Sm
Thursday, July 5, 2001
Vol. 113 No. 27 Since 1889
norizon of
knowledge
Attorney says rules that work for KM should work for Shelby
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
The Cleveland County School merger
may not be completely over pending the decision
from the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
According to a June 1 memo from Shelby City
Schools Attorney Walter Currie, the Shelby school
district wants to take over the Elizabeth
dance area, near Cleveland Community
the merger plan loses.
Currie said his argument is based on Kings
Mountain's merger case, which states that the
school system extends into part of the city which
: is i n ;
ile is in Gaston County.
Approximately 181 students from Gaston
County attend Kings Mountain District Schools.
“In other words, if the courts decide that this
line of reasoning is valid for the Kings Mountain
schools, it is also valid for the Shelby City
Schools,” Currie said in the letter.
The Elizabeth area is in the City of Shelby, but
part of the Cleveland County School System.
atten-
College if
Currie said the Shelby Schools would also expect
to take in other areas within its city limits, and
and receive the supplemental tax from the added
areas.
“It wants Elizabeth because Kings Mountain
goes to Gaston County,” Kings Mountain Merger
Attorney Brian Shaw said.
Shaw said one of the reasons Kings Mountain
Schools go to Gaston County dates back to a 1905
charter of the school board. The charter states that
when the city limits are extended, the people in
Filing for KM |
School Board
opens Friday
Filing for two outside city
seats and one at-large seat on
the Kings Mountain District
Board of Education opens
Friday at 12 noon at the
Cleveland County Board of
Elections in Shelby.
The terms of outside city resi-
dents Terry McClain and Jerry
Blanton are up for election in
November, as well at the vacant
at-large sear of Melony Bolin,
who recently resigned. There is
a possibility the School Board
will appoint someone to fill un-
expired term at next Monday's
board meeting at 7 p.m. at
Central School.
School Superintendent Larry
Allen and School Board chair-
man Shearra Miller were both
on vacation this week, but
Assistant Superintendent for
Personnel Ronnie Wilson said
the Board has been interview-
ing possible candidates to fill
Bolin’s seat until the November
election.
County Elections Board
Chairman Debra Blanton said
filing for the school board seats
will end on Friday, August 3 at
12 noon. ;
Kings Mountain School
Board members serve a four-
year term; however, if the cur-
rent merger plan that is before
the NC Court of Appeals ulti- :
mately passes the KM School :
Board would cease to exist. :
Blanton said filing for Kings
Mountain City Council and
Mayor would begin on July 23
if the city’s redistricting plan is
approved by the U.S. Justice
Department by 5 p.m. July 20.
Kings Mountain's Council is
elected by wards with only
ward residents being allowed to
vote for their individual repre-
sentative. The mayor and two :
See Filing, 5A 2
severe verevtitttestracesccaesssacsnsse
sesassssscense
|
|
!
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
filembers of the Kings Mountain Little Theatre spent most of the day Saturday stripping off
part of the front of the old Joy Theatre to recover the marquee that will be restored for the
Performing Arts Center of Kings Mountain. The Little Theatre plans to make the marquee
look just as it did in 1949 when the Joy Theatre first opened at the corner of Railroad
Avenue and Mountain Street.
Life is sometimes tough, but always
a blessing for Rev. Spurgeon Scruggs
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Rev. Harley Spurgeon
Scruggs of Kings Mountain will
celebrate his 95th birthday
Friday, July 6.
Nothing special is planned,
as far as he knows. To him, ev-
ery day is special.
Except for severe pain in his
jaw and mouth called
Trigeminal Neuralgia, Rev.
Scruggs has been the picture of
perfect health for all of his 95
years. He and his wife, the for-
mer Willie Shuford, have spent
71 1/2 happy years together
and all seven of their children,
all girls, are still living. They are
Nadine Bagwell and husband
Charles, Dot Carrigan and hus-
band Buell, Gaynell Lail and
husband Gene, Creola Lail and
BS
and
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating
REV. SPURGEON
husband Sherman, Pat Houser
Scarborough and husband Jim,
and Debbie Fortenberry and
husband Harry. There are also
17 grandchildren, 17 great-
grandchildren and three great-
great-grandchildren.
