Page 2A
The Kings Mountain Herald
January 11, 2007
gun. OPINION
Sa
youn OPINION
Heroes of ‘06
When folks were asked in
a news poll to name their
heroes and villains of 2006,
President Bush won both
categories.
It got us to thinking about
Quin
heroes
from sto-
ries in the
Herald in
2.0 0:6..
We'll give
the vil-
lains a
week off.
Gary Stewart
Editor
Suzanne
Grayson
and her
State Championship KMHS
softball team. Coach
Grayson and her ladies are
perfect examples of the phi-
losophy “you get out of
something what you put into
it.” They work hard all year
long, not just during the soft-
ball season, and last June it
paid off for them with their
second straight state crown.
The Mounties finished 29-1
overall, had only two runs
scored on them in those 30
games, and won the state
crown with three consecu-
tive 1-0 wins that took 37
innings.
KM Trooper David Allen,
who received the Highway
Patrol’s highest honor, the
Award of Valor, for saving
the life of a truck driver just
seconds before his cab burst
into flames after a wreck on
I-85 near Lexington.
Nine-year-old Hannah
Mosley, who awakened at 11
p.m. one night, smelled
smoke and realized the
house was on fire. She awak-
ened her parents and the
family escaped.
Dr. John McGill, ‘who
received Erskine /College’s
highest award,
Distinguished Service
Award, for his generosity in
helping finance improve-
ments to the school’s base-
ball facility.
Ron Massey, Larry Sipe,
Jackie Houston Songaila
and Jerry Morris, who were
inducted into the Kings
Mountain Sports Hall of
Fame, and Scott Wells and
Jeff Putnam, who received
the Distinguished Service
Awards for giving a com-
bined 50-plus years of volun-
teer service as Pop Warner
football coaches.
Jeff Cavender, who res-
cued two women from a
wrecked car on Highway 74
Bypass. A few days later,
Cavender was hospitalized
after a freak accident in
South Carolina.
Rev. Lynn Crouch, interim
pastor of Second Baptist
Church. Rev. Crouch learned
in April that he had terminal
cancer. In August, with his
health declining quickly, he
flew by helicopter from his
home in Black Mountain to
preach a farewell sermon to
his congregation. He died
less than two weeks later.
Kings Mountain business-
man and longtime Scout
leader Donald Crawford,
who received the governor’s
highest civilian award, The
the
Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
An unidentified woman
who pulled up beside Hebert
Bonello, whose 18-wheeler
got stuck when he tried to
cross the railroad track at
Oak Street. The lady told
him to get out of the truck
because a train was coming.
Less than a minute after he
exited the cab, a train demol-
ished the truck.
Soldiers from the 505th
Engineering Battalion who
returned home in October
after a one year tour of duty
in Iraq.
KMHS senior Chris
Greene, who convinced
Kings Mountain City
Council to adopt an ordi-
nance banning the sale of
rose stems which are used in
the manufacturing of illegal
drugs.
The day-time participants
at the Neisler Life
Enrichment Center, who
made dolls for the Kings
Mountain Police
Department to distribute to
needy children at Christmas.
Mary Neisler, winner of
the Kings Mountain City
Council’s first Pride In
Community Spirit Award.
Shonda Cole, who did
Kings Mountain proud by
being named Southeastern
Conference Player of the
Week three times, National
Player of the Week once, and
making honorable mention
All-American in volleyball at
the University of South
Carolina.
KMHS students, led by
Kristen Long, who collected
Sun Drops to send to local
soldiers fighting in Iraq.
KMMS eighth grade stu-
dents, who traveled to
Charlétté to “inspect ‘shoe
boxes!! riidfor #4 -iBamaritan’s
Purse’s Operation Christmas
Child.
Mayor Rick Murphrey
and City Council members,
who dug into their own
pockets to help provide 2,000
pairs of shoes to needy fami-
lies at Christmas.
Police Chief Melvin
Proctor, who was appointed
by the governor to serve on
the advisory committee to
strengthen Homeland
Security; and the entire KM
Police Department which
was cited by AAA Carolinas
Motor Club Foundation for
its commitment to traffic
safety.
Softball slugger Rusty
Bumgardner, who was
inducted into the USSSA
Hall of Fame.
Rev. Robert Eng and the
congregation at New Life
Family Worship Center,
who followed the direction
of God and with approxi-
mately $200,000, a lot of
donated and salvaged mate-
rial, prayer and hard work
built a beautiful church val-
ued at almost $2 million.
And, to the Rotary Club
for its efforts in improving
Patriots Park which has
brought a lot of beauty, spe-
cial activities and entertain-
ment to downtown Kings
Mountain.
‘Save up to $1,100
Luminary Christmas was best ever
To The Editor:
Superstition says 13 is an
unlucky number. But for
the Mountain Rest Luminary
Christmas, this year (our
13th season of lighting more
than 6,000 luminaries in the
Kings Mountain cemetery)
was our best ever.
Thousands of people enjoyed
viewing the luminaries on
* Christmas Eve.
We want to thank the vol-
unteers who worked many
hours to make the Luminary
Christmas possible. The
cemetery staff is so coopera-
tive and ready to assist in
any way and the Kings
Mountain Police
Department, Kings
Mountain Police Department
Explorers
and Kings
GUEST COLUMN
We have to save
They're off and running in
our nation’s capitol, or
“Crime Central,” as I like to
call it. The Democrats have
taken over the House and the
Senate, and the
linguini-spined Republicans
are falling all over them-
selves to curry favor with
them.
