Another Big laycee Square Dance At The Whitehall Tonight
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 15, 1950
NUMBER 44
Annual Theatre
Parly On 22nd
,A total of $113 was donated by
. : local merchants for the annual
■-ChrVstmas Theater Party which
-will be held at the Gaston and
Holly Theaters Friday, December
22 at 9:30 a. m. In addition to the
cash donations for the expense of
the theater party, which is a
highlight in the lives of young
sters here each year, grocers do
nated plentiful supplies of fruit
to be given to the youngsters:
Many stores, as per the usual
custom, donated prizes which will
be given to the youngsters during
the party. The party this year is
going to be an outstanding suc
cess from all indications.
Santa Claus will be right - on
hand for the party as is his an
nual custom and children attend
ing the theater party will have
.an opportunity to win one of
many fine prizes being given
away.
On the schedule for the film
portion of the party are a num
ber of cartoons including such kid
favorites as the Three Stooges,
Popeye, Bugs Bunny, a ghost
cartoon, and an Our Gang come
dy.
Cooperating mer chants have
been making the theater party
possible for a number of years
and the party has grown in scope
each year since it was first be
gun by theater manager Kenneth
Davis. Last year it was necessary
to use both the Gaston and Holly
Theaters and it will probably be
necessary again this year, ac-
(Continued On Back Page)
Prizes To Be
Given Friday
A list of the prizes to be given
away by Mou' Holly is^^imbers of
the Riverbend ownship Mer
chants Association on Friday,
December 22, at 2 p. m., bringing
“Shop-portunity Days” to a close,
has been released this week. Mrs.
Kathleen Herald, secretary of the
association, told News reporters
that merchants who are not plan
ning to give individual prizes to
winners of the drawings which
many stores will have are plan
ning to cooperate in furnishing
the fifty dollar grand prize to be
given away at the big drawing.
Drawings for both individual
store prizes and the grand prize
will be held at 2 p. m. next Fri
day at a location which has not
been stated yet.
Stanley members of the River-
bend Township Merchants Asso
ciation, who are cooperating in
presenting “Shop-portunity Days”
are holding their drawings Satur
day of next week, December 23,
at 2 p. m. A fifty dollar grand
prize plus a large list of individual
prizes will be given away in
the drawing.
A ticket giving the holder an
opportunity to win one of the
many prizes is being given away
with each one dollar in cash sales
by participating merchants both
in Mount Holly and Stanley.
The prizes already listed with
the association which will be giv
en away by the following mer
chants, are: Baimette’s Florist—
orchid corsage; Charlie’s Drug-
ladies toilet set; Central Service
Station:—car wash and grease;
Edna Black. Flowers—white dish
garden with imported figurine;
Clark Radio and Jewelry—electric
percolator and pen and pencil
set; Paul Derr—Ten dollars
merchandise, five dollars in mer
chandise; Clara Hager—-dress and
box Nyon hose; Harris-White—
merchandise; Holland Drug —
sportsman toilet set; Ivey Henkle
—watch band and Ronson light
er; Massey-Clark—electric iion;
Mount Holly Furniture Company
—all wool blanket; Mathis and
Son — grease and oil change;
Pryor Esso—wax and polish job;
Percy Roberts—twin holster and
gun set; River Valley Gas and
Appliance—electric broiler; Frank
Rankin-ten dollars in merchan
dise; five dollars in merchandise;
Summey Drug—bill fold and cos
metic set; Triangle Service Sta
tion—pressure cooker; Western
Auto—^lectric perculator.
Shop-portunity Days is being
sponsor^ by the merchants as
sociation to bring to the attention
of local residents: the fact that
merchants and values being offer
ed by local mechants is every bit
as good and sometimes better than
that obtainable in larger cities,
and many times the prices are
much cheaper. Save time and
temper by flopping with your
friends and neighbors who are
members of the Riverbend Town-
{Cciniinued On Back Paga)
School Holidays
Are Announced
Mount Holly Schools will
close for the Christmas holidays
Friday, December 15, and open
January 1st, Principal S. H.
Helton announced this week.
All parents are asked to make
a note of these dates.
Ceremonies For
School Buildings
The official groundbreaking for
the new elementary school build
ing to be constructed at the
Mount Holly Schools was held
Thursday morning of this week at
10:30 a. m. at the school. Due to
the weather, the program was:
held in the gymnasium with the
student body of the elementary
school attending.
Present for the occasion, which
marks the high spot in the con
struction of the new elementary
building which is being built
here, were representatives of the
civic groups and veterans organi
zations in Mount Holly, as well as
Mayor Gary Kendrick, members
of the Town Board of Aldermen,
and other civic leaders.
