HELLO SPOT!
- Styx Ross, pictured at right, is a creative person and didn't want to build the usual
run of the mill snowman during last Friday's snow. So he created a snow dog on top of a car. Ross and his
friends Keith Ross, Reggie Lovelace and Wes Sanders, left to right, also built several snow men and a mer-
maid.
Your Right To Say It
Disappointed in speaker at MLK program
To the editor:
The message presented by the speaker at the Martin
Luther King Jr. celebration held at Malcolm Brown
Auditorium at noon on Monday was frightening and
disappointing. Being an elected official representing
all citizens, it was appropriate that I attend.
I also attended the observance to honor the fallen
leader held at Kingstown on Sunday evening. Young
attorney Mark Bibbs presented a fine message in
which he said great strides had been made in the civil
rights movement, but much remained to be done. The
atmosphere of those gathered at Palmer Grove Baptist
Church was as you would expect of persons gathered
to honor the leader who advocated non-violence and
brotherly love.
The NAACP sponsored event in Shelby was con-
ducted in the proper spirit except for the principal
speaker who called on belief in God and Jesus and in
the same breath said black people will only receive
justice when they go into the streets and "fight." He
did not clearly define what he meant by "fight." The
speaker, a Charlotte minister who was introduced as
one of the Wilmington 10, said the devil controls
Congress and the White House.
While some of the audience displayed approval of
the radical message I believe most of Cleveland
County's minority population would not adhere to the
tactics suggested by the speaker.
John H. Weatherly
Member, N.C. House
Patterson's family thanks Kings Mountain
To the editor:
During our sojourn on this earth, life, or fate as you
will; sometimes deals us an experience that rocks the
very foundation of our being. This experience renders
us totally helpless and devoid of words to express our
innermost feelings.
Our family recently suffered such a blow. On the
night of October 13, 1995, while driving in the
Washington, D.C. area, one of our family members,
Gregory Allen Patterson, a 19 year old sophomore at
N.C. ‘State University; was gravely injured in a drive-
by shooting! that left’ him paralyzed from’ his neck
has been simply wonderful. Words seem grossly inade-
quate, but our family wishes to thank all of you for
your love, concern, and support. Many of you we
know; others we do not know. We are grateful to all of
you and say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Allen is making some limited progress, but there is
a very long road ahead. We're grateful for every posi-
tive sign and are taking it one day at a time. We solicit
your continued thoughts and prayers in his behalf.
May God continue to bless each of you for taring.
Allen is now at the Kessler Rehab institute in Yost
Orange, NJ.
down. .
As the news of this tragedy went out, the public be-
gan to respond and concern for Allen and his condition
Shirley P. Rouson
Peggy P. Jones
Greensboro, NC
Ad hoc committee to look at KM audit
The mayor's 1994-95 ad hoc
budget/financial committee will re-
convene once more with Auditor
Darrell Keller to look at the 1994-
95 audit and compare it with the
1994-95 budget and present find-
ings-to Council.
Last year Mayor Scott Neisler
appointed Joe Smith to chair the
committee to review two city bud-
gets-- one prepared by Maxine
Parsons when she was interim city
manager and approved by City
Council and the other prepared by
the mayor.
Both budgets were subsequently
reviewed by the North Carolina
Local Government Commission
and Institute of Government offi-
cials and the Parsons-prepared
budget was approved.
During the year representatives
of the state organizations came to
Kings Mountain to confer with lo-
cal officials on the budget and later
advised them in a memorandum to
stay with the Parsons budget and
hold the line on spending. As city .
manager Parsons instituted a hiring
and spending freeze.
Serving on the ad hoc committee
were Bob Maner, Lou Ballew,
then-commissioner Jim Guyton
and Keller. In the minutes of the ad
hoc committee meeting last year
the chairman suggested that the
group meet after the 1994-95 audit
was presented to Council and re- |
view the audit.
Councilman Rick Murphrey reit-
erated that the budgets were history
and said he thought it okay for the
1
group to meet again and even go to :
Raleigh for a conference with the
LGC.
"Tt would be a good learning and
educational experience and they
could come back and give us all
some help in future budget and
planning sessions," he said.
Schools working on agenda for meeting
The chairmen of the three school
boards in the county expect to have
an agenda out soon for the joint
meeting February 19 at Cleveland
Community College.
Spt. Dr. Bob McRae said that
repfesentatives of the three school
bodrds met last Wednesday in
Shdiby to discuss a tentative, gen-
eral agenda which when finalized
wilEbe made public.
McRae said the tentative agenda
calls for time on the program for
talking about ways the three school
systems are already cooperating
Three injured
Three people were hurt Monday
night in a three vehicle pileup on
King Street at Canterbury Road.
Ptl. Andy Berry cited Curtis Lee
Burgess, 31, of Route 3, Bessemer
City, with exceeding safe speed
and failure to reduce speed.
