?oojcBlndX T„.
49264
On The Inside
School Board 2A Armory Open House 3A
Grover Board 2 A Sports 4-6A
School News 7A
Classifieds 8-9A
Weddings IB
Passion Play 4-5B
Thursday
VOLUME 91, NUMBER 69
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11,1980
20*
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA
More VIPs Coming To KM
Miss N.C. Janet W ard Black
Miss North Carolina Janet
Ward Black and Cecil D. An
drus, secretary of the Depart
ment of the Interior, and a host
of others, have accepted invita
tions to participate in the 200th
anniversary celebration of the
Battle of Kings Mountain.
Andrus will participate in the
VIP luncheon at noon October 7
at Kings Mountain High and
will be the featured speaker at
ceremonies at 3:45 p.m. at Kings
Mountain National Military
Park, it was announced by
Mayor John H. Moss, gener^
chairman.
Miss Black, whose visit will be
sponsored by the Kings Moun
tain Bicentennial Committee
and the Kings Mountain
Jaycees, will participate in the
postal stamp cancellation
Committees
Are Named
ceremonies at 10 a.m. at B.N.
Barnes Auditorium, the VIP lun
cheon, ride in the Bicentennial
Parade and will be on the
speaker’s platform at John Gam
ble Stadium.
Miss Black is also tentatively
scheduled to appear at the
Military Park at 3 p.m., when
the Overmountain Men arrive,
said Jim Dickey, a Jaycee
representative and assistant to
the general chairman.
Other persons coming to
Kings Mountain include Roy K.
Wood of Atlanta, special assis
tant to the Secretary of the
Department of the Interior;
Russell E. Dickenson, Director
of the National Park Service
who will serve as master of
ceremonies for the program at
the park; Chris T. Delaporte,
director of the Heritage Conser
vation and Recreation Services
in Washington; Congressman
James T. Broyhill of Lenoir, who
will serve as Htmorary Oiair-
man from North Carolina; P.
Bradley Morrah Jr. of Green
ville, S.C., former South
Carolina State Senator who will
serve as Honorary Chairman for
South Carolina; Lt. Gov. Zell
Miller of Georgia, who will
represent Gov. George Busby;
Lewis A. McMurran Jr., chair
man of the Virginia In
dependence Bicentennial Com
mission, who will represent Gov.
John Dalton; Randall W.
Young, acting director of the
Virginia Independence Bicenten
nial Commission; and Senator
Robert Morgan, who will be in
charge of opening ceremonies at
11 a.m. Fri., Oct. 3 of
Mountaineer-Pioneer Days at
the Bicentennial Headquarters.
Gov. Dalton of Virginia will
speak at the initiation of the
Oveimountain Victory March in
Abingdon, Va., Sept. 24, and
Gov. Lamar Alexander of Ten
nessee will speak to the Over
mountain Men when they
gather at Sycamore Shoals near
Elizabethon, Tenn., on Sept. 2S.
Gov. Alexander i^s to walk
part of the way with the men.
The mayor and Jim Ryan,
publicity chairman, also an
nounced today a number of ad
ditional special events which will
be held during the week.
Historical poster and essay
Turn To 2A
ACT To Make Re<|ue8ts
Board Amends
Dog Ordinance
Man who lets his best fnend
roam the streets of Kings Moun
tain will face a stiffer penalty in
the future if best fnend is picked
up by the dog warden.
City commissioners Monday
night voted 3-2 to amend the ci
ty dog ordinance and fine dog
owners $23 for third offenses.
In the past, third offenders
paid $3, same as for the first and
second offenses. The new fine
schedule includes S3 for the first
offense, $10 for second, $23 for
third and a criminal warrant for
the fourth.
Commissioners Jim Childers,
"Corbet Nicholson and Jim
' Dickey voted for the proposal by
the animal control officer and
Norman King and Bill Grissom
voted against it. Commissioner
Humes Houston was not pre
sent.
