a
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Vol. 115 No. 15
warrant
issued
Woman found
dead in apartment
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Kings Mountain Police
Department has issued a
murder warrant in connec-
tion with a death April 5 at
206 Orr Terrace
Fidel Garcia Cruz, 29, of
1668 Greenview Terrace
Apartments, Kings
Mountain, is accused of
killing Crystal Dawn Perez,
26, of 206 Orr Terrace.
At. The Herald's press
time, police did not know
the whereabouts of Cruz.
He is described as 55” tall,
weight approximately 145
pounds, with short black
hair and either gold or sil-
ver plated front teeth.
Anyone with information
about him is asked to call
KMPD Detective Division
at (704) 734-0444.
According to Det. Derek
Johnson, Ms. Perez was
found dead at her apart-
ment at 9:25 p.m. April 5.
An autopsy was performed
Monday in Gastonia but
Cleveland County Coroner
Ralph Mitchem said he had
not received the official
report. He said it usually
takes about two months for
him to receive the report.
But he confirmed that Ms.
Perez was stabbed several
times and was found lying
in a pool of blood.
“It was bloody; she bled
to death,” he said. “She had
several stab wounds.”
CrossWalk delayed
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Already drenched ground and fore-
casts of more heavy rain through the
end of the week has caused the organ-
izers of the outdoor Easter drama,
“CrossWalk - The Trail of Amazing
to postpone the performance
Grace,”
until next week.
Reg Alexander, one of the organiz-
ers of the third annual event, said this
week's rains have made it impossible
for the group to set up scenery and
props, so the performance originally
slated for April 11-13 will instead be
held on April 17-19 in the Mountain
Street area of downtown Kings
Pearson has seen many changes
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
Ninety-two year old Olland
Pearson has seen many
changes in Kings Mountain.
In fact, he remembers when
Kings Mountain was not even
Kings Mountain. He remem-
bers when it used to be two
towns.
Pearson turned 92 on March
25. His daughter, who lives on
the same street, threw him a
party. When Pearson was born
on Baker Street in 1911, Kings
Mountain was known as East
Kings Mountain in Gaston
County and West Kings
Mountain. The split was along
Cherryville Road, said
Pearson. In 1915, the two
towns voted to become one
town.
Age
Since 1889
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Mountain.
The Thursday, April 17 performanc-
ABIGAIL WOLFORD /HERALD
With heavy rain in the forecast for this week, Destiny Van Dyke and Carrie Mayberry
es are at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., and the
9:30 p.m.
Ventures at 739-8425.
Friday and Saturday, April 18-19 per-
formances will be at 7:30, 8:30 and
There are still plenty of tickets
remaining for each performance and
they are available by calling Regal
Alexander said one of the reasons
the CrossWalk planning group origi-
nally set the performance on Palm
Sunday week was so they would have
a back-up plan in case of bad weather.
“Everything on the forecast indi-
cates rain all week,” he said. “Our
See Cross, 3A
The seventh annual Firehouse Cook-
off, sponsored by the Kings Mountain
Fire Department, will be held Friday
+ Walking Track.
and Saturday, April 18-19 at the City
Approximately 40 teams from as far
away as Illinois will compete in various
KINGS MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
Pearson remembers the end
of World War I. He was recov-
ering from the killer flu, which
killed more people than World
War I. In the strip of seven
houses on his street, five or six
people died of the flu. The
only known remedies then
were aspirin tablets and white
liquor, he said. As he sat on
his front porch, mill whistles
started blowing, and church
bells started ringing. People
ran up and down the street.
“I jumped up and ran in the
house,” he said.
He brought his mother out-
“side to see what was happen-
ing. Only three telephones
were in town at that point: one
in the boarding house, one in
the company store, and one in
the mill office. The woman
| FIRST NATIONAL BANK
ted (Celebrating 129 Years
who owned the boarding
house found out that the war
had ended and spread the
word.
Pearson said he remembers
his great-grandfather, who
served in the Civil War. His
great-grandfather eventually
died from his wounds from
the war when Pearson was |
young. He said he remembers
his great-grardfather’s beard,
which went down to his chest.
Pearson attended school
until the Friday he got promot-
ed to the sixth grade. The fol-
lowing Monday, his father
took him to work at the mill.
