Page 4A-KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Wednesday, September 14, 1988
Opinions
OUR VIEW | Cartoonitorial By J. Day Your Right To Say It |
| Many Children
Need Your Help
Nothing is more pitiful than a neglected or abus-
ed child and nothing pulls stronger on the heart
strings of concerned people who want to do
something to better the plight of the needy.
A group of these caring people had a vision eight
years ago of building a facility that would house
abused and abandoned youngsters here in
Cleveland County. Thanks to their untiring efforts,
countless volunteers and donations, the James
Home will spon be a reality. Two more fund
raisers have been scheduled this month that will
hopefully raise the remaining $7,000 needed to
gan construction of the facility (see story page
3-A).
Why should we concern ourselves with these
children? Isn’t the issue of needy children really a
problem that is in the big city getto? ;
No, the suffering of needy children here in
Cleveland County is just as strong here as the in-
ner city. Here’s why:
—One out of five children in North Carolina live
in poverty. Most are white, but minority children
are four times as likely to be poor.
—More than 19% of the children in Cleveland
County live below the poverty line.
—More than 34,000 children were reported abus-
ed in 1987, a figure that has increased the past four
consecutive years in North Carolina. :
—There are aporoNimately 190 children in
foster homes in Cleveland County, and 82 more
placed outside the county.
The number of abused and abandoned children
continues to grow in our area. Social workers and
other professionals at times feel they are losing
the battle.
But there is hope, and the James Home is an ex-
ample of what can be done on the local level. We
hope you will attend the upcoming fund raisers for
this needy project, or send a donation by calling
482-7471.
And we also encourage you to voice your con-
cern to your elected representatives. North
Carolina can do better in meeting the needs of our
young needy, but only if the effort starts with a
concerned citizenry.
Old-Timers
Honor Roll
‘I would like to nominate the following individual
to the Kings Mountain Herald Honor Roll of Kings
Mountain old-timers:
Names he hee
Address: ll a Lh a a ae ;
Age thiscalendaryear:........................
" Check one: --My nominee is a Kings Mountain
citizen who has reached 95 years of age or older
this calendar
---My nominee is a Kings Mountain citizen who
has worked for one professional or one employer
(including self-employed) in Kings Mountain or
Cleveland County for 35 or more years. Give
details below:
Employer or profession:
Years: ... nro diri ado ie
Name and phone number of person making
nomination (not for publication): :
Name: @ iii nanneaiainianipe Tain
Phone NUMDRL: in. vive i en» Sind,
Honor Roll
Kings Mountain Herald
P. O. Box 769
Kings Mountain, N.C. 28086
Letter Policy
deadlines when submitting letters: 1
Keep the letters brief and to the point. Type
and double-space them, if possible, but sign
them in ink and include your full name, ad-
dress and telephone number for verification.
The Herald reserves the right to edit the
letters for spelling, good taste, libel, or any
other reason, and reserves the right to refuse
the letters for any reason.
All letters must be mailed to Letter to the
Editor, P.O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, N.C.
28086. Under no circumstances will hand-
delivered letters be published.
We ask that you follow these guidelines and |,
©1988 Greene Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved.
All property rights for the entire contents of this publication shall ‘be
property of Greene Newspapers, Inc. No part may be reproduced
without prior consent.
Established 1889
Published Wednesday
at East King Street at Canterbury Road, Kings Mountain,
North Carolina 28086 by Greene Newspapers, Inc.
Gary M. Greene
Publisher
Gary Stewart
Editor Darrell Austin
Elizabeth Stewart Advertising Director
News Editor Sarah Griffin
Randall Barber Bookkeeper
Pressroom Superintendent Jeff Grigg
: Production Manager
: 1¥r. v Months
HE COUNLY. oi. an a st RE $14.50 $7.25
OUb-OF-County SJ... 0 as eo as RS $15.55 $7.80
Student Rates (9MOS.).........ccooviviviinnininnnnn, $11.00
(All prices include 5 percent sales tax.)
