»!•
fllC
>
three.
;ertainly
c Coast
ned a lot
famous
' Smith’s
nation’s
IS in the
Certainly
the best,
ts in coi
r’s ACC
a great
watch,
lyone of
entioned
ie cham-
lis week,
dings for
Lost
I
ia Tech’s
> •
\ '-i :•%
LEESA CANIPE
.. In the Army now
Just Call Her
Woman Soldier
Leesa Canipe, 17, has made a
decision on what she can do for
her country. She has enlisted in
Uncle Sam’s Army and after
high school graduation reports
for basic training at Fort
Leonardwood, Mo.
The daughter of Jewel and
Gaylon Canipe of Grover is a
combination tomboy and young
lady who intends to go after
what she wants in life.
And, although she is not an
avowed Women’s Libber, she
feels that women can work
alongside the men and she has
the confidence and ability, she
thinks, to defend herself should
the need ever arise.
Jewell Lowrance Canipe, 37,
was reared with the idea that
girls should remain feminine and
were out of place in the military.
She admitted to being a bit skep
tical when her daughter started
talking about enlisting in the Ar
my. Gaylon Canipe, who served
in the Army during the Berlin
Crisis and was stationed in Ger
many for 33 months, liked the
idea but was uneasy with pro
spects that their daughter could
become a combat soldier.
S/Sgt. James W. Rowlett, U.S.
Army Recruiter in this area, has
counseled the family for the past
seven weeks, explaining that the
intent of integrating women into
male training is not to make
combat soldiers out of them but
to give them the confidence and
ability to defend themselves
should the need ever arise. In
Recruit Canipe’s selection of
field artillery, specializing in
radar, she would not be on the
front lines in any situation if a
war should occur, he said.
Last week Recruit Canipe and
her parents went to Charlotte for
Leesa’s swearing-in ceremonies
and on July I Miss Canipe will
become Recruit Leesa Canipe, a
three year enlistee, assigned to
Fort Leonardwood, Mo. for
basic training and subsequently
at Fort Sill, Oklahoma for ad
vanced training as a Field Ar
tillery Target Acquisition
Specialist.
Leesa, who has enrolled in the
Army’s Delayed Entry Program,
qualified for six different fields
during a four-hour testing period
recently in Charlotte and scored
highest in the radar field. Sgt.
Roulette picked Leesa up at her
home at 5:30 a.m. on a recent
morning and returned her at
6:30 p.m. that evening from an
extensive physical testing pro
gram in which the petite five
feet-one IIS pound brunette
lifted weights and underwent
rigorous testing. During
“breaks,” Leesa surprised the
men recruits by arm wrestling
with them and beating them in
pool. She also surprised the doc
tors that a diminutive young
lady could lift heavy weights
without flinching a muscle.
But Leesa’s mother wasn’t sur
prised, she said. Leesa has been
playing ball, skating, swimming,
camping, and fishing with her
parents and her brother, Mark, a
lOth grader, all her life. A sports
enthusiast, she loves the out
doors and at one time was the
only female student at KMSHS
enrolled in the agriculture and
welding programs which is
almost always predominately
male. She is also a horticulture
student and likes mechanics.
Leesa illustrates that today’s
woman doesn’t have to play the
traditional role of homemaker,
although Leesa qualifies for that
role too. She was the high school
biscuit baking champion which
pleased her parents and grand
mother who were used to seeing
energetic Leesa in the yard in
stead of the kitchen. She also
does beautiful needlepoint and
works after school at Pizza Hut
in Kings Mountain.
When she visited Fort Bragg
several years ago with her
parents Leesa fell in love with
the Army and was impressed
with women drill leaders. Her
first choice for a military career
was the Military Police but
Leesa changed her mind and
decided to pursue a course in
radar and the field artillery,
which is a top field and limited to
only top qualifying candidates.
An average .student, Leesa
aspires to serve in Germany and
plans to save her money, adding
her dollar to the Army’s two, in
the special enlistee program to
give her money for post-Army
education if she does not decide
on the Army as a career.
She likes to travel, and
although she has stayed away
from home only a few times, she
looks forward to the opportunity
to see new places and make new
friends. Mr. and Mrs. Canipe
hope Leesa’s opportunity will
give them a chance to visit her,
especially if she is stationed in
Germany and Europe.
“We decided to sign for our
daughter to enlist because we
want the best for her,” said Mrs.
Canipe. Leesa will be 18 on May
22. She graduates from high
school on May 29th and will
have a month to vacation with
her family before departing for
service duty July 1. She will also
have a chance to enjoy her new
1981 Mustang, which she receiv
ed as a present from her parents.
