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tU IIQS>MOUilTAIN
MIRROB'HERMJ)
15
~(leveland County's Modern ^lewsweeklY
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA 28086 THURSDAY, APRIL 10,1975
->::: Am ^
Fulton To Head
Merged Groups
NEW OFFICERS - At Tuesday’s luncheon meeting of the
trged Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Association
Ld of directors new offices were elected. Left to right, W.
[(Corky) Fulton 111, president; Lyn Cheshire, president-
Photo By Tom McIntyre
elect: Jim Dickey, second vice president; and Bill Grissom,
secretary-treasurer. All four are directors elected by mail
ballots to the general memberships of both organizations.
I‘Economy
Education’
Big Problem In
- Westmoreland
of (the
Grjens
e state of the eccmomy is
^ of the biggest problems
fa(jngpublic education today,
said Dean Westmoreland,
president-elect of the North
Carolina Association of
K iators.
;hools art. the last place
e money is applied and
me, first place it is taken
S y,” he said. “Funding
;ation is the Largest single
task of the state... yet the na
ture of the General AssemUy
now is to cut fimds from
edu^cation. This is one crisis
thffNCAE wiU have to over
come.”
k
^stmordand, a teacher of
W(fld history and religion at
Kings Mountain High School,
will be installed as president
e NCAE A{mil 11 in
sboro. He has been vice
prffiident for the past year.
NCAE has about 50,000
members including super-
intmdents, assistant super
intendents, supervisors,
(rincipals and teachers, he
said. “The purpose is to better
the,[education^ opportunities
of all children in the state . . .
'orking with appropriating
jies which provide funds for
ication and by publishing
inf^'mation on education,’’ he
said.
Westmordand said he hopes
theJNCAE will take a stand
during the coming year “on
Bwntability for the money
spent on education. I don’t
think people should hold the
teachers accountable alone.
‘JMy feeling is that the
iioSie, parents, community
and ndghborhood should also
^vdved in accountability .
t
^he 18th annual Kings
J.auntain Kiwanis Talent
will be presented at B.
N.^mes Auditorium Apr. 17
®nd 24 at 7:30 p. m.
^ Apr. 17 representatives
kindergarten through
I Mth grades from the KM Dis-
TOt s five elementary schools
present their talent to
les and the public.
Jon Parker, Kiwanian, said
representative (15) will
raffan award certifi-
participation.
Will be no overall win-
^ elected among these con-
‘^ants.
^.*^®"tral. Junior
students will
"gpete before judges and the
Ji;^,7"®t''0PhywiUbepre-
winner from Cen-
ipfseventh grade
:; trophy will be
nted to tte winner from
innior high eighth and
. . and the appropriating
bodies, too.
“And we will take a stand on
the various philosophies of
learning. I lean more to the
traditional m^hod of educa
tion in which there is a degree
of disciplLiehd guiaance ai.d
direction from the teachers . .
. as opposed to the more mod
em idea of less discipline and
letting students do their own
thing. I believe we should have
reasonable goals and reasona
ble structure in order to teach
children. W e have to find some
answers to the modern idea of
weak discipline and limited
curriculum.
Westmoreland noted, too,
that NCAE should emphasize
“increased enforcement of the
code of ethics of educational
professionals. There’s just too
little said about it now. It
needs to be emphasized
regularly.’’
He said he hopes the
association will try to “do
something about the over
burdening of teachers with
paperwork that robs them of
time from their students.”
Carowinds PR
Another problem faced by
teachers is unemployment
during the summer, he noted.
“I’ve advocated for several
years legislation that would
bring about a year-round use
of public schools. Students
.i would still go to school 180
irlofl Alt Rotary days, but they could select the
three quarters they wanted to
attend. And teachers could
teach year around or choose
three quarters, too. It’s a
shame not to use a million
dollar building two or three
months out of the year. If a
business did that it would go
broke.”
Thomas J. Olds, public rela
tions coordinator for Caro
winds, will speak to the Kings
Mountain Rotary Club today
at noon.
A former newspaper report-
er-photograi^er and indus
trial technical writer. Olds is a
1963 graduate of Ohio Univei
sity where he received a
degree in journalism.
Olds entered the theme park
industry four years ago in
Ohio and was transferred to
Carowinds in January.
Rotary meets at the Kings
Mountain Country Club
Thursdays. Joe Smith ar
ranged today’s program.
By TOM McINTYRE
Editor, Mirror-Herald
W. S. (Corky) Fulton 111 is
president of the merged Kings
Mountain Chamber of Com
merce and Merchants As
sociation.
