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Volume 84 • Issue 1
Thursday, January 4, 2018
BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE American Red Cross tips to stay safe Page 8
News from a neighbor! • Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Debra Brown named to LGFCU Advisory Council By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Over the years, for many folks who stopped in Belmont City Hall for business or pleasure, one of the first city employees they encountered was Debra Brown. Currently the city’s human resources director, Brown was for many years the official city clerk and helped people with everything from filling out forms to looking up cemetery deeds. “Debra has always been very professional, personable, courteous, and conscientious in her dealings with the citizens of Belmont,” says mayor Charles Martin. “She always has the city’s best interests at heart.” Now, Brown has received prestigious recognition from another source. She’s been appointed to the Local Government Federal Credit Union Foothills Advisory Council which comprises Polk, Rutherford, Cleveland, and Gaston counties. “It’s an honor to be selected to the Advisory Council,” Brown said. “I love
Shue being picked up at the airport for his Christmas leave. Shue family photo City of Belmont human relations director Debra Brown was recently named to the Local Government Federal Credit Union Foothills Advisory Council. Photo by Alan Hodge giving back to the community.” Advisory Council members, who represent the philosophical character of the credit union and contribute their time without compensation, function as LGFCU’s eyes and ears throughout
the state, serving as liaisons between credit union members and non-members and LGFCU management. Brown’s duties will include being an advocate for LGFCU by supporting the credit union movement See DEBRA, Page 2
Local sailor reunites with family at Christmas Bing Crosby’s 1943 top ten hit song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” originally written to honor soldiers overseas who longed to be home at Christmastime had
a whole new meaning for the Shue family who live near North Belmont this holiday season. FN (SU) William J. “Joey” Shue, son of Jeff and
Pam, arrived home for the holidays on Friday, December 22 for a visit after leaving in August for Basic Training See SHUE, Page 2
Wrap up part 2:
2017 Year in review By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
July- These kids took part in a joint YMCA/Gaston Schools free lunch program.
The second half of 2017 kicked off in our area with plenty of patriotism, moved through a municipal election, and ended with a plethora of holiday events- and the BannerNews was there to cover it all. The July 6 version of the BannerNews was headlined by a story on 16-year-old Marissa Garrison of Mt. Holly being crowned Miss North Carolina’s Outstand-
ing Teen. Another Mt. Holly story featured the news that Carmen Baker was going to be inducted into the Mt. Holly Sports Hall of Fame. That same edition of the paper also had many photos from area Fourth of July celebrations. July 13 BannerNews looked at a unique Cramerton Parks and Rec. program that had goats clearing weeds and kudzu in the town’s Central Park. A heartwarming article that week focused on the YMCA and Gaston Schools
FEELIN LUCKY?
teaming up to provide free lunch for deserving kids. An outdoor oriented article in the July 13 edition profiled South Fork River Park off Hickory Grove Rd. and the hiking opportunities there. July 20 came and the BannerNews for that week announced the opening of a research library at the Mt. Holly Historical Society where among other things, See 2017, Page 7
PLAY THE
LOTTERY See Details Page 20