There's no special secret to
his long life, he says. He's just
always tried to live a moral life
and not introduce anything
harmful into his body.
His wife, who is 90, says
quite simply, their longevity is a
result of “God being good to
us.”
“When you get old some-
times you feel like you've done
about all you can do,” says Rew.
Scruggs, who has been preach-
ing since the age of 14. He said
he’d love to see many more
birthdays if it’s God's will.
“The main thing is being
ready,” he says. “If I lack any-
BA
SCRUGGS
husband Ervin, Tinky
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
127 Years
529 New Hope Road
thing I don’t know what it is. I
wouldn't want to hasten the
day. By nature you want to live
as long as you can, but it's good
to know you've got a place to
go.”
Rev. Scruggs was saved at
the age of 13 at a tent revival
led by evangelist Henry Clay
Sisk in Caroleen. At the age of
14 he began touring with Sisk in
North and South Carolina and
became known as the “Boy
Preacher.”
“I was converted in 1920 as a
barefoot boy and didn’t have a
second shirt to my back,” he re-
called. “The only shirt I had
was a home-made shirt that my
aunt made. The Lord didn’t
look at my clothes. He looked at
my heart.”
See Scruggs, 2A
Gastonia
704-865-1233
106 S. Lafayette St.
Schools.
the annexed areas are part of the Kings Mountain”
Currie said the Shelby system wants to reclaim foe A
that area to have the benefits of the extra taxation. i
Shelby.”
Painting History
Work begins on second mural -
The school merger issue will become more
complicated if Kings Mountain District Schools == 1
wins its cases, according to Currie. =
“It’s raising the red flag,” Currie said. “That if ==
merger is not effective, this thing is more compli- PA
cated than anybody could imagine. The rules that |
work for Kings Mountain should work for
in downtown Kings Mountain = |
By BEN LEDBETTER Haynes was at the site last
Staff Writer week preparing the wall at !
Preparations are being made
for Kings Mountian’s second
mural.
While the painting will take
longer, the city’s mural commit-
tee has raised $4,000, with $600
from the North Carolina Arts
Council.
Mural Committee
Chairperson Shirley Brutko said
the mural is part of a larger goal
of the committee.
“We wanted to do several
murals,” Brutko said. “That was
our intention was to maybe do
up to a dozen.”
tooo Brutke said aconmittes wash
put together after the first mu-
ral to oversee future projects
and to obtain grants.
The mural will be painted in
four stages, and Forest City
artist Clive Haynes, who paint-
ed the latest mural on the Plonk
Brothers Building , will be
painting the second on the side
of Fred Kiser’s Restaurant fac-
ing Gold Street.
Haynes's latest mural depict-
ed a landscape, and the upcom-
ing one will have a scene .
around the depot with a train
coming in.
“I'm excited,” Haynes said.
“It’s going to be another part of
history going on the wall.”
Kiser’s with his son Alex.
The discovery of gold in the
area was another Revolutionary
War theme Brutko said played
in to the design of the mural.
“A lot of people in Kings
Mountain don’t know this,”
Brutko said about how King,
Mountain and Gold Streets
were named.
Brutko said the streets were i
named to disclose the location go
of the mine in Kings Mountain, i
but nobody got around to nam-
ing a Gold Street.
“That's when Kings
Mountain started really coming
on strong was when gold was ud]
Sound inv the area Brutko said. 1
The creek where the gold was
found runs along Landing
Street and Crescent Hill Road.
Besides gold and the depot,
the grain mill and the train will
be the historical subjects depict-
ed in the Haynes’ mural.
Other historical themes in the
1800's will be added as well
such as people working at the
depot and grain mills.
Brutko said Haynes likes to
hide animals in his paintings i
such as animals, and elements
associated with the period in
time.
For more information about
the mural call Shirley Brutko at
704-739-4755.
Clive Haynes and his son Alex, prepare the wall for the second
BEN LEDBETTER/THE HERALD i
Kings Mountain mural at Fred Kiser’'s Restaurant recently.
Shelby
704-484-6200
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC