Dr. Lama Plonk. Fonnei Citizen,
jb Subject Of Newspaper Featnie
xrr. uaura Plonk, well-known
former citizen Of Kings Mountain
and co-founder with her sister of the
Plonk School of Creative Arts of
Asheville, was recently the subject
of a feature story in the West Ashe
ville News under the title "The News
Personality of the Week."
The story, as written by Berths
Haley, staff writer for the News, fol*
-lows:
Miss Laura Plonk is Director of
the Plonk School of Creative Arts.
She with hei* sister, Mias Lillian,
founded, and organized this School
in 1924, and Miss Laura has been
Director since its opening. MLss Lil
lian has been assistant D Lector of
the School since 1925.
Miss Plonk was born on a farm
f near Kings Mountain, N. C., the dau.
ghtfcr of William Lafayette Plonk
and Martha Ware Plonk. Her fath
er, to whom (he Plonk Scnool of Cre
ative Arts is dedicated as a monu
mental tribute, was for thirty years
on the Board of Education of Cleve
land County, North Carolina, and for
twenty years during this time, he
was its Chairman. He was also on
the Board of Education at Kings
fountain public schools for a num
t>er of years.
? Miss. Plonk has always had a
jgreat love for reading, and while
at Plonk School House, she read
all the books in the school library.
-She had her preparatory education
in connection with Lenoir- Rhyne, in
Hickory, W.C.
. She received her A. B. degree at
tenolr-fthym? College, and she also
received a diploma in the Speech
Department. While at Lenoir-Rhyne,
she was active in sports: tennis,
horseback riding, and captain of the
?Hasket ball team. Sihe was also on
the Staff of the Year Book, and she
was valedictorian of her graduating
?class.
From the above school, she at
tended Boston School of Expression,
*iow Curry College.
She returned to Kings Mountain
public school, at that tlme'Lynwood,
and opened her studio. She started j
with one student, and at the. end of j
*he year had assembled forty en
thusiastic pupils.
She returned to Curry College, in
.Boston.
? vShe was a student of Mrs. Flor-1
*ence Evans of the Boston School of j
Public Speaking, and she has the'
Physical Education, Teachers' and
Philosophic Diplomas from Curry.
College of Speech.
- (Miss Plonk has taught in various :
schools and colleges in. the South, j
and at Wheaton College, Norton!
Massachusetts. She was also in
structor at Curry College of Speech
' Boston, Massachusetts for several
years. While there, she directed 150
plays, several of which nave been
j presented in Asheville.
The student body at Curry Col-'
; lege was anxious to ? make Miss
Plonk its Dean, but she refused this
j and various other flattering teach
? Ing positions to open a School of
! Creative Arts in the South.
Miss Laura Plonk and her sister,
Miss Lillian, had planned and
dreamed of such a school that wou)d
be training in living as well as in
theory. So, in 1924, with a sple fi
nancial backing of $400.00, two
scholarships from their 'brothers,
they with Undaunted courage re-'
turned to Asheville to open this
School, which may be called a lab
| oratory for research methods in be*
t?r Education for children and
grown-ups, where the mind, body,'.
' and spirit, must 'be developed for a
complete and a full and happy life.
In May, 1924, right after plans had
'been made and the 'first prospectus
was printed, the Misses Plonk suf-j
fered a serious loss by the death of j
their father who was their guiding1
light in' this tremendous undertak-i
ing of planning their pioneer ideas
of education and living through the
medium of the Speech Arts.
For the first five years, the school
functioned in the summer only, first
at David Millard High School and
later at Montford High School.
In 1929 Miss Plonk realized the
necessity of a winter school, and
the immediate urgent step was find- {
Ing a suitable place. After careful'
consideration, Grove Park School ;
was selected. And in 1929, the en- j
tire property of this school became '
known as the Southern Workshop, j
Southern Workshop was often
misunderstood by the public, be
cause it carried the designation us
ed by handicraft and industrial or
ganizations. So, graduates and stu
dents asked that the name be chan- ;
ged to one that would adequately!
describe the true character of thej
teachings of the School. Southern '
Workshop was discarded, and since]
1939, when the School was moved to j
One Sunset Parkway, the School is.
known as the Plonk School of Cre
ative Arts.
The Plonk School of Creative Arts
is situated in the heart of nature's
lovely garden, and is surrounded 'by
warmth of these vari-colored, en
chanted mountains. In this beauti
ful setting of pines, hemlocks, and
lovely shrubbery, the students can
find peace and contentment. Each
*C CHATHAM
? COLORS
We have tbem all . . . those wonderful
new Chatham blanket colore currently
advertised in the fashion magazines. Com*
in and Me the extra measure of beauty
they add to a fino Chatham blanket.
This is the country's best selling blanket. You'll know
why when you touch the warm, fleecy hap of the 100%
wool, and see the rich sheen of the rayon satin binding.
Luxurious but long-wearing, Chatham's "Wools hire"
comes packed in a white closet box With floral design
and is guaranteed for Ave years against moth damage.
student is given individual attent
ion, and he is guided in the devel
opment of mind, body, voice, charac
ter, and spirit.
This school is a 'Trail ing in LIV
ING as well as in LEARNING." It is
! not a school of Drama, as is so oft
en thought, but it is a School of-Cre
atlon. It meets all the requirements
of the State in the Pre-Schooi, Pri
' mary, Elementary, and High School
i Departments.
