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Volume 83 • Issue 32
Thursday, August 10, 2017
page 11
News from a neighbor! • Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Mt. Holly North Fire Station construction progressing By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
It was just weeks ago that ground was officially broken on the new MHFD North Station on Lucia-Riverbend Highway, but a great deal of construction progress has already taken place. The project is slated for completion mid-January 2018. At the work site, the scrub brush is gone and the land has been graded. Underground plumbing has been installed. A silt fence has been erected and the foundation for the 6,300 sq. ft. three-bay building laid out. “The bays will house an engine, water rescue equipment, and in the future perhaps another truck,” said MHFD deputy chief Craig Spry. Engine 35, a pumper with a 750 gallon capacity, will be assigned to the new station. The station will also be home to a substation of the Mt. Holly Police Dept. “We are also in talks with GEMS about housing a paramedic truck and EMS crew there as well,” said Spry. The station's coverage area will stretch from the Horseshoe Bend Beach Rd. vicinity to Freightliner and Sandy Ford Rd. and the Dutchmans Meadow and Kendrick Farms subdivisions. Future plans for the station grounds could include a 100-foot tall water tank. In other MHFD news, the department was named as a recipient of the FEMA Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant and the Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters Grant. The awarding of this grant will significantly enhance the department’s capabilities through See FIRE STATION page 5
Mt. Holly Fire Dept. Deputy Chief Craig Spry is seen at the site of the new North Fire Station. Work on the project is progressing nicely. Photo by Alan Hodge
McAdenville Elementary welcomes SOCKS has been new principal helping local folks By Alan Hodge
alan.bannernews@gmail.com
for 30 years
Dallas, NC native Lucretia Rice has been named as the new principal at McAdenville Elementary. Rice replaces Linda Neely who retired. Rice has degrees from Winston-Salem State and GardnerWebb universities. She began her career as an educator with Gaston County Schools in 1994 at Cherryville Elementary where she taught art. She has also taught at Cherryville South Elementary, Webb Street, Lowell Elementary, Woodhill Elementary, Hunter Huss High, and Highland School of Technology. Her experience as a school administrator began in 2005 as assistant principal at Forestview High. She was principal at Forest Heights Elementary and Southwest Middle before assuming her current post at McAdenville. Rice says she was inspired to become a teacher by those who taught her when she was a student. “The credit goes to my teachers coming through the GCS system in Dallas,” Rice said. “They helped me get the very best education possible. They possessed qualities of resourcefulness, determination, resilience, patience, compassion, cre- Lucretia Rice has been named new principal at McAdenville ativity, dedication, empathy and engagement. They were who Elementary. Rice has an impressive background as an educaI modeled my own educational career after.” tor and school administrator and is eager to become part of the community. Photo by Alan Hodge See PRINCIPAL page 3
By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
One of our area’s most important crisis relief agencies has the unusual name of SOCKS, but the moniker isn’t about feet but feeding and clothing those in need. SOCKS stands for “Serving Our Community with Kindness in Springwood”. The Springwood community for those who aren’t familiar with it is located on Hickory Grove Rd. between Belmont and McAdenville and is the location where SOCKS was started three decades ago. Lee Allen, current director of SOCKS, was one of the agency’s pioneers. “SOCKS had its roots back in 1986 at the home of Judy and Ned Beaty who lived on Cedar St. in Springwood,” Allen said. “A few months later, the United Way held a meeting and decided Springwood was one of our poorest areas and needed a crisis assistance agency. SOCKS was officially formed in 1987.” The first official SOCKS outlet was Sunset Forest Baptist Church in Springwood. In 1990 it moved to a mill house
The Montcross Area K O LO R High School FO 2017 Sports Schedules Page 20
See SOCKS page 3