Representing the Junior Cham
ber of Commerce was President
J. B. Rhyne; Commander Jack
Summey represented the Ameri
can Legion; Noah I. Huffstetler,
Jr., represented the V.F.W., Presi
dent Ewing Robinson represented
the Rotary Club, President Leo
‘ Fuller represented the Lions
Club, Mrs. Joe Jones represent
ed the P.T.A., and Mrs. Clyde
Loftin, president, represented
the Women’s Civic Club.
The program was opened with
the National Anthem, sung by
the student body accompanied by
the Mount Holly High School
Band. The Invocstion was given
by Rev. carl risher. President of
the Mount Holly Ministerial As
sociation, and the school song
followed the invocation.
J. Milton Craig, Riverbend
Township representative on the
county school board, delivered a
brief address outlining the plans
for the building and pointing out
the great need for the building
(Continued on Back Page)
Church Reports
Week's Activities
A full week of Christmas acti
vity is reported to be scheduled
for next week at First Presby
terian Church here.
The regular services will take
place on Sunday, with messages
by the pastor, the Rev. D., O.
Meinnis.
On Monday ’ evening at . 7
o’clock the Men’s Club will hold
its annual Ladies’ Night Dinner
in the dining room of the church
school building. Dr. Robert F.
Boyd, pastor of St. Andrew’s
Presbyterian Church in Charlotte
will be the guest speaker. Ewen
D. Robinson, president of the
club, will preside. Mrs. Boyd will
also be a special guest.
R. L. Ward, a leading layman
in the church, will conduct the
midweek service Wednesday eve
ning, at 7:30 o’clock.
On Thursday evening the
Youth Fellowship of the church
will honor the college _ students
home for the holidays' with
dinner in the church dining room
at 7 o’clock. At this meeting the
visiting speaker will be the Rev.
W. Chester Keller, pastor of
Tenth Avenue Presbyterian
Church, Charlotte. Mrs. Keller
will be a special guest at the
meeting.
The annual Christmas party
for the children of the Sunday
School will be held Friday even
ing at 7 o’clock in the church
school building. A decorated
Christmas tree will be the central
attraction in ornaments, and
treats will be provided for the
small guests. A program will be
presented by the children under
the direction of Mrs. D. O. Me
innis and Miss Eunice Springs.
The highlight of this will be the
presentation of a short play, “The
Story of Christmas” in pantomine.
Climaxing the week will be
the presentation of “The Story of
Christmas in Scripture and Song,”
ranged for reader and choir, at
the evening worship hour. Sun
day, December 24. The reader for
the service will be the pastor, the
Rev. Mr. MeInnis, and the music
will be in charge of Mrs. David
W. Smith, who will also be or
ganist for the service.
r-1
Peace on Earth ... Good will toward men . .. May these bless
ings return to His children, the world around, during this
Christmas season and the New Year so soon to come. Let us
pray that this hope to be ordained with fulfillment, by attending
church for the Christmas services.
CHRISTMAS—
How It Originated
AHEND CHURCH
By Victor C. King
One of our truly great holidays,
all of which could well be cele
brated by all peoples of the world,
Christmas, quite like our Thanks
giving Day, originated under very
trying circumstances, suffered
many fluctuations and finally had
the date of observance changed.
Strange as the fact may be, it
was not intended, in the first in
stance, to commemorate the birth
of Christ; but instead to glorify
what the first Christians thought
was the first great event in His
life—His baptism in the Jordan
by John, the Baptist, and one
that symbolized His spiritual or
divine birth.
The date set for the observance
of this momentuous event was
January 6th. No special rites were
authorized. Nor was the day call
ed Christmas. Instead, it was
called the “Feast of Epiphany.”
This was a Greek word, taken
from ancient Hebrew, and has
been interpreted by bibical schol
ars as descriptive of a divine ap
parition.
Up to Christ’s baptism no one
had any idea He was* of divine
origin. He had not yet started on
His ministry. The Christians
thought this was the opening
event in His divine mission. They
recalled John wrote, as may be
read in Matthew and in the book
of St. John, that when Christ
came up out of the water the
“heavens opened,” and Jehovah
was heard to say: “This is my be
loved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.”
John also wrote that when he
first saw Jesus in the crowd (He
had not then been named Christ)
he observed “the spirit of heaven
descending and it settled upon
Him.”
He was accordingly convinced
that Jesus was the Messiah and
said to the spectators: “This is
He of whom I spake.”
Some what overwhelmed, he at
first declined to honor himself by
baptising Jesus, considering.him
self unworthy of this great honor;
but Jesus insisted, saying the
“law must be fulfilled.”
