25
YEAR
PEOPLE
It Adds Up To Variety, Color
RECREATION
TRAVEL NOTES
☆
A Floyd J. Kelly
Weaving (syn)
C. J. Slewarl Sr. H. T. Aldridge
Weaving (syn) Twisling
FOR MAY
Joined To Long-Service List
“It doesn’t seem that long,”
reflected Carl J. Stewart Sr.
He was talking about his 25
years of employment, com
pleted here in May. Floyd J.
Kelly and H. T. Aldridge,
the other two 25-year men
as of last month, agreed that
a quarter century “just sort
of grows on you.”
While these three persons were
marking work anniversaries,
nine others at the Gastonia plant
☆ ☆ ☆
General Manager
Begins 31st Year
While general manager Harold
Mercer was in Akron, Ohio, at
the company’s home offices re
cently, he received congratula
tions upon his completion of 30
years of service with the Fire
stone organization.
When he returned to Gastonia
on May 22, plant personnel hon
ored him on his service anni
versary with a floral display in
his office.
Mr. Iv^ercej, a native of Sey
mour, Ind., came to the Gastonia
plant in 1935 as comptroller, and
soon thereafter was named gen
eral manager.
He received the B.S. degree
in commerce from the Universi
ty of Illinois and joined the
Firestone company in 1931.
Since coming to Gastonia he has
been a leader in industrial and
community endeavors.
Among the many honors that
have come to him are the Silver
were completing periods of serv
ice from five to twenty years.
Twenly Years
Javen A. Haney, Twisting
(synthetics).
Fifteen Years
Joe R. Sain, Harlon Graham,
Lassie L. Greene, Twisting (syn
thetics); Paul C. Baker, Shop;
John P. Smith, Industrial Rela
tions (plant protection).
Ten Years
Jess Hodge, Weaving (syn
thetics).
Five Years
Katie Elkins, Twisting (syn
thetics).
Beaver award for outstanding
“layman” service to the Boy
Scouts of America; and the
NCCJ Brotherhood Award. This
honor came in 1959 from the
Gaston chapter of the National
Conference of Christians and
Jews, in recognition of Mr.
Mercer’s “outstanding leadership
in advancing the cause of
brotherhood and the ideals of
human relations among men.”
Included in his many leader
ship appointments in community
and industry are: Director of the
Ncrth Carolina Textile Founda
tion, the First Union National
Bank; trustee, Gaston Memorial
Hospital; member of the advis
ory board of Gaston Technical
Institute and the National Rec
reation Association; director of
Carolinas United, and member
of Gastonia United Fund execu
tive committee; director of NC
Textile Manufacturers Assn.;
director of Gastonia YMCA;
trustee of First Methodist
Church, Gastonia.
RETIREMENT TIPS
‘Keep Active Till Your Dying Day’
What is your ideal of retire
ment? A cozy little home in the
Ozarks, a comfortable rocking
chair, a pipe and plenty of to
bacco, three meals a day with
an appetite to enjoy them, and
a garden of flowers, which your
wife cares for? These things are
important—but they are not all.
You must do something to
satisfy the hunger of your mind
and soul to achieve a full meas
ure of contentment. You must
keep active until your dying
day. So, while you are still work
ing and laying up treasure, be
gin developing a hobby. Do
something with your hands. Col
lect stamps or coins, make furni
ture, mould pottery, bind books
—there are a thousand things
you may do.
Prepare yourself for active re
tirement, so when the Harvest
Years come, you will have
something to make the days
worthwhile. In retirement, the
individual ought to live each
day as completely as possible,
“as if it were his last, and as if
it would last forever.”
Live the moment, glorify the
hour, sanctify the day! You
can’t go wrong in retirement
with this philosophy. — Otto
Ernest Rayburn, author and
folklorist.
BOY SCOUTS Say
Be Proud That
You’re An American
June “busts out all over” with pageantry, fun-
in-the-sun and other attractions that add up to
travel variety, as spring merges into summer
Down South. To keep you abreast of some of the
highlights, these notes from Plant Recreation go
with the suggestion: “When off the job, travel
some—enjoy life more, appreciate the many in
teresting things there are to see and do.”
In North Carolina alone, three outdoor dramas
blending history with the glamour of modern
stagecraft reopen in late June or by early July,
to play nightly except Mondays through the
Labor Day weekend.
