THOMASVILLE PUBLIC LIBR/iRY 14 RANDOLPH STREET Marilyn Taylor continues her series on Wellness in the Workplace. THOMASVILLE Thursday, December 9,2010 10,000 food items mededl C(giniiMtyB)odOiaiip Nowta^DecSQih DropdfatHioincmiie Bides&Rec Dept iXgimilD A » Ipfr' 120th Year - No. 27 50 Cents WWW. tvilletimes. com County BOE installs chair, welcomes new member BYERINWILTGEN Staff Writer Davidson County Board of Education weicomed its new member and eiected new ieadershlp at its meeting Monday. Cierk of Superior Court Brian Shipwash gave the oath of service to re-eiected member Caroi Crouse and Jean- nie Leonard, who is new to the board. Members then eiected Crouse as the new chair, the posi tion formeriy heid by Ai- ian Thompson, and Aian Beck as vice chair, repiac- ing Crouse. Chair and vice chair, hoid their positions for one year before a new vote is heid. “i was very, honored and very surprised, very taken-aback,” said Crouse, who has served on the board since 2002. “i feei very overwheimed at the confidence of my colleagues.” The originai vote came out 2-2-1 — two votes for Thompson, two for Crouse and one for an un known person. Members voted by closed ballot and weren’t told the name of the un-nominated vote- getter. A re-vote was held, and the final total came to 3-2 in favor of Crouse. “This is going to be a learning experience for me,” she said. “As vice chair, there were certain responsibilities, but the chair position is a unique one, and 1 have much to learn. Going right along with our system’s vision of being lifelong learn ers, I’m going to be a year-long learner in fig uring out what this is aU about.” The same rare voting pattern occurred in the See BOE, Page 14 * n I- TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE Master Police Officer Brandon Widener kneels next to the police memorial in front of Thomasville Police De partment, which now bears his grandfather's name. ETCHED IN STONE Police Memorial now honors fallen officer of years past BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer Brandon Widener always won dered why his grandfather’s name wasn’t on the Thomasville Police Department memorial for officers who died in the line of duty. S^. Fred Charles Boyd died on July 8, 1960, from a massive heart attack while transporting a prisoner to Lexington, yet his name was not listed anywhere on the memorial in front of TPD headquarters. Until now. TPD Chief Jeff Insley decided to include Boyd’s name on the memorial because the officer was in the line of the duty at the time of his death. “The family is just ecstatic,” Widener, a master police officer who joined TPD in 2001, said. “This is about 50 years overdue and 1 couldn’t be happier about it. It’s great and cool to have a little legacy going on.” Widener said he approached Maj. James Mills about his un cle death’s, but wasn’t sure If it met the criteria of other officers 'This is about 50 years overdue and I couldn't be happier about it.' — Brandon Widener TPD Master Police Officer listed on the memorial who were kUled in the line of duty. “When you think about killed in the line of duty it usually means being shot or being in a car accident,” said Widener. “[Boyd] had a heart attack, but he was in uniform and in the line of performing one of his du ties.” Mills agreed and took the idea to Insley Boyd’s name is now the first listed on the back of the me morial under the title “Died or killed while in performance of their duty.” “Chief- Insley felt his name should be added to the statue,” Mills said. “Sgt. Boyd didn’t meet a violent death like murder but he was in uniform. We knew other departments recognized officers who died like this. Once we had sufficient proof that this happened, [Insley] decided to add his name.” While researching Boyd’s death, Mills also found a few other inaccuracies related to the memorial. With the help of lo cal historian Chris Yarborough, Mills discovered that Chief J.E. Taylor, who reportedly died on April 6, 1921, after suffering a heart attack while Installing sur- See STONE, Page 6 TCS to revisit academic requirement for athletes BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer Thomasville City Schools Superintendent Keith Tobin is creating a committee to determine whether or not the school system should raise aca demic requirements for athletes. During Tuesday night’s monthly board of educa tion meeting, Marty Ho gan, a correctional case manager at the Davidson County Correctional Cen ter whose son is a fresh man at Thomasville High School, addressed board members regarding his concerns about academic requirements for stu dents who participate in sports. North Carolina High School Athletic As sociation standards re quire a student playing sports to pass just three of four classes in order to be eligible. “What kind of attitude is just making Ds in order to play?” Hogan asked. “1 don’t see it. Coaches have to get it in their mind that education comes first. They’re not there to just play sports. Let’s get real. [TCS] says they’re pre paring students for the 21st Century, so they need to do that in aU phases of education, including ath letics. It’s time for this to stop.” Hogan said he became concerned of academic playing requirements once he saw his son’s grades, prompting him do a little homework on . just what it takes to play sports in ThomasviUe. Hogan played footbaU at FayettevUle State Univer sity in the late 1980s and said his famUy provided See TCS, Page 6 INDEX Weather Business Opinion Obituaries Sports Comics Classifieds Today's Weather 2 3 5 6 7 10 12 Uptown window display brings back memories of old Sunny, 41/23 BYERINWILTGEN Staff Writer They sat — half-forgot ten — in an attic, paint chipping and hinges rust ing, perhaps frosted with a fine layer of dust. For 15 or so long years, the old Christmas decorations that once fiUed the BeUc storefront in downtown ThomasviUe huddled tucked away, waiting for another chance to dazzle passersby with holiday magic. And they haven’t wait ed in vain. ThomasviUe Beautifica tion Committee obtained, repaired and set up the window decorations used by Belk before it closed, completing the finishing touches on Wednesday, Nov. 24. The animated characters, which are currently displayed in the old Roses Stores buUding on Main Street, are set on a timer to run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and wiU stay up through Jan. 1,2011. “It gave a little up to downtown,” said Beau tification Chair Carol Brown. “We just felt like they woiUd bring some thing to downtown as far as looks and put you in the Christmas spirit, too.” The committee discov ered the old decorations in the attic of former ThomasviUe Mayor Hu bert Leonard, who bought them from a former Belk employee. “1 didn’t even know that he had owned them untU someone mentioned that they had been in stor age aU this time,” Brown said. “They stlUhave that old look about them.” After gathering the decorations, the commit tee searched for a loca tion to display them. The old Roses buUding, which has been vacant for a few months, seemed the most ideal spot due to its long ' storefront. City CouncU member Raleigh York, who also TIMES PHOTO/LISA WALL City Beautification members and volunteers worked to revitalize the Christmas decorations from the old Belk store in downtown. serves as the councU rep resentative to the Beau tification Committee, contacted the building’s owner asking to use the space. Permission was granted, and the volun teers set to work. “The front of the build ing — it’s an empty buUd ing — doesn’t look very good,” York said, adding that one idea behind the decorations is to give See DISPLAY, Page 6 NOW OPEN 1213 Lexington Avenue (located in the building with Davidson Ear, Throat, and Sinus Center) ^ ’ 336-476-2444 Davidson vvww.David8onUroIogy.org UROLOGY Thomasville, North Carolina • Your Town. Your Times.