Mo
‘Jane Campbell talented
teacher, performer
VOL. 104 NO. 26
Landmark
is closing
McGill service station
operated for 60 years
Kings Mountain mortician and
former Senator J. Ollie Harris
termed the corner of King Street
and Piedmont Avenue "dead"
Tuesday moming.
He was referring to the closing
of McGill Service Station, a
Kings Mountain landmark for 60-
plus years.
Norman McGill, who has oper-
ated the station for nearly 40 years
and pumped gas on the site for
over 50 years, moved his business
Tuesday to his home at 1305
Linwood Road. He will offer all of
his present services except gaso-
line.
The McGill move has been pre-
dicted for several months due to
new EPA requirements which man-
date the monitoring or replacement
of underground fuel tanks over 25
years old.
McGill followed in his father's
footsteps as a service station opera-
tor.
The late Fuller McGill, Sr. start-
ed operating the station in 1926,
selling gasoline for Standard Oil of
New Jersey, Humble Oil, Esso,
and Exxon on property owned by
Patterson Oil Company.
See McGill, 9-A
Miracle man
Butch Morrison was 40 June 24.
The doctors didn't expect him to
live one day when he was born.
"The doctors said that if he did,
he'd be a vegetable," said his moth-
er, Christine. "But he's not," she
said with a big smile.
"He's a miracle,” she said.
Butch doesn't have much to say
about it all.
"I think it's great," he said about
turning 40.
Butch was born with spina bifi-
da, a condition where the spinal
column is exposed. He is paralyzed
from the waist down.
Butch is one of those special
people who accepts their burdens
and never complains.
Eo 7
Norman McGill pumps his I
"He's tolerated five major surg-
eries without ever complaining,”
said his mother.
Christine never complains either.
All these years she has taken care
of her wheel chair bound son.
"It's been a joy," she said. She is
thankful for what he is able to do.
"I can remember when he was
just a baby and the doctors said he
would be a vegetable," said
Christine. "Each day when I gave
him a bath, I'd make animal
sounds, and one day I said, "What
does the doggie say?’ and he said,
'Bow-wow.' I knew then that he
was going to have his mind."
Butch said it isn't hard being in
a wheelchair. But don't get him
Thursday, June 25, 1992
ast tank of gas at McGill Exxon on King Stre
Butch Morrison turns 40
wrong. There are times when he'd
like to get out. He loves sports and
wishes he could play. :
He reads the sports pages every
day and keeps up with the
Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta
Braves. Dale Murphy is his fa-
vorite athlete.
And he spends most of his time
on his CB talking to friends in the
area, reporting athletic scores.
"I'm on it ftom the time I get up
to the time I go to bed each night,"
he said.
His CB buddies arranged a birth-
day party for him last Friday night.
They planned to entertain with
banjos and guitars and a little
Seé Morrison, 9-A
Moretz named to Economic Development
At-Large City Commissioner Al
Moretz, chairman of the city's utili-
ty committee for five years, has
been tapped by his fellow council
members to serve on the Cleveland
County Economic Development
Commission.
Recently restructured, the nine-
member commission will include
five county members and one
member each from Boiling’
Springs, Kings Mountain, Shelby,
and the Cleveland County
Chamber. Each city paid $3,000 for
a spot on the board.
Moretz, who nominated himself,
beat out Commissioner Fred Finger
who also volunteered. Finger said
he is retired and has plenty of time
to serve on the board. Moretz, a
professional civil engineer, also
serves on the infrastructure sub-
committee of the Cleveland
Visioning Strategy program, which
is an attempt to identify and imple-
ment long-range goals in the coun-
ty.
An organizational meeting of the
group is planned soon, according
to Moretz, which, he says, has the
Annexation hearing set
Public hearings on two annexa-
) tion requests are on the agenda for
Tuesday night's City Council meet-
ing.
“he City of Kings Mountain
wants to annex the city-owned
booster pump station on Highway
74 West.
Caveny-Weaver wants to annex
its property in the one mile perime-
ter on Highway 216 near the city
limits.
The board will also consider
selling city owned property to St.
Area Red Cross officials have is-
sued an urgent call for increased
blood donations. g
Sandi Bolick, Director of Blood
Services for the Cleveland County
Red Cross Chapter, said if more
donations are not forthcoming by
July 4 the blood region will be
forced to issue an emergency ap-
Paul United Methodist Church and
Bynum's Chapel AME Zion
Church on Cansler Street for addi-.
tions. No upset bids had been re-
ceived this week.
Also on the agenda is a presenta-
tion by personnel director Charles
Webber on the new employee as-
sistance program, which is part of
the new fiscal year budget. Under
the proposal, employees could re-
ceive some funds to pay for ser-
vices at Cleveland County Mental
Health. :
Urgent appeal made for blood
peal for blood.
Prospective donors in Kings
Mountain can donate Thursday,
July 2, 1 p.m.-6 p.m., at First
Baptist Church.
The visit will be sponsored by
Kings Mountain Board of Realtors
and WKMT Radio.
backing of the full city council.
Moretz said the first priority of the
group will be hiring a new director
to succeed Joe Hendrick, who is re-
tiring.
At a vision strategy meeting
Thursday at Cleveland Community
College, the group took a look at
Rock Hill, S. C. where Moretz was
on the ground floor on a project
and designed two of its four indus-
trial parks. Moretz, a former Kings
Mountain city engineer, also has
designed several highways and wa-
ter systems and has been active in -
- Since 1889 -
Volunteers honored
at KM Senior Genter
f
BUTCH MORRISON
Commission
general development.
Moretz said his sub-committee
includes about 50 people but at
least 250 people from throughout
the county are working on various
other sub-committees, including
government, industry, education,
etc. and facilitators are from the
Urban Institute at the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte.