(The first mention in the Bible
of Jesus as “Our Lord Jesus
Christ” was not made until about
25 years later when St. Paul' in
his letters to the Thesaloians
used these words to encourage
and support he belief of his con
verts).
Why was January 6th selected
as the date for the “Feast of
Epiphany?”
Somfe bibical scholars: thought
it was the date of Christ’s baptism |
by John, the Baptist; others con
cluded it was His birthday; that
He was 30 years of age when the
baptismal event occurred and that
the baptism also symbolized his
divine birth. But calculations
established it instead as the date
Jesus was visited in the manger
in Bethlehem by the three magi j
or Kings or Wise Men and that
this event truly occurred on the
12th day after His physical birth
which would carry this blessed
event back to December 2Sth.
All great events in His life
were called “epiphanies,” such
as His first miracle—turning
water into wine, which occurred
three days after His baptism at
the wedding in Cana; the feeding
of the 5,000; the enunciation, cru
cifixion and resurrection, each in
dicating certain divine manifes
tations.
While no special days for ob-
Stores To Be Open
Late Three Days
Stores in Mount Holly which
are members of the Riverbend
Township Merchants Associa
tion are plzmning to remain
open until 8 p. m. Thursday
night, Friday night, and'^atur*
day night, of next week. These
special hours will be for the
convenience of last minute
Christmas shoppers.
This does not apply to groc
ery stores.
Jaycees To Have
Big Tree Sale
The Mount Holly Jaycees will
again have Christmas trees on
sale here beginning tomorrow
(Saturday) President J. C. Rhyne
announced Thursday. The trees,
which were donated to the Jay
cees, have already been cut and
will be sold at the Massey-Clark
parking lot tomorrow (Saturday.)
Trees will also be sold by the
Jaycees at the Mount Holly Ice
and Fuel Company, President
Rhyne stated, and a wide selec
tion of sizes will be on display at
the location tomorrow and
through Christmas.
Arrangements for delivery of
trees can be made at the Mount
Holly Ice and Fuel Company or
at the Rhyne Shoe Shop on East
Central Ave.
Prices will be extremely rea
sonable as they were last year,
the Jaycees point out, with the
price of the trees depending on
the size.
Tommy Dunn and Peter N.
Chagaris will be in charge of the
sale of the trees this year. Last
year the Jaycees made a sub
stantial sum which was' immedi
ately applied to the Community
servation of these epiphanies
were at first established, they
Were recognized on January 6th
when His divine origin was* dis
closed for the first time. But in
the centuries that followed, be
ginning particularly soon after
the Roman Emperor Augustus de
creed Christianity (300 A. D.)
should be the state or legal re
ligion of the empire( for which
the church later canonized him),
a special date was* established for
each separate epiphany.
The Church Fathers eventually
disagreed on the observance of
Christ’s spiritual and physical
birth. Both, they thought, should
be observed; so in the course of
centuries the physical birth of
Christ was established as Decem
ber 25th according to present day
calendars, and was designed as
the “Feast” or in church lore the
“Mass of Christ.” This event, how
ever, did not occur until about
the 9th century. But during the
years that followed, as in the
“dark ages” of history, it barely
escaped extinction; that it did not
is a debt of gartitude the Chris
tian world owes to the Catholic
church.
The original association of
Christ’s spiritual birth with the
visit of the three Wise Men to
the manger 12 days' after His
physical birth, when they present
ed Him with gifts—gold, frankin
cense and myrrh—accounts no
doubt for the gift-and-present
custom of today at Christmas
time.
But regardless of how Christ
mas originated it is sufficient
Christ was born; that he]
lived by his life inspired the most
beloved holiday in all Christen
dom.
City Increases
It's Size Today
Today (Friday) is the first day
during which Mount Holly resi
dents of the areas recently annex
ed to the former Town of Mount
Holly become residents of the
City of Mount Holly. At midnight
last night, or rather early this
morning, the Town of Mount
Holly became officially the City
of Mount Holly with a population
well in access of three thousand
people.
Today police protection, and fire
protection are officially available
to residents of the annexed -area
for the first time and one of the
first benefits to be received by
these people will be garbage pick
up by the Maintenance Depart
ment.
It is not yet known when it
will be possible to begin regulari
ty scheduled garbage pick-ups in
the new area within the city
limits. Schedules have to be made
and tried out before the garbage
pick-up crew can tell exactly
when it will be possible to reach
each section.
Police protection and fire pro
tection are different matters and
they will begin immediately.
With Mount Holly now official
ly a small city, a great advantage
over previous status can be
achieved. The City will now pre
sent more attractive possibilities
to outside businesses which may
wish to become established here.