SCPTENBER ©
SUN MON T0%. WE> THR FAL S41
1 {Z]|3
5 9
[1 |121/3|/#|/15]16
/18
28
47 VARS AGO oN
THIS ERY ZY —
FEAR, FARBR
WAS “7 © ov
ERLY 17 MORE SHOPPING HY5 BEFORE CHRISTMAS «0 «
Hey George! That’s December 7
President Ronald Reagan has addressed the
American legion and Auxiliary eight times during
his administration and four times in two.years this
reporter served as National Public Relations
Chairman for the one million member Auxiliary.
So, it was no surprise to me that the crowds
would come to Louisville, Ky. last week to Com-
monwealth Convention Center to hear him ad-
dress thousands of delegates representing 3.8
million members at the national convention.
The President came to Louisville Tuesday, Sept.
6, followed on Wednesday, Sept. 7th by Vice Presi-
dent George Bush and on Thursday, Sept. 8th by
Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.
The crowds also jammed the convention center
for the presidential candidates but neither can-
didate got the reception that President Reagan
received.
Arlene Barrett of Kings Mountain and this
reporter were seated with the Panama and In-
diana delegations close to the front of the podium
where the speech making took place. The Bush
goof before the Legionnaires was as a real sur-
prise! When he inadvertently announced to the
American Legion that ‘“‘today Sept. 7th is Pearl
Harbor Day’’ he had apparently departed from his
prepared speech. “I wonder today how many
Americans remember that today, Sept. 7, 1988 is
the anniversary of Pearl Harbor,” the presiden-
tial candidate said to a stunned audience. ‘“That
date stands clearly in my mind, as a high school
student coming out of a church service at prep
school in Andover, Mass. 47 years ago to this very
day we were hit and hit hard at Pearl Harbor and
we were not ready.” Murmuring ensued and
heads turned. TV cameras scanned the crowd for
reaction. The whispers in the audience grew
louder as Bush continued his speech.
Then, a chuckling Bush paused and said, “Did I
say Sept. 7th? Sorry about that. Dec. 7, 1941, 47
years ago this year,” he said. Then, thousands of
conventionners applauded and the murmurmings
ended up with forgiveness.
(Ed. Note: Rusty Gates wants to get involved
with local sports, so we accepted his offer, and
now he is in charge of the key to the batter’s box at
the local ball park.)
Looking Both Ways
A few weeks ago Hollywood unleashed another
attack on all that has been held inviolable for
decades: P this time the target was minor league
baseball, which is undoubtedly the greatest spor-
ting event since people began playing around.
I don’t mean major league baseball where kids
who aren’t old enough to shave own Montana and
the Lesser Antilles but can’t write to find out how
things are going because they can’t spell the
names of either of their places. These are the peo-
ple who say the owner doesn’t respect them, or
they say the manager doesn’t do a good job of in-
spiring them to play.
It seems to me--and to a lot of other people-- that
if a man pays a kid a dump-truck load of money to
play a child’s game, the owner is showing about
$1.5 million worth of respect. And if a base salary
of $6,000 per day isn’t motivation, it’s hard to im-
agine what is needed.
The game that was unparalleled was the old
semi-pro games that were played all over the
South. In this area some of the best players who
ever swung a bat played for years, and the best
pay-day some of them ever received wouldn’t
have bought a hubcap for one of the fancy cars
kids drive today.
Running a close second to the semi-pro games
were those of the Class D leagues in the area. The
characters that emerged from these contests did
not need a Hollywood scriptwriter to make them
appear to be interesting.
These players fought, drank, chased women,
gambled, and then showed up at the park and
knocked the cover off the ball, and as soon as the
game was over the cycle started anew. It is safe to
say that the players were colorful.
At least.
One area player grew tired of running around
and decided he would marry a friend of the team.
