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VOL. 96 NUMBER 1
THURSDAY. DECEMBER 3 30,1982.
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KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA
Lifeline
Little gadget helps Sam Dye stay home...
By GARY STEWART
Editor
Eighty-three-year-old Sam
Dye of Kings Mountain has
Parkinson’s' Disease and lives
alone. He’s able to get around,
watch television and do most of
the things anyone else can.
But, if he falls, he doesn’t have
the strength to get back up. Liv-
ing alone, that can present pro-
blems, especially on cold winter
nights.
Mr. Dye did fall on
Thanksgiving night after he cut
off his TV and stove and turned
to walk to his bed. Had it not
been for Lifeline, he could have
laid on the cold floor all night
long.
But, he simply pushed a but-
ton on a small gadget he carries
in the pocket of his pajama tops
“and within minutes his son,
Gene, was to his rescue.
~ Mr. Dye is one of the first 12
area citizens to go on the Gaston
Meniorial Hospital Lifeline
System, and the first to use it.
Lifeline is a personal response
system which uses one’s
telephone and a computer at
Gaston Memorial for emergency
communication. :
Each: Lifeline client has a
small computer unit connected
- to his telephone, and another
hand-held unit which can be clip-
ped to a shirt pocket or belt. In
cases of emergency, all one does
is push the button on either unit,
and it activates the computer at
the hospital.
The hospital calls the client. If
the client is unable to respond,
the hospital calls a neighbor,
family member or rescue person-
nel. They go to the home and
check out the situation and call
the hospital.
In Mr. Dye’ s case, he was just
unable to get back on his feet.
He did not require emergency
treatment. But in many cases,
Lifeline is a lifesaver.
Suzanne Amos-Grabus of
Gastonia, a former Kings Moun-
tain resident, sells the system. It
is costly to the hospitals, but
very inexpensive to users.
Gaston Memorial charges only a
$10 per month fee and in cases
where clients cannot afford the
$10, funds are available from
other sources.
Ms. Amos-Grabus said there
are over 500. programs and
20,000 units nationally, and 23
programs in North Carolina
* hospitals. She constantly hears
of situations where Lifeline has
been credited with saving a life.
“Lifeline is a wonderful alter-
native to nursing homes,” she
says, ‘‘and also means
psychological security for the
elderly who live alone.”
She introduced the system to
Mr. Dye’s daughter-in-law,
Joyce, about two years ago.
When Gaston Memorial began
the program this year, Ms.
Amos-Grabus contacted the
Dyes and urged them to apply
for a unit.
“Mr. Dye had already fallen a
couple of times and we were con-
cerned about him,” Mrs. Dye
recalls. “I got real fired up about
it. It’s a great thing that not too
many people know about.”
For the Dyes, Gaston
Memorial began its Lifeline pro-
gram at the perfect time.
Because he had fallen several
times, some members of the
family thought they might have
to put him in a nursing home.
“But, this way, he’s able to
stay at home and enjoy his cats
and TV,” Mrs. Dye said. “He’s a
very quiet man and doesn’t get
excited about anything. While
his unit was being installed and
explained to him, we wondered
Turn To Page 5-A
Thre-year-old Melissa. Lynn
Martin, who was critically in-
jured in a house fire last Tuesday
at 504 Broad Street in Kings
Mountain, died Monday at
Charlotte Memorial Hospital
after doctors unplugged her life
support system.
The young girl was declared
brain dead the day she was
brought into the hospital, a
spokesman for Charlotte
Memorial said.
She had been kept alive by a
respirator while law enforcement
It’s Time
To List
Your Tax
Kings . Mountain area
residents may list their 1983 real
and personal property for taxes
January 3-30 at the Governmen-
tal Services Facilities Center.
Tax listers for Number Four
Township are Mrs. Betty
Ballard, Mrs. Joann Houser,
Mrs. Charles T. Carpenter Jr.
and Mrs. W.D. Werner.
All persons owning property
on January 1 are required to list.
Persons who listed taxes in
1982 may list by mail if they
desire. Forms may be requested
from J.O. Hendrick, County Tax
Supervisor.
All persons who fail to list by
January 30 may be charged
penalties or fines.
By GARY STEWART
Editor
As citizens look to the new
year, many will look back.on a
1982 which won’t go down as
one of the town’s best.
The year was filled with
economic and personal tragedy,
as many area citizens lost their
jobs and many more lost their
lives.
The recession which began the
year before was predicted to end
early in 1982, but continued
officials and her grandparents at-
tempted to locate her father,
who was last thought to be in
Shreveport, La.
The child’s mother, Nancy
Biddix Martin, 21, remains in
serious . condition at the North
Carolina Burn Center in Chapel
Hill. She was burned over 47
percent of her body. Mrs. Mar-
tin’s boyfriend, Conley Elwood
Payne, 22, and Mrs. Martin’s
14-month-old baby, Connie Sue
Martin, both died in the fire.
