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=a 15] foo Ir wo a sports mi W proses Rambling about TV, movies and playground If Hollywood goes on strike soon, the people really suffer- ing will not be writers or actors. It will be us, the view- ers. With no Raymond, no must see tv, no Dharma & Greg, what is a person to do? What some of the networks plon to do is put on more reality ong programming, news magannes, and sports. If that happens I just hope Dateline does not get anymore ajr time then it already has. orry, NBC, that will not be mist see material. As a public service to the net- Ben Ledbetter “works I have thought of a cou- Fle solutions. 11! My solution is, if the net- wofks find a crunch in pro- gramming, put on more sports and movies. Imagine coming home after a hard day at the office, changing clothes, Plopping down on the -couch and relaxing with a bev- erage of choice and a game with two out and three men on. With the additional network broadcasts, it would be a sports fans’ dream. 50! MA Movies will consume a good block of programming as well, and with putting more on than usual, it would be like a movie channel, but with some tiny in- terruptions better known as commercials. Putting on a recent hit movie or even an older one like, “The Graduate” will draw more viewers to bolster already drop- ping network viewership. By putting on more sports and movies networks will have programming in place that a lot of people can identify with. It will also avoid the barrage of news magazines that for some reason or another seem to uncover a scandal every week. Ramblings and other thoughts...... 1 1,2 Theinfluence of profession- ht be strong, but it has not reached the new play- ground in Kings Mountain. Although a Iocation has not been set, Kings Mountain will be building a new playground, in place of the equipment at the Cleveland Avenue track. The city sought the input of kids and during one stop at East Elementary School, I heard many suggestions from volca- noes to various slides. And unlike the arena issue in a nearby city, this one will not require a vote this summer. The playground will be built with volunteers and will not need any luxury seating to go along with it either. No leases will have to be signed, and if the children out- grow the playground facility they may simply move on to something diff ferent. e The CBS show, Survivor, can still save itself from another sea- son of crowning a winner who has done nothing but skillfully deceive the other contestants. Sure, I know the game is about the million dollar prize, but watching someone with the same type of personality as last season’s winner Richard Hatch, will make the show a total bore. A game show is’ no fun if you've figured out who's going to. win. . Letters We appreaciate your letters to the editor and encourage you to write. Because we receive so many letters, however, we must impose guidelines to ensure that as many readers as possible are able to share their views. We therefore limit.the number of letter$ that any one person may have published to one a month. Also, we ask that you keep your letters short, no more than two pages double-spaced or one page single-spaced. Handwritten letters are accept- ed, but must be legible. We will not publish third par- ty letters, thank-you letters or letters from anonymous writers; names, addresses, and phone numbers must be included. We reserve the right to edit letters for grammar, punctuation, clari- ty, brevity and content. . Letters'must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Monday of the week they are to be pub- lished. Mail letters to The Editor, P.O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086 or fax them to (704) 739-0611. iL 1soView dota! at © Op SERRE NNER SE RR ee SRR The Kings Movnisin Herald Editor: Gary Stewart 739-7496 May 3, 2001 Section A, Page 4 NRCS OPENING BLONDE WEDNESDAY NIGHT JUNE 1, 7 FROM BASHFUL BEND CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Eugene McSwain, retired manager of the Joy Theatre, provided this picture of movie-goers lined up for tickets for the opening of the facility on June 1, 1949. A packed house saw “The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend” starring Betty Grable. A Joy’ous day for Kings Mountain Eugene McSwain was pretty fresh out of the Army in the late forties when friends Dave and Charlie Cash asked him to help them tear down the old Mountain the corner of Railroad Avenue and a West Gary Stewart Mountain Street. ied They had Editor purchased the property to make way for a fancy new movie the- atre which had been a dream of theirs since 1942. McSwain recalled last week helping tear down the old hotel and hauling if off in the back of an old Studebaker truck and dumping it in the woods on the Cashes’ property in the country. He also helped the Cashes and their contractors construct the new theatre, at that time a state-of-the-art structure built completely out of cement. “As far as I know there was nat a piece of wood in it, unless it was on the doors,” said McSwain, now 84 and retired after some 29 years with Stewart and Everette Theatres and 10 years as lake officer for the City of Kings Mountain. After helping build the Joy, McSwain took a job with Stewart and Everette and man- aged theatres in Belmont, Cramerton and Mount Holly for 12 years. When Stewart and Everette bought the Joy, McSwain found himself back home as manager of that 770- nessman Mike Brown When McSwain first started in the theater business, Kings Mountain was home to three movie theaters. The Joy was preceded - in birth and death - by the Imperial on West Mountain Street and the