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VOLUME 01, MlMHER 58
TUESDA Y, A UG US T 5,1980
15*
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NOR TH CAROLINA
Saturday Fire Fatal
To Johnny Stewart, 3 9
A 39-year-old Kings Moun
tain plumber died of smoke in
halation Sunday morning in
spite of efforts of his nephew and
a Kings Mountain policeman to
free him from the burning
building.
Johnny Stewart, partner in
Stewart Plumbing Company at
106 Cleveland Avenue, died at
1:28 a.m. of smoke inhalation,
according to Cleveland County
Coroner Bennett Masters who
said his investigation revealed
there was no foul play involved
in the death of the Kings Moun
tain man.
Funeral services for Stewart
will be held Tuesday (today) at 4
p.m. from Kings Mountain
Church of God. Rev. Jerry
Smith, pastor, and Rev. Ralph
Sparrow will officiate, and inter
ment will be in Mountain Rest
Cemetery. Masters Funeral
Home is in charge of ar
rangements.
Surviving Stewart are two
daughters, Amy and Karen
Stewart of Kings Mountain, one
brother, Grady Lee Stewart of
Sharon, S.C. and one sister, Mrs.
Isaac (Betty) Jones of Jonesville,
S.C.
According to Coroner
Masters, a driver for Tallent
Transportation Company
observed the blaze from Stewart
Daniel Britt
Dies In Crash
0
Daniel Ervin Britt,72,of 12IS
Grover Rd., was killed and Steve
Lovell, 18, of Rt. 3, Gastonia,
was seriously injured in the
head-on crash of their two
automobiles Thursday afternoon
on Lake Montonia Rd.
Mr. Britt was pronounced
dead on arrival at Gaston
Memorial Hospital at 2:10 p.m.
Gaston County Coroner Bill
McLean said the Kings Moun
tain man was killed instantly and
died of head injuries.
Lovell remains a patient in
Gaston Memorial Hospital
where he is being treated for
multiple injuries, fractures and
possible internal injuries.
• • Substitute
Teachers
To Register
All persons who wish to
substitute in the Kings Moun
tain District Schools must
register with Howard Bryant,
Assistant Superintendent.
Beginning August 25, in order
to be a qualified substitute, a per
son must participate in a
substitute teacher workshop and
pass the Kings Mountain Com
petency Test. A person holding a
valid North Carolina teacher’s
certificate is not required to take
the local test.
The date of the substitute
teacher workshop and Kings
Mountain Competency Test ad
ministration will be on Friday,
August 8, at 9:30 a.m. in the
library at Kings Mountain
Senior High School, 5(X) Phifer
Road.
The accident occurred about
2 of a mile inside Gaston Coun
ty on Lake Montonia Road. The
Lovell 1970 Chevy Camaro,
operated by Steve Lovell, was
traveling North. According to
Coroner McLean and in
vestigating Ptl. Don Lee, the
Lovell car ran off the road and
skidded 87 feet and into the path
of a 1972 Chevy operated by
Britt. There were no passengers
in either vehicle.
Britt was crushed by the im
pact and rescuers worked 30
minutes to pry his body from the
car, said Lee. Lovell was thrown
from his car into a nearby ditch.
Both vehicles were a total loss.
Ptl. Lee said charges are pen
ding further investigation.
A native of Montgomery
County, N.C., he was a retired
textile employee and son of Mrs.
Nancy Dunn Britt of Kings
Mountain and the late Arthur
Garfield Britt.
He was a Mason.
Surviving are his wife, Mrs.
Hannah Diffee Britt; his mother;
one son, Daniel Eugene Britt of
Kings Mountain; one daughter,
Mrs. Gordon (Jo Ann) Beattie of
Seneca, S.C.; three brothers,
Fred Alfred Britt of Asheboro,
Virgil G. Britt and Burnell Britt,
both of Troy; two sisters, Mrs.
Roscoe (Grace) Helsabeck of
High Point and Miss Gertchel
Britt of Asheboro; and four
grandchildren.
Rev. Dwight Edwards of
ficiated at the funeral services
Saturday at 2 p.m. in First
Wesleyan Church. Masonic
burial rites were in Mountain
Rest Cemetery.
Harris Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
f
Roy Lanier
To El Bethel
. Rev. Roy Sidney Lanier, 30,
of Durham, has been called as
the new pastor of El Bethel
United Methodist Church and
will assume his new duties next
UTY
Plumbing as he passed the
building Sunday morning at 1:15
p.m. and started blowing his
horn. Stewart’s nephew, Donnie
Conner, and Rotert Lefevers,
returning from car races, had
stopped at the nearby Kings St.
Exxon Station, raced to the
building and arrived at the same
time as KMPD Ptl. Gary Sale.
According to the Coroner the
men saw Stewart walking in the
building. ‘They hollered to him
and he answered them but ap
parently lost his sense of direc
tion, and was overcome by the
intense heat. Conner was also
overcome by smoke in his efforts
to reach him,” said Masters.
Coroner Masters said that
Stewart lived in a bedroom in the
business building. The fire
Turn To Page 5
KM Students
Must Register
All students who are to attend
Kings Mountain District Schools
but who were not in attendance
last year should pre-register at
the school they will attend
before August 8. This will help
principals complete teachers’
class rolls before students report
to school.
