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The Christian celebration of
Christmas will feature 11 p.m.
candlelight communion services
at Resurrection and Saint
‘Matthew's Lutheran Churches
and special services at Central
United Methodist, First
Presbyterian and Boyce
Memorial ARP Churches.
Special music will feature
the services.
At Resurrection, the sanctu-
ary will be decorated with
Chrismon trees, red and white
poinsettias and candles and
greenery in the windows.
Luminaries will line the side-
walks leading to the church in
Crescent Hill.
Two Christmas trees decorat-
ed with Chrismons and candles
and wreaths in the windows
decorate the sanctuary at St.
Matthew's Lutheran Church.
Interim Pastor Dr. John Mauney
will lead the candlelight com-
munion service. Special music
A special children's service
will held at St. Matthew's
Church Christmas Eve at 4 p.m.
A Children's Christmas Eve
service will be held at 4 p.m. at.
Resurrection Church. Christmas
carols, 4 telling of the
Christmas Story and gifts for
the children will be featured.
First Presbyterian Church
will hold the candlelight com-
munion service at 9 p.m. on
Kings Mountain's tradition of giving to the
needy reaches its peak in the Christmas season as
churches, organizations and other groups band to-
gether to help the less fortunate.
Christmas 1994 is no exception.
_ Over $3,000 has been collected from lay people
ringing the bells at the Ministerial Association-
sponsored bell ringing stations in front of the su-
per markets. The money will be used for emer-
gency needs and distributed by the Crisis
Ministry.
; "Most churches are also helping needy fami-
lies as is their custom," said Rev. Patricia Stone,
inh Op
AVY oO F
KINGS MOUNT
plans a giving Christmas
Area churches to celebrate birth of Christ
ducts a food bank and a clothing closet. Sherry
Hamrick is administrator of the project.
Kings Mountain Lions Club distributed 20 food
baskets to the blind, an annual project, on
Tuesday afternoon. Lion Don Crawford said the
Lions met at Harris-Teeter to bag the fruits and
staple items to be distributed in the Kings
Mountain area.
_ Pine Manor residents plan a holiday celebra-
tion on Thursday. It is coordinated by Denese
Leonard, with assistance of local churches.
Members of Unit 155, American Legion
Auxiliary, presented gifts to 10 veterans at White
Oak Manor. Members of the committee were
by the choirs will be directed by Christmas Eve.
Margaret McGinnis with
Virginia Hinnant, organist.
See Churches, 14-A
KM plants
plan short
yule schedule
Kings Mountain area citizens
are readying for Christmas this
week.
With few exceptions, industry
was already taking a holiday or
making preparations for a long
holiday.
Last-minute shoppers were
filling the stores and particular-
ly the grocery stores were en-
joying a booming business with
homemakers stocking up on
turkey and favorite holiday
foods for Christmas dinner
Sunday.
Churches were arranging tra-
ditional services. At least two
Christmas cantatas will be held
on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. -
at Grace United Methodist
Church and at Second Baptist
Church.
For most industrial employ-
ees, the holidays will be with
pay or with Christmas presents
in the form of gifts or certifi-
cates.
Spectrum will close at mid-
night Friday and resume opera-
tions at 8 a.m. January 2.
Grover Industries will close
Saturday at 6 p.m. for a long
holiday until January 2.
Bonuses are paid to employees
based on length of service.
Minette Mills and Cleveland
Products will close Friday and
Monday for Christmas holidays
and also on January 2 for the
New Year's holiday. Eligible
employees will receive vacation
pay. |
Commercial Intertech will
close Saturday, Sunday and
Monday for Christmas holidays
and the following weekend for
New Year's holiday.
Eaton Corporation employees
will begin holidays which con-
tinue Christmas week. Some
See Christmas, 14-A
John Coyle, left, of Mack Trucks, receives a plaque from Motor Panel President Gene Denney during
a big plant celebration at Motor Panels Thursday.
president of the Ministerial Association.
Stone said the Crisis Ministry, which operates
year-round at the Community Center, also con-
Planning Director Gene White, left, receives a plaque from Mayor Scott Neisler at a retirement dinner.
White is retiring December 31 after 22 years with the City of Kings Mountain.
Gene White has his 'day
Wednesday was Gene White Day at City Hall
as a large crowd of his co-workers and friends
said bon voyage at a retirement party.
White will hang up his hat after 22 years on
the job December 31.
"I wish you all a Merry Christmas but I'm out
of here New Year's Day," responded White in jest
to Building Inspector Jeff Putnam's original ren-
dering of Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job And
Shove It."
White received a gold watch and other gifts
during a "roast" planned by his secretary, Shirley
Payne. His wife, Dru, presented him an airplane
ticket to Florida where he plans to do some fish-
ing with his new rod and reel from the three
boards he serves as secretary, Planning and
Zoning, Moss Lake Commission and Board of
Adjustment.
