Mount Holly News
Constructive—If It Will Help Mount Holly And Gaston County The News Is For It—Progressive
VOL. XXVII.
MOUNT HOLLY, N. C„ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1950 '
NUMBER 42
JAYCEES GIGANTIC SQUARE^
DANCE HERE DECEMBER 8th
■k
Basketball Schedule For Hawks Is Released
Little Eight Teams To
Start Games December 8
Basketball is going to be rugged
at Mount Holly High School this
year. Only one member of the
championship boys’ team which
copped the Little Eight Tourney
Championship last year is back
this year. Six girls who saw court
action last .year are back with
the girls’ team, but they do not
have too much experience and
only one is a Senior who has play-
' cd a good bit of basketbaU.
Coaches of the Hawk squads
this year, both girls and boys, are
faced with an even more difficult
problem; that of finding a place
ll. ^0 play when the Little Eight
Schedule opens December 8. Prac-
•*^e sessions, with the girls work-
out on the gym floor in the
afternoon and the boys workirrg
Put at night, started this week,
hut the court isn’t marked and
free shot artists have to guess at
distances.
The gymnasium at the high
school has been serving double
•duty since the building renova
tion and construction work began
-,;«t Mount Holly,High, Schoph ^d
:‘‘j;,.at the present tiJ.ie it is serving
ae lunchroom, g3minasium, and
• also houses the new band room
"Which was built in part of the
Space where the stage was f9r*
hierly placed.
The lunchroom tables are mov
ed each evening to clear the
floor for basketball practice, but
•torage space is a problem and
lunchroom provisions must also
he placed in the gym, taking up
hiore space.
The first game on the schedule,
an December 8, is a road game for
the Hawks, with boys’ and girls’
teams traveling to Bessemer City.
The Bessemer City game may
he played on December 7 instead
af December 8, Coach Beam said,
due to conflict with other sched
uled events at Bessemer City
: High SchooL
“I hate to think about this
■ ane,” Coach Max Beam said this
Week, thinking of the powerful
Hassemer City crew ready for the
;; Hawks who will only have about
• week’s practice session before
the game.
And the next game schedules
Helmont here on December 12.
Home games will present the big
gest problem of all. It’s not clear
Vet just what action will be tak-
an to maintain the Hawk’s excel
lent standing in the conference
^d to avoid forfieting games.
Back to the boys' Learn from
last year is Robert Ijee, one of
fhe outstanding linemen of the
1950 Hawk football team. His
Position in the court quint this
l^ar is not certain yet since he is
l^feing shifted to fill the most im
portant gaps at the present time
lu the inexperienced team.
On the girls’ squad this year
from last year’s: team are Jean
Abernathy, Susan Helton, Rachel
Jones. Ruby Stillwell. Pat Prid-
^ore, and joanne Clippard.
These girls have plenty on the
“all and girls’ coach Katherine
Hnox isn’t going to do any extra
Worrying. The girls started prac-.
last Monday and have been
“rushing up on fundementals' this
Week.
A total of 17 boys are out for
fhe boys’ team thus far and 24
girls are out for the girls’ team.
CLASS TO MEET
The regular monthly meeting of
'he Fellowship Class of the Meth-
^ist Church will be held at the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Check
Highland Street tonight (Fri
day at 8 p. m. All members of the
'^lass and interested adults who
Would like to join are cordially
Uivited to attend this meeting. Re
freshments will be served follow-
^ug the program.
AHEND CHURCH
Little Eight
Schedule Given
The schedule for members of
the Little Eight Basketball Con
ference has been released this
week by Mount Holly High
School. While the gymnasium is
serving as temporary lunchroom
and for other puroses, it may be
necessary to schedule games
which should be played at home
on the other team’s court where
possible.
December 8 (possibly December
7)
Mount Holly at Bessemer City
December 12
Belmont at Mount Holly
January 5
Dallas at Mount Holly
January 9
Mount Holly at Cramerton
January 12
■ Mount Holly at Tryoa
A January 16 ^ c.