When the players rushed to his aid and informed
him that she had been on rather intimate terms
with every man in the municipality, the love-
stricken athlete said, in total surprise at their con-
cer, “Why, this ain’t a big town at all!”’
One player, who was rather thick through the
middle and between his ears, loved to crawl up
under the stands during the playing of the Na-
tional Anthem. he was looking for lost coins, I sup-
pose.
Lib
Stewart
The next day, Dukakis made reference to the
Bush goof in his prepared speech before Legion-
naires. He chuckled and said ‘I hear it’s closer to
Christmas than I thought. Guess I'll have to start
my Christmas shopping.” His speech was inter-
rupted about 15 times by applause from the au-
dience.
Reagan, Bush and Dukakis told the Legion and
Auxiliary, the world’s largest veteran’s and
patriotic organizations, what they wanted to hear,
increased veterans’ benefits and each appeared
on the podium in a blue Legion cap. They all said
they favored a cabinet level position for the head
of the Veterans Administration.
Democrat Michael Dukakis and Republican
George Bush offered starkly different views of the
nation’s economy. Dukakis said that under the
Republicans ‘“‘the rich have gotten richer and the
poor have gotten poorer.” He said millions of high
paying jobs have been replaced by low wage posi-
tions and asked, ‘‘Can we afford four more years
of that?”
Republican rival Bush touted economic gains
under the Reagan administration, saying the ad-
ministration ‘has created 17 1; million jobs, more
disposable income for the American people, lower
taxes and all my oppenent can do is tell the
American people how bad things are.”
Demonstrators appeared at all three events but
Louisville police were prepared for them and for
the estimated 20,000 people in the city for the
Legion events which included a Labor Day festival
at the fairgrounds featuring country music singer
Lee Greenwood well known for his rendition of
‘God Bless The USA.”
back as he possibly could--in search of the elusive
coinage-- and about the time the public address
system started playing the anthem, a spectator
stood and dropped her cigarette, which went
through a crack, landed in a wrinkle in the chubby
player’s neck, and began to burn.
The player began to writhe, to scream, to shake,
rumble, and roar his dismay. The harder he tried
to extricate himself, the tighter he was stuck, and
the more the cigarette burned, the louder he yell-
ed. Finally someone poured a Coke through one of
the cracks and several players tugged at his feet
until he was both extinguished and out.
One player had a wager with the owner that the
player would finish the season batting over .300 for
the team, and a week before the end of the season
the player ws around .330. At that point the owner
released the player and demanded that the wager
he paid to him (the owner) because the player had
not finished the season.
Up at East Monbo the workers in the mill could
go outside to watch games as long as someone, ac-
cording to the boss, kept an eye on the machines.
When the boss walked in later he found the mill
totally empty, and when he went outside to raise
cain one of the workers pointed out that a weaver
had left his glass eye on top of one of the machines.
The boss could not argue that the workers did
not keep an eye on the machines.
And one game was settled in a bizarre fashion.
In the ninth inning the home team led by one run
with two outs in the inning. The next batter looped
a soft liner over third base and the ball took a
crazy bounce into a patch of honeysuckle. While
the runner steamed around the bases, the short-
stop looked frantically for the ball.
Suddenly he saw a next of tiny rabbits, and he
picked up one and tossed the bunny to the third
baseman, who tagged the sliding runner.
n ang the umpire ruled the runner was out--by a
are!
Writer Supports
Mike Dukakis
Dear Sirs:
Having read the articles by Mrs. Beam and Mrs.
Cashion on the Bush/Dukakis race, I feel compell-
ed to state my reasons why I plan to support Mr.
Dukakis this November. I disagree with the gover-
nor on many issues (abortion, the death penalty,
school prayer), but I feel that most Americans
will look at the most important issues that affect
this nation.
1. Jobs. Though the Regan Administration has
taken credit for creating millions of jobs since
1980, many of these jobs are minimum-wage, or
low-paying jobs with very few, or any benefits,
and many people are unable to support a family on
them. The class of “working homeless” has gotten
bigger, as has the class of super-rich. The middle
class in this country has been slowly diminishing.
