GASTONIA
NORTH CAROLINA
NOVEMBER
1972
BENNEnSVILLE
SOUTH CAROLINA
BOWLING GREEN
KENTUCKY
☆ ☆ ☆
w
Respooling
• • Catherine (Cathy)
Whitlock is typical of the
younger people employed at
Firestone Textiles Company.
A respooler operator, she has
been working at the Gas
tonia plant since April of this
year.
Cathy’s mother, Mrs.
Christine Rector, also is a
respooler operator o n t h e
a
with the interior and outside
rearview mirrors now in use,
says the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.
The new system gives twice
the horizontal field of view af
forded by conventional mirrors.
Rearview mirrors give only a
30-degree sweep of vision. Test
version of the periscope offers
60 degrees. The regular system
that will be adopted for all new
cars—effective probably in Sep
tember of 1976 — will cover
about 80 degrees.
To
Gaston UA:
$42,048.65
•• The $42,048.65 contribution from people of the
Firestone Textiles Company plant was a major boost
toward realizing this year’s $631,000 goal of Gaston
County United Appeal.
same job in TC Twisting
with her daughter. Christine
has four years service.
Another daughter, Carolyn
Camp, is also a respooler
operator on the same floor
of the plant. Carolyn has one
year service.
Cathy shares with her
mother and sister the view
that “Firestone is a company
with opportunities for its
people.”
Auto Periscope By 1976
Motorists can say goodbye to the conventional rearview
mirror less than four years from now. By government
edict, drivers will start peering through overhead peri
scopes to see what’s behind them.
The periscopes will eliminate Periscope equipment will ride
blind spots that are a hazard atop the cars, from the outside
resembling the sign cabinet of
a taxicab. Cost to the consumer
will be about $25.
The Firestone figure —
representing a new height
in giving over the past 20
years of plant UA cam
paigns — was almost $2,000
more than the Firestone
pledge in the 1971 funds
drive.
PLEDGES were made at the
plant in October during the an
nual county-wide UA effort,
Oct. 3-Nov. 9, in which more
than a thousand volunteers
helped to gather 1973 operating
funds for 33 community serv
ices.
John V. Darwin, administra
tive assistant to President James
BG Plant
Landscaping
First Award
Landscaping and beautifica
tion efforts earned first-place
honors in October for eight
buildings in the third annual
contest for landscaping, care and
beautification of buildings and
grounds in and around Bowling
Green, Ky.
First place in the industrial
category went to the Firestone
Textiles Company plant on
Louisville Road outside Bowling
Green. The Kentucky plant won
the same distinction last year.
Besides the industrial cate
gory there are seven other clas
sifications in the contest which
named buildings to fir.=t-place
and honorable mention in the
judging: Auto agencies, church
es, funeral homes, frcverrment
and utilities, moteb, service
stations and restaurants.
Judging was on the basis of
landscaping design, maintenance
and color, originality and over
all impact.
BC: Safe Town
Bessemer City, hometown of
some 50 employees of the Gas
tonia Firestone plant, was cited
in September for its traffic
safety record in 1971.
A representative of the N. C.
Motor Club took part in presen
tation of the certificate com
mending the town for not hav
ing a traffic fatality during 1971.
BC Mayor George D. Newton
and Police Capt. Curtis Humph
rey accepted the award.
The town's last traffic fatality
was in late 1968. Bessemer City
was one of 23 NC towns hon
ored for 1971.
The person who buys and uses products he
and his fellow workers put on the market:
• Reflects pride in his company
• Shows others he believes in the quality
of products he helps to make
• Demonstrates faith in his company; helps
the company — and himself — to succeed in
business.
B. Call of Firestone Textiles
Company, was chairman of the
in-plant solicitation this year.
He was assisted by Ray Thomas
of Controlled Maintenance, and
M. J. Nichols of Warp Prepara
tion.
Mr. Darwin and Mr. Call are
members of the board of direc
tors of United Community
Servicss of Gaston County.
This year's record UA pledge
at Firestone has been averaged
to $29.10 per contributor. Mr.
Darwin pointed out there was
99.2 per cent participation in
the giving among the employees.
United Appeal funds will un
dergird the 33 participating
community services this year.
They include family and child
care, character-building, emer
gency family relief, counseling,
youth guidance, health and
medical research, emergency
rescue work, disaster aid, mili
tary recreation, boys’ club pro
grams, rehabilitation. Girl Scout
Will Help
33 Community
Services
training, social services planning,
drug action information and
day-care service.
The 33 United Appeal agen
cies will be at work meeting
people’s needs in Gastonia and
other communities of Gaston
County. Belmont, Bessemer City
and McAdenville have separate
United programs of their own.
The Gaston United Appeal
represents a population of al
most 110,000.
Besides Firestone, Gastonia,
employee contributions to the
county UA program, many per
sons who work here give to
their hometown United Funds.
This includes people living in
South Carolina towns such as
York and Clover; and in North
Carolina; Charlotte, Lincolnton,
Kings Mountain, Shelby, and
High Shoals.
More on page 2 •
They Saw The Textile Show
Representatives of the supervisory staffs and produc
tion departments of Firestone Textiles Company plants
at Gastonia, Bowling Green and Bennettsville attended
the Southern Textile Exposition International in Green
ville, S. C. last month.
The big show, the 27th held in Greenville, featured
well more than 700 exhibitors from 33 states and 13
foreign countries. Some 1,800 services and products
in 30 categories were on display. The STEI is held
every two years in Greenville Textile Hall.
Thus
The
Better
Way
ms
The dropwire, or stop-motion control on twisting, warp
ing and weaving equipment at Firestone Textiles plants is
now a commonplace, yet major refinement on machines
producing tire fabric.
Stop-motion is an example of
someone's idea of a simple me
chanical principle harnessed for
increased efficiency.
Thus, the Better Way.
Ideas abound almost every
where you work. The sugges
tion Program provides for peo
ple on the job to share these
ideas. Those approved pay cash
to the suggester. Best of all,
they improve things that affect
many people.