Excited at donning army
fatigues, Leesa has been in
structed to bring only the basic
items with her to the Army, like
three pair hose, one comb, one
deodorant, one toothbrush, one
pair pumps, two towels, one
washcloth, etc. “There won’t be
much room for extra clothes,”
said Leesa, who said the Army
will assign her what she needs.
And she’s getting her family
excited, too, and friends at
school and at Allen Memorial
Baptist Church. “If 1 can recruit
two other people to join I can be
an E/2 instead of a Recruit,” says
Leesa, and her pay scale will ad
vance $50 a month.
Leesa would not have con
sidered any other branch of the
military, she said. She has heard
about the Army all her life from
her proud Dad, who works for
Duke Power Co. in Shelby. “Just
call me a woman soldier,” she
says.
Tuesday
i § H r; i E
VOLUME 94, NUMBER 19
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1981
20c
Committee To Assist
Viet Vets Find Jobs
A Committee to assist Viet
nam veterans in obtaining
employment in the Kings Moun
tain area has been formed by
Kings Mountain Mayor John
Henry Moss and applications
will ^ taken, beginning Satur
day, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at
City Hall.
Members of the committee
represent the American Legion
and Veterans of Foreign Wars in
the city and the committee is
headed by Commander Aud
Tignor of American Legion Post
155 and Commander Dickey
Burgess of Frank B. Glass VFW.
Other members of the com
mittee, in addition to the Mayor,
are Mrs. Clara Rhea, president
of American Legion Auxiliary
Unit 155, Mrs. J.D. Barrett, a
former unit president. Miss
Elizabeth Stewart, Herald Co-
Editor and a former state presi
dent of the American Legion
Auxiliary, and Mrs. Peggy Guin
of the VFW Auxiliary.
Veterans can obtain a work
application form by coming to
City Hall Saturday morning or
can sign up at the City Hall next
week, Mondays through
Fridays, from 8:30 until 5 p.m.
Application blanks will also be
mailed to interested veterans by
calling City Hall or any member
of the committee.
“We want to recognize the
contribution made by our Viet
nam veterans and feel this effort
should be made to assist them in
entering the mainstream of our
nation’s and community ac
tivities,” said the Mayor in an
nouncing the committee ap
pointment. “This type program,”
he added, “can best be effected
by starting at home instead of
looking totally to Washington
for direction and leadership.”
After the application process
is completed, the committee will
call on industry leaders to meet
for a dutch breakfast to seek
their participation and
assistance. Plans for the program
also cover counseling for
veterans and assistance by Mrs.
Ina Towery, Cleveland County
Veteran’s representative, and
Richard Wade, representing the
Apprenticeship and Occuap-
tional Division of the Veterans
Administration. The Veterans
Administration, through its Oc
cupational program, assists in
dustry in providing the salary for
Vietnam qualified veterans.
Commander Tignor said the
local program is expected to
reach a large percentage of Viet
nam veterans in the Kings
Mountain area and estimated
that as many as 300 veterans of
the Vietnam Conflict reside in
the Kings Mountain area.
Commander Burgess called on
all citizens who know Vietnam
veterans who qualify for
assistance to give their names to
the committee. The committee is
seeking applicants, of not only
new employees, but of veterans
interested in broadening their
skills and in new occupations.
VET COMMITTEE — Members of the commit
tee to help Vietnam War veterans in job place
ment met Monday morning ot the Govern
mental Services Facilities Center. Discussing
plans, left to right, are Arlene Barrett of the
Photo by Gary Stewart
American Legion Women’s Auxiliary, Aud
Tignor, Commander of Legion Post 155.
Dickey Burgess, Commander of the Frank B.
Glass VFW Post, and Mayor John Henry Moss.
KM Population Is Up
The preliminary count of the
population of No. 4 Township
was 16,334, a gain of 1,437 from
the count of the returns of the
1970 census.
According to the 1980 census
report from the U.S. Department
of Census, Kings Mountain’s
population is 8,523, compared
with 8,436 ten years ago,
Grover’s totals are 596, com
pared with 555 ten years ago,
and Waco’s population is 317,
compared with 245 ten years
ago.
The preliminary count of
. housing units in No. 4 Township
was 6,008, compared with 4,800
ten years ago. In Kings Moun
tain the unolTieial count was
3,149, compared with 2,770 in
1970. In Grover, the count was
235, up from 206, and in Waco
the housing count was 120, up
from 85.
