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Volume 85 • Issue 38
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Fall Things To Do Around Your Home Inside this edition ~ Pages 12 & 13
Good news for great people!
Thursday, September 19, 2019
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Mt. Holly hosts Living Legend Awards Gala By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
The City of Mt. Holly Grand Hall was the scene on Sept. 7 of the Kay Jackson Living Legend Awards Gala. The sold-out event honored three local residents for outstanding contribution to the Mt. Holly community. The Living Legend Awards is the creation of author, mentor, life coach and teacher Kay Jackson, wife of Mt. Holly city manager Danny Jackson. “The goal of the event is to celebrate, educate, and to honor those persons in our community who we consider to be our own legends,” Kay Jackson said. “They are defined as our own local treasures living among us who have made a positive difference in their communities and beyond. Their impact often goes under the radar in their calling, talents, and
field of work. They have modeled inspirational leadership among their peers. They are a portrait for our youth of the faith and hope that have brought us this far as a human race and to showcase people of color, specifically, in overcoming seemingly insurmountable circumstances in America.” This year’s Living Legend Award winners are Veronica M. Melton, Harry L. McDowell, and James “Tootie” Hogan. Melton was born and raised in Mt. Holly and is a 1972 graduate of Mt. Holly High. She was a member of the Mt. Holly High Homecoming Court, Student Government, Library Club And Junior Achievement. She was involved in Mt. Holly Parks and Rec., Community Action Program, and modeled at the Leader department store. In her senior year at Mt. Holly High, she took part in the
Miss Black NC pageant and was voted Miss Congeniality. She also rode on the Big WAYS float in the Mt. Holly Christmas parade. Melton worked for and retired from Clariant Corp after 47 years of service. She married to William Pratt and is the mother of two boys, Frederick and Travis, and the proud grandmother of six. Harry McDowell is a native of Mt. Holly and the son of Peg “Flowers” Brooks. McDowell is a writer, producer, director, and music director of 3M Productions, Inc. He also supports orphanages in Haiti. Some of McDowell’s writing includes Is Love Enough, In My Father’s House, Your Healing Is On the Way, The Porch, Don’t Tell Mama, Footsteps in the Dark, Pick Up the Pieces, Moving on Up, A Leak In the Old Building, Meet Me at the Rock, and Blind Justice. McDowell is also owner
Henry McDowell
Veronica Pratt
James Hogan
of Three Musketeers Cleaning. He has been married to wife Rosemary for 41 years and they have two sons
Maurice and Michael, and a granddaughter Madison. James Hogan is professional R&B and jazz guitar-
ist. Hogan was born in New Haven Conn. and moved to Mt. Holly at an early age. See GALA, Page 6
Mt. Holly Historical Society opens church room exhibit by Janice McRorie The Mount Holly Historical Society formally opened its newest exhibit on churches in the Mount Holly community on August 27, 2019. This coincided with the Annual Meeting where the last year’s progress was reviewed and new board members were elected. Erin Ball, Archie Huffstetler, Sarah Springs and Annette Williams are completing their terms as board members. Will Crist, Tina LaBorde, Gloria Mack and Phyllis McConnell were elected to three year terms. Garrie Brinkley will serve a two year term. Think back about what life was like here in Mount
Holly in the mid-1800s. Gaston County had formed from Lincoln County in 1846. The Mount Holly Cotton Mill (still standing today) opened in 1875. Mount Holly, changing from the village of Woodlawn, became an incorporated town, formed by the NC Legislature in 1879. And yet, there were very few churches. That’s not to say there was no religion. Thousands of Scots-Irish (many who were also Presbyterian) came to the American colonies because the King of England attempted to force them to join the Church of England. The Potato Famine of 1845 sent many Irish Catholics to the colonies, seeking places to live and
raise their families. The First and Second Awakenings led to growth in the colonies for the Methodists and Baptists. German Lutherans settled by the thousands in Pennsylvania and New York, eventually moving to the south where land was more abundant and less expensive. Regardless of the denomination, families brought their religion with them. As Mount Holly grew, there was an increasing desire to gather with those sharing similar religious beliefs. Mount Holly was officially formed in 1879. At that time there were no formal church buildings within the town limits. Some local congregations met in a store See EXHIBIT, Page 5
Gaston Art Guild president Carol Stowe-Rankin working on her plein air creation in Stowe Park.
Stowe Park provides inspiration for Gaston County Art Guild members By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Last Wednesday morning was a cool one in downtown Belmont made even cooler
by a group of Gaston County Art Guild artists who made a visit to Stowe Park and proceeded to create beautiful paintings there in the plein air style.
But wait. What exactly is plein air art? It’s a manner or style of painting developed chiefly in France in the mid19th century, characterized See GUILD, Page 4