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Page 4A
The Kings Mountain Herald
B Buck Ham planning for retirement
Scott’s Jewelry to reopen Monday;
closed since late October robbery
‘
Scott's Jewelry on North Piedmont
Avenue will reopen Monday, Dec. 7..
The store has been closed for repairs
since a late-October robbery ‘by two
teenagers who bludgeoned the store
owner, Buck Ham. They took $8,000
worth of merchandise, according to Ham,
who has recuperated from injury to his
head and nose. Ham and his son, Scott,
have been busy rebuilding show cases
and cleaning up.
"I am not angry at the boys," said
Ham, 77. He said one of the suspects had
been in the store several times before the
robbery and on the day of the robbery
came back almost at closing time with
another 16- -year-old on pretense of buy-
ing jewelry.
Ham said one of the boys struck him
with a calculator from the counter and
knocked him to the floor while the other
boy smashed cases and took jewelry.
Witnesses saw the boys leave the store
and called. Crime Stoppers. Both boys
were behind bars shortly after. One of the
suspects was taken into custody by po-
lice at his residence on Oct. 29 and the
other boy was charged with felonies the
day after.
Ham purchased the former Rippy Tew
elry Store from his uncle, Frank Rippy,
in 1985. Mr. Rippy had owned and oper-
ated the business since 1946.
"I don't think there's ever been any- °
thing like this (robbery) in this store be-
fore," said Ham who worked at Sears for
25 years in jewelry management. A pro-
fessional watchmaker, he also does
watch repairs.
Scott Ham worked at the old Rippy's
for some time with his, great-unlce and
also with the senior Ham. He will follow
in his Dad's footsteps as manager of the
business. Buck Ham plans to take semi-
retirement soon, he said this week, but
will continue to help with his expertise
in watch repair.
Buck Ham has three children: Rev.
Roger Ham and wife Shirley of Gaffney,
SC, Becky Hardin and husband Steve of
Concord, and Scott Ham of Kings Moun-
"tain. He also has two grandsons, Brandon
Johnston of the US Marine Corps who
has served in Iraq twice and Gregory
Ham, nuclear technician with the US
Navy; and two great-grandsons, Joshua
and Wyatt Ham. He is a member of
Broad River Baptist Church in Smyrna,
SC.
"We are proud to be in this business
‘Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Buck Ham, left, and his son, Scott Ham are getting Scott's Jewelry ready
LIB STEWART/HERALD
for its grand reopening Monday, bouncing back from a break-in last Oct.
and invite the public to come by and see
our redecorated store," said Buck Ham.
Bankers House
Christmas tour
~ Friday in Shelby
The Bankers House in
Shelby will be open for a
special Christmas tour Fri-
day, Dec. 4, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
A trolley will pick up
_ tourists at the intersection of
Washington and Marion
streets on the historic court
square in Uptown Shelby to
carry them to the house.
The cost for each person to
tour the Bankers House will
be a donation of $8 to bene-
fit the Historic Shelby
Foundation and preserve
the house.
Carriage rides and
wagon rides are also offered
in Shelby on Friday
evenings. For more infor-
mation call 704-484-3100.
Osborne named new
executive director
of KM Family YMCA
Kevin Osborne has been
hired as the new executive
director for the Kings
Mountain Family YMCA,
according to Cameron
Corder; CEO ofithe Cleve-
land ~~ County Family
YMCA.
‘He will start January 4,
2010.
Gina Collias, a YMCA
board member and chair of
the search committee noted,
“I am very excited about
- welcoming Kevin to our
community and am looking
forward to Kevin's leader-
ship.”
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Osborne is a graduate of
Appalachian State Univer-
sity. A 10-year YMCA vet-
eran, he started his career
with the YMCA of Iredell
County in Statesville. He
has spent the last seven
years with the Catawba Val-
ley YMCA in Hickory:
Most recently he Has been
the associate executive of
the Hickory Foundation
Branch. Osborne is a certi-
fied senior director with the
YMCA of the USA and is
an active member with the
Association of YMCA Pro-
fessionals.
Prior to his YMCA ca-
reer, Kevin worked in the
camping industry with the
United Methodist Church.
Kevin and his wife Jen-
nifer have a 4-year-old son,
Eli, and a 2-year-old daugh-
ter, Ruby.
Corder added, “Kevin is
highly regarded in the
YMCA movement. He has
a'strong history of success-
ful work and comes from a
great YMCA operation. We
are so excited to welcome
such a wonderful young
family to our community.”
The Cleveland County
Family YMCA has served
Cleveland County since
1992 and continues to ex-
Kevin Osborne
pand its network to meet the
ever-changing needs of the
local community. The
YMCA has facility
branches in Kings Moun-
tain, Shelby. and Boiling
Springs; two program cen-
ters called the Girls Club
YMCA and the Gardner-
Webb Student YMCA; and
also operates the River =
Bend Golf Club.
Currently, the Cleveland
County Family YMCA
serves close to 20,000 indi-
viduals, from toddlers to
seniors, in its programs. The
organization is dedicated to
enriching the lives of all
people through facilities
and programs that
strengthen spirit, mind and
body.
Gordon Brothers Farms,
Proffitt Farms join
American Angus Assoc.
Gordon Brothers Farms and Proffitt Farms, both of
Kings Mountain, are new members of the American Angus
Association, reports Bryce Schumann, CEO of the national
breed registry organization in Saint Joseph, Missouri.
. The American Angus Association, with nearly 33,000
active adult and junior members, is the largest beef cattle
registry Association in the world. Its computerized records
include detailed information on nearly 16 million registered
Angus.
The Association records ancestral information and keeps
production records on individual animals for its members.
These permanent records help members select and mate the
best animals in their herds to produce high quality, efficient
breeding cattle which are then recorded with the American
Angus Association.
LIB STEWART photo
SNOWMAN AND FRIEND - Alyssa Newton, 7, daughter of Leigh Anne and
Steve Newton, has a new friend - the snowman in Grover's Christmas parade
Saturday. A large crowd turned out for the holiday event.
LIB STEWART photo
MR. AND MRS. CLAUS -- Santa and Mrs. Claus were stars of the annual
Grover Christmas parade Saturday.
Published every Wednesday
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