Last week some dolt in the
Department of Interior
decided to go along with the
pointy heads and declare
polar bear on the endangered
species list.
The global warming
doomsday prophets have
been preaching polar bear
extinction for 20 years or
more, saying the ice floes
used by the bears are melt-
ing. There are, however, sev-
eral groups pushing for more
protection for the bears who
say they are unable to pro-
vide evidence polar bears are
on the decline.
Actually, polar bears are on
the U.S. Endangered Species
List, but the pointy heads
want them moved up to
threatened.
Meanwhile Dr. Mitch
Taylor of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service conducted
Mountain Public Works
Department all play an
important role in the success
of the event.
It is a lot of work to collect
6,000 milk jugs that become
glowing luminaries on
Christmas Eve. This year,
the Cleveland County
Chamber of Commerce had
its members collect jugs,
Little Dan's #2 collected 1,000
jugs and Food Lion set up
collection bins at ten stores.
Once the jugs were collected,
it took hours to place the jugs
in the cemetery and light the
candles. Boy Scout troops
from Gastonia, Troop 7 and
Cherryville Troop 323 helped
with this task as did many °
other volunteers.
We especially want to rec-
ognize Harris Funeral Home,
Larry Hamrick and Mike
Butler for their continued
support and thank the Kings
Mountain Herald for provid-
ing media coverage.
When we see everyone
lighting the candles, we
always think of the saying,
"If everyone lit just one little
candle, what a bright world
this would be." With so
many people taking part in
lighting the luminaries, we
know Kings Mountain is a
brighter community.
‘People like our son, Joe,
worked for weeks to help us
get everything ready and
then he spent days cleaning
up. Tonya Jackson began
helping when she was nine
years old. Now, she is 16.
an exten-
8 liv ie
review of
the polar
bear’s sta-
tus and
reported:
“No evi-
dence
exists that
suggests
that both
bears and
the con-
servation systems that regu-
late them will not adapt and
respond to the new condi-
tions (global warning).”
Taylor admits there is glob-
al warming, as there has
been off and on since the
world began, but he doesn’t
see the natural phenomena
affecting any animal species
to the degree that it becomes
extinct.’
Taylor also notes that, on
the Boothia Peninsula of
Canada, the number of bears
has actually increased from
900 to 1,500 in recent years.
The organizations pushing
for the “threatened” label are
the usual suspects;
Greenpeace the Centre for
Biological Diversity, etc.
Jim Heffner
Columnist
Opinion Page Policy
The Herald welcomes
your letters to the editor for
publication in each
Thursday's paper. All letters
must be signed, and for veri-
fication purposes include the
address and phone number.
Letters should be limited to
500 words.
Mail your letter to Editor,
The Herald, P.O. Box 769,
Kings Mountain, NC 28086;
fax to (704) 739-0611; or e-
mail to KMH
Letters@kingsmountainher-
ald.com. Letters sent by fax
and e-mail must also include
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phone number for verifica-
tion purposes.
Letters may be edited.
Letters to the editor and
columnists who appear on
the editorial page do not nec-
essarily represent the views
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Herald.
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“Life may be good,” Taylor
said, “but good news about
polar bear populations does
not seem to be welcomed by
the Centre for Biological
Diversity.”
IN THE NEWS — The
Union County Board of
Education has declared a ban
on paddling students in
school, and now the liberal
rags all over the state are call-
ing for a state ban on corpo-
ral punishment in schools.
Oh no, we must not paddle
the little darlings. We should
just let them run roughshod
over other students and even
some teachers.
It wouldn't do for my
grandmother to have been
superintendent of any school
system. She would have red-
dened their little behinds in a
: heartbeat,
‘Spare the rod’and spoil the
child? You better believe it.
On the same day the news-
papers called for an end to
paddling, a national publica-
tion, “Education Week,”
issued a report which says
that students in North
Carolina face below-average
odds of success in schools
and the workforce. I wonder
The Jim Hawkins family
came to see the luminaries
riding on a tractor and trailer
and singing Christmas car-
ols. This has become a
Christmas Eve tradition for
Jim and his family. .
It is our wish that the lumi-
naries make Christmas a lit-
tle brighter for everyone who
sees them. What started
with a few candles lit in a
cemetery on Christmas Eve
has become a special holiday
tradition for the people of
Kings Mountain and sur- = &
We = 2
rounding communities.
are blessed to be a part of it.
Sincerely,
Jim and Brenda Belt
the polar bears
why?
Poor Whitney Houston is
in a such a financial mess
she’s having to sell some of
her dresses to make ends
meet.
All of this just because she
and her husband, Bobby
Brown, have spent the last 14
years sucking dope up their
noses. What a crying shame.
I might even send her a
donation.
Better yet, maybe she could
contact Robert Nardelli and
ask for a loan.
Nardelli has resigned as
CEO of Home Depot under
pressure from stockholders
because he was making too
much money.
His severance package is
worth $210 million. I'll bet he
would contribute a little
money to poor old Whitney,
or maybe she ¢ould just go
back into the studio and
record an album, if she has a
voice left.
Jim Heffner is a writer for
the Belmont/Mt. Holly ban-
nernews and a longtime
columnist for The Herald.
Contact him at Jim@theban-
nernews.com
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