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VOL. 101 NUMBER 51
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HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS - Santa Claus reaches
to his bag of goodies for some candy to throw
to youngsters lining the parade route in Sunday's annual Christmas parade in downtown Kings Mountain.
Santa will be making his rounds again early Christmas morning with lots of toys for good girls and boys.
More parade pictures are on page 1-B.
~ Santa Claus
Has Helpers
Santa Claus will have many helpers this season as
various churches and individuals plan special projects
to help the less fortunate. !
Kings Mountain ministers will be ringing bells in
the shopping centers Friday and Saturday from 3 until
9 p.m., an annual invitation to citizens to help stock a
Helping Hand Fund which is an on-going year-round
project for the needy. The Helping Hand Fund also op-
erates a Food Bank at the Community Center and
Diane Davis distributes the staple food items from 2
until 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Local churches provide food certificates to needy per-
sons to visit the food bank.
People That Love Center on North Piedmont
Avenue will spread Christmas cheer to several hundred
children this season but need the support of local gifts.
Mrs. Wanda Kyle, Center operator, said that good,
used toys are needed as well as money to buy food and
fruit. Since Kings Mountain Fire Department is not [*
conducting its Toys for Tots program this year, the
Love Center is the only location in town where toys
will be available to area needy, said Mrs. Kyle. Persons
wanting to make donations to the Center may do so ou
Thursday and Friday from 10 to 12:30 and between 3
and 5 p.m. On Saturday the Center will open from 9
a.m. until 1 p.m. and all day beginning Dec. 19 from 9
a.m. until 5 p.m. Gifts will be distributed to the needy
on Dec. 23, said Mrs. Kyle.
In addition to the toy collection, the Love Center
will be distributing food to 20 families and to a number
of senior citizens. "Any donation will be appreciated,"
said Mrs. Kyle.
Mrs Kyle said volunteers are needed to staff the
Love Center during the holidays. She acknowledged
the assistance of Boy Scout Troop 441 who helped out
during the Thanksgiving holiday when the Center
served a hot turkey dinner to needy families.
Kings Mountain Baptist Association is operating a
New Toy Store this season for the area needy who can
receive information from local churches. Various
churches are contributing the new toys, as well as do-
nations to buy new toys, and the facility is open from 9
Turn To Page 6-A
MUSIC MAN-Tony Blanton plays the Balalaika,
a Russian guitar. He plays more than 60 instru-
ments, many of which are homemade.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1988
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA 25¢
iB Bond Referendum
Vote Set Feb. 7
City Council, at a called regular session at city hall
Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., held a public hearing on the Feb.
7, 1989, $9.2 million bond referendum and adopted
bond orders and the final resolution officially setting
the procedure, as required by law.
The city fathers also got a jump on the contemplated
expenditures for water, wastewater and electrical "catch
up” and expansion efforts by approving a utilities
committee recommendation, proposed by Consulting
Engineer David Pond at a meeting with the committee
on Dec. 7th, to contract now for design work for:
1) the proposed 2.0 MGD (million gallon per day)
expansion and sludge-handling facilities at the Pilot
Creek WWTP (waste water treatment plant) located on
Potts Creek off US-74 east of the Buffalo Creek
bridges.
2) the proposed 5.0 MG (million gallon) finished
water storage tank to be located off NC-161 north of
the city,
The vote was 6-0 with all members present. The
council authorized Mayor Kyle Smith, who presided, to
sign the contracts. The action allows W.K. Dickson &
Co., Inc., engineers to continue design work already
undertaken in the general process of planning the up-
grading of the services.
"Kings Mountain is operating under a judicial order
of consent,” Pond said during the public hearing, "and
that means the city and the court have agreed to a
schedule to improve wastewater disposal and treatment
or the judge will begin collecting daily fines for
continued violations."
The court order was served last spring, Pond said,
and resulted in a shut-down of the city's ability to hook-
on new customers seeking sewer service. Emergency
repairs of some $100,000 were made, he said, and the
moraterium has been lifted.