Dixie, just a few doors down on Railroad Avenue. All three were a beehive of activity for several years, as were the numerous drive-in theaters in the area. Most of them eventually fell victim of a mobile and TV society. “When we built the Joy it was loaded with people all of the time,” some of the theaters that have Six or seven movies going in them are closing up too. That was a nice theater when it was built. We had a smoking room upstairs and two crying rooms downstairs, all of which had glass so you could continue to enjoy the movie.” Although that was many years before the “smoking” and “non-smoking” sections which are common in most businesses and offices today, McSwain said he never allowed smoking in the auditorium. Smoking was allowed for a brief period of seat facility, which included 234 balcony seats. He was still there 17 years later when Stewart and ‘Everette sold it to local busi- * vending i mac he : ‘tually didn’t get'a concession’ McSwain recalled. “Now time in the lobby, but it was eventually stopped there. At the advent of the Joy, which opened June 1, 1949, soft drinks and candy were five cents each, McSwain recalled. stand until Stewart and Everette purchased and remodeled it. Admission was 11 cents for children and 35 cents for adults. For kids growing up in the late forties and fifties, Saturday was a very special day. They could take a quarter or 50-cents allowance, see a double fea- ture, cartoons, serial and com- ing attractions and feast on coke,.candy such as Goobers and Raisinettes, popcorn and atomic fireballs, and even have a few cents left over. If they happened to see that pretty blonde they had a crush on, all the better! McSwain said the original 11-cent price for kids came about because at that time any- thing costing 12 cents or more required sales tax. Adult and night-time admission prices, ‘which were slightly higher, in- cluded tax. In addition to movies, the Joy often booked country and western music groups, and a special highlight for kids were frequent visits by WBTV Singing. Cowboy Fred Kirby and his Little Rascals Club. Kirby would sing, show Little Rascals movies, and sign pic- EUGENE MCSWAIN tures and membership cards for the kids. For most of McSwain’s 17 years at the Joy, there were five full-time employees - McSwain, the cashier, janitor, concession stand operator and projection- ist. In most recent years the Joy has been the home of Gospel Assembly of Kings Mountain, but last week it was sold to Kings Mountain Little Theatre to be used as a performing arts center. Part of their plans is restoring the theater marquee and some other features to its original appearance. Although feature films are not a part of KMLT’s plans, there is a possibility of some Saturday matinees for children. That would be a real Joy. The way we were in ‘86 Excerpts from the Thursday May, 1, 1986 Kings Mountain Herald: - Kings Mountain voters will go to the polls Tuesday as they join their neighbors from across North Carolina in May Primary Day. - Funeral Services for Rev. Fred Wells, 69, Route, York Road, were conducted Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. from Midview Baptist Church, of which he was pastor. - Graveside services for Eugene William Gibson, 66, re- tired Auto Parts Manager at Wade Ford, were conducted Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. from Nour est Cemetery by ReviAR Rigged 1 yler. - A séc qa by the Kings Mountain indoor pool Foundation that the City of Kings Mountoie $15,000 annually for operation of a pro- posed swimming pool at Kings Mountain Senior High School was on the agenda for Tuesday night's 7:30 p.m meeting of the board of commissioners. - Ronnie Pannell caught fish weighing 12 pounds, one ounce to win the Cleveland County Bass Tournament last weekend at Clark Hill Reservoir. - The fourth annual White Plains Shrine Classic was to be held Friday-Sunday at Davidson and Deal St. parks in Kings Mountain. - Kings Mountain's Calvin Stephens threw the shot 52 feet, four inches Thursday to win the most valuable field events award in the annual Cleveland County Track Meet at Shelby. - Shelby defeated Kings Mountain’s boys’ tennis team 6- 3 at Kings Mountain. - “Bye Bye Birdie,” the hit broadway musical opened at + Kings Mowtitain [Higly Béhool. - Cynthia Ivester, daughter of Brenda and David Ivester, com- peted in the 1986 North Carolina Teen Pageant. News Deadlines The following deadlines ap- ply for news items. Deadline for B Section news is 12 noon Monday. This in- cludes lifestyles news, people stories, weddings, engage- ments, anniversaries, reunions, club news, church news, busi- ness news, school news and community news. Items re- ceived past the deadline will run in other parts of the paper if time and space permit. Otherwise, they will be held un- til the following week. Deadline for A Section news is 5 p.m. Tuesday. This includes city and county news, sports, opinions, and miscellaneous items. In cases of Tuesday night meetings and ball games, items will be taken up to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Items received past the deadline will be withheld until the following week. SIDEWALK SURVEY By BEN LEDBETTER Kings Mountain Herald What is your favorite activity during the like 0 hike. ? Racin , any kind Going to the Playing tennis. Going camping Se of ih y beach. with my children. Ray Adams David Morrow Stephen Humphries Melody Sanders Geal Shaw Lancaster, S.C. Shelby Mooresboro Grover Shelby
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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May 3, 2001, edition 1
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