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AR EEE PER a RA @ ey ERIEI INERT OWN RTPI TARY ENN TYFIEFET 2A RATEYE TERYE SUES THEIR ATT PDIF VY PIPETTES TWTTE FEIT OPINION YOUR OPINION Playing in band takes commitment, To the editor: Although I moved away from Kings Mountain shortly after graduating from college, I still have many deep convictions for my hometown. I subscribe to the local newspaper, The Kings Mountain Herald, and look for- ward to reading about the hap- penings around town and in the community. The recent letter to the editor regarding the negative com- ments made about the Kings Mountain High School Band has absolutely infuriated me. As a 1978 graduate of Kings Mountain Senior High School, a member of the marching band (flag team 1976, drum major 1977 and 1978), and the Blazer Band, I know first-hand how much hard work goes into preparing for football games and most especially the concerts performed by the Blazer Band. Band members are required to practice at least two weeks be- fore school starts in the fall, some are required to attend camp in the summer, and each band member (and their fami- lies) gives up Friday nights for weeks...all because these stu- dents are dedicated and want to be the best that they can be. Mr. Donald Deal, Band Director, Mr. Hendricks and Mr. Chris Cole each played a signif- icant part during my high school days in the band and each demanded respect from students. Guess what...they got it! I thank God that I had such committed teachers that taught me respect and responsibility in addition to how to play a musi- cal instrument and perform marching drills before a crowd. The band members are some of the most dedicated and intelli- gent-studentsin the entire: school and rarely get any: recog- nition...much less the recogni- tion they deserve. Come on Mr. (Mike) Harris, to call them “classless” is an insult to your own intelligence. In fact, it’s plain ignorance! 1 praise Mr. Chris Cole for his commitment to the band pro- gram and for the many person- al sacrifices he and his family have made in the interest of the band fer the past 25 years. I ap- plaud each band member for the hard work and sacrifices they make (believe me, it will pay off!): I encourage the par- ents of band members to be de- termined to see them through and lastly, I plead for the com- munity to continue to support thee fine musicians...they will probably be your future lead- ers! .To end in a cheer we yelled in 1978... Kin 1g5 Mountain High school Band. Yeah! 4 Ging Patterson Robinson Holden Beach, NC Fan can’t see football program getting better To the editor: I would love to know what happened to our football pro- + gram? They said at the first of the year that nothing was broken. We were left in very good * shape. But now we are on the same level as Bessemer City. I can not see our program changing with the coaching staff that we now have. I'm sure that our coaches are very nice people, but nice people don’t win ball games. I'm afraid if something doesn’t take place, we're going to start losing support of the fans. We even might start losing our players to other schools. I was on the sideline at prac- tice before the North Gaston game and one of our coaches, instead of trying to build up the morale of the team, was talking to one of the fans telling him that he knew the fans in Kings Mountain wanted him gone but we don't pay his salary, so he wasn’t going anywhere. William Martin Kings Mountain TRe ABI galing To the editor: Sports more than winning and losing To the editor: Enough is enough! As a graduate of Kings Mountain High School and a mother of two young boys, I am very ashamed of the way the citizens of this town are acting. My oldest son plays sports and he has a better attitude with los- ing than the folks writing the editorials. He understands at five years old that winning is not everything but being a good sport is. Now, this is something that a lot of adults in this town and surrounding towns have forgot- ten. If the football players can hold their heads high, then who are we as fans not to do the same? We should not point fin- gers at the coaching staff nor anyone else who has given up their time with their own fami- lies to coach. These men should be patted on the back, as well as their families. In years to come do we as a community want to be known for a winning team or one of the top high schools in NC? Now, if you ask yourself this question without being “hot headed” then the answer is obvious. Please, citizens, quit this finger pointing and become more like my five year old. Melissa Bailey Kings Mountain To support team you have to be there “By‘thé résponse’Thave ret” ceived over the last week, my previous letter to the editor has really made some people sit up and take notice. I would like to thank all of you who have called or given me words of en- couragement and support. Since I have only heard two negative reactions to my letter, I thought that I would address both parties. First of all, Mrs. Potter, I apol- ogize to you and your daughter if you misinterpreted my letter. My letter was not intended to target the band members them- selves, only the person who makes decisions on the band’s behalf. The band does an out- standing job. If I thought they were not talented or they were an embarrassment to KM, would I be complaining about their absence? No. My remark “classless act” was intended to refer to the act of not bringing the band as being “classless.” It had nothing to do with the band being classless. Mrs. Potter, I watch the band at half- ° time every time