Joe Champion of the Lake Commission,
Clayvon Kelly of the Board of Adjustment, and
Lou Ballew and M. C. Pruette of the Zoning
Board took the occasion to praise White for his
service to the City of Kings Mountain. Mayor
Scott Neisler presented an engraved plaque and
City Manager Chuck Nance thanked White for
his dedication to duty.
The piece de resistance. of the afternoon was
the entertainment by Utilities Director Jimmy
Maney and Putnam. The crowd roared with
laughter to the original hit by Putnam who used
names of commissioners on City Council to fla-
vor the song.
See White, 14-A
Motor Panels and Mack Trucks Celebrate
000
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The 50,000th Mack CH mod-
el cab was produced Thursday
at the Kings Mountain plant of
Motor Panels Inc.
President/ CEO Gene Denney
joined local manager Wendell
Slone in welcoming local and
county officials, the nearly 100
employees of the local plant,
and officials of Mack Trucks to
a big celebration party which
included a plant tour.
Kings Mountain Mayor Scot
Neisler. Cecil Dickson, chair-
man of the county board of
commissioners. Jack Palmer,
representing the Economic
Development Commission, and
realtor John Barker took the oc-
casion to congratulate the com-
many which built here six years
ago. Covering 119.000 square
feet on a 26-acre site, it 4s the
Christenson.
Willie Wright, chairman; Lib Cline and Myrtle
See Giving, 14-A
Nance may pull
cord on phones
City Manager Chuck Nance
said he may pull the cellular
phones from cars operated by
some department heads.
Nance said he is looking at
the city's phone bills from
Cellular One and evaluating the
need for all 10 phones.
Nance has questioned city
employees with cellular tele-
phones, reminding them that the
telephones were issued for city
business only and that employ-
ees who had made personal
calls should reimburse the city
for any personal calls listed on
the bills.
"Several of the individual ac-
counts seemed high," Nance
said after reviewing the bills at
the urging of Commissioner Jim
Guyton.
But Finance Director Maxine
Parsons said that the stir about
the phone bills has been "blown
out of proportion."
Parsons said that the city
owes no back bills to Cellular
One and that the October bill
questioned by Guyton was for
pagers for each of the phones
that city officials thought were
free and included in the city's
agreement with the company.
"When Mr. Guyton started
asking us for printouts of the
bills he didn't give us time to
explain that we thought we
were getting the pagers free and
when they billed us I immedi-
ately called them and the repre-
sentative said it was her error,"
said Parsons.
"I gathered up all the pagers
except one for the Police
Chief's car, the City Manager's
car and one detective's car and
sent them back and we got a
credit for their return,” she said.
Parsons said the city's annual
phone bill from Cellular One is
most automated heavy-truck
cab production plant in North
America.
With the capability of pro-
ducing 15 cabs an hour. the
Motor Panels plant boasts a
combination of portable. fixed
and robotic resistance welding
equipment integrated into a 260
foot. semi-automatic cab frame
assembly line. Major assem-
blies such as body sides. back
panels and underbodies are sup-
plied to the main frame point of
use by an overhead conveyor
system from a separate. roboti-
cally welded and controlled
work cell.
The Tocal plant produces 78
cabs per day five days a week.
Denney took the occasion to
present plaques to officials of
both Motor Panels and Mack
$600. She said the city gets all
local calls free and only pays
for roam charges, which are
long distance calls outside the
Cellular One area.
Guyton had asked for bills fur
the entire year and is still wait-
ing to get them, he said last
week)
"What made me mad is that
we were 90 days behind," said
Guyton.
"The bill for June showed we
owed $1100 so there is some-
thing before June we need to
know about."
Parsons said the additional
billing was for the pagers that
the city was charged for erro-
neously and she sent back.
Nance released to City
Council the phone bills for a pe-
riod of five months from June
to October. The month of July
was missing as was the front
page of one of the bills. Parsons
said that City Auditor Darrell
Keller had requested the bill in
connection with his audit of the
city finances.
Guyton questioned why Mrs.
Parsons, the former Interim
Manager, had a phone in her
car after Nance became the new
Manager.
"I don't think that some of our
Council members realize the
critical position that the finance
department plays in the opera-
tion of the city," said Parsons.
Parsons said she is on call
now because she has new em-
ployees in the finance depart-
ment who have to call her when
she's away from her desk for a
number of reasons.
After Guyton questioned the
distribution of car phones at a
recent Council meeting
Council voted to leave the mat-
See Phones, 12-A
Motor Panels builds 50.000th cab
Trucks.
Dale McKillop. manufactur-
ing manager. Barry Brookshire.
maintenance manager and Dan
McRae. engineering manager.
led the tours of the facility.
Other locations of Motor
Panels Inc. are in Norwolk.
Ohio. Shadyside. Ohio with the
Product Development Center
and Corporate offices in
Farmington Hill, MI.
Launched as a new. specifi-
cally designed cab assembly
plant in December
1988/January 1989, the Kings
Mountain plant works closely
with the Mack Commodity
Team and with Motor Panels’
Product Development Center,
It is seldom in anyone's ca-
See Truck, 14-A