The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.net
Local teenagers make
memories in tour of West
Audacious 3-week trip hits Hollywood, Yellowstone
DAVE BLANTON
_ dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Two groups of teens zig-
zagging across the U.S. are
filling up their online jour-
nals with photos and stories
of desert hiking, site-seeing
and beach excursions as the
youngsters enter the last leg
of the 23-day bus trek.
There’s no indication that
any of the more than 175
high-schoolers and chaper-
ones participating in Teens
Westward ‘Bound are run-
ning out of steam as they
make their way this week to-
ward Salt Lake City, The
Grand Teton National park
and Mount Rushmore in
Wyoming.
They spent, last week
travelling northward through
California, where they made
memories and snapped up
pictures of Disneyland, the
California coastline, the Uni-
versity of California at Los
Angeles, history-rich Can-
nery Row and San Fran-
Cisco.
“I wish I was on that
trip,” said Tammy Waters,
whose daughter Caroline is
one of four Kings Mountain
High School students partic-
ipating in the long journey.
“They’re obviously having
the time of their lives.”
Cell phones aren’t al-
lowed on the trip, but travel-
. ers were able to take along
portable music players,
books and magazines and
one DVD movie each for
group movie nights along
the way. Teens Westward
Bound is as much about the
great outdoors and roughing
it a little as it is about seeing
some of America’s most fa-
mous places. Students have
been either camping out-
doors or catching their sleep
in local YMCAs along the
way. At around the halfway
point, they picked mail from
home and sent letters to fam-
ily and friends.
With access to phones
limited, the students are giv-
ing the rest of the world up-
dates through the two
groups’ separate online jour-
nals. The groups blog about
their experiences every day
and upload tons of photos
that document where they go
and what they see. This
year’s trip was divided into
two groups of about 80 stu-
dents each, with identical
itineraries but start dates that
were staggered by two days.
“While eating our bagels
on the bus and vans we en-
joyed the scenic route of
Highway One in CA,” reads
part of a blog entry from
June 25. “The views were
breathtaking and many of us
stared (out) the windows in
awe of the dense fog and
sweeping mountains. Our
first stop was Ragged Point,
which provided a beautiful
view and impressive photo
ops.... (and good bathrooms
too which is always a plus on
TWB.)”
For Waters, a rising sen-
ior with sharp interests in
‘singing, playing the piano
and psychology, a chance
sighting at the Hollywood
Walk of Fame was a dream
come true.
“She’s a huge Johnny.
Depp fan, and she got to see
him in person at TCL Chi-
nese Theater,” said her
mother, a teacher at Chapel
Grove Elementary in Gaston
County. The legendary ac-
tion director Jerry Bruck-
heimer (“Top Gun,” “Pirates
of the ' Caribbean” and
“Black Hawk Down”) was
being honored with a cov-
eted star and Depp was
among the Hollywood elite
who spoke at the ceremony.
Caroline had originally
planned on seeing only
Depp’s star.
Waters is the sole KMHS
student in the group that left
Davidson College June 15
and will return this Sunday.
The second group, which left
June 19 and returns next
Tuesday, includes rising sen-
ior Chan-Champion and ris-
ing juniors Mary Catherine
Dellinger and Robert Baker.
The final leg of the trip
will take the youngsters to
the St. Louis Gateway Arch
and Churchill Downs, the
site of the Kentucky Derby.
- The teens are split into
seven groups — the Grump-
ies, the Happies, the
Sleepies, etc. — named after
characters in the classic chil-
dren’s book “Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs.” Du-
ties like cooking, cleaning
and blogging are divided
among them. One day, a slot-
ted group forays into a Wal-
Mart with a plan and on a
budget. The challenge is to
buy the right amount of food
to cook and feed nearly 100
people.
Before the trip began,
each student was assigned a
site or a city to study up on.
That way, when the convoy
reached, say, Carlsbad Cav-
erns or the Golden Gate
Bridge, one knowledgeable
person could step up and
play tour guide.
With limited space, a
busy schedule and no fixed
address, packing light was a
requirement.
Each student could bring
only a sleeping bag, a foam
matt, a small pillow, a tarp
and whatever else they could
fit into a 30 inch by 13 inch
duffel bag and a small day
bag.
“Packing was tricky,”
Tammy Waters said, “She
and I spent a lot of time °
packing and rearranging.
Space was so limited ... you
could bring back small sou-
venirs only.” Plus, the sched-
ule and the amount of
ground covered allows for
only three laundry days, she
said.
Each participant in Teens
Westward Bound is encour-
aged to recommend eight
others. They’re also asked to
speak to groups about their
experiences on the mind-ex-
panding journey.
Teens Westward Bound,
whose slogan is “a twenty
three day discovery of the
great American west ... and
oneself” is a non-profit or-
ganization. For more infor-
mation and to read the blogs
visit www.teenswestward-
bound.com.
Catch
all the New
/
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Bethware exhibits
collect prizes
« DAVE BLANTON
_ dave herald @gmail.com
Not all muffins are cre-
ated equally.
Discerning judges set
upon hundreds of antiques,
crafts, produce, cotton,
baked goods and other items
‘Wednesday to award blue
ribbons in more than 150
categories at the 66th annual
Bethware Fair.
The four judges — all rep-
resentatives from Cleveland
County’s N.C. Cooperative
Extension Program -— in-
spected, handled and some-
times tasted the offerings in
order to sort out the finest.
“It’s difficult to judge a
dry biscuit,” said John Par-
sons, a summer intern with
the Extension Program who
attends Caldwell Commu-
nity College in Hudson.
“Or a cold hush puppie,”
quipped Julie Flowers, a
consumer horticulture agent,
who judged the fair last year
as well.
The mood was light as
exhibit organizers and vol-
unteers shepherded the
judges through the large
gymnasium packed with en-
tries, ‘carefully labeled and
ordered.
The annual event is a
throwback to. an era when
skills like baking, canning
and clothes-making were an
- integral part of a family’s
identity — or even its sur-
vival.
The prize for most ex-
hibits (not including an-
tiques) by a youth under 16
went to Samuel Howell. His
60 entries, which included
T
=
iy
field crops, canned food and
flowers, edged out his twin
sister Abby’s efforts by two.
Howell, who took home a
$20 prize, has been coming
to the fair every year since
he was born in 2005, accord-
ing to Exhibit Hall assistant
manager Wendy McKinney.
The fair also featured
more than a dozen informa-
tion and business booths,
meant to inform and spread
awareness. The best booth
prize went to the Mary Kay
& More. ;
| = Butaniyal »
installation entered by
Heather Strickland, which
featured a banner, flowers
and neatly organized infor-
mation about the make-up?
company. Strickland col}
lected a $20 prize. :
Nancy Abasiekong, of
Family and Consumer Sci
ences, area agriculture agent
Daniel Shires and County.
Extension Director Greg
Traywick rounded out thet
panel of judges. i
ig