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WARLICK —
AMRICK
INSURANCE
704.739.3611
106 East Mountain Street
Kings Mountain, NC
www. KMinsure.com
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Stewart,
honored
Brinkley
Monday
by school board
The Cleveland County
Board of Education
moved Monday to name
an athletic fieldhouse and
a street on the campus of
the Kings Mountain High
School ‘after several in-
dividuals that have con-
tributed greatly to Kings
Mountain athletics over
the course of several de-
cades.
Visitors to the high
school will now drive
on Gary Stewart Blvd.
on their way into home
games and as they make
their way past the re-
cently constructed and
state-of-the-art Brinkley
Fieldhouse.
The Brinkleys helped
to found the Kings Moun-
tain Touchdown Club,
which in recent years
raised millions of dollars
to fund the construction
of the new fieldhouse
that was opened last year.
David Brinkley is also a
former member of the
KMHS varsity coaching
staff.
Stewart is a Kings
Mountain sportswriter
who has worked for the
Herald as a writer and
photographer for more
than 50 years, the news-
paper's longest-serving
editor. After his retire-
ment, he continues as
Herald sports editor. The
board sought to celebrate
his legacy of putting a
spotlight on Kings Moun-
tain’s athletes and athletic
programs through his
work with the Herald and
other local newspapers.
See map on page 3
State of the District
Meeting Monday
The Cleveland County
Board of Education will hold
a State of the District meeting
on Monday, March 16 at 7
p.m. at Kings Mountain High.
A variety of information sur-
rounding the Kings Mountain
Zone and the district will be
presented by Supt. Dr. Ste-
phen Fisher.
He will also introduce
principals, assistant princi-
pals, and Central Services
administrators and highlight
their individual roles, be-
cause he says he believes it's
important for parents and the
general public to know who is
on the team.
If you would like to sug-
gest a topic for presentation,
please feel free to contact
Greg Shull at (704) 476-8030
or submit an anonymous rec-
ommendation online at http:/
£00.g/kmWO06i.
The intent of the meeting
is to provide parents and the
commumity with information
about the county schools,
while highlighting topics that
are important to parents and
the community as a whole.
"We share high expec-
tations for our students and
want to make sure you remain
informed about the direction
of our schools and vision for
excellence," Dr. Fisher wrote
in a letter to parents encour-
aging attendance at the meet-
ing.
Monday's meeting here
is an inaugural meeting but
board members expect more
in the future.
KM Historical Museum
needs your vote
The Kings Mountain
Historical Museum has a
chance to win $10,000 but
the community's help is
needed.
Adria Focht, Museum
8525700200
Director, has been notified
that the Museum is one of
three finalists along with
the Catawba Riv-
erkeeper Foundation and
the Allegro Foundation
in WTVI PBS Charlotte's
Community Give Back non-
profit spotlight contest.
The three finalists will
receive a video profile that
See MUSEUM, Page 7
kmherald.com
SPORTS....10
BH KMHS
Lady kickers
break even
Volume 127 o Issue 10 ¢
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MAUNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
100 S PIEDMONT AVE
KINGS MOUNTAIN NC 25058: 2450
DUUN HE
Character
Day
See page 8
Before surgery 7th grader will play ball
His heart in GOD! s hand
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
Blake
Broome, 12,
says God
will take
care of his
heart and
until he has
open heart
surgery on
May 26 he
plans to play his heart out
for the Kings Mountain
Middle School Patriots
baseball team.
A phenomenal athlete
with unbelievable faith and
courage, Blake was born
with Transposition of the
Great Arteries, a congenital
heart defect that required
open heart surgery at the
age of nine months. During
that surgery he had a con-
duit (tube) with a pulmo-
nary valve inside placed to
reroute his blood correctly.
BLAKE BROOME
He's had no complications
in 12 years but doctors say
he is outgrowing that tube,
which will be replaced by
an adult size tube along
with repairing his leaky
mitral valve.
Blake, a 7th grader, is
more worried that he won't
be able to play ball for six
weeks after the surgery
than the surgery itself.
The doctor said “no
baseball, you can't even
pick up a bat or a ball for
six weeks. Give me six
weeks and I will have you
back on the ball field."
“That will be tough,"
says the handsome redhead
who weighs 87 pounds and
stands 5 feet tall. Blake
started playing tee ball at
the KM YMCA at the age
of 4 and every year since
age 6 has been on the KM
All Star team. Just last
year, his 11-12 All Stars
team won the District tour-
March 11, 2015
BP. 35
##
75¢
Blake Eroime’s swings his mp at KMMS Patriot game.
nament and represented
KM well in NC state tour-
nament in Richfield. He
has played with the KM
Storm weekend travel team
since age 7. They traveled
See HIS HEART, Page 14
New playground addition is disability friendly
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
City and county offi-
cials on Friday opened
an addition to the Mayor
Rick Murphrey Children's
Playground that is disabili-
ty-friendly and 100% hand-
icap accessible.
There isn't another hand-
icap accessible playground
in the county open to the
public.
The creation of the play-
ground is a partnership be-
tween the City of Kings
Mountain and Cleveland
County Board of Commis-
sioners.
Cleveland County com-
missioners voted last Sep-
tember to spend $81K to
build it and furnish play-
ground equipment. City
Council voted to provide
the property, remove trees
and concrete in preparation
of a pad for the playground,
complete wooden fencing
and will be in charge of
maintenance.
The playground is a
completely boundless play-
ground. Any child con-
fined to a wheelchair can
access every feature on the
“elevated decks and all the
ground level components.
The swing has two handi-
cap accessible seats as well.
Picnic tables are in place.
The structure is a PlayCraft
play structure.
Mayor Rick Murphrey
presided at the ribbon cut-
ting and county commis-
sion chairman Jason Falls
and commissioners
Johnny Hutchins,
Eddie Holbrook,
vice-chairman and
Susan Allen spoke
about how much
children will enjoy
the park. They
said the partner- |g
ship satisfies one
of the county's stra-
tegic goals for fis-
cal year 2013-14,
which was to work
with community
partners to provide
recreational ameni- §
ties that are handi-
cap-accessible.
No children were
present for the rib-
bon cutting because of the
cold and wind on Friday
but spring weather will see
~ MIRANDA EASTER, North Shelby
student (file photo)
a turnout of kids at the park
located beside the YMCA
See PLAYGROUND, Pag 14
Race Day at Gateway a big hit
DAVE BLANTON
“ dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Racers at Saturday’s
Gateway Trail run were
favored by sweet weather
(it was chilly but clear),
but they still had to con-
tend with hilly, demanding
courses that tested the limits
of novice and experienced
runners alike.
“It was tough,” said
Franklin Keathley moments
after crossing the finish
line in the 10-mile run in a
time of 1:04:18. “You can
never tail with a trail. But
you can’t ask for a better
surface than you have out
here.” The Charlottean is
no stranger to doing well
at Gateway. He picked up
first place in last year’s long
race, which was a 10K.
Rounding out the top
finishers in the 10-mile
morning race was Thomas
Manning, with a time of
1:09:20, with third place
overall going to Rippy
Mitchell, with a time of
1:12:30. Beckie Calvert was
the fastest racer among fe-
males in the 10-miler, with
a time of 1:24:39.
In the 5K results, there
Carter Bridges finishes third
overall in 5K.
were ties in the top two
spots. Randy Whaley and
Zachary Pierce shared first
Franklin Keith was the top
runner of the day in 10 mile
course.
place, while Harry Gregory
See RACE DAY, Page 7
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