North Carolina Newspapers

{ =-7 [42 ZF | awno | «<< = a OR ' | = =e : “iD VOL. 96 NUMBER 4 THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1983 : - KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORT > > ° y @ : \ : | 5 = { )] i { <r : e C 1 | Oo 0 , | . = Q Ia << A Kings Mountain. ABC elec- tion will apparently be called in the near future. According to local reports, petitions have been circulating around town for several weeks urging the City Board of Com- missioners to call for an election. Kings Mountain Mayor John Henry Moss said that no one has officially approached him for a spot on the City Board agenda, but he has heard the rumors. The Cleveland County Elec- tions Board said over 200 new Kings Mountain voters have been registered since June 1. There were 4,548 voters names on the books on December 3 compared to 4,386 on June 1. Although that increase is less than 200, a spokesman for the Elections Board said the new voters figures would be much Grissom To Head Chamber By RICK McDANIEL The Kings Mountain Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Association held their annual banquet Tuesday night at the Holiday Inn. William R. Grissom, Vice- president of Goforth Plumbing, was elected President of the chamber by the board of Direc- tors, and will serve a one-year term. The Rev. Russell Fitts was the key-note speaker for the evening, calling for cooperation between board and member businesses for betterment of the communi- ty. thrust of the chamber this year will be a campaign to lure new business and industry. to the “area. The chamber presently has 75 member «businesses, and Grissom is expecting several new members in the first few months of 1983. Grissom takes the helm of the »chamber at a time when local nemplo ti at near record Grissom stated that the main ‘Brian Bickley, 4 Dies Tuesday At Home Charles Brian Bickley, 47, of 1301 Wales Road Kings Moun- tain, died unexpectedly at his home Tuesday afternoon. : A native of Nottingham, England, he was a former employee of Reeves Brothers Duplex International plant. He is survived by his wife, Pauline Brassington Bickley; three sons, Lee Bickley of Fort Hood, Tex., and Guy Bickley and Brian Charles Bickley of the home; and two sisters, Mrs. Brenda Beck and Mrs. Bernice Shaw, both of Nottingham, England. ; Funeral arrangements will be announced by Harris Funeral Home. THURS., JAN. 20 The White Plain Shrine Club will meet at 7 p.m. at Hank’s Steak House. THURS., JAN. 20 Ken Sloan of the Cleveland County Boys Club will present a program on the Kings Mountain Chapter of the Boys Club at the weekly meeting of the Kings Mountain Kiwanis Club at the Holiday Inn. THURS. JAN. 20 Central School teachers will be available for parent con- ferences until 7:30 p.m. at the school. Anyone wishing to talk to teachers should call the school at 739-3641 and make an ap- pointment. MON., JAN. 24 The Kings Mountain Woman’s Club will meet on Monday evening with a Board Y our I NFORMATION meeting at 7:00 p.m. and the regular meeting at 7:45 p.m. An election of officers will be held. The program will be presented by Mrs. Steve Wells and is entitl- ed “You Have What It Takes To Communicate.” SAT., JAN. 29 The Committee for the Disabl- ed will sponsor a yard sale begin- ning at 9 a.m. at the Depot Center. Anyone with items to donate should call 7399112 or drop them off at the Disabled Committee’s office at the Com- munity Center. SAT., JAN. 29 The Chestnut =’ Ridge Volunteer Fire Department will sponsor a spaghetti supper from 5 until 8 p.m. at the fire depart- ment. Spaghetti, salad, bread and beverages will be sold. re Committee Organizes The City of Kings Mountain's Energy Committee held its organizational meeting last Tues- day night to begin planning how to save the city and its citizens thousands of dollars in energy Costs. A second meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Governmental Services Facilities Center, at which time’'Chairman Jim Dickey will charge six sub- committees with the responsibili- ty of putting the ideas into ac- tion. Subcommittees announced today by Dickey include: *Booklet: “Things To Do To Conserve Energy”: Don Adams, chairman; Dr. Scott Mayes, Jim Dickey. *Weatherization: Scott Neisler, chairman; Hayes T. Hayes, Walter Ollis, Gene Waldrep. *Public Information: William Hager, chairman; Rev. Leroy Cox, Jeff Grigg. *Helpful Hint Card (for homeowners): Ernest Rome, chairman; Fred Dixon, W.K. Mauney III, Jim Childers. *Fuel Assistance: Burris Ramey, chairman; David Plonk, Ned Lilly, Jimmy Maney and Corbet Nicholson. *Public Awareness: John Henry Moss, chairman; William Davis, Larry Wood. Dickey hopes to see the city save 20 percent (about $100,000) of its energy costs this year while also helping the citizens become more aware of ways to conserve. The city will be aided by San- ford and Turner ‘Associates of Chrlotte which has been hired by the State Division of Energy to assist participating towns in cutting energy costs. Their ser- vices will be free to the towns. Dickey said he hopes to have weater-stripping kits available by Turn To Page 2-A higher because many names . have been taken off because of deaths and other reasons. ABC elections must be re- quested to the City Board of Elections, either by a formal written request from the City Board of Commissioners or by a petition signed by at least 25 percent of the registered voters. Kings Mountain’s last ABC vote was on March 18, 1975. It failed by a vote of 1,471 against to 1,310 for. In a vote for malt beverages and wine, the vote + count was 1,499 against to 1,267 for. An ABC vote by 1,411 against t An ABC electi Shelby in Marc Because that vote passcu, quall- fying private ¢lubs and restaurants in Kings Mountain were able to obtain brown- bagging permits. KM Teachers Afraid Of Merit Pay Plan By GARY STEWART Editor. Kings Mountain school teachers are afraid a new merit pay plan which is coming before the General Assembly this year would ' cause morale problems among teachers and damage the atmosphere in the classroom. Representatives of the local chapter of the NCAE appeared before the Kings Mountain Board of Education Tuesday night and presented the board a resolution asking that it “refrain from supporting any legislation or program