CR
GUEST
OPINION
:The art of
letter writing
disappearing
I fear the art of letter writ-
ing is disappearing. Point
the finger at the computer
and e-mail for the fact that
fat stacks of letters will no
longer fill boxes in the attics
of the
future.
Once
folks sent
letters to
express
their feel-
ings. These
bits of cor-
respon-
dence
reflected
love, hate,
joy, sorrow, and all the other
emotions that humans are
prone to feel. Letters came
from all over the world with
exotic stamps and return
addresses ranging from the
North Pole to the heart of
darkest Africa. Sometimes
they came from the next
town down the highway.
Sometimes they came from
ia school, hospital, prison or
battlefield.
. The other day I was read-
ing a book entitled ‘The
Common Soldier in the
. Civil War.” It was chock full
of letters that soldiers had
written home from camp
and field. Besides the cre-
ative spelling, the one thing
that makes the biggest
impression is the heartfelt
and simple eloquence that
the letters show. Here are
some samples:
From a rebel in 1861 to his
wife- “Well, Leezer, i will
tell you what is going on in
camps Jo is on guard and I
am in the tent writen on a
y nap sack. Norton has goan
to Alins regimint and Giles
*is sic and Martin is ansuring
his letter and that makes
our army famely. I would
like to know whare we will
be a month from today.”
Another soldier writing to
: his younger brother back
: home- “you kiss Soo for me
: and tell Soo to kiss you for
i me and by manageing the
: | thing that way I will git two
i kisses and tell Feb if possi-
i bul he can steal a kiss from
i Miss Bettie and after he
i kisses her tell her it was for
i me I would be glad indeed.”
A Tennessee private in
1863 wrote- “Oh how I lub
you gals, you sweet little
critters! I went to the dance
and picked Miss Annie, she
smelled like camphor all
night. Her little bosom rest-
ed pantingly on mine and I
got to confess I squeezed
her jist a little bit.”
An Alabama soldier wrote
to his mom in 1863 on the
£ food situation- “Sum times I
git a nuff and sumtimes I
i dont. We dont have no
reglar way out here of eatin
we eat just when we git
hungerey.”
A Tar Heel remarked in
See Hodge, 5A
REE UNTRIRSATFEY]
TAN Arr RYT)
Alan Hodge
Guest Column
A]
A
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SRR
LOOKING BACK
OPINION .....
Raa
GARY STEWART / HERALD
With the talk of Hurricane Isabel possibly hitting the North Carolina coast today, many people in Kings Mountain will
remember September 22, 1989 when Hurricane Hugo came inland and did tremendous damage in this area. On that
day, Little Dan’s on Grover Road was the only service station in the area that didn’t lose electricity. Folks from all
A reception is one
of the best places
to get good food
Some favor Italian, others Mexican.
Still others prefer good old southern Andie Brymer
home cooking. My favorite food doesn’t staff Writer
fit in any of those categories. ~~
I am a reception food junkie. You
know, the stuff they serve at weddings, going away par-
ties and other events you have to dress up for.
Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to
attend two functions, an opening at the Arts Center in
Shelby and a reception for new teachers in Kings
Mountain.
Both times, I've pilled my plate full of delights like
cheese ball, fresh veggies (yummy cherry tomatoes),
shrimp and cream puffs washing it all down with punch.
At the Arts Center I was able to make a covert second
pass, visiting the table for more. The new installation dis-
tracted most folks so I was safe to pile my plate high
twice.
At the teachers’ reception I wasn’t so lucky. People only
had one another to focus on and the food table was at the
front of the room. I prefer events where it is in a corner,
less chance of everyone realizing what a pig I am.
After Monday night's reception I was so frustrated over
having only had one plate of food, I went to the grocery
store and purchased a cheese ball, kiwi, olives and
sparkling grape juice.
. Joey and I came home and had huge dinner sized plates
of the goodies. Somehow, not having to hide, the food
didn’t taste as good.
It’s that season again in North Carolina. The apples are
ripe.
If your taste run toward old fashioned varieties like
Grimes, Virginia Beauty or York, take a trip up the moun-
tain to Altapass Orchard in Little Switzerland. Bill and
Judy Carson and Bills sister Kit Trubey are preserving the
85-year-old orchard along with mountain culture.
We took a trip last month and enjoyed ourselves. There
is more than fruit at Altapass. I wouldn't drive up the
mountain just for apples. There are plenty of good
orchards around here.
Appalachian heritage, stories in particular, have caught
the collective ear of Bill, Judy and Kit. Bill's favorite tale is
about Robert Young, the 64-year-old Overmountain Man
who shot Major Patrick Ferguson. According to legend,
Young called both his gun and his wife “sweet lips.” This
impressed Bill.
See Andie, 5A
For some truly tasty food that isn’t fancy, have an apple.
