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Thursday, July 7, 2022
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We love our readers! Volume 88 • Issue 27
Thursday, July 7, 2022
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Patrick Craig named Mt. Holly Firefighter of the Year By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Lucky is the person whose job is their passion and lucky too is the place where they work to have them. That’s the scenario with Patrick Craig who was recently named Mt. Holly’s Firefighter of the Year. Craig, 36, knew from an early age that he wanted to be a firefighter. “My father had been a firefighter at Steele Creek
and as a child I heard him tell stories about helping folks,” Craig said. “That started my desire to be a firefighter.” Craig got his career started as a teen and it grew from there. “I began with Cooks VFD when I was 19-year-old,” he said. “Then I went to West Mecklenburg VFD. I also worked at Denver Fire Dept. and came to Mt. Holly in 2019.” Craig has undertaken ex-
tensive training at Gaston College and earned several certifications including- Firefighter I and II, EMT, Technical Rescue, Driver Operator Pump and Aerial, and Instructor I. According to Craig, there’s no one aspect of firefighting that’s his favoritethey all are. “I enjoy running calls,” he said. “But there’s a special brotherhood between See CRAIG, Page 4
Patrick Craig loves his job with the Mt. Holly Fire Dept.
Photo by Alan Hodge
Ability to sing opera results in talent awards for Miss Gaston County By Todd Hagans Special to The Banner-News
Halonah and Aminah Gardner having fun at The City of Mt. Holly annual July 4 streetfest and fireworks last Thursday. See more scenes on page 7. Photo by Alan Hodge
Mt. Holly council approves FY 2022-2023 budget Information provided by Michelle Wood, City of Mt. Holly
The Mt. Holly city council approved the FY2022-2023 fiscal year budget at its June 13 meeting. Here are the budget’s highlights. Overall Budget Tax rate will remain the same at $0.485 per $100 of value. Water and sewer rate will enter into Year 4 and will be increased based on the City Council adopting the Five (5) Year Water / Sewer Rate Study during Fiscal Year (FY)
2019 – 2020. This new rate is reflected in the proposed Fee Schedule. The current proposed budget includes a COLA of 4% for employees. Longevity will be rolled into salaries after the 4% COLA increase and no longer budgeted in the future. Health Insurance will experience an 8.27% increase. Liability Insurance will decrease approximately $78,643, which includes General Liability, See BUDGET, Page 4
Her ability to sing opera and do it well resulted in Miss Gaston County Bailey Beam winning two talent-related awards at the recent Miss North Carolina competition. Beam, a graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne University with a degree in voice performance and sacred music, sang the “Queen of the Night” aria from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” for the talent portion of pageant, which was held June 23-25 at the High Point Theatre. Thirty contestants competed for the Miss North Carolina title with Miss Metrolina Karolyn Martin of Charlotte winning the crown. Beam topped the 14 other contestants in her competition group to win the most talented honor. She also earned the non-finalist talent award, which is given to the contestant with the highest talent score among the contestants not advancing to final round of the pageant. The two awards resulted in Beam taking home an additional $1,500 in scholarship money. “I got involved in the pageant with one goal in mind – to sing ‘Queen of the Night’ on the Miss North Carolina See PAGEANT, Page 10
EVERY THURSDAY
Miss Gaston County Bailey Beam sings the “Queen of the Night” aria for the Miss North Carolina competition. Her performance resulted in her winning two talent-related awards and $1,500 in scholarship money.