All this has been at the expense of high-paying
jobs that allowed Americans to own homes, cars,
and support their families. Just look at all the
American companies that have either closed
down, or moved their operations overseas in order
to save a few bucks.
2. The National Debt. On January 5, 1987, the
National Debt was announced at being
$2,218,428,901,299.50. In 1980, the debt was just
under one frillion dollars. The Reagan Ad-
ministration has almost tripled the National Debt
by deficit spending, borrowing recklessly, and
allowing our trade deficit to increase. Foreign in-
vestors, right now, own so much of America’s
businesses that should they pull their assets out,
our nation would collapse, and according to many
economists, this would make the Crash of 1929
look like a church picnic. Though I do not support
a tax increase to pay for the Debt, I feel that Mr.
Dukakis would have a better handle on the debt
than Mr. Bush.
There are other issues that have swayed me
toward Dukakis (housing, trade, etc.) and I hope
that many other Americans will see how things
have been for them since 1980, and whether they
want to improve, or maintain the status quo.
John S. Hardin
Springfield, VA
Jim Gardner
Clear Choice
TO THE EDITOR
North Carolina voters have a clear choice on
November 8th in the race for Lieutenant Gover-
nor.
I urge our citizens to vote for Jim Gardner, the
Republican candidate for Lt. Gov. Mr. Gardner
has an outstandin
business. He served as Congressman from the 4th
District, co-founder of Hardee's Food System,
former commissioner and president of the
American Basketball Association, and recently as
president of Gardner’s Foods, Inc.
A close look at the philosophy and Jpport of
each candidate for Lt. Gov. shows the differences
between Jim Gardner and his liberal Democratic
opponent, State Senator Tony Rand.
Senator Rand has the endorsement of such left-
liberal interest groups as the AFL-CIO,
Teamsters Union, and NOW-Political Action Com-
mittee.
We need a Lt. Gov. presiding over the N.C. State
Senate who will work with Gov. Jim Martin, not
against him. Jim Gardner favors the veto power
for the Governor. He wants to maintain our right
to work law. Mr. Gardner wants to see state
‘government committed to quality education, with
specific programs, not just promises.
A vote for Gardner is a vote for conservative
values and positive economic development.
Voters should reject the Jordan-Rand-Ramsey-
Watkins clique and support the Martin-Gardner
ticket. This will reduce the role of the Raleigh
power brokers and restore accountability to state
government,
Sincerely,
Russell S. ‘Rusty’ Davis, Jr.
Charlotte
Another Good
Job, Shriners
(ED. NOTE - The following letter was written to
the White Plains Shrine Club of Kings Mountain,
which hosted the ISA World Series recently at Bel-
mont).
Dear Shriners,
Thank you so much for the Southern hospitality
shown by your organization to the ISA and all the
teams which played in the 1988 ISA World Series.
To say that you were most gracious hosts, or
that Yor tournament was very well organized
would be a gross understatement. I can’t say
enough good about your group of Shriners to do
you justice. :
I had the good fortune to work: with Artie
Shoemaker and Carl Champion and I can per-
sonally tell you that both of them put in many,
many hours of hard work before the first pitch was
ever thrown.
It gives me rool pleasure to announce that the
ISA has decided to give your organization first
right of refusal on next year’s World Series, also to
give you first right to refusal each year following
each ISA World Series which you host without
your having to pay a bid fee. ;
Hopefully, we will be able to pick up Corporate
Sponsors and perhaps some TV Coverage in the
future which would benefit all the children we are
working for.
Again, thank you so much for the great job you
did at our World Series. ;
The ISA appreciates you and I know that
thousands of children across the nation in need of
your help appreciate you even more.
God Bless all of you. Keep up the good work.
Respectfully,
Larry Nash
Exec. Director, ISA
record in government and
BC
a I
fa a
Sr REL