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Volume 86 • Issue 5
Thursday, January 30, 2020
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Belmont Unity Day event brought folks together By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Belmont’s 29th annual Unity Day service in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day saw a large crowd of folks gather in harmony at Belmont Foursquare Church on Jan. 20. The event this year was bittersweet. Missing was the Rev. Kenneth Alexander who passed away on December 14. His basso profundo voice and powerful spiritual presence had been a part of the Unity Day events since its early days and were sorely missed this year. First Foursquare’s Rev. Kevin Ford recalled Rev. Alexander and his impact on the Unity Day ceremony though the years. “There is a void where his face was,” Ford said. “He sowed great seeds and we are thankful for what he did.” Music is a big part of the Unity Day event and this year the Mt. Pleasant Men’s Choir was back in action. The ensemble performed a medley of tunes that had the crowd clapping and bopping up a storm. The group pitched into a heartfelt
rendition of “Jesus Loves Me” that lifted the roof. Each year the group sings “God Bless America” and this year’s version was especially rousing. Yet another lively number the guys performed was “Come See About Me”. The guest speaker for Unity Day 2020 was Belmont native Dr. Anita Davis DeFoe. A South Point High grad, she has a plethora of accolades including being a workforce development expert in Essence Magazine, a global strategist, a John C. Maxwell mastermind, being named the first woman chief by the Itam Clan in Nigeria, author of numerous books, and an organizational effectiveness expert. Dr. DeFoe’s remarks at Unity Day touched on the need for harmony in today’s world. She referenced a remark by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., where he spoke 53 years ago about the choice we have between “chaos or community”. “We are still in that shape,” she said. “We are in crisis. To shift that, it’s up to you and me. If we choose to do nothing, nothing will happen.” See UNITY DAY, Page 7
Students from Belmont Central Elementary and Belmont Middle schools (with help from Delta Sanders), lighting the traditional Unity Day candles. Front from left- Chloe Villarreal, Imani Wilcox, Pierce Oates. Rear from left- Adeena Lakhany, Alex Villarreal, Carsyn Redmond, Delta Sanders. Photo by Alan Hodge
MiraVia providing a home for those in need By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
In 1969 the Rolling Stones had a hit called “Gimme Shelter”. In 2020, the MiraVia facility for single, pregnant, college student mothers on the campus of Belmont Abbey College is doing just that. MiraVia is located on four acres of land donated by the Benedictine monks at the Abbey. It’s situated behind dorm buildings at the end of a quiet little lane. Cost to construct the 10,000 sq. ft. building was over $2 million. Donations from individuals and organizations such as Knights of Columbus picked up the lion’s share of the tab. Mothers and their children are not charged to stay there. The whole idea behind MiraVia is to provide single
Memory of Rollins School lives on First in a series of stories focusing on important local African-American places and people during Black History Month By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
The MiraVia staff- from left- program manager Tina Clark, case manager Hannah Pressley, executive director Debbie Capen. Photo by Alan Hodge mothers with help getting a college education in an emotionally supportive situation. In other words, a campus based maternity residence.
“MiraVia means “Miraculous Way”. The program is the first of its kind in the nation. The facility teaches the
single moms important life lessons such as finances, child rearing, cooking, and spiritual guidance. Residents See MiraVia, Page 4
Since February is officially known as Black History Month, it seems fitting to recognize a chapter in Mount Holly’s African-American heritage that is too often forgotten and whose only tangible evidence of having ever existed at all is a stone monument near the Rollins Apartments on South Hawthorne Street. What the stone marks is the location where the A.M. Rollins School stood from
1930-1969. The school was unique in that it was where all of Mount Holly’s black children in grades one through eight were educated before public schools were integrated in the late 1960s. The Rollins School was originally called the Mount Holly Colored School, but was later named after its first principal, A.M. Rollins. There was also another school for African-American kids in the Lucia community, with just one teacher for all grades. This school eventually was merged with the Rollins School, meaning all African-American children in the area made the trek to S. Hawthorne St. See ROLLINS, Page 2
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