Volume 122. * Issue 23 © Wedhosday Sofie 9, 2010
Aiea St., Ringel Mountain
Es www.witlickscha lnsurdtice: com
Top of the Class
ey
NC STATE
3 photo by EMILY WEAVER
Bryan Vincent Moffitt, valedictorian, and Sarah
Elizabeth Smith, salutatorian, are the top schol-
‘ars among the 256 graduates receiving diplo-
mas at KMHS commencement exercises
Wednesday (tonight) at 8 p.m. in John Gamble
Football: Stadium.
Moffitt, Smith
to lead address
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer =
Thirteen years of school prepared them for a future
Bryan Moffitt and Sarah Elizabeth Smith look forward to
as they and the KIMHS Class of 2010 receive their diplo-
mas tonight (Wednesday) at John Gamble Football Sta-
dium.
Moffitt, in his valedictory address, will talk about how
the people in his life made graduation important and,
Smith, in her salutatory address, will emphasize that pre- |
pared young people become successful adults.
This fall Bryan Moffitt will enroll as a freshman at
N.C. State University where his older brother, Bradley, re-
ceives his degree in December. Bryan plans to double
major in Human Biology and Anthropology. Two days
after high school graduation he will leave for Canada on
a mission trip with other youth from First Baptist Church
of Shelby, where he is an active member. They plan to
minister to refugees, lead Bible studies and classes in Eng-
lish as a second language, among other activities.
Sarah Smith plans to enroll this fall at Trevecca
Nazarene University in Nashville, Tenn. For the next two
weeks she will be busy with her family packing and mov-
ing to Dickson, Tenn., an hour away from the school she
plans to attend. 3
"It's with mixed emotions," she says, about the fam-
ily's plans to move after 14 years in Kings Mountain. Her
dad, Dr. Jeff Smith, has practiced medicine at Caromont
Family Medicine on Cleveland Avenue in Kings Moun-
tain and her mother, Lisa Huffman Smith, has worked at
Fesenius Metrolina Kidney Center as a social worker.
Sarah has a 14-year-old sister, Anna. The family has been
active in Kings Mountain First Church of the Nazarene.
Moffitt's father, Steve, is a retired KMHS teacher,
coach and assistant principal at Kings Mountain High and
his mother, Beverly Lynch Moffitt, is a 7th grade teacher -
See ADDRESS, 3A
BU DGET
Public hearing
set for Tuesday
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Public hearing on the city's $32,476,709 budget for
2010-2011 will be conducted by Kings Mountain City °
Council Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at city hall.
* The proposed budget is available for public review
at city hall and includes no property tax increase and no
major increases other than the water/sewer hike - 15%
for water and 35% for sewer - approved by council ef-
fective May 1.
City Manager Marilyn Sellers is proposing a budget
down nearly a half million dollars ($32.967,966) from
2009-2011.
By law the budget must be adopted by June 30.
A second public hearing to receive input on devel-
opment of a Community Development Block grant
See HEARING, 3A
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book (KM Herald)
and Twitter (kmherald)
‘graduate
READY TO MARCH
256 to
tonight
Diplomas will be presented to 256 Kings
Mountain High School graduating seniors
Wednesday (tonight) at 8 p.m. in John Gamble
Football Stadium.
The KMHS 9th Grade Band will play "Pomp
and Circumstance" as the seniors march into the
stadium.
Officers of the KMHS Senior class will take Just like these KMHS graduates who took the field in 2005, the
part in the finals exercises. Class of 2010 will march out tonight to accept diplomas - 13
The pledge of allegiance to the flag of the years in the making. : FILE PHOTO/J. BRYMER
United States will be led by Vina Sananikone,
class vice president; Student Participation Organization pres-
ident Diana Phanthalack will give the welcome. -
The Symphonic Chorale, under the direction of Sarah Ful-
ton, will sing "Maybe Someday " and Senior Class president
Ashley Lauren Ray will introduce the class. Sofia Ariana
Lopez, class secretary, will recognize honor graduates.
Bryan Vincent Moffitt will present the valedictory address
after which Principal Ronny Funderburke will make remarks
and class treasurer Akosua Nyarko Boakye, class treasurer,
will present the class gift to the school.
Sarah Elizabeth Smith, salutatorian, will speak before pres-
entation of the diplomas by Funderburke, assisted by Mrs:
Kathy Falls, member of the Cleveland County Board of Edu-
cation. Commencement will end with a final presentation of
the graduating class by Funderburke.
Back from Iraq
Ruff has ‘no complaints’
LT ar AEE
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
"Hey, it's a job and we
can do it. I can't complain,"
says an upbeat SP4 Daniel
Ruff. He served the past year
with Heavy Weapons Squad
C Company Airborne In-
fantry in Baghdad and
Salmon Pak, Iraq.
The 23-year-old Kings
Mountain Gunner patterns
his upbeat attitude after his
grandfather, Abe Ruff, a re-
tired Green Beret who al-
ways says, "I'm fantastic" -
whatever his situation in life.
Ruff currently trains in
the field - a tough assign-
ment day and night - with his
Unit at Fort Bragg ready at
an 18 hour notice for another
deployment possibly to:
Afghanistan.
The 6'4" Kings Mountain
SP4 Daniel Ruff driving a truck in Iraq. soldier lost 10 pounds during
his 12 months in Iraq and
5 PS ET 0 day i said he aged about 10 years.
Training Iraqi soldiers to de-
Llewellyn has 13 years | «isin
to some - can be stressful.
"The Iraqis believe Allah
they don't aim," he said of
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Chasity Llewellyn’ s record of school at-
tendance is perfect. She never missed a day
in 13 years in the classroom.
Was she ever tardy? Did she ever want to
play hooky and sleep late? "No" to both ques-
tions.
"I love school," says Llewellyn, a KMHS
graduating senior who plans to enroll in the
fall at Western Carolina University in Cul-
lowhee and pursue a Bachelor of Science de-
gree in Nursing. In the meantime, she has put
her love of mathematics to work at Ingles of
Bessemer City where she has been employed
for the past year as bookkeeper.
Daughter of Samantha and Jerry
Llewellyn of Kings Mountain, Chasity has
played alto saxophone since 7th grade in the
Kings Mountain School Bands. She has also
been active in the National Honor Society, the
of perfe ct attendance will guide their bullet and so
the soldiers his unit helped
train.
The Iraqi military respect
American soldiers, says
Ruff. But "the civilians are
tired of us," he added.
A car hit a wall at the
Charlotte Motor Speedway
during a NASCAR race Ruff
attended recently and it was
so loud that Ruff, who was
in the stands, said it sounded
just like an IED (Improvised
Explosive Device). His
thoughts traveled back to the
Middle East.
* "Iraq is an entirely differ-
CH ASITY LLEWELLYN ent culture, you just can't be-
lieve it until you see it," he
said last weekend. He came
home from Fayetteville to at-
See RUFF, 4A
See PERFECT, 4A
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