As of April 1, 1980, the
population of the state was
5,847,778, according to a
preliminary count of the returns.
This figure represents an in
crease of 763,377, or 15.0 f)er-
cent, from the 5,084,411 in
habitants enumerated in the
1970 census.
The preliminary count of
housing units in the state as of
April 1, 1980 was 2,271,105.
The figure, which includes both
occupied and vacant housing
units, represents an increase of
629,090, or 38.3 percent, from
the 1,642,015 units enumerated
in the 1970 census.
The preliminary reports were
announced this week. The final
counts will be issued in the new
few months and are subject to
further processing and review
and may differ from the
preliminary figures.
Boone Gets 12 Years
A Cleveland County Superior
Court jury Thursday found
Henry Boone, 33, of Forest City,
guilty of voluntary
manslaughter in the death last
July of Ernestine Mauney,21,of
Kings Mountain.
Miss Mauney was killed by a
shotgun blast during a shooting
incident at Chesterfield Apan-
ments on Margrace Road in
which several other persons were
injured, including KM PD Sgt.
Johnny Belk.
Judge Robert Kirby sentenced
Boone to 12 years in prison.
Testimony in the ca.se began
Monday. The jury deliberated
about three hours Wednesday
and Thursday before returning
the verdict of voluntary
manslaughter which carries a
maximum sentence of 20 years.
Among five character
witnesses testifying on behalf of
Boone was Mrs. Wilma Mauney,
mother of Ernestine Mauney.
Commissioners Attend Meeting
City commissioners Jim
Childers, Norman King and Bill
Gris.som last week attended the
annual National League of Cities
Conference in Washington, D.C.
Part of the agenda was a
speech by President Reagan dur
ing w hich he outlined his propos
ed tax and budget cuts.
Commissioner Childers, who
has attended five such con
ferences, said he was impressed
with Reagan’s determination
and liked his proposals in
general.
But, Childers said he is
disturbed that one of Reagan’s
proposed cuts is in Clean Water
funds, which, if passed, could
prove costly to many cities.
“Locally, we’re in real good
shape for the next 25 or 30
years,” said Childers. “But if
those funds are cut out, cities
would have to pick up money
somewhere else to improve their
water plants. It’s costly and 1 just
don’t know where the money
would come from."
Otherwise, Childers was pleas
ed with everything he heard dur
ing the three-day meetings.
“1 believe President Reagan is
determined and sincere about
making cuts,” he said. “Whether
or not he can get the backing of
Congress is another question.”
Among the cuts Reagan talk
ed to the group of over 4,000
about were in federal grants,
CETA funds, housing and
misuse of the fixid stamp pro
gram.
Kings Mountain has been a
big recipient of federal funds in
the past.
“He’s talking about combining
various grants into the Com
munity Development Bloek
Grant program," Childers said.
“If he does that there w ill be less
money for Community Develop
ment grants. I feel like the grants
will be harder to get because
we’ll be competing with so many
more people.”
Reagan also proposes a reduc
tion in regulatory agencies.
“When the Community
Development Block Grant pro
gram started, there were 150
regulations pertaining to grants,”
Childers noted. “Now there are
over 1450.”
Childers said the loss of
CETA funds would not hurt the
City of Kings Mountain, since it
has only two CETA employees,
and he doesn't feel cuts in the
low-rent housing programs
would hurt there.
“Except for the clean water
cuts, I was pleased with his pro
posals,” Childers said, “if they
\
IIM CHILDERS
are carried out on a fair basis.”
Childers said the Board of
Directors of the group went on
record as supporting some, but
not all, of the President’s pro
posals.
“Senator James L. Oberstar,
chairman of the Economic
Development Agency, said they
were going to take his proposals
item by item and give him some
support, but not all that he
wants,” Childers said. “At this
point there is a lot of indecision.
But, of course, if the proposals
are approved, cities would have
time to make some arrangements
since none would take effect un
til 1982.”
Childers said the local
representatives talked with peo
ple from “Scotland Neck, N.C.,
to Los Angeles, and found we’re
better off than some and worse
off than others.”
Childers is a strong believer in
a city taking part in such
meetings “to keep abreast of
what is going on.
“I was in a meeting in 1978 in
San Francisco when the Small
Cities Grant program was first
introduced,” he recalled. “We
brought back some literature
and started working on small
cities grants. Y ou get some good
out of the conferences.”
The city presently is seeking
over $900,000 in a Small Cities
Grant which, if approved, would
be used for rehabilitation of
homes, improvement of water
and streets, and other beautifica
tion of several streets off Lin-
wood Road.