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VOLUME 90 . NUMBER 99 ■ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1979
%
Dyeing Largest Flag
Expression Of Love
o
An expression of love and a
reaffirmation of faith In this
great nation Is how Spectrum
Fibers employes see In their
contribution ol dyeing the
world’s largest flaj.
The unique prelect was
completed last week ».t the Waco
Rd. plant which Is die only In
dustry In this having a
significant rol'j In bringing the
project all a’jout.
This extraordinary flag—
measuring a08 feet, five Inches
by 411 feet, one Inch—nearly 30
stories high and almost two city
bla|ks along-wlU weigh as
much as two passenger
automobiles, be large enough to
blanket a football field —
Including the end cones-and earn
Itself a place In the Guinness
Book of World Records.
It’s the largest flag of all time,
America’s Stars and Stripes,
which, according to Spectrum
Supt. of Dye and Finishing Beek
Hilton, will be unfurled July 4,
1980 from the Verrazano-
Narrows Bridge In New York
Harbor where the flag will have
permanent housing and be
raised on national holidays and
as a welcome to visiting heads of
state.
Buford DeFore, Spectrum
IBxecutlve Vice President of
Manufacturing, said his com-
psuiy’s contribution to the effort
consisted of Jet dyeing the
fabric, 10,000 pounds of red,
white and blue polyester fiber.
The aim was to match federal
government standards for flag
shades, making sure that the
light and weather fastness
properties of the flag are good
enough to stand up to Its an
ticipated life of from 10 to IS
years.
’’Naturally,” said Mr.
DeFore,” with the large number
of compsinles Involved In the
creation of the flag, a great deal
of cooperation has been
necessary and representatives
of Sandoz Colors & Chemicals
have been meeting for months
with customers like Spectrum to
c^oordlnate these efforts.”
Celanese Fibers Is providing
the yam for thread and seam
Mipport. Detailed engineering
{dans for the design and con-
Story By
Lib Stewart
Photos By
Katrena McCall
truction of the flag was prepared
by a New York based
engineering consulting firm,
Weldllnger Associates, and
approved by the ’Trlborough
Bridge'' and ’Tiinnel Authority
which constructed and operates
the bridge.
"When we were first ap
proached about participating in
the Great American Flag
Program, the idea was en
thusiastically received because
of the singular nature of this
project, as well as the
cooperative venture It
represented for the textUe In
dustry,” said DeFore.
Work began with the com
pelling thought that since the
flag may be declared a National
Monument, everthlng about It
must be right, said Personnel
Manager Alex McCallum.
From the Kings Mountain
Industry, the flag was shipped to
another company for sewing.
’Die magnitude of the project
can be realized, said DeFore,
when you consider that one star
alone represents 18 feet. The
flag will actually “roll up and
down”.
Milllken and Co. was
responsible for arranging for the
10,000 square yards of knitted
fabric to be available by Nov.
ISth for shipment to Kings
Mountain dyehouse of Spectrum
Fibers, Inc., where the red and
blue were dyed with Foron (’TM)
disperse dyes supplied by
Sandoz Colors and Chemicals
from recipes developed by John
Skoufls of Sandoz.
Pressure Jet dyeing of por
tions of the fabric for the
preparation of a prototype flag
containing stripes of red, white
and blue, was carried out In the
Celanese Dyeing and Finishing
pilot plant In Charlotte, under
the direction of Mr. Skoufls. The
shades of the Red and blue
fabrics have met the
speclflcaUons of the U.S. Army
Research Laboratories, at
Natick, Masa This prototype
flag will be exposed on the New
York bridge for a continuous
period during the winter to
corroborate previous laboratory
testing of the weather fastness
of the dyes, and to evaluate the
seam proi^rtles In advance of
the errecUon of the final flag.
At a time when the flag has
come under attack by some,
local Spectrum employes are
glad to have the opportunity to
show their patriotism.
Clarence Rudisill, floor
walker in the SpecfVum
Finishing Department, Is Just
one of the many Spectrum
people who had a hand in the big
project.
"I feel real good about
working on this project,” he
said.
His sentiments were echoed
by William Moore, front tender
frame operator, Mike Seism,
fabric coordinator In the
Technical Service Department,
Robert Jlmerson, Jet machine
operator In the Fabric Dyeing
Department.
Spectrum has a hand in
donating a National Monument
to America.
"We’re glad we had a part In
It.” said DeFore. “At this giving
season of the yar we’re par
ticularly proud to be doing
something for our country and
making a contribution to the
creation of this magniflclent
flag,” he added.
