! 10,000 tulip and daffodil
bulbs Mountaineer Day
See Page 4B
ji 7
| Whittling has returned as
‘vorite pastime of at least one F
Mountain grandfather and his
J} grandsons.
1 John Beam, 78, has created his
1 own natural gazebo in his Wells
| Street back yard. White pine shav-
ings nearly five feet tall and nearly
"17 feet around center a wooded
area where Beam relaxes with a
knife, radio and a fan.
I= "It's the closest thing to camping
and I love it," says the well-known
4-Kings Mountain man who has al-
‘| most worn out an eight-year old
{| knife from whittling soft pine he
| cut from scraps supplied by
{plumber friend Raymond Gettys.
Johnny, as he is affectionately
called by friends, started his unusu-
al hobby four years ago after retir-
ing from a camping hobby of 30
years. The family lived in the
mountains 10 years in the summer
and camped with a 31 foot Air
| Stream Travel Trailer
"I loved Toe River in Western
North Carolina, Foscoe
Campground near Boone and
Spruce Pine," said Beam, who be-
longed to Carolina Travel Trailer
Club but sold his camper on the
advice of his doctor.
"We used to have church at the
campgrounds every Sunday and
met some of the best friends there
and our children grew up there and
loved it," he said.
Grandchildren Chase Beam, 6,
Ryan Davis, 5, Michael Davis, 3,
Aundra Beam, 14, and Abby
Beam, 12, have all learned to whit-
tle on their grandpa's lap. Ryan
whittles with his left hand.
"In a day and time when kids
have a Nintendo to entertain them,
our kids are entertained by
whittling," said Vanessa Davis.
"We were married 16 years be-
fore we had our children and our
grandchildren are our pride and
joy," said Estelle Love Beam.
Vanessa and Tim Davis have two
children and Adrian and Myra
Beam have three children.
Estelle Love, 18, married John
Howard Beam, 21, on December 1,
1937. They have lived on Wells
Street since 1948 and have been
active for over 40 years in First
Baptist Church, where John is a
deacon and sings in the Men's
Choir. They moved here from
Grover and Grover First Baptist
Church to a Waco Road apartment
and then built their home on Wells
Street.
Reared on a 150-acre farm in
~ JOHN BEAM
Art of whittling
revived by Beam
daughter of the late
Pearl and Robert Love of the
Antioch Community, was reared in
a family of six brothers and six sis-
ters. She has lost to death only one
brother, Ed Love, who died last
year at the age of 76.
Beam was drafted by Uncle Sam
in 1941 and served with a Medical
Detachment for 2 1/2 years at
Oklahoma City, Okla, where
Estelle said she had just fell in
love with the area when Beam was
shipped out with the Infantry to
Germany in World War II.
"I was in one battle and the war
ended," he laughed.
After the War, Beam took a job
with the Kings Mountain Bus
Company, managed the facility
which was then located near the
overhead bridge in Kings
Mountain, and also drove a bus. In
1981, he returned from Lithium
Corporation where he was supply
clerk for 27 1/2 years.
John attended the old Dixon
School and used to walk from
Grover to the elementary school.
He also attended Grover High
School.
"I was always good in math so
the Lithium job came naturally,"
said Beam.
Mrs. Beam attended Blacksburg
High School. She is a former East
School crossing guard and worked
at the old Saunders Cleaners,
McCurdy Cleaners and Mauney
Hosiery Mill.
"I really miss the kids I helped
cross the street for 13 years," said
Estelle, who took the job after she
raised her children.
Now Beam walks a mile every
day and stops for biscuits at
Hardees where he chats with many
of his friends who are early risers.
He also cuts grass for himself and
neighbors, plants and works a
neighborhood garden, and often
gets out his tractor to plow.
"If I'm tired or bothered about
something or just want to relax |
get out my knife and whittle," said
Beam.
For Beam whittling is better than
any medicine and on fall days
nothing suits him any better than to
take his grandsons to his outdoor
spot and whittle.
Never idle, Beam started a spe-
cial project in his yard this week.
