BETHWARE GRADUATES OF 1943 - Pictured are the members of the Bethware High School gradu-
‘ating class 52 years ago. Front row, from left, Mascots Becky Morris and Jack Barrett; second row,
‘Principal! O. W. Morris, Ruth Hicks, Jean Philbeck, Kathleen McMurry, Reba Wylie, Ruby Dover, Carrie
Yarbro and Melissa Moss, teacher; third row, Preston Harmon, Cathrine Harmon, Gene Hoyle, Hazel
“Harmon, Joe Hawkins, Lillian Wylie, Homer Pheagin, Ruth Ware and Hoyle Putnam. Back row,
tLindburg Dixon, Dewitt Randall, Gene Ware and Cameron Ware.
CONSORTIUM
From Page 1-A
sentatives of the investment firm
echoed his enthusiasm.
"Now it's up to you all to market
the facility and fill it with area peo-
ple." said Matthews to the 20 local
people present at City Hall.
Matthews said that most of the
Summit Place residents come from
a 10 mile radius of the city the re-
tirement complex is located.
"This is not a field of dreams
and will take tremendous market-
ing on your part but we will do the
rest,” said Matthews,
Former Senator Ollie Harris,
honorary chairperson of the
Consortium for Progress which
was organized last March by for-
mer Mayor John Henry Moss and
other Kings Mountain business
leaders, made the motion to accept
the proposal by the developers.
Moss said the Consortium
wholeheartedly endorses the con-
cept by Pulliam of Spartanburg and
Aaron Enterprises of
Hendersonville and the Consortium
leaders would make no specific
recommendation on choice of site.
The site selection will be left up to
the developers who will be looking
at three sites in the area for easy
access to major utilities, infrastruc-
ture and roads.
The entire facility will be fur-
nished in a decor that is non-insti-
tutionalized, a cluster concept to
get away from the look of hospitals
and nursing homes. Wall-to wall
carpeting, fully furnished rooms al-
though residents may use their own
furnishings, three connected one
story buildings of wood frame on
slab with brick veneer and/ or vinyl
siding with pitched fiberglass shin-
gle roofs.
Upon entering the site, guests
will proceed under the porte-
cochere to a porch that leads to the
administrative building. This build-
ing will also include a large living
room with fireplace, main dining
room, smaller private dining room,
kitchen, conference room, barber
and beauty shop, administrator and
director of nursing offices, multi
purpose activity and meeting
rooms, and business offices.
Moss said the Consortium has
several other major projects in the
developmental stage, including ac-
quisition of property for an Air
Park for primary use by corporate
planes and for shipment of freight.
Kelly Bunch, chairman, said that
least one of the two regulatory
agents involved in the project has
given tentative approval.
INTERVIEW
From Page 1-A
"This intervention was disrup-
tive and damaging, diminishing
public confidence in professional
local government management and
in the Kings Mountain local gov-
ernment and by this conduct Mr.
Wood violated Tenet 3 of the IC-
MA Code of Ethics," according to
Grover.
Grover said the Board accepted
the findings and the recommenda-
tions of the committee and by its
public censure expressed its strong
disapproval of such conduct.
Grover says that less than 6-8
city or county managers are cen-
sored publicly each year in its large
membership and said that some are
privately censored.
Tenet 1 requires members to "af-
firm the dignity and worth of the
services rendered by government
and maintain a constructive, cre-
ative and practical attitude toward
16cal government affairs and a
deep sense of social responsibility
as a trusted public servant."
The guideline for Tenet 2 ex-
plains that "When members advise
and respond to inquiries from
elected or appointed officials of
other local governments, they
should inform the administrators of
those communities"
"This tenet which requires mem-
bers to inform administrators when
they advise and respond is really
one of professional courtesy," said
Grover. J
Grover said the board does not
look at political issues in a commu-
nity nor determine budget issues,
which Wood addressed last sum-
mer in a letter to the full City
Council.
"It's not a matter of who is right
or wrong about the city budget,"
she said.
Grover said the board made its
determination based on lengthy
documentation.
Both the mayor and
Councilwoman Norma Bridges
said they appreciated Wood's input
to the budget.