The Kings Mountain District
Schools have scheduled
kindergarten children to entCf
their respective schools on the
opening days in three groups. All
five-year-old children whose last
names begin with the letters A
through H will report on Mon
day, August 25; 1 through Q on
Tuesday, August 26; tmd R
through Z on Wednesday,
August 27. All kindergarten
students will attend on Thursday
and Friday. August 28 and 29.
Kindergarten students will be on
a half-day schedule (8:25-12:00
noon) through Friday, August
29. Lunch will be available prior
to dismissal time during these
days.
Lunch prices will be announc
ed following the August 11
School Board meeting.
All first through 12th grades
will be on a full day schedule
beginning Monday, August 25.
REV. ROY LANIER
week.
Mr. Lanier will deliver his first
sermon on Aug. 10.
A native of Fayetteville, Rev.
Mr. Lanier was educated in
Fayetteville City Schools and
received his A.A. degree in 1972
from Mitchell College in
Statesville and his B.A. from
UNC at Charlotte. He worked as
youth director in his home
church. Race Street United
Methodist Church, and moved
to Duke University in 1978
where he served as chaplain at
Murdoch Center for the Retard
ed and as Associate Pastor of
Calvary United Methodist
Church in Durham while com
pleting his studies for the
ministry at Duke Divinity
School. He is married to the
former Patricia Ann Redmond
of Statesville.
The new pastor lists his hob
bies as golf, trawling, reading and
sports.
..V
/■
•V
Living history demonstration at KM Park..
Park Programs Slated
Conserve fuel and energy by
taking a mini-trip to the Kings
Mountain National Military
Park this weekend.
The Park ends its season of
weekend programs by offering
you a chance to learn more
about the National Park Service
and the Battle of Kings Moun
tain. The programs will be held
on Friday and Saturday even
ings, August 8th and 9th, at 8
pjn. in the National Park V isitor
Center.
Friday, Aug. 8th, Park
Technician Chris Revels in
troduces the film “From
Yellowstone to Tomorrow,” a
widely acclaimed documentary
on the people and places of the
Nation^ Park Service. The film,
narrated by George C. Scott, has
been selected for overseas
distribution by the United States
Information Agency due to its
accurate representation of our
country’s historical and recrea
tional sites. ‘Trom Yellowstone
to Tomorrow” also received the
gold medal in the educational
film category at the Interna
tional Film and TV Festival in
I
New York City. Park Techni
cian Revels is a recent graduate
of Clemson University with a
degree in Recreation and Park
Administration.
Saturday, Aug. 9th, while the
shadows lengthen on the
foothills of the Blue Ridge
Mountains dare to take a
candlelight tour of the 1.5 mile
Battlefield Trail with two par
ticipants of the battle—a patriot
and a loyalist—who return to
tell their own stories of the Bat
tle of Kings Mountain. Be sure
to bring someone you trust to
hold your hand. The participants
will be portrayed by Park Inter
preters Steve Marlowe and Wes
Natron. Marlowe is a graduate
of Western Carolina University
and a political science teacher at
Hunter Huss High School in
Gtistonia, North Carolina. Nar-
ron is a rising senior at the
University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill double majoring in
Radio, TV, Motion Picture
Broadcastingi’sy chology.
Weather permitting, the Liv
ing History program will also
continue on &turday and Sun-
'.I
day afternoons through Labor
Day. A small Revolutionary
War campsite will be set up near
the Visitor Center and tended by
Park employees in Revolu
tionary period dress. 18th cen
tury musket and rifle firing
demonstrations will be held at I,
2, 3, and 4 o’clock.
Also, the 177-year old Howser
House will be open for visitation
on Sunday afternoon from 1 un
til 4 pjn. A member of the inter
pretive staff will be stationed at
the House to reveal the history
behind this locally famous rock
structure.
Other ongoing daily programs
include: an 18-minute film
“Kings Mountain—Turning
Point in the South”, an
11-minute audio-visual museum
tour; 1.5 mile Battlefield Trail;
16 mile system of hiking trails;
and 10 mile Horse Trail.
The public is encouraged and
invited to attend all programs.
There are no admission fees for
any of the programs.
t ii
TOP FIREMEN-Th* five Oak Grov* Volunt«*r firumun pic
tured above won award* at the department’s annual Awards
Night Friday at lackson's Cafeteria in Shelby. Left to right.
Herman Wright. Service Award; Billy Queen, Fireman of the
Photo by Gory Stewart
Year; Ray Blair. Co-Rookie of the Year; Jerry Shull, Co-Rookie
of the Year and co-winner of the oward foe answering the most
colls; and Stokes Wright, co-winner of the award for answering
the most calls.
Queen Fireman Of The Year
Bill Queen was named Oak
Grove Volunteer Fireman of the
Year at the department’s second
annual Awards Night Friday at
Jackson’s Cafeteria in Shelby.
Twenty-six firemen and their
wives attended the fete, which
also saw four other firemen
receive awards.
Chief William Davis, who was
Fireman of the Year a year ago,
presented the awards. Stokes
Wright and Jerry Shull won
awards for answering the most
calls during the past year, Shull
and Ray Blair shared the Rookie
of the Year award and Herman
Wright received the Special Ser
vice Award.
Queen, Stokes Wright and
Herman Wright have been
members of the department
since it was organized in 1968.
Blair has been a member two
years and Shull one.
Chief David cited C)ueen for
his all-round dedication, “He’s
not only there when there’s a
fire,” Davis said, Tnit you can
often find him working around
the building.”
Shull and Wright answered 60
out of 72 calls reported to the
department during the year en
ding June 30.