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Thursday, January 12, 2017
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Volume 83 • Issue 2
Thursday, January 12, 2017
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
First snow of season hits our area By Alan Hodge
Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The Painter family joined dozens of other sledders in Stowe Park to enjoy the weekend snow event.
26th annual Unity Day event January 16 Belmont will hold its 26th annual Unity Day event on Monday, January 16 starting at 7pm. The event will take place at First Foursquare Church, 8 Elizabeth St. off Eagle Rd. Unity Day celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The prelude will be performed by First Foursquare and Mt. Pleasant men's choir followed by the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by the congregation. First Foursquare pastor Ken Ford will give the welcome and invocation. The Lord's Prayer will be led by Laura Macke and Edwin Forrest from Holy Angels. Rev. Kenneth Alexander, Mt. Moriah Church, will speak the Occasion followed by a musical interlude by Mt. Pleasant men's choir. Brenda Rucker will give announcements and offering which will be received by JoAnn Hedstrom and Susan Anderson with Red Cross Disaster Relief. Unity Candle lighting will be by Belmont Central Elementary principal Phyllis Whitworth and students Jonathan Ross, Keira Wilcox, Zeke Pruitt, Sophie Bongaars, Phien Nyguyen, and Nour El Asmar. Patricia Franks will introduce speaker Ray See UNITY page 2
Jack Frost rode into our region last Friday on a snow sled and decided to stay a while. In meteorological terms, we had the first snowfall of 2017 followed by record setting low temperatures for a couple of days. The atmospheric action began Friday evening with a drizzle of cold rain that turned to big flakes of snow. The snow continued Friday night and by the time folks roused from their slumbers on Saturday morning the landscape was a winter wonderland. The flakes continued to fall in varying degrees of intensity until about noon when it stopped and the sun came out. Even though the snow stopped, temperatures plunged. The high on Saturday struggled to hit the freezing mark and Saturday night saw single digits. Sunday morning temperatures were around 14F and never got over the freezing mark all day. Sunday night was a repeat and Monday had folks dragging back to work in air hovering in the high teens and struggling to top 32F in the day. Monday night was another cold one but Tuesday saw a “heat wave” show up and the temperature finally made an upswing to more reasonable levels. Of course the snow and frigid temps threw our area into turmoil. Duke Energy reported numerous power outages. Saturday morning had over 1,000 houses in the North Belmont/Hickory Grove Rd. area in the cold and dark starting around 8:30am but crews rushed out and had it back up within a couple of hours. Road conditions went bad early Friday night. However, City of Belmont, City of Mt. Holly, other area municipality street crews and NCDOT workers had planned ahead and brined, Photo by Alan Hodge
See SNOW page 8
Troop 56 Recognizes Two Eagle Scouts Stewart Butt and Zachary Mosteller were honored during an Eagle Scout Court of Honor held Sunday Dec 18th at 2:00pm in the Troop 56 Scout hut in Belmont, NC. Stewart Butt is a freshman at Furman University and the son of Jim and Mary Butt of Belmont. Zachary Mosteller is a freshman at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the son of Doug and Tonia Mosteller, also of Belmont. The outstanding personal achievement of these young men is footnoted by the fact that they are the 102nd and 103rd Troop 56 Scouts to earn the Eagle Scout Award. “This is a huge achievement, especially when you consider that only 4-5% of boys who join Scouting achieve the rank of Eagle Scout,” said troop 56 Scoutmaster, Allan Haggai. “It is no easy task and a distinctive title; one that is carried for a lifetime. The entire troop is proud to see Stewart and Zachary achieve this honor.” Troop 56 was first chartered in 1956 and has built a rich history of serving the Belmont community with hundreds of young boys filling its ranks for 60 years. Today, the troop has 35 active youth members and 7 adult volunteer leaders. The troop is sponsored by First United Methodist Church located at 807 South Point Road in Belmont, NC led by Pastor George Ragsdale. Scouting was introduced to the United States in 1910 based on a framework developed by visionary British army officer and youth advocate, Baden Powell. He believed that young boys should learn principles of good citizenship, an appreciation for the outdoors and acquire the skills needed to thrive in the woods. Today, U.S. scouting membership is approx. 2.5 million strong, with its members providing an average of 17 million hours of service each year in communities large and small. Troop 56 is part of the Two Rivers District in the Piedmont Council, Boy Scouts of America. The troop was first chartered in 1956 to Stewart Butt and Zachary Mosteller First United Methodist Church in Belmont, NC
MONTCROSS AREA’S
DINING Guide
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Let's Eat Out Tonight! See Page 20