INSIDE... Opinions ..................... 4A Obituaries ................... 5A Mission Trip ................ 7A Cukes & Pickles .......... 8A
Serving Belmont, Mount Holly, Stanley, Cramerton, and McAdenville | Volume 79 • Issue 29 • Wednesday, July 16, 2014
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The ball had magic in it Parker to be inducted into MH Sports Hall of Fame By Kathy Blake Special to the Banner News
Photo by Alan Hodge
The barricades finally came down on Wednesday afternoon at the new Dawson Bridge in Cramerton. It didn't take long before drivers were making good use of it. See what local folks have to say about the bridge opening on page 4A.
Dawson Bridge finally open! By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
After over a year and a half of construction marked by numerous and aggravating delays, the barricades finally came down last week at the new C.C. Dawson Bridge over the South Fork River on Lakewood Rd. in Cramerton.
No sooner had the bridge opened than motorists began availing themselves of its smooth concrete surface. The bridge is the main link between Eagle Rd. in Belmont and Cramerton's downtown and during the construction phase it was sorely missed. Not only did businesses in Cramerton suffer, but folks simply trying to get from one
town to the other were forced to take a detour down Wilkinson Blvd. Students, parents, and staff at the new Stuart Cramer High were also inconvenienced while the new bridge was being built. Cramerton mayor Ronnie Worley expressed what many in town felt See BRIDGE, 6A
100,000 hippies, peace, love and rock & roll Do you remember the Love Valley Rock Festival? By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The 44th anniversary of one of North Carolina's most pivotal social and cultural events is coming up July 1719 and Jack Winchester of North Belmont was in the thick of the action. Joining Jack at the gig was his brother Dick who currently lives in Boaz, Alabama. Dubbed the Love Valley Rock Festival, the three-day musical and merrymaking happening was held in the summer of 1970 at Love Valley near Statesville. It was North Carolina's version of Woodstock and saw upwards of 100,000 hippies, hippie wannabees, and other folks of various varieties flock to the place to hear music, mingle, spread the message of peace and love, and yes, burn weed. Love Valley itself is a tiny town built by the late Andy Barker after he returned from WWII. The twist is, Barker was big into the Old West culture and owned a construction company. So, he bought a big piece of land off NC115 out in the middle of Iredell County and built his own
Wild West town, complete with hotel, jail, saloon, and various other structures in a style straight out of a John Wayne movie set. The town is still there and folks still visit it to “play cowboy”. Horses are the only mode of transportation allowed on the Main Street and there's a Western-style restaurant where you can grab a cold one or a burger. But what took place in 1970 is the thing that put Love Valley on the map. What happened that eventually led to the rock festival taking place was Barker's daughter asking if See ROCK FESTIVAL, 6A Photo by Alan Hodge
Jack Winchester of North Belmont and his brother Dick both attended the July 17-19, 1970, Love Valley Rock Festival. In this photo, Jack is seen with his original commemorative program.
Lois Herring Parker never touched a basketball, never considered playing the game, until she tried out for her school team as an eighth-grader. It was the 1940s. Her dad, a textile worker, had moved the family from Lakeview, S.C., when she was 2, because of work, and Parker had developed a deep affection for Mount Holly. She wanted to represent the school and her community. Lois Herring Parker when The moment she picked she was a member of the up that basketball, in an old 1946-47 Mount Holly High un-air-conditioned gym, her School Hawkettes. The life changed; she began a Hawkettes were inducted six-decade ride that brought into the MH Sports Hall of trophies, a professional con- Fame in 2013. tract, a gold medal and not one, but two, inductions into the Mount Holly Sports Hall ball that occupied her at school – Parker squeezed in of Fame. “When I went out and time for cheerleading, durmade the first team, I’d ing football season. “And at never played. God just gave that time, we could go me talent. And when I went downtown at 1 o’clock and out on the court and tried they’d block off the streets, out, I loved the game,” and we’d cheer down there. Parker, 85, said from her Then we’d cheer on the home in Raleigh, where she steps of the high school,” she said. “It was lives with her husband, Eddie. “God just gave so different back then.” “I didn’t even me talent. After graduaknow they kept tion, Parker how many points And when I played profeswere scored durwent out on sionally for the ing a game. You Hanes Hosiery know, when you the court team in Winstonlove the sport and love your and tried out, Salem, then for Queen City Trailteammates, you I loved ways and, later, wanted to win Creek the game.” Paw for them and for American LeMount Holly gion. High School.” At age 66, as the oldest Parker was a 5-foot-9 forward, and always team member of her North Carolina Senior Olympics team captain. She was MVP of the Lit- – after a 46-year layoff from tle Eight Conference tourna- the sport – she won a gold ment in 1947, her senior medal. “I don’t know what year. She was the second- my life would have been highest scorer in the confer- like without basketball,” she said. “Living in Mount ence as a senior. Her Hawkettes teams of Holly was such a privilege 1944-45, 1945-46 and 1946- and such a blessing.” A favorite memory is the 47 had a combined record of 40-9-4 and tied for the con- 1947 conference final. Parker was on the foul line ference title in 1946. She was inducted into the in the final minute. The title Hall of Fame in 2013 with depended on her; the crowd her teams – the Hawkettes noise was deafening. “The referee took the ball of the 1940s. This year, she is being inducted as an indi- out of my hands, placed the vidual. It wasn’t just basketSee PARKER, 6A
South Point Township is growing, quickly By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Former NC House member and Belmont resident Wil Neumann took his South Point Township growth and development slideshow presentation on the road again last week, and this time his audience was the Belmont City Council. Neumann has already entertained and enthralled groups such as the Montcross Area
Chamber, Gaston County School Board, Belmont Rotary, East Gaston Rotary, Gaston Chamber and more with his program. Newman says he got the idea of doing a study on the South Point Township and where it's headed demographically and economically after attending the ribbon cutting for the $60 million Stuart Cramer High. He worked for nine months gathering data on home sales, school attendance, property development, and more to come up with
enough facts and figures to fill 21 pages. Recently, he has been using an aerial photo platform remote control quad copter outfitted with a GoPro camera to get images of properties from a bird's perspective. Neumann gave the council a Paul Revere-like clarion call concerning the pending deluge of South Point Township growth. “I want to wake everyone up to what's See COUNCIL, 3A
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