JUNE . 1976
Gastonia
North Carolina
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Textiles Company
Medallion Winner
Thomas Gene Wallace Jr. is Gaston County’s 1976 win
ner of the Raymond C. Firestone Award for achievement in
Boy Scouts. Tommy, of Gastonia Troop 25 sponsored by Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church, is the son of Thomas G. Sr., and
Peggy Wallace of Gardner Park Drive, Gastonia.
Toinm^, with five years i- Scouting, has earned 34 merit
badges, Eagle rank with Bronze and Gold Palm, and is senior
patrol leader of his troop. He has completed his sophomore
year at Ashbrook High School, where is is a member of the
school band.
A member of Gastonia First Methodist Church, Tommy
is active with Methodist youth.
In this year’s Firestone Scout awards program, 13 others
from 5 troops in Gaston District BSA Piedmont Council re
ceived Certificates of Merit and $40 each for a week’s ex
penses at Schiele Scout Reservation in Polk County.
The top Firestone Scouting award is symbolized by the
engraved Silver Medallion. The winner also received five
shares of Firestone common stock and a $40 check for ex-
—More on page 4
TEXTILES DIVISION
Tommy Wallace
1976 Top Scout
New BG Comptroller
Joseph J. Duffy began his
assignment as comptroller of
Firestone Textiles Company
Bowling Green (Ky.) plant in
early May. He succeeds
Tommy J. Koen who went to
Liberia as comptroller of the
company’s rubber planta
tions at Harbel.
Koen had been at Bowling
Green since late 1970, having
transferred from a three-year
assignment in accounting at Ak
ron company headquarters.
Duffy began working for Fire
stone in summer of 1967 as ac
countant in the plastics division
at Pottstown, Pa. A native of
Philadelphia, Pa., he has a B.S.
degree in accounting from La
Salle University there.
In 1970 Duffy was promoted
to manager of accounting in the
Firestone chemicals division at
Perryville, Md., and was on that
assignment to Feb. 1973 when
transferred to Akron as corpo
rate accountant.
JOSEPH
DUFFY
Bowling
Gieen
He was general accountant in
the tire division from late 1974
to early 1975, when he became
corporate auditor in the Akron
headquarters. He was on that
job until transferred to Bowling
Green last month.
Duffy and wife Mary Jane
have a daughter, Jennifer, age 2.
In 1936 — 40 years ago — the
Firestone company acquired a
plant at Memphis, Tenn., for tire
production near Southern mar
kets. It was Firestone's first tire
facility in the Southland. A year
earlier, in 1935, the Gastonia,
N. C. Firestone plant was pur
chased, becoming the company's
first textile operation in the
South.
Wire
Weaving
Ilia Hart,
Quality Con
trol inspector
in Chafer
Weaving,
checks steel-
cord warp in
Wire Weaving
at Gastonia.
Wire fabric
production
goes into steel
radial tires.
Ilia began
working at
Firestone in
1966.
Energy-Use Conservation
An 11.22 per cent reduc
tion was achieved in Fire-
energy-use conservation for
the first quarter of fiscal
1976, covering Nov. 1, 1975
through January this year.
Guido Martinelli, industrial
engineer and energy conserva
tion coordinator for the division,
said the second quarter would
equal or better the 11.22 per
cent. Figures for the second
quarter were to have been com
piled at the end of May.
Martinelli noted that the over
all conservation goal for the di
vision is a 13 per cent reduction
by 1980.
The 11.22 per cent reduction
and goal by 1980 involves the
plants at Gastonia, N. C.; Ben-
nettsville, S. C.; Bowling Green.
Ky.; and three plants at Wood
cock, Canada. Also included is
the fabric-treating unit at Fire
stone’s Memphis, Tenn,, tire fa
cility.
Percentage of energy savings
is based on the number of Brit
ish Thermal Units (BTUs) re
quired per yard of fabric pro
duced and treated.
Something Special
• • The 26th annual Georgia
Mountain Fair at Hiawassee is
August 6-14 this year.
“Think of it as ‘some place
special,’ ” suggests Troy Jones,
retired tinsmith (Shop, Fire
stone at Gastonia). Troy went
last year and was most im
pressed with the authentic
mountain talents, skills, crafts,
exhibits and demonstrations re
creating the life of days gone
by.
Persons, clubs, churches and
communities exhibit handiwork
from the garden, needle, pantry,
forest, loom and kiln. Crafts
people work daily with leather,
wood, metals, gemstones and
paintbrush.
Nights offer entertainment of
country, bluegrass and gospel
music and lots of clog dancing.
Georgia’s most unique fair
takes place with Lake Chatuge
as foreground and mountains as
background at Hiawassee in the
State’s “Little Switzerland.” Ad
mission $2. Under 12—Free.
‘New Schedules’ For Five
Long careers in textiles ended for five Firestone people
at Gastonia. Projects that ‘have awaited enough time in
which to pursue them’ are common to all five whose first
day of retirement was June 1.
Earl Clark, shift supervisor in TC Twisting, led the
group with 39 years and 5 months service; then Vivian Met
calf, weaver in Chafer Weaving, with 33 years and 1 month.
James T. Wright, cloth changer in Chafer Weaving, com
pleted 28 years and 5 months, followed by Gaddis Owens,
storekeeper in Supply, 24 years and 9 months. William J.
Barrett, section supervisor in TC Weaving, ended his service
with 13 years and 2 months.
Playground Through Aug. 20
At Firestone, Gastonia, the
playground which opened
the season June 7 will op
erate through August 20.
The company-owned facility
is made available for operation
by the Gastonia City Parks &
Recreation system, serving West
End children up to 12 years.
During this season the play
ground will operate Sunday af
ternoons, 2-6. This is an extend
ed service over the past years.
Other operating times;
Monday-Friday—10 a.m. to 4
p.m.; Saturday—12 m. to 6 p.m.
The facility in front of the
textile plant has the wading
pool as main appeal for young
sters “coping with hot summer
days.”
Children at play are supervis
ed by personnel employed by
City Recreation. Besides the
pool, the playground has swings,
horseshoe pits, seasaws. On
scheduled days there is instruc
tion in arts and crafts.
Competition in various areas
of play and crafts participation
chooses winners toward the end
of the season. Also as a part of
the wider City Recreation pro
gram, there are hikes and out
ings to points of interest around
the county.
People retired from The Fire
stone Tire & Rubber Company
are living in all 48 of the con
tinental states, plus the 49th and
50th—Alaska and Hawaii.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Two Grads
Laura Ann Hall and Sam
uel Matthew Rhyne of Gas
tonia received university de
grees at commencement in
May — having studied the
past four years on Firestone Laura Samuel
College Scholarships.
Laura Ann, daughter of Laura and H. G. Hall, received
the B.A. Degree in her double major of zoology and chemis
try at Duke University. She has been accepted for graduate
work in marine science at North Carolina State University,
beginning in September. Laura Ann’s father is production
manager at Firestone’s Gastonia plant.
Samuel, son of Velma and Samuel Meek Rhyne, received
a B.A. Degree in journalism from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. Samuel’s plans include work for a
year or two in the journalistic field, then to graduate school
at UNC-CH. His father is a fabric baler in Chafer-Wire
Weaving.