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VOLUME 93 ■ NUMBER 68 - TUESDA V, OCTOBER 28,1980 ■ KINGS MOUNTAIN, NOR TH CAROLINA
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KM Man Chosen To Announce World
Jonas Bridges: The Rodeo Man
By GARY STEWART
Co-Editor
Jonas Bridges’ momma’s baby
didn’t grow up to be a cowboy.
But the cowboys of the
American Cowboy Association
are glad he grew up to be a rodeo
announcer.
Members of the Association
have chosen the popular Kings
Mountain radio personality to
announce the finals of this year’s
tour to be held November 7-9 at
the Decatur Coliseum in
Decatur, Ala.
The finals, pitting only the top
10 cowboys and cowgirls deter
mined by season-long point stan
dings, is the equivalent of the
World Series of baseball or foot
ball’s Super Bowl.
Bridges was chosen over 19
other men who spent their
weekends from March through
November traveling the
southwest to announce the
events.
The Kings Mountain man has
been involved in rodeo in some
capacity for 10 years, and has
been a full-time announcer for
I he past two years.
The Association tours Ten
nessee, Alabama, Mississippi,
Florida and Arkansas, beginning
each March in Florida and mov
ing to the other states as the
weather warms. Bridges
estimates he spends 30 weekends
a year at the rodeo.
Ffis start in rodeo happened by
chance 10 years ago at the
Cleveland County Fair.
“The International Rodeo
Association was having a rodeo
at the Cleveland County Fair,”
he recalled, “and their an
nouncer was involved in an acci
dent.
“They had to have an
organist, and Thurston Fiamrick,
a professional rodeo clown from
Boiling Springs, told them about
me. 1 played for them and they
hired me for the rest of the
season.
‘The next year, an announcer
would be sick now-and-then and
I’d fill in,” he went on. “I found
out 1 liked it better than playing
the organ.”
Bridges has never had a desire
to be a cowboy, even though he
grew up on a farm and always
loved animals, especially horses.
“I’ve seen too many people get
their legs broken to try riding
them,” he says.
But his job is perhaps as im
portant as the cowboy’s. To the
- f''
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Jonas Bridges... No Desire to Be a Cowboy
But He Loves The Rodeo
spectators, it’s probably more im
portant.
‘The announcer is like the
sparkplug for the fans,” he says.
“You have to talk continuously
for two and a half hours.
“It’s not like announcing a
football game or other sports,
where you have a spotter or two
sitting there beside you to tell
you what’s going on. You’ve got
to do a lot of study and research
and be thoroughly familiar with
the sport, stock, cowboys and
cowgirls.”
Winners are chosen by judges,
who keep a keen, trained eye on
each event, and who, also, must
have a thorough knowledge of
the sport.
“The average fan wouldn’t
know what was happening if the
announcer wasn’t familiar with
the sport and explained the scor
ing,” Bridges said. “Y ou have to
watch very closely so the fans
will know . They get all up in
arms if they see someone make a
good ride and then get dis
qualified without an explana
tion.”
As an example. Bridges said a
bronc or bull rider must ride for
eight seconds legally. Fie can on
ly hold on with one hand if he
assists himself at all with the
other hand, regardless of how
long he rides, he is automatically
disqualified.
Rodeo, Bridges said, is billed
as the truly All-American sport,
since it originated in its entirety
in the United States. It is the
number one spectator sport in
the world based on paid atten
dance.
“Rodeo started as a Sunday
afternoon activity out west
when the cowboys from one
ranch would compete against
cowboys from a neightxsring
ranch to see who could do the
best riding and roping,” Bridges
said.
“The crowds would gather,
and soon the ranchers decided to
put the show on the road, and
charge an admission fee. From
that it grew to the number one
spectator sport.”
Rodeo animals, he said, are
the most loved and best cared-for
in the world.
“Contrary to what some
humane society people think,
they are cared for much better
than the domestic animals,” he
said. “A horse is not going to
buck or run if he’s underfed."
KM Citizens Protest Apartment
The Kings Mountain Plann
ing and Zoning Board Thursday
night unanimously rejected,
A with 10 members voting, a re-
™ quest from Fiunter Real Estate
Co. of Greenville, S.C. to rezone
12.54 acres of property on Gar
rison and Suzanne Drive from
R-20 to R-6.
William Fiunter, spokesman
for Hunter Construction Co.
and his attorney, Scott Clon-
inger of Kings Mountain, told
the board and approximately 60
adjaent property owners that
Hunter is proposing to build 88
luxury apartments in the area
behind TG&Y in west Kings
Mountain.
The property is owned by
Garrison Goforth and Hunter
Construction is interested in
12.54 acres of the large acreage,
which encompasses three large
tracts in Cleveland County with
one of the tracts within the city
limits.
Property owners strongly ob
ject to building the apartments
in the area because of the high
influx of traffic and expressed
the opinion that “downgrading”
(from R-20 to R-6) w ould be “ill
advised and represents bad tim
ing and a bad choice for the loca
tion of apartments and/br con
dominiums.”
Builders were projecting a
$2.8 million project but noted
that because of the economy on
ly 88 luxury apartments were
planned for the initial phase of
construction.
Property owners were upset
that the company did not want
to purchase all the land in the
area and without funds to go
ahead with condominium pro
jects felt they needed a
guarantee that the housing
would be high quality.
“They were skeptical that the
project would fail and that the
city would not be able to come
up with answers to traffic pro
blems and power problems
which now exist in that area of
town,” said Wilson Griffin, ac
ting chairman of the Planning
and Zoning Board.