Mrs. Martin was pushed out
Martin Dies,
&
0 AEN
BURN FUND
Friends of the Nancy
Biddix Martin family have
established a fund to help
pay the hospital expenses
of Mrs. Martin and her
daughter, Melissa Lynn,
who died Monday. Con-
tributions may be made to
the Biddix Burn Fund,
BB&T, South Branch, P.O.
Box 1776. Gastonia, N.C.
28052.
Servic
the window of the front
bedroom of the home by Payne,
‘who stayed inside in an attempt
to rescue the two children.
Melissa Lynn was found un-
conscious in a back bedroom by
Kings Mountain Policeman
‘Harry Martin and was revived
by “Kings Mountain Fireman
Frank Burns, who gave her
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Investigators have determined
that the cause of the fire was a
faulty gas heater. According to
City Gas Superintendent Jimmy
Maney, the gas was turned off
Citizens complain about utility costs...
Year Wasn’t One Of Best
throughout the year.
The year began with Mayor
John Henry Moss predicting
that two new industries would
locate in town and bring more
jobs to the hundreds of persons
affected by layoffs at Fiber In-
dustries and other plants. That
‘prediction came true, but it
wasn’t to be until December, and
in the meantime two other KM
plants closed and many others
cuback their operations and
number of employees.
The year ended with the
tragedy of a house fire which
claimed the lives of three citizens
and the serious injury to
another, and a rash of highway
accidents resulting in the. death
of many area citizens.
Between January and
December, death claimed many
of the city’s most prominent
citizens and the city spent most
of its time trying to come up
with almost a half-million dollars
to repair the dam at Moss Lake,
which had been declared unsafe
by state and federal in-
vestigators. Those funds finally
came late in the year through an
amendment to the Community
Development Block Grant pro-
gram. : ?
Some of the top stories of
1982, as taken from the pages of
the Kings Mountain Herald, in-
cluded:
JANUARY
Cleveland County deputies
Turn To Page 3-A
because of a dangerous leak but
someone turned it back on.
Later in the week, in-
vestigators also found a small
device which was inserted into
the breaker box to: keep the
breakers from tripping. There
were reportedly some naked
wires in the front room where
the fire began. County Fire Mar-
shal Delane Davis said the wires
could have contributed to the
fire after it started, but the origin
was still believed to be the gas
heater.
Turn To Page 2-A
MELISSA LYNN MARTIN
SBI Investigating
KM Police Incident
The State Bureau of Investiga-
tion has been called to Kings
Mountain to investigate an inci-
dent which “occured several
weeks ago at a game room.
Lamar Fletcher of Kings
Mountain alleges that several
Kings Mountain police officers
and reserve officers gave his
17-year-old son, James, some
“unfair treatment after he was
placed under arrest.”
Fletcher lodged formal com-
plaints in the form of letters to
City Commissioners ‘Norman
Food Town
Food Town plans to open a
store next week in the building
currently occupied by Key
Warehouse Foods in the Kings
Mountain Plaza Shopping
Center.
No other details were
available at the Herald’s press
deadline.
King and Corbet Nicholson,
Mayor John Henry Moss and
Acting Chief of Police, Jackie
Barrett.
Fletcher said he hasn’t heard
anything from any of the four.
He said he gave letters to the
commissioners on December 6,
to Barrett on December 9 and to
the mayor on December 13.
According to Fletcher, his son
suffered a burst eardrum.
Fletcher has retained at-
torneys Steve Dolly and Mark
Warshawsky of Gastonia. War-
shawsky said possible legal ac-
tion will not be discussed until
. the SBI investigation is com-
plete.
“l understand the SBI has
been talking to some witnesses
and to our client,” Warshawsky
said. “They have not contacted
me.”
Chief Barrett said he has not
yet received a report of the SBI
investigation.
Mike Causby, 30, Dies
In Myrtle Beach Wreck |
’
survived by a sister, Miss Jac.
Michael Gene Causby, 30, of
Myrtle Beach, S.C., formerly of
Kings Mountain, died Thursday
in an automobile accident in
Myrtle Beach.
He was the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Junior Causby of Kings
Mountain and was employed as
a registered nurse at Conway
Hospital. He was a member of
Temple Baptist Church of Kings
Mountain.
In addition to his parents, he is
queline K. Causby of Kings
Mountain; and his grandparents,
Sallie Mae Hamilton and Mr.
and Mrs. Coley Freeman, all of
Kings Mountain.
Funeral services were €on-
ducted Sunday at 3 p.m. at Tem-
ple Baptist Church by th
Gerry Davis and the Rey. Buddy
Freeman. Burial was in Moun.
tain Rest Cemetery.