Vets Plan For
Distributing Toys
The James Parks Warren Post
of the V.F.W. is ready to distri- •
bute toys which were recently
. uonalod during their toy drive
Buildin|^. Fund through the sale .by local resident*. The toys have
of the trees. .. j be?n repa.red and repainted and
The Jaycees are asking pros-^ will be distributed iViday night
pective purchasers of Christmas of next week, the Friday before
trees to visit the Mount Holly Ice Christmas, Commander Rudy
and Fuel Company and view the Cole announced this week,
wide selection of trees which | The veterans are anxious that \
they have this year. Proceeds of the many toys which wer6 do-
the tree sale will again be added nated during the recent drive be
(Continued On Back Page)
First Meeting
New Building
Baptist To Have
distributed to deserving families
as widely in this section as pos
sible. They have decided to de
liver the toys to the adults in the
families on the Friday night be
fore Christmas in order to give
the parents an opportunity to
plan their own arrangements for
The congregation of the Tucka- children,
seegee Baptist Church will hold, The members of the Veterans
special services Sunday, Decern- j,f Foreign Wars are requesting
ber 17, beginning with the eleven anyone in Mount. Holly who
o’clock service, in the new church knows of a deserving family
building which has just been com- ’ which might not otherwise enjoy
pleted. This will be the first »r- Christmas,- to notify them of the
vice to be held in the new sane- (Contiiuied on Back Pago)
tuai-y and a special invitation is)
being extended to former pastors,'
members, and friends of the
church to attend if possible. Rev. I _
O. B. Reel, pastor of the church. ]PaffAonf CimildV
said that special music and a X QUvClllI OUllllCty
special service will be held in the | ^
afternoon with visitors invited to I On Sunday evening, December
attend and to inspect the church 17. at 7:30 a Christmas* pageant
building during the afternoon, j will be give nat the First Baptist
During the ’ afternoon service Church. “The Adoration” is a pag-
messages will be heard from eant whose central theme is the
former pastors and friends of the adoration and praise of the Christ
church. Special invitations to at- Child. The pageant is divided in
tend this service are being issued to three parts: the praise of Him
to sub-contractors and everyone before His birth; the praise of His
who helped in the construction of birth; and the adoration by all
the church as well as to the nations through the ages. In the
public in general. V. P. Loftis last section each nation will be
and Company of Charlotte were ' represented by a child and a coral
contractors on the massive job, from each nation will be sung.
Rev. Reel said. Drawings and Those taking part in the pageant
architectural work was done by will be Mr. and Mrs. Johnston
the Baptist Sunday School Miller, Mr. Ronnie Estridge, Mr,
Board. [Bobby Blankinship, Miss Ann
Dinner will be served at noon Painter, Miss Doris Miller, Miss
at the church and everyone is Sue Whitner, Miss Betty Garrison,
asked to bring a full basket of Mr. Joe Dunn, Mr. I. C. Thomas,
food for the occasion. | Mr. Baxter McIntosh. The chil-
The morning service at eleven dren representing the nations are
o’clock will be a memorial ser-IJerry Mullis, Emily Patterson,
vice for three members of the' John Dunn, David Mullis, Ellen
church who lost their lives in the ^ Eaves, Ronnie Edwards, Elizabeth
service of their country. They are j Jones, Perry Hall Roberts, Cathe-
Calvin Smith, son of Mr. and rine Powell, David Hager.
Mrs. Horace Smith, Odell I.
Pryor, husband of Mrs. Hazeline
Pryor, and John Robert Wagstaff,
son of Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Wag-
staff. Memorial windows will be
dedicated to these three men.
The families of these men are
requested to sit together at the
morning service
The Junior Choir, Youth Choir,
and Senior Choir will present
songs in accord with the setting.
The Choirs have worked hard and
are singing some beautiful num
bers. Some of these are:
“Now Let Every Tongue Adore
Thee’ by Bach
Angels We Have Heard on
Booklets giving the histoiy of High”—Old French Carol
the church have been published | “Adeste Fideles”—Italian Carol •
and will be distributed to those j “Carol of the Bells”—Ukranian
attending Sunday. i Carol
Former pastors of the church j "Praise God, Extol Him"—Nor-
who are expected to be present; wegian Carol
for the occasion are Rev. David j "God Rest You, Merry Gentle-
B. Roberts, now living in Marsh- men”—English Carol
ville, who served from 1943-46; | "O Little Town of Bethlehem”
Rev. W. B. Adams, who served. by Phillips Brooks
the church from 1934 to 1943, and j “Hallalujah Chorus” (Messiah)
who is now serving at Ruther- by Handel
fordton; and Rev. A. A. Lockee, I The public is cordially invited
(Continued on Back Paga) to attend the Daeeant: