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VOL. 102 NO. 47
Tuesday, November 20, 1990
Kings Mountain, N.C. Ra
Some Mills Taking Extra Holiday Time Ox:
Kings Mountain merchants are
anticipating a brisk business period
as the busiest shopping time of the
year approaches, from the day after
Thanksgiving through Christmas
Eve.
A telephone survey of some area
merchants conducted by The
Herald revealed an upbeat attitude
about business prospects on the
part of most contacted.
"We're looking forward to a fan:
tastic Christmas season," said
Lewis Dellinger of Dellinger's
Jewel Shop. "So far, our sales are
ahead for the year, not a whole lot,
but ahead. You know, if you have
the merchandise and treat people
right, they will do business with
you.
"We're one of the fortunate ones
because as a rule, this industry is
depressed. But in our area business
has been pretty good," he added.
Carl Plonk of Plonk Brothers
Department Store is enthusiastic
———
Merchants Eye Good Holiday Shopping Season
about his store's expansion. "We've
totally redone 1,200 square feet of
space and have moved our shoe de-
partment in there. We hope to have
a grand opening next week if ev-
erything goes right. We will offer a
wide variety of shoes and plan a
big sale as part of the opening.”
Plonk reported that their sales
are ahead of last year and he ex-
pects business to pick up even
more after Thanksgiving. During
City To Consider
Updating Signals
Kings Mountain City Council will consider a re-
See Shopping, 9-A
At the start of the holiday season operating sched-
ules vary with textile plants in Kings Mountain and for
some, they are unknown beyond the end of December.
Faced with a slow down in business and uncertain
future orders, many companies are gearing their plants
to operate based on known orders. Some are closing
for longer than normal holiday periods.
Glen Raven Mill will shut down only one day for
Thanksgiving but has not decided what the Christmas
holiday schedule will be. "We don't know about
Christmas yet," said plant manager Bob Burleson.
"We're running according to what deliveries have to
be made. We're running as full as we can, when there
are orders to fill we do." Burleson said that the mill,
which manufactures cotton and blended yarns, recently
has been operating six or less day a week.
Tultex Corp. has closed its Kings Mountain plant for
the entire week this week and will close the full month
of December. "We're scheduled to start up on Jan. 2,
but I don't know how we'll be operating after that,"
said Jane Starnes, head of personnel at the mill.
Tultex was closed a week in October and two weeks
this month. H. R. Hunnicutt Jr., chairman and chief ex-
ecutive officer cites the closings as an "inventory ad-
justment."
Parkdale's Plant No. 5 in Kings Mountain will close
at 7 am. on Thursday and start up again at 7 a.m.
Monday. "We don't know about Christmas yet," said
Lavan Strickland, personnel director at the plant.
The plant is running a full six day schedule and the
spinning department operating seven days a week.
"We've been so lucky over the years with a history of
not having short time, except for Saturdays once in a
See Industry, 10-A
Old City Dams Present
Questions For KM Board
*JAV INORAHId
quest from the Utility Committee to update stop lights
on West Gold and Battleground Avenue at next
Tuesday's Council meeting.
The city recently received a $75,000 grant from the
North Carolina DOT to help bring the lights up to na-
tional standards. Kings Mountain will have to pay ap-
proximately $28,000 for concrete slabs and poles.
City Engineer Tom Howard told the Utility
Committee at its meeting Monday night that he will
ask the state to allow the city to use the state's contrac-
tor to do the city's portion of the work, and let the city
reimburse the state.
"The city is not equipped to do the work," he said.
"And if there are problems with underground lines it
will be better if there's just one contractor instead of
two working at the same time,"
Howard said the current signal lights are obsolete
and "you can't get repair parts."
The project, which would cost over $100,000 if the
city had to foot the entire bill, includes replacing the
-stop light at the corner of East Gold and Battleground
at Kiser's Restaurant, and the one across from
McGinnis Department Store where West Gold crosses
Southern Railway. The lights will also have to be syn-
chronized with the railroad crossing.
City Manager George Wood said the council ap-
proved the project some 15 months ago. "But when
something takes that long it should go back to the
council," he said.
See Lights, 10-A
Richardson To Speak To Kiwanians
Mark Richardson, General Manager of Richardson Sports, which is
trying to bring an NFL expansion team to Charlotte, will speak at the
pi
\ -
HAPPY THANKSGIVIN
Parade Thursday in Charlotte.
G - Susan Hendricks, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Paul
Hendricks of Kings Mountain, makes this beautiful flock of turkeys at the Jack Scism
farm look even better. Susan will represent Kings Mountain in the Carolinas Carrousel
Kings Mountain People
Kings Mountain City Council
may soon have to decide what to
do with the old City and Davidson
lakes. i
Once the source of city water,
the lakes have not been used ex-
cept for recreational purposes since
Moss Lake was built over 20 years
ago.
Now, damage to dams at the
City and Davidson facilities have
members of the City Utility
Committee wondering if it might
not be to the city's advantage to sell
the property for new home devel-
opment.
Meeting Monday night at the
Governmental Services Facilities
Center, the committee proposed
asking the Council to authorize en-
gineering consultant David Pond to
do a cost study of the Davidson
dam and report back to them at a
future meeting.
City Engineer Tom Howard said
the city recently cleaned the earth-
en dam at Davidson, removing
trees, smoothing the dam and burn-
ing off the area. But subsequent in-
spections by the state show that
there are still problems there.
Howard said a state study showed
that water coming through over-
flow pipes are "coming too close to
the dam" and that the dam is
"bowed out."
Several committee members
suggested the possibility of selling
the area for future home develop-
ment. After discussion, the com-
mittee suggested that Pond:
1) Provide a cost estimate for re-
pairing the dam.
2) Provide an estimate and state
guidelines for breaching the dam.
3) Provide an estimate and
guidelines for lowering the water
to less than 15 feet so the dam
won't come under state guidelines,
The question was raised by com-
mittee chairman Al Moretz if the
road crossing the Davidson dam is
not a state road. If so, he said, he
feels the North Carolina DOT
should bear the total cost of repair
"because the DOT knew what they
were getting into when they took
over the road."
"I'd be for putting them up for
sale," committee member Scott
Neisler said. "I don't want to sink a
See Dams, 10-A
November 29 meeting of the Kings Mountain Kiwanis Club. The club
meets at 6:45 p.m. at Kings Mountain Country Club.
onship team.
; Richardson, 30, is a native of Spartanburg,
S.C., and played football at Clemson University. He
was a member of Clemson's 1981 national champi-
After graduating from Clemson with a degree
in Administrative Management in 1983, Richardson
worked in New York as a Financial Analyst for
Transworld Corporation.
Richardson received a Masters of
RICHARDSON Administration from Colgate Darden Graduate
School of Business at the University of Virginia in 1987. He resides in
Charlotte with his wife, Joan.
His father, Jerry Richardson, who heads Richardson Sports and spear-
headed the NFL expansion drive, is a former professional football player
with the Baltimore Colts. He is head of TW Services, Inc., one of the na-
tion's largest food-service operations with 1989 revenues of $3.5 billion.
Stocking
Fund Needs
Your Help
The Kings Mountain Empty Stocking
__n Fundis ac-
7 cepting
'\ cash dona-
tions to
49 “help pro-
“ wv ide
, Christmas
\to needy
children
/ and their
families in
: the Kings
Mountain area.
Donations may be deposited into a
special account at Home Federal
Savings Bank, or may be mailed to the
Empty Stocking Fund, P.O. Box 1461,
Kings Mountain, 28086.
Donations may be made in honor or
in memory of someone, or can be made
anonymously.
Last year, Kings Mountain area citi-
zens donated $3,988.17 to make
Christmas brighter for many Kings
Mountain families.
JOHN DILLING
Dilling "Mr. Bowling’
BY JIM HEFFNER
Who ever heard of a bowling alley being located in
the basement of a heating and air conditioning compa-
ny?
That's exactly the situation at Dilling Heating and
Air Conditioning on York Road. Not just any bowling
alley, but duck pins. For the uninitiated, duck pin
bowling, by the large, went out with the Edsel. There
are still a few duck pin alleys around, there's one in
Eden, N.C. and another in Burlington, but that's about
the extent of it in these parts.
Dilling Heating and Air Conditioning is a family
business operated by John and Carolyn Dilling, along
with their two sons Dan and David.
The company deals in heating and air conditioning
units, both commercial and residential, sheet metal
work and steel fabrication. They offer complete ser-
In Kings Mountain
vice, installation, maintenance and repair.
Unless you pay close attention, you might not know
that John Dilling is having a little fun with you. The
soft-spoken Dilling gives the impression he has abso-
lutely nothing to say, but don't you believe it.
Born in Charlotte, Dilling moved around a lot when
he was growing up. "My Dad was a railroad man, "he
said, "his job required that we move many different
places. We came here when I was to begin my last year
in high school, so I finished up my schooling here and
just stayed."
Most who know him are glad of that.
Allen Myers agrees. "He's tops," said Myers. "When
they made John Dilling, the broke the mold, and, yes,
he has been known to be very funny on occasion. He's
still one of the best bowlers around."
See Dilling, 16-A
New 125-Lot Subdivision Will
Offer 'Comfortable City Living"
NEW SUBDIVISION - Winding streets and large hardwood trees make a peaceful setting for the new
Colonial Woods subdivision which is in the beginning stages off Maner Road near Kings Mountain High
School. The subdivision is now in phase one and, when fully completed, will include 125 lots.
Colonial Woods, a 125-lot sub-
division which owners say will of-
fer "comfortable city living" is in
the first phase of development off
Maner Road.
Local businessmen Larry
Hamrick, Jim Ware, Mack
LeFevers and Odus Smith are own-
ers of the subdivision which offers
paved streets, curb and gutter and
underground city utilities.
The first phase of development
will include the sale of 25 lots. The
remaining 100 lots will be sold as
growth warrants additional devel-
opment. Lots range in price from
$15,000 to $20,000 and are re-
stricted to minimum 1700 square
feet homes. Purchase of lots can be
arranged through any of the four
OWnRErSs.
The subdivision includes 60
acres of land. Hamrick, a local re-
altor, said it is the largest subdivi-
sion in Kings Mountain city limits
in many years, and perhaps ever.
The main entrance is off Maner
Road near Kings Mountain High
School. A second entrance will be
made during the second phase of
development. :
"It is a quality neighborhood that
offers winding streets, beautiful
lots and a beautiful setting with full
city services," Hamrick said. It's
convenient to the hospital, doctors,
shopping areas, schools and it real-
ly personifies what we think Kings
Mountain is all about. It's going to
be a great place to live in a small
town setting. ;
"This will not be a starter subdi-
vision but one with quality consis-
tent with what everybody in Kings
Mountain is looking for," he added.
"It's very comfortable hometown
living...a good place to build a nice
home."
With the 1700 square feet re-
striction, Hamrick said the price
range would be $80,000 to
$125,000.
ZYVIEIT TVIYOWIR AANAVA