JULY, 1956
3i3!lWl
PAGE 3
Souvenirs Can Be Good Vacation Reminders
IN 26TH YEAR WITH COMPANY
GENERAL MANAGER Harold Mercer (center), marked his
25th anniversary of service with the Company in late May. Lee R.
■Jackson, (right). President of the Company, presented Mr. Mercer
with his 25-year pin at the home offices in Akron. W. A. Karl,
Firestone Textiles President, was present to offer congratulations.
Mr. Mercer came to the Gastonia plant as Comptroller when the
Company purchased the factory in May of 1935. He was promoted
to General Manager in 1938.
Firestone Stores And Dealers To Add
Philco Products To Merchandise Line
By mid-July customers in the
Gastonia area may purchase
Philco products through Fire
stone dealers and the Firestone
Store on Franklin avenue.
As a national distributor of
household appliances, Firestone
will add the Philco line of prod
ucts to the ,present line of Fire-
stone-brand products.
First Philco products are
scheduled to appear in Fire
stone nationwide retail outlets
during July when 1957 models
of television receivers, portable
and table model radios and
phonographs are introduced. As
1957 models of other major ap
pliances are introduced. Fire
stone stores and dealers will add
them to their lines. These will
include refrigerators, home
freezers, electric ranges, room
air conditioners and home
laundry equipment.
Charles Moore, local store
manager, has announced that he
expects to offer the complete
line of major Philco appliances
by early 1957.
Carl Stewart Is Counselor
At Boys’ Camp This Summer
Carl Stewart, Jr., Firestone’s
College Scholarship winner
from Gastonia in 1954, is spend
ing the summer as a boys’ coun
selor at Camp Sequoyah, Weav-
erville, N. C. The regular camp
Season began there June 16 and
Will continue through August 26.
Carl is among some 25
counselors at Sequoyah this
year. As a member of the staff,
he has charge of a group of boys,
teaches and coaches dramatics
and directs staging arrange-
nients.
He is assistant editor of
“Thunderbird”, the camp news
paper.
SEQUOYAH is one of North
Carolina’s older privately-owned
camps. It attracts boys up to 16
years of age, from all states.
The Firestone Scholarship
holder is the son of Carl Stew
art, Sr., Weaving; and Mrs.
Stewart, Ply Twisting. He has
Completed his second year at
^uke University.
During the past school year,
Carl was outstanding as a mem
ber of the varsity debating team,
Participating in tournaments at
'^arious schools in North Caro-
and in South Carolina and
"Tennessee. His team competed
^ith teams up and down the
^astern Seaboard on the topic:
“Resolved That Non-Agricul-
tural Industries of the United
States Should Guarantee An
Annual Wage to Their Em
ployees.”
ALSO DURING the past
school year the student from
Gastonia was chosen to repre
sent Duke at a six-day confer
ence on education at Columbia
University, New York City. Con
ferees represented colleges and
universities throughout the
country.
The Firestone Scholarship
holder has consistently made the
Dean’s List the two years he has
studied at Duke. The past year
his grade average reached Phi
Beta Kappa level.
At NIRA Meeting
Plant Recreation Director
Ralph Johnson appeared on the
program of the National Indus
trial Recreation Association
meeting in New York City,
which convened June 2-6.
Johnson attended the meeting
with two other recreation lead
ers from Gastonia. On the pro
gram there, he participated in a
panel discussion on sports prob
lems in recreation.
Collecting treasures and trinkets go hand-in-
hand with vacations.
Buying souvenirs is a pleasure, but alas, too
many people do not practice it as an art!
On a vacation trip to Texas, an employee
bought a 10-gallon hat in El Paso, and was told
that his “souvenir'’ was a genuine product of
the Lone Star State. But afterwards, he took a
closer look at his fancy headgear and discovered
it was made in Norwalk, Conn. Maybe his hat
was just as useful as if it had been crafted on-
the-spot in El Paso, but its “souvenir” value was
considerably reduced.
