Page 2A-KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Thursday. December 29, 1983
Lizzie Was A Good Ole Gal
After driving a Buick for 10 years I surprised my whole family
Christmas week when I said goodbye, a bit reluctantly, to “Lizzie” for
a 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity. My old vehicle and I had traveled over
150,000 miles together and many miles were logged during 1976-77
when as state president of the American Legion Auxiliary I traveled
from Manteo in the East to Murphy in the Western part of the state.
Among my more surprised friends was a Cherryville Santa Claus
who promised me for the past two Christmases at The Eagle that “if
you’re good you’ll get a new car for Christmas.” This Santa walks the
streets of the business district each Christmas season and distributes
candy and cheer. When I pulled into my old parking spot at the back
of The Eagle one day last week Santa didn’t recognize me at first. Then
he took credit for my present, reminded me that he hadn’t told me
which Christmas I could expect the car. “But I guess Ill give you some
candy even if you did run off and leave us and go back to Kings Moun-
tain”, he said.
EDITORIAL
TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much and
he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. St. Luke 16:10.
Outlook For 1984
Much has already been said concerning the outlook for business and
the projected upswing in the economy for New Year 1984.
Learned writers, economists, bankers, brokers and presidents of
giant. corporations all have gazed into the crystal ball and voiced
predictions for the coming 12 months.
None can read the future, but we hope they’re right.
Certainly the recent Christmas shopping season was the best in
many years and day after Christmas sales indicate that more people are
spending money at this holiday season.
Part of the optimistic attitude, we suspect, is the feeling by many
that “things have got to get better” in 1984 than in the recent 12 mon-
ths.
The end of the year is a time for reflection as well as anticipation.
Now that Christmas is gone, it’s time to set forth on the New Year
armed with resolve to do better in all departments for 1984, physically,
mentally, morally and spiritually. It is a resolution all could well take
and the Herald does, hoping and pledging to strive to do a better job in
3 L___ publishing each editior produced during the ensuing 12 months of
1984. ;
Happy New Year!
Fa
(From the Jan. 2, 1963 edition of the Kings Mountain Herald).
Grady K. Howard, Kings Mountain Hospital administrator, will be
installed as president of the Kings Mountain Kiwanis Club at the Civic
Club’s regular Thursday night meeting at 6:45 p.m. at the Woman's
Club.
Decision on the on-site location of the new high school to be erected
on Phifer Road is expected to be made within the next few days.
Kings Mountain National Military Park headquarters logged
87,770 visitors during 1952, Supt. Ben Moomaw reported.
January is a special month for the family of Nancy and Norman F.
McGill, Jr. Their son, Chip McGill, celebrates his first birthday Fri-
day, Jan. Sth. Their son, Trip McGill, celebrates his third birthday on
Jan. 30th.
Descendants of Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Mauney gathered on Dec. 27th
com MUNITY
CALENDAR
THURSDAY: 12:00 - Kings Mountain Rotary Club at the Holi-
day Inn. 6:45 p.m. - Kings Mountain Kiwanis Club at the Holi-
day Inn.
FRIDAY: 6:15 p.m. - Adult Choir of Bethlehem Baptist Church,
Fellowship Supper.
SATURDAY: 9:00-12:00 p.m. - New Year's Eve Dance at the
American Legion building for Legionnaires, wives and guests.
Symphony Coming
A duo and quartet from the North Carolina Symphony will perform
at East School and West School on Monday, Jan. 16th, at 1:45 p.m.
The Symphony group will be at Bethware School on Tuesday, Jan.
17th, at North from 10 until 11 a.m. and at Bethware at 1 p.m.
PUBLISHED EACH THURSDAY
GARLAND ATKINS
Publisher
GARY STEWART
Managing Editor
ELIZABETH STEWART
News Editor
DARRELL AUSTIN
General Manager
MEMBER OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION
The Herald is published by Herald Publishing House. P.O. Box 752, Kings
Mountain. North Carolina. 28086. Business and editorial offices are located at
Canterbury Road-East King Street. Phone 7337496. Second class postage
paid at Kings Mountain, N.C. Single copy 25 cents. Subscription rates: $10.40
yearly in-state. $5.20 six months. $11.44 yearly out'of state. $5.72 six months.
Student rates for nine months. $7.80. USPS 931-040.
‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY, -
After a week, we're all getting used to my new car at the house, ex-
cept our 12 cats and family dog. I warned the pets they'd get nothing
but switches for Christmas if I found any paw prints on my new vehi-
cle. So far, Larry and the cat family have behaved. Happy, my sister-
inlaw Grace’s dog, fears a foreign object has invaded the property.
Happy comes running across the street every time the new car arrives
and on Christmas Day I found Happy standing on his hind legs with
his front muddy paws on the right door of the car. Happy was check-
ing it out, I guess.
My worst experience in my new car was last Wednesday when I
started back from Gastonia and happened along at the time of a chain-
reaction five car pileup on the icecovered bridge on 74-East, the new
KM exit on the new road. Traffic was halted for an hour and a half
and I had plenty of time to memorize the songs for Wednesday night’s
Christmas musicale at the church and clean out my pocketbook.
About 4:30 p.m. a highway patrolman told me to turn around on the
bridge and head toward Bessemer City where I got back on I-85 South.
I regretted that I didn’t stay on I-85 south instead of taking the KM ex-
it. My holidays would have been soured if my then two-day-old new
car had been damaged during that icy pileup on the bridge.
As I cleaned out my pocketbook I found some notes I had scribbled
on the back of an envelope from a recent Rotary meeting, and found
Tom Trott’s poem quite appropriate to the occasion: “The Kings
Mountain By-Pass Winding In And Winding Out, It fills my mind
with serious doubt, As to whether the lute who built the route was go-
ing to he—or coming back.”
Happy New Year!
lim Pottgr. back row. left, and Burris
Ramey, rightiwere surpr! their bir
hold up garters which were memenfos of the occasion. Front
row at table, Hallie Blanton, Betty Potter and Peggy Ramey.
1 rised on their birthdays récently. They be
Lib
Stewart
Burris Ramey, 50, and Jim Potter, 46, probably won’t forget their
birthday celebrations last week. Their wives, Peggy Ramey and Betty
Potter, went to a lot of trouble to plan an unusual celebration at Fred
Kiser’s Grill.
Since the menfolk usually gather for coffee before work at the
popular restaurant downtown, Betty and Peggy thought that would be
the perfect spot to surprise their husbands. “We thought they’d
become suspicious, however, when we suggested we’d go to breakfast
with them before our bridge game,” said Betty.
And their suspicions mounted when Hallie (Mrs. Charles) Blanton,
- Melanie (Mrs. Mike) Ballard and the Potter’s daughter, Edie, all hap-
pened to drop by the restaurant at 8:30 a.m. B.E. Smith, of Gastonia,
came over to the Potter table and was invited to join the crowd.
The fun began, however, after the first cups of coffee were poured.
A “belly dancer” arrived in white tuxedo, lace tights, and top hat and
danced around the table, stopping to perch on Jim’s knee and Burris’
knee long enough for each of them to retrieve a garter as a momento of
the occasion. To top off the entertainment members of the Rescue
Squad were also having breakfast in the coffee shop and immediately
came over with oxygen just in case it was needed.
“You don’t turn 50 every day”, said Mr. Ramey, and “this was a
special occasion but we didn’t know how special.”
After the celebration, the men folk went to work and the rest of the
part enjoyed their bridge game.
The Blanton family left for a holiday trip to Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
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A holiday drop-in honored Jane and Jerry King, who were wed in
November. Mary Evelyn and Jim Anthony hosted the party for 25
guests at their home on Hillside Drive.
Polly and Jones Pharr of Midland, sister and brother-in-law of Mrs.
Anthony, assisted in serving refreshments.
Mrs. King is principal at West School. Mrs. Anthony is secretary at
West School. {
Christmas decorations were used throughout the house. Heavy
horsdouvres were served from 5:30 until 8:30. p.m. \
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Arlene (Mrs. J.D.) Barrett and her daughter; Cheryl (Mrs. David)
Butler are spending several days in Corydon, Indiarid with Arlene’s’
brother, Jim Schneider and family.
Cable Blackout Of ACC Games
Upsets Some Local Viewers
Many sports fans in Kings Mountain and surrounding areas were
disappointed recently when they turned on their cable televisions to
watch an ACC basketball game only to find that it had been blacked
out.
The reason for the blackout is that Raycom Sports Network, which
holds the rights to ACC basketball, sold a package of some 20 ACC
games to ESPN, and ESPN, in turn, decided to sell the package to
customers in the ACC area for $64.95.