“Unto These Hills” begins its 12th season at
Cherokee, June 27. At Boone, “Horn in the West”
goes into its 10th season July 1, while on the
same date “The Lost Colony” begins its 21st sea
son at Manteo. Westward to Kentucky, two out
standing starlight dramas are “The Story of Job,”
Pineville; and “Wilderness Road” at Berea.
Ghost Town In The Sky
By mid-June, Firestone folks traveling west
ward to Maggie Valley will be privileged to visit
one of the world’s most unusual sightseeing at
tractions. An historic showplace of a bygone era
will be operating as four ghost towns—Western,
mountain, mining and Indian. Later there will
be a Mexican village. These, along with a Kiddy
Park and Circus, form the Southeast’s largest
outdoor entertainment center, covering 300 acres.
All structures in the four towns are to be
working businesses of some type, and all true
life-size replicas of the eras they depict. There
will be some 30 stores, shops, restaurants and
snack bars.
In Ghost Town visitors will be free to roam
the streets and browse in the shops. The only
charge is the price of a ride to the top of the
mountain by incline railway or trolley. There will
be continuously free entertainment. Those em
ployed in the enterprises will wear period cos
tumes. At a little church in the Western town
services will be held each Sunday.
During summer. Ghost Town will be open from
8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Wagons East To Murphy
A number of employees originally from Chero
kee county look forward each year to the Wagon
Train Celebration, with its horse and oxen cara
van from Tellico Plains, Tenn., to Murphy. The
caravan arrives at Murphy July 4 and is cli
maxed with a parade and a full day and evening
of entertainment.
Other upcoming events of a festival nature are
“Singing on the Mountain” at Grandfather near
Linville, June 25; State Singing Convention the
same Sunday at Benson; NC Rhododendron Fes
tival on Roan Mountain, June 22-24; Frontier
Week at Love Valley near Statesville, June 30-
July 1.
Among other events in June are the Interna
tional Blue Marlin Tournament at Hatteras
Island, 17-22; “Arts of the Pacific Isles” exhibi
tion at NC Museum of Art, Raleigh, June 20-
Sept. 1; Silo Circle Playhouse season. Black
Mountain, June 27-Sept.' 2.
We Are Cooperating In Safety-Belt Program
A nationwide program en
couraging automobile drivers to
install and make use of seat
belts is being co-sponsored by
the General Federation of
Women’s Clubs and the Auto
Industries Highway Safety Com
mittee.
Firestone is cooperating in the
program by making available a
complete line of car safety belts
to all its dealers and stores.
In joining with auto manufac
turers, civic groups and safety
organizations to encourage a
nationwide revival of interest in
safety belts, E. B. Hathaway,
company vice president of sales
and member of the board of di
rectors of the Auto Industries
Highway Safety Committee,
said:
“National statistics of lives
lost and people injured in traffic
mishaps continue to grow year
after year. It has been proved
that car safety belts save lives
and reduce injuries to passen
gers by more than one-third.
“Through its dealers and
stores. Firestone has stressed au
tomotive safety for many years.
Car safety belts have demon
strated tremendous potential as
deterrents to increased highway
slaughter. We hope to make
more motorists aware of these
life-saving devices and en
courage them to use the belts.”
Firestone Air ides
Smooth The Road
CALM AND AGITATED — At Fire
stone’s Akron, Ohio headquarters Mari
anne Thayer shows an experimental rig
which demonstrates shock-absorbing
qualities of Airide suspension. The ping
pong ball in right tube indicates how
rough a ride can be without something
to cushion vibrations. The ball at left
rides calmly over the same make-be-
lieve rough road.
Firestone’s Noblesville, Ind., plant
builds Airide for passenger cars, trucks,
trailers, airplanes, buses and trains. The
basic structure is a rubber “doughnut”
reinforced with synthetic fabric like
that produced at the Gastonia plant.
FIRESTONE TEXTILES
P. O. BOX 551
GASTONIA, N. C.
POSTAL MANUAL
SECTION 134.1
U. S. POSTAGE PAID
GASTONIA, N. C.
PERMIT NO. 29
THE LIBRARY OF UNC
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
JUNE, 1961 'fire$tone S3HWS
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