PAGE 4
SEPTEMBER, 1958
11
Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Floyd {at left, back and front row), visit
with three of their six children, a daughter-in-law, and a grandson.
Helen, holding Jon, sits beside his mother, at right. Behind Jon
is his father. Dr. C. W. Floyd. The Floyds' youngest son, Benjamin,
is at right.
This Employee
Has Family Of
Down on Route 2, Clover, S. C.,
there is a “two-mule” farm
where corn reaches tall and
watermelons grow sweet in the
sun. Wallace Floyd’s 29 acres are
enough in themselves to keep a
man busy. But somehow the
Firestone employee-farmer man
ages to cultivate about eleven
acres, a “sideline” to his good
performance as a cleaning hand
on the first shift of nylon cable
Twisting.
Mr. Floyd came to his job here
in January of 1942. In the inter
vening years two of his sons—
William and E. J., worked for
some time in the plant.
The Floyd farm is an ideal
family-reunion setting for their
five sons and a daughter, and the
eight grandchildren.
You'd have to look a long
time before finding a more im
pressive record of accomplish
ments of the children in one
family.
WELL KNOWN around Gas
tonia is the second son. Dr. C. W.
Floyd, a dental surgeon who has
his office on West Page avenue,
Gastonia. An ardent civic work
er, he was this year chairman of
the Negro Division of the Gaston
County March of Dimes. Now he
is chairman of the Gastonia
Citizens’ Committee, and presi
dent of the Charlotte Medical
Society.
Active in the program of Gas
tonia’s St. Stephen’s AME Zion
Church, Dr. Floyd is a standby
teacher of an adult Bible class
and a member of the church
board of stewards. He is a gradu
ate of Howard University, Wash
ington, D. C., and served for
two years as a senior-grade lieu
tenant in the Navy Dental Corps
during World War H.
The Floyds’ youngest son, Ben
jamin Franklin, has been an out
standing student at Livingston
In Twisting
Superlatives
College, Salisbury, where he re
ceived the bachelor of science
degree this spring. He is now
studying toward the masters de
gree in chemistry at Howard
University. Benjamin hopes to
remain at Howard and attend
the college of medicine.
While at Livingston, he was a
teacher in the Sunday school
on the campus. On the honor roll
his last two years there, he was
elected to the 1958 list of Who’s
Who Among Students in Ameri
can Universities and Colleges.
He is a member of Beta Kappa
Chi, honorary science fraternity,
and of Omega Psi Phi, social fra
ternity.
ANOTHER of the Floyd sons,
William, is a graduate of Teach
ers State College, Montgomery,
Ala. For several years he has
been teaching biology in the
public school system of that
state.
The Floyds’ other sons live
near the parents. They are E. J.
of Clover and James Lee of
Kings Mountain.
The daughter, Helen, is a
graduate of Cortez Peters Busi
ness College in Washington, and
is employed in the District of
Columbia.
Besides his busy schedule on
the first-shift job at Firestone
and the work on the farm, Mr.
Floyd doesn’t neglect his church.
He and Mrs. Floyd are members
of Trinity AME Zion congrega
tion in the Pisgah section of
Gastonia. He is a member of the
board of trustees there.
“My more than 16 years at
Firestone have been very re
warding,” he comments. “Every
body I have worked with has
been friendly and helpful. Es
pecially is this so of the overseer
in Twisting, Mr. Hobart Ald
ridge; and the first-shift second
hand, Mr. Claude Taylor.
August Visitors
At Factory
The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Leo
Hawkins and his brother, Ron
nie, were visitors at the plant in
August. Mr. Hawkins, a graduate
of Wake Forest College ani Yale
Divinity School, is pastor of the
First Baptist Church of South
port, N. C. He grew up in the
Firestone community and during
summer vacations from college,
was employed in the plant.
Plant Featured
In Magazine’s
Special Issue
Firestone Textiles was featur
ed in a fuU-page advertisement
in the 25th anniversary edition
of THE STATE, published at
Raleigh last month. The maga
zine issue of August 9 was called
“An Omnibus of North Caro
lina.”
Under the title, “Contribut
ing to the Progress of North
Carolina for More Than 20
Years,” the ad described the Gas
tonia plant as one of the largest
producers of tire cord fabric and
yarn in the world.
“In producing a superior prod
uct, employees have greatly con
tributed to the tire industry. Be
cause of better and stronger tire
fabrics, the motorist drives with
greater peace of mind; trucks
haul more goods at high speeds;
and huge earth-moving equip
ment builds giant dams and
super-highways in record time.”
The ad concluded: “Because of
employees’ skills, loyalty and
fine record of accomplishment,
the company looks forward with
enthusiasm and confidence to
continued progress in this great
State.”
Featured in the ad layout
were an aerial view of the plant;
a photograph of Vivian Metcalf
at her job on a loom in SYC
Weaving; and representative
photographs of Firestone tires
for automobiles, trucks, aircraft
and other off-the-road equip
ment.
ARRIVALS...
Debra Charline Shiles arrived
July 30 at Gaston Memorial Hos
pital, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Ronnie Shiles of Bessemer
City. The grandparents are Mr.
and Mrs. Oliver Taylor, both of
Spinning.
Charles Lee Smith was born to
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Edward Smith
on August 20. The father is em
ployed in rayon Weaving.
