WE piEDmoniTon
VOL. V, NO. 4
APACE WITH THE PACEMAKER
JUNE, 1962
Personnel Shift
To Ready
New Stations
New route awards mean not
only extra schedule and equip
ment requirements but a com
plicated shifting of personnel to
meet the demands of setting up
additional stations at the cities
to be served.
The following men comprise
Piedmont’s corps of Station Man
agers who have been transferred
or promoted in preparation for
the beginning of service.
Blackmon
to LYH
C. R. Blackmon
will be the new As
sistant Station
Manager in Lynch
burg, replacing
Claude Kiger, who is transfer
ring to Elizabeth City as Station
Manager.
He was born in Hope Mills,
N. C., and attended school there
and at Worth Business College.
Blackmon joined Piedmont in
1952 as an Agent at the Fayette
ville, N. C. station. In 1954 he
entered the U. S. Army and
served in Mannheim, Germany,
until 1956 as a Personnel Admin
istrative Specialist.
After his discharge he re
turned to Fayetteville and Pied
mont. In 1959 he was promoted
to Chief Agent and transferred
to Columbus, Ohio, and in 1961
he was moved to his latest loca
tion at Greensboro-High Point,
N. C.
While in school Blackmon was
given the American Legion Citi
zenship award and the E. N.
Brower Commercial Scholarship.
In the Army he received a letter
of commendation from the Com
manding Officer of the 40th
Tranportation Company for out
standing performance of duties,
plus a three-month waiver of
time in grade for promotion.
He is married to the former
Patricia Ann McLaurin of
Fayetteville, and they have one
daughter.
Dotson
to PKB
V. T. Dotson has
been named Sta-
t i o n Manager for
Parkersburg - Mari
etta, filling the post
left by Don Shanks’ move to
Baltimore.
A native of Harlan, Ky., he at
tended school there and at Bowl
ing Green Business College,
Bowling Green, Ky. He also took
special training at Central Air
line School, Kansas City, Mo.
He has served in a number of
cities served by Piedmont. Dot
son joined the company in 1949
as an Agent at the New Bern
Station. He then transferred to
Lexington, Ky., where he was
promoted to Chief Agent. In 1955
he was named Station Manager
for Piedmont’s London-Corbin,
Ky., station, and from 1959 to
the present has been serving as
Station Manager at Bluefield
W. Va.
Dotson is a member of the
Princeton Chamber of Com
merce, the Bluefield Chamber of
Commerce, and the Princeton
Junior Chamber of Commerce.
He is married to the former
Wilma Jean Phelps of Bowling
Green, and they have two chil
dren.
P/mmfff
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Cute Candidates — This bevy of beauties comprise the first Stewardess
training class at INT. They are (left to right): Dorothea Elmore, Nancy
Vaught, Kay Spencer, Pat Hale, and Betty Martin. Miss Hale is already
familiar with Piedmont procedures, having transferred to the class from
a position as Reservations Agent in DCA.
Fields
to FLO
J. L. Fields
comes to Florence
from the Frank
fort station, which
is now being served
through the Blue Grass Airport
at Lexington.
Fields is from Princeton, W.
Va., and attended school there
and at Beckley, W. Va.. He also
took special training at a radio
and television school in Kansas
City, Mo.
Prior to joining Piedmont in
1948, he served with the U. S.
Marine Corps for four years, and
was awarded the Purple Heart
with star. His first position with
Piedmont was in Richmond, Ya.
In 1953 he was promoted to Sta
tion Manager and transferred to
Asheville, N. C., and in 1960
moved to his latest position as
Manager of the Frankfort, Ky.
station.
Fields is a member of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars and
the Disabled American Veterans
organizations, and has been com
missioned a “Kentucky Colonel”
by that state’s Governor Bert
Combs.
He is married to the former
Florence E. Rohrs of Defiance
County, Ohio, and they have two
children.
The balance of Piedmont’s
Florence Staff will include Chief
Agent Julian Morton, and Agents
Tom Adams and Gary Lewis. All
three will be transferring from
Winston-Salem, N. C.
Haley
to GSB
Parker Haley
will head the new
station at Golds-
b o r o. A transfer
i f r 0 m Louisville
Haley is a native of Jefferson
ville, Ind.
Before joining Piedmont, he
worked in Jeffersonville four
years as Assistant Manager of a
fixed base operation.
