Member Of The
North Carolina
Press Association
VOL. 102 NO. 15
By LIB STEWART
Of The Herald Staff
Love is wonderful the second
time around. Just ask Peggy Hord
and John W. Gladden.
The Kings Mountain High grad-
uates of 1945 were thousands of
miles apart for nearly 45 years be-
fore they renewed friendships at
their class reunion in Kings
Mountain last August. Their whirl-
wind courtship of nearly eight
months will culminate in marriage
at the altar of First Baptist Church
on Sunday, April 22, at 12 noon,
the same place they held their first
date by attending services together
and where Bill and Betty Moss
played cupid and asked the two to
sit together at the August reunion
luncheon.
"We are so happy,” said the radi-
ant Peggy Smith Hord, who was
widowed 12 years ago. Her bride-
groom-to-be was widowed a year
ago.
Although he declares that he
came to the reunion especially to
ask his future bride for a date, J.W.
Gladden, as his Kings Mountain
friends remember him, is just as
estatic about the wedding date, as
are his three children and Peggy's
two children.
“The Lord moves in mysterious
ways," they both admit.
Peggy Hord said their courtship
Love, Second
Time Around
1945 Classmates Reunited
At August Class Reunion
has been very special. Both have
much in common, including their
love of family and the church. "I
knew John was special when I saw
him coming across the parking lot
at our church carrying his Bible,"
said Peggy.
Born in a family of 11 children
of the late Mr. and Mrs. John W.
Gladden Sr., J. W. Gladden gradu-
ated from KMHS in 1945 with
Peggy Hord and her former hus-
band, Joe Hord Sr. After four years
in the U. S. Navy, he joined
Eastern Airlines and he met his
wife, Bert, a former stewardess, in
Miami, Fla. The family moved to
Plymouth, Michigan in 1962 and
last July J. W. retired after 27 years
with General Motors where he was
a aircraft dispatcher. His wife died
of cancer March 3, 1989 after a
long illness and following more
than 30 years of marriage. They
reared a daughter, Kathi Gladden, a
sales representative in Austin,
Texas; and twin sons, Bob and
Mark Gladden, 26. Mark is a com-
puter engineer who programs
robots in Fort Worth, Texas. Bob,
of ‘Westland, Michigan, is a pilot
for Northwest Airlines.
While J. W. and Bert Gladden
were rearing a family in Michigan,
Peggy and Joe Hord were rearing a
family in Kings Mountain. Peggy
~ aero ia Tr TT
Esto s Union
worked together in Charlotte for
A UE RTA
OT A SAAT
Peggy Hord, John Gladden
and Joe were married 23 years
when Joe died suddenly of a heart
attack 14 years ago at age 48.
Coincidentally, Joe and J. W., who
were also KMHS classmates,
Eastern Airlines in 1961 but Joe
left Eastern to go into the Coast
Guard. An engineer with
Pneumafil Corporation in
Charlotte, he was the son of the
late Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Hord. Joe
"KM To Host Easter Baseball TOUrNAMENt...creesssescsseresss: 6A
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KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. 28086
FE RTE
Board
To Ask County
For $1.6 Million
The Kings Mountain Board of
Education Monday night approved
budget requests of $1,653,145 for
current expense and $298,367 for
capital outlay from the Cleveland
County Board of Commissioners.
The county commissioners will
receive the requests at their next
meeting. Operating budgets must
be approved by July 1. Kings
Mountain expects its total local
current expense budget for the next
school year to be $3,098,691.
Supt. Bob McRae pointed out
that the current expense requests
are 13 percent more than last year
but are necessary to meet the rising
costs of personnel, supplies and
utilities. He said two-thirds of the
requested increase is needed to in-
sure continuation of the current
level of operation.
McRae and board members
Doyle Campbell and Billy King all
pointed out that the proposed bud-
get is "tight." "We're doing our sys-
tem a disservice if we do not iden-
tify our needs," Campbell said. "If
some items have to be trimmed
we'll do that when it comes to that
point."
Built into the budget is a request
for funds to employ an addition
teacher to reduce the number of
combination classes, McRae said.
Other funds are for instructional
supplies, compensation of employ-
See Love, 10-A
Ses 2nd, employment to
Put
help make a successful move to the
new Middle School. !