The young downtown
businessman was elected by
his fellow directors at a lunch
eon meeting Tuesday at the
KM Country Qub.
Taking office with him, also
elected by the directors, are
Lyn Cheshire, president-elect
(a title change for first vice
president) ; Jim Dickey, sec
ond vice president; and Bill
Grisson, secretary-treasurer.
The new board of directors
for the merged organizations
was elected by mail ballots
sent to the general member
ship of both groups during re
cent weeks.
An even dozen men were
nominated and elected to fill
the director positions for the
coming year. In groups of
four, these directors will serve
terms through 1976,77 and 78.
Directors in the first group
include Lyn Cheshire, Ragan
Harper, Charles Mauney and
Max Mayhue. The second
group includes Charles
Alexander, Bob Kingery, Bill
Grissom and Ronnie Plum
mer. And the third group. Glee
Bridges, Jim Dickey, Corky
Fulton and Euliss Freeman.
The immediate past-presi
dents are Carl DeVane and
Mickey Bell, who were prior to
the merger presidents of the
chamber and merchants,
respectively.
The mail ballots also ap
proved a new set of bylaws
drawn to govern the merged
organizations.
President Fulton’s first job
was to appoint various com
mittees designated under the
new bylaws. On the finance
committee are Dickey, Plum
mer and Kingery. Fulton re
quested them to draw a new
dues structure for the merged
membership. Membership
committee appointees are
Grissom, Bribes and Che
shire; industrial - Mauney,
Kingery and Dickey; mer
chants - Bridges, Harper and
Mayhue; governmental -
Cheshire, Mauney and
Alexander; and projects -
Freeman, Plummer and
Alexander.
In other action Ronnie
Plummer was given the job of
contacting Blue Cross-Blue
Shield Insurance Co. in Shelby
about continued hospitaliza
tion coverage for members of
the merged organizations.
Until the merger the mer
chants association provided
blanket coverage for mem
bers.
-Dr. FrankSincox reported
that the city commissioners
now have the completed water
rate study and have promised
action on it at the Apr. 14
board meeting.
- Carl DeVane reported the
first meeting, for general dis
cussion on a method of ap
proach, of the ward equaliza
tion committee will be held
Apr; 14 at 7 p. m. in the Grace
United Methodist Church
fellowship hall. It will be in
conjunction with the Kings
Mountain Elections Board.
DeVane also reported that
he appeared before the last
county commissioner meeting
in Shelby to request funds to
finance a parttime executive
for the Kings Mountain Cham
ber-Merchants group. The
commissioners allocated
$2,000 for this and it has been
deposited to the chamber bank
account.
- Set a rate of $5 per ticket
for the annual banquet at the
Kings Mountain Country Club
Mon., Apr. 21 at 7:30 p. m.
Invited to attend the function
are the mayor, commission
ers, Shelby Chamber officers,
county commissioners and
presidents of local civic clubs.
Guest speaker for the ban
quet will be Rev. Russell Fitts,
pastor of Bethlehem Baptist
Church.
- Fulton appointed himself,
Cheshire and Tom McIntyre to
work with local merchants in
organizing a promotion sale
among merchants to coincide
sith the Apr. 26-27 per
formances of “Carousel” at
Barnes Auditorium.
Ricky Dale Peterson
Suicide Ruled In
Teenager’s Death
The death of Ricky Dale
Peterson Tuesday night has
been ruled suicide by Bennett
Masters, assistant county
coroner.
The 16-year old son of Mr.
and Mrs. Jack Petersen, 2/.1
Parker F-.., apparently bunged
himself about 10 p. m. Tues
day in his room. Masters
reported.
“He was discovered by his
older brother, Kenny, about 11
p. m.,” Masters told The
Mirror-Herald. “The Kings
Mountain Rescue Squad was
called and rushed the youth to
the hospital, but he was pro
nounced dead on arrival.
BS dents
alike.
Climbing For Cash
March Planned
For Next Fall
A re-enactment of the
march of the “Overmountain
Men” from Tennessee to the
Battle of Kings Mountain in
1780 is being planned for next
fall and Cleveland County
Historical Association Presi
dent Wyan Washburn says he
hopes Clevelanders will be in
cluded.
He said Cleveland County is
iwanis Show
eatures Youth
ninth grade participants. In
the 10th through 12th grade
participants two trophies will
be awarded; one for the best
solo act; and one for the best
group act.
