Page 4A-THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Thursday, August 4, 1994"
Opinions
GARY
STEWART
Editor
John will be missed
The timing didn't seem right.
John Howze, 59, seemingly a picture of health, died
unexpectedly last Thursday morning, leaving his lov-
ing family, friends and the entire community in a state
of shock.
The popular golfer at Kings Mountain Country Club
and a founding father of the club's Member-Guest Golf
Tournament was preparing for retirement, a time when
he would have all the time he wanted for travel, just
taking it easy, or spending more time on the golf
course than ever before.
Golfing was a family tradition for the Howzes. John
took up the sport in the mid-fifties when he was serv-
ing the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in the 82nd
Airbome. His sons - Gary, Mitch and Mike - grew up
on the golf course and were outstanding junior players,
and now compete ably in club tournaments and ama-
teur events. In recent years, his wife, Doris, and
daughter, Susan Cloninger, began playing and, like the
men, became quite good at it.
John had retired five years ago from Transco Energy
Company and a week later went to work for Piedmont
Natural Gas in Charlotte. With his 60th birthday com-
ing up in December, John felt it was time to retire for
good. Just last Tuesday the company gave a luncheon
in his honor, and Friday was to be his last day at work.
Everything seemed normal Thursday morning. John
and Doris had their usual breakfast together and John
was laughing and saying to Doris that after one more
day they wouldn't have to get up so early. Shortly af-
terward he was dead of an apparent heart attack.
As word circulated around town, all who knew him
were stunned and saddened. A week later they still
find it hard to believe.
The Howzes moved to Kings Mountain in 1963 and
quickly endeared themselves to the townspeople, and
especially to the many golfers and neighbors at Kings
Mountain Country Club. Some of the family's happiest
moments came on the golf course and John, especially,
was one of the club's most popular champions. He
helped organize the first Member-Guest in 1971, but it
was rained out, and John and his partner won the event
in 1972, 1973 and 1975. John also won six club cham-
pionships. He was always a top contender in any major
tournament there.
He was active in the community, serving during the
early years of the Kings Mountain Jaycees, and he was
a past president and member of the Board of Directors
of King Mountain Country Club.
Ironically, his death on Thursday came two days be-
fore the Member-Guest. The first round was played
early Saturday so as not to conflict with John's funeral
at 4 p.m. The final round was held on Sunday after-
noon. Needless to say, the golfers were in a somber
mood.
No doubt, though, the memory of John's dedication
to the game and especially to the Member-Guest, was
also an inspiration. Stoney Jackson, who like John
Howze is always among the leaders in any tournament
in which he competes, had purchased beautiful silver
plaques for the winners in memory of John, and a huge
trophy in memory of John will be permanently dis-
played in the Members' Room and each year the win-
ners’ names will be engraved on it. It was fitting that
Jackson and his partner won the tournament.
In an emotional tone, Jackson commented, "I have
won a lot of trophies in my golfing career, but this one
is now and will always be the one I will cherish the
most."
What Jackson and other golfers, friends and ac-
quaintances will cherish most will not be the trophies,
but the memory of a dear friend whose brief time on
earth touched the lives of a lot of people in a very pos-
itive way.
HERALD LETTER POLICY
The Herald welcomes your letters to the editor for
publication in each Thursday's paper. The following
guidelines apply:
Keep your letters brief and to the point. Type and
double space them, if possible; if not write legibly.
Letters or guest columns containing more than 600
words will not be accepted.
All letters must be signed in ink and include the full
name, address and telephone number of the author for
verification purposes.
The Herald reserves the right to edit letters for
length, spelling, ‘good taste, clarity, libel, slander or
any other reason; and reserves the right to reject any
letter for any reason.
Mail your letters to The Editor, P.O. Box 769, Kings
Mountain, NC 28086. Hand-delivered letters will not
“l Never Knew What Convenience Was
Till I Got My Kitchen Phone’
Take a tip from me. A kitchen phone saves
50 many steps, yet costs less than a nickel a day. Comes
in bright, cheery colors, too. Why not treat
Yourself to the convenience of a kitchen extension?
Southern Bell
“Thanks for Calling”
Your Right To Say It
Advertisement from 1963 Kings Mountain Herald
be accepted.
