A Hot Race In Gaston County
David Beam
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Co-Editor The Herald
Unhappy with “ihe way
ihings are going in Ciasion Coun-
ly governmeni" pul David
Carlyle Beam, 47, on the eani-
palgn trail.
Beam, a Republican,
challenges Incumbem DenuKrai
Bud Black lor a seal on the
Ciaslon County Board of Com
missioners in 1 uesday's general
election.
If elected, the senior vice presi
dent, secretary and member of
the board of directors of Cher-
lyville Savings & Loan Assivia-
iion for 19 years, will bring to
I he job a background in business
management and an interest in
government he began as a stu
dent at Georgetown Um\crsii>.
Beam said his top priority will
be to push a study of law en
forcement needs of the coun
ty—a study addressed to a
longtime controversial but fun
damental question, will the chief
law enforcement olTicer be
elected or hired? The ultimate-
goal to get politics out of the
police department and better ser
vice in outlying areas such as his
hometown of Cherryville.
Another “must", he said, are
more medical personnel for the
county, working in cooperation
with Gaston Memorial Hospital.
Cherryville, says Beam, has only-
one doctor and no hospital. Pa
tients must travel to Gastonia,
Kings Mountain, Shelby Lin-
colnton and Charlotte for treat
ment .
Beam envisions a new
building to house all county ser
vices and a new eourthouse. He
sees economic development as a
way to increase jobs. For the se
cond year he has served as chair
man of the City of Cherryville’s
tconomic Development Team
which will go to Raleigh to ac
cept, on behalf of the city, the
Governor’s Community of Ex
cellence Award.
David Beam expresses con
cerns for the mental health pro
gram in Gaston-Lincoln Coun
ties as he stumps the county and
says he is opposed to funding for
the New Generation legislation.
“I don't know if this piece of
legislation can be repealed but I
absolutely won't vote for money
to refund it."
Politics hasn’t always been in
David Beam’s bltxxi, he says,
although he always loved to talk
politics with his father-in-law,
Wray A. Plonk, Sr. of Kings
Mountain, a staunch Democrat
and a three generation family of
Democrats who have always
voted the straight Democratic
ticket, “until this year”, quips
.leanne (Plonk) Beam, whom
David married in 1960.
Strn of Mrs. Mable F. Beam
and the late Claude C. Beam,
David’s ambition was to follow
in his Dad’s footsteps and farm
all his life. He graduated from
Iryon High School, attended
I.enoir Rhyne College and
received his B.S. in Foreign Ser
vice from Georgetown Universi
ty where a background in
government excited him and he
aspired for a job in the
I Diplomatic Corps, majoring in
International Transportation
and .specializing in South and
l^tin American countries.
Marriage and responsibility
changed his goal and he and his
wife spent the early years of
their marriage with Burlington
Industries as a tralTic manager
attached, first in Burlington,
N.C. and later at its White
^ Haven Plant in Memphis, Tenn.
I'he Beams lived across the street
from Grace Land, home of the
'late Elvis Presley, and would
you believe that Mrs. Beam
preferred to honeymoon on the
Mississippi River rather than to
watch her famous neighbor
come and go?
l or several years. Beam work-
ed as a rate and billing clerk at
(j Pilot Freight Carriers and
Carolina Freight Carriers while-
taking continuing education
courses at Gaston College and
the Savings and Loan Institute
of Financial Education and
ASU.
Since assuming his duties in
1961 with Cherryville Savings*
Loan, Beam has continued to
manage his 300 acre family
i farm, including crops and
Ed. Not* - One of the hottest political contests Nov. 4 to be decided
in Gaston County is the board of commissioners race where four in
cumbents have opposition from GOP contenders. Two of the can
didates, both of Cherryville, are married to former Kings Mountain
girls and were photographed and interviewed by Lib Stewart of the
Herald staff in their homes and businesses. Her features are in today's
edition.
SECTION B
Thursday, October 30, 1980
BEAM FAMILY IS VERSATILE - David and I*<nm* B«im or*
pictur*d with th*ir daught*r. Shannon, and th*ir son. David, in
th*iT horn* in Ch*rry^I*. Th* Boom family lik* to work
tog*th*r on num*rous proi*cts and or* on th* campaign trail
in th* county commission*r rac* in Gaston County.
woodlands, and has a Black
Angus cattle partnership with
his parems-in-law, Wray and
Alma Plonk of Kings Mouniain.
