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CASTONIA • NORTH CAROLINA "IfT 1 ^ ^ f O H 6
Your Symbol
VOLUME XII - NUMBER 7 W
of Quality
JUNE, 1963 S!} H W i
and Service
m
IgS
President Raymond Firestone
New Company Chairman
Harvey S. Firestone Jr. has
relinquished the title of com
pany chief executive officer to
his brother, Raymond C. Fire
stone, president of the company.
Harvey S. Firestone Jr., chair
man and chief executive officer
since 1948, announced the re
sponsibility change in May, after
he had reached age 65.
He became actively associated
with the company in Nov., 1920,
having been elected a director
in July of the previous year;
was elected vice president in
Oct., 1929 and president in
Nov., 1941.
He is the eldest son of the late
Harvey S. Firestone, who found
ed the company in 1900.
Raymond Christy Firestone,
fourth son of Mr. and Mrs.
Harvey S. Firestone, was born
in Akron, Sept. 6, 1908. He join
ed the company in 1933 at Los
Angeles after completing the
Firestone sales - class course.
Subsequently he became a com
mercial salesman, store manag
er, district store supervisor and
assistant manager of the com
pany’s southeastern sales zone.
In 1935 he was appointed
Richmond (Va.) district manag
er, and a year later was assigned
to the new Firestone plant at
Memphis, Tenn. In 1937 he be
came president of the Firestone
Tire & Rubber Company of
Tennessee.
Raymond C. Firestone was
elected a director of the parent
company in Jan., 1942. He was
transferred to Akron in early
1949, as vice president in charge
of research and development. In
Jan., 1954 he was elected execu
tive vice president, and three
years later was chosen president
of the company.
Top Honor To Rickey Kesseil
Awards To 35 Boy Scouts
Within a little less than three years in the Boy Scouts,
Frederick Charles (“Ricky)” Kesseil has earned an outstand
ing record—crowned last month with the Harvey S. Fire-
ston Jr. Scouting Award.
^•^htseeing
Camp Firestone
Subterranean
Wonderland
Millions of years ago this
ontinent creased into a
niile and the Southern Ap-
P^Jachians came into being,
^derground rivers teamed
wind and frost to begin
^Aeir sculpturing. One of the
^sults was Linville Caverns
^only known underground
Passages of any size in North
^^rolina.
, -^he Caverns are at the
p^ad of Linville Valley and
in McDowell County
on US 221 and four miles
south of the Blue Ridge
Parkway. One of the many
outstanding sightseers’ at
tractions of the ‘holiday
highlands’ and easily visited
within a short traveling dis-
ance from Camp Firestone
on Lake James near Marion,
the Caverns lie deep inside
Humpback Mountain.
Opened to the public in
1937, it is one of the state’s
year-round scenic wonders,
visited annually by thou
sands from every state and
many foreign countries.
Straight down for 1500
feet and beneath millions of
tons of granite are a maze of
tortuous tunnels, rooms, fan
tastic rock formations and
“bottomless” pits carved into
the heart of the mountain by
buried rivers centuries ago.
A tour takes 45 minutes.
Guided parties leave every
12 minutes. Since parties
must pass at wide points
along the route, guides syn
chronize their watches and
stay on schedule. Much of
the walking is on paved and
bridged walkways. Caverns
are electrically illuminated—
much of it in color to high
light the beauty of rock for
mations. (Photos: NC News
Bureau)
The son of Mr. and Mrs. A. C.
(“Freddie”) Kesseil of 513 Bev
erly Dr., he received the com
pany’s highest honor for Scout
ing excellence at the annual
awards dinner in the Recreation
Center May 23.
Ricky, a member of Troop 21
sponsored by St. John’s Meth
odist Church, joined the Scout
ing program in June of 1960. At
15, he is a Life Scout and holds
18 Merit Badges.
He chose to serve as junior
leader for his Scout project, and
is now senior patrol leader of his
troop. Added to his Scout record
are a list of outstanding achieve
ments in school and church.
DURING the one-year period
in which he was evaluated for
Manager At Firestone Stores
New manager of the Firestone
. ®res at Franklin Ave. and
jJJ^fietta St. in Gastonia is Jim
oore. He replaced Charlie
^ oore who transferred to a
^^'^estone Store in Spartanburg,
C.
Jim
Moore is a native of
^ '^odruff, S. C. He has six years
Perience with Firestone Stores,
,^rking in Spartanburg,
Orangeburg, S. C., and Win-
ston-Salem before transferring
to Gastonia. He was a commer
cial salesman in Winston-Salem.
The new store manager, 32,
served four years in the Marine
Corps. He is a Baptist and a
Mason.
Mrs. Moore is the former
Betty Tippett. The Moores have
two children.
Rayon accounted for 52 V2 per cent of all fibers used in the
^^oduction of cord and fabric for tires in 1962. Nylon went into
j Per cent of the tire production, and cotton accounted for V2 of
cent, says the American Textile Manufacturers Institute.
the Firestone award he made 15
advancements in Scoutcraft.
Ricky is the 18th winner of
the Harvey S. Finestone Jr.
Award at the Gastonia plant,
and the first son of a Firestone
Textiles employee to be accord
ed the honor. His father is a pro
duction staff assistant.
He received the traditional en
graved Silver Medallion—sym
bol of the award named for the
company chairman — and was
presented a Certificate of Merit,
a $100 U.S. Savings Bond, and a
check for $15. The money was
suggested for use toward ex
penses of a one-week stay at the
Piedmont Scout Council’s Camp
Schiele in Transylvania County.
—More on page 2
Medallion
Winner
For 1963
Ricky Kesseil re
ceives Scout medal
lion from his grand-
father. Nelson
Kesseil, retired
Firestone Textiles
plant superintend
ent. With them are
(from left) the
Scout's father, A. C.
Kesseil, Troop 21
Scoutmaster Daniel
Hogan and plant
general manager
Harold Mercer.
Ricky is the first
member of an em
ployee family here
to win the top
award.