FIGURES show that some 40 million people
in the United States, vacationing at home and in
foreign countries, put to flight some $50 million a
year on mementoes, much of which turns out to
be worthless to the buyer.
In order to make your vacation dollars stretch
to their fullest extent, here are a few pointers
on souvenirs buying that will help you take
home something for your money:
A souvenir reflects the place or locality you
want to keep in your memory.
It helps you to recall the things you liked best
about the place you bought it.
It suits your personality and the home in which
it will be displayed.
It is not so large that it is expensive to trans
port.
It looks well and is useful.
It is exclusive, that is, it is not available back
home.
If you buy a souvenir for a gift, ask yourself
these questions: Does it suit your friend’s taste?
Will it reflect favorably on you as its buyer?
Will it be useful to the recipient?
SHOPPING for souvenirs is best done at such
places as home industries or local workshops. If
you buy from craftsmen who actually make the
goods, you can be sure of getting genuine prod
ucts. Other places to look for are state or com
munity exhibits of locally-made items, and
reputable stores. You will have to develop an
eye for quality, so that you can tell a poorly-
made product from a good one. It’s a good rule
to examine labels, imprints and trademarks.
Before parting with your money, think of
where you will display your souvenir. Will it fit
into the surroundings back home? Test it for
taste so that it won’t be out of keeping with
the other furnishings of your home.
Maybe you’re not too much concerned about
driving a bargain in souvenir shopping, after all.
But whatever you do and whatever you buy on
your vacation, keep shopping a pleasure and
don’t let it become a chore.
CLYDE MOSS, JR., directs the Marietta Street
Baptist Youth Choir. His sister, Marianne, is at
left, front row; his brothers Dan and Eddie are
in center of back row. A member of the choir not
in the picture: David Brittian, Multi-Stage Nylon
Unit.
Youth Choristers Specialize In Anthems
The assembly room of the educational annex
at South Marietta Street Baptist Church rang
with 26 dedicated voices of the Youth Choir. It
was a typical Tuesday evening practice session
of the organization consisting of 16 girls and 10
boys whose ages range from 13 through 20.
Directing the choir was Clyde Moss, Jr., who
took over leadership from his father in December
of 1955. Clyde Moss, Sr., Assistant to the Gen
eral Superintendent here, organized the youthful
choristers in 1951 and ably led them until he
turned over the project to his son.
THE SINGING group specializes in anthems,
and presenting them is a regular feature of the
Sunday evening services at the church.
The choir director, employed here in the Shop
electrical department, inherited a talent for
music, as did his sister Marianne, and brothers
Dan and Eddie, all of whom are members of the
South Marietta Youth Choir.
At the age of six, Clyde, Jr. began a six-year
series of piano lessons. Then came seven years of
study and practice on other instruments, such
as woodwind and brass,
HE PLAYED in the band at Gastonia High
School, When he went to Mars Hill College he
played in the band and sang first tenor in the
choir. Upon completion of studies at Mars Hill,
he enrolled at Wake Forest College, where he
continued his musical interests through member
ship in the glee club, concert choir, male quartet,
mixed quartet and male octet. In 1954 he sang
the tenor role in “The Messiah” at Memorial
Auditorium in Raleigh.
Besides this, young Moss played with “The
Southerners”, a dance orchestra at Wake Forest.
Playing with “The Southerners” was not a new
experience for him. Back when he was a high
school student in Gastonia he was a member of
“The Melodymakers,” a group that played en
gagements all the way from Hopewell, Va., to
Birmingham.
FROM 1951 to 1954, he was a member of the
Cotton Chords, a “barbershop” quartet from Gas
tonia. In 1952 the Cotton Chords sang in the
Dixie District Contest at Daytona Beach, Fla.,
placing ninth in 21 entries.
Clyde Jr., who suspended his studies at Wake
Forest while working here, plans to return to the
college this fall to complete requirements for a
degree in chemistry. After that he hopes to enter
Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-
Salem, where he plans to study toward a career
in neuro-surgery.