He was employed by Piedmont
m 1950 as an Operations Agent
in Louisville, subsequently being
promoted to Chief Agent, a posi
tion he held until his present ap
pointment as Manager at Golds
boro.
"Is Glenn There?"
This space age story has
recently been making the
rounds in local news media.
We quote:
"Piedmont Airlines' system
central reservations office is
located at the carrier's Win-
ston-Salem home base and is
known within the company as
Space Control. The same of
fice doubles as a local pas
senger reservations contact.
"A prospective passenger
dialed the office recently to
make a reservation. Instead
of the usual — 'Good morn
ing — Piedmont Airlines res
ervations,' the Agent inad
vertantly answered, 'Space
Control.'
"There was a short pause,
after which the voice on the
other end said wonderingly:
'Well, I'll be darned! I've got
j,Cape Canaveral'."
NRY Airport Dedicated,
Called Tine Example'
The New River Valley Airport,
termed an “outstanding example
of civic cooperation and achieve
ment, was dedicated June 3 with
Piedmont officials attending.
Four years in the building, the
airport represents the work of
eight political subdivisions —
Giles County, the City of Rad
ford, the Town of Dublin, the
Town of Pearisburg, Montgom
ery County, Pulaski County, the
Town of Christiansburg, and the
Town of Pulaski.
Ground breaking for New
River Valley Airport was held
September 2, 1958, and construc
tion was completed on the proj
ect in 1961, with a total cost to
the present date of $869,799.60.
Dedication ceremonies were
held in the center of the air
field, with Airport Commission
Attorney John M. Goldsmith act
ing as Master of Ceremonies.
After presentation of the
colors by the area’s National
Guard Unit, the invocation was
given by Dr. Charles K. Martin,
President of Radford College.
C. V. Jackson, Mayor of Pu
laski and President of the NRVA
Commission, welcomed the dedi
cation day guests and hailed the
project as “the most progres
sive step ever taken by our
people since the coming of the
railroad 100 years ago.”
President T. H. Davis was a
featured speaker on the program,
and in his speech congratulated
the people of the area ori their
accomplishment.
“Many, many other communi
ties have tried similar projects,”
said Mr. Davis, “with nothing
like the success you have had.
This is one of the nicest airports
on our system and we will serve
it with pride.
“The people who have worked
on this airport have done their
communities one of the greatest
services possible.”
Mr. Davis noted that the case
put forth to the Civil Aeronau
tics Board by the New River
Valley Airport Commission was
“one of the most complete and
factual I have ever seen pre
sented.”
He expressed confidence that
the area will generate enough
traffic to more than support air
line service and added, “We be
lieve, and hope you believe, that
air service and New River Val
ley Airport will be a tremendous
asset to this part of the state.
Congressman W. Pat Jennings
of the Ninth Virginia District,
was the program’s concluding
speaker. He called the airport a
“monument to the will of the
people,” and a “fine example of
what can be done through the
cooperation of all levels of gov
ernment.”
A buffet luncheon for guests
preceded the dedication, and
following the ceremonies a Mar
tin 404 made eight scenic flights
over the area.
The flights were one of the
day’s most popular attractions.
One youngster stood by the
ticket window through three
flights, waiting to get a seat.
After finally making it, his only
comment after returning was a
big smile, and, “I like it!”
i
Haley is married to the former
Alyne Minnis of Portland, Ten
nessee.
Jones
to BLF
Edward E. Jones
will be Vize Dot
son’s replacement
at Piedmont’s Blue-
field-Princeton sta
tion.
A native of McComas, Va.,
Jones attended school there and
at West Virginia Business Col
lege in Bluefield. Before joining
Piedmont, he worked in Wash
ington, D. C. as a a controller
for the U. S. Army Department.
He was employed by Piedmont
in 1954 at the NoMolk Station as
an Agent. In 1954 he was trans
ferred to Richmond, and later
that year was moved to Blue-
field-Princeton. He was promoted
to Lead Agent there in 1957, and
in 1960 to Chief Agent, a posi
tion he held until his present
appointment as Manager. ‘
Jones is a member of the
Princeton Junior Chamber of
Commerce.
(Continued on Page Five)
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.1,
New Curves for the Twist — "Queen of the Twist" June Wilkerson flew
Piedmont out of CVG after a visit plugging her new movie.