OPINION
missed
To the editor:
Kings Mountain has lost a
wonderful man and an excel-
lent doctor. One of the minis-
ters at Dr. Durham's service
said, “He loved his patients.”
Well, his patients loved him!
Dr. Durham has been my
family’s doctor since 1963.
On April 22, 1964 he deliv-
ered my oldest daughter
three months premature. She
weighed one pound, 12'1/2
ounces. The Lord and Dr.
Dutham saved her life. For
this I will be forever grateful.
His calm manner and
friendly smile always made
you feel comfortable ‘around
him. I always appreciated his
medical opinion on questions
I'would ask. Dr. Durham will
truly be missed!
“To his wife Casey and the
rest of his family, you have
my prayers and deepest
sympathy.
Jeannine E. Fisher
Kings Mountain
Letter
Policy
We appreciate your letters
to the publisher and encour-
age you to write.
We limit the number of let-
ters that any one person may
have published to one a
fit Letters must be brief
d to the point, and con : eres
00 words or less onl Ah ; AER
mately two pages double-
spaced or one page single-
spaced).
Handwritten letters will be
accepted, but must be legible.
We will not publish letters
from anonymous writers.
Names, addresses and phone
Bumbeis must be included.
Se right to edit
ne f; punctua-
tt ok tived on
: con Monday
a are to be
ublished. Mail letters to The
pubtioned. PO. B6X 769, Kings
Mtiitain, ‘NC 28086 or fax
Aege: {gos 780 0611.
SHR ar Sorbet & any Hisribs
/Stant ial.efrofshal’ Appear in
‘Henewspaper oriclarify any
eat Hat ‘are unclear.
‘feqesta: Correction or
elatifieationscall the editor at
i NES. 74 6petiveen 8:30
pl Sl Mone
Willig Nietptosh;, Chm.
219 Ney Bethel Church Rd.
Lawndale; NC 28090"
Fhetst £28, 3768
Salat »w
om Brid ges; IY
=, gn ewodd Dr.”
a ‘NC 28086
482- 2747
‘Ronnie Hawkins
£ £P.O. Box 639, .
“316 Codnttride Rd.
Kings Mountain, NC
‘Home Phone: 739-7078
fork Phone: 739-2591
Mary Accor \
944 Dixon School’ Rd.
Kings Mountain, NC 28086
Home Phone: 937-7508
Work Phone: 734-5623
he Kings Mountain Hemid
ALAN HODGE /THE HERALD
Rev. Doug Petersen (left) and Jack Hutchins were checking out some cool season garden plants
at Bridges Hardware recently. Even though nights are still chilly, warmer days are just around the
corner.
The Good Lord helped her
Everybody said she was so little and frail.
If you saw her the last several years of her life
you would assume she was.
On the outside, maybe.
Inside, no way.
Letha Stewart was a
fighter. She had more faith
and determination in her
little finger than most of us
will ever know.
By human understanding
she should have left this
earth years ago.
In the second year of her
marriage she survived the
typhoid fever that took sev-
eral other members of the Stewart family. The
fever caused her first child, Lib, to be born three
months premature, so small that she could fit in
the palm of a grown adult’s hand and sleep on a
pillow.
Doctors and others who diagnosed and ob-
served her condition couldn’t measure the faith
inside her. That seed was planted by an old
grandfather, Ephraim Jackson, who raised Letha
Bell and her younger sister Alma (Sellers) on
practically nothing. Their mother had died when
ixand three years ald, respectively,
Sungifather, thougha godly man him-
self, was Li mature enough to raise two young
girls on his own. When he remarried the girls
were getting bigger and they looked upon their
grandpa as their father, so they stayed with him.
They never had much money. But they had a
lot of faith and love, and that’s priceless.
Everybody called Mr. Jackson Eaf (rhymes with
leaf). He died just a few weeks after I was born on
May 6, 1946. They say he was hanging on til I was
born.
In those days, momma often said, doctors ad-
vised women not to take a newborn outside for at
least a month. “If I'd known then what I know
now I'd have taken you for him to see,” she said.
Gary
Stewart
Frail? No.