"These projects to be paid for by the proposed
genegal obligation bonds will only bring Kings
Mountain's sewer operations up to present day
Standpids required by law," the representative of the
Turn To Page 6-A
TRL
ony Blanton:
Tony Blanton is a music maker. His music doesn't
always come from traditional instruments, or from the
classics. In fact, he is 180 degrees from what most
people would consider conventional.
"It all started in 1976 when I got layed off work,"
said Blanton from his home on Crow Road near
Shelby. “I didn't have no money to do anything, so I
started trying to play.”
And play he has, learning to bring tunes from 60
different instruments, 25 of which he made.
Blanton, who has never studied music, discovered
his grandfather's fiddle. "I learned "Twinkle, Twinkle
Little Star’ the first day," he laughs. From there
Blanton's unusual experiments with musical instru-
ments began, and it has grown into a sideline that is
taking up a bigger portion of his life.
He is currently performing in 10 annual music
shows throughout the region, and is also being called
on to perform for various groups around the area. Last
week he was in Kings Mountain and played for the
Board of Realtors during their annual Christmas ban-
quet.
Has Blanton had a life-long love for music?
"No, not really," he said. "When I was growing up
about all you ever heard was the Beatles, and I really
Chamber Endorses Idea
Kings Mountain Chamber of Commerce Monday’
endorsed the Feb. 7 bond referendum which seeks $9.2.
million for upgrading city utilities.
"The main reason the
{| Chamber is endorsing the
bond issue is because we
| feel the maintenance work
{| needs to be done in order
| in the Kings Mountain
area," said President Kemp
Mauney. "Industry will need
{ new utilities and one way or
| another the money will have
to be funded, either through
the election for bonds or
revenue bonds that will
have to be issued at a higher
2 rate," he said.
KEMP MAUNEY Chamber officers a.d di-
; rectors met for a business
meeting to set the annual banquet for Jan. 23, 1989 at 7
p.m. at Holiday Inn. They also approved three new di-
rectors, including Lyn Cheshire, David Faunce and Joe
Andrews. Other officers are Bobby Maner, First Vice
President; Dr. Grady Howard, Jr., Second Vice-
President; and Lucille Williams, Secretary. Other di-
rectors are Will Herndon, Ernest Rome, Claude Suber,
Jonas Bridges, Carl Plonk, Bobby Maner, John Henry
Moss, Louie Sabettie, Vickie Smith, Ruby Alexander,
Grady Howard, Jr., John McGinnis, Rick Keever, Glee
Bridges, and Odus Smith. Mayor Kyle Smith and
Grady Howard, Sr., are honorary members.
Mrs. Vickie Smith announced that speaker for the
January banquet will be Paulette Purgason, Public
Relations Co-ordinator for Charlotte's Douglas
International Airport.
for new industry and growth |
didn't care for that. It just sort of happen, when I found
out that I could make music.” :
Blanton, who terms his show a novelty act, usually
performs by playing instruments alphabetically. "It's
the only way I can keep up with them," he smiles.
It usually begins with an autoharp, then to a
Balalaika, a Russian guitar -like instrument, next a
banjo and then through a variety of instruments many
of which the audience has usually never seen.
Blanton plays a beautiful melody from glasses filled
with water. He also plays a handsaw, a balloon, a
piece of water hose in a plastic bottle, and even a
straw.
He has appeared before a variety of civic groups
and has been on several regional television stations and
was once on NBC nightly news. "I have learned that
people do enjoy what I do, and I am learning more and
more what they like." He first started performing in
1985.
He says that he is waiting to be discovered and is
now working for the Frrest Service "counting trees."
Performing in bib overalls in a very casual manner
is Blanton's style. "I think I would fit in real good on
‘Hee Haw,' but I don't believe I would go over on
A Novelty Act
Lawrence Welk," he laughs.
