North Carolina Newspapers

{ First Federal To Convert To Capital Stock Company ) -Since 1889- Member NC Press Association VOL. 101 NO. 44’ KM Voters Neisler, Greene On City Council Kings Mountain voters “ousted two incum- bent city commis- sioners Tuesday, electing Scott Neisler by a nearly 2-1 margin over ‘bent Harold Phillips and Elvin Greene by 15 votes over five-term incumbent Humes Houston as 1,587 citizens went to the polls. Tuesday's runoff meant that Fred Finger in District 5 was the only incumbent to survive this year's election. Voters backed Finger by a slim margin of victory in the October Primary but forced the two other incum- bents into runoffs after Neisler led Phillips in District 6 and Houston held a considerable lead over Greene in District 2. Neisler, 33, sales executive at Dicey Fabrics in Shelby, and Greene, 45, supervisor at Buckeye Fire Equipment Co., are both newcomers to the political arena and youngest of the 10 candidates who sought three seats up for grabs at City Hall this election year. A jubilant Greene and his supporters, including family and church members, burst into the spiritual, "Feeling Mighty Fine" as election board members Becky Cook, James Carroll and Philip Hager posted runoff returns at City Hall Tuesday night about 8:30 p.m. "Praise The Lord I won" shouted Greene as he lifted his hands in the air in a victory sign and his fam- ily hugged and kissed him. Greene said he had told supporters if he won they would join in singing the spiritual, "Feeling Mighty Fine, I've Got Heaven On My Mind" on election night. " I make good on my NEISLER GREENE promises,” he said. See City, 3-A two-term incum- | Thursday, November 9, 1989 Election race for three seats on the boar seats on Grover town board. ELECTION DAY VOTING BRISK-Roy Bell Jr., casts his vote at the Grover precinct where 342 people vojiad in thie KM Board of and 133 voted for three Gary H. Whitaker, President of First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Kings Mountain, re- ; ports that the Board of Directors has adopted a pro- posed plan of Conversion to convert the Association from a federal mutual savings and loan associa- tion to a federal capital stock savings and loan holding company formed for such purposes. It is the desire of the Associations Board of Directors to attract new capital to First Federal to increase net worth the availabili- ty of funds for lending and invest- ment purposes, and to provide greater resources for the expansion of customer services. The reorgani- zation of the converted Savings Bank as a subsidiary of a holding company will facilitate the diversi- WHITAKER The proposed conversion of First Federal will be accomplished pursuant to the rules and regula- tions of the Office of Thrift Supervision (the successor to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board) authorizing federally insured sav- ings institutions to convert from mutual to stock form and the regu- lations promulgated thereunder. The conversion of the Association is subject to the ap- proval of the Office of Thrift Supervision. The conversion is also subject to approval by a majority of the votes eligible to be cast by the associations members at a Social Meeting at which the pro- posed Plan of Conversion will be submitted for their approval. A proxy statement giving the full de- tails of the Plan of Conversion will be sent to the associations mem- bers prior to the meeting of mem- bers. Whitaker stated that the normal business of First Federal in accept- ing savings and making loans will continue without interruption and fication of future operations and in- vestment opportunities. Senator Harris To Speak At Veteran's Day Service Kings Mountain Senator J. Ollie Harris will make the address at the community-wide Veterans Day ser- vice Saturday at 10 a.m. in Veterans Park of Mountain Rest Cemetery. Mayor Kyle Smith said the City of Kings Mountain is sponsoring the service in cooperation with local vet- erans groups and Colonel Frederick Hambright Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. Mayor Smith will preside at the service and present Senator Harris. Several members of the Kings Mountain Senior High School Chorus will present special patriotic mu- sic, including "The National Anthem" and a color guard from the Kings Mountain Fire Department will present the colors. Trumpeter Paul Fulton will play "Taps." Mis Hilda Goforth, president of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 155, and Mrs. Louise Roberts, Regent of Colonel Frederick Hambright Chapter DAR, will join Mayor Smith and Senator Harris in placing a wreath in memory of deceased veterans and in honor of living veterans of all wars. The graves in Veterans Park will be marked with United States flags which have been donated by veter- ans groups and the ceremony will be held in front of the memorial cross in the cemetery. "We invite the entire community to come out for this short service which is a tribute to all veterans,” | “id Smith. See First, 2-A all For Chang Houze First Black: ~~ On School Board Rev. Billy Houze of Grover be- came the first black elected to the Kings Mountain Board of Education Tuesday as a record number of voters returned Priscilla Mauney to her seat on the board and also elected newcomer Ronnie Hawkins. "This is a great day,” said Houze, pastor of Lawndale Baptist Church, "There was history being harmony to the board." Two new faces will be on the Grover Town Board in December. Grover