Wednesday, February 11, 2015
From Page 1A
What is their secret of suc-
cess after 65 years of living
ftogether?
i “We put God first in our
ilives and we raised our chil-
{dren to do the same," said
¥Corinne.
p= It may have been love at
(first sight for Howard.
& Born in Hollis, NC, he
"was raised in Brook Park,
Minnesota, graduating from
{Pine City High. His family
‘moved to Kings Mountain
lin 1947 and he caught sight
tof 16-year-old Corinne at a
ibaseball game.
| Bethware High and Gro-
iver High were county rivals
and they were playing in
Shelby at city park. Corrine
\was cheering for Bethware
tand Howard was cheering
ifor Grover. But Howard had
{been seeing another young
i woman at the time and he and
this family were attending the
jsame church that Corinne and
{her family were attending - El
| Bethel United Methodist.
Howard's attraction for
i Corrine stuck and he actually
{met his bride-to-be in Ware's
{Peach Orchard. They had a
\peach fight, he said, adding,
i“I've been in trouble ever
Mince. ” The couple dated for
two years, Howard proposed
‘Christmas 1949 and gave
‘Corinne an engagement ring.
They got married at Concord
United Methodist Church
Parsonage in Cleveland
County with members of their
immediate families present.
Teasing his wife, Howard
said he learned to say “yes
mam.”
Both admitted that in any
marriage there are ups and
downs but both said their
marriage had ' more ups.’
They have a close knit
family and the fourth week
in June every year for the
past 32 years they celebrated
their anniversary with the
whole family at North Myrtle
Beach, SC. Howard said they
rent a house and their five
children and their families
join them.
The children are Wayne
and Faye Pressley Swofford
of Newton, Michael and
Melissa Finley Swofford
of Mooresville, Dianna and
Dale Blanton of Middleburg,
Fla., Cindy and Steve Jones
of Winnemucca, Nevada,
and Robert and Janet Ed-
wards Swofford of Durham.
The family also includes
nine grandchildren and eight
great-grandchildren.
Howard, who retired from
J. E. Herndon Company,
served in the US Navy two
years, one month and 13
days. “I came back from the
Navy and like a lot of other
veterans worked at Margrace
Mill inspecting cloth," he
said. He worked three years
in a airplane factory in Co-
lumbus, Ohio, and also for-
merly worked for Sterchi's
Furniture in Kings Mountain.
PUBLIC NOTICE
(For Lease Of Municipally-Owned Property)
. TAKE NOTICE, that the City of Kings Mountain, North
-Carolina, does have intentions-of entering-into a Lease
with the Cleveland County Family YMCA, Inc., with the
, City Council for the City of Kings Mountain, North Caro-
lina, authorizing by Resolution, the execution of a Lease
at the February 24, 2015 City Council Meeting, and the
properties which will be considered for Lease, would be
as follows:
1. Facilities Included: The recreational building and play-
ing fields (presently leased by the Cleveland County Fam-
| ily YMCA), located at Cleveland Avenue and Deal Street,
i within the City of Kings Mountain, North Carolina. That
also included in the leased facilities would be the David-
son Park fields and facilities. Excluded from the Lease will
be the walking track, which is located adjacent to the
Cleveland Avenue facilities and also the Mayor Rick
Murphrey Children's Park.
2. Term of Lease: Twenty (20) Years.
3. Method to End Lease: If breach believed to have oc-
curred by either party, then upon forty-five (45) days
notice. If circumstances are simply just wanting to end
the Lease, either party may give twelve (12) months notice
to the other party.
That also, this Lease Agreement automatically terminates
if the Operational
Services Agreement terminates.
4. Rental: One ($1.00) Dollar per year.
5. Repairs and Maintenance: The City shall be respon-
sible for the repairs necessary for normal wear and tear
of the facilities. The YMCA shall be responsible for any
repairs necessary which are not to be considered normal
swear and tear.
.. Utilities: The YMCA shall be responsible for the pay-
sment to the City for any and all utilities which are used and
| onsumed by reason of their use of the leased premises.
b c : The City has a right for in-
Spections in order to assure that the premises are being
maintained appropriately.
8. Alterations, Construction and Remodeling: No
major remodeling or construction may occur upon or to
the leased facilities without the express written permission
and consent of the o
gy: fL YMCA: The YMCA shall
nly make use of ie leased premises for the providing of
ecreational type activities and may not assign the Lease
without the written consent and permission of the City
0. f P The City retains
fhe right to continue its July 4th Celebration on the leased
i| premises.
| 11. Insurances: The YMCA will carry hazard insurance in
the event of fire or other types of casualties, covering all of
the leased premises.