Stanley and Mount Holly (Bye)
January 19
Lowell at Mount Holly
January 23
Stanley at Mount Holly
January 26
Bessmer City at Mount Holly
January 30
Mount Holly at Belmont
February 2
Mount Holly at Dallas
February 6
Cramerton at Mount Holly
February 9
Tryon at Mount Holly
February 13
Mount Holly and Stanley (Bye)
F^ruary 16
Mount Holly at Lowell
February 20
Mount Holly at Stanley
Summey Named
Veterans Adviser
A concentrated drive to locate
thousands of widows, children, de
pendents, and orphans of veterans
of the two World Wars, also the
Spanish • American War: and of
the Korean War is swin^g into
action in this state immediately.
Kelly N. Summey, Sr., has been
advised by the North Carolina
Veterans Commission that he will
act as adviser to such dependents
and work with the veterans or
ganizations in Moimt Holly to lo
cate such dependents here who
may possibly not be aware of the
nunierous benefits and help they
can receive.
In a letter from J. M. Caldwell,
Director of the North Carolina
Veterans Commi^ion, Mr. Sum
mey was advised this week that
the purpose of the drive is to help
locate and inform all the “for
gotten” war widows, orphans, and
dependent parents of the deceased
veterans in this county and in the
state regarding the, benefits to
which they will be entitled when
and if they properly apply for
them.
The letter stated “There are
more than 488,000 veterans
North Carolina. We believe that
there are literally thousands of
such widows and orphans of your
deceased comrades and mine who
have never been properly inform
ed of what is justly due them un
der existing legislation and who
consequently have never filed
their claims and are not receiving
the benefits which our grateful
nation has made possible for them
I through legislation now on the
' statue books which was enacted
I into law at the request of the
[various leading organizations.”
I Mr. Summe’ has been provided
[with information regarding the
* benefits available and those en-
! titled to them. This information
I (Continued On Back Page)
Thealer Party
Nearly Ready
Practially all of the merchants
and places of business in Mount
Holly have been contacted during
the past week for their contribu
tions to the CHiristmas Theater
Party which will be held Friday
morning, December 22, at 9:30
a. m. Members of the Veterans
of Foreign Wars and the Ladies
Auxiliaf^ who are assisting the
theater management in calling on
the merchants, report only a few
left to visit and expect that all
donations will be in by the mid
dle of next week. It is estimated
that approximately $90 in cash
has already been contributed to
the annual kiddies’ event.
Grocers donate fruit, to • the
theater party each year, it was
pointed out, and many merchants
contribute prizes to be .given
away. Others usually donate three
dollars to help purchase nuts,
candy, more fruit, and meet ex
penses of the annual party.
Mrs.. Helen Davis, manager of
the two local theaters, who is -in
charge of the party this year,
said that a list of the local mer
chants and businesses which have
contributed to the cause will be
released for publication next
week.
The cartoons to b4 shown the
youngsters attending the party
this year have not been complete
ly booked yet and the program
will be announced at a later date.
Santa> Claus, who always pays a
personal visit to the theater party
to meet the children, will be pres
ept again this year.
Visiting Pastor At
Church Of God
.Rev. T. J. Looney, pastor of
the Church of God at Taylors
ville, will be guest minister at a
series of ^cial services which
are being held at the Church of
God in Mount Holly each evening
through Sunday night. This an
nouncement was made by the
pastor of the church. Rev. H. D.
Sustar, who stated that the spec
ial services will begin at 7 p. m.
each evening. The public is
cordially invited to attend each
of the services.
The special meetings have been
in progress each evening since
Wednesday, November 22. "
LEGION BOX
SCORE
1951 MEMBERS
206. Marshall M. Lindsay
207. Donald Stack
208. Ocie O. Goude
209. John F. Dameron
210. Leo B. McIntosh
211. Leonard M. Jones
Boptists Plan
Special Night.
Monday night at 7:30 at the
First Baptist Church in Gastonia
a mass meeting of Training Unions
of the Gaston Baptist Association
will be held, and this special night
I will be designated as “M” night,
' which stands for Mobilization
Night. '
Siihilar meetings are being held
in every association throughout
the Southern Conference which
numbers some 28,000 churches in
it’s roll, it was announced.