I learned as a young lad that my momma,
though she never weighed more than 135
pounds, was tough. She kept a big Hickory
switch on the back porch to prove it and if a
spanking was needed before she could make it to
the back porch she could apply a pretty stout
open right hand to your backside.
Despite what others, particulary my sister
Linda, tell you I didn’t have to be punished often.
But I was always the type that when I erred it was
in a big way!
Tough? You bet.
Momma never worked at a regular job, but I
don’t know of any profession more noble than
raising a family. That, which included strong spir-
itual guidance, was her role.
On the rarm, part of that included a lot of hard
work in the fields. I was the youngest of five chil-
dren and farming was on its way out by the time
I got big enough to do any real work.
But I got my love of gardening from momma. I
still know that you “plant taters with the eyes
up.” I also know that even in times of drought
you keep on plowing and hoeing. “You do your
part, and when the Good Lord's ready He'll do
His,” she said. That was a quote handed down
from Eaf Jackson, and as I matured I realized it
doesn’t just apply to farming.
Frail? 3
The last ten years of momma's life were tough.
In July 1991 a dedicated doctor, Scott Mayse, and
some specialists in Charlotte discovered that her
arteries were severely clogged. One was clogged
right at the wall of the heart and there was no
way to bypass it. They said at her age, 75, and her
frail condition, she would never survive surgery.
Take her home, they told us. If she lives til
Christmas it will be a miracle.
She lived not only til that Christmas, but nine
more. Most of them were good, but she survived
some more tough times including the death of a
great-granddaughter, Kayla Newton; a grand-
daugher, Kathy Brown; and a son, Herman “Buck
Stewart.” We were sure that would kill her.
By that 10th Christmas, though, we could see it
would be her last one here. Instead of the usual
routine of everyone coming to my hose, we had
to go to her’s because even getting one foot in
front of the other without assistance was becom-
ing very difficult for her.
“Lord, help me.”
In my older years I've come to know more ful-
ly what the writer in Ecclesiates was talking
about when he advised us to remember Our
Creator in the days of our youth.
That's not just about c coming to Christ at an ear-
ly age. If we're blessed enough to, Jive a long life
there may come a time when the silver cord will
break and if memory is not.completely gone it
certainly won't be what it used to be.
Ten years earlier when those doctors diagnosed
congestive heart failure and told us to take her
home, they said one day she might just be sitting
in a chair and stop breathing.
The last several weeks were tough. Yes, the
body was frail outside. Maybe inside too.
Breathing, even with oxygen, was a harder task
than any she’d ever'experieticed on the farm.
“Lord, help me. Lord, help me,” she said over
and over. The memory was almost gone, but deep
down inside she knew the Lord was the only One
that could help,
She fell out of bed two days in‘a-row. On the
second day, Thursday, March 22, when my wife
and I went oyer to her house at 5 a.m. to help Lib
put her back iff bed, she said, ST ‘mijust going to
leave this old world”
About six hours later, the Lod granted that
persistent plea for help.’ !
The greatest miracle’ - eternal’ healing - hap-
pened.
.
annual payroll to $400,000.
Editor: Gary Stewart 739-7496
March 29 2001 Section A, Page 4
ow ARS SE a
Ray Hicks lives like a
prince on next to nothing
The other night I saw a man on TV that had his act together-
literally and figuratively.
The story was a documentary film about a guy named Ray i!
Hicks who lived on the side of Beech Mountain with his wife. «©
Now, that might not sound too unusual until you examine the;
lifestyle the Hicks family enjoys. ’
The house that Ray lives in has neither electricity or running
water. Heating in the winter time is provided
by chopped wood. Water for washing and
cooking has to be carried from a creek. The ma- |
jority of the Hicks’ food comes from vegetables
they have grown and canned or that they eat
fresh out of a little garden.
For clothes, Ray favors bib overalls and an
old slouch hat. At the time the film was made a
few years ago, he was getting up in years and
trekked the hillsides with the aid of a cane. Alan Hodge
Taking a movie crew along, Hicks could name :
every plant in the fields and woods and tell Staff Writer
what use they could be put to.