4 2g G3 La ;
antain Herald
Established 1889
Published Thursday at East King Street at Canterbury Road,
Kings Mountain, North Carolina 28086,
USI’S 931-040, by Republic Newspapers, Inc.-2nd Class postage paid in Kings Mountain
BOD ROP... Siti istaesec ns esrsseshassssabiiisressanssrivvnsiioss Publisher
Darrell Austin .. ..Associate Publisher
Gary SIBWAM .......ccovoerii eisai ssi ists sas ans sates anes Editor
EliZADEIN SIBWAIT: tiviiaiioiiiiriisiasisrsssssarsanssis sass News Editor
Shirley Austin ..... ..Advertising Representative
BHEFUROMY aie t ees fe prssesaesbiassanssanss Advertising Representative
Laura Hulleie J... cnsisisiiniaiiinns Advertising Representative
Nancy Miller ... ..Advertising Representative
Sarah Grilli... criti s ci saniny Business Manager
Cheryl Pullen ............. .... Bookkeeper
Deniece Talbert . .. Circulation Manager
Fran Black ......... ..Production Manager
JUNE LONG .ciicviininsnsssmsasns senses sass ses sissssssssens Graphic Artist
Norman MOMSON ......cccoeiiuiimnriininninnes Pressroom Manager
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Gaston & Cleveland Counties: 1
Year $17.00; 6 Months $10.00. Other NC Counties: 1 Year $19.00;
6 Months $11.00. Outside NC: 5 | Year $22 $22.00; 00; 6 Months $12.50.
NEWSPAPERS, INC.
ED
Member North Carolina Pross Association
REPUBLIC
Postmaster: Send Address Changes to:
Kings Mountain Herald: P.O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086
Back issues, one month or older, when available, are 70¢ per copy.
Early sex ed dangerous
To the editor:
As the old saying goes, "There's a time and a place
for everything." This is especially true in the area of
sex education. The time is when the child is able to
mentally and emotionally understand this very person-
al and delicate subject, and the place to learn it is in
the home. Studies show that revealing information to
children about sex before they are ready to hear it
could have a disastrous effect on the child throughout
their adult life.
Dr. Melvin Anchell, psychiatrist and author of sev-
eral books on human sexuality states, "Psychoanalysis
has established that the period in a child's life between
the ages of 6 and 12 is asexual; that is, a period during
which sensual pleasures are normally repressed... The
period is well-recognized by psychiatrists throughout
the world and has been designated as the latency peri-
od.' During latency the first stirring or compassionate
feelings arises from the human mind. This valuable in-
stinct is dangerously jeopardized by sexually stimulat-
ing children in latency. Such interference can prevent
the capability to feel compassion. The result can be in-
creasingly noted in the antisocial behavior of sexually
overstuffed youths."
In natural development, pre-teen children derive
sexual pleasure from sensual excitement caused by
sexual fantasies. Sex educators who catapult ‘he child
into a world of authoritative sexual knowledge shatter
these normal fantasies. Later in life, drugs and pornog-
raphy are used as substitutes to help recapture the plea-
sures from thwarted childhood fantasies that had not
been allowed to resolve naturally.
This extremely important information, critical in the
rearing of our children, has been passed along to Kings
Mountain District Schools Superintendent Bob
McRae, Assistant Superintendent Jane King, and each
of the Board of Education members in the hope that
they will heed this warning when determining school
curriculum both now and in the future.
Jean McAbee
Be sure not to judge other denominations
Not more than three weeks ago, I was privy to a
conversation in which a longtime resident of
Birmingham, Alabama was telling a new resident in
town about some of the area congregations. I listened
with great interest to determine in what ways she
would describe the various groups. Where would she
begin? What about each would be most important to
her? What kinds of bedrock criteria would shape her
discussion?
To no great surprise, she offered a a description of
six or seven groups which focused not on theology or
central beliefs but upon a kind of "consumer's view" of
the "market." Instead of describing what each group
believed about God and God's claim upon human life,
she offered a brief summary of stereotypes. I found
this conversation fascinating because in my experi-
ence, I have determined this approach to "comparative
religions" to be the norm in our society rather than the
exception.