David Beam enjoys several
unusual hobbies. For the past
year he has grown bcauiiful
Caialeya orchids in a solarium
on his screen porch, a hobby
which began by accident with
the purchase of one or two
plants for his living rootn from a
friend on Moss Lake. The or
chids are in shades of white to
orchid, purple, green and yellow
and require little attention, he
says, with diffused sunlight, high
humidity, temperatures of
60-100 degrees and once-a-week
watering. The orchids lend a
pleasant aroma at most seasons
of the year. By Easier, 40 to 50
plants will be at their beautiful
peak of color.
Both David and his 11-year-
old son, David Marion Beam,
III, arc philatelists. “Wc started
stamp collecting the day our son
arrived and haver'i stopped",
said David, and l.tc collection
began with first day covers and
includes many commemorative
stamps, including the first day of
issue postal card of the 1780 B;u-
lle of Kings Mouniain which
was issued Oct. 7ih this year at
Kings Mouniain.
Woodcarving is anothci plea
sant hobby and David Beam col
lects beautiful pieces of soui
wood and poplar from his
farmland and hand carves ex
quisite walking cancs w hich arc
given as gifts to Iricnds. “It’s a
real relaxing hobby," he said.
Queen Elizabeth roses are
homegrown by David Beam m
the gardens of their two story
brick home in Cherryville which
rellects all the hobbies of a busy
family. Fiftcen-ycar-old Shan
non Beam collects dolls, pandas,
and plays the fiuie and jeanne
Beam’s needlework and cross-
stitch prints are prominently
displayed throughout their
house. The other member of the
household is "Crooks", a
Siamese cat.
David Beam also collects
miniature elephants and this col
lection began before he became
affiliated with the Grand Old
Party. A favorite is a 148ih
scale model by Neal Deaton of
the stuffed elephant oti display
at The Smithsonian in
Washington, D.C. "We always
know what go give Dad on
Father’s Day", says his daughter.
Ihe Beam family is active m
St. John’s Lutheran Church of
Cherryville where David serves
as treasurer of the Home Mis
sion Foundation. Ihis program,
sponsored by the N.C. Lutheran
Men, tnakes loans to new con
gregations at two percent in
terest rates and was begun m the
Kings Mountain-Cherryville
area over 50 years ago. With
over SI million in loan funds,
Ihe Foundation has made 31
loans to new churches, a pnv
gram which David Beam never
tires of talking about.
A versatile family, the Beams
of Cherryville see a need fo'
change m county government
and David Carlyle Beam ts stum
ping the county and shaking all
the hands he can prior to elce-
iion day Tuesday to wvh> the
voters and gel his views to the
iveople.
Bud Black
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Co-Editor Th* H*rald
Bud Black, 37, youngest man
ever elected to the board of
Gaston County Commissioners,
is running on his record and he’s
proud of it.
Standing on his Indian Creek
property which surrounds a 200
year old log cabin in which he
was born, the Cherryville farmer
and realtor reminisced of the
heritage of the Blacks who came
to Gaston County in 1760 and
of his great-great uncle Ephriam
Black who was a Gaston County
commissioner after the Civil
War Days and of John H.
Roberts, a Captain in the Con
federate Army, first clerk of
court in Gaston County, who
was also born in the log cabin
which used to be a stagecoach
slop between Cherryville and
Morganion and is more familiar
ly known as the Old Post Road.
“My folks were tenant farmers
to the family which owned this
log cabin", recalled Black, who
was the last male son in the
Black generation born under the
roof of the old homestead which
he bought in 1969 from the heirs
of John Moore. While
renovating pan of the construc
tion, Bill and Anne Ware Black
have maintained the grand
history of the house which is sur
rounded by a small lake, ducks,
and a pasture in which roam
several ponies and goats, a fami
ly hobby.
The old log house has never
been covered with siding. Behind
Ihe larger of Ihe two-story cabins
is a very low<eilinged one-room
cabin with big fireplace and
heavy beams showing above.
The Blacks have tried as much as
possible to retain the history of
the structure while restoring it
for a young couple to live and
care for their farming interests.
McImm bmI Don George tends
the animals and think of the
cabin as a year round vacation
spot. “It’s a delightful place",
says Melissa, who has time to
strum her guitar and work on
several hobbies.
The older part of the log
house, which is distinctive by its
authentic chimney, was owned
in the late 1700’s by Col. John
Moore, a Revolutionary War
soldier who was in charge of the
Kings troops at Ramseur Mill.
The troops trained just west of
the house and Moore Creek runs
behind the house. Many of the
Black forefathers were born or
grew up in the old house or im
mediate area.