they perform. If I choose to get a hot dog, I usu- ally wait until they go on sale two for a dollar, which is dur- ing the fourth quarter. I never have been accused of being Country Club or Classy. Those of you who know me, will get a laugh out of that. I have attend- ed many band concerts and I am fully aware of all the Blazer Band's accomplishments. I at- tended concerts for years, and I still turned out to be the class- less person that you say I am. As far as what sports I sup- port at KMHS, Mrs. Potter, I don’t even have children at the high school but I manage to at- tend football, volleyball wrestling, basketball and base- ball games. I'll go ahead and tell you now that I probably won't be at a soccer match. As good as our girls team has been, I've never been a soccer fan. Is | there anything wrong with that? If you think that’s hypo- critical, that’s fine with me. Let me ask you a question. How many athletic events have you attended that did not involve your daughters? Mr. Cole, all due respect is in- tended, I would like to com- mend you on the way you re- sponded to my letter in a professional manner. Your letter was very informative for others. sw For me, I am well aware of all the work that goes into all of the band’s performances. Your letter did me a huge favor to- wards trying to explain my point of view on this situation. You listed all of the time, effort, and dedication that it takes for you to get the band ready for all of your performances. Just to list a few examples: practice for matching, halftime show, Christmas parade, South Central District, honors band, Christmas concert, spring con- cert, graduation, etc. The only question that I, as well as many others, including band parents have is, what has changed in 20 years? Twenty yearsiago, the batid had all of the same re- quirements and they still man- aged to travel to all of the away games. We know it is not time, because instead of an hour a day like you had 20 years ago, you now get 90 minutes a day. Some of the parents may not back me on this, but many are disappointed. Many of the kids are disappointed. I can remem- ber a time when KM had a marching band with black and gold uniforms. Now KM is one | of the best looking and per- forming bands anywhere around, but only home crowds get to see them. Why not show- case your talents to other com- munities? Maybe we, as fans, are asking: too much. All we are asking for is everybody's best effort. That goes for the coaches, players, cheerleaders, band, and fans. If it’s not good enough for a victo- ry on the field, at least we gave : it our best effort. KMHS has the, talent, the ability, the resources, and the support to put on good | shows every Friday night, to which the whole community can be proud. When one mem- | ber of the “team” is missing, it | can bring everybody else down. Bottom line, Mr. Cole and Mrs. Potter, as much as either of you wants to disagree with me, the The Kings Mountain Herald dedication band is a part of the Friday night team and we want them and need them. And for either of you to say that they are not part of the athletic program makes it sound like they don’t really have to be there. If that’s . the case, then so be it. I'm just letting you know you're letting a lot of people down. It’s hard enough trying to convince the community to support our pro- gram. When they see that part of the school doesn’t even sup- port itself, why should the com- “munity care? Here's my last argument ~ about this issue and then I'll let up. The community of KM has been fantastic to our school. KMHS has had outstanding achievements in several pro- grams. But-it.all starts with foot- ball. You can agree or disagree with me all you want to on this one, but I would be willing to ‘say that-oyer 90% of the athletic budget goes through the gates of John Gamble Stadium every Friday night. You might say, well I go to all the home games. That's terrific, keep coming be- cause we need you. Go on the road witht ds téo. But doesn’t that money go to the other school? Yes, but our crowds will accomplish two things. Encourage our players and in- timidate theirs. It should en- courage that same team to bring a big crowd to John Gamble the next year. All of the KMHS sports are important, but if we as a community don’t support the football team to the fullest extent, we will eventually let down the whole athletic pro- gram. The majority of all sports at KMHS, as well as any other high school, lose money or break even at best. All of the programs benefit from the n mon- ey generated from football, even soccer, which by the way, Mrs. Potter, is one of the most expensive programs to field a team. You can see by the letters i in recent weeks how upset some fans are with our football coach- # ing staff. You can also get a sense of the perception that oth- . er communities have about KM. You can disregard all of them if you want to, but several good points have been made. The ex- pectations on KM are higher - than a lot of people want to be- lieve. Not every year is going to be the “Dream Football Season” that everyone wants it to be. Some years our team is going to achieve, some years they will over. achieve, and some years they will underachieve. We, as fans, have to accept it. All we can do is support them in their ‘victories and defeats. But in ei- ther case, we have to be there. Mike Harris Kings Mountain Vv Address letters to The Herald, P.O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086; fax them to(704) 739-0611 or bring them by our office at 824-1 East King Street. Bp | Editor: Gary