Speaker for the Mobilization
Night meeting will be Dr. R. G.
Lee, President of the Southern
Baptist Association and pastor of
Belleone Baptist Church in Mem
phis, Tenn. The Association Di
rector is T. S. Summey of Dallas,
and Rev. O. B. Reel, pastor of the
Tuckaseegee Baptist Church in
Mount' Holly, is Pastor Advisor.
Special music will be presented
during the program and a large
attendance is* expected from the
churches in the Gaston Baptist
Association.
Cornerstone To
Be Laid Sunday
A cornestone laying ceremony
will be held at the Tuckaseegee
Baptist Church next Sunday,
December 3, as a continuation of
the regular morning worship serv
ice which begins at eleven
o’clock. Rev. O. B. Reel, pastor
of the church, announced this
week. Rev. Reel will preside
over the special service which will
mark the laying of the corner
stone of the new church.
The laying of the cornerstone
will take place at noon. Rev. Reel
announced, and the Building
Committee - which has been in
charge of the work of construct
ing the new Tuckaseegee Baptist
(;hurch will take part in the pro
gram.
On the Building Committee are
Foy Lowe, chairman; C. Y. Smith,
Ray Helms, and Boyd Auten.
A number of special guests have
been invited, to attend the cere
mony.
AHEND CHURCH
Legion To Have
Big Fish Fry
Tomorrow (Saturday) night at
6:30 p. m. the American Legion
post in Mount Holly will present
another of their extremely suc
cessful fish frys for veterans.
The fish fry will be held at the
Legion Hut near Spring Hill and
the only charge to be made will
be 50 cents per plate.
All veterans in Mount HpUy are
being extended a cordial invita
tion to attend the fish fry which
is one of several which have
been held by the Johnson-Line-
berger Post of the American Le
gion for the members of the post
and other veterans. ,
A program of entertainment is
being lined up for the fish fry.
Commander Jack Summey, head
of the local post, stated Wednes
day.
Local Lady Saves Son
And Self In Mt. Blizzard
By Johnny York
After ^>endiiig nearly twenty
hours marooned in a stalled
automobilein temperatures ap
proaching fifteen degrees below
zero, Mildred Harkey and her
small son, Alan, are back in their
home at Riverbend, alive, and not
harmed too much by the experi
ence. The Riverbend mother and
her son are glad to be back; so
glad they aren’t spending any
time speculating on what might
have happened had Mildred used
less judgment. And Alan, with
the true, resilience of extreme
youth, is bduhbing around in top
form again despite the doctor’s
orders to rest.
The ordeal took place last Sat
urday night, November 25, when
Mildred’s car stalled immediate
ly after plowing into a six foot
snow drift on top of 6000 foot
Craggy Dome, one of the extreme
points along the Blue Ridge Park
way. Mildred had entered the
Parkway near Linville, and ran
into snow shortly after reaching
[the 4000 foot level but kept go
ing, since the road was clear un-
[til she ran into the snowdrift,
i The' point where the car stall
ed is about 22 miles from Ashe-
[ville, according to Blue Ridge
[Parkway rangers who rescued the
young mother and her son near
noon of the following day. The
snowdrift which Mildred’s car hit
and stalled in was only about 200
yards long, and once free of that
drift, she could have driven on
into Asheville since the rest of the
road was mostly downgrade and
not in too bad condition to per
mit traffic crossing in such a case.
1 But to Mildred, stalled on one
side of the drift, not sure of her
exact position, and with no know
ledge of that terrain between that
point and Asheville, the road
might as well have l^en six feet
under snow all the way.
“1 wanted to show Alan the
mountains when the snow is fall
ing,” she told a News reporter,
“And after a tap dancing class
Saturday morning we just piled
in the car and started driving.”
Mildred and her mother are
amazed at the interest people are
showing in the experience which
the young local woman under
went It’s enough, they feel, that
it’s all over, and they would like
to forget it.