CE
RE
os
around came to the store to fill up with gasoline and clear the store’s shelves and canned goods and other items.
Maybe Bush
should consult
the news media
All President Bush needs to do to get :
this country on the right track is go to the jim Heffner
right people for advice. Guest Column
I'm talking about the news media. bats a
When a made his speech —
last week telling the country how much money was need-
ed to continue the war in Iraq, the talking heads on TV
went berserk, with most of them coming up with their
own figures.
How do they know?
Syndicated columnist David Broder, the world’s fore-
most authority on everything, took the president to task '
for his estimate of needed troop strength.
Broder wrote: “By insisting that the American military
force does not have to grow and by saying that only one
division of foreign troops will be added if new nations
can be persuaded to offer their help, Bush still appears to
be committing less to Iraq than many of those who have
traveled to the country think may be required.”
Meaning Broder thinks he has a more accurate figure
than the president.
How does he know? Do all these brilliant newspaper
columnists have advanced training in military tactics?
Sean Penn has been to Iraq. Maybe President Bush
should consult him on how many troops are needed.
I'm curious as to where David Broder gets his intelli-
gence regarding troop strength and the areas where they
should be deployed. I know the president gets his from
several sources, including foreign governments and sever-
al intelligence agencies who are charged with gathering
such information just for the national security of this
country.
But I guess Broder and those of that ilk know what they
are talking about. They continue to spout off, telling the
country how they know everything about everything, and
nobody calls them on it.
Just like E. J. Dionne, another syndicated know-it-all. He
wrote that the president is now paying a price for ignor-
ing the United Nations.
I haven't the foggiest idea what he’s talking about. Does
anybody know what price the president is paying for
ignoring the United Nations?
I guess I didn't realize Bush was ignoring the UN. I
thought he sent envoys there to seek a supporting resolu-
tion, and was turned down. I thought the country already
had two resolutions of support from the UN, but went
after another just to satisfy people such as Dionne and
See Heffner, 5A
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Editor: Gary Stewart 739-7496
SRR RINE
LOOK BACK
Second lake
being talked
in September ‘86
From the September 17,
1986 edition of the Herald:
1,866 residents of No. 3
and No. 4 townships have
signed a preliminary sur-
vey saying they are inter-
ested in buying water and
sewer from Kings
Mountain in a Metro
Utility District proposed by
Kings Mountain Mayor
John Henry Moss. The fig-
ure represents 97.8 percent
of the residents of the pro-
posed district which would
include outlying areas of
Kings Mountain, Grover,
Earl and Patterson Springs.
Only 42 people surveyed
said they would not want
to buy utilities from Kings
Mountain.
What would the pro-
posed $25.8 million
Metropolitan Utility
District cost the citizens of
i Kings Mountain? Mayor
John Henry Moss said
today there will “absolute-
ly be no increase in taxes.”
He said the project would
be “self-sustaining, paid
for and operated by the
city out of revenues from
the sale of water and sewer
services.”
County Manager Joe
Hendrick has called a
meeting of town officials
with water systems to
attend a meeting tonight to
discuss and update
Cleveland County’s future
water needs.
Former resident Jenny
Oates died Monday at
Grand Strand General
Hospitals in Myrtle Beach,
1
ijoe i | I
i sacred music concert
Sunday at 3 p.m. at First
Baptist Church will honor
Rev. Allen Jolley, retiring
after 25 years in the church
music ministry.
Faunce Realty held a pre-
view showing of
Northshore Landing con-
dominiums Thursday at
Moss Lake.
Dr. Charles Davenport,
pastor of Long Creek
Presbyterian Church, was
honored recently by mem-
bers of the congregation
for having successfully
completed the Doctor of
Ministry program at
Columbia Theological
Seminary.
Hunter Huss used a cou-
ple of first half breaks to
put 14 quick points on the
scoreboard and went on to
rout Kings Mountain 34-6
in a non-conference foot-
ball game Friday at Kings
Mountain’s John Gamble
Stadium.
Kings Mountain Rescue
wants to begin rescue-
ambulance service in Kings
Mountain as a “primary
responder” on Saturdays
and Sundays.
EEA
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.
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SIDEWALK
SURVEY
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
THE HERALD
a
Should Congress
approve the $87
billion President
Bush wants to
. continue the
occupation of
Iraq?
a mmr Finer
“I think so. We don’t have “They should if we don’t
a choice.” have to go back over
there.”
Marilyn Pheagin
Shelby Scott Hovis
Kings Mountain
“Since we're there, we
need to take care of it.”
“Yea, once we're commit-
ted we ought to finish the
job.”
Ed Schronce
Kings Mountain
Peggy Lawing
Kings Mountain
be
“Yes, only because we
have to finish what we
started. It’s too much. We
shouldn’t have done it but
we're there.”
Sara McNeely
Kings Mountain