Gaston County’s
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Thursday, December 8, 2016
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Good News For Great People
Volume 82 • Issue 49
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Christmas lights go on in McAdenville By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The Christmas lights went on in McAdenville last Thursday for the 61st holiday season in a row. A perfect, cool evening saw a large crowd of folks converge on the town for the lighting festivities. McAdenville Elementary School student Sanaa Sade Swain was selected to turn the lights on this year. “I'm very excited to throw the switch,” she said. “It is my dream come true.” Sanaa's parents are Tuson Swain and Toyia Walker. She is in Mrs. Adam’s first grade class. She lives in Gastonia and has an older brother that lives in New York. Her favorite thing about school is math but she likes everything about school. Her favorite thing to do at home is to play with her dolls. Her favorite food is rice with butter and her favorite snack is blueberries. Her favorite T.V. show is “LoliRock”, and no surprise her favorite color is pink. Events preceding the light switch flipping included speeches and holiday music entertainment at the Pharr Family YMCA-DuPont Plaza. The invocation was given by Chaplain Bob Adams who told the crowd “This is a happy time of year to celebrate the coming of Jesus.” Pharr Yarns CEO Bill Carstarphen praised workers who toiled for many weeks to get the 500,000 holiday lights and decorations up. “It is a labor of love,” he said of Tim Gibson and his crew. Carstarphen reminisced about how the holiday lights tradition got started in McAdenville over six decades ago. “It all began with just nine decorated trees,” he said. Holiday music was provided by the South Point High band, bagpiper Austin Ross, singer Julia Towner, the W.C. Friday Middle School Jazz Band, and the McAdenville Elementary Chorus. Afterwards, the hundreds of folks who attended the event strolled through McAdenville agog at the lights, and also stopped by the W.J. Pharr Gym for refreshments and to see Santa Claus. McAdenville Elementary student Sanaa Sade Swain had the honor of flipping the switch that turned on the Christmas See MCADENVILLE page 9 lights in McAdenville last Thursday evening. Photos by Alan Hodge
Board of Education moves on new middle school for Belmont By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
At its Nov. 12 meeting the Gaston County Board of Education approved a plan to borrow $40 million in voter-
approved bond funds to build a new- and badly neededmiddle school in Belmont, but the dirt won't be turning any time soon. Built in 1939 as Belmont
High School, the venerable yellow brick building on Central Ave. served in that capacity until 1964 when South Point High opened and the middle school students
Belmont's 77-year-old middle school is slated for replacement but first a piece of land has to be found. Photo by Alan Hodge
P LAY T H E
moved in. Even though the money was approved, there are still many steps to go in seeing a new school built. First, a 40-something acre piece of land is needed. According to Gaston County Schools, a parcel on South Point Rd. near the high school has been looked at but development along that road, including the Harris Teeter shopping center, is gobbling up available property at a rapid pace. In addition, no architectural plans have been developed and what will happen to the existing school has not been determined. Also, no dates for construction, groundbreaking, etc. have been determined. Again, exploring the land option is the first step. The need for a new middle school in Belmont has been a hot topic for years. In 2014, GCS issued a “Comprehensive Facilities Study” and Belmont
Huge development approved for eastern shore of Catawba By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
“I looked over Jordan and what did I see.....an enormous land development coming for me.” That paraphrased line from the spiritual “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” is appropriate considering what real estate developers Crescent Communities and Lincoln Harris have in store for the eastern shore of the Catawba River across from the South Point peninsula near southern Belmont. On the Mecklenburg side the area encompasses part of the Dixie/Berryhill communities. Last April the companies announced plans to develop around 1,300 acres between the Catawba and CharlotteDouglas International Airport. The proposed plan would include 4,000 apartments and single family homes, 500,000 sq. ft of shop, restaurants, and retail space, and 8 million sq. ft. of office space. A public gathering place on the riverbank is also slated. Name for the development is “River District”. Earlier this year, the developers filed a petition to have
See MIDDLE SCHOOL page 2
See DEVELOPMENT page 2
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