But too, they are amazed at the
different stories which have been
circulating concerning their
escape from freezing to death that
long night and the following
morning when a nation was fight
ing to regain it’s feet from the
shock attack by winter.
“Wfe didn’t burn any upholstery
from my car,” Mildred says em
phatically. *T don’t know how
that story could have reached
here. We merely pulled the seat
cover off the front seat and wrap
ped in them as well as we could.”
Both Mildred and Alan had on
only light clothing and neither
wore a coat. Mildred did have a
pair of gloves and spent most of
the night warming them against
her body and pulling them on
Alan’s freezing fingers. Beside the
seat covers, there was nothing to
wray themselves in except a
blanket in the trunk of the car
and Mildred couldn’t get that out
because the trunk lid was frozen
tight
“We just huddled up together
and I kept Alan as warm as pos
sible, warming his han4s, his
feet end keeping him moving as
much as I could,” Mildred -says.
“We even tap danced after fii fash
ion, but you couldn’t have called
it precision routine; I just knew
we had to keep moving and Alan
wanted to try to tap dance sitting
down, it suited me.”
“And they even had my car all
mixed up,” she laughs, talking
over the early dispatches from
Asheville which hit the wires
I when it was learned that rangers
had found a mother and child
alive after a terrible night in a
six foot snowdrift. "They said it
was a 1940 Ford sedan and it’s a
1948 club coupe,” she explains.
The burning part of the story
may have come from the fact
that she and Alan did set afire
one or two small boxes and pieces
of paper they found in the car,
but the smoke made this a use
less procedure.
So they sat in the -car, huddled
together, and with Mildred keep
ing Alan awake by talking, shak
ing him, rubbing the cold parts
of his body, and playing games
with him, through the long night
and until eleven-thirty Sunday
morning, when they first heard
'the chugging of a gasoline engine
nearby.
“I don’t know what I did when
I heard that motor that told me
someone was comii^,” Mildred
says, “I just don’t remember.”
The rangers had no idea anyone
was atop the mountain in danger
from the freezing temperatures.
Later they learned that one of the
(Continued On Back Page)
Whitehall Mill Bnilding
To Be Used For Crowds
Schedule For
Buses Given
The Riverbend Bus Company
will go into operation next Wed
nesday morning with the first bus
leaving Mount Holly for River
bend at 6:15 A. M., opening the
pew transportation service bet
ween the two point^it was an
nounced this week. Roe Payne,
owner of the Riverbend Bus Com
pany, said this week that the
buses were ready but that he did
not believe it would be possible
to begin operations before next
Wednesday since one or two small
details still remain to be worked
out.
The schedule and rates for the
transportation service were an
nounced this week by Mr. Payne.
Rates to Riverbend will be
twenty-five cents, Mr. P '*ne s:tat-
ed, and the rate w- n>id-way
point, de^gnated as McIntosh’s
Store will be ten cents.
Five trips per day will be made
at the start of operations it was
announced. More will be added
later if demands proves them to
be necessary.
The buses will leave from the
City Taxi lot in Mount Holly and
from the vicinity of the steam
plant in Riverbend.
The first bus will leave Mount
Holly at 6:15 A. M. for Riverbend.
The bus will arrive at McIntosh’s
Store at 6:30 and will arrive at
Riverbend at 6:50. It will leave
Riverbend on the return trip at
7:15; and will arrive at McIntosh’s
Store at 7:35; and will arrive in
Mount Holly again at 7:50.
The next bus wlil leave Mount
Holly at 10 A. M.; arrive at Mc
Intosh’s Store at 10:15; arrive at
Riverbend at 10:35. It will leave
Riverbend at 11 A. M.; arrive at
McIntosh’s Store at 11:20; and ar
rive in Mount Holly at 11:35 A. M.
The third bus will leave Mount
Holly at 4:30 P. M.; arrive at Mc
Intosh Store at 4:45; arrive at
Riverbend at 5:05. It will leave
Riverbend at 5:30 P. M., arrive at
Mclihosh Store at 5:50, and ar
rive at Mount Holly at 6:05 P. M.