The YMCA shall also carry a minimum of Three Million
($3,000,000.00) Dollars in coverage for liabilities for prop-
erty damage and personal injuries to users of the leased
premises.
The City will also be covered under the policies and is en-
I| titled each year to verify that coverages remain in effect.
12. Indemnity for Liability: The YMCA shall be responsi-
ble for claims arising out of the use of the leased premis-
es by those on the premises, engaged in activities of the
if YMCA, and will defend the City in any kind of litigation
which may be brought. That the YMCA will also be respon-
sible for those claims which might be brought.
That in addition to the Lease for which this Notice is being
published, there is also being executed by the City of Kings
Mountain with the YMCA an Agreement which is an Agree-
ment whereby the YMCA will be operating and providing
recreational programs at the leased premises.
13. Assignment: There may be no assignment of the
i| Lease Agreement without written permission from the City.
i| KMH3653
The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.com
long Filonlinct ii
HOWARD AND CORINNE SWOFFORD
IN EARLY YEARS
Mrs. Swofford operated
her own business, Swofford's
Upholstery, from their home,
retiring about five years ago.
Her handiwork is also dis-
played on the sofa and chairs
of her beautiful living room. “I
loved to upholster furniture
for people but decided to re-
tire," she said. Corinne went
back to work for the school
system as a substitute cafete-
ria worker, and loves it. She
also worked in earlier years
at Bost Bakery, Roses 5&10,
Sears, and Spectrum Fibers.
The couple has traveled
in nearly all 50 states in their
travel trailer. They also enjoy
gardening and yard work.
Corinne is finance chairman
at El Bethel United Meth-
odist Church where they are
members.
Corinne, one of five chil-
dren of Ed and Wilma Adair
Reynolds, has one living sib-
ling, Myrtle Greene of Hick-
ory.
Howard, one of eight
children of Robert and Ethel
Greene Swofford, has one
living sibling, Roy Swofford
of Boiling Springs.
The family pet is “Her-
shey,” a spoiled Terrier-Chi-
huahua mix, who has the run
of the house.
Mrs. Swofford will cele-
brate her 83rd birthday Feb.
24,2015.
Mr. Swofford will cele-
brate his 89th birthday April
4, 2015.
Both belie their age in the
activities and enthusiasm for
life that they share together.
Valentine Day, the day for
lovers, is February 14, Obvi-
ously Corinne and Howard
Swofford are life-long valen-
tines.
Page 7A
50 years: a marriage
endures and grows
The two Kings Mountain natives met at Central School and
married in 1965.
From Page 6
his own advice. After
about 40 years working a
number of “good jobs” in
local textile factories, he
went back to school to earn
his GED. Following that,
he went to work for Cleve-
land Community College,
where he retired in 2010.
Nowadays, the couple
fills their days doing things
they love together. That
includes watching movies,
especially Westerns star-
ring Clint Eastwood and
John Wayne. And they
have a date with “Judge
Judy,” the popular civil
claims court show every
day at 3 p.m. Their most
important shared activity,
though, is visiting their
grandchildren, the oldest
of which is Logan Smith,
a scholarship athlete at The
Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
They are also members of
Grover’s Bethany Baptist
Church.
After 50 years of mar-
riage, one thing they never
did was adapt pet names
for each other.
“Nope. She calls me
Gary and I call her Linda,”
Gary said.
School: Dor cards released statewide
From Page 1A
a B, while ones garnering
55-69 points would get a C.
D schools were those scor-
ing between 40-54 points.
A score of less than 40
earned an F.
About 70 percent of
schools statewide made
above a C, while 23 percent
of schools received a D and
6 percent received an F.
“The report card as far
as parent information is a
valuable source of infor-
mation, but the letter grade
component only serves as
a single indicator,” said
Greg Shull, the Cleveland
County School’s Director
Communication. “It’s a part
of a larger story, including
personnel, school safety
factors and economic fac-
tors.”
Shull said opinion is
mixed both at the local and
state levels about the use-
fulness of assigning letter
grades.
“I think it’s early to say
whether it’s good to have
this,” Shull said. “As peo-
ple dig through the report,
they’ll find more specific
information that’s explan-
atory. You can never have
too much information.
Nevertheless, the grade
doesn’t reflect how the
school is doing as whole.
It’s just one indicator based
on a limited set of data.”
North Carolina is one of
16 states that use the letter
grade system to help de-
scribe school performance,
and each state calculates
grades in different way.