1 The College Department offers,
? courses credited toward College De
gree in: Literature, Creative English,
Speech, Public Speaking, Vocal
Modulation, Voice and Diction, Eng
I lish Grammar, College Spelling, Re
medial Reading, Languages, Music,
Dalcroze Eurthythnrtcs, Pantomine,
Dramatic Interpretation, Acting, Ra
dio Technique, ' Bible, Character
Building, Spiritual Training. A Di
ploma from this 9chool means that
the student has the knowledge,
training, and an understanding for
teaching, acting, reading, directing
and producing plays, and above.
aLL, th? knowledge of living a full
and creative lffe.
The useful activities of Miss Plonk
are non-ending. Her hobby is work,
?more work. Her real love is the class
room where it is her intense desire
ao teach students to become useful
men and women.
Miss Plonk is Chairman of the
Speech Defects Committee of Bun
combe County. Her aim is to prevent
rather than cure defective speech.
On October 6 and 7, 1930, under
the personal direction of Miss Plonk,
the Kings Mountain Historical Pa
geant, commemorating the one hun
dred and fiftieth anniversary of the
Battle Of 'Kings Mountain was pre- j
sented at the Auditorium in Kings ,
Mountain, N. C. This tremendous
undertaking is a procession or pa-|
geant of scenes of the Revolutionary
War leading up to the great victory j
of the Mountain Men at Kings'
Mountain. I
Miss Plonk 15 a member of the
Kappa Gamma, Quota Clirb in'
Ashevllle.
The Key Word of this remarka-i
ble young lady is "Constant change, (
growth, and unfolding," on the >be
ginning olf the twenty -sixth year of j
the Plonk School of Creative Arts. ;
"Any success which I have achlev
ed or may achieve, I attribute tOj
the ideals instilled in me at the
Plqnk School of Creative Arts," is|
in part one of many letters received ,
from students all over the United
States praising the good works, of
the Misses Plonk.
Since 1924, the Plonk School of
Creative Arts has directed more than
Scout Leaden I
To Meet 22nd
| Boifing Springs, Nov. 10 ? The an-'
; nual Scouter-Cubber Round-Up of|
, the Piedmopt Council, Boys Scouts
j of America, will be held at Gardner- ,
Webb College here on Tuesday, No- j
vember 22, at which time leaders
and committeemen from the counti- j
es of Alexander, . Burke, Caldwell,'
Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, j
Lincoln, M<?D?well, Polk and Ruth- j
; erford will gather for training, fel-i
| lowship and inspiration. Sor?e three
, hundred are expected to avond.
The Round-Up will start with an
i assembly in the auditorium of the
'college at 4:00 o'clock the afternoon
of the 22nd. County District meet-j
I ings will be held for Scoutmasters,
'Troop Committeemen, Leaders In
, Cub Scouting, Commissioners, Ad
vancement, Finance, Organization;
and Extension, Leadership Training
Camping and Activities and Public
Relation^. At 6:30 a business meet
ing of the Executive Board will be I
| held and at 7:30 a banquet in the '
! college dining room. The principal
speaker of the occasion will be Dr.
Roswell C. Long, pastor of the West -
over Hills Presbyterian church of
Charlotte, a former president of
Lees-McRae College and an active
memiber of the Regional Committee
of the Boy Scouts of America. Off I- j
cera for the coming year will be
, elected.
1 Youth Day To Be
| Observed Sunday
I Sunday i9 Youth Day for the Sou
! thern Presbyterian church. In ob- ;
serving this day the Young People
of the First Presbyterian church un- ;
der the direction of the Director of
'Religious Education, Miss Josephine!
two hundred programs for civic,
clubs, churches, and other organiza- j
tions in Ashevllle and surrounding)
towns.
'Among the many plays presented
at the Plonk School, are "Sun-Up, "
by Lulu Vollmer; "Lady Precious
Stream," by S. I. Hsiung: and "En
ter Madame," by Gilda and Dolly
Byrne.
On 'June 2, 1949, Miss Laura and
her sister, Miss Lillian Plonk, were
awarded the honorary degrees of
Doctor of Art from the Stanley Col
lege of the Spoken Word, Boston,
Massachusetts.
Culp, have prepared a program for
the etevan o'clock Sunday morning !
servise. Thoise taking part on the
program are:
Mary McKelvie, Shirley Arthur,
Pat Neisler, Donald Wilson, Buddy :
Beatty, Carl Moss and James Moss,
a candidate for the ministry and a
sophomore at Presbyterian Junior
College, Maxton, N. C.
At the Sunday evening hour the .
movie, "Reaching From Heaven,",
will be showed. This is a Christ tan
film- Those who have seen it claim /
that the picture is a most profita-j;
ble hour and a half.
The movie portrays how a hard,}
cold business man scoffs at the
Golden Rule, only to regret it when j
his daughter runs away "and how
a congregation, by one incident, is
shocked .into an evangelistic pro- f
gram."
At the beinning of 1919 nearly
2,000 bulls were in service in arti
ficial breeding associations. On the
average, these sires were serving;
nearly 1230 cows each. '
' ^ ? -jwr.
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In The Columns
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