Page 4A
NEWS
Crowds attend Business After Hours
Shirley Brutko, director of the Kings
Mountain Chamber of Commerce branch;
hosted her fourth annual Business After
Hours party for Chamber guests Thursday
night outside of her office on the corner of
Battleground Ave. and Mountain St.
- Although a few rain drops and dark
clouds threatened the outdoor affair, a large
crowd attended the event. The heavy rain
stayed away.
Business members of the Cleveland
County Chamber of Commerce, who at-
tended, enjoyed treats from Keith Falls of
Linwood Restaurant and catering, and re-
freshments provided by Fox Distributing
and Baker Broad River Winery.
Several door prizes contributed by
chamber members were given away at the
event. Gina Collias, who is running for an
at-large seat on city council, addressed the
crowd about her campaign for office. Other
officials, including Connie Phifer Savell,
who is running for another term onthe
county school board, also spoke.
Adam Hines, executive director of the
Mountaineer Partnership, Inc.,
crowd about some of the plans. his board
has for the future of downtown Kings
Mountain. He asked the audience to look in
The Herald for the final part of "Destina-
told the
The Kings Mountain Herald
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
Rod Croft plays a dulcimer at last
Thursday's Business After Hours
outside of the Kings Mountain office
of the Chamber of Commerce.
tion:Downtown," a series which has fo- °
cused on the steps being taken towards a re-
vitalized downtown.
Harris Funeral Home, Mountaineer Part-
nership, Inc. and Fox Distributors spon-
sored this Business After Hours.
Oak Grove VFD to get $15K grant
The Oak Grove Volun-
teer Fire Department has
been awarded a $15,143
grant through the 2009
Volunteer Fire Depart-
- ment Fund from the state
of North Carolina.
Insurance
sioner and State Fire
Marshal Wayne Goodwin
said that the check will
be mailed to Oak Grove
Chief William "Perry"
Davis to be used by the
department to purchase
needed equipment. The
equipment is purchased
using matching funds and
must be approved by the
NC Department of Insur-
ance office of the state
fire marshal.
"Fire and rescue or-
ganizations protect our
commis-
communities large and
small across North Car-
olina, but sometimes
their budgets don't grow
with their responsibili-
ties," Goodwin said.
"Our emergency service
personnel should be sup-
‘ported with the best
equipment and supplies
needed to do their jobs
correctly and safely."
"I know the Oak
Grove V.ED., Inc., will
use this money to serve
their community even
better", Goodwin added.
"Thank you, Chief
William (Perry) Davis,
Jr., for all of your hard
work and thanks to your
dedicated staff."
Oak Grove V.ED.,
Inc. has received a total
of $25,426.05 from the
Volunteer Fire Depart-
ment Fund in the past 22
years since the program
began. The General As-
sembly created the Vol-
unteer Fire Department
Fund in 1988 to help vol-
unteer units raise money
for equipment and sup-
plies.. The grant funds
must be matched dollar-
fordollar, up to an ap-
proved amount, by
monies raised locally to
purchase necessary
equipment, Since the
program's inception, the
Department of Insurance
has distributed more than
$65 million to volunteer
fire departments across
the state.
Lib Stewart Hoth
HONORED FOR SERVICE - Dr. John C. McGill was honored for 53 years of
service at First National Bank last Tuesday. Presenting the framed resolution
to McGill are Bill Plowden, left, McGill, Adelaide Craven, chairman of the
board, and bank president Helen Jeffords.
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DEADLINES...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
Shirley Brutko, executive director of the Kings Mountain chamber branch,
hosted a Business After Hours party for chamber business professionals
Thursday night outside of the office. Left to right, chamber Chairman Mark
Hudson, President Michael Chrisawn, Adrian Camp and Brutko look over
plans for the program.
HW News from the trail
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
The future site of the Gateway Trailhead park is under construction. The
bathroom facility to the left and the picnic shelter, right, is complete, except
for a few picnic tables. °
Ground, plans stirring
for big trail opening
By EMILY WEAVER
"Editor
As bulldozers stir and
settle the land at the future
trailhead site of Kings
Mountain's Gateway Trails
other plans are stirring and
being settled for the path
that will one day connect
the city to local parks.
New president of the
Gateway Trails committee
Shirley Brutko, who took
the reins after former presi-
dent David Ozmore moved
to Louisiana for a new job,
said that they are planning
to have a grand opening for
the trailhead from 10 a.m.-
3 p.m. Nov. 7.
The trail will not be open
to the public until the grand
opening.
Construction of the first
phase of the trail is nearing
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completion, Brutko said.
The first phase will feature
the trailhead park with a
parking lot, restrooms, a
map kiosk, a bike rack, a
covered shelter with picnic
tables, a drop-off loop and
other picnic tables.
The restroom facility
and covered shelter are al
ready up at the site. Bull-
dozers are spreading out the
pavement now.
The other part of the first
phase, which many hikers,
bikers, runners and walkers
have eagerly anticipated,
will include the first few
miles of trail. A total of four
possible paths will be ac-
cessible from the trailhead -
the main trail, two loops
and a fitness track.
The fitness lap will not
be-a complete loop due to
the steep terrain. But stairs
may be added at a later
date to make it complete.
A larger loop will con-
nect the fitness trail and a
smaller track to the main
trail. Plans for the Gate-
way Trails were designed
by Haiden-Stanziale, a
planning/civil engineer-
ing firm out of Charlotte.
Haden-Stanziale is also
overseeing construction
of the trails.
opening will feature a
ribbon cutting, vendors
and other activities.
Other work, including
the installation of fences
for the trail's first phase,
gates, signage, the infor-
mation kiosk, picnic ta-
bles and water fountains
are still on the agenda.
But the progress being
made on the trail is draw-
ing attention.
“City officials have
The Nov. .7 grand
said we've got some of the
nicest facilities in town,”
Brutko said.
The Gateway Trails will
one day soon connect Kings
Mountain to Crowder's
Mountain State Park's boul-
der's access, which will lead
to Kings Mountain State
Park and the national mili-
tary park in South Carolina.
It will be open to bikers,
hikers, walkers, runners and
others who just want to take
a stroll through nature. The
trail will be entirely handi-
capped accessible.
Crowders ~~ Mountain
State Park was recently able
to purchase 2,000 acres of
land adjacent to Dixon
School Road.
"The plan is to build a
hiking trail, which will con-
nect Crowders Mountain
State Park to Kings Moun-
tain State Park in South
Carolina, and to have a
backpack camping area
somewhere along the trail,"
according to the park's web-
site. "Further development
will include a parking facil-
ity, contact station, and pic-
nic area off Van Dyke
Road." *
The park is also consid-
ering the possibility of
adding a "bouldering area",
a rock climbing area and
trails for horses or mountain
bikes in the newly acquired
acreage.
"With the help of volun-
teers, the park is building a
6-mile trail stretching to the
South Carolina state line,"
according to the site. "The
volunteers will help speed
the project from a projected
6 year duration to a mere
two years. September 13,
2009 marks the official start
See TRAILS, 7A
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