Mountaineers open
baseball season
now in per
Member
North CarolinagPress Association
Vol. 108 No. 11
The Fall opening of school will begin a week early
for students on August 12 with the end of school on
May 23.
Kings Mountain Board of Education unanimously
approved a calendar for the 1996-97 school term
Monday night. No one spoke in opposition.
Assistant Supt. for Personnel Ronnie Wilson, who
chaired the committee, said the instructional calendar
places additional discretionary and mandatory work
days at the beginning of the school year and finishes
first semester before Christmas holidays.
The calendar also includes banked time days for
staff development on October 17 and November 20
when students will be dismissed by 1 p.m. Before and
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Thursday, March 14, 1996
KM Schools opt for
after school care will be available.
Board member Shearra Miller asked if the sugges-
tion to finish up exams before the Christmas holidays
came from the high school staff.
Hawkins said that block scheduling did figure into
the deliberations but he said classes will be disrupted
by only one holiday in January and that January is not
a good month to start second semester due to bad
weather.
"Second semester would start on January 6 and we
felt that was a sound way to do the calendar," he said.
"This was not a typical winter but students were in
class only three days after the break for Christmas due
to the ice and snow," he said.
Since 1889
Kings Mountain, N.C. » 28086 ¢ 50¢
r early opening
Miller asked what kind of feedback the committee
received from schools and from parents.
"Some folks say it's too hot to start school August
12 but all the school plants are airconditioned," said
Wilson.
Wilson said that instructionally, the calendar is in
line with the board's educational goals.,
The calendar calls for inclement weather makeup
Joys on Feb. 21, March 28, April 11, April 4 and April
Discretionary workdays are August 1,2,5,9; one-
half day on October 18; November 11; January 2; half-
day January 3; February 21; March 14; April 11; and
Mandatory workdays are August 6-8 and 1/2 day
August 9; half day October 18; half day January 3; and
May 26.
Annual leave days are July 31, December 30,31;
March 28; April 1-4; and May 29-30.
Holidays are September 2; November 28-29;
December 23-27; January 1, January 20 and March 31.
End of nine weeks - October 14, December 20,
March 11, May 23.
October 18 is mandatory work day for elementary
schools and discretionary for Middle/ High; and
January 3 is mandatory for middle/high and discre-
tionary for elementary.
May 27-28.
READY FOR SPRING SALE - As the weather warns later this
week, many, Kings Mountain area a Yesidenty are likely to flock to the
Se pg super salesman
for over half-century
For nearly 50 years Bob Bridges has been behind a
parts counter and he's perfectly content to stay on the
job 50 more years, God willing.
The popular Bridges, president of City Auto &
Truck Parts, started selling parts when he was 16 years
old.
On March 26 he will celebrate a half century as a
super salesman.
His two sons, Kevin and Eddie Bridges, represent
the third generation in the family in the Business.
Kevin has worked with the family business for 21
years and Eddie joined the firm in 1994.
"I don't know all there is to know about parts be-
cause times have changed in the automotive business
too," said Bridges, reminiscing about the changes
while talking to customers and friends who stopped by
his place for a cup of coffee and morning conversation.
Bridges recalled that from 1937-51 one fuel pump
would fit every car and truck that Chevrolet produced
but that's not the case now. There are 10-12 fuel pumps
Passion Play may
change your life
The Gatlinburg Musical Passion his Ascension.
for a one year model, pulling out the figures from his
catalogs he calls his bible and finding 11 different fuel
pumps for a 1994 model Chevrolet.
The proliferation of parts include heavy parts for
trucks and off the road equipment. There is more de-
mand for more than 80 percent of his business for
parts, not for automobiles, but for over the road trucks
and off the road equipment.
"We have evolved to the state of electronic comput-
ing in this business also but we have to depend also on
our catalogs,” said Bridges who says a computer will
never take the place of the paper catalog.
Bridges followed a trade he learned from his father,
Ed W. Bridges at Bridges Auto Parts when it was lo-
cated at the corner of West Mountain Street and beside
of where Dellinger's is located today. Bridges Auto
Parts built a new building in 1948 and Bob remained
with the firm until 1957. Bob's father was killed i in an
airplane crash in 1949.
See Bridges, 2-A
roadside market beside the Kings Mountain Depot where many area
citizens sell their y wares. (jary Burris} is eager to ring up some sales,
BOB BRIDGES
play coming to Kings Mountain
March 23 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at
Barnes Auditorium is packed with
emotion but local ministers warn
that seeing it may change your life.
Rev. David Philbeck, pastor of
Macedonia Baptist Church, has
seen the musical drama several
times and each time the message
. he has preached for 20 years of the
saving power of Jesus Christ
comes alive.
Rev. Corky Bell hears the same
testimony often from people who
write to The Church of His
Majesty in Gatlinburg and relate
the life-changing experience they
received while watching the story
of the life of Jesus from his birth to
Tickets are going fast for the two
performances but they are avail-
able from both Macedonia Baptist
Church and Kings Mountain
Baptist Church and from Kings
Mountain Baptist Associational of-
fices. Kings Mountain churches are
sponsoring the play.
