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G. Deal rents
of Kings Mountain
Classic Gifts & Interior Dion Services
146 West Mountain St., Kings Mountain
Ph. 704-730-8409 e Fax 704-730-8410
They | knew the risk, but believed in service
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photo by LIB STEWART
Faith Prine, 4, waves a flag and places a red poppy in Veterans Park of Mountain Rest Cemetery Monday morning at the
Memorial Day community service of remembrance. Prine attended the service with her grandmother, Yvonne Furr.
"Family, friends | mourn
loss of great lady in
wake of tragic wreck
EMILY WEAVER
0 Editor
Cup and Saucer Tea Room owner Mary “Alice” Arm-
strong loaded her car with one of her mouthwatering
homemade cheesecakes and other freshly-baked desserts
Thursday morning and headed out to her mailbox. It
would have been a morning like any other, except...it
wasn’t. Before she crossed the street her life came to a
tragic end.
The many people whose lives she touched in her 74
years were shocked and sadderied by the sudden loss of
such a dear woman. She was the “muffid lady”, the “card
lady”, the tea queen, and the “prayer warrior”.
Alice brought food to the sick and to the grief
stricken. She comforted the weary and called out to the
lost. She rooted for the underdog and became a fan
. among inmates she cooked for and prayed for in Lincoln
County. Alice was a great cook, a friend to many and a
wonderful mother, whose heart seems to have been de-
voted to service and whose strength was emboldened by
faith.
There is no doubt in her sons’ minds where she is
today. Alice is with the Lord they said and they should
know — all three of her living sons are pastors.
Alice was crossing the street in front of her Bessemer
City home, when George Burgess, 56, of Kings Mountain
came around the curve on Kiser Road. He was on his way
to a relative’s house when he saw Alice in the street. She
froze. He swerved to miss her, but it was too late. The
back tires of his Chevrolet truck caught her. She died at
the scene.
The often busy Cup and Saucer Tea Room was quiet
on Thursday. A bouquet of white flowers was posted near
the door taped with a sign that read: “We are closed due
to a death.”
Alice opened the popular downtown lunch destination
in 2000 after retiring from 34 years of service at Home-
lite/John Deere.
“Sitting around was not her thing,” said her grand-
daughter Kellie Duvall. “When she got this house it had
a pool. You would’ve thought she would retire and swim,
but it wasn’t enough.”
“She just had so much energy,” said her donglifer in
law, Glenna Mann.
Many of her family members, including Kellie,
Glenna and Kellie’s mother Lori Mann, came to work at
the restaurant over the years. Miniature muffins, home-
made soups, made-from-the-best-scratch desserts, sand-
wiches, fresh fruit and, of course — tea — flowed from the
kitchen to many happy ta-
Room and although many
customers graced the dining
halls on regular occasions,
the business wasn’t immune
| Alice loved the Tea
1 to hard times. In the past
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ANI EY ee
Banks Trust
photo by REG ALEXANDER
Mary “Alice” Armstrong inside the Cup & Saucer Tea
Room.
few years, food prices have soared. Gas prices have
climbed. Even the Great Recession came for tea, Barely
making ends meet Alice was faced with tough decisions:
shut down the restaurant or raise prices. Some of the cus-
tomers, who knew of her situation, pleaded with her to
stay.
“It would have been beneficial for her just © stop, but
she would not stop because of the people,” said her son,
See ALICE, 7A
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail. com
For many Americans Me-
morial Day is a welcome day
off, the unofficial beginning of
summer vacation marked with
family barbecues and sporting
events on big HDTV's,
But for families and friends
of those men and women who
died in our nation's service
May 30 it is a day of remem-
brance - a solemn reflection of
honor, sacrifice and duty.
American flags on the
* Rest Cemetery Monday morn-
ing and the red lapel poppies
made by hospitalized veterans
* and distributed by American
Legion Auxiliary Unit 155 re-
minded the crowd that free-
dom is not free.
"We will never forget those
men and women who knew
_ the risk but believed in duty,
honor, personal courage and
loyalty," said Mayor Rick
Murphrey, the speaker for the
community-wide ceremony
planned by the City of Kings
Mountain. "Each one is a life
graves of fallen heroes at
Kings Mountain's Mountain See MEMORIAL, 7A
photo by KYRA
Jane Gulden
plays “Amazing
Grace” on the
bagpipes while
the KMPD Honor
Guard stands at
attention.
—— $34.7 million budget
City sets public
‘hearing on
budget June 20
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmheraid@gmail.com
Kings Mountain City Council Tuesday night set a public
hearing on the proposed 2011-2012 fiscal year budget for
Monday, June 20 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
Meantime, the $34.7 million budget - an increase of $1.5
‘ million, is on the table for review by citizens. It calls for no
increase in the tax rate, no electric increase, no water and sewer
increase and no natural gas increase.
City Manager Marilyn Sellers said at last week's budget
work session that no COLA or merit pay increases are pro-
jected for the 200 employees but the benefit package for em-
ployees will continue with health insurance and retirement
benefits in spite of insurance increases and a 0.53% increase to
the city in retirement contributions for regular employees and
0.63% for law enforcement personnel. She also said that no
city employee has been furloughed in spite of a sluggish econ-
omy.
Sellers described the proposed budget as "gon and very
conservative." She said the increase in the budget is due to in-
creased costs to the city which are not being passed on to cit-
izens.
See CITY, 6A
Baccalaureate
service Sunday
Commencement exercises for 310 Kings Mountain High School
graduating seniors will begin Sunday, June 5, with the ecumenical Bac-
calaureate service at 7 p.m. in B.N. Barnes Auditorium and culminate on
June 9 at 8 p.m, with final exercises in John Gamble Football Stadium.
Rev. Eddie Gray, former pastor of East Gold Street Wesleyan Church
and currently serving in Shelby, will deliver the sermon for the Class of
2011, which includes his daughter, Sarah.
"The Baccalaureate is a service of worship that gives thanks to God
for the milestone that our seniors have reached and allows our churches
and community the opportunity to honor the senior class and their fam-
ilies at this important time in their lives," said Rev. Jeff Hensley, pastor
of Kings Mountain Baptist Church and chairman of the planing com-
mittee of the Kings Mountain Ministerial Association for the worship
service.
The community-planned and mostly student-led event will feature
students who volunteered to help lead the service, including Jessica Bur-
ton, Anthony Cedillo, Ashley Gilmore, Tanner Ross, Zach Smith and
Brandon Sturgis. In addition to the three hymns that are a standard part
of the service, the senior members of the Kings Revue will sing two se-
lections.
"The annual Baccalaureate service is an important part of the grad-
uation season here in Kings Mountain and we invite the seniors, their
families and the community at large to come and worship with us, " said
Hensley.
RTT
Building Trust. Building Smiles,
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain ® 704.739.5411
www.alliancebanknc.com « memser ric
ALEXANDER