Banner-News 1-16-20

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Gaston County’s

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$10,000 Volume 86 • Issue 3

29th Annual Belmont Unity Day event... The 29th annual Belmont Unity Day event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is slated for Monday, January 20, 2020 at Belmont Foursquare Church, 8 Elizabeth St. Doors open at 6:30pm and event begins at 7pm.

WIN

see page 24

Thursday, January 16, 2020

See UNITY DAY, Page 2

Good news for great people! • Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Community Public Charter School in Stanley is growing by leaps and bounds By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info

“There’s never a dull moment.” That’s how Community Public Charter School founder and board member Eddie McGinnis characterizes the scene at the Stanley educational edifice that’s in

its first year of operation. Former East Gaston High principal McGinnis hatched the idea of a charter school in 2016, when he was pastor at Community Pentecostal Center on Ralph Handsel Blvd. After jumping through the hoops required by the state to establish a charter school, Community Charter

opened its doors in late summer, 2019, with around 240 students in grades K-5. A tour of the school campus reveals two new and shiny pre-fab buildings with 12 classrooms, a gym, office space, and a nice playground area. The tab for site work and the buildings came to $1.7 million. The

These Community Public Charter School students say they enjoy attending class in their new building. Photo by Alan Hodge money came from the state, fundraisers, and private donations. The school does not charge tuition fees. McGinnis says the school is negotiating with the Town

Belmont’s Firefighter of the Year Andy Harris comes from a long line of firemen including his father and grandfather.

Andy Harris named Belmont Firefighter of the Year By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info

Belmont’s Firefighter of the Year, Andy Harris, is keeping his family tradition of fire service going strong. “I’m very humbled to receive the award,” Harris said. “I’m thankful as well and excited.” Harris, 27, is the son of

Community Volunteer 32 firefighter Mike Harris and the grandson of Community 32 veteran Richard Harris. Incidentally, a few years ago Richard received the prestigious Order of the Longleaf Pine for his 50 years of firefighting service. “Their willingness to help people in time of need inspired me to become a fire-

fighter,” Harris said. Andy got his start in the firefighting field at Community VFD back in 2007 when he was just a teenager. Later, he joined Ranlo Fire and Rescue where he still serves. He became a full time Belmont firefighter in July, 2017. He took hundreds of hours of schooling at Gaston College See HARRIS, Page 4

of Stanley for a piece of property next door where the old water treatment plant is located. The school will probably need the property and a

building. “We hope to add a sixth grade class next year and about 100 students,” said McGinnis. See SCHOOL, Page 6

32nd Annual Belmont Sports Hall of Fame Banquet set By Stan Cromlish The Belmont Sports Hall of Fame will hold its 32nd banquet at 7:00 pm Tuesday, February 18, 2020, at the Park Street United Methodist Church Family Life Center in Belmont. The inductees headlining the 2019 Belmont Sports Hall of Fame class are three outstanding athletes and a Belmont sports icon. The keynote speaker for the banquet is Jerry Moore,

former Appalachian State University head football coach. Jerry Moore was a football coach for more than thirty years and was the man responsible for the rise of Appalachian State football to national prominence in the Division I-AA Football Championship Series. From 1989, when he took the job at ASU, through 2012, his team only had one losing season and shocked the world on September 1, 2007 when it defeated national power-

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house and the fifth-ranked Division I-A Football Bowl Series team, the Michigan Wolverines, 34-32 at the Big House in Ann Arbor, MI. This was the biggest win in school history, but even more telling were the backto-back-to-back Division I-AA FCS National Championships from 2005-2007. Appalachian State has the distinction of being the only college football program in the State of North Carolina See SPORTS, Page 2

EVERY THURSDAY


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