McRae said the capital outlay
budget asks for an increase of 16.8
percent. He pointed out that since
1980-81 KM's allotment has in-
creased by only $12,223 and that is
not enough to keep up with rising
costs of capital outlay items.
He also pointed out that over
one-fourth of those requests is for
items imposed on the system by
outside agencies, primarily to meet
federal guidelines for underground
fuel tanks.
The capital outlay request in-
cludes $12,500 for converting three
match classrooms to science rooms
at KMHS, $8,000 for partitions to
be built in the kindergarten build-
ing at Grover, $7,000 for new
lighting at North, $30,000 for
Central Office renovations,
$25,000 for furniture, $43,558 for
an underground storage tank for
gasoline at the maintenance depart-
ment, $14,700 for removal and dis-
posal of the current underground
storage tanks, and $41,690 to re-
place a roof on the second and
third grade building at Grover and
to renovate other areas.
The proposed budget also in-
cludes almost $1 million worth of
repairs needed, however they were
not included in the official budget
See School Board, isa
A Pen
To Pushers
RE ST
Vote Delayed
A union vote at Eaton Corporation's Grover plant
has been postponed.
Arthur DePalma, of Winston Salem, assistant to the
regional director of the National Labor Relations
Board, said Teamsters Local 61 filed charges last
Tuesday against Eaton, accusing the company of
promising workers higher wages and better benefits to
keep out of the union.
DePalma said the charges are under investigation.
"Our procedure is to postpone the vote until we dis-
pense of the charges," he said.
Some 420 Eaton employees were to have voted
Thursday on whether they wanted the Teamsters to
represent them.
Eaton's Grover plant, a division of thc Cleveland,
Ohio-based Eaton corporation, manufactures transmis-
sions for 18-wheeler trucks. The local plant employs
486 people and has been in operation here since 1976,
said Human Resources Manager Lee Sherrill.
Jim Reinirt, Eaton's plant manager said in a news re-
lease Thursday, that the company believes the allega-
tions are unfounded. "The union made a last-minute
charge against the plant, but it serves no purpose to
comment on it until we can talk with the NLRB," he
said.
Local 61 of Cherryville has 2,200 members in
Western North Carolina. Some of its members are
truck drivers at PPG Industries in Shelby, Consolidated
Freightways in Kings Mountain and Carolina Freight
Carriers of Cherryville.
Local 61 Teamsters filed for the vote at Eaton on
Feb. 6 after obtaining the required 30 percent of eligi-
ble workers’ signatures wanting an opportunity to vote.
After the vote was canceled last week, some employ-
ees circulated a petition asking the NLRB and Local
61 not to postpone the election.
Special Easter Services
Planned At Area Churches
VOCATIONAL SPEAKER- Dr. ores Wilsford, right, 1989 National School Superintendent of the
Year, was guest speaker at a Vocational banquet Tuesday night at Kings Mountain High School and spoke
of Orangeburg. S.C. School District's success with at-risk students. From left are Dr. Bob McRae, KM
Schools Superintendent; Ann Brant, support services director; Vocational Director Betty Gamble and
Wilsford.
Parents Need To Care
Dr. James Wilsford of
Orangeburg, S. C.,
Superintendent of the Year, told 50
Vocational Educational staffers and
volunteers Tuesday night that
when "a community starts teaching
parents to care about their chil-
dren's success in school, things
change fast."
He was the keynote speaker at a
Vocational program review cele-
bration banquet at Kings Mountain
High School. Wednesday morning,
he addressed teachers on the prob-
lem of drop-outs.
The something special that has
happened in Orangeburg public
schools can happen in Kings
Mountain, he declared. Five years
1989 National
ago, before sweeping state educa-
tion reforms, the school district
ranked near the bottom in perfor-
mance, with a 40 percent dropout
rate. Today, the annual dropout rate
is less than 2 percent, and nine of
Orangeburg's 10 schools rank
among the state's top performers.
Although most of the semi-rural
area's 6500 students are descen-
dants of slaves and still live in
poverty, more than half of the
Orangeburg Wilkinson High
School's graduates are entering col-
lege. Parents who once appeared
apathetic in regard to their chil-
dren's future have become directly
involved.