To that end, I have compiled a small list of stereo-
types which I have heard here in Kings Mountain since
that conversation. And I will leave it to your imagina-
tions to determine whom each phrase describe.s
The holy rollers, the Republican party at prayer, The
Democratic party at prayer, the professors, the good ol’
boys, the happy people, the feely-touchies, the people
Robert E. Lee
How many of you saw the two-part six-hour mini
series called "Gettysburg" on the Ted Turner channel?
How many were nettled by Martin Sheen's portrayal of
Robert E. Lee as a bumbling idiot? I was.
At first I thought I X the ony one who noticed the
inaccuracy. My son oF , a history buff, called soon af-
ter the broadcast, and let me tell you he was perturbed.
Jeff launched into a ten-minute tirade on Martin
Sheen, Yankees and actors in general.
Sheen is good at trying to topple American leaders,
past or present. Some of you may know of his travels
to foreign countries that are not on good terms with the
U.S., to lend them moral support. He went to one of
the Central American countries, I think it was
Nicaragua, to donate blood to an anti-American group.
He has been known to showboat on the streets of
Washington by sleeping out in the open with the
homeless, though nobody has been found who can
swear he slept out all night. As honorary mayor (the
only kind they have) of Malibu, California, Sheen ex-
tended an invitation to all the homeless to come and
live there. The community was rapidly overrun with
pot heads and alcoholics.
Martin Sheen can be found wherever there is any
kind of demonstration against his country. That is
something I don't understand.
‘Anyway, he characterized General Robert E. Lee as
being indecisive, a bully and just plain stupid in the
REFLECTIONS
on Religion and Life
®
Rev. Dick Newsome
! Pastor
| First Presbyterian Church
from the stone age, the dreamers, and the good, the
bad and the ugly.
I believe these kinds of descriptions (which we've
all heard before) are less than helpful in a society
which continues to struggle with ways to worship the
same God in the face of our differences. I believe that
the more we concentrate on our small idiosyncrasies,
the less we are able to affirm our common convictions
and deal honestly with our genuine differences of be-
lief. Because the more'we hear and absorb these phras-
es, the more we begin to believe them even if we have
never stepped foot into another's house of worship.
Imagination has a way of running away with our sens-
es. :
Therefore, I offer a cheap but possibly helpful piece
of advice which I learned from my three-and-a-half-
year-old son (who is already infinitely smarter than I).
One hot day in our car, Burns expressed a wish to buy
something - an ice cream cone, a piece of candy, a toy.
I do not remember exactly. But it was something for
which we were not going to pull off the road. So in-
stead of simply saying "no," I asked him to imagine
what it would be like if suddenly we had a thousand
ice cream cones - so much ice cram that the entire car
was full of it from bumper to bumper. And the absurdi-
ty of it all seemed to work. Before long, the thought of
his desired object was out of his mind. And we pro-
gressed merrily along our way.
So next time you find yourself imagining what some
other religious group in town is like, imagine exactl
. the opposite. If the stereotype is of people. who dance
and sing in the aisles, imagine them in a quiet rever-
ence which would make the finest medieval monk
proud. If the stereotype is of cold, unfriendly worship-
pers, imagine them with helium balloons and party
hats giving away door prizes. You just might get a
chuckle out of the experience. You just might realize
that the original stereotype isn't worth its weight in
salt. Hopefully, in time, we will all realize that God
alone is the One to judge us. And as of the writing of
this article, God seems to be dealing with us odd hu-
mans just fine.
was a pretty smart fellow
JIM
HEFFNER
Columnist
mini series. Most of us in the South know better, but I
don't know how that played above the Mason-Dixon
Line.
Lee's biographers have consistently shown him to be
an excellent military man. Burke Davis wrote that Lee
was the "Most daring soldier of American history."
"Gettysburg" continually showed Lee at odds with
General Longstreet, and he was to a degree, but the
writers of the show depicted Lee as the culprit when,
in fact, it was Longstreet who was difficult to get
along with. He was aging and set in his ways, and
there were times he resented Lee as his commanding
officer.
Lee did get aggravated with Longstreet on occasion,
but he respected the elder man's military knowledge
and experience. If Robert E. Lee is to be criticized, it
is for allowing Longstreet to get away with disobeying
orders on several occasions.