Moretz sees only positive things
coming for this area and the county
and says one of the purposes of the
See Moretz, 9-A
Kings Mountain People
Kings Mountain, N.
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Schools g.
public input
at summit
By RENEE WALSER
Of The Herald Staff
HM Allow locals more flexibility
in apportioning funding.
HM Increase parent support and
involvement.
MB Raise student achievement
levels.
HM Decrease the drop-out rate.
HM Enhance teacher performance.
These are just a few suggestions
a group of about 60 community,
business and school representatives
made to the Kings Mountain Board
of Education Tuesday during the
all-day Education Summit held at
the Holiday Inn.
It was Supt. Dr. Bob McRae's
idea to hold the summit. The pur-
pose of the meeting was the get a
feel for what the community ex-
pects and hopes for the future of its
schools.
Two speakers set the tone of the
summit with talk about change in
society and the schools.
Gene Causby, executive director
of the N.C. School Boards
Association, was the keynote
speaker. Ed Williams, editor of the
editorial pages for the Charlotte
Observer, spoke after lunch.
Causby remarked on the changes
taking place in Russia and Eastern
Europe.
"We live with just as. dramatic
change everyday but we're not
aware of it," he told the group.
"Dramatic, traumatic change."
.Causby cited the superintenden-
t's job as having changed through
the years. Also the make-up of the
school board has gone from all-
male, all-white to a diversified
group, which is less likely to have
unanimous votes. Today's school
board member is more aggressive
and single-issue oriented, Causby.
said.
The school system employees
are likewise more aggressive in-
stead of contented as in the past.
Communities have changed.
Instead of being complacent and
apathetic, communities have be-
come organized and involved.
And the press, once preoccupied
with other issues, today treat edu-
cation as a major media event.
Causby sees the most significant
change in the students.
+ Schools have always served
children from stable homes well,
he said. Children from unstable en-
vironments have never been serv
See Summit, 9-A
Council eyes record budget’
Kings Mountain City Council is
set to adopt a record $18.2 city
budget Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
at the Governmental Facilities
Center.
The budget contains seme good
news. There is no projected tax in-
crease and no projected increase on
city utilities.
Each year the city relies on its
utilities to provide much of its
spending money. In the coming
year, electricity sales will con-
tribute $1.2 million to the city's
$4.45 million general budget; natu-
ral gas sales, another $800,000.
Last year the unusually mild
winters and a cut of $47,000 from
the state dipped into the city's
funds and sent city officials scurry-
ing for more cost-saving ideas. A
new waste transfer station is going
up near the Public Works plant on
Piedmont Avenue and is expected
to save the city $50,000 in the new
year budget and more once the
streamlined collection routes go on
line next month.
City council cut fat from the
budget by setting aside
$704,783.00 for priorities funded
in the new budget. Not funded is
$90,000 for improvements to the
future home of the new police de-
partment, the old post office, and a
wage increase for the 160-plus city
Workers. However, city workers
will get a 2 1/2 percent merit raisq
and $2500 in the budget is desig"
nated for employee assistance.
Employees who seek help for
stress, depression, etc. can receive:
help at city expense from the
Cleveland County Mental Health
Department.
Funds for the Aging Department
pay for computerization of client
intakes; food storage room floor-
ing; repairing guttering system;
and replacing 14 dining room ta-
bles at cost of $7,700. Mauney
Memorial Library will receive net-
work fees for Cleve-Net and NC
Information Network, two public
access terminals to the one-line
catalog, and a NewsBank refer-
ence at-cost of $6500. A zoning
ordinance and subdivision regula-
tions update will cost $19,000 and
the Planning Department will also
receive funds for construction of an
office wall and one hand held ra=
dio. Also funded is $2,000 to help
pay for TV commercials sponsored
by the Chamber of Commerce.
Also: Finance Department will
get a computer upgrade of central
processing unit, $25,000; and an
Essex phone system at cost of
$12,000. Public = Works
Department will receive $1,980 for
20 crew. carts for refuse collection.
KMPD will get $48,700 for a
See Budget, 9-A
DENESE STALLINGS
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of The Herald Staff
Her strong advocacy for what is right and her con-
cern for the health needs of Cleveland County resi-
dents are trademarks of versatile Denese Stallings.
"This lady can pick ‘em, as they say at the track,"
says a co-worker at the Cleveland County Health
Department of Stallings’ expertise in attracting out-
standing health professionals the past six years.
"When she calls you might as well call her back,
she's persistent,” says a Senator of her determination
to promote more innovations for the elderly.
The Kings Mountain woman received the presti-
gious 1992 E. Hunter Stanley Award for excellence
in public health administration recently at a meeting
of Western North Carolina Public Health
Association. Her co-workers say it is most deserved.
Under her leadership, Cleveland County's
Department of Public Health was selected most out-
standing in the state in 1989. The department has ar-
Stallings innovative health leader
care, and a physician-staffed clinic for persons with
low income. She spearheaded a strong smoking poli-
cy which was adopted for all county buildings and
vehicles and full-time physicians extenders in each
and every high school in the county and established
Teen Health Fairs at all the junior high schools.
"A lot of outstanding people have gotten this
award and I feel very humble and proud,” said
Stallings, giving high marks to the staff of the depart-
ment of 120 plus people.
While that list of public health innovations were
being planned and accomplished, she also served as a
United Way cxecutive, on the board of the Shelby
Lifesaving and Rescue Unit, is a member of the com-
munity based Alternative Task Force, and Local
Emergency Planning Commission. She is also active
in the Civitan Club and participates yearly in the
Special Olympics.
Active in the legislative process and well informed
on health issues, she spends many hours discussing
ranged such services as free mammograms, dental
See Stallings, 9-A