srans
Catch results from
Friday night's high
school football
action.
ober 9,2010
r I 1 THOMASVILLE
IlMES
Columnist
Tammy Holyfield
discusses ways to
better communicate
with others.
WWW.tvilletimes.com
120th Year-No. 4 50 Cents
THOn/iAbViLt-£f NC 27360
TMQTFD
fire safety
efforts
recognized
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Thomasville Medical
Center and Thomasville
Fire Department pulled
their collective resources
in an effort to increase
awareness about the im
portance of fire preven
tion in the home.
With the help from Da-
vidsonLlnks volunteers,
TMC and TFD reached
out to hundreds of area
homes that were liter
ally an accident waiting
to happen. More than
250 smoke alarms were
Installed throughout
ThomasvlUe as part of
the Remembering When
fire and fall prevention
program for older adults.
“The City of Thomas
ville has one of the fin
est Injury prevention
programs in the state,”
Kelly Randall, deputy di
rector with the State Fire
Marshall’s Office, said. In
North Carolina, our big
gest problem is people
either don’t have work
ing smoke alarms, don’t
change the batteries or
have smoke alarms that
are too old. This program
is responsible for saving
lives.”
Trained volunteers ac
companied members of
TFD going door-to-door
throughout the Chau-
City to homes where fire
prevention education was
needed the most. Often
times, Randall said, se
nior citizens are extreme
ly -vulnerable to fires as
they don’t tend to ask for
a smoke detector when
they need it. Seniors also
are susceptible to falls,
and part of the program
Included making homes
safer for elderly people to
move around in safely.
“The great thing about
this program is we come
up with the rnodel and
you apply it to make it
See SAFETY, Page A6
TIMES PHOTO/ERIN WILTGEN
From left, Jacob and Justin Kohler Friday take turns reading parts of Lyndon B. Johnson's speech from the back
of the red caboose near the depot station on Main Street.
Relivmg
History
Thomasville
commemorates Lyndon
B. Johnson’s
‘Southern Swing’
BY ERIN WILTGEN
Staff Writer
A s the late afternoon sun
shone over a bustling
Thomasville downtown,
the fiery and patriotic words of
Lyndon B. Johnson flowed out
over the railroad tracks.
Almost 50 years from the day
the former president — then a
senator and vice president-hope
ful — addressed Thomasville cit
izens from the back of a train on
Oct. 10, 1960, Thomasville Tour
ism commemorated the moment
in a reenactment and playing of ■
the speech.
“This is a very special time in
the history of the celebration of
Thomasville,” Mayor Joe Ben
nett told the gathered crowd.
“Back then, Thomasville was at
a peak of manufacturing. A gen
tleman that was running for vice
president of the United States
thought it would be very proper
and fitting to stop here.”
At the height of his power as
Senate leader, Johnson had run
for the Democratic nomination
'You people here who
are known as being
makers of fine furni
ture ... I want you to
look at us as makers
of good government
and weavers of a fine
destiny.'
— Lady Bird Johnson
for president but lost to John F.
Kennedy. He surprised the na
tion when he joined the Demo
cratic ticket and accepted the
vice president seat.
Just weeks before the Gen
eral Election, Johnson and his
wife, Lady Bird, went on a Spe
cial Tour of the South or Spe
cial Southern Swing, traveling
by train to Culpepper, Va., Gas
tonia, N.C., ThomasvlUe and
New Orleans, and made several
whistle stops in undocumented
cities. The campaign spanned
Oct. 9 through 14, and the party
stopped in ThomasvlUe on Oct.
10.
After addressing the crowd,
Johnson hopped atop the Big
Chair and waved to the crowd,
ThomasvlUe officials presented
Lady Bird and Johnson with a
replica of the Big Chair to be
shipped to their house in Wash
ington.
“You people here who are
known as being makers of fine
See HISTORY, Page A6
Cumpton earns TCS ‘Teacher of the Year’ honors
TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE
Thomasville Middle School's Ira Cumpton stands in his
science lab Thursday at the school.
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Ira Cumpton may be in enemy terri
tory when it comes to coUege basket
ball, but as far as the classroom goes,
the ThomasviUe Middle School science
teacher is right where he wants to be.
Cumpton, a Kentucky native and
proud supporter of his home state
Wildcats, was named ThomasviUe City
Schools Teacher of the Year earlier
this week. Known as a tireless worker
who has been in the Cha'ir City school
system for more than two decades, the
social studies turned science teacher
hopes to be in ThomasvlUe for many
years to come.
“This is very humbling,” Cumpton
said. “There area lot of great teachers
Hedrick
Hedrick
highlights
political
platform
BY ERIN WILTGEN
Staff Writer
Jason Hedrick, a Demo
crat from Lexington, wUl
compete for one of four
spots for Davidson Coun
ty Commis
sioner in
the Novem
ber elec
tion.
Owner
of Hedrick
Creative
Build-
ing LLC,
a home
buUding company, Hed
rick finished top of the
pack with the most votes
in the Democrat primary
during his first foray into
politics.
And like most of his
comrades, a large part of
Hedrick’s focus lies on
economic development.
Any and aU types of busi
nesses have helped the
county rise above the re
cession, but small busi
nesses seem to have a
renewed focus, Hedrick
says that about three
fourths of the U.S. labor
force works for a small
business, and as such Da
vidson County needs to do
aU it can to support those
companies.
“I think smaU busi
nesses are one of the
biggest keys we’ve got to
grow in our economy,”
said Hedrick, who added
that whUe incentives to
smaU companies were a
good start, the county stUl
coifld do more, “We also
need to reach out and help
small businesses grow or
help them with problems
by putting them in touch
See HEDRICK, Page A4
INDEX
and just to be considered is an honor.
My whole career has been right here in
ThomasviUe. I love It here. I have great
people to work with and wonderful kids.
I just reaUy enjoy being in Thomasville.
I’ve gotten to know a lot of people and
am starting to teach children of my for
mer students. That’s kind of neat. This
is home away from home. ”
Cumpton is in his 21st year as a
ThomasvlUe educator and spends his
days teaching sixth and eight grade sci
ence. When not in the classroom, Cump
ton also teaches driver’s education and
coaches the girl’s track team at Thom
asvlUe High School. WhUe he started
out teaching social studies, the move to
science has aUowed him to do and expe-
See HONORS, Page A4 &
Weather
A2
Focus
A3
Opinion
A5
Obituaries
A6
Religion
A8
Sports
B1
Business
B6
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