Longstreet did not, however, disagree with the
Confederate offensive at Gettysburg, as the movie in-
dicated. The South had little choice. They had
marched into Pennsylvania to engage the enemy be-
cause they were at war, and Lee wanted to finish the
war as soon as possible. His troops were short on am-
munition and food. Their choice was fight or starve.
It is true that Longstreet wanted to retreat in the di-
rection of Richmond, but he knew he would have to
fight either way, because the Southern Army was prac-
tically surrounded, and Gettysburg was as good a place
as any to do battle.
One of Lee's biographers said he was a "Most immi-
nent American strategist. His strategical powers sprang
from his extraordinary brain power, his ability to put
himself in the place of his opponents and his analysis
of military intelligence."
That's a long way from the bumbling old fool por-
trayed by Martin Sheen.
Lee took over the Army of the South when they
were short on supplies, rations and competent com-
manders. The loss at Gettysburg can be traced to those
very shortages, as well as the absence of J.E.B. Stuart's
cavalry, which is another story. Lee didn't point out
any shortcomings except his own. tAking full credit
for the Gettysburg defeat.
Sometimes 1 wonder about people such as Sheen.
Ed Asner, Jane Fonda and Mike Farrell.
Free-spending legislators like to live high on hog
Our free-spending legislators finally approved a
budget and called it "quits" for the short session.
Besides passing the largest spending plan in the history
of North Carolina - over $10 billion - our pork-loving
. politicians managed to spend all of our unexpected $1
billion revenue windfall. Forget the fact that during the
last short session in 1991, our state suffered from an
over $1 billion revenue shortfall. Forget the fact that
the politicians raised the corporate income tax rate to
the highest in the Southeastern region and promised
the tax would only be "temporary." It appears that in
this case "temporary" does not conform to any defini-
tion found in Webster's Dictionary.
It is, however, painfully apparent that our politicians
have no trouble understanding the definition of
“spending.” The highlights of the “pork-barrel budget
deal are enough to make any tax-and-spender green
with envy. From $7 million for the "information high-
way" to $4 million in grants to historical, cultural and
"artistic" groups, the pork barons showed no control
when it came to giving away our money.
It seems hard to-believe that prior to the short ses-
ston, many of our politicians actually teased us with
talks about a possible tax rebate. Far from giving
GUEST COLUMN
THOMAS GOOLSBY
Carolina Syndicated
Columns
North Carolinians a tax rebate, our legislators only
managed to put less than two-tenths of one percent of
the budget into savings ($214 million). Additionally.
three-quarters of the money placed in savings was re-
quired by law.
The pork barons lavished cash on their local com-
munities in the time honored tradition to ensure them-
selves re-election in November. Representative David
Diamont, a Surry County Democrat, sent $9.5 million
to Appalachian State University for a new basketball
arena and convocation center. Dan Blue,
the House, directed $7.7 million to his alma mater.
N.C. Central University. for a new Biotechnology
Center. George Daniel, a Caswell County Democrat,
on
Speaker of
locked onto $6.5 million for the Centennial Center
(basketball arena) at N.C. State University. where he is
an alumnus and a big basketball fan. Mark Basnight.
the Senate leader and a Democrat from Manteo. sent
an $800,000 plum to his constituents for the Graveyard
of the Atlantic Museum and another $5 million in
"seafaring swag" for the Elizabeth II historic site in
Manteo.
Our politicians apparently believe that they can
spend us into prosperity. However. the only people
spent into prosperity are the politicians themselves.
They used pork-barrel projects to guarantee their re-
election and they used the $1 billion budget windfall to
boost their own pensions by 4 to 50 percent.
It's time to call a halt to our ever increasing state
budget and the ever increasing taxes required to sup-
port it. The recent shameful spectacle of unchecked
pork-barrel spending should sound the alarm for voters
across North Carolina. The November elections are
fast approaching and we have a chance. as taxpayers
and voters, to demand more fiscal responsibility.
Wouldn't it be nice to finally hold some of the pork
barons responsible for their actions by denying them
further opportunities to belly up to the public trough?
SRI)
a i i a
A
i