Miss Peggy Hanna chose Cherry Grove Beach, S. C., for her
recent week of vacation.
Mrs. Roy Price Roe, Jr., is a new employee in Main Office.
The Roes live at 108 East Third avenue.
Miss Jerry Barton, Payroll, spent several days in late summer
at Myrtle Beach, S. C.
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Sanders and daughter Katherine spent a
week in Daytona Beach, Fla., recently. Mrs. Sanders works in Main
Office.
Miss Doris McCready of Main Office accompanied Mr. and
Mrs. Ralph Johnson and their son Buddy to Houston, Texas last
month. Before returning to Gastonia, the group visited in Pensa
cola, Fla., and New Orleans. Mr. Johnson is recreation director
at the plant.
Mr. and Mrs. James Dunaway and sons Jimmy and Billy, and
Mrs. Dunnaway’s niece. Scarlet Fisher, all of Ripley, Tenn., visited
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Alexander this summer. The Dunaways and
Miss Fisher went with the Alexanders on a trip to Myrtle Beach
during the visit to the Carolinas.
Shop
Millwright J. N, Crawford, Mrs. Crawford, and their son J. N.,
Jr., spent a recent vacation at Folly Beach, near Charleston, S. C.
Vacationing at Myrtle Beach, S. C., recently were W. G. Henson,
plant engineer; Mrs. Henson; James Price, painter, and Mrs. Price.
Electrician Ray Pearson, Mrs. Pearson, and their sons made
Currie Beach on the North Carolina Coast their vacation head
quarters this summer.
A trip to Minnesota was highlight of a vacation trip for Bern
ard Aim, carpenter, Mrs. Aim, and their son David. They were
house guests of Bernard’s mother, Mrs. Hattie Aim, at Hinckley,
near Lake Superior.
Going to Carolina Beach for a summer vacation were Ralph
Dalton and members of his family. Ralph is a lathe operator.
Mrs. Rosie Francum, tool room clerk, and her daughter Jane
vacationed at Myrtle Beach, S. C., in August.
Howard Moore and members of his family have returned from a
trip to Franklin, N. C. There, they visited Howard’s parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Jack Moore.
Miss Phoebe Pearson joined her sister, Mrs. W, B. McQueen of
Columbia, S. C., for a late-summer trip to Myrtle Beach, S, C. Miss
Pearson is Shop Secretary. —More on Page 6
Cure Flowers For Touch Of Summer Beauty
Joseph McCormick, assistant
to the president of Milligan
College near Johnson City,
Tenn., was a visitor at the plant
in mid-August.
A former employee of the Fire
stone company, Mr. McCormick
worked at Plant 1 in Akron dur
ing the early 1920s. He left an
executive position with a John
son City laundry company to
become assistant to President
Dean E. Walker at the East
Tennessee liberal arts school, op
erated by the Christian Churches
(Disciples of Christ).
Have you ever pressed a flower between the
pages of a book, in an attempt to preserve some
of Nature’s beauty long after summer has gone?
Then, maybe you haven’t tried the newer method
of curing flowers. The Firestone Variety Garden
Club has the reminder that preserving flowers
by sand-drying is in interesting art, yielding al
most magical results.
Members of the Club say
that flowers dried or baked
in sand retain their natural
form and color, so they lose
very little of their beauty,
present at the full-bloom
stage.
Want to experiment, now
that many suitable speci
mens are in season? The
Variety Club gives this run
down on materials you’ll
need for two drying
methods, and how you can
go about this fascinating
procedure.
Materials: Containers for curing specimens,
such as kitchen pots, cardboard boxes, coffee
cans; clean, fine sand with no salt content; and
florist’s wire.
GATHER FLOWERS at prime, fully opened.
They must be thoroughly dry.
Fragile blooms such as larkspur and Queen
Ann’s lace should be cut with stems as long as
you can manage in the sand. But flowers such as
zinnia, marigold, carnation, chrysanthemum and
camellia are best managed on short stems. For
longer stems, you’U need to substitute artificial
stems of wire. For this, cut florist’s wire about
a foot long and bend a small hook on one end.
Push straight through center of flower and pull
until hook is buried in the bloom. After curing
blossom, green floral tape may be wrapped on
the wire stem.
There are two common methods of curing your
flowers: Natural drying in sand, and sand-bak
ing. For natural drying, take sand and sift with
grocer’s borax in equal parts. Place flowers in the
dry mixture, so they are allowed to keep natural
shape. Put aside in dry, shady place for four or
five days. If longer, borax may “brown” petals.
THE OVEN METHOD: Put one-half inch of
sand only in bottom of container. Place sprays
of flowers on sand lengthwise or place large
blossoms face-down, taking care not to let
flowers touch. Carefully pour on more sand,
covering flowers to a depth of not more than one-
half inch over highest point of blossom. Make
one layer only in each container. Put in pre
heated oven not above 125° F., for 20 minutes-
Turn off heat and when container is almost cool,
move to dry, shady place. Go through this routine
twice for each of five days.
Carefully pour off sand, gently lift flowers and
dust with soft brush. Your handiwork, whether
by the natural-drying or the baking method, can
then be fashioned into arrangements to lend
beauty the year-round.
The plant garden club suggests that you check
the public library for reference material on ar
ranging dried flowers.