The fourth bus will leave Mount
Holly at 6:15 P. M., arrive at Mc
Intosh Store at 6:30, arrive at
Riverbend at 6:50. It will leave
Riverbend at 7 P. M., arrive at
McIntosh Store at 7:20; ^d arrive
in Mount Holly at 7:35.
The final bus each night will
leave Mount Holly at 10:35; ar
rive at McIntosh’s Store at 10:50,
and arrive at Riverbend at 11:10.
It will leave Riverbend at 11:10,
arrive at McIntosh’s Store at 11:30,
and arrive in Mount Holly on the
final trip at 11:45 P. M.
This schedule may be changed
at a later date, Mr. Payne stated,
if rider load demands.
The first public square dance
to be held in Mount Holly in sev
eral years, with the exception of
the annual street dance, will be '
held next Friday night, Decem
ber 8, sponsored by the Mount
Holly Jaycees, it was announced
this week.
The square dance will be held
in one wing of the American
Yarn and Processing Company
building which was formerly
owned by the Whitehall Mills,
on East Central Ave. Dancing wU
begn at 8 p. m. and the crowd is
expected to begin arriving about
7:30 so no-ope will miss any of
the sets.
Thad Lawing and his band will
provide the music for the square
dance and admission will be only
50 cents per person, it was an
nounced.
The' Mount Holly Jaycees are
billing this dance as “the biggest
in the world” and hope to have
a crowd of dance lovers that will
pack the building.
In chaige of concessions ^or the
Jaycees will be Rufus Ingles';
Gordon Eaves will be in charge
of dance floor supervision; Harold
Henkle will be in charge of musi
cal arrangements; Pete Chagaris
is in charge of publicity; Casey
Jones is in charge of ticket sales;
Donald Davis is in charge of the
public address system; “Red”
Robinson is in charge of parking;
Luther Carothers is in charge of
seating; .and Dick Beatty is in
charge of decorations.
Plan now to pick your partner
and swing at the big Jaycee
square dance next Friday night.
December 8, at the Whitehall
Building.
Biggerslaff To
Besign Position
Don A. Bggerstaff, Agrculture
Instructer at Mount Holly High
School this year, announced ^his
resignation this week to accept a
position with the Farmers Federa
tion Cooperative of Asheville, ef
fective January 1, 1951.
. Mr. Biggerstaff, in making the
announcement, stated “It is with
deep regret that I have to resign
at this time of year but oppor
tunity only knocks once I am
told. The position is definitely a
promotion.”
“My stay at Mount Holly has
been enjoyable. I cquld not ask
for any better coop^tion than I
have received from school ad
ministration and the patrons of
the school district.”
Vets Toy Drive
Gets Besponse ^
The toy drive held last Sunday
by members of the James Parks
Warren post of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars was a huge success.
The V.F.W. Hut is nearly half
packed now with toys which can
easily be repaired, painted, and
put in shape for youngsters this
Christmas.
A special called meeting will be
held next Tuesday night for mem
bers of both the V.F.W. post and
the auxiliary to meet at the hut
at i p. m. to begin the work of
reconditioning the toys. Com-'
mander Rudy Cole announced
this week.
The veterans are proud of the
response from generous Moynt
Holly residents who answered
theifxcall last week for toys which
could be repaired and put in
shape for underpriviledged child
ren this Christmas. The veterans
will do their part now, and this
Christmas a number of needy
children will have new toys to
enhance the holidays and to make
them believe there really is a
Santa Claus.-
Commander Cole told News re
porters this week that speaking
for the members of the V.F.W.
he wished to thank everyone who
took part in the drive and parti-
cularily those who hunted up old
and broken toys which can be re
paired and gave them to the vet-
eranl during the drive.
“The drive has definitely been
a success and now it’s* up to us
to get the toys in shape before
Christmas,” he stated.
All members of both the post
and the auxiliary are urged to
be present at the hut next Tues
day night to help repair the toyss.
VISITS HERE
Larry Moore, son of Mr. and
Mrs. W. E. Moore, had as his
guest during the Thanksgiving
holidays; his cousin, Richard Falls,
of Clover, S. C.
READ THE ADSl