Besides his knowledge of what it takes to get along in the
hills, Ray is also a genius at storytelling. His sing-song rendi-
tions of “Jack tales” have endeared him to thousands of folk
fans at festivals all over the mountains.
The thing that impressed me most about Ray Hicks and his |
wife from watching the PBS special was their utter lack of pre-",
tense or “airs.” They were as open and honest in their way of
life, and as simple and yet profound in everything they said and
did as to be on a plane of existence equal to what the Romantic
poets worshipped as the “natural man.”
This past week I envied Ray Hicks. Like everyone else, I had
to start 10-digit dialing. Sunday afternoon while trying to have.
some peace I was aggravated by a telemarketer. My car got hit ,
in a parking lot and had to be taken to the body shop, my com-
puters both at work and at home acted up. Surely you can add ,
these and other irksome occurrences to you own list.
In my opinion, Ray Hicks and those like him such as the
Amish people who live close to the land and are not encum-
bered with “stuff” know true freedom. Though practicality and
obligation prevent me and most other folks from taking the
plunge to live a lifestyle of this nature, it’s still nice to see some-
one who is content to live the simple life of our forefathers.
Way we were in 1961
Herald headline news for March 30, 1961 announced that the
town of Grover was planning a $125,000 water bond election.
‘The system was supposed to upgrade Grover’s facilities and in-
cluded a 100,000 gallon storage tank. Other front page news for;
that issue of the Herald includ-
ed word that Foote Mineral Co.
was getting set to give their
workers a five cents an hour
raise. The raises boosted Foote’s
Martin AMON cola ji Fa
the March 30, 1961 Herald had
several interesting tidbits and
thoughts. With the 100th an- in meal bo
niversary of the Civil War at
hand, Harmon told of the 28th o KiNG $ MOUNTAIN
North Carolina Regiment and
specifically about Co. B “The Gaston Invincibles.” According to:
Harmon, there were several Cleveland County lads in the group
including Pvt. John Blalock who lost an arm, Cpl. John Falls
wounded at Chancellorsville, and Cpl. Frank Thompson said to!
be “too thin for the Yankees to hit.”
Society news in the March 30, 1961 Herald as reported by edi-
tor Lib Stewart featured a piano recital by students of Mrs. L.E.
Hinnant. The concert was performed at West School by talents
that included Judy Barham, Helen Goforth, Debbie Timms, and
Brenda Garmon. Other social activities included installation of *
Mrs. Addie Bridges as Worthy Matron of the Eastern Star and
Boyce Memorial ARP’s annual egg hunt. a
Sports writer Neale Patrick had several interesting stories in */
his section of the March 30, 1961 Herald. One feature revolved *
around Jake Early and his attempt to organize a local softball
league. Another story took a look at the upcoming baseball "1"
brawl between Kings Mountain and Cherryville. Getting praise
from Patrick was John Gamble and his pioneering work in get-'"
ting a junior high conference established within the scope of the
Southwest Conference. =
The Easter fashion parade brought out a spate of ads in the
March 1961 Herald. For m’lady, shoes at Plonk Bros. were in the”
latest styles and priced as low as $2.99 a pair. For the crowning”
glory, McGinnis had hats ranging in price from $1.98 to $5.98.
Gents could be outfitted at Page’s Men's Store with suits start-
ing at $39.95. Rounding out the Easter offerings were candy-
filled baskets from Rose’s at $3.98.
ER
eee
ee
SIDEWALK
SURVEY
By ALAN HODGE
Kings Mountain
Herald
What do you think
is the most
dangerous highway
in the Kings
Mountain area? place is the
intersection of
Road.
A very dangerous
Highway 216 and
St. Luke's Church
Michelle Leigh
Cleveland County
| think Highway 26. \ I go pretty Any road around Highway 74 Business
is dangerous. . « . vsw fast on Highway here is dangerous where it comes off of
People fly on that 216. - especially I-85 is dangerous
road. Highway 216. because the speed |
limit has been :
lowered recently
Kevin Bennett Keith Robinson Jeff Moss Chip Hambright'
Cherryville
Kings Mountain
Kings Mountain Kings Mountain
RSS