YOUR
OPINION
United Way
needs support
of ‘caretakers’
To the editor:
Do we ever really stop to
think about how much our
community means to us, how
much we have to be thankful
for each day? Community en-
compasses so much that we
take for granted...food, electrici-
ty, shelter, clothing, jobs,
church, neighbors, friends, fam-
ily, co-workers. The list is end-
less. As I count my blessings, I
also remind myself that we are
all stewards of our communi-
ties, that we all have something
worthwhile to contribute.
As Pacesetter Chair with
United Way of Gaston County
last year, I was delighted to see
the tremendous stewardship of
you, our Gaston County citi-
zens, who raised over $1 mil-
lion through 23 Pacesetter orga-
nizations. Before the kickoff
event, we raised a record
amount to support the 31 local
United Way agencies.
This year, our community
needs your support more than
. ever to continue helping local
people become more self-suffi-
cient. As we face a great deal of
economic and social change, lo-
cal health and human services
are more crucial than ever.
After-school child care, adult
day care for seniors, emergency
help for housefire victims, tu-
tors for the illiterate,
food/clothing/shelter for the
homeless, blood for emergen-
cies and so many vital services
are part of our community be-
cause you choose to give..
This year, as Pacesetter Chair
of the 2000-2001 United Way of
Gaston County campaign, I
challenge you to partner with
me again. We are caretakers of
our community. We are a thriv-
ing, prosperous community be-
cause we give, because we care.
Let’s continue building a
stronger, more self-sufficient
Gaston County by choosing to
give through United Way, the
best way to help the most peo-
ple.
Pam Massey
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The Kings Mountain Herald
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{ HERE you GO, COUNTY COMMISSIONER.
. fi0R YOoR MERGER (53UE IS LOCKED
COTE
UP TIGHT !
School System. . fa
Liknow personally -or
“know of - most of them and I
Thoughts on interim board
I have no problems with the people who
were appointed by Cleveland County
Commissioners Tuesday night to serve on the
interim board of the merged Cleveland County
think they will do what's
best for all the children of
Cleveland County.
However, I have a problem
with the way Commissioners
went about selecting them.
They announced last week
that citizens could apply for .
Gary Stewart
appointment to the board through Monday
noon at the office of the County Manager.
However, Tuesday several of the commis-
sioners announced that they would also be
considering other persons.
Why have a filing period at all? It sounds
like they already knew what they were going
to do.
If I didn’t already think that, I would have
been convinced after a telephone conversation
I had with a Kings Mountain School Board
member on Tuesday afternoon.
If you'll recall, several weeks ago I tried to
predict who the commissioners would appoint
to the interim board. As it turned out, I hit six
of the nine.
But this School Board member - several
hours before the official meeting of the County
Commissioners - hit all nine of them.
I'm not going to invite her to pick against me
on football games. I wouldnt stand a chance.
But getting back to the school board: It’s
makeup is interesting - eight of the nine are ei-
ther residents of Shelby or have Shelby connec-
tions.
Dr. Jack Hamrick and Richard Hooker were
the two members appointed from the Shelby
. Evans is a retired Shelby teacher, and Dr.
Board of Education. They obviously live in
Shelby, and they also work there.
Kings Mountain's representatives are Dr.
Larry Allen, a Shelby native, and Shearra
Miller, who is employed by the Cleveland.
County Arts Council. © | on
Cleveland County's representatives are Jo'*
Boggs of Fallston, who as far as I know is self-
employed and is not connected to Shelby, and
Tommy Greene of Boiling Springs, who is em-
ployed by Cleveland Community College.
The three at-large representatives all have
Shelby addresses, even though one of them
doesn’t live in the city limits. Dr. Steve Curtis
is the former Superintendent of Cleveland
County Schools and is the brother-in-law of
County Commissioner Joe Cabaniss. Mary
George Litton is a member of the Cleveland
County Board of Education and the retired
principal of Crest High School.
The fact that most of these folks have Shelby
addresses or Shelby connections doesn’t mean
they won't represent the entire county. I have
no doubt that they will.
Even though I'm convinced the commission-
ers’ minds were made up in advance, I will say
that they had a great list of candidates to
choose from. \
All of the appointees have experience either
in education or on school boards, as did many
of the folks who were passed over, including
former Kings Mountain School Board mem-
bers Priscilla Mauney, June Lee, Rev. Billy
Houze and Kyle Smith and current School
Board members Stella Putnam, Melony Bolin
and Ronnie Hawkins. «
I don’t envy this interim board. They have a
lot of hard work and headaches ahead of them.
Hopefully, there's a judge somewhere who will
take away all those pains.
AR
: all six of the teams they
Gagan
Editor: Gary Stewart 739-7496
June 8, 2000 Section A, Page 4
1 Scanty clothes cost a lot
Folks like rain forest natives who wear a shoestring for
clothes don’t know how good they have it. After all, not only do
they avoid the hassle of going shopping for clothes at a mall,
they also avoid the credit card bills associated re
with such forays into the world of fashion. If
you think about it, wearing a piece of twine for
trousers means you wouldn't even have a place
to put a credit card in the first place.
