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MAUNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
100 S PIEDMONT AVE
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KINGS MOUNTAIN NC 28086-3450
Children hunt
100 Easter
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Mountain
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Volume 127 eo Issue 12 o Wedriesday, March 25, 2015
15¢
TD Club eyes n more upgrades at Gamble Stadium
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald@gmail.com
A plan to update Kings
Mountain’s John Gamble
Stadium with new conces-
sions and restroom facili-
ties won the approval of the
Cleveland County Board of
Education Monday.
The school board heard
detailed plans for the up-
grade from David Brinkley,
the founder and president of
the non-profit Touchdown
Club.
“This will be designed to
benefit all athletic program
at Kings Mountain High,”
he told board members,
adding that it will have a
larger capacity for cooking
with the addition of a grill-
ing station and 14 bathroom
stalls.
The Touchdown Club
last year unveiled a new
state of the art field house
that sits adjacent to John
Gamble Stadium. Brinkley
led the group in raising close
to a million dollars (some of
the labor and materials were
donated in kind) to build the
new facility.
Calling the concession
and restroom upgrades
Stage 2 of the long-range
plan to modernize the sta-
dium, he said its design will
benefit a lot of fans. Also,
the design will allow con-
cession volunteers to watch
the game because it will set
off to the side of the press
box area.
Brinkley said all funds
needed to build the new
facility will come from
donations in the commu-
nity, as was the case with
the construction of the
new field house, which
broke ground three years
ago. The plan went before
the school board mainly
because it will be built on
state property and main-
tained by public money. He
estimated the building costs
for the planned facility to
be less than $200,000, and
said he’s estimating that a
ground-breaking that could
take place by mid-summer.
“I’m hoping people will
see the quality of what the
Touchdown Club has done,”
he said. “The community
has really come out in full
support of these needed
projects and I couldn’t be
more proud of the results
we’ve gotten. "
Brinkley isn’t stopping
with a brand new field
house and concessions
stands though. He said the
group’s plans down the road
include a final Stage 3 of
improvements and updates.
That stage would primarily
be about replacing the old
press box that has served
the stadium since the late
1960s.
“Ultimately, I hope to be
able to tear down the entire
structure holding the current
press box and start over so
we can have a world class
facility for our athletes,
their families and the fans.”
See proposed floor plan
on Page 7
Top speller looks
to D.C. bee
» DAVE BLANTON
" dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Rexen Venevongsoth
first battled through the
competition at Kings Moun-
tain Middle School and then
among fellow spelling bee
champs at the Cleveland
County Schools to win the
title as the county’s best
speller two weeks ago. That
win earned him a ticket to
the National Spelling Bee in
Washington, D.C., in May.
And yet for all that mo-
mentum, the cheerful and
soft-spoken 7th grader has
a self-deprecating response
when asked what he thinks
his chances are at winning
the top title in the nation’s
capital, where he’ll face up
to 1,000 other expert spell-
ers from around the country.
“Zero percent,” he said
calmly during an interview
in a conference room at his
school Monday afternoon.
But by all accounts, Ve-
nevongsoth, who is 12 and
lists math and physical ed-
ucation as his favorite sub-
jects, seems well prepared.
Rexen Venevongsoth says
he always has some butter-
flies in his stomach when
competing in spelling bees,
but also says “You can’t win
if you're not nervous.”
He aced the spelling of
“cygnet” at the school level
to take that trophy, and later
spelled “tamale” correctly
to win the county title,
which was sponsored by the
Shelby Star.
The Herald fired off
a couple of hard-to-spell
words without much warn-
ing in our chat with him.
“Antecedent?” Nailed it.
“Colleague”? Perfect, no
See TOP SPELLER, Page 7
Tonal Spectrum in town
Saturday at
Joy Theatre
Want to see one of the region’s hottest a cappella acts
in advance of a hopeful showing in a big New York City
competition?
You’ll have your chance this Saturday evening at the Joy
Theatre when Tonal Spectrum and Friends, a singing group
comprised of Crest High School students, puts on a show.
Tonal Spectrum is reaching out the community in trying
to raise $25,000 so it can take the trip to the Big Apple to
participate in the Varsity Vocals International Champion-
8 ll 00200
ship for High Schools A Cap-
pella competition on April 17.
The trip is expected to cost
about $500 per person.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. per-
formance are just $10, and
See TONAL SPECTRUM, Page 3
New apartments close to open on King 3
Cambridge Oaks is
taking applications
After many months of
construction, Cambridge
Oaks Apartment Homes is
set to open up its first units
in just a few weeks.
Located on the east side
of town close to the U.S. 74
and I-85 interchange, the
56-unit tax-credit/affordable
housing complex will upon
completion offer a club-
house, fitness center, busi-
ness center, playground and
a covered picnic area.
Depending on the quali-
fying income of applicants,
two bedroom apartment
homes are priced in the $330
to $525 range. For three bed-
room units that range moves
up to between $380 to $605.
Application fees are $19.50
per adult. Successful appli-
cants must have no felonies
in their past, and misde-
Cambridge Oaks Apartment Homes. Project managers say all 56 units will be available by
late summer.
meanors more recent than
seven years. Deposits are
$300 to $600.
Officials from the man-
agement company said that
they’re beginning to set up
appointment with applicants
this week. Those interesting
may call (704) 414-7435 for
more information about the
application process. By mid-
April, Royal American Man-
agement, which has offices
in Charlotte and Gastonia,
will be set up to meet appli-
cants at the Kings Mountain
site.
“They’re among the nic-
est I’ve ever built,” said
Tony Horn, who is the site
superintendent for WXZ
Construction, which has
built a handful of tax-credit
apartment complexes: in
the Kings Mountain area
in recent years. “They’re
designed with residents
in mind, and that includes
sound barrier systems be-
tween units.”
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
You can't miss the stop
and slow signs on South
Battleground Ave. where
the city is laying water
lines and replacing side-
walks.
Workers out in spring weather
laying water lines i in city
Workers complete work on the waterline project along Battle-
ground Ave. on Friday. The waterline that was being rehabbed
lies beneath the sidewalk, which means that the neighborhood
is seeing its sidewalk completely replaced. It amounts to about
a half of mile of smooth new sidewalk from Gold St. to Wells.
St. It's not wider than before, althought it does appear that way
because grass and other vegetation had crept along the edges
of the old sidewalk, making it look thinner by comparison.
Other areas of the city
— Ridge Street and behind
Tom's Market on Oak
Grove Road and at Moss
Lake workmen are out on
Spring days and in good
weather hoping to make
See workers, Page 7
LGC Visits
Grover addressing
financial issues =
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
GROVER - In this town
of a little over 700 people
residents and five council
members appeared over-
whelmed Wednesday night
at news from a state official
about town finances.
“This is a pretty healthy
list of discrepancies and
things not being done," Said
mayor pro tem Bill Willis.
“It seems like a dire situa-
tion.”
And what happens if we
can't fix it? was the next
question.
Sharon Edmundson,
director of Fiscal Manage-
ment of the State and Local
See LGC, Page 7
Tickets now available for “Liberty Mountain”
Tickets for 'Liberty
Mountain' are now avail-
able online at wwwkm-
libertymountain.com for
performance dates begin-
ning on Saturday, June 26,
2015.
All tickets are assigned
seating, so purchase early
to get your preferred seat
selection. Tickets are
$15, plus tax and a small
transaction fee. Questions
should be directed to jim@
kmlt.org"jim@kmlt.org or
call the box office at 704-
730-9408.
Tickets to the opening
night performance will
be limited in number, as
See TICKETS, Page 7
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