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VOLUME 93, NUMBER 80
Thursday
20^
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1980
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA
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Scott Brodnax and Beatle collection ...
Mourning Loss Of Lennon
By GARY STEWART
Co-Editor
In 1964, Kings Mountain’s
Scott Brodnax was a five-year-
okl and could care less that a
long-haired, handsome quartet
from England was spreading a
contagious disease through the
teenagers of America.
It wasn’t until he was a high
school junior that he began to
suffer from Beatlemania, and by
that time the popular singing
group which was idolized by
teens around the world and curs
ed by their parents were far past
their height of their popularity.
But, Scott heard his older
brother, Sam, strum a Beatle
tune on his guitar one day and
he was hooked on the sound.
Today, Brodnax, is a collector
of Beatle memorabilia, and is
probably the Kings Mountian
most shaken by Monday night’s
tragic shooting death of John
Lennon.
Lennon was the co-founder of
the Beatles along with Paul Mc
Cartney, and they, along with
Ringo Stan and George Har
rison, formed perhaps the most
famous singing group of all-time.
They began their career sing
ing in English pubs and after
their first big song “I Want To
Hold Your Hand” made the
charts in 1963, they were an ins
tant hit.
They were introduced to
America on the Ed Sullivan
Show in February of 1964, and
from there they leaped to world
wide fame.
Their pudding basin haircuts,
long by American standards of
1964 but clean-cut today, and
their collarless suits were a new
rage for their followers. But
what teens called music, their
parents called noise and they
hated it.
But, Brodnax feels the older
generation learned to respect the
Beatles and the world-wide con
cern shown over Lennon’s death
gives him a good feeling inside.
“The Beatles were
world-wide,” Brodnax said
Wednesday morning as he
reflected on years of good
memories. “It’s good that so
many people are concerned.”
Although he never met any of
the Beatles nor saw them in con
cert, Brodnax felt a personal
relationship through his collec
tions of albums, Beatle dolls, pic
tures, and other memorabilia.
‘The Beatles were the biggest
part of my life for about four
years,” said Brodnax, now a col-
Funeral Services Today
For Joshua Wilson Gill
Joshua Wilson Gill Sr., 95,
president of J.W. Gill and Sons
Funeral Home of Kings Moun
tain, died Monday afternoon
after a year’s declining health
and serious illness of one week.
Mr. Gill was son of the late
Mr. and Mrs. Ned Gill and was a
member of Zoar AME Zion
Methodist Church and the
Burial Aid Society.
Surviving are three sons,
Richard Gill Sr. and Bennie Gill,
both of Gastonia, and Hazel Gill
of Kings Mountain; and eight
daughters, Mrs. Bobbie Hem
phill, Mrs. Alice Caldwell and
Mrs. Ruby Mungo, all of
Charlotte, and Mrs. Naomi
Parker, Mrs. Juanita Smith, Miss
Viola Gill, Miss Johnnie Mae
Gill and Miss LaEunice Gill, all
of Great Neck, N.Y. Also sur
viving are 39 grandchildren and
37 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be con
ducted Thursday at 3 p.m. from
Zoar AME Zion Church in
Kings Creek, S.C. by Dr. M.B.
Robertson, interment following
in the church cemetery. The
I.W. GILL. SR.
body will be taken to the church
at noon Thursday and will lie in
state until the hour of service.
J.W. Gill and Sons Funeral
Home is in charge of ar
rangements.
Drive Begins Today
Helping Hand Fund
Aids Needy In KM Area
lege student. “They changed my
life around. The only other thing
that has ever effected me the
same was my girlfriend.
“It hurts to lose one-fpuith of.
that group that effected me so
much,” he said. “You feel like
he’s one of your best friends.”
Brodnax said he could have
accepted Lennon’s death more
easily had it been from sickness,
“but this makes it hard to
understand.”
Brodnax frequently makes
trips to Beatlefests, which are
held yearly in New York,
Chicago and Los Angeles. The
Beatlefests include what Brod
nax calls a big Beatle “flea
market” where he can make pur
chases to add to his collection.
Brodnax started his collection
shortly after hearing his brother
strum that Beatle tune. After
that, he began listening to Beatle
records.
“I started working at Wiener
King part-time,” he said. “Most
of the other kids got jobs and
saved their money to buy a car. I
saved mine to buy Beatle items.”
He has most of the Beatle
records ever produced, and has
every Beatle song ever recorded
either on album or single.
Although he appreciated their
individual talent, Brodnax said
he was not an avid follower of
any of the Beatles’ individual
careers.
“I like their music,” he said.
“They are great musicians
separately, but the Beatles as a
whole was what appealed to me.
A lot of the news reports have
tried to make John Lennon and
Paul McCartney the whole
group. It’s true they co-founded
the Beatles and wrote most of
their songs, but the four of them
together made them what they
were.
“The thing that really hurts is
that John was just starting
over,” he added. “He had been in
seclusion for,five years and all of
his recent interviews, he stressed
the fact that he was ready for a
new beginning. He was a dif
ferent person from what he was
in the 70’s.”
One thing that hit Brodnax
hard Tuesday, he said, was the
realization that the Beatles were
over.
“I never held much hope for
them getting back together as a
group,” he said, “but I hoped
they would someway get
together just for a picture to
show they were getting along.”