"Some think that poor people
don't care about their kids," said
the district's superintendent, 56,
who came to South Carolina 20
years ago from Ohio. "But as an in-
ner-city high school principal, I
learned that, although parents may
never initiate a phone call to say
they're worried about their kids,
they usually respond when we call
them. In Orangeburg, we run an
carly childhood parenting program
in all the elementary schools. Our
teachers and counselors try to keep
close contact with parents and the
middle and high schools as well.
The PTA has high turnouts,” he
said.
Wilsford, who is recognized as a
See Banquet, 11-A
Anonymous tips about suspected drug dealers in the
Kings Mountain area are encouraged by Kings
Mountain Police in a write-in campaign called "Put A
Pen To A Pusher" which got underway this week.
Det. Sgt. Billy Benton of the Kings Mountain Police
Department will head up the anti-drug campaign
| which he thinks will "be a great help in the local fight
against illegal drugs."
This is the way the program will work.
Using the anonymous letter-writing system, local
citizens can can turn in drug pushers by simply giving
police the name of the suspected drug dealer and place
of residence. "Some of the suspected drug dealers
mentioned in your letters may already be known by
police. We will check out each letter," said Benton.
Letters that deal with suspected drug dealers in
Cleveland and Gaston Counties will be turned over to
county detectives, Benton said.
In an attempt to give the program more exposure,
The Herald is running the "drug coupon" in.today's
Herald. Just fill in the blanks and mail the coupon back
to PO Box 7, Kings Mountain, N.C. 28086. You do
not have to give your name unless you want to. If you
suspect someone in your neighborhood or school is us-
ing or dealing in drugs, let the police know by "Putting
A Pen To A Pusher."
In other areas, including Gaffney, South Carolina,
the program has been highly successful in terms of
leads furnished to the various law enforcement agen-
cies, said Benton. Kings Mountain police, who said
they could not give specific tips and their resulting ar-
rests, said that tips are extremely useful in ongoing
drug investigations. Gaffney police have said that
See Pusher, 10-A
Black Makes Joyful
===
SANE
Several area churches have
planned special Holy Week ser-
vices this week, beginning on
Maundy Thursday and continuing
through Easter Sunday.
The annual Kings Mountain
Community Sunrise Service, spon-
sored by the Ministerial
Association, will be held at 7 a.m.
Sunday at Mountain Rest
Cemetery. The time has been
changed from past years.
"The time change should allow a
more optimum use of a beautiful
sunrise on a clear morning, and
more light for ready should it be
cloudy," said Rev. Chip Sloan, a
member of the Ministerial
Association Special Services.
Committee.
The speaker will be Rev. Mark
Bardsley of First Wesleyan
Church. Mrs. Linda Dixon of
Central United Methodist Church
will be the soloist.
Other participating ministers
will be Rev. George Simmons of
East Gold Wesleyan Church, Rev.
Eric Faust of First Presbyterian,
Rev. Frank Gordon of Grace
United Methodist Church, Rev.
Morris Jordan of First Baptist and
Rev. Pruella Kilgore of Adams
Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church.
The service will be held around
HILLTARD BLACK
See Churches, 3-A ed msn ard mS ant
Hilliard Black doesn't remember
a time he didn't like to sing. So,
when he volunteered a dozen years
ago to lead the singing every
Thursday at Kings Mountain
Convalescent Center church ser-
vices he willingly agreed.
He's been bowling over the se-
nior citizens ever since with his
good voice. Forty-two senior resi-
dents were at Thursday morning’
service and often times as many as
54 attend the 10 a.m. half-hour ser-
vice.
With Nursing Home
When Hilliard sings "Amazing
Grace" and "Old Rugged Cross,"
they applaud and smile. Sometimes
they pat their feet to the music by
C. J. Gault at the piano and say
"amen" to the message brought by
Bill Russell. The trio of volunteers
arc all active in Central United
Mcthodist Church and have contin-
ucd the mission program started by
the late Rev. Kelly Dixon, a former
Kings Mountain mayor.
His retirement years have given
Hilliard more time to volunteer. At
Patients
Central Methodist Church where
he has been a member since child-
hood, he is active on the
Administrative council and
Methodist Men, is assistant treasur-
cr and a member of the board of
ushers.
His hobbies are gardening and
working in the yard. He and ncigh-
bor, Yates Harbison, work a garden
cvery spring and they share their
vegetables with other neighbors,
See Black, 15-A