EXAMINES MATERIAL.—John Skoufls, supervisor of ap
plication research for Sandoz Colors ft Chemicals, Inspects
dyeing for the Great American Flag in Spectrum Ftbers Kings
Mountain Plant where employes have had a part In the mam
moth project by dyeing the flag.
DYE WORLD’S LARGEST FLAG—Spectrum Fibers, Inc.
employes had a hand In a mammoth project recently by dyeing
materials tor the world’s largest flag to be unfurled In New York
July 4, 1980. From leR, C.B. Jolly, Finishing Department
Manager, and Srpt. Beek Hilton display the finished material.
o
Night Watchman Robbed Sunday
A suspect was being
questioned yesterday In the
robbery and beating of a 77-
year-old night watchman
Sunday.
Hall Belk, night watchman at
Park Yam Mills for 11 years, la
recovering from head wounds at
IQngs Mountain Hospital where
he was admitted Sunday mor
ning. A family spokesman said
that It required about three
hours for doctors to sew a large
number of stlches in Belk’s
Gary Whitaker Named
S&L Academy Trustee
Gary H. Whitaker, Executive
Vice-President and Managing
Officer of First Federal Savings
GARY H. WHITAKER
« xAMUi ASHociauon of Kings
Mountain, has been elected a
trustee for the 1980-83 term of
the Savings ft Loan Academy.
Mr. Whitaker was elected at
the regular meeting of the
Savings ft Loan Academy at the
North Ridge Country Club at
Raleigh.
’Ihe Savings ft Loan Academy
was developed In 1973 by the
North Carolina Savings ft Loan
League. The Academy Is
directed by a 10-member board
of trustees. Courses offered by
the Savings ft Loan Academy
are held at Appalachian State
University In Boone.
Mr. Whitaker Is a member of
Kings Mountain Rotary Club. He
served on the Cleveland County
Board of Realtors, Red Cross
Board and the Cancer Society
Board. He Is a Mason and
Shrlner.
head.
Mr. Belk told investigating
officers, Sgt. Paul Barbee of the
Cleveland County Sheriff’s
Department, and Belk’s son,
Sgt. Johnny Belk of the Kings
Mountain Police Department,
that he was struck on the head
by a man standing behind the
door as he left the plant to make
his rounds Sunday morning
about 3:30 a.m. Belk said "the
man kept beating me after he hit
me over the head repeatedly
with an Iron post and took two
checks from my wallet and my
gun and holster.”
Ring Bell
For Needy
Operation Helping Hand by
the Kings Mountain Ministerial
Association gets underway
today.
Ministers representing
various churches In the com
munity will be ringing bells at
Harris Teeter, Kings Mountain
Plaza and West Gate Plaza to
help provide a merrier
Christmas for the Indigent.
The Helping Hand Is an annual
project which provides food and
staple Items to the needy, not
only at Christmas, but
throughout the year.
Funeral Services Held
For Mrs. Bessie Beam
RHONDA BRIDGES
Governor
Appoints
KM Girl
Rhonda Denise Bridges, 18-
year-old daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Dennis Bridges of Route 1,
Kings Mountain, served as a
page In Governor Jim Hunt's
office the week of December 3-7.
Rhonda Is a sophomore at
Bessemer City High School,
where she Is President of her
class and Is active In the chorus,
Junior varsity basketball and a
member of the Spanish Club.
Funeral services for Mrs.
Bessie Falls Dickey Beam, 83,
were conducted Saturday
morning at 11 o’clock from
Central United Methodist
Church of which she was a
member.
Mrs. Beam succumbed
’Ihursday morning at 8:16 a.m.
In Beam’s Nursing Home after a
long Illness.
She was a member of a Kings
Mountain pioneer family,
daughter of the late Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph A. Falls, and widow
of James R. Dickey, who died in
1933, and Paul J. Beam, who
died In 1960.
She was a former em
ploye of Southern Bell
’Telephone Go., Belk’s Depart
ment Store, Nelsler Mills and
Wayside Fabric Shop. She was a
member of the KM Woman’s
Club. American Legion
AuxUlary Unit IN and Order of
Elastem Stsu*.
Surviving are her son. District
Six City Commissioner
James J. Dickey; two
daughters. Mrs. Margie Lou
Fink of Salisbury and Mrs.
MRS. BESSIE BEAM
Nancy Dickerson of St. Louis,
Mo.; three sisters, Mrs. Leona
Hendricks of Chsu'leston, S.C.,
Mrs. Ollle Whittlemore of
Greensboro and Mrs. Ellen
Petroslno of Kings Mountain;
and nine grandchildren.
Rev. Robert Boggan officiated
at the final rites and interment
was In Mountain Rest Cemetery.
Harris Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.