurrection Sunday her best expression.
IVrfci^fVi A lcicilro These rolling-liquid trans-
Iliil. Ill lU -rVldolvcl porters (RLTs) are being
loaded on a U.S. Air Force Globemaster for Fairbanks,
Alaska, where they will undergo cold-weather tests. The
huge tire-like containers were developed by the Firestone
company for the U.S. Army Transportation Research Com
mand at Ft. Eustis, Va. They are towed by trucks, tanks,
armored personnel carriers and other vehicles, giving the
combat vehicles greater mobility.
Each container holds 500 gallons of fuel. The eight
here being shipped to Alaska would hold enough gasoline
for the average motorist to drive 63,000 miles. This would
make seven roundtrips from Akron, Ohio—where the RLTs
were manufactured—to Fairbanks.