Bell, in Kings Mountain last
week for a meeting with the local
ministerial association, gave his
own testimony.
He ran a successful business for
27 years in Birmingham, Ala. So
heavy was the burden of his call to
preach that he literally ran from
God and stayed away from the
church.
See Play, 2-A
Rev. David Philbeck, left, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, talks
with Rev. Corky Bell, pastor of Gatlinburg's 80-member Church of
His Majesty, which is bringing the Gatlinburg Passion Play to Kings
Mountain March 23.
See Calendar, 2-A
K-3 report cards
to have new look
Student report cards in K-3 will
be different next year.
The new look is a result of
teacher and parent request to
school administrators to fit what
the state is requiring teachers to
teach, according to Assistant Supt.
of Instruction Dr. Jane King.
"You don't see reading and math
components on the old card in the
elementary grades,” according to
King.
The kindergarten report card will
be changed from satisfactory to un-
satisfactory, etc. to four codes 1-4
with four to indicate the boy or girl
is demonstrating mastery of skills
and concepts and one to indicate
that he or she Joquires CORStanty
dition Toe curriculum i
graded in the same manner, with
strategies and comprehension
grouped under reading, and the
three R's featured with spelling
plus integrated studies.
An attendance record is included
on the card plus a personal devel-
opment chart which reports to the
parents if the child follows the
rules, works independently, uses
learning centers, etc.
The report card answers ques-
tions that parents need to know
about a child's performance in
school.
The first grade report to parents
is similar but ‘the report cards in
Grades 2-3 show the grades A- U
with the top score 90-100. A score
of D means the student is having
difficulty and U is unsatisfactory
with a score below 59. There is
space on this card for comments by
the teachers. A personal develop-
ment chart for the four report peri-
ods measures achievement in hand-
writing, following the rules, works
and plays well with others, shows
good attitude, etc.
A negative report card will go
out to parents also which will des-
ignate where the child needs im-
provements in special areas.
Board member B. S. Peeler sug-
gested that the special report card
be the same color as the regular re-
port card so that a child would not
be singled out by giving him or her
a "pink sheet."
King said that administrators
may take a look at a new report
card in Grades 4-5 next year.
Public hearing set
on school budget
Public hearing on the proposed
current expense and capital outlay
budget for 1996-97 will be con-
ducted April 8 at 7 p.m. by the
Kings Mountain Board of
Education.
Supt. Bob McRae said the bud-
get will include a request of over
$2 million in appropriations from
the county board of commission-
ers, a 14.2 percent or $256,000 in-
crease from last year.
"We don't feel this is unreason-
told the Board of Education
Monday night. ’
"We are two hitting on three
years behind," he said. 3
The budget does not call for any
fund balance appropriations as it
has in prior years.
McRae said there is a significant
fund balance in the current budget
for one-time, not recurring im-.
provements, and there is no pro-
jected increase in the school tax of
18 cents per $100 valuation.
However, McRae said the board
may want "to revisit the school tax
issue depending on the decision by
county commissioners."
The budget calls for a 5 percent
salary increase for teachers, the
employment of 4 1/4 classroom po-
sitions, a 1/2 clerical position at
Bethware School where the school
population has jumped to 600, a
summer assistant custodian since
school will be starting earlier next
year and probably contractors to
help do carpet cleaning to get the
buildings ready for fall.
The budget calls for a $5 in-
crease per child for instructional
supplies and $36,340 for after
school remediation in grades K-8
to help keep the numbers down in
summer school. McRae said a sim-
ilar program is already in operation
at the high school.
Other proposed budget items in-
clude fax machine lines for the
schools, a $6,000 increase for con-
tracted services, and a 5 percent
supplement increase for certified
See Hearing, 2-A
Public Hearing Tuesday
on retirement center
A decision on the granting of a
special exception permit to the
Consortium for Progress Inc. for
the building of an assisted living
center on Phifer Road will be made
Tuesday at a 7 p.m. meeting at City
Hall.
Ninety property owners who live
in Southwoods Subdivision and
area petitioned the board on March
5S to delay action for 90 days until
questions and concerns could be
answered. The petitioners also re-
quested a night meeting so that
more property owners could give
input.
About a dozen people spoke at
the initial meeting, both proponents
and opponents who had concerns
about traffic congestion, emergen-
cy access and buffer zones.
The request must be approved
by the board.
Chairman Bob Myers said at the
recent meeting that if the board
rules for the developers that the op-
posing property owners may ap-
peal to the courts.
Phase I of the $3 million project
would be a 48-room, 66-bed facili-
ty. Phase II would add two build-
ings and 66 more beds. The facility
would be built on 11.8 acres of
property owned by the Phifer Heirs
directly across from the entrance to
Kings Mountain Middle School.
Kings Mountain Summit Place
would accommodate senior citi-
See Consortium, 2-A
£