He is building a glassed-in gazebo
so that on winter days he can sit
and watch the world go by as he
whittles beside a warm stove.
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ide Today's Hei .
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2915
K~Ki—-bUR | ##R
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(iis
Thursday, September 29, 1994
FEERERERERRERERL
Kings Mountain, NC 28086 « 50¢
Council approves dam repairs
Councilmen Jerry White, Ralph Grindstaff vote against $197,630 expenditure
Kings Mountain City Council
voted 5-2 Tuesday night to move
ahead on plans to repair old
Davidson Lake dam despite reser-
vations by Council on spending
$197,630.
"We're playing with fire on a
state mandate if we don't award the
bid tonight," said Councilman Phil
Hager after Councilman Dean
Spears asked what would happen if
Council postponed the action for
30 days and found a buyer.
"I just have a problem with
Council revises
‘water/sewer plan
City Council Tuesday approved
a revised supplemental agreement
with NCDOT on the Rest Stop-
Welcome Center-Dixon Road wa-,
ter/sewer project.
The new agreement specifies
that six inch force main sewer lines
will be used instead of four and
eight inch gravity lines will be
used instead of six.
The sewer connection will run
from a manhole at the Chesterfield
Apartments on Margrace Road and
the gravity line will run from a lift
station just outside the DOT right-
of-way.
Walt Ollis, Supt. of
Water/Wastewater, said the major
change is that the existing lift sta-
the acquisition of any additional
easements needed for the installa-
tion of the sewer system.
The State Department of
Transportation will be responsible
for the total cost of installing the
sewer facilities except for the cost
of installing the eight inch line and
manholes but will share in a prorat-
ed cost of 50/50 with Kings
Mountain. Kings Mountain would
not put up any cash until a year af-
ter the project is completed and
would have three years to pay its
share of the cost.
Responding to question by
Mayor Pro Tem Rick Murphrey,
Ollis said that he had no time table
on the project since the state is
looking for federal funds to pay
for it.
"The ball is in the state's court,”
said Ollis.
Minority commissioners to be
The two new minority members
of the Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners probably won't be
appointed until sometime in
November, according to Chairman
Cecil Dickson.
Dickson said that 22 names of
possible appointees are under con-
sideration for the two slots on the
board which will enlarge the board
to seven members. Dickson said
the two new members will be seat-
ed on December 6 with the two
commissioners elected by voters
spending the city's money to fix up
a dam that does no one any good,"
said Councilman Jerry White.
Councilman Ralph Grindstaff also
voted against the motion by Hager,
seconded by Commissioner Norma
Bridges, with Mayor Pro Tem Rick
Murphrey and Councilmen Hager
and Jim Guyton approving.
Murphrey presided in the absence
of Mayor Scott Neisler who was
out of-town.
Alex Berkley, engineer with W.
K. Dickson Company, said the
state has been pushing Kings
Mountain to make the dam im-
provements for two years and
probably would not take lightly the
local board's decision to put it off
again.
City Attorney Mickey Corry
agreed and said that if a buyer is
found that the buyer could assume
the liability but Guyton said the
city is mandated to fix the lake and
when the city finds a buyer the city
can recoup its investment.
Murphrey said that if the city de-
layed inking the agreement with
Hickory Construction Company in
a negotiated bid that it's possible
the contractor could change his
mind and back out of the deal.
"We haven't had many people
wanting to do this project," he said.
Guyton said the city was to have
started improvements at Davidson
Lake on June 28 under a state or-
der.
The city has also been told by
See Council, 2-A
"Ruby Barris, Eliz beth [ame
Plans for Mountaineer Day 1994
on October 8 are well underway.
The sponsoring Kings Mountain
Parks & Recreation Commission is
busy lining up talented performers
to present a variety of entertain-
ment.
There's plenty of time for last-
minute performers to register with
Monty Deaton at the Kings
Mountain Community Center, 734-
0449, or Betsy Wells at Kings
Mountain High School, 734-5647,
or at her home, 739-1585.
