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News from a neighbor!
Volume 84 • Issue 33
a division of
704-825-4463 Thursday, August 16, 2018
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
The Springwood weatherman by Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Allen Aycoth of Springwood spends a lot of time in his weather monitoring room ready to broadcast warnings if bad storms should develop. Photo by Alan Hodge
Author Mark Twain has been quoted as saying “everybody complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it”. Well, Allen Aycoth, 74, of the Springwood community near McAdenville doesn't complain that much about what the sky is doing, but he keeps a close, very close, eye on it. Aycoth is a weather spotter. He has an 8'x8' room on the back of his Bartlett Rd. house that's the nerve center of his weather watching and if need be, weather warning, activities. “I've always been interested in the weather,” he said. “But growing up, I couldn't afford to go to school to be a meteorologist.” No matter, Aycoth got his weather education by attending a number of U.S. Dept. of Commerce Skywarn weather training courses. Aycoth has put his knowledge and passion for the weather to good use. “A friend suggested I start a weather organization,” Aycoth said. “In early January, 2005, I started the Catawba Valley Weather Watch.” Aycoth says he broadcast a weather report via ham radio every night at 6pm for about a year. He also sent out messages if bad weather was coming no matter what the time of day. He still broadcasts bad weather warnings these days. In his Bartlett Rd. “weather room”, Aycoth keeps an eye on a large computer monitor that shows, among other things, weather radar images from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Rain is indicated by purple blotches moving across a green background. A smaller computer screen also indicates weather activity. Aycoth watches them both with intensity. See WEATHERMAN page 2
Local businesses team up with Page Primary others to donate car to veteran playground gets a makeover
By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Pack Brothers Collision Center on Wilkinson Blvd. in Belmont was the scene last Monday of a heart-warming gathering of folks and the handing over of the keys to a beautifully refurbished 2003 Cadillac to U.S. Marine Corps veteran Kirk Davis. Joining Davis at the event were Pack owner Ronnie Pack, his son in law Billy Walkowiak, members of Military Order of Purple Heart Chapter 634, U.S. Congressmen Patrick McHenry and Mark Meadows, N.C. Senator Kathy Harrington, Belmont Mayor Charles Martin, Cramerton Mayor Will Cauthen and assorted other officials. The whole affair revolved around the difficult life circumstances Davis, who served eight years in the Marines, has been having and how concerned citizens rallied together in a common cause to help him. See DONATED CAR page 3
By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com Page Primary School in Belmont had some serious water drainage and aesthetic issues, but thanks to a group of Duke Energy Allen Steam Station and other volunteers, those problems are solved. Last Friday around 15 or so vols showed up at Page bright and early. They were armed with rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows, a pressure washer and a couple of tractors. After a hard day of work in the broiling sun, the playground was transformed into a safe and nice looking plot. Not only that, but the front of the school got a much needed cleaning. Duke Energy employee Adam Toney explained. “The principal, Bill Kessler, told us the playground would have large puddles after a rain and sometimes they were so bad the kids could not use it,” Toney said. “The new Page PTO U.S. Marines veteran Kirk Davis (right) and Ronnie Pack shake hands in front project, Martha Carter, is a former Duke employee and she of the Cadillac presented to Davis last Monday. Seen with the pair are Billy helped coordinate the job to fix the playground's problems. Walkowiak, Steve Lawing, Larry Rick, and Mike Stubbs. See PLAYGROUND page 4 Photo by Alan Hodge
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