• ’ \i r
’Tis The Season: Cons and
By David Hamrick
View News Staff
“It makes a body feel real bad,’’ said a
recent victim.
The victim, an elderly man, let two young
strangers into his home. The men were
there on the pretense of selling him
discount carpeting. In fact, they robbed
him.
This is a crime police call a “flim-flam.”
Flim-flams occur year ’round, but particu
larly at Christmas, police say, when people
are more likely to have money on hand. The
victims often are elderly.
The term “flim-flam,” according to the
Cleveland sheriff’s office, covers a wide,
variety of schemes, but the bottom line is
always money. Minimal services may be
provided for exorbitant fees, but more often
than not the victim gets nothing but taken.
Flim-Flams
painting-where $50 of materials will be sold
for 5 or 600 dollars.
Among types of flim-flams in Cleveland
County are:
•Film tiam artist often pose as medical
examiners from Medicare or Medicaid. The
victim is told to lie down and is “examined”
by one member of the team, while the other
searches the house for cash and valuables.
•Con men may pose as representatives from
the power company. They tell the victim
that they are there to check the wiring, or to
make sure the freezer isn’t drawing too
much current. While one engages the victim
in conversation, the other goes to check on
things—like jewelry and silverware.
•In a common scheme, con men pose as
executives of banks or savings and loan
institutions. The victim is urged to
cooperate in helping to catch a dishonest
bank employee by withdrawing savings.
Why aren t people more wary? According
to Sgt. George Skinner of the sheriff’s
departrnent, “They’re just not prepared,
borne of these people are damn good at it.
They have these people convinced that they
are offering a great service.”
•Sometimes goods and services will be
offered at “once in a lifetime savings”; or
at “senior citizen discounts.” These include
spraying for termites-often done with water
and ordinary garden sprayers; asphalting gr
The best defense, according to Sgt.
Skinner, is to “keep your elderly people
educated to what’s happening, let them
know what’s going on. Forethought is better
than hindsight. It’s amazing how they can
take money from these people.”
Added one detective: “You just can’t
figure out a crook.”
The Foothills Vi
for reference
Not to be taken from Library
GARDNER WEBB COLLEGE LIBRAfir
Second Class Postage Paid In Boiling Springs, WC. 29017
THURS., DECEMBER 3, 1981
See It IW PTt#”
$7.C
Year Single Copy 15 cents
Three Sworn In
Area Briefs
The 1982 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American
Universities and Colleges will carry the names of 32
students from Gardner-Webb College who have been sel
ected as being among the country’s most outstanding campus
leaders.
For City
Outstanding students have been honored in the annual
directory since it was first published in 1934.
Those on the list include area students: Kenneth Graig
Harris, son of Dr. and Mrs, Bernard Harris of Lee St.,
Shelby; Roger Derrick Mack, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
E. Mack, Jr., Boiling Springs; Lillian Elizabeth Phillips,
daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Gene Phillips of Triangle,
Zimbarwe; and Raymond Frank White, son of Doris H.
White of North Myrtle Beach, S.C.
ll|i|' fcgi
P:,ir
The Gardner-Webb Chamber Chorus will give two area
Christmas concerts Sunday, Dec. 6, 1981. These will be
at Un’on Grove Baptist Church, Lenoir, N.C. at 3:30 p.m
and Mount Zion Baptist Church, Hudson, N.C at 7 p m
The Christmas concert will consist of favorites such
as ; * 0 Come All Ye Faithful,” "Beautiful Savior ” *‘Lo
How A Rose E’er Blooming,” and ‘‘Of the Father’s Love
Begotten.” Buxtehude’s "Magnificat” will also be sung
The concerts are open to the public with no admission
charge.
M
Approximately 125 Dover Textiles employees participated in a tax seminar on
J uesday, November 17. Representatives from Ernst & Whinney accounting firm
of Charlotle explained President Reagan’s Economic Recovery Act of 1981 as it
pertains to personal income tax. Pictured [L to R] are Odus Wease, a Dover
textiles Cost Accountant; Dan Moore, Director of Gardner-Webb College’s
royhill academy program; and Robert Frazer, a representative from Ernst &
Whinney, a national accounting firm. Ernst & Whinney and Gardner-Webb
by JJm^Marir AdanT Malcolm Brown Auditorium in Shelby. [Photo
w
Dr. J, Allen Queen, a native of Lincointon N C and a
current resident of Boiling Springs, N.C., has been elected
N s^ve M a member of the Executive Council of the
North Carolina Association of Colleges for Teacher Ed
ucation. The executive council serves as a pol^y maktag
body for the organization, ^ ^ making
Break-In Reported
The Cleveland County Historical Association/Museum has
just formed a special Long Range Planning Committee to
formulate goals for the Association and Museum. The
committee headed by Edwin Ford includes Grace Hamrick,
Elva Gheen, Betty Burton, W.K, Mauney, Coleman Goforth
and Henry L. Weathers, Sr.
*
*
In what police term
“a pretty big time
operation,” nine mi
crowave ovens va
lued at about $4500
were stolen over the
weekend from G.T.
McSwain’s store on
Highway 150.
Police Officer
James Clary antici
pates an arrest, but
asked the View to
with-hold details of
the investigation un
til he serves war
rants on all suspects.
Monday iwn of the
ovens were recover
ed out QL_alate as a
result of police work
in Boiling Springs.
in other action.
Rural Fire reported
answering a house
fire Monday at 6:30
p.m. at the Charles
Ramsey home on
Mt. Pleasant Church
Road.
The department
put out the fire,
started by grease m
the kitchen, within
ten minutes.
City Fire and the
Boiling Springs Res
cue Squad reported
no emergency calls
this week.
Ucsponses were quick and hot in this
week’s mail to complaints about police
protection and rezoning in last week’s
Letters to the Editor. Rebuttals to Tom
Rash and to police response time are
printed on this week’s Commentary
page. See the inside VIEW.
“Crderly growth” meant divided opinion
Tuesday night at the first town council
meeting since the Nov. 3 election.
Minutes after Mayor Jimmy Greene and
two councilman took their oaths to terms
won in last month’s election, council began
discussion on a rezoning request that led to
over an hour’s debate on what constit-utes
desirable growth for Boiling Springs.
Janie Clary requested council to rezone
about five acres of her property from R-15,
which prohibits trailers and duplexes, to
R-15, which allows them. She wanted the
rezoning, Mrs. Clary told the council, so
that her daughter could live in a trailer on
the property.
Her request prompted criticism from
about half of the 18 people present of
council’s decision last month to rezone
property for a proposed factory of Artex,
Inc.
“With a factory going in it will encourage
a trailer park for employees of that
factory,” said Les Brown. “I thing it
(rezoning) is turning into a detriment to the
quality of life.’
‘‘If a factory . is compatible with the
growth of Boiling Springs, they’ll rezone
it,” said Tony Eastman. “That scares me,
gentlemen.
“There is no stability, no assurance of
property value if we rezone as we do,” he
told the council.
“Look at the town as a whole before
rezoning,” said Sonya Jones.
Greene defended the Artex rezoning as
broadening the town’s tax base. “Munici
palities,” he said, “like ,,pLir own
households, cost money to run. *
“I’ll stand with anyone to keep our town
from becoming an industrialized area with
smokestacks” he said.
Councilman John Washburn then moved
that council accept the Clary rezoning, and
the councilmen unanimously approved the
change.
K
•i