Economic indicators
More than half of stu-
dents live in poverty at all
of the schools that received
an F and at 97.9 percent of
schools that received a D,
according to a web site that
tracks public education pol-
icy in North Carolina.
Likewise, schools that
received As and Bs were far
more likely to have a lower
poverty rate.
Legislation requiring
School Performance Grades
was passed in 2013. Policy-
makers created this system
to provide more transpar-
ency of school perfor-
mance. The N.C. General
Assembly wanted to put
an A through F system in
place for transparency, state
school leaders have said.
Information about every
public school in Cleveland
County and in the state
of North Carolina can be
found at www.ncpublic-
schools.org/src/.
Local author: to speak about women in Civil War
From Page 1A
write frequently at the war
and the time period.
His talk Thursday, which
is part of a lecture series at
the museum that coincides
with the museum’s exhibit
titled “Pioneering Women
of Cleveland County,” will
focus on the role of women
in the war.
“You don’t hear about
the women who went off
to help with the fight,” he
said Thursday from home
on Dixon School Rd.
which he shares with his
wife Patty. and daughter,
Anna Grace. “You don’t
hear about the women who
were spies. You don’t hear
about the women that went
to England and tried to raise
money for the Confederate
effort.”
In past appearances at
the museum and other ven-
ues, Hughes has given pre-
sentations about Civil War
cemeteries (and the federal
government uneven efforts
to rebury the war’s dead),
African-Americans’ roles in
the Civil War and other as-
pects of that fractious time
period in American history.
The author of five books
(which include *“Bivouac
of the Dead,” “The Unpub-
lished Roll of Honor” and
“Confederate Cemeteries.
THE NEW
Ci iA Wa R
HANDBOOK
Vols. 1 and 2,” he’s also
working on a new book,
which could see print as
early as this summer, called
“The Confederate Book.”
Hughes, a Cleveland,
Ohio, native who graduated
from Kings Mountain High
in 1969, said he enjoys see-
ing people make connec-
tions between their own
lives and the narratives that
unravel through their learn-
ing about history in the area.
“I hope people who
come will learn something
about the Civil War that
they didn’t know,” he said.
His “Civil War Hand-
book” is brimming with
interesting facts and stories
about the Civil War. It’s
also chocked full of scores
of clear and poignant pho-
tographs from the war that
divided a nation 150 years
ago.
In fact, Hughes said he
perused more than 5,000
photos to arrive at the ones
he eventually used in the
| book.
A peak inside “The New
Civil War Handbook” —
some quick facts.
-- Four of First Lady
Mary Todd Lincoln’s broth-
ers and two of her broth-
ers-in-law served in the
Confederate Army.
-- About $6.2 billion (in
1865 dollars) was spent on
the war.
-- Approximately one of
every four Union soldiers
was born outside the U.S.
Of immigrants who served,
Germans formed the largest
group, followed by the Irish.
-- William H. Carey, a
former slave who served as
a sergeant in the 54th Mas-
sachusetts Infrantry, was
the first African American
awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honor.
The other programs in
Kings Mountain Historical
Museum’s 2015 Lecture
Series will include:
- “Famous and Infamous
Women of North Carolina”
lecture & book signing by
Randell Jones, based on the
book “Scoundrels, Rogues,
and Heroes of the Old North
State.” Wednesday, March
4, 6 p.m.
- “Women of the Revo-
lution” lecture & book sign-
ing by Sharyn McCrumb,
based on the book King’s
Mountain. Saturday, April
11 at 2:00 pm
- “Radium Halos” lec-
ture & book signing by
Shelley Stout. The book is
an historical fiction based
on the true events of the Ra-
dium Dial Painters, a group
of female factory workers
who, in the early 1920s,
contracted radiation poison-
ing from painting glow-in-
the-dark watch and clock
dials with radium-based
paint. The narrative tran-
scends the Radium Dial
case, reflecting much about
our cultural attitudes to-
ward work, women, mental
illness and aging. Saturday,
May 9 at 5:30 pm
The museum’s exhibit
focusing on pioneering
women in Cleveland County
turns through May 23.
Admission is free. To
find out more about up-
coming exhibits and events,
visit HYPERLINK "http://
www.kingsmountainmu-
seum.org/" \n _blankwww.
kingsmountainmuseum.
org or call HYPERLINK
"tel:(704) 739-1019" \n _
blank(704) 739-1019. You
can also follow the museum
on Facebook, Twitter and
Pinterest.