Parker said a total of 27 en
tries (solo and groups) is
expected in both shows.
The Barnes Auditorium
shows are opai to the public
and tickets at the door are $1
per person. All proceeds go
into Kiwanis Club projects.
Over the past 18 years the
talent show proceeds have
gone into paying for lights for
the oldcity stadium, sidewalks
to the senior high school,
$3,000 on purchase of heart
machine for the hospital,
kitchenware for the com
munity center, air condition
ing at the KM Woman’s Club,
lights at the KMSHS tennis
courts and bleachers for the
high school.
Last Saturday Rev. R. J.
Hannagan became “The
Daring Young Man On The ...
radio station tower.” In order
to raise funds for building a
new sanctuary at his church.
Foursquare Gospel, Rev.
Hannagan agreed to climb a
foot on WKMT’s tower for
every $10 donated. The results
were a little disai^ointing be
cause he only raised $95 in the
climb. The balance of the total
$200 raised came from the sale
of baked goodies by church
women. Shooting for $2,000,
Rev. Hannagan said the
church women will continue to
sponsor bake sales, but indi
cated his climbing days might
be over. He did go to the 100
foot level just to make it more
interesting Saturday. His
church has plans for a 40x 80
ft. sanctuary at an estimated
cost of $60,000.
Photos By Gary Stewart
not yet included in the actual
march planned during the Bi-
Centennial year and discussed
at a meeting last Thursday in
Morganton by about 50 people
from the two Carolina s and
Tennessee and presided over
by Robert B. Byrd, president
of the Burke County Historical
Association.
Dr. Washburn, unable to at
tend the initial meeting, said
the notice stated that although
Cleveland County was invited
to attend the meeting, the
county wasn’t included in the
actual march p-oject since the
“Overmountain Men” didn’t
come through the area.
Dr. Washburn said he plan
ned to write Rip Collins of
Boone, grand marshal for the
event, about how much in
volvement Cleveland County
ought to have.
Dr. Washburn said he had
always heard that scouting
parties came through this
area and Bob Moss, history
professor at Limestone col
lege, concurs. Mr. Moss,
working on a map of the
march, said that although the
main body of the “Overmoun
tain Men” did not pass
through the Cleveland County
area, a group enroute to join
them near Cowpens, S. C. did
march through the upper sec
tion in the vicinity of Flint
HUl.
The length of the march
averages about 150 miles to
180 miles. Moss said, who
made the trip on foot several
years ago in 13 days and de- I * P- Kings Mountain
scribed it as “pretty rough.” Country Club.
iiii
iiii
mm
m
Described as quiet, not out
going by his parents, Ricky
had not shown any signs, also
according to the parents, of
thinking about such intoi-
tions.
Mrs. J. C Atkinson, secr;.;-
ti»i'y at Kings Mountain Junior
High where Ridcy attended
ninth grade classes, com
mented, “He was pleasant,
well-liked and always showed
concern over his school work.
If he thought he was not doing
as well as he should in a class
he would ask the teacher for
additional woric.”
Mrs. Atkinson said the news
of Ricky Peterson’s death
came as a great shock to stu-
and administrators,
at the junior high
Wednesday morning.
Masters said a thorough in
vestigation disclosed no sui
cide note or any indication
from the youth as to why he
had taken his life.
“The youth,” according to
the assistant coroner, “ap
parently placed his belt about
his neck, placed the other end
over the top of the door, closed
the door and just sat down.”
“We do not have any idea
why this happened,” Masters
said.
Tuesday ni^t’s incident is
the second in a week recorded
in Kings Mountain. Last
Wednesday James Pressley
McCree, a 24-year old textile
worker, was found in his car,
dead of a single bullet wound
in the chest. Masters ruled
suicide also in McCree’s
death.
Judge
Guest
At Club
Don Ramseur, newly ap
pointed 27th Judicial District
judge, was the speaker at
Tuesday night’s Kings Moun
tain Lions Club meeting at the
country club.
A native of the Kings Moun
tain area. Judge Ramseur has
been living and practicing law
in Gastonia for several years.
Lion George Thomasson
arranged the program.
Thomasson is a Kings Moun
tain attorney.
Lions were told Tuesday to
pick up their sup{dies of
brooms for the coming sale
Tues., Apr. 22. On that evening
the club will meet for dinner,
then will cover the city selling
products made by the blind.
Members were also remind
ed that the May 13 meeting
will include election of new
officers for the year. On May
27 the club will host ladies
night. The club meets the sec
ond and fourth Tuesdays at 7