"Because of that letter we finally
got a decent budget from the finan-
cial director/city manager," said
Neisler.
"I hate that Mr. Wood was put in
this position but I feel like he was
entitled to speak out as a taxpayer,"
said Bridges.
According to minutes of the
mayor's financial ad hoc committee
chaired by Joe Smith on June 17,
1994, Parsons presented the com-
mittee with a revised proposed
budget and financial condition for
June 30, 1994, dated June 17,
1994. She stated that she was not
required by law to furnish any oth-
er information other than the pro-
posed budget. The committee
asked about the changes made in
the current year information and
information that Wood was fur-
nished by the city.
Smith said he acquired copies of
the "green bar" sheets Wood used
and they were dated June 6, eight
days prior to the city council meet-
ing and nine days prior to the fig-
ures furnished to the committee on
June 17.
Smith said in the minutes the in-
formation placed for public view
was incorrect and that the revised
budget after Wood's recommenda-
tions closely matched those figures
furnished by Wood in his letter to
Council.
Smith's minutes said the differ-
ence in the way the two adminis-
trators prepared budgets revealed
that Wood used figures for the cur-
rent year along with information
from past years to arrive at his esti-
mates. Parsons used financial his-
tory and not current year informa-
tion to project what she called an
"austere" budget.
Smith suggested at that meeting
that the Local Government
Commission be called in to look
over the two budgets and deter-
mine which was correct. The com-
mittee voted down the recommen-
dation and months later the Parsons
budget was approved by the LGC
but the LGC turned down a budget
proposal by the mayor.
The ICMA informed the mayor
and former City Manager Chuck
Nance of the sanctions and a press
release was sent to the news media
in the area.
All City Council members had
copies of the ICMA letter this
week.
Wood was featured in a news
story in a Tennessee newspaper af-
ter his first year in his new job,
quoting Cleveland, Tennessee offi-
cials who praised their new city
manager for saving the city over $1
million during his first year of of-
fice.
Parsons said Mr. Wood request-
ed no financial information directly
from her as city manager but she
said the information was faxed by
other people.
"It got to the place I could not
manage the city because I had to
second guess George Wood.
"He was running the city from
Cleveland, Tennessee."
REUNION OF CLASS OF '43 - Of the 20 members of the Class of '43 of Bethware High School, 18 are
still living and nine, along with their spouses, gathered for a class reunion September 29 at Town and
Country Restaurant in Kings Mountain, Front row, from left, Ruth Hicks Christopher, Kathleen
McMurry White, Hazel Harmon Hardin and Ruth Ware King; back row, Cameron Ware, Hoyle Putnam,
Ruby Dover Jenkins, Carrie Yarbro Patterson and Homer Pheagin.
5
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Sax date
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LEADERSHIP CHANGES AT HOSPITAL - The Kings Mountain Hospital Board of Trustees, above,
held its last meeting recently as as board as members finalized a new agreement with the new governing
body, Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital Authority which is expected under the lease agreement with the
county to name some local citizens to an advisory committee. Seated, from left, Ernest: Rome, chairman J.
C. Bridges and Bob Suber. Standing, Bill Davis, left, and David Neisler. ||
vn nslor? of T" bng "aq! |
Grover PD receives $75,000 Cops Fast grants
By: Gail Wilson
Grover Mayor Ronald L. Queen
was beaming as he proudly displayed
the COPS FAST AWARD from the
US Department of Justice, dated Oc-
tober 10. The $75,000 grant will pro-
vide seed money for a top notch
Grover Law Enforcement program
explained Queen.
A roadmap clearly shows Grover
is the Interstate 85 “Crime Gateway”
into Cleveland County and North
Carolina. Therefore, the Grover
Police Department is the first line of
“crime” defense for both Cleveland
County and the state. The US Depart-
ment of Justice may have been look-
ing at a roadmap when they awarded
Grover the COPS FAST AWARD.
Mayor Queen explained that four-
teen months ago Grover applied to
the Justice Department for only
$35,000. US Attorney Mark
Calloway in Charlotte called with the
news that the grant was approved.
Subsequent discussion of what
Grover needed was forwarded to
Washington, DC. When the discus-
sion was completed Grover was
awarded $75,000, over twice what
was originally asked for.