Stewart 739-7496 November 30, 2000 Section A, Page Florida election situation can have a silver lining No one can say that the election situation in Florida has been boring. With as many twists and turns as a daytime soap opera, the Presidential election recount in the Sunshine State will no doubt make the history books. A lot of people have the opinion that the de- lay in Florida could be harmful to the nation at worst and an aggravation at best. Sure, after. the November 7th polls closed and the nation realized that neither Gore nor Bush would win by a landslide, things became sticky, but it’s not like the government collapsed. I say that instead of looking at the Gore and : Bush situation as a bad thing, we should consider just how lucky we really are to have a system where the transfer of pow- er can be done in an orderly fashion no matter what curves it takes to get there. This principle is also called “things could be a lot worse.’ It only takes a brief perusal of history to check out the way power has been handed overior wielded in other places and times to see that a little thin ikea recount is really just a minor annoyance. AT Instead of a recount, we could Ravat a Ton or dictator that ruled the nation with an iron fist. If you 8idn’t like what was going on in the political arerta, then'you had better keep your mouth shut or face the unpleasant consequence of a firing squad. Do names like Idi Amin, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Genghis Khan bring up any images? As for voting, it was good to see so many people exercise that right this election. For those who didn’t bother, just remember that in many lands today, the right to pick who will lead the country is little more than a dream. The old excuse about not voting because one ballot will never make a difference should also now be put to rest once and for all. " Any type of election, and especially one where tens of mil- lions of votes are cast in thousands of precincts all over a huge land like the United States, will never be absolutely perfect. Simply because of the human factor, votes will be miscounted, lost, or even fooled with. This is/true not only in Florida, but in any state in the nation. The bottom line as far as I'm concerned is that the Florida election thing will be seen in retrospect as a positive thing for the country rather than something damaging. A healthy democ- racy thrives on such, a despotism won't even allow it. Besides being afraid what other countries think of us because of it, let us say to them “warts and all, we would not have it any other way. ” Alan Hodge | The way we were November 28, 1957 As the front page of the November 28, 1957 Herald indicated, folks in Kings Mountain were looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Leading off the events that were slated to come to town was the Christmas parade 2G which was scheduled: for December 4: Special pues at'thepa- rade was Miss North: Carolina; :i1ia1io (5 991105 Hai Elaine Herndon of Durham. Other holiday news on the front page of the November 28, Looking 1957 Herald included stories ‘covering Kings Mountain's B ack own Miss Jane Byars being in the Carrousel Parade in Cy Charlotte, special Thanksgiving i ISP Pe 2 io 2 EE SE services at local churches, and Sur. a Ata, Anal holiday work schedules for area AT KINGS MOUNTAIN businesses. In Herald sports for the last By Alan Hodge week of November 1957, a photo and cutline showed anglers Gene Timms, Skimp Stowe, Joe McClure, and Douglas Fritts with their catch after a deep sea fishing trip at Southport. The four men had landed 900 pounds of fish which included six 30 pound amberjacks and 60 king 'mackeral. Kings Mountain High School football fans had plenty to be proud of in the November 28 Herald since it was announced that Ken Baity was selected to the Shrine Bowl team as a half- back. Baity had scored 54 points for the Mountaineers in the reg- ular season and had rushed 1,289 yards. He was the only player from the Southwestern Conference selected for the honor. In social news, the November 28, 1957 Herald featured a story focusing on the Kings Mountain Hospital Auxiliary “Pink Ladies.” The article drew attention to the fact that 27 area ladies had received service awards at a banquet hosted by Dr. George Plonk. Total hours contributed by the women for 1957 as of November 1 added up to 10,090. Chevron recipients with over 300 hours each included Frances Edens, Margaret Harmon, and Genell Pittman. Movie ads in the November 28, 1957 Herald were full of ac- tion and excitement. Playing at the Bessemer City /Kings Mountain Drive-In was “Attack of the Crab Monsters”. The Joy Theater had “Jamboree” with Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis. The Diane Drive-In was playing “Stopover Tokyo” with Joan Collins. SIDEWALK SURVEY essesssasesecrsresscecscrensnnse By ALAN HODGE Kings Mountain Herald | Now that the Presidential election results in Florida have been certified, concede or keep fighting? Gore should concede the should Al Gore ejection. The people’s prayers have been answered. Gore should pack up and go to Tennessee. David Oliver Kings Mountain Bruce Davis Kings Mountain If the election was certified, Gore should give up. Lee Putnam Kings Mountain Gore should keep on : fighting. Gore should keep going after the win. Emmy Childers Kings Mountain Marvin Sewell Gastonia bari 0x Ee ——— ES — Sp SE ——
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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Nov. 30, 2000, edition 1
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