Gaston County’s
The Banner News / banner-news.com
Page 1
Thursday, May 9, 2019
FREE!
WIN
$10,000
Mother’s Day is Sunday May 12th
see inside
See Page 24
News from a neighbor!
Volume 85 • Issue 19
Thursday, May 9, 2019
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Belmont’s original brewery still going strong By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Vietnam veteran Nathan Grant of Belmont includes The Center senior citizen day care as one of his volunteer venues. He’s seen with staff members Melinda Silvers (left) and Karen Creech. Photo by Alan Hodge
Belmont’s Nathan Grant thrives on volunteering By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
You might say that Nathan Grant of Belmont is a volunteer’s volunteer. That’s because he throws himself bulldog strong into making other people smile. Grant loves volunteering. He devotes hours to it. During the Christmas season he dons a Santa Claus outfit and goes around spreading holiday cheer. He’s also been known to show up as Blackbeard the pirate. Sometimes he sits at a poker table with senior citizens. Whatever it takes to brighten someone’s day, Grant is the man for the job. Last Wednesday night, Grant was presented with a United Way Volunteer Gaston Award at a special ceremony. “Oh, man, that was something,” Grant said. “I was kinda surprised and afraid I was going to have to make a
speech.” That humility, plus a compassionate heart, is the driving force behind Grant. One of Grant’s chief volunteer venues is at the Gaston County Department of Health & Human Services’ The Center of Mt. Holly, for-
merly the East Gaston Adult Day Care Center. Many is the time he has popped in as Santa or Blackbeard or joined the male clients there at the card table. “Nathan is a dedicated and compassionate volunteer that See VOLUNTEER, Page 2
Pat Brennan’s Rivermen Brewing Co., was the first brewery in our area when it opened its doors in 2015. Now, nearly five years later, Brennan is still brewing top quality craft beer and serving up great eats at his breweryrestaurant at the end of Ervin St. in downtown Belmont. Brennan started his brewing career in the former Spectrum Dyed Yarns mill in East Belmont. He credits his dad for sparking the interest in suds. “My dad started homebrewing in the early 1990s and I learned from him,” Brennan said. “He was my gateway into homebrewing.” After many years of making beer at home, the leap to brewing it for sale seemed a natural one. “My friends would come over every time I made some and drink it up,” Brennan said. That first setup Brennan built in Belmont was what he called a “mini version of a Rivermen Brewery founder Pat Brennan in the Ervin St. brewlarge scale brewery”. ery restaurant. Beer is brewed on site in the huge tanks behind See RIVERMEN, Page 2 him.
Stanley American Legion Post 266 home to two rare books By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Two rare books relating to our area’s contribution to the WWII effort are at the American Legion Post 266 in Stanley. Actually, the volumes are scrapbooks. One is filled with WWII period newspaper clippings from area publications and the other is a bound volume of the newspaper that Post 23 in Gastonia put our dur-
ing the war. Both are filled with familiar local family names and the faces of folks from Gaston County who were serving in the military all over the war-torn globe. The books also highlight what was happening on the home front in Gaston as well. US Navy veteran and US Airways captain Lucy Young was featured on the front page of the April 18, 2019 edition of the BannerNews and is Post 266 historian.
“The books are fascinating,” Young said. “They show the local impact that WWII had and the people that fought for us. It was a total effort.” The first book of news clips was compiled from June-September 1945 by DAR member Mrs. Roscoe Spencer. The book has hundreds upon hundreds of story and photo clips giving information on local service personnel, where they were See RARE BOOKS, Page 8
Front page of February 15, 1943 American Legion Post 23 “Pass in Review” newspaper.
©CommunityFirstMedia
Strawberry Wine Festival Releasing New Strawberry Wine Day of Event
Live Music All Day!
10% OFF
Vineyard Blessing at 10am
3 or more bottles
Saturday, May 18th, 2019 • 10am - 5pm
20% OFF cases during event
660 Novelty Vendors & Artisans ~ Kids Zone ~ Food & More!! • Complimentary Wine Samples • Winery Tours
1506 John Beam Rd. Vale, NC •FREE ADMISSION!
www.woodmillwinery.com •FREE PARKING! w 704-276-9911 •RAIN OR SHINE