Mayor Queen and the Grover
Town Council will begin planning
the “implementation” of their new
Law Enforcement Program at the
next town meeting, November 6.
Numbers change slightly in KM vote canvass
The numbers were changed in
last Thursday's official city elec-
tion canvass but they didn't affect
the one winner --Councilman Phil
Hager--and the three runoffs.
The canvass resulted in tie votes
between incumbent Councilman
Jim Guyton and challenger Jerry
Mullinax.
Jim Childers, who faces incum-
bent Scott Neisler in the runoff for
mayor, picked up three more votes
and wound up with 530 to Neislers'
629. Neisler picked up two votes.
Incumbent At-Large
Commissioner Norma Bridges
picked up three votes and she leads
challenger Wendell Bunch 688 to
606. Bunch picked up two more
votes.
Ward I Councilman Hager
picked up one vote which made
his total 153 to Joe King's 101.
King picked up one more vote.
Mullinax picked up one vote to
take his total to 97 and a tie with
incumbent Guyton in Ward 2.
In West Kings Mountain
precinct at The Armory 29 ballots
were counted and unread because
the voter marked a write-in space
without a name.
In East Kings Mountain at the
Community Center 56 ballots were
unread because they were improp-
erly marked.
Elections Chairman Becky Cook
said that East Judge Joyce Dye in-
structed every voter who entered
the precinct how to mark the bal-
lots correctly with the felt pen to
make that ballot count.
But Cook said the process was
slowed at both precincts because
KM band
students
learn about drum
A lecture and percussion clinic
that covered the development of
the drum from Colonial times
through three wars and into the
silent movie era of the Roaring 20's
featured a program by William F.
Ludwig Jr., consultant for Ludwig
Industries Tuesday at Kings
Mountain High School.
Band students viewed Civil War
cagle drums and sound effects
from Ludwig's private collection,
including such contraptions as a
rarc stcam locomotive imitation,
sure-fire blank shot holder, steam-
boat imitations, locomotive imita-
tions, a cuckoo machine and other
rare and unusuai animal calls.
In addition, turn of the century
drum pedals that precluded the first
Ludwig pedal of 1910 were also
explained and demonstrated by
Ludwig.
Over 80 slides were used to il-
lustrate the drum in the develop-
ment of our nation, from the first
shots at Lexington through modern
times.
Ludwig said the Southern drum-
mer dress and the dress uniform of
the Confederate soldier and in-
fantrymen was the forerunner of
present bands and their dress
codes. He said camp drummers
were as young as eight and that
practicing the scales were most im-
portant to any drummer.
Band Director Chris Cole ar-
ranged for the speaker.
i
BE
a
Photo by Lib Stewart
William F. Ludwig plays the drum for Kings Mountain High School band students during an informa-
tive lecture Monday. He holds a 133-year-old Civil War drum.
workers gave out the new registra-|
tion cards as they had been in-
structed. ;
Cook said she sees a real prob-:
lem with voter cheating with a reg-
istration card.
"The voter can enter the polling
place with a registration card with)
an address on it and how would the)
election official know that the vot-~
er had moved unless the election,
official knows the voter personal-:
ly." “
Cook said that voters won't have.
to carry the card with them in order
to vote but that the card has on it
very valuable information 2 :
Utilities Committee
to meet on Monday:
The city utilities committee will
consider bids from engineering
firms for a rate study at Monday:
night's 6 p.m. meeting at City Hall. ;
Also on the agenda is a report:
from Utilities Director Jimmy:
Maney on recommendations for!
the purchase of gas at firm capaci-|
ty.
City Manag. r Gary Hicks is al-;
so expected to report on the city's
plans to get tough on utility cus- :
tomers who fail to make utility :
payments by the cut-off date. |
Numerous customers were cut off |
this week for non-payment of utili-
ties and city officials say this is !
standard procedure.
Fall festival slated
at East Elementary
£ast Elementary School will
i
¥
¥
¥
have its annual fall festival:
Saturday, October 28 from 5:30-8 :
p.m.
There will be a haunted house,
games, a silent auction, and other
activities.
A hot dog supper will be held
from 4:30-6:30 p.m. The cost is
$2.50 per plate.
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