The stage will be located down-
town at the corner of Floating
Affections and City Hall and will
run continuous acts from 10 a.m.
and continue throughout the street
November 8.
Dickson was meeting with Rev.
John Osborne, chairman of the
Cleveland County Chapter of the
NAACP, on Wednesday. He said
that the NAACP has reviewed the
names of possible candidates and
would probably be making a rec-
ommendation to him for a final de-
cision by the county commission-
ers.
Dickson said that the board will
probably call a special meeting be-
tween now and December 6 to
n and Martha
W I bd all. Jo
Taylo
dance featuring "Mink" until mid-
night.
The Kings Mountain High
School Pep Band, under the direc-
tion of Chris Cole and Gil Doggett,
will open the festivities.
Other performers on stage dur-
ing the day-long event will include:
Jennifer and Becky Senter, singers;
Long Branch Baptist Church
Choir; Jada Clark and Meagan
Meade, dancers; Mike Hayes,
Keepsake Recording artist; Arnold
Clayton, banjo picker; Jane
Campbell's Dance Academy; St.
Peter Baptist Church singers;
Jackie Blanton, storyteller; Jerry
Edmonson and family; Bible
Holiness Church singers; Talia
name the two new commissioners.
He would not identify any of the
candidates for the positions nor
their place of residence.
The rumor mill has been grind-
ing out the names of City
Councilman Phil Hager and
Housing Authority officer Mary
Edwards as possible candidates
from the Kings Mountain area.
Dickson said that he had talked
with Sam Gold, the commissioner
injured during a tractor accident re-
cently, and that Gold is continuing
Kings Mountain People
Mountaineer Day events taking shape
Quinn, singer; Hart Wells and Pete
Small, guitarists; and drama stu-
dents from Kings Mountain High
School.
Also Rev. Theron Feemster and
Miracle Tabernacle Singers; Gold
Street Wesleyan Choir; Christy
Walker, singer; Erin Lovelace and
Charity Moss, dancers; Kings
Mountain High School cheerlead-
ers; The Swinging Mountaineer
Band of Kings Mountain senior cit-
izens; Senior Citizens line dancers;
Tracy King and Gastonia Cloggers;
Jada Brown, singer; Telina Griffin,
singer; Laotian dancers and the
Rappers of Kings Mountain High
School.
selected
to recuperate at his home in Earl.
"Sam will be flat on his back for
awhile but we expect he will be
able to attend the November meet-
ing but certainly not the October 4
meeting which is next Tuesday.”
said Dickson.
Other members of the county
board are Joyce Cashion of Kings
Mountain, E. T. Vanhoy of Shelby
and Ralph Gilbert of Lawndale.
ENSLOW McCLAIN
Preacher’ big hit with Bethware students
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of The Herald Staff
The "Preacher” rides a different school bus twice a
day at Bethware School and is recognized by the chil-
dren and staff as a friend and confidante. He never
fails to tell them he loves them.
Enslow McClain, 64, started his volunteer job three
years ago when his bride of five years, Dorothy
McClain, took a second shift job as the school custodi-
dan.
“1 didn't want my wife to work by herself at night
so I went to work with her and after she got a first shift
job driving a bus and as a custodian 1 kept riding. the
bus to school and back every day." said McClain
whose kindness and concern for people comes natural
ly
at school to think about the sermons he will preach
from the pulpit.
“I like to ride a different bus so 1 can get to know
the children,” said McClain, who said he uses his time
McClain formerly pastored Mount Zion Holiness
Church for 9 1/2 years but now is an Associate
Minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church and is called on
to run revivals at churches far and near. He has
preached in revival services in Maryland. Virginia and
Washington, DC and is a life-long Baptist who was
reared in the Ebenezer Community
Together, he and his wife have nine children and 22
erandchildren. He is the son of Maggie McClain, 90,
and the late Allie MeClaim and was born in a family of
four brothers and five sisters
I'he McClamns start their bus duty at 6:50 a.m. and
return to their home at 304 Branchwood about 4 p.m
See McClain, 11-A
4