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Good news for great people! Volume 87 • Issue 37
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Local fire departments reflect on 9/11 By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Last Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the crash of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. Those horrific events and the heroes who responded to them were remembered with the burying of a 9/11 time capsule at Community VFD 32 at 1873 Perfection Ave. in North Belmont, a ceremony at the Stanley fire depart-
ment on Blacksnake Rd., and the display of a section of subway rails from the World Trade Center at the Mt. Holly fire department. headquarters on Killian Ave. The Community VFD 32 event and time capsule burying was planned by Tracy Jackson, wife of fire chief Gary Jackson. “I fear that people will in time forget the most life changing event in my life,” she said. “We must not let it become just another day and have its memory fade away.” The time capsule was
loaded with 9/11 commemorative coins, U.S. flag pins, and hand written notes from folks expressing how they felt about the 9/11 tragedy. The stainless steel capsule was buried in front of the station and a plaque explaining its purpose put on the wall. The capsule will be dug up and opened on Sept. 11, 2041. Gary Jackson shared his thoughts on the need to remember 9/11 and how we might apply its lessons to our lives today. “It is important not to
Aybree Orr, Layla Orr, and Emma Sigmon got in the patriotic spirit at the 9/11 remembrance event held Saturday at Community VFD 32 in North Belmont. Photo by Alan Hodge forget the events of that day and the courage and selflessness of first responders and citizens who performed he-
roic acts,” Jackson said. “We want to encourage people to live each day to the fullest and do kind acts for others.
In this day and time we see so much hostility. We need to stop and slow down and See REFLECT, Page 2
Students’ letters from 20 years ago included in 9-11 display Rev. Mark Costner says he is looking forward to a great 100th anniversary of Centerview Baptist on Acme Rd. in North Belmont. Photo by Alan Hodge
North Belmont’s Centerview Baptist to celebrate centennial By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Centerview Baptist Church at 2300 Acme Rd. in the heart of North Belmont will celebrate its centennial on Sunday, Sept. 26 starting with the 10:30am service.
Speakers for this milestone event will include Centerview’s pastor Rev. Mark Costner as well as guest speakers Rev. Dennis Thurmon and Rev. Bobby Moore. Special music by Rev. John Benton. A luncheon and fel-
lowship will follow. RSVP please by calling the church at 704-827-2061. Like many of our local communities, North Belmont grew up around textile mills. In this case, it was the Acme, See CENTERVIEW, Page 5
Letters written 20 years ago by students in Gaston County Schools are being used to commemorate the anniversary of 9-11. Just a week after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, students in the third grade classes at Tryon Elementary School got busy writing letters and drawing pictures to send to people affected by the devastating events of the never-forgotten day. Letters from Sharon Lynn’s students ended up in the hands of Peggy Hare, who was working in the United States Secret Service field office in New York on September 11. Hare later provided some
of the letters to the Secret Service for historical purposes and inclusion in the agency’s archives. Now, Tryon principal Meghan LeFevers has learned that the letters are being featured in a remembrance display at the Secret Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. “It is wonderful to know that letters from our students have been kept all this time and will be part of the 20th anniversary observance,” stated LeFevers, who admits that it was a bit odd to be contacted by someone with the United States Secret Service. “When you get an e-mail from the Secret Service, you immediately think,
‘What in the world is going on?’ and after I read it, my first thought was ‘Is this real?’” Cynthia Ramseur was one of the four third-grade teachers at Tryon in 2001. She is still there and remembers the students writing the letters as a way to show appreciation for the heroic efforts that took place on 9-11. The students also wanted to bring some cheerful thoughts to the individuals who were on the sad and stressful frontlines of the recovery and investigation. “The project had an academic purpose because we wanted the students to learn See LETTERS, Page 4
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