In other action Monday, the
board:
• Apin^oved revised documents
setting up policy for disposing of
property in the Cansler Street ur
ban renewal project.
•Approved extending a six-
inch water line to an unnamed
industry.
•Approved a certificate of suf
ficiency of a petition for the im
provement of East Gold Street
from Lake Street to South
Gaston Street.
•Approved a contract with ar
chitect L.P. Holland Jr. of
Shelby for restoring five city
walls behind businesses in the
downtown area. Estimated cost
of the project is $40,000.
•Approved advertising of bids
for materials to be used in the
construction of water lines in the
old Phenix and Dilling Mills
area.
•Approved September 22 as
the date for a public hearing on
annexing 19.3 acres near Merry
Mount Drive. The hearing will
be at 7:30 pm. in the council
room.
•Approved posting 23 mile
per hour speed limit signs on
South Cherokee Street from
Falls to Dickerson street and to
increase police patrol in the area.
Mayor John Moss, general
chairman of the 200th anniver
sary celebration of the Battle of
Kings Mountain, today an
nounced three more committees
which will coordinate special
events held during the week of
Oct. 3-7.
The senior citizens - young at
heart events committee includes
W. Norman King, chairman;
Dewey Allen, Verlee Mask, Mrs.
J.E. Mauney, Brooks Tate, Mrs.
John Gladden, Mrs. Junior
Haywood, Tommy Dalton,
Howard Allen, Ray Cline, Mr.
J.H. Robbs, Mrs. S.T. Cooke,
Fornum Cunningham, Mrs.
B.O. Weaver, Mrs. Mary
McMackin, Mrs. Glee Bridges,
Miss Mary McGill, Mrs. J.M.
Rhea, Rev. Kenneth George and
Rev. J.C. Goare.
The housing committee in
cludes James J. Dickey, chair
man; Mrs. Orangrel Jolly, Mrs.
Arlene Barrett, Boyce Tesenair,
Mrs. Willie Marable, Mrs.
Kathleen Wilson, Mack
LeFevers Jr., Luthem Wright,
Mrs. Audrey Dickey and Mrs.
Selena Trott.
The traffic and safety commit
tee includes Jackie Barrett,
Haywood Allen, Sgt. E.T. Van
Hoy, Delbert Dixon, Dale
Costner, Johnny Hutchins, Ed
ward Collins, William (Bill)
Fulton, Wilson Griffin, John
McGinnis and Willie Williams.
Jeff Guller, attorney for the
Association of Cleveland Coun
ty Taxpayers, is expected to ap-
pev before county commis
sioners Monday morning and
present them a list of requests,
including one to see a copy of
the county budget for I980'4I.
The ACT board of directors
held a lengthy meeting Tuesday
night at the ASCS office in
Shelby to map strategy for its at
tempt to get taxes lowered.
The group feels the amount of
taxes caused by the recent
revaluation is too high and that
county commissioners should
lower the rate.
ACT discussed a number of
prospective candidates for a
November write-in campaign for
opposition to incumbent com
missioners Hugh Dover, Jack
Palmer and Coleman Goforth,
who are running unopposed.
The group expects to contact
possible candidates during the
next week and have its slate
ready by their next meeting,
which is scheduled for sometime
next week.
One of the questions Guller is
expected to ask the commis
sioners Monday is, “How much
money will the county take in
this year on taxes?,” and “How
much is the budget?” After fin
ding out the surplus, the ACT in
tends to ask the commissioners
to cut the tax rate.
The group has over 3,300
names on petitions and expects
to mail letters to every person,
urging him io register to vote by
October 4 and vote for the three
write-in candidates in the
November election. The group
also plans to run advertisements
in the media requesting support
for the write-in campaign.
ACT’S board of directors in
clude three persons from each
township within the county, plus
an alternate from each. Paul
Hord Jr., John Caveny Jr. and
T.J. Lyon are the directors from
number four township and
Clayvon Kelly is the alternate.
Leaders of the group and
county officials have clashed a
number of times during the past
week on the matter of the coun
ty budget.
According to Paul Htn'd of
Kings Mountain, county
manager Joe Hendrick refused
to let the group see a detailed
breakdown of the budget but, in
stead, showed them the figure
that was recorded in the minutes
of a commissioners’ meeting.
ACT has contacted Attorney
General Rufus Edmisten’s office
and his office has encouraged
the group to file suit if the coun
ty does not produce a copy of
the budget, H(»d said
Hendrick has advised the
ACT to make any requests
through its lawyer to the county
commissioners’ lawyer, but Hord
said “the county budget is a mat
ter of public record and anyone
in the county has the right to re
quest a copy of it at any
reasonable time.”
ACT also plans to ask com
missioners to have at least 73
percent of their meetings at
night (the board meets at 9:30
a.m.), to meet in different areas
of the county, and have special
reductions for elderly people
who can’t afford to pay high
taxes.
‘The county should tell
farmers about tax breaks they
can get,” said Hord. “Farmers
can cut their taxes by splitting
their land up and designating it
as wood land, cultivated land,
and land that is not being used,
but most of the farmers don't
know this because the county
hasn’t told them.”
Leaders from tax revolt
groups from Burke, Gaston and
Caldwell counties met with the
ACT group Tuesday and sug
gested ways the group can work
with county commissioners to
get taxes lowered.
“It’s going to be a hard fight,"
said Hord, “but it can be done.
We’re wanting to work with the
commissioners and do
everything legal. WeYe not out
to cause trouble. We just want
what’s right for all the people of
Cleveland Cfounty.”
Battle Of KM Postal Stamp Design Is Disclosed
USAIOc
ttle(M Kini>s Moimiaiii. 1780
Ckipyright U S Postal Service 1980
The U.S. Postal Service has
disclosed the design of the 1980
commemorative postal card
marking the 200th anniversary
of the Revolutionary War Cam
paign and Battle of Kings Moun
tain.
The 10-cent multi<olor postal
card, the fifth in a series honor
ing heroes and historic events of
the American Revolution, will
be issued Oct. 7 at Kings Moun
tain, North Carolina.
The actual battle site is several
miles away from the town of
Kings Mountain, just across the
South Carolina state line. The
Kings Mountain National
Military Park, administered by
the National Park Service, is
located at the battlefield.
The first day of issue
ceremony will be held at 11 a.m.
in BJ>ii. Barnes Auditorium at
Kings Mountain Senior High
School. Gerald F. Mema, Ex
ecutive Assistant to the
Postmaster General, will deliver
the dedication address.
The hard-fought and decisive
action at Kings Mountain took
place Oct. 7,1780. At the battle,
every participant but one was an
American. The only British
soldier present was Major
Patrick Ferguson, who com
manded 1,100 American
Loyalists recruited in New York
and New Jersey.
The opposition to the
Loyalists was about 1,000
riflemen under the command of
Col. William Campbell of
Virginia. The “Overmountain
Men” comprising this force had
come from the West over the
snow-covered Blue Ridge Moun
tains wearing hunting shirts and
leggings, knives at their belts and
the slender rifles of the ftxMititr
across their saddles.
Upon learning of the ap
proach of the frontiersmen,
Ferguson called in rein
forcements and moved back
toward the protection of Lord
Cornwallis’ main army at
Charlotte. On the afternoon of
Oct. 6, he reached Kings Moun
tain, a rocky, wooded, outlying
spur of the Blue Ridge Moun
tains, and decided to encamp
and await his foe.
After marching all night in
pouring rain, and the next day in
intermittent showers, the Patriot
forces reached Kings Mountain
after noon on Oct. 7. They circl
ed the base of the mountain and
began the attack.
In the words of a participant,
the fight “continued warm for an
hour.” When it was over,
Ferguson was dead, and the
mountain men had killed 223
Loyalists, wounded 163 and
taken 716 prisoners. The Patriot
losses were 28 killed and 62
wounded.
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