A er
SR er
ow
ARES
Monday-Friday
12-1 p-m., Brown Bagging the Arts, Cleveland
County Arts Center, 111 S. Washington St., Shelby.
Free one-hour art demonstrations and lectures.
Take bag lunch. Drink and dessert furnished. For |
more information or to reserve a seat call 484-
2787. :
Mondays
6-8 p.m., every Monday, East Gaston YMCA,
Belmont, karate for adults and children ages 6- |
over. Youth class 6-7:30; adults 6-8. $20 per month
for YMCA members, $30 for non-members. Call
825-9104 for more information.
7 p.m. - Second Monday of each month, Kings
Mountain Board of Education, Central School,
105 East Ridge St. ; :
10 a.m. - Beginning line dance, every Monday,
Shelby Senior Center.
10-11 a.m. - Sitting for Fitness, every Monday,
Shelby Senior Center.
12 noon - Boiling Springs Rotary Club, Ritch
Banquet Hall, Gardner-Webb University.
4:15-5:15 p.m. - Cardio tone class, every
Monday, Shelby City Park. t
5:30-6:30 p.m. - Overeaters Anonymous, every
Monday, Central United Methodist Church,
Kings Mountain.
5:30-6:30 p.m. - Early Evening Aerobics, every
Monday, Shelby City Park.
7-8 p.m. - Evening Aerobics, every Monday,
Shelby City Park.
7 p.m. - Parents Without Partners, every
Monday, Shelby Presbyterian Church. For more
information call Alan Smith at 481-2986.
\
7 p.m. - Hurting Families Support Group, every
Monday, Christopher Road Baptist Church,
Shelby. For information call 538-0410.
8 p.m. - AA Big Book Study, every Monday,
Serenity Club, Highway 74 at Bethlehem Road,
Kings Mountain.
Tuesdays
6 p.m. - Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners, first and third Tuesdays, County
Administration Building, Shelby.
7 p.m. - Kings Mountain City Council, last
Tuesday of the month, City Hall, East Gold St.
Thursdays —
10-11 a.m, every Thursday, Sitting For Fitness,
Shelby Senior Center.
11 a.m. - every Thursday, Self Care Program,
Bliss Center in Lawndale, Kings Mountain Senior
ssesse
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Center, Boiling Springs United Methodist Church,
and Charles Place, Shelby. Call Amanda Helms at
482-3488 for information.
12 noon - Kings Mountain Rotary Club,
Ramada Ltd. :
1 p.m. - Every Thursday, Aerobics, Shelby
Senior Center.
. 6 p.m. - Kings Mountain Kiwanis Club, Central
United Methodist Church.
7 p.m. - Broad River Genealogical Society,
fourth Thursday, Senior Center in Shelby.
Saturdays
Planetarium Programs at Schiele Museum,
Gastonia:
1 p.m. - Planet Quest. Explore planets and dis-
cover special nature of Earth. $2.50 adults, $1 se-
niors and students. Children under 3 free.
2 p.m. - The Voice of Night: American Indian
Star Legends of the Southeast. Discover the night
sky through the eyes of American Indians and
learn about their history, legend and lore. $2.50
adults, $1 seniors and students. Children under 3
free.
3 p.m. - Sky Over Gastonia. Find out what's in
the night sky, planets and other sights. $2.50
adults, $1 seniors and students. Children 3 free
Thursday, April 6
6-9 p.m. - Mini workshops at Dallas campus
and Lincoln Center of Gaston College. Three ses-
sions of 45 minutes with 15-minute break be-
tween sessions. Admission is free. Pre-register by
calling 922-6200.
Friday, April 7
7 p.m. - Lifeskills Adult Education graduation,
Myers Center Auditorium, Gaston College. For
more information call 922-6200.
