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THOMASVILLE
Thursday, December 9,2010
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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
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