which would resem- ble the establishment of the - merit pay concept and to oppose any budget cuts which affect the amount of supplies which are us- ed in the teaching of the children in this school district.” The board accepted the resolu- tion but made no promises on - how it would stand on the issue. Supt. Bill Davis said legislators are being pressured by the public to develop a merit pay system ‘and Board Chairman June Lee make a decision Betsy Wells, a Kings Mountain High School and president of the local Educa- tion Association, presented the resolution, which was approved at a recent meeting of the group. She was supported by a host of teachers representing all the schools in the Kings Mountain district. “Do not think that we are op- posed to a plan to pay better teachers more money,” Mrs. Wells told the board. “But we see PRUE POSTON Poston Services Conducted Prue Nell Poston, 75, of 304 Waco Road, Kings Mountain, died Wednesday at her home. A Cleveland County native, she was the daughter of the late Marvin and Edna Rhyne Houser and was married to the late Marion Clay Poston. She was a retired school teacher and a member of Central United Methodist Church. Survivors include two brothers, M.L. Houser Jr. of Goldsboro and Joseph Houser of Saint David, Ariz.; and two sisters, Mrs. W.P. Stokes of Ruf- fin and Mrs. David Saunders of Charlotte. Services were conducted Fri- day at 11 a.m. at Central United Methodist Church by the Rev. Ivan Stephens. Burial was in Mountain Rest Cemetery. teacher at many ‘boogers’ in a merit pay concept.” Mrs. Wells said teachers are concerned about who would decide who are merit teachers, how parents will react to their students being assigned to teachers who are not classified as merit teachers, and the problems that would arise between the two groups of teachers. “We’re concerned,” Mrs. Wells said. “We've been told that this is coming down the pipe and there’s nothing we can do about it. But were very concerned with the atmosphere in the classroom.” Dean Westmoreland, a teacher at Kings Mountain High, said states have tried merit pay in the past and it was aban- doned because of the numerous problems it presented. “There’s no way that anyone can really determine who is a merit teacher ‘and who is not,” Westmoreland said. “We feel merit pay is mostly 2 an effort to save money.” Available Beginning this month, the Kings Mountain Multi-Purpose Senior Center will have volunteers scheduled to take blood pressure once a month as a health service for senior citizens. Friday, January 21st from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. senior citizens’ are invited to have their blood pressure checked. _ presure on principals. cerns,” Mrs. Lee told the ‘teachers, “but I also feel that the board cannot make a decision because we do not have enough information from the state. I will say that we are studying it and one of these days may have to make a decision.” Supt. Davis said five pilot systems recently used a merit system and abandoned it because of all the problems it created. Davis said a Select Committee of the General Assembly is stu- dying several education issues, of which merit pay is a part. The merit pay plan being considered would involve placing teachers. . in a five-level hierarchy as deter- mined by performance and evaluation of principals. Teachers would be paid accor- ding to their level. “Many people in high posi-. tions are in favor of it,” Davis said. “If it comes we want to do the best job we can. This may not be as imminent as it appears but it looks like it’s coming.” ‘Davis and the teachers presen the. ‘plan ‘would also’ ‘place would have to live with their decisions,” Davis said. “Part of our responsbility is to educate the public that this won’t work in education, ” Mrs. Wells said. Mrs. Lee said the issue has “pros and cons to it. Parents want to see something done. We need to weed out teachers who are riding along on the good teachers’ skirt tails. It’s time for something to be done.” Funeral Services Held For Paul H. McGinnis Paul H. McGinnis Sr., 75 retired. founder’ of McGinnis Department Store, died Thurs- day morning at his home at 408 Hawthorne Road. A native of Kings Mountain, he was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle McGinnis. He was an active member of Resur- rection Lutheran Church and was recently honored with a life membership from the North Carolina Lutheran Men. A graduate of Kings Moun- tain High School, McGinnis spent over 50 years in the retail clothing business. He worked for 20 years for Keeter’s Depart- ment Store and opened McGin- nis Department Store in 1952. He was also part owner in C&S Mart. He was a member of the first board of directors of the Kings Mountain Redevelopment Com- mission, was a charter member of the Kings Mountain Lions Club, Kings Mountain Rotary Club, and Kings Mountain Country Club, and was a direc- tor of First Citizens Bank and Trust Company. He was a lifelong Lutheran. As a boy he was confirmed and baptized at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church and taught Sunday School and ‘served .on the church council there. In 1938 he was the congregation’s delegate to the National Con- vention of the Lutheran Church in America in Baltimore. In 1950 he assisted with the survey that led to the founding of Resurrec- tion Lutheran Church and was first vice<hairman of the con- gregation there. He served more than 45 years on the church council and as a Sunday School PAUL H. McGINNIS teacher. He is survived by his wife, Ethel Hamrick McGinnis; two sons, Dr. Paul H. McGinnis Jr. of Baton Rouge, La., and John B. McGinnis of Kings Moun- tain; one daughter, Mrs. Doyle (Anita) Campbell of Kings Mountain; four brohters, Hubert McGinnis, Donald McGinnis, Bill McGinnis and Jim McGin- nis, all of Kings Mountain; five sisters, Mrs. Geraldine Gonzalez of Fort Myers, Fla., Mrs. Lucille Sawyer of Charlotte, Mrs. Dorothy Whetstine of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Mrs. Virginia Sabetti of Kings Moun- tain; and five grandchildren. Services were conducted Saturday at 3 p.m. at Resurrec- tion Lutheran Church by the Rev. Gerald Weeks. Burial was in Mountain Rest Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Resurrection Lutheran Church. “They