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Volume 84 • Issue 17
News from a neighbor! • Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Sticks for Kids program has local junior golfers swinging By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Give a kid a golf club and all sorts of things can happen but in the case of last Wednesday's Sticks for Kids event on the links at the Cramer Mountain Club it was all good. Sticks for Kids is a national endeavor to teach youth the ins and outs of golf with a healthy dose of sportsmanship as well. The Golf Course Builders Association of America established the GCBAA Foundation to provide the necessary tools and opportunities to allow the next generation of golfers to learn and enjoy the game. Since its establishment, the GCBAA Foundation has taken a special interest in supporting children by launching Sticks for Kids, a junior golf outreach program. The program provides clubs, bags, teaching materials, marketing materials, and instructors for participating courses. Children age 5-18 are taught the fundamentals of the game as well as life lessons such as etiquette, integrity, sportsmanship, safety, and respect for themselves and others. Last week's Sticks for Kids participants came in all sizes. They hit the Cramer Mountain Club links with golf bags slung over their shoulders and determined looks. Last week's program was also made possible by a Gaston County Parks and Recreation grant. Parks and Rec employee Josh Henderson was on-site helping keep the event running smoothly. “We have about seventy five kids here today,” He said. “The event gets bigger every year and it's a good way for the children to increase their interest and skills in golf.” Folks that helped out at the event were the golf teams from Clemson University, Belmont Abbey College, and Forestview High School. The Clemson team was on its way to the ACC championship at the Old North State course Girls like golf too. These Sticks for Kids ladies included Belmont Abbey golf team members Autumn Senter, in New London, NC and stopped by Cramer Mountain Club. See STICKS page 2 Jamie Treece, Sadie Forbes and golf students Carson Champion and Taylor Cozart. Photo by Alan Hodge
New gallery making Mt. Holly an arts destination By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The nearly 100-year-old, abandoned building at 127 W. Central Ave. in downtown Mt. Holly that artist Emily Andress bought and turned into Awaken Gallery is proving to be a destination and anchor for the arts there. At the gallery grand opening a few weeks back, the place was packed with art lovers. “We stopped counting at 200 people,” Andress said. “It was amazing.” Customers and the curious have been showing up regularly. “There's more foot traffic here than I had at my Charlotte location,” said Andress. The transformation from dilapidated shell to bright, colorful, and cosmopolitan art gallery took a lot of work. “It was basically a brick box with no plumbing, heating or electricity,” Andress said. “It was a mess.” Over the course of several months, workers installed flooring, walls, wiring , HVAC and all the other mechanical systems. A $15,000 grant from the City of Mt. Holly allowed Andress to install an outside stairway to the second floor where four studios are located. There is another studio downstairs as well as a main gallery where works are displayed. Awaken Gallery owner Emily Andress is seen with one of the works on display by artThe front of the building got a major rework as well. ist Luis Ardila entitled “Galatea Creating the New Pygmalion”. The gallery opened Before, it had a drab, sterile look. Now, Andress and RTR a few weeks ago and is making Mt. Holly a magnet for the arts. Renovations have created an upscale, inviting, glass and Photo by Alan Hodge See GALLERY page 3
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New K9 team at Belmont PD completes advanced training By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The new K9 team at the Belmont Police Department has completed advanced training and is on the job fighting crime. The team consists of Officer Kreston Seigler and his K9 “Max”. Seigler, 26, has been with Belmont PD for over 4 ½ years. A native of South Gastonia, he earned his Basic Law Enforcement certificate from Gaston College in 2012 and is working on an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice. He and his wife Anna have been married over a year. So, what attracted Seigler to the K9 side of policing? “I've always been interested in K9,” Seigler said. “I had a cousin who was a K9 officer on the Gaston County Police and an uncle who is K9 at Kings Mtn. Police. I went to the previous Belmont K9 officer Kevin Wingate and told him I was interested.” Then Max came on the Belmont scene. His previous owner, Calvin Dixon of GasSee K9 TEAM page 4