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Tuition Refund Helps Your Learning
CHECK For a picture, this huge 'check' was presented to suggester
BIG McDaniels (middle) by Firestone Textiles Company presi
dent James B. Call (left). With them was BG plant man
ager Thomas Yelton.
$5,870 For
Suggestion
• Largest award paid in
The Firestone Tire & Rubber
Company for the 1976-77 fis
cal year up to late May went
to Harry McDaniels of Fire-
stone Textiles Company’s
Bowling Green (Ky.) plant.
The $5,870 payoff is the
largest ever for all three U.S.
plants of the textiles division
—Bowling Green, Gastonia
(NC) and Bennettsville (SC).
McDaniels’ idea will effect
an estimated annual savings
of $59,000 for the company.
His suggestion provided a
modification to the supply
system of Utex ply twister
machines, resulting in exten
sive waste reduction.
McDaniels has been em
ployed at Bowling Green
since March of 1969. He
worked in Weaving and Fab
ric Treating departments be
fore his present job as stro-
botac operator i n Quality
Control.
THREE
AREAS
$20 Million Paid
Almost $20 million. The
amount that Firestone Tex
tiles Company added last
year to the economies of its
three U.S. plant communi
ties.
Adding the largest amount
was Gastonia (NC) (headquar
ters of the division): $12 million.
The company’s 1,261 factory and
office people earned $10.3 in
wages and salaries during 1976.
DURING last year the plant
processed more than 75 million
pounds of textiles, shipped
throughout the United States
and to several other countries.
The company spent $1.7 million
for goods and services in the
Gastonia area.
The Bowling Green (Ky.)
plant put more than $6 million
into the economy there in 1976.
Steel
will
replace
wooden
beams
which would contribute to a
more satisfying and fulfilling re
tirement. Those within five
years of normal retirement age
will not be reimbursed for
courses taken for the purpose of
earning a college or university
degree before their normal re
tirement.
For reimbursement, make ap
plication in writing by the end
of the second week of each
school term. To get company re
imbursement, submit at the end
of each school term proof that
you have paid your school tui
tion and show a record of sub
jects satisfactorily completed.
“Satisfactory completion”
means the grade for a course is
“C” or better (letter grade sys
tem) or “Pass” (Pass/fail sys
tem).
The studying you can do un
der the Tuition Refund Program
includes courses in the public
school system, undergraduate
and graduate study in colleges
and universities; and instruct-
yourself programs.
Information and application
materials for Tuition Refund
Program study are available
from the training coordinator or
industrial relations department
of all three Firestone Textiles
Company plants—Gastonia, Ben
nettsville and Bowling Green,
Tiir^$ton0
June, 1977
Page 4
Tinis’
To Five
Careers
• • When D. Ray Thomas
‘closed out’ his career in tex
tiles on May 31, he had de
voted 41 years, 11 months
and 25 days to Firestone. He
had been supervisor-con
trolled maintenance at Gas
tonia, but earlier was in a
number of job assignments.
Henry Boyd, Shop millwright, but for many years
in the canteen service, retired at the end of May with
41 years and 6 months. Ray, Henry, and the three
others whose retirement began June 1, spent all their
employment years at the Gastonia plant.
Dorcas E. Sutton, respooler operator in TC Twist
ing, finished with 36 years and 11 months. Vincent
Jones, twister bobbin changer in TC Twisting, put
24 years and 2 months on his record.
Roy Marr, twister bobbin changer in TC Twisting,
also has 24 years and 2 months service.
Two of those who retired May 31 have a family
member continuing to work at Gastonia: Vincent
Jones (wife Irmgard, QC inspector in TC Twisting);
and Dorcas Sutton (husband Jack, frame mechanic
in TC Twisting).
Hoss-Tradin’? See You In Owingsville
FOR FUN &
ADVENTURE
The 738 employees earned $5.8
million in wages and salaries
during the year, and the com
pany spent nearly $500,000 for
goods and services in the Bowl
ing Green area. It processed al
most 52 million pounds tire fab
ric which was shipped princi
pally to U.S. central states.
The Bennettsville (SC) opera
tion added in excess of $1.4 mil
lion to the economy there last
year. Employees earned $1.1 mil
lion in wages and salaries during
the year. The company spent
about $360,000 for goods and
services in the Bennettsville
area.
Bennettsvil,le’s 1 9 7 6 produc
tion volume: 16 million pounds
textiles processed, shipped prin
cipally to North Carolina, Ken
tucky and Tennessee.
“Travel’s something good you give to yourself,”
remarked a millwright who goes with his family
“seeing the country near and far.” They’d just
returned from a camping trip to the NC Outer
Banks and stopped by Seagrove on the way
hom.e, to visit the Pottery Museum.