voters in Tuesday's elec- tion rejected the reelection bid of incumbent Don Rich, returned incumbent Jim Howell to his seat on the board and elected two new commissioners-Timothy Rowland and W. Norman King. King, former, veteran commis- sioner on the Kings Mountain City VICTORY SMILES-Scott Neisler, left, and Elvin Greene smile broadly as they congratulate each other after winning election to the city board of commissioners. The first-time political contenders swept to vic- tory as 1,587 voters went to the polls Tuesday and gave Neisler an almost 2-1 victory over the incumbent in District 6 and Greene less than a one percent margin of of victory over the incumbent in District 2. made. I'm not so concerned about history, though, as I am about cohesiveness and “I'm really looking forward to working with the other board members," said Hawkins who was excited at winning his first elective office. As a new board member, Hawkins said Two New At Grover \ Council from Ward 4, will bring more than 22 lyears of experience on a town council to the Grover board, King, who retired from “=Southern Bell Telephone Company, and his ON NIR SONIY 41 S 00] JOWER XANAVR INORQH: 980872 “HAV LIVIGIT TVI C. 28086 eS KING MAUNEY HAWKINS he would target the system's dropout rate and drug problems as his first priorities and give the same dedication he has given to community service to programs benefiting See Howze, 2-A HOWELL KING ROWLAND Acres in Grover. See GROVER, 3-A Council To Study Gas Rate Kings Mountain City Council will consider a long-term gas con- tract for what City Engineer Tom Howard terms "a more favorable gas rate for cur customers” at a special meeting Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. Heath and Associates, the city's natural gas consultants, are expect- ed to attend the meeting to recom- mend a project for expansion of gas lines. A representative of Enron Company, the gas supplier with whom the city has been nego- tiating, will also make a presenta- tion to commissioners. Kings Mountain is in process of extending gas lines down Cherryville Road to Chestnut Meadows and has completed gas line extensions into Mountain Manor Sub-Division. After com- pleting major water line work on Castlewood and Edgemont Drives, paving of those two streets will be- gin, said Howard in a construction project report to members of the See GAS, 3-A The Past Is Gone, But It Still Hurts When Mattie (not her real name) was growing up in a family of three girls and seven boys in South Carolina, she wondered why other kids got presents and clothes at Christmas and she didn't get any. Her family was poor. Her father, an alcoholic, wouldn't accept things from other people. Her mother mis-treated her and "put me out.” For almost 10 years, until she was 22 years old, she lived in a girls school and although things were somewhat better there, she still felt neglected and poor. The only Christmas present she remembers ever re- ceiving at home was a doll and its face was broken. "To this day, I never remember my momma ever giv- ing me anything for Christmas," she says. "I felt rejected all the time," says Mattie. "I know it's in the past but it still hurts," she says as tears swell her eyes and her voice chokes. Mattie, now 52, lives in Kings Mountain with her husband. Both have numerous health problems. He works in a mill, but it's not running full time and his small check barely covers the rent and utilities on their small, sub-standard rental apartment. Mattie, who is a diabetic, has kidney problems and arthritis and suffered a stroke last December, raises two of her grandchildren. One is in elementary school and the other is two. The two-year-old has a liver problem and must have a lot of protein in her diet. It's Empty Stocking > Fund difficult to keep food fresh for her because their old re- frigerator, which she bought used for $30, doesn't have a door on it. All of the love that Mattie missed as a child is poured into her two grandchildren. "I met the Lord in 1984 and all I've got is Him and these two grand-ba- bies," she says. Needless to say, Mattie and her husband have no funds to buy their grandchildren Christmas presents or any extras that most other youngsters take for granted. Her husband's last paycheck, $173 for two weeks work, wasn't even enough to pay the rent. The children need clothes and would love some pre- sents from Santa Claus. Not anything big. Things like tricycles, puzzles, coloring books, bedroom shoes, Barbie dolls, skates, maybe a tea set and a table and chairs. The whole family is in need of clothing, bed clothes and curtains. The family sleeps on mattresses on the floor because they can't afford a bed. Their curtains are old blankets and sheets hanging over the windows. Your contribution to the Kings Mountain Empty Stocking Fund will help children and families like this. The project is a special Christmas division of the Kings Mountain Ministerial Association and will ben- efit people in the Greater Kings Mountain area. Mail your check, which is tax deductible, to the Empty Stocking Fund, P.O. Box 1491, Kings Mountain, N.C. 28086, or deposit it in the special Empty Stock Fund account at Home Federal Savings and Loan in Kings Mountain. You'll not only make Christmas brighter for Mattie and her two grandchildren, and many others like them, but it'll also be your best Christmas ever. school children and teachers in the system. wife, Ruth, built a retirement home in Spring fT i —— mh