Saturday, April 8
10 am.-12 p.m. - Student Workshop on Aquatic
Life, Schiele Museum, Gastonia. Children 8-11
will explore pond and nature trail, use a net to
catch creatures beneath the surface and study
them under microscope. $10. Register by April 7
by calling Steve Pin at 866-6910.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. - Dallas Heritage Day, down-
town Dallas. Music, crafts and food, contests for
all ages. Horse and buggy tours, art and craft
show and sale, costumed guides. Vendors,
crafters, performers, contestants may call Sue
Unnasch at 923-8103 for information. :
2-3 p.m. - Medicinal Uses of Plants, Crowders
Mountain State Park. Many plants have medici-
nal uses. Walk through the park and explore
medicinal plants, some of which are wildflowers.
Meet at the visitor center lobby.
Sunday, April 9
2 p.m. - Guided Mountain Bicycle Ride, Broad
River Greenway, Hwy. 150, Boiling Springs. Meet
at parking lot. Take bike and ride trails with expe-
rienced guide.
Tuesday, April 11
6:30 p.m. - Kings Mountain Schools Health
Council meeting, Teacher Center, 105 E. Ridge St.
(Central School).
Ho
C7
Cleveland County Confederates made history at Gettysburg
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
The month of April marks the 135th anniversary
of the end of the America Civil War. A tragic
struggle that saw over 600,000 men die for the
causes they believed in, the Civil War still holds us
in its grip through movies, books, videos, and
reenactments. :
North Carolina played a vital role in the.
Confederacy. During the years 1861-1865, over
123,000 Tar Heels served in the Confederate
military. Of this number, 40,000 would die from
disease or wounds. North Carolina contributed
© more men to the Southern armies than any other
state- and lost more as well. North Carolina’s
20,000 combat deaths were more than the states of
Virginia and South Carolina combined.
Men from Cleveland County also shouldered
their share of muskets during the Civil War. Of the
companies raised in Cleveland County during the
war, companies “C” and “D” of the 55th North
Carolina would go on to make history in a way
that many people today are not even aware of.
These two companies, named the “Cleveland
Grays” and the “Cleveland Farmers” respectively,
can truly lay claim to being the high tide of the
Confederate army at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Reading a roster of the Grays and Farmers is
like looking at a who's who of the present day"
families in Cleveland County. Surnames that
appear on the company lists include Hamrick,
Bridges, Cabaniss, Mooney (Mauney), Moss,
Hendrick, and Lovelace. As evidence of the
sacrifices Cleveland County boys made at
Gettysburg, an account states that at least one
dozen men with the surname Hamrick were killed
or wounded during the battle.
Fought on the first three days of July, 1863,
Photo courtesy of NC Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development.
Gettysburg has had more written about it than any
other battle in American history. Each year,
hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the
hallowed fields in that Pennsylvania town in hopes
of somehow connecting with the past. In 1998, over
20,000 Civil War reenactors fought a three day
replay of the battle that included a full-scale
Pickett’s Charge on Sunday afternoon.
Raised at Camp Mangum near Raleigh in May,
1862, the 55th Regiment N.C.Troops had already
seen hard service in eastern North Carolina and
Virginia before it began its long march towards
Gettysburg in June, 1863, as part of Davis's
Brigade, Heth’s Division, A.P. Hill's Corps, Army
of Northern Virginia.
The first day of battle at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863,
saw the 55th and other members of Heth’s Division
engaged along the Chambersburg Pike just west of
town. During this first day of fighting, the 55th and
Davis’s Brigade almost ceased to exist. After
engaging federal troops of the 6th Wisconsin, the
55th and other units in Davis's command were
suddenly overwhelmed by Yankee reinforcements
and retreated to a nearby railroad gully for cover.
Going for the railroad cut was a fatal mistake.
Instead of protection, the cut made the 55th like
fish in a barrel. Mercifully, the federals who stood
at the top of the ditch ordered Davis’s men to
throw down their muskets and took them prisoner
in a situation that could have been a bloodbath. At
least 200 Confederates were captured in the cut,
the rest escaping.