Burgess, his wife, Cynthia Black
Burgess, 23, and Richard Keith
Moare, 46, of 500 Downing Drive,
were transported by ambulance to
Cleyeland Memorial Hospital
where they were treated for in-
juries.
and general discussion about ways
in the future to further opportuni-
ties for all children in the school
systems.
"I'm not sure what individual
topics may be brought up in the
meeting which we hope all inter-
ested people will attend," he said.
The joint meeting of the Shelby
Board of Education, Cleveland
County Board of Education. and
Kings Mountain Board of
Education was proposed last fall by
the Shelby school board as a way
to discuss future issues related to
public education in the county but
not specifying merger.
McRae said he hoped the joint
meeting will reveal to the general
public how the three systems are
already cooperating and improving
opportunities for all students in the
county.
Local board chairman Ronnie
Hawkins said he will probably
have agenda items available to
present to the Kings Mountain
board at an all-day work session
January 26 at 8:30 a.m. in the
board room at Central School.
in wreck on East King Street
The accident happened at 6:40
p.m. when Curtis Burgess, operat-
ing a 1986 Chevrolet, traveling
West on King Street, hit his brakes
apparently on ice and struck a 1991
Ford operated by Moore which was
slowing for a left turn onto
Canterbury Road sending the
Moore car into a spin which struck
a silver Chevrolet pickup.
Moore told investigating offi-
cers that he looked in his rear view
mirror and saw the approaching car
but could not get out of the way in
time to avoid the collision. The
unidentified driver of the pickup
left the scene.
Kings Mountain firemen took a
light truck to the scene, according
to Chief Frank Burns.
Police said several people sitting
in a car at Canterbury Road wit-
nessed the accident. Witnesses told
police the wrecked pickup had no
tag.
Property damages
$11,000.
totaled
Three file for county and state offices
Tio more Cleveland County
residents filed Tuesday with the
Cleyeland County Board of °
Elections for county and state po-
litical offices.
Azcontest developed for the 37th
Senatorial seat held by Senator
Dengiis Davis of Lattimore when
Shelbian C. C. Guy tossed his hat
into the ring.
Shelbian John R. McBrayer be-
came the sixth candidate to seek
three seats open on the Cleveland
County Board of Commissioners,
announcing his candidacy also on
Tuesday.
Other candidates for commission
seats are Ray Thomas, John W.
Goforth, Willie McIntosh, Robert
A. Williams and Joe Cabaniss Sr.
Terms of Cecil Dickson, Sam Gold
and E. T. Vanhoy are expiring.
Ridings new Herald publisher
Dean Ridings has been named
publisher of the Kings Mountain
Herald and four other Republic
Newspapers in Cleveland and
Gaston counties.
In addition to the Herald,
Ridings will publish The Cleveland
Times,’ Cherryville Eagle,
Bessemer City Record, and Banner
News in Belmont.
Ridings comes to Kings
Mountain from Republic
Newspapers' corporate headquar-
ters in Knoxville, TN where he
served as Vice President, directing
the company's acquisition efforts
and publishing the company's flag-
ship weekly in Knoxville.
A native of Panama City, FL,
Ridings began his newspaper ca-
reer in 1985 as publisher of The
Daily Standard in Excelsior
Springs, Missouri. He joined
Republic Newspapers in 1989 as
publisher of the Banner News in
Belinont.
Ridings then moved to Florida to
run the company's four Florida
newspapers until 1993, when he
transferred to the corporate office.
. Ridings will continue to super-
vise the Florida properties and ac-
quisitions in the Carolinas.
Ridings' family roots are in
Kinston and Durham, and his par-
ents now live in Spartanburg, SC.
Ridings and his wife, Kellie,
Schiele Museum
employees promoted
Schiele Museum of Gastonia has
appointed Jim Lynn as Acting
Director and Ann Tippitt as Acting
Assistant Director.
Lynn is a Gastonia native and
earned his Bachelor's degree in bi-
ology from Pfeiffer College, doing
post graduate work at Appalachian
State University. From 1960-67 he
taught at Grier Junior High School,
from 1967-74 was planetarium lec-
turer and until his appointment as
Acting Director, was the Assistant
Director. He has taught various
workshops in astronomy and geol-
ogy at Gaston College as well as an
astronomy lecturer at Belmont
Abbey College. He is a member of
the Southeastern Planetarium
Association, N.C. Museum
Council and Cinema 360
Consortium.
plan to purchase a home in Kings
Mountain in the next few weeks
and he will move his family here at
that time. The Ridings have. two
children, Blake, 10, and Amy, 8.
Ridings said he is pleased to be
back in Cleveland and Gaston
counties.
"The opportunity to return to
North Carolina was appealing to
me," he said. "I look forward to
working with the staff and adver-
tisers and my family and I are
looking forward to becoming a part
of the community."
808 W. King Street
Kings Mountain, NC
Gi
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OPTOMETRIC
Thursday, January 18, 1996 - THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD - Page 5A
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