Firestone News offers in this usual ‘corner’
some notes on events and places in the Carolinas
and Kentucky, June and early July.
NC: Rhododendron, Mountain Singing & A
Wagon Train • One of the State’s most interest
ing events is the National Hollering Contest with
all the attendant ‘color’ at Spivey’s Comer, June
18.
Mid-June through August, Wilmington has mu
sic, dance and drama in “Monday Nights in the
Park.” Other events in June: Sailing Regatta,
Henderson, 18-19; Mount Pilot Bluegrass Festival,
Pinnacle, 22-25; NC Rhododendron Festival, Bak-
ersville, 22-25; Bluegrass Festival, Coats, 23-25;
Pirate Invasion re-enactment, Beaufort, 24-25;
Oldtime Railroaders Day, Blowing Rock, 25.
More: State Singing Convention, Benson, 25-26;
Singing on the Mountain, Linville, 26; Blue Ridge
Wagon Train, North Wilkesboro to West Jeffer
son, 26-July 4. July 4th Celebration, Waynesville,
27-July 4.
“Strike at the Wind,” outdoor drama of Lumbee
Indians, Pembroke, 30-Aug. 13. Other outdoor
drama beginning mid-June: “The Lost Colony,”
Manteo; “Unto These Hills,” Cherokee; “Horn in
the West,” Boone.
NC: Early July—Antiques Fair Fleamarket,
Blowing Rock, 2; Threshers’ Reunion, Denton,
2-4; July Fourth celebrations at Belhaven, Blow
ing Rock, Raleigh, Faith, Winston-Salem, Fon
tana, Banner Elk, Morganton, Cary, Clemmons,
Wake Forest.
Squaredance Festival, Highlands, 5-7; Coon
Dog Day, Saluda, 9; Highland Games on Grand
father Mountain, 9-10; Crafts Fair, Morehead
City, 9-10; Oldtimers Reunion, Climax, 9-10;
Craftsman’s Fair of Southern Highlands, Ashe
ville, 11-15.
SC: Watermelon Festival, Open House & Hill
billy Day • Watermelon Festival, Hampton-Vam-
ville, June 20-26, has lots of ‘color.’ Trenton’s
Ridge Peach Festival is 17-18; the SC Cinderella
Girl Pageant, Due West, 22-24; Arthur Mideleton
Day, Charleston, 26; “Starving Artists’ ” Sale,
Seneca, 26.
SC: Early July—‘Fourth’ Celebration at Charles
Towne Landing, 2-4; American Days, Landrum,
4; Peach Festival, Gilbert, 4; Old-Fashioned
‘Fourth’, Aiken, 4; Weekend Festival, Williston,
14-17.
Ky.: Outdoor Drama, Early Fairs & Hoss Trad-
in' • Woodford County Horse Show, Versailles,
is June 15-18; Salt River Canoe Race, Shepherds-
ville, 18-19. The National Mountain Style Square
dance Festival at Slade, 17-18; Antique Auto
Show, Midway, 18.
Morehead has a Crafts Exhibit, 19-July 15;
Trading Days, Booneville, 22-29; Afrikan Herit
age, Louisville, 25-26; Morgan Horse Show, Louis
ville, 23-24; Singing on the Lakes at Gilberts-
ville, 30-July 2; Antiques Festival, Lexington.
29-July 2.
OUTDOOR DRAMA beginning in June; “Ste
phen Foster Story,” Bardstown; “Legend of
Daniel Boone,” Harrodsburg; “Wilderness Road,”
Berea; “Book of Job,” Pineville; “Little Shep
herd of Kingdom Come,” Van.
Ky.: Early July—Hoss Tradin’ Day, Owings
ville, 2; Sidewalk Sale, Lebanon, 14-15. Early
Ky. Fairs this month: New Castle, 1-9; Winches
ter, 5-9; Cynthia & Sturgis, 11-16.
Paris has the Oldtimers Steam & Gas Engine
Show, July 8-10. “Some Place Special”: My Old
Kentucky Home at Bardstown, extensively re
furbished, has guided tours daily with extra tours
evenings, June 11-Sept. 4 season of drama “Ste
phen Foster Story.”
FIRESTONE TEXTILES
COMPANY P- O. Box 1278
• Gastonia, N. C. 28052
• A new $3-million warehouse complex will replace the
two rows of aging warehouse behind the Gastonia Firestone
mill. Costs include purchase of nine houses and lots on the
side of Third Avenue opposite existing warehouses.
Construction is planned to begin in early July. The new
facility will extend from near Fourth Avenue, include
Third and the space now occupied by the old warehouses.
BULK
RATE
U. S. POSTAGE PAID
at Gastonia, N. C
PERMIT NUMBER 29
KATTIE B. PASSMORE
1011 tt. SECOND AVE.
GASTONIA, N. C.
23052