He’s assured that they were
because of all the concern shown
by the other three.
“He’s dead,” said Brodnax,
“but he will always live on.”
Thirty area ministers today
will begin ringing bells and ask
ing for donations for the Kings
Mountain Ministerial Associa
tion’s Helping Hand Fund.
Ministers will be stationed in
front of TG& Y, Winn Dixie and
Harris Teeter today, Friday and
Saturday from 1-7 p.m. and
again next Thursday, Friday and
Saturday from 1-7 pjn.
All proceeds go to the Helping
Hand Fund, a project which pro
vides food, clothing, rent,
medicine and other needs to
needy citizens of the Kings
Mountain area.
The Helping Hand Fund
began several years ago as the
Empty Stocking Fund to provide
for the needy during the
Christmas season. Now, needs
are met throughout the year
through donations from citizens,
churches and the United Way.
“Christmas time is when it is
more visible,” said Rev. Allen
Jolly, minister of music at First
Baptist Church, who is co-
chairman of the Bell Ringing
Committee with Rev. Sam Mur
phy, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist
Church. “Christmas is the time
when the public is aware that
money is taken up for it,” he
said.
Persons knowing of situations
of need are urged to contact
their J^cal pastor.
' Gfic t>f the most-used services
of the Helping Hand Fund is the
Food Bank which is based at the
Kings Mountain Community
Center.
“We hope to raise a con
siderable amount of money this
Christmas season,” said Rev. Jol
ly. “We appreciate all the people
who give and invite everyone in
the community to give when
they can.”
Parade
Friday
Clyde (Cloudy) McLean,
popular WBTV Weatherman,
will be grand marshal of
Grover’s Christmas Parade Fri
day at 3:30 p.m.
More than 50 units will par
ticipate in the festivities, co
sponsored by the Town of
Grover and Grover Lions Club.
The i>arade will , form at
Linden and Maple Avenue near
Grover Industries, proceed to
Main Street, turn left down 226
around Cleveland Avenue to
First Baptist Church and dis
band.
“We’re expecting a large
crowd and are praying for good
weather,” said Town Clerk
Gloria Horton, who said that ad
ditional entries are invited in the
big parade, which will feature
seven bands, more than a dozen
floats, pretty girls, Carowind
Characters, a Duke’s of Hazzard
car, local and area town officials,
and many more.
Mrs. Horton said that
Christmas decorations have been
put up throughout the parade
area and business district.
Santa Claus will, of course, be
the star of the show.
The American Legion’s Drum
and Bugle Corps, Rambling
Rebels of Gastonia, Crest High
School Band, Clover High
School Band, Kings Mountain
High School Band, Blacksburg,
S.C. High School Band,
Salisbury High School Band and
Chesnee High School Band are
among parade entries, in addi
tion to Carowinds Characters
from Radio Station WFGN,
Gaffney, a Duke’s of Hazzard
car, a Gyrocopter, antique cars,
including a 1923 T-model Ford,
beauty queens from a wide area,
and Kings Mountain, Grover
and town county officials,
among a long list of dignitaries.
Allen Jolly, left, Sam Murphy
‘On The Square’ Will
Be In Kings Mountain
“On the Square,” a WBTV
News feature, hosted by Doug
Mayes, will be filmed in Kings
Mountain, Tuesday, December
16, at 12 noon.
'■ft'
DOUG MAYES
Mayes and a special news
camera crew will be at the Kings
Mountain town square to talk
with the people about topics of
current interest for the Channel
3 camera. The interviews are
shown on WBTV’s 6 o’clock
News Tuesday and Thursday
nights, and on “Top O’ The
Day,” WBTV’s hour-long noon
time show, on Wednesdays and
Fridays.
“On The Square” has become
a well-accepted vehicle for
citizens to state personal opi
nions to be heard by a large au
dience. It’s a chance for the
everyday viewer to express his
feelings about the world in
which we live.
Doug Mayes is easily one of
the most recognizable per
sonalities in the two Carolinas.
For more than twenty years he
reported on every news event in
the WBTV news region, and is
now a well known speaker
throughout the area.
Funeral Services Friday
For Willis Bagwell, 77
Willis B. Bagwell, 77, of Kings
Mountain, died Wednesday mor
ning at Kings Mountain
Hospital after an extended il
lness.
A native of Clinton, S.C., he
was a resident of Kings Moun
tain for over 55 years and was a
member of Second Baptist
Church, which he joined in the
early 1930’s.
Survivors include his wife,
Lula Howell Bagwell; three sons,
Billy Martin Bagwell, Bobby
Ray Bagwell and Jerry D. (Dan)
Bagwell; one daughter, Gloria
Bagwell Spicer; and eight grand
children, Jackie Bagwell, Marty
Bagwell, Teresa Bagwell, Beth
Bagwell, Tim Spicer, Eric Spicer,
Kale Bagwell and Brent Bagwell.
Services will be conducted Fri
day at 2 p.m. at Second Baptist
Church by the Rev. Ansel
Center. Burial will be in Moun
tain Rest Cemetery.
The family will receive friends
WILUS B. BAGWELL
from 7 until 9 p.m. Thursday
(tonight) at Harris Funeral
Home.