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Thursday, December 2, 2021
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We love our readers! Volume 87 • Issue 48
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Ribbon cutting reveals rare reunion in Belmont By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Many ribbon cutting events for new businesses follow a rather regular routine. Folks gather, they chat, slap backs, shake hands, eat snacks, cut the ribbon, wish the new owner well, and drift back to where they came from. However, a recent ribbon cutting at the new Expedia Cruises office on South Point Rd. produced a very interesting twist that shows just how small the world can be when fate steps in.
When BannerNews ad sales executive Mayra Littman first spoke with Expedia owner Adriana Phillips, they began chatting about their backgrounds- Mayra is from Cuba and Adriana is from Colombia. Then, lo and behold, they learned they had both lived in New York CityQueens to be exact. Then Mayra mentioned that her brother Jose Alonso had attended Immaculate Conception school. So had Adriana. Well, you see where this is going, so let’s allow each See REUNION, Page 4
Jose Alonso (1977)
Adriana Perez (1977)
Food Lion and East Gaston High teacher team up for a fantastic Thanksgiving lunch By Alan Hodge
Jose Alonso and Adriana Phillips reunited at the Expedia Cruises ribbon cutting.
alan@cfmedia.info
Thanksgiving came a couple of days early last Tuesday when a group of students at East Gaston High enjoyed a sumptuous lunch courtesy of the North Belmont Food Lion and teacher Sarah Robinson. The idea was hatched by Robinson to not only help her get to know her students a bit better, but to also make sure they had a nice holiday meal. Robinson has only been at East Gaston about six weeks and is already proving a popular addition to the staff there. “The students have been working really hard and I thought it would be nice to have an early Thanksgiving dinner so we could spend some time together,” Robinson said. As a teenager, Robinson had worked at a Food Lion and was aware of the company’s reputation for helping out in the communities they serve. So she contacted the store on Perfection Ave. in North Belmont. The manager of that store, Rebecca Ries was happy to pick up the turkey leg and run with it.
TechWorks Gaston in Belmont receives grant from Duke Energy
East Gaston student Shaniya Mitchell gets ready to enjoy her early Thanksgiving lunch while teacher Sarah Robinson who arranged the event looks on. Photo by Alan Hodge “At Food Lion, we’re always looking for opportunities to support our neighbors in the towns and cities we serve,” said Ries, “When East Gaston High School teacher Sarah Robinson
reached out to us about providing her students with a special Thanksgiving lunch with their favorite foods to enjoy with their classmates, we were eager to help. Nourishing our neighbors and sup-
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porting our community are what we do every day.” “I was thrilled at the Food Lion response,” Robinson said. See LUNCH, Page 3
Duke Energy has awarded $200,000 in impact grants to Gaston County organizations, helping uplift the community through education, job training, environmental preservation and other needs across the local area. Duke Energy representatives presented the funding to local leaders today at an event hosted by Gaston College, one of the recipients. TechWorks Gaston in Belmont was one of the recipients and received $20,000. “TechWorks Gaston is humbly honored to be one of six grant recipients for the Duke Energy recognition event at Gaston College,” said Terry Cox, TechWorks Gaston executive director.
“Thanks to the generosity of the Duke Energy Foundation, TechWorks is launching a new K-12 STEM program to engage youth in space exploration, robotics, coding, and virtual reality. This grant will help fund a project to build a simulated Mars Rover with middle and high school age kids and adults. Duke Energy has been very supportive of TechWorks Gaston over the past several years, and it’s greatly appreciated.” The other grant recipients are Catawba Riverkeeper, Gaston Community Foundation, Gaston County Schools, TechWorks Gaston and The Schiele Museum of Natural History and Planetarium. See GRANT, Page 6
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