Jones Intercable, which provides the cable franchise to the city of
Kings Mountain, felt like charging its customers for something they’ve
already paid for was wrong, and is not offering the ACC package local-
ly.
Many cable customers here have complained to Jones Intercable,
but would accomplish more by complaining to ESPN at the ESPN
Plaza, Bristol, Conn., 06010.
Robbie Bridges, Area Marketing Manager for Jones Intercable, says
he feels his company would be “double charging” if it offered the
package, which includes many feature games such as North Carolina
at Maryland on January 12, Maryland at Wake Forest on February 8
and Carolina at Virginia on February 9.
Also, Bridges explains, it may be illegal for the local company to sell
the package without first getting approval from the Kings Mountain
Board of Commissioners. Any rate increase in cable TV service must
be approved by the city.
“We feel like it is unfair to have our subscribers pay for something
they’re already paying for,” says Bridges. “If this venture by ESPN
fails, maybe this type thing will not go into other areas of sports.”
Because Raycom sold the ACC rights to ESPN does not mean that
local fans will not see any ACC basketball games. Raycom will con-
tinue to show games of the week and special week-night-games
through the sponsorship of Pilot Insurance Company and Holly
Farms on free television. The ACC tournament is also scheduled for
free TV.
However, fans in other parts of the country will get to see ACC
basketball on ESPN without paying $64.95 for the special season
ticket.
In short, ESPN realizes how big ACC basketballs in this part of the
country and decided to cash in on it.
“It’s possible that if whoever has the revenue big enough to buy the
rights (to sporting events) could control it,” says Bridges. “This could
be the first step to what could be a long ordeal.”
Jenes Intercable, by not offering the package, 1s taking a stand in
protest of such a possibility. Any ESPN subscribers who feel the same
should let their feelings be known by writing ESPN.
Many Kings Mountain ACC fans intend to do just that.
Charlie Smith and several others have been calling and writing
ESPN. ACC Commissioner Bob James, and sponsors of ACC basket-
ball games to voice their opinions.
“ESPN is saying that local cable companies have the option to pick
the package up, but that’s a bunch of bull,” says Smith. “If they pick 1t
up, they double charge you. When they sell us ESPN services we
ought to get everything they offer: They advertise ACC basketball on
their network and in the papers,.and then when you get ready to
watch the game, it’s blacked out; east
“The ACC is trying to get more national exposure, and that’s not
fair to the state.” added Smith. “The basketball fans of North Carolina
have been supporting ACC basketball for years, and now they're tak-
ing it away from us. Eventually, it'll get the ACC tournament.”
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Smith has also been in touch with the State Attorney General’s of-
fice and has received the proper forms to file an official complaint.
“If they’re charging us one rate and letting the rest of the nation
have the games at the basic rate, they might be violating a North
Carolina law,” says Smith. “Even if they’re not, their advertising is still
deceptive.”
Smith said his message to the sponsors of ACC basketball has been
that “we appreciate them carrying it on commercial TV for so many
years but do not want them to go to cable TV. We hope they’ll use
their influence to get ACC basketball on free TV. Nothing can be done
about it this year but hopefully it can help next year.”
Smith said any persons wanting to voice their complaints over the
season ticket package should write or call Bob James, ACC Commis-
sioner, Greensboro N.C. (1-919-282-1108); ESPN Sports, Bruce Blair,
Chicago, 111. (312-938-4223); Holly Farms Poultry, Bill Rush, Director
of Marketing, P.O. Box 88, Wilkesboro, N.C; Pilot Life Insurance,
Public Relations Director Arnie G. Culbrith, Greensoro, N.C.
(1-919-299-4720; and Jefferson Productions, Executive Producer John
Shreves, Charlotte, N.C.
* ok *
Someone thought they’d get Paul Hord’s “goat” by giving him a
goat. But now they’re not going to get Paul Hord’s goat.
If that sounds confusing, read on.
A couple of nights before Christmas, Hord and his family returned
home from shopping to find a small billy.goat tied to an old, bald tire in
his front lawn. ;
A big, red ribbon was tied around the goat’s neck with a note saying.
“Merry Christmas, Paul Jr.”
At the time, Hord didn’t think it was such a nice gift. Ever since,
he’s been trying to find out who played this trick on him. :
“If Dean Westmoreland had been in town, I would have blamed it
on him,” said Hord. But, Dean, who raises goats on his farm near
Grover, was out of town and he was eliminated as a suspect.
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