SOME SIGNS A-GO-GO: Here is a sampling of auto-bumper placards recently observed on the Firestone, Gastonia, employee parking lots.
Tilre$lon«
APRIL
1968
GASTONIA
NORTH CAROLINA
Camp Firestone
Season Opening May 6
... And Continues
Through Autumn Color Parade
Early May is opening time
the 33rd season of Camp
Firestone on Lake James,
the plant industrial re
lations department.
Now that April’s here, it’s
’^ake-ready time at the com-
Pany-operated employee recre
ation facility near Bridgewater-
^ebo in Burke County.
The mechanical department,
Under guidance of plant en
gineer J. G. Tino Jr., this month
complete routine mainten
ance and general repair on
grounds, buildings and equip
ment.
In readiness for the upcoming
Reason beginning May 6, row-
'^oats are being repaired or re
placed, lifesaving equipment re-
^iiOekeu and slanuardized, fire
fighting and first-aid equipment
and supplies checked and re
stocked.
AT THE location, Gastonia
employees and members of their
families each year enjoy variety
recreation and relaxation in an
“away from the hustle and bus
tle” setting on the Southern
plateau of the Blue Ridge Moun
tains.
The camp, on a cove of Lake
James and five miles from
Marion, is a part of one of the
South’s leading water-recreation
areas. The Southern Highlands
region is well known for its
scenic grandeur, vacation attrac
tions, accommodations, and spe
cial events from spring through
autumn.
The 1968 season at Camp Fire-
sione will coniinue inio mid-
October, climaxed by the
"scenic bonus" of autumn's color
in the hills.
Year-round manager at Camp
Firestone is Earl Crooks. He
works there as a member of the
Gastonia plant industrial rela
tions department.
For a scheduled stay at Camp
Firestone, employees make ar
rangements through application
in person at the plant industrial
relations office in Gastonia.
This is part of an established
practice which offers the camp
facilities to the most people pos-
—More on page 2
New
Name
Firestone at Gastonia, the
plants at Bennettsville and
Bowling Green and all other
company production facil
ities besides tire and tube-
building, belong to a “fam-
ly” which has a new name.
It is now “diversified products
division.” The former designa
tion was “non-tire operations.”
Continuing as Firestone vice
president in charge of divers
ified products is Louis J. Camp
bell. J. B. Call is adminstrative
assistant to Mr. Campbell. Both
executives are frequent visitors
to the Gastonia plant.
Their executive leadership is
concerned with the manufacture
of thousands of diversified prod
ucts for the automobile, home,
farm, industrial and national-
defense uses.
Tires and tubes are the com
pany’s original and major prod
ucts. Of these, there are 3,500
sizes and types of tires for
domestic and foreign passenger
cars, trucks, trailers, buses, trac
tors, aircraft, race cars, karts,
motorcycles, boat trailers, farm
Diversified Products
implements, wagons, earth-mov
ing vehicles, road graders, in
dustrial trucks, hoist, cranes,
wheelbarrows, lawnmowers,
specialized military equipment
and all other types of wheeled
vehicles.
In the diversified field the
company produces nylon, ray
on and polyester tire cord fabric;
heavy and fine-denier nylon;
many types of synthetic rubber,
latices and compounds; reclaim
rubber; adhesives and sealants;
road, track and playground sur
facing materials.
And there are more: Metal
products, including truck, 'bus,
tractor wheels and rims, con
tainers, stampings, farm wagons;
coated-fabric products, rubber
and urethane cushioning ma
terials; a variety of plastic res
ins, film sheeting and filaments;
molded, extruded and calendar
ed products for automotive and
other industries; seat belts and
harness, natural rubber threads
and yarns, brake lining, defense
products and chemicals for the
rubber, metal and plastics in
dustries.
Gifts To Education In 36 States; DC
MATCHING
PLAN
Supervisors
Learned By TV
Members of the Gastonia plant
Supervisory staff learned by
yideo-watching and group par-
^cipation in an 8-week program
^hich ended in March.
, The subject material on job
^^^truction training was present-
in weekly one-hour sessions
at the Recreation Center.
Sessions featured a 30-minute
presentation by TV over Char
lotte channel 18, followed by a
conference-working period led
by Ralph Johnson, manager of
employee relations.
This was the second training
program by television. The
pioneering course here in this
medium in early 1967 dealt with
employee turnover and absentee
ism.
Educational institutions in
36 stales and the DislricL of
Columbia benefited last year
when the Firestone company
matched money gifts of its
employees.
Firestone’s “matching plan”
in its first year sent checks to
182 colleges, universities and
secondary schools.
The $84,402 which Firestone
employees contributed was
matched by the company —
making $168,804 for higher edu
cation under the new program
in 1967.
UNDER this plan, an em
ployee (or Liie spouse ol an em
ployee) can contribute to any
accredited tax-supported college,
university or secondary school
in the country, or to any ac
credited non-tax-supported col
lege, university or secondary
school in this country and the
company will donate an equal
amount.
For “matching” there is a
limit on individual contributions
within a year. A $1,000 ‘ceiling’
is placed on gifts to accredited
tax-supported colleges or uni
versities. A limit of $2,000 per
year is made on gifts to colleges,
universilies or secondary schools
not tax-upported.
For his gift to be matched, the
person employed at Firestone
must give not less than $25 in
a calendar year. Another re
quirement; You must have at
least one year of continuous
service with Firestone or one of
its majority-owned subsidiaries.
Full details on the “matching
plan” are available in a booklet
which you can have from the
Gastonia Firestone industrial re
lations office, or the Bennetts
ville plant main office.
lV^FMORTF'^ There may have been some people who felt a touch of
lIl/lTliJrtlJLo regret at the passing of an honored landmark at Firestone’s
of a TR ANOTTTT Gastonia plant last summer. But progress involves change,
and ofttimes some shifting scenes.
pQlvrk The memorable Firestone water-storage open reservoir
gave way to two huge water tanks nearby, making room on
the pond site for a gigantic multi-stage treating unit which
went into operation early this year.
This historic pond scene was the last one photographed
before all the water was drained to clear the way for con
struction of the towering facility which electronically treats
synthetic tire-cord fabric.