KM Homes Get New Roofs
Insurance claims may top $1 million from the
May 17 hailstorm which damaged approximately
3,000 homes in the Greater Kings Mountain area.
Bob Maner, owner of B. F. Maner Agency, said that
the hailstorm swiped the south side of the city and that
the average claim is between $1500-$2000. Replacing
some roofs were much higher, he said, noting that one
claim for a cedar shake roof amounted to $20,000 and
another big claim for replacement of a high quality
roof was $13,500.
Linda Bennett, claims representative for Warlick-
Hamrick Insurance Agency, said her firm was also
hard hit by claims for roof repairs following the storm.
"We'll still be paying for several more months and are
DWI Arrests Increase
working to get them settled," she said. Mrs. Bennett
says she has no actual count of the number of house-
holds affected the the storm but "it's a whole lot and
damages are in the thousands of dollars."
Maner said his firm has handled 500-600 claims
filed on homeowner's policies and that the money paid
out by local insurance companies for new roofs will
approximate a million dollars. Maner's figures also in-
clude residents in Grover who suffered storm damage
and some home owners in Earl and the Ebenezer sec-
tion off Cherryville Road.
Maner said the storm touched down in the south end
of the city in the area of the Kings Mountain High
School on Phifer Road and on York Road near his
50 Percent
A 50 percent increase in arrests of drunk drivers has
been the result of a new DWI Task Force which began
operation Nov.1 following a $69,989.57 grant, which
includes $8,609.75 from the city and the remainder
Captain Bob Hayes, who heads up the project for
the Kings Mountain Police Department, said the grant
also supplied a new 1988 Ford Crown Victoria fully
equipped and a computer for the operation. Mrs. Marty
Blanton serves as project analysis secretary.
The grant period is for one year and employs off-
duty personnel who are full-time police officers to op-
erate the DWI enforcement program on Thursdays,
During the first month of operation Hayes said a to-
tal of 164.5 patrol hours were mariled by project per-
Classifieds ........... 13-B
Community News u:-104
itorials............. 4-
ome Tan ha Lea) 10-C from federal funds.
Lifestyles ............. 1-C
Obituaries ............ 3-A
Religion .............. 9-B
Schools ............... 3-B
Sports .............e 7-A
44 Fridays and Saturdays.
PAGES TODAY
sonnel and the number of DWI arrests by project per-
sonnel totaled 23. The number of speeding arrests by
project personnel totaled 23. The number of seat belt
citations by project personnel totaled six. All other ar-
rests by project personnel totaled 42. The special Task
Force investigated 33 accidents involving 13 injuries
including three which were alcohol related. Alcohol re-
lated property damages amounted to $7,000.
Patrolmen working the Task Force drove a total of
2,080 miles during the month of November.
Police use roadblocks, radar and moving patrol to
remove drunk drivers from the highway which is the
major goal of the DWI Task Force and have seen a
large increase in DWI detection and arrests since the
program began a month ago.
business. Most homes with roofs 10-12 years old got
new roofs, said Maner. Also Princeton Drive residents
near the Margrace area of the city got new roofs, he
said. The Quail Run Community was also heavily
damaged by the hail and most roofs in that section had
to be replaced, he said.
Maner said that his projection of the damages to this
area also include conversations with other insurance
carriers of homeowners insurance who service this
area.
Maner agreed with Mrs. Bennett that it will several
months before the final figures can be tabulated.
A total of 103 roofing permits were issued by the
Kings Mountain Codes Department for the periord
May-November.
Kings Mountain Population Figures
Supplied by Kings Mountain Chamber of Commerce
Estimated
9,000
8,436
8,323
s GREATER KINGS MOUNTAIN
J (8 Mile Perimeter Including Woodbridge, Grover)
Ler 1980 IeLets
25,000
Graphies By Joy Day
FOR HOME DELIVERY OF THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD CALL 739-7496
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