After a day of rest on July 2, 1863, the 55th was
called upon on the afternoon of July 3 to take part
in the legendary “Pickett’s Charge.” The idea was
to break the federal lines on Cemetery Ridge south
of Gettysburg with a massive frontal assault by
over 12,000 Confederates. In this action, the
Southerners would have to cross over a mile of
open ground under musket and artillery fire from
Union soldiers poised behind a stone wall.
Following an-hour long artillery bombardment
by Confederate cannoneers, the 41 rebel regiments
stepped off to immortality. Under fire almost the
entire 1,300 yards, the Confederates would lose
over one-third of their men in the failed attack.
For its part in Pickett’s Charge, the 55th would
have to wait over 130 years to get the credit they
deserved. For many decades it was assumed that
the 26th North Carolina Regiment had penetrated
the Union lines farthest that fateful day before
falling back. Indeed, the saying that North
Carolinians were “farthest to the front” at
Gettysburg was based on the 26th claim. Now, new
evidence has shown that it was actually the 55th,
including boys from Cleveland County, who can
claim that honor.
In her recently published book “Pickett’s Charge
in History and Memory” author Carol Reardon has
uncovered evidence that supports the 55th’s right
to be called the “high tide” of the Confederacy at
Gettysburg. Reardon's reséarch shows that the
location of several dead Confederates farthest
across the stone wall were members of the 55th.
Though they made history at Gettysburg, the
Cleveland Grays and Cleveland Farmers suffered
with the rest of the 55th and their fellow rebels.
During the battle, the 55th lost over 400 men killed
captured or wounded. Total rebel losses exceeded
28,000.
Though the Civil War was a heartbreaking affair
for all involved, it was also a time when words like
courage, honor, and sacrifice were the code by
which men lived. Residents of Cleveland County
today, and especially those who had ancestors in
the 55th North Carolina, can be proud of the
bravery those boys in gray displayed on the green
fields of Pennsylvania so long ago.
’
“What's Cookin’
Barbecue kings coming from miles around for KM Firehouse cook-off
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
The heady aroma of slow cooked barbecue will
be wafting over the Kings Mountain walking
track on April 14 and 15 when the 4th Annual
Firehouse Cookoff gets going.
Put on by the Kings Mountain Fire
Department, the cookoff will feature over 25 pro-
_ fessional barbecue teams from as far away as
Tennessee. The teams will be competing for
prizes and money and will be selling their fresh
cooked barbecue goodness beginning Friday af-
ternoon April 14, and continuing until 3 p.m. on
Saturday, April 15. In addition to sandwiches and
plates, the teams will also be selling butts for $25
and shoulders for $35.
Just a few of the teams that will be coming to
the cookoff include Flaming Pig, Pampered Pig
Barbecue, Bubbas Bar-Be-Cue Team, and Harley *
Hog and the Cookers. Each team uses their own
unique cookers and recipes to turn out some of
the best ‘cue under the sun. All profits from the
cookoff will go to help the Kings Mountain Fire
Museum and their goal of restoring a 1938 Ford
fire truck to new condition. The final cost to re-
store the truck will be $10,000.
“The fire department decided to have the
event in the spring because there aren’t any other
festival type events in town during that time of ~
year,” said Kings Mountain fire chief Frank
Burns. “ The Firehouse Cookoff is a national level
cooking event. All of the contestants take their
barbecue cooking very seriously.”
The cookoff is sanctioned by the Kansas City
Barbecue Society. The largest international orga-
nization of barbecue enthusiasts in the world, the
KCBS is dedicated to promoting and educating
those interested in the barbecue fields. In the
coming years, the Kings Mountain Firehouse
Cookoff is sure to gain stature in the barbecue
world.
“Last year we barely broke even on the
cookoff,” Burns said. “But we needed to make
sure the contestants were offered enough prize
money to draw the top teams to Kings Mountain.
This year will be another building block so that
next season the event will have gained national
attention and we can see some positive financial
results.”
For more information on the Kings Mountain
Firehouse Cookoff, contact any Kings Mountain
fireman, or call 734-0555.