Since his family had eleven
children, the oldest ones knew
that they needed to work to
help support the family. His
See Pearson, 3A
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
OLLAND PEARSON
Gastonia
took advantage of Friday's warm, sunny weather to play the bells at the community play-
ground at the Jake Early Sports Complex on Cleveland Avenue.
Firehouse Cook-off
set next weekend
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
barbecue cooking categories. Since this is
a State cook-off event, the winner will
receive an invitation to the prestigious
Jack Daniels World Champion Cook-off
in Lynchburg, TN.
Teams will begin arriving and setting
up their cooking sites after lunch on
: See Cook, 3A
529 New Hope Road 106 S Lafayette St.
704-865-1233
Fame banquet and
4 selected
for induction
into KM Hall
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
The 16th annual Kings
Mountain Sports Hall of
induction ceremony will |
be held Saturday, May 17
at 6 p.m. at the H. ;
Lawrence Patrick Senior
Life and Conference
Center.
This year’s inductees
include Shon Byers,
Barry Gibson, Aubrey
Hollifield and Mike
Ware.
Tickets are $10 each
and may be purchased
from any member of the
Hall of Fame committee.
This year, the Hall of
Fame will also recognize
two men for many years HOLLIFIELD
of distinguished service
to youth sports in Kings Mountain. They are Paul Lancaster,
who has been an avid supporter of youth baseball through
the years, and for whom the KMHS baseball /softball facili-
ties are named; and Pressley Anderson, who has been
umpiring in the local baseball leagues for 34 years.
Receiving the Special Achievement Awards this year are
two KMHS seniors - Shonda Cole, who broke the school’s
all-time girls basketball scoring record and was named 1
North Carolina Volleyball Player of the Year; and Sedrick
Young, who won the State High School diving champi-
onship.
In addition, five KMHS seniors will receive $500 scholar-
ships: two given by the City of Kings Mountain, two by the
GIBSON BYERS
WARE
© KMES Booster Club, and one by the Hall of Fame. One of
the Booster Club's scholarships will be given in memory of
legendary football coach Shu Carlton.
All four of this year’s inductees had outstanding athletic
careers at Kings Mountain High School. Three of them -
Gibson, Hollifield and Ware - also served many years as
high school coaches, and Byers has put Kings Mountain on
the map worldwide by becoming a two-time US Armed
Forces heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling champion, and
is the current World Champion.
Byers, who played football and wrestled at KMHS, was
the 1992 North Carolina High School wrestling champion
and went to North Carolina A&T on a football scholarship.
After one year there he joined the U.S. Army and over the
past several years has racked up numerous championships
and awards. He is currently stationed in Colorado Springs, -
CO.
Ware played football, baseball and basketball at KMHS in
the late 1950s and 1960. He was an All-Conference lineman
in football and played one year at Catawba College before
transferring to Appalachian State. He recently retired after
34 years in education. He served several years as head foot-
ball coach and athletic director at Newberry, SC High
School, where his teams won four regional championships
and he was voted South Carolina Athletic Director and
South Carolina Athletic Administrator of the Year. He is
also a recipient of the Silver Crescent Award, the highest
honor given by the Governor of South Carolina.
Gibson was an undefeated lefthand pitcher on KM High's
championship 1963 baseball team and he also had four out
See Hall, 3A
Mayor plans
prayer breakfast
at Patrick Center
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
The city will be hosting its first Mayor's Prayer
Breakfast at the senior center on May 1. Everyone
is welcome to attend.
“I think it'll be a blessing for everyone who,
attends,” said Murphrey.
Rev. Roger Woodard, of the Family Worship
Center, said he had the idea for the prayer break-
fast after hearing about the President's prayer
breakfast in Washington, D.C. With the current
heightened terror alert, Woodard said he felt like
the community of faith needed to come together
for a time of prayer.
He took the idea to the Pastor's Prayer Circle,
which in turn took it to the mayor during a meet-
ing with local pastors at the police station a few
months ago. The police chief and mayor discussed
with the pastors different strategies the city was
taking to prepare for a possible terrorist attack.
See Prayer, 3A
Shelby Bessemer City
225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-484-6200 704-629-3906