The first pioneer family to set
tle in the northwest section of
what is now Gaston County and
Cherryville was that of Thomas
Black in the late I740’s. In the
land area along Indian Creek
Thomas Black took ownership
of 380 acres and this tract of
land adjoined that of Valentine
Mauney and lay on the
southside of Indian Creek. It was
on the Valentine Mauney pro
perty that the area’s first organiz
ed church body built the present
Antioch Methodist Church and
cemetery in 1804.
A visit to the Indian Creek
area will also take you to the
home of Bud Black’s aunts, who
maintain a 100 year old
homestead near where Bud and
his family live today. They like
to talk about history as much as
their nephew and are among Ihe
eight living children of nine of
the late Mr. and Mrs. A.M.
(Bud) Black. Brytc Black, the
oldest son, died at age three
months of what his aunts
thought was Bright’s disease.
The other family members are
Lula Almatta Black, Mary
Florence Black, Stough Black,
Dora Emma Black MeSwain,
Lela Black MeSwain, William
Howard Black, Charles Hugh
Black, father of Commissioner
Black, and John Lee Black, all of
Cherryville. Commissioner
Black’s parents also live on a
farm nearby.
Bud Black is proud of his
mother, who went back to work
in 1961 and then taught him the
insurance business. Commis
sioner black has also been u
Cherryville realtor since 1972
and also continues his farming
interests.
A former high school math
teacher and coach at Cramerton
■•'55^ •
\
: f
ANCESTOR'S MONUMENT - Bud Black points to the monu
ment of his great-great uncle Ephriam Black who wen a
Gaston County Commissioner after the Civil War Days.
and Stanley, Bud Black was a
National Science Foundation
Scholar and one of 11 teachers
chosen from the United States as
a Teachers Fellow in 1970-71.
He has also served as an instruc
tor at Caldwell Community Col
lege and Sandhills Community
College and has degrees from
Wake Forest University.
Wingate Junior College and
Campbell College. He has a
Ph.D. degree from Walden
University.
A half mile down the road and
overlooking Indian Creek are the
tombstones of such pioneers as
Ephriam Black who is interred in
Mount Zion Baptist Church
cemetery, one of the oldest
graveyards in this area.
Bud continues the story:
“1 started thinking about go
ing into politics as a youngster of
about seven and got the “itch"
from my across-the-road
neighbor, Roy E. Eaker, who
served on the county commis-.
sion from 1944 until his death in
1949."
The Black family, Charles
Hugh and Ruby Dedmon Black
and their family lived on the
John T. Sellers hoineplace at
that time and used to grow cot
ton. “I really looked up to Mr.
Roy and he used to talk to me
aloi about government and the
proud history of Gaston
County", he recalled.
Gaston County Mental
Health Association honored
Black as Gaston County’s 1977
Outstanding Public Servant and
he serves on the Governor’s
Balance Growth Board and is
the only Gaston Commissioner
on the legislative research com
mission on revenue sharing for
1980. Black secs the ultimate
aim to reduce property tax on
the county level and said he has
worked diligently to reduce taxa
tion.
If his constituems return him
to public office for another term.
Bud Black will also become the
third Gaston County man to
serve as president of the North
Carolina Association of County
Commissioners of which he now
serves as first vice president.
Since 1908 only two Gastonians
have served as state president of
this prestigious group: Dr. O.G.
Falls in 1915-16 and R.L. Stowe
in 1934-35.
Commissioner Black is mar'
ried to the former Anne Ware,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M.R.
W arc of Kannapolis, formerly of
Kings Mountain. They have two
sons, Mel, age 16, and W es, age
12. Mrs. Black serves as recep
tionist in her husband’s office.
The Blacks are active in First
Baptist Chureh of Cherryville
and in numerous civic and ser
vice organizations in Ciaslon
County.
Bud Black says he is running
for re-election to continue ser
vice to the county he believes in
and where his roots are. “1 w ant
to continue to provide Gaston
County with efficient and
responsible spending for serv ices
needed by the people and I will
continue my pledge to maintain
a stable tax rate in proptrriion to
the services the people want.
Our goal is to get the most from
every dollar the people of
Gaston County pay", said Black.
Comm. Black said his record
allcsis that he has supported and
voted for Programs w hich show
increased support for the
volunteer fire departments and
police departments, rescue
squads, and retarded and mental
health programs.
“The major issue of our times,
said Black, is finding the answer
to the question of spiraling mfia-
lion rates and maintaining a sen
sible tax rate. 1 believe this can
be done by the efforts of our
commissioners to see that every
dollar is well spent. There is no
room for waste in government
spending for services."
Black is proud of his roots and
proud of the people of Gaston
(Turn To Pag* 10-B)