Clothes cost too much money these days.
Once upon a time, a chap might have had a
pair of bib overalls and a khaki shirt for every-
day attire, and a suit for Sunday, funerals and
weddings. The overalls might have set a guy
back about five bucks then, and a work shirt
was only a few dollars more. To illustrate the
eee
Alan Hodge
Staff Writer
new heights of absurdity that clothes prices have gone to, I saw
a pair of “fashion” overalls a while back in a department store
that had a price tag of $100. Guess how much plowin’ will be
done in those things.
The price of clothes for women is too often nothing short of
robbery. True, there are bargains to be had if you dig deep
enough, but most things are overpriced and of a quality that
was once known as “shoddy.” Shoes top the list in my opinion
as the greatest gouge in women's attire. How can any
manufacturer honestly justify charging $50. for a pair of shoes
that have maybe a dollar’s worth of leather in them. Some
ladies avoid the shoe fashion trap and go, their-own way. I know
one who sometimes wears what looks like RAF Spitfire flying
boots and gets along fine.
The high cost of fashion is nothing new. Recently I read a
reprint of an article that appeared in the “New York Times” in
1866 about how much it cost a lady of fashion to replace her
wardrobe that had been destroyed;in a fire. The bill was some-
thing like $21,000. That is a lot today and was a fortune back
then. Items on the list included things such as a white satin
dress trimmed with “blonde and bugles” at-$2,500, a black
Mantau velvet robe trimmed with seed pearls valued at $500,
and a white Swiss muslin skirt trimmed with “dogblo.” I don’t
have any idea what “dogblo” is, but it must have been some-
thing special. ;
Anyway, that’s my thoughts on.clothing and their high costs.
On the other hand, even if it does sometimes strain the budget
to get outfitted, the expense required is still probably better than
wearing a shoestring for a three piece suit.
The way we were in ‘85
The death of one of Kings
Mountain’s most illustrious ath-
letes topped front page news
for the June 6, 1985 edition of
the Herald. One of the best ma-
jor league baseball catchers ev-
er, Jake Early was reported as
having passed away at age 70 in
Melbourne, Florida. During
Early’s career in pro baseball, .
he had played for teams such as
the Washingtor-Senatorsiand i=:
Cleveland Browns.
Also on the front page of the
June 6, 1985 Herald was gradu-
ation news from Kings
Mountain High School. A total
of 280 students received their
diplomas at ceremonies held in
John Gamble Memorial
Stadium. It was reported that
the ceremonies were barely
over when a violent storm came |
up and knocked power off in
some areas of town.
The June 6, 1985 editorial
page in the Herald focused on
the retirement of several long-
term Kings Mountain area
school teachers. In a tribute to
the group, it was calculated that
their total years of teaching
came to 163. The new retirees
included Donald Deal, Mattie
Lowery, Julia Plonk, and
Margaret Spratt.
Baseball and softball games
topped sports news in Kings
Mountain for the first week of
June, 1985. In local
games,Parker’s Amoco ladies
went undefeated by whipping
had
faced. In T-ball action, BB&T
ran their record to 11-0 by best-
ing the Jim Testa Braves 13-12.
In Legion play, Kings Mountain
Looking
Back
or EO ee BI TA
£3 a
sl Hr MN ov 2
AT KINGS MOUNTAIN
OER 20 AEE DR Aan bel of
By Alan Hodge
‘
baseball in Kings Mountain was
also in the news with one team
besting Southern Excavating an
the other falling to Belmont in a
close 7-6 game.
Folks in the market for a
house had plenty to choose
from ih the June 6, 1985 Herald.
Several real estate firms were
offering dream homes starting
as low as $8,500 for a four room
frame on Clinton Street. Other
: mansions were going for be-
# boasted a 4-2 record, Babe Ruth
tween $23,000 and $30,000 for
upscaleidigs. Apartment rents
were a lot cheaper 15 years ago
as well. Rent per month for a
new flat in Kings Mountain
was around $150.
Social news in the Herald for
the first week of June, 1985 an-
nounced that the Kings
Mountain Rotary Club was go-
ing to have a special guest at
their upcoming luncheon meet-
ing. Slated to speak was none
the than the up and coming
Charlotte entrepreneur, George
Shinn. It was reported that
Shinn was trying to bring a pro
basketball team to Charlotte.
Also on the social calender was
the Kings Mountain High
School class of 1975 reunion.
SIDEWALK
SURVEY
By ALAN HODGE
Kings Mountain Herald
Do you think
that air quality
is better or
: e than five 't seems to be
Yors better than in the
years ago? past.
Mark Ferretti
Raleigh, NC
Air quality has gone |
down, but it’s not all
due to cars.
Tom Funderburk
Kings Mountain
The air is worse. Car
emissions are lower,
but the population
has increased.
Tonya Deaton
Kings Mountain
| think the air is
to be.
dirtier than it used
Kassy Whetstine
Kings Mountain
All the cars have
made the air worse
than it used to be.
Reginald Lovelace
Kings Mountain