The controversial property
rezoning request comes before
the city board of commissioners
for public hearing on Nov. 10th
at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. The
board can overrule the findings
of the zoning board or can agree.
The zoning board is appointed
by the city commission.
The property in question ad
joins Country Club estates, Rox-
ford Road and Garrison Drive
areas of the western area of the
city.
Citizens at the Tuesday night
meeting complained of lack of
full city services in the area and
noted that they welcome in
vestors but question the timing
of the proposal and the location.
Charged With Hit And Run
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^ COMING ALIVE — ThU monster will como to
liio ooch night through HoUowoon ot tho
loycoos Hauntsd Houso on Eost Gold Stroot.
Ho's just on# of many you'll so* as you tour
Photo hy Gary Stewart
tho old Morrison Building obovo D&D Eloctric.
Admission is on# dollar and concossions aro
availablo. Tho houso opons oach night at 8
p.m.
City To Receive Award
9 Mayor John Henry Moss,
Economic Development Direc
tor Jerry King and his assistant,
Connie Putnam, will go to
Raleigh Tuesday to accept the
Governor’s Community Ex
cellence Award.
Kings Mountain’s plaque will
be presented during the
Economic Development Con
ference at McKimmon Center in
9 Raleigh. The Conference opens
at 1:30 p.m. with a reception at 6
p.m., an awards banquet at 7
p.m. and the awards presenta
tion at 8:30 p.m.
In addition to presenting the
Community of Excellence
Awards, the Governor will also
make the principal address at the
banquet.
The award goes to those com
munities under 15,000 persons
which meet requirements design
ed by the N.C. Department of
Commerce to make them more
competitive in recruiting in
dustry.
Each award winning cont-
munity will receive highway
signs designating it as a Com
munity of Excellence. The N.C.
Department of Commerce will
give special promotional atten
tion to the award winning com
munities when working with in
dustries looking for plant site in
North Carolina.
Linda Faye Powell, 23, of
Route 9, Shelby, has been charg
ed with felonious hit and run
resulting in the death of Jerold
Burris, 35, of Kings Mountain.
M iss Powell was charged
about 9:15 p.m. Wednesday.
The accident occurred at 6:15
a.m. that morning.
Burris, an employe of Esther
Carnival
Thursday
The spooks and goblins will
dance and cavort about at a
Halloween Carnival Thursday,
Oct. 30, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
at Kings Mountain Convales
cent Center on Sipe St.
Residents of the Center are
planning a haunted house, bingo
rooms, a bean bag toss, fishing
games, cake walks, bake sale and
door prizses in addition to big
Crafts Room which will feature
homemade quilts and pillows,
yardstick holders, yarn dolls and
dogs, and pillows, among other
items.
Mrs. Faye Barbee and Mrs.
Carolyn Bell, Activities Coor
dinators and Mrs. Ruth Gamble,
Crafts instructor, have supervis
ed the plans for the activities.
Prizes for the best costumed
will be awarded in five age
groups, those ages 1-6, 6-12,
12-20, adult and resident.
The intersted public is invited
to enjoy the activities of the day,
according to Mrs. Flay Payne,
KMCC Administrator.
Mills in Shelby, and another
man, Samuel Whitworth, also of
Kings Mountain, ran out of gas
near the Clyde Short Co. on
Highway 74 west, crossed the
highway and were walking on a
service road to a telephone when
a car approached from the rear.
Burris was struck in the back
and knocked 60 feet, according
to investigating PtI. David
Thomas, who said Whitworth
jumped from the path of the car
and was uninjured. Burris was
killed instantly.
Trooper Thomas said that
Miss Powell lives within a mile
of the spot where the accident
occurred. She was arrested by
the Highway Patrol after they
requested security officers at
Fiber Industries, PPG and
Eaton Corporations to search
their parking lots for the suspect
vehicle. Broken pieces of a
plastic light lens from the car
were found at the scene. Thomas
said he went through three junk
yards and found the broken lens
must have come from a Ford
vehicle. A roadblock was set up
for nearly three hours in the area
of the hit and run in an effort to
locate a suspect which appeared
futile until officers received three
telephone calls from confidential
sources with information.
Miss Powell’s 1974 Ford Pin
to station wagon was impounded
as evidence.
Preliminary hearing for Miss
Powell, free under $5,00() bond,
is slated for Nov. 6. During a
first appearance hearing, Judge
A. Max Harris appointed at
torney Bob Bradley of Kings
Mountain to represent Miss
Powell.
Independence Bank Merger
Is In Discussion Stage
Plato Pearson Jr., President of
Independence National Bank of
Gastonia and Thorne Gregory,
President of Branch Banking
and Trust Co., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Branch Corp. of
Wilson, N.C. announced jointly
today that the management of
the two banks are currently
negotiating to merge the two in
stitutions. The proposed merger
would be based upon the is
suance of two shares of Branch
common stock for each outstan
ding share of Independence com
mon stock.
If negotiations are successfully
concluded, a definite agreement
will be presented to both boards
of directors of both banks and to
Branch Corp. in the near future,
and if approved will then be sub
mitted to the shareholders of
both banks.
In addition to the approval by
the boards and shareholders, the
proposed merger is subject to the
approval of all applicable state
and federal regulatory
authorities. Branch Bank
operates 89 offices in 45 cities in
North Carolina. Independence
National operates 28 offices in
Gaston, Cleveland and Ruther
ford counties. Assets of Branch
are $700,000,000, while In
dependence National has assets
of approximately $292,000,000.